S.WOLF SAMPLER

By

S.Wolf


SMASHWORDS EDITION


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PUBLISHED BY:

S.Wolf on Smashwords

S.Wolf Sampler

Copyright © 2011 by S.Wolf


Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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Table of Contents
The Touch of Isis
Vampire Tanning
Eternal
Erato
Remote Intimacy
Killing Max
The Gazelle
Amulet
Amulet 2
Sex Zombies

The Touch of Isis

Sarah and Matt are fledgling archeologists who find a mysterious artifact in an Egyptian tomb. Exploring its secrets together, they soon discover they can’t control the passion it unleashes. Adult erotica. (Winner of the July/August 2010 Erotic Stories and Toys writing contest.)

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Valley of the Queens, Egypt, 1904

Sarah squinted in the low light, generated only by the several gas lanterns spread around the ancient room.  Had she already inventoried this piece or not?  She could barely read her own writing, and a frustrated sigh escaped her lips.
“You ok Sarah?”  asked Matt, her fellow intern and inventory partner.  They were both here after winning highly competitive summer college internships – her from Vassar and him from Princeton, but their work turned out to be slightly less exotic than they had expected.  While the leader of their archeological expedition, Professor Schiaparelli, discovered the tomb and received world-wide accolades, they were here with the mundane task of writing down every single item found in the crypt.
Well, sitting in the lavish antechamber of the tomb of Nefertari, favorite wife of Ramesses the Great, could ever be mundane.  She realized she was lucky to be here, being one of only a handful of people to enter these rooms in the last thousand years.  But the monotonous paperwork was finally getting to her.
“I’m fine Matt.  My eyes are getting tired, that’s all.”  
“Same here,” he said, “I’m seeing double.  You want to take a break?”
“I’d love to,” she replied, and walked over to the small bench where their knapsacks were sitting.  Retrieving her canteen, she sat on one end of the bench.
After getting his water, Matt sat beside her, a bit closer than she would have preferred.  Not that she minded, but when he was close she found it hard to concentrate on other things.  He had a body built for this rugged life, and sometimes her mind would wander, imagining what it looked like – thoughts a proper lady shouldn’t be having.
Proper lady.  Those words reminded her of her father, a wealthy Boston banker who had been dead set against her coming here, claiming that proper ladies didn’t run off to the desert, crawling through the dirt in men’s clothes.   But for once, her mother had stepped in and insisted she be allowed to go.  Her mother and she were kindred spirits, each sharing a natural curiosity about the world.  And while the elder had given up her dreams of adventure to have a family, she wanted her daughter to experience the world before settling down and marrying.
“Ah,” said Matt, after taking a drink, “that hit the spot.”  Although he attended a big-city school, he was a farm boy at heart.  Originally from Wyoming, he was the first in his family to go to college, attending Princeton on a well-earned academic scholarship.  He had caught the Egyptologist bug when he was young, reading every book he could find on the subject.   Getting to know him this past month, she knew he was destined for greatness in this field, and she sometimes fantasized about them being married; a team of world-famous archeologist by day, and lovers by night.  The lovers part made her blush, and sometimes a warm feeling arose between her legs when she thought of him that way.
He had obviously been raised to respect women, and it showed in how he treated her with courtesy.  They spent most of their time together, and he had always been polite to her.  There were a few times when she had turned quickly towards him and thought she had caught him admiring her body, but his eyes would look at her with open honesty, and she assumed she must have been imagining things.  Wishful thinking, probably.
“Hey, you want to do some exploring?”
She smiled.  “Love to.”  They weren’t supposed to be doing this.  Their job was to inventory, that’s all.  The real archeologists would carefully search the tomb by day, lay out what they found on canvas tarps, and Sarah and Matt would spend the night cataloging it.  But boredom sometimes overtook them, and they would spend a few minutes inspecting the crypt.  After all, they were explorers, weren’t they?
“Want to try the tomb this time?” he asked.
Her smile widened.  “Lead the way,” she said.  They hadn’t been down there yet, but she had been looking forward to it for a while.
He grinned back and stood, taking one of the lanterns and heading for the dark entrance leading to the tomb room.  She followed closely behind.
The stairs leading to the burial chamber angled downward to the right, with colorful paintings on the walls that seemed to come alive in the dancing light of the lantern.  The stairs were uneven, and Sarah lost her balance slightly, bumping into his back.  His hand took hold of hers for a moment, steadying her.  Feeling his touch, she found it difficult to focus on the ancient artwork surrounding her.
At the bottom, the hallway opened up into the burial chamber.  Here, the paintings on the wall were even more brilliant, and the roof was painted a dark blue, with white stars sprinkled across it.  The floor at the center of the room was higher, with three steps leading up to it, and in the middle was a platform where the sarcophagus had sat.
Grave robbers had long ago stolen the body of the Queen from this room, along with most of its golden treasures.  But many artifacts remained, from statues to personal effects of the Queen herself.  It fascinated Sarah to think that Nefertari had actually held the objects in this room in her hands.  Examining an ivory comb, she imagined it running through the Queen’s long dark hair.
Matt set the lantern in the middle of the room, and they began to look around, each taking an opposite side of the chamber.  Sarah was in the middle of examining an ebony statuette, when Matt called to her.
“Sarah, bring the lantern over and take a look at this.”
She lifted the light and went to him, noticing he was peering intently into a shelf built into the wall.  
“Look at these things.  What do you think they are?”
The shelf was chest high, and she set the lamp on the edge, giving her enough light to examine the contents closely.
It was a collection of cylindrical items, with varying widths and lengths, rounded at one end and flat at the other.  Some were made out of smooth wood, others were ivory, and a few smaller ones were jade.  She furrowed her brow.  What could they be?  She could feel an old memory trying to bubble up, and then finally it came to her.
One day when she was twelve, her older sister Gretchen and she were trying on their mother's clothes, and she had discovered an object in the back of her mother's drawer.  It was long and cylindrical, made out of smooth marble, and tapered to a rounded point on one end.  Her sister blushed when Sarah showed it to her, and the curiosity that would eventually lead her to Egypt took over, and she badgered Gretchen until she explained what it was.
Now she was looking at Nefertari’s collection of those same objects.  And just as she had done with the comb, she imagined how the Queen had used these items.
Her face turned a deep red, and even with the dim light from the lamp, Matt noticed.
“What?” he asked.
“Um,” she said, not even close to finding the words.
He could tell there was something she wasn’t telling him.  “Sarah, what is it?”
She tried to remember how her sister had explained it to her.  “Um, you know how sometimes women are alone?”
He looked at her as if she were speaking Chinese.
“They're alone but they wish they weren't,” she continued, “They wish there was a man around?”
She could tell by his expression that she wasn't getting through.  She picked up the nearest object and showed it to him, holding it in one hand and laying it across the palm of her other, curling her fingers slightly around it.  “They wish there was a man around?” she repeated, this time emphasizing the word 'man'.
He finally got it.  His eyes opened wide and his mouth looked like it was saying “oh” but no sound came out.  The flush in his cheeks quickly matched hers.
But what he did next surprised her.  Stepping close to her, he said, “Let me see those again.”  She moved to the side and stood there as he peered into the shelf, re-examining the objects with his new perspective.
He was close to her, almost touching, and she could feel the heat coming off of his body.  She was still holding the object she had shown him, and she realized she was gripping it with both hands, unconsciously running her fingers along its length.  Remembering that it was an ancient artifact that she was fondling, she gingerly placed it back in its spot, and the two of them looked down on the collection together.
She wondered if he was doing the same thing she had done; allowing his imagination to paint mental pictures of how the Queen had used these items.
“Hey, what's that?” he said, interrupting her thoughts.  She looked to where he was pointing, and could make out a dark object lying against the back wall of the shelf.  Adjusting the position of the lantern, she could see that it had a thin wooden handle, with some kind of shapeless mass on one end.
Matt reached in, stretched out his arm, and was barely able to get hold of it.  Pulling it out, they both saw what it was.  On one end of the handle, a bundle of feathers were attached, their soft ends gently swaying with each movement.  If they had found it anywhere else, they would have wondered what it had been used for, but its location made it very clear what its purpose was.  It was still in excellent shape for how old it must have been, and Sarah wondered how it would feel caressing her skin.
Matt held the object between them, and they examined it closely.  The wooden handle was made of ebony, gleaming black in the flickering light. One end had a hole where a leather strap may have once been, and the other flared out into a holder where the feathers were embedded.  The feathers themselves were an odd mixture of red and black, and Sarah wondered what kind of bird they were from.  
“Very nice,” said Matt, waving it gently, almost touching her bare arm.  The skin there became warm, and almost felt like it was rising up, searching for that touch, like a dog or cat does when you hold your hand close to its head and it presses into you, wanting to be petted.
“It’s beautiful,” she replied, trying to ignore the feeling in her arm, “and in perfect condition.”
“You know,” said Matt, “something about this is familiar, but I can’t place it.”
It struck no familiar chords with Sarah, other than looking like the feather duster their maid had used.  But she knew this had a much more sensual purpose.
“And look at the feathers,” he added.  “Thousands of years old and they still look as soft as new.  Do they feel soft to you?”  And with that, he drew them lightly over the skin of her arm, the contact lasting just for a moment.
The burst of sensation bolted through her, lasting only a second but breathtaking in its intensity.  For that moment, it felt like her body was being held in a warm strong embrace, and she could feel the muscles of whoever was holding her taut beneath the skin.  Strong hands pulled her close, and she could smell his scent, a heady musky aroma of maleness, a mixture of sweat and passion that filled her mind.  Something moved between her legs, and she could swear she felt something wet and forceful, like a tongue, sliding between her labia and slithering over her clitoris.
Then it was gone.  Completely and without a trace.  The only remaining evidence was the wetness between her legs.
She must have had an odd expression, because Matt looked at her and asked, “Are you ok?”
Her eyes took a second to focus on him, but she said, “Sure.  I’m fine.”  Had she just imagined that? Was it even possible to imagine something like that? 
She wanted to try something.  “Can I see it?”
“Here you go,” he said, and turned back towards the shelf.  “I wonder if there's anything else like that here.”
He leaned into the opening, looking around intently, his hands resting on the ledge and his elbows back.  “Wonder if we'll ever see this kind of stuff in a museum?” he said, still rambling on.  She looked at the skin of his exposed arm, deciding if she should try it.  Making her choice, she brushed the feathers softly against him, just as he had touched her with it.
His head lifted up, and he became silent, as if he had lost track of what he was saying.  He turned to face her, wearing an odd look.
“Matt, you ok?”
He blinked and said, “Yeah, just got disoriented there for a moment.”  Seeming to come to his senses, he added, “We better get back, our shift is just about over.”  As he turned to get the lantern, she quickly glanced down, and could make out the large bulge tenting out the front of his pants.
They were halfway to the steps, when she remembered she was still holding the feathered wand. “Oh, I forgot about this.”
“Here, I'll return it,” he said, taking it from her.  She noticed he was very careful not to touch any of the feathers.
After a few moments, he returned to her and they headed back up the stairs.  

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You’ve just read 2,287 of 4,978 words for The Touch of Isis.  To buy the ebook and read the complete story, follow this link to Smashwords:

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Vampire Tanning


A tanning salon for vampires in Beverly Hills? As its owner, Gabby is committed to getting as many vampires into her tanning beds as possible. This story is a tongue-in-cheek (among other places) take on the vampire mania that's sweeping the country. A mixture of comedy, erotica, and horror, it contains graphic sex and violence. Adults only.

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“Is this some kind of joke?”
Gabby looked up from the magazine she was reading, a bit startled because she hadn’t heard him come in.  She was going to have to get one of those bells for the door.  
“Excuse me sir?”
“I said, is this some kind of joke?  The name of this place is Vampire Tanning?”  He looked young, around seventeen, and was probably very popular with the girls, the way his smoldering blue eyes peeked out from his long blond hair.
“I can assure you sir, it’s not a joke,” she said, giving him her best innocent look.
“What kind of dumb ass vampire would get a tan?” he asked.
Dumb ass vampires like you, she thought, but said, “Oh, it’s all the rage.  It started in Europe last summer, and is spreading like wildfire.  All the hottest vampires are getting them.”  She had to smirk at her choice of words.
He was beginning to look confused.  That was good, and fairly typical.  Vampires were known for their handsome looks and their ability to seduce young women, but they didn’t fare too well on IQ tests.  That’s why, despite their advanced ages, they liked to hang out in high schools with vapid teenage girls.  Made them feel smart.
And, without exception, all vampires were vain.  So when she offered them the promise of giving them a healthy tone to their skin, to go along with their killer good looks, most of them couldn’t resist.
“But,” he said, his brow furrowing, “wouldn’t that be lethal to a vampire?”
“Oh no,” she replied, “not with our tanning beds.  Normal tanning beds don’t filter out the dangerous UVB rays, the ones that are harmful to vampires.  Our beds are certified by OSHA to use only the safe UVA rays, which the FDA has determined to be completely vampire safe.  Here, take a look at our brochure, it explains it all in much more detail.”  She picked up a pamphlet off the counter and handed it to him.
He took the glossy advertisement and opened it, studying it intently.  Oh yeah, Gabby thought, he was hooked.  Just a matter of time now.
Her family didn’t believe her when she told them about her plans to open this place.  They said it would never work, telling her that vampires were dumb, but not that dumb.  But when the Van Helsing clan got together for Christmas last month, they had to admit that she was right and they were wrong.  Business was booming.  She was averaging around five vampires a day.  Or, make that night, since she was only open from sundown to sun up.
Being located on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills didn’t hurt.  She also had a fairly large contingent of human clientele also – the Hollywood elite who were attracted to the vampire mania that was sweeping the country.  And unlike the vampires, they were repeat customers.
“Do I know any vampires who have had this done?” the boy asked, looking like he needed just a little more convincing.
“Lestat comes in here all the time,” she said, “As a matter of fact, he just stopped by this morning.  You should see him now, all brown and healthy looking.”
The kid looked disappointed that he had just missed out on meeting the famous vampire Lestat.
“And the Cullens bring the whole family down from Washington for monthly touch-ups.  Although with how much it rains up there, they have to make sure they don’t overdo it, otherwise they’ll stand out for being too dark.”
The boy laughed at this.
“And George Hamilton.”
The boy’s eyes opened wide.  “George Hamilton is a vampire?  That tanned dude from Dancing with the Stars?”
“Of course,” Gabby replied, using a tone that implied he must be very naïve not to be aware that.  “His autographed picture is on the wall over there, take a look.”
He walked over and examined it.  Hamilton’s leathery nut-brown face stared out from the photo, smiling with impossibly white teeth.  The writing read, “To Gabby, We should go out for a bite.  Ha ha. Love, George.”
“Wow,” the kid whispered.  He then looked at the other photos on the wall, a large array of the Hollywood famous.  “Are these all vampires?”
What an idiot.  “No, I have human customers too.  But some of them are.”
“Which ones?”
“Sorry, I’m sworn to secrecy,” she said, “but let’s just say that there’s a reason Angelina Jolie only films night scenes.”  She gave him a sly wink.
The kid thought for a moment.  “Ok, I’m convinced.  Let’s do it.”
“Great,” she said, “what’s your name?”
“Alex.”
“Ok Alex, follow me to the back and I’ll get you started.”
On the way there she stopped by her desk and pressed the button that silently locked the front door.  With her special customers, she needed complete privacy.
Parting the curtain in the doorway, she led him into the tanning area.  From there, there were three doors that led to the individual tanning rooms.  
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing to a booth that looked like a shower stall, lined with tiles on the inside.
“That’s the spray on tan booth,” she replied.  “Customers go in there and turn the nozzles on, and they’re painted with the dye from all sides at once.”
“Spray on tan huh?” he said, looking interested.
“Not a good idea,” she said.  Most people come out looking like an Oompa Loompa instead of a natural tan shade.  The only reason I have it is because some of my customers demand it.”
“Oh,” he said, sounding disappointed he wasn’t going to get an easy tan.
“Here we go,” said Gabby, opening the door of the first tanning room, allowing him to step inside, and then following him in.  The room was dominated by the large clam-shell tanning bed.
“Ok,” she began, “it’s very simple.  I’ll leave you alone in here, where you can undress and then get into the tanning bed.”
“Undress huh?” he said, leering at her.  “You sure you don’t want to stick around?”  He was giving her that vampire eye look, the one that made men lose their will and made girls puddle in their panties.  Fortunately, she was immune to it, a trait passed down through her family from her famous great-great-grandfather, Gabriel.
“Whoa there sparky,” she said with a grin, “this is a tanning salon, not a massage parlor.  Wait until I leave the room before you release the Kraken.”
He laughed.
“Ok,” she continued, “Once you get in the tanning bed, you'll see two buttons on your left; a green one and a red one.  When you're ready, press the green one, and the bed will automatically close, then the tanning lights will come on for fifteen minutes.  After that, they'll turn off and the bed will open.  Very simple.”
He was nodding, letting her know he understood.
“Now, if anything goes wrong, or you just want to get out, press the red button.  That will shut the lights off and open the bed.  It will also set off a buzzer out here letting me know something is wrong, and I'll come back and check on you.”
He was still nodding.
“And if you feel like taking a shower afterward, there’s one in the restroom in the back.  Towels are right over there.  That's pretty much all there is,” she said, reaching for the door. “Any questions?”
“I think I got it,” he said.
“Kewl, so I'll see you in about twenty minutes then,” she said with a smile, stepping through the door and closing it behind her.  She'd be seeing him a lot sooner than that, at least what was left of him.
She went to a small closet and pulled out a portable vacuum, and then sat at the refreshment table just outside, listening to the sounds coming from his room.  At first it was just the sounds of someone getting undressed, but eventually she heard the soft hum of the tanning bed motor, indicating it was closing.  The moment it stopped, a soft light shone from under the door, as the tanning lights kicked on. Immediately, she heard him call out.
“Hey!  Something's wrong!  Hey!”
The buzzer went off, letting her know he had found the red button.  Unfortunately for him, she had disabled the auto-shutoff feature.
“Ahhh!  Ahhhhhh!”  His words were turning to screams, and she could now see a new whiter light shining under the door, much brighter and increasing in intensity.  She had watched one once, and it wasn't a pretty sight; the light melting their skin until it burst into flames, burning with a bright white fire.  Plenty of light, but oddly no heat.   It reminded her of the sparklers she used to play with as a child on the Fourth of July.
Soon it was all over.  She went to the door and opened it, and a strong scent of ozone greeted her nose.  The tanning machine was still on, and she pressed the external override switch, causing the lights to go out, and the top shell to lift slowly.
All that was left of Alex was a quarter-inch thick layer of fine white ash, coating the glass of the bed.  Plugging in the vacuum, she began sucking him up.  The world was a better place with one less blood sucking parasite in it.

A half hour later she was back at the front desk, reading her magazine, when Cher walked in.


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You’ve just read 1,582 of 5,005 words for Vampire Tanning.  To buy the ebook and read the complete story, follow this link to Smashwords:

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Eternal


Eddie is a WW1 fighter pilot, and Lissette is a French barmaid. The two share a bond that extends far beyond their single night of passion, in this story that is one part erotic romance, and one part Twilight Zone.  Adult erotica.

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He opened his eyes and looked around the tavern, desperately searching for her, needing to see her face to know that what he had just gone through had been worth it.  He finally found her, and calm came over him.  She was here.
She was at a table near the back, talking and laughing with a group of French soldiers, as she filled their mugs with refills of beer from a pitcher that she carried.  He had seen her do this before, and as always, he enjoyed her smile.
She was beautiful even when she was pensive, but her smile made her even more so, her brown eyes sparkling and her teeth so white.  She looked so alive.  That thought reminded him of when he had last seen her, and felt an ache in his heart as he attempted to force that image from his memory.  He replaced it with a better one; her looking up at him as she held him in the embrace of her arms and legs, her pleasure apparent on her face.  That was much better.
He saw her notice him from across the room, and she began making her way over to his table.  Her lovely brown hair was past her shoulders, and her skin was flawless.  She wore a long dress that that covered her arms and was high at the neck.  It cinched at the waist, flowed over her hips, and almost reached the floor.  Looking at her this way, one would never guess about the sensual body she hid under there, nor about the profound sexual passion she had even deeper.  Under her outer garments, she wore a simple bra and panties, neither of them fancy with lace.  But he could think of nothing more erotic, not for what they were, but for what they covered.
Reaching him, she said, “Pardon me sir, I didn’t see you come in.  Can I get you something?”
He looked at her eyes as she talked, watching for it.  When she finished speaking, she stared at him intently, as if she was thinking.  A look seemed to come to her.  Almost a spark of recognition, but not quite.
“A malt ale please,” he answered.  He shouldn’t have been drinking since he was officially on duty, and would be required to have his plane in the air within ten minutes if there was a German attack.  But he knew there would be no attack tonight.  Tomorrow morning would be a different story, but tonight they were safe.
“Be right back with that sir,” she said, giving him one last curious look before she walked away.
He loved the sound of her voice.  Soft and sweet.  Even more melodious when she was speaking her native French, which she used almost exclusively during sex.  She hadn’t had much practice using those phrases in English.
She soon returned with his drink, setting it on the table in front of him.  She took a moment to look at him again.
“Excuse me sir,” she said, but have we met before?  You look very familiar to me.”
He smiled at her.  “I guess it’s possible.”
She continued to look at him. “You’re a pilot, right?”
He was wearing his regulation uniform, with no markings that would indicate that.  “Yes,” he replied.
“How long have you been here at Vaucouleurs?” she asked.
He thought about the question, which wasn’t as simple as it sounded. “Three months,” he replied.  God, she was beautiful.  Even now he couldn’t help staring at her.
She looked at him again and shook her head.  “J'aurais juré,” she murmured as she walked away.  He just smiled.
He thought about what he had just told her.  Three months was what his official service record said.  But the truth was nowhere near that.  Not even close.
He had volunteered in 1916, even before America joined the war.  Because of his flight experience on the farm, he was accepted into the French aeronautics school. Six months later, he saw his first combat action, and within a week he had shot down his first German plane.  There were more after that, and he became known as one of the best, and soon became a squadron leader. 
After America joined the effort, he was transferred over to the 94th, where he was based out of England.  But recently, the Germans had developed a lethal bombing plane, the Gotha G.V., and squadrons of them were terrorizing all of Europe.   The allies were particularly concerned about their Vaucouleurs base in France, and saw it as a prime target for the bombers.  They assigned several of their top pilots to the duty of protecting the base, where they were on call 24 hours a day.  Their job was to get in the air in advance of the bombers’ arrival, and shoot them down before they had a chance to release their payloads.
Three months had passed since his squadron had arrived, and although they had had various battles with German fighter planes, there had been no bombing attacks yet.  But tomorrow morning, that would change.  
She returned several times to his table to see if he needed a refill, but he explained that he was on duty and had to make this one last.  “You don’t want any drunken pilots protecting you, do you?” He joked.
She laughed in response, but her eyes still watched him.  She was still trying to figure out where she knew him from.  She had done that the very first time he had been in here, and while he had figured out some things, that he had never quite understood. 
The tavern was clearing out, and finally she led the only other patron to the door, helping him on his shaky legs, and sent him on his way.  He just sat there waiting, sipping his long-warm ale.
She locked the door and turned to him, their eyes meeting.  Walking over and sitting in the chair across his table, she continued to watch him.
“My name’s Eddie,” he said.
She looked at him.  “Why do I feel I already knew that?”
He smiled.  It was coming to her.  She would eventually understand.
 “I’m Lissette,” she said.
 “That’s a beautiful name,” he replied. “Fits you perfectly.”
She blushed.  She heard pickup lines all day, but the way he said it seemed so earnest, so matter-of-fact.  She had never met anyone like him.  His handsome rugged features and his deep blue eyes drew her towards him, but it was the way he looked at her that set him apart.  His look was not one of first appreciation – she was very experienced in getting that look from the many soldiers who came here.  There was no appraisal of her in his eyes; no sizing her up with obvious thoughts of what might come later.  There was only a look of deep affection, the kind only shared between long-time lovers.  She had never been looked at that way before, because although she had had a few lovers in her twenty-two years, none of them were with her very long, nor did they mean anything to her.
Coup de foudre.  She had always scoffed at those who believed in it.  Love does not come at first sight.  Love is something that is grown between two people, over time.  You must know the person before you can love them, and anything else is just childish fantasies.  But as she looked at him, she doubted her convictions.  Could she love this man?  Then the strange thought occurred to her that she may have loved him before he even walked into her tavern.  Love before first sight?  Is that even possible?
“Tell me about yourself Eddie,” she said, “How did you end up here in France?”
“Not much to tell,” he replied. “Grew up on a farm in America, in Kansas, and my dad was one of the first to buy a plane for crop dusting.  Began flying it when I was fifteen, so I already had five years of flight experience when I came over two years ago to join the war.  Served with the Lafayette Escadrille until the rest of America decided to join in, and then moved to the 94th Aero Squadron.  A small group of us were assigned here to Vaucouleurs three months ago.”
“The Tornados?” she asked.
He smiled.  That was the nickname his squadron had adopted.  It was his idea, after having seen the deadly destruction of the real things up close while growing up on the farm.  Their planes still carried the famous Hat-in-the-Ring logo of the 94th, but each one of them had an additional logo – a black twister with eyes.  Their reputation was getting out, and people were beginning to talk about them.  He imagined the Germans were aware of them too.  Because just like their real-life namesakes, his Tornados were tearing through anything they met in the skies, with an ease never seen before.  All without a single casualty in the three months they’d been here.  That would change tomorrow, of course, but he brushed aside those thoughts and concentrated on her.
“I can neither confirm nor deny that,” he replied, giving her a wink.  Some pilots wore their squadron emblems on their jackets, but he refused to allow his men to do so.  Not a smart idea, especially when half of the country you’re in is occupied by the enemy.  The Germans may decide it’s much easier to kill a Tornado on the ground, than attempt to do so in the air.
She laughed.  He watched her as she did, taking all of her in.
“And your story?” he asked.
“Born and raised here in Vaucouleurs, where my family owns a vineyard,” she said, “Trying to do my part for the war cause by assisting the soldiers in forgetting their troubles.”
“And I’m sure it’s appreciated,” he said.  “By the way, your English is very proficient.”
“Only when it comes to tavern conversation.  I tend to use French away from here.”
This brought back a memory of her embracing him, whispering in his ear.
 “How’s your French?” she added.
“It was horrible when I first arrived, but I’ve picked it up.”
“Je ne peux pas vous comprendre Eddie,” she said, “Je pense que j'ai pris soin de vous pendant une longue période.”
He smiled.  She just told him that she couldn’t figure him out, and that she feels she has cared about him for a long time.
“Peut-être que l'amour se trouve en attente de deux à le découvrir?” he replied in perfect French.
She looked surprised.  “You’ve picked it up very well.  And that was in two years?”
“I had a very good teacher,” he replied with a smile, looking at her.
“Do you really believe what you said?” she asked, “That love lays waiting for two to discover it?”
“If you had asked me that yesterday,” he said, “I would have told you that such an idea is silly.  But now, I believe it beyond a doubt.”
“And why is that?” she asked, watching him.
“Because yesterday,” he said, his eyes never leaving hers, “I hadn’t met you yet.”
She looked at him for a long moment before speaking.  She wanted to tell him that she was feeling the same way about him, but she couldn’t do it.  Part of her reminded herself that this was a stranger she had just met, and love doesn’t work like that.
“I have to be going.” she said, “My landlady becomes worried if I get home too late.”
She stood and he stood with her.  “Can I walk you there Lissette?”
She had been asked that many times by soldiers, and had always refused.  She had seen other girls fall in love with these men, only to have their hearts broken when the men were reassigned, or even worse, killed.
But to her own surprise, she found herself agreeing.  “Yes Eddie.  I would like that very much.”
She retrieved her coat and he helped her put it on.  Turning out the lights, she held the door open for him, and then locked it behind them.  He allowed her to lead them in the direction of her apartment.  They walked in silence for a while, and then she spoke.
“Do you get scared? Up there?”
“I used to,” he replied, “but not anymore.  I haven’t been afraid in a long time.”
This seemed to upset her.  “How is that possible?”
He couldn’t explain it to her, and she wouldn’t believe him if he tried.  He knew that because he had tried.
“It just is,” he said.
But she wanted to understand.  No, she needed to understand before she accepted him into her life.
“Is it because you no longer care about living?”
He stopped and took her hand, pulling her closer to him.
“Never think that Lissette,” he said, “No one cares more about living than I do.  Especially now.”
But she just looked at him, still wanting an answer.
Finally he relented. “I don’t fear death because some things are worth dying for.  I wouldn’t get in that plane I didn’t believe that.”
She watched his face as he spoke, and she could see the passion in it.  As he talked his hands had moved to her waist, holding her, and they felt so natural there.  She was sure he was going to pull her into him and kiss her, and she knew that she would welcome his embrace.  Instead, he pulled away, and they continued on their way, her hand in his as they walked.
He was the next to speak.  “What would make you happy in life?”
“Qu'est-ce?” 
“When you think about your life ahead, what do you imagine yourself doing that would make you happy?”
She thought for a moment. “I’m from a large family – three brothers and four sisters – and I’ve always imagined myself with a large family of my own.  I think I would be a good mother.”
He smiled at her.  “I think so too.”
“Do you want children?” she asked.
“With the war going on, I used to think it wouldn’t be fair to them,” he replied, “But the war will end one day, and when it does, I can think of nothing I’d rather do than return to farming and have a family.”  He then added, “Of course, I’ll have to find a good mother first.”  
She smiled. “That’s what would make you happy in life?”
“More than you could possibly imagine,” he said.  They had arrived at her place, and they both stopped and turned towards each other.  They were quiet again, just standing there holding hands.
She knew what he wanted.  No, that was the wrong word.  She had stood here with other men, and had seen want in their eyes.  This man was not looking at her with lust.  Again, she realized he was looking at her as if she already belonged to him, and he was just waiting for her to understand that.
“Who are you Eddie?” she said, “La vérité.”
“The truth?  I would never lie to you Lissette.”
She waited.
He paused before responding.  “I am your eternal love,” he said softly.  When she just looked at him, he added, “I am the one who loved you before we met, just as you are the one who loved me.  But I don’t have to tell you that, because you already know.” 
It was her turn to pause. “I do know.  I don’t know how I know, but I do.  I think I knew it when I saw you for the first time tonight.”
He stepped close to her, his hands holding her waist again.  He looked down into her eyes, and said, “Tell me.”
“Tell you what?” she asked, and she could feel her heartbeat racing.
“Tell me what you already knew.”  He was leaning down to her now, and their lips were close.
She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent.  She could feel his warm breath on her face.
“I don’t–” she whispered.
“Tell me.”
She looked at him.  “Je t'aime,” she whispered.  She couldn’t believe she said it.  But she knew it was true.  Somehow, however impossible it might be, she loved this man.
He looked at her, and said, “I know.  I love you too.” His hands pulled her to him and his lips met hers.  Her body arched against him, and her arms came up to hold his shoulders, pulling herself tighter to him.
The kiss was new and familiar to her at the same time.  She understood somehow that she had been waiting all her life for this very moment; to be in his arms where she belonged. 
She didn’t ask him to come upstairs to her place, nor did he ask for her permission.  She was his and he was hers, and they both understood they would be together tonight.
He was sitting on the bed when she came out of the bathroom, and she walked slowly towards him, still wearing the dress.  He stood up and took her in his arms, kissing her deeply.  She felt the world spin and clung to him, feeling safe in his strong embrace.
He pulled back slightly, and turned her in his arms, so that her back was to him. He undid the top button of her dress, and a shiver went through her.  Softly kissing the nape of her neck, he worked his way down through the rest of the buttons.  After the last, his hands moved to her shoulders, pushing the dress off of them and then down.  Her arms came out of the sleeves, and then he pushed it over her hips, allowing it to drop to the floor. 
His arms encircled her stomach and pulled her back against him.  He kissed the side of her neck, moving upwards to her ear, where he whispered, “You are so beautiful.”
She relaxed in his arms, leaning her head back and to the side against his shoulder, feeling his desire for her pressing against the small of her back.
His hands moved up and cupped her breasts through her plain white bra, and her breath caught in a small gasp.  Her nipples pebbled against his palms, and he moved them in small circles, his fingertips tracing over her soft skin.  One hand left her breast and moved to her back, undoing the clasp of her bra with practiced ease.  The hand then rejoined the other, and both of them slid under the loose cotton material, cupping the weight of her full breasts, feeling the warmth of her skin.
She groaned softly, arching her back and pressing into his hands.  Her rigid nipples invited his touch, and he brought his fingertips to them, teasing them by moving in circles, bumping them gently.  She let out a long exhale and pressed back into him, rubbing against his stiff erection, teasing him back.
Removing the bra completely, she turned in his arms and began working on the buttons of his shirt.  After she undid the top two, he kissed her again, momentarily interrupting her progress before pulling back and allowing her to continue.  She found it hard to concentrate when he took her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, and gently squeezed and rolled them.  Finally she finished, having to pull his shirt from his pants to get at the last button.
Her hands slipped into the unbuttoned gap, and rested lightly on his chest, feeling his muscles work below the skin.  He had the body of a warrior, honed by countless hours of flight, controlling a machine with death-defying precision.  As she spread the  shirt wider and pushed it off his shoulders, she noticed he also had the scars of a warrior – a long jagged one above his right nipple, and a small round one on his left shoulder.  She kissed the one above his nipple, and then let her tongue linger lower, flicking against the circle of darker skin, feeling him respond to her touch.
Emboldened, her hand moved down, tracing over the muscles of his stomach, and then resting on the hard bulge at the front of his pants.  She squeezed him through the material, and heard him take a sharp intake of breath.  He felt like an iron bar in her hand, and a twinge of wet pleasure quivered between her legs.
Her hand began to move on him, and he responded by pinching her nipples harder, causing her to moan.  He pressed himself against her touch, urging her on.


