DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by 
sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading 
now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes 
without the consent of the author.



John Carter
By
Lazlo Zalezak
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezak, 2003


Part 2: Mantle Of Aries
Chapter 20

The incessant ringing bell was an irritation that could not be 
ignored. John woke wondering why he had set the alarm clock. He 
felt Beth stir beside him. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 
only three in the morning. It dawned on him the alarm clock was 
not making the ringing. He sat up, "Shit."

He shook Beth gently and then a little rougher. He hissed, "Wake 
up! Wake up!"

He climbed out of bed and then turned on the light. Beth 
complained in her sleep. John shook her again, "You've got to get 
to the clinic now!"

The call to duty woke her faster than the alarm. She realized what 
was happening and climbed out of bed. John took a moment to 
appreciate her wonderful body. He admired the way her breasts 
struggled against gravity. Her nipples were erect from the dream 
she had been having. In the half-light of the room, the shadows 
highlighted her luscious curves. He couldn't believe his luck at 
having this woman in his life. 

They dressed in silence. Each wondering what had triggered the 
alarm. This was the fifth time since moving in that the alarms had 
sounded. Each time, the attacks against them had increased in 
severity. Two days from now, they hoped that all such attacks 
would end. The criminal organizations had not taken the total 
destruction of the Russian Mafia in New York as a warning not to 
screw with Druids. They had decided that the Druids represented a 
threat to their organizations and had to be eliminated. Their first 
act had been to kill Sean, the Druid who had given them the 
warning about harming Druids. John and Ed had put into place a 
program to show what a threat the Druids could be. Unfortunately, 
that program would start in two days.

John went to the security center. Ed was already there along with 
Bill, Bob, and Ling. Ling was seated in the command seat 
activating cameras and detectors. A computerized map of the 
property pinpointed the locations of each individual around the 
entire area. He glanced at the monitors and swore, "They brought 
an army this time. What set off the alarm?"

Ed answered, "They fired a couple of shots out there. Several of 
them hit the house."

 Ling replied, "I've activated the external security forces. They will 
be moving into position within five minutes. The cats have 
returned to the house. I'm not sure why."

John stated, "Send out a dummy."

Ling tapped a few commands on the keyboard of a computer. The 
front door opened and a male shape stepped out. It was 
immediately shot multiple times as the men carrying automatic 
weapons opened fire. Ling closed the door behind the dummy. She 
turned to John, "They're shooting first and asking questions later."

The intercom came on. "John, this is Kelly. Rover just came into 
the clinic with a gunshot wound. It's minor, but I would appreciate 
it if you brought the other cats into the house."

John stepped over to the intercom. He pressed the talk button, 
"Kelly, all of the cats came in with Rover. They've taken up 
positions within the house."

Ling interrupted, "Those bastards are all carrying heavy weapons."

Ed stated, "Screw them. They've hurt one of ours. Activate the 
Industrial Lasers and cut up their vehicles."

Ling stated, "I've just zoomed in on a couple of the vehicles. It 
looks like they actually have missiles in them."

John turned to Ed. The men shared a look for a minute. John had 
installed ten of the most powerful industrial lasers on the market. 
The power requirements were horrendous, but John had power to 
spare in this house. His fusion battery was many times the size of 
the first one. John nodded, "Activate the lasers."

Four minutes later, each vehicle and all of its contents were hunks 
of rubble. Several of the interlopers were killed as they ran into the 
high-energy beam of a laser. The rest opened fire in the direction 
of the house. The external guards opened fire on everyone that was 
moving. A minute later, the shooting was over and the interlopers 
were either dead or wounded. 

Ling turned on all of the floodlights. The police moved in to 
subdue the wounded and bag the dead. John and Ed went outside 
to meet the police chief. Tiger came directly to them and walked 
along side of them. John walked up to the chief, "Hello, Chief."

"Shit John, you tore some of these bastards up real good. Cut them 
in half along with the cars."

"Sorry, we sent out a dummy and they shot the hell out of it. They 
also shot Rover. We didn't want to risk anyone else."

The police chief lead him to one of the bodies and turned it over, 
"They came prepared. This one has a bulletproof vest, automatic 
rifle, a couple of hand grenades, and night vision goggles. The 
trucks had anti-tank missiles in the back. Looks like they wanted to 
make their own entrance into the house."

Ed went off to question some of the men that were still alive. John 
nodded, "We taped everything. I'll have Bill bring the tape over in 
the morning."

