Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 The Nature of Man

   By Kenn Ghannon



   The Rules

   I thought, before we got to the actual reading of this story that we
should set down a couple of ground rules:

   1) This story involves frank and explicit descriptions of sex.  If it is
immoral or illegal in your area to read about topics of this nature, please
quit reading here.  If you don't want to read about topics of this nature,
please quit reading here.  (I don't, by the way, agree with the legal
aspects of this.  I believe that the United States, as a society, has gone
too far in putting the onus of maturity on a rather arbitrary physical age.
I've known 13 year olds who were far more mature than some 40 year olds. 
Of course, this may be the exception to the rule, but still.)

   2) If you are looking for a story where everyone is always happy all of
the time, please find another story.  If you are looking for a story where
everyone is always sad all of the time, please find another story.  Reality
is somewhere in-between these two extremes and I try to write as near to
reality as an erotic fantasy can get.  Do I succeed?  Only you can tell me.

   3) If you are looking for a story that absolutely revolves around sex,
sex, and more sex, please find another story.  I *WON'T* write one of
those. There is sex here, but only as a function of the story.

   4) Everything you read here is fiction.  It never happened, so I am
definitely not writing about YOU.

   If you've read this far, I hope you enjoy this.

   Author's Note

   The last chapter was not meant to be so dark, but it had to be.  No
matter how hard we try to escape our inner demons, they cling to us.  They
hold us and clutch at us.  Even when we think ourselves rid of them,
they're not truly gone.  They lie just beneath the surface of our skin,
waiting for a moment of weakness so they can come out and claim us once
again.

   Life is like that.  Our trials and tribulations are all too often of our
own making because we know the darkness of our own soul.  It is a darkness
we choose to hide from the world, for the most part, but it lies within us
just the same.  The game, then, is simple.  As long as we don't succumb, as
long as we hold our personal hell at bay -- we win.

   Eric doesn't realize this; not many people do and certainly very few
teens.  He knows -- in an instinctive way -- that we tend to become what we
are shown, what we are taught, no matter how hard we rebel against it.  It
takes a strong heart and a strong mind to rebel against our taught inner
nature.  In moments of weakness, we fail.  As long as our weaknesses are
short, though, we might yet survive.

   Dedicated, with respect, to Frank Downey.

   Chapter 10: Of Girls and Gifts

   She was a vision of light in a room that seemed too full of darkness. 
The lingering after-effects of his nightmare clung to Eric like a
straight-jacket; tight and cloying.  A single look at his red-haired angel,
though, and that darkness seemed to shatter.  Her face, her hair, the
gentle swell of her breasts, the erotic turn of her hips, all served to
drive the evil images from his head.

   Slowly, his gasping breath returned to normal.  His hearbeat, thudding
and pounding like the footsteps in his dark dream, inexorably returned to
its familiar rhythm.  Even the sweat pouring from his pores began to slow
and the chill of his room began to leave.  With a purpose, he closed his
eyes and clenched his fists to use the beautiful light of Shawn's presence
to drive the horror from his thoughts.

   When he opened his eyes, Shawn still stood at the doorway, her crisp,
blue eyes filled with a strange mixture of fear and worry.  She looked as
if she had half convinced herself to run but could not get the other half
to go along.  Stuck between going and staying, she stood just inside the
closed door trying to make her choice.

   Eric marveled at her beauty even as he worried at the fear he saw in her
eyes.  Her soft copper curls draped down behind her, hanging free.  The
light freckles on her cheeks shone unusually bright and brilliant.  The
long, flowing dress hugged her body in all the right places, showing
nothing yet revealing all her womanly charms just the same.  Even now, she
looked perfect; a wonderful angel sent from heaven to walk with mere
mortals.

   A knock on the door behind her startled her, breaking her from thoughts
of her decision and unintentionally making it for her.  With a slight gasp,
she took a few unplanned steps further into Eric's room.

   "Is everything okay in there?" Aunt Jean's voice called.  Though her
voice was muffled and quiet, you could make out the worry hidden within her
words.  This was not the first time she had heard Eric screaming.

