THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY

The Raven's Roost was tucked between a dance studio and an upscale clothing place on the inland side of Fairview Avenue. By far the smallest shopfront, it always gave the impression of its two brightly-colored neighbors squashing it from either side, like a pair of cheerleaders dragging their one goth friend to the beach.

The sign was in a looping, new agey font, with a stern raven glowering at pedestrians. I never really understood it. Aragon Beach had its share of burnouts. We had hippies, conspiracy theorists, crystal obsessives, pyramid power types. We even had a crazy survivalist out in the hills. And of course we had the tourists. I still didn't see how a place like the Raven's Roost got enough business to remain open, let alone take up valuable real estate on the main drag.

I probably wouldn't have thought of the logistics of its presence without my family's store as an example. We were plugged into the town's main industry, and staying open wasn't a guarantee. That was one of the reasons I wanted to get out. I didn't need a life like my parents had, always wondering if this pointless shop could stay open. Praying to sell another bottle-opener shaped like a surfboard wasn't a life I wanted.

The shop's prime location was my first clue that Blaise had some kind of money. I'd learn later that it was a little more complicated than all that. These things always are. For now, Blaise was still a mystery, and much of the next couple years was stripping away that mystery, layer by layer to find the woman underneath.

I opened the door. The smell inside the Raven's Roost is a physical thing. Scented candles, oils, herb extracts and even seeds. Then there's the bones, the books, the heavy stained wood furniture. All of it tumbling over one another into a dense, spicy miasma. Going from the bright light of Fairview into the dim light of the Roost, sight just vanishes for a moment as your eyes adjust and your nose tries to recover from the cacophony of aroma.

The shop is arranged so it's entirely nooks and crannies, with shelves and tables filled with all manner of things for every goth's interior decorating needs. Even though the front windows are glass, the display in them is so dense with objects, from clothing to crystals, that it blocks almost all the sunlight from the street.

"Theo?" I knew the voice, but for a second, I couldn't place it.

I blinked away the light as my eyes adjusted. Standing across the room behind the counter was a familiar face. "Dani?"

It took me a second to recognize Daniela Soto. I hadn't seen her in four years. She was a little taller, a little older, and I thought a little prettier. That could just be that she was twenty now, rather than someone I'd dismissed as a little sister. She was still little, but only in the literal sense at only an inch or two over five feet. She wore a black tank top with a scarab beetle off center that showed off an impressive rack and a slender waist. Her heart-shaped face broke into a smile of recognition, her teeth bright against the black lipstick.

"I thought that was you. I haven't seen you since...Grace's prom?"

Just hearing Grace's name gave me a jolt. She'd probably never be out of my heart, no matter how much I'd want it. "How's she doing?"

"She's good. Moved to L.A." Of course she would. Aragon Beach was too small for the likes of Grace Soto. And here I was, a townie working in his parents' shop, made worse by the fact that my circumstances would get back to Grace the next time Dani talked to her. Not where I wanted to be to impress the girl who'd punched my v-card.

"How are you?"

"I'm good. You know, summer job," she gestured at the shop. "What about you?"

"I'm back for good, I guess." I shrugged. Hard to communicate what I was actually feeling, especially in a quick catch-up conversation with someone I only knew vaguely. I was back, yes, but I wanted to be somewhere else. I just had no idea where or how.

"What brought you in here? Didn't know you were into this kind of thing."

"Yeah, me neither. I was looking for your boss?"

"Miss Black? She'll be in this afternoon, I think. Do you know her?"

I had a flash of her golden body, wreathed in sweat, writhing beneath me as I bottomed out in her pussy. "Yeah, a little."

"I can tell her you stopped by. I'm here all day." I tried to imagine Blaise calling me. I couldn't imagine her calling anyone with how self-possessed she was.

"Sure, yeah." I accepted the stack of post-its Dani offered and wrote my number on it.

"If you're looking for a job, there will be an opening when I go back to school."

"When is that?"

"Next month. Like, the end of next month. So I'm around until then."

I looked up into her face. Was she flirting? No, that was crazy. I was a friendly face, nothing more. "That's cool. Maybe we can hang out."

"Sure, yeah. Here, let me give you my number."

"I still remember the house number."

"Unless you want to talk to my folks or Arturo or Aimee, best just use this one," she said, writing it on another post-it in neat, looping letters.

"Good idea." I always got the impression Grace's dad didn't like me. After all I'd deflowered his little girl, and I didn't think that the excuse that she'd deflowered me too would carry much weight. Probably work against me if anything.

"You still writing?"

I gave a brittle laugh. "Been blocked, actually. Blood from a stone. See? I can't even describe it without a cliché."