"So who were the guards that you brought in?"

"Mostly retired cops. Each house had an FBI agent in it to make 
sure that it was legal. I got tired of risking the lives of you and your 
men."

The chief snorted and then asked, "Is this going to end anytime 
soon?"

"Soon."

"I'll tell you the truth, I'm getting tired of dragging dead bodies out 
of your place. You do realize that we now have the highest crime 
rate in the country. I've been asked to give the keynote address at 
the next state police convention on how it is to work in a high 
crime area."

John laughed, "I hope you accepted."

The chief shook his head. He replied, "Sure. They'll pay my way 
there this time."

John asked, "Is there anything I can do to help out the town? I hate 
like hell that they are put in danger."

"I know you do. You've been very good about making sure that 
everything is kept away from everyone else. You moved everyone 
away from the area for the time being. You've made sure that we 
have the best equipment in all of the state. Hell, you pay so much 
property taxes that everyone else's bill is next to nothing."

John stated, "Well, one more attack like tonight and we're going to 
build another house further away from town and donate this one as 
a library."

The chief looked at John, "You know the press will be here in the 
morning to learn more about what happened tonight."

John looked disgusted at the news. "I'll brief Jim's new public 
relations girl. She'll handle it all. She'll be in your office first thing 
in the morning. No reason for you to be bothered with them any 
more than me."

"Thanks. I appreciate that."

Ed returned to John's side. "They were hired from overseas. We 
have South Americans, Italians, and Russians.  The picture I get is 
that different crime families hired them and they were all sent here 
to work together."

John nodded. He wasn't surprised by the news. He turned to the 
Sheriff, "We're going to head back to the house and let people 
adopt a more relaxed stance."

The men headed back to the house. They stopped by the dummy 
and looked at it for a minute. It was all torn up. They picked it up 
and carried it to the garage. Bob would fix it tomorrow. They 
entered the house and went to the command center. John called in, 
"It's almost four in the morning. Who would like to stay on duty 
for the rest of the night?"

Ling looked at John, "It's my primary job."

John nodded, "Okay. Everyone else get to bed. Ling will wake up 
someone to replace her."

The others nodded in agreement. They turned to talk to each other 
to work out the shifts. John and Ed went to the back of the house to 
see how Rover was doing. When they arrived, Beth was standing 
next to the operating table. She was relieved when John arrived. 
"John, he's been shot. I've taken x-rays and found the bullet. It's not 
bad, but we'll need to figure out how to anesthetize him."

John pulled up a chair by the head of the cat. He looked the cat in 
the eyes for a minute. He stated, "Give me a knife."

Ed handed him a scalpel. John made a small cut in the fleshy part 
of his hand. The blood welled up and flowed into his palm. He 
reached over to the wound and bloodied the finger of his other 
hand.  He stated, "In five minutes, start operating. He won't feel 
anything. I promise you that."

He held his bloody hand up to the cat's mouth. It licked his palm as 
he sucked the bloody finger. He grasped the medallion and stared 
into the cat's eyes. He could feel their minds meshing as one. 
When their breathing was in tune with each other, they went to a 
far away place. It was a large a meadow filled with flowers, 
butterflies, and birdsong. The sky was a clear blue and a gentle sun 
warmed their bodies. 

They started to run through the meadow. Sometimes John was the 
cat while Rover was the man. At other times, the roles returned to 
normal. They ran until they were tired and then lay down to sleep. 
The warm sun, the noise of bees visiting flowers and the calls of 
birds lulled them into a deep peaceful sleep.

John was shaken awake by Beth. "Come on lover boy. Time for 
you to get to a real bed."

"How's Rover?"

Beth smiled, "He slept through the whole operation. I don't know 
what you did, but it really worked great. I got the bullet out, fixed 
some bone damage, and sewed the wound shut. He'll be good as 
new soon."

John breathed a sigh of relief. "Good."

"I thought you'd be pleased."

"I've got to get Jim's new public relations girl briefed on the events 
tonight."

Ling was at the door. She interrupted, "Don't worry, John. I've 
already taken care of that."

"How did you know?"

"I listened to you talking with the Sheriff," replied Ling without 
any embarrassment at having to admit eavesdropping. In her 
opinion, she had a right to monitor the situation the entire time he 
was exposed outdoors.

Kelly grabbed his arm. "Come on, we've got to get you to bed."

