Iss of the Spider Woman

"Excuse me?"

Kyle McAdams turned around in surprise at the sound of a familiar voice. There, leaning out of the window of a well-worn Prius was Lara. Surprisingly, there was no sign of Josh.

"Hi, Lara. What brings you out here?" He waved expansively around the orchards on both sides of the gravel road. In the past year much had changed. The ground beneath the fruit trees was now lush clover pasture supporting flocks of sheep and free-range hogs and chickens. The air was heavy with the scent of apple, pear, cherry and quince flowers and the deep hum of bees industriously harvesting the pollen and nectar filled the air.

Lara's jaw dropped. "Kyle? Well, now, this is a surprise. I'm looking for Freddi. I'd heard she joined The Commune but hadn't heard anything about you. So you two are an item?"

Kyle looked thoughtful for a bit. "Let's just say that Freddi and I are more of an item together than either of us is with the others. But I think the best way to put it is 'one item among many'. She should be up at the farm center. Just park in front of the biggest set of buildings and go into the center one. She should be there."

"Thanks," Lara replied and drove off.

Kyle watched the car disappear around a curve stroking his van dyke in bemusement. Lara without Josh was unusual enough, at least as far as he remembered, but there was something else about her. He wasn't sure what it was though if asked to bet a quarter he'd have sworn it was something resembling meekness. He shook his head to clear the thought and returned to scything the weeds.

Finding a cluster of buildings at the center of the farm, Lara parked the Prius, took a deep breath to get up her courage and climbed the steps to the center building. She was going to knock but just as she reached the portal Angela Phillips carrying an infant opened the door to leave and lit up in delighted surprise.

"Lara! It's so good to see you again. Do come in. Freddi," she called out, "It's Lara. Get her a cup of coffee and a muffin and I'll be right back after I check on Jakob. He's supposed to be helping with the chickens but you know him . . ."

The next ten minutes or so were spent chatting, congratulating both women on their new motherhood, and all the other small talk of women who haven't seen each other in months. Once that was concluded and Lara was buttering a second muffin, Dr. Phillips gently asked, "So, Lara, what brings you to the farm?"

Lara bit her lower lip and kept buttering for a few moments and then sighed. "Josh and I broke up," she began, "We went to one of those BDSM groups you recommended and attended a couple of their sessions, but on the way home from the last one Josh told me that it made him uncomfortable. He said it reminded him too much of the Penitents back home in New Mexico. Then he started getting really guilt-ridden and finally became a novitiate in the Benedictine Monastery over in Conception. He writes me now and again. He's very happy there. He says it's a wonderful community that makes him feel right at home."

"And how do you feel?" Angela asked, laying a hand on Lara's shoulder.

"After he left I went into counseling. Finally I decided that a community was just what I needed, too. But I wasn't going to stay celibate! That's when I remembered your matriarchal commune and that Freddi had joined. So I thought I'd come by and see if this is what I'm looking for."

Angela lifted Lara's chin with her fingertips. "It might be—but there are a few things you have to understand. Some of the things you and Josh got into are completely unacceptable here. Yes, we are happy to have rough sex sometimes. We've even ritualized it to make sure everyone is playing the same game but . . ."

A crooked smile crossed Lara's freckled face. "That's okay. After a few counseling sessions I finally admitted to myself that I was not only an abuse enabler but an instigator as well. That came as a shock. So I'm done with anything involving pain or humiliation. Some of the people in the BDSM group were able to do all kinds of things to each other and enjoy it. From now on I'm out of that. Bondage is fun. Spankings are okay, too, sometimes. But—but I used to not let Josh stop until he'd drawn blood! I'm not doing that anymore, ever."

"So, what is it you

do

want, Lara?" Freddi was obviously concerned.

"I—I want attention. I want to be desired. I want to be held and loved. But I want excitement, too. For a little while I worked as a stripper but the club owner was a cheapskate and we made most of our money on tips. The competition among the girls was nasty so I quit. Can I get something better here? And what do you mean 'ritualized' rough sex?"

Angela stood up. She held out her hand to Lara and led her outside to where a fine driving horse stood quietly in the shade hitched up to a cart. "Climb in. I'll show you but if you say a word to any of the men about this . . ."