   "I'm fine, Aunt Jean," Eric called out in response, his worried gaze
still watching Shawn cautiously as she stood seemingly undecided in the
middle of his room.  Even to him, his voice sounded distant, weak.  A dry,
hoarseness clung to each word.  Either his aunt didn't hear the strange
quality in Eric's words or the response was enough to satisfy her; Eric
sensed rather than heard her move away.

   "Are you okay?" Shawn echoed his Aunt, her voice a mere whisper.  She
put slightly more stress on the first word as if wanting to be sure of his
response.  Even the look in her eyes questioned his words.

   "I'm fine, Shawn.  Really," Eric strove to reassure her.  That same dry
hoarseness, a darkness, remained in his words to belie them.  "What brings
you out here on a cold day like this?" Eric's attempt at levity didn't
work; his voice was worried and unsure, asking a more serious question than
the one that was voiced.

   Of course, this wasn't the first time Shawn had come to see him.  She
had been at the hospital and had even come to the house a few times.  But
this was the first time she had ever been alone with him since that day in
the football stadium.  Every time she had come to see him, she had always
been aloof and distant though, as if she were there but hadn't truly been
with him.  Her distance worried Eric, but he didn't know what to say; what
questions to ask.  She was there, but not there.  Eric had always been sure
she would eventually get around to talking to him of her troubles.  It
looked like that time had come.

   Still, Shawn stood immobile.  It was frustrating to Eric and ownly
served to fuel his worry.  "Shawn, is there something..." Eric began his
question, but Shawn interrupted him before he could complete it.

   "I brought you your homework," she said, placing a big paper sack on the
chair by his desk.  Eric stared at the parcel; he had not seen it in her
hands.  The mere sight of her was enough to drive most rational thought
from his brain.  "Your teachers were really great about everything.  They
said you'd have to take some tests when you got back, but that if you did
the homework you should be able to catch up easily." Her voice was
unnaturally even and dispassionate.  There was no hint of the worry that
Eric could see within her eyes.  Something was wrong.

   "Shawn..." he began again, all his fear and worry seeping into that
single word.  Desperation began to surge through him.  He wanted, needed to
know what was wrong but Shawn merely interrupted him again.

   "No, Eric," she began.  Her look to him was both pensive and needy,
worried and wanting.  "I need to talk a little, okay?  I'm just having a
hard time getting things out right now.  I'm having a hard time knowing
where to begin."

   "You can talk to me about anything.  Just say it, I'll understand," he
spoke to her, his worst fears seemingly coming true.  She wanted to break
up before they even had a chance to start, Eric was sure of it.  His mind
grasped at things he could say to change her mind as his heart began that
fearsome thudding once again.  He struggled to hold the tears that hovered
in his eyes, to keep them at bay.

   Shawn smiled at him winsomely but like so often in the past few months,
the smile somehow never touched her eyes.  They remained dull and
unresponsive and Eric could see the fear still anchored within them.  His
breathing grew more shallow as the full import of what she must be ready to
say struck him like a hammer.

   "I know that.  It's just...I'm not quite sure how to say what I want
to..." her voice trailed off thoughtfully.  The uncertainty rose like a
crescendo in her eyes as the visible effects of her inner turmoil flashed
over the features of her face.  After a moment that seemed an eternity of
hell for Eric, her face grew silent.  A resolve seemed to shine in her
eyes, as her gaze moved to his blankets.

   "It's a little chilly in here...do you mind if I climb in with you?"

   Whatever Eric had expected to hear, that wasn't it.  It seemed a simple
question, but whole volumes of complexities existed within it.  For a
moment, Eric didn't know which way to turn.  His gaze touched her own for a
moment, the merest moment of hesitation before he could make his decision.
With a perplexed frown, he slid over and pulled his blanket down to make
room for her.

   Once again flashing the smile that wasn't, Shawn slid into the bed with
him and pulled the covers over her.  Her side touched him and everywhere
his body touched hers Eric felt a warmth spreading.  With a sigh that
seemed equal parts contentment and concern, Shawn laid her head down and
shared his pillow.

