Karen squirmed in her bed, trying to focus on her math homework, despite the fact that it was just past 10 am on a Saturday morning. Her heat was starting today, and she had woken up already feeling it, her body as tight as a guitar string, vibrating whenever anything brushed against it. She had started to paw off under the sheets, but Rachel had woken up before she’d been able to finish even once, and once was a far cry from what she needed.
        Not that she hadn’t pawed off--and much more--in front of Rachel before, but her little sister was wildly unpredictable, so she didn’t like to get her involved unless it was absolutely necessary. With Jake on his way over, she had consoled herself to wait, and was trying homework as a way to get her mind off of her heat. 
        It wasn’t working. 
        Rachel bounced noisily on her own bed, singing a song she’d made up and adding to Karen’s distraction. Karen’s ears flicked as she heard a knock at the door. She hissed across the room at her sister and Rachel yelped softly, her butt falling to the bed and remaining still.  Karen glanced over and squeaked with alarm.
        “Rachel! Put some pants on! How many times do I have to tell you?!”
        Her sister rolled her eyes then leaned over the edge of the bed, hanging upside down over the side with her bare butt visible as she rifled through clothes on the floor. She sat back up, having found a suitable pair of shorts, and slipped them on without bothering about panties. Karen wanted to protest further, but at least Rachel was decent, which was quite an accomplishment some days.
        She heard the front door open.
        “You’re awfully early for your date, son,” Daddy rumbled. His voice was thick with disapproval, but Karen knew it was just an act he put on. Smart and polite, Jake was thoroughly entrenched on Daddy’s ‘Approved’ list--as long as it never got out how far they went.
        “Yes, sir,” Jake said without missing a beat. Karen crept toward the door to hear better. “She has a test in math on Tuesday, and I was going to help her study. I apologize if she forgot to ask you, sir.”
        Silence followed. Karen could hear Daddy crossing his arms, which were so thick that they always audibly strained against his shirt sleeves when he crossed them. He was leveling Jake with a stern glare, waiting for him to crack. A guilty boy would always crack, she knew, which was why she and Jake were always careful to couch their rendezvous in truth. They really were going to study today, at least part of the time.
        Unlike her last boyfriend, who had fled the house--possibly in tears--the first time such a gaze was leveled on him, Jake stood and waited under its weight patiently. The thought of him standing, brave and confident, made her wet. She shivered and leaned against the doorframe, squeezing her thighs together, wishing they would hurry up with their masculine testosterone dance already.
        She heard the door creak open slightly wider.
        “The whole family’s home this morning,” Bill said, stepping aside to let Jake pass. “Except Sarah. She stepped out for groceries. Do you know what that means for you, son?”
        Karen could barely see the line of Jake’s back as he edged past Daddy into the hallway.
        “N-no, sir?” he asked, his steady demeanor fracturing a little under the unexpected question.
        “That means it’s just you and my three little girls. And if something happens, my wife’s not here to stop me.”
        Jake made a little squeak as Daddy rumbled with that laugh of his. Jake hurried down the hall and slipped into the room she shared with Rachel. 
        “Doors open,” Daddy called, then added, “Or else!”
        Across the hall, Sammy’s door creaked as she opened it obediently. When a boy--or Nikki--was over, no one was allowed to have a closed door. Sammy shot the two of them a glare then disappeared into her room again.
        “What’s with her?” Jake asked, totally confused. Jake was just as popular with Sammy as he was with the rest of the household, and usually got a fond welcome from her.
        “She’s part of Alex’s whole big thing, tonight, remember? She spent all yesterday shopping and she’s going to spend all day trying to decide just exactly what to wear and how to wear it, and I’m pretty sure she’ll still complain that she didn’t have enough time when 7 rolls around. She hasn’t even seen Nikki since Thursday!”
        “Ah,” Jake said softly, nodding. “And I’m ruining her secrecy before the big reveal.”
        “Exactly!” Sammy shouted between the rooms. With the doors open, she and her sisters had very few secrets from one another.
