Ice Backs

Bernice fell to her knees and gazed up at the engorged phallus. A curious hand reached out and stroked it. A tentative tongue took a gentle lick. The man, who was not much older than Bernice, but vastly more experienced, smiled at her and gently stroked her cheek and chin. With gentle encouragement and kind words, he instructed the innocent girl. She found his words both encouraging and calming. Her lips encircled his shaft. Her scarlet-tressed head began sliding back and forth. Everything became easier for the young woman. The young man stated encouragements and then began making sounds of pleasure. All at once, the lad's manhood erupted all over the roof and back of Bernice's mouth. Stunned, she swallowed out of reflex.

"Excellent, Ms. Davis!" opined the roving instructor.

"Gosh!" proclaimed the amazed girl.

Afterwards, the three Davis women talked about their training session.

"When your father asks how you spent your day, change the subject."

"But, mom," began Felicia, "He has to have SOME idea of what our training involves."

"True. In an academic sense. To hear it from your own lips will devastate him."

"His training isn't going so well, is it, mom?" asked Bernice.

"They are asking a great deal of him. He has to think like a robot to supervise the robots. That would drain away anyone's humanity. When he comes home, we should all greet him with smiles and help him relax. After a good meal and family time, he'll be in a much better mood."

"Our training won't last too much longer, then we move to the employee's wing of the casino and start our four-day work weeks."

"Yes, Felicia. Fortunately, the company has arraigned our schedules so that we will have regular days off together. They didn't have to do that. During those days, I am going to get us out and into the city. We'll visit zoos and art museums like we did in the old days on earth. They have a shuttle that takes people to the largest moon in only a few hours! Think about that! Even though we've spent centuries in interstellar space, we've never really seen the stars."

"We'll make this work, mom!"

"That's the right attitude, Bernice!"

Abner came home footsore and disheartened. Ashley greeted him with a big hug and a kiss, placed a cocktail in his hand and steered him towards an easy chair.

"I'm losing my humanity with each passing day, honey," he said in a dispirited voice.

Ashley tugged off his shoes and began massaging his feet.

"Darling, no man who has a wife and daughters such as yourself could never be inhuman."

"Ah, darling. That feels so good! It is getting easier. It's just not the life I pictured for myself at this age."

"We flew off into the unknown, honey. The fact that we made it through space in one piece and are still together as a family, is nothing short of miraculous. I was telling the girls today, that when we all have the same day off, we should explore this world. Do things that we did as a family on earth. They have a moon shuttle that costs very little to ride!"

"You are right, Ashley. It's the endless walking that has me so worn out. The mental strain isn't too bad. The AIs are logical thinkers but there are so many kilometers to hike!"

"Dear, to be honest, you need to lose weight. The walking will take the kilos off. You'll be closer to the fit and trim husband I married."

She followed that announcement with a kiss and a gleam in her eye.

"Oh, sweetness, you always find the silver lining in every cloud! How was your day?"

"Not much to say, instruction and more instruction. It was all very boring."

"Your mouth is too pretty to be spouting falsehoods."

"Would you prefer a blow-by-blow description?"

"No. I don't suppose I do. Let's call the girls and order up dinner."

Ashley really adored the food synthesizer. Simply type in the meals you wanted and moments later they were dispensed piping hot. Only a few dishes to clean afterwards and a robot did that for you. Dinner was not entirely cheerful. Abner's frustrations hung about the air. The girls were clearly nervous when they met their father's gaze. Abner wanted to probe but understood it would be counterproductive. He was old fashioned enough to wish that his daughters were on a trajectory for marriage, or at least college and scads of potential suitors who were proper gentlemen. But such thoughts were just pie in the sky. Would they have ended up in better situations on his imagined frontier world? On a planet of roughnecks and rugged individuals, would either girl have had better fates? Ruminating on unknowns and impossibilities was doing him no good at all. His gaze fell to the table. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on the positives. They were all alive and together. A positive future awaited all of them if only the intervening years could evaporate like mist in sunshine!

That night, Ashley gave her husband one of the best blowjobs of their entire marriage. Even as he came, Abner could not entirely relax, "Was this something new she learned today? If so, who taught her?" he asked himself. She slid into his embrace and buried him under a fusillade of kisses.

"This should make me spectacularly happy" went his internal dialogue. Outwardly he said with as much sincerity as he could muster, "I don't deserve a goddess like you, Ashley."

"The feeling is mutual, husband."

Abner had consistent dreams that night. Troubled.

