Chapter Twelve

They came up with the idea of an auction, with the two men taking turns as auctioneers to raise money for charity. It was Daniel who suggested a charity for victims of domestic abuse, and Jake was more than happy to go along with it. He was less happy when he realised that his sons were serious about completely withdrawing from the Shame Institute itself, not just the show, but he didn’t argue. They agreed that they’d work for another four weeks, finishing up on the day of the auction show.

With that, Jessie and Angela were happy, although Gabrielle wasn’t.

“I want them out of there now,” she told them over breakfast one morning. The men had already left, Patrick trading Angela for Daniel at Jessie’s house as usual. “I don’t trust Jake. He’ll do something and convince them to stay.”

“I don’t think he could, now,” Jessie said. Gabrielle scoffed.

“That man can do anything if he sets his mind to it,” she said. “He is the most brilliant, most persistent person I have ever met. He can make anyone do anything. Did the boys ever tell you how we met?” Jessie looked at Angela in question. Then they both shook their heads.

“I was the model for a very prestigious exhibition of photographs in Paris,” Gabrielle said. “There was a party on the last day of the exhibition, and I went along with the very famous photographer, who was my lover at the time.” Jessie remembered Daniel saying that his mother had been somewhat of a Bohemian. Thinking of that photograph of Gabrielle with her sons on the beach, she had no trouble imagining her on the arm of the famous photographer.

“I was reaching for a glass of champagne when I noticed this man,” Gabrielle continued. Her eyes sparkled. “What a man! He was very tall, with a wonderful body, dark hair and the bluest eyes, and he was looking at a nude photograph of me, a black and white. The curator of the gallery whispered to me that the man had stood, just so, in front of that photograph, at least four times in the previous week. I watched him looking at the photograph of me, just watched out of the corner of my eye, you understand – not wanting to be too obvious. And then he turned, and looked straight at me, straight into my eyes, straight into my soul, it felt like. And he smiled and he held out his hand to me.” She smiled as she said those words.

“And?” Angela prompted. Gabrielle turned to her, still smiling.

“I abandoned my photographer without a word, and went to him, put my hand in his, and he led me out of the gallery, down to the street, to a coffee shop, and we talked for hours.”
”What did the photographer do?” Jessie asked.

“Who knows?” Gabrielle shrugged. “Early the next morning, when the coffee shop finally told us we had to go, we walked to Jake’s car and drove to the beach. He had this little house, right on the sand dunes.” Her green eyes were unfocused as she reminisced, looking up at the ceiling. They cleared as she looked back at the two younger women and smiled wickedly. “We hardly got out of bed for a week,” she admitted, her smile broadening as they laughed.

“It’s difficult to imagine Jake like that,” Jessie said. “He’s so…I don’t know, so establishment, now.”
”He was always establishment,” Gabrielle said. “He came from money, but he was too bright, too driven to just live off his inheritance. He wanted to make a difference in the world. That is why he became a lawyer.”
”He’s a lawyer?” Angela asked. Gabrielle nodded. Jessie had a sudden flash of memory, of Jake giving her a quick lecture on the Geneva Convention as she sat naked beside him in his office. She banished that memory immediately.

“And he…but wait. First I will show you a photograph I didn’t show you the other night.” She stretched out an arm for her bag and pulled it to her, leafing through the papers in the folder inside. She smiled and slid one photograph out. “Here. You saw the photograph of him on the beach with our babies. But you didn’t see this one.” She turned it round, and both women gasped.

Jake, lay on a bed, the white sheets rumpled under him, the white pillowcase making his dark hair look even blacker. There was a sheet over him, but it was pushed way down below his hips, not revealing everything, but making it obvious that he was naked. The muscles in his tanned body stood out, but it was his face that drew the attention, his strong, chiselled chin, his dark eyebrows, smiling lips and brilliant blue eyes. It was very clear from the state of the bed what had just occurred, and from the look in his eyes what, if Jake had his way, was just about to occur again.

”I understand why you went to him when he held his hand out,” Angela breathed. Gabrielle laughed.

“It wasn’t just his looks,” she said. “He had such a presence about him, so much confidence. You just knew that this was not an ordinary man.”

“What happened?” Jessie asked. “I mean, he’s looking at you with such love in his eyes. And lust, of course, but love, too. What happened?”

“For a long time, we were very happy,” Gabrielle said. “The babies came, and Jake travelled a lot for work, but always he came back and we were a family. I didn’t want to marry and he never pressured me, but we were faithful to each other. And then, one time he came back and he was troubled, he wasn’t his normal, happy self. He played with the boys, same as always, but he just wasn’t happy. He had defended two women who had committed some…what do you call them? White clothing crimes?”
”White collar crimes,” Jessie corrected. Gabrielle nodded.

“Anyway, he got them off, as he always did. Jake never lost a case. But he had visited them in jail and seen the conditions there, and found out about some of the other women there, women who were guilty of civil offences, sometimes quite small crimes. When I finally got him to talk about it, he said ‘Gabi, it’s just wrong. They shouldn’t be there. They will never recover from that. If only there were some alternative to that.’ And he kept worrying away at the idea, like a dog with a bone. And he kept thinking on it, for years after that. And then, one day, he told me about his idea for a place which would be a cross between a prison and something like the old stocks and pillories. He said it would have to be something extreme, or society would never accept it as an alternative to prison, and ideally it should be something that would be popular and even commercial. I thought it was horrible, and I told him so, but he kept trying to convince me.” She shook her head. “It took him nearly seven years to put it all together, to raise interest, find a place where the Government wanted to try the experiment, have people develop all of the accoutrements, the medications and all of the other bits and pieces.”

”And you were never reconciled to it?” Jessie asked. Gabrielle shook her head.

“Never. But he was on a mission, my Jake. And eventually, that mission consumed him.” She was silent for almost a minute. Then she smiled at them. “It is a long time ago now,” she said. “Eight years. It is in the past now.”
”You haven’t found another man?” Angela asked.
”After Jake Miller?” Gabrielle raised her eyebrows. “How could I? Oh Jessie, you are so sweet. Thank you.” Jessie had got up and hugged her. “And you too, Angie? That is lovely. So now, my girls, you understand why I am worried that he will lure Patrick and Daniel back in.”

“He won’t,” Angela said definitely, sitting down again. “They’re determined men, too. And they’re already planning the auction.” Gabrielle wasn’t convinced.
”It is not enough,” she said. “They need to burn their britches.”
”Bridges,” Jessie corrected, laughing. “Although I rather like the idea of burning their britches – particularly those leather ones they wear. What? Angie? What are you thinking?”

“I’ve just had an idea,” she said, beginning to grin.

………………………

Jake cursed as his telephone rang. He’d been trying for almost half an hour to work out how he was going to redistribute the existing dazzlers, and whether he should appoint two new ones quickly or take his time. He wasn’t any closer to a decision, which annoyed him. Obviously, the reason behind the need for the decision was bothering him even more than he’d admitted to himself. Damn it, he liked working with his sons. Admittedly, it wasn’t the normal sort of father-son business, but he got to see them every day, to spend time with them. He enjoyed them, he always had, right from when they were babies. And now, as adults, they weren’t just the sons he loved, they were men he liked. And he was losing them.

