Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Title: Finding Sarah
Author: Airimis
Keyword: Mf, Cons, seduction, seduce, abuse, teen, hero
Summary: Girl is found on a deserted road when a passer by takes her in.
What happened to her might be over, but it has shaped her.  Also a little
of her past comes back to haunt her.  He hesitates to have a physical
relationship with her because of her past and her age, but will she let him
keep it that way?
Author's note: Feedback is welcome at m_19yr_old@hotmail.com .  I do not
condone abuse of any kind and this FICTIONAL story is for entertainment

purposes only.  Enjoy.

   Chapter 1

   It was a cold, dark, snowy night in Missouri.  Alex was driving home
from a long shift at work really looking forward to his days off.  His job
allowed him to work three fourteen hour days in a row and have four days
off a week.  It was nice and the pay was good so the long hours never
bothered him.

   It was lightly snowing, but the road was mostly clear so he had no
trouble navigating the winding road out to my house in the woods.

   He almost didn't see the figure stumbling in the ditch of the road
because of the limited vision distance, but pulled over as soon as he
realized a small figure coming out of the woods.

   He got out of his car and shivered from the deathly icy wind.  The snow
hadn't frozen, but after tonight, it surely would.

   "Are you okay?" Alex shouted to the stranger.  As he got about ten feet
from the stranger, he quickly saw the "him" was a "her" and she didn't look
in good shape.  Her hair was a mess.  She looked as to barely being able to
stand.  She wasn't dressed for the weather at all.  She wore as sweat shirt
that was torn and her jeans were stained with what could only be blood on
the crotch area.

   He took a few steps closer and saw that her hands had blood on them as
well.  Her face looked to be a shell of a person.  Her lip was split and
she was very pale.  Her lips had a blue color to them and her cheeks had
red spots.

   He recognized the bad signs all at once and rushed to her.  She
collapsed in hishis arms just as he got to her.  Alex could hear her
whispering "Please..." but that was all he could make out.  She was small
and if he were to guess her to be only thirteen or fourteen at the most.

   Being a registered nurse, he immediately picked her up and ran with her
back to his truck.  He got her in the passenger seat and ran around to jump
in the driver's side.  He tried to talk to her and comfort her telling her
it was going to be all right and such, but he really didn't know.  As he
pulled back on the road driving faster than he should to the last five
miles to his house, he punched the heater on high and willed his old truck
to help him save this girl.

   The first impulse was to take her to the hospital.  Unfortunately, the
nearest hospital is forty-five minutes away at full speed.  He would know
because he worked there.  With the roads as slick as they are and only
getting worse, he could only go thirty miles-per-hour and even that was
pushing it on some of the hills and curves on the roads to get there.  He
had to get her warmed up and see if she had any lethal injuries first. 
Then he could call and get an ambulance or helicopter to get her.  I
wouldn't do her any good to go into shock on the way there in his truck.

   He arrived at his house, off the main road.  He carefully picked her up
and walked inside.  The steps were already starting to freeze and he didn't
want to slip and hurt her.

   Alex got her inside and laid her on his couch.  As he looked her up and
down, she looked a lot worse than he thought.  He had seen car accident
victims look better than she did.  If it weren't for her specific injuries,
he would have thought she would be one.

   He tried talking to her and waking her, but she didn't respond.  Her
body was cold and shown signs of hypothermia and frostbite.  He carefully
started warming her up.  He turned up the thermostat on the house and heard
it kick on as the temperature started to rise.

   He, being a nurse, started looking her up and down.  She was breathing
and had a pulse, but neither was very strong.  There was a large blood
stain at the crotch of her pants and they were ripped on the inside of the
leg.  Someone had obviously sexually assaulted her and hadn't even bothered
to take off her jeans doing it.  He felt pain for the poor girl.  He
couldn't tell if she had been stabbed or where exactly the blood had come
from.  There was to be large stain of it.  The intense cold had probably
stopped it from flowing, but he couldn't take the chance of it starting up
again as she warmed up.

   He talked to her unconscious body and explained that he was trying to
help, but needed to see if she was okay.  He explained everything he was
doing and why he was doing it.  As he slid off her small jeans, the horror
got worse.  He could see that the blood was indeed from her battered sex
organ.  The inside of her thighs on both sides had horrible bruises and had
taken a beating.  He outer lips were stretched well beyond what they should
have been why what he could only guess were multiple rapes, if not worse
abuse.

   Her temperature was coming up and the house felt like it was turning
into a hot box.  He knew he had to raise her temperature slowly or risk
putting her in shock.  He got some clean rags and started cleaning the
blood from her.  He had a one sided conversation with her as if she were
awake.  He told her everything he was doing as he carefully cleaned the
blood checking for lacerations or other wounds.  He kept his voice as
soothing as he could and kept telling her that it was going to be alright,
whether he felt it or not.  It was a little relief that after cleaning the
blood from her to find that she wasn't cut, or stabbed like he feared, but
she had taken much abuse.  He was very gentle with her, but cleaned her
looking for other injuries and infections.

   For the moment, she had stopped bleeding.  Her jeans and underwear were
caked with dried blood and were useless.  He covered her lower half in a
blanket.

   He knew that if this were a normal call in or in the hospital, they
would do a rape kit on her and check her from head to toe for DNA of the
attacker.  He couldn't let her stay like that.  He put her clothes in zip
lock bags and quickly scribbled the date and time on each item.  He figured
the authorities would have to settle for what they could find on them.  He
wasn't in the crime investigation business and didn't want to be.  He took
care of people and right now she needed his care more.

   Her face, which was getting some color looked as if it had taken some
abuse as well.  Her lip as split and she had a black eye on the right side.
Her face was round and innocent looking.  Her hair was actually blonde, but
horribly dirty with leaves, twigs, and dirt in it as if she had fallen or
been thrown down several times.  She had bloody knuckles and gashes in her
wrists in a pattern showing that she was tied or handcuffed harshly.  He
checked her fingers well for frostbite and went down to her feet and
checked her toes.  She'd been wearing shoes but he'd taken them and her
dirty socks off to check her for injury.  Those were now in bags of their
own, too.  He checked her for circulation and was relieved to see that her
color and temperature was coming back to normal.

   The entire time, he kept track of her breathing.  He had quickly taken
her pulse when he brought her it, but it was only slightly low so he let
her be.  She was doing better and seemed to be sleeping.  He went and got a
T-shirt of his and brought it in.  He removed hers carefully, still talking
to her softly and explaining every move he was doing as if she could hear
him.  He hoped that part of her could and when she came around, she
wouldn't freak out.  He lifted her to a seated position and ran his hand
along her back and spine.  There didn't seem to be any injuries to her back
and her spine seemed alright.  He was worried that she had more injuries
that he couldn't see (broken bones and such).  She had only whimpered a
little when he had touched her legs and carefully cleaned her blood soaked
vaginal area.  Otherwise, she had been silent.

   He set aside her filthy shirt and placed one of his black t-shirts on
her.  Then he carefully laid her back down.

   He sat back and stared at her.  "I need you to wake up sometime soon,
you know?" he told her gently as he pushes her blonde hair to the side of
her face.  She was breathing better and didn't seem to be in any danger. 
He put her shirt in a bag, being the last of her clothing, got out his
blood pressure cuff and checked her blood pressure and pulse again.  It was
normal for a person her size so she didn't seem to be in any life danger
for the moment.

   He breathed easier for a moment, letting the panic that he had the
entire time run off him.  He knew all the dangers and hidden dangers that
the girl could be in being exposed to the cold like that, not to mention
whatever happened to her that put her out in the middle of the woods to
begin with.

   He went and picked up his phone and started to dial the police.  He knew
they wouldn't be able to get to him very quickly, but they needed to be
notified.

   "No!" she hollered from the couch suddenly sitting up reaching over at
him.

   He thought she was asleep so she started him so much that he dropped the
phone.  The whole time he was cleaning her and moving her, she didn't show
a sign of being awake so he really did jump.

   She looked so weak and couldn't even hold herself in a seated position.

   He reached down and picked the phone up from the floor.  He hadn't even
dialed the number yet.  He didn't approach her or move fast.  "I'm just
going to call the police and let them know that you're here." Alex said
calmly.

   "No," she said suddenly panicked.  "You can't!" Her eyes looked quickly
around the room trying to figure out her surroundings.  "Please," she said
too weak to stay up straight so she fell back to the couch.

   He was suddenly very suspicious of her.  There were usually only certain
reasons young women didn't want the police called.  He worked at a hospital
emergency room and had seen a lot over the years.  Most of the time, they
are run-aways, pregnant, or on drugs and didn't want to be caught.  He
sympathized with them, but it didn't mean he wasn't going to call the
authorities.  She had almost died.

   "I'll run!" she threatened.  "I won't go back," she said as tears
streamed down from her deep blue eyes.  She looked toward the door and he
knew that she was serious.

   "Okay," Alex said as he set the phone down on the coffee table still
moving slowly.  He knew that she wouldn't get far without pants in a snow
storm.  She almost didn't make it here, but he could see that she meant
what she said that she wouldn't go back.  Trying to keep her here against
her will until the cops could make their way on the worsening roads could
really hurt her.  He would let her have her way for now.  "What's your
name?"

   She guardedly stared at him biting her bottom lip.

   "My name is Alex," he said as he sat down across the room from her,
giving her some space.  "I found you out on the road.  I'm not going to
hurt you," he said trying to calm her.

   She relaxed a little, but he didn't know if it was more from exhaustion.
She looked at him for a few minutes.  "Sarah," she finally said closing her
eyes and appearing to fall asleep again.

   He guessed that was her name.  He thought of calling the police while
she slept, but he knew with the weather conditions, they wouldn't be out
there for a long while.  It wouldn't make any difference.  She was safe and
she needed time to recover.

   He went into the kitchen and made some food.  He would let her sleep for
a while and then try to get her to eat and drink.  He checked on her
regularly and she (Sarah as he knew now) was resting and sleeping.  She had
pulled the blanket up on her and it mostly covered her from neck to foot.
One of her arms was exposed and he looked for needle tracks or signs of
drugs, but only saw the signs of the abuse she had suffered.  He didn't try
to touch her to check her out now that she wasn't in danger.  Why she
didn't want found was going to be a topic of a later conversation.

   He dialed the heat down to normal and put an extra blanket on top of
her. He didn't have any kind of women's underwear so he brought some boxer
shorts that a Christmas gift from his mother that he never tried on because
they were a few sized too small for him.  He intended to take them back and
switch them out, but never got around to it and they were almost forgotten
in his closet for almost a year.  He tore open the top and set them on the
coffee table within arm's reach of the girl.

   He was busy in the kitchen and the smell of the cooking food was filling
the house.  He didn't do much of the home chores well, but his ex-wife
couldn't boil water without burning it.  He had learned how to be a very
good cook and his friends loved it when he made food and took it to work.
He was humming quietly trying to keep the noise down as he moved around the
kitchen when he turned around and Sarah was suddenly standing in the
doorway looking at him.

   She was wearing the shirt that he put on her and the dark blue boxer
shorts.  Standing the rest of her limbs were exposed and seemed to all be
showing signs of distress, but she looked much less frail than when she was
lying on the couch.

   "Where's your bathroom?" she asks meekly.

   He was surprised to see her.  He thought for sure that she'd be asleep
more than an hour, but there she was.  He pointed to the hallway behind
her. "First door on your right," he said.

   "Thank you," she said quietly and turned around.

   He watched her walk away carefully.  She still seemed to have a hard
time walking.  He didn't doubt it from the large bruises on the insides of
her thighs.  He wondered why they were targeted more, but who knew with
what he had seen on her.  He felt pain for her all over again.

   He shook himself and tried to get his mind back to cooking.

   After a few minutes, Sarah made her way in and set down at the table in
the kitchen.  He noticed that she was careful when she sat as well.  He let
her have a few minutes of silence and then he couldn't help himself.

   "Do you have a last name, Sarah?" he asked putting the finishing touches
on the steak and eggs.

   He looked at her when she didn't reply and she finally told him no.  He
saw her salivating and looking very hungrily at the food.  He put double
portions on a plate and brought it to her.

   He went and got his own plate and then sat down at the table across from
her.  She was eating quickly.  He guessed that she hadn't eaten in days
with the way she inhaled the food.  He warned her to slow down and chew her
food, but that slowed her only a little.

   He brought her some juice and a napkin and got one for himself after
only a minute, but didn't interrupt her eating.  He knew better when it
came to hungry cats than to try to distract them when they were eating like
that.  That was exactly what Sarah gave him the impression of.

   He watched as she ate the entire plate.  Only at the end, with the last
four or five bites did she really slow down and seem to be full.  He
wondered if she would want more and he had prepared a little extra in case.

   She finished and stared at the plate longingly.  She didn't look up to
meet his gaze.  "Thank you," she said quietly after a few moments.  It
looked like she was dreading something coming.

   "Is there someone I can call for you?  Or someone you would like to call
to let them know that you're alright?" he asked picking up both their
plates and taking them to the kitchen.

   This apparently was not the right thing to say because she broke down
and starting crying in long great sobs.  She crossed her arms on the table
and buried her face in them letting out great pain.  Alex didn't exactly
know what it was, but he wanted to he help her.  He walked over to her and
touched her shoulder gently.  He tried to comfort her and tell her it was
okay and that she was safe now.  He kept whispering to her as she cried. 
He pulled a chair over next to her, but was careful not to touch her.  He
knew that any contact really needed to be made by her.

   After about five minutes, her emotional collapse subsided.  She looked
up with her face red and her eyes puffy.  "No," she said as he handed her a
warm wash cloth for her face.  "There's no one who needs to know."

   He digested that and understood why she was crying.  Somehow, someway,
she was really alone (or at least she felt she was).  He thought of how sad
it must be to not believe that anyone out there would care if you were dead
or alive.  He didn't push anymore questions at her for the moment.  He told
her that for the night, the snow storm would keep them at the house.  She
still was adamant about not calling the authorities or going to the
hospital.  He didn't like this, but he understood she had her reasons.

   He was telling her the layout of the house and that a bedroom that she
could stay was on the second floor and that his was on the first if she
needed him during the night.

   "Where are your wife and daughter?" Sarah asked when they were back
sitting on the couch in the living room.  He was in his comfortable
recliner off to the side almost facing her.  She gestured to several of the
pictures hanging in the room.  Some were of the three of them but most were
picture of a young girl with dark hair who had his features.  There was no
doubt that she was his daughter.  The latest pictures that she could tell,
the daughter looked to be sixteen or seventeen.

   He paused for a moment as a look of sorrow went over his face, but only
for an instant.  "My wife and I have been divorced for many years.  Melody
lives near the city with my ex."

   Sarah looked around what seemed like a very large house and then back at
him.  "So no one else if coming?  You're the only one here?" she asked
suddenly fearful.  She stiffened and drew her legs up reflexively.

   He didn't miss didn't miss the signals.  "Yes, I am the only one here,
but I'm not going to hurt you," he said trying to calm her back down.  "My
daughter comes down in the summer and for a few holidays, but no, she's not
here now."

   "My daughter's room is up stairs and you're welcome to stay in it.  She
is barely here anymore anyway," he said trying to just talk and get her to
relax.  "She likes the city and now that she has a boyfriend, she rarely
even bothers to call anymore."

   Sarah stared at him skeptically.

   He felt the long day and evening on him and made the suggestion that
they should sleep for the night.  When he got up, she still looked fearful
of him, so he kept his distance from her.  He didn't want to cause her any
other stress or harm.

   She tried to stand, but exhaustion had taken its toll on her as well. 
She asked if she could sleep on the couch and he got her another pillow. 
The blankets were already there.  He left the hall light on for her and
pointed out which room he would be in if she needed him.

   Neither of them slept well the first night, both for different reasons.

   Chapter 2

   The next morning, Alex woke early.  He peered out the window and there
was at least three inches of snow on the ground.  The news had reported
worse coming their way and he needed to be ready for it.

   He quietly got dressed and went to the bathroom before going out the
back door so that he didn't wake up Sarah still sleeping in the living
room. He peeked in at her and saw her sleeping.  He had wondered if she had
been into drugs or if she might try to rob him.  His guns (of which he had
three) were locked in a case in his bedroom, there wasn't really any cash
in the house, and the medication that he had was in the kitchen in the
cabinet, but there wasn't much in there worth taking.  Besides, where would
she go?  He took the keys to his truck with him to the bedroom.  He didn't
want to take a chance on her stealing his truck and having an accident on
the slick roads.

   He dusted off his back patio and went out to the back to split some
wood. He kept some on hand for his fireplace in the living room.  He
figured it would need it soon because they were calling for an ice storm
tonight.  He hoped not to lose power, but he was out far enough that it had
happened in years before.  He had candles, fire wood, and small generator
and some fuel for it.  The generator wasn't big enough to run the entire
house or the electric heat, but it was enough for a few lights and to power
the well pump for water.

   He piled the wood on the back patio and covered it with a tarp.  If it
wasn't needed, he would take it back to the rank of wood that he had after
the storms had blown through.

   His fingers were cold, despite the gloves that he had on so he went back
inside.  He came in quietly and after putting his boots, jacket and outside
gear neatly beside the back door, he peeked in on Sarah again.

   She was sitting up on the couch, but still in the darkness of the living
room.  It was overcast and a few flakes fell, but it didn't let much of the
sunlight through.  The blinds and curtains shaded what little light there
was so that she in the shadows.  She sat staring at nothing but he could
see tears streaming down her face whimpering.

   He came in and sat down on the couch, but let her have her space.  "Will
you tell me what happened to you?" he asked.

   She looked at him and then shrugged her shoulders to herself giving up
on something.  "My parents...sold me," was all that she could get out
before breaking down into full blown bawling from the pain.

   Alex was wide eyed with disbelief.  He had seen some messed up stuff
from a lot of people over the years, but his heart broke for her.

   "My mom was always telling me that everything has a price in this world.
When I turned eleven, my dad started....doing stuff to me.  My mom said
that I was theirs and they had put a roof over my head and fed me so I
shouldn't complain if that's he wanted." It was as if a flood gate had been
opened and the pain and hurt over the years had to flow out whether she
wanted it to or not.  Alex didn't know exactly what was going on, but he
knew to let her talk until she was done.