**

Ashley and her daughters stared at the new adornment to their bodies. High on each of their right thighs was an ornate tattoo incorporating the logo of the casino, their first names and their employee identification numbers. Graduation would be in two days then, the three of them would be expected to start working regular hours, dispensing drinks, and bedding clients.

"Dad is going to flip when he sees these," opined Bernice.

"I'll do my best to sell this to him girls."

"Yeah, I can just hear you now mom," put in Felicia. "You see darling, our work uniforms are so tiny there's no place for a name tag so how else are the customers going to know that we are employees and not just random lewd women?"

Bernice laughed, then put in pointedly, "At least both of you are experienced. There is NO way we can let dad know that the casino bosses are auctioning off my virginity!"

"Yeah, that does suck, sis. Hopefully, he turns out to be a nice guy."

"I doubt that. You saw the promo materials. Our beautiful ice queen has waited over five hundred years to get laid. Will you be the man to thaw her out?"

"That is infuriating, honey. I tried to speak to the supervisor on your behalf. She was sympathetic but said that Shang-Na's policy is to monetize everything they can."

"I wanted my first time to be special. I should not have shot down Billy's teasingly suggesting that we play strip poker. I hear the first time is often uncomfortable. Billy was kind and understanding. He might have made it fun."

"Thinking about Billy will help you get through it, Bernice."

"Do you think of other guys when you are with dad, mom?" asked Felicia.

"Such a question! I've been with just your father for a long time!"

"That is neither a yes or no answer, mom" pressed Felicia.

Ashley flushed red. After a long silence she returned with, "I suppose every married woman's mind wanders and wonders from time to time. There are movie actors, or your husband's good friends or even a rather handsome boy you passed in the street who gave you a certain appreciative look." Ashley hastened to add, "I don't do that very often, mind you!"

"Thank you for being honest, mom," returned Felicia.

"Your father is more than enough for any woman most of the time..."

"We don't think any less of you, mom," put in Bernice.

"Yeah, we just want to confide in you. I'm sure over the next few days and weeks, both Bernice and I are going to come to you with questions. We just want to know that we are going to get honest answers."

"I'm full of questions myself, girls. I haven't done anything like this since I married your father."

"But you had boyfriends, lovers before dad, right mom?"

"Yes, Bernice. But I put that away when I realized that your father, despite many temptations, was the man of my dreams."

"Did you ever give in to temptation, mom?"

"Well..."

"Spill it!" exclaimed Felicia.

"I'm hesitant to tell you this story, but I think it might help you both understand that relationships are complicated, and the career chosen by fate for us will deal with complications and passions that can overwhelm," Ashley paused, "Do you remember Ricardo Argonez?"

"Dad's business partner?"

"Yes. He's been dead for over five centuries so there are not even ghosts to offend. Anyway, after he became your father's partner, we spent a great deal of time together. Ricardo brought a lot into the partnership. He was wealthier than your father at that point. He had a lovely beach cottage that had been in his family's hands for a few generations where this happened. Ricardo was not married then. It started quite innocently, your father, me, Ricardo, Ricardo's date playing cards. I can't for the life of me remember her name. She was very pretty and very blonde. She may have been a model. I was Ricardo's partner. We were sitting next to each other. His leg brushed up against mine in a way I knew was no accident. It was summer. I was wearing shorts. We were beating the pants off your father and Ricardo's date. The wine flowed freely. Ricardo's left hand alit on my left thigh and stayed there through several hands. I looked at him in irritation, he winked at me and smiled. Ricardo's smile could make a nun sin! I suddenly felt so desired and so desirable that I was almost overcome. Your father, bless his heart, remained oblivious. When he and Ricardo's date went to resupply the wine, my hand somehow landed on Ricardo's crotch. He leaned in and whispered hotly in my ear. "The spare bedroom one A.M." I reacted like I was shocked. But Ricardo was very handsome back then, Taller than your father, broader, lovely skin. He followed up his indecent proposal with a sudden, overwhelming kiss and I knew that I was going to fall off the fidelity wagon. Feeling tremendously guilty, I made love to your father that night and tried to fall asleep and thus miss the rendezvous. But when the bedside clock softly chimed one, I slid out of bed, slid on a robe, and padded softly down the hall in my bare feet.

Ricardo had preceded me. He wore nothing at all and in the half-light of the moon, he resembled a statue of a Greek god. I said, "Oh my!" He embraced me. My robe fluttered to the floor. We made love silently so as not to wake our partners. It was wonderful! It was wrong! Our encounter, spent like a summer downpour, left me with so many conflicting emotions. In the morning, when I stripped the sheets from the bed, I noted the stain from the previous night. It was your father's seed and Ricardo's seed and my own lust. Seeing my guilt in such a concrete form knocked the sense back into me and I never betrayed your father again."

