Fifth Wheel

I didn't need my gift to know how aroused Amaranth had become. While she let my cock slide between her lips, one of the servers accepted a bottle from the Egyptian and left for the abbey. I expected Amaranth to hesitate, but nothing could be further from the truth. Amaranth took the task to heart. She worked me over and had me panting before half my cock was between her lips. Amaranth withdrew and licked the underside of my erection. At the urging of the Egyptian, Amaranth took one then the other of my balls into her mouth. Then with no urging whatsoever, the acting Abbess caressed my testicles as she licked every inch of my cock her tongue could reach. Her free hand began stroking me as her mouth engulfed the top third and worked it quite well. Her virginal demeanor fell away as the message was clear. Amaranth had been something more before she took up the uniform of a nun.

"I am revealed," she said as she double fisted my cock. "I was homeless and wandered Europe for half a decade," Amaranth said. "To survive, I did what many might see as depraved and wicked. The Abbess found me and gave me a roof over my head for a price, no more men. I am damned, and I can't go back now. I love cock too much to return."

"Hmm, I could use someone of your particular talents and pay you well after a little grooming," my Mistress said. "Impress me, and we'll see how generous your future salary could be."

Amaranth slowed down. I whimpered in shock. Why was she doing that? She held up her index finger with its carefully manicured nail and traced the bulging vein running along the underside of my cock. The noise I let out was unlike anything I recalled in recent memory. The Egyptian smiled and poured herself a glass of wine. Amaranth gestured, and I returned to a prone position. I looked up to see the gorgeous mural painted on the ceiling. The center was a weird twist on the Garden of Eden. Eve stood with her back to a tree with golden blossoms, and instead of Adam and God reaching out, a crimson-skinned woman kissed Eve passionately. The ceiling corners depicted the four sacred animals holding back the four winds. A series of strange side panels stole away my attention from Amaranth. There was a complex machine in stages of completion. The first version showed a swarm of what had to be angels surrounding and assembling it. The second had those angels lowering the device into a pit by massive iron chains. The third section was the machine resting dormant in the abyss. The last and most disturbing scene showed a male figure throwing a switch and turning on the mechanism. At the edge of the painting, the thing sucked in hundreds of people. Fire gushed from a host of vents. What the hell was that supposed to be?

"Hey, up here," Amaranth growled. "What is so important you are ignoring me?"

"The mural there," I said, pointing to the panels.

"Oh, that," Amaranth said. "That is the creation of hell by the mad artist Yasmine D'Amber. The Abbess talked about it often after a long night of drinking. The first one depicts angels fashioning the great machine. The scholar and philosopher Bartholemew Burke calls it the first schism. The construction of hell divided the angels since it came before we did. Hell had been there waiting for us before Eve took her first breath. The second panel is the loyal angels lowering the thing below heaven so that the damned could look up and see paradise but forever removed from it. So, you see, their creator invented torture. The third one is the most haunting of all. It shows the damned thing sleeping, just waiting for the one hand that could stir it from its long slumber. The last painting shows the prophesized figure that would descend into hell and throw the switch."

"The damnation machine," I said, and Amaranth nodded. "Who is the figure? He's not an angel."

"Come now, silly boy, surely you recognize him. I know how to wipe that frown from your lips."

"Talk about a no-win situation or devious propaganda."

"Let me take away your anguish. Give it to me." Amaranth fell silent as her lips wrapped around the base of my cock. I forgot about the ceiling and focused on her, well, what she was doing to me. I cursed as she used hands, lips, and tits to pleasure me. "A royal courtesan taught me this." She said as she sandwiched my erection between her breasts. "That's it. I love your smile. Please tell me when you are close."

"Carlotta owes him her ass, don't forget that my pet," the Egyptian stated.

"Yes, Mistress," Amaranth purred as I began shivering. "He is close. Do you want the first taste?"

"Of course, Mmm, he is ready to burst." My Mistress' lips wrapped around me a moment before I lost control. My eyes snapped open to watch her throat muscles work. She swallowed every last drop. "Ooh, it is working. The tattoo is taking effect, see?"

"He is still hard," Amaranth gasped. "No, he is harder than before, bigger too."

"Longer and thicker," Carlotta said. "My poor ass is in for a beating." She said though she did not sound genuinely concerned.

