Bloodlines Ch.02

The final door, the one with Private on it, slid open on well-oiled hinges. It opened up to a stone stair descending to the basement. Dim downlights illuminated the staircase, iron sconces and a black railing giving it a dungeon-like feeling. "We call it The Dungeon" Jeff said, as if he had read his mind. The basement was one, big open room, stone columns supporting the ceiling. The rough stone floor was broken up by big, plush carpets in various chaotic patterns. "Harder to spot stains." Jeff said, seeing how Garth studied the carpets. Garth blushed a little, considering exactly what kinds of stains he would want to not spot.

All along the outer wall was rack after rack of whips, canes, floggers, manacles, lengths of rope and pretty much all the same things he would find upstairs in the shop. The center of the room was dominated by a huge four-poster bed, all manner of rings and bars all over it. "This is the center piece, where we play." A touch of Embarrassment crept through his Confidence. While Garth did not want to linger on the fact his parents had had an active sex life, he found the same was not entirely true when it came to his uncle. The idea of him being sexually active was more like a friend having sex, and not a parent. Not necessarily something he wanted to watch or anything, but not really a problem either.

Off to the sides of the room were several lounges spread out in groups, some around tables, others around more of the strange-looking furniture he had seen upstairs in the shop. Suddenly he saw how one could restrain a person with ropes in various ways, the handholds and footrests making more sense to him.

Garth estimated the large open room had to be roughly the same size as the shop above. Along the wall to his left were more doors, directly beneath the doors in the hallway behind the counter. Jeff saw his look. "Those are the private rooms. For when someone wants to be private or enact a certain fantasy; they're furnished as movie sets, more or less, each with a specific theme." As if on que, Garth saw some tripods with professional-looking video cameras next to the bed, the kind that would use tapes like the ones in the drawer. "Yes, we sometimes film each other." Jeff said in answer to the unspoken question. "Not always, and some members never, due to their professional lives. It would not do for a certain sergeant general to have movies circulating of his specific tastes."

They walked around the room for a few minutes, Garth noticing all the various implements and toys spread around the various racks and pieces of furniture. "How big is this group of yours?" Garth asked, his shock slowly being replaced by curiosity. "In total, there are twenty five of us, though usually only ten or so gather at once. We have one gathering at midsummer when all are here, that's when we discuss potential new members, decide upon changes to our rules and so on." And have an orgy? Garth did not ask, not needing his uncle to answer.

"You must understand," His uncle said, voice earnest and maybe a little pleading. "We are a very close-knit group, mutual trust an absolute requirement. I am not showing you this as an invitation to our group; that is not my decision alone to make. I show you first and foremost because you're family, and we need to have trust in each other. If you want to consider joining, I will argue your case with the others, and I don't see why they would decline, but that cannot happen for another six weeks, at Midsummer." Garth considered it, was this something he would want? "I don't know uncle, this is a lot to take in, and I'll need to consider it in any case." "Of course, take as long as you need, and ask any questions you might have, just not where others might hear. Oh, in case it was not obvious; Alyssa, Erica and Dave are part of the group already. I'll let them know what I've told you. Don't discuss it with anyone else unless I say so."

Saturday morning, Garth woke late. He did not have any plans for the day, no school and no work. The only scheduled thing was to meet Lisa, Christa and a few more from the gang that evening at Lisa's place a few streets over. She had called the evening before, asking in mockingly hurt tones if he had forgotten about them. Garth had apologized, realizing he had indeed kind of forgotten about them, promising to make amends and join them the very next day. The air in his room was hot, humid and thick enough to be cut with a knife. The curtains were closed and windows closed, but the sun had baked the window all morning even though it now had moved on to shine in at a shallow angle. He stood up, naked as usual, and walked over to let in some fresh air, not entirely sure he was done lounging in his bed. As he drew the curtains aside, his gaze fell on the low-rise across the yard. There, on the narrow balcony across from him, the girl he had been seeing was sunbathing, lying on her back, feet towards him. She looked to be asleep, eyes closed and perfectly still, apparently making the best of the narrow two-hour window where the sun shone directly between the buildings onto the balconies.