"I don't know if you believe in this stuff," she said, coming around the counter. My gaze fell to her ass, wrapped in a tight pair of black jeans. Looked like Grace's, although hers was bigger. I always thought of Grace as a Mexican elf, and though Dani had some of that elegance, she was a bit curvier, her attitude more earth than air. I followed her over to a display of every kind of crystal I could imagine.

She picked up a geode, the stone partly clear, with a deep stormy blue-gray at its heart. "This is celestite. It's supposed to bridge the connection with the divine."

"Do you believe in this stuff?"

"If you were anybody else, of course."

"And if I'm me?"

She shrugged, giving me a winsome smile. "I don't know. It's pretty, though, isn't it?"

"This stuff works for writer's block?"

"It's a high-vibrational crystal that puts you in harmony with your environment. You should be able to hear your subconscious better."

I sighed. "Okay, ring me up."

She walked back to the register, swinging her hips in triumph. "And now you're a crystal guy."

"Oh man. I'm becoming such a townie."

"You want a bag?"

"No, I think that's okay. What am I supposed to do with it?"

"Put it where you write. Just have it close by, and whatever it'll do, it'll do."

"Level with me. Am I a total sucker?"

"Not a total sucker."

I chuckled. "Thanks, Dani. I'll see you around."

"Call me." I hit the door, and as the bell rang, she added, "Before the end of next month!"

I sat in my room, staring at the blank screen of my PC. The cursor blinked over absolutely nothing. A big, fat empty page. Bigger than my whole life and nothing to put on it. I looked over at my desk, where the piece of celestite was being held by an old Alien action figure. The creature's second jaw ran over the top of the tiny geode. It almost looked like a facehugger egg, which had prompted this display.

"Anything?" I asked the crystal. It had no response. No glimpse into the divine. "Yeah, I'm a sucker."

My phone buzzed, rescuing me from more self-recrimination. "Hello?"

"Theo, my boy. Daniela told me you stopped by my establishment." The voice was smooth, a rich contralto that made me think of a femme fatale in an old noir movie.

"Blaise?"

"Who else?"

"I was hoping to talk to you. Not at the club. In private."

"Interesting. Come to my home at one a.m. next Friday, and we can speak."

"I'll be there."

"I know you will be." I heard the unspoken part of that: this was my one and only invitation. Miss it, and there wouldn't be another. We ended the call and I stared at the page. I felt as though something could go on it, but it remained stubbornly blank.

I was in the middle of my shift on Thursday when the bell at the door rang, announcing a new customer come off the hot summer sidewalk for a taste of air conditioning and a little overpriced kitsch. I looked up from the Neal Stephenson paperback I was reading to give the tourist a welcome when a flash of red hair made my attention drop to the pretty, freckled face underneath.

"Beth? What are you doing here?"

Beth MacLaren had a kind of old-school kind of beauty, a soft-yet-fit figure that made me think of the early '70s. she was dressed in a pair of cut offs and a tank top, showing off her summer coating of freckles. She had an expression on her face like she was about to tell her teacher that she hadn't done a term paper.

"Hey, Theo. Haven't seen you at Gremmie's much."

"Oh yeah, sorry. Gremmie's is a sometimes food." I patted my belly. "Can't eat it every day like I did in high school."

"I was beginning to think you didn't like me."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Things have been...weird. What brings you in? Want to do some early Christmas shopping for some relatives you don't like?"

She laughed. "Yeah, I think my aunt could use one of these Aragone Drinkin' shot glasses."

"Mock all you like, but those things paid for my college."

Beth's freckled face always showed blushes easily, and her cheeks were red. At first, I thought it might be the sun, but the red deepened. "Listen, I kind of have a weird favor to ask."

"Sure. You need me to help you move?"

She gave a sudden bark of a laugh. "No, nothing like that. Still living at home. Uh, no. Listen, my cousin...she's like a second cousin, she's getting married. I kinda need a date."

My eyebrows shot up. "A date? Yeah, okay. That sounds fun."

"Wait," she said, holding a hand out. "I kind of told my folks that I had a boyfriend. They kept trying to fix me up, and this was the only way to shut them up. So it's not just a date to the wedding, it's pretending that we're together."

"We gonna make out?"

The blush deepened. "Hold hands. Maybe a little kiss. Not making out. I don't need my parents seeing that."

"Okay. I can handle that."

"Wait," she sighed.

"Are you about to tell me we have to be married?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. It's just that, the wedding is up around Santa Esme. There's a winery up there."

"Okay, so it's a destination wedding about ninety minutes away, and we're a couple."