        Karen just giggled and grabbed Jake by his shirt collar, pulling him deeper into their room. She didn’t kiss him, yet, even though she desperately wanted to. Well, what she really wanted to do was push him down and shove his cock inside her, but a kiss would be nice, too. But she restrained herself, ears perked. Jake practically held his breath, only the wagging of his tail making any sound as they waited. Rachel squirmed restlessly, but even she was quiet. The room was still enough that Karen could hear the rustling of fabric coming from beyond Sammy’s door.
        Karen heard the soft click of a humidor closing, followed by Daddy’s heavy footsteps. Then she heard the glass door to the patio slide open. It slid halfway closed. Karen breathed a sigh of relief. Even with Jake over, Daddy could never resist the spring sun when he had a chance to enjoy a good book and chew on one of his cigars. He’d still be listening, but him being out on the patio afforded them far more privacy.
        Rachel started jumping on her bed again as Karen lunged forward, her tongue seeking Jake’s muzzle. He wrapped her up in his arms, holding her body tightly to his as they kissed. As a tiger, she was used to being bigger than other kids in her grade, but Jake was a little bit taller, a little bit bulkier, just enough to make her feel petite in his arms. Like Daddy, he was strong but soft at the same time. She fit perfectly against him.
        She knew that he knew what time of month it was, but his movements were chaste, loving rather than erotic. She guessed he was still shy with Rachel in the room, though she thought she had fixed that the one afternoon she’d swallowed his seed with Rachel watching attentively just a few steps away.
        Forced to take matters into her own hands, she grabbed him tighter, steadying herself against his shoulders. She lifted her foot up, dragging her bare toes along the leg of his khakis. Blessed with all the limberness of the family felidae, she was able to wrap her leg around his waist, standing on the tiptoes of her other foot, holding on to him for balance. The move had the intended effect of nestling her hot nethers right against the wolf’s package. He was still sheathed, but she intended to fix that quickly.
        Then, to her surprise, she felt Jake’s hands on her shoulders. She fought to stay in place, eager to lewdly grind against him some more, but he firmly extricated himself from her, panting for breath but holding her at arm’s length.
        “Karen,” he started, but she interrupted.
        “Jaaake,” she said with a whine, her hips squirming from side to side.
        Her ears drooped as Jake shook his head. He took a deep breath and seemed to steady himself. “Not right now,” he said. Then he held up his hand, forestalling her protest. It wasn’t like him to be so forceful, or withholding. She snapped her mouth shut, annoyed, frustrated, but also starting to worry. She crossed her arms and tried not to huff too much.
        “I wanna talk first, Karen, okay?” he said gingerly. She glanced down and could see that even her interrupted efforts to arouse him, along with the scent that now saturated her room, hadn’t been completely ineffective. His khakis hid the familiar beginnings of his bulge, and the sight of it made her tremble with excitement.
        “Jake, I don’t think this is the right time for talking,” she said in a soft voice. She stepped toward him again, hand lowered, intending to get a pawful of that budding erection and encourage it, but Jake’s firm hands caught her shoulders again. She pouted, glancing up into his eyes. They were stern.
        He gripped her shoulders and leaned in close, not close enough for their bodies to touch like she wanted, but close enough to put his lips by her ear.
        “Karen, I let you alpha me whenever you want. But if you want to get off on anything but your own fingers today, you’re going to have to listen first.”
        She squeaked in outrage and pulled away from him, crossing her arms again. How dare he make an ultimatum! Especially on the first day of her heat! Her fur stood on end and she paced, growling at him.
        Karen glanced at Rachel who was sitting in the corner now, watching with interest. Rachel loved watching her and Jake play, especially when Karen let her watch right out in the open instead of hiding in a closet or under the bed. If she really needed it, Karen knew that she could count on Rachel to get her off. She was tempted to do it right there, to assert her dominance over and independence from Jake. 
        But. . .tonight was the big date night. Alex had been talking to all of them, planning it for over a month. His and Nini’s best friends were all still too young to attend the big Spring Fling at the school tonight, so he’d planned a big night for just their little clique. Alex had been pointedly vague about the specifics, but Karen knew a limo was involved, and she’d planned on finding a way to get Jake’s knot stuffed inside her three or four times before the night was over. If she defied him now, there was little chance of that particular dream coming true.
