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The Last 24 Hours Ch. 01

By: Landrious1



Prologue

I just felt sick at first. I mean I just found out that the love of my life, the mother of my twin daughters; my wife didn't love me and never had. To make matters worse she had trained our twin daughters to feel the same and I had the proof of it on video tape in front of me. To top it off the girls might not even be mine...

My wife had filed for divorce nine months ago and we were still in the process in court and I still didn't know what was happening. If not for an "accidental" encounter I would have let Lisa have everything... 

Chapter 1

I was supposed to finalize my divorce today. I was on my way out of the rented two bedroom apartment where I was staying, I had moved out when Lisa had asked me for the divorce, when Joshel "Josh" Taylor my old college roommate and his sister Beth, who incidentally is my best friend, showed up on my doorstep...

As I turned from locking the door I saw Josh coming up my front walk with a medium sized cardboard box in his hands. "Joshel! Hell man it's great to see you. What are doing here? Where's Heather?" I looked around and saw Beth still in the car but no Heather.

"That's part of why I'm here. I heard you are getting divorced, is that true?" "Yeah, in fact I'm due in court soon. I was just leaving." I replied turning to close my door. 

Joshel shoved the box he was holding into my hands and asked "Is that your car out front?" I nodded my head, puzzled, as he waved at his sister who slid over to the driver's seat and proceeded to hit my Caddy with a resounding crash damaging the left side!

"What the hell do you think your doing?" I cried as Beth ran up to me and held out her cell phone and Josh said 

"Call your lawyer, tell him you've been in an accident and are waiting on the police but are uninjured. Tell him you'll get to the court as soon as you can and to ask the judge to delay the hearing for a couple of hours while you get this sorted out. It will be alright to postpone it for another day if that's what it takes. I... We have things you need to know before you go into court and sign away anything to that BITCH!"

As I had never heard Joshel refer to any woman in that fashion I decided to comply with his request. My lawyer wasn't happy to hear I couldn't make it but got the judge to agree that I needed to wait for the police and that we would meet in court the next morning at ten a.m.

I agreed to cover the accident with the police by saying a German Shepard had run into the street and Beth had swerved into my car to avoid it. We called the cops and while we waited Joshel began to tell me his story.

"Heather and I began to have problems when she found out she couldn't get pregnant last year. It seems that a severe infection she had as a child left scars that they didn't know about. She will never conceive." I nodded my head in sympathy. "As it turns out that was a good thing. When she got the news she went to stay with her mother." "That was ten months ago. I was going out of my mind sitting at home alone that first month when water started pouring down the stairs. A pipe had burst. I went to the basement and found the main shut off valve. Under it was a box I didn't recognize. You are holding copies of the contents made by the court." Josh said. 

"These date back some fifteen years. They are the plans to seduce and fleece us and several of our friends," his eyes darkened "and in your case much worse." Josh said all of this with sadness in his eyes warring with an anger I'd never believed him capable of. 

"What do you mean in my case much worse?" I asked. The feeling of dread I got was increasing and tying my stomach up in knots. I looked at Beth who just shook her head.

Josh just took me by the arm and led me back into my place saying "I might bring the evidence but I won't tell you what's on it. You need to see for yourself and then decide what to do. Just watch the tapes and while you are doing that let me use your computer. I need to draft something for you to take to your lawyer in the morning. I'll even do it Pro Bono." He said with a sly grin. Did I mention that Josh is a very, very, good attorney?

While he was talking the police had arrived. They filed the reports and took statements. After about twenty minutes they were willing to call it an unfortunate fender bender and leave. We went back into the apartment and Josh began reading the documents Beth had printed from a CD-R disk she took from the box. Meanwhile I had sat down and began watching the tapes that were in the box. Josh had used post it notes to label them. There were about twenty tapes all together. Some labeled in green, some in yellow, and some in blue or purple. Each color had a different name on it.

The blue ones, with Alex hand printed on them, were mine and labeled one through seven. Several of the tapes had multiple stickers on them. I sat and watched the last fifteen years of my life be shredded. The first tape was a recording of a "war council" of my wife's sorority fifteen years ago. They detailed how they had identified the "eligible candidates" i.e. trust fund holders, and what their plans to marry and separate them from those funds would be. It was three hours of strategy. Then it was three hours of a lesbian orgy. Strap-ons were produced as well as vibrators and bottles of lube. The sex was intense and at times almost violent. Perhaps primal is a better choice of word. In fifteen years I had never gotten that kind of response from Lisa. If I hadn't seen the first part of the tape I'd have been quite turned on. As it was I just felt sick.

The next tape was the "ladies" getting their assigned victims. I knew everyone of the girls and their victims. Most of the men had married the women that had targeted them. Several were divorced and others were having problems and still others seemed happy in their marriages. 

I watched all of the tapes and on the fifth one was the information that my daughters may not be mine. There they were on the tapes being told I wasn't their real father and that when the "divorce came through" they would be living with mommy and "Aunt" Jacquie. My daughters were about ten years old in the videos. My daughters were ecstatic at the news. That was four years ago. They had known for four years and said nothing. My world had been a family that did not exist. Sorrow crashed over me and the pain of it caused me to gasp. A single tear trickled down my left cheek.

Wiping away the tear I got up and walked over to the bar and took a long Island Ice tea glass and began filling it with very potent rum. When the glass was half full of the potent liquid I put the bottle on the counter and raised the glass to my lips. 

Beth smacked the glass from my hands and raged at me "What the hell do you think you are doing, Alex? You know that you are allergic to alcohol! That's not the way to handle this. I won't stand by and let you commit suicide!" 

Josh had jumped to his feet and come running from the computer chair he had been in. Beth took me by the shoulders and held me. I sagged to the floor and sobbed as Beth sat and rocked me back and forth. I held on as a drowning man clings to the life preserver. After a time, I don't know how long, I pulled myself together and went back to the couch and picked up the last tape and the remote. I started the tape and there in living color was my wife and Joshes sister Jacquie and his wife Heather. This tape seemed a little different, very recent.

Josh told me that this tape had been made by the P.I. he had hired. Also that this tape detailed my divorce and it was nine months old. It showed our wives engaged in some serious sex. I can't call it love making because I don't think any of the women knew what love was. On the tape Jacquie also told how my lawyer was on "her" team and would be happy to tank my case and get Lisa the huge payout that she had "suffered for" all these years.

My first thought was "When I see that little bastard tomorrow I'm gonna pop his head off of his shoulders like a dandelion button." 

At this point Josh handed me a document and said "Read this and if you like it sign it. It makes ME your attorney of record effective immediately. That means any deals he's made have to come by me. We'll file it with the court in the morning along with the charges of legal malpractice on the bastard." 

The document he had handed me was very simple and straight forward. It stated that he would be taking over as legal council and that any and all agreements were nullified subject to his review and approval. It also stated that the fee for his services was to be one penny to be paid before the court in the event that I was satisfied with his performance. I read it and signed it and Beth ran next door and asked Harvey, my neighbor to act as witness, which he did gladly.

After Harvey left Josh began to relate his strategy for court tomorrow. The CD-R had proof in the form of records and account numbers and access routing numbers that Lisa and Jacquie had been siphoning off money to a private account in the Bahamas. These funds were not declared in the discovery of marital assets. He had changed the access numbers while I had been watching the tapes. In short we were going to strip Jacquie and Lisa of their little nest egg and all other resources. 

The Last 24 Hours Ch. 02



Beth and Josh stayed the night at my place. Beth took the spare bed and Josh took the couch. I know, I know, in typical stories like this I'd be pumping Beth like a madman with Josh in the next room or while Josh watched or joined in. Well the last thing I felt like doing was having sex. 

Don't get me wrong. I've been half in love with Beth for fifteen years, but by the time I met her I was already dating Lisa. Lisa and Beth had never liked one another so we avoided situations that would put the two together. 

Beth was my best friend and while she had an active social life, I had never seen her with a man or heard her mention a date, or event that wasn't with a female. I thought she was gay but had never asked her about it. It wasn't really my business and I was married after all. 

Beth stands six feet tall in her stocking clad feet and weighs in at one hundred fifty five well placed and proportioned pounds. She is very athletic and has the best looking ass on the planet, bar none. Her red hair, the color of new blood, if you prick your finger, is all natural and hits her just above the cheeks of that lovely ass. In the sunlight it reminds me of rubies the way it shines. 

Her eyes are however her best feature. They are a blue so deep that you feel like your drowning in them if you look into them to long. Her breasts are a healthy C cup if not a D. So sue me, I never had the right to ask her until now, and now I had other things on my mind.

I slept very little that night and was awakened by the sounds of someone in my apartment. I got up to find Josh and Beth already showered and changed for court. Beth had laid out a suit for me and asked that I wear the tie she had given me last Christmas. I blushed as that tie had a picture of her in a very small bikini air brushed on it. 

I asked why that tie and she said "You need all of the psychological weapons against that Bitch as you can get." 

As I had never shown Lisa the tie she would have no reason to think that it wasn't a recent addition. I thought what the hell and got dressed as requested.

We arrived at the court and my former attorney, the slimy little bastard, was waiting at the doors for me. Michael Fowler was a short, balding, greasy little man in his late forties with just a bit of a paunch. His suit looked as though he had slept in it and over all did not inspire confidence. He was about to get a rude awakening.

He came walking up to us "Alex, I'm so glad to see you weren't hurt. What happened? Give me their names and I'll start on the suits as soon as we finish here today." 

You could almost smell the greed rolling off of him like a sickness. I felt Beth's hand on my shoulder and turned to look at her. She just pursed her lips and shook her head. That was all it took to calm me. 

"I'm fine and the insurance company is already taking care of things. There's no need to sue anyone Michael." 

Fowler's eyes seemed a little less bright when he heard that and at that point he took note of my companions. 

"And who are these lovely people." He said holding out his hand. 

Neither Beth nor Josh offered to take his hand and I responded 

"This is my friend Beth Taylor and her brother Josh. Josh is going to be representing me from now on and in my suit against you."

At hearing Josh's name Fowler began to tremble. Josh reached out a hand with an envelope he had taken from his breast pocket and held it out to Fowler. 

"This is a subpoena to appear in court regarding both this divorce action and your malpractice involved therewith. The Deputy behind you is here to ensure your compliance with the order. Shall we go?" Josh nodded at the Deputy Sheriff who took Fowlers elbow and directed him to the elevators.

The ride to the eleventh floor was quiet and all I could think of was that soon my marriage would be over and that in a few weeks I may not even be a father, although it had seemed that that was fine with the twins. 

The sadness threatened to overwhelm me, and then I felt Beth gripping my elbow. I turned and saw the sadness at my pain in her eyes as I looked down into them.

Yes I said down into her eyes and yes she is six feet tall but I'm six feet five inches tall and weigh in at two hundred twenty pounds. I spend two hours a day, four days a week, in a gym to keep from looking like the good year blimp. If I didn't heredity says that I'd have a figure that reminds me of a certain purple dinosaur.

I pulled myself together and we walked into the courtroom. The judge, one W.B Smithers, looked us over and taking note of the Deputy asked "What's all this then and who are these people?" 

I stood and looked at Josh and said "Your honor if it pleases the court I'll let my friend explain." and at Smithers nod I sat and Josh stood up. 

Now Josh may only be five feet ten inches tall but he has what the military calls command presence. He stood and explained that he had been retained yesterday as my new lawyer, also providing the judge with copies of the police reports regarding the accident in front of my home.

He also submitted new names and evidence for the court to consider. Lisa's lawyer jumped to his feet and objected to everything especially when Josh asked the court to order a paternity test on the twins. Lisa looked like she had just swallowed a live fish. I think I knew at that moment that the twins weren't mine. 

Lisa grabbed her lawyer and told him to request a recess as she needed to talk to me. He asked and the judge looking suspiciously at Lisa picked up his gavel and said thirty minutes and banged it down. 

He stood and left and Lisa's lawyer came over and demanded "Ok, what the hell is this?" We had an agreement in place." 

Josh looked at him and said in a low voice "Ask your client. After all this is her party, fifteen years in the making, right Lisa?"

I could read the expressions on Lisa's face like a book. First was disbelief, "He couldn't know." 

Then "Maybe he suspects". 

And Last "OH Shit! He knows it all!" 

I stood and gave her what she calls my stone face. I showed no emotion at all, she got nothing from me. Her attorney turned to her and seeing the look on her face blanched and asked in a quiet voice "Lisa what's wrong?"

Josh took pity on him and gave him a run down on the tapes the accounts and the overall fraud and conspiracy of fraud that had gone on for the last fifteen years including the complicity of my own former attorney. 

He had the grace to look outraged on behalf of his client but we could all see it was a futile attempt at deception. Lisa stood in silence as Josh pulled out papers from his briefcase and handed them to Lisa's attorney. 

"The terms are non negotiable and a one time deal. Lisa will keep the house she was in" (it was paid for) "and the SAAB she so cherishes. As to the accounts in the Bahamas the money is already being transferred. As she failed to claim it in discovery I see no reason to place it in the marital assets. It is now where it rightfully belongs. 

My amended asset sheet is included in the packet. There will be no alimony and child support is dependant on a DNA test to prove Alex is the father. If he is the father then he will pay support and set up trusts for them. " Josh said. IF I was not I had not decided what I was going to do.

The girls were outside the courtroom and knew nothing of this. I needed to know where they stood, so while Josh and his colleague talked I slipped out into the hall. Stephanie and Lauren stood when I came out. They looked like younger versions of their mother. 

As I walked up Stephanie spoke "Well we're finally free of you eh? God, you were a pathetic excuse for a father." Lauren echoed her sister in berating me. At that moment I knew that if they weren't mine I had seen them for the last time. If they were mine we were in for a miserable four years.

I turned without a word and walked back into the courtroom as the bailiff came to the door to resume our case. The judge ordered the DNA test and accepted the divorce agreement as presented. 

I told Josh to start college accounts for the girls and to put fifteen grand in each account. Even though they were their mothers' creatures I still remembered them as my little girls. He objected but I was adamant about it.

Josh took the tapes and delivered them to the prosecutors' office and arranged for every one of the husbands involved to get copies of the tapes. 

I walked out to the curb to hail a taxi and Josh asked "Where are you going?"

"You don't think we are gonna to let you go back to your apartment alone do you?"

Beth piped up and said "Oh no! Uh UHN! NO WAY! I've waited fifteen years to have a date with you and now that you're free and clear you think I'm letting you go? Forget it pal! We have dinner reservations at Top of the Tower at eight and I'm not letting you out of my site till then!" 

I looked at Josh and he held his hands out and said "Don't look at me Alex; I wasn't invited on this gig. You know Beth usually gets what she wants." He said with a sly smile.

With a conspiratorial wink and whisper he leaned in and said "Besides she's had the hots for you since we were in college together." 

Blushing furiously and with a feral snarl Beth whirled on her brother "You Prick! How could you tell him that!?" 

Josh danced just out of reach of his sister's clenched fist, Beth chasing him fury etched on her face. I turned and looked at her, astonishment written across my features. It was at that moment that I knew that what Josh had said was true.



The Last 24 Hours Ch. 03



My thanks to OmegaZone for his editing and input.  My thanks thebullet for the encouragment. A thanks to the reader for your interest.

*

I stood on the sidewalk outside of the courthouse, watching my best friend, who I had thought for the last fifteen years was gay; chase her brother around with the apparent intent of reducing any future plans of procreation to the realm of wishful thinking. The only reason I could think of for her to be this mad at him was if it was true. In the fifteen years I'd know her Beth had never given any indication that she was interested in men. 

I knew for a fact that she had had several girlfriends as I had gone to her house to give her a shoulder to cry on over a couple of the breakups. She had never even hinted that she cared for me beyond the status of our friendship, still hadn't for that matter, I mean I knew she loved me, I just never knew she LOVED me. But what Josh said had the ring of truth and I just couldn't deal with it at the moment.

In a fog I turned and walked past the struggling siblings to the curb. I stuck my arm out and hopped in the cab that stopped. 

"Drive!" I said. 

I heard Josh call out to me as the cab pulled away but the driver kept going. I gave him my address and sat contemplating what I was going to do.

Let's face it my life has just altered in several significant ways. I'm single after fifteen years of marriage. Even if the twins are my daughters they hate me. IF they are my daughters I have nowhere for them to stay with me.

Damned if I know what to do if their not, I mean I've got fourteen years worth of emotional investment here. Lisa says they are not mine, and God help me, if she's wrong. God help me if she's right. Ok, God help me period. 

(Hey, God, are you listening here?)

The cab pulled to a stop in front of my apartment as my cell phone began to ring. I looked at my phone and saw Beth's name. I let it ring as I paid the cabbie and got out. As he pulled away the phone began to ring again. 

With a sigh I pushed the key and said, "Hello Beth." 

She shrieked into the phone, "Oh thank God, Alex, where are you? Are you ok? Where are you? I am so sorry..."

Her frantic voice was suddenly replaced by her brother's mellow, but no less urgent, inquiry, "Alex? Where are you? You're not thinking of doing anything stupid, are you?" 

I sighed and said, "I'm outside of my apartment and no I'm not thinking of doing anything stupid. Unless you count answering this phone or spending fifteen years of your life with a conniving Bitch! Everything's just peachy Josh." The last part of that came out as a growl that was so unlike me that even I was surprised.

I walked down the hall to my door and fished in my pocket for the key. 

"Hang on a sec." I said as I threaded the key into the lock and opened the door. I took my hands free set and plugged it into the jack on the phone and put the phone in my pocket. 

"Ok I'm back. Look I just need to think for a while and I just can't..." 

I was cut off by Josh "Look I know things are rough but please don't hide away from your friends. We want to help. I really think you should not be alone right now." Josh's voice sounded truly concerned. Beth sounded even more frantic in the background. 

I gave a heavy sigh "I'm not gonna hide away, Josh and if Beth wants to do dinner tonight then fine. But this isn't a celebration for me. I'm not sure what it is." 

I sighed again as I heard Beth badgering her brother about what was going on. I said slowly, "Look, it's only eleven thirty, you and Beth come to my place and I'll make us some lunch. We can talk when you guys get here." 

With an evil grin I said, "Tell Beth to take a deep breath and calm down or I'll have to paddle her ass when she gets here."

I disconnected before I could hear what Beth's response was, knowing that it would infuriate her. I always needled her like this and for the first time that day I smiled. For the first time in nine months I felt something besides despair. I went to the fridge and looked over the possibilities. I set about making salads and grilling chicken breasts on the built in gas grill out on the oversized patio. (A major reason I rented this flat.)

The chicken was just finished when the door to my apartment rattled with the impact of a very agitated Beth. 

"Alex you coward! Open this door right now!" She banged on the door again and I began to wonder if I'd have to pay for a new one. 

"Beth, if you break my door I'll use your brothers firm to sue you for damages." I said with a grin as I opened my battered door. 



The Last 24 Hours Ch. 04



I popped the door open, laughing. Beth's fist connected with my left temple as I leaned down and poked my head out the door. The last thing I saw before blackness claimed me was the tears streaming down Beth's face.

I don't know how long I was unconscious but as I came around I heard Beth sobbing, "I didn't mean it! I didn't mean it!" 

I opened my eyes and looked up into her face, my head resting on her knees, and said in a voice that sounded as weak as I felt, "You could have just told me you were pissed you know?"

Beth started with a jerk dropping my head violently back onto the tiles of my front step with a solid "thwock". Stars swam in front of my eyes for a moment and I felt a moment of vertigo. 

"Jesus Christ Beth, wait till the paramedics get here before you beat him up anymore!" I heard Josh exclaim with a chuckle. I also heard a siren in the distance getting closer. I was suddenly very tired.

Beth leaned over and said, "Please don't pass out again, Alex. I don't think I could take that... I just couldn't bear it." 

She started to cry again and I decided that I could not bear THAT (I never could stand to see Beth cry). So I stretched out my hand and brushed the tears away and said, "Help me sit up Beth, I'm not going anywhere at the moment." Beth leaned her cheek into my hand and placed hers on top of mine. 

She had never shown this depth of feeling for my touch in all the time I had known her and I wasn't sure what was going on. She had closed her eyes so I could not see what they held in them.

"Beth? Beth, look at me Sweets," I said. 

Sweets had been my nickname for her ever since we first met my freshman year in college. She had spent an entire month helping me prepare for a calculus exam I was sure I was going to fail. 

With her help I had aced the exam and the class. I had gotten her a box of custom made liqueur filled chocolates that had "Worlds #1 Best Friend" stamped in them. I had addressed the box "To Beth the Sweetest of the Sweets." 

Corny I know but hey I was nineteen and not the most suave guy on the planet. I mean I was dating my future wife after all.

Beth looked down at me and then over at her brother. Josh nodded and Beth helped me into a sitting position. She knelt behind me and supported my back. 

"Are you ok? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you..." I took her left hand in mine and intertwined our fingers.

"Shush... It's Ok I know you didn't mean it." I brought her hand up to my lips and lightly kissed it.

I felt Beth tense against my back and I started to ask what was wrong. As I turned my head I caught a glimpse of someone ducking down behind the hedge row to our left. I watched Beth as she watched the hedges. I chuckled.

"Harvey, get your ass out here! You've got Beth spooked all to hell and my nerves can't take this right now!" I screamed. 

Harvey stood sheepishly and came over to us with his trademark golfer's cap in his hand. "I'm sorry I spooked Miss Beth, Alex, but I came out as they come up and she hit you. I didn't know what was going on and got scared." 

Harvey had been in the Marines during the Korean War and a guest of Ho Chi Min in Vietnam. He was a little quirky but he was still a nice guy. But even as tough as he was, he was still in his late sixties and life had not been easy on him. He tended to watch everything going down on the block and if something wasn't right he'd call the cops. Our own, slightly shop worn, guardian angel.

"It's Ok; it was just bad timing on my part Harvey," I said. "I'll be alright. Beth and Josh will take care of things." 

I tried to stand up and Beth tried to hold me down. The paramedics were pulling up and I didn't want them to pull out the stretcher.

"Sweets, you need to let me stand up. I need to go talk to the nice men in the ambulance," I said in a teasing tone. I smiled at Beth to let her know I wasn't mad at her.

"I am SO sorry Alex. I didn't mean to hit you," Beth started to cry.

I could see her eyes start to tear up and said, in a low tone, "I know you didn't Beth. Please don't cry. You know I can't stand that. I'm just fine."

She sniffed, fighting back tears, and helped me to stand up and brush my slacks off. We headed over and let the paramedics take a look at me. They pronounced me fit for duty as it were and told Beth and Josh to keep and eye on me for the next few hours. They didn't think I had a concussion but if I started slurring my words or getting tired rapidly they should take me to an E. R.

We went back inside to eat our unfortunately cold lunch. As Beth re-heated the chicken in the microwave Josh and I sat at my dinning room table with glasses of Ice tea in front of us. 

"Well I think you need to know you have an appointment at the Lab for blood work at three o'clock this afternoon. Lisa's lawyer called on the way over and got the appointments in a rush. LISA is most insistent that the test be done immediately and that you are not the father," Josh looked truly sad as he said it.

Beth looked at me as asked "What are you going to do if the girls are yours?" She looked frightened for a moment and then covered it up with her poker face.

"I don't know for sure, Beth. The girls made it fairly clear that they hate me at the courthouse. You heard them spewing their mother's venom. You saw the tapes. They've known for four years that I might not be their father and they said nothing. In fact they were ecstatic about it. They are little carbon copies of Lisa at this point." 

I shook my head, "If they aren't mine then I'll give them their wish, I'll never see them again. If they are mine I'm not sure what I'll do. I won't leave them with their mother that's the only thing I do know." 

Beth sighed and took my hand across the table and gave me a supportive look. It hit me just then what Josh and Beth had said outside of the courthouse. 

I looked at Beth and asked, "What did you mean you've waited fifteen years for a date with me?"

Beth blushed from the roots of her hair all the way down to her fingertips. She shook her head and hid her eyes. I had never seen Beth act like this. Beth was one of the most outspoken, forthright, and uninhibited people I had ever met.

Josh leaned over and said in a quiet, serious tone, "Tell him, Beth." Beth just shook as if sobbing silently.

I looked at my watch and saw we only had an hour before my lab appointment. "Josh you talk to your sister. I have to go to the lab. When I get back I want to talk to her and you." 

Josh nodded and then said, "Hold it! You're not supposed to drive or be alone, remember?" 

I stopped. I had forgotten. I thought for a minute, and said, "Ok Josh we'll do it the hard way. Beth, will you come with me? Please?" 

You'd have thought I had just asked her to chop off her left hand or something. She looked like she was about to run and didn't know where to run to. Josh got up and grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet.

"The man has asked for the pleasure of your company, dear sister, and you are going to go with him if I have to tie you up and sit you in the car myself." 

Josh's tone said he would not take no for an answer.

Beth gave him a very hard look and replied, "Oh really? Is that what you think?"

Josh reached into his pocket and brought out a pair of handcuffs. "As a matter of fact it is. I came prepared for this. Now you choose, with or without jewelry? And I warn you I don't have the key on me!"

I watched all of this and wondered just what the hell was going on between them. Without a word to either of them I headed towards my door. With my hand on the door I remembered, again!

"Which one of you clowns is driving me? Some maniac hit my parked car yesterday and I haven't been to the rental agency yet."

Beth and Josh both had the grace to blush and look sheepish at the reminder that they had wrecked my car. Beth stepped forward and said in a quiet voice, "I'll drive." 

She stalked past me and out the door. Josh caught my arm and said, "Talk to her. You'll need to push or she won't say what she needs to. Be gentle with her but don't let her evade your questions. I'll be here when you get back and we'll talk then. Take her to someplace quiet after you leave the lab. She needs this more than you know."

I walked out to the car and got in. Beth put the silver Lexus in gear and pulled away from the curb. No matter what I said or asked she said nothing all the way to the lab. 



The Last 24 Hours Ch. 05



We pulled up into the lot in front of Lab Works Inc., a local Medical lab facility with a good reputation. Beth still had not spoken to me and I was so not in the mood to be ignored. Not with the questions I had and the answers I needed. The only thing I could figure was that I had misread things, no matter what Josh had said. 

With a dejected sigh I looked at Beth, "Go on home Beth. I can give the samples they want and catch a cab home." I turned and headed for the doorway without looking at her face. "I'll give you a call and let you know how it comes out."

My hand was on the door when I felt Beth grab my arm. I looked down into her lovely face and realized that she had a spray of freckles across her nose. I had known her for fifteen years and had never taken that close a look at her. I mean she was my best friend and you just do not "check out" your best friend.

"Please don't make me go Alex." She said in a soft pleading voice. She looked like she was about to cry again. I said in a soft voice "Then I need two things from you if you want to stick around. First, please don't cry. It hurts me to see it and I can't stand to see you cry. You know this. The second and most important at the moment is no more silent treatment. I just can't deal with that right now. Okay?"

"If you don't want to answer me then change the subject. Say "I'd rather not go there". Anything but silence I can sit in silence all by myself and not waste your time." I sounded a little rough and I hadn't meant to. My nerves were just shot. I pulled the door open and we walked into a sterile waiting room. 

The woman behind the counter was in her early twenties and had a pinched look to her face. She wore a pair of fifties Retro-style glasses and a light summer dress. Her mouse brown hair was pulled back from her face by a pair of barrettes. 

She looked up from her copy of Vogue and gave me an appraising stare. I hate when people do that. I think it's the rudest thing you can do to a stranger. She looked like she had assessed my entire net worth and found it wanting. Her voice failed to hide her contempt. "Can I help you?" The tone in her nasally voice said that she sincerely doubted it.

I gave her my name and told her why I had come. She typed in my name and asked me to have a seat. "Someone will be with you in a moment." she said in a nasal whine. I was just as happy to be done with her as she was to be done with me. Beth and I sat in the chairs and waited. After a moment the door opened and a technician called my name.

Beth patted my hand and I went through the door. The tech took a swab and swirled it in my mouth, then placed it into a sterile container. Then they drew several vials of blood as I was also having a full STD screen done. They asked me a few medical questions like if I knew my blood type, medical history and such. I gave the answers I could and was told they would call me when the results were in.

I re-entered the waiting room and Beth stood. The whole thing had taken less than twenty minutes. As Beth took my hand the door opened and Lisa and the girls walked in. Lisa gave her name and took a seat. The twins glared at me like I had just pissed in their fish bowl or something. They were angry with me and I just knew nothing I said would make a difference. They stalked across the room and took the seats farthest from me without a word.

Ok so I'm a coward. I got out of there as fast as I could without running. I sat down on the low wall that ran around the outside of the building and put my head between my knees. By pure act of will I did not throw up. Beth stroked the back of my neck until I had mastered my nerves. "Lets go before they come out." She said in a voice tight with anger.

I looked at her and saw a cold look that I had never seen on her face before. Hatred is an ugly thing and I had hoped to never see it on Beth's face. That hope was crushed when I looked up at her. I stood and took her hand and pulled her toward her parked car. "Can you follow directions, not ask any questions, and let me blindfold you when we arrive? I have something I want to show you but it has to be a surprise."

Beth looked at me for a moment and for that moment I thought she would say no. "Alright, but if this is a prank I'll kick the living shit out of you." Her voice held no trace of the menace her words were meant to instill. We got into her car and drove off.

It took nearly forty-five minutes to get to the park. I had Beth pull into a service station once we were within a few miles of the place and switch me places so I could drive. I also blindfolded her. I pulled into a parking spot near the trail I wanted and got out of the car. Beth had opened the door but waited for me to come and get her. 

I led her by the hand down a narrow trail that opened onto a shallow pool. The pool was fed by a series of cascading waterfalls. Water shimmered over the rocks and threw up a thousand rainbows in the afternoon sun. The park service people had placed several tables and benches near the falls.

I took the blindfold off of Beth "Keep your eyes closed for a moment. Let them adjust to the light." I stepped back and said "Okay you can look now." She opened her eyes and I heard her gasp in wonder.

"Oh my!" Beth spoke in an awed whisper. She stared at the waterfalls and the assorted rainbows. The wonder on her face was worth every moment of aggravation I endured the last couple of hours. Beth was dressed in a pair of faded jeans that looked like they were very comfortable and hugged in all the right places. She wore a fawn colored V necked top that showed enough cleavage to impress without implying "Slut". 

I walked up and took her hand and led her to one of the benches. As I touched her she bowed her head to hide her eyes from me. As we sat I placed a finger on her chin and lifted her eyes to mine. "What did you mean you had waited fifteen years to have a date with me?' iasked softly "What does Josh think it's time for you tell me?" She tried to turn away and I gently slid my hand to cup her cheek.

"I'm not going anywhere Beth. Please talk to me. You've been my best friend for so long. Don't stop talking to me now." My voice had started strong but faded to a whisper near the end. I smoothed my thumb over her cheek and waited looking into her eyes.

With a sigh she pulled herself up and straightened her shoulders. She took a deep breath and said "Remember when you and I first met? Josh had told you I could tutor you for your calculus class? I had no idea what I had gotten myself into." She looked at the falls for a moment and then continued "You were the first guy since I hit puberty to walk into a room with me and actually look me in the face and not at my breasts. You actually took the time to get to know me. I can't tell you how important that was to me,then and now. 

I may be younger than Josh but I was in classes on the campus for almost a year before he got there. I graduated high school almost two years early and am a member of MENSA. I have an I.Q. in the one seventies. I had been taking Advanced Placement courses all through high school. All of them were college accredited." She stopped and waited to gauge my reaction.

I stared at her in disbelief. "But you got your degree after I graduated. How...?" Then I knew. I was having a hard time with the news. I knew Beth was smart that wasn't a shock. That I had met her in my freshman year in college and her junior year, now that was a bit of a shock. "You didn't get your Bachelors you got your Masters degree?" I asked.

She nodded "I was afraid if you knew I was a "brainiac" as you called them you wouldn't talk to me. I didn't find out you were dating Lisa until we had been working together for a while. By that time, well, I didn't want to be just friends anymore. You hadn't asked so I was going to ask you out the day you told me you were going steady with Lisa. It nearly crushed me. I never said anything because I didn't want you to know, and I was only seventeen years old."

"I had this whole speech worked out" she gave a bitter laugh "Then you blew it completely out of the water. I left you that day and ran and for the first time, cried on my brother's shoulder. I also told him if he ever told you I'd change his name from Josh to Josephine. I decided to wait and see what would happen and to be ready if it ever did. But you and Lisa never seemed to have any problems. I came to the decision that if I couldn't have you for my own I could at least be near you and be your friend. I've been waiting nine months to tell you about what Lisa was up to but the prosecutor put Josh and me under a gag order until yesterday. That's why I haven't been around much."

"I couldn't tell you and I couldn't stand it and they made me stay away when you needed me the most." Tears started to well up again and she took a tissue out of the travel pack in her purse. She dabbed at her eyes and sniffed a couple of times. "It nearly killed me to not be there for you. I haven't slept right in months. I've been so afraid you'd hate me for not telling you."

She paused again and still playing catch up I asked "That's why you never pledged Omega sorority; you were too young to when you got there and didn't want to see Lisa after you were old enough?" Beth looked at me and laughed, "No. I never pledged because I was told by Lisa and three of her sisters that I would be booted the first day. No sorority wanted me after Lisa had trashed me to them. I was not wanted nor was I needed in the Omega house." The fire in her eyes was anything but friendly. "Omega house let every guy on campus know that no one who dated me could expect to be invited to any Greek party or bash ever!' Beth gave a soft chuckle, "But that's where Lisa's plan backfired because the only guy I wanted to date she already had, you."

Beth took a shuddering breath and let it out slowly before resuming. "It ate at her that you would not give me up as a friend. My roommate that year was Teresa Lopez. Do you remember her, the Latina with the big hooters? The Beta Phi's called her "Torpedo" Lopez?" I nodded "She introduced me to a word that helped you and I stay friends although Lisa still didn't like it." 

I looked puzzled and asked "What word?" Okay so I'm dense sometimes, so shoot me. She smiled at me and said "Bisexual." Then it made sense. I had thought she was gay but she was bisexual. She had begun openly dating girls shortly after Lisa and I became exclusive. When that happened, Lisa backed off on pressuring me about spending time with Beth.

My head snapped around and I looked at her, "Please tell me you haven't been playing the lesbian solely for Lisa's benefit." I knew she hadn't as soon as the words had left my mouth. The look on her face said more to me than her words could have conveyed. Beth stood and loomed over me. The light in her hair made it look like rubies spun out into a fine soft wire. It was a beautiful sight, and a frightening one coupled with the look on Beth's face.

"Is that what you think of me? You think I would use people like that?" Her anger flared and this time I was the target "I am not Lisa, damn you! I could be your friend and try to make things easier for you, so I did. But I would never use someone like that. Teresa saw me crying and comforted me. We talked and she told me that she liked guys and girls alike. She showed me what it meant to make love to and be made love to by a woman. She knew up front how I felt about you. She knew Lisa before we met and suggested that it might be easier on you, if we were a little "public" with each other, that it might calm Lisa down and take the pressure off of you. We never hid that we were more than just friends anymore than I hid that I was your friend. Lisa and her pack of jackals saw to it that no guy expressed interest in me the whole time she was there. After you guys got engaged and graduated I was to busy working on my Masters thesis to date anyone." The hurt look in her eyes was like a hot wire shoved into my chest.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. I don't want to fight." I apologized and took her hand. "Please sit down. I know you aren't like Lisa. I know I'm handling things badly. But it seems like everyone has been keeping secrets and I'm the butt of the joke on it all. Lisa and Jacquie, you and your brother, the twins, everyone is keeping secrets that affect me in profound ways and it's just a lot to take in. Hell it's only been a day since it came out!"

Her scowl melted and instead of sitting down again she knelt between my legs and pushed so that I sat up straight on the bench. She looked at me with those liquid blue eyes and said "I am not a lesbian. I am bisexual. I have dated girls because they were attractive to me. The only man I have ever felt anything for I fell in love with fifteen years ago while helping him study for his calculus exam. I'm kneeling in front of him and telling him that I love him and have designs upon his person in the very near future. I love you Alex Palmer. I've loved you for fifteen years. You were married and I kept quiet, but now you are free and clear and I want to give you something that no man has ever had." She took my hand and placed on her chest between her magnificent breasts and held it there for a moment. She closed her eyes and bowed her head a little.

I took her other hand and brought it to my lips and kissed the tip of each finger. She looked up at me expectantly. I looked into her eyes and said "Beth you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met. I noticed your mind all those years ago; I noticed your body too. I'm not a monk after all. I was in love with a lie. I've wasted fifteen years on a lie. I'm not sure I'm good for anyone right now. I will tell you this. I have loved you for just as long as you've loved me. Not the same way perhaps, but I do love you. That love is already in the process of changing, for the better I think. I don't want to rush things with you now that we are free to explore this together. I don't want to screw this up. Will you be patient and give me the time to sort this out in my head and my heart?"

Beth reached up with her other hand and cupped my cheek again, "I've waited fifteen years to hear you say you loved me." She said softly. Her eyes misted with unshed tears. "I think I can wait a few more days to hear you mean it in truth. Or as long as it takes for that matter, I love you." She stood and pulled on the hand that was still in mine. "C'mon, we need to get you to the rental agency and then we have a dinner to get ready for."

As I stood I pulled Beth into the circle of my arms and leaned into her for a kiss. Our first real kiss. I have never in my life felt such a kiss. Any kiss I had ever been a part of was a pale imitation of this one. I brought my arms up and rubbed Beth's back as her tongue snaked out and teased my lips. I opened them and her tongue took the invitation to enter. The passion I felt was returned to me a thousand fold. I don't know how long we stood there kissing but at last Beth pulled away.

I looked down into her eyes and saw tears of joy and promise on her cheeks, "I don't think it'll take days Beth, just a little quiet time to sort through it all." I again brought her hand to my face and kissed her palm before lacing my fingers with hers. We walked back to the car and I gave her the keys. I looked at my watch and was shocked to find we had been talking and, um, other things for slightly more than an hour it was now six o'clock and we still needed to get my rental.

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

We pulled in to the rental agency ten minutes before closing. I gave them the details. The agent behind the counter said they would drop the car off around seven that night. I had to argue that at six feet five inches a compact car wasn't going to be practical and make them upgrade me. A nice new Bonneville would be at my disposal. 

We left and headed back to my place to change and pick up her brother. I was pretty sure that he was going nuts wanting to know what had happened between us. It had to be torture for him. I had to smile at that and take a little petty pleasure in the knowledge that he is as curious as any three cats. Not having heard from us for the last three hours had to have him climbing the walls.

Beth picked up my cell phone and turned it on. I looked at her in surprise. "How long has that thing been off?" I knew it was on when we left my apartment. "I turned it off when you left it in the car at the lab. Josh has probably been calling every ten minutes and you and I needed some time to talk." I took her hand and started in for a kiss. As my lips closed on her, eyes closed, we both jumped when my phone rang. I looked and saw it was my home phone. Just then Beth's phone rang. It was Joshes cell phone.

Beth's wry smile almost made me forget to answer my phone, "See what I mean." I chuckled and answered putting the phone on speakerphone. "Hello Josh, what can I do for you?" Beth's phone quit ringing. "Damn it Alex! Where have you been? I've been trying for better than and hour to reach you." The urgency in his voice made things low in my abdomen clench up in anticipation of the news.

"Why what's up? Why the urgency, what's the rush?" I had a sinking feeling that I wasn't going to like this. "The lab called here to let you know the preliminary findings of the paternity test." Now I was confused. "There is no way they can have those results back yet. The tests on DNA still take at least eight hours to complete and we haven't been gone from the lab that long."

"Lisa came to the lab with an agenda and an ace up her sleeve. All they had to do was test the blood for type. I'm sorry Alex, the twins aren't yours. You couldn't possibly be their father." The sorrow in Josh's voice was profound. "I think I knew that at the courthouse when you handed Lisa's lawyer his head on a plate. I was watching her face and knew that they weren't mine." I had just had my stomach tied in knots again.

Beth chimed in "Josh call the restaurant and cancel our reservations. I don't think Alex is in the mood..." Taking her hand I cut Beth off "Don't you do it Josh! The only damned thing in this whole mess that doesn't suck is that your sister loves me. And I'll be damned if I'll let that Bitch take the joy of knowing that from me tonight. Get dressed you are coming with us, for a little while at least. We'll be back there in about ten minutes so grab a shower or whatever. We'll see you soon." 

I turned off the phone and turned to Beth, "Do we need to go by your place so you can get ready?" Beth blushed and said "I have my things for tonight at your place I brought them in while you watched those horrid tapes." I saw a puzzled look cross her lovely face as she said it, then she asked "Why did you do that? I mean after you saw what was on the first couple of tapes we could have told you the rest but you insisted on watching."

I spoke softly remembering "I had a discussion with a history professor while we were in college about why kings killed the messengers who brought bad news. Pique and anger were his answers. But he was wrong. It was because they took away their hope for a good outcome. Until you know something for a fact you have hope." 

"I don't know if you'll understand this or not but until I saw that first tape I still thought that there might be a chance to work things out for Lisa and I. After I saw that first tape I knew that if I asked and either of you told me what was on them I never would have forgiven you for taking my hope from me. So I watched and kept my questions to myself. And now I have my truest friends and a dinner to get to." I gave the hand I held a gentle squeeze.

A moment later we pulled into my parking space. Josh was at the door waiting and had good news. "I called the restaurant and changed the reservation to three people and for eight thirty instead of eight." He said smiling as he saw me take his sisters hand after getting out of the car. He stepped back into the apartment. A horn honked and a Forest Green Bonneville pulled up behind Josh's Lexus followed by a blue Ford Taurus. My rental had arrived.