# # #

You’ve just read 3,431 of 8,218 words for Eternal.  To buy the ebook and read the complete story, follow this link to Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/17157



* * * * *

Erato



Jacob Penner is a successful best-selling author, who is deeply in love with Rose. The only problem is, Rose happens to be a character from his novels. Adult erotica.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~



“Rose, why are you getting dressed?” said Jacob, lying back on the bed with the sheets up to his waist. “We still have some time before you have to leave for Australia.”
She was pulling up her khaki shorts, and Jacob caught a last glimpse of her pink panties as she tucked in her denim shirt and buttoned the pants around her waist.  He had to admire how great her ass looked in those shorts, even though he’d rather have her naked in bed with him.
“We don’t have as much time as you think we do, my love,” she said in her sexy Irish accent, giving him a smile.  “If we start something now we’ll just be interrupted.”
“I’ve cleared off my entire schedule for the afternoon, just so we could be together,” he said, patting the empty half bed beside him.  Even though they had just finished making love less than a half hour ago, Jacob wanted her again, and with her adventure in Australia coming up, he wasn’t sure when they could get together next.
She accepted his invite and sat on the bed, leaning over to kiss him.  His arms encircled her waist and pulled her close, pressing her back onto the bed as their tongues met.  Her large warm breasts pressed against his chest through the material of her blouse, and her arms moved around his shoulders, holding him.
“Jacob Penner, you are so naughty,” she said, breaking the kiss to smile at him, her green eyes sparkling.  “And I really wish we could do this, but I’m telling you, it’s not going to happen.”
He smiled and ignored her, reaching his hand down between her legs, pressing against her mound through the beige material.  She gasped in his ear, and he could feel the heat of her through the heavy fabric.
“You’re so cruel,” she said laughing, “You’re going to get me worked up and then leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he grinned, sliding his fingers up her inner thigh and under the edge of her shorts, finding the silky material of her panties.  Hooking his fingers, he let the back of them slide over her mound, feeling the cleft of her lips under the sheer cloth.
She groaned again and held him tighter, pressing her hips against his hand, wanting his touch on her.
Then she gave a small laugh, and he pulled back and stared at her, a questioning look on his face.
She was grinning.  “Told ya so.”
“Wha

The phone rang, startling Jacob out of his typing reverie.  He wasn’t expecting a call.  He had left explicit orders with everyone that he wasn’t to be disturbed this afternoon.  Checking the caller ID, he saw it was his lawyer and best friend, Paul Robison.
“Dammit,” he said, pressing save on his word processing program, opening his cell phone, and sitting back in his chair.
“Paul, this better be important,” he said, annoyance in his voice.  Paul and him had been friends since they were kids, and were each other’s best man at their weddings.
“Hello to you too,” said his friend, “and yes, it is important.  Your future ex-wife is now claiming she wants the vacation house in Vermont.”
“Paul,” he said, trying to keep his voice level, “I told you I don’t care about that.  I just want her out of my life.”
“I know,” replied Paul, “but I’m your lawyer too, and part of what you’re paying me for is to look out for you.  She’s screwing you man.”
Jacob’s attitude softened.  “Ok, if you want to fight her on the Vermont house, feel free.”
“Thanks.  Um,” Paul began again, “there’s something else we need to talk about.”
“What’s that?”
Paul was still tentative.  “I’m getting word from my sources that Meg has hired a private detective.”
“Why?”
“To investigate you.”
“Investigate me?  For what?”
Paul paused again.  “Buddy, with the way she’s treated you these past few years, I wouldn’t blame you if you had found someone else.  But if you have, you better stay away from her for a while.  Because if this P.I. gets hold of any evidence, Meg is going to clean you out.”
Jacob smiled.  Meg had spent the last few years of their marriage accusing him of having an affair, even though she was the one he had discovered fucking one of the roofers they had hired to work on their house, when he came home unexpectedly early from a trip.
But Jacob wasn’t in the habit of lying to his friend, and didn’t want to start now, so he chose his words carefully.
“The detective isn’t going to find anything,” he said, “because there isn’t any evidence to find.  You can stop worrying about it.”
“So where are you now?  You didn’t pick up your home phone.”
He felt a flash of irritation return, but decided to tell Paul the truth.  “I’m in a hotel room downtown at the Hyatt.”
“Alone?”
He looked around the empty room from his seat at a table in the corner.  The beds were still perfectly made.  “Of course I’m alone.  I just needed to get some writing in, and Meg still has keys to the house.  I can’t concentrate knowing she may pop in at any moment.” And then added, “Which is why I asked that no one call me.”
“Ok ok,” he friend said.  “I get the hint.  I’ll let you get back to what you do best: making millions with your imagination.  I’m heading out of town for a few days, but I’ll give you an update when I get back.  Take care Jacob.”
“You too Paul, and tell Bonnie I said hello.”  Closing the phone, he stared at the words on the computer screen and wondered if they could pick up where they’d left off.  He scanned through what he had written already, trying to will the muse back into his head, but he knew that never worked.  Sighing, he clicked the screen closed and leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes and rubbing them.
Meg was right, there was another woman.  A woman he was hopelessly and profoundly in love with, and had been for a while.  However, the kind of love he was in, most people would call a mental illness.  And in some ways he had to agree with them.  Because the truth was, he was in love with a woman who didn’t exist.
Of course, the word ‘exist’ has several shades of meanings.  For example, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet never existed. Yet, despite that fact, millions of readers have shed tears for this pair of doomed lovers.  And Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been creating fright in readers for over a hundred years.  How can characters that don’t exist cause so much emotion in people?
Rose was like that.  Except that she wasn’t an invention of some long-dead writer.  She was his creation, brought about as his imagination went into overdrive in the throes of subconscious writing.
A visit from the muse.  That’s what writers call the feeling of being in the zone, when the words are just flowing out of them, almost as if they were coming from somewhere else.  When this happens, sometimes things occur in the story that weren’t planned, and the writer doesn’t even recall how they thought of it.  Plots will turn and twist on their own, and characters will go off in a different direction than what was originally laid out.
It happened with Rose that way.  She first appeared as Alvera Torosa in his short story, ‘Blood on the Blade’ (first appearing in Playboy), where she was a cute blonde secretary who flirted shyly with the main character, Jonathan Preston.  Jonathan didn’t make it to the end of the book, meeting his demise by a crazed killer who turned out to be his son from a brief affair during spring break, but Alvera stuck in his mind.
In his next book, a novel entitled ‘Dagger in the Heart’, he intended her to be a casual fling for his Milos Dagger character, an adventure hero so popular with his readers, this was the sixth novel to feature him.  In this book, she was Rose O’Tare, a beautiful red-haired jewel smuggler with a heart of gold, who spoke with an Irish brogue and loved just as fiercely as she fought.  His readers probably didn’t recognize she was the same character as Alvera, but in his mind, he knew she was.  
Jacob wasn’t quite sure how it had happened, but by the time the book was completed, she was a main character, and had captured the heart of the elusive Dagger.  The book ended with the start of their wedding ceremony on a beautiful Greek isle. surrounded by clear blue waters.  And at the time, if he was being completely honest with himself, Jacob would have admitted he was a bit jealous of Milos.
When trying to think of what his next novel would be, he couldn’t get her out of his mind.  He began it as another Dagger opus, picking up where the last one had left off, with a band of rogue Mediterranean pirates attacking the wedding.  Out of retribution for a previous run-in, they killed Dagger’s betrothed just before she could say, “I do.”  
Jacob wept as he wrote her death scene, tears falling on the keys of his laptop as she died slowly in Dagger’s arms, telling him that she would love him from beyond the grave.  Milos hushed her and told her she was going to be fine, as he futilely attempted to staunch the bleeding from the wound in her chest.  But when her eyes went glassy and her breathing stopped, he lifted his face to the heavens and screamed in anguish, vowing vengeance upon those who had done this.
That night, after writing that scene, Jacob had gone to bed but couldn’t sleep.  He tossed and turned, his thoughts only about Rose.  It was almost as if she had really died, and he was grieving for her.  Tears were in his eyes when a seed of an idea came to him, and by the time he woke up the next morning, his plans for the book had changed.
It turned out to be his biggest seller ever.  When the advance word for ‘A Rose for a Dagger’ came out, most of his fans were upset to hear that Milos Dagger was going to die early on in this installment.  But when they got to the scene where he stepped in front of his beloved, saved her by taking the bullet himself, and then died in her arms, very few readers finished it with a dry eye.  And when Rose reacted to this by turning her face to the stormy heavens and screaming in anguish, vowing vengeance upon those who had done this, they knew they had been given a new hero – or in this case a heroine – to love.  Rose stepped right into Dagger’s role, globetrotting the world and getting into and out of adventures by the skin of her teeth.
Before meeting Rose, Dagger had always been a ladies’ man, bedding woman casually and often during his adventures.   In the one book they were together, they had a passionate love affair, and were only with each other.  After Dagger’s death, Rose remained chaste, even though man after man attempted to seduce her.
 When asked about this in interviews, Jacob always explained that she was being faithful to her one true love – Milos Dagger – who had given up his life to save hers.
But that wasn’t the real reason that Rose refused the advances of other men.  The real reason was because Jacob couldn’t bring himself to write about her with another man.  He couldn’t stand the thought of her being with someone other than himself.
And he was with her.  Although most of his books didn’t shy away from sexual situations, none of them could be described as erotica.  He was very tactful when dealing with the subject, using coy phrases and ending scenes abruptly before cutting to a later scene that made it obvious what had happened, but sparing everyone the messy details.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t write erotica.  It fact, despite his huge success writing action novels, erotica was what he did best.  But his writings in this genre never made it beyond his own laptop.
He wrote it to be with her.  The first time he tried it, he felt slightly embarrassed at the start, but as the scene went on, the muse came to visit, and the words just flowed out from his fingertips, as if coming from a secret well within him.
That first time he was with her began with them on a veranda of a beach house in southern Spain, sitting in side-by-side reclining chairs, watching the sun set over the ocean.  As the last sliver of sun disappeared over the horizon, he reached out and rested his hand lightly on hers.  He was nervous, not sure how she would react to this, but she took his hand and held it softly, their eyes meeting.
Moments later, they were inside on the bed, locked in a fervent embrace, releasing emotions that had been pent up for too long.  Her passion surprised him, and she turned out to be an intense and inventive lover.
After they finished, they lay in the bed together, holding one another and talking, discovering each other the way new lovers do.  But soon their words turned to passion again, and they made love a second time, this time more slowly and gently, building towards their climaxes and then falling asleep in each other’s arms.
When Jacob finished writing he just stared at the screen in stunned amazement.  He had been a writer his entire life, but had never felt anything as powerful as this.  It was almost as if he had just lived through what he had just written.  And the feelings he had for Rose before the story were now magnified, as if he had really held her in his arms and shared those intimacies with her.
This had happened right after the release of ‘A Rose for a Dagger’, and in the five years since, five more Rose O’Tare novels were published.  He had actually written eight, so great was his passion for writing about her, but he only released one a year to his editor, with the last three at home in his safe.  And she was extremely popular with his readers.  So popular that a few years ago, Hollywood came calling, wanting to turn ‘A Rose for a Dagger’ into a big budget movie.  But the negotiations stalled when he refused to give up editorial control of the movies, fearing what they would do to Rose on the screen.  And when he thought of all the beautiful actresses available to play the role, not one of them could live up to his mind’s eye view of her.
All during this time, he continued to be with her, whether it was alone in hotel rooms during his book tours, or home in his study after Meg had gone to bed.  He would open his laptop and disappear into their world, typing away, bringing them together to share their love once again.  He never tried to lie to himself and think that this wasn’t cheating on his wife.  He knew it was, just as if Rose had been real.  Because his love for her was real, and that’s all that matters when it comes to infidelity.
But the incident with the roofer had happened before Rose appeared, and his heart had grown cold towards Meg.  He surmised that if she was fucking the hired help, she was probably sleeping with others too.  Who knows, maybe he invented Rose to fill the void that Meg abandoned?  Discovering Meg’s cheating had hurt him, but after the first time with Rose, he no longer cared what his wife did.  She could screw the entire New York Yankees, including the bat boys, and it wouldn’t matter.  As long as he could spend time with Rose.  That’s why he just wanted this divorce over with, and if giving up his vacation home in Vermont, or his Corvette, or half the royalties to his books, including future ones, would bring that about, then he would agree.  Because being with Rose was the only thing that mattered.
He sometimes considered the possibility that he was mentally ill, and thought about checking himself into Pineview Institute, where his father had spent the last years of his life in a state of dementia.  He knew that anyone looking at it from the outside could only conclude that he was nuts.  But they would never see it from how he saw it – how alive Rose became when they were together, how she seemed to come from outside of him, moving his fingers across the keys to create her, demonstrating her love for him in every kiss and caress, every word she spoke to him.  Yes, Rose loved him just as much as he loved her.  He felt that every time they were together.
But he was beginning to fray around the edges in his public life.  Two months ago he was at bookstore signing copies of his latest, ‘A Rose from the Ashes’, when the public got a glimpse into his personal obsession.

“I’ve been a fan of yours since your very first book Mr. Penner,” said the middle-aged woman standing in front of him with a glowing smile on her face.
He smiled back.  “That’s very kind of you to say, and please call me Jacob.  When people call me Mr. Penner, I always look around to see if my dad is standing behind me.”
The woman beamed at this.  “Ok Jacob.”  She giggled a bit.
He had his Sharpie poised over her book, open to the back of the front cover.  “And what would you like me to write?” 
“To Rose, with love,” she replied.
He cocked an eyebrow.  “That’s your name?”
“Yes,” she replied, obviously very proud of the fact.  “And my friends tell me I look just like her.”
He looked at the woman.  Other than her red hair, which looked like a dye job to him, she looked nothing like his Rose.  And he wasn’t sure what her friends were comparing her to, since there were no pictures in his books, and he refused to allow his publisher to depict Rose on the covers.  Instead, they contained a single red rose, accompanied by some other object that matched the title of the book.
“Spitting image,” he replied, keeping his smile firmly fixed on his face.
She gushed at this, and he began writing her request.  She leaned down into him, as if she was watching him write, and her hand curled into his free hand, squeezing it.  She brought her lips to his ear, and whispered, “And I’m just as good in bed as her too.”
His sharpie paused for a moment, making a little blot in the ‘L’ he was in the middle of, but then continued on its way.  He was used to this.  He had realized success early in life, getting published and on the best-seller lists while still in college.  So at thirty-four, he was still relatively young for someone with his kind of resume behind him.  And while he wasn’t considered a looker when he was younger, maturity had been kind to his face, giving him a rugged handsomeness.  His body, while slightly thicker, was just a lean as it had been in his college days.  Combine that with his success and money, and occurrences like this were a fairly common experience when he made public appearances.
She stood back up, and he finished with his signature, closed the book, and handed it to her.  He noticed that she had left something in his hand – a small folded piece of paper – which he discreetly placed into the inside vest pocket of his suit jacket, giving her a wink as he did so.
There would probably be a few more of them in there by the end of the signing, and they would all end up in the same place they always did: in the wastebasket of his hotel room, unopened and unread.  Before Rose he had been faithful to his wife, and after Rose, no other woman could compare.
The woman smiled and left, convinced she would be getting a call from Jacob soon.  Another satisfied customer.
He turned his attention to the next person in line, a man standing in front of him with arms crossed.  He wasn’t carrying a book to be signed, but that was ok with Jacob.  Many of his fans just wanted to talk to him, and despite all of his success, he still enjoyed hearing what individual readers had to say about his writing.
“Hello sir,” Jacob said, “How are you today?”
The man just stared at him for a moment, and then said “You shouldn’t have killed him.”
Hoo boy.  Another one of these nuts.  Five years had passed and there were still some people upset about Milos Dagger.  Although he was flattered that someone would care that much about a character that he had created, they also scared him a bit.
Jacob gave the man a sympathetic smile. “I’m glad you enjoyed the character of Milos,” he said, “And remember that Milos will always live on in the pages of his books, so that future generations can enjoy him too.”  He had said this before, and hoped it wasn’t coming off as practiced.
“At least Milos used his brains to get out of trouble,” continued the man as if Jacob hadn’t spoken, “all Rose has is her tits and ass.”
The smile left Jacob’s face. “Sir, there’s no need to be insulting.”
“That dumb cunt couldn’t count to three if you gave her the one and the two.”
Jacob stood.  In a low voice he said, “You better watch your fucking mouth.”
It wasn’t low enough however.  The people standing in line, who had been engaged in quiet conversations between themselves, now gaped in silence at the scene unfolding in front of them.
“She’s nothing but a cheap whore in a fedora,” said the man, staring at Jacob.
Jacob’s left hand flashed out and grabbed the man by the shirt, holding him in place while his right fist connected with his face.  The man’s eyes rolled back and he slumped to the floor, out cold.

Unfortunately, a teenage girl in line was using her cell phone to take a video of her literary hero at the time, and the next day the entire incident was splashed across the internet.
The asshole fan got a broken nose from the encounter, plus his son’s college education paid for, thanks to a quick settlement brokered by Paul.
His publisher insisted that Jacob do the national interview shows, to prove to his fans that he wasn’t the nut job seen in the video.  Everything was going well until last week, when he appeared on the Today Show and was interviewed by Matt Lauer.  Matt tossed him a few softballs before throwing a fastball up near the chin.
“So Mr. Penner,” said Matt, “you seem to be a bit overprotective of your heroine, Rose O’Tare.”
Jacob could see on the monitors in the studio that they were showing the video of the bookstore incident in the corner of the screen as they talked.  He wasn’t sure why, because who the fuck hadn’t seen it yet?  But he just smiled, and said, “I think every author is protective of their creations.”
“I don’t recall Ernest Hemmingway ever laying out anyone for criticizing the Old Man,” said Matt, a smug smile on his face as the audience laughed.
“That’s true,” said Jacob with grin, “but the Old Man wasn’t as hot as Rose.”  This got a bigger laugh from the audience and Jacob was feeling a little better.
“So, if I called Rose a whore, would you punch me?” asked Matt.
Jacob’s smile disappeared. “Why would you do that?”
“It’s just a hypothetical question, Mr. Penner.”
“No, it’s a stupid fucking question, Mr. Lauer,” replied Jacob.
The live East Coast audience saw a commercial immediately following that line, and the later western feeds excised the interview altogether.  But of course, once again the internet came to the rescue, where the entire interview was shown, including the resulting shoving match between Jacob and Matt.
Jacob’s publisher cancelled the remaining interview dates, and released a statement that said Jacob Penner was under stress due to his impending divorce, and that he wanted to apologize to his fans.  They asked Jacob to keep a low profile for a while, hoping everything would blow over.  They also asked him to consider therapy, but he told them to fuck off.
He spent the night of the disastrous interview in Rose’s arms, her body giving him pleasure as her words comforted him, telling him everything would be alright.

Now he sat in his hotel room, still pissed a bit at Paul for interrupting his afternoon with Rose.  He was just about to give the writing another try when his cell phone went off again.  He picked it up without checking, assuming it was Paul calling him back to give him one more detail about his hellish divorce.
“What do you want now Paul?” he said.
But instead of his friend, he heard the feminine voice of Meg, and he immediately wished he had checked first.
“Not screening your calls any more Jake?” she asked.
She knew he hated to be called that.  He had told her on their first date that he thought it made him sound like a toothless hillbilly.
“What do you want, Meg?” he said, sounding as tired as he felt.
“Just wanted you to know that I’ve decided that the house in Vermont should be mine,” she said, “I’m the one who picked it out, decorated it, and spent many a weekend there while you were off on your book tours.”
He was about to add that she also probably spent those weekends screwing other guys in it, but wasn’t in the mood to argue about that again.  “Yeah, Paul already gave me that jolly news.  He thinks I should fight you for it.”
She laughed, but there was no joy behind it.  “Why do I get the feeling that if it wasn’t for Paul, I would own everything of yours?”
“A few more calls like this, and I may not need Paul to remind me what’s mine.”
That quieted her.  He could tell she was thinking about what to say next.
“Who is she Jacob?”
“She?”  He knew what she meant.  They had had this conversation many times before.
“Don’t play stupid.  I’ve known you for fifteen years, and I know for a fact you’re in love with someone else.”
“Meg, I haven’t touched another woman since I met you.”  He thought it was a nice dodge to her question, in addition to being the truth.
She was quiet for a moment, and then said, “You’re lying.  I know you’re lying.”
He shrugged, and then realized she couldn’t see him.  “I don’t care what you think anymore Meg.”
That must have stung her, because she came back with, “I saw your performance on the Today Show last week.  Nice and sane there hubby.  Pretty soon you’re going to end up in Pineview like your daddy.” She laughed harshly.
He felt the spike of anger rise, and pushed it back down.  She just wasn’t worth it.
“And what’s your problem with that cunt of yours? Rosie, is that her name?  She’s a fucking character in a book, and you defend her more than you ever defended me.”
“Meg, why don’t you just shut the fuck up, for once in your life?”
She laughed.  She had finally gotten a rise out of him.  It had been hard to do lately.
“There you go again, getting angry over her,” she said, “You know, if I thought for a moment that you were completely bat shit crazy, I would think that she was the one you were having an affair with.”  She laughed hard at this.
“Fuck you Meg,” he said, snapping the phone shut and throwing it against the far wall, watching it break and fall in two pieces on the carpet.  Even the greatest writers were at a loss for words sometimes, and a simple “fuck you” was all they could muster.

He lay down on the bed and tried to clear his head.  He felt the anger coursing through him.  First his day with Rose had been ruined, and now Meg had called to torment him.  She had gotten close to the truth there, and he had screwed up by not laughing it off.  At the very least, he had given her ammunition for future battles.
He wanted to go back to Rose.  Something in the back of his mind warned him not to – he had never gone to her angry before.  Sad? Yes, plenty of times.  But never angry.
Despite the inner warnings, he got up and went back to the table where his laptop sat, and flipped open the case.  The writing from earlier today was still up, but he decided that they couldn’t continue with that.   He would start anew.
He closed the file and created a new one, staring at the blank screen just sitting there waiting for him to begin typing.  He closed his eyes and thought for a moment, and then started.

He lay on the bed thinking of her, wishing she would walk through the door.  He really needed her right now.

He stared at the screen.  Nothing was coming.

Staring at the ceiling, he wondered where she was – wondered how she could leave him like this, so hurt and angry.

He tried to make his mind a blank, waiting for the muse to join him.  Finally he continued.

As he laid there his anger rose, thinking of her off somewhere, while he was here hurt.  He needed her now.  Did she not have any gratitude towards him?  After all, he had created her out of nothing.  He had made her everything she was, and loved her like no one else would. How could she abandon him now in his pain?

He stopped typing, looked at his words, and instantly regretted them.  He was reaching for the backspace key when the muse blasted through his subconscious like a wave of energy, and his fingers flew over the keys.

The door opened, and suddenly Rose was standing there. She was still dressed as she had been earlier today, but she wore a different expression now.  Gone was the smile, and it was replaced by anger in her eyes.
“How dare you.” she said.  Her Irish brogue was gone also.
“Rose?” he replied, never seeing her like this before.  He had written her angry in the books, but it was always at someone else, never at him.  And never this intense.
“You’re lecturing me about gratitude?” she said, “I came to you out of love, and this is how you think of me?”
“Rose, I–” he began, and then stopped.  “Wait, you came to me out of love?  What does that mean?” 
She ignored him and continued.  “And I abandoned you?”  He could see tears in her eyes now.  “I came to you whenever your love called me, and now you come to me with anger and claim I’ve abandoned you?”
He couldn’t respond.  She had never spoken to him like this.  Whatever inner part of him that was making her do this, must be some deep dark corner of his mind never accessed before.
“Jacob,” she said, “you’re about to discover what abandoned really feels like.”  With that, she turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind her.

He just stared at the screen, not believing what he had just typed.  Where in the hell did that come from?

# # #

You’ve just read 5,365 of 9,539 words for Erato.  To buy the ebook and read the complete story, follow this link to Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/17597


* * * * *


Remote Intimacy


Rachel has a secret admirer who usually sends her naughty letters, but today she has received a special gift. A gift that will allow her mystery friend to control her pleasure, and perhaps reveal their hidden identity. Adult erotica.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~



Rachel sat down on her friend’s desk, holding her hand behind her back and wearing a Cheshire grin on her face.  Lori, in the middle of typing a sentence, glanced up and stopped.
“Don’t tell me,” said the girl, smiling up at her friend, “You got another one?”
Rachel pulled her hand from behind her back, waving a folded piece of fancy stationery.
Lori emitted a quiet squeal and reached for it, “Lemme see!”
Rachel pulled it back slightly, out of her friend’s reach.  “Hey, this is private.  Just for me.”
Lori stared at her, giving her a stern look.  “Let me see it now and no one gets hurt.”
Rachel laughed, and Lori joined her.  She held the paper out and Lori snatched it quickly from her hand, unfolding it and beginning to read.  Rachel leaned down so that she was looking over her friend’s shoulder, and read it along with her.

My Dearest Rachel,

I am writing this in my bed, exhausted from pleasure.  I touched myself while thinking of you, imagining I was sliding my hand up underneath that short black skirt you wore today.  In my imagination, you weren’t wearing panties, and my fingers found your pussy very wet from your excitement.  Your clit was hard as I circled it with my fingers.  Pulling my hand back out, I licked your juices from one finger, and then offered the other to you, which you sucked clean.
Tomorrow is going to be a special day for us.  You will be receiving a gift from me, which may reveal my identity to you.

Love,

Your Secret Admirer

Lori finished reading and held the letter to her chest.  “Oh my god, that is so hot.”
“It is, isn’t it?” replied Rachel.  The letters had started three months ago, when she had first discovered a folded piece of paper in her side drawer one morning.  The first one had been non-sexual, talking about how beautiful the writer thought Rachel was.
But over the weeks, the writer became bolder, talking about Rachel’s body and what they wanted to do to her.  One day, a few weeks after the first letter, the writer asked her to confirm that she was enjoying these messages.  The letter told her she could show her appreciation by wearing something red the next day.  If she didn’t, the letter-writer would know she wasn’t interested and would stop.  That day, on their lunch hour, Rachel and Lori went out shopping and bought a red scarf.
Recently, Rachel had got in the habit of reaching into her nightstand table when she went to bed, and pulling out her trusty vibrator.  She would lie there with her eyes closed and legs spread, the cock-shaped plastic humming between her legs, and fantasies in her mind.  Each night she would think about a different person from the office and imagine it was them between her legs.  When her orgasm came, her pussy would grip the artificial shaft in pulsating spasms, and she would cry out loudly to the empty room.
“So, you still have no clue who this is?” asked her friend.  Lori had been her confidant in this little game, and together they had tried to figure out the clues.  In the past months, almost everyone in the company had come under their scrutiny, even the women.
Lori was one of the few people who Rachel had told about her ‘curious stage’ she went through when she was younger, when she had experimented by sleeping with a few women.  She hadn’t done anything about this curiosity lately, but sometimes when she met a beautiful woman, memories would flash through her mind and she would wonder what it would be like to try it again.
“No,” replied Rachel, “and I’m going nuts thinking about it.  At least my sex life has improved because of it, even though it’s just with myself.”
Lori laughed.  Rachel felt comfortable talking to her.  They had become fast friends when they both joined the firm three years ago.  They were alike, but different, same height and general build, but where Rachel’s hair was a lovely shade of red and worn past her shoulders, Lori’s was dark black and shorter.  Rachel was a former cheerleader, and Lori had been captain of her drill team.  They both had the same luck with men, seeming to attract the ones who were only interested in sexual flings and nothing long term.  When one of them would occasionally spend the night with a guy, the next day would be spent telling the other all about it in glorious detail.  So Rachel had no problem telling Lori about her recent addiction to her vibrator, and her friend listened with a sympathetic ear. 
“The writer hinted they’re ready to reveal themselves,” Lori said, “are you ready for that?”
“I think so,” Rachel replied, “but perhaps the fantasy will be better than the reality?”
Lori shrugged.  “Could be,” but then added with a smile, “or, you just might replace your vibrator with some warm human flesh.”
Rachel laughed, knowing her friend was right.

A few hours later, Rachel was concentrating on a problem when a familiar face appeared at the door to her office.  Brett Calder was one of the senior partners of their law firm, but he was anything but senior.  Only forty-two years old, he was the youngest partner in the firm.  An ex-college quarterback, he lost his shot at the pros when he blew out his knee in the Rose Bowl.  Luckily, he had been paying attention in class, and graduated with a law degree.  Focusing on his law career like he used to focus on defenses, he rose to the top quickly, and everyone assumed he would be leaving soon to head his own firm.
With his sandy blond hair and boyish good looks, Rachel always enjoyed when he stopped by her office.  And it seemed that lately he had been stopping by more often.  A few months ago, he had asked her to finish a report for him, and she had done such a good job, she was now the one he came to all the time when he needed something done well.  He had even got in the habit of sitting in her office for a while when he did stop by, and chat about things other than work.
This is how she knew he was divorced – five years now – and he was showing signs he was ready to be involved in a relationship again.  Sometimes she caught him glancing at her legs as they sat together and talked, and she smiled inwardly, flattered that such a man would think she was attractive.  She would tell herself that the fourteen year difference in their ages didn’t matter, and sometimes when she was in her bed late at night, she wondered what kind of lover he was.
“Rachel,” he said, “got a minute?”
“Sure Brett,” she replied.  She felt strange calling him that, but after a few ‘Mr. Calders’, he asked – and then demanded – that she call him by his first name.
“I was wondering if you could take a look at this,” he said, placing a folder on her desk.  “Made the mistake of giving it to Winters downstairs, and it’s just not up to your standards.”
Rachel opened the folder and took a quick glance.  She immediately saw what was wrong with it, and said, “No problem.  I’ll have it back on your desk tomorrow morning.”
Brett smiled at her.  “Thanks Rachel.  Don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Switching gears, he then added, “You coming to the office party tomorrow night?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” she said.
“Then I’d like to reserve a space on your dance card.”
She smiled. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”
He returned her smile, and for one second his eyes dropped down to her full breasts pushing out her blouse, and then they were back on her eyes.  If she hadn’t been paying attention, she might have thought she had imagined it.  She felt a twinge of pleasure between her legs.
“Thanks again Rachel,” he said, and turned and left.

A few minutes later, Lori stopped by, and Rachel related her experience with Brett, letting her know about his request for a dance.  Brett’s name was always near the top of the list when the two of them speculated about who Rachel’s secret admirer was.
“What do you think?” Loir said, “Did he seem like the same person as the letter writer?”
“I’m not sure,” Rachel replied, “but he definitely has an interest in my body.”
“That doesn’t really narrow things down,” said her friend, “any male with a heartbeat is going to have an interest in your body.  Probably a good percentage of females too.”
Rachel was laughing when they were interrupted by Robby Walker, the company’s technology guru, who maintained the computer network they all used.  Young and naïve, Robby was a recent college graduate who obviously spent more time around computers growing up than he did girls, since he was much more comfortable around the former than the latter.
“Sorry to interrupt ladies,” he said, looking embarrassed, but we’re having a network problem and I have to manually check all the connections for a loose plug.
“No problem,” Rachel said, “what do you need me to do?”
“Um,” he said, “just move out of the way.  The connection is under your desk.”
“Oh sorry,” she replied, and rolled her chair back from her desk, remaining seated in it.  She waved her hand toward the vacated opening.  “It’s all yours.”
Lori looked on with a smile.
Robby pushed his glasses back on his nose, and got a look on his face like he’d rather be alone doing this.  Realizing that wasn’t going to happen, he stooped to his knees and crawled into the space.
Rachel tilted her head sideways and watched his ass sticking out from under her desk.  She looked at Lori who was smirking at her, and gave her a thumbs-up sign, letting her friend know that she approved of the view.
Robby said something, but it was too muffled to make out.
“Excuse me?” said Rachel, sliding her chair closer to him.
“I said I think I found the culprit,” said Robby, turning to look at her.  He found himself staring right between her legs, and he turned away quickly, bumping his head hard on the side of her desk.
“Fuck,” he muttered, and both Rachel and Lori giggled.
He backed out from under the desk, standing and rubbing his head.
“You ok?” Rachel asked.
“Yeah,” he said, still rubbing, “sorry about my language there.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Rachel said.
“Yeah,” Lori added, “we say fuck all the time.”  This caused another round of giggles from the two women.
Robby grinned sheepishly.  “As I said, I think I found the problem connection.  Yours is loose, probably from you kicking it.”
“Sorry,” Rachel said.
“No, it’s not your fault.  It’s in the wrong place.  When I replace it, I’ll move it out of the way.”  He said this as he was backing out of the door, and when he finished he turned and walked away.
“Bye,” Rachel called after him, but he was out of earshot.
The woman looked at each other.  “Think it’s him?” Lori asked.
Rachel shook her head.  “I doubt it.  He couldn’t even handle getting a glimpse up my skirt.  I don’t think he’s the type to be writing fuck letters to strangers.”
“Still waters run deep,” Lori said with a wry smile.
“But not that deep,” said Rachel, and their giggles returned.
Just then, Rachel’s supervisor, Paula Livingston walked by and stuck her head into the room.  “Rachel, how’s the Karmin case going?”
“Just finished it.  I put it on your desk fifteen minutes ago.
Paula smiled, “Nice work.  Mr. Karmin is going to be pleased.  What’s next on your agenda?”
“Going over a report for Mr. Calder.”
“When you’re done with that, stop by my office,” said the woman, who was only five years older than Rachel, “I have a new project for you.”  She gave Rachel a satisfied smile.   She was wearing the latest clothes, as she always did, choosing outfits that showed off her body, but in a classy way.  Today she was wearing a gray skirt with a green blouse, opened at the neck just enough to be interesting, but closed just enough to be professional at the same time.
Watching the thirty-something woman smile at her like that, Rachel’s mind flashed back to a few years ago, to another older woman she had worked with.  When Rachel was twenty, she had interned at another law firm, and one of the lawyers she worked for was a thirty-five year old woman named Alicia.  From the start, Alicia had gone out of her way to help Rachel learn the ropes, and late one Friday evening at the office, Rachel found out why.  As she poured over a large law book, Alicia came up behind her and began giving her a neck rub, commenting that she looked tense.  Rachel melted in her hands, and found herself at Alicia’s apartment, staying the night.  They spent the entire weekend together, most of it in bed, with their fingers and tongues exploring each other’s bodies.
But as Rachel thought about these memories, it wasn’t Alicia she was imagining peeking up from between her legs as her tongue worked its magic.  Instead, it was Paula, and Rachel felt a twinge of pleasure as the two images merged together.
“Ok Paula,” Rachel replied, trying to keep her thoughts from showing on her face, “I’ll stop by tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks,” Paula said, and went on her way.
Rachel glanced over at her friend, who was giving her an odd look.
“What?” she asked.
Lori just smiled and said, “You’re a naughty girl.”
Rachel blushed, and replied, “Was I that obvious?”
“Relax,” said her friend, “I don’t think she noticed, if that’s what you’re asking.  I just know you well enough to recognize your looks, and a bit of lust definitely made an appearance there.”  She was giving Rachel a mischievous grin.
“Think it might be her?” Rachel asked.  The two of them had discussed the possibility that Rachel’s secret admirer was a woman, since the letter-writer had never said they were a man, and when they wrote, they always talked about what they wanted to do to Rachel.  There were no “I want to watch you suck on my cock” types of messages.
Lori thought about it for a moment.  “It’s certainly possible.  She definitely likes you, and she’s not married.”
Rachel had another mini-flashback, this time it was her face between spread legs, and her tongue was slowing rolling over a swollen clit.  When she looked up, she saw Paula’s face smiling down at her, framed between her naked breasts.

The next morning, Rachel sat on the bus in quiet excitement, wondering what her gift would be.  She had even woken up early, thinking about it.  Since she was already up, she took an earlier bus, wanting to get to the office as soon as possible.  Sitting there in her seat, she felt the vibrations of the road, and she was already getting damp from the mixture of sensation and anticipation.
Reaching work, she hurried down the hall leading to her office and turned the corner, running straight into Robby, who was coming the other way.  The force of their collision knocked her off balance, and she felt herself falling.  Suddenly a pair of strong arms surrounded her, and she found herself looking up into the eyes of the young man as he held her.  He was much stronger than she thought he’d be, and she was surprised to discover she was enjoying his touch on her.
He suddenly realized what he was doing, and quickly pulled her up, helped her steady herself, and then stepped back, looking embarrassed.  
“Sorry Rachel, my fault,” he said, a red hue rising in his cheeks.
“No problem Robby,” she replied, “I should have been watching where I was going.  But thanks for catching me.”  But she was distracted, thinking about how secure she felt in his arms, and thought there might be more to this boy than first glance.  Maybe without his glasses and a comb for his hair, he might–  the gift!
She remembered what she was rushing for, and said, “Sorry Robby, I have to run,” and turned towards her office.
“Bye Rachel,” she heard faintly as she stepped inside and closed the door.

She turned the small box over in her hand, feeling its weight and jiggling it slightly.  There was no note attached, and it was wrapped in plain brown paper.  She opened it carefully to expose a colorful box, and a note that dropped to the floor.
Examining the box, the label read ‘Remote Control Vibrating Panty’, and the cover showed a woman wearing the black panties and holding a small white device, which Rachel assumed was the remote control.  
She blushed hard and quickly put the box back into her drawer, looking around to make sure no one had seen her holding it through the glass wall of her office.  The coast was clear.  She then stooped and picked up the note.
It was written on the same stationery, and she unfolded it with shaking fingers.

Dearest Rachel,

By now, you have seen my gift, and I hope it makes you as excited as it made me.  If you look inside, you’ll notice that something is missing.  I have removed the remote control, and I’ll be holding onto it – for now.
Tonight, you and I are going to play a little game.  I want you to wear these panties to the office party, and I’ll be there with the remote.  Let’s see if you can guess who I am.

Love,

Your Secret Admirer

Rachel felt a warm pulsating wetness in her as she re-read the words.  Tonight seemed so far away.

“Are you actually going to do it?” Lori said, her eyes wide.
Rachel smiled, and that was all the answer Lori needed.  “You slut,” she said, and then grinned.  Rachel giggled in response.
“Can I see it?” Lori asked.
“I knew you’d want to,” Rachel said, and held out a small silver shopping bag, which she had found in her desk and put the box into.
Lori discretely opened the bag and peeked inside.  “Mm, sexy,” she murmured.  Then she looked up at Rachel and said, “It says on the box the range is 15-20 feet.  That should help you figure out who it is.”
“I didn’t notice that, but you’re right.  That’s going to narrow things down a bit.  Can I ask you for a favor?”
“Sure.”
“Can you keep an eye out for me?  When you get the chance, can you look around and see if anyone looks suspicious?”
Lori gave her a mock salute.  “I’m on the case.”
“Smart ass,” Rachel said, but grinned widely at her friend.

Rachel walked into the party, glancing around.  So many familiar faces – too many for what she had come here for.  It was going to be impossible to figure out who it was.
Their office parties weren’t held at the office, but instead they rented ballrooms in various hotels around the city.  This one happened to be smaller than most, and she realized that if her secret admirer stood in the center of the room, the twenty-foot range would cover most of it.
The panties felt good as they hugged her mound, and the weight of the vibrator rubbed lightly against her clit as she walked.   She was in a heightened state of sensation already, and that slight movement was causing all kinds of interesting feelings.  She was already damp, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the touch or the anticipation.
Noticing Lori in a small group of people, she headed over to her friend.  Lori saw her coming and stepped away from the others, meeting Rachel with a smile.
“Well?” she said.
“I’m wearing it,” Rachel replied, feeling a blush in her cheeks.
“Have you felt anything yet?”
“No, other than my pussy tingling just anticipating it.”
Lori grinned.  “If I’m going to be your lookout, I’m going to need to know when it’s happening.  We need a signal.”
Just then, the panties came alive, and the vibrator hummed on.  The sensation jolted through Rachel’s body like a lightning bolt, starting at her clit and sparking outward, causing her body to freeze and her eyes go wide.  It only lasted a few seconds, and then was gone.
“Oh my god,” Rachel whispered.
“It just happened?” asked Lori, looking around to see who was close.
“Yes, and it was incredible.”
“Forget what I just said then.  We don’t need a signal.  Your face will be my signal.”  Lori was grinning.
Rachel blushed.  “Was it that obvious?”
“Oh yeah.”
Rachel considered for a moment to put an end to this.  She worked with these people.  She couldn’t go around with an orgasmic look on her face all night.  Then the panties came on again, and as the pleasure bolted through her, all thoughts of taking them off were lost.
“Uhhh,” she moaned softly and reached out to hold onto Lori’s arm.
Lori watched her closely and then said, “Maybe you can let me borrow them for a while.”
The vibrating stopped and Rachel giggled.  “No way.  This is too good.”
“You’re so selfish,” her friend pouted, and then added with a grin, “Go mingle.  Let’s see if we can solve this mystery.”

# # #

You’ve just read 3,612 of 7,516 words for Remote Intimacy.  To buy the ebook and read the complete story, follow this link to Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/25861


* * * * *

Killing Max


Max seems like an ordinary teenager, but hidden behind his charismatic smile are lofty aspirations. When Max meets Zoe, it's love at first sight, but he's hiding a few terrible secrets from his past. But Max has no idea that Zoe is harboring some shocking secrets of her own. Secrets that will force Max to confront his future - if he survives long enough to have one. Sex and graphic violence.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~


The intruder strode through the crowded park, trying to ignore the sounds of carefree children’s laughter and the low murmur of unsuspecting adults.  He reminded himself that although he was probably going to end some of these innocent lives, ultimately he was doing this for them.
An ice cream truck stopped nearby, blaring a song from its speakers, providing a surreal soundtrack to the terrible scene that was about to happen.  He recognized the tune as Turkey in the Straw, evoking memories of boyhood lyrics for the song.
Do your boobs hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie ‘em in a knot?
Can you tie ‘em in a bow?
Shielding his eyes from the sun, he scanned the crowd for his target.  After a few anxious moments, he found it, and a reassuring calm came over him.  All doubts vanished as he focused on why he was here, and what he had sacrificed to make this moment a reality.   
Setting his canvas bag on the ground and unzipping it, he pulled out a Bushmaster M17S assault rifle.  Bringing the gun up to a firing position, he heard a shout from nearby, and knew his time was limited.  Focusing on his target, he aimed and pulled the trigger.  The gun jumped to life in his hands, burping out a quick salvo of rounds.
Do your boobs hang low?  thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk  
Had he hit it?  The screams began, and panic tightened his chest, convinced some brave soul was going to rush him at any moment and prevent him from completing his mission.  Reflexively, he swung the gun from side to side, holding the trigger tightly as the bullets delivered random death and pain.  
Do they wobble to and fro?  thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk  
Gushes of red spurted and sprayed as the victims jerked like marionettes, then slumped to the ground as if their strings had been cut.
He returned his attention to the target.  There could be no doubt.  He aimed again, but someone charged him from the side.  Turning quickly, he squeezed off a burst into the man’s chest.
thuk-thuk-thuk
The would-be hero flew backwards, dead before he hit the ground.  Turning the gun back to the other side, the bullets again ripped through the crowd, hot angry metal chewing through yielding flesh, sending more bodies tumbling down.
Can you tie ‘em in a knot? thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk-thuk  
Ignoring the carnage, he replaced the ammunition clip with a fresh one, took a deep breath, and focused on the target.  After all he had been through, he had to be sure.  Lifting the gun and taking careful aim, his finger settled on the trigger, intending to empty the full clip into the person he came here to kill.  The finger tightened.
Can you tie ‘em in a b-
A bullet exploded through his skull and the world vanished in a white-hot burst of intense light.  There were no brief last thoughts of regret, because most of his brain matter was spread out over the sunny green grass, as his body lie twitching in involuntary spasms, almost keeping time with the music.

