Finding Flagstaff

I was careful not to get overly optimistic, but I was hopeful that we just might make this thing work.

When Merlin picked up Ellen for their date, I told Roz about my night with Ellen, and she could hardly contain her excitement. I had to calm her down, remind her that this was just a first step, and we didn't want to ruin things by getting ahead of ourselves. She reluctantly agreed and we had a simple dinner, before cuddling on the couch to watch some television, but neither of us had any idea what we saw.

We both nearly jumped out of our skin when Ellen closed the door and leaned against it with a goofy grin on her face. There was no way in hell that things could have gone so far so fast. We wanted to get the straight scoop from Ellen, but she was going to have to settle down first, so we sent her to take a nice hot shower and join us back in the living room.

We thought about opening a bottle of wine, then thought better of it: we needed to keep our wits about us, so we put on a pot of coffee while we waited on Ellen.

Ellen came into the kitchen wrapped in a fluffy robe, still with a glow on, and sat down at the table with Roz and me.

"Okay, Sister, spill," Roz said. "You obviously had a good time!"

"It was just wonderful!" Ellen replied. "I was so nervous, but Merlin was so sweet and patient. We went to a fancy restaurant with valet parking. Merlin was not about to entrust his Mustang to any valet, so we parked in a lot around the corner. He ran around the car to get my door and helped me out, and held my hand as we walked to the restaurant. I don't know how he knew it was my favorite, but he ordered chateaubriand for two. I told him I didn't drink alcohol, so he ordered us each a sparkling water.

"It was a little strange in a way. On one hand, it was a warm intimate dinner; on the other, it was so intense, he was gazing into my eyes as if he was looking right into my soul. If it had been anyone else, it might have been uncomfortable, but with Merlin it was just so warm and loving that I didn't want it to end. I wish I could tell you that we had some sort of deep meaningful conversation, but the truth is, I can barely remember it. It was mostly Merlin asking about me and Roz and our lives. I tried, but wasn't able to get him to talk much about his work.

"Eventually we headed back to the car. Merlin reached for my hand, but I wrapped it around his waist, instead, and he put his arm around my shoulders. When we got back to his car he opened my door and helped me in, then got behind the wheel. I felt it in the pit of my stomach when he fired that beast up, and as he pulled into the traffic he asked me if I was ready to go home.

"I think I shocked him when I said, 'No, let's go to your place for a while.' He gave me a bit of a double take, and then headed to his place. I turned down his offer of coffee, he put on some soft music, we just sat quietly for a few moments with our knees gently touching and my warm feeling returned.

"I'm not sure exactly what came over me, but I put my arm around his neck, turned his head toward me and gave him a kiss. I'm not sure who was more shocked, him or me, but as he kissed me back I could see what you meant, Sahara. It was definitely different from when I kiss you or Roz, but not bad different, just different. I could feel the scratchiness of his stubble, and while his lips weren't as soft as either Roz or you, it was still very pleasurable.

"After too few minutes I began to feel that I was losing control of myself, and if I didn't bring things to a halt I would go further than I felt ready to go. I reluctantly asked Merlin to take me home, and here I am!"

Roz and I just stared at each other, stunned. We never expected that Ellen would move this fast; we were sure that it would take months of gentle urging to get her anywhere close to this, and she went and did it on one date.

I noticed that Ellen seemed a little antsy, then I realized she had gotten herself all wound up with Merlin, and now she was nearly exploding from sexual tension.

I took Roz by the hand and walked over to Ellen. "You look like you need some help," I said, as I stroked the back of her neck. She was practically purring as Roz and I led her to the bedroom and relieved her of her clothes. We caressed her from both sides, and as Roz moved up to lock lips, I went down to make love to her sweet pussy.

I had never seen her so wet, and almost before I was ready she had her first ever orgasm. It wasn't earth-shattering or anything, but it gave me great joy to be her first. We were too spent to get cleaned up, we just spooned together, Ellen between Roz and me, and had a blissful night's sleep.

During the next few weeks, we became more and more comfortable with this foursome idea. We had just one more mini-orgy with the four of us, more or less the same as the first one, but we could tell that Ellen wasn't entirely comfortable; we put most of our energy into getting Ellen comfortable with the idea of sex with Merlin, and were careful not to push her.

