Robert Klink looked at the stacks of money spread out on the table in front of him.  "How much?" he asked Paul, glancing at Bill Anderson the only other elder in the room.

Rhianna and Paul had brought the money down with them, not willing to leave it where anyone could find it.  Immediately on their return, they had sought Robert out for his advice.  Paul had a lot of authority here in the Compound, but something this big, he wanted help on.

"Three million, give or take a few thousand," Paul replied.

They were in Robert's apartment, where he and Bill were playing cards to pass the time.  Sydney, Bill's dog, was sleeping next to the fireplace.

Bill raised his eyebrows and whistled, while Robert frowned.

"Tell me again, I want to hear the entire story."

Paul glanced over at where Rhianna knelt on the floor pillows in front of the fireplace.  She was under orders not to talk unless asked first.  Robert was of the old school and more rigid about the place of women in the Compound.  So Paul told the story of the robbery, the plane crash, the strong suspicions that Shawna was one of the bank robbers, and the discovery of the crash site and the money.

All through this, Robert shook his head.  He was not a happy man.

"What are your intentions, Paul?" Robert asked.

"I think it's pretty obvious, Robert.  We collect the girl and take her back to town with the money she stole," Paul said.

Robert looked over at Rhianna, who nodded in agreement.

"Well," he said, "if you've made up your mind, what are you doing here?"

Paul opened his mouth, but didn't say anything for a moment.  "I thought...I thought you might have some input on this."

"Well," said Robert, "like you said, it's rather obvious what we should do.  Returning the money is the proper thing to do; anything else wouldn't be right.  But...you are aware of what happened while you and young Rhianna here were off doing your police thing?"

"We're aware," said Paul.

"The young lady you intend to send back to the waiting arms of the law did us an important service, possibly saving the life of Raul Alvaro.  You know that we have needed someone capable of fixing Doctor Miller's gadgets for a while now.  It costs this community dearly whenever we send something to town to be fixed."

"I know, but..." said Paul.

"This young woman could be just who we need!"

Rhianna couldn't hold her tongue.  "But she's wanted, Sir," she said.  "She robbed a bank, stole all that money, and tried to get away with it."

"Tried to get away with it?" Robert asked her, only slightly annoyed at her interruption.

"She had ample opportunity to tell us about the crash and the robbery.  She could have confessed all, and shown some remorse at the death of her partner, but I haven't seen any such behavior on her part."

"And if she had?"

"Well...it would have gone better for her at her trial."

Robert glanced at Bill, who shrugged.  Robert sighed.  "We need to talk.  Not a word, either of you, to anyone about this!  Now go!"

"You're going to discuss this with the other elders?"  Paul asked.

"Yes."

"Alright.  But what about Shawna?  I think it might be wise if we isolated her right away."

"Why?  I doubt she's going anywhere.  Besides, we prefer her right where she is for the moment."

Paul's face darkened.  He was always willing to take the advice of the elders, treating their words with the respect due them as the most experienced members of the community.  Robert Klink was a person Paul especially admired and listened to, for Robert used to have Paul's job many years ago.  But advice was all it was; Paul didn't have to do what they said if he didn't want to.  He WAS the Guardian, the man in charge of the whole community.  But respect for the elders' decisions was something everyone here was taught from birth, which was why the more far-reaching decisions about the Compound were left up to them.

Paul thought about this for a moment, confused as to what the elders really wanted from Shawna.  But he decided to follow their advice once more.  "Okay," he said, and he turned to leave.

Rhianna got up, frustrated once more at the crazy way things were done around here, and said her own good-byes before leaving.

"Do you think that nephew of yours will do something rash, Bill?" Robert asked once the two old men were alone once more.

"Paul, no.  Had it been his brother, I might have worried.  But you had better not push the man too far, he is liable to decide his own moral views are more important than the Compound's.  He has a lot of his father in him."

"I always thought that Matthew was more like the father than Paul."

