Providences Last Laugh Book One

Danae knew right away that this was going to be annoying.

Mom and dad... Frank... Tina... aw crap, Mister and Missus Alonso?

Parents, siblings, and kindly next-door neighbors; all waiting for her in the home she grew up in, sitting in chairs arranged in a semicircle facing the only way into the living room. Her feet slowed, but she kept following her mother in from the front door, even as she began rotating her head from left to right.

Only thing missing is... and there it is.

When Danae's dad slid in behind his wife and eldest daughter, wordlessly blocking the way back while crossing his big arms in front of his chest and giving her that dour frown that had always had her on the verge of confessing things she'd never even known she did wrong... well, all ambiguity flew out the window then.

"So mom, you left a little out of your invitation. Your famous peanut butter pie... with a side of intervention? That's way too much baking for one afternoon."

"For what it's worth, I just wanted the pie, but I was told in very clear terms that I had to be here to... how'd you put it, mom?" Her little brother, Frank, as always, was trying not to laugh out loud at the comedy of it all. "We're going to '

figure out if a pod-person stole your big sister.'"

He kept chuckling, right up until their mom calmly strode up to him and pinched him on the meat of his upper arm. "Ow! What the fuck?

I'm

not the one who went all Stepford out of nowhere!" To the continued glares of nearly everyone, he just rubbed the spot, merely the latest of untold hundreds over the years, while muttering about how it'd better be the best damn pie in the universe.

"Dear, your brother is... your brother, God love him, but he actually is concerned." Missus Alonso, basically Danae and her siblings' co-mother the entirety of their youth, had not an ounce of mirth in those dark brown eyes. "We all are. You have not been yourself lately, to put it lightly."

"You went fucking nuts, Dannie." Tina, the baby of the family--even at thirty--had very definite ideas of what was proper and improper, and she was never,

never

shy in voicing them. "Stepford." She snorted. "You make

those

wives look like bohemians."

"I... Okay. I guess I understand I may be acting a bit odd, if you're looking from the outside." Danae raised her hands, palms up, and spread her arms wide. "But an

intervention

?" She focused on her mom, whom she knew for a certainty was the genesis of this event. "C'mon. I'm just a little... subdued now. I'm not a raging meth-head on a crack bender losing her life savings in the casino, or whatever would really justify--"

"Are you safe?" Her dad, as ever, cut right to what he needed to know. "He's not forcing you, is he? Not threatening, not hurt--"

"Do not finish that sentence, dad." Danae shut right down. "Next word in that fucked-up sequence, and I will literally jump through your window and run until you never find me again.

With him."

"Honey, it's just not like you." Her mom, ever the good hostess, pulled out a chair for Danae. Right in the center of the half-circle of judgement, of course. "We didn't raise... we can't understand how..." She gritted her teeth and took a long, deep breath to gather herself. "We all saw you at the party last week. How you just... stayed there by his side the entire time. Head down, mouth shut. And how he, every minute or so, put a hand on your back to... guide you, I suppose."

"He kept pushing you where

he

wanted you to go." Tina barked that out, unable to hold her peace. "Like a... a sheepdog." She narrowed her eyes. "By the way, saying

sheepdog

was me being diplomatic."

"It, uh... yeah. It was kinda rough." Frank scratched his head, wincing apologetically. "Threw even me for a loop."

Danae just grunted noncommittally, then focused on the holdout. Stately old Mister Alonso, with his dark, mahogany skin, meticulously styled silver hair, and shining gold crucifix hanging halfway down his chest. "And you?"

"I... am withholding judgment, Danae." His eyes danced, but his voice didn't reflect that. "Withholding, but ready if need be, depending on what story you tell." He spared a long look for the rest of his co-conspirators then. "When she finally gets a chance to tell it, that is."

Danae nodded, mostly to herself, and took the chair her mom was still standing by. She ran her pale fingers through her black hair and sighed. "Fine. I'll take this in the spirit it's meant, that you all love me and want the best for me... and not how it seems. Like you're ready to hogtie me and lock me in the basement for deprogramming."

Satisfied by that, for the moment, her family all settled in their respective spots--though her dad's was still conveniently blocking the way out--and readied themselves to pretend to listen just long enough for civility's sake before they rained down holy judgement on her.

Fine. You asked for it.