   "When I turned fourteen, he came into my bedroom.  He told me that it
was time that he made me a woman.  I was afraid of him.  He drank all the
time.  He was mean even when he was in a good mood.  I didn't want him to
hit me anymore so I let him..." she let the sentence trail off into a sob.
"I tried to get mom to help me, but she was only concerned with getting
high.  She's been on meth for years.  She told me that I was fifteen now
and it was time that repaid him for all that he provided for me.  I thought
she loved me," she said still crying.

   "About a week ago, they told me to come outside.  Three men were there
waiting for me.  They told me to come with them and that they had bought
me. I turned to my mom and begged her to help me, but she just told me that
I had been paid for and wasn't her daughter anymore," Sarah started to get
her crying under control by taking a deep breath.

   "And then?" Alex asked unable to resist his own curiosity.

   "They took me to a house where they raped me," she said simply, finally
looking at Alex.  "When they got bored with that, they started using me for
their amusement.  Who could make me to scream the loudest?  They took turns
punching the inside of my legs saying that I shouldn't ever to close them
to a man.  Then they drove me out into the woods and dumped me.  I just
started walking.  I didn't want to die in the woods.  I don't know how long
I walked and don't remember anything until I woke up here."

   Alex was in shock over her story.  He couldn't imagine anyone having to
go through that kind of horror.  And it was only luck that he did happen
across her when he did.  If she wasn't as close to the road when he was
driving at that moment, he wouldn't have seen her.  With how few people
there are in the area, chances are that she wouldn't have been found and
would have froze to death.

   He was angry at her tormentors but tried to think logically.  "Do you
remember any of their names or did you see where they took you?"

   "No, but I'll never forget their faces or the way they smelled of meth
and bourbon," she says wiping away the last of her tears.  Telling her
story and getting it out, even to a stranger, made it easier to come to
grips with for her.

   "Do you have any relatives that could be able to take care of you so you
wouldn't have to go back to your parents?" Alex asked understanding now why
she didn't want the police called.

   "No.  I had an Aunt when I was younger, but she died," Sarah said
looking at him pleadingly.

   "First, you are welcome to stay here as long as you like," he said and
he meant it.  She literally had no one else in the world.  He would keep
her safe for as long as she allowed him to.  "You don't have to leave and
I'll protect you.  And second, you don't ever owe anyone like that.  No
matter what they have told you, no one ever has the right to make you do
things that you don't want."

   Tears came to her eyes once again, but these were tears of gratitude. 
She leaned over and hugged him.  He put an arm around her, but was very
careful with her.  She cried into his shoulder and whispered thank you over
and over softly.

   After that, he gave her some clean clothes (shorts and another shirt for
lack of women's attire) and directed her to the shower.  He had cleaned her
as best he could the night before, but she still needed it.  He showed her
around the house and told her that she was welcome to anything she wanted
except for his guns (of which he had locked up anyway).  If she wanted to
eat, sleep, watch television or even use the phone, she was welcome to it.

   Sarah told him that there was no one that she could think to call.  She
said she never wanted to see her parents again and would run away before
going back there.  She didn't have anyone else who cared about her so there
was no reason to call anyone.  He talked to her again about calling the
police on her parents and the men who hurt her.  She was scared that she
would have to go back to her parents or be a ward of the state and in her
mind both were equally as bad.  As far as the three men, she didn't know
what she would tell the police.  She didn't know their names, didn't have a
clue where they might be, and she hoped she would never see them again in
her lifetime.

   Alex was concerned and wanted to do something about all of the people
who had hurt this innocent child (and she was still a child in his eyes),
but couldn't make her do anything that she didn't want to do.  He settled
for the time being that she was going to stay there and remain safe.  He
would think about how to convince her to take action against her abusers
after she had settled down.

   She took her shower and he busied himself with cleaning up the house. 
He picked up the residual mess from the night before while tending to her.
After her shower, she came out and looked much better.  The bruises on her
legs were going to take some real time to heal.  Her face wasn't as bad as
it initially appeared.  She still had the split lip, but it was healing. 
After she was clean and her long hair was bushed taken care of, Alex saw a
nice looking young woman in front of him.  He tried not to leer.  He
couldn't help but take notice that her breast bounced a little when she
walked due to no bra.  She was even walking easier and steadier on her
feet.

   When he went to town, he was going to take her shopping for some
clothes. That day was spent learning about each other.  Actually, it was
more that she was learning about him.  He didn't shy away from her
questions.  She asked why he had become a nurse, how had his marriage broke
up, why did he live alone out here, and such.  He tried to answer her
completely.

   She was particularly interested in his relationship with his daughter.
She didn't understand why his daughter, Melody, who seemed to have the good
life with him, wasn't interested in being there.  He told her that Melody
was sixteen now and free to make her own choice of who she wanted to live
with.  Sarah also didn't seem to understand the complete idea that Alex had
never tried anything sexual with her.  That one took some explaining.  She
thought that eventually every father did something to his daughter.  It was
only a matter of when.  When she went to school, some of her girlfriends
would confide in her that things happened with their dads or brothers, but
she would always keep what happened to her a secret.  Her father and mother
had threatened her many times to throw her out on the street if she ever
told anyone, so she never did.  It took some convincing, but after an hour
of getting skeptical looks from her, Alex had her convinced that he wasn't
like that and had never touched his daughter like that.  He told her that
she was just so much like her mother that when they separated, she wanted
the city life instead of the country life.

   He left out the resentment that Melody had for him about the divorce in
general.  Melody felt that it was his fault for the divorce and messing up
her life.

   As the day went on she relaxed around him.  He didn't pry into how her
life had been, but paid close attention when she would tell any pieces of
it.

   She was an only child.  They didn't have any other family members close
to hers.  It went without saying that as long as she could remember they
were always poor and struggling.  Taking care of her and providing for her
was always secondary when it came to her parents.  Occasionally, she was in
awe of the stuff around the house.  Also the size of his house impressed
her.  She couldn't believe that he lived here alone with so much room and
what seemed to her, lavish furnishings.  He explained that he had built the
house for his wife and daughter to live there, too.  Shortly after it was
completed, his wife left him.  So he had a big spacious home with no one to
fill it.

   Alex found it nice to have someone to talk with after four years of
living alone.

   That evening, he thought things over and the house was big enough for
them both.  If Sarah decided to stay long term, it actually wouldn't be a
problem.  The house felt warm and friendly for the first time in years. 
For a long time, the silence of the house was just a reminder of his failed
relationship with his high school sweet heart.  He just couldn't bear to
sell it.

   That night, the ice storm came in, just as predicted on the forecast. 
At eight o'clock the freezing rain started.  They were up in the living
room watching a movie.  They had popcorn and she had a blanket over her,
sitting on the couch.  Alex was sitting in his chair with a bowl of popcorn
of his own.

   He had gone through his wardrobe and the only things he found that would
remotely even stay on her were the boxer shorts with a draw string.  Sarah
didn't seem to mind considering her legs were still tender.  Just to brush
against them made her wince.  So not having pants or things rubbing against
them was fine for the time being.  He did his best not to take notice of
her breasts.  The t-shirts didn't hide much and occasionally her nipples
would push through the fabric, but he would act nothing was out of the
ordinary.  She had caught him once looking at her.  She looked apprehensive
at first, but then relaxed.

   They sat for a while in silence watching the movie and listening to the
storm outside.  He tossed a piece of popcorn at her and when she looked at
him, he stared that the television like nothing had happened.  She ignored
it and a minute later he did it again.  She looked at him accusingly, but
he gave the innocent expression "who me?" Then it was on and popcorn was
flying back and forth.  She smiled and laughed for the first time in a very
long time.

   He wondered how often she had been able to laugh.  As soon as they were
out of popcorn they were both smiling and laughing after their impromptu
food fight.  He thought she was really pretty when she smiled.  He decided
he would have to do whatever he could to make it happen more often.

   They sat there for another minute and then the lights went out.



   Sarah screamed in the dark.  Alex immediately got up and grabbed a
flashlight.  He looked around but didn't see Sarah on the couch anymore. 
He called out for her, but she didn't respond.  He found her huddled in the
corner behind his chair with the blanket wrapped around her tight.

   "Sarah," he tried to calm her.  "It's okay."

   "No," she said shaking her head in panic.  "They've come back for me. 
They're here to get me." She was shaking in fear and her eye where closed
tightly holding her head down into her knees as she sat on the floor.

   Alex sat close to her, but didn't touch her.  He knew that would be a
bad idea.  "Sarah," he said keeping his voice even and calm.  "There is no
one here, only me.  The power is out because of the ice storm.  It happens
about every time there is a bad one.  Come and I'll show you," he said
putting a hand out to her.

   She looked up at him.  He held the flashlight so that she could see his
face in the dark.  She still looked scared enough to wet herself, but she
took his hand.  He helped her to stand and took her to the front window. 
He shined the flashlight out on the front drive.  Only his truck was there
and no other tire marks were in the snow.  Outside sparkled with the
refection of the light off the ice.  It seemed to be on every surface, the
ground, the trees, the truck, porch and the garage that was across the
drive from the house.

   "It's okay," he assured her.  "You're safe here.  I won't let anything
happen to you.  But I do have to get a few things done now that the power's
out.  Will you help me?" he asked her.

   Giving her something to do helped calm her.  She listened for every
little noise, but got better as she saw that he was prepared for this
emergency.  He had firewood ready and built a fire in the living room fire
place in no time.  He had her open and close doors for him as he brought
some wood in.  He had her hold a battery powered lantern so he could see as
he moved food from the refrigerator to the outside ice box and a cooler on
the back patio.  He didn't really need her for any of it, but he felt that
if she thought that he needed her, that she would be able to focus so he
continually thanked her for the assistance as they went from task to task.

   After an hour, everything was set.  There was a warm fire inside the
house, the doors were closed to the rooms to the other parts of the house
to contain the heat, and the food was stored so that it wouldn't spoil.  He
had explained the water situation.  They had bottled water to drink, but he
started up the generator long enough to fill the tub with water and set a
bucket in there so they could flush the toilet as needed.  He had done this
in previous years and knew the drill.

   Since the electric was out, he pulled out a deck of cards and they
started to play.  She knew how to play several card games and even got her
to smile when she beat him.  The fire was cozy and she had pulled the
blanket back over her.  He saw that she was using it as a security blanket,
but that's okay for the moment.

   They had cleaned up the popcorn from around the room and it was after
midnight when they were starting to get tired.  He was avoiding addressing
the sleeping arrangements.  If they power came back on, then it wouldn't be
a problem.  At the moment, the rest of the house was at least fifty degrees
and dropping.  By morning, the other rooms in the house would be at the
freezing or below mark, even with the good insulation.  The house was just
too big.

   After the first year that the power went out on him here, he had figured
out quickly that the fireplace could only heat one or two rooms due to the
big area of the rooms.  The heat got swallowed up trying to heat the entire
house.  So he had insulated the doors well so that when closed, they kept
the heat in.  It had worked well when he was the only occupant.

   He didn't know how she would take it so he just came right out and said
it.  "We're both going to have to sleep in here tonight."

   Her face got a serious expression.  She discarded a jack into the pile
of cards between them on the table without looking up at him.  "I know,"
she said quietly.

   He drew from the pile of cards continuing their game.  He wanted to know
what she was thinking, but the only sound in the room was the crackling
fire for a few minutes.

   "I'm not going to be mad at you," she said solemnly.  "It's okay."

   Alex watched her not understanding.

   She still didn't look up at him.  She stayed looking down at her cards.
"Whatever you do tonight, it's okay.  You've been so nice to me and taken
care of me.  I owe it to you and I won't be mad in the morning."

   "Oh my god," he couldn't help but whisper.  "No!" he said with
conviction.  It came out a little more forcefully than he intended it.

   His tone of voice scared her and she stared at him for a moment.

   He calmed his voice.  "No," he said to her.  "Nothing like that is going
to happen.  Not here.  Not ever," he promised her.  "You don't owe me
anything and I will never ask anything like that from you."

   She looked him in the eye.  She wasn't fearful anymore, but her eyes
looked as if they had something else to say.  She kept her peace about it,
though.

   They played cards quietly for about another twenty minutes but didn't
talk about the subject.  He wanted to assure her that he wasn't going to
try anything, but she didn't seem to want to talk about it.  He guessed
that she'd been hurt so much before that it was hard to believe that he
didn't want to hurt her as well.

   She slept on the couch and he made a bed in the floor on the other side
of the room.  He put as much distance between them as he could.  He didn't
want her thinking that he was going to try anything with her.  He even
debated on trying to sleep in his bedroom in the dropping temperatures, but
after going in there for socks, he decided that he didn't want to be a
Popsicle in the morning.

   He slept like a rock.  As soon as he stretched out on the blankets, he
was asleep.

   Chapter 3

   In the morning, he opened his eyes to see Sarah laying only six inches
beside him.  Her eyes were open and looking at him.  They were beautiful
full blue eyes just watching him.  He startled wide awake, but tried to not
let it show.  "I thought you were going to take the couch," he said trying
to be calm about waking up next to a beautiful fifteen year old.

   "I got cold," she said playfully.

   "There was another blanket on the chair over there," he said knowing she
wasn't really cold.

   "I was ready for you," she said quietly.  "I waited for a while," she
swallowed as he listened to her.  "I even came over here to make it easy
for you.  If you want, I'll even close my eyes and pretend to be asleep if
that makes it easier for you," she said timidly.  "You can do it now if you
want."

   "No," he told her softly.  "I'm not going to do anything like that to
you."

   "Please," she says looking back at him.  "You're taking care of me and
this is what I'm supposed to do.  I don't want to be alone again, so I'm
giving myself to you."

   He shook his head, but he could see that she was serious and be believed
what she was saying.  "I'm not going to turn you out.  You can stay here or
leave whenever you like.  I'm not going to make you do anything, and I'm
definitely not going to take advantage of you."

   Hope welled up in her and she came forward and hugged him tight.  He
could feel her warm body against him.  He felt her breast press against his
chest through the material, but willed his body not to react.

   After a minute or two in that position, they got up and set about their
day.  After adding more wood to the fire place, he started the generator
and used a hot plate to cook breakfast.  Sarah did all she could to make
herself useful.  It seemed that was her new quest.  She cleaned up the
bedding and folded it in the living room, got into some sweats that were
way too big on her but warm enough she could wander the house a bit.

   They went outside for only short periods.  It was still very cold, but
the storm had passed and the sun was out.  Every tree and every surface
gleamed with reflected sunlight.  I was beautiful to Alex.  It just made
him love the woods and country even more.  He cleared some downed limbs and
fueled up the generator for later in the evening when they would need it.
For now, there was no reason to waste the fuel.

   Sarah tried to stay busy in the house.  She cleaned, tried making lunch
for the both of them, and finally he had to tell her to chill out and enjoy
herself.  She finally settled down after finding the book shelves in his
den.  She knew which room it was before, but didn't go in there.  Then she
found that there was a computer in there on the computer desk with all of
the cool things to go along with it.  One entire wall was mostly book
shelves with all kinds of books that ranged from popular fiction books,
teen books (that hopefully were his daughter's), to medical books and
nursing guides.  She settled on starting from the first of a teen vampire
novel series.  She had heard of the title, but her parents never would buy
it or much else for her.

   Alex was happy to see her settle down for a while.  The light faded
early even with the clear skies.  By the end of the day, a lot of the ice
had melted.  They still didn't have power.  The landline phone still worked
so he called it in to the electric company and they said they were swamped
and would get to it when they could.  He didn't mind at the moment.  They
weren't hurting for anything.

   That evening he cooked over the fireplace.  It wasn't much, but he made
baked potatoes and a version of baked chicken with some special spices. 
With them wrapped in tin foil as they cooked over a real fire that gave
them a good flavor.  Sarah relished every bite like it was the best thing
she'd ever tasted.  He wasn't sure if she meant it or not, but even if she
didn't, it was nice that she was appreciative.

   That night, they played cards at the end of the night and talked small
talk.  Alex kept the conversation light and didn't bring up any of her
past. He told her that the next day they were going to go into town and get
some clothes for her and anything else she needed.  He told her to make a
list of what she thought she might need in the line of hygiene products and
what else she might want that he didn't have (make-up and the like).  She
knew she didn't have any money and didn't like the idea of him spending
money for her, but he told her that if she was going to stay here, that she
needed stuff.  She couldn't argue with that.

   When it came time for bed, he stocked the fire for the night and she
pulled the blankets out for the make shift bedding.  He went to the
bathroom one final time and got changed into some pajamas.  She had already
gotten into some boxers and a shirt of his that she had claimed the night
before.  When he came back in, she had made a bed on the floor out of
several blankets stacked on top of each other.  It took up most of the
living room floor and she was already in it under the blanket.  His pillow
placed next to hers with the blanket turned down for him.

   He understood all of it.  "I thought we talked about this," he growled
as she looked up at him hopeful.

   "Please," she asked looking sad about being refused.  "Just sleep. 
That's all." She looked on the verge of tearing up.  "I just don't want to
sleep alone.  I feel safe with you."

   He felt wrong but got down under the blanket anyway.  He turned on his
back and looked at the ceiling after turning the lamp off.  The fire
cracked and shadows danced to their tune across the ceiling and walls.

   "Thank you," Sarah whispered to him as she put an arm over his chest
rolling close to him.

   "Good night, Sarah," he answered her and fell asleep quickly again.

   The next morning, they were delighted to find the power had been
restored.  It took an hour to get the food moved back into the house and
clean up the mess made by the fire and ash from the fire place.  Alex
didn't like putting things off and figured if the power was out again, he
didn't want to be cleaning it in the cold.

   Sarah made herself at home in the kitchen.  She didn't know as much as
he did about cooking, but she did whip up some coffee and breakfast for the
both of them.

   He looked at her amused.  "You drink coffee?"

   "I just started," she told him taking a sip of her own and making a
face.

   "Next time add some sugar," he said chuckling at her reaction.

