Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 The following is a work of fiction regarding sexual relationships.  If you
feel that it is illegal, immoral, or otherwise improper for you to read
this, then *Don't Read It.*

   * * *

   *Cynthia Martin*

   *Copyright (c) By Morgan, 1991, 2001*

   Please note the original copyright date.  This story was basically
written ten years ago.  As a result, you will likely find obsolete
references.  I'm afraid you'll just have to live with it; it's too tedious
trying to keep up with the latest and greatest.

   This book is part of the Ali Clifford saga and is a sequel to -- and
much longer than -- _Call Girls._ If you haven't read it, I urge you to do
so.  Without having read it, the actions in the first few pages will not
make any sense.

   Incidentally, you will find occasional entries, _word_.  The reason for
this is that MS Word's Auto Format function puts a word preceded and
followed by an underscore in italics; that's my intent.  Similarly, *word*
results in the word appearing in bold face.  If you use Word's Auto Format,
it will take care of things; if you don't, you at least know why it's
there.

   More of my works are posted on my site <www.asstr.org/~Morgan> If you
like it -- or if you don't -- please let me know at <morg105829@aol.com.>
My books are now also being posted on <www.storiesonline.net> although at
this writing there are fewer of them than on my site.

   * * *

   *Chapter 34*

   Late in the afternoon of December 31, Cindy drove into the garage of her
former apartment building and parked in one of the two parking spaces
assigned to her old apartment.  The other space was still empty.  With help
from the doorman she carried platters of cold hors d'oeuvres up to the
apartment and used her key to let herself in.  Then she made another trip
to the garage to bring up shopping bags full of materials for hot hors
d'oeuvres that she was planning on making there.

   With all of her materials now on hand she called out, but no one was in
the apartment, so she began her final preparations.  When everything was
complete, she took the opportunity slowly to walk around the penthouse
apartment and look it over for the last time.  As she did, she was
surprised to feel her cheeks wet with tears.  Suddenly she realized the
extent of her love that was contained in the furnishings.  The apartment
was now simply exquisite and she loved it.  She had achieved perfectly the
feeling of warmth and comfort for which she had been striving.

   Sadly, she shook her head.  Now, even though she and Dan had loads of
money, the division's work load was so heavy and was continuing to grow so
fast, she knew she couldn't possibly take the time to decorate another
apartment for themselves the way she had done this one.  Her father had
told her the apartment's buyer was really a nice guy and was very highly
regarded in Chicago banking circles -- he was felt to be a real comer.  Her
brow furrowed as she realized he had never mentioned his name, though.  She
puzzled over this because, during the last few months with all her work
involving the steel mill and Northern National Bank, she thought she might
have met him somewhere or at least heard of him.

   Jerking out of her reverie, she ran to the liquor cabinet but then
relaxed when she found it had been fully stocked with very good brands,
while the bar refrigerator was loaded with chilling bottles of Dom
Perignon. Clearly, the new owner had fine taste in champagne and the money
to satisfy it.  With everything prepared ahead of time that could be, she
sat down in an easy chair and closed her eyes.  Almost instantly she fell
asleep.

   She was still sleeping when she felt Dan's lips on hers.  Without
opening her eyes she put her hand around his neck to hold him in position
while she returned his kiss with all the love and passion she could muster.
Suddenly, her eyes opened with a start as she remembered where she was. 
_Dan?  Here!?_ she thought.  When her eyes opened, she confirmed what her
lips had already told her.  It was Dan!

   "What are you doing here, darling?" she asked, now wide awake.  "You
never told me you knew the owner."

   Dan, seemingly without effort, lifted her out of the chair and into his
arms.  Then he turned around and sat down again with Cindy now sitting
across his lap.  He kissed the tip of her nose and grinned saying,
"Darling, of course I know the owner." She looked puzzled and he added, "I
_am_ the owner.  And you're the co-owner." Her lips formed into an "O" of
amazement as he reached into his pocket and took out a gold key.  "Darling,
your key to our first home together."

   Now his teasing stopped as he hugged her tightly saying, "Cin, it's so
obvious that you put all your love and thoughtfulness into this apartment
to make it truly exquisite.  Honey, there really is another career for you
as a decorator to go with your career as a chef.  This place is so warm and
comfortable!  I absolutely love it...  almost as much as I love you.  Thank
you, darling."

   Cindy had been shaking her head.  Finally she said, "Do you mean to say
this is _ours?_ Honest?" He nodded his head vigorously and said, "I have
something else to get for you.  Just a minute." Again he effortlessly rose
to his feet with Cindy still in his arms, turned around, set her down in
the chair, and disappeared into the library.

   He came back with a fat envelope which he emptied out on a table.  He
began to give her a series of things beginning with a checkbook.  She
looked at it and realized it was for a joint checking account in the names
of Cynthia K.  Martin and Daniel P.  Burke.  Then he gave her a new
MasterCard, Visa, and American Express card.  Finally, he leaned over and
kissed her softly on the lips.  Again, the electricity flowed between them.

   When he moved away he said, "Darling, I hope we can be married pretty
soon.  How would it be if we got married the weekend after the Super Bowl?
I know there are some people who are going to be pretty busy until then. 
Of course, you might want to buy a dress or something?..."

   Cindy still couldn't believe it.  She said, "Darling, you're not
teasing? This is really ours?  And you're asking me to marry you in just a
month?"

   He smiled and kissed her softly saying, "It sure is and I sure am. 
Honey, I don't know why you still speak to me with all of the nasty tricks
I play on you.  But I'm awfully glad you still do." He squeezed her tightly
and heard the wonderful happy sounds she made whenever he did.  Releasing
her he said, "Cin, the guests will be here any minute.  Do you want to
change?"

   "Oh, my God!  Burke, you bum!  Of all the damned nerve!  We give our
very first party in this magnificent apartment and I look like a tramp,"
she exclaimed as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.

   "When are you going to get it through that thick head of yours that
there are a lot of people who love you dearly?" he asked quietly.  "Honey,
you provided a lot of fun and amusement for your friends including Mary,
Jan, Jen, and my new mother, Ali." He looked into her eyes and asked,
"Honey, do you like her?  She really loves you very much.  What do you
think of her being pregnant...  about to become a mother?"

   "Oh, Dan!  I love her.  I really do!  I couldn't imagine a greater look
of love and adoration than I saw on her face last week when she told Bill
she was expecting a baby.  And beauty?  Ali Clifford defines it!" Her eyes
lighted as she continued, "But can you imagine how the libbers would react?
On paper, Ali is their ideal: brilliant, educated, the senior partner of
the best law firm in California, the finest money manager in the world...
And she doesn't care two hoots for any of it.  All she cares about is Bill
and her family...  and now her baby.  Honey, that child is going to be
exquisite." Then she glared at him and said, "But, Burke, you just asked me
that to distract me.  The fact remains I'm dressed like a tramp and
Deerfield is over thirty miles away.  I can't possibly drive all the way
out and try to find something of Jan's to wear and get back here in time."

   Dan just kissed her again and then set her on her feet.  Still holding
her hand he took her into the master bedroom.  "Darling," he said, "I told
the women that it would work because you're not nosy.  You have a very
strong sense of personal privacy.  It would never occur to you to go
through drawers.  Let's look." She opened the huge master closet and saw a
collection of beautiful woman's clothes arranged on the hangers.  At a
glance she could tell that they would all fit her perfectly.  She quickly
selected a sleeveless dress in black silk that set off her magnificent
coloring to wear for the evening.

   Then he showed her a jewelry box in a top drawer.  She opened it and
gasped.  It was filled with neatly arranged jewelry that collectively must
have cost a large fortune.  Dan smiled softly and said, "Honey, these women
know you better than you know yourself.  Here's a little note from my
mother." He passed her a folded slip of paper and Cindy read it.  It said,
"Darling Cindy -- I think diamonds would be the appropriate thing to wear
with the black sleeveless.  You'll look spectacular!  All my love, Ali. 
P.S.  There's a watch in the drawer for you, too.  I hope you like it."

   Cindy looked at Dan while she was stripping off her clothes.  He gave
her three similar boxes of different sizes.  Opening the largest box first
she found a magnificent diamond necklace.  The next largest contained a
matching bracelet, while the smallest had diamond ear studs.  Cindy
realized that the diamond studs were perfect diamonds larger than two and a
half carats each.

   She exclaimed over them while she stood naked in front of him.  Looking
at him lovingly she asked, "Would you help me dress, darling?" He nodded
and she gave him a bottle of musk oil she had found and said, "This is
supposed to be applied as liberally as possible in my slit, between my
tits, and any place else that appeals to you."

   He asked her to lie on the floor and lightly poured some directly in her
slit, spreading it behind her nether lips.  While she was still reclined he
poured more between her breasts and then put still more behind her ears and
at her throat.  Helping her to her feet, he even put some in the crack
between her ass cheeks.  Then he just stood back and looked at this woman
who was going to be his wife.  Cindy was standing up straight just looking
into his eyes.  He cocked his head, looked pensive, appeared to have an
idea and then put the necklace around her neck and even managed to attach
the earrings.  Finally he put the bracelet on her wrist.

   Standing back, he just looked at her.  Now the diamonds were sparkling
against her golden skin as she stood with her back straight and her breasts
upthrust looking at him with love in her eyes.  Then he took her in his
arms and kissed her with mounting passion.  As he did he smelled the
wonderful aroma of Cindy's body now heightened by the musk oil.

   She ran her fingers lightly over the bulge in his pants and whispered,
"Not now, darling.  We have company coming." With a grin she added,
"Tonight it takes precedence over your cuming!"

   Dan gently ran his fingers over her golden hair and asked, "Cin, would
you do me a favor?  Could I brush your hair before you get dressed?" She
kissed him softly and nodded, then went to the dressing table.

   Dan loved brushing her golden hair.  It gave him a sensual pleasure. 
Finally he combed it and carefully placed the two little pins which were
Cindy's "makeup".  Looking at her reflection in the mirror, he concluded
she was the most beautiful woman in the world.  Then he left her for a
moment and came back with a box in his hand saying, "This is another thing
my new mother left for you, honey.  She referred to it in her note.  Will
you open it?"

   She did and found it was a gold woman's Rolex watch identical to the
ones Janice, Jennifer, and Ali herself wore.  Turning it over, she saw the
tiny engraving on the back which said, 'To my darling daughter Cindy: The
bravest, warmest girl in the world from her mother who loves her
desperately, Ali.'

   Dan whispered in her ear, "She really means it, darling.  Honest."

   Then he helped her on with her stockings, deriving a sensual pleasure as
he rolled them up her thighs.  Finally he helped her slip on the dress. 
Now fully dressed, she looked exquisite.  Taking her by the hand again, he
took her to the hall closet saying, "Your mom and dad didn't want to get
left out so there's something hanging here for you.  Mary made me promise
to get you to try it on."

   He turned her around so she couldn't see what he was doing and then
helped her on with a mink coat.  He turned her around so she was now facing
a full-length mirror installed on the back of the closet door.  Then he
raised the collar around her neck and let her snuggle in the fur.

   Cindy now had tears in her eyes as she said, "Darling, it's gorgeous! 
Is it really for me?"

   "Of course, honey!  It looks wonderful on you and I'm very glad you like
it.  Your parents will be very pleased."

   Just then the doorbell rang and Cindy went to open it still wearing her
new coat.  Her jaw dropped when she found it was Cathy Collins standing at
the door, looking embarrassed.

   "Good evening, Cindy," she said softly.  "I heard you were having a big
party tonight so I came over to help.  Will you permit me?"

   Dan took the girl's coat and the two were surprised to find Cathy was
wearing a maid's uniform that looked lovely on her.  She reached into a
small bag and took out a small white headpiece which she carefully
positioned on her head.  Turning to Cindy she asked, "Could you show me
around?  All I need to know is what you're planning to serve.  I can make
drinks and...  and...  Janice is coming with the dinner."

   Cindy wheeled on Dan and said, "Burke, what are you doing to me anyway?
Just what's going on tonight?  For openers, who's coming?"

   Dan pulled her to him and kissed her softly.  Then he helped her off
with her coat and Cathy hung it up again.  He said, "Darling, this is a
young people's party.  There will be Pete and Janice, of course.  Then Jen
and Steve, Kathy and Bill, Kelly and Kevin, April and Ron, Susan Bradford
and Mike Cassidy.  Oops!  I almost forgot: Jim and Kerry Vance will be
here, too.  What do you think?" Then he winked and added, "There are a few
things more we have to prepare."

   Just then the doorbell rang again.  This time it was a group of workmen
who quickly set up a small dance floor at the end of the living room and as
quickly departed.  Unnoticed by Cindy and Dan, Cathy took the opportunity
to bring in some luggage that she had left in the hall and put it in a
spare bedroom.  To Cindy's astonishment, Cathy quickly opened up the dining
room table and began to set it up for a buffet dinner.  Obviously she knew
far more about the plans for the evening than Cindy herself did.

   The first guests to arrive were Janice and Pete, each carrying armloads
of food.  Cathy ran back with them for a second trip to the car.  Cindy
realized that it was a buffet dinner that Jan had prepared for her.  When
everything was in the apartment, Cindy took Jan in her arms and pretended
to be angry saying, "Janice Stewart, what did you do?  For that matter,
_how_ did you do it?  I've been in that house and saw no signs of a feast
in preparation.  What did you do?"

   "I just helped my sister with her surprise party, is all," Jan airily
replied.  "As for how, I _do_ have another sister in town.  Although she
can't cook to save her life, she _does_ have a very well-equipped kitchen."
As they were talking, Jennifer arrived with Steve Chapman and even more
food.

   "I heard that, Janice Stewart!" Jen exclaimed.  "There you go picking on
me again.  I'm going to tell Mommy on you.  Just because you have all the
beauty and brains in the family and can cook, too, is no reason to make fun
of the less fortunate." Cindy giggled as Jen was able to cause tears to
flow from her eyes adding, "Besides, it's a lie!  I _can too_ boil
water..." Making a little face she added, "...most of the time.  Often, it
even comes out right, too."

   Instantly her tears were replaced by a big grin as she took Cindy in her
arms and kissed her.  Stepping back to be able to look at her, she just
shook her head and said, "Cindy, I have never seen you look more beautiful!
How do you like your new apartment?  Jan and I have never seen anything
more magnificent."

   Cindy just smiled and thanked them for all of the things they had
provided.  Then Dan put his arm around her and she just melted her body
against his.

   The party was a spectacular success.  Everyone agreed it was the finest
New Year's Eve party they had ever attended.  Early in the evening, Cindy
found herself talking to Kerry and Jim Vance.  The couple looked at each
other and nodded, then turned back to Cindy.  Cindy continued to be amazed
at the way the two people seemed to share a single brain when a painting
was being discussed.  They asked if they could do a matching pair of
portraits for Dan and her the way they had done them for Kathy and Bill
Cartwright.  Cindy raised her eyebrows knowing how much Kathy and Bill had
paid for theirs.  Kerry, looking better than Cindy had ever seen her,
grinned and said, "We forgot something, Cindy.  They're already paid for.
They will be a housewarming gift to you from Kathy and Bill.  Please let
them do it?"

   Cindy quickly agreed and then studied Kerry carefully.  Finally she
said, "Kerry, you look utterly exquisite.  How can you possibly look so
beautiful?"

   Kerry smiled the warmest smile Cindy had ever seen and replied, "Two
reasons, Cin.  First, lovemaking with Jim turned out to be so much better
than I imagined in even my fondest dreams.  I just adore the man.  The
second reason is that I'm now expecting a baby!" She went on to tell Cindy
about the series of paintings Jim was doing for her father.  She finished
by saying, "I told my father that I thought I was very fertile.  Obviously,
I was right.  Cin, I just can't wait!"

   Later, when the guests had served themselves at the buffet and were
seated around the living room, Janice Stewart tapped on her wine glass for
attention.  Almost instantly the room became quiet and she said, "There's
an announcement I would like to make.  As you all know, Cindy Martin has
been my house slave for the last six months.  The first day I met her at
the bank almost a year ago, I didn't like her very much.  I thought she was
a little shit!"

   "You sure got that one right!" Cindy interjected.

   Jan, ignoring the comment, continued, "The next time I saw her was after
our loan had been called by Hugo Bingham.  Never have I encountered such
callousness on the part of one person towards another." Cindy just nodded
and there were tears in her eyes as she remembered the events of the past
spring.  "That situation was taken care of, so in May, Mom, Jen and I
visited the bank.  It was time to get revenge.  I thought it would be so
sweet.  Cynthia came in to the office and Jennifer told her that her
personal loans were being called.  She came apart: she vomited out her guts
into the wastebasket in Horace Paterson's office.  I wanted to cheer.

   "Then Jen told her she had one possible out: She could become my slave
which is what she chose to do.  We drove out to Deerfield.  Within minutes
of arriving I was whipping her to within an inch of her life.  Cindy just
took it.  In spite of being in physical agony, she was cheerful and tried
to help me for the rest of the day.  'Maybe there's more to this girl than
I suspected,' I thought.  Within another twenty-four hours this girl had
been tortured worse than anyone I know of with the possible exception of
Bill Cartwright.  But Bill was worked on for fourteen years.  It all
happened to Cindy in less than thirty-six hours.

   "A funny thing had happened, though.  Within a matter of just a few
hours I suspected I really didn't hate her.  Within a few more I realized I
loved her.  And I did.  And I do!  I now know Cynthia Martin is the finest,
bravest human being alive.  I refer to her as my sister." Looking at April
she said, "April, I've heard you say you love Cindy like a sister except if
she were your sister you would fight a lot more.  That's about right, isn't
it?"

   April nodded vigorously and replied, "It certainly is, Jan.  I could go
on and on about Cindy but I'll only say I worship the ground she walks on
and would cheerfully give my life for her.  Does that answer your
question?"

   Continuing, Jan said, "It sure does.  Of course, the same thing is true
of my sister, Kathy Cartwright.  She claims she owes Cindy all the
happiness she has or ever hopes to have.  Kelly McBride adores you." Then
looking at Dan she said, "Then, of course, there's that big lug, Burke. 
But hell, he's only a man.  What can he know?"

   Holding her head up even straighter Jan continued: "I guess that brings
us to Pete and me.  We have come to utterly adore this girl.  She's
beautiful, witty, the finest cook in the world, and the finest banker. 
Every time I thought about Cindy leaving us, I started to cry.  Well, Pete
has always been smarter than I am, anyway.  Maybe it's his engineering
background.  While I was feeling miserable and selfish -- I couldn't stand
the thought of her not being around -- just crying myself to sleep, Pete
took care of the problem.

   "Well, I guess the fact is that Pete and Jen did it together," she said
with a grin.  "My sister, Jennifer, used the only talent she has: signing
checks.  Of course, Pete had to print the checks she signed on our
computer, but what the hell.  She really did sign them herself.  She didn't
even use the check signer Steve gave her for Christmas last year."

   Jan went over to where Cindy was sitting and Jen joined her.  She said,
"Cindy, you asked about the people building the house next door.  I told
you that they were a young couple that want a large family.

   "You _do_ want a large family, don't you, Cin?"

   Cindy's jaw dropped.  She said, "Janice Stewart, are you trying to tell
me..."

   "...that it's your house?" Jan finished.  "I sure am!  Did you think for
one minute Pete and I could live with anyone else next door?  Besides,
young lady, I have it all figured out.  By the time I have my baby you'll
be well along in your first pregnancy.  I don't think even you could beat
me in the pool at 1,000 meters with a baby swelling your belly." She looked
at Cindy with a hopeful look on her face and added, "You can't, can you?"

   Cindy had jumped to her feet and was hugging Jan while tears poured from
her eyes.  "Oh, Jan!  Thank you so much!" Turning to Jen to take her in her
arms she was surprised to see tears in her eyes.  "What's wrong, Jen?  What
did I do this time?"

   Although tears were streaming from her eyes, Jen tried to grin as she
hugged Cindy close whispering, "Darling Cindy, I'm so happy for you!  You
can't know how wonderful this makes me feel.  Do you really like the house?
We so hope you do!"

   By this time Dan was on his feet hugging his new sisters and kissing
Cindy.  When he released her he said, "Darling, I had to go along with
this. They only told me this afternoon.  You see, they pointed out that you
can't decorate a new apartment _and_ a new house." Jennifer produced a
sheaf of papers including the deed to the house and gold keys for Cindy and
Dan.

   Later as they danced, Dan asked her in a whisper, "Darling, are you
happy?"

   Her eyes were gleaming as she said, "Darling, I couldn't possibly be any
more happy.  If I were, my heart would burst.  Oh, sweetheart, it's so
wonderful!"

   They saw Susan and Mike Cassidy dancing beside them and Cindy, with her
head resting on Dan's shoulder said, "Hi, folks.  Had any good fights
lately?"

   Susan raised her head from Mike's shoulder and he took the opportunity
to kiss her softly and then with mounting passion.  As usual, Susan's eyes
glazed and her knees melted as she hugged him close.  Then she looked at
Cindy and just shook her head saying, "Cindy, I can't anymore.  I'm a
failure!  Now when I go to slug him I end up kissing him instead.  What's
wrong with me, anyway?"

   There were stars in Mike's eyes, too.  Still holding Susan tightly he
said, "You won't believe this, but Sue is going to marry me.  We're going
to get married right after the Super Bowl.  Can you believe it?  I haven't
even finished my degree, either.  God, I love this girl, but why do you
suppose she changed her mind?"

   "I don't know, Mike, but I think I can make a pretty good guess," Cindy
replied.  "Sue is going crazy with an itching in her cunt that she can't
scratch.  I'll bet her cunt is running rivers right now, and if she's not
careful she'll flood my lovely brand-new carpet with her love juices."
Smiling warmly at Susan she asked, "Sue, am I close?"

   Looking very cute, Sue stuck out her tongue at Cindy and said, "I won't
flood your carpet, Cynthia Martin!  You're mean!  The fact is I'm wearing a
super tampon to soak it up.  Of course you may have seen me disappearing
every few minutes to the ladies room.  That's just to change it for a new
one." She grinned and added, "My God, Cin, if this were my period, I would
be white from the loss of blood right now."

   She put her arms around Mike's neck and kissed him passionately. 
Separating again she said, "Could I make a confession?  I told Mike I was
very close to him when he came off the field after a losing game at
Illinois.  I was just a stick, of course, but I decided right then that I
was going to marry him, and would be a virgin when he took me on our
wedding night.

   "I'm still a virgin and I hope I'll be able to hold out for another
month or so.  Cindy, thank you!  It's an involved story, but you know most
it, and I'm sure you can guess the rest.  Suffice it to say, if it weren't
for you this could never have happened." She released Mike and put her arms
around Cindy, kissing her warmly as she whispered, "Thank you, Cynthia
Martin, for all of my happiness -- now and in the future.  It's all you!"

   When she released Cindy, Mike said, "May I thank her, too?" With that he
took her in his arms, kissed her, and then released her with a whistle.

   As he did, Sue gave him a poke in the ribs saying, "That's what I get.
Cindy Martin, you're the most beautiful girl in the world.  They say love
is blind and Mike claims to love me.  I sure hope he does because it's my
only chance.  Cin, I feel pretty good about myself: my face and my body. 
But compared to you...  Absolutely no contest!" She went back into Mike's
arms and they moved off on the small dance floor.

   Late in the evening, Dan and Cindy found Kelly and Kevin in the library.
Kelly was on Kevin's lap with his arm around her.  She was wearing a
strapless cocktail dress in a shade of green that exactly matched her eyes.
It was obvious to Cindy that the dress had been unzipped in back down to
her waist and Kevin's hand was under the bodice cupping her breast.  When
they looked at Kelly they could see her eyes were glazed.

   "Hey!  Knock off that stuff, Kevin.  What do you think this is, anyway?"
Cindy exclaimed, pretending to be upset.

   Kevin looked up from a kiss and asked, "What stuff?  I'm just inspecting
the merchandise." Looking down at Kelly he kissed her softly and said just
loudly enough for Cindy and Dan to hear, "You have the most perfect tits in
the world.  I have a question, though.  Can I have a Brandy Alexander after
the baby comes?"

   Kelly stretched luxuriantly, popping her breasts free of the bodice. 
She kissed him softly and said, "Of course, darling!" Then she looked at
him speculatively and asked, "Honey, if you drink a lot of chocolate milk
do you suppose your spend will taste like chocolate when I swallow it?"

   "Kelly McBride!  Why I never..." Cindy exclaimed.  Kelly and Kevin just
went back to their necking, ignoring Cindy and Dan.  Dan just shook his
head and with a grin ushered Cindy back to the living room telling her she
was too young to see such goings on.  She just kissed him softly.

