Becoming the Storm
32 To Die For
THE NEXT WEEK was intense. Nikki, Elaine, Hannah, and April pretty much moved to Indianapolis so they could rehearse at UIndy. It was still eight weeks from her special, but Elaine was the only one who had worked on that stage and theater. They were focused on getting ideas more than actually rehearsing the lines. Hannah and April were working on potential camera angles as Elaine and Nikki tried to sort out the distances to the audience and whether Elaine would be able to see any of them with lights in her face.
Rose and I dealt with the chaos at the ranch pretty well. We were mostly trying to get things ready for the launch of Designed by Leonard. Jessica came in on Wednesday to model the new line of clothing at Tres Chic, a women’s specialty store downtown. The store was going to have a three-month exclusive and would be filling mail orders as well as selling from the store. Lexi had organized her team pretty effectively. Nearly half the dormitory above the studio had been reorganized into a clothing manufacturing operation. They’d even had to hire half a dozen part-time seamstresses to sew the dresses. They mailed a special catalog on Monday to all the customers of Tres Chic. The episode of Chick Chat that was slated for Thursday had subtitles added giving the address of the store. Leonard’s mom, affectionately called Mama Bear, was staying in the dorm with the girls. That had to be interesting. Her home in the village would be erected next week.
Of course, everyone was back and ready for the launch on Thursday and Friday. People actually bought tickets for the fashion show. And several women in the clan were modeling with Heaven. Part of Leonard’s appeal was real clothes for real women. Even Sugar was modeling. And she looked great.
I was back in the studio on Saturday for taping of my last episode for this season. Afterward, we had a birthday celebration for Nikki’s twenty-first. Instead of going to the master like we had when she first got here for the week, we spent the night in the casa bedroom upstairs. I loved being up there with everyone around us even more than I loved taking individual cónyuge to the master bedroom.
The last week before the election, we spent every spare minute knocking on doors in the township. It wasn’t the year for a presidential primary or to elect representatives or senators. It was entirely about local government in odd numbered years. Our township board would be elected and two additional petitions were on the ballot. The first was to establish the Village of Corazón and the second was to build a firehouse in the township. Location on the latter was carefully not specified so the issue was constrained to whether or not we should undertake the project. We were probably still a year or two away from actually getting a plan approved. But since it wasn’t a major election year, the problem was actually getting people out to vote. All we needed was a majority of those who voted, but in our book, having a majority of those eligible to vote would give us much more peace of mind.
Wednesday morning, we all grabbed the newspaper and read that John Clinton had been elected to the township board and that the Village of Corazón had been established.
“Don’t forget about Sunday,” Lexi said when I pulled out of her Friday afternoon. She’d dragged me to the dormitory as soon as we got back from class and seemed almost frenzied in her love-making. “I love you, Brian, and I’m so excited I can’t contain myself. Do we have time to do it again?” Time to be immersed in Lexi again? I think so.
There was so much going on this weekend. We would only be home for another hour before we all headed into the stadium for the start of the Little 500. I didn’t really need a shower. I could go smelling like sexy Lexi. Today, the qualifying heats were being run and we’d been drafted to cheer for the women of Gamma House by those of our clan who were pledged. I decided to play dumb.
“I thought the race finals were on Saturday,” I said. “What’s going on Sunday?”
“Bri-an!” Lexi complained. “It’s our induction into Gamma House.”
“I’m joining a sorority?” I said.
“Not you. You are so mean! Addison, Amber, TK, and me. You promised to escort each of us to the front when we are introduced to the sorority.”
“I know, sweetheart. I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I laughed. I lost myself again in her depths and moved with her until we both found our completion. Yes, we’d been lovers on and off, but unlike Judy, Lexi and I seldom indulged. She’d had no difficulty getting dates on campus, though she didn’t sleep around as much as she thought she would. Still, her cheerleader personality had held up through her first year of college and she’d convinced her principal cronies to join her in the spring pledge to Gamma House. They were sponsored, of course, by Dawn and Cathy. This was important to them and I’d support them as much as possible. I knew, though, that Addison’s boyfriend would escort her and that Rich and George were doing the honors for Amber and TK. Of course, Samantha would be there. The more fun-loving of our casa would join them. Courtney complained that it took them getting one of her clan cousins to join before they could get her into the house but I think Jennifer still regretted not having followed through on her invitation to pledge.
We had a blast at the races, both Friday afternoon and Saturday. The men’s events included individual time trials, and a pretty neat race called the team pursuit. The women only raced a time trial on Friday to determine pole positions. It’s just like the Indy 500. Up to 33 teams can qualify, but there were only 24 women’s teams. The top qualifying time of three team members at a mile each, gets the pole position. The rest line up three abreast in rows behind the top three. Less than a second separated the qualifying times of Theta House, where the triplets were sisters, and Gamma House, where the girls had pledged and Dawn and Cathy were sisters. Kappa House, where Renee and Sora were sisters, ended up in the third row.
We were stoked for the hundred lap race on Saturday morning, even though we were cheering for three different teams. I nudged Hannah.
“Don’t you wish you’d kept riding your bike?” I laughed.
“I’ll take you on this afternoon. Do we have a country block we can ride?”
“There’s no continuous circuit. We’d have to draw a start and finish line somewhere. And think of the hills! In Mishawaka we only had the one big hill on Rocky Road. The only flat stretch we’d have in our area is beside where John wants to build his airport.”
“Let’s do it!”
“You’ll whip my ass!”
We were screaming our heads off before long. Gamma and Theta came in third and fourth, knocking out twenty-five miles in an hour and sixteen minutes! There was less than a second between the top four places. Man! Those are some powerful girls. Sadly, Kappa didn’t come in until way down at the bottom and didn’t complete the full hundred laps.
