The next night

Jessica stood naked before Angus, trembling. The bruises on her body made him pause momentarily, but then he remembered the lesson he’d been trying to teach her about her place, her role, her lack of status. Her behavior at the kennel had been unacceptable and he went out of his way to make that clear to her. His only regret at the time was that he’d had to stop and let Jim have his night with her. But now it was his night and he would use it to continue where he’d left off.

As she hesitantly dropped her folded arms from her breasts, Angus smiled. Just as Jessica had learned his shower ritual, he knew she’d eventually learn her proper place. And the longer it took her to do so the longer he could get off on it. As he’d pounded his fist down on Jessica the previous day, he’d again been overcome by incredibly strong urges. Not much roused him after he and Beth parted ways, but as soon as he administered punishment to Jessica, something came alive in him. He’d fucked Jessica several times while he’d beaten her too unable to resist the need even though it was against the rules. The men were to restrict sexual activity with Jessica to their assigned days with her. Last night was her night with Jimmy, Angus wasn’t supposed to touch her sexually until the next day when she was his, but he hadn’t been able to help himself.

Memories from the day before, revived that need. After Beth, Angus had vowed that he would never again let a woman use her wiles against him, he would take what he wanted, and that would be it. Jessica had made the mistake of challenging him early on, on this point and from that time forward, she found herself standing naked before him in the bathroom on every night he had with her.

He stepped forward and pinched one of her nipples between his fingers.

It had all begun when she had tried to stage a bathing strike.

Perhaps she thought that if she stank, they would stay away from her.

The other men seemed unable to budge her from her stand, but Angus knew exactly what to do. To her credit, it took a good two weeks of fighting and some pretty savage beatings, but he got her to end her strike, and he got a little treat out of it for himself. Now, on his nights with her, he looked forward to going to the bathroom for a shower where Jessica would, with some coercion, undress and present herself to him.

He would proceed from there as he wished. They would eventually end-up in the shower. He also maintained a strict rule in which she was to wear no clothing while in his room, so once they made it to his room, he’d remind her to drop the towel, and again, present herself to him.

He pinched her other nipple and heard her intake a breath as he non-too gently pulled on it. Moving behind her he slid his hand between her buttocks, then between her legs. His fingers worked their way through the hair on her pussy and he rammed his fingers into her hole. A whimper escaped her, which was all Angus needed to put him over the edge. He pushed Jessica onto all fours and thrust into her from behind. As the pleasure mounted his thrusts increased in momentum and depth. Finally he exploded with pleasure.

As Jessica slid onto her stomach, her forehead to the floor, Angus instinctively reached for her. ‘Fuck!’ Angus muttered to himself, catching himself before he touched her. Beth had trained him good. Even after all these years Angus would habitually try to cuddle after sex. It made him angry to know that he was so weak, so willing to open himself up for use and abuse. Consciously he knew that any type of intimacy following sex would lead him to doom. Experience had taught him well, yet somehow he couldn’t take that knowledge to the subconscious level. He pulled back his hand and got to his feet.

“In the shower,” he said, and prepared to have to repeat himself with increasing agitation, but Jessica began to get to her knees. She pushed all instinct to fight, refuse, take a stand, from her mind and forced herself to want to be in the shower. She made herself want to obey Angus. He pulled her to her feet, and without further prompting Jessica went and got in the shower stall. Angus was rooted to the spot. Jessica stood in the stall, staring at the wall. Normally he’d be pushing, dragging, carrying her to the shower. Paranoia set in. A few strides and he was at the shower. He spun Jessica around and grabbing a handful of her hair he wretched her head back.

“What are you up to?” he demanded his breath hot on her face. He shook her when she didn’t respond.

“I …” she began, worried about how red his face had become. She was confused, she thought that her compliance was supposed to make him happy not tomato-faced angry.

“You’re not getting away with nothing!” Angus thundered, spittle flying from his mouth, sprinkling her face. “Last night wasn’t enough for you? Christ Jessica, you’re going to wear out my fucking fists!”

“No … no Angus,” Jessica said urgently, “I thought you wanted me in the shower! I can go out again, if you want!”

Angus stared at her. His eyes slid down to where Jessica had inadvertently laid her hands on his chest as she spoke. Her nails weren’t digging into him. Her usual battle stare, was oddly absent. Prepared for any attack from her, Angus let go of his grip on her hair.

“This is fine,” he said and looked back at her hands that still rested on his chest. Jessica seemed oblivious to the fact that she was leaning on him. As the threat of immediate abuse subsided, Jessica let her hands fall to her side. Angus ran the water and they showered quickly.

Normally he would have lingered over lathering her up, taking pleasure in claiming her most private parts, as his, but he suspected that something was up and he wanted to deal with it in his room, not the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later Angus shepherded Jessica into his room. Locking the door, he turned around prepared to bully Jessica into dropping her towel, but instead found her facing him, towel around her feet, and hands clasped behind her back. She shook with fear and it took all of her will power to not curl up onto a ball and hide her private, vulnerable parts from Angus. She wanted to so badly but she pushed that possibility out of her mind.

Taken off guard by Jessica’s second act of un-coerced obedience Angus stared at her for a moment. ‘Okay,’ he thought to himself, though still highly skeptical, he allowed himself for the first time to consider the possibility that the beating he’d administered the night before may have actually had some affect.

“Get on the bed,” he said, and with only a minor hesitation, Jessica did.

He crawled on the bed after her, moving his pelvis between her legs as he crawled over top of her. Angus had perfected the art of pushing his way between her legs, his thigh first and then his pelvis, often needing to wedge his way between her firmly clasped thighs, sometimes resorting to grabbing her breast in his hand and squeezing until she let him in. This time he made his way through with minor resistance. When he got there he worried again about an attack. Well, he decided, if she was going to do it, they may as well get it over with.

“Hands above your head,” he said. A more noticeable hesitation this time, but Jessica raised her hands. With his left hand he pinned down her wrists, and took her breast in his right hand.

“You bite me Jessica and so help me God I’ll rip your tit right off, got it?” Jessica nodded. Angus saw her lower lip quiver. Lunging, he took it between his teeth and nipped. Jessica jerked beneath him. An ache grew in his loin. Releasing her lip he slipped his tongue between her lips and forced it in her mouth. He plunged it deeper into her mouth, into her throat, Jessica as rigid as a board beneath him. He began to tighten his hold on her breast as Jessica moved her teeth around his tongue, but then he realized she was gagging and withdrew. No sooner had Jessica’s gag reflex quieted then Angus was staking claim to her mouth again. Angus felt every cranny of Jessica’s mouth, and was beginning to really enjoy it, when he began to sense that something wasn’t quite right. Something felt different. He withdrew again, and looked down at Jessica. She had her eyes closed. What the hell? Never, ever in the time he’d spent with Jessica did he ever see anything other than her glaring at him or the ceiling, anger and defiance obvious in her expression and eyes. Even more surprising was the way she felt beneath his body. She was no longer rigid. She had relaxed, her body conforming to his. He knew what would end that fast enough. Hardly gently, Angus thrust himself into her, ensuring that each and every thrust was increasingly violent. Unable to restrain himself, Angus climaxed and fell on top of Jessica. He lay panting, and suddenly a shiver ran down his spine. Jessica had remained relaxed the whole time. He got to his knees and looked at her. Her eyes remained closed, and she looked almost serene. Minutes passed before Jessica opened her eyes. She lay staring at the ceiling, not moving. Not her customary roll to the side, back to him, knees to her chest. The second he was off of her, that was what she’d normally do. And then they’d have a battle of wills as he’d roll her back and try to teach her that she was not to do anything, anything, without his say so.

The longer she lay quietly, the more distraught he became. She was going to do something, he knew it. The longer it took her to do it, the antsier he got. Well, he knew how to speed things up a little. Get her going with whatever it was she had planned.

“Turn over,” he said, and Jessica’s eyes widened. That was more like it. She knew what he intended to do, and he knew there was no way she’d let him do it easily.

“Jessica, I said …” but before he could finish the statement, Jessica slowly turned to her stomach.

“On your knees!” he said.

A sob escaped her as she hesitantly got on her knees. Jessica worked hard to ignore the silent screams going off in her head. ‘Not this, anything but this!’ they cried. Of all the things Angus did to her, ever, this was by far the worst. The first time had been beyond any pain or violation Jessica had ever felt. The tearing, the force with which Angus had to grind, thrust, pull her back on himself in order to get into her tiny anus ensured the most excruciating kind of pain Jessica had ever felt. And unlike her vagina which seem to have stretched a little to accommodate his and the other men’s giant penises, her anus just never seemed to expand permanently enough to make this violation less painful. It made her personal goal of robbing Angus of as much pleasure from her screams a near impossible pursuit to obtain.

Her body shook violently as she pressed her face into the pillow and presented her ass to him. At least she had the pillow this time, she could bury her face into it and muffle the screams she couldn’t keep from escaping.

Angus took her by the hips and pulled her to him. As he began to insert his cock into her rectum he prepared for her hand to lash out at him as it always did. He’d actually got to the point when he would handcuff her for this particular position for fear of losing a testicle. Not this time though, this time he was ready for a fight, needed a fight. But no fight came. Jessica cried into the pillow as he forced his way in and climaxed. When it was over, she lay crying on the pillow, and Angus sat on the bed mystified. Maybe he should just beat the crap out of her anyway, make her incapable of inflicting much harm. But Angus had had enough of her crying. Last night was one thing, and even now, knowing that she was up to no good, he could’ve listened to her cry all night if they’d had an actual battle of some sort, but this … this was too much. She was bawling her eyes out, and he hadn’t even hit her.

“Jessica, what the hell are you crying about? ”

She continued to cry as if he hadn’t even spoken.

“Fucking shit!” he said when he could take the suspense no more. “Turn over Jessica.”

She didn’t move, probably didn’t even hear him through her blabbering.

“Turn over now!” he ordered as he took her arm and rolled her onto her back. Jessica’s face was tear stricken and red from crying. He knew that face, but again it was always after a good beating.

“Stop crying,” he said, “just stop it will you!” He pulled her up by her arm, meaning to shake her a little, but he over pulled and Jessica fell against him. She ran her hands over her eyes, trying hard to quit crying. As she sniffled, Angus became aware of how warm she felt against him. Warm, and soft. Oh no, he wasn’t going down that road! He pushed her from him.

“Okay look, just do whatever you have planned, alright? Just do it, let’s get it over with.”

Jessica looked at him from the corner of her eye as if he were crazy.

“That’s right, you heard me. Just whatever it is, get on with it.”

Jessica looked at him again, as if she didn’t believe him.

“There’ll be consequences, you can be sure of that,” Angus added, “but nothing you’re not used to … I’m not kidding Jessica, do it!”

Jessica half shrugged, lay down, turned on her side, and closed her eyes.

Angus lay down beside her, careful not to make contact. It seemed that her plan was to wait till he fell to sleep. That was fine. There was nothing in this room that she could use to do any real damage, and no way for her to get out … so he’d play along. He turned off the light and lay beside her. It wasn’t too long before she was asleep. Her rhythmic breathing lulling Angus into sleep also but every time he tried to close his eyes, they sprang open. He tossed and turned a few times, thinking he’d wake Jessica up, and she could get on with it, but she never moved. Finally he decided to goad her into it. If he couldn’t sleep, then why should she. He rolled her onto her back and climbed on top. He felt victorious when Jessica tensed as he entered her. Jessica was so tired, she needed sleep, and she knew from experience that Angus would continue all night if she reacted so she tried to relax. After his second or third thrust, she was successful, and he had barely finished when she fell asleep again.

Angus startled himself awake. He could see a glimmer of light seeping in under the edges of the blind on the window. He’d spent the night laying on top of Jessica, waking intermittently to have his way with her. She hadn’t once through the whole night complained or fought. She’d just taken it, and gone back to sleep. She felt so good beneath him, soft, warm, that he found himself wishing that he could just lay on top of her forever … ‘shit!’ he swore to himself. Anger rushed through him. He had let his guard down and now he was getting weak, turning into a wimp. ‘Well, no better time to start the day’, he thought as he entered Jessica’s anus.

“Good morning Sunshine,” he said as Jessica eyes flew open and her arms instinctively came up to defend herself. Angus caught them and pinned them above her head as he thrust in. Jessica grimaced and shifted below him, but the tension went out of her arms and she made no attempt to struggle. Angus grinned down at her as her displeasure became apparent, but soon the grin diminished. Before his very eyes Jessica took a deep breath, and then closed her eyes. Her body relaxed beneath him, and as it did, his thrusts lost their force and he became still, having not reached the climax he’d been expecting. He didn’t move, just watched her face, and she didn’t move for so long that he began to wonder if she’d fallen to sleep again. Finally she opened her eyes and looked at him. They looked at each other. She was looking, not staring, or glaring defiantly. It only lasted a moment before her eyes slipped from his and stared at his chin. He was tired, and at a loss for what to do. He couldn’t explain her behavior in any way that seemed truly plausible. Finally he determined that he needed some space from her. Some time to think.

“Get up,” he said while rolling off of her. Jessica complied. She stood on the floor next to the bed, naked, and shifting from foot to foot. “You need to go to the bathroom?” he asked.

Jessica nodded. “And …” she nearly whispered, “can I take a shower?”

He picked the towel off the floor and handed it to her. Silently he moved aside to let her pass. She shuffled past him, and she seemed to be in pain.

Little wonder, he must have violated her two or three times an hour over the course of the night. With his cock being as big as it was and her pussy and especially her ass being as small and tight as they were, he knew he’d done some damage. Small consolation considering he hadn’t succeeded in egging her on to fighting back, and he still didn’t know what she was scheming to do. Thank God his night with her was over. He intended to go back to bed once he delivered her to the living room, at least she wouldn’t be his problem for the next few nights.

The men were up when Angus and Jessica entered the dining room. They were all at the table eating when Angus guided Jessica to the table. He was prepared to lecture her on her duty to kiss all the men good morning, but Jessica moved closer to Riley who sat near her.

“Good morning,” she said and placed a kiss on his lips.

“Morning,” Riley said as Jessica shuffled over to Josh.

“Are you alright?” Josh asked as she awkwardly leaned in to kiss him.

“Yes,” she replied and brushed her lips over his, “good morning.” But she was anything but alright. She felt torn inside.

“You don’t look alright,” Scott said as she shuffled over to him.

“Good morning, “ she said and kissed him. She felt light headed. Blinking she moved to Jim.

“Jess, you need to sit down,” Jim said taking her by the arms as she leaned in to kiss him.

He helped her back to an empty chair near where Angus stood.

“Take this,” Angus said as she tried to find a comfortable way to sit on the chair.

Everything ached. Every muscle in her body, her private area, her bum.

“Open your mouth,” he said as she shifted on her chair. She did, and he popped a birth control pill into her mouth. He brought a glass of water to her lips.

“How about some breakfast?” Jim asked eager to distract himself from the fact that Angus had inflicted so much pain on Jessica and then just carried on so nonchalantly.

“I’m going back to bed,” Angus said unable to believe how exhausted he felt. ”Riley,” he said and tilted his head toward the hallway.

Riley followed Angus down the hall.

“Keep an eye on her,” Angus said following a yawn. “She’s up to something.”

“I doubt she’ll be up to much today, or tonight. She can barely move.”

“She’ll move if you make her move,” Angus replied. “Just watch her …she’s up to something, that’s for sure.”

“What makes you think that?”

“She’s been … different. You’ll know what I mean soon enough. I’ve been up all fucking night keeping an eye on her.”

“All right,” Riley said, and moved back to the dining room. He returned just as Jim set a plate of food before Jessica.

“Thank you,” she said and then perking up she looked at Josh. “Where’s Baby?” she asked.

“Asleep in the corner there, “Josh replied, “eat your breakfast and you can go over and see her.”

“I’m going to put disinfectant cream on your back first,” Jim said after moving around behind her, and pulling the neckline of her shirt back, peering inside. How Angus had managed to leave gashes with his fists Jim didn’t even want to try and understand. They looked just as raw and painful as they had the two nights before and Jim was reminded again just how cruel Angus could be.

“I’ll do it,” Riley said, anxious to get some inkling as to what kind of behavior had Angus so worked up. “Eat up.”

“Okay, “ Jessica said, and began eating.

‘Okay?”’ Riley thought to himself. She’d said it loud and clear. It looked like she was planning on upholding her end of the bargain … for eating too, she was eating a slow but steady stream of food. But after a few minutes she lay her fork down.

She forced her eyes to Riley’s and fought to keep them from slipping “I can’t eat any more,” she said. She had looked directly at him, and mistook the stunned look on his face as displeasure. She lowered her head. “I’m full.” she added hastily.

Now Riley knew why Angus had been awake all night. Something was different. The only thing he could think to do in response was to go along with it and see where it led.

“Pass me the first aid kit Josh,” Riley said standing. “On the sofa Jessica.” Jessica made her way to the sofa, and it was clear that every step was an effort.

Jessica hesitated when she got there, unsure how to lie down without causing herself pain.

“Get your shirt up first,” Riley said from behind her, and he began to pull her shirt up over her shoulder blades. Jessica gasped as pain shot through her.

“I’ll help you lie down,” Scott said taking her arms to steady her.

“I got her legs.” Riley said. One hand holding up her shirt, he wrapped his other around her legs and lifted. Jessica grimaced, until she was on her stomach, and then she lay very still, afraid to move.

“What the hell did he do to her?” Scott hissed at Riley.

Jim and Josh had watched the ordeal from behind the sofa, and now leant in close to Riley and Scott.

“This was uncalled for,” Josh growled.

“I thought he was supposed to be going easier on her!” Jim added.

“We’ll talk about this later,” Riley said, hoping Jessica hadn’t heard the conversation. If she had, she gave no indication of it.

Riley spread the cream on her back. A few welts had the red edges that indicated infection. Riley made a mental note to monitor them closely. Jessica grimaced while he worked and once he was done, Jessica sighed and fell to sleep.

“Riley …” Jim began in a tone and expression that made it evident he planned to complain about Angus again.

“Not here!” Riley interrupted. Was he nuts? He knew better than to discuss this stuff around Jessica, awake or asleep.

“Get her a blanket,” he said to Jim.

“You take care of that damn dog!” he said to Josh as the puppy began to whine, “We’ll have plenty of time to talk about this tonight.”

“But …” Jim began to protest.

Riley held up his hand. “Nothing is going to change for her whether we talk about it now or later. Later, Angus will be up and we can find out from him what the problem was. Just get her a blanket so she can sleep, and for Christ sake Josh, I swear to God that if that dog isn’t out of my sight in the next two seconds, it’ll be making me a really good silencer as I shoot your ass!”

Scooping the pup up, Josh went outside. Jim stomped to his room, muttering obscenities under his breath as he went. He returned with a blanket and laid it gently over Jessica.

“One of us has to stay with her …” Riley began looking between Jim and Scott.

“I will,” Jim said quickly. “Go do whatever you need to, I’ll watch her.”

Before leaving Scott kissed Jessica on the top of her head. ‘Shit!’ he muttered to himself and then brought his lips to her forehead and confirmed what he was afraid of.

“She’s burning up,” he said.

“What?” Riley asked and laid his hand on Jessica’s forehead. She felt hot. He had attributed the heat coming from her back to the difference between the temperature of the cream and her skin.

“Fuck,” he said and reached for the first aid kit that he’d placed on the coffee table. He found the thermometer and slid it under Jessica’s arm. Moments later it was clear that she was in the midst of a full-blown fever. Riley pulled the blanket off her. Reaching beneath her he undid the button of her jeans, unzipped them and pulled them off.
“Get me a wet cloth and some cool water,” he said to Scott but then thought better of it, “Never mind Scott, the cloth won’t be fast enough. Go run some cool water in the bath instead.” He rolled Jessica onto her back and then scooped her up in his arms. Jim trailing after him, he headed for the bathroom and then lowered Jessica into the tub that was filling with water.

“No!” Jessica yelled, waking.

“Shhh, Jess,” Jim said grabbing her shoulder to keep her from getting up.

“It’s cold!” she complained.

“You have a fever Jessica, we have to bring it down. Sit still,” Riley said, and began scooping water over her head with his hand. Jessica began to shiver.

“Please … “she said through chattering teeth, “it’s freezing!”

“It’s not that cold,” Scott said, dipping his finger in the lukewarm water.

“It’s the fever … it’s way too high. Jim, go out to the barn and get a couple of Advil. You know where I’ve been keeping the bottle right? Up in the loft where Jessica could never find it. Scott, go to my room and get the comforter. “ Riley ordered. As Jim and Scott left, Riley unplugged the tub. Grabbing a towel, he pulled Jessica to her feet. Her shirt and panties clung to her. He pulled them off and wrapped her in the towel. When Scott returned with the blanket, Riley wrapped Jessica in it also. He carried her back out to the sofa and laid her down.

“Here Jess,” Jim said placing the Advil he’d brought in her mouth and bringing the glass to her mouth. Jessica’s teeth chattered on the glass. Jim sat beside her and pulled Jessica onto his lap to help warm her. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed. Jessica trembled against him.

“I’ll be back in half an hour to take her temperature again,” Riley said and headed for the door.

“Jessica, did you do something to Angus last night?” Jim asked once Riley had left and Scott had settled himself on the armchair.

“Do something?” Jessica asked through chattering teeth, her head lolling from one side to the other. “No. Was I supposed to?”

“No Jessica, you weren’t supposed to, “ Scott answered, “but did you?”

“I don’t understand … what was I supposed to do?” Jessica whispered, barely conscious.

“Go to sleep Jess,” Jim said, and Jessica’s head fell against him. He could feel her shivering.

“She must have done something bad,” Scott said.

“Christ. Why can’t she just play along?” Jim demanded. “Whoever she inherited that stubborn streak from must’ve been one hell of a pain in the ass!”

Scott laughed. “No fucking joke. I’ve never met anyone as stubborn except for maybe Riley and Angus.”

“Yeah. That’s just great.” Jim replied pulling her tighter against him.

“What’s going on?” Josh asked, returning with Baby.

“Jessica’s got a fever,” Scott replied.

“A fever!”

“It’s real high,” Jim added.

“You think it’s because of what Angus did to her?” Josh asked.

“Guarantee it,” Jim replied. “I wish he’d get up and tell us what the hell set him off …” Jim recalled what he’d told Jessica the previous night. Could it all be related? If it was, was he to blame for her current state? He knew he should have kept his trap shut!

“Angus sure has a funny way of being less frightening,” Scott observed. “If this is his and Riley’s idea of how not to be scary … I feel sorry for us all. Nothing is ever going to change.”

“What the hell is going on?” Angus asked emerging from the hallway. He stood staring at Jim cradling Jessica.

“Jessica’s sick,” Josh replied, “what did you do to her, and why?”

“Sick?” Angus asked after throwing Josh a dirty look. “You sure she’s not pulling a fast one on you?”

“She definitely has a fever. I don’t think she’s figured out a way to fake that …” Josh replied throwing back an equally dirty look.

“Don’t be too sure,” Angus said stalking to the sofa and placing his hand on Jessica’s forehead. “Feels legit,” he said with a nod.

“Of course it’s legit,” Jim said through clenched teeth. “We have a thermometer and we know how to use it! What did she do to deserve this … please don’t tell me you were just being an asshole for the hell of it!”

“She was up to something. Everything she did was suspicious.”

“Like what?”

“Like everything,” Angus answered, not liking Jim tone.

“Can you be more specific?” Scott asked.

“Read my lips …” Angus said slowly, “Jessica did some suspicious shit last night, … she was up to something. Why the hell are you asking all these questions? Since when has it been a crime to punish her?”

“What’s going on?” Riley asked as he came in the front door. He didn’t like the look on Angus’ face. He looked like he was going to lose it … and Jessica hardly seemed able to have done much to make him angry.

“It appears, “Josh said, “that Jessica did some mysteriously suspicious things to warrant getting the crap beaten out of her … and he,” Josh said pointing his finger at Angus, “seems to think that beating Jessica up has become the new national pass time.”

“Kicking your ass is going to be my pass time!” Angus yelled lunging for Josh.

“Cool it!” Riley ordered, stepping between Angus and Josh, and grabbing their shirt collars, he shoved them apart.

“You self-righteous son of a bitch!” Angus shouted as he shoved past Riley and reached for Josh.

“Angus, outside!” Riley yelled as he pulled him back.

“Fine, let’s take it outside …”

“No, you and me, outside, now!”

“You hear the way he’s talking to me?” Angus demanded, pointing at Josh.

“Outside Angus. Scott, Josh, we’ve got work to do, so get to it. Jim, you got Jessica for a while?”

Jim nodded. Riley shoved Angus ahead of him toward the door. Without a word Josh stomped to the basement door, taking the pup with him. He disappeared behind the door, slamming it behind him.

“This is getting out of hand,” Scott said listening to Josh stomp down the stairs.

“I’ll say, Angus is doing a better job of trying to kill Jessica now, than he did when we actually intended to kill her!” Jim replied.

Scott nodded. “The worst part is that if Jessica was doing something suspicious I can understand being worried. I wouldn’t employ the same tactics that Angus did, but I’d be trying to figure out what she was up to too.”

“So, how are we supposed to know when we can truly trust her?” Jimmy asked as a sense of despondency washed over him.

“When I throw open the door, let her walk through it alone, and know that she’ll be coming back … of her own free will … I’ll be able to trust her. That may never happen.” Scott said, his tone reflecting that he shared Jim’s disappointment.

Jim dropped his chin to rest on the top of Jessica’s head.

“You alright?” Scott asked.

“Nope.”

Scott nodded, “Me neither.” He looked at Jessica passed out in Jim’s arms. He thought about the times he and Jessica were alone in his room looking through magazines, masturbating together. Somehow he had to find a way to trust her completely. “Going to work out my frustrations downstairs.” He finally said, “Later.”

Jim heard the door to the basement close behind Scott. He felt like shit. He knew Scott was right … but he couldn’t for the life of him think of how to get them to a point where she would return to them of her own free will. That depressed him all to hell. It was true that the men were his family, the only family he had left … and he loved them dearly, but he wanted, needed, Jessica in a way he couldn’t describe even to himself.

Jessica murmured something quietly.

“I’m here Jess, what do you need?”

“I want to go home,” Jessica sobbed quietly. The words hit Jimmy like a ton of bricks. So, she had been up to something.

“You are home Jessica,” Jimmy whispered.

“Dad?”

“No, Jessica, it’s Jim. You’re not well right now. Go to sleep and you’ll be better soon.”

“Mom, Dad, Jeffery!” Jessica called as the delirium of the fever overtook her.

She began to thrash on Jim’s lap. “Mom, Dad, Marcus! Cain! Jeffery!” she called out increasingly loudly.

“Jessica, shhh, Jessica, it’s okay, calm down,” Jim said restraining her and patting her cheek.

Outside on the front walkway, Angus paced before Riley.

“Josh talks to me like I’m some two-bit punk and you call me out!” he thundered.

“Forget about them for a minute, will you!” Riley replied. “What the hell did Jessica do that was suspicious?’

“He treats me like I’m the enemy when little missy in there would just as soon knock his block off as she would blink … “

“Forget it for now Angus!” Riley said grabbing his arm as he strode by. “Tell me what you found to be suspicious.”

“Everything. She just rolled over and took everything. Didn’t fight, and did everything she was supposed to, and when I … did it … with her, she closed her eyes and lay there.”

“Closed her eyes?”

Angus nodded “And just took it. She has never, ever, just taken it before.”

“So you hit her for it?” Riley asked trying not to sound as incredulous as he felt about it.

“No … you think I should have?” Angus asked clearly misunderstanding the Riley’s tone.

“No I don’t. Jessica closing her eyes isn’t exactly a capital offense. You sure you didn’t hit her? She had all those bruises and gashes.”

“Those were from the other night. I didn’t hit her but I fucked the shit out of her. Told her to hurry up and do whatever she had planned but she wouldn’t. ” Angus said.

“Let me get this straight, you fucked her into a fever?” Riley demanded.

Angus shrugged, “I guess. I did fuck her a lot. Pretty much all damn night that’s why I was so fucking tired this morning. But don’t worry Riley, she knows her place and even though she’s scheming something I made damn sure she knew who was boss.”

Riley was speechless. Angus was looking for Riley’s praise. He honestly thought he was doing Riley’s bidding. And why wouldn’t he. Riley had made sure that Angus and the other men did just that without even having the decency to do so himself. He felt an uncomfortable knot in his stomach. He never recalled having it before Jessica entered his life. He tried to formulate a response that let Angus know he needed to cool it with his abuse of Jessica while still praising Angus’ loyalty and misguided sense of accomplishment but he was interrupted by a screech from the house.

“I want to go home, I want to go home!” Jessica’s high pitch scream emitted from the house.

“What the hell?” Riley asked.

He and Angus ran for the door. They rushed in just as Scott and Josh came through the basement door. They found Jimmy trying to contain Jessica, who, eyes closed, head thrown back and dripping with sweat, screamed for her family.

“She’s completely delirious!” Jimmy shouted as he tried to catch her arms in his and stop them from flailing.

“Run the water in the tub again!” Riley ordered Scott.

He scooped Jessica off of the sofa and followed on Scott’s heels to the bathroom. While the water ran, Jessica fought against Riley as he held her in the tub.

“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry!” Jessica cried.

“Jessica!” Riley shouted as her nails caught him across his cheek.

It was on the tip of his tongue to repeat the phrase he’d used so often in the past, when they had aimed at torturing rather than nurturing her ‘they’re dead Jessica, D E A D, dead!’ but he caught himself.

What to say instead?

From the corner of his eye he saw Angus move in behind him, and a moment later there was silence.

Angus stood back rubbing his hand, while Riley kept Jessica from sliding beneath the water. A red mound appeared on her cheek where Angus had struck her. He’d used enough force to cause her head to hit the other side of the tub, and make her unconscious.

“Christ Angus!” Scott said and quickly turned the running water off and unplugged the tub. “Is she alive?”

“Yup.” Riley answered after feeling for her pulse. “Get me a towel.”

When Jessica lay on the sofa again, partially covered by the towel, the men stood looking at her.

“I told you she was up to something!” Angus said triumphantly.

“She’s always up to something,” Riley replied, “that’s nothing new. But this isn’t the answer Angus. Once her temperature is under control, we’re having a meeting. Do me a favor till then and sit on your hands … “

“She was out of control …”

“I know … you did a great job Angus, just relax for a bit, will you?”

“You can’t seriously believe she deserved any different …”

“Angus … I agree that she needed to be dealt with, you did great, we’ll discuss this more at the meeting. “ Riley said resting his hand on Angus’ shoulder. “Why don’t you go out and work on the corvette for a while? I’ll call you in for the meeting.”

“Right, okay,” Angus said and moved for the door, shaking the hand he’d struck Jessica with as he went.

*************************************************************

Several hours later Riley stood looking around at the men. He had spent the time trying to think of a way to reel Angus in without making it obvious he was targeting Angus. In the end the reality of their situation lent itself perfectly to his needs.

“Her temperature’s down. She’ll be fine.” He reassured them. Jessica had been moved to the sofa bed in the basement. Now Jim sat on the sofa in the living room, head in hands, Josh slouch with a dejected air beside him. Scott sat in the rocking chair, rocking a mile a minute, and Angus stalked back and forth behind the sofa. With his proclamation Jim, Josh and Scott were visibly relieved though clearly still pissed at Angus.

“I think it’s time that we regroup a little.” Riley began. ”It’s obvious that there are some of us who trust Jessica a little more, than others do. We also have different ways of dealing with her … in the past it never really mattered. What happened to Jessica was largely inconsequential. Whether she lived or died, our cause benefited. But now, some of us care whether she lives or dies, and this is affecting us. Splitting us up. Does everyone agree?”

The men nodded.

“Fine. Then from now on, there will be no more individual administration of punishment to Jessica. We will meet and discuss any actions to be taken, and I will have the final word. Is that understood?”

“She’s planning on escaping Riley, I don’t intend to let her!” Angus said in a controlled voice.

“None of us intend to let her,” Riley said. “but I intend to apply suitable punishment once she’s actually tried to escape. I trust I won’t get any argument from the rest of you?”

The others shook their heads.

“If she tries to escape, “Angus said, “just try to stop me from punishing her, my way!” and he turned on his heel and left the house, slamming the front door behind him.

“That went well,” Riley muttered under his breath.

“He’ll come around … “ Jim began.

“And you!” Riley said pointing at Jim, “There will be no more sniping at Angus about Jessica, am I understood? You have your opinion about her, he has his, and there is no proof that either of you are right, so you keep your thoughts to yourself … that goes for you too Josh. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes,” Jim and Josh answered. He turned to Scott, who had stopped rocking and sat listening.

“Are you onboard?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Josh, you take care of that damn dog, Jim you bring Jessica up here. Handcuff her to the sofa leg …”

“She’s in no position to move …” Jim began.

“Handcuff her to the leg of the sofa, unless you’d rather we put her back on the leash …”

“No, no, the sofa is fine,”

“I thought so. We have work to do, let’s get to it.”

Having brought Jessica’s upstairs and lain her on the sofa Jim fastened the handcuff to the leg of the sofa, and then to Jessica’s wrist. He looked at Jessica lying unconscious before him. A purple bruise staring at him from her cheek. He looked around. The men had all gone. He leaned in to Jessica’s ear.

“Jessica,” he whispered. “If you can hear me, listen carefully! There is no Mom, no Dad, no Marcus, Cain or Jeffery …” in his mind’s eye he could see the bodies draped around the car floor. Those people had meant the world to Jessica … by destroying them, the men had hurt Jessica in the most profound way they could. There was nothing that could be done about that now, but maybe, just maybe he could help make her life bearable.

“There’s just us Jessica. Me, Josh, Scott, Riley and Angus, we’re your only family. Remember that …” He pressed his lips to Jessica’s hot forehead. “Things’ll be better for all of us, if you can just remember that …”

************************************************

That night

Riley lowered Jessica onto the bed.

She’d been in a state of semi-consciousness for the remainder of the day, and she showed no signs of coming out of it. She could barely move, and likely couldn’t attempt an escape even if she wanted to, but Riley wasn’t taking any chances.

He took her left arm and handcuffed her wrist to the bed post.

He felt her forehead. She was still too hot. The knot in his stomach seemed to expand and twist. His feeling of guilt grew.

He leaned back on the bed and exhaled. He could kill at the drop of the hat, and he’d had no trouble kidnapping Jessica, but despite the plans they had to use sex to punish her, he was no rapist. He would never have admitted it to the other men, especially since the shift to the use of sex as a weapon had been his idea, but of the two years that he’d ordered the men to have sex with Jessica, he hadn’t touched her sexually. For the longest time, he simply couldn’t see her as anything but the young hysterical woman they took from that car that fateful day. And two years later, he hadn’t gotten past that. He’d had stirrings, and often thought that his next night with her would be the one, but then he’d get alone with her, and she’d get that look of terror … and he just couldn’t do it.

He had used the other men and especially Angus to do his dirty work for him and now it was getting out of control. Angus had to be reined in but in a way that still gave Riley access to his insights on Jessica. His were the only ones Riley could trust. Jim was just too young and naive to be able to see things with Jessica from an objective perspective. Of the five of them, Jim had been the closest to the women in the clan. It was easy to see that he transferred his feelings for his sister to Jessica. It made him vulnerable and Riley couldn’t trust a thing he said about her. And Scott had almost the opposite issue. Being the lady’s man he was, Scott couldn’t seem to get the message that women weren’t all going to swoon at his feet and let him get away with anything just because of his looks and smooth moves. His weakness for women made anything he had to say about Jessica just as meaningless as Jim’s observations. And Josh. Well, Josh Riley still hadn’t figured out with respect to his stance with Jessica. He didn’t seem to have any obvious weaknesses when it came to women but when it came to Jessica Riley’s instincts told him that Josh couldn’t be objective either.

And then there were his own instincts and they couldn’t be trusted either. His history with women was one of mutual convenience. All the relationships he’d had in the past had been casual. There was never much he expected from a relationship except for a way to satisfy his sexual needs. His girlfriends were mostly fuck buddies, and all he and the women had in common was a desire to satisfy their sexual urges. He’d never had a lasting intimate relationship with a woman. His own relationship with the women in the clan was tenuous. It only existed because it had to. His mother, who killed any respect he may have had for her by turning on the clan, had only been in his life because she was his mother. So in essence he didn’t know much about the psyche of women and therefore he had a hard time trusting anything he thought he knew about Jessica.

That left him relying on Angus’ instincts. The problem there being that Angus was tainted by the unfortunate after effects of Beth. To say he was soured on women was an understatement and so while Angus’ instincts with Jessica were likely the most reliable Riley was aware that he had to take them more lightly then Angus did. And more than that he had to alter the interactions between Angus and Jessica because unlike what was originally planned, Angus’ natural need to inflict harm on women to avenge himself with Beth was no longer useful. In fact it was counter-productive. Riley was fairly satisfied that the solution he had implemented; decreeing that all punishment was to be determined and sanctioned by him first, would address the problem with Angus. And things were at a point now that Riley needed things to improve with Jessica. His inability to train her as effectively and quickly as he had anticipated was shaking his confidence in himself. Added to that, he had his fantasies about Jessica and what he wanted from her and the longer they weren’t coming true the more and more frustrated he got sexually. It didn’t help that the mens’ self-inflicted isolation kept Riley from “dating”. He was getting to the breaking point … sexually he was frustrated.

And that was the other source of his guilt. Riley had never, never, had to force a woman to have sex with him. But he had concluded that the failure to train Jessica as had been planned could have been heavily affected by his non-compliance with his own plan.

The only way to get back on track was to fuck Jessica. He told himself that it was completely coincidental that his decision to do so occurred at the same time as he became ever increasing sexually frustrated. He fell back on the bed next to Jessica and stared at the ceiling. Regardless of what he had to do he still had standards. Though not reflecting well on his character, her physical pain would not cause him to delay what he now knew he had to do. But what did matter to him was that she was not incapacitated. He’d never had sex with a woman who was too drunk to know what she was doing, it just wasn’t something he could do. And that self-inflicted mandate also lent itself well as a means of torture, a tool to break Jessica. He had ordered the men to ensure Jessica was fully conscious of what was happening to her. So, while it may have been easier to ply her with drugs and drink, he decreed that they would not. So in effect he’d ensured the men had to force themselves on her. He had made his closest friends into monsters. So now it was up to him to rectify the situation. To reign them, especially Angus, and at the same time try to mold Jessica into a compliant, if not willing participant while taking his turn as a would be rapist.

He turned to face Jessica’s still form. His balls were quite literally aching as he pushed up on his elbow and looked down at Jessica’s battered and fevered face. It was rare to see her that relaxed and it made him want her more. Lowering his mouth to hers he kissed it tentatively. It was soft, it felt so good, tasted so good, he slid his tongue into it and moved his hand under her shirt and found one of her soft mounds. He teased the nipple until it hardened and then kneaded the soft flesh. He felt Jessica shift beneath him so he came off her lips and was surprised to see her awake. She was looking at him. Initially she looked confused and then scared but just as quickly as those two reactions occurred she seemed to calm. Despite that her eyes couldn’t hold his and slid to his chin but her body remained relaxed, soft beneath him, he could feel her heart beating incredibly fast as he clutched her left tit.

Jessica had awaken confused and it took her a moment to realize that she was in one of her kidnappers beds. What took her by surprise was that it was Riley’s. She only allowed herself a moment to think ‘not him too’ before she forced herself to go to her zen place. While her last night with Angus was not pain and abuse free there was one big enough change that was enough to convince Jessica to keep following Jim’s advice. Angus hadn’t beaten her. True it meant little compared to what he did do to her but it was a change. A good change. So Jessica was even more committed to doing the opposite of what her instincts told her. This would lead, she was sure, to justice for her family and her freedom. So her immediate instinct to push Riley away, fight, strike out at him, Jessica transformed into relaxing and trying, as much as she could, to want him to be there with her. Touching her. Kissing her. It wasn’t easy.

“Do you know where you are?” he growled, panting. He couldn’t seem to catch his breath and realized now that his heart was pounding just as much as Jessica’s. He waited anxiously for her response. If she was still delusional due to the fever therefore, unfit to be fucked, he was sure he his balls were going to explode.

“Say it.” Riley ordered when Jessica nodded her head slightly, “Tell me where you are.”

“In your bedroom.” Jessica whispered.

With her answer Riley’s breath seemed to hitch and then speed up.

“Who’s bedroom?” he asked, “Jessica look at me.”

Jessica forced her eyes up to his steel black eyes.

“Who are you with? Say my name.” Riley demanded, needing to know that Jessica was aware of where she was and who he was.

“Riley.” Jessica whispered. Hearing what he needed Riley took her mouth again pressing his body on hers, pinning her against the bed, his hand still clutching her tit. Jessica lay still and pliant through the invasion of his tongue and lips. Suddenly he groaned and shifted so he was on top of her, wedging his way between her legs. He ripped her undies off, wishing he hadn’t bothered putting them on her in the first place, and in one fluent thrust he was in her. Jessica whimpered briefly and after tensing for a moment she let her legs fall apart closing her eyes and forcing herself to relax as Riley thrust into her progressively harder and faster and it wasn’t long until he moaned and she felt his huge cock jerk inside her and the wetness of his cum run out of her and down her thighs. Riley collapsed on top of her and passed out. Jessica lay beneath him and contemplated that now Jimmy was the only one of the men not using her body for sex. She appreciated that but realized that whether it was one of the men or all of the men it didn’t matter. She was now capitulating at the most personal level but she had to believe that they weren’t winning. This was all a means to an end. She shifted below Riley finding it hard to breath. He was so heavy. She tapped his arm with her finger until he looked down at her through a groggy haze.

“I can’t breathe.” She whispered. Grunting Riley rolled off of her and seemed to fall back to sleep but moments later his arms snaked out and pulled her hard against him. She waited for more, waited for him to take her again like Angus would have, but he did nothing but hug her and snore. She blinked back some tears as she stared at the ceiling and silently apologized to her family again before drifting off to a nightmare filled slumber.

***************************************************

A couple of months had gone by since Jessica’s fever. In many ways things had gone the way Jimmy had hoped. She was back to normal physically and she followed every command to a T. To the point where Riley had given her permission to resume seeing the horses, and he even allowed her to see the dogs. With supervision Jessica would go out for brief visits to the kennel or the barn. This was a relief because Jim had feared that Angus’ abuse of her weeks before may have undermined Jim’s attempts to have Jessica change her approach to interacting with the men.

In addition to Jessica’s near perfect behavior, Jim began to notice subtle differences in how Jessica acted when she was alone with him, Scott and Josh versus how she acted when Riley or Angus were around.

When Angus or Riley were around, Jessica seemed to be her usual reserved self, but when it was just him Scott and Josh she seemed far more relaxed. And when he was alone with her Jessica seemed almost giddy. She’d even gone through a whole night with him, in which she hadn’t had a single nightmare. Even more amazing was that with Riley’s commandment, Angus barely paid attention to Jessica at all. He seemed to watch her from afar, but in the whole time since Jessica had recovered, he had grabbed her a few times, slapped her once, but other than that, the violence had decreased.

And while all of this was good, Jim’s inability to trust Jessica completely made what was supposed to be a positive and happy change into an emotionally draining and frustrating one. Scott and Josh felt it too … and they lamented the ironic cruelty of it often. Every act of Jessica’s had the potential for another purpose. It was hard not to second guess the reason or sincerity behind Jessica’s words or actions

But over the past few days something seemed off with Jessica. To begin with Riley and Angus had been away for the two days but during that time Jessica’s behavior had been almost as introverted and reserved as when they were home. That very moment Jessica sat on the sofa, curled up into a self-protective ball. Jim had had his night with her the previous night, and Jessica had been really tired. She’d fallen to sleep within the first few minutes of the TV show that they were watching and rather than cuddle like they normally did, Jessica kept her physical distance from him. Then during the day she’d fallen to sleep on the sofa for most of the day. Now, after dinner, the men had proposed a game of cards, but Jessica sat on the sofa, knees drawn up and simply shook her head. Jim, Josh and Scott exchanged bewildered looks. Jim felt the prickles of paranoia ripple under his skin.

“Come on Jess, here’s a chance for you to win another favor.” Jim urged.

The tinge of despair in Jim’s voice made Jessica look up at him. He was looking at her with a perplexed expression. Scott and Josh sat on dining room chairs that they’d moved on the other side of the coffee table and were watching her as well. She felt like she should smile or something … something to make them relax. But she didn’t feel like it. She wasn’t relaxed and at the moment she didn’t care if they were. She felt angry and annoyed. She pulled her knees to her chest and closed her eyes. Her period was coming and as usual she hurt, everywhere. Her stomach, her breasts, her head, everywhere. And she felt angry. Inside she felt like her blood was boiling. She’d always felt like this just before her period started but since she’d been with the men, the extra anger, irritation, annoyance had been hidden as part of her constant anger, irritation, annoyance, and hatred of the men and the situation. Now … now that things were calmer, she noticed these heightened sensations much more. And she didn’t know what to do with them. Since she’d started using the universal gym, she’d found that the physical pain from her period had diminished somewhat. But in the past week, she hadn’t had a chance to work out. And so now, the pain seemed so much worse. And Riley and Angus were gone. When they were around, she managed to smother her feelings. But somehow, she didn’t feel like smothering them around Jim, Josh and Scott. She dropped her forehead to her knees … maybe she should be more cautious with how she felt. With the amount of anger coursing through her no good could come from letting it out.

Josh had heard the despair in Jim’s voice too and he knew just how Jim felt. Things had been going well for so long. Jessica seemed to be enjoying the comic he was creating and the comic books they read together became a ritual that he, and he was certain Jessica, looked forward to. She’d seemed happy … happier than she’d ever been before. But now this. From out of nowhere Jessica seemed distant again. He flashed back to his last night with her and instantly got hard. She’d been fine then … better than fine, he’d fucked her and she had felt so soft and relaxed beneath him that he’d cum extra hard. Just remembering how he’d emptied his balls into her made them constrict in his pants … God he hoped he didn’t cum in his pants. There was only one place he ever wanted his cum and that was in Jessica. In her warm and tight pussy … and suddenly it dawned on him, fuck she hadn’t had her pill.

“Christ …” Josh muttered. Kicking back his he stood. “We forgot to give her the pill.” He stalked off to the kitchen to get a pill.

“Shit …” Scott muttered. That reminded him that he still hadn’t fucked Jessica … nor touched her, since the promise he’d made. He felt his groin tighten as he remembered the nights he had had with her … her masturbating … using the toys he’d bought for her. She hadn’t asked him to touch her yet … hadn’t even let him use the toys on her. Just watch. He groaned as the pain in his balls began. He crumpled over a little. At least she let him do that … but he had been sure that she would have asked him to pleasure her by now. The upside of it though … he thought to himself as he watched Josh coming back, was that at least he knew she couldn’t get pregnant with his kid. But her strange behavior now worried him. What if she never asked him to fuck her? God, what would he do then?

“The pills are done.” Josh said returning and stopping next to Jessica, “Here you’re going to need this ….” He added holding a pad out to her. Jessica’s face turned bright red. The one thing she couldn’t get used to was having them have so much control over her body. Thank God she had had her period before she’d gotten to this retched place. Thank God she’d had it when she’d had the chance to talk to her Mom about it. Otherwise that would have made the humiliation of the men knowing … of them handing out pads to her like they were band aids, one thousand times worse.

“Jessica …” Josh repeated, waving the pad in front of her face.

That was the final straw. She wanted to take her own damn pills, wanted to control her pad supply herself, wanted some pills for her pain, she didn’t want to place any bets for stupid favors that were meaningless in the long run. Didn’t they consider that what she really wanted to ask for was to go home? They probably thought they were doing her some kind of favor with the bets. Knowing Jimmy, Jessica was sure of it. But it wasn’t the kind of favor she wanted. Not right now anyway. Jessica grabbed the pad from Josh’s hand.

“Thanks for the news flash!” she said. And while she felt like yelling, yelling so loud the roof would come off the house, her voice was very low and controlled. Angry, low and controlled. Josh’s expression shifted from shocked, to angry, to confused to shocked again and his jaw hung open. Jessica noticed both Jim and Scott looking like she had insulted them somehow. Her head hurt and she dropped it to her knees again. She didn’t care.

“Jessica …” Josh said in a stern voice, grabbing her shoulder. Jessica jerked away … her shoulder hurt too.

“Jessica!” All three men growled simultaneously. Josh had crouched down in front of her. She raised her head to find his angry face inches from hers. Scott and Jim had gotten to their feet and stood towering over her.

“I’m sorry …” Jessica said quietly. She tried to drop her head down again, but Josh caught her chin and tilted her head back. “It hurts so much … I’m sorry.”

“What hurts?” Josh asked, eyeing her with suspicion. He looked really angry.

“Everything.” Jessica said and a tear rolled down her cheek. “My head, my abdomen, my arms, … everything. And I feel so angry. I just want to scream.” She continued. “I don’t want to play cards, I don’t want you giving me my birth control pills, and I don’t want you telling me when I will need a pad! It’s my body …” she said with a sob. Tears poured down her face as Josh continued to clutched her chin. The men watched her in silence.

“PMS.” Scott finally said.

“What?” Jim asked, unable to take his eyes off of Jessica. He was at a loss for how to respond to her.

“Pre-menstrual Syndrome.” Scott said. Jim and Josh looked at him like he’d grown a second head. “Women get it before they have their periods!” he snapped at them. He’d read about it in some of the literature he’d bought for Jessica. Thank God he had because otherwise Jessica may have found herself at the receiving end of a good spanking judging from the looks on Josh and Jim’s faces. Not to mention his initial reaction.

“Oh come on …” he said when Josh and Jim didn’t stop staring at him, “your mothers probably had it … your sister Jim? Just before their periods, they get all emotional, angry … downright bitchy.” He paused, reaching down to stroke Jessica’s hair.

“Tired?” Jim asked. The previous night making more sense now.

Scott nodded, “And they can have a lot of pain. Everywhere.”

“Oh no!” Jessica suddenly said and jerked her head away from both Josh and Scott and leaning over the sofa she vomited. A lot.

“And they can vomit?” Josh asked, rubbing Jessica’s back as she heaved over and over again.

“I guess so …” Scott looking at his feet that were now covered in Jessica dinner.

“S … s … s orry,” Jessica struggled to say between fountains of projectile puke.

“It’s okay Jess,” Jim said, “I’ll get the mop and bucket … you just get out, what you have to get out …” and he disappeared down the hallway.

Jessica had vomited for another two or three minutes, dry heaving for another few. Josh had narrowly missed getting it on him, and he now sat on the sofa, Jessica resting against him. He held her tight with one arm and was stroking her head with the other.

Scott had gone to wash his feet and when he returned he helped Jim clean the floor.

When they were done, they stood looking at Josh and Jessica.

“Wow, that’s nasty.” Jim mumbled.

“What can we do to help her?” Josh asked.

“Not much,” Scott said, at least that was what he had determined from his reading. Jim and Josh looked at Scott in awe. They knew that he was a lady’s man … but they had never guessed that he knew that much about women’s physiology.

“Josh … Josh …” Jessica said, sitting up and pushing his hands away from her. “I know you’re trying to help me … but it really does hurt when you touch me. Do you mind if I just lie on the sofa by myself?”

Josh hesitated. He was on the brink of saying no and pull her back against him. She had felt good there, and the only way he could think of making her feel better was to hug her. Plus, it felt wrong to let her go. But she was shaking. Her body had been vibrating against him and between that and the puking he was willing to concede that what he wanted was of little consequence compared to what she needed.

“Pain medication would help.” Scott said as Josh got up and Jessica lay down on the sofa, clutching her legs to her chest.

The men exchanged a look.

“We’re not allowed to give her medication …” Josh said.

“To hell with that.” Jim grumbled.

Scott and Josh looked at him in surprise.

“Look at her …” he said, his hand sweeping her prostrate form. Jessica moaned. “Not medicating her when she feels like this is like torturing her. I thought we were past that.”

Scott and Josh nodded.

“I’ll get her some pills.” Josh said and headed to the barn.

“I’ve got the water.” Scott said and headed to the kitchen.

“It’ll be okay Jessica.” Jim said, kneeling down next to her head. His hand hovered over her. His every instinct urging him to touch her, but her obvious pain causing him to pause.

“Here Jessica. Sit up.” Josh said having returned from the barn and having taken Jim’s place, two pills in his hands.

“Here,” Scott said handing Josh the glass of water. Jessica sat up with a groan. She took the pills and washed them down.

“Thanks.” She said as she lay back down on the sofa, legs pulled firmly to her chest.

“Why hasn’t this happened before?” Jim asked. “She’s been here for a long time …”
“It probably has.” Scott said.

“And we never noticed?” Josh asked.

“We never cared.” Jim said quietly. He felt like shit. He could tell by the looks on Scott and Josh’s faces that they didn’t feel much better. Scott dropped into the armchair, Josh and Jim onto the other two empty chairs.

“Jessica,” Jim said. “How long does this usually last?”

“A couple of days …” she replied, “sometimes three or four. I’ve never puked before though …”

“And when the bleeding starts … you feel okay?” Scott asked.

