The Professor's Accidental Harem Ch. 02

Author's note: Please forgive any errors in grammer. In my rereading of my stories, I miss things as my mind knew what I was trying to say. I currently do not have an editor and have given up the pursuit in finding one.

Foreward: The Professor's Accidental Harem was meant to be a stand alone story. The outpouring of feedback was immense and demand for a sequel was high. But I would not write one just for the sake of writing one. There had to be a plot I would love. It finally came to me, but in order to do so, I changed from a first person point of view to an omniscient point of view.

Happy Reading!

Chapter 2:

Six weeks later:

"But..."

"Dr. Tisdale," President Richards held up his hand as he interrupted, "I'm sorry but the board has made their ruling."

Dr. Tisdale let out a huff. "If not you, then who do I have to blow to get approved?"

President Richards wanted to say 'Will Harrison' but decided to try a different tact, consoling. "Suzanne," he moved his hand to cover hers and talked in a soothing tone, "five years ago the board of trustees decided to hand out grants to a number of professor's because they wanted our university to be known for something. You're imprinting concept was just one of many that they were willing to try to get themselves on the map. But now it's not necessary and the board has decided that mind manipulation is a risky endeavor that raises too many questions." He then shook his head, "I've warned you for the past three months to offer the board something else or the grant was going to be reassigned. You didn't and now that time has come."

Dr. Tisdale slammed her hands on the president's desk as she stood, "You're talking about five years of my life!"

"I'm sorry Suzanne. I really am. Despite your young age, you are an esteemed member of our faculty and we would be delighted to have you still be a professor on our staff."

"Fuck you!" Dr. Tisdale stomped toward the door, her auburn ponytail swaying with each forceful step.

"I'll let you calm down before we speak again."

Suzanne was still fuming as she entered her office with a cardboard box. Her intent was to leave and never look back. She knew the politics involved. When President Richards first spoke to her three months ago, she knew she had to make a breakthrough quickly because the young psychology whiz kid they hired two years ago, Ethan Carter, was on the verge of fulfilling the universities dream with some sort of memory drug.

'Why did it have to be now? I'm so close.' Suzanne set a couple manila envelopes in the box and began syphoning through another stack. 'Where will I go? Why couldn't the university see the importance of my imprinting creation? Capture a terrorist, use the serum to imprint yourself to them, and voila, instant traitor. They'll tell you everything and do anything you want them to do. And what about the people in prisons? Tell them to be honest citizens and poof - no more bad guys. If I had a little bit more time, I'd be ready for the private sector. I just don't have enough concrete analysis yet.' She slumped into her office chair and started to cry. With her shoulders twitching and head buried in her hands, a gentle rapping occurred on her office door.

"Dr. Tisdale?" A concerned male voice called from behind the door.

Due to the university giving every opportunity for the professors with grants to complete their work in an expedited manner, Suzanne didn't have any classes during summer break, so it couldn't be a student knocking on her door. At least she hoped it wasn't. She scrambled for a Kleenex and put her glasses on to hide her puffy eyes before answering, "Come in."

The door opened and there stood the handsome Professor Carter. That fact bothered Suzanne more than anything else about her colleague. He was both smart and handsome. And he seemed utterly clueless to how every female member of the student body fawned over him.

"I was on my way to lunch when I thought I heard someone crying in here. Are you all right Dr. Tisdale?"

Suzanne opened another file folder, pretending she had been working the entire time, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You can join me for lunch and talk about it if you'd like? Or come to lunch and not talk about it since I doubt I'd be much help in the field of neuroscience," Ethan finished with a big smile.

Suzanne chuckled, "Thanks for the offer but I'm swamped here."

"Nonsense." Ethan strode toward Suzanne and then grabbed her hand. "You just need some protein and then you'll figure it out. Besides, I'm dining at the wonderful, luxurious, and absolutely exquisite school cafeteria today. It would be a shame to eat such a gourmet meal alone."

Suzanne shook her head with an amused grin. She had changed her mind. The thing that bothered her most about Professor Carter was the fact he was genuinely a nice guy. The man she wanted to hate most in the world and she couldn't, in fact deep down, she knew she liked him. Damn him. "I suppose I can spare thirty minutes."