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 05



The driver of the Bonneville came over and handed me the keys. After signing the paperwork he got in the Taurus and it drove off. I went into my apartment and walked to the refrigerator and took a pitcher of orange juice out and poured myself a glass. I put the orange juice away, picked up my glass and went into the living room. Josh was sitting on the loveseat drinking a glass of iced tea.

"Ok. You say they are not my daughters. There is no way to know that yet." I said. Josh just looked at me for a moment and said. "Have a seat Alex." He waited until I had taken a seat in my recliner and said, "The lab had enough time to run a preliminary analysis on your blood and the twins' blood. You have type O blood. The girls have type AB blood. O is a recessive blood type. Types A and B are dominant blood types. For the twins to be yours you would have to have either type A or type B blood." He shook his head and said "They will continue to run the full DND profile but there is no way the twins are yours." Josh leaned over to me and put his hand on my shoulder and said "I am sorry Alex, I really am. Go take a shower, we need to leave soon. " I stood up and went into my bedroom to get a change of clothes. 

I went to the shower in the master bath attached to my bedroom and turned the shower on as hot as I could stand it. I felt soiled, unclean. I stripped quickly and got under the spray. I picked up the soap and it hit me. It was official. I wasn't their father. I had tried my damnedest to be but evidently that wasn't good enough. "It sure as hell hurts like they were mine." I whispered to the empty room. I felt the tears well up and knew that if I started crying now I wouldn't stop. 

I leaned my head against the cool tile of the shower wall and tried to calm down. This has to wait I told myself. There is a beautiful lady who loves you waiting to have dinner with you and you've made her wait quite long enough. I finished my shower as the hot water turned tepid.

I walked into my room and found that someone had rummaged my closet and drawers laying out clothes. I decide not to be upset about it. The choices were actually quite nice. A Navy Brooks Brothers Blazer with stone colored pleat front cotton trousers, a light green shadow striped dress shirt and matching tie to complete the outerwear all hung on the hook on the back of the closet door. What lay on the bed however, is what caught my attention.

A small plastic wrapped package lay on top of the comforter. On top of the package was a note which read: 

I hope you don't think less of me if I tell you I've had these for the last nine months and never dared hope I could actually give them to you. After this afternoon I think it's worth the risk. I'm not trying to pressure you into anything but I wanted you to know that I am taking a proprietary interest in you. I lost you once because I was to shy and afraid to say anything. I never make the same mistake twice. We are waiting in the living room and I hope you will wear these tonight. I love you, Beth

I picked up the package and realized that it was a pair of men's blue silk briefs. I un-wrapped the briefs shook them out and started to laugh. On the back was printed "Property of Beth Ann Taylor" in bold white letters. I put on the outfit she had selected for me and finished my grooming. I looked in the mirror over the dresser and liked what I saw for the first time in months.

I looked like was alive instead of the walking shell that I had resembled since this all began. I straightened my tie one last time and headed for the living room. Josh was standing near the door and holding his cell phone. As I came out of the hall he hit the send button.

"Come over here and stand next to me for a second." He said. As he spoke I heard Beth's phone in the guest room behind me alert her that she had received a text message. Beth came into the room and I forgot how to breathe.

Beth was wearing a stunning blue gown that matched the color of her eyes. The hem struck her about mid thigh showing off her incredible legs. She wore a pair of matching heels that brought her almost to my height. Her hair again was styled into an elaborate braid that she had draped over her left shoulder and down her breast. She wore the necklace of pearls that I had given her for what I had thought was her twenty-first birthday. She wore a pair of matching pearl earrings that her grandmother had giver her for the same birthday. Yes we had conspired shamelessly. Her grandmother passed away a few months later and Beth never wore them except on very special occasions.

Josh leaned over and said "Breathe Alex. If you pass out on her, I'll feed you to the sharks." I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding. I stepped over to Beth and took her hand. Her make up was subtle and expertly applied. She never wore much, she didn't need to. A little eye shadow and lipstick were all I noticed. She looked radiant, absolutely beautiful.

I took her other hand and said "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Aphrodite on Olympus is weeping in anger at having been displaced by you." She bowed her head a little and smiled at me, a blush rising in her cheeks. "Flatterer" she said in a silky sultry voice. I placed a finger on her chin and raised her face to look at me. Looking into her eyes I said "It is not flattery when it is the simple truth. I have never been blessed by a vision as lovely as you before. You look amazing."

She smiled and the room faded from my view. The only thing I could see was Beth. I wanted nothing more at that moment than to kiss her like we had at the park earlier. I leaned in and as she closed her eyes I closed mine. "I'd tell you guys to get a room but as we haven't even left the house yet. Could you wait till after we eat? I'm starving already!" Josh's voice was like sandpaper on my mood.

I had forgotten that we had an audience. I turned and had thoughts of how to hide Josh's' body. I had taken one step toward him, when my stomach rumbled loudly announcing that it wished to hire Josh to sue me for non support. I looked at my abdomen in horror, a blush running all the way from hairline my waistline. Beth didn't help matters by dissolving into gales of laughter. Afraid of what else could go wrong I told them both "I'll be waiting in the car." 

No I wasn't in the car when they came out. As Beth and Josh came down the walk I opened the driver's door for her and helped her into the rental. I told Josh "Take your own car. Beth and I still have a few things to talk over after dinner. By the way you could have told me she was only seventeen when we met. I think when I think things over I might just be pissed at you." Josh paled as I spoke. He is one of the few people who has ever seen me well and truly angry. It scared him badly and he never forgot it.

I walked around to my side of the car and got in. I handed Beth the keys and we drove off leaving Josh standing on the sidewalk. "That was mean. You know he is afraid of your temper." Beth said with a laugh. The sound of her laughter had once again entranced me. It took me a second to realize that she was speaking to me again. "Alex? Alex, are you okay?" I smiled.

"I'm alone in a car on my way to dinner with the most luscious creature God ever turned his hand to making and she is here to be with me. How could I be anything but okay?" I took her right hand as I spoke and brought it to my lips and again kissed the finger tips. A shudder ran through her and she quickly pulled her hand away.

"God you are dangerous, you now that? You stay on your own side of the car or we'll never make it to the restaurant in one piece." She smiled as she spoke and the heat in her gaze made things low in my body respond in a favorable fashion. This night held definite promise. 



The Last 24 Hours Ch. 06



We pulled up to the valet stand outside of the Hyatt Regency Plaza, Tower One. As I got out of the car, the valet opened Beth's door. She handed him the keys but stayed behind the wheel until I had come around to her door and offered her my hand. As she got out of the car the dress she was wearing rode up and flashed the valet and myself a very generous view of her beautiful thighs. I turned and looked at the valet and saw that he was all but drooling at my lovely date. 

Beth must have been feeling mischievous as she stepped out of the car. She took her handkerchief from her clutch purse and handed it to the valet. She then indicated the corner of his mouth. It was all I could do to keep for dissolving in laughter. After all, the valet had to be all of seventeen or eighteen years old.

I took Beth's hand and we walked into the lobby of the Hyatt. It was all I could do not to caress her naked shoulders. I looked around and saw the sign for the elevators to the restaurant on the top floor. As we came around the corner we saw that there was a podium in front of the doors and the young man standing behind it was busily checking the book lying on it. As we approached the podium, I realized I did not know whose name the reservations were made in.

I turned to Beth and asked her, "Whose name are the reservations in? You never said and neither did Josh." Beth took my hand and gave it a squeeze. "They are in your name of course. After all you are taking me on our first date aren't you?" She said smiling at me.

I looked at her and said, "Yes as a matter of fact this is our first date. But it's a little different than any date I've been on before, ever. I don't think I realize it's real, not just yet. I feel like I'm in a dream. I know that any good feelings I had for Lisa are dead. When I think of her all I feel is anger. I've decided to see someone about that. I don't want it to poison the rest of my life." I chuckled and continued "I also suspect that you are going to get very tired of seeing me, because I intend to spend as much time in your company as you will allow." The room was suddenly lit with the brilliance of her smile. Tears welled in her eyes again threatening to start falling. 

"I don't suppose I have any say in this, do I?" At that Josh's voice interrupted our mood. Beth and I looked at each other and turned to face Josh as he stepped closer to stand next to his sister. Looking at him, Beth and I spoke at the same time "No, you don't!" The reservation clerk watched all of this with a vacant look on his face until Beth and I spoke. At which point he began to snicker madly. Josh seemingly outraged by this, looked at the clerk and said "Oh that's right! Encourage them why don't you?" 

The poor clerk was absolutely hysterical at this point. The clerk turned his back on us trying to control his laughter. Gaining a measure of control he looked at me smiling and asked, "Name sir?" I grinned and said, "Alex Palmer party of three." The clerk glanced at his book, frowned for a moment, then pulled a post-it note off of the page he was looking at and said, "Yes sir! Here is your keycard; the elevator will take you directly to the restaurant. Give the host your name and he'll show you to your table. Enjoy your evening." 

I had eaten here before but had never before been given a keycard. I looked at Beth and she seemed as mystified as I was. Josh looked smug but said nothing "Excuse me? What is the keycard for? I've never been given one when I've eaten here before." I asked. The clerk looked for a moment like he hadn't understood the question and then said "I'm sorry, ah, the reservation was changed earlier today to include an additional guest and the penthouse suite of Tower Two. The meal and the room are paid for in advance. The room is paid through until Monday at eleven a.m. check out time. The billing was also changed to an, ah... anonymous benefactor." He gave a distressed look at Josh.

It was only Thursday night. Beth and I looked at Josh. "What's going on here Josh? What are you playing at?" Beth's voice was a mixture of hope, disbelief, and suspicion. I said "Answer her Josh or we're leaving right now." I was not in the mood for a prank and Josh's sense of humor was questionable at best.

"Nothing is going on." He said with a smirk "I know how you two feel about each other. Alex I knew fifteen years ago you were making a mistake but it was your choice to make. Granted I didn't know just how big the mistake would prove to be, but you are both here, together, and unless I miss my guess very quickly becoming involved." Josh looked smugly at his sister, "I thought this might happen if you and Alex ever got to have a quiet talk. I also know you haven't had nearly enough time alone." Josh took Beth's hand and pulled her his way a little forcing me to follow. 

Looking at me he said, "While you were gone this afternoon your ex-wife called and wanted to talk to you. It seems that your cell phone was off." He chuckled. "I told her I didn't know where you were and that I would pass on the message that she wanted to talk to you Alex. Consider the message delivered, by the way."

As he spoke he had been shepherding us towards the elevator doors. As they opened we entered the elevator and began the ride to the Top of the Tower, which was on the top floor of Tower One. The Hyatt has two towers connected by bridges. Tower One stands at twenty-six stories, and Tower Two stands at thirty stories. The penthouses of Tower Two could only be accessed by the express elevator in the lobby of Tower Two or by the bridge in the lobby of the Top of the Tower restaurant, where you had to show the concierge your room key to go across the bridge.

"I didn't think you would want to talk to her tonight and I don't think you should talk to her without your attorney present. I also don't think she'll give up. You need a little time to just learn to deal with what she did to you and my sister needs a little time to deal with what's happening between you two. So a faerie god-brother, who shall remain nameless, booked you a suite for the weekend where the Wicked Bitch of the West can't find you. The rooms are in my name and on my dime and you can consider it my gift to the two of you. In fact give me your cell phone Alex. You won't need it this weekend. I'll give it back to you Monday. I know where to reach you if anything comes up."

"I'm not pushing you to jump into anything. The suite has three bedrooms in it so if you don't want it to; nothing has to happen in the next three days. I'm not gonna ask and I don't wanna know. You guys have had this weird thing going on all this time and I think you'd be great together." Josh said all of this in a rush as I handed him my cell phone. "I had my assistant Joyce, pack a bag for you, Beth. I gave her my key to your place and told her to pack for three days," and with a gleam in his eyes "and nights. I told her to keep it sophisticated casual. She dropped off your bag and your house key while you guys were gone today." 

A dark look crossed Beth's face. Josh continued "I took the liberty of packing your bag myself, Alex. I had Joyce bring both bags here and they are already in your suite." He had a smirk on his face and I just knew I wasn't the only one upset at the invasion of my personal space here.

Beth spoke in a low voice trembling with anger, "What gives you the right...?" Beth held up her hands and shook her head "No. No. I'm not gonna let you spoil this evening!" Beth took my hand in hers and squeezed it affectionately. 

I took Beth's arm and turned her to face me. "Sweets, I want to spend this evening with you and not have to worry about any of this shi... stuff tonight." I smiled at her and watched the anger melt from her face. "All I want tonight is for us to be happy and have a good time." As I spoke the elevator dinged signaling our arrival.

We stepped out into a lobby that looked as if it had come straight out of a tourist brochure for Rome. There were columns with vines all throughout the floor. There was a dance floor, although no one was on it. To our left and a little forward was a stage on which a small orchestra was playing.

To our left as we exited the elevator the maître d' looked up and seeing Josh gushed "Ah Mr. Josh, so good of you to be joining us this evening!" He spoke English with a heavy Italian accent. He quickly came over and shook Josh's hand. Josh smiled and said "Thank you Franco." Turning to Beth he said "Franco Misiterelli I'd like you to meet my sister Beth" and turning to me "and my good friend Alex Palmer." Franco took Beth's hand and kissed the back of it and said "My dear, it is my most sincere pleasure to make the acquaintance of someone as lovely as you, Ms. Taylor." The smile on his face and in his eyes said he meant every word he spoke too. Beth smiled at the compliment and said "Thank you Franco I'm pleased to meet such a kind gentleman." Turning to me he said "I am pleased to make your acquaintance as well Mr. Palmer." 

I shook his hand. "A pleasure Franco, and call me Alex please." Franco beamed at us. "Will you be joining us for diner this evening Mr. Josh?" Franco raised a single eyebrow in question. "As a matter of fact we have reservations for three, Franco, but I wonder if we could have one of the secluded tables? Alex's ex-wife is trying to track him down tonight and he and my sister would rather she didn't find us."

Franco's face darkened for a moment. "She will not find him here Mr. Josh. Unfortunately we are all booked up tonight!" He smiled and waved to the floor of the restaurant which was only about half full. His smile brightening, Franco laughed. "Mr. Josh I have just the place you want. They only just finished the remodel and it is ready only today." Franco turned and waved for us to follow.

We moved behind Franco towards a small area near a section of the window that was hidden behind a wall. It was lavishly appointed with a settee and two large over stuffed chairs, its own small dance floor, and an elegant dining area set for four. Around the small room were beautiful flowers and several medium sized, but tasteful paintings hung on the wall that separated the space from the main dining area. If you didn't know the place was there you'd never find it.

Beth gushed happily and said "Oh Franco, its lovely." Franco beamed at her. "Thank you Ms Beth. I'm so happy you like it. Please be seated and I will send the wine steward." As he started to turn away Beth said "That won't be necessary, Franco, Alex is allergic to alcohol." Franco turned to look at me "This is true?" He asked in wonder. 

"I suffer from a rare allergy called Alcohol Anaphylaxis. Most people don't have as severe a reaction to it as I do. As little as a mouthful of beer is enough to provoke a severe reaction. I nearly died in college the first time I ever had a drink. Not exactly the best party experience." I said with an ironic smile. 

Franco thought for a moment and asked "Are you allergic to any juices? Or fruits?" "Not that I know of. Just alcohol." I answered. He looked pleased and said "Then I send the steward. We have a lovely selection of sparkling waters and juices as well as fine wines to choose from." Franco turned and rounded the corner. 

A moment later our waiter arrived and we ordered. I was having the Roasted Chicken & Mushroom Cannelloni, Beth had the Chicken Marsala and stuffed mushroom caps, and Josh had the Beef Burgundy and stuffed potato. As the waiter was leaving with our orders the wine steward arrived and we selected a non-alcoholic sparkling apple cider that he suggested would compliment our meal choices.

Franco checked on us several times during our meal and while I'm sure the food was outstanding, I don't remember a thing about it. All I could think of was how striking Beth looked. The blue of her eyes matched the blue of her dress which tempted and tantalized my eyes. As we dined I was captivated more and more by her spectacular beauty. My mind couldn't seem to focus on anything else. Josh took every opportunity to humiliate me about it. My heart leapt every time he did because Beth took him to task for it. Even to the point of violence, slapping his shoulder and admonishing him to leave me alone.

I had a decidedly warm feeling every time she came to my defense. As we were finishing our meal Josh stood "Well folks, I'm going to go and see if I can't find a little trouble of my own to get into tonight and I think you two have things to talk about that I don't need to hear. So good night and please enjoy this weekend. I'll see you both Monday at my office for lunch, Okay?" Beth and I smiled at each other and said "Yeah we'll be there." 

We stood as Josh left us and instead of returning to the table we sat on the settee. Beth and I sat there for a while and just enjoyed the soft music that filled the air. I stood and held out my hand to Beth "May I have this dance?" Beth's smile rekindled the fire in my heart that I had felt for the first time that afternoon in the park, as we moved to the small dance floor. Our bodies came together as we danced slowly holding each other close. I stared into her eyes and never wanted to look away. I saw myself through her eyes and prayed that I could live up to her expectations.

I had never considered myself special or an outstanding person. But Beth had always considered me both. I brought a hand up to her face and brushed her cheek. "The music has stopped." I said. She looked at me and placing her hand on the back of my neck she pulled me down for a kiss. "What music?" she asked as our lips met.

We stood there for I don't know how long. It started as a simple, chaste kiss and developed into the passionate fire we had shared earlier in the park. Beth pulled away with a gasp and said "We need to go to the suite and finish our talk before I embarrass Franco by stripping you down right now." I chuckled, signed the bill, and took Beth's hand again. 

We walked quickly out to the desk and saw Franco "Thank you for helping making our evening so special. We had a truly wonderful time tonight." Beth said as she gave him a peck on the cheek. Franco blushed and said, "You are most welcome Miss Beth. You and Mr. Alex come back anytime you like I'm sure I can find you a table." As we turned to walk away toward the concierge desk I saw Franco wave at the young woman behind the counter. She nodded in response and wished us a good evening without asking for our card or room number.

We got into the elevator and I found that it had no buttons, just a card reader. I put our keycard into the reader and the elevator began its assent. I took Beth in my arms and told her softly "I had a wonderful evening. Thank you for sharing it with me." She looked at me with one eyebrow quirked up in question, "Do you really think you're going to get rid of me that easily? The night is still young and I am by no means ready to let you go just yet."

I again leaned down and brushed my lips across her cheek and to her lips. "And do you think I'm planning to just let you have your way with me? You must really think I'm a softie." The smile in my voice told her I was teasing. She reached down and rubbed my pants leg and what lay beneath as she said "To answer your questions, yes I do and I certainly hope not." The impish glint in her azure eyes warned of pleasures to come. She pressed her lips to mine once more and again time seemed to stop. 

The elevator announced our arrival and we separated. The doors slid aside and we looked into a small entryway with an elaborately carved door. I used the keycard to open a door that led to a sitting room. "My whole apartment could fit into this room with room to spare." Beth said in an awed voice. "Mine and yours both!" I replied equally awed at the spacious room. The suite was enormous. The sitting room was appointed with four couches arranged in a square, and doors that led to the guest bath and all three bedrooms. A full bar sat on one wall, complete with a small wine cooler and a small refrigerator. The walls were decorated in beautiful rose hued fabric wallpaper, with gold accents and trim.

The suite was lavishly appointed with expensive furnishings and carpets. It was the most expensively appointed room I had ever seen. The bedrooms each contained a king sized four poster bed, a desk, and a door to the bathroom. The Master bedroom had its own bath with both a walk in shower and a Jacuzzi spa bathtub big enough for two. "How convenient." I thought lasciviously as I looked at the large bathtub. The guest rooms shared a bath that was equally impressive.

Both of our bags sat on the bench at the foot of the large bed in the master bedroom. I looked at Beth and she had walked over to the bags and began looking through what Joyce had packed. She went rigid, slammed the top of her bag closed, glanced at me and then blushed from her lovely hair to the tips of her fingers. I watched as the blush ran down her shoulders and arms. 

"What's wrong?" I asked. Beth's blush deepened, she grabbed her bag and clutched it tightly to her "N–n-nothing!" she stammered and fled to the bathroom slamming the door behind her. I stood and wondered what had gone wrong. 

I took off my jacket and picked up my bag. I walked out into the sitting room and dropped my bag on one of the sofas. I looked at the other two doors and sighed. I walked over to the bar and noticed that the wine cooler had bottled juices in it as well as wines. I took out a bottle of sparkling white grape juice and poured myself a glass. I poured Beth a glass of an excellent white wine that was also there. Beth doesn't drink around me, I think to spare my feelings, but I really don't mind that she likes wines.

"Alex?" I turned as I heard her panicked call. I heard Beth say in a frantic voice "Oh God! Please don't let him be gone!" The urgency in her voice made my chest clench painfully. I called out to her "Beth I'm in here. I'll be back in, in just a second." I put the wine back in the cooler, picked up our glasses and returned to the bedroom. Beth was sitting on the side of the bed in a robe. She had it pulled tight around her. Her shoulder shook as if she was crying.

"Beth? I brought you a glass of white wine." I said softly. She still wasn't looking at me but her breathing was slowing back down. She wiped a hand across her cheek and looked at me. She had small tears unshed in her eyes and said "Thank you" as she took the wine. She swirled the glass and sniffed the bouquet. She took a small sip and said "This is really an excellent wine! Where did you get it?" 

"There's a wine cooler behind the bar along with a mini fridge." I told her. I sat my glass on the dresser and knelt next to her on the bed. "Why would you think I'd have left? We only just got here." She started to tear up and said "When I came out you weren't here and your bag was gone. What was I supposed to think? You never said anything."

"I told you that you were going to get tired of seeing me. I meant it. I'm not going anywhere until we leave for Josh's office Monday. In fact we don't even have to leave this suite if we don't want to." I smiled as I said it and leaned in to kiss away her tears. As I leaned in she closed her eyes. I kissed her eyelids slowly and then I kissed her on the end of the nose, which earned me a giggle. I slid my arms around her and she tilted her head. As our lips met she brought her hands up and wrapped me in a strong embrace.

Beth is a tall woman, and a strong one. She works out almost as much as I do; only her regimen is a lot more intense. We sat there lost in each other for a long time. We parted and she asked me "Where on earth did you learn to kiss like that?" I smiled at her and said "Natural talent I guess. I take it the response was favorable?"

Beth looked at me with a wicked grin and said "I'll give you about a thousand years to stop kissing me like that." I stroked the back of my hand over her cheek and said "You have a deal." I meant it too. I had never reacted to any woman the way I responded to Beth. It was like I had a physical need for her.




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 06



I looked into her eyes as I tangled my left hand in her braided hair. "Why did you run off like that? I don't like secrets and surprises much right now, you know." She tried to turn away from me but my hand in her hair held her firmly. "Please tell me, I won't mind I promise." She looked at me with a true reluctance on her face.

Sighing resignedly she spoke softly, barely above a whisper "I'm going to kill my brother and then I'm going to kill Joyce!" The vehemence of the last part made me think that Joyce should not be in the area when we saw her brother Monday. Beth took a deep breath and said "Joyce did a little exploring while she was packing my bag and decided I should have a little 'hardware' available in case we got intimate."

I was almost afraid to speak "Hardware?" I asked. "She put in a bottle of lube, a vibrator, a coil of silk rope, two pair of velvet lined hand cuffs and a set of Velcro cuffed corner ties." As she spoke she blushed again and said "I know where the vibrator came from but I have no idea where the rest of it came from. Really I don't!" The mortified look on her face was almost comical. "I can guess." I said "Joyce belongs to that private club on the east side. "Chains" I think it's called." Beth's eyes widened. "I saw her membership card one day while visiting Josh and she told me about the club."

"Does Josh know?" Beth asked. I laughed "He was there when she told me about the club. She invited Josh and me to what she referred to as a "Black tie down party for thirty" but I declined." I laughed at the memory. "She probably did it to shock you. She's a very uninhibited, forward person from what I gather."

Beth just scowled at the floor and the line creasing her brow offended me. I turned her face to me and kissed her brow until I felt her relax. I told her "From now until we leave this room you are not allowed to frown." Kiss "You are allowed no sad feelings." Kiss "And most importantly you are to go get a pair of those cuffs and ties." The look of shock on her face was worth it, whatever penalty she demanded.

"I... I..." she sputtered and then seeing the laughter in my eyes said "Oh you wait! You just wait! I'm going to make you soooo sorry!" As she said this she shifted herself onto my lap. With one leg on either side of my own she grabbed me by my hair and drew me once more to her mouth. As our lips met she wrapped her arms around me and tightened her arms. If this was making me sorry I was all for it.

I started to lean back onto the bed but Beth stopped me "Wait I want to show you something that I got for you. She stood up and unfastened the belt of her robe. I gasped in awe. Beth stood before me wearing a sapphire blue silk lace baby doll nightie, which tied in a bow between her magnificent breasts, and matching silk v string panty that tied on the sides. I was stunned. I was also certain Victoria had no Secrets left.

After a moment I said in a shaky voice "My God you are beautiful!" My voice was barely a whisper. I looked into her eyes and watched the uncertainty fade as she took in my admiration. Beth climbed back onto my lap where she had been. "You bought this for me, to wear for me?" I asked, running my hand over the fabric. She nodded and said "I've dreamt of being with you for a long time and I had a lot of time to think about what you would like. All those times we went shopping to get your wife presents, or I asked what you liked in an ad, I paid attention to what you liked and what you didn't. I've had fifteen years to think about this night and so far it's been better than I could have ever hoped." smiling she said in a sultry voice "There is only one thing that would make me happier than I am right now." 

Knowing the answer before I asked I said "And what would that be Bethsany Anne Taylor?" She nuzzled the base of my neck and said "Take me to bed and love me. Make love to me until we pass out from the sheer joy, or exhaustion, whichever comes first. But" She pulled my head back and looked into my eyes as she spoke fiercely "we're only doing this if, and only if, when we leave here, you are going to be a part of my life. I want the whole package Alex. I want a life with you more than anything in this world. If you aren't sure you want me, or if this isn't something you are sure about then we so aren't going to do this." She looked at me for a moment waiting for my reply. Trepidation and uncertainty etched on her face.

In that moment I knew that I would never be happy with anyone else ever again. I also knew that if I said stop, we would stop and there was a good chance I'd never see Beth, my best friend, again once we parted. Luckily for me I had no intention of ever not having her in my life. And I told her so.

I looked into those oh so blue eyes and said "Beth, it has taken me fifteen years to find what I had in front of me the whole time. I've found you and I don't think you understand what that means for me. You don't have to worry about me ever not wanting you. I can't conceive of where my life would be right now if not for you. We've been best friends for fifteen years and tonight we are going to become so much more." My voice dropped to a breathy whisper "When I kissed you in the park today it felt like the missing piece of me that I thought was never to be found, that Beth shaped piece to fit the hole in my soul, snapped into place."

"I love you Bethsany Ann Taylor and I hope you know that I never intend to be without you ever again. This is all new to us both, and I hope you'll allow me time to make adjustments and allow for the mistakes I'm probably going to make. I hope that means we'll be spending a lot of time together." As I finished I watched a single tear fall down her right cheek.

"I love you Alex Palmer. I have for fifteen years, and I have no intention of letting you go either." She said a look of elation on her face. I hugged her fiercely and lay my head on her breast listening to the steady thrum of her heartbeat. For several long minutes we sat there like that. Her hand stroked my hair as she kissed the crown of my head, my cheek nestled on her breasts.

I tilted my head back and took her face in my hands and gave her a light kiss and said "I think I'm a little over dressed." It was such a simple statement. She smiled at me hotly and slid slowly from my lap to the floor. She knelt there and began unlacing my shoes and slipping them off of my feet. She removed the socks and with a clever grin said "My goodness you do have very large feet. I wonder if the old saying is true."

I looked at her and asked innocently "What old saying?" Her hands slid up my pant legs to my thighs and said "You know... How the size of a man's feet relates to the size of his cock." As she spoke her voice acquired a husky, sensual quality that oozed sexuality. As she said the word "cock" her voice was barely a sultry whisper, her hands reached for my belt and quickly had it pulled from their loops. 

Beth dropped the belt to the floor and again reached for me. Her hands were trembling as she reached the waist of my pants. She undid my pants and pulled the tab of my zipper down slowly. In all this time Beth had never taken her eyes from mine. The pure hunger in her eyes heated my blood to near the boiling point. My fragile control was being eroded by her teasing.

Beth smiled at me and my breath caught yet again with the weight of the emotions I was feeling. She changed her focus so suddenly it took me a moment to realize it. Beth reached up, loosened my tie and pulled it over my head. Dropping the tie she began to unbutton my shirt. The only sound in the room was our ragged breathing and the sound of her fingers on the cloth of my shirt. She swatted my hands away any time I tried to increase the pace of my loss of clothing. 

As the last button was undone, Beth pushed the shirt over my shoulders and off of my arms. She leaned in and licked my left nipple and feeling it rise to her touch she gently sucked it into her mouth and then nipped it with her teeth. The sensation was unlike any I had ever felt before. Lisa had never been aggressive in bed with me and I had only been with one other girl when I was in high school. That had been a very unsatisfying one time occasion as we were both very drunk.

As she nipped at me I let my head fall back and closed my eyes in pleasure at her touch. She let go of my nipple and said "Stand up!" The overwhelming need in her voice urged me to hurry. As I stood she pulled my trousers down. She let out a squeak as they cleared my thighs. I looked down and she was pulling at me, turning me to look at the underwear she had given me to wear. I took great pleasure in the look of love on her face. "You wore them for me?" She asked her voice trembling.

I looked at her and cupping her cheek with my right hand said "How could I not when you asked so nicely? I want to make you happy Beth, I always did." She finished taking my pants off and tossed them aside. She ran her hand over the bulge in the front of my new silk briefs and said breathlessly "Ooooooh the saying is true!" The proprietary look of hunger and greed in her eyes was almost frightening. She ran her and over my bulge and asked in a little girl voice "Hey mister, do you have an all day sucker for me?"

I gasped and looked down as Beth tugged down my briefs. My erection popped out of my briefs and nearly hit her in the face. She caught in her hand and held it firmly but gently. She took her time and examined the entire surface of my cock, then asked "How big are you?" I looked at her in confusion and said with a chuckle "Contrary to urban legend not all guys have encountered a ruler or tape measure while nude. I've never measured it. I'd say somewhere between eight and nine inches."

Beth looked at me and said "If I do this wrong tell me. I've never had a real cock in my mouth before." As she finished speaking her head darted in and she began to lick the side of my shaft. I looked down at what had to be the most erotic sight I had ever seen. This sexy red haired Amazon Goddess kneeling before me, lost in her desire for me and my pleasure. Her eyes never left my face as she gave me the best oral worshiping I had ever had. As she came again to the head of my cock, Beth looked at me and asked "Am I doing ok?" The question reached her eyes and I saw the uncertainty in them. 

"You are doing fine. I wonder, would you do something for me?" She looked at me and waited for me to ask. "Would you take your hair down? I only ever see it braided or tied back." She looked at me and said. "Later, it would only get in the way now." With that Beth took the head of my cock in her mouth and sent me straight to heaven. The moist velvet of her mouth had my knees buckling. I put one hand on Beth's head to let her know I was moving. As I did, she finished removing my briefs, as she released me from her mouth with a wet "pop". 

I eased back down to the bed and slid to the middle of it. Beth climbed onto the bed like some great cat. Her muscles undulated as she crawled over to me again and lay down between my legs. She pushed and prodded me until she had me the way she wanted me. As she sank down onto the bed she again took my erect member into her hot mouth. I groaned again at the sublime pleasure she was giving me. Her eyes again met mine as I pulled a pillow behind my head to ease the strain of watching my lover. The lust and love that flowed from those eyes was helping to bring me to the point of no return

I warned Beth, "You need to stop Beth, I'm going to cum." Beth just began bobbing her head even more furiously. I couldn't take the pleasure and bellowed "I'm cuummmmiiinnnggg!" as I erupted into my lovers mouth. Beth took the first jet near the back of her throat and I felt her tense. She backed off until only the head of my cock remained inside her mouth. She drank and drank from me until my climax was over and I got too sensitive. 

Sensing the change Beth let me fall from her mouth and crawled the rest of the way up my body. My breathing was ragged and my heart racing. Beth knelt over me and asked "Did you like that?" The smile on her face said that she was sure I had. "With you giving me pleasure how could I not? That was the best blowjob I have ever had." Beth beamed and said "Not bad for my first time then?" I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her down for a kiss. 

Beth stiffened her arms and said "Don't Alex; I still have your cum in my mouth. I'll go brush my teeth." The uncertainty in her voice torn at my heart as she tried to pull away from me. I tightened my grip and said "You gave me such pleasure and did what no lady has ever done for me and you think I'm worried about a little of my own fluids? You had the grace to swallow for me; the least I can do is kiss you after. I told you that I didn't intend to let you go and I meant it."

I pulled at her again and still she resisted. I rolled us over so that I lay atop of her. "No way to escape me now my love." I whispered as my lips met hers in the tenderest kiss I knew how to give. I stroked her cheek and then tugged at her braid. I sat back as we broke our kiss and said "Now I want to see your gorgeous hair fanned out surrounding us as I pleasure you." I slowly worked the braid loose a little at a time. As her hair came free I took the end and lashed it back and forth over Beth's breasts.

She arched her back thrusting her breasts even higher in the air. Her nipples were standing proud announcing her arousal for all to see. I finished removing the braid from Beth's hair and brushed my fingers through the silky strands. Again the light reflecting off of her hair reminded me of rubies spun out into a fine soft wire. I felt the heat of my arousal stir again at the site.

I gently tugged at the ribbon between Beth's breasts and released the bow. Her beautiful breasts surged as the silk of the nightie caressed her nipples. I gently worked my hand under her back and lifted her enough to remove the top of her nightie. I tossed the babydoll aside and let Beth sink back onto the bed. I took a pillow and put it under her head and said "If there is anything you want me to do, say so and I'll do it for you." With that I lowered my mouth and trailed a kiss from Beth's eyes, to her lips, past her chin and down her throat. I slid my mouth over the place where her neck meets her shoulder and ran my tongue along her collar bone.

As I did this Beth shivered and moaned in passion, twining her fingers in my hair. I slid further down the slope of her right breast licking and kissing my way to the vast valley that resides between her succulent mounds. I licked and nipped at her flesh as I approached her right nipple from below. I licked it and then drew back and blew a cool breath across it. 

Beth's back arched again as she cried out in pleasure. "Please don't tease me anymore, Alex, please! I need you now." I bent my head and took the engorged nub into my mouth again. This time I suckled her nipple in earnest and Beth moaned in delight. Her hands tightened in my hair and held me to her. I took my hand and grasped her left nipple between my thumb and forefinger. I rolled the tight little nub and every time I squeezed it I felt Beth tense.

I took her left nipple into my mouth and switched my hand to her free nipple. As I suckled her nipple I decided to see if Beth would like what I had in mind. I increased the pressure on her nipple with my fingers and began to lightly tug at the nipple. Each time I did this Beth's moans increased in volume. I clenched Beth's nipple between my teeth and raised my head from her breast. At the same time I clamped down on the nipple between my fingers and pulled it up and away from Beth's body.

Beth cried out in a mixture of pleasure and pain, "Oh Alex! I'm cuummingggg!" Her body rocked and shook as wave after wave of her orgasm pulsed through her body. Her breath came in huge gulps and gasps. Her whole body clenched tight as a drum, her hands holding my mouth to her breast. I could hear her heart thudding in her chest as Beth's orgasm receded and her body unwound. Gradually her hand unclenched and I was free to move my head once more.

The whole time I had never taken my eyes from Beth's face and had used it to judge if she liked my attentions. I resumed kissing and licking my way down Beth's tight ribcage to her abdomen. I swirled my tongue all over her tight body reveling in the hard and soft planes of her. I arrived at her belly button as her breathing returned at last to normal. As I approached it Beth became aware of my target. "A-Alex, just where do you think your going?" Her breath still rugged from her orgasm. "Oh I don't know." I replied "I heard that there was the cutest little innie around here and I just have to explore it." As I finished speaking I let my tongue delve into her navel and heard her squeal. "No! Alex Please don't!" She grasped my head as I repeatedly licked and caressed her navel with my tongue. As I did so Beth began to laugh uncontrollably.

I had discovered years before that Beth's navel was very sensitive and tickled very easily. I was careful to guard that knowledge and even more so the fact that I possessed it. You never know when you might need a secret weapon against your best friend after all. I used everything I had learned in our fifteen years as friends to tickle and tease Beth. Including blowing raspberries on her belly which set her off on another round of laughter. 

At last I stopped tickling her as she again became short of breath. I moved down her tummy and past her gorgeous six pack of abs and arrived at my destination. I looked up into Beth's eyes and said "Sweets, I don't know what I'm doing here. You'll have to tell me what you like. Lisa never let me please her like this."

Beth sat up fire flashing in her eyes, "Only one rule this weekend Alex, you never again say her name in this room! She doesn't get any piece of tonight. I'll know why you don't know something and tell you what to do if I need to. BUT, that is the LAST TIME I hear that bitches name tonight, understood?" I nodded "Good! And by the way that is the first time I've ever cum from having my nipples teased by the way. Thank you." she said in a softer tone, the fire leaving and being replaced with molten desire. She leaned in and gave me a quick kiss "Now I believe you were about to try a new delicacy? Why don't you pull that string tie there and see what you can find." Her voice was raw with the need of my touch.

I pulled at the sapphire string that was tied around her waist and gingerly peeled the damp fabric from her soaking sex. I had never seen a more inviting sight. Beth had shaved her mound and pussy lips bare save for a small heart, the point of which led directly to her clit. Beth's natural fluids were in abundance after her earlier climax. The aroma was finer to me that any wine or food. I gently slid my body between Beth's legs and applied pressure to her knees.

Beth spread her legs and made room for me to lay with my head in her center. She used her feet to gently rub up and down along my spine, encouraging me to feast upon her sex. I pushed back a little on her legs and asked her to hand me another pillow. As I held out a hand the pillow struck me on the other side of my head. I could hear Beth's gales of laughter, which abruptly ended when I took her most sensitive nub between my teeth and bit tightly, but not roughly. She raised her hip to keep pace with me as I tugged her clit still locked in my teeth. When she was high enough I slid the pillow into place and gave her a feral grin.

Beth gaspedat the sudden fright and tried to sit up "No Alex I'm sorry. OHHOOOOOO!" Beth's laughing voice turned to a moan of pleasure as I began to flick my tongue over the trapped bundle of nerves. I let go of her clit and licked her pussy from the top of her mound, down past her wet and pulsing lips. As I reached the bottom Beth shifted her hips a little and exposed to me her rosebud. I wet my tongue and pointing it I began my assent. As my tongue ran over Beth's puckered little anus she twitched and gave out a low moan of pleasure. I filed that away for later this weekend. As I came back to her clit and gave it a strong powerful dose of suction Beth's hands again found my hair and began to move me hither and yon in search of her pleasure. She took great pains to tell and show me where she liked her lovers to "dine".




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 06



I took a finger and gently began to probe her very wet entrance. The scent of Beth's arousal inflamed me to the point of frenzy. As I stroked my finger in and out of Beth's treasure I began to once more tease her clit to a fever pitch. Beth's first oral orgasm came abruptly and she clenched her muscular legs around my head and dug her heels into my back thrusting her pelvis into my face again and again. She was just starting to come down from that when I forced a second finger into her waiting sex stretching her without warning. As she began to shake with the intensity of her second orgasm, I curled my fingers in towards the top wall of her sex and began to search in earnest for her "G- spot". I found the slightly thicker pad on the wall of her sex and began to rub and tease it with my fingers.

With a cry of "OH, OH, OH GOD! ALEX!" Beth's spasm hit so hard she thrust her hips into my face and arced completely off of the bed supported by only her shoulders and her feet on my back. Her hips continued to thrust wildly and her breath coming in short gasping sobs. I also discovered that Beth was a squirter. My face was soaked in Beth's girl cum as was the pillow below her hips.

As Beth came down from her high she began to push my head away from her sex. "No... No more Alex. Oh God I can't take anymore right now." I decided to tease her a little and started to get up and leave "I guess I really am not very good at this after all." I said dejectedly, shaking my head in mock sorrow. The wet pillow hit me on the back of the head and neck. "Don't even try it Big Boy. I've got hand cuffs and I'm not above using them to keep you here as my sex slave for the weekend!" she growled "Four of the most intense orgasms I've ever had, in under an hour, and you made me squirt. I didn't know I could do that, and you still haven't gotten that lovely cock into me yet! You aren't going anywhere!"

I smiled and said "Well if you're going be that way about it I guess I could stay for a few more minutes." All the banter had served to give both of us a chance to recover a little. I walked over and retrieved our forgotten drinks. I handed Beth her wine and I drank a little of my juice. I slid onto the bed and pulled Beth over so she rested her head on my chest and I could look into her angelic face. "I really have never done that before. My ..." I paused at a look from Beth "other partners never let me... Was it really ok?" Okay so I sound needy I just wanted to make sure that Beth enjoyed it. "Oh Baby! If that really was your first time then I can't wait for seconds, thirds, fourths, well you get the idea. I've never cum so hard in my life and it was all your doing."

I looked down into her eyes and saw nothing but love and truth. "Thank you" I said in a small quiet voice. "Speaking of things we've never done before..." Beth started but then stopped and had a troubled look on her face. "If I tell you something will you promise to believe me?" she asked. My brow furrowed in a frown, "When have I ever known you to lie to me?" At her cynical look I rephrased my question "Okay, when have I ever not believed you when you've told me something?" I asked. Beth bowed her head and said "I'm a virgin." My head snapped up and I just gaped at her. "How...? I mean...? I know you've had lovers Beth. I don't understand...?"