“Jake Miller,” he said into the telephone.

“Jessie Porter,” said the voice on the other end. Jake paused for a second or two, then smiled.

“Oh is it now?” he said. “And how you, Jessie Porter? I can call you Jessie, can I?”
”Please do,” she replied. “I’m good, Jake. And I’m sure you must be busy, as always, so I won’t take up too much of your time.”
”Take up as much as you like,” he said, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet up on his desk, not something he ever did when he was going to be seen.

“Thank you,” she said. “Jake, Angela Myers and I have a proposition for you.” Jake grinned to himself.

“This I have to hear,” he said. “Shoot.”
”No,” she said. “We want to talk to you in person.”

“You’re coming here?”
”I don’t think so,” Jessie replied. “Is it possible for you to meet us somewhere else?”
”When and where?” he asked, swinging his feet back down and reaching for a pen and paper.

“One afternoon this week?” she suggested. He glanced at his diary. Every day was completely full, with the exception of the half hour that was just ending. He drew a line through one afternoon, cancelling everything on it.

“Tomorrow?” he offered. “At around one pm?”

“Perfect,” she said, her relief obvious in her voice. “It’s a thirty-five minute drive to my house. Do you mind coming that far?”
”If Daniel and Patrick can do it every day or so, I think I can probably manage it,” Jake replied, still grinning. “Do I get a hint of what this is about, Jessie?” There was a short silence.

“No,” she replied. “You don’t.” He laughed.

“I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow at one,” he said.

“And Jake…” she said, before he could hang up. “Could you not say anything to Daniel or Patrick about this?”
”Now you’ve really got my interest,” he said.

It would be wrong to suggest that either Angela or Jessie were comfortable the next day, waiting for him to arrive. Although she’d never seen him in person, Angela thought of Jake as the author of the experience that had almost ruined her life, and Jessie had any number of embarrassing little memories in which Jake featured, from the instant he had taken her t-shirt off, through the medical examination, and right on to his ‘goodbye present’ to her. Then again, he had also almost single-handedly cleared her name. And he’d fathered Daniel. For that, he had to be forgiven a lot.

So, when he drove up, parking his silver Volvo in the driveway of the unpretentious little house, Jessie opened the door to him feeling somewhat conflicted. He strode up to the door, smiling.
”Hello Jessie,” he said, climbing the stairs.
”Hello Jake,” she smiled back, and when he bent down, she kissed his cheek without awkwardness. “Please come in.” Angela, doing her best to look nonchalant and at ease, was leaning against the sofa. She straightened up as he approached.

“Ah,” Jake said, grinning. “Angela, Andie and Amanda, I presume?” He held his hand out and she put hers in it, startled when he raised it to his lips and kissed it. “I would have liked to see you in a black wig and black leather,” he said, eyes twinkling.
”Oh my God, you’ve got Patrick’s eyes,” Angela said, surprised. “They’re exactly the same!”
”I don’t argue with the comparison, but I do take exception to the attribution,” Jake replied, still holding her hand. “Patrick has my eyes, not the other way round. And Daniel has my hair, just to head Jessie off, as well.”

“Objection so noted,” Angela found herself smiling. She tried to remove her hand from his.

“No, I’m not letting it go yet,” he said.
”And Patrick got his stubbornness from you too, I see,” she commented, prompting a laugh out of him. It was amazing how the laugh softened his somewhat stern face, smoothing out all of the seriousness and replacing it with something that was almost…gentle was the word that came to her.

“Jessie, may I have your hand, too?” he asked, over his shoulder at her.

“Will I get it back?” she asked.

“Eventually,” he promised, still smiling. As she put her hand into his, he tugged both of the women a little closer to him.
”Before you tell me whatever this proposition is, I want to say something,” he said. “Now, it’s obvious that you two are very important to my sons; that you’re going to be part of their lives, and regardless of what they do once they leave the Institute, I will always be close to them. So I need to get this out of the way. Angela, you told me on the day you rang about Jessie that you were guilty of the crime that put you in the Institute, and there’s no doubt that you were, but I recently looked into your case, and I don’t believe you weren’t guilty of anything except foolishness, ambition, and perhaps a little greed. You shouldn’t have been there. I was very busy back then and I didn’t look into cases as much as I do now. So, for all of the things that happened there, and all of the repercussions afterwards, I am very sorry.”

He kissed her hand again. “As a gesture of good will, I had intended to wipe all of the photographs of you off the Institute website, but found, to my surprise, that they were already gone.” He shook his head, smiling. “So, in my back pocket, I have the original of the videotape that was made of your admission procedure, which you are welcome to destroy. I can’t give you the official tape of the show you were on, unfortunately, because it’s covered under the agreement I have with the State Government. It would cost me a $100,000 fine and a lot of paperwork. I will make sure that your tape never appears on a “best of” special or anything of that nature. I know it’s not much, but I hope it’s something.”
”It is,” she assured him. “Thank you.” He levelled his steady, blue-eyed gaze at Jessie.

“And I’ve already said my apologies to you, but there are a few memories we share that you would probably feel more comfortable if we didn’t have, am I right?”

“You are,” she said, looking away.

“No, look at me,” he insisted. “You know now that I did those things because I wasn’t totally sure that you were going to be freed, that I didn’t do them because I was a dirty old man who wanted to see a beautiful young woman naked. Well, not JUST because I was a dirty old man who wanted to see a beautiful young woman naked.” He almost grinned as she tried to pull her hand away. Jessie sighed.

“This is not a very good apology, Jake,” she pointed out.

“I’m trying,” he said. “I’m just having trouble feeling sorry about some of those moments.” As she gasped, he did grin. Jessie could see far too many similarities to Daniel in him when he was looking like that. More disconcerting still, she could see definite shades of that sexy man in Gabrielle’s photographs. “But I will never refer to them again, and I will put them completely out of my memory,” he said. It occurred to her that between Patrick and Jake, there was a lot of memory erasing going on where she was concerned. But still. She nodded.

“That would be good,” she said.

“Then it’s done,” he said. “Now, tell me this proposition.” He let go of their hands.

Jessie wanted to make coffee first, and when Jake eyed a tin high up on one of the cupboards, his eyes lit up.

“That’s my favourite,” he pointed.

“It’s Daniel’s, too,” Jessie said. “I’ll have to get a chair. He puts it up there because he’s the only one who uses it. I can’t reach it.”
”I can,” Jake said, doing just that - easily. He handed it to her with a smile. “Six three. Patrick didn’t quite catch me, to his annoyance.”
”The runt of the family,” Angela said, prompting a laugh from the ‘runt’s’ father.

“So,” Jake said, leaning on the breakfast bar beside Angela, comfortable and relaxed, watching while Jessie made the coffee. “I’ve had enough suspense. I insist you tell me the proposition.” Jessie nodded to Angela.

“Okay,” she said to him. “It’s about the auction.” Fifteen minutes later, still at the breakfast bar, having finally stopped asking questions, he was still wiping his eyes from laughing.