   The scent of her hair flowed over Eric like a warm blanket.  It nuzzled
his nose and drove his concentration from him.  Slowly, he turned on his
side to look at his angel but she chose not to return his questioning look
preferring instead to fix her eyes on the ceiling.

   They sat there like that for several minutes, lying together, joined but
not joined.  Every nerve-ending in Eric's body screamed at him to touch
her, hold her but he knew that he didn't dare.  The mixed messages he read
from her and the betrayal of his own body frightened him.  He wasn't sure
exactly what was going on and he was more than a little scared.  The merest
chance that his touch wouldn't be welcome was more than he could bear.

   The minutes drew inexorably onward, one after the other.  Still the
silence grew until it was an emptiness that couldn't be ignored.  Finally,
just when Eric thought that he could take the silence no longer, Shawn
began to speak.

   "I was very angry with you, you know," she began in almost a bemused
tone, but there was a steel and serious undertone that underlied it.  "I
had almost gotten raped and no matter how I turned it, you were the cause."
She glanced at him for a moment, her questioning eyes trying to gauge his
reaction.

   "I'm sorry, I..." Eric began to explain, but Shawn interrupted him
again.

   "Let me finish, Er," she whispered, her voice strained and begging.  "I
need to get through this and I don't know if I'll be able to do it if you
interrupt, okay?"

   Eric just looked at her for a second.  His mind screamed at him to go
on, to tell her the whole story, to apologize, to do something, to do
ANYTHING to win back her heart.  But instead he just nodded slowly.

   "Thanks," and she smiled briefly...a real smile that lit up the room and
filled Eric's heart with a strange combination of joy and dread.  The
effect of the mere hint of her happiness was strange and unreal...but it
was compelling nonetheless.  Eric knew that no matter what it took, he
would do anything in his power to make her happy -- to make her continue to
smile that smile at him.

   Once she was satisfied that he truly understood, she turned and resumed
her scrutiny of his ceiling.  Again the moments of silence stretched out.
That silence engulged the two of them completely and Eric's worry mounted
with each second.  Like an anvil, Eric's fear and insecurities pounded at
him until he thought he would die if something was not said soon...but he
remained true to his word and uttered not a sound.

   "I think I...I...I hated you then," Shawn continued, a strain showing in
her voice.  "Deep inside, I knew you had to have a reason, of course...it
was so out of character for you to do something like that...but I couldn't
see it.  All I knew was that I was in pain and you seemed to be the cause.
I trusted you and I got hurt.  I didn't know what to do, though, because
even in hurting me you did it so nobly..." her voice trailed off and she
sniffled slightly.  Eric could see tears gathering at the edges of her
eyes. He wanted so badly to brush them away...but his promise hung before
him and he did nothing.

   "Then I found out why you had gone after Evan and I was so ashamed.  I
came to visit you, but I thought you could see how ashamed I was and that
just made me more ashamed.  I was hurting you and I didn't mean to, but it
was, like, a vicious cycle, you know?  I didn't know what to do nor how I
should feel.  I wanted to make it up to you, but I didn't know how.  And
all the while you just lay there, in pain, and all I could do was think
about how hurt I was...but you were hurt far worse..." The tears could be
contained no longer.  They rolled down her cheeks quickly before dropping
from the edge of her jaw onto the waiting cover below.

   Eric didn't know what to do.  He had promised, but he couldn't stand to
see her there, hurting.  He fought with himself for the barest of moments
before knowing what he had to do.  He slowly, carefully put his arm around
her and pulled her closer.  He worried that she might pull away, so his
touch was tentative, ready to pull his arm back at the slightest sign that
Shawn was uncomfortable.

   Rather than shrinking from his touch, though, she seemed to welcome it.
In one savage move she turned towards him and held him, her face buried in
his bare chest, sobbing softly.  Eric struggled to get his other arm under
her; when he did he hugged her fiercely.  His hands found their way to her
flowing copper locks and he ran his fingers through them.  The warmth of
her body against his mesmerized him but his heart broke with each sob that
shook her.  How could he have dared to hurt her, he screamed within
himself. How could he be the one that cause her this pain.