“Usually.” Jessica said and then groaned. It felt like her brain was going to slide out of her nose. “It feels better then … still sore, but much better.”

“This started a few days ago didn’t it?” Jim asked. Jessica nodded. “Well at least it’ll mostly be over when Riley and Angus get back.” He was certain that despite laying off of Jessica due to Riley’s new rules Angus would find some way to make Jessica’s situation worse for her. Jessica groaned, clearly not believing she’d escape the notice or attention of Angus. Jim didn’t really believe it himself either. There were some things that were outside his, Josh and Scott abilities to do for Jessica but replaying her words about the birth control pills and pads Jim realized there was something they could do to make her happier.

“If it helps at all, we can’t promise anything when Riley and Angus are around but when it’s just us, you can control the pills and pads for yourself.”

“What the fuck?” Josh demanded just as Jessica gaped at Jim with an expression of absolute surprise which quickly changed to joy.

“Jim …” Scott grumbled in a low tone.

“She’s right you know.” Jim said. “It is her body. She should have some control over it.”

Scott laughed. “I dare you to try and convince Riley and Angus of that.”

Josh groaned, not looking forward to another round of Jim versus Angus. Jessica gasped and clearly didn’t relish the idea of involving Riley or Angus in any way.

Jim shook his head, “This is just between us. I know how going down that road would end and Jessica would be the one to suffer most. Jess, you’ll just have to be content with getting what you can when you’re with us. You good with that?”

Jessica started to nod her head but thought better of it. Clutching her aching head all she could manage was a muffled, “Mhmmm.”

Neither Scott or Josh looked particularly pleased when Jim swung his gaze to them.

“They’re going to kick our asses when they find out.” Scott said quietly.

“If they find out.” Jim replied.

Jessica’s eyes began to close and she seemed to be relaxing.

“Pain meds kicking in?” Jim asked.

“Yes …” Jessica replied in a sleepy voice.

“Need to sleep?” Scott asked. Jessica managed a slight nod before drifting off.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Josh said to Jim in a quiet voice.

“Me too.” Jim replied, his mind racing. Somehow there had to be a way to get Riley onboard. Angus would do what Riley said. Jim didn’t know how, but he was going to get Jessica some of her dignity back even if in the whole scheme of things it was a minor achievement. Control over birth control and sanitary napkins paled in comparison to what he knew she really wanted. But maybe it was the next step toward making Jessica want to stay.

*****************************************************

Jessica flicked her eyes up from the magazine. It had to be the hundredth time that she`d done so. It was over a week and a half since she`d vomited on the living room floor. Her period had ended two days earlier and she was in Scott`s room, reading a new porno magazine that he`d bought.

Scott lay on his stomach across the foot of his bed, doing the same.

Jessica couldn`t stop looking at him. And each time she did, she felt a tightening between her legs. It reminded her of how it felt before she orgasmed. The only time she felt the same sensation was when she played with herself, or looked at the magazines. She’d never had that happen when she saw Scott until that very moment. She tried to determine what had changed. Scott, Jim and Josh had been really nice to her while she had her period. They hadn`t touched her , not even a hug, until she told them it didn`t hurt anymore. That hadn’t stopped Angus of course. Riley left her alone when she had her time of the month but nothing stopped Angus. To her knowledge Jim, Josh and Scott had not told Angus or Riley about the effects of her period on her, and she was glad. She was certain Angus would take the opportunity to purposely cause her pain. But regardless of Angus and Riley it was nice having personal space with Jim, Josh and Scott.

Scott never expected her to masturbate when she had her period, so she`d had a break from that. And now … now she had a new magazine, toys at her disposal … although Scott encouraged her to use her fingers mostly. He`d said something about not being able to compete with a toy. She hadn`t understood what he`d meant when he`d said it, but now, with another tightening between her legs she remembered something else he`d said. He said she`d ask him to touch her. He`d said that he could give her more than she could give herself. At the time she`d known that she would never want him to touch her … would never ask him to touch her. Now she wasn`t so sure. Had he tricked her somehow?

Scott flipped the page in the magazine that he was reading, and a slight moan escaped him. Jessica watched as he pressed his pelvis into the bed. Inexplicably, she wanted him to be pressing into her.

“Scott …” she said before she even knew what she wanted to say.

“Hmmm, “ he asked looking up from the page. He had that look on his face. He always had that look when he read a porn magazine or he watched her masturbate.

“Uhhh.” He gasped as his eyes fell on her. He thrust his pelvis into the bed again and his expression changed slightly … became a little pained. That happened when he watched her masturbate too. And when it did, Jessica was certain that he was going to break his promise and touch her. But he didn’t. He’d put his hand down his pants and satisfy himself, watching her the whole time. Just like he was watching her now. Jessica felt a shock shoot through her.

Scott licked his lips. God she looked so good. So hot. Even with her clothes on, just sitting there. She had that look that she always had just before she orgasmed but he’d trained himself to ignore it. So many times he wanted to jump her. So many times he almost did. He closed his eyes for a moment. It wouldn’t be long, and they’d both masturbate … not long. He got a grip on himself and exhaled. He opened his eyes and almost came in his pants. She looked so … ready.

“Were you going to say something?” he asked but he had to turn back to his magazine. He couldn’t look at her anymore.

“Do you know those drugs?” Jessica asked. She sounded out of breath but Scott couldn’t chance looking at her. “The drugs in some of the stories? The ones that the men slip into the womens’ drinks?”

Scott nodded his head, but still couldn’t look at her. “Date rape drugs?”

“Yes.” Jessica nodded, more to herself than him because he was looking back at his magazine. But that had to be it … that had to be the reason she felt like she did. He had to have given her a date rape drug. Jessica was quiet for a minute … she had a fundamental problem with giving in to drugs. He would have cheated if he’d done that, but God she couldn’t help the urges. She was beginning to pant.

“What about them?” Scott asked flicking his eyes up when she’d been quiet but he flicked them back down right away. Holy fuck, she was about to get off and he so badly wanted to get her off himself.

“They … they make the girls want sex, right? Make them crazy for it?” Jessica panted.

Scott was shaking his head. “Date rape drugs knock girls out. They don’t remember anything afterwards. You’re thinking of aphrodisiacs. There are some foods and drugs that make women horny. Really horny.”

Scott waited for a minute, for Jessica to say something more, but she didn’t. He could hear her breathing. “Why?“ he said, turning his eyes to her but fighting not to turn his head. He was going to blow it. Apparently he wasn’t as good at controlling himself as he was beginning to pride himself on being.

“Did … “ Jessica paused. She should have been embarrassed by this, by how badly she wanted him. Was this healthy? What was wrong with her? “Did …” she tried again. It was beginning to hurt now. “Did you give me one of them? An aphrodisiac?”

Scott was silent for a minute. He thought he’d detected a little of an accusation in her tone.

“No. All I gave you was the cream … that’s it.”

“Okay …” Jessica replied after a moment, and suddenly a thought occurred to Scott.

“Why?” he demanded, snapping his head up to look at her. She had moved a little closer to him and she almost looked like she was in pain herself. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know … “ she said and a flash of fear across her face. “It hurts …”

“What does?” He got to his knees but was afraid to move toward her. He felt a pain himself, right in his balls.

“Between my legs. I think, think it’s my clitoris …”

“Sounds like blue balls.” Scott said bringing his hand to his own private parts and bringing his knees up, curling into a ball. “Welcome to my world. Masturbate, it will take care of it.”

Jessica was shaking her head. Her chest was heaving so hard that he thought her breasts were going to pop right out of her shirt … not that he’d mind. No, no, he would mind … God he needed some relief. He began undoing his pants.

“I don’t want to masturbate …” Jessica panted out and something in the way she said it made Scott freeze. He looked up at her.

“What do you want then?” he asked slowly … carefully. He was afraid to hope.

“You. I want you to masturbate me.” Jessica said and another shock of pleasure hit her so hard she arched her back, throwing her head back and moaning, “please Scott, please, I think I’m going to die …”

Scott lunged toward her, grabbed her legs, dragged her down the bed until he was pressing his now completely rock hard penis against her.

“I don’t think I can stop if you tell me to …” he growled as he ripped her shirt open, pulled her bra over her breasts and took one in his mouth.

“I don’t care …”

“I may hurt you … “ he said releasing the first breast and taking the nipple of the other between his teeth.

“I don’t care …” Jessica panted and tried to put her hand under his shirt. She felt the hard muscles of this stomach … she wanted his shirt off, his pants off, but Scott pushed her hands away, grabbed both her wrists firmly in his left hand and pinned them above her head.

“I’m warning you right now Jessica, keep your hands up here. Here!” he emphasized, squeezing her wrists and slamming them into the bed above her head. “If you don’t, they may get ripped off.”

Jessica was nodding. “Please hurry …” she gasped.

Scott let go of her wrists, got up on his knees and tore her pants off. Groaning with pleasure he grabbed her thighs and pushed her legs apart, far apart. Her pussy lips parted for him and he almost came as he looked at the pink meat that they presented him. And the smell … all reason left him, and Scott dove face first into the warm, liquidy delicacy that awaited him. Scott chewed, nipped, licked, slid his tongue into her, and Jessica screamed as pleasure erupted in her. Scott put his hand over her mouth but she continued to cum and continued to scream.

“Jesus Christ!” Scott murmured, looking at the bedroom door. “The others are going to come running if you keep screaming like that!”

But Jessica couldn’t stop. Her head snapped from side to side and she continued to scream. Looking around the bed, Scott found Jessica’s underwear and shoved it in her mouth. It dulled the noise a little bit. Scott rammed his knee against her pussy and rubbed as she pulsated against it. He pulled his pants down.

“Mother fucker!” he yelled as he fought with his pant legs and his underwear. Finally he kicked off his clothes and pushed Jessica back on the bed. She had sat up while he’d tried to get his pants off and gyrated against his leg.

Scott grabbed her by the nape of her knees and pushed her legs open, and unable to control himself, he thrust into her. Over and over. He grasped her shoulders with his hands and held her in place as he rammed and rammed. He lowered his mouth to hers and used his teeth to pull her underwear out of her mouth. He flung it to the side and brought his lips down hard on her, stifling the screams that continued to emit form Jessica. He kissed, he licked, he bit, he explored and eventually Jessica stopped screaming and started kissing back.

Unable to control himself any more, Scott exploded inside her, groaning into her mouth. Eventually, Scott’s thrusts began to slow. But he kissed her. And kissed her. And Jessica kissed back. And then he collapsed on her. Scott lay on top of Jessica, listening to her breathe. He couldn’t believe it. Finally, finally they’d had sex the way they should have from the beginning. Finally, she’d wanted him. But he thought about how he’d eaten her out, how he’d thrust into her, how he’d bitten her lips. What if he’d hurt her? What if she didn’t want to do it again. God, he couldn’t take that. He ran a hand down the length of her body. He could be more gentle. He could prove it to her. Gently he kissed his way down her body, first one nipple then the other. Jessica moaned a little but still slept. He kissed her abdomen, then he gently parted her legs and kissed her thighs. Then with his thumb he gently stroked the hair on her pussy, and then stroked down one lip, letting his thumb disappear into the bush. He felt her hot and wet on his thumb as he slid it between her lips. He was erect again. Jessica moaned … holy shit.
He slid his thumb into her and then brought his tongue down between her lips. She tasted so good … she was so wet … she moaned and then her eyes opened and she looked down at Scott. He licked a little harder, thrust deeper with his thumb. Jessica sighed and began to pant. He pushed deeper with his tongue, with his teeth. She was so wet, Scott was making a lapping sound, like a dog drinking from a bowl of water. Suddenly Jessica shivered, arched, moaned, and even more wetness spilled onto Scott’s face. Her legs began to twitch, and she looked down at Scott while he continued to lick.

“A little twitching won’t stop me,” he murmured, “you’re going to cum again Jessica … over and over, all night.”

********************************************************

They lay in one another’s arms. It was hours later. Scott kept stroking Jessica’s side, from her shoulder all the way down to her butt, as far as he could reach while lying beside her.

“You seemed to enjoy that,” Scott said, kissing her forehead.

“Mmmhmmm,” Jessica replied, and rolled on to her side so she was leaning against him. She kissed his nipple.

“I didn’t hurt you?”

Jessica giggled against his chest. “No. My legs feel like rubber though.”

“That’s good, that’s what multiple orgasms will get you.” He said, rubbing her bum. Jessica pushed up on her elbow and looked down at Scott. He was smiling at her with a lazy, sensual, smile. She kissed his lips. Then she slid her eyes down his chest. And there was the scar from when she had shot him. Her eyes locked on it. She couldn’t bring herself to apologize for it. She didn’t feel sorry. But she brought her lips to it and kissed it gently. Scott stroked her head.

“What about you?” she asked forcing her eyes up from the scar and locking them on Scott’s brown eyes. “How are your legs?”

“They’re on the verge of wobbliness …” he said with a toothy smile.

Jessica ran her hand down Scott’s chest, down his stomach and began to stroke Scott’s penis.

“I could help you with that you know.” She said smiling as his penis hardened in her hand. “I could make you completely unable to walk.”

“I have no doubt.” Scott said and caught his breath as Jessica began to kiss her way done to where her hand stroked him.

“I’ve never done this before.” She said, licking the tip of his penis.

“That’s a good start …” Scott managed to stutter.

“All the books and magazines say it’s pretty complicated …” she said flicking her tongue on the tip of his penis again.

Scott groaned. “I’m sure you can manage … but I can help you along. Open your mouth …” he gasped. When Jessica did, he pushed his cock into it and grasped the top of her head. “Just try to swallow it … all of it.” He said, gently pushing on her head. He threw his head back and sighed as pleasure over took him.

******************************************************

The next morning Scott felt like a school boy. He made Jessica breakfast and was relieved when the men didn’t say anything about her screaming. Maybe they’d fallen to sleep and missed it. While Jessica ate, Scott kept circling around her. He wanted to touch her, he couldn’t help himself.

“Will you fucking sit down!” Angus finally shouted at him, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Gotta go to the bathroom.” Scott mumbled, his cock having stiffened significantly while he circled Jessica. He practically ran down the hallway. He hoped no one had noticed it.

“What’s up with him?” Angus asked Riley.

“Dunno.” Riley said with a shrug.

Jessica lowered her head and shovelled eggs into her mouth.

Jim watched her and tried to figure out why she looked different. Her face was blazing red … but given Angus’ shouting he wasn’t too surprised. Beyond that there was something else. Something he couldn’t put his finger on.

“I fed Baby.” Josh said coming in the front door and placing the pup on the floor.

“Thank you …” Jessica said. When she finished her eggs she looked over at Riley. He seemed oblivious to the fact that she was done eating.

“She’s done Riley. Can she get up from the table?” Josh asked. Jessica exhaled in appreciation when Riley nodded.

Scott came back down the hall as Jessica moved to where the puppy sat on the floor. She bent over to pick him up, and Scott turned on his heel and headed back to the bathroom. Oh man, he had a problem. If this kept up, he was going to go blind. His only hope was that his dick would learn some control, and soon. In the bathroom he jacked off, and then after washing his hands he stood looking in the mirror.

“Get it together …” he ordered himself. He closed his eyes but memories of the previous night kept flashing through his mind. “Think about the shooting!” he mumbled. He remembered the fear of Jessica pointing the gun at him and firing. As his erection faded away he opened his eyes and looked in the mirror again. He knew Jessica could still be planning to escape. He decided to think about that when he went back out to the living room, he’d just imagine that nothing had changed. He threw cold water on his face and went back out to the living room. He mentally repeated that nothing had changed and he felt a sadness flow through him. He really wished things had changed. But even though he knew every part of her body now … in detail, he didn’t know her mind. And he never would. As he walked into the living room and watched Jessica cuddle Baby, he stopped and stared at her. He wanted her to promise to be his … forever. It was a long shot … but he was a betting man. He bet at the track regularly. Surely the odds of this were improving as time went on. But for the time being he’d have to spend the day in the barn working. He needed a distraction, his cock was having a hard time adjusting to being with Jessica outside his bedroom.

*************************************************************

Scott had worked in the barn like a demon. Partially to kill the horniness that wouldn’t go away. Partially to kill the inexplicable sadness that he still felt. Since he’d thought about the promise that he wanted from Jessica, he felt hollow. It was a no win situation, he realized. If he asked her and she refused to promise, it would hurt. If he asked her and she promised … he would never know if she meant it or if she was just saying it to create an opportunity for escape. Still feeling hollow he had come in, showered, and now sat eating dinner with the others. While he ate he was unable to take his eyes off of Jessica. But Jessica, for her part, was doing her best to not look at him. The more it became obvious that Jessica was avoiding him, the bigger the hole inside him grew.

Jessica sat hunched over her plate. She pressed her thighs together. Her private area tingled and tingled. It had been happening all day but when Scott came back in from outside, and Jessica saw him, she doubled over from the force of the sensation that struck her. She’d almost screamed. She wanted him, physically, so badly. It was … embarrassing. And with Scott’s reappearance from a day of absence, Jessica suddenly felt so shy. Images of the previous night played in her head. He had touched her, kissed her, licked her, bit her, in places so private … if it hadn’t been for the magazines she never would have imagined that people did those kinds of things. And then she had done it for him. He had told her to swallow the sperm that came shooting out of his manhood. And she had. He’d even had her lick it off of the areas where it had spilled over. And she’d wanted to. Inexplicably, she’d wanted to. It had seemed almost normal in the bedroom, but out here, in the kitchen, with the other men … with Baby on the floor … it felt surreal, odd. And she couldn’t look at Scott. Not without physically wanting him, but also not without being incredibly embarrassed and incredibly shy.

Scott was trying to think of something to say to her. Something to make her look at him. But he couldn’t think of anything logical. ‘How was your day’ seemed completely ridiculous given the circumstances. Finally he settled on clearing his throat.

None of the men noticed, but he saw Jessica shift her eyes to him and then snap them back down to her plate. So, she was purposely not looking at him. He felt anger begin to grow. He cleared his throat again. This time Jessica didn’t even shift her eyes. He cleared it again. This time all the men looked over at him. Angus, as usual, looked annoyed.

“Tickle … “ Scott said.

“Here, have some beer.” Josh said passing him his half empty bottle.

“Thanks.” Scott mumbled taking a swig, but his eyes never left Jessica. And her eyes never left her plate. The rest of the night was a living hell for Scott. He sat sulking in the armchair while Jessica curled herself up on the sofa with the puppy and read comic books with Josh. Well, at the end of the night, she was going to have to look at him. Look at him and give him a good night kiss. He helped himself to several more beer while he waited. By the time 10 o’clock rolled around, Scott was tipsy, but he was also sitting at the edge of his seat waiting. Finally Josh put down his magazine.

“Bed time.” He said to Jessica.

Jessica handed her magazine to Josh and then flitted her eyes around the room … and Scott could have sworn she flitted past him extra quickly. She got to her feet and started with Jim, who was to Scott’s right, and then she proceeded in the opposite direction, making Scott last. By the time she finished with Riley to his left, Scott was standing, and flexing his hands into fists. When Jessica turned in his direction, she stopped and stood head down. She didn’t move. The other men stood looking between her and Scott. Scott normally wasn’t someone she had trouble saying good night to. Angus leaned forward in his chair. Here was an unexpected opportunity to punish Jessica.

“Jessica … “ Scott growled. “Get over here!”

Jessica’s heart thudded. Scott was angry. Very angry … and she was breaking the rules. She was jeopardizing her freedoms. Taking a deep breath, Jessica shuffled to stand before Scott, but she couldn’t look at him. In frustration, Scott grabbed her chin and tilted her face up. When Jessica looked at him, for the split second before her eyes slid away, she made a small choking noise and crossed her legs. And her cheeks were blazing red. Scott paused. She looked uncomfortable … and really embarrassed. Maybe she was having the same problem he was. He leaned down to her ear,

“Are you … horny?” he growled quietly. Jessica nodded her head slightly, but was so embarrassed she tried to pull her chin from his hand.

“What the hell is going on?” Angus demanded. Scott looked up and noticed that the men had leaned in a little, probably trying to hear what he’d said to Jessica. From their expressions, they hadn’t heard. But Angus had that happy look he got when he was about to pummel Jessica for something. Scott turned to Josh.

“Can I have a minute alone with her?” he asked.

Josh was looking back and forth between Scott and Jessica. He hesitated in answering … had it been Angus he would have flat out said no, but Scott should be fairly safe. He didn’t think he’d beat her … not when it wasn’t his night.

“A minute … in my room.”

Scott nodded, grabbed Jessica by her arm and dragged her down the hallway to Josh’s room. He slammed the door shut and pulled Jessica to face him. He took her chin in his hand and tilted her face.

“Why won’t you look at me?” he demanded.

“It hurts …” Jessica answered.

Scott didn’t know what to say. He watched a whole new layer of bright redness spread across her face.

“Are you embarrassed?” he asked.

“Yes …” Jessica replied.

He had an angry tinge to his voice that made her very aware that she had not been following the rules.

“Why?” he asked, the anger in his voice replaced with gentleness as he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. He lowered his face to within inches of hers. The proximity made his cock jump to attention. Jessica felt it against her and blushed even more.

“I don’t know. Things seem so different when we’re not in your room, but when I look at you … and I think about what we did …” Jessica’s face turned redder and she slid her eyes away from his.

“Jessica … look at me.”

Jessica forced her eyes back to his but wished she could curl up and disappear.

“Are you afraid of what we did?”

“No,” she said. What she felt wasn’t fear exactly.

“Did you enjoy it?”

“Yes.” She whispered but she turned even redder and her eyes slid away again.

“Jessica …” Scott said, tilting his head so his eyes caught hers. “All we did was become intimate. That’s what men and women do. It’s normal. It’s okay. You don’t need to be embarrassed.”

Jessica nodded slightly.

“Do you think you can look at me now? When we’re out there?”

“I don’t know.” Jessica said feeling a pulling her pelvis again, tingling up her legs and into the V between them. “When I look at you, I get …” her voice faded and the red returned on her cheeks.

“Urges?” Scott asked, a smile spreading across his face.

Jessica nodded.

He leaned in to her and said quietly. “Me too. I had to whack off a few times just to make it through the day.” While he was talking Scott ran his hand over Jessica’s hip, to her thigh.

“Oh …” Jessica gasped and pressed herself against him.

“Oh my God Jessica … I’m going to lose it.” Scott said bringing his lips to her, but then pulling back. “This is Josh’s night with you … I can’t … I shouldn’t. I’m sorry but I’m sure Josh can take care of things for you.” He almost choked on the last half of that sentence … he wanted to do it himself. He squeezed his eyes shut. God he wanted to do it himself.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as Jessica pulled away from him. He opened his eyes and saw her staring at him with a panic stricken expression, she was shaking her head.

“No?” Scott asked. “Josh can’t?” he asked in disbelief. Scott leaned back a little. He was certain the other men were having sex with Jessica.

“You and Josh aren’t … you don’t have sex?”

He didn’t think Jessica could possibly get any redder, but she did. Scott brought his hand up and rubbed his thumb on her cheek. Feeling somehow that by rubbing he could rub out the redness. Jessica was looking down at his chest again … she brought both her hands up to rest on it. She copied Scott’s thumb strokes on her cheek with her thumbs on his chest. She was nodding. With a sigh, she looked up.

“But, we’re not … intimate.”

Scott stared at her for a moment. In truth he hadn’t really made any kind of distinction between sex and intimacy. He was taken aback that Jessica did. He brought his thumb to her lips and stroked. Boy did he want to strip her down and spend some more time between her legs. He wanted it so bad … but he just couldn’t do it. Josh was waiting … he was taking Josh’s time right now.

“Okay, then Jess, you’ll just have to take care of it yourself.”

Jessica went pale. And her eyes seemed to grow by 4 or 5 sizes. She was shaking her head.

“Breathe Jessica!” He said when her chest stopped moving.

Jessica gasped.

“Why can’t you just masturbate Jessica … you do it all the time.”

“What if he sees me?” Jessica asked in a way that left little doubt that it would be one of the most traumatic things to ever happen to her. Scott could do nothing but stare at Jessica. An unsettled feeling washed over him.

“Jessica. Are you intimate with any of the other men?”

When Jessica shook her head, he wasn’t sure how he should feel.

Part of him thought he should be happy. And in a strange way he did feel like he had a special connection with Jessica. But for some reason … he felt responsibility weighing down on him. Emotions were swirling around in him. Emotions that he didn’t recognize nor know how to handle. As he was trying to figure out what to do next, he forgot that while his one hand was on Jessica’s face his other had remained on her leg. Jessica moved closer to him, and pressed her pelvis against it. Well, he couldn’t leave her like this. He was about to pass out from all the blood rushing to his balls, but he could at least go and jerk off. She apparently couldn’t … or wouldn’t. Scott glanced at the door. He had a few minutes, hopefully.

“Okay Jessica …” he murmured, reaching for the button on her pants. “I’ll take care of you. Not the way I really want to. There’s no time. But I think to keep ourselves sane we’ll have to really go at it on the nights your with me. Get it out of our systems, and try not to think about it in between.”

Jessica was nodding, but also pressing herself harder against him. She brought her lips to his. He had to do this fast and then get the hell out of there. He doubted very much that Josh would appreciate him eating her out on his bed … and given much longer that was exactly what he’d be doing. He slid his hand down her pants, fingered his way through the curls that he found inside her underwear, and slid his finger between her lips. He found her clitoris and rubbed.

“Ahhh …” Jessica moaned against his mouth, and she lifted her leg, pressing herself against him. He stroked and stroked, and before longer she was moaning so loud he was afraid Josh would hear them. He kissed her, hoping his tongue in her mouth would quiet her, and while she didn’t scream like the night before, she came close. Suddenly he felt wetness seep between his fingers and Jessica quieted, lowering her leg she fell against him panting.

“We’ll have to work on the screaming …” he whispered into her hair. “I personally love it, but with four other men in the house, it may not be a great thing to do.”

“Sorry … “ Jessica mumbled into his chest.

“Don’t be. I’m just glad you’re enjoying yourself. Do you feel better now?”

“Yes. Thanks.”

“Okay.” He said. God he had to go. He looked over at Josh’s bed. Handcuffs hung open on the headboard. “Come on.” He said leading her to the bed.

She sat down, and he locked her wrist into one of the cuffs.

“I’ll get Josh. Get some rest okay … good night.” He kissed her forehead and left before he could do something he was sure Josh would make him regret later.

*************************************************************
One month later

“God damnit,” Jim said and then laughed when Jessica inhaled with great exaggeration.

“Ah the sweet smell of victory.” She said with a giggle. They’d been playing two handed euchre and for the fourth time in a row Jessica had beat his pants off. He watched her shuffle the cards before dealing. He never got tired of her smile. The previous night he’d played his guitar for hours and she’d smiled and swayed the whole time. Urging him to play song after song. With Angus paying less attention to her the past little while, she’d really seemed to relax with him. Become less guarded. Even her nightmares had stopped … while she was with him anyway.

“Keep that up and I’m going to be afraid to play with you.” Jim said with a laugh. “Oh yeah, almost forgot…” he added holding an old issue of Angus’ Automotive Illustrative out to her, “Angus tossed this the other night.”

“Oh, thanks.” Jessica said taking the magazine eagerly and leafing through it. A few weeks back Angus had left an old edition lying on the coffee table and Jessica had read it cover to cover. Enjoying it until she found out it was Angus’. She’d dropped it like it would bite her and it took some work on Jim’s part to convince her that Angus wouldn’t care if she read it … he’d been tossing it. She pulled Baby onto her lap and perused a few pages. Well. This was as good a time to stop playing cards anyway. The other men were outside doing chores and it was time for Jim to make dinner.

“Alright Jess,” Jim announced while getting to his feet and heading into the kitchen. “I’ll get supper started. Spaghetti sound good to …” he turned back to the living room and ran into Jessica. “W w what are you doing?” he asked.

“Can I help?” she asked in a tone so light Jimmy got the feeling that she should have been chewing gum and twirling a string of hair around her finger. She stepped around him and into the kitchen.

“It’s really not necessary,” Jim said panicking as he thought about all the knives that lay within reach. She wasn’t supposed to be in the kitchen.

“Oh please, come on, there must be something I can cut up for you, I can put the water on for you …” she said moving toward the pots hanging on the wall.

“Jessica!” Jimmy nearly shouted. She turned to look at him, and actually looked confused.

“When is the last time you were in the kitchen?” he asked wondering if she were trying to take advantage of him again.

She shrugged.

“Can’t remember can you?” He asked. Jessica shook her head. “That’s because you have never been in the kitchen … you are not allowed in the kitchen.”

“I’d like to help … I love to cook,” she said with that same airy tone, “it’s not fair that you guys always have to cook … besides, we can spend time together … please?”

Jimmy got the uncomfortable feeling again that Jessica felt she owed him something.

“Jess, you can sit and talk to me while I cook, we’re still spending time together …”

“I know, but that’s boring. Please, I really want to be doing something. Actually,” Jessica added, her tone becoming serious, ‘I really need to be doing something.”

Jimmy hesitated. Technically Jessica wasn’t allowed in the kitchen alone. If he was with her … she wasn’t really breaking any rules. He knew she was bored a huge amount of the time, if he cleared the kitchen of any potential weapons how could Jessica cooking be an issue?

“Alright, why don’t you get that pot?” he said indicating the furthest, largest pot. Jessica squealed and jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

“Thank you Jimmy, thank you!” she kissed his lips … a little longer than he would have expected, and went to get the pot. While her back was turned, he gathered all of the knives in the vicinity and threw them into a drawer that was as far from Jessica as possible. Once she had the pot, she didn’t hesitate to get water from the sink, place it on the stove, and turn the stove on. It was as if she did it every day.

“Any veggies to cut up for the sauce?” she asked as she practically skipped to the fridge, and stood peering into it.

“I got them …” Jimmy said taking Jessica by the shoulders and moving her out of the way. “Why don’t you grate some cheese …”

“Where’s the grater?” she asked, snatching the cheese from Jim’s hand. “The water is boiling.” She said peering around Jim. He turned to see steam billowing out from under the pot lid. Jessica moved as if to go around him.

“I got it,” he said, “you grate.”

“Sit Baby!” Jessica said to the pup that rubbed against her leg. “You think she can eat some cheese?” Jessica asked Jim.

“I don’t know …” Jim said, “try it I guess.”

“See if you can catch it … “ she said to Baby. She laughed as the pup nearly missed the piece of cheese.

Scott walked in the front door and did a double take. He saw Jessica in the kitchen, arm moving up and down, Jim not far from her, back to her, stirring a pot.

All need to go to the washroom disappeared as fear gripped him. Was Jim stupid enough to give Jessica a knife? He felt like he was living a double life. When he and Jessica were alone in his room, he felt like he and she were different people. He had nothing to fear from her. He knew every part of her body, she, his … but out here … he knew nothing. She was a different person. Possibly one who would be willing to stab him with the kitchen knife. He had to get it from her. Just to be on the safe side.

Neither Jim or Jessica had noticed Scott’s entrance. Leaning his rifle against the wall as quietly as he could, he took the opportunity to sneak into the kitchen. He saw the dog lying at Jessica’s feet. The dog barely noticed him. He crept behind Jessica, the whole time envisioning how he could get the knife from Jessica as safely as possible. With the element of surprise, it should be easy. He was about to slip his arm around Jessica’s neck, down her front and grab her wrist when he saw the grater on the counter and the orange stub of cheese in her hand. Cheese? She was grating cheese? Relief flooded over him.

“What’s going on?” Josh asked from the doorway.

Jessica turned and jumped when she found Scott standing right behind her.

“You scared me!” she stated, as Scott turned back to her, relieved that it was Josh who had spoken and not Riley, or God help them, Angus. “Don’t do that again!” she said giving him a small shove on his chest.

“That goes both ways lady,” Scott said, “I think my heart stopped when I saw her in here …” he said to Jim, “are you nuts? Do you know how Angus and Riley would react?”

“Jesus Jim, she just got her privileges back, what are you trying to pull?” Josh said.

“It was my idea,” Jessica interjected.

All three stood staring at her.

“I wanted to help. I love to cook.” Silence ensued. “I do know how to cook, you know.” More silence. “Is it really that hard to believe?” She asked.

“No, what’s hard to believe is that after what you’ve been through with Angus, you’d be dumb enough to get him mad again!” Scott practically shouted.

Jessica shrank and Scott couldn’t believe that she was actually pouting.

“You don’t have to be so mean! I just wanted to help that’s all. Why should Riley or Angus get mad about that?”

“Why? Why? Oh you’re funny Jess. Why don’t you ask them that?” Scott demanded.

“Fine!” Jessica said a flicker of fear passing over her expression at the suggestion. “Let me know when you’re in a better mood!” and throwing the cheese onto the counter, Jessica pushed past Scott, stomped past Jim and Josh, into the living room and flung herself onto the sofa, Baby following her.

She scooped her up, turned her back on the kitchen and the men, and hid her face in the puppy’s fur.

“What the hell was that?” Scott asked Jim and Josh, disbelieving what he just saw.

“Guys … “Jim said quietly, “she was bored. She wanted to help me cook. She has never, ever, suggested something like that before.”

“A trick?” Josh asked.

Jim shook his head. “I don’t think so. You saw what she just did … have you ever seen her like that before?”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not a trick,” Scott said.

“About a month ago, she went the whole night without a single nightmare. For the past two weeks she hasn’t had a single one while she was with me.” Jim said.

“Not one?” Scott asked.

“What does that mean?” Josh whispered.

“I think she’s accepting the fact that she’s here, with us.” Jim said.

“Well, if Riley or Angus catch her in the kitchen she’ll be reconsidering that!” Josh said.

“If she talks to them, like she just did to me, “ Scott added watching her sulk on the sofa, “she may not be alive to reconsider anything.”

“First off, it’s that time of the month, you know she gets crankier then,” Jim said.

“Shit …” Scott hissed through gritted teeth. He’d forgotten about that, and tonight was his night with her.

“And,” Jim continued, “she’s scared shitless of both Riley and Angus … even when she has her period she’s extra careful around them. I doubt she’ll misbehave around them.”

“Either one of them could have come through that door while she was grating away,” Josh said pointing at the front door.

“Okay … why don’t we see if we can get them to let her help with the cooking?” Jim asked.

Josh and Scott looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“We’d have to be subtle about it …” Jim added.

“Let me get this straight … “ Scott said, “you want to play mind games with Riley and Angus?”

“I guess you could call it that …I don’t know about you guys, but I want her to help me cook. If she’s bored, she’s going to have time to think. Think about her family, think about how to get out of here …”

“If Riley or Angus figure out what we’re doing they’re going to kill us.” Scott said.

“All the more reason to make sure they don’t figure it out. Look, if we each, gradually, over-time, let it slip that Jessica loves to cook, and then that she’s bored, Riley will come to his own conclusions. I mean, you don’t honestly think Riley came up with the ‘be nicer to Jessica’ idea alone did you?”

“You?” Josh asked. “You did that?”

“Over a very long time, and very gradually, yes. We just have to be smart, smarter than I have been. Riley and Angus pretty much mistrust anything I say right now because they think I’m Jessica’s patsy, but if we let them think that we’re on their side. Agree with whatever they say, but ‘suggest’ alternatives, without knowing it, they’ll change their minds.”

“Okay, I’m in.” Josh said, still completely impressed with Jim’s success already with Riley.

“Scott?” Jim asked.

“I’m in, but what am I going to do about Lizzy Borden over there?” Scott asked, jerking his thumb in Jessica’s direction. “I can’t let her get away with that.”

“Set her straight,” Josh said, “just remember that it’s your night with her tonight … you may want it to be a pleasant one.”

“Jim?” Scott asked. “She hardly ever gets mad at you … “

“Hey,” Jim said, “she and I were happily cooking away in the kitchen. But, if you really want me to take care of it, I will.”

“Never mind,” Scott said and strode into the living room. “Jessica …”

“Yes?” she answered turning to face him. She looked more relaxed than she had five minutes before.

“Since when have you been allowed to speak to me, much less take off on me, like that?”

“I’m sorry Scott Scott. I was angry, that’s all.” She got up, and moved to him. Scott instinctively moved back. What used to be her head butt move somehow changed into a peck on the lips. “Do you forgive me?”

Scott didn’t know what to say. He looked over at Josh and Jim … they looked surprised too “Yyeeees, :” he finally managed to say, “but don’t do it again.”

“Dinner almost ready?” Riley asked as he came in the house. “Is there a problem?”

“Not exactly a problem,” Scott replied.

“Well, something has you standing around looking like guppies without any water … what the hell is it?”

“Jessica got a little out of line with Scott, “ Josh said.

“But she has since apologized,” Jim said, struck by the change that came over Jessica when Riley had entered the room.

She’d been relaxed, easily looking any one of the three of them in eyes, but as soon as Riley arrived, she seemed to have shrunk. Her head was lowered, and she was cowering.

Josh and Scott noticed it too. Scott pulled her to him, she was shaking.

“That’s right,” he said, “I’ve forgiven her.”

Riley hadn’t seemed to notice a change in her demeanor. Josh hoped that Riley wasn’t going to mount an inquisition into her behavior. Jessica’s fear would probably grow ten-fold.

“Out of line about what?” he asked as he made his way to the kitchen, grabbed a beer from the fridge.

The three men looked at one another. Dare they go so far as to lie? Jim had done that once already, that wasn’t a road Scott cared to go down. He didn’t know if Josh knew about Jim’s lie, but he seemed to be hesitant about what to say next, also.

“About cooking,” Scott finally said.

“Cooking?” Riley asked in surprise.

“I let her grate the cheese,” Jim admitted. Hell, if she was going to get into trouble, they may as well do it together.

“Why did you suddenly have this overwhelming need to have Jessica grate cheese?”

“She’d asked if she could help … she was bored.”

There was silence as Riley stood staring at Jessica.

“I put the knives away, “ Jim added, “I don’t think there’s much left that she could do.”

“Maybe the problem is that you just don’t think,” Riley answered. “We’re talking about substances that we ingest Jim … no sharp objects are required …”.

“If one of us is with her … all she can do is cook. She’d feel like she was doing something useful, Riley, she could feel a little more connected … “

Riley watched Jessica. Her head was buried in Scott’s chest, but he could tell she was listening to every word.

“What do you say?” Josh asked. Jim had made some valid points. Maybe if she felt more connected, she’d be happier.

“No. Not right now. Until she proves to me that we can trust her when we’re in a position of vulnerability, she can’t earn that right. I don’t see how she’s going to manage that … ”

He watched for some reaction from Jessica, but she remained very still. He wasn’t sure yet what to make of the fact that she’d requested to cook. She always made her requests to Jim, Josh or Scott, so he could not be sure of her demeanor when she made them, but he certainly hoped the men were alert and would be able to pick-up on her intentions.

Okay, maybe not Scott. While Jimmy was by far Jessica’s patsy, Scott had a knack for getting himself into near death experiences. And while Jessica’s behavior for the previous weeks had been practically impeccable her obedience heightened his concerns rather than ease them. However, he was willing to ignore them for the time being. As Jim was so eager to point out, if he wanted her to be obedient, he couldn’t punish her for it.

“What’s going on?” Angus demanded as he slammed the front door behind himself. He stood staring at Jessica cowering in Scott’s arms.

“Jessica is getting domestic on us,” Riley answered.

“Say what?”

“I told her that when she proved to us that we could trust her, we’d let her cook.”

“Do we have to wait till then to eat?” Angus retorted while heading for the bathroom, his oil covered hands held away from him. “I’m pretty sure we’ll all starve.”

“Good point. Is dinner ready then?” Riley asked really more interested in eating then debating an issue he couldn’t take seriously. “Then let’s eat,” Riley said when Jim nodded. Everyone served themselves in the kitchen, Jim getting a plate for Jessica, and seated themselves around the table. Jessica paused between Scott and Josh.

“Baby, sit,” she commanded pressing down on Baby’s bum and snapping her fingers above Baby’s head. Riley choked on his beer, it came out of his nose and sprayed from his mouth. She’d repeated the exact same words and actions he’d done earlier in the day while he’d been training a much older pup.

“Jesus Christ Riley!” Angus yelled as he stared at the beer that was spewed on his plate. Riley coughed as he switched plates with Angus. By the time he’d cleared his lungs and looked back at Jessica, she was sitting in her seat and staring at her plate.

“She’s too young yet Jessica,” he said. Jessica’s head flew-up and there was a look of excitement in her eyes.

“How old does she need to be?” she asked.

“Older than this … another five or six weeks. You want to be the one to train her, do you?”

“Can I?” Jessica asked, wiggling in her seat, clearly eager.

“You’ve got 5 or 6 weeks to prove to me that you deserve it. I expect you to be the picture of good behavior until then. Do you think you can handle that?”

Jessica nodded her head.

“You’re not off to a very good start,” Riley grumbled.

“Yes … yes, I can handle that,” she said while trying to maintain eye contact with Riley.

“Ahuh,” Riley said and waved his fork at her, “eat your dinner.”

He was stunned. A positive interaction. He and Jessica had another positive interaction. They were few and far between, but they were happening.

Angus watched as Jessica pushed her food around with her fork. The past several weeks had been frustrating for him. She was being incredibly patient with whatever she had planned for her escape. Patient and deceptive. Somehow, in the past four weeks she had managed to be on her best behavior ever. Well behaved, and more than just a little weird. The other day he’d found a couple of his Sports Cars Illustrated in Jim’s room. When he’d asked Jim how they’d gotten there, he was surprised to find out that Jessica had been reading them. What the hell kind of interest could she possibly have in car magazines? Angus wished she’d hurry up and get on with whatever she’d planned… then he could go back to his old routines with her … and most importantly, he could fuck her again. Six weeks with no sex were killing him. Jessica slurped a noodle into her mouth, and Angus couldn’t look at her anymore. Even with sauce splattered all over her chin, she’d had a stirring effect on him. And he couldn’t do anything about it. The only way he could keep from beating the shit out of her on a regular basis was to stay away from her all together. Fuck, he needed a drink. He kicked back his chair as he moved to the kitchen. “Anyone else for a shot of whiskey?”

“Later,” Riley said. The others declined. Riley pushed his emptied plate away and was surprised to see Jessica lean toward Josh and whisper in his ear.

“Care to share Jessica?” he asked.

Jessica snapped to attention on her chair.

“Well?”

“May I be excused?” she asked.

Excused? Riley thought.

He and Angus exchanged a look. Jessica never got up from the table before them … but she had finished her meal, there was little reason that she couldn’t.

“Alright,” Riley said.

Angus lingered by the back wall. He leaned back against it and tossed the shot of whiskey to the back of his throat. Jessica didn’t so much as pause once Riley gave the okay.

“Where’s your ball Baby?” she asked as she led the pup away from the table, toward the sofa.

The men sat around the table and watched Jessica roll the ball for the pup. She had to wrestle it away from the dog, Baby didn’t have the notion of returning the ball yet. Jessica scooted around on the floor with Baby, and soon they were working their way around the sofa.

“Give me that, you silly dog!” Jessica said and after Baby gave it up, Jessica rolled it again. The ball bounced off the sofa leg and spun across the floor directly in front of the front door. The puppy scampered after it, slid across the floor, bumping into the butt of Scott’s rifle that leant against the wall. Baby bounced off, and ran back for the ball.

“Baby!” Jessica exclaimed scooting after her, right where she was forbidden to go. The men moved in unison. Riley, Scott, Josh and Jim, jumped from their chairs, Angus heaved himself from the wall. Jessica had turned her back to the guns, but the scraping of the barrel of Scott’s gun sliding along the wall caught her attention. She looked over her shoulder, saw the gun falling over, reached out and caught the barrel before it hit the floor.

“Jessica freeze!” Scott yelled.

“Ooops,” she muttered. She was about to get up, but when she saw the men coming at her, she froze. “it fell over …”

“Don’t move!” Angus thundered. The men had skidded to a halt a few feet from Jessica. “Put the gun down Jessica, just lay it down!”

Jessica complied. Tail wagging Baby wriggled over to Jessica. She scooped the puppy up just as Josh, who was nearest to Jessica, pulled her to her feet and back into the living room. Angus picked up the gun, and stood staring at it. The others looked from the gun, to Jessica, to one another. Jessica stood in Josh’s grip, kissing the puppy, enduring the ensuing shocked silence.

“Fucking hell,” Angus exclaimed the reality of what could have happened sinking in. “Who fucking left this here?” Angus thundered. Scott, ashen faced, raised his hand. “Take this motherfucking thing and put it where it’s supposed to be!” Angus ordered, stomping over to Scott and jamming it in Scott’s chest.

“Right … sorry,” Scott muttered.

“Josh,” Riley said coming around to Josh and Jessica, “I think it’s time you uphold your end of the bargain we made.”

“Huh?”

“The dog Josh …” Riley said. He felt a strange sense of anger building in him. Surprisingly he wasn’t angry at Jessica, but at Josh.

“Oh, oh right. Jessica, Baby is big enough to go back to the kennel now …”

“The kennel?” Jessica asked, her face crumpled and she was on the verge of tears.

“She can fend for herself now Jessica, “ Riley said, “and before you go getting all worked up about this, just keep in mind that Baby, and Scott,” Riley threw Scott a dirty look, “have got you into a lot of trouble. Say goodbye to the dog!”

“But she’s still a baby!” Jessica began.

“Jess, you’ll see her tomorrow,” Jim interrupted impatiently. He couldn’t believe she was debating this. Even by his standards she had done wrong … sort of. It didn’t seem as though it had been intentional, but who knew … Jessica stared at Jim.

“Oh …” she exclaimed bringing her hand to her mouth. She looked at the door, the gun rack, Angus repetitively making a fist with his right hand, and smacking it into his left, Scott sitting on the sofa, his hands grasping his head and pulling his hair. The realization hit her … she’d been somewhere that could earn her a beating.

“I … it wasn’t on purpose, I wasn’t thinking … bye bye Baby!” Josh had picked-up the dog and headed for the door.

“You weren’t thinking?” Riley growled.

Jessica stepped back, right into Jim’s arms.

“Then start thinking now. Come here!” Riley was prepared to repeat himself, reach and grab her, but silently and without looking up, Jessica stepped forward. “Take her downstairs, Jim.”

“That’s it?” Angus asked when Jim returned from escorting Jessica to the basement. He paced around the room.

“We all saw what happened, Angus.” Riley said and moved toward Scott, who still sat cradling his head. “Any thoughts on the matter?” he asked him. Scott looked up.

“Christ Scott, are you alright?” Riley asked. His face was so grey, he looked like a corpse. Scott fell back against the sofa. His heart hadn’t slowed down yet, and the terror that had gripped him in those few seconds that Jessica had her hands on the rifle, had not dissipated.

“It was loaded,” Scott replied.

“I know,” Riley replied, and dropped onto the sofa next to Scott. The men were silent.

“Do you think getting to the gun had been her intention?” Jim finally asked.

Angus paused in mid-stride. So now it was all about intention.

“That requires too much guess work,” Angus grumbled. It meant that he’d actually have to think about her. Consider her feelings, her thoughts, her wants. That led to a dangerous place.

“She had her back to the guns,” Josh replied.

Riley nodded. That was the big thing that stuck in his mind … and although Angus wouldn’t admit it, Riley knew that that was the main reason Angus hadn’t ignored the protocol they’d implemented and thrashed Jessica. In his mind’s eye, Riley could see Jessica playing with Baby, she hadn’t paid any attention to the guns, or for that matter the front door. It wasn’t until the gun had fallen that Jessica, reflexively, had reached for the it.

“There were too many of us around,” Angus said, “she wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“That’s never stopped her in the past,” Scott replied.

“So, what do you suggest? We just ignore this whole thing?” Angus demanded.

“We haven’t ignored anything,” Riley said. “The dog is out of the house now … she has no excuses left …”

“She’ll find another one Riley,” Angus grumbled.

“And when she does, we’ll deal with it.”

“That’d be something new … “Angus muttered.

“So you think she went for the gun intentionally?” Jim asked Angus.

“I think that it doesn’t matter what her intentions were. She was somewhere that she shouldn’t have been, end of story.”

“Okay, try something new,” Jim said, “pretend … “

“I’m not pretending nothing, “ Angus interrupted.

“Just listen, will you!” Jim said, “If you knew for a fact, a fact, that she had had no intentions of running away, it was all an accident, what would you do?”

“It’d never happen,” Angus said. He moved toward the kitchen, “I don’t need to go down lunatic lane with you because I will never know for a fact that she wasn’t trying to get away, and she’ll never do anything ‘by mistake’. I need another drink …”

“Scott, Josh, Riley, how bout you? What would you do?” Jim asked. He’d been too close to betraying her, too prepared to believe the worst. He had to have another way to look at this and if he didn’t take the others with him, the past month would all be lost. Especially Angus. This was a golden opportunity. Deep down inside, there was no way that Angus could really believe that Jessica had tried to go for the gun. Her eyes had been on the dog the whole time, her back to the guns, she hadn’t paid any mind to it at all.

“If I knew for a fact that she hadn’t planned on trying to blow my brains out … again?” Scott asked with a shudder.

“Yup,”

“I’d take it as a good sign,” Josh interrupted. “I mean, even if it hadn’t been planned, the second she had her hands on the gun, she would have used it. She has before.”

“Riley?” Jim asked.

“Grab me one too will you?” Riley called to Angus as Angus downed a shot of whiskey. He ran his hands over his face.

“Thanks.” He said as Angus handed him the shot glass. He downed the drink. The warmth that burned down his gullet made him feel much, much, better.

“Another?” Angus asked.

“Bring the bottle.” Riley answered. “So what’s your point with this little game Jim? Why are we pretending something that we can’t possibly fathom as ever happening?”

“Because we all saw it. We all saw the same thing, and we all saw that she had no intention of going for the gun, and when she had the gun, she had no intention of using it. Like you said, we all would expect her to try to get to the guns, expect her to use one if she had one. She had one, she didn’t use it. Maybe our expectations aren’t accurate anymore. Nothing can be lost by letting this go, but a whole lot can be gained. Think about it, if you knew for a fact that she hadn’t intended anything tonight, what would you do? “

“Okay Jim, you’re flapping your lips a lot here. “ Riley said, skipping the shot glass and swigging directly from the whiskey bottle. What bugged Riley more than anything right then wasn’t really what Jessica had done, or not done, but the fact that he actually believed that she was innocent. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it. But while this should have all been good news, it was disconcerting. Did one innocent act necessarily mean there were more to come? “What exactly are we going to gain from all of this?”

“We may get to enjoy knowing that she didn’t live up to our expectations for once.” Jim replied.

Riley thought for a moment. That wasn’t it at all. For once he saw Jim in a different light. This had nothing to do with Jessica, nor him, Scott or Josh. This was all about Angus. He was trying to get Angus to change his perspective on Jessica. The same thing that Riley himself was trying to do.

“Okay, you want to play this game Jim, let’s play. I’m going to ‘pretend’ that she ended-up near the door with gun in hand, all by mistake. Therefore, I am not going to beat the crap out of her.”

“Good,” Angus said, “because there’s enough crap going on here already. Even if it wasn’t intentional, she broke the rules. If you don’t want to punish her, fine. At the very least make sure she knows that she wasn’t supposed to be there and if it happens again, we will beat the crap out of her.”

“Sounds fair,” Riley said. He could tell by the look on Jim’s face that it wasn’t quite what he was looking for.

“How ‘bout you Scott?” Josh asked, “Are you alright? Seeing Jessica with a gun musta brought back some memories real quick.”

“I think I shit my pants …” Scott said with a laugh. “But I’m pretty sure it was unintentional. I can live with a warning.”

“We agree then?” Jim asked.

“But please, for fuck sake Scott, don’t lean your gun against the wall like that! What the hell were you thinking?” Riley demanded.

“I wasn’t … I was busy sneaking.” Scott replied.

“Sneaking?” Riley and Angus said in unison.

“I saw Jessica in the kitchen, thought she was using a knife. I was thinking so much about how to get it away from her that I completely forgot about the gun.”

“Okay, Jessica does not go in the kitchen again until I say so, got it?” Riley asked Jim. Jim nodded. Well, she may not be allowed to cook yet, but at least both Riley and Angus were willing to concede that she hadn’t been trying to escape.

Jessica sat crying on the sofa in the basement.

Baby was gone. Poor Baby, all on her own in the kennel … yes, she’d be with other dogs, but no one would be there to cuddle her. Jessica couldn’t believe that she had not realized that she was going into the forbidden area. Fear tore through her as she realized that she’d defied Riley and Angus. She was surprised that she was actually sitting downstairs, alone, the way she liked it best and neither Riley nor had beaten her immediately.

She closed her eyes, “Please don’t be mad, please don’t be mad, please don’t be mad …” she chanted to herself. She heard the deadbolt unlock. Standing she watched Jim come down the stairs.

“Am I in trouble?” Jessica asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

She looked so distraught that Jim pulled her into his arms. “No. You’ll get a bit of a lecture from Riley, surprise, surprise, but everyone agreed that you didn’t try to get to the door or grab the gun on purpose. Did you hear me Jess? Why are you shaking?”

“Angus. He told me what he’d do if I went near the guns. He looked really angry.”

“Did you go there on purpose?” Jim asked, rubbing his hands up and down her shaking arms.

“No! Not at all.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.” He said. Well, she’d sounded sincere, that was for sure.