*  *  *

Max pulled open the door to the university library and stepped into the warmth, his cheeks flushed from the chilly November wind.   Unbuttoning his coat and scanning the room, he searched for her.  A few students were occupied at computer terminals, and others had their heads into books at the reading desks.  The library staff shuttled about, like a miniature ant colony, pushing small book carts.  It was quiet, as most libraries are, but the high domed ceiling echoed indecipherable whispers from the other side of the large circular room. 
A pretty coed noticed his entrance, and smiled at him over the book she was reading.  He returned the smile, but his eyes were already moving on, searching the room for Zoe.
Not finding her, he took the stairs up to the balcony and entered his favorite section.  Unlike the library back home, this one had an extensive history collection, where he would spend hours looking through the stacks, bringing books back to the reading desks where he would pour over them.  He began browsing the titles, knowing she would look for him here.
He had never thought college would be this enjoyable.  A few months ago, before starting his freshman classes, he worried both about keeping up with his school work and making new friends.
It turned out he had no reason to be concerned, because school work had never been a problem for him, and college was no different.  As for the friends, his natural charisma and good looks didn’t let him down, and he was becoming popular, even getting elected to the student government.  The girls were much more forward here, and he had spent several nights with a few of them after dorm parties.  There was also Adam, his best friend from back home, who was attending here too.
Yes, things were going well, and they got even better when he met Zoe.
He had been a frequent visitor to the library for several weeks, when she began working here as an aide.  The first time they’d met, he was standing in the stacks, focused on a new find, when she came by with a cart full of returned books.   She stood on her tiptoes trying to place a return on the top shelf, but couldn’t quite reach it.  Her lithe body arched and stretched in a way he couldn’t seem to take his eyes from.  Stepping next to her, he said, “Let me help,” and reached up and took the book from her, placing it in its spot.  He could feel her warmth as they brushed together.
“Thank you,” she said, as they turned to face each other.   Seeing her for the first time, his eyes opened wide as he took her in.  Short brown hair framed a pair of eager green eyes, which were alert and watching him intently.  She was beautiful.  But it was an innocent beauty, natural and wholesome, with no need for artificial assistance.   He stared at her for long moment before he realized he was being rude, and then smiled when he saw she was doing the same.
“Hi, I’m Max,” he said, offering his hand, “Maxwell Madison.”
She blushed and gave him a shy smile, as if meeting a celebrity, and then placed her small hand in his.  “Hi Max, I’m Zoe Brannigan.”
“So, you work here?” he asked, realizing it was a dumb question.
“Yeah, just started a few days ago,” she replied, not seeming to mind.
“You a student?”
“Not yet.  My paperwork was late, so I’ll be starting next semester.”
“Have you picked a major yet?”
“History,” she replied.
He smiled.  “My favorite subject.”
“So you’re a history major too?”
“No, political science.”
“Oh, one of those people,” she said with a grin.
“Those people?” he asked.  He didn’t think it was possible, but she was even prettier when she smiled.
“Never mind,” she said, “I better get back to work.”
“Ok,” he said, “but I’ll be here a little while longer, so if you have any more top shelf books, let me know.”
She laughed and said, “Ok smart ass, I’ll keep that in mind.”
He grinned and watched her push the cart away, admiring her body once again.  Before rounding the corner she turned back and caught him checking her out, but just smiled as she went out of view.
When he left a half hour later, he made sure to pass by her on the way out. “Goodbye Zoe, nice talking to you,” he said as he walked by.
She gave him a small wave and smiled. “You too Max.”
He walked back to his dorm with a happy heart, smiling every time he thought of her.  He had been with more than his fair share of girls, but he had never felt this way about anyone before.
After that, whenever they met in the library, they’d spend a few minutes chatting.  Usually they talked about the books he was reading, and he discovered she was as well-versed on history as he was.
A week later, when he worked up enough nerve to ask her out, she looked startled, as if it was the last thing she expected to hear.  But she recovered enough to smile and say yes, and they made plans for Saturday night.
For their first date they went to a student play on campus, followed by dinner at a small Greek restaurant.  After they finished ordering, she rested her chin on her folded hands, looked at him, and asked, “Tell me about yourself Max.”
“What do you want to know?”
She shrugged. “Anything.  Did you have a happy childhood?”
“Sure,” he replied, “as happy as any kid I guess.  My mom says I was always smiling when I was a baby.”
She grinned, “I bet you were a cutie.”
“Cutest baby ever,” he said, “Of course, that’s according to my mom again.”
She laughed and said, “Of course.”
“How about you?” he asked, “I bet you have some beautiful baby pictures lying around.”
Her smile faded.  “No, they were all lost.”
“Not a single one?”
“Nope.”
“Lost in a fire?”
“Something like that,” she replied, “But we were talking about you.”
“I was a happy cute kid, what else do you need to know?”
“Girlfriends?”
“A few.  Nothing serious.”
“What do you consider serious?”
“Being in love.”
“You’ve never been in love?”
He smiled.  “I thought I was in seventh grade, but no, never.”  He almost added, “until now,” but decided it was too soon.  “Enough about me,” he continued, “What about your past?  Any secrets I should know about?”
Her eyes fixed on his, and she paused before answering.  “Nope, just boring me.”
He watched her closely, and knew that wasn’t her first answer.  She was holding something back.  “Ever been in love?”
“Once,” she replied, “My last boyfriend – Steven.  We almost got married.”
“Married?” he replied with surprise, “What stopped you?”
 “He died in a car crash.”
“That’s terrible.  How long ago?”
“Three years.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“This is the first date I’ve been on since it happened.”
Max reached over and held her hand.  “I had no idea Zoe.”
“It’s been rough,” she said, “but getting to know you has changed something in me.”
“How so?”
“For so long I was only looking behind, but you’ve allowed me to look forward again.”
Max smiled. “It makes me happy to hear that.”
She returned the smile and said, “Enough sad talk.  Anything else interesting about your childhood I should know about?”
He was silent for a moment, wondering if it was the right time to tell her.  “Nah, nothing special.”  No need to depress her with those stories, he thought.
She studied him intently.  “Nothing?”
He shrugged.  “Nothing I want to talk about right now.”
She gave him a skeptical look.  “Ok, so tell me why you’re a political science major.”
 “You mean, why am I one of those people?”
“Exactly.”
“By the way, what did you mean by that?”
“People who would rather make history than study it.”
“Guilty as charged,” he replied, and she laughed.
“Why?” she asked.
“Why would I rather make history?”
“Yes.”
“It’s what I was born to do.”
A sad look flickered across her face, but it disappeared so quickly, he wondered if he had imagined it.  
“What you were born to do?” she asked.
“It’s hard to explain, but I’ve always known that something important is out there waiting for me.”
“Something important?  Like what?”
“I don’t know. Saving the world maybe?”
“And how are you going to save the world?”
“There’s a lot of suffering, and most of it is because of poor leadership.”
“And you think you can do better?” she asked with a slight hint of challenge in her voice.
“I know I can.”
He watched her face, and that sad look flashed across it again.  Brief, but it was there.  He knew he wasn’t imagining it this time.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said, bringing the smile back.  “You have such big dreams.  Is that why you’re so interested in history?”
“It’s important to learn from the past,” he replied.  “There were some great leaders who made terrible mistakes.”
“Yes there were,” she said, eyeing him with a curious expression.
After dinner they walked back to her apartment, holding hands as light snow began falling.  As they stood on the sidewalk outside her place, he thought about asking if he could come up, but decided he wanted more than that with her.  She seemed relieved when he thanked her for an enjoyable evening, and said he would call. 
That had been a month ago, and they had gone on several dates since.  He still stopped by the library, like he was doing now, and they would talk when she could take a break.
He was sitting at the reading desk, absorbed in a book about Napoleon, when someone sat across from him.  
“I thought I’d find you here.”  It was the familiar voice of his friend Adam.  He looked up to see his ever-present grin.
“Hey bud,” said Max, “what’s up?”
“Not much, just wondering if you want to go over to Simpson Hall and shoot some pool.”
“Maybe in a few minutes.  I want to talk to Zoe first and see what she’s doing tonight.”
“Zoe again huh?” said his friend through his grin, “Sounds like this is getting serious.”
“Maybe,” Max replied, smiling back.
“Just don’t pull another Kim on me, ok?”
Max gave him an exasperated look.  “Adam, why do you keep bringing that up?  We were in seventh grade.”
Adam screwed his face up as if he was crying, and pretended to rub his eyes with his balled fists.  “I can’t live without her.  I love her so much!”
Max grabbed his pencil from the table and flipped it at his friend.  The eraser end struck him in the forehead and bounced off.
“Dude,” said Adam, mock alarm on his face, “you could have taken my eye out.”
“Only if my aim was better.”
“Fucker.”
Max grinned.
“So,” said Adam, rubbing his forehead, “have you told her yet?”
Max’s grin faded.  “Told her what?”
It was Adam’s turn to look exasperated.  “You know what.”
“No, I haven’t told her.  I’m not sure I’m going to.”
“Bad move.  If you’re serious about her – and my guess is you are – she’s going to find out, and it’s best she hears it from you.”
Max was silent.  He knew his friend was right.  But every time the opportunity arose, he didn’t want to spoil the mood by dredging up all those bad memories.  How do you tell someone you’re cursed?  Or at the very least, fate was out to kill you?  Or save you?  He wasn’t sure which one it was.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Max said to Adam.  “I’ll tell her.”
Adam’s eyes, which had been focused on him, refocused somewhere behind him.  He was about to turn and look when a pair of soft hands reached from behind and covered his eyes, and a feminine voice whispered in his ear, “Guess who?”
Her warm breasts pressed into his back, and he smiled and pretended to ponder her question.
“Wait, give me a moment,” he began, “Hmm, judging by the big rough calloused hands and gravelly voice, it can only be my Uncle Otto.”
Adam snickered.
“Hey,” she said, grinning and sitting in the chair beside him, “that’s not very nice.  Hi Adam.”
“Hey Zoe,” replied Adam.
Max pretended to act surprised.  “Zoe!  For a girl, your hands are rough.”
She giggled and placed her hand on his.  “You really think so?”  Her touch, soft and casual, sent a wave of pleasure through him.  She had been touching him like this a lot lately, sending him a message that he was receiving loud and clear.  
“Let me check,” he said with mock seriousness, as he moved his other hand over hers and caressed it with his fingers.  “I was way off,” he concluded, “you feel nothing like Uncle Otto.”
She laughed again, and this time he returned her grin.  “How’s it going?” he asked.
“Boring,” she replied, “glad you could come by and keep me company.”
 “Well,” said Adam, getting up, “that’s my cue to leave.  Max, I’ll be at Simpson for a few hours.  Nice seeing you again Zoe.”
“You too Adam,” she replied.
“I’ll be over soon,” said Max to his friend as he left, and then turned to her.  “I’ve missed you.”
Her face lit up.  “I’ve missed you too Max, even though we just saw each other last night.”
He grinned.  “What time are you working until?”
“Eight o’clock.”
“You want to do something afterwards?  Maybe see a movie or something?”
Her brow furrowed, as if she was trying to make a decision, and not a very easy one.  Finally she said, “How would you like to have dinner at my place tonight?”
He knew she was asking him about more than just dinner.  “I would love that,” he replied.
“Great,” she said, staring at him for a long moment, and he saw that flash of sadness in her face again, only to be covered up by a smile.  He wondered if she was thinking about Steven.
“Do you want to meet here or back at my place?” she asked.
“Here, and I’ll walk you home.”
“It’s a date,” she said, and stood up, “See you at eight then?”
“I’ll be here.”
As she walked by him, she grazed her fingers over his chest, trailing them up over his collar bone and off his shoulder.  He watched her go, his skin tingling from her touch.

They stopped at a small grocery mart on the way back to her apartment and picked up a few items for dinner.  Deciding to keep it simple, they went with spaghetti, knowing that dinner wasn’t the reason they were going to her place.
He insisted on helping, so she put in him charge of making the salad while she prepared the spaghetti sauce.  As they moved around the kitchen, they would occasionally bump and touch each other, sometimes accidentally, sometimes on purpose.  
She was stirring the sauce when he came up behind her, placing his hands lightly on her hips as he peeked over her shoulder.  He took a deep breath, and could smell the soft scent of her perfume mixed in with the sauce’s spicy aroma.
“Mmm, smells good,” he said.
“You like it?” she said, leaning back into him until their bodies were touching.
He tilted his head so that his lips were close to her neck.   He inhaled her scent again, his breath warm on her skin.  “Love it,” he replied, “I can’t wait.”
“You are talking about the sauce, right?”
“Maybe,” he grinned, “or maybe not.”
She turned to face him, and his hands slid to the small of her back, pulling her closer.  She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked up, her green eyes sparkling, waiting for him.  He leaned down and they kissed, their lips barely touching at first, but becoming more urgent as they continued.  Her lips were soft and her body was warm against him, and he became lost in her embrace.  
He felt himself getting aroused, and tried to pull back, but she moved with him, pressing her hips against his.  Her tongue tentatively probed his mouth, and he met it with his own, as his hands moved down onto her hips, his fingers splayed around her as he cupped her through her jeans and pulled her tighter against him.
When they finally broke apart, she smiled and looked up at him.  “Mmm, I’ve been looking forward to that.”
He looked down at her, becoming lost in her eyes again.  “That was amazing.  I want you so much.”
 “I can tell,” she replied, smiling and pressing herself against him, “but hold that thought, my sauce is burning.”  With that, she turned back and resumed stirring, while he reluctantly returned to the salad.

“This sauce is incredible,” he said between bites.  
“Thanks,” she replied, “it’s a family recipe.”
“Learn it from your mom?”
Her face darkened and she paused before answering.  “My mother died when I was young, so I didn’t get a chance to learn much from her.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, “how old were you?”
“Seven.”
“That’s so sad.  Were you raised by your father?”
“No, by my older brother Robb.  My dad died at the same time as my mom.”
“That’s terrible Zoe.  Was it another car accident?”
She looked at him, her expression hardening.  “No,” she said, “they were murdered.”
“Murdered?  By who?”
Looking down at her plate, she fell silent.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m being insensitive.  If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s ok.”
She remained quiet a moment longer, and then said, “They were murdered because they were the wrong kind of people, by an inhuman animal who didn’t think they deserved to live.”  When she finished she turned her eyes up to his, as if looking for his reaction.
“Oh Zoe,” he said, “that’s horrible.”
“Yes Max, horrible is the perfect description.”  Her eyes were still watching him, but then they softened and she smiled.  “Do you mind if we change the subject?”

After dinner, he began helping her with the cleanup, but she told him to go watch TV and she’d be right in.   He protested, but she insisted, so he settled onto the couch and she joined him a few minutes later.  He was sitting at the end, and she sat close, facing him.
“Still holding that thought?” she asked.
He was confused for a moment, then smiled and said, “Of course.”
He reached and pulled her to him, and she melted into his arms, her body soft against his.  They kissed again, the urgency picking up where they had left off in the kitchen.
Finally, they broke apart and looked at each other, seeing the desire in the other’s face.
“Remember when you asked about my old girlfriends?”
“Yes,” she replied, looking curious.
“And I said I had never been serious about a girl?”
“I remember.”
“That’s no longer true.  There’s one I’m serious about now.”
“Lucky girl,” she said with a mischievous grin, “Do I know her?”
He smiled and looked at her.  She was so incredibly beautiful sitting there watching him with expectant eyes, waiting for him to say aloud what they both already knew.
“I love you,” he said, watching closely for her reaction.
She smiled softly and leaned into him, kissing him tenderly before pulling away and saying, “I love you too Max.”
 “I’ve never felt like this with anyone else,” he said.
He watched her face in the dim room, lit only by the flickering television, and could tell she was making another difficult decision.
Finally, she stood and held out her hand to him.  “Come with me.”
He took her hand and stood, and she led him into the bedroom.

Her passion surprised him.  She was the aggressor at first, undressing him and then herself, pressing him back on the bed as she took control, straddling his waist and leaning down to kiss him, her lips urgent against his.  Her desire for him was apparent in every movement of her body, and every touch of her skin against his.  Her nipples grazed against his chest as she kissed him, and the wet warmth between her legs pressed against his hard length.  
Opening his eyes, he looked up to find her gazing down at him, her eyes half-lidded as her face relaxed in tranquil pleasure.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, as his hands lightly grazed her back, slipping down along the curve of her spine.
Her eyes opened fully, and she smiled in response, then reached back and held him at the proper angle, pressing herself down onto him, taking him inside of her in a long slow tight descent.  Watching her face as their bodies joined, he saw tics of pleasure shimmer across it.
She moved on him with an unhurried pace, their combined pleasure climbing gradually as they enjoyed each other’s body.  But when he sensed that she wanted something different, he took control, pulling her down to him and then rolling them both over so that he was now on top.  Her sighs of pleasure told him he had guessed correctly, and her legs slid up to embrace him as he began his own rhythm.  He started slow, picking up where she had left off, but ended with rapid jarring thrusts, as they clutched each other with straining muscles, simultaneously crying out their shared pleasure, and then falling asleep in each other’s arms.

He awoke to a pressure on his stomach and what sounded like gentle sobbing.  The room was still dark, but when he opened his eyes he could see she was straddling him again.  He wasn’t mistaken, she was crying.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” he whispered.
She flinched in surprise and jerked her hand to his forehead, pressing cold metal against the skin.  Rolling his eyes upwards, he saw she was holding a gun, and instantly he was wide awake.
“Don’t move,” she said, her voice tight, “or I swear to fucking god I’ll pull this trigger.”  She emphasized her point by pushing the barrel harder against him, causing him to wince in pain.
He froze, fear churning in his stomach.  He tried to speak, but discovered he couldn’t get his mouth to work.
She began crying again.
“Zoe?”  His mind struggled to understand, but nothing made sense.
“I thought it would be easy,” she said through sobs.
“What?”
“Killing you.”
His mind reeled.  How could this be happening?  How could this be the same girl who had just made love to him?  And said she loved him?  He struggled to find the words.  “Kill me?  Why?”
 “Because you deserve to die.”
“I don’t understand.”  It was becoming harder for him to breathe, both from the pressure of her weight on his stomach, and the terror that gripped him.
“I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you.”
This only added more confusion.  “If you love me, why are you doing this?”
Her cheeks were wet with tears.  “I have to.”
“That makes no sense.  Baby, talk to me.”
She didn’t answer.  Instead she stared at him, as if trying to focus.
“I love you,” he whispered.
She began crying again. “Please don’t say that.”
“It’s true.  Even now I can feel it.”
“Shut up.”
“We belong together.  You know it’s true.”
“Shut up,” she screamed and pressed the gun harder into his skin.  He responded by grunting in pain.
A look of resolve came over her, as she wiped her tears away.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “I don’t have a choice.”
“Zoe, please.”  His breath hitched in short choppy gasps.
“I love you Max.”
“Please, I’m beg–“
She moaned out a low harsh groan and pulled the trigger.
Click
They stared at each other in shock.   His mind spun and he almost lost consciousness.  She seemed to shimmer as his vision faded around the edges.
“Fuck!” she cried, and reached to the gun with her other hand, intending to chamber another bullet.
He reacted out of instinct, pushing the pistol to the side with one hand, while swinging the other up and catching her on the side of the head with his fist, knocking her off of him and onto the floor.  He realized he had hit her hard, and for one brief strange moment, he worried that he had hurt her.
But when he sat up, she was waiting for him.  Moving with blinding speed and athletic grace, she spun and kicked, her foot catching him square in the chest, driving him back onto the bed with such force, he rolled and fell off the other side and landed hard on the floor.  The wind knocked out of him, he gasped for breath and attempted to stand.  Finally reaching his feet, he looked around the bedroom, which was now empty.  She was gone.


# # #

You’ve just read 4,705 of 9,383 words for Killing Max.  To buy the ebook and read the complete story, follow this link to Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/25527



* * * * *

The Gazelle


A serial killer picks up a stranded girl in the Texas desert. Will she become his next victim, or will he have a change of heart? Adult content, violence and sexual situations.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~



The final colors of the day were draining over the horizon, as the pair watched through the smattering of tiny sand fly corpses dotting the windshield. Their conversation had been engaging since she had joined him in the car several hours ago, but when the evening sky blossomed into a fiery display of reds and oranges, they shared it in silence. Now, all that remained of the majestic show was a thin ribbon of fire that snaked its way behind the looming mountains. 
Thomas glanced over at his lovely passenger, her obvious delight in the spectacle adding to his attraction towards her. Her being here, watching it with him, enhanced his own enjoyment. What made it especially poignant for him, was knowing that this would be the last sunset she would ever see. 
After the last colors faded to gray, he said, “I'm getting some water, would you like another bottle?” 
“Love some,” Kat replied, and then asked, “Don’t you have anything stronger?” She leaned forward and resumed her preoccupation with the car radio, which she had been fussing over since they had driven out of range of the San Antonio stations two hours ago. 
“Just water,” he replied as he reached between the seats to the cooler in the back. “Besides, you’re a bit under the drinking age anyway.” 
“That’s cold Tommy.” She rotated the tuning dial and the radio responded with varying levels of static. “I thought we were friends.” 
“Nice try.” He grinned as he held the steering wheel in one hand and groped behind him into the cooler with the other. “But we're in the middle of the Texas desert, and the last thing I need is some redneck state trooper tossing me in jail for giving alcohol to a teenager.” 
“Probably a smart choice,” she said, still focused on the radio, but then turned and grinned at him. “Your cellmates would just love a pretty boy like you.” She pursed her lips and blew an exaggerated kiss in his direction. 
“You got that right,” he said, returning the smile. He pulled his arm back, holding two bottles of Evian still dripping from the ice in the cooler. Taking a moment to examine them, he placed one in his cup holder, and handed her the other. 
She accepted it and leaned back in her seat, leaving the radio tuned to faint static for the moment. “Thanks,” she said, twisting the top until it separated with the familiar cricking sound, and then held the bottle to her lips as her head tilted slightly back, her throat working as she swallowed. 
He watched with interest as she drank, and was again taken aback by how stunningly beautiful she was. And so alive. She reminded him of an elegant wild animal – a cheetah, or maybe a swan. Every movement performed with an effortless grace, even an action as simple as drinking water. 
She noticed him watching.  “What?” she said and then ran her tongue slowly over her upper lip, capturing the small drops of water left there.  
She was good, he thought. 
But he answered with just a smile, and then returned his attention to the road.  She had been trying to seduce him since she had gotten into his car over three hours ago. He had enjoyed her unsophisticated attempts at flirting, fending them off when they became too direct, and providing subtle encouragements when she backed off.  However, all games must eventually come to an end, and glancing at the clock on the dash, Thomas knew the conclusion to this one was imminent 
“Radio out here sucks,” she said for about the fifth time in the last hour, leaning forward to give it another try. “And who doesn’t carry CDs in their car?” She hit the scan button, and the numbers on the tuner display rolled upwards as it searched for a signal, finally stopping after a few long seconds. 
“...and the Lord said unto them...” She quickly hit the button, and the numbers spun and stopped again. 
“...she's pacin' by the telephone in her...” Garth Brooks was barely audible through the static. “Ugh,” she said and pressed the button again, muttering some insult about country music that Thomas couldn’t quite make out. 
“...another body found in Texas and police have linked it to...” Click, spin and stop. 
“...the righteousness of God will be your salvation...” The preacher man was back.  The tuner had cycled all the way around. 
“Three stations?  That's all we get?” She pressed the button one more time and Garth returned, singing about thunder through the static. Giving up for now, she sat back and returned to her comfortable cross-legged position with her bare feet tucked under her.  She took another drink from her bottle. 
Thomas fought the urge to hit the button one more time and return to the news story about the body.  He wondered if they had finally found Rebecca. 
The Lone Star Strangler. He cringed every time he heard it. Not only was it annoyingly unoriginal, it wasn't even completely accurate. Lori had been found in Oklahoma and Beth in New Mexico, and three of them were stabbed, not strangled. Morons. He had considered writing a letter to the Houston Chronicle and claiming a better name, but decided it was too risky. Plus, he couldn't actually come up with one that he liked. The Southwest Massacre-er? Too awkward.  The Lady Killer? Too cute. 
Yes, the news story must have been about Rebecca. She's the only one left who hadn't been discovered.  At least for the moment.  He turned and looked again at his lovely young passenger. 

* * *

Kat had first appeared on the side of the road as if out of nowhere. Thomas had glanced down at his speedometer, and when he looked up there she was, her white blouse bright in the late afternoon sun. As he got closer, more details appeared; faded jean shorts at the top of long tanned legs, and curly blonde hair tumbling down over her shoulders onto generous breasts. She held a faded leather knapsack on one arm, and waved frantically at him with the other. 
Instinctively, he checked ahead and then behind in the rearview mirror, making sure there was no one to witness her getting into his car. He slowed and came to a stop a short distance past her, pressing the button to lower the passenger window as she hurried to catch up to him. 
Reaching the car, she leaned down and her face appeared in the open window, visibly out of breath from her haste, her hands resting on the top of the door.  For a moment, he lost track of his thoughts, stunned by her raw beauty.  Her strawberry-blonde hair hung down to frame her deep green eyes, and her lips were full and sensual, parting to reveal perfect white teeth. She still had that slightly plump look of healthy youth, which instilled an innocent quality in her. On the other hand, the light trace of sweat on her skin created an aura of post-orgasmic radiance. 
“Thank goodness you came along,” she said, “I thought I was going to be stuck out here for the night.” 
He noted that the way she was leaning into the car was providing him with a nice view down her blouse, but maintained eye contact with her. “What are you doing out here alone in the desert?” 
“Long story,” she said with a tired smile, and blew a wisp of hair from in front of her face. “Can you get me out of here?” 
“Of course,” he replied, pressing another button and unlocking the door. “Hop in.” 
She pulled her knapsack off her shoulder, opened the door and slid inside, all in one graceful movement.  Placing the bag between her feet, she turned to him. 
“Thank you so much.  I was in real trouble back there.” 
“No problem. I’m Thomas, by the way.” He gave her a quick smile and then eased on the gas, bringing the car back up to speed. 
“Katherine,” she replied, “But everyone calls me Kat.” 
“Nice to meet you Kat.  You look like you could use something to drink.” 
“Sure could.  Anything would be ok.” 
“Cold water’s all I have,” he said, reached between the seats into the back, fumbled a bit, and came out with a dripping plastic bottle.  “Here you go.”  
“Thank you.”  She opened the bottle, brought it to her lips and drank deeply, leaving it only half full when she finally pulled it away. “Whew, I really needed that,” she said, holding the cool bottle against the side of her face. 
“Lots more back there if you want it.  Just let me know.” 
“Thanks again,” she said, turning towards him and sitting sideways on the seat, her back against the door, staring at him for a few moments as if she were appraising a painting. “You're a nice guy,” she finally said. 
He gave her a questioning look, wondering where that had come from. “You hope I'm a nice guy,” he corrected her, as he reached to the controls on his door, and pressed the lock button, hearing the soft click from the passenger door behind her.  
“Nah, I'm pretty good at judging people. See that thing you just did with the door? That's something nice guys do. A guy who wasn’t nice wouldn't care if the door popped open and I fell out.” She took another drink, much smaller this time, and added, “Hell, he probably wouldn't even stop and come back to see if I was ok.” 
Thomas laughed. “I promise that if you fall out, I'll come back and check on you.” 
“You won't have to, because I'm not falling out.  You made sure of that.” She gave him an amused look and began to rock in the seat, her back bumping against the door.
He frowned. 
“See that?” she said, stopping her rocking but continuing to smile, “Even with the door locked you're still worried about it.  Only a nice guy would do that.” 
“Maybe I locked that door to keep you trapped in here, maybe I–” 
She had started to rock and bump again, grinning at him. 
“Would you stop that!” he said, and then he smiled too. 
“Told ya.  I know a nice guy when I see one, and I'm never wrong.” 
“If you say so,” he said with his smile firmly in place. 
He waited until she had finished the water before asking, “So, let's hear it.” 
She looked confused. “Hear what?” 
“That long story you mentioned. Why in the hell are you out here in the desert all by yourself?” 
“Oh,” she said, as her mouth turned down in thought, pausing for a moment as she shook her head slowly. “What a jerk he was.” 
“Jerk? Who?” 
“The last guy who gave me a ride. Frank was his name. Picked me up outside of San Antonio and said he could take me as far as Marathon.” 
“And he dropped you off in the middle of the desert?” 
“No, not really.  That was my choice.” 
“Ah,” he nodded, “I think I'm getting the picture.” 
“He seemed ok at first,” Kat continued, warming to her story, “talking about his family, about how beautiful his wife is and how special his two little girls are.  He really made me feel comfortable.  Even showed me their photos in his wallet.” 
“Sounds ok so far.” 
“It was. At least at first. But when we got away from town, out into the desert where there were no other cars around, he began to change.” 
“How so?” 
“Well, I first noticed something weird in his eyes. Us girls have a sense for those kinds of things, ya know?” 
“Yeah.”  He was very familiar with that sense. 
“He started looking at me, you know, all over. At first, he would quickly look back at the road when I caught him watching, but after a while, he didn't seem to care. It was very strange.” 
“I can imagine. But I thought you said you could tell who the nice guys were?” 
“I never said he was a nice guy, she protested, “I said he was ok. And I needed a ride and I thought that was good enough. Bad call on my part. He started telling me about how he and his wife weren’t that happy. How she had changed after the kids were born and she wasn't interested in his needs anymore.” 
“His needs?” 
“Yeah, that's what he said.  I didn't want to hear any more, and I told him that, but he kept on talking about it, about how she never wants to have sex with him.  He was really creeping me out.” 
“And let me guess, he thought you could help him out in that area?” 
“Yeah, he eventually got around to that. Started talking about how I should be grateful to him for driving me all this way, and maybe there was something I could do for him in return. I really started to get scared when he kept mentioning that we were all alone out here.” 
By her strained voice, Thomas could tell that the experience had really frightened her. “What a jerk,” he said with empathy, and then realized he had repeated her exact words for describing the guy. 
“I told you!” she said, her mood lightening as the smile returned to her face. 
“So how'd you get out?” he asked, wanting to keep the mood light. “Leap from the car while it was speeding down the road, tumble to a stop on the shoulder, and then run off into the desert leaving poor Frank alone with his needs?” 
Kat laughed with sparkling bright eyes, and at that moment, Thomas thought she was the most exquisite girl he had ever seen. 
“No, I didn't jump out of the car silly. But my plan for escape was just as devious.” 
“I like devious.  Go on.” 
“Well, first of all I pretended I was getting into it, moving closer to him and touching his knee. He seemed to really like that, and then I suggested he pull over so I could give him what he'd been missing.” 
“You really said that?” 
“Yep, and I almost got whiplash from how fast he stopped the car.” 
Thomas burst out laughing.  He really liked this girl. 
“As soon as the car stops, he's all over me, his hands everywhere. That's when I executed part two of my plan.” 
“Your plan had a part two? That is devious.” 
“Yeah, I said I had to pee, and that I would be right back.” 
“Ah yes, the old I-have-to-pee escape strategy. I've used it many times myself. And he fell for it?” 
“Oh yeah, I guess he figured I had nowhere to go anyway, seeing as we were in the middle of the desert. I told him I was just going behind a small hill, but when I did, I ran further into the desert and hid. Eventually I could hear him calling for me, and I guess he finally figured it out because he got really mad, yelling and calling me names. He said if I didn't come out, he was going to drive off and leave me there. When that didn't work, he swore some more and then jumped in his car and sped off.” 
“What a fucking jerk,” Thomas said, repeating his earlier sentiment, 
“I stayed hidden for a while, thinking he might come back, but he never did. Not knowing what else to do, I started walking; hoping someone else would come by. After a few hours, I began to worry that I might have to spend the night alone out here. But I was kinda looking forward to the sun going down, because then at least I wouldn't have to put up with the heat any longer.” 
“You're not familiar with Texas, are you?” he asked. 
“No, why?” 
“It's a common mistake that people make about the desert. They think it gets cool at night. It doesn't. When the sun goes down it's fairly comfortable for a while, but after that it gets cold, especially at this time of year.” 
“How cold?” 
“Pretty damn cold. Further up this road near the mountains they’ve even found illegal aliens dead from hypothermia. There's an old saying around here: The heat of the Texas desert is dangerous, but the cold of the desert will kill you a lot quicker.” 
And I'll kill you quicker than either of them, he thought.
“So you were just walking along until I came by?” he asked.
“Not quite,” she replied, a bit sheepish. “I was walking but I had to pee, this time for real. So I went behind some bushes and was just finishing when I heard a car coming.  I zipped up and ran back to the road, just in time to catch you.” 
“That explains why you seemed to come out of nowhere. One second the road was clear, and the next there you were, like a ghost.” 
“Maybe I am a ghost,” she said with fake seriousness, “Maybe I'm the ghost of the girl who was killed hitchhiking on this road 20 years ago on this very night. And I'm haunting this highway looking to avenge my murder. Ooooooooooo!” Kat grinned and waved her fingers in what Thomas thought was the lamest ghost imitation he had ever seen. 
But he laughed anyway. He couldn’t help it. He felt so comfortable with her, even though they had just met a few minutes ago. 
“So, where're you headed in such a hurry that you have to accept rides from strangers?” he asked. 
“California,” she replied, “Going out to see my dad.” 
“Nice. Wish I were going with you. But I'm only heading as far west as Las Cruces, and from there I'm heading north to Albuquerque.” 
“Every little bit helps,” she said, “especially this little bit, saving my ass from the desert.” 
“Where're you coming from?” 
“Florida.  Orlando to be exact.  Lived there with my mom until a few weeks ago.” She became silent then, as if she was going to add something but then thought better of it.  For the first time Thomas thought he could hear sadness in her voice. 
“Parents split up?” he asked. 
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “Dad left us and moved to California when I was fourteen, and mom didn't take it very well. She got out of control with the booze and the boyfriends, each one worse than the last. Once I turned eighteen, I decided I couldn't take it anymore, and called my dad and asked if I could come live with him. He was happy to hear from me, and said he has a job lined up for me when I get out there.” 
“So why not a plane, or even the bus?” 
“Took the bus for a while, but then I ran low on money. I thought about calling dad and asking him for some, but..., I don't know, it's hard to explain.” She paused and Thomas waited for her to find the words. 
“I just don't want to start things with him like that.” she finally continued, “I don't want him to think that's why I want to see him again.  I...  I want to start fresh.”
 “I understand,” said Thomas. And he did. 
“So, what about you?” she asked, her mood brightening again. “What's your story?” 
“My story?” 
“Yeah, what brings you out into the middle of the desert rescuing fair maidens?” “Well, I wouldn't exactly call you fair,” he replied, trying to sound serious but failing. 
With a look of mock hurt, she folded her arms across her chest, and said, “Well, I never!” 
They both laughed again, and then he continued, “My story is kind of boring actually.  I'm just a traveling salesman.” 
“You mean the kind that knocks on people's doors, asks them to buy a vacuum cleaner, and ends up screwing the wife?” 
He chuckled.  “No, not quite.  I'm a pharmaceutical salesman, and I travel around the southwest, meeting with doctors and medical boards, trying to convince them to use our drugs instead of our competitor's.” 
“Kinda like a drug dealer?” 
“Exactly like that,” he replied laughing. “First I give it to them for free, and once they need it, I charge the hell out of them.” 
“So then you screw them?” 
“Exactly,” he repeated. “You catch on quick.” 
“I knew there was going be screwing somewhere in this story,” she said, and then asked, “You married?” 
“Nope, never been.  So I don't have any photos to show you.”  
This was a lie. He had found a picture on the internet of some woman who looked like a typical young housewife, and had it printed. He kept it in his wallet for those occasions where he thought a woman would be more comfortable around a married man. Kat was clearly not one of these women, especially considering her earlier experience with Frank. 
She laughed, and then added, “Girlfriend?” 
“Not at the moment,” he replied, which wasn't a lie. His last attempt at having a real girlfriend was over five years ago. 
“Gay?” 
“What?” he said, and then quickly added, “No, of course not.” 
The control came easy now, but there was a time when questions like that would spark the anger in him. When he was younger, other kids would use those kinds of slurs against him because he wasn't able to talk easily with girls. And when they called him those names, he could feel the anger rising in him, wakening that dark part of him, the part that enjoyed taking over and reveling in the pleasure of hurting others. 
That part was still there, but now he had learned how to control it. He discovered that if he occasionally gave it what it wanted, it would wait patiently in the darkness. Just as it was doing right now, sensing its time was close. 
He had always known it was there, even as a young child. But the first time it had taken over completely was when he had just turned eleven. One of the older kids in the neighborhood, a fat fuck named Bennie Wicks, used to torment the younger kids as if was a paying job. He was always accompanied by Luger, a huge German Shepherd that, according to neighborhood legend, had once ripped the throat out of a nine-year-old at Bennie's command. Thomas wasn't sure he believed this, but it wasn't something he wanted to put to the test. 
He had managed to stay clear of Bennie – probably because Bennie was attracted to groups of kids, looking for one he could torment, and Thomas usually kept to himself. Partly because he wanted it that way and partly because the other kids could sense something wrong in him. Plus, Thomas was a bit taller than the other kids his age and like all bullies, Bennie preyed on the weakest.  But Thomas's luck ran out one summer day as he played down by the creek, tossing bottles into the water and then trying to break them by throwing stones as they floated by. 
He was reaching down to get another rock, when he was violently shoved from behind, and went headfirst into the foot-deep water, his face scraping along the stones on the bottom. Floundering about, he finally managed to turn over and sit, one arm propped behind him and the other wiping the water from his eyes. He could hear the sound of laughter, and when he finally cleared his vision, he saw Bennie standing on the bank, howling in amusement with Luger by his side. 
“Fag overboard!” hooted Bennie, finding his own joke so hilarious he burst into another fit of laughter. 
The anger flowed into Thomas as if a dam had burst. It felt as if he was losing himself, his consciousness fading as another took its place. It was still him, but it wasn't. He looked at the laughing fat boy with hatred, and stood up, beginning to walk out of the stream. The fact that the older boy outweighed him by more than fifty pounds never crossed his mind. Instead, he just smiled to himself in anticipation of beating the shit out of him. 
“You better stay in there queer,” said Bennie, “Or I'll sic Luger on your ass.” But there was a shade of hesitancy in his voice. 
Until this point, the dog was uninterested in what was going on, but at the sound of its name its ears pricked up, and it looked first as its master and then at the wet human coming at them from the water. Its front shoulders dropped slightly and it looked intently at Thomas, not growling yet but its body language letting Thomas know he had its full attention. 
Thomas could feel the calculations working inside of himself, his eyes moving between Bennie and the dog, and knew a decision was being made without his input. But he was still moving forward, and placed one soggy foot up onto the bank with a squelching sound. With this, Bennie took a step backwards, but the dog remained where it was, hunching tighter, a low growl beginning to emanate from its throat. 
Thomas then stopped, the decision made, one foot in the water and one foot out, and he just glared at the older boy. At this, Bennie seemed to regain his confidence, and said, “You better stop, ain't that right Luger?” and reached down and ran his chubby fingers in the fur behind the dog's ear. Luger didn't react to the touch, but instead remained fixed upon Thomas, its muscles taunt and ready. 
“Some other time then,” Thomas heard himself saying, not believing he was saying it. 
Bennie's eyes looked momentarily uncertain again, but he then smirked and said, “You better hope not. Let's go Luger.” At that he turned and walked away, and the dog relaxed and gave Thomas one last look before trotting off. 
Thomas stood there for several more minutes, staring into space as his mind worked, not noticing the coldness of his wet clothes. Then the smile returned to his face. 
Thinking back on it, Thomas remembered what happened next as if it were a dream – something he experienced from within himself, but had no control over.  He walked home and went straight to his parents’ medicine cabinet, removing one of his mother's sleeping pills from the prescription bottle. Later that night after his parents were asleep, he crept downstairs to the kitchen, and picked up two items. The first was a meatball-sized wad of ground meat from the refrigerator, which he placed into a plastic sandwich bag, and the other was a small paring knife. He then slipped silently out the back door. 
The next morning, Mrs. Wicks was making some eggs for her husband when the noise began. At first she thought it was a child screaming, but then realized it was an animal, howling and screeching in pain. She looked out to the front street to see if a car had hit something, but discovered the sounds were coming from her own back yard. Thinking that Luger was fighting with a raccoon that had made the mistake of getting too close to where the dog was tied, she rushed out the back door. There she saw the dog thrashing on the ground, but to her confusion, it was alone. She ran over and tried to calm it, holding it down and stroking its fur, but then she started screaming herself when she saw the two bloody sockets that used to hold the dog's eyes. 
Later that day, Thomas waited by the creek, knowing Bennie would come. When he appeared, he was full of rage and spitting profanity, threatening to kill Thomas for what he had done.  But Thomas just gave him a flat stare and calmly said, “Next time, it'll be you. Do you understand?” Bennie heard Thomas's voice and looked into his eyes, and yes, at that moment he did understand. And told Thomas so.  After that, Bennie went out of his way to avoid Thomas, and when they happened to accidentally meet, Bennie would avert his eyes. Three years later, right tackle Bennie Wicks was out celebrating a football victory when he drunkenly ran his brand new Camaro straight into a light pole out on Route 112, slamming the hood back through the windshield and neatly taking off the top of his head. Though he had nothing to do with it, Thomas smiled at the news, wishing he had. 
“So, no wife and no girlfriend,” said Kat, bringing Thomas back to the present. “How about some of that traveling salesman stuff?” 
“Traveling salesman stuff?” he asked, knowing what she meant but wanting to hear her say it. 
“You know, one night stands, stuff like that.  Since you don't go door to door, how about at hotels? You meet some lonely businesswoman at the hotel bar, she invites you up to her room, and the next morning you’re leaving before she wakes up, never to see each other again.” 
Thomas smiled. “Yeah, there's been a few of those.” But there hadn't been any of those, at least not for a long time. And back when there were, they were more attempts than anything else. Attempts that always ended in failure and sometimes in ridicule, because as it turned out, women were not that understanding when it came to his problem.  These days his sexual partners were much more – he tried to think of the right word and then it came to him – compliant.  Yes, compliant was the perfect word to describe the women he'd been having sex with lately.  Of course, the downside to this kind of compliancy was a complete lack of response.  There were no returned smiles or gasps of pleasure from his touch.  No embracing arms or legs.  Just compliancy.  A warm – at least for the moment – body.  That’s all.  On the other hand, this kind of compliancy also meant that there wouldn’t be any judgment or ridicule afterwards, because dead women usually don’t usually have much to say. 
“How about you?” he asked, “Boyfriend?” and then added, “Or girlfriend?” with a grin.
“Neither,” she laughed, “Just by my lonesome.” 
“Wait a minute. I think I'm beginning to get the picture here. Are you trying to tell me you're,” and he paused for effect, “a virgin?” 
She laughed once again, and then said, “Nope, lost that a long time ago.” 
“Long time ago?” he said with an arched eyebrow. “You're eighteen. How long can it be?” 
“Three years,” she replied with a mischievous smile. 
“Why you little minx!” 
“Hey!  Fifteen isn't that bad.  How old were you?” 
The question brought back some more painful memories, but Thomas hid it well. “I got you beat.  Thirteen.” 
“Thirteen?” Kat said, her mouth open. “You horn dog!” There was a touch of admiration in her voice. 
When he didn't respond right away, she added, “So?” 
“What?” 
“What? You can't just say thirteen and leave it at that. There has to be a story that goes along with it.” 
Hell yeah there's a story.  But if he told her all of it, she'd probably open the car door and jump out, even though we're going seventy.  He'd have to give her the abridged version. 
“It was with the babysitter,” he said, and then waited for her response. 
She paused, and then said, “Are you kidding me?  Seriously?” 
“It's true. She was nineteen at the time, home for the summer from college and earning some extra money.” 
“So wait,” she interrupted, “Why did you need a babysitter when you were thirteen?” 
“I didn't say she was my babysitter.  She was there for my younger sister who was eight at the time.  My parents said I was too young to take care of her myself.” 
“So what happened?” 
“Pretty much what you'd expect. Kelly, that's my sister, went to bed early, and Deb, that’s her name, started to ask me personal stuff, about sex and things. Asked me if I had a girlfriend, and if I had ever seen a girl naked, and then about whether I touched myself.” 
“What a nosey bitch,” she teased. 
“I was pretty much overwhelmed. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before.  At that age I was thinking about sex a lot, but hadn't done anything about it.” 
“Not even touching yourself?” she asked, grinning. 
“Now who's the nosey bitch?” he replied, returning her grin, “And that's none of your business.” 
“I'll take that as a yes,” she said smugly, “go on.” 
“Well, talking led to touching, and we eventually ended up upstairs in my bed. She took control and guided me through it, and when we were done we were both kind of embarrassed about it.” 
It was mostly true, he thought, as the memories flooded back.  All except for the last part.  No, the real story didn't have a happy ending.  Not even an embarrassing one. 
He could still remember the feel of her warm skin against him, her nude body weightlessly pressing him down into the bed as her mouth found his, and he was both surprised and delighted by her probing tongue.  Her long red hair hung down to tickle his neck and ears, and her hardened nipples pressed against his bare chest as she ground her groin against his.  He never knew it could be like this.  So much pleasure.  He wanted it to last forever. 
However, something seemed to be bothering her.  He could sense frustration in her movements, as the warm wetness pressing against him became more urgent.  She finally moved away slightly to allow room for her hand to reach down and take hold of him, squeezing and rubbing, and he gasped in pleasure.  Then her hand became more demanding as it quickened and tightened. 
“What’s wrong?” she finally whispered to him. 
Wrong?  Why is something wrong?  Everything was perfect. 
“What do you mean?” he asked. 
“You’re not hard,” she replied, “Doesn’t this feel good?” 
He was confused. What did that have to do with it? 
“Everything feels great,” he said, “I’ve never felt like this before.” 
“It can’t feel that great,” she replied, as her hand continued to work on him, searching for a response. 
“I don’t understand,” he said, uncertainty in his voice. 
“Let’s try this,” she said, and she shifted her body down. 
Thomas felt her hair on his stomach and thighs, and then the exquisite pleasure of warm wetness engulfing him.  So good, he thought, and closed his eyes and became lost in it, the minutes going by as her mouth continued to work on him. 
“What the hell is wrong?”  She was upset about something.  His mind fought to return to reality as if waking up from a pleasurable dream. 
“There’s nothing wrong,” he answered.  His mind groped for a reason why she would be acting like this. 
“Of course there’s something wrong,” she said.  An unfamiliar harshness was now in her voice. “No matter what I do it just lies there limply.” 
“I don’t understand,” he repeated. 
“Your cock,” she spat. “If you were really enjoying this it would be hard. You know, an erection?” 
“But I was really enjoying it.” 
“You’re lying.” 
He felt the first twinge of anger.  “No, I’m not.” 
“Of course you are, and here’s the proof right here.” She gave his limp cock a squeeze. 
Thomas felt the pleasure again, but ignored it and said, “I’m not lying.” 
This seemed to anger her further.  “Maybe you’re just not into girls.” 
The expression of confusion left his face, and instead he stared at her blankly. 
“That’s it, isn’t it?” she said, “Girls just don’t do it for you?” 
Thomas's eyes narrowed as he looked at her. Maybe if the lights in the room weren't so dim, she would have noticed the change in him. She might have recognized the danger lurking below as Bennie had two years ago. But she didn't. 
“Yeah, I think boys are more your style.”  There was cruelty in her words now. 
He continued to stare at her, not responding. He could feel himself slipping away again, giving himself over to that dark part inside of him. He was afraid of it, but there was comfort there too. Comfort in knowing that just as the other had protected him from Bennie, it would also take care of him here. 
“Tell me Thomas,” she said, “do you think you could get it up if a guy was sucking–” 
His hand flashed out and grasped her throat, cutting off her words. He squeezed and she grabbed his arm with both hands, surprised at his strength. He sat up in the bed, still holding her throat tightly, and brought her face to his, his cold eyes looking into hers, now wide with fear. 
She attempted to free herself, to scream for help, but he was too powerful. Her mouth worked for both air and words, but couldn’t find either. He roughly twisted her neck, forcing her to lie back on the bed, and he moved over her, his eyes never leaving hers. 
She struggled harder against him, but he pinned her against the bed with his weight. He watched her eyes widen even further as she finally felt him, his hardness probing for her entrance, finding it, and burying itself completely into her in one swift and deep thrust. 
Twenty minutes later, she felt herself slipping into a languorous dream state, her body still tingling from the pleasure of their lovemaking. A bit of a rocky start, but what a surprise the boy had been.  He likes things rough, she thought, and then smiled to herself as she realized she did too, recalling how the desire rose in her as he held her powerless in his grasp. 
Her eyes sleepy and closed, she felt him move away from her and leave the bed.  She lazily tried to reach for him, to pull him back in with her so they could lie together for a while longer before they had to get dressed.  But he was only gone for a moment, and the bed shifted as he rejoined her. 
She felt his hands on her and she smiled. Maybe they had time for another if they hurried. His fingers traced lightly over her, starting at her breasts and working slowly downward, sending shivers through her. Down over her hips and then onto her legs, reaching her knees and then reversing direction, making the return trip along the insides of her thighs. Reflexively, she spread her legs, inviting his touch as he moved upwards. 
She gasped as his fingers found her entrance, still warm and slick from their combined fluids. She felt a pressure as he began to sink his finger into her slowly. No, that was more than a finger.  Two perhaps?  She spread her legs wider and lifted her hips slightly, urging him to continue his invasion.  This boy was a fast learner. 
Finally, he was all the way in, his hand tight against her as his fingers filled and penetrated.  She strained against him, wanting him deeper, gently rolling her hips in an urgent search for more pleasure. 
She then felt his fingers begin to ease from her, sliding out in a long smooth motion. Her inner muscles that had been clutching him tightly now had nothing to hold, and she felt an unsatisfying emptiness insider of her. But wait, she was wrong. There was something there. She felt it as her muscles relaxed to its smaller size, and... 
The bright edge of pain seared through her, and her eyes flew open in horror.  Oh dear God, what was inside of her?!  She began to react, and she knew her next sound would be a scream of terror.  But he moved against her, holding her still, and whispered, “Shhhh.”  His voice seemed to come from inside her head.  “You have to lie still, or you're going to hurt yourself.” 
Her eyes were wide now, her breathing sharp and ragged.  But she heard his words and knew he was right, because every small movement brought glints of sharp pain along that thin glowing edge buried deep inside her.  She lay there motionless as he moved off the bed, and for the moment, the pain had eased to a line of dull heat. 
She reached down and felt something cold and metallic, and was confused for a moment.  Then her mind reeled in horror as she realized what it was. 
Thomas stood by the bed, tilting his head to look at the odd sight of the black knife handle jutting out from between her legs. With both horror and satisfaction, he could sense an overwhelming desire to grasp it and yank it forcibly upward, opening her up like a gutted deer. 
We can’t. 
You can’t.  I can. 
People will know. 
It’s already too late.  She’ll tell. 
No she won’t.  She’ll get in trouble herself. 
He could feel it calculating again, weighing its choices carefully, and finally reaching a decision. 
“I'm going downstairs,” he said calmly to the woman on his bed. “You can work on this little problem by yourself.” 
It took her about fifteen minutes, but he finally heard her moving around up there. Debbie's coming down the stairs coincided with his parents coming in through the front door. However, she just walked right past them without a word, limping slightly, and left the house. His mom tried to call her back to get her money, but she started her car and squealed the tires as she sped off. 
His mother immediately began questioning him, anger in her voice. Thomas just stared back at her, an amused smile on his face, imagining what she would look like with a black knife handle sticking out of her. 

