Page 71 of He Who Sleeps

“Since when do you go to parties?” Carlee frowned.”

She shrugged. “My first year here, I went with a friend...” She smirked. “She left after a bit, and it was kinda cool...they were masked and all. It was veryEyes Wide Shutreally and there was not one chance I wasn’t going to miss out on that.” Okay, it wasn’t completely the truth, but it wasn’t a lie.

"And they're all just okay with it?" Fiona was frowning. "You managed to find seven guys at one party that don't mind sharing?"

"What the hell kind of parties are you going to?" Victoria was still screeching. "And why didn't you invite us?"

She laughed at Victoria. “Girl, it wasn’t like I found this shit on my own.” She looked to Fiona. “They are friends, brothers of a sort. Grew up much like us...together, and alone and they...well, they share things. Me being one of them.”

“Okay, this sounds like a goddamn romance novel, but they aren’t hurting you, right?”

Define hurt?she thought and then shook her head. “No. I wouldn’t be in this three years if they were,” she offered. “I mean I’m clearly a deviant, but I don’t have a death wish.”

"It still sounds like a cult," Fiona said doubtfully. "A bunch of guys growing up together and alone and sharing everything? How is it not a cult?"

"What difference does it make?" The decibels were coming down but Victoria was still clearly overexcited. "How does it work? Do you have massive orgies? Do they fuck each other as well? Details!"

She laughed again. “No orgies, they aren’t like that, they are all hetero, but they have learned that one between them all keeps them bonded.” She smiled. “As to how it works? Well, I have time with each of them and it’s...well, it’s delightful. I’m something different for each of them, and they are something different for me.” She smiled again, wistful. “You know it’s refreshing to have a man be something, not all things? Like if he’s something, he can’t drop the ball on the other things, making him so very good at being that one thing.”

"Not even one orgy?" Victoria looked disappointed. "Well, fine, I guess. You do you. I'm still pissed you didn't tell us this before."

“No orgy yet.” She shook her head. “We have had limited time together up until this point. Though we have a weekend away coming up. One of them has a birthday and we are going away for it, to celebrate properly. As to why I didn’t tell you guys,” she looked to each of them in turn and then shrugged. “I didn’t know how originally...”

“And now?” Carlee asked.

“Now I need you guys to know, because they are precious to me, and things are going past some naughty, kinky sex.”

“I knew it! Tons of kinky sex!” Carlee fist pumped. “Spill.”

“It’s not that simple,” she offered.

Fiona was still staring moodily at the camera, obviously unsure about the situation, but Victoria had no such reservations. "Why are you being stingy about the details? Do they have dick measuring contests? What are their names? Are they employed? Any of them have funky kinks? Piercings? Tattoos? You're killing us here!"

“Dick measuring contests...not that I know of. Names? Leo, Emerson, Easton, Finn, Carter, Kendrix, and Jack. Employed? Yes, two of them own their own companies, one’s an artist, one is an accountant, and three of them work in animal welfare,” she started.

"Well don't stop there," Victoria said, making a gimme-gimme motion.

“Kinks? Well, let’s see...there’s the fire kink, which is really hot...and the toy kink...the oral kink. Ooh and one of my guys has a real hard-on for blaspheming.” She giggled. “Another likes to chase me like he’s a movie slasher...”

"Okay, now I know you're just making this shit up," Victoria said. "That kind of stuff doesn't happen outside of books."

“It does in my life.” She smirked at her friend. “One of my guys is into piercings, too.”

"As in he has them or he wants you to get them?" Victoria asked.

She grinned. “Both. His kink is very specific...you remember that time we went to the fetish show, and they did the workshop on erotic needling?”

"You let him stab you with needles?" Fiona was definitely unhappy. "Some guy you picked up at a party and have only met three times? How are you all being so cool with this?"

“Fi...” She sighed. “Look, being with them I have been able to explore things...things any vanilla guy wouldn’t dream of...things that I have found that I like. Honestly? Back then I was interested but where the fuck was I going to explore that? He let me explore that with someone that knows how to do it right.”

"Don't give me that face," Fiona replied primly. "I'm just worried about you. Are you sure he's being safe? Do you know how he stores and sanitizes his needles? How do you know he's not sharing them around his other fuck buddies and giving you hepatitis? Someone has to ask these questions."

"She is kinda right," Victoria agreed reluctantly. "But you'd know if he wasn't safe, right?"

She nodded. “Fi, I’m not dumb. He’s always safe and everyone has always been tested.” She smiled. “I’m safe, and I’m happy.”

“Well, I wanna know how I could be happy,” Carlee said. “Seven men sounds like a lot but...”

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