Beth looked up at me and said "Remember when I said I wanted to give something no man had ever had?" I nodded at her "I didn't just mean my heart Alex." She said slowly "No man has ever entered my body, ever, anywhere. I've had... female lovers and we've used... toys... to please one another but no man has ever touched me." I swallowed hard as I thought about just what that meant. "You've waited all this time just for me?" I asked I know the incredulity showed through on my face.

She nodded again "You're the only man I have ever wanted, the only one I have ever loved. If I couldn't have you; I didn't want anyone else. I know that's a lot to handle" she began to tremble "but I've waited so long to tell you how I feel." She started to cry softly as I put my arms around her.

I told her "You can tell me how you feel anytime you want to. I don't plan to go anywhere I can't take you with me. I love you. Please don't cry Sweets. I don't want you to cry tonight." Beth looked up and devastated me with another smile. "You said you love me!" she said softly in disbelief, her smile broadening. "I've told you that several times tonight, if you had been paying attention, you horny little minx, you. And I'll have you know I've meant it every time I've said it to you." I said just as softly as leaned down and kissed her forehead.

I tightened my arms around Beth's body and told her "I have you now and I don't ever plan to have to do without you again. There is one thing I do want to know though." She looked up at me and asked "What's that?" I leaned down and whispered in her ear. "When do I get my desert? The main course was scrumptious but I want my Sweets Treat." As I spoke I nibbled on her earlobe. Beth sighed and snuggled in against me, her hand reaching down towards my rising manhood.

Beth sat up away from me and lay fully down on the bed. I looked at her and just stared at her beauty. She saw the look I was giving her and asked "What?" cocking her head to one side. So I told her. "I was just thinking "Acres and acres and it's all mine!" I wrung my hands and gave her my best Igor the Ghoul voice. Her laughter spilled into the room like crystal wind chimes ringing in the air. "You are absolutely insane, you know that?" I laughed with her and said "Yeah, but that's why you love me so much." She laughed some more until I slid down next to her and tangled my hands in her hair as it fanned out around us on her pillow. I couldn't get over how soft and silky it felt. I could lie there look at her face and stroke her hair for hours, and never get bored with the act.

She looked at me and asked "How do you want me for our first time?" I caressed her face and said "I'm not sure; I don't want to hurt you." She smiled a sad little smile and said in an uncertain voice "I've... I've had... toys... in me so there's no hymen to worry about... but I've never had anything your size... so there is still virgin territory to be had..." I stopped her with a finger on her lips. I made her look me in the eyes as I spoke fiercely to her "I love that you saved yourself for me. Don't you ever, not for one moment, think that I don't treasure the gift you're giving me. Toys don't count, hymens don't matter. You are a virgin heart and you've given that to me long before tonight, I was just to blind to see it, to accept it, and THAT is what makes me treasure you so."

A single tear ran down her face and I kissed it away. I also made a mental note to remember that I needed to make a phone call in the morning. "I want our first time to be you on top so I can see your face and watch you as you cum again for me. You can also control the depth so I don't hurt you. I won't ever hurt you on purpose Beth. I swear it." I cupped her cheek and ran my thumb under her eye and over her cheek chasing the tear. Beth pushed on my chest and forced me to lie back on the bed as she had been. When I was where she wanted me she put the pillow under my head and leaned down to kiss me. 

Her tongue brushed my lips and our tongues dueled with each other for a few moments before she pulled away. She reached down and grasping my erection firmly, looked at me and said "Oooo. Look what I found." in her little girl voice. My cock throbbed in her hand. "I think I'm going to like playing with my new toy!" 

She gave me a couple of strokes to be sure I was ready and threw her leg over mine. She straddled my hips never taking her hand from my cock. She placed her other hand on my chest. She ran the head of my cock through her nether lips a few times to moisten it. When she was ready she guided my head to the entrance to her flower and slowly lowered herself on to me. She rocked her hips back and forth and every time she rose up she sank down a little lower. "Oh God!" she exclaimed. "No toy ever felt this good!" 

I put my hands on her hips to try to help stabilize her a little and to try to slow her down a little. I wanted this to last, but Beth was in a frenzy and would not be denied. Beth looked down into my eyes and brought her rose hued nipples within the reach of my lips. I took one into my mouth and suckled it like I was expecting milk at any moment. "Oh that's good, keep that up!" She crowed as she began to post on my rigid manhood harder and faster. Her hair shaking and fanning out like a mantle to cover and protect the lovers. Beth began to peak and as she dropped down for the last time Alex felt the tip of his shaft contact her cervix.

"Oh Beth, Sweets I'm cumming" I cried out. Beth let out a strangled cry of her own. Her face, as she came was a mask of ecstasy and through it all her eyes had never left mine. Beth fell forward onto my chest, gasping and sobbing. Her arms circled my neck and I looked into her eyes as she rested. "Oh Alex that was the most amazing thing I have ever felt in my life. She slowly slid to my right and pillowed her head on my shoulder, her right leg still covering mine. One hand ran softly down my chest to my abs and back up again. Her foot contentedly rubbed up and down my calf. "I love what you do to me Alex Palmer." Beth said in a languorous voice. "I'm going to enjoy finding out all of your secrets this way" I said. Then I frowned. Beth saw the frown and raised an eyebrow in question.

I kissed her sweet lips for a moment and then said "Beth you know how I don't talk about my parents much?" She rolled up onto her arms to look at me her gaze troubled. I had always avoided the subject of my parents. In the fifteen years she had known me, Beth had never heard me bring them up.

"What about your parents Alex? Why bring them up now?" She asked in a worried tone. I looked at her and sighed and asked her "What's my name Beth?" She looked at me, a perplexed expression on her face. "Alex Palmer, this is not funny..."

"I promise you Beth I'm not making a joke. Yes that is my name, now, Alex Palmer, but I was born Alan Wheaton. I changed my name the day I after I enrolled in college. I was one of a set of triplets. My fraternal brother and sister died in a car accident when we were almost seventeen. My parents decided that it was my fault even though I wasn't in the car. They severed their parental rights to me and I went to live with my uncle until I graduated high school and went to college where I met you. I haven't seen them since the hearing." The memory brought with it the pain and I squashed it down.

"I decided that if they didn't want me, that I didn't want their name either. My uncle was a cold man I had never met and he only took me to fulfill his own sense of duty. I was there for a year and a half. Once I was set to go to college he made it clear that he was glad I was leaving his house. That's why I never went anywhere on the holidays and breaks, unless I came to your parents place with Josh. I've never told him this either." I looked at her and the shock on her face was plain. 

"You asked "Why bring them up now?" I needed you to know now because it's the only secret I've ever kept from you. The only piece of myself I never let you near." I said. In a softer voice I said quietly "The only gift of myself I had to give you." Beth looked at me in astonishment.

She took a few minutes to process what I had told her before she spoke. "Are... they still alive? Do you know what became of them?" She asked cautiously. I looked at her freckles for a minute and then kissed her on the tip of the nose, "No I don't. I haven't contacted or sought contact with them since the day they disowned me. I have no desire to either. AND THEY have had the last bit of this weekend that they get. Later I will tell you the story if you want. It will take some time and it's not pleasant by any means. The rest of tonight is for us.

I took my hand and stroked the thigh that rested on mine. I ran my hand all the way up to cup the cheek of her perfect ass. I looked at her and asked, "Did you know that you have the finest ass God ever crafted?" I looked deeply into her eyes so she would know I meant what I was saying and not just trying to distract her. "I have thought so ever since we first met" I paused and fondled her firm, toned globe "and now I get to explore it to my hearts content!" I slid out from under her as I spoke and kept her from rolling onto her back.

I straddled her hips and brushed her hair to the side so I could see her body unobstructed, "I want you to relax and let me do this for you." I said as I began massaging her neck and down to her shoulders. This was not the first time I had given Beth a massage. It was however the first time either of us had been nude while it happened. Beth's back was as beautifully sculpted as her abs. Their flawless beauty was breathtaking. The muscles rippling under her skin were relaxing under my touch and felt like corded steel and yet were so supple and pliant. 

Beth groaned as I hit a particularly tight knot near the base of her neck. I worked on her shoulders and as I moved down I layered the area I had just massaged with my hands, with the lightest butterfly kisses I was capable of providing, my lips barely touching her skin. I worked on her arms and down her sides. I followed every touch with a kiss.

As I moved down her back I had to scoot further down her body until my hips rested just above the perfection of Beth's ass. I lifted my left leg over her body. As I did his Beth started to rise up in protest saying "Noooo..." drowsily. I put a hand on her lower back and told her "Stay there I'm just going to do your legs." Beth gave a contented sigh and sank back into the mattress.

I slid down off of the end of the bed to the floor near Beth's feet. I reached over and took her left foot in my hand. For a woman of her size Beth's feet were small and delicate looking. I brought her foot up to my lips and gently ran my tongue from her heel to the arch of her foot. While lingering at the arch and tickling her arch with the tip of my tongue Beth's head came up and she gasped as I ran my tongue up to her toes and took her big toe between my lips. 

I gently sucked on her toes one by one and as I finished with one set of toes I began to massage her foot. I worked my way up her calf and to the top of her thigh. As I reached her thigh I moved back down her leg and then took her right foot into my hands and repeated the process. This time, however, when I reached her thigh I continued up to her buttock. I kneaded and massaged the firm mound of flesh. As I did this I slowly bent my head and sucked a mouthful of flesh into my mouth, nipping gently and drawing a moan of approval and passion from Beth. 

I laved the entire surface of her cheek with kisses, licks, and gentle bites. With each nip at her buttock, Beth moaned in a low sexy voice. I moved to the other cheek and repeated the process. Beth's moans increased in volume and intensity. I crushed her cheeks together and then drew them apart. 

As her I separated the mounds of her flesh I saw her rosebud and thought I had never seen anything as lovely. I bent my head and placed a tender kiss directly on her anus. As my lips contacted her most secret place she thrust her hips up at me and gave a cry that I was sure signaled an orgasm.

I tentatively placed my tongue against her asshole and gave it a gentle lick. I had never rimmed anyone before and was hoping that Beth would not freak out. I was pleased when I heard Beth say in a voice filled with lust and longing, "Oh Alex! Don't stop... Feels so good! Don't stop... I ran my tongue around and applied a little more pressure to her rosy sphincter every time my tongue passed over it.

I had never done or thought of doing this with the bitch I was married to as she was vocal in her opinions that anyone, engaging in such activities, was a wanton slut and whore. I didn't think about this until much later and remembered seeing her do this and much worse, much more on those tapes. At the moment all I could think was that Beth liked what I was doing and I wanted to please her body more than anything else in the world. 

I prodded Beth to part her legs as I moved off of her. I reached over and brought the wet pillow from earlier to me. As I moved between her spread thighs again a pulled her hips up slightly and thrust the pillow under her hips. This allowed her to leave the delicate folds of her gorgeous sex open to me while allowing her to relax back on to the bed. She writhed on the bed eager for my touch and the sight pleased me. I had never had a lover be this eager for my touch, to yearn for me to please them.

I knew in that instant that I would spend the rest of my life trying to make Beth happy. I would be hers as long as she would have me. I felt no fear of being hurt again, no apprehension about moving to fast. I had no reservations about Beth and I whatsoever. She had been my best friend for fifteen years and there was little that we didn't know about one another.

I moved back down between Beth's legs and ran my tongue from her clit all the way to her anus. It reminded me of the way you lick a melting ice cream cone, only without the urgency. When I touched Beth's clit with my tongue she again tried to rise saying "Alex no! Let me clean up first!" I slid both of my arms quickly under her thighs and curled my arms around her legs and grasped her ass cheeks in either hand holding her in place. I raised my head from her delectable treasure and said "I thought I told you to lie down and enjoy this." 

She remained raised up on her arms looking over her shoulder at me in uncertainty. Seeing that; I let go with my right hand and brought it down sharply on her right butt cheek and said "Now lie down and enjoy this!" The tone in my voice told her that this was a non-negotiable point. As my palm struck her she flinched and flushed and let out a gasp of pleasure. Before my eyes I saw her pussy spasm in response to the strike. This I also filed away for future exploration as she dropped her head back down on the pillow before her.

I again grasped her cheek and pulled her sex to me. I licked again as I had before and every time I touched her clit or her anus I got a moan that increased in intensity and volume as I did my best to eat her to orgasm. I pointed my tongue and slid it into her soaked sex and lapped at her like she were the fountain of my being. I slid one hand back under her and pinched at her swollen clit.

Beth began to shake and tremble as her orgasm approached. I slid a little further up and stiffened my tongue into a point as I forced it passed her rosebud and into her anus. At the same time I sent two fingers from the hand I had used on her clit to probe at her "G-spot" again. Beth let out a shriek and began convulsing thrusting her ass back into my face and grinding down on my fingers simultaneously.

Her sphincter clutched at my tongue as if it wanted to uproot it and draw it inside her welcoming orifice. Her pussy clamped down on my fingers like a vise as she rode my hand through another orgasm and several after shocks. I waited until her breathing began to return to normal and then I climbed up over her back and kissed her behind her right ear. I whispered "I guess I still need to practice more." 

She turned her head so she could see me out of one eye and asked "Are you insane? If you get any better I won't know what to do with you." "But you are still conscious and Milady did give me a command." The smile on her face turned to one of surprise as I slid my engorged length into her in a single thrust. This sent her still quivering sex back into orgasm as she was still sensitized and experiencing aftershocks. I pumped into her with slow forceful strokes. Each thrust giving her another mini orgasm as the head of my cock moved back and forth against her G-spot thanks to the angle given by the pillow under her hips. Beth panted and clutched at the sheets and cried out "Fuck me Alex! Fuck Me! Oh God don't you dare stop! Fuucck MEEEE! 




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 07



Chapter 07

I awoke with a start and at first feared it had all been a dream. Then as I fully awakened I felt Beth's warm comforting mass next to me, pinning my right arm, so I relaxed before I disturbed her. I looked and saw the numbers of the digital clock, and realized I had only been asleep for about an hour. I looked down at the wonder sleeping beside me using my breast as a pillow. Moonlight came in through the small space between the curtains and lit the room in an ethereal glow; falling across our recumbent forms on the bed. The silvery light provided just enough illumination to see by, without being bright enough to wake the sleeping divinity resting her head on my breast. It was then that I found out the meaning of the words "a perfect moment in time". 

I saw Beth, my perfect Amazon Goddess, with her eyes closed looking so seraphic; as she slept a smile came upon her lips, as if someone in her dream had told a joke, her hair the color of rubies spun out into a fine silken thread illuminated by the glow of the moon. The effect seemed to make her glow with an inner light that warmed my broken soul and was a balm to it, causing it to heal. I had never seen anything more perfect in all of my life. I couldn't help thinking that this is what heaven must be like, because there could be no greater perfection than this moment in time.

So of course, as all things do, the moment passed as my bladder began requesting an emergency meeting in the lavatory with the porcelain chairman. As gently as I could, I lay Beth back onto the bed and went to relieve myself. I was gone for but a moment, yet as I came back into the room I saw that Beth had stretched out an arm seeking me in her sleep. I watched as her hand slowly roved the bed looking for what was no longer there, her face twisting into a frown and murmurs of discontent escaped her perfect lips. I quickly moved to the side of the bed and kneeling, placed my hand in the path of hers.

Her fingers, so delicate looking for so strong a woman, curled into mine and a contented sigh came from her as she sank back into arms of Hypnos. I knelt there at the side of the bed and gazed at her for nearly an hour. Her beauty stole my breath and I prayed that I could one day be worthy of the gift that she was to me. As I thought this I closed my eyes against the tears I felt trying to fall. I must have made a sound or clenched her hand because I next felt Beth's free hand come up and cup my face.

I opened my eyes and saw a worried look on her face. "What's wrong baby?" she asked and the silken threads of her voice made things low in my body awaken and clench in response. 

"Nothing is wrong Sweets." I said "I was just thinking that if this is a dream I never wanted to wake up and if I'm awake I never want to sleep. I never want to miss one moment of time when I'm with you." 

Beth smiled her, oh so sexy smile, and said "Keep talking like that and you might just get laid tonight mister." She pulled on my hands and I let her draw me back into the bed along side her. As I lay back down Beth rested her hand on my hip. 

I looked at her and placing a finger on her lips to keep her silent till I was finished, asked her "What can I ever do to deserve you? I don't, you know? I'm scared to death that I'm going to wake up and this will have all been a dream. You won't be here and I'll be alone in my apartment, a ruined shell of a man. That is what was happening to me you know? I've never felt about anyone the way I do about you. I hope that one day I'll have the words to tell you how very, very special you are to me." As I spoke I brought my hand from her lips and traced the line of jaw down past her neck to her clavicle.

She moved closer to me and took my hand in hers and brought it to her lips. She placed a kiss on the back of my fingers and opened my hand to place yet another in the center of my palm. Almost in a whisper she said "You really have no idea how special you are, do you?" 

She looked into my eyes and I had the sensation of falling into space coupled with the certain knowledge that I was safely wrapped in the arms of my truest love. Our lips met and molten liquid ran though my veins. I closed my eyes and lost myself in the feelings that I was experiencing. I felt Beth put her hand on my neck and pull my head to her breast and hug me tightly to her as if I were a child in need of comforting.

The steady beat of her heart sounded in my ear as I turned my head and lay it in the valley between her magnificent breasts. I sighed again content for the moment to be held in her arms. Beth rested her chin on top of my head we lay in each others arms and basked in the warmth of each others presence for another hour. We drifted off to sleep again locked in each others arms. My head cradled to her breast.



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

I awoke again just before eight in the morning. I was still in my favorite spot, cradled to Beth's glorious breast. I knew she was awake as her hand was softly stroking the hair on the back of my neck. I tightened my grip on her and hugged her. I turned my face up and said "Hello Perfection." Planting a small kiss on the side of her breast as I spoke I nuzzled into her magnificence.

Beth looked at me with a raise eyebrow and asked "Perfection? Who told you I was perfection?" 

I looked up at her face and let my emotions show in my eyes, "How could anyone think you were anything but? You are without a doubt the most perfect thing God ever created; He had to give up trying after you." 

"You silly man you. You can quit trying so hard, you've already got the girl." She smiled and chuckled as she spoke while color rose in her cheeks at so bold a compliment.

I gazed up at her and said "I may have gotten the girl but I'll never be worthy of such a gift." I brought her hand to my lips and kissed her palm once more. Her skin tasted of cinnamon and salt and was uniquely Beth. 

Beth hugged me tighter, whispering into my hair and asked, "Would you make love to me again?" 

My heart raced at the thought and my cock began to swell against Beth's thigh and she chuckled, "I'll take that as a yes."

I lifted my head and looked into her eyes and said "That's not a "yes" that's a "forever and all time, with no reservations, Yes!" 

I kissed my way up the side of her breast and took her right nipple into my mouth and gently laved it with my tongue. I went slowly and worked my way to her other nipple. I had forgotten for a moment how sensitive her nipples were. 

Beth began to moan and gasp "Oh Alex! Oh that feels so good!" 

She brought her hands up, caressing my back with her right hand and tangling her left in my hair as she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensations I was providing.

With my left hand I began to massage her right breast. I stroked it and caressed it as I worshiped at the altar that was Beth. My whole world coalesced into that span of time as I made slow passionate love to this woman that I cherish. I moved up and kissed her panting lips as I rolled her nipples in my fingers again. I looked her in the face and asked, "What do you want Beth? Tell me what you want me to do." 

Beth's back arched off of the bed as I again began to pull on her nipples. "You have to tell me what you want Beth. You have to tell me how to please you best." I said to her in a husky whisper. 

Beth moaned again and began to shudder but remained silent. I smiled at her and took my hands from her body and scooted towards the edge of the bed. Beth's eyes flew open as I pulled away, her breath ragged as she had been nearing another orgasm.

"Just where do you think your going?" she demanded rolling onto her right elbow causing her breasts to sway invitingly. "Get your ass back over here and finish what you've started!" Her voice was at once pleading, demanding and begging for my attentions. 

I smiled and told her "Then tell me what you want. Tell me how best to please you. If I've learned anything it's not to take anything for granted. I want you to always tell me what you want." Her eyes smoldered with an intensity I had never seen anyone use when looking at me.

"I want you to make love to my nipples the way you were. I want you to make me cum. Then I want you to eat my hot, wet pussy until I drown you in my girl cum. I want to make love to you until we haven't the strength to get out of this bed or even so much as move! Now get your ass back over here and finish what you started or I may just have to hurt you!" The fire that blazed to life in her eyes told me that I would not be safe if I left her in this condition much longer.

I smiled at her and said "That's all I wanted. I just have this need to know that you want me." As I spoke I again slid over next to her and began to stroke her breast and toy with her nipples. I rolled her right nipple between my finger and thumb while I brushed my right palm over her left nipple. I leaned over her as she rolled onto her back once more and kissed her sensuous lips. I looked into her eyes and saw the desire in them as well as the unbridled lust for me. I was struck again with how lucky I was to have someone like Beth love me.

I began to knead the flesh of her mounds and she began to moan again. I took her left nipple into my mouth and began to lick it like it was her clit. As I applied suction to it Beth again began to moan and stroke her hands through my hair. At the same time I took her other nipple and began to apply and release gradual pressure. Almost palpitating her nipple, slowly building it to the point just before pain, where pleasure and pain merge and can no longer be distinguished from one another.

Beth's breathing had become ragged and she struggled to both breathe and moan and gasp all at once. "Oh. Oh Alex I'm gonna cum! Oh God! Oh God! OOOOHHHHH! OOOHHH! EEEEEEYYYYYYEEEESSS!" Beth's scream tore from her throat and made me glad we had the floor to ourselves. I was sure if we had had any neighbors they would be calling the police regarding the murder happening in our room.

I smiled at that thought and realized that I could spend eternity watching Beth cum. There simply was no more beautiful a sight to me. As her breathing returned to a somewhat more regular state I slowly stroked my hand down to her sculpted thatch. I thought about it for a moment and then asked her "When did you do this, and why a heart?" 

Beth smiled a lazy contented smile at me and said "I did it for you. We talked once and you said you wished that she who shall remain nameless would shave or even trim her bush for you but she always refused. An old girlfriend of mine showed me how to do it once when we were dating. So when this all started I got a hold of her and had her help me. She does it professionally you know."

I thought for a moment reviewing the girlfriends I knew she'd had and said "You mean Maddi? I knew she did hair at The Salon but I didn't know they did that there." 

Beth smiled, pleased that I had remembered her friend. "They don't "do that" at the shop, but when you know the stylist, house calls are seldom a problem." She said this with a chuckle. "She said when we were dating that you were the only guy she knew who could make her go straight."

I raised my eyes to hers and asked "Why on earth would she say that? I barely knew her." 

Beth smiled and said, "She told me that you were the sweetest guy she had ever met. You never treated her like a freak and you always treated her like a "Grand Lady". Her words not mine. You were the only male who had ever treated her with respect both before and after you got to know her."

"Wow." I said. I was stunned. "I never treated her any different than I treated anyone else. I mean… I don't understand?" I was at a loss to explain her reaction to me.

"Silly! You are the only man she has ever met that didn't either treat her like a freak or a piece of meat. Let's face it; how many seven foot tall, two hundred and forty pound, Harley Davidson riding pink Mohawk wearing, black lesbian body building hairdressers with a near perfect figure do you meet on an average day, hmmm?" Beth had this silly smirk on her face because she knew she had me.

"Ok, ok. So Maddi is a little eccentric I'll grant you and yes she stands out in a crowd, but come on. I'm not exactly the easiest person to hide in a crowd either. Why would she expect me to treat her like a freak? From what I know of her she seems like a nice lady." Ok so as I said before I'm a little dense.

Beth gave me this warm smile and drew me into her arms and said, "And that is precisely why she feels the way she does and the same reason I love you so much. You never judge people before you meet them and you always treat them as if they were the most important people you have ever met. You really don't know how rare that is, do you? You are also the only guy she knows who talks to her and not her tits! "

I didn't know what to say to that so I kept quiet. Suddenly Beth's tummy let out a loud audible growl. Her face quickly turned scarlet and she grabbed her belly. The mortified look on her face was priceless. I began laughing so hard I could barely catch my breath. "Well what do you expect you've been eating well all morning and I haven't had so much as a bite?" She clicked her teeth together mimicking taking a big bite out of something!

It was my turn to turn scarlet. "Ok love, I was planning to order room service but I remembered a call I have to make and an errand I need to run today, this morning would be best and then we can have lunch and come back here and I can finish out your request list. How does that sound? Would you have breakfast with me Milady?" I asked with a sweeping bow. Beth makes a big deal out of my lapsing into Renaissance Faire dialect, but she loves it just the same.

Beth rolled her eyes at me and smiled "Ok Sir Cornballious, I'll spend he day with you as long as you feed me. I have a stop I want to make while we're out if you don't mind. But if we're going to go to breakfast we need to get moving it's already after ten o'clock and I'm hungry. You grab a shower in the other bath and I'll grab one in here and we can be ready to go in no time." Beth got up and began gathering her things for her shower.

The disappointment must have shown on my face as I watched her get ready. She climbed back up on the bed, wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me briefly. Beth pulled back from the kiss and said "I'd like nothing more than to take a long bath or shower with you but if we do that now we both know we'll never get out of the suite today. Or we'll have to rush later and neither of us wants that. When we come back I plan to make use of that great big tub and soak in it with you and make love to you for hours. So be patient and get ready to go. The sooner we're gone the sooner we're back and in that tub." With that she kissed me on the nose and jumped off the bed.

I walked into the guest bath and picked up the phone. I dialed Josh's number from memory and told him what I wanted done and asked him to have the papers dropped off at the suite later today. I hung up from him and made the call for Beth's surprise. 

I hung up the phone after making several more calls and reservations for Beth's surprise and took a very thorough shower. I did my daily grooming rituals, teeth, hair, and shaving. It all took me less than half an hour. I dressed smartly in a blue polo shirt (a gift from Beth, the blue matched her eyes) and khaki pants. I went out to the sitting room to wait for Beth and retrieved a bottle of water from the bar.

I was starting to wonder what was wrong when Beth emerged from the master suite. She looked exquisite in her silk Diane Von Furstenberg dress. It had a rich cranberry print pattern and set off the highlights in her hair to perfection. She quite literally stole my breath away. "You look… I have no words… You are so beautiful." 

My voice dwindled to a low whisper as I forgot to breathe. Beth walked over and wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled my face to hers. For a moment the universe blinked, time stood still and Beth kissed me.

Beth pulled away and looked into my eyes and said "Feed me Seymour!" She dropped her arms and danced away laughing all the while at the indignant look on my face. 

"Here I am having this wonderful romantic moment and you go and quote a Rick Moranis film! I may just have to cut all ties with you after all!"

Beth got this mock contrite look on her face and said in a little girl voice "I'm sorry Alex, I'll be good." 

I looked at her and said "Oh yeah, like I believe that too!" I burst into laughter and Beth joined me. I held out my hand and said "Let's go eat." We walked out to the elevator and waited for it to arrive. I took my right arm and put it around Beth and said "I love you Beth." I placed a kiss on the top of her head before she could turn to look at me. As she turned to look at me the elevator announced its arrival.

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

The elevator doors opened on to the Top of the Tower restaurant and Franco's smiling face. "Ah, Miss Beth you look radiant this morning, and Mr. Alex, how good to see you today! Will you be joining us for brunch?" Franco asked as he looked into his appointment book knowing full well that I had made a reservation only moments ago, and confirmed the table was ready.

Beth smiled and said "Yes Franco, if you have a table free we would like that very much." Franco smiled and taking a rose from a vase behind him he presented it to Beth. "For you and Mr. Alex, Miss Beth, I always have a table open." Beth blushed as she accepted the rose from the jovial Italian man. 

Franco indicated with a wave of his arm for them to follow him and led them to the same area they had eaten in the night before. The view of the lakefront was amazing from the window. Beth watched enraptured as several small sailboats made their way to the small marina. We had failed to notice the spectacular view from the window the night before. I'm certain that the view at sunset is truly amazing and made a mental note to find out with Beth one day this weekend.

We had a wonderful brunch consisting of Chicken parmesan and an excellent Caesar's Salad. As we were finishing our meal I took Beth's hand and brought it to my lips. "Beth we need to talk and I guess now is as good a time as any." 

The look of uncertain fear in her eye's nearly ripped my heart from my chest. I squeezed her hand and said "Relax Beth, I'm not going anywhere. I just need to tell you a few things and now seemed like a good time to get them out of the way." Beth looked at me again and the relief in her eyes was significant.

"I told you a little about my parents. When my… mother got pregnant from what I heard she was very happy. When they found out it was "twins" they were ecstatic. For educated people my folks weren't too bright. They had only cursory pre natal exams done and never an ultrasound. When my brother came first dad was happy, he had his son. When my sister came mom was overjoyed." 

"When I came they said "What do you mean another one? We only wanted two!" I've seen the birth video and that's a direct quote, by the way. I found out later that the only reason they kept me was because of my Grams. She told them that if they gave me up at any time she would cut them from her will, and she meant it too." I said all of this in a rush and looked out the window the whole time. I just could not have borne it if I saw pity in her eyes. I never wanted to see that from her when she looked at me. 

"I loved my Grams very much and she always took a very active interest in my life. My family would watch the video of the delivery and laugh about the "surprise guest" that showed up. I think I was about ten when I figured out that they didn't really care about me. Dad had his "little man" and mom had her living "baby doll". They gave me no more thought than what it would take to keep Grams happy. But Grams did care and that was all that mattered to me. Grams never got on with my father and she thought he was after her daughter's fortune. She also thought he was an idiot. I think she was right, by the way."




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 07



I smiled as I recalled my memories of my grandmother. "A grand lady she was. She could put the most arrogant person on the planet in his place and not bat an eye. Or she could comfort a poor unwanted child and make him feel like the most special person in the world." I was smiling at the memory of her. I shook myself from my reverie, "Anyway Grams made sure I knew what love was. She never made any difference between the three of us and after things got bad at home she gave me a place to run to if it was too bad." I took in a deep shuddering breath. "I didn't realize how hard telling this out loud was going to be."

"When Grams died my world kinda collapsed. When she became ill," I saw Beth raise an eyebrow in question "lung cancer and she never smoked a single cigarette, I visited her every single day after school. I sat and held her hand through the pain on the bad days. I read to her on the days she was too tired to sit up. We played chess in the park on the days she was feeling good. She died quietly in her sleep one night as I held her hand."

Beth wiped a tear from my cheek I hadn't realized was falling. I went on. "She had an Irish wake if you can believe that, drinks, and food, and her lying right there in the middle of it all. I laughed at the affronted expression on my mothers face when she found out it wasn't to be a "dignified affair for the family". Grams had had it all set up in advance. Her friends came and paid their respects to the family and every one of them pulled me aside and thanked me for being there for her and said how much it meant to her that I had."

"I don't think the rest of the family came to see her more than eight or ten times that last year she was sick. Anyhow one of the men at the wake pulled me aside and gave me a note and told me to go to the bathroom and read it, that it was from Grams. I knew who he was, Mr. Meyer. He had been friends with Grams for years. So I did what he said and went to the restroom and read the note."

"It said that when we all went to the reading of the will at the offices of Hoffman, Phillips, Browning and Dunne I should ask for the restroom and there would be someone waiting to talk to me and I should do what they said."

"Long story short Grams left a video for me to watch that told me how much she loved me and that she was sorry she had to go. She also left me and my siblings a trust fund, the amount of which was not to be disclosed until I turned eighteen or certain conditions were met. Mom had her own trust and dad couldn't touch it so she was safe too. I was told not to tell anyone about the trusts or this tape. The lawyers at this firm were now my lawyers and would administer my trust and would hold on to the tape for me until I received my inheritance. If I had any problems I was to contact them immediately. I was given a card to carry in my wallet with their name and contact instructions on it."

"When my… When my brother and sister died we were not on good terms by any means. They had harassed me. They had their friends and sycophants harass me, all throughout our school days. They died less than a year after Grams did." The look on Beth's face warred with outrage, horror, sympathy and sorrow. But thankfully no pity; I don't think I could have handled that.

I didn't like the mood I was creating; this weekend was about joy after all, so I decided to cut this short and change my plans a bit. "Beth, will you come with me? I have something I need to get and then I need to show it to you." I half expected her to be fed up with me at this point. 

She looked at me kinda funny and then said in a low voice "I'll follow you anywhere. I thought you knew that?" Looking into her eyes I could see the truth of that statement. I had never seen such complete trust in anyone's eyes before. I smiled and grabbed her into my arms and hugged her to me. Her arms came up and hugged me back just a fiercely.

I broke our hug and stood with her hand in mine. "Let's go."

******

The ride to Hoffman, Phillips, Browning and Dunne took about ten minutes and most of that was getting a parking space in downtown on an early Friday afternoon. At a little after one we walked in and saw Sheila Philips, the receptionist. She was a petit woman of about forty-five with auburn hair just starting to go to grey at the temples. She came around the desk and hugged me tight before stepping back and speaking in her very southern drawl. "Hello Alex! It's so good to see you." Sheila had been a fixture at Hoffman, Phillips, Browning and Dunne for as long as I could remember.

"Hi Sheila, how are you doing? How is Fred?" I asked. Her husband Fred had had a heart attack just before Lisa left and I had been distracted since. Fred was also the Phillips in Hoffman, Phillips, Browning and Dunne. His health is why I ended up with that shyster Fowler. Her face lit up.

She said "He doing just fine. The doctors are all pleased. He's only handling a few of the older clients now. No more trials for him. The doc says it could overstress his heart but he will be fine if he takes it easy. He is in his office if you'd like to see him." I hoped I counted as one of the few she spoke of. I really wasn't fond of lawyers at the moment with a few exceptions. Sheila gave me a pointed look so sharp it nearly eviscerated me.

"Excuse my rudeness Sheila I'm a bit scattered today." She nodded and I continued "Sheila Phillips let me introduce the light that warms my world, Bethsany Ann Taylor." Sheila looked at me like I had two heads and both of them wanted her for breakfast.

"A-Alex, aren't you married? To Lisa? Your wife?" The look on her face said I had a lot of explaining to do. Beth piped up and with a fire I have rarely seen in her eyes, let out with both barrels.

"No as a matter of fact he's not! SHE saw to that when SHE filed for divorce nine months ago and left him for her GIRLFRIEND!" I put a hand on Beth's arm to try to calm her down. Sheila might not be close but I did count her as a friend.

"Sheila can you come with us to Fred's office, I only want to have to relive this once". She glanced warily at an angry Beth and nodded. She pushed a button and one of the other secretaries came to man her desk.

We walked down a hall to the last office in the corner. Sheila knocked once and opened the door. Fred sat behind his desk reading a "legal brief" in a folder when he saw it was me he put the folder down showing himself to be a fraud as the "legal brief" was in fact a copy of Outdoor Fisherman magazine. He was a balding man in his early fifties and was looking better than the last time I had seen him just after his attack. His color was better and he looked slimmer too.

"Alex! Good to see you, what brings you by?" Turning to Beth he smiled and extended a hand. "Fred Phillips a fraud at law pleased to meet you!" 

Beth laughed and took his hand said "Bethsany Ann Taylor, call me Beth please."

Sheila piped up "You forgot the "light that warms his world" part" a bit waspishly and pointed at me. 

That set me off in a hurry "That's enough from both members of the peanut gallery!" I turned to Sheila "I won't have her spoken to in that manner by anyone not even my friend, Sheila! And Beth, please rein it in for a minute and let me straighten this out. It'll be Ok I promise." Beth looked at me and nodded but the anger was still a palpable thing radiating from her.

Neither Fred nor Sheila had ever heard me raise my voice in anger before and the shock of it showed on their faces. "Fred you've heard me mention my best friend Beth before and you know what she has meant to me, right?" He nodded but didn't look happy that I had spoken to his wife that way. However, given what he had witnessed, he was holding his tongue for now.

Apparently my former attorney hadn't been doing his job. Like that was any surprise. "Fred, Sheila, Lisa filed for divorce more than nine month ago. The divorce was final yesterday. The marriage is over and has been for more than a day." The looks on their faces were those of people in complete shock. Fred started to speak and I held up my hand to stop him. "Let me tell this and then you can ask your questions. You'll also know why I'm here today." I said this last with a glance at Beth. Fred's eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch and his eyes flicked toward Beth and back as he understood what I wanted. I gave a nod.

Fred said "Go on." As he spoke he got up and walked to a painting on the wall of his office. It swung aside on hinges and revealed a wall safe. He opened the safe and extracted a video cassette and manila document envelope. He sat back down after securing the safe once more and continued listening.

I began the whole sordid tale from the moment that Lisa had filed to the current date. I left nothing out. I gave them every gruesome detail. By the end reliving it like that had me nearly in dry heaves ready to make a mess on the expensive carpet. During my story I had sat down and Beth had moved behind me and massaged my neck. Concern for me was written on her face and in her body language for all to see.

As I spoke I saw Sheila's face pinch first in disbelief and then the magnitude of the horror of what my ex had done to me shown through and tears started to build in her eyes. "…and so we are here and I need to let you know what's going on. Sheila I'm sorry for speaking to you that way but Beth didn't deserve it and neither did I."

Sheila took the tissue that Fred held out to her and said "Oh God Alex, Beth, I'm so sorry for what I said and how I behaved. I didn't know and I'm so sorry. After all you've been through already and I go and..." Sheila dissolved into tears. Fred got up and took his wife into his arms.

After a moment he looked at Beth and said "Miss Taylor? The large envelope on my desk is for you. So is the video tape. There is a player and television in the armoire over there. Sheila and I will leave you to watch it and be back in thirty minutes or so." He led Sheila from the room and Beth looked at me, puzzled.

"How would he have anything for me? I've never met the man before today." She asked me. 

I played innocent and shrugged my shoulders "Why don't you take a look and see what it is? I doubt your being sued or anything."

Beth walked over and picked up the tape. On one side it said in big letters "WATCH ME FIRST". She picked up the envelope and saw it had a legal seal showing that it had been sealed seventeen years ago, nearly eighteen now, and had remained unopened. The words "OPEN ONLY AFTER VIEWING THE TAPE" were hand printed in bold letters I recognized as my grandmothers handwriting.

She looked at me and I shrugged again. She walked over to the cabinet and opened it up. She turned on the TV and pushed the tape into the player after it had warmed up. The remote for the TV/VCR unit lay in front of it. I turned my chair to face the TV and Beth surprised me by ignoring the chair I had turned for her and sitting in my lap. I put my arms around her and held her tight. She gave me a quick kiss and then started the tape.

The screen came to life and there, in living color, was my Grams. It must have been just after she found out she was ill as the medications and treatments had not been kind to her. She wore her favorite blue sweater and an ivory top set that I had given her for her birthday in January the year she was diagnosed.

She spoke and her voice felt like home. She had always had a musical quality to her voice and I felt the tears fall from my cheeks. 

"Hello Alan. I assume you are there with the woman who has stolen your heart. I wanted her to know some things about you and your family that only I could tell her and it looks like I'm not going to get the chance. If you're seeing this then I didn't make it passed the cancer so there is no reason to dawdle about." 

She smiled on the screen. "Young lady… I hope it IS a young lady? You never know today, though. If I'm wrong please forgive me. Anyway, Alan is a special young man. He loves with his whole heart. If you've captured his heart then you are a special lady indeed. Alan did not have a happy childhood. I tried to mitigate the damage his mother and her tame baboon did to him but they never had any feelings for him and made sure he knew it. I love my grandson very much and have done the best for him that I could. I wanted to let you know that he is courageous and honest and if he loves you there is nothing he will not do for you."

"Alan tends to hide his hurts so you will need to make him talk to you about them. He also tends to believe that he has no intrinsic value, very low self esteem, thanks to my idiot daughter and her ape, so tell him often how special he is. He is very humble and unassuming for the most part but he also has a temper. Please take care of him for me." 

"Alan you take care of this lovely young lady and love her back. I love you so much and I am so sorry that I won't be there for so many of the things we talked about." 

She pulled a tissue from the box beside her and dabbed her eyes. "Always remember that I love you and will watch out for you the best I can my dear sweet boy. I am so very proud of you, Alan. Goodbye for now." The screen went blank and Beth used the remote to rewind the tape.

I sat and held Beth on my lap as I cried into her shoulder. She stroked my hair and whispered to me "It's alright. It'll be ok." I pulled myself together and whispered "I love you too Grams." A moment later Fred returned to the office without Sheila. She had gone back to her desk and left us to discuss business.

Beth was opening the envelope as he entered and said "What is this? A make out session after the movies?" 

I looked up at him so I missed what the envelope held. She jumped up off my lap and began dancing around the office laughing. She looked at me and said "I really wish I had known your Grams. She got in a last lick even from the grave." As she spoke she held up the proverbial bare baby on a bear skin rug picture of me in 8 x 10 format. Also in the package was a packet of smaller prints of me as a child with a note in Grams handwriting on the back of each one. Grams had gotten out the baby pictures to show my girlfriend just as she had always threatened to do when I decided to marry.

I chased her for a minute trying to get the large photo but stopped when Fred spoke up. "Alex let her have it. If you take it from her I'm supposed to mail her a dozen copies made from the negative in my safe." He broke out laughing, the traitor.

When Beth and Fred had calmed down, Beth looked at me and asked "What did Lisa think of your Grams?" 

I looked at her and said "I never introduced Lisa to my Grams. I didn't think they would have gotten along. Lisa was always to… rigid I suppose. You are the only person since that tape was made to see it. I saw it for the first time a few minutes ago." Beth looked at Fred and he nodded confirming what I had just told her. Astonishment etched her features.