“Hey, are you two coming up or what?” Angus called from the top of the stairs. Jessica tensed. Her eyes were the size of saucers as she clutched Jim’s shirt in her hands.

“He’s never going to believe that I didn’t do it on purpose!” she whispered.

“We’re coming!” Jim called up. “Jessica, weren’t you listening? You’re not in trouble. Just be calm all right. Do whatever they say before they even say it, and everything will be fine!” He said.

Angus watched Jessica emerge from the basement with Jim. The thing he didn’t admit to anyone, and that he had a hard time admitting to himself, was that he honestly did believe that Jessica had ended-up holding that gun by mistake. She shouldn’t have been there to begin with, true, but he could see that it wasn’t intentional. For the first time ever he could honestly say that it was not likely planned by Jessica. He didn’t know what to do with that. Jessica hesitated behind Jim.

“Jessica come … “ Riley began but Jessica stepped out from behind Jim and head down, took a couple of steps forward.

“Closer …” Jim whispered over Jessica’s shoulder. Jessica took another step and stopped.

“Let’s see if you can do this without Jim’s help,” Riley said giving Jim a dirty look. Just how much was Jim coaching her? Was all of this sudden obedience the result of Jim’s misguided belief that she needed new ideas on how to lull them into a false sense security.

“Come here.” Riley ordered.

Jessica hesitated for a moment, and then took the final several steps to stand directly in front of Riley. She stood staring at the floor. Riley wondered how long it would be before she decided to look at him. He pointed at Jim and then held his finger to his lips. The silence lasted so long Jessica ventured to look up. The look on Riley’s face made her look down again.

“Well, you almost got it,” Riley said quietly. “Look at me when I’m speaking to you.”

Jessica raised her face. She tried hard to keep her eyes trained on Riley, but they looked everywhere but at him. Angus grunted and Riley knew it was his way of pointing out to Riley that Jessica’s response was yet another example of the behavior Angus found suspicious. Riley could see what was freaking Angus out. There was no hatred or anger on Jessica face. The past couple of months had been much calmer with Jessica, more pleasant, but the lack of anger on Jessica’s part was proving to be difficult to adjust to. A chill went down Riley’s spine. Not only were the past couple of months calmer but they were incident free. Now, suddenly, Jessica found herself with access to a gun. Instinctively he felt that something seemed amiss, but yet, he honestly couldn’t believe that the gun incident was planned by Jessica in any way. Even not planned, she had not taken advantage of the situation, and that was certainly not Jessica’s style.

Jessica had dropped her head again. Riley grasped her chin in his hand and raised it until she had no choice but to look at him.

“You broke a couple of rules tonight Jessica. Important rules. Do you have anything to say about that?”

“I’m sorry,” Jessica whispered.

“Do that again, and you’ll really be sorry.” Angus muttered. Jessica instinctively tried to lower her head again.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Riley said keeping her chin tilted, “Angus is right, if this happens again we will not take distraction by the dog as an acceptable excuse. Got it?”

“Yes,” Jessica said softly.

“Pardon?”

“Yes, “ Jessica repeated, barely increasing her volume.

“Alright then … “ Riley said, releasing her chin. “Scott, are you going to be okay tonight?”

Scott blinked at the mention of his name. His heart hadn’t stopped pounding yet. He looked at his watch. Ten o’clock already.

“If you’d rather, “ Josh interrupted, “you could switch tonight with me. Give yourself some time to calm down.” Josh felt like crap about taking Baby away from Jessica. He had this overwhelming feeling that she hated his guts now, and he couldn’t stand the idea of her going to bed without him having the opportunity to apologize.

Scott paused for a moment. He did feel a little shaky and it was her time of the month … it wasn’t like he’d get any tonight anyway … but he couldn’t see himself giving up a night with Jessica willingly.

“Thanks, but I’m fine. Let’s go Jessica.”

Jessica moved from man to man, kissing them goodnight, and then next to Scott, no prompting necessary.

“We shouldn’t have let her get off so easy.” Angus said after Scott and Jessica disappeared to Scott’s bedroom but he didn’t feel the anger that he knew he should.

Damn it, he wished he were in Scott’s place. Not that he would touch her … he hadn’t in weeks but he needed her alone so he could satisfy himself she hadn’t been planning an escape. “I’ll be outside!” he said gruffly and headed for the door. Damn her … proof of innocence aside, he wanted to touch her. He was going soft … it was hard to keep his emotional distance when he couldn’t brutalize her at will. These days, he was better off as far away from her as possible.

As soon as Scott’s bedroom door closed, Jessica broke into tears and flung herself onto the bed with a wail, burying her head in her arms.

“What’s wrong Jessica?” Scott asked. Was it him, or had she just been melodramatic?

“Poor Baby! All alone in the barn …” she sniffed.

“She’s fine,” Scott said sitting next to her and resting his hand on her arm. Jessica raising a gun and pulling the trigger flashed through his mind. Fear gripped him. ‘Angus is right,’ Scott thought as he pulled his hand away from Jessica. ‘She’s dangerous.”

“Do you really think so?” Jessica asked sitting up, tears streaming down her face. She looked so small, so sincere, so vulnerable. He felt a pull in his loin, and instantly the clarity with which he’d had the revelation, began to fade. They were taming her, in many ways. His nights with her kept getting better and better. She was an animal in bed. She’d turned into quite the accomplished sex kitten.

“Sure,” he said putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her to him, “we’ll go see her tomorrow. She’s probably more than happy to have other dogs to play with.”

“It wasn’t really her fault … we were just playing …” Jessica said while laying her head on Scott’s shoulder.

“No, it’s not her fault. You’re just lucky that neither Riley or Angus focused on whose fault it really is …” Did she know that he’d messed up in a big way?

“I didn’t do it on purpose either!” Jessica said indignantly.

“I never said you did … I’m just suggesting that you take care not to make that mistake again.”

“Do you think Riley will let me bring Baby back?”

“No, and don’t push your luck. Baby had to go back eventually anyway. “

“Hmmm,” Jessica huffed. “She’s still a baby … she had a while to go before she had to go back!”

“Well, if you feel so strongly about it, why don’t you go back out there and bring it up with Riley. I’m sure he’d be very interested in your opinion.”

Jessica shrank back on the bed.

“I thought so,” Scott said. He looked at Jessica and memories of their nights together flashed through his mind. He’d picked up more sex toys and props and Jessica’d had little trouble using them. They had incorporated role playing into their nights together. They’d done all the ones Scott had listed previously, the stranger sex in the movie theater, the lifeguard, police officer, and several others and had just recently been moving into more of the sexual fetish arena. While the role playing was bringing out Jessica’s sexual side, Scott was amazed at how much he was enjoying it too. He’d never done it before. All of his other sexual encounters, and there were many, were passionate and enjoyable but they were nothing more than regular encounters between a man and a woman. But these were much more and Scott was surprised to find he enjoyed forcing Jessica to orgasm over and over until she begged him to stop. She seemed to like it too, in fact he often found her wet and ready for him and they’d gotten into the habit of starting their night off with that to get the edge off and then move to role play. But given what had just happened, with the gun, and the fact that he’d practically shit his pants, he wasn’t sure that he was in the mood for that tonight. Even the fact that she was going down on him on a regular basis now … and pretty darn good at it too, couldn’t quite get him past his fear.

Despite the sadness she felt about Baby, she couldn’t deny the ache that was growing between her legs. Scott always looked so hungry for her and she had come to enjoy and look forward to orgasming so many times her legs and body shook and twitched. Jessica let her legs fall open. She was fully dressed, but that didn’t matter. She could see Scott’s eyes dilate as they stared at her crotch.

“Do you want to touch me?” Jessica asked.

Scott nodded. His earlier fear forgotten. “But aren’t you on the rag?”

“Not yet.” Jessica said, glad that she wasn’t, and that she didn’t hurt yet either. She needed to cum as badly as Scott did.

Scott licked his lips and moved his hand toward her pelvis. Jessica pushed his hand away.

“If you want to touch me here,” Jessica said rubbing her hand over her pulsating vagina, “You’ll have to earn it.”

“Earn it?” Scott asked. God his cock was so hard it hurt trapped in his pants.

Jessica looked so hot lying on the bed, her hair fanned out around her, obviously as horny as he was, that he groaned with need when she nodded and licked her lips.

“Pull off my socks,” Jessica commanded, holding her foot in front of him. Scott did and then the sock from her other foot also.

“If you want to touch me tonight you’re going to have to lick my toes clean. All ten of them, thoroughly. And you’re going to have to do it so well that I have an orgasm. If you don’t, there will be no pussy tonight.”

Scott caught his breath. She had to be kidding, her toes? How the hell could he bring her to orgasm by licking her toes.

“That’s impossible Jess …”

“Lick ….” Jessica interrupted in a breathless voice. She’d read about this in one of the fetish magazines and couldn’t fathom how toe licking could make a woman orgasm. But now, the way she felt, the way Scott looked, she wanted her toes in his mouth. She held her foot in front of his face and wiggled her toes.

Scott took her foot in his hand and brought her big toe to his mouth. And he began to lick, suck, nibble. It came naturally, and as he moved from one toe to the next, Jessica began to pant. Every suck sent an electric pulse straight to her pussy and she began to rock her pelvis. By the time he’d reached her baby toe, Jessica cried out in pleasure. She watched Scott as he switched feet. She didn’t think she’d orgasm again, but by the time Scott had reached her middle toe, she climaxed.

Scott was desperate now to feel her, to taste her pussy. It would without doubt taste better than her toes. He reached again for her crotch but stopped himself mid-reach. What if she made him lick her toes again. He couldn’t handle that.

“Can I touch your pussy now?” he asked.

Jessica shook her head and in a breathless voice she said, “Tell me what you’re going to do to me … in detail.”

Scott sat back on his haunches and looked at her. She was clothed but he could picture her without her clothes on.

“I’d start off by running my hands along your thighs. Pushing them apart, opening you up, so I could see … everything.” He began in a low, sensual, growl. He almost came right there as he pictured her pink flesh opening up to him. “I’d stroke, around the outside of your pussy, on the lips. Gently, moving slowly, closer to the opening …”

Jessica arched. “And then what?” she encouraged when Scott hesitated.

“And then, I’d move my fingers to your meat. I’d rub, and then I’d slide my fingers inside and thrust.” Jessica arched again, “And I’d thrust again … “

“And your mouth, what would you do with your mouth?” Jessica asked.

“I’d eat you … I’d eat your pussy until you came so hard you practically passed out!”
That seemed to be the last straw. Jessica thrust her pelvis toward Scott. “Take off my pants and do exactly what you said you would.” She hadn’t finished her sentence and her pants were already off. Scott did what he had told her he would and they both climaxed as Scott thrust into her. Scott collapsed, panting on top of Jessica.

“Jesus Christ that was good!” Scott muttered between the kisses he placed on Jessica’s forehead his face still glistening with her juices. Jessica grunted and moved out from under Scott.

“What are you doing?” Scott asked as she rolled Scott over and ended up straddling him. She pulsed her pussy against him as she ran her hands up his arms, stopping as she gripped his wrists.

“You didn’t do it exactly like you said you would,” she said and looked up at the handcuffs that hung open, inviting, on the headboard. Bondage. There were many stories of that in the magazines they read too. Jessica had always avoided those stories. Being handcuffed, tied, unable to move always too close to her reality to be of any enjoyment sexually for her. But she’d never considered the idea of Scott being the one tied up. What better way to work him into a frenzy then to limit his abilities to take what he wanted?

“What are you talking about? I did.” Scott protested but quickly became distracted by the wet marks her pussy was leaving on his abdomen as she continued to rock and grind on him. God he wanted her pussy on his cock again … he needed to feel those wet, tight convulsions on his cock.

“No, “ Jessica said raising his right wrist up she secured the handcuff around Scott’s wrist and then quickly cuffed his left wrist before he had the chance to free it. “you said nothing about intercourse Scott.”

Scott opened his mouth to protest. Jessica grabbed her discarded underwear and shoved it in his mouth. Scott writhed beneath her, but froze when Jessica took a hold of his balls. Jessica mistook the look of terror on Scott’s face with desire and slid down his body until her lips grazed the wet head of his hardening cock. Jessica was beyond her element now and her mind raced to figure out what to do next. Whenever Scott forced her to cum he spoke to her. In a low, urgent growl, his hot breath in her ear he’d say things to her. Dirty things, arousing things, things that would have made her cum whether he touched her or not. Jessica had no idea what she could say to arouse Scott but she knew that Scott often used her swollen and sensitive clitoris to force her to orgasm … biting it, sucking it, rubbing, pinching it … and she wondered if it worked on a man’s cock too.

“ I think you may want me to go down on you.” She said in a sultry purr that surprised her. “ No?” she asked in mock surprise as Scott shook his head vigorously.

Scott never felt as terrified as he did now. Not even when Jessica had shot him. He was completely at her mercy and would be all night. No one would come in here to help him … unless he could get her underwear out of his mouth and yell for help.

“All of those “All of those magazines you gave me … all the books. They all had the woman going down on the man … I’m pretty sure you want me to. Why don’t you nod your head Scott?” she asked sweetly as she began to apply pressure to his testicles.

Scott nodded vigorously. “I thought so. Now I’m going to take the underwear out of your mouth and you’re going to beg me to go down on you. And nothing else, not another word, or I’ll be forced to bite your penis clean off …” she said and nipped the end of his penis as illustration. Yes, that sounded like something Scott would say to her if the tables were reversed … forceful, arousing in a strange way. And it seemed to work, Scott’s cock hardened and vibrated in her hand.

“Do you understand?”

Scott nodded.

He was terrified. Maybe it was worth getting his dick bitten off, to save his life …
Jessica pulled the underwear from his mouth and licked the top of his penis. “Now beg …”

“Jessica for Christ sake, let me go! I won’t punish you in any way, just undo the cuffs … ouch!” Jessica nipped his penis and then licked it.

“Beg.”

“Jessica …”

“You have 10 seconds to beg, or I start biting.” Jessica said and snapped her teeth together. The sound made Scott catch his breath.

“Please … please go down on me …”

Jessica was shaking her head. “That’s not very convincing Scott,” Jessica said and nipped Scott’s cock.

“Okay, okay!” Scott said, and he was surprised when pleasure pulsed through him despite his fear. He was surprised his cock was even hard given how scared he was “Please …”

“Think about how you’re going to say it Scott … make it dirty …”

Scott couldn’t believe it.

He didn’t know Jessica had this in her. The books and magazines he’d given her were good, no doubt about that. But this was beyond anything a book could teach a person. And he couldn’t believe that this actually turned him on despite the potential danger he was in.

Jessica nipped him again.

“Please suck me off … please …” Scott’s voice was husky. “Oh my God!” Scott hissed as Jessica lowered her mouth over his shaft and sucked. And then he exploded.

Jessica smiled as she crawled up his body and brought her lips to his. He could smell and taste himself on and in her mouth. And despite that he couldn’t help exploring her mouth with his tongue.

“Should we do it again?” Jessica asked when they finally separated.

“Uncuff me Jessica, now!” Scott ordered. He pulled on the cuffs and fear was back now that the bliss was over. Jessica blinked. There was an edge to Scott’s voice. For a moment she couldn’t believe what she’d done. It was bold, really bold, and she began to feel embarrassed. She had a hard time looking at Scott as she sat up and pulled on her underwear. It was damp from Scott’s mouth.

“Jessica …”

“Okay. Where are the keys?” Jessica asked, standing and pulling her shirt on.

“In my top drawer.”

Jessica went to the drawer. Scott watched her search through his underwear.

Finally she returned, key in hand. She climbed on to the bed and straddled Scott as she reached up and undid the cuffs.

“I’m sorry,” she said sitting down on his stomach and lowering her eyes, ”I don’t know what came over me. The cream and those books … I’m sorry.”

Scott watched Jessica and was both relieved and surprised that she hadn’t taken advantage of the situation to suffocate or strangle him. Jessica’s cheeks were bright red and she kept her eyes lowered.

“Don’t be,” Scott said rubbing his hand on her leg, “I liked it. Except for the hand cuffs. That was going a little too far. Look at me Jessica,” he said, sitting up.

Jessica raised her eyes.

“You were great. You did exactly what I wanted when I asked you to read the books and magazines. You were so hot, made me cum so hard … Just no more handcuffs, okay?”

Jessica smiled. “Can you promise me that too?” She asked, her eyes boring into his. “No more handcuffs for me either?”

Scott exhaled. She’d earned it, that was for sure. “I can’t promise anything for any of the other men Jessica. But when you’re with me, there won’t be any more handcuffs. Okay?”

“Okay …” she said and smiled.

“Come here,” he said pulling him to her. He lay back and they got comfortable, Jessica’s head on his chest. Scott pulled the blanket over them.

“Have you had any luck with Ebony? Riding him I mean?” Jessica asked.

“No,” Scott said with a chuckle. “That’s quite the leap. How did the sex we just had make you think of Ebony?”

Jessica looked up at Scott and laughed. “I don’t know. That is a little weird … I was just thinking about some things I’ve noticed and Ebony was one of them.”

“What things have you noticed?” Scott asked.

“Well. There’s Riley and Max.” Jessica said glad to be finally getting this off her chest.

“What about Riley and Max?” Scott asked. “And unless you’re ready to go at it again Jessica I suggest that you stop playing with my nipple.”

“Oh …” Without thinking she’d begun tracing out a circle around one of Scott’s nipples. She slid her hand to down to rest on Scott’s stomach.

“Not much better Jessica …” Scott chuckled and took her hand in his. “You were saying?”

“Well, Riley keeps trying to train Max but Max is deaf and blind. And Riley just keeps getting madder and madder.”

“Deaf? Blind? The dog is deaf and blind? How exactly did you come to that conclusion?”

“I’ve been watching, when I have the chance. If you just watch Max you’ll see that he doesn’t respond to any noise on his right side. He’s deaf. And he can’t see a single thing Riley’s doing.”

“How does he get around without bumping into everything?”

“He smells his way along. Ever notice that he always has his nose to the ground?”

Scott looked down at the top of Jessica’s head and wondered how the hell Riley could miss something like that.

“Okay … so, are you going to tell Riley about this?”

Jessica snapped her head up and looked at Scott like he’d lost his mind.

“I guess the answer is no?” he said with a chuckle.

“You guessed correctly … despite recent events,” she said and nodded toward the handcuffs, “I’m really not a glutton for punishment.”

“And you think Riley would punish you for telling him about Max?” Scott asked.

“Scott,” Jessica said in a tone that implied that he was thick, “Riley would punish me if I breathed at the wrong time much less said anything about his dogs. And Angus … there’s no way in heck I’d even attempt to tell him that he has water in his fuel line.”

“You think that’s been the problem? Why wouldn’t Angus think of that himself?”

“I don’t know, but he hasn’t. And it’s driving me crazy. Every time his attempts at fixing the car fail, he gets angrier at me. I swear one of these days his eyes really will shoot daggers through me. For the life of me I don’t know why water in his fuel line makes him angry at me.”

“Well, he is a little frustrated …” Scott said as he realized that he was beginning to feel the urge to go at it again with Jessica and he could see how being unable to would make him cranky too. Angus never said anything about being sexually frustrated but it was easy to see that he was almost always sporting a hard on and spent far more time in the bathroom than was necessary. Especially for Angus. If Jessica did for Angus what she has done for him, that frustration would be taken care of right well …

“And then there’s Ebony … “ Jessica paused as Scott brought his hand to her breast.

“Hold that thought,” Scott said as he turned Jessica onto her back. “I think I need a little snack.”

Jessica inhaled as Scott began to kiss his way down her stomach. When he reached his destination, he hesitated.

“Holy shit Jessica, I just realized something …”

“What?” Jessica said sitting up, alarmed by the suddenness and urgency with which Scott spoke. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing Jessica, nothing. Just relax,” Scott said soothingly, gently pushing her back down on the bed. “I just have something I’ve been meaning to try on you.”

“Really?” she asked settling back on the bed.

Scott nodded.

“Your going to love this …” Scott said, “but we’ll need a towel. It may get messy.”

“Messy?” Jessica repeated as Scott got up from the bed.

“Stay there,” he said and he disappeared through the bedroom door.

Moments later he returned with a towel.

“Lift up,” he said.

Jessica did and Scott slid the towels under her butt.

Once Jessica lowered herself onto the towel, Scott began kissing his way up the inside of Jessica’s thigh. And when he made his way to her pussy, he slid four of his fingers inside her and began to thrust.

Jessica held her breath as Scott thrust harder.

“Scott, I’m not sure that I like this.” The pressure feeling uncomfortable.

“Give it time Jessica … trust me, just a little longer.” And Scott brought his mouth to her clitoris as he increased the pressure with which he thrust. Suddenly a strange sensation began to grow deep within Jessica. It grew and grew and suddenly pleasure shot through Jessica so hard and strong that she convulsed. And then her vagina was pulsating on its own, and Jessica heard the sound of liquid gushing.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“You Jessica, it’s all you!” Scott said his voice think with desire as he crawled along Jessica’s body, and thrust his cock into her. The strength of her pulsating vagina made Scott gasp unexpectedly and he came much faster than he’d intended.

“My God Jessica, your pussy is like a friggin’ meat grinder!” he chuckled and bit her neck. Jessica leaned her head into Scott, his neck nips tickling.

“A meat grinder? That’s a lovely image!” Jessica said squirming as Scott continued to nip. “Hey, the bed’s wet!” Jessica exclaimed as her leg brushed against a moist area. “It’s soaking down there!” Jessica continued, starting to sit up.

Scott rolled to the side and looked down where Jessica’s hand was feeling around on the towel.

“I’ll say,” Scott said, leaning his head on his bent arm and smiling at Jessica. “You were a friggin’ geyser!”

“What? Me, I was?” She asked sitting up and looking at the puddle of liquid on the towel.

“Yes, you.” Scott said sitting up and kissing her on the shoulder. “That’s what happens when your G spot goes off.”

“My what spot? There’s no way I did this Scott, you’re the mess maker, not me!”

“G spot Jessica. You’ve read about it. Some women don’t get much more than a really good orgasm. And then some women … and I’d say without a doubt you are one, ejaculate like geysers.”

“If anyone is a geyser around here it’s you mister. I know, I had to swallow your geysering … This would have to be something other than a geyser.”

“Okay. A flood gate maybe? Giant leak? Ow!” Scott said as Jessica slapped him on his arm.

“Giant leak?” Jessica demanded.

Scott chuckled and rubbed his hand across her abdomen. “I prefer geyser. So G, how did you like it anyway?”

“It was good,” she said and looked down at the towel, “and messy.”

Scott chuckled. “A good messy, trust me.”

“Well, fair is fair I guess.” Jessica said falling against Scott. “You make a mess. I make a mess. Hey, but next time I think you should swallow too. You know, to be fair.”

“You make a very good point.” Scott said getting up on his knees and moving between Jessica’s legs.

“What are you doing?” Jessica asked.

“Getting ready to swallow,” Scott said taking Jessica’s legs and pulling her toward him.

“Again?” Jessica asked, laughing, “Scott you are insatiable!”

“That G, is a very big word … and very hard to live up to. But I’ll do my best!”

Half an hour later Scott stared into the darkness, and listened to Jessica’s rhythmic breathing beside him. Exhausted, she’d fallen to sleep. She had refrained from killing him while he was handcuffed and vulnerable, and then earlier when she’d had the gun but hadn’t used it … He was beginning to see the possibility of a real relationship with Jessica. He liked that idea.

He yawned and rolled toward Jessica. He hoped she would make it through the night without any nightmares. They both needed their sleep. Boy, did they need their sleep.

**********************************************************
“Scott! Scott!” Josh’s voice came through the bedroom door like a boom box. There were a series of loud thuds on the door as Josh hammered it with his fist.

Scott jerked awake in bed and in a daze automatically began feeling around for his gun. Not able to find it, he began to focus and realize that he was in his room, that he wouldn’t have his handgun with him, and Jessica slept next to him undisturbed by the noise.

“What the hell?” Scott muttered as Josh pounded again.

“Are you okay Scott? If you don’t answer me right now, I’m coming in!”

“’Course I’m okay!” Scott shouted back, falling back on the bed. “Why wouldn’t I be?” ‘Handcuffs and sharp teeth aside.’ He thought to himself.

“Well shit man, you’re late for the work out. We’ve been waiting for you for half an hour!”

“What the … “ Scott grabbed his watch from the nightstand.

He looked at it, rubbed his eyes and looked at it again. They’d slept in. Holy shit they’d slept in. It was two hours past the time he normally got up.

He looked over at the motionless form of Jessica beside him. She hadn’t moved a muscle since Josh’s battery on the door. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept in like this, had slept so deeply and soundly that he simply couldn’t wake up.

“Sorry,” Scott answered, dropping his watch onto the nightstand. “we slept in … go ahead without me, we’ll be out a bit later. I still can’t get up …” Scott muttered the last part to himself as he dropped down on the bed and pulled the blanket up to his neck.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Josh asked.

“Positive,” Scott mumbled.

Suddenly the bedroom burst open and Josh ran in. He stood looking around the room.
Scott sat up. Jessica didn’t move.

“What the hell?” Scott demanded.

Josh looked at Jessica’s lifeless body, at Scott and then back at Jessica. She lay facing away so he couldn’t see her face, but she hadn’t moved when he came in.

“Is she asleep?” he asked. Suspicion evident in his tone.

Scott looked over at Jessica and then dropped back on the bed.

“Yeah. Where the hell were you last night when I was tied up …”

“What?” Josh asked.

“Never mind. It was all good. Don’t worry about me Josh. We just had a really … busy …. night. We need a little more sleep that’s all.”

“More sleep? Christ Scott, I don’t know how much longer Jim and I can cover for you with Riley and Angus … They’ve been busy so far and haven’t asked too many questions but they’re going to be snooping around here as soon as they catch on that things aren’t normal.”

“Alright. Give us another hour, alright? We’ll be out before lunch.”

Scott looked up when Josh didn’t say anything and he didn’t hear him leaving.

Josh stood looking at him with concern and confusion etched on his face.

“Are you sick?”

Scott laughed. “Nope, not at all. Just really, really, spent.”

Josh did a double take and looked from Jessica to Scott again.

“With Jessica?” he asked.

“Yup. With Jessica.”

“But … how?”

“Well, I’m too much of a gentleman to go into details,” Scott chuckled, “but I can offer you some literature … and then it’s up to you and Jessica.”

“You’re serious!” Josh stated.

“I am. In the drawer of my nightstand … there’re a couple of books and magazines. Help yourself.”

Josh opened the drawer and took out two books and a few magazines.

“You’re shittin’ me,” he mumbled as he looked at naked women on the magazine covers, and then at the book entitled, “The sexual human body.”

“I shit you not.” Scott said and pulled the blanket over his face. “Now get out … please.”

When he heard the door close, he looked out from under the blanket. Josh was gone.

An hour … he had an hour in which he and Jessica could sleep. Or an hour in which he and Jessica could fuck.

He reached for Jessica. “Gee, eee, “ he said softly, “I never thought I’d say this, but I want to stick my dick into a meat grinder … again …”

In an hour they’d managed to go at it six more times.

Jessica lay unmoving in Scott’ s arms.

“Oh man … that was …” Scott’s voice trailed off as he tried to find an appropriate word to describe how much he’d enjoyed himself.

“Exhausting?” Jessica mumbled into his chest.

“Yeah, but that’s not how I’d describe it.”

“I never would have thought that sex could be a recreational sport Scott, but since you’ve managed to turn it into one, I think exhausting is a pretty good description.”

Scott laughed and kissed the top of her head.

“I was thinking more along the lines of ‘fucking fantastic’. ‘Mind blowing’, “Unbelievable ….”

“Orgasmic?” Jessica added with a laugh when Scott seemed unable to come up with another adjective.

“Orgasmic!” Scott all but shouted …”That’s the word … describes it perfectly!”

Jessica giggled again and then grew still. A moment later, Scott heard a light snore.

“Jess …Jess,” he said shaking her lightly. “We have to get up.” He lifted her arm and it hung limp in his hand. She was completely out. He stared at the ceiling. It wasn’t very fair to force her to get up after the marathon they’d just been through, but it wasn’t going to be long before Josh came banging on the door again.

Shit … Josh. Scott slid his eyes down to the top of Jessica’s head. He guessed that he should probably warn Jessica that he’d given Josh the magazines and books. Given how adamant she was that she and Josh weren’t intimate, Scott figured he had to give her a heads up.

“Jess, “ he said again and shook her again. “We really slept in. Josh was here earlier already … he’ll be knocking on my door again any minute.” He shook her again. “And …” he began when she shifted against him, “when Josh was here earlier … I gave him the magazines and books we’ve been reading.”

That woke her up. She snapped her head back and looked up him. She looked confused … and apprehensive.

“The sex ones?” she finally asked.

“Yup.”

“Why?” she asked, sitting up.

“He was wondering why we’d slept in.”

“And you told him?”

“Not in so many words …” Scott said, kissing her cheeks as they flamed red. “but he took the magazines and books as reference material.”

Jessica brought her hands to her face and covered her eyes. She was already having sex with Josh, so she couldn’t figure out why she felt so embarrassed, but she did.

“Jess,” Scott said softly as he pulled her hands from her face and tilted her face up so she was looking at him. He found her embarrassment refreshing. Despite how much she enjoyed sex, and how good she was at it. And, the fact that she was having sex with all of them anyway … she still considered it a private matter between her and him. He felt a warmth growing inside. And for once it was in his chest and not his dick.

“It’s okay. It’s all okay. I swear, I didn’t tell him anything. And I’m guessing that with Josh having those magazines and books, you and he can move from having sex to being intimate. And if I interpreted your moaning, thrashing, geysering and meat grinding correctly ..” he said smiling as he lowered his lips to hers and kissed lightly, “I’d bet that you enjoy intimate more than sex. Right?”

Jessica nodded and smiled. Her cheeks were still pink but she was smiling.

“Do we have time to get cleaned up?” she asked, glancing at the door.

“I sure as hell hope so …” Scott said, “Lord knows we need it.”

****************************************************

Jim sat on the grass beside Jessica. It was after lunch and Scott and Jessica had finally emerged from Scott’s room. Josh had returned from checking on Scott with some incredibly explicit magazines and books. And he’d reported that Scott had said a night of sex was what had made them sleep in. Jim had doubted that. He and Josh had leafed through the magazines and books. And the very explicitness of them convinced Jim even further. He had been certain that there was a different explanation, until Scott and Jessica made their appearance for lunch. They’d showered, so Jim had at first chalked Jessica’s aura of unusually extreme relaxation up to a good hot shower. But then … Jim couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something different about Jessica. About Jessica with Scott. She seemed to have a bit of a wistful smile on her face. Nothing really obvious, or Riley and Angus would’ve been all over it, but it was there just below the surface. And then, Scott had touched her. Just on the arm, just while he was putting her lunch before her on the table, but it was not a normal touch. Jim shook his head as he replayed the moment in his head. It had been a caress. And Jessica … she had looked up at Scott and smiled. And Jim swore that the smile was a caress back. For a moment he had thought he’d imagined it, but then Josh had noticed it too. He’d tilted his head toward Jessica and Scott, and then the magazines that he still held in his hands and mouthed ‘told you’ to Jim. And then of course Angus had to stick his nose into the situation and everything had evaporated. The smile disappeared from Jessica’s face, and her defenses were up again.

Now Jim sat here beside Jessica, and wondered if he’d actually misread the whole thing. If he had, his moment of hope that a serious change had occurred was nothing more than that, a moment of hope. If Scott had really made her look at those magazines and books, what did she think of them? He tried not to think of Jessica in that way, but now, just considering it, he wondered what she would think of it … of sex.

He glanced at Jessica. She was petting Baby absent mindedly, and had been for the past fifteen minutes. Her attention had been steadfastly kept on Riley, who was off in the distance, training an adult male German Shepherd. The dog had only been with them for a week, but it was clear that Riley was losing his patience with him. As Riley jerked down on the dogs leash, put off by the dog’s stubborn refusal to obey a command he’d been given, Jim heard Jessica groan.

“There you are,” Josh said appearing from behind the barn. “Do you want to go see the horses?” Josh had been trying to find a way to get a moment alone with Jessica. He knew that Jim doubted Scott’s explanation about what had happened between Scott and Jessica the night before. But Josh wasn’t so sure. He wanted to ask her about it, but first he had to get passed what had happened with Baby. And now he had the opportunity for both. From the distance they could hear Riley curse. He turned from the dog in exasperation, and for the first time, noticed Jessica watching him. Now he knew how she’d come to know his commands to the dogs. He supposed it was nice that she took the time to watch … learn. Suddenly she sprang to her feet, said something to Jim who snapped his head in Riley’s direction. Jessica didn’t look back before leaving with Josh. Jim moved toward Riley.

“Since when have you taken an interest in dog training?” Riley asked as Jim neared.

“Having trouble with this one?” Jim asked, nodding at the dog.

“You could call it that,” Riley said turning to the dog that sat panting, before him.

“What would you say the problem is?”

Riley looked at Jim from the corner of his eye.

Jim rarely, if ever, made small talk with Riley, and never about dog training.

“Stubbornness or stupidity … take your pick. Why do you ask?”

“Ever have reason to think the dog may be deaf and blind?”

“What?!” Riley growled. “What the hell would make you say that?”

Jim shrugged. “When you give him a command on one side he listens, the other, he doesn’t.”

“The hand signals are the same, no matter what side I say it on …”

“He can’t see them Riley.”

“What the hell? In all the years I’ve known you, you have never, EVER, shown any interest in dog training, and then suddenly you come up with deaf and blind?”

“Is it that inconceivable?” Jim asked not sure whether Riley found the suggestion preposterous or whether he had hard time with Jim’s interest. He began to feel a little insulted.

“How the hell can a dog be deaf and blind, and no one know it?” Riley demanded.

Jim shrugged. “Hey, you’re the dog expert. If in your great wisdom you don’t feel it is remotely possible … then forget it …” Jim turned to leave.

Riley moved to the dog suddenly. He clapped his hands on the right side of the dog. The dog’s head swiveled in the direction of the noise.

Riley did the same on by the dog’s left ear. No reaction.

“Damn …” Riley cursed. He waved his hand in front of the dog, the dog didn’t respond in any way. He moved his arms closer and repeated the motion. Suddenly the dog looked up and wagged his tail. “Well, I’ll be. How the hell did you figure that out?” Riley asked.

“I thought my acute sense of observation was my greatest asset …” Jim said.

“Yeah, that’s it … seriously, how’d you know? This dog must’ve been deaf and blind since birth, cause he sure doesn’t show any sign of being deaf or blind. I’ve worked with dogs my whole life, and I didn’t pick up on it. What gave you the clue?”

“His one eye crosses just a little,” Jim replied, and couldn’t help but laugh when Riley moved closer to the dog for a better look. “I’m just kidding. Jessica told me. “

“Jessica?” Riley asked. He was so surprised that the question came out as a whisper. “H .. how did she know?”

“She didn’t say,” Jim said.

“Well, how the hell am I’m supposed to train a deaf and blind dog?”

“Seems to me that you just have to be sure you’re on the side he can hear on.”

“Right, thanks for the input.”

“Like I said, acute sense of observation …”

“Where’s Jessica now?”

“Gone to see the horses with Josh.”

“Should have known,” Riley answered. “Come on Max,” he said to the dog and took him by the collar and led him to his cage.

“She’d better not be breaking in any horses, “ Riley said, falling in step with Jim.

“I think she’d like nothing more than to be doing just that.” Jim said.

*****************************************************
“Do you think I’ll ever get to ride Ebony? Or any horse?” Jessica asked cuddling Baby to her while leaning on the fence of the corral where Ebony grazed.

“Sure,” Josh replied. “Listen, Jessica, about last night …”

“Really ride them? Not just around in circles in the corral?”

“If you earn the right Jessica, you’ll get to ride. Will you listen to me for a second? I’m trying to apologize about taking Baby away yesterday.”

Jessica suddenly looked sad, and cuddled the puppy closer.

“Do you think I’ll be able to bring her back in? I miss her, and she’s still just a baby …”

“I don’t think so Jessica. She was going to have to go back to the kennels eventually anyway … it was just temporary remember?”

Jessica looked at Josh. A faint smile appeared on her face. “I’m pretty sure that Princess Assicej would forgive Prince Aushoj, especially since he seems so worried about it.”

At the mention of the comic book characters that Josh had been faithfully developing night after night, Josh smiled and lowered his head. He was blushing, and he couldn’t help it. The story of the Princess and Prince from different planets had grown and evolved into quite a love story. There were so many parallels to how he felt about Jessica, about his hopes for their relationship, that when spoken about in the light of day, he felt like he was baring his soul to the world. Jessica edged closer to Josh, until her shoulder pressed against him.

“Do you know what I think Prince Aushoj would do to make it up to Assicej?” All Josh could do was shake his head. Her spontaneity made him giddy.

“Ebony,” Jessica said nodding toward the black stallion. “I think he’d let the Princess pet him.”

“Are you nuts?” Josh asked. “You’ll get stomped!”

Jessica and Josh stood staring at each other. Jessica smiled as Josh’s face turned redder and redder. The small chance that Assicej and Aushoj were purely fictional characters, was now decimated. Josh couldn’t believe how vulnerable he felt … bordering on embarrassed. But Jessica smiled as she kissed him on his cheek.

“Don’t worry Prince Aushoj, I’ll be careful. Ebony just needs me to be calm and gentle when I go in there, that’s all. Can I?”

Josh nodded. It wasn’t until Jessica was on the other side of the corral fence and slowly yet assuredly making her way toward the stallion, that Josh realized what he’d done. The horse stood stalk still, watching Jessica’s advance. If Jessica had any fear or reservation at all, she didn’t show it. Josh held his breath as Jessica moved forward. For her part Jessica was excited to finally get the opportunity to show Scott that Ebony wasn’t the wild untamable horse he seemed to think he was. She had meant to raise it with Scott the previous night … suggest to him that rather than saddle training him it would go far for him to try and connect with him. But as her pleasantly used private parts reminded her, she hadn’t had the chance. Oh well, now she had the opportunity to make first contact for Scott.

Riley and Jim rounded the corner of the barn, just in time to see Jessica closing the distance between herself and the stallion.

“Shit!” they muttered in unison.

“Is she out of her tree?” Riley demanded as he broke into a run.

“Riley … Riley!” Jim said, catching up to Riley and grabbing his arm.

“If you startle Ebony, Jessica is going to get hurt. We have to move slowly, quietly.” Riley slowed down. They walked as slowly and quietly as they could until they stood beside Josh.

“What the hell is she doing in there?” Riley asked Josh.

“I let her go Riley, but I’ll be damned if I know why,” Josh said.

“I’m going in after her,” Jim said.

“Wait a minute, Scott’s already going,” Riley said and nodded toward Scott, who had entered the corral at the other end, lasso rope in hand.

He walked slowly and steadily toward the stallion and Jessica.

“That’s a good boy,” Jessica was cooing to the horse, who now rested his nose in her hands. She ran them gently over his nose and then along his face, to his neck. “It’s all right,” Jessica said to Scott, who had gotten close enough that he had to decide whether to lasso the horse, or take his chances on walking closer. “You can come closer, he’s fine.”

Scott took some tentative steps forward. It wasn’t long before he stood next to Jessica.

“That’s a good boy Ebony,” Jessica said, “Scott’s not going to hurt you. See? Scott’s your friend. Pet him!” she ordered Scott.

Scott raised his hand to the horse’s neck. This horse was one of Scott’s greatest challenges. It seemed that he just couldn’t get the horse to warm to him.

“You have to talk to him, “ Jessica said.

“Good boy,” Scott said.

“No, something more personal.”

“I have nothing personal to say to a horse, Jessica!” Scott muttered in disbelief.

“Shhh, it’s okay Ebony, “ Jessica said as the horse lifted his head in response to Scott’s tone, and after a shake of his head, he nudged Jessica’s lips with his nose.

“Thanks for the kiss Ebony,” Jessica said. “Go on Scott, say something.” She urged.

“Okay … how about, just what do you think you’re doing out here?”

“Helping,” Jessica answered, “and your tone isn’t. Look, all Ebony needs is a little break from the lassoing and rodeo riding, and a whole lot of quiet affection.”

“What are you, the Dr. Phil of the horse world?”

“Dr. who?”

“Never mind … what’s your great plan for getting out of here now?” Scott replied.

“Just pet and walk away,” Jessica answered, pressing her forehead against the horse.

“Then let’s get going before Riley blows a gasket.”

“Riley?” Jessica asked. She turned pale. Her eyes slid to the right but she resisted turning her head. “I thought he was training the dogs.”

“Nope. He’s standing right over there looking like he’s ready to hop the fence and take his chances with Ebony.”

Jessica’s hand shot out and grabbed Scotts arm. “I’m in trouble, aren’t I? I’m never going to get to ride the horses …”

“Not if you keep doing stupid stuff like this.”

Jessica blinked back some tears.

“It wasn’t stupid! I was helping you …”

“I don’t need this kind of help Jessica. This does not fall under the “behaving” category.”

“I had Josh’s permission.” Jessica countered.

“This isn’t a debate Jessica … you did?” Scott asked flabbergast that Josh would do such a thing. Jessica nodded. “This isn’t like the ‘permission’ you had from Jim to ride Ebony, is it?”

“No, there was no misunderstanding this time.” Jessica answered.

“Misunderstanding … “ Scott muttered. “ If Josh gave you permission, fine, but I have to hear this from Josh himself. Let’s go.”

Jessica barely had time to kiss Ebony’s nose before Scott took her by the arm and led her to Riley, Jim and Josh.

“Did you tell Jessica she could go in the corral?” Scott demanded as they neared the men.

Josh nodded, but it was clear from the expression on his face that he could barely believe it himself.

“Take her in the house Scott, “ Riley said. He was at a loss for a reaction. He needed time to think. Jessica lowered her head.

“Not going to argue with Riley?” Scott asked Jessica as she and he moved off toward the house.

“Ha, ha,” Jessica replied .

“I’m not kidding Jessica. Why do I get the attitude and Riley gets blessedly silent obedience?”

“I can be quite happy being blessedly quiet,” Jessica replied, “it just seems to me that you spend an awful lot of time bugging me to talk. You want silence … I can do that too.”

“Hey I never said I didn’t want you to talk to me … I just want to hear things like, ‘Yes Scott, you’re right Scott, I’ll do whatever you say Scott’. Any chance you can manage something like that?”

“Give me something to work with, and it’ll be no problem,” Jessica replied.

“Oh, you’re quite the comedian …What the hell?” Scott added, spying Angus coming from the direction of the road. He had a large item on his shoulder, and from the distance it looked like a dog.

“One of the dogs!” Jessica exclaimed quietly. They hadn’t gone far from the corral so Scott guided Jessica back, too curious to not investigate what had happened.

When Angus reached the corral he flung the dog’s body to the ground.

“One dead dog.” He muttered and looked at Jim as if he had single handedly killed it.

“Ginger!” Jessica gasped and ran to the lifeless body. “What happened?” she asked kneeling next to Ginger and looking in horror at the giant gash on the dog’s neck.

“Trap,” Angus replied.

He was unable to look at her. It had looked like she and Scott had been leaving, which had made Angus feel some relief. The past few nights he’d been having some disturbing dreams about Jessica. As if the dreams weren’t bad enough, the feelings that they were invoking were even worse. In the dreams he and Jessica were together. Together, together. And they were happy. Very happy. He was happier than he’d ever been in his life. There had even been a few mornings that he had woken up and to his horror found himself hugging Jessica. She’d been asleep each time, as far as he knew, she had no idea that it had happened. But each time he was angry with himself. He began to wonder if he could trust himself to be around her. Even now, he had a desire to be with her. The only thing he could do to avoid falling prey to it, was to keep a distance from her. He’d been having great luck with it, but now here she was, at his feet. At least some good could come from this, she was staring at a good example of what could happen to her if she tried to escape.

“Trap?” Jessica asked, still staring in horror at the wound, “Why would Ginger be near a trap?” She looked up at Jim, and saw Angus scowling at her. She averted her eyes to the ground.

“I believe you were on your way back to the house Jessica,” Riley interrupted. “Scott … “ and he thrust his head in the direction of the house.

“Right, let’s go Jessica.” Scott said.

Jessica stared at the dog. “What about the puppies?” she asked quietly. “What will they do without their mother? And what if they get stuck in the trap?”

“That’s a good question for Jim, “Angus replied. He had a self-satisfied look on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest and stood waiting for Jim’s reply.

“What?” Jim demanded.

“Why was it, again, that we had to litter the parameter of our property with bear traps?”

“Littered? The property is littered with traps? But why?” Jessica asked.

“You know damn well why those traps are there!” Angus thundered. Jessica shrank. “And you take a good hard look at Ginger Jessica, ‘cause if you try to make a run for it, you’ll be joining her!”

“Scott, get her out of here!” Riley ordered as Jessica seemed to collapse even closer to the ground.

“But they’re dangerous,” Jessica said.

“Excuse me?!” Angus demanded, grabbing Jessica by her arm and yanking her to her feet. He grabbed her by her forearms and pulled her to him.

“Did you say something?”

She was too close. He hadn’t fucked her in so long, and she smelled so good. Damn her. She stared at the red stubble on his chin. And there was just something about her look that made his pecker almost jump out of his pants. He felt out of control. Maybe, if he got her alone, got his rocks off, the feeling would subside and he could feel more in control.

“I said, did you say something!” Angus repeated himself.

“Would you care to repeat yourself Jessica,” Riley asked.

Jessica shook her head.

“Pardon?”

“No, “ Jessica whispered.

“Then I suggest that you stay out of our business.” Riley said.

“Maybe I should take a little alone time with Jessica, “ Angus said increasing the pressure on her arms, “make sure she gets the picture.”

“She gets it,” Scott said fearing a repeat of the incident a few weeks past. “We were about to go in the house, right Jessica?”

Jessica bobbed her head vigorously.

“Angus …” Scott urged when he hadn’t released Jessica.

“Next time, you won’t be so lucky!” Angus replied. His need was so strong that he nearly doubled over in pain.

Jessica moved beside Scott, relief flooding over her.

“Can I bring Baby with us?” she whispered to Scott.

“Good God Jessica, just get moving!”

“That’s just great!” Jim growled at Angus once Jessica was out of hearing range. “Now she thinks I killed the dog!”

“You pretty much did.” Riley said moving to crouch over the dog’s body and inspecting the wound.

“W .. w … what?” Jim demanded.

“Whose bleeding heart idea was it to take Jessica off her leash?” Riley asked.

“Jesus Christ Jim, the way you argued about it you would’ve thought that you were the one on the leash!” Angus said.

“You know Angus, sometimes it’s a good idea to try and put yourself in someone else’s place!” Jim replied.

“Give me a break …” Angus began.

“Let’s not rehash that.” Josh said eager to avoid the turmoil that the whole leash debate had caused, “Things have gotten better with Jessica since then, let’s just be satisfied with that.”

“Yeah, things have gotten a lot better. She’s also talking to us a lot more now … in case you haven’t noticed.” Jim added in an indignant tone.

“She’s talking alright,” Angus said, “about things she has no business talking about. Did it ever occur to you that nothing would work better for her than to have those traps removed? ”

‘That’s right,’ Angus continued to himself, ‘she’s just trying to find a way to screw us.’ He desperately wanted to rekindle the anger he used to feel about Jessica. To his consternation, all he was able to summon was fear. He feared the day that Jessica successfully escaped. He’d have to kill her. He’d have to hunt her down and kill her. Not for politics anymore, just for his sanity.
“D’you think?” Josh asked feeling a sense of disappointment. With her nightmares happening less frequently, and her general attitude change he had hoped that she’d decided to just be content there with him … them.

“While we’re on the topic of bleeding hearts,” Riley said, turning to Josh. “What the hell were you doing, letting Jessica go in the corral with Ebony?”

“She asked … she sounded so sure about how Ebony would behave … “

“Since when has Jessica been able to do whatever she asks to do?” Riley asked completely dumbfounded by Josh’s reasoning.

“She was right though, “ Jim said, “Ebony was fine. She’s told me that before Ebony just needs a good pet … “

“It seems to me that Jessica could sell you swamp land!” Angus said with disgust. It was all Jim’s fault. His soft hearted ways led Angus to the point where he could no longer dehumanize Jessica. Without that , he was succumbing to emotion.

“That’s uncalled for,” Jim exclaimed, “Riley, I thought we’d agreed that there’d be no more sniping … he’s sniping.”

“You know what Jimbo, when I decide to snipe, you’ll know it. The bullet will take half your head off.”

“Hey, that’s enough!” Riley interrupted. “We’re family, so let’s start acting like it!”

“Right.” Angus grumbled, “What do you want me to do with the body?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Riley said.

“Fine. I’ll go reset the trap just in case someone else should try to wander where they are not supposed to be!”

Angus stalked off.

“It’s no mystery why Jessica wants nothing to do with him!” Jim muttered and marched off in the opposite direction.

Jim’s words ricocheted in Rileys’ mind.

What he’d really meant was it was little wonder to Jim why Jessica wanted nothing to do with Angus, and what he’d left unsaid in Riley’s presence, was ‘and Riley’’. And what had he said before that? Jessica was talking to ‘them’ more. Jessica wasn’t speaking to Riley any more than usual. So she and he had had some positive interactions. Real communication, that did not make. In fact, if he didn’t pry things out of her, she’d barely say two words to him. Maybe it was just an exaggeration on Jim’s part … but then she had told Jim that Max was deaf and blind … what were the chances that she would have told Riley directly if he’d been near her at the time? Slim to none. Riley felt jealously growing.

“Those two are like oil and water,” Josh said as he watched Jim go in the house and slam the door behind him.

“We’ll have to do something to repair that rift between them. It’s not good the way things are right now.” Riley said, but frankly he couldn’t blame Angus for his reactions.

Josh nodded his head. “I don’t know how we’d do that. They’re on opposite sides of the road, and I don’t think either one can even see the other one’s side.”

“We used to all be on the same side Josh.”

“We still are, in a lot of ways. But when it comes to Jessica, Angus refuses to bend. That’s going to be a problem.”

Riley nodded his head.

“What’s his problem, anyway?” Josh asked, “I thought we all wanted a relationship with Jessica.”

“Angus wants anything but,” Riley said. “Beth really hurt him.”

“Seriously? He’s so hard on Jessica because of Beth?” Josh exclaimed finally seeing some reason behind Angus’ behavior. Now it all made sense.

“Well, that makes it easier. We just have to convince him that Jessica isn’t going to do to him, what Beth did.”

“Oh yeah, that’s easy.” Riley said with a snicker.

“Okay, not easy, but doable.”

“Let me know when you figure out how. I’m going to go check on the dogs. I’ve gotta figure out what to do with Max.” Riley said and turned to leave.

“You may want to check if he’s blind and deaf,” Josh replied.

“What?” Riley asked.

“I know it’s a long shot, but Jessica seems convinced that he’s blind and deaf.”

“He is blind and deaf. I checked it out earlier with Jim.”

“I’ll be damned!” Josh exclaimed. “Well, you may want to tell Angus to check if there’s water in his fuel line … another one of Jessica’s theories that may be true.”

“How the hell would Jessica know if there’s water in the fuel line?” Riley demanded.

Josh shrugged. “She has been reading Angus’ magazines a lot lately … and she was right about the dog …”

“Get rid of the body for me will you?” Riley asked, not even waiting for Josh’s response. He found Angus returning from the trap.

“Water in the fuel line,” Riley said.

“What?” Angus asked, secretly glad that his overalls were so baggy. His hard-on had not subsided in any way, and he didn’t want Riley to guess what he was going to be doing in the bathroom in a few minutes.

“Is there a chance that there’s water in your fuel line?”

Angus hesitated. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“But it’s possible?”

“It’s possible, and pretty probable. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that myself. Thanks!” And he began to move toward the corvette.

“Don’t thank me,” Riley said, following Angus. How could Jessica possibly know these things?

“Huh?” Angus asked, the tone of Riley’s voice catching his attention.

“It was Jessica.”

“Jessica told you that?”

“She told Josh … who told me. She also told Jim, and Josh for that matter, that Max is blind and deaf.”

“How can he be blind and deaf without you knowing it?” Angus demanded.

“He is Angus. I checked when Jim told me. Now you have to check the fuel line.”

“What is she up to?” Angus muttered.

“I don’t know Angus. What I do know is that things are changing. I’d like you to consider the fact that Jessica and Beth are completely separate people, and you’re in a completely different situation with Jessica than you were with Beth.”

Angus looked down at his crotch. No obvious bulge. There was no way Riley could know about his current need, nor the dreams he’d been having about Jessica.

“What the hell brought that on?” Angus demanded.

“Jim’s not the enemy Angus. And in your case, neither is Jessica.” Riley held his palm up to Angus, as Angus seemed on the verge of arguing.

“For you, the enemy is Beth. And there’s nothing you can do about that. But Jessica. Everything is different with Jessica. Yes, she may be scheming to escape. And if she does, you can blow her brains out and get your sense of justice. She can’t hurt you like Beth did.”

Angus stared at Riley. He cleared his throat. He was a little creeped out. It was almost as if Riley knew what he was going through.