   When they left the room, Kelly looked up at Kevin's face and asked,
"Kev, do you really like my tits?  They're much firmer than they used to
be. Maybe you remember: I used to be able to rotate tassels with them in a
show I did years ago?  I can't do it anymore.  They're too firm.  Do you
mind?"

   Kevin just shook his head and stroked them softly.  Now when he touched
her nipples, Kelly had to bite her lip to keep from crying out.  He asked
her about it and she told him about her experience on Christmas day with
Dan.  "Darling, I have now been touched.  I guess that's why I'm so happy
with you stroking my body.  But darling, I still haven't been penetrated.
That's for you, but I know I can cum!" She rolled her eyes and added, "Oh
Lord, can I ever cum!"

   With a few breaks for food and dancing, they spent the rest of the night
happily necking.*Chapter 35*

   The next morning Cindy stretched and wriggled her body on the bed.  It
had been one of the most wonderful nights of her life with Dan.  Now her
quiet movement was all it took to awaken him.  He leaned over and kissed
her warmly and then with increasing passion.  When they separated he asked,
"And how would my bride-to-be like to make love this morning?"

   She reached for his cock and balls and found that he had his usual
massive erection and his scrotum seemed to be full.  She looked at him and
pretended to be thinking hard about the question.  Finally she brightened
and said, "Would my husband-to-be take his woman in her ass?  Darling, I
don't know why or how, but you're still so full...  But I can take an
almost limitless quantity of your spend in my ass.  Will you?"

   He grinned and she rolled over on her stomach, raising her lovely ass
high in the air.  He got into position behind her on their king-size bed
and had just entered her when the door opened and Cathy Collins appeared in
the room naked.  Without saying a word she got on the bed and positioned
herself on the bed lying crossways to them.  She scooted backward and was
able to position her mouth under Cindy's love box.  By this time Dan was
moving in long strokes inside her and could feel her now-stretched anal
ring grip his cock as he moved in and out.

   As he moved inside her Cindy became aware of the girl beneath her gently
stroking her breasts.  Her nipples were now as hard as pebbles and she
screamed whenever Cathy's fingers made contact with them.  Finally Cathy
sensed that Dan was near his release.  Cindy's vaginal fluids had been
running and now they came in a flood.  Even though she raised her head to
have her mouth over Cindy's vaginal opening, the flood still soaked her
hair and went into her eyes and nose.  When she felt Dan release inside
her, Cindy also released a flood of her own.  As she did, she lowered her
body to make it easier for Cathy.  Dan withdrew and Cindy rolled over off
the girl.  Cathy just got up and knelt over Cindy using her tongue to lick
up the last fragrant drops.  Finally she used her hair to dry Cindy's
crotch.

   With a grin, she got up on her knees on the bed.  Holding her back up
straight she smiled warmly and said, "Good morning, Mistress.  Good
morning, Master.  I'm Slave Cathy.  I will be your house slave at least
until your marriage."

   She jumped off the bed and went to the door.  She returned with a whip
coiled in her hand which she gave to Cindy saying, "This is a new whip,
Mistress.  I hope it has been properly prepared.  Would you like to
discipline me this morning?"

   Cindy heaved the whip into the corner of the room, took Cathy in her
arms and asked, "Catherine Collins, what is this nonsense?  What are you
doing here, anyway?"

   Cathy smiled and climbed back on the bed.  Her face was serious now as
she replied, "Cindy, it's for me, not for you.  Although I have only been
at the bank a few weeks, all I've heard is what a marvelous person Cindy
Martin is.  Then last week, I had my first chance to observe you closely."

   The girl looked plaintive as she continued, "I don't know anything and
you know everything.  I have never seen anything more beautiful than you
and Dan together.  But there's so much more!  You're the best cook in the
world, the finest housekeeper, and the best lover, but you'll need help
getting ready for the wedding.  May I please stay?  I took the liberty of
bringing my things over here last night.  If you don't mind, I'm using a
spare bedroom.  Of course, if you would rather, I would be happy to sleep
on the floor in the kitchen."

   They argued about it for hours but Cathy had answers to all of their
objections.  Finally, with wry grins, Cindy and Dan agreed to give it a
try.

   In the days that followed, Cindy was pleased but increasingly puzzled by
Cathy.  First, the girl developed at a rate that Cindy found astonishing.
She remembered what Ali had said: She wanted a picture of Cathy taken
ninety days later.  The way Cathy was going it would be nine days rather
than ninety.  Cathy was the same height as Cindy, five feet eight.  Since
the apartment had a weight room similar to the one at Jan's, the two girls
worked out together.  Cindy realized that in only a few days Cathy was up
to the same weight loading she used.

   So, too, in swimming.  The two women swam at the health club in the bank
building.  In no time, responding to Cindy's coaching, Cathy was able to
pace her as they swam laps.  It was amusing, Cindy found.  Typically, they
would go to the pool and find it crowded with other swimmers.  The two
would dive in adjacent lanes and roar down the pool.  By the time they
finished their laps they would be the only swimmers left; all of the other
women would be standing at the pool side just watching in amazement.

   Cathy turned out to be both very smart and very personable.  Cindy found
the girl was as much fun to have around as Jan Stewart was.  One puzzling
fact remained: Cathy never talked about herself or her personal life.  It
seemed she didn't have one.  Every waking hour was spent working in the
apartment, working at the bank, or working out in the gym or in the pool.
The one exception was time spent soaking up the sun in a special reflective
tanning system installed as part of the apartment's gym.  The result was
that Cathy's tan soon matched Cindy's; the two girls were shades of gold.
There were now very attractive blonde streaks sun-bleached into her hair.
Like all of the other girls, Cathy never wore any makeup.

   Dinners in the apartment took on overtones of a constant celebration. 
Almost always the two girls were naked at the dinner table.  One evening
Dan looked at them and just shook his head.  "What are you two doing to
me?" he asked plaintively.  "Do you know what it's like to eat every
evening looking at two of the most beautiful pairs of tits in the world?"

   Cathy and Cindy looked at each other and giggled.  Turning towards Dan
they said in unison, "The poor man!"

   Even the nights were fun.  All they knew was that Cathy was still a
virgin.  Nevertheless, she delighted in just watching Dan and Cindy
together and she took advantage of every opportunity to play with them. 
She proved to be very inventive with sex games.  On the second night she
asked Cindy to introduce her to a man's sex organ.  She told Cindy that she
had never seen a flaccid cock before, in spite of all the time she had
spent around men at Carleton College.  Cindy teased her that it was a
tribute to her beauty: the cocks were rising to salute her.  Cindy asked
Dan to lie on his back on the bed and she tenderly manipulated his cock and
balls, finally asking Cathy if she would like to handle him, too.  She did,
tentatively at first, and then with increasing confidence.  Cathy found she
loved the feel of Dan's erect cock and the softness of his wonderful sac.
She caressed it gently, while fondling his balls.

   Then, on impulse, she bent over and kissed it saying, "Dan, it's so
beautiful!  I couldn't resist." The girls were naked on the bed and were
kneeling facing each other across Dan's body.

   Cathy looked up at Cindy and grinned, challenging her to get him to
spend.  "I've never seen what a cock looks like when the man is cuming. 
All I ever see is Dan shaking when he cums in you, Cin.  I'll make a deal:
we take turns going down on Dan.  You go once, I go twice, you go three
times, and so forth.  We keep it up until he cums.  Want to play?"

   Cindy grinned and agreed.  Dan protested that no one had asked him and
Cindy stuck out her tongue and said he didn't count.  He was just a sexual
plaything for a couple of oversexed women so he might as well get used to
it.  The final arrangement was that if Cathy was able to get Dan to cum in
her mouth, she would let his spend shoot over her body.  The two began. 
They asked Dan to stand while the girls were on their knees in front of
him. For Dan it was exquisite torture.  Cathy watched Cindy carefully as
they took turns.  Usually they rested between turns.  But it was obvious to
Cathy that, when her turn was finished, Cindy had him on the verge of
spending.

   Cathy immediately started to work on him.  She caressed his cum-laden
sac and then squeezed his balls.  It was enough.  He came in spurts. 
Cathy's eyes widened as she saw the monstrous organ start to vibrate and
then release pulsations of milky liquid.  Cathy took the first spurt in her
mouth and swallowed it, then she used his spurting cock as a hose to aim
the discharge at her eyes, her breasts, and then down her body.  When his
jets slowed and then stopped, she took his cock that was now slowly
subsiding, licked it carefully and then dried it with her hair.

   When she was finished, Cindy had her lay back on the carpet and
proceeded to lick all the cum off her body.  When she finished she said,
"Yum!  And just think, Catherine Collins, all that glorious cum is mine!"

   They then played a similar game on the bed taking turns eating cunt. 
Cathy was able to use her mouth to get Cindy to cum for her, while Dan was
rewarded with Cathy's virginal nectar.  That night, at Cathy's insistence,
she slept on Dan's left while Cindy snuggled on his right so Dan had two
gorgeous tits to fondle instead of just one.  For her part, Cathy had never
felt anything so glorious as being able to form her body to a man's while
feeling her tit cradled so gently.  Like Cindy, Cathy just made wonderful
noises deep in her throat, snuggled even more closely to Dan and went to
sleep.

   Illustrating the girl's dedication, it was quite by accident that Cindy
found that the girl was adjusting her time sheet at the bank to have her
pay docked because she was arriving late.  She insisted on feeding
breakfast to Cindy and Dan and then thoroughly cleaning the apartment
before going to the office.  When she found out about it, Cindy talked to
Dan and they adjusted their schedule, leaving much earlier than usual so
Cathy could finish her work and still arrive on time.  When Cindy pleaded
with her about the pay adjustment, Cathy flatly refused to change the sheet
or even to talk about it.

   Late in January on the Monday after the Bears won the NFC Championship
game against the San Francisco Forty-Niners and with the Super Bowl less
than two weeks away, Cindy took Cathy shopping.  Cathy had teased Cindy
that by living with them she was saving a ton of money on rent and food. 
There was nothing for her to spend her salary on.  As Cindy knew would be
the case, Cathy's sizes had changed significantly.  She was now a physical
near-duplicate of Cindy with breasts very slightly larger, but just as
firm. Cathy loved her new wardrobe, although about the only clothes she
ever wore were her division uniform with her proudly-won slave collar.

   On Tuesday at breakfast, Cathy very diffidently asked for the evening
off.  Kelly had asked her to join in a small victory party for the Bears.
Cindy grinned and took the girl's hand saying, "Honey, there's something
else you can celebrate.  Yesterday you were elected an assistant vice
president with an approval authority of $500,000.  Congratulations!  You're
doing brilliant work and Kelly says you're the very best person in her
district.  I hope you realize what high praise that is?  Kelly doesn't say
things like that lightly.  "Incidentally, Jan and Jen join in
congratulating you, too.  I told Jan what you have been doing and she asked
me to tell you that maybe she was wrong.  In spite of me, the quality of
available slaves is definitely improving!" Cindy kissed the girl who now
had tears of happiness in the corners of her eyes.*Chapter 36*

   Ken Bradley was standing in the corner of J.J.  Murphy's Saloon in the
Loop of downtown Chicago nursing a beer and watching the patrons with some
amusement.  Bradley was six feet three inches tall and weighed 190 pounds.
Although to a casual observer he appeared to be in good physical condition,
he didn't look like what he was: a professional football player on the
NFC-champion Chicago Bears.  Earlier in the season, when Sammy Johnson had
suffered a knee injury and was put out of action for the rest of the year,
Ken had joined the team as a wide receiver on a trade from Atlanta.  In the
time he had been with the team his role had steadily increased in
importance, although he was not yet Mike Cassidy's favorite target.  That
designation now belonged to Kevin Cavanaugh, Ken's best friend on the team.

   Bradley was a rarity in the NFL, a player who had played his college
ball for an Ivy League school, in his case, Yale.  Perhaps because of that
or because he kept to himself, he didn't have many friends on the team. 
His closest friend was Kevin who was also very well educated and very
smart. Through Kevin he had become friendly with Mike and a defensive back,
Ron Jackson.

   To his surprise he found Mike and Ron sought him out to ask his advice
about their college courses.  He didn't understand it, but it seemed to
have something to do with their girlfriends.  The big surprise was Mike
Cassidy.  Mike was famous -- or notorious, depending on one's point of view
-- around the league for his womanizing.  Even in Atlanta he had heard
about Cassidy's Meat Market and some of the stories surrounding it.  Now,
all he ever heard from Mike was about his agent, Susan, with whom he was
romantically involved.

   As he nursed his beer, Ken thought about his past and his future.  His
professional football career was being pursued over the violent objections
of his father who wanted him to settle down, marry and join the family
investment business.  For that matter his father had been after him to meet
some particular girl.  Unfortunately, all he ever heard from his father was
how wealthy her family was and how advantageous a merger it would be. 
Ken's attitude was that dynastic marriages went out with the Treaty of
Vienna in 1815.  He wanted no part of it or of her.

   In spite of frequently being dismissed as "just a football player" by a
number of females of his acquaintance, he was a Phi Beta Kappa at Yale with
a degree in economics, and had received his MBA from Harvard the previous
June, graduating as a Baker Scholar.  The only result of his football
playing was that it had taken him three years to get his graduate degree
instead of the normal two.  His degrees and his academic accomplishments
were both things that he kept quiet.  They were not secrets exactly, but he
certainly didn't advertise them.

   He smiled to himself thinking about his dealings with the press -- or
more accurately, his lack of dealings.  The one thing that worried him was
the upcoming free-for-all in New Orleans, the site of this year's Super
Bowl.  Although this was the first time for him, he certainly knew enough
and had seen enough to know that the press swarmed all over the Super Bowl
venue and everyone remotely connected with it.  His work was going to be
cut out for him if he expected to maintain his privacy.  Certainly, the two
touchdown passes he caught plus his 170 yards receiving in the championship
game were not well-calculated to maintain his anonymity.

   Once again his attention was drawn to a girl standing at the cash
register talking animatedly to a guy Ken figured had to be the owner.  He
tried to analyze his feelings but couldn't.  He had been watching her from
a distance for almost an hour now.  She was tall -- about five feet eight
-- and very attractive.  Looking at her, he tried to figure out why he felt
the way he did.  She was wearing only Levi's and a work shirt, so he could
see she had great legs, but it was hard to tell what was on top.  The
oddity was a very heavy-looking golden collar around her neck that he
glimpsed when she turned in his direction.  She had sun-streaked brown hair
that was uncommonly long, reaching below her shoulders.  It was wavy and he
noticed the very natural way she would occasionally get it off her face
with a quick shake of her head.

   _That's it!_ he thought.  _That's what it is: she's so natural.  I guess
she's a real beauty but she acts like she neither knows nor cares.  She
looks like the kind of girl I'd like to meet someday.  Unfortunately, she's
undoubtedly an airhead.  All I would hear would be the air rushing between
her ears._

   Cathy Collins was sipping a beer and talking to Jack Murphy at the cash
register.  Jack -- or J.J.  -- was her first customer at the bank.  He had
called the bank the week before Thanksgiving looking for money.  His call
was referred to Kelly who had given it to Cathy as her first assignment. 
With some trepidation she had gone into the establishment early one morning
and met J.J.  before the tavern opened to the public for lunch.  Wearing
her Levi's as she had been told to, she was unprepared for her reception.
Jack had come out from the back, saw her attire and rushed over with both
hands outstretched saying, "My God!  You're from Chicago Trust?  You're
really going to talk to me?"

   After assuring him she was, he took her to a table and began to talk
about his plans for the place.  Cathy found she liked him immediately.  As
an English major, she had no idea what sorts of financial numbers she
should be looking for so she talked about his patrons, the way he was
building his clientele and his hopes for the future.  When she returned to
the office, she wrote it up carefully and then submitted it with great
trepidation to Kelly.

   She knew the ax was going to fall when she arrived at work the next day
and found a note on her desk to see Kelly immediately.  Knocking on the
open door, Kelly motioned her in and asked her to close it.  Then the tall
girl leaned back in her chair and put her feet on the desk.  Her first
words were, "Collins, what in hell do you know about Irish saloons?"

   Quickly admitting she knew nothing, nonetheless Cathy started to talk
about his hopes and dreams -- and his plans.  Kelly looked so bored it
appeared that her eyes were about to close.  Opening her eyes, she cut off
Cathy's explanation asking, "How much?"

   "How much?  How much what, Kelly?  I don't understand," Cathy had
replied.

   Frowning -- or pretending to -- Kelly said, "How much money, turkey? 
You _do know,_ Miss Collins, that this is a bank?  We lend money? 
Sometimes we even get it back.  How much money does he want?"

   "Ninety thousand dollars, Miss McBride," Cathy remembered replying
diffidently.

   "When?" she asked.

   Again Cathy was confused and asked, "When what?  I don't understand the
question."

   "When does he want the money?"

   "I don't know," she replied.  "I forgot to ask him." Suddenly, Cathy's
face crumpled and her tears started to flow.  Blinded by her tears, she got
to her feet and groped for the door.  Instead of the door, she found
herself in Kelly's arms.

   "I'm sorry, Cathy," Kelly whispered softly.  "Honest I am.  I think your
whole analysis was just great.  You found the real J.J.  Murphy under all
the bullshit.  Cath, that's what you're paid for.  We have computers that
can run any conceivable set of numbers in a second -- and the results
usually aren't worth the paper they're printed on.  The loan is approved
and a check will be ready for you at two this afternoon.  Why don't you
take the afternoon off, bring J.J.  his check, and let him buy you a few
beers?"

   It turned into a real party that afternoon with Cathy introduced to all
comers as "the best damned banker in Chicago." She dimly remembered singing
old Irish ballads when the pub was closing the next morning.  J.J. 
personally escorted her back to her apartment after closing up.

   Now she was talking to him about his plans and his progress.  When she
had come in, J.J.  had looked at her and then cocked his head askance. 
"What's happened to you, Cathy?" he asked.  "You look different.  You have
a tan -- obviously you've been in the sun -- but it's something else. 
You're moving...  easier!  That's it!  You're more relaxed.  What
happened?"

   She grinned and said, "Thank you, Jack, for noticing.  I am more relaxed
and less uptight." She grinned and added, "I don't think I've ever felt
better in my life." They talked and she told him she was meeting some
friends.  "I've got to do something to be sure you'll have the money to
cover your loans," she said with a grin.

   "Go on with you now," he responded with a grin.  "You know very well
your money is no good at J.J.  Murphy's, and that goes for your friends,
too.  Who's coming?"

   She smiled back and affected an Irish brogue.  Cathy was a gifted mimic
and her accent was near-perfect as she said, "There will be my boss, Kelly
Kathleen McBride.  She's a daughter of Erin and a graduate of Notre Dame as
well as being a vice-president of Chicago Trust.  I guess she's allowed in
here, isn't she?" J.J.  grinned and nodded his head rapidly.  "She'll be
here with her fiance, Kevin Patrick Cavanaugh, another Notre Dame alumnus
and the current tight end for the Bears.  Is he welcome, too?" Again the
rapid nod.  "Then there will be Susan Clark Bradford.  I'm not sure about
Sue.  I _do_ know she's the best passer in the city of Chicago.  If you
don't believe me, ask her fiance, Michael James Cassidy, whom I suppose
you've heard of?  Finally, there will be one of 'the twins who aren't,'
April Jefferson, with her fiance, Ron Jackson.  Supposedly there will be
something in pants for me, too, but you can never be too sure.  What do you
think, J.J.?"

   Instead of answering, he called his duty manager over and told him to
set up a table for eight in the corner.  He stressed that there would be no
check and he -- J.J.  -- would personally cover the server's tip.  He told
him excitedly that they were going to be hosting the stars of the Chicago
Bears that evening, including the quarterback, the high-scoring tight end,
and an All-Pro defensive back.  Furthermore, there would be two vice
presidents of Chicago Trust Company including the deputy division head of
the unit that was lending them the money to improve the place.  Then he
turned back to Cathy and, to her surprise, took her in his arms and kissed
her soundly.

   Cathy reddened but smiled and asked, "What was that for?"

   "That was for doing the most you possibly could to build my business. 
Young lady, do you know what it's worth to me to have the word out that the
top players on the Bears come in here for a beer?  My God!  No amount of
money can buy that publicity.  The place will be packed to the doors!"

   While Cathy was talking to J.J., she had become aware of a tall young
man standing in the corner watching her.  She had glanced in his direction
and from what little she could see at a glance, he seemed more than
presentable.  _Unfortunately, he couldn't possibly put two sentences
together back-to-back,_ she thought.  _Why are there too few men like the
ones Cindy and Kelly found to go around?_ She turned back towards J.J., in
time to see his face light up as he looked toward the entrance.  Turning to
see what had caught his attention, she saw that her friends had just
arrived.  She rushed over and for some reason -- relief, maybe -- went into
Kelly's arms and hugged her, then gave her a kiss.

   Kevin kissed her lightly and Susan Bradford gave her a hug and a kiss.
Mike Cassidy held her at arms length and said, "I think I like your other
uniform better!  Then he kissed the tip of her nose.  By now she was
blushing like a school girl as April and finally Ron greeted her.

   Meanwhile, Kevin had found Ken standing in the corner.  Ken had been
reluctant to come down for the party but figured there was no graceful way
out of it.  They had just won the championship, after all.  His eyes
widened when he realized he was being brought over to meet the girl he had
been looking at for the last hour.  Kevin said, "Ken, I would like to
introduce you to one of my fiancee's best friends, Cathy Collins." Turning
to Cathy he said, "Cath, this is Ken Bradley, our wide receiver." Then he
looked at both of them and grinned saying, "I think this is going to be
funny!  I think you're both going to be in for big surprises."

   Ken put out his hand and found it taken in a very firm handshake.  Cathy
said, "Hi, Ken.  Congratulations on a great game yesterday.  You still seem
to be in one piece.  I saw one play -- a deep crossing pattern -- where you
caught the ball and held on even though you reminded me of a walnut at
Christmas time: right in a nutcracker.  With the free safety hitting you
from the front and the corner hitting you from behind, I thought you would
end the play in two pieces."

   Ken looked at her in utter amazement.  He said, "You know football!?  My
God, I didn't think there was a girl alive who knew what a crossing pattern
_was!"_

   Susan Bradford joined them with her hand out.  She grinned and said,
"Hi, Ken!  I'm Sue Bradford, the girl Cassidy laughingly refers to as his
fiancee.  I'm very happy to meet you.  You're one of the few guys who can
catch his horrible passes and make it look like he knows what he's doing.
Of course we both know that, for example, on that crossing pattern Cassidy
might throw it fifteen yards deep or fifty.  It's up to the receiver to
figure out where the ball will go when he chucks it.  Congratulations!"

   Then she looked at him carefully and chuckled saying, "This is going to
be a very funny evening.  Cath, in spite of having his brains scrambled,
Bradley is smart -- or at least he used to be.  He was Phi Beta Kappa at
Yale with a degree in economics and now has his MBA from Harvard.  The poor
thing was a Baker Scholar up there."

   Turning to Ken she said, "Cathy, here, is only a poor English major from
Carleton College.  Of course, she was also Phi Beta Kappa and valedictorian
of her class -- in all honesty, it was a much smaller class than Yale's,
though." She grinned and added, "I think I'll get out of the way and just
laugh.  Excuse me." With that she went over to Mike and the others who were
being seated at the table and welcomed by J.J.

   Ken just looked at Cathy and slowly shook his head.  Then he grinned and
started to chuckle.  "What's so funny?" she asked.

   "The situation," he replied.  "I've been watching you for the last hour
and feeling sad because with your beauty you had to be an airhead.  I can
recall thinking I would be able to hear the air whistling between your
ears. Can I check?"

   She grinned and cocked her ear in his direction saying, "I'm afraid I
have to let you.  You see, I lost a bet with myself, too.  I bet that you
couldn't put two sentences together back-to-back and you already have.  So
listen away."

   He gently pulled her soft hair back from her small ear and pretended to
listen but then turned her chin towards him and gently kissed her on the
lips.  Without conscious volition, she put her arms around his neck and
returned the kiss.  It was sweet and warm and wonderful.  More than that,
she could feel the electricity flow between them and could feel her knees
turn to water.  She tightened her hold around his neck to keep from falling
to the floor.  Slowly they separated and Ken whispered, "Wow!  What was
that?"

   "That, Mr.  Bradley, was the most perfect kiss I've ever had in my
life," she replied softly.  "Now that we've been introduced, do you suppose
you could get me a beer.  And could we join the others now?" He smiled and
led her to the table.  When they arrived, they found the others had already
scattered.  Nevertheless, a server was waiting to take their order.  Ken
was surprised when the girl ordered a beer.

   He had his head cocked, supported on his hand, and just looked at her.
Finally he said, "You're a very strange girl, Catherine Collins.  Ordering
beer?  How plebeian!"

   Cathy just looked him straight in the eye and said, "I like beer.  Tough
shit!"

