Penny grinned but Karen looked less enthused. Penny was absorbing knowledge as quickly as she could but Karen was resisting. She’d accepted her place in the world at the bottom of the social structure and either didn’t want to try or was afraid to. Penny was the only reason Karen went to school at all. Ben was trying hard not to push but he was worried about her. She’d willingly fall right back into the role of subservient sex toy as long as someone else took responsibility for her wellbeing. Penny wanted more.
Between the two of them Penny was the one who indicated she wanted to downsize her breast implants from the oversized 1000cc ones she had now. Neither would be getting lip injections so their swollen lips would gradually return to normal.
Penny regaled them with tales of what she learned that day and Ben listened with a smile. Karen occasionally added a comment or correction which gave Ben hope as it indicated she was at least paying attention in class.
Lucy was next and described the classes she had. Penny listened with fascination but Karen’s eyes returned to her plate and she ate quietly. Ben shared a look with Tina.
“Oh, Ben! Ashley said that her car is indicating it needs servicing,” Lucy said. Ashley was attending the university in town as well and drove everyone to and from in the BMW SUV Ben got when he purchased Tina’s home and all its contents.
“Again? OK, it’s time to trade that monster in for a less temperamental vehicle,” Ben complained.
“What!?! But it’s so pretty!” Karen gasped in surprise.
“There are plenty of other pretty vehicles out there and they won’t be such high maintenance burdens. Best to be rid of this one,” Ben said. Karen burst into tears, leapt to her feet, and rushed out of the dining room to run down the hall to her room. They heard the door slam.
Ben sat with a stunned look on his face. “What did I say? It’s just a car.”
“I’d better go see what’s bothering her,” Penny said quietly. “Thank you for a delicious dinner Tina.” Then she left as well.
Ben was racking his brain, trying to think of a reason for Karen to react so badly to his response about the car. If it meant that much to Karen he’d put up with the maintenance and keep the vehicle.
Lucy watched him struggling with the pain of hurting the young woman. “Ben, I think Karen identifies with the car.”
“WHAT?” he gasped, confused.
“Pretty, but high maintenance. I think she sees herself that way,” Lucy said gently.
“Oh my god! That’s- that’s not what I meant at all!” he exclaimed. He pushed back from the table and walked down the hall. He knocked gently on the door of Karen’s room. He heard crying.
“Come in.” It was Penny’s voice.
Ben entered and walked over to stand next to the bed. He tried to ignore the clothes scattered all over the floor. Karen was a slob.
Penny was sitting on the edge of the bed holding Karen’s hand. She had a sad look on her face too.
“I wanted you both to be perfectly clear about one thing. I was just talking about the car. I don’t consider either of you to be a burden at all and I love having you in my family!” Penny blinked as she suddenly caught on to why Karen was crying. Her mouth dropped in surprise.
“I told you in France that I would help guide you to a place where you can take control of your own lives. I never set a timeline on that. It will take as long as it needs to. I don’t want either of you to feel pressured or that I don’t want to support you. Your future was stolen from you and I’d like to help you get it back. What your future will be is up to you. I’ll support you-”
“I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WANT!” Karen blurted out tearfully, her lips trembling.
“That’s ok, Karen. That’s why I just signed you up for completing your secondary school diploma. It gives you options. The decision of what to do after that can wait.”
Ben knelt beside the bed and took their hands in his. “Do you understand?”
Penny nodded and after a moment so did Karen. Ben smiled and kissed their knuckles. This brought smiles to their faces.
“Are we ok?” Ben asked and received nods and smiles.
He stood and let himself out. As the door closed he heard Karen blurt quietly to Penny “Is it wrong to be hot for ‘Daddy’?”
Ben put his face in his hands and walked back towards the kitchen.
“Is everything ok Ben?” Tina asked as he entered the room.
He looked at her distractedly and nodded with a frown. “Yes, I got that one issue cleared up but there may be another one. Let’s just wait and see.” He wished he could find Karen a boyfriend but that young man was going to have to pass his approval for dealing with the damaged young woman. He was far less worried about Penny.
Ben finished up his dinner and helped Tina and Lucy tidy up the kitchen. He spent an hour in his workshop reviewing the specs for that issue he spotted on the engineering board. He had the beginnings of an idea.
He came back upstairs and plunked himself in his chair in the living room. He called his contractor buddy Dominic Selleni and confirmed the equipment would be in place on Monday to excavate a large section of the back yard behind the Walker’s place for extending the foundation. All the trucks for removing the soil were scheduled as well. The following day the forms would go into place and the day after that the cement would be poured into the forms. He would have the extended basement floor and foundation walls in place by the following weekend. They would remove the roof and the interior walls on the first floor of the existing structure. The bungalow was getting a full redesign and would end up a lovely two story home which would fit in with the remaining homes on the circle. His would be the only bungalow left. Once the demo was done the new framing could begin in earnest. As it was almost October, he didn’t have much time to rebuild the main floor, add a second story, get a roof in place, and close it all in before the weather turned bad. Ben had hired his friend Dominic’s company to put all hands on deck to push through this project.
