The Autumn Prince

49. Never Alone

"Hysterical, Rach," I said, trying to play it down.

"Hey, nothing to be ashamed of, you're a guy. You think with your dick and tits like hers are practically mind control."

Katherine was grinning too, but she came to my rescue anyway, "Don't act like you don't spend half your day drooling after Thomas."

"That's different."

"No it isn't. You wanted him even before you were addicted." It didn't exactly kill the conversation, but Rachel visibly stiffened and quickly changed the subject.

"If you're gonna clean up, get to it, I'm hungry. We were just about to start dinner." She walked out, followed by Katherine, then Becca, and I trailed behind.

I kept my back firmly to the bath house while Katherine cleaned herself, which was a source of amusement to all three girls. I didn't have a good option. I could look away and be considered foolish or watch openly and get called out for being a pervert. All things being equal, and if I gave myself the luxury of being honest, I'd have preferred to watch, but some hangups have difficulty letting go.

Dinner conversation was a post coital analysis of Katherine's mental state, conducted almost solely by Becca and Rachel. I was probably more interested in her answers than either of them, but I thankfully didn't need to ask any questions. I kept reading too much into her word choices and body language.

A change had doubtless taken place, but there was nothing specific or obvious that she could pin down. Perhaps she was even more at ease than before, possessed of a kind of self-satisfied confidence that made her seem almost regal. It could have been the result of having finally gotten her way, or possibly an internal calm brought on by receiving the stronger connection she had craved. Maybe her doubts had been erased as she predicted, or perhaps she was putting on a show for my sake. Thoughts like that kept me silent.

When she kissed me, which she did frequently all evening, it was almost territorial, but never to the exclusion of the others. When she found out I'd neglected the others she insisted I service both immediately, and looked on without the slightest hint of discomfort or jealousy.

After dinner, I washed the dishes with Becca while Katherine and Rachel talked animatedly on the sofa. The two of them were in high form, but I spent most of the time trying to sort out my own thoughts, and Becca kept looking at me strangely out of the corner of her eye.

"Was..." she began after a particularly long stare.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Becca, something's on your mind."

"Yeah, it's just..."

"Just what?"

She looked up again, hesitant, "I was going to ask a question I think I know the answer to."

"And?"

"Was that your first time with Katherine? I mean, you didn't do it before last night, did you?"

"Um," I said after an awkward minute, "why do you ask?"

"No reason, I guess."

I felt bad for evading her question so I volunteered a little more. We were close enough for that, at least. "It was never an option for me. When I was sick, anything that messed with my body chemistry could end in mood swings and blackouts, or if it got bad, seizures and delusions. I've hurt people when I didn't mean to long before I knew fairies existed."

"Is that what makes you so careful?"

"It's a big part of it, yeah."

"What changed?"