“What are you getting at Riley?” Angus asked.

“It’s alright to relax a little Angus. You’re the one in control here, not Jessica. Enjoy that a little.”

“Have you relaxed?” Angus asked.

“Enough to be interested in something more than just holding Jessica captive. I want some reciprocity from her,” Riley said, but simultaneously felt surprised by the words he spoke. He hadn’t consciously thought it through.

“I’ve been taking it easier on her Riley …”

“I know. I’m talking about moving beyond that. Have you noticed anything about the way that Jessica interacts with the others?”

“You mean how she wraps them around her little finger?”

“The way she seems so much more at ease with them. You have to have noticed that.”

“Maybe a little,” Angus replied. In fact he had spent so much time avoiding Jessica that he hadn’t noticed much. “What exactly do you want me to do?”

“Nothing specific, “Riley replied. “Just don’t hold Beth against Jessica. That’s all.”

“Right. Okay. Can I go now? I’ve gotta go for a piss.”

“Just check that water in the fuel line …”

“I will,” Angus replied, and headed for the house.

Ten minutes, and several jerk-offs later, Angus made his way back to the living room. Fantasies of Jessica fighting with him, and attempts at restraining her leading to unbelievable sex, made Angus feel more alive than he had in years. In his fantasies, Jessica never meant to really hurt him, it was just foreplay.

Maybe Riley’s suggestion that Beth and Jessica weren’t the same had merit. After all, sex between him and Beth had been fantastic, but not animalistic, brutal. With Jessica, that was what turned him on. So long as he was sure she wouldn’t actually kill him. And unfortunately in reality, he was not sure of that. Not at all. He hated to admit it, but he wanted to be. As he came into the center of the living room, he allowed himself to look at Jessica, really look at her. She sat on the sofa, and she looked very forlorn. The usual smoldering hatred, just below the surface, was absent. The Jessica that sat on the sofa now, could be the Jessica of his fantasies … an unmistakable sense of vulnerability overcame him. As vulnerable as Jessica looked to an unsuspecting eye Angus himself felt one hundred times more vulnerable. He was heading down a slippery slope, and he had to do something to save himself. In his mind’s eye, a memory of Jessica in some past time, running away from him, played out. The anger that he’d felt then, came back to him. Good. He turned on his heel and headed out the door.

*********************************************************

“What’s going on … why’s the dog in here?” Riley asked, closing the front door behind him. Jessica was curled on the sofa, hugging Baby, Jim sat on the sofa next to Jessica, and Scott and Josh stood in the kitchen. They looked like they’d been discussing something.

Scott motioned Riley over.

“That dog is not coming back in the house!” he said to Scott and Josh.

“This is not good,” Josh said, “she’s really upset about the puppies not having their mother … I think she may be thinking about her own. Mother, that is.” Riley turned to look at Jessica. She had her face buried on the dog’s fur. Next to her, Jim shrugged his shoulders. Riley couldn’t believe it, but he was actually feeling sorry for Jessica. Any compassion he may have had for her when they’d first taken her, had been stomped out by Jessica’s repeated attacks and attempts to flee. But the loss he’d felt at losing his family came back to him, and for a moment he wished he could ease Jessica’s pain. Before he knew what he was doing, he had moved to the sofa and sat between Jim and Jessica.

“Jessica,” he said, and wondered what he could possibly say to make her feel better. Jessica looked up and fear passed over her face. She drew Baby closer to her.

“I know it seems bad for the pups that Ginger is dead … but I was about to start weaning them anyway. They would’ve been separated in a day or two, no matter what.” Riley paused. This wasn’t completely true. He wouldn’t have weaned them for another few weeks at least, but it certainly wasn’t going to hurt them to be weaned a bit earlier.

“Really?” Jessica asked as the fear in her expression gave way to relief.

“You bet,” Riley answered.

“So, it’s okay for them to not have their mother?”

“Perfectly.”

Jessica nodded. She seemed relieved as she kissed Baby on the head. Riley sat watching Jessica. Another positive interaction with Jessica. What would it take to make it a full conversation? He was so reluctant to bring the whole Ebony issue up, because he knew that the positive would disappear from the interaction.

“See Jess, you were worried for nothing,” Josh kneeling next to the sofa, running his hand over Baby’s head. Jessica looked up from the dog, smiled and nodded. And that was the reason Riley couldn’t let the incident with Ebony go. Even if Josh’s brains had slid down to his dick, Jessica had to know enough not to ask to do stupid stuff.

“Jessica,” Riley began, and instantly the smile disappeared from her face. Fear replaced it, and her eyes automatically looked to the floor. What the hell? A moment ago Jessica was smiling up at Josh, and one word from him, and she looked like Jack the Ripper had just spoken to her. Riley felt winded, like someone had just punched him in the gut. He couldn’t remember the last time his feelings had been hurt like this.

“I guess I should be thankful that you don’t just ignore me like Max does … “ Riley mumbled, maybe the dog could be a bridge for them. Maybe she’d be willing to share her observations about the dog’s disabilities with him … but his comment was met with silence. Jessica didn’t so much as blink.

“Max might be deaf and blind Riley,” Scott said from the kitchen. Riley felt his cheeks go hot. So he and Angus were the only ones Jessica hadn’t shared her theory with?

“Really?” Riley said in a controlled voice, “And where did you get that idea?” He asked, never moving his eyes from Jessica. Scott looked from Riley to Jessica, to Jim and Josh, completely bewildered. Jim slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. Leave it to Riley to find a way to make a positive move on Jessica’s part look bad. Would anything ever make this man happy?

“I told you that already,” Josh said wondering why Riley was acting so surprised by the news.

“Yes. You did Josh, thanks. Jessica, look at me.” Jessica forced her eyes up. “The next time you have something to tell me, do it yourself. Understand?”

Jessica nodded. Her eyes lowered again.

“I’m not done yet,” Riley said, “and I expect you to look at me when I’m talking to you … good,” he said when she looked up again. “If you ever want to get permission to go horseback riding, you’ve got to stop doing stupid things. Hey,” he said snapping his fingers in front of Jessica as her eyes began to slide away again, “I swear to God Jessica, if I have to tell you to look at me again during this conversation, you and I are going to have a little alone time where you can practice doing nothing but looking at me for hours and hours.”

“I gave her permission to see Ebony,” Josh interrupted.

“I know you did!” Riley snapped, “That’s beside the point. Jessica, I don’t want to see you on the inside of that corral again.” Jessica snapped to attention. Now he had her attention. “Do you have something to say?”

“But … when I can ride … “ Jessica’s voice trailed off. Riley looked like was about to reach out and strangle her. “I asked Josh … he said it was okay …”

“So, because you were able to sweet talk Josh into letting you do something stupid, it’s alright?” Riley demanded.

“B b but … when I’m allowed to ride … I need to go in the corral …”

“If … big if, you’re allowed to ride. Don’t take anything for granted Jessica. At the rate you’re going, the only thing you’ll be riding is the sofa.”

“Wait a minute!” Josh demanded. “Jessica did what she was supposed to. She asked me permission and I gave it to her. Are you telling me now that my word means nothing?”

“I don’t know about Jessica,” Jim piped in, getting to his feet, “but I’m getting confused. Which is it Riley, can she ask us permission to do stuff or not? Are you the only authority here?”

‘Shit’, Riley swore under his breath. Jim, Josh and Scott stood glaring at him. Riley got to his feet.

“Let’s continue this conversation with Jessica in the basement.”

“No, I think this is something Jessica should hear. She’s been sticking to the rules Riley. She’s supposed to ask for permission to do something out of the ordinary … and she did. It’s only fair to her, and to us, to know up front what is acceptable and what’s not.” Jim said.

‘So much for not disagreeing in front of her,’ Riley thought to himself.

“Fine. You make a very good point Jim. Maybe it’s not a problem with Jessica, but a problem with you numbskulls. Start using your brains, will you? Next week we’ll be at … work,” Riley said.

He slid his eyes over to Jessica. No reaction. The others had looked to Jessica also fearing a negative reaction. But Jessica seemed unaffected by the knowledge that the men would be returning to their acts of violence. All four men looked at one another, unsure what to make of Jessica’s apparent acceptance of this fact.

“And when that time comes, someone’s going to have to stay here with Jessica. If you still want it to be you … you’d better start making better decisions with her.”

“Fuck!” Josh hissed.

Jim lowered his head in exasperation.

After the attack on Jessica’s family, the clan had taken a break to let things cool down. When word had come that the clans would co-ordinate renewed attacks, it had been decided that Jim, Scott and Josh would remain behind with Jessica. They had been wounded during the attack on Jessica’s family. Although the wounds had not caused any permanent damage, none of the three had any desire to be active in the field again. Initially, none of them were going to participate. Jessica was so difficult to handle, it was questionable whether any one of them could be left alone with her. But as Jessica seemed to have mellowed, Jim, Scott and Josh worked hard to convince Riley that they’d be okay alone with her. They had succeeded but now it seemed Riley was willing to rescind the agreement.

“Okay, okay,” Jim said, holding his hands up. It wouldn’t take much to cause Riley to change his mind about the whole thing. “We’ll be more careful. Okay? You don’t have to worry Riley, really.”

“Luckily for you, you still have time to prove yourselves … wait a minute! Why am I the one looking like the bad guy here?” Riley demanded. “Don’t we all want Jessica to be safe? I don’t think any of you want her to get trampled for Christ sake!”

The door slammed. Angus had returned and stood observing them. Jessica had jumped at the sound, she sat with her eyes squeezed shut, her heart pounding.

“Jesus Angus, is it that hard for you to close the door normally for a change?” Scott demanded. “You scared the crap out of us!”

“You mean I scared the crap out of you and Jessica,” Angus replied, “what does that tell you?”

“Guys!” Riley interrupted. “Let’s stick to the topic. Start being smarter … and Jessica knows enough not to ask to do certain things. For crying out loud Jessica, don’t you have any sense of self-preservation?”

Jessica had still been cringing from Angus’ entrance. With Riley’s question, she opened one eye and looked at him. They were all silent. Self-preservation. It occurred to Riley that she either had a large dose of a misguided sense of self-preservation, or no sense at all. Everything she’d done in the past few years could fall under either category.

“Stupid question,” Riley said. “Jessica, Baby’s gotta go back outside. I’ve gotta get back to work, I’ll take her with me.” He held his hands out. Jessica kissed Baby on the head, and passed her over to Riley.

“Stay out of trouble.” He said and headed for the door.

Angus nodded to Riley as he came toward him. Riley tilted his chin at the door, and both disappeared through it.

“What’s up?” Riley asked as he dropped Baby onto her feet on the lawn and turned in the direction of the kennels.

“There was water in the fuel line.” Angus replied.

Riley froze mid-stride. He turned to stare at the house. Angus followed his gaze.

“What do you think she’s up to?” Angus asked.

“I don’t know. You?”

“I don’t believe for a second that her goal has changed in any way. She wants to run away, but now she’s biding her time till she does. All this talk about Beth, and giving Jessica a chance …” Angus said, hoping the catch in his voice wasn’t evident. “It’s bullshit. She’ll use whatever she can to pull a fast one on us.”

Riley looked at Angus in surprise.

“What?” Angus asked.

“So you’re convinced that she’s not to be trusted?” Riley asked, but couldn’t help but smile. Nothing that Angus said was new. He’d repeated his same old argument, but this time, much less convincingly. The hell and brim fire was gone.

“What are you smiling about? I just told you that I don’t trust her!”

“Neither do I Angus. But do you remember how excited she got when I told her that I might let her train Baby with me? I don’t know about you, but I’d like to see that more often.”

The total euphoria that was on Jessica’s face when she’d been thrown from Ebony, and she’d looked down at him as he’d checked her for broken bones, flashed through Angus’ mind. He began to feel a pull in his groin again. Christ, he hadn’t been this horny since he’d been a teenager! He shook his head.

“So, you’re going to let her train that mutt with you, great. If you think I’m going to let her work on the vette with me, you’ve got another thing coming. Do you realize how easy it’d be for her to stick me with the screw driver when I’m not paying attention?”

“You’re right. All I’m saying is, consider the possibilities. There’s a lot we can get from her, whether she plans to run, or not.“

“Yeah. Okay.”

“Angus!” Jim yelled from the front door, “Help!”

Angus and Riley exchanged a glance before racing to the house.

“In the bathroom,” Jim said and led the way to the bathroom.

When they entered they found Josh holding a bucket, and Jessica on her knees in the middle of a geyser of water under the counter, hands outstretched and trying to plug a leaking pipe. She screamed as the water sprayed her in the face, and she tried unsuccessfully to get her face out of the path of the water. Josh tried to maneuver the bucket around her under the counter, and suddenly the water stopped. There was a shocked silence as Jessica shook her soaked head.

Scott raced in to the bathroom, “Did it stop?” he demanded.

He’d gone into the basement in an attempt to turn the water off.

“Holy shit Jessica!” Scott commented when he saw her hair dripping, shirt plastered to her chest. Jessica looked down at herself, and began to laugh.

“What the hell happened?” Riley asked, still feeling the panic he’d felt on his way in.
Angus was unable to speak. Anger had gripped him, he was sure Jessica had done something in an attempt to escape. Perhaps even succeeding in killing Scott this time … and the anger he’d felt was not easily shaken now.

Jessica turned to see Riley and Angus scowling at her, and the laughter ceased.

“The pipe broke,” Josh said.

“It broke, or it was broken?” Angus asked in a low voice.

“Broke,” Josh replied, doing a double take when he saw the expression on Angus’ face. “I was standing right next to Jessica, right here, when it happened. Trust me, it broke on its own.”

Riley nodded. He felt physical relief as the tension eased out of his body. For the first time, he realized how much energy it took for him to get that angry.

“You going to fix it?” Riley asked Angus.

Angus nodded.

“I’ll need help though,” he said moving forward to get a look under the counter. “To get the piping off, I have to slide under the counter. I need someone to hand me the tools, like we did when we changed the sink a few years back.”

“I can help,” Jim said. “I’ll get Jessica cleaned-up and then we’ll be back.”

“Josh, want to give me a hand in the barns then?” Scott asked. “I never did get finished in there.”

Josh nodded and disappeared with Scott.

“Come on Jess,” Jim said and held his hand out to her. Jessica moved to get up, and bumped into Angus.

“Sorry,” she said, and began to crawl forward. Angus caught Jessica by her arm and pulled her to her feet. Jessica’s shirt was plastered to her chest, she stood shivering, her erect nipples protruding from her shirt. When Angus didn’t let her go, Jessica looked up, and followed his line of vision to her chest. Jessica’s cheeks turned red as she hugged herself with her free arm. Angus couldn’t move his eyes from where the little peaks had been. He couldn’t take any more.

“I’ll change her,” he grumbled and he pulled her behind him by the arm.

No sooner had the door to his room closed, Angus pulled Jessica to him. His hands slid up her shirt, found her nipples and rubbed. Jessica was shaking, her flesh was freezing. He pulled her shirt over her head, he reached for her pants and cursed. She was on the rag! Damn it, when was she supposed to start the pills again? He couldn’t remember but her bleeding never stopped him before. It just made things messier.

“Are you bleeding?” he demanded while tugging on the waist of her pants. Why the hell was he asking her? Like she’d tell the truth … he’d have to find out for himself.

“No,” Jessica whispered. Angus looked down at her, her cheeks were bright red and she was looking everywhere but at him. He couldn’t wait any longer. He ripped her pants off, and pushed her onto his bed. Jessica turned her head to the side as Angus’ hand moved down her thighs, and pushed her legs apart.

“Kiss me,” he said gruffly. Jessica had closed her eyes. But Angus took her chin in his hand and turned her face to his. She opened her eyes to stare at the stubble on his chin.

“I said, kiss me,” Angus was panting, out of breath from the mounting pleasure. His one hand had found Jessica’s opening and he slammed his fingers into it, his other hand tilted her chin up. He lowered his lips to hers and slipped his tongue between her lips. Her lips were rigid at first, and he slid his hand down to her breast, cupped it as he normally would in preparation to protect himself. But then Jessica softened, and her lips became pliable. He used his tongue to feel around her mouth, and as his fingers prodded Jessica’s hole, the flesh around it, a moistness trickled from it. Angus couldn’t wait any longer. He got to his knees, nudged her legs apart with his knee and rammed himself into the opening his fingers had held ready for him. His hands moved to her shoulders and held her in place as he thrust over and over again, finally feeling a sensation so pleasurable that he groaned and fell on top of her. He lay panting, unable to move. God, if he’d waited any longer with his pent up need he would’ve blown her head right off. Jessica didn’t move beneath him. Just lay still, warm and soft. She smelled so good, the urge to hold her to him began to take hold. Damn it, he was weak. No wonder Beth had pulled one over on him. He should take her up the ass, hurt her a little again. Maybe he’d force her to enact her escape plan and get the inevitable over with. But, it wasn’t his night with her, he’d already gone too far. He rolled off of Jessica and sat up.

“Get dressed.” He said without looking at her.

Jessica didn’t move. She’d been thrown off by his demand that she kiss him. And he hadn’t hurt her. A phrase ran through her mind … ‘men think with their peckers … you want to change the way a man thinks, do a good job on his pecker!’. As though through a fog, she realized she’d heard her mother’s friend say it once. She hadn’t understood what it’d meant then, but now she was getting the idea.

Angus looked over his shoulder and caught Jessica watching him.

“Oh,” Jessica exclaimed, and dropped her gaze. She sat up. She couldn’t figure Angus out. She’d come to expect to be used by Angus, physically, and then ignored. He rarely paid any attention to any part of her that was above her neck. Tonight he had. And he hadn’t gone out of his way to hurt her. And with the help of the cream that Scott kept putting on her private areas, she could have had an orgasm had Angus been a little gentler, taken a little more time. Maybe her mother’s friend had been right. She wasn’t sure she was up to the task of finding out. Jessica moved off the far side of the bed and to the chest of drawers. She kept her back to him as she worked on a bra, and slipped on a shirt. She closed the drawer and stood quietly before it. She seemed to be studying the knob on the drawer.

Angus felt unsettled. Why, he didn’t know. There’d been something odd about the expression on Jessica’s face, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. She’d never so openly looked at him before … in fact her eyes had never strayed in his direction unless they were forced to.

“Let’s go,” he said. Jessica turned and moved toward the door. She reached Angus as he was getting to his feet, almost colliding with her. She tried to scoot by him, but he grabbed her arm.

“I asked you to kiss me earlier Jessica, you owe me a kiss.”

“I … I … we did …” Jessica stammered.

“No …” Angus replied kind of liking the gentler side of Jessica. It occurred to him that normally, by now, he’d be fighting to hang on to her arm … protecting his vulnerable parts from Jessica’s jabs.

“I asked you to kiss me. But I ended-up kissing you. You owe me a kiss.”

“Uhhh …” Jessica seemed to be struggling with a flurry of emotions. Fear, confusion, desperation, resignation, all seemed to play across her face.

“I’m waiting … and if I were you, I wouldn’t keep me waiting for too long.”

Jessica inhaled and placing her hands on his chest, she pushed up on her toes and brushed his cheek with her lips.

She stood before him, head lowered, enduring the silence that followed. At any moment now, Angus could be hurting her again. But, if he didn’t hurt her, what did it mean? Should she try … try to use sex to get what she wanted? No, she couldn’t. What she wanted, he would never give her. But still, things could get better. With the exception of Riley, they had improved with the others.

“That was a kiss alright Jessica, but when I talk about a kiss from you to me, I definitely and in no way, mean on my cheek.”

Jessica flicked her eyes up at him for a moment and then stared at the floor again. She shifted from foot to foot.

“Where do you think I would want you to kiss me?” Angus asked. This was almost like his fantasies. Not physically fighting, but Jessica being coy … making him tease things out of her. He felt a stirring in his groin. He was never going to get around to fixing that sink.

“I asked you a question Jessica … “ pleasure was mounting.

“Lips,” Jessica whispered.

“What was that?”

“On the lips,” Jessica replied.

“So?”

Jessica placed her hands on his chest again, and paused. She stood staring at his chest. She suddenly had an overwhelming urge to make Angus like her. He had been nicer to her lately, maybe if she tried a little harder to be nice to him …

Angus stood staring at her. He couldn’t possibly fuck her again, could he? Jim was waiting in the bathroom for them. They’d already well exceeded the time it took to change clothing.

Slowly, Jessica raised her eyes and looked in his. She held his gaze for several seconds, and then slowly raised herself up to his lips. Her lips locked on his and delivered a kiss much like he’d fantasized about hours earlier, in the bathroom. She stopped short of using her tongue but it was electric anyway. She looked in his eyes again, before moving away from him. Angus was stunned. Absolutely stunned. His desire gave way to something else … something he didn’t know what to do with. He could hear his bedroom clock ticking away. They had to get out of the bedroom before something unpredictable, and emotionally dangerous happened.

Angus cleared his throat.

“We’d better go,” he said, but as Jessica took a step forward, he wasn’t really ready to let her go yet. He was still struggling inside with the desire to have Jessica again. Angus’ arm shot out to stop her. It inadvertently landed on her left breast. She froze … fear played across her face. He let his hand fall. Relief replaced the fear in Jessica’s expression. Well, it wasn’t his night with her anyway. Obviously the fantasy he’d been hoping for wasn’t going to happen, the fear that had played on Jessica’s face made that clear.

“After you …” he said. Jessica moved to the door quickly. She wanted to get away from him. That knowledge had disappointment washing over him. Angus shook his head. Things were getting confusing.

Jim was coming out of the bathroom as they came to the doorway.

“There you are … is everything alright?” he asked, studying Jessica to see if Angus had hurt her. She wouldn’t look him in the eye, but otherwise seemed alright.

“Fine.” Angus grumbled. “Toolbox is in the garage. Be right back.”

The second Angus was gone, Jim turned to Jessica.

“Did Angus hurt you?” Jim asked bending down to get into her line of vision. “Did he hit you?”

Jessica shook her head.

“Jessica, look at me will you. What happened?”

Chin tucked in, Jessica rolled her eyes up to look at him. Her cheeks grew red.

“Oh God,” Jim mumbled. “You don’t mean … he didn’t …”

Jessica looked down at the floor quickly and shifted uncomfortably.

“It’s … it’s not his night with you … Hell, it’s not even night … I’m sorry Jess.”

Jessica nodded.

Angus stomped back in, carrying the toolbox and long pieces of tubing.

“I’ll tell you what tools I need, you pass them to me,” he said as he bent onto his knees before the sink.

“Right,” Jim replied, wondering whether he dared bring up the breach of rules with Angus. This was to be Jim’s night with Jessica, he had every right to be angry! Christ, he couldn’t say anything. The second he did, Angus would strike back at Jessica.

“What’s your problem?” Angus asked.

“Nothing …” Jim answered, taken aback, was he that easy to read?

“Could’ve fooled me,” Angus replied shifting his eyes over to where Jessica stood fidgeting.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jim replied looking over at Jessica also.

“As long as you’re sure,” Angus said and made his way under the counter. At least Jessica hadn’t gone whining to Jim about their interlude. He had no idea who he would’ve been more pissed at … Jessica for complaining, or Jim for having the nerve to bring it up.

“Just take a seat on the toilet there Jess,” Jim said, opening the tool box, “this shouldn’t take long.”

“Christ it’s dark under here,” Angus complained, “I knew we shouldn’t have set this up like this. Why the hell would we have the joint under the counter? I can barely fit under here … damnit.”

“Here’s the flashlight,” Jim said sliding a small snake light under the counter with Angus.

“Thanks. Alright, I need the basin wrench,”

“Jim!” Josh yelled from the living room.

“Coming!” Jim yelled, jumping to his feet. “Back in a sec Angus.”

Jim held a finger up at Jessica. She nodded and he ran out the door.

“Thanks for your help there …” Angus grumbled, leaning to the side, trying to see out from under the cabinet. He felt around with his hand until it landed on the tool box. He felt his way along the side of the box. Suddenly he felt metal against the top of this hand. He turned his palm up and his fingers closed around a tool.

“Thanks,” he said pulling it closer to the light. It was the right wrench … ‘what do you know’, Angus muttered to himself.

“Son of a … pass the adjustable wrench will you,” Angus said. Now he remembered why he hated tight places. Alternating between the basin and adjustable wrench, Angus finally managed to get the cracked tubing separated.

“Here,” he said sliding the first piece of tubing out to Jim. “This is the original broken one, and I think I cracked the bottom tube here, while trying to separate them. So what you’re going to have to do is measure this new tubing to the same length as this old piece. There’s a hacksaw in the toolbox.”

Angus paused and heard Jim moving around, and then the saw cutting into the tubing. Jim pushed the tube beside Angus.

“Okay, here’s the other piece.” Angus said shoving the second piece out.

“Hey, this fits perfect,” Angus commented as he fit the tube to the existing piping and began attaching it.

He heard the saw working on the tubing. Intermingled with its rhythmic whine, was the sound of footsteps, running, and a bang, like the bathroom door banging against the wall.

“Jessica!” he heard Riley yell, “Put that down, now!”

Angus heard something fall to the floor. He scrambled out from under the counter … what the hell had she done to Jim?

He came into the light blinking. He looked around for Jim, and found him standing near the bathroom door, face frozen in the same contorted expression as Riley, Josh and Scott.

None of them moved. Angus blinked. What the hell was Jim doing over there? He swung his gaze toward the toolbox, and found Jessica kneeling near him, the piping in one hand, and the hacksaw lying on the ground beside her. He stared, unable to move. Jessica too was frozen, head turned to the other men. She was panting and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Angus could see the excess piece of piping next to her knee.

“Move back Jessica,” Riley said in a voice filled with fury. Jessica turned her gaze away from the men, and looked directly at Angus. She looked scared, and oddly, confused. She held Angus’ gaze for a second before looking down at the floor as she crawled back away from the piping.

“Are you alright Angus?” Scott demanded as he moved forward and kicked the saw further away from Jessica. His heart pounded in his chest. Images of Jessica sawing his head off while he hung helpless in the handcuffs on his headboard played in his mind. Thank God she hadn’t had a weapon on hand!

“Did she cut you?” Scott asked, scanning Angus for signs of a wound. Angus shook his head.

“I’m fine,” Angus said.

Riley stalked over to where Jessica crouched on all fours.

He ran his hands over her, frisking every nook and cranny before pulling her up by her shirt collar.

Jessica dangled above the floor in Riley’s grip, he bashed her against the wall, knocking the air out of her. He stuck his face into hers, his contorted face making it obvious that he’d love nothing more than to rip her apart.

“This is the last straw Jessica!” He thundered as his free hand worked his belt free. “I’ve been bending over backwards to try and help you earn some freedom, avoid receiving the pain you seem so desperate to get … but this … this takes us back to square one. You want to be enemy number one Jessica? Fine, be enemy number one. You, me and my belt are going to have a lot of time now to play that game. Let’s go!”

Riley carried her by her shirt collar toward the bathroom door. Jessica hung like a dead rabbit in his grasp.

“Wait,” Angus said. “Riley … wait!” he got to his feet and jogged after Riley. Riley stopped just as Angus neared him.

“You’re right Angus … sorry. You go first. I’ll finish with whatever is left of her.” And he handed Jessica to Angus. Angus took Jessica by the arms, and had to hold her up. She’d become dead weight, and had a look of absolute terror on her face.

“Jim,” Angus said turning to Jim. He hesitated before speaking when he saw how grey and destroyed Jim looked. “Is this the first time you returned since leaving to help Josh?”

Jim nodded. “I’m sorry Angus … I never thought … I would never have believed …”

“Take her downstairs Jim,” Angus said handing Jessica to him.

“I don’t think I can.” Jim replied. He sounded wounded, and he wouldn’t look at Jessica. Angus turned to Josh and then Scott. Neither one looked any better than Jim.

“Shit.” He muttered, and scooping Jessica into his arms, he left the bathroom, and headed for the basement. Downstairs he lay Jessica on the sofa. He stood staring at her for a moment, and she stared back. He shook his head and went back up the stairs.

When Angus left, Jessica rocked back and forth on the sofa in the basement. It had been so long since she’d done anything really useful that she’d jumped at the chance to help Angus. She was surprised that he let her and they’d been working together so nicely. She couldn’t understand why Angus had looked so surprised to see her there. She was so confused. She took a deep breath. She had no idea what was going to happen and that worried her. Really worried her.

When Angus returned upstairs, none of the men had left the bathroom.

He found them standing exactly as he had left them.

“Where’s Jessica?” Scott demanded.

“Downstairs.” Angus replied.

“Downstairs?” Josh asked, “Why are you here?”

“I don’t know,” Angus said. “I do know that I need a drink. Anyone else?”

“I don’t want anything to diminish the satisfaction that I’m going to get from re-educating Jessica.” Riley said.

“There’s a waiting list here Angus,” Josh said in a beaten tone, “would you mind getting on with it. I’d like my turn some time tonight.”

“You were gone for well over ten minutes Jim,” Angus said. Jim nodded and looked like all he wanted to do was slit his own wrists.

“In those ten minutes, Jessica handed me tools, and cut the piping.”

The men’s heads seemed to snap up in unison.

“She was coming after you with the saw Angus.” Riley said, “We all saw it, first hand.”

“Was she holding the piece of piping ahead of her … like she was about to shove it under the counter?”

Riley opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out.

“Where was the saw?” Angus continued, “Was she actually trying to cut me?”

“Just what the hell are you saying?” Scott demanded. His nerves were shot, and he felt like he was going to puke. The last thing he needed was Angus playing twenty questions.

“I’m saying that for ten minutes, at least, Jessica had access to every tool in that box. She spent that time, handing me tools and cutting the piping.”

“You don’t think she was trying to kill you?” Jim asked.

Angus couldn’t believe he was about to say it, but oddly he felt he had to. “No.” he replied.

“You don’t think she was trying to escape?” Josh asked.

“Hey, I never said that!” Angus said, holding his hands up in protest, “This has to all be part of her master plan somehow. But just now, she was not trying to kill me.” Angus shook his head. He could not believe he’d just spoken those words.

“You’re sure?” Riley asked. He felt drained.

“She’s still alive, isn’t she?” Angus asked.

“Christ!” Jim exploded. “I swear to God Angus, I thought I was going to be away for a second … I didn’t know there was a damn wild dog out there!”

“Jim,” Angus said holding up his hand, “it’s okay. I should’ve checked to make sure you’d taken her with you. What kind of dumb ass was I to make myself vulnerable like that?”

Jim looked stunned. “Thanks,” he said, not quite believing that Angus was being so understanding about the whole thing. Angus nodded.

“What does this mean then?” Riley asked. When he replayed the scene in his mind … opening the door, seeing Jessica, he had to admit that the saw was not being held in any threatening manner. She in fact looked like she was about to hand the piping to someone, and the saw just happened to be with her. Even if she’d had no intention of harming Angus, for Riley, Jessica and saws just didn’t mix.

“Maybe she doesn’t plan on trying to kill her way out anymore?” Josh said. It was a relieving thought.

“She could be trying to lull us into a false sense of security,” Angus said.

“Huh?” the men asked simultaneously, looking at him like he’d grown two heads.

“But you just said …” Jim began to protest.

“I know, I know,” Angus said. “Jessica did have every opportunity to harm me if she’d intended to. I’m leaving it at that … ”

“She should have known better than to pick up potential weapons,” Riley added.

“Yup,” Angus agreed, “we should make that point to her.”

Riley looked at Angus from the corner of his eye. This had to be the first time ever that Angus wasn’t pulling excuses from thin air for a reason to beat the crap out of Jessica.

“You guys go ahead,” Jim said, moving to the bathroom door, “but I need some time to think. I’ll be outside getting rid of that dog’s body.” And he disappeared through the door.

“Another dog?” Angus asked.

“A wild dog. It came from out of nowhere, started chasing down the horses, “ Scott replied.

“Must be sick,” Angus said. “No way any normal dog would do that in broad daylight … with people around.”

“He doesn’t look sick,” Riley answered, finding it hard to care much about the conversation. “So, what you’re telling me is that you have no plan to punish Jessica for this at all?”

“I guess not,” Angus replied. “For some reason I don’t feel like punishing her … for this anyway. Give me a few minutes and I’ll find something to come down on her for.” He couldn’t’ explain it … even to himself. He just didn’t feel angry at her for what she did. Maybe that was Jim’s problem … maybe that was why he never felt like punishing her. In fact, didn’t he always have some similar argument … that she could’ve done A, but instead she did B? Angus groaned … the fact that he was starting to understand Jim worried him.

“So, you’re just going to leave her in the basement?” Riley asked.

“No, one of you are free to take her out. I’m going to finish this damn plumbing.”

“Well, hell. She needs to be told what she did wrong. We didn’t freak out for nothing!” Riley said. The front door slammed, and seconds later, Jim stormed back into the bathroom.

“It’s my night with Jessica … “ Jim stated, “and I’m starting it early. If any of you have something to say to her … do it now.”

“That’d be me then,” Riley said, and headed out to the living room.

The others followed. Angus looked at the plumbing, and then the door. The sink could wait. Maybe Jessica would do something that would give him a reason to get mad at her. It was unsettling to not have that purpose. He came into the living room just as Riley led Jessica through the basement door. Her look of misery did nothing to inflame his anger. He fell back against the wall. For once he had no agenda with Jessica. Looking around the room at the other men, Angus could see that they on the other hand, did. He was definitely having a Jim moment, it made him feel off balance.

“Sofa, Jessica, sit.” Riley said.

Head bowed, Jessica moved to the sofa, and sat.

Jim lowered himself onto the armchair and buried his head in his hands. He would have his time with her soon enough, and he had no idea what he’d say. He’d affectively betrayed her. When he saw her with that saw … he believed … he knew, without a doubt that she had intended to kill Angus. He’d felt like his heart had been ripped out and trampled. He obviously wasn’t as sure of Jessica as he’d thought he was. But he’d felt even worse when he learned that Jessica had not intended to hurt Angus after all. After the initial pain of betrayal, an anger had swept over him. He’d wanted to inflict some of the pain he’d felt, on Jessica … what if he had? He glanced up and saw Riley circling around the sofa to stand before Jessica. Hopefully Jessica would be in half decent shape after this, good enough shape that he could get her to say something that would assure him that he could actually trust her … so he would never have this doubt again.

Scott stood near the sofa and watched Jessica sitting quietly on the sofa. Her face was red from crying. She tried to sniffle as quietly as she could. The terror he’d felt when he’d seen Jessica with the saw was now replaced with relief. If Angus was right, that Jessica had just been helping him … not intending to hurt him … then perhaps he had nothing to fear from her himself. It would be nice to not have to live in that constant doubt from day to day. And maybe he had been perfectly safe in those handcuffs the night before.

“Jessica,” Riley said.

Josh watched Jessica look up at Riley. Guilt ran through him. She had a tear stained face … the same tear stained face that she’d had every day for almost the whole first year they’d had her. The worst part was that earlier, in the bathroom, that was the face he himself wanted to give back to Jessica. He’d felt an anger that he hadn’t felt for a surprisingly long time. He’d felt doubly angry because of that fact alone. Now he felt nothing but guilt. What if he’d carried out his wishes and then found out that Jessica had only been helping? He would have destroyed any trust she’d had in him.

“Do you know what you did wrong?” Riley asked.

Jessica nodded.

“What was it?”

“I …” Jessica began, lowering her eyes. They stopped at his pelvis, and she froze.

“Well?” Riley prompted, and then followed Jessica’s gaze. Her eyes were frozen on his hand that hung beside him. Riley lifted his hand. His fist gripped his belt, buckle up. Jessica’s eyes followed the belt.

“I forgot I had it …” Riley muttered, but when he moved to put it on, Jessica gasped, reflexively pulling her legs up and hugging them against her chest.

Riley paused. “I’m putting it on Jessica. You’re not planning on giving me a reason to use it, are you?”

Jessica shook her head vigorously, and didn’t stop until Riley had re-buckled it around his waist.

“You were about to tell us what you’d done wrong.” Riley said.

Jessica said something into her chest, where her chin rested. Riley crouched before her. He couldn’t bring himself to make her look at him, and speak louder. She was scared, and rightly so. Rather than try to be less scary for Jessica, he’d purposely intended to terrify and abuse her. Somehow his and Angus’ roles had reversed, and he had fully intended to carry out Angus’ worst, or more.

“I couldn’t hear you Jessica, none of us could.”

“I was helping Angus,” Jessica said.

“With what Jessica?” Riley asked.

“Fixing the sink,” Jessica replied.

“No … I mean what were you using to help Angus?”

“The tools.”

“Bingo!” Riley said, but his elation at having her admit the problem lasted for only a moment.

Jessica looked up at him with a blank expression.

“The tools Jessica. You know, screw drivers, wrenches, saws … that’s a down right arsenal. What made you think it’d be alright for you to use them?”

“I wanted to help.” Jessica replied.

“You wanted to help …” Riley repeated, and looked back at Angus. Angus shrugged. He didn’t know what to do with this. At the moment he was very confused, more with himself than with Jessica.

“Well that’s great,” Riley said, “except for one thing.” He reached up and grabbed Jessica’s forearms. Her eyes widened, but she kept them on Riley’s.

“You aren’t allowed to help.” His tone lacked the conviction he’d wanted it to. He was unnerved by her unwavering stare. He had so wanted change in Jessica’s behavior, and now that it seemed to be happening, he was uncomfortable. How real was it?

“Why?”

Riley stared at Jessica.

“Shit!” he heard Scott mutter behind him. From the corner of his eye, Riley he saw Jim look up at Jessica in utter disbelief. Josh began pacing behind the sofa. Riley looked to Angus for some assistance. He hadn’t moved, but he was staring hard at Jessica. This was getting weirder by the second. Normally this same question from Jessica would at the very least cause Angus to go into a tizzy, and he himself would be ready to throttle her. Angus wasn’t reacting, and Riley had no desire to harm her, just be sure that she wasn’t trying to find some way to escape. He turned back to Jessica.

“Is that supposed to be a serious question?” he demanded. The tone of his voice finally caused Jessica to drop her gaze.

“I asked you a question Jessica!” She nodded and managed to raise her eyes up to Riley’s chin.

“Yes … “ she said.

“Yes?”

“Yes, a serious question.” She whispered.

“I seem to recall an earlier conversation where I told you that you had to earn our trust before you earned the right to help out.”

Jessica was nodding.

“So you remember that too?”

Jessica nodded. “But …”

“But? There’s a but in here?” Riley demanded struck by her cheekiness. “Oh no, no, no, “ Riley said when Jessica tried to drop her gaze again. “You have more to say, so say it!”

“But … “ Jessica began again.

“Look at me Jessica!”

Jessica swallowed hard, and raised her eyes.

“You were saying?” he asked when her eyes finally moved to his.

“But … how, how can I earn it?”.

“By behaving … “ Riley answered through clenched teeth.

Jessica shrank back against the sofa.

“By staying out of the kitchen, off horses, away from screw drivers, saws, guns, and doing what you’re told! How’s that for a start!”

“Riley,” Jim said.

“What?”

“I think Jessica should go downstairs again.”

“What?”

“We need to talk. She should go downstairs.”

Riley stared at Jessica.

“You’re so lucky!” He growled. “’Take her!” he said, pushing himself to his feet he moved to the kitchen and stood with his hands behind his head. Angus moved past him to the bar. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey, removed the lid and took a swig. He handed the bottle to Riley and watched while Jim led Jessica to the basement door.

“Why didn’t you do it?” Riley asked after taking a swig.

“It?” Angus asked.

“You know … beat the snot out of Jessica. Christ Angus, she broke all the rules … you of all people should’ve been tearing her to pieces.”

“Hey, what happened to being all warm and fuzzy?” Angus asked.

“That’s not funny Angus.”

“I wasn’t trying to be funny. Oh I get it. I’m only supposed to be warm and fuzzy when it’s convenient for you?”

“Be serious will you!”

“Right … I don’t know why I didn’t go ballistic. Any other time, I would. But I swear to you Riley, I thought Jim was in the room with me the whole time. She passed me all the right tools, cut the piping to the right size … she had plenty of time to kill me, and she didn’t.”

Jim had returned and stood with Scott and Josh, listening to Riley and Angus’ conversation.

Angus pointed at them. “Them, maybe you could see her not killing, but me? I’ve abused her in every way possible. At the very least you’d think she’d look for revenge. She didn’t, and I just didn’t feel like punishing her for that. That all right with you?”

Riley dropped his head. “Yeah, okay.”

He turned to Jim. “So, what do you want to talk about?”

“I agree with Angus.” Jim said.

Riley looked from Jim to Angus, and then back again. “Now I’ve heard it all. I don’t know about you guys, but I’d like to start today over again. Start it again, and skip all this weird shit.”

“It’s not that inconceivable that I would agree with Angus,” Jim said. “We used to agree on a lot of things. As for today, I don’t want to start it over again. I like it just the way it is. I don’t think Jessica should be punished for it.”

“Ditto, “ Angus said. Riley looked at him and swore. Angus winked at Jim and laughed.

“Okay, now I’m weirded out, “ Scott said holding his hand for the bottle Riley still held. Riley handed it to him. Scott took a long pull from it before handing it to Josh.

Josh looked at the white liquid in the bottle. It was three quarters full. “I hope we’ve got another bottle back there … this won’t be enough.” And he threw his head back and gulped.

“So get on with it Jim. That’s not what you sent Jessica downstairs for … “ Riley moved to the living room and fell onto the sofa. He looked at his watch. It was only five o’clock, but it felt like midnight. He suddenly felt very tired. Jim returned to the armchair, Scott and Josh sat beside Riley on the sofa, and Angus pulled a chair from the kitchen into the living room. Turning it, he heaved himself onto it.

“I think it’s time to start letting Jessica help out more.” Jim said.

“Good idea,” Angus said, “let’s give her a chainsaw and let her clear out some of the deadwood … I’m sure she’d start with me.”

“Ha, ha,” Jim said, “Jessica’s getting bored, so she’s starting to do unpredictable things. I suggest we give her some responsibility. Something that she can put her energy into.”

“But like Angus said,” Josh said, “what can she do that doesn’t pose a risk to us?”

“Do you guys honestly still believe that she intends to hurt us?” Jim asked.

“Just because she didn’t take the opportunity today, doesn’t mean she won’t another time.” Angus said.

“This was one act of co-operation from her Jim,” Riley said, “she has a history of many, many, attempts at hurting us.”

“Attempts?” Scott asked incredulity in his voice.

“Okay, so she has successfully caused us harm … “ Jim conceded.

“Some of us … she has successfully caused some of us harm.” Scott corrected.

“Amen,” Angus added.

“Okay … I get it. Her past behavior makes it hard to believe that she won’t do it again,” Jim said his voice thick with impatience. “But today she had a perfect opportunity and she didn’t take it. I say that the more positive the response she gets from us about that, the more likely she is to repeat the behavior.”

“So, what do you suggest we let her do?” Riley asked. He’d never felt so unsure of himself before. For the first time that he could remember, he didn’t know exactly what to do with her. If Jessica were a dog, what Jim said made sense. Positive reinforcement worked like a charm. But Jessica was no dog, she’d proved that more than once. He had told Angus to play along with Jessica and they would deal with her attempts to escape as they came along … if he followed his own advice, what Jim was suggesting made even more sense. Sense or no, there was a huge element of uncertainty with Jessica. The line between positive reinforcement and creating their own death wish, was thin.

“We should start with cooking. Let her take over cooking, at least one meal of the day. One of us is with her at all times, it would be impossible for her to poison our food. If that goes well, we could move on to something else. But I really think that this is the time we have to do something drastic … a positive drastic, to prove to Jessica that good behavior really does pay off.”

“I know I’m going to regret this someday,” Riley said, “but unless anyone has any drastic opposition to what Jim is suggesting, I’m willing to go along.” He finished his sentence and looked to Angus.

“I don’t care if she cooks,” Angus said, “but she’s going to eat everything before I do. And any chemicals we have left in the kitchen need to be removed … that includes the dish soap.”

“Dish soap?” Scott asked. “So you’ll blow bubbles out your ass for a day or two, get a grip!”

“Mark my words, “ Angus said, “she’ll find some way to make it toxic.”

“We’ll watch her,” Jim said. “Nothing but good old food will be in our meals.”

“Ahuh,” Angus said, not sounding the least bit as though he believed it.

“We can start with lunches,” Josh said. “If you don’t want to eat what she makes, you can make yourself a sandwich or something.”

“Sound good to you?” Riley asked Scott. Scott nodded but didn’t look convinced.

“Angus?”

“Yup,” Angus replied but wondered why he was going along with it. It seemed like domestic bliss was just going to cause him to get even more emotionally ensnared by her. ‘On the other hand,’ he thought to himself, ‘this could force her hand, then I can go back to beating the crap out of her and enjoying it.’

“Wait a minute,” Scott said, “what about the rules she broke. So she didn’t gut Angus. Though I’m thankful for that, she did break the rules just by picking up the wrench, never mind the saw.”

“I don’t think we can focus on that right now,” Jim said. He was hoping to tell Jessica about the new rule before anyone had the chance to change their minds … he got up and began moving toward the basement door. “Cooking should distract her for a while, and once she gets hooked on it, it will be a powerful carrot to dangle in front of her nose.”

“Yeah, “Josh added, “she won’t do anything to jeopardize that freedom.”

“Nice theory,” Riley said, “guess we’ll have to test it. Go ahead and get her Jim. We’ll see how much of an incentive cooking becomes.”

Riley had stood to watch Jim lead Jessica to the sofa. Her head was lowered, but her eyes flicked up intermittently. As Riley watched her, he felt a tinge of jealously. When she looked at Jim, Josh, or Scott, she seemed fine, but when her eyes landed on Angus … and then himself, she looked away as if it physically hurt her to see them. She sat between Scott and Josh.

“Jessica, “ Riley began in a quiet voice. He was unsure about how he felt. He flip flopped between anger and dejection. Both he and Angus had bent over backwards to be nicer to her and yet she seemed to be just as afraid of them as before. Jessica must have been reassured by calmness of his voice, because she looked up at him, but couldn’t hold the gaze.

“You broke the rules.” he said. Anger was beginning to win first place in the whirlwind of emotions that swirled within him. How hard could it be to look at him? It wasn’t like his eyes would jump out of his head and bite her! The others, save Angus, had been just as angry with her … just as ready to punish her, why was her fear reserved for only him and Angus?

“Jessica,” Jim interrupted. He ignored Riley’s scowl. “It’s become obvious that you need some responsibility around here.”

Jessica’s head snapped up and she looked at Jim expectantly.

“So … Riley has something to tell you.”

Riley had been glowering at Jim, and was taken aback when he realized Jessica had shifted her attention back to him.

“Right,” Riley began. “in appreciation of your … help … with Angus … we’ve decided that you can cook lunches. If you behave, you can cook other meals also … “

He was interrupted by a small squeal from Jessica. She bounced in a place a little clearly excited. “Thank you.” she said.

“But this time you have to obey the rules. You step out of line in the kitchen, and that’s the end of your cooking days … got it?” Riley demanded.

Jessica was nodding her head repeatedly. He was beginning to wonder if she really understood what she’d done wrong.

“Jessica. What exactly is it that you did wrong in the bathroom?” Jessica’s euphoria seemed to disappear. She stopped grinning from ear to ear, and seemed to be thinking. “I … the tools … I used the tools to help Angus?” she asked.

Riley looked at Angus, just waiting for his patience to run out. He should be snapping at any moment, but he looked nowhere ready to do so.

“Wait a minute!” Scott said bolting upright in his seat. Suddenly everything made sense. It was so obvious. Scott looked at Jessica. Relief flooded over him.

“Jessica, what were you doing in the kitchen with Jim yesterday?” he asked her.

“Helping him make dinner,” Jessica said.

“And in the corral today with Ebony?” Scott continued.

“Helping you understand him … he needs some gentleness you know … you’ve gotta talk to him like he’s a person.”

“And with the information you asked us to pass onto Riley and Angus?” Scott continued.

“Well, Riley hadn’t realized that Max was blind and deaf, and Angus hadn’t realized that he had water in his fuel line.”

“And so, by telling them, you hoped to … ?” Scott trailed off.

“Help them,” Jessica replied.

“And in the bathroom, with Angus? What were you trying to do?”

Jessica shrugged and glanced around the room at the men. “I thought I was helping …” her voice trailed off.

“There you go, “ Scott ended, feeling like the biggest heel in the world. “All this misbehavior is really just Jessica trying to help.”

Jim groaned and brought his hands to his head. He was a moron. Why hadn’t he seen it? Josh chugged back the last of the whiskey in the bottle he’d been nursing. Riley turned to Angus, waiting for his usual diatribe that would spout from him following any conversation that made excuses for Jessica, but it didn’t come. Angus shrugged and moved toward the bar.

“Fine,” Riley said more to himself than to anyone else.

He turned back to Jessica.

“Now you can help in the kitchen. Here’s a rule of thumb for you … if your help requires that you use any kind of an object, ask for permission first. Got it?”

“Yes,” Jessica replied. She’d maintained eye contact with him when she answered, and she still hadn’t dropped her gaze.

“Okay … good, then,” Riley said. He felt exhausted and yet exhilarated. Maybe Jim would switch nights with him. He felt like this was a pivotal moment for him with Jessica.

“All done?” Jim asked getting up from the armchair, “Can I take Jessica to bed now?”

Jessica looked up at Jim. Riley dropped his head. So much for that.

“Anyone else want a word with Jessica?” Riley asked. There was no reply.

“Come on Jess,” Jim said holding his hand out to her.

“Good night,” Jessica said turning to Scott on her right and giving him a kiss. She did the same for Josh. Riley was not in the mood to have to cajole her into kissing him goodnight, it would be more than he could stand on this night, but to his surprise he didn’t have to. “Good night,” she said, placing a kiss on his lips.

“Yeah,” was all he could reply.

Angus still stood by the bar, a new bottle of whiskey in hand. Without hesitation, Jessica walked across the living room, stood on her toes and planted a kiss on his lips. “Good night.”

“Night,” he replied. He wanted to say something positive about the work she’d done in the bathroom, but the words wouldn’t come out. Damn … she was already moving back to Jim. Oh well, it was probably better to drop the whole thing anyway. Wouldn’t want her to get the idea that it would be alright for her to use the saw again. Angus looked down at the bottle in his hand … thank God for booze.

Jim locked his bedroom door and turned to find Jessica bouncing up and down on his bed, a big smile plastered on her face.

“I get to cook!” she squealed, clapping her hands together.

“Are you insane!” Jim thundered climbing on the bed and grabbing Jessica by her arms.

“Are you mad at me?” Jessica asked in surprise.

“What was your first clue? The fact that I wanted to throttle you in the bathroom earlier?”

“You did?” Jessica asked. Christ, either she was the best actress alive, or she really didn’t have any idea what had nearly happened to her.

“Yes, I did. And so did all of the other men. Jessica, you crossed a really big line. This wasn’t like the gun incident … you were alone with Angus and as far as we could tell, you were about to saw the man in half! What the hell possessed you to do such a thing?”

Jim looked down at Jessica unable to even guess at what her answer would be.

“And,” he said, starting to get confused by the faint smile that grew on Jessica’s lips. Jim had once again come through for her. She was allowed to help now. She wanted nothing else but to kiss him right then. Her eyes searched his face, his eyes, and Jim began to feel lost. “Don’t you dare tell me you were trying to help … what the hell are you smiling at?”

“You … and I guess I didn’t really think much about it … I just did it.” Jessica’s smile was growing. Jim was bewildered.

“What is wrong with you?” he asked, “You can’t ‘just do’ things … stop smiling like that, you’re making me nervous!”

“Well, that’s too bad.” Jessica replied, “I guess that if I can’t ‘just do’ things, then I can’t just do this …” and she leaned in and kissed Jim. Her lips locked with his, and he felt a jolt of excitement when her tongue slipped into his mouth. They fell onto the bed. Jessica slid on top of him. Pleasure was growing between her legs and she wanted Jim so badly.

Jim’s mind went blank and his hands were all over her. They slid under her shirt, found her breasts. Jessica’s hand slid down and rubbed on the bulge in his pants.

“Christ!” Jim said, his brain registering what was happening. “Stop Jess … we have to stop.” He grabbed Jessica’s hand and pulled it away from his groin.

“No we don’t,” Jessica murmured and slid her other hand to his groin.

“Yes … yes we do!” Jim said grabbing her hand and pulling it away.

He rolled Jessica off of him and sat up.

“Jesus!” he swore as he tried to catch his breath, tried to get a grip on the urges he was feeling. When he finally felt controlled enough to look at Jessica she lay looking back at him. Her chest was heaving and from beneath her shirt he could see the outlines of her breasts … her breasts that had felt so good in his hands.

‘Get a grip!’ he thought as he shook his head.

“You don’t really want to stop,” Jessica said, taking his hand.

“Yes I do … “

“No,” she said shaking her head. “You still have that look on your face.”

“What look?” Jim asked.

“The same look the others get, just before we … you know.”

“Okay,” Jim nodded, “part of me doesn’t want to stop. But we have to, for now.”

Jessica sat up beside Jim.

“If you don’t really want to stop, why are we?” Jessica asked.

“Because, I’m mad and I don’t want to do this while I’m mad.”

