The Empath Cycle: 2001 It Takes One - Book 1

"That's all right, baby. I was terrified, but, as I've told you before, the worst was for Sylvie. We've decided that this kind of role play is not for us."

"No problem, mom. I'm sorry, Sylvie. After the pirate fantasy, I thought you'd be into it."

"I thought so too, but I just couldn't take what it did to Patricia. As for the fantasy, I was as much a spectator as you were, only from a closer vantage point. I pulled away and closed my eyes when Karlie had my character do the grossest things."

"We've decided that we're going to lay off the whole domme-sub scene. We're still going to play, but in our own loving way."

"Good for you, Patricia. Not everybody can be a sadist like your daughter. Ouch! Okay, okay. And not everybody has what it takes to appreciate her twisted imagination."

"Yeah, mom. And we don't go overboard like this all the time. Usually, our games are pretty tame."

"That's all right, baby. We'll even go back to the club with you, but we're going to go dancing on the second floor. It's a nice place and we like the Lady."

"Speaking of whom. Sylvie, she asked if we could meet her at the dojo this afternoon."

"What do you mean at the dojo?"

"I thought I told you. She's the sensei, the teacher. I've been her aikido student for years."

"That explains some things she said. Is Ian a student too?"

"More than that. He's what you would call her assistant. When she's not there, he leads the training."

"But he works at the boutique."

"Yes and no. In fact, he owns it and has employees, but he likes working with people, so he often takes shifts. We were just lucky he was there last week."

"So, at what time should we go?"

"Most of the week-end sessions are for the younger students. On Sunday, the last class ends at 3:00pm."

"That's good and, after that, we could go out for a nice supper to celebrate."

"What are we celebrating, mom?"

"Sylvie is moving in with me."

"It's about time. You both proposed to each other last Monday... You two are so cute when you blush like that. Mom, you even gave her your key on your knee in a ring box and made a public announcement of it."

"It was so romantic, I cried when Jade told me."

The four women hugged and kissed

"For the moment, I propose we adjourn to the spa." Sylvie said when she saw Karlie wince when she enthusiastically grabbed her ass to pull her closer. "And I'm sure Patricia will agree to give you a massage. She's really good at it."

"Thanks, I could use one. I got abused last night and I'm still tender in some strategic places... Stop laughing. You have dirty minds, all of you. I'm talking about my shoulders and thigh muscles. You try being tied like I was for two hours while being pounded by a sex fiend. Then we'll see who is laughing."

"We're not laughing at your suffering, Karlie, but at the silly grin on your face when you complain about it. I'll be happy to massage you all you want."

Jade sat between Sylvie's legs, leaning against her in the spa. Karlie had left with Patricia for the massage she had been promised.

"I agree that your scenario was great and we went to great pains to make it realistic. Patricia certainly bought it. Do you think really Karlie did too, like she said?"

"Of course not, silly. Trust me when I tell you that any man who invaded my mother's place and tried to neutralize us so he could get at them would need guns to kill us. Otherwise, he would be in the hospital, if not the morgue. And I'm only talking about me. After what you did at the club yesterday, he would have had to be a damn good shot to kill us both."

"But I don't even know what I did. It happened so fast. All I know is that awful woman wanted to stab Patricia."

"That's what the sensei wants to talk to you about. You did things you shouldn't have been able to do, unless you're an adept at t'ai chi ch'uan and didn't tell me."

"Isn't t'ai chi a Chinese martial art?"

"Yes, it is."

"Then no, I'm not. I've only seen old Chinese men and women do it in the park on warm summer evenings. I told you all I do is yoga as a low impact exercise and meditation for relaxation."

"Well, you must have channeled a master because I know two adepts and I'm not even sure they know the moves you did. Also, you stopped her with a kiai of an incredible intensity."

"You mean I startled her."

"No, baby. You projected your chi and essentially paralyzed her for a second or two to give you the time needed to put her down."

"That's impossible. It only happens in the movies."

"It doesn't, but only masters can do it effectively. My sensei can and she's one of the five highest ranking aikido masters in the country, if not the continent. She demonstrated it to us a few years back. We all work at it, but nobody can come close to what you did."

