Chương 97

The hot water eased some of the stiffness in Louis's knee and lower back. He leaned against the side of the tub. Gladice sat beside him with one arm along the rim, her foot brushing his calf beneath the water. Angelique rested her shoulder against his. Gladice tipped her head back and closed her eyes.

"I hate to say it," she murmured, "but Barlow may be the first useful smuggler I've ever met." Angelique smiled.

"He is good at hiding." Louis shifted his leg until the cramp eased.

"Let's hope he stays good at hiding us long enough for my father to arrange something real." The glass door slid open behind them. Louis turned with Angelique and Gladice. Willa stepped onto the deck barefoot, a towel folded over one forearm and nothing else on. Her glasses were still on, and her light-brown hair was tied back with a black elastic. She walked to the edge of the hot tub and said, "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," Gladice said.

"Plenty of room." Angelique's mouth twitched, but she said nothing. Louis kept looking at Willa. She was slimmer than Gladice, with a straighter waist and hips. Her round breasts were smaller and sat higher on her chest, with pale nipples tight in the cool air. Dark stubble showed between her legs. His cock hardened beneath the water. He realized how long he had been staring and looked away, aware that Angelique and Gladice were sitting beside him.

Willa set her towel over the back of a deck chair and stepped into the tub. She lowered herself into the empty space opposite Louis and looked at the three of them.

"Did I miss anything interesting?" Gladice laughed.

"Not yet. We were just discussing how long we can enjoy this before the Holy States send a missile into the mountains."

"Optimistic, as always." Willa shifted, and her knee touched Louis's beneath the water. She did not move it away. Louis shifted on the bench and angled his hips away from her, trying to make the erection less obvious beneath the water. Gladice was smiling.

"I didn't know New Englanders were supposed to be this relaxed about nudity."

"Must be the German influence." Willa shrugged.

"Or perhaps it's the existential despair of knowing we're likely to die anyway, so inhibitions are a pointless waste of energy." Angelique let out a short laugh.

"That's one way to look at it." Louis laughed.

"So is that why you joined us? Existential despair?"

"Partially," Willa said.

"The other part is that it's hot. And the alternative is sitting in there listening to Donya lecture Savannah about her invented version of Islam."

"She's not that bad," Louis said.

"She's not that good either." Willa rolled her eyes.

"She means well, but she thinks she's discovered some hidden truth that everyone else missed. It's annoying."

"She's just trying to make sense of a world that doesn't make sense," Angelique said.

"Aren't we all?" Gladice murmured.

"Some of us try to do it without talking about it constantly," Willa said.

"Anyway, I'd rather be out here. Even if I have to look at Louis's erection." Louis's face flushed. Angelique glanced at him.

"It's a sign of a healthy young man."

"Sure." Willa chuckled.

"And here I thought it was a sign that he was happy to see me."

"I'm happy to see naked women in a hot tub. I'm not picky," Louis said.

"Is there a problem?"

"No." Willa looked at him.

"I'm just teasing you. Relax."

"I am relaxed." He didn't believe it. Gladice put her arm around his shoulder, her breasts pressing against his arm.

"Louis is a bit sensitive about his body. Are you uncomfortable, baby?" He met her eyes.

"Come on. I grew up in the Dominion." Gladice raised one eyebrow.

"And?"

"And it means I'm perfectly comfortable with nakedness." He kept his voice even.

"I've been naked in public pools and on beaches since I was a kid. This isn't a big deal. In case you hadn't noticed."

"I had noticed." Gladice smirked.

"But there's a difference between being naked with people you've already slept with and being naked with someone you haven't." Willa gave a quiet hum. Angelique watched Louis without speaking. He knew denying it would only make the teasing worse.

"Alright," he said.

"I'm a man. I notice what I notice. But that doesn't mean I'm going to do something about it just because we happen to be in a hot tub together."

"Of course not," Gladice said smoothly.

"We wouldn't want to be impulsive." Angelique let out a short laugh.

"You are terrible." Gladice grinned.

"I'm honest." Willa kept her knee against his beneath the water. She looked directly at his erection beneath the water.

"Do you want to do something about it?"

"I have hands, thanks," Louis said.

"I'll manage." Gladice laughed. Angelique shook her head and smiled. One corner of Willa's mouth lifted.

"Suit yourself," she said, and stretched one arm along the edge of the tub. Gladice reached out with one foot and nudged Willa's knee.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Maybe." Willa looked at her.

"Is that a problem?"

"Not at all." Gladice moved her foot back to Louis's calf.

"In fact, I think we should enjoy it more. We deserve a little fun after the last few days." Angelique tilted her head.

"What do you suggest?" Gladice looked around the tub before answering.

"I suggest we play truth or dare. Except we only play truth for now." Willa raised one eyebrow.

"Why only truth?"