Garth studied her sleeping form, seeing she was quite average in body as well as face. Not memorable but certainly not unpleasant to look at either. Garth felt blood start flowing into his member, slowly filling it halfway. The scene was not particularly erotic; the bikini was quite modest, she was not particularly hot, just average and pleasant in a normal way. But something struck a chord in him; he just could not pinpoint anything. On a hunch he downed the final herb capsule, washing it down with the tepid water on his nightstand. Grimacing at the stale taste, he walked back to the window, seeing she had only adjusted her pose a little. He tapped his power, the sea of emotions spreading out all around him. Using his spatial awareness, finding her was done in a matter of heartbeats; he really was getting better at this!

Calmness, Relaxation, Peace and Serenity wafted from her, she seemed to almost be sleeping, which made sense he guessed. Underneath the calm tranquil surface he found more interesting things; Lust, Desire, Arousal, Excitement all churned underneath; not prominent at all, but very much present. Before he could stop himself, he had grabbed hold of her Wakefulness and Attentiveness, pulling on them ever so slightly. He was about to force himself to stop when he saw that he was only feeding her a tiny trickle, his control improved vastly even though he had not influenced anyone for days. His mind seemed to know on its own what to do, and soon he was pulling gently on a dozen related emotions. He saw her start to stir, his influence slowly making her more alert, making her want to look around.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he walked out into the living room, stark naked, half-erect cock dangling between his legs. See me, he thought silently, tugging a little more forcefully on her Alertness. He walked to the fridge, not looking her way at all, pretending to not notice anything out of the ordinary. He reached the fridge, opened it and got out a bottle of lemonade. As he turned, facing away from her, he was rewarded with a spike of Alarm, Shock and Bewilderment. Arousal, Desire and Lust surged right behind however, taking him by surprise with their intensity. Staying calm was an effort, but he managed to walk back to his bedroom without betraying he knew she had seen him. He could feel her eyes on him all the way, her emotions smoldering like coals. He stopped inside the door, noticing how his cock was rising, bobbing higher and higher with each beat of his heart.

He saw what made her so appealing now; her intense response to seeing him must have triggered some subconscious response in him, making him want to rouse her desire for him. He felt her emotions bank down as he stayed out of sight, though Arousal only went down a tiny amount, her attention clearly still on his apartment. He started pulling slowly on her Courage, seeking out what he could only describe as Voyeurism, though that was not quite it; it was a multitude of related emotions all telling she should keep watch for him, try to capture his attention. He dressed in slacks and an old t-shirt with a faded band logo, no underwear or socks. As he walked out into the apartment again, he pulled a little more strongly on her Courage, slowly facing to meet her eyes. Panic spiked for a second, but Curiosity and Lust quickly beat it down; she was committed to not run this time. He let his eyes roam her body, smiling suggestively at her to let her know in no uncertain terms he liked what he saw. Desire and Lust peaked with no pulling on his part; she was buying into it, feeding her own emotions as she felt his roaming eyes.

Meeting his eyes and holding his gaze, she slowly rose and walked backwards into her apartment. Garth felt a stab of disappointment, considering pulling a little more strongly. He hesitated as he saw her emotions, however; they were just as intense, maybe even more so. Locking eyes with him, she slowly reached behind her back, her bikini top jerking as she opened the clasp. Garth broke from her gaze as the top fell to the floor, her tits proudly on display. True, they were average in size, nipples dark and on the smaller end of the scale, but their shape was perfect. He grinned at her even wider, licking his lips slowly as if to show how badly he wanted to nibble on them. A tug on her Arousal complemented the grin. Not wanting to be outdone, he slowly pulled his t-shirt off, tightening his core muscles to show off a little, Arousal and Lust pulsing even higher from her.

Garth pulled a little more on her Courage and Excitement. Remembering back to the night at the bar, he tried to emulate Exhibitionism as Jeff had done to the girls. He thought he had it right, pulling on several emotions at once. Her eyes narrowed, a sexy smile creeping onto her face as she leaned a little forward and hooked her thumbs inside the bikini bottoms. Gyrating her hips slowly, she closed her eyes and swayed to a rhythm Garth could not hear, her bikini bottom slowly being pulled down. Just as he could see the top of her pubes, she stopped and opened her eyes, looking straight back at him. Then he felt a surge of Courage that came from her alone and she yanked the bottoms down, exposing her neatly trimmed bush and swollen dark pink lips to him.