“Remind me never to cross you,” he said. Both women raised their eyebrows at them. “In future,” he amended. “Since you’ve very generously forgiven me for past sins.” The eyebrows remained raised, and he laughed again. “Have you got anyone else in your sights?” he asked. “Another attack on Bradley Clarence, perhaps?”

“I’d like to,” Angela sighed. “But no. If there was one other person I could really sink my teeth into, it would be that horrible doctor from the Institute.”
”Frank?” Jake asked. She nodded.

“I would like to strap him onto his own examination table, then get his camera and shove it right up his…”
”I get the picture,” Jake said. He winced. “Dear me, that pun was bad enough for Patrick and Daniel. I do know what you mean, though. Frank has always been one of the best shamers on staff, but he’s become worse over the years. He’s edging a bit toward sadism, I suspect.”
”Edging?” Jessie queried.

“I think he hurdled that one and is running right towards insanity, Jake,” Angela said. “And I like to picture him making that run with a lot of women chasing him. Perhaps all of the ones he’s forced to pose for him. All of them holding sharp objects.”
”Or blunt, heavy objects,” Jessie added.

“Do my boys know what they’re getting with you two?” Jake asked, laughing.
”They do,” Jessie dimpled.

“And they consider themselves very lucky, I might add,” Angela said, nose in the air. They had both relaxed more in the previous fifteen minutes than they would have thought possible.

“As they are,” Gabrielle said from the door. Jake’s expression changed, becoming closed and guarded. Angela’s eyes met Jessie’s. Jessie shook her head. She hadn’t known Gabrielle was going to be coming home.

“Hello Gabi,” Jake said, straightening up from the breakfast bar.

“Hello Jake,” she replied. She smiled, a soft smile that lit up her beautiful face and her amazing eyes.

“You never age, woman,” Jake said.

“You lie,” she said, still smiling. She let her handbag slide down her arm to the floor. “But you lie well.” His expression had softened now, and the chemistry between those two sets of eyes was almost overpowering. The house felt very small, and almost airless as the energy crackled.

“You approve of our new daughters?” Gabrielle asked.

“Very much,” he said. “I don’t think they approve of me, though.”

“I’m sure they only disapprove of what you do,” Gabrielle said. There was silence. And then, in a move that was as deliberate as it was poignant, Gabrielle held out her hand. Jessie caught her breath.

Jake looked at her hand for maybe five seconds, recognising the significance. Then, his smile broadening, he crossed the room and put his hand into hers. Without a backward glance, they walked out of the door, down the stairs, and out to his car. Angela and Jessie watched them drive away, still wordless.

“Ohhhh,” Angela said, turning to Jessie with tears in her eyes.

“I know,” Jessie sniffed. “Did you know she was going to be here?” Angela shook her head.

“No,” she said, then wrapped her arms around her friend, and the pair of them made complete soppy fools of themselves for the next few minutes.

…………………

Patrick was working the afternoon Daniel took Jessie and Angela with him to start packing up the house he’d shared with his brother for three years. It was a modern, stylish place, with bedrooms at each end, a swimming pool and huge Jacuzzi outside, and a large entertainment area in the middle.
”Did you ever use this?” Angela asked, looking around at all of the space. The three of them were standing framed between two large leather sofas, but there were conversation pits and groupings of chairs all around them.

“Occasionally we’d invite the dazzlers over for a drink,” Daniel replied. “But not often. Usually, one or both of us was working at night. We watched a lot of television in here, though.”
”And scratched your bellies and drank beer and burped and did all of those other charming things that men living on their own do,” Angela added.
”Of course,” he agreed. “As per the code of behaviour for men who don’t have women to boss them around. Gee, our lives were simple then.”
”It could be again,” Jessie said threateningly. “What’s through there?” She was pointing over his shoulder at a door at the back of the house.

“It’s a storeroom,” he said. “Usually entered by a locked door at the back. It has to have double access because of some Government requirements, and Jake thought it made sense to have it here where we could keep an eye on it.”
”What’s in it?” Angela asked.

“That’s where the DVD copies of the shows are stored,” he said, looking at the solid green door. Jessie looked at Angela meaningfully. The silence alerted Daniel, and he swung around. “No,” he said.

“We’re only going to take one,” Jessie said, trying to sidle past him.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Sorry Angie, but you are not going in there.”

“Try and stop us,” Angela said, head held high. He grinned. He was enjoying the pressure Jessie was exerting on him, her soft little body squished against his as she tried to push past. He didn’t move an inch.

“Let me through, Daniel,” she insisted, fighting dirty and digging her fingers into his sides to tickle him. He laughed, bent down and tipped her over his shoulder, one arm wrapped around the back of her knees. Angela, taking advantage of his distraction, made a run for it, trying to barge past on the other side. Daniel took a step to the side, bent again, and tossed her over his other shoulder.

“Right,” he said, straightening up slowly. “Let’s go for a walk outside, shall we?” Both of them were laying into him, thumping his back and shouting abuse at him. Angela tried her best to pinch his backside, but found she couldn’t get a grip, so she copied Jessie’s tactic of tickling what she could reach of his sides. He had made it out to the porch, but was buckling at the knees laughing, when Patrick arrived.

“I have never been so pleased to see you in my life,” Daniel said, sliding both women down to their feet. “No, don’t try it!” He caught both of them round the waist as they made an immediate dash to both sides of him, and held them trapped against him. “Take your woman,” he ordered Patrick.

“You seemed to be doing okay with both of them,” Patrick commented, but he put his hands on Angela’s arms and pulled her back into his anyway. He kissed the top of her head as she struggled.

“What’s the problem, my love?” he asked. “Or were you just enjoying a tussle with Daniel? You won’t win, you know. He probably goes close to outweighing both of you put together.”

“As do you,” Daniel commented.

“Me? Naaaah. I’m just a weak little thing. Do feel free to wrestle with me any time, ladies,” Patrick said. Angela doing her best to break free from his grasp and finding herself unable to move an inch, was not inclined to agree with this nonsense.

“Just let us get the tape of Angie!” Jessie insisted, kicking at Daniel’s shins, since he was now holding her clear of the ground.
”Oh let me guess. They were trying to get into the DVD storeroom?” Patrick laughed. Daniel nodded. ”Well, I have bad news for you, ladies,” he said. “Even if you had made it past the sentinel here, you wouldn’t have found what you were looking for.”
”Oh yes we would,” Angela said. “If we had to rip every single thing in that room apart, we would have found it.”
”Nup, you wouldn’t,” Patrick said confidently. The women looked at him, both of them somewhat rumpled from their struggles with Daniel.

“Why?” Jessie asked. He smiled.

“Because I already removed it,” he said. “And destroyed it.”
“You did?” Angela asked, trying to turn in his arms to get a better look at his face.

“You did?” Daniel asked, in a completely different tone of voice. Patrick nodded.

“I know there are undoubtedly bootleg copies out there, and thousands of photographs of the beautiful Andie Nugent available on the net, but the official tape no longer exists.”

“You haven’t just got it hidden in this house somewhere?” Angela asked. He ran his fingertip down her nose.