"And it's a whole weekend."

"Anything else?"

"No, that's about the size of it." She gave me a hopeful smile. "It's good food all weekend and all the wine you can drink."

I let her hang for more than a second. The truth was, my heart was giving me little kicks. I kept thinking about Beth back in high school, the pretty redheaded cheerleader dating our football star. Here she was asking me out. Granted, it was clearly a friend thing, but I wasn't going to quibble.

"Yeah, of course. Sounds fun. When is it?"

"Last weekend of August."

"I'm in."

She sighed. "Thank you. You have no idea how much you're saving me."

"I can't believe it."

"What?"

"A whole town full of guys, and you pick me."

"Who says this is my first stop?"

"Right, right. Stay humble."

"Well, it was my first stop."

I almost said something else, but the bell rang and Beth was gone.

That Friday evening, I stared at the computer, then leaned back in my chair. Every time I tried to concentrate on something to write, all I could think was that at one in the morning I would be with Blaise. The thought of being between her legs, inside her again, it was more than I could handle. I'd already jerked off once, and the prospect of a second time was sounding more and more tempting. Besides, I could use the endurance.

The strains of mariachi music from across the alley filtered in through the window. My stomach growled. It was dinnertime and I needed to get out. Get out of my childhood bedroom, and do something. Anything. The words weren't flowing and I couldn't force them.

The more the scents came in, the more my mind wandered. The arroz con pollo from next door would hit the spot. I'd been raised on the stuff. I decided I'd scratch the itch. I probably should have just gone. But I picked up my phone. I had to make everything more complicated.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Dani," I said into the phone. Then, abruptly worried she wouldn't know it was me, "It's Theo. I was about to get some dinner. You want to come? Catch up a little?"

"Yeah! Yeah, that sounds good. Where?"

"I was thinking Rosarito's? Like nowish?"

"Sure, yeah. I can be down there in like fifteen."

"Cool. See you soon."

I put on some shoes and went out via the fire escape. I didn't want to explain to my parents that I was about to have dinner with Grace Soto's sister. Wasn't romantic, but I knew my folks wouldn't see it that way. I'd been sneaking out since I was fourteen, and so I barely made a sound. The last, six foot drop onto the alley wasn't pleasant, but it got the job done. I went out around the front of the restaurant and waited.

Dani walked up twelve minutes after we'd gotten off the phone. She was cute as always, dressed in a short skirt, a tank top and a light jacket. I kept thinking of Grace, who moved through the world like a goddamn song. She would have come up the street like the world around her was lucky to have her, the wind carrying her subtle scent to my nose. Dani was a much more earthbound presence, and wishing for her sister made me feel like a dick.

I put a smile on my face that I mostly felt. "Hey, let's get a table."

"I haven't been here in years," she said.

"It's a Bright family staple."

We got a booth a smaller side room, my favorite in the restaurant. The inside of Rosarito's was like a maze, filled with small alcoves and little rooms. It was like they wanted to pretend it was some rich guy's hacienda. Day of the Dead art covered the walls and sat in the alcoves of the windows. Sitting in this place brought me right back to my childhood, eating another meal in the shadow of a thousand grinning skeletons.

The waitress stopped by, dressed in a touristy approximation of a Mexican peasant dress, and we ordered.

"Did Blaise get back to you?" Dani asked, sipping her Coke.

"Yeah, thanks."

"What was it about?"

My heart gave me a nice, cold kick. Couldn't very well tell Dani that I wanted Blaise to give me fuck lessons. That it was some weird, misguided thing over me and Tessa going friends-with-benefits. Because anything I told to Dani might get back to Grace, and the idea of her looking at me as anything less would kill me.

"Oh, she had concert tickets she couldn't use. I guess she couldn't make the show. I didn't have the cash on me when she was offering."

"That's cool. Who?"

"You know Switchblade Symphony?"

"I didn't know they were touring."

Oh, fuck. "Yeah, I think it's a secret show. Anyway, that's not really important. What have you been up to?"

"School mostly."

"What's your major?"

"PoliSci."

"Wait, are you going into politics?"

"That's the plan."

"So I might be having dinner with the future mayor?"

"And later, you might be smoking out with the future mayor."

I laughed. "Not gonna turn that down."

The food arrived and I dove in. The arroz con pollo from Rosarito's will always be the sense mainline to my childhood. Instant comfort. Dani wasn't Grace, but eating with a Soto didn't hurt. She and Grace were decidedly different people, but they had enough similarities, that it was like a welcome ghost was the third person at the table.

"Tell you what," I said. "If you run for mayor, I'll volunteer for your campaign."

