" You know." Shawna assured her, scooting the chair away from her desk. "Don't feel pressured into conforming to other people's labels — that's Marc...s' line, by the way, not mine." What if it's... I like Marcus, he's a nice guy, he'll treat me well. Why shouldn't it work?" If that was all there was to it, Marcus and I would be married with three kids by now." Shawna pointed out. "It needs to have passion, it needs to have, frankly, sex." And Marcus doesn't?" Not for me. Nor for you, from the. Everyone had an idea of what we should do, where we should go, how to measure success, and what was important. Having made my stand, my mother took over negotiations at the table. She and Riko explained to everyone what it meant to have a pod. It was a new concept to most of them who thought that Cindy and I would simply be boyfriend and girlfriend. For convenience sake. I gave Donna a one-armed hug.“Thank you for joining in my defense,” I said. “I didn’t expect you.”“Oh. Nanette and I were. Lamar said no one could find us.”“It wasn’t easy. You two covered your tracks pretty well for amateurs,” I suggested. “So are you ready to go home, or are you in love?”“I am ready to go home. I’ll pack and ride with you, if you are okay with it. Lamar left me yesterday and took the car I paid for. I was looking for an excuse to head home anyway,” she said.“I’ll carry your bags,” I said. “So how was the vacation?”“Better than an old lady cruise,” she admitted. “Of course I’m sore now and in a. “I told you I’ll do anything you want.”Dustin let go of her arm, dragging Bridgette to her feet by her hair and throwing the naked woman on the bed. She tried to scramble away as he tugged off his leather belt and advanced upon her.“Dustin, please,” she begged.The belt lashed out, curling around her ankle and sending a lance of fire through her body. A flurry of fast, vicious blows followed, striping her calves and legs as she howled in pain.“No, please, I’ll do what you want,” she cried out..