The Cursed Tattoo Pt. 09

Eventually, Remy broke the awkward silence -- silence, except for the TV and Claudia -- by coming over to Natalia. Remy leaned over the back of the sofa and brought her purple lips very close to Natalia's ear. "You know, I could be in there with them. Instead, I'm stuck here with you. What's your problem lady, really?"

Natalia tried to get up but both Lizzy and Annie held her arms gently, just enough to stop her. "I don't believe for a second that Ryan Dobbs just suddenly found seven new girlfriends, and all of you just happen to be okay with all of this," Natalia said.

"We are all happy here, and we love each other. Why are you so threatened by that? Do you have a secret crush on your boss, or something? I have to admit, she is gorgeous. Do you want to know what she tastes like? Hmm? Lizzy, come and give me a kiss. Let's show this bitch how much we love each other in this house," Remy said.

Lizzy blushed. She knew it was a bad idea but she was feeling frisky now, too, because she could hear Ryan at work in the other room. She smiled a wicked smile and reached up to kiss Remy, right over Natalia's shoulder. Natalia was petrified.

"Come on, Remy. You know how Ryan and Claudia can get. You may be into that stuff, but you must know other people might not... understand their relationship. Natalia is just genuinely worried about Claudia, so cut her some slack. You know how that stuff can look to an outsider," Annie said.

Lizzy stopped and backed down. Remy sighed in frustration and stood up.

"Natalia, please, don't worry about us. We are all happy here. Just go back to your life and let this whole thing drop. Whatever you are worried about is not happening. Claudia is safe here," Annie said.

Then the doorbell rang again. Everyone froze. Remy went to check it. She had no intention of opening, though. She even put the safety chain on this time. She looked through the peephole. There was a worried looking young woman on the other side. "It's some blond girl," she said.

Natalia turned to look. "Is it Hannah?" she said, hoping for rescue.

"Who the fuck is..." Remy said. Then she gasped and peeked again. "Oh shit, it's Hannah. I can see it, the resemblance. It's Melinda's Hannah," she hissed.

She turned to look at Natalia. "How the hell do you know Hannah?" Remy said.

Natalia winced.

"Hey, wait a minute, does she look kinda like her mommy, but taller? Not as tall as you, but taller than Melinda?" Lizzy said.

"Yeah," Remy said.

"You two came to the shop! They came to the shop when I was working. They were checking me out. They've been spying on us," Lizzy said. She poked Natalia accusingly. "Have you been hanging out with that guy? That, what's his name, Andy? You work at the same place, don't you? Did you know Ellie already told him to stop?"

Natalia took one glance at Ellie and she broke. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to know what's happening. Something is wrong here and you're not telling me. I was worried about Claudia, and you, too, Annie. I just wanted to help you," Natalia said.

Hannah rang the doorbell again.

"I can't let her in. Melinda doesn't want her here," Remy said. She sat back in her chair, dejected.

The silence continued again, except for the TV and Claudia. They were really getting going in the bedroom now and the dirty talk was enough to make Natalia cover her ears.

Remy was staring at the bedroom door, her foot tapping nervously.

Outside, Hannah eventually stopped trying the doorbell, but she was still sitting next to the door when Erica got out of the elevator. Andy was long gone by then. He had tried to stop Natalia from going to the door, but as soon as he had realized the was no stopping her, he ran. Hannah had stayed.

Remy snapped out of her funk when she heard a key in the lock. The door opened, but got stuck on the security chain. Remy could hear Erica on the other side. She told her to wait and then released the door.

Erica was there, but so was Hannah. She was scared, but came in anyway. She took a worried look around the whole apartment. She was relieved to see Natalia. Natalia got up and ran to her and the women hugged. Remy closed the door again.

Natalia and Hannah's reunion was made awkward by the sounds of rough sex carrying from the bedroom.

"Who's in there?" Hannah said.

"Don't worry. Your mom's not here," Remy said.

"She knows. We already called Melinda. She's on her way over," Erica said.

"It's my boss, Claudia. You saw her come in," Natalia said. "They've been going at it for ages now, and whatever these people say, that's not normal."

"Fuck this shit. You don't need me here anymore," Remy said. She ran for the bedroom, discarding her shirt on the way. A waft of muskiness escaped the bedroom as Remy went in. Her panties were down to her ankles by the time she slammed the door behind her.

