I could tell as the pulses slowed around me and her body began to relax that she was going to fall. I raised my arms and caught the small girl as she fell forward. She couldn't stop herself, her wrists were still trapped behind her. I gently lowered her onto my chest, feeling Christi withdraw her fingers from between us.

Jane was sobbing, twisting in her restraints. I held the girl, not extracting myself from her body. I let her cry for a few minutes before she raised her face and gently kissed at my lips.

"Thank-you," she whispered.

I held her tightly to me, even though I knew that she had to be uncomfortable with her b.r.e.a.s.t.s squeezed into my chest. She didn't complain though.

I let her cry on my shoulder. I glanced over her, Christi was watching with a mixture of confusion and acceptance on her face. She loved both of us, and she couldn't understand it.

She caught my gaze and slowly nodded, mutely understanding what I needed from her. I could feel Jane's shuddering as Christi slowly released the ropes that encircled Jane's body. I gripped Jane's shoulders and bench pressed her up a little allowing Christi to pull the ropes free. As her b.r.e.a.s.t.s released from their entrapment, Jane sighed. It was a wonderful sound, full of contentment, love, and relief. After her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were freed, I allowed her back to curl up on my chest. I could feel her small pulses, almost like aftershocks through my still rigid p.e.n.i.s. I hadn't climaxed yet.

I cherished the feel of her nude skin pressed against me, my arms circling her body. Her bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s felt so different without the ropes squeezing her. Softer and gentler against my skin.

After a few minutes, she struggled a little, squirming like a cat to get out of my embrace. She slowly sat up, still impaled on me.

She looked at me, her face soft and gentle.

"I. I'm sorry. I know that you can keep me here if you want, but ... this is a getting a little uncomfortable for me." She glanced down at her open crotch. "Either let me make you climax, or let me get off. Please?" she asked quietly.

I hadn't realized that she might be uncomfortable. And it hadn't occurred to me that she might have thought that she'd be punished for extricating herself from the s.e.x. But I suppose I should have realized it. Poor girl had been through a lot today.

I nodded to her. Much as her body was comfortable for me, I didn't want to climax inside of her. I still had to finish with Christi. I owed her something at least.

Jane understood the nod and carefully extricated me from her by simply climbing off me. I fell from her, and ached for her softness. I lay with my hands behind my head, watching her slowly kneel in the gra.s.s to the opposite side from Christi.

Jane looked at Christi and smiled gently.

"Thank-you," she whispered to Christi. "I'll always love you."

Chapter 130.

Christi picked up the chrome key from the gra.s.s beside her and tossed it over my body towards Jane. It fell buried in the gra.s.s by her left knee.

Jane looked at me quizzically, unsure of what she was allowed to do. I simply nodded and watched as she struggled to turn herself around to get the small key between her searching fingers. I was sure that she'd manage it.

I felt the soft weight of Christi as she resumed the position that she had been in before I'd made her free Jane. I heard a faint click in the direction of Jane.

"Back where we started," Christi whispered to me. I felt her fingers slowly stroking me. "n.o.body else to free."

I nodded slowly, peripherally aware that Jane had moved a little way away and was quietly kneeling in the gra.s.s. She was giving us a little privacy, finally free of all her restraints. Her handcuffs glinted in the sun in front of her. I cringed a little as I saw her rubbing gently at her wrist, rubbing the red gently away with her own saliva.

I turned my attention back to the irresistible sensations from Christi's gentle fingers. I felt Christi as she began to guide me into herself. I slipped inside her easily, she was nearly as aroused as Jane had been. I felt the soft moisture engulf me. I wouldn't be able to hold back this time.

She began a very slow rhythm, enjoying the sensations. Her hands roamed her body, pinching nipples, stroking skin. She moaned almost constantly as she slowly controlled her speed. She wanted to make this last. I concentrated on her body, her closed eyes, her blonde hair, her upthrust bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her belly, flat and smooth, her straining thigh muscles as she moved with the s.e.x.

I glanced over towards Jane. She was gone. I quickly glanced around, but Jane was nowhere in sight. I was sure that she'd just given Christi some privacy and gone for a quick walk, enjoying her last moments on this timeline, enjoying her freedom from the real world.

We moved slowly together, shifting positions a few times. Her on her knees in the gra.s.s, her face pressed into the blades. Her standing, arms around the tree that had held Jane. Her on the bottom. Touching. Kissing. Moaning. And crying. It was going to be the last time, and both of us knew it.

