The Warmest Winter, Day 01

Downstairs was a little simpler, as it was mostly open space. "The finished basement. Big screen TV, a couple gaming consoles with a few games, full bathroom, all of the extra storage, utility room, laundry, exercise room. Oh, and the Ping-Pong table. If one of you doesn't like their room, the couch down here converts to a bed."

The third floor had five rooms. The two at one end of the hallway were Veronica's and Cassie's. Then the bathroom and the linen closet. The ladies had to stop for a second to gush -- it was a walk-in closet. At the other end of the hallway were two more guest bedrooms. Each set of two bedrooms was connected by a mutual walk-in closet, but the room Jenny's connected to was not furnished as a bedroom like the other three were.

It was a library. The walls were lined floor-to-ceiling with shelves, all full of books. The middle of the room had rows of shelves, also lined with books. Near the door, off to one side, was a recliner with an ottoman, and a small nightstand with a lamp. The Lord of the Rings was on the nightstand, a single-volume edition with a bookmark in it, at what looked to Jenny like around halfway through The Two Towers.

The remaining door opened to the stairs leading up to Mike's bedroom, the master suite for the house.

"This place was designed for company," he said, "But the only Whirlpool tub is upstairs with me. Again, ask first. I'd rather not have embarrassing incidents. Questions about the house?"

There were none.

"Okay, cool. Now, we have a few logistics to get out of the way."

This seemed to be Mike's style. When there was business, it was business and he plowed through it until it was done. Only then would he relax.

"I usually spend about three months here, every winter," he explained as they sat down in the breakfast nook off of the kitchen. "I store enough food for six months. We won't starve, and our menu will not be boring. I have enough gas that the generator could run this house top to bottom for two weeks, as well as a backup generator. Central heating and AC, plus fireplace. We will not be cold. I have water from one of the ranger stations for the park. But they won't be there now, just the water. It's clean enough to bathe in, but don't drink too much of it unfiltered. Don't worry- all the taps have filters; it's just the showers and tubs that don't. Oh, and the water heater sucks up power something fierce. Try not to shower at the same time until the solar panels are back on. I'll let you know when that happens.

"As for communication with the outside world, I've got satellite everything, and not the cheap stuff that goes out if a mouse sneezes, either. My work depends on reliable equipment. I was actually a bit surprised when it went out for this blizzard. But it should come back by about the afternoon tomorrow. We'll let your peoples know where you are once it's up. Speaking of which," he handed them a notepad and a pen each, "write down everyone's contact information. No pressure to get them all- you can just add more as you think of them."

"Or," said Jenny, "We could go online and update our Facebook pages once Internet's up."

Mike paused. And it was about half a minute before he managed:

"Right."

"You're not on Facebook?"

"Not... often."

"So what you're saying," Veronica interjected, "is that we're going to be safe, fed, warm, and not bored while the snow clears. That's great, but there's one question you still need to answer."

"What's that?"

"What makes you think we're leaving?"

Everyone laughed and Mike shrugged, "If you really want to. But I'll see if I can suffer through spending more time with three such vibrant women. I'll manage."

"I bet you will!" More laughter.

"Monkey to Uncle! Monkey to Uncle! Come in, Uncle, over!"

"What the-" Jenny whipped her head around to the kitchen.

"That's for me." Mike said hurriedly, "Um, you guys can get your rooms situated if you want. This may take a while."

As they peered over, Mike grabbed a shortwave radio unit from the counter and picked up the receiver, tucking the radio under one arm and heading into the office.

Once inside, Mike put down the radio.

"This is Uncle, over."

"Hey, Mike, good to hear you!" The caller who called himself "Monkey" was shouting over some noise in the background. The office's acoustics were the best for Mike to hear him clearly.

"Likewise. What's up?"

"Checking on you, dummy! You okay?"

"Fine, Dave. You missing a car?"

"What?"

"A car, Dave. Did one go missing?... Dave?" There was static on the line.

"Okay," said Dave a.k.a. Monkey, "I give up. How did you know?"

"They parked on my lawn. The passengers are okay. Don't bother getting the word out- they'll do it once Internet's back."

"Good to know. Need anything?"

"How about a storm update?"