        She shook a little, trying to force herself to calm down. At the moment, few things seemed as important as her need to get off RIGHT NOW, but sneaking away to fuck Jake in ten hours was one of them. She huffed out an annoyed breath and fell onto her bed, not looking at Jake.
        “Fine,” she said, trying to keep the snarl out of her voice. “Talk.”
        She felt the bed move as Jake sat on it behind her. Despite her anger, she couldn’t stop the sigh of pleasure from escaping as he started to slowly, soothingly rub her back. “This is what I want to talk about,” he said. “Your heat. Nikki and Rachel and us.”
        She stiffened a little. She’d never told him about Rachel.
        “Don’t freak out,” he said softly, moving his hands distractingly over her body. He stroked her sides and toned belly. She knew he was deliberately distracting her, trying to defuse her anger, and she was paradoxically angry that it was working. “Sammy told me.”
        She tensed, her first urge being to spring up and across the hall, but Jake’s hands tightened too, just enough to stop that first impulse.
        “Sorry, Karen. He asked,” came the sheepish words through her cracked doorway.
        Jake pulled her back to him, and this time his hands slid up to cup her small breasts through her t-shirt. The angry tension melted out of her, replaced by the tension she’d woken up with. She whimpered softly and felt his touch lighten in response, not giving her too much pleasure, not yet. The promise was implicit, and it urged her to keep listening. He was using her body to control her, and part of her loved it.
        His lips moved back to her ear, his fur tickling her there and making her ear flick. “I love you, Karen,” he whispered for the first time. She blushed, her body suffusing with warmth at the sound of the words. Across the room, even Rachel understood the gravity of the statement, for she squeaked and covered her muzzle with her hands, staring at them excitedly.
        “I know you think what you do with Nikki and Rachel is harmless fun, but it’s not. No,” he said, taking his gentle touch away from her breasts as she started to protest. “Stop. Just listen, okay?” She made a frustrated sound, but relaxed and shut her mouth. When she did, his touch returned and she sighed in pleasure.
        “You’re not being fair to Nikki and Sammy, and you’re not being fair to me. Sammy is Nikki’s alpha, Karen. Anyone can see that. How often does your sister get to be an alpha? How often does anyone in this house get to be an alpha? I know I have to check mine at the door. Nikki’s with someone now, and it’s not fair of you to just swoop in and steal her away for your own needs. I know they both say they’re okay with it, and maybe they are, but that doesn’t make it right.
        “As for Rachel, I personally think she deserves the right to find out about stuff like this on her own. I’ll be honest, I don’t have as strong an argument for Rachel as I do for Nikki. But Karen, I love you, and I think I deserve to be the only one with the right to get you off.”
        “Jake,” she said softly, voice trembling a little as his touch to her breasts grew more firm. “We are exclusive. I told you that. With the girls it’s just. . .you’re. . .you’re not always there, Jake!” she whimpered softly.
        “You’re going to have to compromise,” he said sternly. “I know I’m not always right there, like Nikki is. So some days you’re going to have to wait for me. But I’ve worked it out so that I can always meet you after school now. Every day, any day you want, thanks to my mom’s new job.”
        He squeezed her left breast, making her moan softly. To her surprise, his other hand started sliding down her body. She whined softly and arched under his touch. Across the room, Rachel made an excited squeak.
        “If you can wait for me at least that long, I promise I’ll get you off in all the ways Nikki does.”
        Karen blushed, wondering if Jake knew exactly what he was agreeing to. One of the reasons she’d always refused to give up Nikki was because she and the bunny girl shared certain preferences. She and Nikki had no secrets from each other, but some of the things she and the bunny shared she’d always been too embarrassed to confess to her boyfriend.
        Jake’s hand moved down her body, making it more and more difficult to concentrate. Pressed together, his fingers moved down her pubis and cupped her hot lips delicately through the flimsy sweatshorts she was wearing. She thought about the terms of his compromise, of trying to make it through an entire school day with her body acting like it was now. It would be abject torture. Even with stealing Nikki away two or sometimes three times a day, her body’s arousal still blazed throughout the whole day.
