2 comments/  6787 views/  1 favorites

Price of Past Miracles Ch. 01

By: surober1



Author's Note: This series is a continuation of my last story series, "Ghosts of the Past." It is taking place 18 years plus into the future and involves the children of the group of friends surrounding Charles and Diana Richards and Tom and Lynda Seldon... who are just about to learn the "Price of Past Miracles..."

********** 

"Mama... I love him and he loves me!" Megan Richards exclaimed as she clung to her lifelong friend and soul mate, Brad Seldon.

"Aunt Dee... I know you probably think we're too young, but we've known each other our whole lives. We know everything about each other... I love her and I want to marry her!" Brad stated emphatically as he pulled the bed sheet up around them. Oh, God...this so embarrassing... my girlfriend's mother catching us in bed together...

Diana Richards' heart pounded as she took several deep, calming breaths. Oh, God... this can't be happening! I opened this door expecting to find her in bed with Jonnie!  Why couldn't I have seen this coming... "Megan... Brad... I'm going to shut the door and the two of you will get out of that bed and put your clothes on immediately. I'm going to call your fathers at work and get them home! All of us need to sit down and have a long talk."

"It doesn't matter what any of you have to say, Mama... it's not going to change our minds! We love each other and we want to be together! Brad is the only one I'll ever love..."

Diana's heart constricted at the tears gathering in her daughter's hazel eyes. "Megan, sweetie, just do what I said. If the two of you aren't dressed and out here in five minutes I'm coming back! This is very serious... do not argue with me!"

She shut her daughter's bedroom door and headed straight for the phone and dialed her best friend's number. "Lynda... it's Diana. We have a big problem! I just caught Brad in bed with Megan! Oh, God... What are we going to do?!!"

Lynda gasped and then was silent for several seconds. "Oh, God... Diana... this is going to kill them! Have you called Charles and Tom yet?"

"No. I was going to call them as soon as I called you to get you over here!"

"I'm on my way, Diana. I'll be there in about five minutes!"

**********

"I just don't understand what the big deal is! It's not like we're actually related!" Brad ranted as he paced back and forth in the living room between his parents, Tom and Lynda Seldon, and their long time best friends, Charles and Diana Richards. Uncle Charles had been his dad's partner with the FBI for over eighteen years. He and Aunt Dee had been like a second set of parents to him and his three other siblings, but they were not blood relatives.

He and Meggie had grown up together since infancy and had been playmates along with their other siblings and close friends throughout their lives. But he'd always felt a special pull toward her for some reason. For a while, he'd felt closer to her than he was to his own sister. But when they hit puberty and Meg's body had blossomed to be as shapely as her mother's... She didn't seem like a sister to him any more.

When they'd turned fifteen, the dreams he'd been having of her suddenly had him waking up in a sweat with a raging hard-on almost every night. Her deep-set hazel eyes framed with sparse lashes would deepen in desire as she stared at him while he took her virginity... He was determined to be her first... they would be each other's first. Every time he saw her start to get interested in another boy, he'd swoop in and tell her everything bad he knew about the guy to make her think twice. Though he did feel guilty at times for keeping Jonnie away from her...

He'd finally had to reveal his feelings to her. At the beginning of their senior year in high school, she started dating the quarterback of the football team... another friend of his. And there was nothing bad he could tell her about Lee... he was a good guy. But when he saw Lee making out with Megan in the parking lot at school one afternoon in December and saw the look in her eyes...

**********

New Year's Eve 1974, Megan Richards had gotten the shock of her life. Brad had gone to a party with his and Meg's close siblings and childhood friends; Meg's twin brother Charlie and Brad's younger sister DiDi, and their close friends Jonnie North, Barbie Estevez and Lily Wilson. Jonnie's parents, Jon Sr. and Barbara, Barbie's parents, Rick and Dawn, and Lily's parents, Larry and Maria, were also good friends of Meg and Brad's parents. Meg had come to the party with Lee, but she'd ended up going home with Brad.

Megan recalled the moment she found out that Brad loved her as much as she had always loved him...

"Brad, have you seen Lee? I can't find him!"

"I sent him away, Meg."

"Why?!! I thought you liked Lee! What is it now? Am I not good enough for HIM?!!" she asked with tears in her eyes. God Brad... Why do you have to keep treating me like I'm your sister?!! She couldn't get him to notice her because of Barbie... Meg had seen him kissing her a couple weeks earlier.  But why did he have to keep interfering with every guy who did notice her?!! And why wouldn't he let Jonnie anywhere near her any more? "Why do you keep doing this to me?"

He grabbed her shoulders and hauled her against him. "This is why..." he said quietly as he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her. It had started out as a slow, tender kiss but it quickly morphed into a full-blown, deeply spine tingling, toe curling kiss. Their bodies felt like they had fused as soon as their lips parted and their tongues stroked together.

Megan clung to Brad's strong, athletic body, molding her full breasts against his lower chest. Brad tangled his hands into Megan's long, wavy, golden brown hair. Then he quickly backed her up against the wall behind her, pressing the full length of his body against hers so that she would be in no doubt of how he felt about her.

Megan gasped when she felt the hard bulge in the front of his jeans pressed against her. Oh, my God... all of a sudden I'm not your sister? When Brad finally broke the kiss, she saw the need in his deep hazel eyes... eyes very similar to her own... But there was also something else... something she hadn't seen since that dance five years earlier... 

"I've been dreaming of you since we were thirteen years old. But I was afraid to let you know. I somehow sensed that you felt the same way and we could've gotten in way over our heads when we were too young. So I treated you like you were my sister... looking out for you at school... making sure no boys got out of line with you... making sure you never fell for anyone else..."

He untangled his right hand from her hair to stroke her cheek. "I've loved you all my life, Meg... we belong together. You're my soul mate..."

**********

They had agreed that they didn't want anyone else to know how they felt about each other. They were both afraid that it might make their friends or family members feel uncomfortable for some reason. They'd promised each other that they wouldn't make love for the first time until they graduated. Both of them were going off to college the next fall. They'd decided that they were going to spend a magical summer together before they had to part. Once they were through college and knew that they belonged together, then they'd tell everyone else...

They had stolen moments over the months since New Year's to kiss and make out as often as they could when no one else was around. They'd even progressed to some pretty heavy petting, stroking each other to mind-blowing orgasms. They'd just graduated a week ago... Friday, June 6, 1975. 

They had skipped the graduation party to go to a secluded beach in Malibu to give their bodies... and their souls... to each other for the first time. It couldn't have been any more beautiful and perfect... Megan had hardly felt the sting of his first penetration. He'd given her a powerful orgasm with his lips and tongue and then entered her for the first time in the midst of her climax.

Brad had practiced while masturbating, learning how to control when he wanted to come. He'd kissed her deeply and stroked her body with his until he brought her to another climax and then he'd let go to join her. It had surpassed all his dreams... They were making love for only the third time when Aunt Dee unexpectedly came home from work early and caught them together...

**********

Megan's attention was torn away from Brad by her mother's anxious voice. "Just how many times have the two of you been together? And please tell us that you've used condoms!"

"Oh, Mama... this was only our third time together and yes, we've used condoms every time. I'm not stupid and I'm not ready to get pregnant! We're being very careful! We just want to spend as much time together as we can this summer before we leave for college! We'll be careful... we promise! We love each other... and you can't keep us apart!" Megan exclaimed as she threw herself into Brad's arms.

Tom Seldon sighed wearily and stood up to approach them. He said quietly, "Kids... it's not that simple. It's not about being careful. We have something to tell you... so please... sit down and let us tell you a story."

Brad and Megan's similarly colored eyes stared defiantly into his weary hazel eyes. He put his arms around their shoulders and walked them over to sit them down beside him on one of the couches. Charles and Diana sat down on chairs beside their daughter and Lynda sat beside Brad.

Tom began, "Charles and I were assigned as partners in September of 1956. We've told you that your Uncle Charles and Aunt Dee were responsible for introducing your mother and me and that we fell in love the second we saw each other. And I'm sure you've figured out by now that your mother was pregnant with you before we married." Brad rolled his eyes and nodded.

"As a matter of fact, it was that traumatic event just before Thanksgiving of that year that we'd told you kids about that had all of us a little anxious to have children as soon as possible. And as you know, all five of you oldest kids were born that next year... you and Charlie were the last ones, Meggie. Your Mom and Dad weren't even sure they'd be able to have children at all, but we all prayed for a miracle that Christmas. As a matter of fact, we did a little more than just pray...

"It all started while your father and I were working on our first big investigation together. We all realized by the time that investigation was through, how fate or destiny had been twisting our chances and choices to make sure ALL our lives would be forever intertwined..."

Tom began to relate the events of the arms smuggling investigation after reminding the kids of the tragic story they'd told them years ago. "Also because of that incident, your Mom and Dad realized they could communicate telepathically, Meggie. And then your Mom discovered that she could actually hear your Dad's thoughts even when he wasn't trying to communicate them to her!"

Brad interrupted, looking at Uncle Charles and Aunt Dee. "I've always believed that you two could communicate without words! I've watched you do it over the years. That's why I believe Meggie and I are soul mates... we can read each other's thoughts sometimes, too! I'm just glad you were never able to read my thoughts about her, Aunt Dee... I'd have been in big trouble!"

Diana looked at Brad with a sad frown. "Bradley, dear, just because you and Meggie can read each other's thoughts, it doesn't mean you're meant to be soul mates! And I've never been able to read the thoughts of any of you kids... but I wish I could've! Just let your Dad continue with the story..."

Tom smiled sadly at Diana and continued, telling them about how Donald Price and Robert Clark had past connections to them and about running into them at that Christmas party a few weeks later. "Your mother was none too pleased to see Donald and your Aunt Dee wasn't very happy to see Uncle Bob, either. And, at the time, Aunt Lisa was the wife of your mother's ex-husband, Brad, and she was not happy to see your mother. This was also the night we realized that your Uncle Bob and Aunt Lisa knew each other. But it wasn't until the end of the investigation that we learned they were more than just acquainted."   Megan jumped in. "This is the story why Uncle Bob and Aunt Lisa always say they're grateful to you guys for the way things worked out for them! You all started out hating each other and now you're friends? Man... this is starting to sound like a really twisted story. I can't even imagine how it's going to end..."

The adults all glanced at each other. Oh, Meggie... you're not going to like the ending, sweetie...

Tom continued again. "It was during this part of the preliminary investigation that your Dad received some devastating news, Meggie. Your Mom had been so upset, wondering why she hadn't been able to get pregnant, so your Dad went to the doctor to get checked out. He was told by the doctor that he was virtually sterile... most of his sperm were dead. Your Aunt Lynda and I were the only ones they told about that..."

Tom continued to tell them about the night they learned of that and about the poker party and how Aunt Dawn had recognized the last man they still hadn't identified. "It turned out he was Bradley Williams, your Aunt Dawn's uncle who was supposedly killed during World War II... and he was my commanding officer when I was a Marine Intelligence officer. We'd all thought he was dead all those years, but instead, he'd disappeared and was then a suspect in our investigation." 

"Wait a minute!" Brad exclaimed as he jumped up from the couch. "Are you saying that the man you named me after was involved in the arms smuggling ring you were investigating? You named me after a criminal? Why?!!!"

Tom stood up and grasped his shoulders. "Sit back down, son. There's a lot more to the story. We've got to tell you about the investigation as it unfolded. To jump ahead would be too confusing. This is only the part where we were just starting to put things together..."

Tom's mind momentarily wandered from the story of the investigation. It had been a fun night playing cards with all their friends, despite the heartbreaking discoveries... Until Diana and Charles had wiped everyone out by cheating together! But he remembered what a good time Jon told the guys he and Barb had that night in their car on the way home... The night he found out about Jonnie...

Tom dragged his thoughts away from the irrelevant memories and continued the story, explaining how all four of them had ended up in Washington for the Christmas and New Year holidays. "It was on the way back to Washington from your Mas and Grandaddy's house in Colonial Heights that your Aunt Lynda and I realized how devastated your Mom and Dad were at the thought they'd never have children. But they tried to keep their hopes up. They told us that the doctor had said there wasn't a zero chance that your Dad would have children, just that it would take a miracle. So they said they were going to keep trying and praying for a miracle that night!"

Tom skipped the part where Meg's Mom and Dad actually fucked in the back seat of the car but Charles and Diana looked at each other. Our kids would be shocked to hear how wild we were...and still are... sometimes...

Tom paused and looked at his son Brad and at Megan. "Four fervent prayers were heard that Christmas night. And with good intentions, we tried to aid in making a miracle happen on New Year's Eve. It turned out to be even more of a miracle than we knew... But we'll come back to that after we finish the rest of the story." He glanced around. "I need to take a break and get something to drink. Is that OK?"

The adults all nodded, but Brad and Megan looked anxious to get on with the story...

Tom fixed himself a drink and sat back down on the couch between the kids again, and told them how they had returned from Washington with confirmation of Bradley Williams' alias identity and authorization to start formal investigation of Green Worldwide Enterprises. But their investigation had been stalled until their Aunt Barbara had foolishly taken a job as Harold Green's secretary and secretly gotten them a piece of key evidence. Brad and Megan had looked at each other in surprise as they realized almost all of their parents' friends had been instrumental in helping them in that investigation. 

Then Tom told them about how they'd tracked down a former army buddy of his to help try and identify who the "source" for the illegal arms was and watched as the kids faces registered their shock to hear that his old friend had turned out to be the source. Then they were further shocked to learn that his old friend, his former commanding officer Bradley Williams, and Harold Green had all conspired to have he and Charles killed. Brad and Megan were shaking their heads in disbelief when he told them that the man they'd hired to kill them was an old boyfriend of their Aunt Dawn.

Megan interrupted again. "Uncle Tom... this is a very weird and interesting story, but I still don't see how all of this has anything to do with me and Brad being in love and wanting to be together!"

Charles took his daughter's hand in his. "Megan, sweetie, I know this all sounds irrelevant, but it's not. Our group of friends was meant to meet and share our lives together for a very special reason... We all know what it means to have found our soul mates and we've tried to teach you kids how important that is... but we didn't expect it to happen between any of you kids! And for you and Brad... Sweetie... just bear with us and we'll explain everything in the end. Go ahead, Tom..." Charles nodded at his best friend.

Tom frowned as he remembered the pain he'd felt when his old army pal Gary Butler had revealed a shocking part of the story. Gary said he'd only done it for the money, but Bradley Williams had felt betrayed by him because he'd fallen in love with the woman Tom had married on Okinawa, Yakira, and he'd had no idea that it was she who'd helped Williams convince everyone he was dead.

Brad and Megan could see the pain on his face and hear it in his voice as he told them how upset he'd been to learn of his friends' betrayals, his first wife's deception and that Williams' had felt betrayed by him and Yakira and that he'd hurt Yakira terribly to get his revenge. "I was so upset to hear all of that. I came home that morning and your mother held me and comforted me. I remember it so clearly because it was the first time she felt you move inside her, Brad. She put my hand on her stomach and I felt you, too. I laid my head on her stomach and told you that we were anxiously awaiting your arrival and that I'd keep talking to you until then."

Brad rolled his eyes. "Oh, for God's sake, Dad! You've always been so damn corny! I can't believe you started it even before I was born!"

"Thomas Bradley... what a mean thing to say to your own father! I think it's very sweet, Uncle Tom. Daddy told me he did the same thing with Charlie and me before we were born!"

Tom and Charles stared at each other and Charles said quietly, "That's because Uncle Tom and I wanted to be fathers so desperately... we loved you kids even before you were born." He looked at his daughter's smiling face and reached his hand out to caress her cheek. Then he looked back at Tom. "Go on, partner, finish telling about how this case played out."

Tom told them about how the bust went down at the port docks and how Donald Price had intended to kill Uncle Bob until Aunt Lisa unexpectedly showed up to warn him. "They got into a scuffle, so that's when we moved in. Your Dad and I got Price to lower his gun, and that's when your Dad saved my life, Meggie. Bradley Williams pulled a gun on me and Charles shot him. Price raised his gun again to shoot your Dad but your Uncle Bob shot him in the shoulder and stopped him. Williams wasn't so lucky... your Dad hit him square in the chest."