   "It's okay," he whispered.

   "No.  It's not," she sobbed against his chest.  "I felt so unworthy of
you for so long, I didn't know what to do.  I tried to make it up to you,
but every time I came to see you I could see my own lack of trust in your
eyes.  I didn't know what to do.  So I came less frequently.  But...I..."
She trembled, struggling with herself.  For a moment, it seemed that she
wasn't going to be able to continue.  Then, her resolve strengthening, she
continued quickly, as if she felt if she didn't rush she wouldn't be able
to get it all out.  "I...I love you.  I know it's wrong to say that.  I
know it's too early to say that.  I have to, though, because it's a feeling
I have that is just too big for me.  Somehow, I fell in love with you.  I
wasn't looking for it; I didn't even want it to happen and I fought against
it, but in the end it didn't matter.  I've been trying to figure out a way
to say it without saying it, because I was afraid I'd scare you off...or,
worse, that you wouldn't feel the same and I'd have to live with that.  I
can't couldn't hold it in any longer and had to find a way that you'd know
without me really telling you.  I just...I never...I couldn't find a way.

   "Then today came, Valentine's Day, the day for lovers.  I thought about
getting you a card that said how I felt, but I couldn't find one that fit
and it didn't seem right anyway.  I was going to get you flowers...but you
really can't get those for a guy and then I thought chocolates, but you're
still not altogether well and who ever heard of buying a guy chocolates
anyway.  So I have nothing to give you..."

   "It's..." Eric began.  He needed her to know that he felt the same way,
that she didn't need to show her love or to tell him.  He never got the
chance to finish his words, though.

   "I know it's okay, Er.  But it isn't.  Not after all this.  Not after
the roller coaster ride that I've gone through.  Not after doubting you.  I
needed to give you a present that was as significant as how I feel...and I
couldn't find anything.  Everything seemed too small, too...trivial.  There
was no good way to tell you, to show you the way I felt.  At least, not
right away."

   She pushed herself away from his chest and the fear was renewed in her
eyes.  She took a deep, ragged breath and looked into his eyes.  "Then I
found it.  It's me.  I'm your present, Eric.  Me.  I can only give you my
heart, my body and my soul and hope that it's enough.

   "When I was little," she continued quickly, before Eric could interrupt.
"I promised myself that I'd save myself until I found the right man...until
I found someone that was worthy of me and that I could love and trust. 
Someone that would be mine and let me be his.  It wasn't until I went
searching for that gift that I realized that you're the one.  You're the
guy I've always dreamed of...I just never knew it."

   The smile she gave him was shy and demure.  Pensive.  A worry tugged at
her eyes, a worry that he would reject her.  That he would not feel the
same.  With her next sentence, though, she committed herself.  There was no
turning back.  "I'm not wearing anything under this dress, Eric.  I'm
completely naked..." her voice trailed off hopefully.

   Eric was stunned.  He didn't know what to say or think or feel.  Here
was the angel, his angel, the girl -- no, woman -- who he couldn't get out
of his head offering herself to him.  He fought to find the words that
would say everything that was rushing through him, he fought to find the
words worthy of expressing his feelings for her, but they wouldn't come. 
So he did the one thing that seemed perfectly natural.  He pulled her
closer and kissed her.  Their lips met, his brushing softly against hers.
His tongue was tentative as it crossed into her mouth, hers was anything
but as it thrust against his own.  The kiss dragged on, but neither Eric
nor Shawn noticed the time flow.  They were content to remain in that
timeless void that was the home of all lovers.

   Slowly, though, he pulled his lips from hers and allowed himself to
travel over her chin to the soft touch of her neck.  He nibbled on her skin
there, his tongue flickering out to briefly touch and taste her flesh.  She
gasped in response, her arm enfolding his head and pulled him closer.

