Teaching Her a Lesson Pt. 13

Would Candy take the first turn? She'd complained -- loudly -- that she missed a man's touch. Or would Isa decide to conquer her phallophobia and take a ride? What would be happening in her head if she did -- was she humoring her girlfriend's broader appetites, or simply striving to make me happy? Or would she discover that she enjoyed it and dive in for the sake of her own enjoyment? Would she use her mouth? Would Candy? Would I get to watch them make love to one another? Would it be permissible to intrude, or did I wait in the wings to be summoned? Would Isa mind if I was rough with her? (Would I mind if she were rough with me?) Would Candy grow jealous if I spent more time on Isa's tits than hers? Would I get jealous if Candy spent more time on Isa's tits than my cock?

Whose pussies were tighter -- lesbians, or teenagers?

It was the hardest that quinoa had ever made a man.

Candy dabbed at invitingly pink lips with a napkin. "So, who's ready for the main course?"

At her invitation, Isa and I passed along our plates, and she disappeared into the kitchen with them. I was about to make another overture at banal small talk when a noise came from my pocket. "Bitch."

Isa arched an eyebrow. "Was that you?"

"That was Andy Bernard." I pulled out my phone. "Custom ring-tone for Taylor Stern."

Her lips pursed. "I... see."

"I have the same one for Abbie."

She smiled, but it was forced. I censored an embarrassed grimace. "Don't worry, Officer Barbour. I keep it on silent during the school day."

"That's a relief." Her smile forced itself a little brighter, but then she gave up and removed her napkin from her lap and set it on the table. "Excuse me. I'm going to see if Candace needs a hand."

"Sure. If you, um, need another pair..."

"I think we got it. Thanks." The smile didn't last even until she turned toward the door.

At least it allowed me to let that grimace out. Man, that notification sure had touched a nerve. I wondered why -- not like she hadn't been laughing and smiling at my story of this morning's fantasy antics. Nor was she a fan of Taylor. Hell, she'd tased her out of raw spite. Hmm. Ah well. My hands, programmed by the engineers of Apple, opened the text of their own accord. There was a pic of Taylor. She looked to be standing in Megan's living room. Her shirt was drawn up over her breasts. She was still wearing the bikini from earlier, technically, but it was pulled down beneath them. There was a message accompanying it.

abbie said to send this, so... your welcome.

I admired the picture for a moment.You're*, I replied cattily.

I know. She also said to misspell it so you could get that grammar-correcting high.

I listened toward the kitchen, but this time, their voices were too low to overhear. I hoped I hadn't somehow spoiled the mood. Was it simply getting a text at the table? Some people were sticklers for that sort of etiquette. Maybe it was just nerves.

My fingers typed,It bothers me she's never had my class but she read me that well.

She's a jenius all right. You're the only english teacher who gets off on knit picking spelling. You are a unique special snowflake.

I smiled in spite of myself.Another one, but this time with your nipples hard.

Candy leaned around the corner. "Say, do you want gravy on your garlic mash? It's an old family recipe from Serbia, but... well, it's a little unorthodox. Has some sharp notes that not everybody likes. If you don't want to, that's fine."

Unorthodox gravy didn't, in fact, sound especially appetizing, but I wasn't about to spurn her grandmother's cooking, especially since I was in all probability about to feed her something a good deal less appetizing soon after. "Go crazy. I love to try new things."

Her smile broadened, whether at the promise of sex to come or my interest in her cooking, or both. "You got it." She blew a kiss and hurried back into the kitchen. "He said load him up, mama. Told you he had good taste."

I could hear dishes clattering, the smells heightened as food vacated ovens and lidded containers. Still, by the time Taylor's plump, hard nipples emerged into view, this time with a wry grin on her lips, my appetites were less and less for chicken bacon broccoli alfredo and more for other fare.

I marveled for a moment, then wrote,You are perfect.

Duh.I almost spat up a sip of zinfandel laughing. That girl.do me a favor and spank the shit out of that cunt barbie for me, she added.or better yet, taze her.

Still bitter?I asked. Not that I could blame her.

af.

I was still admiring her picture when my hostesses swept into the dining room. Isa nearly set down a plate in front of me, then reversed and placed the one in her other hand instead. The portions were noticeably larger. I wasn't that much bigger than her, but apparently to these women, men needed an extra five hundred calories at a meal. It smelled divine, though I had to admit that the runny yellow-brown gravy was runnier than I might have liked. Oh well. I'd given myself the spice equivalent of third degree burns on my tongue at a Thai food restaurant to try to impress a date once, and I hadn't even gotten to second base with her.