Price of Past Miracles Ch. 01



Charles frowned and looked down as his daughter's eyes widened in shock. Tom continued, "He didn't mean to kill him Meggie... it just happened so fast that he could only react on gut instinct. And I think Williams would rather have been killed than to end up in prison any way. He confessed to me before he died that he'd never meant to hurt Yakira... he knew she loved me and that the baby she was carrying when she died was mine. His last words were that he loved her..."

Tom looked at his son. "Bradley Williams was a great man for many years... he just couldn't handle the horrors that we faced during the war and the fact that the only woman he'd ever loved didn't love him back. That's why I gave you his name, Brad, to honor the good man that he was before..." Brad smiled sadly and nodded his head as though he understood.

Then Tom chuckled. "Your Aunt Lisa was shocked to learn that your Uncle Bob had been an undercover agent for the CIA the whole time. She was afraid that she'd let herself fall in love with a guy who was just as bad as her father and Donald Price! She begged Bob to take her away that night... they'd never been together, and Bob had looked desperate when he told her they'd have to wait until after being debriefed. Charles felt sorry for them and told them to disappear for a while and to come back and give their statements when they were ready!" 

Megan busted out laughing. "My God, Dad! You really like to play matchmaker, don't you? First Uncle Tom and Aunt Lynda and then Uncle Bob and Aunt Lisa! Maybe I should've told you how I felt about Brad a long time ago so you could've helped me get his attention sooner!"

Charles frowned sadly. "Megan, sweetie... I, too, wish you had told me about you're feelings for Brad. It would've been a lot easier to help you then... But now..." He swallowed the lump that kept trying to form in his throat. "I didn't play matchmaker for Uncle Bob and Aunt Lisa... they were already in love. I just couldn't stand the thought that two soul mates had been kept apart due to twisted circumstances beyond their control, so I gave them a break..."

And from what Lisa told Diana and Lynda years later about that night, she was eternally grateful to Charles for that... His mind drifted and filled in the details of what had happened between Bob and Lisa from what Diana had described to him during a really hot lovemaking session one night...

Bob was almost old enough to be Lisa's father and they had built a vivid fantasy about her being "Daddy's little girl!" Then he frowned and shook his head. It's OK to fantasize about an incestuous relationship... but not to play it out for real... 

Tom looked at Brad and Megan as he continued the story about how everyone had realized that they had been destined to meet through strange coincidences and that they had all let go of perceived past hurts and how their group of friends was expanding. It was during that time that Diana had learned she was pregnant and how elated everyone had been for them and how Rick had introduced everyone to his partner Larry Wilson and his new wife, Maria, just before Lily was born.

Brad got up to pace in front of the couch again. "OK... so you discovered that some good guys had gone bad, some guy who'd been a bastard in the past to Aunt Dee was actually a good guy and now he's married to the second ex-wife of the bastard who was first married to my Mom and you're all friends now! The arrests didn't go down as smoothly as you would've liked, but the arms smuggling ring was shut down and the bad guys ended up in prison or dead... justice was served. The end. Like Meggie said earlier... this was a very interesting, but twisted, story... but what does it have to do with us?"

Tom sighed. "You kids have always known what close friends we've been through the years. What we were trying to make you understand from this story is that Charles and I felt an instant connection when we met... we've always instinctively trusted each other. That's why we've always made such a good team. And your mothers were friends for years before we met them... they've always been as close as sisters.

"There's nothing we wouldn't do for each other... and we made some pretty big sacrifices in years past in the name of love and friendship so that we could all be happy. Especially when it came to you children. It all started on New Year's Eve 1956... And as soon as we refresh our drinks again, we'll finish explaining," Tom said as he stood to move to the bar.

Brad and Megan groaned in frustration.  

The adults were all thinking the same thing. We can't tell the kids everything, only what they need to know... But we sure shared some really wild times that night... 

Memories of that night flooded their minds as the adults fixed themselves very stiff drinks... 



Price of Past Miracles Ch. 02



New Year's Eve 1956 in Washington, D.C. was the night Tom and Lynda Seldon made the ultimate sacrifice for their best friends, Charles and Diana Richards. They had made the most gut-wrenching decision of their lives... and they'd had second and third and fourth thoughts about what they did. But at Charles' insistence, Tom had finally relented to that one-time attempt to help them create a miracle...

**********

"Kiss me, Lynda. I'm going to lose it because I don't think I can do this!" Tom muttered quietly, his eyes closed tightly.

Lynda leaned over her husband and kissed him softly as she reached down under the towel draped over his hips to stroke his half-hard shaft until he was firm again. She released him and gestured with her hand for Charles to move Diana closer.

"No Charles... I'm sorry... I can't do this! Please don't make me do this!" Diana whispered hoarsely.

He helped her to kneel over top of Tom's body as Lynda removed the towel and Charles closed his eyes. "Shhh... pretty lady. I'm right here. Keep your eyes closed. I'm right behind you. It's me... I'm the one sliding inside your body." You're in for a real treat, my friend... 

Tom moaned deeply.

Now do you see, partner... I've told you I can never get enough of her... "I'm right here, pretty lady... moving with you! Feel me inside your body. That's me, Diana. Feel my hands on your breasts... you know my touch. It's me... that's it baby... rock yourself for a moment."

Can he make you come as fast as I can, pretty lady? It's OK... go ahead and come. Let him feel your tight, sweet pussy pulsing on his hard dick so he'll come faster...

Diana cried, "Oh, God... NO! I don't want to come!" Her body convulsed as her flesh squeezed Tom's shaft. "Oh, God... Oh, God...Oh... ohhhh..."

Charles squeezed his eyes shut tighter. "It's OK, baby... I know you can't help it. Just let go and stroke yourself on me. Make me come, Diana. Make me come inside you, my love." Fuck him, Diana... make him come! Get this over with before I lose control, too...

Tom groaned hoarsely, "Oh, God... Lynda... I didn't mean to make her..." He shut his eyes tighter. Oh, God... this isn't going to take long! Damn it... her body feels so fucking good...

Lynda grasped Tom's face. "It's me, darling. I'm the one making love to you. Kiss me, my darling... come for me, my love!" Do it quickly before I lose my mind! I shouldn't have peeked! Now I have the image of my best friend impaled on my husband's body burned on my brain...

Diana howled, "NOOOOO!!!!" just as Tom erupted inside her, groaning loudly. Oh, God, Lynda... WHY DID YOU MAKE ME DO THIS? HOW AM I GOING TO LIVE WITH THIS?!!! She screamed, "Let go of me! Get me off of him! I can't believe I ever agreed to this!! Charles... how could you do this to me? After what you made me promise! How will you ever be able to live with me... or work with Tom? How will I ever be able to face my best friend again?"

She struggled vainly to disengage her body from the one beneath her, her eyes still tightly shut.

Charles still kept his eyes closed. "Shhh... Diana... stop this. You have nothing to feel guilty for... this is all on me. This is my own selfish need to try to give you something that I might otherwise never be able to give you. You've never broken your promise to me and I could never live without you. As for working with Tom... as far as I'm concerned, he was making love to Lynda while I was making love to you!" I'm saying that for his benefit, pretty lady...

He grasped his wife's shaking body and pulled her sideways to the other side of the bed as soon as he felt Tom's body stop jerking, signaling that his orgasm had ended. He forced her onto her back as he moved between her legs and pulled the sheet up over them. 

"Open your eyes, Diana." She lifted her lids, tears sticking to her sparse lashes. She moaned deeply as he entered her slowly. Does it really feel that different, pretty lady? Are you sure it wasn't me that was inside you just a moment ago...

She closed her eyes again. Yes... I know your cock... I know that wasn't you inside me! That's why I didn't want to come! I wasn't supposed to enjoy it...

How could you not? As much as I hate to admit it, Diana... this whole scenario excited me. Why would my cock have been this hard and throbbing the whole time? I should feel jealous and resentful... but I feel guilty more than anything else. I enjoyed the thought of sharing you... just this once... with the only man I'd ever trust not to try to steal you from me... 

Tom kept his eyes closed as he wrapped the towel that was under his hips around his body. He sat up on the edge of the other side of the bed with his back to them. "If you guys will excuse me... I feel the need for a shower. Lynda, sweetheart... would you join me, please?"

"Of course, darling. I'll help you to wash away any bad feelings." The two of them stood up from the bed.

Charles buried himself inside his wife and was still for a moment. "Tom, Lynda..." When they both looked down at them, he said sincerely, "I... don't know what to say. Thank you seems pretty... inadequate at the moment. Whether this works or not... I'm grateful any way."

Tom and Lynda smiled at them sadly and nodded their heads before they turned away and went into the bathroom. Tom started the shower, got in and stood under the tepid spray as the water heated up. He heard Lynda climb in and felt her arms wrap around the front of his body as she hugged him from behind.

"Why do I suddenly feel like a prized stud? I haven't come that fast since I was a horny teenaged boy! I almost feel... used! This is ridiculous! Lynda... when I said I'd do anything in the world for you, I really meant it! But I'll never do THAT again!" 

Lynda snorted an ironic laugh. "Good! Because I have no intention of ever putting myself through that again! I love Diana and Charles and I really want them to have a chance at the joy of being parents... but I'm done! We've more than repaid the favor of them making sure we met each other!"

She paused and dropped her arms from around her husband's body. "I made the mistake of peeking while she was impaled on you and I think that's an image that will haunt me the rest of my life! But I guess I deserve a little payback for that night I almost tried to seduce Charles when he was drunk!"

Tom turned around and hugged Lynda to him. "Sweetheart, don't start blaming yourself again for feelings you couldn't control. That was before we met! And you know they don't blame you anymore, either. We're not going to play the blame game. Like you said... I, too, love Diana and Charles and want them to be happy. But we did our part and now we're done. And we'll continue to pray for a miracle. As far as I'm concerned, if Diana does get pregnant, that baby is theirs... in every way. Whether I contributed or not... it will be their child."

He pulled back from Lynda to stare at her. "We will never speak of this again. And Jon and Barbara and Rick and Dawn need never know. Let's finish our shower, dress and go back down to the party. I'm sure Charles will want to make love to Diana as many times as he can... so we'll never really know for sure..."

After the third time Charles had made love to her, Diana could no longer hold back her fear that what they had done was sinful and they had no right to be asking for a miracle as a result and she had burst into tears.

"Don't cry, pretty lady," Charles had said gently as he stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "We did this for us... to make our own miracle happen. We can't keep relying on the powers of fate or destiny to determine our lives. I'm not going to sit back and let the dark forces of the universe continue to try and take happiness away from us. We've been through too much to just give up."

"Oh, Charles..." she'd croaked hoarsely, "What if I still don't get pregnant? This will have been for nothing! What if it's not just you... what if it's me, too?" She'd started to cry harder.

He'd laid his forehead against hers. "Don't think like that, Diana. Pray with me. Pray to God to give us a child. We've done what we could; the rest is up to Him. Pray to Him for our miracle."

They had wrapped themselves around each other and prayed harder than they ever had.

One lone swimmer among millions had been caught up in the primal flow toward a fateful destiny... Inside her body, a rare miracle had taken place. And Diana had been right to fear that there would be a high price for such a miracle...

**********

But their children were the ones who were ending up having to pay the price for that past miracle...

Tom and Lynda and Charles and Diana all shook their heads slightly as they brought themselves back from those haunting memories to the present as they sat down with their kids again.

Diana was still in slight shock having come home from work early to find her daughter Megan in bed with Tom and Lynda's son Brad. And what was worse, they were saying that they were in love...

Tom looked at Charles. "I think you should take over to explain the rest of the story."

Charles nodded and glanced into his beautiful wife's anxious eyes and then he turned to look into his lovely daughter's expectant face as he took her hands in his. "Megan, sweetie... remember when Uncle Tom said that they tried to aid us in making a miracle happen on New Year's Eve 1956?" She nodded with a questioning look on her face and Charles took a deep breath. "Well... what he meant was... he... loaned his body to your mother and me that night... just once and... Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Megan was frowning in confusion, but Brad knew exactly what he meant. He jumped up from the couch and faced all four adults. "What you're saying is that my father fucked Aunt Dee and that's how she got pregnant! Oh, my God! That means... Charlie and Meggie are my half brother and sister?!!!" All the color drained from Brad's face as that realization sank in.

Charles stood up and grasped Brad's shoulders and helped him sit back down. "That's not exactly how it worked out Brad. Megan and Charlie are fraternal twins; two separate eggs were fertilized. Biologically, I am Charlie's father... but... you were half right. Megan is biologically your half-sister... even though she's my daughter."

Everyone looked at her when Megan made a strangled noise in her throat. Her eyes were welled with tears and her face was ashen. Her mother reached for her but Megan brushed her hands away. She turned her tear-filled eyes to the man she'd always known as her father. "Daddy?"

Charles held his arms toward her and she stood up to throw herself against him. "It's OK, sweetie. Nothing has changed... you have always been and always will be my little girl! I couldn't love you any more if you did carry my genes... you carry your mother's and I love both of you more than life itself. We'll do everything we can to help you get through this. I'm so sorry, Meggie... we should've told you years ago. We had no idea something like this would happen! I'm so sorry for both you and Brad!"

Charles broke down and wept with his daughter. Everyone else in the room had tears rolling down their faces as well.

Diana suddenly felt sick. The looks of passion and desire that she'd seen on her daughter's and her half-brother's faces as they were making love flashed through her mind. The shock made her stomach lurch. She jumped up and rushed out of the living room and down the hall to the bathroom and made it to the toilet just in time.

Lynda followed her best friend. "Diana... are you OK?" she called outside the bathroom door. She could clearly hear that Diana was not OK. When she no longer heard the sounds of retching, she knocked again. "Diana... are you OK now? Please, honey, open the door!"

The toilet flushed and then she heard the sink faucet running. A minute later, Diana opened the door and looked at her with a weak smile. "I'll be OK, Lynda. You just have no idea what a shock it was to me to open that bedroom door and see them together... like that." Tears came into her eyes again. "Oh, Lynda... they were looking at each other the way we look at our husbands and the way they look at us! They really are in love! How are they going to get past this?!! What have we done?!!"

Linda hugged her tightly. "It's nobody's fault, Diana. We could not possibly have predicted this would happen! None of us ever saw any indication from those kids that they had these feelings for each other. As far as we could tell, they had always treated each other like they were brother and sister. I think we need to go back and talk to the kids and find out how this came about! Come on... we have to face this now and try to help them work through it."

When they got back to the living room, Megan and Brad were sitting on opposite ends of the couch avoiding eye contact. Charles and Tom were standing at the bar pouring themselves drinks again. Diana walked over and took the glass of whiskey from her husband's hand and downed it. The liquid burned all the way down and pooled hotly in her empty stomach but its warmth somehow calmed her.

She glanced at both Tom and Charles. "Did they say anything while we were gone?" The men shook their heads.

Charles said quietly, "They won't even look at each other. They've just been told that what they feel for each other is wrong. They've innocently loved each other all their lives not knowing that it would be against the laws of nature for them to do so. This must be the worst day of their lives..."

Diana gasped. "Oh, my God... You know what today is, don't you?" They all looked at her in confusion. "Didn't you notice what today's date is?" They shook their heads. "It's June 13th... Friday the 13th... Why do things like this always seem to happen on these Fridays?!! It all started when I was raped..."

They also recalled the incident the day the twins were born when that sick woman had tried to kidnap Charlie... and it was in December 1963 when they were six years old that Charlie and Meggie had gotten so sick. They did all kinds of blood work on them to figure out what was wrong and it was discovered that the kids had different blood types. Charlie was AB positive like Charles, but Meggie was O positive, like Tom. The doctors had told them about that on the 13th of December... it was a Friday!