Bill chuckled and picked up his cards.  "Matthew is wild like his mother was.  And he picked a wild one for a wife.  I think we ought to be worrying more about her than anyone else!"

Robert sighed.  "You may be right, but if she keeps her silence and does what she's told, then things will work out for all of us.  Now, help me bag this money so we can go find the others.  I think we need to have a conference."

Bill put down his cards and picked up a bundle of bills.  "It isn't even decent fire starter!"

---***---

 "Is that it?"  Rhianna asked Paul as they left Robert's quarters behind.

"For now, yes."

"You're just going to let her run around here, free?"

"As Robert said, why not?  Don't you have a class to get to?"

Rhianna frowned, not happy.  "But I..."

"Rhianna!" said Paul forcibly.  "It's done.  We're going to wait to see what the elders come up with.  If it makes sense, then we do what they suggest.  It's the way things are done here, like it or not!"

"So you're going to let her go unpunished for what she did?"

Paul smiled.  "I doubt that she would go unpunished, but what Robert said was true, we need someone with her skills here.  If there is a way to do both, would that satisfy you?"

"Perhaps," replied Rhianna.

"Good, I'm glad we can make you happy.  I'm sure it's on their minds as well.  Now go, I've taken you away from the school for long enough today."

"Fine," said Rhianna, "but don't let them make a mistake."

Paul shrugged and walked away.

---***---

Shawna, now clean, was tidying up Grady's apartment.  Grady was in bed again, sleeping off another one of Gabe's mountain remedies.

The couple had made it to the Bathhouse without incident, and Shawna had been grateful for the opportunity to wash off the green slime that had coated her body.  Her skin still held a slightly green tinge, but she knew from last time that it would go away in another day.

Grady and Shawna had also talked.  Not a lot, as circumstances worked out, but enough to mend a few fences.

Shawna apologized for her actions of the night before, pleading temporary insanity due to her condition.  While Grady apologized for throwing her out, pleading insanity due to HIS condition.

The couple was actually able to smile at all the insanity, and Grady asked if she was willing to come back.

Shawna said yes, she was actually looking forward to spending time with the man.  She wanted to know more about him, she wanted to help him get over his grief.  She could even admit to herself that she was attracted to the man beyond the surface attraction she had for his body.  The man inside was one she wanted to get to know.

Shawna was feeling something she hadn't felt in a long time.  She felt that there were now possibilities in her life where none had existed before.  Always she had been at the mercy of the man she was with, either her father or Dirk.  But now she had the power to choose her own path, and the choice was difficult.

On one hand, she had all that money waiting for her.  With it, she could go anywhere or do anything.  But she would always be looking over her shoulder, wondering if the law was on her tail.

On the other hand, she could stay here; they obviously needed someone of her talents.  Shawna had seen lots of other things she might be needed to fix hidden away in Gabe's storeroom, and the generator itself was old and in need of service.

Another reason to stay was the men.  Grady...he needed her, she thought.  And she felt she needed someone just like him to help her become a true person instead of the shell she thought she was.  But there was also Gabe.  Poor Gabe.

Shawna felt bad about what had happened the night before.  She had practically raped the man, and she could tell that he now bore a crush on her.

She liked him but would have to let him down easy somehow.  Shawna paused in her work and went over to where Grady slept.  She pulled up the blanket that covered him and tucked him in a little.

Sitting in the tub with her while she washed, Grady had suddenly passed out.  Apparently the hot water and his fever had gotten the best of him.  That and the medicine Gabe had given him earlier.

Some friends of his helped her get him back to the apartment and into bed.  She stroked one of his cheeks and decided to leave him alone for a bit.  She was hungry and had missed both breakfast and lunch.  She looked forlornly at the shirt she had been given at the Smithy, and then at the closet holding Cheryl's things.

Shawna was nude right now, and despite earlier exposure, wasn't up to going out in this condition again.  So she opened the closet and found something to wear.

She put a loincloth on, and found a thigh length leather skirt with a matching top that laced up the sides.