"That would be interesting. Seeing you politically engaged."

"I don't know. Maybe I should."

She cocked her head. "What's going on, Theo? Seems like...I don't know. This, the writer's block? Something's up with you."

I almost deflected, but shades in her voice, the shadow of her face stopped me. She wasn't Grace, but she looked enough like her that I couldn't deflect. I had to be honest. "I need something," I said. "Don't know what that is. It's like...my entire life has been scheduled, you know? Elementary school, junior high, high school, college. And now, congrats! You're an adult! But nobody's hiring. I got the degree they said I'd need, and no one wants it, and I can't even write a damn book."

She gestured emphatically with her fork. "You should do something and write a book about it.'

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Find a shipwreck."

"A shipwreck?"

"Yeah, find some pirate treasure. That's got to be good for a book."

"Did we even have pirates off the coast of California?"

Dani shrugged. "I'm not the one trying to write a book."

I laughed. "Point."

"Is that crystal working out?"

"Kind of soon to tell. Maybe it'll point me at a shipwreck."

"Never can tell."

I finished my chicken and she her enchiladas. "You want to get dessert? Fried ice cream?" I asked.

"Actually, I was going to a party later. Friends from high school."

"Oh, yeah. No problem."

"You want to come?"

It was only a little after seven. Six hours until I had to be at Blaise's place. More than enough time, and this would pass it. "Why not?"

I paid the check, and when Dani protested, I said, "I was just in college. You're broke, it's cool."

The party was at one of the identical ranch-style houses out in El Prado, maybe a mile from Blaise's house as the raven flies, but with the way the streets meandered it was more like four or five. Built in the '60s, El Prado could have been a suburb anywhere in California. The Soto house was out here, and I could have traced the roads right to it without a second thought.

The house was invitingly lit, with music thudding out through the night. I saw a lot of familiar faces inside, and out in the back where the party spilled out over a dead lawn. Faces that had been a year or two behind me, aged a bit from college. I followed Dani out into the backyard, where groups of old friends hung out, drinking cheap beer out of old igloo coolers.

"Theo Bright?" I turned to find a friend of mine stepping away from a group of guys I kind of knew. He was tall and lanky, his strawberry blond hair shaggy.

"Owen Kendrick," I said, shaking his hand. "How are you?"

"Where've you been?" Owen and I ran in the same circles, the AV club and drama geeks. He was a year younger and had been bound for film school last time I checked.

"At the shop. What about you?"

"School. Still got one more year, then Hollywood here I come. Hey, Dani."

Owen got the two of us some beers, and the three of us settled into lawn chairs. Talking with Owen and Dani, they had plans. Wasn't like me. Owen was going to break into Hollywood. The way he said it, it wasn't even in doubt. Had a career all picked out and everything. Same with Dani, different destination, same drive. Me, sitting there with the two of them, all I could think of was the novel I couldn't write, and my childhood bedroom that I had no way to get out of.

"You're still writing," Owen said.

"Trying to," I said.

"I'm glad. You know what I keep thining about? You remember that movie we did?"

I laughed. "Oh god. Turf's Up."

Dani's face dropped. "I remember that! You put that in the talent show at school."

Owen laughed. "Got us suspended."

"What?"

"Oh yeah."

"How long?"

"Okay, Theo was the leader, right?"

"I wasn't the leader," I said.

"Yeah, you were. You were in the seventh grade, and the rest of us were in sixth, so you were the leader. Anyway, Mr. Reyes tells us we're getting suspended for, and I quote, 'Showing filth,' you know what Theo says? He looks Reyes right in the eyes and goes, 'I'm just telling it like it is.'"

I felt my face getting hot. "He didn't like that explanation."

"We got two days. Theo was out for a week."

Dani laughed. "No wonder my dad hated you. Juvenile delinquent."

"I knew your dad hated me!" I said in triumph.

"You were dating his perfect little Graciela. What do you want?"

"I always thought it was because I was white."

"Oh, it was that too. My father's dislike is a rich tapestry." She gestured across the sky.

"Grace was hot," Owen said. We stared at him, and his pale complexion went red. "Sorry, it's the beer."

"Yeah, whatever," Dani said. "I'm gonna get another one."

She got up, and Owen looked at me. "You're dating Dani now? Pulling off the sister switch?"

"Nothing like that. We ran into each other. Just hanging out with a friend."

"So, like, if I asked her out..."

Jealousy gave me a spike in the heart. But I didn't have that right. If I was pining for Tessa, I wasn't allowed to pine for Dani too. Besides, I'd dated Grace. That would make dating Dani incest, right? Or something? "Go for it," was all I said.

