Regroup at the house.

The ride home passed in predictable silence. We took mostly back roads again, and only passed a few other cars. When we did I sped up and moved to the shoulder to give them as little time zonked out as possible. Thankfully they stayed on the road with no problem. We really needed to figure out a better way to get around.

As soon as I got back to the house and brought the ladies inside, I stepped away. As I moved across the room, they blinked and looked around. As Jess's eyes swam into focus, she saw me and her face took on an expression of delight and adoration. She cried my name and jumped up to embrace me. Of course, she only made it halfway across the room before going slack and standing with arms dangling at her sides, swaying slightly. Chloe rolled her eyes and laughed as I instructed Jess to walk back to where she'd started.

Once she was far enough away again, she looked at me oddly. "Dan," she said quietly, "thank you so much. I never imagined that I could-" she choked back tears, having trouble talking, "-could feel this way. This is amazing. I- I- I love you, Dan. I want-" She began to sob with joy. I was overwhelmed by this display, but Chloe seemed unfazed. She gently took Jess and led her a few steps closer to me. They sat down together on the couch and Jess wiped her eyes.

"Thank you." She said mildly to Chloe before turning back to me. "Forgive me, I'm still coming to grips with this situation. It's so weird. I still love you more than anything, and I love this... effect you have. But everything's muted now. It's like I'm consumed with a love more powerful than any emotion I've ever felt, and then when I approach you the volume knob is turned down." She turned to Chloe, who was smiling placidly as though slightly stoned. "Thank you for bringing him to me. I love him and I love you too, Chloe. I can't imagine going back to the life I had before."

"Ok, ladies." I was starting to get uncomfortable with this frank discussion of the raw love I had artificially implanted in Jess less than an hour earlier. "Who's hungry?"

"You've got two beautiful women at your disposal and you want to eat?" Chloe winked. "Why don't we take care of some other appetites first?" Jess was staring at the wall, but when Chloe patted her thigh she snapped out of it and nodded. "Yeah, let's do that. Sorry, it's hard to focus right now. So Dan, what do you want to do?"

I eyed the two women. Jess was still in her jogging clothes and Chloe was wearing a simple jeans and t-shirt combo. I realized that Jess was still sweaty from her workout. "Jess, we're gonna need to clean you up. I think maybe we can start with that."

She looked down and frowned. "Sorry, I hope that isn't a problem."

I shook my head. "Not at all! I think this could be fun. This house has a huge bathtub, so I think we should take advantage of it. Follow me to the master bath." The girls smiled and followed, making sure to stay a few feet behind me so they wouldn't stop.