“Why would I need a tape when I have the original?” he asked. His smile came back. “But no, to give you a straight answer, I do not have it hidden anywhere. I smashed it, then I burned it. It’s gone, Angie.” Angela turned her head into his shoulder. He looked straight at Daniel, who sighed loudly and shook his head.

“Jake is not going to be happy with you,” he said. Patrick shrugged.

“Now can we go in the DVD room?” Jessie asked Daniel. He laughed and put her down.

“No,” he said. A sound from the road distracted them, and they looked up to see a tall, athletic-looking man approaching at a jog. His blonde hair flopped over his face, his tanned skin shone, and once more it occurred to Jessie that all he was missing was the surfboard. Russ, no doubt returning from the afternoon forced exercise routine.

“Hey guys,” he called raising a hand. Then he slowed his jog. “Jessica Porter? Is that you?” Angela had stiffened in Patrick’s arms and was trying to pull away. He tightened his grip and spoke soothingly to her.

“It is,” Jessie replied, trying to put out of her head the last time she’d seen this man – or more specifically, the last time he’d seen her, squirming nude on a table after he had helped to tickle her.

“So you did come back to visit us,” he grinned, walking up the stairs. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. She smacked his hand when he tickled her waist, and he turned away laughing.

He looked at Angela.

“Hi. I’m Russ,” he said, holding out a hand. Angela, controlling her expression, shook hands with him.

“Angela,” she said.
”Eyes off,” Patrick said. “She’s taken, too.” Russ sighed.

“Aren’t they always?” he said. Somehow Jessie didn’t think he missed out on his share of female companionship. “Delaney cramped up again,” he said to Daniel. “I had to carry her back. That’s twice now. I don’t think she should be running. It really hurts her.”

“Have you told one of the doctors?” Daniel asked. “They might have something to help prevent the cramps.”
”Hell no,” Russ said. “I don’t go near those guys if I don’t have to.” He pretended to shudder. Daniel and Patrick both laughed. “Hey, speaking of them, did you hear what happened to Frank? No, you probably haven’t. I only heard when I took the women back now. His photos have all disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” Daniel asked. Russ nodded.
”All of them, not just the pictures on his computer, but all of the ones he had stuck up all over the walls of his house. Every last one is gone. He is rabid. He’s in Jake’s office, throwing a hissy fit as we speak, demanding that the police be called, wanting everyone searched and fingerprinted. Rob could hear him from the Holding Room. Isn’t it great?” Patrick and Daniel were laughing, and he joined in. “Whoever did it must have backed a truck up to his house, that sicko had years worth of photos on his walls.”
”And the ones on his computer are gone too?” Patrick confirmed. Russ nodded.

“Apparently,” he said. “The entire disk has been wiped.”
”So all of those chapters he’d written on his book will be gone too?” Daniel said. All three of them laughed again. It was well known that Frank hadn’t written a word and had never intended to.

“You’d better be careful, King,” Russ said to Patrick. “Word is, he’s accusing you.”
”Oh that’s lovely, that is,” Patrick said. “I worked all day today. In plain view of prisoners, dazzlers, guards and the crowds.”
”Yes, but he thinks you have it in for him.”
”And he’s right, but I didn’t take his photographs. I would have if I’d thought of it, but I didn’t. You didn’t do it, did you?” he asked Daniel.

“I have two witnesses to my whereabouts from when I left you after the taping of the show this morning,” Daniel said. “I haven’t been anywhere near Frank’s place.”
“Well someone has,” Russ grinned. “Anyway, I’d better get going. I have to get a shower in before getting back to base. For some reason, there seems to be more work than normal just at the moment.” He sent a mock accusing look at both of the other men, who smiled guilelessly in return. “Bye Jessica. Nice to meet you, Angela.” He took off down the stairs at a run, and disappeared around the corner.

“He’s very different when he’s not running the exercise torture,” Angela commented. “That was one of my most hated parts of the days here.”

“You went on those runs?” Jessie asked sympathetically. Angela nodded.

“Every single day,” she said bitterly. “I was fitter when I left here than I’d ever been before, the bastard.”

“I know what you mean,” Daniel said. “I went for a jog with him a few weeks ago and he damned near ran me off my feet.”
”And you were dressed,” Angela pointed out.

“You don’t know that,” Daniel teased. Then he reached out and ruffled her hair. “He didn’t recognise you, kid.”
”No,” she said. “That’s something.”

“I don’t understand how he makes it back in one piece every time,” Jessie said, as they went back inside, both men having released their firm grips and just keeping an arm wrapped around them now. “I mean, there seemed to be lots of women. If they turned on him, they could do real damage.”
”That would involve them cooperating with each other,” Patrick pointed out. “Which hardly ever happens.”
”No, I did suggest between gasps that we tear him limb from limb and bury the remains at one point,” Angela remembered. “But no-one would listen. I think they were scared about what would happen to us if we arrived back at the Institute without him. Or perhaps they were all just too worn out to contemplate digging a hole big enough to bury the rat.”

“If he tripped and fell, I think they’d be on him like vultures on carrion,” Daniel said. “But they’re naked, Jessie. Where would they run?”
”You’re being logical,” she accused him. “If I’d had to do one of his exercise runs and routines, I’d have killed him and to hell with the consequences.”
”I wish there’d been more like you when I was here,” Angela muttered. “The man deserves to die.”

“This violent streak in you is both alarming and arousing,” Patrick said, releasing Angela and sitting down on the sofa. “Have we packed the handcuffs yet, Daniel?”
”You have handcuffs?” Jessie asked. Having moved away from Daniel, she’d been about to sit down, but she sprang up again.

“Changing the subject quickly,” Daniel said, firing a glare at his brother. “Why do you think Jake took Frank’s photos?”
”Jake?” Angela squealed. “Jake took the photos?”
”A little louder, darling,” Patrick said. “I’m not sure the people in the next State heard that clearly.” He grinned as she poked her tongue out at him. “Bring that over here and I’ll show you what to do with it,” he invited.

“Why do you think Jake took them?” Jessie asked. She went back to Daniel, slipped her arms around his waist and looked up at him.

“It’s not widely known that only Jake, Patrick and I have the master keys to this place,” he said. “We can open any door, any gate, anywhere in the grounds. Not without setting off bells and sirens on the alarmed ones, of course, but we can even open those in an emergency.”

“I can’t see Jake sneaking into the doctor’s house and wiping his computer,” Jessie said, shaking her head.

“He wouldn’t have to,” Patrick said. “He can access every computer in the Institute from his. And with his knowledge of computing, he’s undoubtedly done it without even leaving a trail.” No distinctive dark blue Jaguars featuring in his father’s crime, he thought to himself.

“I can see him pulling photographs down, though,” Angela said. “I can see him enjoying that immensely. He’s got that ‘man of action’ thing happening.”
”You get all this from seeing him on television a few times?” Patrick asked. Angela recovered fast.
”Yes,” she said. “I’m perceptive like that.”

They still knew nothing about Jake’s visit, and neither of the women were about to enlighten them. Gabrielle had also kept quiet about it, and her frequent nightly absences were easily explained away as media commitments. Only Jessie and Angela knew that she was actually sneaking out to meet Jake, and they were so entertained and caught up in the romance of it that they weren’t going to share that with their lovers, either. That was up to their parents. And besides, if they told them, they’d have to tell them how Jake and Gabrielle had met up at Jessie’s house. And they didn’t want them to know about their proposition to Jake. They were due to find out themselves very soon, anyway.

