Karma Ain't Always a Bitch Ch. 09

First I would like to apologize for the length of time with no activity. Real life reared its ugly head. Now that I can work on this a bit, I started working Chapter nine up, and went back through to check a few things, and found myself looking at some necessary edits. They are clarifications and streamlines mainly, with one foreshadowing element added. This isn't meant as a stand alone story, and as such, you might want to read the first eight chapters first, otherwise you might end up as lost as I normally seem to be.

In the interest of full disclosure there are a couple of things that you should keep in mind when you read on. I started this with the initial premise and a completely non-sexual dog that you meet in Chapter six. The story made it into the middle of the second chapter, and I found that the characters decided that they were going to change the script so to speak. There are quite a few people that got mad at something that was a phantom wandering around in the drafty halls between my ears.

I'm not sure about your fantasy world, but mine has no STD's. If I'm thinking about what it would feel like to do whatever to whomever, I'm not going to stop myself and find out if the mental picture has anything communicable.

I would like to thank "takemeaway my love" for the assistance.

Thanks for taking the time, and please feel free to comment through the Lit profile.

TNC

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Mark woke when the sun popped up, his eyes feeling like he had sand in them. Sighing, he managed to extricate himself from between the two ladies and started getting ready for the day. Once he let Chief out and got the coffee started, he pulled out a pad and started making lists for the day. He had done rough lists and let Chief in before he settled in at the desk to finalize them. Sending the specs for the house addition to Doug Leonard, with a promise to call later, finished the parts he could remember and went to get breakfast started.

Mark finished cooking and was turning to take coffee to the ladies when Amy came in wearing a sleepy smile and slid into his arms. She was still snuggling in when Vanessa came in and snuggled up against his other side. All he could do was sigh and kiss the top of their heads, letting the serenity they evoked settle him.

They had just sat down to eat and the bat phone rang.

"Mark," he answered.

"Good morning, it's Adam. Are we still good for 10?"

"Yes sir we are, and thanks again for the help last night. Any luck on that number for the car?" Mark said, the second surprise brewing in his head.

"Not yet, but I should have it by the time we get to the range. What distances were you looking for? We've got access to all of them, although we'll have to stop off and pick up a little heavier hardware if you want to reach out past 1000 yards," Adam said with a chuckle.

"The fields around the house are about 350 yards aren't they?" Mark asked, mentally measuring distances.

"That's to the fence, it's 363 to the house. You want to go to 500?" Adam asked.

"Sounds like a plan, when do we need to be ready to leave?"

"Let's plan on leaving at 10, that way we will be there by 1030." Adam answered.

"Sounds good. What should we do with Chief?" Mark asked.

"While we have people keeping an eye on things, go ahead and bring him," Adam answered. "Did you have a chance to get the list of investments together? I'd like to get started seeing if there are more rats waiting in the wings."

"I think so, but I'm going to have Vanessa double check and I'll give them to you when we meet up. Do you want to have her ID the ones that your guys danced with then, as well?" Mark asked while Vanessa nodded.

"That works, anything else," Adam asked.

"Doug Leonard might be coming out to look at the property today, if you want to start with him. He's on the list anyway, but he's going to be drawing up an addition, and I don't want to blindside you."

"Ok. If that's it, we can go over anything else at 10," Adam paused for a second before he hung up.

Mark was lost in the details floating through his head, and forgot that he had two very curious ladies in attendance. Once his eyes focused, he filled them in on the half of the conversation they hadn't heard, mentally side-stepping the two extra points.

With just over two hours to get ready, Mark grabbed his coffee and the pad figuring he would let the ladies get started. Vanessa grabbed his hand as he was sitting down and pulled him to his feet and toward the bedroom. She dropped her robe in the hall and let him drink in her curves as she led him by the hand.

The ladies knew he didn't sleep much last night and while Vanessa was keeping Mark busy, Amy was rescheduling the morning for noon. Both of them knew he was still running on caffeine and adrenaline, and weren't above cheating to get him some rest.

