Pampered

"Girl, you are driving me crazy!"

Josie repositioned herself on the hunter green papasan chair as she watched her partner-in-crime pace a hole in the rug.

"Well, where are they?" Satine nearly whined. Stretching her long legs, Josie thought that she would mercilessly wrestle Kid to the ground for this: after all, if was Kid that promised Josie and Satine a surprise today. Thinking twice, she decided that Sean might enjoy being pinned too much, so a smack to the back of the head would have to do. He had to have known how Satine would react: both Sean and Satine had the same impatient streak, especially when they knew they were going to be getting something good. And how could it not be good coming from a secretive clique?

Just as it was impossible to be truly upset with Sean for riling up her friend, it was useless to try to be irked by Satine's constant movements. It was actually kind of cute. As Josie sat curled up like a cat in the cushion, pretending to be relaxed, Satine made a constant track around the living room from the couch to the window, past the door, to check the peep hole, around the book shelves, sparing a glare for Jo, then back to the couch, only to jump up again at any sound of a car or a pedestrian or a bird in a tree.

"I swear, I'm gonna slip her a sedative...," Josie thought to herself, just as the squeal of wheels jarred her back to the present. "Ha! Guess they had to let PJ drive!"

Satine flew off the couch and whipped open the door before the words had left Josie's mouth. She stumbled back a few steps as Scott Hall's 6 foot 8 frame filled the doorway. Instinctively throwing her arms around Scott's neck, she tiptoed for a kiss, but he just covered her mouth with one hand while using his other arm to guide her out of the doorway. The powerful, impossibly beautiful reasons for Satine's impatience and Josie's amusement and mild aggravation trickled into the living room.

"Mmmph Ghnmmph, Fnng Hmmnf!" Satine said through Scott's hand.

"Huh?" the confused outsider cocked his head to one side, but didn't bother removing his hand.

"That was 'What the hell, Scott Hall?'," Josie giggled.

"Ah, you speak muffled."

"With all the food that girl crams in her mouth, I have to."

"HEY!" Satine managed to wrench Scott's hand away, and was upset that her friend had taken advantage of the moment and used it to insult her.

"Relax, Miracle. Jo was just joking with ya." Kev would have taken the advantage himself, but since Jo beat him to it, he decided to play peacemaker.

"Doesn't explain why Scott covered my mouth....," Satine pouted, still irked that the boys were so late, but undoubtedly happy to see them.

Scott turned Satine in his arms so she faced away from him, but held her close to keep her squirming to a minimum. Paul crossed the room to the papasan and reached down to wrap his arms around Josie. He lifted her to her feet, and holding her against him, kissed her forehead gently, "She been driving ya nuts?"

"You know it." Josie whispered, smiling up at her best friend. She immediately relaxed against his body. Something about having Hunter that physically close to her always made Josie calmer.

"It'll be worth it, I swear," he said quietly back.

Paul and Josie turned towards their friends. The motley crew always made Josie smile, but she knew if she reflected too long she would have two very hyper, very impatient people to answer to. Kid was practically vibrating waiting for the moment he got to reveal the surprise.

"So what's going on, guys?" Josie asked quietly from her position by Paul. She knew she better keep her words to a limit, noticing that Scott's large paw was once again covering Satine's mouth.

Shawn and PJ had hovered by the door, but now separated to head towards the two girls. "Jo," Hunter said in a tone that made her look up. "I'm not going with you. I could, but Shawn kind of asked to." Before Josie had processed what Paul could mean, Shawn was at her side, and gripped her upper arm gently. Kid meanwhile bounced over to Josie and threw his arms around her.

"Wait a second, Paul. Clearly you guys are taking us somewhere. Ok, that's fine. But you're sticking me with the Shawns?" Jo let the mock terror flow through her voice.

"It'll be ok, Kat. I'm coming too," Kevin growled down at her with an amicable grin.

At that moment, Scott yelled out, "AHHHH!!!"

"Man, what is it?"

He let go of Satine, who ran to hide behind PJ as Scott bellowed, "She licked my hand!"

"Well, he wouldn't let me talk!"

"Oh, Paul, you're going with those three? Good luck," Jo laughed as Scott chased Satine around an amused PJ.

After a mini-circus in the living room, Paul and Kevin had corraled the group outside. Locking up, Jo handed the keys over to Paul, in a way surrendering to whatever they had cooked up. Satine and Josie hugged each other good-bye to be led off by their fraction of the Kliq. Jo giggled at the excited gleam in Satine's eye, as Satine wondered at her friend's unreal serenity. PJ, Scott, Paul, and Satine headed towards Scott's Explorer as Josie allowed herself to be put in Kevin's Forerunner with the Shawns. "Just one request," Josie pleaded.

"Anything, kat."

"Don't let Kid drive!"

"Nah, I'm driving," Kevin said, climbing into the driver's seat.

"I'm the DJ!" Kid smiled too widely. In the backseat, the Heartbreaker and the Hell Kat groaned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paul was driving, since Scott was the only person who had a prayer of keeping Satine relatively calm in the backseat. PJ turned in the passenger seat to face the back. Grabbing Satine's hand, he asked,"Do you two have any idea what we're doing?"

"Who, me and Josie?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"Ok." He smiled at her before turning towards the front.

"Hey!" Satine started to fidget in the seat.

"Thanks, Justin," Scott grumbled. "C'mere, Chica.... You know he was teasing you."

"Yeah, but... Scott, haven't we waited long enough??? I mean, when you and Kevin called last week and said you had a 'special surprise' for us this weekend.... UGH! It's been a week of torture! I can't wait any longer. Tell me now! C'mon, Please!"

Scott smiled down at her during her little speech, but once it was over, gathered her up in his arms and whispered into her hair, "Now, Darling, have any of us ever done anything to hurt you?"

"Well, no...."

"And do you think we ever will?"

"No...." Maybe it was being pressed against the hard muscles of Scott's chest, or maybe it was that thick-as-maple-syrup voice hanging in the air, but Satine started to give in a little as she felt Scott's breath on her neck and heard him whisper, "Good. Then you'll understand why I have to do this...." Scott slipped a purple silk mask over Satine's eyes as Justin cuffed her wrists as delicately, but as quickly, as he could.

"Hey!" she began to protest but was cut off by Scott's sensuous growl.

"Don't make me gag you, Baby."

Satine slipped into silence for the rest of the ride, held against Scott by his strong arms, and not altogether hating the feel of the cool metal on her wrists.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, the forerunner traveled in roughly the opposite direction. Josie leaned against the door behind Kevin, and let her fingers trail over invisible patterns on the window. Kid continued to flip through stations until he came upon a cheesy 80's one. Echoing Don Henley's gravely voice a little too earnestly, Sean turned back towards Josie to engage her in a duet.

Giggling, she sang her part dutifully, even looking away in a wave of faux emotion as Sean grabbed her hand. When their rendition of "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" ended, Shawn asked, "Are my ears bleeding?"

Still smiling, Josie playfully hit his arm, and was aware that the atmosphere changed suddenly when he caught her wrist. Sean had gone back to playing with the radio, and Kevin apparently hadn't notice the dip in temperature either.

"Sorry," he muttered, releasing her. "Instincts."

Flushed, Josie scooted closer to the door. Finally, Kid couldn't bite his tongue anymore.

"So, Jo... did you and Satine talk about this weekend at all?"

"How could we, Kid, since neither of us know what's going on?"

"Yeah, but weren't you excited?"

She shook her head and smiled. Being irritated with the Heartbreaker was no reason to take it out on Kid. "Of course we are. Especially Satine. She has about a hard a time waiting for something as you do. I would have hated to see you two as kids at christmastime."

"What do you mean 'as kids'?" Kevin interjected. "Don't you remember last winter when we had that big pollyanna? Everyone knew who Kid and Satine had the day we drew the names!"

Jo laughed, remembering her fondness for Sean growing that day. "Anyway, yeah. We talked about it a little this week. Basically, we both trust you guys, and know that whatever comes up, you'll take care of us just as we would you." Josie couldn't help but throw a side glance at Shawn as she said that last line, and was surprised when he was the one to answer.

"Then I hope you trust us enough to let me do this."

Clutching both wrists in one hand, Shawn pulled a long, black, Satine scarf from his pocket with the other and proceeded to tie Josie's wrists together. She just sighed, "So you were a boy scout, huh?" and tried to ignore how uncomfortable Shawn's lack of eye contact was making her. "Kid?" he said, looking up.

Kid handed him a second scarf to blindfold Josie with. Twinkling blue stars were the last things Josie saw as Shawn said "At least we're only tying you up. They probably have Satine gagged by now." After Shawn tied the night gently around her head, he slid her body back against his, careful to only touch her as much as he needed to keep the scarves in place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A mixture of being forced to sit still, the constant dark, and the security coming from being wrapped up in Scott had managed to lull Satine into sleep.

As Paul pulled up to a modest cabin, PJ whispered, "She's gonna love this, right?" Scott smiled and nodded, scooping Satine up in his arms as if to carry her across the threshold of this snowy cottage. Paul held the car door open for Scott and the bound girl as PJ walked up to the door to be greeted by his friends.