"Well," said Dave, "The last we checked, it got worse, but not by a whole lot. We're looking at tomorrow evening for it to be over. The good news is, there will be another lull."

"My solar panels!"

"You got it. I knew you'd be happy. Anyway, that will happen around two PM to three tomorrow."

"Thanks. What's it like out there?"

"Buried. Everything's stopped. Look, I gotta go. Do me a favor and don't kill yourself for those damn panels."

"You know I won't."

"Like Hell I don't."

"Over and out, Monkey."

"Yeah, yeah, over and out, Uncle."

Once out with the others, Mike filled them in on the conversation. "So we're probably looking at another foot of snow, the way it's pounding us, which means two weeks together, probably. I think your vacation days at work will be gone once you're home."

"We're not working right now," said Cassie.

"Yeah," said Veronica, "We decided to take summer courses through college to graduate a semester early, and save money to go travelling together for a while, before life had a chance to split us up once and for all."

"Friends since preschool," said Jenny, "More or less."

"Look, I'm sorry about Steve Harrison, will you let it go?" asked Veronica, one hand across her eyes.

"Middle school," explained Cassie to Mike.

"Ah. So what about family expecting you home?"

"Nah. As soon as we post on Facebook, they'll be fine," said Jenny, waving a hand dismissively. "So for the next two weeks, sir, we're all yours." She quickly covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh, god, did I just say that?"

"Maybe escaping disaster's made everyone a little giddy," suggested Mike, "How about we take the rest of the afternoon to calm down and for you three, get settled in?"

They chorused their agreement. Mike left them to it, and went into his office and shut the door.

*****

Upstairs, carrying the first load of luggage (their SUV held quite bit), the ladies gathered in the hallway.

"You okay being on the other side?" asked Veronica, "I feel like you're all alone over there."

"Are you kidding me?" Jenny scoffed, "I get a closet all to myself!"

"So is he still a hero, now that he's making us carry all of this upstairs ourselves?"

"Oh, hush, Ronni," Cassie said, "He's done enough for one day."

"And we don't have to do it all at once," Jenny pointed out.

"Okay, sold," said Veronica, "When we're all tired enough of unpacking, we go snooping."

The house was quite for a while, with only the occasional thump as something heavy hit the floor somewhere. Cassie found her iPod and had decided to get all of her stuff situated at once, grooving to the tunes via earbuds, swaying her hips and nodding her head as her activities allowed. Veronica, seeing how committed Cassie was to overworking herself, decided to at least get her half of the closet set up, so Cassie couldn't claim more than her fair share. Not that she thought Cassie would, but a walk-in closet is no place to gamble with your clothing. After that, she grabbed her current shampoo bottle and took a shower. Jenny hardly did anything to settle in. She had plenty of energy, so she started snooping early, into the library.

Good God, what wasn't in there? Fiction, non-fiction, a few reference book sets, oversized books. The non-fiction was organized by the tens of the Dewey decimal system. The fiction was alphabetical by author. The only exception was the Isaac Asimov section, because otherwise he'd be everywhere in the library. How many of these did Mike actually read? Where did they all come from? And would he mind if she borrowed, say, four or five a day to pass the time?

Jenny started feeling a little mischievous, and double-checked the Dewey guide poster on the back of the library door. She then went to the appropriate section of shelves and found it: the porn section. Correction, the "adult literature" section. She bemusedly scanned the titles, and found herself even more interested in which books Mike would actually read, when it suddenly began to strike her as bit odd.

Once the thought hit, the books became a bit distracting, so she went out to the hallway above the foyer to think. Her gaze wandered until it fixed on the door of the office, where she knew Mike was. Something didn't fit. He certainly had the means to stay here year-round, but it was just an extended vacation. He'd mentioned he had this place built, and it was obviously meant for guests, but up until today, it had only ever been him. And if the place could run on solar panels, why come during the shortest days, when they'd be least effective? Maybe that's what her gut had been telling her this whole time -- that he of course wasn't perfect, that he had something to hide.

Jenny had apparently lost track of time, because it startled her when Cassie and Ronni came out for the official snooping. Other than Mike's bedroom and office (which they would have felt horribly guilty about snooping into), they re-covered the quick tour Mike had given them before. Most everything was disappointingly self-evident. Cassie explored the kitchen, being the chef of the trio. Either the man hardly used the house, or he cleaned up after himself very well.