Vanessa stopped when the door closed, smiling when Mark slid behind her, his hands slipping around her breasts and his cock pressing into her ass. Reaching back, she grabbed his shorts and bent over to pull them down, putting his cock against her excited pussy, drawing a moan from her husband. He pulled an answering one from her when he slid his hands down to massage the cheeks of her ass.

She crawled into the middle of the bed and waited for Mark to join her, rolling over and drawing him into her arms. Vanessa sighed when she felt his weight settle on her, although he still took some of it on his elbows. Wrapping her legs around his ribs, she took the chance to leisurely kiss him, savoring the feelings that just being able to touch him created in her.

Mark knew they had time, so he let Vanessa set the pace, groaning when he felt her nails traveling the length of his back. Each fell into the other's eyes as they kissed, the added sensuality escalating their excitement. He could feel the heat emanating from her pussy when she ground it against his stomach, her hands pressing into his ass to get more friction.

"Make love to me baby, please," Vanessa sighed in his ear and reached down, pressing the head between her swollen lips.

This had started as a way to get Mark to lie back down, but she couldn't pass up the chance to have his cock inside her.

Mark felt the head sliding through her slick lips and pressed until his pubic bone was pressed against her clit, drawing a sigh from Vanessa. He answered with one of his own when she started massaging his shaft with her pussy muscles.

"That feels so fucking good Ness, milk me with your pussy," Mark moaned into her mouth.

"You like that, baby? You like when your pussy squeezes that big cock? Oh fuck, you fill me up so good," Vanessa said and felt the twinges signaling her orgasm building.

She thought she could feel his cock throbbing with his heartbeat and started squeezing in time with it.

"I love you Ness, shit that feels good."

"Give me your cum sweetheart. Shoot it in me and fill me up. I love you too, Mark, so much more than I ever thought possible," Vanessa finished, her eyes filling with tears.

When Mark saw the emotion in Vanessa's eyes he felt two things, the first was an answering flood of emotion and the second was his orgasm. He felt Vanessa's walls start fluttering when she came and then felt the first shot of cum leave his body.

The lovers spent themselves gasping into each others' mouth, the connection fully repaired between them.

Mark let Vanessa pull him down and press her down into the bed, her contented purr making him smile. The last thing he remembered was her fingers running through his hair.

Vanessa waited until she was sure Mark was asleep and slipped off to the shower, her sense of peace finally restored. She dressed for the range and stopped to watch Mark. It might sound cliché, but she loved him more now than she did a minute, a day, or a year ago. It was that thought that she carried with her as she walked into the den.

"I love you Amy. Thank you," Vanessa said and pulled her friend into a tearful hug.

"Is everything ok, Vanessa?"

"Everything is wonderful again. I just wanted to say thank you," Vanessa said with a smile.

"Well if that's all," Amy said with a giggle and pulled Vanessa into a hug.

"We need to be ready to leave by noon and Adam has the pictures of the goons from last night for you to ID," Amy finished after the two settled at the table, just as they had thousands of times.

Mark gradually slid back to the light with a nagging feeling that something was wrong. One glance at the clock was enough to answer the what, and he knew he had been ambushed by the ladies, again. He was pulling back the covers when Amy walked in with a cup of coffee and a smile.

"Good morning baby. Please don't be mad at us. We knew you didn't sleep last night and everything is set to leave at noon instead." Amy said and put her most innocent look on.

All Mark could do was smile and shake his head, and went to get ready.

Mark had settled in between the ladies with a fresh cup of coffee when the bat phone rang.

"Mark"

"It's Adam. We're pulling the car around and should be ready to go in five minutes. I've also got that info you wanted and figured we could go over it when we get to the range."

"Sounds good."

The big Suburban that acted as lead vehicle was full of goodies when they got to the range. Adam had stopped to get some larger hardware. Four rifle cases and two dozen ammunition cases later, the truck was parked with just the four of them on a rifle range, tucked into a back corner of the base..

After a thorough safety and equipment briefing, the rifles they came with were replaced by M4's fitted with optics and chambered in a larger caliber. In addition there was a cannon, better known as the Barrett sniper rifle; and fine way to reach out and touch someone; a mile away.