"I still say it's impossible."

"That's what she wants to talk to you about. You shouldn't have been able to do any of what you did. She said your chi is not balanced and she mentioned something about your aura."

"My aura?"

"She didn't elaborate. She seemed unsettled by something about it."

Sylvie was silent for a moment. She didn't know how, but she had seen the aura of the four of them and of Jade's friends when they were on the beach. At the time, it hadn't registered as something exceptional. She thought it only a phenomenon of that peculiar environment since she couldn't see it in the real world. She had always thought it was a figment of the imagination of fantasy authors or lunatic mystics. Could there be something real to it?

She was distracted from her thoughts by Jade when she craned her neck and pulled her head to hers.

The loving kiss expressed their special connection eloquently.

The idle caresses became something else. Sylvie cupped Jade's breasts tenderly, fondling the firm flesh. She left her mouth and kissed her way along her jaw to her ear. "I love you, sister mine." She whispered. The tip of her tongue followed her words, tracing the curves, dipping in. She nibbled the lobe before making her way to the sensitive area behind it. As she reached her neck, one of the hands that had been brushing and rolling her nipples gently, made its way to her pussy, after massaging her tight abdomen, tracing the muscles with her nails.

Jade was shivering with delight. She loved rough sex and crazy adventures well enough, but she lived for tender moments. In the passion of the newness of her relation with Sylvie and her mother, she had been overwhelmed by its unexpectedness and had succumbed to the unbridled side of her nature. This tenderness touched the deepest core of her being where she had learned to hide her softer side from those who would and had hurt her. Karlie had been the first to breach it since she was sixteen and had begun building this wall around her heart.

The sensation of her outer lips being caressed, of the finger delicately tracing the inner ones carefully, mindful of the lack of lubrication due to the water, were sweet and erotic in the extreme to her. When Sylvie stroked the shaft of her pearl by pressing lightly on it through its hood, she felt the heat surging within her. The lips kissing her neck, the tongue tracing lines along the nerves and the teeth biting delicately the sensitive spots, set off sparks of pleasure in her mind.

Moans can express intensity of emotion and passion. What Sylvie was hearing and feeling through her chest pressed on Jade's back told her more eloquently than words could have that her tender ministrations were more than appreciated. She felt deep feelings for the woman in her arms, the daughter of her beloved, the sister she never had. The previous week had been one of discovery in more ways than she could have imagined possible. The most extraordinary of which was that she could love so much and be loved in return.

She could feel Jade's heartbeat under her lips. Her squirming between her legs also an indication of her rising excitement. She tentatively, reached to her vaginal opening and, finding it lubricated, inserted her finger and curled it upward, stroking that special area, searching for just the right pressure to apply.

Jade pressed Sylvie's hand firmly on her breast, closed her thighs to imprison her other hand on her mound, shook all over, moaned softly, and leaned her head on Sylvie's shoulder as a long drawn-out orgasm took her. As was often the case with that kind of loving, she rode the wave of pleasure for long minutes. No explosion, no fireworks, no mind blowing climax, just love flowing until her most tender parts got too sensitive and she had to still the caresses.

There were tears in her eyes when she turned her head to look at the woman who had given her such tender pleasure. She wasn't surprised to meet misty eyes. She kissed the parted lips lightly. "All this time, I thought you only liked to fuck hard. I should have listened to my mother when she told me you made love to her."

"Mostly, I did it because I thought that was the only way you like it. Patricia and I prefer to make love. The rougher game are fun, but it's not in my nature, so, to me, they are the exception, not the rule."

"With us too. I told you we don't play like this all the time. When I said our games are usually pretty tame, I meant it. Did I tell you about the pussycat outfit I made for Kay? It goes from head to toe and it's made with the softest fake angora fur I could find. She comes up on me and rubs her body on my legs, purring, until I scratch behind her ear. I made patches for her breasts and rear end that are held in place with Velcro. I did it for a Halloween party a couple of years ago, but we play with it now and again. You wouldn't believe the feeling of making love to a furry woman."