"Cool."

It's easy to lose track of time with old friends. I forgot that I had anything to do that night, immersing myself in the easy camaraderie of school. For all his talk, Owen didn't really flirt with Dani, either. We hung out, we circulated. We talked to the extended members of our friend group. I was the oldest person at the party until after midnight.

That's when Damon Buentello swanned in. He'd been a senior at Balboa High when I was a freshman. He'd gone off to college the same as anybody else, then he'd come home and now he was working at his parents' surf shop. He was a townie, through and through. And though he was only three years older than me, something about how ragged he had become, he felt a decade my senior.

"Oh shit, is that Theo Bright?" he said, a smarmy grin spreading over his face.

"That's me."

"It's good to see you, man! We should hang out." Before I could get a word in, he slapped my back and made a beeline for the beer.

"Ugh," Dani said. "Can't have a party with that guy showing up."

"What's wrong with him?" I asked, knowing damn well the answer but hoping I was wrong.

"He's old. He didn't go to school with any of us. He just drives around looking for parties so he can sponge off the beer and hit on the girls."

"Right." I was quiet, watching as Damon made his way around the party. People smiled at him, but the instant he turned his back, the smiles vanished and the whispers started. I wondered when that would start with me. If maybe it already had. The air got thick and all I could hear was my own heartbeat, hammering quicker and quicker. I felt like a fist had closed around me and was steadily tightening.

"You okay?" Dani asked.

"Yeah, sorry. I just need to get some air," I croaked.

"You want me to--"

"No, it's cool. I'll be right back."

I stumbled out to the front and I was able to breathe again. I sucked in lungfuls as I looked up into the sky. The stars twinkled, washed over by the ribbon of the Milky Way. None of this mattered against those stars. Nothing at all. I concentrated on the sky, breathing. My heart slowed. The party was a million miles away.

I don't know what made me check my phone, but something pulled it from my pocket and the time stared me in the face. It was ten minutes to one. A flash of cold hit me. Blaise. I had to be at Blaise's house. If I missed that appointment that would be it. I had nothing else right no, no direction in my life. More than just the sex, I needed this.I glanced at the house, thinking I should say goodbye to Dani at least. I didn't have time.

I started to run.

El Prado's streets are damn near alike. These swirling, swooping parabolas lined with houses that could be twins. Blaise's place was one of the only real distinctive ones. My memory of that night guided me through the streets. Time ticked away as I sprinted through suburban avenues, hunting for the one place that looked like a witch lived there. My breath burned, my blood was heavy. I kept moving. I wouldn't lose this one thing, the one remarkable thing in my life.

Though I never looked at my phone, I knew that my time was almost up when I turned the corner and found the garden. A car was parked in her driveway, and I was too addled to really have a look at it. I ran up Blaise's walkway, my breath tasting like battery acid in the back of my mouth. I collapsed against the jamb, knocking on the door.

A moment later it opened. Blaise stood on the other side, wrapped in her black silk robe. A V of golden flesh was on display down to her navel. She held a glass of red wine in one hand, and she smelled of her sandalwood oils. "There you are. I was beginning to worry."

I was once again struck by Blaise's beauty. Most people thought she was Egyptian, and with the curlicues at the corners of her eyes and her choice of golden jewelry only encouraged it. She had a unique beauty that only got more alluring. Her large, mysterious eyes, her prominent nose, her little cupid's bow lips with their wide philtrum. Her black hair was short, plastered flat against her head like Josephine Baker's.

"Sorry, yeah. I got caught someplace," I managed.

"Come in."

She turned around, her hips swaying. I kept thinking of holding them, driving myself into her exquisite sex. I followed her, trying to come up with the words that had been rolling in my mind since I made the decision to ask.

I closed the door behind us and that was when I realized we were not alone. A woman sat on Blaise's couch. She was tall and pale, with long, voluminous black hair and straight bangs. Her eyes were huge, her lips full. She wore heavy eye makeup and dark lipstick. Her figure was a voluptuous, her breasts enormous, her hips and ass round and soft. She looked a bit like a haunted Victorian sex doll.

I swallowed on a dry throat. "Hi."

She sipped her wine, regarding me with faint interest. Blaise turned. "Would you like a drink?"

"Sure, yeah." She poured me a glass of wine and I took it, my hands trembling from the shed adrenaline. I sipped at it, and the rich liquid was not what I needed after sprinting the several miles here.

"What did you want to ask me?"

I glanced at the beautiful woman on the couch. "I was hoping to talk to you alone."

"Whatever you want to say to me, you can say in front of Katrina. We're old friends. Katrina, this is Theo."