The doctors had taken Diana aside and told her that the only way that could've happened was that her eggs had been fertilized by sperm from two different men. She could tell by the looks on the doctors' faces that they were trying to protect her by not letting her husband know that she must've had sex with another man. They were shocked when she'd called Charles over and had them explain it to him and even more shocked when Charles just nodded his head and said that he understood. 

Megan had been lost in her jumbled thoughts. She was sitting on the couch trying to pretend that the only boy she'd ever loved wasn't sitting just six feet from her, and yet he may as well have been a thousand miles away. They would be forever separated by an invisible boundary that they could never cross again. Then she heard what her mother was saying... something about how Friday the 13th was always such an unlucky day for them...

That's not true... It was a Friday the 13th when I first realized how I felt about Brad! Oh, God... It is true... She couldn't stop the tortured whimper that bubbled up from the pit of her stomach. Everyone turned to look at her.

Diana immediately went to her daughter. "What is it sweetie? Tell us what you're thinking!"

Megan swallowed and looked into her mother's sympathetic gray blue eyes. "I heard what you were saying... about all that bad stuff happening on Friday the thirteenths. I was just thinking that something wonderful had happened to me on one of those days... Friday, November 13, 1970..." She looked at Brad and his head snapped around to stare at her.

The looks in their eyes reflected their tortured souls. "Brad and I were at a school dance that night. He asked me to dance a slow dance. He looked at me in a way I'd never seen him look at me before... That was when I fell in love..." She turned away and hung her head down to cry. She squeaked, "I guess that was an unlucky night..." She started to sob.

Oh, God, Meg... I can't stand to see you in so much pain... Brad launched himself off the couch and stalked up to his father, angry tears streaming down his face. He shoved his hands against Tom's strong, unyielding chest. "This is ALL your fault! You SON-OF-A-BITCH! How could you have agreed to something like that! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"

Megan jumped up and screamed, "BRAD! STOP IT!" When he turned to look at her, she said softly, "You're forgetting one important fact here... I wouldn't exist if it wasn't for him!"

Brad turned back around to Tom with a grief stricken look. His shoulders slumped and his head dropped forward. He couldn't stop the sobs that tore from his soul. He leaned on his father's chest for support as his body was wracked by painful waves of despair. Tom held his son and quietly cried with him for a minute until Brad pushed away from him.

He wiped his face and then eyed each one of the adults. "You should have told us. I can almost understand why you did what you did... but you should have told us. If we had grown up as kids knowing that we had this connection, it would've prevented us from thinking about each other as anything other than family!

"My feelings for Meggie were so strong even when we were only thirteen, so I forced myself to continue to think of her as my sister..." He paused as he took a couple painful deep breaths to keep from sobbing again, then he continued. "I knew she felt the same about me and if I had allowed myself to act on those feelings when we were younger... I just knew things would get beyond our control too fast. I loved her so much..." He stared at her painfully. I still do...

She stared back. Oh, Brad... I still love you, too... What are we going to do?

I don't know, Meg... I can't think when I feel so empty... I've lost my heart and soul... I've lost you...

No you haven't! I still love you! You haven't lost me...

You know what I mean Megan... I can't HAVE you... We're lost to each other... We can't be together the way we wanted... We have to figure out how to let go... How do we release each other's souls? How do we stop loving each other? I can't stop wanting you... even knowing now how wrong it is...

Brad and Megan had unconsciously moved toward each other as they traded their thoughts. He reached out to brush his fingers on her cheek. She leaned her head until he cupped her cheek in his palm. She closed her eyes and frowned painfully as she nuzzled her face against his hand.

The four adults all glanced uncomfortably at each other. They could clearly read the thoughts on their children's faces. They could feel the despair emanating from their souls in waves. They could almost hear the sounds of their hearts breaking...

At that moment, the front doorbell rang and Charles answered it. Jonnie North and Barbie Estevez came bounding in, completely unaware of the tension as they headed straight toward their best friends.

"Hey, you guys! Are we still going out for pizza and catch a movie tonight?" Barbie asked in her naturally exuberant manner.

Jonnie paused and frowned when he saw the looks on Megan and Brad's faces. What the hell is going on here? Why is she looking at Brad like that? Oh, no, Megan... please tell me you haven't fallen for Brad! It should've been me! Damn you, Brad... He cleared his throat. "Uh... what's going on here? Have we interrupted something?"




Price of Past Miracles Ch. 02



Barbie glanced around the room and suddenly realized that everyone looked upset. "Did we come at a bad time? Meggie... what's wrong? I can see you've been crying! And Brad, too! What's going on here? Did something bad happen?"

Lynda walked over to Jonnie and Barbie. "Nothing bad has happened. We were just having a little family discussion, that's all. But I don't think Meg and Brad will feel up to going out tonight, so why don't you guys..."

Lynda was cut off when Brad barked a sarcastic laugh and said, "A little family discussion... that's a good one, Mom! But I think our 'little family discussion' is over with now. I think everything that needed to be said has been said. I don't know about you, Meggie, but I sure would like to get out of here. What about you?"

Megan saw and felt his anger and it had hers bubbling to the surface as well. "You're right, Brad. We've heard all we needed to hear and I'm ready to get the hell out of here, too! Come on you guys! Let's go!" she said defiantly as she grabbed Brad's hand and headed to the front door.

Tom and Charles spoke at the same time. "Bradley!" "Megan!"

The kids stopped at the door and looked back at them. Brad put his hand on Meg's shoulder as he glared at their fathers. "I don't know where we're going and I don't know when we'll be back. We'll be back when we're ready! We have quite a bit to think about and work through. And you can't help us now. You could have years ago... but you can't now. It's too late... Come on, Meggie."

He led her out the door and climbed into the back seat of Jonnie's souped-up Camaro with her. Jonnie and Barbie jumped in the front seat and Jonnie asked him where they wanted to go. "We don't care, Jonnie. Just take us somewhere we can talk privately. But we need you guys to come with us. We have something we have to work out, but we can't be alone together. We can't trust ourselves to be alone."

Jonnie frowned again as he started his car and drove up to one of the highest points in Brentwood where there was a hilltop parking area overlooking the city. It was early evening and the sun was still shining brightly on the hillside. He and Barbie climbed out of the front seats and helped Megan and Brad out of the back.

Brad was pacing back and forth beside the car. "Damn it... now is one time I wish we'd raided the bar before we left! I really need to get good and drunk right about now!"

Jonnie wordlessly moved to the trunk of his car, opened it and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels. "Brad..." he paused as his best friend stopped pacing and looked at him. "I've got this, but I'm not gonna give it to you until you tell us what this is all about."

Brad and Megan glanced at each other and then looked back at their friends. Megan moved beside Brad and they turned to lean back against the side of the car. Brad took Megan's hand and they both sighed wearily. Brad spoke quietly as they watched their friends' faces.

"Meggie and I have always secretly loved each other. I finally told her about my feelings last New Year's Eve and she admitted hers for me. Graduation night, we made love for the first time. This afternoon, we snuck into Meggie's house while no one was home, but Aunt Dee came home early and caught us in bed together."

Barbie frowned and gasped. "Oh, my God! We've all grown up together so close that I've always thought we all kind of felt about each other like we were... cousins or something." Except for you, Brad... I've always wished you'd see me as just a girl... A girl who's always wanted you... loved you...

Megan choked out what sounded like a sob and a laugh at the same time. "Oh, God, Barbie... wait 'til you hear the rest..."

Brad started again. "Aunt Dee freaked out and called Mom and Dad and Uncle Charles because they had to tell us something important that they neglected to tell us years ago." He paused as he glanced back and forth between Jonnie and Barbie. "They neglected to tell us that the night Charlie and Meggie were conceived, both Uncle Charles and my Dad fucked Aunt Dee. Uncle Charles is Charlie's biological father, but MY DAD is Meggie's biological father! Meggie is my half-sister! I've fucked my half-sister and I'm in love with her! How sick is that!" Brad exclaimed painfully as he pushed away from the side of the car.

Jonnie North tightly gripped the neck of the bottle in his hand. Goddamn it, Brad! You took sweet Megan's virginity?! This is the first time I've ever wanted to beat the shit out of you... you've always known how I feel about her...

Brad stalked over to Jonnie and held out his hand. "Wouldn't you want to just get rip-roaring drunk right about now?" Jonnie flung the bottle at him and Brad picked it up, unscrewed the cap, put it to his mouth and turned it up to start chugging.

Jonnie and Barbie looked at each other and frowned in pain. We should've told them years ago how we feel about them...

Then Barbie rushed over to Brad and grabbed the bottle out of his hand. "Brad... I can't imagine the pain you must be feeling right now, but this is not the answer!"

Megan walked over and grabbed the bottle from Barbie. "You're right Barbie... you can't possibly know how much pain we're feeling. And this may not be the answer, but, right now, I just want the pain to go away!" She turned the bottle up and took several long gulps until the burning in her throat forced her to stop. She coughed and started to cry.

Jonnie turned to Megan and gently took the bottle from her hand and took several long swallows. I'm going to need a little liquid courage to finally tell you how I feel, my sweet Megan... But first...

"You're such an arrogant asshole, Brad Seldon! I told you years ago how I felt about Megan and you told me that you asked her if she liked me and you said she said no! But Barbie told me that she asked Megan about that afterward and Megan told her you never said a word to her about me! You wanted her for yourself and you got her... and now look what it's gotten both of you!"

Megan elicited a strangled sob. "Oh, Jonnie! I never knew how you really felt about me... but it wouldn't have mattered! I've been in love with Brad since we were thirteen!"

Jonnie moved to her and grabbed her upper arms. "Since you were thirteen, huh? Well, we were twelve when I told Brad I loved you! Can you honestly tell me that you wouldn't have noticed me if I'd told you then how I felt about you?"

Megan frowned in confusion and looked away. Her skin tingled where Jonnie's strong hands were grasping her and she started to breathe heavily. Oh, God, Jonnie... you've always made me feel so nervous! I can't control how my body reacts to you...

Brad stalked over and yanked Megan out of Jonnie's grasp. "You keep your goddamn hands off her, Jonnie! She doesn't love you... she loves me!"

Jonnie shoved his hands on Brad's chest. "Only because you brainwashed her into loving you, you bastard! You wouldn't even let her consider looking at ME that way!"

Brad shoved him back. "You didn't love her the way I do! She's my soul mate! I knew the moment I took her body that we were meant to be together!" 

Jonnie slammed his right fist into Brad's face. "YOU SICK FUCK! Have you forgotten that she's your half-sister?!! You can't have her any more! She should've been mine in the first goddamn place!"

"STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!" Barbie screamed. They all looked at her. Tears were streaming from her dark bambi eyes. "You goddamned idiots! All of you! Yes... you too, Meg! Do you think I'm blind, you little bitch? I told you how Jonnie felt about you and I know you noticed the way he looked at you! I even caught you subtlely flirting with him sometimes when Brad wasn't around. And I even tried to tell you how I felt about Brad! Didn't you notice how I was always agreeing with you about how cute and sexy he was? I even told you once that I wished he would notice me! And you gave me that same routine about how we'd all grown up just thinking about each other like we were family! You bitch...

"You don't think I don't know what you've been doing all these years?!! You've probably been laughing behind my back this whole time at how you had both Brad and Jonnie panting after you and neither one of them even noticed me! And now look at the mess you're in! You gave your virginity to your half-brother! I almost want to laugh... this is like... poetic justice! You deserved this!"

Barbie walked over to Brad and stood right in front of him. "Was I an idiot all these years, too... did you never notice me at all? All those nights we spent just talking about all the dreams we had for the future? Dreams where you never once mentioned that you wanted to share your future with Meg! I had thought we were such close friends! Why couldn't you have confided in me how you really felt about her? And why did you kiss me that one time at school back in December?"

Megan snorted an ironic laugh. "I know why he kissed you, Barbie... Because he saw me coming down the hall! I thought he was trying to tell me that he wanted you... That he had somehow sensed how I'd felt about him all these years and that he was trying to tell me to let go of my feelings... But instead, he was trying to make me jealous. I'd been reading him wrong all the time. He was just afraid to reveal his feelings because he knew we'd have gotten in way over our heads when we were younger..."

Jonnie snorted disgustedly. "Yeah... can you imagine how much trouble you two might've ended up with if Brad had acted on his feelings when we were only fifteen! I caught you one night, Brad, when I was spending the night at your house! I woke up and heard you moaning Meggie's name and I saw you jerkin' off under the covers! Well... you weren't the only one of us who went through that! There've been many nights over the years I've fantasized about sweet Megan while trying to get rid of a raging hard-on!" He stared heatedly at Meg as he said that. Why, Megan? Why did you never notice the way I've looked at you all these years? 

Her eyes widened in surprise. My God, Jonnie... I've never seen THAT look in your deep aqua eyes before...

"Oh, God, you guys!" Barbie exclaimed frustratedly. "How many nights do you think Megan and I have had to handle our own frustrations over Brad?" She paused and then broke out into hysterical laughter. "Goddamn, Jonnie! How stupid have we been?!! You and I should've been taking our frustrations out on each other all these years instead of saving ourselves for these two idiots! I mean... look at us! You're a damn fine looking guy and I think I'm every bit as pretty as Megan... and I've got a killer bod like hers, too! Don't you think?!!" She perched her hands on her hips and cocked them provocatively.

Jonnie looked Barbie up and down and noticed just how beautiful she was. Long, straight dark brown hair; a lovely tanned complexion; deep, dark, doe-like eyes framed with curly lashes. And her killer bod... full, round breasts unconfined by a bra in her gauzy peasant top that ended at her tiny waist, her firm nipples jutting forward through the thin material; and her hips flared provocatively where her jeans hugged them just above the curve of her round, shapely ass.

Brad was also staring at her. Yes, Barbie...you've got everything a guy could want... and you really surprised me with how you responded to me when I kissed you that one time... Why couldn't I have noticed that sooner? Before everything turned into such a mess...

Megan noticed the way both Brad and Jonnie were looking at Barbie. This is how I always expected things would go between us... Megan laughed and cried at the same time and the others turned to look at her. "Oh, Barbie... you were right! All those years I was deliberately trying to compete for both of them because I knew one day... one of them was bound to notice what a fox you are! I had just always hoped it wouldn't be Brad... and now I wish it was!" She broke down sobbing again.

Barbie went to her best friend and held her. She said hoarsely, "I'm so sorry, Meggie... I didn't mean those terrible things I said before! And I can sort of imagine how much pain you must be in right now. I've felt the same way about Brad for years and if I was suddenly told I couldn't love him any more... I don't know what I'd do!" The two girls hugged each other and cried together for a few moments.

Jonnie North groaned in frustration and took another long chug from the bottle in his hand. Then he stalked over to the guy he'd always considered his best friend. Brad had a strange expression on his face as he stared at the two girls. Jonnie muttered, "Goddamn it, Seldon... you must be fuckin' lovin' this! Look at that! Both of them are crying over you! You selfish bastard..."

Brad spun around with a stricken look on his face. "FUCK YOU, JONNIE!" he cried hoarsely as tears filled his eyes. "Do you think I wanted this to happen? I don't know why I developed such deep feelings for Megan instead of Barbie! And Megan couldn't control how she felt about me, either! This is just a sick twist of fate because of our parents' strangely intertwined lives! It's their fault... not ours! If they'd told Megan and me about this years ago, none of this would've happened! You'd have been free to pursue Meggie and I probably would've gone after Barbie!" He turned away from Brad and used his right hand to wipe the tears from his eyes.

Jonnie felt the liquor kicking in and he had a thought that struck him as funny so he burst out laughing. Brad turned around to look at him with a frown. Jonnie gasped out, "Yeah, but with your luck, you'd have probably ended up fighting with Charlie over Barbie!" He sank down onto the ground as he rolled with laughter for a few moments.

The other three just stared at him as he calmed his laughter somewhat. "Oh, come on you guys! That was a joke! This situation is getting entirely too tense! Whatever else we guys may have meant to each other all our lives, we've always been friends! We've always been there for each other! We can't let something like this tear us apart! You're right, Brad... it's not your fault." 