   The morning was nice.  The temperature came up and the snow and ice were
melting.  That afternoon, they got in his truck, a black full sized dodge
RAM, and made their way up his long driveway to the main road to check it.
They were happy to see that it had been plowed the day before and was
drivable.

   They went into town and made a whole day of it.  He took her to the
shopping center to buy clothes first.  He told her to pick out anything
that she liked, but she was hesitant.  At first, she chose just a few pair
of jeans (the cheaper off brand kind) and a few plain t-shirts.  Even those
she reluctantly put into the cart.  She kept saying that she didn't want to
spend his money.  He wasn't hurting for money and told her several times
that the cost didn't matter.  Finally, he took a look at the sizes of the
jeans and put them back on the shelf.  At first, Sarah thought that he had
changed his mind and wasn't going to buy her anything.  She didn't say
anything, though.  Then he went and grabbed the nice, name brand jeans in
her size and put seven in the cart of different styles.

   Sarah's eyes almost bugged out!  She gasped and her mouth fell open. 
Her parents had never bought her the nice ones.  Very rarely had they
bought anything new for her at all.  He then grabbed her several more
shirts in her size along with a nice winter coat.

   Sarah kept telling him that he didn't have to and that she was costing
him way too much money.  She wanted to put some of it back, but he wouldn't
let her touch it.  He made her pick out socks and took her to the women's
underwear area and told her she was on her own there, but he didn't want
her to come out with anything less than seven bras and seven underwear. 
She didn't argue, but keep them bundled in her arms when she came out from
the isles.  When she got to the cart, she tucked them all under some of the
other clothes.  He let her have her privacy, after she assured him that she
had seven of each.

   They picked up some women's health care products.  She tried to hide the
box of tampons from him, but he reminded her that he had been married and
had a daughter.  It wasn't going to shock him.  The rest of the items were
minimal.  She said that she didn't use makeup, but he still insisted that
every young woman needed at least some.  Considering her face was still a
little discolored on one side, she gave in and bought a few items.

   When they checked out, she cringed as she watched the register ring up
item after item.  She was sure that her when he saw the total, that it
would be too good to be true.  The cashier told him total was eight hundred
and thirty dollars and he simply handed her a credit card and it was done
with a quick swipe.  Sarah was about to faint!  No one had ever done
anything like this for her in her entire life.  She was speechless.

   Alex smiled and enjoyed Sarah's reactions to picking her out stuff that
he knew she wanted, but wouldn't ask for.  Next they hit the shoe store and
walked away with four new pair of shoes for her.  He offered her the option
of video games or movies, but as it turned out, she finally told him that
she wasn't into them.  She reluctantly asked if there was a used book store
in town.

   He was very happy to tell her that there was one in town and it was one
of his favorite stops.  It had a coffee shop in it and was one of those big
chains that had almost every type of book.

   Sarah didn't know it, but this made Alex happy for more than a few
reasons.  First, he enjoyed reading and it was nice that she shared his
interest.  Second, books were something that his daughter and he never saw
eye-to-eye on.  Melody was always glued to her cell phone, the television,
or some video game.  He never saw much use in those.  Sarah had never had
video games and rarely had television growing up so books became her best
friends.  Alex watched which ones she was interested in and let her pick up
a few.  He made a mental note of which ones that she had stared at longer
for later.

   That evening, they had dinner in town before heading back to his house,
thirty minutes away.  She had rarely been able to go out to eat in her
life. Most of the time, it was with a friend's family and even then she
felt guilty for them spending money on her.

   The entire day was hers.  Alex made it all about her and trying to make
her feel special.  It seemed that everything was going well until the ride
home.  She went quiet and was lost in thought.  Alex let her to her
thoughts and turned on the radio.  He hoped that she would share whatever
was on her mind when she was ready.

   Sarah couldn't get over how much money he was spending on her and not
even flinching.  Her parents would take any money that she cost them out on
her.  Her mother would make her work it off around the house with cleaning
and chores.  Her father would take it out on her in sex and other depraved
ways.  He would humiliate her by telling her exactly how much she owed him
before and how much she had worked off at the end of the act.  He told her
whores should know how much they're worth.  She cringed at the memory.

   She was always gifted in math and through the day, she couldn't help but
keep a running total of exactly how much Alex spent on her.  She was
excited about the first new stuff that she could remember getting in years.
She also knew that Alex didn't expect or want anything in return.  He had
told her that before and several times during the day when she mentioned
how much it was costing him.

   She looked over at him affectionately.  She knew that literally, she
owed him her life for rescuing her.  This was different, though.  Money was
something tangible that her mind could come to grips with and work out how
much she owed him.  Doing some quick math, the few chores that she found
during the day to do for him, she estimated it would take over a year and a
half to work off just what he spent today.  As far as sex goes, she did the
math on that was well and figured it up in her head.  She had done it for
her father and hated him.  Doing it for this man who truly seemed to care
about her wouldn't be a bad thing to her.  She was always taught to honor
her debts.  It was the only value taught to her by her parents that she
considered to be meaningful.  She knew that her mother and father had taken
advantage of it, but she still was able to look at herself in the mirror
with respect because she had always paid her debts in some way.  It was
part of who she was.

   She couldn't figure him out, though.  He didn't see it that way.  In
fact, the way he looked at money and sex was a complete mystery to her. 
She had seen him notice her.  At night, when she brushed her chest against
his body, she had felt him react to it.  She could tell that part of him
wanted her and yet he had been adamant to go out of his way not to touch
her.  She had left the doors unlocked when showering, changing, and going
to the bathroom.  He knew that she wouldn't hold it against him, and here
he was spending even more money to take care of her.  More than she
believed even her own parents did in the last ten years.  Much more than
she thought she was worth.  She didn't want to owe him and no matter how
much he said it didn't matter and that she didn't owe him, she would make
sure to repay him for everything.

   Alex didn't bat an eye at spending money on her for many reasons.  The
one most of all is the way it made Sarah smile.  He had raised a daughter
for a long time and knew that girls cost a lot.  The other reason he didn't
mind it at the moment was he had it to spend.  He had been saving money up
for a four wheeler to go tracing around the woods on.  He had saved up four
grand so far and in the coming summer, he was planning on buying one brand
new with cash.  He had always wanted to walk up to a dealer and for a car
or big purchase and hand them a brief cases full of cash for the amount and
walk away leaving them stunned.

   Besides, he sent his child support every month, bought things for Melody
when she chose to come around to visit him, and already had his student
loans paid off.  Each month, he had extra and had been putting it back for
a while.  He had no problem spending it on Sarah if it would help her.

   He noticed her caught up on prices of stuff and trying to spend as
little of his money as possible.  Even during dinner, at first she had
chosen her meal by the price on the menu.  He finally talked her into
getting something that she liked, but he could see that she really didn't
like him spending money on her.

   She did like the stuff, though.  He watched her light up like a kid at
Christmas time at each store.  That was the payoff for him.  It was all
worth it.

   When they got home that night, he helped her take all her new clothes up
to the upstairs bedroom.  He told her to consider it her room for the time
being.  Melody hadn't been there for over a year.  He would go and see her
and spend time with her, but she didn't have any desire to come and stay in
the country with him.  He told Sarah it would be a shame for a nice room to
go to waste.

   The room had a purple theme going on with it.  It had a television with
some kind of video game system on it that she didn't recognize a dresser
with a large mirror, a walk in closet, and its own small bathroom.

   She got teary-eyed looking at it and thinking that it could be hers. 
She had never had anything this nice.  She hugged him and thanked him for
everything.  He helped her take the bags up and went down stairs to let her
to it.

   She went about dusting the room after getting things put away.  The room
didn't seem to have been cleaned for that long, either.  There was a
plastic cover over the bed and she found the sheets, pillows, and blankets
to be clean.  Quickly, the silence and loneliness of the room got to her
and she went downstairs to join Alex.

   Chapter 4

   The next few days went well for them.  Alex called in to work and told
them that he was sick and that he needed a few days off.  Because he rarely
called out, they didn't give him any trouble.  Also, because he only worked
three days a week, which meant he had another seven days until he really
had to go to work.

   As much as Alex wanted to take care of his new roommate, she proved very
self-sufficient.  She would insist on making meals for the two of them. 
While he would be out trimming limbs from trees that had come down during
the ice storm, she would clean the house.  It was amazing how some things
get missed by a man that a woman knows to clean.  She didn't spend all her
time slaving away.  When he wasn't doing work outside, she would find
reasons to hang around him.

   The card games became an after dinner tradition before bed.  She would
sit down with him in the living room if he were watching television or
reading.  He would catch her giving him knowing looks out of the corner of
his eye, but would look at her book or the television when he looked over
at her.

   He wasn't naïve and knew she had a crush on him.  He enjoyed the
attention, but knew that she was half his age.  He thought that there was
no real way for a relationship to work.  He did enjoy her company and
having someone in the house made it come alive.  He still wanted to go to
the police and every time he thought of the ones who hurt her or her
parents, he felt sick.  He was amazed at the young woman she really was the
more she relaxed around him.  She could cook (not as well as him, but
better than most teenagers), she was clean almost to obsession, she was
helpful, and she seemed intelligent.  She read when she could and enjoyed
learning.

   Her personality really started coming out in their nightly card games.
She would have playful attitude.  She wasn't a poor sport, but always made
it a point if she lost to tell him that she would get him next time.  As
the days went on, he found he started looking forward to next time, too. 
She seemed so proud when she would beat him or accomplish anything.  She
would beam at his praise when he would tell her the house looked nice or
compliment her on her cooking.

   He truly enjoyed having her around.  After almost a week, he convinced
himself that calling the authorities would be a bad thing.  It was selfish
of course because he knew they would make her leave.  She seemed happy some
times and he didn't want her to have to go back to a life of sadness and
pain.



   Six days after she arrived, an unfamiliar car came down his long gravel
drive.  It was the woods, but since the winter had taken the green from the
trees, the sound of the car and he could see it at a distance.

   "I wonder who that could be?" he said out loud looking through the
living room window.  It was a white four door Nissan Sentra.  There was one
driver, but he didn't look too nice.  Alex could see his face as he got out
of the car.

   "Oh, God!" Sarah exclaimed as she walked up beside him.  "That's him! 
That's one of them!" she gasped pointing out the window.

   Alex immediately walked to his bedroom and grabbed his 9mm pistol.  He
locked a magazine in and chambered a round.  Putting the safety on, he
tucked it into the back of his jeans.  He walked back through the front
room.  Sarah was sitting on the floor with her arms tight around her knees
in a small ball rocking back and forth.

   "Are you sure?" he asked her as he went to the front door.

   He looked back when she didn't answer.  She nodded crying.

   He walked out onto his porch.  The overweight man with a beard was
standing by his white car with a shot gun in his hands.  He held it in a
relaxed position, down and held across him.

   The two men stared at each other a moment.

   "I think you have something that doesn't belong to you," the man said
with a gravelly voice.  "I seen it in the window there.  Now if you don't
mind, I'll be takin' what is mine and we won't have any trouble."

   Alex turned red with fury at hearing this horrible excuse for a man
refer to Sarah as a possession.

   Alex was a crack shot with his AR-15 rifle he had in the bedroom.  He
had won several competitions with it.  His pistols were his hobby and he
loved to target shoot with them.  Not to mention, he was very good with
them, too.

   He judged the shot gun for a moment.  With scatter shot, the forty feet
between him and the man could do some damage, but he would have to be a
decent shot.  If the man was using solid shot, he would have to pump
between firing the weapon.  If Alex was moving, it would be much harder to
hit him.

   "I think you should look around," Alex said coolly.  "There isn't anyone
who will complain about me leaving your body in the woods.  And from the
way you talk, I don't think anyone will miss you, either." He showed more
confidence than he felt.

   The tubby man smiled and looked in the front window again looking for
Sarah.  Alex took this second of distraction and pulled his gun and aimed
it at the man's head turning the safety off as it came out.

   The man stopped smiling seeing the weapon pointed at him.

   "Slowly, set the shot gun on the ground," Alex ordered.

   The man sneered, but obeyed.  He came up with his hands open.  "Now
what? Are you going to kill me?" he said sarcastically.

   "Now you're going to get back in your car and never come back," Alex
said really wanting to pull the trigger and end the man.

   The man smiled evilly and got back in his car, leaving his weapon.  He
as he turned around in the open drive way he rolled down his window and
yelled.  "Tell the fuck doll in there that we'll see her soon."

   Alex had lowered his weapon when the car started moving, but was tempted
to fire at the man anyway.  He walked over and picked up the shot gun.  He
unloaded it and walked inside to see Sarah peeking just above the window
frame outside at the empty drive.  There was no doubt that she heard the
man.

   Alex took the guns to his room and locked up the shotgun.  His pistol he
kept on him.

   "We have to leave," she told him when he came back through the house "We
have to run before they come back.  He's going to bring the others." She
was starting to panic talking faster and shaking.

   Alex already knew that the man would be back with others and was already
making a plan.  He pulled Sarah into a hug for a moment.  She was so scared
that she couldn't stop shaking.  He tried to calm her.  "Yes," he said. 
"They will be back, but I am not going to let them hurt you or take you
anywhere."

   She looked at him and wanted to believe him.

   "Just stay inside.  I have to get some things ready," he said and went
out the back door.

   She tried to stay calm, but nothing could calm her.  She kept staring
down the long gravel drive to his house waiting for them to come back for
her.

   She watched Alex go to the detached garage across the drive way to from
the front of the house.  His truck was parked to the right side of it.  He
took some stuff over to a burn barrel that was rusted and black from
burning trash.  It looked like a gas can and some others stuff but she
didn't recognize it.

   Alex was quickly getting a strategy together.  He was very good shot
with his rifle, but he couldn't shoot three targets at once.  With the
attitude the man had, most likely he would be back with his other two
friends that had laid claim to Sarah.  The more he thought about it, the
less hesitation he had about firing a gun at them.

   Put the container of explosive in the barrel right next to a hole in the
side of it so that he could see it from the other side of the yard.  The
explosive compound was something he had left over from blowing up a stump
in the yard during the year.  His brother was an explosive expert in the
military and had got it for him.  It was the kind that was set off by
shooting it.  He was only supposed to use a little bit for the stump.  He
put the entire five pound container in the barrel.  He poured fuel from the
generator on the container and some of the unburned trash.  Then be put
some left over fireworks from the fourth of July in it.  Melody was
supposed to come down and he bought them for her to see, but she cancelled
on him and he never got around to shooting them off.  He needed a big
distraction.

   He went over to the far right side of the yard, opposite of barrel from
the house.  His rank of firewood that was stacked there would be decent
cover for him.  If the man stopped where he did last time in front of the
house on the driveway, then he would have a clear shot at the barrel.

   He went back inside and got his prized AR-15 rifle.  He had won many
competitions with it and treated it with respect and affection.  He sat on
the couch and started loading rounds into magazines.

   Sarah who wouldn't move away from the window talked quietly to him. 
"They're going to come back.  They're going to kill you."

   Alex smiled.  Apparently she didn't know how good a shot he was.  "It's
going to be okay.  I do need something from you, though," he said and
finally she turned and looked at him.  "When it starts, they are going to
be aiming for you.  As long as they think you're in the house, that will be
their goal, but if they think they can shoot you through a window, they
will probably try that.  They didn't leave you out on that road to live. 
They want to kill you."

   Sarah nodded understanding.

   "You have to hide when they come.  I want you in the bathroom with the
door shut.  I don't want them to be able to see you at all," he told her.

   "Okay," she said seeming to understand but still in a state of shock.

   Alex actually had other reasons for wanting her far away.  He didn't
want her to see him kill them, which was exactly what he was prepared to do
if he had to.

   They didn't take long.  About three hours after the incident, the white
car was coming back up the drive.  Alex told Sarah to go and she went down
the hall toward the bathroom as he went out the back door.

   He waited until the car passed the stack of wood that was about five
foot tall.  He slid his rifle which was already loaded with a round ready
just above the top of the pile.  The car turned off and it was suddenly
very silent.  He could see the spot on the yellow container in the barrel
clearly.  He knew that once it started, he would get no second chance and
he couldn't let them get a bead on him.

   Three men got out of the car.  The fat one that had been there earlier
was the driver.  There is another burley man in the passenger seat and
short skinny man in the back seat.  All three looked like run down white
trash.  None had any kind of decent appearance of clothes or hygiene.

   "The cunt's in there," the driver said to the others.  "The asshole is
mine, though.  I'm gonna get my shotgun back and stick it right up his
ass."

   The two others surveyed the house.  The one in the passenger front got
out with what looked like a hunting rifle and the other one in the back,
pulled back the slide on a hand gun that looked to be a 9mm glock.

   "Come on out and you won't be hurt!" the one with the rifle said.

   "We just want our fuck slut back," he short man with the handgun said.
"You can even take a turn or two with her.  We don't mind!" he shouted.

   Alex let out a long breath and focused.  His shots were going to have to
be accurate.

   He fired first at the barrel.

   The explosion was ear shattering.  The fireball from the top of the
barrel looked and felt like a cannon had went off.  All three men jumped
back and the two pointed their guns in that direction, away from Alex.

   Next the fireworks cracked, popped and flew in all directions.  Some
whizzing by but most continuing to make noise as loud as gun shots in the
barrel.  Alex took aim at the man with the rifle pointed at the barrel and
fired.

   Alex hit him in the right shoulder that the rifle was seated on and the
rifle flew from his hand.  Alex targeted the one with the hand gun.  The
man had apparently heard Alex's shot and spun around to pointing his gun in
Alex's direction.  Alex fired just as the guy faced him and hit him the
right shoulder causing the him to lose grip on the gun as he fell.  The fat
man saw the hand gun hit the ground and started running for it.

   Alex fired two rounds at him, catching him with the second in the leg
and he went down clutching his bleeding leg and hollering.

   The moments stretched.  Of the three men, only one actually saw Alex and
where he was the man also no longer had use of his right arm.  All three
men were trying to get back into the car and relative safety.