Despite the success of their first date, we knew it couldn't be that easy, and it wasn't. More than once Ellen came home from a date with Merlin in tears. It wasn't anything that Merlin did; she was just frustrated and horribly awkward. Merlin took my advice completely to heart, and was very careful not to push her too far.

No, the problem was Ellen herself. She desperately wanted to make love with Merlin, but was also terrified of the idea. Even though they were taking baby steps, once in a while Ellen would push herself a little too far out of her comfort zone and would break down.

It would sometimes take hours with Roz and me comforting her before she would be able to get to sleep, and Roz and I would question the whole enterprise. We dated and played in various configurations, and Roz and I didn't play together with Merlin if Ellen was home; we didn't want her to feel pressured or left out.

About two months after she brought Merlin back, Ellen decided that she was ready to try again. She still wasn't sure if she was ready for intercourse, but wanted to see just how far she could go.

After talking to her to reassure ourselves that she was ready, we made our plans. I went to see Merlin to clue him in and remind him to follow our lead, while Ellen and Roz started the dinner preparations.

It was a tense dinner as we tried to keep things as normal as possible, even though we knew this was about as far from normal as you could get. After dinner we sat around nervously, nobody wanting to make the first move. Finally, it was Ellen who stood up and said, "If we're going to do this before I die of old age, I think we had better get started!"

The rest of us stood up and followed Ellen into the bedroom, where Roz and I undressed Ellen while Merlin got undressed. As Roz and I got undressed, Merlin and Ellen stood there staring at each other, the heat simmering between them until Ellen took the big step up to Merlin throwing her arms around his neck and laying a passionate kiss on him as he reached around her to grasp her tight little butt.

This was a big step for Ellen; as far as I knew this was the first time she and Merlin were in bodily contact while naked. Roz and I just sat nervously on the bed, one arm around each other, the other hands clasping each other.

Merlin released one of her butt cheeks and began caressing a breast and teasing her nipple while he lowered his mouth to Ellen's other breast as a small moan escaped from her lips.

Roz and I shifted a little as Merlin and Ellen stretched out on the bed stroking each other gently. I looked at Merlin's rock hard cock with concern; it was definitely larger than any of the dildos that Roz and I had used on Ellen.

Ellen reached down and touched his cock for the second time, and began gently stroking it. Merlin must have been on a hair trigger, because he suddenly shot all over Ellen's hand and belly. She was momentarily taken aback, but then brought her hand in front of her face to examine it. She gave it a small sniff, then a tentative lick. She made a bit of a face, then shrugged her shoulders, wiped her hand on the sheet and resumed kissing Merlin.

Merlin went back to kissing down her body, spending a long time on her luscious breasts. Roz and I were getting so turned on by the scene in front of us that our pussies were dripping, but we didn't want to take our eyes off Ellen and Merlin so we just played with ourselves while Merlin worked his way down to Ellen's pussy.

Ellen's head was thrashing back and forth, and I didn't think that she would be able to hold out very long, and I was right; she had the biggest orgasm that I had seen her have, and it set both Roz and me off and we exploded.

Roz and I lay down next to Ellen, gently stroking her hair as she came down, telling her how well she did. I glanced down at Merlin's cock and it was still hard as steel. He got up on his knees and moved between Ellen's legs, spreading them wide as he began to position his cock at her opening.

Ellen suddenly sat up with tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Merlin, I'm just not ready!" She buried her head on my shoulder and began crying.

"It's okay, Ellen," he said, "I understand." He was gently touching her shoulder and wincing as she flinched away. "I think maybe I should go home now." He gathered up his clothes and left the bedroom.

"Wait a minute," Roz said, rushing after him.

I could hear them going into the other bedroom where Roz made sure that Merlin wouldn't go home with a bad case of blue balls. I cuddled and comforted Ellen, while the sounds we heard left no doubt Roz was enjoying her mission of mercy. I heard the front door close and Roz came back to bed and we both held Ellen as she fell asleep, still snuffling.

In the morning, Ellen came shuffling into the kitchen with her eyes still red from crying. Roz and I both tried to comfort her, telling her that it was all right, that Merlin understood and that we all still loved her, but she resisted.