        But if Jake lived up to his promise. . .would he really do all the things that Nikki did, plus all the things that only a boy could do for her? She wondered if she’d be able to stay conscious, knowing that something like that waited for her at the end of the day. She shuddered, excited by the mere possibility. She was so aroused right now that she was ready to say anything if it meant they could move from talking to getting off. 
        Jake always knew when she was lying to get what she wanted, though. Somehow, he was just as good as Daddy at that. Though her mind was clouded with lust, at some point, the true meaning of Jake’s whispered words started to form from sluggish connections. He was serious, dead serious. What she’d been doing with the girls hurt him, and it sounded like he thought she was hurting them too. That was the real reason he’d been saying he loved her. He was saying that he loved her, but he’d end it if he had to. To stop her from hurting him even more. 
        “Jake,” she whispered, trying to keep her hips from grinding into the gentle touch of his fingers and failing. “I’m sorry. Just you. I promise.”
        She expected to be rewarded with a firmer touch, or maybe he’d bite her on the neck the way she liked him to. But he was still for a long moment. He’d been taking notes from Daddy, she realized. He was intimidating her to see if she’d crack. But she was being sincere, and so she kept herself as quiet and still as he was, waiting for him as patiently as her body would allow.
        Jake’s hands tightened, but not the way she’d expected them to. Instead of pressing his fingers more firmly against the wet mess of her labia, his arms shifted slightly and he grabbed her. She had to stifle a squeal of alarm as she was spun, the wolf playfully throwing her down onto the bed. She arched her hips up, gasping at the feel of his claws sweeping down her hips and thighs as he stripped the shorts off her body.
        Both Jake and Rachel seemed to move quite quickly as Karen tried to mentally adjust to the change in atmosphere. Rachel had bounced off her bed and crossed the invisible line that separated the room in half. Without even the slightest hint of embarrassment or impropriety, her sister was now sitting on the floor by Karen’s bed, muzzle and fingers perched on the edge, eager for a show.
        To her surprise, Jake didn’t seem to mind at all. The wolf gave Rachel a quick wink as he sidled down Karen’s body, kneeling at the foot of the bed. Firm hands gripped Karen’s legs and pushed, sending her knees to her chest and turning up her nethers lewdly. Her body was having none of the problems with sluggishness that her brain was, and she could feel both of her holes clench eagerly in anticipation. She shivered as her new position caused her slick heat to dribble down from her vulva and pool at her tailhole. She tensed and blushed, remembering his promise to do everything that Nikki would. How exactly was she supposed to breach that topic? She’d never even had to say the words with Nikki--the bunny girl had just started exploring on her own.
        Jake paused for a long moment, and it was clear that both he and Rachel were enjoying the view. Karen blushed at the sensation of being so exposed, despite everything she’d done with both of them. She heard a soft rustle of cloth that drew her attention to the side just in time to see the shorts she’d scolded her sister into wearing get thrown back to Rachel’s side of the room. One of Rachel’s paws disappeared from the side of the bed.
        Jake lowered his head and Karen tensed. Jake didn’t eat her out very often, but when he did, he liked to be aggressive and bury his wide, canine tongue deep inside her snatch. His approach was completely different from Rachel’s or Nikki’s, but it was just as effective. She waited, tense, but the expected spear of his tongue driving into her never came. She glanced down at him between her legs, biting her lower lip and holding her breath. His eyes were waiting for hers and he grinned when their gazes locked.
        Jake parted his muzzle, letting his tongue loll out. Karen squeaked, her entire body tense, hating him for teasing her and loving it at the same time. He held her gaze as his tongue curled at the tip and she trembled, expecting to feel the warm flesh lap at her wet, swollen lips.
        The tip of his tongue pressed underneath her tail, curled there, and slowly lapped up the nectar that had pooled at her tailhole. She arched her back, letting out a surprised grunt, her tight pucker clenching under the touch of his tongue. He did know, then. Nikki must have told him. If not, his exploratory guess had hit the jackpot. At her side, Rachel made a soft, confused ‘oh’ sound as Jake lowered his muzzle an inch further, pressing his lips to Karen’s pink ring in a slow, intimate kiss.