Isa refilled each of our wine glasses, then took her seat at my side. It was Candy, though, who raised her glass and her voice. "To creating and keeping juicy secrets," she announced.

"To secrets," we echoed. Our glasses clinked. We drank.

"So what did Taylor want?" Candace asked, folding her napkin in her lap. She was still picking at her salad; Isa rounded up some broccoli and chicken and skewered it on her dinner fork.

"Oh, nothing much." By reflex, I set down my forkful of potatoes and slipped my phone back into my pocket. (Better to take on the mystery gravy first, then wash it down with the more reliable-sounding main course, I'd thought.)

"No no, you can't just 'nothing much' then hide your phone like that. Out with it," she insisted.

It was like she was already my girlfriend, demanding to see my phone and all. No sense dissembling, I supposed. Not like these women didn't understand the situation. For crying out loud, they'd both witnessed me having sex with Taylor not fifty feet from the table we were eating at. "She was only sending me a little selfie. I think she's jealous of you two. All of them are."

Candy laughed. Isa was studying her plate hard. "Maybe she ought to be. Isa told me you've been, ahem, admiring her assets."

I winced. "She told you about that?"

"Don't get shy on me. Of course she did. She's amazing, isn't she? Come on, you've got to admit those children have nothing on her." She gestured with her fork at my plate. "Don't let it get cold, now."

I readied another forkload, but something compelled me to push things a bit. The sight of a topless Taylor Stern had been gasoline on the smoldering embers of my libido. Plus, Candy had been pretty up front about her attraction to the girls. Why not give her a little thrill? I produced my phone, food abandoned, and swiped open the picture. "I dunno... check her out. That's pretty tough to top. Nothing against you, Isa -- just saying there's competition."

She swallowed down her bite of food. I expected a smile, a retort, but she merely made some unreadable expression and took another bite, this time digging into her own gravy-laden potatoes. "These areso good, baby," she said emphatically.

"Thanks, sweetie. I took a little taste test, and I think it might be my best batch yet." Candy glanced again at my phone before handing it back. "Not bad, not bad. I guess we'll get to compare soon enough. Once we finish eating -- now come on, you're slowing us down. Right, mama?"

Isa nodded. "Right," she agreed around a mouthful, then chugged half her glass of wine. "I have this dynamite little lingerie set I can't wait to show you. It's going to make youso happy. Isn't it, baby?"

"Oh, you have no idea. Now comeon, put that phone away before dessert gets any colder!" Candy said flirtatiously, shoving her salad plate aside and digging into her own plate pointedly.

"Well when you put it that way... why wait?" The ladies shared a sudden look with one another before turning to me. "Let's not dance around it, here. Once we get to the bedroom, that lingerie is only going to stay on for so long. Why not get a little mileage out of it? No point putting it just to take it off three minutes later."

Isa shook her head. "It's supposed to be for after..."

"Yeah, don't you want to savor? That's the best part, I find," added Candy.

"Pleeeease, Isa?" I folded my hands pleadingly. "It would make me really,really happy."

She looked to Candy, and for the life of me, I was having a hard time squaring her shyness with how readily she'd complied with my requests for those topless videos from earlier in the week. Yet another person who was lioness over the phone, but a lamb in person. "I don't know..."

"Is something wrong?" I asked finally. "I just thought... I mean, I didn't want to offend or anything. I only figured, since we'd all talked about, you know, after..."

"It's fine. Right Isa?" Candy said firmly, fixing a hard look at her girlfriend. The sort of look her students received right before they were sent to the office. "She's been so proud of it ever since she picked it out, I think she's just being modest."

Isa nodded, smiling apologetically. "Yeah. I'm just one to stick to the plan, you know? But heck, why not wing it. Maybe you're right. I'll... be back in a few. Don't wait for me. I'll catch up fast."

She excused herself, striding out of the room hastily. "She can be so bashful sometimes. You wouldn't expect it from a cop, right? Come on, dig in. I'm dying to know how you like grandma's recipe." She gestured, smiled, looked back to her own plate nonchalantly.

Too nonchalantly?

Nah, I was only being... hmm. Was she... hmm. No. Right? Of course not. Except... hmm.

