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Blessing

By: wickedlittleelle



"Malak."

Mal heard her name pronounced as if in a dream. It took the urging of two of her Sisters to move her from her kneeling position on the floor, where she'd been meditating as the Mother moved about the room, inspecting the girls, often reaching between their legs to check their wetness, squeezing their breasts to check their firmness. Malak had been spared the inspection, only because no one expected her to be chosen.

She was newly seventeen, the minimum amount of years needed to be chosen by the Goddess for the task of blessing the crops. Most of the girls in the waiting tent had been waiting for at least a year, many of them for more than five. The air in the tent smelled of sex, of wetness and desire and need. It was almost smothering, and when Malak had entered the tent for the first time the day after her seventeenth birthday, she had balked, not wanting to live in the thick air among the unchosen women of their tribe for no one knew how many years. The Goddess was a fickle deity, seemed to have a habit of choosing girls at random with no regard for just how long they had been waiting.

But even with the Goddess' predisposition towards random choices, no one had expected Malak. She was different than the other girls. Where the others had ample curves, full hips and heavy breasts, Malak's body was tight. Straight, with small, narrow hips and just the slightest swell to her breasts. Her bottom was tight as well, but rounded and prominent. Her Sisters tended to joke that the only touching Malak was made for was a good thrashing.

They joked about it so much that she had begun to believe them, and she had seriously contemplated simply bringing herself to orgasm and taking the punishment that would come, simply to end this whole foolish charade.

So when her name was called by the Mother after the prayers went up, she couldn't quite believe her ears. She stumbled forward, barely resisting the urge to cover up her naked body in the presence of the mother, whose figure so closely resembled that of the Goddess: full, rounded hips and ample breasts, a soft face and a gentle air about her. Next to the Mother, Malak felt as though her body were made of only razor sharp angles.

The Mother touched Malak's forehead, and then each breast, anointing her with sweet-smelling oil. "Chosen." She whispered, giving Malak a broad smile. "Come, little one. We shall prepare you."

The next few hours were a blur of bathing and dressing. Her sisters took extra care to bathe her first in fresh water, and then in water scented with herbs. They washed her hair, and scrubbed every place they could reach. /Every/ place, much to Malak's squirming dismay. They lifted her from the bath, drying her quickly before laying her down, face-up, on a mat and spreading her legs. She instinctively fought to close them, but one of her Sisters landed a sharp smack to the inside of her thigh. "Be grateful." She chided, and Malak stopped fighting.

She felt one of her Sisters deft fingers reach down and spread her lips, exposing her more. Another Sister teased at her clit with expert hands, drawing it out until it was swollen and Malak was shuddering with need. Still another Sister slid a smooth metal plug into her opening, seating it fully within her. The touch to her clit was replaced with a metal clasp, gripping it and pinching it gently to keep it full as it was now. Malak knew from watching the procedures done to girls in the past, that the plug and clamp were both elegantly filigreed, decorated with opal and set by their village's finest metal-workers. She was decorated in a fashion fit for one of the Mother's concubines. Or one of the Goddess' priestesses.

Her legs were pulled up then, her bottom hole lubed with oil, and another decorative plug inserted. Her bottom was red and stinging by the time they finally got her to settle and take that one.

She was pulled up from the mat, a sari of the finest cloth wrapped around her otherwise naked body, and ushered out into the light. Her Sisters followed behind, giggling at the way the plugs and clamp made it hard for Malak to walk. The journey to the Blessing point was a long, tortuous one, and Mal had to stop several times to breathe and make her body relax, lest it betray her before the ceremony even began.

When they reached the point, she sighed in relief. It was a large, open tent with incense burning all around it and the finest rugs and silks laid on the ground. There was a circle of pillows in the middle, obviously where her part of the ceremony would take place. Off to the side of that was the altar, where the Priestesses would pray to the Goddess as Malak was being fucked. At the point of orgasm, they would burn the first return's of last years crop, thus completing the ceremony. It was a process that had to be timed perfectly. An orgasm that took place at a point other than the designated one would not bring misfortune upon her people, but the harvest was only truly great when the ceremony was a success, and she would be punished severely if not able to control herself until the right point.

She was led into the tent, and laid down on the pillows, her legs spread wide so that the elders of the village and their warriors could all see everything. She heard their soft prayers go up as she was exposed to them, and she couldn't bring herself to feel shame. She felt beautiful. Important. At the moment, she was the most important woman in the village, and she could feel that knowledge reverberate throughout her whole body.

Her arms were pulled above her head, cuffed and secured to a ring embedded in the wood of the floor. This was so she couldn't be tempted to reach down and bring her orgasm on quicker than it should come. Her legs were pulled up too, ankles cuffed and secured to the same ring. She was completely open and exposed, every one of her most vulnerable parts on display to the entire village. She closed her eyes, heard the drumbeats begin, heard the Priestesses begin to chant softly. Incense was lit, the heady smell filling the room. She knew, at this point, many of the couples in the village would begin to touch each other as they watched. She knew many of her Chosen Sisters, who had already been through this process, would be reaching between each other's legs at this point, bringing each other to orgasm. Though her's was the most important, right now, others could not hurt. Most of the time, the village tried to bring their women to ecstasy as many times as they could, during a ceremony. Anything to bring on the blessings of the Goddess.

She felt hands on her, now. She knew them to be the Mother's hands, as she'd felt them many times in the past few months, as each girl in the waiting tent was constantly brought to the edge of orgasm, as training for this moment. The Mother took great delight in training the girls this way, Mal knew.

The Mother's fingers traced slowly down the outer lips of Mal's sex. This was a deliberate tease, as Mal knew she was avoiding the sensitive areas in favor of making her squirm in anticipation. Fingertips danced lightly over Mal's inner thighs, over her bottom. A few smacks were landed, just because she could, and Mal had to take a deep breath to calm herself. The Mother chuckled, and Mal blushed. Everyone knew, since the first time she'd reacted this way from a punishment in the waiting tent, that the burn of a spanking made her wet. The Mother reignited the burn in her bottom to the beat of the drum, and for a moment, Mal was sure she'd need no other stimulation. That she would orgasm just from being spanked. But the Mother was merciful, and stilled her hand.

The chanting took on a new tone, a little more urgent as the Mother gently pulled the plug from Mal's bottom hole, laying it beside her on the mat. Then the plug was removed from her sex, joining the other. And slowly but surely, the clamp was removed as well, making Mal moan out. Hers joined those of many of the other women around her, a few of them having already reached orgasm, many more on their way. She couldn't help but think of the unfairness of this. She would have to last the whole ceremony for one orgasm, while they got to have many.

These thoughts were all pushed to the back of Mal's mind, as she felt the tip of the Mother's tongue press against her entrance. She keened, a sharp yell sounding out above the chanting of the Priestesses. While all the girls in the tent were regularly stimulated by fingers, none of them were allowed to feel the touch of anyone's tongue until this day, and the sensation was almost more than Mal could take.

The Mother took her time, licking a long, slow stripe all the way up Mal's sex, and then twisting her tongue as she came back down, making Mal moan out. She pressed her tongue into Malak's opening, fucking it in and out shallowly. Mal gave soft, needy little whimpers, wishing for the stimulation where she needed it most, on her clit.

The chanting was growing more frenzied, and Mal could tell it was almost time. The Mother was teasing lightly at her bottom hole as she continued to lick Mal lightly. The girl gave soft, choked sobs, feeling what she knew had to be orgasm right there, threatening and beautiful at once.

The next few seconds stretched on for what seemed like years, before the Mother finally lifted her head and whispered a prayer, and then permission to Mal. The smell of smoke on the altar and the Mother's tongue against Mal's clit was all that was needed to push her over the edge, and she came hard, wailing out her climax as she shuddered violently.

It seemed like it took hours for her to calm down. The Mother kept her hand cupped over Mal's sex the entire time, letting her grind up into it as the aftershocks shook her, giving her a little relief, and a little bit of added stimulation just because she could. The final steps of the ceremony were completed, each of her un-chosen sisters coming up and pressing a kiss to her pussy. Each of the warriors of the village doing the same, so that by the time her arms and legs were released, she felt as though she weren't too far from being able to do the whole thing again. Slowly she stretched out, lithe and sated, like a cat waking from a nap in the sun.

She was helped to her feet by one of the warriors, a tall young man with dark skin, dark curls, and bright blue eyes. He helped her steady herself. The Mother smiled on them, clasping their hands together in blessing. Malak smiled as well. This warrior had obviously been chosen for her, as a gift. The most devout and skilled of their warriors was given to the Chosen each year. She would have him for a week (longer, if they chose), in their own private tent. He was hers to use as she wished. And he was allowed to bring her to orgasm as many times as she wanted.

Blessing In Disguise



"Have fun at your conference!"

I waved good-bye to Professor Jones and headed home. I was excited that Wednesday I would be free from class. Mrs. Jones and Professor Dubois were leaving from Boston's Logan Airport Tuesday morning for a conference in Los Angeles. I skipped out of class ready for a crisp fall day.

Tuesday morning the phone woke me up. I reached for it, knocking my alarm clock off the nightstand.

"Star! Star! They're dead! Professor Jones is dead!"

Instantly awake I began to shiver.

"What!?"

"Their plane. It went into the World Trade Center. It's on the news. Turn on the TV."

I jumped out of bed and ran into the living room not even taking time to grab a robe to cover my nude body. I turned on the TV and sat in shock trembling, shivering. I watched as the second plane hit. The smoke, the fire. The TV cut to the Pentagon. Shit! My aunt works there!

I ran and got dressed and then sat in front of the TV, watching, waiting for news. I cried, thinking one of my favorite teachers was dead. My aunt, was she alive? 

The phones to Washington D.C. were busy. My mom called, I kept her updated as she continued at work. The afternoon wore on, I cried as the Towers collapsed. Panicked as the Flight Number was confirmed. 

The shrill ring of the phone made me jump again. I grabbed it and on a shaky breath, whispered Hello.

"Star, she's okay!"

"What? How?"

"Professor Jones, their car had a flat, they missed the plane! They just showed up here at the College! They didn't even make it to Logan! They didn't even know!"

Again the tears cascaded. Now, if only my Aunt was okay.

I skipped class Tuesday evening, waiting, wondering. Every time the phone rang I snatched it up, fearing, yet needing to know. 

The TV stayed on well into the night as I watched in horror, the news coverage. How many? How many died needlessly? I was angry. I started throwing things, uncertain. I wanted to find whoever was responsible and destroy them! 

As the night gave way to day, I calmed down. I realized I hadn't eaten. Something so base was nearly impossible. I couldn't help thinking of all those people who would never eat again. The firefighters, families, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons. Despair washed over me again and I cried, I sobbed myself into sleep.

I awoke to the sound of the TV. Rubbing my eyes, I made breakfast, listening, straining to hear any news. When news of the Pentagon came back on, I rushed back into the living room, trailing jelly from my toast onto my rug. I didn't even care as I stepped in it. Still no word. 

I started looking through my address book, did I know anyone else in DC? Anyone who might now? My aunt's best friend lived across from the Pentagon. I tried calling her house. No answer. I did the only thing I could do. I waited.

About 5:30 Wednesday night, I got through.

"Aunt Mary?"

"Oh Star!"

"Oh Aunt Mary! How are you? Are you okay? where are you?!"

"I'm all right. I went out for coffee. When I came back, it was burning. My office! All my co-workers. When I left they had been joking that I should give up coffee, it was only going to kill me with caffeine. It's the only reason I'm alive!"

She broke down sobbing. I could hear my aunt, my very much alive, but sorrowful aunt sobbing for her friends, her co-workers, her life. She felt guilty. I felt selfishly joyful. She was okay. I didn't realize I was crying until my tears fell onto my hands. 

And I still cry, for all those who died, and all those who still live.



Blessing of the Saint



Associate professor Cassandra Marsh stomped into her office, tossed a plastic folder of notes on to her desk and groaned in annoyance. She had just (finally) gotten rid of an insufferably persistent gentleman by acquiescing to his request for a date. Cassandra, or Cassie, as those she was closest to called her, sat down in the comfy leather chair that had been an office-warming gift from her grandfather and turned her eyes to the ceiling as she mulled over the prospective night ahead.

Cassie had never been good at dating, nor had she ever particularly enjoyed it. She was not averse to love or sex, in fact, she often dreamed of one day finding a Mr.Right and occasionally caught herself eyeing off a handsome stranger. But she disliked the sense of obligation to be good company that came with dating. Not to mention the thousands of unwritten dating 'rules' that she could make neither hide nor hair of. Cassie knew that she was not good company for would-be suitors. The few that did come back for a second date were quick to bail out when they realised that she was not easily claimed as a sexual conquest.

Only a couple of people knew that twenty-five year old Cassandra Marsh was still a virgin. She had come close to losing it once – four years ago she had been out on a series of dates with a man she'd met at college. On the sixth date, after driving her home to her apartment, he began kissing her with unsolicited passion while he slipped his hand up her skirt. She found the sensations of him stroking and gently probing her womanhood, through her panties, to be awkward and uncomfortable, but she let it continue until the situation became too unpleasant to bear. The man's response to her sudden display of reluctance was profane. "You must be fucking kidding me!" were the words that kept echoing through Cassie's memory. But ultimately, he was decent enough to cease his advances immediately, for which, Cassie later realized, she was extremely fortunate. The incident had prompted Cassie to wonder if perhaps she was a lesbian. The fact that she had never felt attracted to a woman, even though she had several beautiful friends, seemed to dissuade this theory, but nevertheless, it was a question that still played on her mind, from time to time.

As she forced herself to stop fretting about her upcoming date, Cassie turned her head and inadvertently caught sight of the ancient iron statuette sitting upon a modern pedestal, along the southern wall of her office. It was a sculpture of two people; a man and a woman, kneeling, looking into each other's eyes and holding each other's forearms. The figures were about eight inches in height, crudely moulded and almost featureless. They knelt upon a rough, but level iron base that was about an inch in depth. Though simple, the artefact had a genuine quality to it that made it a nice little piece.

Cassie sighed softly as she looked at the artefact, not in frustration, but in sorrow. The friend who had handed the sculpture over to Cassie, a wild-hearted archaeologist named Clara Roft, had been missing for several weeks. She had been working with a group of archaeologists who had stumbled upon the tomb of a medieval Persian noble; a man who just happened to bear the name Hal'hadin (English translation: Alladin). Then one morning the rest of her colleagues awoke to discover that Clara was gone. Since then, no one, not even her parents had heard from her. Tomorrow marked the four-month anniversary of Clara's last confirmed sighting. This was not the best time for Cassie to have to put up with a randy American trying to woo her.

"Bloody fool, girl," Cassie said softly, shaking her head as she cursed the cavalier lifestyle that, in all likelihood, had ended her best friend's life. Had circumstances been different, Cassie probably would have donated the artefact to a museum by now, or put it into the storage vault in the university's archaeology department. But silly as it seemed, Cassie's sentimentality would not allow her to part with the last thing her lost friend had ever given her. In a way, she hated the sculpture being in her office, as every time she looked at it, she felt a pang of despair hit her right in the stomach. Yet she could not get rid of the ancient piece.

Again, she shook her head, more vigorously this time, as she forced herself to focus on her work. She had to review her notes, and there were several points to research before she sat down again with the delegations from the foreign universities tomorrow. Now that her night was blown, she didn't have the luxury of time on her hands, either.





Blessing of the Saint



"The design is unlike anything we've ever seen associated with Juno," Cassie continued, without responding to Nick's comment. "Quite likely, it was an object of significance that Juno worshippers inherited from a religion that predated their own, probably the Etruscans."

"Gee," Nick said, "she must have really thought a lot of you to pass such an important find on to you." He knew that Cassie still didn't want to talk about her friend. But he also knew that she needed to talk about her. She had been bravely bearing her grief in silence for too long. Talking about this artefact, this ancient iron reminder of her missing friend had opened the issue up a little, and though she was reluctant, she was also ready.

"I had this theory that Valentine's success with the artefact didn't have anything to do with the religious connotations of the ceremony," Cassie remarked, still nonchalantly dodging Nick's comments. "But rather, with the couples themselves. You see, in Valentine's time, only the richest and most powerful people in Rome would have been married in the high temple of Juno. Almost all of them would have been arranged marriages; orchestrated to cement political ties, or raise a family's standing. Few, if any, of the couples would have actually been in love. But in the underground Christian community... A group of people who have all found inspiration in the same radical, new philosophies, who are devoted enough to follow their beliefs in a lethally intolerant society, and who trust each other with their deadly secret... It certainly sounds like an environment where soul mates are more likely to meet, doesn't it?" she concluded with a nervous chuckle. Nick had slowly approached her during her speech and by now he was standing right beside her.

"Cassie..." he began. Some distant part of her consciousness was aware that she had only known this man for less than a day, and only her closest friends and family called her 'Cassie'. Yet for some reason, she didn't flinch at his presumptuous familiarity. "...It's time to talk about Clara," Nick said.

Cassie turned and looked at him, flooded with emotion. Any other person who looked at Cassie's face in that moment wouldn't have been able to read her, apart from realizing that something was wrong. Yet somehow, Nick knew exactly what she was feeling. One hundred and twenty-two days of waiting for Clara's father to call and say, "She's been found – alive and well," had just come crashing down upon her. To Nick's eyes, Cassie's face was so articulate, he could almost feel her pain himself.

"What do you want to know?" Cassie responded, shakily, "She was working on a dig in Turkmenistan and then one day she... she... she..." Before long, her efforts to remain composed had faltered and failed. She threw herself upon her date and held him tightly. Her embrace was instantly reciprocated. "God, I miss her so much, Nick..." she exclaimed in despair.

Nick simply cradled Cassie's head as she let it all out. There were no tears – Cassie had been restraining herself for so long that even now, her body didn't quite know how to behave. Regardless, her anguish was real, and deep. "You bloody fool, girl... You bloody, bloody fool..." she chanted over and over and over again. She had uttered those words so many times since her best friend disappeared, but never before in someone else's presence. Nick held her close with patient sympathy, as she aired her private mantra, along with the grief that inspired it, over several minutes.