Jonnie sobered again. "But now it's out... and you guys have to figure out how to deal with your feelings. And I'm just gonna throw mine out there, too, so you'll have something else to confuse you even more." He stared at Megan intensely. "I've always loved you, Meg... even before Brad did. I wish I'd told you myself years ago... maybe I could've prevented all this pain for you. I'm so sorry, sweet Megan. I hope you'll give me the chance to make it up to you some day..."

Megan stared in confusion at the intense emotions in Jonnie North's eyes. She saw deep longing and desperate desire... the same look she'd seen in Brad's eyes the last several months. She turned to stare at Brad but the only emotion she could read in his eyes now was sadness... loss. Then she looked at Barbie, her best friend. Barbie was staring at Brad with the same expressions in her eyes as Jonnie's held for her. Only Barbie's eyes also reflected the pain she saw in Brad's.

Megan closed her eyes and shook her head as she blurted out, "How the hell did this happen to us? Why were Brad and I so drawn to each other? Why wouldn't something in our subconscious souls have told us that we share the same DNA? What was it that made us so fixated on each other that we didn't pay any attention to the two people who we were probably meant to be with?"

She put her hands to her head and dug her fingers into her hair as if to yank it out as she screamed in frustration. Then she turned and stomped toward Jonnie's car and threw herself down on the hood and pounded her fist on it as fresh tears spilled from her eyes. She moaned miserably, "Damn our parents! Why didn't they tell us?!!"

Brad mumbled quietly, "It's not all our parents' faults... they never suspected that you and I had these feelings. We kept them hidden all those years. I know damn well that if they had even suspected it, they would've told us right away. So... what was it that made us hide these feelings for so long? Maybe it was our subconscious souls trying to tell us that something was wrong..."

Megan stood up and looked at him painfully. "OK... maybe that's true. But why in the hell were we even drawn to each other in the first place?!! What in our sick, subconscious souls made us love each other and... want each other... when it's so... perverse?!!" 

Brad closed his eyes and frowned as he shook his head. "That... I have no clue. And I hate to admit it, but I think the only person who may be able to help us figure that out is your Dad, Meggie. Uncle Charles has degrees in psychology and psychiatry... maybe he could help us understand why this happened... and how to deal with it now."

Megan frowned sadly. "He was very sympathetic to what we're going through. In fact, all of our parents seemed genuinely sorry for not having told us. And, you're right... we never gave them any indication of our feelings for each other..."



Price of Past Miracles Ch. 03



Charles and Diana and Tom and Lynda were relieved an hour later when they heard Jonnie's Camaro pull up in front of the Richards' home in Brentwood again. They walked to the window and saw Barbie climbing out of the driver's seat, Jonnie stumbling out of the passenger seat and both of them helping Megan and Brad out of the backseat. They all turned toward the door as it opened. 

Jonnie North entered behind Megan and he looked right at her mother. "If you guys had told Meggie that she and Brad shared the same father years ago, it could've been me you caught her in bed with instead of Brad! Damn it… it shoulda been ME!!!" he shouted drunkenly at her.

Barbie grabbed his arm and hissed, "Shut up, Jonnie. Now is not the time to bring that up!" She led him over to one of the couches and sat down with him.

Megan and Brad indicated to their parents to sit down on the other couch across from them. When the adults were seated, they stood in front of them as Brad started to speak.

"OK… we realize that Megan and I never gave you any indication that we had these feelings for each other. And we realize that if any of you had suspected it, you would've told us right away. Which led us to wonder why we felt the need to keep these feelings hidden… and wondered if it was our subconscious minds trying to tell us that there was something wrong! That these feelings were wrong… And if so, why were we so drawn to each other in the first place?!!"

Brad looked at the man he hoped would be able to give them some answers. "Uncle Charles… can you shed any light on this? Are we just sick, or what?!!"

Charles frowned. "No, you aren't sick! This is something that just evolved from a weird twist of fate! But as for your subconscious feelings… I can't just give you guys pat answers on that. You two will have to search your own souls for those. But I can tell you kids that just because you acted on your feelings, it does not make you sick or twisted. Everyone… I don't care how respectable they may seem… everyone has some kind of twisted fantasies. And for a lot of people, incestuous thoughts are a real turn-on for them… especially if they have a family full of attractive siblings.

"Brad, have you ever realized how pretty your sister DiDi is?" Brad nodded. "Have you ever accidentally seen her naked?" Brad blushed and nodded. "Did it affect a certain part of your body in a way that made you uncomfortable?" Brad put his hand over his eyes and nodded yet again. "Would you have gone after DiDi like you did Megan?"

"NO!!!" Brad shouted. "No Way! She's my sister…"

Charles raised his eyebrows at him. "See? Even though you knew she was your sister and you would never do anything like that, you still couldn't help the way your body reacted to her. But with Megan… she's just a pretty girl that you've known all your life and grown up with her and you guys are very close friends. I'll bet you got those feelings for Megan when her body blossomed when you guys were about thirteen… is that right?" Brad nodded again.

"When you danced with her that night, you let your guard slip and Megan saw how you were feeling about her in your eyes… that's when she started to have the same feelings for you. But, as for why you felt you had to hold back those feelings… I can't answer for you. You will have to figure that out for yourself. And Brad… you showed a lot of maturity and responsibility with your restraint, and that's a testament to your good character. Don't let this situation in any way make you feel like you did anything wrong or that you're a bad person. The only way that could happen is if you two can't let go now that you know the truth."

Charles looked into his daughter's eyes. "Megan, sweetie… do you have anything in particular about this that's most troubling to you?"

Megan frowned and looked down. "Oh, Daddy… Barbie made me realize tonight that I've known all along that Jonnie had feelings for me, too. And I've always liked Jonnie… and I'd kept it in the back of my mind that if I could never get Brad to notice me that I would've turned to Jonnie. So… why was I so fixated on Brad?"

Charles frowned and shook his head. "This is a question I may not be able to help answer for you, sweetie, but I'll try. Can you tell me what it was about Brad that attracted you to him in the first place? Was it more emotional or physical?"

Megan frowned hard as she tried to concentrate. "It was more… emotional," she answered softly as she looked up at Brad. "You made me feel safe. You were always looking out for me. I knew you'd never let anything happen to me." She looked back at her father. "Kind of like how you always made me feel when I was a little girl, Daddy, when you'd come into my room at night after I'd had a bad dream and hold me until I fell asleep again."

Charles smiled at her and took her hand and then he looked serious again. "And what about Jonnie? How does he make you feel?"

Megan turned and looked back at Jonnie North, his intense aqua eyes piercing through her and making her nerves tingle. She swallowed and turned back around to face her father. "Nervous and… breathless. Sometimes he'd be horsing around with me in the pool and when he'd grab me and try to dunk me, his hands on me and the look in his eyes made me breathe funny. My skin tingles when he touches me… it makes me… nervous!"

Jonnie closed his eyes and groaned as his head flopped back on the couch. "Damn, Megan… I didn't mean to scare you! I just… couldn't stay away from you! I wanted to touch you and… be near you! I would never let anything happen to you, either!"

Charles looked over at Jonnie and saw the desperation on the young man's face as he stared at his daughter and he smiled inwardly. That's actually a good sign, Jonnie… Charles looked back up at Megan. "Sweetie… do you find Jonnie physically attractive?"

She closed her eyes as she saw an image of Jonnie's strong body in nothing but his wet swimming trunks plastered to his hard, round butt and the large bulge in the front. Water was dripping down his firmly muscled, nearly hairless chest and his deep aqua eyes were staring at her from his handsome face. His muscles flexed as he reached up to slick his dark, wet hair back from his face. She shivered as she felt the tingles coursing through her body… the tingles that made her feel nervous around him. She opened her eyes and stared at her father nervously. "Yes," she whispered.

Brad snorted, "Damn it, Meg… are you saying you didn't find ME physically attractive?!!"

Megan looked up at him with her eyes flashing. "How can you say that, Brad, after the way I responded to you when we made love?!!"

Charles stood up and moved between them. "All right… we don't need to know the details! That's over with now! What we need to figure out now is how to get you two past that and the only way we can do that is to try to help you figure out why it happened! And I think I'm on to something here… at least as far as Megan is concerned."

He turned to his daughter and put his hands on her shoulders. "Sweetie… I think the reason you gravitated toward Brad instead of Jonnie is because Brad reminded you of me. Lots of young girls when they first fall in love tend to pick a guy who reminds them of their father. The reason Jonnie makes you so nervous is because you seem to have a strong physical attraction to him and those feelings can be very frightening to a young woman.

"Part of the reason your mother and I knew we'd found our soul mate again was because our physical attraction to each other was instantaneous. Our bodies knew before our hearts did that we were meant for each other! But we were thirty years old then… you're not quite eighteen yet, and you just didn't know how to handle your body's reaction to Jonnie's nearness.

"Brad made you feel safe, and because your heart told you you could trust him, it allowed your body to relax and be open to how good he made you feel. But sweetie, I'm now going to ask you a similar question to what I asked Brad before… Would it make you uncomfortable to know that Charlie had the same reaction to seeing you naked that Brad did when he saw DiDi?" Megan nodded her head quickly.

"Not having the knowledge that you and Brad share the same DNA is the only factor that allowed you and he to act on your feelings. Now that you know, you two have to be conscious that your bodies will still probably react to each other in ways that will make you two feel like you still love and want each other. And it's not because you're sick or twisted… it's simply a natural physical response that's been enhanced because you two were actually intimate."

Charles closed his eyes and frowned before he continued and then he glanced back and forth at both of them. "I can only assume from what has been said and what your mother saw, Megan, that what happened between the two of you… was good… that you were… good together. It would've been a lot easier for the two of you if it had been bad! You wouldn't still be as attracted to each other and it would be a lot easier to let go… but that's not how it worked out."

Charles moved away from them and paced back and forth. "I can only guess that the reason you two were so good together is because… well, I don't know how else to put this… it's in your genes! I don't mean to embarrass you kids, but Megan, sweetie… your Mama is very good in bed! And Brad… well… your Mom and Dad can't keep their hands off of each other just like Aunt Dee and me!"

Brad and Megan rolled their eyes and then Megan looked at her mother. "Yeah, Dad… I know! But Mama's not just good in bed! You don't know how many times I've had to sneak away from catching you two having sex! In the pool… in the kitchen… on the couch late at night! God… you two are like a having a live sexual instruction manual!"

Charles, Brad and Megan turned around when they heard Barbie and Jonnie snorting behind them. "What's so funny, guys?" Charles asked them.

Jonnie grinned as he said, "You don't know how many times I've caught my Mom and Dad doin' it over the years, too! It's a wonder they only had me and Crystal! And the things I've heard them say to each other and the way my Mom screams sometimes… Good God… it's downright embarrassing!"

Barbie laughed. "No kidding! Rickie and I have learned some really interesting Spanish phrases from listening to our Mom and Dad having sex! They like to talk dirty to each other in Spanish! They think Rickie and I have never bothered to learn, but Abuelo Ernesto and Abuela Maria have been teaching us Spanish all our lives!"

Brad looked around at his parents still seated on the couch next to each other holding hands and he smiled wryly and shook his head as he looked at his father. "I learned everything about how to make love to a woman from watching and listening to you, Dad." Then he turned and looked at Megan. "I wanted to make our first time as good for you as I could… and I didn't hurt you, did I, Meg?"

"No, Brad… it was wonderful…"

Jonnie North growled loudly, "GODDAMN IT, YOU TWO… SHUT UP!!! I don't want to hear any more about that! I still wanna beat the shit outta you, Brad Seldon!" he shouted as he stood up from the couch.

At that moment, the front door opened as Charlie Richards and Lily Wilson arrived. They stopped abruptly when they heard Jonnie yelling at Brad. Charlie frowned and looked around. "OK… what's going on here? What have we missed?"

Jonnie's head swung around to look at them as he said sarcastically, "Oh, nothin' much, Charlie! We just found out today that Megan is Brad's half-sister and he's fucked her… Ain't that somethin'?!!"

Charlie closed his gray blue eyes and frowned for a moment and then opened them and stared straight at his twin sister. Oh, my God… I never realized she's only MY half-sister, too… "Meggie… I had no idea you had feelings like that for Brad! If I'd known, I'd have told you…"

Charles walked over to his son. "You knew, Charlie? You knew that Uncle Tom was Megan's biological father? How did you find out?"

Charlie exhaled heavily. "I was looking through our family records trying to find my last physical report from the doctor to give to the school so I could sign up to play football my freshman year. I found a copy of one of Meggie's physicals, too, and I happened to notice that we had different blood types. I didn't think that sounded right, so I asked my biology teacher how that could happen. She told me it was virtually impossible but that the only way it could is that the two eggs would've had to be fertilized by sperm from two different donors. I was still confused and she didn't want to answer me when I asked her to explain further. She finally told me EXACTLY how it would've had to happen.

"Well… knowing how close you and Mom have been with Uncle Tom and Aunt Lynda all these years, I sort of figured it out. Especially when I asked Brad what his blood type was and he told me he was O positive… like Meggie."

Charlie then narrowly eyed his father and asked jokingly, "So Dad… did you actually watch Mom get screwed by Uncle Tom?"

Diana and Lynda gasped as Charles reached out and grabbed his son by the back of the neck and shook him slightly as he gritted, "That's not how it happened and it's none of your business, young man! Don't you ever ask a question like that again!" He released Charlie and looked around at all of the kids, who were eyeing the adults speculatively; he knew they were all wondering how on earth they could've done what they did.

Charles backed up far enough to be able to look at all of the young adults. "All right, you guys… I know this has been a somewhat shocking revelation but you need to understand that this was a one-time act of desperation. It never happened again because we got what we'd prayed for that night… And even if we hadn't, it still would've never happened again because it would've been a clear sign that what we did was wrong. But because we WERE blessed with you kids, we will never feel that what happened that night was wrong… Do you understand?!!!" he asked sincerely as he eyed his children and each one of their friends.

They all lowered their heads as they nodded slowly; then Charles asked the other kids for a favor. "Look… this is something that we never shared with your parents, so we'd appreciate it if you let us explain it to them. OK?" They all nodded their agreements, so Charles ended with, "Thank you. We'll try to get them over here tonight and explain that you all found out accidentally and that we felt we needed to tell them as well."

**********

Jon and Barbara North, Rick and Dawn Estevez and Larry and Maria Wilson were all seated in the Richards' living room having desserts and drinks when Charles and Tom told them about the decision they'd made that fateful New Years' Eve in 1956. Their friends all noticed how uncomfortable and embarrassed the two men seemed to be admitting that they'd actually gone through with such an act.

The Estevezes and the Wilsons glanced at each other sheepishly and Dawn spoke up to try to relieve some of their friends' apparent guilt. "Charles, Tom… you should never feel that we'd judge you for this. You did it for the best of intentions and we're all very happy that it worked out for you! Isn't that right, everybody?" she asked brightly as she glanced around at all the others and noticed that even Jon and Barbara readily agreed. Hmm… I wonder what those two have been up to?!!

"That's very nice of you to say and I hope you will all still feel the same when we tell you this next part," Tom said quietly and then sighed heavily as he began to explain the situation between Brad and Megan. He and Charles glanced at each other when they noticed how everyone else's eyes widened slightly and then they all frowned with sympathy as they glanced around at their worried friends.

Barbara looked at Diana and said softly, "Oh God, Diana… that must've been an awful feeling! I'm so sorry now that I never said anything to you when Jonnie told me how upset he was that Brad was trying to keep him away from Megan! I just thought this was something that the kids would have to work out between themselves! If I'd just said something… you could've stopped it! I'm so sorry… I kept telling Jonnie that if he felt that strongly about Megan then he owed it to himself and her to let her know! I really wish now that he'd listened to me!"

Diana looked at her good friend and frowned as she smiled sadly. "It's OK, Barb. You had no way of knowing how differently things might've worked out. Besides… Meggie admitted herself that she knew Jonnie had feelings for her, but she was scared of him because she's so physically attracted to him. I'm hoping now that she'll relax and not see Jonnie as a threat and that he can help her get over Brad."

