The Iceman's Wrath Ch. 05

Hi all!

So this one has been a long time coming. I would like to formally apologize for the incredibly long wait on this. I started writing this in January of 2017. When the real world got in the way, I had to make a choice to take a break from this to work on my other series, and the delays kept piling on. By the time I sat down to finish it earlier this year, my writing skill and style had evolved quite a bit, so I spent a long time re-reading my own work in the attempt to recapture that original voice to make sure I gave you a quality ending to this series.

And yes, this is the end of Iceman's Wrath, but it is a good one. I appreciate the patience of all of you who not only waited, but were supportive of my efforts from the beginning. I cherish my readers here on Lit, and absolutely refused to leave you with an unfinished story, and definitely didn't want to just 'put something out.'

I could write plenty more here about a lot of things, but you've waited long enough. The characters in this story are all over the age of eighteen. Though their choices may be terrible, they are perfectly legal. I hope you enjoy this, the final chapter of The Iceman's Wrath.

*****

Full Circle

Jason sat on his back porch, his eyes glued to his neighbor's home. The lights in their house had just come back on, but sure enough, they only lasted a minute before going out again. He shook his head and walked back into his well-chilled paradise carrying the steaks he had just pulled off the grill.

Christmas had come and gone, and a chance meeting with a hot sales girl at Home Depot had led to research into solar panels. While not entirely off the grid, he did get one of those expensive battery packs, which meant that when everyone else was dealing with power loss, he was at home enjoying peace and quiet in his climate-controlled paradise.

Well, whenever the girls weren't coming over. Megan and Ling had dropped by during their spring break, and he had been forced to lay in bed for a day after they left, just to recover. The two of them had enrolled in a yoga class, meaning they had far more energy than he did now (and were far more flexible). Maria's break had been shortly after, but Naomi had come home for a brief visit at the same time, which had saved him from the feisty Latina's newfound obsession with anal sex.

After spring break, he heard from them all sporadically. Megan and Ling's parents were taking them on an Alaskan cruise in the summer, and Maria was traveling to South America for a mission where she would be helping a local village rebuild after a devastating flood. Naomi wasn't coming home until late July due to a backpacking trip with a new friend which meant that he was looking at a long, hot summer alone.

Which was why he decided to spend thousands of dollars to make sure his AC was working. If he was going to be alone, he was at least going to be comfortable. He had turned off almost all the lights in his home, the sole illumination coming from a reading lamp next to his couch and the soft glow of Netflix on his smart TV. He had smartly downloaded the series he wanted to watch prior to the blackouts, running it through a system of devices that a buddy had helped him hook up.

Happily thumbing through to the next episode of Stranger Things, he settled in for a comfortable evening with a pair of small ribeyes and a six-pack of Reverend. He briefly considered making something else for dinner but was too lazy to go back to the kitchen. He set his plate down on the side table, narrowly missing Wild Jason and Dad Jason. The two of them were playing cards on a miniature table of their own, identical meals in front of them.

Jason sucked down a can of Reverend, letting out a long belch. He counted nine seconds before breaking off. Not bad, he thought, cutting himself a piece of steak.

Winona Ryder was busy freaking out over christmas lights when the knock came at his door. Puzzled, he opened his phone, checking his calendar. The new rule for the girls was no more surprises—he needed to know when they were dropping by from now on so that he could plan accordingly. He hadn't had any issues yet, but he knew things could get weird very fast if someone showed up while he was entertaining someone else. Or God forbid Naomi came home while he was busy plowing Maria's ass in the shower, or that time Megan and Ling took turns blowing him on the couch while they watched porn together. She clearly had some idea that he was being naughty with her friends, but knowing was definitely different from seeing.

The knock came again, a little faster this time. He stood up, a bit unsteady on his feet, the Reverend kicking in. Slapping his cheeks, the sting was enough to stabilize him. Wild Jason and Dad Jason watched him walk away. Tossing their cards on the table, they followed, jumping down from the table onto the carpet. Wild Jason landed badly, and a bunch of face-cards busted free from his socks, spilling everywhere. He scooped them up quickly, then tucked them in his pockets while running to keep up.

"Hello?" Jason opened the door.