Downstairs was the same story, with two exceptions: the DVD/Blu-Ray collection, and the storage room. The movies tended towards sci-fi and fantasy, with some comedies and the occasional drama, plus more than a few complete TV series. Every single Star Trek was present, according to Cassie. Jenny confirmed it, and Veronica rolled her eyes.

"I still don't understand why you won't just come out and admit you're a geek," she said to Jenny.

"We have cookies!" Cassie chimed in. Jenny shrugged it off but said nothing.

They checked out the exercise room, and determined it would fit their needs. They all exercised regularly, keeping one another in shape. Jogging would have to wait, but they wouldn't regress any.

The storage room took the shortest. The two huge deep freezers put a chill into the room that none of the three cared to feel, so they left those alone.

"Check this out," said Veronica, the tallest of the three. The other two came over. She pointed at the boxes marked "Christmas."

"So?" remarked Jenny, "That was last month."

"That much dust? That's years, not weeks."

"So he has all of that stuff stored here, but doesn't use it?"

"Looks it."

"Hmmm."

"Hmmm indeed."

*****

Mike left his office to the sound of the ladies chatting. He found them in the kitchen sharing a cup of coffee around the island.

"Everyone settled in okay?"

"Down to my pink fuzzy slippers," said Jenny. He looked down. They were actually pink and fuzzy. "What were you doing in your office?"

"Doing what I can of work, so that when the signal clears up I'm not too far behind on my commitments." He yawned. "And on that note, I know we're all tired, but we should probably eat again before turning in for the night."

"I'll make dinner," Cassie declared, then whisked off to the pantry.

"You really don't have to --" Mike started.

"Let her," Veronica said, watching Cassie begin to work her kitchen magic, "No point in trying to stop her. Besides, she's good. Relax."

Jennifer, however, was watching Mike. And now she saw it. He wasn't being the perfect man, he was being a perfect host. But whatever put him in this ill-fitting house still had a hold on him. Worse, he was letting it keep him from moving on. He needed shaking up. She felt up to mischief again, which brought her mind back to the library, which gave her an idea. If she was reading him right, she'd be able to execute her plan that night.

Dinner went from palate-pleasing club sandwiches to quick-and-easy grilled cheese once Cassie's stomach gurgled loud enough for Jenny and Veronica to nearly spew their coffee out of their noses. Even Mike had to cover his mouth.

After dinner, Jenny excused herself to go find a bedtime reading book in the library and turn in. Veronica took a couple more of her bags up to unpack. Cassie finally got around to her shower. Mike laid down on the couch, propped up and playing some time-wasting games on his laptop for an hour or so, letting his mind wander.

In retrospect, he thought later that night, he probably should have known better. But it had been an exhausting day, so he wasn't thinking clearly. He was so used to being alone in this house, so he temporarily forgot the others were even there. And having been in such habits for so long, he didn't think twice about that particular folder of downloaded videos on his computer.

His thoughts were basic. He was stressed as hell, and this would unwind him enough for him to go upstairs and sleep. Just like the times before. He never did have a physical collection, and he never bothered asking himself why. If he started questioning his most private of practices, it would sort of defeat the purpose.

Tonight's video of choice was one of those new-wave artsy-type pornos, where the girls were nearly all skinny teens, the music was acoustic, and it seemed every single set was dressed in nothing but white linen. Tonight's featured star was Tori Black -- not a skinny teen, to be sure, but sensual. Sensuality was tonight's turn-on.

Mike lay on the couch, with his jeans, boxers, and laptop halfway down to his knees, one hand on the mousepad and one hand stroking himself, absentmindedly in time with the music, and sometimes with Tori's soft moans. He was fully hard -- it was difficult for him not to be. His past girlfriends -- the ones he had slept with, anyway -- all remarked about it. When he got hard, it was in no way a metaphor. That was his gift. He wasn't especially large or wide or anything, but the ladies all seemed to love that aspect of his lovemaking.