"Because we're naked, and I don't trust any of you not to turn a dare into an orgy." Gladice laughed. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Orgies are fun," Louis said.

"Not with people you don't know well," Angelique said.

"It can get messy. Emotionally."

"Not to mention STDs," Willa added.

"I'm vaccinated." Louis shrugged.

"STDs are something people worry about in third-world countries."

"Which we are currently in," Willa said.

"In case you forgot."

"Right." Louis looked at her.

"My point is, it's not a problem for me."

"Good for you." Willa smirked.

"Now shall we play or not?" Angelique nodded.

"Alright. I'll play." Willa looked at Louis.

"And you?" He hesitated. It was one thing to share a bed with two women. It was another to sit in a hot tub with a fourth and play a game designed to dig for secrets. But refusing would look like weakness. And he was tired of pretending he wasn't interested in her.

"Fine," he said.

"Who goes first?"

"I do." Gladice raised her hand.

"I'll start with Willa." Willa turned toward her.

"Alright. Ask." Gladice smirked.

"Who was the last person you had sex with, and when?" Willa didn't hesitate.

"Hans Meier. We met at the Oktoberfest last year in Munich. We had sex for two weeks straight. Then I went back to Boston and never saw him again."

"Was it good?" Gladice asked.

"That's for the next round." Willa folded her arms and turned to him. Her breasts shifted with the movement.

"My turn, Louis." He met her eyes.

"Go ahead."

"I know you want to fuck me. So I won't ask that." She kept her voice calm.

"Instead, I want to know what you like about me. Physically." Heat rose into Louis's face. Angelique watched him without speaking. Gladice was smiling. He could have said Willa's eyes or her smile. Both answers would have been true, but neither was what she had asked. He looked at her again. His gaze moved over her round breasts, her stomach, and the dark stubble between her legs before returning to her face.

"I like your pussy," he said. Willa's expression didn't change, but her eyes held his.

"Go on."

"The shape of it. The way it looks, I mean." He felt a sudden confidence.

"I've thought about what it would feel like to touch it. To taste it. To have it around my cock." Willa kept looking at him. A faint flush appeared on her chest above the water.

"Thank you," she said.

"That was honest."

"I try." He glanced at Angelique. She raised an eyebrow.

"My turn now," he said. Angelique nodded.

"Ask me." He thought for a moment, then said, "Will you be angry if I fuck Willa?" Angelique's mouth twitched.

"Are you asking my permission?"

"I'm asking how you will feel. Afterward." She considered it.

"I will be angry if you lie to me again. About anything. If you tell me before you do it, or after you do it, I will not be angry. But I expect the full details."

"Alright." Louis nodded.

"I will."

"Good." Angelique leaned her head against the tub.

"Now I'm asking Glads." Gladice raised her eyebrows.

"Hit me." Angelique tilted her head.

"Would you still be so amused if Willa weren't just trying to sleep with him, but trying to matter to him?" Gladice's smile faltered.

"Good one, Angel." She looked away for a second, then back.

"Yes." She kept her voice light.

"Because I like Willa. And I think she might be fun in bed. I think it could be hot to watch Louis fuck her. And maybe to join in." Willa stared at her.

"You are something else, Gladice." Gladice grinned.

"You have no idea." She turned to Angelique.

"Now, my turn. So let me ask you something. If Louis fucks Willa right here, right now, what would you do?"

"Hey!" Heat flooded Louis's face.

"I never said I was going to." He glanced at Willa. She looked away, dipped her glasses into the water, shook off the droplets, and put them back on.

"Relax," Gladice said, patting his knee.

"It's a hypothetical." Angelique took a slow breath.

"I'd probably join in." Her cheeks were pink.

"And I'd enjoy it. After that, I'd probably be annoyed with myself. And with both of you."

"Why annoyed?" Willa asked, leaning against the hot tub.

"Because it would complicate things." Angelique looked at Louis.

"We already have a complicated relationship. Adding a fourth person won't make it simpler."

"Relationships are always complicated," Gladice said.

"You just have to accept it."

"Maybe," Angelique said.

"Or maybe you can choose to keep them simple."

"Simple is boring," Gladice said.

"I like it to be complicated. It's more fun." Willa shook her head.

"You all are insane." Gladice laughed.

"It's better than being sane in a world like this." Angelique looked at Louis.

"My turn again." He nodded.

"Do you love me, or do you only trust me more than the others? There's a difference." Louis looked at her. He had to choose the right words.

"I love you and Gladie," he said.

"And I trust you both more than anyone else here. So if you'd trust Willa, then I'd also trust her." Willa stared at him.

"Did I ask to be trusted?"

"No," Louis said.

"But I am offering it anyway."

"Why?" Willa's voice was sharp.

"Because I let you stare at my tits?"