“That seems to be the only time Angus likes to do it,” Jessica replied.

Jim exhaled. He was happier not knowing some of these details.

“What can I do to make you stop being mad at me?” she asked.

“I need to know why you did what you did. Is this all part of some plan to escape?”

Jessica looked down at her hands. She shrugged. “I don’t think so.” She replied.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Jim said, getting of the bed and pacing, “You don’t think so … just what I wanted to hear!”

“What do you want to hear?” Jessica asked. She was still turned on and really wished they could continue with what they’d started. She hadn’t realized before just how much she wanted Jim, in that way.

“The truth would be nice!” Jim yelled.

“I told you the truth.” Jessica said, “I was just doing what you told me to. Angus needed help, I helped him.”

Jim looked at Jessica. “So there was no angle in this that would help you escape?” he asked.

“I can’t think of one,” Jessica replied.

“That’s not a resounding ‘no’ Jessica,” Jim replied feeling disappointed.

“How can I say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ ? When I helped Angus it was for no other reason than to, surprise, surprise, help him. I honestly hadn’t given it much thought either way. But, if it would make you feel better, I could come up with something right now!”

“Alright Jess, I get the point,” Jim said as Jessica’s voice grew louder. She was getting angry and God, the last thing he wanted was for her to start planning something she may not have previously thought about.

“Do you? You told me to not think, but to act. Well, that’s what I did!”

“Okay … okay,” Jim said getting back on the bed with Jessica. “Sorry,” he said in a soothing tone. He rubbed her arms.

Jessica was smoldering. She had successfully enacted her plan up until this point. Had managed to clear her mind, had even gone so far as to forget about her family, and here was Jim … the one with the bright idea to begin with, making her remember.

“You’re ticked,” Jim said surprised by the scowl on her face.

Thankfully it wasn’t the same look she’d had when she’d hated him and the others. She was angry alright, but in a different way.

“Yes.” She replied and pulled away from him. “Are we done now? I’d like to go to sleep.”

“It’s only eight o’clock, Jess. We haven’t even had supper …”

“I’m not hungry.”

Jim was about to argue when the feel of Jessica against him, her tongue in his mouth, came back to him full force.

“I’m an idiot!” Jim said. There was no doubt about it. Jessica had been kissing him. It had been her choice, he hadn’t forced anything on her. And then like a moron he’d stopped her. Because he’d been mad? Crazy more like it. And now she was mad at him. She sat, leaning against the headboard of the bed, arms folded. And she wouldn’t look at him.

“Jess. I’m sorry.”

Jessica responded with a “Hmmph” and continued being angry.

“You know. You and I have a certain relationship.” Jim paused. He wasn’t sure what to say or how to say it. He really hadn’t thought about the logistics of sex with Jessica. He’d had a relationship or two in the past but sex was never a big part of it. And given the circumstances with Jessica he had never really followed the train of thought to its full conclusion. Except for recent events with Scott and the magazines sex had been nothing more than an distant dream. He’d gotten her attention though, she sat looking at him expectantly.

“I’ve always thought of you as a friend Jessica. I never thought much about us having sex.”

“That’s funny,” Jessica said but didn’t really look like she planned on laughing. She didn’t say anything more though. She just kept looking at him.

“How’s that funny?” Jim asked when he finally realized she wouldn’t continue.

“We are friends Jimmy. You’re my best friend. I’d go so far as to say my only friend, but Josh and Scott have done some friend like stuff so I guess that wouldn’t be entirely fair.”

“That’s what’s funny?”

“No. What’s funny is that you’re the only one I wouldn’t have minded having sex with. Ha, ha …” she said when Jim didn’t react. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course …”

“Who is Pam?”

“Pam?” Jim asked, stunned.

“You dream about her Jimmy. A lot. Did she die? Did you love her a lot?”

“Yes. To both questions.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.”

“Had you been together for a long time?”

“No … oh, no Jessica, she wasn’t my girlfriend. She was my sister.”

“Oh … sorry.” A flurry of emotions played across Jessica’s face. The final one looked particularly pained. Jim was afraid that she was thinking about her family.

“She was troubled Jessica,” Jim said, not sure whether continuing the conversation would help or hurt.

“Did it have something to do with my family? Is that why you killed them?” Jessica asked. She was looking straight at Jim, straight in the eye. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out how the topic of sex got them to a conversation about her family. He was unprepared. Other than the accusations that she hurled at him and the other men, Jessica had never spoken of her family to him. Suddenly he was scared. What did this mean?

“No. Something just came over her one day Jessica. Out of the blue, she just wasn’t happy anymore. I don’t know what to say about your family. There are a million reasons for what we did … and there are none. I’m sorry that I can’t say anything more comforting than that. And I’m sorry I can’t bring them back, undo everything. As much as I’d hate having never met you … I’d give it up to see you happy again.”

“Thanks,” Jessica said.

Jim didn’t know what to say or do now. Jessica wasn’t crying, and she seemed reflective more than sad. He had the sudden realization that things could go backwards from here.

“To be honest Jessica I’m not sure how we ended up in this conversation. I hope you’re okay … that everything’s okay.”

Jessica nodded.

“I guess I thought that maybe you still loved Pam … if she’d been your girlfriend. And that maybe you didn’t want to have sex because of that.”

“I’m glad you asked then, because no, that’s not it. I guess I just felt that sex would complicate things. And I wasn’t sure how much you’d enjoy it. Plus, I didn’t want you doing it for the wrong reasons. You don’t owe me anything Jessica … for helping you sometimes.”

Jim thought back to the time that he’d lied to the men about Jessica asking for permission to ride Ebony. He’d had the distinct feeling that she thought he’d take sex as some kind of pay back.

Jessica nodded.“I know. The fact that you’ve been so nice to me has made me think of you that way. But it’s not because I feel like I have to … I just … want to … with you.”

“Jess, did you and Scott have so much sex last night that you couldn’t get up this morning?”

Jessica nodded, and a slight pink spread over her cheeks.

“And you enjoyed it?”

“I did.” She said. And then she smiled. “Scott was pretty persistent about that. He made sure I enjoyed it.”

“Well, Scott is pretty experienced in that … in sex … and making girls enjoy it … “ Jim was blabbering and snapped his mouth shut before he could say more to embarrass himself.

Jessica smiled and took his hand.

“I wouldn’t compare you. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Jim nodded. Now what?

“Jim. Did Josh date Pam?”

“Josh? No. Why?”

“He’s been dreaming about her too. Unless it’s a different Pam.”

“Well, he did know her forever … she was practically his sister too.”

“Oh.”

“Do I dream about anything else?” Jim asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“No.”

“And you’re okay, after this conversation about Pam, your family … everything’s fine?”

“I was being honest Jim … about everything. I’ve been doing like you said, becoming someone else. I was just trying to help Angus. I did enjoy last night with Scott, and I do want to have sex with you. But I kind of see your point, it’s a little awkward, isn’t it?” She entwined her fingers with his. “I mean, how do we start?”

“Well. Right now, I’d really like to kiss you.” Jim said. The knowledge that Jessica wanted to have sex with him, not as some form of pay back, but a true desire, made him see her and want her in a whole new way.

Jessica leaned her head against the headboard, tilted her face toward Jim and closed her eyes.

Jim looked at her and tried to get himself under control. He was so unprepared.

Jessica opened an eye and looked at Jim.

“Did you mean an air kiss?” Jessica asked.

“No …” Jim said laughing. “I just wasn’t expecting this tonight. I don’t want to hurt you. It’s been a while since I’ve had sex, I’m very … let’s say ‘excited’.”

“Can you have sex when you’re not excited?” Jessica asked, and she looked so innocent and serious when she asked that Jim had to laugh.

“I guess you have a point.” Jim said leaning in to her.

The laughter had helped relax him a little but as soon as Jessica closed her eyes and tilted her head again, the urge to grab her and just go at it came back and he froze before making contact.

“You’re a very light kisser Jimmy, I don’t see how you’re going to hurt me.” Jessica replied, opening her eyes for the second time.

Jim looked down at her. She was so damn cute. He never thought he could have sex with cute … but it sure wasn’t doing anything to dull his desire.

“Give me a minute,” Jim said moving off of the bed.

“Where are you going?” Jessica asked.

“To the bathroom just to take a bit of the edge off.”

“Okay … so not number 1 or 2?” Jessica asked confusion evident on her face.

Jim chuckled. “No, not number 1 or 2. Just a little self-service. It’ll help me go slower.”

“Self servi… oh!” Jessica said finally getting it. “You don’t have to do self- service Jim, I can help you …” she said getting onto her knees and moving toward him, her eyes planted firmly on the bulge in his pants.

“Maybe … no definitely later Jess. But this first time … I want to service you and I can’t do it if all I want to do is jump you. Just lay back and relax, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Jim left the bedroom and returned five minutes later.

He groaned as he walked in the room and saw Jessica lying stretched out on the bed. She was fully clothed and simply turned her head to look at him, but it brought the desire back.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine … I’ll just have to exert more self-control than I’d planned to …”

“It didn’t work?” Jessica asked sitting up.

“Not as well as I’d hoped,” Jim admitted as he moved to the bed. “Do you mind if we turn off the light? I think not seeing you may help.”

“Okay …” Jessica said and Jim flicked off the lights.

He felt his way to the bed and then slid in next to Jessica.

“Now for that kiss,” Jim said pulling her to him.

“The real one?” Jessica asked.

Jim couldn’t help but laugh before he brought his lips to hers. He kissed her slow, and deep. It had to be the longest kiss Jessica had ever had, and as he did, he softly caressed her legs and thighs over her pants … slowly working his way to the V between her legs and when he got there he stroked and stroked.

Jessica lifted herself against his hand, dying for him to remove her pants.

“Was that real?” Jim asked his lips brushing hers as he spoke.

Jessica couldn’t catch her breath. All she could do is nod.

Jim chuckled as he brought his lips to her neck. He nipped gently. Jessica couldn’t take it anymore. She took Jimmy’s hand and brought it to the waist of her pants.

“Without my pants …” Jessica muttered.

Jim pulled off her pants, her bra and shirt, and then his clothes.

When he moved back over her Jessica threw herself into him, pushing her tongue into his mouth, her vagina against his pelvis.

“Whoa, Jessica,” Jimmy said his voice husky. “Slow … take it slow.”

“No, faster!” Jessica panted.

“No Jessica,” Jimmy said holding her wrists firmly, bringing her hands up over head and pinning her to the bed with his body.

“I want to take my time.” He said, his lips brushing against hers as he spoke, “and really feel you.”

He moved back a little and began running his hands down her arm but Jessica threw her arms and legs around him, and kissed him.

“You’re not making this easy Jessica,” Jim said with an exasperated laugh, grabbing her wrists and bringing her hands above her head again.

“Lie still … lie still.” He whispered as she continued to squirm beneath him.

“Jessica … Jessica,” Jim said laying his hand on her left breast and stroking. “I want to enjoy this, take it slow, explore you. But you have to stay still.”

Jessica forced herself to relax on the bed even though every fiber of her body was pounding … wanting, needing.

“That’s it …” Jim said. He began to slide his hand up her chest but stopped over her heart. “Calm Jessica, breathe, relax. I plan to take my time … all night if I have to, and if your heart keeps going like this it’s going to pop right out of your chest.”

“I can’t control it …” Jessica replied, “and when you touch me, it just gets faster. I just want you more …”

Jim slid his hand to the side of her chest, felt the bones of her ribcage, counted them as he moved up to her armpit, and then slid it along her arm.

When he got to her bicep, he stopped, and squeezed. It was hard. Muscular. He had no idea that she was so muscular. It wasn’t obvious through the mens’ baggy clothes which Jessica wore, that was for sure. But naked, to the touch, she definitely had rock hard muscles. He switched the hand that held her wrists above her head and felt the other arm. Not surprisingly it had muscle too. Jim ran his hand down her side. Sliding lower, he rested it between her legs before he ran his hand down her thigh. Again, muscle. It dawned on him that if she wore even the least revealing of clothing, he would have probably considered sex with her much sooner.

“Uh!” Jessica exclaimed, clutching handfuls of Jim’s hair in her hands, as Jim brought his lips up along her inner thigh. He paused, but only for a moment.

“Ah, Jimmy!” Jessica exclaimed again as he slid his tongue between the lips of her pussy and licked. Lightly.

“Jimmy!!!“ Jessica cried out as Jimmy exhaled his warm breath on her wet sex, and licked more firmly. And then pleasure exploded through her body and she felt her vagina begin to pulsate. She pulled Jimmy up.

“Now Jimmy, now!”

Jimmy entered her and then his control was gone. He held Jessica firmly by the shoulders and thrust into her, and then pleasure shook him with a blinding intensity. And then Jessica cried out, clutching him to her. Sweating and out of breath they collapsed together on the bed.

“Oh my God,” Jimmy mumbled as he kissed Jessica’s face gently.

Jessica mumbled an incoherent agreement and then fell to sleep, exhausted. Jim closed his eyes too. He couldn’t move a muscle. That wet spot that Jessica had made would have to be dealt with in the morning.

Later that night, Jessica awoke in the dark. Jim lay snoring beside her. Something was different but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She lay very still and tried to figure it out. Then it came to her. She was smiling. She was smiling in the dark, she was relaxed and happy. Even without blocking her memories. She remembered her family, what had happened. And it was okay. She didn’t mind. And deep down she knew her family didn’t mind. She was happy for the first time in years. She didn’t need to escape any more. There was no point. Where would she go? What would she do? Besides, there would be no vindication for her family through escape. It was a waste of energy. Not to mention that the men were pre-occupied with the idea that she wanted to escape. Even Jimmy, the least controlling of them all, constantly worried that she planned to run away. Jessica inhaled deeply. No, she’d have to avenge her family some other way. Something better than escape or murder. She didn’t know what that way would be, but she wasn’t worried about it. She’d already been here for years … if it took the rest of her life, she would get satisfaction somehow. In the meantime she could stop trying to suppress memories of her family, stop expending energy on escape or fighting. After all, as Jim had suggested, she had reasons to like Scott, Josh and Jim. No real luck with Riley or Angus, but at least she didn’t hate them anymore. Indifference had to count for something. She had accidently broken several major rules and not been punished. Her heart pounded when she considered that she’d actually had a loaded gun in her hand, and hadn’t used it. But most importantly, none of the men had punished her for it. And then Angus, and the saw. She had been completely honest with Jim, everything she’d done, she’d done opposite to her instinct. If she’d felt like hitting Angus, she kissed him. When he was under that sink … she hadn’t even felt like hurting him in any way. The whole thing had reminded her of her father … she hadn’t realized it at the time, but now, she did. She had helped her father fix the sink … the toilet … the car, so many times, been so happy doing so … she’d had little conscious choice but to help him. There was hope. If she kept doing the opposite of what her instincts said, perhaps things could get better with Riley and Angus and then maybe she could avoid being beaten, enjoy life a little, and keep an eye out for whatever opportunity may present itself so she could avenge her family. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Jim rolled toward her and wrapped his arms around her. She cuddled up against him and was stunned to realize that she loved him. There was that problem also. When it came time to do what she had to, would she be able to? Could she do it to Jimmy … even Scott or Josh? She began to feel anxiety return. She squeezed her eyes shut. No, she promised herself, her family, that no matter what she felt for any of the men, when the time came she would do what she had to. The resolution made, Jessica closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**************************************************************
One week later

Josh couldn’t believe his luck.

Angus and Riley had been summoned to a meeting with the others in the clan. Part of him wished that they were called away more often, but this time they had some additional errands and work to do. They’d be gone for a week. Longer than they’d ever been gone before. That was just fine with him. Not that he begrudged them their nights with Jessica, but it got him more time with her. And tonight he had a particular mission.
It was a week since the saw incident with Angus, and Jessica seemed a different person.

Josh had been reading the magazines and books that Scott had lent him. And he’d been trying to get some information out of Scott. Even though Scott hadn’t been willing to divulge too many specifics, his conversation with Scott earlier in the day confirmed for Josh that Jessica had not only been a willing participant in sex with Scott, but an active one. And from the sounds of it, a far more active than she ever was with him.

This was the night that Josh planned to remedy that. Josh closed the bedroom door and hung back as Jessica moved to the bed and dropping the towel began to put on her pajamas. Jessica looked back at Josh, a questioning look on her face. Normally Josh was quick to get ready for bed. In a hurry to read comic books, or show Jessica the latest work he’d done on his comic book. Josh nodded toward the end table where Jessica’s comics usually lay. Jessica moved over to the table and stood staring down at the magazine that lay open on the table. She picked it up.

“I want to write some of that into the story of Princess acisseJ and Prince aushoJ … but I want it to be something Princess acisseJ wants to do. Something Princess … what the fuck … something you want to do Jessica.” Josh moved to where Jessica was still looking at the magazine. There was a picture of a woman being eaten out by a man who was pulling her breast with one hand and inserting his thumb in her rectum with the other. Josh slid one hand under Jessica’s shirt, and found her breast. He slid his other hand down the front of her pants.

“Will you do that Jessica? Will you part your legs for me? Can I eat you out while pulling your nipple and sticking my thumb up your ass?”

Jessica shivered with pleasure as Josh’s fingers parted her lips and began to stroke. She wasn’t sure about the thumb part … Angus liked to enter her in the bum and it hurt, it really hurt. But then, Josh wasn’t Angus. Jessica turned and pushed Josh back.

Reluctantly he stepped back and for a moment he was afraid she’d say no. But instead Jessica moved to the bed. Turning she looked at Josh and bit her lip, as if she were deciding something … but it was sexy.

Jessica felt desire growing. She pulled off her shirt and stood looking at Josh. The look on his face as he stared at her, drool practically running down his chin, made the thought of Josh eating her out very appealing. As if someone had flipped a switch inside her, she wanted him. Really wanted him. Jessica felt a shiver of desire run through her body as she deliberately began to pull on her nipples. She pulled them until they were erect. Josh thought he was going to cum right there. He reached out to take a nipple. But Jessica moved back, out of his reach. She climbed on the bed and removed her pants, and then she lay back and very slowly, and very deliberately , opened her legs. She watched Josh as he advanced on her. As his mouth worked its way around her pussy, Jessica ran her fingers through his hair.

“Lower … “ she ordered, pushing his head lower and tilting her pelvis up.

She tasted so good … her juices smelled and tasted so good … Josh was so concentrated on her clitoris that he almost forgot about her ass. Alternating between nipping her clit and sucking it, he parted her bum cheeks, found her anus and began to press his thumb into it. Jessica arched and tried to move away. Josh pulled her closer and held her tight around her waist. And inserting his forefinger in her vagina he began to press his thumb into her anus more forcefully. Somehow the sensation from his thumb, mixed with his teeth working on her clitoris brought on wave upon wave of pleasure.

“Holy shit!” Josh exclaimed coming up from between her legs, face drenched. “I can’t believe it, you just … just …”

“Scott calls it geysering” Jessica said smiling down at him with a lazy, satisfied, look on her face.

“Fucking right!” he exclaimed with a laugh.

“My turn!” Jessica said sitting up. Planting her hands on Josh’s chest, she pushed him back onto the bed.

She pulled his pants off and then licked her way up his thighs.

“Oh my God!” Josh exclaimed as she licked his testicles and then inserted his whole cock into her mouth and took it down her throat.

“Hold on!” Josh exclaimed and pushed Jessica on the bed and then kneeling with his knees on either side of her head he inserted his cock in her mouth and then parting her legs, began to eat her out again. He thrust back and forth into her mouth, harder and harder. The harder he thrust, the harder it was for Jessica to protect his shaft from her teeth. But he didn’t care, he liked the occasional scrapes. He nipped her and chewed and licked until she began to arch beneath him … and then he came. As he spilled into her mouth he lifted his lips just long enough to say, “swallow Jess, swallow. All of it …” and he knew she was swallowing … he could feel her.

Spent, Josh turned around and crawled up to lay next to Jessica. He grabbed his discarded shirt and wiped his face. “Would I be safe in assuming that you enjoyed that?” he asked.

“Mhmmm …” Jessica mumbled with a giggle. When Josh had started to insert his thumb in her anus, Jessica was ready for the same pain that she experienced with Angus. But, a thumb was quite different than a penis, and Josh had managed to make it feel good. She was pleasantly surprised. He pulled her into his arms and rubbed his hand up and down her arm, his foot along her leg. Gently, slowly.

“You’ve never went off like that before. I guess you weren’t getting off like I thought you were.”

Jessica shook her head.

“Sorry about that.” Josh said.

“It’s okay.”

“So, do you think Princess Acissej would enjoy it too?”

“Oh I’m certain of it.” Jessica whispered, closing her eyes and dozing off.

Josh kissed her on the forehead and then gently disentangled himself from Jessica and got out of bed. Grabbing a pillow and blanket he set himself up on the floor. He stared at the ceiling in the dark and smiled. That was some sex. The best in his life. He decided he’d ask Scott for some more of his magazines and books. Things were looking up.

The next morning they sat around the table, enjoying a coffee. Jim, Josh and Scott smiling so much they felt like their faces would split … Jessica looking from one to the other wondering what she’d missed. It was obvious that she was missing the point. With no Riley or Angus around to ruin the relaxed mood, and the three of them getting their rocks off regularly. The men were some happy.

“Is everything okay?” Jessica asked when all three just kept looking at her.

“Just great.” Jim said.

“Just fucking great,” Scott said wagging his tongue at Jessica and winking. Jessica finally got it and blushed.

“So what’s the plan for today? Do you want to make breakfast today Jess? As our official cook,” Scott asked.

“Can I?” Jessica asked bouncing up and down in her chair. “Can I make eggs?”

The men looked at each other and shrugged, “Sure,” they said in unison. Jessica rushed to the kitchen.

“We have some chores to do outside,” Jim said as Jessica searched through the fridge for eggs. Finding them she began to search through the cupboards for a frying pan. “Do you want to come along and help?”

Josh and Scott did a double take. Jim mouthed ‘come on!’ while Jessica’s back was still turned.

“Can I really?” Jessica asked pausing in the kitchen, eggs in one hand, frying pan dangling in the other.

“Sure.” Jim said. “I’ll be mucking out the horse stalls. Feel up to that?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Jessica exclaimed.

“All right then. Finish up with those eggs and we’ll get to it.”

“How are we going to explain that to Riley and Angus?” Scott asked in a low tone when Jessica had turned her back.

“We’ll think of something when it comes up. If it doesn’t, well then that’s not a bad thing ….”

Scott and Josh looked at each other. “I guess what they don’t know won’t hurt them …” Josh said.

Half an hour later Jessica stood at the sink cleaning the dishes. Scott was next to her, drying.

“Hey, did we win anything last night?” Jim asked from the table where he and Josh sat finishing their coffees.

“We came out even … “ Scott answered.

“Were you in a lottery?” Jessica asked.

“Not exactly.” Scott answered. “I went to the track … horse track … “ he clarified when Jessica’s expression went blank. “We won some and we lost some … came out even.”

“Is that where you go, when you go out?” Jessica asked.

“Usually.”

“Did you race one of your horses?”

“I wish!” Scott said with a laugh. “No I was just out there betting.”

“Why aren’t you racing the horses … you obviously want to?”

“Yeah, well. What you want to do and what you can do are two different things.”

Jessica’s eyes snapped up when Scott spoke. He’d sounded dejected.

“Why can’t you race the horses? Won’t Riley let you?”

“Well, Riley wouldn’t like it much, that’s for sure. Way too public … but I’m just too heavy for a horse to run fast enough to race … muscle heavy, not fat heavy.” Scott added with a laugh when Jessica looked him up and down.

“That’s too bad.” Jessica said, handing Scott the last of the dishes. “Why don’t you just train the horses then … get someone else to ride?”

“Sounds easy huh? But you need someone to ride the horses while they train. Back to the same problem.” Scott said, putting the dishes away.

“Oh, okay … “ Jessica said in a tone that indicated that she wasn’t so sure his answer made sense.

“What?” Scott asked, “can you see some poor horse running hell bent on leather with me on his back? Or any of us for that matter? What’s that look for?” he asked when Jessica looked at him like he was stupid.

Jessica scanned over to Jim and Josh and shrugged when their expressions were as askance as Scott’s.

“There are other people in the world Scott. Your options aren’t just limited to you, Jim, Josh, Angus or Riley. Surely you could find someone light enough to ride, and you have all the horses you could possibly need … what’s wrong?” Jessica asked when Scott’s expression changed to something she couldn’t decipher.

“It’s not that easy,” Jim said when Scott hadn’t answered and just sat stood staring at Jessica.

“It’s not?” Jessica asked, but when Scott’s expression intensified and she noticed that Josh was looking at her in an equally intense yet unrecognizable way, she clamped her lips shut.

Jim chuckled as he looked from Scott to Josh. “It’s okay Jessica,” he said, “I think this is the first time Scott and Josh get to see you like I see you, uncensored.”

“Is that bad?” Jessica asked.

“No,” Jim said while elbowing Josh. “It may just take a little getting used to. Right Scott? Right Josh?” Jim asked emphasizing the names when he spoke and gesturing with his hands palms up in a silent ‘get a grip’.

“Right.” Scott said, trying to sound convincing when in fact he felt as if he’d just had a conversation with a complete stranger. Never before had Jessica spoken to him like that. It was as if they’d been friends for years and she was berating his stupidity. She’d been more relaxed with him lately but apparently there was another level he had just reached. He liked it, but he felt off balance, like the earth had shifted under his feet. Clearly things weren’t done evolving with Jessica yet and he wasn’t sure how he felt about her being so candid about his faults.

“So, is that your way of saying that Scott isn’t really doing everything he could be doing to race?” Josh asked. He’d often thought the same thing, but never bothered to say it. It didn’t seem so cut and dry from his point of view given their circumstances … but clearly from an outsiders point of view, and even Jessica’s, it was simple.

“Face it Scott, if you really wanted to race, you’d find a way to do it.” Jessica said, moving into Scott’s arms when he looked taken aback. “When there’s a will there’s a way?” she asked, and then buried her face in his chest and hugged him. “All I’m saying is if you really want to train race horses, you can find a way to do it. You’d be great at it.” She looked up at him. “Or, are you afraid that you wouldn’t be?”

Scott felt like he’d had the wind knocked out of him. No one had ever spoken to him like that. He didn’t know if he should be happy about it or miffed. He wished he was alone with Jessica. He had an overwhelming urge to dominate her. Not violently, but sexually.

“Oh,” Jessica exclaimed. Scott’s expression sent a jolt of pleasure shooting through her. She looked hesitantly from Jim to Josh and then back at Scott.

“Here?” she whispered.

Scott shook his head but purposely brought his hands up to brush against her breasts. “Later,” he said in a voice so guttural that he had to clear his throat.

“I think we’d better get on with our work.” Jim said.

Jessica’s response to Scott was so obvious. Josh had been shifting in his seat. Jim didn’t know how Scott was able to resist dragging her off to his room, but he was afraid that left to his own devices, Josh would take Scott’s place. Or maybe he himself would “rise” to the occasion.

Jim shook his head. God if that happened everything would deteriorate into a sex fest … dragging Jessica to each of their respective bedrooms for sex at any time of the day was something that should never … could never happen. If it did, Jim couldn’t see how they’d ever be able to pull themselves back into something resembling a normal life.

Obviously Josh had been thinking along the same lines because as soon as Jim had spoken, Josh had jumped to his feet. “Good idea,” he said and headed for the door. He stood in the doorway and looked back at Jessica.

“Coming?”

“Yeah!” Jessica exclaimed.

The excitement of helping outside seemed to trump any sexual desire she may have had. She moved away from Scott and strode to the door, leaving Scott standing stock still, staring into the space where she’d been standing. He clenched his eyes as the pain of pent up drive seized his balls.

“Are you alright man?” Jim asked when Josh and Jessica had stepped out onto porch.

“No. How does she do that? Just turn it off like that?”

“I don’t know. But you may want to take a cold shower … you look like you sucked on a lemon.” Jim chuckled as he got up and headed for the door also.

“Ha, ha.” Scott said as he shuffled toward the bathroom, “One day this will happen to you and then we’ll see who’s laughing … “

Jim laughed again as he left the house. He had little doubt that it would … but he intended to be somewhere that he could actually do something about it.

At the end of the day, Jessica was exhausted, and loved it. She had helped Jim, Josh and Scott with every chore they had. She hadn’t done that much physical exercise in years not even on the universal gym in the basement. As she was stripping her clothes off in the bathroom, looking forward to a hot shower, she noticed Scott looking her over quite thoroughly … with an even more intense expression than usual. Subconsciously Jessica wrapped her arms around herself, covering her breasts.

Scott could barely move his eyes from the places that bits of flesh were exposed behind Jessica’s makeshift cover. The day had been excruciating for Scott. First the way she’d spoken so freely to him, but then she’d been so free around him, Jim and Josh all day. It was refreshing but at the same time it enflamed something primal in Scott that he only barely knew was there. The role playing they’d been doing being the first indicator of his tendency to want to dominate Jessica. But now, now after a full day of her carefree ways he just needed to control her sexually. God his cock was straining against his pants … and he knew what he wanted to do to her. A water torture porno mag had planted the seed but his own imagination was going to bring his need to fruition. He finally raised his eyes and noticed that Jessica was watching him with obvious curiosity.

“Am I in trouble?” She asked with caution, unsure if she should be afraid. Scott hadn’t tried to shower with you her since she’d won showering alone at cards. And there was something about Scott’s expression that she couldn’t decipher … something she’d never seen before.

Scott shook his head. “Not in trouble.” Scott said and took a step forward. “I just think sometimes you may get a little excited about things … a little, out of control maybe. I just want to help you relax … and maybe learn a little control …” he said lowering his eyes to the tuft of hair between her legs. Her arms still rested on her breasts but the pussy was just there.

A shock of pleasure jolted through Jessica as Scott’s eyes bore into her. And when he licked his lips, she actually came, without him even touching her. Scott inhaled deeply and forced his eyes to Jessica’s face.

“I can smell you.” He said.

“You can?” she asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Scott grunted, “part your legs a little more … please …” Jessica widened her stance, and Scott inhaled deeply, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the smell.

Jessica shivered, pleasure mounting but completely unsure where Scott was going with this. Scott opened his eyes and leveled them on Jessica. He held her gaze, not blinking.

“We’re going to take a bath together. A special bath …”. Scott removed his clothes. He stepped closer to her and taking her buttocks pulled her against him.

“Let’s get in the tub. You’ll be between my legs in the front.”

Jessica nodded but before they moved to the tub Scott smiled and brought his right hand between them, between her legs and inserted two of his fingers in her pussy, and caressed her clitoris with his thumb. Jessica came again.

“My, my G, “ Scott said bringing his wet hand up. “You’re ready to go … aren’t you?” he asked and proceeded to stick one of this fingers in his mouth and lick it off.

“Maybe you’d be interested in tasting yourself?” He said bringing the second finger to Jessica’s mouth and inserting it between her lips.

“Suck …” he said as Jessica licked his finger. “You taste good, don’t you?” he asked. Jessica nodded. It was … different. She was not sure that she enjoyed the flavor as much as Scott seemed to … but just the fact that she was tasting herself … she practically came again. Removing his finger from her mouth, Scott turned Jessica toward the tub. His hands on her hips, he led her to it. Once in the tub, Jessica sat in the front, Scott behind her, his legs bent on either side of her.

“Lean back,” Scott said in a low voice. Jessica did. “Spread your legs, wide. I want to see the meat of your pussy …”

Jessica brought her knees up and spread her legs. Scott ran his hand down her pelvis and between the lips of her pussy, using his fingers to spread her lips open.

“That’s it …” he murmured. “Now, the bath will go like this … I’m going to start the water running at a certain temperature. Then I will push your pussy under it, holding you in place.” He began to stroke her clitoris as he spoke, his hot breath on her neck. With the other hand he turned the hot water on.

“You’ll tell me if the water is too hot. Look at that steam Jess … do you think that would be too hot?”

Jessica came so hard … the situation, his tone, his hard cock pressing into her back … she couldn’t believe how horny she was. He chuckled in a low, sexy way and ran his fingers over her wet pulsating meat … “Keep cumming baby …” he murmured in her ear, “It should make this little lesson even more enjoyable to teach to you.” Shivers of pleasure rolled over her and she moaned as he pumped a finger into her hungry pussy hole. “As I was saying, as I hold your pussy under the water it’s up to you to tell me if it’s too hot. If you don’t find it too hot, I’ll pull you out, turn some of the cold water off, and push you under again. We’ll continue like this until you say it’s too hot.”

He thrust his fingers into her deeper, harder.

“And when you tell me that you find it too hot, I’ll feel the water and decide if I agree with your decision. If I do, I will push you under and hold you there until you cum and your legs began to twitch … believe me they will.” Scott said when Jessica glanced up at him. “Just like this …” he illustrated by finding her clitoris and stroking. Her legs twitched, her clitoris not having recovered from her previous orgasms yet. “It’ll be uncomfortable, but still feel good. At that point you’ll have two minutes to come again. If you don’t, I’ll turn on pure hot water and you will stay under it until you can lay still without squirming or your legs twitching. You’ll have to do better than that … “ he whispered into her ear as her legs continued to twitch as he continued to rub her clitoris. “And, of course, if I don’t agree with your decision … then I will also turn on pure hot water and hold you beneath it until you can lay still. And I should add that I want you to beg me to hold you under the water longer. If you don’t or if you ask me to pull you out, it’ll be even longer.”

Scott reached over Jessica and turned on the cold water. The steam dissipated.

“Don’t want to make this too easy do we?” he asked as he turned down the cold water until a slight mist of steam returned. Scott grabbed Jessica behind the knees and pulled her legs apart, and held them in place as he pushed her exposed pussy under the water.

Jessica shifted a little under the water.

“So, is it too hot?”

“No …” Jessica replied, in a not too convincing tone.

“Ask me to make the water hotter … “

“Scott …”

“The longer you take to ask me Jessica, the longer you’ll be under the water.”

“Please, please make the water hotter …” Jessica said.

Scott pulled her out, adjusted the water temperature.

“And what are you going to ask me now?” he asked.

“Please put me under the water?”

“Please put your what under the water?”

“Please put my … vagin …”

“No, the other word, the word that I like …”

Jessica looked back at him, completely at a loss for what he could mean. Scott pulled on her nipple with his right hand as he slid his left hand to her pussy and caressed.

“Pussy Jessica, I call it a pussy. Ask again … properly …”

“Please put my pussy under the water,” Jessica asked.

“Perfect …” Scott said giving her nipple a final pinch as he took her by her knees again and pushed her under the water. This time the water was considerably hotter, and that combined with the steady pressure of the running water caused Jessica to orgasm. And after the pleasure subsided, the pressure from the water falling on her vagina caused her legs to twitch uncontrollably.

“That’s it …” Scott muttered. Jessica felt the hardness of his cock on her back and then it softened, replaced by a warm wetness. Scott panted behind her. “That twitching just drives me …”

“Scott, please …”

“Control your legs Jessica, and start concentrating on cumming. By my calculation you have a minute and a half left to orgasm before I turn on pure hot water.”

Jessica began to concentrate on keeping legs still, and between the frustration of not being able to, the pressure of the water, and the fear of having pure hot water pouring on her vagina, Jessica came, her head tilting back as the pleasure consumed her.

Scott chuckled as he kissed her forehead. Her eyes were closed, her head to one side. Bliss evident in her expression.

“What do you need to ask now,” he whispered into her ear.

Drowsily Jessica opened her eyes.

“Huh? Keep going?” she asked.

“Mhmmm. You didn’t believe me when I said you’d be having multiple orgasms … did you?”

Jessica shook her head.

“You have ten seconds to ask Jessica or I turn on the hot water …”

“Please make the water hotter …” Jessica asked . Scott pulled her out and turned down the cold water, and up the hot. Jessica’s head had lolled from side to side, immense relaxation consuming her. But it snapped to attention when Scott chuckled and said, “look at that steam … that water looks hot … thirty seconds Jessica …”

“Please put my pussy under the water.” Jessica said with more calm than she felt. The water was hot and caused her to buck.

“Is it too hot Jessica?” Scott asked, pulling her legs even further apart. Jessica’s first thought was yes, but then she realized that Scott would never think the water too hot. Jessica shook her head.

“No, please make the water hotter.” She said hoping that Scott would pull her out quickly. But then she came suddenly, and her legs twitched. Even more violently than the first time.

“That one doesn’t count … Two minutes to cum again Jessica … whoa, whoa, you have to control your legs better than that …” he muttered quietly into her ear.

Jessica tried so hard to control her legs, to reach orgasm, but it just wasn’t working.

“Ten, nine, eight …” Scott began to count the last ten seconds. When he got to one, he reached up and turned the cold water down considerably and turned up the hot.

Jessica squirmed a little but surprisingly, it didn’t hurt so much as it stimulated.

“Hold still, and cum … cum Jessica or you’re going to have boiled pussy meat …”
“Scott … “Jessica began convinced that she would not be able to come again, but then suddenly she felt pleasure beginning to radiate from her vagina, up her pelvis, into her legs, and then she exploded. She thrashed her head from side to side and the look on her face caused him to cum also. They lay panting in the tub, and Jessica’s legs twitched.

“Scott, I can’t … I can’t stop the twitching this time …”

“Okay …” he mumbled and leaned over to turn off the water. He brought his hand to her pussy and stroked gently.

Jessica’s legs continued to twitch. He ran his hand up her stomach and Jessica turned on her side, collapsing her head on Scott’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her and drifted off to sleep.

“Jess, Scott, ” Josh’s voice came from behind the bathroom door. “Are you okay? You’ve been in there forever.”

Scott and Jessica woke at the same time.

“Tell him you’re okay,” Scott whispered, tilting his head toward the door.

“I’m fine,” Jessica said, sitting up. “I just took a bath with Scott and it took longer than I thought it would.”

“Shhh,” Scott said, wincing.

“Really? With Scott eh?” Josh asked.

“I wasn’t supposed to tell him that?” Jessica asked.

“ No, that’s fine.” Scott said. “Honesty is the best policy even if you’re supposed to be showering and bathing alone… “ he mumbled.

“Scott? Are you okay?” Josh asked with a hint of laugh in his voice.

“Fine, Josh … thanks.” Scott replied, shaking his head. “We’ll be out in a minute.”

Scott helped Jessica to her feet, and then turned on the shower. As he lathered Jessica up he couldn’t help but hug her. Again and again.

“How do you feel down there?” Scott asked, gently stroking the hair between her legs. “It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“No … oddly it doesn’t.” Jessica said, and giggled as he nipped her neck.

“Good,” he said as Jessica moved into the shower stream to rinse off. Scott watched and sighed. Now that he got the dominance out of his system he began to reflect on what Jessica had said about the horse racing. Now he could see that she may have had a point.

He didn’t honestly think he was avoiding racing … but for some reason it never occurred to him to try to get someone outside of clan to ride for him. It wasn’t practical, that was for sure … but it was doable.

“All done,” Jessica said stepping forward and kissing Scott’s chest. And she stepped out of the tub. Scott reached for her arm and missed.

“Jessica!” he barked.

Jessica jumped. “What?” she asked.

“Sorry,” Scott said, when he realized that he’d reacted without much thought. Jessica didn’t shower with him anymore. She was used to getting out of the shower at will. It was just that for a moment, Scott forgot that. Now his mind raced to cover that fact up. It was bad enough he’d showered with her when she clearly had a shower alone rule.
“Um, could you get me a towel?”

“Sure,” Jessica said heading to the linen closet. Scott rinsed and got out of the shower quickly.

“Here you go,” Jessica said handing him the towel.

“Thanks,” Scott and caught her by the arm. “Come here.”

Jessica stepped into his embrace.

“I’m supposed to be making dinner you know.” Jessica said as she ran her hands over the hair on his chest. “Jim and Josh are going to starve if we don’t get dressed soon.”

“Ah, they won’t starve. They’re pretty plump … could stand to lose a few pounds …”

“Scott …” Jessica said, shaking her head, “aren’t you hungry?”

“I sure am … “ he said, bringing his leg up between hers.

“Poor choice of words …” she said, “I meant for food Scott, real food.”

Scott chuckled. “Should I take that to mean that you are hungry … for food?”

“Yes,” she said, “starving.”

“Okay, okay, we’ll go.” He laughed, letting her go.

They went to his room and dressed and then headed out to the living room.

“They live,” Josh said. “That had to be the longest ‘quick’ shower ever.” But he regretted saying it right away. Jessica turned beet red and escaped to the kitchen.

“Bro … “ Scott said lifting his hands toward Jessica as she banged around in the kitchen.

“Sorry Jess, I was trying to razz Scott, not you.” Josh said going into the kitchen and turning her to face him.

Jessica smiled and nodded.

“Maybe,“ Jim said in an undertone when Josh came back into the living room with him and Scott, “we should limit having sex to the night time.”

He swung his eyes to Scott.

“Maybe,” Scott agreed, watching Jessica scurry back and forth from the fridge to the counter, to the stove. “It is my night with her … I didn’t honestly think it was going to make headline news. But I guess it’s only fair to her, right?”

“Well, I’ll try,” Josh said, “but I can’t promise anything. Sometimes things just happen.”

Jim rolled his eyes.

“Hey,” Scott said, “you brought out the radio.” He waved at the black portable radio that sat on the side table, emitting music quietly in the background.

“Yeah, I thought it’d be fun to have some music. I’m thinking maybe a game of euchre after dinner’d be fun.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Josh and Scott agreed.

“Do you need any help?” Jim asked, moving into the kitchen.

“Can you put on some rice?” Jessica asked.

Ten minutes later, the food was on the table. Jessica was seated and Jim was handing Josh and Scott a beer from the fridge.

“It looks great Jess,” Jim said coming to the table, “You did a great job cooking and a great job with the chores …” he was about to take a swig from his beer, just like Scott and Josh were doing when he realized Jessica had nothing to drink. He looked at his bottle and made up his mind.

“Here Jess,” Jim said handing her a new beer he’d grabbed from the fridge, “you deserve a cold one, just like us.”

“Jim …” Scott said, watching Jessica accept the bottle.

“Go ahead, try it,” Jim encouraged Jessica when she sniffed the opening. Jessica took a sip and her face contorted.

“Do you like it?” he asked with a laugh.

“No!” Jessica replied and pushed the bottle away from her on the table. “That’s vile!”

Despite themselves, Scott and Josh chuckled.

“It takes some getting used to.” Jim agreed. “How ‘bout some wine then … we have some white.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Scott asked quietly, following Jim into the kitchen.

“Not that I know of,” Jim said, opening the bottle and finding a glass.

“Yes you are. You can’t give her alcohol? What if she tells Riley?”

Jim shrugged. He could see Josh eyeing him from the table but Jessica wasn’t paying much attention.

“Things won’t change if we don’t keep moving forward. If she tells Riley, so be it. We’ll deal with it. I mean, you wouldn’t be suggesting that we tell her to not tell Riley?”

“No. I’d be suggesting not giving her any wine.”

“She’s not going to get trashed Scott. But she worked hard, just like we did. What’s wrong with her kicking back with a drink? Just like we are.”

“Where’s that wine?” Josh asked from the table. “The foods getting cold.”

“Do you want to give it to her, or should I?” Jim asked holding the glass out. “Listen,” Jim whispered, leaning closer to Scott when all Scott had done was stare at the glass. “This is the opportunity we’ve needed. She’s been different … you have to admit that. And I for one want it to go all the way. I want a relationship with her Scott and a relationship means that Jessica can help out, she feels free to speak her mind. We have to change the way we deal with her. If she can change then we have to too. And if we want her to change more, then we have to make it possible. Trust me on this, will you?”

Scott took a deep breath.

“Jesus Christ Jim, you’re going to get all of our asses kicked. And in case you’ve gone senile as well as insane, the person whose going to get their ass kicked the most is Jessica. This is more dangerous for her than us.”

“Guys,” Josh said coming up behind them. “Jim’s right, I’m more than willing to get my ass kicked, and I think Jessica would be willing to get her ass kicked, must move forward, now give me the damn wine, and let’s eat!” He grabbed the wine from Jim and spun around, marching back to the table.

“Here you go Jess,” Josh said, “I think you’ll find this tastes way better than beer.”

Jessica took a sip and nodded.

“This is delicious,” Scott said as they ate.

“Thanks,” Jessica said.

“Mmmhhmm” Josh and Jim mumbled in agreement. Unable to stop shoveling the food in their mouths.

“You guys want some coffee?” Jim asked, as Jessica began to clear the table.

“Sure.”

“It’s okay Jess,” Jim said standing and taking the plates from her hand. “You cooked, we’ll clean-up. Why don’t you go relax on the sofa … we’ll play some euchre after, ‘k?”

“Okay,” Jessica said, moving to the sofa, taking her wine with her.

“I think we may need some coffee for Jessica,” Scott said. He’d been watching her for the past twenty minutes as he was drying the dishes that Jim washed. He nodded to the living room as he handed Josh the dry dish to put away. Jessica had made herself comfortable on the sofa, wine glass in hand, but she was sinking lower on the sofa as her eyes began to close.

“Shit!” Josh said moving to the sofa, “Here Jess, better give that to me …” He said taking the wine glass from her hands.

“Hey, how about that euchre!” Scott said, clapping his hands and rousing Jessica as she was about to fall to sleep.

He was still holding out hope for some good sex tonight but given all the work she’d done today, plus the wine, he was beginning to resign himself to that not happening. But there was always the chance that she’d perk up if they played euchre.

Jessica forced herself to sit up.

“Hey, what d’ya say to mixing the teams up a little this time?” Scott asked.

“What do you suggest?” Jim asked.

“Why don’t we see who out of Josh and I get the highest card. Whoever gets the highest card, is Jessica’s partner.

“Josh?” Jim asked.

“Sounds fair,” Josh said. So Jim turned a King up for Scott, and then an ace for Josh.

“What are we playing for?” Josh asked as he moved to sit opposite Jessica.

“Fun?” Jessica asked when all three men looked at her for an answer.

“Fun is a given.” Jim said while he shuffled the deck of cards, “But what do you want to bet for?”

“Nothing really,” Jessica said.

“Nothing?” Scott asked.

“I can’t think of anything.”

“Really?” Josh asked, “Nothing at all?”

“I’m sure you can come up with something Jess.” Jim said as he dealt out the cards.

“The only thing I can think of, I don’t think you can give me.”

“Try us … “ Scott said feeling insulted, and his tone reflected it. But when Jessica looked at him, with an expression somewhere between defiance and smugness he had the sudden fear that she was going to ask to go home.

“Okay. I want to go horseback riding … and not just in some tiny corral … real horseback riding.”

The men sat in silence.

Scott’s sense of relief was short lived. While not as devastating as if she’d asked to go home, Jessica’s request definitely topped showering alone in magnitude of difficulty.

Jessica had picked up her hand and was organizing it. She held no expectation that she would get what she wanted so she was surprised when she looked up to see that the men seemed to be seriously considering her request.

“Okay,” Scott said, eyeing Jessica as she took a sip of her wine. They had already gone down a dangerous path that day, letting Jessica help with the chores, giving her alcohol, how would horseback riding make things any worse?

“But if Jim and I win, I want to begin showering with you again.” He may as well get something good out of this. Memories of their earlier sex play in the bathroom brought on an erection that he had a hard time hiding from Jim and Josh. From the way Jessica crossed her legs and smiled he could tell she was remembering as well.

“Okay?”

Jessica nodded. She had little doubt that she and Josh would win the game. She had no intention of losing the opportunity to horseback ride.

“Jim?” Scott asked.

Jim leaned back and observed Jessica. Having always been her partner in the past he’d never had the chance to win anything from her. But he knew what he wanted. To know her better. To know something personal about her.

“If Scott and I win, I want Jessica to tell us a secret.”

“A secret?” Jessica croaked, taken by surprise.

“What kind of secrets can Jessica possibly have?” Scott asked, but as Jessica’s expression went from disbelieving to somewhat concerned he looked at her hard.

“Yes Jessica,” Josh asked also noticing the subtle change in her expression. He too pinned her down with his stare.

Jessica looked back and forth between them, she had no idea what to say.

“Guys,” Jim said shaking his head, “I wasn’t implying that Jessica was keeping something from us. Everyone has something private that they keep to themselves. I want Jessica to share something personal and private. That’s all.”

“I guess your mind is the one part of you I haven’t explored yet,” Scott said in a voice thick with meaning as his eyes held Jessica’s and he rubbed his hand over his lips.

Jessica couldn’t catch her breath. When he looked at her like that she felt like his gaze was physically touching her, stroking her.

“What do you say?” Jim asked.

Jessica cleared her throat as she tried to find her voice.

She took a sip from her wine and took the opportunity to slide her eyes away from Scott, looking for reprieve from the urges that were racing through her. Unfortunately she slid them over to Josh whose expression fanned the flame within her even higher. He was leaning back against the chair, head titled to the right, observing her. Just the way he sat there looking like every fiber of his being was less interested in her mind then her body nearly drove her over the edge. She took a big gulp of wine from her glass, and brought her gaze back to Jim. Though softened by a slight smile on Jim’s lips, his expression wasn’t much different than Scott or Josh’s. Suddenly Jessica’s confidence in winning the game faltered. It wasn’t fair … they were distracting her with these overwhelming feelings of pleasure and yearning. How would she win the game in this state? And somehow, she didn’t know how, the hard muscles that had always been bulging on their arms, chest, legs, became more pronounced. Not frightening Jessica as they had in the past when she knew the unavoidable violence that they would be unleashing on her, but luring her, attracting her. She wanted them. Despite this, and the fact that she really couldn’t think of a secret to divulge to them should she have to, she wasn’t sure she could gamble on having to do so. The silence dragged on … the men watching Jessica, Jessica watching the men, and suddenly she realized that she had stopped breathing. Gulping air, she sat up.

“Are you okay?” Jim asked reaching out for her arm. Jessica nodded as she steadied her breathing.

“So?” Scott asked leaning forward in his seat, elbows on his thighs. His lips curled into a knowing smile. Jessica’s feelings were evident. Josh had leaned toward her also, nodding his head toward her when Scott looked over at him, wanting to be sure he wasn’t the only one picking up Jessica’s signals.

“Yup,” Scott said to Josh and Jim, “you’re not imagining it.”

And then swinging his lust riddled eyes back to Jessica he asked,

“What’s your answer Jess?”

“Okay,” Jessica said. She took another sip of her wine taking the opportunity to look away from the men and stare at her wine. She worked on steadying her breathing and controlling her feelings. Her body was giving her desires away and it was disconcerting … bordering on embarrassing.

“Alright,” Scott said, “what do you want from us if you and Jessica win Josh?”

“I want one of each of your nights with Jessica,” Josh replied without hesitation.

“I wager the same thing with your night Josh,” Jim said.

“Me too,” Scott said.

“And Jess, you understand that riding is pretty big. You’d win that from both Scott and Jim, not to mention me.” Josh said.

Jessica nodded, returning to examining her cards.

“Let’s play then.” Josh said.

The game went swiftly and decisively to Jessica and Josh. When the final point was won, Jessica could barely contain her excitement. Josh was pretty happy himself … a couple of extra nights with Jessica.

“So tomorrow morning? First thing?” Jessica said excitement in her voice.

“Yes Jessica,” Scott said more than a little upset that he’d lost his night with her.

“Well,” Josh said looking at his watch and then stretching his arms and faking a yawn, “if we’re getting up early tomorrow then we should get to bed. Sorry Scott, better luck next time.” He continued with a crooked grin.

“Screw off,” Scott said and Josh laughed.

“Ready Jess?” Josh asked.

Jessica put her empty glass in Jim’s outstretched hand and kissed him goodnight. She kissed Scott and then held Josh’s hand as he led her to his room.

*********************************************************

“Josh! Josh!” Jessica said as she shook his arm. Josh groaned and opened one eye. Jessica had climbed down from the bed to his spot on the floor.

“What’s wrong Jess?” he asked.

“It’s morning … time to get up.”

“What time is it?” he asked. Jessica pushed up to his side table and returned with his watch.

“It’s seven.”

“Seven!” Josh exclaimed. “Jess, aren’t you the least bit tired? We spent all night going at it like rabbits … don’t you want to sleep in?”

“You know,” Jessica said running her hands through Josh’s short hair, “I read somewhere that rabbits are early risers … “

“Oh really?” Josh said placing his hand on her thigh and moving it up to the mound of hair between her legs, “Maybe they get up early to fuck again … that I can live with …” he snaked his other arm up around Jessica’s waist and slid her down to lay beside him, leaning in he began kissing the nape of her neck.

“No …” Jessica said giggling as his kisses tickled her. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed away with all of her might. “I think they get up early so they can go horseback riding.”

“What?” Josh asked, looking up at her. “Rabbits? I guess you don’t mean your regular rabbits … just us two legged fucking rabbits …” He pulled her on top of him again.

Jessica laughed. “Yes, I guess so. Come on Josh … please … please can we go?” She kissed him quickly on the lips and then leaned back, pouted her lips and batted her eyelashes.

Josh laughed. “Cute Jessica, very cute. Alright … let’s go.” Josh said and followed Jessica as she stood up. They were dressed in record time. Neither Scott nor Jim were up yet. Jessica began making breakfast, Josh put coffee on.