   Then, he broke their embrace, not enough to break their close contact,
but enough to gaze into her eyes.

   "Shawn, I love you too," Eric began, his eyes captivating hers.  Relief
shone in the orbs of her soul.  "I've loved you since the moment I first
saw you.  I thought you were an angel...I still do.  You are the most
beautiful, most wonderful person I've ever met."

   He paused a moment and smiled.  "...but...I'm not ready.  Not yet.  Not
physically and not mentally.  I want you...I've wanted you since I laid
eyes on you.  But right now, it just wouldn't mean the same, you know?  I
wouldn't be able to give you all that you deserve..."

   Shawn looked at him, her eyes intent on his own.  Satisfied, with a
bright smile and a small sigh, she replied, "I understand, my love.  I just
want you to know that I *am* ready.  I will always be ready for you.  I
will always be willing for you." Still smiling, a smile that lifted Eric
higher in rapture than he ever thought he could ascend, she began to
withdraw from the covers.

   "Oh?  And where do you think you're going," he looked at her archly, the
beginnings of a grin just twinkling along the edges of his lips.  "Just
because I'm not ready for THAT doesn't mean that we should led a perfectly
good nakedness go to waste, does it?" He laughed, his eyes bubbling
merrily.

   "It depends on what you had in mind," Shawn giggled back to him, but she
changed her direction and crawled back under the covers.  She let out a
soft sigh as she snuggled up to him.

   His lips met hers as he pulled her close, her body in tight contact with
his own.  Slowly, his right hand ventured down her back, lower and lower.
As he reached her hips, he changed direction going up...then down again. 
He rubbed her back through her dress and with each downward stroke his hand
dipped lower, and more brazen.  When he reached the rounded hills of her
ass, he cupped his hand, holding her.

   Eric was in heaven.  How he had grown lucky enough to be here with Shawn
was beyond his comprehension.  Holding the soft, round hills of her butt,
feeling her heartbeat against his chest...nothing he had ever done could
compare with this.  In his chest, his heart thudded hotly...but this time
the thudding was welcomed, even enjoyed.  There was no dark overtones to
what he felt within it.

   His mouth once again moved from her own, as he kissed and nibbled his
way across her cheek.  Slowly, inexorably he drew down her jawline to her
neck, each kiss lighting another small fire of desire in Shawn's body.  She
trembled against him, her own hands working their way further and further
down his back.  As his hand squeezed her bottom through her dress, she
gasped at the fire raging within her.

   Eric moved his hand lower as his kisses touched that gentle slope
between Shawn's neck and her ear.  He trailed his tongue lightly against
her skin, while his hand rubbed down her legs.  His kisses turned to
nibbles then back to kisses as he slowly reached the extent of his grasp
near her knee.  For a moment, he just left his hand there, trailing it
across the back of her knee.  His fingers brought goosebumps to her legs as
they continued their playful march.

   For a few seconds, Eric waited unsure what to do.  He pored over his
memory, trying to remember all of the romance stories, the sex manuals,
ANYTHING that would help him here.  His mind, however remained blank, save
for the singular sensation of Shawn lying next to him.  'All of those days
reading, wasted' he thought wryly.  It wasn't until he realized that her
dress was moving with the strokes of his fingers that he realized what he
had to do.  With an inward laugh, he let his hand catch on the cloth of her
dress so that when he began rubbing up her leg, the dress came with it.

   Shawn sighed as he slowly pulled her dress upwards, at once both aware
and unaware of what he was doing.  His kisses were lighting a fire within
her that she had never known before.  It felt as if the entire room were
fading out of reality and that all that existed was his lips upon her neck,
his body against her own, and that slow hand gently making its way up her
leg with the hem of her dress in tow.  She knew that she should be nervous;
she had never had anything like this happen before -- she had never wanted
anything like this to happen before.  Now, though, lying here with Eric,
she felt strangely and completely at ease, as if this were where she was
supposed to be.  A whispered gasp escaped her lips as his hands came closer
and closer to her hips.