"All right folks, I'll tell you my story. I'll tell you why I am how I am now, and why I don't regret it for a second." She sharpened her gaze, and made sure she was perfectly clear. "

Not one, single, solitary second."

They didn't like that, but, to their credit, they didn't interrupt. She nodded again. "Okay then. I suppose it has to start with what I did."

Despite the confidence she tried to infuse into her voice, she was anything but, deep inside.

I never had to just... confess this before, all at once.

Still, it was what had to happen. Danae eyed them all one-by-one. "Remember, you asked for this. Once we step through this door... well, maybe you should just give up whatever it is you've been hoping for."

And with that, she began the journey.

__________

The last person I expected to see was Virginia, all dressed up in an elegant, tasteful evening gown. Not right before Easter. For someone with her wealth, it's almost adorable how much she loves that quaint little holiday; loves planning egg-hunts, and decorating, and good old-fashioned gorging on chocolate. For her to just suddenly pop up out of nowhere that night, when I was strolling through the woods surrounding that huge mansion... it made no sense.

Not unless she was sent.

Shit. I was caught.

Fine then. It was going to happened sooner or later, and I'd been prepping myself for this final plunge for a good long time.

"Gin." I affected nonchalance as I nodded to my husband's sister in greeting, not quite looking at her full-on, and trying, maybe even succeeding, in not sneering at her. I'd always tried to just accept her for the lovely person she was, but it was difficult. She was everything I wasn't; tall, willowy, streamlined, and hard, like an old, marble statue in Rome, or something. Beautiful, no doubt, but I'm beautiful too, and if

I

ever had any doubt, the absolute legion of men--barely even

mostly

men--who's eyes locked right onto my chest like a magnet on steel was only even sort of matched by the number that did double-takes when they saw my face; like they couldn't believe I had the entire package.

No, it wasn't Virginia's beauty I envied; it was her sophistication. She had a dancer's stride and a poet's sentiment, and I never felt like my low-class ass could measure up to that. Worse? She had Beatty's... um... she had his... confidence. Something I'd

thought

I'd had right up till that very minute. Something I'd planned to keep wringing from my husband for all it was worth.

Didn't matter, I knew I'd adjust quickly enough. Sudden change was something I'd found out I was very well suited for.

Virginia didn't greet me back. Instead, she looked me up and down, cataloging the slinky, red, form-fitting dress that was side-slit up to my friggin' belly button, revealing my nylon-covered leg... and not-at-all-covered rump, nice as it is. My ostentatious crimson statement to the world. Thing was, she didn't even look like she was critical of the outfit, so I went ahead and took care of that. I filled my lungs and puffed out my chest, and, sure enough, a nipple popped free once a more-than-generous boob slid

juuust

a little too far past the edge of the insanely low-cut neck.

"Quite the school seminar you've been sent to, Danae." Virginia pressed her lips together tightly as I, slowly, tucked my tit back in place. "The dress code is eclectic, that's for sure. Is this called

Elementary Teacher Couture

, or something? Either way, it fits you."

What was that supposed to mean? Fits me? She should have thought I was just a dowdy schoolmarm still. She didn't know the new,

real

me and how I'd... evolved. She should have been calling me every name in the book the second she spied me in this gifted gown. Why was she being all stoic? What was her game?

"Why be coy, Gin?" I waved a hand at the ostentatious, absolutely gargantuan estate house behind her. "There's no hiding what this is. Where we are. The only question, really, is how long it'll take for Lucien's hired muscle to show you the exit."

"That one, at least, has an easy answer." Virginia arched one golden eyebrow, and her ruby-red lips quirked a bit. "Never. I was sent, as I'm sure you've figured out... but I was also invited." That smirk deepened. "Technically. I have a standing invitation that I've never had the slightest desire to use after the first time."

"Until now. Until your twin brother begged you to... what?" I realized, I actually wasn't sure, and was honestly asking. "Save me?"

"Maybe." Virginia still,

still

showed not a hint of anger, judgement, or even impatience. It was infuriating. "I think... Beatty just..." Finally, a crack in the calm façade in the form of a wrinkle across that flawless forehead. "He's being who he is, who he can't help but be... but he's figuring things out too. For my part, I do know what I'm going to do."

"Get the hell out." I didn't couch it as a question.