"I'll help get you ready while we wait our turn," Isutoshi Sakura, the flutist, offered. "You will find my tongue up to the task. Get over here so he can watch me prep you."

Carlotta knelt next to me with her backside aimed in my direction. Sakura parked her face between the other's cheeks and went to work. She made sure that all I had to do was turn my head to see what they were doing. Amaranth sat on my chest and chuckled. "Mmm, I love a great show." Amaranth wiggled her hips until my erection found its way between her ass cheeks. Satisfied, she began rocking slowly and intently, watching my reactions. "Promise me you will come with me before dawn."

"Where?"

"My abbey," she said. "You must see the majesty of the dawn there before you return home."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you want," I said. Hell, at that moment, I would have promised Amaranth anything. A trip to see a sunrise seemed insignificant to me. I began comparing the sensation of her tits wrapped around me to her butt. "Your ass feels amazing."

"I know. Teasing clients was a specialty of mine. I could get them so wound up, and they'd come before sticking it inside of me. Damn, I missed sex." Amaranth cupped her tits and pinched her nipples for my amusement. "I remember when my cousin Larry snuck into my bedroom during a sleepover with my friends, and I had to jack him off to get him to leave. What a mess, but that is where it all began. I got hooked on sex, and it became my drug of choice."

"Let me instruct you on the dynamics of the female body," my Mistress said. The lesson was short and to the point. "This is a bit more advanced, but here are spots to caress to get a woman's juices flowing. These are pressure points. Watch and learn." The Egyptian had Amaranth crying out in less than five minutes. I memorized every location and burned it into my long-term memory. "If you please me, I will let you borrow a book that shows other pressure points."

"I am going to break you," I growled as Amaranth's ass teased me mercilessly. "So, you practiced a lot, I take it," I said to Amaranth.

"You know how they talk about musical geniuses? I possess a knack for making people climax. Oh yeah, I adore women as much as men. Women are more expressive than guys. They don't like to admit that eating them out feels good. Once you get past that, they beg for the next time since their boyfriend or husband doesn't do that. Real men don't eat pussy."

"I love feeling a woman when she gets close, and her thighs start shaking," I said. "A clear sign they are on the cusp. Then you suckle her clit, and it is like the hammer hitting the primer. Boom! She screams your name, and the rest is easy."

"Who taught you that?" Carlotta asked, her voice quavering. Sakura's tongue was working its magic.

"Someone special," I replied and closed my eyes. I felt the track of the tear burn its way down my cheek. Amaranth bent down and licked it away. "She was my first love."

"You lost your virginity to her?" Sakura asked as she worked her second finger into Carlotta's ass.

"No, she was the reason I fell. She opened my eyes to a much larger world and then left," I said.

"Fell from grace?" Amaranth asked as she rose and teased the tip of my erection with her labia. "So close and tantalizingly poised to strike. Give me her name, and I'll let you inside of me."

"Why not? She's dead and gone," I growled. "Her name was Desdemona." I cried out as Amaranth dropped down, and my length drove deep inside of her. The name hung in the air surviving the sound of my cry. 'Desdemona.' The vaulted ceiling venerated the woman that changed my life and set me on this path. 'Desdemona.' I would and did do whatever she asked of me. Even after her passing, the compulsion remained. I felt that I belonged to Des even though she had left.

"I will fuck you now, don't disappoint me," Amaranth said as she rode me slowly. "So damn thick and deep."

"It is okay to let your rage out. Amaranth won't mind, will you, my pet?" The Egyptian said, her lips next to my ear. I could smell the wine on her breath and taste the malice in her intention. "Go on, Frank, let her know how you feel."

I wailed as I rolled Amaranth onto her back and took over. My hips slammed into her as I gripped her legs along the backside of her knees. I pushed until they could go no further, exposing her completely. The pain of loss was profound, and Amaranth took the brunt of it gleefully. Our cries blended until they were indistinguishable. Poor Amaranth lay there clutching her arms around her torso. My sweat fell and mixed with her own as I wiped my face and grinned at the former abbess. Her gaze had never faltered while I took out my anger upon her. She was not Des but a sturdy substitute.

"Damn, I needed that," Amaranth whimpered. "Hey, are you okay?"

I wailed as my lower belly burned and I felt scorched as I rolled onto my side and into a fetal position. The tattoo felt white-hot, and I half expected to see the design glowing when I looked down. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, it did. Sakura gripped my shoulders and pushed. The Egyptian took hold of my erection while Carlotta positioned herself above me. Now that I was on my back, the raven-haired beauty impaled herself to quench the heat from the tattoo.