Ten minutes of clip-clopping along and they came to a cliff face. A small cave opened out of it and a gurgling stream flowed from the mouth. Next to it was an impressively heavy, iron-bound oak door. The women climbed out and Angela took a key from her purse and unlocked the door. It swung open with a rather theatrical groan. They walked inside.

"Ohhh, wow!" Lara was entranced. "It's—it's like a scene from the Arabian Nights. Hey, the cushions have tethers. And I'll bet y'all get tied to those pillars? Do you get suspended? This looks amazing."

"Mm-hmm," Freddi replied with a mischievous grin, "tied up, double penetrated, spit roasted and spanked if you really like that sort of thing. I don't much but Sylvia does and the men oblige."

"And the men?" Lara's eyes were wide and her grin was wider.

"Oh, we have our own lair over in the woods. Come on, we'll show you."

*****

The main meal of the day was at mid-day and it was there that Lara was introduced to the members she hadn't met. By now they numbered around twenty though the women still held a three-to-two majority. Apparently it took an uncommon man to cheerfully sign up for a matriarchal community. In addition to the twenty-odd adults there were now four small children. Angela commented favorably on this.

"Not everyone in the hall is a member, Lara. We also provide shelter for battered and abused women and children. It does them all good to see how decent and caring men can (and should) be. Jakob is especially happy to have other children to play with. In time I suspect their mothers will apply to join and since by then we'll know them very well, naturally they'll be accepted."

Angus and Peggy were delighted to see her and pulled Lara down to sit and eat with them. The meal was plentiful and excellent. No plain, farm food here. One of the new members was a culinary school graduate and the superb quality of the produce and meat from the large organic garden and the pastures sent him into quivering ecstasy as he prepared five star meals for the group.

When it was finally over, Angus leaned back in his chair with a contented sigh only to find Peggy fussily wiping his beard clean. "I swear, Angus, you are the messiest eater! Even Jakob manages to keep cleaner than you do."

The big man regarded his partner benignly. "I can always shave. That would make it easier to keep clean."

Peggy slapped him on the top of his balding head. "Don't you dare! If you do, I'll change the lock on the door until you grow it back. And I'll tell all the other women to do the same."

Lara grinned. "His kisses are so passionate because they have moustache in it?"

Peggy leaned over Angus and languorously stroked the curly bush. "It's not the kisses, honey, it's when he ties me to a pole and then slowly runs his beard up and down my body. Makes me shiver just thinking about it."

Lara almost said something about, "Oh,

those

poles!" but stopped in time, remembering Angela's warning to not let the men know she'd been in their lair. The image was intriguing, though. Wrapped up tight and completely helpless while a man (or men) had their way with her in just the ways she liked seemed a wonderful way to spend—oh, as long as they wanted! So instead she raised an eyebrow and asked, "Big on bondage are you?"

"Very big!" Peggy was emphatic. "We spend all our time telling the men what needs to be done to the place and what to do where. It comes as a complete relief to be a position where we have no say in the proceedings whatever. Bondage is my favorite."

Angus rolled his eyes and turned to Lara. "She's exaggerating. Very little in the way of direction goes on here. We each know our job on the farm and how long it should take. Once it's finished those of us who are still students go back to our research. I'm headed back to the Amazon for a couple of months but my dear little domme here has decided to forget about grad school and become a full time land manager."

"And mother!" Peggy broke in. "Before he leaves Angus is going to knock me up and he knows it. With as many current and incipient mothers as there are around here, I'm getting jealous."

"Yup," Angus answered laconically, "and she wants me to leave the rest of the women alone until I do, selfish minx that she is."

That got him another dope slap on the head but it was followed by Peggy pinching his earlobe with her teeth and breathing warm air into it as she slithered onto his lap. "Peggy," Angus protested, "we've hardly finished dinner!"

"I know," she smirked, "and I know that next comes the afternoon nap. But once we're rested . . ."

The assembly did all seem to be standing up and getting ready to leave, all except for those who had clean up rota for the day. Since she was a guest, Lara had no duties of any kind so she wandered outside into the afternoon sunshine. After a meal that size a nap was a very appealing idea so she asked Melissa, "Where does a guest nap, should she want to?"