Charles snorted an ironic laugh as he looked at Jonnie's parents. "But we'd better hope Megan doesn't get too comfortable with him too soon! I saw the way your boy was looking at my daughter and the way she looked when she described how nervous she felt around him… If those two do end up together… Lord have mercy…" was all he could think to mumble as he closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. I think Jonnie and my little girl will probably put me and her Mama to shame…

Then Lynda Seldon spoke up for the first time since all of their friends had arrived. "Has anyone else thought it strange that most of our kids seem to have always thought of each other as family and that the only two who actually were related were the only ones who developed feelings like that for each other? I had always kind of hoped that Brad would end up falling for either Lily or Barbie, but now…"

Dawn smiled softly at her as she interrupted. "Well Lynda, don't give up hope too soon. I happen to know my daughter is nuts over Brad, and I'm also hoping this thing won't come between her and Megan. Because if I know my Barbie, she's going to do everything she can to help Brad get over this! So, we may need to keep an eye on those two… I wouldn't put it past my daughter to do whatever it takes!"

Rick looked at his wife with an alarmed expression as he exclaimed, "Are you saying my little girl is no longer innocent?!! Has she actually told you that?!!"

Dawn patted his arm and spoke soothingly. "No, honey! I just know how much she loves Brad and she's dreamed about him for years. She told me about those dreams when she started waking up wondering why her body felt so strange when she saw herself doing things with Brad that she's caught me and you at over the years! Unfortunately, she's inherited both of our libidos! I'm impressed that she's made it this long without losing her virginity… even though I put her on birth control last year."

"YOU DID WHAT?!!!" Rick roared at his wife as his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Dawn and most of the other adults chuckled quietly at the shocked expression on her husband's face. "Now Rick… don't get upset. This was my idea, not Barbie's. I knew she wouldn't automatically assume that just because she was prepared, she could jump into sex with just anyone. You know our daughter is a good girl… I just wanted her to be prepared in case Brad ever did finally notice how she felt about him. He was the one boy I was most worried about because I know Barbie will never be able to resist him if he ever makes a move on her."

Rick stood up and pointed at Tom as he exclaimed nervously, "You keep your son away from my little girl, Seldon!!!" There was a moment of stunned silence and then everyone else burst into laughter. "That's not a joke you guys!" Rick exclaimed through the gales of laughter. Then Dawn stood up and kissed him quickly and hugged him as she continued to laugh until he was hugging her back and laughing as well. 

**********

"Now, what the hell do you think they've found that could be so funny about all this?!!" Brad exclaimed as he stared toward the back of Megan and Charlie's house as they, along with Jonnie, Barbie and Lily all sat around the pool listening to their parents roar with laughter.




Price of Past Miracles Ch. 03



They'd all been wondering how the adults were going to react to the whole situation. The last thing they'd been expecting was laughter…

Barbie ventured, "Maybe they haven't told our folks anything yet… they're just trying to get them in a good mood before they break the news."

Charlie shook his head. "Nah… I don't think so. If I know my Dad, he'd want to get through it as soon as possible. He's learned the hard way over the years that there's just no easy way to break things gently. Which has me wondering, too… just what the hell DO they find so funny?!!"

Lily smiled as she laid her head on Charlie's shoulder and said softly, "I wonder how funny they'd think it was to find out that I'm in love with a guy who could now be considered jailbait for me!" Charlie looked down into her ocean blue eyes and grinned, showing off the dimple he inherited from his father in his right cheek.

Megan looked at her brother and his secret girlfriend and chuckled as she shook her head. "And you two were surprised that Brad and I had been able to keep our feelings secret? It looks like we're not the only ones good at that! Just how long has this been going on between you two?"

"Since the beginning of our junior year, sis," Charlie replied as he looked over at Megan. Then he amended jokingly, "I mean half-sis!" Then he caught the slightly painful wince on her face. "I'm sorry, Meggie… that was a stupid joke. After I figured out what happened, it never changed how much I care about you… even though you're only my half-sister, I still whole love you!" he said sincerely as he smiled at her until she smiled back.

Then he looked into his best friend and confidant's deep blue eyes again as he continued. "Lily and I became such good friends when we kept ending up in all the same science and advanced classes and both figured out that we wanted to go to medical school and become doctors. I told her what I'd found out about you and she swore that she'd keep it secret with me… and she has. We realized we were in love when we kept getting jealous whenever one of the other football players or cheerleaders would flirt with her or me. But we didn't think any of you guys would understand since she is older than me… even though it's only by about six months!"

Charlie paused as he leaned down to kiss her softly, and then looked over at his twin half-sister again. "We didn't have sex until this past New Year's Eve. None of you even noticed that the two of us left that party early, did you?!!" he asked slyly as he glanced around at them as they chuckled and shook their heads.

Lily put her hand on his cheek and turned his face toward hers. "I just couldn't resist him any longer and I wanted to be with him before I turned eighteen so I couldn't be arrested for statutory rape!" she said jokingly as Charlie chuckled and kissed her again.

Then he pulled back and stared at her. "That's why we both applied to UCLA for pre-med… so we can live at home instead of on campus until we can save enough money to get our own place and live together until we get married. I want to go into pediatrics and Lily wants to go into OB/GYN and we think that will be perfect for us to start our own practice after med school! She treats expectant mothers and I take care of the babies after they're born! How perfect is that?!!" Charlie exclaimed excitedly as he looked at their friends again.

Brad snorted softly as he shook his head. "Man, Charlie… you think you and Lily have your whole futures mapped out… just like that?!! You'd better be careful, my friend… anything could come along at any moment and rip that road map right out of your hands! Maybe you should go make sure that your Dad didn't mess around with Aunt Maria! But then again… with him thinking that he's shooting mostly blanks, he might've felt free to mess around with any of our mothers' friends!"

Charlie jumped up and started to move toward Brad, until Jonnie stopped him. "Whoa there… I'm sure he didn't mean that, Charlie. That was a terrible thing to say, Brad! Just because you're hurting right now it doesn't give you the right to say stupid and cruel things! Not to mention the fact that you just hurt Megan's feelings, too, you stupid jerk!"

Brad looked across to the girl he felt he'd always loved and had been making love to earlier that day… not knowing she was his half-sister. Megan's lower lip was trembling as she stared at him in shock and pain. He grimaced and shook his head as he said, "Oh God… I'm sorry, Meggie… I didn't mean that! Jonnie's right… I'm just saying stupid things because I'm still in shock about all this! I can't believe how easy it is for me to hurt you now… when all I wanted to do was love you…" He trailed off and turned away as the pain deepened in Megan's eyes.

Barbie got up and went to him and put her hand on his shoulder as she moved in front of him. "I'm so sorry, Brad. I can't imagine how confusing this must be for you, but I'm here… I've always been here for you. You always told me you felt like you could tell me anything… I wish you would now! I want to help you, Brad… let me help you… please?" she whispered desperately, her dark doe eyes shimmering with tears as she stared up into his sad hazel eyes.

Megan looked away and stifled a whimper as she watched Brad take her best friend into his arms to cry on her shoulder. This is how it has to be now… He is my half-brother… we share the same father… We cannot share our lives together… not like we wanted to… I have to come up with a new dream now…

Her head snapped back around when she jerked slightly and her skin tingled when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder as she stared into Jonnie's intense gaze. She started to breathe heavily as the feeling that she was drowning in his aqua eyes started to overwhelm her again. His eyes dropped briefly to her heaving chest as his hand trailed from her shoulder to her neck and then to cup her cheek. He swallowed nervously as he stared into her eyes and then spoke quietly.

"I wish you weren't so scared of me, Meg. I won't ever do anything to hurt you. And I want you to know that I'm here if you need me… I'll wait as long as it takes. I love you, Meg… I've always loved you."

She held absolutely still as Jonnie leaned slowly toward her as he sat next to her on the chaise lounge. She knew he was going to kiss her and she could've stopped him at any moment, but her confusion over the recent revelations made her impotent to act. He stopped just before their lips touched as he searched her eyes for some indication that she didn't want him to do it… and she thought the overwhelming nervousness she felt was plain to see in her half-closed eyes.

Please don't stop me, Meg… Let me kiss you… just once… Let me show you how much you mean to me… Yes, sweet Megan… I can see in your eyes how confused you are… Let me make this perfectly clear… I love you… I want you… I need you… He closed his eyes as he tilted his head to fit their mouths together perfectly…

Megan whimpered softly as Jonnie touched his lips to hers in a kiss more tender than she ever thought he'd be capable of with her. Her nervousness melted away as her lips softened to meld with his. The next thing she knew her lips were parting as his tongue tentatively sought hers and stroked it seductively. She moaned at the same moment as he when he slid his hand into her hair to crush his mouth to hers, briefly conveying the strong desire for her that she'd always read in his eyes.

Jonnie used every ounce of his willpower to pull back from Meg even though he felt her responding to his kiss… he knew it was too soon to push her any further. It would only add to her confusion and he didn't want her to come to him while she was still wrestling with her feelings over Brad. "I meant what I said, Meg… I'll wait as long as it takes for you to figure out when you're ready for me. And I promise you… you'll never be sorry…" he added when he saw her glance sadly over his shoulder to where Barbie was holding a silently sobbing Brad.

Jonnie used every ounce of his strength to swallow his fear that even though Megan might actually come to love him, he would always come second in her heart behind Brad. He couldn't shake the fact that the only thing keeping Megan and Brad apart now was the terrible truth they'd learned. Would that be enough to make them truly let go of one another? Would that be enough to make their hearts stop yearning for each other?

Jonnie closed his eyes as he pressed his forehead to Meg's. She gasped softly when she heard his voice inside her head. When will you finally realize that I'm the one who was meant to be your soul mate and not Brad?!!

He straightened up to look at her and saw surprise in her eyes. "What is it, Meg?"

She swallowed and then smiled at him nervously. "I'm not sure… but I promise I'll let you know as soon as I do…"



Price of Past Miracles Ch. 04



Most of Megan Richards' dreams for the future had been shattered... the only one that remained in tact was her dream to use her talents in Hollywood some day... one way or another. She was every bit as talented as her mother, Diana, and she'd always thought her slightly superior intellect had come from her father... Her Daddy, Charles, was a highly intelligent and rational man, but she'd not inherited her smarts from him... except maybe by osmosis.

Her biological father, Thomas Seldon, was also very intelligent and a logical thinker as well as a very brave and confidant man, from whom she must have gained her inherent self-confidence. Megan had always wondered why her mother still doubted herself and her talent at times, and she'd learned why when her mother finally revealed her painful checkered past to her.

She'd been especially surprised when her mother told her about the weekend affair she'd had with The Duke, John Wayne, back in 1954... although it had explained a lot about why her mother was always dragging her to see his movies! Megan had almost dismissed that story as a fantasy until her Dad confirmed it was real and produced invitations they'd received from him over the years to most of his movie premieres, some of which they'd attended.

Megan remembered meeting The Duke at one of the premieres... in June of 1969, she and Charlie had also been invited to see True Grit and both of them had loved the movie. She had fully identified with the character of Mattie Ross... a confident and strongly independent tomboy avenging the murder of her father. Megan had grown up as somewhat of a tomboy and that was the last summer she'd felt like one because the following summer was when her body had blossomed dramatically...

She and Charlie had enthusiastically told Mr. Wayne how much they'd enjoyed the movie and he'd seemed genuinely happy to hear their praise. She'd also mentioned to The Duke how big a fan of his her mother had always been and she recalled the slightly sad smile he'd given her when he replied that he'd always been a big fan of hers, too. Megan remembered wondering briefly what he'd meant by that until he changed the subject quickly by remarking to her Daddy that he'd better keep his eye on his little girl because he was sure she was going to turn out to be as beautiful as her mother...

Megan had been accepted to and was going to attend Northwestern University because she'd read what an impressive performing arts program they had. She figured that would be the school to help her discover which of her talents she would find most rewarding to pursue, both personally and financially. 

So, instead of spending most of the summer with Brad as she had planned, she was going to the movie studios answering open audition calls. She was also making a little money on the side as a demo and backup recording singer for a couple of the music companies who'd called upon her the past couple of years after some of the execs had caught her high school musical performances.

A couple of the recording companies had talked to her parents about the possibility of signing her to a contract. Her parents had left the decision up to her, saying they'd support whatever she wanted to do, but they would not let her make all the decisions regarding her career until she was at least twenty-one. Megan had almost jumped at it until she started looking at the problems some kids her age went through when they suddenly became rich and famous and she understood why her parents had wanted to stay involved. In the end, she'd decided she just wasn't ready for instant celebrity... She was confident that when she was ready to pursue the stars in her eyes, fame would come...

She and Brad had mostly been avoiding each other for several weeks. Barbie was giving her updates every so often, telling her that Brad was keeping busy getting ready to leave in less than a week to begin practice for the football team at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. The fact that his father was a highly regarded FBI agent and a decorated World War II hero in Marine Intelligence, along with a letter of recommendation from Megan's grandfather, a retired Air Force Colonel with high level security clearances, and Brad's high scores on the ASVAB tests as well as his good academic record had virtually assured his appointment to The Academy. Brad had stars in his eyes as well... his goal was to train as a jet pilot and eventually work his way into the astronaut program...

Megan swallowed a lump in her throat as she recalled how she and Brad had joked that even though their goals were so different, they were also similar in some ways... They had worried at times that their career goals would lead them in such opposite directions that they'd never be able to work out how to share their lives together. But they'd both felt so confident that their love was real and when the time was right, things would've all come together. She was beginning to see that it was just another sign that they'd been ignoring in their need to believe that how they felt about each other was real and right... 

Megan sighed heavily and pushed the dull ache inside her away as she pulled into a movie studio lot and parked the Chevy Monza that her parents had bought for her and Charlie to drive. She was answering another open audition call for older teenage girls for a bit part in a western movie that they were hoping to begin shooting soon. She'd have to let the studio know that she'd be leaving for college in less than a month, in case there were any delays in the shooting schedule.

As she was heading for the building that the guard at the entrance had directed her to, she heard someone calling her name behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks when she recognized the voice and turned around slowly to see her half-brother running up behind her. "What are you doing here?" she asked nervously.

Brad instantly saw the fear in her eyes and heard it in her voice and he knew it was a mistake to have made the spur-of-the moment decision to follow her when she passed him coming out of their street. But he had to see her at least once more before he left... it would be months before they saw each other again...

"I'm sorry, Megan... I just had to see for myself that you really are doing OK. I've been so worried about you. I thought Jonnie would be able to tell me how you're doing but he says he's hardly seen you since that night. And Barbie says all you do when she sees you is ask about me... So, I just wanted to know that you're going to be OK before I have to leave. I won't be around to look after you any more..."

"Goddamn it, Brad... I never asked you to look after me in the first place! But now I wish your weird need to look after me like a sister would've told you something and that you'd stayed the hell away from me! I can't handle the thought that you still feel the need to look out for me after what happened between us! Maybe some day I'll be all right with that, but right now... it's just too strange. So, please... just stay away from me and let me figure out how to handle this! I promise you... I will be fine... you don't need to worry about me!" she stated emphatically.

She paused and took a deep breath when she saw the pain in his eyes. "Oh, Brad... I know you'll always care about me, just like I will always care about you... and love each other... like family... but we can't let it be any more than that!!! And right now, the deeper feelings are still too close to the surface... and it may take more than just time and distance to make us let go of them! So I'm going to do whatever I have to do to let go and I want your promise that you'll do the same! OK?!!" she pleaded earnestly.

Brad looked down sadly and nodded. On impulse, she threw herself against him and hugged him and found herself wrapped in his steely embrace. Then she pushed herself out of his arms and backed away from him as she headed toward the corner of the building saying, "Good luck at The Academy, Brad... and don't you dare dream about me..." she added jokingly and then spun on her heel to run around the corner of the building out of sight before the sob that was threatening burst forth from her.