The goth goddess raised her glass. Katrina didn't look older than her late twenties, but I couldn't be sure. The makeup made it hard to tell, and Blaise had her own agelessness. I was impressed with the contrasts of them. Blaise's body was hard, sculpted with rigorous exercise. Her complexion was a golden bronze, and in candlelight, she looked like burnished metal. Katrina was taller, softer, all pillowy curves. Her skin was powdery white, so pale as to be nearly translucent.

"Uh, okay. Well, it's like this. I want you to train me."

Blaise's eyebrows went up. "Train you?"

"Tessa told me that you train people. You teach them how to...how to have sex. I want you to train me."

"I have taken on apprentices in the arts of love. Tessa van den Berghe was one. Tell me, what makes you think you are worth my time?"

"We were together, and you came."

She chuckled. "Do you think you are unique in that?"

"No. I think I could do better."

She looked me up and down. "Kat? What do you think?"

"I think we should see what he's offering."

"Yes. Disrobe," Blaise said.

"Here?" I was incredulous.

"You should understand something. If you wish to enter my tutelage, you will obey when I issue a command. Now disrobe."

I glanced at Katrina. She watched with a good deal more interest. In for a penny, I thought. My shoes and socks were first. Then I pulled my shirt over my head. Kat leaned forward. My pants came down. I felt my cock beginning to swell. The thought of being nude for these two goddesses had an undeniable appeal. My heart hammering, I slipped out of my underwear. I was naked in Blaise's living room, two pairs of eyes inspecting every part of me. I was never gladder that I had a lean build with defined muscles, the result of years of regular surfing. As for my cock, Tessa had assuaged whatever lingering self-consciousness about it.

"Turn around," Blaise said.

I obeyed, giving them a full 360. My cock was at half-staff, and my belly was roiling with the process.

"Nice form," Katrina said.

"What do you think?" Blaise asked.

Kat cocked her head. "Maybe." She stood. She was wearing a small black chemise dress, perfect for a warm California night. Her figure was an hourglass, with heavy, melon-sized breasts and round hips under a narrow waist. She stood, pulling the dress over her head, revealing an expanse of snowy skin. She wore a tiny black thong and matching bra that strained to hold her rack in. She sauntered to me, her arms going up to my shoulders. Her lips found mine, soft and pillowy, with a sweet, waxy taste of her lipstick. I was surprised by her forwardness but not shocked. I rolled with it, pressing myself into her soft embrace.

Her tongue caressed my lip, then went between. Mine slid over hers, I held her waist, my hands beginning to move against her skin. She was so smooth. Her scent, a heavy perfume with floral and musky notes, invaded my senses. My hands went to the waistband of her panties. I resisted the urge to peel them off her and get a glimpse of her sex.

Katrina broke the kiss, her eyes searching mine. They were a deep gray, flecked with green, big and mysterious as the sky. "I think we should try him out."

I felt Blaise behind me, her hand reaching around to run down my chest, her body pressed into my back. The hard tips of her nipples caressed me. There was no silk between them. She had dropped her robe while I was kissing her friend. "I think that sounds like a lovely idea. Tell me, dear boy. Do you have it in you to satisfy the both of us?"

"I guess we'll find out," I said.

Kat chuckled. "I'd recommend you do well."

That was when I truly understood what was happening. This was an audition. Make them both cum and Blaise might take me as an apprentice. I leaned over my shoulder, reaching up, gripping the back of Blaise's head and guiding her to my lips. My kiss was hard, sucking her lip, exploring her mouth with my tongue.

"Let's go," I murmured.

Blaise took my hand and led me into her bedroom, Kat following. In the bedroom, I pulled Blaise to me, my cock pinned between us. Her taut abdominals caressed the underside of me, and I wanted her more. A kiss, and then two, I hungrily attacked her mouth. I wanted to take her hard, but I fought against the urge.

"You have two partners tonight," Blaise whispered. "Do not neglect her."

Katrina peeled off her thong, revealing a pussy as alabaster as the rest of her body. I was suddenly obsessed. I wanted to know if she would be pink inside, or if all of her was this powdery white. I wanted to drink in every part of her. She unshouldered her bra, her breasts bouncing as they were freed. Her nipples were wide and pale as the rest of her, only a touch of rose to their hue. Her eyes danced with amusement as she caught me looking.

I touched her breasts with wonder, brushing my thumbs over the thick nipples. They hardened instantly, and she thrust herself into my arms, her mouth hungry on mine. Her breasts squashed against my chest, soft and buoyant. My hands roamed over her, from her breasts, to her smooth back, to her waist, her hips, over her ass.