Bernice and Felicia stood a moment, dazed before her eldest said,

"And Daddy never knew?"

"No. He had done nothing wrong, and he still was the man of my dreams. I knew without question that your father was my future. Ricardo and I would have burnt ourselves out like a flash fire in the forest. Incredibly hot and unquestionably beautiful but destroying everything around it to leave only ashes and regret. I tell you girls this so that you realize that lust is not love. We will meet many men like Ricardo once we graduate. Learn to recognize the men that tug at your heart's desire and try to twist it. Strive to find men, on your days off who are like your father. Handsome, good, and true. Remember the corporation said you girls could form your own relationships on your own time. Even women such as we will soon deserve decent, honest, handsome men."

"Wow, mom," said Felicia. "Anything else?"

"Yes, on some cold nights I still yearn for Ricardo's touch. Other days, I want nothing other than for time to fly backwards so I could relive that night, cling to your father, and shut my ears tight when the clock chimes one. The point is men get under your skin like nothing else. The same man who can charm the skirt off you can also infuriate you and make you question everything you believe and everything you are. Keep a clear head, you two. Focus on something that will keep you grounded, a hobby, a girlfriend whom you can confide in like a diary. Never be what you don't want to be even while you perform a job you hate."

"We don't know if we will hate this job yet," said Bernice innocently.

"It's a job darling daughter. EVERY job has its good days and its bad days."

With that, the trio of women shared a brief laugh and made their way home.

**

"You're not mine anymore," stated Abner glumly as he surveyed his wife's tattoo.

"Poppycock! I'm just as much yours as I ever was. This means nothing."

"You no longer wear my ring and now you bear the mark of our corporate overlords. Those are two mighty big signs."

"In the first place, they confiscated my original wedding band and engagement ring, in the second place, this is removable when I retire. It can only bother you if you let it."

"Oh, Ashley," he said with tears in his eyes, "I'm so scared of losing you. Losing you to men younger and handsomer than me, men with lots of money and power. Men who are not me."

Ashley embraced her husband.

"I understand your fears, honey. I assure you it won't happen. You are the only man I have ever and will ever love."

"You say that now."

"Darling!" Ashley kissed her husband. Some time in bed allowing him to stroke and kiss the new adornment to her body after they made love placed Abner in a much better mood.

**

Ashley gazed at her reflection. Her uniform was a very short sheath dress that exposed almost the entirety of her long, shapely legs and the tops of her ample breasts. She wore an emerald and silver choker about her slender neck with matching dangling earrings. Her hair was arrayed in a slight up-do, and she wore silver sandals with intimidating heels that laced up to her calves. Under everything was only a wispy lace thong and an equally lacy bandeau. She fussed with her makeup more out of anxiety than anything else. Zero hour was just minutes away. No more practices that stopped just short of the actual deed. Tonight, she would be violating her marital vows for the first time in centuries. Conveniently, Abner's work schedule had already begun. He'd be working the graveyard shift, his mind occupied elsewhere. With luck, they would share breakfast without recrimination on Abner's part. Ashley stood and psyched herself up a bit more.

"Gee mom, you look terrific!"

Ashley turned and took in Felicia, identically attired.

"The customers are not going to believe that we are mother and daughter."

"You shouldn't lie, sweetheart."

"I'm not, mom!"

"OK, but let's not broadcast the fact that we are related. At least not at first."

"Mum's the word, Mum!"

The big clock in the dressing room turned over, a buzzer sounded. Felicia embraced her mother, planted a soft kiss on her cheek and said, "Showtime!"

Ashley grabbed a tray as the girls from the previous shift filed in. She held the tray high as she entered the gambling floor. Instantly, she was reminded of old Las Vegas on earth. "Some things time simply cannot change," she said as she made her way towards the card tables.

"Hey, babe!" said a young man at the blackjack table, "can you get me a Galaxia?"

"Sure, sir."

Ashley fingered the keyboard on her tray and made her way to the nearest free-standing dispenser. By the time she reached the electronic bar, the customer's libation was waiting. She returned to the blackjack table no more than three minutes later. She served the cocktail with a smile. The lad promptly won the hand.

"Hey, you may be a lucky charm..." he scanned her thigh, "Ashley. Stick around."

"Yes, sir." She gestured to her tray indicating the button that the young man was to depress, indicating that he was now paying for Ashley's presence. The lad gladly pressed the button. Another hand was delt. Once more the dark featured man won the hand. He studied Ashley carefully.