“We should wake them up,” Jessica said when breakfast was made with no sign of Scott or Jim.

“Right.” Josh said. “Allow me. If you go to get them you may never get to go horseback riding ….”

“You’re right,” Jessica agreed, “they’re two legged rabbits too.”

Josh laughed as he hesitated at the entrance to the hallway. He watched Jessica flutter around the table pouring coffee. He looked at the front door. He’d have to be fast.

“Where are they?” Jessica asked jumping up from the table when Josh returned alone. Josh laughed. He’d been doing that a lot lately and despite the fact that his face was starting to hurt, he enjoyed it.

“They’re coming Jessica … they have to get ready.” He sat down in the chair next to where Jessica stood and pulled her onto his lap, “and for the record, they think you’re crazy.”

“I prefer the word eccentric thank you very much.” Jessica replied while smoothing a few stray strands of Josh’s hair that stood up here and there.

“Sure,” Josh said, “just a fancy way to say crazy but I can oblige.”

“What the hell?” Scott asked as he stumbled into the dining room. “It’s seven fifteen in the morning Jessica …”

Jessica scrambled off of Josh’s lap and pulled a chair for Scott.

“Here, sit down. Breakfast is ready … here’s some coffee.”

When Jim appeared she pulled a chair for him as well.

“Are you eating?” Jim asked as Jessica stood watching them.

“Oh, right!” she slid into her chair and began shoveling eggs into her mouth. The men looked at one another, laughing.

Scott shook his head. “Crazy …” he muttered.

“Eccentric …” Jessica corrected in between mouthfuls of egg.

“X what?” Jim asked with a laugh.

“Jessica prefers the refined word for crazy.” Josh replied.

“I’m done!” Jessica said pushing her plate away and jumping up.

“Clearly.” Scott said.

“Hey what are you doing?” He asked when Jessica pulled his plate away when he’d skewered his last bite of eggs with his fork.

“You’re done too, right?” she asked and moved on to taking Jim and then Josh’s plates. She moved to the kitchen dumped them in the sink and bounced back out.

“Okay … can we go ride?”

“We’re not done our coffee yet.” Jim said with a wink. Jessica looked like she was going to explode. She fidgeted while Jim brought his coffee to his lips.

“Jesus …” Scott said when Jessica looked almost physically pained by the forced wait. “Okay guys, I don’t know about you but I can wait for coffee.”

Jessica began clapping her hands and bouncing up and down … looking to Josh and Jim expectantly.

“I guess I can wait too,” Josh said.

“Oh okay …” Jim said struggling not to laugh too hard. “Honestly Jessica, I don’t know how you maintain that level of enthusiasm without exhausting yourself.”

But Jessica wasn’t paying attention. She’d grabbed Scott’s hand and headed for the door.

“I take it that you’d like to ride Chestnut?” Scott asked as they entered the barn.

“You remembered!” Jessica exclaimed.

“I sure did. The thing is that Chestnut can be pretty frisky at times.” Scott said as Josh and Jim moved off to get their horses ready.

“That’s okay. I can handle it.”

“Do you know how to ride Jessica? And your little two minute stint on Ebony doesn’t count.”

Jessica was nodding her head.

“I used to ride a lot.”

Scott caught his breath and watched her face for any sign that she was upset by the mention of her previous life but there was none. She was looking at Chestnut with longing.

“Okay, let’s get her saddled up for you.” Scott said moving toward the saddle that balanced on the stall railing.

“Wait!” Jessica said, grabbing Scott’s arm. “Do you mind if I do it myself?”

“Okay,” Scott said with hesitation. Chestnut was a tall horse he had his doubts that Jessica could manage. But he moved off to the next stall to prepare the horse he would ride. He kept his eye on Jessica as she bridled Chestnut swiftly and confidently. She didn’t even have trouble throwing the saddle onto the horses tall back. He was feeling better about this now. Jessica obviously was not exaggerating her knowledge of horseback riding. Or, at least not preparation for horseback riding. They led the horses out of the barn and Jessica swung up onto the Chestnut with ease.

“Okay Jessica, we’re going to warm up a little first. Nothing fancy. You haven’t been on a horse in years.” Scott said catching the reigns of Chestnut as Jessica had begun to urge her forward.

“Got it?” Josh asked beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. “I don’t want to have to explain to Riley and Angus if you get hurt … do you?”

Jessica shook her head but the perma smile that had glued itself to her face when they’d come out to the stables was unmovable.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful, I promise. Where are we going?”

“We’ve got a lot of land,” Jim said indicating the countryside ahead of them. “We’ll ride that. Maybe we’ll get lucky and run across a few of those wild dogs.” He continued, tapping the butt of the rifle that stuck out from the saddle holder near his leg.

“We should be so lucky.” Scott said as they began to walk out around the corral.

Josh looked at Jessica. “Would that be good luck or bad luck?” he said and then motioned his head to Jessica when Scott and Jim picked up on his tone. “I’m not sure I’d really want to deal with wild dogs right now, with our present company.”

Jessica caught his tone also.

“Don’t worry about me.” Jessica said. “Wild dogs are wild dogs. I feel sorry for them but if they’re dangerous then putting them down is probably the best thing for them.”

“Right Jess,” Josh said with a chuckle. “I am concerned about your mental and emotional health too, but my immediate concern would be your physical. I think it’d be better if you were nowhere near wild dogs.”

Jessica smiled as she urged Chestnut onto a trot. “Don’t worry Josh … they’d have to catch me first.”

“This is beautiful! You have beautiful land!” Jessica said as they pulled up at the top of a hill that overlooked a huge valley. They’d been riding for about an hour, Jessica setting the pace at a canter.

“Thanks,” they said in unison. They were impressed with Jessica. She hadn’t exaggerated her skills in any way. And she looked even more beautiful on a horse, hair flying, managing Chestnut so confidently.

“Is that a river down there?” she asked.

“Yup,” Scott answered. “It flows into a ravine. It’s great for swimming on hot summer days.”

As they spoke, Chestnut stepped from side to side snorting.

“Whoa Chestnut,” Scott said, “what the heck is her problem?”

“She’s antsy, she wants to run.” Jessica replied reaching down and patting her neck.

“Run!” Jim exclaimed, “What the hell have we been doing for the past hour?”

“That was by no means running,” Jessica said with a laugh.

“Really?” Josh said his voice sounding petulant, even to himself. “Then what, pray tell, is running?”

He regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. Jessica sat up straighter on Chestnut and a look of determination settled onto her face.

“We’ll race you to the river … last one there is a dirty, rotten egg!”

“Jessica!” All three men yelled at the same time, but it was too late. Jessica had spurred the all too accommodating Chestnut on and was flying at break neck speed toward the river.

“Holy shit!” Scott cursed as he and the other men urged their horses after her. She was going so fast … too fast.

“Jessica stop! Stop!” They took turns yelling but there was no way she’d hear them.

Despite the horror of the moment Scott couldn’t help notice that Jessica’s body had taken on the riding position of a horse jockey … as much as she could on a western saddle. And she was going so fast! Even though the men were urging their horses on, the gap between them and her kept widening.

“Is she making a run for it?” Josh asked suddenly, fear coursing through him.

“No,” Jim said but there was no conviction behind it.

“She has to stop at the river,” Scott added. “she’s not going anywhere.”

“How can she go so fucking fast?” Josh asked as she pulled even further ahead of them. Chestnut looked like her legs were barely touching the ground.

“She has no fear … “ Jim answered with awe.

“Or she thinks she’s going to get away.” Scott said. And the horror of the possibility became more real as Jessica approached the river. It wasn’t a huge river but wide and wild enough that a person and horse would have to slow down and carefully make their way across it. But Jessica wasn’t slowing down.

“What the …” Josh began as it appeared that Jessica was actually urging Chestnut on, making her go faster.

“She wouldn’t …” Scott said a horrible thought beginning to form. “She’s not crazy enough to try and …”

“Jump?” Jim finished Scott’s sentence as Jessica and Chestnut launched into the air and sailed over the river.

The men let out a collective sigh when Jessica and Chestnut landed safely on the other side. They had made it to the river and stood watching Jessica continue to ride away.

“She’s not stopping …” Scott said. But then Jessica looked over her shoulder. She turned Chestnut in a wide arc and raced back toward the river.

“Oh no …” Josh growled as he realized her intention.

“No! Stop Jessica, stop!” Jim yelled as horse and rider picked up speed near the river. All three men fell silent and watched in slack jawed awe as Jessica and Chestnut sailed back over the river. Jessica guided Chestnut in another large circle and slowed her to a trot as she headed back to the men.

“Did you see that?” Jessica exclaimed while petting Chestnut’s neck, “Isn’t she great?”

“Great!” Josh growled.

Scott grabbed Jessica’s reins and pulled her closer. He stared into her face, unsure what to say or do. He couldn’t decide if he was angry with her or impressed by her.

As he watched the excitement on her face, in her eyes, the way she looked at him so innocently as if she had no clue what she’d just put him through, the urge to dominate her swept over him like a tidal wave. But Jessica was too preoccupied to notice.

“Do you know what we should do?” She was asking in a breathless and excited voice.

“No …” Josh replied through clenched teeth, “what?”

But Scott knew, knew exactly what he wanted to do. But he couldn’t do it here.

“We should time the horses.” She answered Josh, but then swung her gaze to Scott. “Chestnut is amazingly fast, I bet you the others are too. Ebony will be like a rocket I’m sure …”

“Don’t even consider bringing Ebony into this …” Scott growled.

She was 100% certifiable. What were the chances that Jim and Josh would let him take her to his room right now? He began forming what he hoped would be a convincing argument to not only convince Jim to switch his night with him but also allow him to fuck her brains out during the day, right now.

“Unbelievable!” Jim suddenly exclaimed and his tone even caught through Scott’s growing urges and got his attention. Everyone looked at him. He was staring at Jessica with the strangest expression on his face.

“You just live, don’t you? You don’t even consider the possible dangers involved in anything … you don’t even care. You just do it?” Jim was excited. He finally understood Jessica. There was no intent behind anything she did. She wasn’t planning and scheming at every moment. She just seized whatever opportunities came along. It was all so clear now.

“I guess …” she said when all the men’s eyes landed on her and waited. She honestly didn’t know what Jim was talking about but somehow his words seemed to mean something to Josh and Scott. They seemed to be relaxing.

“Just what kind of horseback riding did you used to do?” Jim asked realizing that this wouldn’t be a trait that just developed. It had to be with her from the beginning.

“Racing, jumping, barrel racing, rodeo …” Jessica rhymed off nonchalantly.

“Your … parents … “ Scott nearly choked on the words, “would let you do these things?”

“Of course,” Jessica replied. “they never said no to anything. They believed anything and everything was possible.”

Silence hung in the air as the men absorbed this. Jessica was still smiling at them. She’d answered in a tone that implied it was a matter of fact. No sadness, no anger, no regret.

“That explains a lot.” Josh mumbled. Jessica clearly wasn’t used to being told no, or what she could or could not do. They’d lost before they’d even begun.

“So,” Jessica said, excitement bubbling inside her, “there’s a perfect straightaway right there.” She said pointing behind them, “we can run the horses flat out and time them!”

“Maybe you can run them flat out,” Jim said, “but I sure can’t.”

“You don’t have to,” Jessica said, “I can run the horse that’s being timed … but it helps if you ride too, give the horse someone to race. We can start with Chestnut … Josh will you race too?”

Josh looked at Scott. Scott shrugged. He didn’t really know what to do.

“Okay,” Josh replied.

“So we should start over here,” Jessica said beginning to move away.

Scott let Chestnut’s reigns go … he was lost.

“Line up here.” She was telling Jim and Josh. “And we’ll race to that clump of trees. And Scott, you have your watch right? You can time Chestnut. Then we can switch horses and we’ll time the others. You can use your rifle as the starting pistol.”

Scott didn’t know how Jim and Josh felt, but he felt like he was in a daze. Obediently he pulled his rifle out as Jessica, Jim and Josh spaced themselves out along the imaginary start line. They looked at Scott. As if on autopilot he fired the gun into the air, and the horses took off. Jessica and Chestnut broke out ahead at what seemed to be an impossible speed. When Jessica pulled up at the trees Scott pressed stop on his watch. He looked at the numbers on the watch and his mind had trouble grasping their meaning.

“How’d she do?” Jessica asked as she came to join him.

“Unbelievable,” Scott whispered. Jessica smiled.

“How do you stay on the flipping horse?” Josh asked. He had pushed his horse as fast as he dared … to the point at which he actually felt fear, and Jessica still blew him away.

“You just have to get in rhythm with the horse … “ Jessica said as if it were the easiest thing in the world to do. “Okay, now switch with me …” she said swinging off of Chestnut and moving toward Josh.

Josh pulled his rifle from its holder and swung off of Tanner, his horse.

“Do you want to run this one?” he asked Scott.

Scott shook his head.

“Didn’t think so.” Josh mumbled as he climbed on Chestnut. Jessica was already guiding Tanner to the start line. Scott fired the rifle into the air again and the horses flew off the mark. Scott gasped for breath as he pressed stop on his watch … another unbelievable time.

Hours later Jessica was clanking around the kitchen preparing dinner. The men sat in the living room watching her. They’d run the horses over and over again. Times improving with each run.

“My ass hurts.” Josh stated as he brought the beer he’d been nursing to his lips.

“Mine too,” Jim replied.

“Do you think hers does?” Josh asked nodding toward Jessica.

“How can it not?” Jim asked.

Scott suddenly sat forward. “Jessica,” he called. She peeked over at him. “How’s your ass?”

Jessica looked back at her butt and then back at Scott, confusion evident on her face.

“Is it sore?” Jim clarified with a laugh.

“No,” she replied.

“I want to play euchre again tonight.” Scott said, her answer being enough for him. No sore ass meant plenty of action was possible. His urge to dominate Jessica had not subsided throughout the day. He had to win tonight with her. Since she wasn’t sore after the riding there’d be nothing to interfere with the multiple orgasms he intended to give her.

“Sure,” Jim said catching the drift of what Scott wanted.

“Just remember that Jessica has a habit of winning.” Josh said also understanding what Scott was after.

“She has to lose some time.” Scott said.

Josh shook his head. He hoped Scott was wrong. He didn’t want to lose his night with her.

Scott closed the bedroom door behind him. Jessica was toweling off by his bed. He had played euchre as if he were playing for his very life. He was so relieved when he and Jim had won. And then even more relieved when he had won the straw draw that determined who between he and Jim had their night with Jessica that night. He’d been so eager to get Jessica to his room that he’d even convinced Jim and Josh to wait for tomorrow to hear Jessica’s secret. She’d been unable to think of a secret initially and he didn’t have the patience to wait.

“Don’t bother.” Scott said as Jessica had reached for her pajamas. Jessica turned to face Scott, the towel wrapped around her.

“Your horses are great Scott!” She said clearly unable to get the day of riding out of her head. “Are you going to race them?”

“I don’t know,” Scott said moving up to her and running his hands over her towel covered breasts. “But I’m not thinking about that right now.”

Jessica clued in to the tone of Scott’s voice and the look on his face and pleasure shot through her.

“You know … you broke a promise today.” Scott said, squeezing her breast a little over the towel. Jessica looked stunned.

“I did? I don’t remember … I didn’t mean to … sorry.” She said as Scott pulled the towel open and let it fall to the floor.

“Oh, that’s okay.” Scott said, his voice husky. “Now I get to break a promise too.”

A chill and then a wave of pleasure ran through Jessica at Scott’s words. Something in Scott’s tone made her think she should be concerned … but somehow it turned her on. In a fluid motion Scott scooped Jessica into his arms and placed her on the bed. Then he reached under his bed and pulled out a plastic bag.

“You see,” he began, “I promised never to use those handcuffs on you again.” He nodded his head to the handcuffs that hung on his headboard. “But I’m going to. You don’t have a choice about that. But you do have a choice about which toy I’m going to use on you.” He said dumping an assortment of vibrators onto the bed in front of Jessica.

“Which one do you want? “ he asked lifting one at a time.

Jessica looked at them. They’d used a few before … She personally preferred the ones that worked on her clitoris only, that didn’t penetrate her.

“Look,” Scott said lifting a long thin one up, “this is for the anus. What do you think? Hours of stimulation in your ass? That could be fun.”

Jessica shook her head forcefully.

“No, no, not that,” Jessica said quickly. “I’ll take that one.” She pointed to the vibrator that looked like a microphone.

“Very well.” Scott said and dumped the others back in the bag. “Now, shackle yourself with the handcuffs.” He ordered.

Jessica hesitated but only for a moment. Scott had a strange look on his face and Jessica wasn’t sure if this was going to be good for her or bad. She got up on her knees and nervously snapped her right wrist into the handcuff. Then sitting, her back against the head board she managed to use her shackled hand to close the handcuff on her left hand.

“What promise did I break?” she asked as Scott double checked the handcuffs, tightening them.

“You promised to not do anything that could get you hurt.” Scott replied, his voice so low, so calm, so husky that he practically purred. He sat down on the bed in front of her.

“But I didn’t get hurt …” Jessica said.

“That’s true …” Scott said running his hand down her leg, to her ankle. He ran his free hand behind Jessica’s waist and pulled her forward on the bed, laying her down. With the other he raised her ankle to his lips. “But you did many, many, things that could have gotten you hurt. You broke your promise.”

“But …”

“But nothing Jessica.” He said beginning to raise her leg toward her head, “I hope you’re as flexible as I think you are …” he said pushing her leg between two of the vertical bars on his headboard.

Jessica gasped as he pulled her leg around a bar until it sat neatly behind her knee, her calf and foot sticking straight out from the headboard.

“Now the other one …” he muttered as he did the same with the other leg. “Perfect!” he muttered sitting back on his haunches, looking at Jessica.

Her legs were wide open, the lips of her pussy pulled open exposing her meat.

“Let’s arrange your breasts a little.” He said fluffing them like they were pillows.

“I’ll need access to them too. Now,” he said turning the vibrator on. “I’m going to teach you a little lesson about listening. Do you recall us telling you to stop when you took off for the river?”

“No … “Jessica said, “I didn’t hear you!”

“And, do you think if you had heard us …” Scott asked, placing the vibrator on her clitoris, “that you would have listened? Be careful Jessica ..” he added as she opened her mouth to answer. “Be honest … I think we both know what the truth is … would you have listened?”

“No …” Jessica panted as the vibrator did its job and pleasure began to mount.

“I didn’t think so. You need a lesson in obedience.” Scott said, his voice thick with lust. “Does it feel good Jessica? Do you feel like you will orgasm any moment now?”

Jessica was nodding her head. Scott took her nipple in the fingers of her left hand and pulled gently but firmly.

“Well, don’t. I’m not giving you permission to cum yet. “ He said with a smile.

Jessica shook her head.

“I won’t be able to stop!” She gasped.

“Well, that would be too bad …” Scott muttered, leaving her breast and inserting his fingers into her vagina. Pressing deep, finding her G spot and pressing rhythmically.

“See you have three chances. Three chances to hold off on orgasm when I tell you to, or reach orgasm when I tell you to. If you blow those three chances, I will be using the anal vibrator on you.”

He smiled when Jessica’s eyes widened. “But it won’t be the nice skinny vibrator … It’ll be the nice big, fat, thick one. I may not even put lubricant …” his voice trailed off as Jessica’s vagina pulsated and liquid gushed out … Jessica’s head lolled from side to side, pleasure shooting through her.

“I guess that was chance number one,” he said quietly as Jessica began to calm and turned her eyes to him. He left the vibrator in place, continued to pulsate on her G spot with his fingers, and her legs began to twitch.

“Does it feel pleasurable?” he asked as Jessica closed her eyes.

“Not really,” she replied. In a way it did, but her clitoris was too sensitive now. Every jerk of her legs represented a strange pleasure yet discomfort.

“Then, this is a good time for chance number two. You have thirty seconds to cum Jessica. And not a little orgasm but a gusher again … and before I begin to count let me tell you what will happen once you fail your three chances, and you will. Once I’m done with the anal vibrator, we will return to this vibrator for the rest of the night. It will be on you all night, and you can practice cumming and not cumming on command. Ready now?” He asked.

Jessica shook her head but he began to count anyway.

“One …” he said, removing his fingers from her vagina … no need to give extra assistance. Instead he placed his thumb on the entrance of her anus and applied a gentle pressure. “Two … this is where the King Kong Dong of the anal vibrator world will enter …” he said.

“Please Scott …” Jessica gasped … “I can’t …”

“Three … oh you can, if you actually try to obey …” Scott said, pressing more firmly on her anus. He watched her face as he counted. She was concentrating so hard, trying so hard to reach orgasm. Suddenly his already stiff penis began to throb. He raised himself slightly.

“Open your mouth Jessica!” he said. She complied and he exploded, streams of his semen landing in her mouth, and on her face.

“Twenty-five …” he gasped … the semen on Jessica’s face almost brought him to orgasm again.

“I can’t …” Jessica said, her legs twitching so hard Scott wondered if she could possibly break his headboard.

“Thirty …” he said. He tisked, shaking his head. There was no gushing so she clearly had not cum.

“Please, Scott, it’s starting now …” Jessica said as her legs stopped twitching and she arched her back.

“How fortunate …” Scott said, “just in time for chance number three. Don’t orgasm Jessica. Don’t you fucking do it until I say you can …” He inserted his fingers in her vagina again and tapped. He brought his face to her pussy and inhaled.

“You smell so good!” he sighed and licked the meat that was not directly under the vibrator.

“No Scott … it’s not fair! Please!” But he’d had her taste now and couldn’t stop. Wave upon wave of pleasure rocked Jessica and liquid squirted our all over Scott. As Jessica’s legs began to twitch, Scott turned off the vibrator.

“I’d say that was a very big orgasm …” he said wiping his face with his hand. He reached into the plastic bag he’d pushed behind him and pulled out a large vibrator.

“Jessica, say hello to Dong … King Kong Dong.”

“No …” Jessica whispered.

“Yes … but don’t worry I will use some lubricant. I can show some mercy even if you can’t obey properly.”

“Scott … please I’m not purposely not listening, I can’t control it …”

Scott watched her face as he slowly and deliberately rubbed lubricant onto the large toy.

“You just need some practice Jessica,” he said bringing the vibrator to her anus. “You can begin now. Lift your butt Jessica. It’ll be easier for you if I have some more direct access … that’s it … “ he muttered as she’d tilted her bum up for him.

**************************************************************

“Morning,” Jim greeted Jessica when she and Scott emerged into the living room the next morning.

“Morning,” Jessica said going to Jim and then Josh for a kiss.

“You look tired,” Josh commented as he pushed her back and looked at her face. A slight shade of pink developed on her cheeks as she smiled.

“I’m fine. Have you eaten yet?”

“No,” Josh said confused by something in her demeanor … she wasn’t looking him in the eye.

“I’ll make some eggs,” she said and moved off to the kitchen.

Both Jim and Josh looked over at Scott. He was watching Jessica and there was something odd in his expression also.

“Is she okay?” Jim asked Scott. Scott pulled his eyes from Jessica and looked at Jim and Josh, something like guilt in his eyes.

“I think so,” Scott swung his eyes back to Jessica. Guilt nagged at him. He had gone too far last night. She hadn’t wanted the anal vibrator, but she eventually seemed to enjoy it. But then after … he’d gone way too far with the other vibrator. She’d taken it for hours without a peep but then when she’d finally asked him to stop, he hadn’t. He couldn’t. He was … addicted. Addicted to her smell, her taste, the look on her face as her legs twitched. He zoned out. It wasn’t until the sun began coming up that he’d finally realized what he’d done … how long he’d done it. He turned off the vibrator, untangled her legs and uncuffed her. She was so tired that she simply turned on her side and went to sleep. He was exhausted also and didn’t think much of it until they’d woken up. She’d asked him about the horses again … what he planned to do … but he had no clue and when he told her that she lowered her eyes and wouldn’t look him in the eye again.

“Did you have sex all night again?” Josh demanded.

“Something like that …” Scott said and got up, moving to the kitchen. He came up behind Jessica and placed his hand on her shoulder.

Jessica jumped. She was a bundle of nerves. Scott’s administration of the vibrator had wore her raw … but in a good way. Despite having more than enough of it, there was a yearning that still lingered between her legs. But she hadn’t heard Scott coming, and her whole body felt raw and particularly sensitive to any touch.

“Sorry,” Scott mumbled. “Are you okay?” he asked, rubbing her arms with his hands.

“Sure, I’m fine,” Jessica said without looking him in the eye. She was deeply disappointed with him. They had proven that his dream was possible yesterday, and he had no plans to do anything about it. It was so unfair. There was so much that she wanted to do and couldn’t, and here was his opportunity to live his dream and he wasn’t going to take it.

He dropped his hand to her bum and rubbed it gently.

“Are you okay down here?” he asked. Guilt choked his voice. This brought her eyes to his.

“Fine. I’m fine.” She replied.

She’d been surprised at how much pleasure she could actually have there. Once the initial terror had subsided, pleasure had rocked her. “Do you want one egg or two?”

“Two …” he answered not overly placated by her response.

“Hey Jess,” Jim said from the dining room, “Scott has to go into town today, but we could go riding again …”

Damn! Scott forgot about his appointment in town.

“I’m not going.” Scott said without thinking it through.

“What?” Jim and Josh asked in unison.

“I’m going to call and reschedule. It won’t be a problem.”

“How are you going to call? Riley and Angus took the cell phone.” Josh said.

Scott hesitated. That did pose a problem.

“I’ll just go to the corner store … call from there. I’ll be back in half an hour tops. But ummm, would you mind waiting for me to get back to go riding? I’d like to go too.” It was irrational and selfish for sure, but he couldn’t stand the thought of her riding with Jim and Josh without him.

“Okay, fine, we can wait.” Jim said.

“Have you thought of a secret to tell us yet?” Josh asked, overly casually. He’d been a little miffed that Scott had dragged Jessica off before she’d shared. Jessica got that deer in the headlights look again. Scott was thankful that he hadn’t thought of forcing it out of her last night. He would’ve felt even more like a heel.

“Not yet.” Jessica said, “Breakfast is ready …”

“You know, anything personal would do,” Jim said as he took his seat at the table.

“Eggs?” Jessica replied, holding the frying pan over his plate.

“I think she needs more time.” Scott said. “To think about it!” he added when both Jim and Josh looked at him like they wanted to strangle him.

“I’m sure you’ll think of something by tonight.” Josh added and dug into his food.

Despite the fact that Jessica shuffled in her seat all through breakfast, crossing, uncrossing, re-crossing her legs in an attempt to get comfortable, Scott managed to finish his meal without completely feeling like dirt. He wanted to promise himself, and Jessica, that there wouldn’t be a repeat of what happened the previous night, but he knew he couldn’t. Knowing Jessica, she would inevitably do something that would make him want to dominate her again. He would just have to find some way to make it up to her.

“I’ll be back soon,” Scott said placing a kiss on Jessica’s lips and then running out the door. The tires of the car spewed gravel as he raced out of the driveway.

“If he doesn’t wrap himself around a pole first …” Josh mumbled.

“A pole?” Jessica asked, concern etched on her face.

“I’m just joking,” Josh said but he was glad to see that she cared about Scott’s health. Maybe she cared about his too.

Scott drove back to the house as fast as he could. He’d made his call, and then wavered about whether he should go into town anyway and pick something up for Jessica. Something special to try to apologize for the previous night.

But he couldn’t for the life of him think of what to get her. Instead he finally decided that he’d have to make it up to her some other way. Decision made, he wanted to get back to the house, to Jessica, as quickly as possible. What, he wondered as he screeched into the driveway and slammed on the brakes, were the chances that he could win euchre and the straw draw tonight again? Near impossible he acknowledged as he slammed the car door and moved toward the barn. He wondered what Jim and Josh had been doing with Jessica while he was gone. He rounded the barn and stopped short. Jessica and Josh were shoving one another, turning in circles and laughing while they fought over a soccer ball. Jim stood between two poles of the corral fences, shuffling back and forth between the poles keeping his eyes on the ball.

“Don’t let her through Josh!” he was saying, “She’s a ringer! Not that great at soccer my ass!”

Just then Jessica managed to break away from Josh, dribble the ball toward Jim and shoot the ball past him between the posts.

“Damn it!” Jim cursed but then broke into a laugh. He spotted Scott. “She scored ten goals on us!”

“Really?” Scott asked. “Where’d you find the ball?”

They hadn’t played soccer in so long … not since Jessica had come here. He’d forgotten about it entirely, but now, especially having seen Jessica playing, he missed it.

“Jess found it in the loft,” Josh said.

“Do you want to play?” Jessica asked. But as soon as Scott’s eyes fell on her, her cheeks turned pink and she shifted her eyes from his. Every time she looked at him, her privates continued to tingled.

“Sure.”

Jim moved out of nets, Scott took his place and Josh moved into the barn doorway which was going to serve as his and Jessica’s net. What seemed like minutes, but turned out to be an hour later, the game was tied up.

“Hey, it’s lunch time.” Josh said, looking at his watch. “Do you want to go for lunch?”

“I’m not really hungry.” Jessica said, eyeing the barn.

“Want to go for a ride?” Scott asked with a chuckle. Jessica nodded with excitement.

*************************************************************

“I don’t believe it!” Josh muttered later that night.

They had timed another four horses that afternoon, come home for dinner, and played euchre. Somehow Scott and Jim had won euchre again, and Scott had won the straw draw. Jim was looking less than impressed also. Scott didn’t care. All that had fazed him was Jessica’s reaction. She had sighed, as if resigned to some less than enthralling fate. Suddenly he knew how he’d make things up to her. Tit for tat … he’d let her dominate him. He shuddered at the thought. Partially from the anticipation of pleasure, partially from fear of the unknown.

“Fine, you won fair and square.” Jim said, “But no way are you leaving this room until Jessica tells us two personal things about her. Jess?”

They all looked at Jessica and she looked like she wanted to find a rock to crawl under.

“Just relax Jess.” Jim said. “Relax and tell us something about you that we don’t know.”

Silence ensued as Jessica looked even more stressed. Suddenly Jessica’s head snapped to the radio. It has just started playing a song with a really good beat to it.

“I can play that song.” Jessica said.

“That song?” Jim asked. “On what?”

“On your guitar.”

“My guitar? Since when can you play guitar?” Jim demanded.

“I’ve played since I was little.” She replied. Jim sat gaping at her.

“All this time. All this time that I have been playing for you, you could play guitar too?”

Jessica nodded.

“Why wouldn’t you tell me?” Jim asked and there was little doubt that his feelings were hurt.

“I didn’t think it was important.” Jessica replied. She looked confused by Jim’s reaction. “And you never asked.”

“And this is a brand new song,” Scott added. “There’s no way you could have learned it before … before you came here.”

“I play by ear.” Jessica said. “I can read music, but I mostly play by ear. Bring me your guitar Jim, I’ll prove it to you.”

Jim went to his room and got his guitar. He handed it to Jessica almost afraid to see her play. All this time and never once had she told him she could. Jessica strummed the guitar, and then began to play the song from the radio almost perfectly … singing the song also. She looked so happy, so enthralled. Jim felt like she’d plunged a knife into his chest and twisted it. When she finished the men sat gaping at her.

“That was Avril Lavigne,” Jessica said more to Jim then to the others. He and she had watched her videos on his TV numerous times.

“I know.” Jim said, “You sounded exactly like her.”

“Play something else.” Josh encouraged. He didn’t have to ask twice. Jessica launched into another song. When she was done, she suddenly sat up straight.

“I’ve got an idea!” she exclaimed in an excited voice. “Scott, Josh, do either of you play any instruments?”

Scott shrugged, “I can sort of play the drums.”

“I can sort of play the piano.” Josh added.

“Perfect!” she said clapping her hands. “Let’s make a band! I can help you guys when you need it and we can practice some songs!”

“Whoa …” Scott said, not sure he’d heard properly. “Did you just say you could help us with drums and piano? Just how many instruments do you play?”

“Three.” Jessica replied.

“Guitar, piano and drum?” Jim asked. Jessica nodded.

“We’ll have to buy some drums and a keyboard … but where would we keep them so Riley and Angus don’t ask questions?” Josh asked. He liked the idea of playing as a band, but the practicality of it was hard to imagine working.

“In your rooms.” Jim said. After all, it worked for him and the TV.

“Okay …” Scott said almost afraid to ask the next question. “So what other private thing do you have to tell us? What else are you excellent at?”

“Brain surgery?” Jim asked quietly but regretted it when Jessica lowered her chin to her chest.

“I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.” Jim said. “I actually think you are capable of brain surgery … I didn’t mean it as a put down.”

Jessica shrugged.

“Come on Jess. You used to ride at a rodeo … race horses, play instruments … what else?” Josh prompted.

“I used to be on the junior rifle team.” She said. It seemed like something they’d be interested in … far more interested than the gymnastics she’d done.

“Rifle team … “ Scott repeated.

“Were you any good?” Jim asked … weaponry being one of his passions.

“Yes. “ Jessica replied. “My team won the championship in our class for two years in a row.”

“Well, I guess Jessica has held up her end of the deal.” Scott said suddenly worried that someone would suggest that she prove her shooting skills to them as she had her musical. He couldn’t take another delay in getting her to himself. “Time for bed.”

Jessica passed the guitar to Jim and then kissed him goodnight. And then she went to Josh to say good night. Scott took her hand and led her down the hallway to the bathroom for her shower. She seemed to be taking a really long time. Scott stood outside the door waiting. Just as he was about to knock on the door the shower turned off. In his room, Jessica stood by his bed drying herself.

“Can I put on my pajamas?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Jessica reached for her pajamas and Scott was fairly certain he’d heard a sigh of relief escape her. Dressed, Jessica crawled onto the bed, turned on her side, pulled her knees to her chest and looked at Scott. The way he was looking at her Jessica had the feeling she was in for another vibrator marathon. Before it got to that she thought she’d give him another try with the horses.

“So … any idea if you’re going to race any of the horses?” she asked.

“No, not yet.” Scott answered. He was wondering if he could get away with another night of dominating Jessica, give her a chance another time. He really wanted to dominate her. He’d have to control himself better than he had the previous night … but he could do it, he was certain of it. But then there was that look on her face again. Guilt washed over him as Jessica sighed and reached for her novel on the bedside table.

Surely Scott wouldn’t begrudge her some time reading a novel … something not sex related, for a little while. Especially after the previous night. But then she felt Scott sit down next to her on the bed. She kept reading. Just half an hour, she was ready to beg for just half an hour to read.

“Jess.” Scott said.

“Yes?” she asked, not lowering her book.

“Can you look at me for a minute?”

Jessica lowered her book, but just so her eyes peeked over the top.

“I know last night was … a little over the top. But I want to give you a chance to do the same to me.”

“You do?” Jessica asked, forgetting about her book.

“Yup. You can do anything … sexual, anything sexual to me that you want. You can even use the handcuffs if you want.” He gulped as he looked at the handcuffs above his head. It still scared him to be so vulnerable to her. Jessica followed his gaze and was confused by the look on his face. She couldn’t decide if it was terror on his face or excitement. But then she decided it had to be excitement. She could remember how much he enjoyed himself the previous night. Well, maybe he wanted to be vibrator tortured too. She had to admit that despite some of the discomfort at times it had been enjoyable and it must have been fun to be the one dishing it out.

“Okay,” Jessica sat up, tossing her book onto the side table. “I’m game. If you’re sure.”

Scott nodded. As long as she stuck to sex and not murder, he was okay. And nothing in her behavior over the past few days made him think she had violence in mind.

“Well then … ummm.” She was wondering what direction to go in.

“Take off your clothes …” she ordered and continued contemplating while she watched Scott strip down. Vibrators … what could she do to Scott with a vibrator. And then it hit her. The perfect idea. She’d been surprised by how much she’d actually enjoyed the anal vibrator. And she’d read many times that it would be even more enjoyable for men. She nodded at the handcuffs when Scott lay back to look at her, his beautiful muscular nakedness staring at her … tempting her. “Shackle up …” She ordered. Scott nodded and got up to chain his one wrist to one of the handcuff. Then the other. He leaned back against the headboard of the bed … trepidation flowing over him.

“Now. I need you in exactly the same position I was in last night.” She said.

“What?” Scott croaked, picturing her with her legs up around her head. “I don’t bend like that Jess.”

“You will, don’t worry.” Jessica said grabbing his right ankle.

“Jess, don’t … ahhh!” he groaned as Jessica pulled his leg up by his head and threaded it between the bars of the headboard. And before he had time to protest, she pulled his other leg up also.

“Very good …” Jessica said looking down at him. And then she moved off the bed and reached under it.

“What are you doing Jess?” Scott asked. He heard her root around under the bed and then she dropped the plastic bag on the bed.

“You know,” she began, “the wonderful thing about anal vibrators is that they work just as well for men as they do for women. I mean an asshole is an asshole, right?” she asked smiling.

“Oh no Jess, you wouldn’t …”

“In fact, I’ve read in the numerous books and magazines that you’ve given me, that anal stimulation is the best thing going for men.” She leaned in closer to him, between his spread legs and gently brought her finger to his anus. “That’s where your G spot is after all … in your anus.”

“Jess …”

“Ah, ah, ah,” Jessica said, slapping his testicles lightly.

“Hey!” he protested.

“No arguing Scott, not a sound at all. You keep nice and quiet or I’ll be forced to muzzle you. Now all of that literature states that many men are threatened by anal stimulation. They’re afraid that if they enjoy it that may mean that they’re gay. What about you Scott. Are you afraid it’ll mean you’re gay when you enjoy tonight?”

“Jessica!” Scott said sternly. This wasn’t funny anymore. God he’d never imagined that she’d butt fuck him.

“Rules are rules Scott.” She said as she brought his underwear toward his mouth.

He sealed his lips, but Jessica pinched his nose until he could hold his breath no longer and when he opened his mouth she shoved it in. Taking his shirt, she tied it around his mouth so he couldn’t spit out the gag. He began to shake his head, mumbling a ‘no’ that no one could hear. Jessica grabbed his penis and began to stroke it firmly. And suddenly he felt something pressed against his anus.

“Now listen carefully Scott.” She muttered as his penis stiffened and he began to arch with obvious pleasure. “If you shake your head no again, I will shove this thing in your butt with no lubricant, no gentleness, no warm up. So all you’re going to say from now on is yes. Got it? Got it!” She demanded when Scott just looked at her.

She pressed the vibrator a little further and suddenly Scott was nodding frantically.

“Okay. Now, for lubricant … that could be interesting. Normally I’d try to find that nice little bottle that you used for me last night … but I think it may be more interesting if I jerk you off and then use your own semen as your lubricant. What do you think?”

She squeezed his cock until he nodded.

She began to stroke.

“And Scott, when you come, you can’t move, not a muscle … except of course for your penis that’ll have to move. But your head can’t move, you legs, butt, nothing. If anything does, the vibrator goes in.”

She stroked faster and hard, and suddenly Scott was closing his eyes … but he couldn’t help himself and he threw his head to one side and thrust up as his cock spewed semen. And when Jessica slid the vibrator into his anus, his body arched. She clicked the on button and began to move it back and forth. At first Scott froze in place but as Jessica slid the vibrator back and forth more rapidly, and her hand rubbed on his now slack penis, life began to return to it. Suddenly it all felt good, pleasure racked his body and his cock vibrated in Jessica’s hand, trying to spit out semen that just wouldn’t come.

And then he collapsed on the bed. Jessica smiled and then removed the vibrator. She moved up and undid the handcuffs, and then untied his gag. She pulled his legs down from the headboard.

“Scott, are you okay?” She asked as he lay still, panting. She took his face in her hands and caressed the cheeks. He nodded.

“That was the strangest sensation. Did I actually cum, without actually cumming?” He asked.

“Neat isn’t it? When your G spot gets stimulated you don’t actually eject any semen.”

“That’s the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen.” He said and he turned to wrap his arms around Jessica. “So you got to chain me up and have your way with me. Now we’re even.”

“Even?” Jessica asked sliding down to lay beside him.

“Yes. Can you forgive me now, for last night? For going too far?” Scott asked looking up at her in earnest.

Jessica looked bewildered. “Why would I have to forgive you?”

“Last night. I’d gone overboard … forced you to orgasm far too many times. I’m sure it hurt.” He said running his hand down her body and laying it between legs, over her pants.

“Well, it was uncomfortable sometimes … but for the most part I enjoyed it.”

Scott did a double take.

“What?” Jessica asked with a laugh when Scott lay staring at her.

“But you were mad. You were mad at me, I could tell.”

“Well, yeah, I was mad at you, but not because of that.”

“Let me get this straight. You were mad at me about something other than the overuse of the vibrator and use of anal vibrator against your consent?”

“Yes.” Jessica said.

Scott sat up.

“Why then, why were you mad at me?”

“Because of the horses.”

“Horses!” Scott thundered. That was completely out of the blue.

Jessica jumped a little.

“Why would you be mad at me about the horses?”

“Why not?” Jessica asked, “Now you’re mad at me about the horses.”

Scott caught himself before he spoke again. He forced himself the make his voice more gentle.

“I’m not mad, I’m just surprised. And I just let myself get anally raped to make something up to you that I didn’t really need to …”

“You did all of this,” Jessica said indicating the cuffs, vibrator and underwear, “to try and make me happy about last night?”

Scott nodded.

Jessica smiled.

“It’s funny isn’t it?” Scott said.

“No. It’s not funny. It’s sweet.” Jessica said and cuddled up to Scott. She kissed his lips and then settled her head onto his chest.

“It’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Scott said bringing his arms around her. “Ummm, don’t get me wrong Jessica. To see you this happy I would allow myself to have a friggin’ tree trunk shoved up my ass …” Jessica giggled, and it made Scott laugh too. “But I am curious about what made you mad at me in the first place. What did it have to do with the horses?”

“It has more to do with you really. You and your dream. Scott, you have the chance to make your dream come true. You’ve seen how fast the horses can run. Do it … find someone to ride and go race them!”

Jessica’s voice was getting louder and more excited as she spoke and she ended-up on her knees, leaning over Scott. “Don’t you know? You can live your dream … you have to do it. You just have to!” She stopped talking but she was panting from the effort.

Scott lay staring at her. She was right of course. There was no excuse for not following through.

“Okay.” Scott said. “I’ll do it. But it isn’t going to be easy … it can’t happen overnight. I have to organize a few things first … and then of course I have to work on Riley.”

Jessica was nodding. “But you’ll do it, for sure?”

“For sure.”

And Jessica beamed at him so much that he had to kiss her.

“And so, last night didn’t make you angry at me in the least?” Scott asked, running his hand on her arm.

Jessica hesitated. “No … “ she said slowly.

“But?” Scott asked.

“But … I’m not looking for a repeat too soon.” Jessica said. “It was pretty intense.”

“And …” Scott said, his eyes flicking up to the novel sitting on the side table. “I’m guessing you’d like a break from sex tonight. Read your book maybe?”

Jessica looked at Scott in surprise. “How’d you know?” she asked.

“I’m the master of observation. You go ahead and read … I’m going to clean-up.”

“Thanks,” Jessica said as he planted a kiss on her lips and then crawled out of the bed.

Scott picked up the book and looked at the cover. “Gone with the Wind? Not very light reading.” He said while handing her the book.

“It’s pretty easy to get pulled into the book.” Jessica said. “It’s even better than the movie.” She and Jimmy had watched it before she’d started reading the book. It was a shame Scott and Josh didn’t know about the TV, there were many shows and movies she was certain they would like to watch too. But it was Jimmy’s secret to tell not hers.

“Well, enjoy.” He said kissing her forehead and then heading out the bedroom door.

Jessica heard the bolt fall into place on the door and then she snuggled down in the bed and found her spot in the book. She was so involved in the story that she barely noticed Scott return. It wasn’t until he’d been lying beside her for a while without moving that she glanced over at him.

He was beside her and reading a novel as well.

Jessica sat up and leaned forward to look at the front of the book.

“You’re reading?” she asked, astonished.

Scott lowered the book and chuckled. “I do know how to read you know.”

“I know. But it’s not a sex book or magazine … “.

At this Scott closed the book and looked at the cowboy astride a horse on the cover.

“I guess sex is all you really know about me … “

“Sex and horses,” Jessica agreed falling back down on the bed.

“Those are mutually exclusive!” Scott growled in a fake angry voice.

Jessica thought about it for a moment and then began laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe.

“Alright, alright …” Scott said when the laughter wasn’t dissipating. “I think I know what you’re picturing and I have to say that you have one sick mind!”

That brought another wave of laughter from Jessica.

“You know …” Scott said when her laughter began to subside, “I’m only with you one out of every five nights … I do have other interests.”

“So you like westerns?” Jessica asked, nodding at the book.

“Westerns are my favorite. Sometimes I wish I’d been born in that time … sometimes I feel like I should have been born in that time. Travel by horse, wild west … I would love that.”

“I can see you as a cowboy. Maybe you did live in that time … maybe you’ve been re-incarnated. “ Jessica replied.

Scott did a double take. “Do you believe in re-incarnation?”

“I don’t know.” Jessica said with a shrug. “But I sure hope it’s true. It’d be pretty darn boring just lying in the ground … being eaten by worms.”

Jessica’s voice had trailed off and Scott felt a sense of horror as he imagined Jessica picturing her family in the ground, worms feasting on them.

He shook his head to rid himself of the image.

“How about you?” he said nodding at Jessica’s book. “Epic love stories your cup of tea?”

“Not usually.” Jessica replied. “I like mysteries mostly. But love stories are up there.”

“Hmmm. So is there a lot of sex in these love stories?”

Jessica laughed. “Surprisingly yes. But not quite as explicit as I think you’d like. Is there sex in the westerns?”

“Actually, no.” And Scott was surprised by the realization that he did actually enjoy something that was not centered around sex.

“So there’s hope for you yet?” Jessica asked with a chuckle.

“Yup.” Scott said. “But very little hope. If you actually intend to read some of that book tonight Jess, you’d better get to it. I’m starting to get distracted … beginning to think about kissing you …”

“Got it,” Jessica said and brought the book up, sinking back onto the bed.

Scott watched her for a few minutes. He really did want to go at it again, but that would really reinforce Jessica’s image of him as a two dimensional guy. Sex and horses. Well, in truth that really did sum him up. But somehow that didn’t feel satisfying. He was fairly certain that there was more to Jim and Josh …. Maybe even Riley and Angus. He forced his eyes back to his book. He’d get her in the morning.

**************************************************************

“So?” Josh asked Scott the next morning over breakfast. “Wanna go into town? Buy a keyboard and a drum set?”

Jessica’s head had snapped up. Scott couldn’t help but smile, and he soon saw Jim and Josh doing the same. She was so expressive … now that she was more relaxed around them. She always seemed to have this enthusiasm that never waned. And it didn’t seem reserved to just horses and music. Scott remembered how willing Jessica had been that morning. To have sex. It was as if she was the female version of himself.

“Really?” Jessica asked, bouncing up and down in her chair. “Can we really be a band?”

“That’s the plan.” Josh said.

“I have some business to do in town too.” Scott said, “ so it’s perfect timing.”

Jessica continued bouncing. Jim’s smile faded as the feeling of betrayal surged again. He’d been awake all night trying to figure out why Jessica had kept her musical talents from him this whole time. Luckily Scott and Josh would be gone for a good portion of the day. This would be his time to figure it out.

“What’ll you do while we’re gone?” Scott asked, hoping that they would not race the horses without him.

“Jim?” Josh prompted when Jim seemed off in his own thoughts.

“Huh? Sorry?” Jim muttered as his eyes shifted over to Jessica quickly. What possible explanation could she have? He wondered. There was none.

“… do while we’re gone?” Scott repeated his question.

“I’d planned on fixing the back fence today. I figured Jessica could help out.”

Jessica was clapping her hands with joy at the prospect.

“So you won’t time any more horses till we get back?” Scott asked.

“No, no way. I can only handle that speed every other day. We’ll be taking it nice and slow …” Jim said looking at Jessica and emphasizing the word slow, “today. We’ll meander down to the back field on the horses, that’s it.” Jessica didn’t seem the least bit upset by this. She just kept bouncing up and down and clapping.

Half an hour later Josh and Scott had left and Jim and Jessica were in the barn getting the horses saddled. Jessica was humming to herself as she worked. This was more than Jim could take. He moved around his horse, around Chestnut and took Jessica’s elbow.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, surprised first by Jim’s sudden appearance, and then by his expression. “Are you okay?”

“No.” Jim said and stood staring at her.

“Well, what’s wrong?” Jessica asked when it was obvious he wasn’t going to say any more.

“Why? Why wouldn’t you tell me that you could play the guitar … or the piano or drums … but for Christ sake Jessica … the guitar? How many times did I play my guitar for you? Surely you could have said something?!”

Jessica felt like the air had been knocked out of her. Jim looked so upset. Sounded so upset. And she knew her answer would only upset him more.

“Are you just going to pretend that you didn’t hear my question?” Jim asked. His voice hushed. He’d hoped that perhaps it had all been some misunderstanding … some easily explainable oversight … some explanation he just couldn’t fathom. But Jessica’s reaction made it clear that it wasn’t.

“No.” Jessica said in an equally hushed voice. “If I told you that I thought that playing the guitar was your thing and I didn’t want to steal your thunder, would you believe me?”

“No.”

“Well. It is partially true. It was your thing.”

“But?”

“But. I just didn’t want you to know.” There, she’d said it.

“Oh.”

“That was a long time ago … that I didn’t want you to know.” Jessica said moving into Jim’s arms. She laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. “Really. It’s not the same anymore.”

“It was just the other night that I played for you Jessica. You could have told me then.” He said bringing his arms around her, unable to refrain from pulling her to him.

“I know.” Jessica said leaning back to look at him. “But by then I hadn’t told you for so long that telling you would have been awkward. I don’t know if that makes sense.”

“Oddly,” he said bringing his hands up to cup her face. “It does make sense. I’m not sure how I would have reacted. But now I’m prepped. So, is there anything else that may be awkward for you to tell me? Now that I’m kind of ready for it?”

“There probably is.” Jessica said kissing the inside of his hand as it caressed her cheek. “But I can’t really think of it right now.”

“But when you do, you’ll tell me?”

“Sure …” Jessica said hesitantly.

Jim sighed. “That’s not very convincing.”

“Is it so bad if I have some things I just keep to myself?” Jessica asked. “I doubt you tell me everything about you … everything …” she repeated with emphasis when Jim was about to argue.

“Okay. I haven’t told you everything. What do you want to know?”

“How many girlfriends have you had?” Jessica asked, leaning away from him so she could see his face. Jimmy’s lips curled into a slight smile. Had he detected a hint of jealousy in her voice?

“One.” Jim answered. “What?” he demanded when she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Okay. One serious girlfriend.” Jessica said, “ But how many girlfriends in total?”

“I’m not trying to pull something on you here Jessica. I’m no Scott. I’ve had one girlfriend … other than you.” He snuck in and watched for a reaction.

That had caught her off guard. She stared at him for a moment, blinked, and then smiled.

“You consider me your girlfriend?” she asked in a shy voice.

Without thought she reached up and started playing with the collar on his shirt.

“Much more than I considered my other girlfriend to be a girlfriend.”

“What was her name?” Jessica asked still focused on the buttons that were buttoned and needed absolutely no fixing. Jim tilted her chin up, until she was looking him in the eye.

“I don’t remember.”

“Oh come one!” Jessica said with a laugh.

“Okay. Her name was Scarlet. She was my first and last real relationship, until now. And it in no way compares to how I feel about you. Not even close.”

“So what happened?” She asked, a large smile on her face and pink coloring her cheeks.

“To her?” Jim asked.

Jessica nodded.

“Her family moved and she went with them. We weren’t Romeo and Juliet, so it was fine.”

“I guess she wasn’t one of you?” Jessica asked.

She felt Jim tense.

“One of us?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, you know … one of your clan?”

“She was … one of us.” Jim said.

Somehow this conversation felt wrong. When they’d first brought Jessica here they’d spoken about their clan and other clans a lot. Part of the barrage of verbal and mental abuse they’d used … explanations as to why her family had had to die. Why she had to be their prisoner. And there it was … one of the many reasons this conversation felt wrong. He was in a “relationship” with his prisoner, could that ever really count as a real relationship?

“But her family moved?” Jessica persisted.

Suddenly Jim wished this conversation was not happening. “She was part of another clan … and they moved.” Jim’s voice was getting quieter and he was desperately thinking of a way to redirect Jessica.

“I’d heard about that I guess. My parents did say your clans could change permutations … but for the most part you stayed together, right? Jim?” Jessica asked when Jim began to turn green.

“Your parents told you about us?” he whispered. It felt so wrong … so wrong!

“Of course.” Jessica said. “You were our mortal enemy. Do you really think my parents would leave us in the dark about you?”

Jim just stared at her.

“But they had a few things wrong …” Jessica continued and Jim could tell that she was remembering something. She had a faraway look in her eye.

“They said the clan always stuck together. But you’ve separated from the clan, right? Riley and Angus go out with the rest of the clan. But we have nothing to do with them … and they also said that you’d kill me as soon as you got the chance. I kept waiting … but you never did.”

She refocused. Jim wasn’t sure what his face looked like, but it couldn’t have been pretty because Jessica blanched.