"Hey, man. Thanks for helping us out with this," PJ said, hugging the lithe body that met him.

"Oh, no problem. Anything to help out a friend."

Three men came up behind the body in the doorway to greet Scott, Paul, and PJ, and Scott took this opportunity to remind them, "Remember, you can tell her anything we told you--any of the why's or where's or whatever--and you call us if you need anything...."

"But," Paul finished for him, "You can't sleep with her."

It was the only 'no-no' the Kliq has established for the weekend, and the four Canadians were not about to piss off the very powerful very strong men for any reason. They nodded their understanding as Scott slid the sleeping girl from his arms into those of a similarly sized man. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead and the three men got back in the car to travel to the hotel room they had rented up the road.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Josie patiently lay against Shawn's tight body, trying to focus on anything else. The situation was making her body rigid, her defenses fighting to go up no matter how hard she fought to pull them down. Bound, blindfolded, and in the backseat of a car. Next to Shawn. She couldn't tell how far they had traveled. But Shawn was right beside her. She couldn't tell what time of day it was, or why Kid couldn't pick a station and stick with it. Josie mentally went over what she did know: it was late afternoon when they left. They had heard about 7 or 8 full songs, so maybe half an hour had passed. Kevin was driving, Kid was being a pain, and she was next to Shawn.

Taking a deep breath, he wrapped one arm comfortingly around the front of her shoulders, pulling her back into a more relaxed position. With the other hand, he lightly rubbed the inside of her elbow and said, "I know this isn't the most comfortable ride. But its almost over. And I heard Paul promise you it would all be worth it... and it is." Sensing that it took a lot for him to speak, and fighting down another wall of defense, Josie sighed and leaned her head back against his shoulder. Just then, Kevin threw the SUV into park.

"Kat?" he whispered gently, unsure if she had fallen asleep. Kevin hadn't heard Josie and Shawn talking over the radio chaos, but he knew that Josie would answer him. Paul--and maybe himself and Scott, on a good day--was the only man Josie would let herself fall asleep near. So he was unsurprised when Josie replied, "Yeah, Kev?" but noted that she had to lift her head from Shawn's shoulder to do it.

Just checking on ya, Baby. Kid, come outside a minute." Sean and Kevin got out of the car, and closed the doors. It was maybe 30 seconds, but with Shawn's gentle breathing making his chest rise and fall under her, it was an eternity to struggle with her emotional control.

Finally, the door on her side opened, and Kevin's large hands picked her up. "Mind if I throw you over my shoulder?" he laughed, and did so before she could protest.

"Caveman."

"Wild cat."

"Thug."

"Stray."

Their back and forth would have continued, if not for the interruption by a voice foreign to Josie's ears.

"Hey, y'all finally got here!"

"Shh, she's awake."

"Ah, well, that's no surprise: it's early yet."

There were footsteps, and then Kevin's voice: "You guys remember everything we told you?"

"To the letter," a different unfamiliar voice drawled.

"EVERYTHING?" Shawn emphasized.

"Y'all don't have a thing to worry about (with us)," the first voice soothed, "We're just glad to be able to return a favor somehow."

As Kevin set Josie down, he responded, "Yeah, well, do this thing right and it will be a big favor. You just remember everything we told you." Gentle hands on Josie's arms held her steady as she heard Shawn say "See ya soon, Mini." and felt a faint touch of lips to her cheek. Then footsteps away from her, and two strange hands closing around her shoulders to direct her, which made her gasp involuntarily.

"Aw, Sugah," the first voice began, "You haven't got a thing to worry about. Those boys left you in good hands for the weekend."

Interlude One

Kevin reached for his cell phone the moment he settled in the car. "Hey, man. You guys at the hotel yet?"

Scott, Paul, and PJ threw their bags to the floor as Scott responded into his phone, "Yeah, we just got here. The place is a little closer to Satine then Josie, but I don't think it's gonna matter much."

"Or at all. I can't speak for Paul and PJ's guys, but we know the Thrillers fear us if not respect us."

"Relax, Big Man. We wouldn't have done this if we weren't sure. You guys get here so we can start enjoying our own vacation."

"Yeah, all right. So you dropped off your bundle of joy safe and sound?"

"Sound sure is the word for it... that girl was out like a light. How was Jo?"

"Wide-awake."

"Poor thing. But, y'know, it's Jo...."

"Right, and Jo has no problem staying up til dawn. Satine gets tired a little quicker, so the nap will give her back a bit of advantage." Scott laughed at Kevin's subtle jab, but knew the girls were--for the most part--on their own now. Besides, they wouldn't need to stay up tonight, but they would need their rest for tomorrow.

"Ok, I'm gonna go call us a big bed. Get here when you can, Chico."

"Adios, Scott," Kev said as he hung up. "They're at our suite already. Satine was fast asleep."

"No surprises there," Shawn replied. The drive to meet their friends passed in relative silence, except from the squawking from Kid's restless radio.

Part Two

Josie listened to the men around her quietly talking to one another. Most of their one-liners were references she was not intended to understand. The few things she picked up on, like "Put her stuff upstairs" and "How's dinner coming?" did nothing to alarm her, but they sure weren't calming her either.

"Uhm... Sugah?" Against her better will, that little endearment was growing on her. The voice took the small smile creeping across her lips as a signal to continue. "Are ya "Are ya tired?" Josie shook her head no. "Ya hungry?" Again, no.

"We...ah... gotta be honest... we don't really know what to do with you right now."

Ah, something in that voice. It was a smoldering kind of sweetness that was brand new to Josie and that she probably couldn't listen to much longer if they didn't give her a chair or something.

"Uhm, I could eat."

A second voice piped in brightly, "Really, ya hungry?"

"Sure, yeah... uhm, the blindfold?"

"Oh, ok, that's gotta stay on during dinner." Josie must have paled noticeably, because the man quickly added, "But we can undo your wrists." A bit of a fuss met her ears as the other men hated that idea.

"It's...uh...it's ok. If Kev and them set this up, I can just go with whatever you guys wanna do." Josie couldn't see the smiles that met that statement, and without a chair to collapse into, it was a good thing she missed it.

Dinner was not fun for Josie. Although she was trying to relax, she hated eating in front of people anyway, and being blindfolded and completely out of control didn't help matters much. On the bright side, someone had created a delicious Eggplant Parmesan, which was relatively unmessy. Near as she could tell, there were only two other people in the room. One of them was feeding her tiny pieces of the eggplant, while the other seemed to be buzzing about.

"Hey, guys?"

"Yeah, Sug?"

"What's it gonna take to get this blindfold off? At first it was fine, but I'm feeling a little claustrophobic." Her request was met with silence.

"Darling, we just gotta get you upstairs for the night, and then we can untie ya completely."

Josie resigned to the idea and quietly finished her dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No more than an hour a way, but it could have been on the other side of the world for all the girls knew, Satine stirred against a mountain of softness.

"Mmm, that's not Scott," she thought, noting that a mask still covered her eyes, but the handcuffs had been taken away. Rolling to her side, she hooked a finger under the edge of the mask, peeping out from underneath. A breathtaking dream met her adjusting eyes: she was in a country inspired bedroom with a light oak bookcase, two overstuffed leather chairs, and a large ivory colored rug that covered most of the wooden floor. As she swung her legs out of the bed, she noticed first that she was still in her street clothes, but that she was barefoot, and secondly that the floor was cold. Curling back up under the covers, she continued to examine the room. Her bed was a queen size sleigh bed with soft-as-a-kitten cream colored cotton sheets. There were various dried flowers, accompanied by pale yellow candles, scattered around the room, as well as a fireplace facing the bed and between the two large chairs, which quietly roared with the room's only source of heat. She lay back against the pile of down-filled pillows figuring she might as well stay comfortable and warm waiting to see how this enigma would unfold. Now knowing that the boys had planned some sort of weekend vacation for them, Satine could relax. The surprise was revealed, and it was a damn good one. She had no doubts that more surprises would follow, but like a child before his birthday party, since she was given one gift, she would happily wait for the others with the faith that they would be better than the first.

Had she known that four men stood on either side of the thick oak door, she might not have been so relaxed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A door opened silently, and Josie was guided through it by a presence facing her as well as one behind her. A strong but soft hand lifted her wrists and slid the scarf away. The man trailed the scarf slowly up her left arm, making Josie shiver. He smiled, let the material drop to the floor, and slipped out behind her.

The second man, standing behind her, placed his hands on either shoulder and dipped down to speak close to her ear, "We're gonna leave ya for a little while. This is where you'll stay for the weekend. Hope you enjoy it." When the warmth was gone from her shoulders, and the door clicked closed, Josie reached behind her head to untie the black scarf. It fell to the floor next to its mate, and echoed the whisper soft sound that emerged from Josie's own mouth.