   "Tch, tch!" he said with a grin.  "I thought an English major could be
more creatively obscene than that!"

   "I know some absolutely wonderful Elizabethan obscenities," she replied
with a grin, "But I don't know how to translate them into equations to
communicate them to an economics major."

   He grinned back and changed the subject.  "Cath, I don't understand that
outfit you're wearing.  Isn't that necklace...  a little gaudy...  to wear
with jeans?  I didn't know they made costume jewelry like that."

   With her face impassive she leaned forward and asked, "Would you like to
feel it?"

   He reached out and put his fingers under it.  It was a collar -- there
was not much slack between it and Cathy's neck.  Nevertheless, he didn't
believe what he found.  He asked, "Would you mind taking it off?" She
reached behind her neck, unfastened the catch and then dropped it in his
hand.  His hand dropped almost to the tabletop with the addition of the
unexpectedly heavy weight.  Then he looked at it carefully and saw the
ornate letters, C and S intertwined on the catch.  Turning it over he saw
tiny engraving that read 'Catherine Collins'.  Still without a word he gave
it back to her and she put it back around her neck.

   Finally he shook his head and apologized, "I'm sorry, Cath.  I guess I
was right, though.  They don't make costume jewelry like that.  On the
other hand, costume jewelry isn't made of 18-carat gold, either.  That
thing must cost a small fortune -- at about $350 an ounce, that thing must
weigh half a pound or more.  It must be worth thousands!  Do you wear it
often?" Cathy impassively told him she wore it every day.  Ken added, "I
only caught a glimpse, but don't April and Kelly have similar necklaces?"

   "They're not similar," she replied impassively.  "They're identical."

   "What does 'C S' stand for?"

   "Cindy's slaves," she replied.  "Maybe you might meet Cindy sometime."
She smiled and said, "I'm starving to death.  How about you?"

   He said he was pretty hungry so she told him there were only two
choices: steak or corned beef and cabbage.  He thought he would have the
corned beef so she just nodded and excused herself, motioning to the waiter
to bring Ken another beer.  Cathy whispered a few words to J.J., then went
over to Kelly who was at the dartboard with Kevin, Mike, and Susan. 
Meanwhile, April and Ron had returned, so Ken moved down to their end of
the table.  He just listened to their conversation and then studied April.

   Finally she looked at him and asked, "See anything interesting, Ken?"

   "I'm sorry, April, for being so obvious," he said.  "The answer, though,
is yes: you.  You're a queen.  I know it's none of my business, but what do
you do?"

   "April is a vice president and deputy division head at Chicago Trust
Company," Ron interjected.  "In her spare time she's my agent and the agent
for most of the Bear's defensive unit.  Then she's also the full-time
mother of my son, who, thank God, got his looks, brains, and personality
from his mother.  She also serves on the board of trustees of half the
charitable organizations in Chicago and is the daughter of the richest
woman in the city.  Beyond that, I adore her and hope that she may agree to
marry me someday.  She's also one of the most beautiful women alive and is
known to almost everyone in Chicago as one of 'the twins who aren't.' Does
that cover it?"

   "My God, it's not just talk?  The 'Twins' are real?  I guess I heard
something about it just about the time I joined the Bears, but I was too
new.  You lend money to minority business or something?  Some Federal
program or other?"

   Mike and Susan Bradford had rejoined the group and Sue interjected,
"Wrong again, Mr.  Bradley.  There is no program except for what Cindy
Martin and my sister created.  They're the program.  The money is a very
interesting arrangement.  It seems that the owners of Chicago Trust were
concerned about what the bank examiners might think.  The bank was running
unprecedented risks so they figured a way out.  You see, there is a
standing personal guaranty from the owners to take the bank out on any loan
that might be classified and to pay the bank a service fee for continuing
to process it.  The entire risk runs directly to the owners."

   "But what can that be worth?  And who is your sister?" Ken asked.

   "I guess the answer depends on the owners.  In the case of Chicago Trust
the answer is $10 billion or so.  My mother has wanted to get into the act
but Bill Clifford, Dave Chapman and the Cartwright brothers won't let her.
My sister, of course, is April.  She's a little darker than I am -- she has
a more permanent tan.  Her mother -- my mother -- is Mary Jefferson."

   Tears were flowing down Susan's face and Mike held her closely as she
continued, "You can't know what it's like to live in a setting where the
love flows like water.  Ken, everything I have and everything I may ever
have I owe to Mary and April Jefferson.  They're welcome to everything I
have including my life which I would give them gladly.  Am I making my
feelings clear enough?"

   Ken just shook his head sadly and said, "I apologize.  There's nothing
else I can possibly say...  Wrong!  There is.  I was thinking that we would
be going out tonight with some football groupies or some hot, beautiful
airheads.  My God!  The truth is that these guys somehow managed to luck
into the most beautiful, most intelligent girls in the country!"

   "I'm hot, aren't I, Ron?" April asked him, giving him a very warm kiss.

   With tears in his eyes but with his head up straight Ron told Ken what
he had made April do for the defensive team.  He finished by saying, "Can
you imagine asking your wife to act like a milk cow for a bunch of drunken
bums?  I did, and April did.  I think your first comment was that she looks
like a queen.  You're partially right.  She doesn't just look like a queen,
she _is_ a queen!  So is her mother who is, if anything, even more of a
lady than she is.  They have a butler, John Smith, who was an All-Pro
defensive end for Green Bay.  Now he's headed for the Hall of Fame.

   "John told me one time that there are some African tribes run by women.
The men just serve the queen.  That's the way he feels about Mary
Jefferson. He utterly worships the woman.  Do you know what else?  He'll
finish his degree this year.  He covered three years in one and then he's
going on to law school.  As his graduation present, Mary Jefferson is going
to marry him.  He doesn't want her to, but she insists.  He feels unworthy
of her.  Can you imagine?  Now you can put into better perspective what I
did to her."

   His tears were really flowing and now he could hardly speak as he added,
"But she loves me and is going to marry me anyway.  Can you believe how I
feel?  Can you believe that for me the sun rises and sets in April
Jefferson.  My God!  She's going to be April Jackson pretty soon!"

   While they were talking a waiter put a small tent card on their table.
Sue idly picked it up, read it, and then giggled, passing it to April who
was drying tears from her own eyes after wiping Ron's and kissing him
warmly.  April glanced at it and laughed merrily saying, "Damn it, there
has to be _some_ limit to our customer service!"

   Ken looked and laughed himself.  The neatly hand-printed card said, "New
at J.J.  Murphy's: Kelly McBride's corned beef and cabbage and Cathy
Collins' steak frites." Just then Cathy returned to the table followed by
the waiter with a tray.  He served Ken the corned beef and Cathy her own
steak.  Ken tried it and found it was the best corned beef he had ever
tasted.  He caught the waiter before he left and ordered a steak frites,
having admired Cathy's.  The others also ordered while Ken looked at Cathy
and asked, "Is this a joke?"

   "Is what a joke?" she replied.

   "Your steak and Kelly's corned beef."

   "The steak is my recipe and the corned beef is Kelly's.  She personally
made yours.  If you like it, it would be nice of you to tell her so."

   Ken looked down at his plate and then at Cathy.  He was feeling
uncharacteristically chastened.  He had thought that he was the big time
Ivy leaguer slumming with the peasants.  What he found couldn't have been
farther from his expectation.  Then he looked closely at Cathy who,
ignoring him, was concentrating on her steak.  Suddenly he realized he had
just made a terrible mistake there, too.  She wasn't playing with her food,
she was really eating it.  It was another first in his experience.  He just
watched her as she cleaned off the plate and signaled the waiter for
coffee. Turning to him she asked, "Aren't you eating?  I thought you were
the guy who had to have two dinners?"

   Ken shook his head as if to clear it, held out his hand and said,
"Cathy, my name is Ken Bradley."

   She extended her hand and she again took his in a very firm grip saying,
"How do you do, Ken?  I'm Cathy Collins.  I'm very glad to meet you... 
particularly after that kiss.  Thank you very much, by the way.  It was
simply wonderful."

   He continued to study her and finally said, "Cath, you're an incredibly
beautiful girl.  You're wearing no makeup at all, are you?"

   "That's not true!  I am, too.  At least I'm wearing the same thing Cindy
wears and she says it's makeup.  Since she's my boss, it must be true. 
Isn't that right?"

   "I guess so," he replied.  "What does she call makeup that you also
wear? I don't see a sign of any."

   "Bobby-pins, smarty!  I have two of them: one on each side.  That's
makeup isn't it?" she asked with a grin.

   "You're serious, aren't you," he asked with a very warm smile this time.
"You're wearing two bobby-pins." He looked over her carefully and said,
"That's in addition to a chambray shirt, the necklace I already examined,
Levi's, a belt and a pair of mocs.  That's all, isn't it?"

   Daintily she stuck out the tip of her tongue and said in a little-girl
tone of voice, "You're wrong, smarty!  I'm wearing a bikini, too.  So
there!"

   Ken just shook his head.  "You're too much, Catherine Collins.  Tell me
about yourself.  I know something about the others, but what about you? 
What do you do?"

   "I'm a brand-new assistant vice president and lending officer at Chicago
Trust Company.  Kelly is my district head and April is the deputy division
head.  Right now I'm also working as Cindy Martin's house slave.  Cindy is
our division head and the nicest person in the whole world.

   _"House slave?"_ he exclaimed.  "You've got to be kidding!"

   She shook her head with a very small smile and said, "Remember the
engraving on my collar?  It's a collar, by the way, not a necklace. 
Specifically, it's a slave collar.  It's worn by girls who have worked with
Cindy at Jan Stewart's.  You see, Cindy was truly a slave up until a couple
of weeks ago.  When she organized and built the division, she was a slave
and ran the banking activities in her spare time.  I happen to know for a
fact that she did absolutely everything around the Stewart estate alone. 
That included the cooking, housekeeping, gardening, and care of the
swimming pool and tennis courts.  Cindy's Slaves began with April.  She
insisted on helping out and that made her an assistant slave.  Anyway, it
just continued.  Along with three other girls and Kelly, I was out there
over Christmas.  It was absolutely the most fabulous time I have ever had."

   "What did you do?  What does a slave do?" he asked, now genuinely
interested.

   "Mostly, we wore no clothes.  It was funny, really.  You should have
seen Kelly with her glorious auburn hair and green eyes absolutely naked
except for a big red bow in her hair and a little one pinned in her pubic
hair.  She has the most beautiful tits in the world, too."

   "But what was so much fun?  What did you do?" he persisted.

   "We cooked, we served, we helped out, but mostly we had fun.  It was
utterly exquisite!"

   "What do you mean, 'had fun'?  What did that consist of?"

   Her eyes gleamed and her smile just beamed but she said, "We had fun. 
Some day I may tell you what we did.  Then again, I may not." She licked
her lips and repeated, "We had fun!" Ken just shook his head and changed
the subject.

   He finally did eat the steak frites, a pan-grilled steak served with
french fries, and found it luscious.  He complimented Cathy on the recipe.
Meanwhile, the others were fitting right in at J.J.  Murphy's.  A darts
tournament had been organized and Ken and Cathy challenged the winners. 
Again Ken raised an eyebrow as he saw that Cathy was very good.  Moreover,
she appeared to get better with every dart she tossed.  In just a couple of
rounds she reached the point where she almost never missed.

   They defeated Sue and Mike and then defended against other bar patrons
until it was nearly closing time.  Ken noticed that Cathy mixed easily with
any set of challengers; he had never met a girl who was as unselfconscious
as she was.  She also kept drinking the beers that they were winning from
the losers with no apparent effect.  Cathy had been paying no attention to
the time and suddenly realized it was almost two.

   She raced to a phone and called the apartment, with her heart in her
mouth.  Cindy answered and didn't even sound sleepy, let alone like someone
who had been wakened from a deep sleep.  Cathy apologized and quickly told
Cindy where she was and that she would be back in just a few minutes.  To
her utter astonishment Cindy told her to ask Ken to come up for a nightcap.
She and Dan would be up and dressed.  She hung up the phone shaking her
head.  When she left the phone booth, Ken asked if he could take her home.
She smiled and thanked him, telling him they were less than three blocks
away.  They got their coats and set off.*Chapter 37*

   When they left J.J.  Murphy's, snow was falling.  Again, Cathy surprised
Ken.  It was very cold and the wind was swirling the snow around the street
lights.  But instead of huddling into her coat like all the other girls he
knew, Cathy held her head up straight and seemed to enjoy the sensation of
the snow flakes melting on her face.  Unselfconsciously, she took his hand
and held it as they walked down the street.

   It was only a few blocks to the apartment, Cathy had said.  They had
gone less than two blocks when two men wearing ski masks and brandishing
guns rushed out of an alley and accosted them.  One of the men exclaimed,
"This is a holdup!  Give us your money and jewelry!"

   When Cathy opened her coat to reach for her money, it revealed her gold
collar.  The assailant's eyes widened behind his ski mask and he asked her
to open her coat.  She did, and he saw the jeans and chambray shirt she was
wearing and also got a better look at her gold collar.  He said, "Oh God!
You're with that bank, aren't you?  You're one of them?" Cathy just nodded
and he continued, "We're terribly sorry!  This has been an awful mistake.
Good night, and please be careful." With that they ran back down the alley
from which they had appeared.

   Cathy closed up her coat and shivered.  It appeared to Ken that her
shivering was purely a result of the cold and had nothing to do with the
attempted holdup.  As far as the attempted crime was concerned, it was as
if a passerby had asked her for the time of day.  He stopped, took her by
the shoulders and then just looked down at her upturned face.  "What was
that all about, Cath?  My God!  I've never seen anyone look so cool in my
life."

   "I'm not cool, I'm cold!" she replied.  "Ken, would you hold me for a
minute, please?"

   He tipped her chin up and kissed her softly.  He confirmed what had
happened at Murphy's: Her lips were as sweet as sugar and he could feel
electricity passing between them.  He could feel her arms moving around his
neck as she molded her body to his.  Breaking off the kiss she just
snuggled in his shoulder while he held her tight and thought how
beautifully she fit against him.  For the first time he realized that she
was a very tall girl and fit perfectly in his arms in spite of wearing
flats.

   "Feel better?" he asked softly.

   He could feel her head nod quickly and she looked up with a warm smile
and replied, "Much!  Thank you, Ken.  That was a wonderful kiss." Then she
added, "We had better get going, though.  I talked with Cindy and she asked
me to bring you up for a nightcap.  Will you join us?"

   He quickly agreed and they moved off again.  Now he noticed how easily
she moved and remembered that his normal experience was to have to walk at
what was for him a snail's pace if a girl was with him.  He realized that
Cathy had long, very shapely legs and matched him stride for stride.

   When they reached the apartment building, Ken let out a low whistle and
said, "Clearly, Cath, you're not a slave in the low-rent district!  What
does one of the apartments in this place go for, anyway?"

   She grinned and replied, "I have no idea.  Besides, Cindy and Dan have
the penthouse which I guess is even more money.  Let's go." She let herself
in and they rode up in the penthouse elevator.  She had called up on the
house phone from the lobby so Cindy, also wearing Levi's and her work
shirt, was waiting at the apartment door when the elevator arrived.

   Cindy had a wry grin on her face and said, "The drunks come staggering
home.  I'm so glad you could make it, Slave Cathy," she said acidly, "I
thought you were going out for just a couple of hours?"

   "Mistress, it's not my fault!  What can I do when I'm in an Irish bar
with people like Kelly and Kevin.  For that matter, your deputy wasn't much
better.  What can I do when I'm with my boss?  I couldn't very well just
walk out, could I?" Turning to Ken she said, "Mistress, I would like you to
meet Ken Bradley.  Ken, this is my boss, my owner, and my inspiration,
Cynthia Martin."

   The two shook hands and entered the apartment.  Ken's eyes had widened
when he first saw Cindy.  In spite of everything he had heard about her
that night, he still wasn't prepared for the reality.  Saying that Cindy
Martin was beautiful was like saying the Pacific Ocean was big.  The
statements were true, but inadequate to describe the reality.  Then he was
tempted to let out a low whistle as he entered the apartment.  Never in his
life had he seen a home as beautifully or as warmly decorated.  Cindy
brought him into the living room where Dan was waiting wearing khakis and a
University of Illinois sweatshirt.  He shook hands with Ken, greeting him
warmly.

   He asked about drinks and Cathy said she had better stick to beer. 
"Speaking of which," she added, "I think I'm about to float away.  Would
you excuse me, please?" She left for the powder room while Dan went for the
beer, leaving Ken alone with Cindy.

   "You're an incredibly beautiful young woman, Cynthia Martin.  I also
find you have a very large fan club in this town.  As a matter of fact, I
think you saved me some money a few minutes ago," Ken said and then went on
to quickly describe their experience on the street.  He finished by saying,
"The funny thing is that I had the sensation of being followed.  I really
think they escorted us here from a distance.  Does that sound completely
nuts?"

   By this time Dan had returned with the beers.  He gave one to Ken and
put the tray on the coffee table.  Effortlessly, he picked up Cindy, then
sat down in the chair with her now sitting across his lap.  She had been
talking with Ken and didn't even miss a word while it was all going on. 
Still apparently paying no attention she retrieved her beer and Dan's from
the tray and just snuggled against his shoulder.

   Ken looked at her and grinned, asking, "Do you always do that?  Do you
always sit on Dan's lap?"

   With a perfectly straight face she replied, "Kenneth Bradley, haven't
you heard about world overcrowding?  Dan and I are just getting prepared.
This way we don't occupy as much space.  Don't you think we're being
thoughtful?" Ken just grinned in response.  Then Cindy asked him, "What do
you think of our resident virgin house slave, anyway?"

   His eyes widened and he exclaimed, "You're kidding!  She can't really be
a virgin.  _Can she?"_

   Cindy's eyes gleamed as she responded, "Let's see: you were at J.J.'s
with Kelly, Sue and April, weren't you?" He nodded, puzzled.  She grinned
and continued, "I'll give you a hot clue.  Sue and Kelly are also virgins
and April has made love to only one man in her life, Ron Jackson, who is
the father of her little boy.  If you're looking for promiscuity, you'll
have to look somewhere else."

   "But...  But...  I don't understand.  They don't _act_ like virgins!"

   "Oh?  How do virgins act?"

   "Well, you know," Ken replied, obviously flustered now.  "They're not at
ease around men."

   "Oh, I see!" replied Cindy with sarcasm dripping from her voice.  "They
always wear white and cover their boobs with one hand and their crotch with
the other.  Is that it?"

   "No, Cindy, and you're not being fair.  You know exactly what I mean. 
Virgins are...  innocent!  They can't feel comfortable around men. 
Besides, I thought virginity went out of style with the death of Victoria."

   "Tell that to Cathy," Cindy replied.  "Here she comes now."

   Just then Cathy returned to the living room.  She looked at Cindy and
Dan, and then shook her head in apparent disgust, muttering, "Lovers!  Of
all the nerve!" Turning to Ken she asked, "And what, exactly, are you
supposed to tell me?" With that she picked up her beer from the tray and
sat across Ken's lap.  As she did she made a little face and bounced a
little, then snuggled into his shoulder and took a sip of beer.  Looking at
Cindy she asked, "Are men always so...  hard?  Why isn't he softer to sit
on?"

   "If you had a broad beam and a well-padded ass, maybe it would feel
softer.  You were the one who insisted on tight little buns, remember,"
Cindy said without sympathy.

   Cathy put her beer down and faced Ken.  She ran her fingers over his
upper arms and said, almost to herself, "Well, his muscles seem okay." Then
she squeezed one of the powerful thigh muscles she was sitting on and made
a warm noise deep in her throat.  Finally, speaking to Ken as if she were
his doctor giving him a physical, she said, "Squeeze me tight against you.
Squeeze as hard as you can."

   Ken put his arms around her and squeezed.  As he did he could feel
Cathy's very firm breasts mash against his chest.  Again he heard the warm,
happy noises coming from deep in her chest.  She seemed to be just savoring
the feeling.  He relaxed his pressure and she moved away from him just far
enough to unbutton the top buttons of his shirt.  To his surprise he felt
her slender fingers running over his bare chest.  Then he heard her say,
"Yum!  Cindy, he's nice and hairy, too.  Are you sure it's fun just to rub
your nipples over your guy's hairy chest?"

   "It sure is," Cindy replied.  "God knows, you've seen me do it to Dan
often enough." Cathy just grinned and leaned back against Ken's shoulder,
snuggling tight.

   Meanwhile Dan had just been watching the exchange with mounting
amusement.  Finally, he said, "Ken, give it up.  Just accept the fact that
we're sex objects.  They only love us for our bodies and use us for
whatever sexual gratification they can derive!"

   Cindy pretended to look puzzled.  She asked, "But what else could you
possibly be good for, darling?"

   By this time Ken was completely befuddled.  The exchange he had just
heard was like nothing he had ever experienced.  Before he could respond,
Cathy said vehemently, "That's not true!  Women just plan ahead.  I'm just
auditioning Ken as a possible father of my children.  After all, one must
be concerned about genetics, mustn't one?" She looked Ken over carefully
and then turned back to Dan saying, "So far, so good.  He appears to be
passable." Turning around to face Ken she asked, "By the way, when I came
in I heard Cindy say something about 'telling Cathy'.  Telling Cathy what?"

   Ken reddened but replied, "I was supposed to tell you that I didn't
believe you were a virgin because you certainly don't act like one, and
that virginity went out with the death of Victoria."

   She looked at Cindy with a question in her eyes.  "Cath, I won't bore
you with the details, but I think Ken would feel better if you kept one
hand in your lap to protect your crotch."

   Cathy giggled, put her arms around his neck and looked at Ken closely.
She asked, "Ken, do I scare you?  I don't mean to.  But I am a virgin, even
though I don't act the way you think I should.  Do you mind?  Would you
prefer me to be more experienced?"

   "Catherine Collins, you're too much!" he exclaimed.  "I have never seen
a group of girls so...  so..." Then he brightened and finished,
"...comfortable with themselves." With a note of discovery in his voice he
said, "You are, aren't you?  You're at ease."

   She kissed him lightly on the tip of his nose and said, "I'm trying to
be.  Of course, if you think I am, just look at my boss over there: she's
_really_ relaxed!  Of course, her sex life is the very best in the world.
She's about to marry a guy who is a girl's dream come true -- in spite of
her bitching about him being beat up.  But there may be even one better:
Janice Stewart.  Cindy was Janice's slave.  Cindy, can you imagine anyone
happier than Jan Stewart?"

   Smiling warmly, Cindy responded, "If anyone were, they couldn't live. 
They would just explode." Looking at Ken she continued, "Jan is my idol. 
She has also just learned she's going to be a mother.  The woman positively
radiates happiness because she's going to give birth to Peter Stewart's
child.  Since to Jan the sun rises and sets in Pete, she couldn't possibly
be more happy or more fulfilled.  It's the same with me and Dan.  I'll be
happier when we're married and much happier still when I'm carrying his
child.

   "You see, Ken, all women worry deep down inside about whether or not
they can conceive a child.  My doctor says I was made to carry children.  I
hope he's right because I plan on carrying a whole bunch.  The thought of
creating little Dan Burkes is the most exciting thing I can imagine.  You
see, Dan is the smartest, warmest, most loving, most sensitive, and most
courageous man alive.

   "I was teasing you before.  The reason I'm sitting on his lap is that I
always want to be as close to him as I possibly can.  I prefer it if he's
in me and it's a good thing you came as late as you did.  You see, while
you were drinking, Dan was making love to me for hours on end.  It was
heavenly!  That's all I really care about."

   At this point Cindy glanced at her watch and frowned.  She said, "It's
now three-thirty and tomorrow is a working day.  My house slave has a lot
to do so she'll need her rest.  Incidentally, Ken, she doesn't know it yet
but she's preparing a banquet for tomorrow night.  Would you care to join
us for dinner?" As she spoke the last sentences, Cathy jerked upright in
alarm.

   Ken agreed immediately and Cathy reluctantly got off his lap to permit
him stand up, then she helped him on with his coat and walked him to the
door.  In the meantime Dan and Cindy had picked up the glasses and turned
out the lights in the living room.  At the door Cathy tipped her chin up
towards him.  Ken took her in his arms, squeezed her tight and kissed her
softly and gently but then with mounting passion.  He could feel her weight
hanging from her arms around his neck.  When he released her, she continued
to hold on until she thought her knees could again support her weight.

   She opened the door and he said, "Cathy, this has been the most
wonderful evening of my life.  Thank you for everything." He kissed the tip
of her nose and left, closing the door behind him.  Cathy just leaned back
against the door and started to cry.

   Cindy heard the sounds and came out to investigate the trouble.  "What's
wrong, hon," she asked with her concern audible in her voice.