"Did I forget to mention the price that mark requires?" My Mistress chuckled. "Go slow, or he'll break you before things get interesting." She urged Carlotta. "That is going to be a tight fit indeed."

"My poor ass," Carlotta groaned. "I will never bet it ever again."

"Until Dominique finds something else you desperately desire," the Egyptian laughed. "Let's hope he doesn't have a seizure before he climaxes."

"He won't," Sakura said. "He hasn't fucked me yet, and I didn't come all this way just to bury another damn corpse."

"Sardinia, what a tragedy," the Egyptian said, clucking her tongue angrily. "That poor soul never stood a chance."

My vision narrowed as I fought the urge to blackout while Carlotta slow lifted her hips, revealing my cock entrenched in her backdoor. Her pained expression lessened as she acclimated. Sakura bathed my forehead as the Egyptian placed her hand over my heart and sang softly. I fought the urge to climax as long as my strength held out. By the volume of Carlotta's cry, I had not disappointed. After a quick clean-up, Sakura took her turn. She mounted me as Carlotta took her place, urging me to stick it out.

"Just a little longer," Carlotta whispered. "I have grown quite fond of you."

"We already did things," I managed weakly.

"That may be," my Mistress responded. "But I was not there to witness it. I will contact Lady Dominique directly. Look at me as a judge or referee of sorts. I make actions legitimate. You are doing well, by the way."

"Thank you, Mistress," I grunted as Sakura picked up her pace. "Is this going to happen every time I have sex?"

"No, the blood in the ink demands a price for the power it provides. Tonight seals the power locked within it. If you endure, you will be a legend among your lovers. Few today have the tenacity or endurance to survive the old magic. Consider yourself lucky."

"His fever is climbing," Carlotta said. I heard the Egyptian hiss silencing Carlotta. I began to moan as the hallucinations took hold. Lucidity slipped from me, and I began to sing one of dad's silly drinking songs.

"My penis lies over the ocean

My penis lies over the sea

My penis lies over the ocean

Bring back my penis to me

Oh, bring back, bring back,

Bring back my penis to me to me

Everybody..."

"He's delusional," Sakura whimpered as she ground her hips against me.

"Frank has a lovely singing voice," my Mistress laughed. "An amusing song, to say the least."

"I think his fever has broken," Carlotta said. "He might just make it."

"Have a little faith," the Egyptian declared. "Sakura is succumbing to the tattoo."

"Are you going to make love to me?" I asked.

"Frank," the Egyptian said as she leaned close. "No, I am going to fuck you until one of us breaks. Just between us, I hope it is me." She turned to watch Sakura. "Damn, I haven't seen her so enthralled with a cock in some time. That bodes well."

"Aw fuck," Sakura howled. "So good." The rest that came out was gibberish and incomprehensible. The more pleasure I felt, the more energy the tattoo took as payment. My sight failed me just before my second climax. I froze when I heard the Egyptian speak.

"Third is the charm," she said. "That is where the phrase comes from, you know, the old magic. If you are alive when I come, then I suspect you will live a long life."

"Happy?" I asked in a whisper.

"Pfft, how the hell do I know," my Mistress exclaimed. "What is happiness? Why are wealthy people so damn miserable while some of the poorest sail through content with their existence? The reverse is true, of course," she grunted as she slowly impaled her body on mine. "I know people whose assets are not easily measured, and they live each day serene in the knowledge that with a word, they could wreck the lives of millions. Happiness, like the meaning of life itself, is one big fucking mystery. Speaking of big, damn Frank, I do believe I am in lust with your prick. No, don't thank me, I am just paying off a wager. To me, you are just another... Unn, that hits the spot." The Egyptian rambled on about my cock. The exciting parts were the snippets of people, places, and what had to be vast spans of time she had lived. The Egyptian spoke dozens of languages and an equal number of dialects, and isolated tongues from across the globe and history. My first gift, the ability to speak, read, and understand any language, showed me how over my head I was.

"Pantanjali," Sakura mentioned as she added a cool cloth to my face. "The wearer of the blue hat and a holy man, he could dish out some carnal damage."