………..

The ‘Shame it’s Over Auction’ was promoted on the network for over a week, during peak viewing hours, with clever placement to obscure parts of the female anatomy that couldn’t be shown at those times. Merchandise was amassed on the set, mugs, t-shirts, caps and towels with the famous logo of the silhouette of the naked woman, the word “SHAMED” across her body, with a gold crown hanging off the ‘S’ and a black cat curled around the letter ‘D’. The auction was scheduled for half an hour in the usual adult viewing time.

Patrick and Daniel, not relishing spending extra time in the leather outfits under studio lights, were nevertheless looking forward to finishing off the show. The first hint they had that things were not quite as they seemed were when they walked out on stage to mike up and realised that their audience was completely, entirely made up of women.

“Look at this, Cat,” Patrick said, smiling broadly. “Just look at this. A whole studio full of lovely ladies.”
”And we’re not going to get to spank any of them,” Daniel said, shaking his head. He stepped down off the stage, and was about to start working his way up the stairs when he stopped on the third row, backed up and looked at the woman sitting at the end of the front row. And at the woman beside her. And then, in growing disbelief, at the woman beside her as well. All three of them were smiling.

“King?” Daniel said. Patrick, just about to move down off the stage as well, turned to him. “We’re in trouble,” Daniel finished, and the crowd roared with laughter.

“Why is that, Cat?” Patrick asked. Then he looked at the woman near Daniel as well, and his jaw dropped. “I see. Some very familiar faces there. In fact, all along the front row, if I’m not mistaken. Welcome back, ladies.” The applause rang out, and the entire front row of previous victims of the Shame Game stood up and took a bow.

“Back up on the stage, Cat,” Patrick advised. “Quickly.” Daniel looked at him, then at the women who were sitting down again. He leaned down to the one nearest him.

“Am I in danger?” he asked.

“You are,” she said sweetly.

“Should I run?” he asked. She nodded, then laughed as he sprang straight back up onto the stage.

“Well, well, well, it looks like we’ve been set up,” Patrick said. “Am I right in assuming that all of you ladies intend to buy items tonight?” There were cheers. Daniel was looking round at the grinning faces of all of the floor crew. Something was definitely going on. “And you all have your bidding numbers?” A sea of numbers on thin wooden paddles emerged. “Very good,” he said. “So, in approximately two minutes, the action will begin when we start taping. And for once, I don’t have to deliver a disclaimer.”

“In fact,” said a woman, walking on stage behind Daniel. “You don’t have to do much at all this show, King.” Patrick spun around, surprised.

“Sienna?” Daniel grinned.

“The same,” she said, and laughed as he picked her up and hugged her. Patrick crossed the stage to hug her too. No one watching would have guessed that the last time Sienna had seen him, she’d been having humiliating sex with him for the amusement of every salacious viewer in the country.

“You look great, kid,” he said softly, sincerely. “Good on you.” She winked at him. Sienna was made of strong stuff.

“What’s going on?” Daniel demanded. He looked at the audience. “We really have no idea.” There was a ripple of laughter. “In fact, I suspect YOU have more idea than we do. What’s going on?”

“Trust us, boys. You’re in safe hands,” Sienna said, her melodic voice laced with evil intent. Both men groaned.

“Trust you?” Patrick protested. “TRUST…”
”Not finished yet, King,” said Sienna. “The biggest surprise of the night is still to come, honey.” The endearment all but dripped off her tongue. And then she turned to the camera, and to Patrick and Daniel’s shock and amusement, effectively took their show off them.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,” she said. “You may remember me. I’m Sienna Mallow, a graduate of the Shame Institute and of ‘The Shame Game’ itself. Tonight, it’s my pleasure to welcome you to the ‘Shame it’s Over Auction’, and I am delighted to welcome in particular, a group of Shame Alumni. The camera panned over the front row, and women waved and smiled. “Not looking too shamed now, are we ladies?” Sienna asked, scoring cheers. “Looking damned FINE, in fact.” Patrick looked over at Daniel and mouthed the words ‘what is going on?’ to him. He shrugged in return.

“But right now, all of our viewers are probably wondering what’s happened to King Dazzler and The Cat. Am I right? Well don’t worry. They’re right here. Please welcome, for the last time to this stage, Patrick ‘King Dazzler’ Sauniere, and Daniel ‘The Cat’ Sauniere.” Patrick and Daniel walked forward as she beckoned them, and the applause was thunderous, even from the front row.

“How are you feeling, King?” Sienna asked.
”Confused,” Patrick replied. “I have no idea what’s happening here. How about you, Cat?”
”Completely in the dark,” Daniel said. He glanced down at his black leathers. “No pun intended.”
”For once,” Sienna said. “Bad plays on words have abounded on this show ever since its inception three years ago. But let’s not look back. Tonight, we’re not planning to dwell on the past. No. We’re planning very much to dwell on the present. So. Ready, boys?” she asked, a smile on her lovely face.

“For what?” Daniel asked, hands palm up. More laughter from the audience.
”For the auction, of course,” she said. She turned back to the audience. “Lot number 1,” she announced. “What am I bid for King Dazzler’s white boots?” Patrick and Daniel froze. Then Patrick looked down at the boots and then over at Daniel.

“No,” he said in disbelief. “They wouldn’t do that to us.” Daniel was shaking his head as well. The audience was laughing, and Sienna was barely controlling herself. Her tawny-brown eyes were dancing.

“Oh come on, boys. They’re going for a good cause. We’ll start the bidding with two hundred dollars. And yes, we have the first bid in the front row. And another, that’s two hundred and fifty, let’s keep it going.”
”No!” Patrick said again, but he was laughing too. Daniel had his head in his hands.
”Oh yes,” Sienna assured him, smiling over her shoulder. “And we’re up to four hundred, fantastic. And another? Yes, up at the back.”

Patrick’s boots went for two thousand dollars. Sienna turned to look at him.

“What happens now?” he asked.
”Why, you take them off, King,” Sienna said.

“You know, I suspected that might be the case,” he sighed. He looked at Daniel, who shrugged and laughed.

“Fine,” Patrick said, and to riotous applause, sat down on the stage and tugged his boots off. He tried to hand them to Sienna, who shook her head. “Up at the back there, to the right. Please hold the number up? Right there, King. Off you go.”
”I have to deliver them?” he queried. She nodded. “Just great,” he said, jumping down off the stage and walking up the stairs bare-foot.

”And now, who’d like to take home a pair of black leather boots? What am I bid for The Cat’s footwear?” After spirited bidding, Daniel dragged his boots off and delivered them to a woman near the front who bid two thousand six hundred dollars for them.

“They probably smell a bit,” he apologised, smiling as he handed them over.

“Give me a kiss and I’ll forgive you,” she said, her voice carrying through his microphone, and there were cheers as he leaned over the three women between them and gave her a smacking kiss on the lips.

“And now,” Sienna said, smiling even wider. “What am I bid for a particularly nice white leather vest?”