"Ah, better make it twenty nine and a half minutes," Ethan helped Suzanne to her feet. "I have a lot of work to do myself."

*

"So how's your memory research going?" Suzanne asked as she took a bite of her Caesar salad.

"Really well. I'm in the process of analyzing my second focus groups results and they are promising. The first group went well too, but there were only a limited number of participants." Ethan tried to hold back a smile thinking about how his first focus group really went. Not only did the enhancer work but he also was now living with four former students. Making that public knowledge wouldn't have mattered if Lydia weren't still in school. "I'm hoping that by the end of the summer I'll get the board of trustees approval and we can shop the product around to some manufacturers."

"Must be nice," Suzanne mumbled.

"What was that?"

Suzanne forced a smile, "That's nice. I'm really happy for you."

"So how about your problem," Ethan took a drink of his rootbeer. "How can I help?"

"You know what? I think I just figured it out." Suzanne's smile was no longer a façade as she stood. "Thanks."

As Suzanne headed back to her lab, she was contemplating her epiphany. 'I have eight weeks to stall Ethan. If I can get him to show a possibility of failure, the board will reapprove my funding while they give him a second chance to get his wonder drug correct. But how? My imprinting serum isn't ready for human trials. It's not even ready for animal testing. If I give that to Ethan and something happens... better let my lab assistant find someone to try it out on before I give it to the universities golden boy.

*

Ethan glanced at the clock and noted it was six in the evening. With a sigh, he clicked the save button to his PowerPoint presentation and closed down his computer. He was no longer concerned with the results of the memory enhancer; he didn't have to be. Every single person in his last focus group were able to recite a fifty page dissertation paper verbatim. His worries now stemmed from the upcoming meeting with the board of trustees. He knew his drug forwards and backwards but how to be engaging about it without sounding to clinical? He knew he was much better relaying information to eighteen to twenty two year old students than fifty to sixty year old stiffs that compiled the board.

"Britney, I think we'll call it a night," Ethan stood with a yawn. "See you tomorrow at eight."

Britney used a yellow highlighter to mark where she left off at on the page. Since coming aboard six weeks ago, her goal has been to follow up with every member of the focus group, all fifty of them, and determine if there were any side effects to note. So far, only one person has complained of a side effect. He said he had a red, blistery rash in the genital region, but a doctor's visit later and it was diagnosed as herpes. That was definitely not the memory enhancers fault. The only warning that needed to be on the bottle is 'product ineffective with use of illegal and narcotic drugs' and though Britney didn't ask, she did wonder how Ethan knew that. She closed her folder and grabbed her imitation Prada purse- as if she could afford the real thing. "Do you need a ride home tonight?"

"No, I got my car today," Ethan responded cordially as he locked up his laboratory. "Eve got her car fixed so she didn't have to borrow mine. But I did appreciate the lift home yesterday."

Ethan actually appreciated that no one was home when Britney dropped him off. Shelly was at work, getting hired day one after graduation to one of the top psychiatric practices in the state. Eve was at an interview to teach psychology at nearby Hilldale High. Kennedy was at the school's athletic department mulling over player analysis as her now former coach, Leanne Weatherby recruited her to be an assistant to the girls' softball team. Lydia was in a study group, taking summer classes so she can graduate as swiftly as possible to lessen the chances of people uncovering the truth. Ethan could only imagine Britney's reaction to seeing any one of those four was living with him, sisters or not. Especially since they would probably be dressed scandalously to say the least.

Ethan pulled up to the new three-bedroom ranch style home the five of them were renting. They would have bought a house but decided to wait and see if the memory enhancer would take off. They also kept renting the townhouse Shelly, Eve, and Kennedy used to live in for Lydia's place of residence, even if she lived there just on paper. Couldn't risk having her address match a professor's, Ethan would surely be fired if that got out. In a couple months, they'll know how secure their future will be and if all goes well, they could build a home. Not that they needed more room anyway, all five slept in a pair of king sized beds that were pushed together in the master bedroom while the other two rooms were used as a home office for whatever work Ethan or the girls needed to accomplish and a spare bedroom.

