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“The reason I told you, Angel,” Father Daddy says, “is that your training is to understand your role in the Family. As a woman, you hold the key to managing our nature. Men are like animals. Women tend to them, nurture and coach them. Do you understand?”

I nod, but the nod ends i

n a shrug. I don't really understand.

“We are only beasts without you,” Brother Owen adds. “You are the balance that a man needs. It's your job to understand him. To anticipate him. To scold him when he needs to be scolded, and to service him when he needs to be serviced.”

I shudder, trying to understand. Could this be true? Could I really have a kind of power?

“What do you need?” I dare to ask.

Father Daddy shrugs. “All men need to release. It clears our minds and spirits. But there are two of us… what can you do?”

I sense that this is a challenge, a test. I sense that even with my limited understanding, I must already have all the information I need, or he would not have asked me.

I drop to my knees.

Father Daddy and Brother Owen turn toward me slightly as my hands float in the air, reaching for each of their trousers. I unzip both of them at the same time and release their beautiful manhoods. Holding them both at the same time, I stroke the velvety shafts from base to tip, delighting as they both grow rigid, so very rigid in my hands.

“That's good, so good,” Father Daddy groans. He tips his head back.

I begin to understand. I hear the urgency in their voices, their low, beastly rumbles. I stroke them, varying the pressure until I find the grip that elicits the most desperate sounds from their throats. In mere moments, I have them both ready, hard as timber, rolling their hips back and forth like pistons.

He was right. I do have this control. I can do a thing I've never even heard of before. I can bring them to the edge of what they want… Find the deep lust inside both of them and make it howl…

“I want to make you come,” I call out, lifting my chin. They both tilt their heads back to the ceiling at the same time, arching their backs and clawing at the air. Then both thicken suddenly my palms and release their seed. It spurts out, dousing my cheeks and chin with its pearly, hot honey. I gasp at the sight, this fountain of beauty that I've orchestrated with just my hands.

Gradually, I slow as they pant, shuddering, eventually leaning forward and backing away slightly.

“That was… amazing,” Brother Owen gasps. He takes deep breaths through his nose, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Did I tell you? She's going to be my favorite,” Father Daddy adds breathlessly.

I'm filled to bursting with pride. I feel their seed cooling on my skin, dripping down in thick globs onto my belly.

Brother Owen pulls his shirt over his head and uses it to wipe the seed from my cheeks and collarbone. It smells like him — masculine, woody, musk.

“Beautiful, beautiful,” he says again.

I don't even want to ask. Is he talking about me? Or is he talking about the act?

Certainly, it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

Chapter 72

Silas

I know what the numbers mean. I stare at them in the leather bound bookkeeping ledger until they slide up and down the page like slot machine reels.

But they keep coming up close to zero.

It's a terrible fantasy. What would happen to us we couldn't continue here? No matter what kind of work we do, there's still common things we have to take care of. Utilities. Property taxes. Upkeep on the individual homes and the land. We are as self-sustaining as we can be, but the reality is that money is how the world works. We don't have a lot of ways to make income, so we don't have a lot of money. I like to think we have a lot of other things that make up for it.

And besides, the principle is that we should be self-sustaining. It’s part of God’s proof that He approves of my efforts here. Somehow it always works out, if only just barely. But his approval won’t matter if we can't afford the land.

Almost half the people here now have never known another life but Kingdom Come. When I first started it, many people brought their children who were just toddlers. They grew up here, playing in the fields. Working alongside their parents to build their homes. Tending the gardens, learning trades. Learning about community and faith.

If I let them go into a world of iPhones and politics and raw consumption and greed… How would they even cope?