"Hello Mr. Dawes." He didn't recognize her at first. Her mascara had smeared across her face, and her hair was a tangled mess. She wore a thin fabric hoodie that was long enough that she could be naked underneath and nobody would know it. However, it was her legs that sparked the memory, the toned legs of a varsity cheerleader.

"Brianne? Are you okay?" He saw that she was wearing a backpack and carrying a suitcase. "Um, come in?"

"Thank you, Mr. Dawes." She picked up her things and walked through the door. Wild Jason and Dad Jason looked at her, then each other. They both shrugged; neither of them knew who was needed yet.

"Are you hurt? Do I need to call somebody?"

Brianne let out a dry laugh. "There's nobody to call. I only came here because Naomi told me to."

"I thought you two weren't speaking?" He hadn't heard his daughter mention Brianne since she had walked out his front door a year ago.

"We reconnected over spring break. It's a long story, and I haven't showered in a few days. Would it be okay if I used Naomi's room tonight? She said that I could, but I want to make sure it's okay with you."

"Yeah, of course. Do you want me to wait up?"

"No thank you. I'm just going to go to sleep, if that's okay." Her eyes were full of defeat, that rebellious spark from a year ago long gone.

"Look, if you're hungry, I have some steaks I just pulled off the grill."

At the mention of food, Brianne's eyes lifted to his. "I don't want to eat your dinner or anything."

"Gotta be honest, I was making a pig of myself." He patted his rock hard abs. "Was planning to binge some shows and binge some steak, but I always hate myself in the morning for it." He gave her a playful wink. "Seriously, one of them was probably just going to be breakfast tomorrow."

"I... uh..." Indecision was written on her face, but it was clear

"Hey, look. Why don't you go grab a shower and I'll save you one. If you're still hungry, you're welcome to join me, but if you just want to go to bed, shout down at me so that I can put it in the fridge."

"Okay, thank you." She walked past him and up the stairs, her jacket far enough away from her legs that he could see she was, in fact, wearing clothes under her coat. He stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened to her move across the house, Naomi's bedroom door closing.

He walked back to the living room and waited. After several minutes, the shower turned on and he tapped his daughter's name on his phone. It rang a couple times before she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's dad. I had a question for you."

"Brianne came over, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Your psychic powers work across oceans now?"

"Nah, she called me an hour ago and woke me up."

"Oh shit." He realized that it was the middle of the night in Europe. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't. I knew you would call if she showed up, so Alexus and I are on the roof of our hostel watching clouds float across the moon." In the background, Jason heard a feminine voice say hi to him. "She says hi, by the way."

"Tell her hi back. Is Brianne okay? Do I need to get the police involved?"

"It's bad, but not like that. I'll let her tell you, but the short version is that her dad gambled away her college money."

"Damn." He shook his head. "Sounds like a piece of shit."

"He always has been. She can use my room for whatever. Just be nice to her."

"Oh?" Jason arched an eyebrow at Winona Ryder, her face frozen in shock on his tv. "Be... nice?"

Naomi laughed. "She still has a thing for you. That's the reason she didn't want to come over to your house. However, she feels like it's the safest place for her, so had some mixed feelings about it."

Still has a thing for you. Naomi's words echoed in his ears and Wild Jason grabbed the front of his pants, ripping them off in one smooth motion and scattering playing cards everywhere, his massive hard-on pressing against the fabric of his boxers. Dad Jason sighed and walked into the corner where he sat down, facing away from the room.

"... and so I told her to just go over there and get away from him. I mean, even if something were to happen between you two, at least it would take her mind off of things."

Jason realized he had accidentally tuned his daughter out.

"You think something is going to happen?"

Naomi laughed. It was Jason's favorite sound in the world.

"Dad, really. I still talk to my friends. I've heard some stories."

"Oh." He wondered what Winona Ryder would say if she could see his face right now. "How much?"

"We're women, dad. We tell each other everything. Maybe it's weird, but I'm glad you can be there for them. You're like a safe space for horny co-eds." He heard Alexus say something to Naomi. "I gotta go. I'll see you at the end of summer. Love you."

