Claim the volunteer

Grant nods decisively and crosses to where Amanda is kneeling. She flinches away from him, but doesn't run. He looks down at her. "I promise I won't claim Abby," he says softly.

She takes a deep, shuddering breath. "All...all right, then. All right." She swallows. "Do what you have to."

He places a hand on her shoulder. "I claim you, Amanda."

The older woman shivers violently as he says the words, her eyes closing. As the shudder leaves her, though, her eyes pop open, and she blinks in surprise. "...Oh. Oh. Goodness, that feels so much better than I expected." She beams up at him. "Grant! I'm so sorry for doubting you and resisting, before. I feel remarkably calmer now."

"Right?" Jaz asks. "Weird, huh?"

"It is!" Amanda beams as she climbs to her feet with a hand from Grant. "But now it all makes sense to me. Of course you deserve anything you want, Grant. And I'm glad you've claimed Mel, it's nice to have at least one of the girls on the same team, as it were. Why not claim Abby, too? I know I was asking you not to, but really, I think I was wrong now. Abby needs a firm hand and you could certainly provide that...Mel's right about her, too. I had to get called to her school once last year because she was caught in a broom closet blowing two different boys at once, the little slut. So she knows what she's doing...at least for a 19-year-old." She smiles up at Grant under hooded eyelids. "Of course, if you prefer a woman who actually knows what she's doing...well, it's been a little while, but..."

"I'm...ok," Grant mutters. He rubs his face. I still can't believe how quickly they turn...she was begging me not to claim Abby just a few minutes ago. He turns and addresses the bound girl. "I made a promise to your mom and I'm going to keep it. I won't claim you. In fact, we'll untie you and ungag you." He sees Mary, Mel, and Olivia all stir uneasily, and he holds up a hand. "If you want to leave, I won't stop you. But you should think about the fact that it's a lot more dangerous out there than in here. I know you don't have any reason to trust me, but I've met the kind of person who's running around out there already and it could be way worse. So you can leave if you want, but if you stay here...as long as you follow my rules, I promise I won't hurt you or claim you. Will you behave?"

There's a long moment, then Abby nods sullenly. Grant jerks his head at Olivia, who sighs and kneels down to undo the gag and unclip the handcuffs from Abby's wrists. The girl winces as she rubs her wrists and works her jaw. "So what are these 'rules,' anyway? You prick."

Something about the casual, almost disdainful way she says the last words stirs something in Grant, a dark fury born of knowing that it's deserved but not wanting to hear it out loud. "Well, first off, no lip from you, thanks. If you need to address me, say 'Grant.' Or 'master.'"

"And if I don't?" Abby asks warily.

Grant nods at Mary. "Well, then Mary will discipline you. Or Olivia will, if she's not around. You remember what Mary slapping you felt like, don't you?" Abby swallows and nods. "Right, then. That's what you'll get more of if you break a rule. So...call me 'Grant' or call me 'master.' Be respectful of me and the girls. Don't try to harm any of us or get us harmed. And do what I or any of them tell you. Straightforward enough?" He glances around at his little posse of claimed women, who nod approvingly. "Obviously we'll add more rules if we need to, but that should cover the basics. Sound good?"

"Sure. Whatever," Abby mutters.

"Say 'yes, Grant,' if you mean it."

She flushes slightly. "...Yes, Grant."

Grant studies her for a moment, unsatisfied, then strides over to her and holds out a hand. "If you really mean it - if you want to stay here and not be turned out on the street - kiss my hand."

There's a long moment in which Abby hesitates, fury and fear written on her face in equal measure. Finally she leans forward and places a tentative kiss on the back of Grant's hand.

"Good girl." Grant turns his hand over and straightens his middle and ring fingers. "Now suck."

The girl blanches. "W-What?"