Megan only got a few feet before she ran into someone and she stepped sideways as she mumbled, "I'm so sorry," keeping her face down so they couldn't see how upset she was and just kept going. She ran into the building where auditions were being held and stopped inside to duck into a ladies room and burst into tears. She let herself cry for a few minutes and then blew her nose and splashed her face with water until she looked presentable and then headed toward the auditions.

***********

John Wayne didn't even have a chance to catch the girl who ran into him just as she came around the corner of the building he'd exited. He watched her as she rushed inside, noting that it looked like she was about to cry. It reminded him of another time a woman had run away from him about to burst into tears...

He sighed heavily and kept going around the corner of the building to see a young man standing there looking dejected and quickly surmised he was the reason the young woman was upset. The expression on the young man's face quickly changed from sadness and pain to embarrassment and then surprise as he realized who he was.

Brad rubbed his fingers quickly across his eyes to wipe away a few tears and then stuck out his hand and said, "Mr. Wayne, this is a surprise and a real honor to meet you. My father has often talked about what a nice man you are and he even named my youngest brother after you!" he said sincerely as they shook hands.

Wayne released his hand and raised his eyebrows. "Have I met your father, son?"

"Yes, sir... I'm Bradley Seldon. My father is..."

"Seldon..." Wayne interrupted him. "Your father must be FBI Agent Thomas Seldon. Yes... I know him... he's a good man. He and his partner... Charles Richards. Are they still partners?" he asked the young man when he noted a strange expression on his face.

Brad frowned slightly at The Duke's comment. "Yes, sir... they're still... partners," he said quietly. "He and Uncle Charles have been partners and best friends since they met... there's nothing they wouldn't do for each other," he added sarcastically without even thinking.

Wayne noted his tone of voice and that his strange expression deepened and decided to change the subject. "So, young Bradley, what brought you to the movie studio today? Was it the young lady that ran into me in her haste to get away from you?" he asked teasingly.

Brad's frown turned sad as he nodded his head. "I was just trying to catch up to her and tell her goodbye before I leave for The Academy next week. It's been a little difficult for both of us the last several weeks... but I just couldn't leave without seeing her one last time..."

Wayne frowned with him. "Ah, yes... saying goodbye to someone you love is never easy. You say you're leaving for The Academy... which Academy is that?" Brad told him about his appointment and playing football and his plans to eventually become an astronaut, and The Duke commended him for his lofty aspirations. Then he added, "You know... if you really love her, things will eventually work out between you and the young lady..." He stopped abruptly when he saw tears filling the young man's sad hazel eyes.

Brad looked away and said hoarsely, "No... I'll always love Megan... but things can never work out between us..."

Wayne frowned harder and asked softly, "Did you say Megan?" When Brad nodded, he asked, "Was that Megan Richards you were saying goodbye to?" Brad nodded again. "Why can things never work out between the two of you, son?"

Brad closed his eyes and shook his head. "That I can't explain, sir. It's a much too long and too complicated story." He took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in his throat, opened his eyes and held his hand toward the kind older movie star. "Again, Mr. Wayne, it was a very great honor to meet you, but I must be going. I'll tell Aunt Dee that I ran into you and how kind you were to me and how well you're looking, and I'm sure that'll make her very happy. She's always been a big fan of yours! Goodbye, sir..." he said sincerely as he released their grip, turned around and jogged back to his car in the parking lot.

John Wayne realized as he watched Brad loping away that he'd referred to Diana as "Aunt Dee" and her husband as "Uncle Charles." He wondered if Brad and Megan had grown up thinking of each other as relatives and now they felt confused because their feelings for each other had deepened to something more...

He turned around and headed back into the studio building to find the daughter of the woman he'd never been able to forget. Maybe he could help the young woman realize that she should never give up on true love... And then maybe, unlike her mother, it wouldn't take her seventeen years to find her true love...

**********

Megan left the audition room with her head down, disappointed to learn that the production schedule on the movie was being delayed indefinitely because they were still in question as to whom the main star was going to be. They had mentioned that The Duke had expressed an interest in the role and the delay was because they were going into negotiations with him. She would like to have gotten a small part in a movie with John Wayne... she had come to admire the man greatly when her Dad told her of his great respect for him because of his love for her mother.

She stopped abruptly when she ran into a solid torso leaning against the wall just outside the door. "I'm so sorry... I seem to keep bumping into people today," she said hastily as she looked up into a face she instantly recognized. "Oh, my goodness, Mr. Wayne... I didn't realize you were there! Again, I'm so sorry!" she said sincerely. Then her eyes widened in surprise at his reply.

"It's perfectly all right, Megan. You are Megan Richards, aren't you?" he asked and she nodded in response. "I remember meeting you at the premiere for True Grit when you were only about this big," he indicated her short stature when she was just eleven with his hand at her shoulder. "I remember telling your Daddy that he'd better keep his eye on you because you were going to be beautiful when you grew up... and now I can see I was right!" he said gently as he put his hand on her chin.

He studied her features and could see her beautiful mother's face from her deep-set eyes and sparse lashes, her small nose and her lush lips. And her hair had the same thick, wavy texture but the color was a rich golden brown instead of shining yellow-gold like her mother's. But the color of her eyes seemed strange somehow...

Both her mother and father had sparkling grayish blue eyes, but Megan's were light hazel in color. He wondered how that was, especially when he recalled meeting her twin brother Charlie and seeing that his eyes were also exactly the same color as his parents. She must have inherited her eye color from another relative, like a grandparent or something... there was any number of explanations.

He smiled softly at her as he released her chin and said, "I can see why that young man was upset when you ran away from him..." He paused when she looked startled. "I was also the person you ran into outside earlier," he added as he chuckled.

Megan was flustered and she didn't want him thinking that she was already having trouble with love at such a young age, so she laughed nervously as she explained, "Oh, no... that was just my brother coming to tell me goodbye before he left for school, that's all!"

Wayne frowned in confusion and asked, "What?!! Bradley Seldon is your brother?!!"

Megan gasped and backed away from him a couple of steps. "Oh, God... I... I was just joking! I didn't realize you knew who Brad was! I hoped you would think he was Charlie!"

"Why would you want me to think that?" he asked softly. "Is it because you and Brad don't want anyone to know you're in love?" He was sure he was right when she burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. He put his arms around her and held her gently as she wept against his chest. When she started to calm down, he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to her to wipe her face as he walked her over to a couple of chairs and sat them down.

Then he put his hand under her chin and looked into her sad hazel eyes and said, "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Brad. If you really love him, things will eventually work out between you..." He stopped again when her eyes filled with tears the same way Brad's did when he said that and it suddenly hit him how similar their eyes were. His gaze narrowed as he stared at her. "You weren't joking when you said Brad was your brother..." She burst out crying again.

Megan knew he'd figured it out so she spilled the whole story to him and watched as his face became etched with sympathy. He didn't even flinch when she confessed that she and Brad had been intimate before they found out and he understood how that had made it even harder for them to let go now. He also told her that he could understand her parents' and Brad's parents' reluctance to tell them when they thought there was no need... it would probably only have confused them when they were younger.

She felt a little better when The Duke departed after he told her that, despite everything, he was certain that the only reason her parents had done that was out of their deep love for each other and their desperate desire to have children. He said he couldn't fault them for that because he loved his children and his greatest joy in life was being a father. Then he'd kissed her forehead and told her that he hoped the right "fella" for her would come along soon...

Megan smiled as she watched John Wayne sauntering away as she'd seen him do so many times in his movies... and she suddenly understood why her mother had fallen for him. He wasn't one of the most handsome men in the world but he was a very kind, gentle and understanding man. And even at his advanced age, he exuded masculine strength and a certain amount of virility... the very things about Jonnie North that had always made her so nervous. But she had started to realize the night everything fell apart for her and Brad that Jonnie was also very gentle and understanding...

She sighed, shook her head in confusion and started heading for her car as she remembered that she'd heard Jonnie's thoughts that night. She was lost in her own thoughts as she made her way toward the parking lot...

Why have I always feared the guy who's always wanted and was probably meant to be my soul mate?!! What strange forces have been working against me to keep me away from him?!! The same ones that are making it so damned hard for me to stop thinking about Brad... he's my half-brother for God's sake!!! Please, God... take these feelings away!!! Give me some sign as to what I'm supposed to do to make this stop...

"Are you OK, Meg?" Jonnie asked when he saw the strange expression on her face as she approached her car.

Megan jumped and gasped when she looked up and saw him leaning against the side of her white Monza. "What are you doing here, Jonnie?" she asked in confusion, wondering how he knew where to find her.

"I saw Brad just as he was turning in to your neighborhood and he told me where you were and that he wanted me to come wait for you because he thought you might need... someone... to talk to..." Jonnie's voice trailed off uncertainly when he saw her confused eyes suddenly widen in surprise and what he thought was fear... He sighed heavily, "Never mind, Meg... I guess you'll never be able to get over being scared of me..." he said regretfully as he pushed away from her car and started toward his Camaro.




Price of Past Miracles Ch. 04



Megan stared after him in shock for a moment as she suddenly realized she was afraid... afraid of him walking away from her and never wanting to see her again... "JONNIE!!!" she half whispered and half sobbed in desperation, as she rushed to where he'd been standing beside her car and then stopped, rooted by fear, her chest heaving as she sucked in gulps of air to keep from bursting into sobs as tears filled her eyes.

Something in her voice made him stop and he turned around to see her staring at him with desperate pleading in her eyes. He could still see fear in them as well but he was suddenly confused as to exactly what it was she feared. He slowly walked back and stood right in front of her, pinning her against the side of her car and staring down at her, feeling her breasts heaving against his lower chest. "What is it, Meg? What do you want?" he asked her quietly.

She stared up at him as tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. "You," she croaked through her tight throat. "Don't leave me, Jonnie... I couldn't bear to never see you again..." she whispered as her hands tentatively slid around his torso to pull him tighter against her.

Jonnie tensed; his whole body stiffened... including his cock. He wanted to believe her... that she'd suddenly realized he was the love of her life. But how could he? Just over a month earlier she'd thought Brad was the love of her life...

And yet she'd confessed to her own father that she'd always been powerfully attracted to him... so much so that it had scared her and held her back from knowing anything more about him. Maybe she was finally getting over her "little girl" fears and was ready to see him as more than just a guy who turns her on... though he'd take that, too, if it was all she wanted at the moment...

But he would have to make her understand that he didn't want just her body... he wanted all of her. And he wouldn't give up until she proved to him that he had her heart and soul as well... even if he had to share part of them with Brad.

Jonnie had been so angry at his best friend at first that he had sworn he would figure out how to drive any feelings for and memories of Brad from Megan using any means necessary... But his father had reminded him that just because she once felt she loved Brad, it didn't mean she wouldn't be capable of loving him every bit as much and more as long as he didn't try to make her feel guilty for having had feelings that she couldn't control.

He could see the logic behind those thoughts, but his jealousy still flared every time he thought about Brad touching her... kissing her... fucking her... Jonnie brought his hands up and dug them into Megan's long, thick tresses and tugged her head back until it was resting against the top of her car as he pressed the whole front of his body against hers. Her lips parted and her lashes lowered as he ground his cock against her lower abdomen just above her crotch. She didn't look scared any more...

"Do you want me, Meg?" he asked her quietly and almost smiled when she nodded slowly. "Do you want me to fuck you, Meg?" he growled and then nearly came in his pants when she ground her body against his cock and whispered "yes" desperately. Then his fear and his jealousy took over again and he sucked in a deep breath and backed away from her saying, "Well that's just too fucking bad... give me a call when you're ready to let me make love to you..."

Megan stood there in shock for several moments as she watched him leave. Then she dazedly climbed into her car and headed home as his last words rang inside her head...

Jonnie had spun around and hurried to his Camaro, jumping in and taking off quickly, squealing his tires, before he changed his mind and dragged Megan into his backseat to do to her what he'd been dreaming of his whole life... But he was totally unprepared at that moment... he had no condoms with him and as excited as he was at learning that she was finally admitting how much she wanted him, he'd have blown his load before he even got inside her... not a good way to impress a girl. 

Jonnie was still a virgin... technically. He'd never put his cock into a girl's pussy but he'd had plenty of hand jobs and a few blowjobs from girls who'd been loose enough and confident enough that they could take his impressively thick cock into their mouths. Most girls had gone out with him strictly because they wanted his big dick... they'd told him so in no uncertain terms and then they'd left in a huff when they'd been unable to coax him into fucking them.

The main reason he didn't was because he knew those girls were loose bitches that fucked anything with a dick and they didn't care about sexually transmitted diseases. He wasn't about to risk picking up something nasty from them... The only reason he agreed to go out with them was because he knew he'd probably get a blowjob... "You can do anything you want to me with your hands or mouth but there's no way I'm putting my dick inside you or my mouth on your pussy... got it?"

He'd chuckled every time he watched his passenger door being slammed by some angry, frustrated girl. It wasn't like he wouldn't do anything for them... he'd offered to finger fuck them and get them off. But no... they'd all been intent on having his cock and would settle for nothing less. The only girl Jonnie had ever gotten off was Barbie... he did it twice and it had been strictly out of sheer experimentation for him, and he never even saw her pussy.

He and Barbie had gotten together to vent their fears, pain and anger the night after the whole story about Brad and Megan had come out. They'd snuck away to a secluded area with a half a bottle of vodka to drown their sorrows and commiserate together and Barbie had drunkenly admitted to Jonnie that she was still a virgin and had never even let a guy do anything more than feel her breasts outside her clothes. She admitted to masturbating and she knew how to give herself a clitoral orgasm but she'd never even been finger fucked.

Jonnie had been embarrassed to admit to her that he'd never fingered a girl before and wasn't even sure he knew how to do it properly. In their half-drunken states, they'd agreed to help each other... Barbie had lain back on the hood of Jonnie's Camaro and instructed him on what felt good as he fingered her pussy up under her skirt and told him how to stimulate her clit with his thumb just like she did with her finger. They'd both been surprised at how quickly she came.

Then she took it a step further... she asked him to help her find her g-spot while she described to him where she'd read it was supposed to be located. He found it... and a few minutes later, Barbie was screaming so loudly that he was afraid they would get caught.

Afterward, he'd tried to apologize to her because he felt he'd taken advantage of her and their friendship and Barbie had laughed it off, saying he was a "natural" at knowing how to please a woman. Jonnie had snorted sarcastically and further admitted that he'd never tasted pussy, either, but that he wasn't going to experiment with that on her! He wanted the first pussy he ever tasted to be Megan's...

Barbie had also snorted and said that was also a privilege she was saving for Brad... But she had assured Jonnie that as good as he was with his fingers, all he had to do was remember to use the same kinds of motions and pressures with his lips and tongue and he'd be fine. She'd smiled softly at him as she told him that Megan had no idea how lucky she'd be to have him...

Jonnie smiled sadly as he turned into his driveway remembering how Barbie had cried on his shoulder when he hugged her and told her how lucky Brad would be to have her as well... He turned his car off and pulled the keys out and snorted derisively as he got out of his car. You're a goddamn fool, Bradley Seldon, if you don't realize what a wonderful girl Barbara Maria Estevez is and snap her up soon before someone else does...

**********

Brad was pacing back and forth in his bedroom as Barbie sat on the side of the bed watching him. "It was the only thing I could think of to do, Barbie. Meg is right... we have to move on, no matter how much our hearts may feel like they don't want to! So, I encouraged Jonnie to go to her... and I just hope she'll get the message that I understand... whatever may happen between them... I understand. Even though I'm forcing myself to understand why, I have to figure out how not to let it bother me! Why does it not make me cringe to think about how it felt to fuck my own half-sister? And why do I cringe at the thought of my best friend doing the same thing to her? I still feel so sick about all this!"

Barbie stood up and walked over to him. "You are NOT sick Brad! Remember what Uncle Charles said... you can't control your body's response to her... Meggie is beautiful and she has a great body and I'm sure it felt wonderful to you to be inside her! Maybe all you need is someone else to help you forget how it felt to be with Meg... like me, Brad... use me..." she said quietly as she pulled her top over her head, revealing her naked torso to him.