   Cathy looked at her and Cindy could see tears streaming down her cheeks.
All Cindy would say was, "It's a personal problem, Cin.  Could I tell you
about it some other time?  Please?"

   Cindy kissed her warmly and went to bed.*Chapter 38*

   The next morning, when Cindy regained consciousness after her morning
lovemaking with Dan, she found herself, as usual, with her head against his
shoulder.  Reaching up, she pulled her tangled hair back from her face with
her fingers and turned her head to give Dan a kiss.  Making a small face
she asked, "Dan, should I be worried, do you suppose?  I think I've been
unconscious at least twice a day every day for weeks.  I wonder if it does
any lasting damage?" While Dan was thinking of an answer she just shrugged
and leaned back against him saying, "It doesn't matter, anyway.  I couldn't
live without it so I guess I'll just have to live with the risk."

   Looking down she saw Cathy kneeling at the foot of the bed.  She looked
at her and raised an eyebrow saying, "Slave Cathy, are you forgetting your
most important duty of the day?" Cindy had noticed that Cathy's cheeks were
tear-streaked and her tears were still flowing.

   Cathy gave her a weak smile and poured coffee for the three of them.  As
she did she realized this was her favorite time of the whole day.  It was
the time when she had wonderful talks with the two people she had quickly
come to respect...  and love.  Kneeling on the end of the bed with her back
up straight and her weight back on her heels, she idly stirred her coffee,
then looked at Cindy.

   Cindy's face fell as she realized that, for some reason, Cathy was in
real pain.  She said softly, "Cath, what's wrong?  Do you want to tell us
about it now?"

   Swallowing hard, Cathy knelt up even straighter on the bed.  Looking at
Cindy she said, "Cin, do you know anything about me?"

   "I know you were an honors graduate of Carleton College.  I know you're
very beautiful and looking even more beautiful every day.  I guess that's
about all, though.  What are you driving at?" she asked.

   "Cin, Kathy Cartwright told me about Jim and Kerry Vance.  I have never
seen a more beautiful girl than she.  But she told me how Kerry lived with
Jim for years without his ever touching her because her father would not
permit them to marry.  I've seen some of the portraits he did of her during
the period before they were married and I have never seen such wanting in
my life."

   Cindy saw real anguish in the girl's eyes as she continued, "I heard
that she was taking the Commandments very literally: 'Honor thy Father and
thy Mother.' Even though she was a legal adult she wouldn't marry Jim
without her father's permission.

   "Cin, that's my problem.  In my case, though, it's not that my mother
won't let me marry, it's that she wants me to marry a particular guy. 
Except what she's talking about isn't a marriage, it's a merger!  All she
talks about is how financially advantageous it would be.  The problem is I
can't stand the pompous jerk she wants me to marry!"

   Trying to regain control, she tried a small grin and added, "I guess it
wouldn't be too bad if it could just be a marriage of convenience and I was
free to take a lover while he had a mistress." The grin became more real as
she continued, saying, "I guess, as we allowed our social mores to change,
we changed the wrong ones."

   She looked down at the coffee cup she was holding in her hand and idly
stirred her coffee again.  Then she looked up and said, "I guess a major
part of the problem has been what's happened over the last few weeks."

   "Exactly what has happened and why is it a problem?" Cindy asked softly.

   "Because I've been exposed to love of a kind and to a degree I didn't
think existed outside of fairy tales," she replied.  "When I volunteered to
work as your slave on Christmas, Cindy, I volunteered only because everyone
else was." She grinned and said, "It was like being in grammar school all
over again: Everyone waving her hand, screaming, 'Pick me!  Pick me!' Do
you remember what it was like?

   "Anyway, I was one selected to serve.  At first I was delighted!  I had
been picked.  Then I got scared.  I realized I never would have thought to
ask if it hadn't been for the excitement sweeping through the department. I
almost backed out, and it would have been easy because Kelly preempted
another girl who was supposed to work.  I could have been a fine fellow by
giving that girl my place.  The only reason I didn't was that Kelly was
going out to Deerfield, too.  Even though I'd only been in her unit for a
few weeks, I already had great respect for her.  I figured that if she
could do it -- and she really wanted to -- it couldn't be too bad."

   As she told her story, Cindy could see that Cathy was visibly relaxing.
Being able to talk about it was helping already.  Cathy continued: "Of
course, I knew that slaves wore no clothes, but I guess that didn't really
register.  When we arrived very early on Christmas and Kelly very casually
shed her clothes, I was shocked and scared.  But I did it anyway."

   Cathy smiled saying, "I'm sure you saw it when I brought egg nog into
the library.  You heard Ken last night?  A virgin should cover her cunt and
her tits?  That's exactly what I wanted to do!" Her smile changed to a grin
as she added, "And if I hadn't been carrying that damned tray, I would
have, too!"

   She knelt up straight on the bed, stiffening her back and forcing her
breasts up and out.  "Then Ali Clifford spoke to me and I started to relax.
Suddenly I became aware of what was going on in the house: I was in a sea
of love.  Cindy, they all really do love you, and of course I do, too.

   "That's the problem, you see.  Now I've seen what goes on around the
extended Clifford family and then I compare it to my own experience.  I
guess it's the difference between Heaven and hell." She looked at Cindy and
again tears started to flow.  She said, "I think I'm in love with Ken
Bradley.  I certainly don't know, of course, but I do know I feel
electricity when he kisses me.  You do with Dan sometimes, too, don't you?"

   "No, Cathy," Cindy replied, _"All the time, every time!_ My God, it's
what keeps me going.  I know it has to be boring for you to hear it, but
for me the sun rises and sets in Daniel Patrick Burke.  There is nothing I
won't do for him or to him or allow him to do to me.  _Nothing!_ The short
response is I absolutely adore the man.  Does it show?"

   "Oh God, Cindy, of course it does!" Cathy exclaimed.  "But what should I
do?"

   Cindy now had some understanding of Cathy's problem.  She replied,
"Look, Cath, I'm not going to tell you to go against your mother's wishes,
but let me ask you a few questions: First, do you receive money from her?"

   "I used to," the girl replied, "But not since my junior year.  Since
then I just keep tearing up the checks and sending back the pieces.  Why do
you ask?"

   "So you're fully self-supporting?  You don't get any help from her. 
What happened to your father, by the way?"

   "No, I don't get anything from her.  And Dad was killed a few years ago
in a plane crash."

   "Just out of curiosity, who does your mother want you to marry?" Cindy
asked.

   "The son of a very rich guy who's a widower, I think." Suddenly Cathy
brightened and clapped her hands in glee.  "Of course!" she exclaimed. 
"That's the answer!  If she wants the damned merger so badly, she can marry
the dumb father.  Cindy, thank you so much!" Now with a smile on her face
she asked, "What about tonight?"

   Cindy jerked upright as if she had just thought of something.  She had.
Looking very cute with her buttocks high in the air, she scrambled for the
phone and placed a call.  Since Cathy could see that she had used only a
two-digit number, it had to be someone Cindy called frequently.

   In a few moments the phone was answered and Cindy brightened and said,
"Hi, Sis!  How's the morning sickness?  Are you still green this morning?"
Cindy made a cute face, put down the handset and punched the speaker button
on the phone.  Cathy and Dan both grinned as they could hear the sounds of
passionate lovemaking, particularly Jan's involuntary screams of ecstasy as
Pete held her in orgasm.  Then there was a single scream of ecstatic joy
which Cindy instantly recognized as the scream Jan let out when Pete was
cuming inside her.

   This was followed by a period of silence during which Cindy just shook
her head in mock disgust.  Then she heard Jan's voice, still filled with
passion, say, "I _beg_ your pardon?  Morning sickness?  The only morning
sickness I suffer from is passing out cold every morning.  By the way, have
you found a cure?  I know damned well it's a sickness you suffer from,
too." They heard a low chuckle and Jan continued, "Anyway, what's on my
sister's mind?"

   Cindy quickly filled her in on the events of the last day.  Then she
said, "I suddenly realized that you're a Yale graduate, too.  Did you ever
know a football player there named Ken Bradley?"

   There was silence for a few moments and when Jan spoke again, her tone
of voice had changed dramatically.  From being bright and funny, she now
sounded guarded.  It sounded as if she was thinking out loud when she said,
"I know of him.  It was in my last semester at Yale when I realized I could
support myself on my back.  That was when I became a prostitute." They
could hear her swallow hard but then say, "What the hell!  Everyone knows
what I was.  Yes, Cindy, I know him.  What's the question?"

   Cindy invited Pete and her for dinner that night and Jan accepted,
although with obvious reluctance.  Then Cindy hung up the phone, looked at
Cathy and said, "Now that's settled.  What about you, though?  What are you
going to do?" Then she interrupted herself and started to laugh, thinking
about the way Cathy had inspected Ken the night before.  Instead of talking
about the dinner she said, "Slave, on your feet.  Your master and mistress
wish to inspect you."

   Cathy's eyes widened but she jumped off the bed and stood up straight.
Cindy got off the bed and stood with her chin in her hand appearing to
study her.  She said, "Dan, I think I need your opinion.  What do you
think?" She reached out and cupped one of Cathy's tits in her hand and idly
toyed with the nipple bringing it almost instantly to an erection.  She
said, "The slave's tits are good, don't you think?  Of course, being a man,
your opinion counts for more."

   Dan instantly understood the game Cindy was playing and entered into it.
He cupped the other tit and then stroked the underside saying, "It's size
is okay.  Firmness is all right, too.  Skin texture and smoothness is... 
adequate." He walked around behind the girl and ran his fingers lightly
over her buttocks and then squeezed her hard.  Involuntarily, Cathy yelped.
Dan said, "There's a problem, though.  Her ass cheeks have a rather
slippery surface.  When she's sweating, what could a guy hold on to?  Don't
you think she needs to be...  worked on a bit?"

   Cindy's eyes gleamed.  She winked, kissed him softly and whispered,
"Thank you, darling.  But are you sure you don't want my scars removed?  I
don't, but you might.  Do you?"

   Dan grinned and replied, "Of course not!  This way the new stripes that
I put on won't even show.  You did say you preferred the whip to my... 
attentions?"

   "Oh, darling," she exclaimed with measured sarcasm in her voice, "You're
so good to me!  Thank you." Turning back to Cathy who was grinning at their
exchange, she said, "Slave, what are you grinning at?" Then to Dan she
said, "What do you think of her muscle tone?  Do you think she's... 
durable enough?  And what should we use her for?  Field work?  House work?
How about for breeding purposes?"

   Dan appeared to look skeptical and said, "Isn't she a bit...  scrawny...
for breeding?  And I don't know about her muscles for field work."

   "Slave, show your master your arm and shoulder development!" Cindy
ordered.

   Cathy had entered into the spirit of the little play.  She bulged her
biceps and let Dan squeeze it, then demonstrated the muscle development in
her shoulders.  Then she said, "Master, like Slave Kelly, although I don't
have broad hips, I've been assured that I have a large pelvic opening.  I
believe I can carry and deliver babies easily." Then she brightened and
added, "My tits are well developed, master.  Even if you don't want the
baby, I could serve as a wet nurse for my mistress if she'll allow it."

   Cindy's eyes gleamed and she said, "Slave, soften your ass cheeks.  I
wish to spank them and don't wish to hurt my hand."

   Cathy crossed her eyes causing Cindy to giggle, but did soften her
buttocks.  Cindy gave her a light spank and stuck out her tongue saying,
"It serves you right for not taking this seriously!"

   Then she looked at the clock and said, "Good grief, Dan, do you realize
what time it is?" She yelped and dashed for the bathroom, their little game
forgotten.  When she came out to the kitchen wearing her uniform, Cathy was
folding an omelette out on a plate for her.  Dan joined them a few moments
later.  The omelettes were superb and Cindy said so.  Then she murmured,
"Maybe a house slave..."

   They agreed on the menu and agreed that Cathy would not wear a maid's
uniform since Ken was coming.  Cindy found one of her dresses that looked
beautiful on Cathy particularly when worn with the slave collar she refused
to take off.  She also refused to take any time off from work to do the
shopping saying she would take care of it on her lunch hour and did.  Cindy
had helped her work out a spectacular menu and she swallowed hard thinking
of the responsibility, knowing that Cindy and Janice Stewart were among the
best cooks in Chicago.

   At six-thirty the door bell rang and Cathy greeted Jan and Pete.  Jan
held her by the arms and looked at her saying, "Cathy, I wouldn't believe
it if I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes!  My God, woman, you're
beautiful!" Then she grinned and asked, "How is the slave business these
days, anyway?  I think I'll have to mention to Cindy that the quality of
available slaves has dramatically improved since I was forced to settle for
her."

   Cathy took the drink orders and had just served them when the door bell
rang again.  Cathy went to the door and found Ken there.  She said
formally, "Good evening, Mr.  Bradley.  Welcome!  May I take your coat?"
Ken raised an eyebrow, but played along.  He gave her his coat and was
ushered into the living room where he was greeted by Dan and Cindy.

   Cindy then took him over to where Jan was standing with Pete.  She said,
"Ken, I don't know if you ever met Janice Stewart when you were at Yale. 
She was Janice Carson then.  I don't know your graduation year, but I'm
sure you overlapped."

   Ken looked at Jan and his jaw dropped.  "I remember you, Janice.  We
were in the same class.  I was in awe of you." He frowned and added, "I
heard something about you shortly after graduation, but I can't remember
what."

   Jan smiled and said, "You probably heard that I was a prostitute in New
York.  If you did, it was true.  I'm sorry, Ken.  I do remember you. 
You're looking very good." Then she grinned wryly and said, "The result of
my prostitution was I was forced to settle for a refugee from Cambridge.  I
would like to introduce you to the love of my life, my salvation, and the
father of the child I'm now carrying, Peter Stewart."

   Ken shook hands and whistled softly.  He said, "Janice, things are
coming back to me now.  I remember you were five feet nine.  I'm six feet
three, and I was afraid ever to ask you out because I didn't think I was
tall enough for you.  Looking at Pete I realize I was neither tall enough
nor big enough.  Are you sure he's a refugee from Widener?"

   Jan, beginning to relax a little, said, "It's worse than that, Ken.  He
went on to get his doctorate from MIT in -- would you believe -- computer
science?  I ask you: can you imagine a bigger nerd than a computer
scientist from MIT?  Doesn't that define an all-galaxy nerd?" She smiled at
Ken and added, "Please call me Jan.  Everyone does."

   Ken shook his head and said, "Jan, I refuse to respond on the grounds
that Pete might take my head off.  Is he really as big across the shoulders
as he looks?"

   Jan looked at Pete and raised her arms.  He easily lifted her off the
floor and held her in his arms, then he squeezed her close to him.  Again
he heard the wonderful loving sounds she made deep in her body.  Pete said,
"Ken, I think every man needs a wife who is small, cute, cuddly, warm,
wet...  A nice armful, but nothing big you understand." Grinning, he added,
"Don't you think Jan is cute?"

   Ken just shook his head in amazement.  It was obvious from Pete's
muscles that he could see bulging under his shirt that his first appraisal
was correct: Peter Stewart could take his head off.  Then Jan tapped Pete
on the shoulder and said, "You can put me down now.  The show's over."

   Pete just shook his head.  Jan grimaced and said, "Oh, all right!  I'll
pay your damned toll." With that she wrapped her arms around Pete's neck
and melted her lips against his.  Pete slowly went to his knees while still
kissing Jan who was now on her knees as well.

   Finally he released his tight hold, but still had her encircled by his
arms.  Then he kissed the tip of her nose and whispered, "Janice Stewart,
you're the love of my life." Then he stood up, helping Jan to rise at the
same time.

   Cathy was standing next to Ken whose eyes were wide.  He said softly, "I
didn't think it was possible for two people to love one another to the
degree you two do.  It's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!"

   Cathy took his hand and said softly, "That's my problem, Ken."

   He turned towards her and saw tears rolling down her cheeks.  He picked
her up off the floor the way Pete had done with Jan and held her close. 
When he did, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he could hear her
crying and feel her body shake with her weeping.  Holding her, he marveled
at how light she felt and how wonderful it was just to hold this beautiful
girl tightly in his arms.  He moved his head enough so that he was able to
kiss her.  When he did, he could feel her mold her lips to his and again he
felt the wonderful sensation of electricity flowing between them.  Holding
her he asked, "What's the problem, Cath?"

   With tears still flowing from her eyes she said, "The love that flows
among these people.  If love were a liquid, these two couples alone would
raise the level of Lake Michigan by feet.  You can't believe what it's like
just to be around them.  I feel so damned insignificant." She tried a
lopsided grin and said, "It's really worse than that, though.  When I'm
with them, I have a marvelous time.  It must be a reflection of their love
or something.  It's only later when I'm alone that I start to feel
miserable as I realize what I've been missing all my life."

   Just then Cathy heard Cindy say, "Slave Cathy, are you a guest tonight
or...?"

   Ken immediately put her back on her feet and Cathy quickly took drink
orders from everyone.  Cindy winked at Jan when she asked for a club soda
with a lime.  Cathy was back in a moment with the drinks and then returned
to the kitchen for the hors d'oeuvres she had prepared.  Each was a tiny
work of art.  When she returned to the living room she found that Jan was
in the middle of telling Ken about her career as a prostitute and how she
met Pete.  She finished by saying, "Ken, he did to me what women have been
doing to men for centuries: I couldn't have the milk if I didn't buy the
cow.  Since I couldn't live without him, I was forced to marry him.  So
here I am."

   Ken looked at her and just shook his head.  He said, "Jan, I can't
imagine two people more in love than you two.  I gather from an earlier
remark that you're expecting a baby.  I remember you as being beautiful at
Yale, but your beauty now puts your former beauty in the shade.  You
positively glow!"

   At that point Cindy said, "Ken, maybe that's what Cathy is doing, too.
But I know for a certain fact that she is a virgin.  What do you think of
her?"

   Cathy was sitting next to Ken on the sofa.  Putting his arm around her,
he gently pulled her close to him but then kept his arm in position.  He
looked at her and said, "Pete, you're absolutely right.  It's great to be
able to hold a girl who is small, cuddly and cute in your arms."

   Cathy crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out from the corner of her
mouth.  Before she could move he kissed her softly and then with increasing
passion.  Her playacting was immediately forgotten as she melted in his
arms.  When he released her she just snuggled close to him making wonderful
warm noises deep in her body.

   Hearing her, Dan shook his head and said, "Uh, oh!  Ken, if you get
serious about that young lady I had better warn you now, you're in for it!
She's exactly like Cindy and Kathy Cartwright.  First, for some reason best
known to them, the only way any of these girls can go to sleep is with
their head on their man's shoulder, his arm around her, and his hand
cradling a boob.  You can get used to that." He looked at Cindy and winked
at the annoyed expression she was trying to maintain on her face. 
Continuing, he said, "That's okay.  In fact, I'll be honest: It's better
than okay.  Cindy has the most beautiful hair I've ever seen.  It's silken
gold.  I absolutely adore it when her hair spills over my shoulder."

   She gave him a quick kiss to thank him for the compliment.  "The problem
arises if you move your hand on her tit -- and it's almost impossible not
to.  The problem is what happens next: she spends at least twenty minutes
making the most wonderful happy noises exactly like what you just heard
from Cathy.  As if her insatiable lovemaking isn't enough, she keeps me
awake for the rest of the night with her happy noises."

   Cindy hit his shoulder and said, "Thanks, Burke.  The Chatty Cathy doll!
Ken, do you remember a doll on the market a few years ago named Chatty
Cathy?  You pulled a string and she would say something.  That's what Burke
calls me.  Except instead of pulling a string, he just squeezes my tit. 
The result's the same in both cases, though.  He claims I make those noises
for the next twenty minutes.  Anyway, he's probably right.  I'll bet any
amount of money that Cathy will do the same thing." Then she grinned and
added, "However, she's a hell of a lot smarter than I was.  I'm afraid
you're probably going to have to marry her to find out if she does or not.
I understand she's not favorably disposed to test drives."

   Ken looked at Cathy with a question in his eyes.  She just nodded
rapidly, grinned, and disappeared in the direction of the kitchen.  A few
minutes later she announced dinner.

   When they were served the first course, Jan made a little face and said,
"Cindy, is this the same old breast of pheasant glaceed with foie gras and
truffles?  Isn't this getting a little...  tired?  Overworked?" Then she
took a bite and then another.  She looked up and said, "Slave Cindy,
confess!  You didn't make this, did you?  As good as yours is, this has
reached a new plateau of magnificence.  Is this from your house slave?"
When Cindy nodded with a grin, Jan exclaimed, "Pete, I knew it!  I told you
the quality of available slaves would have to improve.  With Martin we were
really scraping the bottom of the barrel.  Well, tasting this, it obviously
has."

   The pheasant was accompanied by a Chardonnay that was magnificent.  Ken
chuckled listening to Jan until he had a bite himself.  Then he looked up
and said, "My God!  What _is_ this!?  This is the finest thing I have ever
tasted in my entire life." Cathy told him that it was what Jan had said:
stuffed glaceed breast of pheasant.  Ken then asked, "Teasing aside, Cathy,
did you really make this?"

   Before she could answer Cindy said, "She certainly did!  And I could
kill her, too.  Not only did she prepare it, but she selected the pheasants
and paid for the entire meal out of her own pocket." Then she looked at Dan
and said, "Oh, shit!  Now we're in for it.  I can see a complaint from the
damned Illinois Department of Slave Affairs bitching about our failure to
provide adequate rations." Looking at Cathy she asked, "You _did_ remember
to prepare your rice ration, didn't you?"

   Cathy looked puzzled and Cindy looked back at Dan and said, "It serves
me right, too.  I was the one who heightened their awareness when I
screamed to them last summer.  Nita Collins took my case to them, remember?
I screamed about Jan's cruelty to slaves and now it's going to come down on
our heads."

   Jan grinned and said, "It serves you right, too!  Ken, you won't believe
the grief I caught from the Society for the Prevention of Unnecessary
Cruelty to Slaves.  I finally persuaded them that it was necessary for good
order and discipline, but it was a real pain in the ass at the time! 
Damned bureaucrats"

   By this time Ken was feeling like the spectator at a tennis match played
with an invisible ball.  He was hopelessly lost.  Cathy quickly tried to
fill him in while trying to keep a straight face.  She excused herself and
served the main course, Tournedos Rossini.  When it was served and a fine
Bordeaux was poured, Ken realized that, joking aside, this girl was a truly
spectacular cook.  He told her how wonderful the meal was and then asked
when she started to prepare it.

   Again, Cindy answered before Cathy could.  "She bought all the food on
her lunch hour and began the preparations when she got home from work.  Of
course, she only worked half a day: She knocked off at about five-thirty."
She shook her head sadly and said, "Slave Cathy, you'll probably be beaten
to within an inch of your life tonight.  In less than three weeks you're a
far better cook than I am, and you started from scratch.  Collins, if I
didn't love you so damned much, I think I would hate you!"

   The talk around the table became more general.  Jan and Ken talked about
Yale.  Being classmates, they turned out to have a number of friends in
common.  After listening to them for a while, tears started to roll
unchecked down Cindy's cheeks.  In the middle of a sentence, Jan noticed
the tears and asked her what was wrong.  Cindy just shook her head but the
tears continued to roll.  Jan finished her thought and just looked at her,
saying nothing.

   Finally Cindy said, "I was thinking of myself less than a year ago. 
Then I would have been so impressed: You and Ken graduated from _Yale!_ Of
course there's also Pete from Harvard and MIT." Trying to grin through her
tears she interjected, "In spite of what you say, Janice Stewart, they
really aren't _bad_ schools." Going back to her subject she said, "That's
not really the problem, though.  It was the corollary: If you didn't go to
an Ivy League school, you're an idiot.

   "I guess I have learned something.  Dan Burke is the smartest man I know
-- and that's with a tip of the hat to you, Peter Stewart: You're pretty
smart yourself.  Now I meet a girl from a little school I barely heard of,
Carleton College.  Cathy defines bright: She's aware, extraordinarily
well-read, but most of all, she thinks." With her tears flowing in a stream
now, she looked at Jan and asked in an anguished voice, "Why didn't you
just kill me last spring?  It would have done the world a favor.  God!  I
didn't deserve to live!"

   While she was speaking, Cathy was quietly clearing the table, avoiding
the pain so obvious in Cindy's eyes as she did so.  Meanwhile, Jan
responded, directing her remarks to Ken: "We all know about Cindy, Ken, but
I guess you don't.  You've heard the kidding about Cindy's slavery.  There
is so much more.  If she were to undress you would see a series of scars
across her body.  I did that to her." Now tears were flowing from Jan's
eyes.  "Remember me?  Janice Carson, girl prostitute?  The girl who would
allow anyone to do anything to her and who would do anything to herself or
someone else if the price was right?  After all that, and after all the
money I made, my body is unmarked.  But I ripped Cindy's body to shreds.