"Don't worry," Grant says. A dark part of him is enjoying this - Abby's punch hurt, earlier, and she's been nothing but a bundle of attitude and trouble since he got here. But he means it when he says: "This is your last test, but I need to know that you're fully committed to staying here. So wrap your lips around my fingers, pretend they're the cock of one of those boys you were slutting out for, and suck. I'll tell you when to stop."

Abby's face is more purely anger now, and her cheeks are flushed, but after a second of burning glare she leans forward, parts her lips, and gently takes Grant's fingers into her mouth. It's warm and wet, and Grant shivers slightly as the girl begins to suck on his digits, bobbing her head slightly up and down on them. Mary comes to stand next to him, looming over Abby.

"Don't even think of biting down," she murmurs. When Abby swallows and shakes her head, still sucking, Mary smiles. She wraps her arms around Grant from behind, embracing him and pressing her full breasts into his back. "Well done," she whispers in his ear as Abby dutifully slurps away.

"What a little slut," Amanda sighs. "I don't know where she learned that from. The internet, I suppose." She shakes her head. "Still, probably not a bad idea to have her free. It'll be a good bargaining chip if you have to deal with Stephen."

Grant blinks, glancing over. "Who's Stephen?"

"Stephen? My husband?" Amanda says with a frown.

"Your what now?!" Grant yelps. He whirls to face Amanda, leaving Abby forgotten as he stares at the older woman. "You're married?!"

"I...yes, of course." Amanda looks bewildered. "Why did you think I wasn't?"

"I...it...why didn't you mention this?!" Grant turns to Mel, wide-eyed. "Why didn't you tell me your dad was still in the picture?"

"Um...it didn't come up?" Mel looks nervous, eyes big and round, like a kid who's been caught doing something bad. "I mean, like, first I figured you'd want Abby, then you asked for a tour, and then we were getting ready for mom to come home...I dunno. I was just focused on you." Grant, out of the corner of his eye, sees Abby's lips twitch in the ghost of a smile. And of course she was hiding that from me deliberately... He turns to Olivia. "What about you? Did you know about this?!"

"Oh, um, yes," Olivia admits. She shifts from one foot to the other. "I'm sorry I didn't bring it up, but it...well, the most important thing was that there were three women here with an apartment we could use."

"What if he'd been here?!"

She shakes her head. "No, I knew he was working this weekend." The tall blonde looks embarrassed, dropping her gaze off toward the floor on one side.

"How did you know that?"

"Oh." Grant turns at the noise of revelation from Amanda, who's crossed her arms over her chest and is staring at Olivia now, frowning. "You're the skank, aren't you?"

Olivia sighs. "...Yeah. I guess I am," she says ruefully.

"What the hell is going on?" Grant demands.

"She's been fucking my husband," Amanda declares at the same time that Olivia says, "I've been sleeping with Steve."

There are gasps from several of the other women, and Mel squeaks "Mom!" as Abby cries "What?!" Grant sits down heavily in the chair and puts his head in his hands.

"Oh, God. What have I gotten myself into," he groans. Mary rubs his back sympathetically.

"Why don't you two explain from the beginning?" she says.

Amanda shrugs. "Not much to explain. My husband and I have been going through a...distant period. You know how it is. Married for twenty years...passion comes and goes, and for him at least, mostly it seems to go. But a few weeks ago I realized that there was some money missing from one of our accounts, and with that and a few other clues - a smell on his coat, late nights 'at work,' the way he started being protective of his phone...I figured he was having an affair. I was going to confront him about it once the girls were off at college, but I guess this will **** the issue a bit." She snorts.

"Yes. I started sleeping with Steve three months ago," Olivia says with a sigh. "I'd never been with an older guy before and he was really eager...I just thought it was fun. And he bought me a lot of nice stuff...not quite a full-on sugar daddy thing, but both of us knew the relationship wasn't real. If that helps," she adds awkwardly to Amanda.

"Does it help that my husband decided to just fuck around with some greedy blonde bimbo almost young enough to be our daughter? Not really, no," Amanda snarks. "God, if he was going to screw around I wish he could at least be less of a fucking cliche."