Despite the heart-wrenching impact of this confrontation with her own emotions, Cassie found that the pain was quickly being driven away by an odd sense of comfort. Nick was there for her. She didn't have to face this alone any longer. Even though they had only met twelve hours ago, she felt like she'd known him her whole life. She knew that he would always be there for her from now on. Always be willing to talk to her, or just simply hold her. Somehow, she just knew. The entire office seemed to become lighter as Cassie felt the gnawing pain subside.

Nick waited a few moments after Cassie had trailed off into silence and her lips had stopped mouthing the words 'bloody fool girl' before he attempted to give some comforting words, "Cassie, I can't tell you that everything will be alright, although I really hope it will be. But whatever happens, all those great memories you have of Clara, all the great things you did together, all the lessons you learned from her... those things are yours to keep, forever. Nothing can ever take them away. I know it hurts now and that it's been hurting for a long time. But Cassie, I want you to realize... you don't have to deal with this on your own any longer. I'm here for you, Cassie."

She lifted her head from his shoulder, and looked deep into his sincere blue eyes. He was so wonderful. She loved him so much and she knew that she was very lucky to have a man like him. "Thank you," she said, softly. Then she expressed her gratitude again, this time with a tender kiss to his lips. She kissed him long and slow as Nick returned the gesture with matching enthusiasm. The brilliant, beautiful Englishwoman pressed her slender body against him with increasing firmness as the kiss continued. Paradoxically, despite the growing sense of joy she was feeling, Cassandra felt like the room was becoming dimmer.

Nick was between her and Saint Valentine's artefact. She never actually saw it develop a brilliant golden sheen during their embrace earlier. Neither did she see it transform back to it's regular lacklustre tone now that it's work had been done. As had happened so many times during the relic's rich history, two soul mates had come together in it's presence. As a result, a potent bond had been not created, but merely awoken between the young couple, thanks to an enchantment so old that even the ancient Romans had forgotten it's origin. 

As their lips and bodies remained pressed against one another, each with no apparent desire to break away, Cassie felt tingles of anticipation welling within her body. The primal impulses that had been in hibernation since her puberty were at last being roused by the romance between them. Cassie soon realized that their love remaining unconsummated was becoming an intolerable situation. After their lips had parted, she gazed at him doe-eyed for a few seconds. In some ways, it was hard to believe that this key moment of her life had finally come. She took Nick gently by the hands and led him over to one of the two stylish wooden chairs that sat in front of her desk. Once he was standing in front of the chair she had picked out, she silently placed her hands upon his shoulders and pushed him down on to the chair. As soon as he was seated, Cassie stepped over to him and nimbly straddled him, then sat down upon his lap.

Nick exhaled a deep breath of excitement. There was no doubt now – this woman that he had come to love, in such a short space of time, was prepared to take him all the way. He supported her attractive body with one hand between her shoulderblades and the other upon the small of her back. Then, for several seconds, they simply gazed at each other. Cassie's inexperienced hips were rocking softly back and forth, eagerly rehearsing the carnal grind. Nick could feel her warm breath blowing on his cheek.

Though they were nigh motionless, the unseen passion within their bodies was building close to bursting point. Then Cassie lunged upon her beloved American with a kiss a million times more wanton than their first, and the hungry indulgence of the flesh had begun.

Triggered by Cassie's kiss (which he passionately returned), Nick's tender embrace tightened fiercely around his sexy British professor, vanquishing the few offensive inches of space that had divided their lusting bodies. As one kiss became another and another and another, Nick's lower hand sank down her jacket and on to her matching skirt, stopping as soon as it found itself upon her shapely ass. His fingers clenched repeatedly upon her lissome posterior, squeezing it as firmly as the curve-hugging fabric of her skirt would allow. 

Cassie's hips were gyrating with only slightly more energy than before. Though her pure womanhood was excited about what it was about to experience, it moved with almost facetious restraint, pressing upon Nick's crotch calmly and slowly as if to say, "Would you like to come out and play?" rather than, "I will have you."

After a while, Nick's hand moved away from Cassie's butt, leaving it tingling with delight. He ran his hand across her veiled thigh, then manoeuvred it between her legs and into her skirt. His exploratory fingers soon reached their destination; that warm strip of cloth between the leg-holes of her panties. When he first touched them, her panties were dry, but when he put a little pressure upon her snatch, they quickly became moist. He began to gently rub his fingers up and down the length of her covered labia, inspiring her body to produce a lot more of it's natural lubricant.

Cassie cooed happily into the ravenous kiss she was sharing with the man she loved. Unlike the similar advances of the other man, which had seemed so perverse, Nick's attentions to her nether regions felt so good... so right... so arousing. It was a very pleasant surprise. As his skilful hand became more familiar with the treasure beneath her panties, Cassie felt the side of one finger pressing her panties between her outer lips. After a few moments, he had pushed a fold of the fabric in as deep as it would go, and was sliding the length of his finger back and forth between the tender gates of paradise. Perhaps accidentally, his amorous finger brushed against her pearl, rocking her entire body. Her toes clenched within her shoes and her abdomen became giddy for that all-to-brief moment of clitoral stimulation. But once it was over, Cassie's sexual imperative had become more desperate than ever.

First thing was first: her panties simply had to go, and unfortunately, Cassie couldn't see how she could be rid of them while her legs were spread over Nick's lap. After leaving their foreplay on a cliffhanger with an extra-assertive kiss, she began to climb off of her date. She nearly tripped over when she caught one of her feet against a front leg of the chair, losing her shoe in the process. She leaned over, so that her lips could lightly skim against his, even while their bodies remained apart. Meanwhile, her speedy hands hiked up her skirt and pulled down her panties. Once both legs had stepped out of the constraining piece of underwear, Cassie blindly tossed it towards some random corner of the office.

With Cassie no longer on his lap, Nick took the opportunity to release his implement of love. However, Cassie's interlude was so brief that Nick only had time to unbuckle his belt, before he felt the weight of a wanton woman descending upon his lap once more. One of his hands stuck around to unzip his fly, while the other was quick to resume wooing the round ass of her skirt.

As if to make up for the disruption, Cassie drew her date into their most passionate kiss yet, the instant she was off her feet. A moment later, she groped around tenderly, in the vicinity of his open fly and soon found the enormous tent in his underwear. She stroked his rigid organ once or twice through his underpants, partially to heighten his arousal, partially to assess what he had to offer. She was not disappointed. If anything, the sexually inexperienced professor felt a little overwhelmed.

Though the English beauty was lavishing countless kisses upon him, Nick's attention was more focused on what he considered to be a very mild hand job. His idle left hand decided it was only fair that Cassie's snatch received similar treatment, and so it snaked back into the depths of her skirt to tease her naked sex. He extended a single finger and stroked it down the length of her opening, marvelling at how perfectly soft and smooth her genital flesh was.

Nick's style of foreplay left Cassie little chance of exhibiting some self-control. Her womanhood was already saturated with desire, and now he was slowly caressing naught but the most external part of her sex, leaving the length of her canal with a maddening craving for masculine fulfilment. She carefully inserted her gentle hand into Nick's underwear and when it re-emerged, Nick's maleness was within it's grasp. Nick, realising that sex was immanent, moved both his hands on to the outsides of Cassie's thighs and hiked her skirt all the way back up to her waist. Then, Cassandra Marsh began to advance her naked womanhood upon the tempting column of maleness before her. This was the right time. This was the right man.

She positioned her snatch above Nick's erection, then guided his cock with her hand as she lowered herself upon it, very slowly. She immediately ceased her kissing, although Nick's resolve to adore her lips seemed to double. Her brow furrowed in agony as her most sensitive flesh was stretched to a degree that nothing could have prepared her for. Her lover's rod, so welcome, but so brutal, ruptured her delicate hymen and drew her blood as he loved her with pain and pained her with love.

A look of shock washed over Nick's face as he realized what he had just done to the alluring brunette. She stared deep into his eyes, with signs of oncoming tears in hers, and nodded softly.

"Be gentle," she pleaded quietly. Nick nodded silently in response, resolving to spare his lover as much pain as he possibly could. His hands, which were already on Cassie's hips, instantly began to support the bulk of her weight.

After many tentative exertions on to his maleness, Cassie's body had been penetrated as much as their position would allow. Guided by Nick's hands, she began to softly gyrate her hips. With no little willpower, Nick fought off the dogging urge to forcefully thrust his manhood deep into the professor's enticing female form. Within the coital hold of her tight snatch, even the shortest strokes were driving him wild. In an attempt to let off some of his pent-up desire, Nick began to kiss Cassie's cheek with steadily increasing abandon.

Though in the end, it was not Nick who succumbed to the urge for more industrious intercourse, but Cassie. Gradually, the ache of initiation began to subside and Cassie was seduced by the sensation of her lover's cock thrusting within her womanhood. Her hips began to writhe in wider and wider cycles, causing the stimulation she felt from the motions within to rapidly increase. Her breath grew heavier as the muscles working her body against his demanded more oxygen. After a while, she began to quietly moan.

Though their fornication had already begun, Nick was gripped by a powerful desire to undress his lover further. Once her hips were confidently humping his manhood without any assistance, he moved his hands upward to begin removing Cassie's jacket. However, the intoxicating ecstasy of what was going on below muddled his priorities and Nick became torn between removing Cassie's clothes and holding her torso to his as firmly as possible. He had pulled the top of her jacket down over her shoulders before he realized it would go no further. At that point, he gave up on the jacket and began to unbutton her white blouse.

Their activity was rocking the chair to the point where the rear legs were rising a couple inches of the ground. They were about five seconds from tipping themselves right over. Cassie grasped the bulbous headpieces on the top corners of the chair back and forced her weight upon them, to steady the chair.

As the intensity of her gyrations seemed to plateau, Cassie sought out Nick's lips and attended to them with fleeting, yet amorous kisses at random intervals. She could already feel it building in her loins - a tantilizing buzz that carried a promise of joy unlike any she had ever known. Every advance she made on to Nick's maleness made the sensation more profound. She could feel her control over that region of her body slipping as the carnal flame of ecstasy consumed her. "Yes...Oh yes... Yes... Yes... Mmm... Oh Yes... Yes..." Cassie moaned, quietly. 

Nick had only undone the top three buttons of his lover's blouse before his fingers were lured away by the call of feminine flesh. He shifted his hands around behind her and embraced her tightly, so that the last moments of their coitus would be spent with their bodies pressed together. Once in place, his lusty paws began to knead and rub the beautiful professor – one upon her right shoulderblade, the other upon her bare, pliant ass. He could feel their first act of love coming to a head. Cassie's hips were pounding against him incessantly, like a battering ram determined to destroy the mental dam that held back his reservoir of semen. Nick could already feel the tremors of impending collapse radiating through his body.

Cassie, who was unaccustomed to the experience of penetration, was quickly overwhelmed by the maelstrom of pleasure and suspense brewing within her sex. Her vaginal muscles suddenly spasmed, and Cassie's mind was lost to a paralyzing burst of rapture. "Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh!" she bayed through her quivering jaw. 

The muscles of her hips had turned to jelly, but her lover's arms acted quickly to maintain the tempo of their sexual writhing. As incredible as it had seemed at the onset, every thrust of Nick's maleness seemed to make her orgasm even more ferocious. Cassie could hardly stand it.

"Yeah... Oh baby, yeah... You're so hot... Oh god, yeah..." Nick snarled in appreciation. He worked the attractive professor's hips against his own, unsympathetic to the fact that her climax was nearly driving her mad. He knew he could not resist the orgasmic clench of her snatch for very long, but he was determined to enjoy every last second of it. He forced his rod through her resistant canal over and over, until he was overpowered by the instinct to fill her with his seed.

"Oh, Fuck!" he grunted, as he pulled Cassie's hips firmly against his own and thrust his organ deep into her heavenly opening. The release of orgasm washed through his body while his cock fired generous doses of sperm into the woman he loved. "Unnnghh! You're fuckin' amazing! Amazing! So amazing..." he growled as he ran his fingers firmly through the flesh of her ass. By now, Cassie was gone. All that remained was a panting shadow of a woman, who had been shaken to the core by raw physical indulgence.

A few wonderful moments later, their orgasms began to fade. Cassie's incensed womanhood began to quiet enough for some semblance of awareness to return to her. Nick's maleness softly trembled as it deposited the last ounces of semen into his lover's snatch. Cassie's head fell to rest on Nick's shoulder and her hands slipped from the back of the chair to the back of her beloved. As Nick repositioned his hands to better support her exhausted body, Cassie's hips drifted away from him and his manhood slipped from her delectable fissure.

The two lovers remained in that calm embrace for several minutes, moving only occasionally for comfort or support. Nick would also periodically lay a soft kiss upon the side of Cassie's neck. Once their breathing had shallowed and their bodies had recuperated somewhat, the couple began to stir. Cassie lifted her head and began to stare blankly into space, her eyes darting in many directions, but focusing on nothing in particular. Shortly thereafter, Nick lifted his head and their eyes met. Their expressions were near-identical portrayals of utter confusion.

Cassie's mouth began to move, as if to speak, but no words came out. What could she say to a man that she'd fornicated with only twelve hours after first meeting him? She knew many women would take such a situation in their stride, but this simply wasn't who Cassie was. Nick was equally stumped. All he could remember was that one minute he was consoling her about her missing friend, and the next they were going at it as if it were their wedding night. He began to worry that he had unintentionally become one of those jerks who took advantage of upset women by giving them a friendly shoulder to cry on.




Blessing of the Saint



Cassie hesitantly stepped back and began to stand up. Nick held her steady until she had completely left the range of his embrace. He silently lamented that a single moment of weakness had probably cost him the trust of this beautiful woman, and therefore, any hope for a long-term future with her. It was an unbearable thought. Nick knew it was silly to feel this way, but he loved Cassie with all his heart and he was absolutely certain that she was the only woman for him.

First order of business for Cassie, once she was upright, was pulling her skirt back down so that it covered her thighs and naked womanhood. Then she hiked her half-removed jacket back up over her shoulders and tended to the loosened buttons at the top of her blouse. As she redressed, she nervously tried to toss a thick, bothersome lock of hair out of her face, eventually having to do it by hand. Once her outward appearance was more or less respectable, Cassie began briskly running her eye around the room, in search of her renegade panties, while mentally asking herself, "What the hell just happened?" over and over.

Oddly enough, despite the bizarre twist in their date, Cassie made no attempt to distance herself from Nick. In fact, she did just the opposite, making a point of remaining within one or two feet of him. It felt as if her entire world had gone crazy and Nick was the only reliable presence for her to anchor herself to in this time of confusion. She loved him and she knew that was ridiculous – far too ridiculous for a woman as intelligent and stable as she. But nonetheless, she loved him and trusted him, and that gave her a great deal of comfort in this uncomfortably mysterious situation.

Had she really been looking for them, Cassie would have noticed that her panties had landed on the floor, just behind a Polynesian totem near the corner of her office. But there was too much going on in her mind for her to see what was not in plain sight. As she gave up her search, Nick crammed his flaccid member back into his underwear and stood up, zipping his fly as he did so. He rebuckled his belt, but did not seem concerned about his untucked shirt. The trousers had been stained, right down the right side of the fly, by a trail of his lover's blood. There was also a small red stain upon the upholstery of the chair, which would cause Cassie some embarrassment in the days to come.

While Nick finished dressing, Cassie bent down and slipped her foot back into the shoe she had dropped earlier. Then she stood up and simply stared at the man who had taken her virginity, mirroring his look of bewilderment. Both seemed unsure of whether to step closer to their date, step away, or stay still. Eventually, Cassie broke the eerie silence. "We should go," she simply said. Nick nodded silently, with a look of unease. Nick left the office first. After collecting her handbag from the top of her desk, Cassie followed, turning off the light and closing the door as she left. She also turned off the hallway lights as they passed the switch, but neglected to turn off the coffee pot she had put to boil earlier. It was okay, though, because the machine had a cut-out switch that would spare the element if all the water boiled off.

The pair made their way back to Nick's rental car with no detours. Nick had chivalrously opened Cassie's car door for her after they'd left the restaurant, but forgot to do so this time. Cassie was too preoccupied to care. This time, he instinctively climbed into the driver's side, and Cassie, the passenger's. Nick had already started the engine and put the car into gear before he realized he had no idea where he was going. 

"Do you want to go home?" he asked, being the first destination-oriented question that came to mind.

"Yes, please," Cassie replied, in an absent tone. The air circulation from the car's heater made her very aware that her privates were still naked beneath her skirt.

The journey back to the professor's two-story house was mostly silent. No conversation, no radio. Cassie spoke only to inform her suitor of an approaching turn, but apart from that, the only sound was the hum of the engine and the occasional swoosh of a passing car. After a short trip, Nick pulled over to the curb in front of a small, but pleasant-looking two-story home. With no further directions to give, Cassie sighed softly before saying her goodbyes.

"Well... I'm home now," she began, as she turned to look at him, "Thank you for everything..."

"Yeah," Nick replied in a distant tone, facing dead ahead.

"I mean... I mean... Dinner! Dinner!" Cassie promptly corrected herself.

"Yeah. Yeah," Nick continued to drone, repetitively.

"Thank you for dinner! And... the ride," Cassie remarked. "I MEAN... I MEAN... I mean... Uh... I don't mean... Not, you know... Not what we..." she stammered, becoming extremely flustered by her series of gaffes. "You brought me home! Thank you for bringing me home... in your car... was very nice of you, thank you."

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah... Yeah," her date responded, seemingly lost for any other word. A few seconds after the clumsy pleasantries had been exchanged, Nick's wandering gaze locked on to his date. Her wide hazel eyes were so amazingly clear in the streetlight, so captivating. As he stared at her admiringly, he realized that he could not withhold his true feelings any longer.

"I don't want to go," he declared in a heartfelt voice.