"Unn, I think Frank here has exceeded even his girth and rigidity," the Egyptian moaned. "Though, if I were to dash off to the top of a mountain for a good time, it would be for dear old Pantanjali. Ooh, you sneaky tart you. I believe you are correct."

"Nnn, correct, correct about what," I moaned weakly.

"Sakura believes you are the reincarnation of Pantanjali," Carlotta explained. "I concur. I knew there was something familiar about you. Mistress?" The Egyptian's pleasure overwhelmed her as she squeezed her eyes shut as she picked up speed.

"He looks close. How are you, darling?" Sakura asked.

"Nnn, yes," my Mistress grunted between clenched teeth. "Damn," she cried as her howl of release preempted mine by mere seconds. The last of my fever broke while I was inside my Mistress. The danger had not passed. I had lost a lot of vital energy while the three had made love to me. I was fed and given invigorating tonics added to wine to restore myself. By the time I had the strength to sit up, my lower abdomen had healed. The tattoo looked fresh but weeks old, not hours. While I bathed and removed the sweat and had time to deal with the near-death experience emotionally. I was surprised at my sense of calm. The name of Pantanjali had a rightness to it that defied denial. A past life made as much sense as anything else I had experienced until now. Were souls recycled like any other material in the universe, had I lost my right to rebirth, and had Des stolen my future? All of them. Serenity cracked like a black mirror reflecting the void. I bit back the anguish and denied the tears I was long past sorrow. The slap came out of nowhere, and the Egyptian stood before me and glared.

"No remorse. No pity. And for your own sake, no more fucking tears." She raised her hand for another strike, and I rose while my hand latched onto her hair. I yanked her head back and kissed her. Not one of them showed any genuine affection throughout this entire ritual: desire and hunger they had shared aplenty, but not a single gesture of tenderness. Her arms encircled my neck, and her body pressed against mine. "Oh yes, that is what I wanted to see from you. Mmm, the fire in your eyes is melting me."

The Egyptian returned my kiss and many more. By the time the moon touched the horizon, all but Amaranth lay sprawled on couches and padded mats.

"You promised," Amaranth reminded me. Gone were her garments of faith. The street clothes suited her better. I dressed in clothes provided for me. The two of us jogged up the path leading to the structure overlooking the beach. The abbey had seen better days, except the stained glass windows. They were intact, and their design remained a mystery for now. Outside the building facing east was a stone disk about three feet in height and ten in diameter. Atop the object was a metallic z-shaped metal bar or crank. With Amaranth's help, we fit it into a slot in the side and began turning it. The effort took both of us to complete it. A portion of the disk rose as the bar rotated, and a fan-shaped mechanism slid out and unfolded. Once the reflector extended fully, its function became clear. One side of the fan was a convex mirror that would capture and focus the sunlight.

"What now?" I asked.

"Hurry, stand before the double doors! The dawn reveals all."

Friday Evening: Autumn 199X

I did my best to steer clear of both Evan and Krystal. The ever-present tension was toxic for now. I hoped they would talk it out in time and smooth things over. I explored portions of the property delegated to preserving its natural beauty to pass the time. The leaves were at the height of their transition to red and gold. The evergreens were a pleasant contrast to the majority of the others. The scent of pine filled the air as the sound of rushing water drew me further and further from the house. The waterfall, stream, and subsequent second lake surprised me. I never knew this was here. No one talked about it. Why? It was breathtaking, and I found myself staring at the falling water, mesmerized by its simple beauty. A falling leaf landed in the stream and floated towards the lake. The failing light made it impossible to see beyond the middle of the fog-shrouded body of water. A gentle breeze stirred the low hanging cloud, and I imagined creatures of the Fae dancing and flittering across the obscured surface.

"Des would love this," I said without a hint of sorrow. "I can't carry you around forever."

The walk around the lake gave me time to feel the last of my anger and regret lift from me. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. While I was not free, I did feel better, much better, in fact. My stomach rumbled, and I headed back to eat and check up on the others. Hopefully, things have improved. They hadn't. It was written all over Krystal's face. The anger and loneliness and hunger for attention. A younger me would have pounced at the opportunity to taste the forbidden fruit again. Now, however, I restrained my baser instincts. The chill from the lake had followed me, and I built up a fire in the centralized hearth. While I did that, Evan fixed dinner. When stress overwhelmed him, he kept busy, and in this case, it meant food. "I'm glad I chopped the wood before it got cold."