It fit snugly, but Shawna was glad for the support it gave her breasts.  She hadn't gone around without a bra this much since she first started wearing them.

With a final look at Grady, she left in search of food.

---***---

Paul had Patch saddle a couple of horses for him, and he now rode down the mountain to town.  He expected to meet Gabe at the hospital there, for that was where the Compound's injured were usually taken.  But Paul had another stop to make first.  He was hoping to pump Sheriff Kinkade for more information about the robbery.  He needed to make sure that whatever decision was made about Shawna, was the right one.

---***---

It was a happy crowd at dinner that night.  Shawna was thanked over and over for her actions that morning, and the Alvaro family insisted she come eat with them.  She was even served by one of the younger Alvaro sisters, and treated like royalty by Raul's grateful mother.

Shawna lapped up the praise, having received so little in her life.  She hadn't realized just how good it felt to do something for someone else, without that person bribing or scaring her into doing it.

It made her feel warm inside, and she couldn't stop smiling.

Three tables away, Rhianna watched Shawna.  Rhianna was having trouble reconciling the image of the evil bank robber with the Shawna she knew and heard about that day.  Yes, the woman was guilty, Rhianna had no doubts about that, but such things were rarely that cut and dried.  WHY did Shawna rob the bank?  WHO was her partner?  WHO'S idea was it?  WAS Shawna a willing accomplice?  WHAT were her intentions now?

There were hundreds more questions flying through her head, but Rhianna couldn't ask any of them.  The time she spent with Shawna the day before at the lake was supposed to have confirmed her suspicions that Shawna was nothing but trouble.  But in that short time, Rhianna had found a different person than she had expected, an image confirmed by today's actions.  Rhianna was confused, and didn't like it.

She sighed and focused her attention on her own family.

Matthew sat in Paul's place at the head of the table because Paul was still in town.  He looked good playing his temporary role as Head of the House, and lorded over his family in a good-natured way.  He had Lilly giggling by doing a dead-on impersonation of his brother's weighty persona, right down to the disapproving frown he sometimes wore when hearing about Matthew's latest idea for Compound "Improvements", such as the time he tried to convince the kitchen to make hamburgers.   Rhianna began to smile along with the rest of the family, and soon she was laughing at her husband's antics.  Matthew caught her eye, and the two of them shared a moment together staring into each other's eyes.

Elizabeth, Paul's wife, saw the look and smiled inwardly.  She was so glad that Matthew had found someone, and Rhianna was the best choice he could ever have made.

As Rhianna helped Lilly clear the table, Matthew looked up at her and reminded her that they had an appointment that evening.

"What appointment?" Rhianna asked him, her mind still half on the events of the day.

"We have that group class tonight," Matthew said.

"Oh no.  Is that tonight?" Rhianna said with a sigh.  "Look, Matt, I don't think tonight is a good night for it."

"Nonsense, Pet.  I know you have a lot on your mind (Rhianna had filled Matthew in on everything the moment she saw him), but you can't do anything but wait.  This will help fill the time, and maybe it will distract you a little."

"Gee.  I'm not sure I want to get tied up again for one of your classes."

"Pet!  I need you.  Besides, you look wonderfully sexy all bound in rope, and you know how these classes affect me afterward."

Rhianna smiled.  Yes, she knew very well how randy her husband got, especially after the big group class.  He could barely contain himself enough to untie her first before making love to her.  Many a time he didn't even bother!

"Oh, all right," she said, giving in.

"Good."

Rhianna collected his plate and left the table.

"I hear those classes of yours are becoming quite popular," Elizabeth said to him.

"That they are.  You and Paul should come by sometime."

Elizabeth smiled and shook her head.  "We're fine."

"What about you, Lilly?" Matthew asked his niece, who had just come back from the kitchen area.

"Me what?" she said, picking up the last of the cups.

"What about you, and that guy you like, dropping by my class tonight on rope bondage."

"What guy?" asked the teenager, blushing a little.

"That dark haired kid; what's his name, Carlos?" Matthew teased.