   Alex drew his side arm and walked toward the men.  He resisted the urge
to kill them right there.  The one who was shot in the leg managed to get
his into the drive side door that was left open.  The one shot in the right
arm reached out for his pistol and Alex shot him in his left arm.  Causing
him to scream in pain and back up toward the car.

   The man on the other side didn't bother trying for his rifle.  Instead
he was scrambling to get into the car as well.

   The driver half limp, half crawled as fast as he could to the still open
driver's side door.  He managed to get the car into gear and get the car
moving as fast as his injured leg would let him.  Alex stepped close to the
house, but kept his gun trained on them in the car.  They saw him for the
first time standing there.  They went around in a small circle to get back
up the drive and Alex took aim and fired several more shots at them.  He
wasn't aiming at them, but he found his target after three shots when their
back tire blew.  He watched until they were back out on the road and took
note of their license plate number as they left.

   He looked up at the house and saw Sarah eyes wide looking through the
side of the front window.  He let out his breath and felt the adrenaline
rush on him, but there was one more thing to do before he could help her.
He went inside and grabbed the phone to dial the police.  He reported armed
burglars had tried to break into his house and he had chased them off.  He
quickly told her the make, model, license plate number and description of
the men to dispatch officer.  She said there would be officers out in the
area.

   He cleared and unloaded his rifle and hand gun.  He carefully set them
on the coffee table.  He knew what could happen if they weren't treated
properly.  Then he went to Sarah who was still staring out the front
window. "Sarah," he said cautiously.

   She stood motionless.

   "Sarah, please come and sit down," he said, but she didn't respond.

   He placed his hands on her shoulders and she let him guide her to the
couch to a seated position.  She was in a state of shock.  This was one of
the reasons that he didn't want her to witness any of it.  He didn't know
how she would handle it.

   "You did it," she whispered still staring straight ahead after a minute
or two.  "You kept me safe like you promised," and then she looked at him.
Like a switch came on, she lunged at him and hugged him tight.  She started
crying uncontrollably.  The fear, anxiety, hopelessness, and years of being
oppressed poured out of her as she cried on his shoulder.

   He rubbed her back and whispered that it was going to be okay now and
that it was over.  He stroked her long soft hair and let her purge herself
of it all.  They didn't know how long it took, but after what seemed like
only minutes, there was a police officer knocking at his door.

   Alex saw the flashing lights coming through the window.  He had to pry
her arms from around him and make a motion for her to stay on the couch. 
She had tried to get up with him.  After some questions from the officer
about the "attempted break in", he told them that the three had pulled out
their guns and he just had got to his first.  When he looked out, he saw
that there were a total of four officers and three cop cars in his drive.
The three looked around the area while the one who knocked on his door,
Officer McCormick, kept asking him about the ordeal.  Alex told him that
they dropped their weapons and also gave him the 12 gauge shot gun that the
man had dropped on his first trip.

   The officers had noticed the major mess from the barrel and remnants of
the fireworks and asked about them.  Alex claimed to be burning trash when
they arrived.  Officer McCormick was a little suspicious but let it go.

   "Did you catch them?" Sarah piped up.  She had been quiet the whole time
Alex was giving his statement.

   "And you are?" the officer asked.

   "She's my daughter," Alex answered hoping that the officer didn't look
too closely at her to notice any of the marks on her.  She was wearing
jeans and one of her new long sleeve shirts, but there was still her face
that was only mostly healed.

   He seemed to relax.  "Yes, Ma'am, we did.  They were several miles up
the road and looked like they had had a rough time." He turned back to
Alex. "And you say that you were just defending yourselves and that's all?"
He had a skeptical look in his eyes.

   "Yes," Alex said.  "When they figured out that we were home, they
threatened me and my daughter."

   "Okay.  Thank you, Sir.  We'll be in touch if we have any other
questions," Officer McCormick said and took his clipboard back out to his
car.

   One of the female officers came over to Sarah and knelt down to her
level.  She saw the terrified look on the girl.  "Don't worry," she said to
Sarah taking her hand.  "We ran their prints and there are warrants out for
kidnapping and murder charges for all three of them.  They will never
bother you or your father again." The female officer was close enough to
notice the healing injuries on Sarah's face, but didn't say anything.

   "Thank you," was all Sarah could say.

   She had the same thoughts that Alex had.  The men had done it before to
another girl.  They had kidnapped and murdered her like they tried to do to
Sarah.  At that moment, Alex wished he had killed all three of them.  It
was one of the few regrets he carried for the rest of his life.

   The officers took pictures of the area, the house, and the blood stains
on the ground from the men.  They collected the extra weapons and after
Alex showed his permits for all of his guns, and left.  Alex and Sarah
stood at the window and watched the last of the police cars leave the
drive.

   The rest of that day went by slowly in comparison.  Alex stayed in the
living room with Sarah.  She didn't want to do much of anything.  He busied
himself with cleaning his guns and asked her to help him.  He knew from
experience that if she had a task that she would do better.

   He went out and cleaned the mess from the explosion.  It had scattered
black ash around, but the ground was too wet for anything to really catch
on fire.  Sarah stayed close to him.  She didn't have a worried look on her
face anymore, but he caught her staring at him several times.  She had a
deep look of knowing on her face, but she didn't look scared anymore.  He
tried to lighten the mood a little, but she kept her serious tone through
the entire evening.

   She insisted that she help make dinner and then they ate in relative
silence.  She helped him clean up even after he told her repeatedly to go
enjoy herself.  He knew she was rattled some by what happened today, but he
was going to let her talk about it when she was ready.  She made no mention
of the confrontation.  She just didn't want to be any distance away from
him and he thought he understood.

   Chapter 5

   The day had left him drained, emotionally and physically.  He got a
shower and insisted that she get one before bed as well.  He tried to read,
but it was almost eleven and his eyes were heavy so he checked the doors
and windows before turning off the main lights and heading to bed.  Sarah
was already up in her room probably still getting dry from her shower. 
"Good night" he called up the stairs.

   "Good night" she called back down, but she sounded a little reluctant.

   He got under the covers and was just starting to get comfortable when
there was a knock on his bedroom door.  She opened it and stood in the
doorway.

   "Let me guess," he said.  "Cold again?" he teased from the first day
that he woke up and she was beside him.

   "Can I please sleep in here tonight?" she asked in a small voice without
an ounce of humor.  She sounded so innocent and timid.  "I..." she paused.
"I'm still a little scared."

   After the power had come back on, she had been sleeping in the upstairs
bedroom.  She usually woke up before he did, but for the most part stayed
out of his room.  He hadn't had set any boundaries for her so far and he
worried what this might do, but he made an exception because of what had
happened.

   "Tonight only," he said pulling back the comforter.  She walked over and
he saw that she was in a soft silk night gown, dark blue and the top of it
showed most of her shoulders and her arms.

   She got into bed and pulled the blankets up tight around her.  She moved
very close to him.  The light in the room was dim, but he could still make
out her facial features in the darkness.  He was very uncomfortable because
he could feel the warmth of her body and couldn't control his own impulse
as his dick twitched.  It had been a long time since another had shared his
bed.

   "Are you okay?" he asked carefully.  He had stayed busy during the day
and hoped that she would talk about what she was feeling when she was
ready, but she never took that step.

   "I am now.  Now that I'm with you," she said simply.

   He worried that her crush was now going deeper and alarm light flashed
in his head.  "You could have gone with that police officer," he said
trying to change the subject a little.  "They would have made sure that you
weren't hurt anymore," he told her.

   "No," she said propping her head up on her elbow facing him.  "You were
the one who kept me safe.  Not him.  You are the one I want to be with,"
she said seriously.

   He heard the double innuendo in her words.  The warning alarms blared so
loud in his head that he could hear the ringing in his ears!  "I'm worried
about you," he told her.  He didn't want to tell her to leave, but he
feared that she was going to try to push things.

   She didn't react.  She just looked at him.  "I know, but I'm going to be
okay.  You could have killed those men.  I'm glad you didn't, though.  If
you had, the police would have taken you away, too." She leaned forward and
gave him a long sensuous kiss on the lips.  "I don't want to ever lose
you." She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.

   His first reaction was to pull away, but the softness of her lips and
his own sexual need kept him from doing so.  The rush from the excitement
had left him drained, but when she kissed his lips, he felt his body awaken
with a vengeance.  In the longs seconds the she kissed him, he felt his
member get hard and her hand went to his chest.  He was wearing only his
boxer shorts (which is what he normally slept in).  Her touch was electric.
It had its own current that brought him to life again.  She ran her hand
across and around his chest and then started downward.

   She broke the kiss and pressed her body against the side of his.  He had
to catch his breath.  It was all happening so fast.  He brought his hand up
and put it on top of hers to stop her decent as it was just above his
navel. It was all the strength that he had as he whispered, "No," to her.

   "Please," she begged.

   At that moment, he couldn't recall wanting anyone more in his life; not
his ex-wife or any other woman on the planet had the magnetic pull that
this girl had on him.  He hesitated having an internal war with himself. 
His mind screamed at him that she was just a kid and an abused teenager who
has a crush.  Every other part of him, led by a steel rod engorged between
his legs, wanted to worship this young woman and give her every pleasure
possible.

   "If there is anyone deserving of it, it's you," she said as she brought
his hand up and kissed the top of it.  "No one has ever done anything like
what you have for me.  Please let me do this for you." She moved her leg on
top of his and the top of her knee touched his hard erection.  Her eyes
went wide as she inhaled deeply.  It wasn't a look of fear, but of lust and
anticipation.

   He reacted as well.  The slight stimulation sent a jolt through his
system as well.  He had to suppress a groan of need.  He welled up every
last bit of moral fiber and decency he had left in him.  "I won't let you
do this," he told her.

   Tears came to her eyes.

   "I know you want to.  I want to.  But I won't do you like others have.
You're too good for that," he told her sincerely.

   She turned her head downward and looked away from him.

   "You haven't even healed," Alex said as he took the hand that was
holding hers and brushed a finger along the scab on her wrist where the
bindings had cut into her.  "It would hurt you even trying sex now," he
said.  He was just listing reasons and trying to convince himself as well
as her.  He wanted to convince her, but she didn't seem to be buying it.

   She looked back up to him.  "Fine," she said.  "When I'm healed, then."

   He shook his head, which was still flooded with hormones.  "It's not
just that," he tried to explain, but his own mind wasn't working very well
that the moment.  His whole body was yelling at him to shut up and take
this lovely young woman!

   "Okay," she conceded.  "We'll wait and see," she said.  She took her leg
off of him, but stayed lying on his side.  He put his arm under her head
and she curled up next to him, molding to his body.

   He let out a long breath still kicking himself mentally for messing up
what probably could have been the greatest night of passion in his life. 
He just couldn't get over how young and vulnerable that she was.  He didn't
think he would ever forgive himself if he did go through with it.

   He couldn't get his hard-on to go down.  Eventually, he fell asleep out
of exhaustion.  He didn't want to keep talking to her about it because if
so, he felt he was slipping more and more to the idea of having sex with
her.

   For Sarah, sleep didn't come so easy.  The events of the day kept
replaying in her mind.  She initially went to the bathroom when he told
her, but came back out and peeked around the corner from the hall when she
heard the men outside.  The explosion was completely unexpected and had
scared her.  She thought Alex had been hurt so she rushed to the window to
see.  She watched as all three men went down in a matter of seconds with
blood staining their clothes.  The next thing she knew, Alex was standing
over them as they cowered and ran.

   No one had ever stood up for her like that.  She didn't believe there
were people like that in the world until that day.  Heroes had only been in
the books that she read.  And now she was lying next to her own hero.  He
had saved her life twice.  And even though she felt a little rejected by
him not accepting her in bed, it only made her care about him more.  She
had felt his hard member.  In her experience, when a man got hard like
that, they always acted on it, most of the time hurting her with in the
process.  Alex hadn't.  And even more than that, he was concerned for her
well being more than she was.

   She had wanted to satisfy him and give herself to him completely.  She
would have let him take every liberty with her that he would want or could
imagine.  She would have done everything willingly and eagerly because he
had saved her and for the first time in years, she felt safe and content.
That was worth anything to her.

   He had told her "no" so she wasn't going to press it for fear of him
getting mad at her (which was all she'd ever known from her father), but
she wasn't giving up.  As she looked over at his face in the darkness, she
listened to his deep breathing and whispered, "I love you, Alex," and went
to sleep finally safe and happy.

   Chapter 6

   The next few weeks, they got into a routine.  Sarah never wanted to be
far from him and at first he wondered if she was still scared, but quickly
realized it wasn't that at all.  After two weeks, it was approaching
Christmas time.  He put up a tree and was happy to wrap and put presents
underneath it for the first time in a while.

   Sarah's wounds healed, at least the physical ones.  After two weeks, her
legs still had some discoloration of yellow and a little blue, but were
mostly back to normal.  The only reason he noticed is she usually wore very
little at night.  If she wore bottoms, it was boxer style shorts and a
t-shirt.  Half the time it would be a night gown with only panties
underneath.  As much as he tried not to look, he couldn't help but notice.
Occasionally she would flash them to him when she was getting on the couch
with a book or when she would go up the stairs.  She seemed to
intentionally wiggle her butt as she walked up the stairs if he were
anywhere around the bottom of the staircase.  As much as he didn't
intentionally look, he loved the look of her ass as it swayed back and
forth.  Sometimes she would look over her shoulder just to see if he was
watching her and smile.

   Sarah made a habit out of taking care of the house.  She didn't explain
it to him why.  She knew he wouldn't approve of her reasoning so she kept
it to herself.  She tried to figure out how to calculate how saving a life
fell into the balance, but everything else she kept tabs on.  She watched
receipts on anything he spent on her, and thanks to her parents, she knew
exactly how much it cost to feed and house her.  They held it over her head
for so many years, she couldn't forget.  She never told him that she kept
track of things like that.  She knew he didn't and couldn't understand it.

   She found that trying to take care of him wasn't a chore at all.  She
loved feeling useful and never felt that doing anything for him was work.
He would compliment her on the look of the place of the meals that she made
for him.  She would always soak up and swell with pride from his praise. 
She wanted to be there for him.

   He did insist on several things, though.  She had never been exposed to
guns or firearms before.  Due to their location and his long hours he had
to work, he taught her gun safety and bought her a pistol of her own.  She
was scared of it, at first.  Slowly, he taught her how to load, fire,
clear, and clean the weapon.  She insisted that she should never need it,
but when he had to go back to work, she was glad to feel the security of
knowing it was there.  It was kept in his bedroom, but she had access to it
if the need arose.

   The next hurdle that needed to be addressed was school.  Sarah didn't
feel that she needed to go to school.  She said that kids drop out of
school all the time.  She also didn't have good school experiences in her
"old life" (as she had started referring to it).  Alex said she was way too
smart to let it go to waste.  He had to personally talk to the principal
and superintendant.  He had told them that he had adopted her and that her
records had just been lost because she had been moved through the welfare
system so much.  He assured them that he would get her records to them as
soon as he could.  They accepted it, being a small town, they understood
how the state could lose documents easily.  So she was enrolled in school
and set to start in January after the Christmas break.

   When Christmas came there were more issues.  Every year, Alex's family
would gather at his mother's house.  There weren't many of them.  His
father had passed away some years ago, and his brother, Tom (who was
younger), was in the military, but got leave every year for the holiday,
was still single.  His ex-wife would come and bring Melody as well.  Alex
always enjoyed it because it was one of the few times a year that he was
able to see his brother who was always off to one part of the country or
even other continents when it called for it.  Tom loved adventure and the
Army gave it to him.  His mother, Janis, use to live in the country, but
her husband passed away, she moved into a decent sized house in town.  It
was just too much to take care of the big house in the country that she had
lived for years.  She still lived almost three hours away so seeing her was
rare, as well.

   Sarah was nervous about meeting everyone.  Most of the time, she was
self sufficient and Alex could count on her to be mature, but as he
prepared an overnight bag for the both of them, he started seeing the
teenager creep out of her again.

   He had explained the truth to his mother, or at least part of it.  He
had told her that Sarah had horrible parents who didn't care about her. 
She had escaped them, but didn't have anywhere else to go.  He told her
that he had found her at the hospital and allowed her to stay with him
until she got on her feet or found somewhere better.  He left out all the
personal details about exactly what had happened, her real age, and the men
who he fought off to keep her safe.  He knew his mother was level headed
and would understand his taking her in.

   Everyone else got the foster kid story.  He told Sarah that she was
going to have to the role of it to avoid questions.  She understood and was
grateful to him for not telling everyone her past.  She was still nervous.
She had never had a real family Christmas holiday before.  When she was
little, she was allowed to go to church, but that didn't last long and her
parents made her stop doing that when she was nine.

   "What if they don't like me?" she asked from the passenger seat of his
truck about an hour into the drive to his mother's house.  "What if they
don't buy the story?

   Alex smiled.  "It's going to be okay.  They will love you just like I
do," he said looking at her affectionately.

   She was dressed in her nicest outfit.  Her top complimented her chest,
but didn't show off too much.  Her jeans were one of the nicest pair that
she had.  They showed off the shape of her legs the slight curves of her
hips.  She had changed three times before they left and spent an hour on
her hair which now was flowing down her shoulders with a curl at the
bottom.

   "They will buy the story as long as we stick to it.  And if other things
happen, then we'll just roll with it," he told her reached over and patted
her hand on the seat.

   "And if they ask why I'm not with my parents?" she asked watching cars
go by on the highway.

   "You can tell them that you don't want to talk about it," he told her.
"If that's not good enough, then you can come and find me and I'll help. 
Okay?"

   She seemed to settle a little, but still ran her hands over her jeans
nervously.

   The truth was that Sarah was afraid she was going to mess up.  Her
family had never been close or loving in any real meaning of the word.  If
Alex's family were like him, then how could they ever accept her?  She
didn't feel she was good enough for them.

   When they pulled in the drive of the mid-sized house, there was snow on
the ground from the light dusting that fell the night before.  It was just
enough to make it feel like Christmas.  Alex came around to her side of the
truck and opened her door for her when she didn't make a move to get out.
He gave her a quick hug and told her that his family was going to love her.
She wasn't so sure.