The room was not large, but was decorated like a dark dream. A postless round bed took up much of the space, and was covered in black Satine sheets and large pillows in different shades of purple. Next to the bed was a large, low table with deep iris colored candles and a scented sleeping mask to match. The walls were covered by drapes a sheer version of the sheets, and the only light was from two matching black steel lamps on stands at either side of the room. The only pieces of furniture were a cherry wood trunk by the wall near the door, which could double as a seat, and a long mirror made of matching wood in the corner facing the bed. Josie curiously opened the trunk, and found some of her own clothes in there, along with little necessities, such as a brush, journal, and small bag of makeup. Noticing the sunglasses thrown in, Jo smiled thinking Kev must have packed for her. A few days before he had made some comment about her constant sunglass wearing, even in the winter time.... Kevin. And Paul and the rest... what had they thrown her into? And where was Satine? Clearly not here: a separate ride must mean a separate location. Josie sighed, trying to ease her mind out of mystery-mode. She said she trusted them, now she ought to act the part. Besides, there was no one in the room to get answers from, so any questions would have to wait until later. She reached in and grabbed a pair of boxers and a tank top, and walked over to the bed to change. Sitting on the firm mattress, Jo felt a bit of a breeze. Behind the bed hung more of the drapes that covered the room, but these were billowing slightly. She pushed them aside and was met with a beautiful view of a sprawling tree lined field that could not have helped her less to guess her location.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Satine stretched against her pillowy nest as she grew restless, the minutes ticking by. It had been a good nap, but when she fell asleep she was surrounded by three beautiful men, now she was alone in beautiful surroundings. She almost wanted to trade back, but then the door squeaked open and she caught her breath at the towers of exquisite shape that entered the room.

"Hi," one of the blondes started with an easy smirk that caught her off guard. "So you're awake. We made up a supper...."

Lance crossed the room to help her out of the massive bed. A large smile prevented Satine from asking any of the questions that had filled her head moments ago, and she let the tight, thin Canadian lead her to one of the chairs.

Another blonde--Jay by name, Christian by choice--knelt before her, slid fuzzy white slippers on her feet. "You might get cold walking on the bare wood," he explained. As Satine smiled down into Jay's crystal eyes, she saw an attractiveness there that she had never noticed before. She didn't have time to dwell on his set full lips or how his cheeks flushed under her gaze because the man known to many as Edge was offering his arm.

"Shall we?"

Between the excitement of expectation and the nap that had stretched on for who-knows-how-long, Satine had worked up a bit of an appetite. Fortunately, her Canadian caretakers could cook something wonderful. Satine enjoyed several small courses, beginning with a warm lemon-egg soup, some light cheese on crusty bread, and a seasoned chicken dish that she couldn't name, but recognized as Greek in origin. The four men dined with her, spread evenly around the circular table. The conversation was quiet but relaxed, aided by the low hanging candle lit chandelier. For desert, she was served fluffy pudding, and all the delicious foods combined like a brick in her stomach, making her feel full and warm and more than a little sleepy.

Adam--as he had asked to be called for the weekend--led her back to her room. He pointed out where her clothes had been placed and that there was a powder room right to the left of her room if she needed to wash up. "Sleep well: you'll need your rest for tomorrow." The line would have shaken her a bit if it hadn't been accompanied by that easy smirk that greeted her earlier. She hoped she would awaken to that smirk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I should have known this sleep thing wouldn't happen," Josie muttered. There were no clocks in the room, which she found frustrating, and the decoration was beginning to stifle her after only a few hours. She couldn't even convince herself it was just a nap. Inching off the bed, she checked her reflection quickly to make sure she was decent--after all, she didn't know who was out there--and quietly padded towards the door. Sliding it open, she was thankful that it didn't creak, and she slipped outside to look around where ever it was that she was apparently stranded.

The empty feel of the house was a bit creepy, and a knot formed in Josie stomach like she was afraid she'd get caught sneaking around. This feeling was the first familiar and therefore relaxing thing about the whole day: "Go on, Nancy Drew." she thought to herself as she found a back stairway to take to the lower levels. The house itself was beautiful. Not small, but almost quaint due to the unrefinished textures around her, Josie counted 3 bedrooms upstairs and noted a den as well as a living room on the ground floor. As her hand slid along the smooth wood of the railing, she realized her hunger was kicking it now, so decided to go find the kitchen that she had been in blindly. Admiring the sculpted shapes that decorated the ceiling, Josie started to let her mind drift, becoming swept away by this unreal location. She froze to ice as a slow southern growl startled her, "Boy, you weren't kidding about claustrophobic." She felt a presence behind her trapping her against the door she had been about to open. She thought to herself, "Breathe, explain, it's fine...." as she turned to face the voice and became paralyzed all over again.

She wasn't sure if he--or anything else in the house for that matter--was real, but she was sure if this was a dream, it was a damn good one. Standing just a bit shorter than Scott, and just a bit taller then. Paul, was the closest thing to a god Josie had ever met. Sure, her Kliq boys were among the most beautiful men in the world, but this evil angel standing so close to her at the moment was a different type of beauty. Wild, dark hair contradicted the precisely clipped facial hair, and altogether gave him the look of a lion. Added to that was a glint in his eyes that reflected Josie's caged feeling, and created an easy bond between them. When she found her voice, she began to form an alibi, but the man before her waved his hand and shook his head to excuse it.

"It's ok. You hungry for real?"

Interlude Two

Paul paced by the large windows of the swank hotel suite. Kid, Shawn, Kevin, and PJ had all gone to dip in the pool while Scott treated himself to a nice, long, hot shower. The steam crept under the bathroom door and swirled in little eddies by Paul's feet. He had hung up the phone with Stephanie only moments ago, and after being put to ease by his amazing girl, his mind was already spiraling back into worry. Scott emerged in a puff of steam and heat, a towel tied around his waist, and his black curls dripping down his back. Seeing Paul staring absently out the window, Scott startled him.

"Hey, Chico, you want to close those blinds, or should we give the neighborhood a little show of the bad guy?"

Paul turned and smiled at his buddy, closing the shades before throwing himself into the closest bed.

"You're worried."

"No, I'm not."

"Ok, fine."

"Ok, yeah I am. I mean, aren't you worried about Satine?"

"Not really. I miss her: it's rare any of us get to spend a weekend in the same place. But I know this was a good idea. For all of us."

"Yeah, you're right."

"But... Josie's different."

"Josie is different," Paul mumbled distractedly. "I just don't want her feeling trapped, y'know? I mean, are we sure those Thrillers were the right choice?"

"Well, Kev knows them, and he would hurt Jo about as quick as you would. 'Sides, you think anyone else would be able to handle our Hellkat?"

Paul smiled at the thought. They had briefly discussed getting the Omega boys for Josie, but Sean quickly vetoed that: "She would snap that poor little Shannon in half, and probably send Shane and Jeff off in tears. Which would piss Matt off, and since he wouldn't hit a girl, they would verbally spar until we showed up, and Jo wouldn't be any closer to calm, although she would be in desperate need of a good lay."

"She'll be fine. And as for Satine... I was more worried about her when she was excited and blindfolded... I was sure she was going to find a way to hurt herself. Once she fell off to sleep though, problem solved. And I know she's going to enjoy herself. I think she has something of a crush on those Canadian boys. Well, except Jay. But he's a sweet kid: he'll grow on her."

"What about Andrew?" Paul threw back.

"Yeah, he's under strict orders from PJ to keep his comments to himself, and we know Lance'll enforce that. As long as he doesn't say anything stupid, Satine won't kick him in the shins."

After Scott dressed, Paul added, "I feel like it should be us and not relative strangers, y'know?"

"Hunter, that's part of the fun. Plus, with the girls being pampered by the Canadians and the Thrillers, that leaves the mess of us together to pamper each other." Hunter smiled and closed his eyes as Scott slid into bed next to him.

Part Three

Josie opened her eyes and smiled sleepily. That was the most rest she had gotten in awhile... maybe this mini-vacation wasn't all that bad. Her thoughts roamed back to the night before: Sean O'Haire catching her sneaking around, the two of them sitting across from one another at the small kitchen table, eating chips and talking about absolutely nothing. It was nice. She stretched lazily and let her eyelids flutter open. If she thought the man she saw last night was beauty personified, what she saw before her now took her breath away. Sean entered her room cautiously, wearing a loose shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal his tattoos and carrying a cup of coffee.

"Mmm... what did I do to deserve heaven?"

He smiled and sat on the side of the circular bed. "Sleep well?"

"Better than I thought I could. That for me?" He handed her the taupe mug and she tentatively took a sip. "Oh my gosh, its good."

"Yeah, well, in some ways we were given pretty specific instructions on how to take care of you. Plus we were warned if we brought you weak coffee *we* might not make it through the weekend."

Josie laughed as she realized she didn't mind her reputation if it resulted in good strong dark coffee first thing in the morning. Sean held the cup as she propped herself up against the pillows, getting very comfortable with the light breeze and warm mug.

"Josie, can I ask you something?" What a twist; The captor had a question for the captive. Josie nodded as she sipped again at the black ambrosia. Turning to face her more completely, Sean asked as lightly as he could manage, "Why did Shawn Michaels call you 'Mini' before he left?" Even if Sean hadn't sensed the tension between Shawn and Josie, he had sensed that this question might unnerve her. She paused a moment, unsure whether to dodge or just answer, and decided the explanation was simple enough to share.