"Nope. And don't think you have the pull to make that happen, either. Even with your... status with Lucien. Mine comes with a lot more, even still. Trust me." She turned to look back over her shoulder, pointedly taking in the absolute

cacophony

spilling out from the dwelling. "What I'm...

we're

... going to do is take a good look inside. I'm going to show you what this place is all about."

I laughed then. I couldn't help it. "In other words, you're going to show me a whole bunch of things I already know about, but with some unwanted commentary to go with it."

"Partial credit, Miss Allen."

Whatever that meant. I just shrugged. "You know what? Fine. Let's do it. I was told to occupy myself for a little while until Lucien was ready for me, so what's it matter how? Honestly, I've always admired you, Gin," which fueled the envy, of course, "and I have the feeling that this will be the last time we speak. We can make the most of it, and maybe we'll both learn something."

Virginia just smiled and extended her arm, elbow bent. I blinked, then chuckled at the presumptuousness, looped my own arm through hers, and let her lead the way like she was pulling me to a dancefloor. Due to my recent awakening, I could admit that she felt good, pressed so close to me, and I took the couple of minutes' walk to indulge in some light fantasies. A whet for an appetite that I didn't truly expect to be filled yet, but enjoyed nonetheless.

For some reason, we stopped in the antechamber, where a gaggle of Lucien's more base-level people had been allowed as far into the party as their performances merited. They were pretty much hangers-on, from what I'd been told, contributing to Lucien's operation almost half by accident. It was a shame, in my opinion; these people had an air of innocence as they conversed and mingled that I found enticing. Like a taste of veal.

"This used to be me." Virginia, after nodding and smiling to more people than I could keep up with, revealed that little nugget. "This is where I got my foot in the door of the whole organization, until I managed to get deeper in." She gave a pat on the shoulder to one particularly intelligent-looking older man who raised his champagne glass back in recognition. "A lot of good people here that got stuck in Lucien's orbit through no fault of their own."

I snorted. "

Stuck?

I've only had bites of... all this, and it's been life-changing. There's no way that these fringe-types aren't salivating for more."

"Partial credit, Miss Allen."

I kept my grouse behind my false smirk, and just kept flowing along with Virginia towards the next room, leaving this whole dull gathering quickly and mercifully behind. With a much more visually appealing collection of party-goers, not to mention much more...

active,

the next room--draped in lovely reds and pinks in an aesthetic attempt to mute any harsh shine of metal--was far closer to my tastes. Well, my tastes by then, at least. I couldn't exactly say it fit who Virginia had known me to be, but that was her issue to deal with.

I was going to make sure of that.

Pretty much at random, I snagged a passerby dressed in, of all things, a toga, and barely at that. Hokey, I know, but it served my purposes nicely. Not just the outfit, but also the fact that it was draping a woman at least a good decade-and-a-half younger than me. With a very brief-but-meaningful look towards Virginia, I whirled my impromptu object-lesson around to face me, pushed her against the wide frame of the archway into the room, slid my hand up her bare, chocolaty thigh, and, when she gasped, stole that breath with my lips.

Miss Allen. Grades five and six. Art and English.

You won't be missed.

The two of us undulated together; her painting my teeth with her tongue, and me gripping a nearly impossibly-sculpted ass cheek while I lifted my knee to press it into the mons of Venus herself, as I was quickly,

very

quickly, coming to think of this perfect creature in my arms. I may have chosen her without thought, but she was proving very thoroughly that, with her, an attempt to think would have been a joke anyway.

"Hnngg..." I groaned into her as her fingers curled up into me, my sultry red dress proving absolutely no impediment to what she wanted. What we both wanted. Not to be outdone, I stepped up my own ministrations at her nethers, finding the leverage I needed to make her entire lissome form bob up and down on my knee. She squeaked out a small orgasm then--so satisfying to me that I made her cum first--and doubled down with her own contribution to our coupling.

"Ungh, ungh, oh you sexy little fawn..." Okay, my dirty talk needed a bit of progression, I'll admit, but, in my defense, my nameless, one-off girlfriend did respond with a happy mewl. Then again, that could have been because I'd freed her perky brown boob and popped a delicious caramel nipple between my moist lips. Either/or.