   The dress reached the tops of her hips and Eric could feel a light
shiver run through her.  He opened his mouth and suckled softly on her
neck; not enough to leave a mark, but enough to bring another gasp from her
lips.  He ran his fingers down the bare expanse of her leg, reveling in the
feel of her soft skin and the gooseflesh his fingers were causing.  There
was a tentative, nervous nature to his touch, but he wouldn't let it stop
him.  He was bemused, as strange tightness welling within him.  He was so
hot, hotter than he had ever been before, yet the barest tingle of a shiver
ran through his body.

   Shawn, too, was on fire.  The turmoil she had endured for the past few
minutes as she bared her soul to the man she loved broke within her and
left only the desire she had for this boy, this man.  She could feel the
tingle of every nerve ending wherever there bodies touched...and she could
feel herself grow wet for him.  She felt herself drench in that wonderful
ointment that signaled the love she felt for him.  She wanted to feel more,
but his hand stroked maddeningly slow across her leg.

   His hands rose up her legs, as his head dipped slightly lower, to that
sweet spot of flesh where the shoulder meets the neck.  He nuzzled there as
his hand rose to her bare butt.  He cupped her again, but this time there
was no cloth between them to buffer the feel of him.  The feel of the bare
flesh of her ass against his fingers set his fingertips ablaze.  He could
feel the warmth of her skin, and it was growing to be too much for him.  He
felt his member rise within the folds of his pajama bottoms and he knew
that she could feel the tip of him against her leg.

   She felt his hardness against her and struggled to decide whether to
reach for it.  It was only when she realized that doing so would hamper the
wonderful things he was doing to her that she decided against it.  There
was plenty of time for that later.

   She couldn't believe the way her heart grew large just with the thought
of Eric.  She recognized that she would do anything for him, would do
anything to make him as happy as she felt at this moment.  She struggled to
think of what she could do to increase his pleasure, but her mind wasn't
working correctly just now.  His touches were driving her wild with lust.
She trembled again, wondering how someone could make her feel so wonderful,
so hot just with his touch.

   Slowly, he crossed his hand over her hip.  the barest tremor of fear
quaked through him, fear and expectation as he realized that there was
nothing to stop him, that Shawn would not stop him from what he was about
to do.  As he reached the cusp of her hip, he methodically drew his hand
down, searching for her most private of spots.

   Shawn held her breath.  She had never allowed anyone to touch her there,
but she had often done this herself.  She wondered how his touch would
differ from her own.  Would it feel better?  Worse?  She trembled, waiting,
hoping that her apprehension was unfounded.  she was already hotter and
wetter than she had ever been in her life.

   When his fingers found the barest of fuzz that grew above her pubis, she
let out her breath in an explosion of need, of desire.  She could feel her
need soaking through her dress.  When his finger gently brushed her clit on
its way down, she couldn't help but close her eyes and moan as an explosion
of pleasure burst within her.  She trembled and moaned, willing him to move
faster, but he kept his gentle pace.

   Eric cupped her mound, then, his palm contacting her clit which had
risen to a hard nub.  Shawn bent her left leg, then, and put her foot on
the bed near her knee.  Now, her entire pubic region was opened for him. 
She needed him to have room, needed to feel a part of him inside her.  His
finger was not the part she was hoping for, but it would have to do.

   Eric had never done this before, but he had read about it, he had read
what to do.  Still, the words would not come.  His mind remained a twisted
jumble no matter how hard he tried to remember.  It seemed that the harder
he tried to pull the words from his mind, the further they slipped from his
grasp.

   He was surprised at how wet she was.  He could feel her oil, her
moisture, seeping through his fingers.  He rubbed the oil against her
flesh, reveling in the feel of it.  It must have been the right thing to do
for Shawn shuddered lightly against him, laying her head on top of his own.
She mumbled into his ear, but he could not interpret the words.  All he
could feel was the ragged rush of her breath against his ear.  It
intoxicated him.