Ethan stepped on the porch and cleared his throat in preparation for his horrible impersonation of Desi Arnaz. "Lucy's I'm home," He shouted as he flung open the door.

Kennedy stood from the couch wearing her yellow slinky dress and sashayed over to Ethan. She kissed him lightly on the lips and then more so. Soon her tongue weaved inside and made contact with his. There was a primal aggressiveness in the nature of her kisses to him and Ethan loved it. He enjoyed the uniqueness that each woman possessed.

"Wow," Ethan muttered as Kennedy's tongue finally extricated his mouth.

Kennedy had a beaming smile, "That's to remind you of what you can get if you don't use that corny line again. You realize that none of us have ever seen that show you are quoting."

"I can't help it. My mom was addicted to 'I Love Lucy' reruns. So my mind was conditioned to like it too... Almost like what transpired with four women I know."

"That's not fair," Kennedy put her hands on her hips. "I won't be able to beat you in a psychological argument."

"You know psychology," Ethan laughed. "I know, because I taught you." He paused as he looked around. He sniffed the air to smell nothing. "I take it Lydia's not cooking tonight. Where is everyone?"

"Your wives have decided you are taking us out to celebrate. And you know how those three take forever to get ready. Me, I just throw on a dress, touch up my makeup and I'm good to go but them," Kennedy finished by rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

After six weeks, that was the biggest change for Ethan to get used to- having no say whatsoever. If the four women decided something, it was concrete. If even one of them had a dissenting opinion then the idea was scrapped. It was all or nothing. But if Ethan had an objection, they held firm until he changed his mind. It didn't usually take much coercing for him to relent. A rub here, a suck there, or a five-some usually did the trick. By now, he just accepted his fate, not that he minded going out to dinner.

"What are we celebrating?"

At that moment, Eve came racing down the hall, impressive considering the high heels she was wearing, and jumped into Ethan's arms. "Husband," She cried as she mashed her lips into his. Ever the overzealous type, she then began to peck away, covering as much of Ethan as she could.

As Eve put her feet back on the floor, Ethan was finally able to look at her black dress. It surprised him as Eve's clothes were typically borderline slutty. She also had a few that crossed that line but tried to keep some sense of class and yet others that flew past that line and went on for another fifty miles. He never cared, however, it was just Eve's style. But today her dress screamed elegance. "You look fantastic."

"Thanks." Crimson filled Eve's cheeks as she smoothed out the dress. "I thought this is how a school teacher should dress for a night out on the town."

"You got the job," Ethan exclaimed as he hugged her. "Congratulations."

"And that is what we are celebrating," Kennedy finally answered Ethan's question.

"Let me get changed real quick and I'll be right down."

With a hurried step, Ethan went down the hall and almost ran over Lydia. She was wearing a pink outfit; the blouse had a deep v and the skirt was just above the knees. It was more daring than anything she would have worn before they all moved in together. This was definitely Eve's influence.

"There's my lovely Lydia. You look good."

"Thanks." Lydia, despite being in heeled sandals, went on to her tip toes to instigate a kiss. It was soft and sweet. When Ethan's tongue was granted entrance, it didn't become a duel. It was more like small sensual caresses while Lydia's tongue did the same. Time seemed to stand still as the couple got into a sybaritic rhythm.

"Okay you two," Eve's voice echoed in the hallway. "Lydia, let our man go and so he can get ready."

Ethan chuckled at the intrusion before heading into the master bedroom. Lydia smiled and headed down the hall.

"Spill it girl," Eve continued. "What do you do to get our husband to kiss you for an eternity?"

"Yeah, we always have to break the two of you a part so we can get whatever it is we have to do, done," Kennedy narrowed her eyes to the shy girl to express she too was curious.

"I don't know," Lydia shrugged her shoulders. "We just kiss."

Kennedy shook her head and Eve rolled her eyes but both let out a frustrated, "Oh Lydia."

Ethan showered and changed rapidly and as he passed the office, he saw Shelly. She was dressed for the night out in a conservative red ensemble while she was furiously scribbling notes in a black, leather bound notebook. Ethan snuck in and kissed the top of her head, startling her for a brief second.