# # #

You’ve just read 6,996 of 13,738 words for The Gazelle.  To buy the ebook and read the complete story, follow this link to Smashwords:

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* * * * *

Amulet


An erotic love story. Jason saves a stranger from certain death, and is rewarded with a gift that grants him an incredible ability. Can he use this power to get the girl of his dreams, or does fate have something else in store?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Chapter 1

Jason stared down at the object in his hand, fascinated by the subtle glimmers of color shimmering under its shiny and smooth black surface.  His heart was still racing from the events that had just occurred, and his breathing was finally coming back under control.  He’d always wondered how he would react in a crisis situation, and now he knew.

A few minutes earlier, he had decided to stop at the library on the way home from school, needing a book to complete his research for the history report due next Monday.  A bit of a nerd, he was working hard to get straight A’s his senior year, needing a scholarship in order to afford college.
Standing on the corner waiting for the light to change, his mind wandered to thoughts about Becky Johnson.  Becky had moved to their town in 10th grade, and he had a crush on her ever since.  Beautiful and athletic, she had immediately joined the elite crowd at school, becoming a cheerleader and a member of the swim team.  And even though he had shared many classes with her over the past two years, he didn’t think she knew he existed.  He noticed that he always struggled to keep his grades high in the classes they shared, and knew the reason was because he spent half of his time in class listening to the teacher, and the other half looking at her.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts about Becky, he didn’t notice the old man in a hat shuffle past him, out onto the street.  But as he fantasized about how Becky looked so cute in her cheerleading skirt, something nagged at his brain, demanding attention.  Reality finally won out, and he realized what he was seeing: An old man was crossing the street in front of him, more than halfway across the road.  From his right, he could see a large pickup truck approaching, coming very fast and showing no signs of slowing.
For a split second, Jason knew what he was about to see; the old guy was going to die, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.  But before he could even think any further, he was in motion.  He had never played any organized sports, but in the last few years, his body had changed from a short and skinny freshman, to a tall, fit and lean senior, growing muscles where there were none before.  And now he was using all of them, moving across the road faster than he had ever moved before.
But it seemed slow to him.  It felt like he was running in quicksand, and the truck was too close for the old man – and now him – to ever to make it out of the way in time.  The man was still so far away, and he felt he could almost feel the heat coming through the front grill of the truck.
From that point, everything sped up.  He leapt towards the man, aiming for the small of his back, encircling him in his arms and driving him forward.  The next moment they were both lying on the sidewalk, and Jason swore he had felt the truck’s bumper just graze his right shoe as it barreled past, blaring its horn but never slowing.
The old man moaned in pain, and Jason realized he was laying on him.  He quickly moved to his knees beside the man.
Jason was breathing hard, but managed to gasp out, “Are you ok?” as he took hold of the man’s shoulder.
A small moan was the only response.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” Jason continued, “but that truck...  It was coming so fast– And you–”
The man’s eyes were open, and he was looking around, a bit dazed but showing signs of regaining his senses.
“What happened?” he said in a weak voice.
“There was a truck coming,” Jason said, the words streaming out, “and you were on the road, and I didn’t think– and I’m really sorry if I hurt you–”
The man attempted to get up, but Jason held firmly onto his shoulder.
“Please sir, just stay there, and I’ll get someone to call an ambulance.”  A small crowd of onlookers had begun to congregate around them.
“No,” the man replied, his voice slightly firmer now, “I will be fine.  Just a little sore is all. Where is my hat?”
Jason almost laughed, thinking it was funny this guy would be concerned about his hat while lying on the sidewalk.  Jason looked around, and couldn’t see it anywhere.  He finally spotted it under the man, and pulled it out.  It had been flattened and he attempted to push it back into shape before handing it back.  
“Help me up please,” the man said, after placing his misshapen hat back on his head.
“Are you sure?” Jason replied, concern on his face.
“Just help me to that bench over there.  I just have to catch my breath.”
After a bit of effort on both their parts, Jason finally helped the man settle down onto the bench, and the small crowd who had been watching them began to disperse.
“Sit down here beside me son,” the man said, “I want to thank you for what you did.  What is your name?”
“Jason. Jason Ramsey. And you’re welcome.  But I didn’t really think about what I was doing, so–”
“Those of courage never have to think,” replied the man, “they just do.”  He then added, “I am Malchediel.”
“Nice to meet you Mr. Malchediel,” Jason said, and held out his hand.
“Just Malchediel,” the man said, taking Jason’s hand in his and holding it tightly.  The man focused his bright blue eyes on the boy, and looked at him so intensely, Jason felt like the man was staring through him.
“Ok, um, Malchediel,” Jason said, a bit flustered by the way the man was staring at him.  And he was still squeezing his hand, much longer than a handshake should last.  And much harder too, especially from an old man who just got knocked down.
“How old are you son?” the man asked.
Jason thought this was getting too weird, but said, “Just turned eighteen.”
The old man’s gaze lasted a bit longer, and then he seemed to come to a decision.
“Great deeds of courage deserve great rewards, do you not agree Mr. Ramsey?”
Jason looked embarrassed.  “I don’t want any money.”
“Good, because I’m not offering any.”
Jason turned a bright shade of red. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean–”
“Money is not a great reward,” continued the man, “but this is.”  He reached into his pocket and retrieved an object.  He took Jason’s hand in his, placed the object onto his palm and then closed the boy’s fingers around it.
“You really don’t have to give me–” Jason began.
“But remember son,” the man continued, as if Jason hadn’t spoken, “power without wisdom is a dangerous combination.
Jason wasn’t sure what the old man was talking about, so he just said “Thank you” with a slight question in his voice.
The old man found this amusing, and laughed heartily.  He certainly seemed to have fully recovered from his ordeal.
“Oh, you’ll be thanking me alright,” he said, still smiling, and then after a pause added, “later”.  This brought another laugh from him.
With this, he got up off of the bench, much more spryly than one would expect from an old man who just got cross-tackled onto a concrete sidewalk.
“I must leave you now,” he said, adjusting his disfigured hat, “but thank you again for your act of courage.”
“You’re welcome,” Jason replied, standing also, “And thank you for the...  uh... gift,” he added waving his closed hand and smiling.
“Very nice to meet you Jason,” the old man said, and turned to leave.  Then, remembering something, turned back and said, “Oh, one very important thing.  The first time you use that, you should be in your room, alone.”  He gave Jason one last mysterious smile, and then turned and walked away, not looking back.
Jason watched him go, and when he finally turned the corner, he sat back down on the bench and opened his clenched hand, revealing the gift.  It was some kind of necklace.  Attached to a thin silver chain was a black teardrop shaped rock, about two inches tall and an inch at its widest point. 
And although the rock was black, when he looked closely at it, the sunlight glinted along its surface and seemed to draw out colors from its interior.  It looked as if seas of color were swirling inside, whorls of red and green and blue, twisting and spiraling among each other.  He had never seen anything like it.
He held it between his fingers and rubbed, feeling the smooth surface slide under his touch.  It reminded him of those tumbled polished rocks you’d buy at one of those tacky souvenir stands.  But this was much nicer, much more colorful, and he could almost swear he could feel it vibrate slightly as he held it.  Nah, must just be his imagination.  He was probably still jumpy from almost getting himself killed.
He wanted to wear it, and found the clasp, opened it, and was just about to put it around his neck when he remembered the old man’s warning.  
“The first time you use it, you should be in your room, alone,” he repeated.  He thought about putting it on anyway, but remembered the look in the old man’s eyes when he said it, and decided he’d better wait.  He clutched the gift tightly in his hand and headed for home, the library and the book completely forgotten.

Chapter 2

Fifteen minutes later he was sitting on his bed with the bedroom door locked, even though his parents and sister were out somewhere.  He turned the stone over and over in his hand, as his fingers brushed the smooth surface and he watched the inner colors swirl.  Even away from the bright sunshine, the colors were there, as if the stone was filled with a viscous luminescent liquid.
His fingers trembled slightly as he found the two ends of the clasp, and brought them up around his neck.  He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous.  It was just a silly gift from a silly old man, who was probably senile, or at least a bit confused from being slammed to the ground.  Nothing was going to happen when he put it on.
The clasps met, and when he allowed them to lock, he felt an almost imperceptible tingle go through him.  He sat there and waited, for what he wasn’t sure.  He didn’t feel any different.  He took a few deep breaths.  Nope, nothing.
He smiled. Oh well, he really didn’t want a reward from the old man anyway.  And the old guy seemed to enjoy giving it to him, so there was some good from it.  Plus, it was a beautiful piece of jewelry, and it was going to look good around his neck.  Perhaps Becky would even notice him now.
Remembering his report, he checked the clock. He still had time to make it to the library before it closed.  He wanted to see what the necklace looked like around his neck, so he got up and walked over to his dresser mirror.  What he saw in the mirror didn’t register in his brain at first.
Confused, he knew he was seeing something strange, but it was too overwhelming for him to process.  He stared dumbfounded at his reflection, or to be more precise, his lack of one.  Because, while his clothes were there, moving around as if they were a strange special effect in a movie, he was not.
It was too much to think about. Stunned, he backed away from the mirror, until the back of his legs bumped into the bed, and then he sat down. He wondered if he had just imagined what he had seen.  He must have.  Because what he had seen was impossible.
He lifted his hands up and placed them in front of his face.  But all he saw was his open shirt cuffs, looking as if something were in them, but nothing was there.  His mind swam again, and he closed his eyes.  But instead of darkness, he continued to see his sleeves waving in front of his face.  On some level he barely understood, it made sense.  If you could see through your hands, you should be able to see through your eyelids.  But he was way beyond that kind of logic.
Panicking, he reached for the clasp, fumbled with it for a moment, and then quickly removed the necklace, throwing it down onto the bed.  He closed his eyes again, and this time the darkness came.  His hands covered his face, and he held them there until his breathing quieted, and his heartbeat stopped pounding loudly in his chest.
His mind was finally able to process what he had seen.  Invisible!  The necklace had made him invisible.  But how could it?  That’s not possible.  Despite his attempts to convince himself of that, he also knew what he had seen.  After the shock had slightly worn off, he slowly began to realize that this wasn’t a bad thing.
He picked up the necklace again, and this time his fingers were trembling for real.  But at least he could see them.  He went back to the mirror, and he was happy to see his refection staring back at him.  Holding the necklace by its clasps, he once again placed it around his neck, watching himself closely in the mirror.
The moment the clasps connected, his body winked out of existence.  One second it was there, and the other it was gone.  The feeling of confusion returned, but this time it was slightly diminished.  And after staring at the mirror for a few moments, he even managed a smile.  And then his smile turned into a wide grin.
He spent the next hour in his room experimenting with his new ability.  The effect was even more startling when he removed all of his clothes, and there was nothing when he looked in the mirror.  He laughed out loud when he lifted a baseball from the top of his dresser, and watched it float around the room, as if it were on a string.  He found a half-empty bag of Doritos in his top drawer, and experimented with eating.  He was afraid that he would see the chewed food sliding down his throat, but to his relief, as soon as he put a chip in his mouth and closed his lips, it disappeared.  Nice!
He played around with taking the necklace off and putting it back on, getting a kick out watching himself disappear and re-appear.  He was in the middle of this when he heard his mother arriving home downstairs.
He froze.  He wasn’t sure what to do.  But then he realized this would be a perfect test. If, for some reason, the necklace was only making him think he was invisible, and his mother saw him, then she would only see him standing naked in his room.  Kind of weird, but not too bad.
He moved as quietly as he could, and opened his bedroom door.  He thought about sitting on the bed, but realized his weight would create an odd depression in the mattress that his mother would notice.  So he just stood in front of the mirror, waiting.
“Jason!” his mother yelled from downstairs. “Are you home?”
He remained silent.
He could hear her coming up the stairs, and knew that she would check his room to see if he was in here with his headphones on.
Sure enough, a few seconds later her head popped through his doorway.
“Ja–” she began, but when she saw his empty room, she stopped.
“Huh, I could have sworn I heard him moving around up here.  Oh well, must be going senile.”  She then moved on to her own bedroom.
Jason grinned widely.  It worked!  She had looked right at him and hadn’t seen him.
After a few moments, he heard the shower come on in his parent’s bathroom, and took the opportunity to get dressed and head outside, making sure to remove the necklace and stuff it in his pocket.
He couldn’t hold back his smile as he walked through the neighborhood.  Invisibility!  What guy had never dreamed of being able to do this?  His mind raced with the possibilities.

Chapter 3

He arrived back home a half hour later, and was walking up his sidewalk, when he heard someone call his name.  Looking over, he saw his neighbor Samantha Scott standing at the fence between their yards, waving to him.
Slightly annoyed, he headed over to talk to her.  Samantha was, quite literally, the girl next door.  They had lived next to each other their entire lives, and had played together as young children.  But when he had gotten a bit older and had reached the age when girls were ‘yucky’, she became a pain in the ass who would constantly pester him and his friends.  She would always want to hang around with them, and would follow them everywhere.  Because of this they treated her badly, and Jason joined in with their tormenting of her.  But as they got older and into high school, they became friends again, even though he still found her slightly annoying.  She was always trying to talk to him, just as she was doing right now.
As he walked over and got a better view of her, he was reminded that, just like him, she had also changed over the past few years.  In her youth she had been gangly and awkward, with a mop of unruly red hair on a beanpole frame.  She had worn eyeglasses with thick lenses, and because of them, he and his friends had given her the nickname of ‘Coke Bottles’.
But now her body had filled out, hips appearing where there once were none, along with plenty of other feminine curves in the right places.  Taking a peek at her breasts pushing out her flannel shirt as she leaned over the fence, he was sure they were bigger than the last time he had seen them.  Not huge, but very nicely rounded.
And she had lost the coke bottles.  About two years ago she had switched over to contact lenses, and now, ironically, her bright green eyes were her best feature. Her hair was no longer wild, and she wore it straight just past her shoulders.  
“Hey Sam,” he said as he arrived at the fence. “What’s up?”
“Not much Jason,” she said smiling, “Just finishing up some yard work before the parents get home.  What have you been up to?”
“Not much either,” he replied, “just working on a report due next week.”  He obviously couldn’t tell her what he’d really been doing.
“Any plans for the weekend?” she asked, and she pressed closer against the fence, and he couldn’t help but look down and notice the close up view of her breasts.
“Uh… not really,” he said, a bit flustered as he looked up and knew she had caught him checking her out.  But she didn’t look like she minded.  In fact, she looked even more pleased.  “Just going to hang around with some friends,” he continued.  He would probably be doing something with his best friend Danny, but he had learned not to mention Danny’s name to her.
“Maybe we could get together and catch up on stuff,” she said, looking hopeful.
“Catch up?” he replied.
“You know,” she said, “talk about what we’ve been doing, and talk about the fun we used to have.”
A memory flashed into his mind.  One day he and his friends were out riding bikes, and Sam was following them everywhere.  They tried to lose her, but she was just as fast as they were.  Finally, Jason stopped, got off his bike, walked over to where Sam sat on her bike, and roughly shoved her.  The bike went down, her along with it, and she landed hard on the ground.  “Go home Coke Bottles!” he yelled, “We don’t want you with us.”  He and his friends then rode off, laughing and ignoring her tears.
“Fun we used to have?” he said, feeling embarrassed.
“Yeah, like the time we went down to the stream in the woods, and caught tadpoles?”
“Yeah, I remember that,” he said, thinking hard.  That was back before she became the pest.
“And I couldn’t catch any, so you caught some for me?”
He grinned.  “Yeah, you were scared of them.”
“I was not,” she said, feigning indignation.  “They were just too wriggly to get a hold of.”
“Yeah, ok,” he said, still grinning. “Whatever you say.”
“See?” she said, “This is why we should talk.  So I can clear up any misunderstandings like this you have about me.”  Her green eyes glittered as she smiled.
“Ok Sam, we’ll get together.” he said, and was thinking he might enjoy it more than he originally thought he would.
“Great,” she said, “Now I’ve got to finish this yard and then take a shower before bed.”
“Ok,” he said, taking one more peek at how her breasts were straining the buttons of her shirt before stepping back from the fence, “Talk to you later Sam.”
“You too Jason,” she replied, giving him a goodbye wave.
He turned back towards his house, and as he walked, he found himself thinking about Sam’s last words.  This girl, who had been his playmate, his friend, his enemy, and now his friend again, had never once been the subject of his sexual fantasies.  But now, all he could think about was what her body would look like in the shower, all soapy and slick.  He imagined her hands sliding over her skin, washing the sweat of yard work from her body.  He wondered if her fingers would linger at her nipples longer than necessary, pinching them slightly, making them stiffen.  In the books he sometimes read, girls did those kinds of things.
He wished he could watch her do that.  Watch her wash her naked body, now all curvy and bumpy in the right places.  So different from what she used to be.  He wished he could see her– 
And then he remembered his new gift.  Of course!  He turned back towards Samantha, who had resumed her work, and watched her.  He thought that he might be seeing much more of her very soon.
He hurried into his house, said his hello to his mother, and told her he was going to be up in his room studying.  When he got there, he removed all of his clothes, and then placed the necklace around his neck.  He checked the mirror to verify that it still worked, and was pleased his reflection was still absent.
He crept silently out into the hall, closing his door, and then moved down the steps.  His mom was busy in the kitchen, and he was able to make it out the back door without being noticed.
It was odd to be outside and naked, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had been.  He had skinny-dipped with his friends when they had biked out to Blue Lake when they were younger, but couldn’t think of any time since.  
As he walked to the fence between the backyards, he could see the impressions his bare feet were making in the grass.  He was pretty sure if someone was around, they would notice that.  Easily vaulting the fence, he then walked to Sam’s back door.  Just as he got there, she appeared around the corner of the house, carrying a broom and rake.  She was heading towards their backyard shed, probably to put the tools away.
When she disappeared into the shed, he took the opportunity to open the back door and slip inside, closing it quietly behind him.  He had been in her house many times when he was younger, and knew his way around.  Samantha’s room was upstairs at the end of the hall, and he raced to the stairs and scaled them two at a time.
He had just reached her room when he heard her coming in downstairs.  He quickly looked around for a safe place to stand – someplace where she wouldn’t accidentally bump into him.  At the foot of her bed was her dresser with a mirror, and next to that was a tall floor lamp.  Between them was just enough space for him to stand.  He moved into the spot, and listened to the sounds coming from downstairs, almost drowned out by the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
He tried to calm his breathing, hoping Sam took her time coming up, because he was sure she would hear him as it was.  Relieved, he heard her moving around in the kitchen, and he was able to settle himself down before he finally heard her footsteps coming up the stairs.
When she appeared at the doorway, his heart began to beat rapidly again.  She looked just as she had in the yard, except now she was holding a glass of lemonade.  Taking a drink from the glass, she then set it on the small table beside her bed.
He wasn’t sure what to expect next, but she didn’t waste any time before beginning to disrobe.  Stepping on the back of her shoe with the other foot, she pulled her heel out and then kicked the shoe into the corner, and then repeated the action with the other.  He was glad he hadn’t chosen that corner to stand in.
Her hands then went to the button of her jeans, undid it, drew down the zipper, and then pushed them down over her thighs, bending over when they got to her knees.  She was standing sideways to him, and he could see a peek of white panties appear below the bottom of her shirt as she bent.  She stepped out of one pant leg and then the other, and then threw the jeans into the corner on top of the shoes.  At least she’s not a neat freak, he grinned.
The socks went next, and he caught more glimpses of white as she bent over.  He was beginning to harden.
Her next move caught him off guard.  She walked over until she was almost directly in front of him, and turned on the lamp he was standing next to.  When her hand reached for the switch, it passed a few inches from his shoulder.  Any closer and she would have touched him.  His cock lost most of the stiffness it had gained, as his heart trip-hammered again.
She then moved to the front of her dresser, and watched herself in the mirror as her fingers worked downward on the buttons of her blouse, opening each in turn.  She was standing less than four feet from him, and he watched her intently.  When the last button was undone, the shirt partially opened and he could see the center of her bra, also white, and the inside swell of her breasts.  His eyes focused on the smooth skin above the top of her bra line, and how the soft curves swelled upwards from the tight confinement below.
Then his eyes traveled downward, over the flat expanse of her stomach, and rested on the smooth white triangle of nylon, stretched over her slightly protruding mound.  He could detect the slight vertical indentation in the material, and tried to imagine what her pussy lips looked like underneath. His cock was quickly hardening again.
Sam was looking at herself in the mirror, the way most people do when they’re alone.  Going through various small facial expressions, she turned her head back and forth to each side.  Her hands came up and she combed her fingers through her hair, brushing it back from her face.
Then the blouse was gone, as she quickly shrugged it off each shoulder and then tossed it into her dirty clothes corner.  She then turned back towards the mirror and cupped her breasts through her bra, lifting them and squeezing them together.  She held them that way for a few moments, assessing how they looked, and then let them fall again.
He loved the way they looked.  This wasn’t the girl he had caught tadpoles with, and it certainly wasn’t the pest he had been cruel to.  This was a woman, and he was fascinated with how she had changed so much when he hadn’t been looking.
With a quick twist of the clasp between her breasts, the bra opened and revealed them to him. She deftly removed the bra and flung it away, and her tits bounced gently from the motion, as if celebrating their freedom.  They stood firm and upright, with their rosy pink areolas facing slightly upward, and the bumps of her nipples evident at their centers.
He barely stopped himself from audibly taking a breath.  They looked incredible.  He had seen pictures of nude women before, but this was the first time he had been this close to real naked breasts.  So full and round, he wanted so badly to reach out and touch them.  She was close enough that it would be easy.
There were faint lines on her skin from the seams of her bra, and she rubbed them absently with her fingers. She then held her breasts again, performing the same motion she had done with the bra on, watching herself as she pressed them together and up.  He stared with rapt attention as the nipples hardened slightly, and grew outward.  And his cock twitched sharply when she slid her hands forward, and found those nipples with her fingertips, squeezing them gently between her thumb and forefinger.  He saw a visible shiver go through her too, and then she brought her hands up to her hair, brushing it back again.
She then quickly turned away, hooked her thumbs in the sides of her panties, and slipped them down over her hips, bending slightly.  He caught a quick peek of a light tuft of reddish hair peeking out from under her ass as she bent, and then she straightened back up, letting the panties puddle at her feet. With a practiced kick, they joined their friends in the corner.
Walking towards the door, she took a pink robe off a hook on the back of it, and then disappeared into the hall.  A few seconds later he heard another door close.  It happened so quickly, he didn’t get a good chance to check out her ass as she walked away.
He heard the water come on, and assumed it was the shower.  He thought about his earlier fantasy of seeing her soapy body, but didn’t know if that was possible now.  She may have locked the bathroom door – his sister always did – and even if she hadn’t, he wasn’t sure he wanted to risk trying to open it while she was in there.
He decided he would wait here for her to come back.  After all, she hadn’t taken any clothes with her, other than the robe, and she would have to return to her room after she was done.
Taking the opportunity, he decided to check out her room.  Leaving his hiding spot, he kept one ear on the shower as he looked around.
He had been in this room many times before, back when they were kids.  They had spent countless hours lying on the floor beside her bed playing board and card games.  One time they had built a tent on the bed using the covers and two broom sticks, and pretended they were camping in the woods.  Mrs. Scott had brought sandwiches and juice boxes for lunch, and they had eaten their camp meal in the semi-darkness of their tent, pretending there were bears outside wanting their food.  When it got too stuffy under the tent, they poked their heads out for fresh air, lying side by side on their stomachs with their arms innocently around each other.
He smiled at the memory.  There were many more too.  Sam was right in saying they had to catch up.  He would make it a point to try to spend some time with her this weekend.  Although, he wasn’t sure he could face her now after having seen her naked.
A picture frame on the wall caught his eye.  It was a collage frame, with different sizes of photos in it.  He walked over and looked at it closely.  They were all photos of Sam, taken at various ages.  There she was as a baby, being held by her mother, and then there she was on the first day of kindergarten, looking very geeky in her new school clothes.  She had already gained her glasses by that time, but they were nowhere near as thick as they eventually got.
There was a photo of her at the beach, and he guessed she was in eighth grade at the time.  She was wearing a red bikini bathing suit, and he thought that thin body couldn’t possibly be the same one he just saw naked in front of him.  Where did all those curves come from?
The next photo made him smile.  It was of the two of them, sitting side-by-side on the swings that still sat in her backyard, now rusted and unused. They were around eight at the time, both dressed as pirates.  Or, more precisely, how they thought pirates would dress.  They had on black bandanas, with eye-patches made out of cardboard and string, and they had used some of Sam’s mother’s makeup to give themselves beards.  Sam’s permanently wild red hair was sticking out of the back of her bandana, making her look more like a rooster than a pirate.  Their swings were pulled together, held there by his hand reaching behind her back and holding the chain on the far side.  In his other hand he wielded a small plastic sword above his head.  She had her arm casually around his neck.
If he remembered it right, the swing set was their pirate ship, and every pirate game they played was some variation of him rescuing her from danger.  He had slain many imaginary rogues in her defense, and she had always shown her appreciation by hugging him tightly when he rescued her.
He was so engrossed in his memories, he hadn’t heard the water shut off.  He was startled by the bathroom door opening, and almost panicked.  But he moved quickly back to his standing spot, just in time as Sam re-entered her room, closing the door behind her.  Once again, he had to calm his breathing so she wouldn’t hear.
She was now wearing the pink robe, and her hair was wrapped turban-like with a blue towel.  It was a perfect looking turban too, and he thought it must be an innate talent for girls to do that, since his sister Jenny’s always looked just as good.
Sitting down on the bed, she took a long drink of the lemonade, and then removed the towel from her head.  Wet, her hair looked more brown than red, but as she dried it with the towel the color returned. She then removed a brush from a drawer and combed it through her hair.
He watched with interest.  It wasn’t quite as good as seeing her naked, but it was still fascinating watching someone who thought they were alone.  She looked so natural sitting there, and he felt close to her.
When Sam put the brush away, she retrieved a bottle of skin lotion.  His attention perked up.  This should be interesting.
Undoing the belt of the robe, she then pushed it off both shoulders.  It fell back on the bed, leaving her completely naked.  She was sitting sideways to him, so all he saw was her profile, but what a beautiful profile it was.  Her now familiar breasts were still standing proud, although they were a little farther away than the close-up view he had enjoyed earlier.  Looking down between her legs, he could see the top of her pubic hair, a lovely shade of reddish brown.
She began spreading the lotion on herself, squirting some into her palm and then working it into her skin.  Her arms were first, and then she moved onto her breasts, holding each in one hand while smoothing the lotion on with the other.  She spent a little extra time at each nipple, and he could see them harden again.  He imagined himself placing his mouth on one, and feeling it tighten against his tongue.  His cock hardened at the thought.
The strawberry scent of the lotion reached him, and he breathed it in deeply.   Sam’s hands moved downwards, doing her stomach next and then onto the tops of her legs.  She had to spread them slightly to reach her inner thighs, and he wished he was watching from that side of the room. She then got to her lower legs, propping each ankle on the opposing knee as she worked the skin.
He could have watched her do this all day, but she put the lotion away, and he wondered what was next.  Was it pajama time?  He wondered what she wore to bed.
But instead she surprised him by propping up her pillows, pulling the light cover down, and then laying back on the bed.  He wondered if she was going to sleep, even though it was only around nine o’clock.  Did she really sleep in the nude?  The thought excited him.  But if she was going to bed, why hadn’t she turned off the lights?
The way she was laying, he had a great view between her slightly spread legs.  He could just make out the line of her lips amid the curly hairs.  He wished he could get a closer look, but decided not to risk it.
Her hands returned to her breasts, and at first he thought she was putting on more lotion.  She cupped them softly, tracing her fingers lightly in circles around her areola, and for the third time since he’d been watching, her nipples stiffened to hardness.  She played her fingernails lightly over the rigid bumps, flicking them softly.  He noticed her breathing picking up, and suddenly it dawned on him what she was doing.
She was masturbating!  Jacking off.  Or whatever it’s called when a girl does it.  His cock, which was semi-hard, became like a rock instantly.  He had done this to himself many times, and he had heard that girls did it too, but never believed it.  But here he was, with a front row seat for a personal demonstration.  
She was pinching her nipples now, rolling them between her thumbs and forefingers.  She let out a soft moan and pinched harder, her hips now reflexively beginning to move in a slow rhythm.
His eyes opened wide, and he tried to take in every detail of the scene before him.  He wanted to store it away in his memory, so he could pull it out whenever he wanted.
 Sam’s hand slid down over her smooth stomach and brushed through the soft curls of her pubic hair. She cupped her mound as her legs spread a bit wider, and she held her pussy as if protecting it, her hand moving in slow small circles.
Her middle finger slipped between her lips, and she let out another quiet moan.  Her legs spread wider, and she pulled her feet up and her knees outward, so that her entire pussy was now exposed to his gaze.  Her hips began to rock a slow rhythm back against her fingers, and her moans became more pronounced.
He wanted to get closer.  She was making enough noise now that any small sound he made would go unnoticed.  He carefully stepped out of his hiding place, making sure not to bump the lamp on his way out.  Taking a slow step forward, he was now standing at the foot of her bed, staring down between her open legs. Her finger was now moving in a small circular motion, and making soft wet noises.
From this angle he could also see her breasts better, watching them jiggle gently as her body moved. They fell slightly to each side, and her other hand was busy alternating between nipples, pinching and squeezing one and then the other.  He never knew a girl would want their breasts to be treated this way, but she was clearly enjoying it.
Feeling bolder, he decided to get closer, and quietly knelt at the foot of the bed, leaning over until he was only a few feet from Sam’s spread pussy.  If she suddenly kicked out one of her legs, she would probably catch him in the face, but it was a chance worth taking.  He could see all of her now.
He also noticed her scent. The aroma of her aroused pussy mixed with strawberries filled his senses, and he thought he had never smelled anything so good. 
Her finger was moving faster, making louder wet noises as it went back and forth over the same spot.  He could see the inner pink folds, wet and shiny from her juices.  
He leaned forward a bit more, and now he was so close, he could have touched her.  He wondered how she would react if he moved her finger out of the way and kissed her right there, right where she was touching.  What would she taste like?
“Yes,” she said, almost inaudibly.  It was the first word she had spoken since he had been there.
Her hips were moving more urgently now, pressing back hard against her own touch.   Her breath became ragged, and small gasping moans filled the room.  He watched her fingers quicken, and saw the wetness covering them now.
“Yes, yes, yes, yes” she whispered over and over, almost a chant.
Suddenly her body locked, her muscles tightening as her ass rose off the bed. Her legs spread even wider and her pussy pushed forward against her thrumming finger.
“Yes yes yes yes yes yes oh Jason, yes, uuuhhhhhhhhhhh…” her words trailed off into garbled moaning as her orgasm jolted through her body.
He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.  Spasms of visible pleasure wracked her body as her face contorted in ecstasy.
After a few long moments, her body settled back down on the bed, her feet sliding downward over the sheets as her legs straightened out.  Her breathing began to slow, and she seemed to be in a pleasurable dream state.
He still couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.  His onetime pirate damsel in distress just had a mind-blowing orgasm right in front of him.  He wondered if he was eventually going to wake up to discover this entire day was going to be a just a fantastic dream.
Her breathing was becoming shallow now, and he knew she was on her way to sleep.  She moved once, shifting her body from its position on her back, to resting on her side, her legs curled upwards.  Her bum was sticking out in his direction, and he saw that tuft of pubic hair again.  She looked very satisfied laying there, her breathing now in the calm rhythm of sleep.
He watched her for a few moments, and then decided it was time to go.  Before leaving her room, he took the covers at the bottom of the bed, and pulled them up over her, tucking them in lightly around her shoulders.  She stirred slightly, murmured something, and returned to sleep.
He opened the door quietly and slipped out in the hall, looking at her one last time before shutting the door behind him.
As he made his way back to his house, he tried to remember if he had heard her correctly.  Had she really cried out his name when she was coming?
 