   Alex walked into the place like he was coming home.  It was warm,
bright, and there was even music playing somewhere inside.  Alex waited for
Sarah as she slowly made her way inside.  He introduced her to everyone. 
His brother Tom was a strapping man who stood several inches taller than
Alex but thinner.  He gave her a hug and welcomed her to the family.  His
mother, Beth gave her a welcoming hug as well and told her that she was
delighted to have her.  She seemed very warm to Sarah.  If Beth realized
anything was out of the ordinary with Sarah, she didn't show it.  She
treated her like one of the family.  Sarah was happy that the first
impressions went that well.  She was even invited to help out in the
kitchen if she wanted to because the meal wasn't ready, yet.

   Alex and his brother went into the living room to chat for a while and
Sarah watched exactly where he went.  She didn't want to be too far from
him.  She wasn't that secure, yet.  Beth had her slice carrots as she
prepared the roast.  Beth seemed warm and didn't ask about her past.  She
more asked how she liked it living with Alex and current event news.  Sarah
was thankful for that.  She didn't like the idea of lying to someone who
seemed as nice and welcoming as Beth.

   There was another knock at the front door and Sarah heard other voices
from the living room as more people arrived.  She heard two distinct female
voices and Alex and Tom welcoming them.

   "Hi, Dad," Sarah heard a young voice say unenthusiastically.

   "Hi, Baby Girl," Alex said.  "You're getting tall," he said
complimenting her.

   "Yeah," who she assumed was Melody's voice from the living room.

   Sarah rinsed and dried her hands quickly and went to the living room. 
She saw a woman, about an inch shorter than Alex with dark thick hair
standing by Alex shaking hands with Tom.

   Alex immediately turned the attention to her as she walked in the room.
"And this is Sarah, that I told you about," he said introducing her. 
"Sarah, this is Emily and my daughter Melody." He gestured to the couch
where Melody was sitting and playing on her iPhone.

   She wanted to hide, but pushed herself to walk up and shake hands with
the woman.  She was the same one that she had seen in the photos at Alex's
house on the wall, but she seemed so much more intimidating in person. 
Melody waved at her and said a quick hi, but didn't really take her
attention away from her electronic device.

   Sarah looked Emily up and down and assessed her mentally.  In her mind
she thought, "So this is the kind of woman Alex had sex with." The woman
was a little on the plump side, but not bad.  She had a good sized chest,
but her shirt bearing Christmas colors went to her neckline showing no skin
at all.  She was wearing jeans, but they were loose fit so Sarah couldn't
tell how portioned the woman was from the waist down.

   "Alex told me that you were going to be staying with him a while," Emily
said to her as they shook hands.  "That's good.  I'm sure the two of you
will get along fine as long as he doesn't bore to you death with his
books."

   She looked at Alex for support and then started telling Emily that she
was really into books and they read most evening.  She tried to be as
pleasant as she could with the woman and make nice small talk.

   As the evening went on, Sarah kept feeling Melody giving her
uncomfortable looks.  She could say that the feeling was mutual because she
kept seeing Alex try to talk to his daughter and her barely talking back.
At one point, when Alex was trying to talk to her, she stuck her nose in
the air and mumbled that he didn't understand and that he shouldn't bother
trying.  She saw that Alex was truly hurt by Melody's attitude toward him.

   What started out to just annoy Sarah became full anger when later, while
they were eating, Alex was trying to ask Melody about her school and friend
and she told him very disrespectfully that he wasn't there and shouldn't be
concerned with those things.  Alex quit talking to her after that.  Sarah
could see how hurt he was, even if Melody couldn't.

   Sarah then went out of her way to distract Alex after that.  She started
talking to him, sitting close to him, and even held his hand some while
they talked and sat in the living room a little later talking with everyone
else.  After a little while, Sarah could feel Melody's resentment for the
attention that she was showing Alex, but she didn't care.

   Toward the end of the evening, when all the gifts had been opened and
people were settling down, Sarah took a trash bag of decimated wrapping
paper out to the garbage can on the corner.  On the way back in, Melody
stood in her way staring daggers at her.

   "What?" Sarah demanded and didn't bother to hide contempt for the
disrespectful girl.

   "What do you think you're doing?" Melody asked as she blocked her way
into the house.

   "Excuse me?" Sarah said not liking the tone of the girl.  Melody had
about an inch on her and she knew was almost a year older than her.  She
had been in enough scraps to know that she could hold her own.

   "That's MY dad in there.  He's not yours!  I know you might be the
foster daughter," Melody said foster as if it were a dirty word, "for the
moment, but don't get too attached.  He was my real father long before you
came along."

   "Well, since you call him your father, why don't you try spending some
time with him?" Sarah couldn't hide her feelings.  "He cares about you and
all you do treat him like a stranger!  Your pictures are up on his walls.
He kept a room for you over a year and you didn't even come out to stay
with him."

   Melody was getting angrier by the moment, but mostly because she knew it
was true.

   "I've seen how much he can care and be a good father.  Frankly, you
don't deserve him."

   "Are you sleeping with him?" Melody crosses her arms and leans back on
her heal.

   Sarah was caught off guard by this one and stuttered.  "Wha..what?"

   "Are you fucking my father?" Melody asked in matter of fact manner.

   "No," Sarah stammers but it doesn't come out very believable.  Then she
gets back on the offensive, "And since you don't bother to pick up a phone
or even talk to him, I don't see how it's any of your business who he
spends his time with or what he does!"



   Alex was interrupted from visiting with his brother by a scream from
outside of the house.  He dashed out the front door with Tom right behind
him to see the two girls rolling in the snow clutching each other.  They
were both grunting and scrapping like two wild cats.

   Alex didn't wait for an explanation before grabbing Sarah and pulling
her off Melody.  Tom looked just a little amused, but grabbed Melody when
she lunged for Sarah after she got on her feet.  The two men held the
struggling teens in matching bear hugs as the girls willed their finger
nails to be longer so they could scratch each other.  Tom and Alex looked
at each other and the two crazed teens, but stood far enough apart that
they couldn't reach each other.

   Alex leaned down to Sarah's ear and sternly told her to stop.  She
sniffed and there were tears or anger going down her face.  She stopped her
struggles to get loose hearing the seriousness in his voice.

   "Melody Dawn Padford!" Emily's voice rang down from the front porch. 
"What do you think you are doing?"

   Alex looked over to see Emily and Beth standing on the front porch
looking concerned.  Actually, Beth looked concerned.  Emily's look would be
better described as angry.

   "She started it!" Melody yelled and pulled against Tom's strong arms.

   Tom still had an amused look on his face.  He probably had the same idea
that Alex did.  It was exactly like when they were teenagers growing up. 
There would be a scrap over something at least once a year that would
involve a physical fight between the two.  Their Dad would usually let the
blow off some steam since they were almost evenly matched for a while, and
then sit them down and figure out what the real reason was.

   Alex wasn't amused by it, though.

   "Liar!" Sarah roared back at her and pulled again against Alex.

   "Slut!"

   "Brat!"

   Alex reached up and put a hand over Sarah's mouth and Tom did the same
to Melody to silence the barrage of name calling.

   "I think that will just about cover the Christmas Carols this year," Tom
said unable to contain a laugh at the two teenagers.  He started walking
Melody up the porch steps into the house.

   Alex turned Sarah around to face him and was not laughing one bit.  She
saw the seriousness in his eyes and face.  For the first time, she saw him
angry with her and it hurt her worse than anything Melody could have done
to her.

   He took her arm as if she were a small child and led her over to his
truck and opened the passenger side door.  She hadn't seen him like this
and was actually afraid.  She got in the truck and he closed the door.  He
got in the driver's door and they sat in the darkness of the early winter
night.

   Sarah expected him to hit her or at least yell and scream at her.  He
took a deep breath and asked as calmly as he could for her side of the
story.  She told him what happened and that Melody had slapped her first at
the start of the fight.  Alex wanted to be angry at her, but she had said a
few things to Melody that he had wanted to say for a while.  He asked her
if she thought she could control herself enough to go back in and visit. 
She told him honestly that she would for him.  He asked her how she was and
actually she had faired decent.  She had a little pulled hair and a scratch
on her neck, but the winter coat had cushioned most of the scrap.

   Then they headed back in.  They had both calmed down a bit, but he told
her that she would have to apologize to Beth for interrupting her Christmas
get together and at least apologize to Melody for some of the names she
called her.  She started to protest, but she saw that he was serious and
conceded.

   When they came in, Melody was giving her rendition of how events played
out.  Alex told Sarah to let Melody talk and not interrupt her.  In
Melody's version, there wasn't anything said about anyone sleeping with
anyone.  In her version, Sarah had said that Alex didn't need Melody
anymore because he had Sarah and was happier with her.  Also, in Melody's
version Sarah through the first punch.

   Alex could see that Emily took her daughters version as gospel and eyed
the new addition to the family.  Alex chimed in and told Sarah's version of
it for all to hear as well.  The battle lines seemed to be drawn.  Emily
with Melody and Alex with Sarah.  Tom and Beth were off to the side and
didn't know who to believe.

   Sarah did as she agreed and apologized sincerely to Beth for messing up
her evening.  Sarah said she was sorry to Melody for some of the names she
called her, but every feature on her appeared to be like she was chewing
broken glass to say it.

   Alex decided they had enough family time for today.  He quickly said his
goodbyes to his family.  He pulled Emily aside into another room to talk
privately for a moment.

   He saw the look on her face.  It wasn't one of anger, but more of
frustration.  He had been married to her long enough to know what hit
meant.

   "How long have you been having trouble with her?" Alex asked.

   Emily started to defend her daughter, but when she opened her mouth, she
didn't.  "About eight months.  We've been having a few issues with boys and
she is getting more and more impulsive.  I'm sorry that this happened to
you and Sarah.  She's had a fight at school as well.  Her only friend these
days seems to be her friend Rebecca.  She doesn't talk to anyone else."
Emily walked over and took Alex's hand.  "Thank you for not being hard on
her.  She does love you.  She just is frustrated at the moment."

   "Join the club," Alex said thinking to how frustrating it had been
trying to talk to her all evening and getting nowhere.

   "How is raising a teenager of your own now?" Emily says smiling at him.

   "Oh, you know.  The usual," Alex said thinking to cleaning her wounds on
the first night and a gun battle a week later.  "Typical teenage issues. 
I'm just sorry about the fight."

   "Don't be," Emily said relaxing.  "Sarah really is protective of you.  I
remember how I use to be the same when we first got together," she said as
Alex could see a look of remembrance cross her face.  "She seems like a
good kid."

   Alex broke contact with her hand.  He didn't want to get wrapped up in
their old feelings.  They had tried it several times before and it didn't
work well.  After years, they were finally to a place that they could be
friends and try to be good parents to Melody.  "So Melody?"

   "If you don't mind, this summer, I think it would be a good idea for her
to come out and spend some time with you.  It might help her and give her
time to settle down.  She seems so tightly wound all the time," Emily
suggests.

   "That sounds good.  Since she hasn't been there, I gave her room to
Sarah, but I'm sure we figure out something," Alex says giving her a quick
hug.

   "Yeah, they'll fight to the death and the winner will get it," his
ex-wife teased letting a wave of stress out as a sigh.

   They exchanged a hug and parting words making sure that weren't angry or
blaming the other for the mishap between the teens.  Sarah gave everyone a
hug goodbye and thanked them for the evening and presents.  She was
uncomfortable with contact with new people, but pushed through it.  Her and
Melody did not exchange goodbyes or talk for the short time they were
there.

   It had been a long day and Alex had booked them a room at the hotel in
town.  The drove the short distance there to the brightly lit hotel.  Sarah
was again impressed.  She had never stayed at a hotel before so it was a
new experience for her.  When they got there and started to check, Alex
knew there was going to be a problem when the clerk immediately called his
manager to come out.

   "What's going on?" Alex asked as the clerk started punching stuff on his
keyboard and looked uncomfortable.

   The manager apologized and said that the room that there was a problem
with the rooms because they had over booked and hadn't updated their
computers.  Alex didn't care at this point.  It was two days before
Christmas; he was tired and was in no mood for more mishaps.  The manager
offered to upgrade them for free and told him there would be a
complimentary breakfast room service added for the mix up.

   Alex told them that it wouldn't be a problem and took the card keys.  He
only wanted to find a bed and rest.  When they got to their room, he let
Sarah open the door because she thought the electric card key was so cool
to use.  She walked in the room and squealed with excitement.

   It wasn't just an upgraded room, Alex found out as he walked in the
room. It was the honeymoon suite.

   Chapter 7

   Sarah was a bundle of wonder.  She practically ran around the suite
exploring it.  It had a four posted huge bed with the softest white sheets
and blankets that she had ever felt with matching tied curtains that could
be let down.  As part of the bed room, because there was really no wall in
between, was a hot tub that looked like it could fit six people in it with
black stones all around it.  The toilet was off in a small room from there,
but there was mirror that took up half a wall behind the double lavish
sinks for hand washing.

   The main room's theme a deep velvet red and cream walls that continued
through-out the suit.  There were recliners built into the sofa that faced
a huge television that seemed as big as a small movie theatre screen. 
There was a mini bar and by the small refrigerator and a rose by two wine
type glasses.

   Sarah had made a circle of the place in after a few minutes and then
came back to Alex.  She was giddy with excitement.  "I think we can stay
here," she said bursting with joy.



   Sarah wanted to try the hot tub so he told her to have at it.  He put
his bag in the bedroom and groaned when he saw that there was only one bed.
"Of course," he said to himself, "Why would there be two beds?"

   Sarah ignored him and started pressing the digital controls for the hot
tub.

   He heard it filling up quickly and he went back out to the main room. 
He didn't usually drink, but it had been a long day and he checked what was
in the mini-bar.  He found something that he liked and mixed a weak drink.

   His daughter, Melody, had taken a toll on him.  On top of him not being
able to talk to her on one of the very few chances he had gotten to see
her, she and Sarah were now at odds.  He rolled his eyes at his luck.  He
almost barely recognized the woman the Melody was becoming.  She was
sixteen now and he didn't think it was going to get any easier as time went
on.

   He heard some music coming from the bedroom.  "This is so cool!" Sarah
yelled to him from the bedroom.  He finished his drink and smiled to
himself, "At least someone is having fun this trip."

   Putting a smile on his face, he walked into the bedroom to see what she
had found.



   When Sarah started the hot tub, the wheels started turning in her mind.
There was only one bed so no matter what, in a few hours she would be
sharing a bed with him again.  Considering how much distance there was in
their house, this might be her best chance to make a move on him.  The
marks on her legs had healed.  She had been checking herself regularly and
from what she could tell, she was in a condition to have sex again.

   She was actually more sexually active that he knew or that she liked to
admit to herself.  When sex was being done to her, she accepted it and
dealt with it as best she could.  Without any sexual stimulation she found
that she would get aroused easily and started almost nightly masturbations
two weeks after her new life started.  She never thought she liked any of
it before.  She found that her body craved the sexual release that she
sometimes got from her father touching her or making her orgasm.

   And no, she didn't have any desire for that man.  She hated him will all
her heart and never wanted to see him again.  So instead she focused on
Alex.  When she would touch herself at night, she would imagine it was him.
That he had finally taken her to his bed and made love to her.  It really
was horrible for her to think about logically, but sometimes when she was
trying to send herself over the edge, she would use some of the more
painful memories, but put Alex in them.  He would be the one creeping into
her room at night, using her for his own pleasure.  Those she would always
feel guilty for afterward, but they sent her orgasms to new heights of
pleasure.

   She could already feel herself getting wet just thinking about the
possibilities.

   Alex had settled on the couch after putting his and Sarah's over night
bags in the bedroom.  She was going to get in the hot tub for a while.  It
looked nice, but he figured he'd let her have it first.  He flipped through
the channels.  He guess they had the full package because there were cable
channels there that he had never heard of showing every kind of movie,
sports game, or show that a person could want.

   "Daddy, could you come in here?" Sarah called out from the bedroom.

   The name took him by surprise.  He muted the television and went in to
the bedroom.

   He found her in the hot tub.  There were jets making a current in the
water, and she had used bubble bath that made a layer blue and pink bubbles
across the entire top of the water.  They were thick and playful reminded
him that she was still a kid in a lot of ways.  Her hair was put up in a
bun on the top of her head and she was sitting with the bubbles up to her
neck.  There was music on and the only visible part of her was her head.

   "Daddy?" he asked.  It was the first time she had ever called him that.
She had always called him Alex, never Dad or Daddy of any kind before.

   "Well, today was the first day that you were supposed to be my Dad.  All
day I had to fake it for them, so I thought, why not?  Aren't you my Dad
now?" She inquired.

   He smiled and let out a sigh.  "I guess that's one way to look at it..
We're going to have to do it at school so why not?  What do you need?"

   "Company," she responded with a playful grin.  "I'm lonely in here. 
Will you stay?"

   He smiled.  The hot tub looked inviting.  It had been a long time since
he had been in one.  "I don't have a swim suit," he said.

   "I'll close my eyes while you get in," she explained.  "The bubbles will
hide everything.  I promise," she crossed her hidden fingers underwater.

   "Turn around," he said shaking his head at her smiling.



   She turned smiling at how easy it was.  Then movement caught her eye. 
In the mirror above the sinks, she could see him getting undressed.  He was
looking away from her and she could only see from the waist up, but it was
enough to see the dark hair on his chest matched his short black hair on
his head.  He had a good build and there wasn't any fat on him.  His arms
had some muscle when he pulled his shirt off over his head.  She thought
back to when she saw him chopping wood.  He had to have some muscle
strength to do that kind of task.  She saw him bend down to remove his
pants and really wanted to turn around and look at him.

   Then she heard him step into the water and sit down.  She turned around
and seen that the water came up to mid chest as he was sitting on the seat
across from her.  He moved his back around the jet massager and thanked her
for the invitation.

   They enjoyed the warm water, playful bubbles and talked about the day.
After about twenty minutes, she decided it was time to move this up a bit.