"No!" she said, "It's not all right. I've ruined everything!"

"You did no such thing," I said, flicking my eyes at Roz, hoping she got my message. I think she did, because a moment later she was on the phone, and few minutes later Merlin was at the door. Ellen sat in her chair like a frightened rabbit, wide-eyed and ready to flee.

Merlin walked over and knelt down beside her chair, but she couldn't meet his eyes until he reached up and gently turned her face to look at him. He gently wiped away her tears with his other hand.

"I... I'm s... so sorry, Merlin," she sobbed, the tears starting up again.

"Shh, sweetie," Merlin said, "You have nothing to be sorry for. We all knew this was going to be a process, probably a slow process, and I can be as patient as I need to be. I love you, we're all in love with you, and would never ever hurt you or ask you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable."

Roz and I nodded our agreement and Ellen launched herself into Merlin's arms, crying again, but this time they were tears of joy.

I was losing that spiraling out of control feeling as we wrapped our heads and hearts around this crazy-to-anyone-else situation. As we all got more comfortable with it, and each other, I realized I had been neglecting my writing. After a fairly intense spurt of work, I had put the finishing touches on my latest book and submitted it for editing.

I knew it would be a little while before I would get the edits back, so I decided to brainstorm ideas for my next book. Unfortunately, my brainstorm was little more than a sun shower, until a lightning bolt of inspiration struck me: Merlin!

Merlin was always very reticent about his work, but I got the impression that it involved some sort of industrial espionage. I made up my mind that he was going to open up at least a little bit to me, at least enough to plant a seed of inspiration.

While the girls were in school, I invited Merlin over to lunch and explained what I wanted to do. He was still reluctant, saying that it was too dangerous, until I convinced him (wink) that we could make it work.

Merlin explained that his client needed a security clearance to keep their government contracts. Someone was trying to breach their security in a way that would cost them their clearance.

He didn't know if it was simply a competitor seeking an advantage, or enemy agents. The former, while not without risks, should be relatively safe. The latter, however, it could become a real life or death situation, and he didn't want me anywhere near that.

It took some doing, but I got him to agree to take me on a ride along, just to get a flavor for what he did. I was surprised when he pulled up in his Mustang.

"What are you trying to do, be subtle?" I said. "I thought that we'd be using one of those nondescript sedans you see in all those detective shows."

"Yes," he said, "Everyone always thinks that, so who would expect someone undercover to be driving a car like this?"

He had a point; I grabbed my camera and iPad, got in the passenger seat and we hit the road.

He started out driving through some of the scummier parts of town, just to give me a little "flavor" he said. Quite a few heads turned as they heard the rumble of the exhaust, but nothing seemed suspicious.

As we approached the headquarters of his client, I saw Merlin tense up. "What's wrong, Merlin?" I asked.

He took a deep breath and pointed out a man leaving the building heading for the parking lot. "That's one of our prime suspects," he said. "We're pretty sure he's involved, but we haven't been able to pin anything on him.

"We've searched his car and his apartment, but haven't found anything yet. I want you to keep your head down; I'm going to follow him, see if he leads me anywhere useful."

We followed him to a warehouse district. I was concerned that Merlin's car might attract too much attention here, but he was hyper-focused on his task and didn't seem worried.

Merlin's target pulled up to a warehouse. "Take down this address," barked Merlin, "325A Harrison Ave."

As I finished typing, just before Merlin pulled away, I saw the suspect look at us suspiciously and speak nervously into a cell phone. A moment later another car pulled out from behind the warehouse and seemed to be following us.

"Merlin!" I said, nervously, "I think we're being followed!"

"Don't worry, Sahara," he said, "I'll lose him."

Merlin threw the car into a hard left turn and stomped on the gas. I looked back and saw the other car make the same turn, but Merlin made several other turns, seemingly at random, and in just a few minutes the other car was no longer in sight.

I consider myself a pretty strong person, but I have to admit that I was shaking like a leaf.

Merlin glanced over, and the asshole chuckled! "Now maybe you'll see why I didn't want to get you involved in my work."

I wanted to slap that silly grin off his face, but I was still too shaken as he pulled up in front of the condo to drop me off. I wanted him to come in, but he said he had some work to do, and took off.