Chapter 4

Jason slumped back in his chair, bored out of his mind by the droning voice of Mr. Crocker, his science teacher.  He usually enjoyed this class, but today he had other things to think about.
He couldn’t get last night out of his head.  From the near-accident with the old man, to the discovery of the gift, to what he had witnessed with Sam, it was all a whirl of memories.  When he awoke this morning, he was convinced it had been a dream.  But he found the necklace where he had hidden it in the back of a drawer, and trying it on again proved that it was all real.
He had made it back to his room last night without incident, and his mom hadn’t been up to check on him. Removing the necklace and laying down on his bed, his mind relived what he had seen Sam do.  He grew hard from the memories, and began stroking his cock. When he finally came, he was imagining he was between Sam’s spread legs, watching her face as he slid into her.
Now here he was, trapped in a boring class, when he could be out having fun with his new toy.  He ran his hand over the lump in his pocket just to make sure it was still there.
At least Becky was here to provide some distraction.  She sat two rows over from him, and one space forward, so he had a great view of her without her noticing.  As usual, she was dressed very stylishly, with a short gray skirt and a white blouse.  Her dark brown hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, and she tapped her black high heels absently on floor.  It was obvious she was as bored as he was.  
He tried to imagine what she would look like naked, but every time he tried, all he could see was Sam.  Which was odd because they were nothing alike physically.  Where Sam was all curves and fullness, Becky was thin and athletic.  Her breasts looked big, but that was partly because they were sitting on her petite cheerleader frame.  
He grinned to himself when he realized he no longer had to imagine anything.  With the necklace, he was sure he could find a way to discover for himself exactly what Becky looked like nude.  
He hadn’t seen Sam yet today.  They didn’t have any classes together this semester, but sometimes he would see her in the halls.  On one hand he was looking forward to seeing her, but on the other he wasn’t sure he could hide his secret.  How could he look her in the eyes and not give it away?
The bell finally sounded and Jason went out into the hall, milling around with the rest of the crowd, losing himself in the noise of excited chatter and banging lockers.
“Jason!  Hey Jason!”
He heard a familiar voice calling his name, but looked around and couldn’t find the person he knew it had come from.
“Over here dude!!”
He turned and looked in the direction of the voice, and spotted his friend Danny   Mazzelli waving to him from his locker.  He headed on over.
He and Danny went way back, almost as far as he did with Sam.  They had hung out with a group of kids growing up, but they were the only two who had remained good friends all through high school.  They were a bit mismatched, but that probably added to their chemistry.  Where Jason had the brains, Danny had the brawn, and was involved in practically every sport the school had to offer.  But where he really excelled was football, where the crowds would chant “Double Z!” as he quarterbacked the team to two straight state championships, the last one just a few months ago.  He had been offered several scholarships, some from national schools, but decided to accept the one from the local state college.
And along with that came the girls.  He would tell Jason stories of how they would throw themselves at him, offering him anything just to be alone with him.  Jason would listen to his stories with amazement, wishing just one girl would come after him that way.  Danny once confided to him that it wasn’t just limited to the girls, and that some of the mothers of students would approach him.  Shocked, Jason had asked him if he’d ever taken any of them up on it, but Danny just replied with a smile.
Being Danny’s friend had its benefits.  Once, in tenth grade, some senior football players had cornered Jason in a bathroom, and were threatening to shove his head in the toilet.  Fortunately, a teacher walked in just in time, and Jason was spared that humiliation.  Danny, who was already the starting varsity quarterback at the time, heard about it, and the very next day the three bullies approached Jason at his locker.  He thought they were there to pick up where they had left off the day before, but was surprised when they apologized to him, and said it would never happen again.  He never spoke about it with Danny, but he knew what his friend had done.  From that point on he was never bothered again.
But it wasn’t just a one-way deal.  Jason pulled him out of some spots too, mostly with helping him get through his classes with passing grades.  When the scholarship offers were coming in, Danny was in danger of losing them all if he didn’t get his grades up.  For two straight weeks, Jason had Danny over at his house after school, and they went through his homework over and over until Danny got it.  The next week, he passed all his tests easily, and his scholarship was safe.
But what Jason appreciated most about Danny was something that was unspoken between them.  Of all the girls Danny could have, he never went after Becky Johnson.  He knew how Jason felt about her, and considered her off-limits.  And while he told stories about the other cheerleaders and their sexual antics during the long bus trips, he never said anything about Becky.  Jason always assumed this wasn’t because there was nothing to tell – he wasn’t that naïve – but because Danny knew it would hurt him to hear those things.
“What’s up nerd?” Danny said, grinning.
“Nothing much monkey,” Jason replied, “Anything new with you?”  If there was anyone he could tell about the necklace, it would be Danny.  But he wasn’t ready to share this secret just yet.
“Just my party tonight, you coming?”
“Party?  What party?”
“Dude!” exclaimed his friend, “I’ve been telling you about it for the past week.  Big party out at Blue Lake to celebrate my scholarship.  Everyone’s coming.”
Jason could swear this was the first he’d heard of it, but he did tend to be forgetful.
“Um, I guess I could make it,” he answered, wondering if there would be any way to use the necklace out there.  Probably not.
“You’ll be there,” Danny insisted, “In a way, it wouldn’t have been possible without you.”
Jason looked embarrassed. “That’s not true.”
“Just tell me you’re coming, alright?” he friend asked, and then added with a grin, “and if you want, I promise you’ll get laid.”
“What, and pick up all the STDs you probably have?”
Danny laughed, picked up a book from his locker, and closed the door.  He began backing away in the direction of his next class. “Be there!” were his parting words as he turned and hurried off.

Chapter 5

Finally, it was seventh period.  Only forty-five minutes away from the weekend.  For Jason, seventh period was a study hall with Mr. Greer.  Mr. Greer was one of those teachers who were popular with the kids, but he always demanded those in his class do the work, and was hard on those who didn’t.  Jason was one of his favorites because he always did well his class, maintaining a perfect 4.0 average.
Mr. Greer was known to be lenient with students he liked, so with thirty minutes to go before the end of class bell, Jason was antsy enough to leave that he thought he would risk asking.
“Mr. Greer,” he said, standing in front of the teacher’s desk, “is there any way I would be able to leave early today?”
The teacher looked up from the papers he was working on, peering over his glasses, giving Jason a quizzical glance.  “Got somewhere important to go Mr. Ramsey?”
Jason considered lying, but decided to be honest.  “Nope, not really.  Just feel the need to get out.”
Mr. Greer smiled at him, seeming to appreciate his candor.  “You and me both, Jason,” he said, and then added, “Unfortunately, it’s my job to be stuck here.  You, on the other hand, aren’t under the same obligations.  Go ahead, take off.  Just don’t make a big deal out of it.”
“Thank you sir,” Jason said, and quickly went back to his desk to gather his things and leave.
A few minutes later he was walking across the parking lot behind the school, feeling free and happy, facing a long weekend to spend with his new gift.  The possibilities were endless. 
His path brought him right by the baseball field, where the girls’ varsity softball team was practicing.  They practiced every day at this time, earning their gym credits for the semester this way, instead of a normal gym class.  He usually saw them trekking back to the gym as he was leaving school, heading for their showers before making their way home.
He stopped.  Of course!  The showers!  Why hadn’t he thought of this?  Here was the perfect opportunity to use the necklace, and he almost passed it up.  He veered towards the gym, finding an open door and headed for the boys’ locker room.  
He found an unused locker near the back of the room, along the wall and hidden from anyone who would come in.  He quickly stripped his clothes off and placed them in the locker.  Retrieving the necklace from his pants pocket, he glanced around to make sure no one could see him, and then put the necklace on.  After holding his hand up to verify that it couldn’t be seen, he was ready to go.
He had thought walking outside while nude was weird, but it was nothing compared to walking naked across the middle of the school gym.  The girls’ locker room was at the opposite end, and as he made his way across, he couldn’t help but think about all the times this place was filled with students.  And here he was, naked and just walking out in the open.  Although he knew he couldn’t be seen, he instinctively held his hands over his cock and balls as he walked, covering them.
The girl’s locker room was set up just like the boys’, but as a mirror image.  The teacher’s office was to the right as he came in, instead of the left as in the boys’.  The showers were on the opposite end, with one part sectioned off as a lavatory.  There were differences though.  
First off, it was very pink in here.  Both the walls and the lockers were pink, and it looked like it had been painted more recently than the boys’ room.  Or it could have been just the color that made it appear that way, with the boys’ room painted a drab green.  The shower area was also different.  The main section was smaller, and it was surrounded by small stalls with doors that contained individual shower heads.  He guessed some girls liked their privacy.
The bathroom was slightly different too, having six stalls instead of the boys’ two, and no urinals, for obvious reasons.  There were also several tampon and sanitary pad dispensers on the wall, and they reminded him of an incident from several years ago.

He was in ninth grade, and they were playing dodge ball in boys’ gym class.  The teacher had left them alone, and some of the bigger kids were teasing one of the smaller ones, a strange boy named Oscar Benton.  But the little guy was standing up to them, claiming they didn’t have half the balls he had.  When they laughed at him, he dared them to run into the girls’ locker room.  They glanced over at the forbidden entrance, frowns on their faces, and then laughed nervously.  Oscar then began squawking like a chicken, which brought laughs from the rest of the class.  Of course, next came the inevitable, “If you’re so brave, let’s see you do it.”
Without hesitation, Oscar took off like a shot, making a beeline for the girls’ entrance.  Jason and the rest of the boys gaped in horror, never believing he would go through with it.  Not breaking stride, Oscar flew through the opening, and disappeared from sight.  
Everyone was stunned into silence, not believing what they had just seen.  They all waited breathlessly for the screams to begin, but there were none.  Endless seconds later, Oscar reappeared, zipping out of the doorway just as fast as he had entered, but now holding fistfuls of white objects in each hand.  When he reached the center of the gym, he gave a loud whoop, and threw the contents of his hands skyward.  In unison, every boy’s head followed the path of the objects upward, paused for a second, and then back downward until they landed on the gym floor.  It was only then that they finally recognized what they were; a mixture of tampons and sanitary pads that Oscar had ripped from the dispensers inside, as if he had needed proof that he had entered that elite sanctum.
The boys crowded around the smaller kid, patting him on the back and congratulating him.  Even the boys who were teasing him were impressed.  When someone asked him what he had seen in there, his only reply was a solemn, “I think I saw bush.”
Oscar moved away the next year, but his legend continued on without him.  Some who told the story tried to embellish it by adding that Oscar claimed he had stopped to lick a girl’s pussy on the way out, but Jason had been there and knew what the truth was.
Jason looked around the now deserted room for a place he could watch from.  With fifteen or so girls on their way, the chances of one of them accidentally bumping into him were much greater.  His eyes landed upon a line of glass block windows lining the far wall, which allowed light into the room, but because of their thickness and distortion, prevented anyone from seeing inside.  Each window section had a fairly deep sill ledge, and was about five feet off the floor.  If he could hoist himself upon the farthest sill to the left, he could sit there and have a great view of both the dressing area and the showers.
His first few attempts to get up there were futile, with the ledge being a bit too high and shallow for him to get any leverage.  Then he noticed a large mop bucket sitting along the wall near the shower.  Flipping it over, he placed it on the floor beneath the window.  Standing on the bucket made the small jump upward easy, and soon he was sitting on his perch, waiting for the team to arrive.
He didn’t have long to wait.  Just minutes after he got into his spot, the first softball player came in.  She was a short Italian looking girl who he had seen before.  Mary or Marie or something like that.  She must have left the practice a bit early, because she was already well undressed before the rest of the team showed up.  Marie Tangetti, he finally remembered.  Her breasts were smaller than Sam’s, but they sagged a bit more.  He decided he like Sam’s better.
When she took off her panties, he expected a full Italian bush of pubic hair, but he was shocked to discover she had shaved herself bare down there.  He watched her with fascination.  He wanted to see a close up of that, but knew that was impossible here.  He wondered how many girls his age did that.
As Marie made her way to the shower area, the last of the girls were coming in.  Looking around the room, it was like a smorgasbord.  All different kinds of girls, all in various stages of undress.  Big girls (these were softball players after all), small girls, large breasts, small breasts, and non-existence breasts.  It was too much for him to take in at once.  His brain was on overload.  
Some of the other girls had shaved pussies like Marie, and some had natural pubes like Sam.  It looked to be about half and half.  He wasn’t sure which he preferred, deciding he would just be happy with either.
One girl caught his eye.  He didn’t think he knew her name, but she kind of reminded him of Becky, with a small trim body and largish breasts.  But her hair was straight and blonde, where Becky’s was dark brown and swept back.  She walked toward the showers with only a towel over her shoulder, and he could see her breasts gently bobbing from the motion.  Her pubic patch had been shaved into a narrow vertical strip, and it kinda reminded him of Mr. T’s mohawk.  He grinned at this thought.
As she passed him, he could check out her rear, and he thought that he had never seen a more perfect ass in his life.  He could feel himself getting hard as he watched her soap up, sliding the lather over her slick breasts, and then down over her hips and onto the mounds of her ass.   He had a fantasy of stepping up behind her in the shower, reaching around and cupping her breasts from behind, and letting his cock slide over that soapy ass.
Other girls were in the shower with her, and he enjoyed watching them too, but his eyes kept coming back to the girl with the nice ass.  
He also enjoyed listening to the chatter of the girls, talking about everything from boys to how the team was looking.  Someone brought up Danny’s party tonight, and at the mention of his name, there was a twitter of excitement through the room, with many of the girls talking at once.  Two of the junior girls were comparing notes on what they would do with him if they got the chance to get him alone tonight.
A girl standing near them, a tall short-haired brunette named Jean, who Jason had a class with, spoke up, “If you’re going to be going after Danny tonight, you might want to have a word with Donna first.”
The attention of the girls turned towards Donna, who happened to be Nice Ass.  She was just returning from the shower, now wearing her towel around her, covering her breasts and hanging down just far enough to cover her mohawk.
“What’s this about Danny?” she asked.
“These girls are talking about hooking up with him tonight,” Jean said, “and I suggested they talk to you first.”
Donna looked at the girls with a raised eyebrow.  “Good luck with that.”
One of the girls, a blonde with a nose ring, asked, “Do you think he’d fuck me?”
Donna looked at her again.  The girl was sitting naked on the bench in front of her locker.  “Spread you legs.”
“Huh?” the girl replied.
“Just do it,” Donna said.
The girl complied. 
“Yeah,” Donna said, “you have a pussy.  Danny will fuck you.”
All of the girls laughed at this, but he noticed that Donna wasn’t joining in.
“Have you ever fucked him?”  It was the other younger girl.
Jason saw something flash through Donna’s eyes, but she just said “Yeah.”
“What was it like?”
“Wonderful,” Donna replied, “I saw shooting stars and fireworks, and I think a unicorn stopped by to watch us.”
“Come on Donna,” Jean said, “Tell them the story.”
Donna gave Jean a ‘why are you making me do this?’ look. 
“I want to hear about it,” the girl with the nose ring said.
“Ok,” Donna said, removing her towel and sitting on the bench.  “It was at last year’s prom, and–”
“You went to the prom with Danny?” the other younger girl blurted.
Donna gave her a scathing glance.  “Did I say I went to the prom with him?  Just be quiet.”
She continued, “So it was the prom and Danny’s date was that stuck up senior cunt from last year, Sandy Meyers the Prom Queen, who always hated me for some reason.”  She began drying her hair with the towel.
“I had gotten in trouble at school a few weeks before, and my punishment was to run the coat check room at the prom.  Kind of like a community service deal.”
“What did you get into trouble for?” interrupted the girl again.
Before Donna had a chance to respond, Nose Ring swatted her friend on the arm and said, “Would you shut up?  I want to hear this.”
“So, as I was saying, I was working in the coat check room, and the prom was getting close to being over.  The Royal Cunt Sandy was accepting her accolades, and sent Danny over to fetch their coats.  He came up to me holding two coat tickets and wearing that dumbass grin that fits him so well.  So I go to the back wall where the coats are hung to get theirs, and I accidentally drop Sandy’s on the floor.  Or maybe not so accidentally, I can’t remember.”
“I bent over to pick it up, and Danny must have liked what he saw, because when I turned around, his grin was accompanied by a twinkle in his eye.  He’s not really my type, but I saw a chance to dick with the Royal Cuntess.”
“So I twinkled back at him, and he was over the counter in one athletic leap.  We knew we didn’t have much time, so he pushed me back into a small room that held some extra coats, threw a few of them on the floor, and laid me down on them.”
Jason could see some of the girls in the room begin to squirm in their seats.
“He knelt between my legs, opened his pants, and pulled out his already hard dick. I was wearing a short skirt, and he grabbed my ankles and pulled my legs up and back, so I was open for him.  I still had my panties on, but I pulled them to one side as he slid that big cock into me.”
“That reminds me girls, if you’re going to fuck Danny, you shouldn’t plan on using your pussies for a few days afterwards.  The boy has a lot to give, and mine was sore as hell the next day.  And remember we have a game tomorrow, so if I see you out there stumbling around on the field because you still haven’t recovered from Danny’s cock, I’m going to kick your ass.”
The girls giggled.
“Anyway, there we were, rutting on the coat room floor right in the middle of the prom.  It didn’t take me long, and I think that set him off.  It was all over in a few minutes.  We got ourselves together and he grabbed his coats, jumped the counter again, and went off to find the Duchess of Cunterbury.  I heard they spent the rest of the night fucking at a hotel, so my hopes of ruining her evening didn’t work out.”
Jason saw that most of the girls in the room were fidgeting now.  Some were even absentmindedly brushing their hands against their breasts.
“So that’s it,” Donna said, “That’s my Danny story.  Happy Jean?”  
Jean laughed. 
Nose Ring spoke up again. “But what if I want to do more than fuck him?”
Donna looked at her.  “What do you mean?”
“What if I want more than just to screw him?  What if I wanted us to have a relationship?”
Another strange look passed over Donna’s face, and she didn’t respond, but Jean started laughing.
“A relationship with Danny Mazzelli?” Jean said, “Are you fucking joking?”
The girl looked embarrassed.
“Honey,” Jean continued, “better women than you have attempted it, and every single one of them has gone down in flames.  Danny is not a relationship kind of guy.  Hell, you just heard that his prom date let him out of her sight for ten minutes, and he used those ten minutes to fuck another girl.  Do you really want to be the one who always has to keep an eye on him?”
“I never thought of it that way,” Nose Ring said.
Jason listened to the girls talk, but his eyes were on Donna.  As the others discussed Danny infamous lack of fidelity, her face showed a trace of sadness.

The locker room was almost empty, with just Jean, Donna and Nose Ring remaining.  And Jason, of course, still watching from his perch.
Jean was almost fully dressed, but Donna was still in just her panties and no bra.  Nose Ring was zipping up her gym bag getting ready to leave.  “Wish me luck girls,” she said as she headed for the door.
“Go get him!” Jean said, but Donna just offered a wave. 
At the sound of the door closing behind the girl, Jean turned to Donna with a grin.  “Well, that was fun.”
Donna didn’t look so happy. “I can’t believe you made me tell that story again.”
“Think of it as therapy,” Jean replied, still smiling.  “And lord knows you need it.  And I can’t believe you left out the best part.”
“And what part would that be?”
“Don’t play coy with me; you know what I’m talking about.  That little kiss that Danny planted on you right before he left.  Right here.” She reached up and touched Donna on the cheek.
Donna finally smiled.
“Oh yeah,” added Jean, “the ‘He’s not really my type’ line?  Nice touch.”
“Like that huh?”
“But seriously Donna, It’s been almost a year.  You have to get over this guy.  You haven’t been on a date with anyone since.  You used to be out Friday night with a different one every week.”
“I know,” Donna said with a sigh.
“Because it’s not going to happen, no matter how much you want it to.  Did you listen to what I just told Karen?  Hoping for a relationship with Danny is like hoping you’re going to grow a third tit.  Neither of them is going to happen.”
Donna had to giggle at this.  Still topless, she looked down and cupped her breasts, pulling them apart slightly as if imagining a third one between them.  “I think I could do it,” she said with a laugh.
“You better not,” grinned Jean, a look coming over her face. “I spend enough time making two of your breasts happy.  If you had three, I would never be able to move onto the good stuff.”
Jason’s ears perked up. Whoa, what was this?
Donna smiled. “I’m sure you’d manage.  You’ve got one mouth and two hands.  I suck at math, but I’m pretty sure that adds up to three.”
“What?  And leave your pussy all alone?  That would just be sad.”
Jason felt himself getting hard.  He couldn’t believe this was happening.
As the two girls talked they had slid closer together on the bench, and now they were right next to each other.
“Did your pussy get wet from my story again?” Donna asked.
“You tell me,” replied Jean, and took Donna’s hand, placed it against her inner thigh, and then pushed it upward, beneath the hem of her short skirt.  Donna’s hand moved upward, out of sight, but Jason could tell by Jean’s reaction when Donna found what she was looking for.
Donna’s arm moved slowly in and out, and Jason realized she was fucking Jean with a finger, maybe more than one.
Jean sighed softly, obviously enjoying the touch of her friend.  After a moment, Donna pulled her hand out, and even from where Jason sat, he could see Donna’s first two fingers glistening wetly.
“I guess you did,” Donna said. “I wonder if you still taste as sweet as I remember.”  She took her index finger in her mouth and sucked on it.  “Mmmm,” she sighed, looking into her friend’s eyes.  Removing the finger, she said, “Even sweeter.”
“Want to try some?” She held the other finger up and Jean opened her mouth slightly.  Donna touched her finger to the girl’s lips, and then slid it inside.  Jean sucked on it for a moment, and then opened her mouth and licked it, her tongue flicking as it searched for any remaining taste.
Donna moved her hand to behind Jean’s neck, and pulled her down, their lips meeting in a fervent kiss.  Jason watched with interest as their tongues explored each other’s mouths, sharing this intimate expression.
Jean’s hand found Donna’s breast, and kneaded it gently.  When the nipple grew hard, she pinched it, eliciting a gasp from the smaller girl.  Her hand then moved lower, tracing over Donna’s stomach.  Donna reacted by spreading her legs, inviting the hand between them.  
From his viewing angle, he could see Donna’s panty-covered pussy straight on.  She was wearing a very small pair of red thongs, and the material barely covered her slit and mohawk, and nothing else.  He could see the smooth shaven skin of her puffy outer lips along the edges of the material, and it looked so incredibly soft, he wished he could touch it.
Jean’s fingertips ran softly over the smooth skin, teasing her friend and bringing another gasp from her.  Then her finger ran down the middle of the cloth, from the top near the elastic waistband, down the center, tracing along the bulge of the lips underneath.  They disappeared around the bottom of her mound, went even further, and Donna’s hips jerked visibly in pleasure.
Jean’s hand returned to the front, and with a single flick of her finger, Donna’s panties were moved to one side, so that her entire slit was now visible.  He could see the pink wetness between her lips, and as Jean’s fingers pressed between them, her inner entrance was exposed for him to see.
He wasn’t as close as he had been with Sam, but the view was still outstanding.  Jean’s fingers began moving over a certain spot, and Jason decided this must be the clitoris.  This was the same spot that Sam had touched last night, and he had read that it was like touching the front tip of a penis on a man.  That felt pretty damn good to him when he did it, so he imagined that Donna was enjoying what Jean was doing to her.
And from her moans, he knew he was right.  She began rotating her hips in small gyrating movements, her body coming alive in pleasure.  
Jean then returned her friend’s favor, by removing her fingers from her pussy and bringing them up to Donna’s mouth.  Donna sucked at them greedily, licking off every bit as she moaned softly.
Pulling her fingers from between Donna’s lips, she looked at them and said with mock sadness, “You didn’t leave any for me.  Guess I’m going to have to get some more for myself.”  She moved to her knees between Donna’s spread legs.
Jason’s eyes opened wide.  His view of Donna’s pussy was now blocked, but he watched as Jean leaned down, put her hands around Donna’s hips for support, and then placed her head between her friend’s legs.
Donna reacted immediately, closing her eyes and moaning, her body twitching.  He couldn’t see exactly what Jean was doing, but whatever it was, it was having an effect on the blonde.  Donna’s hands came down to Jean’s head, her fingers intertwining in the girl’s short black hair, urging her on.
“Oh,” Donna said in a breathless moan, “You’re so good at this baby.”
Jason noticed that from the way Jean was bending over, her dress had ridden up and her panty-covered pussy was peeking out from behind.  From his high angle, he couldn’t see it straight on, but it was a nice view anyway.  Jean’s asscheeks curved around to make a vee, and within that vee he could see the stretched-smooth triangle of cotton, with a large wet spot in the middle.  He wondered how they would react if he jumped down from his seat, grabbed her hips, pushed her panties to one side, and slid his hard cock into her.
From the sounds Donna was making, he knew it wouldn’t be long before she was coming.  Her eyes were closed and her nostrils flared, and her breathing was rasping in short gasps.
“Yes yes yes, I’m there,” she moaned loudly, and then her body spasmed violently as she tried to keep her involuntary groans as quiet as possible.  Jason could tell by the pressure of her hands on Jean’s head, that she was holding her friend’s face tight against her pussy, as her hips gyrated in circles.  He wondered how Jean could breathe like that, and started to worry about her.
After a few moments, Donna settled back down, and Jean lifted her head, to Jason’s relief.  They kissed again, and this time Donna had to lean down to Jean who was still kneeling between her legs.  From behind, Jason couldn’t see their mouths, but from the way Donna was moving her head, it looked more like she was licking her friend’s mouth than kissing her.
Continuing the kiss, Donna’s hand moved back again between Jean’s legs, working underneath her dress.  Jean moaned into her mouth, and Jason saw her hips press forward into Donna’s touch, urging her to keep it up.  Even though Jason’s back was beginning to get sore from being in the same position for so long, he was looking forward to Act II of this little scene.
“Janitor! Anyone in here?”  The deep male voice boomed through the room, startling all three occupants.  Jason was so surprised he almost fell off of his ledge.  Jean and Donna separated with a jerk, and Jean hurriedly sat on the bench, a small distance from her friend.  They both had guilty looks on their faces.
Jean came to her senses first, and called out, “Still two of us in here.  Give us a couple of minutes please!”
“Sorry ladies,” the deep voice replied, “Take your time.”  They could hear the sound of the doorway to the hall closing.
Jean and Donna smiled at each other.  “Guess we’ll have to finish this some other time,” Jean said.
“He said take our time,” Donna said hopefully, “I could finish you quickly?”
Jean smiled. “Nah, the mood is gone.  You can owe me one.”
Damn, his mood wasn’t gone.  He was really enjoying this.
“I’ll be looking forward to it then,” Donna said, and she slid down to where Jean was sitting and they kissed again, very tenderly this time.
Donna quickly got dressed, while Jean waited so they could leave together. After they walked out, Jason could hear them talking to the janitor out in the hall, and knew he had to hurry.
Jumping down from the ledge, he made sure not to land on the bucket sitting below, and then moved towards the gym door, which was opposite the door the janitor was coming in.  He raced across the empty gymnasium floor, feeling a bit like Oscar Benton as he bolted into the boys’ locker room to retrieve his clothes.

# # #

You’ve just read 13,338 of 46,354 words for Amulet.  To buy the ebook and read the complete story, follow this link to Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/16170



* * * * *

Amulet 2


Jason has the perfect life until tragedy strikes and he needs the help of a new, more powerful amulet. It will take him on a journey into his past, where he'll discover that small changes have huge consequences. Twists abound as Jason races to solve a mystery and save the one he loves. Everyone is back in this erotic and exciting adventure. Also includes the complete original Amulet! Adults only.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Chapter 1

Light from the rising sun filtered into the bedroom through the drawn curtains, illuminating the couple on the bed as they shared the pleasure of each other’s bodies.  They were lying like spoons, his chest pressed to her back and his hips stroking into her with a gentle rhythm.  His hand caressed her breast and held the weight of it, while her hand rested on her swollen stomach, fingers spread over the tightly stretched skin.  Because of her condition this had become their favorite position.
Jason watched his wife in the dim light.  As her pregnancy had progressed and her body changed, he had worried that his desire for her might wane.  But the opposite had happened – he found himself wanting her even more.  The life growing inside of her and her new curves had made her even more desirable.
This included the breasts he was currently fondling.  Sam’s had always been full and round, but her pregnancy had not only enlarged them, but also made them more sensitive.
She must have been reading his mind because she murmured in a sleepy voice, “Those won’t be yours to play with much longer.”
 “Which is why I’m enjoying them now,” he replied, and gave her nipple a gentle pinch. She breathed a slight moan in response. 
“It’s not fair that the baby gets all this,” he continued, “I think we should share.  I’ll take the one on the left, and she can have the one on the right.”
Sam giggled.  “Won’t work.  Mom told me the nipples get so sore, it hurts to have them touched.”
He stopped moving his hips.  “Ok, new rule.  There will be no mention of your mother, or mine, while my dick is inside of you.”
She giggled again, and wiggled her ass back against him, urging him to continue.
“Agreed?” he said.
“Ok, ok, no mom talk.  Now keep fucking me.”
He grinned and resumed his slow thrusting.  He couldn’t have held out much longer anyway.  The clock radio told him they still had a half hour before he had to get up for work.  During her pregnancy, they had discovered that this was the best time for them to make love, since she was exhausted in the evenings, and this allowed them to start their day in a very pleasant way.  He was concerned that the baby was almost a week late, but figured her orgasms might hurry the process along.
He moved his hand off her breast and slid it downward, up onto the large curve of her round belly.  Intertwining his fingers with hers, he continued his slow in and out motion, concentrating on the pleasure he was feeling.  
When she had first started to get big, her confidence waned, and she needed constant reassurance from him that he still found her desirable.  The truth was, her being like this kept him in a constant state of arousal.  He couldn’t get enough of her, and they were making love almost every day, sometimes more than once.  When he finally convinced her of this, she became comfortable with her body, to the point now where she didn’t even mention it anymore.  He wasn’t sure how he was going to survive waiting six weeks after the baby was born before having sex with her again.
He nuzzled into the back of her neck, working his way through her soft hair until he reached skin.  He knew she enjoyed this, and when he kissed her there, she moaned softly and arched in pleasure, reminding him of a stretching cat.
Her passion rose, and his pace quickened in response, while his lips nipped lightly at her skin.  Their hips worked in unison, moving together and then apart, meeting in the middle with the soft slapping sound of flesh upon flesh.  Her slick wetness coated him, and he slid in and out easily, her smooth passage tight around his full length.
“Feels so good baby,” she said, “just like that.  I wish we could do this all day.”
“Mmm,” he moaned in response, his breath warm on the back of her neck.  “Don’t tempt me.”  He moved up to her ear, and whispered, “Hey, do you know I love you?”
She smiled, and her eyes closed.  “I do baby.  I’ll always be yours.”
“I’m getting close,” he said, “you ready?”
“Yes,” she said, more like a breath than a word.  “Take me away.”
He slid his hand downward from her belly, following the sharp curve inward, as she spread her legs slightly to give him access. His fingers combed through her soft curly hairs, and then arrived at where they were joined, feeling his slick shaft sliding in and out between her puffy outer lips. Her lubrication was abundant, coating his fingers as he felt the cleft where her labia met, and then the familiar nub of her clitoris.  She groaned low in her throat in response to his touch.
A second finger joined the first, and he began his rhythm on her, moving his fingertips in a small circle over the bump of flesh.  She groaned louder, and he knew she was close, so he increased the pace of his thrusts into her, wanting to arrive at the same time.
“Yes baby, yes baby,” she breathed, “I’m, I’m, I’m comiiiiiiinnnnngggg!”  It began as a word, and ended as a passionate cry, as her orgasm washed over her and she writhed in his arms.  With one last hard plunge into her, he joined her ecstasy, groaning his pleasure into her ear as his body clenched in orgasm, jetting his seed deep into her, his shaft pulsating as her walls spasmed around it.
He felt like he was floating away with her, to a place where only they could go.  A place that was warm and safe where they could be together.
After a few moments she relaxed back against him, sighing and snuggling close, and his arm curled protectively around her stomach.  
“Thanks baby,” she said, still catching her breath, “I needed that.  I’ve been so tense lately.”
His arm tightened around her.  “Well, you do have a baby in you who’s stubbornly refusing to come out, so I can’t blame you.  Heck, I’m tense and I’m not even pregnant.”
“Well then,” she said wiggling her ass back against him, causing his softening cock to slip inside of her, “I’m glad I’ve relieved some of your tension too.”
“Oh yeah,” he replied with a smile, “I’m very relaxed at the moment.  I feel like I don’t have a bone in my body.”
She giggled at this.  “I can only take credit for removing one of your bones.” 
He laughed and hugged her tight.  “It’s going to be weird having a baby around here, isn’t it?”
“Alexis,” she said.  They had found out a month ago it was a girl, and decided on that name.
“Alexis,” he repeated, “our little girl.”
“I still can’t believe it,” she said, “Sometimes I go into the nursery and stare at the empty crib, wondering how it’s possible that a baby will soon be in there – a baby who’s all ours that we have to take care of.  It’s scary.”
“You’re going to be a great mommy.  No reason for you to be scared.”
She smiled.  “As long as you’re around, I’m not scared of anything.”
“Daddy!”
His head jerked upwards.  “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Daddy!”
“That,” he said, “That voice.”  There was a pressure on his chest and it was harder to breathe.
“I don’t hear anything,” Sam said.
“Daddy!  Wake up!”  The pressure on his chest was rhythmic now, as if something or someone was bouncing on it.
Sam was drifting away from him, slipping through his grasp like wisps of smoke.  No, please no, he thought, I want to stay with her.
“Daddy! It’s my birfday!  Wake up!”
Jason opened his eyes, and despite his pain he had to smile.  Sitting on his chest was his daughter Alexis, the spitting image of her mother, with her wild red hair and bright green eyes.
“Good morning Alexis,” he said, reaching up to hold her still.
“It’s my birfday Daddy!”
“Happy birthday honey.  How old are you today?”
“I’m free,” she said, holding up three stubby fingers.
“Then you get three kisses,” he said, then pulled her down, kissed her, and then raised her back up. “One!”
She giggled and squirmed in his arms, but he held her tight and pulled her down again, kissing her cheek. “Two!”
She laughed and wriggled harder as he raised her up, and then brought her down for the final kiss.  “Three!”  He held her to him and she lay on his chest, catching her breath.
“I love you so much baby,” he said.
“I love you too Daddy,” she replied, her weight so light and delicate on his chest.
He had the dream again.  But this time it was especially painful.  He didn’t have to look at the clock to know that it was almost three years ago to the hour when it had actually happened.  In the three years since, he had relived it over and over, mostly in his dreams, but sometimes in his waking thoughts.  It was, after all, the last time he and Sam had made love.
Alexis was too young to understand, but someday when she’s older, she won’t celebrate her birthday quite as gleefully as she does now.  Because her birthday is also the anniversary of her mother’s death.  Three years ago today had been the worst day of his life.