“I don’t think I want to race after all,” Hannah said as we finally all loaded into the car.
“Why not?” I asked. I didn’t want to either, but I would for her.
“Because I just saw what real racers can do and my butt got sore from watching!”
The week had been a blast and we all got into the party mood for the induction ceremony Sunday. We spent a lot of time rolling around on the mattresses upstairs and just loving each other. I was pretty exhausted by the time Dani hugged up against me. It seemed so natural to just take her in my arms and hold her as we kissed. I petted her and she returned the favor, moving against me. I could feel that she was aroused and I was getting hard again. We’d relieved each other’s tensions before this and I wasn’t afraid to help her along again. In fact, I was really enjoying kissing her and just being wrapped up in her. I could feel her juices coating my cock as we thrust against each other.
Then her juices were all around me and we kept kissing and sliding together.
“Dani. Danielle. I think… I know… I’m in you,” I gasped. “Is it okay?”
“You’re in me. It feels so good. I love you, Brian.”
“I love you, Dani.”
We moved together. Now that we both knew, that we both were aware, that we were actually making love, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. In fact, it seemed like we’d been making love with each other forever. We just knew how wonderful and close and intimate we were with each other. I could stay like this, moving in her wet tight sheath, forever. There were whispers nearby.
“Look!”
“They’re…”
“Shhh…”
“I need…”
“Touch…”
There were hands touching my back and my hair. More hands than Dani’s. My hands on her back were joined by others. We kissed and then looked into each other’s eyes and then kissed again. Everyone in the casa was as close to us as they could get. When I touched her breasts this time, I felt her aroused nipples between my fingers and gently rubbed them. Her breath came in deep gasps as I held mine, realizing the moment was upon us. I was making love to my cónyuge. To all of them.
The gasp of our completion was echoed all around us. Arms encircled us. Lips kissed us. And all around me I heard the words echoed that came from my own lips and from Dani’s.
“I love you, my cónyuge.”
“Are you going with us today?” I asked as I showered with Danielle. One by one, every one of our hearthmates had come into the shower with us and just held and petted us, washed us, kissed us.
“I don’t dare!” she giggled. “My sisters, both the biological ones and my sorority, would kill me if I skipped the Theta induction and went to the Gamma induction. The Gammas would probably kill me, too! Even though we’re next door neighbors, we have our little secrets.”
“Okay,” I laughed. “I have absolutely no understanding of how sororities work. I just know they keep sending me bunches of beautiful women to cook for.” We dried and ate our Sunday brunch before the freshmen came in to join us and dance around in their formal gowns.
“I admit, I’m jealous,” Jennifer said as we got out of the car. “You four look so beautiful!”
“We made our choice,” Courtney said. “We can’t blame them for not having Brian to keep them at home.”
“I didn’t keep you at home! Oh, Courtney, do you feel that I held you back?” I said.
“No, lover! But really, we have our own sorority. And it has some pretty cool guys in it, too!”
“Quit fussing, Samantha,” Lexi said. “I look fine.” She glanced around. Rich and George pulled up with Amber and TK. Lexi’s sorority big sister was coming down the steps to meet her with Amber’s and TK’s. “I do look fine, don’t I?” she said with a little worry.
“You look so beautiful, little sister. I love you,” Sam said.
Up the block, I saw Addison and her boyfriend get out of his car on the other side of the street. It looked like every parking spot on sorority row was taken and people were walking in from all over. The sidewalks were all painted with the Little 500 team names and members. The top finishers had the place number painted in big print next to the team names.
I heard a screech of tires and looked up to see a Camaro come tearing around the corner at 10th and accelerate up Jordan.
“Addison! Watch out!” I screamed. Her boyfriend pulled her back and shielded her with his body. I heard the thump as I moved toward them. The Camaro passed us and squealed to a stop.
“Frigid bitches!” a guy yelled as he jumped out of the car. “You bunch of cunts! You’ll never turn me down for a date again. I’ve had it with you fucking cock teases!” I heard a crack and turned in time to see Lexi’s sorority sister crumple to the ground. The fucker had a gun.
“Run!” I screamed. We were all exposed out on the sidewalk. The asshole swaggered toward us waving his gun. Everyone seemed frozen in place. Lexi was just staring at her friend on the ground. I ran toward my girlfriends yelling, “Run! Run!” I pushed Jennifer between two cars.
“Let your fucking jocks suck this out of your tits!” he screamed. There was another bang. Lexi looked up and crumpled on top of her friend. No! No! This can’t be happening! People finally started to move. Rich and George pulled Amber and TK behind the stone monument with the sorority’s Greek letters on it.
“Go! Go!” I yelled as I grabbed Courtney and pushed her behind me toward the cars. I heard the next crack and felt the pain in my right hip. Courtney screamed. Everyone was screaming. I was screaming. I spun toward the maniac and saw Sam kneel over her sister. “No! Sam, run!” Another crack and Sam rolled onto the ground next to her sister. No! It can’t be! I had to stop him, but I was too far away. I gathered all my strength and ran toward him, every step an agony. He saw me coming and swung the gun my direction. There was a flash in front of me as Dani ran between us, a feral screech coming from her lungs as she dove at him. A crack and she crumpled to the ground in front of me. I leapt over her. She can’t be! Please don’t kill her! I won’t let you kill her.
The power of the universe. I was still too far away, but I focused all my energy on the fucker who was killing my cónyuge. He aimed at me as I flung everything I had at him, punching into his soul—his essence—his being. Lightning crackled around me. I was too far away.
I felt, rather than heard, the next report of the gun as it ripped through my gut. I was too late. Too late to save them.
I love you! I love each of you! I love all of you! No matter what, I still love you!
And then I died.
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