"I don't want you to go," Cassie responded without missing a beat, shaking her head softly, her eyes almost tearing with emotion.

They each rapidly opened their doors and stepped outside, almost as if they had just noticed a time bomb in the back seat. After slamming his door, Nick excitedly leapt over the hood of the car and rushed over to the woman he loved. They pressed their lips together passionately as Cassie threw her arms around Nick and he grabbed her tightly by the waist.

Their lips rolled wildly against each other for at least a minute, while their tongues celebrated their newfound love with a spirited dance together. After that first long kiss, several others followed, much shorter in duration, but equally amorous. Then suddenly, Cassie pulled away, prompting a quizzical look from her gasping companion.

"I need my handbag," she explained, quickly ducking back into the car to collect the bag from the passenger's leg area. After swiftly closing the car door, she gave Nick a short kiss, before taking him by the hand and expeditiously leading him through her front gate and up the path to her house. The couple paused for a second while Cassie retrieved her keys from her handbag and unlocked the front door. She had left her porch light on, making the task quite simple. Once the door was open, Cassie grabbed Nick's hand once again and pulled him into her home with a mischievous smile. The instant she had closed the door behind him and set the lock, Nick whirled her around and pinned her against the door, kissing her with flagrant ardor while pressing his crotch firmly against her skirt. Cassie purred loudly as she eagerly drank every morsel of affection that her lover's lips offered.

Though she was tempted to stay put and bask in his enticing kisses, Cassie nimbly slipped out of the confining embrace the first chance she got. Still holding Nick's hand, she led him up the nearby staircase and down the hallway a short distance, to the master bedroom. Once inside, the couple resumed their kissing, as they began to rapidly undress each other. Two jackets, a shirt, a blouse, four shoes, two socks, a pair of pants, a skirt and a white cotton bra all went flying in random directions across the room within mere seconds of each other. Cassie's nether regions were roasting with renewed desire and the sensation of her hot skin pressing against his manhood sent the blood rushing to Nick's groin. The two lovers continued to kiss and explore each other's naked bodies for a while, before Cassie pulled away from the lively embrace. She stepped back a couple paces, to give her American stallion a complete (though poorly lit) view of her naked form, before climbing on to her bed and slipping under the covers, shooting him a come-hither look. Nick needed no further invitation.

He stepped briskly over to the bed and climbed under the covers with his English venus. He scootched over to her side and they both leaned forward to share a series of slow, tender kisses. Nick began to caress the curve of Cassie's waist, up and down, with the palm of his hand. Several enchanting kisses later, Nick strayed from Cassie's mouth and began to move his affectionate lips down over her body. He began by padding a soft, patient kiss upon her exposed shoulder, then upon the very top of her chest. As his head began to disappear beneath the covers, Nick turned his attention to Cassie's right breast.

Cassie's breasts were modest A-cups. Though they certainly weren't sizeable, they nonetheless covered her ribcage with yielding flesh and gave her chest a distinctly feminine curvature. Nick laid two kisses upon the top of the supple mound, before moving down to her nipple. As her lover adored and teased one of her erogenous hot spots, Cassie rolled on to her back and rested her head comfortably on her pillow, voicing her growing arousal with a soft sigh. Nick gently kissed, suckled and teased the nipple with his tongue until it was hard enough to juice an orange. Then his lips continued south, kissing his beloved on the base of her breast, and then down the left side of her belly. Meanwhile, Nick's hands were also busy; one was lightly stroking the inside of Cassie's upper thigh, while the other was randomly trailing across her body. Cassie began to writhe absently as Nick's erotic tour made her restless with anticipation.

When he reached the bottom of her belly, Nick made a ninety-degree turn and laid three soft kisses along the northern limits of her mons, brushing the hairs of his beard through her field of dark pubic hair as he moved. Having now crossed over to the left side of her body, he made his way down the outside of her womanly vee and padded his affection down the front of her left thigh, calf and foot. By now, his hands were meandering all over her legs, mons and belly. Once he had come to the end of her left foot, he gently grabbed her right ankle and pulled it over to his face. Then he began the return trip, tenderly kissing the top of her foot and then repeating the gesture many times as he moved up her leg. Cassie was moaning happily with nearly every breath. Her right breast was still buzzing with the excitement that Nick had stirred up within and her juices were flowing freely from her womanhood. 

Once he had made his way to her right hip, Nick once again crossed the top of Cassie's mons with three prolonged kisses. But this time he sweetened the tease by slipping two fingers into her nether opening. Cassie shivered in delighted surprise. The fingers continued; deeper... and deeper... and deeper, until they would go no further. Then, without pause, Nick removed his digits at the same relaxed pace with which he'd inserted them. His fingertips left his lover's sex at the exact moment he finished the third kiss to her mons. During an apparent lapse of self-control, Nick firmly nuzzled Cassie's navel with his whole face, before continuing his trail of kisses along the left side of her belly.

When he reached her left breast he gave it the same treatment that it's partner had received; adoring her nipple exhaustively until it was rock hard. As an afterthought, Nick's lips briefly revisited her right nipple, to ensure it was still erect. Once all of Cassie's exciting bits had been explored, Nick kissed his way up his lover's chest and then gave her a passionate, open-mouthed kiss as he positioned his hips over hers and guided his rigid maleness into her waiting snatch.

"Oooo, yeah!" Nick whispered to himself, finally appeasing the carnal urge he had been suppressing throughout his entire exploration of Cassie's lovely body. Cassie moaned loudly as Nick's maleness filled her lusty fissure, inch by wonderful inch. He touched his forehead to Cassie's, his mouth hovering less than an inch from hers, as he began thrusting his hips. The two lovers were already breathing quite heavily.

As Nick's gyrations began to build momentum, the couple began to kiss once more, leisurely at first, then sincerely, and then passionately. Cassie began to run her finger's through Nick's hair with one hand, while the other held his body close to hers. She moaned appreciatively as her lover's manhood probed her deeply, raising her arousal with every sweet stroke and lifting her closer to the summit of physical delights.

Nick indulged in the taste of Cassie's soft lips, and the caress of her playful tongue, until the motions of his hips became quite vigorous. His cock had developed a strong appetite for her sexual flesh, and Nick was compelled to break loose from the professor's embrace, to allow his hips more freedom of movement. As he lifted his body off of hers, he also ceased their kisses. Cassie whimpered briefly in disappointment. However, her sound of protest was quickly eclipsed by a loud purr of satisfaction as the coital dance continued anon. She pressed her head back into her pillow as a blissful smile washed over her face.

With his body now lifted over the vocal brunette, Nick began humping her with greater force, but at the same moderate pace. His hips moved in broader strokes, withdrawing his member until only the head was inside of her, before pushing his entire length into her sensitive valley. "Ooooh... Ugghh... Nnnn... Aaahh..." he began to murmur, as the perfect caress of Cassie's womanhood goaded him towards climax. With nothing better to do, Cassie's arms began to squirm mindlessly over the mattress. A smooth flow of pleasure was radiating throughout her body, whilst a sense of unruly excitement grew within her loins. She was more than ready for orgasm – she was in need of it.

When Cassie hooked one of her legs around his, Nick took it as an encouraging sign. His hardened maleness had been seduced by the pleasures of her sex and yearned fiercely to fill it with his semen. But it would be a shame to leave the woman he adored unsatisfied on their first night together.

"Mmmm... Oh, Nick... I think I'm gonna come," Cassie moaned. Just the words he wanted to hear! "I'm gonna come! Oh, yes! Ooooh... Oh god, I love it!" She continued. By now her hands had stopped wandering and were clasping and pulling on the fitted sheet beneath her. The extreme arousal between her legs was nigh excruciating. How much more could she take?

Apparently, only a few more seconds worth. Every muscle in her attractive young body tensed as she cried out, almost at the top of her lungs. The noise was unmistakable; it was the sound of a woman in her sexual prime coming, hard. As soon as Nick heard it, he pressed his groin firmly against Cassie's labia and loosed his eager sperm upon her most inviting flesh.

"OOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!! OH MY GOD, NICK!!!!" Cassie shouted, as her womanhood clenched tightly upon the long shaft of masculinity that had whipped it into an elating frenzy.

"UNGH!! UNGH!! Oh, Fuck!" Nick grunted, as he surrendered his seed with mighty ejaculations that rattled his bones and blew his mind. The young couple held their missionary pose as they shared in the spectacular culmination of their lovemaking. A flood of sheer ecstasy rushed through their bodies, and did not abate for several seconds. Then it faded, faded, faded, leaving them both thoroughly exhausted, but profoundly satisfied. Nick slowly lowered himself on to Cassie's body as his spent cock throbbed inside her luscious snatch with waning vigor. Cassie wrapped her arms around her gasping companion as squeezed gently, as she reflected on the sublime experience they had just shared.

Once Nick had caught his own breath a couple minutes later, he began to stir. He lifted his head to seek out the other pillow, then pulled it over so that it partially overlapped Cassie's. Then he shifted over so that he was still very close to the lovely brunette, but was no longer resting his weight upon her. As he moved over, his maleness retreated from her womanhood, coated in a thick layer of her juices.

Cassie rolled on to her side, to face her beloved. One of her arms had broken off it's embrace when Nick moved, but the other was still upon his upper back. It slowly coursed it's way on to his shoulder, then down his arm. He was gently caressing her thigh when their hands finally met. Resting upon Cassie's leg, the two hands intertwined their fingers and squeezed each other affectionately with what little strength they had left. 

As she basked in a mix of post-coital bliss and personal contentment, the young Cambridge professor gazed into her Nick's eyes and smiled. Her bed was filled with love and so was her womb, and it felt so wonderful.

"I love you, Professor Marsh," Nick whispered.

"I love you, too, Nick," Cassie replied. She still had no idea why their date had taken such a sudden, erotic turn, but it didn't really matter. She knew that they were in love and that it was right for them to be together. For Cassie, that was enough.

She watched over her lover until her eyelids became to heavy to keep open. Then she drifted off to sleep by his side.





Blessing of the Wood



A sparrow perched on the windowsill, bathed in sunlight, singing of its joy in a new day — both of which were stabbing into Ella's brain, even though her eyes were still closed.

She whimpered and pulled the pillow over her face, but it didn't help. The housewarming party for the home she shared with her twin sister had been one for the ages, but she was paying the price.

A click and a creak accompanied the door opening, followed by shuffling footsteps and a pitiful groan.

"Could you just smother me?" Ella muttered to her sister.

"Only if you do me first," Terra answered as she sat down on the foot of the bed.

Ella experimentally lifted the pillow and discovered that her sister had closed the curtains. The light was still too bright, but subdued enough that she felt safe to push the pillow away. She raked her fingers through her dark blonde hair and made a face because her locks were sticking out in every which direction.

A look around through squinted eyes didn't reveal her phone, so she asked, "What time is it?"

"Almost noon."

"I swear I'm never doing this again."

Terra let out a half-hearted chuckle. "You always say that."

"So do you."

"It was a great party, though."

"The best."

Ella sat up, though it made her head pound and her vision swim. The lemony smell of furniture polish that lingered in the house after the final marathon cleaning was turning her stomach.

"Have you seen John?" she asked.

Terra pointed at the nightstand and said, "There's a note. It probably says the same thing mine does. They went into town to get us Excedrin, since we didn't have any in the house."

"Guess we should have told them, huh?"

"Guess they should have told us they were going instead of leaving us notes," Terra countered. She started to chuckle, but it cut off in a pained groan as she covered her eyes.

"Time to go, before my head explodes. Do you see my phone?" Ella asked.

Her twin slid off the bed and said, "Here's the cord." When she traced it from the outlet to one of Ella's discarded shoes, she found the phone beneath.

Ella took the phone and tapped out a hasty message to her husband-to-be, "Gone 2 Gma's pool."

With a little help from her sister, Ella crawled out of bed and started through the house. It had once been their great grandfather's — and a family friend's before that — but the family had secretly renovated the place for them when they both announced their engagements. After the work, the downstairs was essentially two apartments joined by a central living room, kitchen, and dining room. The arrangement gave both twins their own space on opposite ends of the house, but acknowledged that they would never be very far apart.

The sunlight streaming into the front room through a huge bay window felt like lasers burning into Ella's head. The state of the room also provided a pointed reminder that they still had to clean up from the party. Salvation was close at hand, however.

The twins hurried as best they could in their delicate state to the front door, across the porch, and down the stairs. The moment their bare feet touched the grass, their headaches began to fade. Caring not a whit that they were dressed in nothing more than t-shirts and panties, they crossed the lawn to the woods.

The trail they followed was one they knew well, and every step along it brought a new surge of energy. Anyone else would have seen nothing more than a wall of trees and undergrowth surprisingly thick for the first week of April. Such was the magic of their great-grandmother's woods that it hid its secrets.

The scent of honeysuckle filled the air. Squirrels, rabbits, and chipmunks scurried everywhere. With the symptoms of their overindulgence already nothing more than a memory, the singing of birds was a joyful accompaniment to their walk. Flowers bloomed, adding splashes of vibrant color to the myriad shades of green and brown lining their path. It was a place of peace and oneness with nature that was as much their home as any manmade structure.

Golden sunlight breaking through the canopy and a silvery laugh marked the end of their journey.

"Morning, Grandma. Morning, Grandpa," Ella said — dropping the great — when she entered the clearing.

The dryad Xantina stood amidst the ferns at the edge of her crystal-clear pool waiting for them. Intimately connected to her family, she'd known the twins were coming as soon as they did. She appeared no older than the sisters, and had no shame for her nudity. With skin that shone golden in the light and hair the color of new leaves, she was a stunning and beautiful sight.

"Take away your coverings and come swim with me," the nymph declared, and then turned to dive gracefully into the pool.

Ella was all too glad to do so.

Their great-grandfather Daniel chuckled as the twins undressed. Once a mortal man, the love and magic of his dryad mate had granted him a body of nature that could remain at her side long after his natural span. Though he had green hair and skin that resembled the bark of a tree, he otherwise looked like a handsome, fit, nude man in his twenties.

"From the way you girls' hair looks, I take it the party was a success," he said.

"The best," Ella confirmed, and her twin echoed her a moment later.

"And the old place is working out for you?" he asked.

"It's perfect," Ella said. "Thank you, Grandpa."

"No need for thanks. I hated to see the place sitting empty," he said, and then snapped a hand up to block the side of his face.

Their great-grandmother's splash still soaked him.

Xantina pouted, "Talk later."

"Yes, dear," Daniel chuckled, and then stood up. "So, while you have company for a while, I'm going to go borrow a newspaper and catch up."

Terra said, "Tell Grandma we said hello," knowing it was his daughter's paper he was going to borrow.

"Will do. Have fun."

Ella took advantage of the distraction. She darted toward the pool and laughed when her sister called out, "Cheater!" A moment later, she hit the water in a flawless dive and surfaced on the far side of the pool. Her sister was only a second behind her, but the splash she launched when she surfaced found only air. Ella popped back up from below the water, and her splash caught Terra full in the face.

It was on.

The girls called a truce several minutes later when they were both panting for breath and laughing too hard to continue. It was then that Ella saw John and Nathan coming down the trail.

They were new to the family secret, and entered the clearing with poorly concealed nervousness. Both sisters had been afraid to tell their beaus about their heritage, and had only found the courage out of necessity when the two friends had proposed to them at the same time at the end of the previous summer.

A nudge from Terra indicated that her sister wanted to play a different game. Careful to address both young men, Ella asked, "Feeling better?"

Nathan revealed his surprise when he answered, "Yeah, a lot."

"How?" John asked.

"Magic," Terra said, and wiggled her fingers.

"Guess we dragged ourselves out of bed and to the store for nothing, huh?" John replied.

Terra said, "Uh huh. Best hangover cure ever."

Nathan laughed. "Can't argue with that."

"So..." Ella paused dramatically, and then finished, "Why are you two still dressed again?"

The boys inevitably blushed. The commonplace nudity of the family was something they weren't remotely used to yet. They did kick off their shoes to begin stripping, though. Ella was used to the state of undress, but that didn't stop her from admiring John as he disrobed — and peeking at Nathan.

They were two of a kind — leanly muscled and well-endowed. They were just as beautiful on the inside as well. John was the most caring, considerate, and good-humored man Ella had ever met. Not for the first time, she thanked her lucky stars that she'd outgrown her fixation on jocks to discover him before someone else snatched him up. Nathan had been a friend to her and her sister all their life, and had patiently waited until the day Terra finally recognized the love hiding right under her nose.

Caught up in a flood of memories — and arousal — she started when her sister whispered, "Hey."

"Sorry," Ella whispered back. The sisters locked eyes, took a deep breath, and then ducked down under the water.

Once below the surface, Ella swam to the right to reverse position with Terra, and then kicked off the bank toward the opposite shore. Once there, they turned to face their beaus. Ella could see in John's eyes that he knew what was afoot.

The twins simultaneously said, "Come on in, John."

Nathan held up his hands. "I know better than to give you any hints," when John looked to him for help. Nathan had always been able to tell them apart.

Xantina laughed, recognizing the game her great-granddaughters were playing. She caught John's eye, which only deepened his blush, and said, "Look with this." She held a hand over her heart, and then lifted it to cover her eyes. "Not with these."

John blew out a long breath as he took the couple of steps through the ferns to the edge of the pool. After filling his lungs with air again, he dived in.

Ella's heart sang when he veered toward her, though she did her best not to show it when he came up in front of her.

Terra's voice held a faux warning when she said, "Are you sure? You're about to kiss my sister."

The game was over when he looked deep into Ella's eyes and said, "I'm sure, Terra."

Ella threw her arms around him and kissed him hard.

****

One last quiver shook Ella when she peeked out of the bathroom at John sprawled on the bed amidst the tangled sheets. They hadn't remained long at the pool after the boys had arrived, and the twins had pulled their men straight to the bedroom upon returning to the house. In the grip of a burst of energy after recovering from several intense orgasms, she could see that John was experiencing quite the opposite.

"You aren't asleep, are you?" she asked.

He started and turned toward her to answer, "No."