"That was actually Paul--Hunter--that put that on me. One time he and I were fighting about.... *something*... and to make a point he called me Mini-Heartbreaker. Like I was acting like Shawn, or something... the whole fight was silly, y'know? So of course it's that moment that Shawn walks in, and since he knows all, he assumes he understands what the fight is about.... Long story short, eventually it all got ironed out, and sort of as a joke, Shawn calls me Mini from time to time. I don't really know if its to remind me of the fight, or to tease me about my age, or--"

"Or remind you that you are a heartbreaker," Sean supplied.

Josie stopped. "No...no. Cos I'm not. I'm...." She trailed off, suddenly unsure of herself.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's fine."

"No, I wasn't there. And I was asking 'cause I didn't know, so I shouldn't act.... Ok, you get it. I'm not gonna babble."

"Ok. Forgotten." Josie managed a small smile and turned back to her coffee.

"Anyway," he began to stand. "We do have a day planned for you, if you are up for it. First thing is to put your bathing suit on."

"Oh, I don't really like swimming." She was hoping to spend a quiet day caught in the mixture of cool breeze and warm coffee that she was enjoying at the moment. But it seems they had other plans for her, which she might as well go along with, but not if they were flat out boring things like swimming.

"Don't worry, Sugah, we know that. But you also seem a bit modest. So, bathing suit, and I'm assuming you found the bath tub and shower room in your snooping last night?" Josie smiled because she had indeed. "Well, I'm off to help Mark and Shawn in the kitchen before they burn down this lovely place."

"Sean!" He turned back towards her as she continued, "Just out of curiosity, who am I here with?"

"Oh, Sugah, hadn't you guessed yet? You're under the care of the Natural Born Thrillers." And with a smile like burnt sugar, he slipped out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remembering her way to the dining room, Satine hopped out of bed and went downstairs to search out her roomies for the weekend. She found the lot of them lounging in the living room just down the hall from her bedroom.

"Morning, sleepy head," Lance teased.

"Mmm, what time is it?"

"It doesn't matter. We were waiting for you to work out. You wanna go change?" Jay asked, five kinds of cheery.

"Ok!" Satine smiled brightly and hurried back to her room to put on the exercise clothes she knew someone must have packed. When she saw what she was to wear, she knew PJ helped pack her stuff: she had mentioned to him that she thought Adam and Lance especially were hot, and now she had a black sports bra and short drawstring shorts to exercise in. He was trying to show off her sweating body.... fine, she could make this work. Those Canadians had no idea what they were in for.

A few minutes later, Satine bounded down the hallway in her minimum coverage work out gear and sneakers, with her long thick hair swept up into a ponytail. As she stood before Andrew, Lance, Adam, and Jay, she was aware that a few strands of hair had worked their way loose and framed her face and she asked sweetly, "So... who has a water bottle for me?"

Lance laughed, recovering before the others, and stood up to lead her downstairs to the in-house gym. "We have a mini-fridge in here."

It was Satine's turn to drop her jaw. Every machine she could need was in the spacious rec room. It must be the largest room in the cabin, and dedicated to a good cause. "What.... uhm, what....," she stammered quietly.

"What what?" Drew asked boldly catching up with Lance and Satine.

"What should we listen to?" she finished with a smirk.

"Actually, Sean made mixes for you and Josie," Jay explained, as he crossed the room to the stereo.

"Wait, 'Kid' Sean? Ok, I don't know if we should listen to that then... Kid's kinda an... eclectic DJ."

"Well," Adam said as he began to stretch. "He promised you would like it."

As the first notes of Sandstorm--one of Satine's favorite dance songs--filled the room, she watched the boy start to stretch and thought, "This is going to be fun!"

The five of them had a great workout, with Drew curbing his competitive nature and spotting for Satine. He was impressed with her physicality, and out of pride tried to keep it to himself. After the second set of military presses, Drew remembered why he was there, and let the superficial walls of self adulation down. His admiration clear in his voice, he prompted her on. Appreciating his support, she did another set without thinking twice. As she relaxed momentarily on the bench, she closed her eyes and felt the trickle of sweat down her cheeks and back. Her body felt good, alive and awake, but she knew better than to push herself too hard. Considering she didn't know what the rest of the day would bring, she decided to pace herself and begin cooling down now.

The boys took note of her actions, and joined her to stretch out their muscles. Jay opened up friendly conversation as they all loosened up.

"So do they have any nicknames for you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we know they call Josie 'Hellkat'"

"And with good reason," Andrew snorted

"You know Josie?" Satine asked.

"Yeah," Drew was half sneering half smiling, "I know that girl."

"That's enough, Test.," Lance warned.

"What?"

"Yeah, what?" Satine wondered aloud.

"Andrew was warned to keep his comments to himself to avoid annoying you." Satine laughed: she bet Scott had made that rule, knowing how Drew's attitude had often rubbed her the wrong way in the past. Still, for how hot he was, she was more than willing to put it aside and enjoy the view if he could in fact keep his mouth shut. She realized that must be some kind of inverted sexism, but hey, this was supposed to be her weekend to be babied right?

"So, any little nicknames?" Adam prodded. When Satine blushed and looked down, he continued, "Great I knew it! Share."

"I don't want to: the story is kinda embarrassing."

"Aw, c'mon, we'll tell you stories about Drew," Lance added, setting himself beside her.

"Hey!"

"Ok, I guess its not that bad....," began Satine.

"Well, just know you are NOT getting any stories about me in return!" Drew huffed. He was shushed by the others and Satine went back to her story.

"Kevin calls me Miracle. It was... I guess like a year and a half ago.... maybe more... but towards the end of Sean's bad addiction problems. He had just hurt his neck again, and he was on some pretty heavy painkillers, but maybe they weren't enough, I don't know. I know one night me and Kevin come back to a hotel after he had to do some promotional work. The three of us were to meet up Scott and Jo and Paul the next morning, and Kev and I come back and can't find Kid.... And when we find Kid, he's in the bathroom and pale and on the floor, with a big gash in his head. Kev just started reacting... badly, I mean... like... I don't know. It was one of the only times I've seen him unravel," Satine started to come undone a bit at the memory. Lance laid a hand on her arm to soothe her and she continued. "Anyway, I was freaked, but I was also on winter break from my second year in training to be an RN... and I knew I just had to take a deep breath and be detached... and... I guess I did okay...."

"You guess? Wow, it was lucky you were there... I mean, obviously Sean is okay today," Lance said quietly and supportively.

"Yeah, so... so once Kev started to calm down, and Kid was ok, and we took him to the hospital and he got some stitches in his head.... Well, later Kev yelled at Sean, but while we were waiting for him to come out.... Me and Kev, we were waiting in the waiting room.... And Kev just kept saying what a miracle it was that I was there, and what a miracle it was that I knew what to do, and it was a miracle Kid was ok, and it was a miracle how I stayed calm.... and then got to telling me I was a miracle myself... and it... I guess it just stuck." She finished the story in a rush, her face turning crimson.

"That's a great story, Satine," Lance said as he leaned over to touch his lips to her temple. "Thank goodness you were there." After a moment, she leaned her head against his shoulder, and Lance caught Adam's eye over the top of her head.

"How about a swim?" Adam queried.

"I didn't notice a pool."

"It's out back. It's heated, but in the cold air, so its a great mix. So relaxing," Jay supplied.

They headed out back, Adam grabbing 5 oversized towels on the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kevin had packed a tiny red and black bikini for Josie. "Hmm, in the name of modesty, huh? Thanks, Kev..." she grumbled amused. She padded down the upstairs hallway, enjoying the soft rug between her toes. As she entered the spacious bathing room, her feet left the warm run and stepped on to cold agate and marble. The tub had everything she needed to be clean and happy: oatmeal soap, iris-based body wash, body-enhancing shampoo, deep conditioner, along with bubble bath and steam rising. When she entered, soft music filled the room. She recognized the song as "Vuelve," one of her favorites. A haunting melody and beautiful words of exotic passion....

"Hi.," Chuck's deep voice greeted her, surprising her a bit.

"Oh, hi...uhm, is this for me?"

"Yeah." He smiled, thinking to himself, who else would it be for, but kept his mouth shut. Closing his hand around her elbow, he assisted her into the large tub. Josie practically moaned as her body slid down into the painfully warm water. It took a moment of adjustment, but as soon as her skin relaxed into the warmth, she could feel her muscles unclench as well. Chuck gave her a moment to settle into the tub. Positioning her body so that she lay back against the bath pillow, he fanned her hair out behind her and scooped handfuls of water to dampen her long locks.

"What cha doing, Chuck?"

"Hopefully helping you to relax."

Once her hair was thoroughly soaked, he picked up the shampoo and squeezed a small amount into his palm. Chuck began to massage her scalp and work the lather through her hair. Josie smiled and closed her eyes, letting a little moan escape her lips. No one had ever done this for her, and truth was she did find it incredibly relaxing. She was still a little wary of what exactly was going on, but was winning the battle against herself to give in to it all. As Chuck continued to gently rub her head, she thought about how beautiful his hair used to be: they had made him cut and bleach it, but he himself was still easy on the eyes. He used a cup by the side of the tub to bring loads of warm water over the back of her head. As he rinsed out the delicately scented suds, Josie asked, "Do you miss your hair?"