Fred spoke up "I was Gloria's attorney the last ten years of her life and I was also her friend. When she passed away I was the one who handled all of the funeral arrangements and the estate. This was the final act on behalf of the estate of Gloria and Alex Palmer." Beth's head snapped up and looked at me.

"When his "gene donors"… I'm sorry Alex they were never parents to you and I won't name them such," 

Fred paused and looked at me "I told her about it in the broad strokes last night and earlier today." I said. Fred nodded and looked at Beth again. 

"When his "gene donors" disowned him, Alex came to me and said he wanted to change his name. I made him wait until he was of legal age. He decided that he would honor his Grams and Gramps by taking his grandfathers name and becoming Alex Palmer the second. I rolled the defunct trusts of his brother and sister into a single trust for Alex as the will stipulated and the terms of the trust dictated and when Alex entered college it was with his new name and funds intact. His trust then was a little over twelve million dollars although; Alex didn't know that at the time."

"I can say this now and I hope you don't take it wrong Alex, but I never liked that bitch you married and if I had known you better I might have said so back then. I'm sorry now that I didn't. Are you sure the girls aren't yours?" 

At my nod he asked "What are you going to do about them?" 

I sighed, looked at him and said "It's Ok Fred. Nobody knew what a bitch she was. The actors' guild should hire her to teach. Hell the academy should give her an award! And yes we're sure. The blood types make it impossible for me to be their father. After I calm down I'll decide what to do about the girls. Anyway, I need Lisa removed from all the legal aspects of my life ASAP and I need to know how she managed to siphon money from my trust. The money is back where it belongs but I don't like that she managed to get her hands on it."

Fred missed the last part of my statement as he got a troubled look on his face. He looked like he wasn't happy with what he was about to tell me. "I already know how and who got into your accounts Alex. It also ties nicely into my "heart attack"." He grimaced. "My heart trouble was induced." We stared at him in stunned silence. The statement rocked me to my core. Beth and I stared at him in disbelief. 

He continued "Once I had been incapacitated several large trust accounts were tampered with. Ben Johnson, the man I told you I was grooming to take some of the accounts and pressure off of me, was arrested this morning trying to flee the country. He had skimmed several millions of dollars each from various accounts including yours. We've gotten all of the money back for our other clients, or will have soon." He looked sad and apprehensive "The money from your account couldn't be retrieved, it's already been transferred out Alex, I'm sorry." He looked like he was waiting for the axe to fall so I put him out of his misery.

"By us!" I laughed as he looked up at me in astonishment "We transferred the money back into the trust and changed all of the pass codes the night before my hearing." I handed him a slip with the new pass codes on it. Fred's face lit up like a Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. 

Fred dove for the phone and dialed an internal extension "Morris, stop the liquidation at once! NO… Yes… We've got the money back… Yes the client's wife, excuse me ex-wife is involved…. Yes call Granger in the D.A.'s office and let him know… Hell yes we intend to prosecute… I'll see you at the meeting at three and fill in the others so keep it under your hat for now... That's right, don't tell ANYONE!" 

He hung up the phone and turned to his computer. After logging into a screen we could not see (sometimes I hate privacy filters) he breathed a sigh of relief and took out his wallet. He took out a fifty dollar bill, laid it in my hand and said "That is the difference between what is there and what should be there. I'm sorry that this happened, Alex. If you would like to change firms I'd be happy to recommend several good ones."

I goggled at him for a moment and then in my best Irish brogue I said "Sure now and what would I be ta doin' that fer. Ye've risked life and limb on my b'half an' ye think I'll be getting' rid o ye now? Are ye daft man?" 

The look on his face was priceless. Beth collapsed against me in a fit of giggles. 

"I'm not going to take my ball and go home Fred. You have handled thing just fine so far, so no more talk of getting rid of you, Ok?" 

He nodded and said "Thanks Alex." I shook the hand he extended to me. 

"As a side bar I understand you are taking a lighter load here at the office. The damage to your heart was significant?"

Fred sighed and bowed his head "They used a compound that was supposed to cause a massive coronary and leave little or no trace. I was, however, in very good shape and had been to my doctors over a long lunch the same day. Dr. Jonas knew immediately the attack could not have been natural so he looked for a reason outside the norm right off the bat. They found the compound in my system before it could be metabolized and I survived, so the culprits had to act more quickly than they had planned and go cheaper than they had wanted to as well." He ran a hand through his thinning brown hair.




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 07



"I'm doing better but I have to cut the stress. My heart gives me trouble if I get too stressed or overly excited and they are talking pacemaker if I don't improve soon. I can still do estate and trust work but my trial days are through." I nodded and thought for a few minutes.

"That means you have a void that you will need filled in your trial section right? You'll want a good man to take over from you right?" 

Fred frowned and said slowly "Yes?" He said slowly. "Alex what are you up to?"

"I thought I might give you a name to consider headhunting. He's very good and he happens to at be at loose ends socially right now as he has just gone through a divorce of his own. He might be willing to relocate right now, he has family here and he happens to be in town. Do you know the name Joshel Taylor?" 

Fred's bobbed his chin as he said "He's really good."

I continued "He's Beth's brother and one of my closest friends. I think he would be a good fit here. It's up to you and Josh but I think it could be good."

Fred nodded and said "I'll float the idea at the meeting this afternoon. If it gets approval can I call you and set up a time to meet with him?" 

I glanced at Beth and saw her frown and knew she didn't want to be in the middle of this today anymore than I did. "I'll give you his cell number instead. Tell him I recommended him to you."

Fred took the number and said smiling "We were planning to liquidate assets from the retirement portfolios of the partners to try to cover what we owed you. I'm supposed to tell everyone just how ruined we all were at the meeting. The partners will be glad that we don't have to do that now." 

I looked at him and decided that I really should have kept better track of things. "Just what exactly am I worth now, the trust and securities and all. I know it was twelve million when I got it. Where is it at now?"

Fred actually smirked at me. He had never done that before. I had seen nearly every other expression on his face but never that one. Fred leaned back and said "Well Alex, through the judicious application of wealth and investments, we have taken you from being a rich man to being a VERY rich man. The figures from our audit put you at slightly over one hundred and five million dollars." I was going to have to pay for floor repairs. Once I got my jaw back from the basement where it had fallen to, that is. 

Beth gasped. "Good lord Alex you didn't know you had that kind of money?" 

I looked at Beth and shook my head no. Fred came to my rescue, bless him. 

"Except for his college tuition, books, very mild living expenses, and a few months help after graduation Alex has never touched his trust. He borrowed the money to buy his old house from the trust as a loan and repaid it quickly. Alex is an architect. But he doesn't seem to understand that he is considered one of the best in the country if not the world. Several of his design innovations are now required building code standards across the U.S. The U.S. Patent office has a whole volume listing his building innovations on file that he sees royalties from."

I blushed "I just draw building plans. It's not that big a deal honestly!" I tried to tone down the praise Fred was handing out. It was embarrassing me. 

Beth looked at Fred as she said "I've been telling him how special his work is for years and he has never believed me." 

I took her hand and brought it to my lips for a kiss. "We need to go Fred. We are at the Hyatt Tower Two for the weekend if you need to reach me. If anyone else wants to reach me I'm out of town till Monday, Ok?" Fred nodded 

"I'll have Lisa's name out of your files by this afternoon." He took out a form from his credenza, handed it to me and said "Fill in the blanks time. This is a basic Will until I can draft a proper document. This makes sure she doesn't cash in if you cash out!" 

His witticism fell flat to my ears but got a chuckle out of Beth. I quickly filled out the form and Beth had a near heart attack when I made her sole beneficiary and heir to my estate. 

She began to refuse so I grabbed her hands. "I want this Beth. The new Will is going to say exactly the same thing." I smiled "You love me for me and I love you for you. I don't need anything or anyone to be happy but you. I have got to know you are ok if anything happens to me." I signed my name and handed the document back to Fred who signed as witness. I glanced at the wall clock. It was nearly three and said "We have to be going Fred. I'll stop back on Monday to sign the rest of the paperwork."

Fred stood and shook my hand. "When you get ready to marry this gem I had better get an invitation to the wedding or I'll sell all of your assets for a penny apiece!" Beth and I both laughed as we assured him that, if such a thing happened, he would indeed be invited.



The Last 24 Hours Ch. 08



Chapter 8

We left the offices of Hoffman, Phillips, Browning and Dunne, and headed South down Main Street. I drove carefully out to the eastern edge of the city. As I drove Beth asked "Where are we going Alex?" 

I replied "It's a secret." 

I put a finger to my lips as if I would shush her. Beth was impatient but willing to go along with me for a little while at least. After nearly twenty minutes (I hate Friday rush hour traffic!) we pulled up in front of what looked like a warehouse. 

I got out and came around the car to open Beth's door. It showed how well she knew me that she waited for me to get the door for her. My Grams had taught me to always treat a lady LIKE a lady and to always BE a gentleman, not PLAY the gentleman. There is a big difference, trust me. Beth was a great lady in my eyes and more importantly she was MY lady. I wanted her to know that. 

We walked up to the entrance of the "warehouse" and after entering the door found ourselves in a very small room facing another door; Beth had to stand so close to me she was pressed tightly to my back and I could feel her breasts pressing into it. The feel of her against me caused a very prominent response in my trousers. This new door was an armored door and had no handle. A video camera was mounted to the right of it on the wall. A button set below the camera was marked "RING BELL FOR ADMITTANCE". 

I pressed the button and, after a moment, heard a thin voice come from the speaker, "Ah Alex! Good to see you, come in my boy, come in!" A buzzer sounded and a loud solid clank came from the heavy door and then it trundled open silently on pneumatic rollers. Beth looked at me for a moment and took my hand. I led her into the room.

The room was large perhaps one hundred sixty feet across and nearly as long. The floor of the room was dotted with many long workbenches. All but one of which had a cloth draped over it to hide what was on it. There was a man wearing a yamika at the bench on the far right.

Hiram Meyer was a small frail looking, exuberant little man. His yamika was of a pristine white satin and he wore small round glasses with multiple magnifying lenses attached. He was working on a very delicate looking necklace of intertwined gold and silver chains and muttering to himself in Yiddish. While his accent marked him as coming from somewhere in Eastern Europe his English was flawless. Glancing to his left he said, "I'll be with you in a moment Alex." I looked at Beth and we waited in silence.

Suddenly the small tight knot in the chains he was holding came free and he exclaimed "Ah, now that is more like it. If that meshuga old bat will be more careful this would not happen every two weeks…" Hiram looked up and for the first time noticed Beth. His face clouded with awe as he spoke in a near whisper "Mein Gott! Ein Engel hat kommen für mich!"

I had to laugh as I answered in all seriousness "Kein mein Freund, sie ist mein Engel, kommen von Himmel, mich zu sparen!" Hiram jolted as if I had shocked him and said. 

"Your pardon please, I did not realize I was speaking aloud."

Beth was looking annoyed and said with a sweet smile that promised havoc if we did not comply, "Somebody had better start translating before I get mad!" 

I smiled and Hiram looked embarrassed. I said "Hiram said "My God! An Angel has come for me!" and I said "No my friend, she is MY angel, come from heaven, to save me!" Beth had the good grace to blush.

I began the introductions, "Beth I'd like you to meet the finest jeweler in the western hemisphere, Hiram Meyer. Hiram I'd like you to meet Beth Taylor, my girlfriend." Beth reached to shake his hand and then froze as the word "girlfriend" passed my lips. Hiram had also been reaching to take her hand and froze. 

Today seemed to be my day to shock people and I was finding that I liked it. I smiled at him. He turned to me and said in a loud sputtering voice "Girlfriend… but… Lisa…" He put a hand on his chest to calm himself and said in his most serious tone "Perhaps you would care to explain this turn of events?" I laughed and put my arm around Beth.

He waved us over to a workbench that had three stools at it and we all sat down. I told him the story, all of it, and explained about Beth. The anger in his eyes at hearing of Lisa's treachery was enormous. 

"Weibchen! Dirne! A worthy student of Hitler!" he began cursing in Yiddish, German, and, I think Italian. 

Beth looked at me for translation again, "He said "Bitch!" Then "Whore" and then switched to Yiddish, a language I don't speak. I think to spare my feelings." I turned to Hiram "Calm down Hiram. I don't like what she did but I can't change it. Are the birthday gifts for the twins ready to be sent?" The change of subject seemed to snap him out of his rant. He stopped, calmed himself, nodded and stood up.

He went over to a cabinet and brought out a pair of jewelry boxes "They are right here. We finished them this afternoon." He handed me the boxes and I opened them. Inside the boxes lay matching link bracelets of platinum. One with a capitol S the other an L in an old world Calligraphic script. The links of the bracelet looked like flowing Celtic knot work vines. The letters were inset with brilliant sapphires tracing the shape of the letters.

Their mother had filed for divorce in the week following Christmas and before New Years. Their birthday was the twentieth of September. Today was the ninth. Eleven days more and I would have been happy to give them these gifts as my daughters. Now I didn't know how to sign the cards. I wasn't their father and they didn't want me to be, or so it seemed. A wave of melancholy emotions swamped me and I closed my eyes. Without turning I handed the boxes to Beth for her to look at. 

"These are exquisite." She gasped. "The detail on these links is absolutely amazing" The sound of her voice brought me out of the spiral I was falling into. Each link looked as though it flowed unbroken into the next. 

Hiram beamed at the praise. I stood and took Hiram by the arm and asked "Beth give me a minute to talk to Hiram." Hiram and I got up and moved to the front of the room away from Beth. Hiram and I spoke quietly "You know the necklace I hade made for Lisa to match the bracelets." He nodded solemnly "Well I want you to dispose of it. I don't want to see it and she isn't getting it. Sell it; melt it down, whatever, just so long as she never sees it; it's paid for. Also, is Beth's ring finished?" 

Hiram smiled at me and said "Yes as a matter of fact I finished it last night. I have it in the safe in the office. Do want to see it?" Hiram asked.

"Yes and I'd like to see a wedding and engagement set based off of the same pattern. Can you draw up the designs and let me see them in the next week or so? What stone do you think would match her hair and go well with several smaller diamonds? She was born in July so her birthstone is ruby." I think I caught Hiram off guard with my enthusiasm and quick questions.  

He thought for a moment and said "As to the bracelet for that witch, I may be able to find a buyer. I had an inquiry earlier this week for a similar project, and he may like the design and the lettering is a match. You've already paid for it so I'll apply the price to whatever other work you would like done regardless, if that's alright with you. It should more than cover the rings that you want I should think. As for the ring designs, hmm… Do you want his and hers rings or just a set for her?"

I smiled at that. "Beth told me a long time ago when we were talking about weddings that she would never take an engagement ring unless the groom also got one. She said the practice was unduly sexist and chauvinistic unless both parties got rings." I smiled at the memory "You still have the design we worked on for the masculine version of her ring don't you?" Hiram smiled and nodded. "Go get the ring and the drawings and let's see what the lady thinks. Oh and give me a couple of minutes to ask her if she will consider marrying me, alright."

Hiram nodded and then frowned, "Maybe it's none of my business Alex but don't you think this is kind of sudden? From what you tell me you have only been divorced for a day. Maybe you should wait a while before jumping into this. It's just a thought." He raised his hands like he thought I would be angry and he might have to ward off a blow.

I smiled, "Hiram you have been my friend for a long time do, you really think I'd hit you? I'm not mad at you. You've helped look after me ever since Grams passed and I value your opinion. However, I've known Beth just as long as I have known my ex, the bitch; only Beth has never betrayed me, taken advantage of me, or done anything but love me. I've loved her for a long time and only just figured out that I am in love with her as well. She says I'm the only man that will ever be in her life and I want her to be the last woman in mine. All I can tell you is that the very thought of being parted from her leaves me feeling bereft as though my life would be over."

He chuckled, rolled his eyes and said, "Oy Vey! You've got it bad Alex! Very well, I wish you joy. Are you sure you wish to give her this ring now?" The question in his eyes was deeper than the one on his lips. He could tell looking at me looking at Beth what I had in my mind.

I smiled and said, "The future is worthy of the promise. If Beth is the future I go to, I'll never be more certain of anything. When I asked you to make this ring I had it in mind as a beautiful gift for her having been my friend, now it is that and the promise of a future I want to live in again. The timing could be no more perfect." My smile deepened "Go get the ring please."

Hiram smiled back and headed towards a door at the back of the shop. He smiled at Beth as he passed her on his way out. She must have seen something in his face that made her nervous. She looked over at me and got up. As she stood I turned to face her. She came up to me and said "Ok Alex, what are you up to now?" Her eyes were alight with curiosity. 

I wrapped her up in my arms and looked into her face and said "I am innocent of any plot against thee, oh Queen of my Heart." Saying this I leaned down and kissed her soundly. I felt her pulse race as she sank into my embrace. The kiss lasted for more than a minute and as our lips parted I drew a shuddering breath. Beth all but purred and laid her head against my shoulder. 

"You should be outlawed! No one should be allowed to kiss like that." She sighed.

I smiled; nuzzled into her glorious hair and whispered "'Tis all in the company I keep, my Queen" I hugged her and then held her a little apart so I could see her face. "I need to ask you something and I'm a bit nervous about it." I could see the question in her eyes but she said nothing and let me move at my own pace. "I need to ask you where you see our relationship going in the future." I placed a finger on her lips as she started to speak. "Hush a minute and let me finish. I know you love me and want to be with me. But what do you want to happen? When you dream about the future with me what exactly is it you WANT to happen? I want you to seriously think about it for a moment before you answer."

Beth was quiet for a moment and then tugged my hands so that I followed her over to the stools and we sat down once more. In a breathy whisper she said "In my dreams, you and I spend the rest of our lives together. I know I want children but I am willing to give that up if it hurts to much for you after what has happened" Her voice saddened at that part. "Children are a bonus, you are my prize. I want to spend the rest of my life making you happy. I would like to be…" Her voice trailed off. Uncertainty marred her beautiful features as she lowered her head.

I took the first two fingers of my right hand and placed them under her chin and lifted her eyes to mine. "You would like to be… What?" I asked softly. 

She searched my face looking I think for a sign that this was a trap of some kind. Finding none she said in a voice so soft I almost missed it "Your wife." She twisted her face away from me and hid her eyes behind her hands. As she turned she stood and started to move away from me.

My heart leapt so hard in my chest I thought it might crack a rib or three. I stood and closed the distance she was trying to put between us. In her attempt to walk away Beth had turned her back and I rushed up behind her. I wrapped my arms around her from behind, laying my hands on her firm tummy, and captured her, holding her as tightly as I dared. Beth stiffened at my touch. I gently kissed her behind the ear and said "That was the answer I had hoped to hear."

She relaxed slightly as I spoke. 

"I am not ready to marry you, yet." 

She stiffened again. 

"I need time to deal with what has happened to me; to deal with the anger and pain. I need time to answer some of the questions that aren't answered yet. But, I want you by my side, helping me put my life back together, answering those questions with me." I turned her in my arms and asked "Will you do that for me, with me, together? And when I am ready… Will you marry me Bethsany Ann Taylor?" 

My heart stilled in my chest and I thought with all the palpitations it had gone through today alone I may have to steal Fred's pacemaker. That thought made me smile a little. (Ok so my sense of humor needs a major timing consulting, so sue me!) Turning in my arms, Beth lifted her eyes to mine and I saw the tears falling down her cheeks. Her voice was a breathy whisper and the emotion in it was undeniable happiness. 

She spoke in a hoarse voice filled with emotions "Oh God! Oh God! You asked me to marry you?" 

I nodded. I didn't think she could be more beautiful than she was. I was wrong, so very wrong. The smile and joy that lit her face increased her beauty by at least a dozen orders of magnitude. 

I had always thought the phrase "heart stoppingly beautiful" was a literary device. I was wrong about that too. (I seemed to be wrong about a lot of things recently. Have to do something about that.) My heart missed a beat, then another, and then started pounding in my chest. "Oh. My. God! YES!" Beth screamed as she threw her arms around me and began hopping up and down. 

I tightened my hold on Beth and hugged her for all I was worth. "I love you, Beth."

I don't know how long we stood there with Beth bouncing up and down like a jack-in–the-box but we both froze when Hiram cleared his throat "Ahem!" he smiled at us indulgently as we stood there blushing like a couple of teenagers caught necking on her parents porch. "I have the things you requested Alex. I think you'll want this first." Hiram held out a royal blue ring box in his hand. The lid was closed. 

I took it from him and he looked at Beth and asked "Could you close your eyes for a moment? Alex hasn't seen this yet and I don't want to ruin his surprise if he doesn't like it."

Beth looked apprehensive but closed her eyes before I could say anything about it. I opened the box and looked at the Claddagh ring Hiram had made. It was actually three rings intertwined, one of gold, one of silver, and one of platinum twining around one another in a three stranded braid. Atop the ring, clasped in a pair of hands, sat a perfect blood red heart shaped, and faceted ruby in a four point setting, the braid had fifteen crossings and the ruby fifteen facets. I put the ring back in the box and closed it. "It's perfect Hiram, Thank you. Can you get started on the other one immediately?"

Hiram smiled and nodded "I can have it ready in about two weeks; maybe less if I can find right stone quickly. I have a couple that will work but I'm not really satisfied yet." I nodded and said "Beth you can open your eyes now."

I turned and looked at this woman I loved and said "Do you remember when we first met?" She nodded and said "Fifteen years ago next month." I smiled and said "October the ninth nineteen ninety to be exact. I had intended to give this to you as a friendship ring on the fifteenth anniversary of our meeting. I had this whole elaborate thing planned out, Hiram and I have been working on the design for this ring for more than a year. I have a design for a similar ring for Josh that he was to get at the same time. But instead of an anniversary ring I'd like this to be a promise ring until I can have your engagement ring made. Would that be alright with you?" I watched as Beth began to tremble as I spoke. 

I held out the ring box to her and opened the lid. Beth gasped and her hands flew to cover her mouth. I dropped to one knee and said "Bethsany Ann Taylor, will you marry me?" I watched her face as the different thoughts and emotions warred with one another. Tears started to flow down her cheeks once more.

"I thought you said you weren't ready to marry me yet. You said you needed to answer questions, you said" Her tone was excited but somewhat accusatory as she spoke. I still held the ring out to her.

"I did have questions. One was "Is this ring going to be good enough for asking you to be my bride and life mate." Two was "Did you want to spend the rest of your life with me as my wife." You answered the second an few minutes ago and Hiram answered the first just now. So I ask you again. Bethsany Ann Taylor, will you marry me?" She took the ring box from my hand and held it out to me. I took the ring from its velvet perch and as Beth held out her trembling hand to me, I slid the ring onto her ring finger and she looked into my eyes and said the most beautiful word I had ever heard,

"Yes!"

Hiram clapped his hands and said "Congratulations Alex! Congratulations Beth!" and throwing his arms wide he drew us both into a hug. Beth continued to smile and I could feel my face split in two with a grin. "This calls for a drink!" Hiram said as he went over to a small refrigerator and brought out a bottle that looked like wine. Hiram held up a hand. "It's non-alcoholic and it's Kosher. You don't get better than that!" Hiram pulled three paper cups from a dispenser and poured us each a cup. He sat the bottle down and handed us each a cup of grape juice and said "May God look on you with favor, may you be blessed with much happiness, and may you know only joy forever more!" 

Hiram smiled at us. "If you were Jewish I could be here all day reciting blessings. I'd have to do it in Hebrew and then again in English." We laughed and then Hiram produced the sketches for Joshes ring. After Beth had gushed at him for a few minutes over the beauty of the design Hiram asked her what she wanted my engagement ring to look like. Her brow furrowed as she began to frown.

I took her face in my hands and placed a long, sweet, wet kiss on her lips. It stole her breath and as we parted she said "Not that I object but what was that for?" 

I smiled and looked into her eyes and when she smiled back I said "That's better. I told you there would be no more frowning this weekend. I warned you there would be severe punishments if you did." I said all of this with a grin on my face. As I spoke I gave her ass a light slap which in turn drew a startled gasp from Beth. As I watched her face her nostrils flared and I could see the wanting and hunger in her eyes.

"Oy vey! You two should go get a room somewhere!" Hiram said breaking our heated gaze. The mirth in his voice was apparent. The flush coloring Beth's face was quite charming, I thought. 

I looked over at Hiram and said "We did. I just needed to get her ring and ask her to marry me today. I couldn't wait until Monday." At my admission and Hiram's laugh Beth's blush deepened and she buried her face in my shoulder. I hugged her tight to me and said "I love you Beth and I will never deny nor hide that love. I want the whole world to know that I love you."

Hiram cleared his throat and said "As for the wedding and engagement sets… I wonder…" His gaze drifted off for a moment. "Have either of you ever heard of puzzle rings?" Beth chuckled. Hiram looked at her the question in his eyes. I piped up and said "Beth and I go to the Renaissance Faire every year and she buys a new puzzle ring for her collection on the first day. She has over thirty in various designs and styles." 




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 08



Hiram waved his hand in dismissal "Fech! I don't mean those cheap mockeries. I mean rings with ten to twelve bands each. They would only fit together one way and you had to have the complete set and the complete set of its mate to put them together properly. You can only assemble them by starting the two primary bands back to back and then working the sequence."

He held up a finger and indicated for us to wait. He went into his office quickly and came back with a royal blue velvet pouch. He spilled the contents out onto a jeweler's cloth on the table. It looked to be a jumble of rings piled together. He separated out the rings into two piles of interconnected bands and then said "This is a set that my father made in the nineteen twenties. Let me show you how they work." As he spoke he selected one band from each pile and began assembling the rings. It took only a couple of minutes but when he was finished he held two magnificent rings whose individual patterns were a beautiful mosaic, but when you placed the two together properly the patterns merged to become an exquisite rose surrounded by a heart.

Each ring was composed of one thick band and nine thinner bands. The bands were of gold and silver and it was the differences in the metals that created the rose and drew the eyes to where they merged properly. Beth's eyes lit with avarice and I knew what our wedding rings would look like. I looked at Hiram and with a nod said "Can you take our sizes and make us a set like this. Exactly like this." 

Hiram frowned slightly and said "Actually this is not the best work" He held up his hand as we started to protest "When my father made this he could not afford the platinum for the rings and had to adjust the design accordingly. I would like to give my fathers true design life and you your wedding rings, if you have no objection, of course. It also flows in the pattern set by your promise ring as well. The central bands were to be of gold and then three bands each of white gold, silver, and platinum to form the rose with a stone in the center of the flowers."

I looked at Beth and at her nod said "Begin as soon as you can Hiram. How long do you think the rings will take?" 

I looked at the old man and saw a tear run down his cheek. "I have waited forty years for someone to be worthy of this Alex. I'm glad it was you. I can begin work on the rings Monday, but it will take time for such a work to be complete. At least two months maybe more. Remember we are talking about twenty separate rings here. Each having an intricate pattern"

I smiled and said "That's fine, Hiram. As much as I'd like to marry Beth this afternoon the law says I have to wait sixty days after the divorce is final in case I change my mind." (Like that's gonna happen!) "So it will be just fine. Take your time and I will give my fiancée the most exquisite work you have ever done as her wedding gift." As I spoke the word fiancée Beth gasped and I hugged her tight. "For now, though, I have a promise to keep to the lady and we should be going." 

Beth looked at me in confusion "What promise?" 

I smiled and said "I have a ravishment to complete, or have you changed your mind?" As I waggled my eyebrows Beth blushed and Hiram laughed. 

"Go! Go! Away with you! My poor heart can't take the tension you two are generating. I'll get started on the rings first thing Monday, Alex. You and Beth are welcome to check up on things whenever you like." In a softer tone he said "Now go show this lady how special she is to you." 

With that he had ushered us out of the shop and through the armored door. When the armored door closed and the outer door opened to let us exit we left the building and headed back to our car. As we pulled out of the parking lot I took Beth's hand and brought it to my lips. "I love you more with every passing moment Beth."

As I drove Beth asked "Remember I said I had a stop to make?" At my nod she said "Can you stop at Cloud Nine and wait for me in the car?" I quirked an eyebrow at her in suspicion as I drove off. Finally I said slowly "I suppose so." 

Her cheeks flushed with color and she said "Thank you." in a small quiet voice.

********

Cloud Nine was a New Age/Biker/Head shop. Beth had told me that Maddi had introduced her to the shop a few years ago. They sold candle making supplies, oils, incense, aroma therapy candles, nutritional supplements, and other things of that sort. They also sold pipes, bongs, rolling papers, lighters and assorted paraphernalia. They also sold motorcycle wear, leather wear and were a licensed Harley-Davidson Dealer. I had never been in the shop itself but Beth had informed me long ago that they were THE source locally for quality incense and massage oils. She had often made gifts of such things to me, and I must admit I was quite fond of the scent of the jasmine, sandalwood, and cherry blossom incense she routinely gave me.

The front of the shop was nondescript for the most part. Only a single neon sign on the front of the grey building proclaiming "Cloud Nine" gave away the contents of the building. I waited patiently (Yeah, right!) in the car for Beth to come out. She emerged carrying a large brown bag with the top rolled down and clutched firmly in her delicate looking hands. It appeared to be quite full and Beth was blushing and behaving oddly. She stood next to my window as she asked "Pop the trunk, please?" 

I quirked an eyebrow at her and then pushed the button on the dash to release the trunk latch. Beth smiled and looked at me with both eagerness and trepidation on her face. She was nervous and I didn't know why. As she closed the trunk I looked in the rear view mirror and saw her wave at me. I smiled and turned to wave back. She got into the passenger seat. Beth turned to me and pulled me into a passionate kiss. I seem to loose track of time when Beth kisses me; either that or time stops. I don't know which, don't much care either I'll just enjoy it while it lasts. Beth pulled away from my lips and said "I think we should head back to the hotel before I rape you right here in the parking lot."

I grinned like a maniac as I said "Oh Sweets, don't you know you can't rape the willing." 

She smiled and said "Drive fast Casanova, I'm hot enough to melt your seats and this is a rental" I put the car in gear and did my best to break the world land speed record without getting a ticket.



The Last 24 Hours Ch. 09



Chapter 9

We arrived at the Hyatt Tower Two entrance in just under eleven minutes. A miraculous feat given it was Friday rush hour. I pulled up to the valet stand and got out to come around the car, pausing to get the bag from Cloud Nine from the trunk. I behaved myself and resisted the urge to peek inside. Beth again waited for me to come to her side of the car and escort her to our room. The valet again, could not take his eyes from my gorgeous companion. He was the same young man that had served us last night and was so busy looking at Beth's legs he missed reaching for my keys twice before I sat Beth's bag on his podium, grabbed his wrist and deposited the keys firmly in his hand. I looked at Beth in mock exasperation as she laughed; her voice like the sound of ringing bells inflaming my passion for her even more. The valet turned the most remarkable shade of crimson. My heart swelled with pride to know that this gorgeous woman wanted to spend the rest of her life with me.

I reached into the car, took Beth's hand and pulled her to me. Bringing her hand to my lips I lay a sweet kiss in the center of her palm and whispered, "You are so very bad, so very sexy. What did I ever do without you?" My whispered voice had grown thick with need, and I let my breath cool the moisture I had left on her skin. Shivering with need, Beth grabbed my shoulder, turned me to face her squarely and grafted herself to the front of my body starting at our mouths. Her lips were like molten metal, hot and wet pouring over mine, her hips rocked in a motion I knew I wanted to feel without my clothes on. I held on for dear life as she rubbed her mound against me and prayed I would survive until we got to our suite. 

I'm sure the sight of this Amazon Goddess taking her pleasure with me would have met with the approval of the valet but I wasn't so sure about the management. As I parted from Beth, quite reluctantly I might add, I said "We need to get to the elevators before I go up in flames right here in the lobby." She quirked an eyebrow at me and licked the taste of me off of her lips. Her pink tongue running across her lips nearly overrode my good sense as I handed Beth her bag.

She smiled and said, "Let's go!" We all but ran to the bank of elevators as we raced through the lobby earning us a knowing look from the pretty concierge near the bank of elevators. As we approached, the doors of the elevator slid into their recessed housing and an elderly couple stepped out of the car. We stood aside and let them pass and all but ran into the car as the doors slid shut. I pulled the cardkey from my shirt pocket and used it to start the elevator moving towards our suite. 

Beth again grabbed me and we began devouring one another. I brought my hands to the cheeks of her glorious ass. I kneaded her bottom and pulled her tighter to my body as the elevator ascended. Thank God for express elevators! I loosened my hold and brought my right hand up to cup her face. "What's in the bag?" I asked. 

She batted her eyes at me in a coy manner and replied "A little of this and a little of that. When we get to the suite wait for me in the sitting room. I'll only be a few minutes, I promise and then I'll call for you. I want to do something, but I want it to be a surprise, okay?"

I looked at her and spoke without hesitation "Alright, but I may make you wait next time I get you all hot and bothered." I smiled as I spoke and began to nibble her neck which earned me a groan. 

Beth spoke in a passionate whisper, "If I didn't want this so much I'd ravage you right here. But I do want this and I've waited for you to give it to me, so I'm not going to screw it up now." Beth gave me almost a violent shove and separated us. She clutched her bag tightly to her breast and moved to the other side of the car, pointing for me to stay on my side the whole time. My smile deepened.

I felt as though I could fly. At that moment I was sure I knew what it felt like to be drunk. I was most certainly intoxicated by Beth's presence. The chime signaled that we had arrived on our floor. The doors had not finished opening and Beth was out of the elevator standing in the entry hall. I sedately walked up to the door and took my time opening the way into the suite. As I opened the door Beth once more plowed into me knocking me into the wall and kissing me senseless. I wrapped my arms around her and leaned against the wall. 

I don't know how long we were there. I didn't really care either. I had my Beth in my arms and she loved me and nothing else in the world mattered. Finally we came up for air and Beth said in a panting gasp, "There ought to be a law against you! Give me a little time so I can get this ready, I've never done this before and I want it so much. But I want it to be just right. Please?" 

The pleading tone in her voice gave me the will to do as she asked. I kissed her nose and said "Beth I'll do anything you want but you haven't told me yet what you want. If you want time I'll wait. Just tell me what you want." 

I saw a tear start to form in her eye as she turned and raced to the bedroom we had shared "I'll call for you soon!" she cried as the door closed behind her. 

I took a moment to calm myself a little. I thought about my life as I waited. In two days I had gone from being a husband to divorcee', from father to childless, from single to engaged, and from being moderately well off to just plain filthy rich. It had been a busy week indeed. 

I smiled as I remembered last night and I walked over to the bar and got out the ice bucket. I put several bottles of water and juices in it and then filled it with ice. The bucket was quite large so I took the bottle of white wine Beth had enjoyed the night before and placed it into the bucket as well. As I retrieved the corkscrew from the bar my smile broadened as I thought about what I might do with some of this ice. I took an extra papaya juice bottle and opened it. Taking the ice bucket I walked over to one of the couches and sat it on the end table near the phone. The clock on the handset read six thirty. I picked up the phone and ordered a late dinner to be delivered around ten o'clock. I then called the front desk to ask after messages. The only message was from Josh asking that I call him in the morning.

I hung up the phone and drank some more of my juice. I smiled again and realized that I was happy. I was shocked to discover that I had not been happy for a very long time, years in fact. When I had been happy, it had been all to brief. Now the thought of being with Beth was making me smile all the time. I deliberately avoided thinking about the twins and Lisa, I didn't want to loose my mood, but at the same time I decided that I would need to talk to Beth about them and plan how to deal with things. BUT those things could wait for Monday. Tonight I had a beautiful fiancée to take care of. Tonight I had to make certain that I left her with no doubts that she was my future.

I finished my juice and went to the guest bathroom. I took the time to freshen up a little and to relieve my bladder. As I returned to the sitting room I stopped and got a bottle of water and opened it. As I brought it to my lips I froze in place. I was so stunned I didn't even feel the cold water running down my chest. Beth stood in the doorway her hair braided and coiled atop of her head, held in place by two large chopsticks. On her body, open to the waist, was a deep cobalt blue kimono robe I had given her last year as an anniversary present. (I had given Josh and Beth anniversary presents every year since I had known them) I had given Josh a similar dressing robe in a vibrant jade color as well. I had seen them when I was in Japan on a project the previous year.

Beth's robe was shorter than I had imagined it would be. It barely came to her thighs and almost covered her sex, almost. Her magnificent breasts were bare to the edge of her nipples. Her areolae were just hinted at on the edge of the silk fabric. I finally awoke to the fact I was soaking myself when Beth asked, "Having trouble?" 

The laughter in her voice broke the paralysis I had felt and I quickly began trying to brush the excess water from my body. Beth chuckled and said "Never mind that, come help me in the bath." She turned and I could see the cheeks of her astounding ass undulating back and forth as she walked back into the bedroom. The lips of her sex were just visible and I felt most of the blood in my body evacuate to the Southern regions of my anatomy. I threw the bottle in the direction of the trash can and headed at just short of a run for the bedroom door. I was nearly there when I stopped and returned for the ice bucket and corkscrew.

I picked up the bucket and entered the bedroom. As I drew a breath and walked through the door I took in a familiar odor. I was suddenly struck with the feeling of "home". All around the room scented candles were lit. I could smell jasmine and sandalwood with just a hint of cherry blossoms. I had come to associate this smell with "home" and Beth and hadn't realized it. It was the same scent she carried on her clothes and was prevalent in her apartment and on her very skin. It was the same scent as the incense she had gifted me with over the years. I felt peace flow over me and a "rightness" I had never known. In that moment I realized I had been IN love with Beth for years and had not let myself see it.

When I had a problem I went to Beth. When I needed comfort, I talked to Beth. I didn't talk to Lisa about these things. I couldn't have as she would have belittled whatever problem I had and responded with the phrase "Just handle it. Would you be a man for once please?" In a flash of hindsight I saw that Lisa had been trying to drive a wedge between us for at least the last four years. She had wanted me to file for divorce and had only filed herself when she had finally come to the conclusion that I wasn't going to.

I had been friends with Beth for fifteen years and had always talked to her, but over the last four or five years Beth had been my sole source for emotional support. She had never turned me away nor had she ever belittled me or spoke derisively when I had come to her with a problem. Like as not the problem was or involved Lisa. Seeing for the first time the sheer magnitude of Beth's caring for me in this light made my insides melt in a manner I was not accustomed to feeling. 

I sat the bucket on the bedside table. I called out "Beth? Where are you Sweets?" The door to the bathroom swung open and I again could see that fabulous kimono robe draped over her body. I walked over to her, reached out a finger that brushed her nipple as I felt the fabric of the robe and said, "I know this is the robe I got for you in Japan, I recognize the pattern in the silk, but I know it wasn't this small or sexy. What happened?"

Beth blushed, bit her lower lip and looked down "You don't like it." It was more statement than question. 

"I think it is hands down the sexiest thing I have ever seen. But only on you." I said softy as I raised her eyes to mine. The smile that lit her face was the highlight of my day. I pulled her into my arms and continued, "What happened to the kimono?" 

Beth hugged me tighter and said "When the package arrived from Japan it was damaged. The robe you sent was torn and stained in several places. I called my friend Aoi (pronounced Owee it means brilliant blue in Japanese) and told her what had happened and that the return information was written in Japanese Kanji script. She came over and told me that she could get it exchanged on her trip to Japan the next week and bring it back with her so I said yes. When she got back she brought the robe and it fit too snugly in the chest." Beth buried her face in my chest and continued "I took it to a seamstress I know in Little Hong Kong. You know Madam Chu's? You've heard me mention her before I think." 

As I nodded yes she continued, "Well I showed her the problem and she suggested that I have it made into a seduction piece. Her words not mine. I told her to go ahead when she showed me what she wanted to do with it. She asked who I was altering it for and I told her I'd only ever wear it for one person. Josh had to have told Joyce about it and where to look for it. It was in the gift box Aoi brought back from Japan in the very back of my closet. Josh is the only one who has ever seen it and he knew it was for you."

"I think I need to send Madame Chu a "Thank You" note." I said smiling. 

Beth just held me tighter and asked "Do you really like it?" 

I looked into her eyes and said "I love it. You look irresistible in it." 

Beth began to help me out of my clothes. Her hands were slightly trembling and only that showed how much she was holding back. 

I took her hands and asked "What's wrong Sweet's? Tell me and I'll make it all better if I can." As I spoke I drew her towards me again enfolding her in my arms. 

At this point only my briefs, Beth's gift to me, remained. She took a deep calming breath and held it for a moment and then said, "I want…" She shook her head and asked, "You know I give myself an enema on a regular basis, right?" 

I nodded. She had begun the practice about ten years ago when she ended up in the hospital with a blocked bowel. They hadn't needed to do surgery, thank God, but it had been a near thing. It was painful and scary and she did not want a repeat of it. It also scared the life out of me; I visited her everyday for several hours and took her home on her last day. Josh and I had thrown an impromptu "Welcome Home" party for her. She had changed her diet and only occasionally ate red meat and never much of it when she did. She wasn't a vegetarian or a Vegan or anything but she was scrupulous about her diet. She had also begun working out in the gym zealously, hence her gloriously muscled body. 

"I don't understand what this has to do with…" Beth had placed her fingers on my lips silencing me. 

"Let me finish. Please? After last night I'm hoping you won't freak on me and I'm a little afraid you might think I'm a freak or sick or something. I mean most people would be. I wouldn't blame you if you…" 

It was my turn to silence her with my fingers. "You're babbling Sweets. Calm down and tell me what's wrong. I love you and I'm not going anywhere." I tried to put every ounce of love I held for her in my being into the look I gave her. Her eyes searched my face and found nothing but love for her. No uncertainty. No fear. No revulsion. Just love.