"Liar," she said, and then laughed. "Come wash up. We still have to clean up from the party and take a shower before it's time to go to your Mom's for dinner."

John let out a pitiful groan as he did so, but he sat up and slipped out of the bed. Ella stopped brushing her hair to admire his body — and more specifically his manhood swinging with his steps. She made eye contact and licked her lips when he had nearly reached her.

He shuddered and said, "Stop that."

"I don't want to," she teased, and then slapped his butt as he walked into the bathroom.

John grabbed a washcloth, but before wetting it, he leaned down to splash water on his face. The sight made Ella's sex tingle, and she had to force herself to look into the mirror before she dragged him back to the bed. She chuckled at his gasp when he put the washcloth to work between his legs.

"Oh," she said, remembering something, "Did you get that recipe from your mom?"

"Yeah. I forgot. It's... Uhm... I think it's on the dresser."

"Yours or mine?"

"Mine."

Ella turned her head back and forth, decided her hair was good, and put down the brush. "Hurry up. I'm going to go get dressed."

"Okay. I love you."

She moaned from the chill that his initiating that exchange caused. "Love you, too."

In the bedroom, she opened a drawer to retrieve a pair of panties. She reached for a bra, but then changed her mind. They weren't going anywhere for a while, and she didn't feel like needlessly enduring the discomfort of having her large breasts confined. She was straightening from pulling on her panties when John walked into the room with his eyes fixed on her.

"What?" she asked, covering her breasts in a false display of modesty.

"You just look beautiful."

She crinkled her nose and smiled. "Good answer."

He went to his dresser while Ella selected a pair of shorts and a top from hers. Once dressed, she walked over to give him a peck on the lips, and then looked for the recipe.

"That's it there," he said, pointing out a folded piece of purple paper.

Ella picked it up, but read the flier it was written on before turning it over to look at the recipe.

"From my aunt Carolyn's church. They're trying to raise money for this church camp they run. I went there a bunch of summers," he explained.

Recognizing the name God's Green Earth Campground, she asked, "Is it by the state forest?"

"That's the one. Something about the property taxes."

Her brow knitted when she turned to him. "I didn't think churches had to pay taxes."

"The church doesn't own the land. The lady who does always let them use it, but she ended up in a nursing home a couple of years ago."

"That's so sad," she said as she turned the paper over.

"Yeah. I guess it's a lot of money. My aunt's been busy trying to organize fund-raises."

"So, that's why I haven't met her yet?" It was a question she'd been meaning to ask for a while, because his aunt Carolyn was essentially a second mother to him. His mother had been in a bad car accident when he was little. She had spent almost a year in the hospital, and the better part of another recovering enough to have him in the house with her full-time. He had lived with his aunt during those couple of years.

"Yeah. A lot of it is on weekends, so she's always had plans when I called."

Terra interrupted by hollering from down the hall, "A little help out here?"

"Keep your pants on," Ella yelled.

Terra came right back with, "Put yours on and move it, Sis."

"We could always sneak out the window," John suggested as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Mmm... Tempting, but we'd have to come back eventually."

"True."

Ella sighed, spun in his arms, and kissed him. As their tongues slipped over each other, Terra loudly cleared her throat from the front room, and Nathan laughed. Ella pulled back from the kiss and playfully growled before going to face the task at hand. 

****

John buried his face in the arm of the couch and groaned.

"Oh, you're adorable," Ella said while patting his back and looking at the album of childhood pictures his mother had brought out.

The clean up from the party had gone quickly. For the most part, it involved straightening up the clutter and sorting the recyclables. Once the partygoers had reached a certain point of inebriation, the difference between the bins had escaped them. After sweeping the floor, there was even time to get a little studying done before going to John's house for dinner with his mother.

"Your first birthday," Ella said while looking at the last picture on the page. He was sitting next to a cake with a single candle, and wearing a huge grin.

Her face full of barely contained mirth, John's mother said, "Turn the page."

"Oh god," John groaned without lifting his face from the couch.

Ella burst into laughter when she saw the next picture of John with his foot in the cake. Tears welled up in her eyes from the one that followed of him desperately trying to stick his frosting-covered foot in his mouth.

John finally sat up and — his voice dripping with sarcasm — said, "Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate this."

Ella leaned against him and laughed even harder.

John's mother smiled sweetly. "Well, honey, she needs to know what she's getting into. What sort of mother would I be if I didn't prepare her for the kind of trouble you get yourself into?"

"One who was still on the Christmas list," he muttered.

Ella caught her breath and tried to say, "I'm sorry," but only managed to finish part of the sorry before she snorted and fell into another fit of laughter. After a few seconds, she composed herself enough to say, "I'm sorry. I can't help it."

He shook his head, sighed, and slipped his arm around her.

His mother said, "I'm sure she has plenty of embarrassing pictures. Just ask her mother the next time you're over there. This is a special time for mothers to get even for all the times you made us want to pull our hair out."

That brought Ella up short. It was worse than that. Her parents had video. She looked at John and knew she was in trouble when a positively evil grin spread across his face.

"But for now, it's your turn," his mother said, and flipped to the next page in the album.

Ella chuckled when she saw a picture of him red-faced and scowling as a doctor examined his ear with an otoscope.

"He's never liked going to the doctor," his mother said. "Speaking of which..."

John sighed.

"I take it that means you haven't gone?"

He stood up and said, "No, I haven't got around to it. I'm going to the bathroom."

"You haven't been since your senior year checkup," she called after him. She shook her head when he ignored her. "Him and doctors."

"Would you like me to get him to go?" Ella asked.

Her expression brightened and she asked, "Would you?"

"I'll have him in before next week's over," Ella promised, and then winked.

"You are an angel," the older woman said. "He's still on my insurance, and I'll pay for anything it doesn't cover, so don't let him use that as an excuse."

"Got it."

The doorbell rang and John's mother frowned. "Who in the world could that be?"

"Want me to get it?" John asked as he returned to the room.

"No, no. I've got it," she said, and then went to answer the door. When she opened it, she said, "Oh, Carolyn. This is a surprise."

"Hey aunt Carolyn," John called out, and waved to her.

Ella's heart turned to ice when she saw the woman's features tighten.

"Come in," John's mother said.

"You're busy. I'll come back some other time," his aunt responded, and turned to leave.

"Carolyn," his mother chided under her breath.

John stood up and said, "Aunt Carolyn?" When she didn't respond, he hurried toward the door. "Aunt Carolyn, wait."

John's mother shut the door and turned back toward the couch. Her expression spoke of both shame and pain when she tried to explain, "Ella... I..."

"It's about me," Ella guessed.

The older woman took a deep breath and nodded. She walked back to the couch and sat down. "My sister's very religious. She..." Her voice trailed off, and she was once again unable to speak.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the first time Ella had encountered that particular brand of prejudice. "She thinks I'm a heathen who's leading him into sin."

"I'm so sorry," John's mother said, her voice quavering. "I've been trying to talk sense into her, but she just won't listen."

"I understand," Ella said. When she heard the sound of a car door, she looked at the window and could see John's shadow on the curtain. His shoulders slumped, and he sank down onto the porch swing in front of the window.

"I don't think John will."

The car outside fired up and drove away. Ella saw him drop his head into his hands, and instinctively stood up to go to him. She wasn't the only one, though.

John's mother smiled at her and said, "Go," as she sat back down.

"Are you sure?" Ella asked.

"Yes. I'm right here if you need me."

"Thank you," Ella responded. It meant a lot to her that his mother would set aside her maternal instincts — especially in light of what had just happened.

He dropped his hands and sat up straight when she opened the door, but she could still see the anguish in his face. "Are you okay?" she asked as she sat down next to him and took his hand.

"Not really."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He winced. She wasn't surprised.

To save him the pain of trying to explain, she said, "Your mom told me what was going on."

"She knew? Why didn't she say anything to me?"

"I don't know for sure, but she said she was trying to talk to your aunt. Maybe she hoped she could fix everything before you knew anything about it."




Blessing of the Wood



His voice tight and carrying touches of anger, he said, "She should have told me."

"Maybe, but what's done is done. She was just trying to protect you — and me, I guess."

He closed his eyes for a second, and then said, "I'm sorry. This is... It's..."

She squeezed his hand. "It's not your fault. I'm more worried about you than I am about what she thinks of me."

"I don't understand," he said, shaking his head. "I thought she'd be happy for me. It doesn't make any damn sense."

"I know. Maybe she just needs time?"

"I don't know," he sighed, looking out at nothing.

"Why don't we go back inside? I know your mom is worried, and it's getting a little chilly out here."

"Yeah. Okay," he answered, his voice distant.

Ella stood, still holding his hand, and he rose with her. As soon as he was on his feet, she pulled him close and cradled his head on her shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too."

She held him for a minute or so more, until he lifted his head. After giving him a kiss on the temple, she led him back inside.

****

Ella awakened to the soft morning light filtering through the curtains. She turned to look at John and saw his brow was furrowed. He'd had a rough night of tossing, turning, and muttering in his sleep. She reached out to caress his hair, and smiled when she saw his features soften.

Not wanting to wake him, she slipped slowly out of the bed, straightened her nightshirt, and crept out into the front room.

"How's he doing?" Terra asked.

Once John had fallen asleep, Ella had gone straight to her own lifelong rock of support — her sister — and told her what happened.

"It was a rough night. He didn't sleep very well," Ella answered as she looked out the window and toward the woods.

"How about you?"

Ella sat down next to her sister on the couch and answered, "I'm okay. Just drained." Seeing that Terra was fully dressed, she asked, "Are you going somewhere?"

"Breakfast with Mom. Is there anything at the house you want me to grab while we're there?"

"Nothing I can think of."

"I told her you probably wouldn't feel like coming, but..." She lifted her eyebrows in a silent question.

"I don't want to wake John, and I want to be here when he wakes up."

"Okay." Terra held out her arms in invitation, and the twins hugged. "I'm only a phone call away. Mom said to tell you the same thing."

"Thanks."

Terra nodded toward her end of the house. "I'm going to go see if Nathan's out of the shower."

"Tell Mom I said I love her."

Knowing Nathan would have questions as well, Ella decided to head back to her bedroom and let her sister answer them. The flier with the recipe on it caught her eye as she walked in, and she pursed her lips in thought. There was something about the campground that she could almost remember, but it was escaping her.

It was something to take her mind off of things, so she sat down at the desk, grabbed her tablet, and did a search for the name. A website popped up in the results, and when she clicked it, she knew what had been lurking at the edge of her consciousness. 

The campground went to great lengths to be green. Almost all of the small amount of power the place used was solar generated. The cabins had been built from salvaged lumber. The lake was never treated with any sort of chemicals, and only the relatively small swimming area was cleared of moss and cattails. Decades before Ella was born, the owner had replanted a part of the forest lost to an arson fire, and it now thrived.

It gave her an idea. If she contacted the various conservation groups her family supported, she might be able to help raise the money to save the campground. It certainly fit the bill as a place worthy of protecting from a government takeover.

And it might help convince John's aunt she wasn't the devil's temptress after all.

With a plan in mind, she closed the browser and put the tablet down just as John stirred.

"Morning," she said as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

He stretched and echoed, "Morning."

"Want some breakfast? Some homemade apples and cinnamon oatmeal, maybe?"

He smiled, which heartened her, and answered, "That sounds good."

"I'll go get started then."

She had just finished dicing the apple when John walked into the kitchen — still in his boxers. "Where did Terra and Nate take off to this early?"

"They're having breakfast with Mom," she answered. "We have the whole house to ourselves for a while."

"Do they know what happened?"

She held up a chunk of apple, and he opened his mouth to accept it. As he crunched, she said, "I couldn't not tell Terra. She knew something was wrong the moment we walked in the door last night."

"That's okay. I get the sister thing. I just wondered."

"You know she won't press you about it, and I don't think Nathan will either."

He leaned against the island counter where she worked and said, "I know. I don't even want to think about it. I just want to forget and move on. Nothing we can do about it, anyway."

She knew it wasn't going to be that easy, but could sense that for the time being, it was what he needed to try to do. "You could get the oats out for me. They're in the second cabinet."

He squeezed her butt before going to fulfill that request. She was up in the air about whether that was a good sign, or whether he was trying to convince himself everything was all right.

They talked as they cooked, ate, and washed the dishes. The conversation ranged from college, to friends, to television shows... Anything except what had happened the night before.

Then, when they finished brushing their teeth, he moved in behind her and pulled her close. She could feel his hardness against her butt and gasped from the unexpected advance.

Between kisses on her neck that gave her shivers, he said, "We've got the house to ourselves. Want to take advantage of it?"

She was fairly certain he was trying to bury his feelings, but it was hard to argue with his choice of ways to do it. Rationalizing in an aroused instant that the intimacy would do them both good, she gasped, "Yes."

****

For the rest of the day, John acted as if nothing had happened. It worried her just as much as if he'd remained withdrawn and distant, though she did her best not to show it. Someone he thought of as a parent had disowned him, and she knew that wasn't something anyone could shake off in a day.

Once they split up on campus to go to their first class the following day, she sent an email about the campground to her aunt Kia, who handled most of the contacts for the family. If her plan worked, he might not have any feelings to suppress.

A little over halfway through the lecture, her phone vibrated. She brought up the message from her aunt, which read, "Can you give me a call?"

Ella answered, "In class, but I'll call you between, in about fifteen minutes."

Once out of the room, she made the call. When her aunt picked up, she asked, "So, you got my email?"

"Yes, I got it," her aunt answered. "I'm afraid I have bad news."

"What?"

"I saw one of the fliers for an ice cream social a couple of weeks ago and looked up the campground. When I saw how they operated, I floated the idea of supporting them to a lot of the local organization chapters. Nobody will touch it with a ten-foot pole."

Ella stopped in her tracks just outside the building and asked, "But... Why?"

"It's too closely associated with the church."

"What's that have to do with anything?" Ella asked while stepping out of the way of the crowd emerging behind her.

Kia sighed. "You know how polarized things are. All it takes is disagreeing on one issue, and all the places where you agree don't mean anything."

"It's so stupid," Ella spat in frustration.

"I'm with you," Kia said. "That's not all, though. Once I found that out, I put together a donation from the family and sent it to them. They returned it unopened."

With the defeat she felt creeping into her voice, Ella said, "They wouldn't take the money because it was coming from us."

"That's what I have to assume. The stupid is going both ways."

"Just wonderful," Ella muttered.

"Don't be down on yourself. Your heart was in the right place. You can't help it if everyone else's heads are up their behinds."

Ella winced, because she wasn't really thinking about the campground as much as finding a way to get into the good graces of John's aunt. "Thanks for trying, anyway. I have to get to class."

"Sorry, sweetie. Goodbye."

Ella said her goodbye and ended the call. At first, having her idea go down in flames so quickly left her despondent. It wasn't long before a spark of determination ignited and began to grow, though. She wasn't going to give up so easily.

During her next break between classes, she called her father. With his connections as a state senator, she hoped he might be able to do something from the government side.

"Hello, Ella," he said when he picked up the phone.

"Hey, Dad. Are you busy?"

"Only busy banging my head on the desk. Trying to get anything done at the statehouse since we lost our super majority is frustrating, to say the least."

That made her second-guess what she was about to say, but she went ahead and asked anyway. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"

"Such as?"

"There's this campground called God's Green Earth that's having problems with property taxes."

He interjected, "That's the one we tried to send some money to and they sent it back, right?"

"That's it. I was hoping there was something you could do."

"I could look into it, but if they wouldn't take our money, I don't think they're going to let me do anything else to help them, either."

She had been so dead-set on finding another way that she hadn't even considered that before jumping into the plan to call him. He was right, and she knew it. The church — or John's aunt — didn't want their help, and nothing was going to change that.

Remembering the earlier conversation with Kia, she decided to actually do the right thing. The campground had an earth-friendly ethos that she appreciated, and there was no way of knowing who would end up with the land if it was foreclosed upon for unpaid taxes.

"Maybe there's something you can do without letting her know it's you?" she asked.

Confused, he asked, "Her?"

Ella blushed and corrected her Freudian slip, "Them, I mean."

"I'll make some calls. I looked at the website, and it's a nice place. I'd hate to see them lose it."

"Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome, honey. I'll let you know if there's anything I can do."

"Okay. Bye."

"Love you. Bye."

The disappointment followed her through the day, right up until she met John for lunch. Simply seeing him was enough to brighten her spirits, but it also reminded her there was a way she could earn some points with at least one member of his family.

It was time to convince her fiancé to get his annual checkup.

She waited until they were done eating, and then scooted closer to him on the wall where they were sitting. He slipped an arm around her, and she leaned against his shoulder.

"Why don't you want to go in for a checkup?" she asked.

"Ah crap," he said, and then chuckled. "Mom's bringing out the big guns. She put you up to this, huh?"

After his earlier reaction, she'd expected more resistance. She still thought he was overcompensating for the blow his aunt had delivered, but she pressed on.

"No, it was my idea. I have a pretty good reason to want you to stay healthy." Then she held up her engagement ring for emphasis.

He shrugged the shoulder she wasn't leaning against and said, "There's nothing wrong with me. What's the point of spending a bunch of money for some doctor to tell me what I already know?"

"It's not going to cost you anything. Your mom already told me you're on her insurance and she'll pay for anything it doesn't cover. You never know. The whole point of getting a checkup is to catch things you didn't know were wrong early. You know I go twice a year."

He sighed. "I don't know. I've just never liked doctors."

"Will you do it for me? Pretty please?" she said, and then affected a pout.

"That's not fair."

She could see his resistance faltering and hear it in his voice. As he'd suggested earlier, she decided to bring out the big guns.

"If you go, I'll give you something much better than a lollipop for being a good boy."

"Ella!" he gasped in surprise when she squeezed his manhood through his jeans.

Still caressing him in full view of anyone who might look their way, she said, "Just say yes."

"Okay, I'll go."

"Get your phone."

A couple of minutes later, he had an appointment for the next day, right after class.