        Karen’s ears swiveled. Above the intense beating of her own heart, she could barely hear the wet sound of Rachel burying a finger in herself. Karen tore her eyes away from Jake’s to glance at her sister. The six year old wore a confused but intense expression. So much for discovering things on her own. 
        Jake’s tongue slid out of his muzzle, the tip pointed, abruptly drawing Karen’s attention back to her own predicament. Her head thumped against the mattress as she squealed despite Daddy’s presence only a few doors away. Karen cursed inwardly and bit her own lip, Rachel turning to stare at her with alarm. Jake, however, didn’t seem to notice the slip. His tongue was pushing slowly, firmly at her pucker, and Karen’s needy cunny gushed with arousal as she felt the ring start to part. Juices dribbled from her upturned snatch, running down into the fur of her belly and washing Jacob’s tongue as it wriggled.
        Karen couldn’t help herself. Jake’s tongue was bigger than Nikki’s by far and the sensation was much more intense than the playful, flickering poke of the bunny’s tongue. She muffled her sounds by biting her lip, but it was difficult, and the tension in her body was rapidly building.
        Something small and wet clapped over her muzzle just as her teeth slipped off of her lip. Rachel firmly muffled Karen’s involuntary cries with the hand that had been buried between her thighs. A series of soft squeals that her Daddy surely would’ve heard were effectively silenced by those slick fingers. She blushed, inhaling sharply, and her nose was filled with Rachel’s immature scent. She glanced to the side gratefully, but Rachel wasn’t looking at her. She was leaning forward to watch Jacob’s tongue stretch Karen’s tailhole, left hand now concealed as the wet sounds of her frantic masturbation continued.
        Karen groaned into Rachel’s wet fingers as Jacob’s tongue kept pushing. The broad, wet muscle seemed to penetrate her impossibly deep, even though she knew it was really only an inch or two. He wiggled his tongue from side to side, stretching her hole playfully to make her squeal into her sister’s hand, then slid it out again slowly. 
        Karen whined softly, her hips jerking, trying to force the tongue back inside her. Her body was incredibly taut, the muscles of her abdomen clenched and her pussy rhythmically spasming around nothing. She was inches from orgasm, but Jake would only tease her. She looked down at him, eyes pleading over Rachel’s clamped hand. He grinned at her. Beside them, Rachel was bouncing energetically. Her eyes were clenched shut, her teeth biting into the corner of Karen’s mattress as she came. Karen whined, letting Jake know how envious she was.
        Jake’s tongue teased slowly over the twitching ring of Karen’s anus, rimming her slowly and sweetly. Karen arched, her whole body trembling, liquid gushing out of her to coat Jake’s face. Jake teased her for several long moments, building her desperate body up to more and more of a frenzy, tickling her sensitive tailhole and pausing often to lap up the juices off of her perineum.
        Rachel’s orgasm faded a moment later. Karen’s sister stopped biting the mattress and leaned in to watch again. As she did so, her fragrant fingers gripped Karen’s muzzle tighter. Suddenly, Karen realized that Jake had been waiting for exactly that, letting Rachel regain her concentration in keeping Karen silent.
        Jake’s tongue thrust inside her before she had a chance to tense up from her realization. A series of muffled squeals were silenced by Rachel, who gripped her muzzle even tighter. Jake tonguefucked her tight asshole the way he would have with his cock. His thrusts were hard, brutal, and deep, striving for nothing more than to fill her as much as possible, which was exactly the way she liked it. She came on the third rough stroke of his tongue. Rachel squeaked with alarm, having to climb up onto the bed to keep her hands clamped on Karen’s muzzle as the older sister bucked.
        Karen’s muscles clamped down around Jake’s tongue powerfully but he didn’t even slow. She might have screamed if it weren’t for both of Rachel’s hands holding her mouth shut, dripping immature juices all down her face and neck. Jake’s hands tightened, holding her legs firmly in place against her chest despite the thrashing of her body. On the fifth stroke of his tongue, she came a second time and she felt a tightness in her cunny snap as the orgasm set her squirting. Still lewdly upturned by Jake’s hands, her squirt arched into the air, landing on his muzzle and in his hair, and a soft squeak let her know that she’d spattered Rachel as well.