She nodded and said, "I give myself an enema as part of my daily routine. Shave my legs, trim my bush, do my enema, do my make up. Not in any specific order or ritual or anything like that. It's just something I do. You know why." She looked down again and started to blush, "After what you did last night I thought maybe you would be open to…" She paused as if afraid to ask me. Afraid I would ridicule her or something. "I have never had anything in my ass during sex aside from your tongue and Maddi's fingers once. Would you make love to me with your cock in my ass? Please?" She again dropped her eyes.

I looked at her astonished and asked, "Are you sure, really? Do you really want this?" I saw the look of hurt pass over her face as she assumed I was rejecting her offer. Silly woman! It was all I could do not to drag her to the bed and take her right away! 

"Beth? Honey look at me please." She reluctantly raised her eyes to mine, "Do you have any idea how often I had fantasized about being allowed to do that when we were in college?" A look of surprise crossed her face. "I thought you were gay and therefore off limits. You were my friend but you are also the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I told you last night I think you have the finest ass in all of creation. I've always thought you looked good but after you started working out you only improved. You were a safe fantasy. I had no expectation that you would suddenly change your orientation to be with me, or so I had thought." 

I smiled at her and she blushed and swatted my arm playfully in reproach. 

"There was no danger attached for me to draw me away from my girlfriend and later my marriage so it was a safe fantasy. The real fantasy turned out to be my marriage, maybe nightmare is a better choice of word for that, and now I get my most secret wish with the woman who wants me to be the one to pluck her gorgeous, ripe, little ass cherry. I would be most pleased and honored to do so. In case you missed it I'm a bit of an "ass man" and you have held me captive with yours for years."

The smile that lit Beth's face put every one I had seen to date to shame. "I told you Sweets; anything you want, I can give, is yours for the having. I will try any sexual act you want to try with one exception. I have no interest in scat. I'll try anything else you want." At the mention of scat her nose crinkled and her lip curled as she shook her head.

She looked at me and said "Good, I have no interest in that area either. I do my enemas for practical reasons and now I have a more important reason to continue doing them." At my questioning look she continued, "I want to be clean for you. I want this to always be a pleasant thing for us to do together. I liked it when you went down on my ass last night… No… No, I fucking loved it when you ate my ass last night. I want that again. But just like last night I want to be surprised when you do it. So I have to be clean back there, always, so that whenever you want my ass you can have it. However you want it."

She looked at me shyly and said "I have a favor to ask." I cocked my head and she said, "Would you give me a proper massage? The sexy one you gave me last night was very good" the look she gave me said she liked it more than a lot. At my nod she went into the bathroom and returned a plastic bag from Cloud Nine filled with a variety of high quality massage oils. They were in several sizes, but all excellent quality. 

I looked through them all. She had sweet almond oil, shea butter, jojoba, macadamia nut oil, and sandalwood oil. She also had scented oils in jasmine, rosemary, lavender, cherry blossom varieties. There were also an assortment of empty bottles and instructions for mixing your own blend of oils. I smiled. I knew what Beth wanted and wanted me to do. I took the bag in through to the wet bar so I wouldn't make a mess. As I left the room Beth said "I'm going to freshen up, inside and out so don't be to long." 

My hard on damned near ruptured my zipper at the thought of Beth in the bathroom getting ready for me. As I thought about it I think she came up with this to buy some time so she could "freshen up" as I hadn't given her time this morning for her normal routine.

I had seen a cup warmer pad under the counter of the bar while looking for the ice bucket earlier. I took a Scotch glass and ran the tap water hot and filled it about half full. I set up the cup warmer, turned it on high and sat the cup on it to keep the water at a good temperature. I then took the empty medium sized bottle and began to mix my own blend of oils into it. 

My sophomore year in college I had taken an elective course on massage and had gotten the highest grade in the class. I had decided to take a light load of courses that semester and used it to fill in one of my required elective classes. I had shared the benefit of my learning with Beth on several occasions before.

While experimenting with oils for the class I had found a mixture that seemed to enhance the romantic mood of anyone you used it on. It seemed to energize you and make your love play a lot more intense. Even our instructor had asked for the recipe after I had given a sample to her for her to grade. She had blushed the whole time. She labeled it Palmers Aromatic Aphrodisiac Body Oil. I don't buy the aphrodisiac part but it is fragrant and it does put one in the right kind of mood. I had made gifts of the blend several times over the years to both Beth and Josh at Christmas and upon special request. 




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 09



The Wicked Bitch of the West, as Josh had begun calling Lisa, had never let me do more than briefly rub her shoulders as she complained that I was simply too rough on her. As I look back on all of her complaints and the things she refused to let me do both for and to her and the things she refused to do for and to me, I had to wonder how I had missed the fact that she was a lesbian and hated my touch. At the time her objections all seemed reasonable but in hindsight I can see that she was repulsed by my touch and the closeness I tried to foster with her. I say again the Academy Award for Best Actress and Conniving Bitch should go to Lisa Palmer hands down. 

I finished measuring out the oils and capped the bottle. I took my time and rocked the bottle back and forth to mix the oils evenly and then put it into the, now, warm water in the Scotch glass. Beth, still in her sexy robe, came out and smiled when she saw me drop the last of the larger bottles of oil back into the plastic bag. I smiled at her and said, "Give it a couple minutes to warm up and it will be ready to use." "Where do you want to be when we start?" 

Beth's eyes lit up and I could feel the lust rolling off of her in radiating waves. "I think the bed would be good. They have the biggest bath sheets I have ever seen, in this place." As she spoke she shook out a terry cloth bath sheet that had to be at least six feet long and four feet wide. I whistled and said "Put it on the bed and get ready because the oil is." As I spoke I reached over and retrieved the bottle of oil I had mixed and started towards the bedroom door.

Beth grinned as she turned and sprinted back into the bedroom. As I came through the door I saw Beth drop the bath sheet she was carrying and turn to face me. The bed behind her had been stripped to the bottom sheet and held only the pillows and another bath sheet stretched out from the head to the foot. Beth walked… No. What she did couldn't really be called walking. Beth SLINKED her way over to me, untying the robe and letting it fall to the floor as she came. She wrapped her arms around my neck and said "Thank you so much for taking me as I am, and just loving me as I am." Her journey to me brought me right back to hardness.

I shook my head. "No. Thank you for rescuing me when I didn't even know I was adrift. When I'm with you nothing else in the world matters except your happiness, your pleasure, your joy. Nothing is more important to me than that." The last words left my lips as they met hers. I lost myself in that kiss. 

My hands cupped Beth's ass and drew her tight against my body. After a few minutes Beth pulled away and smiled, "I'm sure there has to be a law against being that good." She smiled wider, "but if there is I'll never complain to the cops!" I laughed and scooped Beth up into my arms and took her to the bed.

As gently as if she were a baby I was putting into a crib I lay Beth out on the bed in the center of the towel, her head on the pillow. I took the oil from nightstand and set it next to her. "Turn over Sweet Beth and I'll do my best to ease all of your aches." Beth reached out and cupped my face with her hand and said in a tender voice filled with love, "Sweet, sweet man. I'm never letting you go, you know. I have you and I'm going to spend my life with you, making you happy." 

As her hand fell she began to turn over. In the spilt second before I lost sight of her face I saw a tear fall from her eye and roll down her cheek. Her eyes held true fear and it gave me pause. Her hair was braided and the braid coiled atop her head and held by large chopstick pins. I took out the chopsticks and I considered removing the braid. While I loved seeing her hair fanned out around her body it would hinder our plans for the moment so I left the braid in. I picked up the end of her braid and used it to lash her back up and down Starting at her shoulders and working my way down her back to the top of her glorious ass cheeks.

I leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Tell me, Beth." I said in a low husky voice. "Tell me your fantasy about this, about how you want me in your ass. You said you knew what you wanted, so tell me what you want. I promise I won't freak out, I won't think less of you, and I won't hate you. I want to please you in every way, so please, tell me." As I first spoke she had begun to tense up but as I made my promises she relaxed a very little. I had never broken a promise to her. If I could help it I never would.

She took a deep breath and said, "I'm not normally a submissive person," I chuckled. 

Among my friends she was one of the most dominant personalities I've ever encountered. She glanced back at me looking mildly hurt and I had the irresistible urge to take that hurt from her eyes. I reached out and stroked the cheek she had turned to me "I was just thinking that you are probably the least submissive person I have ever met, and I very much like you that way." The hurt faded from her eyes as I spoke. 

She sighed "Then I hope you don't think less of me for this. I've saved my ass for you. Maddi put her fingers in me ONE time and ONE time only, and I nearly took her head off for it; other than that and your tongue last night I've never had anything sexually related in my ass." She rolled back over on her back so she could look at me as she told me what she wanted, "For this first time I want you to "take" my ass. I want YOU to OWN it and know that YOU will be the only one to EVER have it. I want you to know that it is YOUR ass and only YOURS. You can have it anytime you want it. I want to give it to YOU. I want you to use and own my ass so you never doubt that I belong to you. I'm not submissive but in this one thing, this one gift, the only one I have to give, I want this. I don't want you to hurt me, but if it's what you want for this first time I'll do it. I want you to pound me face first into the sheets as you take your pleasure in and on my… your ass. I want an equal partner in life and that means sometimes letting you take control."

"After you have me the first time, and you recover, I want you to make slow gentle love to my ass. Later we can make love in a more "conventional" way. But for now this is what I want. Don't ask me. Just take me." She had begun to tremble as she spoke and I got the impression that it was fear and not passion. She was afraid I would reject her wishes or that I would seek to "dominate" her outside of this one time. Beth likes to be in control and when she's not it tends to scare her and then she becomes shy. Its how I knew she had been frightened so much the last couple of days. She could not control my reactions to her revelations and therefore became shy and frightened, at times nearly panicked about my reactions. 

I stroked her face and said, "All I have ever wanted was someone to love who loved me back. That's you. You are, my love, the perfect one for me. You have given me the most perfect gift in the world when you gave me yourself last night. Now you offer me an even greater gift, that of your trust; trust that I will do nothing to harm you and yet the freedom to do exactly that." I leaned down and kissed her with all of the passion I could muster. Her hands came and caressed my face and then tangled in my hair. 

We broke the kiss and I saw the joy shining in her eyes again as she looked at me. "Please?" She asked. I nodded. 

"Where is that bottle of lube? I will "take" you but I won't hurt MY ass. It's mine and I want to be able to use it frequently from now on." As I said "MY ass" I watched the pleasure turn to molten lust in her gloriously liquid blue eyes. Her eyes seemed to glow with an inner fire that told me I had said and done everything exactly right. 

Beth pointed at the nightstand and said "In the drawer, but would you taste me first I have a surprise for you?" As she spoke she rolled over and placed a pillow under her hips. "She remembered that it made it easier for me to eat her." I thought. I opened the drawer and retrieved the bottle of Astroglide lube. I smiled and adjusted her a little. 

I started at her shoulders and caressed every inch of her wide shoulders. Beth's back is truly impressive. Every muscle is sculpted and the play of movement of them as she turned and stretched out and just moved in everyday ordinary unconscious movements aroused me unlike I have ever been before. My cock was as hard as it had ever been and I knew that if I were to touch it or allow Beth to touch it that I would cum far too soon.  I smiled at the thought that Beth had this power over me and didn't even know it. I was going to tell her, but not now. Now she wanted me to be in control and to make her mine in her mind as well as my own. 

That's what this surrendering all of herself to me was really. It was a way to let me know that she would never let another have her in this way, never give herself completely to another. And for me to know that I was as much hers as she was mine for only I would have the key that opened her heart and soul. If you've never had someone give you the key to their heart, mind, body, and soul trust me it is heady stuff. That kind of power is addicting and not shared lightly. That she willingly gave this to me made my heart swell fit to bursting and I had a moment where I couldn't breathe or swallow past the emotions that this thought evoked. 

I began as I had before kissing lightly where my hands had just been, working my way towards the object of our mutual desires. With each stoke of my hand Beth purred her contentment and her excitement. I could smell her feminine arousal as I neared that oh so perfect part of her anatomy. I've said it before and I'll say it again Beth has the most perfect ass on the planet bar none! 

As I came to the base of her spine and slid around behind her I gently spread her legs so that I could lie between them with my face planted right in between her spectacular mounds. As I had done the night before I caressed her toned and firm ass cheeks and lightly ran my nails over the skin. This earned me a moan of arousal and as I watched her sex lips twitched in eager anticipation. I could see that Beth was already wet and knowing that it was because she wanted me was the biggest turn on I have ever experienced.

I kissed and nipped at both cheeks to let her know I was preparing to inspect MY ass. I blew a stream of air across her lips and watched as goose flesh arose upon her ass and thighs. She began to tremble again and in a ragged voice hoarse with need said "Please! Oh please don't tease me anymore! Please!" 

I had never had the desire to see Beth truly beg for anything but seeing her beg for my touch pleased me in some dark part of my soul. I place a kiss just above the start of her crease and drew my tongue in a wandering path downward and into the folds of her ass. I slid my arms under her thighs and grabbed her cheeks as I had done last night only this time I held her tighter. I wouldn't let her wiggle about and move herself for her pleasure.

Last night had been about HER pleasure and OUR pleasure. This night, at least right now, was about MY pleasure. Now was for me as she had given it to me, her gift of herself. I intended to enjoy my present. I slowly brought my tongue to her rosebud and as I licked across that beautiful dimple I drew my head back in shock, "STRAWBERRIES?" I asked in a loud voice. 

Beth began to chuckle. "Yes, I took three enemas while you waited. One soapy to clean me out, one mineral oil to rinse and sooth me, and one strawberry flavored so that I would taste good for you. I wasn't expecting you to eat my ass last night and I never really thought anyone would or that I'd let them, until very recently, but I liked it and I want more of it in the future so I'll do what I have to in order to make sure you like it tooOOOOOoooo! OH! OH!" 

As she was nearing the end of her speech I pointed my tongue and outright attacked her sphincter. I sucked as much of it into my mouth as I could and probed as hard and deep as my tongue would go all in the same motion. As I did that I slipped two fingers from my left hand into her dripping pussy and began rubbing her G-spot. This happening all at once got her attention in a hurry. I brought my right hand up and it came crashing down on her right ass cheek. 

On contact Beth's head flew up and she let out and inarticulate guttural scream as she had the biggest orgasm I had ever seen. Her fluids drenched me from my chin to my chest as she once again squirted me with her girl-cum. Her body was wracked with tremors and shook with the aftershocks that flowed through her. I had never before seen a woman go from aroused to crushing orgasm in under five minutes before. I hadn't thought it was possible. I was astonished.

But today was about my pleasure not Beth's. I dove back into the center of her pleasure and licked and lapped all around her sex. I ran my tongue from her clit all the way back up to her pulsing rosebud. I covered as much of her sex with my mouth as I could and sucked as hard as I could. I broke contact with her body and again began licking her distended and very prominent clit. Beth began to pant and I knew she was approaching another orgasm. I leaned over and brought the bottle of lube closer. 

As I opened it I noticed that it too was strawberry flavored and could smell the scent clearly. I had to wonder at that but let it slip from my mind as I drove Beth higher and higher towards another shattering climax. I coated my fingers and applied the lube to my engorged cock. I then applied a liberal amount of the lube to my fingers and ran them around her pulsating bud. As I circled her hole she thrust back and tried to force my finger to penetrate her.  I brought my right hand crashing down again. I wasn't hurting her. Just reminding her who was, by her own request, in charge right now. Her body quivered again as a smaller orgasm ran through her body. 

As her orgasm hit I slid one finger into her velvet ass and spread the lube around as much as possible. I did this several times adding another finger and the repeated penetration brought on the main event as she again began to buck and cry out rising up on her hands, arms stiff as she climaxed again. 

"Oh God! ALEX! ALEX! OH! OH! OH! OOOOOOOO!" 

She came gasping and clutching the bed sheets so tightly that her knuckles turned white. As she began to come down from her high I slid up over her body grasped her wrists and forced her down onto the sheets as we came down I slid the head of my cock into her dilated ass. 

"Oh ALEX!" She screamed again in passion not in pain. 

As I gave short thrusts into her for the first time I leaned down and said as forcefully as I could "THIS! ASS! IS! MINE!" With each word I gave a thrust moving more of me into her willing body and with the last word I was buried up to my balls in Beth's tight, loving, pulsating ass. I spoke softly in her ear and let her hear the love I felt for her in my voice. 

I was taking her ass as she had asked me to. But I would not take her in violence, force yes, but never in violence. It had been this she had feared I wouldn't understand. 

"This is your gift to me and I'm not sharing it with anyone. It's mine as you are mine. I love you Beth and I belong to you. Others had the pleasure of you before me but… THIS! ASS! IS! MINE!" Again I punctuated each word with a thrust of my cock in her ass. 

Beth turned her head and tried to reach my mouth to kiss me and I saw tears streaking her face. I slowed my stroking into her ass and stopped as I leaned over. 

"Have I hurt you?" I asked. The thought that I had hurt her made my insides cold and my body froze in mid stroke. My heart felt leaden with fear, as though it were breaking at the thought. 

She smiled and said "Oh God don't stop Alex please! You haven't hurt me. Oh God, it feels so good and you are so good to me please don't stop! I'll go insane if you stop now! I've wanted this for so long please! Please Alex!" All of this in a panicked voice, I smiled at her and began a slow languorous pace. My heart began to beat in a fierce rhythm. The same one I could feel pulsing through her ass.

She looked over her shoulder at me and seeing my smile said "Oh you bastard! Please go faster, harder, fuck the ass off of me please!" 

I looked into her eyes ands said "I'll play with MY ASS anyway I please, Beth. It's MINE!" And I thrust hard and deep into her, "TO! DO! WITH! AS! I! WILL!" 

As I finished speaking and increased my pace Beth gasped and began panting again. I began to fondle her nipples, tugging on them and rolling them between my fingers. Beth began to groan and I could tell that her climax was approaching rapidly. Stopping earlier had returned some of my fading control so I was just now climbing towards my own peak. I took the hand from her breast and slid it under her and as I thrust fully into her my balls smacking her ass as I pinched her clit and tugged it. She pushed up so hard she nearly threw me off of her.

Beth… Well…There is no other word for it I guess, Beth exploded. With a cry of, "AAALLLLLEEEEXXXX!" She went up in flames as she came, and came, and came, and came again. Orgasm after orgasm rolled across and through her body. Her scream left my ears ringing and her ass clamped down so tight I could not move if I had wanted to. I feared for a moment that she would do me damage, so tight was her grip. Then to my awe and wonder her ass began to pulsate with the rhythm of her climaxes. 

Soon the pulsations in her ass brought me to my own orgasm and I did everything I could to hold on for the ride. After nearly a minute she finally collapsed onto the bed pulling my still clamped cock with her. Her body was completely limp and her ass finally let me go. I didn't pull out right away as I liked the feeling where I was. I turned her head and saw that she was out cold. I kissed the spot behind her left ear and she began to murmur. 

"Oh My God, Alex, promise me you'll do that to me again! Soon! Frequently!" Her contented smile eased my worries and I used my body to blanket hers. I flexed my ass and caused my still rigid cock to bounce in her bottom. Her eyes flew open and her head whipped around to look at me as she gasped "You're still hard, still in me and still hard!" The excitement in her voice told me that she was very much in favor of playing some more. I grinned and began to slowly stroke in and out of her tight ass once more. Beth's moans grew with each stroke in and out. Her breathing grew rapid. For the next fifteen minutes all that could be heard was the pounding of my pelvis against Beth's ass as I drove us higher and higher towards the peak yet again.

Finally Beth began swearing, "Oh fuck me, and fuck me! Oh God Alex make me your whore!" I frowned at that, my anger rising. I cut off my anger lest it bleed through to the sex and taint what I had with Beth. I vowed to myself that I would never come to her in anger. But we needed to have a little talk! My right hand came down on her ass and that was all it took to send us both plummeting over the edge into orgasm. Her ass went into spasms and sent me into meltdown. 

I collapsed across Beth's back again and after catching my breath whispered in her ear "Was it all you had hoped for, being taken and owned by me?" 

She gasped and said "Oh God yes! Oh I hope you liked it because I loved it!" Her breathing was calming down and I slowly drew myself from her ravaged ass. 

I turned her over and cuddled down next to her and kissed her temple. I lay her on her back and looked into her eyes so she could see I was serious, "I loved taking my ass, Beth, but I want to talk to you seriously for a minute and I want you to hear WHAT I say not what you THINK I'm saying. Ok?" 

She hesitated at the anger in my voice and then nodded "You are not EVER to refer to yourself as a whore in my presence again, do you understand? YOU ARE NOT A WHORE! Lisa is a whore! A whore is a woman who fucks a man for money! You are not fucking me for a paycheck are you?" She could see the hurt and anger in my face. 




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 09



At her attempt to speak I placed a hand to her lips, "Right now yes or no is all that's needed, so Yes or No?" The indignant shake of her head and the flashing of her eyes was enough to tell me she was pissed. But so was I. 

"I didn't think so. I never have. I love you and I believe in you and your love for me. You can be my personal SLUT anytime you want. A slut is a woman who doesn't care that her man knows that she enjoys sex with him and shows it to him frequently. A slut enjoys bringing pleasure to her man. That is you. You let me know that you love sex with me and making love to me. You also show me that you know the difference in the two. I will do everything in my power to love you and take care of you from now until times end. I won't ever let you go. Do you hear me? I never knew I needed you but I do now and it's too late to get away. I also won't have you disrespected or let you disrespect yourself by calling yourself a whore. You are NOT A WHORE! And it hurts me to hear you say that about yourself." A tear fell from my eyes as I spoke.

"I want you to hear me when I say this again. Bethsany Ann Taylor; I love you! I love you more and more with every passing moment. I don't intend that we ever be parted until times end. You are my soul and I love you." With that said I leaned down and kissed Beth with every fiber of my being wrapped up in that single moment. Beth's arms came up around my neck and held me in our kiss and she ate hungrily at my lips as I feasted at hers in turn and after a moment I pulled back and asked, "My Sweet Bethsany, will you be my personal slut until time ends?" As I asked this I stroked the side of her face and looked into her eyes, our foreheads touching. 

She brought a hand to cup the right side of my face and said, "Oh yes! All you ever had to do was ask!" A single tear ran down her cheek and I kissed it away. "Am I forgiven for making you angry? I didn't mean to you know. I just needed you to understand…" She placed the tip of one finger against my lips silencing me and said, "I know. I forgive you. Will you forgive me for offending you?" I smiled and nodded. I looked over at the clock and noticed that it was just before seven o'clock. 

I looked at Beth and said "Your choice nap or shower?" 

Beth smiled wickedly and said "Neither. Come with me!" She pulled me up and we started towards the bathroom, Beth wiggling her perfect ass at me when she gave a gasp and froze. 

I rushed to her and wrapped my arms around her. "What's wrong Sweets talk to me?" The fear that I had hurt her returned and I found my self on the verge of tears. I tried to turn her back towards the bed when she said in a gentle voice and stroked my face. 

"Silly man! Haven't you ever seen a woman cum from the lingering sensations in her body? As I moved, my poor abused little ass tingled and then gave me the most delightful little orgasm. If this is what happens after anal sex we are going to be doing a lot of it in the future!" I sighed in relief and held her close to me. 

We started again for the bathroom. When we got to the door Beth said "Wait here just a second. Please?" I nodded still not trusting my voice after the scare I just had. She went in to the darkened bathroom and closed the door behind her. I cooled my heels outside the bathroom for only about two or three minutes before I heard Beth's voice calling me through the door. I opened the door on dozens of aromatic candles lighting the room. The scents of sandalwood and cherry blossoms again assailed me. Beth stood in the center of the room and held out her arms to me. 

I walked into the circle of Beth's arms and the feeling of rightness, of "home", returned full force. 

Beth walked over to the walk in shower stall and turned on the lights only in the stall.(Handy little feature that) I made a mental note of it and returned my attention to Beth. She led me into the shower and turned on the water. She must have prepped the shower as the water came out at the perfect temperature to sooth me. Not in a splash of cold yet quickly heating water that I had expected. She picked up a loofa and soaped it up. She turned me into the shower and let the spray cascade over me and then began washing me down. She rebuffed my attempts to touch her and in a husky voice said, "Let me do this, please. I want to take care of you and pamper you the way you have me. I want to do this."

How could I refuse? I mean it's not every day that the most perfect creation on earth asks you to let her bathe you, is it? Although in my case it could happen much more frequently now! I had to smile at that thought. Beth soaped my front starting at my chest and then worked her way down to my waist. She had me turn into the spray to rinse the soap from my torso and give her my back to wash. She repeated the process only when she got to my waist she kept going. She washed me very thoroughly and continued on down passed the back of my legs and my ass to my feet. As she knelt there she again turned me so that the shower spray rinsed my body and yet my body blocked the spray from hitting her. She began to work on the front of my legs and work up towards my rising member. 

I had cum twice less than half an hour ago and yet having Beth run her hands over my body was bringing me back to a full blown erection again. As she approached my groin she paused and looking me in the eye she took my erect cock and stroked it with her soapy hand. She rinsed my cock and took me in her mouth. I started to close my eyes when she suddenly popped me out of her mouth. 

Beth's voice rang out in the enclosed confines of the shower stall, "NO! Look at me! Keep looking at me! Always see only me! I want you to know that I do this for you! Not someone else, me and always me. You said you belong to me. Did you mean it?" 

I nodded my head yes. 

"Say it then!" Beth commanded.

Looking into her eyes I wasn't sure what she wanted or where she was going but I knew I would go where she led. "I told you. As you gave yourself to me, so to do I give myself to you. I am yours for always and forever." 

A smile lit up her face and she again turned me into the spray of the shower rinsing me for the last time. My erection had never faded and Beth stood and embraced me. 

Looking into my eyes she said "I love you Alex Palmer. Will you take my ass again? Here? Now?" 

As she spoke she leaned into the wall and let the water run in little rivers down her back. She thrust her ass out and trembled in anticipation. I noticed another bottle of the flavored lube on the shelf of the shower stall under the shower head. I turned off the shower and grabbed the bottle of lube.

I took a dollop of the lube on my fingers and slowly worked them into Beth's ass. She hadn't tightened all the way back up but it was still a pleasant struggle, especially for her. Her moans of pleasure tested the limits of my restraint as she bucked back and forth on my hand. As I worked to prepare her she rose higher and higher toward another climax. 

Finally I couldn't take it anymore and grabbing her braid I tugged and she turned her head to face me. I used her words, "Look at me! Keep looking at me! Always see only me! I want you to know that I do this for you! Not someone else, me and always me. You belong to me and me alone as I belong to you." As I spoke I slowly drove into the very center of her being. 

She moaned and sighed as I thrust in and out of her ass, never taking her eyes from mine. I leaned over and kissed her as I continued to pummel her ass. I circled her with my arms and hugged her as I stroked into her body. She gave herself willingly to me and I had taken what she had offered. We moved together towards a tremendous climax. 

She pushed against the wall of the shower and with a feral gleam in her eye said "Take me damn it! I'm not made of porcelain I won't break with a little rough treatment! Take me damn you! TAKE ME!" 

I grabbed Beth's tits and using her nipples as a lever began pulling her back onto my rampant cock. "Oh YEAH!" she cried. Our hips began to meet with bruising force. 

"Harder! Faster! Fuck my ass! Fuck me! fuckmefuuuck mee!" 

The harder I thrust, the louder Beth got and the tighter her ass clenched. I don't know how long we were at this but I know that I lasted a lot longer than our previous sessions given that I had already cum twice. 

At last she began to pant "Oh Alex! I'm gonna cum Oh God! Oh Alex! I'm GONNA CUUUMMM!" Her ass clenched and then began to spasm. It felt like her ass was jerking me off inside of her and I came and came. It felt like she had drained my soul out through my cock. 

Together we slid to our knees my cock still in her ass. Beth said "I have the tub ready but I don't have the energy to move right now." Beth tends to forget how strong I am because I'm so careful with her. I smiled and pulled her back to lean against me. She stretched up and turned her head to me for a kiss. After a moment of kissing her I cupped my hands under her thighs. Beth started to ask what I was doing when I abruptly stood up carrying her with me. The action drove my still hard cock back into her ass causing her to gasp as her weight settled into my hands her back sliding against me.

"OH MY GOD! ALEX OH YES YES!" Beth's screams spurred me on I turned us and whispered in her ear. "Could you get the door my hands are a bit occupied." She laughed causing me to gasp as her ass clutched and sucked at my cock with each contraction of her diaphragm. She opened the door and I walked over to the tub and each step bounced her on and off of my cock. The sensation was exquisite for us both. I made a mental note to try this again soon and do it earlier in the evening before I had used up so much energy. As we reached the tub I sat Beth's feet on the floor, and she leaned over the edge of the tub. I thrust in and out of her ass a few more times slowly and then withdrew my cock. "NOOO!" Beth moaned in displeasure. As she turned to face me I bent my knees, cupped her ass cheeks and stood taking her back off of the floor and suspending her. She got the idea quickly and grinned at me. 

Reaching under her ass, she took me in her hand and guided me back into her battered ring. I lowered her a little onto my cock and we both groaned in pleasure. I stepped into the heated tub and sat. Beth curled her legs and took her weight on her knees. After we had settled she began to ride my cock. This time slowly, lovingly. There would be no "taking" this time. This time we were giving pleasure to one another, the completion of her request to me. 

I ducked my head and sucked on her nipples and laved the top of her breasts. "Lisa was a fool to let anyone with your stamina go!" Beth cooed. 

I took it as the compliment it was intended to be, although I could have done without hearing Lisa's name again tonight. I left a trail of kisses up her neck and nuzzled into her hair behind her right ear. The water sloshed around and around us in the tub and I saw the drain lever so a lifted it and let some of the water out of the tub.

Beth became a little less buoyant and began to ride me harder. "You are so good to me, Alex! Oh God this feels so good! I love you Alex!" All of this came in a rush and her speed increased. As we raced toward ecstasy hand in hand I couldn't help thinking I want everyone to know we love each other. I had an inspiration. I bowed my head and for the first time in my life marked a woman as mine for the entire world to see. I sucked and sucked just above her pulse until I was sure it would mark her. As I pulled my head back Beth, with a wicked gleam in her eyes, bent her head to give me her mark in the same place on my neck. It made me ecstatic that she felt this way for me.

I felt pride that she would want the world to know that I was hers and she was mine. Her riding had become more frantic and we climbed up and over into ecstasy together. It was the first quiet orgasm we had had together. Beth lifted so that my shaft fell from her ass and then reached over and turned on the hot water to warm the tub as it was cooling rapidly. She also picked up a small bowl I had not seen before and dumped bath salts into the tub. Once the water was warmed and the tap shut off Beth turned on the Jacuzzi Jets and turned and rested her back against me. We sat and basked in each others company and the smell of the aromatic salts.

She lay between my legs stroking the top of my thighs and sighed, "That was better than I had ever dared imagine it. Thank you for understanding." 

Her voice was wistful and held a trace of uncertainty as if she were afraid that now that the passion had cleared I would be ashamed or angry or disgusted or something. I smiled and let the bubbling water sooth her tired body and leaned down to whisper in her ear. 

"I have no regrets about this Beth." She started to smile and then I paused, "Ok I have only one small regret about this." She twisted around to look at me. 

"What?" She said in a small scared voice. 

I smiled and said "My only regret is that it took fifteen years to have this with you. All of that time wasted. I intend to make up for it though." 

Beth sighed and smiled wide at me. "And how, pray tell me, kind sir, do you plan to do that?" She asked as she settled back and brought her right arm over her head and stroked my hair on the back of my neck. I leaned down to make it easier and noticed the bruise I had left on her neck above the right side pulse. I nibbled her ear lobe and asked, "How would you like to take a prenuptial trip with me? I don't know where yet but we can decide later. I can't marry you for two months and I haven't had a vacation in over four years. If they don't want to give me the time off I'll quit. I can afford to. I want to spend time with you, my wife."

At the word wife Beth spun sloshing water all over the bathroom and half emptying the tub, "WIFE?" she screamed excitedly. 

I took her in my arms and said. "I have given you my ring, I have given you my promise, and I gave you my vows, and me yours, in this suite today. As far as I am concerned, you are my wife. You are my love and my life. I am free and clear of entanglements. A piece of paper filed with the court won't make you anymore my wife than you are at this moment in time. In my heart when I think of you it's by the name WIFE." 

Tears of joy streamed down her face and she threw her arms around my neck and held on planting sobbing kisses on my mouth, chin, neck and eyes at random. 

"The only question in my life is the twins and that is out of my hands. They will have to decide what they want. I HAVE what I have always wanted. She's here in my arms." I took one of her hands in mine and said "We need to get out of the water. We're turning into prunes." She laughed and we stood and I helped her out of the tub. I looked at her and asked "You're not sore or in pain or anything?" 

As vigorous as our love making had been and as passionate as we were I was afraid she would be feeling ill affects from it. "Humph! No, I'm not, surprisingly enough. I'd always heard that a gentle ass fucking left you at least a little sore the first time, and we were anything but gentle," she said that with a smile "but I'm not sore at all. My back is a little tight" She lowered her eyelids coyly and continued, "but somebody promised me a massage and I want to collect." I smiled at her and nodded. 

We stepped back into the bedroom and I looked at the clock. It was a little before nine. I looked out the window and saw the sun just starting to set. I looked at Beth and said "Change of plans? Get dressed for dinner quick I'll call and get our table from Franco and we can sit and watch the sunset together!" As I spoke she smiled at me and began to rummage through her bag for something to wear. I picked up the phone and called the concierge and asked them to send up housekeeping while we were at dinner. I then rang room service and changed my order from dinner to strawberries and dipping chocolate. My last call was to Franco. "Hello Franco, this is Alex Palmer. I wonder if the secluded table is available for dinner right now." 

"Mr. Alex! It's good to hear you wish to join us again. Of course the table is ready! It will be for you for the rest of the weekend as long as you keep making Miss Beth smile!" I could hear the grin in his voice. 

"Thank you Franco we'll be down right away and you can ask Miss Beth about her good news. It's hers to share so I'll leave it for her. We'll see you soon!" I had no more than hung up and Beth came in wearing a beautiful summer dress in a brilliant blue print that matched her eyes perfectly. 

I quickly donned a nice Brooks Brothers polo shirt in vibrant purple and tan pleat front chinos. We were in the elevator and on our way. Beth took shameless advantage of the enclosed car and began kissing me. When the doors opened she was still kissing me and she put on quite a show for the girl at the concierge desk as she straitened the hem of her skirt. (Hey if she can kiss me, then my hands can roam her body. It's in the rules!) As we walked by the concierge desk she motioned Beth over and spoke to her in a low voice. Beth's laughter sparkled in the room like sunlight on the water. She came back over to me and we walked up to Franco.

He smiled and clapped his hands before extending them to Beth, "My dear Miss Beth, you look positively radiant tonight! Mr. Alex took my warning to heart, eh?" Beth looked at me and said "Warning?" 

I explained, "Franco told me we could have our table anytime we wanted this weekend as long as I kept a smile on your face. He also said that if I didn't make you smile I would answer to him." 

Beth laughed again and said "You Dear, Dear man. Thank you Franco but I don't think that you can pry this smile from my face for a long time to come." As she spoke she held up her hand and showed Franco her ring.

Franco took her hand and said "Truly? You are to be wed?" At her nod he swept her into a hug and began speaking rapid fire Italian. Beth patted his arm and said "Franco put me down and speak in English. I can't understand you." 

Franco blushed and looked sheepish and said, "I'm sorry, signora Bella! I should not have…" Beth stopped him and said "It's alright Franco. I just couldn't understand what you said. That's all really." 

I smiled and nodded and said "You are the first we've told the news, Franco. We'll tell Josh on Monday or later this weekend if we see him. Don't let it slip if you do see him though we want to be the ones to tell him. We wanted to share the news with someone though and I thought you'd be happy for us."

"I'm so happy for you both! Come your table is ready." He chatted with Beth and looked at her ring again. I later learned from Josh, that Franco's daughter, Christiana, who would have been around Beth's age, had died last year of cancer. Franco, a widower, had come to America to get away from the painful memories of his loss in Italy. I also heard from Josh that Beth bore a striking resemblance to Franco's daughter. Josh had helped Franco with his immigration status and so was always welcome at the Top of the Tower.

I looked out the window as we made our way to our table and caught up to Beth and took her arm. She looked at me and I turned her to face the window. Her breath caught as the sun danced across the water of the lake as the sun went down. "As beautiful as this view is, it is humbled beside your beauty, my love." The music the orchestra was playing was at once soothing and romantic. Again I'm sure the food was excellent but I have no memory of it. I spent the whole evening gazing at Beth. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the suite. The cute concierge waved Beth over and handed her something. Beth palmed it and put it in her clutch purse. We got on the elevator and took the short trip back to our suite. 




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 10



The woman has more balls than the NBA, NFL, MLB, The Canadian Leagues, and every collegiate team combined! And now she's going to trash my night with Beth… I don't think so! I took a moment to calm myself and to think for a moment.

Josh's voice brought me out of my musings, "Alex? Are you there?"

I turned back to the phone and sighed, I answered Josh, "Yeah Josh, I'm here. Do you have the paperwork I asked for with you?"

He replied "In my valise as we speak." 

I told him, "Get a card from the desk and bring the skank up here and lets get this done; and Josh, I want a restraining order on her by morning. Legal contact only though you or Fred Phillips office. Ok? I don't want any more interruptions to this weekend or to have to see her period. She's had fifteen years to talk to me and all she has ever said to me were lies. Also, I'm never to be left alone with her. Period! I don't want her to be able to make any false claims about what was said or done." I thought for a moment and added, "That goes for Beth too. They are not to be left alone. Do you have a recorder on you?"

I could hear the smirk in his voice. "As a matter of fact yes I do it's on right now. As for your request I think I know someone who can expedite that for you tonight. I'll call them AFTER we finish up. We'll be up in a moment." He hung up and I turned to Beth and took her in my arms. I looked into her liquid blue eyes and said, "Promise me that no matter what you hear her say you will not doubt that I love you and will never leave you. I have an idea about what she wants but I can't be certain I'm right until she gets here so we don't have much time."

Beth asked, "What do you think she wants? Hasn't she done enough to you already?" The rage radiated from her in palpable waves. I rubbed her arms in an attempt to calm her down before her brother and Lisa arrived.

I looked into her face. I searched for a hint that she knew what I had deduced and found none. Cupping her face I kissed her on the forehead and said, "She's figured out that she's going to go to prison unless she can cut a deal with someone, and she's decided to start trying to make those deals with me." I said with finality, "Either that or someone explained to her that transferring funds you don't own to your own accounts is viewed as wrong by those at the D.A.'s office and transferring those funds out of the country gets the attention of the Justice Department. She was an integral part of a large scale fraud and grand larceny conspiracy that included that, AND an attempted murder. In this state that means she is just as guilty of the attempt on Fred Phillips life as if she had done it herself. It's considered a part of an ongoing larger crime. The fraud alone could get her seven to ten in Rockland Federal Penitentiary and the attempted murder could add another ten to fifteen years to that. Then there is the theft which could get her another five to fifteen years. Hell, the conspiracy charge alone could get her four to twelve years."

"They convict her on all charges, and the judge sentences her to consecutive terms and she's looking a twenty-six year minimum sentence and a maximum of fifty-two. One of the crimes is violent so she'll be in a maximum security facility not one of the federal country clubs. At this point I figure she's scared shitless, unless I'm way off base. She's just figured out that anytime we had a problem I handled it and made it go away. I was the one who took care of things. No muss, no fuss, just gone. Now she wants me to do the same thing again, and it is SO not gonna happen." I sighed resignedly.

"She's here now to try to persuade me not to testify, or to try to get me to drop the charges that Josh talked to the D.A. about. He has some paperwork to finish filing the complaint with the D.A formally in his briefcase. I WILL be signing that before he leaves, by the way. Her only hope at this point is that the D.A offers her a plea bargain for her to turn states evidence against the rest of these bastards. That or run, and I stripped her dry of funds to do that. Either way she is out of my life in a very permanent way very soon." I gave a dry laugh, "I'll bet you a hundred dollars cold cash she tries to use the girls to persuade me that she should be forgiven by me. That I should drop the charges because of the girls."

At the mention of Lisa in prison the look of unadulterated glee on Beth's face made me sad. I frowned and cupped her face stroking my thumb over her cheek I pulled her towards me, "Please don't be happy about her troubles. She delighted in the pain of others and I don't want you to be anything like her, not even just a little bit. She hasn't ever felt a genuine emotion in her life I don't think." 

Beth turned her face into my hand and looked at me. She said, "You are far to kind for this world, my love. I will try to restrain myself but I can't help but be a little glad she is getting what she so justly deserves. I will promise to try to control the impulse to gloat but I won't promise not to do it in private. She's hurt the man I love more than life itself and I won't forgive her that. Not ever." As she spoke she stroked her fingers along my jaw and laid her hand on my chest.

With a mischievous grin I asked, "Who would that be?" She smiled and slapped my chest playfully and said, "You, you silly ass!" 

I smiled, put all the joy her words inspired into my eyes and in a small excited voice said, "You said you love me!"

Beth caught the joke and said, "I've told you that several times tonight, if you had been paying attention, you horny little minx, you. And I'll have you know I've meant it every time I've said it to you." quoting my own words back at me. I smiled and hugged her tightly to me, burrowing my nose into the hair at the nape of her neck. I kissed the side of her neck below her earlobe and licked my mark on her neck. Beth purred in my arms like some great cat.