The three were finishing the pistol and rifle ranges when Adam got a call. He glanced at the trio once, and turned away to finish the call. He passed out new magazines for the weapons and was turning to get something from the truck when a car slid into the parking lot 100 yards away. When the doors all opened at once, Mark pushed Amy and Vanessa down on the other side of the sand bags that were used for shooting rests and grabbed two fresh magazines for the Barrett, chambering a big .50 caliber round. Vanessa was facing behind them with Mark and Amy facing the parking lot.

Four men jumped from the car and each carried a weapon that resembled the M4's that Amy and Vanessa were carrying. The driver and passenger on the left side of the car were using the car for cover and the two on the passenger side were in the prone firing position.

"I've got the one on the left Amy. Go." Mark said and squeezed the trigger on the Barrett, the report and muzzle blast dwarfing Amy's as she fired. The only thing that saved the man's life was that the scope was still sighted in at 1200 yards, the bullet passing close to thirty feet overhead. He was bringing the muzzle down to fix that oversight and saw all of the assailants face down with their hands as far away from a weapon as possible. That's when he heard a familiar voice cussing, and being very imaginative in his choice of phrasing.

Jack counted himself a lucky man that Mark hadn't been on the big gun yet. He had finished running the pistols and the M4, and was waiting for the ladies to finish with the big weapon, when Adam got the phone call. He had been watching Mark and the girls through a spotter scope, and called to tell Adam to swap out the live rounds with the equivalent of souped up paintball rounds. He hadn't counted on Mark getting his hands on the Barrett. Now he was counting on his friend thinking between shots, and not sliding into "terminator" mode to protect the girls.

There was a tense second when Mark asked Vanessa if she saw anyone behind them. When it was clear that this was the only group, Mark spun the scope back down closer to rock throwing distance for the weapon.

"Jack, show me your face or this is going to get real fucking messy," Mark said between clenched teeth.

The lucky man reached up with one hand and lifted the mask from his face. He heard the edge slipping into his friend's voice and needed to head that off as long as he was armed with that howitzer.

"Easy Mark. The girls are safe. I shouldn't have done this without at least talking to you and I'm sorry, now can we back down some?" Jack asked.

Mark clicked the safety on and got up, grabbed a handful of magazines for both pistold, and walked off toward the pistol ranges.

"Fuck. I'll get him," Jack stopped, almost ronning into two very irritated women.

"You want to get shot for real this time Jack?" Amy asked, her eyes flashing.

They heard a series of shots ringing out as Mark ran the course; the only breaks were the sprints between the stations.

Vanessa saw him first and took Amy to talk him back again, not sure what it would take this time. One look and she was glad they were both there. Mark's eyes were glassy and the veins were standing out on his forehead.

The girls each grabbed an arm, turned him around, and started talking to him and each other; anything to help him through the mine field that he was walking.

"Are you both ok?"

"Yes sweetheart, we're fine. What about you?" Amy asked.

"I'm fine," stopping when he saw them both winding up, "Ok, I'm not fine; all I saw was Jimmy standing there. Thank God the scope was off."

Not caring if he had an audience, Mark grabbed first Vanessa and then Amy and kissed them, drawing peace from their connection. His hands were still shaking when he turned the group back toward the vehicles.

"Let's not make this a habit Jack, this is two days in a row and next time you might not be as lucky," Mark said, grabbing Jack and hugging him. "Sorry about that gentlemen, I didn't mean to lose it. Are you all ok?" Mark asked the group with Jack.

No one but Jack and the girls recognized Mark's meltdown. To everyone else he was a little more controlled than was to be expected and one of the luckiest bastards they knew. They had seen the way he kissed both beauties and the way Amy and Vanessa molded themselves to him when they stopped.

"Let's go get some food, and maybe we can figure out a way for me not to point a gun at you tomorrow," Mark said with a small smile.

Mark was heading for the car when Vanessa grabbed the keys and helped Amy stuff him in the back seat. They both knew he was still walking the tightrope over the pit and had no intention of letting him fall in.

Amy crawled in next to Mark and pulled him into a hug, refusing to let him go until she felt him start relaxing against her. The thirty minute drive back to the Chief's club on base gave him time to recover and he started exploring Amy's curves.

"No getting naked in the back seat you two, we're almost there," Vanessa said with a giggle.