Sylvie laughed heartily at the image. "Well, there goes one plan to get back at you for scaring Patricia so much last night." She went on to detail the scenario they had devised for her in the dungeon of the castle.

It was Jade's turn to laugh. "Don't dismiss it on my account. I fact, it closely resembles my wildest fantasy. I get enough rough play at home, so my fantasies are so much more vanilla you'd laugh if I told you."

"Please, tell me. If I laugh, it will be with you, not at you. I promise."

"Remember when you told us how you played Peter Pan at your beach when you were young. Well, the image that popped in my head as you described the scene was to recreate it in some way for us. It would be more grown up, but I like the general idea."

"That's something to think about. I had forgotten about that time until we went back there. They are happy memories."

They were interrupted by two disheveled women entering the bathroom, arms around waists. "We're going to shower to rinse off the massage oil." Patricia said.

"How come you are both covered in oil, mom? I thought you were massaging Kay."

"She did and I feel much better. You were right, Sylvie. She's really good at it."

"I'm glad to hear that and I suppose you gave her one in return." Jade smirked.

"You could say that, lover."

They all laughed at the blushing Patricia.

"Young woman, I asked to speak to you privately because of the nature of your situation. If you wish to share it with your partner and friends, it is your choice."

"Yes, ma'am. They could be here. I wouldn't mind."

"I understand, but let me explain what I think is going on first. Do you know what an aura is?"

"I've read about it, but only in fiction books. It's supposed to be a sort of outward radiation of the inner energy. In some cases, they write about healers able to diagnose illnesses by seeing the variations of colors and the fluctuations of the aura."

"Close enough. It is a gross simplification, though it describes the reality of it well enough for our purposes. Do not look so skeptical. The phenomenon has been known and studied for millennia in Eastern philosophy and medicine. If you wish, I can give you references. For the purpose of this conversation, please stipulate that it is real."

"I can do that, ma'am."

"Good. Do you agree that you should not have been able to do what you did yesterday evening?"

"Yes, ma'am. It scares me badly when I think back on it."

"As it should. When I came to you, I could feel that your chi was out of balance and your aura was fluctuating wildly. In order to have accomplished what you did, the first is imperative. And, looking at you in a calmer environment, I can see something else about your aura."

"Am I sick, ma'am?"

"You are not sick, but I see something I have only heard of in legends. Without knowing more about your personal history, I would say you have two auras."

"How can that be? Isn't the aura something that comes from within? Are you saying I am two persons?"

"Remain calm, please. There is no need to be agitated. It is told that some ancients could pass on certain spiritual powers to their disciples, upon their death, by joining a part of their chi, their inner energy if you will, to them. Are you a disciple of an Eastern master?"

"No, I'm not. All I do is meditate to help me relax and I learned it by myself."

"Would you mind demonstrating to me your level of proficiency, please?"

"Not at all. It can't be too impressive, after all. I'm not dressed to get in the lotus position comfortably, but I can show you what I can do sitting in this chair."

"Please do. If need be, we can get more comfortable later on."

Sylvie relaxed her hands on her lap, took several deep breaths, closed her eyes and began chanting her mantra. In minutes, she was in a deep state of meditation. She stayed in it until a soft gentle voice called her back. Opening her eyes, she felt calm and refreshed as she always did following one of her daily sessions.

"Young woman, you have been blessed. You have been given a rare gift which must be nurtured at all cost. My dojo is opened to you whenever you wish and it will be my privilege to freely give you any instruction I can. You have been touched by a Master and he, or she, has indeed passed to you a part of his, or her, chi. When you were under, your aura smoothened until it was one. Even now, it is much calmer. I suppose you did not have occasion to meditate since yesterday."

"No, ma'am, I haven't."

"Should you agree, we will meet regularly and we will meditate together. I will give you what information I have and I will consult fellow masters to garner more."

"Do you want to start now?" Sylvie asked excitedly. At last, here was a chance to have some questions answered about herself.

"If you wish. We could begin immediately. You should ask your friends if they wish to go elsewhere and come back in an hour or they can wait here if they have the patience."

The four women were seated at a table of the best restaurant in Chinatown. The decor didn't look like much, but the food was delicious.