"Tell you what," I said, smiling. "Why don't you go give Isa a hand, and while you're at it, find something sexy to put on, too? That way you'll look like a proper couple."

Candy looked up. "Oh, I don't think little old me is going to hold a candle to our girl. Now seriously, if you don't pick up that fork soon, I'm going to think you're trying to hurt my feelings."

I disregarded her goading. "Do I have to beg again?" I made the same prayer gesture as I had to Isa. "Didn't we toast to juicy secrets? Give me something to keep my mouth shut about. Please?"

Her eyes narrowed for a moment, but finally she set down her fork and removed her napkin from her lap with a curt smile. "Oh, I suppose it couldn't hurt. But when we get back, I want a report on that gravy, Mister. And then, if you've been a good boy, maybe we'll give you your dessert a little early. OK?"

"Race you!" I scooped a huge bite of the garlic mash, gravy dribbling down the sides.

"You're on!" Candy giggled and darted out of the room.

My smile vanished.

I sniffed at the fork's contents. It was gravy, all right, but she was right about it being nontraditonal. There was some other note in that fragrance. I didn't know the first thing about Serbian cuisine -- I barely knew how to prepare American cuisine -- but... hmm. I was being paranoid. I knew that. And yet...

I snatched up my plate and snuck into the kitchen as quietly as I could. My fork scraped the pile of potatoes and the mystery gravy into the trash can. I was back in my seat a moment later.

"So good!" I called out.

"Oh yeah? How's the after-taste? Did you get any of the mushrooms yet? You have to try it with the mushrooms."

I was pretty sure there hadn't been any mushrooms in that gravy, but I wasn't about to fish it out of the trash and check. Hmm. How to play it? If that nagging voice in my head was right -- though I couldn't imagine how it could be! -- then there was only one thing to do.

I opened my mouth and stared off into space.

After a moment, Candy and Isa walked into the room side by side. Isa was wearing a black bra and matching panties, Candy in white. Neither set was especially racy, at least insofar as my peripheral vision could discern. Not that they weren't both hot as hell, but that was not the thought at the front of the line. Nor second, nor third, nor tenth.

"Hey, how was it?" asked Isa. She came up in front of me, inspected my plate. I gave no reaction.

"I think he's--"

Isa snapped her fingers commandingly. "Can you hear me? Are you with us? Hello hello hello..."

I stared through her hand.

Candy let out a cry of triumph, and Isa echoed it. "We got him! We-- shh!" At the sudden noise, I let myself look up at them, through them. They froze, Candy looking frightened, Isa more stoic. When they said nothing more, my chin drooped down and I feigned losing interest.

"Don't say anything to get his attention, remember baby?" Isa reprimanded. "That's what he said. Loud noises, using his name -- the kinds of things that'd wake up one of your kids when they're bored to sleep in class. Not that they're ever bored with you, darling." Isa held up her hands playfully.

"Mhm, that's what I thought. Come on, let's get dressed. Being half-naked in front of him makes my skin crawl. We've got hours here -- no sense rushing things."

"As long as you promise to get all naked in front of me later, baby." Isa pinched her girlfriend's butt as they left the room, meals forgotten.

They'd betrayed me. Holy shit, somehow they had betrayed me!

Or at least they'd tried. If they weren't such shitty actors, they might have gotten away with it. How many times had that bitch tried to get me to eat her gravy? They must have dosed mine alone, because both of them had eaten some of theirs to no ill effect. Crafty indeed, alleviating paranoia I'd been too blinded by their promises to feel.

How had they done it? How free were they? Had the Serenex worn off altogether? No, that made no sense. Abbie's dose was older and less concentrated than either of theirs, and she was clearly still feeling it. Biology could vary from person to person, of course, but still, Isa's dose had been more recently than anyone's, and her manipulation more inhibiting. She and Megan had been given the same dose on the same day, and the latter had just meekly agreed to leave her firstborn behind to be my fuck buddy all weekend while she visited family.

Had Isa's lab tech cured it? Shit, had she ever even taken it to the lab? There was too much I didn't know. Why hadn't I been more curious? Crap, why had I just sat here? I'd already delayed long enough that I didn't have time to run to the kitchen and look for the canister they must have sprayed into my gravy without risking them coming back and finding me out of my seat. If I tipped them off in the least, I was even more fucked than I was now. I might be bigger than them, but they had numbers, and one of them had training in subduing someone. Besides, Isa still had both a taser and her gun in the house, and I had no idea if she was of a mind to use either.