He laughed a little, a deep throaty sound that made Josie glad for the bathing suit at least. "A little, yeah. It'll grow back."

"But don't you--" Before she could get anymore out, he leaned over her. Touching his lips to hers, he whispered "Shhh."

Her eyes fluttered a little at the contact, but instead of her normal reaction--which would be to jump up and run for her room--she admitted to herself that she enjoyed the touch. Chuck looked down at her still calm face, and remembered something Shawn Michaels had mentioned. Rather then pull away and let her wonder about the momentary connection, he leaned down again, kissing her softly, parting his lips slightly to cover her mouth. When she responded, he leaned in to add depth of feeling to this barest of touches, then closed their mouths before pulling back and saying in a low tone, "Ready for conditioner?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside of the little cabin was a serene world: undisturbed nature surrounding them on all sides, and a perfect little hide-away shielded from reality. Adam, Jay, Drew, Lance, and Satine all eased themselves into the pool still wearing their workout attire. The water was pleasant, and Satine managed to keep her entire body submerged right up to her shoulders. Jay and Lance begun to do easy laps, and Adam and Drew sat off to the side on a built in bench. There were two levels to the bench--both underwater--and Satine found that if she sat on the lower one, she could keep her bare skin protected by the temperature controlled water. Adam moved over so that he was sitting behind her and began kneading her shoulders. "Mmm, were these in the Kliq instructions?" Satine smirked.

"At least. The goal is to relax you, and let you enjoy yourself, and what better way than a massage?" Adam asked quietly.

"I know what better way..." Drew said as he took a deep breath and sunk under the water. Suddenly, Satine felt air bubbles cascading around her thighs. Peering down through the water, Drew was nuzzling and rubbing her legs, his version of an all-body massage.

"Ah," she moaned to Adam, "Does he know what that's going to do to me?"

Adam laughed. "Probably, but you need to know something: we were given one strict rule: no one is to sleep with you."

"Huh?" Satine was more confused than upset, but Adam knew she was going to need more of an explanation then just 'because'. Once Drew resurfaced, and Jay and Lance waded their way over, Adam said, "Tell ya what, we'll answer whatever questions ya have after we all shower, ok?"

Satine would have agreed, but Lance pointed out better to just chat now as they all lounged and then separate the rest of the day from the morning work out. Given this, Satine asked, "So *why* is this happening?"

Lance responded, "The Kliq has a kind of informal long running tradition of 'giving' each other people... like a loan. Of course, everyone is always in on it, to avoid people being led on or getting hurt. Well, to avoid it as much as possible. Anyway, they noticed that not only were they all on the road during your birthday, but they will be away for Josie's too."

"So my birthday gift is a weekend without them? How is that different than any other weekend?"

"Well, yes and no. Your gift is the undivided attention of a few people you hopefully find attractive. The bonuses are that you are in control, that we have already been informed of a lot of ways to make you happy so that you won't have to ask, and that they are close by in case anything should go wrong. Not that anything will, but just so you know you are 100% safe."

"And the no sex rule?" Satine raised an eyebrow, not knowing who to credit this to, but knowing the reasoning would be good.

Lance continued, "I think that is partly the safety thing: I mean, no matter what, you do not truly know the lot of us, and we in no way want you to feel stuck in any kind of way. I think another part of that is you and Jo are Kliq property."

"We're what???"

"It's not a bad thing, Satine," Adam soothed her, not realizing she was more amused than anything else. "Like Sean Waltman and PJ Walker back in the first days of the Kliq. Property like that. Like there will definitely be someone to answer to if anything happens to you... Why are you laughing? Am I not explaining this right?"

"No, no... its fine. It's funny, but it's fine. Do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"I know you can't tell me now, but whenever this vacation is over, tell me who made that rule, ok?"

"Deal," Adam smiled, glad to avoid upsetting his attractive new friend. After getting out of the pool and wrapping a towel around himself, he held out an oversized towel to wrap Satine up in. She jumped from the water right into his arms, and enjoyed the sensual feeling of his terrycloth hidden hands drying off her damp body. "Now why don't we all jump into the shower?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Chuck left, Josie undressed and enjoyed her bath. Stepping out into the hall to return to her room and dress, she was met by wonderful smells drifting up the stairs. She dressed quickly and simply in worn denim shorts and a black tank top. Running a hand through her damp hair, she let it fall around her shoulders as she hurried towards the stairs. She felt as if she floated down the stairs: this day was starting to work wonders. When she reached the dining room, she found Sean and Chuck setting out the brunch meal and could hear Shawn and Mark arguing in the kitchen. Her eyes met Sean's and she smiled warmly. He pointed to a seat where her coffee mug from earlier was, and she sat down to enjoy the liquid and the show.

Finally, the Thrillers joined her at the table and Shawn passed out the meal.

"You're in for a treat, Josie. Shawn is actually a really good cook."

"Well, I'm excited.... You have all of my favorites here...." She noted as she looked around at the sausage, eggs over easy, french toast and piles of other morning treats. Mark and Chuck were to either side of her, with the new Shawns across the table. They all made polite and airy small talk as they enjoyed the meal. As Josie leaned back in her chair to continue to sip at her coffee, Shawn turned his attention to her.

"So how old are ya?"

"22."

"Aww, you're just a baby!"

"'Scuse me?" In that moment, Josie was suddenly very angry with the Kliq for throwing her into a situation she wasn't sure she could fight her way out of. Not that she exactly needed to: Shawn's attention was awkward and nothing more. Still, she looked around the table, becoming rigid as she sized up the four sizable men. Sean nudged his friend, giving him a look that Josie read easily.

"Man, ow, c'mon!"

"Well, think... would I like it if you teased me about my age over breakfast?"

Shawn caught himself before he said anything further, and smiled his apology over at Josie. Jo, meanwhile, was caught up in the look on Sean's face. She knew she should watch out for him, that he probably was every bit the danger he looked, but at the same time she found it impossible not to melt under that gaze that was equal parts warm and warning.

"Josie?" Mark said rising. "Our intention is not to make you defensive, but to relax you. Let's get started on that, hmm?"

"Just a little correction: Chuck already did get started on that. But if you want to continue, I won't fight it." She placed her napkin on the table and took his hand, allowing herself to be led into what appeared to be a mini-theater. Shawn and Chuck stayed behind to clear off the table, and Sean followed Mark and Josie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Satine had half hoped that the lot of them would jump in the shower together, but then she realized all the logical problems with that plan. Even if the boys were under strict orders to behave themselves, at least moderately, she could not promise that she would do the same. So, half an hour after they had left one another by the pool, the five met in the lower den. Satine was the last one to arrive, taking extra time to play with her hair after the warm shower. When she walked in, she realized they had the room set up like a mini-nail salon.

"Oh, my gosh... what's this?"

"Well, Jay had a friend who works at a nail salon, so she taught us how to use this... *stuff*. Have a seat!" Drew growled, trying to feign enthusiasm. Satine sat, trying not to enjoy this only due to Drew aggravation, but rather in spite of it. It wasn't working though, and she found herself nearly laughing out loud as he fumbled with several bottles of nail polish. "This is a job for the frickin' Hardy boys....," he muttered under his breath.

"So, why are you guys doing this?" Satine asked letting out her giggles.

Drew looked mildly annoyed, and Adam answered with that trademark smile, "Why, to spoil you, of course."

Satine settled in for as much spoiling as entertainment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark opened up the cabinets of the elaborate entertainment center as Sean lowered himself onto the couch. Josie was marveling at all the equipment, and barely heard Sean's quiet words to her.

"Josie? Why don't you come sit down?" Smiling, she crossed the room and sat next to Sean. She leaned against his strong frame and heard him sigh softly.

"So, do you want to choose a movie, Darling? We have all of your favorites," Mark said, gesturing towards the large DVD collection. There really were all of her favorites included, from Out of Sight to Citizen Kane. She noticed Gone With the Wind, but was feeling too charitable to force them to sit through a four hour movie.

"I really don't care. You're over there, Mark, how about you just pick one?"

Mark smiled warmly at the thin girl trying her damnedest not to melt into Sean.

"Ok, I got the perfect one." Mark set up the player and the speakers, then sat down in a chair out of the way, and waited for Chuck and Shawn to join them.

Chuck moved to the other side of O'Haire, and Shawn slid in next to Josie.

"Hey," he smiled at her tentatively. He was so cute, she had to return the sweet-tempered grin.

"Hey yourself."

"I'm sorry if I upset you. I... I don't always respond well around beautiful women."

"Ok, Honey. But you're laying it on a little thick." They all laughed a bit, and Shawn leaned in to lay a kiss on Jo's forehead.

"Everyone ready?"

"Oo, oo, wait... popcorn?"

"Oo, yeah, popcorn....," Josie hopped up and down in her seat, and Mark caught Sean's eye just to see how much he didn't mind. Not only did he enjoy the tight body bouncing beside him, but he loved the true delight dancing on Josie's face. He watched his fingers thread through her dark hair and masked his surprise as she sighed and leaned into him. Shawn looked down at their little chore, ignoring for the moment Sean's apparent affection. He dipped his head again, first meeting her eyes, then proceeding once she closed them. He reached out towards her flesh with the tip of his tongue and slowly dragged a slick trail down her throat, over collarbone, and up to her shoulder. Laying little kisses along her shoulder and upper arm, Shawn slid one hand around her waist and felt her shiver. He pulled back and was met by twin sets of smoldering stars.