Chapter 2

He sat in the waiting room with his head in his hands, his brain still not accepting what the doctor had told him.  Sam was dead?  How was that possible?  They had come here to have a baby.  It was supposed to be a happy day.
Less than an hour ago, he had been holding her hand as their daughter emerged into the world.  Then, everything went wrong, and they put him in this room to wait.
His Sam was gone.  His soul mate and the reason he lived.  It finally caught up to him and he wept like a child, the sobs coming in large gasps of breath.  He wanted to be dead with her, and tried to will it to happen.
Maybe it was a dream.  Maybe he was really lying next to Sam in their bed having a nightmare.  He would soon wake up and hold her in his arms, and when she awoke, he would tell her about it and they would laugh.
After a while, two nurses came in and asked if he wanted to see her.  He followed them numbly to a small room where Sam’s body lay on a hospital bed, covered in a sheet except for her head.
“We’ll be right outside,” said one of the nurses, and they left him alone.
He looked down at Sam lying there, eyes closed, her face puffy and still, and it reminded him of the day when he watched her sleep and realized that he loved her.  His hand moved to her face and caressed her cheek, feeling her cool skin beneath his touch.

“I love you Sam,” he whispered through tears.
He leaned down and kissed her lips, almost expecting her to respond like she always did, kissing him back and embracing him.  When he realized he would never feel that again, he broke down and cried, holding her in his arms as his body was racked by huge sobs.  This is how the nurses found him when they returned a half hour later and gently led him away.

*  *  *

The sun blazed in a sky that was a breathtaking shade of blue, and Jason thought it would have been a marvelous day if not for the fact that he and about thirty other people were standing around Sam’s casket, waiting for it to be lowered into the ground.
I can’t do this, he kept repeating to himself, and he couldn’t have if Donna and Danny hadn’t been here to help him.  If not for them, he would probably still be lying in his bed, refusing to get up and face the reality of having to bury the only woman he ever loved.
Donna was suffering almost as much as he was.  She and Sam had become close in the past six years, and they had been so happy to discover they both had become pregnant around the same time.  Donna was due in another month, but was even bigger than Sam had been.  The pain of her grief was so apparent on her face, Danny was worried about her health.
Jason looked around at the crowd.  His Mom and Dad were holding each other, as were Sam’s parents.  Sam’s mom was back to her usual aloofness, after holding him and crying in his arms when she arrived at the hospital.  All four parents had jumped on a plane for the hour flight when Jason had called Mrs. Scott and told her what had happened.  They had all flown back home together for the funeral, including Sam’s body in the cargo hold.  Alexis had remained in the hospital because the doctors had wanted to keep her under observation for a few days.
Becky was here, which surprised him, but for some reason he couldn’t explain, her presence made him feel better.  She was standing with her husband, a tall attractive man with sandy blond hair, and they each held one hand of a small boy standing between them.
Danny was beside Jason, being strong when he needed it.  A few times when the “I can’ts” caught up to him, and the world lazily spun away, Danny’s arm would appear around his shoulder and hold him up, as if it were a tether to reality.  But as they lowered Sam’s coffin into the ground, Danny’s will finally faltered, and he had to hold onto Donna as he broke down and cried.
Afterwards, the crowd drifted away, stopping by to give their final condolences to Jason and Sam’s parents before heading to their cars.  After giving Sam’s Aunt Mary a hug, Jason turned and there was Becky, standing in front of him with tears streaming down her face.
She stepped into him and they held onto each other, crying together.  When they separated, she held his hands in hers and said, “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you Becky, your being here means a lot to me.”
 “I don’t think you’ve ever met my husband.” she said, and turned towards the man standing beside her.  “This is Robert.”
“Nice to meet you Robert,” Jason said, shaking his hand and attempting a smile.  “You’ve got a special girl here.”
Robert offered a solemn nod. “Sorry for your loss Jason.”
“And this is our son RJ,” Becky said, smiling down at the little blond boy between them.
Jason knelt down on one knee to be closer to eye level with the boy, and held out his hand. “Hi there RJ.” 
The boy tentatively extended his hand and allowed Jason to hold it, but remained silent.  Jason looked up at Becky and realized they had been in this position before, years ago when he picked her up for their date.
Becky must have remembered it too, because she started crying again.  Jason stood and hugged her, and they wept together.

The evening of the funeral, they were all at Jason’s parents’ house.  Donna, Danny and Jason sat on the front porch, while his and Sam’s parents were inside, talking in quiet voices.  Donna and Danny were on the porch swing, with her head resting on his shoulder.  Jason was sitting on the floor, facing them with his back against the wooden railing.
“Do you have any plans yet?” Danny asked.
Jason shrugged. “Haven’t thought much about it.  Mom says the house across the street is for sale, and they’d love to have me move back here so they can help take care of the baby.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Danny said, “Plus, we would be around to help too.  I know it’s hard to think about now, but you should consider it.”
“It’s so strange,” Jason replied, “four days ago she was right next to me, and we had our entire future in front of us.  Now, I’m just lost.  I feel so empty.”
“Jason,” Donna said, “come up here and sit by me for a moment.  I’d move down there, but I’m in no condition to be squatting on the ground.”  She patted her very large belly.
Jason did as she asked, sitting beside her so she was sandwiched between him and Danny.  She leaned away from her husband, and onto Jason’s shoulder, putting her arm around him.  Donna always knew exactly how to make people feel better, and this time was no different.  He relaxed under her touch, and took a deep breath.
He stared down at her bulging stomach.  “That’s going to be a huge baby,” he said without thinking.
Donna smiled and Danny snorted. 
“Should we tell him?” she asked Danny.
“Sure.”
She turned back towards Jason.  “We were planning on keeping it a secret until they arrived, but it’s not one baby, it’s twins.  Twin girls.”
Jason smiled.  “Twin girls?  That’s fantastic!  Congratulations.”  He hugged her tight.
Pulling back, he turned his attention to his friend. “Danny Mazzelli is having twin daughters?  And people say there isn’t justice in the world?”
Donna laughed at this, but Danny just grinned.
“So,” Donna said, “Alexis is going to have some playmates.”
Jason thought about his daughter.  Until he had first held her, he wouldn’t have thought it was possible to experience extreme grief and extreme joy at the same time.  But as he held her with his heart full of sadness about Sam, a feeling of joy came over him as he stared down at her innocent face.  She was his, and also Sam’s.  Together they had created this wonderful bundle of life.  He loved her the moment he first took her in his arms, and any wishes he had had about joining Sam in death were forgotten.
“I can’t wait to get back and hold her again,” he said, “You’ll see.  It’s an amazing feeling.”
“I know I don’t have to say it,” Danny said, “but if there’s anything you need – anything – just ask.”
Jason was silent for a moment.  Finally he said, “There’s is one thing I want to ask you.”
“Name it.”
“I want to borrow it for a while.”
Danny didn’t answer right away, but instead looked over at his friend with a questioning glance.
“Of course,” he finally said, “I still consider it partially yours.  But can I ask you why?”
“I don’t plan on using it, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I’m just worried about you bud.”
Jason was quiet again.  
Donna spoke up.  “You’re going to use the amulet to try to talk to Ambriel, aren’t you?”
Jason nodded.
“Why?” Danny asked.
“Because the only miracle I’ve witnessed in my life came from her and her friend.  And right now I’m in need of another one.”
“What can she do?”
“I don’t know, but I have to ask.  I can’t go through life thinking there was a chance that I never tried to take.”
Danny picked up Donna’s purse and handed it to her.  “Give it to him.”
Donna took the purse and reached inside, pulled out the amulet and offered it to Jason.  He took it and held it up, watching the colors swirl.  It was the first time he had seen it since he had given it to Danny over six years ago.  It brought back a lot of memories, most of them good.
“By the way,” Jason said, “last time I talked to Ambriel way back when, she mentioned a test in your future.  Did that ever happen?”
His two friends shared a quick glance between them.  “Yeah,” Danny said, “but with everything else going on, this isn’t the time to talk about it.  Ask me some other time.”
“Ok,” Jason said, looking hard at his friend with concern in his eyes.

After his friends said their goodbyes and left, he went up to his old room and lay on the bed.  He ran the amulet through his fingers, remembering the other times that he had met Ambriel in his dreams.  But sleep wouldn’t come, as thoughts of Sam refused to leave his mind.
He was staring at the ceiling when a gentle tap sounded on his door.  “Jason?” his mother said softly, “you awake?”
“Yeah Mom,” he said, stuffing the amulet in his pocket.
His mother came in and sat on the bed, taking his hand in hers.  In the faint light, it looked like she had aged ten years since his last visit.
“Your room looks different without all your stuff in it,” she said.  “Sometimes I come up here and think about all the little boy things that used to be in here.”  She was crying, and he joined her.
 “I’m telling you this because it would be great to have a child around again,” she continued, “whether it’s here or across the street.  We talked it over with the Scotts, and they like the idea too.  But it’s your choice son, so take some time to think about it.”
“I will Mom.”
“I love you Jason.”
“I love you too Mom, thanks.”
She leaned over and kissed his forehead, and one of her tears fell on his cheek.  She wiped it away with her thumb and got up, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

He finally fell asleep, and had terrible dreams about Sam.  He dreamed he was back in the delivery room, and he tried to save her, but he couldn’t.  Over and over it happened, and he couldn’t protect her no matter what he did.
He awoke with a start, and he guessed it was near dawn because the room was lit with a soft glow. But checking the time, it was only three o’clock.  Opening his eyes and sitting up, he discovered the source of the light.  Ambriel was sitting at the foot of his bed, watching him.  The glow was coming from inside of her.  Her hair was like it had been in the meadow, moving around her head in waves.  Her amulet glowed also, but wasn’t as bright as she was.
“Hello Ambriel, nice to see you again.”  He was about to ask her if this was a dream, but realized it didn’t matter.
“Hello Jason.  Your heart is troubled.”
“I lost her.  I was supposed to be her protector, and she’s gone.”
“You will be together again someday.”
“I don’t want to live without her.”
“Your daughter needs you now.”
“Ambriel, was it always fated to be this way?  Was it always part of some plan for Sam to die?”
“No Jason.  Mankind has free will.  The choices people make matter.”
“Is there any way I can change what happened?”
Ambriel was silent.
“I need another miracle,” he continued, “I know I didn’t even deserve the first one, but I have to ask.”
“I understand, but what you are asking for is beyond my powers to give you.”
“So it’s impossible?”
“There is no concept of impossible in my world.  But it is not my choice to make.”
“Will you ask for me?”
“Yes.  But you must understand that time works differently for us.  You may not get an answer right away, if at all.”
“Thank you Ambriel.  I feel a little better knowing there’s a chance.”
“You are welcome Jason.  And one more thing?”
“Yes?”
“Your mother is right.  You should move back here.”
He smiled.  “What good is the free will of mankind, if you women keep telling us what to do?”
Ambriel laughed. “Goodbye Jason.”
“Goodbye Ambriel.”
In an instant, she was gone, and the room was left dark.  Sleep took him quickly, and it was deep and dreamless.

Chapter 3

The three-year-old had fallen asleep on his chest, and he gently slid her off and laid her head on the pillow.  He rolled on his side and watched her sleep for a few minutes, a pleasure he had been enjoying more often recently.  The older she got, and the more she looked like her mother, the more he would watch her and think about Sam.
He quietly got out of bed and went to his dresser, opened the top drawer and felt along the bottom, under his socks.  He found the folded up piece of paper and brought it out, gingerly opening it.
He looked at Sam’s photo on the newsprint.  The picture had been taken soon after their wedding, when their parents decided they wanted some professional photos of them to hang on their walls.  Sam’s mom had picked it out and given it to the funeral director to be used in the obituary.   So now Sam’s face stared out from the three year old newsprint, and below it were various facts about her, including “She is survived by her beloved husband of two years, Jason Clark Ramsey, and her daughter Alexis Ambriel Ramsey.”  Beloved husband, that’s me, Jason thought.
He looked at the picture just under Sam’s.  For some reason, he liked looking at this photo.  It was of a Dr. Pamela Renton, a middle-aged woman with gray hair and a friendly face.  He liked to think that since they both died on the same day, she and Sam were friends in heaven, and maybe Pamela was taking care of her.  Scanning the text below the woman’s picture, he read a message from her husband: “I will always love my Pandabear.”  He always smiled when he read this, and wished he had put something like that in for Sam.
He ran his finger over Sam’s picture.  “I love you baby,” he whispered, and then refolded the paper and placed it carefully back in its place.

“Happy birfday to me!  Happy birfday to me!”  Alexis was singing as she chased her best friend and next door neighbor, Kaitlin Rader, across the patio and into the back yard.  Jason and Beth sat at the table under an umbrella, and watched them go by, smiling at their youthful exuberance.  
“So, how’re you doing today Jason?” Beth asked.
“Not great,” he replied. “I had the dream again last night.”
She reached out and took his hand in hers, squeezing it.  Outwardly, he showed no reaction, but inside his emotions were in turmoil.  A huge part of him still missed Sam, but there were other parts that missed a woman’s touch, and it had been three years since he had felt that.  And this woman was recently making it clear that she was ready to take that step with him.
He had been in college when he had heard about Tom leaving her, and couldn’t believe it.  They were his role model for what a happy loving couple was.  He had visited them several times while he had the amulet, and what he witnessed between them was what he wanted with Sam.  What he and Sam had was partly a result of what he had learned from Beth and Tom.
Tom had somehow gotten involved with his secretary, a fiery Hispanic woman, and he and Beth broke apart just as Kaitlin was born.  When Jason had moved in next door, she was still suffering the effects of losing her husband, and despite the six year difference in their ages, they had became natural friends, sharing the common bond of loss.  
On the day her divorce became final, he had his mom watch the kids while he and Beth sat at his kitchen table and got drunk together, a first (and last) for him.  He held her in his arms as she cried it all out, and he was fairly sure he cried along with her, but couldn’t remember for certain.  He did recall a moment where, as they held each other, a look passed between them, and he knew she wanted him to kiss her.  And he wanted that kiss as much as she did.  But fortunately it passed.  If something had happened between them that night, they probably wouldn’t have remained friends.
But now, almost a year and a half later, Beth was making it clear that she was ready.  Sometimes when they stood next to each other, she would rest her hand in the small of his back, letting her fingertips move in small circles.  On the nights when their two girls would have sleepovers, they would sit on the couch and watch a late movie while the kids were up in their room.  Lately, Beth had gotten into the habit of taking a couch pillow and laying it on his lap, and resting her head there as she laid sideways watching the television.
And he had reciprocated, coming up behind her sometimes and giving her neck rubs, or letting his hand rest casually on her knee as they drove together.  He had seen this woman make love, and he was acutely aware of the passion she brought to the bedroom.  Some days he desired her so much that he ached, but then thoughts of Sam would come and he would sink into a morass of guilt.
“What’re you thinking?” she asked.
He looked at her.  Why do women always ask that question at the exact time when you least want them to know your thoughts?  It’s like they have some internal antenna that can sense it.
He smiled at her.  “I’m thinking that when my mother-in-law is here for the party today, we need to cool it with this.”  He nodded towards her hand on his.
She smiled back at him, gave his hand a squeeze, and then pulled hers back. “I know, I know,” she said.  “But it’s not like she doesn’t live right across the street, and see me over here all the time, even spending the night once in a while.”
“Yeah,” he replied, “I’ve been looking for an opportunity to tell her that when you do stay over, it’s all innocent, but it’s tough to bring up in normal conversation.”
She laughed.  “It’ll be alright Jason.  She’ll get over it.”
“You obviously don’t know the woman.  She’s held a grudge against me since I was ten.”
Beth was laughing at this when a loud “Dude!” interrupted them.  They turned to see Donna and Danny coming around the corner of the house.  Danny had his arms full of wrapped presents, and a pregnant Donna was walking with their identical twin daughters, Hailey and Hannah, one in each hand.
“Uncle Danny, it’s my birfday!”  Alexis came running up and latched onto Danny’s leg.  He hobbled to the table, set the presents down, and then snatched up the little girl into his arms.
“Happy birthday Alexis!” he said, “My goodness, you’re looking more like your mother every day.”
“My mommy was booteful.”
“She sure was, and you are too.  Hi Kaitlin.”
Kaitlin was peeking out from behind the swing set slide, her usual shy response to Danny.  The blonde five-year-old wasn’t quite sure how to react to this man who was on her television, both in commercials and playing football.
“Hi Jason,” Donna said, and gave him a tight hug, her big belly pressing into him.  She then hugged Beth, but it wasn’t as enthusiastic.    She never said anything, but Jason got the feeling that Donna wasn’t sure about his involvement with Beth.  He had shared his last conversation with Ambriel with her, and he believed she was holding out hope for a miracle.
Jason knelt down and gave Hailey and Hannah a twin hug.  “You two are getting prettier every day.”
“Uncle Jason, you’re silly,” Hannah said, the usual spokesperson for the pair.
“I don’t know Dad,” Jason said, “these two are going to be twin heartbreakers when they get older, and the little Dannys start coming around.”
“Dude,” Danny said, “don’t even joke about something like that.”
Jason glanced at Donna, who was grinning.
“I’m just saying,” Jason said, “there’s lots of karma headed your way when these two get older.”  He winked at Donna, who laughed.
“Daddy,” Hannah said, “what does karma mean?”
“It means you’re grounded until you’re twenty-one, that’s what it means.”

A while later, when all the friends and family sang happy birthday to Alexis, her face was lit by the three candles on her cake and her bright smile.  Tears came to Jason as he remembered that look on Sam’s face so many times when she looked at him.  He excused himself and went into the kitchen to be alone for a moment so he could compose himself.  
He was wiping his eyes when someone came in and joined him.  He turned, expecting to see Beth, but was surprised to see it was Sam’s mother.
“Hello Janice,” he said, finishing wiping his eyes.  He had tried to call her mom a few times when he and Sam were just married, but it hadn’t stuck, and he finally resorted to using her first name.
“Hello Jason,” she said, watching him.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I saw her little face and it reminded me so much of Sam.”  He combed his hands through his hair and then held his head between them, as if to keep it from exploding.  He took a deep rasping breath.
“I saw it too,” she said.  “The same look Sam always got when she looked at you.”
He looked at her with surprise.  He didn’t know she had noticed.
As if reading his mind, she said, “She was my daughter.  Of course I saw it.  I always knew she loved you, even when she was a little girl.  I think the only person who didn’t notice was you.”
He smiled.  “Yeah, I was a dumbass.”
Her face softened.  “Yeah, you were.  But you eventually smartened up.  The years that Sam had with you were the happiest of her life, so I thank you for that, even though I’ve been too stubborn to admit it.”
“Thank you,” he said, “That means a lot to me.”
“But Jason,” she continued, “She’s gone now.  You have to move on.”
He couldn’t believe he was hearing this from her.  “I don’t want to move on.  I want her back.”
“She’s not coming back,” she replied, a bit too loudly.
The words hurt his heart.  He wished he could tell her about Ambriel and what he had asked her, but she wouldn’t understand, and probably wouldn’t believe him.
“What about you and Beth?” she said, her voice softer.
“Janice, I swear to you, we haven’t done anything.  We’re just friends.”
“Why are you just friends?” she asked. “You two seem like the perfect match, and you both could use someone in your lives.”
His mind swam.  Was she trying to talk him into sleeping with Beth?  This was too surreal.
“A word of advice Jason?”
“Sure,” he said, wondering what was coming.
“You wasted time being blind to my daughter’s love.  Don’t do the same with this girl.  Your daughter needs a mother.”
He stared at her, not believing what he had just heard.
“Think about it,” she said, and turned and left the kitchen, leaving him in a daze.

After the cake had been eaten and the kids were busy playing with the new toys, Jason noticed Donna sitting alone on their backyard swing set, idly swinging.  When Sam was pregnant, she had told him she wanted a swing set in their backyard, like she had in hers growing up.  So when Alexis turned one year old, he dug up the yard and put it in.  This one was wood instead of the old metal one, and when it was completed, it occurred to him that it looked very much like a pirate ship.
He walked over and sat on the open swing, matching Donna’s slow pace.
“You ok?” he asked.
“Just thinking about her.  She would have loved days like today.”
“Yes she would.”
“We talked all the time about the children we would have.  She said she wanted a big family.  Maybe six kids.”
He smiled.  “Yeah, she told me that too.  I think it was because she was an only child, and she got lonely sometimes while growing up.”
“So you wanted lots of kids too?”
“I always told her we should have one first, and see how that goes.”
Donna laughed softly.  “When she first got pregnant, she was convinced she was having a boy.”
“Really?  She never mentioned that to me.”
“She never told you about her dream of Ambriel?”
He perked up.  “She dreamed about Ambriel?  Did she have the amulet?”
“No, she didn’t.  But she described the meadow scene perfectly.  When you found out later it wasn’t a boy, I assumed that she got that description from you, and it was just a normal dream.”
He thought for a moment.  “I never described the meadow to her.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.  I figured I’d spare her the details of being naked with Ambriel.”
Donna smiled.  “Probably a wise choice.”
“So Ambriel told her she was having a boy?”
“That’s what Sam said.”
“Huh.  Even if it wasn’t really Ambriel, Sam was usually accurate with her dreams.”  He recalled his visits to her with the amulet, and how she dreamed he was there.
Donna watched Alexis run across the yard.  “Not this time.”
“How are you doing?” he asked, nodding towards her swollen belly. “You seem smaller this time.  Can I assume it’s not twins again?”
She laughed. “No, not twins.  Danny’s getting his boy.”
He smiled wide. “That’s great. He must be happy.”
“He’s busting at the seams to talk about it.”
He smiled at her.
“What?” she asked.
“He really is your broken off piece, isn’t he?”
She thought for a moment.  “In every way.”
As they sat in silence for a moment, Beth’s voice carried across the yard, “Kaitlin, let Alexis play with that.  It’s her gift.”
He watched Donna’s mouth tighten and her lips turn down into a slight frown.
He paused for a moment, and then said, “Beth and I are just friends.”
She glanced at him with a guilty look.  “Is it that obvious?”
“No,” he replied, “but I know you very well.”
“I’m sorry.  I’m not judging you.  I just… I just can’t give up hope.”
 “I understand.  Part of me feels exactly like you do.”
“Part of you?”
“Yes.  And the other part keeps reminding me that Ambriel said ‘if at all’, and that my daughter doesn’t have a mother, and that I’m sleeping alone.”
Donna looked at him sadly.  “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“It’s ok.  If I didn’t agree with you, Beth and I would have slept together a long time ago.  But I don’t know how long I’m supposed to wait before realizing the answer is no.”
Donna reached over and put her hand on his.  “I’m sorry.  I’ll try to see that side of it.  But do me a favor Jason.”
“Sure.”
She gave a slight grin. “Don’t try to run that ‘we’re just friends’ bullshit by me again.  I know you just as well as you know me.”
He returned the grin.  Finally, tough Donna makes an appearance.  “It’s a deal.” 


Chapter 4

Jason relaxed back on the couch, glad this long day was coming to an end.  Alexis certainly had her fun, but it was too much stress for him.  The birthday girl and Kaitlin had zonked out on the floor a few minutes ago, and he and Beth had carried them up to Alexis’ bedroom, where Beth tucked them in.
“They’re out cold,” Beth said, coming down the stairs in the sleepover pajamas that she kept at his house.  Long cotton pants and night shirt, they were far from provocative, but he couldn’t help but stare at her, remembering what she looked like nude.  He recalled the first time he saw her naked, bending over the tub and giving him a very nice view of her ass, and began to get hard from the memory.  He had considered many times telling her about the amulet, and how he had watched her and Tom make love, but she had enough to think about without adding that on top of it.
As she sat down next to him, he said, “Thanks for all your help today.  I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“No problem.  By the way, I noticed you and Janice having a conversation in the kitchen.  How’d that go?”
“Very interesting,” he replied.
“How so?”
“She seems to like you.”
“Me? What do you mean?”
“She thinks you and I make a nice couple.”
She stared at him.  “Seriously?”
“Yes, her exact quote was that she thought you and I were the perfect match.”
Beth smiled and brought her legs up under her on the couch, facing him.  “And what do you think?”
He returned her smile and reached out and took her hand in his.  After a moment, he said, “Did I ever tell you I fantasized about you?”
“No,” she said, looking interested, “when was this?”
“Back when I cut your grass.  I would fantasize that you would invite me in and we would do stuff.”
She grinned.  “Stuff?”
“Hey, I was a naïve seventeen-year-old virgin.  I wasn’t even sure what stuff I wanted to do.”
She laughed at this.  “I see.  So you expected me to show you the ropes then?  Guide you through your first time?”
“Yeah, something like that,” he said, looking sheepish.
“Luckily for you, it didn’t happen,” she said with a grin.
“Why’s that?”
“Because you wouldn’t have survived the experience.  I would have been too much for a seventeen-year-old virgin to handle.  Your heart would have exploded.”  She was wearing a smug grin.
Having seen her in action, he knew she was only slightly exaggerating.  “Oh really?  So you’re saying that under this calm ladylike exterior, beats the heart of a wildcat?”
“Looks can be deceiving,” she said, her eyes locked on his, “you’d be surprised.”
No he wouldn’t.  He had seen this woman with her ex-husband Tom, a man who was six-inches taller than himself, and about thirty pounds of muscle heavier.  She had left him a panting exhausted heap, while she was still ready for more.
“Why am I getting the feeling that my heart is still in danger of exploding, even though I’m not seventeen and a virgin anymore?”
She laughed at this.  “Don’t worry, I’ll take it easy on you at first.”  She then paused and looked at him for a moment. “What do you think?”
The invitation was obvious, and he wanted her so much, but he said, “I think we better start this movie before it gets too late.”
She grinned at him, shaking her head slightly.  “Tease,” she said, under her breath.
“Excuse me, did you say something?” He was smiling back.
“Me? I didn’t say anything.”
“I heard something,” he said, getting off the couch to put the DVD in.
He started the movie, and sat back down, expecting her to get her favorite pillow and lay on him.  But she had something else in mind.
“Here,” she said, “sit back against the corner of the couch.”  He did as she asked.
“Now put this leg up on the couch along the back.”  Again, he followed her directions, and there was a space between his legs and she slid right into it, her back against his chest.  His height allowed him to look over her, and they both had a view of the TV.
“How’s that?” she asked.
“Perfect.”
She snuggled back into him, and he wondered what he was supposed to do with his hands.  She answered this by taking them in hers, and pulling them down around her stomach, so that she was in his embrace.
“Comfortable?” she asked.
That wouldn’t have been the first word he chose, but she did feel good against him.  “Feels nice,” he replied.
It occurred to him what she was doing.  Whether consciously or subconsciously, she had placed the two of them in what Tom had called her favorite position.  He had seen Tom hold her like this as he leaned back against their headboard, her between his legs and leaning back into him.  Some of her fiercest orgasms had happened while Tom held her like this, his fingers working slowly between the lips of her pussy.
These memories made him hard, and he shifted, not only trying to make himself more comfortable in his tight jeans, but also to hide his arousal as he moved his hips slightly away from her.  She was having none of it, snuggling back against him again, erasing the gap, and he knew she could feel his hardness pressing against her.  She obviously didn’t mind, and she even gave it one last squirm, rubbing herself against his erection before she settled down and began watching the movie.
They sat like this for a while, and he tried to focus on the film.  He had hoped his erection would subside, but if anything, it got stiffer.  Every few minutes she would shift slightly, as if she was getting comfortable, and he would feel her against him.  Also, his nose was positioned right above and behind her ear, and whatever perfume she had on was driving him crazy.
About half way through the movie, he decided she had gone far enough in letting him know she wanted him, and now it was time for him to let her know she wasn’t alone in her desire.  But it took him another five minutes to work up enough courage to actually do something.  Sliding his hand from under hers, he moved it upwards, searching for the curve of her breast.  Finding it, he cupped her in his hand, feeling her warmth through the material of her pajama top.  Almost immediately, her nipple hardened against his palm, and she breathed out a sigh.
He brought his nose down near to her ear, and inhaled her scent.  She responded by tilting her head away from him, exposing her neck to his breath.  He kissed her lightly, right below the earlobe.  She signed louder, and pressed back into him.
His fingertips searched for her nipple, and squeezed it gently through the cloth.  A moan escaped her lips, and she arched her back, urging him on.
With his other hand, he felt around the bottom of her pajama top, searching for the hem.  When he found it, he slid the hand underneath, tracing over the soft skin of her stomach as his hand traveled upward.  Reaching her bare breast, he repeated his actions from the other, this time feeling her warm skin under his touch.
Her body was coming alive, as if emerging from a long state of dormancy, shifting in his arms, pressing upwards against his hands and then back downward, putting pressure on his stiff erection.  His sigh of pleasure encouraged her to reach around behind her back, placing the palm of her hand against the bulge in his pants, and then pressing down again, squeezing him in her grasp.
He was becoming lost in the pleasure.  It had been so long, and her touch was also bringing his passion alive.  He sucked at the skin of her neck, as his hands gently kneaded her breasts, flicking his fingertips over her engorged nipples.
His hand outside of her pajama top slid back down, until he encountered the elastic waistband of her bottoms.  Worming his fingers underneath, his journey continued, down over her flat stomach and then reaching the slight rise of her pubic mound.  She wasn’t wearing any panties, and his hand slid down and cupped her, feeling the heat coming from inside, and the smooth shaved skin of her outer lips so soft against his fingers.
She moaned loudly, shifting her hips and spreading her legs, opening herself and encouraging his touch on her.  They both had lost track of the movie, its only purpose now was providing some flickering illumination as they enjoyed each other’s bodies.
She was already very wet, her outer labia slick from her fluids.  It coated his fingers and invited them to enter her.  He allowed his middle finger to slip between her lips, feeling her warm slippery flesh engulf him.
Her hand was still behind her, holding his shaft tightly, and she squeezed it harder in response to his invasion, while groaning softly.  Her other hand reached for his thigh, gripping him tightly through his pants to steady herself.
His finger slipped deeper into her, and the sensation changed from a loose wetness to a tight smooth grasping, as her pussy took hold of him, and drew him in further.  She lifted her hips upwards slightly, urging him to penetrate her, and soon his finger was all the way in, his palm pressed against her spread labia.
His other hand left her breast momentarily, and pulled her hand from between them.  She tried to resist, but he whispered in her ear.
“Just enjoy for now.  My turn will be next.”
She nodded and relaxed back into him, surrendering herself to the pleasure he was giving her.  His hand returned to her breasts, taking turns between them, softly pinching her taut nipples and caressing their weight.
His finger was still deep inside of her, and his thumb found her clit, rubbing a slow rhythm over it, rolling it under the pad of his thumb in gentle circles.  He thought it was ironic that he had learned this from watching her and Tom, and now he was using it to please her.
But back then, she hadn’t gone years without a man’s touch on her, and he could tell she wasn’t going to last long, even at this slow pace.  Her breathing was already a rhythmic pattern, inhaling deep and moaning on the exhale.
He kept his movements slow, circling the hard nub of sensitive flesh that was so wet and slick from her excitement.  Both of her hands were clutching his thighs, the fingernails unconsciously digging into him through the denim as she braced her body for the coming explosion. Her feet moved up onto the couch, almost under her, as she pressed her hips upwards, opening her pussy wider to his pleasurable assault.  He could feel the cloth of her taut pajama bottoms pressing against the back of his hand.
Her breath became ragged, and her muscles tightened, and he knew she was right there.  But still he continued the slow rhythm, knowing that’s what she wanted.
Suddenly, her body arched upwards, and he had to hold her to him.  She cried out her pleasure in a gasping moan, her muscles locked tightly as her orgasm jolted through her.  Her body was electric in his arms, spasms of pleasure causing her to jerk and twitch as she groaned out incoherent sounds of ecstasy.
Finally, she relaxed down into him, giving a final shiver of pleasure as his fingers slid out of her.  His hands moved back around her stomach, holding her to him as she recovered.
After a minute, she sat up and turned to him.  She was looking at him with a strange expression on her face.
“You ok?” he asked.
“Hell yeah, I’m way better than ok.  That was fantastic.  You reminded me of–”
And then she stopped, and he was glad she did.  No need to bring that up now.  It was only the two of them here – or so he thought.
“Daddy, I had a bad dream.”
He sat up quickly, and Beth moved away from him down the seat.  He looked over the back of the couch and saw Alexis standing on the bottom step of the stairs.  Luckily, they were still dressed, and from where she was standing, she couldn’t have seen anything that had happened between them.
He stood up and pulled his shirt down over the bulge in his pants before turning to her.  He went over and picked her up, holding her so their faces were close.
“Tell me about your dream baby.”
“I dreamed about Mommy.”
“You had a bad dream about Mommy?”
“Yes.” Her lower lip quivered.
“It was just a dream.  Tell me what happened.”
“A green monster was hurting Mommy.”
“A green monster?  What kind of green monster?”
“A bad monster.”
 “How was the monster hurting Mommy?”
“It shot her and made her die.”
“Honey, it was just a dream.  No one shot Mommy.”
“And then the bootiful angel came.”
He stared at her.  “There was a beautiful angel?”
“Yes.  The angel said you could save Mommy.”
He stared silently at her.
“Daddy, are you going to save Mommy?”
He shook out of his thoughts.  “Honey, we’ve talked about this.  Mommy is in heaven waiting for us.  She doesn’t need to be saved.”
The girl had calmed down, as she talked about the angel instead of the monster.  Her eyes were beginning to close.
Turning to Beth, he whispered, “Be right back.”
He carried her up to her bedroom, and placed her back in her bed, tucking the covers up around her.  She was almost asleep.
“Honey?”
“Yes Daddy?” she replied in a sleepy mumble.
“What did the angel look like?”
“A pretty boy,” she replied before drifting off.
He looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face.  
After kissing her forehead, he went back downstairs and sat on the couch with Beth. 
“Crisis over,” he said.
She slid over and sat next to him.  “You ok?”
“Yeah, but that was weird.  She’s never done that before.”
“She’ll probably forget all about it by tomorrow.”
“You’re right,” he said.  But he didn’t think he would.
“Thank you Jason.”
He was going to ask her for what, but he saw her smile and he knew.
“You’re welcome,” he replied, smiling back.
“It’s still early,” she said, looking hopeful.  “Your turn?”
He took her hand.  “My turn is going to have to wait.”
She was quiet a moment. “I want you to know this is hard for me too.  Hard to forget what I had.”
“I know it is Beth.  We’re taking things slow, but we’ll get there.”
She turned to him and put her arms around his shoulders, pulling herself to him.  His hands moved to her hips and held her.  They sat there a while, embracing each other.

# # #


You’ve just read 9,096 of 66,976 words for Amulet 2.  To buy the ebook and read the complete story, follow this link to Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/30300



* * * * *

Sex Zombies

They're sick! They're twisted! They're horny! And they're coming after you! The terrible plague lay dormant for centuries, trapped with its victims in a sealed tomb. But now it's been set loose upon the world, transforming people into drooling zombies who crave human flesh - but not to eat. Instead, they're driven only by lust. Adults only. Graphic sex and violence.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~


Chapter 1

Arapaho Nation – 1797

Growling Wolf stared up into the starry night sky, hoping he had the strength for the tests ahead of him.  Having just passed his eighteenth winter, he had to prove his worthiness to the tribe by journeying on a solitary vision quest into the wilderness.  He left his tribe’s cave on the night of the full moon, and could not return until the moon became full again.  On this night, he was only five sunrises into his solitude and he already missed his home.
He thought about the large fire that was always burning at the mouth of their cave, providing warmth during the cold nights.  Out here, all he had was a buffalo skin and a meager fire to keep him warm, and the chill of the night had settled into his bones.  His rumbling stomach reminded him of the deer or buffalo meat that was always cooking on the tribe’s fire, filling the cavern with delicious scents, while all he had out here was a small rabbit he had managed to kill.
But most of all, he thought of Cooing Dove, the squaw who would become his wife when he returned.  He had known her since they were young, and they had grown up as friends who played together.  But over the past few winters she had changed, her body transforming from a girl into a woman.  He no longer saw her as just a friend, and the feeling had been mutual.  
Although the tribe didn’t allow it until he completed his vision quest and became a man, he and Cooing Dove had been sneaking off on their own for several full moons, finding a secluded spot to explore the changes in each other’s bodies.  During their last encounter, on the night before he had left, she had gotten on her knees and presented her upturned bottom to him, like a buffalo cow in heat.  He moved behind her and pressed his hardness into her welcoming wet warmth for the first time.  The pleasure awaiting there had been unimagined, and since that night, she was all he could think of.  
The moon seemed to mock him as it moved slowly across the sky, keeping him from quenching the desire filling his loins.  He stared at it, wishing he could force it to complete its journey quickly so he could complete his.
Suddenly, an arc of light streaked across the dark sky, filling the night with blinding whiteness.  A thunderous explosion immediately rocked the earth just over a nearby hill.  The force and surprise of the blast knocked Growling Wolf backwards onto the hard ground, but his warrior training had him up on his feet in an instant, his knife in his hand.
He waited to see what else would happen, but only silence remained, and he wondered if he had fallen asleep and dreamed it all.  For the first time, he was glad he was alone, because the other braves would have surely laughed at him for his actions.  Sheathing his knife, he set out into the darkness, determined to find the cause of this disturbance.
When he reached the top of the hill, he saw it – a rough gaping hole torn into the ground.  It was about as wide as a large tree and a glow came from the bottom, as if a fire had been built down there.
He wondered if this was the white man’s doing.  Although he had never met one, he had heard stories of their wars, where they used a black powder to create explosions of fire.  But looking around the moon-lit plain, he saw no signs of anyone, let alone a white man.
Making his way over the rough ground, he reached the edge of the crater.  When he looked down, he saw the source of the light.  A large rounded rock lay at the center of the hole, cracked down the center from its impact with the earth.  A yellowish liquid seeped from the crack and formed a pool at the bottom of the hole, glowing like the dying embers of a fire. 
His first thought was to run, but again his training overcame his instinct, and he held fast.  Then an idea occurred to him.  He had been praying to the elders in the sky to help him, and perhaps this was their answer.  When he was young, he had heard the tales of great warriors who had been aided by gifts from their ancestors.  Maybe this was their gift for him.
He climbed down the torn slope of the hole, and kneeled next to the pool of glowing liquid, leaning down to look at it closely.  He couldn’t detect a smell, but he was fascinated by the light that seemed to swirl in its shallow depths.  Yes, he was convinced this was a gift meant for him.
Using his hand as a cup, he scooped up some of the warm liquid and brought it to his lips.  After drinking a small amount, he paused to make sure there were no ill effects.  There were none.  In fact, the liquid invigorated him as it traveled down to his stomach.  
He drank the rest in his hand, and then retrieved another and gulped it down.  After five more, he sat back, his stomach full.  Something was happening inside of him – a gathering of energy he had never felt before.  It was similar to how he felt when he was with Cooing Dove – that tightening tension before the ecstatic release.
The thought of her aroused his desire, causing the front of his loincloth to tent outward as he quickly hardened to full length.  But this was more than just desire. This was a physical need, more powerful than hunger or thirst.  He had to have her again, and he couldn’t wait until sunrise, let alone until the next full moon.  
As the glowing liquid made its way through his body, all coherent thought slipped away like water off a beaver pelt.  When it was gone, all that remained was the singular need of lust, powerful and consuming, and growing stronger with every beat of his heart.  He knew what he had to do.