“Oh shit,” Patrick said, his voice carrying clearly over the microphone, and causing riotous laughter. He was reaching for the buttons when the bidding stopped at an unbelievable five thousand three hundred dollars, but Sienna held her hand up to stop him.

“Part of the ‘Shame Game’ experience was the preparation,” she said. “Injections to prevent nausea and tears and so on. Couldn’t have all of that emotion clogging up the fifteen minutes, after all.” Just for an instant, she sounded bitter, but she recovered fast. “We haven’t got those for the boys tonight, but we have got something special. One of the real delights, as I’m sure the ladies in the front row will attest to, was the fact that there were always two guards to help you undress. So it seems only fair that we provide our hosts with some assistance. Please welcome to the stage, the new darling of the crime fiction scene, Angela Myers, and The One Who Got Away, Jessie Porter!”

To say that Patrick and Daniel were surprised when the two women came out, dressed in perfectly fitting guard’s uniforms, was an understatement. They’d suggested that they be part of the last show, and had been categorically, emphatically refused. Seeing them now, their hair neatly styled, their movements confident as they walked straight across the stage to Patrick, both men knew that they’d been in it from the start.

“Et tu, Angela?” Patrick asked, sounding wounded.
”It’s okay, baby,” she said, patting his cheek. “We’ll look after you.” The crowd loved it, and they cheered even more when she hooked a hand around his neck and pulled him down for a long, passionate kiss. Through this, Jessie stood beside him, hands behind her back, expression impassive, just like the guards always did. Her expression wavered as Angela began unbuttoning Patrick’s vest, however.

”You don’t think we could find somewhere a little more private to do this, sweetheart?” Patrick suggested. “You know, like somewhere away from an audience of over a thousand people and several million viewers?”
”Why?” Angela asked, opening the last button and baring his chest to the viewing public. “Feeling shy, King?”

“Feeling worried,” he amended. “You worried, Cat?”
”No,” Daniel said. “But only because I was counting on you to distract them all for a while longer so I could make a run for it.”

“No!” bellowed the audience.

“Oh come on,” Daniel appealed to them. “Surely he’s enough for you to play with?”
”No!” they yelled again.

“Rats,” he said, looking down at his bare feet while they laughed.

Patrick delivered his vest to the successful bidder, earning numerous pats and strokes over his chest and back as he made his way through the audience, particularly when he had to climb over six women to get to the person he was delivering it to. He gave her a kiss, too, and she hugged his vest to her like it was a holy relic. He started objecting to the handling he was receiving as he climbed back over the legs.

“No, that is not public property!” he protested, laughing as he brushed aside hands that were groping at his butt and his groin.

“Well, not yet, anyway,” Sienna said. Patrick looked up, mouth open. He wasn’t surprised any more, but he was playing along anyway. From the instant at which the bidding had started for the boots, he and Daniel had both known there was only one way this show was going to go. And since there was no way for them to get out of it gracefully, they were obviously going to have to grin and bare it.

“And now,” Sienna said. “The luscious Cat is going to part with his vest. What am I bid?”

“But I like this vest,” Daniel said. He stroked it.

“I’ll buy you another one,” Jessie promised, talking into her microphone as she crossed the stage to him.

“It won’t be the same,” he said, deliberately sounding like a sulky child.
”That’s right,” she said. “It won’t be all sweaty.” To audience laughter, she copied Angela’s move and pulled him down to kiss her. Unlike Patrick, who’d just kissed back, Daniel lifted her up off the floor and held her there, for a kiss that went so long, to such riotous applause, that Sienna had to resort to walking over and tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Cat!” she said. He ignored her, sliding one hand down Jessie’s back and cupping her backside in the tight uniform trousers. “Daniel!” She tried again. Patrick strode across the stage, the lights playing on his golden hair, his bare chest.

“Cat, put that woman DOWN!” he ordered. Daniel looked up, Jessie still pinned against him.

“Don’t want to,” he said, just as he often had when prowling the audience. “I found her. She’s mine.” He bounced her up and down against him. “My very own mousie, and she’s not getting away from me.” He smiled, and bent to kiss her again. Jessie, laughing, put her hands on his shoulders and tried to push him back, but she didn’t have a hope.

“Get a jug of water, guard,” Patrick advised Angela as the crowd roared. “A large one. In fact, make it a garden hose. And bring snippers as well. It’s time we did something about this tom cat.”

“Yes, it’s time we auctioned his vest,” Sienna took the line he threw, and started the bidding as he walked back to the other side of the stage. Daniel let Jessie go as Angela walked over to stand beside him, arms behind her, face impassive.

“You look great in that, Angie,” Daniel said conversationally, knowing his voice was carrying over the bidding. “Both of you. Will you dress up like this at home for us?”
”Behave yourself, Cat,” Sienna warned over her shoulder. He gave her the famous teeth-bared grin, and the bidding went up dramatically.

“It’s worth more than that,” Patrick drummed up support from the sidelines. “The Cat has sweated on that particular vest for months. That vest has essence of Cat ingrained in it. Doesn’t it Jessie?”
”It does,” Jessie agreed. “And it’s all warm from his body, too.” She stroked his chest through the leather. It was no surprise that the bidding for the vest reached nearly ten thousand dollars, and when Daniel stood, arms straight out, while Jessie unbuttoned it, the applause grew louder and louder as his chest and stomach were bared. He took the vest from her, looked up to where the successful bidder was, right in the middle of the long middle row, looked to either side, where women with grins on their faces were waiting for him to start climbing over them, and shook his head.

“I don’t think so,” he said. Instead, he stepped down off the stage and bounded straight up onto the back of the first row, springing sure-footed and so quickly over heads and onto the back of each row that no-one had time to grab him. He stepped down lightly to loud applause as he reached the woman. He handed her the vest, cupped her face between his hands, and kissed her. She looked dazed when he stopped. He looked back the way he’d come.

“It’s not going to work twice, is it?” he rued.
”Not likely, Cat,” Sienna laughed at the look on his face.
”Fine,” he said, and made a point of cupping his hands over his groin before he began edging past all of the knees between where he was and the end of the row. His torso was a sea of stroking hands the whole way along, and his backside completely disappeared. The camera followed his slow progress, the audience laughing and shouting encouragement as the groping hands tried to dislodge his own protective ones, tried to pull him down onto laps. When he reached the end, he made a point of bending over, hands on his knees and breathing heavily as if he was winded.

“I’ve just been molested!” he protested. “Why are you all cheering?”

”Something to do with all of those bare butts you spanked over the last three years, Cat?” Sienna suggested.

“But he did it too!” With a dramatic swing of his arm, Daniel pointed at Patrick.

“Oh, we’ll get to him,” Sienna promised. “In fact…” Patrick hooked his fingers into the waistband of his leather pants and held on tight, shaking his head. “Oh yes, King. They’re coming off. Right off. And we have guards here to enforce the issue if you try to be difficult.” Jessie and Angela advanced on him, doing their best to look menacing. He backed up, trying to look scared, but ruining it when he started laughing at the looks on their faces.