John woke late in the afternoon. Kelly was gently sucking his 
cock. He moaned at the sensation of her warm mouth working 
around the head of his cock. She gently massaged his balls as she 
sucked. A finger brushed lightly against his nipple. He sighed, 
"Oh, that's so good."

Kelly stopped what she was doing and climbed atop him. She 
lowered herself onto his cock. The slow envelopment of his cock 
by her hot moist cunt was heavenly. He reached up and started to 
massage her breasts as she rode his cock. Her hand was massaging 
her clit driving her into ever increasingly wild motions. She came 
very quickly, the spasms of her cunt muscles felt like a milking 
motion on his cock. He exploded very quickly. 

She lay upon him breathing deeply. She murmured, "On a scale of 
one to ten, that was a ten!"

John whispered, "After all that work, I'm ready to roll over and 
sleep."

She laughed and argued, "That's not the idea. You're supposed to 
be energized."

His stomach growled. He laughed aloud and then stated, "Who 
said romance is alive! Here I am, resting in the arms of the woman 
I love and all my stomach can think of is food."

"I heard that they way to a man's heart is through his stomach. 
Your stomach is demanding a little love right now."

John laughed, "I'll buy that."

"Good, now I'll let Marguerite take care of that!"

John asked, "What's up with Marguerite? She's still wearing that 
body jewelry and waist chain."

Kelly answered with a smile, "Maybe she's waiting for her 
punishment to end."

John said, "Well tell her that it's over."

"Actually, I think she's waiting for a certain person to take her to 
bed."

"Who's she waiting for?" asked John, more than a little afraid that 
it would be him.

"I can't tell if it is Beth or me."

"Thank the Gods and Goddesses," replied John.

"What?"

"I was afraid it was Ed or me that she was interested in bedding."

Kelly was puzzled by his response. She knew that he thought she 
was nice looking and couldn't understand why he wouldn't want 
her interested in him or Ed. "Why? Don't you think she's pretty?"

"Oh, she's pretty enough. She's just not you or Beth."

Kelly frowned, "Didn't we agree that everyone could play some 
outside of the marriage if they were honest and up front about it?"

"Sure."

"So what's the problem with her?"

John realized that he wasn't going to get out of it that easily. He 
admitted, "I don't feel comfortable sleeping with someone that 
works for me. It's such a cliché."

Kelly laughed aloud at the sheepish look on his face. She asked, 
"You're serious aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

She stated, "When you hired them, you stated that they were going 
to be seeing us without our clothes on from time to time. They all 
knew the score at that time."

John shrugged, "They may have, but I didn't."

His stomach rumbled again. Kelly climbed off him and stood by 
the side of the bed. "What do you want to eat?"

"How about a roast beef sandwich and some of that soup if she has 
any left?"

Kelly went to the stairs to the sitting room below. She smiled, 
"Well, why don't you get dressed and meet me down there. I'll let 
her know what you want to eat."

John slowly got out of the bed and took a quick shower. He was 
drying off when he heard the intercom downstairs. He went down 
to turn it off. To his surprise, he heard Marguerite say, "Sure, I'd 
screw John or Ed in a New York minute, but it's been so long since 
I've been with a woman that I'd go after Beth or Kelly first. God, 
the other night when she told me I looked good enough to eat I 
almost came right then."

John switched the intercom off. He didn't want to hear the 
conversation, but it did stop and make him wonder what the staff 
was thinking about them. He returned upstairs and dressed in his 
standard blue jeans and work shirt. He located his hiking boots and 
put them on. He left the room and headed over to the clinic to 
check up on Rover. Rover was already up and jumped off the table 
to stand beside him. 

Rover easily kept pace with him as he walked to the front of the 
house. Entering the dining room, he found his sandwich and soup 
ready for him. He wondered for a minute where Kelly was, but 
decided she had changed her mind about meeting him here. He sat 
down and started eating. He called out, "Kelly, can you get a steak 
out for Rover?"

Marguerite came out of the kitchen with a nice steak on a plate. 
She set it on the floor next to Rover. The cat quickly finished it. 
Marguerite continued to stand there. She stated, "I'm afraid that I 
asked her to leave for a little while so I could talk with you."

John looked up at her and asked, "what is on your mind?"

Marguerite sat down at the table across from him. She looked 
uncomfortable for a minute and then asked, "When does the other 
part of our employment begin?"

John looked at her in confusion. He asked, "What do you mean?"