The matriarch put her hands on the girl's shoulders and looked her squarely in the eye. "It's all up to you, Lara. You can curl up on one of the common room sofas, ask any of the members if they'd mind sharing a mattress or you can come back to my room. However, if you decide on the latter do keep in mind that everything has its price." She winked wickedly.

Lara blushed slightly. "I think I'll go with the sofa route. No offense intended but I've never been with another woman and I'll need some more time to get used to the idea."

Melissa kissed her lightly on the cheek. "No offense taken, dear. I'm so used to propositioning any and all of my wives and husbands that I forget that not everyone is so up front. But do come find me after your nap, anyway, and we can talk. You did apply to join once and now that your circumstances have changed, you might well want to reopen that application."

The sofas in the common room were large and upholstered in butter-soft leather. It was obvious that the commune was doing very well for itself, even if only from the licensing rights to Vigorilla. The common room seemed to be a preferred spot for naps, too, as there were home-made quilts and crocheted afghans in abundance.

Lara was just stretching out and getting comfortable when a small boy with a flannel blanket in his arms walked up to her and announced, "Take nap." He clambered up onto the couch, curled up spooned against Lara's chest, stuck the blanket in one ear and his thumb in his mouth and closed his eyes. In moments he was sound asleep. Lara was charmed. She wrapped one arm around the tot, hugged him close and contentedly joined him in the land of Nod.

*****

Melissa chuckled when Lara told her about the incident. "That's our Jakob. When he was born Angela and I just naturally shared the mothering duties and as others joined our group, baby-tending became the default job of anyone who didn't have something else to do. I suppose by now he's decided that adults are pretty interchangeable."

"He's adorable." Lara said with a contented smile on her face. Cuddling small ones was a new and pleasant experience.

"He is. He also is very decided about what he likes and what he does not. Unusually for one his age Jakob doesn't cry much but he has a resentful glower that's quite impressive for someone so small. We try to reason with him and it's not impossible because he's really quite bright. But he's also quite stubborn—takes after his father in that regard."

"And now he has a little brother."

"Well," Melissa said dryly, "a half-brother, anyway. Angela was planning on another baby with Konrad but she got to playing around with Freddi and Kyle and when you play with matches you tend to get burned."

"She's had Kyle's baby?" Lara looked astounded.

"She did. And she's not the only one. Freddi had one with him, too. At least hers is deliberate. Angela was surprised and a little embarrassed when Kyle took control and bred her. The rest of us think it's hilarious!"

"Kyle must be really pleased with himself."

Melissa looked thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "You know, I haven't asked and Kyle isn't the easiest man in the world to read. He's pretty excited about Freddi's baby but Angela is so much senior to him that I'm not sure how he feels. It was an accident and one that she's quite happy with. Kyle's a good young man and I'm sure the baby will take after him as much as it does after its mother. Kyle may figure 'it's just one of those things' that happens. After all, we are matrilineal here so it's not like it had to carry his name though Angela decided to use Kyle's as a middle name."

Lara shook her head. "I like the community here. The farm is beautiful and everyone is kind and loving. But the relationships are going to take some getting used to. Is it okay to be monogamous if I decide I don't want to play around?"

Melissa laughed. "Of course. Most of us are, for a given value of monogamy. I don't spend the night with anyone but Konrad and I mean every night. Siesta time, on the other hand, is open. After all, we are all married to each other, all of us."

"So you kind of get to have a main husband and a bunch of alternates?"

"Exactly—and wives, too. We women swing both ways, on occasion."

*****

Freddi was swinging in one of the big porch swings with a contented smile on her face when Lara came out from meeting with Melissa. Freddi patted the bench next to her and Lara sat down, saw Freddi's expression and raised an eyebrow.

"You look happy. Did you spend the siesta time getting laid?"

Freddi winked. "We outnumber the men here so you'd expect that we'd get a break between sex but it's really surprising how many of the husbands have a decided pregnancy fetish. Once I started to show they were all over me, just about every day except when I had morning sickness. They still were even though I felt like a wallowing hippo. And of course the hormones wouldn't let me say, 'Not today, sweetie, I'm not in the mood' because I was in the mood—all the time! Still am."

Lara blinked thoughtfully. "All the time, huh. So the other women are playing with each other?"

"I'm sure they are. Melissa was quite emphatic about that. Female sexuality is very fluid, she insists, and girls know what girls like better than any man can so that's just part and parcel of life here. We don't all have the collection of strap-on dildos Melissa has but we manage, we manage."