"The whole thing sounds pretty farfetched to me, sweetie. Patricia said.

"The sensei knows what she's talking about, mom. People come from all over to consult her." Jade replied.

"That's as may be, but this transfer of energy thing... I don't know."

"Don't worry about it, love. I don't. All I care about is that she is willing to help me in some way. She said it also explained how I could progress so rapidly at yoga and meditation. She suggested I find a t'ai chi instructor to see if the same thing would happen since that was the martial art I used at the club." Sylvie said cheerfully.

"I know just the two to ask." Jade chimed in. "Ryanna and Julia are t'ai chi chuan adepts and I'm sure they would be happy to teach you. I'll call them tomorrow and we can set up a meeting."

"I don't know when I'll have the time for that, what with the new job, my classes, yoga, meditation, the teachings of the sensei, and a very demanding girlfriend who insists I satisfy her healthy appetites whenever we are alone... and even when we are not." Sylvie grinned.

"Your protestations would be more convincing if you didn't have your hand between my legs, sweetie. If it will help you, I can sacrifice myself for your wellbeing."

"If I can train two hours every morning, you surely can spare one. The girls also train in the morning at the university." Jade added.

"But I like to sleep in the morning." Sylvie whined, pouting.


Chapter 11

John Richardson was skimming the newspaper as he walked out of the elevator that Monday morning. When he looked up to unlock the office door, he laughed when he saw the young woman standing by it.

"Are you gunning for my job, Sylvie?"

"Who knows?" She replied with a smirk. "I hardly slept last night, so I figured I might as well jump in the first metro. I've been here since 6:00."

"I understand. The old man was away this week-end for a family reunion, so he's later than usual. I expect him around 7:30. He was so sure you would be here, he had me set up your desk last Friday and told me to find you some busywork to start you with."

"Busywork? Is that what I'm going to do here?"

"Nobody does that kind of work in this division. It only means you haven't been assigned a specific project yet. We have been waiting for you to be ready for a while now. You will find a stack of technical drawings that need to be completed at your station. We brought them back from the technician pool just for you. He said you had two weeks to get through it, but I expect you will be done by Friday."

"And I didn't even sign the contract yet."

"I told you what to expect if you decided to work with us. He said to get you settled in and to come by his office to sign the contract before you leave, if you haven't already bolted."

"We'll see about that. Where is my station?"

"Let me start the coffee and I'll show you."

"You owe me five bucks, sir. She was here before me."

Jack White grinned as he high-fived his assistant. "Take it out of petty cash. I knew it! We have a live one. Did you tell her about the two weeks and that you thought she would be done in one?"

"I did and I'll bet you another five she is."

"No bet there. She reminds me of another cocky young technician I once knew."

"We'll have to be careful not to burn her out, sir. She may be too eager for her own good."

"I agree. Watch her carefully. Make sure you keep her work load within her abilities and her course load for now. We're coming up on the semester finals. Call our contact at the university to find out which courses she's taking and when the exams are. We'll work with that for now. Then it's the holidays break and we'll have her all to ourselves full-time for three weeks. That's when we will really begin her education."

"Yes, sir."

"Don't forget to boast in front of the rest of the team about her passing the test. It will embarrass her at the time, but it'll be a boost to her self-esteem too."

"I already mentioned it to a couple of people last week. We'll work on it this week."

"Good. Now, get back to work, kid. I'm not paying you to shoot the breeze with the old man."

"You're hardly paying me at all, Uncle Jack."

"I asked you not to call me that here. Get my morning coffee and get back to whatever it is you do around here."

Patricia was talking with a friend when a hand grabbed her ass before coming to rest on her hip. She didn't jump, having seen her friend look behind her and smile.

"Hi, Marie. If you were hitting on my girlfriend, the odds are in your favor. It looks like anybody can cop a feel."

Laughing, Marie gave Patricia a kiss on the cheek. "I already know that. Didn't you know her middle name is 'Round-Heels'. I'll see you both in class."

"Good afternoon, sweetie. How did it go at your new job?"

"Hi, love. My feet barely touch the ground. This is even better than I could have hoped for. This team of people is great. They went out of their way to make me feel welcome."