"Look, when you guys told us the working conditions it was clear 
that you guys were going to be sexually active around us. Well, we 
assumed that you intended to involve us as well. We just want to 
know when you are going to start that part of our employment."

John took a bite of his sandwich as a way to make time to come up 
with an answer. He chewed slowly and finally swallowed. "Who's 
we?"

"Ling, Bill, Bob, and me. Who else is there?"

"Oh. We didn't mean to give you the impression that you had to 
have sex with us when we interviewed you. We just wanted to 
make sure you wouldn't be offended by anything that you would 
see here. We hired each of you because of your skills and 
personalities. So don't worry, we'd never take advantage of you 
like that," replied John. He added, "You don't have to worry that 
we'll demand to have sex with you for you to keep your job."

"Oh," replied Marguerite hiding her disappointment. She was 
confused about how she was to report his answer back to the 
others. She wondered if they would be as disappointed as she was.

John ate some of the soup and took another bite of his sandwich. 
He looked up to see Marguerite still sitting there with a funny 
expression on her face. He tried to make sense of her behavior. His 
thoughts were in turmoil because of the conversation with Kelly 
and the one that he overheard. Then it dawned on him, someone 
had to be pushing the talk button for him to overhear it. He asked, 
"You didn't want to hear that answer, did you?"

"Not really," she answered. 

"Oh." The silence in the room drug on for an uncomfortable 
period. John took another bite of his sandwich trying to think 
things through. He asked, "What would you like to hear? Wait! 
Don't answer that. What are the others hoping will happen?"

Marguerite smiled as she replied, "They're hoping that you guys 
will come down tonight and each of you will pick one of us to 
service you."

John nodded. He didn't want to commit his wives or husband to 
anything without talking to them first. He stated, "Let me talk with 
my wives and husband first."

"Thank you."

John was curious, "How is it that you were the one to ask?"

Marguerite blushed, "Because I want to get Kelly between my legs 
so bad that I can taste it."

John muttered to himself, "she was right and I was wrong."

"Pardon?" asked Marguerite although she had understood him 
clearly. 

John stood up. "The lunch was magnificent. Maybe I ought to let 
you cook more often."

"Let me fix something special for tonight, please?"

"Okay." John patted his stomach. "I have to get to work on a 
special project. Let everyone know what time you want to serve 
dinner. Oh, and thank you for telling me your concerns about the 
conditions of employment here. I'll get right on it and we'll have 
everything fixed up in no time."

John wandered to the back of the house. Rover followed along 
beside him. He went from door to door knocking and asking if they 
could meet him in the library at four for a family meeting. He 
called Jim to come at four. 

At four everyone gathered in the library wondering why John had 
called the meeting. John cleared his throat and then stated, "Ah, we 
have a problem with our staff."

Ed looked up at John in surprise. He had interviewed every 
member of the staff and he knew their intentions were good. He 
had not heard anyone say anything that suggested his or her 
intentions had changed. He asked, "What kind of problem?"

John stated, "Apparently, they believed they were hired to provide 
sexual services as well as their normal duties."

Kelly was well aware of Marguerite's desire for Beth or her, but 
she was not aware of the full scope of the issue. She also knew 
how uncomfortable John was with the subject. She asked, "What 
did you say when you learned of this?"

John stated, "I learned this from Marguerite and told her that we 
had no expectations concerning sex with the staff. I told her that 
their job security had nothing to do with providing sexual 
services."

Jim stated, "Excellent. So what is the problem?"

"Apparently, that is the problem."

Ed stated, "I don't follow."

John looked very uncomfortable. He wondered how to put what he 
understood from his conversation into words. He blurted out, 
"They want us to take advantage of them."

Beth laughed, "Do you mean they are complaining that we aren't 
fucking them?"

"Exactly."

Ed frowned. "What ever gave them the impression that was part of 
their jobs?"

Jim thought about it for a moment. He cleared his throat nervously. 
"I included a section in their contracts to the effect that should 
sexual relations occur between the staff and a member of the 
household, that it was to be understood that all such relations were 
voluntary. I also went on to write protective disclaimers that would 
protect you from lawsuits."

Kelly asked, "Why would you include a clause like that in their 
work contract?"

Jim stated, "To protect you guys. You know those kinds of things 
occur and putting a limit on liability is the easiest way to protect 
you from lawsuits. John is very rich and your family actually has 
considerable assets. However, one sexual harassment lawsuit could 
wipe out the family assets."