I moved us over to one of the couches and sat down. Beth kind of perched on the arm to my left as we both watched the door. Beth had not completely closed it after accepting the room service tray, so they would be able to walk right in after the elevator arrived. We sat and waited for Josh to arrive. I was casually stroking Beth's thigh and she was playing with the hair on the back of my neck, as we heard the elevator announce their arrival. Beth stood and moved behind me and put her hands on my shoulders. I took her left hand in my right and gave it a squeeze. I stood up.

Josh came into the room followed by Lisa. She was wearing a "power suit" in a light charcoal color that flattered her slight frame. Unlike Beth, Lisa is a petite woman. No conscience to speak of but undeniable fashion sense. Her pale pink blouse matched her nails. She was trying to put forth an imposing presence but I, surprisingly enough, was calm and unaffected. "Hello Josh." I said ignoring Lisa completely. 

"Alex!" Lisa's voice dripped sweetness and light as she came towards me as if she would hug me and kiss my cheek like we were friends now. Like she had a right to such a familiar greeting. As she made as if to hug me she stopped cold when she saw the look on my face. A look of fear and uncertainty crossed her features and was quickly hidden. I wasn't certain what I'd have done if she'd have touched me. I just knew that she and I both would not have liked it.

I looked at her and spoke softly, "Ok Lisa, you're here; you've fouled my evening with your very presence, now state your business and get out." My tone was flat, even, and devoid of emotion. Bully for me. 

Lisa looked as if she wasn't sure I was me. "A-Alex?" She had never seen me this emotionless before and it was frightening her. "I wanted to discuss what has happened. Try to convince you to change your mind." I looked at Beth her face registered the same incredulity that Josh's showed. 

Josh piped in, "You have got to be shitting me?" Beth asked, "Are you out of your fucking mind? After what you put him through, you have the…" Beth fell silent as I raised my hand. Josh looked as if he was choking on his outrage. 

"I'm sorry Lisa I'm recovering from surgery you'll have to say that again. I didn't quite catch it." Every eye in the room focused on me in confusion.

Lisa gaped at me, "Surgery? What did you need surgery for?" She looked at me trying to see bandages I think. She stared at me and could find no sign's of trauma.

"Oh, I had a one hundred pound malignant tumor along with the sign in bright red flashing neon letters that said "FUCKING IDIOT" removed this week." 

Beth and Josh burst into laughter at my joke. Lisa appeared shocked at my crude choice of words. I had always been a gentleman with her around and rarely swore when she was near, "I want to know what you want and then I want you to leave. Period. This week you have taken everything that mattered to me, our marriage, my sanity, our… your… daughters, everything, and destroyed it. My… your daughters love is the only things I want from you, by the way, and I can't ever have that back. You've already seen to that." I spoke calmly and clearly and never looked away from her eyes. I didn't even feel hatred for her at that moment. I found myself indifferent to her. The opposite of love is not hatred, but indifference. I held more concern for a cockroach than I did her at that moment.

Lisa was unprepared for my unyielding attitude and was visibly shaken, "This isn't funny Alex! Can I talk to you alone please? It won't take long, I promise." 

I laughed at her audacity, "That is soooo NOT going to happen, Lisa. You and I will never again be left alone in a room, not ever. I'm not about to give you the leeway to try to hurt me again. You are an excellent liar, and consummate actress. You've proven that well over the last fifteen years. So no, you may not speak to me alone or in private. In fact I won't be speaking to you again outside the presence of an attorney."

As I spoke I walked over to the wet bar and asked, "You want something to drink Josh? Beth?" Lisa did not miss that I did not offer her anything, implying that she would not be here long enough for a drink. She jerked like I had slapped her. "White wine if you please, Alex" Beth answered.

"Nothing for me Alex, thanks." Josh replied. 

I poured the last of the white wine Beth liked so much, made a note of the brand and vintage and disposed of the bottle. I got myself a bottle of papaya juice and opened it. I took Beth her wine and sat back down on the couch.

"One last time Lisa or I'll call security and have you removed. What do you want?" Lisa was not at all certain what was going on. She hadn't realized that she had destroyed the man she thought she knew so well, and as a result could no longer predict my reactions. "I want you to refuse to press charges against me. They are going to take the girls from me if you do."

I looked at Beth and smirked saying "I told you so." Beth stuck out her tongue at me, took two fifty dollar bills from her clutch purse and handed them to me. Lisa just gaped at me and I laughed. "Why on earth would you think I would consider not pressing charges? Where does this arrogance come from, Lisa? You made sure that there is NOTHING I can legally do for the girls and even if there were they damned well wouldn't let me. I don't know why you would think I owed you a DAMNED thing." She flinched but didn't back down.

"I can't lose my girls Alex, I just can't!" She started to cry. 

At one time, up until this past week in fact, this would have had me bending over backwards to comfort her. Now I just said, "Stop the acting Lisa, crocodiles only shed tears while feeding and there's no prey here, you've already got the Award for Best Actress in a long term role sowed up." 

She looked at me in shock. 

"I am quite certain I have never seen a genuine emotion from you. I don't think you would know what one was if it walked through that door and bit you on the ass right here and now. If I were you I would talk to the D.A. about a deal for testimony and a reduced sentence, maybe probation. They don't even need my testimony; they have it all on tape and video. I'd be talking to the D.A. about turning states evidence if I were you. If not you'll be going to Rockland Federal for a while, a long while. Maybe you can get a cell mate there who won't pimp you out too often." Lisa gasped. Beth looked shocked; Josh looked smug.

I continued, "I'd also call your parents and talk to them about a custody arrangement, they love the twins. The twins still love them, and they actually have a legal standing where the girls are concerned. You see Lisa, I have it on good authority that I have NO biological children, and therefore NO legal standing to petition for custody of anyone's children, and yours have decided that they hate me and consider me to be unfit as a father, and are glad that they need not "suffer my presence" any longer. Or so they told me… and the bailiffs… and the judge… and... Oh hell anyone who would listen to them at the courthouse, I guess. Now that I think about it, I wonder where they got that little idea from, hmm." I tapped my finger against my lip as if I were seriously pondering the question.

I looked at her and the first flashes of anger could be seen in my eyes, "I love those girls more than my own life and you have destroyed any chance I had of being their father. They told me TO MY FACE this week at court that they were happy to finally be rid of me. I would love to have my little princesses back, but now all that I have are the memories of times before you took them away." I hadn't told Beth or Josh of the depths of my anguish at the loss of my girls. I hadn't let them see the wreck it was making of me. If I refused to look at it, it wouldn't twist me into a battered shell. Now it was written there for all to see. My pain, my loss, my unadulterated shattering wretchedness. Surely I had done something wrong for them to hate me so much. (Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm dense sometimes.)

I continued my rant, "I'm sorry you had to "suffer" all these years." Sarcasm dripped from my voice like a bilious mass as I spoke, "Isn't that what you told Heather and Jacquie? That it was suffering? Well I'm sorry you suffered by being with me." I looked at her in disgust, "If that's all you want you can go now." I started to turn away and stopped, "Oh, one last thing." My voice softened, "Tell the girls that their birthday presents are coming by courier. I ordered them before they decided they didn't need me for a father and I want them to have them. And tell them that Daddy… that I… love them. They probably won't believe it or care but it is true. If they ever need for anything I'll be there for them." I turned my back on her and looked out the large window.

Lisa just looked at me in shock. "Alex, wait please, I need your help!" I turned to look at her once more but before I could speak hurricane Beth made landfall all over Lisa!

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" She stalked towards Lisa and loomed over her. The only word that came to mind was menace. Lisa quickly began to back towards the door. I moved to cut off Beth but Josh shook his head no, so I stopped. Beth closed in on her and Lisa finally figured out that Beth was not going to play nice with her the way I had. "You spent years driving away almost every friend that wonderful man has ever had, you used him to try to get your hands on his trust fund, you take away the fact of HIS children and then the love of those same children and then, THEN when your ass gets caught outright you have the nerve to ask him for help! I should cut your fucking throat right now, you BITCH! No court would ever convict me! If you had wanted the money, you sorry cunt, all you ever had to do was ask him for it. He would have signed it all over to you, he loved you so much."

She pointed at me and said "That man worshiped the ground you and your brats walked on. He would have gladly crawled through broken glass and burning gasoline for you! How did you repay that love, that devotion? By cutting his heart out. And for what? For money! You're nothing but a filthy whore. I feel defiled by your very existence. I ought to wipe the stain of you from this world." She stood there shaking in her rage. She began to advance on Lisa again.

I hurried over and put my hands on her shoulders restraining her. I guided her away from Lisa. She fought me through her tears of rage. I whispered in her ear "No Beth. Please Sweets, for me. If you hurt her I have to come and see you behind the plate glass, not her. Come on Sweets, for me, let it go. I love you; I can't loose you now that I've only just found you." This last was said as I placed a kiss on her temple and enfolded her in my arms. Beth continued to shake with rage but she stopped fighting me and gradually she calmed down.

Lisa stood there in shock gaping at Beth and me as I tried to calm her down. I looked at Josh and nodded towards the door. Josh took Lisa's elbow, "If that's all you wanted you're leaving. Now! If you attempt to contact Alex directly again I'll have you arrested on charges of witness tampering. The hotel has your photo and has agreed to have you arrested for trespassing if you come back here again this weekend. After this weekend you can come back any time IF you have a reservation. I'll be getting a restraining order signed tonight that says you must keep at least fifty feet between you and Alex. No calls, no visits, no contact BY YOU unless you go through me or Fred Phillips office. The twins can contact him at will. Violate the order just once and I WILL see to it personally that you are arrested and jailed to protect my client. Am I understood, Lisa? Oh one final thing. Michael Fowler was arrested today on charges of fraud, suborning perjury, and conspiracy to commit murder. If you want a deal you had better act fast before anyone else gets arrested."

Lisa, still shocked by the turn events had taken, nodded and allowed herself be led from the room. Two of the hotel security staff were waiting outside of the suite door in the foyer to escort Lisa from the building. Josh tried to tip them both a hundred for their trouble. They politely refused saying that security are not allowed to accept tips. They placed the money on the table next to the door before it closed behind them. 

I told Josh "Call the manager and ask him to deliver checks to those two for double the amount of the tips in the morning, bill it to me. Tell him no one should have to endure Lisa's presence without bonus pay for proximity contamination."

As I finished speaking I turned, clasped my hand over my mouth, and raced for the half bath attached to the "day room" portion of the suite. I got to see what I had just eaten an hour ago once again. It looked far more appetizing the first time I saw it. I continued to vomit for several minutes, until at last I went into dry heaves as my stomach was completely emptied of its contents. Beth had followed me into the bathroom and was kneeling by my side stroking my neck, and making cooing noises, trying to sooth me, to calm me. To take from me the unbearable ache of the loss and the emptiness I was feeling. She wet down a wash cloth and lay it on the back of my neck as she rubbed my back trying to sooth my spasms.

I had spent a tremendous amount of energy the last few days trying not to feel anything about what Lisa had done to me, as if by ignoring it I could get away without it affecting me, and now all that effort was undone. My revulsion and anguish, my sorrow and pain, my abject loathing of her very existence was made manifest in my regurgitation. I had stripped her of the funds she had stolen from me, but she had taken something infinitely more precious than that from me. Something I don't think I can ever regain. The tears began to flow.




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 10



I had not allowed myself to grieve for the loss of my children. The marriage was a dead thing and best put out of its misery and buried; I felt little sorrow for its loss. But my daughters, they were another matter altogether. And now they were not even mine. I had, to all appearances lost them more completely than if they had died. If they had died I could visit their graves, mourn their passing, and in time go on, but they weren't dead, they were across town at their mother's house. There was no memorial for the love I felt for them and they for me, for I loved them still. Yet to them I was dead.

Tears streamed from my eyes; tears of, impotent rage, anger, bitterness, loss. And yes, in the dark part of my soul that I keep leashed and caged for fear of the carnage it would wreak upon the world should I ever set it loose, I could admit to tears of hatred as well. I shook with the rage and howled my grief to the empty walls. Beth held me and rocked me. But comfort was a very long time in coming. I huddled on the floor in the arms of my best friend and love, and prayed for the pain to cease. I don't know how long I knelt there, it must have been close to an hour, maybe more, but my knees had begun to ache. Finally I tried to stand and discovered I hadn't the strength. Beth helped me to stand and I took a glass of water and rinsed my mouth repeatedly to remove the vile taste of Lisa from it. I would forevermore associate that vile taste with her memory, her visage.

Josh was still waiting for us when I emerged from the porcelain repository. He looked as bad as I felt. Worry and concern etched his face adding years to his appearance. He shook his head looking ashamed and said, "I'm sorry man, I never thought about the possibility of somebody calling her and tattling to her about you. It never occurred to me that she would come here if she had found you." 

I looked at him with a wry grin and said, "It's not your fault she has an ego that dwarfs the Himalayas and makes the Andes look like foothills." 

He jerked at a thought and said "Oh yeah! Speaking of tattling? Just how would it be that Fred Phillips called me with a job offer today? He seemed to be well up to speed on my personal life and I sure as hell haven't been advertising it in the business section."

I sighed tiredly and said "You were talking about moving back here before this all started last year. You have nothing to keep you in Torrington, do you?" Torrington is a small town thirty miles south of us where Josh had been living and working. "I thought you'd be a good fit there. I nearly got Fred killed the least I can do is to try to fill the hole…" I never got to finish what I was saying as my head rocked back from the slap it had received.

Beth was furious again and my right cheek was burning with the evidence of that fact in the form of her hand print. Her voice was loud and brooked no argument. "Don't you EVER, EVER say that ANY of this was your fault ever again? Do you hear me? Lisa and her pack of jackals are to blame for this! I won't have you blaming yourself for this. Do you hear me Alex Palmer? I won't have my HUSBAND saying such things!"

I stood there rubbing my cheek and looked at an astonished Josh, "Excitable little thing isn't she? Packs a wallop too!" 

Josh looked like he was watching a tennis match as his gaze swiveled between Beth and myself. Finally he cocked his head to one side looking at me and asked in a quiet voice "What did she mean by "Husband" Alex?" Beth's hands flew to her mouth as she realized she had let something slip. I smiled and held out my hand to her and when she took it I enfolded her in a hug.

"Why Josh, I thought you were brighter than that. Surely you know what it means when a woman calls a man "husband" don't you? I mean you see them all the time in your line of work." The smile on my face split from ear to ear as Beth held out her hand so he could see the promise-engagement ring I had given her. 

The lights finally came on in Josh's eyes. His grin was almost as big as mine. "He's asked you? Already? And you've said yes?" Beth just nodded and placed my arm over her shoulders. I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and said, "I thought we had decided no more hitting?" 

Beth looked at my face and then realized she had hit me. Again. Her hands flew to her mouth and she began to apologize. "Oh No! Oh God Alex I'm sor…" 

I used the expedient of kissing her to shut her up. She melted against me and wrapped her arms around me. After about a year, which only lasted a few moments; time is a relative concept you know, Josh coughed and said, "AHEM!" 

I pulled back and in my best Peter Lorre's Igor the Ghoul voice said, "A-heh A-heh, you vant somtink?" 

Beth and Josh dissolved into gales of laughter. Beth shook her head as she gazed lovingly at me and stroking my cheek said, "You are certifiable, you know that?"

Josh took her hand and said "Looks like a welcome to the family speech is in order, huh sis." Josh took my hand and shook it. His smile broadened. Beth hugged me tighter as I looked at Josh and asked, "So what offer did Fred and his firm make you?" It was his turn to smile.

"It wasn't anything much. Twice what I'm making now, relocation allotment, their firm will buy out any mortgage I currently hold and get me a low interest fixed rate loan on a new place, company car. I get my choice of staff. They'll even make an offer to Joyce if she wants to come to work for me here. I'll offer but I don't think she'll come." He seemed saddened by this revelation.

Beth piped up and said "I wouldn't bet on that. She may not come to work for you but she might be moving here soon." We both looked at her in wonderment. I kissed her and asked "What makes you say that Sweets?"

Beth looked at me and smiled an enigmatic smile and said "Her boyfriend lives here now." Josh looked at me and said, "I didn't know she had a boyfriend. Well, I'll make the offer. She's a great paralegal and a better assistant. I've been fighting to get her a raise for almost a year and the managing partner won't go for it. She won't sleep her way around the office like some and it pisses me off that they penalize her for it." He seemed a little dejected as he spoke. I looked at Beth and started to ask her if she was talking about Josh. She read my mind though and made a locking motion at her lips. She wasn't going to say anymore in front of Josh.

   *****

It was nearly one o'clock when Josh left. I had signed the complaint on Lisa after talking it over some more with Josh and Beth. He had made his phone call and the front desk had a faxed copy of the restraining order against Beth on file. Josh gave me a copy and said he'd have Lisa served by breakfast. I went to the master suite and used the bathroom there to clean up a little. I brushed my teeth four times gargling with mouthwash each time and I STILL had that woman's foul taste in my mouth. I went back into the bedroom, passing Beth as she went into the bath to prepare for bed, and saw the bottle of oil in the Scotch glass sitting neglected. Again. I sighed and turned off the cup warmer, the last thing I felt this evening was amorous. As I straightened up Beth's arms circled my waist from behind and she laid her cheek against mine from behind over my shoulder. She whispered in my ear, "I think we should go to bed. I've called downstairs and told them not to disturb us in the morning. I think we need to sleep until we wake up on our own." 

I turned and wrapped my arms around her and said, "Do you know how much I love you?" She smiled at me. "I don't have the words to tell you how much I love you." The sadness in my voice was apparent. A lone tear fell from my right eye. "Would you be terribly angry with me if I asked that we just go to bed and sleep tonight? I don't trust myself to give you a proper massage tonight and I'm just not in the frame of mind to be making love to you either. I still have Lisa's "psychic stench" on me and I am afraid of what would happen. Please?" 

She never batted an eye, she just kissed me soundly and started taking off my shirt. Once we were nude she led me over to the bed and we climbed under the covers. The advantage of being nearly the same height is that when you lay down you match up so much better when you try to cuddle. Beth scootched up so her head was slightly above mine on the pillows and pulled my head to her magnificent breast, wrapped her arms around me and said, "Lay your head down and let me hold you." I kissed her nipple and then snuggled down into the best pillow on this earth. Beth reached over and turned out the lights and she held me stroking the hair on the back of my neck until I fell asleep. The last thing I remember before sleep claimed me was the steady beat of her heart and Beth murmuring to me to "Sleep peacefully, my lovely man. I'll keep the nightmares away." And she did.

   *****



The Last 24 Hours Ch. 11



I fought my way to near consciousness several times, struggling with the precursors of nightmares, only to be soothed back into slumber before I awoke. I had vague memories of nightmares that never really coalesced into actual dreams, visions of Lisa or the twins raging at me. In my dreams it was a Goddess in a shimmering blue gown that soothed me. In reality it was Beth; funny how they have the same face, my Dream Goddess and my Amazon Goddess. 

I woke up and knew Beth was awake, as she was stroking my hair gently again, to sooth me and not awaken me. I found that I had a most pleasant surprise awaiting me. Beth's left nipple was puffed up hard and in my mouth, her areola was pebbled with goose bumps signaling her arousal. My head still rested on her bosom where it had been when I fell asleep. I also was sporting a major piss hard on, the proverbial "morning wood" and my bladder was screaming for relief. I gently took her nipple between my teeth and gave a hard suck and flicked it with my tongue. 

This earned me a gasped, "Oh Alex!" and a contented sigh as I laved her sensitive nipple with my tongue. 

It seemed like I had slept straight through the night. The early morning light was streaming through the window and it looked to be a lovely fall day. I felt rested and "clean", although I'm pretty sure something had crawled in my mouth, died, and rotted away overnight. I knew if the taste in my mouth were that vile to me, I wanted no part in sharing it with Beth. I gave Beth a hug and said, "Bathroom, I'll be back in a second." I got up and gazed at her for a moment and said, "Don't move." I raced into the bathroom and had the door closed before I realized I was nude. 

Lisa had always made me feel uncomfortable and self conscious about my body. She complained constantly about my efforts to stay in shape and the time I spent at the gym. She said it made me too rigid and angular for comfort. Now I know why. But I felt no hesitation about being nude in front of Beth. That thought made me feel very good indeed. I took care of my morning "wood" and brushed my teeth. I went over to the tub and began filling it. I adjusted the water temperature to what I knew Beth liked. 

She's like me in that she loves to "boil" in the hot water to relax. Every thought of Beth filled my heart with love. Every memory of her brought a rush of pleasure, as though someone were stroking me in all the right places. My "morning wood" had returned and this time my bladder had nothing to do with it. That thought made me smile. I stood and made sure the towel warmer was on and held fresh towels. It did. Turned off the water and started the jets and heater to keep the tub warm while we showered.

I came back into the bedroom and saw that Beth had peeled back the sheets to reveal herself to me in all of her nude splendor. Her hair was loose and spilled across the pillows and sheets framing her body in glorious ruby colored splendor "My God you are so very beautiful!" I said in an awed whisper. The smile that lit her face made my heart race and my cock bobbed with the increased flow.

Beth giggled and said, "Some parts of you are very happy to see me!" 

I looked down and seeing what she saw; I put on a lascivious smile and said, "What can I say, he only thinks about one thing when he's alone in the room with the most lovely, luscious, vivacious creature on the planet. As for being happy, anytime we get to be alone with you we are the happiest pair in the world." 

"I wondered if my beautiful wife might like to take a shower and bath with me." I looked at Beth and saw that sexy smile I love so much grace her features, and could not help but be awestruck that such a vision of beauty might really be mine, might really be my wife. I held out my hand and pulled her from the bed and we went into the bathroom. 

As we walked Beth wrapped herself around my arm pressing her magnificent breast into my bicep and said in a wistful voice, "This isn't a dream, is it? It's real...? I get to be with you and you love me...?" I turned my head and smiled gently at her.

"You need to stop stealing my lines! I was going to ask you the same thing." As her eyes met mine I smiled, and as I leaned in towards her she closed her eyes. I kissed her forehead and then her eyelids, and finally her mouth. It was a quick kiss and I tugged her hand and said, "I'll check the bath you go ahead and take care of your morning routine and then we'll shower and then soak in the tub together. Ok?" 

Beth blushed and said, "I already took care of my morning rituals. You were sleeping and I got up and took care of it. I need a shower but that's all." She frowned and said, "When I got back to the bed you were shaking and curled into a tight ball. I climbed in and hugged you tight. After a while it stopped and you relaxed again and woke up where we were." She got quiet and asked, "You were having nightmares weren't you?"

She looked very worried, and I told her the truth, "No Sweets. You chased them all away. I remember starting into a vague bad dream a couple of times, and every time I would hear your voice and see you in my dream and it would go away. You are my Amazon Goddess and my love. You are my peace and my angel. I hope that someday I can make you feel half of the love I feel for you." 

She blushed and looked at me with adoration I had never seen in anyone's eyes, at least not when it was directed at me. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. Finally we broke apart and stepped into the shower. She picked up the shower poof and poured a generous amount of shower gel onto it. "I want to bathe you so you just stand there and let me. Ok?"

I turned and smiled at her and nodded my head. She started with my back and began to caress me. She took her time and was very thorough. She washed my buttocks and took a great deal of pleasure in running her hands over every inch of my body as if committing it to memory. She made sure I was squeaky clean. She moved me into the spray of the shower head and just as she had thoroughly washed my back, she rinsed it. She moved me out of the direct spray and stood up. As she stood Beth laid her head against my back and shoulders. She placed kisses across them and I could feel tears running down her cheeks. 

She had me turn and began to soap my chest. She kept her head bowed so I could not see her face. I wrapped my arms around her stopping her progress and said, "You know that isn't going to work Sweets. Tell me what's wrong. I'm not going anywhere, or doing anything until you do." 

As I spoke I tilted her face up to me so I could see her eyes, tears glittering on her cheeks. I waited for her to work her way to telling me what was wrong.

"I'm afraid. I know it doesn't make any sense but..." She whispered. "I'm afraid something's going to happen and you're going to go away and leave me alone... I just got you, and now I'm afraid I'll lose you and..." She began to sob into my chest. I had expected a lot of things but never that. 

I made her look me in the eyes and said fiercely, "I am going nowhere without you! Do you hear what I'm saying? Listen to me carefully. You ARE going to be my wife! I AM going to marry you! And if you run I'll hire the best man-trackers money can buy to find you. You are my life, and my love, and no one is going to keep us apart. I love you damn it! If you move, I'll buy the house next door, or rent the apartment across the hall. Hell I'll buy the damned building if I have to! You aren't getting rid of me and nothing short of death is going to keep me from you. Do you understand me?" I wanted to shake her, to make her understand how I felt. But I knew that was the last thing she needed from me.

I watched as a tear fell down her cheek, "You said you love me." She spoke barely above a whisper, but I heard her. 

I replied, "I've told you that several times this morning, if you had been paying attention, you horny little minx, you. And I'll have you know I've meant it every time I've said it to you." Ok, so it's corny. It was something special between her and me, something that no one else would understand, and it comforted her to realize I meant those words each and every time I spoke them to her. I intended to say them a lot over the next sixty or seventy years. (Okay, so I'm optimistic, shoot me!)

She smiled at me, pulled me down and kissed me. As she kissed me, time stopped. (Funny how that happens when Beth kisses me, I mean I know that kiss lasted several decades, but when she pulled back from me it was still the same day, the same morning.) I let her finish washing me and then rinsed off in the spray again. As she rinsed the lower portions of my body she knelt and caressed my legs. She carefully rinsed my groin and my very erect cock, gently massaging my scrotum and balls. She paused and looked up to see me watching her.

With a mischievous grin she said, "I need to check and see if the soap is all gone, and you need to take my temperature with this great big thermometer." She again used her naughty little girl voice, which she knows drives me wild. With that she took hold of my erection and began to slide her tongue around the head and down the sides of the shaft. Her grip at the base of me held me in place. It wasn't so hard it hurt but I wasn't going anywhere either. (As if that thought had even crossed my mind!) Beth worked her way back to the head, and checking again to ensure I was watching she slipped me between her lips and began to work my cock into her moist velvet mouth. I have never seen a more erotic sight than Beth giving me such pleasure.

The look of contentment on her face as she wraps her lips around my hard length is the sexiest sight in the world to me. She was focused solely on the task at hand. She wasn't very skilled, but she remembered what I had liked, and was applying that knowledge well. (Neither of us was very skilled for that matter, as we were each others first experience for so many things.) I couldn't help but think that I was going to enjoy learning to please her and teaching her what pleased me. Our firsts were going to be most enjoyable indeed, if I had any say in the matter.

She began bobbing her head faster and sucking harder. I lost almost all thought as she swirled her tongue around the crown of my rigid member. I looked down to see her watching my face as she pleasured me. I could feel my orgasm building and decided to try to change things a bit. I tried to take a step back and she tightened her grip on me and a warning crept into her eyes. I smiled down at her and said, "If you keep that up I'll come and I want to make love to you. Let me sit on the bench and then you can go for a ride."

She took me from her mouth and said, "I'm not done with my sucker, and I'm not giving it up until I get my creamy center reward. After that we can make love and I'll go for a ride, not before!" The note of finality in her voice let me know she would have her way in this. (Oh the hardships we must endure for those we love.) 

I smiled at her and said, "Ok Sweets just remember you have to get me hard enough to play again, and I may make you pay for making me wait." The teasing note in my voice took the sting from my words. If she made me cum now I vowed I was going to pleasure her into oblivion later. 

As she took me back into her mouth I rested my hands on her head, not forcing her or guiding her, just so that I could feel the spill of her silken hair in my hands. She began working harder to get her "reward" and I kept my eyes on hers, letting her see the pleasure wash over and through me.

"I'm coming Beth!" I warned her and then spilled over into ecstasy. I came in a rush of pleasure that bowed my spine and caused every muscle in my body to tighten. My breath came in ragged, spastic shuddering gasps. Beth was the only woman to have ever given me oral sex, and I was her first "real" recipient. 

She had practiced on toys with her other lovers but as I was the only male in that number; I took it for the extreme compliment that it was. As I came down from the heights she had sent me to, I drew her up and into my arms. I turned off the water and hugged her for a moment.

I reached over to the warmer, brought out one of the large bath towels, and began drying her off. I teased her nipples with the fabric as I massaged her breasts; of course I was just drying them you understand, no teasing her involved at all. I moved down and I patted her tummy dry, pausing to make sure her navel was thoroughly dried. After much laughter Beth smacked me on my arm and I moved on. I moved to her long, muscular, glorious legs. I rubbed her skin gently until it glowed. Then I moved back up to her perfect ass. I turned her away from me and placed a kiss in the center of her back. I trailed my tongue over her skin until I reached the crevasse that housed the object of my desire. I licked and probed that sweet area and Beth thrust her hips back at me. 

With her hands she spread her cheeks so I could get at her delectable center. I spent several minutes "checking for soap" all around her rosette. Her moans of pleasure echoed off of the wall driving us both higher towards the peak of her pleasure. I dipped down and feasted on the nectar flowing from her hot soaking wet sex. I kept her at the precipice but never let her fall over the edge. 

When I had finished "drying" her I wrapped her in another towel and took her back into my arms. She had a confused look on her face and glanced at the tub with its bubbling water. "Oh how I do love you so." I said in a near whisper as I stroked her cheek. 

Beth's smile as I spoke caused my heart to falter for a moment. I had changed my mind again. I held her as tight as I could without hurting her. She laid her head on my shoulder and kissed my neck nuzzling into me as well. "I believe I owe milady something that I have long promised but have ever been delayed in giving." 

Beth looked at me and for a moment she was puzzled. "I did promise to give you a massage, didn't I?" 

She smiled and all but began jumping up and down like a little kid. As it was she still bobbed up and down on the balls of her feet. 

I took two more of the bath sheets and after quickly drying myself off walked into the bedroom. Beth had already taken the oil and the cup warmer and set things up. She had also taken her towel and laid it out on the bed after having stripped the covers and the top sheet. She had her back to me and was smoothing out a wrinkle in the bath sheet when I entered the room. I couldn't resist the temptation. I walked over and planted a sound smack on her left ass cheek. She let out a gasp and a moan and I thought, maybe, just maybe, she might enjoy a bit of light spanking. I'd have to remember to talk to her about it later.

For now, I was content to get her as relaxed as I possibly could. I actually owed her for several promises that had been interrupted but I was keeping track of them and, all going as I wished, I would be paid in full by tonight. The look she threw me over her shoulder very nearly melted me in place. Her sultry gaze caused my manhood to begin filling out to stand erect once more. She lay out on the sheet on her stomach and I began my massage. She had thrown her hair over her shoulder so I could get at her back and to keep it out of the oil. She had it in a loose ponytail after our shower. I took the oil and poured some into my hands and began to caress and knead her body. 

The scent of the oil was most arousing and Beth squirmed under my finger tips. I worked her neck and shoulders finding several sore points and many tight spots as well. I worked my way down her back. I skipped her buttocks and went straight to her legs and feet. That met with a groan but she voiced no other protest about it. I worked my way up her legs and as I approached her most perfect posterior, she spread her legs for me to give me better access to her moist center. I played my hand between her legs and was rewarded with a gasped "Oh!"

I stroked her lips and ran my fingers one by one through them without inserting them. She was very wet and it made me smile. I moved up and began to massage the cheeks of that beautiful ass, spreading her own juices across it as I did so along with the oil. She moaned in pleasure as I worked the muscles in her cheeks. She began to buck her hips up at me trying to direct the contact she was having with me so I threw a leg over her and straddled her just below her hips. I settled my weight on her legs just behind her ass and she was pinned beneath my weight. She moaned again this time in frustration. She said "Oh God Alex, please don't tease me, please!" I took pride in the fact that she so wanted my touch.

I replenished the oil on my hands and began to once again caress her back. This time however I continued all the way down to her ass. I petted and stroked and kneaded her flesh sensually until she writhed under me in want for more intimate contact. "Oh God Alex if you don't do something soon I may explode!" 

She tried to slip her hand between her thighs but I pulled it back and said, "Ah, Ah, AH! Naughty, naughty, Beth, that's mine to play with; you can play with it later!"

Beth did the one thing she hated most; she begged me, "Please! Oh please Alex! Please make me cum. Please!" As she spoke the desperation in her voice made me smile. I slid back on her legs a little farther and again placed my hand on her sex. She gasped and again tried to force contact, so I withdrew my hand. 

I smacked her on the right cheek this time and said, "If you aren't going to behave yourself I'll just have to quit entirely." 

She wailed, "Noooo! Please Alex I'll be good, I promise!" She was using her little girl voice and it was driving me wild, as she knew it would. As I slid back in place I angled my erection so that as I slid forward I also slid into Beth at the same time. 

The oil made it easier to move on her legs and with her hips tilted up as they were she presented the most alluring target. She had her first orgasm as I bottomed out in her moist velvet sheath. She wailed her pleasure for me to hear "Ooooooooh Alex! Oh Alex I'm cuuuummminng!" She shook in the throes of her passion and I withdrew from her. I slid back until I could lean over and taste her. I began to lick her swollen sex like it was to be my last chance to do so. I stroked her ass and rubbed my hands up her back as I lapped at her swollen sex.

She began to climb towards her next orgasm almost immediately and I wanted her to get there. I inserted a finger in to her wet sex and could feel her velvet walls clutching at it as I pumped it in and out of her. I added a second finger and she moaned "Oh yes! Harder Alex!" I pumped her harder and then I curled my fingers towards the front wall of her sex and felt for the small bundle of nerves that would send her crashing into her next orgasm. As I did this I began to once more rim her rosette. She used her hands to open herself to me and spread her cheeks so I could do a better job of pleasing her. I took my free hand and felt along side of her engorged clit and tugged gently at the hood of her sensitive nubbin.

As I found her G-spot and speared her anus with my tongue I tripped my fingers across her clit and pinched it between my fingers. She spilled over as she came screaming my name and again drenched me with her fluids. I drank as much of her essence as I could and began to once more lap at her lips. I glanced up when she didn't react as she had. Her pussy still pulsed in sensation, but Beth had passed out. I had achieved my goal. I waited for her to stir and then rolled her off of the bath sheet. I bundled it up and threw it to the floor. I wrapped Beth I my arms and held her as she became more aware of what was happening.

"If you keep doing that to me I may just have to marry you!" she said with a contented sigh. 




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 11



I smiled at her and said, "If you marry me I won't ever stop doing that to you. I do so love how you cum for me." 

I hugged her tightly and said "I think we need sustenance." I picked up the phone and ordered room service. They quickly delivered breakfast for two. We had a country breakfast of eggs and bacon as well as a massive order of home fries, gravy and orange juice. We remained nude as we ate. I had put on a robe when the order arrived at the suite but removed it once more as I called Beth to join me. We ate in silence but it was a comfortable silence accompanied by many looks and touches. Beth and I had never felt the need to "fill in the gaps" with meaningless chatter.

After we ate we cuddled for a while. Beth sat in my lap and we watched the activity on the lake once again. We could not see the marina from our window but we had a clear view of most of the traffic leaving and entering it. Beth stood up and pulled me off of the couch. "Dance with me?" She asked. I took her in my arms and she lay her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. And so we began to dance to the music only she and I could hear 

As we danced I guided us toward the bedroom door. I was in no rush to end our dance for I wanted to hold her for a while longer, several centuries more at the least. I don't know how long we danced in one another's arms and company, but the sun told me it was well past mid-day.

Beth noticed we had come close to the bedroom door and pulled me inside. She jumped across the bed and suddenly reached into the nightstand and pulled out a cloth measuring tape. I quirked an eyebrow at her and asked "What, exactly, are you planning to do with that and where did you get it?" Beth flushed and said "I got it from that pretty concierge last night after dinner. And you know exactly what I'm planning to do with it so come over here. I want to be able to brag accurately about how well hung MY HUSBAND is." She smiled at me as she spoke

I had told her I had never taken measurements and I hadn't lied to her about it. We discovered that my estimation was short. I thought I was between eight and nine inches long, but it turns out that I'm nine and three sixteenths of an inch in length, two and a quarter inches across, and six inches in circumference. "My God Alex, you really are built to please a woman aren't you?" Beth spoke in awe, as if I had done something special.

"No Beth, I'm not." She looked at me, incredulity and confusion written across her face. I continued, "I'm built to please only one woman, and that is you, my wife, no one else." I made it a simple statement. Beth squealed and launched herself at me and we fell back on to the bed with her astride me. She kissed me soundly over and over and I felt my cock stir once more. It gave me great satisfaction to know that I could please her so with just my simple view of the truth. As my cock grew in length Beth continued to grind her lips up and down my erecting manhood. She reached over to retrieve the forgotten oil from the stand where it waited. She used it to lubricate my cock and I knew just what she had in mind. I had "taken" her ass the other night, now she was going to take my cock in her ass. This would be the gentle loving that she had asked for last night, one of the things I felt I owed her. She would be in control this time. That was fine with me. I almost always had fun when Beth did the driving, so to speak.

Beth knelt over me and guided my hard cock into her rosette. With a slow gentle pressure she slipped the head of my cock into her rectum. As she slowly slid down the length of me she placed her hands on my chest and moaned, "Oh God! You feel so big in there! Nothing feels better than this, Alex! Nothing!" She shook her head from side to side not in pain but in ecstasy. I could feel her moist heat gripping me and pulling at me as she rode up and down the steel hard length of me. The feelings coursing through me were unlike any I had ever known before, to be able to watch my love take her pleasure from me while giving me such pleasure was nearly more than I could stand. I felt my heart swell to new levels of love for this woman.

Beth increased her pace and pounded down on me forcing my hard cock into her up to my balls with each thrust. I thrust up with my hips in counterpoint to Beth and we both were fast approaching orgasm. I pulled her forward and took one of her nipples in my mouth and sucked on it. The other I took between my fingers and rolled it. It stood proud and stiffened in my fingers. I gently bit Beths nipple and she jerked upright pulling her nipples roughly from my mouth and fingers. Her spine was bowed and her ass gripped me so tightly I couldn't move. The pulsing of her orgasm around my cock brought me over the edge and into bliss with Beth.

She fell forward into my waiting arms and shook with the intensity of what had just happened here. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" she gasped as the aftershocks hit her and my seed poured into her body, the heat of it triggering more and longer aftershocks. I held her in my arms and let her rest atop me snug in my warm embrace. I kissed the top of her head and murmured my love for her in her ear. I ran my hands over her beautiful body resting atop mine. I still couldn't believe I was allowed to touch her. We lay there like that for a long time and, eventually, fell asleep.

I awoke first and Beth was still mostly atop me. I just smiled and hugged her. She had slid to one side but her body still draped mine for the most part, our legs intertwined, and I was content to let it be so for now. We spent the rest of the day nude in the suite. We did finally go and soak in the tub for a while. Beth rode me to a stunning climax for us both (this time she didn't soak the floor) and then we lay in bed together cuddling. As she had taken my measurements I asked about hers. I found out that my best friend wears a thirty-eight D-cup brassier, has a twenty-eight inch waist, and thirty-six inch hips. I also found that she is ticklish on her right elbow if I use my tongue. 

I can honestly say I had never had a better day in my life. In the afternoon we opened the blinds and watched a thunderstorm move in across the lake, as we watched from one of the couches. We watched the lightening play across the sky as the thunder bounced around the room. The light display was most impressive. The waves raced across the lake and crashed against the shore. We agreed that it was a good thing not to be on the lake today.

We dressed for dinner and again ate at "our" table in the secluded area. The food was excellent I had chicken parmesan, and Beth had the Chicken Marsala. We danced until we were both too tired to go on and returned to the suite. Beth had a mischievous look on her face as we headed for the suite. Beth took the tape measure from her purse and walked over to the pretty concierge, whose nametag read "Diana". As Beth approached she waved at her, "Diana I have the measurements you asked about." Diana looked flustered with me standing right there. Beth gave her my measurement and Diana flushed as she thought about the information.

Diana said in a low voice, "God I just knew he was hung! It figures that he'd be taken. And you are so gorgeous! If you two are ever interested in a threesome give me a call." She licked her lips as she handed Beth a card with her number on it. She had blushed as she spoke but I think she was sincere in her offer. She was a pretty girl but my only interest was in Beth.

We got back to the room just before eleven and after our evening trips to the bathroom we retired to the bed once more. Once more housekeeping had been in while we were at dinner and straightened the room. We snuggled down into the bed and I felt Beth's steady heartbeat. I could feel it as her head rested upon my chest, my arms around her. I was again overwhelmed with love for her and was again content to be exactly where I was. I fell asleep and my dreams this night were sweet and full of my future with Beth.



The Last 24 Hours Ch. 12



Thanks to Morgan for the comments, OmegaZone for his editing, and Namizujs for his support and beta reading. This is a long one, folks.

*

I awoke first in the morning, found Beth had curled herself up to and onto my body, her legs entwined with mine. We had slept nude last night so I had every inch of Beth's gorgeous skin pressed firmly to my own. That was fine with me but it did make it difficult to go to the bathroom without waking her. I somehow managed it though. We both had seen a heavy burden of emotions over the last few days and I suspected that Beth had been losing sleep to make sure I was all right; in fact, I was sure of it. I showered quickly; I brushed my teeth and shaved while I was up. I came back into the bedroom to find her hand, once again questing for me in the empty bed.

It may seem odd to many that I took a silent joy in the fact that, even in her slumber, Beth sought the comfort and reassurance of my touch. Nevertheless, I did, still do for that matter. No other human being alive wanted the comfort of my touch; I never realized how much that lack hurt until now. What Lisa did and tried do to me could have very easily destroyed me. That occurrence would have destroyed Beth in turn as well, I think. Anger surged through me at that thought making me seethe with black hatred. I threw that emotion from me; hatred is barren and can bear no good fruit.