I pulled Kat over, hurling her onto the bed. She landed with a bounce, her soft breasts jiggling. Her eyes went wide and a smile touched the corners of her mouth. I followed her, kissing her lips, then her neck. Her hand found my cock, milking me. I wanted to roughly spread her thighs and take her right there, but I didn't.

I moved down her body, finding her breasts, licking and sucking. She moaned, holding my head. Blaise lay down on the bed next to us, languidly on her side, watching with interest. Her pussy was already shining, her scent joining Kat's.

"He's eager," Kat said, sighing with my attentions.

"That he is," Blaise said.

"Curious about something," Katrina said. With sudden strength, she hauled me up and kissed me hard, her tongue penetrating my mouth. Then she rolled me onto my back.

She stood, then knelt, her pussy over my face. Her scent was a kind of powdery musk, sweet, with an earthy bottom. Her slit was open, her innerfolds shockingly red and glistening with juice. I leaned up, kissing them as tenderly as I would have her lips. I felt her hands in my hair, closing hard, pulling me up.

"Eat my pussy," she commanded, grinding herself into my face.

At that moment, I felt a warm and wet sensation closing over my cock. After a moment, I realized what was happening. Blaise was going down on me. She was an expert, taking my entire length, accepting me into her throat with practiced ease. She massaged me with lips and tongue and throat, and that, plus the heavenly taste of Katrina, had the orgasm already brewing. At that moment, I had the strongest desire. I needed to see Blaise sucking me off. I needed to see that preternaturally put-together woman, her mouth distended over my dick. I needed to see her blink back tears. Needed to see her choke as I flooded her mouth with cum. Needed to see a line of it drip from her lips.

That meant making Kat cum. I ran my finger down the crack of her ass, over her asshole, then down to her lips. I fucked my fingers into her, my mouth finding her nubbin. I thought of how Tessa liked to be eaten, everything she'd taught me to make her cum. I used that now. I chased her moans, and when her thighs started to quiver, I knew I had her. She rocked back against my fingers, moaned when I added a second, and then a third. I ran my tongue over her lips, returning to her clit, sucking and lashing, then retreating.

Blaise hadn't been idle. I felt her, a vortex of spit and suction. It felt like she was trying to suck my whole body out through my cock. I recognized a bit of Tessa in the technique, though Blaise felt like a force of nature, her mouth doing things that should not be possible. Her hands were busy as well, milking my shaft, following her bobbing head over the wet surface, or caressing my balls. My orgasm was a physical force, straining against my body with delicious, shivering pleasure.

Kat squealed, pressing me deep into her folds, her taste thick like smoked honey. I slapped her ass hard, and she yelped, a fresh cascade of shivers going over her. She quaked through her orgasm, moaning.

I gave her another slap, and this time she obeyed. She dismounted. Cool air touched my wet face, and I looked down to see what I had been craving: Blaise sucking me. Her dark enigmatic eyes were on mine as though she had been waiting. Her lips were stretched over my cock. Spit ran from between her lips, slathering obscenely over my length. The sight was so wonderfully dirty, I couldn't contain myself.

The orgasm kicked, and that was all. "Fuck!" I cursed, and I exploded. I felt my cock bucking hard. Blaise swallowed once, then released me, stroking my cock as hot ropes of cum splashed over the bed and my belly and chest.

"Now, what will that do, I wonder?" Blaise mused. "Will you be finished or will you crave more?"

She crawled onto the bed, settling between me and Kat. I wanted to give myself a rest, but this was an audition. I cuddled up behind Blaise. Her back was slick with sweat, and now, the sticky remnants of my cum. I kissed her neck, my hands wandering from her breasts down her taut belly and to her sex.

Katrina turned on her side, closing Blaise into a sandwich. The two of them kissed, Kat far more aggressive than Blaise. I knew for certain at that moment that she was one of Blaise's former students. The hunger in her kiss was one who was getting an opportunity she didn't always get, a need finally being met. Kat had been dreaming of another night with Blaise and she was finally getting it.

I eased Blaise's thighs apart from behind, my fingers finding her pussy. Kat's hand was there already, her digits slick with Blaise. For a moment, we touched one another, then her hand went to Blaise's clit, while I slipped between her folds. Blaise began to writhe against us, her kisses growing more passionate.

I felt myself swelling, my cock waking back up after its rest. I poked between her legs, continuing to caress her, when I felt a hand on my shaft. I looked up, finding Kat's eyes on mine. Her teeth worried at her full lip. I nodded to her. She guided me to Blaise's lips and mouthed the word, Hard. Her eyes flicked to Blaise's, her own body beginning to move. I saw then that Blaise's thigh was between Kat's legs, and the taller woman was riding, grinding her pussy into the big muscle.