   "She says I should have killed her.  I damn near did!  Did she hate me?
She should have but I don't think she ever did.  Would you believe it? 
Just before I beat her to within an inch of her life she kissed me -- and
apologized!  When I finished whipping her, she kissed me again and then
just collapsed.  That woman at the end of the table is the most beautiful,
most loving, and certainly the most courageous person I have ever met.  We
joke, but it's not a joke.  There is no way I could love her more nor is
there any possible way she could be a finer person." Then she looked at
Cindy sitting at the end of the table and pretended to glare, saying, "And
as for you, shut up, already!"

   Meanwhile Cathy had rolled out a service cart and served crepes Suzette.
This was followed by cheese, and then by cognac and coffee.  She brought
out a cigar humidor and for the first time in her life took one of the
light panatellas that both Cindy and Jan smoked.

   Finally, Cindy just shook her head sorrowfully, looked down the table at
Dan and asked, "Do you want to trade me in now?  I'm a failure.  I couldn't
make a dinner this good in a million years.  On the other hand we do have a
very talented house slave.  What's your pleasure, darling?

   "I think maybe this is a part of what we were fighting for," Dan
replied. Then he raised his cognac glass and offered a toast: "To Janice
Stewart, a woman who showed me what love could sometimes be; to Cathy
Collins, a woman who in just a few weeks I have come to love, a woman whose
love for us was the primary ingredient of the incredible meal we have just
finished; and to Cynthia Martin, the woman I love above all others.  Cindy,
when you're near me, you're the only thing that appears in color.  The rest
of the world is black-and-white.  You have made my life; you are my love.
Darling, I can't live without you.  If anything should ever happen to you I
will die." He looked at her with his great love shining in his eyes and
added, "That's not hyperbole.  It's the simple truth.  I adore you, Cindy
Martin.  I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to know that in just a
few short weeks we will be married and, if God permits, you may carry my
children.  I love you."

   While the others went into the living room to relax with more cognac,
Ken joined Cathy in the kitchen to help with the dishes.  He was astonished
at her efficiency.  In only a few minutes the dishwasher was running and
everything had been put away.  He took her in his arms and hugged her
tight, then kissed her softly.  Finally he said, "Cathy, I know this is
going to sound stupid since I met you only yesterday, but I love you so
very much.  Will you marry me?"

   Cathy couldn't believe her ears.  She looked into his eyes for some sign
of teasing.  All she saw was the most tender love.  Then she utterly
astounded herself, hearing her voice say, "Of course, Ken.  Anytime you'll
have me." Then she leaned back against his encircling arms and said,
"Before we go any further, Ken, there's something I must tell you.  First,
you heard Dan talk about the Chatty Cathy doll?  He's not kidding.  He's a
gentleman and would never say it but the fact is I have slept in their bed
using his shoulder for a pillow and with his hand cupping my tit.  I know
that during the night I would feel his hand move on my breast and make
those noises.  Then I would just mold my body even closer to his.  I have
also had his cock in my mouth."

   Ken just listened and looked at her with love in his eyes. 
Surprisingly, he asked, "Was it fun?"

   She smiled warmly and said, "Ken, I've just told you the sum total of my
sexual experience with a man.  I'm still an intact virgin and hope still to
be one on our wedding night when you take me.  I found out two things,
though.  First, I'm intensely passionate.  I guess I should warn you about
that.  Who knows?  Maybe I really am a nympho.  Second, sleeping with a man
the way they describe is absolute Heaven.  Last night I was only partly
teasing you.  Mostly I was really thinking what it would be like to sleep
with you.  You're a slimmer Dan.  One thing all of Cindy's slaves have
discovered is why women are so much more supple then men.  We use our
suppleness to mold our bodies to yours.  I think you'll like it."

   She just stood there looking into his eyes.  He held her tight and then
melted his lips on hers.  It was like no kiss Cathy had ever dreamed of. 
She found she utterly adored this man who had just asked her to be his
wife.*Chapter 39*

   The next morning Cathy was in her new office as an assistant vice
president of the bank when her phone rang.  To her surprise she found it
was Sue Bradford inviting her to join the girls' team against the guys in
the "featured game of the Super Bowl weekend." As in the past, the Bears,
this time working with the New Orleans Saints, had found a field for them
to play on but this time it was not merely a grassy area in a park.  Susan,
as bright-spirited as ever, said, "After all, this is _our_ Super Bowl. 
What the hell did you expect?" This time it was going to be a real football
field at a private school in Metarie, just across the city line from New
Orleans.  Susan went on to say, "Mike has been bleeding all over the floor!
He claims the reason we always win is he needs a full field to work in and
needs another good receiver.  Since he's going to use Ken as his additional
receiver, will you play with us?"

   "Sue, I'd love to, but I can't play football!" Cathy wailed.

   "Cathy Collins, you're one of Cindy's girls, aren't you?  I told Cassidy
I could take any group of Cindy's girls and use them to kill him.  You're
not going to let me down, are you?"

   Cathy reluctantly agreed to play and then Susan told her they were going
to wear uniforms.  The girls were getting the most worn-out pair of Levi's
they could find and were cutting off the legs to make short shorts.  In
addition they were going to wear worn-out chambray shirts with the sleeves
cut off at the shoulders and with the team name, Cindy's Slaves, stenciled
on the back like the numbers on the back of a convict's shirt.  "As a
matter of fact, I think convicts wear those shirts in a lot of states,
too," Susan said.

   During the rest of the week Cathy Collins saw Ken every night, usually
at J.J.  Murphy's.  She found she truly adored this tall, good-looking man
with gray eyes that were the same shade as her own.  They found themselves
talking about their hopes and dreams for the future.  Ken still didn't
fully know what to make of her.  She was like no girl he had ever met in
his life.  Diffidently, he raised the subject of children.  Most of the
women he knew considered children to be an obstacle in their career paths.

   When he asked Cathy, she replied, "Ken, I want lots and lots -- and as
soon as I can have them." She regarded him with a quizzical look and asked,
"If you fuck me silly often enough, do you suppose we could make the first
baby in less than nine months?  Just think, Bradley, if you did it enough I
might only be pregnant for a month or six weeks!" Ken grinned and shook his
head, then hugged her tight and kissed her softly.

   Meanwhile, J.J.  continued to treat Cathy like a beloved daughter.  He
reserved a small booth in the back just for them.  The night before Ken was
to be leaving for New Orleans and the pre-Super Bowl media carnival, they
were sitting side by side just talking.  Cathy found she frequently had to
leave the table for the ladies room.  Finally Ken asked her about it and
she grinned wryly and said it was his fault.  He asked why and she told
him, "It's something Sue told me about.  If you think I'm bleeding all over
the place having my period, I'm not.  It's you, damn it!  Ken, when you
just put your arm around me, my cunt starts to run rivers.  Since it would
look pretty tacky for me to have a soaking-wet crotch, I'm wearing a super
tampon to soak up my love juices.  The problem is the damned thing soaks
through in no time anyway, so I have to keep changing it.  Bradley, you're
becoming a real pain in the cunt!"

   Ken still found it hard to get used to Cathy's frankness.  He had found
that all these girls behaved the same way: Regardless of the question, they
told the truth.  There was no coyness about her and he found he loved it.
He replied, "Is that what it's going to be like on our wedding night?"

   "Darling, there will probably be a little pool of blood after you've
entered me.  I'll scream with the pain but then will just melt with the joy
of having you inside me." She looked at him with a little smile and said,
"Ken, do you remember asking me what we did at Jan's that was so much fun?
The answer is that Kelly ate my cunt and I ate hers.  God knows, neither of
us is a lesbian.  I just wanted to find out if I could cum."

   The smile turned into a wry grin as she said, "I sure as hell can -- in
a damned flood!  That was what was so much fun.  You probably wouldn't like
eating my cunt but Kelly insists my love juices are as sweet as sugar.  I
know hers certainly are." She just looked in his eyes and said, "You can
withdraw your offer of marriage, Ken.  You have a right to expect a level
of innocence to go with my virginity that I just don't have anymore.  I
did, but it disappeared in the last thirty days or so."

   Ken smiled warmly and said, "It sounds like you had fun." Changing the
subject he said, "Mike Cassidy asked me to play for them in the big game
next week.  He says that you'll be playing with Sue and the girls.  Are you
going to?" Cathy grimaced and said that she was.  He continued, "What are
we playing for?  Do you know?"

   Now she grinned and said, "I think it's the winner's choice within
reason.  I was talking about it with Kelly and April.  We were trying to
decide between making you guys cut out paper dolls or playing with dolls.
Kelly said you don't have the coordination necessary to cut out doll
clothes.  She says you can't cut on the lines." Her dimples showed in a
happy smile but she tried to keep her voice serious as she asked, "Do you
have a preference?"

   He didn't answer her question directly.  Instead he asked, "But what if
you girls lose?  What do we get?"

   "You jest!" she responded.  "You don't have a chance of winning and
never have."

   Ken just shook his head and then said, "Cathy, there's something
important I meant to tell you before.  I'm an only child and no longer on
speaking terms with my parents.  Do you mind?  And for that matter, there
is a small matter of a career I want to talk to you about, too."

   Cathy's face became serious, too.  She said, "That sounds familiar." She
put her hand out and said, "I'm not speaking to my family, either.  As a
matter of fact, I guess we'll have to send out the invitations in our own
names.  I was thinking of a tiny wedding because it's all I can afford, but
then Dan said that he and Cindy were going to pay for it.  He says he owes
me for the work I've done.

   "As far as a career for you is concerned, I have an idea.  What would
you think about joining the bank?  Ken, you know that Cindy, April, and
Kelly are all getting married in just a few weeks, and of course Kathy
already is.  Like me, they all want to get pregnant." She smiled and said,
"Cindy says she has a brand-new house she has to fill up in a big hurry. 
Jan's already expecting." Returning to her subject she continued, "The
point is the bank stands to lose the entire top management of the Special
Lending Division.  Those girls all have the same priorities: Their families
are numbers one through ten."

   She smiled warmly and continued, "You should hear Kelly!  You may or may
not know it, but she worked her way through Notre Dame as a stripper.  When
I ask her about Kevin, she just rubs her groin and says, 'Oh, my aching
birth canal!  Can you imagine how big our children are going to be?  And we
want at least a dozen!' And she does, too.  Anyway, I guess I understand
why men do better in business.  You can't get pregnant.  Would you like to
talk to Dan?  I know he would be very interested in having you join us."
Then she rested her chin on her hand and asked, "Darling, do you mind
supporting our children and me?  I'll cook and clean and change the
diapers. I'll even save money by nursing our babies at my tit.  Will you
mind?"

   Again, he took her in his arms and kissed her softly, rejoicing in the
feeling of electricity flowing between them.  When they separated, he said
softly, "Cathy, nothing could make me happier.  And I couldn't imagine
children luckier than those who have you as their mother.  The only thing
is you might drown them in your love." Cathy just smiled warmly and kissed
him again.

   Then her eyes gleamed as she changed the subject saying, "Incidentally,
Dan said that the next time you're over I have to wear my slave uniform: a
bow in my hair and a little one in my pubic hair.  Will you mind?"

   Ken licked his lips and said, "Do you mean to say I'll get to see my
bride nude before the wedding?" She smiled and nodded.  "But won't you be
embarrassed to have Dan see you that way?"

   She shook her head and replied, "Remember me?  The slave?  I told you I
slept with him a number of times and we're always naked.  He claims he has
it all: Cindy on his right and me on his left.  Two naked women each
molding her body to his to keep him warm at night.  He says he loves it. 
Hell, Dan never even saw me with clothes on until the New Year's Eve party
at their new apartment.  Darling, your bride-to-be has no modesty at all.
None!  In fact, it's really getting worse.  I'm developing some pride in my
body, even if it still can't hold a candle to Cindy's."

   He kissed her softly and whispered, "I can't wait to see it!"

   Cathy now concluded that she was desperately in love with Ken Bradley.

   * * *

   When Cindy, Dan and Cathy arrived at the Royal Orleans Hotel in New
Orleans, Cathy was impressed with the size of their suite.  She teased them
because she had her own bedroom.  She had a hurt look on her face but her
eyes were gleaming with suppressed laughter when she said to Dan, "You
don't like me anymore!  I thought you liked me keeping your left side
warm."

   Dan just looked at Cindy and grimaced saying in a disgusted tone,
"Women!" Then he added with a grin, "Besides, this is the Deep South!  It
doesn't get cold down here."

   Super Bowl Week in New Orleans was as hectic as usual.  Cathy was able
to see Ken only a couple of times and then only for very short periods. 
The Bears were playing the Los Angeles Raiders and because of the sizes of
the respective cities, fans of the two teams were packing the city.  In
addition to other club owners, along with NFL officials and their invited
guests, there were the myriad representatives from every news-gathering
organization imaginable.  As usual, there were interviews conducted by
everyone of everyone covering every subject imaginable.

   During the week, Ken was able to get away only once for dinner with
Cathy.  To his disappointment she was fully dressed when he called for her
at their suite.  She just stuck her tongue out and said, "Eat your heart
out!"

   Their game was scheduled for the Saturday morning before Super Bowl
Sunday.  The girls went out to the school together to warm up rather than
going out with the guys.  It was the first time Cathy ever had a chance to
really handle a football except to pick them up and fool around with one
when she was a college trainer.  The girls grinned at one another in their
new uniforms.  Sue, who was the last to arrive, gave a wolf whistle seeing
the three sets of lovely long legs.  They didn't waste any time sitting
around because the weather was cold for New Orleans -- in the high forties
-- and very raw.  There was a heavy overcast and the weather forecast
called for rain possibly becoming heavy at times.  The girls had talked
about it and decided to play barefoot, regardless.

   At game time, they were surprised to find that there were hundreds of
spectators in the stands and on the sidelines including people from TV and
the press.  The games were no longer a secret.  There was even a television
camera crew set up.  The young people kidded about the cameras and said it
was a commentary on how hard up for news all the media people were who had
flooded into the city for Super Bowl week.

   Cindy and Dan were also there, along with Jan and Pete Stewart.  They
climbed the wooden bleachers to the top row in order to get a good view of
the field and were sitting there with golf umbrellas they figured they
would need before they got back to the hotel.  They were talking about the
threatening weather when they were joined by Mike McCaskey, the owner of
the Bears.  He winked and sat down next to them saying he was there to
scout some outstanding new talent he had been hearing about.  A couple of
minutes later he was joined by his general manager, Jim Clancy, and then by
the Bears' head coach, Mike Ditka.

   As usual, the entire Bears' defensive unit was present to tease the men
and cheer for April and the women.  This time, though, most of the
offensive unit was there, as well.  Cathy teased April that it was
mandatory for the defense to come out and cheer for her or she would wreck
their careers in the next contract negotiations.  April's response was to
stick out her tongue.

   Because they were using a full-sized football field, Mike asked if they
could have kicking in the game.  To his surprise, Susan agreed.  What
followed amazed everyone.  The men won the toss and elected to receive. 
Then Ken Bradley's jaw dropped when he saw Cathy line up as the kicker.  He
was the deep receiver and was standing at the fifteen-yard line prepared to
run forward to take an even shorter kickoff.  After all, he thought, there
are even professional kickers whose kickoffs don't reach beyond the
ten-yard line.  His jaw dropped even further when, kicking barefoot, she
boomed the ball over his head into the end zone.  He ran back and downed it
for a touchback.  The men put it in play at the twenty.

   On their first play from scrimmage, Sue sacked Mike for a loss as he
tried to pass but found his receivers covered.  On the second, Kelly
outleaped Kevin and batted the ball away from him just as the pass was
settling into his hands.  On third down they tried a reverse that April
stopped for a ten-yard loss.  Mike, remembering his embarrassment in the
first game when he booted the ball beyond the end of the field and had to
retrieve it, dropped back deep in the end-zone to punt.  To his utter
amazement, Cathy came flying in and blocked the punt off the end of his
foot, and then, moving as quick as a cat, fell on the ball in the end-zone
for a touchdown.  With Susan holding, Cathy then boomed the football
between the uprights for the extra point.  With only seconds gone in the
game, the girls were already leading 7-0.

   Then it began to rain.  When Mike started jogging off the field, Susan
called him back pointing out that football was played in the rain.  The men
just shrugged and went back to receive the girls' kickoff.  This time Ken
was standing back on the goal line to receive it.  Not only did Cathy again
have the distance, she also had great height on her booming kick.  The
result was April tagged him at the two-yard line before he could even take
a step.

   Mike McCaskey had been shaking his head in utter amazement.  Sitting
next to Cindy, he asked her who the new girl was.  Cindy grinned and said,
"That's my new house slave, Cathy Collins.  She's really good, isn't she?"

   All McCaskey could say was, "Wow!  I guess so!"

   By this time the rain was coming down hard and had turned into a
semi-tropical deluge.  Fortunately, there was little wind so it was coming
almost straight down, but with the rain the temperature rose into the 50's
providing some consolation to the players.  Remarkably, the girls seemed to
take it all in stride.  Ken looked at them in utter amazement.  The girls'
clothes were now soaking wet.  As a result, their work shirts were now
clinging to their bodies like second skins.  For all the concealment the
wet shirts provided, they might as well have been stripped to the waist. 
In every case their beautiful bodies were now fully revealed with their
nipples standing erect, but they appeared completely unaware of their
near-nudity.

   All of the girls' hair was also soaked.  Because they all had naturally
wavy hair, the water just accentuated its curl.  None of them seemed
concerned about the rain, the cold or their appearance in the least.  On
the men's first play, a pass to Ken who was flanked on the left sideline,
Cathy, who had been lurking deep, darted across, picked off the pass and
coasted in for another score.  Again her try for extra point was good,
putting the men down 14-0.

   Mike Cassidy realized that the very heavy rain had reduced visibility to
such a degree that he hadn't even seen Cathy.  On the other hand, the
performance of the girls was uncanny.  Several times Sue fired long passes
catching her receivers in full stride at such a distance that he was sure
she couldn't possibly have seen them through the downpour.

   Watching from the stands, Cindy just shook her head in amazement.  The
field, damp to begin with, had now turned into a sea of mud.  It didn't
seem to faze the girls at all.  Their toes dug in and they were maintaining
their footing much better than were the men who were playing in sneakers.
The game moved along, with the men essentially unable to advance the ball
out as far as their own thirty yard line.  They soon found that Cathy's
kicking ability was not confined to place kicks.  The first time she
punted, the girls' line of scrimmage was at the forty and Cathy was kicking
from her twenty-five.  In spite of the soaking-wet ball and the slippery
footing, she boomed out a terrific spiral that turned over, hit on the ten
and kicked out of bounds at the four.  Again, it had soared over Ken's head
while he was standing deep to receive it.

   Because there was no timekeeper at the game, they were playing
thirty-minute quarters with the time running.  When they changed ends at
the quarter, the men were already starting to tire.  Mike decided that his
idea of playing on a full-sized field was not the best idea he had ever had
in his life.  Susan's play continued to be utterly spectacular.  It turned
out that Cathy could run and catch as well as kick.  On one play, looking
tired, she half ran, half jogged down the field from her starting position
on the left flank.  Ken was covering her and figured that she was strictly
a decoy on the play, but was too tired even to go through the motions. 
Then when she got close to him, she turned on a burst of blazing speed. 
Sue put a long pass through the pouring rain right into her hands as she
was streaking at full speed.  When Ken tried to wheel to chase her, his
feet slid on the mud and he went flat on his face, while Cathy, laughing
now, coasted in for another score.

   One play brought McCaskey to his feet, shaking his head in utter
disbelief.  Cathy, again positioned as a flanker, faked a crossing move on
Ken who was covering.  He had quickly come to recognize that she was
exceptionally good, so he was covering her tight.  The men were now playing
a man-to-man defense having been repeatedly burned by Susan's pinpoint
passing when they played a zone.  Ken took the fake and slipped in the mud
while Cathy blazed by him on a fly pattern.  As she started to streak down
the field, Sue unleashed another of her perfect passes.

   Although he was out of position, Ken hadn't become a first-string wide
receiver on a championship team by being slow.  He saw the ball in the air
and flew down the field after it.  An instant before it would settle into
Cathy's hands, he leaped and tipped the ball on his finger tips and then
went down on his face.  The play wasn't over, though.  Susan had been
leading Cathy, racing at full speed, perfectly.  It appeared that Ken's tip
had deflected the ball beyond her reach, but suddenly she dove out straight
with her hands extended and caught the ball.  Somehow she pulled it in and
held on to it as she slid through the mud on her chest.  Ken was flat on
the ground watching as she then jumped to her feet and jogged in for a
touchdown.

   McCaskey screamed when she made the catch and then said, "I'm going to
find out how much that cameraman wants for his tape.  If he caught this
play I want it to show our people what concentration really means.  That
girl is unbelievable!"

   The next time they lined up, Cathy was right across the line of
scrimmage from Ken.  He called time, stepped across, and took her in his
arms.  Her face was covered with mud, along with her legs and arms, and
water was dripping from her hair.  Gently, he moved a lock of her hair out
of her eye, tipped her head up and kissed her.  The Bears on the sidelines
cheered them on.  He held her close and could feel her body shaking from
the cold.  Looking down at her he whispered, "Darling, do me a favor?"

   In spite of the cold and the rain, Cathy's face was glowing.  It was the
fun and excitement of the game, coupled with her joy at the kiss.  She
said, "Of course.  What?"

   "Promise to teach our little boys how to play football?  Cathy Collins,
you are unbelievable!  Where did you ever learn to kick?  Why didn't you
tell me you were a world-class sprinter, for that matter?  And who ever
heard of a group of girls with hair soaking wet who don't even seem to
care?" He looked down at her chest.  With her shirt soaking wet and muddy,
it was plastered to her body like paint.  Her breasts were beautifully
shaped and her nipples were engorged.  He whispered, "Darling, you have
beautiful tits."

   She grinned up at him and then pulled his head down for another kiss. 
When she recovered she whispered, "Thank you, darling!  I'm glad you like
them.  I hope you don't mind if they're very firm?" He just shook his head
and kissed her again.

   The others thought that was a fine idea so they all did it too.  Mike
looked down at Susan and saw her shirt was plastered to her skin like the
other girls.  He said, "I guess Jim Vance was right.  Susan Bradford, you
have gorgeous tits!"

   She kissed him again and then daintily stuck out her tongue saying,
"Let's get this show on the road!  You can admire my boobs later when we're
someplace where it's warm and dry."

   At half time, the men were heading for the lockers.  Kelly reminded them
it was cold and they had no dry clothes to change into, so she asked if
they could just keep playing.  The men agreed.  The second half was very
much like the first.  The girls just pulled further and further out in
front.  Once April was skidding on the ground and cut her arm on an exposed
piece of rock.  She just pulled her shirt out from her shorts, ripped off
the shirttail at a point a few inches below her breasts and Kelly, who had
seen it happen, used the wet material as a bandage and wrapped it around
April's bleeding left arm.

   Later in the third quarter, April was the ball carrier on a quick
reverse.  Cathy, whose assignment was to block Ken out of the play,
received a hard kick in the ribs.  She knew when it happened that she had
been hurt -- she thought it was a cracked left rib.  Nevertheless, her
block on his ankles put Ken flat on his face, springing April for a 70-yard
scoring run.  When Ken helped Cathy up, he saw her wince.  She just winked
at him and said it was nothing.  The next time the girls had the ball,
Cathy again appeared to be a decoy on the play and was favoring her injured
rib.  As she reached Ken who was backpedaling, she seemed to shift gears.
Blazing by him, she caught Sue's pass on her fingertips while running in
full stride and then coasted in for another touchdown.

   By the time the game ended, several TV cameras were rolling with the
reporters filing stories on the remarkable game they had witnessed.  What
had started as a joke ended up as anything but.  It was apparent that
exceptionally good football had been played.  Both Mike McCaskey and the
coach were astonished at Susan's passing skill, April's speed, Kelly's
speed and agility, and Cathy's all-around ability.  Watching Susan, Mike
McCaskey snapped his fingers.  He realized that Susan was a picture-perfect
passer and that, remarkably, Mike Cassidy had improved by becoming more
like her!  Coach Ditka had thought attending the game would be a joke but
ended up cheering for the girls and the quality of their play.  When the
game was over, all the Bears at the game came spilling from the sidelines
and small groups carried each of the girls back to the locker rooms on
their shoulders.

   Susan was waiting for the men by the girls locker room door as the
soaking-wet men came straggling in.  She said, "Okay, turkeys, it's time to
settle up.  You all come in here!" She had looked and luckily no one had
followed the men in.  All of the spectators who had not already headed back
to the city were congregating in the lobby of the field house where the
locker rooms were located.  Ken followed Mike not knowing what to expect.