"Well, that didn't make things any less awkward," Lizzy said, and gave a nervous giggle.

Erica mumbled something inaudible and started to sidle toward the bedroom, too, but Annie stopped her. "Please, wait a while longer. We need to show some manners and... be cordial hosts to our guests," she said.

Hannah and Natalia were completely nonplussed.

"I'm sorry about that. We don't usually have outsiders... uh, guests here, so the ladies can forget their manners. Except for Remy. She's not much of a lady to begin with, so, sorry about that," Annie said. "Would you like something to drink?" she added, after a pause.

Hannah went to the kitchen and took a glass from the cabinet. She poured the water herself, not wanting anyone slipping anything in it. She poured a glass for Natalia, too.

In the bedroom, Remy was already screaming as loud as Claudia was.

"Maybe it's better she's not here, so we can talk like adults. Please, come back to the sofa and let's talk," Lizzy said.

Hannah and Natalia sat down at one end of the couch. Annie held her place at the other end. Lizzy ended up snuggling under Annie's arm. She burrowed her face into Annie's neck and breathed in her scent. Erica sat down on the rug in front of Annie. She wore Annie's legs like a scarf over her shoulders, and leaned her head on her thigh. It was a relief for them to seek comfort in each other in such an awkward situation.

Seeing the intimacy of the human pileup next to them on the couch made Hannah and Natalia uncomfortable. Annie seemed self-conscious at first, but the other girls didn't seem to care at all. Annie soon eased into it, too.

It occurred to Natalia that this really was their home, and they had the right to pile up on their own sofa in a quasi-sexual way, if they wanted to.

There was not that much talking. Luckily, someone had turned the volume up on the TV. It took almost half an hour before a key turned in the lock again. The sex was still going on and Natalia was truly horrified by that.

It was Melinda. "Mommy!" Hannah shouted, and ran to meet her.

"Oh, baby, it's okay. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I should have told you, but I didn't know how." They hugged. It was a deep and teary crunch. Melinda realized there were sounds coming from the bedroom. "I'm so sorry you had to find out like this. You must think so low of me now," she sobbed.

"What? Mom, no. I have no idea what's going on, but it's not your fault. Please just tell me what's going on. What are you doing with these people?" Hannah said.

Melinda looked at the other girls.

"Claudia kind of blindsided us by taking Ryan, so I guess we need to wait until she's done. Then, maybe we can explain everything to Natalia here, and Hannah, together?" Lizzy said.

"I'm kind of in a relationship with Ryan, honey, and it's a bit weird, and it's a bit of a package deal, and I love all the girls here. I wanted to tell you so much, but it's such a strange thing that I just didn't know how. It was even a little bit dangerous, in a way, so I wanted to protect you, too," Melinda said.

"Mom, are you bi?" Hannah asked.

Melinda smiled. "Yeah, I guess I would have to say so."

"You could have told me. We always tell each other everything. I would have understood, easily. I would never judge anyone by their sexuality. You know that. You raised me better than that."

"Well, it was really complicated in the beginning. You need to hear it all, I think. Ryan has a say in it, too, but if the girls all agree, then you deserve to know the truth," Melinda said. Despite her soothing tone, she did glance at Eleftheria for confirmation.

All of Ryan's girls in the room got up and came to give Melinda their support. Except for Ellie, of course. They gave Melinda and Hannah a group hug. The honesty of their love for her mom swept Hannah along and she forgot to feel weird about getting hugged by some kind of an apparent sex cult.

"I think we can make it work. We can take her in, even without the touch. She could be a part of the family, with just us girls, and we can leave Ryan out of it," Lizzy said.

"Wait, what touch?" Hannah said.

"I'm sorry. We're just really close, and that's why we consider each other to be like family. What Lizzy here meant is that if you want to, we hope you will consider us your friends. Or just your mother's friends. Or whatever you want," Annie said.

"Your mom is your mom, of course, but she's a little bit like a mom to us, too, sometimes," Erica added.

The women piled back on the sofa. Natalia felt left out so she switched to an armchair. She also felt betrayed, seeing how well Hannah suddenly got on with the whores.

The sex went on for about ten more minutes, and as the moans reached their crescendo, Ryan's girls in the living room got very distracted once again. Natalia eyed the front door but Ellie was there, her arms crossed, like a proper bouncer. Finally, someone turned on the shower in the bathroom.