At last, we ended up back where we started. Christi straddling me, her beauty silhouetted by the sun behind her. She was breathing hard, so very hard as she pumped. She shone.

I closed my eyes, not being able to hold back much longer, wanting to cherish these last caresses of her.

When I opened my eyes, after Christi moaned a little louder than before, Jane was there. The girl had moved up silently, her bare feet not making a whisper in the gra.s.s. The girls kissed, Jane's fingers trailing over Christi's bare body. I closed my eyes again, knowing that Jane was doing for Christi what Christi had done for her. I could feel the gentle touch of her fingers as they caressed Christi between the folds. I could feel Christi rushing towards o.r.g.a.s.m, her muscles twitching, her breathing becoming less and less regular.

Surprised, I felt Jane's fingers stroking my s.c.r.o.t.u.m, toying with the soft hair, coaxing my climax.

Christi plummeted over the edge moments before I. She screamed into the world, letting her pleasure wash over her like a surf. She ground herself onto me, pulsing her internal muscles in unison. Her climax triggered mine, and I cried out, thrusting into the girl, arching.

We came down together. Christi gave a last moan and fell forward, hugging me fiercely. Jane knelt back on her haunches, quietly looking the other way. She looked a little uncomfortable, but she didn't get up to move away.

Christi held me for a few moments, overcome with emotions. She simply cried there. I held her gently and waited through her sobs.

Eventually, Christi moved, pushing on my shoulders with her hands. She gently rolled off me. I had shrunk inside of her and it felt a bit odd coming out. She curled up, her arm across my chest, her head cradled in the crook of my arm. Jane took a deep breath and lay down to my right. I could feel their bare toes playing gently with my legs.

"Thank-you," Christi whispered, still out of breath. She was thanking both me and Jane.

We lay there holding each other for a few minutes. This was so out of sync with the real world. Lying in someone's front yard, nude as the day we were born, leather and steel strewn through the gra.s.s. It seemed like a dream. Perhaps it was.

Christi took a deep breath, and let it out in a whoosh that I felt against my nipple.

"I don't want to go back," Christi whispered.

The other girl echoed the words quietly. I glanced down at them. Both were crying gently. I couldn't feel the wetness of their tears, but the tears were there.

They were silent for a few more minutes, I could feel their quiet breathing as they cuddled up with me.

I felt the familiar dragging of the blackness touch the back of my mind. I steadied myself, thinking I would have to send them back to protect them, but the feeling receded again.

I shivered.

"Again?" Jane murmured into my chest.

In answer I struggled to rise. The girls didn't budge, letting their gentle weight keep me down. I could have fought them, but I didn't.

"Not yet, please," Christi murmured.

I sighed and let them curl up for another half hour. Jane slept gently, I watched as her breathing became more regular. Christi was silent, thinking, but I could see her blue eyes moving so I knew she wasn't asleep. I held them both.

I half considered sending Jane back while she slept, but I didn't think that was fair on her. Instead, I gently shook her until she opened her eyes. She kissed me gently and rolled off my shoulder. She lay quietly in the gra.s.s. Taking her cue from Jane, Christi released me as well, rising to her knees.

I picked myself up and gathered up my clothing. I had a heavy heart as I slipped the jeans over my hips. When I turned, Jane was kneeling beside Christi, their fingers entwined.

I knelt down with them, hugging them both.

"I want to remember," Jane whispered.

"I do, too," Christi murmured.

"You can't," I spoke gently to them.

Jane looked at me, tears still falling from her eyes.

"It will kill us to stay, won't it?"

I nodded slowly.

"Tell us, then."

"Tell you?"

"Tell us. On the other timeline. Find us and tell us. You know who we are. What we are. How we really feel."

I took a deep breath.

"You wouldn't believe me. Think about when I took you. You wouldn't believe that you would be here doing this. You couldn't. I can't." I paused for a moment, gathering my thoughts. "I'm sorry," I spoke with real regret.

Tears were falling down both girl's faces.

"It wasn't enough time," Jane spoke.

"I know."

"Are. Are you ever going to do this again? Stop time?"

"I don't know sweety. I don't know."

"Can I ask something?" Jane asked quietly.

I nodded to her. I watched as she gripped Christi's hand tighter.