One woman, at least, seemed to be no longer able to resist it. Mike felt an arm cross his chest from the right, the back of the couch, while the other arm reached down and replaced his in its stroking. He tried to get up in surprise but the arm across his chest held him down, and the other hand grasped him firmly. He was not going to move until she let him. Breathing heavily, as much from his prior arousal as his current adrenalin rush, he suddenly heard a voice softly in his ear.

Jenny's voice.

"I thought I should have a talk with you," she began, with long, slow strokes, starting from the very base up to just below the head and back down again.

"You have been a perfect gentleman today." She actually purred a little when she said "perfect."

"You had three hot, young, beautiful women, very appreciative of you, at your whims, should you so... desire." She increased her pressure slightly for emphasis. Mike had most definitely returned to being very, very aroused. He couldn't turn his head, the position he was in, so his eyes could only continue to fixate on Tori, who was now fingering herself and running her other hand through her hair. Her moans were more of a background noise now. Jenny's stroke changed, increasing the firmness of her grip, as well as the pace to a regular yet languid tempo.

"But you didn't look. Not once. Good for you. Because of that, I'm going to give you a reward. Should I tell you a few things about us?" Jenny teased, "Oh, I think you will love to hear these: We're all clean. We've been careful. And since we were planning on being away for months anyway, we all have an ample supply of the pill. I don't know about you, but I have a fondness for bareback." Mike groaned, and his abs clenched in an involuntary thrust.

"I guess you like it, too. That's good, because we are all coming for you, Michael. All three of us want you. You can play that however you want, but believe me, this will be the warmest winter you've ever had." Mike started breathing hard, his chest heaving. Jenny stepped up her pace.

"Let me tell you about Veronica. Tall, blonde, and wild in the sack. We've had complaints from other buildings. And she is flexible. I've yet to hear of a position she couldn't do. You want the wildest fuck of your life, you go to her." Mike was leaking pre-cum, which only seemed to encourage Jenny as she kept up, stroke by stroke, with Mike's approach to climax.

"Cassie, though. Cassie's special. A fella walks into her room, you don't hear a sound all night. But he will come out the next morning with a far-off look in his eyes. You see, her hips can make the smallest movements. Guys say sex with her is a spiritual experience. She's made two guys pass... out..." Her voice was strengthening, growing ragged as she tried to keep her breath. Her hand was pounding him now, and his breaths were quick and shallow. He was so close. Time to go in for the kill.

"And then, there's me. I could tell you what I'm good at, but what would be the fun of that? I'll tell you this: I'll do things you never dreamed. I will blow your mind. I will rock your fucking world, Michael." His eyes fluttered, rolling back into his head.

"You want it?" she asked huskily.

"Yessss..." he gasped.

"Then come and get it," Jenny said, pouring all of her energy into beating him faster, harder, gripping him tighter. She was starting to gasp for air now.

"Come on..." she said, "Come on..."

Mike let out a deep, long groan.

"Come on..." Jenny repeated. It became a mantra.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, comeoncomeoncomeon..."

One more bit of mischief. With the tip of her tongue, she gave the smallest lick to his ear.

That did it.

Mike's breath stopped for a second, and then Jenny felt his orgasm rush by as it poured out of him. He gasped and groaned as he came, covering her fingers and parts of his chest. His cum was white, hot, and thick, forming arcing ropes in the air. It was all she could do not to bend her mouth down and lap it all up as it came out. All her willpower was barely enough for her not to take her arm from across his chest and finger herself to her own climax right there. She could feel how soaked her panties were.

For Mike, it was shattering. Coherent thought had left his mind the moment she began stroking him, the rest of his thoughts soon followed. It was pure sexual feeling, except for those tantalizing words she poured into his ear. By the time she was urging him to come, it was already inevitable. Her breath on his ear, the words, the sultry voice she was using, her arm across his chest, and her expert manipulations down below, were too much. He was lost. He saw a flash of white, and then felt nothing but the explosion. The only thing he remembered distinctly about that orgasm, other than how amazing it felt, was the involuntary moan he heard. But Tori's video had long since stopped -- it had to have been Jenny.

After his orgasm subsided, she stopped stroking, but still held her hand there as he shuddered through a series of aftershocks. She'd only ever read about them in men -- causing them was a first for her.