Taylor's words from that morning came echoing back to me about what would happen if they escaped the influence of Serenex. She'd told me about her and Abbie arguing whether Officer Barbie would frame me, or simply kill me on the spot. Shit!

This was no time to panic. Right now, all I had was their overconfidence that their plan was working. I forced myself to take deep breaths. Those two might be garbage actors, but I'd been in drama for three years in high school. Time to make Mrs. Yavari proud.

They returned soon enough that I felt better about my decision not to risk hunting for the Serenex. They would have caught me for sure. Isa didn't look to have her weapons on her, but why would she? They could knock me over with a feather right now, as far as they knew. Both were wearing jeans now, Isa in a t-shirt with her department logo on the front, hair back in its tight professional wrap, and Candy in a comfy sweater and a ponytail. The smug looks on their faces...

No. Look at nothing. See nothing. You're supposed to be sluggish. That's your advantage here. You have time to do everything the right way. Don't react; stop, think, act deliberately.

And deep breaths. Deeeep... breaths.

"I told you he'd fall for it," Candy said imperiously, taking her seat. Lord, they were going to continue eating.

"That's your third I-told-you-so in three minutes. Not a great look on you, baby." Isa popped a bite in her mouth, speaking around a mouthful indelicately. "Besides, it was my plan. If we'd left things up to you, we'd be sitting here waiting for the sonofabitch to show up with another busload of students to fuck before our eyes before we did anything about it."

"Perhaps, perhaps," Candy replied, sitting back at her plate. "Though to be fair, it was my script that sucked him in."

"You just got off making me show him my breasts."

"I told you I'm sorry. It was play ball and act slutty, or tip him off and wind up where he is now. The blindside was necessary."

Isa laughed. "I still can't believe I flashed him once and he just handed it over. I thought it would take weeks before we reeled him in that far. Honestly thought I'd been too greedy, but nope."

"You shouldn't underestimate what those things can do to a guy. But hey, the dope bought it hook, line and sinker." She took a drink of wine --my wine -- and smirked at me. "Didn't you, dopey? Huh? Who's a big dumb chump?"

"Careful, baby. This stuff is a chemical, not a magic potion. And if Shantel was right about his Serenex, there's no going back if we accidentally lobotomize him."

Shantel... could that be her lab buddy? It would seem so -- at least someone who'd given them insights into Serenex's workings. No going back? So itwaspermanent, then. That was simultaneously comforting and yet confusing. How had Isa and Candy gotten out of it, then?

Candy shrugged. "Oh, who cares. The whole point of this is to neuter the sick fuck, isn't it?"Oh FUCK let that be metaphorical. "After what he's done to those girls, I could give two shits if that's because we tell him to leave them the fuck alone or we turn his ass into a vegetable."

"We're not having this pointless discussion again. We'll do what we have to, what wecan do, and then we'll figure out how to fix the girls and that neighbor lady of his. But you know I have to keep the sonofabitch safe."

"His 'protector' to the end, eh," grumbled Candy.This was protecting me?!

"I don't have a choice. I didn't give you shit about fucking Abbie Stern."

"Yes you did! Youso did!"

"Well, not for very long." She shrugged. "Now come on, you made this amazing meal -- it really is delicious, baby -- so let's enjoy it, then get to work."

The smooth jazz and sounds of women chewing were my universe. My hands were folded in my lap. Could I risk texting one of the girls for help? No. Not only could I not put them in danger like that, but even if they did come through, I'd already seen the lengths Abbie was willing to go. For all I knew, she'd be over here with her parents' gun before the dishes were done. Keeping mindful of the lesson of "The Tell-Tale Heart" --theycannothear it -- I played it safe, keeping still and letting them eat. The math on this was fairly simple. Play along, maybe learn a bit, have time to come up with a proper plan; or take a chance and maybe get tased, then have them spray the crap right down my throat.

(Why hadn't they simply done that in the first place? It would seem "protector" was a fairly nebulous label, after all.)

Isa took the dishes to the kitchen, pausing to kiss Candy's forehead and thank her for dinner. Meanwhile Candy stepped out for a moment, returning with a pad of paper and a ballpoint pen. Not all that surprising, really. Then the two were back, raptor eyes surveying their mouse.