****

As soon as John's name was called and he walked through the door, Ella sent a text to his mother. "At the doctor. He just went in."

Her response arrived a few seconds later. "Bless you! Did you tell them to lock the back door so he can't sneak out that way and escape?"

Ella had to fight hard to hold in her laughter when she read that. She replied, "He won't get very far very fast. I have his phone and the keys to the car."

His mother's next message read, "And his heart. Thank you again."

A couple of rambunctious children in the waiting room convinced Ella that trying to study wasn't likely to be productive. So, she left her books in the bag and hit the internet on her phone. A page collecting funny postings from all over the internet caught her attention, and the minutes rolled by.

Before she knew it, the sound of someone saying John's name caught her attention. She peeked through the reception window and saw him in front of the counter on the other side of the door. Ella put her phone away, slung her purse over her shoulder, and stood up.

"You're all set to go," the woman at the counter said. "Take this across the street to the lab. We sent over all your information, so check-in shouldn't take long."

When he emerged, Ella kept the question she had to herself — but only long enough to exit the building and see that nobody was close by in the parking lot.

"What was that about the lab?" she asked.

John shrugged and answered, "Just some test the doc was going on about. I said okay so I could get out of there."

"What kind of test? Blood work or something?"

The sudden flood of color in his cheeks caught her off guard. "It's nothing important," he answered evasively.

Once again, she waited. They were only a few steps away from the car, so she held back until they reached that relative haven of privacy.

He proved he knew her just as well as she knew him when they both closed their car doors a few seconds later. He let out a resigned sigh, ran his fingers through his brown hair, and told her what he was trying to dance around, because he knew he wasn't going to get away with it.

"Okay," he began, "My uncles on Dad's side both have low sperm count, so the doctor is trying to get me to go get tested."

"That's pretty important, I think," she said, and then laid her hand on his leg. "To both of us. You are going, right?"

He let his head thump into the headrest and sighed again.

"John..."

"What am I supposed to do? Go over there and tell them I'm there to jack off in a plastic cup?"

Ella had only been thinking about it in the abstract, and his words brought home the reality of how the sample was obtained. "Okay, I see your point," she admitted. "Can I see that slip the doctor gave you?"

He pulled it out of his pocket and passed it to her. As soon as she looked, she knew that it was of no help. It plainly stated that the doctor was requesting a semen sample. She had hoped it would be written in some sort of medical code. There was no way he was going to be able to walk up to the reception counter and hand over that piece of paper to a woman without dying of embarrassment on the spot.

An idea popped in her head. "How about this? You stay here, and I'll walk over there and talk to them. Nobody will see you, and if there's anyone we know there, I'll come straight back without saying anything."

"I... I guess," he answered with nothing resembling conviction.

Ella cupped his cheek in her hand, turned him toward her, and kissed him. "Try to relax."

He didn't have to say, Easier said than done. She could see it in his eyes. Remembering she had his phone, she pulled it out of her purse, brought up the page she'd been reading in the waiting room, and handed it over.

"Check this out. It's funny," she told him. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

With that, she laid the keys on the center console in case he wanted to roll down the windows or listen to the radio, and climbed out of the car. Upon crossing the road, she observed the lab carefully. She meant to keep her promise. If she saw anyone who knew them, she wasn't going to embarrass him by bringing up the test where they could hear.

All was well when she reached the door. She didn't recognize anyone in the waiting room or behind the reception desk. What she had never expected was that she was nervous as she walked up to the counter.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"I was wondering if I could speak to someone about a test my fiancé is supposed to take here."

"What kind of test?"

Ella tapped her fingernails on the counter, trying to come up with an answer for that as her cheeks warmed.

A woman in a lab coat stepped in behind the receptionist and said, "I'm one of the technicians. Why don't you come back, and we can talk in private."

Relieved, Ella said, "Thank you."

The woman pointed and said, "Through that door right there."

Ella walked through the door and the woman introduced herself. "I'm Lauren. We can use this consultation room."

"Ella."

"That's a beautiful name." She opened the door to the room and gestured for Ella to enter.

"Thank you."

The technician closed the door behind them. "Do you have a doctor's order? That might be easier than explaining why you're here."

"Yes, it's right here," Ella answered, and retrieved it from her purse.

"Ah," Lauren said upon reading the order. "So, do you have questions about the test, or is it a problem with convincing him to take it?"

Ella smiled, feeling more at ease, and answered, "Both."

"This is going to be a bit embarrassing," she warned, "He should only provide the sample when he's refrained from ejaculating for at least twenty-four hours. That's the most difficult part for some. Most, really."

Ella chuckled when the woman rolled her eyes. She then said, "Yesterday morning, as far as I know. Does he have to... You know... Do it here?"

"Well, he doesn't necessarily have to provide the sample here — although I would recommend it. I can send the testing materials home with you, but the sample needs to be kept at body temperature and brought in within an hour. In my experience, samples provided here and turned in immediately yield the most accurate results."

Ella blew out a slow breath and tried to think of how she was going to convince him to come in.

"This isn't the first time this test has proved a little complicated," Lauren said. "You could take the paperwork for him to fill out and bring it back in. Then, I could set him up in a room near the side door. That way he won't have to come in through reception at the front. You could bring the sample up to us when he's finished, and then no one would even see him."

"That might help," Ella admitted. She thought about it for a moment and asked, "Can someone be in the room with him?"

Lauren smiled. "That's not uncommon. There shouldn't be any lubricant or saliva in the sample, though."

Ella chuckled and nodded. "I understand."

"Sometimes, that's the only way it works," Lauren said. "Many men find it difficult to attain an erection in a sterile room of a public building without help."




Blessing of the Wood



"I guess I'll go let him know, and see if I can talk him into it."

"Let me get you the paperwork and show you where the room is. Then I'll just have to wish you luck."

"I'm probably going to need it."

A couple of minutes later, Ella walked back across the street with the paperwork in hand. John saw her as she approached, and the look on his face reminded her of a deer caught in the headlights. It wasn't any better when she sat down in the car and held the paperwork out to him.

"There's no way I can do this," he said.

"Just a second," she said. "You fill the paperwork out, and I'll take it back in. I talked to one of the lab technicians, and she set up a room near a side door. I can let you in that door so you don't have to go in the front. Then when you're done, you can go right back out that door and no one will ever see you."

He shook his head. "It won't work. There's no way I'm going to get hard in a building full of people like that."

Ella offered him a coquettish grin and said, "Well, I'm going to help you with that."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean? I don't think I'll have any trouble making you hard or making you come if I want to." She dropped her voice into a sultry whisper and added, "And I want to."

"I... Uh..." he stammered, at a loss for words.

Ella brought a finger to her lips, pulled a pen from her purse, and then said, "Start signing."

John timidly took the pen. As soon as he had it in hand, she started the car. When he finished, Ella checked to make sure he hadn't missed anything, and then drove across the street to the lab. Only one car was parked along the side of the building, and it was far from the door where Ella stopped.

She said, "I'm going to take the paperwork in. Watch that door, and when I open it, come in. The room we're going to is only a couple of steps away."

He nodded, and she leaned across to kiss his cheek before getting out of the car. Lauren was waiting when Ella arrived inside, and opened the door leading into the back.

"I'll take care of that," Lauren said, holding out her hand for the paperwork. "So far, so good?"

"So far," Ella answered. "I hope he's still in the car when I open the door."

"Best not to dally, then. Here's the sample cup," Lauren said as she handed it over.

"Thanks for going out of your way to help."

"That's what we're here for."

Ella walked down the hall, finding it empty, and peeked into the room before going to the outside door. It looked like any room in a doctor's office. The door could be locked from the inside, which she was sure was crucial for John's piece of mind. Then, she went to get him.

He started when she pushed on the bar to open the door, but didn't get out of the car. She emphatically waved him toward her, and he finally reacted. Ella held the door open, and then ushered him into the room set aside for them.

The look on his face as she locked the door took her aback. He was pale, and appeared to be on the verge of getting sick.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He shook his head and answered, "No."

Ella stepped over to him and gathered him in her arms. He wrapped his around her, and surprised her with how tight he was holding her.

While caressing his back, she asked, "What is it?"

"I just... I'm not sure I want to know."

"Won't it be better to know than to wonder?"

He sighed and said, "I guess."

"It will," she said, and then kissed him.

The kiss started out soft — comforting. Ever so slowly, she let her hands wander to his lower back, and slipped her tongue into the kiss. The familiar rush of arousal set her heart to beating faster, and she could feel the excitement building in his kiss.

By the time she stepped back, Ella knew she was soaking wet. Some of the nervousness returned to John's eyes, but it couldn't stand up to his arousal when she pulled her top over her head and tossed it on the exam table behind him. She remained just out of reach as she unclasped her bra and pulled her arms from the straps.

He reached down for a quick adjustment, which was a good sign.

Ella's bra joined her top. Before it even landed on the paper-covered vinyl, John cupped her heavy breasts in his hands. Ella moaned and slipped a hand in behind his head to tug down. A broken gasp filled her lungs when John took her right nipple between his lips. She reached between his legs with her other hand and could feel him hardening.

Quiet moans escaped her as he continued to worship her breasts. Her practiced fingers tugged on his belt, and then opened the clasp. She made short work of the button and zipper of his jeans, allowing her to feel him through the thinner cloth of his boxers. He was already as hard as stone.

He grunted around her nipple when she pulled his underwear down, freeing his cock. She squeezed it briefly to feel it throb, and then pushed his jeans down to his thighs.

"Take them off," she whispered to him.

He gave her nipple one last suckle, and then straightened to pull off his shoes — not bothering to unlace them. While he undressed, she pulled the sample cup out of her purse and removed it from the plastic wrapper. She sat it down on the exam table just as he kicked the denim away.

Ella wrapped her fingers around his shaft, looked into his eyes, and smiled. He stifled a groan from her touch. She loosed a chuckling moan at his reaction. "I told you I could get you hard."

He nodded, breathing heavily.

Then she got down to work.

John leaned against the table and grunted as her hand slid up and down his shaft. "God, that feels good," he said in a growled whisper.

"Uh huh," she agreed while adding a twist of the wrist to her strokes. "I like this. Someone could be just a few feet away and have no idea what we're doing in here."

"Don't remind me."

She stuck her tongue out at him and grinned.

Ella kept up the slow pace, drawing grunts and gasps from him that he seemed to have more trouble controlling by the moment. He squeezed her breasts, and watched them jiggle from the motion of her hand on occasion, though most of the time he was caught up in the desire smoldering in her eyes. She was so turned on that she had to forego tickling his balls with her other hand to reach between her legs to assuage the growing ache. The moment she whimpered from her touch, his eyes lit up.

When he tugged on her shorts, Ella quickly helped him pull them down. The shorts pooled at her feet, but her panties only made it far enough to stretch between her thighs. She clamped her lips tight to stave off a yelp when he pushed a finger deep into her canal.

A second finger joined the first to pump into her depths. Ella whimpered, squeezing him tight when the pleasure shot up her spine and exploded into her every nerve ending. As soon as the wave passed and she could loosen her grip, she picked up the pace of her stroking hand.

John began to breathe heavily, his fingers losing their rhythm. The sound mingled with her pants and the fap of her hand sliding over the ridge of his cockhead, filling the quiet room. Caught up in the sexual energy, she nearly forgot the whole purpose of their risky tryst.

"I'm getting close," he grunted, snapping her out of an aroused trance.

It was with the greatest of reluctance that she stepped away from his wonderful fingers and reached for the sample cup. She could see it in his face, hear it in his breathing, and feel it in his throbbing cock. He was near the edge. She positioned the plastic container over the head of his cock and pulled down on the rigid organ to straighten it.

Her voice husky, she said, "Come for me." After a few more fast strokes, she said it again. "Come for me. Give it to me."

"Ah, baby," he growled. "Here com—"

That was as far as he got. He lurched and his cream spattered audibly against the bottom of the plastic cup. Ella held him tight, keeping him aimed into the cup, and twisted her hand around the swollen organ. Spurt after spurt pattered on the plastic as he fought to remain still and upright.

When a gentle ooze rolled over the head, Ella said, "That's enough for them," and dropped to her knees. Once there, she simultaneously sat the cup down on the floor and took him in her mouth. The moment her lips wrapped around him, he let out an explosive gasp and offered up one last bittersweet blast of cum.

He went weak in the knees as Ella moaned and sucked him dry — down to the last fitful dribble. When she let him slowly slip from her lips, he turned and leaned heavily on the paper-covered table, setting off a loud crackle. A sensual chuckle bubbled up inside Ella as she licked her lips and watched him fight to keep his legs under him.

She scooped up the cup and stood, pulling her shorts with her, and feeling a chill as the breeze from her motion touched the wetness between her legs. She sat the cup down on the far end of the table from where John trembled and twitched so she could finish pulling on her shorts and panties.

Still bare-breasted, she put the lid on the cup, and then pulled out the labels the technician had provided. Once the sample was secure, she laid a hand on her man's back and caressed it.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Oh god, Ella," he muttered.

"Mmm... Good, huh? I know you tasted good."

That set off a full body shiver in him.

"Come on, John. We need to get dressed so I can drop this off, and we can get home," Ella said. She then leaned in close and whispered, "There's more where that came from."

Not surprisingly, that motivated him.

****

Ella peeked into the bedroom after getting out of the shower that evening to see John was out like a light. Considering he'd provided his third donation of the day an hour or so before, it was hardly a mystery as to why. Still riding the euphoria of her most recent orgasm, Ella tapped on her phone before drying her hair. No messages had arrived during her shower, but she started when the phone rang before she could remove her finger from the screen.

She pulled the towel turban on her head away from her right ear, and then answered, "Hi, Dad."

"Hey, honey. I'm not waking you, am I?"

"No, I just got out of the shower. What's up?"

"I thought I'd let you know what I found out about the campground. Unfortunately, there's not a lot I can do."

Ella sighed and asked, "Too much red tape?"

"The opposite, really. Because of the circumstances, everyone involved has been stalling the foreclosure process as much as possible. They're running out of red tape to slow things down. The biggest problem is that the church can't legally negotiate a payment plan. Otherwise, they'd be golden. From what I hear, they've raised over half the money."

"Would have been more if they'd taken ours," Ella grumbled.

"Close to what they need," her father acknowledged. "But that's neither here, nor there. As it stands, the property owner, Ms. Welker, is the only one who can legally negotiate a deal."

"Is there any chance of that?"

"I'm afraid not. She's in the Davon Center Hospice, suffering from dementia. Since she didn't have any surviving family, she'd made preparations for something like this, but the property tax on the campground was one thing she forgot."

That was that. "Well, thanks for trying."

"Oh, I'm not done yet," he said, and she knew he was smiling from the tone of his voice. "I'm calling in a few favors to see if I can have the campground folded into the state forest after a foreclosure. The property is on the border of the forest anyway, and at least that way it won't end up on the public auction block."

"What do you think the chances are?"

"A lot better than average," he confidently replied. "Cross your fingers, and keep your hopes up. Now, I'll let you go so you can get some rest."

They said their goodbyes, and Ella saw herself smiling in the mirror. She knew what kind of connections her father had, and that he never sugar-coated things for her. If he believed he could do it, then he could.

Just in case, she crossed her fingers for a second before picking up the hair dryer.

****

"Eight o'clock," John promised, standing next to the car after the last class the following day.

"In the door by eight o'clock," Ella reiterated. "I know how you get when you're playing D&D. Tell my brother he's in just as much trouble as you are if you're not home on time."

He held up his hand and said, "Promise. Dale said your mom told him seven, anyway."

"Okay," Ella said, and then kissed him. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

Ella shook her head and rolled her eyes as John hurried to her brother's car. She'd never understand the game, but she knew how much he loved it, so she didn't argue about him playing.

In moderation, anyway.

She climbed into her car and tried to think of something to do for an hour or so. She knew her sister, and the looks Terra had been giving Nathan before they left strongly hinted that she would hear things she didn't want to if she went straight home. Nothing was really coming to her, though. She was on the verge of going to watch her brother's game when she reached the city limits and a sign caught her eye.

Ella pursed her lips in thought as she neared the turn to the hospice. The thought of the woman being there with no family to come visit tugged at her heartstrings. She had no idea if anyone would let her in, but she made the turn anyway.

"Can I help you?" the woman at the reception desk in the lobby asked as Ella approached.

"I was wondering if I could see Ms. Welker."

"Are you family?"

"No. I—"

A nurse standing nearby asked, "From the church?"

"Not exactly," Ella answered. "That's how I know her, though."

"You do know about her condition, don't you?" the nurse asked.

Ella nodded. "I just wanted to visit with her for a few minutes."

The nurse gestured behind her. "She's out back enjoying the sunshine. She's always much more lucid when she's outdoors. I was just about to take her some iced tea, if you'd like to come along?"

"Thank you," Ella said as she followed. "My name is Ella."

"Christine," the nurse said. "Penelope doesn't get many visitors. Her condition causes her to say things that are difficult for people from the church to handle, and that's really all she has left. Her language can be salty, and sometimes she talks about outrageous things."

"I'm not easily offended."

Christine smiled. "That's good, because she has her days, sometimes." She stopped in front of a door and said, "Let me get the tea. I'll be right back."

Ella noticed how quiet the building was and thought of her phone. She pulled it out of her purse and set it to silent, not wanting one of her ring tones to suddenly intrude on the quiet. The vibration was strong enough to feel through the strap of her purse anyway. By the time she put her phone away, the nurse had returned.

"I bring it from home," Christine explained. "Penelope knows her tea, and she's not fond of what we make here."

"That's nice of you," Ella said as they set out through the halls again.

"Anything to make the residents more comfortable. Oh, don't be surprised if she calls me Wendy. I can only assume it's a nurse from her past that I resemble. She may call you by someone else's name, too. I usually play along and don't say anything too specific. Oh, and call her Penelope. Calling her Ms. Welker usually results in a bad spell."

"I understand."

Christine led them out the back door of the facility and pointed. "There she is."