Lara looked dubious. "What if I don't want to?"

Freddi's answer was an uproarious laugh. "You just don't get it, do you, Lara? This place got its start with a remarkable chemical affecting the sex drive of men. Do you think Angela stopped there? Remember the horniest, most languid, receptive time you've ever had in your life? Now imagine that—oh, quadrupled. That's what happens when a chick shoots Surrendrone up her nose—or someone else's. Your whole body melts and when someone grabs your boob or your ass or kisses you down the neck all you can say is 'Yes! Now!' Unfortunately, she hasn't come up with something that works the same way on men. Make them horny as three-balled tomcats? That she can do. Make them want to be

taken

? It's a work in progress."

Lara thought that over. She'd been a great fan of surrender ever since she became sexually active well before her parents suspected. And here in The Commune she could have that feeling any time she wanted? Any time someone wanted her? "You're being really tempting, Frederica. The longer I'm here the less I want to leave. So if I tell Melissa I want to join, who do I spend my 'wedding night' with?"

Freddi shot her a pitying look. "Either anyone you want or, if you wait too long, with Melissa. And don't look so shocked. I was reluctant to go with her, myself, but once the Surrendrone took affect I just happily laid back and got laid. You'll love it."

"You know, I just might." Lara was pensive. She'd sworn not to get into the extreme BDSM she'd done with Josh, the kind that had, she suspected, driven him away. But a bit of spanking, some bondage and some slave play had a certain appeal. And having another woman as domme would not only be different but, now that she gave it some thought, might just a little more spice to the possibilities. She thought about the men she'd already met. Angus gave the impression of being a very friendly bear but if he was heated up with the Vigorilla or its next generation aphrodisiac and she was 'forcibly' dosed with this Surrendrone (preferably tied up and unable to resist it) they might well make quite the dramatic couple—at least during the siesta time.

She had absolutely no doubt that come evening Angus would hustle right back to his beloved Peggy's bedroom for the night. And since there were half again as many women as men in the group she could easily spend the nights getting in touch with her sexual fluidity. She'd do it!

*****

A week and a half later, Lara looked at herself in the mirror. The push-up bra shoved her cleavage into luscious view over the top of her scoop-neck blouse. Below was a broomstick skirt with an elastic band and underneath it was the skimpiest thong she owned. It wouldn't take any effort to strip her down naked. She was ready.

Once the matriarchal counsel had approved her membership, Lara had moved in with all possible speed. As the most junior wife she only rated a studio apartment but it came equipped with a king-sized four-poster bed perfectly designed for all manner of games, bondage and otherwise. It also had a pair of large armoires, one for her clothes and one for whoever ended up moving in with her. Senior wives with children naturally had larger quarters but for now this was sufficient.

The next step had been to settle the issue of her 'wedding night' scene. Peggy had been gleeful at the plans and had agreed to them even before consulting Angus.

"Honey, we're a matriarchy. The guys do what we want, especially when it ends up in their getting laid. No worries. Just let me know when you want things to take place and I'll make sure everything is ready."

Now it was just a matter of waiting. Sometime over the next day or so, Lara would be snatched up and carried off, struggling appropriately. She would be dosed with the Surrendrone, trussed up until it took effect and then used mercilessly. The limits were clear. No 'discipline' except with bare hands and no hitting anywhere but her buttocks. She'd suggested erotic choking but Peggy had vetoed that at once.

"Angus will be so fired up on PL 6983+ and Vigorilla that he won't have the control to do that properly, especially since he's never done it with anyone before. You can teach him about it later when you are both fully rational but not this first time."

Lara hoped Angus wouldn't keep her on tenterhooks too long. A day or so she could stand but if it went longer than that she was afraid the deliberate tension would turn into irritable frustration but since she had no control over much she determined to go about her day and await developments. Checking her place on the duty roster she grimaced. Today she was to feed the spiders, the hairy monsters that provided the natural ingredient for Vigorilla. But she was part of the community and the community derived the majority of its considerable income from licensing arrangements to major pharmaceutical companies so she proceeded to drop crickets into each of the jars and watch, shuddering, as the big Wandering Spiders attacked, killed and drained the hapless insects.