   Alex was enjoying the nice jet massage.  Talking to Sarah didn't hurt
anything either.  Her calling him Daddy was a surprise, but after he
thought about it, she did have a point.  He would have to get use to it
sometime since school was going to start in a few weeks.  They would have
to keep up appearances in public.  She was telling him about how she
enjoyed cooking with his mother when she started rotating her shoulder and
he saw her wince in pain.

   "Are you okay?" he asked sincerely concerned.  He was a nurse after all.
"I thought you said you didn't get hurt."

   "It started a little bit ago," she lied to him.  She moved her left
shoulder again and made a face of discomfort.

   "Come here," he said caringly.

   "You don't have to," she said but suppressed a hopeful smile.

   "It's okay.  Come over here," he said and slid to one side of his seat.

   She floated through the water to him.  He turned her around and she sat
on the edge of the seat next to him.  He rubbed her shoulders and gave her
a wonderful back massage.  She melted feelings of his hands work the
muscles of her shoulders.  She closed her eyes and swayed with the
movements of his hands.  He started on the shoulders and worked his way to
her neck.  Eventually he started working his way down her spine until he
got about halfway down her back.  That's when he realized she didn't have a
bathing suit on.  He had just assumed she had one since she was in the
water.

   "Sarah?" he said as he moved back up to her shoulders and started all
over again.

   "Yes, Daddy?" she said and really liked the way it sounded when she
called him that.

   "Where's your swim suit?" he said nervously realizing he was massaging a
naked teenager.

   "I didn't pack one.  It's Christmas!" she said like it was the obvious
answer.

   Suddenly his hands were much less sure on her shoulders.  She leaned
back against him and brought his hands around her stomach just below her
breasts under the water.  He felt her interlace her fingers with his, and
the sides of his arms were just brushing the edges of her breasts.

   "Besides, you've seen me before," she said seductively.  "I just wanted
some company."

   Alex tried to play it cool, but honestly he was very nervous.  Partially
because he knew that she was making a move on him and also that part him
wanted her as well.  He had not been with a woman for a long time.  When
she had attempted this with him before, she had been a stranger, a victim,
and a child in his eyes.  Now that he had gotten to know her, she was a
healthy, vibrant, intelligent young woman who had the courage to stand up
to his own daughter and tell her that she had done him wrong.  Much had
changed.  He still didn't consider her an available sex partner, though.

   "Melody thought that I was sleeping with you," Sarah said playing with
his fingers under the water.

   "Yeah," he answered feeling her soft skin press against his chest.  He
blushed because he was getting turned on and almost wish he was having sex
with this beautiful young woman.

   She then lifted herself and slid onto his lap.  He felt her bare butt
slide up against his hard member.  Alex inhaled and groaned with the
instant pleasure he felt as his dick found a warm home at the top of her
butt crack.  She pressed herself into him.

   "I thought we talked about this, already," he said as she pressed moved
her hips slightly.  He really didn't know if he had the will power at the
moment.  He was tired physically and mentally.

   "Actually, you told me that I needed to heal before I decided what I
wanted to do," she corrected him.  "We aren't doing anything," She said
relaxing her body on him.  "We're just two people relaxing in a hot tub. 
Does it have to be complicated?"

   He knew the answer was yes, it was very complicated, but her small body
felt soft against his skin.  She felt light as a feather in the water. 
Alex relaxed and enjoyed being close to another person.  He didn't want to
argue.

   "So why don't you date?" Sarah asked keeping the tone light.

   He had talked to her at length about the relationship with his ex-wife
and daughter.  He had an occasional girlfriend here or there, but had
always found good reasons to let them go back to just being friends.  "I do
date," he said shifting slightly under her.

   "No women come to the house and in the three weeks that I've been there,
you've maybe got two calls from girls that weren't work related," she said
looking over her shoulder at him.

   He looked at her, impressed with her observation skills.  "There is a
girl or two at work that I've thought about talking to," he said to her
trying to be convincing.

   She laid her head back on his shoulder.  "Have you ever tried dating
younger women?" she said with a knowing smile on her face.

   He knew what she meant.  He knew that he liked women that were younger,
but he usually drew the line at about twenty-two at the minimum.  He knew
she was fishing for information and didn't feel like hurting her feelings.
"Yes, actually I have dated a few that were younger." He saw her smile
widen with his answer.

   "Melody had an interesting notion, even though it didn't come out
right." She proposed like it was a new idea to her.  "If I wanted to be
with you, would you have me?"

   He considered how she carefully phrased her words.  "If I were a little
younger and you were a few years older, I would try to spend my life loving
you and treating you like a queen," he flattered her.  She felt amazing
against him and his dick was quickly hardened in the water.  He knew that
he was playing with fire, but she was so intoxicating.  He argued that he
would be able to stop himself before this little game of hers got out of
hand, but for now, he wanted to enjoy it while he could.

   "But why does age have to spoil it?" She brought his hand up and brushed
his finger tips against the underside of her breast.

   He slid his hands back down to her stomach and interlaced his hands
together safely away from her breasts.  They were just too tempting.

   She let out a small groan of frustration.  "It's not like you're taking
advantage of me.  I know what I'm doing," she declared.  She slid off his
lap and went to her knees in the hot tub turning to face him.  The bubbles
were a solid sheet on top of the water so he still could only see her head
and shoulders.  "I've had tons of sex before.  I know you won't hurt me."

   "I have no doubt that you have a lot of experience," he said seeing her
eyes flare with frustration and lust.  She looked more like a teen then and
his resolve hardened as his walls came up.  "I don't believe I will hurt
you, at least not physically.  You're still fifteen.  I won't do this with
you."

   She looked hurt, and he knew that he had done it.  He was immediately
sorry that he had hurt her feelings.  "Fine then," she stood up in the hot
tub.  Her breasts, now clear of bruises, glistened and sparkled with
bubbles reflecting the lights above stood out at him.  He could see the
hard nipples sticking out and the full areolas.  Her slit could be seen
through the bubbles running off of her as the water only came up to mid
thigh on her.  She stood with her legs together, but did nothing to hide
her nudity.  His eyes widened seeing that she was cleanly shaven.  Her
outer lips, that had been stretched and bruised upon his first inspection
almost a month ago, had healed, but kept their fullness.  He could see her
clit hood poking out like a small nub showing that she was very aroused. 
"Since it's that way, I'm going to see if there are any cartoons on since
I'm such a kid.  Enjoy the hot tub, Daddy," she snapped.  She put a little
more emphasis on the Daddy like it was to remind him that she wasn't on his
level.

   She got out of the tub, grabbed a few towels and a hotel robe and walked
out of the room.  On the way out, he got a good look at her cute butt as
she went.  He wanted to tell her to stop and try to make her feel better,
but the brazen nudity that she displayed had left him speechless.  Coupled
with the fact that after seeing her like that, he couldn't believe how sexy
she really was!  He had noticed her a little bit at a time.  Seeing her
bend over and get something out of the refrigerator, her chest stretch the
front of one of her night shirts, or her nipples showing through on a cool
night, but this was different.  He could no longer deny that she was very
sexy and he did want her.  Her body was more grown up than he had admitted
to himself.

   It took him a few minutes to recover and another five to talk himself
out of needing to masturbate.  He eventually had to get out of the hot tub
because his body kept remembering how it felt to have her press herself
against him and he really wanted her to do it again.  He even thought about
inviting her back, but fought off that urge.

   He got out of the hot tub and hit the button to drain it.  He dried,
dressed in night shorts, and then went out to check on her after getting
control of himself.  She was sitting on the sofa in the white bathrobe. 
She had the recliner style foot rest up with her short legs barely dangling
her feet off the end.  Her toes and feet were cute, but the robe covered
most all of her body except them.  He came in the room, and the fact that
she didn't take any of her clothes from her bag in the bedroom meant that
she didn't have anything underneath the robe.  His erection that he had
previously discouraged started pulsing with life again.  He did his best to
ignore it as he sat beside her.

   She didn't look at him, but he could still see the hurt in her face. 
"I'm sorry," he said.  He really didn't think that he had done anything
wrong, but he didn't like hurting her feelings, either.  "I didn't mean
that like it came out.  You aren't a kid and I know it."

   She kept her eyes on the television, but she could see her expression
change.

   "You have been through what most people couldn't handle or even imagine.
You're one of the strongest people that I've ever known.  You're not a
child and I didn't mean for it sound that way," he said honestly.

   She looked over at him with a tears welling in her eyes.  "I love you. I
really do," she said passionately.  Then she looked at him with her deep
blue eyes and put a hand up to his face.  "And I believe I should be with
you."

   He was stunned by her beauty.  Her hair was down now and resting on her
shoulders and her blue eyes were so lovely that he would get lost in them
and forget himself.  "No," he said softly, even though his own body raged
for her.  The beating of his heart could be felt in his ears.  "I won't..."
his sentence was cut short by her leaning forward pressing her lips against
his.  He couldn't pull away.  He kissed her back.  He parted his lips
slightly and she ran her tongue over her lips and explored the tip of his
tongue.

   Just as quickly as she had come forward, she stopped and slowly leaned
back with a big smile on her face.  "I need to be with you.  Just kissing
you is better than I imagined," she giggled.  "You want to do the right
things by me." She gave him a very sexy smile.  "Can I be the judge of what
I'm ready for and what I'm not?"

   He looked down embarrassed because of the way he kissed her really made
him hot for her.  He could almost smell her sent in the air as her arousal
became clear.  Looking down, meant that he caught a glimpse of her soft
skin where her robe overlapped just above her breastbone.  He pulled the
emergency brake for his hormones.  "I'll take the couch.  You should take
the bed." His mind was still clouded, but he knew that if he stayed around
her much longer, that there wouldn't be a choice of whether he was going to
be with her or not.

   "No," she said.  "You can take the bed, Daddy.  I'm going to watch
television for a while and then I'll curl up out here," she said defeated.
She turned her attention back to the television and wouldn't allow him to
see how much pain he had caused.

   He started to shake his head and she gazed up with those beautiful eyes
that were hard to resist.  "Okay.  I'm heading to bed." He needed to move
or he was going to wrap his arms around this lovely young woman.  He also
didn't feel like arguing.  The day had been long enough as is.  He leaned
down and kissed her on the cheek.  It paled in comparison to her heart felt
kiss that she had just gave him, but he knew another kiss like that and he
might as well shed his clothes and take her right there.

   He told her good night as he headed back to the bedroom.  He turned off
the light and settled into the big bed.  It felt huge and lonely.  He
longed for her and had to talk himself out of calling for her several times
before he fell asleep.

   Chapter 8

   Sarah watched television for a while, but got bored quickly.  She was
frustrated at being denied another chance with Alex.  She thought she had a
good plan.  The tub had been wonderful.  She felt him hard against her
body. She knew that she had made him that way.  She gave him a look at her
body and then even waited in the living room with nothing but a robe on. 
She felt so silly.  He must have thought she was such an amateur.  She had
even left her robe loose.  And as a last ditch effort, she kissed him the
most intimate way she knew how and he had just left her to go to bed.

   She felt so foolish.  And from there, it snowballed downhill.

   "What would he want with me, anyway?" she whispered to herself as she
muted the television.  Alex had been there for her and with her for weeks,
but for the first time in a while, she felt alone again.  She walked over
to the mini-bar and looked at the assortment of choices.  She had stolen
one or two drinks from her parent's liquor over the years and didn't ever
understand the joy they found in it.  "Why not?" she said to the rack of
bottles.

   She opened the cap of a few until she found one that smelled of
strawberries and took a sip of it.  It tasted good, unlike what she had
remembered alcohol tasted like.  "Why would he want me?" she asked the
bottle as she walked took it back over to the couch.  The bottle had become
her companion for now.  When she was at home, the one for her old life, she
had an old doll that she got when she was five.  It was a cabbage patch kid
doll that was stained with dirt, tears, and other things over the years. 
She would always pour her heart out to Molly (the name she's given it).  No
one else listened to her.  And now, even her faithful doll, Molly, was
gone.

   "I'm ruined.  I've been used by my father to the point that I wasn't
even good enough for him to fuck anymore." She paused to take a drink and
let the pain take hold.

   She didn't usually let her sadness show, but every once in a while, it
got to be too much for her.  Over the years, she learned not to let it show
to her parents because they always made it worse.  Since she had been with
Alex, she had tried not to let it show to him, either.  He had been so good
to her and tried to provide for her every need.  She didn't want for him to
think that she wasn't happy.  But when it had made it to the surface over
the years, she felt the need to experience all the sadness to its fullest
effect.

   "And then, when my rapists got through with me, they dumped me out with
the trash," she told her friend and he rewarded her with another long
drink. She didn't really need the alcohol to deepen her pain, but she could
feel warmness in her stomach that she hadn't experienced before.  She
figured she just hadn't drunk enough before to get the feeling.  "And now,
a man who I actually like and would want to be with doesn't want to touch
me."

   Her friend just stared at her without any good answer.

   "I know," she said carrying on the conversation for both of them.  "He
knows that I've been a....slut since I was..." the statement carried too
much pain when she heard it out loud.  It was enough to overwhelm her and
bring the tears that she needed.  She leaned over and started crying into
one of the soft pillows on the couch.  Her heart hurt and she wanted it to.
She needed it to hurt so that she could get through the experience.

   Once she had crossed the threshold her mind started pulling at every
memory to bury her.

   Shame crashed on her as waves as she remembered the first time that she
had gotten pleasure from being raped by her father.  It wasn't long after
he started raping her that she got had her first orgasm from it.  She tried
to deny it to him and to herself, but he just kept telling her that she
liked it and for the first time she had to admit that she did.  In her
mind, that is when she became a slut.  She had gotten pleasure from the
horrible act so that meant she was made for that.  Shame and humiliation
hit her as she remembered undressing in the living room for him.  He
wouldn't even take her to a bed those times.  He would still be watching
television and have her suck him until he pulled her on his lap and fucked
her in his recliner.  Then he would tell her to go away has his semen run
down her legs.  She could hear her father's voice in her head, "Slut,
whore, cunt," and all the other names that he would call her when he was
getting pleasure from her.  There were many of them and each sent a jolt of
pain because she knew they were true.  She had gotten pleasure many times
over the years so she knew that the names fit.  She felt deserving of all
of them.

   Physical pain and torture were different.  When the men had her tied,
she didn't feel that was her fault or that she had any control over those.
She found that those memories didn't have quite an impact over her.

   She instead went through some of her memories with her father.  She used
memories of when her father had acted proud of her only to later use her
for sex and his own evil pleasure.  Each time she had wanted to believe
that he really loved her in some way or deep inside.  She presented the
fact to herself that he never loved her at all.  That sent another spike of
pain through her.

   She was sobbing now and bawling incoherently into the pillow.  She tried
to keep the sound noise down, but part of her wanted someone, anyone to
come and help her.

   Another wave of pain racked her body when she thought of her mother. 
Her mother's voice burned into her brain as she told her that she wasn't
their daughter anymore and that she had been sold.  The look that her
mother gave her wasn't one of love or caring anymore.  Her mother honestly
had lost the spark, like she wasn't her mother anymore.

   And then there was Alex.  He was kinder than she had ever deserved.  She
had been with him for almost a month and he wouldn't touch her.  It was
like she had a skin disease.  She felt like such a burden to him.  It was
like he was doing charity service and she felt that he was secretly ashamed
of her.  She couldn't even be mad at him for rejecting her.  She loved him
so much.  She might have snapped at him, but the anger was gone as soon as
he had left the room.

   "Why would he have sex with me?" she thought.  "He knows what I've
done." Her crying had started to calm.  She had been pouring her heart into
the pillow for about twenty minutes and sat up slowly.  When her thoughts
got to Alex, it wasn't different.  It still hurt, but it was a different
kind of pain.  She looked over to her glass friend that she had set on the
end table.  "He knows what I am," she told the bottle.  She reached and
took another drink from her companion.  She thought of how much she owed
him.  He was much too good for her.

   For a brief instant she thought of leaving him.  She didn't know where
she would go, but she knew he would be better off.  He wouldn't be spending
money on her.  He wouldn't have to worry about her.  He wouldn't have
fights with his family and daughter if she weren't around.

   Sarah thought of the image of him glaring at her in angry over the fight
with Melody.  Melody had started it, but it didn't matter.  If she wouldn't
have been there, maybe Alex's Christmas wouldn't have been ruined.

   And then tonight, the kiss, the rejection, the hot tub, everything sent
her into tears again.  She only had to please one man and she couldn't even
do that right.  She was broken.  She could never be a woman that he wanted
or enjoyed after doing what she has in her life.  Her head was flooded with
emotion and alcohol.  She thought of leaving right then.  She could just
walk out into the night and keep going.  He would get up tomorrow, find a
note that said goodbye and tell him that he was the one debt that she
couldn't pay.  He would get on with his life, she would disappear into
nothingness, and he would be better off for it.

   She didn't think of it very practically, but she wasn't in a state to
think.  The only thing that kept her from going was that she loved him.  He
was the first one since Bobby Johnson in the fifth grade that she felt she
loved.  She wanted desperately for him to love her back, but she knew that
when a man loves a woman, he shows it with sex.

   She turned off the television and walked to the bedroom.  She stood in
the doorway and looked at Alex asleep in the bed.  He was snoring quietly.
She had secretly hoped that he would wake and come to her, but he was a
deep sleeper and she had found that out a few times so far.  She walked up
to the bed, still in her robe.  She wasn't going to further humiliate
herself by taking it off.

   She still had tears on her face when she climbed upon the end of it as
Alex stirred.

   It took him a moment to realize what had awoken him.  There light from
the living room coming through the door.  The look on Sarah's face was one
of great pain and she had tears streaming down her face.

   "What's wrong?" he asked immediately awake and sat up reaching out for
her.

   "No," she told him on the verge of crying again.  She pressed him back
down on to the bed.  "You have to let me." Her other hand pulled the covers
off him and tried to pull his shorts down.

   "Sarah, what's going on?" he asked but he could see she was distraught.
She put both hands down and pulled at his shorts grunting with effort as
tears flowed freely from her eyes.

   "I have to," she said unable to get his shorts down but pulling
futilely. "Please," she begged.  "I have to show you," she said not able to
get a full thought out.