"Love you too." He set down the phone. That call had been fairly illuminating. He had suspected that Naomi knew, but not that she was intimately familiar with it. It was with mixed feelings that he turned and pressed play on his remote, his attention drifting away from Winona's Christmas lights. Dad Jason was still in the corner, his knees pulled up to his face in shame.

It made him uncomfortable to think about Maria telling him about how he had tied her to the bed once and made her beg him to fuck her in the ass until he came. Twice.

Did they embellish details? Or maybe they toned it down and made it sound more romantic. He wasn't sure how Megan could sell romance involving her step-sister, though he did take them out for frozen yogurt once. Not that it had been romantic, but the two of them had licked it all off of his dick later that night.

Wild Jason had set up a projector, his boner poking through the holes of his boxers. He was frantically pointing at images of Jason's Greatest Hits for Dad Jason in a sad attempt to cheer him up. Dad Jason covered his eyes and sounded suspiciously like he was crying.

"Shit." Jason realized that he had tuned out the last fifteen minutes of show and hit rewind. He had no idea what was going on now. Listening to Winona go on about the lights, he ran to the kitchen for a spare plate and cutlery, and was headed back into the living room.

The sounds of the shower had stopped and Jason tilted his gaze toward the ceiling. He could hear her walking through his daughter's room now, her footsteps disappearing where Naomi's bed was. After a long wait, he heard the bedroom door open and the soft descent of footsteps down his stairs.

Brianne turned the corner, her hair twisted up into a towel. She wore one of Naomi's night shirts, a graphic tee with the Millenium Falcon on the front. From where he sat, he couldn't tell if she wore anything underneath, and Wild Jason sprinted across the room to take a peek.

"Are you sure it's okay if I eat dinner with you?" Her voice was vulnerable, striking a chord deep within him. Dad Jason immediately spun about, removing himself from the corner. He put Wild Jason in a choke hold and wrestled him to the floor, knocking over his projector.

"Of course. Here, I got you all set up." He handed her the plate. "I also have bagged salad in the fridge and Doritos in the cupboard. Wasn't sure what you would want to eat with your steak."

"Thanks." She walked past him to the fridge and made herself the salad, emptying the bag into a bowl. She bent over to tuck the empty bag in the trash under his sink, revealing a silky pair of black panties that clung to her ass like they had been painted on.

Dad, Jason tackled Wild Jason to the ground, and the two of them came to blows. Taking a boxer stance, Dad Jason punched Wild Jason hard enough that even more playing cards fell loose from his boxers, fluttering to the floor. When Wild Jason knelt down to try and catch them, an uppercut made his eyes roll up in his head.

Jason walked into the living room and sat down, then turned his attention to the TV. A couple minutes later, she sat down next to him. She had crumbled up some Doritos and sprinkled them across the top of her salad.

"Do you want me to put something else on?"

"No, it's fine. It'll take my mind off of things."

"Okay." He hit play and sat back. The rest of the episode played while he finished his beer. Brianne picked at her food at first, but over time the show caught her interest and she relaxed, slowly cutting steak and chewing it carefully. She nearly finished the food on her plate and let out a sigh, leaning back on the couch with her legs slightly spread.

The next episode started, and he took her plate. Dumping the leftovers in the trash, he tossed it all in the dishwasher and then returned. Brianne's eyes were glazing over and she looked like she was about to pass out.

"C'mon." He held out a hand. "You should go to bed."

Letting out a sigh, she nodded and let him pull her up. She walked to the stairs and didn't even look back before heading up them. Jason briefly wondered if he should follow her up and make sure she got settled, but instead sat back on the couch.

If she decided she wanted to talk, she'd let him know.

Throughout the night, he dreamt of a warm body pressed against his, clinging onto him like a raft in a storm. However, he awoke to find that he had been by himself all night, passed out on top of the covers with another can of Reverend on his nightstand.

"Ugh." He hadn't brushed his teeth before bed and now his mouth tasted like a latrine. He rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom, the blinding light of the sun sneaking in through his curtains. Once he was in front of the bathroom mirror, he found the mouthwash and gave his mouth a quick rinse.

He accidentally swallowed some and coughed. Spitting out the wash, he brushed his teeth real fast and then mouthwashed again. Looking in the mirror, he saw that his hair stood up in every direction and it was clear he hadn't shaved in a couple of days.