"Hey, watch who you're calling a bimbo," Olivia snaps, embarrassment evaporating. "It's not my fault you stopped paying attention to your husband and he had to look elsewhere. And besides, from what I hear you don't have any grounds to go accusing other people of being greedy. Isn't he like fifteen years older than you? The way I heard it you were pretty eager to put out for that successful corporate guy when you were a college grad new to the city. He told me about some of what you got up to when you two were first dating..."

"MOM!" Mel gasps. Amanda flushes. "Shut your mouth, you ignorant - "

"LADIES. Enough," Grant says. To his surprise, all of them actually do fall silent, turning to him like flowers to the sun. "Is this going to be a problem?"

Amanda, arms crossed, hesitates for a long minute. "I mean, I'm still plenty angry. But no." She shakes her head. "The past is the past. I still care about Stephen, and I'm mad at him. And I'm mad at her." She jerks her head at Olivia. "But we serve the same man now. And that's what's important."

Grant looks to Olivia, who just shrugs. "If she's good, I'm good. I was thinking of breaking things off with Steve, anyway. It was getting boring, and I didn't really want to be, like, a mistress. Long-term."

"Homewrecker," Amanda mutters. She raises a hand in acquiescence when Grant gives her a stern look. "No, no. We'll be fine. What matters is making you happy."

"All right," Grant says with a sigh. "Now I just have to figure out what the fuck to do about him." He sighs. "I did not mean to claim...anyone's wife or daughter."

Mary pats his shoulder. "It was inevitable, Grant. Don't stress about that right now. And besides, now we have plenty of leverage for dealing with him!" She looks over to Amanda. "When should we expect him?"

She gets out her phone and glances at it. "Sounds like he's finally abandoned work. I texted him when I got home, he said he was going to come back here...but the way things are out there, I wouldn't expect to see him for another couple of hours."

"Oh, good. Then we have time to settle in and get everything set up here," Mary says. Grant nods slowly. She's right...we're already in deep enough. Just have to commit now. "Do you have that tracker thing?" When Amanda nods, Mary smiles. "Good. Who, by the way, lives in the other penthouse?"

"Down the hall? No one, right now. The old owner moved out almost a year ago and is still trying to sell it, last I heard." Amanda rolls her eyes. "Asking way too much for it, too."

"Oh, good." Mary sounds delighted. "In that case, I have some ideas about how we can set ourselves up here." She turns back to Grant. "There's at least one adjoining wall between these apartments. I think if we have some basic tools somewhere here, we could probably make a functional doorway and give ourselves a lot more space."

Grant frowns. "Do we need that right now?"

"Probably not. But it'd be good to have in the future." Mary nods to herself, mind clearly racing. "All right. Next order of business, I think, is lunch. Can anyone cook? I'm ok at it, but nothing amazing."

"I like cooking!" Mel says, perking up slightly at the prospect of something to do.

"Yeah, I'm like...ok," Jaz says.

"I can cook, of course. And I know where everything is," Amanda says with a sigh.

"Oh, don't worry, we got a tour already," Mary says cheerfully. "And besides, I have a thought...but first, Mel, honey, why don't you go change? Jaz, can you take Abby here into the kitchen and figure out something we can cook up into a proper meal?"

Jaz nods and goes to help Abby up, but Mel glances at Grant. "Do you want me to change?" she asks pointedly.

"Uh. Yes. Yeah, go ahead and change back," Grant says distractedly. Mel pouts, but trots off obediently. Grant feels himself harden slightly again as he watches her nightie swish around her bare thighs. He turns to Mary. "What should I...?"

"I had an idea of how to occupy your time while we cook," Mary says, an enigmatic - or mischievous? - twinkle in her eye. She steps up to him and murmurs in his ear. "I see how hard you've been getting with Mel in that nightie, and Abby sucking you...I've got an idea that'll take care of that distraction for you and maybe solve another problem, too." She smiles at him, eyes dark and enticing. "Let me lead the way?"