Ellie told Natalia she would have to wait to talk to Ryan before she could leave. Natalia said he should have done so like an hour ago. Lizzy told her to blame Claudia for the delay. She was the one who had dragged Ryan into the bedroom. Erica could not help herself and had to add that Ryan could have gone a lot longer. "He was quick out of courtesy, he could have gone all night."

Hannah was perturbed and that made Melinda angry. Erica apologized.

Then the door opened and Ryan stepped into the room. Luckily, he was wearing boxers. As a reflex, all of his girls got up and ran to hug him, even Melinda. Only Ellie held her post at the door.

As Hannah and Natalia watched, all of the women kissed Ryan all over. They could not help themselves. For them, the tension had broken the moment they saw him. Erica even knelt at his feet but Melinda was quick to tell her to get back up. Melinda was also the first to break off, and went back to Hannah.

"Ryan, this is my daughter, Hannah, but you have already met," Melinda said. Hannah saw that Ryan was a lot hotter than she remembered. He was fit and buff, when Hannah remembered him as more of an average nerd. His face was still plain, but kind.

"Hi, Hannah, nice to meet you again," Ryan said. "I... We don't usually have guests so I hope the girls have behaved themselves."

Hannah got up to shake his hand but Ryan backed off. "Wow, sorry. I can't really shake hands right now, but..."

"Honey, sit down and let us explain," Melinda cut in. She pulled Hannah back to the couch.

Ryan looked at Ellie. She had been a lot less bossy lately so Ryan realized it was up to him to resolve this situation. The other girls settled back on the sofa and Hannah sat back down, too. The shower was still going.

"I think we should tell them the truth. Make allies. I think Andy got them to spy on us. I would prefer if they were on our side," Lizzy said.

"I agree. Hannah definitely deserves to know everything," Ryan said. "And I guess you might as well hear about it, too," he added, looking at Natalia. "I've heard you've been loyal to Claudia so I will let her decide if we can trust you."

The doorbell rang again. The girls let out a dismayed groan. Lizzy went to open the door since Remy was still in the shower with Claudia.

"Police, ma'am. Are you the owner of this apartment?" a female voice said, from the hallway.

"No, I just live here," Lizzy said.

"Ma'am, is the owner present? Could I come in and talk with them?"

Lizzy turned to look at everyone. Ryan looked around. To his surprise, none of his girls were topless. His gaze lingered on Natalia. She seemed indignant, but not hostile. He nodded to Lizzy. Lizzy let the officer in.

The cop was stunningly hot. She had African heritage, her skin a medium shade of brown. Her curly hair was very puffy and the tips were colored blond. Her face was narrow and very symmetrical, and her brown eyes were bright, almost green. Even with the unflattering uniform, her body shape was very pronounced. Her powerful legs and wide hips were contrasted by a spectacularly narrow waist.

She ignored everyone's stares with practiced ease. She scanned the room and stopped on Ryan. She checked her tablet. "Mister Dobbs?"

"Yes, that's me. I'm Ryan Dobbs."

The cop looked around again and counted seven women in the room. She also heard the shower going. "I'm officer Emerson, from the PD. Are there people in the shower?"

Ryan realized there was something familiar about her. She was easily beautiful enough to be some kind of an ex-celebrity. "Yes, uh, two," he answered.

"Let me guess. They're hot white girls?"

"Yes?" Ryan said, even though Claudia could technically be considered quite multi-ethnic.

"Look. I don't really want to know what you have going on here, dude, but I don't see any drugs or any guns anywhere, so I'm just going to ask: Is there a Hannah Andrews here, and a Natalia, uh, Dobrova?"

Hannah and Natalia stood up.

"We received a strange call that you were being held against your will here?" the cop said.

"No, I'm fine," Hannah said.

Natalia said nothing.

"Could I see some IDs?" officer Emerson said.

Hannah dug around for her wallet and found it. She walked to the officer.

"I'm her mother and I assure you everything is okay," Melinda said, and got her own wallet from her purse, too.

The officer compared the two driver's licenses. They had the same last name, the age difference seemed to just about make sense, and they did have a similar look. The main thing was that Hannah matched the person described in the call.

"How about you?" the cop asked Natalia.

She hesitated. The shower stopped. Everyone's attention turned to the bathroom door. It opened and Remy and Claudia appeared there, wearing only towels. Both of them were very happy and relaxed, and started giggling as soon as they saw the police officer.