Red Eagle wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him.  This was his fifth moon in a row he had been assigned guard duty, and he was having trouble staying awake.  Was it just a dream, or was Growling Wolf approaching him in the darkness, after only five moons into his vision quest?
Such a thing was unheard of.  No Arapaho brave had ever returned this soon.  Some had lasted only twenty moons, and others had never returned, but only five?
Plus, Growling Wolf was his friend and he knew he wasn’t this weak.  There must be something wrong.
As Growling Wolf approached, Red Eagle stepped in front of him and put his hand out.  He spoke in the ancient tongue.
“Growling Wolf, what are you doing?”
The other brave stared at him, his eyes red and vacant.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Red Eagle said, “You’re back too soon.  You’ll be stoned to death if they find you here.”
Growling Wolf continued to stare at him.  A small line of drool dripped from the side of his mouth.  He took a step forward and bumped into Red Eagle, attempting to move him out of the way.  
Red Eagle placed his hand on his chest and pushed back, stopping him again.  He felt something pressing against his leg and looked down.  Growling Wolf’s hard cock was tautly arching out from under his loincloth.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Cooing Dove,” Growling Wolf grunted.
Red Eagle grinned.  “My friend, I promise you your squaw will be waiting for you when you return.  But you must wait.  You can’t come back now.  Perhaps if your use some buffalo fat and your hand, you can relieve some of the pressure.”  He smiled again and made a stroking motion with his fist.
Growling Wolf’s hand flashed out in an arc, and his stone knife sliced easily through the front of Red Eagle’s throat.  As the wound gaped into an open vee, the blood gushed out in spurts, and the hands raised to staunch it had little effect.  As Red Eagle fell, Growling Wolf stepped past and sheathed his knife, no longer concerned with the dying brave, his mind occupied only by a single thought.
Striding into the cave, he made his way to where Cooing Dove’s family slept.  He found them sleeping on a bed of hay under a large buffalo skin, huddled together for warmth.
Locating Cooing Dove, he pulled her from under the blanket, away from her family, and looked down at her body lit by the soft glow of the torches on the walls.  She was perfect, and the desire coursed through him in strong waves.
She awoke and looked up at him, confused from her sleep.
“Growling Wolf?” she murmured.
Instead of answering, he lifted and spread her legs before kneeling between them.
Her eyes grew wide with alarm.
“What are you doing?” she whispered, “My father sleeps beside us.”
Again, Growling Wolf didn’t reply.  He shifted his hips and pressed the tip of his hardness against her opening.
“No,” she whispered, “my father will kill us both.”
Growling Wolf grunted as he flexed his hips and pressed hard into her, burrowing into her unprepared vagina with his flint-hard cock.
She stifled a cry and bit her lip, the pain of his entrance evident on her face.
He pressed deep, held there for a moment, and then withdrew in a long backwards stroke.  Despite the circumstances, she let out a small gasp of pleasure, and her inner wetness began to coat his stiff shaft.
Growling Wolf began fucking her hard, grunting his pleasure as his cock sawed in and out of her tight wet clasp.  She tried to cover his mouth with her hands, warning him to be quiet, but he was too far gone to understand.  All he knew was that the ache inside of him was gone, the fire temporarily quenched as her cunt squeezed him tightly. 
Her family slept on as they rutted beside them, and after a few minutes his grunts grew louder as he spewed his seed into her.
After he finished, he began to slide his still hard cock from her, but her legs came up around him, holding him in place.  He looked into her bloodshot eyes, and saw that the same lust that had consumed him, had now overtaken her.  He grinned down at her and she returned the smile, her teeth white against her dark skin, her eyes vacant except for the lust.  A thin line of spittle ran from the corner of her mouth down onto her cheek.  
Her arms and legs wrapped around him, and her body began moving, taking him deep into her and then out again, beginning the rhythm of wanton lust.  

* * *

Bear’s Tooth listened intently to what Niwot was telling him, allowing him to finish without interruption.  As chief of all the tribes of the Arapaho Nation, he had learned that listening was more important than talking.  And in this instance, he wasn’t sure what to say anyway.
When Niwot finished, Bear’s Tooth sat quietly, lost in thought as he stared into the fire.  Finally he said, “Are you sure Ankorok was speaking the truth?”
“Yes,” Niwot replied. “I didn’t believe him myself, so I followed him back to the cave and saw it with my own eyes.”
“All of them?” asked the Chief.
“From what I could see.  I didn’t want to get too close.”
Bear’s Tooth sighed.  With all the trouble the white men were causing, this couldn’t have happened at a worse time.  He would have to act decisively.
“If this is all true,” he said, “we must stop it.”
Niwot nodded.
“However,” Bear’s Tooth added, “I must see it for myself.”
Niwot looked at him with surprise.  “You want to go there?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think that would be safe.”
“It would be much more dangerous to order the deaths of an entire tribe of my people without being sure.”
Niwot nodded again.  “As always, your wisdom lights the darkened path.”
“We will need the white man’s black powder.  Can you get some?”
“It will be difficult,” Niwot replied, “but I will try.”
“Very well.  We shall leave in the morning.”

Bear’s Tooth walked into the cave that was the home of his Southern Takaho Tribe with concern on his elderly face.  The sounds coming from inside sent a chill through his soul.  Niwot had insisted ten of his strongest braves accompany him into the cave, but Niwot himself stayed outside, claiming he had to supervise the black powder.  But Bear’s Tooth could tell by the look on his face he was too frightened to enter the cave again.
As they approached the center of the cavern, the clamor of sounds became both louder and more distinct.  Instead of a cacophony of indecipherable voices, they could now recognize the sound as individual people – screams and moans of pleasure and anguish – all separate but joining together as one.
Reaching the chamber room, the braves lifted their torches to light what was in front of them.  Bear’s Tooth took a step back in shock, his mouth gaping in horror.  Niwot had tried to warn him about what was in front of him, but he now knew nothing could prepare him for it.
Bodies covered the floor of the cave, three layers thick in some places.  But these bodies weren’t dead.  They were very much alive, and twining around each other in unspeakable acts of sex.  Each one was nude, and engaged in intercourse with at least one other body, and most times more.  Gender no longer mattered, with men penetrating other men in various orifices, and women joining with other women, using their mouths and hands for pleasure.  Some of the bodies were smaller, informing Bear’s Tooth that even the children weren’t spared from this plague.
Niwot had told him these people had forgone eating for sex, but he didn’t realize the full impact of what that meant until now.  All of the bodies were rail thin, skin hanging off bones in loose folds.  Skull-like faces with bulging eyes and thin lips, locked in grimaces of pleasure and pain, as their bodies coupled in an unrelenting orgy.  Dried buffalo meat that Niwot had ordered brought in, sat in the corners of the chamber, ignored and uneaten.  These people had only one hunger left, and they were satisfying it.
Bear’s Tooth estimated there were close to a thousand lost souls in here, all forming one mass of writhing humanity.  He knew this sight would haunt him until the day he died.  They filled the entire cave floor, except for the pool that sat in the middle, although some laid together in the shallow water, thrusting their bodies together with obscene splashes.
One woman left the group and walked towards them.  Her long black hair lay matted against her skin, covering the tops of her flattened and loosely saggy breasts.  Her dark patch of pubic hair sagged between her legs, as if worn out from her exertions.  Her legs and arms were impossibly thin, but she walked towards them in an attempt at a sexy saunter, her cracked lips grinning in a lascivious smile.
“Stop!”  Tahchee, one of the braves, stepped between her and Bear’s Tooth.
She responded by turning her grin to him, and saying, “I want your hard cock.”
“Do not come any closer,” Tahchee warned.
The squaw ignored him and continued to come forward.  “Aren’t you a man?” she asked.  “Don’t you want to put your–” 
She never finished her sentence, because Tahchee stepped forward and brought his tomahawk down on the top of her head, cleaving her skull in half with the single powerful blow.  The gray matter of her brain showed through the split in her dark hair, but she took another few steps with a confused look on her face.  Tahchee pulled back his weapon for another strike, but she collapsed on the hard stone ground.  He nudged her a few times with his foot, but she was dead.
Next, a brave walked towards them with the same smile.  His body was gaunt and emaciated, but his large penis jutted out from his body, pointing out and upward in a defiant arc.  The skin was red and raw, and worn to the point of bleeding in some places, but it still stood strong.  The guards stared at it in fascination, not believing their eyes.
Tahchee reacted again, this time pulling out his bow and taking an arrow from its sheath.  In a smooth motion, he strung the arrow and drew the bow back, taking only a moment to aim before letting the arrow fly.  It was a perfect shot, entering through the brave’s eye socket and impaling itself in his brain.  There was no reaction of pain, and the braves watched in horror as he continued to smile.  He took a few more shambling steps before collapsing and landing on the dead squaw.
“I’ve seen enough,” Bear’s Tooth said.  “Two of you stay here and don’t let any out.  We will come and get you when we’re ready.”

Twenty minutes later, the small group of braves huddled behind a large boulder, shielding themselves from the imminent explosion.  Niwok lit the fuse, and ran back to the group.  He wasn’t sure how long it would take the fuse to burn back to the powder, so he ran like his life depended upon it.  They all waited breathlessly, and as the seconds passed they wondered if something had gone wrong.
“Maybe I should check it,” Niwot finally said, and got up to go.
Bear’s Tooth grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.  A second later, the explosion shook the earth, sending dust and debris into the air.  Small rocks fell around them as they hugged the ground.
They waited for the dust to clear, and when it did, they saw their efforts had been successful.  The front of the cave was permanently sealed with a large landslide of rocks and earth.
“It is done,” Bear’s Tooth said in a sad but firm voice, and turned to leave.  His braves fell in behind.

Inside the cave, the inhabitants paid no attention to the blast, concentrating instead on their lustful activities.  They continued unabated, some for weeks, not allowing the starvation deaths of their fellow tribe members to give them pause.  Dead bodies were fornicated with until they decomposed to slushy flesh, then the living turned to each other for gratification.
Eventually, death came to them all, their bodies decomposing in the damp air of the cave, congealing together in a single mass of rotting body parts, forming a slushy soup that oozed down into the cavern’s pool.

Chapter 2

Nebraska – Present day

The coyote waited at the entrance to its den, sniffing cautiously at the air.  It refused to allow its thirst for water to override its need for safety.  In its world, a lack of caution meant certain death, and he hadn’t lived to his old age by being foolish.
But it had spent the entire day yesterday huddled in the back corner of its den, knowing the shaking of the earth was coming.  Like most animals, it could sense when an earthquake was imminent, and that feeling was strong yesterday.  Sure enough, the trembler came in the middle of the night, causing a cave-in of the tunnel of his den.  He had worked hard all day to clear it, and now he needed to drink.
After a few minutes of sniffing, he left the den, the ground cool under his feet.  A few hours earlier, it would have been different, and the rocks that had been sitting in the midday sun would burn his footpads if he stood in one place for too long.
He climbed down the hillside, making his way towards the stream, looking forward to its cool flowing waters.  Halfway there, he came across a smaller stream of water that crossed his path.
This was new.  He had been by here many times and there had never been water here before.  Sniffing it, he could detect a slightly strange odor.  He followed it upstream, instinctively searching for its source.
He found it between two large rocks on the side of a hill.  The water was bubbling up from the earth in a natural spring, forming a small pool that overflowed down onto the path.  Sniffing it again, he smelled that same odd smell.  Was it safe?  He whined in confusion, knowing he should probably go to the stream, but feeling the thirst burning at his stomach.
He turned towards the stream and started towards it, but a pang of thirst shot through him and he turned back.  There was no need to go all the way to the stream when there was water right here to drink.
Leaning his head down, he lapped at the pool, enjoying the coolness of it going down his throat.  It was delicious.  All thoughts of the stream left him as he continued to drink, his day-long thirst coming to an end.
As he drank, he felt an energy enter his body.  It brought back memories of his younger years, when he had several females in his pack, and mated with all of them.  He had been the dominant male in this area, and controlled the pack with his strength and mating.  Now old and in his final time, such concerns were no longer important.
Until now.  As he drank, that old inner power came back to him – the desire to find a female and take her.  Soon, it was all he could think of, his safety and hunger forgotten as he wandered off into the evening in search of a mate.

Chapter 3

“Wake up.”
Walter Zanderson awoke from a deep sleep, feeling a nudge on his shoulder.
“Wake up,” his wife repeated.
“What’s going on?” he asked in a sleepy mumble.
“Something’s wrong with the dog.  Can’t you hear it?”
Walt lifted his head from the pillow and listened.  Sure enough, the dog was howling and barking.  The last time it acted like that, a wolf had been sniffing around the hens.
He sat up and looked at the clock.  Two a.m..  Goddamn animals.  If he had his way, he would get rid of them all and just put crops in.  But no, Brenda wanted the animals, so he was stuck taking care of them.  How about if she wants chickens so badly, she can get her ass out of bed at two in the morning to check on them?  How about those apples?
But instead, he allowed his wife to sleep as he pulled on his pants and buttoned them over his nightshirt.  Before leaving, he took a good look at her ass sticking out from under the covers.  Even the granny panties she wore didn’t deter him from having some thoughts, and he wondered if she would be up for a little playtime when he got back.
Probably not.  It had been a while since she had given it up, even though he kept trying.  It was a different excuse every time, and last night it had been her sore feet.  He couldn’t understand how that prevented her from fucking, since her feet would be up in the air anyway.  
It had gotten so bad, that lately he had been eyeing up the milking machine, wondering what it would feel like to stick his cock in there.  He had heard other farmers talking about it, claiming it was better than a woman.  But he laughed off that kind of talk, telling them he wasn’t that desperate.  But now, he was beginning to rethink that decision.
Downstairs, he took the gun off the rack above the fireplace, and headed outside.  He hoped he wouldn’t have to use it, because that would wake the girl.  He wouldn’t mind waking his wife, since they were her damn animals and she didn’t deserve to sleep, but his daughter was a different story.  If he woke her up, she’d be bitching up a storm tomorrow morning at breakfast, and he wouldn’t hear the end of it.  
Carly had been a sweet thing when she was younger – a regular Daddy’s little girl.  But that all changed when she hit her teenage years, and the wildness set in.  Now she was moody and dyed her hair black, and got piercings in her lips and nose to go with the ones she had in her ears since she was nine.
Then there was that damn thing on her tongue – the stud that pierced it all the way through.  When she had come home with that one he had raised holy hell, telling her there was only one use for such a thing, and she had better damn well not be using it for that.  But in the end, she had outlasted him, and it remained.  So now he had to look at it every time she talked, forcing him to think about things he would rather not.  He was actually looking forward to this fall when she would go off to college.
During the day, Shep, their German Shepherd, ran free around the farm.  But she spent her nights tied up behind the barn next to the chicken coop, performing her sentry duty.  As Walt approached the barn, her barks and yelps got louder, and he picked up his pace, wanting to shut her up as quickly as possible. 
He raised the gun before he turned the corner, just in case it was something bigger than a wolf.  They’d had the rare bear stop by, and he didn’t want to come across one of those without being ready.
But what greeted him wasn’t a bear.  In fact, it was the damndest thing he had ever seen.  It was a coyote, but it wasn’t interested in the chickens.  Instead, it was mounted on the back of Shep and humping frantically, its hips jerking in a frenzied motion against her hind quarters.
He nearly burst out laughing from the sight.  He wasn’t sure why, but the sight of the mangy critter humping his dog struck him as funny.  But he realized that maybe the thing had rabies, and he better get it off of her.
He lowered the rifle and shouted, “Hey!  Get away from her!”
The coyote didn’t look his way.  It just kept humping away as if he hadn’t spoken.
“Hey!” he shouted louder.  “Now git!”
Again, the animal ignored him.  Instead of running away, the animal stepped up its pace, and Walter could hear the faint slapping of its body against the dog.
Must be rabid, he thought, and raised the gun and aimed.  But the thought of his daughter bitching at him made him lower it again.  Looking around, he noticed the axe sitting by the woodpile.  
Walking over, he exchanged the gun for the axe, hefted it in his hands, and approached the humping animals.  
“Git!” he shouted.  “Go!”
He was only about five feet from the pair, but the coyote still kept thrusting his hips, oblivious to the man right behind him.  Taking a step closer, Walt reached out with the ax and nudged the coyote on the shoulder.
The coyote finally reacted.  It turned its head towards him and snarled, baring its teeth in a fierce grimace, all the while never missing a beat in its thrusts.
“Why you mother cusser,” Walt said, feeling a spike of anger.  “Bare your teeth at me will ya?”
He took another step closer and brought the axe back, coiling his body like a batter waiting on a fastball.  The coyote seemed unconcerned and shifted its attention back to the dog, hooking its front paws deeper into her sides.
Walt uncoiled, swinging the axe in a tight powerful arc, whipping through the air and barely slowing down when it reached the coyote’s neck.  Slicing through it like warm butter, it continued on its way, taking flecks of blood and pieces of fur along with it.
The coyote’s head, now connected to the rest of its body by just a thin strip of fur and flesh, bobbled in the air before falling.  When it reached the end of its flesh tether, it jiggled like a fish on a line.  Once again, Walt felt like laughing, the sight reminding him of a cartoon from his youth.
But inexplicably, the headless body continued humping his dog, as if it was following some inborn instinct without thought.  Blood was spurting out of the stump of its neck in rhythmic jets, coating Shep and the ground around her.
“Mother fuck!”  Walt exclaimed, and brought the axe back again.  But thankfully the coyote stopped its movements, and now clung motionless to the back of his dog.  He waited a few seconds to make sure it was really dead before poking it with the axe.  It didn’t move.  
Giving it another minute, he finally reached out and grabbed its tail, giving it a yank.  The paws came loose from Shep’s sides, but something was keeping it stuck to the dog.  He pulled harder but it wouldn’t come loose.  Leaning his head to the side, he discovered what it was.
The coyote’s cock was still stuck in her, and it must have swollen up and lodged itself.  
“Son of a bitch!” he exclaimed, half out of horror and half out of humor.  He was certainly going to have a story to tell the next time he went down to the Feed & Seed.
He pulled harder on the animal, but all that did was pull Shep back towards him.  Putting one hand on the dog’s blood-soaked fur, he held her in place as he yanked the coyote’s tail.
Suddenly, Shep twisted her body and bit at his arm.  He managed to get most of it out of the way of her teeth, but they caught the skin at the fleshy part of the forearm, and when he lifted it, he saw she had drawn blood.
“Bitch!” he cried.  “God damn it!”
He let go of the tail, and Shep turned to face him, her shoulders hunched low and showing her teeth.  The coyote’s body still hung obscenely off her ass.  Once again, Walt felt like laughing but the dog’s teeth sobered him up.
“You were a good dog,” he said, bringing the axe high above his head.  “But this shit has to end now.”  The dog gave out one last sharp yelp as he cleaved its head in two.
Walt stared down at the two corpses.  Now that was fucked up.  He checked the wound on his arm and decided it wasn’t too bad.  He’d clean it up when he went inside and before he went back to bed.  He decided he wouldn’t tell Brenda about Shep until tomorrow morning.  No use getting her upset in the middle of the night.  It would probably ruin any chance of him getting some loving from her tonight, not that he thought his chances were too good anyway.
The image of her ass popped into his head.  What he could do with that if she’d let him.  He could peel her panties down and take her just like that.  Slide his cock right into her and hump her like the coyote had been humping Shep.  Wouldn’t that be something?
And why not?  She was his wife, wasn’t she?  Isn’t it her duty to allow him to fuck her?  Wasn’t that one of the vows she took on their wedding day?  To love, honor, and give up the pussy?  He chuckled to himself at the thought.
Yes, he thought, why did he have to wait for the rare occasion when she wanted it?  Didn’t he have needs too?  Sure he did.  He could feel the need now, pressing hard against the front of his pants.  Why did he have to go to bed every night with aching balls when there was a perfectly fine cunt lying right next to him?
Yes, that’s right, his wife had a cunt.  She was a cunt and she had a cunt.  His lips stretched into a tight grin.  And according to the laws of the church, their wedding vows meant he owned that cunt just as much as she did.  He could have it any time he wanted, even if she refused to give it up.  
Like right now.  Now would be a perfect time to shove his hard cock into her.  He walked back towards the house.
By the time he reached the porch, all coherent thought was gone, except for the need to stick his dick into his wife.   His erection was painfully hard, and he reached down and unzipped his pants to free it as he entered the house and climbed the stairs.
In the bedroom, his wife was in the same position he had left her, with her panty-covered ass sticking out from under the covers.  He kicked off his shoes, removed his pants, and skimmed off his shirt.  His erect cock jutted out fiercely, the skin stretched taut over the bulbous head.
He kneeled on the bed, causing the springs to squeak lightly as he shifted into position.  His eyes locked on the curves of Brenda’s ass, and he lightly stroked his dick.  Bringing his hand to his mouth, he spit a copious amount of saliva into his palm, and rubbed the lubrication around his cockhead, making it slick for its invasion.  
With the other hand, he pulled her panties to one side, revealing her fur-lined slit to his lustful gaze.  She shifted slightly but didn’t wake.  Adjusting his hips, he nuzzled his cock into her crack, searching for the entrance.  Finding it, he wasted no time in pressing forward, burying the slick head into her tight cunt.
“What?” she said, still half asleep.
He responded by pressing harder, sliding half of his length into her.
“Walter!  What are you doing?”
He grunted a response and flexed his hips, driving his cock completely inside.
“Get off of me!”  She tried to twist her hips away but he held her tight, enjoying the feeling of her cunt squeezing him as she struggled.
He pulled out until only the head remained, then slammed back into her, his balls slapping audibly against the cheek of her ass.
“Ow,” she cried, “you’re hurting me!”
Her words meant nothing to him.  All he could think of was the pleasure he was feeling.  He fucked her in short savage thrusts, his engorged cock stretching her unused pussy and filling her completely.  His low grunts accompanied each hard slap of his hips against her ass.
“Walter, stop it.”  But her words had lost all emphasis, and soon her breathing picked up, meeting his thrusts with movements of her own.
“Ooh, that feels good,” she said, “It’s been too long.”
He continued his jackhammer-like pounding, not caring if she was enjoying it.  His orgasm was nearing.
“Aaaaaaah,” she moaned.  “Give it to me Walter.  Fill me with it.”  Her breathing was coming in ragged gasps, as she jerked her body back against his, wanting him deeper.
The dark room was filled with the wet sounds of their animalistic coupling.  The squelching noises of cock moving in clasping cunt, and the groans and moans of pleasure.  
“Fuck me!” she cried, and the last remnants of her sanity were shocked at her use of the word, but they were overtaken by the lust surging through her brain, and all that remained was the need for sexual pleasure.  
“Fuck me hard,” she groaned, “Fill my dirty cunt with your hard cock.  Shoot your cum in me.”
Just like he used to do when he was sane, Walter obeyed his wife and blasted jets of hot sperm deep into her, filling her until it leaked out in runny white streams around his pistoning cock.
When he was done, they did it again.  Halfway through he pulled out of her cunt and slipped smoothly into her ass.  Her tight sphincter stretched unfamiliarly around his aroused girth, but she  moaned with pleasure from the invasion.
When they finished the second time, he got off her, his lust still unquenched.  Leaving the bedroom, he walked down the hall to the door at the end, and pushed it open without hesitation.  He entered the room and stood naked and erect over the sleeping form of his daughter.  
Staring down at her, all he could think of was the stud on her tongue, and how he could put it to good use.  He became aware his wife had followed and was standing beside him.  Looking over at her, he saw her staring at the sleeping girl also. 
She turned her head to him and her lips arched into a lustful smile.

 Chapter 4

The bell on the door tinkled and Josh Becker looked up from the book he was reading.  Police Chief Daniel Moore was coming into the store.
“Good morning Josh.”
“Morning Chief.  Shoot anyone today?”
Chief Moore grinned.  This had been a running joke between them since Josh was in the Fifth Grade, and Moore, just an officer at the time, came to his class to talk about drugs.  Josh was fascinated by the gun on the police officer’s hip, and when Moore finished his drug speech and asked the class if they had any questions, Josh’s hand shot up.  Of course, his question had been, “Have you ever shot anyone?”
Moore had laughed back then too.  They lived in the small town of Falls City, and Moore’s primary trouble-makers were drunks and speeders.  In his entire thirteen-year career, he had never even had to pull his gun, let alone use it.
“Got five criminals this morning,” Moore said, giving his voice a cowboy twang and making a pistol out of his hand,  He blew imaginary smoke away from the tip of his finger.
Josh laughed.  “Sounds like you’ve worked up an appetite.  Coffee and pastries?”  
It was the store owner’s policy that police officers got all the free coffee and pastries they wanted.  The QwikFill was located on the outskirts of the town, and was more prone to robberies than the ones along the main street.  The theory was the free food would keep a steady presence of police at the gas station, thereby deterring any potential robbers.  And it must be working, since there hadn’t been a robbery in the three months Josh had been employed here.
“Just coffee today,” Moore said, patting his stomach.  “My wife asked me to lay off the sweets.”
Josh glanced at the man.  He looked like he didn’t have an ounce of fat on him.  Josh guessed he was about six foot three, since he was a few inches taller than himself, and probably weighed over 200 pounds, all of it muscle.
“One coffee coming up.”  Josh went to the brewer, poured a cup, and handed it to the Chief.
“Thanks.  How’s your mom doing?”  Moore picked out a few packets of artificial sweetener.
“She’s the same.”
“I guess she’s going to miss you when you go off to college in a few months.”
“Yeah, she’s already planning Thanksgiving.”
Moore chuckled as he stirred his drink.  “I’ll have my officers put your house on their regular routes, so they can check on her.”
“Thanks.”  Since his father had died ten years ago, it had been just him and his mom.  When he got his scholarship, he had never considered the fact she would be all alone when he was gone.  He made a mental note to call her every day.
“Where you playing ball this summer?”
“Southeast Pony League.  Got practice this afternoon.”
Moore nodded again.  “That’s a tough league.  Should get you ready for college.  I’ll be sure to stop by and catch a few games.”
“That’d be cool.”  Despite Josh’s dad being ten years older, he and Moore had been good friends.  After his dad had died, Moore had often stopped by his house and taken him to the nearby park, where they would catch baseball and talk.  Moore was a former pitcher himself, and showed Josh how to throw with accuracy.  When Josh hit puberty and his body developed, his natural speed combined with what Moore had taught him made him a formidable hurler.  Combined with his best friend Billy, they had been the heart of their high school team’s pitching rotation, and led them to two straight state championships.  And also matching scholarships at Nebraska University.
When Josh hit his teen years, hanging around with a cop was no longer cool, and he and Moore stopped their practices at the park.  But the Chief was a regular spectator at his games, and they remained friends.
“I better get back on the road,” Moore said, “My shift ends in an hour, and the wife and I have big plans for tonight.”  He gave Josh a wink.
“Nice.”  Moore was fairly young, but Josh had no desire to hear about his sex life with his wife.
They said their goodbyes and Moore headed out with his coffee.  Alone again.  This job was a lot of alone.  Out here away from town, most of their customers were folks going somewhere else, and they were rare.  Sometimes he would go a full hour without seeing anyone.
This time it didn’t take that long.  Five minutes later the bell on the door rang again.  When Josh looked up, he grinned when he saw who was coming in.
“Billy!  What’s up?”
“Nothing much.  How’s life out here at Outpost 159?”
Josh laughed.  That was Billy’s nickname for the gas station, since it sat out on Route 159.
“Boring as fuck,” Josh replied, “you’re my second customer in an hour.”
“Sounds like you need a better job.”
“I had a better job, until you convinced me to quit.”
“Dog Barn was better than this?”
“Hell yeah.  At least I got to interact with the human race.”
“I wouldn’t call dressing up like a hot dot at kids’ birthday parties, interacting with the human race.”
Josh laughed again.  “You have a point.  By the way, when are you going to get me in at your dad’s hardware store?  That’s why I quit in the first place.  You guaranteed your dad would hire me.”
“I’m working on it.  But Dad says times are tough.  He told me he would have let me go, but he didn’t want me lying around on the couch all day.”
“I need to get out of here.  I’ll be batshit crazy by the time I go off to college.”
“You coming to practice this afternoon?”
“I’ll be there.”  The two of them had played ball together since t-ball, and baseball was the source of their friendship.  Billy was the blonde version of his dark hair and blue eyes, both of them tall and lean.  Some people even mistook them for brothers.
“Guess who I saw last night coming out of the movies?” Billy asked.
“Who?”
“Haley.”
The smile left Josh’s face.  “I don’t care.”
“Don’t you want to know who she was with?”
“I said I don’t care.”
“Jimmy Hoffman”
Josh gritted his teeth.  Jimmy was the quarterback of the football team, and an insufferable asshole.  Haley knew Josh didn’t like him.  She was obviously doing this to piss him off.
“Still not giving a shit.”
“You look like you give a shit.”
“We’re broken up.  It’s been three months.  We’re moving on.”
His friend looked at him.  “And who have you been moving on with?”
“I’m taking my time, playing the field.”
Billy laughed.  “You have to actually play to be playing the field.  You haven’t been on a date since.  I’m tellin’ ya bud, that buildup of sex fluids in your body is unhealthy.”
“My sex fluids aren’t your concern.”
“Really?  So I guess I shouldn’t concern you with the fact that Amber’s cousin is in town and we’re looking for someone to double date with tonight?”
Josh’s ears perked up.  “Her cousin?”
“Yeah.” 
“Is she hot?”
“I’ve never met her, but Amber said she’s cute.”
“Cute?  Is it good when one girl calls another cute?”
Billy shrugged.  “Do you want to go or not?”
“What’s her name?”
“Emma.  What difference does it make?”
“Emma sounds like a cute name.”
“People’s names don’t have anything to do with how they look.  Look at Clit Howard.  His name is something beautiful, and he’s ugly as fuck.”
“Um, I think his name is Clint, with an ‘n’.”
“No, it’s Clit.”
“Who would name their kid Clit?”
“Those Hollywood freaks give their kids all kinds of weird names.”
Josh began to reply, but he saw a large black pickup truck pull up outside. “Asshole alert,” he said, and Billy turned to see.
They watched Ray ‘Bubba’ Carlton get out of his truck and approach the door.  He played tight-end for the football team and looked it, built like an orangutan.  There was always friendly competition between the baseball and football players, but Bubba took it more seriously than most.
As Bubba pushed the door open, Billy turned back to Josh and said, “You’re getting paid to put up with this shit, but I’m not.  I’ll see you at practice.”  He started towards the door.
“What’s up faggots?” Bubba said.  Seeing Billy leaving, he said, “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?  If you two were about to suck each other’s dicks, I can come back another time.”
Billy flipped him the bird as he walked by.
“So that’s how big your dick is,” Bubba said.  “No wonder Amber always looks pissed off.”  He laughed at his own joke.
Billy kept his finger in the air as he pushed the door open and left.
“Josh, I saw Haley out with Jimmy last night,” Bubba said, “I guess she wanted a real man after dating you for two years.”
“So I hear,” replied Josh, trying to keep the emotion off his face.  “What can I do for you Bubba?”
Bubba reached into his back pocket and laid a driver’s license on the counter.  “Give me a carton of Marlboros.”
Josh looked down at the ID and up at Bubba.  “What’s that?” he asked.
“That ID proves I’m twenty-one.”
Josh paused and stared at him.  “Bubba, we just graduated from high school together.  I know how old you are.”
“That’s not what the ID says.  Besides I was held back a few times.”
“We’ve been in the same class since Kindergarten.  Were you held back three times in pre-school?”
Bubba looked confused.  “Maybe.”
Josh slid the ID back to him.  “Sorry, it’s not happening.”
“The law says you have to sell to me if I have proper ID, and that’s proper ID.”
“Obviously it isn’t.”
They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Bubba decided to changed tactics.
“I thought we were buds,” Bubba said with a fake pained look on his face.
“When was that?”
“Remember when I invited you to my football party in Ninth Grade?”
“Yeah, and you and the rest of the team stripped me down to my underwear and locked me in the closet with Gertrude Fritz.”
“We did you a favor.  There’s a reason her nickname is the Vacuum Cleaner.”
“Yeah, I know.  I still have scars on my dick from her braces.”
Bubba began to laugh but stopped himself.  “I was just trying to show you a good time.”
A flicker of movement over Bubba’s shoulder caught Josh’s attention.  His eyes refocused and stared.
“No fucking way!” he said, his mouth hanging open.
“Come on dude,” Bubba continued, oblivious to Josh’s gaze, “Just this once.”
Josh continued to stare, now speechless.  Bubba finally noticed he wasn’t looking at him, and turned to see what had grabbed his attention.  His own mouth dropped open in shock.
Carly Zanderson was walking across the parking lot towards them, stark naked.  They both watched silently as she came to the door and pushed it open, walking inside.  She had a huge grin on her face.
Josh couldn’t take his eyes off her.  He had known Carly since they were little, and had a crush on her in the Fifth Grade.  But when they reached Junior High she had changed, and started hanging out with a weird crowd.  She had dyed her blonde hair black and several piercings appeared on her face, beginning with a single nose ring then spreading like weeds, several on her lips and a few on her ears.  Haley had told him she also had one on her clit, and had showed it off to the girls in the locker room after gym class.
She stood there naked, appraising both of them, the grin never leaving her face.  Her body was white, as if it had never seen the sun, and it contrasted starkly with her black hair, which was matted against her head and shoulders.  Her medium-sized breasts looked firm, with rosy pink nipples standing erect.  With her pussy shaved bare, he could see the beginning of her slit before it curved underneath.  Sure enough, there was a glint of silver from her piercing there.
Josh was the first to speak.  “Carly?  Are you ok?”
She turned her attention to him and her smile widened.  “Do you want to fuck?”
His mouth dropped open again and he finally took a good look at her face.  She seemed to be on some kind of drug or something.  Her bloodshot eyes looked right at him, but he could tell the Carly he knew wasn’t behind them.  What kind of drugs had her weird friends given her?
Bubba chuckled and grinned.  “You are looking fine baby.”
Her head turned to him. “Want to fuck?”
He grinned wider.  “Does the Pope shit in the woods?”
She stared at him, showing no sign of getting his joke.  “Fuck me.”
“Sure thing darlin’.  Let’s hop in my truck and find somewhere where we won’t be interrupted.”
“Bubba,” Josh said, “something’s wrong with her.  We should call her parents.”
Her head swiveled back to Josh.  “My parents sent me out to fuck someone.”
“See?” Josh said to Bubba.  “She isn’t right.  She’s fucked up on something.”
“Don’t worry,” Bubba said, still grinning, “I’ll be sure to take her home when we’re done.”
“Don’t do this.”
Bubba slapped him on the shoulder.  “Dude, that’s some prime pussy right there, and I plan on having me some.  I don’t care if she’s drunk or high.  If anything, I’m doing her a favor.  When she wakes up with a sore pussy and doesn’t remember how she got it, maybe next time she’ll be more careful about what substances she puts in her body.”  He laughed again and walked over to Carly.
“Carly,” Josh said, “why don’t you stay here and I’ll call your parents?”
But Carly wasn’t listening to him.  As Bubba put his arm around her shoulder, she turned into him and kissed him hard, her hand reaching for his crotch and squeezing him there.
Their tongues explored each other’s mouths, and when they separated, she said, “Fuck me now.”
“Whoa there baby,” Bubba said, “let’s go out to my truck.”  He led her towards the door.
She turned back to Josh.  “Join us,” she said.
He stared at her before responding.  “Not the kind of three-way I’m interested in.  Carly, I think you should stay here.”
She ignored him and turned, allowing Bubba to lead her outside.  They got into the truck and Josh saw her crawl into his lap as he started the engine.  As the truck left the parking lot, her head disappeared below the top of the door.
He stared out the window for a minute before picking up the phone and hitting the speed dial for 911.
“Falls City Police Department, what’s your emergency?”
Josh recognized the voice of Mrs. Greenbower, the ancient ex-teacher who now worked for police dispatch.  She had been his teacher in Fourth Grade, and had been old even back then.
“Mrs. Greenbower, this is Josh Becker out at the QuikFill on 159.”
“Hello Josh.  How’s your mother doing?”
“Fine.  I think we have a problem out here.”
“What kind of problem?”
“Do you remember Carly Zanderson?”
“Yes.  Such a sweet girl.  It’s a shame she became a slut.”
“Um, yeah.  I think she’s in trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“She showed up here naked and on some kind of drug or something.”
“Did you say naked?”
“Yes.  She was totally nude.”
“Hmmm.  Can’t say this comes as much of a surprise.  I always knew that girl was heading down the wrong path.”
“Mrs. Greenbower, I think she’s in danger.”
“Of course she is.  Any girl who acts like she does is in danger of ruining her life.  What’s your emergency?”
“Carly’s the emergency.”
“You called the police because some whore is walking around nude?  Son, time is valuable to the police.  Don’t be wasting it with nonsense like this.”
“But she’s–”  The line went dead.
“Fuck.”
 