"Aw mom, you're no fun," Amy said with a laugh.

Mark and Amy slid over the seat when they approached the gate, the guard shooting the same look at him as the men at the range had, when they went through. He figured that would become more common now that both of the ladies were with him.

Over lunch, Mark, Vanessa, Amy, Jack and Adam went over the pictures that Vanessa needed to ID. There were a couple that looked like the back steps had kicked their asses a few extra times. They also went over Mark and Vanessa's investments and who to talk to at each.

The group was almost done with lunch, and Mark had finished going over the information on the Lincoln, when Adam's phone rang. Mark slid away from the table and eased both the .45 and the 10mm in their holsters.

"Mark, there won't be any more drills like that until we figure out the ground rules," Jack said, and watched Mark weighing how to keep the girls safe, "Mark, look at me. The girls are fine; no one is going to hurt them; especially now. Look around and you'll recognize most everyone in here. I almost wish our friend would try something now, there wouldn't be enough left to DNA test. I'm sorry about earlier, now slow down and breathe."

Jack saw Mark look around the room and saw him relax for the first time.

"Sorry," Mark said softly.

That's when Jack noticed the rings on the girls' fingers. It's one thing to see them in the box and another to see them worn. Strangely enough, they looked just as natural on Amy as they did on Vanessa. He also noticed the identical look on their faces, almost like two lionesses that had their mate's back, and he supposed they did.

Doug called shortly after things settled in and caused the gathering to close. After one more round of handshakes and hugs in Jack's case, the three started for the house with their escorts.

Mark raised more than one set of eyebrows when he tossed the keys to Amy and climbed in the back with Vanessa. If they had needed a sign that said he was burned out, that was it. None of the group had ever seen Mark willingly not drive and then to climb in the back made it doubly rare.

Vanessa climbed in the back seat not knowing what to expect. She knew he was working on next to no sleep and the stress of the past three days was starting to drain his reserves. She had time to share a look with Amy before Mark fell apart in her lap, finally reaching his limit to what he could take. All she could do was pull his head into her lap and let his tears soak the legs of her jeans.

Mark felt his control slipping after the episode at the range and it went further when Adam's phone rang. It was all he could do to hold it together until he could get to the car and the haven that Amy and Vanessa gave him. The door was still swinging shut as he felt the dam burst and wash him downstream in the flood.

Amy saw the anguish on Vanessa's face when they shared the look in the mirror. She was sure that her eyes reflected it as well; they both knew there wasn't anything they could do until the storm blew through. Reaching back, she grabbed Vanessa's hand and the two ladies drew strength from each other. Once they started talking, Mark seemed to calm and was soon sound asleep.

Vanessa called Doug and shifted the meeting back a few hours and let Adam know. With a little over an hour to drive, Vanessa spent the time making small talk with Amy and running her fingers through Mark's hair.

Mark woke up in bed, two feminine forms sleeping peacefully alongside him. He didn't remember anything after leaving the club. Knowing that Doug would be there shortly he started to wake up the ladies, stopping when he noticed that it was dark, and started chuckling to himself when he saw the clock. It was almost dawn. Making the call Mother Nature demanded, he snuggled back into the space between Amy and Vanessa, sighed happily and slipped back into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Vanessa called Doug, and shifted his visit to the next day, when they had to get Adam's help getting Mark out of the car; an addition to the house could wait.

The ladies took turns checking on Mark when he finally started sleeping off the effects of being up for the better part of five days. When he slept through supper, they tried to wake him up and finally gave up altogether and joined him for an early night.

Mark woke up as usual and, for the first time in months, felt rested. Slipping out, he got the coffee started and made the two phone calls he didn't want an audience for while Amy and Vanessa were still asleep. As he hung up the phone, Vanessa climbed into his lap, straddling his legs and kissed him.

"Good morning baby. Do you feel better?" Vanessa asked sleepily.

"Much. Sorry for not being around last night. Did Doug come by?"

"We rescheduled that for this afternoon and you know better than to apologize. You did scare Amy a bit though. She hasn't been around when you first get home," Vanessa said and leaned in to kiss Mark's neck.