"Wow. You are hot. Has anyone ever told you that? You're a hot cop," Remy said.

"Thank you, ma'am, for the compliment. Honestly, I hear it a lot. Way too much, actually. Usually from asshole men, but often from tattooed girls, too," officer Emerson said.

"Oh, I like you," Remy said, and laughed.

"Miss Dobrova, could you answer my question, please?" the cop said.

Natalia snapped to action. "Oh, sure. Here's my ID. That's my boss. I'm just waiting for her. I don't have anything to do with any of these other people," she said. She pointed to Claudia while getting her ID. She presented it to the officer.

"Okay. And neither of you, or any of you other ladies, none of you are here against your will, or anything like that?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Trust me, honey, there's nowhere I'd rather be," said Remy.

Officer Emerson asked to check the place out but Ryan told her that they were actually in the middle of an important discussion. The cop accepted the excuse. She did look around one more time, to see what she could. The amount of discarded women's underwear on the floors seemed reasonable to her, given the context. She was about to ask something more but thought better of it. She apologized for the inconvenience, thanked everybody, and left.

After everyone recovered, the attention turned back to Ryan. Claudia vouched for Natalia, and so Ryan and the girls told Hannah and Natalia a fair bit about what was happening. Not any of the dangerous stuff, but the minimal basics of the curse, and how Ellie was there to help them.

There was also no mention of Ellie being an angel. Most of the sexual details were skipped, too, and Lizzy slapped Remy every time she tried to slip some in. Both of them seemed to enjoy that little game.

Ryan had been worried if they could convince the new girls about all the supernatural stuff, but to his chagrin, both of them were perfectly willing to accept that there could be no other explanation for him having this many girlfriends. Remy managed to make it very clear that the sex was literally mind blowing.

Melinda made some food for everyone and eventually even Natalia took some. It was already getting late in the evening by then.

Hannah and Natalia were sworn to secrecy, and not to tell Andy, especially. Hannah was told she was welcome to come visit any time, but that there was always a risk of stuff going on.

Hannah went home with Melinda. Natalia left with Claudia.

Later that night, Ryan did some research online. He found lots of pictures and articles about Candice Emerson, four hundred and eight hundred meter college phenomenon. She had been very close to qualifying for the Olympics. Those pictures of her in her tight, skimpy running gear were fascinating.

Honest Mistakes

Over the next few weeks, life around the harem fell into a new normal. Hannah and Natalia stayed away from the apartment but Melinda was very happy and relieved she didn't have to lie to her daughter anymore. Things were awkward for her, yes, but awkwardness was so much better than dishonesty.

Free from pretense, Melinda started spending more and more nights with Ryan. She was pretty much an anything goes kind of woman now. She would join in without any hesitation, or any need for an invitation. Most of the girls were getting to that point.

Erica and Eleftheria continued researching the curse. Progress was slow, however, since neither of them actually wanted to break it.

The new flavor in the energy had changed one important thing, though, as it allowed the girls to go longer without Ryan if they ever needed to. Most of the girls were not interested in testing this. They wanted to fuck every day but it was nice to know they had the option. The old energy had been like getting blasted by a fire hose, whereas the new one was more like an ever rising tide in an infinite ocean.

Claudia was the only one still fighting the curse. She was the only one who cared about freedom anymore, and she managed to set the record at a full week before she called Ryan on the phone, one day.

"Come on, really? I know we have our games, but do you really want to leave, completely?" Ryan said.

"There are no games, Ryan. You really are a bully. Why can't you understand that the only thing I like about you is the the sex, and only because I have no choice. I love it, but it's not real. You have always been mean to me and the reason I fight you is because I really do... Look, I don't hate you, but I hate being a slave. To anyone, to anything -- to this curse. I just can't do it, I have to at least try to break free," Claudia said.

Ryan was stunned. "That's not true. It's our game and you like it, too," he said.

"No, I don't. You think I'm a buttwhore? Well, you're the only man who has ever done that to me, and the only one who ever will. I don't like it. It's something I would never do in any normal context."

"Don't lie to me! You love it, bitch. Why are you doing this? Please come here and at least we can talk face to face."

"No. Absolutely not. There's no way I can be in the same room with you. Why couldn't you just treat me nice, like you do the others? You can be such a gentleman with them. Why did you have to be so mean to me?" Claudia said.