He wasn’t sparing any expense on the finish and fixtures. It was going to be a lovely home. He’d shown everyone the plans and Penny and Karen were completely blown away that this was going to be their new home. With five bedrooms upstairs and potentially two in the basement there was plenty of room for renting out to college students. Ben was keeping an option open for Lucy in case she wanted to rent out one of the rooms there if she were to find a boyfriend.
Ben yawned hugely and rubbed at his face. He felt a small hand on his wrist and opened his eyes to see Tina standing next to the chair.
“Come to bed Ben,” she said softly. He nodded and let her tug him to his feet. He followed her down the hall. Penny’s door opened and Ben stopped so she could get a hug and give his cheek a good night kiss. They said their goodnights.
Ben stopped in the next bedroom to give Christopher’s forehead a kiss as the boy slept. Tina’s eyes twinkled as she watched him. Karen’s door, which was next to his, opened and she looked up at Ben as he stopped. He gave her a hug and she kissed his cheek. They said their good nights and her words from earlier resurfaced in his mind. He would ask Tina for her advice on this one. There was NO way he was taking either Penny or Karen into his bed. He was their legal parent now. That avenue was closed.
Inside his room he headed into the bathroom and Lucy was there with three toothbrushes ready for use. She was also completely naked. He took his toothbrush and turned to see Tina was now naked as well. They brushed their teeth together and Ben enjoyed the view.
Once they were done the ladies undressed Ben and put his clothes in the hamper as he climbed into bed under the sheets. Tina got into the bed while Lucy walked around to the far side and slipped in. They both snuggled up to Ben’s side and he tenderly kissed each of them. They sighed with happiness.
“I need advice,” Ben began and they waited for him to gather his thoughts.
“Lisa and Lori. They haven’t shown any signs of moving on. I asked them to go out and have fun with their friends so they could meet and mingle with men but they’re just hanging out with their girlfriends and teasing the men in the dance clubs. They aren’t actively trying to find someone else. They want me to go out dancing with them.”
Lucy subconsciously rubbed herself against Ben as she thought about the last time she’d gone dancing with him in France.
“Are you listening?” he asked her and she jolted to a stop.
“Yes, sorry Ben,” she said contritely and did her best to ignore the maddening tingling between her legs.
Tina grinned knowing how excited Ben made Lucy. She was a little wet herself but she had better self-control.
“Do they ask for your time frequently? Has it become troublesome?” Tina asked sweetly.
“No… no it’s been a while. Three, almost four weeks since the last time I was… with them.”
“When you are with them, are they fulfilled?” Tina asked.
He looked at her askance. He never talked about what he did with anyone to anyone else.
“I am not prying. I simply ask if they are ever dissatisfied with the time they spend with you,” Tina explained.
“Oh, uh… no, they are usually very happy… afterwards. You understand they now require a very firm hand… I mean, I have to be rough- no, aggressive so sometimes they are exhausted by our time together but I believe they’re happy… geez how do I talk about this discreetly?”
Lucy was biting her lip and squirming next to Ben. She wanted what he was talking about so badly. Ben was her dream come true; strong, masculine, sexy as hell and a fierce dom when he wanted to be. When she needed him to be. She needed him very badly now but he wasn’t finished talking.
“You give them exactly what they need and between the times you spend with them you give their lives structure. They sound like they have a working solution. They have discovered in themselves what Lucy and I discovered some time ago. A need to release control and allow another to lend a guiding hand. Yours is a wonderful hand as it can be trusted to protect and discipline fairly,” Tina explained and Lucy let a moan slip out when she heard Tina mention discipline.
“I believe Lucy needs to be disciplined for interrupting our conversation with her lusty sounds,” Tina said firmly but when Ben looked over at her he caught the twinkle in her eyes. Ben felt Lucy trembling on the mattress and her breathing was a little erratic. He smiled at Tina.
Ben growled and pulled Lucy to the centre of the bed but flipped her over onto her stomach. He dropped his body over hers and pinned her to the mattress under himself. Lucy gasped as she felt the heat and thickness of his cock growing between her ass cheeks. Tina was smiling broadly seeing how excited Lucy had become. She was caught by surprise and squeaked when Ben slid his fingers into her thick black hair and pulled her mouth to his to take a kiss.
It was a little awkward kissing Tina over Lucy’s head but the auburn beauty was gasping with need and was trying to force her ass back against his cock when he pulled back from Tina’s lips. The Korean woman gasped and stared at Ben’s lips hungrily.