John frowned. "I didn't realize that. I suppose that and our hiring 
discussion about how they might encounter us in compromising 
situations might lead them to conclude that."

Jim stated, "So what are you going to do about it?"

Ed was quiet for several minutes. Then he stated, "First, I think Jim 
should talk to each of them individually. If he determines that they 
really want that sort of relationship in the workplace, then I suggest 
we let them have it. They are a good staff and I wouldn't want to 
harm the long term relationship by denying them such a work 
benefit."

Beth asked, "Why did it come up so suddenly? They've worked 
with us for more than a year."

Kelly put a hand over her mouth and replied, "I think it may have 
something to do with the dinner last week. I think they thought that 
was the beginning and they are getting a little frustrated at nothing 
happening."

John nodded, "You're probably right. I guess I would have to 
second Ed's suggestion."

Kelly and Beth echoed their sentiment. Beth turned to Jim as she 
asked, "Would you mind interviewing them?"

"I'd rather have Sherry do the interviews. Nothing is worse than 
being grilled by a lawyer about such a subject. I'll write up a little 
clarifying contract that makes it a job benefit that they can exercise 
on their initiative. You will want to work out some mechanism by 
which they may request their benefit."

Beth stated, "Well, take your time. My period just started and I 
don't want to have to say no the first time I'm asked."

Kelly, who expected her period to start any time, nodded her 
agreement. "Same here."

"Okay, I think we are all in agreement here," stated Ed.

Jim made a motion suggesting that he wanted to add something. 
"Ah, I realize this may come to you as a shock, but it may be 
possible that a few others that work for you may want similar 
benefits."

John really looked surprised, "Who?"

"Well, how about Jack and Jenny?"

John was quiet for a moment. He hadn't thought that their current 
working relationship might have put up barriers between him and 
his old friends. He looked around the room. Kelly and Beth were 
watching him carefully. Ed was staring off into space trying to 
ignore the tension. Beth broke the tension by stating, "We should 
put together a benefits package that rewards some business 
associates with quasi-family status."

"I don't understand."

Beth stated, "Look, we have some business partners that are also 
friends, but the business seems to get in the way of the friendship. I 
know you are very close to Jack and Jenny. Betsy told me about 
them that morning. Perhaps we ought to allow them to become 
secondary members of the family with a guestroom in the back of 
the house, the right to visit when they wish, and engage in other 
family activities."

Kelly's eyes lit up as she thought it through. She added, "You 
know, that’s a very good idea. It keeps staff and friends separate, 
even if our friends are in a business relationship with us."

Ed nodded as he stated, "You know, I like it. I have no idea who 
would like to sleep with this old cowboy and rock hound, but if 
there is someone crazy enough to desire it…"

John was ambivalent about the idea. He was hurt in a way that his 
business relationships might have gotten in the way of friendships. 
If this was the only way to knock down that barrier, then so be it. 
He stated, "Okay, I won't object."

Jim looked very animated for a change. He stated, "I'll get to work 
on this right away. I'll lay it all out for you. Can we meet next 
week to discuss the details?"

"Sure. Same day, same time?"

The group left the library. Beth and Ed followed John to his room. 
When they reached his room, Ed asked, "Can we visit with you for 
a while?"

John nodded and held the door open for them. He ushered them in 
and followed. Beth looked around the room. She stated, "It never 
ceases to amaze me. You are one of the richest men in the country, 
but your living quarters wouldn't make a slum tenant jealous. One 
chair?"

John was relieved at the change in subject. He laughed as he 
answered, "I have the lawn chairs up on the palisade. I prefer to sit 
up there and watch the stars."

Ed sat down on the floor leaning his back against the wall. He had 
gotten used to sitting this way when visiting John. John settled 
himself on the floor with his legs folded tailor fashion. Beth sat in 
the chair, unembarrassed by the grin that Ed shot in her direction. 
Ed stated, "you are bothered by the subject of the meeting today."

"Yes, I am. Making love is not a job benefit. It is an act of giving 
between people that care about each other."

Beth smiled at John with tears forming in her eyes. She understood 
his pain when he put it in that fashion and loved him for it. She 
asked, "Did you ever think that these people may want to give 
themselves to us in that way? That maybe, just maybe, they can't 
find any other way to do so."

"Huh?"

"John, you are too good. They want to make love with us, but they 
haven't come knocking on our doors. Maybe they don't act because 
they think we aren't willing. Your fear of taking advantage of them 
makes you blind to their desires."