   Eric rubbed in a circle, his palm brushing lightly over Shawn's clit. 
Her legs spread wider of their own accord, her foot traveling further
towards her ass, and a moan escaped her lips.  Yet Eric just continued to
rub in circles, circles, giving just the barest of massages to Shawn's
aching clit.  It was teasing her, driving her crazy.  She needed him to
finish, needed to feel her body give in to the rapture of her orgasm. 
Still, Eric rotated his hand slowly, slowly.  She wasn't sure if she was
going to have to kill him or rape him.

   "Oh, God" Shawn called when Eric slowly curled his finger and inserted
it into her.  He pulled it out then, unhurriedly, before returning it
inside of her.  Slowly, slowly, his finger went deeper and deeper.  It
touched inside of her, and then was gone, moving slowly through the folds
of her flesh.  It brought a desire raging through her that she could not
believe could be contained within her body.  Without even knowing it, her
hips began rotating to meet the achingly sluggish thrust of her fingers.

   She was beyond her limits, beyond Eric's teasing.  She had never been
able to bring herself to this level of arousal, ever.  Her body screamed at
her to finish this, to let it trip over the edge of that wonderful cliff
and into the waiting arms of orgasm...but she wasn't in control.  She
couldn't think, couldn't move.  She couldn't breathe any more.  All that
existed was her clit, her pussy, and Eric's wonderful hand that was moving
too slowly, too teasingly.  She needed it to end before it drove her
completely mad.

   She couldn't help herself any more.  She was no longer in control of her
actions.  Her lust controlled her now.  With a gasp, she grabbed his hand
in her own and pulled his finger deeper insider of her.  She thrust his
finger against her hymen, but the slight pain only heightened her arousal
somehow.  She tried to push and pull his hand into her as fast as she
could, but she couldn't quite force it to move fast enough.  Her need drove
her, and her hips began thrusting with a life of their own.  Faster and
faster her hips moved, pounding his finger faster and faster within her. 
With every thrust against her hand, his palm made delicious contact with
her clit, driving her higher and higher.  Finally, she flipped her hips
hard against him driving his whole hand into contact with the fevered folds
of her pussy.

   The sudden insertion, coupled with the force of Eric's palm engaging on
her clit was enough.  Shudders ripped through Shawn's body, and she found
herself thrusting wantonly against Eric's hand.  She couldn't help it, it
felt so good, so right.  She opened her eyes as Eric's face pulled away
from her neck and she looked straight into his eyes as she came against his
hand.

   Her mouth parted as spasm after spasm rocked through her.  Eric took
that as an invitation and bent his head to place his lips against her own.
Shawn thrust her tongue into his mouth as his finger was thrusting into her
pussy.  The touch of his lips to her own enhanced her orgasm and the
shudders crested anew driving her on wave after wave of lust-filled orgasm.

   Eric could feel Shawn's orgasm crest over her.  He could feel every
shudder, every tingle and he took pleasure from her own.  He knew what was
happening and he reveled in it.  He had managed to bring pleasure to the
woman he loved and that filled him with a great sense of happiness and
fulfillment.  Just the look on her face as her orgasm washed over her, the
look of love from her eyes as they gazed at his own, was enough to fill him
with contentment.

   Slowly, Shawn ceased her shudders and her tongue ceased its playfulness
within his mouth as her body came down from the heights of passion.  She
weakly released his hand and grabbed at him, pulling him into a soft
embrace.

   "My god, Eric," she whispered in his ear.  "That was...that
was...wow..."

   Eric's chuckle was muffled in her hair.  "I'm glad you liked it."

   "Liked it...god...I can't describe how it felt..." She pulled back
slightly and looked in his eyes.  "But what about you?" She could feel his
hardness against her leg and she yearned for it.  She began to reach for
it, but Eric stopped her.

   "No, love.  Not today.  I need to keep my strength to get better.  Today
was just for you.  I hurt you before...I needed to try to make up for
that."

   "Eric," Shawn replied, worry once again filling her voice.  "You have
nothing to make up to me."

   "I wanted to anyway," and he smiled softly at her.

   "Well, that's alright then." And the impish grin she gave him lit up
Eric's heart.