   His heart was breaking for her.  He didn't understand what she meant or
what was going on in her head, but he could see the pain her eyes.  Her
whole body looked like a mass of sorrow.  It shown from head to toe and all
he knew was she desperately needed to free his cock from the confines of
his shorts.  He could smell alcohol and almost refused her, but the look in
her eyes looked like she couldn't take much more.  He slowly lifted his
hips and slid his boxer shorts down.

   "Thank you," she choked out and then leaned down to his manhood.

   He was still confused.  He knew something was very wrong, but she had
seemed determined to do this.  He wanted to cry for her pain even though he
didn't know any of what was going on in her head.  He felt her take him
into her mouth.

   She massaged him with her hand.  She ran his balls around with his
fingers and sucked on his half hard member.  He felt her try to get him
hard.  He felt a tear roll down his cheek in sympathy for the young girl as
he stroked her soft hair with his hand.  She sucked deeply on him for a
while.  She used her tongue on the underside of his dick.  She pulled it
out and went down and sucked on his testicles for a few minutes, but it
didn't seem to make him much harder.  After seven minutes of her trying, he
was mostly hard, but nowhere near cumming for her.

   He watched her attempt to please him.  It did feel good for him, but his
concern for her emotional pain far outweighed the pleasure she was giving
him.  He couldn't get into the mood.  She attempted to make him cum for
several more minutes before breaking down and crying into his stomach.

   He attempted again to pull her to him and this time she let him.  He
held her close and wrapped her in his arms.  He didn't know what pain she
was going through but he wanted to help her.  He held her and rocked her in
his arms as she let out a torrent of emotion just as she had in the living
room.  "Please talk to me.  Please tell me what's wrong," he asked her
softly.

   When she finally started quieting down he asked her again what was
wrong. She wouldn't look at him and buried her face in his chest.  His
chest felt soaked with her tears and he had tears in his eyes as well. 
"I'm broken," is all she kept whispering over and over, either to him or
herself.

   "You're not broken," he said thinking that she mean how she wasn't able
to make him cum.  "I'm just shy," he said to her and he heard her give a
choked laugh in the midst of her sobs.

   "I'm broken," she repeated but didn't tell him all the ways that it
applied.

   After she stopped crying she started to get up.

   "Where are you going?" he asked, but didn't hold her in the bed with
him.

   "I'm sorry for waking you.  I'll go back to the couch," she said softly.

   "Please stay here," he said and she paused for a moment.  "I want you to
stay with me tonight," he added.

   She got back into the bed with him and he pulled the covers over the
both of them and held her tight.  She seemed to better.  He held her until
she fell asleep which didn't take too long.  As he was watching her sleep
he wanted to know what had happened.  He didn't think that his rejection
earlier had done all this.  He smelled the alcohol on her, but she didn't
seem drunk.  Maybe she had an emotional reaction to it like many people do.
He really didn't know, but he was certain that she didn't need to be alone
in this emotional state.

   The impromptu blowjob that he had gotten was very good.  Under normal
circumstances he would have came for her after a few minutes, but seeing
her heartbroken like that had disturbed him too much to be able to enjoy
it. Also, with the way she was, he didn't want to tell her no.  He just
hoped the next day she would fill in the gaps for him.

   Chapter 9

   The next day came and she didn't want to talk about it.  She thanked him
for being supportive, but didn't mention the alcohol, oral sex, or the
crying.  He tried to ask her what was going on with her, but she said
insisted that she was okay.  He was concerned, but hoped that she would
talk about it later.  She had thought about leaving, but had nowhere to go.
More over knew she had a debt to him that and was determined to break even
with him.



   A few weeks passed by.  It was still winter, but life was moving on. 
School started and Alex had work.  Sarah seemed happy to be going to
school. She was quiet, but seemed very intelligent.  Alex would ask to look
at her papers and tried to be the supportive parent that Melody never let
him be.  Sarah was proud when he would make a point to pay attention to her
grades.  He didn't chastise her for any low marks, but instead would ask
her if she wanted him to help her study or work with her.  She had never
had anyone like that in her life.  Deep down, she still felt undeserving,
but she didn't let it show.

   She was still very independent and took care of as much of the house as
she could.  Alex never asked her to, but she did it anyway.  He, in turn
would make sure that she had all she ever needed.  She tried never to ask
for anything, but would accept anything that he gave her (clothes,
materials for school, books, etc.).  He never really saw her looking at
toys or kid stuff so he never knew what to buy her in that area.  He hoped
that if she had an interest or want that she would tell him.

   After a few months, she started making friends and talking to a girl
friend or two on the phone.  At first it was just a question or two.  Then
it started being an every night gossip session with them.  He found it a
little annoying that she would be on the phone while he tried to read in
the evenings, but he kept his peace about it.

   He started going to school functions and meeting her teachers.  They had
mentioned multiple times how bright she was, but she didn't function well
in groups.  Alex had good ideas why, but he just told them that she was
just quiet.  The instructors seemed to take that as the correct answer and
moved on with their conversations.

   At the end of March, it was starting to warm a little when he took her
to the local cell phone store and let her pick one out.  At first she said
she couldn't possibly spend his money, but when he said she was getting one
no matter what, she wanted to faint as she looked the store over.

   Her cell phone became her social life after that.  It got to the point
that he had to insist that it become unglued from her hand when eating
meals.  He was happy to see her with friends.  He was concerned about her
dating.  He even had a talk with her about boys and sex.  He told her that
normal boys would want sex from her, but told her that he didn't want her
having sex at all with them.  She didn't see a good reason for it, but she
told him that she would abide by his wishes.

   In mid April, Alex had a date, a real date by Sarah's standards.  He had
gone out a few times with a group of co-workers before, but this was
different and she could tell.  Alex had met her while he was out with his
friends.  Jenny had seen that he was with his friends and had given him her
number and told him that if he wanted to go see a movie sometime, that
would be great.

   A week later, he called her up and in a matter of minutes, he was
getting ready for a date.  It was his first in a while.  He told Sarah that
she would have the house to herself tonight and that he was going to be
home late.  She usually didn't care because on the nights he had to work,
she was there mostly by herself anyway.  He thought he could see a look of
disappointment when he told her what he was going to be up to, but she said
she was fine and hoped he had a good time.



   It had been months since the hotel room over Christmas.  She never told
him what that night meant to her.  She also hadn't bold moves on him after
that, either.  She enjoyed the attention that he showered on her. 
Occasionally she would snuggle close to him on the couch while they watched
a movie or while he read.  She had made little subtle moves to try to let
him know that when he chose to, she would be with him.  She found that just
a night shirt and panties were her preferred clothes in the late evenings.
She had started with longer shirts worked them shorter as the weeks went
on. She would catch him looking at her, but would hide it.  She liked the
way he looked at her legs.  She would act like nothing wrong and let him.
He would blush and try to hide that he was lusting after her.

   Her nightly masturbation sessions had gotten intense.  As the weeks went
on, she found that they had started leaving her unsatisfied.  She changed
to using abusive memories to reach her peak, but soon even they started
leaving her wanting.  She would use different scenarios to make her body
react.  For the more potent ones, there had to be an aspect of shame,
humiliation, or helplessness in them.  It wasn't long before her past
wasn't enough, even though it was a living horror movie.  For her, each
passing day in her new life made her old life fade.  The memories still
hurt, but didn't have the edge that they once had.

   In her desperation to orgasm, she had ventured using Alex in the
scenarios.  She found that she needed both, the emotion and the physical
act to orgasm completely.  In the last four weeks, she had been using Alex
in her mind.  The set-up would be simple when she had first starting using
him.  He would come to her and tell her that he loved her and wanted to
make love to her.  They would have passionate sex and she would peak and
fall asleep with a smile on her face.  After a week of that, the idea got
stale.

   The second week of using him, she changed the setting.  He would come to
her or call her down and tell her that it was time for her to repay him for
what he had done for her.  She would give herself to him and let him do
whatever he wanted.  Usually these acts would be stuff that she didn't
exactly enjoy, but that he would get pleasure out of.  This added some
humiliation to the mix, but it made her orgasm better thinking that she was
being used for his pleasure.

   Around the third week that she had started down this road, there had
been a new development that had scared her.  She was getting frustrated
unable to orgasm and in desperation created a new twist.  She imagined Alex
coming up to her room and forcing himself on her.  In the situation, Alex
would hold her down and rape until she would orgasm.  That was one of the
key points that were critical in the scene.  He would make her cum against
her will and then tell her what a good little slut she was for getting
pleasure from it.  It was by far the most depraved thing she could think of
but it made her orgasm so hard that it rocked the bed and made her see
stars.

   It scared her that she was using this kind of ideas to get off on, but
nothing else seemed to bring her to the heights she craved.  Each night
afterward, she would tell herself it was the last time she was going to use
him like that.  The next night, she would guiltily pull up another scenario
of him taking her against her will.

   Also physically, she was getting rougher with herself.  She would pinch
and twist her nipples, pulling on them until they hurt if needed.  She
would alternate between abusing her clit, which was very sensitive, to
using a vibrator which she had ordered over the internet.  She had used a
gift card and made sure that the package was delivered when Alex was at
work.  He didn't even know that she had it.  It wasn't that big in
diameter, but it was long.  That was what she had wanted.  She used it on
herself to give herself pleasure, but occasionally, she would press it into
herself farther, past comfort.  When she was abusing herself with Alex as
her image, she would press it deep into her and feel it pressing on her
cervix.  She wouldn't do it enough to injure herself.  She knew from past
experience that men could truly hurt her from the inside like that.  But
having the pressure from the end of the vibrator press there was enough to
remind her body what was possible.

   After almost two weeks of getting satisfied nightly by Alex and him
being completely unaware of it, she found that it was starting to seep into
her real life.  She would intentionally put herself on display with for
him. She would bend over in front of him and lewdly stick her panty clad
bottom from under her night shirt for him to see.  She was almost daring
him to touch her.  She started showering on the bottom floor claiming that
the water was hotter.  She wouldn't completely close the door.  It excited
her to know that he could walk in at any time.  She enjoyed the attention
that he gave her, but she wanted more physical contact with him.  Any brush
upon his skin, hug that he would give her, and kiss upon her cheek would be
twisted nightly.  She wanted every detail, contour of his body, smell of
his perspiration so that she could make the experience as real as she could
at night.

   On the days that he worked (three a week, long fourteen hour shifts),
she felt deprived of his attention.  She tried to keep busy, but found
herself wanting him.  When he worked, she would pull the shades and walk
around the house in as little as possible.  She would clean the house and
try to stay busy, but that never lasted.  She would lay in his bed and had
even masturbated there a few times, basking in the smell of him that
lingered on his pillows, looking around the room imagining the entire scene
of him taking her in that room.

   She had started to wonder if there was something wrong with her because
she had to go to those extremes for pleasure, but rationalized it out
saying that they were just fantasies.  She didn't think she was hurting
anyone.  She also wondered if Alex did come to take her, would it really be
considered rape?

   She continued to do more and more for his attention.  She really tried
to be the good girl for him.  She knew that he wanted her to be the
daughter that Melody wasn't.



   Alex knew he was in trouble after his first date with Jenny.  He came
home after having a nice evening with Jenny and dropping her off at her
house.  The date went well and he had hoped that he would be able to see
her again.

   When he arrived home after midnight, he found that Sarah was on the
couch with a book.  "How did it go?" she asked putting her book down.

   "Actually, very nice," he said with a smile on his face.  He hadn't
dated in a while and it was nice to find out that he could still be
interesting to the opposite sex.

   "Did you have sex with her?" she asked very pointedly.

   He was startled by her cold tone and bluntness of her question.  "No, I
didn't," he said as he thought to tell her to mind her own business.  He
went to put his jacket up.  With school in full swing, he looked at her as
a mix of a sexy young woman and as a child.  He hadn't really shared much
of his sex life with her, as he didn't think it was appropriate.  On the
other hand, during the few times that she wanted to talk about her past
experiences (on the times she needed to talk), she had been very
descriptive.  Even those talks were only a fraction of what she had been
through.

   "Good," she said getting up from the sofa.  She had on one of her night
shirts that only went down to mid-thigh.

   He went to the kitchen to get some water.  He avoided looking at her
legs, even though he thought it was her sexiest feature.  He was grateful
that after the hotel room incident, that she hadn't flat out thrown herself
at him.  For one, he was very attracted to her and would have given in,
eventually and he didn't know if he would be able to forgive himself for
sleeping with a fifteen year old girl.  Secondly, he didn't want to feel
that he was taking advantage of her because she didn't have anywhere else
to go.

   During the last month, he noticed some changes in her.  He noticed that
she wanted more and more attention.  Considering how lonely his life had
been before her, he was happy to give that.  She didn't know it, but he
could hear her nightly masturbation sessions.  At first, it was just a
little vibration from the room above his.  Lately, it like she had a man in
the bed with her and they would go wild.  He would hear the bed rock and
creak.  He felt like a pervert afterward, but he would listen close for her
release.  He could usually hear her moan or a muted cry out if he was
paying attention.  On more than one occasion he had reflexively started
stroking his member when he heard her to his own peak of pleasure.  He knew
it was wrong to lust after her, but the guilt didn't stop him.  Sometimes,
when he was in bed, he could almost smell the scent of her arousal that he
had almost memorized back in the hotel room.  He knew it must be his
imagination, but it seemed very real as he lay in his bed.

   The reason that he had asked Jenny out was because he felt he was
lusting after Sarah too much.  He had to push away thoughts of being with
her.  He believed that he was seeing signs that pointed to sex with her
around every corner.  After weeks of him being in a perpetual state of half
aroused any time she were in the house with him, he decided that he needed
to find a woman that he could have a relationship with.  If not a
relationship, maybe just some healthy sex would clear his head of this
intoxicating nymph who lived with him.

   "Why is that good?" Alex asked as he closed the refrigerator door after
grabbing a bottle of water.

   Sarah was right there and walked up to him and put her arms around him.
She pressed her body up against him and he thought he could feel her grind
her hips against him for a moment before she pulled away.  "Because you
deserve better than a girl who will put out on the first date.  Besides, I
can think of other ways you can take care of that if you need sex," she
said seductively.

   He smiled at her knowingly.  She was getting better at sliding into that
seductive tone of hers.  He had quit reprimanding her for innuendos months
ago.  He usually just let her flirt, but didn't encourage her.  The night
in the hotel room when he had completely shut down her advances, she had
been distraught.  She never told him the whole story behind it, so he
didn't want to do that to her again.  "I bet you could," he told her
smiling.  She must be trying to drive him insane.  He had learned to take
her flirting and even flirt back on occasion.  He was just always careful
not to cross the line to touching.

   "Is she nice?  Is she pretty?" Sarah started in satisfied by his
reaction that now she started grilling him for details of the date.

   He told her how it went.  What he did leave out was the end of the date
after he walked her to her door.  Jenny had invited him inside, but he had
declined.  He wasn't the sex on the first date kind of guy.  Also, he
wondered how Sarah would take his date with Jenny.  He understood it was
her feelings he had to consider as well.  Jenny didn't seem disappointed.
In fact, she seemed impressed that he didn't take her up on the offer to
come inside.  He told her if the invitation was open next time, he would
consider it and she looked hopeful.

   The week that followed after the date was worse for Alex.  Sarah became
more insistent for his attention, which wasn't exactly out of the ordinary.
Also, her behavior screamed sex.  He caught a glimpse under her night shirt
that she casually wore around to find that she wasn't wearing underwear
anymore.  That instantly made him hard.  She started no longer bringing
clothes with her to the shower.  She would just wrap a towel around her and
go from the down stairs bathroom to her room upstairs, but more often than
not stopping to make small talk and make sure he saw her.

   At the same time, she was getting ever more attentive and attempted to
take care of his needs.  He would find his bed would be made during the
day. Usually she wouldn't go into his room (that he knew of) so this was
new as well.  She made him breakfast in bed several times.



   On one of the days that he had to work, he was having a bout of
insomnia. He got back up knowing that he had to leave for work in six
hours. He had been in bed for two hours without any luck of falling asleep.
He hated when they switched his hours and made him work the night shift. 
It threw off his entire sleep schedule.  He walked past Sarah at the table
doing her homework.

   "What's up?" she asked looking up from her math problem.

   "I'm going to take a sleeping pill," he told her.

   She told him to sleep well on his way back to the bedroom.  About thirty
minutes later, he was.

   That night, he woke up feeling better than he had in a long time.  He
knew that he had dreamt, but couldn't remember what it was.  Sarah was up
in the living room as he got ready for work.  She asked how he had slept
and when he told her that he had slept amazingly, she smiled and said she
was happy for him.  He didn't think too much of it at the time.

   Two days later, he was having trouble sleeping again.  He got up and
went to get a drink.  Sarah suggested that he take something to help him
sleep.  He grabbed the bottle from the medicine cabinet looked at it, and
then decided against it.  He didn't to take any medication that he didn't
have to.  Working as a nurse, he saw enough medication to know that almost
everything had an effect of something.  He told her to have a good day,
seeing as how it was only two in the afternoon, and went to bed because he
had to work the late shift.

   It took an hour, but he had just started drifting off to sleep when he
heard his door open softly and someone entered into his room.  He opened
his eyes, but the windows had dark shades over them and the curtains pulled
to make it dark as night.  He could see Sarah's silhouette cross the room
to his bed soundlessly.  He couldn't everything, but he felt her pull the
blankets off him.

   He was fully awake now and thought about asking her what she was up to,
but decided to wait.  He didn't think she would murder him in his sleep or
anything, so he was more curious.  Her hands quickly found the bulge in his
night shorts and started massaging his member.  Only a few minutes had him
hard and he had to really concentrate on not moving.  He tried to keep his
breathing steady.

   This became most difficult as she fished his cock out through the hole
in the front of his boxer shorts.  Within seconds, she had it out and was
stroking his bare flesh with her soft fingers.  He couldn't help but take a
deep breath in as she stroked his dick up and down.

   "You're so hard," she told him, believing that he was still asleep. 
"You should really have me take care of this on a regular basis and then
you wouldn't be pent up like this," she told him as she stroked his member
from base to tip.  "I would let you.  I would let you do whatever you
wanted."