"Because you're intelligent, capable, and you saved our asses more than once," he said.

"And because I think you care about us, even if you pretend you don't." Willa blinked. Angelique watched her. Gladice was smiling.

"I don't pretend anything," Willa said.

"I just don't like to make a big deal out of it."

"Right." Louis looked at Angelique.

"Does that answer your question?" She nodded.

"Yes."

"Good." He leaned back against the tub.

"Now, my turn." He looked at Willa.

"Do you want to join us because you want me, or because you want to belong?" Willa met his eyes.

"Both," she said quietly.

"But more the second."

"Why?"

"Because I don't belong anywhere." Her voice stayed low.

"I have never belonged anywhere. And I want to see what it feels like for once." Louis held her gaze. For a moment, he did not know what to say. He nodded once.

"Alright." Gladice watched them for a moment before speaking.

"It's my turn. Now let's ask all of you something together." They looked at her.

"Would you rather go back to your old lives, or keep going with this until it breaks?" She looked around the tub.

"No right answer. Just the truth." Angelique spoke first.

"I would rather keep going." Gladice nodded, then looked at Louis.

"And you?" Louis thought of the Dominion: the cameras, the speeches, and the future he had spent years preparing for. He still wanted it. Then he looked at Angelique and Gladice beside him and Willa across the water. He wanted this too.

"I want to keep going," he said.

"We should live together as long as we can." Gladice smiled.

"Good." She turned to Willa.

"What about you?" Willa hesitated, then said, "I think it might be more interesting than MIT. Or a job at a company." Gladice laughed.

"Damn right it will." Louis looked from Angelique to Gladice and then to Willa. He thought of the past weeks and all that had changed since then. The world he had known was gone, but something new was beginning. And he wanted to see where it would lead.

"I think we've had enough truth for one day," he said.

"Maybe." Willa leaned back.

"But I'm not done yet. I have one last question for everyone."

"What?" Angelique asked.

"We've been talking about trust and love. Let's talk about what we fear." Willa looked around the tub.

"Who in this house do you trust least right now?" Louis raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Willa nodded.

"It's important." Before anyone could answer, footsteps approached. The glass door opened, and all four of them turned. A middle-aged man and woman stepped onto the deck. The woman carried a crate of folded towels, and the man held a plastic caddy filled with pool chemicals. She wore a faded housekeeping polo beneath a quilted vest. He wore work jeans and suspenders. Both stopped when they saw the four naked people in the hot tub. Then the man muttered, "Well. World truly has gone to hell."

The woman set the crate beside the door.

"I told Darnell that if he brought more people through this time, he ought to warn us. We got better things to do than walk in on... on... whatever this is." Gladice smiled.

"Good morning to you too." The woman looked directly at her.

"Don't get smart with me, girl. You are lucky I don't call the law."

"I think you will find that unwise," Angelique said.

"Who are you? The queen of this place?" the woman asked.

"She is the princess," Gladice said.

"I don't care if she's the Virgin Mary." The woman's face tightened.

"I run this house. And I do not like surprises."

"You must be the staff couple Mr. Barlow mentioned," Louis said.

"Who's asking?" The man's eyes narrowed.

"George Harris," Louis said.

"A friend of his. Who are you?"

"Name's Wade." He set the caddy down.

"This here's my wife, Ruth."

"We came to check the filter and leave clean towels," Ruth said.

"We didn't sign up to be running a... a cathouse in the woods." Willa spoke from the hot tub without raising her voice.

"You are here because Mr. Barlow pays you well to be discreet and to stay out of his business. If you have an issue, you take it up with him. Not with us." Ruth narrowed her eyes.

"And who are you, missy? His lawyer? Because you look barely old enough to drink."

"Funny." Willa smiled.

"You Dixies are still obsessed with age, aren't you? You'd think the war would have taught you better than to count a woman's worth in years." Wade shifted his weight. Ruth turned to Louis.

"I don't know who any of you are. But this is not a whorehouse. This is private property. And we expect a little decency while we're under this roof."

"Decency?" Gladice laughed.

"You mean no one fucks unless you say so?"

"That's enough." Wade raised one hand.

"We're not here to argue. We're here to work." He looked at Ruth.

"Let's just get the towels and go. Leave these sinners to their business. The Lord will judge them soon enough."

"Fine," Ruth shook her head and left. Wade followed her, muttering something about the end of times. He pulled the door shut hard enough to rattle the frame.

"Well, I think that answers your question. We trust them least," Gladice said. Willa nodded once.

"Yes. It does."

"Good." Louis exhaled.

"Now that the morning is ruined, I need a drink." He climbed out of the hot tub.

"I think we all do," Angelique said. She climbed out beside him. Gladice and Willa followed. They dried themselves, wrapped towels around their bodies, and went back inside.