Penelope sat on a park bench, looking out over the manicured lawn toward some trees beyond. Her hair was completely white, and her wrinkles gave her a distinguished, wise appearance. She was smiling and toying with a walking cane leaned against the bench at her side. Another nurse sat on a nearby bench, keeping an eye on her.

"Let me go first. Stay a few feet behind the bench, and I'll introduce you."

"Okay," Ella agreed, and then followed the nurse across the lawn.

"Here's your tea, Penelope," Christine said when she stepped in front of the bench.

"Oh, bless you, dear," the old woman said as she took the glass in a reasonably steady hand. She brought it to her lips, sipped, and then let out a satisfied sigh. "Thank heavens you know how to brew tea. Everyone else must make it with toilet water."

Christine laughed and said, "You're welcome. There's someone here who would like to visit with you, if that's all right?"

"Oh, who is it?"

Christine waved for Ella to approach. "Her name is Ella, and she knows you through the church."

"Ella... Ella... That doesn't sound familiar," Penelope mused.

"That's okay, Penelope. I'm sure it will come to you. Here she is."

"Hello, Penelope," Ella said, and offered a wave.

The old woman's eyes widened, and she gasped. The glass fell from her nerveless fingers, spilling tea all over her lap and the bench. She put her other hand over her heart and reached out with the hand that had held the glass.

"Xantwilla. Oh, it's been so long," Penelope said.

Ella's heart nearly stopped upon hearing the xan that preceded her real name, and that of every other female member of the family.

The wizened woman continued, "You've come back. I've missed you so much. Where have you..." She trailed off, and then suddenly shrank back against the bench. "No. It can't be. You're gone. The fire. Your hair. Your hair isn't green. It's not you. Oh, it's not you..."

Ella was both stunned and heartbroken. She had no idea what to say as the old woman's chin dropped to her chest and she began to weep. She jumped when Christine laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Ella said, still at a loss.

"It's okay. You just triggered some memory or fantasy of hers," Christine whispered. "You should probably go, but you didn't do anything wrong. Don't worry. She'll be fine in a few minutes."

"I... I'm sorry," Ella said again.

Christine clasped her hand for a second and said, "Don't be." She then sat down on the bench and reached for the old woman's hand.

Ella turned to walk across the lawn shaking and ashamed. As she neared the door, the memory of Penelope mentioning green hair hit her hard. There was no missing the significance of that and the name the woman had called her. Some time in the past, Penelope had known a dryad.

There was only one person who could possibly tell her what that meant.

****

Xantina stood waiting at the edge of her pool when Ella arrived. The dryad held out her hands. "Come, Xanella. I know what you seek."

"So, she did know a dryad?" Ella asked as she pulled her purse off her shoulder to undress.

"Yes," Xantina answered, and Ella saw a rare hint of longing in the nymph's sparkling eyes. "Come. I will show you."

Though not as deeply aware of her great-grandmother's thoughts as the dryad was of hers, she could sense that Xantina didn't want to wait for her to undress. So, she pulled her purse back onto her shoulder and went to take the dryad's golden hands.

"Close your eyes," Xantina said.

Ella did so, knowing that it meant her great-grandmother was going to magically take them elsewhere. Like almost every other member of the family, she'd peeked once when traveling this way, and regretted it. The whirl of green and brown along with the sudden change of location had left her nauseous and dizzy.

A sensation of floating and dew settling on her skin marked Xantina's magic taking hold. In the space of a heartbeat, they were somewhere else.

"We are here," Xantina said.

Ella could feel the familiar touch of magic that permeated the woods near her home, but it was subtly different. She opened her eyes to see cabins nestled amidst trees in the distance. She stood just within a much denser forest. "Is that the campground?" she asked.

Xantina nodded. "Here is my sister Xantwilla's place."




Blessing of the Wood



Ella followed the dryad's gaze and saw the stump of a tree. From the size of the stump, she knew the tree had been massive. Two people couldn't have wrapped their arms around it. It was hollow on the inside and blackened, as if touched by fire.

"She has returned to the earth," Xantina explained.

"I'm sorry."

The dryad shook her head and smiled. "It is no thing of sadness. She gave all of her great magic, and all of her life to protect this place. She did so with joy, knowing what would continue after her."

"The forest?" Ella guessed.

"And all who call this their place."

Ella asked, "Was it the fire? I read about how there was a fire here set by someone. Is that what happened to her?"

"Yes. The fire fed upon the dry summer grasses, and flew before the wind. It came, but my sister would not let it touch her place. She knew it would mean her passing to take the fire's hunger, but those she protected would remain to sing of her life in this place."

That was when Ella heard it.

In truth, she felt more than heard the song that flittered upon the wind. It was like the tinkling of tiny bells, and the sound gave her chills. She turned, and the music grew louder. Though there was no sign of the source, she knew it was somewhere ahead. She took a step toward the music, but then looked to her great-grandmother before going any further.

Xantina nodded and gestured as if she was pushing Ella toward the sound.

Slowly — tentatively — she walked toward where she could feel the music. She parted the dangling branches of the weeping willow in front of her, and stepped beneath. Somewhere in the back of her head, she knew the tree was out of place in the mixed forest of pine, maple, and oaks, but it seemed unimportant as the tinkling music grew louder. Ella walked around the tree, and then froze in place to stare in astounded wonder.

Even a girl raised in a family descended from a dryad could be surprised by a ring of orange mushrooms and three fairies.

"This is the reason my sister gave all of herself," Xantina explained. "There are so few fairy rings left in this world, and they are precious."

Giggles joined the otherworldly music, and the fairies darted toward Ella. Her great-grandmother stepped in next to her and held up a hand. Two of the fairies alighted on her palm. Ella imitated the dryad's action, and the third fairy chose her as its perch.

She could barely feel the weight of the five-inch-high woman on her palm. The creature was petite, and wore a diaphanous gown that did nothing to hide the perfect body beneath. The fairy's translucent wings shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow, and were veined in gold. Her hair was of the palest blonde, and Ella could see the points of elvish ears peeking through the white-gold locks. The fairy smiled at her and waved in a very human gesture.

Xantina spoke to the pair of fey creatures standing on her palm in a language Ella didn't understand, but felt as if she should have. One of the fairies answered, and her voice was like the barely heard, rapid tweeting of a bird somewhere in the distance.

"They ask that you keep their secret for now — even from your sister," Xantina said. "You must say the promise."

"I promise, I won't tell anyone," Ella said, and then gave a brief shrug. "I can't promise it won't drive me crazy, though."

All three fairies and the dryad giggled. With that, the tiny creatures took flight and landed within the circle of mushrooms. The moment their feet touched the carpet of leaves and twigs, the fairies vanished.

"Come," Xantina said, and took Ella's hand to lead her back through the dangling branches.

"Why do we have to keep them a secret?" Ella asked while looking back over her shoulder at the fairy ring.

"They must speak with their Queen. You will not have to keep the secret long."

"It's a good thing. I feel like I'm going to burst."

"Their magic will help. It is the nature of fairies to hide. Their memories hide too. You will remember, but the magic will help you keep your promise."

The farther they walked from the willow and the circle beneath, the more Ella knew it was true. Trying to think about the fairies was becoming difficult. Before it slipped too far away, she asked, "Did Penelope know them too?"

"One visited with her when she was a child, though she would not remember. My sister was her friend, and remained so until she rejoined the earth. This was the one sadness Xantwilla felt in her passing. She knew it would bring sadness to her friend."

They reached the stump as Xantina finished. Ella asked, "Is it fairy magic I feel here?"

"It is my sister's magic. So strong was her love for her place that part of her is here still. It is in the leaves, and the rocks, and the soil — everywhere. That is what Penelope seeks when she goes outside, and she finds it, because my sister's love follows her, too."

Ella sighed. "It broke my heart when she thought I was Xantwilla."

"It should not be so. Though she was sad, there was more. She smiles now. You gave her a beautiful memory of my sister."

"Really?"

Xantina nodded and giggled. "Yes. And you will give her more."

"What do you mean, Grandma?"

"You will see. Close your eyes."

Ella took her great-grandmother's hands, and closed her eyes as instructed. She knew the dryad was up to something, and knew just as well that she would never know what it was until Xantina wanted her to. The one thing that kept the capricious games from becoming intolerable was that whatever the nymph had in store would undoubtedly be wonderful. It always was.

When Ella opened her eyes within Xantina's wood once more, a buzzing sensation at her side perplexed her. It was only then that she remembered her phone was still silenced. When she pulled it out, she was shocked to see that hours had passed.

"We touched the fairy world near the circle. Time is different there," Xantina answered the unspoken question. "Your mate seeks you. Go, and give him beautiful memories too."

Ella looked at her phone again, and saw a message from John that read, "I'm home on time. Now, where are you?"

When she looked back up to thank the dryad, she found that her great-grandmother had vanished somewhere. Despite the nymph's absence, she said, "Thank you, Grandma."

A warm surge in the magic surrounding her let her know the message had been heard.

****

Ella was thankful for the fairy magic. As her great-grandmother had explained, she remembered the encounter, but it only drifted at the edge of her thoughts. Trying to keep the secret — especially from her twin — or do much of anything would have been impossible if she still felt the giddy wonder that the fairies had inspired.

She still needed to confirm something else the dryad had told her, though.

John was going to game with her brother after class the next day, so she decided to stop at the hospice on the way home from campus. She asked for Christine when she arrived, and the nurse walked into the lobby a few minutes later.

"Hello, Ella. What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering how Penelope is doing?"

Christine smiled. "She's doing just fine. She's surprisingly happy, as a matter of fact."

"Really?" Ella asked as she broke out into a smile as well.

"Yes. There's no need to worry. Did she know you well?"

"No," Ella answered. "I only know her through someone else."

"Hmm. That's surprising. She usually only has a good spell like this when her closest friends come to visit."

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," Ella said, relieved by the confirmation of her great-grandmother's words. "I won't take up any more of your time."

Christine waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Not at all. Penelope is one of my favorite residents. Would you like to peek in on her?"

"I probably shouldn't," Ella said. No matter how the previous visit had turned out, the woman's initial reaction to her had been heart-wrenching.

"Nonsense. Come out back while I take out her tea. I think you'll see what I mean."

Made curious by the nurse's suggestion, Ella asked, "If you think it's okay?"

"You can stay by the door if you'd like, but come see how she's doing for your piece of mind."

Though apprehensive, Ella followed the nurse through the building, and then out the back door. Penelope was sitting on the same bench, but the difference in her demeanor was visible from the instant Ella saw her. Her smile was broader — more joyful. Rather than staring off into the distance, she was enjoying the entire vista of her surroundings.

"There," Christine said. "You see?"

Ella nodded, and she could feel the strain in her cheeks from the grin on her face. "Yes. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, I'd better get this over to her before I jinx it."

"Wouldn't want that."

"No, we would not," Christine agreed as she carried Penelope her tea.

Ella left the hospice in a buoyant mood and decided it was time to try the recipe for twice-baked potatoes that John's mother had given her. She refused to let the flier it was written on bring her down, and took a measure of satisfaction in shredding it once she'd copied it onto an index card.

The compliments from her sister and Nathan kept her riding high, but it was John's pronouncement that it was just as good as his mother's that truly sent her flying. As the hour grew late, Ella turned her thoughts to sharing some of her exuberance in the bedroom. She picked out an especially short and gauzy nightgown, paired it with panties so thin as to be nearly invisible, and crawled into bed.

When her initial, playful flirtation didn't turn out as expected, she could see something in John's eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he answered, "Just tired, I guess."

Ella lifted her eyebrows and put a hand on her hip, fixing him with a stare that spoke volumes. He was wise enough to get the message, and didn't try to continue the charade.

"It's just... It's my aunt's birthday. I've been trying not to think about it. I always call her, and..." He trailed off and sighed.

"Do you want to?" she asked.

"No," he quickly answered. "I'm not a glutton for punishment. It just doesn't feel right."

Ella scooted in close and took his hand. "It isn't right, but that's not your fault."

"I know. Sorry I'm letting it get to me. You look so sexy, and I haven't said anything."

"Never mind that," Ella said. She snuggled up next to him, rested her head on his shoulder, and caressed his side. Though her original plan was to relax him, and then try again to coax him into making love to her, it was hardly disappointing to cuddle with him and drift slowly to sleep instead.

****

John was still a little down when the alarm woke them up in the morning, but Ella could tell he was doing his best to move on. Whenever she smiled, touched him in passing, or held his hand, he always brightened, which made her heart sing. She considered asking him to skip class so they could spend the day together, but it was nearly the weekend. There was no sense in potentially missing an important lecture when they would both be free in another eight hours or so.

By the time she was taking notes in her last class of the day, she'd planned what she was going to wear and make for dinner. She had some notions about what to do with the rest of the night, but she knew to play that by ear.

Her phone rattled against the compact in her purse near the end of the hour, so she checked it, and discovered a message from Nathan. "What's up? John's not here."

Ella's brow furrowed and she tapped in a reply. "He should be. Let me text him."

Nathan's next message came through before she could hit send on hers, though. "Tried to text. He's not answering."

Ella went from confused to concerned in nothing flat. She sent the message to Nathan, and then typed one to John. "Nate says you're not there. Text me back."

She waited a minute, and then sent a follow-up message of, "Hello?"

"Any luck?" Nathan asked.

"Not yet," she replied.

"Saw him right before class. He had a phone call, so I went ahead while he answered it. Then he never came in."

Everyone got up when the professor called an end for the day. Ella decided against texting and called instead. After four rings, his phone went to voicemail. She immediately called him back. This time, he picked up just before the voicemail.

"Where are you? I'm worried sick," she blurted out as soon as he said hello.

"Sorry. I took a cab to Mom's and got my bike. I had to pull over to answer the phone."

"Why didn't you let me and Nathan know? He's worried about you too, because you didn't show up in class."

"Can you let him know everything's okay?"

"That would be lying," Ella responded. "What's going on?"

"I just need to figure something out."

"Where are you? I know you don't want to talk about whatever this is on the phone."

He paused for a moment, and then answered, "Almost to the house. I pulled over in Geraldine's parking lot."

"Okay. I'll be home in just a little—"

He cut her off by saying, "Ella, I need some time to think."

"What do you mean?"

"I just... I need to be alone for a while. I'm going to grab some gear and camp out tonight."

"Where?"

The sound of his voice betrayed how hard it was for him to say, "Ella, please."

"I just want to be here for you," she said with her heart sinking.

"I know. I... I'll call you before I go to sleep tonight. Okay? I need some time, baby."

Her eyes welling up with tears, she said, "I love you. I wish you'd wait for me at home."

"I love you, too, but I can't right now. I'll call you."

"You'd better," she warned.

"I will. Bye."

"Bye," she said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

As soon as she ended the call, she saw another text message from Nathan that read, "Tried to call, but he didn't pick up."

She sent a message back saying, "Talked to him. He's not hurt or anything." A second later, she heard his message tone coming from behind her.

"Everything okay?" Nathan asked as he walked up with Terra.

Ella answered, "No, but..."

"It's something you can't talk about right now," her sister finished for her.

Ella nodded.

"Going home?" Terra asked.

"Yes. I guess."

Terra touched her sister's cheek and said, "We'll follow you. You know we're here if you need us, right?"

"I know."

As little as she wanted to admit it, she empathized with how John felt. She didn't want to talk to anyone either. Her sister understood that, and led Nathan to their car as soon as Ella acknowledged the offer. She suspected Terra was just as torn as she was, though.

Hoping that John would reconsider, she got in the car to head home. It took a tremendous amount of willpower to accelerate at a smooth pace and maintain an even speed — something she usually did without thought. Every fiber of her being was screaming for her to hurry, in hopes of catching her fiancé before he left the house.

Even though she expected it, not seeing John's motorcycle parked in the driveway caused her shoulders to slump. She shut off the car and leaned her head against the steering wheel to wonder where he was.

It was then that she decided there was someone she wanted to talk to.

Terra pulled in next to her, and Ella waited for her sister to get out before saying, "I'm going to see Grandma."

Her sister nodded and offered a half-smile. The peaceful aura of the wood had always helped them sort through their emotions. When that was coupled with the wisdom of their great-grandmother, it was a powerful thing indeed. It wasn't what Ella had planned, but it was what her sister expected.

The sights, sounds, and smells were lost on her as she hurried down the trail with dry leaves crunching underfoot. She brushed aside the low hanging branches and undergrowth with single-minded purpose, pushing on to the clearing in the center of the wood. Her great-grandparents were waiting for her when she arrived.

"Xanella, now is not the time," the dryad said.

"A man needs time to sort himself out sometimes," her great-grandfather added.

Ella felt stifled — claustrophobic. The moment she pulled her blouse over her head, the feeling ebbed by a small measure. As she undressed, she said, "I'm worried about him."

Xantina assured her, "He is safe. My magic watches him."

"So, you know where he is?"

The dryad nodded, but said, "I will not take you."

"Why not?" Ella asked while tossing the shoe she'd just removed into the ferns.

Daniel took his mate's hand. "Ella, he needs to find out what's in his own heart right now. I know it's hard to understand, but you're only going to make that harder."

"You're right, I don't understand," Ella said with far more irritation than she'd realized was welling up within her. Embarrassed by the outburst, she looked down to pull off her sock, and then lifted the other foot to remove her shoe. In her peripheral vision, she saw the nymph kneel down next to the water. She remained silent and tried to regain some measure of composure until she removed the last of her clothing.

"Come, I will show him to you," Xantina said.

Ella walked over to the pool, and then knelt down at her great-grandmother's prompting. Once she was settled, Xantina touched the surface of the water with one finger.

Ripples radiated out, racing toward the edges of the pool. When the waves hit the opposite shore, they rebounded. In their wake, the water took on a silvery appearance, reflecting the sky and canopy above. The mirrored surface closed in on the ever-shrinking circle of clear water, and then absorbed it.