   He thought about telling her that he was awake, but was really enjoying
what she was doing.  Also, he thought of how she had cried when he had
rejected her in the hotel room.  He didn't understand it all, but he didn't
want to hurt her like that, either.

   She continued to have the one-sided conversation with him as she started
long and steady strokes up and down his dick.  She rubbed the pre-cum that
was leaking from the head of his dick with her finger and used it on the
end of his swollen end.  This felt wonderful and he really had to make an
effort to keep quiet.  "It looks like at least part of you remembers me,"
she smirked softly.  "Last time I made you happy," she said addressing his
swollen member.  "This time is my turn." With that, she leaned down and
took the head of it in her mouth.

   Alex tensed up feeling the wonderful sensation of her tongue circling
underside of his dick.  She dipped her head down and took him deeply into
her mouth.  It felt like she wanted to suck the semen out of him like his
dick was a straw.  She pulled him out of her mouth with an audible popping
sound.

   Alex kept his eyes half closed as she looked up at his face for a
moment. Had she felt him tense up?  Did she know that he was awake?

   She sat up and then stood up next to the bed.  He watched her pull her
shorts and panties down in one move and then get back on the bed.  His
hormones hit another high note when she grabbed his penis and stroked it
once again.

   She carefully straddled him and started lowering herself aiming his
bulging member between her legs.  He had a quiet war with himself.  Part of
him wanted to stop her.  If it were a few months ago, there would be no
contest.  But in the last several weeks, he had been listening to her in
her room above him.  He had fantasized about what it would be like to be
with her.  She hadn't concealed her charms and had him half aroused most
evenings.  Also, she was doing this.  She didn't even know that he was
awake.

   All his thoughts stopped when he felt the head of his dick placed at her
moist entrance of her vagina.  His indecision had stalled him long enough
for her get into position.  He felt her tense as she placed her hands on
his abs and start to lower herself.

   His hands shot out to her as sunk deeper inside her.  He abandoned the
pretense of being asleep.  She froze having his hands on her hips and his
dick about three inches inside her.

   Sarah hadn't thought it through at all.  Two days ago, she knew he had
taken a sleeping pill and had taken a big risk.  She had given him a blow
job and made him cum in his sleep.  When she had come in today, she had the
same intentions, but her lust got the better part of her when she put her
hands on his wonderful hard-on.  She felt the way it swelled in her hand.
She felt the veins and small contours of it and knew that she had to have
it.  She had looked at him and thought he was safely asleep.  He always
seemed to be a deep sleeper, but she wouldn't try something like this if he
hadn't taken the sleeping pill.

   Without thinking she shed her bottom half of her clothing and was
enjoying the feeling of him inside her in seconds.  When his hands grabbed
her and she knew that she was going to be stopped this close, she panicked.


   "Alex," she said carefully.  "I...I...I need..." was all that she could
get out.  She was on the verge of tears because she knew that he would stop
her.  She knew that he had been firmly against any sexual contact with her
since the beginning.  Would it be worse this time?  Would he be mad?  Would
he send her away?

   To her surprise, he slowly lowered her on his dick and she could feel it
filling her up inch by lovely inch until she was seated on him.  Their skin
was flush against each other and she felt full.  It wasn't painful, like it
had been with other men.

   It was a satisfied feeling that she had wanted all her life.  She always
imagined there was more to sex.  She had experienced orgasms before, either
by her own hand or it being forced on her, but she always felt there was
something more that she was missing.  Now having a man that she loved
within her, she knew what that feeling was: being complete.  She was full
physically and emotionally.

   Once she was seated on his hard member and had it completely embedded
inside her, he pulled her down into his large arms.  She put her arms at
her sides as he wrapped his arms around her.  She felt his heart beat
through his chest for a few silent moments.  He moaned softly and started
slowly rocking his hips under her.  His thrusts were slow and strong.  Each
stroke felt better than the last one.

   Alex kissed her fore head and then as she tilted her head up to him, he
feasted upon her lips.  When their lips locked, she felt him plunge himself
into her.  It made her gasp for breath as it sent her into her first
orgasm, but he didn't stop.

   Suddenly it was her who couldn't stop kissing him.  He had moved his
hands to her hips and started pumping into her.  She every inch of his face
that she could reach and poured her heart out to him.  She could only make
moans of ecstasy to convey the feelings going through out her body.  Sarah
felt the welling in her heart for Alex and felt her muscles clench him
tight and spasm as another wave rocked her.  He still didn't slow down.  He
didn't seem to feel her and each thrust sent another wave through her.

   She was wild with lust.  Her mind couldn't form complete thoughts except
for the one that said she wanted him.  Everything else in the world faded.
All the heartbreak, painful memories, fears of being abandon, and sorry was
gone and there only the earth shattering feeling that Alex loved her
combined with the completeness that she was filled with.

   Moments that stretched into an eternity she wanted to stay in and live
out the rest of her life.  She lost count of how many times she had cum so
far, but could feel her wetness dripping onto him.  He completed the moment
when she heard him whisper, "I love you, Sarah."

   She opened her mouth to respond, but could only moan as another wave
took her.  She arched her back and grinded her hips against him.  She felt
his hands roam her body.  He placed one behind her ass and clinched her
right cheek in his hand.  It was a firm grip pulling her against him, but
it felt so good.  His other hand traveled her back along her spine.

   She felt all of him.  Everywhere his body touched hers felt as if it was
on fire.  He slid his hand along her spine to the back of her neck.  With
just the touch of his fingers, she knew what he wanted and pulled her face
from kissing his neck in time for him to capture her lips again in another
sensual kiss.  She felt his tongue and she parted her lips and allowed him
to explore the insides of her lips.  She had never really enjoyed kissing
that much, but with him, it was golden.  His taste as like honey and she
couldn't stop herself from brushing her tongue against his for brief
second.

   The room was dark and she couldn't see very well.  For a moment, Sarah
got a glimpse of his eyes.  They were his, but they were different.  She
recognized the lustful hunger and for one of the first times in her life,
she was filled with passion because of it.  She knew that this was what her
entire life had been building for.  She had imagined this moment while she
was in her room at night.  She knew that she had done this to him and he
was past the point of no return that he could stop himself.

   Sarah pushed herself up and started riding him harder.  She squeezed his
member each time he pressed into her.  She felt his hands travel up from
her waist and cup her breasts.  At first, his touch was warm and
supportive, but then his fingers found her protruding nipples that were
hard with desire and her eyes opened wide.

   She gasped and whimpered.  He hadn't put any pressure on them or handled
her roughly, but the gentle touch still caused her pain.

   Alex continued to pump his swollen dick into her without noticing her
discomfort.

   It wasn't really anything he had done.  The night before, when she had
masturbated, she had been particularly cruel and abusive to her nipples to
make herself cum.  She usually had to alternate between her clit, nipples,
vagina and other sensitive areas because she was so rough that the next
day, the areas would be tender and sore.

   Alex didn't know anything about it and misinterpreted her gasp and
sounds to be ones of pleasure.  Sarah heard him moan and speed up his
tempo. She desperately wanted him to orgasm inside her.  She felt him swell
inside of her in preparation as both of his hands covered her breasts and
teased her raw nipples.

   The feeling was excruciating pain and bliss mixed with in her.  The mix
was exactly what she had been craving.  Her body went rigid as she felt the
first eruption of hot seed within her.  The combination made her orgasm
lose control of herself.  Her head thrashed as her voice cried out a
language of pleasure.  Her legs and vaginal muscles held him in a death
grip as he continued to fill her.  She felt his dick spasm inside her again
and again.  She hungrily used her muscles to milk every drop from him.  She
wanted it all!

   Alex slowed and was still running his hands over her swollen breasts. 
He couldn't have known the agony that just the slight touch he was sending
through her, but she accepted all of it.  She knew that he wouldn't
purposefully hurt her.  She also realized that the pain that he was causing
was one of the sole reasons that she had hit the high that she did.  She
wanted to let him keep touching her because he enjoyed it so, but she had
to give her chest some relief.  He was easy with her, but they were too
sore.  She hadn't even worn a bra today because she had accidently been too
rough with herself last night that the material hurt against her skin.

   She pulled his hands off of her and laid down on him again.  Lying
against him felt comfortable after a few seconds.  She felt his heartbeat
again.  It was racing, but had calmness to the rhythm.  She didn't get off
of him and she wasn't sure how long it took his deflated member to find its
way out of her.

   "I love you, Sarah," he professed again.

   "I love you...Alex" she said.  The sentence haunted her later and
startled her as she said it.  Her first reflex had been to say `Daddy'.

   Chapter 10

   That evening, Alex woke up Sarah still in his bed.  He didn't remember
drifting off to sleep and part of him hoped that maybe he had dreamed it
all.  Then he wouldn't have to face her.  Before he even opened his eyes,
he could smell the sweet aroma of her shampoo mixed with sex.  He inhaled
deeply, savoring it.  This had been something that he had dreamed about and
feared for a while.

   He had always considered himself and honorable man.  He had guilt from
lusting after this young woman and in a point of weakness, he had not just
allowed her to have sex with him, but reveled in it.  He had been filled
with lust and given himself over to it completely when she first positioned
herself above him.  He held nothing back with her and had taken her more
passionately than any other woman in his life.

   He thought about things quietly as his body woke up and he could feel
the coolness of her skin as she laid half on his chest.  He felt her
breathing and young supple flesh of her breast as she continued to sleep.

   He chastised himself in the silence: "She is only fifteen.  She
shouldn't be having sex with anyone, especially someone who is trying to be
the father figure in her life.  I shouldn't have been lusting after her. 
It doesn't matter what she looks like.  Does this make a pedophile?

   "What's she going to think?  When she wakes up, what will happen then?
Is she going to think that I will want to use her for sex?  She's had such
a rough way to go.  There's no way she can know how sex is supposed to work
with that she's been through."

   He had pretended that her nightly masturbations were normal for a girl
her age.  He had allowed her to get more flirtatious, but had hoped that
she would stop there.  He now knew for a fact that he didn't have the will
power to resist her anymore.  That lesson had cost him.

   He looked over at the clock and saw that it was close to time to get
ready for work.  He carefully slid out from under her, trying not to wake
her and made his way to the bathroom.  He had a long shift at work ahead of
him and thought anyone with a nose was going to be able to smell teenage
sex on him.  She seemed to be asleep when he left the room.

   While he was in the shower, he heard the door open.  He couldn't see
clearly through the shaded sliding window, but saw her go sit on the
toilet. He didn't know what to say so he continued to wash himself.

   She flushed the toilet and washed her hands at the sink.  Then she
turned and faced the shower door.  "Did you mean it?" she said.

   Alex thought for a moment to try to figure out what she was asking.

   "When you said that you loved me?" she chimes in clarifying her
question. "Did you mean it?" Her voice wasn't loud, but there was a need
behind it.

   He could hear the emotion in her voice above the sound of the water
spraying on his chest.

   For a split second, he saw a way out.  If he told her no, then he was
sure that whatever this relationship was would be over.  She would be
heartbroken, but she would be able to move on with her life.

   Then he looked into his heart and knew he could never lie to her like
that.  He did love her.  His words might have been said in lust, but they
did ring true.  She was in his heart and had been for a while.  The sexual
bliss that they had shared was only an addition to the emotion that he
already felt for her.  He just had never admitted it before, even to
himself.

   "Yes," he said solemnly.  "I love you, Sarah."

   She walked over and slid the door open and walked in the shower with
him. She was still naked and her emotions were radiating off her as she
looked at him full of love and affections.

   He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply.  All of his
earlier concerns when he woke up went down the drain with the soap and the
water.  Loving her and believing that she loved him made it all okay.  The
guilt was gone as he looked deep into her blue eyes.  He didn't know where
this was going to go, but he was sure it was what he wanted.

   He finished up his shower and he got ready for work.  She kept smiling
at him and he found that her smile was infectious.

   When he got home the next morning, he had had a chance to think about it
logically.  He told her that he loved her, but that by no means meant that
she was obligated to have sex with him.  They came to the understanding
that she was allowed to come and go in his bed as she pleased.  He didn't
want to put any pressure on her, but couldn't deny that he wanted her as
well.

   Sarah smiled and was happy with his terms.

   She started sleeping in his bed on a regular basis.  He thought about
moving some of her clothes down to his room in one of the dressers, but
convinced her that they had to keep up appearances for any company that
would come over.

   And he was true to his word.  He didn't pressure her for sex, mainly
because she had a very healthy sexual appetite.  He never had to.  It was
her coming to him for sex on an almost nightly basis.  She would start by
kissing and massaging him and then it would go from there.

   Sarah went on birth control, but only because Alex insisted that he
wasn't going to be the one responsible for messing up her life.

   In the next month, they got into a comfortable routine.  She no longer
masturbated or was rough with herself.  She didn't share her dark desires
with him.  She believed that if he knew that part of her craved the abuse
that he would change.  She had only a few times chanced being a little
rough with herself as they made love, but was very careful with it.  She
would have him take her in different positions and even different rooms of
the house.  In the weeks that passed by, she had made sure sex was done
everywhere but the front yard, and that included the garage that he used
for a work shed/tool shed.

   There were also a few other slight changes to her that Alex didn't
realize.

   Two months after they had started their sexual relationship, she was
starting to feel that the sex was starting to leave her wanting.  She knew
the familiar feeling and wasn't happy with it returning.

   She only called him Daddy when they were in social settings that
required it.  When it was just the two of them, he was her Alex.  On more
than one occasion, when she was calling his name in bed did she slip and
call him Daddy.  She muted herself so he wouldn't hear it.

   She found that riding him and being on top wasn't gratifying anymore. 
She started insisting that he be on top and she would spread her lean legs
to give him full access.  Sometimes she would reach her hands up and grip
the wood of the headboard on his bed and pretend that she was tied that way
for him.

   It wasn't too long after that, that she started using her fantasies to
help her reach her orgasms.  But now, she had Alex willing to have sex with
her and to cum inside of her.  It was wonderful to have him there with her
and know that he was in love with her.

   But the sexual frustration started to build for her.  Alex was good
hearted and was very careful not to treat her rough.  This frustrated Sarah
to no end.  She had given herself to him, but felt that he had really never
`taken' her.  He would kiss her and occasionally run his hand over her butt
casually, but most everything else sexually had to be initiated by her. 
She knew he was only being the gentleman that he was, but it was so
maddening to want him to be more force full with her.  She knew her body
could take it.

   One night, she guided him to the bed and got on all four with her ass
and pussy pointed invitingly to him.  He climbed up on the bed and easily
glided his cock into her and started smooth and even strokes.

   She turned her face down so that he wouldn't see her tears of
frustration.  She knew he would cum inside her and that he would orgasm in
a while, but knew that she wouldn't get what she needed.  He was too gentle
with her.  He treated her like she was fine silk and afraid to hurt her,
even after all they had done together.

   "Harder," she cried out to him as he pushed his dick deep into her.

   Alex started using quick stabbing movements with his hips, but not that
hard against her.

   She felt a semblance of the pleasure that she wanted, but nothing close
to what she needed to orgasm.  "Harder!" she demanded.

   Alex took it for lust and gripped her hips driving his dick into her as
deep as he could, but not rough at all.  They had had sex in this position
before and he appreciated the way it left his hands free to roam her body
and caress her skin, but her demanding more was new.

   She took one of his hands and pulled it underneath her to her swollen
clit.  She roughly pulled and teased it for a moment to for it to
completely emerge from her clitoral hood.  He rubbed it between his thumb
and fore finger and she could feel him close to cumming inside of her.  She
could feel herself closer as well, but needed more.  He started to moan as
she felt him start to erupt inside of her.  She immediately mashed down on
his hand and used his fingers to crush her sensitive nub sending her climax
coursing through her.  She pinched so tight that she was sure that she was
probably hurting his fingers too, but she didn't care.  She needed this. 
She needed to feel him do it to her.

   When she calmed down and let go of his hand, she knew that things had
changed.

   Alex had no idea what was going on.  He had been use to having sex with
Sarah on a regular basis.  She was adventurous and brazen in her want when
they were alone in the house.  Her demands for more were thought to be
nothing more than lust.  If he hadn't already been cumming deep in this
gorgeous young woman at the time she grabbed his hand, he probably would
have went limp inside her.

   It took almost sixty seconds for her initial orgasm to pass and the
entire time, she had a death grip on his hand.  He felt her muscles clench
his member inside her signally that she was indeed riding her climax, but
it scared him how hard she made him clamp down on her clitoris.  He never
had any desire to hurt her.  He had never even taken her in lust except for
the first time.  All of the other times, it had been in his right mind and
completely by her choice.

   He slowly withdrew his member from within her and rubbed her back
soothingly.  He didn't understand what just happened, but he didn't want to
be a part of hurting her.

   She got up on her knees on the bed to face him.  He could see the tear
streaks on her face, but didn't understand what they meant.  He kept his
hands down at his sides not knowing if he wanted to touch her.  She had
scared him.

   Sarah came forward and had the look on her face that reminded him of how
much a young girl that she still was.  She looked innocent, remorseful, and
concerned about him.  "Thank you," she said honestly.

   "What was that?" he whispered to her.

   She came forward and kissed his lips.  He kissed her back, but not full
of passion like normal.  "That's what I needed," she said and then guided
him to lay down in the bed with her.

   He let her and she lay with her back pressed up against him.  Alex was
still trying to figure out what just happened as he had his hand on the
soft curve of her hip.

   Suddenly, the phone rang interrupting the silence of the moment.  Alex
answered it and after very little conversation, he told the person on the
other end bye and hung up.  Sarah looked at him because she knew the look
of puzzlement on his face.  "What's going on?" she asked curiously.

   "Um," he paused no knowing how to really say it easily.  "Melody is
coming for the summer..."



   Author's note: Feedback is welcome at m_19yr_old@hotmail.com .  I do not
condone abuse of any kind and this FICTIONAL story is for entertainment
purposes only.  I have ideas for another part of it but I want to see if
there is an interest in the storyline first.  Thanks for reading.