When the bidding reached eleven thousand dollars for Patrick’s pants, Daniel, who was by now sitting on the edge of the stage, swinging his long legs and grinning at audience members, waved his hand at Sienna.
”Are you bidding for King Dazzler’s pants, Cat?” Sienna asked. He scoffed.

“They wouldn’t fit me,” he said, to laughter. “No, I was just wondering if everyone realised that there’s no room for anything under those leather pants except King Dazzler.” There was an audible drawing-in of breath from the audience, and every eye swivelled to Patrick. “Just in case anyone was holding back, intending to bid for his underwear.”

“Thanks for that, Cat,” Patrick said between clenched teeth. “And of course, you all realise that the same applies to him.”

“Food for thought,” Sienna said. “Food for thought, indeed. We were up to eleven thousand one hundred dollars. Does the thought of what’s underneath those tight leather pants inspire anyone else to bid higher? You know, I thought it might.” Three thousand dollars later, Patrick made a whimpering noise as Angela approached him, smiling wickedly.
”I thought you loved me?” he said pathetically.
”I do,” she assured him. “Let’s show everyone one of the main reasons why.” His blue eyes danced in appreciation of that as he deliberately turned his back on the audience and held his arms out to the side. She unbuttoned him, and slowly unzipped him.

“Man, these are tight!” she said, peeling them away.

“That’s because you’re here,” he said in a stage whisper into the microphone, and when the audience burst out laughing, he looked back over his shoulder quickly. “You people weren’t supposed to hear that!” he said. He looked down as she tugged the pants down, knowing his butt was about to be completely bared to the audience and cameras.

“Angie? Can we rethink this, honey? Talk about it over dinner? Maybe over diamonds?”

“Stop trying to bribe the guard, Sauniere,” Jessie said in her best guard voice, reaching over and smacking the part of his backside that was still covered in leather. The hilarity of the audience faded into a chorus of approval as one of the two most celebrated male butts in the country was revealed. Angela quickly dragged his pants the rest of the way down, and Patrick obediently stepped out of them, his hands covering his groin, his back resolutely to the audience.

”And I am NOT delivering those,” he said, and the boos almost outdid the laughter. Angela took the pants up the stairs to the woman who was waiting for them. She covered her microphone with her hand.
”He said to tell you he’ll talk to you later,” she relayed to the woman, who beamed.

“And now,” Sienna continued. And stopped. “Where did he go?” Daniel had disappeared off the stage, but was soon located by the squeals of laughter from the front row, where he was crawling on all fours in front of the feet of the women.

“Oh Cat,” Sienna said, shaking her head. “I really don’t think that’s the best row for you to go to for sympathy.” Daniel sat up on his haunches, and looked along the familiar faces of women he’d bared and spanked on the show. He shuddered.

“Would you believe that it wasn’t me who did those bad, bad things?” he asked them. “It was my evil twin. He’s just like Patrick, and nothing like me. I’m really, really good.” He punctuated this by putting his head on the lap of the nearest woman, and looking up at her.

“She’s not buying it, Cat,” Sienna said, impatiently tapping her foot on the stage. Daniel lifted his head and looked at the woman.
”No?” he asked her. She shook her head, smiling, even though she was stroking his hair. He sighed.

“Ah well,” he said, grinning broadly as he stood up. “It was worth a try.” He sprang back up onto the stage, brushing the dirt off the knees of the black leather pants Sienna was now auctioning.

They turned out to be the most expensive item of the night, and he contributed considerably by sexily swivelling his hips every now and then, whenever the bidding slowed down. Jessie was in hysterics watching him, and he sent her an amused look when she had to cover her microphone to stop herself from drowning out Sienna. Finally, when it had looked like the bidding was going to go on all night, (with several complaints from Patrick, who was still standing, stark naked, at the other side of the stage), the last bid was received. At eighteen thousand dollars, Daniel stood still, back to the audience, and surrendered his pants to Jessie. She took her time taking them off him, and burst out laughing again when the audience rose in a standing ovation as his butt was completely bared. He looked up at the rafters and shook his head.

“What did we do to deserve this, King?” he asked.

“I don’t know, Cat,” Patrick said, edging sideways towards the centre of the stage, back to the audience. “And I’m really scared about what they’re going to auction next.”

“Next?” Daniel repeated, edging across from the other way, back to the audience, his hands covering his groin. “We haven’t got anything else to donate!”

“Oh yes you have,” Sienna said mischievously. “Thank you for delivering those, Jessie. Are you happy with those, Ma’am? Of course you are. Apart from the fact that the Cat was wearing them about a minute ago, there’s enough leather in those long legs to make several sofas. Now, what am I bid for a chance to spank the gorgeous butts of these two fine, NAKED gentlemen?” Both men, facing away from the audience and cameras, put their hands over their faces at that, and Sienna quickly darted across the stage to try to get in front of them. The both dropped their hands to their groins, laughing. Sienna strolled back to centre stage, grinning from ear to ear, having had a quick look before they covered themselves. She looked at Angela and Jessie, standing off to the side of her and laughing along with the audience, and shook her head. “You lucky, lucky girls,” she said.

She auctioned them off, Patrick first, then Daniel, on the understanding that the spankings were to occur at the same time. This hadn’t been the original idea, but the bidding had taken longer than it was supposed to, and they were running out of time. The network would have accepted the time lag, but Sienna was a professional, or at least she had been before her stay in the Shame Institute had been beamed into homes all across the country and made her more familiar as a naked body and blushing face than as an esteemed television host.

The bidding this time was just as spirited, but she kept it going fast, allowing no interruptions, and in no time at all, two women were walking up the side stairs of the stage. One of them looked to be in her late forties, the other was from the front row, one of the graduates of the program. Daniel, realising she was coming for him, turned to Patrick and said a quiet “damn”.

“Better you than me, little brother,” Patrick replied, neither of them bothering to cover their mikes. They were too busy covering other things.

A great deal of amusement was provided when the two tall men did their best to lower themselves onto the laps of the two women without putting their full weight on them or revealing themselves to the audience. Jessie and Angela each stood beside one chair, arms folded and eyes merry as their men positioned themselves, bare butts over the legs of the successful bidders, and shifted their hands down to the floor to take their weight.

“How many, ladies?” Sienna called out to the audience.
”Thousands!” yelled someone.
”Tens of thousands!” yelled someone else.

“Fifty it is,” Sienna said, smiling as everyone laughed.

“Fifty!” Patrick protested.
”Be gentle,” Daniel begged. The blonde he was draped over smiled.

“Not a chance,” she said. The audience reaction from that increased dramatically as the woman Patrick was lying over pulled a wooden ruler out of her handbag and brandished it. Patrick couldn’t see it, and Angela had to turn away to control her laughter.

”Let’s go,” Sienna said, and it started. Patrick jumped as soon as the ruler hit him, but he didn’t shift. The woman spanking Daniel wasn’t sparing him, either. Forget the all-sound, low-pain smacks they’d dished out on the show, she was putting her full arm into it, and every time her hand landed, she left a mark on his skin. By the time they finished, both of them had tender backsides, and were glad Sienna had limited it to fifty. The woman who’d spanked Daniel, primed by Jessie, who was making tickling motions with her hands, trailed her fingers up and down his sides as he went to get up, and he struggled, laughing, only just managing to get one hand down to cover himself as he batted her hands away from him.