   When they entered the girls' locker room, they saw the girls were in the
process of stripping off their soaking-wet clothes, which, because of their
worn-out condition at the start coupled with the strenuousness of the play,
were now little more than soaking-wet rags.

   He was astonished as the incredible beauty of the girls' bodies was
fully revealed.  All had smooth all-over golden tans in spite of it being
late January.  They seemed completely unconcerned and were elated at their
smashing victory.  The scene was like nothing Ken could have imagined.  The
odd thing was it seemed so natural.

   Cathy came up to him and said, "You guys are going to give us showers.
Come on!"

   They trooped into the shower room with the men still dressed.  Ken stood
in front of Cathy who was now completely naked.  She motioned towards his
clothes and said, "All off.  Take them off!"

   Ken stripped off his clothes while Cathy turned on the shower.  She let
it get as hot as she could stand and then just soaked, starting to feel
warm for the first time in hours.  When Ken was stripped and standing in
front of her he looked like a Greek god.  She whispered, "Darling, you're a
woman's dream.  May I touch you?" To his surprise, she reached out and
cupped his balls tenderly in her hand and then took his now-engorging cock.
Looking up she said, "Ken, you're beautiful!  Your balls are so wonderfully
soft and full.  How long do you think it will take me to drain them?"

   With a little grin she asked him, "What are you waiting for?  You're
supposed to be giving me a shower.  You have to make me nice and clean for
you."

   She gave him a bar of soap and he used it all over her lovely soap-slick
body.  Running his fingers over her, he realized that her skin was as
smooth as satin and utterly flawless.  Then he touched her left ribs and
she gasped in pain.  He looked at her side and could see for the first time
the place where, in spite of her glorious tan, it now showed a fiery red.
"What happened, Cath?  You're hurt, aren't you?"

   She whispered, "Ken, I'm afraid a rib is cracked.  I'm fine, though,
really.  It's even on the correct side for dancing, too.  That's not the
side that's normally close to you." Then she looked up and said, "Don't you
know how to wash a girl?  There's a slit down here that we wash carefully.
I expect you to do a very good job!"

   When she turned her back to him, he put his arms around her and pulled
her close.  Gently he ran his fingers up her belly and then cupped her
breasts in his hands.  He thought they were utterly exquisite.  Then he
gently pinched her nipples between his fingers and delighted in feeling
them extend and harden.  Cathy spun around in his arms to face him and
pulled his head down for a kiss.

   She whispered, "Ken Bradley, you're killing me!  I don't want you to
stop because it feels so good, but I know damned well I'll want you inside
me." She grimaced and said, "That's a terrible lie!  It's not future, it's
present!  God, I so want you inside me.  If we weren't in the shower with
water pouring off us, you would see my love juices pouring from my cunt."

   Looking up at him she asked, "Ken, do you really like my body?  Am I
good enough for you?  I know I'm really sort of ordinary looking, but I'm
trying very hard to do the best with what I have.  Do you like it?  Do you
like my chest?"

   "Darling, you have beautiful breasts," he replied softly.

   She stuck the pink tip of her tongue out at him and said, "Breasts?  Why
not call them mammary glands?  Get off it, Bradley!  What word do you like?
Tits?  Boobs?  Jugs?  What?"

   Ken just shook his head in amazement and amusement, but then said, "I
guess I like tits.  How about you?"

   She just nodded and continued, "Okay.  I guess I have a pair of tits
now." Then she put her finger in her slit and asked, "What's this?  A cunt?
A love box?  A quim?  What?"

   Pulling her close to him he kissed her softly and lovingly, then
replied, "It's a gorgeous cunt." Then he ran his finger up her slit and she
held on to him tightly so she wouldn't fall.  Making little sounds of
pleasure she said, "Oh, God, Ken!  I can't wait for you to be able to do
this all the time.  And I'm so glad you like my body."

   As she soaked in the warm water stream, he just admired it.  She was
utterly exquisite with her golden all-over tan.  Her pubic hair was a very
small but dense curly patch while her hips were slim and flowed down to
utterly beautiful legs.  Again he turned her so that her back was to him
and went back to soaping her carefully.  She took one of his moving hands
and put it in her slit.  When he contacted her clit she just held it in
position and said, "Play with it please?  It feels so good."

   "But..."

   "It's my clit, Ken, and it feels so good.  This is called masturbating.
Since I can't let you take me, this is the next best thing.  It's called
getting off, and I need it desperately.  Just keep stroking my love-bud and
we'll see what happens.  Now work!"

   He manipulated her clit and suddenly she let out a scream as her loins
started to shake convulsively.  Susan Bradford looked across the shower
room and asked with a giggle, "Cathy Collins!  What's he doing to you?"

   Cathy was leaning back against Ken, feeling her body slowly return to
normal.  She said in the most matter-of-fact manner possible, "He just got
me off.  What the hell did you think he did?  What's wrong, Bradford?  Are
all Smithies sexually retarded?"

   Susan just laughed.  She turned and insisted that Mike do her, too.  In
an instant his finger was manipulating her tiny love-bud.  She gasped with
delight and said, "Mike, I never dreamed it could possibly be this good!"
In just moments, she was leaning backward supporting herself against him
feeling the glorious sensation in her loins.  Then she felt her pelvis
shake as she released a flood of juices with her cuming.  Meanwhile, Kevin
and Ron were doing the same thing to Kelly and April.

   When she came, April turned and put her arms around Ron's shoulders and
whispered, "Darling, I hope that's the first of many.  Do you realize that
was the first time you ever made me cum?  Did you like it?  I just totally
lose control.  You also have an exquisite touch on a woman's body.  That's
new, too." Ron just smiled warmly, kissed her and then held her close
feeling her gloriously smooth body mold itself to his.

   Cathy took a bottle of shampoo and gave it to Ken saying, "You're not
nearly finished." With that she went down on her knees so he could shampoo
her hair and massage her scalp.  Meanwhile, she had taken the bar of soap
and was carefully washing his cock and balls.

   Ken had never felt such an exquisite sensation in his life as her
slender fingers caressed him and gently kneaded his sac.  Looking down at
her with her head covered with suds he said, "Cath, if you don't knock that
off, I'm going to spend all over you!"

   She just looked up and grinned, saying, "So what?  We're in the shower
anyway.  It's just a little more liquid to rinse off." Then making a little
face she said, "What a waste, though!  I would far rather take you in my
mouth."

   But she continued to work on his now-vibrating cock and he soon began to
spurt with the first ejaculation hitting her right in the face.  She
ignored it and just kept manipulating his cock and balls to drain as much
as possible.  When his cum stopped, she felt his balls and then looked up
with a woeful look on her face.  Ken thought she was gorgeous with his
spend showing as milky white streaks down her body.  "Ken," she said
softly, "You're going to have to give me lessons.  There's so much left, I
guess I didn't do it right." Then she grinned eagerly and added, "But Cindy
says I'm a very quick study!  I can learn really fast, if you show me what
to do." Ken helped her up and held her in a passionate kiss as the warm
water continued to flow over their bodies.

   Meanwhile, after manipulating Kelly's clit to bring her to orgasm, Kevin
had continued working on her.  The two giants were standing together as he
ran his fingers lightly over her body saying, "Kelly, you're too good to be
true.  I have a question, though?  If this is what happens when we lose,
what would we have gotten if we had won?"

   Kelly's back was to him and she moved as tightly against him as she
could, feeling his erect cock trapped in the small of her back.  She said,
"Kev, you can't know how wonderful it feels to have your glorious weapon in
my back while your hands roam over my body.  The answer to your question is
that this was our secret weapon.  If we had been trailing at halftime we
would have told you then what we were going to do.  We figured it would
have been an incentive for you to throw the game to us!"

   She turned around and went into his arms now feeling his cock folded
back against her belly.  Looking up into his eyes she whispered, "Kevin, I
really can't wait!  I hope you like what you see?  I really wasn't too
worried, though, because you always came to see me in Calumet City.  April
did tricks so Ron has seen her bare before, but just look at Sue and Mike!"

   Susan had her back to Mike and was just leaning back against him as his
long fingers continued to ostensibly wash, but in fact caress, her slit. 
She turned her head and looked up at him with worry in her face.  "Are you
disappointed, darling?  Am I attractive enough for you?"

   Mike just shook his head and said, "Sue, I'm going to Jim Vance and
demand my money back.  He didn't come close to doing you justice!  Lady,
you're simply beyond belief!  You're a man's dream come true." He turned
her to face him and pulled her close.

   She gasped as she felt his fully-erect cock fold back against her
stomach.  Looking up, her eyes glowed with her love as she said, "What a
stupid idea this was!  Darling, I told you I wanted to be a virgin on our
wedding night.  Will you promise me something?"

   "Of course, Sue.  Anything.  What?"

   "Mike, regardless of what I say or do, please promise not to take my
virginity until we're married?  I'll be honest, darling.  I don't have the
willpower anymore.  When I saw you nude in here for the first time, it was
all over.  Mike, I want that glorious weapon inside me everywhere it can
possibly go!  Oh, God!  I can't wait!"

   Then she looked up at him and said, "Darling, remember Kristin?  Knowing
what I know now, thirty lashes would have been a cheap price to pay to have
you in bed.  And you know something else?  I think I'm tougher than she is.
I would have had you take me anyway, bleeding cuts and all.  Isn't that a
terrible thing to say?" She smiled warmly and added, "I guess it's a good
thing I stayed a virgin.  I had no idea what I was missing until just now."
Then she had another thought and asked, "Mike, would I have made the first
cut at Cassidy's Meat Market?  Is my body good enough?" He told her she had
a body beyond his wildest dreams, and kissed her again.

   She looked across the shower and realized that April still had the
shirttail wrapped around her forearm.  Disengaging from Mike, she went over
and untied the knot, then carefully unwrapped it.  The others came over to
look.  Gently, she exposed the cut and saw that it was a long and deep
gash. Covering it again, she looked at April and said, "Sis, this is not a
Band-Aid item.  We're getting you to the hospital!  Are you okay for now?"

   "I'm fine, Sue, but I think you're right about the hospital." She smiled
warmly and said, "There's really no rush, though.  This is more fun than
I've had in years.  Have you ever in your life seen anything like this?"

   Susan at five feet six was the shortest while Kelly at five, ten, was
the tallest.  All of the girls had magnificent bodies.  The men were also
tall, big, very well developed, and very good looking.  As they watched,
they saw Cathy and Kelly still moaning in ecstasy as Ken and Kevin
continued to stroke their soap-slick bodies.

   Cathy and Ken were the first to leave the shower.  Ken was about to go
back to the men's locker room to get his clothes when she told him that,
first, he wasn't finished; and second, his clothes were in the locker next
to hers.  She handed him a big fluffy towel which he wrapped her in and
blotted her body dry.  She even sat on a bench to let him dry her hair with
the towel.  He started to open his locker when she said, "Ken, you're still
not finished.  You have to make me up and then dress me.  After that we'll
see about you.  But first, come here."

   He didn't know what to expect.  Cathy took another towel and used it to
dry off his body.  She went down on her knees to dry his genitals which she
did with an exquisitely gentle touch.  He asked her about it.  She grinned
and replied that a good deal of her future happiness was contained there so
she was taking very good care of it.  Getting back on her feet she told
him, "First, there's make up." She gave him a bottle of musk oil, told him
what it was and how it worked, and then gave him free rein to put it
anywhere he wanted.

   He asked her to lie on her back on the narrow dressing-room bench and
carefully applied it to her nether lips, her breasts, and finally to her
neck at the arterial positions.  Again, he leaned over and kissed her
softly.

   As Cathy held his head in position she felt her passion rise as their
kiss held.  When she released him she said softly, "Now smell." He did and
asked her what the marvelous scent was.  "I guess it's me, darling," she
replied.  "That's the way the stuff is supposed to work." When he helped
her to her feet he found that what he was now calling his sexual torment
was not yet at an end.  "Now you have to dress me," she said with a little
smile.  "I know you know how to undress a girl.  This time you get to go
the other way."

   He looked at the tiny lacy bikini she gave him.  She sat on the bench
while he put her feet through the leg openings and worked the gossamer up
her thighs.  Ken took the opportunity of caressing her inner thighs as he
did and was again rewarded with deep sounds of pleasure.  He helped her to
her feet and positioned them low on her hips.  Looking at her wearing only
the tiny scrap of material he said, "Honey, it doesn't even cover your
pubic hair!"

   She looked down and then asked him, "Would you rather it show or should
I shave it off?" She looked at him with love in her eyes and asked,
"Darling, would you prefer me to be bare?  Kathy Cartwright is completely
bare and I know Bill adores it.  Would you prefer me that way?  For that
matter I could have all of my body hair removed if you want."

   Ken just shook his head and ran his fingers lightly through her bush. 
"I adore you just the way you are.  I think your beaver is absolutely
darling.  I love it!"

   She looked at him with a little grin then looked down at her groin while
she ran her fingers through her bush.  "Beaver?  I like that!"

   Looking around the locker room Ken realized it was like no locker room
he had ever been in in his life.  There was a feeling of joy in the air. 
Kelly must have done something to Kevin because she was squealing as he
chased her around the room.  Sue was teasing Mike about the way he was
working on her hair, while April, now fully dressed, was murmuring as she
gently ran her fingers over Ron's cock and balls while he held her close.
She wouldn't let him get dressed yet because she was enjoying the sight of
his nakedness too much.  Finally, the horseplay came to an end and they
left the locker room.  The girls were now all wearing their bank uniforms;
Sue was the only one who was not wearing a gold collar.*Chapter 40*

   Fortunately, the men's and women's locker rooms both opened onto a
single corridor which ended at the field house lounge.  Going through the
swinging doors together, Ken was surprised to see Mike McCaskey and Coach
Ditka talking with Dan, Cindy, and the Stewarts.  When they entered the
room, Ditka went up to Susan, shook her hand, and then congratulated the
other girls individually on their play.  When he looked at the men, though,
Ditka appeared just to glower.  They were standing behind their women when
Ditka said, "Jackson, how many of your interceptions this season came from
reading the quarterback's eyes?"

   Ron, feeling sheepish, answered softly, "Most of them, Coach."

   "Well, what happened today?"

   "I couldn't do it," Ron admitted.

   "We couldn't either," Ditka replied shaking his head.  "This was a very
interesting game.  I came out sort of as a joke.  It ended up as anything
but.  I stuck around to do something you may have never seen me do: to
apologize."

   "Jackson, where was the quarterback looking on the pass plays today?"

   "Where she always seems to look, Coach.  Straight down the field towards
the goal posts."

   Ditka nodded and then turned to Ken.  "Bradley, what in hell were you
doing when this girl beat you for a touchdown?" He had nodded at Cathy who
was standing in front of him.  She had backed into him and he had his arms
around her, just holding her close.

   "I was trying to stop the pass, Coach.  She beat me," he replied with
his head up.

   Again, Ditka just nodded.  Then he asked, "Where should you have been
playing on the kickoff?  She put the ball over your head." Ken just shook
his head.  He had no answer to that question.

   "I don't know, either," Ditka admitted.  "Mr.  McCaskey and I were
laughing at you.  You were so deep we were wondering if you were even in
the game.  Then the ball goes soaring over your head." He just shook his
head and focused on Mike.  "Cassidy, of course you're not a punter, but
what in hell were you doing when this young lady -- Collins, isn't it?  --
blocked your kick."

   "I just don't know Coach.  I'm planning to ask Tom Forbes, our punter."

   "Don't bother," Ditka replied.  "I already did.  He has no clue. 
Neither does Howie Fleming, our special-teams coach, nor Tom Cameron, our
kicking coach.  Fleming just shook his head and said a few are going to be
blocked.  He said that was the most perfect punt-blocking rush he has ever
seen." Looking at Cathy he asked, "Miss Collins, are you all right? 
Cassidy has got a very powerful leg -- far stronger than any of us ever
knew." Cathy replied that she was fine.

   Turning to Sue he said, "Miss Bradford, on that pass play to Miss
Collins, what was Miss McBride doing?"

   "She was going down the right side, but she was covered by Kevin all the
way," she replied.

   "And Miss Jefferson?" he asked.

   "She went over the middle and stopped.  She was the outlet.  If I had to
throw to her, we had a certain first down, but I wanted it all if I could
get it," Susan said.  She didn't understand the coach's line of
questioning.

   "Where do you look, Miss Bradford?"

   "Sort of towards the goal posts, I suppose," she replied.

   Then Mike Ditka uncharacteristically grinned and asked Susan, "Miss
Collins, on that move you gave Bradley, what would you have done if he
hadn't taken it?"

   "I would have gone on a slant toward the opposite corner of the field."

   "Which way was Miss Bradford going to throw?" Ditka persisted.

   "Whichever way I went," Cathy replied, confused.

   Turning back to Sue, Ditka asked, "Why did you throw to Miss Collins? 
She was covered."

   Susan shook her head and said, "No, she wasn't.  Ken had slipped taking
the fake.  I never thought he could recover in a million years."

   "I didn't either," Ditka conceded.  Looking back at Ken he asked,
"Bradley, what did you do wrong on that play?"

   Ken just shook his head and said, "I really don't know, Coach.  I have
it in mind to ask Ron later."

   "Let's ask him now," Ditka said.  "Jackson, how should Bradley have
handled that play?"

   Ron pulled himself up even straighter and looked Ditka right in the eye.
He knew he was on the spot with his entire team.  The players had been
waiting for the girls outside, but when they saw them start to talk with
the coach they had quietly come in and were standing on the side just
listening carefully.  He said, "He played it exactly right, Coach.  That
was the greatest recovery I have ever seen in my life.  I didn't think he
had a chance in a thousand of deflecting the ball."

   "But they completed the pass for a touchdown," Ditka protested.

   "They sure did, Coach." Ron took a deep breath and could feel his
football career going down the drain.  Notwithstanding, he was not going to
lie.  If this is what the coach wanted, so be it.  He continued, "And they
will every time they have a receiver with the most incredible
concentration, speed, and reflexes I have ever seen.  That last-instant
deflection will break up the pass every time." He smiled wryly and added,
"Except after what Cathy did, now I'll have to say _almost_ every time."

   Again Ditka nodded.  Then he asked Susan, "Miss Bradford, which way was
that pass going?"

   She was puzzled.  It was the same question Cathy had already answered.
She said, "If it went to Cathy, it would go whichever way she went." Ditka
just nodded and reached out towards Mike McCaskey.  He had taken a
ten-dollar bill from his wallet and gave it to Ditka who just stuck it in
his pocket.  Then he grinned and said, "Thank you, Miss Bradford.  As you
just saw, your answer cost our owner ten bucks."

   Then he smiled and looked at the other team members standing along the
wall.  He said, "Guys, we owe these men an apology.  An _abject_ apology!"
He looked back at Susan and said, "And we owe you and your friends a great
vote of thanks.  Personally, I think you all deserve winner's shares of the
play-off money.  Now I see that you girls are the primary reason we're down
here right now instead of being at home getting ready to watch the Super
Bowl on television.

   "You know, it's a funny thing.  For the first time in a long time I
realized today how much fun football can be.  Furthermore, when there
aren't all the giants on the line of scrimmage -- when the only players on
the field are in what we laughingly refer to as skill positions -- you can
see a lot more.  Well, did I ever.  Let me tell you what I saw.

   "I saw the most remarkable quarterback I have ever seen perform in my
life: A passer who can throw long, short or anything in between; a passer
who looks only one place, down the field, and yet who sees everyone on the
field.  You heard her answer to the question I asked regarding where her
other players were?  Well, she's right.  How do I know?  Because I asked
three other people and among us we had been watching them all.  She's one
person and _she_ was watching them all, too.  Furthermore, like an
outstanding bridge player who remembers every card played in every hand,
she remembers where everyone was on every play.
"I saw a...  Miss Collins, I'm sorry.  I don't know how to characterize
you.  All I can say is you can kick better than our kicker, punt better
than our punter, catch a football better than any receiver, and block --

and block kicks -- better than anyone else.

   "I spoke of Miss Bradford.  But what the hell!  It's not all her.  I
mean any quarterback can look pretty good provided he can reach his
receivers when they're world-class sprinters." He shook his head.  "That's
a lie!  There are damned few quarterbacks who can _reach_ real burners,
particularly when they're going at full speed.  You can and do and do it
perfectly, every time.  And under conditions of driving rain where we
didn't think you could _see_ your receivers, let alone get the ball to
them, _least of all_ hit them in full stride.  We marveled at your touch."

   "Bradley, I apologize.  That defensive play of yours was the best we've
ever seen -- and it didn't work!  Ron Jackson was absolutely right!" He
looked at Ron and said, "And Ron, I apologize to you, too.  I don't know
what your plans are for the future -- after you end your active playing
career, I mean -- but I'll tell you right now you have the job as defensive
back coach whenever you want it.  There aren't many people with the guts to
tell me something they don't think I want to hear.  You did."

   Turning back to Ken, he said, "Never have we seen the speed,
concentration, or agility Miss Collins showed.  She reminded me of a cat
changing direction in midair.  _That ball could not be caught!_ There was
absolutely no way!  But I guess she doesn't know enough about football, so
she caught it anyway."

   He looked over the group who were all standing the same way.  Each girl
was in front of her man and his arms were around her.  He asked a general
question: "You're all getting married soon, aren't you?" They all nodded
happily.  "Do you want children?" This time the women nodded vigorously. 
Ditka turned to McCaskey and said, "Boss, do you suppose we could get an
option on their children's football contracts?  I'll tell you right now
I'll sign a long-term contract to be sure I'm still coaching the Bears when
their children are ready to play.  Can you imagine?  Just look!
"Look at Cavanaugh and Miss McBride!  Can you imagine what their
children will be like?" His eyes gleamed as he added, "And I don't know if
I'm cheering for boys or girls, either.  The girls will all be Irish
goddesses." He looked and just shook his head.  "Never in my life have I
had the good fortune to meet four more beautiful or more
athletically-talented women in my life.  On the other hand, I have it on
very good authority that you're all brilliant, too!" He shook his head
sadly and concluded, "The world just isn't fair.  Why should a handful of

young women have absolutely everything?"

   Turning back to his players standing along the wall he said, "We're
going to destroy the Raiders tomorrow.  I was a little worried, but now I'm
more confident than I have ever been of anything in my life.  Why do I say
that?  Because now I understand the real meaning of these games.  You
defensive backs: I'll tell you right now you'll never see a quarterback who
can do absolutely everything the way Miss Bradford can.  After covering her
-- and being run ragged -- our Sunday game is just a romp in the park for
Ron Jackson.  Cassidy?  He spends the day picking up tips from Miss
Bradford.  Every game I could see more of her in him.  It's just that I
didn't know what I was seeing until today.  Cavanaugh and Bradley?  They
get to watch -- and try to cover -- the fastest, most agile, and smartest
receivers in football.  They're both smart as hell, so they learn a lot,
too."

   Turning back to the girls he said, "I have one question, though.  It was
such a miserable day, why did you play at all?  Then when it started to
rain, why didn't you stop?"

   Cathy looked at the other girls, then held her head up straight and
replied, "Because we're getting married to professional football players,
Coach Ditka.  Our husbands have to play football in far worse than this.  I
guess...  I guess we wanted to show our husbands that we know what they
have to do and...  and their wives wouldn't quit on them."

   She held her head up straight and said, "Coach Ditka, I can't tell you
how much I love Ken Bradley because there's no vocabulary adequate to
communicate it.  I want to carry his children.  I know how courageous he
is. There's no way I could run a crossing pattern through traffic and jump
to take a high ball knowing I was going to get creamed before my feet came
down.  I wanted him to know that he wouldn't have to worry about his
children being cowards.  I wanted him to know that, while I'm certainly not
as tough as he is, I'm not going to quit on him and neither will his
children.  That's why we kept on playing."

   Ditka's eyes just bore into hers.  Finally he said, "You cracked at
least one rib out there when you blocked Bradley, didn't you?" Her eyes
widened but she just shrugged.  "You didn't even take time out to catch
your breath.  You're still in great pain.  Your ribs are on fire, aren't
they?  It's agonizing." She just nodded and her face reddened with
embarrassment.  Ditka nodded and said, "I know because it's happened to me.
Lady, I left the game when I cracked mine.  You didn't." He looked at Ken
and said, "Bradley, you're a very lucky man!" Then he glared at April and
said, "Let me take a look at your arm please, Miss Jefferson."

   April had been holding her arms so that her hand covered the shirt that
she was still using as a bandage.  She just shook her head and said, "I
already agreed with Ron that I ought to have it looked at.  We were on our
way."

   Ditka nodded and then looked at the men.  He said, "Guys, I think I made
an apology for all of us.  There's one more thing, though.  What did the
rest of you think of the game?  Was that a kind of playground touch
football?  Or was it something else?"