Brad's eyes widened when he saw Barbie's beautiful breasts for the first time. He'd seen them plenty of times confined in her bikini tops and had often wondered if they were really as beautiful as he'd imagined and now he knew his imagination had, once again, fallen short of the reality. Her breasts were quite different from Meg's... but every bit as beautiful. Barbie's weren't as full and heavy as Meg's; they stood out proudly and her brown areolas and nipples jutted out and slightly upward, looking like they were begging for his mouth. He unconsciously licked his lips...

He couldn't stop staring at her breasts as his cock grew hard despite his confusion over what to do. Just a moment ago he'd been recalling how good it had felt to slide his hard cock inside Megan, his half-sister with whom he still felt he was in love! And now he was staring at Barbie's tits, his mouth watering and his cock straining in his pants as she was blatantly offering herself to him... asking him to use her...

Brad shook his head and tried to take control of his impulsive thoughts. "Barbie..." he moaned, his rampant lust deepening his voice sexily, "Don't do this to me... I won't hurt you this way... I won't use you like this..."

She threw herself against him and cried passionately, "You won't be using me, Brad!!! I've wanted you for so long! I need you!!! I'll go crazy if I can't be with you at least once before you leave! Please, Brad... I want you to be my first! I know you'll be as good to me as you were to Meg... I'm on birth control pills so you don't even have to worry about a condom... and I'm NOT your half-sister!!!" she threw at him when he still hesitated.

He still stood there, breathing raggedly and staring at her like a starving man, but he refused to move. So she took it upon herself to seduce him. She reached down and grasped the bottom of his tee shirt and started forcing it upward, pushing aggressively until he raised his arms and allowed her to pull it off of him. Then she plastered her firm breasts against the soft hair on his firm lower chest as she reached up and pulled his head down to kiss him desperately.

Brad still felt immobile for a few seconds until he realized the simple fact that he was letting her undress him meant that he'd already made the decision to go through with it. He suddenly became a willing participant... wrapping his arms around her and kissing her back just as eagerly, and he was once again floored by how passionately Barbie kissed him. Her kisses stirred him even more deeply than the ones he'd shared with Meg...

Then her hands were at his jeans, opening them and forcing them down his hips along with his underwear, and he groaned deeply with her when she wrapped her hand around his cock for the first time. He pulled back and was shocked at the look of wanton desire on her face as she stared up at him. He'd never seen such a look on Megan's face until she'd been in the throes of an orgasm...

Brad finished removing his jeans and underwear from around his feet and then slowly started to remove Barbie's jeans and panties. He knelt in front of her as he helped her step out of them and admired her lovely pussy. Her light caramel-colored outer flesh was covered with soft, dark hair and he could clearly see and smell how excited she was. His eyes held hers as he leaned forward to kiss her in the most intimate way...

The moment Brad's tongue slipped between her flesh and stroked her clit, Barbie cried out and her legs nearly collapsed as she went into an instant orgasm. He had to grasp her ass with his hands as she grabbed his head and held on as her hips undulated against his face. "Ohhhh my God, Braaaaaad..." she breathed as her climax subsided and she looked down at him.

He backed off and stared up at her in awe. "My God, Barbie..." he whispered, totally in shock at how easily she had come for him. "And you swear you're still a virgin?!!" he asked more out of curiosity than disbelief.

Her eyes flashed with a bit of pain and anger. "Why don't you fuck me and find out," she said softly.

Brad closed his eyes and stood up when he realized he'd hurt her. "I didn't mean it that way, Barbie. I do believe you're a virgin... I'm just amazed at how you're responding to me! It wasn't like this between Meg and me... this is so much more... passionate... raw... I never knew it could be like this..." he whispered as he gathered her to him for another deeply erotic kiss.

Barbie whimpered desperately and Brad reached down and picked her up in his arms to lay her on his bed. He immediately moved over top of her and used his right hand to seek between her legs and stroke her, pumping his middle finger inside her while using his thumb on her clit until she wailed from another orgasm. He swiftly removed his hand and plunged his cock inside her, groaning as she wailed even louder when he felt her maidenhood give way deep inside her.

He was going to pause and ask if she was OK before he continued, but he could tell from the way her body was moving that she was fine... Brad wrapped his arms up under Barbie's beautiful body and stroked his cock deeply inside her, reveling in the feeling of not having the barrier of a condom separating their flesh. It was the most heavenly sensation he'd ever experienced... far beyond anything he'd felt with Meg...

He lifted his head to stare down at the beautiful girl beneath him and his gut tightened when he saw tears in her eyes. "What's wrong, Barbie? Am I hurting you?"

She shook her head and whispered, "The only way you'll hurt me, Brad Seldon, is if you tell me that you'll never do this to me again..."

He kissed her softly and leaned his forehead against hers and replied, "Oh, Barbie... I wish I could keep doing this to you over and over... You were right... I think you're just what I needed to get over Meggie... This is the most incredible thing I've ever felt... I needed you, Barbie... I think I'll always need you now..."

He leaned down and slowly parted her lips and thrust his tongue inside her mouth, moaning with her as he drove both of them to their first mutual orgasm... the first of many they would experience together before he left the following week. Brad knew he was in love with Barbie when he didn't even realize at first that Megan and Jonnie weren't at his going away party... in fact, the only person he did care about being there was Barbie.

The looks the two of them shared were not lost on their parents. Rick Estevez was not pleased until he saw the look on Brad's face as he'd kissed his daughter... whatever they shared between them was very real to the young man. Dawn already knew what had transpired as Barbie had been unable to hide her emotions from her mother. Tom and Lynda Seldon were relieved that Barbie had taken Brad's mind off of Megan... even knowing how she'd gone about it. But they knew Barbie would've had to fight fire with fire... thank God Brad had found her fire hotter...

Jon and Barbara North and Charles and Diana Richards glanced at each other nervously as they knew Jonnie and Megan were alone together and what would most likely happen. Charles was trying to stay calm knowing his daughter was no longer his "innocent little girl." She'd already been made love to... and he cringed every time he thought about that. But this time, what was likely to happen between her and Jonnie, knowing how much chemistry there was between them, might very well explode out of control... 

Charles was just glad that Megan would be leaving in less than a month and she and Jonnie would be separated by two thousand miles for a while. Hopefully it would give them enough time to figure out how they really felt about each other while they weren't engulfed in the raging inferno that he was sure the two of them were building at that very moment... He closed his eyes and the image of Jonnie North doing things to his daughter that he and her mother had shared over the years bombarded his brain and he groaned miserably.

Jon approached Charles and said quietly, "Hey... I don't know if this will make you feel any better, but I happen to know my son has never had intercourse, so maybe their first time won't be quite what you're imagining! I mean, as much as I'd like to believe my boy is a stud like me, I have to admit my first time with a girl was pretty damn awkward!"

Charles looked at Jon and shook his head. "Yeah... but did you love that girl the way your son seems to love my daughter?" Jon frowned as he thought about that and shook his head. "And was that girl as hot for you as you were for her or did you have to coax her into it?" Jon raised his eyebrows as he admitted that his first conquest had been a reluctant partner. Charles snorted a harsh laugh and said, "Trust me, buddy, your son and my daughter are probably going to put us to shame..." 

But they were still so young and emotionally inexperienced. The adults were all worried and could only hope that their children wouldn't end up being consumed by the fires burning between them...



Price of Past Miracles Ch. 05



Charles Richards was right... Jonnie North and his daughter Megan were building a fire between them that was so hot it was threatening to singe the clothes from their bodies... until they hosed them down from the inside! They had started out sitting on the couch in the den at Jonnie's house watching television, trying to find something mundane, but every show seemed to involve couples making out...

Jonnie had told Megan when they arrived that he would not take advantage of her... anything that happened between them would go only as far as she wanted it to. Megan told him that she hadn't forgotten what he'd said to her about making love to her as opposed to fucking her... and she advised him that she wouldn't lie to him by saying that she loved him just to get him to fuck her.

"I've always cared about you, Jonnie, you know that... and I've always been attracted to you! But I thought I was in love with Brad and now I'm not sure how love is supposed to feel! I'm so confused and I won't risk hurting you by saying something I don't seem to know the meaning of! All I know is that when you're near me, I can't think about anything else but how you make me feel! And it's nothing like how I felt when I was with Brad... and I don't know what that means! All I'm telling you is that I want you... I want you even more than I wanted Brad... but I'm not so naïve as to believe that strong sexual desire is the same thing as love!!! Is it?!!!" she'd asked him in confusion.

Jonnie had almost forgotten to breathe when she said that she wanted him even more than she'd wanted Brad... he'd felt light-headed because it seemed that all of the blood in his body had suddenly been pumped into his huge, stiff cock. He wished he could respond to her question in a way that would help her figure out the answer, so he did the first thing that came to his mind... with the few brain cells he had that were still working...

Megan sat frozen and watched as Jonnie reached over and took her right hand and placed it on his crotch and pressed her palm against the huge bulge in his jeans. She gasped when she suddenly realized just how big his cock was and her eyes flew to his. Flames instantly roared through her body and she throbbed between her legs at the look in his eyes and from what he said.

"I've always felt the same about you, Meg, even before my body reacted to you like this, so I know what I feel for you is love. And when you're near me, all I can think about is how you make me feel... And no one else I've ever met has made me feel this way! I've never wanted another girl the way I want you... and if you've always wanted me more than you wanted Brad, then maybe that was your body trying to tell you what your heart and soul were too afraid to admit... Maybe you've always loved me, too, Meg... and you were just too afraid to admit it..."

Then he'd released her hand and stared at her for a moment, breathing raggedly and smiling sexily when he realized she hadn't pulled her hand away from his crotch and was actually starting to rub up and down his throbbing shaft. He moved toward her, watching and following her as she moved sideways to lie back on the couch, smiling even wider as she spread her legs and pulled his crotch toward hers.

Jonnie stared at Megan as he slowly settled over top of her, bracing himself on his forearms, keeping their crotches separated until she let go of him and wrapped her arms around his lower back and then moved her hands down to his ass. He moaned softly when he felt her squeeze his cheeks and press downward, urging him to connect their bodies more intimately as her eyes pleaded for even more.

He couldn't hold back any longer and his hips involuntarily thrust toward her, slowly rubbing the hard length of his thick cock straining inside his tight jeans fully between her legs. Both of them groaned as if there were no clothes separating their bodies... so strong was the sensation of that intimate contact. Their breaths grew even more ragged and they both knew that they were going to come just from humping in their clothes!

Jonnie dove down and took Megan's mouth in a deep, erotic kiss as their bodies began thrusting together urgently. His left hand moved down to support her ass and her right hand stayed on his, but her left hand dragged up his back to dig into his soft, wavy raven hair as she opened her mouth wide and sucked on his tongue as she envisioned doing the same to his cock... something she'd never desired to do with Brad. She moaned hotly as the image of her kneeling between Jonnie's spread legs with her head moving up and down caused her pussy to throb again... just as Jonnie paused and made another hard, slow thrust between her legs...

Megan squealed in her throat and her thighs tightened on his hips as her pussy clenched and soaked her panties and jeans, her hips bucking uncontrollably. Jonnie broke their kiss and lifted his head to watch her. He moaned loudly with her and continued the slow, hard rolling of his hips against her as he watched her come, his own orgasm coming as slow, hard pulses shooting from his aching, throbbing shaft, soaking his underwear...

He almost thought it was never going to end... When it finally did, he and Megan were staring at each other in wonder, their chests heaving together as they tried to calm the wild beating of their hearts.

"My God..." Megan whispered. "I never came that easily with Brad... and we're still fully clothed!" Then she paused and frowned slightly at Jonnie as she asked, "You came, too, right?" and then grinned sexily with him when he nodded. "How will we ever be able to fuck for real if we can make each other come this fast?!!" she asked as a nervous giggle erupted from inside her.

Brad removed his hand from under her ass and brought it up to stroke both of his hands on her face and reminded her gently, "I'll never just fuck you, Megan... every time I take your body I'll be making love to you. It may look like fucking and feel like fucking at times... but make no mistake that whenever I'm with you like this, I'm making love to you. You understand?" he asked her quietly and bent down to reward her with a deep, intimate kiss when she nodded solemnly.

Before they knew it, their bodies were moving together in the same erotic way and they were dry humping themselves to full stimulation again, despite the wet stickiness of their underwear. Megan moaned deeply as she could feel Jonnie's thick cock growing hard in his pants again, rubbing her wet, silky panties against her spread open cunt, stimulating her clit even through the layers of damp material.

She moaned even louder when Jonnie dragged his mouth from hers down to her neck, and she tilted her head back to give him easier access. His cock was fully hard again and was torturing her engorged clit and her hips were thrusting in rhythm with his as she could feel another orgasm building. "Oh, my God, Jonnie... I'm gonna come again!" she groaned deeply as he thrust harder against her.

He lifted his head to stare at her and coaxed her as he'd heard his father do with his mother so many times over the years. "Yes, Meg... come for me! I love to watch your beautiful face as I make you come! Yes, baby... let go! Ohhhh God, Meg... you are so beautiful! I love you..." he breathed as he leaned down and kissed her gently as her climax subsided, briefly muffling her soft sighs and moans.

Jonnie leaned his forehead against hers and sighed heavily. "God, Meg... I'll die happy even if this is all I ever get to do to you..."

Megan whimpered involuntarily when a lump suddenly formed in her throat and tears sprang into her eyes at the thought of him dying. She'd always known he was going to eventually become a cop like his father and that was always a very real possibility for any police officer. "Why would you say something like that, Jonnie?!! Are you telling me that you don't plan on taking things any further with me unless you're sure that I love you?!! What are you... some sort of tease?!!" she cried, her voice shaking with both fear and anger.

She suddenly wanted to make him mad and see if he still wanted her even when he was angry with her... just like her father had always been with her mother. She'd heard very few arguments between her parents, but every time it had always ended with them in their bedroom having rough, noisy sex... which turned into very passionate lovemaking that had lasted for hours...

It worked... Jonnie instantly went on the defensive as he lifted his upper body to stare down at her in confusion. "That is NOT what I meant, Megan!"

"Are you sure?!!" she jeered at him. "Because I heard some of the girls we went to school with talking about what a tease you were! Letting them fondle you and suck your cock and then getting nothing from you in return!!!"

Jonnie's aqua eyes flashed with anger as he ground his hard cock against her and growled through his teeth, "You call what I've just done to you... TWICE... NOTHING?!! You said Brad never made you come that fast and WE STILL HAVE OUR CLOTHES ON, MEGAN!!! What the hell do think is gonna happen between us when we're NAKED?!!" he yelled at her, trying to figure out why the look in her eyes was changing from hurt and anger to desire.

Megan tried not to smile as she pushed him further. "I don't know, Jonnie! You say you love me and yet you've let other girls get further with you. At least they got to see, fondle and suck your dick... I've only gotten to feel it rubbing against me through our clothes! And, yeah... I've been able to get off from that, but mostly because I've been fantasizing... remembering how it felt to actually get fucked..."

She realized too late that she might have pushed Jonnie too far. He climbed off of her and then yanked her up from the couch as he snarled, "GODDAMN IT, MEGAN... don't you ever remind me again about what happened between you and Brad!!! I'm sick of hearing about it!"

He spun her around with her back to him and growled in her right ear as he grasped her shoulders, "If it's the last thing I ever do, I'm going to drive every moment you spent with him from your memory!!! What you felt for him will pale in comparison to how I'm going to make you want and need me!!!" he continued as his hands ran down her body, his left hand fondling her breasts, his right hand cupping her crotch and rubbing over the wet material of her jeans.

Jonnie smiled as he felt her start to tremble when he rubbed his hard cock against her ass. "See, Meg? I can already feel how badly you want my cock!" he murmured as he kissed her neck and ear until she moaned as her head flopped to the side, silently begging him for more. He whispered, "But I've already told you, Meg... you have to want all of me... not just my dick! I'm tired of being wanted only because I'm well hung!!! And I especially will not accept that from you! So, you'd better figure out how to make me believe that you want and need all of me, Megan..."