"Are you a wife?"

Ashley nodded.

"Revived sleeper? Husband still alive?"

"Yes, sir to both questions." Ashley was delighted that he had not used the iceback pejorative.

"My name is Thaddeus. Very nice to meet you."

Ashley curtsied.

The game progressed. Thaddeus won a few more hands.

"A kiss for luck, Ashley."

Their lips met. Ashley was surprised at the intensity of the brief contact.

Ashley studied the young man as he focused on the cards anew. He was quite handsome and quite young. His hair was dark and wavy. The tight sleeveless tunic he wore revealed firm muscles. The lad towered over the tall Ashley. His eyes were green and hinted at a mischievous personality. His smile, which he flashed at Ashley when he wasn't intently focusing on the cards, was incandescent.

"How old are you, Ashley?"

"Forty-four."

"Really?"

"Um-hum."

"I'm twenty-one. You could be my mother!"

Ashley made no response, but Thaddeus noted her subtle nod and full body flush. It delighted him. Twice more the young man dispatched Ashley for adult beverages. He had her follow him to the poker table. His automatic marker became full of virtual chips.

"You really are lucky, Ashley. It must have crossed space with you."

"Thank you, Thaddeus."

He grinned at the beautiful red-haired, middle-aged woman. Despite her training, she found it difficult to meet his intense and meaningful gaze.

"In fact, I think I've pressed your luck as far as it will go on the gambling floor. I'd like to press you in other ways. Do you know where we can be alone until morning?"

"Morning?"

"Yes, I'm selfish about sharing my luck."

"Very well, Thaddeus. If you will follow me."

She took his hand and led him to the pleasure rooms. He slipped an arm over her shoulder. Ashley thought that he smelled quite nice. He stole a kiss, a much deeper and scintillating one this time. A mix of emotions swelled through Ashley. There was the deep gut-wrenching sense of shame for breaking her vows, nearly as intense as that summer night so many centuries ago with Ricardo, mixed with a genuine sense of curiosity and anticipation as to what sort of lover this young man would turn out to be. It was all so overwhelming for the revived wife and mother.

"Do you have any children, Ashley?"

"Yes, two daughters."

"If they look anything like you, they are beyond gorgeous,"

"Oh, Thaddeus!"

They entered the pleasure room. Silently, the recording equipment came to life. After another prolonged kiss, Ashley's fingers went to the buttons of Thaddeus's sleeveless tunic. It opened, revealing a smooth broad chest with prominent pectorals. Thaddeus owned a narrow waist and a flat, trim tummy tightly knotted with muscles. Ashley's fingers stroked these abdominals. She had not been with a man this fit since Abner stopped taking care of himself. It occurred to Ashley that, in her old life, Thaddeus was just the sort of boy her eyes focused on when she was out shopping or riding the tram at home, fit, clean-faced boys who seemed to lack any guile whatsoever, making them perfect objects of fantasy.

Unbidden, Ashley fell to her knees and liberated Thaddeus's manhood from his trousers. It did not disappoint. Like the rest of Thaddeus, it was the perfect size.

As she serviced the young man the years fell away. Ashley recalled a day when she was eighteen and Howie Reynolds taught her how to really suck cock for the first time. It was a beautiful autumn day. Howie was home from college. His parents were out on a day-long errand. She and Howie were naked at the poolside. Howie was a senior. Soon he would take a job in far off Boston in a firm owned by his uncle. For right now though, he was reclining on an air mattress. Ashley straddled his calves. Howie was president of his fraternity and very popular with the ladies at college. He knew just what a man wanted from a blowjob. Patiently he explained his desires to Ashley, who was in his thrall. Her first efforts were amateurish and toothy, but before very long, she had learned to suppress her gag reflex enough o take all of him in and there was a lot of Howie to take in! She swallowed his seed with a sense of triumph. Later, they both rested on the float as it bobbed in the water. They fell asleep. The shocked utterances of Howie's mother awakened them. Ashley flushed scarlet but Howie laughed it off. He promised that he would call Ashley later, but he never did. Before two years had passed Howie was married to a girl from a wealthy old family with lots of inherited wealth. Ashley was stunned when she saw the wedding photos online. Howie's bride was barely qualified as pretty. Thaddeus greatly resembled Howie. Just like him, he would be gone from her life in the morning. But right now, he was here. He was gorgeous. He wanted Ashley. Ashley wanted him. For tonight, that was enough. She brought him to a rousing climax, displayed his seed in her open mouth before winking, swallowing the gift of oral love, and grinning up at him.