        His tongue filled her far deeper than Nikki ever had, and the new sensation drove her quickly to a third and fourth orgasm, her position making a great squirting mess of all three of them. She thrashed on the bed as pleasure tightened in her stomach then erupted, again and again, though between Jake’s strong hands and Rachel’s determined fingers, she didn’t go far.
        At some point, Jake’s tongue left her empty and she felt it replaced by a single digit, pumping into her determinedly. It was a poor replacement, but coupled with a quick suckle of her clit, it pushed her over the edge to a fifth orgasm. When her pussy clenched and then gushed with the thick, sticky squirt of her heat, Jake’s muzzle was there to catch it, licking up the fluid hungrily.  Gradually, his pumping finger slowed to a stop, and as this orgasm tapered to an end, so did his ministrations, letting her float down easily from the climax.
        Both Jake and Rachel released her and she lay panting in the middle of her bed. The sheets felt wet under her butt, soaked with the heat-driven arousal that had been gushing out of her. Glancing down, she saw her shirt was just as bad off, covered in a Pollock-esque pattern of her stickier girlcum. She blushed, squeezing her legs together and curling up, enjoying the warm afterglow as Jake cleaned himself up. Rachel leaned in to kiss her nose and then ran off, presumably to shower. When Rachel slipped out of the door, the movement of a shadow nearby made Karen grin.
        “Sammy,” she cooed teasingly, “You can get right up to the bedside like Rachel next time, if you want.” Her sister didn’t reply, but Karen giggled, hoping she’d made her sister blush. Karen shivered, imagining both her sisters’ eyes peering over the bedside as Jake made her cum. The thought was enough to awaken her body again and she had to stifle a moan.
        “Jake,” she whispered, groping limply until she found his hand. She pulled him closer. “Fuck me,” she hissed urgently. “Cum in my ass. Please. It’ll only take a minute.”
        Jake grinned at her. He rolled her body slightly so her back was against the mattress again, then pinned her down against it as he kissed her. The taste of his tongue in her mouth was dark and both spicy and sweet. It tasted like Nikki’s tailhole, that time she’d reciprocated for the bunny, before Sammy.
        He ended the kiss and smiled. “No,” he said, then put a finger on her lips before she could protest. “We have a test to study for. And you’re going to get your first taste of waiting for me. Got it?”
        Even as he said this, he slipped down onto the bed with her and cuddled her, the big spoon to her little spoon. She could feel his cock against her ass through his khakis, the knot nestled by her cunny. His hand slid down her body and he grabbed her hip, grinding his masculinity against her. She moaned.
        “Fuck,” she whispered, whimpering. “Are you ever gonna make this easy on me?”
        “Not until it stops being fun,” he said with a low chuckle. His hand slid from her hip to her chin, and he turned her head so he could kiss her again.
        “Are you ever gonna let me be the alpha again?” She pouted cutely. “You’ve been domming me more and more since that day in the mall.”
        She could feel the reluctance in his body as he moved away from her to stand up. He stood over, smiling at the picture her half-nude, cum-spattered body painted. “Probably, eventually,” he teased her. He adjusted himself in his khakis, eyes lingering on the curve of her ass.
        Karen smiled sweetly at him. “I’ll have to make up for lost time when that happens, you know.”
        Jake grinned at the threat. “Promise?” 
        His ears flicked and she squeaked, her ears swiveling as well. They stood motionless for a moment, but the telltale sound of the sliding glass door never came. False alarm.
        Jake breathed a sigh of relief. “You should probably get dressed. I don’t think your dad would like you studying with me, half naked.”
        “He wouldn’t, but I would,” she said teasingly and sat up. She stripped off her wet shirt, then let him watch her nude body as she quickly made her bed, covering up the arousal- and cum-stained sheets with her comforter. Then, reluctantly, she wiggled into a pair of panties and got herself dressed. She turned as she slipped a fresh shirt over her head, and Jake caught her in his arms. 