"Is everything all right," Ethan smiled knowing he scared Shelly.

"Yeah," Shelly turned in her chair to face him. "Dr. Manheim gave me my first patient today and he is really fucked... I mean he has a myriad of issues."

Ethan nodded while holding in a snicker at Shelly's Freudian slip as she was trying to be professional. "Do you want me to take a look? I did handle patients for a couple of years before the university hired me."

"Thanks for the offer," Shelly smiled. "But I really want to handle this one myself."

Ethan leaned in and kissed her. As became their custom, Ethan and Shelly's tongues darted in and out, battling for supremacy. When it was apparent that both combatants were winners, the kiss was released.

"I think everyone is ready to go. How about you?" Ethan tucked a stray tendril of hair behind Shelly's ear. It fascinated him how that one hair kept falling out of place.

"Absolutely." Shelly closed the notebook with a grin. "I need a break from Stanley Martin for a while."

Ethan coughed on air as Shelly made for the door, causing her to glance over her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Ethan held up his hand as he coughed again, this time to keep from laughing. He had met Dr. Handel Manheim once at a conference and the elder professional had divulged that after an evaluation period for his new psychologists, he would give the ones he thought could be influential a test. And that test was a paid actor named Stanley Martin. He would play out several different neurosis every visit. Dr. Manheim said that the fastest anyone figured out he was full of shit was five sessions. If it took more than ten, he would let that person go because he didn't have time to babysit imbeciles. "I'm fine. Go ahead and I'll be down in a minute." Shelly nodded and then left, allowing for Ethan to finally let loose his laugh.

This evening wasn't a typical night out for the girls. Since this was a special occasion for Eve, she got to be by Ethan's side the whole night while Shelly, Kennedy, and Lydia rotated on the other. Shelly and Kennedy had received the same treatment when they heard about their respective employments and Lydia had as well for her birthday.

The date was even tailored to Eve. Dinner was at Oscar's, a fancy steak restaurant that happened to be her favorite place to dine. That was followed by a visit to Club Ego, her preferred dancing stomping grounds. Eve really enjoyed dancing and the club scene, even more now that Ethan was in her life. It gave her great pleasure to dance with someone she loved versus someone who only wanted to get in between her legs.

The four girls kept a tight circle around Ethan. They all danced but he took turns with whom he was facing with Eve getting extra attention. There were several attempts by a multitude of men to break through the girl's defenses but all were thwarted. After all that it took to seduce Ethan, the quartet had their man and were not letting go.

As for Ethan, whenever they went out, he took the time to relish in the unique characteristics of his partners. Eve's energy, Kennedy's passion, Shelly's intellect, and Lydia's shyness afforded him a new experience with just a simple turn of his head. For a decade, he had been so wrapped up in college and then work that he now felt a sense of freedom he had never enjoyed before and took every opportunity to experience it. Privately, he deduced it was the company he was with rather than any particular activity that they partook in. He knew in his heart not only could he be happy living with the four women for the rest of his life but he was falling hopelessly in love with them.

Being a weekday, the group ended the night early. Upon entering the house, Shelly and Kennedy went to the spare bedroom to sleep, both having to work in the morning. Lydia, not in any rush as her scheduled classes for tomorrow were in the afternoon, sat on the couch and turned on the television. All three of them thought, 'I wish I was Eve.'

As soon as the master bedroom door shut, Eve started kissing Ethan all over his face and he reciprocated when he could. Her hands were all over his body with random purposes; a belt here, a button undone there. It was always like this with her- sporadic excitement. Through her spontaneity, Ethan simply unzipped the back of her dress and allowed her movements to cause the dress to shimmy off her body. As soon as he could, he did the same with her bra and lowered her thong just a few inches before they fell off in a similar manner. Eve was by far the easiest to get undressed.

Once Eve dispersed of Ethan's clothing, she pushed him to the bed. Her energy level was through the roof knowing she got her man all to herself tonight. She didn't really mind sharing and certainly wasn't complaining about the group sex but it was something special when Ethan began incorporating alone time with them as well. He said it solidified his bonds with them as individuals. It probably did but Eve didn't care. She just knew that sometimes a woman doesn't want to share and this was her opportunity.