The reflection wavered as Ella watched. At first, it blurred. A few seconds later, the image was little more than blotches of blue and green. Those random spots of color then coalesced, and she saw John sit down on the edge of a lake. His expression was haunted, and his eyes distant.

"Grandma, please take me to him," Ella implored — her heart breaking from the sight of him in pain.

"You are with him, Xanella. You are always with him."

"That's not the same."

"No, it is more. Reach out to him." When Ella hesitated, Xantina encouraged her, "Go on."

Not really understanding, Ella held out her hand over the water, as if to touch his right shoulder. She wanted nothing more at that moment than to truly be there to comfort him. To her amazement, he twitched in surprise, looked at his right shoulder, and then laid his own hand there for a moment.

"Is it your magic?" Ella asked.

"It is yours," the dryad answered. She put her hand over her heart and said, "From here."

Ella imagined she was sitting in front of him, caressing his cheek, and looking into his eyes. His expression softened — if not by much — and he sighed.

Xantina caressed Ella's hair and said, "Stay here this night. Watch over him. Hold him in your heart. He will find his way."

She could think of nothing else.

****

Ella awakened with her head resting on a hummock of moss. Though beads of dew decorated her skin, she was warm, comfortable, and reluctant to rise. Birdsong and the soft gurgle of the spring that fed her great-grandmother's pool further conspired to lull her back to sleep.

In time, she roused to find Xantina watching over her.

"Good morning, Xanella."

"Morning," Ella responded. She sat up and stretched out of habit, though her bed of moss and leaves had been every bit as comfortable as her mattress in the house. She hadn't eaten anything or answered the call of nature the night before, but neither troubled her.

With wakefulness, her reason for spending the night in the wood did trouble her, though.

"He sleeps still," Xantina said, knowing what was in her heart.

Ella joined the dryad at the edge of the pool, and let her feet dangle in the water. "I don't remember falling asleep. Is he doing okay?"




Blessing of the Wood



"He is warm, safe, and loved, but he is not ready to see you yet."

Ella sighed. She looked out over the pool, thinking of him and opening her heart to bring him comfort as she had the day before. Movement in the corner of her eye caused her to glance that way, and she saw her clothing was hanging from branches in the sunlight. From the way the cloth fluttered in the wind, it appeared to be dry.

"Thanks, Grandma."

The dryad offered an impish grin and said, "You will need them soon."

"John?" Ella asked, hoping.

"Soon," Xantina said, "But first, there is another."

"Another?"

"Mmm hmm," Xantina said, and then giggled. "Take my hand."

Once again, they flew on the wings of the dryad's magic, and arrived at a familiar place. There was no holding back her grin of wonder when Ella saw the three fairies hovering near the place where Xantwilla's tree had once stood. One flew to her, and something that was more a suggestion than a thought caused her to lift her hand as she had before.

The fairy alighted on her palm. It appeared to be the same one that had chosen her on their last visit, though she couldn't be sure. The fairy spoke, her voice emerging not only from her lips, but within Ella's head as well.

"The words of humans are hard, and it has been long. You understand me?"

"Yes, I understand you," Ella answered.

"Good. We have a gift for Penny."

Xantina explained, "Penelope was called Penny when she was small."

"Penny was my friend, and it makes me sad to know she is ill. Look here."

In a fluttering of wings, the fairy left Ella's palm and landed within the hollow stump. There she saw a leaf unlike anything she'd ever seen before. It was larger than her hand, curled into the shape of a bowl, and tapered to a rounded point opposite the stem. Within was what looked like water, except it twinkled with points of multicolored light.

"This will make her better," the fairy declared.

"She's very sick," Ella said, knowing the seriousness of dementia.

The fairy laughed and nonchalantly said, "It is magic."

Xantina assured her, "She is right, Xanella. The water comes from the fairy world. It is blessed by their magic, and by the magic of my sister, who loved Penelope as I do you. It will take her pain and return her memories for the time she has left."

"For the time she has left?" Ella asked.

"Her spirit is weary, and longs to fly free," the fairy said.

Ella asked, "So, she's going to die?"

Her great-grandmother nodded. "It is her time to return to the earth. The magic will let her say goodbye to those she loves, then pass in peace and joy."

She had every reason to believe the dryad and felt her previously heavy heart lighten, but that wasn't her only concern. "How do I carry it without spilling it? I don't know how I could give it to her. They'll look at me like I'm crazy at the hospice if I tiptoe in with a leaf full of water."

Her great-grandmother answered the first by kneeling down and picking up the leaf. She turned it nearly on its side, and while the liquid shifted toward the pull of gravity, it did not roll off the leaf. The dryad then stood and handed it to Ella.

Ella twisted her wrist, amused by the way the water jiggled. "Okay, but that doesn't solve the problem of giving it to her."

The fairy flew in close and asked, "May I look into your thoughts?"

For anyone else, it would likely have been a frightening question. Ella, however, had grown up with her twin, sharing a near psychic connection, and with a great-grandmother who knew everything. She nodded without the slightest hint of hesitation.

The fairy closed her eyes, and her tiny brow knitted in concentration. Only moments passed before her eyes shot open and she clapped. "Tea!" the fairy declared.

"Well, she would drink it. I still don't know how I get it in her tea. There are rules, and..." Ella shrugged, unsure how to explain to the fairy.

"Put it in first," Xantina suggested. "Take the tea to her."

"I don't think that will go over any better. I'm not family or anything."

The nymph smiled and said, "Christine. Have her taste it. She will take it to Penelope, and it will help her too."

"Her too?"

"You will see," the ever mischievous dryad said.

She still wasn't so sure, but said, "I guess it won't hurt to try."

"Thank you," the fairy said. "You can tell your family about us, now."

"Thank you. I will."

The fairy waved, and then darted over to join the other tiny, winged women. All three then flew away, and through the rustling branches of the willow tree.

Ella balanced the leaf in her right hand and held out her left. "I guess I have tea to make," she told her great-grandmother.

Xantina laughed and whisked them home.

****

"Back again?" Christine asked when she walked into the lobby of the hospice.

"Yes," Ella answered. She had an irrational, nervous feeling as if she was trying to smuggle a cake containing a hacksaw to an inmate.

"Penelope is doing fine," the nurse said. She looked as if she was about to say something else, but her brow knitted and she winced.

Ella asked, "Are you okay?"

Christine held a hand over her lower abdomen and whispered, "Cramps." She then nodded at the thermos Ella was carrying and asked, "What's that?"

"I made some tea. It's all organic with lemon zest. I thought Penelope might like it."

The look on the nurse's face confirmed to Ella that what she'd told her great-grandmother was correct. It wasn't going to be as easy as handing over the thermos and calling it a day.

"Penelope is pretty particular about her tea," Christine diplomatically said.

Ella held out the thermos and suggested, "Try some and see what you think."

She did her best to hide it, but Ella knew the nurse was merely humoring her, and likely trying to think of the most polite way to say she couldn't take the tea to her elderly patient. She took off the top, poured a little, and brought it to her lips for a sip. Her eyes widened, and she immediately sipped again. This time, she shivered and moaned.

"Is it good?" Ella asked.

"Oh my god," the nurse said, and then stepped closer to whisper, "Good? This is wonderful."

Ella chuckled. "Thanks. So, do you think Penelope will like it?"

"I know she will. I'm not really supposed to do this, but you went to all this trouble, and I think it will brighten her day. If anyone asks, I'll just pretend I used a different thermos today. I don't usually take her tea until later, but..."

"No," Ella said while giving a shake of her head. "Don't change her routine. I'll pick up the thermos some other day. I need to get home."

"I don't work Mondays and Tuesdays. That's my weekend. You can come by any other day and pick it up. And if you want to bring some more, feel free."

"Thanks. I'll come by tomorrow."

"Thank you. And I'll say the same for Penelope in advance. I know she would want to."

"You're welcome. Bye."

Ella left the hospice smiling, but with the happy task out of the way, she was eager to return to the dryad's pool. The drive felt as if it took hours, and she didn't even bother grabbing her purse from the passenger seat when she arrived at home. She hurried down the trail and found her great-grandmother waiting for her.

"Is he awake yet?" Ella asked while pulling up her top.

Surprisingly, Xantina said, "Leave your coverings. Yes, he is awake, and he is ready to see you."

"So, he's coming home?"

The dryad shook her head. "I will take you to him."

That was perfectly fine with Ella. She stepped closer, held out her hands, and closed her eyes. The dryad grasped one, but reached up to caress Ella's cheek with the other.

"You must be strong, Xanella," Xantina said.

Before the advice could sink in, Ella felt the magic take hold of her. In the instant her feet touched solid ground once more, the dryad let go of her hand. By the time Ella opened her eyes, her great-grandmother had vanished. In front of her, John was pacing near his packed-up gear. He reached the end of a circuit, turned, and started when he saw her.

"Grandma brought me," Ella explained as she approached. "I was worried about you."

She saw him wince, and he said, "Ella, I don't want to do this here."

"Do what? Talk to me, John."

"I..." He trailed off, sighed, and then sat down on the ground.

Ella knelt down in front of him and asked, "What's wrong? Just tell me."

"You may be sorry you asked," he muttered.

Irritation crept in with her concern and she asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Sorry," he said, catching the change in her inflection. "I just meant it's not good news, and I don't know how to tell you."

"Then just tell me. It can't be worse than the thousand crazy things I've thought of since you vanished on me."

He leaned to the side and unzipped his backpack, from which he retrieved a sheaf of folded papers. When he held them out to her, Ella took them and read. She saw the name of the clinic and knew that they were the results of his test. Most of the information was too technical to tell her anything, but some listed percentages were very low. There was also a recommendation to retake the test after a longer period of abstention.

When she looked up from the paperwork, John said, "I told the doctor to give it to me straight. He said that based on that test, there's not much chance I'll ever be able to have kids."

The revelation hit Ella hard. She'd never had any vision of her future that didn't include children. Now, here was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with telling her it might never be. It would be difficult enough for a normal couple, but the members of her family could only conceive on Earth Day, making it all the more unlikely. She reeled from the confusing riot of thoughts swirling through her head.

"Sorry," John said.

Latching onto one thing that offered hope, she said, "They want you to take the test again. That means they're not sure."

"I'll take it again, but you shouldn't get your hopes up."

"Just mine?" she asked.

"I... I wasn't even sure I wanted kids, but now that they're telling me I can't..." He paused and sighed. "I knew about my uncles. I think maybe I was trying to convince myself I didn't want kids so I wouldn't be disappointed."

"So you do?"

He nodded and said, "Yeah. I do. That's why I couldn't figure out any good way to tell you. I can't handle it. How are you supposed to?"

"I don't know," she admitted.

"It makes me think it's a sign or something. I mean this, and my aunt... Maybe you'd be better off with someone else."

Ella shook her head. "Don't say that."

"You don't deserve any of this."

"Neither do you."

"Maybe you should think about it."

"No," she said before he even finished. "One thing I do know is that it doesn't change how I feel about you. None of it. I don't need to think about it. I love you. That's all that matters."

She could see the relief in his eyes. Even if he believed what he was saying, it wasn't what he wanted.

"I love you, too," he said.

Before he could add a but to that, she said, "That's all we need, then. If we can't have kids, so be it."

"Are you sure?"

As soon as he finished the question, she knew the answer. No matter the shock and turmoil she felt, her answer was certain. "Yes. I don't care if we haven't exchanged vows yet. Sickness and in health. Richer or poorer. It's how I feel."

A slight, shy smile turned up the corners of his lips when he said, "Me too."

The strangest thought hit her out of the blue, and it broke through the tension she felt, so she shared it. "If we can't have kids, Terra will use it as an excuse to fill up all the extra bedrooms herself, anyway."

He chuckled and agreed, "You're probably right."

"I know I'm right. I'd probably do the same thing if the situation were reversed. But that's just a what if." Ella scooted closer. "You still have to take the test again, and there are other options."

"You're not supposed to be getting your hopes up," he reminded her.

"And you shouldn't be giving up. If we want it badly enough, we can make it happen."

He reached up and touched her cheek. "You make me want to believe that."

"Good. Now just get rid of that want to part and believe it."

Ella leaned in, and they kissed. When their lips parted, she said, "Let's go home."

****

"Morning," Ella said when John awakened the next morning. She smiled and giggled at his reaction to her fingertips gliding over his morning erection.

"Morning," he said. Then he did something completely unexpected and pushed her hand away. Upon seeing the look in her eyes, he reminded her, "The test."

"I wasn't really doing anything," she protested.

"We weren't last night, either."

She had to admit he was right. They had climbed into bed, shared an innocent goodnight kiss, and snuggled up together. An accidental brush of his hand over her nipple began a chain of escalating arousal that reached an inevitable conclusion.

"Okay, I'll behave," she said as she pushed the covers aside. "I'm going to brush my teeth. I can at least have a kiss, can't I?"

He nodded as he kicked his side of the bedclothes down.

After brushing their teeth, Ella got her kiss. She couldn't resist tickling him with her tongue, and felt his hands slide down to her butt. Her heart beat fast from the touch, and she moaned into the kiss.

Then he pulled away.

His voice was pained when he said, "Ella..."

She held back a surge of frustration. "Sorry."

"If I'm going to go three days, I don't think I can do it here," he said.

Ella opened her mouth to protest, but before a word could escape, her conscience told her the truth. She couldn't resist the temptation. All it had taken was a kiss to make her ache for him.

He continued, "I think I should go stay at Mom's. If I'm going to make it, staying there is the best bet."

Ella nodded in resignation. She didn't like it, but she knew he was right. "I'll go get you some clothes so you can get dressed in here."

"I love you. And I do want you. You know that, don't you?"

"I want you too. You're right. There's no way we can behave for one day, let alone three." She blew him a kiss on the way out of the bathroom.

****

Ella sighed as John closed the front door at his mother's house. She knew it was going to be a long three days. Already missing him, she backed out of the drive and hit the road. The one and only positive was that she had an opportunity to stop by the hospice and check on Penelope.

Christine was all smiles when she walked into the lobby.

"You look like you're feeling better," Ella remarked.

The nurse crossed her fingers. "I'm hoping it lasts. I usually have the most awful cramps for three or four days, but I've been fine since yesterday."

Ella's grin widened, as that explained the dryad saying the magical tea would help Christine as well. She made a show of crossing her fingers, but knew there was no need.

"Penelope asked about you," Christine said. "Not by name, but she remembered you coming to visit. She wants you to come see her."

"I'd like that."

"Remember, she has her good days and bad days. There's no guarantee she'll remember you, or that it won't trigger some sad memory like last time."

Ella nodded and said, "I understand," even though she was certain there was nothing to worry about.

"This way," Christine said. A short distance down the hall, she stopped at a doorway. "Penelope, Ella is here to see you."

The elderly woman smiled and said, "Come in. Come in."

Christine said, "I'm going to get back to work. Catch me on your way out and I'll get your thermos."

"Thanks," Ella said as she stepped into the room.

"You remind me of an old friend," Penelope said once Ella reached her bedside. "Ella, isn't it?"

Ella glanced toward the door to make sure nobody was passing by, and then answered, "Xanella, actually."

The old woman's eyes widened and she gasped. "So, it's true?"

Ella nodded, and then held up a finger before going to close the door. When she returned to the bedside, she explained, "My great-grandmother is a dryad named Xantina. I asked her about Xantwilla when you said her name."

"Do I have her to thank for bringing me back?"

Ella thought that mentioning the fairies might be a little too much, too fast, and answered, "Partially. She said that it was Xantwilla's magic, too."

"I've missed her so," Penelope said, and then sighed. "So much is... I only remember bits of what's happened while I've been here. I remember you coming, though. I thought you were her, come back to me somehow."

"It broke my heart when you realized I wasn't her," Ella admitted.

"You know, I can almost hear her singing..." The old woman's eyes grew distant for a few seconds, but a shake of her head brought her back. "But, enough wool-gathering. I know I don't have much time left."

"So..." Ella hesitated, not knowing what to say, and ended up settling for, "You know?"

Penelope nodded. "Yes, I know I'm not long for this world. I'm over ninety, and I've known that for years. It's just more certain now. I'm ready to go. What I don't know is how you came to find me in the first place. I know I'd remember if we met before."

"It's kind of a long story," Ella dodged. She was more than a little embarrassed by the selfish motivation that had eventually led her here. "I learned who you were because the campground is in danger of being foreclosed on for unpaid taxes."

Even deeper furrows creased Penelope's wrinkled brow. "How can that be? I put my affairs in order years ago."

"My dad is a state senator. He looked into it and said that the property taxes somehow got missed. The church has been trying to raise the money, but they're almost out of time. My family tried to make a donation, but they wouldn't take it."

"Oh dear," Penelope said, and pursed her lips. Then her eyes lit up. "Miller. Your father's name is Daniel Miller, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's my dad."

"I thought so. I voted for him, you know. I reckoned he was a good man, and after meeting you, I know I was right."

Ella grinned and said, "Thanks. I'll let him know."

"You do that. Tell me, do you happen to know if a woman named Carolyn is in charge of raising the money?"

"Yes."

The old woman nodded and sighed. "I thought so. I hope your kin can forgive her for sending your money back. She's been through so much, and when she turned to the church for strength, I'm afraid she fell in with the fire and brimstone types."

How well Ella knew that. She shrugged and said, "We're used to that sort of thing. But, my dad checked with some people, and he's pretty sure that he can get the land attached to the state forest if the foreclosure goes through. So at least it will be protected."

"I think Xantwilla would approve of that, and I know I do," Penelope said. "It may not come to that, though. I need to talk to Carolyn and say goodbye, anyway. I'll convince her to accept your family's donation, if they're still willing to give."

"Do you think you can?"

Penelope reached out and patted her hand. "Deep down, she has a good heart. She just needs to hear things interpreted through scripture, and I'm good at that, dear. I don't know that I ever believed, but the church is a lot like Carolyn. At the heart of things, it's about love and compassion."

Heartened by Penelope's confidence, Ella said, "If she'll take the money, I'm sure my family will make the donation."

