that I could take both of you weenies at the same
time in a fair fight,” Timothy sneered.
“But can you take on four cops?” Roy asked.
“They don't fight fair. They use nightsticks and tasers and
handcuffs.”
“Huh?”
“You assault one of us and the other one is
going to call nine one one. The cops will have you out of here
before you can blink and that will give Stan and me lots of time to
flip a coin for the girl.”
Timothy flushed with anger. “You pussy. Only
an asshole would call the cops on a fair fight.”
“Whatever. Just put the whole free-for-all
brawl idea out to pasture. It's not going to happen. The first guy
to throw a punch will be the first guy out the door.” Roy glanced
at Felicity. Her face was flushed and her eyes were sparkling. Then
he glanced at Stan. He was smiling confidently.
There was a minute of silence, then Stan
said, “If it's up to us, we can make a rather different decision
than the one that she gave us.” He spoke as though Felicity were
not in the room; or maybe as though she were an object with no
volition of her own. Which was exactly how she had presented
herself. “Her rules don't have to be binding. There's nothing to
stop us from deciding to stay and share equally. The only question
is who gets which hole first. I think a couple of coin flips will
decide that.”
“Oh, no,” Felicity said quickly. “I made that
clear. Only one guy gets dessert. The other two get nothing.”
Timothy looked back at her with flat,
reptilian eyes. “You don't get to set all the rules, lady. You've
had your fun; now we're going to have our own kind of game.”
Stan nodded. “It'll be your word against
ours. And, considering that you invited three strange men to your
apartment all at the same time, your word won't carry much
weight.”
Felicity smiled enigmatically. “It's not
about my word, it's simple physics.” She stood and stepped back
from the table to give all three men a clear view. To their
surprise and joy, she unbuttoned her blouse and shrugged it off. As
Roy and the others had already realized, she was not wearing a bra.
Her breasts, full and round underneath the silk, proved to be
wonderfully nubile when exposed to view. He heard Timothy gasp and
Stan chuckle softly.
Roy waited for the hammer to fall. She wasn't
offering herself to them without a plan.
Her plan was revealed when she unbuttoned,
unzipped, and then dropped her miniskirt to her ankles. As Roy had
noted, her stockings were supported by a black garter belt. But he
had not guessed what she would be wearing in place of panties. He
laughed. Felicity was no fool.
“Is that metal panties?” Timothy's voice
sounded confused.
“It's a chastity belt,” Roy replied. “Nobody
gets into the lady until she unlocks it.”
“Who's got the key?” Stan's calm demeanor had
taken a sudden turn to the nasty.
“She's got it herself,” Roy replied.
“Contrary to popular myth, medieval ladies were not locked up by
their husbands against their will for long periods of time. They
locked themselves into the belts during dangerous moments to keep
from being raped. They were free to unlock themselves any time they
wanted to make love. She's using her chastity belt exactly as
intended – to protect herself from violent rape.”
Felicity smiled. “To make this perfectly
clear. If there's only one man in the apartment at seven o'clock,
then I'll give him the key and he can unlock my treasure.” She
gestured to the small radial lock that was set into the front of
the belt. “If you haven't made a decision by then, the belt stays
on until everyone is gone and I can go to bed alone.”
There was another minute of silence while the
men thought about the implications of this latest development.
Again, it was Stan who broke the spell. This time he addressed the
half-naked woman directly. “What if you decide that you don't want
any of us and welch on the deal? If only one of us is here at
seven, there's nothing to
Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, J. A. Konrath