He put his pants on and walked down the hallway to the top of the stairs. From the second floor, he could smell the sweet odor of bacon frying in a pan. Following his nose, he walked down the stairs and around the corner of his living room to see Brianne in an oversized shirt standing in his kitchen, her attention on one of his skillets.

"Good morning." He announced his arrival and couldn't help but notice how the light scattered through her auburn streaked curls and cast shadows on the back of her smooth legs. She was mindlessly humming a tune to herself, shifting her weight back and forth to the beat, her hips creating a hypnotic display.

When she didn't respond, he moved closer and was about to repeat himself when he saw the pink cords dangling from her ears. He moved to the side instead, and she caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh, Mr. Dawes!" She nearly dropped her spatula, then gave him a big smile and pulled out one of her earbuds. "I'm making breakfast!"

"I smell that. What are we having?" He leaned over the stove to look. She had scrambled eggs and put them in a serving bowl and was currently frying some bacon strips next to some hash browns. "Looks good."

"Thank you." She blushed and pointed to the coffee pot. "It's ready, in case you want some now. I'll still be a few minutes."

"Great." He saw that she had placed a pair of mugs next to the machine and grinned. He poured himself a cup and then filled the other most of the way. "Do you take cream?"

Brianne blushed even brighter, a stupid grin crossing her face. "Yeah, I would like some."

"How much?" He opened the fridge and pulled it out.

"Top off the cup please." She flipped over another piece of bacon while watching him, then took the cup from his hands. "I hope it's okay that I started cooking."

"Yeah, of course. My house is your house." Jason found a place at the table and sat, his eyes on the young woman's back. When the bacon was done, she stood on her tiptoes to reach the serving plates, revealing yellow striped panties. He forgot to swallow his coffee for a moment, then looked away when she turned around.

"Do you eat ketchup on your hash browns?" she asked him.

"Nope, I like em plain." He could see her in the reflection of his backdoor. She was still looking at him, but he couldn't quite make out her facial expression. The sound of serving spoons was followed with her arrival at the table. Three slices of perfectly cooked bacon lay on top of the eggs and potatoes, and she sat down across from him with an identical plate. They ate in silence, and Jason's eyes slid across Brianne and to his backyard. The yard needed to be mowed soon, or it would become overgrown, and some mint had taken over one of the mulched areas in the back.

Jason frowned. He hated pulling weeds, but refused to use the spray. Not only did it stink, but he heard it might hurt the bees, or something similar.

"I suppose you're wondering about it." When Brianne broke the silence, his eyes slid back to her.

"Excuse me?"

"About what happened."

He didn't think that telling her he was worried about his lawn would help his case any, so he just nodded.

"This is so embarrassing." She shifted what was left of her plate away from her and took a drink of water. "Well, um, after I went off to college, I was struggling a bit. Over the summer, I kind of had the realization that maybe I didn't like the person I was becoming. At the end of high school. I actually went on a bit of a road trip, by myself, to clear my head. Well... When college started, I wanted to be different. College is when you're supposed to reinvent yourself anyway, and I... I had a bit of a reputation that I didn't want to follow me. So, when I moved in to my dorm and started going to class, I laid low."

"Go on."

"It was hard. When you're the queen bitch, nobody bothers you, but when you used to be the bitch? It's almost like the whole world tries to kick you while you're down." Brianne hung her head. "It wasn't going well for me. I didn't realize just how much my behavior in high school gave me an edge. It's so easy to get what you want when you're the pretty one, the head cheerleader, and you can flirt your way to an extension on your science project, or get a teacher to round your grade because he thinks you might be sexually interested in him. All of those things added up over the years, and once they were gone, I discovered that I was in a hole."

"Redefining yourself is hard," Jason told her. "So many people try to make big changes overnight not realizing that small changes over a period of time are easier to adapt to."

"Yeah, well, I don't have my own personal Yoda for advice like that." Brianne took a deep breath. "I met this girl in my math class that was essentially me a year ago, and this bitch was loaded, like a trust fund baby. We got in a study group together and I found out that she was a sophomore who lived off campus and made all of her money being a camgirl. Like, sometimes a couple thousand a week."