   The giant tackle, Charley Hodgins, raised a fist and said, "Coach, that
was the highest-quality football I have ever seen.  And that was my agent
out there, April Jefferson.  Coach, I don't have to tell you we're playing
so much better because of what she does for us off the field.  Coach, I
guess we love these women." Then he yelled, "Three cheers for the girls! 
They got us to the Super Bowl!" In the confined space of the lounge, the
three thunderous cheers from the players shook the plate-glass windows. 
Then the girls were mobbed by the players who all wanted to tell them what
a great game they played.

   Ditka looked meaningfully at McCaskey who nodded.  He went to a pay
phone and made a call, then found April and said, "Come with me.  We'll use
my driver." Then turning back to the girls he said, "We're trying to get
you all sideline passes for the game.  Would you rather watch from there or
from Mr.  McCaskey's box?" They agreed they would let the team know through
the guys.

   When they reached the hospital, they were met by a doctor who they had
been assured by the Saints organization was the finest plastic surgeon in
New Orleans.  It took fourteen stitches to close the cut in April's arm but
he assured her it would leave no scar.  When they were ready to leave, he
shook his head and said, "Miss Jefferson, this has been a real privilege.
You're the most beautiful woman I have ever treated in my life.  I'm very
glad I received the call.  You're far too beautiful to have any scars, even
one on your arm."*Chapter 41*

   In response to Cathy's suggestion, Ken was well dressed when he rang the
bell at the suite where Dan, Cindy and Cathy were staying.  When the door
was opened he found his fiancee standing there with her face impassive but
with her eyes dancing with laughter.  All she was wearing was a large black
bow on the back of her head and a tiny black bow clipped in her pubic hair.

   She said, "Good evening, Mr.  Bradley.  Won't you please come in?  My
master and mistress are waiting for you in the sitting room."

   He winked and followed her, delighting again in watching her trim ass
undulating slightly as she did.  Both Dan's and Cindy's eyes were dancing
as they greeted him and took seats.  Cathy took drink orders and moments
later returned with his drink which she served to him while on her knees.
Ken noticed that every movement Cathy made had the grace of a ballet
dancer. She rose and went down on her knees again to serve Cindy and Dan.
Cindy had asked for a martini.  She took the frosted glass and put it in
the valley between Cathy's breasts and left it there.

   Cathy choked off a gasp but then just smiled sweetly and said,
"Mistress, I believe you'll find it well chilled." Cindy giggled, winked,
and gave her a tiny pinch as she rose to leave.  Cathy impassively returned
the wink.

   She brought over a tray of hors d'oeuvres the hotel's banquet department
had prepared.  After offering them first to Ken and then the others, she
knelt on the floor in front of Ken with the edge of the tray resting on her
breasts.  He reached under the tray and cradled one of her breasts from
below.  Although Cathy didn't move, he saw her eyes widen for an instant
and then saw a look of love in her eyes.  Without making a sound she moved
her lips and formed the words, "Do you still like them?  I so hope you do."
Ken just nodded rapidly.

   If Cathy was tired from the football game played in the rain and cold,
she gave no sign.  In fact she appeared tireless as she refilled glasses
and served more food.  Since she always served on her knees, Ken couldn't
keep track of the number of times she went down on her knees and then stood
up again.  She appeared to be totally unaware of the strain this created.

   Meanwhile Ken was talking seriously with Cindy and Dan about the
possibility of joining the bank.  After a great deal of discussion it
appeared to be a good thing to explore in greater depth after the season,
but tentatively he agreed to join Chicago Trust Company.

   Finally Cindy said, "Slave Cathy, that's enough for this evening.  You
may go to your room.  We will not need you any more tonight."

   This was apparently the end of the playacting.  Cathy stretched and
rolled her hips to work the kinks out.  It was apparent that she had been
suffering but had given no sign.  Cindy grinned and said, "Cathy, you were
utterly superb.  I was never as good as you were tonight.  How in hell did
you keep from jumping when I put that icy glass between your tits, though?"

   Cathy grinned and replied, "Blame that on your sister, Jan.  She warned
me that she had done it to you, and it was the thing you did to her one
night when she served you.  I knew it had to come so I just tried to
prepare for the shock.  I guess the lousy weather at the game helped
prepare me, too."

   Then she turned to Ken and said, "All right, Bradley.  The loafing is
over.  Off your ass, on your feet, and come and do something productive."
Ken didn't know what to expect but he followed Cathy into her room and she
shut the door behind her.

   Then she went to him, pulled his head down to hers, kissed him warmly
and then with increasing passion.  Releasing his head she murmured, "Wow!"
As she looked at him he could see tears start to appear in her eyes at the
same time he could see enormous warmth in them.  She said, "Ken, I love you
so damned much it hurts!  It really does, my darling." Then with a winsome
little grin she asked, "Do you like my uniform?"

   Ken was becoming as relaxed with her as she already was with him.  He
replied, "Isn't it...  a little formal?  Don't you get awfully hot with all
those clothes?  Would you like me to help you undress?"

   She grinned and pretended to be thoughtful and then nodded quickly.  He
took off the big bow from her hair and then got on his knees in front of
her.  Pretending she was wearing an elaborate costume, he looked all over
her loins apparently trying to figure out how the tiny bow was attached. 
Then he spread her legs and did something he had never even thought to do.
He asked her to lie down on her back and then proceeded to work on her
virginal cunt with his tongue.

   Lying on her back, she put her legs over his shoulders to provide him
better access to her love box.  Kneeling on the floor he studied her gaping
cunt.  She was watching him and asked, "Isn't it sort of ugly?  All gaping
and raw-looking?"

   "Darling, it's absolutely gorgeous!" he replied.  He continued to work
on her vagina and clitoris with his tongue.  Soon the flow of her cuntal
juices had begun and he carefully licked them up.  _She's right,_ he
realized, _Her love juices are as sweet as sugar!_ When he bit down on her
tiny love bud, it triggered an instant orgasm.  Then he moved his tongue up
her vagina like a tiny cock.  Cathy's loins were writhing on the floor in a
fever of passion while her head just tossed from side to side.  He could
feel her passion approach another crest and he bit her clit again,
triggering a flood of cuntal fluid which he again licked up.  Finally,
using his fingers to move aside her nether lips, he licked every drop, then
he moved up and covered her body with his.  Lowering his lips to hers, he
kissed her passionately.  He released her suddenly when he realized she was
crying.

   "What's wrong, darling?  Did I hurt you?" he asked with concern in his
voice.

   She shook her head while trying to smile.  Finally she said, "Of course
not, silly.  It was so incredibly wonderful, though.  Darling, I just can't
wait until we're married and you can have all of me for anything you want
to do." Her eyes gleamed and she looked utterly beautiful with her hair
spread beneath her head like a fan.  Then she said, "Honey, I hope you like
anal intercourse -- or at least are prepared to try it.  You see, another
element of being Cindy's slave is that I have seen her taken in every way
imaginable -- and believe me when I tell you she's very imaginative. 
There's nothing she won't do for Dan nor is there anything I will not do
for you, to you, or allow you to do to me.  Nothing!" Then she shook her
head and added, "I was wrong, Ken.  I should not have said allow.  If I
even think you might want something, I'll do it."

   He lifted himself off her body and just reclined beside her, resting his
back against the bed.  Her body was absolutely exquisite and he loved just
to look at it.  He began slowly to move his fingertips over its
satin-smooth surface while she lay with her eyes closed just savoring the
feeling.  He began to stroke her breasts and nipples with the lightest
possible touch and watched as her pelvis began to writhe involuntarily with
her passion.  He just maintained his tempo and finally she let out a scream
as her pelvis jerked uncontrollably in orgasm.

   When her movements stopped she opened her eyes, looked at him sadly and
said, "Ken, I'm a real mess.  I'm about to soak the carpet with my juices."
He just grinned, moved between her thighs, and licked her dry again.

   When he finished he went back to his position beside the bed and began
stroking her body.  She opened her eyes and looked at him with her love
beaming from them.  Then she raised her head and propped herself up on her
elbows and watched as he slowly ran his fingers over her body.  Finally she
said, "Kenneth Bradley, what _are_ you doing?"

   "I'm doing a figure study by the braille method.  What in hell does it
look like I'm doing?" Ken decided that Cathy was fun to be with as well as
being so beautiful and fun just to talk to.  "I read a book once that said
a man should learn about a woman's erogenous zones.  I'm not sure exactly
what it means but the context suggested it was fun." He was watching her
response and had seen her nipples harden.  When he gently touched them, she
let out a small scream -- her breasts were now so sensitive, they hurt!

   "Darling, you ought to know by now that I'm five feet eight inches of
erogenous zone," she said softly.  Meanwhile he had bent over her body and
ran his tongue lightly over her nipples.  Cathy didn't know what to do. 
The feeling was at once beautiful and agonizing.  Then he moved his fingers
down and just stroked her inner thighs.  Again, there was the wonderful
feeling.

   At that point Cathy jumped to her feet and padded into the bathroom,
returning a moment later with a large bath towel.  He watched, puzzled, as
she carefully folded it, put it on the carpet under her small bottom, and
then extended her body the way it had been before.  She stuck out the tip
of her tongue at him and whispered, "You can go back to your playing now.
Meanwhile, this will keep my juices from flooding the carpet." Then she
looked at him and added, "Why are you doing this, Ken?  You're torturing
me, you know."

   Leaning forward he kissed her softly on the lips.  When he did, she held
him with one hand behind his neck and let herself lie flat on the floor. 
Her tongue darted into his mouth like a little snake and he bit it gently.
When he released her, her eyes were glazed with passion.  Then she said,
"Thank you for staying dressed, darling.  If you were naked, too, I would
die.  I'm only about two feet from the most glorious pleasure imaginable on
that bed.  If you were naked like you were this afternoon, I couldn't help
myself.  Ken, I would have to get you to take me." Her eyes could focus now
and she said, "You look very handsome this evening, too.  I guess that's
the genuine Ivy-League look, isn't it?" She smiled with great love and
asked, "Darling, are you sure you like my body the way it is?  I'll try to
make it into anything you want.  What would you like me to change?"

   Shaking his head he said, "Absolutely nothing!  Catherine Collins,
you're utterly magnificent.  You can't believe how much fun it is just to
run my fingertips over your skin and feel the muscles beneath it respond.
You're my love, Cathy.  I adore you the way you are." He grimaced and said,
"You can't believe how much fun it is to have a naked virgin of my very own
to play with.  Honey, you're utterly exquisite!" Then he frowned and said,
"But didn't you say something about eating?  Food, I mean, not just your
cunt?  I've heard a man's semen is very high in protein, but I don't know
if a woman's love juices have ever been tested for food value."

   She smiled warmly and said, "I'll be ready in just a couple of minutes.
But first, you have to clean up the mess you just made." He looked at her
puzzled.  He didn't know what she meant.  Then she slowly spread her
thighs, used her fingers to part her nether lips, and said softly, "Just
look what you did!"

   He looked and could see that the towel she had placed under her bottom
was already wet.  He knelt between her thighs and used his tongue again to
lick up her succulent fluids.  Each time he gently bit her clitoris he
could hear her gasp with pleasure and pain.  Cathy couldn't believe she
could ever be as sensitive as she was now.  He finished, knelt with his
back up straight while still between her legs and just looked up the length
of her gorgeous body.  Cathy was again propped up on her elbows and smiled
warmly at him.  He just shook his head and said, "God, what a sight! 
Catherine Collins, you're female perfection.  I could spend the rest of my
life just looking at you like this!"

   Cathy stretched her arms over her head and purred like a big cat.  "Ken,
this is glorious, even if the floor is a little hard.  I guess I'll have to
take another shower and we'll take it from there."

   She picked up the towel and disappeared into the bathroom while Ken sat
in a lounge chair and stretched out his long legs.  To his surprise, it was
only moments later when he heard the sound of a hair dryer and a few
minutes more when Cathy came padding out.  He motioned her to lie on the
bed while he gently applied musk oil to her body the way he had earlier in
the day.  Then, following his directions, she sat in front of the dressing
table while he carefully brushed her silken hair.

   She looked over her shoulder after he had been stroking her hair for a
few minutes and asked, "Ken, what are you doing?  You don't have to do this
and you can't possibly like it."

   "Why can't I?" he asked.  "Darling, you're a rarity: a girl with hair
that reaches below your shoulders.  It has texture, wave, and the most
beautiful coloring ranging from brown to gold to almost white.  I adore
it...  and I adore you."

   Then he slipped on her bikini taking the opportunity to run his fingers
through her beautiful bush.  Before he did, though, Cathy decided to have
some fun.  She reached into the dressing table drawer and handed him a
super tampon saying, "You can do something useful.  Do you think you can
insert this without costing me my painfully-maintained virginity?  Darling,
after all I have been suffering for the last week, it would be tragic to
lose it to a piece of cotton!" She lifted one leg to cause her vagina to
gape open, and then guided his hand inside her.  When it was in place and
the applicator removed, Ken breathed a sigh of relief while she grinned and
winked at him saying, "Thank you, Ken.  I knew you could do it."

   He continued to dress her, finally helping her put on a beautiful white
strapless cocktail dress.  She pointed out that it was an advantage of
having very firm tits.  She could keep it up even though it didn't have the
normal built-in bra.  Then following her directions he combed out her hair.
Finally she reached into the dressing table drawer again and took out three
boxes.  They contained the diamonds that Ali had given to Cindy and which
Cindy had insisted she wear.  When she opened the box containing the
necklace, Ken gasped and said, "My God!  These are real!  They would cost
me a year's pay -- and I'm paid pretty well."

   "They're Cindy's," Cathy said softly.  "She insisted that I wear them
tonight.  How do they look on me?"

   He shook his head while his love for her shown in his eyes.  He said,
"Darling, I think I understand what Cindy was doing.  Anything less
impressive would just disappear against your beauty.  Cathy, you look
exquisite -- almost as beautiful as when you're naked."

   When she stood up and lifted her head, he bent over while keeping his
hands at his side and kissed her on the lips as lightly as he could.  Cathy
delighted in his understanding.  Her hands were at her sides, too, as they
maintained the lightest possible contact with their lips.  Again, her
tongue darted into his mouth, and then his entered hers.  Finally, they
broke the kiss.

   Cathy said, "Darling, that was so wonderful.  Thank you for being so
understanding." She cocked her head and smiled warmly saying, "That's one
of the things I love about you, Ken.  You seem to know instantly what I
want to do.  Now, shall we go?"

   Returning to the sitting room, Cindy looked up at them.  She was sitting
on Dan's lap, necking, and her eyes were glazed as she said, "What, in
heaven's name, were you two doing in there?"

   With an angelic look on her face Cathy said, "Nothing at all, Cindy.  At
least, nothing I haven't seen you do with Dan."

   "Catherine Collins, you didn't!?"

   "Cindy, I was a very good girl.  At least Ken said I was very good."
Then she winked while Ken draped a mink stole over her shoulders and
escorted her out the door.

   They had a table next to the window in the hotel's top-floor dining
room. Because of the flat delta country, there was a view for miles in all
directions.  The rain had ended, the sky had cleared, and there was now a
full moon shining down casting a soft light over the Mississippi Delta
land. When their drinks appeared, Ken toasted: "Darling, to us!" Then he
said with a warm smile, "Honey, I think we should start over.  Catherine
Collins, will you marry me?"

   She took his hand and squeezed it saying, "It would make me the happiest
girl in the world to be your wife, Kenneth Bradley.  Yes, I will marry
you." Then she winked to show that she recognized his playacting for what
it was.  Reaching into his pocket he took out a magnificent diamond ring
which he slipped on her third finger.  She gasped at its size and beauty,
then took him in her arms and melted him with a kiss.

   When he released her she said, "Darling, I have a confession to make. 
Cindy thought you might have this in mind for tonight so it's why she
insisted I wear her diamonds.  Do you mind?"

   "Of course not," he replied.  "It confirms what I already knew: My
future wife is a very perceptive woman."

   They had a fine dinner but Ken just shook his head.  Cathy asked him
what the trouble was and he replied, "You!"

   _"Me?"_ she protested.  "What did I do this time?"

   "You have utterly destroyed me, woman!" she replied with a grin.  "Up
until two weeks ago I would have rated this as one of the best meals I had
ever eaten in my life.  But now, after eating your cooking, I find it very
ordinary.  Wife, you spoil me for everything else." Then he just looked at
her and shook his head slowly, adding, "You know, as I said it I realize
it's even truer than I initially thought.  It's not just food -- it's
everything.  My darling, you're a banquet for the senses!  I can't wait
until I can have you all."

   She kissed him softly and then rose to her feet saying, "Damn it,
Bradley, you're still doing it!  Now I have to change the damned tampon
before I ruin this lovely dress." She winked and disappeared.

   Later Ken asked her to dance.  When they reached the dance floor he
remembered her rib and was very careful how he held her.  She said, "Damn
it, I'm not breakable.  I thought we settled that earlier." Then she smiled
warmly and added, "Darling, this is funny.  You've handled every square
inch of my body but you never danced with me before." She widened her eyes
and said, "And I already said I would marry you, too!"

   It came as absolutely no surprise to Ken that Cathy moved in his arms
like a dream.  He looked down at her and shook his head with a wry smile on
his face.  Cathy showed concern and asked, "What's wrong, darling?"

   He just continued shaking his head and said, "Cathy, you really know how
to hurt a guy, don't you?"

   "What did I do this time?" she asked, with her concern deepening.

   "Honey, you may not have noticed, but I make my living as a professional
athlete.  How do you think it makes me feel when I'm holding a dream in my
arms and praying our children get their athletic ability _from their
mother!_ Honey, you're the most perfectly coordinated person I have ever
met in my life." He smiled warmly and she relaxed again in his arms.  Then
he said, "You never really handled a football in your life before today,
did you?" She snuggled closer to him and then just shook her head.  He
asked, "Why did you play, then?"

   Looking up at him she said, "Darling, I want to do whatever you do.  I
know that football is important to you -- and I don't mean just as a source
of money, either.  You play because you enjoy it -- you want to.  You're
different from most of the other guys who are playing because for them it's
the best possible career choice if they're good enough to make the pros. 
It's true of you and it's true of Kevin.  You're both very smart and very
well educated.  You could do all kinds of things.  But you both play
because you want to."

   She looked at him and he saw the love shining in her beautiful gray eyes
as she continued, "I said it to Coach Ditka today: I think you're very
courageous.  I just wanted to show you that you don't have to worry about
your children.  They're not going to be namby-pambys.  Besides, I don't
think I did anything special."

   He rolled his eyes and said, "Darling, you were so incredibly good, you
don't have the first clue how good you really are."

   Now she smiled warmly and said, "Darling, I wanted you to know that I
think what you're doing is important to me.  I can't stand these girls
whose husbands or boyfriends are athletes and they don't even understand
the most basic elements of the game their men are playing.  I _do_ know
something about football and I wanted you to know that, too.  I wanted you
to be able to talk to me about practice and the games without thinking you
would have to explain what all the words mean.  Do you believe me?"

   Disregarding the other couples on the dance floor, he stopped dancing,
held her tightly and kissed her passionately.  "Darling," he said, "you
certainly do understand the game of football.  And I was serious before,
too.  Our children can get brains, beauty, loyalty, courage,
coordination... everything!  -- from their mother.  The problem is what can
I conceivably bring to the party?"

   "The most incredible cock I've ever seen.  A feeling for me and my body
that's uncanny.  A desire in me to have as many children by you as I
physically can.  As well as being smart, handsome, kind..."

   They just danced together for a while with Ken just savoring the feeling
of having her in his arms.  Then he said, "Honey, this has been the most
perfect day of my life.  You know something else?  I'm going to ask for my
Super Bowl ring in your size.  Darling, you will have won the game for us
-- and we _are_ going to win the game." He glanced at his watch and winced.
It was the witching hour -- he had to get back to the team's hotel.  When
he left her at the suite, he gave her a kiss that was loaded with all the
passion he could possibly communicate.

   Going into the sitting room, Cathy found Cindy waiting up for her so she
could see the ring.  Sitting down beside her, Cathy showed her the ring and
then just leaned back saying, "Cin, the only day that could possibly be
better than this one is my wedding day.  Then Ken can really take me.  I
can't wait!"

   Cindy just smiled and kissed her warmly.*Chapter 42*

   Bob Costas was in the screening room going over the tapes of the most
remarkable football play he had ever seen.  Costas was the star of the NBC
pre-game shows for its NFL schedule.  Since NBC was the network with this
year's Super Bowl, he was handling the expanded multi-hour pre-game show
before the five-thirty (Eastern) kickoff.  The video tape he was viewing
had been made at a game played the day before between four Chicago Bears
and four girls.  He had been told that they were the men's fiancees. 
Technicians had been working almost all night long running, rerunning, and
endlessly editing a single play: the pass Sue had completed to Cathy after
Ken had almost broken it up.

   It was amusing to think about what had happened.  Virtually every scrap
of high-tech video equipment the network had was now in New Orleans.  As a
result, they had retaped the original in ultra slow-motion, then used the
latest in electronic editing equipment to produce synthetic close-ups. 
Costas was watching the final tape.  There was no end to the technical
talents the network could bring to bear under conditions such as the Super
Bowl.  For example, using the painted yard markers and sophisticated timing
equipment, they had determined that the receiver was running at the rate of
a 4.0 to 4.2 second forty-yard dash.  This would make hers the fastest time
of its kind ever clocked.  Of course, it relied on the yard markers being
precisely measured and on a precise running speed of the battery-powered
camera used, both of which were improbable assumptions.  Nevertheless, she
had been flying.  Now he was watching an ultra-slow-motion shot of the
final instant of the play.  In the upper left-hand corner of the screen,
there was an inset of a clock reading to hundredths of a second: the clock
was showing real time that matched the slow-motion image.  He didn't
believe his eyes.  From the instant when Bradley deflected the pass until
it settled into the girl's arms after she dove was less than one-quarter of
a second.

   He shook his head and asked for a rerun.  As the technician was setting
up, the phone rang.  It was a female network reporter, Jane Janis.  Janis
said she had located the girl from the tape, Catherine Collins, and wanted
to know if he would like to see her to do an interview.  Costas thought for
a minute and said, "Is there any chance you can get her down to the studio?
Would she do an interview here?" Jane said she would get right back to him
and did, only minutes later.  Miss Collins had agreed and it was scheduled
for later in the morning.

   Cathy had been surprised when she received the call at the suite from
the NBC reporter.  She had agreed to see the young woman and talk with her.
Then, when she received another call inviting her to come to the studio and
meet Bob Costas, she was both puzzled and flattered.  She had watched
enough football on television to both know him and respect him as a
reporter and interviewer.  After consulting with Cindy she was wearing a
camel's hair suit in natural tan with a hunter-green cashmere sweater.  She
also insisted on wearing her gold collar.  Going down to the lobby, she met
Jane Janis whose eyes widened when she saw Cathy.  Jane hadn't realized
before either how tall or how perfectly proportioned Cathy was.  She led
the way outside to a waiting limousine which took them to the studio
facilities in the Superdome.

   Costas was on his feet waiting for Cathy when Janis ushered her in.  She
took an offered seat and he began to talk with her to put her at her ease.
Then he stopped in mid-sentence, just shook his head and grinned.

   "What's wrong?" Cathy asked, puzzled.

   "Absolutely nothing at all," he replied.  "Except maybe with me.  Miss
Collins, the purpose of these first few minutes is normally to put the
interview subject -- you -- at ease.  The person to be put at ease today,
though, is me.  You're the most incredibly beautiful and most self-assured
young lady it has ever been my privilege to meet."

   He then explained the reason for the interview: "Miss Collins, let me
show you a video tape made during the game you played yesterday. 
Incidentally, what appears to be haze in the picture isn't.  It's falling
rain.  That was the heaviest rain I've seen in years and it only makes the
achievements of you and your friends even more remarkable."

   He first ran through the tape at its normal speed.  The cameraman caught
Sue perfectly, looking, as always, right down the center of the field. 
Cathy winced when she saw Ken taking her fake, slip and slide while she
blazed by him.  Then it caught Ken recovering his balance, flying down the
field trying to overtake her, and then leaping and tipping the ball with
his fingertips.  But Cathy stretched, caught the ball on her fingertips,
then pulled it into her chest, and slid along the ground in the mud.  Then
it caught her grin as she jumped to her feet and jogged in for the score.
"Remember that play, Miss Collins?" Costas asked.

   "I sure do.  But since I've watched you for years on pre-game shows I
would feel strange calling you Mr.  Costas.  I feel like you're a friend of
the family.  Please call me Cathy so I can call you Bob?"

   Costas grinned and nodded.  "Cathy it is, then.  What did you think of
the play?"

   "I was very lucky to catch it," Cathy replied.  "Ken's very fast and
made a brilliant play on the ball."