"I don't like him...I mean I do, but he's just a friend."  Lilly was blushing even more at the thought of being tied up by the rather handsome looking Carlos.  "I can't tonight anyway, I'm still watching the stocks."

"Oh, oh well, another time," Matthew said with a grin, and Lilly left red faced.

"You tease her too much," Elizabeth said, slapping his had lightly.

"Yeah, but it's fun, isn't it?"

Elizabeth smiled.

---***---

If Lilly HAD accepted Matthew's offer to join the class, he would have had to say she couldn't, for Matthew's advanced bondage group class was definitely for adults only.

Only married couples were allowed, because many of the ties he taught were of a sensuous nature.  People took sex out of marriage seriously here; it was never to be done.

Not that couples had sex in Matt's class; oh no. While the Compound was liberal, it wasn't THAT liberal.  But the sexual possibilities, while unsaid, were still very clear.  Not only that, but there wasn't a man in the group that didn't miss the opportunity to have a quick grope while their wife was helplessly trussed up.

One thing that made Matthew always laugh though, was that no one ever missed doing their homework.

Group was fun for Matthew, but not so much for Rhianna.  For one thing, she was still embarrassed being bound in front of so many people; and the positions Matthew chose for this group were usually much more revealing than she cared for.

Her normal attire for these sessions was just her loincloth, and she was glad Matthew let her wear that much.  Most of the other women also just wore theirs, but some were stripped completely by their men.

Topless, Rhianna felt vulnerable once bound, although she knew she had no rational reason for that feeling.  She was in the company of people that would never take advantage of her or harm her, and she trusted her husband completely.  But there was still a part of her that remembered all those times when she was at someone's mercy while working undercover for the FBI, and while the scars on her body were all but invisible under her tan, the scars in her mind ran deep.

So she struggled a little in the ropes that held her, uncomfortable but willing to continue.

Matthew had chosen for the first tie of the night, a partial suspension.  Rhianna was standing on one leg, the other folded up and tied out of the way, her bent knee raised to the ceiling and lifted to one side.  This opened up her crotch completely, and Rhianna was again grateful for the loincloth.  Since she had no hair down there, she would have been completely exposed to the rest of the room.

Her arms were bound behind her in a Japanese style, folded wrists to elbows, with rope wrapped around her body holding them tight to her.  The ropes also wrapped her breasts, pushing them out a little and framing them.  Matthew emphasized beauty as well as function in his ties, and Rhianna was always the model for his illustrations.

A rope ran from the back of her rope harness to the ceiling, helping her maintain her balance, and a gag completed the ensemble, a leather ball that filled her mouth, held in with a wide leather strap.  It was very effective, and Rhianna could say nothing at all.

This was how Rhianna had spent what seemed like the last couple of hours.  Matthew's style of teaching was to first show the couple or the group the tie they would be doing, by binding Rhianna up first while they watched.  Then he would have them do it while Rhianna remained tied, a model for them to follow.

Sometimes one of the men would come up to her and check to see how a knot was done or how a rope was threaded, leaving her with a grin on his face.  Rhianna figured Matthew taught this way simply so she would spend the maximum amount of time in bondage possible in the class.

So she stood and watched, while the eight couples in tonight's class all tried to copy Matthew's creation.  Eight more women were bound standing as Rhianna was, and she could see that a couple of them were regretting their decision to come without loincloths.

Matthew went from couple to couple, offering advice and occasionally redoing a knot or something.  But he would frequently come over to Rhianna to see if she was okay, and to give her a light caress and a kiss.

When he was close, Rhianna could feel her heart speed up a little, and his touch excited her despite the bondage; or was it because of it?

She still wasn't sure if she truly liked it or not, but there was no denying that she found herself more quickly aroused when bound.  Again Rhianna wondered about conditioning, until the next time Matthew came by to touch her.

It was another reason Rhianna was glad for the loincloth; her arousal in her hairless state would be very obvious.  It was bad enough her nipples had to get so hard.