        “I love you,” she whispered, smiling. Her body trembled at the thrill of saying those words.
        “I love you, too.”

        ***

        Bill Keating used his lips to roll his cigar to the other side of his mouth, enjoying the flavor of the aged tobacco wrapper, wishing, not for the first or last time, that he dared to light it. As if in response to his wish, he heard the hum of the garage door opening. He turned the page of his Warhammer novel, glancing in through the patio door as a young teen skunk entered from the garage, bearing to armloads of groceries. His wife followed a moment later. She sat a single bag of groceries on the counter, then headed for the porch as the skunk ducked back into the garage for a second load.
        Sarah skirted the edge of the half-closed glass door, careful to not make it scrape in its housing. Then she picked up one of the oversized wicker chairs from the patio and moved it out next to Bill’s in the grass.
        “Wow, it’s bad in there today.”
        Bill rumbled with laughter. “Tell me about it. Why do you think I moved my chair?” He jerked his thumb toward the kitchen. “New toy?” he asked with a lecherous grin. He knew the skunk was too young for Sarah, but a man could hope.
        Sarah rolled her eyes and swatted his arm. “Ask me again when she makes it to high school, you old pervert. I’m just paying her twenty bucks to put away the groceries. And NOTHING else.” 
        Bill laughed and waggled his eyebrows and Sarah scoffed with mock disgust, but grinned nonetheless.
        “The boy?” she asked curiously. She crossed her legs and reached into her purse for her Kindle. Bill didn’t understand her attachment to the unnecessary device. He owned over a thousand perfectly good books she could read.
        “You won’t believe me,” Bill said softly, chuckling again and rolling his cigar back to the other side of his mouth. Sarah sat her Kindle in her lap, looking at him with raised eyebrows.
        “Popped her?”
        “No. No, he’s still too scared of me to do that. Hides it well, though, gotta give him that.”
        “What then?”
        “Put his foot down. Basically told her if she didn’t stop jumping on the nearest tongue, he’d leave her.”
        The Kindle fell into the grass as Sarah bolted upright. “Jesus, Bill! What are you doing out here? Do I need to call an ambulance?”
        Bill shook with laughter and put his hand on Sarah’s arm, but she didn’t calm down.
        “I told you you wouldn’t believe me. She agreed to it. Then, and I’m not sure on this part, but I’m pretty sure he thanked her by shoving his tongue in her ass.”
        Sarah stared at him, looking from him to the glass doorway and back again. She slowly sank back into the chair’s wicker embrace. “Jesus. That kid has balls.”
        “Told you I’d make a man out of him,” Bill said, grinning with his teeth clamped around his cigar.
        “Right, because this is all your doing,” Sarah said, rolling her eyes.
        “Hey, give me a little credit. I put a little backbone in him.”
        “I guess,” Sarah said, a little dubiously. “If he can get her to agree to something like that, I guess you were right. I remember when I was going through my first years of heat. I was fucking something every time my parents’ backs were turned, and sometimes I wouldn’t even wait that long.”
        “Sorry, could you say that again? Did you say I was right?”
        Sarah smacked his arm sharply and he laughed. 
        “Better the devil you know,” he quoted, and she nodded. 
        “Yes and through a campaign of carefully feigned inattention, you’ve got a boy shoving his tongue in our daughter’s ass right in our own home. Congratulations, Bill.”
        Bill shrugged and propped his feet up on the table, which creaked under the weight. “If you were her age again, and your parents wouldn’t let you have a boyfriend in the house or give you a moment’s privacy, what would you do?”
        He watched her sidelong. She sighed at him, but kept her mouth shut. The argument was older than their eldest daughter’s first heat. And, after carefully grooming Jake for months, the boy had finally grown his spine and proven Bill right. Somehow, Jake had managed to reign Karen’s desires in to a single target, curing a lot of his and Sarah’s worries. One question remained to be settled. He grinned slowly.
        “I’ve got fifty bucks on next weekend,” he said.
        “In the house? No way. Tonight.”
        “It’s a bet.”