Chapter 5

Bubba sat back in the seat of his pickup with his pants around his ankles.  He was enjoying the sight of Carly’s lips gliding up and down his rock hard shaft.  What she lacked in technique she made up for in enthusiasm, and her eyes met his as her mouth took him deep, and then slid back upwards until she was sucking the head.  Something about those eyes he couldn’t look away from.  They were full of lust, nothing else, as if his cock was the only thing that mattered in the world.
The truck was sitting in the middle of Brown’s apple orchid – one of the benefits of having four-wheel drive.  She had been on him since they left the gas station, quickly pulling down his zipper and engulfing his growing cock in her mouth.  He almost came a few times while he drove, but managed to hold off until they parked.
To his surprise, he hadn’t softened at all after spraying his cum into her throat, and her mouth kept up its rhythm, bringing his passion back up quickly until he was close again.  It was the first time he had gotten a blowjob from a girl with a stud in her tongue, and he was enjoying the unusual sensations.
But after a few minutes, he wanted something different, so he pulled her head up from his crotch.  She resisted at first, but then allowed him to push her back on the seat.  Her legs opened wide in invitation, spreading the outer lips of her pussy slightly, sending a jolt through his cock.  One of her feet rested on the back of the seat, and the other was on the dashboard.  He settled between her legs and nudged the tip of his cock at her sopping entrance, planning on entering her slowly.  But she wanted something else, and reached up and grabbed his ass cheeks and pulled him violently into her, sheathing his cock completely inside of her in one swift thrust.
“Yes,” she moaned, “fill that cunt.”
He groaned into her ear from the sudden pleasure.  Her pussy was gripping him tightly, like a squeezing fist.  He backed out slowly until just the head was inside, and she jerked him back into her, their bodies coming together in an audible slap.  They began a rhythm of slow exits and swift impalings, his balls slapping against her upturned ass.
“Ahhhh, fuck me,” she said, “that’s it.  Just like Daddy did.”
Huh? What was she saying?  Something about her father?  A fog of lust had descended over his mind, and he couldn’t think of anything other than the feeling of her cunt gripping his cock, sending waves of pleasure through him.  He tried to refocus, but the lust kept drawing him back down into its depths, confusing his thoughts.
“Your Daddy?” he managed to mumble.
“Yes,” she said, “My Daddy fucked me real good last night.  Many times.  Over and over.  And my mother joined in.”
This was wrong.  Josh had been right, something was off with her.  Fucked her Dad?  Did he hear her right?  And her Mom joined in?  He had to stop this right now.
But her pussy clamped down hard on his cock as her orgasm burst through her, sending ripples of pleasure along his shaft, causing him to go over the edge also, firing jet after jet of hot white semen deep into her spasming cunt.  When he recovered, any thoughts of ending this had vanished, wiped from his mind as the lust overtook him.
His cock stayed hard and he began thrusting again.  He grinned down at her.  “Do I fuck as good as Daddy?”
“Oh yeah,” she replied, corkscrewing her hips up at him, “maybe you’d like to screw my Mom too?”
He thought that was a very good idea.
 
Chapter 6

“She was naked?” Billy asked, as he and Josh tossed the baseball back and forth, warming up for practice.
“Completely,” Josh replied, “and spaced out of her mind.”
“And you turned her down?”  His friend was grinning.
“You should have seen her.  It was fucked up.”
“You always were the Boy Scout.  What about tonight?  Are you on?”
Josh thought about it.  If Haley can go out with Jimmy, then he should be going out too.  “Yeah, sounds like fun.  But she better be cute.”
“Amber guarantees you’ll like her.  As a matter of fact, she said that if you don’t, she’d personally give you a blowjob herself.”
“Seriously?”
“No I’m not serious you fucking goof,” Billy replied, whipping the ball hard at Josh’s head, “and stop thinking about my girlfriend like that.”
Josh snatched the ball out of the air and grinned.  “You’re the one who brought it up.”  He tossed the ball back.  “I hear she’s pretty good at it though.”
The next ball came back even harder, snapping into the palm of Josh’s mitt with a loud pop.
“Ow!” He pulled his hand from his glove and shook it.  Grinning, he said, “Ok ok, let’s change the subject.”
The coach called them all in for batting practice, and they didn’t have the chance to talk again until after the practice wrapped up.  
“Did Bubba come back?” Billy asked, as they walked to their cars.
“What do you mean?”
“Did Bubba come back to the gas station after fucking Carly?”
“No.  I haven’t seen him since.”
“That’s weird.”
“The whole thing is weird.  You should have seen her.”
“I agree.  Next time a naked girl walks into your store, you call me ok?  No matter what I’m in the middle of, I’ll come running.”
Josh laughed.  “Under normal circumstances, I would agree with you.  But there was something definitely unsexy about her.  Maybe it was the look in her eyes or something.”
“I guess Bubba disagreed.”
“Bubba would fuck anything.  Remember he used to date Wendy Wilcox?”
Billy laughed.  “Yeah, she was so ugly, he would only take her to places they wouldn’t be seen together, like the drive-in over in the next county.”
“True.  Markus told me one time in the locker room after football practice, the rest of the team was riding him for having such an ugly girlfriend.  He said Bubba explained it by saying he only fucked her in the ass, so he wouldn’t have to look at her face.” 
Billy was laughing hard.  “What a fuck up.”
They reached their cars and loaded their equipment into the trunks.
“What about tonight,” Josh asked, “who’s driving?”
“I figured you and I could go in your car, and Amber and Emma can use mine.  We’ll meet at the restaurant.  That leaves our options open if we want to split up later.”
“Sounds like a plan.  What time should I pick you up?”
“Seven-thirty.”
“See you then.”

At that moment, Bubba was between Mrs. Zanderson’s legs, fucking her for the fourth time that afternoon.  Beside them on the bed, Walt Zanderson had just finished with his daughter.  In the dense cloud that was formerly Walt’s brain, he looked at the couple next to him, and liked what he saw.  Gone was any memory of a wife who used to hold out on him, and instead he only saw flesh upon flesh, and a primal part of his brain reveled in it.  He decided to join in.
A couple hours later, Brenda looked at Carly and Bubba and said, “Go and bring back more.”

Chapter 7

Josh picked up Billy on time, and they headed for the restaurant.
“Have you heard any more about Bubba or Carly?” Billy asked.
“No.  Maybe they’re still out in the woods, going at it.”
“If they are, then I’ll have to tip my hat to him. And give him some Ben-Gay to rub on his dick, because it’s gotta be sore.”
Josh laughed.  “What’s planned for after we eat?”
Billy shrugged.  “Amber suggested the drive-in.”
“The drive-in?  That’s kind of a lot of pressure for a first date.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, Emma and I will be sitting there alone, and I won’t have any clue what she’s expecting from me.  Will she want to make out?  Or will she get pissed if I try to touch her?”
“I guess you’ll have to play it by ear.”
“A movie in a theater would be better.  You can hold hands and maybe make out a bit, but you know it’s not going any further.”
Billy gave him a sideways glance.  “Speak for yourself.”
“You mean you went further in a theater?”
“Hell yeah.  Amber loves to give me blowjobs during the movie.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Either way, I wouldn’t expect a blowjob in a theater on a blind date.”
“Why not?  Don’t girls who like to suck cock go on blind dates?”
“This is why it’s hard to talk to you.  Every conversation devolves into this senseless sexual babble.”
Billy grinned.  “You just can’t argue against my logic.”
Josh turned his Camaro into the restaurant parking lot.  It was ten years old but still in great shape, and his Uncle Ron helped him with all the repairs, including taking most of the engine apart last summer and rebuilding it.  The only downside was the bucket seats, which made making out tough.  But Haley hadn’t minded, and they had spent plenty of time in the back seat over the last year and a half.
As he and Billy got out of the car, he shook his head, trying to clear all thoughts of his ex out of his mind.
The restaurant was a small Italian place, and when they talked to the hostess, they discovered the girls were already seated.  As he walked to the table, Josh saw Amber’s familiar face framed by her long blonde hair, and studied the shoulder-length brown hair of the girl sitting with her back to him.  A surge of nervous energy went through him, and he took a deep breath.
As he reached the table, she turned to him, and he stared in surprise.  Cute was the perfect description for the girl sitting in front of him.  She wasn’t model beautiful, but more like the wholesome girl next door, with wide green eyes and a smile that lit up her face, like it was doing right now.  A few freckles splashed across her cheeks and turned-up nose, and it occurred to him she would be perfect in one of those Irish Spring soap commercials, looking like a fine Irish lass.
“Hi,” he said, not sure what else to say.
“Hi,” she replied, flashing the smile again.
Amber took command.  “Josh, this is Emma, my cousin.  Emma, this is Josh.”
“Hi Emma,” he said and stuck out his hand.  She placed her small hand in his, and he held it gently.
“Hi Josh,” she replied.
Billy slapped him on the back.  “I’m hungry.  Could you sit down now?”
He grinned sheepishly and Emma moved over in the booth to give him room, and he sat beside her.  Their thighs touched briefly, and he quickly pulled his back.
Billy sat next to Amber and they hugged and kissed, and although they had done that hundreds of times in front of him, this time made him feel a little uncomfortable, as he and Emma sat in silence waiting for them to finish.
When the tongues came out, Josh cleared his throat loudly, looking at Emma and seeing her grin.  When that didn’t work he kicked his friend in the shin.
“Hey, what was that for?” Billy said after breaking the kiss.
“We’re planning on eating over here, and you’re spoiling out appetites.”
Emma giggled and leaned lightly into him as she laughed, and the touch of her shoulder against his felt wonderful.
“So Emma, where are you from?” 
“Dawson.”
“That’s only fifteen miles up the road.  Why haven’t you visited Amber before?”
“I used to come down here all the time when I was little, but I’ve been busy at school the last couple of years.”
He watched her lips as she talked, fascinated by the shape of them.
The waitress came by and took their order, and they decided to get a large pizza to split among them.
“Did you guys feel that earthquake last night?” Amber asked.
Josh and Billy looked at her with blank expressions.
“Earthquake?”  Josh said.
“Yeah, last night around one in the morning.  Emma and I were in my room talking when it hit.”
“Wait, we have earthquakes around here?” Billy asked.
Amber nodded “The news said they’re rare, but they happen.”
“What’d it feel like?” Josh said.
“It felt like a big boom,” Emma replied, “and the whole house shook.”
“That’s wild,” Billy said.
“I almost peed in my pants,” Amber said with a grin.
“Josh has a wilder story,” Billy said.
“Wilder than an earthquake?”
“Tell ‘em Josh.”
The girls’ heads turned towards him.  “Well, you know Carly Zanderson, right?”
“Yeah,” replied Amber, “that goth chick.”
“Yeah, that’s her.  Today she showed up at the QwikFill completely nude.”
The girls gave him shocked looks.
“Nude!”
“Yeah, completely.”
“What happened?”
Josh told them the story, including her driving off with Bubba.
“Bubba’s such a fucking pig,” Amber interjected.
“Something was wrong with her,” Josh said, “she was either sick or on some drug.”
“You should have called the police,” Emma said, her eyes round with concern.
“I did.  But they blew me off.  Said they weren’t going to come out for some naked girl.”
“That was thoughtful of you,” Emma said, and rested her hand lightly on his arm.  
“So what happened then?” Amber asked.
“I don’t know.  I haven’t seen either of them since.”
“That’s fucked,” Amber said, “Knowing Bubba, she’s probably dead in some ditch.”
Josh shook his head.  “If you saw her you wouldn’t think that.  She looked like she could handle herself.  I’d be more worried about Bubba.”
Billy laughed and said in his best newsman voice, “This just in – the body of Bubba Carlton was found in the bed of his pickup truck today.  The police believe he was fucked to death.”
The girls laughed and Josh watched Emma’s face as she did.

Chapter 8

Dale Harley couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  He fought the steering wheel of his tow truck as he hit the brakes and slowed to match the speed of the walking couple.  They were both bare-ass naked and not seeming to care.  
He leaned out of his window to get a better look.  Christ on a crutch, the kid had a hard on!  He was walking down the road with his rock hard cock pointing out and upwards, as if it was some kind of dowsing rod searching for water.
Eyeing up the girl, he could see she looked pretty good.  Nice rounded boobs and a cute little shaved cooter.  He could have some fun with that.
“Hey,” he called, “nice evening for a walk.”
The two ignored him and kept their pace.
“You two need a ride?  Plenty of room in here.”  Yeah, especially if that cutie wanted to sit on my face, he thought to himself with a chuckle.
The pair kept walking.
“Everything ok?” he asked, beginning to get concerned.
Once again they ignored him.
He stepped on the gas and pulled forward.  When he was far enough ahead, he stopped the truck and got out, waiting for them to catch up.  As they got close, he got his first glimpse of their eyes and knew something was wrong.
“Hey!  Stop.  Do you need some help?”
They walked towards him, their eyes focused somewhere further ahead.
He put his hand out to stop the boy, but he was roughly shoved aside.
“Asshole,” he muttered, “I was only trying to help.”
He decided to give it one more try.  Running to get in front of them, this time he blocked the path of the girl.  
“Hey, you ok?  Is this guy making you go with him?”
Suddenly a pair of strong hands grabbed his shoulders and threw him to the ground.
“What the fu–” he began, but before he could finish, the boy was on his chest, his weight holding him down as his hands pinned his arms to the ground above his head.  In this position, the boy’s balls hung down right below his chin and his erect cock arched up over his face.
“Hey, get the fuck off me!  Let me go!  Get your dick out of my face.”  He tried to struggle but it was useless. The boy was big and probably outweighed him by fifty pounds.
He felt the girl begin to unbuckle his belt.  
“Hey!  What’cha doing?  Leave me alone!”  But his protests sounded half hearted.  If this girl wanted to get at his dick, she didn’t need this kid to hold him down to do it.
Her hands freed his belt and undid his pants, opening them with an audible zip.  If he didn’t have a cock staring him in the face, he’d probably be getting hard.  The hands yanked down his pants and underwear, and there was cool air on his balls.
“No need for all this,” he said, speaking to the cock, “if this girl wants to– Uhhhhh.”
His cock was suddenly bathed in a tight warmth, as the girl’s mouth closed around it.  Cock in his face or not, he quickly hardened and the head of his dick pressed into the back of her throat.
“Ahhhh yeah,” he sighed as her lips slid up and down his shaft, sending pleasure through him.
After a few minutes, she shifted position and he saw her hands appear on the boy’s shoulders.  A warm tightness slid down his cock as she sat on him, taking him deep until her ass pressed down on his balls.  She moved up and down, using the boy’s shoulders for support, as her pussy rode his shaft.
A few minutes later, as the cloud of lust filled his mind, he decided that sucking the dick in front of him was a very good idea.

 Chapter 9

“Have we decided?  Are we’re going to the drive-in?” Amber asked over the empty pizza tray.  She was looking at Josh.
“If that’s what everyone wants to do,” he replied, “then it’s ok with me.”  He took a peek at Emma and she was nodding.
“Do you want boys in one car, and girls in the other?” Billy asked with a straight face.
Josh grinned.  Billy always knew the right way to lighten the mood.
Amber laughed and elbowed him in the ribs.  “You and your boyfriend had all day together.  Now it’s my turn.”
Billy blew Josh a kiss from across the table.  “I guess this is goodbye… for now.”
Emma giggled and leaned against his shoulder again.  This time her hand dropped down and lightly rested on his thigh.  A second later it was gone.
The girls had to use the restroom before they left, and Josh and Billy waited in the lobby.
“So?” Billy asked.
“She’s definitely cute,” Josh replied.
Billy grinned.  “Someone’s in love.”
“Don’t be a tard.”
“Ok, maybe it’s not love, but you’re definitely getting laid.”
“Not likely.”
“Are you kidding?  Did you see the way she was looking at you?”
“No, how?”
“She looked smitten.”
Josh grinned.  “Smitten?  So you think I should woo her?”
“If woo means getting her naked in your backseat, then yeah, you should definitely woo her.  Woo her more than once.”
They were laughing when the girls returned.
“What’s so funny?” Amber asked.
Billy said, “Josh was just telling me he wants to stop by the jewelry store on the way to the drive-in, because he’s planning on proposing to Emma during the movie.  But don’t tell her because it’s supposed to be a surpr–   Oh, hi Emma.”
Josh punched his friend in the shoulder and gave him a ‘knock it off’ look.  The girls laughed and he took a peek at Emma.  She was smiling at him.
In the parking lot, Josh opened the door for her.  “Nice car,” she said, and got inside.  He pulled out of the lot, following Billy’s car.
They were half-way there before either of them spoke.  He was usually glib around girls, but for some reason he was having trouble with this one.
“What do you do for fun in Dawson?” he asked.
“Typical stuff.  Hanging out with friends.  How about you?  Amber tells me you play baseball with Billy.”
“Yeah.”
“She also says you’re both pretty good.”
“I guess.”
“Good enough for you both to get scholarships to Nebraska University.”
He grinned.  “What else did Amber tell you about me?”
“She said you’re a nice guy.”
“I always thought Amber was a perceptive girl,” he said with a smile.
She giggled.   “What did Billy tell you about me?”
“He said Amber told him you were cute.”
“And what do you think?”
“Like I said, Amber is perceptive.”
She laughed.  He thought she looked amazing.
“That was nice what you did today,” she said, “calling the police for that girl.”
He shrugged.  “It seemed like the right thing to do.  She was messed up.”
“How well do you know her?”
“We’ve been in school together since we were little.  I had a crush on her in the Fifth Grade.”
“You liked goth girls when you were ten?”
He laughed.  “No, she wasn’t like that back then.  She had long blonde hair and a pretty smile.  Now she seems angry all the time.  Except for today.”
“Any other crushes since?”
He smiled, knowing what she was asking.
“I was going steady with a girl named Haley for the past year and a half.  We broke up a couple of months ago.”
“Why’d you break up?”
“It happened right around the time I got my scholarship.  She was upset I was going off to college without her.  I think she expected me to stick around and marry her after high school.”
“She sounds selfish.”
“That’s what I told her.  But she had her mind made up and broke it off.  I think she expected me to beg her to take me back, and tell her I’d give up college for her.  But that ain’t happening.”
“Good for you.  This is your shot to make it.  Someone who loved you wouldn’t ask you to give it up.”
He smiled.  He had never said that aloud to Haley, but it was exactly how he felt.
“How about you?” he asked, “Any boyfriends back in Dawson?”
“An ex.  His name is Brad and we broke up around last Christmas after dating for six months.”
“Christmas?  That’s a tough time to break up.  Why’d it happen?”
She shrugged.  “Let’s just say we had different ideas on how the relationship should progress.”
He gave her a quizzical look.  
“He wanted to do things I wasn’t ready for.”
The light bulb went off in his head.  She was a virgin!  He was surprised to feel a sense of relief from the revelation.  That certainly took the pressure off for tonight.
She was looking at him closely, studying his reaction.  
He smiled and said, “That’s cool.  I guess we’re both single for standing up for what we believe in.”
She smiled back, her eyes lighting up her face.
 
Chapter 10

Carly and Bubba walked on, reaching the town’s outskirts.  Dale had followed them a while, naked from the waist down and his hard cock jutting out ahead of him.  But he became distracted by a herd of cows and climbed the fence to see if he could have sex with one of them.  As they walked away, they could hear loud mooing, but they didn’t turn to watch.
When they reached Dustless Highway, Carly went south and Bubba went straight towards town.  He walked with a purpose – some almost forgotten memory pulling him forward.  Showing a grin, he realized where he was going.
Fifteen minutes later the church loomed in front of him.  He had served as an altar boy here when he was a boy, between the ages of ten and thirteen.  Like most of the altar boys, this wasn’t the first choice on how to spend his weekends.  But his parents thought it was best for him, so he spent Saturdays and Sundays dressed in a white robe and assisting with weddings and masses.
On one Saturday in June when he was thirteen, he was helping with a wedding.  As he stood at the altar next to the priest, one of the bridesmaids – a girl around his age and the sister of the bride – kept smiling at him.  Keeping his Christian duties in mind, he tried to avoid her glances, but every time he peeked at her she was looking at him with that sexy grin on her face.  For the first time, he was glad he was wearing his altar boy robe, because it hid the large bulge in the front of his pants.
After the wedding, the family hung around the church while the photographer put them through their poses.  Bubba was in the supply closet replacing the unused candles, when he heard a voice from behind him.
“Hi.”
He turned, and there she was – the sister of the bride and she was still wearing that smile.  She closed the door behind her and advanced slowly on him.
Ten minutes later the door sprang open, and there stood Sister Margaret, looking very unhappy.  The reason for her unhappiness was clear:  Bubba and the girl – he never did learn her name – were locked in a feverish kiss.  She also had his zipper down and his thirteen-year-old cock was sticking out of his pants like a railroad spike, with her hand wrapped around it.
Sister Margaret curtly sent the girl on her way, and told Bubba to go wait in her office.  He sat there nervously for fifteen minutes before she finally came in.
She strode to her desk and sat behind it.  “Stand up Raymond,” she said, and the tone in her voice made him comply instantly.
“Over here,” she commanded.
He moved over until he was right in front of her desk.
She looked him in the eyes.  “Do you know God can see everything you do?”
“Yes ma’am.”  The blush was rising in his cheeks.
“So you know that God was watching you defile that girl, even though the door was closed?”
“She started it!”
“Quiet!  As a worker of God it is your duty to help those who sin, not join in with them.”
He didn’t answer.
“Raymond, you have been raised as a Christian.  This won’t be the last time a whore will tempt you, but it’s my job to make sure it’s the last time you give into that temptation.  Do you understand you have to be punished?”
He remained silent.
“Answer me.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“And the punishment must fit the sin, don’t you agree?”
“Yes ma’am.”
She lifted a metal ruler from her desk and gripped it in her hand.  “Put it on my desk.”
He had had his knuckles rapped by her before, and while it stung it wasn’t that bad.  He was glad he was getting off this easy.  He placed his hand on her desk.
She stared at it before looking up at him.  “That is not the part of you that sinned.”
He looked at her in confusion.  What did she want?
She spoke slowly. “Put it on the desk.”
His eyes opened wide in realization.  He shook his head.  “No, not that.”
“Now Raymond!”
He kept shaking his head.  His hands instinctively covered his crotch in a protective posture.
“Perhaps you’d like me to call your parents and have them come down here so you can explain what you were doing in the closet with that girl?”
His eyes opened wider.  He could imagine his father taking off his belt, preparing to thrash him like he had done that time when he had caught him behind the shed with his cousin Cloe.
“No, don’t call them!  Please!”
She leaned forward and spoke in a low menacing voice.  “Then put it on my desk.”
His trembling hands went to his zipper, and pulled it down.  Fishing his hand into his underwear, he brought out his flaccid dick, a drop of wetness still oozing at the tip from the girl’s touch.  Edging toward the desk until his thighs pressed against it, he stood on his tiptoes so that his dick lay flat on the smooth surface.  He could feel a blush warming the skin of his face.
“Close your eyes,” she commanded.
“Please.”
“Close them.”
He closed his eyes and waited.  And waited some more.  What was she doing?  He thought the waiting would be worse than the actual punishment.  But he was wrong.
He heard the whishing sound of the metal ruler cutting through the air, and the loud smack as it struck both wood and flesh.  The pain shot through him like a jolt of electricity, and he cried out in agony, cradling his burning cock in his hands and doubling half over.
“Put it on the desk,” she said again.
“No!”
“Now!”
Reluctantly, he stepped up to the desk again, and looked down to place himself.  To his horror, he realized his cock was larger, the blood filling it as it swelled and grew.  His blush deepened and he couldn’t look at her.
She struck quickly this time, swinging the ruler as soon as he was in place, catching him by surprise.  The loud retort echoed off the walls, followed by another cry of pain.  He doubled over again, clutching at his groin.
“One more,” she said.
“No!”
“One more and it’s over.”
His shame grew as the tears streamed down his cheeks.  Once more he stepped to the desk, and now his cock was fully erect, sticking out and upward with a slight curve.  Two red welts colored the sensitive skin.
“On the desk,” she said.
He looked down and saw the problem.  Pressing down on the base of his cock, he laid it flat on the desk.  Again, she wasted no time in bringing the ruler down, the metal slapping flat and hard against his rigid shaft, sending waves of agony through his testicles and into his gut, where they radiated outward.
He doubled over and fell to the floor, feeling like he had to vomit.  As he lay there in a fetal position, she got up from her chair and stood over him.
“I’m sorry I had to do that Raymond, but someday you’ll thank me for it.  You can go now.”
He picked himself up off the floor and limped towards the door.
“God loves you,” she said, as she closed it behind him.
He went home that day and told his parents he wasn’t going back to that church, and didn’t care if they beat him for it.  His father took off his belt and towered over him, attempting to menace him into compliance.  But when he saw the look in his son’s eyes, he knew the belt wasn’t going to change his mind, and put it back on.
And Bubba hadn’t been back to the church since.  Until now.
He walked up the steps and pushed open the door.  The sanctuary was empty and he walked straight towards the hallway that led to the rectory, where Sister Margaret’s office was.  Her door was unlocked and he went right in.  She wasn’t here, but he went to her desk, standing over it like he had done that day five years ago.
His eyes landed on the ruler and he stared at it, as if it was sparking some lost memory.  Picking it up, he turned and left the room.  
Looking further down the hall, he noticed the supply closet door was open.  He walked to it and looked inside, and saw Sister Margaret refilling the supply of communion biscuits.  She didn’t notice him until he entered and closed the door.
When she turned and saw him, she dropped a carton of the biscuits in shock.  Half of the box scattered all over the floor.
“Raymond?  Is that you?  Why are you naked?”
He continued to grin.  A line of drool ran down his chin.
“Are you drunk or something?”  She glanced down at his erection and quickly back up again.
He took a step towards her, and for the first time, she looked into his eyes, seeing the lack of sanity there.  When she spoke, her voice was strident.
“Get out of here Raymond!  Right now!”
He took another step, and her eyes dropped again, this time to gauge the distance between her knee and his testicles.  She smiled back at him, thinking that if he considered his last punishment bad, wait until he experienced her bony knee kicking his scrawny little balls through his asshole.  Come on you cocky punk, one more step.
“Don’t come any closer!” she said, her voice harsh.  Last warning dipship.
He ignored her and lumbered one more step.
I warned him, she thought, and swung her leg back, preparing for the kick.
But he was faster.  His hand flashed back and then forward, bringing the edge of the ruler down hard on the top of her head.  Her eyes glazed over and a small rivulet of blood ran from under her habit and down her forehead.
The room spun and she lost her balance, and would have fallen if he didn’t grab her.   In her daze she felt herself being pulled into him, his mouth covering hers in a slavering kiss, his tongue exploring between her lips.  Next she knew she was on the floor, his body covering hers, his hands reaching under her robes.
She tried to stop him, but he was too strong.  Her hands hit and scratched to no avail, and she screamed as she felt his probing hardness.
Several minutes later her screams abated and changed to moans of ecstasy, as her legs wrapped around him and the heels of her shoes dug into his ass in time with his thrusts.  She grinned up at him and urged him on with obscenities as their bodies slapped together.
An hour later they were still going at it.  He was standing, pressing her against the cabinet as her legs wrapped around his waist.  Her hands gripped his shoulders as she bounced on his cock, the mixture of their copious fluids running out of her and oozing down over his balls.  From there it dripped downward, onto the half-opened box of communion biscuits, seeping into them.
 
Chapter 11

Josh’s and Billy’s cars sat side-by-side at the drive-in, and the four teens sat on a blanket waiting for the movie to start. 
“What’s showing anyway?” Josh asked.  “I wasn’t paying attention when we drove in.”
“Mind on other things?”  Amber asked, giving him a wink.  She and Billy had obviously been discussing his feelings for Emma on the way over.
“Maybe,” he said with a grin.
“It’s George Romero’s latest, Twilight of the Dead,” Billy said, and the second movie is his classic Dawn of the Dead.”
“Zombie movies?”  Josh asked, “You know I don’t like zombie movies.”
Amber laughed.  “You scared of zombies?”
“No, I just think they’re stupid.”
“That’s the point,” Amber replied, “They’re supposed to be stupid.”
“No, the idea of them is stupid.  Tell me, in all the movies you’ve seen, have you ever seen a zombie run?”
Amber paused to think.  “Now that you mention it, no.  I don’t think they can run.”
“Which is exactly my point.  All you have to do to get away from a zombie is run away from it.  You can’t to that with a vampire or werewolf.  They’ll chase your ass down.  But a zombie will just drool and stumble around, and probably forget all about you.”
“Their victims can’t seem to run away in movies.”
“That’s not real running.  That’s movie running.”
“Movie running?”
“Yeah, they run like they have sticks up their asses, plus they’re always tripping over things.  I see a zombie and boom, I’m gone.  Just try to catch me.”
Emma giggled.  “What if I was with you?  Would you just take off and leave me?”
“Just make sure you have your running shoes on, because you better keep up.”
She gave him a look of mock surprise and rested her arm on his shoulder.  “You would leave me?”
He laughed.  “Don’t worry.  Billy’s the slowest one here.  The zombies would get him first.”
“Hey now,” Billy said, “I have to cover your ass in the infield.  Don’t worry about me.  Ain’t no zombie going to be chewing on my ass.”
“I’m beginning to get the picture,” Amber said, “some zombies show up and you two are going to take off and leave Emma and me to get eaten.”
The other three laughed at her choice of words.
“Pervs.  I’m telling you right now, if you leave me behind and I get turned into a zombie, you two are the first ones I’m coming after.  What do you say Emma?  Are you with me?”
“All the way,” Emma replied, and the two girls exchanged a high five.
“Where would you start?” Billy asked.
“Start?”  Amber replied. “What do you mean?”
“Where would you start eating me?”
Amber grinned and punched him on the shoulder.  “Is sex all you think about?”
“Only when I’m around you.”
“Aw, that’s so romantic.”  She punched him again, and Emma and Josh laughed at their friends’ antics.
“Besides,” Billy said, “There really are zombies.  They were created by government experiments and they’re kept top secret so no one knows about them.”
“Oh no, here we go,” Josh said, “Mr. Conspiracy has awoken.”
“It’s true,” Billy said, “you can find all of this on the internet.”
“You can find anything you want on the internet.  That doesn’t make it true.”
“Doesn’t make it untrue either.”
Josh looked to Emma for help.  “How do you argue with logic like that?”  
Emma grinned and remained silent.
“I’ll show you the website,” Billy said, “The government lies.  From the faked moon landing to Salem, the government keeps the truth from us.”
“Wait,” Emma said, “I’ve heard about the faked moon landing conspiracies, but what’s this about Salem?”
“Wait until you hear this one,” Josh said, rolling his eyes.
“The Salem explosion wasn’t a terrorist attack,” Billy said, “the gym was blown up by the government.”
“Why would they do that?” Emma asked.
“Because they want us to be afraid,” Billy said, “When we’re afraid they can do anything they want.”
“So,” Josh chimed in, “you’re claiming that a year ago the government blew up a gymnasium ten miles away from us, killing almost five hundred people, blamed it on terrorists, and no one knows they did it?  I find that hard to believe.”
“I’ll show you the website.  There were witnesses.”
“Witnesses to what?”  Emma asked.
“Some people saw the missile hit.”
“What bullshit,” Josh said, grinning at his friend.
Billy shrugged and said with a straight face, “I can only lead you to the water of enlightenment, I can’t make you drink.”  This caused his three friends to break up laughing.
A coming attraction appeared on the movie screen, and the four got up.
“See you two between movies,” Josh said, “unless, of course, the government decides to blow up the drive-in.”
Billy put his arm around Josh’s shoulder.  “If you need any advice, or if there’s something you’ve never seen before, remember I’m right next door.”
Josh grinned.
“But beep the horn first,” Billy continued, “You know, give us a little warning before you knock on the window.”
“Come on Romeo,” Amber said, tugging on his hand, “I don’t think they need your help.  Maybe you should concentrate on what’s going on in this car?”
“I’m just saying,” Billy said, before opening the door for Amber, “Josh has been on the inactive roster for a while.  He may be rusty.”
“I’ll be sure to warm him up properly,” Emma said with a grin, before she sat down through the door Josh held open for her.
Billy shot him a thumbs-up before getting into his car.
Slipping into his seat, Josh shut the door and smiled at Emma.  “Warm me up, huh?”
“Metaphorically speaking,” she replied with a smug smile.  She sat sideways in her seat, facing him.
“Damn metaphors.”
She laughed.
“Hey,” he said, “I never did ask you about your college plans.”
“I’ve got a scholarship myself.”
“For what?”
“Track and Field.”
He looked at her with mild surprise.  “Really?”
She pretended to be offended.  “Why does that shock you?”
“I’m not sure.  I guess I just didn’t think of you that way.”
“That way?”
He grinned sheepishly.  “You’re too good looking for a jock.”
She smiled.  “Nice save.”
“So maybe I wouldn’t outrun you if we met a zombie.”
Emma laughed. “I’d leave you in the dust.”
“You’re that fast?”
“No, I’d be that scared.”
He laughed hard, and when he recovered he said, “So where are you going to school?”
“Nebraska U.”
He looked at her in surprise once again.  “Really?  Why didn’t you say anything?”
She shrugged. “I figured we’d get to it.”
“That’s cool.  We’ll be classmates.”
“It’s a big school.”
“I’ll find you.”
She smiled. “Amber was right, you are nice.”
“And you’re cute.”
She laughed.  “And to think I was nervous when Amber picked the drive-in.”
“Why’s that?”
“It’s a lot of pressure for a first date.”
He stared at her.  “That’s exactly what I told Billy.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, I said it’s hard to tell what the other is expecting.”
“Exactly.  If it was a movie in a theater there wouldn’t be any pressure.”
He shook his head in surprise.  “I told him that too.”
She smiled.  “Great minds think alike.”
“Must be.”
She paused, and then said, “That’s why I told you about my ex.  I wanted you to know up front.”
“I’m glad you did.  I’m kind of relieved.”
“Why?”
“The pressure thing.  Now I know not to make a fool of myself by trying anything.”
She was quiet again.  “Josh, I may be a virgin, but I’m not a saint.”
He gave her a curious look, and she smiled at him.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” he said.
“I have limits, but sitting two feet from you with a console between us isn’t one of them.”
He smiled, finally understanding.  “There’s no console in the back seat.”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
She moved to her knees and slipped easily between the seats.  With his height, it was more of an effort for him, but he eventually fell back into the seat, and she snuggled next to him.  He took her hand in his and she laid her head against his shoulder.  
“This is nice,” she said, squeezing his hand with hers.
They began to watch the movie, and partway in she shifted, trying to get comfortable.  He took the opportunity to move his arm around her shoulder, and she laid her head against his chest, turned towards the screen, as her hand rested on his thigh.
She felt good against him, as if she belonged there.   His hand was on her hip, feeling the warmth of her skin through the material of her jeans.  If this was all they did tonight, he would be happy.  Something was special about her, and just sitting with her like this made him feel better than he ever felt with Haley. 
At one point in the movie, there was a scare scene, and they both jumped.
She looked up at him and said, “Scaredy cat.”
“Me? You’re the one who jumped.”  Their faces almost touched, and he thought she looked beautiful.
“No, that was you.”
“No way.”  He stared at her lips, so close to his.  Her perfect lips.
“Ok, I may have–” she began, but he cut her off by leaning down and kissing her.  She was surprised at first, but her hands moved to his shoulders as her body turned and melted into him. 
The kiss was soft, and he held her in his arms, feeling the warmth of her body against him.  She smelled like fresh soap.
After a moment they parted, and their eyes met.
“That was nice,” he said.
“Very nice.”
She kissed him, her hands pulling him down to her.  The kiss lasting longer this time, and near the end he felt the tentative touch of her tongue between his lips.
When they broke apart they gazed at each other again.
“Amber was wrong,” he said softly.
“About what?”
“You’re not cute.  You’re beautiful.”
She smiled.
They kissed again, this time with urgency.  His tongue met hers and they danced together.  She probed his mouth and he sucked on it gently, and then traded places, as her lips softly nibbled at him.
His hand moved on its own accord, and he found himself cupping her breast through her blouse.  He had a flash of worry that he had crossed a boundary, but she sighed and arched into him, encouraging his touch.  Her nipple stiffened against his palm, and he rubbed her in a slow circle, eliciting more gasps from her lips.
The movie was forgotten as their bodies came alive, their hands and lips bringing pleasure to each other.  She gasped as his thumb and forefinger found her erect nipple, and pinched it gently through the cloth.
He shifted in the seat, trying to relieve the pressure of the bulge in his pants.  His cock was fully hard, but stuck at an awkward angle.  Their tongues had lost their shyness, and she sucked on his like a miniature lollypop, and occasionally nibbled at it with her teeth.
His fingers moved to the top button of her blouse, and he took his time undoing it, giving her the chance to stop him if she wanted.  When she didn’t complain, he popped it loose and opened the next two.  In the dim light, he could see the white material of her bra through the opening.  He could also barely make out the soft swells of the tops of her breasts, pushing out from the confining silk and lace.
He slid his hand into her blouse, cupping her again, this time only separated from her skin by the translucent satin material.  She groaned softly into his mouth, and her teeth nipped at his lower lip.  He once again found her nipple and squeezed it, causing a shudder to go through her.
She shifted slightly and her hand settled on his crotch.  It just rested there at first, not moving, but soon she cupped him, squeezing his hardness and causing an involuntary groan to escape his lips.  She began a circular motion, rubbing the flat of her palm over the head of his cock.
He breathed deep, allowing his body to adjust to the new pleasure she was causing.  He kissed her again, loving the feel of her now familiar lips on his.
The hand on her breast slid upward, found the lacy edge of material, and slid back down, this time inside her bra, feeling the warm soft skin of her breast against his palm, and the silky material against the back of his hand.  Her nipple bent slightly as his hand moved by, but came up hard again against his palm, stiff and tight.
Her moans intensified, and she moved again, turning her body until she was facing him with her knees on the seat, his thigh between her legs.  She pressed down into him, and her crotch felt warm against his leg.  With her new position, his other hand was free, and he moved it down, sliding the back of it against his thigh and worming it under her.  As a result, she was pressing down on his hand, and he cupped her in his palm, causing another groan from her.
His hand gently massaged her, feeling the cleft of her lips through the heavy denim, he judged where her clit was and rubbed it in small circles.  He must have hit the right spot, because her body arched against him, and she bit his lip again, harder this time.
Her hand reached down and found the button of his pants. It took her a moment, but she worked it loose and tugged at his zipper.  
There was a tap on the window, startling them both.  She moved quickly off him, turning and sitting in the seat and pulling her blouse closed.  Luckily, the windows had fogged up and they couldn’t be seen.
“Hey you two,” Billy called, “the movie’s over.  You coming out?”
They looked at each other and grinned sheepishly.
“We’ll be right out,” Josh called back.
He lifted his hips off the seat and re-buttoned his pants.  Emma was busy with the buttons on her shirt.  They both took a deep breath and looked at each other.
“You ready?” she asked.
“One second,” he said, and leaned over and kissed her again, gently this time.  When they separated she smiled at him.
“There’s another movie,” she said, the implication plain.
He grinned.  “I would love another movie.”
Without bothering to climb into the front seat first, she leaned the seat forward and reached for the door handle.  She got out and Josh followed through the same door.
Billy and Amber stared at them.
“What?” Josh asked, unable to keep the smile off his face.  Emma was looking like a Cheshire cat also.
“You two have fun?” Amber asked.
“Yeah,” Emma replied, brushing hair back from her face, then added, “The movie was good.”
“Right,” Amber said, looking at her with an arched eyebrow.
Emma just smiled.
“How about we hit the bathrooms and get a snack for the second movie?” Amber said.  She was born to be an organizer.
“Sounds good,” Josh replied, taking Emma’s hand in his for the walk to the concession stand.

# # #


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