Even before my orgasm hit and my sex convulsed around her busy fingers, I'd lost sight of why I'd started this. With nothing but a driving need to mate, to bring out everything I possibly could from my partner, I'd forgotten Virginia entirely. Hell, forgotten where I was.

Then I was reminded in an extremely rude way.

"So... apparently you ladies don't need to go far."

I was running my tongue up my paramour's sweat-sheened neck when the deep voice cut through my happy haze. I turned my head towards it, trying to focus my bleary eyes while the dark young woman I'd ravished refused to stop; planting kiss-after-kiss on my face even while she finally succumbed to the urge to reach into my dress and grope away at my tits. It made it hard to focus, but I managed. Eventually.

"Go... go far?" I croaked out the question, gave an absent peck of my lips to the girl's when hers came close enough, then frowned at the man that had slithered up from nowhere. "I don't... mmm, don't stop... I don't know what you mean."

"Into the estate." The man, tall and thin, licked his lips suggestively. Thing was, his eyes weren't on mine, or even my exposed flesh. They were riveted to my hand. My

left

hand. My left hand and what was gleaming on it still. "I would have thought someone like you would head straight for Lucien... but it looks like you let this room get the better of you." He absently waved an arm towards the... let's call a spade a spade...

orgy

spread out before us.

"Someone like me?" I glanced down at what had so caught his attention. My wedding ring. I was more than a bit incensed, but not sure why. Was he judging me, or something? What the hell did he care if I was married? This couldn't have been the first time he'd come across a woman in my situation. Or a man, for that matter. Not in this place. More to the point... what did

I

care if he cared? Still, I was annoyed. It was like he was fishing for me to say something damning. To condemn myself.

"Fuck off, Marcos." Virginia's harsh words, weirdly, did a lot to snap me back to reality. Her supportive hand on my shoulder actually had me pulling a bit away from the rasping beauty and her needful touches. "You're not getting her to admit to a goddamned thing, you old hypocrite. Unless you want to tell me that we're stuck in fucksville, here?

Forbidden

to go and see Lucien?"

The man named Marcos--Coordinator? Bouncer?--looked like he wanted to slap us both silly. No, scratch that; he wanted to slap Virginia... but he wanted to fucking

flay

me alive, there was no doubt. What happened, though, was that he settled for a grunt and a glare, then wordlessly pointed to the other end of the red room to a passage further into the estate. Wordless for a heartbeat, at least, before he muttered about '

worthless nymphos who can't stay faithful to save their lives...'

I really hated this guy, and really wanted to be gone. So much so that my ladyfriend's touch stopped doing anything for me in a second flat. I muttered a half-assed apology, pried her mouth off of my tits, made myself as presentable as it was still possible to get at that point, and scurried up next to Virginia so we could keep making our way forward. Maybe my sister-in-law had finally accepted who I'd become, maybe not. All I knew was that the night was far from over, and there was a lot more yet to come.

"You looked very... invigorated."

Virginia, inexplicably, dropped that compliment while looping her arm about mine again. I blinked up at her, taken off-guard. "Um... thanks." I found my smile again. Fuck Marcos. "God, every inch of me was on fire with that tasty treat back there." I licked my lips, savoring the memory as we strode into the next room. "Lucien has introduced me to some of this already, but that... the feel of exposing myself to her..." I shivered. "There's no beating it."

"I can imagine." Virginia patted the back of my left hand. "It brought me back years to see you like that. The last time... well, your dress is a bit different now, but you looked just as gorgeous and vivacious in white as you do in red. It must have been nice to recapture that, if even just a little bit."

I'm not sure if she felt me stiffen up on her, but I recovered quickly, decided to keep my opinions to myself, and just kept striding along.

Lost in my head, I barely noticed that we were passing in the periphery of the expansive dining room and a host of partakers. Thing was, it wasn't food that was on the menu. Every kind of pipe, powder, and syringe was sprawled out on the long table, and the

feasters

were very obviously already greedy for the next meal, even before this was finished.

Of all my new recreations, this was something I'd only dabbled with thus far. Still, it was yet another example of the kind of existence I'd never even known to yearn for until Lucien had come into my life. The sort of thing that I just could not imagine ever having the opportunity to indulge in while shackled to Beatty. Not that he'd ever forbidden something like this. He didn't need to; it just wasn't an option with him. With us together. Like getting a bear to lunch on an elephant... different worlds.