I continued my introspection and moved on. Through no fault of their own, in ways I cannot possibly yet fathom, Stephie and Lauren are going to pay for the rest of their lives for what their mother has done. I want to help mitigate the damage; but for now, they see me as part, if not all, of the problem. Lisa is going to go to prison for who knows how long and I get to have bouts of depression and nightmares, also for who knows how long.

"Thank you, Lisa, for the gift that keeps on giving." My bleak, humorless voice was a bare whisper in the silent room. I looked over and the clock read five fifty-three. I stood in the twilight of the early dawn and thought about things. I moved back onto the bed and again took Beths hand in mine. She sighed and slipped back into a peaceful slumber. I decided that I needed to talk to Beth and to call Josh today. I also needed to go to my place and get my laptop. Beth had another couple of surprises in store for her, and the thought of them made me smile.

I sat there for more than two hours making my plans. Today was going to be a busy day. I slid back down into the bed, snuggled as close as I dared, and gently took Beth back into my arms and decided to take a brief nap. I slept until I felt Beth stirring. I looked down and stroked her cheek. "Good morning to you my love." I whispered into her ear. 

She turned her head, gave me a sleepy grin and said, "Mmmm... A girl could get used to this." Beth opened her eyes and I, once again, got lost in their limpid blue depths. "I just love waking up in your arms, Alex."

I grinned roguishly at her and said, "Don't get too used to it, I'll only be available to do this every morning for the next sixty or seventy odd years or so, then I'll HAVE to cut you off." 

When I had finished speaking, she smiled up at me and hugged her body to me as tightly as she could as she said, "I can live with that." 

I looked at the clock, it was ten after eight, and asked, "Would you like to have breakfast with me this morning and lunch with Josh. I have an offer to make him and I want to talk to you later about the next couple of months."

Beth gave me a worried glance, so I quickly added, "It's nothing bad. I want your opinion on a couple of ideas I've had and I want to hear your thoughts on a design I did a little while back. I also need to go to my apartment to get my laptop." I held up a hand to forestall her objections, "No work, I promise, I just need to check my email and show you the design. It's on the laptop. I can bring it with us and we can plan out and book our trip." 

She half frowned at me and said, "OK, but at the first hint of work it gets doused with soda Bub! This is MY weekend with you and I'm not giving up any more of it than I have already had to." I smiled and hugged her as tightly as she had hugged me.

"I am so very, very happy to hear that!" I said with a contented smile on my face. "Go get cleaned up and then get ready to go to breakfast. I'll call Josh and set up lunch. We can meet him at the little café on Third Avenue. You know the place, the one with the great strawberry parfaits that you like so much." I swear she purred like a kitten at the mention of the parfait. Beth nodded, "That would be good." as I used her cell phone to send a text message of our plans to Josh. He confirmed almost immediately. 

She smiled and then frowned "BUT, I need to get into the gym today, too. It's just a few blocks from there. I've been SO off my schedule, too much lately, and I'm starting to feel it. I usually do my bench set on Sundays." She thought and said, "Damn that still won't work I don't have my gym kit with me."

I reached into the nightstand drawer, pulled out my wallet, and extracted a platinum card, "There are shops all over town and now I get to take my fiancée shopping and show her off to the world! So there! I don't see any problem stopping at the sports shop on the way to lunch." 

Beth started to object, "Alex you don't have to buy me any..."

I cut off that line of thought right away! I scowled at her a little as I spoke, "I don't want to hear it, Beth. I do NOT EVER want to hear that. I have more money than even my psycho bitch ex could spend and I WANT to shower you with gifts, and presents, and love, and trips, and everything else that I can think of, just so that you know that you are special to me, and never ever doubt that there is no one I love more than YOU! I am not trying to BUY you; you are not ASKING me for anything! I do not think you are after my money, I know with an absolute, and unshakable, certainty that you love me FOR ME! No more arguments!" I smiled and said, "Besides that, anything I buy for you, and you put on, I get to take off and seeing THAT is well worth any expense." I started my tirade in a loud voice and finished in a teasing seductive whisper as I caressed her face.

She was quiet for a moment with her head bowed. She looked up at me with tears sparkling in her eyes as she spoke, "You said you love me!" Her voice was quiet but choked with emotion.

I smiled at her, cupped her cheek and in a loving voice gave the expected reply, "I've told you that several times this morning, if you had been paying attention, you horny little minx, you. And I'll have you know I've meant it every time I've said it to you." Beth beamed at me. Her smile has the power to make me forget everything else in the world, and the one she bestowed upon me this morning was truly exceptional. 





The Last 24 Hours Ch. 12



We arrived just in time to see Josh flirt shamelessly with the very built, very blonde, very YOUNG server and see her rush to get his order, blushing madly all the while. Beth alerted him to our presence by cuffing him on the back of the head and laughing, "Cradle robber! Lecher! My goodness Josh, she has to be all of what, fourteen?" 

Josh rubbed the back of his head and said, "Sixteen, sister dear, they have to be sixteen to get a work permits in this state." I laughed as I held the chair for Beth and took my own seat. Beth moved her chair over so we were closer together and she could hold my hand. 

"Ok Alex, I assume you had another motive for wanting me here other than so my baby sister could abuse me, so let's hear it." Josh grinned as Beth stuck her tongue out at him.

"Where to start?" I said with a sigh. "Well, first off, I wanted to talk to you about your move. Have you thought about where you might want to move? What area?" Josh shook his head no. 

"Then I have an idea, my lease expires in three months. I have the guest room. You could stay with me and take over the apartment after the lease is up if you haven't found anything you like." I held up my hand and said, "Hear me out before you dismiss this out of hand. I have asked Beth to go on a trip with me. I want to travel for most of the time between now and the day we can be married. I have fifty-eight days before that can happen and I want to spend every one of them with your sister. I was thinking a trip to Europe for the next couple of months as kind of a pre-nuptial honeymoon. During that time, I am going to have a house built. It is going to be Beths and mine. After our work out we are going to take a drive and I'm going to hear her opinions on a few things and then we'll decide where it will be built." 

Beth gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. I had told her I wanted to go on a trip but not where, and I had said nothing about the house. Josh got a sad look on his face when he looked at his sister and said, "Hang on a second sis, I need to make a call." He stood and hit a speed dial number and walked a short distance away. After a brief, but heated conversation, he came back and sat at the table. 

"I just spoke to A.D.A. Granger, she's handling the case, and she is VERY opposed to you both leaving the country until the trial dates and indictments are set. That could take a couple of months to get finished." I was about to be very outraged and Josh saw it coming and held up a hand. "Hold on Alex, she only said that she didn't want you leaving the West not that you couldn't travel. She also doesn't mind it if you go to the islands, Hawaiian or Caribbean, or up into Canada. As a primary material witness, she wants to make sure she can produce you for testimony if she has to, so she wants you to stay on this side of "the pond" as she called it. These people have already tried to kill one man and she would like to see you live through the trial. It would be much easier to arrange an "accident" in Europe than it would here. The case against Lisa and the others is going to be pretty much a slam-dunk, but she still wants to make sure that nobody gets off on appeal. You could still travel the U.S. now, and then go to Europe for your honeymoon instead."

"Also she said to inform you that Lisa has contacted her about making a plea arrangement with her. Granger is going to offer her seven years; three inside and four on parole. She'll be charged with the lesser included offences instead of the full load. It seems that Lisa was not in the loop on drugging Fred. That tidbit is on one of the other tapes. Heather and Jacquie deliberately kept her in the dark about the poison because they knew that she wouldn't go along." I sighed and felt a little weight lift from my heart. I hadn't completely misjudged Lisa after all.

Granger seemed to have it all lined up and ready to go, but I was still pissed at her highhanded tactics. I could see her point but it still irked me that, while I had done nothing wrong, while I had this terrible thing done to me, I was the one penalized for it. I could not go where I pleased, when I pleased. Unfortunately, by the time I was finished fighting the restriction through all of the legal red tape it would be a moot point. I sighed in resignation. I looked at Beth and said, "I'm sorry Sweets. I so wanted to do this with you." 

She took my hand, brought it to her lips, and said, "Wherever you are is my world. Wherever you are is fine with me. We could go see all of those mountain parks you have always wanted to see, The Oxbow, The Rockies, The Smokies, the Blue Ridge Mountains, we could go see them all. I would love to see Hawaii too. But I don't have to go anywhere as long as we are together."

I brought her hand to my lips and kissed her fingers. A sniffle from behind us caused me to look around and see who was there. Standing there was the young server Josh had flirted with. "That is the sweetest, most beautiful, most romantic thing I've ever heard." I smiled at her and handed her a napkin to dry her eyes. 

I smiled at Beth and said, "I think so too." She beamed at me and once again, I forgot to breath.

I gave her hand a squeeze and we placed our orders for Grilled Chicken breasts and salads. Josh picked up his coffee and said, "Ok what else is running through that brain of yours, Alex? You said firstly before so what is secondly going to be?"

I looked at him for a moment and asked, "Do you have my cell phone on you?" He nodded and began to open his fanny pack. "I'm going to get my laptop from my apartment and there isn't a reason for me not to have my phone back now that Lisa is muzzled. In addition, it's the wireless modem connection for the laptop. Anyway, I wanted to know what my rights and responsibilities regarding the kids are. I want to set up support trusts for them both. I want an independent audit every six months. The college trusts I want to add one hundred thousand to each account. They won't need to worry about where they can afford to go to college."

I watched the anger flow into Josh's face. "Alex, I'll do what you ask but I think you ought to fight the support issue. Lisa's kids are her problem and I'll fight in court to sever any legal claim she might bring up. I think you ought to cut Lisa and her brats loose. Those twin bitches..." My hand came crashing down on the table hard enough to make his coffee cup jump and upend spilling his coffee across the table. He and Beth both grabbed napkins to staunch the flow. They both had shocked looks on their faces. Every face in the Café turned to see what was going on. Our young hostess came over and helped clean up the spill.

"Say what you like about Lisa, I don't care. BUT, those are my daughters whether they want me or not. I will bet you Lisa has been no more honest with them than she was with me and I will not have you speak like that about them anymore than I will let anyone else speak about your sister that way! ARE WE CLEAR? If that is a problem, I can go see Fred on Monday and have him do this. I came to you because you're supposed to be my friend but I do not need YOU to do this." I stood and started to leave. 

Beth grabbed my hand, "Please you two! Please don't fight. Do not let her do this to you. Don't let her tear your friendship apart." Tears were falling from her eyes in streams. "Please Alex. Please don't go!"

I turned to her and sighed, "Please don't cry Sweets, you know I can't stand to see you cry." I looked at Josh and said, "Everything they said to me at the courthouse, every word was almost verbatim what their mother told them on that tape four years ago. She has been trying to indoctrinate them; pumping them full of her bullshit view of me. What do you want to bet me that they have been spoon fed that tripe for the last four years? They were and are children, Josh, and the person who is supposed to protect them, to look out for them the most, is the one who was doing the twisting so that when she filed for divorce she could ensure regular support payments by ensuring that the twins would go with her when asked by a judge."

"Lisa will be gone for three years, minimum. The twins are going to hear the truth all over the media for the next year or more. Her parents are the logical choice for guardians. I will also bet you the sum total of my trust fund and all my other assets that her parents had no clue what was going on. By the time she gets out, the twins will be of legal age and on their way to college. I am hoping that when I talk to Lisa's folks that they will agree to therapy for the girls, to try to untwist Lisa's lies. They may never have anything to do with me, I may never see or hear from them again, but they are the children of my heart, I love them, and I will not give up on them. I do this for ME as well as them Josh, I just CANNOT cut out pieces of my soul that easily. I have been there for every part of their lives up until the last nine months. Lisa has taken whatever future I have with them and destroyed it. I will not give her final victory by walking out of their lives entirely of my own free will. They can kick me out, but that is their choice, not mine. If you want to be angry with Lisa that is fine, but, in all of this, the twins are innocent of anything but listening to their mother, the one everyone told them to trust, including me. They, more so than I, are innocent victims of their mother's treachery because they were only children, they didn't know any better. I'm an adult and she fooled me, how much easier for her to fool a child?"

Josh sat and listened to what I had to say. "You are my friend and brother of my heart. They hurt you and that I do not forgive lightly. I'll keep my opinions on the twins to myself Alex. However, I will not revise my opinion without evidence to support a change in their position. I'll agree to disagree with you on it and keep my mouth shut on the subject, ok?" he held out his hand and I took it.

"I can live with that. Now, can you come with us for a while? We were going to buy Beth and me some workout gear and then hit the gym. After that, we were going to go get my laptop and then I want Beth to see a piece of land I own. I'd like your opinion on it too." At Josh's nod, I sat back down and tried to pull my shattered control back into some semblance of order. 

Our orders arrived and we spent the next little while in pleasant conversation about trivial matters. I think we all just wanted to get out of the black mood that had invaded us briefly. Our server Gayle, according to her nametag, was very attentive and took very good care of us, especially Josh. Beth enjoyed a strawberry parfait. Truth be told we all did but the look of pleasure on Beth's face reminded me of the look she had after she had her first orgasm with me. It was complete and utter contentment. It made me want to forget our plans and propriety and take her right there on the table.

I do not think Josh could have handled seeing that though. He never wanted to even think about the words "sex" and "my sister" in the same sentence let alone see it in practice. He told me once that while some might not have a problem, it was one of his few hang-ups. He could admit she was beautiful, sexy, and hot, but any thought beyond that just caused him to shudder in revulsion. I couldn't help but think at the time of Shakespeare "The lady doth protest too much..." In the right circumstances, it could be quite funny using that to embarrass him.

Josh went to use the restroom as we finished our repast and I paid the bill. I left a healthy tip for Gayle. Grams had taught me to always tip well for excellent service and you will, like as not, always receive it when you return. (She was right too.) Beth and I waited for Josh to return from the restroom and were surprised to see Gayle intercept him and shove a folded piece of paper into his hand before leaving for the back very quickly. Beth and I were very puzzled by both this exchange and the look of utter astonishment on his face.

As he arrived at the table and we began to walk up the block, Beth snatched the paper from Josh's hand. He failed to react and then Beth began to laugh hysterically. I looked at her and she answered my look, "Gayle is not what we thought she was my soon-to-be husband." Beth laughed again as Josh groaned, "This is a photocopy of her drivers license and" she paused for effect, "and her Lifetime membership photo I.D. card to "Chayns". Apparently she is quite taken with my brother." She handed me the slip of paper. It read,

Sir,

 

Below is a copy of my proof of age. It is my Drivers License and my Chayns membership card. You know how stringent the background checks for Chayns are so you know I am legal. As you can see I am twenty-two not fourteen or sixteen. (Yes, I heard you talking) I have seen, and lusted after you, many times at Chayns. I had always been too afraid to speak to you and was "owned" by another "master" so it was not my place. You do not recognize me because my former "master" always made me wear a hood. (He hated people to stare at me, as I look so young) Nevertheless, I saw you and watched. When you stopped coming in, I was crushed. Then, about a month ago, my former "master" broke three of my ribs and ignored my safe word at Chayns. They stopped him and I pressed charges. He is in jail and will be for a good long time. I haven't been back there since as I haven't felt safe. I didn't think I would ever get a chance to see you again and I'm sorry if this advance is unwelcome. If it is not contact me please! 





The Last 24 Hours Ch. 12



Beth turned and knelt in front of me rubbing my hard cock through my pants. She looked up into my eyes and asked, "Do you realize that it's been almost two hours since I have felt or tasted you? Two whole hours, I don't think I can take it much longer! I need you in my mouth now!" As she spoke, she had lowered my zipper and pulled my cock out. She looked into my eyes and licked the sensitive tip of me. I shuddered in pleasure as she began to lick up and down my shaft. The intensity of the pleasure I was feeling was exquisite. 

She took the head of my cock between her lips and began gently sliding her mouth down the hard length of me. I felt the tip of me hit the back of her throat and she gagged slightly. She backed off for a second but didn't remove me completely from her mouth. She got herself under control and slowly began working to take me into her throat once more.

"Beth, honey you don't have to do this." I was worried about hurting her.

She looked at me for a second, applied suction, then "popped" me out of her mouth. "I know I don't HAVE to do this; I WANT to do this, now shut up and help me take the length of you." With that, she took my hands and put them on her head. She took me back into her mouth and began again. She never took her eyes from mine and the look in them begged me to force her to take my length. 

I did as she had silently asked. I began to apply gentle pressure to the back of her head forcing her farther and farther down my shaft. The feelings I was experiencing were beyond compare. I was excited, exhilarated, and a little scared. I had never done anything like this before. I did my best to watch my lover give me the most spectacular blowjob I had ever had. Every time I closed my eyes she would stop where she was and hold perfectly still until I once again looked into her Oh-so-Blue eyes. The love that shone there warmed me unlike anything I had ever felt.

At last, I felt her taking me into her throat. I could feel the muscles work as she swallowed around my girth. The look of achievement in her eyes and on her face gave me nearly as much pleasure, and far more satisfaction, than her growing oral skills did. I let her know that I was very close to cumming again as she began to bob her head all the way up and down my length taking me into her throat each time. She was going for my load in earnest now and was not going to be denied. As I came in her mouth, she backed off until only the head was left, then suckled on the tip until I had finished. She removed her mouth from my cock and then made a large show of swallowing my cum. It was among the most erotic things I had ever seen.

I looked at her and cupped her cheek in my hand, "God you are amazing. I have never felt like that before. Thank you." I smiled as I spoke and drew her from her knees and into my embrace. This time she did not flinch or pull away as I kissed her. That made me immensely happy for some reason. I held her, kissed her, and could feel things beginning to heat up again when there was a knock on the door. "Is everything alright in there?" The attendant had come to check on us. 

Beth cracked the door and peeked out. "I'm sorry to bother you, but my supervisor will be coming for my break in a few minutes and if she finds you in there together she WILL call security and fire me. She's a grade A Bitch!" A little blush crept into her cheeks as she spoke but she never looked away from us. "You two look so much in love." She turned and raced back to her counter.

I looked at Beth and said, "That's because we are." She stroked my cheek and took two of the outfits out of the stack she had taken into the dressing room. "Don't you need to try those on?" I asked puzzled.

She stroked my cheek as she left the room her choices on top and her discards on the bottom. "Silly man. I have both of these outfits at home in different colors. That's precisely why I chose them. I knew I wouldn't have to try them on and it would give us a lot of time to fool around."

I laughed as she sat her discards on the counter for the girl to re hang. I also saw Beth slip her a sizable tip, "Thank you for the excellent service, you were most helpful. My fiancée found it most relaxing." 

The young brunette stammered, "Wait! You don't..." but Beth had already breezed by her and headed to the checkout stand near the doors. 

Then I remembered Josh was waiting for us. He was either going to be amused or pissed. 'Oh well" I thought, "It was worth it." As I handed the clerk my credit card to pay for her purchases, Beth once more took my hand and laced her fingers in mine.

"Have I told you how much I love you today?" She asked. 

I looked at her and said, "Only in about a million different ways, but don't let that stop you." I smiled and kissed her again. I took back my card and receipt from the clerk and we headed up the street towards the gym.





The Last 24 Hours Ch. 13



We arrived at the lot and were face to face with a 2006 Travel Supreme RV. It was Raven Black in color, forty-two feet in length and had a Cummins four hundred horsepower diesel engine. It was, in a word, magnificent. It had all of the amenities and luxuries you could ask for. It also had an empty car hauler trailer attached to the back.

Beth and I got out of the Jeep Commander Paulee was driving, and looked at our new home-away-from-home. I walked over to Josh and asked, "You're sure your friend doesn't mind you loaning us this thing for the next two months? I mean this RV has to be worth at least three-hundred thousand dollars."

Josh corrected "Three-hundred-sixty-nine thousand and change. Carl doesn't mind because he's only doing a sixteen-month stretch upstate in the Western Missouri Correctional Center instead of the fifty years they tried to give him. As long as this" he patted the door of the RV "is not where his soon-to-be-ex wife can find it he doesn't care. In addition, it's um, collateral shall we say, for my fee. If he doesn't arrange payment soon it reverts to me anyway. So no, the owner doesn't care as long as you take care of my baby." This last he said with a wink as we all laughed.

Bill walked over to us and said, "I've swept it for bugs and tracking devices. Aside from the listed GPS unit and the unit from On Star, it's clean. Let me see your laptop Alex." I retrieved the case from the Jeep and set up the laptop. After it had booted up and I had logged on Bill pulled the 'sweeper' from his pocket and ran it over the Laptop several times. It remained silent.

Bill looked at me and asked, "Has anyone had this since you got it? Any techies or anybody?"

I smiled at him and Beth answered, "Bill, Alex is our resident techie and nobody touches his machines but him. He is an architect, but he also has a degree in computer science. It was a double major. Graduated Summa Cum Laude, I'll have you know. Highest honors in both disciplines, too." My sweet Beth hugged me as she spoke with pride of my accomplishments.

I blushed and said, "Give me a second." I ran a couple of logging programs that I had written and said, "Nobody else but me has used it since the day I booted it up. I don't even think Lisa knew I had it. I had it delivered at work, purchased through my company for our discounts but it's mine. Lisa locked me out the first day I took it home. She never really had access to it after that. It sat in my closet until I got it to show Beth her house."

Bill and Paulee looked at each other then at me, "You needed a laptop to show Ms. Taylor a house?"

Beth piped up, "No he needed it to show me a house. My mother didn't have anything to do with it!" 

Bill had the grace to look chagrined. "I stand corrected. But why..." 

Paulee interrupted him by tapping him on the shoulder and tapping his watch, Bill nodded, "We can do this later we need to get on the move. We're too exposed out here." Turning to Beth and I he asked, "Have either of you driven something this big before?"


We both answered in wonder, "No."

I went on, "I've driven smaller ones on vacation before but never one this big. I've never been in one over thirty feet before."

Paulee spoke, "That's close enough, and you'll pick it up quick. I'll drive us to the drop point. You two make a list of things we absolutely need before we get out of here. Then make a list of wants. Right now, time is not our friend. Once we get on the road out of here time will be ours to spend. But, for right now we are pushing it." 

Beth and I gawped at him like a sideshow exhibit. They were the first words we had heard him speak and it was the most beautiful male voice I had ever heard. Beth looked as stunned as I was.

Bill smirked at Paulee and said, "I told you, you should be doing phone sex. You'd make a fortune."

The comment and the look it received brought Beth and I back to reality. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to insult or embarrass you. You have a beautiful voice is all." At his nod, Beth and I quickly unloaded the Jeep. We loaded our limited stash of clothing into the RV while Bill and Paulee made plans and consulted the road map. Josh loaded the Commander onto the car carrier.

I looked at the instrument panel and found a universal docking station for the laptop on the passenger side dashboard that seemed to be linked into the entertainment center as well. A CD labeled 'GPS Uplink installation' was sitting on the laptop-docking tray. There was a GPS Navigation system and back-up camera system. Techie that I am I could hardly wait to see how all of the gadgets worked. In the co-pilots chair there was a copy of the 2006 North American Road Atlas and RV Park guide (Large Print Edition) with DVD Navigation software for GPS navigation. I took the uplink software and moved back into the living area. 

I was very excited, but put it on hold. Beth and I walked to the back of the RV and saw the biggest bed I'd ever seen and it was in an RV. Josh piped in "It's a Custom King Mattress and box spring. The choice was this or a California King-size and Carl went the extra for the best. It's never been anywhere so enjoy it. Each room, bed and bath, has its own climate control and the rest of the RV is serviced by another unit so you can be comfy."

He turned and pointed to the front of the RV, "There are four slide-outs, bedroom, living, bathroom, and kitchen. Once you're parked, you can open it up into a small apartment. The RV has an automatic air leveling system so you won't have to bother with leveling the thing once you park as the computer handles it. There is a six-megabit broadband satellite internet connection and TV system with all the stations. The Trac-Vision in-motion satellite dish tracks to the satellite automatically as well so you won't have to bother about it. You can watch TV in the living room and the bedroom, or access the internet even while you're moving. There is a twenty-four inch flat panel plasma screen in the bedroom and a thirty-two inch in the living room. 

"There is a walk-in bathtub/shower with the hydrotherapy option in the bathroom big enough for two. The kitchen has a microwave, four-burner stovetop, oven, garbage disposal, and dishwasher. You also have a full-sized four-door refrigerator/freezer with an icemaker and water dispenser in the door and more freezer space in the bottom slide-drawer. There are three powered awnings and a compact stacking washer/dryer. Oh, and you can hook into just about any water supply, this rig has a built-in water purification system that's military grade. You could drop your siphon pump into any body of water, it's on a four hundred foot tether, and you would get fresh pure water to drink inside of two minutes. The filters by the way have a one million gallon capacity and, as I said they have never been used. The fresh water tank is huge so once you fill it you're good for a while. It's already been filled so you're good to go."

Josh's obvious pride led me to believe he had more than a passing hope that Carl would default on his payment. If Carl didn't default, I knew what Santa was bringing my good little brother-to-be for Christmas. I held out a hand and said "Thanks. I'll never be able to thank you enough for this, Josh" I held out my hand to him

Taking my hand Josh smiled at me nodded at Beth who was still checking things out, and said in a low voice so she wouldn't hear, "Make her happy and I'll owe you forever. She has loved you for fifteen years and she's been happier these last few days than I've seen her in all of that time. She had resigned herself to being alone and now she gets her hearts desire, you. I get mine in seeing her happy with you. All I ask is that you never hurt her on purpose."

I looked him in the eye and said, "That's a promise I'll have no trouble keeping. I love your sister more than I thought possible and I intend to show her that everyday for the rest of my life." He continued to look at me for a moment and then nodded.

He smiled sadly for a second and said, "You know if I didn't have clients to take care of I'd like go with you guys. It's not like I have much more going on at the moment." He sighed wistfully, "Anyway, you guys have fun. I'll be picking up a new cell number when I transfer service to Torrington. I'll have Dantzinger get it to you."

Shit! It wasn't until that moment that I had remembered. "Josh, where are you gonna stay? My place is history and you don't have an apartment or anything."

"I've already taken care of it. I'm going to see an apartment later today that Gayle told me about when I talked to her on the phone. From what she tells me it should suit my needs and is furnished. They want a short term lease and it's not far from Beth's place." He spoke again remembering, "Oh yeah, the cops are watching her place now too, by the way. They figure to catch anyone else who might be involved in this. I have a few suspicions but I need to talk to Dantzinger about them first."

Paulee poked his head into the RV and said "Josh? We need to leave now. The longer we're here the more chance someone will find us. Beth, Alex if you'd like to get comfortable we have about an hours drive. Bill has flagged down a cab for you Josh." 

We nodded and Beth hugged her brother, "You had better be careful. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." 

Josh smiled at her, "I'm not going anywhere. I have to give the bride away at your wedding, remember? Besides I'm not ready to give them what they want just yet." He smiled fondly at her and kissed her forehead.

He turned to me and said, "With any luck we will have this mess cleared up quickly and this can be just what you wanted it to be, a pre-nuptial honeymoon. Be safe." With that, he turned and left the RV. 

I hugged Beth to me and kissed her cheek, "He'll be okay Sweets. Rudy will take good care of him." I started to hug her when a thought occurred to me. We headed to the living area and I pulled out the laptop. It was the work of only a moment to install the uplink and map software. I also added the laptop to the internal network in the RV. I took it to the front and put it into the docking station cradle.

As it finished synchronizing with the RV, Paulee came into the RV and climbed into the driver's seat. I asked, "Rudy said there were more guards. Where are they?"

He smiled, "Mel and Michaels are shadowing Josh discreetly and Asa has gone ahead to check the drop point to make sure it's clear. Yuki will be covering us to make sure we aren't followed leaving town. You'll meet Asa and Yuki later at the drop point. Asa and Yuki will switch with me and Paulee so that you have a co-ed team with you both at all times." He turned back to the RV and started the big machine on its way. 

I took a seat in the copilots chair and began to check out the software for the GPS unit and the internet connection. Beth sat on the couch behind Paulee with Bill and I put the laptop screen up on the big TV so they could see what I was doing, "I'm verifying our location and checking the speeds we get. This system is something else, Beth, just as good as what I had at home." I looked over my shoulder to see her smiling at me indulgently. She knew I was an unrepentant technophile, and always had been. I then showed her a trick I wanted Bill to see.

"Bill, this should interest you." The screen shifted to show the picture from the back-up camera. The image show several vehicles approaching and passing us. "This camera isn't usually active unless the transmission is in reverse. On this network setup however, I have complete control of it. It's on a one hundred-eighty degree pan-and-tilt mount letting us see the entire area behind the RV." We watched a little as traffic ebbed and flowed around us as we traveled to the freeway on-ramp to interstate forty-four east towards St. Louis. "We can check and make sure we aren't being followed without it being obvious. It also makes a good surveillance camera for when we park. This camera also has built-in night vision and ten-power optical zoom." I zoomed in on a driver several cars behind us and snapped a still photo of him with the software; the computer put the image up in a small window on the screen. It was as clear as if it had been taken inside the RV. "There are two other cameras identical to this one, one on each side that can also be activated at will. Whoever Carl is he was paranoid as hell to set this up like it is, but I can't fault him given my current circumstances." I sighed.

Bill looked suitably pleased and said, "Most impressive!" He motioned at the laptop and I moved to accommodate him.

I slid out of the chair and moved to the sink. I got a glass and filled it with water. I then moved back to the bedroom, I glanced back and saw Beth was following me as Bill climbed into the front seat and began to play around with the camera controls on the laptop. I entered the bedroom and left the door ajar for Beth. She closed it after she entered and climbed on to the large bed with me.

I sat stunned by her beauty yet again. As she crawled towards me, her breasts swayed with a gentle rhythm of her motion and the motion of the RV. Beth climbed up and on to me, draping herself over my body, her head resting on my chest. I stroked her hair and she looked up into my eyes. She asked, "What wrong Alex? You know you can tell me."

I looked into her eyes and felt the love radiating out of them. It helped to soothe my fears a bit. "Someone is trying to kill me and may try to hurt you; they may try for the girls; they have already tried for Lisa and now your brother is in the line of fire as well, all because of me. How many people have to be hurt because of me? How many will have to die to keep me safe?"

Her head flew off my chest and she sat up. She grabbed me roughly by the back of the head, her fingers tangling in my hair, and forced my face to within an inch of hers staring into my eyes. With a brutal fierceness, I hadn't realize she had in her, she spoke, "Don't you ever let me hear you say this is your fault again! All of this... this... this shit is Lisa's fault. She and her lovers set all of these things in motion. You are a target, not the assassin. You did nothing but give love and were betrayed for it. You are not to blame and I won't have you blaming yourself for this mess. DO YOU HEAR ME?!" As she spoke, tears traced a path down her right cheek. "I love you with all of my heart and we will live out our lives together. I will not stand for you blaming yourself for the actions of a few greedy bitches who tried to steal what your grandmother left you out of love." 

With that, she pulled my head to hers and proceeded to kiss my worries away. I was finding it impossible to worry about anything when Beth was kissing me. Far too soon, she pulled away and draped her body back over mine as she had before. She looked up at me and said softly, "If we didn't have an audience so close by, I would try to see what making love in an RV is like." I smiled indulgently at her because I was thinking exactly the same thing.

I decided instead to talk to her about what she had said in the hotel suite. "Beth? Why did you call me 'Master' last night? Do you want me to be a... a... dominant, I guess you could say? Do you want to have that kind of lifestyle? Bondage and the whole thing?" I looked at her uncertain what her response would be and, more importantly, what I wanted it to be.

She blushed, hid her eyes for a moment, looked back at me and said, "Last night I found out that, with you, and only with you, I like to be... restrained, I guess is the best word. I told you I had tried a little bondage before. When I tried it, it did nothing for me." Beth shuddered as she next spoke, "It took Cyndi over an hour to get me wet enough to take a small dildo without it hurting. She wanted to escalate to stronger things and I had no interest in going beyond what she had already tried."

I remembered Cyndi. My thoughts darkened. She was the most 'butch' of Beth's girlfriends and she hated me with a bloody passion from the moment she met me. She is also the only woman I had ever threatened with physical harm. The night Beth had broken it off with her, they'd had a major fight and Beth was sporting bruises on her arms and one shoulder. She had called me at three in the morning crying and I had rushed over to her place. I had been there about ten minutes when Cyndi showed up and smashed a potted plant from her patio through Beth's bay window. I dialed nine-one-one on my cell phone, told them where I was, and put it on speakerphone so they would have a recording of what happened. She was still screaming threats when the police arrived. Cyndi was arrested for aggravated menacing, assault and battery, as well as destruction of private property and disturbing the peace. Beth got a restraining order and Cyndi got six months probation and mandatory anger management counseling. She moved as soon as her probation was up and we had never heard any more about her.

I stiffened as I looked at my love. "If anything I do brings up bad memories you say so and it stops. No questions, no arguments, no recriminations, you hear me? I loved that you were so ready for me last night but if..." Beth had placed a hand on my lips.

"I've loved every last minute of what you did to, for and with me last night. I wouldn't trade any of it for anything. You are replacing the bad memories with lovely sensuous one that I'll always treasure. I want to explore this with you because I trust you not to hurt me on purpose. I trust you always to love me more than the pleasure you are getting from anything we are doing. I know you won't use it to humiliate me. I have given my body to you not just in words but also in fact and deed. You have done the same for me." She smiled at me, "I found out that with someone I trust," she traced a finger down my chest, "and most importantly, love , that I enjoy being controlled by you. I don't want to do it all the time and I do look forward to trying the same out on you someday soon. I don't like pain, Cyndi showed me that. You showed me that there are other aspects, tender, loving aspects, which I do like." She laid her head back down on my chest and snuggled as close to me as she could get.

"I want every moment of our lives to be about happiness and joy. I don't want to have to worry about the mundane world. You are now and forever my world." As she finished she snuggling down into me and stroked my chest. Soon, she had drifted into a light sleep. As I watched her sleep, I made a decision. There was nothing I wasn't prepared to do to keep Beth safe. I had just decided to be a very dangerous man.

~~~~~

I raised my head, fully awake and aware, an instant before Bill knocked on the door. He gently opened it and peaked in. "Alex? We're here. Paulee will be parking in a moment and then we'll be spending at least a couple of hours here getting ready, maybe more as we'll be going for supplies and waiting for Asa and Yuki to arrive." He looked at Beth and seeing her sleeping, restful beauty said, "You are a very lucky man. She is truly beautiful, just like you said."

I nodded and looked at Beth and said softly with a smile, "I know."

Beth opened her eyes and said, "Thank you both." Her grin telling us we'd been had. She snuggled in tighter to me and said, "We'll be out in a minute Bill." He nodded and closed the door. "So my love, are you ready to begin our great adventure?"

I smiled and said, "So long as you are by my side, I'm up for most anything." Beth stretched her hand down and felt my thigh and smiling said, "Maybe not all the way up but give me a minute." As she rubbed my cock through the fabric of my chino's.

I grabbed her hand and said, "Wicked woman! Don't start what we haven't time to finish." I took my other hand and teased her nipple. She groaned and sighed and said, "No fair Alex! If I can't tease you, you can't tease me." She looked up at me, lust and love both smoldering in her eyes. I sat forward and released the nipple I had been playing with and kissed her soundly.




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 13



"We will have more time soon, my love." I stroked her face, kissed her again as the RV stopped, and began backing up. The windows were suddenly shaded. Beth pulled away and we both headed out the door to the front of the RV.

~~~~~~~~

The drop point turned out to be a HUGE warehouse that had been converted into several area's. These included a small arms firing range, an area with several vehicles parked in it including a mechanics rack and what appeared to be a complete mechanics set of tools, a networked computer workstation, a small armory, and a small dojo setup to one side. There was also a modern open plan kitchen, complete with all of the modern appliances and, I learned later, six medium sized bedrooms built into the back, each with its own bathroom.

As we moved forward, Paulee called out to us. "Beth? Could you and Alex come up front for a moment? I want to go over the leveling systems and slide-out operations before we get on the road and this is the safest place to do it." We moved forward and Beth made me sit in the copilot's seat and watch while she sat on my lap. Paulee and Bill were both highly amused as she squirmed about on my lap. Bill excused himself and went outside to smoke a cigarette.

I leaned in and lightly bit her on the side of the neck proceeding to give her a small hickey. When I was finished, I whispered in her ear, "If you don't behave yourself, I'm going to drop your panties right here in front of everyone and paddle your ass. I'd rather do it in private, my sweet love, but I will do it now if you don't behave." Her eyes flashed round and scared for a moment and I felt her arousal jump up a notch. Unfortunately, she decided to behave. Can't win for losing! I thought to myself. 

Paulee watched it all with a bemused expression. He went back and finished our lesson on the operation of the RV's equipment. As we were looking at the RV with its slide-outs full deployed both Beth and I were very impressed. The size of the bedroom had increased by nearly a third and the living room and kitchen nearly doubled the size of the living area. The bathroom wasn't huge but it was big enough to allow for more than one person to make use of it at a time without being cramped. The large tub was nice and I planned to try it out soon. With Beth!

Overall, it was just like a mid-sized apartment. With a killer entertainment system. Bill brought in a bigger version of his electronic bug "sniffer" and checked the RV from stem to stern. It still came up clean. While he did that Beth and I sat and made out the list of things we needed before we got on the road. As we were finishing Beth and I looked out of the RV and saw Paulee on the phone. We quickly finished the list and headed out of the RV towards Paulee.

"Yuki is here and Asa is a few minutes out. She'll be here before we can get the doors closed." He pointed a remote at the smaller of to large doors and it retracted into the ceiling. A large black Chevy Suburban pulled quickly through the opening; to be followed a moment later by a black and metallic grey Honda RC51; the rider sitting confidently astride the large motorcycle, her long black hair flying out from under the matching helmet she wore. It was a beautiful machine and the rider handled it with consummate skill. She, and she was very obviously a she, wheeled the bike around to the parking area and shut down the engine.

As the woman stepped off the bike, she turned towards us and began to walk over. She took her helmet off and sat it on the tool bench as she passed it. Paulee took Beth by the arm and pulled her a bit away from me. He held his finger to his lips and then pointed back towards the stranger. I turned back just in time to avoid the round punch that the strange woman had thrown at me. I took a step back, dropped into the closed stance narrowing the profile of my body and waited. She had not spoken a word yet she began to feel out my defense.

The woman tried to circle to my left, which would force me to the right, which would then put me farther from Beth. I took two steps to my right and one back towards Beth. I could hear Beth struggling with Paulee but never took my eyes from the woman in front of me. She moved in for a knife hand strike. She expected me to block it. Instead, I dodged it and grabbed her by the wrist, and was swinging in with my free hand preparing to break her arm at the elbow.

"STOP THIS SHIT RIGHT NOW!" The deep bass of Rudy Dantzinger's voice cut through the air like cannon fire as he came out of one of the bedrooms. The strange woman stopped her attack and went limp. I did not. I changed my attack. I yanked her off balance and dropped her to the ground. She was smaller than I was and my weight forced her to go where I bid her. As we dropped, I quickly wrapped my arm around her neck and entwined my hand in her hair.

Beth was looking at Rudy, but she was being held in place by Paulee. I spoke, "Anyone moves she dies." I paused for effect, Rudy started to speak, "Shut up Dantzinger! I don't want to hear it. If you want this one alive, tell Paulee to take his hands off Beth. I won't say it again." My voice was devoid of all emotion and filled with the promise of death. I watched Paulee and Rudy both visibly shiver upon hearing it. Paulee dropped his hands from Beth without having to be told by Rudy to do so. "Beth, get over here behind me. If anybody moves I'll break her neck." I tugged the woman's hair for emphasis making her grunt  Beth moved quickly to my side.

I never took my eyes off Rudy, "Beth, she has a pistol in her waistband. Get it and cover these people. If they so much as move, shoot them." Beth retrieved the Glock 19 nine-millimeter and checked the magazine. She thumbed the safety off and aimed it at Rudy's head. I carefully stood and held the stranger away from me. I moved away and towards the doors to the outside. 

"You in the Suburban, hands out where I can see them! Fail to comply and you're short an employer!" Beth's voice rang out clearly.

"Alex, listen to me this is all a mistake!" Rudy was speaking in a worried tone.

At that moment, Bill stepped back through the door and took in the situation. He smiled and laughed until Beth swung the gun in his direction and motioned for him to join Paulee, Yuki, and Rudy. I released my hold the woman's hair and gave her a violent shove away from me, stepping back to put more distance between us.

Bill spoke, "Alex, calm down. This is a misunderstanding. That's all."

I responded my voice still filled with the promise of death "There is no mistake. This one" I pointed at the woman who had attacked me, "jumped me and Paulee jumped Beth. No mistakes. No errors." I turned back to Rudy "Who are you working for, Dantzinger? I hope it's worth it. Your reputation will be gone; if I let you live."

"I can't believe this is the way your treat family." Beth said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. 

The unidentified woman turned, knelt and bowed her head to the floor. "This is my fault. I am Asa Atsuhata. Bill had said you were an exceptional man. I wished to see if it were true. Paulee was only trying to prevent Beth from interfering in our little 'sparring' match." Her English was perfect except for a mild Japanese accent. She raised her head from the floor. "I did not mean for things to go so wildly out of hand. There was never any real threat to you or your woman intended. For the trouble I have caused you I apologize." She again bowed her head to the floor.

I moved so Beth had a clear field of fire. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow. At my unasked question Beth answered "I don't know. Paulee wasn't trying to hurt me; he just wouldn't let me get to you to help."

"Somebody had better explain what the fuck just happened. Quickly." I still had not taken my eyes off them.

Rudy piped up, "Asa and Yuki are both world class martial artists. Yuki tends to be a bit more restrained while her sister has to try out every male she hears can hold his own. She just wanted to see if you really were as good as Bill said you were. She wasn't expecting you to go all out and in for the kill right off the bat." 