Just as Merlin pulled away, Roz and Ellen pulled up. They could tell that I was shaken up and wrapped their arms around me in concern,

"What happened?" asked Roz, "Did that asshole break up with you, with us? I'll kill him if he did!"

"No, no," I said, "Nothing like that. I asked him to show me some of what he did, and it was going pretty well until someone started following us."

"What?" they both exclaimed.

"Yes," I said, "But Merlin pulled off some fancy driving and got away from them."

They helped me into the condo, and we just cuddled on the couch for a while until I settled down. None of us felt like cooking so we ordered in some Chinese, then crawled into bed and drifted off to sleep.

The next Tuesday, Merlin called me to see if I was available for lunch. Well, I was always available for lunch with him, so I met him at Chili's. We had a nice conversation and a nice lunch. I asked him how the case I had done the ride-along with him on was going.

"It's a little weird," he said. "I think they should just fire the guy, lock him out of the systems and move on. They seem to think he already has some secrets they want back. I'm closing in on some things. He's been in touch with a buyer, and it looks as if he's ready to make a move. I've been putting some pressure on the buyer. I'm pretty sure if he tries to make a deal, the buyer will sell him to me. We'll have to see how it works out."

"I had no idea these corporate espionage things were so complicated," I said. "How could 'secrets' be so valuable?"

He thought for a minute. "Suppose you're writing your new book," he began. "Let's say it is going to be a runaway best seller and you expect to make millions. Think about how your rival could make out if he could steal the draft copy of your book, sell it and maybe get a movie deal or something."

"I'd cut off his balls," I told him.

He laughed. "Yes, I believe you would. Remind me never to steal your book, Sahara."

We finished eating and he asked for a ride back to his office. His Mustang was being serviced and he had taken a cab to meet me. I was happy to hang onto him as long as possible and we were about halfway back to his office when the Super Bee notified us that he had an incoming call. We had paired the Bluetooth a week earlier so I could call him, hands free.

He answered and the voice on the phone sent us into a tailspin. "Merlin Ansel?" the voice asked.

"Yes, who is this and what can I do for you?" he said.

The voice was, obviously, heavily disguised, and sounded like a robot. "You're working on a case for Adams Industries," the voice said. "You are going to drop them as a client. If you don't, we have your girlfriend and she'll be the one to pay the price."

The call disconnected and when I stopped at the next light, I looked over at him. "I thought I was your girlfriend," I said. "They don't have me, so what the hell, Merlin? You know how I feel about cheating!" I was sort of pissed off, and sort of scared at the same time.

"Yes, I do, and I feel the same way," he snapped. "The guy is nuts," he snapped. It's obviously some kind of bluff. I'm not backing off an inch. I think the buyer must have tipped our guy. Shit! Now I'm going to have to make some fast moves."

He was visibly shaken, and so was I. "What are you going to do?" I asked.

"I have no idea," he said. "The first thing is to make sure you're safe. They may not have you, but they might try to snatch you."

I parted my thighs just enough to show him the little .380 in my thigh holster. "He laughed. "That won't be any fun for them," I said.

We pulled up in front of his office and he got out, walked around the car, gave me a kiss and squeezed my breast. "I know you're tough as hell," he said. "I want you to go home and wait for me, okay? Do it for me, Sahara. Just let me feel secure about this, okay?"

I started to agree, when the phone sounded again. It was Roz. "Hey, baby," I said. "I'm on my way home. Just about to leave Merlin's office. You need anything?"

"Sahara!" she was crying. "Ellen didn't come home from school at 1:30 like she was supposed to. I've been texting her and calling her, but she isn't answering. What should I do?"

I was frozen with horror. I looked up at Merlin and he was as white as a ghost. He leaned into the car. "Hey, honey," he said. "It's me. Don't worry, Roz, Sahara and I will go get her. You know how she is. Sometimes she doesn't notice her phone buzzing. We'll bring her home."

We managed to get Roz calmed down and he told me to wait a second. He ran into the office and came back out carrying a bundle under his arm and a box in his hands. He threw the box in the back seat and opened the bundle. There were two flak jackets in it. He handed me one.