"Jo?" Shawn whispered when neither fire burned out.

"Mmm... I forgive you for real." Shawn and Mark chuckled as Josie sank back against Sean. Chuck entered with popcorn bowls for everyone, and could feel the atmosphere of joy and temperance. Sliding back into his spot on the couch, Mark turned on the TV and started to play the movie: Josie and the Pussycats.

Interlude Three

Staring at the bodies littered around the hotel room, and inhaling deeply the scents of all the men he loved most in the world mixing into an intoxicating warmth, Kevin pulled out his cell phone to text message the Thrillers and the Canadians. 'Speaking' first with Mark Jindrak, who had to miss part of the movie to talk, Kevin went to the path of *most* resistance.

"All good?" He typed concisely. Before an answer had even been received, he started typing the reply that he intended to keep their heads up, no matter how difficult Jo was being.

"Now, yeah. We're all fond." Mark replied.

"She is waiting for the other shoe to drop. Be good to her."

"Movie now. Cya tomorrow."

"Nite."

"Well, that was painless. Let's see how the Canadians are doing," Nash thought to himself aloud.

"All good?"

It was a few minutes before Lance's phone transmitted a message back: "Great fun. Great work out, fun in the den. All relaxing."

Nash smiled, glad to read that both of his cubs were enjoying themselves. "Keep it going. Make her happy."

"No problems. TTYL."

"Nite."

Kevin slid his phone away, smiling to himself. At that moment, Scott stirred next to him. "Hey, Amazing."

"Hey yo....," he responded sleepily. "What were you doing?"

"Checking on things."

"And how are things?"

"About what we expected. I let them know to keep making it better and better for Satine because that is the only way to get beyond her expectations, and to be good to Josie because she's probably still just waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Well, we knew Jo would be the harder one to convince, and the Satine is harder to keep happy. Still, I miss them both. I kinda can't wait 'til tomorrow."

"Yeah, but we still have a long tonight to go. So do they."

"So what do we do now, Big Man?"

"Just rest and wait for everyone else to wake up."

Part Four

"It took six whole hours, and five long days, for all your lies to come undone, and those three small words were way too late, cos you can't see that I'm the one...." Josie sang along, once again bouncing on the couch. Shawn looked over at Mark and mouthed "Good choice."�

For an hour and a half, Josie sat safely snuggled between the Shauns, singing along with the pop-rock soundtrack and accidentally driving Sean crazy. Chuck gently rubbed Sean's shoulders trying to keep his breathing steady. They all noticed how at ease Josie seemed, and they didn't want to corrupt that with the sexual tension that they all felt building, but she was apparently oblivious to.

After the movie, Mark handed over the remote to Josie and she guided them through all of the extras. In the middle of the Dejour video, Mark and Chuck jumped up and posed in front of the tv, lip-synching as best they could, and sending Josie into fits of giggles. Holding her side, she begged them to stop, and suddenly they obliged.

Mark turned to Chuck, grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled his mouth fiercely down. Josie gasped, but her smile did not fade. Shawn looked at Josie, "You ok, Doll?"

"Mm-hmm. What are they doing?" She smiled at her own foolishness: it was clear what they were doing, but she was lost for words at the exquisite vision before her.

"Well, just my guess," Shawn laughed, "But I think they are showing you what they think of boy bands."

As Mark's hands roamed up the broad chest of the taller Chuck, Sean hooked his finger under Josie's chin to turn her face towards him. "Would you like to see Chuck and Mark together?" Josie did not answer, but Sean caught a glimpse of the fire Shawn had witnessed earlier. From behind her, Shawn's voice purred in her ear, "Or would you like to see Chuck and Mark take Sean?"

Immediately, her eyes lit, and she lifted her gaze to meet Sean directly. For a moment, her world froze. Her jaw nearly dropped as a crooked smirk crept over Sean's lionlike face. "Well, Sugah, just cos we can't be with you, doesn't mean we can't be with each other for you." He leaned in closer as if he would kiss her, but neither closed their eyes, and he just looked at her. She bit her lower lip, and that movement was enough to make her lip brush against his. He let that smirk crawl over his features again as he lifted his body from the couch.

At the loss of O'Haire's body, Shawn tried to fill the void. He swung his left leg to the other side of Josie, and gripped her hips to pull her hard back against him. Shawn's large powerful hands started to knead the rough knots in Josie's upper back. Sean glided over to Mark and Chuck, and Mark slid out for a moment.

"Mmm, Shawn?"

"Yeah, Honey?"

"Why'd Mark leave?"

"Well, what would make this better?"

"Oo, I don't think it could be better," Josie smiled contentedly.

"Ok, but if you were forced to name the only thing that could possibly be missing?"

"Uh, I don't know... A fierce massage... Hot Thriller sex before me.... uhm.... Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles?"

"Your wish....," Mark said reappearing in the doorway, having lost his shirt, and carrying a box from Lindt.

"Shut up!" Josie growled in delighted disbelief.

As Mark handed Jo the box, Shawn said into her hair, "Remember who set this up." Josie's smile became darker as Chuck and Sean realized Mark was ahead of them, and lost their own tops.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The den was filled with laughter and cotton balls gone astray. The Canadians had pampered Satine with leg rubs, back rubs, a pedicure, and a manicure before smearing polish all over each other.

Now, the five friends laid in a heap, from which Satine's voice struggled out: "So what now?"

"How about we play a game?"

"Ok! What game?"

"Monopoly!"

"Too long. Oo, Poker!"

"Ok, that sounds good!"

"STRIP poker!"

"Man, shut up, Drew!" Lance, Adam, and Satine laughed.

"Charades!"

"No, Christian, forget it!"

"Why not?"

"His mouth moves when he plays charades!"

"It does not!" They all collapsed into giggles again as Christian pouted.

"Ah, got it: As You Wish." Lance turned to Adam as if a lightbulb had lit over his head.

"What is 'As You Wish'?" Satine felt her cheeks stained with color awaiting the answer.

"Well, it's like Simon Says.... You'll catch on real quick, Love," Adam replied, automatically knowing where Lance was going with this. "Ok, it was Lance's idea, so he'll start, but then you'll control the game, Satine. Ready when you are, Lance. C'mon, Tiger, give me something good."

"Drew, suck on Adam's ring-finger." Drew's eyes filled with lust as he stalked towards Adam and growled back to Lance, "As You Wish."

Satine gasped as she caught on instantaneously. "But why?"

"Because, Beauty," Adam leaned down and locked eyes with her before he continued, "We only get you for tonight, and we want to make you as happy as we can."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Josie watched as Mark and Chuck pampered Sean. At first he tried to resist and take some amount of control for himself. Then he glanced over at Josie. She was being manipulated by Shawn's large paws and was holding a round truffle up to her mouth. Her pink tongue swiped out licking the chocolate as Shawn wrenched a moan from her pained stress. At that moment, he wanted to surrender as much as she was: he turned back to face Mark, who grabbed his former partner's cheeks and crushed their mouths together. Chuck scratched his nails down Sean's sides, forcing a moan into Mark's mouth, and began dragging his teeth over Carnage. Twining his fingers through Sean's hair, Mark yanked his head roughly back, and Chuck slid a hand up his throat and held his chin so that O'Haire's head rested on Palumbo's round shoulder. Mark lowered his mouth closer to Sean's skin, his hot breath a gentle torture contrasting with the rough hands roaming over the Thriller's tight muscles.

Elsewhere, Lance, Adam, and Drew threw themselves into every idea Satine threw at them. Christian, for his part, decided to "sit the round out" but did his best to make sure Satine was as enraptured as possible. As Lance licked at Adam's taut stomach, Drew gathered the long blonde tresses away from Adam's long neck to lick the tendons there, and Christian brought fresh, soft, chocolate chip cookies and warm milk to their mistress. Christian knelt before Satine to indulge her in a long foot massage as she ordered Adam to bathe Drew's defined chest with his tongue. Eventually, Satine didn't so much run out of ideas as willpower as she watched three beautiful Canadians strain to please one another as another angel sat her feet pampering her in any way she would allow.

As if the Kliq member could sense what was happening to their cubs, the six impossibly attractive men tended to one another until once again, bodies littered the floor as much as the bed, and everyone connected by this extended web had a slightly loopy, satisfied grin on their faces. Everyone except for two. Josie and Satine were relearning a lesson they forgot along the way: being spoiled and being tortured can be two of the most erotic experiences.

Part Five

"So what did you do last night?" Chuck asked his closest friend as he changed for bed.

"Nothing, really. I walked around the house," Sean replied, giving absolute attention to his hands.

"Sean.... Ok. What are you going to do tonight?"

Sean met Chuck's eyes. He was familiar with his partner's insomnia plagued nights, and he was happy that he had found someone with whom he connected to pass away the midnight hours with, but Chuck needed Sean to remember just who this girl is.

"We talked last night. That's it. Sat in the kitchen and talked."

"So then why did you look betrayed when Mark carried Jo up to her room?"