Once all the ties were complete and all the men had sufficiently teased their wives, privately of course, Matthew would release Rhianna and then proceed to another tie.  This time the bound students would be forced to wait in their bondage until Matthew was done tying Rhianna anew, before being released themselves.

The second bondage of the night was usually more relaxing, but no less exposing.  This time Rhianna was placed on her knees, her face to the floor.  Her wrists were tied to the outsides of her ankles, her elbows to her knees.

Of course, this thrust her ass high in the air, and the possibilities of this position was not lost on anyone

The women were untied, and most were eagerly bound in a similar fashion.  It wasn't that some of the women were there against their will, but a few of them still regretted not wearing their loincloths, and found nudity at THIS level to be just a bit more than they were used to.

All the men loved it, and not a few hands stayed in contact with upraised cheeks while Matthew did his final tie of the night.

The last tie was usually a tight one, and Matthew didn't disappoint his class tonight.  He put Rhianna in a partial ball tie, her knees bound to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs and heavily bound with rope.  The one difference was her ankles.  Instead of being folded down and tied together close to her butt, Matthew instead brought them up together behind her head, pushing her head forward so he could tie them together there.  Rhianna was extremely glad for the stretching exercises she did, and she could see that a lot of the women stared in wide-eyed horror at what was to come.  It was why Rhianna always started the class off with a series of exercises designed to help their flexibility.  Rhianna hoped they had been practicing THOSE at home too.

Rhianna thought Matthew was done when he finished her feet, but he had one more thing to do.  He took some rope and tied one end to her ankles, the other end going through a ring Matthew had mounted in the ceiling of the classroom.  Pulling on the rope, he was able to bring Rhianna's feet up so that she was balanced on her buttocks.

Again Rhianna felt very exposed, but Matthew took a moment to make sure none of her ropes were too tight, caressing her all over in the process.  Then came the last surprise.  Matthew pulled on the rope some more, and lifted her off the ground.  He left her suspended a few feet off the floor, and went on to lecture about pressure points and spreading the load properly.

She hung around while the men bound their own women.  Those not flexible enough to do what Rhianna did were simply bound in a conventional ball tie.  The others were hoisted up like Rhianna was, until the room looked like a butcher's freezer, with big slabs of meet hanging from the ceiling.

No slabs of meat were so attentively cared for, though, and Rhianna could tell that the smell of sex in the air was not coming just from her.  Helpless in her bondage, she could only watch and listen as the men shyly teased their very aroused wives.

Matthew got their attention with one final lecture about safety that Rhianna thought was far too long, then he dismissed the class and helped untie some of his students.

Many of the men opted to keep their women bound, and some were strong enough to carry their prizes out the door 'as-is'!

Matthew of course didn't make a move to untie Rhianna until the last couple left, then with a grin he approached his wife with a look she knew so well.  Rhianna had to wonder at his self-control.  While he also wore nothing but a loincloth while he was teaching, Rhianna had never seen him aroused, something easy to spot in that brief outfit.  Yet the moment they were alone, he pulled off his covering to reveal an already erect penis that could NOT have been hard just a few seconds before.

With a grin, Matthew reached out and ripped Rhianna's loincloth off her, exposing her sweet spot to the room.  The still gagged woman worried about someone stepping into the room at that moment, but knew that she could do nothing to stop what was going to happen.  Not that she wanted to anyway, to be honest.

Rhianna was at just the right height for Matthew to slip comfortably into her, a fact not lost to most of the men earlier.  He stared into her eyes as he began to pump into her helpless body, whispering of his love and her beauty and caressing her with his fingers.

Rhianna held his gaze, but the rest of her was lost to the sensual feel of him inside her.  Gone was the discomfort of her position, gone was the fear of being discovered in such intimate conditions, and gone was her worry about Shawna and the robbery.

Matthew had been right, she really needed this, it was the perfect distraction; and as they came together, Rhianna was once more as Matthew wanted her to be, a complete woman.
 
 

End of Part 13