Yuki nodded her head. "My younger sister and I both competed in the Olympics for martial arts when we were younger. She still stupidly believes that she must test herself again and again. Honestly, she meant no offense. She would not have harmed you."

Beth laughed, "Damned straight she wouldn't. Alex would have broken her arm in two places if he hadn't heard Rudy. Alex is a ninth-dan black belt in Kiyojute Kempo Karate. He could teach if he wanted to. His teacher wants to promote him to Teaching Grandmaster but Alex refuses to let them." 

The expression on Yuki's face turned to one of fear as she thought of how close she had come to losing a sister. Asa's face was a match for her sisters and went deathly pale. 

Paulee spoke, "I have never seen anyone move that fast before in my life."

Bill stepped a little away from the group and said in a very angry and exasperated voice, "If you idiots had just taken my word for it we wouldn't be in this situation. In case any of you are thinking of jumping Beth for the gun or doing anything else equally as stupid, Asa, you should know Beth was the Columbia University pistol champion from eighty-nine to ninety four, undefeated. She was the top Olympic candidate for the U.S. Team in ninety-four but she turned it down rather than take the time away from school and more importantly Alex."

Every eye but mine was now on Beth. Rudy asked, wonderment on his face, "What the hell do you need us for, Alex?"

"I've been wondering the same thing for about the last half-hour. I can protect us or I can find out who is after us. I can't do both. I wanted you to find out who was behind this, but I'm not sure I can trust you after the reception we've received here." I scanned the room. "So far everyone but Bill and Yuki has acted in an actively hostile manner. I don't have time for this shit. You said we'd be safe, yet as soon as our supposed backup arrived, we were attacked. By them! If the last blow she threw had struck, I'd at the very least need a hospital. That's not a test, it's an attack. If she wanted to spar, all she had to do was ask."

Asa once more bowed her head to the floor and spoke, "This is my fault. There is no threat to you from any of us. I swear it! Sensei I swear it to you on my family name that it is so."

I had to think about that for a moment. The Japanese tradition of swearing on their family's name was a very strict one. In another time, it meant that if she broke her word, if she had lied, I could demand the lives of her entire family in payment of the debt owed by the violated promise. Even today, most Japanese held that oath as a sacred vow. Most would not willingly break a promise based on it.

My anger had cooled somewhat, but not my distrust. Paulee spoke up, "Alex, I wasn't trying to hurt Beth, I was trying to keep her from getting too close and getting hurt by you and Asa. That's all, I swear." He looked truly troubled by what was happening.


I came up behind Beth and whispered in her ear, "What do you think? Bill wasn't a part of this and he swears it's a misunderstanding. I've known Rudy for years and never heard of him turning a client over like this. In his profession, he couldn't keep a thing like that quiet. It would ruin his business."

She was quiet for a long moment and said in a soft voice, "I told you, I'll follow where you lead. I don't know anything about these people. However, I am not giving up the gun. We've been attacked and I'm not giving up the only weapon we've got." I nodded in agreement. 

I gestured with my arm and we began to move towards the RV. I asked, "Do you have any slacks, or better yet jeans, in your bag?" I never took my eyes off the group. I saw her nod. Holding out my hand, I said, "Give me the gun and go change into the jeans. You need to be wearing something that can carry a holster."

Beth handed me the gun and went into the RV. I secured the door behind me and moved toward Rudy. Beth had never seen me angry and I didn't want her to see me so now. As a group, they paled at the look on my face and the absence of soul in my eyes. "You have five minutes to convince me not to leave your corpses here to rot and take Beth and run."

Rudy swallowed and said, "I swear, Alex, it's just a misunderstanding. Bill has been filling Asa's head with your exploits in Japan for the last year. She has never met an opponent that could take her since she was twelve. Her sister is her only real competition and Yuki won't go all out with her. She didn't know that someone had firebombed your house last night." Asa's head snapped up and looked at Rudy.

"What?" The look of sorrow and chagrin on her face more than anything helped to cool my rage.

"Beth means the world to me, Rudy. I do not mean that figuratively. I will burn the world and everyone in it to ash to take out anyone who hurts her. I'll take you at your word. But if one of your people hurts Beth in any way, your life is forfeit." I turned to Asa, "If you want to spar, ask! I practice alone most of the time because my sparring partner is teaching too much." I looked at Bill, "Of those here you are the only one I nominally trust." Surprise lit his face, "Don't make me wrong." The warning in my voice was enough to make him shudder.

I lowered the gun and waited for Beth to return. She emerged and I lost my breath again. The stonewashed blue jeans she wore hugged and flattered her curves exquisitely. I heard Paulee gasp as well and thought to myself, Beth has caught another admirer in her web. Beth stepped down from the RV, turned and locked it. She came over to me and I returned the weapon to her. She tucked it into the waistband of her jeans and then looked into my eyes.

"What's going on? Are we staying or going?" A simple question really but I had not yet decided. I looked back at Rudy and the group.

"Tell me this Rudy: If you had walked into this blind, trusting a friend and been jumped, what would you do? Would you take them at their word or would you hide the bodies? Be honest now." My tone held no humor.

Rudy sighed and said, "I'd hide the bodies and you know it." His voice changed to anger, "Damn you, Asa! Your bullshit has just cost me a friend, not a client!"

Asa started to speak but I held up a hand. "I will reserve judgment for now, Rudy. But, we are going to be staying here a few days. I mean all of us, Rudy. Until Beth and I have some idea of where we're headed nobody is going anywhere. If nobody leaves then nobody can set up an ambush. Make no mistake; I meant what I said. Your lives depend on Beth's continued safety."

I knew what they did. Beth was my weakness, the chink in my armor. She was also my greatest strength. She was my world and I had just put them all on notice that her safety was their primary concern now as well.

Bill took a couple of tentative steps in my direction and said, "Let's get the lady a proper holster, shall we?" He motioned for us to follow him and led us to the armory setup. He flipped a toggle switch and several overhead lights illuminated the area in a soft white florescent glow.

As the lights came up, I saw an impressive amount of weaponry. I saw several different models of Glock and Sig Sauer pistols. I also saw my preferred weapon; a Browning Hi-Power nine-millimeter. I took it from the rack and ejected the empty magazine. I picked up a box of nine-millimeter shells that were sitting on the shelf under the bench and loaded the clip with it's full capacity of fifteen rounds. This particular clip is illegal in the U.S as the ATF limits the capacity to ten rounds. Then I noticed another pistol and began to look for the proper ammunition for it.

I loaded the Browning and tucked it into my waistband as well. I plucked the box of .380 APC shells from the shelf and took a pair of pistols made famous by a certain British secret agent. The Walther PPK is a .380 handgun with very few peers. It has been redesigned over the years but each revision has improved on an already exceptional weapon and Beth loved them. Her father had presented her with her first one while still a young girl when she showed an interest in her father's hobby of target shooting and talent on the firing range.

Beth had been shooting for five years when I had met her and Josh. She could handle any weapon proficiently but the Walther was still her favorite. Beth saw what I had and began to move over to me.

"Bill, I need a holster for one of the Walther's not the Glock." She said. The look of sadness in her face let me know she was thinking of her dad. I never had the chance to meet Beth's father. He was a senior VP with Halverson United Textiles, one of the largest publicly traded textile firms in the country and the largest company in the city of Torrington. He had been traveling to finalize the purchase of a small textile plant and award them the excusive production for a new account after a little re-tooling of the plant. He had flown to Columbus, Ohio for a meeting at the new acquisition's headquarters and left from there to go to L.A. to meet with another client before a scheduled vacation with his family.

He was aboard US Air Flight 1493 when it collided with another misdirected airplane at LAX on February 1, 1991. His Valentine's Day presents had been delivered to Beth and her mother on time after his death. He had ordered Beth a custom-built Walther with her name and the date inscribed into the frame and slide of the weapon inlaid in gold filigree. 

The inscription read:

To my most beloved Valentine, I love you, Daddy

She only used it on his birthday and Valentine's Day. Even then, she was very careful. That particular Walther was kept in a custom-built display case in her gun locker any time she wasn't at home. When she was there, it held pride of place on her picture wall in her living room.

The huge settlement from the airline and the airport administration not to mention the flight insurance policy and various other life insurance policies left her mother and his children very well off. Her father had created trusts for individual policies to be paid into, in the event of his death and Josh and Beth would have happily traded it all to have their father back.

Bill came over carrying two Uncle Mike's Sidekick inner-pants holsters, one for each of the weapons. He also brought a bellyband holster over. Beth could wear the bellyband and no one would look twice at it as it looked like a fashionable belt bag.

The Browning fit my hand much better than the Walther. I have wide palms and the Walther simply was too small. On the other hand, the Browning fit me just right. Bill had also brought an inner pants holster for the Browning. I preferred a shoulder holster but in the summer weather, I could not wear it without a jacket, and be comfortable as well. Oh well, we all must make sacrifices. 

Bill went to a cabinet set to one side and brought over two additional loaded clips for each weapon. "I am very sorry you feel the need for these but I do understand why." He set the clips down and then moved away. "I'm going to go find out why Rudy is here. It must be important for him to have driven from St. Louis and beaten us here."

I stopped and thought about that a moment. "Wait up Bill. We'll go with you. It doesn't make sense that Rudy is here. We spoke to him before we left." I paused. "The more I think about this the less I like it." Beth and I pocketed the spare clips and put the guns into their holsters. She took my hand and we followed Bill over to the small living area where Rudy and the others were sitting. 

~~~~~~~~~

Yuki was sitting on the floor in front of a low Japanese-style table drinking tea. The look on her face showed that she was very annoyed with the problems her sister had caused. Asa sat to her left with a dejected look on her face, her head bowed.




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 13



Rudy was sitting in an easy chair, a cup on tea on a table to his left. At our approach, he looked up. "Alex, I..." 

I cut him off, "What are you doing here, Rudy? Why did you haul ass to beat us here? What was so important?"

My questions caught him off guard and shocked him back into his professional mode. He reached down next to him, cautiously, and pulled a folder from the second shelf of the stand his tea sat on. He pulled out several pictures and handed them to me.

They were photos, some of them stills, some taken from the video tapes from the divorce. "I need you to identify each person by name as I hand you these to confirm a suspicion I had while talking to Josh."

One by one, he handed me photos. "This one is Lisa... Heather... Jacquie... Joyce Hallstead..." I named several other women. Others I didn't recognize. Then he handed me another set of photos, men this time. "Josh... Fred Phillips... Robert Hoffman... Ron Browning... Ted Carstairs... I don't know these last two, though. What's this all about? What's with the photos?"

Beth had been looking over my shoulder, took one of the last two male photos, and said, "I've seen him before. I don't know him, but I've seen him in the last few days and at least one other time. I don't know this other one, though." Rudy stood to see which picture she had indicated.

Rudy fairly vibrated with excitement now. "While I try to explain this to Alex, I want you to try very hard to remember exactly where you saw him and what he was doing. Okay, Beth?" At her nod he said, "I was going over a list of names Josh had given me when a name from an old case cropped up. Alex, who is this man to you?" he held up the photo that Beth had picked out. 

I shook my head, "I've never laid eyes on the man before that I can remember. I don't know who he is. I already told you that, Rudy. Who is he?"

Rudy looked at me and said, "In a moment. I don't want to influence her I.D. We'll need it." 

Beth looked up and said with dawning surprise, "He was having dinner in the restaurant, before Lisa showed up. He was seated a little away from the entrance on the left side. But... I've seen him once before that. Last year, I think... Let me think. Yes, last year when Heather had gone to her mother's, before Josh found the tapes. I drove Josh over to try to talk to Heather. Jacquie and he were both there." She looked at me and asked, "Why would he be at Heather's mom's house with Jacquie?"

Rudy pounced, "What was he doing and where was he? Was that the only time you saw him? More importantly did he see you?" The look on his face told us both that these were the important questions in his little rampage.

"I don't think he noticed me. I was only dropping Josh off. His car was at the dealer's for a factory recall service on the headlight assembly; he was going to catch a cab to the airport from there for a client in St. Louis. After letting him out, I'd backed out of the drive and pulled across the street to take a call on my cell when this man came out of the attached garage and walked to a car parked on the street in front of the next house down. Jacquie came out a minute later and got into the same car and they drove off. I figured it was someone Jacquie knew and he wanted to avoid the situation with Josh."

Rudy smirked at me, "I just love it when the client does all of my work for me." He said with a laugh the asked, "Alex do you recognize the name Michael Dunne?" 

I looked at him and said slowly, "Yes, I know the name. It's the name of one of the partners at Fred Phillips' law office. I've never met him, though. He's the newest partner and Fred opposed taking him on. The other partners outvoted him and he came onboard about two years ago. Fred doesn't much like him and as I've never met him, I can't say much about him. Why?"

Rudy handed me another photo of Lisa, Jacquie, Heather, and the other man I didn't know. This one had been taken sometime after Lisa's birthday six years ago. She was wearing the diamond bracelet and matching pendant I had given her in the photo. Jacquie had her hand inside Lisa's blouse obviously fondling Lisa's breast, and Dunne wore a very fierce scowling look of disapproval.

Rudy smiled, "Five years ago one Mrs. Phillipa Reeves-Dunne came to us for protection and help in proving that her husband of thirty-two years had been unfaithful. She wanted a divorce after overhearing him talking on the phone to a woman he admitted was his daughter. Mrs. Reeves-Dunne had never had children due to an accident as a child that robbed her of that ability. We managed to protect her and get other evidence of his repeated infidelities. We even found proof of the child, but not enough to introduce in court. We never did discover the identity of the daughter or her name. Until now."

Beth and I looked at him. "What do you mean until now? How does this have anything to do with Alex?" Beth didn't see where this was going but I thought I did.

"You still can't prove it. You can suspect it, but you can't prove it." I said.

Rudy smiled and said, "Not until I talked to Josh I couldn't. When Heather left Josh, she didn't take all of her medical files or personal documents. In those files, we found a DNA comparison for his wife and an unnamed female that revealed they were sisters, well more accurately, half-sisters. That test is twenty years old. I think Mr. Dunne is Jacquie's father. I think we have the probable cause to get new samples from all of them and get a comparison. I think he is the mastermind behind all of this and I think he is the one responsible for the attempt on Fred Phillips life."

Beth gasped and I nodded. The one piece I needed that tied it all together had dropped into my lap, as it were. As a partner at Fred's firm, Dunne could direct things and oversee the operation while not getting his hands dirty. Heather's discovery of her sterility had made her unstable, a liability, and they had to move more quickly than they had planned. The attempt on Fred was clumsy and not as well thought-out as it should have been. The firebombing of my place was also rash. They did not need my testimony and it made little sense. Until you took into account that we had been seen by Dunne and he recognized Beth, from the time at Josh's mother's house, and myself as his intended victim. He wasn't trying to kill me at my apartment; Beth had been the target. She had seen him with Jacquie almost a year before any of this became known and she could identify him. It would make him a prime suspect.

The thought that he had tried to harm Beth filled me with a towering rage unlike any I had ever felt before. I took a moment to calm myself. I still felt the rage only now it was cold. The coldness that I felt in Japan. The coldness of the grave. In that moment I was prepared to end a life with no second thoughts, no remorse, no sorrow.

I smiled and said, "Call Granger. Tell her to get her ass on a chopper and get here ASAP! I have it all laid out. Why, what, how... the works."

I spelled it all out for Beth and the others. Rudy nodded as I made each connection. He pulled out his cell phone and made the call. Granger promised to be here within the hour, along with a federal judge and the U.S. Marshals.

~~~~~~~~

We moved the RV and several vehicles out onto the gravel lot in front of the warehouse. Rudy didn't want to blow his secret hideaway and I had no problem with that. The story would be that we had agreed to meet here and had had our discussions in the RV.

Forty minutes later a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter dropped noisily onto the gravel lot, well away from the vehicles; the emblem of the U.S. Marshals was boldly displayed on its doors. Several people stepped from the chopper as its engine wound down. To our great surprise, Josh was among them. We led them into the RV. Granger was ecstatic. We had just handed her a gift-wrapped feather for her career cap. With the mileage she would get out of these convictions she would be the shining star in the District Attorney's office for some time to come, she could even draw the attention of the U.S. Attorney's office. 

The judge, one Thomas Harper, was more than happy to sign any number of arrest, evidentiary, and wire tap warrants for Jacquie, Heather, and Dunne including a warrant for DNA sampling. He ordered the freezing of all of their assets. The Marshal's officers were to serve the proper warrants immediately.

Josh moved to speak with Beth for a few moments, as the judge took my arm and pulled me aside. "I'm happy that things seem to be going well for you, son. I'm sorry about what happened to you but you seem to have found a very nice way of comforting yourself." The tone in the judge's voice was snide and leering. Granger gasped at his comments; Josh and Beth turned red in outrage.

I stepped into his face and spoke soft and clearly, "If you ever pay my fiancée that or any other insult again, I'll destroy you in place, old man. That woman and her love for me are the only thing in this whole mess that brings me joy and judge or not, your next insult to her will be your last! Are we clear?"

The Judge smiled at me and said, "Good, good! That is just what I wanted to hear." At my look of puzzlement he said, "You don't remember me, do you son? I surely do remember you. When you were much younger, I sat and talked with you at your grandmother's house. I didn't get to say goodbye to your grandmother. She was a dear friend and I miss her greatly. She asked me to look after you in her last letter and I have, from a distance. You were let's see... maybe eight years old when you told me that you were going to be an... what did you call it... Oh yes, you told me you were going to be an 'archty tective'. You knew even then what you wanted in life. I was overseas when your grandmother passed away and didn't find out she was ill until it was too late."

I stared at him in wonder. I remembered him now. My grandmother had given me a large Erector set, my first, and I was building the first of many buildings with it in her study when this man came in and sat himself down and began talking to me. I remember that he spoke to me like I was an adult and not like I was a child. He asked what I was building and drew me into a long conversation. We talked for more than two hours about my ambition to be an 'archty tective' and how I wanted to build things that would be around for ages and ages like the 'Tower of Pizza' and the Eiffel tower.

He smiled widely, "I see you remember me now. I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing and assure myself you were not rushing into anything. I hope you two will be very happy together." He turned to Beth, "I truly meant no offense to you, Ms. Taylor. I just wanted to see for myself that he loves you. I hope you'll invite me to the wedding." With that, he turned and headed back towards the waiting helicopter followed by the Marshals and Granger.

I looked at Josh and said, "Now what do we do? I'll be needed here for the depositions and arraignments, won't I?"

Josh thought for a minute and said, "Go ahead and take off. Granger can get a hold of me anytime and I can get in touch with you. As long as you can catch a flight back here and be here in a day, you can go ahead with your trip. You may need to come back a couple of times to give testimony and as for depositions I will be acting as your attorney and I won't let Granger do overnight appointments. You'll have at least three days warning before she gets a crack at you. The defendants won't get a crack at you until trial. The evidence we have along with Lisa's testimony should have them screaming for plea bargains rather than face a trial."

I had a decidedly sick hunch. "Josh, take a copy of that DNA profile you found in Heathers things and have an expert compare it to the results on the twins. I'm betting you'll find it's a match and that they are half-sisters with the anonymous donor. When the results from the warrants come in, compare the donor to Jacquie and Dunne. I'm betting he's their father."

The look of horror on Josh's face and sorrow on Beth's told their feelings. Asa chimed in, "Oh that's just disgusting! Do you really think he fathered the twins?" 

"I would be willing to bet a lot on it. In fact, if I'm right it will be the final nail in his coffin. What will the jury's reaction be, Josh? When they find out he fathered them and then tried to leave them penniless with their divorced mother, after destroying the only home they had ever had? I'm sure we can convince Granger that this is in fact a very salient point that needs to be heard."

The look on Josh's face said it before he did. "If we can prove he was their father, no jury would fail to convict. We have too much other evidence of his crimes and Granger is looking for even more. Making that point to the jury will most likely get him a life sentence without the possibility of parole. That is a very twisted thought, Alex. What prompted it?"

"Lisa was too sure the twins weren't mine. She had to have known and had them tested beforehand. I'm betting she was planning to sue for a severing of parental rights on the biological father after the divorce but things backfired. It's not a far leap from that to the only other male involved in this little scheme. If he is Jacquie's father, it may have been his plan all along to bilk me of the funds and assure the continued monies from the Stephie and Lauren's trust funds as well. Those trust accounts were arranged but the monies were not yet separated from my trust before Fred's heart attack.

"His plan was probably to sue for custody later and thereby to gain control of the trusts. I would be out of their lives and Lisa would be out the door. With the funds in question, he could have gone anywhere and done anything and I'd have little or nothing to say about it. This man has taken a very 'long view' approach to this whole thing with time to plan for contingencies. He's good at it.

"Heather forced them to move too quickly to have sufficient plans in place. No one knows that the accomplice, Ben Johnson, has been caught, or that we've put it all together. If Dunne hasn't fled, he is going to be squeezed six ways from Sunday trying to talk his way clear so that he can run."

Yuki looked at me and nodded. Bill asked, "Why would he run? Why not take his chances?"

Yuki answered for me, "This man has kept himself at arm's length throughout this whole affair. While the plan is bold, he is not. He is, at heart, a coward and cowards always run away." I nodded at her.

Beth came to my side and started to touch me. I flinched away. Seeing my face, she stopped and dropped her hand. I couldn't look at her. I turned and walked quietly to the dojo area.

Yuki came over to Beth and I heard her say, "It is not your fault. He is filled with a killing rage and he fears to touch anyone right now. He has barely held himself in check since the judge was here. Give him a little time to master himself and he will apologize to you. Forgive him for the unintentional hurt he has given you..." What more she said I don't know; as I moved away their voices faded.

I turned and began to do katas to focus and clear my mind. Asa came into my vision and we began a mirror dance. That's what it is called when two are facing each other performing the same kata. Time held little meaning for me. The mirror dance got faster and faster until it was broken when Asa could no longer keep up with me. Her movements seemed slow and sluggish until she dropped out of the kata. I went as fast as I could and everything faded from my sight, my mind cleared. I was calm and at peace. The rage had been banished. I no longer feared I would hurt Beth in a fit of blind rage.

I slowed my movements and gradually came to a halt. I was hot, tired, and very, very sweaty. I took a towel that was sitting on a rack and dried the sweat as best I could. Only then did I notice that it had gotten dark out and that the RV had been brought back inside and set up once more.

I walked over to the RV and entered it. The main compartment was empty. I moved to the bedroom and found Beth sitting on the bed brushing her hair with her back to the door. I walked over and took the brush from her hand and began to stroke it through her ruby tresses. I had never seen natural hair the color of Beth's on anyone else. It was a deep red and when the sunlight reflected off it, it looked like rubies spun out into fine thread. 

As I stroked the brush through her hair, I whispered in her ear, "I'm so sorry I hurt your feelings today. I was afraid if anyone had touched me I would have lashed out and injured them. If I had ever hurt you, I could not live with myself. I would just die." 

As I spoke, a tear fell from my cheek. The tear landed on her arm and she looked down and then turned to see my face. "I love you and you don't have to protect me for yourself. I know in my heart that you are not capable of hurting me like that. It isn't in you to do it. I know you were angry and afraid. What hurt me wasn't that you were angry but that you shut me out. I told you this once before; now I want you to listen to what I'm saying. I love you and I will do whatever it takes to spend my life with you. I love all of you, not just the parts that are attractive. You cannot shut me out and not hurt me. That rage is a part of you, an ugly part yes, but a part of you nonetheless. Please don't shut me out anymore." 

As Beth spoke, tears began to fall down her face and drip from her chin. Once she finished speaking I answered, "I promise." For a long time after we sat on the bed and I held her to me gently rocking her in my arms letting the balm that is my Beth finish the work I had begun with the kata.

After awhile Beth said in a teasing voice, "Eeew you stink."

I chuckled and said, "Care to help me try out that big tub in the bathroom? Josh said it has water jets and is big enough for two." She reached over to the built in chest and pulled her robe and the pair of large over-sized chopsticks from a drawer. We stood and she drew me towards the bathroom.

Once the door was shut Beth set her things down and quickly took off my clothes and then her own as I watched. She took the large chopsticks and put her hair up into a knot. She turned on the water and waited for it to warm before adjusting it giving me a tantalizing view of her most perfect ass. She opened the tub and we stepped inside. It was close but not uncomfortably so. Beth adjusted the shower head and began to wash me. When I raised my arms to touch her she moved away.

"Let me do this. When I'm done then you can do me." Her lips curled at the double meaning her words brought to mind. I raised my hand and stroked her cheek. I looked into her sparkling blue eyes and nodded slowly.

Gently she washed me from head to toe taking time to ensure I was clean. She then had me sit on the built-in seat in the tub and proceeded to wash my hair as well. She massaged my scalp and rinsed my hair making sure to clean all of the shampoo from my locks. As she pressed my hair back away from my face, she drew my head to her breast.

She spoke softly, "I love you. I have loved you for so many years. You've only just opened yourself to me. Please, please, don't shut me out of your life. I don't want parts of you. I want all of you. I don't love parts of you, I love all of you. Please don't shut me out." 

Her whispered plea and tears made my heart ache for the pain I had caused her. "I will never shut you out again. If I start to, remind me of my promise. I love you, Beth, and I want to shield you from what is ugly in me. From those parts of me I don't like people to see. I will never shut you out on purpose again, Beth. I swear it!" 

She pulled me tighter into her and said, "I'll hold you to that, my dear sweet man. I love you." She leaned down and kissed me tenderly. An impish glint came into her eyes, "Now I think someone owes me a shower."




The Last 24 Hours Ch. 14



I attempted to doze off with my lovely Beth in my arms but found that I simply could not. Beth had gone to sleep and as her breathing deepened, my disquiet increased. After thinking about it for a few moments, I had an idea that seemed to fit the facts. I concluded that the decision to 'be dangerous' had an unexpected side effect. Much as I wanted to just lie there and doze, I could not sleep until I was certain that we were safe. I waited until Beth had drifted off into what I had thought was a deeper slumber and then slid out of the bed. I retrieved both of our pistols from where we had left them in the bathroom, checked the magazines and assured myself that we were alone in the RV. I then checked the rest of the RV. Its doors were secured. I looked out and saw Asa kneeling in front of the garage doors on a mat she had placed there for that purpose. Her back was erect and her eyes scanned the area every few minutes. I went back to the bedroom and put Beth's Walther on her nightstand and my Browning on mine. I slid back into the bed and discovered that my sweet Beth had been playing possum. 

"Will you stay with me so I can sleep now?" Her voice held no reproach, no recriminations, only a sexy tiredness. 

I brushed a stray wisp of hair back over her ear and whispered, "Yes, my love." I let her drape herself across my body as was her habit, her head resting on my left shoulder with her left arm across my chest stroking me, and her left leg thrown across mine resting comfortably.

"Did you mean it when you told them you would burn the world to ash for me?" Her voice was quiet but held notes of both fear and awe as well. 

I sighed and a tear ran down my cheek as I knew I would lose her because I could not lie to her. "Beth, you are the only thing in the world I care about right now. They tried to kill you when they firebombed my apartment. I couldn't take losing you. I just couldn't. I've lost nearly everything that mattered to me in the last few months; Lisa, the twins and now my home. I've only just found you and I can't lose you too." The thought brought more tears to my eyes. "I just could not take it. It would destroy me. The person I am, when I think of you hurt or dead, frightens me. I know there is literally only one way they could stop what I would do. I had to make them understand that so you would be safe. I had to." I whispered this last statement and ran my hand up and down her back. "Life without you isn't worth contemplating. It would be an unbearable existence, not life. I will do all that I can to protect you. I love you."

As I spoke this last, my tears made their way down my cheek. I was certain that she would not want to be near someone capable of such terrible things, someone like me. Beth stroked my chest and said, "Oh my dear sweet, sweet love. To know that you love me so much makes me feel warm and safe." She kissed my breast and I held her as we both drifted off to sleep.





The Last 24 Hours Ch. 14



Taking my hands from her face I sat back and watched her for a moment. As her head fell to her chest with her sobs I asked, "Are you telling me that you don't love me?" 

She shook her head and whispered, "No."

"Are you telling me that you no longer want to be with me and want me to go away forever and leave you alone?" 

Her head snapped up at that and with a fierce determination she exclaimed, "Never!"

"Then come here and make me believe that." I took her into my outstretched arms as I stood; she stiffened and tried to pull away. I held her as tightly as I dared. I whispered to her "All I've heard today is that nothing between Lisa and me was ever real. It was all scripted, an act put on by that son of a bitch, Dunne. You... and you alone were the wild card, the one thing that I wouldn't give up and he couldn't control and the only real thing in my life these last fifteen years. Now he is going to jail and we are free. I love you. Don't you know that yet?" I raised my head, looked at the ceiling and began to cry, "How do I make you believe me? Tell me what to say or do. I'll do it, I'll say it." I dropped my head to her shoulder and sobbed for my loss.

Slowly her arms came up and caressed my sides. She began to murmur to me trying to calm me. "You said you love me!" she whispered to me.

I choked out a sob and cleared my throat. Then I said, "I've told you that several times tonight, if you had been paying attention, you horny little minx you. And I'll have you know I've meant it every time I've said it to you." I put every ounce of feeling I had for Beth into that one simple statement. I held her tightly as we cried on each other's shoulder. I turned us and sat us both on the edge of the bed.

"Listen to me: Listen to what I'm saying not what you think I mean this time. This is very simple: no interpretations are necessary, okay?" At her nod I continued, "I have no feelings for Lisa except pity and anger. Nothing more. Nada. Zilch. Zip. I have only love for you. The twins are a dead issue at the moment by their choice. If at some time they decide they want me to be their father again I will do my best to be there for them. That will only happen if they change their minds. They are NOT more important to me than you are! You and only you are the most important person in my life. I plan to marry you just as soon as it is legal for me to do so. I want you to plan this wedding however you want it, big, small, church, courthouse, priest, pastor, or justice of the peace. I don't care as long as you and I are married.

"In the last few days we have come so far. Please don't leave me. It would kill me for you to leave me." I looked into her eyes as I spoke hoping she would see the truth of my words. I was scared to death she would not believe me; that she would walk out of that small room and out of my life.

Instead she wound her arms around my neck and stopped time for me again. As we kissed I could feel her love for me flowing around us like a cocoon with us safe and warm inside. We were still locked in our embrace when there was a discreet tap on the door.

Asa's voice came through the door. "I apologize for disturbing you Sensei, but Melisande has received a phone call with some urgent news. She won't say what it is until you are present. Also Mr. Taylor has returned and is worried about his sister."

Beth answered, "We'll be out in a moment, Asa. Thank you."

Asa replied, "You are most welcome, Miss."

I looked into her eyes and whispered, "So, will you still marry me?"

Beth smiled at me and asked, "Do you still love this idiot?"

I swatted her on the right ass cheek and said, "I love you, and you are no idiot! I don't ever want to hear you demean yourself again. No one is allowed to do that including you! Got it?"

Her smile once more outshone the sun in its intensity. She nodded and said, "Let's go see what all the hubbub is about. Josh can get excitable where I'm concerned."

We made our way back into the room and Mel looked up at us over a plate laden with hash browns, eggs and fresh bacon and asked, "Everything okay with you two?" Beth's smiling nod was all the answer she needed. "Good. Now we've got some new news that is going to affect the two of you: First off, Dunne apparently committed suicide in his cell this morning after speaking to his attorney and learning that we were granting deals to Lisa and Heather and hearing the list of evidence we had compiled. Dunne, Johnson, and Jacquie are the big fish here. As a result of his death the case against the other two becomes both easier and harder. We've got Jacquie and Johnson cold. Their cases are nearly slam-dunk. However they are going to play the 'just following orders' routine to the hilt."

Josh piped up, "Why exactly is Heather getting a deal?" His anger and outrage was palpable.

Mel looked at him for a moment and said in a shuddering voice, "Because she not only gave up all marital assets to you except the wedding gifts from her grandma, she also provided video surveillance tapes and communications between Jacquie and her father that prove Lisa's abuse and her own, as well as a list of the other victims and a list of those who were not participants." she laid a folded document on the table with the words 'Divorce Decree' visible. "Further, she has instructed her lawyer to plead guilty to whatever charges I level against her. Last night she walked the stuff into my office, laid it on my desk, told me what it was and walked out. She never asked for a deal. I'm giving her one because the assistant I have reviewing the tapes says that she was abused even more so than Lisa was. You may remember several long stays with her half-sister? Jacquie is a sexual sadist and spent hours at a time torturing her. My assistant lost his lunch twice and we aren't through half of the tapes yet. I have her in custody under suicide watch as we speak." The horror reflected in her eyes kept any of us from asking for more details. Josh picked up the document and began to read it. After finishing it he signed it and handed it back to Granger. 

She turned back to Beth and me, "Now as for you two. The attempt on Lisa's life gets her into witness protection. Evidence says the hit on her is pre-paid. We want her well hidden until the trials start. That's a year, minimum. She will be taken by the marshals and relocated later today. The girls will go with her. There will be no contact with her or the girls for the next year. The terms of her deal also say they are all going to be getting therapy during that year; it's already arranged. The benefit to you is that the required waiting period for marriage that you mentioned is immediately waived due to her entrance into the program. You can get married later today if you want to." 

Beth began to hug and bounce against me in her excitement. Mel continued, "We believe the threat to Ms. Taylor's life is over. The death of that scumbag will be on the noon news so anyone looking to get paid by him will know the well is dry. It's already on the radio." She sighed and sat back, closing her eyes for a moment.

I looked around the table and saw nothing but happy faces save one. I asked Mel, "Okay, that ought to about cover it but who is Mr. Suit there?"

The man glared at me and said in a nasally voice, "I am Richard Forsten with the U.S. Department of Justice." 

His snippy attitude pushed all of my sarcasm buttons. Mel interrupted my witty attack by getting there first. "You'll have to forgive Mr. Dick. He just found out that the high-profile case he was planning to steal from me gets to stay in my capable hands. As you might imagine he's being a little pissy about it."

Forsten jerked like he'd been slapped. "I don't have to take this shit!" He spun and we watched him go though the door into the summer heat. As the door closed behind him everyone broke into laughter.

After we had all had a good laugh I looked at Granger and asked, "Okay, now what exactly did he want and how did it fall apart on him?"

Granger wiped a tear from her eye and said, "Forsten was all set up to take these cases and consolidate them into a RICO case against Dunne, using his pet U.S. Attorney as prosecutor. On the way here he was busy telling me how he was planning to void any deals I had already made in order to make his headline case a winner regardless of the quote 'petty legalities involved' in doing so. He was also planning to put you and Ms. Taylor under protective custody -- read 'house arrest'-- and keep you separated for the duration so he could 'build his case'. Never mind the fact that the case was already airtight and bulletproof. However, to make the RICO stick he had to have Dunne alive and kicking. He can't charge the others and make it stick because they weren't giving the orders or doing the planning. Everything we have says that Dunne was the mastermind.

"As it is, Dunne's death doesn't affect my conspiracy, fraud, arson, or attempted murder charges against the others at all and I don't have to release any of the evidence to Forsten. Oh, by the way; I have one of my people on the way to view Dunne's body and to take prints and make sure it really is him." Granger looked inordinately pleased with herself. "We have also been able to tie the money paid to the captured arsonists back to an account administered by Jacquie. Her lawyer is screaming for a deal that's not going to come." She smiled at us and said, "I hope you two can get on with your lives and be happy soon."

She sighed and stood up, "With the money dried up and Dunne dead the threat to you should be over. As soon as you feel comfortable with it you can come back to town and your lives. I would still keep security tight for the next week or so till word got out to all and sundry that Dunne and his money train are gone. I need to be getting back to the office and then I'm going home and get some much needed sleep."

After saying our goodbyes Mel and the pilot left and we listened to the turbine on the helicopter wind up and move into the distance. Bill went and got his 'sniffer' and removed two bugs that he had seen the inept federal agent place before we sat down to discuss what was going to happen now.

Rudy started, "With Dunne dead -- we'll wait for Granger to confirm that by the way -- the threat to you two is gone. I would still advise taking a week or two and decompressing from this. You've both been under a lot of stress this last year and I think that a vacation would do you both some good. With Dunne dead I don't see any reason you and Beth shouldn't be able to go to the islands now if you wanted. I'll confirm that with Granger also." He looked especially pleased with himself.

Josh spoke up. "My deal with Fred Phillips is up in the air. They are going to be under a lot of scrutiny after having a partner involved in this mess." He held up a hand to silence me. "I'm still going to go to work for him but it may not be as immediate as we had hoped. There will be several investigations going on and taking me on right now will cause them even more problems. I'll talk to him and see what he thinks and we will go from there. 

"Alex, if you want I can get the construction team started on Beth's new house while you are away. Your office should know who you were planning to use to do the construction right?" 

At my nod he continued, "Oh and Beth: Maddi called me last night. She was worried sick when she couldn't get hold of you this past weekend. She heard about the fire at Alex's place and was in a panic. I told her you were fine and she was very happy when I told her you were off on a vacation with Alex. She said to tell you 'You go, girl!' She wants you to call her sometime soon and give her all the dirt. I thought you'd like to give her your good news yourself." 

With that he stood and said, "I've got enough clothes for both of you in the back of the Jeep to hold you for the next week or so, but I figure you will want to do some of your own shopping. You, Alex, will have to replace everything. I am sorry about that."

I looked at him and said, "The only thing I can't replace is sitting in my lap. She's the only thing I care about. The gifts she gave me are still here with us and everything else she ever gave me except clothes is safe in a storage facility. I didn't lose anything of great importance." I hugged Beth tightly from behind, my hands resting on her firm tummy. She all but purred at my caress.

Turning to Asa, Josh asked, "Could one of you lovely ladies give me a ride back to Torrington? I need to get busy on this, and I think my sister wants to start her vacation." He smiled and waved as he and Yuki headed toward the Prius that had been added to the collection of vehicles in the parking area.

"Josh?" I called out to him. "What's the status with Body Dreams? When is the meeting?"

Josh turned and said, "I forgot to tell you: Barsdale put off their meeting until this afternoon. I got in touch with Joyce and she drew up the partnership agreement and the loan documents under my own letterhead, as a favor to me. She also told me that she is moving to Torrington this week and looking for work here. She also asked me to recommend a good lawyer to sue our old firm for sexual harassment. Friday she got the senior partner on tape telling her that she had missed three promotions and several merit raises because she refused to sleep with him." He smirked.

"I told her to call Fred and have his firm represent her. They are good people and I told Fred he should also offer her a job. I gave him the lowdown on what I knew. I've also agreed to testify for her at the trial. That smug prick, Winslow, has told me several times that he had blocked her promotion because she wouldn't spread her legs for him. I've tried to get her to file several times but she was afraid for some reason. She doesn't know it -- and I want it to stay that way Beth -- but her last pay raise came out of my pocket. I had my last two bonuses set aside to pay her the salary increase she deserved."

Beth and I were both astonished. He continued, "Anyway, we have a meeting with Barsdale's boss and a man named Brent Davis at two and with Barsdale at three. You are welcome to come if you like; Joyce has already moved up here and agreed to drop off the documents at Body Dreams for Betty to look over. While she's there she is going to type up the statements of the witnesses in deposition form so we can hit his boss with them instead of having to wait and take a lot of extra time."

I looked at Rudy. "Do you think it will be safe to go?"

He thought for a moment. "The only people who know you intend to buy into this place are you, the owners, and this Joyce?" We nodded. "Then I don't see any reason you can't go. Asa and Bill will go with you to make sure you're safe but I really think the danger is past."

I looked at Josh. "Do we have time to get ready? Or do you need to leave now?"

Josh checked his watch and said, "If you're quick. I need to get changed and showered once we get back to town. I have some clothes at Beth's apartment I can change into instead of going back to Covington and then coming back up for the meeting. It's ten now. Figure an hour to get back, change, then have lunch and meet with Betty and George before the meeting with Mr. Davis at two. Well be pushing it but we have to go now."

Bill leaned into whisper in Beth's ear "He's never seen Yuki or Asa drive. We'll be back in Torrington in half an hour or less." Beth and I both looked a little frightened at that prospect. Bill just chuckled.

Beth and I quickly unloaded the new clothing from the Commander and changed into new outfits. She looked glorious in a powder-blue silk summer dress and sandals with a two-inch heel. I changed into a pair of khaki pants and a powder blue shirt that matched Beth's dress perfectly. Within fifteen minutes we were on our way back to town 





The Last 24 Hours Ch. 14



I nodded. "I want to thank you for helping us with this. Please let me know what your time was and I'll see to it you are reimbursed for it." The look on her face said she was going to protest. I forestalled her argument. "I insist. You are doing me a great service and I would be paying anyone else to do this. You deserve to be compensated for your time and efforts on my behalf."

I leaned over and whispered in Beth's ear for a moment; she grinned at me and nodded. I looked back at Joyce and said, "Beth and I are going to take a short vacation after we finish our business today. We'd like it if you would accept this as a housewarming gift from us." I held out the second check. "We know that things are a bit hectic at the moment but when we get back we'd like you to help us plan our wedding."

She gaped at us for a minute and then said, "Wedding? Is this a joke?"

Beth wiggled her new ring at Joyce and said, "No joke. He asked me and I said yes. We are going to take a brief vacation and then we are going to plan our wedding. I'd like you to be one of my bridesmaids."

Joyce looked rather stunned. Josh took the check from me and quietly slipped it into Joyce's purse while she was staring at Beth. I looked at my watch, stood and said, "Let's go get some lunch at the Café and then we shall go forth and slay the dragon in his den!"

Every eye was on me until they all broke out laughing. The tension was broken and we picked up our things and headed for the door.