"And she will, dear." The old woman chuckled, looked at the phone, and said, "I imagine she's in for a bit of a shock when I call her."

Sensing that she wanted to catch up with those she loved, and knowing that she didn't have much time to do so, Ella said, "I should go and let you do that, then."




Blessing or a Curse



Over 20 years ago now, I was introduced the bliss that comes from being with another man and it has haunted me ever since. 

It started when a group of 10 buddies, all between the ages between 18 and 20, that magical age where you are an adult but not adult enough to buy alcohol, decided to road trip to my buddy's parent's cabin in the woods. The road trip consisted of 3 cars with trunks packed with beer, a football, a radio, stack of CD's, a deck of playing cards, and a stop at an adult toy store where the needed porn videos, magazines, (yes, I said magazines. I am 45 now and the internet thing did not take off as of then) and blow up doll were purchased.

The weekend went pretty much like you would expect it to. Friday night we pulled up, got the camp fire going, cranked up the music, and started drinking. Now sleeping space was a premium so I quickly shot down the hall and saved the lower bunk in one of the bedrooms. I was pretty much set as I knew that at least five guys will be fighting for floor space or an old springy couch. Not that it would matter much to most of them, considering we pretty much just drank to the point that you wouldn't feel much discomfort anyway.

We pulled out the porn and did plenty of laughing and joking. I did that too, but even then I was drawn to porn like a moth to a flame. I would take individual magazines back to the room every chance I could and give them a proper studying. I probably do not have to describe how horny any guy is at this age is much less given alcohol and porn. I was as hard as a rock but didn't risk trying to jerk off. The fear of getting interrupted and caught was mortifying. At least up until now I was showing some type of self-control. I returned to the party and basically drank and partied until I passed out.

Saturday morning the crew slowly woke up, moaning and groaning, quick to cure our hangovers by drinking again. We restoked the campfire, drove into town, brought some food and supplies, and headed back. It was when we pulled back in the driveway that we noticed a new car parked by the cabin. It turned out another buddy of ours decided to make the trip and he brought a friend from school, Jason. 

Jason was a couple inches taller than me, about 5'10", lean, fit, with longer brown hair. I was 5'8, 160 lbs., flat hard stomach, clean cut, and in good shape. 

I made a smart ass comment about the preppy clothes he was wearing for a backwoods party and he laughed and said he had to agree. I offered him a beer, assured him that I was just kidding, and we drank and talked for the next few hours.

As the day went on, people where breaking off to different activities. The serious card players were at the kitchen table, the guys attending the fire were camped out in front of it, some guys were trying to catch a nap, and others were throwing the football. I was never much of a gambler, so I bounced back and forth between the fire and the football with Jason. I went in to check on the poker game and glanced down and saw some neglected porn mags on the couch. As I glanced at the selection, I was instantly drawn to an oral sex themed one and instantly felt my cock jump. I did my best to pick it up as casually as possible and slipped back to the bedroom so I could give the pictures the attention they deserved.

I closed the door and thought maybe, just maybe, they would not miss me or think I was just trying to catch up on some sleep. I lie on the bed, unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans (for purely comfort reasons you understand) and began starring at the incredible pictures of hot women as they sucked cock. It was no big surprise (6" to be exact) that I felt my cock press hard against my underwear. What was surprising was that I found my mouth half open and watering as I starred at what those girls got to play with. I found myself envious of the girls as they got to play with these, hard, gorgeous looking cocks. My mind raced at what control a girl must feel when they please a man like this. The thought of giving such pleasure to someone fits my people pleasing personality, and I pressed my pelvis hard against the mattress again and again, trying to relieve any pressure I could from the blood that was now engorging my cock. The motion only made things worse.

My cock was so hard now that I knew I had to do something. I suffered a case of blue balls once before in my life and swore I would never go through that pain again. As I got up to check the door I saw that the blow up doll had made its way down the hallway. I quickly snatched it up and closed the door behind me. The thought of trying to use "her" mouth was irresistible. I wanted so bad to feel a mouth around my cock and couldn't wait to feed my cock in "her" open mouth. I quickly realized I was without lube as I tried to slowly lower "her" head on my cock. I was disappointed in the way it felt on my cock. I had a good supply of precum already and rubbed it over the head of my cock, used some saliva, and tried again. My cock entered the hole easier this time but the inflatable head didn't provide enough stability to press "her" head down to the base of my shaft. Never the less, I tried worked my cock back and forth and it didn't take long to feel my cum filled balls begin to tighten.

It was at this exact moment that the door swung open. There stood Jason, his eyes immediately glancing down at the blow up doll between my legs, my cock in her mouth, as I sat at the edge of the bed. He stood there for what seemed like an hour but in reality was probably like five seconds before he lowered his eyes and turned around to hastily rush through the door. I sat there; my heart in my throat, frozen in the thought of my worst fear would now be realized. The reactions my friends will have once they hear the story. I threw the doll off my cock and pulled up my pants. I must have paced in the room for like 15 minutes before lowering my head and walking back to the party. 

If I had driven I would have gotten in my car and drove away. Instead, I was trapped there waiting for the inevitable. It was like being told you were going to get hit by a truck but you didn't know when. My stomach was tied up in knots so I couldn't drink. I moved around the rest of that day, avoiding Jason, glancing at whomever he was talking to, and waiting for the fall out I was sure would come. Seconds turned in to minutes, minutes into hours, and still nothing. As each minute passed I began to hope that maybe, just maybe, he holds off in telling his story to the ride home. I would be good with that. Let the word spread after the fact and I can get begin looking for new friends without facing the bombardment of insults and jokes from these guys.

Guys continued to drink and party and one by one they started to crash. I helped escort my drunken bunk buddy back to his bed and just decided to lie down for the night myself. My muscles tight, I lie there in the pitch dark listening for any sound that might be a reaction to what Jason had witnessed. An hour or so later the cabin fell quiet but I still couldn't sleep.

Then I heard the door creep open, and the sounds of a guy clearing a space to crash. Not completely unexpected with the addition of Jason and our other buddy, but still an unwelcome thing to deal with considering the night I was having. I turned toward the wall and tried to ignore it the best I could. I was completely dark so I couldn't make out who it was and I quite honestly didn't even care.

A few minutes went by and I heard some rustling and noises coming from my new roommate. At first I didn't think anything about it, but the more I listened the more it sounded like he may be jacking off or at the very least, playing with himself. I put the thought out of my head and cursed the fact that my mind would still go there considering where my uncontrollable urges have gotten me. A minute or two later, however, more noise. This was someone moving towards the side of my bed, still on the floor, but sitting up and looking over me. 

I now made out the silhouette. It was Jason! I lie there, frozen again, not knowing what to expect. I pretended to be asleep in hopes he would soon realize that the bed was occupied and he would return to his spot on the floor. Instead, I felt a hand softly brush against my waist. Not believing what I thought was happening, I decided to play possum and continue my act of being asleep. Jason's hand slowly increased the length in which he stoked my sides. My heart was beating out of my chest not knowing what to do next. I decided to go with the fake sleeping act yet, but turn to lie on my back as if I was reacting to the touches in my sleep.

After a short reprieve from his uninvited touches, I again felt the soft touch of his hand, this time on my stomach. He placed his hand just below my naval, so his thumb was over my belly button and his pinkie touch the waist band of my underwear. I was quickly reminded that I did strip down to my underwear before jumping under the covers. I had a sporty pair of briefs on made of a thinner material. I remember because I loved the way they felt whenever my cock would press against them. Now I was wondering if the decision to wear them would help betray me. His first several movements were his hand sliding across my stomach towards my hip and then back towards the other side. 

My mind was blank. I never thought of myself as gay or even bi up to this point of my life. I had a girlfriend, which I loved to have sex with, and loved the site of a beautiful girl. My masturbating was frequent and intense but I thought probably no more than any other guy my age. Let's face it, sex with the girl friend while living with parents is not going to be as frequent as you would want or need. It wasn't until earlier today that I became consciously aware of how the thought of another man's cock got me horny.

All I knew was what was happening to me right this second felt good. Better than good. It was like he met me and had read a manual on everything I loved most when it came to sex. He was gently moving his hand across my stomach, slowly, passionately; like he was taking in every possible sensation. He didn't just race through to the cock like most guys think (and like most guy porn). In fact, I was surprised when his hand moved up to my chest as he started caressing my nipple.

Still torn between the guilt and fear of a guy making me feel so good, I continued my sleeping act. He paused his caressing for a moment as I heard him take off his pants. He started touching me again where he left off but now added some slight moans as he stroked his own cock with his other hand. My body started to betray my mind despite me biting my lower lip. My cock began to swell against the fabric of my underwear and he must have felt my heart racing as his hand moved up and down my chest and stomach. This time as his hand moved down to the top of my underwear his pinkie brushed up against the tip of my now growing cock head. His hand lingered there some more before venturing lower than he had before, his fingertips gliding over the top of my underwear, across my bulge and back again.

I heard him whisper his pleasure in what he was feeling as he let out a loader moan. I found my legs now spreading more as he gave my bulge more attention, tracing my shaft and balls through the fabric of my underwear. My cock was now rock hard and my head popped out of my waistband. I can not describe the bolt of electricity that raced through my body when his fingers touched its bare head. I raised my hips to press my cock firmer against his touch. He read my body language and moved his hand up my stomach and back down, this time reaching underneath my underwear and taking my cock in his magical hand.

I let a moan of pleasure escape my mouth as I arched my head back in the pillow. All apprehension left my mind and body as I lost myself in the pleasure and pure lust of the moment. He leaned over and kissed my nipple as he slowly began stoking my cock. I lifted my hips and pulled down my underwear past my knees, sliding them off down one leg so I could spread my legs wide for him, completely surrendering any part of me he wanted. His hand moved from my shaft to cup my cum filled balls as his mouth and tongue made their way down my stomach. My next memory was the loud "oh, fuck yes" that came out of my mouth as his warm wet lips wrapped around my cock head. He worked just my cock head, gently up and down, kissing and licking it. 

I rotated on the bed and lifted my leg so he would know be kneeling between them. This also gave me the slightest of moments to gather myself and to try and delay me cumming. However, as he resettled in this new position and again returned his mouth to my cock, I knew trying to delay my orgasm was a lost cause. "Fuck. I am going to cum" is all I could blurt out. He took my cock out of his mouth without a second to spare and prevented me from cumming just yet. I didn't have to wait long before the next sensation he had in store for me sent waves of ecstasy up and down my spine.

Jason placed his cock against mine and started grinding his cock on me. As his rock hard, hot cock pressed against me I remember thinking this is what a girl must feel like when they are fucked and that I wanted to experience it as well. Both of our moans quicken and got louder. Jason moaned on how fucking good it felt and then I lost it. The weekend's worth of cum buildup and with no release mixed with the emotions and lust of the last 24 hours rushed over my body as told him I was cumming, resulting in what was the single most intense orgasm I ever experienced up to that point of my life. I raised my head because I wanted to make some type of connection with him while cumming, only to have the first shot of my load hit me in the cheek, followed by shot after shot landing on my chest, stomach, and waist. There was no way I could remain silent and as I cried out while my load of cum jetted out of my shaft in tribute to Jason's work. He quickly began answering my cries. His body froze as he released his load, cum arching from his cock head and hitting me in the eye, then trailing down the same path mine landed a few seconds earlier, until my body was covered in a bath of warm cum.

To my surprise, Jason didn't collapse. He caught his breath and began running his hands up and down my body, spreading our lust seed all over my body. He then moved me back on to the bed and I pulled him in on top of me, where for the first time he saw the cum on my face. I took the cum that I knew was his with my finger and rubbed it on my lips and then tongue. I was surprised at how good it tasted to me and scooped up some more. 

Now would be the time I would have expected the awkwardness of the whole situation to set in. Or, perhaps the guilt and regret, once our climaxes have subsided. Jason wiped the rest of the cum from my face as we starred at each other in a sort of disbelief/"holy crap"/what just happened state of mind. Our bodies were together with each other's sweat and cum forming a slick layer between us. Our pelvises immediately began grinding on one another as we both shared how hot that was. The beauty of age 18 was that you could often go more than once without ever losing an erection. 

I could feel his cock stiffening against mine and took in the amazing feeling of Jason fucking my cock. As good as that felt, I grabbed his ass and rotated him to his back and quickly slid my hand down to his cock. An inner slut came out of me and I knew that here and now was my chance to worship his dick. I kissed his chest, trailing my tongue over to his nipple where I paused to kiss, suck, and nipple it, giving his nipples even more than he had done to me earlier. The one thing I learned from my girlfriend at the time is that the things she did to me were how she would want them done to her. The lesson paid off as he squirmed and bucked in reaction to my touches from both my mouth and hand. As my tongue licked and kissed his body, I could taste the cum from earlier and it drove me wild. I moved lower toward my one and only thing I desired, his cock. 

Jason's cock was longer than mine (I would say a full 7") but thinner. As I held it in front of my face I paused for a second, not only to admire the look, feel, and smell of it, but to also buy a second or two to think. I had never sucked anything like this before, where do I start? Before too much self-doubt creped in I simply leaned in and began kissing the underneath of his head. Then up towards the tip. I began alternating wet slow kisses with more tongue. His moans of pleasure encouraged me to go farther. I wrapped my lips around his cock and worked my tongue around his head. I felt a pleasure that I didn't think was possible not being on the receiving end of a sexual act. Soon I felt Jason's hand on my head and heard him begging me to try and take more of him in. I slid his cock further down my throat until I began to gage. The saliva it caused quickly went to good use in lubing up the entire area. I knew I couldn't take him all the way down to his base so I stroked what my mouth failed to reach. I also cupped his balls and trailed my fingers behind them, one finger making its way to my target, his asshole.

I was now experiencing what I was wondering about less than 24 hours earlier, the feeling of giving a guy so much pleasure that his body reacts to your wishes, leaving him with no choice but to moan and react to your touches. Jason was basically surrendering his entire body for me to explore. I sucked, licked, and stroked him for a while longer before he arched his pelvis, forcing his cock further down my throat than before. I gaged and had to pull my mouth off his cock to catch my breath. He damn near screamed he was going to cum so I stroked his cock and held his dick right in front of my mouth. Before I had a chance to decide whether to take his cum in my mouth or not, his cock jerked and the first shot of another round of hot jizz came out of his cock and began covering my face and chin. I licked some off my lips and milked his cock some more. The taste of his cum in my mouth heightened my lust frenzy, and I returned my mouth to his sperm glistening cock to lick it clean.

The smuttiness I felt was such a turn on my cock was ready to explode at the simplest touch. Jason pulled me up closer to him and his hand reached for my aching cock. With just a few strokes I once again began pumping my cum between us, covering both our bodies with my seed. We lay next to each other a little longer before the slide off the bed and back to the floor. I dozed off to sleep in the most relaxed state and hoping to wake early enough have another round with Jason in the morning. Unfortunately it was not meant to be. Other buddies of ours woke up early and we never got a chance to hook up again.



Blessing or Curse?



I've got a problem, most men wouldn't consider it a problem, but I do. Many men think that size matters, it does to some extent, but just like how breasts can get too big, your penis can too. I was "blessed" with a 15" cock that is as big around as Pringles can. 

I know what you're thinking, "Wow, he has a giant cock, he must get lots of women!" This isn't true, I have the same problems that all men have. I still have to go out to clubs, and it's not as if women can just see me and tell that I have a large cock and want to sleep with me. I still have to work up the courage to talk to a girl. I try to spark a conversation, making it seem like I am not just trying to get into her pants, although most of the time that can't physically happen. 

Usually when I tell a woman about my size, they laugh and think that I am joking. Then while out on the dance floor, we start grinding against each other, they feel my groin, and the woman always has this shocked look on her face, and insists we go back to her place. We get there, and begin kissing and making out, and then she'll invite me upstairs, with that look that women get when they are in total lust, and all they want is sex. We undress, and she sees it for the first time, and then the butterflies kick in. Women aren't used to seeing my cock, and are surprised that a cock is that big, it intimidates them. The get this look in their eye, trying to think about what they are going to do with it, they always try a few positions, but they won't work. Then she gets this dejected look on her face, and says "Maybe it would be better if you left." Pretty Harsh eh? 

Most women think they can handle my cock, they're all wrong, sadly. Have you ever thought about the average size of a woman's mouth, nonetheless her pussy? Most women can barely fit their mouth around my cock, much less give me a decent blowjob. Women always try and eventually fail, and give up, never to be heard from again. The number of women I have been with who have actually been able to get their mouth around it is maybe 10, maybe. It's just not physically possible for them, even the women who can fit it in their mouth, usually gag, and one of them ended up throwing up on me, which killed the mood.

Actually have sexual intercourse with a woman is almost impossible, a woman's vagina just wasn't built to handle my massive cock. I usually can barely fit it in, with no thrusting at all, and by then she can't bare the pain anymore and makes me stop. It's sad, women always try, but always inevitably fail. I have only been able to have intercourse with one girl, and that was part of a gang-bang. I was about 5th in line, so she was already opened up for me, so I actually was able to fit enough of it in. I know what you women are thinking, "maybe he should just try harder with foreplay to get them open more." 

Believe me I have tried, I attempted to get one girl wet by eating her pussy for 30 minutes straight (she came at least that many times too) so she was as wet as she was going to get. So I tried to stick it in to get some relief, but to no avail, I still couldn't only fit about 8 inches of it in, that's barely more than half, before she was in too much pain to bear. The only way I can ever get off is when I get a hand job or get tit-fucked, but with that the woman needs large breasts. Of course, some women think that it is absurd that I even ask that. However, most of the women who have performed it seem to enjoy it a lot. 

When I do cum, however, the woman seems entranced by it, they have never seen anything that size, and watch intently, almost mesmerized, at it. Then I ejaculate (and with my cock it goes a pretty good distance, and is quite accurate when I aim) it shoots at them, and just doesn't stop, I keep shooting for 1-2 minutes afterward. So men, those of you who think you are inadequate, just think, at least I can still fit it in and pleasure a woman, because some men can't.