"Trust me, I'm keeping in mind how this weekend came about."

The two large men slipped into bed together, and laid in the darkness. After eternity had stretched by, Sean finally rose to roam around the house. Chuck felt the bed dip as Sean slid away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Satine stirred against what could have been a rock had it not felt so warm. Looking up, she realized she was being carried up the stairs in Drew's arms.

Noticing her long lashes flutter, he said softly, "Time for sleep, Love."

"Mmmph, 'm ok... just needed to rest my eyes."

He laughed soothingly, "Ok, then rest your eyes here."

He laid her in her large--underused, as far as she was concerned--bed, on top of the sheets and still in her clothes. He looked down at her for a moment, before saying out loud, "Well, I can't leave you like this for the night." Andrew leaned close to Satine, close enough to force her eyes to focus, to lift her head and set it on a pillow. He crossed the room and unballed her pajamas from their spot on the floor. Shaking his head as he pictured the haste with which she must have pulled off the worn-looking long tee-shirt just this morning, he could feel his affection rising. Wordlessly, he straddled her hips as Satine laid still on the bed. He began to undo the laces of her top, assured that she would not protest by the small moan that escaped her lips. Satisfied that he could take his time, he braced his hands on either side of her head to lean close once again.

"You looked so damn hot when you showed up here in handcuffs. Betcha liked that, didn't you?" Satine bit her lips and wouldn't answer. He stroked her cheek with the back of one hand before abruptly burying his fist in her hair and holding her with a firmness echoed in his voice, "Didn't you?"

"Yes," she purred.

"Good girl." She could have kicked him in his rising affection for the self-assured look on his face, but she was enjoying the attention and wanted to see what he would come up with next.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark and Shawn stayed in their room as they heard footsteps pass for the nth time. Shawn rolled over to Mark and took a deep breath as he opened his mouth. Before he could get a single syllable out, Mark whispered, "Please don't say anything, Shawn. We don't know anything for sure, so just... let's just not."

Shawn nodded and snuggled up against the only man he understood. As unlikely as it seemed to most, this was where Shawn didn't have to pretend to be macho; this is where he could be vulnerable. Every Thriller was just looking for his safety.

Sean had just passed another door on the floor as he heard pained moans coming from Josie's room. He rushed to her door as if he had been preparing for this moment all night, but managed to stop himself before he flung it open wildly. What if she was ok, and awake, and he really shouldn't be bursting in. A frightened, muffled scream shook him out of his doubts, and he opened the door, stalked to her bedside, and tried to avoid the breathless feeling that overwhelmed him. He shook her shoulders gently, "Josie... Sugah...."

She flailed at him blindly, sobbing a bit, but still caught in her terror-filled slumber.

"Josie!"

She awoke with a start, and at first didn't recognize the strange man leaning over her bed. She shrunk back from his grasp, mentally preparing herself for a fight. His words struggled to find her through her fogged, emotional mind: "Sug, please stop shaking....c'mere...."

Sean watched the confusion dissipating, and cautiously wrapped his arms around her. There was nothing sexual in the way he held her, just a comforting embrace, and safety swept through her small body.

"I think you were having a nightmare."

"I was. Aw... you chased it away."

"Glad to, but, Sugah... why? Last night you were so relaxed...." He had prodded too much, and her body stiffened.

"I don't know. But it's gone now." Her voice was flat, and Sean released her and stood.

"Ok, well.... Try to get some real rest."

As he turned and walked silently to the door, Josie practically growled at herself. She was fighting both to call out to him and to stay silent. In her indecision, she blurted out simply, "Sean!" He turned, barely visible in the moonlight streaming through the thin drapes. He read everything in her eyes that she couldn't say, everything Chuck had warned him to ignore. Rationalizing that this was still the weekend that was supposed to be about her getting everything her heart desired, everything that would make her happy, he crossed to the other side of the bed. Crawling in behind her, he slid one arm under her body and wrapped it tightly around her waist, and crossed the other one over her front from her hip to her shoulder. She was so tiny compared with him, that his left hand reached past her side and held her hip. Completely wrapped up in the Thrillers large body, Josie felt anything but calm, but was overwhelmed with bliss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You may have looked amazing in steel cuffs, and I may have to find a way to get you like that again, but for now... that isn't appropriate sleeping attire. And neither is this." He tugged at the edge of her shirt. Wrapping one arm around her back, he rocked back to lift her up, and used his other hand to pull her shirt over her head. He laid her back down, carefully studying the way her chest heaved beneath the sky-blue lace bra. He inched his eyes down her body, letting his hot breath caress her where he wished he could let his tongue roam. He hooked his hands around the waistband of her denim shorts, and pulled them with him as he continued down her legs to the pampered and pedicured feet. Tossing away her shorts, he looked up, pleased to find bikini panties in the same shade of sky blue and made of lace. She was given a turn to smile as he studied her physique appreciatively. Meeting her eyes, they shared an arrogant but forgiving look. He reached over to grab the oversized tee-shirt, and folded the back up. Pressing the material against her front, he reached behind her and unhooked her bra. "Impressive," she said, her voice more a sigh then she intended. Still covering her chest with the cloth, he slid each bra strap down her arms so slowly that tiny goosebumps arose. Pulling the bra away from her body, he pulled the edge of the shirt up and over her head. Yanking gently at the hem, he pulled her pjs down her torso and let it rest at her hips.

"Mm." Drew leaned back, humming admiringly. He scooped her body up with one arm, while quickly throwing back the covers. As he placed her down on the huge mattress, he queried, "You know what would make you look even better right now?"

"Handcuffs?" she quipped.

"My boxers." Drew growled.

"You wear boxers?" Satine giggled, who had always had Test pegged as a tightie-whities type.

Fiercely pinning her, he growled, "Why don't you find out for yourself?"

"Cos my arms are pinned," Satine challenged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The moments of silence stretched out between them. Finally Josie decided to swallow her pride and refuse to let her defenses separate her from someone she clearly cared for. It was too late in the night and weekend to try to figure out exactly what that meant, but she knew denying it was a mistake. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled, barely audible, "Sean?"

"Yeah, Sugah?"

Now, or never ever again. "Why didn't you kiss me earlier tonight?"

She could almost see the smile that followed his sharp exiting breath. He took another deep breath, and propped himself up on an elbow. Leaning over Josie, he lit two of the lavender scented candles by her bedside. He watched the soft light flicker over her bare shoulders. Sean easily turned her small frame over to face him. In the low light, his features didn't seem as fierce, but retained every ounce of the exquisite nature she had studied since she first laid eyes on him. "Ok, please don't think this is a line. I just... I needed to be able to see your face. Your reaction...."

Josie nodded, fearing the worst despite his delicate tendencies towards her.

"Because I don't want anyone else around when we share our first kiss."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Drew smirked down as his cocky captive, the door opened to reveal Lance shaking his head. The momentary distraction was enough to make Drew loose his grip. Satine capitalized by wrenching her hands free, and dragging her now perfectly manicured nails roughly down Test's perfect back.

"Fuck me!" he cried out angrily, but cooled off as the room filled with lusty giggles.

"Oo, I'd love to... but wasn't there some Kliq rule?"

"Man, I wanna kill"

"Drew!" Lance's warning tone cut off Drew's sloppy exclamation.

"Oh, oops....," Drew then realized that not only did he almost blurt out who had made the rule, but also that he continued to straddle Satine through this whole episode. She used this position as leverage and looked up at him pleadingly. As Lance, Adam, and Jay came in and sat around the room, Satine noticed that they had each already changed into their night clothes.

Satine turned a submissive, doe-eyed look on Andrew. As she squirmed between his legs, she begged in a sticky sweet strained voice, "Please, Sweetie... I'm just asking one thing. And I'll give you anything you want in return...."

She knew she was laying it on a little thick, but she was pleased to see that the little girl innocent voice and look hit its mark. Adam and Jay laughed under their breath, watching the effect this act was having not only on Drew, but on Lance as well. So when Drew said, "Lance, can't I at least give her a hint?" Lance agreed readily, almost hoping from pure lust that she would voluntarily break the rule.

"He's been a part of every group that mattered last decade, and he's been hurt by almost all of them. He made the rule for both you and Josie... I mean...that...." It became increasingly harder for Drew to concentrate. Satine leaned up on her elbows, pressing her body harder against his to encourage him to finish his thought. This movement, of course, had the opposite effect.

Adam jumped in before any real damage could be done, "He's trying to say that... whoever is enforcing this rule is doing it cos he doesn't want to risk neither you nor Jo getting hurt."

"But...," Satine started, plopping back on the pillows.

"Satine, its a good hint. Really," Jay reasoned. "And the entire Kliq is enforcing it."

Satine nodded and smiled, looking forward to sharing this clue with her partner in crime. Until then, she had a few easy-on-the-eyes wrestlers in her room.

Drew took this moment to roll away from her.

"Hey, I have an idea," Lance joined in, finally recovering. "Why don't we turn in before we get into some real trouble?"

All agreed, and Satine was a little surprised when the three men moved towards the bed. Drew stood, and began to strip.

"What are you guys doing?"