   "It was a brilliant play," Costas said.  "But now look at this." The
tape rolled in ultra-slow-motion with the clock in the corner.  Costas
narrated, "There are a number of things we did with this tape.  My people
tell me that they haven't had so much fun with a piece of tape in years. 
First, notice Miss Bradford.  She's in the perfect posture for a passer
looking right down the middle.  There's no way a defender can follow her
eyes.  Now watch.  Here you fake to the inside.  But it really wasn't a
fake, was it?"

   Several cameramen were taping the whole interview scene.  It was clear
that they would put the show together by cutting from one camera angle to
another.  Cathy replied, "Not really.  If he hadn't taken it, I would have
gone for the corner."

   "We thought so," Costas said.  "Incidentally, a couple of former NFL
coaches want copies of this tape.  They claim it's the ultimate football
pass play -- on both sides of the ball.  No one knew that Ken Bradley could
play such brilliant defense -- and he really did.  You just demonstrated
that a defender can't be in two places at once.  If he took your fake -- as
he did -- you beat him on a fly pattern.  If he doesn't, you're free going
for the corner.  And on a field that was a sea of mud, to boot.  It was a
classic case of the advantage being with the offense.  The receiver _knows_
where he's going." He looked at Cathy and asked, "How did you keep your
feet, by the way?"

   She grinned and said, "I guess I have long toes like an ape.  I just dug
them in." Costas looked closely at the tape and said, "My God, how could we
be so dumb!  All the girls were playing barefoot and we never even noticed.
We saw you kicking barefoot, but there have been some barefoot kickers from
time to time.  I guess we just never looked.  People don't play football in
January barefoot."

   Cathy laughed and said, _"Sane_ people don't play football barefoot.  We
did."

   "Back to our tape.  Now look at the pass she threw.  We timed it.  It
has as much speed and spin as any we've ever seen thrown.  As I said, our
people had a lot of fun with this.  One of the things we did was take out
old material on the best passers in the history of the game.  None was
better.  _None!_ Now watch the time in the corner of the picture.  Here
comes the ball.  Incidentally, the coaches were drooling just looking at
you.  Your eyes are on the ball.  'Looking it into your hands,' they call
it.  Furthermore, they tell me that the position of your hands -- up to
cradle the ball -- is also right out of the book.  As one said, though,
'It's a shame almost no one ever reads the damned book!'

   "Now, here's Ken tipping the ball away.  Notice the time.  You change
direction and somehow dive for the ball.  Even at this speed we can't
figure out how you did it.  It was all done in about one-tenth of a second.
_No one_ has reflexes this fast -- except you.  Now watch.  Your body is
fully extended and you take the ball on your finger tips, cradle it into
your chest, hit the ground, slide in the mud, pop up and coast in.  Cathy,
that's the most remarkable play we have ever seen.  How long have you been
playing football, and how did you start?"

   She grinned and shook her head, then looked at her watch and said,
"About twenty-two hours ago.  'How' is pretty simple.  I went out on the
field and played.  From what you have been saying I guess I didn't screw up
too badly."

   Costas just whistled and then asked, "Why, Cathy?  Why yesterday?  Why
in such awful weather?"

   Susan straightened her back and looked down at her hands which were
folded in her lap.  Then she looked up at Costas and said, "Because I'm
going to marry Ken Bradley.  Because I wanted him to see his wife isn't a
quitter -- that the children I hope to bear for him won't be wimps."

   She looked at him and he could see the love in her eyes as she
continued, "Bob, I don't know how much you know about Ken Bradley.  You
probably know he graduated from Yale.  You probably don't know that he was
Phi Beta Kappa and _summa cum laude._ He was also a Baker Scholar at the
Harvard Business School where he graduated last year.  Let's face it: He
can make a very good living outside of football.  But Ken plays pro ball.
He plays it because he likes it.  It's an important part of his life.  I
wanted to demonstrate that I can relate to anything that's an important
part of his life -- that I'm not a football illiterate.  I adore the man. I
guess it's that simple."

   Costas just shook his head.  Then he said, "Cathy, you certainly are not
a football illiterate.  Several coaches -- very seriously -- want you to
work with their players.  This includes kicking, punting, receiving and
pass defense.  Can you throw the ball, by the way?  No one thought to ask,
but my bet is that you can, and probably as well as you do everything else
with it."

   Cathy laughed and said, "Susan Bradford, as you saw, is as good as they
get.  Why would I want to challenge her?  Besides, she's a buddy."

   Now Bob changed the subject and asked, "Cathy, what about you?  Where
are you from and what do you do?"

   She told him about Carleton College and said, "I'm an assistant vice
president and lending officer at Chicago Trust Company.  Incidentally,
April Jefferson and Kelly McBride are vice presidents.  Kelly is my boss.
Sue Bradford is executive director of a major charitable foundation in
Chicago as well as being April's sister."

   Costas' jaw dropped.  "Sister!?  But...  but April is black."

   "She really is, though," Cathy said with a grin.  "April's mother, Mary
Jefferson, is the richest woman in Chicago and she adopted Susan.  Sue kids
that the only difference between them is that she has to keep working on
her tan while April's is permanent, and if they were natural sisters they
would fight a hell of a lot more."

   Bob Costas had built his career by being very well-informed on a wide
variety of subjects including many far removed from sports.  He snapped his
fingers and said softly, "'The twins who aren't'...  is April?..."

   Cathy grinned and nodded, saying, "She sure is.  The other is my owner,
Cynthia Martin.  Cindy is the senior vice president and head of the Special
Lending Division at Chicago Trust.  April is a vice president and the
deputy division head, while Kelly is also a vice president and my district
head.  We have a lot of fun."

   Costas just shook his head and then said, "Cathy, could I ask you a
personal question?  You were kind enough to come down to talk to us, so we
didn't want to bother you with a lot of TV nonsense.  Usually, though, we
run our guests through makeup.  When Jane Janis brought you in here today,
my first reaction was that makeup had done a smashing job on you.  As I
look at you, though, I'm certain you didn't see them.  Furthermore, I'm
almost certain you're wearing no makeup at all.  Are you?"

   Cathy reddened and said, "I'm sorry, Bob.  I guess I'll have to look
like a witch if this tape ever runs.  It's too late to do anything about it
now, I guess."

   Shaking his head, he started to laugh and said, "Cathy Collins, you're
too much!  'A witch,' she says." Looking across to where Jane Janis had
been listening to the interview intently he asked, "Jane, you're a pro. 
What do you think?  Do you think Cathy will look like a witch on the air?"

   Jane laughed and said, "Bob, I've been trying to hide.  She's the most
beautiful woman I have seen in years.  And in spite of her charm, I'm
trying very hard to hate her guts.  It's not fair!  Costas, I have to get
up and go to work on my face for at least three hours before air time to
try to look respectable.  This...  This _thing_ washes her face and is
ready to go!  It's...  It's a disgrace!"

   Cathy laughed and said, "That's not true, Jane.  I use makeup and so
does Cindy Martin.  I have two bobby pins in my hair.  Honest!"

   Jane grinned, then stuck out her tongue and said, "That does it!  _I
hate you!"_ Then she shook her head sadly and continued, "Collins, damn it,
you're a disgrace to women everywhere.  Bob was too nice to focus on a
little bit of tape the technicians _really_ had fun with.  I don't know if
you remember when, on the play following your 'miraculous reception,' Ken
Bradley just took you in his arms?  Our people sure do!  They made it a
two-shot, and Collins, you're a disgrace.  There you stand in the pouring
rain after sliding in the mud.  What do we see?  We see a woman with so
damned much natural beauty that it's got to be illegal!  Water is streaming
from your hair, your shirt looks like a coat of paint, and Ken Bradley
carefully pushes a lock of hair off your face and burns you with a kiss. 
Damn you!  If that had been me, first, my face would have run off in the
rain after the first few drops.  Then my hair would have taken its natural
course: it would hang in strings; and my body -- well, we'll just forget
about that!  Collins, _I hate you!"_
Cathy had been looking at Jane with a completely impassive expression on
her face.  Finally, with a studied look of hurt she said sadly, "Gee, Jane,
I like you." Then she began to giggle and then to laugh out loud.  She took
Jane in her arms and gave her a warm kiss.  As she did, she didn't notice

that the cameras were still rolling.

   Then Jane grinned, shook her head, and offered refreshments.  As she
did, she noticed Cathy's ring and called Bob over.  He looked at it and
asked, "Is that new?  The way you play with it, it doesn't appear that
you're used to wearing it yet." Cathy smiled warmly and told them Ken had
given it to her the previous night.  Costas smiled and said, "I know that
at a wedding reception a guy gets to kiss the bride.  Do I get to kiss the
fiancee, too, as long as the engagement is official?  With the size of the
diamond in that ring, it has to be official as hell."

   Cathy grinned and gave him a kiss.  Then she said, "If Ken asks, I'll
tell him it was insurance so you'll try your best to keep me from looking
like a witch if any of this material ever airs.  Incidentally, could we
ever get a copy of the game tape?  It really is interesting."

   "One of the most interesting things, Cathy, is that Ken played it
perfectly -- absolutely perfectly.  He couldn't have done better.  No one
could.  We honestly can't figure out how he was able to catch up to the
ball, but when he tipped it with his fingers, it was all over -- or should
have been.  Young lady, everyone who has seen the tape has the same
impression: Like a cat, you changed direction in midair and did it in about
one-tenth of a second.  Lady, your children will have reflexes the likes of
which the world has never seen!" He extended his hand and Cathy gripped it
firmly.  Jane then accompanied her back to the hotel.

   * * *

   The Super Bowl game -- which Mike Ditka said would be an anticlimax --
was.  It began on the opening kickoff when a Bears backup defensive back
hit the Raider kick returner's arms forcing a fumble.  Another Bear caught
the fumbled football in the air and ran it in for a touchdown.

   Mike Cassidy had his best day as a pro.  He completed 24 of 28 passes
for over 400 yards.  Ken Bradley and Kevin Cavanaugh caught three touchdown
passes each, while Ron Jackson intercepted four Raiders passes, returning
one of them 65 yards for a touchdown.

   By the time the game was over, it had become an utter rout.  The Bears
beat the Raiders even more decisively than they had beaten the New England
Patriots years earlier.  With a total of seven turnovers against none for
the Bears, the game was a Los Angeles disaster.

   Cathy began the game in the Bears' box, chewing her fingernail.  She
began to relax with the Bears' first quick score.  By the end of the first
half, the issue wasn't in doubt, so the four girls used their sideline
passes for the second half.  Cathy thought it was neat to sit beside Ken on
the bench during the short periods the defense was on the field.  He looked
so huge with his shoulder pads and so menacing with the blacking under his
eyes.

   Ken winked at her and said, "Now these are _tough_ playing conditions,
not like that wonderful situation yesterday.  I do believe the air
conditioning might even be allowing the temperature to rise a degree or
two." Cathy winked, laughed and squeezed his hand.

   When the offensive unit was on the field -- which was most of the
afternoon -- April sat with Ron's arm around her trying to snuggle as best
she could in spite of his shoulder pads.  Once, she backed off and whacked
his pads a couple of times with her hand.  Of course, all it accomplished
was to hurt her hand.  She made a cute face as she shook her hand while
Cathy asked her what she was doing.  "Isn't it obvious?  I'm trying to
soften my pillow but it didn't work!"

   Finally the game -- or more accurately, the slaughter -- ended.  Cathy
was standing beside Ken when the final gun sounded.  The Bears had won by
the shocking score of 63 0, the worst blowout in the history of the Super
Bowl and one of the most one-sided games in NFL history.

   Ken took Cathy in his arms and gave her a very warm kiss.  When he
released her she pounded on the front of his pads with her fist and grinned
up at him saying, "Damned armor!" Ken jogged towards the dressing room
while Cathy met the other girls and went back to the McCaskey box.  They
had made arrangements with the men to meet at Antoine's Restaurant for the
Bears' victory party later.*Chapter 43*

   Evangeline Collins was unhappy.  Ed Bradley had insisted on going to a
Super Bowl party that afternoon and she had been unable to dissuade him. 
Vangie paid less than no attention to football or football games but Ed had
said something about a special interest in this one.  The party was at a
friend's duplex apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. 
Fortunately, Vangie found that most of the other women there shared her
total lack of interest in the game so they were talking about the latest
around-town gossip and decrying the state of the Broadway theater when she
heard her name called.

   Carrying her drink, she found herself in front of a television set with
a woman with whom she had a nodding acquaintance, Carrie Smith.  Carrie
asked, "Vangie, don't you have a daughter named Catherine?"

   Vangie shook her head and said, "I used to.  Why do you ask?"

   Pointing to the television screen Carrie asked, "Is that her?"

   Vangie looked and almost dropped her drink.  She didn't recognize Bob
Costas, of course, but there was Cathy on national television.  At a glance
she thought how beautiful Cathy looked in the green and tan.  Her eye even
caught the gold collar around her daughter's neck.  She screamed and Ed
Bradley came running.  The group in front of the television set quieted
down, realizing that a member of their group had a personal interest in the
show.  She whispered, "Ed, that's my daughter, Cathy!"

   As they watched, Costas played the tape of the play in which Cathy had
caught the ball off Ken's fingers, flopped on her face, and raced in for a
touchdown.  Vangie was appalled at Cathy's appearance.  "My God," she
murmured, "she's not wearing any clothes, she's barefoot and it's pouring
down rain.  Ed, look at that awful mud!"

   Edgar Bradley didn't respond.  When she turned to look at him she found
his jaw had dropped and he was shaking his head.  Finally he was able to
speak and said, "Vangie, that's my son, Ken!  He's with your daughter."

   The surprises weren't over.  The next shot on the screen, Costas said,
were taken the next time the two teams lined up at scrimmage.  They saw Ken
step across the line and take Cathy in his arms.  What they didn't know was
this was one of the shots that the NBC technicians had worked on, creating
a close-up of the young couple.  They watched as Ken tenderly moved a
sodden lock of hair off her face and kissed her.  Vangie didn't know how to
react.  With the shirt plastered to her body, it was apparent that Cathy
was molding her body to Ken's and was returning his kiss with increasing
passion.

   The room was completely quiet now as the people were absorbed in the
action on the TV screen.  Then they heard Ken ask Cathy to do him a favor:
to promise to teach their little boys how to play football.  They also
heard him comment, "Who ever heard of a group of girls with hair soaking
wet and not seeming to care?" They showed him move back and look down at
Cathy's body.  Fortunately, because of the Network's Program Practices
group -- otherwise known as the network censors -- they omitted Ken's
comment about Cathy's beautiful tits.  The next shot showed all of the men
with their women in their arms.  Costas commented that this had to be a
football first: a break in the action for a little necking between the
opposing teams.  Then he went on to describe the quality of play.

   While he was talking, Ed Bradley had gone to a telephone leaving
Evangeline Collins alone.  Vangie didn't know what to do or how to react --
she was in a state of complete shock.  Before she realized he had left her
side, he returned.  Taking her hands in his he said, "Vangie, will you come
with me to New Orleans?  Right now?  I was just on the phone to Executive
Aviation.  They'll have a Lear Jet ready to go from Teterboro in sixty
minutes.  We can be in New Orleans before the game is over.  Will you
come?"

   He shook his head and smiled weakly saying, "Can you believe this? 
We've been trying to get our two children to meet but couldn't do it. 
Obviously, they did it by themselves.  I think the trip could be fun, and
it looks like my son may even end up with a Super Bowl ring."

   Vangie didn't know what a Super Bowl ring was, either, but it sounded
good.  She was still so stunned that all she could do was nod her head. 
Just over an hour later they were airborne.  Vangie even watched the first
few minutes of the game on the plane's TV set, but then went to sleep.  It
was too one-sided to sustain her interest.  Unfortunately, she missed even
more coverage of her daughter and her friends as the network tried to
maintain interest in a game that had ceased to be a contest while still in
the first quarter of play.

   * * *

   When Cathy and Kelly arrived at Antoine's, they were surprised at the
looks they received from the people waiting in line outside for admittance
to New Orleans' most famous restaurant.  Since the Bears had a private room
reserved they were walking by the line towards the entrance when a girl
called out, "Miss Collins?"

   Cathy stopped and saw a young woman who appeared to be of college age --
about twenty.  She smiled and said, "I'm Cathy Collins." Then she appeared
puzzled as she looked at the girl and said, "I'm sorry, but your face isn't
familiar.  Do I know you?"

   The girl was about five feet three and very cute.  She was with a tall
young man who was standing behind her and was obviously so embarrassed he
wanted to fade into the woodwork.  She said, "No, ma'am, you don't.  I just
wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed watching you on television today
humiliating those big men!"

   Cathy and Kelly exchanged looks and rolled their eyes.  Kelly muttered,
"Uh, oh!"

   Cathy just shook her head and said, "What, exactly did you see?  I was
at the game so I haven't seen any television today."

   The girl quickly told about Bob Costas' pre-game show and the films of
the girls beating the men in the mud and rain the day before.  She finished
by saying, "Boy, you sure showed them!"

   "I'm sorry you got that impression," Cathy said quietly.  "You see,
nothing could be further from the truth." As she was speaking, it was
apparent from the way the people crowded around that she had been
recognized by a great many of the people, but the overwhelming majority
didn't feel they should impose.  Now that the girls had stopped to talk,
they felt it was all right to crowd around to listen.  Cathy swallowed hard
and asked, "What's your name?"

   "It's Phyllis Crowley, Miss Collins," she replied, extending her hand.

   Cathy took her hand and noticed she had a rather limp grip.  Then she
said, "Phyllis, why do you suppose we played the game?"

   The girl was taken obviously taken aback by the question.  She shook her
head and replied, "I don't know.  To show them up, I suppose."

   Cathy shook her head and said, "Phyllis, we did it to have some fun with
our men.  Maybe there was a little more to it than that, though.  You see,
we're all engaged to professional football players.  I guess it's always
bothered me that too many women -- including wives and sweethearts of
players -- don't know a damned thing about the game."

   Cathy grimaced and continued, "Me, show up Ken Bradley?  Nothing could
be further from the truth.  I guess I wanted to show him that first, his
bride knew something about the game and could even catch a football, and
second, that his children wouldn't be cowards or quitters." Her smile was
incredibly warm and beautiful as she added, "You see, that's what I really
want.  I want to carry Ken's children, give birth to them, nurse them and
nurture them.  That's absolutely all I want.  Do you believe that?"

   The girl was looking at Cathy aghast, "But...  but you can't be serious!
You're teasing me, aren't you?"

   Cathy looked at Kelly and shrugged saying, "Do you want to try?"

   Kelly winked and said, "Phyllis, do you recognize me?  Since I was
playing in the game, too, I may have appeared on television.  Did I?"

   Again the girl's eyes widened and then she smiled broadly.  "You sure
did," she said.  "You were covering that huge guy, Kevin something, and
giving him fits!" Then she looked puzzled and asked, "But why did you stop
in the middle?"

   Since neither of the girls had seen the films, they didn't know what she
was talking about.  Phyllis said, "You know!  When one of the guys stopped
the game and kissed Cathy.  Why did you stop?"

   "Oh, boy!  Phyllis, I think we have a major comprehension problem with
you.  Let me just say that anytime Kevin Cavanaugh wants to kiss me, I'll
stop whatever I'm doing to let him.  There's nothing I like better than
being in his arms.  As far as yesterday was concerned, it was cold, it was
pouring down rain and I was miserable.  Then he took me in his arms and
everything was fine again."

   She looked at her watch, smiled and said, "Speaking of which, he's
waiting for me now, so if you'll excuse us..." The girls made their way
through the crowd to the entrance and were then directed to the private
room where the Bears were having their party.  As they threaded their way
through the crowd, Kelly asked, "Do you think we made an impression?"

   Shaking her head sadly, Cathy replied, "Kel, I'm afraid that poor girl
didn't have the first clue what we were talking about!" Kelly just rolled
her eyes and nodded her head in agreement.

   When they entered the Bears' private dining room, the first thing they
saw was a television set mounted up high in the corner tuned to NBC's
post-game show.  All the Bears and their guests were silent with their eyes
glued to the TV.  Bob Costas was talking about the film he had shown in the
pre-game show and said that it had set new records for viewer interest.  As
a result of phone calls to local affiliates around the country and to the
network itself, they were going to replay the piece.  This is what the
people were watching as the tape started to roll.

   Cathy turned bright red when she realized that she was seeing the
interview she did with Costas that morning.  She almost couldn't bear to
look.  She was watching out of the corner of her eye when Ken made his way
through the crowd to her side and gave her a warm and vibrant kiss.  He
grinned and said, "My fiancee is nationally famous.  Darling, you look
exquisite!"

   She felt much better with Ken standing behind her with his arms around
her, holding her tight.  They saw the film of the catch in slow motion with
Costas, supported by experts, saying that Ken's defense was perfect -- it
just wasn't perfect enough.  Then they saw the ultra-slow-motion replay of
her looking the ball into her hands and the subsequent touchdown.

   Following was some footage Costas had not shown her.  There was
slow-motion tape of her punt and her extra point.  A kicking coach used the
ultra-slow speed to point out the muscle development in her legs and the
perfect timing and form of her kicking.  He even noted that her eyes were
on the ball at all times.  Finally, they ran it in real time against other
tape of professional kickers showing that she got the ball away even faster
than they did.  She wriggled happily in Ken's arms when he kissed her ear
and squeezed her tight.

   Costas then played a piece from their interview when he had asked her
why she played.  Not only did Cathy look beautiful, but she was beaming
with happiness as she told about her love for Ken Bradley and how she was
playing to show him she understood what he was doing and the risks he was
running.

   The tape ended and Costas was live on-camera.  He said, "That was
perhaps the most enjoyable interview it has ever been my good fortune to
do. Ladies and gentlemen, I can't tell you how much I respect Catherine
Collins.  I hope you could see what a true lady she is.  Moreover, she's a
lady who is desperately in love with her man.  I guess I have to say that
it makes Ken Bradley one of the luckiest men on the face of the earth.

   "I said one of the luckiest.  Also in the running for the honor are Mike
Cassidy, Kevin Cavanaugh and Ron Jackson.  Let's take a look at Mike." He
showed films of Mike early in the season.  When under any kind of defensive
pressure, he had nervous feet -- that is, he danced around in a way that
made it very hard to throw with any accuracy.  A coach pointed out other
technical problems in his passing motion, including the hitch that was in
it.  Then Costas showed tape from the day before focused on Susan Bradford.
This time the same coach stressed how she always looked straight down the
field but was aware of what was happening on the entire field.  In a series
of slow-motion pictures he analyzed Susan's motion -- it was straight from
a textbook.  Then he said, "Thankfully, Miss Bradford was not wearing
equipment.  With the rain causing her shirt to stick to her, you can see
her muscles at work.  She develops incredible power but with great
smoothness of motion."

   Then they went to film from the Super Bowl.  In a series of supers, it
was easy to see how Mike's passing motion was now so much like Susan's and
so much better than his own of just a few months earlier.  Costas pointed
out that not only was Susan Mike's fiancee, she was also his agent.  He
ended by saying, "I guess some agents will do almost anything to increase
the money they get their percentage from." The Bears standing around the
set howled with laughter.  Then Costas asked rhetorically, "I wonder if she
gets a percentage of the Corvette he's receiving as the Super Bowl MVP?"

   Before anyone could say anything, Cathy heard Susan exclaim,
"Percentage, hell!  I'm getting the whole damned car!"

   There was similar film of Kelly's receiving and pass defense, then
Kevin's and Ron's.  Then there was a mini-feature on April, including her
work at the bank, and her work as a players agent.  Finally it showed her
racing down the field in world-class time.  Costas closed off the portion
of the show by saying, "There you have it, folks.  What do you think?  Who
deserves the Bowl?  The Chicago Bears or those four girls?  Aren't they
something?  And aren't those guys lucky!"

   The show went back to a recap of the game and the people lost interest.
Mike Ditka had seen Cathy come in and pushed his way to her.  He took her
in his arms and gave her a big kiss, then said, "Cathy, thank you!  Mr. 
McCaskey is getting a copy of that entire tape.  He wants to show your
segment to all the wives and girlfriends of our players.  All I can say is,
what did Ken Bradley do to get so lucky?  He's indeed a very fortunate
young man to win you."

   Cathy kissed Ditka and then retreated to Ken's arms.  He just held her
close and listened to the wonderful sounds she made while he held her
tight.

   To be continued...

   * * *

   Comments and constructive criticism are sincerely welcome.  Let me hear
from you.  morg105829@aol.com

   *Cynthia Martin* Copyright (c) 1991, 2001 by Morgan. 
<morg105829@aol.com>

   All rights reserved.  No part may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any electronic means, including photocopying, recording or by
any information and retrieval system, without the written permission of the
author.