Jane whispered, almost too low to hear. "If you do stop time, take us again? You know us. We got along. And I liked it here. You'll have to train me again, I know that, but I can't imagine that you would hate that. And even though I won't like it at first, I'll get back to this point. I'm still me. You can do that, can't you? Unless you are bored with me. With us." She paused for a moment. "I'm going to miss you."

Christi nodded through the entire speech, lending her agreement. She wanted to come back as well, if I would let them.

I couldn't promise them that I'd take them again. But they would never know.

"Alright. If I do this again, I'll be sure to track you down," I a.s.sured them, despite the fact that I really didn't know if I'd ever stop time again. Much less if I'd subject them to this again.

"Thank-you," Jane whispered. She flushed a little. "For everything."

I looked over them. Blonde and brunette. Holding hands, nude in the sun. I wished for a camera, anything to be able to keep them. Even if they wouldn't miss me, I was going to miss them horribly.

"I'm ready," Jane spoke quietly.

Christi opened her pretty lips and closed them again. She turned to the girl kneeling next to her.

"I'm going to miss you, Jane. I know that we promised no tearful good-byes, but we shared something. Something that I'm not sure I can explain. But I know that I love you. As a sister, as a lover, and as a friend. And I hope that we meet in real life, as any of them."

Tears fell from both their eyes as Christi rose up and kissed Jane tenderly on the lips. They embraced, pressing their nude bodies together one final time. They rose, still hand in hand.

I rose to my feet to join them.

Jane released Christi's hand and stepped towards me. She kissed me gently on the lips and smiled through her tears. She carefully stepped back and reached for Christi's hand.

Christi slipped her hand away and stepped over towards me, her bare feet indenting the blades of gra.s.s. She embraced me, pulling me close and not letting go. She finally released me and held my arms.

"It's been a h.e.l.l of a ride," she tried to smile as well but she failed.

I nodded. I couldn't stop my own tears. I was going to miss her. I'd had her from almost the first moment. She'd been my first.

"Can I ask you one thing?" she whispered.

I swallowed heavily and nodded.

"I don't even know who you are. I don't even know your name. I fell in love with someone I don't even know."

"It's better that way," I whispered to her.

She looked into my eyes and nodded carefully. I'm not sure she understood, but she accepted it. She carefully rose up on her tiptoes in the soft gra.s.s and kissed me pa.s.sionately on the lips.

"You may not believe it," she whispered. "But I do love you. If you can, find me on the real timeline."

She stepped back and allowed her fingers to entwine with Jane's. They held each other gently as I took a last long look at them.

They were beautiful together. Feminine, strong, and simply beautiful. Tears were flowing down their faces gently as they mouthed the words "Good-bye" together.

I closed my eyes and whispered, "Good-bye."

When I opened my eyes, they were gone.

Epilogue.

The front page screamed out the headlines as I scanned it. I was sitting like any normal person at the bus stop, reading the morning paper.

It appeared that a former judge had been apprehended last evening without a struggle at his house in the exclusive Beaches neighbourhood. Judge Evan Mayer and his wife had been indicted on a number of charges including first degree murder, keeping a common bawdy house, indecent exposure, indecent a.s.sault, extortion, a.s.sault and battery, sodomy and forcible confinement. If convicted, he'd probably be confined to solitary. He certainly wouldn't be safe in prison. The former judge had been apprehended due to an anonymous tip and basic police work. There was a list of victims found on his summer property in an unmarked shallow grave. Doreen Stills, Hannah Water, Gladys Lifkin. And other names of women that hadn't deserved to die horribly, frightened, alone and in pain at the hands of a monster. All names that I had spoken quickly into the receiver of a pay phone a week ago on the other side of town. The police were looking for the caller, but didn't think that they would ever track him down. There were no witnesses to the phone call, and no finger prints in the booth. The article extended thanks to the caller, praising him for social responsibility. How ironic.

There was a brief statement from the latest victim who was found battered and nearly unconscious in a locked room of Mayer's mansion. The girl was recovering in hospital from her ordeal and was expected to testify at the Judge's trial. Sheila McBain personally thanked the anonymous caller for her rescue from the depths of h.e.l.l. I smiled at the graduation picture that the paper had run of Sheila. She was stunning in the picture, probably a lot more at ease than she was now. She was probably lying in a hospital bed somewhere, police protected, with bruises like n.o.body should ever endure. She had been at that house for an extra week before the police finally moved. She would recover. Of that I was sure. She had a strength that not many on this planet could equal.