"My guess is torturing you as much as you tortured us," Adam said with a wink. Adam and Lance laid on either side of Satine, and Jay climbed in behind Adam. As the four of them snuggled in, Lance made sure there was enough room behind him for Drew to fit comfortably.

Adam pushed Satine's hair back from her face and asked, "You ok with this?"

She nodded, thinking how this would probably be the best night's rest she had ever had. Looking over at Drew, she said playfully, "C'mon, Boy. Drop your pants and climb into bed."

He did, and true to his word, he was a boxers man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She wanted to run away from him, but there was no where to run. Sean held her waist firmly, and she was anchored to the bed. Acting more of a gentleman than she had ever experienced, and more than she expected from a chiseled body laying brazenly next to her in bed, he waited patiently as every doubt he had himself played over Josie's delicate features. As if coming through the woods of a decision, she reached up and glided her hand through that wild hair. He exhaled sharply, a shy smile breaking out on both of their faces. She tilted her head and closed her eyes, resembling something of an expectant, arrogant belle to him. Leaning closer, and forgiving her instantly, he brushed his pouty lips against hers. As she responded, he leaned against her, their mouths merging. Tongues exploring tenderly, the two people who could be described as passion driven, shared an achingly slow, impossibly sensual first kiss.

Smiling warmly up at Sean, she tried to mask her eyes. He saw a brief struggle, but did not know she fought to keep from revealing her thoughts to devour this powerful man's tempting body. He held her and she quickly regained control, brought to the present by his sweet growls against her neck. She was pleased when he lay back behind her, and held her tightly. She leaned up to blow out the candles. As the smoke cleared out the window with the light breeze, she sighed, "Good night, Thriller."

"Sleep well, Sugah."

Epilogue

Both groups of the Thrillers and the Canadians had been instructed to bring their charges to the home the girls shared. The Kliq would be there already, most likely cooking out on the lawn. When the girls each emerged from the shower, their things were already packed. They had only to dress, then roam through the respective houses searching for their captors.

"So who do you expect to arrive first?" Kid challenged.

"Well," Scott began thoughtfully, "If the Thrillers let Josie know that they were supposed to be here at a certain time, then I think the ever-punctual Kat's team will win."

"But if Jo assumes there's no rush, then Satine will arrive by sheer power of her desire to see you," Kevin said playfully to Scott.

When the Natural Born Thrillers arrived, moments later, the Kliq had their answer. The scene that they arrived to had Kid and PJ arguing rather than cooking, Scott and Kevin touching each other so tenderly with in the confines of the glass enclosed porch that it was a good thing they had excused themselves from the company, and Shawn and Paul were apparently deep in serious discussion. Mark and Chuck launched themselves from the car running to light the grill.

Josie stood happily between her new Shawns. Suddenly, Stasiak's face darkened as Scott Hall emerged from the house. "Shawn," Josie's jaw set, but she gently touched Shawn's toned arm, drawing his attention to her. "Don't you dare." For a moment, the idea to argue his point ran through his mind and flickered in his eyes, but was met with Jo's soft warning, "I have loved Scott longer than I have known you existed." It was the harshest way she would have put the mild admonishment about how important they both were to her. O'Haire was still a little surprised at how quickly Shawn mollified for her. Something nagged him that he should be the last one to be surprised, but he forced himself to put that thought aside as her original Shawns, led by Kevin, headed towards them.

Wordlessly, Kevin scooped Josie up and swung her in the air before holding her tight against him. For balance she wrapped her legs around his waist and leaned back in his arms to face him. Unaware that her position in Kevin's arms was effecting the fit of the jeans each Shawn wore, she quietly said "Hi."

"Hi. Someone missed you more than me. Can you imagine that?" Still holding her up by the waist and thigh, he turned and carried her towards the house, bouncing a little and making her giggle. He pulled her closer as he walked, and whispered in her ear, "I know you didn't see that, but it made me feel nice and smug."

"What, Hun?"

"The jealousy on Shawn, Shawn, Sean, and Sean's faces at me holding you." She smiled, flattered, and knew Kevin was going to have to be punished for teasing her insecure Shawns. But before she could say anything to the appropriately named Big Sexy, he was lowering her and a comforting touch was closing around her shoulders.

"Hi," she sighed, leaning back. Paul wrapped his arms around her entire torso, protecting her now that he finally got to see her again.

"Miss me?" he growled through her hair.

"Of course." Josie closed her eyes. So many of the people she loved most were soon to be gathered on her front lawn, eating, talking, and enjoying the temperate afternoon. And Paul had done this all. She knew it was a Kliq tradition, and she knew Kevin had as much to do with the planning of Jo's escape as Scott had to do with the shenanigans that happened in that mountain cabin. Still, Josie knew Paul well enough to know who brought it up and how, and why there was a picnic on her lawn as an endcap to the weekend.

"Wait, what is this?" he asked quietly, craning his neck to look down at her.

"What?"

"This thing on your face... is it... Oh, wow, I think it might be...."

"Shut up, Paul." It was no use, she couldn't be angry with him, and her smile just grew.

"Gladly." He flexed his massive muscles to pull her tighter against him.

From her place with Paul, Josie watched as a loudly thudding, apparently bass-propelled car pulled up. As if it were a Canadian Clown Car, a mass of noisy bodies spilled out. "I'll be right back." Paul released her as the group of Paul, PJ, and Scott converged and moved towards the new group.

If Josie's arrival was quiet and graceful, filled almost with tension and longing as well as a calmly connected group, Satine's appearance was a boisterous, lively gaggle of body parts and loud voices. Even the often reserved Lance Evers was hollering and practically chortling. Her easy camaraderie with the Canadians could no more keep her in place than wild horses as the magnetism between herself and Scott took over.

"Bad Guy!" Satine cried, as she broke away from the group and hurled herself into Scott's arms. He caught her, but was knocked off balance. He may have cushioned her fall, but Scott's body hit the ground and forced a "Woomp!" out of him.

Laughing anyway, he smiled up at her, "I think someone missed me, huh, Chica?"

Learning her lesson from Drew last night, she quickly grabbed his wrists and had him pinned before the thought entered his mind to react. She swooped down to press her lips against his, not giving him a chance to protest. After a quick kiss which was more power claim then passion driven, she pulled back and said, "You're damn right I did!"

Hands around her waist lifted her off the sexy Cuban. Kevin placed her on her feet as he jokingly yelled at her for tackling an old man.

Across the lawn, Shawn Michaels, Paul, Chuck, and O'Haire lounged not rushing the reunion before them, nor the quasi-cooking melee off to the side. It seemed that the weekend was a success: Josie and Satine both seemed happy and refreshed, as a weekend of R&R should leave a person.

"So we definitely think these were the right choices for their first Kliq-enforced vacation, right?" Paul polled the men surrounding him.

"What were the other options?" Chuck wondered, smiling as Satine, Kevin, Scott, Adam, Jay, Lance, Mark, and Kid started up an impromptu game of basketball in the driveway.

Shawn Stasiak, PJ, and Drew had taken over the cooking, and a fire was practically guaranteed.

Paul kept one eye on them as he responded, "Well, we were going to hand Satine over to the boys of the former Flock and Josie off to the Omegas. Y'know, all those Carolinians." He added with a chuckle, "Maybe next time."

"Oo, I'm a Carolinian. Think I can get in on that?" Sean spoke up, a smile lighting his entire face.

At that moment, Paul yelled something at PJ and hurried off towards the grill. Chuck followed, fearing that Shawn would say something insightful and get flattened by The Game.

As Shawn looked over at the steps leading down from the house, he hinted quietly to Sean, "Maybe you don't have to wait for a weekend rendezvous to be good to that girl."

Sean followed the Heartbreaker's line of sight to find Jo. She was sitting on her front steps, her knees drawn up to her chest, resting her chin. She had a sweet smile as she watched her friends romp and the sun set. Alone but not lonely, she nearly broke hearts not because she was a solitary figure, but because she didn't seem to mind. Sean could see in the elder man's eyes that they both knew differently. Shawn looked over at the Thriller and hinted patiently, "Why don't you go talk to her, and I'll see if I can give Hunter a hand?"

Sean walked over to where she was perched, and crouched down to look into her eyes. Shawn tried to look away, but watched as they talked quietly, laughing quietly. Josie's eyes were so bright he could see them from the table across the yard.

Having contained the fire, Paul surveyed the yard. He smirked as he saw the team of Satine, Kevin, and Lance, and Kid trample Scott, Adam, Jay, and Mark. Scott seemed pissed, especially since Kid wasn't doing anything except annoying Mark, but what could he expect from a team with a former college player and the feisty, competitive Satine? Then he saw the stretched triangle between O'Haire, Jo, and Shawn. His closest partner seemed so removed, that Paul was almost angry at Josie for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he returned to Shawn's side. "Seems like Josie made a new friend out of all of this," Paul said, leaning towards Shawn.

"Yeah, I can't say I'm surprised." Whether it was bitterness or sadness Paul was hearing in his friend's voice, it would have to wait for another day.�

The dusk crept in to finish off the long, complicated weekend which was originally dedicated to simplicity. This evening was meant to stretch on in fading sun and dying dreams.

The End For now... Stay tuned....