Then a spike of Nervousness smothered everything and she leapt into what had to be her bedroom. Garth was a little annoyed that the show had ended so abruptly, but he was quite pleased he had not lost control again, instead pulling slowly and gently, letting her own emotions have time to mature and play off each other. From inside her bedroom he felt a flurry of emotions; Anxiety, Nervousness, Pride, Joy, Arousal, Lust and a host of others flashing by rapid-fire. She was a small vortex of emotions as she no doubt relived the display she had just put on for him. Soon Lust and Arousal started pulsing from her, increasing fast, really fast. In less than a minute her emotions became a red hot blur of what Garth had learned an orgasm looked like emotionally. His own dick throbbed in his pants, but he decided to let it stew, looking forward to tonight.

On his way over to Lisa's place later that evening, he briefly stopped by the building across, reading the names on the doorbells. Sophia Adams was her name. A perfectly ordinary name for a perfectly ordinary girl. He smiled to himself, excited to see where this could lead.

Lisa and Christa met him in the door with hugs and kisses on the cheeks. "Where have you been!? We missed you!" They all but shouted together. "It's only been like two weeks, relax!" He said with a laugh, slapping Lisa's firm butt, making her yelp indignantly. As he sat down on the couch, beer in hand, he realized he had missed them too. These were the kind of friends who gave you energy instead of taking it away. He promised himself to invest a little more time in them from now on, they really were good friends. Tapping his power was no longer a conscious decision he made, it just was there, like some extra sense he at some level always had had and just recently rediscovered or something.

He was reading and reacting to their emotions without active thought, probably because he knew them so well already, he decided. Eric and Sebastian made up the rest of the party, though they had been deep in conversation about some geeky new board game for the last half hour or so. The final two members of their little group, Amy and Josh, were due later that evening. "Amy fell into his bed last week and we have hardly seen them since, except when Amy comes around to complain about his dick making her sore from all the sex." Lisa said with exasperation. "He's not even that big," Christa said in a stage-whisper, looking pointedly at Garth's groin. He leaned back a little and thrust his pelvis towards them ever so slightly, their Arousal and Lust pulsing a little.

Garth considered pulling on them but decided against it, at least for the time being, he had promised his uncle, after all. Besides, tonight was about relaxing with good friends, not Neuropathy. Feeling good about his decision, he relaxed, leaving his power active but not really paying attention to it. The talk flowed easily between him and the two girls, the boys still having a nerdgasm over by the table, having moved to another new game, none of them noticing the others at all.

He found that by not actively listening to his neuropathic sense, just leaving it on in the background, he was able to connect with the girls on a whole different level than before, forging a deeper connection. A sudden stroke of insight told him this must be similar to what his uncle had with his group; a friendship based on mutual trust and respect, not one constrained by social norms. They were just reacting to one another, whether it was sharing a drink or fucking like rabbits, no strings attached and no hard feelings.

As if summoned by his revelation, Amy and Josh stumbled through the door. Garth looked Amy over, her round bubble butt covered by a short denim skirt, small breasts encased in a padded bra; she had always had complexes about them. "So Amy, why the wobbly knees, been sitting on them a lot lately?" Amy blushed crimson at the comment, Josh barking a laugh and fist bumping Garth. Lisa and Christa shared a look, obviously taken aback by his deadpan comment about her thing for sucking cock, which Garth fondly remembered from when he had had her attention last fall.

Questing out, he looked at Amy and Josh, examining their emotions. Just as he had guessed, plenty of Desire and Lust, but no Love or deep Affection; this would blow over in a few days, both sating their hunger and moving on, no hard feelings. On the verge of his attention, he felt a flare of strong emotions. Looking over at the other girls, he saw them share a look, both feeling a surge of Affection, Lust and a little Arousal, intertwined with Shame and Anxiety. Interesting. He had not known any of them had feelings for other girls, but there was a noticeable spark there. Watching closely he saw lots of small signs too; leaning a little too close, touching each other often, laughing just a tad too much at silly jokes and so on.