Patrick was even less fortunate, as the woman had clamped his penis between her legs and was refusing to let him go. He was laughing, but he was begging as well.
”Please, Ma’am. I need that. I really do!” Angela settled it.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am, but I’m going to have to ask you to let that go,” she said, sounding official. “I have a prior claim on that part of King Dazzler’s anatomy.” Grinning, the woman relinquished her grip on him, and he managed to get up. He spared one hand to snatch the ruler from her hand, and turned his back, snapping it in half before handing it back to her.

“No fair!” he said, shaking his head. But, being a good sport, and mindful of the amount of money she’d donated to charity for the privilege of spanking him, he grinned and bent down to kiss her before she left.

“I don’t get a kiss?” the other woman demanded of Daniel.

“Hands behind your back,” he ordered, approaching her cautiously. She smiled and obediently put them there, but as soon as he’d pressed his lips to hers, she brought her hands back and tickled him again. He jumped back out of her reach. As he did, he passed Sienna, and leaned in close, his mouth to her ear.

“Do we have censorship approval for total male nudity?” he asked her. She nodded, eyes gleaming. “Oh yeah,” she said. He rolled his eyes and went over to break the good news to Patrick.

“Well that’s it for the auction,” Sienna said. “But we’ve saved the best for last. Gentlemen, turn around and face your audience.” Hands at half-past six, Patrick and Daniel slowly turned, eyes downcast, doing their best to look embarrassed. To be honest, neither of them was having to act all that much. Standing naked on a stage in front of all of those women wasn’t the easiest thing either of them had ever done, and less confident men would have turned tail and run.

“Now, now, now, boys,” Sienna tutted. “Did you let any of us cover ourselves when our crimes were being read out?” As the audience roared its approval, the men stared at Sienna, both of them doing a good job of looking disbelieving, even though they’d both worked out that this was going to happen. “What do you think, ladies? Is the King a natural blonde? Is the Cat well endowed enough to satisfy all of those lady cats? Well, let’s find out. Do help them, guards,” she added. Jessie and Angela walked across the stage to them, one on either side.

”Display position, Sauniere!” Jessie said firmly.

“And you too, Sauniere!” Angela barked. Still looking at their feet, Patrick sniffed loudly and Daniel made a sobbing noise. The audience laughed. And then both men looked at each other, looked up, smiled ruefully, and shifted their hands up to behind their necks, spreading their feet and standing tall, nude and to all intents and purposes, quite comfortable, in front of an audience that had jumped to its feet, cheering wildly.

“Oh my,” Sienna breathed into her microphone, not having to exaggerate. They really were magnificent-looking men, and their perfect, muscular bodies gleamed under the studio lights. In addition to their handsome faces, they both had strong, well-developed arms, shoulders and chests, hard abdominal ridges, flat bellies, narrow hips, and long, long legs. But that wasn’t where most of over one thousand pairs of female eyes were focusing.

“I don’t think either of them would have any difficulty satisfying any number of ladies, do you?” Sienna said.

“Oh God,” Patrick laughed, starting to turn away, feeling a distinct need to cover himself.

“Face FRONT!” Angela ordered, enjoying this.

“Yes,” Daniel said through clenched teeth. “If I have to do this, you damned well have to, as well.”

The very appreciative audience quieted only when the familiar male recorded voice boomed out.

“Patrick William Sauniere, also known as King Dazzler, was an industrial chemist working in Europe, and Daniel John Sauniere, alias The Cat, was a physical therapist with a growing practice in Paris when they returned to this country to help their father set up the Shame Institute.” There were sounds of surprise from the audience at that, as several people worked out who their father was. Despite Jake’s willingness to claim them, it had never been mentioned before. The voice continued: “They are charged with not only shaming more than a thousand women on their top-rating show ‘The Shame Game’, but also with appearing to enjoy themselves immensely while doing it. In addition, they are charged with making more bad puns and mugging for the camera more often than any other television hosts in living memory.” Patrick looked up and sighed into the microphone that was all he was now wearing.

“It was him, I tell you,” he said. “It was all his fault.”

“They are also charged with wearing outrageously tight leather pants,” the voice continued. “And displaying their bodies in a lewd manner.” Daniel looked down.
”Or in this case, in a nude manner,” he said, prompting laughs all around.

“You were warned about bad puns,” Jessie said. She smacked his butt, earning a cheer from the audience. The voice continued.

“Today, after three years of running what has become the most popular show in the country, Patrick and Daniel Sauniere, are taking off their leather suits.”
”They already have!” someone yelled from the audience.

“And today, they are paying for their crimes.”
”Turn around, boys,” Sienna said. Obediently, hands still in position, the two men turned away from the audience, and on their images on the big screens, the cartoon stamp came down for the last time, printing the word “SHAMED” across their bare, reddened butts.

”Oh, that had to hurt,” Sienna said.

“And that,” she finished. “Is that. Shame it had to end.”

As the familiar music played, she strolled over and stroked their backsides, which they tolerated, but Daniel lost it when she scratched her long nails up his side. He grabbed Jessie, dragged her against the front of him.

“What happened to ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’?” he demanded. She laughed as he turned around to face the audience, with her blocking their view of at least part of his body.
”Ah, a human shield. Good idea,” Patrick said, trapping Angela the same way. “Sienna, if I never see you again, I swear it will be too soon!” She burst out laughing.

“I know the feeling, Patrick,” she said. “I felt exactly the same way about you the time I appeared on this show.” Niceties aside, they gave each other a kiss, and then she moved on to Daniel, standing up on tiptoes to kiss him too.

“You’ve got a really good one here,” Sienna said to Jessie.
”Sssh,” Daniel pleaded. “Think of my image, woman!”
”Your image has taken a real beating today, sugar,” Sienna grinned. “The cat stripped bare. And what a sight it is.”

“Oh, you have GOT to be kidding!” Patrick suddenly said, and they looked up to see that half of the audience was clamouring for the men to come down and sign autographs. “Like this?” he demanded of them. “We’d be emasculated!” The chant of “autographs! autographs!” got louder and louder, and eventually Daniel nodded.

“Back off from the stage!” he said, putting Jessie to one side and walking forward, still naked. “Yeah, yeah, you’ve seen it all already. No big deal.” The audience begged to differ. “Come on Patrick. Set your ass down here.” Daniel sat on the edge of the stage. Patrick joined him, wincing as his backside came into contact with the wood. The woman with the ruler had done a good job on him.

“Now, as long as you only come up a few at a time, and keep your hands away from the dangly bits, we’ll keep signing autographs,” Daniel said. “Yes, and you can take photographs, but I’d stick to the digital cameras if I were you, because I can’t see too many places developing photographs of us like this, can you?”
”Are you mad?” Patrick said. Daniel shrugged.

“We’re going out into millions of homes tonight, just as we are,” he said. “What do a few photographs matter?”
”You have a point,” Patrick said. “Who’s first? And I hope you all have paper and pen, because I seem to have misplaced my pockets in this suit.”