“Jim? Are you okay?” She brought her hands to his cheeks.

“No. No I’m not. I need a break from this conversation …”

“Okay.” Jessica said and she seemed really confused, “But I thought you were going to tell me everything about yourself.”

“What else do you want to know?” he asked.

“How many people have you killed?”

Jim felt like he was going to hyperventilate. He pushed Jessica away and pressing his palms against Chestnut he leaned on the horse … head between his arms.

“ Jimmy, what’s wrong with you?” Jessica asked in alarm.

“What kinds of questions are you asking Jessica?” he demanded. “How can you ask these things so calmly … like you’re asking about the weather? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Nothing is wrong with me!” Jessica replied. Jim whipped his head up to look at her. There was anger in her voice, but her face didn’t reflect any hatred. “You asked me what I wanted to know. This is what I want to know. And I thought you wanted to know things about me. Well, I’m telling you. So, what’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t want you to know these things Jessica. I don’t want you to know how many people I’ve killed. Can’t I be the Jim that loves you, and never mind what I did before I met you?”

“Sure.” Jessica said, but her voice sounded less than enthused. “We can do that.” She was rubbing his back, comforting him. This was all wrong. Why was she … the most innocent person Jim had ever known, going out of her way to spare his feelings … comforting him because he didn’t want to acknowledge the monster that he was.

“Thirty-five.” He muttered.

“Pardon?” Jessica said leaning in closer to him.

“Thirty-five.” He said more loudly … pushing away from Chestnut and towering over Jessica, staring down at her.

“I’ve killed thirty-five people in my life.”

“That’s a lot.” Jessica said.

Jim nodded. “That was all before you. Since you came here … I haven’t killed a single person. And, before you ask, I don’t miss it.”

“Jimmy … I wouldn’t ask …”

“I regret every single life I’ve taken Jessica. But I can’t change the past. If I had to do the same thing again, I would try to find another way.”

“My parents believed in justice Jim.” Jessica said, moving closer to him, craning her neck so she could look in his face. “They would try their hardest to bring people to court … for trial and then prison. But if it didn’t go that way … if they ended-up dying in a gun fight or something … they never beat themselves up about it. It was a war … even as a kid I knew that. I just wish we could have been on the same side.”

“What’s going on?” Josh demanded. Jim and Jessica jumped. They turned to see Josh and Scott, staring at them.

“I asked Jessica to be honest with me.” Jim said. “And she has been. Brutally. How come you guys are back so soon?”

“It doesn’t take long to buy a keyboard and a drum set.” Josh said, staring at Jessica and taking a step closer. “Just how was Jessica being brutally honest?” He had locked his eyes on Jessica’s, and he moved closer still. She stood sandwiched between Josh and Jim.

“She asked about previous girlfriends … told me how her family had told her all about us and that she’d expected us to kill her right off, and then she asked me how many people I’ve killed. Made me feel better about the blood on my hands by letting me know her family had some on their hands too.” Jim reported in a low monotone voice. He wondered how to go about suggesting Jessica for sainthood.

“Jesus Christ!” Scott hissed from behind Josh.

“Like I said. Brutally honest. But I deserve it. I was pushing her to tell me her intimate thoughts, feelings … here they are.”

“Why does it matter how many people we’ve killed?” Josh asked.

“Because.” Jessica answered, she reached for his hand and pulled him closer. “Because I haven’t killed anyone. Ever. But I used to day dream about it. About being like my parents … catching all of you … putting you in prison. And I’d had my chance. There had been a gun in the car … my Mom’s. Right at my feet. I’d picked it up, and my brother had been yelling, ‘shoot, shoot!’ but I froze. I couldn’t do it. And then, they were all dead.” Jessica had closed her eyes, remembering the scene. And she stood now, in the silence, eyes closed.

Scott had pushed his way between Chestnut and the trio standing next to her, and he stood watching Jessica.

“And so you have regrets …” he said quietly.

Jessica shook her head and opened her eyes, turning them to Scott. “No, actually I don’t. I forgave myself for that a long time ago. And, I think my family forgave me too. Had I killed you … even one of you … I wouldn’t know you now. I wouldn’t get to be your girlfriend now. I have no regrets.”

“Jessica, you are so far beyond being a girlfriend.” Josh said. He felt an empty painful hole growing in his stomach. He could tell that Scott and Jim had it too, just by the pain etched into their expressions. Of all the things she’d said, the only thing he could seize on was the reference to being his girlfriend. Maybe the rest would just go away.

“I am?”

“Shit yes.” Scott agreed.

“You’re a part of me Jessica.” Josh said, taking her arm in his hand and squeezing. “I’m pretty sure I can say the same for Jim and Scott. If I lost you … it’d be like losing a piece of me.”

Scott was nodding in agreement. Jessica looked over her shoulder at Jim and saw him doing the same. She suddenly realized that it was true for her also. She hadn’t been apart from them in so long, she wasn’t sure she could be.

“I guess you’re more like a wife than a girlfriend.” Scott said reflecting on the thought. He’d never considered having a wife. But right there, in that moment, it seemed right.

“I’m not sure about being a wife. I couldn’t be your wife.” Jessica said, shaking her head.

“Why not?” Scott demanded.

“Well. For one thing, polygamy is illegal.”

Silence ensued.

“Jessica, “ Jim said quietly, “we don’t often conform to conventional rules. We have many polygamist marriages in the clans. And there are many countries in the world where polygamy is legal.”

“Hmmm. I guess that’s true.” Jessica said. “But I’m sure that those marriages are still based on equality. Where the husband and the wife are equals, where the wife is free to make her own decisions and have them honored. My parents were like that. My Dad never told my Mom what to do. He valued her opinion and followed her advice. That’s what being a wife means to me … so, I can’t possibly be your wife.”

“Jessica …” Scott said through gritted teeth. The urge to dominate her was flooding over him.

“Jessica,” Josh interrupted as Scott choked on his words. “You need protection from yourself most of the time. It’s hard to be equal when left to your own devices, you’d break your fucking neck!” And he couldn’t help but wonder if it had been her mother’s same inherited stubborn streak that had led to the demise of her family. But he caught himself before he said so.

“Guys!” Jessica said raising her hands as if in surrender. “I never said I didn’t want to be your wife.” She looked quickly at Scott who seemed to be getting himself under control, Josh whose grasp on her forearm kept tightening, and then over her shoulder at Jim who looked like he was being washed down a river without so much as a life jacket to hold on to. “I just said that I couldn’t be a real wife until we were equals. Maybe marriage just isn’t the right institution for our situation … that’s all.”

“So, what in your humble, unequal opinion, would be the right institution for us?” Josh demanded.

“I don’t know.” She said with a smile and a shrug. She said it so cheerfully, lightly. “But it doesn’t matter. Maybe we’re making our own institution. We love each other, that’s all that matters, right?”

“Whoa, whoa!” Scott said.

“Can you repeat that?” Jim asked, stepping forward and taking her other arm, “That love part?” All the clouds seemed to have evaporated from his face and he had a huge smile plastered on his face.

“Jessica … don’t go using the L word unless you mean it.” Josh said.

“But, I do mean it.” Jessica said, suddenly realizing that she really did. She really loved them. That would be difficult to ignore when she avenged her parents … some time, somehow.

“You what?” Scott demanded. “Listen Jessica … you’d better not be playing around with us. You know part of the reason we can’t treat you as an equal is because you are always looking for some way to run away … or kill us. And stooping to using the L word … that’s just lower than low.”

“But I don’t want to run away … I definitely don’t want to kill you, and I do love you.” Jessica said.

“But,” Jim said, “you won’t marry us.”

“No. Not with the way things are with us.”

“You don’t want to runaway … “ Josh said. “Since when?”

“It hasn’t been long.” Jessica admitted. “A few weeks.”

“Ahuh. And what exactly changed your mind?” Scott asked.

Jessica shrugged. “You’ve been a lot nicer to me.” She began and took Scott’s hand. “I’ve been … enjoying myself a lot more …”

She looked at Josh and Jim. “And besides, my family is dead. Where would I be running to?”

“Sixty-five.” Scott said into the silence that had ensued.

“What?” Jessica asked.

“Sixty-five. That’s how many people I’ve killed.”

“Sixty-one.” Josh added, raising his hand.

“Do you still love us now? Still want to stay here with us?” Scott asked.

Jessica gulped. “But, you haven’t … you, don’t kill any more, right?”

“That’s right.” Scott said moving up to her until his body was pressing hers against the side of the horse … Josh and Jim still clutching her arms.

“We don’t kill any more but that’s just by luck. Riley and Angus get stuck going out there now … we get to stay with you. But if we were still killing, would you love us then?”

“I don’t know.” Jessica replied, sadness creeping into her voice. “Can’t they stop? Why do they have to do it?”

She was crying now.

“Shit …” Josh and Jim swore simultaneously under their breath. Scott stepped back, giving her room.

“They do it because that’s who we are … what we are. Just like your parents were who they were.” Jim said. “But it’s a hard life Jess. Maybe they could be persuaded to stop … some day.”

Jessica was crying harder, wiping her eyes with her hands.

Josh and Scott both looked at Jim, not believing that he was actually trying to set Jessica up to get Angus and Riley out of the clan lifestyle.

Jim motioned at Jessica with his hands and mouthed “stop the crying!” to Scott.

Scott exhaled. He’d been relieved to see Jessica cry at first. It made it seem like what she was saying about loving them could actually be true. But now he felt guilty. He hated it when she cried. It seemed like ages since she’d cried last. He didn’t miss it.

“Jess,” he said reaching out and pulling her into his embrace. “I’m sorry I made you cry.” Jessica wrapped her arms around Scott and held on tight, burying her head into his chest, as she continued to cry.

“You know … “ Jim began. “Maybe with the right motivation, Angus and Riley could be convinced to stop too.”

Josh reached out and cuffed him.

Scott threw him a dirty look.

“What? What?” Jim asked ducking another blow from Josh.

“You can’t put this on her!” Josh hissed.

“What?” Jessica asked, lifting her face from Scott’s now soaked shirt and struggling to stop her tears.

“Here,” Scott said pulling the hem of his shirt up for Jessica to wipe her eyes and nose.

“Don’t do it …” Josh warned Jim in a quiet voice.

“Angus and Riley. Maybe they’d stop killing if you loved them like you love us.”

“Oh no … “ Jessica said. “They hate me Jimmy, there’s no way they’d pass me the salt much less stop killing for me.”

“They don’t hate you …” Josh said surprised that she’d see it that way.

“Oh yes they do. Angus looks for any reason to hurt me, and Riley just wants to control me. They certainly would not do anything for me.”

“Are you nuts?” Scott asked. “Have you seen the way they look at you Jessica? They want you just as much as we do … they just don’t seem to know how to connect.”

“I don’t know what you think you’re seeing Scott.” Jessica said, “But trust me, it isn’t love.”

“I never said that they love you Jess. That’d come later … what I did say is that they want you. They just don’t know how to get you.”

Jessica snickered at this and shook her head.

“In Angus’ defense, he was hurt a while back by a woman. He’s still not over that yet.” Josh said.

“By Beth?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah,” Jim said. “How’d you know that?”

“Angus dreams about her all the time … he’s always yelling her name.”

“Well, that’s part of the problem … he’s still hurt by her.”

“Even so, I don’t believe for a minute that they care about me in any way. They never want to do anything with me other than hurt me … “

“Jess, you could so easily turn that around in the bedroom …” Scott began, but Jessica shook her head and shivered.

“Never, ever, ever.” She said before Scott could finish.

“Okay, okay,” Jim said when Jessica looked like she’d cry again. “Never mind that then. Just do me a favor Jess, and try your best to like them. Try to really observe them … see if they really do want to hurt you as much as you think they do. Riley has the dogs, Angus the car, try to help them with these things. They’re going to be back in a few days Jess and things will be … different. I really want them to be on the same page as us, but it won’t happen overnight.”

Jessica went from being sad to being terrified.

“I can’t Jimmy … I can’t do it. They’re too mean!”

“Jessica … Jessica …” Josh said pulling her back against him, and wrapping his arms around her, rubbing his hands up and down on her arms. “It’s okay. I don’t think Jimmy’s expecting you to do anything. Okay? Just be yourself, just relax. Everything will be okay.”

“What about the riding? And the chores? I won’t be able to do those things with you when they’re home …” Jessica asked.

“It’s true.” Scott said.

“But not for long.” Jim added. “Jessica … Riley’s always asked for your obedience in order to earn rights. Us three will tell him that you have earned it as far as we’re concerned … but you’ll have to earn it from him, and right away.”

“Jimmy … I haven’t been able to earn a thing from Riley since I’ve been here. How the heck am I supposed to do that now?”

“Because before you didn’t have us helping you. Listen to me … you can do this. Just be spontaneous. Pretend you’re with us … not them.”

“Spontaneous … that’s good.” Scott said with a nod. “It was your spontaneity that helped me believe you were being sincere.”

“And for Christ sake Jessica … be honest.” Jim continued. “No matter what they ask, tell the truth.”

“Jim are you sure …” Josh began but Jim cut him off.

“Yes, I’m sure. They can sense lies. They’ll never trust you if you lie about even a little thing. If they ask if you went riding … you tell them yes. Drinking wine, helping with chores, anything at all, tell them the truth without even hesitating.”

“Okay.” Jessica said in a quiet tone. She looked overwhelmed.

“Hey Jess … relax okay?” Josh said. “It’s days till they come home. And this isn’t all up to you. Scott, Jim and I have our responsibility too. Between the four of us, we’ll make it work. Why don’t we go in and play some tunes for a while, take our minds off things for a bit.”

Jessica was nodding. “But, what about the fence?”

“It’s okay Jess, Scott and I can take care of it later.” Jim said.

“But isn’t that how the wild dogs are getting on your land? To protect the animals we should really go fix it now. Can’t we play music tonight?”

“Sure we can.” Josh said, shaking his head. “I should have known you’d be stubborn about it.”

Jessica nodded, not sure if Josh was paying her a compliment on complaining.

And then no one moved.

The men just stood looking at Jessica.

She stood looking at them.

She felt like they wanted more from her … needed more from her, but they seemed unable to say so. Though physically none of them were touching her any more, Jessica felt the presence of their eyes on her. When she looked at Scott, his eyes locked on hers and she gasped from the sheer force of it. All the times he’d touched her, entered her and brought her pleasure were stored in his stare and his eyes penetrated her soul … searching, touching, feeling, stroking in the same way. She felt like she’d be lost in his stare for eternity, but then a force was pulling her from her right. Unbelievably she managed to pull her eyes away from Scott and look to Jim. And to her shock, she found the same thing. Jim who was so much more gentle than the others … who never put as much stock in sex as the others … his eyes bore into hers and she felt their physical presence inside of her. She had a hard time breathing … she felt physically prodded. And then she felt the pull from her left. In the brief moments before she turned her attention to Josh, she took in Jim’s body. It was hard, rigid. All the muscles coiled into one hard mass, leaning toward her. The short sleeved shirt he wore was plastered to his chest as though it had suddenly become too small and was about to rip. As she arced her eyes past Scott she registered the same for him. His muscles were bulging and she had the strange feeling that at any moment they would rip her to shreds. By the time her eyes landed on Josh, she was panting. She couldn’t catch her breath … and his eyes invaded her also. She endured his probing for what seemed like forever, but then couldn’t take it anymore. She felt exhausted, like her body had been running for hours and was being pushed passed its limits. Josh was also a mass of coiled muscles, seemingly ready to pounce on her.

“I’m sorry,” she panted when she just couldn’t take it any longer. “Is there something more? Did I forget something?”

No one answered.

“Please … “ Jessica said, pulling her eyes from Josh and scanning Scott and Jim. “I don’t know what you want from me. Did I do something wrong?”

“You’ve said a lot … “ Jim finally said. “A lot of stuff that we have to find some way to believe.”

“But … how do I make you believe it?”

“I guess it will take time.” Jim said and with that the intensity of his stare lessened. “There’s no magic pill for this …” he said more to Scott and Josh than Jessica. “Why don’t you continue saddling Chestnut, Jessica.”

“Okay …” Jessica said, glad for a chance to get some relief from the intensity of the moment. As Jessica moved past Scott to get the saddle, she noticed that neither his nor Josh’s expression had changed much.

“Let’s get our horses ready …” Jim said and motioned to Scott and Josh to follow him.

“Time?” Josh asked when they’d moved to stand by Jim’s horse. “I can’t wait for time Jim. I need to know now.”

“I know.” Jim said. “Me too. So, we’re going to have to be drastic.”

“Drastic?” Scott asked, not sure he liked the sound of that.

“Yup,” Jim said, while pulling hard on the tether of the saddle.

“How drastic?” Josh asked.

“Well, if you are anything like me, you want proof that Jessica loves you. The only way that I can think of getting that is if she can prove that she really has no intention of running away.”

“Right …” Scott said when Jim paused, “so?”

“What’s the only way we can be sure that she has no intention of running away?” Jim asked.

“You can’t be serious!” Josh said.

Scott looked back and forth between Josh and Jim.

“Okay, I’m slow here. One of you tell me what the hell you’re talking about!”

“Jim wants to give her the chance to escape …” Josh said in horror.

“Many chances …” Jim said. “One won’t be enough. We have what, three days before Angus and Riley get back. We have to be sure that she means what she said. The only way to do that is to leave the door wide open.”

“But, what if she does run away?” Scott asked.

“Then, we catch her and bring her back. And, we know she lied.”

“I’m not sure I can handle it if she’s lied.” Josh said. He hadn’t even been so bold in his comic book. Opening the door, letting Princess acisseJ free, his alter ego in the comic had never even entertained that idea.

“I don’t think any of us can.” Jim said, and then shook his head. “I’m not even going to think about that. Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt.”

“If she runs away and we don’t get her back before Angus and Riley return … they’ll kill her Jim.” Scott said.

“I know.” Jim said.

“I may kill her myself … “ Josh muttered.

“You’ll have to get in line.” Jim replied.

“I’m ready …” Jessica said coming around front of Chestnut and taking her reins.

“That’s great Jess,” Jim said. “We’re not quite done yet. Why don’t you take Chestnut and hitch her outside. We’ll be there in a minute.”

“Jim!” Scott hissed.

Jessica looked between Scott, Josh and Jim. Jim looked resigned to something, Scott and Josh looked anything but.

“Ummm. I have to go to the bathroom.” Jessica added. Both Scott and Josh took a step forward to accompany her.

“Go ahead Jess.” Jim said, stopping them in their tracks. “We’ll be done with the horses by the time you come back.”

Jessica stared at Jim in bewilderment. Scott was staring at the ground, body rigid, hands balled into fists. Josh had his eyes squeezed shut and looked like he was counting under his breath.

“By myself?” she finally managed.

“Yup. Just make it fast.”

“Okay …” Jessica said in an uncertain tone. She looked at Scott and Josh … neither moved. Jessica shrugged and led Chestnut out of the barn.

“I can’t do this!” Scott exploded and moved for the door.

“Stop!” Jim ordered, grabbing Scott by the arm. He held his other arm out to block Josh’s path.

“Just get your horses ready. If she’s not out by the time we are, we’ll go find her. You want to know, don’t you?” he added when neither Scott nor Josh had moved.

“Mother fucker!” Scott swore under his breath as he and Josh moved to nearby stalls.

They’d saddled their horses in record time … all the while listening for the sound of a horse riding away.

“We’re done … let’s go!” Josh said, his rifle in one hand, leading his horse past Jim’s, followed by Scott. They burst through the barn door, afraid of what they’d find … or not find. They stopped short. Jessica stood near the fence, petting Chestnut.

“Did you go to the bathroom?” Jim asked.

“Yup. I’m all set to go.” She replied and swung up into the saddle.

“So far, so good.” Jim muttered to Scott and Josh as he to swung into the saddle.

“I take it the supplies are already down there?” Josh asked, relief evident in his voice.

“Yeah, I took it down in the truck last night.” Jim replied.

“Then let’s go …” Josh said, sliding his rifle into the sheath on the saddle. Scott was smiling and Jessica was glad that whatever had bothered them earlier seemed to have vanished.

As usual, Jessica never went anywhere slowly on horseback and she had them all riding at a near dead run. She slowed enough to let Jim ride next to her, and lead the way. As they crested the top of a slight hill, Jim pulled up short.

“Stop!” he yelled. Josh almost ran into him. Jessica and Scott had to slow and arc back.

“What’s wrong?” Josh demanded.

“Look!” Jim said pointing into the distance. It took a moment for them to find what he was pointing at. Off in the distance stood three dogs, staring at them.

“They run in a pack?” Scott asked. “I thought it was one or two loners …”
“Bastards …” Jim said lowering his rile. He’d pulled it and looked through the site for a while at the dogs. “Too far.” From the corner of his eye he noticed Jessica roll her eyes.

“And I bet if we get closer, they’ll disappear.” Scott added.

“Do you think you can hit them?” Jim asked Jessica his voice reflecting his surprise.

“Member of the champion rifle team … remember?” she said holding her hand out. Jim passed her the rifle.

Jessica turned Chestnut to the right so she sat turned at ninety degrees at the waist, and raised the rifle. She looked through the site for what seemed to Jim to be a far too short time, and pulled the trigger. The big dog that had been standing and staring at them dropped. The one nearest him began to run to the right. Jessica tracked him with the rifle, and fired again. The dog dropped. She swung back toward the disappearing backside of the third dog. She watched for a few minutes and then lowered the rifle.

“Too far.” She said.

“You don’t say.” Josh said, sarcasm dripping in his voice.

“How the hell did you do that?” Jim stammered.

“Champion rifle team …” Scott said with a wink at Jessica. She smiled. He held out his hand and Jessica handed him the rifle.

“Not for two years …” Jim said taking the rifle Scott now handed to him. “You haven’t shot a gun for a long time Jessica, what the hell?”

“It’s like riding a horse … you don’t forget.” Jessica said, not able to help the feeling of pride that washed over her at the reactions from the men.

“Let’s go get them then …” Jim said, shaking his head as they started at a run again toward the dog’s bodies.

“Deader than a door nail …” Scott said, leaning over the first body.

“Yup …” Josh agreed at the second body.

Jessica swung out off of Chestnut and moved next to Scott.

“Does it look like they have rabies?” She asked.

“It’s hard to tell.” Scott said. “If they do, it’s really early onset. No foam around the snout.”

“But they’re near starved to death.” Jim said having followed Jessica. “You can see every one of the bones in their ribcage.”

“Poor things.” Jessica said squatting beside the first fallen dog.

“Well, something isn’t right.” Josh said coming to join them. “There’s plenty of food in these woods. Deer, rabbits … there’s no reason for them to starve.”

“Hello there!” a voice called.

The men snapped to attention … guns raised, they moved to stand in front of Jessica, to hide her. Just before they blocked her view Jessica saw three men on the other side of the fence, rifles in their hands.

“Hey, hey!” the same voice said in alarm as the men’s rifles fixed on them.

“This is private property!” Scott said in a far less then friendly voice. Jessica flinched, embarrassed that Scott was being so rude. “You’re trespassing!”

“We’re on the other side of the fence friend.” Another voice said. “Technically we’re not …”

“What do you want?” Josh demanded. Again with the rudeness.

“Well, we heard the gunshots.” The same voice replied. “We’ve been out hunting these same dogs. Thought maybe you got luckier than we did … and it appears to be the case. You must be some shot mister … we’ve tried several times and were never able to get close enough to hit them.”

Jim’s mind was racing. Scott and Josh were in fight mode. Their posture and tone told Jim that without a doubt there would be bloodshed. Even if it ended in their favor, and that was questionable considering the men at the fence were armed and looked capable of defending themselves, the damage to Jessica and their improving relationship would be irreparable. Of that Jim was certain. He could only think of one way to avoid that. And even in the split second he had to decide he could see the other advantages of his decision. They wanted proof Jessica didn’t want to leave them, here was the ultimate test.

“It wasn’t us.” Jim spoke up finally. He stepped to the side, reached back for Jessica’s arm and pulled her forward. “Jessica got them … both.”

Jessica heard Scott grit his teeth, and a low, rumbling growl escaped Josh.

“Afternoon ma’am,” the man who had been speaking said.

“Hi,” Jessica said, hardly believing that she was talking to someone other than Josh, Jim, Scott, Angus or Riley. She looked at the three men and immediately decided that they were three generations of the same family. It looked like a grandfather, father, and a young teen.

“You must be some shot …” the man continued.

“She is.” Scott interrupted. “The dogs are dead Mister … I think you can move on now.”

Jessica winced. So rude!

“Do you know what’s wrong with the dogs?” Jessica asked, trying to lessen the edge Scott had put everyone on.

“No ma’am,” the man answered now completely ignoring Scott and Josh. “We were hoping to take them in to the vet and get an autopsy done. If it’s okay with you … we could take them off your hands.”

“Sure …” Jessica said when none of the men answered and the silence dragged on. “Do you have some way to move them?”

“We have horses back on the road. We only live half a mile up the road … neighbors … “ the man said, with emphasis as his eyes scanned over Jim, Josh and Scott. “If we get them there we can get the county wildlife officer to come and take them.”

“Great …” Jessica said and looked at Scott, and Josh. They stood, staring at the men, guns still raised. Jim had lowered his gun but didn’t seem interested in communicating beyond his initial interaction.

Jessica sighed. “Come on in … “ she said motioning the strangers over, “I’ll give you a hand.” As she moved to crouch over the first dog both Scott and Josh reached out to stop her, but missed. The strangers were busy climbing through the hole in the fence and didn’t notice.

“Hi, I’m Peter.” The older man said, crouching down in front of Jessica. Extending his hand.

“I’m Jessica,” Jessica said taking his hand and shaking it.

Jessica heard a growl from behind her. It sounded like Josh, Scott and Jim at the same time. Peter didn’t seem to notice.

“That’s my grandson Ricky …” Peter said indicating the teenager standing beside him.

“Hi,” Jessica said extending her hand to him. He took it and nodded.

“And my son Steven.” Jessica shook his hand also.

“Nice to meet you.” Jessica said. Although the natural and polite thing to do would be to introduce the men … she didn’t think it would be a good idea. “Should we start with this one?” She asked hoping to distract them from the social faux pas.

She began to reach under the bum of the dog when she felt a firm grip on her arm.

“I’ll do it …” Jim said quietly into her ear. Jessica stood up and stepped out of the way as Jim and Peter hefted the body into the air.

“I’ll give you a hand with the other one …” Scott said from behind Jessica and she saw Steven nod in agreement.

Scott, Steven and Ricky moved toward the other body. And soon they all disappeared through the hole in the fence and out of view.

“Get on Chestnut Jessica.” Josh said from behind her. His voice had been controlled, calm, but when Jessica turned and saw his face, she froze. Josh was livid. His face was bright red … veins and eyes bulging. She hadn’t seen him this mad in so long. “Get on the damn horse Jessica!” he barked.

Jessica swung onto Chestnut. Josh didn’t follow. He stood in the clearing, weight resting on one hip, rifle gripped firmly in his hand, staring at the hole in the fence and waiting. Within minutes Scott and Jim came back through the hole.

“They’re gone …” Jim said as he and Scott neared. As Jim was about to pass by Josh, Josh raised his arms to the side and smashed the butt of his rifled into the side of Jim’s head. Jim fell like a brick.

“No!” Jessica screamed and flew off the horse, running toward Jim but Scott caught her around the waist and held her hard against him. She tried to struggle free but she could barely move, Scott’s arm pinning her in place against him.

“What are you doing Josh?” she demanded. “Jimmy, Jimmy, are you okay?” Jessica asked her voice tinged with hysteria. Jim groaned and began to move on the ground, bringing his hand to his head.

Hearing the tone of Jessica’s voice … seeing her face, Josh began to regret hitting Jim … but he was so mad.

“What the hell?” Jim asked as he slowly got to his feet, shaking his head.

“Jimmy!” Jessica cried, and now tears were running down her face.

“It’s okay Jess,” he said raising his hand to her. “Calm down … it’s okay. I think Josh has something he’d like to say to me …”

“Damn right I do!” Josh thundered shooting daggers at Jim with his eyes, but unable to keep from shifting his eyes to Jessica. He hadn’t meant to make her cry. And he realized now that hitting Jim like that in front of her had been a big mistake too. He should have waited until they were alone. “What the hell was that all about? Why would you fucking introduce Jessica to the neighbors? They’d barely seen her. We could’ve gotten away with barely any contact. Instead you introduce her! Have her shaking their fucking hands! Are you insane? Do you realize that if Riley or Angus were here, that would have been a bullet to your head rather than the butt end of the rifle?”

Jim was raising his hands, palms out, in surrender.

“I appreciate your restraint … really I do.” Jim was saying while blinking and shaking his head. The blow had been anything but restrained. He was feeling woozy. But he noticed the terror on Jessica’s face. Scott held her in a vice grip, she could barely move, and had in fact given up on it. Instead she hung from his waist, dangling like a rabbit in the jaws of a wolf.

“For starters … can you put the damn gun down!” Jim said.

“No I can’t.” Josh replied, anger still burning in his voice. “I’m not sure I’m done with it yet.” Jim tilted his head toward Jessica.

Seeing the expression of stark terror etched onto her face made Josh promptly drop the gun. “I’m not going to use it Jessica.” Josh said, the fire gone out of his voice. “I’m just really pissed right now.”

“Okay.” Jessica said. “But you hit him pretty hard Josh. Can I please go and see if his head is okay?”

“That’s Scott’s call, not mine.” Josh replied.

Jessica tried to look over her shoulder at Scott, but couldn’t see his face.

“Scott, please?”

“Not until Jim explains himself. And then you explain yourself. You’re not exactly innocent in all of this Jessica … you went out of your way to speak to them.”

“That’s just because you were so rude!” Jessica bellowed, forgetting to be concerned about the anger in Scott’s voice.

“What?” all three men said in unison.

“Geez, have you no social skills at all?” Jessica demanded. “You were completely inhospitable! You can’t just snap at people, holy cow!”

“You spoke to them because you thought we were being rude?” Scott asked in complete disbelief.

“We could have blown them all away.” Josh said. “I’d say that in comparison we were down right civil.”

“That would’ve been lovely.” Jim said. “A blood bath … really inconspicuous.”

“And so your solution was to introduce them to Jessica?” Josh asked.

“Let me ask you something Josh,” Jim said forgetting about his head for the moment and stalking toward Josh. “Which do you think is better. Our friends make it home, tell their friends all about our encounter and say … ‘Well, there were four of them. Two of them were very rude,” and he gestured wildly at Scott and Josh, “one was really quiet,” he pointed at himself, “and then the girl was nice. Also an excellent shot … she killed both dogs.” Or …. “There’s something seriously wrong with our neighbors. They practically shot us, ran us off their land, and they kept hiding someone from us. It looked like a girl. Maybe we should get the sheriff to come up and check them out. Well?” He demanded.

“You introduced her to make us seem more normal?” Josh asked. He couldn’t have looked more surprised than if Jim had said that he was actually a woman.

“Holy shit!” Scott said in awe. To him there hadn’t been any option other than to fight. It seemed so black and white. But clearly Jim was far smarter than he ever gave him credit for. Scott looked at him in a whole new light. Jim was likely as tactically smart if not smarter than Riley. He couldn’t believe it.

Josh had reached the same conclusion. He bowed his head as shame washed over him. “I’m sorry man …” he said. “Here, take the rifle,” he said handing it over to him, “crack me on the head. I deserve it.”

“Forget it Josh, I don’t want to hit you.”

Josh slid his eyes over to Jessica who still hung from Scott’s grasp … looking at Jim like he was about to break. “I’m sorry Jess. You must think I’m a real jerk.”

Scott let Jessica down and she ran over to Jim and began feeling his head.

“I don’t think you’re a jerk Josh,” Jessica replied, “but you should never ever turn on each other like that. There can’t possibly be a reason good enough for that!”

Josh felt like the biggest heel in the world.

“I’m okay Jess, really.” Jim said as she fawned over him. “But, out of curiosity, how did the first interaction you’ve had with the outside world, in years, feel?”

“Christ …” Scott murmured as he looked over at Jessica. He saw Josh wince also. Of course … Jim had just proven that Jessica was telling the truth about not running away. She could have screamed bloody murder … begged for help. But she didn’t.

Jim was a real piece of work.

Jessica seemed taken aback as well.

“I guess that’s true.” She said leaning back and staring at Jim. “It was okay … I was too busy being embarrassed by Josh and Scott’s rudeness …” she said glancing from Scott to Josh, a smile developing on her face. “Next time … please, let me do the talking.” She giggled.

‘Next time,’ the words reverberated in Scott’s head. His first response should have been asserting the fact that there wouldn’t be a next time. But he wasn’t sure about anything anymore.

“Next time?” Josh said with a laugh, “Honey, there ain’t going to be a next …”

“Josh.” Jim interrupted. He shook his head when Josh looked over at him. “Never say never.”

Jessica looked from Jim, to Josh, to Scott and realization set in and with it excitement. “Do you mean it? Could I see those men again? Do you think there are any women in their family?”

“Whoa, whoa Jess.” Jim said holding his hands up, “Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. We still have Riley and Angus to deal with. I’m just saying that it may not be a bad idea to give these two,” he nodded his head at Scott and Josh, “some social lessons. You know, just in case.”

“Oh fuck off.” Scott muttered annoyed that he, the most social of the five of them had given Jessica such a bad first impression. He watched a flurry of emotions cross Jessica’s face as she recovered from the disappointment of not getting the friends she’d hoped for out of the neighbors. And as Jessica finally seemed to accept the situation, he had an epiphany. A kaleidoscope of images flashed through his mind. Jessica riding the horses full speed, shaking hands with the neighbors, looking excited about the prospect of having friends, and then accepting the fact that it wasn’t going to happen … but it could. It could happen and Scott knew how. He was so astounded by the idea, it was so radical by his standards that he could only gape in wonder . He had to run it by Jim and Josh, get their buy in. Jessica giggled uncontrollably snapping Scott out of his daze. He surmised that Jessica had misinterpreted his reaction as one of pretend anger because she was rolling her eyes up at him in the same shy way she did in the bedroom when he was trying to be funny.

“Maybe we’ll have to look at some magazines on manners …” she said between giggles.

Scott wiggled his eyebrows at her in an exaggerated sexual leer, now that he had a plan for her, he could easily play his reaction up as mock anger. “Lots of role play possibilities.” He agreed causing Jessica’s cheeks to flame a deep pink as she giggled harder.

Josh wished this whole encounter with their neighbors hadn’t happened but since it had he was willing to let Jim take the lead on the next steps. Jessica seemed to be past the fact that he’d struck Jim and that was all he really cared about. “Are we going to fix that damn fence or not?” Josh demanded eager to finish the work and head back to the house. He had some updates he wanted to make to his comic. Marriage and unexpectedly crossing paths with their neighbors had to be processed via his story. It was the only way he knew how.

************************************************************

“Amazing!” Josh stated as Jessica finished off a whole song on the drums.

They had finished the fence, had dinner, setup the instruments, and been playing for the past few hours.

“I don’t get it though.” Scott said, flipping through the song book Jim had told them to pick up. “These songs are new … practically brand new. How can you know them so well, even by ear?”

“That’s actually my fault.” Jim said, deciding that it was time to come clean. He felt bad about having kept his secret for this long already.

“That’s it!” Josh said, snapping his fingers and pointing at him. “You’ve been listening to the radio … when Jess is with you. Right?”

“Close.” Jim said. “I actually have a T.V. in my room. We’ve been watching music videos.”

“You’re pulling my fucking leg!” Scott replied. He looked from Jim to Jessica.

Jessica was shaking her head.

“A T.V.?” Josh asked. “A fucking T.V! How long have you been watching it?” He demanded glaring at Jessica.

“A long time …” she answered taken aback by how angry Josh seemed.

“About six months” Jim added. “I asked Jessica to keep it a secret for me.” Jim continued. “I’ve had this T.V. forever. Even before Jessica came here.”

“So why are you telling us now?” Josh asked, the smoldering anger and a sense of betrayal evident in his voice.

“Because, I don’t want to have secrets from you. Not even Angus and Riley, though that’ll take longer to be honest with them… look I’m sorry okay?” Jim added.

“That explains a lot.” Scott said, his eyes fixed on Jessica.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jim asked.

“That means …” Scott began, swinging his gaze over to Jim, anger clouding over his face, “now I understand why you were always her favorite one. The rest of us were busy making her pay for what her parents did to us, and you were busy making life comfy and fun for her with the god damn T.V!”

“It takes a hell of a lot more than a fucking T.V. to make up for what we did to her.” Jim exclaimed. “And I think you are reading way more into this than there really is!”

“Really?” Josh said. “So you think we were misreading Jessica when she would look at you like you were a saint and look at us like we were evil incarnate? You think we misread little things like the way she always moved closer to you when there was any chance of trouble, coming to you for shelter … protection? Sort of like she’s doing now?”

Jessica froze. She looked at Jim and he looked at her. It was true … she had subconsciously been moving closer to Jim. The look on Scott’s and Josh’s faces made her stomach twist. They were in pain. Emotional pain, and she had caused it. And she didn’t know how to make it better. What they said was true. Jim was her favorite … at least until recently. But for so many better reasons than the T.V.

“It …” Jessica began, not really sure how to say what she had to say without causing any more pain. “It has nothing to do with the T.V.” she managed.

“So, what does it have to do with then?” Josh asked.

Jessica paused. Honesty right? That was what Jim had said Angus and Riley would need. And she really wanted to be honest with Scott and Josh … but her instincts told her that it would cause more damage than good. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, Scott and Josh were still watching her … waiting.

“Jim has always tried to help me.” She began.

Scott and Josh scowled at Jim.

“Not in any way that would make you look bad …” she rushed the words. “He was just a lot more gentle. He always explained things … why things were the way they were … what you wanted from me. It just helped. That’s all.”
Josh zeroed in on the word ‘gentle’ and groaned. He was quite certain that Jim had not kicked off his nights with her with a good old fashioned rape. He sighed. They had him … right there they had him. No matter what Jim did or didn’t do … nothing could undo what Josh had done to Jessica. He relaxed his stance, lowered his eyes.

“Jessica, I guess I never really apologized for what I did to you.” He began. Jessica, Jim and Scott looked at Josh, surprised by his demeanor; he looked like he’d deflated. He sounded wrong … broken. Jim and Scott slid their eyes over to Jessica for some indication of what Josh was talking about but she looked as taken off guard as they were.

“Since we’re airing secrets …” Josh said looking up, at Jim and then Scott. It suddenly became important to Josh to tell them about his rape not only of Jessica but of Pam too. “I did something awful to Jessica. The first night that we were supposed to … to have sex with her … I couldn’t control myself. I raped her.” He lowered his eyes for only a moment … and then raised them again. The only one who looked distraught was Jessica. Josh’s tone and body language both indicated that he was a destroyed man and Jessica couldn’t understand what had happened to change him like that so suddenly. Neither Scott or Jim looked shocked by his revelation at all.

“That was kind of what we were supposed to do.” Jim said, softly. “That had been the plan … Riley’s orders.”

“Those might have been the orders …” Scott interrupted, “But we didn’t necessarily all follow them that way. Josh you may have raped Jessica, but I didn’t, and she looked at me the same way she looked at you. But not Jim. She never looked at you like that!” he said to Jim.

“She didn’t look at me like that because I didn’t follow orders.” Jim said.

“What?” Scott thundered.

“You heard me. I never had sex with Jessica. I couldn’t. She was more like a little sister to me than a sex object.”

“You’ve never had sex with her?” Scott asked in shock, looking back and forth between Jim and Jessica. Josh was looking at Jim like he truly was some kind of God.

Jim shook his head. “I have had sex with Jessica … but only recently. In the last few weeks.”

“What changed?” Scott couldn’t help but ask. “All these years you haven’t … done it with her … and then in the past few weeks …? What happened? Finally realize that all this time we were trying to get things going with Jessica your refusal to play along might have been slowing down our progress? Fuck Jim, all this time I thought it was Angus and Riley but maybe the problem all along was you!”

Jim shrugged unable to argue. He hadn’t looked at it like that before but he could see how Scott and Josh could think that was true.

“No!” Jessica said a note of hysteria in her voice as she looked between Scott and Josh, “I wanted him …” Jessica said. “He didn’t want to … I made him.”

“You made him fuck you?” Scott demanded jealousy overwhelming him. “That’s even worse. Tell me again how’s he’s not your favorite.”

“It’s not entirely true …” Jim broke in, “You didn’t make me Jessica … you just convinced me that I wouldn’t be hurting you by doing it.”

“Please don’t look like that …” Jessica said, glancing between Josh and Scott. Both alternating between looking incredibly angry and incredibly hurt. “It’s true that I didn’t want you in the beginning. None of you … including Jim … not that way. But now … now I do. Scott, you did that. You made it enjoyable for me. You were the first one I wanted to touch me, or to touch. You were the first one I wanted to have sex with. I’m sorry if you think I love Jim more than you … but it’s not true. It’s just that we’ve been friends longer … I’m more sure of what to expect from him.”

“So, how long have we been friends?” Scott asked. Certain that the answer would be never. Having heard that he’d been the first Jessica had wanted sexually had gone a long way in diminishing his anger, hurt and jealousy. Now he just wanted the whole package. He wanted to be Jessica’s lover and her friend. He no longer begrudged Jim this but he wanted it too. Wanted to be equal.

“Since the night that you showed me how to … to enjoy myself. You’ve been different since then. And maybe I’ve been different since then. I don’t know. But didn’t you feel a change too?”

“Holy shit …” Scott said, exhaling. He’d felt it too. “Okay Jessica. I understand now. I won’t lie and say that I don’t wish we could have been friends earlier … I think I was trying just as hard then. But if we’ve just started being friends, then that’s okay. As long as we are.”

“And when do we begin being friends?” Josh asked. He felt like shit because he knew he had no right to ask anything of her but he couldn’t help himself. He needed her.

“We already did.” Jessica said, surprised that he didn’t know.

Josh flashed his eyes up to hers …he didn’t look convinced.

“The first night you slept on the floor Josh. That meant a lot to me.”

Josh nodded. Jim and Scott, looked confused. “I was raping her at night, in my sleep.” He said feeling the urge to expose the horrible creature that he was. “I didn’t know it … but when Jessica told me … I began sleeping on the floor.”

Scott pushed air through his teeth …

“You’ve been through a lot Jess.” He said, “I guess I’m glad one of us was able to keep our paws off of you.” He continued, turning to Jim, he stuck his hand out. Jim smiled with relief and took it, they shook.

Josh stepped forward and offered his hand. When Jim took it, Josh held it firmly, debating whether to go one step further and make the other confession he’d intended to make about Paula but then Jim said, “I’m glad we got this out in the open. We have to be on the same page. We still have Riley and Angus to …”

“Convert?” Scott asked.

“I was going to say persuade.” Jim said with a chuckle.

Josh let go of Jim’s hand. Now was not the time. If they were going to go up against Riley and Angus Jim couldn’t be diverted by the hatred and repulsion he would feel toward Josh when he found out.

“ I don’t suppose there’s any way I could convince you to change your night with me?” Scott asked Jim, settling his eyes on Jessica wanting nothing more than to dominate the shit out of her for what happened with the neighbors and the TV watching.

“Not a chance.” Jim replied, reaching out and pulling Jessica to his side.

“In that case,” Scott said, not surprised that Jim wouldn’t switch, “could Josh and I borrow your T.V? I haven’t watched anything in ages.”

“Of course.” Jim said, moving toward his room, pulling Jessica with him. “Go shower Jess.”

“Okay … “ she broke free of Jim and went to Scott and Josh, giving each a kiss and saying good night. Josh still seemed broken. She felt as though she should say something to make him feel better but she couldn’t think of what. What he’d done to her had been horrible. There was no way to sugar coat it. But he managed a small smile as he kissed her goodnight so Jessica took that as a good sign and continued on to the bathroom for her shower.

“Actually Jim,” Scott said, watching Jessica disappear. “Before you go. I have an idea I want to run by you.”

“Sure.”

Jessica was reading in bed when Jim finally finished his conversation with Scott … and Josh. Though Josh didn’t really speak … just sat with his mouth gaping open.

“Is everything okay?” Jessica asked as Jim crawled into bed beside her.

“Everything is better than okay …” he said kissing her, and then kissing her neck.

It truly was. Somehow things had snapped into place and were going into hyper drive on their own. Scott had come up with a plan that Jim would never have even dreamed of, and it was good. Jessica would love it … and Jim planned on leaving it to Scott to tell her. The only issue now would be how they were going to deal with Angus and Riley. Jim shuddered … he wasn’t sure how that was going to go.

Jessica had put her book down and was turned in to Jim now, kissing him back with such intensity that Jim had no trouble pushing Riley and Angus from his mind.

As usual, Jessica was on fast forward while Jim was on slow speed. He had to work hard at slowing her down and after what seemed an eternity to Jessica but had actually only been half an hour, Jim was done exploring her and was willing to let her have her way. And she’d taken him as hard as she usually did. They lay panting in one another’s arms. Jim couldn’t stop running his hands over her body. Up and down, her arms, her legs, her stomach, her breasts. Constant caressing.

“You’re amazing … aren’t you exhausted? Today was crazy with the dogs, the neighbors, Josh and Scott and the damn TV.” Jim said, as Jessica turned to him, ready to go at it again.

“It was long … you’re right.” She said. “But if you insist on rubbing me constantly, you can’t be surprised when I want you again …” she was nibbling his lower lip, running her hands up and down the shaft of his penis.

“So it’s my fault?” he asked, rolling her on to her back, pinning her arms above her head.

“Of course …” she said, panting.

“Well then … you’re going to have to suffer through doing this my way, again …” Jim said grasping her wrists in his left hand, and moving his right hand down between their bodies. Jessica groaned.

“Why can’t I explore you?” she asked squirming beneath him. The desire was too strong … she couldn’t take Jim’s slow and methodical probing.

“Because Jessica …” Jim said stroking in a circle around the soft pubic hair that brushed against his abdomen, “you’d eat me alive. Besides … you’re more of a wham bam, thank you sir kind of girl … I’d be left feeling cheap … used.” He added with a chuckle.

“Grrrr.” Jessica growled. Jim had shrunk the arc of the circle in which his finger was moving but nowhere near close enough to the exact place she wanted his finger to rub.
“Easy now Jessica,” Jim said with a chuckle. “If you can lay nice and still, just for a few minutes, then I’ll put you out of your misery … deal?”

Jessica was panting … she couldn’t stand this.

“Don’t move …” he whispered into her ear as his finger stopped arcing and moved to gently stroke between her pussy lips.

“Jimmy!” Jessica groaned.

“Ah, ah, ah … be still.”

Jessica tried but Jim kept stroking, increasing the pressure with each stroke.

“Is this the place?” he asked, rubbing her hard nub.

“Yes!” Jessica yelled.

Jim laughed, and stroked harder. He couldn’t torture her any more. He let go of her wrists, and began to wonder if he’d survive having done so.

Jessica threw herself at him, parting her legs and thrusting herself onto his cock. She bit his neck, his lips, his cheeks. Despite the pain and probably because of it, Jim felt pleasure rush over him and he couldn’t control the force with which he was pumping into Jessica. But she didn’t seem to care. She pressed her chest against him, her pelvis, and threw her head back as spasms racked her body, and his.

Jim lay on top of Jessica, sure he was crushing her, but unable to move.

“Are you okay?” he muttered.

“Never better …” she replied.

“Good, because I can’t move.”

“Good, don’t. I don’t’ care if we stay like this forever.”

Jim chuckled. Minutes passed. Jessica lay melded against him.

“Are you asleep?” he asked.

“No.” she replied.

“Thinking?”

“Yup.”

“About today?”

“Yes.”

“Me too. What are you thinking?”

“That this has probably been the best day ever of the entire time I’ve been here.” Jessica said.

“It was pretty good, wasn’t it?”

“Scott and Josh … things are out in the open now. It feels so much better.”

“And once we get things out in the open with Riley and Angus, things will be even better. Just wait and see.” He added when Jessica tensed beneath him.

“Do you really think it will work?”

“Of course. It did with Scott and Josh. Did you think it would be easy with them?”

“I didn’t really foresee any of this.” Jessica replied. “But Scott and Josh at least like me. I don’t think we’ll have as much luck with Riley, and especially not Angus.”

“Listen,” Jim said, wanting the tension to disappear from Jessica’s body again. “I don’t want to talk about Angus and Riley any more tonight… I’m just going to say that you’re not seeing things properly. When they come home, try to watch them … really watch them, and you’ll see. It will take longer with them, for sure. We won’t rush. And now, let’s forget about them, okay?”

“Okay,” Jessica agreed. Jim smiled as she relaxed and her body became one with his again.

“I can’t believe that you hit those dogs.” Jim said after a moment of silence.

Jessica smiled.

“Can you show me how you did it?” Jim asked.

“You want me do target practice with you?” Jessica asked, surprised.

“Yes. We have a shooting pit a bit back on our property. I’d love to improve my distance.” Jim said … unable to believe he had any improvement to make.

“Sure.” Jessica agreed. “Can I ask a favor?” she added.

“Of course.”

“You run in the mornings, right?”

“Yup. Josh and Scott do too.”

“Can I run with you? I used to be pretty fit … I feel like I’m withering away …”

Jim lifted his arm to feel the muscles on her right arm. It certainly didn’t feel as though it had withered.

“Okay …” he said, “I’ll go into town tomorrow and get you some decent running shoes … and riding boots.” He said, thinking about Scott and his idea.

“You will?” Jessica asked, her body suddenly tense with excitement.

“Sure … you can’t go running in those oversized shoes you’ve been borrowing from me.”

“Thanks!” Jessica said with great enthusiasm. So much so that Jim felt movement from his lower regions.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Jim said, pulling Jessica’s arms above her head, and holding them there with his left hand, and bringing his right to Jessica’s breast. “You’re in for another round of lying still.”

Jessica wrapped her legs around Jim.

“You have the restraint of a saint.” Jessica said, thrusting her pelvis against him.

“And you don’t …” Jim said grasping her wrists tighter and bringing his lips to hers.

****************************************************************

“Are you okay?” Jessica asked.

Jim had left for town right after breakfast. Scott had left to begin putting his plan into motion. That left Josh and Jessica alone together. Josh had brought her out with him to do chores. He had been awake the whole night thinking about Jessica and what he’d done to her. To her and to Pam. Compared to Jim, he was a monster. And he concluded that there was only one way he could make amends for what he’d done. He had to make things better for her with Angus and Riley and then he could confess to Jim about Pam. And then Jim could get his justice and rid the world of Josh’s pathetic, raping ass. He didn’t know how long it would take with Angus and Riley but he knew that for whatever time he had left with Jessica he was going to serve her and protect her. He loved her. Really loved her. And for some unknown reason she loved him too. His mission was to ensure her love was not in vain.

He’d worked like a machine. Finishing his chores then finishing most of Jessica’s before she could even get to them. In the end they were both sweaty and dirty, Jessica humbled by how little she’d done compared to Josh. Jessica had put the last bale of hay into Ebony’s stall and turned to find Josh quietly watching her. Before she could put the pitchfork down Josh took it from her and put it away, returning to stand quietly next to her. He’d taken his shirt off to work and now his rippling, strained, sweaty muscles called to her. She went into his arms. Josh wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in, and gazing down at her. She ran her hands over his chest enjoying how he felt and he pulled her tighter against him but she quickly realized that his hands, usually busy fondling every part of her, were resting firmly and protectively on her ass and they didn’t move.

“Are you okay?” Jessica repeated unsure how to interpret the odd way he was looking at her.

He nodded his head slightly, “I will be.” Josh replied in an eerily calm tone.

“What does that mean?” Jessica asked.

“It means that I’m going to make amends for raping you. I know it’s not enough Jessica, not even close, but no one will hurt you again. Not Angus, not Riley. They’ll never hit you again, I promise.”

Fear gripped her. Josh looked so serene, so calm, so disassociated from what he was saying. She took a step back to get a better look at him, and panicked. Rather than grip her harder, pull her to him, not allow her to go, Josh let his hands fall away.

“Josh, you’re scaring me … what’s happening? What are you talking about?”
With Jessica’s question Josh’s calm exterior wavered and beneath it she saw pain and guilt. His deep brown eyes watered as he lifted his hands and stepped back.

“I don’t want to scare you Jess … how do I stop?” he sounded broken and lost.

“Talk to me, please.” Jessica said going into his arms and pulling them around her when they’d continued to hang in the air, “I don’t understand what’s happening. If it’s about the rape, you know I’ve gotten past it. Let’s just move on.”

“I hurt you.” Josh said, “I can’t get past that and you shouldn’t have to. I’m an asshole and I have to make up for that..”

Jessica nodded and brought her hands to Josh’s face, running her fingers over the pain etched on it, trying to caress it out. “You did hurt me and it was awful. And I appreciate that you want to make up for it, I really do. But by doing what you have been lately, taking me horseback riding, letting me help with chores … your comic, you are making up for it. Can you just be yourself again? Be happy? Please?” Jessica knew it made no sense. She wanted justice for what happened to her family, and to her. She knew she would get it one day, somehow. And in the meantime it should have been gratifying to know Josh was now emotionally scarred by what he’d done to her but for some reason it wasn’t. She wanted the happy Josh back.