I impaled Blaise with a single, sure thrust. Her eyes flipped open, and she gave a cry. Kat grinned, kissing her hungrily again. Blaise moved against me, grinding her hips and swirling her sex against mine. I held her sleek hips, the muscles coiling under my fingers as I fucked up into her.

I leaned over Blaise's shoulder, and Kat broke from Blaise's lips to meet mine, her tongue forceful. I felt one arm wrap around me, pulling me closer. Blaise was quaking between our combined attentions, that ethereal self-possessed quality gone. She reached over her shoulder to hold me, her other arm about Kat.

Her pussy stroked me, and I felt the explosion brewing in my belly. I lengthened my strokes, a push, then a grind at the end, where I was hitting the back wall of her. That always provoked a throaty moan, each time a little more desperate.

Kat must have noticed, as she matched rhythm, her strokes over Blaise's clit timed between my thrusts. Blaise broke from Kat's mouth, her head back, moaning with every thrust. Then, finally, she broke into a wave of shudders against us.

Kat's face lit up in a triumphant grin. I pulled myself from Blaise, climbing over her to fall onto Kat. She was so soft beneath me, I gripped her chubby hips, rolling her forward, and taking her with a thrust. Her eyes were smoky. "I'm close," she breathed.

"So am I."

"Tell me. Tell me before."

I nodded. "You feel so fucking good."

"I know," she said, leaning up to kiss me.

She shifted, her legs up, the back of her knees against my shoulders. The orgasm was impossible to contain now. I felt my face growing hard as I fought against it, if I could have one more thrust inside this wonderful creature.

"Kat, I'm gonna cum," I gasped.

She was deceptively strong. She leveraged her legs, pushing me out of her and onto my knees. She turned over quickly, crawling to me and sucking me into her mouth. She took me to the base, her spit washing over me, and drooling from her plump lips. Her tongue ran over my overheated head and I popped. The orgasm roared out of me. She sucked greedily, swallowing pump after pump of me. As she worked, her own hand was between her legs, and I watched her explode, my cock still buried to the hilt in her mouth.

We caught our collective breath. I sat back, my cock beginning to soften. Kat wiped her lips, gave me a smile and sat back on one hip. Blaise watched us from the head of the bed.

"What do you think?" Blaise asked.

"He has potential. He takes direction well. And he has a lovely cock."

"Cock," Blaise made a face. "You know I mislike those vulgar terms."

Kat rolled her eyes. "His lingam was pleasing to my yoni."

Blaise looked me over. "I agree. Theo, do you still wish to be taught?"

I nodded, looking the two of them over. "Very much."

"There are conditions of course. The first, body hair is vulgar. You will remove it."

"Remove it?"

"Shave or wax," Kat said.

"Okay," I said.

"Second," Blaise continued, "you will increase your intake of fruit. Three pieces a day minimum. Your taste could use work."

Kat nodded. "And cut down on greasy foods."

"Yes," Blaise agreed. "We will craft a proper flavor profile for you. One to please your lovers."

"All right."

"Third, you will get tested. A full battery to ensure you are free of social disease. You will bring those results to me."

"Okay."

"Last and most importantly, for the duration of your apprenticeship, you are not to have sex with anyone without my direct supervision."

"What?" I looked at Kat. She nodded, confirming I'd heard right.

"You and I will have sex from time to time, worry not. I will choose other partners to hone your skill. You will not have a choice in the matter."

"Are you talking about...men?"

She chuckled. "If that is something you would like to explore, yes. Otherwise, no. Unless you tell me otherwise, I will exclusively pick women, although perhaps you will be required to be part of a group. You can confine your attentions to the women. Should you ever need to stop an act in progress, merely say the word..." here she paused, considering. "Barley. If you say the word barley, everything will stop. I will treat you well. I will push your thresholds, but I will never force you into something you do not truly want."

"I understand."

"Much of my tutelage involves breaking bad habits, and if you continue sex without me, such labors become more difficult. Now, are these terms acceptable?"

I looked to Kat. She gave me the ghost of a nod, as though to tell me this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I wanted her again badly enough that I would have said just about anything. But this was what I wanted. A purpose. Something that would make me more than just a townie. Something to do. Something to be.

"Yes. I want you to train me," I said.

"Good. Let us start with your endurance."

"We're going again?" I reached for her and she wagged a finger.

"Katrina will be your partner for the rest of the night. Now show me what you can do."

Kat lay back, spreading her legs. I dove between them and began my apprenticeship.