Talk and laughter flowed along with liberal amounts of beer and wine, though no one actually got drunk, just tipsy and relaxed. A little after midnight, Eric and Sebastian left, having at least spent the last hour or so talking to the others. Amy and Josh had fallen over on the couch, locked in a sloppy kiss. He pulled her skirt up, fingers trying to worm their way inside her panties, and Garth looked at the two other girls, noticing how they were watching with interest as well. Josh seemed oblivious to anything but getting his fingers inside Amy. She was trying halfheartedly to pull her skirt back down, but she was not really fighting him, and soon she gave up altogether, groping for his fly instead. All resistance gone, Josh grabbed the edge of her panties, pulling them roughly to the side, two fingers sliding in, a groan of pleasure sounding from Amy.

Garth looked at Lisa and Christa. They were watching intently, Christa gripping Lisa's thigh, though none of them seemed to notice. Reneging on his earlier decision, Garth started pulling on them gently, enflaming their emotions. He briefly considered trying to get them to blow him, he had, after all, not come since his little encounter with Sophia that morning. Seeing how they clung to each other, he decided against it; he was quite confident he would be able to find release whenever he really wanted to. Tonight was about them, he decided. Pulling more and more strongly, they felt as if they melded together. Josh and Amy had progressed to a full-blown sixty-nine, her ass towards them. Garth, Lisa and Christa got front row seats as Josh licked her clean-shaven lips from clit to puckered sphincter, his hands spreading her cheeks as if to give them a better view. Almost without active thought, he pulled on the girls, quite strongly too, looking away from Amy's sopping wet pussy only as a grunt came from the girls.

They had keeled over in a tangle, much as the other two had just a short while ago, tongues playing tonsil hockey and hands all over. Taking his que, Garth silently gathered his things and left, mouthing a silent You're welcome, at the girls as he left.

Tuesday morning saw Garth back at the mandatory Morals and Ethics lecture. He had spent the last couple of days just window shopping and spending time outdoors in the fine weather. He had not really done anything of note, just spent time using his power and being around people. No influencing, just looking and feeling. Ok, he had tweaked a little, once; a very cute girl at a café. But only enough to provoke a nice pair of pokies, hardly worth mentioning. He had looked for Sophia several times, never seeing her, but feeling her presence inside, emotions subdued and, frankly, quite boring.

This time, Garth decided to zone out Professor Sands right from the get-go, just swallowing a capsule right at the start and practicing matching emotions to people and vice versa. The girl from the library was there again, though this time in front of him; apparently not one of those with a favourite seat then. The lecture passed quickly once he found something he would rather do, deciding to do this from now on. The exam was usually just a joke anyway, usually a single written text about some generic situation that could be resolved a hundred different ways, all legitimate so long as you argued your point reasonably well. Garth thought there was a student who had failed a few years ago, he apparently had used the exam papers to make a joint, lighting it up during the exam and setting the fire alarm off. Garth was not very concerned with missing a few classes.

That evening, Garth was alone in the shop again, his uncle away on an unexpected errand. "Just shut down everything and lock up, I'll take care of the register before I open tomorrow, just remember to turn on the alarm." Ten minutes to eight, Garth was sitting behind the counter, no customers in the shop and likely no more coming before closing time; few people had urgent need of lube or a new dildo at this hour anyway. He was tapping his neuropathy in the back of his mind, not questing or feeling, just keeping tabs on the area around him, the locals a quiet, subdued bunch.

Suddenly a new patch glided into his awareness, the hue familiar, though he was not good enough to recognize people based on a remembered emotional signature, yet. Thinking it likely a repeat customer passing by or maybe doing some last minute shopping, he relaxed and kept reading the catalogue; he was just getting to the crotchless bikini bottoms-section. "Welcome, let me know if you need any help, we close in about ten," He said, not looking up yet. The door clicked shut, and then the lock clicked shut as well, a clattering sound announcing the Closed sign turning.