Josh shook his head. “There’s more. I also raped Jimmy’s sister, Pam. She killed herself because of it.” Josh paused and watched Jessica’s expression go from surprised, to shocked, to angry, to repulsed, and then settle on a mixture of what Josh interpreted to be disappointment and profound sadness.

“Now you know the truth about me. The whole truth about me. And now you can hate me like you should. And I will tell Jimmy about this … I promise. But first we have to get things settled with Riley and Angus … for you …” he said more softly. “And then I’ll tell him.”

Jessica didn’t know what to say. Her mouth opened and closed several times but no sound came out. Josh let his hands drop again.

“It’s okay Jessica. I’ll forfeit my nights with you … I’ll keep my distance … never touch you again, don’t worry, I won’t bother you ever again.”

“Pam …” she finally managed. “That’s why Pam killed herself?”

Josh nodded his head.

“Believe me Jessica. I’d give you a loaded gun right now, and let you blow my brains out, if I didn’t think that Jim would want to do it himself.”

“And that’s why you would dream about her …” Jessica whispered.

“What?” Josh asked in a strangled voice. Wasn’t it bad enough that he’d violated Pam… forced her to kill herself, now he was having sex dreams about her too? Was there no end to his sickness?

“No Josh!” Jessica cried, grabbing his arm as his face twisted with self-loathing and he turned to walk away.

Fear pulsed through her. Fear of what he was going to do to himself.

“Let me go Jessica. I hadn’t realized I’d sunk so low as to have sex dreams about her … Jesus Christ … please … let me go …” he said again.

“Not sex dreams …” Jessica said. “Josh, you had nightmares. You’d call out her name … say you were sorry. I just thought you were apologizing because you hadn’t been able to help her before she ended her life … but you were actually sorry about … everything.”

Josh shook his head. “I’m sure my dreams weren’t that selfless.”

“Jimmy was having similar dreams. Feeling guilty that he hadn’t recognized the signs …” Jessica stopped. Wishing she hadn’t said anything about Jimmy. Josh looked even more distraught and his knees seemed to buckle … he sank to the ground. Jessica went to him and he dropped his head against her stomach.

“Josh, you raped me and it was awful. When we were awake, when we were asleep. It was … bad.” Jessica began. She spoke slowly, unsure how to best express what she was feeling. When she paused Josh groaned and seemed ready to move away from her again but she brought her hands to his head and began running her fingers through his shortly cropped hair. “There is no way to put what you did to me or to Pam in a good light. But there are laws to deal with those kinds of crimes. And those laws will ensure the right punishment is given. That’s all I can say about Pam and what you did to her. But for me … for us … it’s not so cut and dry. I know this is probably wrong. I’m probably wrong. I should probably never accept anything other than restitution for what you did to me, but it doesn’t seem to work that way. Maybe it’s because we’re human, or maybe I’m weak, I don’t know, but once you started sleeping on the floor, and reading Scott’s magazines, our sex has been consensual. I don’t want you to forfeit your nights with me.”

Josh tilted his head up, bringing his hands up to rest on her waist, pulling her against him. Jessica had never noticed before how beautiful his brown eyes were. They glistened with pooled tears and Jessica felt something inside her break. She instinctively knew that her feelings for Josh and the others were all kinds of wrong. They had done unspeakable things to her family, to her, to many many other people. But somehow she loved them. She wanted them. Even though she knew they would have to answer for their crimes. But that was the big picture, the world view. She saw a very different picture in her personal view, in her personal world. Josh was trying to make amends to her on his own terms and in the world in which only he and she existed, that was enough for her.

“I love you Jessica. I’ll do whatever you want Jessica … whatever you want. And there are laws … Jimmy will get his justice, don’t worry.” Jessica got the sense that the laws Josh was talking about were not the same as the ones she was. She knew from stories her parents had told her and her brothers that the clan had a very rigid sense of its own idea of justice. Jessica shuddered when she contemplated how Jim would react when he heard about Pam. Jimmy was not a violent man, not like Angus … at least not the Jimmy she knew … the fifty dead people causing her to wonder a little about that … but she couldn’t see how he could avoid being violent when he found out. She felt like she couldn’t begrudge him that … but at the same time she didn’t want Jim to hurt Josh. Not only for Josh’s sake but for Jim’s too. He’d have to live with whatever he did to one of his best friends for the rest of his life. It didn’t matter if it was justified. Suddenly she didn’t want Jim to know about Paula. It was probably another sign of the questionable path she was going down but Jessica saw no point in him knowing. It wouldn’t bring Paula back.

“I don’t think you should tell Jimmy about Pam.” Jessica said.

“I won’t. Not until things are good with Angus and Riley. Once you’re safe I will face the judgment I deserve.”

Jessica shivered at the mention of Angus and Riley. Josh said he wouldn’t let Angus or Riley hurt her anymore. What did that mean? She knew he argued with them about her already. Him, Jim and Scott. And she knew Angus was ready to attack them all the time. How could Josh possibly get them to stop hurting her without getting himself beaten up? Her only consolation was that if Josh was going to wait until Angus and Riley treated her like a girlfriend there was a long way to go before Jessica had to worry about Josh telling Jim about Pam. Suddenly Jessica felt an incredible need to ride. To take Chestnut and ride full speed through the property, jump the river, and go until this feeling of impending doom left her. Maybe if she and Josh got cleaned up before Jim and Scott came back, they could go for a ride before it got dark.

“Let’s go for a shower.” Jessica finally suggested when it was clear Josh was waiting for her to say something. Standing, he swept his arm toward the barn door, ““After you …” he said, “Please.”

“Okay …” Jessica said bewildered by the return of Josh’s calm expression, tone. It was almost sugary sweet.

Jessica stepped past him and headed for the house. Looking back, she saw Josh pull his shirt on and begin to follow her, but not like he normally did … One hand on her arm … or a step immediately behind her. Instead he’d waited for her to take two or three steps, and then he fell in behind her, the same calm expression on his face … a half smile glued to his lips. When they reached the house Josh jogged past her, up the porch stairs to the door and held it open for her.

“Please …” he said, sweeping his hand toward the door when Jessica had stopped in front of him, confused. Jessica stepped through the door and stopped in the living room. Josh followed her in, directly behind her, and stopped two paces behind her. He stood quietly waiting.

There was the sound of a car pulling into the driveway outside.

Jim and Scott came in the front door, Jim carrying several bags. When they saw Jessica and Josh’s posture and the look of worry on Jessica’s face they swept the room with their eyes. Scott locked the door as Jim went to the gun rack. Tossing a gun to Scott he took another for Josh and both Scott and Jim stalked toward Jessica and Josh.

“What’s wrong?” Jim hissed. He and Scott exchanged a look. Jessica looked terrified, but Josh looked relaxed and that confused the shit out of them.

Jessica moved closer to Jim and Scott and whispered, “Something is wrong with Josh.”

Jim and Scott looked Josh over. Despite never taking his eyes off Jessica he seemed okay.

“He’s fine.” Jim said.

Jessica was shaking her head. “No … no he’s not. I think he may have … cracked.”

Jim and Scott swung their eyes back to Josh and immediately saw what Jessica meant. Something was different about Josh … something was very, very different. He looked at peace. And he looked happy. But not in a good way. Not in a normal way.

“What happened, exactly?” Scott asked.

“He feels guilty …” Jessica said.

“About what he did to you?”

“That’s part of it …” Jessica replied.

“Well, I can understand that. I’d feel guilty too.” Jim said.

“But now he’s different.” Jessica said.

“Well. You let him off the hook for that right? Of course he’s different now … he must be relieved .” Scott replied but he had to admit that Josh’s unwavering focus on Jessica with no acknowledgement of his or Jim’s presence was alarming.

Jessica studied Josh again. Maybe it was a blip, an aberration … maybe he was back to normal again.

Josh smiled at her, with the same serene smile he’d had earlier.

“Wanna see the shoes I bought for you?” Jim asked.

“Sure!” Jessica exclaimed, the excitement distracting her momentarily. They moved to the sofa … Josh two steps behind Jessica. Guns returned to the rack, Jim passed Jessica the runners.

“They’re beautiful!” Jessica exclaimed looking at the running shoes that were so obviously meant for females. And then at the riding boots, that also were obviously feminine. She was so tired of wearing mens’ shoes.

“Try them on,” Jim said.

And then it happened. No sooner had Jessica sat on the sofa then Josh was on his knees before her, sliding her runners onto her feet … and then tying them … and then pulling her to her feet.

Jim, Scott and Jessica stared at Josh. For his part, Josh stood quietly watching Jessica.

“I see what you mean …” Jim finally said. “Josh … Jessica can put her own shoes on …”

“Is that what you want?” Josh asked Jessica.

Jessica was freaked.

“No Josh, what I want is for you to go back to being yourself … please!”

“I’ll try.” Josh said, but he continued to stand there … smiling, looking at Jessica. She looked to Jim and Scott and they looked worried too.

“It looks like Josh couldn’t take the guilt …” Scott said.

Jim was nodding but had a hard time believing Josh was so drastically altered due to his guilt. As another test Jim nodded at the sofa, “Try on the new boots Jess.” And he held the shopping bag with the new boots out to her.

Before Jessica could even begin to move to the sofa, Josh had scooped her up in his arms, sat her on the sofa, untied her runners, slipped them off, slipped on her boots, and then helped her to her feet.

Jessica looked panicked as she looked between Jim and Scott, both of whom were squinting at Josh clearly deep in thought.

“He’ll be okay, right?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Scott replied.

“Of course he will.” Jim said suddenly, as if deciding something. “He’s protecting himself Jessica. If you let him … cater to you … then you’re helping him. He needs to make amends before he can move on. I’ve seen it before … once.”

He didn’t go on to mention that the particular incident he was thinking of had ended in suicide. And that Josh was going to have to be watched very closely.

Scott looked at Jim.

“Daren?” he asked, everything suddenly making sense. There had been a man in another clan who had felt so guilty about a job that had gone horribly wrong … killing several children … some babies … that he’d completely wigged out. He refused to work … just sat in a corner for a few days. And then he began donating money. All of his money to orphanages, children’s hospitals, foreign aid services.

After a few months of this his money ran out … and then so did his life. He’d ended it with a bullet to his temple. Scott had never put two and two together … mostly because he didn’t really know Daren … or care about his death. He whipped his eyes to Josh. He definitely cared about Josh …

“Jim’s right Jess.” Scott said, trying not to sound too melodramatic, or worried. “Give him what he needs.”

Jessica looked at Josh. He looked like he needed a hug.

Jessica went to him and buried her head in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her. But even in that there was something different. This was just a hug. A strong, protective hug. He didn’t run his hands along her body, try to press himself against her … accidentally brush her breast. He just hugged her. And he wasn’t letting go.

“Okay Josh, please let me go.” Jessica said, and in a flash, his arms fell away.

“This could take some getting used to …” Scott muttered.

“You’re telling me …” Jessica muttered back.

“How did things go with Sean?” Jim asked, eager to change the subject.

“Great!” Scott replied. “Did you tell Jessica?”

“Nope … this’ your baby …”

Jessica looked back and forth between Jim and Scott. They were happy, excited. She was beginning to worry that they’d cracked too.

“I’ve got something to tell you … sit down.” He said indicating the sofa … and again Josh swooped in and before Jessica knew it she was on the sofa and Scott sat beside her.

“That’s going to be a problem …” Scott muttered, looking at Josh standing … hovering beside Jessica.

“Josh,” Jessica said … sounding nervous, “sit down please.” Josh sat beside her immediately.

“Okay,” Scott began again, glancing at Jim, who’d plopped himself on the recliner. “I’ve decided to enter Ebony into the races at the track.”

Jessica squealed with delight. She bounced up and down, clapping her hands. And beside her, Josh smiled even more.

“My meeting the other day was with some clients who want Ebony to sire a colt with their mare. That’s planned in a week, and then after that, he’ll race. I was just meeting with some guys from the clan … they’re going to get together all the paperwork … and … “ Scott paused. This was it, the biggest decision they’d made so far. It was either going to work out incredibly well … or be the end of them. Literally.

“You’re going to be my rider.”

Jessica froze. She wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly but she was afraid to ask. Seconds ticked by, Jessica just stared at Scott.

“Breathe Jessica!” Josh said from beside her … shaking her arm.

Jessica inhaled. “Me? Did you say me? I’m going to go to the track to ride Ebony … for you?”

“Yup!” Scott said clearly excited also.

“But we haven’t run Ebony yet … haven’t timed him …”

“I know, I know. We will, but I’m certain he’s the fastest horse we have …”

A squeal pierced the room and Jessica launched herself at Scott.

She hugged him, she kissed him, she jumped up and down on him. She couldn’t believe it. Scott laughed between kisses … he could barely keep up with her. The next thing Scott knew, he and Jessica had fallen off the sofa … her beneath him. He was about to lift himself off of her when he felt two hands grab him by his arms and yank him up. And then Josh was lifting Jessica to her feet.

“You were hurting her.” He said to Scott in a calm, matter of fact tone.

“It was okay …” Jessica said quickly … “I was fine … but thanks.”

“Yeah … thanks.” Scott said and glanced over at Jim. Jim seemed perplexed.

“Should we go time Ebony now?” Jessica asked quickly back in the excitement. “I have my riding boots on already …”

“Sure …” Scott answered, and nearly got bowled over as Josh moved to keep step with Jessica.

“What are we going to do about him?” Scott asked Jim as they watched Josh disappear through the door behind Jessica. “When Riley and Angus get back … it won’t be good.”

“I know.” Jim said. “I’ll think of something.”

“We only have two nights left …”

“I’m painfully aware of that. I’m not really sure how Jessica’s going to act when they get back, much less Josh. But, maybe this will be a good thing.” Jim said as he and Scott followed Josh and Jessica out to the barn.

“How do you figure?”

“If Josh is all weird … then it’ll take the focus off of Jessica. In fact, it could explain anything odd in her behavior.”

“Yup.” Scott said without breaking stride. “That Jimbo, is why you’re the brains of this operation …” and he disappeared into the barn, leaving Jimmy looking after him. Suddenly Jim felt his shoulders sag. With those simple words, Scott had made Jim realize the enormity of what he was doing. He was throwing a silent coup. Not to usurp Riley, but to make Riley run things the way that he, Jim, would run things. He’d managed to bring Jessica, Scott, and Josh on board … maybe Josh a little more than was necessary. But if he didn’t play this right. If he miscalculated anything when it came to Riley and Angus … everything would be lost. He pushed the worry from his mind as he watched Jessica lead Ebony out of the barn … Josh, never breaking stride beside her.

Things would work out.

Things had to work out.

**************************************************************

Jessica closed the book and looked around the room. She was startled when she saw Josh standing off to the side, hands behind his back, watching her. She hadn’t heard him return from his shower and had been too engrossed in the book to notice how much time had gone by. She looked at her side table … wondering if perhaps there was a magazine waiting for her that she’d missed earlier, but the table was empty. Josh was smiling at her, and when she smiled back, expecting him to come to the bed, he didn’t move.

“Are you coming to bed?” she asked, throwing back the covers on his side of the bed.

“Do you want me to?” he asked, for the thousandth time that day.

“Yes …” Jessica replied and began to feel despair wash over her as she realized that Josh’s behavior during the day was continuing into the night … into the bedroom. Josh moved quickly to the bed and climbed under the blanket. But rather than pull her to him, he kept a distance and sat with his hands on top of the blankets. Jessica remembered what Jim had said. How Josh needed this. And Jim didn’t even know the whole story … Jessica sighed. “Josh … where’s our comic book?”

“In my drawer.” He replied.

“I want to see it.” She answered, knowing at this point that any other statement would lead to the same question, “do you want me to?”.

Josh reached into the drawer and handed Jessica papers that constituted the work he was doing.

“Did you add any more to the story?”

“Yes … here …” he said turning the pages toward the back, and handing it back to her. Jessica read the addition … and then she read it again.

“Josh, you didn’t add any of the sex scenes …”

“No …” he said quietly.

“Why not?’

“I tried to …” he answered. “But it just seemed so … lurid. It didn’t feel like it reflected the love Prince AushoJ feels for Princess Acissej.”

“Or the love the Princess feels for the Prince?” Jessica asked. Josh nodded, but hesitantly.

“The Princess does love the Prince.” Jessica said closing the comic, and moving closer to Josh, putting her hand on his chest. “You do know that, right?”

“Yes.” Josh said quietly.

“Josh. Do you want to have sex with me?” Jessica asked.

“Do you want me to?” he asked, but only after a flicker of what looked like remorse flitted across his face.

“I asked if you wanted to have sex with me. I want to know if you do … it is in no way related to whether I do or not. And, I want the truth.”

Josh paused for a moment. “No. No I don’t.” He said quietly.

“Do you want to hug me? … I want to know if you want to hug me?” Jessica added before he launched into his question.

“Yes.”

Jessica snuggled into his side, lay her head on his chest, but Josh didn’t move.

“I want you to hug me …” Jessica said. Josh wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him … bringing his chin onto the top of her head.

“Josh …” she said settling in, “I want you to finish your comic. And I want you to finish it the way you’d originally planned. It should be published. You’re very talented. Did you hear me?” she asked when he’d made no response.

“Yes.” He said.

“Good night Josh.” She said, with a yawn. Josh flicked off the lights.

“Jessica,” he said after a few moments.

“Mhmmm?”

“Can I … would you mind, if once you fell to sleep I moved to the floor? I can’t sleep in the bed with you.”

Jessica looked into the dark. Obviously he had lied to her. If he didn’t want to have sex with her, he wouldn’t have any problems sleeping with her. But she didn’t care about that. She just wanted him to get better. Back to normal. Whatever it took.

“Okay.” Jessica said.

“But …” he said after a few moments of silence. “Do you want me to move to the floor?”

“I want what you want.” Jessica said. “I’m going to sleep now Josh and it’s your call as to whether you’re here beside me in the morning or not. I want you to be happy. That’ll make me happy.”

“But …” Josh’s voice sounded strained.

“No buts … it’s what I want.” Jessica said wondering what exactly he wanted to hear from her. Did he want her to want him to sleep with her? Or did he want her to want him to sleep on the floor? Her head was beginning to hurt and despite all the exciting things that had happened during the day … like riding Ebony … feeling the speed beneath her … knowing she’d actually be racing him at a real track in a few weeks … despite all of that, she was looking forward to the blissful peace of sleep. And maybe, maybe, Josh would be back to normal in the morning.

*****************************************************************

Jessica had awaken to find Josh sleeping on the floor. When he realized that she was awake, he’d gotten up, and turned his back to her as she’d dressed. When she’d asked him why he was turned away he’d replied that he was giving her privacy. She hadn’t lingered on the irony of it all. Everything he was giving her … space, privacy, control, she would have loved to have had when she was first kidnapped, but now all of these things only worried her and she wished he’d go back to being his old self.

And then in the kitchen, Jessica had given up on even trying to cook. Josh was there at every moment … helping her with this and that. Finally she’d gone to sit with Scott and Jim at the table and let Josh finishing cooking on his own.

“This is going to be interesting …” Scott said, more than once.

“Thank God he can’t get up into that saddle with you …” Jim mumbled to Jessica as he contemplated the plans for the day. They were going to go work with Ebony some more in the field.

“Shhh!” Jessica hissed, “Don’t give him any ideas! And Jim, what are we going to do tomorrow? Riley and Angus … I don’t think … are they going to hurt him?”

“They won’t hurt him …” Jim said, and then realized that wasn’t something he could promise. “At least I don’t think they will.”

“We have to talk to him Jim.” Scott said, watching Josh balance the plates on his forearm and move toward the table. “He has to … tone it down when they’re around. Otherwise, Angus is going to knock his block off.”

“Thanks Josh.” Jessica said as he placed her plate in front of her first, with a wide smile … and then handed Scott and Jim their plates.

“Josh,” Jim said when he sat down at the table also. “We have to talk.”

Josh looked up at Jim, but his eyes kept sliding over to Jessica. Jessica sighed.

“Josh, I want you to listen to Jim. It’s important.”

“Okay,” Josh said and gave Jim his undivided attention. For all of two seconds. Then his eyes were shifting over to Jessica again.

“Jess, you’re going to have to tell him. You’re the only one he’s listening to right now.”
“Tell him what?” Jessica asked in desperation.

“Tell him that when Angus and Riley come home, he can’t be yanking them off of you. He can’t protect you from them.”

Jim’s voice began to fade as he realized that the same applied to him and Scott.

“Great …” Scott said, realizing the same thing.

“Okay … okay.” Jessica said and leaned closer to Josh.

“Josh … “ As he turned his big brown eyes on her, Jessica felt like she should scratch his belly and toss him a doggie treat.

He looked so devoted.

So stupidly devoted.

“I want you to listen to me. When Angus and Riley come home, I want you to leave them alone. Do you understand? They can touch me whatever way they want …” she paused long enough to gulp. The reality of what was coming the following day sinking in. “You have to stay out of their way, okay? Do you understand?”

A frown had spread across Josh’s face and it was evident that he understood, and that he didn’t like it. Neither did Jim or Scott. It was going to be a long, hard day.

“Josh, did you understand what I said?”

“But I can’t let them hit you.” Josh replied.

Jessica exhaled. She could see by the looks on Scott and Jim’s face that they had no intention of letting that happen either. Eventually she nodded, “That’s different. What I mean is just general touching. You can’t always be between me and them. Okay?” Jessica said urgently. Sudden images of Riley or Angus, or both, shooting Josh causing her to panic.

“I don’t know if I can …” Josh said.

“You can, and you will. This is important Josh. You’re not going to convince them to change if they’re mad at you and especially not if their mad at me.”

Josh nodded but he looked even more broken than he had the day before. Jessica hadn’t thought that possible. She thought about Jim’s advice to give Josh what he needed. It appeared that what he needed was to feel like he was protecting her before protecting her became impossible. This was the last day he could do that before Riley and Angus were home and despite how much she wanted to ride Ebony she knew she had to devote the day to Josh. She looked over at Scott, who looked like he was sharing Josh’s hell with him. “Sorry Scott, but I’m not going to be able to run Ebony today.”

“Huh?” Scott asked, but Jessica looked back at Josh.

“How about today is our day.” Jessica said, reaching out and taking Josh’s hand. “You and I can spend it together … you can protect me from everything … okay? Today, that’s all we’ll do. But tomorrow, tomorrow Josh, and every day that Riley and Angus are here, you have to stay away from me. Got it?”

Josh was nodding but he didn’t seem any happier.

“Sorry.” Jessica said to Scott again.

“It’s okay. There’ll be plenty of time to ride Ebony.”

“We’ll be outside, working.” Jim said when they were finished their food.

Before Jessica stood up, Josh was pulling the chair out for her. He trailed her to the sofa … whisking her up and onto his lap before she could sit. This time he didn’t ask, he just clutched her to him. They sat for quite a while like that … Jessica rubbing his arm. After a while Jessica felt like she had to move … like Josh had to move.

“I want to go outside.” She said. Josh nodded and trailed her to the door.

That evening they sat eating dinner. Josh had cooked again, and now he ate one handed, as Jessica sat on his lap, eating.

Scott was watching the two of them and slowly chewing his food.

“You do realize …” he began to say to Josh … but changed his mind. “Jess, he does realize that tonight is my night with you, right? He’s not going to follow us into the bedroom …”

“He knows …” Jessica said but not with a great deal of confidence. “I’ll explain it to him …”

“Shhh!” Jim hissed suddenly. Everyone froze, and listened. A car had pulled up in the driveway.

“Shit, are they home already?” Scott demanded.

Jim and Scott crouched over as they ran over to the window. Josh had picked Jessica up and moved down the hallway with her.

“That’s not them … “ Jim growled.

He slipped over to the gun rack, threw a gun to Scott and took his own over to the door.

“For the love of all that’s sane!” Scott spat, “it’s fucking Sean and Corey!”

“What?” Jim asked. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah … positive!” Jim threw open the door and leveled the gun on two figures he immediately recognized.

“What the hell are you doing here? Are you out of your fucking minds?” he demanded, while signaling them in with the rifle.

“That’s quite the reception …” Sean was saying. “We just brought over the paper work Scott had asked for, and … hey Josh …” he said in the direction of the hallway.

Scott and Jim looked over.

Josh was hesitating near the entrance of the hallway.

“And there she is …” Sean said, “ we came to see who this amazing horse rider was … wanted to meet the person we were phonying papers up for …”

Josh looked behind him. He had told Jessica to stay in his room, but too curious, she had followed him out. Josh groaned, and then hovered protectively in front of her.

“Well?” Corey asked. “Are you going to introduce her or not?”

“You know you shouldn’t be here, right?” Jim asked … pleased to see them despite himself. He missed having friends around.

“Of course … but ‘they’,” Corey said, rolling his eyes, “won’t be home till tomorrow. We figured it couldn’t hurt … right?”

“Right.” Scott said exhaling.

He too was glad to see Sean and Corey again.

“Come on in … have a beer. Josh, she’s in no immediate danger.”

“I want to meet them …” Jessica whispered behind Josh, so low only he could hear it. Josh stepped aside and Jessica moved forward.

“Corey, Sean, this is Jessica … Jessica, Corey and Sean.” Jim said.

“Hi Jessica, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Sean said, eyeing Josh as he hovered near Jessica.

“Same here …” Jessica said. They all sat at the table.

The men drinking beer, Jessica wine.

All of them except Josh. He stood still as a statue behind Jessica’s chair. And he kept glaring at Sean and Corey as if he expected them to swallow Jessica up.

They discussed the details of the track and how they were going to get Ebony and Jessica into the race. They discussed the date … a few weeks away, when they knew Riley and Angus would be on another mission. The whole time, Corey and Sean would shoot furtive glances at Josh. Eventually the topic came to music somehow and Jessica was pleased to hear that Sean and Corey both played instruments as well as some others in their clan. And it started to sound to Jessica like plans were being made to see them more often. Which made her happy … but she was becoming uncomfortable with Josh hovering behind her … Sean and Corey obviously unsure as to what the he was doing. Finally Jessica stood up.

“I hope you don’t mind, but it’s been a really busy day. Josh and I are going to call it a night. It was nice to meet you …” and when Sean and Corey got up, Jessica avoided Scott’s furrowed brow and led Josh back to his room.

About an hour later there was a knock on Josh’s door.

“Come in.” he said.

Scott opened the door to find Jessica asleep on Josh’s bed, curled up against him.

“She fell to sleep.” Josh said.

“I can see that.” Scott replied, oddly not as annoyed as he thought he should have felt. Josh sat up, scooping Jessica’s sleeping form into his arms, he stood.

“I can take it from here Josh.” Scott said quietly. Josh, reluctantly, passed her to Scott.

“Get some sleep buddy.” Scott said. “And remember what she said about tomorrow … it’s important.”

“Yes, I know.” Josh said.

“Good night.” When Scott turned to pull the door shut behind him, Josh was still standing there … watching him.

Scott lowered Jessica onto his bed, and looked at her. Well, so much for his plans for the night. That was okay, he reasoned. Even though he’d have to wait four more nights before getting her to himself so many other good things had happened over the past week that he could sacrifice one night. Things were set-up for the race. And with the exception of the minor issue with Josh … which he had to admit was worrying him quite a bit … Jessica was happy. Scott turned off the lights, removed his clothes, and crawled under the blankets next to Jessica. He pulled her to him … as he’d expected, she was down for the night. She’d barely registered his presence. He closed his eyes and tried hard not to think about the coming day. For the first time in years, he was a bundle of nerves. He didn’t like that feeling.

***********************************************************

The next morning, Scott got his sex time in. Jessica more accommodating than she’d ever been. He strongly suspected that it had to do with the track … but he didn’t mind. When they were done, Scott pulled the bedroom door open, Jessica behind him, and cursed.

“For the love of … what the fuck Josh, have you been out there all night?”

Jessica peered out from behind Scott. Josh was leaning on the wall, right leg bent against it, and he looked hideously tired. He ignored Scott, his eyes scanning the space around him and when he saw Jessica his eyes locked on hers, and he pushed himself from the wall.

“Josh, I was fine, you didn’t need to be out here all night.” Jessica said concerned by how exhausted he looked.

“I just needed to be near you.” Josh said, “Since I won’t be able to be when Angus and Riley come home.”

Jessica looked to Scott. “He has to go to bed.”

Scott nodded, “Take him … I’ll meet you for breakfast.”

“Come on Josh.” Jessica said, taking his hand. She led him to his room, made him lie down and put a blanket on him.

“I’m not tired …” he kept insisting.

“Yeah, well, I want you to sleep.” Jessica said and almost laughed when he got trapped by his own rules. He was about to protest, but snapped his mouth shut instead.

“I want you to close your eyes …” Jessica said. For a minute she thought he’d refuse, but then he closed them, and within minutes he was snoring.

Jessica snuck out of his room and took a shower. She did everything in fast motion, not entirely sure when Angus and Riley would be home. She wanted to be with Jim or Scott when they did.

“Is he asleep?” Jim asked when she sat down at the table for breakfast.

“Yup.”

“It’s probably better if you stay inside today … maybe read or something. Who knows when they’ll get home.”

“Okay.” Jessica said. She was being brave … trying hard to not let her voice waver, but they heard it anyway.

“Do you want to stay too, or should I?” Scott asked Jim.

“Go ahead, I’ll stay.” Jim said.

Scott downed the last of his coffee and after planting a kiss on Jessica, headed out the door.

“Go get a book.” Jim said, smiling with as much reassurance as he could muster.

Jessica returned moment later with a novel … and they moved to the sofa. Jim pulled Jessica against him.

“Your hearts going a hundred miles an hour.” He said, feeling the pounding through her ribcage.

“Jim. What’s the plan for Josh? With Riley and Angus?”

“He’ll be okay.” Jim said, “In fact his little wig out may be just the diversion we need to keep them from paying too much attention to you.”

“But what if it doesn’t work?” Jessica asked. “What if they just get rid of him?”

Jim could tell from the tone of her voice exactly what Jessica meant by ‘get rid of’. He was about to reassure her that it would never happen, when he suddenly realized that in fact it could. Not that Riley and Angus would kill him. But they could ship him off with the rest of the clan for a while … or even worse, they could decide to swap him out to work in the field and either Angus or Riley would stay behind. And God … what if they decided that Jessica had done something to him. What would they do to her? Suddenly the entire plan was wrong. Dangerously wrong. Could Jessica and Josh act normal?

“You’re right Jessica. Everything has to appear normal. With one exception. You have to be incredibly well behaved … everything Riley and Angus have ever wanted …”
Jessica was nodding. “I think so too.”

“It’s ironic.” Jim said.

“What is?”

“Here we all thought that you’d be the one to break … to freak out. Yet, you shoot a few dogs, meet some outsiders, and don’t bat an eyelash. Josh on the other hand goes completely mental.”

“He’s pretty upset.” Jessica said, once again glad that Jim didn’t know about Pam.

“Yeah, I’d be too if I’d raped you.” Jim said. “Sit tight for a minute, ‘k?” he asked getting up. “I gotta go to the bathroom.”

He had heard a noise at the back of the house and figured it was probably Josh getting up. He moved down the hallway, and sure enough Josh was on his way out of his room, looking like he’d lost his best friend.

“Josh.” Jim said.

“Where is she Jim?” Josh said, barely looking at him, ready to sidestep him.

“She’s reading in the living room. But you have to stop and listen to me …” Jim said putting his arm out to block Josh’s path. Josh tried to barrel through it, but Jim shoved him back against the wall, pinning him against it.

“Listen very carefully Josh, because if you don’t you’re going to be the reason Jessica gets hurt.” That got his attention. His eyes snapped to Jim’s and the muscles in his neck, arms, clenched jaw, began to bulge as he fought back against him. “It’ll be you Josh, you. If for any reason Riley and Angus think she’s done something to you they’re going to hurt her. Think about it. Angus with his beatings, and lord knows what else, Riley with his belt. She will be punished for your attempts to help her. Think Josh, think!”

Slowly Josh stopped fighting Jim. “What should I do then?” Josh asked.

“Act normal Josh. Just be like you used to be. Jessica told you herself that she wanted that. She didn’t want you to protect her against them. If you fail in this … she’s going to try to protect you too. And how do you think that would end? Even if that extreme doesn’t happen, Riley and Angus are likely to change things up if they get suspicious or worried. They could easily send one of us out in the field … bring our kill count up. Jessica would love that …”

“Okay, okay!” Josh said. “I’ll act normal. But Jim. What if things don’t get better with Riley and Angus? What if they keep hurting Jessica?”

“I don’t know.” Jim said. He hadn’t doubted that they would change. He’d just taken for granted that things would work out … eventually.

“I can’t let that happen Jim. And I don’t think you or Scott can either.”

“What are you saying?” Jim asked.

“I’m saying that if they abuse her … and they don’t stop, soon. I think we should leave, with Jessica.”

“What?” Jim whispered, taken by surprise. Never had he contemplated anything like this. But Josh was right.

“They’d come after us.” Jim said. “They’d never let us just disappear.”

“Then we’ll have to fight them.”

“They won’t stop Josh. You know that. They’ll hunt us down.” Jim said knowing from past experience what Riley and Angus were capable of when it came to exacting revenge.

“Then we’ll have to kill them.” Josh said.

Jim took a step back. He was so shocked, taken aback, he felt faint. As he played Josh’s words over in his mind, he was relieved to realize that Josh had sounded pained by the idea. He didn’t relish it, but said it as a matter of fact.

“Josh. Not even five days ago you were just the same as Riley and Angus. We all were. And now … now, you want to leave them? Maybe even kill them?”

“Yes. I was like them. And so was Scott. But you weren’t Jimmy. You’ve been trying to get us to see Jessica differently for ages. And you were right. I wish I’d seen it sooner, but I hadn’t. And, I was much worse to her then you were. Now I have to make up for it. And you have to live up to being the man Jessica has trusted and fallen in love with.”

“Josh. I think we should put this on the back burner for now. And you should think about it long and hard. Riley and Angus are our family … and Jessica is our family. I could have taken off with her myself, ages ago. But if I had, would you feel about her the way you do right now? It took a long time, but look where you, Scott, Jessica and I are right now. Riley and Angus can get there too. But we have to lead them there. Do you know what I’m saying?”

Josh held Jim’s gaze for a long time before he nodded.

“I’ll be normal when they get home. And I’ll leave the final decision to you. But please, please Jim … don’t let them hurt her more than they already have.”

Jim nodded, and Josh slipped by him, moving down the hall to the living room.

Jim stood staring after him for a very long time. He felt like he’d been kicked in the nuts. Extra pressure now to get Riley and Angus on board, sooner rather than later. That was fair. It was only fair to Jessica. And then he had the thought he wished he hadn’t. What if he had let Jessica down by not running away with her earlier? What if it was because of him that she’d suffered needlessly? Jim shrugged. There was no what if about it. He had. And now the question was, how much more suffering would he be willing to put her through? He shook his head. The best he could do for now was go one day at a time.

He’d consult with Scott, get his take on things. He felt a knot of anxiety in the pit of his stomach. This was the first time that he could ever remember that he dreaded Riley and Angus’ return.

Jim went back out into the living room. Josh had wasted no time taking his place on the sofa with Jessica. She was sitting up facing him. Touching his face while she was talking quietly, earnestly. Josh was nodding. Jim wanted a drink very badly. Something strong … but he didn’t want to dull his senses. He settled onto a chair near the table and watched Jessica and Josh. They looked so intimate. Jim could tell by the tilt of Josh’s head that he was pressing his cheek into Jessica’s hand. After watching them for a few minutes he began to be curious about what they could be talking about that required so much intensity. He had to go out and update Scott on the new plan anyway. He decided to pass by them on the way out and hopefully overhear the conversation. He tried to act nonchalant but there was no point. Neither one of them noticed him. As he walked by he heard Josh say,

“And what’s your favorite color?” and Jessica replied, “Green … emerald green.”

And without missing a beat Josh said, “And your favorite number?”

Jim rolled his eyes and stared in disbelief. This was what was so riveting?

‘Whatever!’ he grumbled to himself as he went out to the barn.

“Not riding today?” Jim asked when he found Scott cleaning a saddle in the barn.

“No. Don’t want to waste my time unsaddling when they get home.”

“There’s been a change of plans. We’re not going to count on Josh’s break down to distract Riley and Angus.” Jim said leaning against a post.

“What? Why?” Scott demanded.

“Jessica pointed out that Riley and Angus may not take too well to Josh’s little derailment. Who knows what they’d do … but I’m willing to bet he’d end-up in the field and one of them would be here with us in his place.”

“Fucking shit … so what’re we going to do?”

“Josh says he can be normal.”

“Right … normal. Okay.” Scott said with a shrug.

“And, he suggested that if it takes too long for them to come around with Jessica … or they’re too abusive, we should take Jessica and go. And I suggested that Riley and Angus would find us. And he suggested that the only option then would be to kill them.”

“Interesting …” Scott said and he seemed to be contemplating the options.

“For crying out … Scott you’re not supposed to agree! Do you seriously think this is something we should consider?”

“Leaving yes … killing, no. Leaving is an option. One I hadn’t even considered before … but it has its appeal.”

“So we set a deadline? A month, a week, a day … and then we go?”

“I don’t know about the deadline … but I can tell you this for sure. If either Riley or Angus hit Jessica, even once, we’re out of here.” Scott replied.

Jim nodded.

“Are you done out here?” Jim asked. “I need you inside. Jessica and Josh are in there fawning over each other like a couple of love starved teens and it’s making me sick. I need company.”

“Sure.” Scott said. “I can’t concentrate anyway.”

Scott and Jim walked in the door to find Josh laughing so hard that he was rolling on the floor. Jessica sat on the sofa laughing equally hard … tears rolling down her cheeks.

“What’s so funny?” Jim asked as he took a seat on the sofa next to Jessica. Josh pointed at Jessica and looked like he was trying to say something but fits of laughter just kept pouring out. Jessica couldn’t catch her breath much less talk.

“Great, he’s gone into hysterics.” Scott said dropping into the arm chair … and that brought on a new wave of laughter.

“It’s not just him … it’s both of them. We’ll give them a few more minutes and then we get a bucket of freezing cold water … and toss it on them.” Jim said raising his voice, hoping the threat would reduce their laughing enough for them to explain themselves. But it didn’t. After a few more minutes of watching them … Jimmy suddenly got the urge to laugh too. He didn’t know why … they just looked so funny. And as he began to laugh he looked at Scott, who had already been developing a pretty big smile. Before long, they were laughing just as hard as Josh and Jessica.

“Must’ve been a hell of a joke …” Riley said.

He and Angus stood just inside the door, holding their duffle bags.

Jessica, Josh, Scott and Jim looked over in unison … and the laughter began to die down … but not completely.

Riley watched Josh silently roll on the floor, and Jessica press her lips against the thigh of her bent leg and realized that they’d just turned the volume down, not stopped laughing.

Scott and Jim had stopped entirely, eyeing Josh and Jessica and shaking their heads.

“Must’ve been.” Jim agreed, getting up and holding his hand out in a silent invitation to take Riley’s bag for him.

Scott did the same for Angus.

“You weren’t in on it?” Angus asked, watching Jessica struggle to control her laughter. It was good to see her. Despite the apprehension he had about the dreams he’d been having … all about her … all sexual … yet with emotional attachment, he was glad to be home, with her.

“No, it seems to be Josh and Jessica’s own private joke.” Scott said while heading for Angus’ room with his duffle bag.

“You were laughing pretty hard yourselves.” Angus observed, handing Jim his bag.

“Yeah, well, they looked pretty funny.” Jim replied and headed to Riley’s room with the bag.

Riley and Angus shuffled into the living room. They had been away before but since Jessica had been with them it had never been for as long as they’d just been gone. Never more than a day or two … not a whole week. They felt a little like strangers. Josh struggled to his feet, still laughing. Jessica got up from the sofa, and still stifling laughter she went to Riley and pecked him on the lips.

“Hi.” She said, “I hope you had a good trip?”

“Yeah, it was good …” Riley said watching in pleasant surprise as Jessica moved to Angus and kissed him also. But as usual she was not going to get away from Angus that quickly. He held her by her upper arms, so she couldn’t move away.

“I’d like a real kiss.” He said in a low guttural tone. He’d won the straw draw with Riley about who would get Jessica that night and he’d been certain that he could control himself until 10 o’clock. Lord knew he’d whacked off enough to make some semblance of control an attainable goal. But now that she was really there, within his reach, looking so … beautiful … laughing really did something for her, he didn’t think he could hold off.

“Angus!” Jim yelled when he returned from the bedroom and saw him grasping Jessica.

“What?” Angus demanded, startled.

“What’re you doing?” Scott demanded appearing in the hallway just after Jim.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m getting my kiss!” And with that Angus pulled Jessica hard against him, planting his lips on hers … moving his hand to the back of her head, lacing his fingers in her hair and holding it firmly in place as his tongue maneuvered between her lips and probed every part of her mouth.

“Angus!” Jim said again and started moving forward. Angus felt Jessica tense for a moment and then soften … melt into him … kiss him back. He was so surprised that he pulled her away from him and stared at her.

“That was more like it!” he exclaimed. He looked like he was going to pull her in for another kiss, but Jessica planted her hands on his chest.

“Could I get you a beer? Angus? Riley?” she asked quickly.

“Ah, okay.” Riley replied, noticeably caught off guard.

“Angus?” Jessica asked , when he hadn’t let go of her, or answered the question.

“You’re going to get us a beer?” Angus asked slowly, as if he didn’t understand the question even though he’d asked it.

“Yes, but you have to let her go first!” Scott all but snapped. He’d moved closer to Angus, just like Jim had and they both stood waiting, ready to physically pull Jessica away from him.

“Do you think?” Angus asked, turning his grey eyes onto Scott, anger reflected in them, but he dropped his hands from Jessica. She turned to go the kitchen. Jim saw her dart her eyes over to Scott, and then she brought them to him before she flicked them over to Josh. The irony wasn’t lost on Jim … and it didn’t seem to be lost on Scott either by the look he threw at Jim. Josh, the mentally cracked one, was silently and obediently standing off to the side, not interfering … and then Jim and Scott who were supposed to have it together, seemed to be losing it.

But it was likely the same for Scott as it was for Jim … he had no control over it. He didn’t even know he was going to yell at Angus until he was surprised by his own voice. All he knew was that for that second when he came down the hall and saw Angus clutching Jessica, he thought Angus was on his way to beating her … or coercing her into something worse than a kiss.

Josh followed Jessica to the kitchen and helped her get two beer out of the fridge and open them.

“Do you want one?” Jessica asked Josh. He shook his head.

“Jim and Scott, beer?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah sure.” Scott said, hoping it would take the edge off … Jim declined. He needed his wits about him. Josh took a third beer out and motioned Jessica to deliver her two beer to Scott and Riley. He brought Angus his beer. Jessica couldn’t deny being relieved to not have to go near Angus again.

“Thanks.” Riley said taking the beer from Jessica. “Hey,” he added, reaching up to grab Jessica’s chin. He turned her face from one side to the other, studying it. “do you have a tan?”

“Son of a bitch!” Scott swore under his breath. Was it possible that she had a tan? Of course … she’d been outside with them so often the past week. It was so gradual that they hadn’t noticed.

“She may.” Jim answered, trying to sound casual.

“And how would that be?” Riley asked.

“We had her out doing chores with us.” Jim said.

“Really?” Riley asked, turning her face back and forth … staring at her.

“Makes her look healthier, doesn’t it?” Scott asked, clenching his empty hand open and shut … using all of his will power to not walk over and pry Riley’s hand from Jessica’s face. He was looking at her like he looked at his dogs when he was training them, or punishing them, dominating them. Scott realized the hypocrisy. He very much liked to dominate Jessica … but at least she was certain to get some pleasure from it. The way she stood frozen before Riley … at the very least uncomfortable, at the worst, terrified, just made his blood boil.

“I guess …” Riley reflected. In fact it did.

Angus grunted as if something finally made sense to him, and he cocked his head to the side as he observed Jessica.

“Riley …” Jim began in a low, angry voice. “You need to let her go!”

“Why?” Riley asked in an absent minded way, apparently oblivious to Jim’s tone.

“Because I need to make lunch for you …” Jessica interjected … urgently trying to curtail the disaster that was about to happen. What the hell was wrong with Scott and Jim? Why were they being so hostile, confrontational? It felt like a bad dream. Something awful was going to happen … she could feel it.

“Lunch?” Riley asked, taken aback again. Something about Jessica had changed and it was more than her skin color. She was far more interactive than she had been before they left.

Angus had lowered his beer and stood flicking his eyes between Riley and Jessica. Something was happening that his brain just couldn’t fathom.

“Yes, you must be hungry …” Jessica managed. From her periphery she could see Scott clenching his fists. That, Jim’s combative comments, and Josh’s too quiet silence made Jessica want to do nothing more than distract Riley and Angus.

“Now that you mention it …” Riley said, suddenly dropping his hand from Jessica’s face.

“Great … what would you like to have?” Jessica said trying to sound casual as she stepped away from Riley … right past Angus.

“You know …” Angus said catching her arm. “Before you feed us … I’m curious about the joke.”

“The joke?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah, the one you found so hilariously funny. I’d really love to hear it.”

Jessica felt heat sear to her cheeks. It had been a joke she’d read in one of Scott’s porn magazines … it had sexual connotations and she just didn’t feel right telling it to Angus. Especially when he looked at her like that … without thinking she turned her head away, embarrassed.

“Hey … look at me!” Angus roared, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look back at him. Even with the tan it was easy to see the bright red growing on her cheeks. It only served to heighten Angus’ curiosity.

“It was a private joke between Jessica and me.” Josh said in a low, controlled voice.

“Jokes are public property, last I heard. I’d really like to hear it. So why don’t you tell me Jessica?”

“Maybe she could if you let go of her mouth …” Scott muttered.

Angus ignored the comment, but Riley’s head jerked up.

He looked at Scott and was surprised by the fury he saw in Scott’s expression. He looked at Jim and Josh, fury there also. What the hell was going on?

“It was a joke guys. What the hell is your problem?” Riley demanded.

“Look at her.” Josh said, fighting to keep control. “She’s embarrassed … mortified. If you want to hear the joke so damn badly I’ll tell it to you later. Now Angus, let her go and make your lunch …” Josh kept his voice tight but polite yet there was no mistaking that the last part was a command, not a request.

Riley took another look at Jessica. There was no denying her embarrassment.

“Let her go Angus. Josh is asking you to respect his … and Jessica’s, privacy.”

Angus nodded and let Jessica go.

“Must’ve been some joke!” he muttered as he swigged his beer and dropped into the armchair.

“There’s some left over stew.” Jessica said after putting some distance between herself and Angus … “is that okay?”

“Sure.” Riley said watching Josh, Jim and Scott seem to gravitate toward the kitchen with Jessica. Something was off.

Scott, Jim and Josh ambled around in front of the kitchen area, eventually walking around in an imperfect circle. They were uneasy and Jim figured they were all thinking the same thing. This was impossible. There was no way they could last in this situation. Things had to get drastically better quickly or drastically worse. There could be no middle ground. Jim waited until Riley’s attention was diverted away from them and flicked Scott on the arm. Scott looked up scowling. With half an eye on Riley to ensure he didn’t see him, Jim pointed at Scott, at Jessica, at Riley and then mouthed the word ‘dog’. Scott looked at him funny. Jim pointed at himself and shook his head, flicked his eyes to Riley and then put his hands around his own neck as if strangling himself. Understanding registered with Scott. Josh stopped his pacing, hands on hips … and watched the exchange. For the life of him he couldn’t figure out why they picked now to play charades.

Scott cleared his throat and moved to sit in the chair next to Riley at the table.

“So, the trip went well?” Scott asked casually, sipping the almost forgotten beer he clutched in his hand.

Riley shifted his eyes to Jessica and then back to Scott.

“Yup.” He replied.

“Good. Good.” Scott added, not really sure how to get to the point.

“What’s up Scott?” Riley asked. Scott, Jim and Josh seemed nervous, and Jessica seemed calm. Calmer and more responsive than she normally was.

“Jessica was really well behaved while you were gone. Followed the rules to a T. We ah … offered her kind of a reward.”

“What kind of reward?” Riley asked in a weary tone.

Angus squinting at Scott, sat straighter in the chair.

“Well, she requested the privilege of training the dogs with you.”

Riley looked back at Jessica, who stood frozen in place by the stove … listening to the conversation. She sighed with relief. For a moment she thought they were going to tell him about Ebony and the track. But training the dogs was an excellent alternative.

“Really …” Riley commented. “Well, I’ll tell you what. If I see evidence of this great behavior today … then I’ll take her out tomorrow. But it better be pretty damn good.”

“Sure, of course. I’m sure you’ll be pleased … “

“But?” Riley asked as Scott’s voice trailed off.

“But intimidation isn’t going to help the situation.” Scott spoke in a low voice and slid his eyes in Angus’ direction.

“I don’t recall there being an intimidation clause in the code of behavior for Jessica.” Angus sneered. “Besides, if you call a kiss and some questions intimidation then you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

Scott jumped to his feet, kicking the chair back so hard it fell over.

“Oh I’ve seen plenty!” he thundered stalking toward Angus, “Why don’t you try your intimidation tactics on someone a little bigger, a little stronger, a little less defenseless …”

“Gladly!” Angus replied getting to his feet and lunging at Scott.

“Stop!”

Everyone froze, and then turned toward the kitchen. Jessica stood in the center, her hands extended, palms up.

“I think maybe everyone’s hungry …” she said nervously. “Why don’t we eat? “

Silence hung in the air.

“Scott … could you help me set the table please?” Scott moved to the kitchen without giving Angus a second glance. Once the table was set the men began to move to the table … even Angus who’d spent the time scowling at Scott and trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Jessica felt like she was going to faint. Things were not going well. The men were going to kill one another … and while it had been something she would have relished not so long ago, now she wanted to avoid it with every fiber of her being. She no longer wanted revenge, only the opportunity to avenge her family. She wanted justice. The opportunity to have these men pay for their crimes in a court of law, peacefully. Afterall, that was what her parents were all about. Law and justice. That was what they’d died for. She had to find a way to get it for them. And the way things were going, there was going to be bloodshed. As she watched Riley and Angus seat themselves at the table she knew what she had to do. The only hope was Riley. Never mind past experience, just the looks on Riley and Angus’ faces told Jessica that she didn’t stand a chance with Angus, but there was opportunity with Riley. If she could win him over, he would make Angus comply.

As soon as Riley sat down, Jessica moved to sit beside him.

“It may need some salt …” she said, handing the salt shaker to Riley.

“Thanks.” He said taking it, and staring at Jessica.

She managed a feeble smile. He smiled back. He could see what Scott meant. Maybe she would be training the dogs with him the next day after all.

What the fuck was going on? Angus wondered watching the exchange. Was he in the middle of a bad dream? Had he morphed into some kind of alternate universe? He took a bite of the stew, and it was good. But Jessica had been right, it needed salt. And she hadn’t offered him any. And then Scott, Jim and Josh were all weird. Scott was still flashing him dirty looks. Jim was more or less himself but Josh looked like he was concentrating really hard on something. Like every movement he made required a conscious decision.

“Something’s wrong.” Angus growled. He threw down his spoon, pushed back his chair and coiled his muscles, ready to jump up.

“Like what?” Jim demanded. “Is the fact that Jessica’s doing exactly what we demanded of her a problem for you?”

“When it happens overnight, yes!” Angus retorted.

“But it wasn’t overnight.” Jim replied trying to keep his voice calm. He glanced at Riley, trying to read which way he was going with this … but Riley seemed curious more than hostile. He was still studying Jessica. “It was over many nights. You’ve been gone for over a week Angus. And before you left, things were on an upswing. It’s not that inconceivable that Jessica has come around to our way of thinking.”

“Riley. Something is wrong!” Angus repeated.

Riley looked over at Angus and sighed.

“Something is different.” He said.

Angus glared at Riley. Riley took a final look around at the other men … at Jessica, who now was looking at him full on, pleading with her eyes. Change was never easy for Riley and Angus, but the difference was that Riley could adapt if he had to. Angus had to be cajoled.

“I think we need to see where this leads us Angus.” Riley said, turning his gaze back to Angus’ now bright red face. He faltered for a moment, afraid Angus would give himself a stroke … the veins in his neck, forehead, bulging. But Scott’s comment about coercion made even more sense to Riley now. Angus was all about coercion. That had to be handled. Angus stared at Riley for a moment more and then stood up, kicking his chair back, and walked out the front door, slamming it with extra force on his way out. Everyone winced. Jim got up and went to the window.

“He’s gone to work on his car.” He reported, relief obvious in his voice. Everyone exhaled, including Riley.

“I guess I better go talk to him.” Riley said, getting up and heading out the door. No sooner had the door closed than Jim went to it and locked it.

“Plan B” Jim said, grabbing a gun off the rack and double checking that it was loaded. Scott and Josh were at the gun rack moments later.

Jim went back to the window and watched Riley approach Angus.

“What’s plan B?” Jessica asked feeling like a bundle of nerves … her anxiety growing as she watched Josh and Scott gather more bullets from the safe.

“We get the hell out of here.” Jim said.

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