She licked her dry lips from all the heavy breathing Jonnie was causing by torturing her body with his hands, and then croaked hoarsely, "I lied, Jonnie... I wasn't fantasizing while you made me come! I said that because I knew it'd make you mad! I just wanted to see if you'd still want me even when you were mad at me! I hoped it would push you to do something more with me... And I wasn't angry when I accused you of teasing me... I was scared. You said something about dying and the thought of that scared me..." her voice trailed off to a whisper as his hands on her body stilled.

He turned her around to face him, his intense gaze burning into her eyes and he could see the fear that he'd always seen in her eyes, but this time she wasn't afraid OF him, she was afraid FOR him... That was all he needed to see. He picked her up and laid her back down on the couch again, settling on top of her, still fully clothed. When she frowned up at him in confusion, he smiled as he said softly, "We have plenty of time, sweet Megan. As long as we can get each other off fully clothed, why not take advantage of that? We'll know when we're ready to go further..."

**********

A couple hours later, Jon and Barbara North were astounded when they snuck into their den just knowing that they were going to have to lecture Jonnie and Megan about the perils of unprotected pre-marital sex only to find the two of them kissing, moaning and writhing together on the couch... still fully clothed! They glanced at each other and chuckled silently and were about to back out of the room when Jonnie broke their kiss and moaned as he spoke softly.

"Oh God, Meg... I'm about to come again, baby... come with me again, sweet Megan..." 

Jon and Barbara froze and watched in awe as their son dry humped himself and Megan Richards to what looked like amazing orgasms as the two of them moved like there were no clothes between them. And their loud moans were muffled when Jonnie kissed her deeply, his tongue imitating what they were sure Jonnie and Megan both wished he really was doing to her with his cock...

The scene on their couch seemed even more erotic to Jon and Barbara than if they'd walked in and actually caught the kids fucking! Barbara tried to stifle a moan as she started to back out of the room, but Jonnie heard it and looked up quickly to see his parents near the doorway over the back of the couch. "Oh shit, Mom and Dad! How long have you two been standing there?!!" he yelped as he rose up on his knees and sat back, helping Megan to sit up as well.

Jon, Sr. smirked as he chuckled and replied, "Long enough to know what's been going on!"

Jonnie and Megan continued to peer at them over the back of the couch as they tried to adjust their wet clothing so it didn't feel so nasty and Jonnie said emphatically, "It's not what you think! We've had our clothes on the whole time! I swear!"

Barbara chuckled as well as she added, "We believe you, son! It's OK... we'd rather you... do this as opposed to the alternative! We'll leave you alone again... we just wanted to let you know that we're home now. Crystal is spending the night with DiDi, so her room will be empty if you want to stay here instead of going home, Megan," Barbara smiled at her as she made the offer, wondering how much more time she wanted to spend exploring her newfound feelings for her son.

Megan smiled nervously and replied, "Umm... that's very nice of you, Aunt Barb, but I don't have a change of clothes with me and, well... I... uhh... can't continue to wear these much longer... Oh geez..." she muttered as she flopped her face onto the back of the couch in embarrassment when both Aunt Barb and Uncle Jon started snorting with laughter.

Jonnie groaned and said, "Would you guys just get out of here and then I'll take Megan home!"

Jon, Sr. couldn't resist one last parting shot. "Sure thing, son, but you might want to change your pants before you go... unless you think things will get too carried away again when you kiss her goodnight!"

Jonnie picked up a throw pillow off the couch and shot it toward his father's back as he went through the doorway laughing. He and Megan looked at each other and started chuckling as they heard his parents still roaring with laughter. Their soft laughs faded as they stared at each other and their eyes widened with wonder as they both realized what had happened between them.

They'd made love several times... without removing a stitch of clothing... and it had been wonderful... the most intense physical and emotional feelings either of them had ever experienced!!!

Their stares became intense and their breathing grew heavy as they both imagined what it would be like when they finally did get around to getting naked... They stood up as their eyes traveled downward... mentally undressing each other. Their imaginations didn't have to work too hard... they'd seen each other plenty of times in nothing but their bathing suits.

Jonnie's left hand unconsciously flexed as his palm tingled when he recalled the sensation of cupping Megan's ass as he thrust against her. He took a deep breath and just barely stifled a moan as he exhaled when he closed his eyes and pictured her naked beneath him, sliding his hand down her side and under to her bare bottom as he thrust inside her...

Megan's eyes were riveted to Jonnie's crotch and she could barely breathe as she watched in awe while his cock bulged in his pants yet again. Her right hand tingled as she recalled how hard and thick it felt when he'd put her hand on him. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine what his monster cock looked like, but she couldn't.

The only cock she kept seeing was Brad's... and then she flashed on an image of Brad completely naked. Megan whimpered and shook her head as she opened her eyes, trying to rid her mind of those disconcerting memories. Jonnie was looking at her with a slight frown, like he was trying to figure out what she was thinking. He raised his eyebrows at her in question, and she shook her head and said, "You don't want to know, Jonnie."

He sighed heavily and said, "Come on, Meggie... I'll take you home now. Just let me go change my pants first." They grinned at each other and snorted a few laughs as he headed upstairs.

**********

Jonnie glanced over at Megan as she stared out the passenger window... she'd hardly said a word since they left his house. "Megan," he said softly and glanced at her again when she turned to look at him. "I do want to know... What happened between you and Brad is not just gonna go away and I know I can't make you stop thinking about it. And I would rather you be honest with me than to hide your thoughts and feelings because you think they would hurt me or make me mad. Your complete honesty with me would go a long way toward helping me to trust your feelings for me. So, please... tell me what popped into your head just before we left..."

Megan started shaking her head. "Oh... no, Jonnie... there's no way I could tell you this!" she muttered nervously.

"Megan... please," he stated firmly. "Just trust me... I promise I will not be mad. I love you... and I want to believe that you have feelings for me, too, and your trusting me would be a good start. Please, Meg..." he pleaded sincerely.

She took a deep a breath and exhaled raggedly and then said quietly, "Stop the car, Jonnie." He glanced at her and then pulled his Camaro into a parking lot and stopped in the darkest corner, shut the engine off and turned to stare at her. She took another deep breath and turned toward him, leaning back against the passenger door.

The glare from a streetlight was clearly illuminating the interior and she watched him as she stated softly, "I want to see your cock." His eyes narrowed and he frowned in question and started to open his mouth. "Jonnie, please... just show me your cock and I promise I'll explain!" she added desperately. She watched as he reached down between his legs and eased his seat back as far as it would go and then turned toward her to lean against the driver's door so they were facing each other.

Megan's eyelids lowered but she couldn't tear her gaze away from his glittering aqua eyes as his hands moved to his jeans, unbuttoned them and slowly lowered the zipper. Her lips parted as her breathing continued to grow ragged, but their eyes were locked on each other's, unblinking. Even when he shifted to push his jeans and underwear down low enough to free his cock, her eyes never strayed from his... until his hard shaft sprang upward into her field of vision.

She gasped as her eyes widened at the sight of his monstrously thick cock sticking straight upward, a full seven inches in length... slightly shorter but about twice as thick as Brad's. "Oh, my God..." she moaned, her voice shaking as her pussy throbbed. Her eyes lifted to look at his face again and she could see his eyes burning at her. She moaned again and her eyes closed when her body involuntarily arched in pleasure as a wave of pure sexual excitement surged through her.




Price of Past Miracles Ch. 05



Her eyes flew open when she heard Jonnie's voice. "Now tell me, Meg... why did you want to see my cock?"

She licked her lips and spoke quietly. "When I was trying to picture you naked earlier, I knew what your cock felt like, but I couldn't imagine what it looked like. When I closed my eyes, all I could see was Brad's cock... Brad naked... I don't want to see that any more when I close my eyes... all I want to see is you!" she whispered urgently as her lungs labored to drag in more oxygen.

Jonnie growled quietly at the sight of Megan so turned on by just looking at his cock. "Touch me, Meg... please!" he groaned seductively as his breathing became as labored as hers.

"Oh God, Jonnie... I don't know if I'll be able to stop at just touching you!"

"I don't care, Meg! Do whatever you want... just touch me somehow!" he pleaded desperately and then yelled as his hips jerked when she immediately leaned forward, grasped his throbbing shaft, licked the head of his cock and then wrapped her lips around him and sucked softly as her hand stroked up and down, her tongue constantly swirling on the head. "GODDAMN, MEG!!! I'M GONNA COME!!! MY GOD, BABY... that feeeeels soooo gooood..." he groaned as she took every spurt of his cum in her mouth.

Megan moaned softly and kept massaging his thick shaft as it softened and licked away every drop of cum that seeped from the tip of his awesomely beautiful cock. Then she sat up and admired how truly beautiful his dick was, even when it wasn't hard, and she smiled as she realized his cock was big all the time... it just got a little bigger and thicker when he had a hard-on. She looked up and saw Jonnie grinning sexily at her. "What?!!" she chuckled.

"I just like the way you're admiring my cock... I love that you like what you see!" he said happily. Then he grew serious as he put his hand on her cheek. "Did Brad teach you how to do that, Meg?"

She stared at him intently as she shook her head. "No, Jonnie... I never did that for Brad. Never even wanted to..." she stated simply. She gave a startled yelp that was muffled when he suddenly, sat up, grasped her face and pulled her toward him to kiss her fiercely, parting her lips and plunging his tongue into her mouth and stroking hers as she moaned deeply, wondering if he could taste himself...

Jonnie moaned with her as he tasted the difference in her mouth, knowing he was tasting his own cum, and it thrilled him beyond reason to know that this was something she'd never shared with Brad... hadn't even WANTED to... that was even better! She wanted him in ways that she hadn't wanted Brad... He could make her come more easily than Brad... she wanted to erase her images of Brad and replace them with images of him...

He ended the kiss slowly and opened his eyes to look at her beautiful face as he pulled back. Her lids lifted slowly and for the first time, he saw other emotions in her deep hazel eyes besides just lust and desire... He saw passion... and love... and he began to believe that she was realizing he was the love of her life... HE was her soul mate... not Brad.

I love you, Jonnie... The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to say them. It's too soon... I want to make sure I really know what that means this time...

Hell... I know I meant it when I said that to Brad... before I knew he was my half-brother!!! If that wasn't the case, I'd still be with him... loving him... wouldn't I?!!

Jonnie watched as the passion in her eyes faded and was replaced by confusion again. He released her and sat back to slip his underwear and jeans up and close his pants, watching as she turned forward in her seat and looked away from him, wondering what she was thinking. "Megan... time to be honest with me again."

She took a deep breath and told him exactly what had gone through her mind... except the thought about loving him...

He paused for a moment and then said the only logical thought that came to his mind. "Meg... in order for Brad not to have been your half-brother, you wouldn't exist. If Uncle Charles had fathered both you and Charlie... you wouldn't be the person you are. You'd be someone else... and I'd be missing the other half of my soul..." he said miserably as that last thought popped into his head.

Megan looked up at him as her heart constricted at the pain in his voice. "Oh, Jonnie... I understand what you're saying because I thought about that, too, the night I found out. Brad was ready to disown our father for what he'd done until I reminded him that I wouldn't exist if not for that! But the fact remains... the emotions I felt for Brad were very real to me... And I admit that I'm also feeling some very real and strong emotions for you, too... but it's only been a little over a month since I've been trying to let go of what I felt for Brad, and I'd been loving him for YEARS!!!

"I'm confused because this thing between us seems to be happening so fast... and I don't want it to be wrong again!!! I couldn't stand to discover that I could love you as much as or more than Brad and then have something go wrong between us because of all this confusion! I don't know if I could handle it!!! I'm scared, Jonnie... I'm so goddamn scared!!!" she whispered as tears started streaming down her face.

Jonnie reached over and pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her as she laid her head on his shoulder and wept. He sighed and wanted to tell her what he thought, but he didn't think she was ready to believe it. But, don't you see, Meg... I've loved you for years and I think you've loved me, too... you've just been too scared of your feelings for me...

Megan leaned back and looked at him with her eyes flashing. "Scared of my feelings for you?!! Which feelings are you talking about, Jonnie?!!"

He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out when he suddenly realized that he hadn't said anything... His eyes widened in shock. "Meg... I didn't say anything just now... I was THINKING what I wanted to say to you, but I didn't SAY it! How the hell did you hear my thoughts?!!"

She frowned and looked away in confusion for a moment and then remembered that she'd heard his voice in her head weeks before and wondered how or why it had happened. She sniffed and wiped her hand over her eyes as she started to explain to him how her Mom was able to read her Dad's thoughts and that she and Brad had been able to exchange their thoughts with each other since they were kids... another reason why they had thought they were soul mates.

She stared into Jonnie's eyes and said, "I bet I can tell you what you were thinking just after that first time you kissed me the night this mess came out..." He lifted his eyebrows so she said, "You were wondering when I was finally going to realize that YOU were meant to be my soul mate and not Brad." She watched as he frowned remembering that night... then his eyes widened and he started to smile.

"You know what this means, Megan..." he said smugly, "I was right. Maybe the reason you and Brad could share each other's thoughts was because of your shared DNA. But the reason you can hear mine IS because I'M your true soul mate! Don't you see, Meg?!! It's the same for your Mom and Dad... she can hear his thoughts but he can't hear hers... and he doesn't need to because he knows she loves him and he trusts her." He watched as she frowned in confusion again. 

"Jonnie... how would you know that much about my parents?!! I didn't find out until that night that my Mom had that ability. And they certainly didn't go into any details about it!"

He took a deep breath and explained, "I've known about it for a few years. I heard your Dad talking to my Dad and all the other men during one our parents' poker nights. They were ribbing your Dad about not letting your Mom read his thoughts so they could cheat together, and my Dad asked him why it didn't make him uncomfortable to know that she could hear his thoughts but he couldn't hear hers, and that was your Dad's response. And I know it will be the same for us. Let your ability to hear my thoughts assure you of my feelings for you!"

Megan's eyes flew wide as she had a sudden epiphany. "Oh, Jonnie... I've never doubted your feelings for me! The trouble has always been my own feelings. I was afraid of you for so long because I was afraid of how you made me feel!!! I was afraid I would lose control if I was ever alone with you, so I never let myself be alone with you! I was too young to realize that the reason I was so afraid of my feelings was because they were so strong... and maybe the reason I latched onto Brad was because he was the one guy I could never share my life with and that was finally revealed to me at a time when I would no longer be afraid of my love for you..."

She was staring off into space as she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she felt every bit of her confusion and doubt being expelled from her heart and mind as the air left her lungs. Megan Richards turned and stared into the eyes of her true soul mate, Jonnie North, and they smiled as they both realized he had been right all along...

Jonnie leaned over and kissed her softly and then turned to start the car. Now, sweet Megan, maybe you'll finally trust me and listen to what I say...

She smirked at him. "All right, smart ass... I do trust you and I'll listen to what you say, but it doesn't mean you'll always be right!!!" She chuckled when he threw a startled glance at her and then laughed with her as he started to pull out of the parking lot and headed toward her house.

They had only a few weeks before Megan was to leave for Northwestern, but they intended to take things as slowly as they could. Neither one of them felt in a desperate hurry to rush the physical part of their relationship... they were already experiencing such strong emotions just being together. They also began to feel awed by the raging inferno that existed between them during those next few weeks and it helped them to make a decision that proved to their parents how much they truly loved each other...



Price of Past Miracles Ch. 06



Barbie Estevez was sitting on Megan Richards' bed, helping her best friend pick out an outfit to wear for Jonnie North's 18th birthday party that evening. She finally helped her to decide on a full, flowing black skirt in a soft, gauzy material with a satiny lining that fell to just above her knees and a fitted white halter-top that supported her full breasts and gave her a lot of cleavage. Then Barbie suggested that Megan show off her well toned legs by wearing a pair of white, strappy wedge heeled sandals.

Barbie stared at her friend's reflection in the full-length mirror on her closet door as she sat behind her. "Oh, Megan... you're gonna knock him dead in that outfit tonight! I don't see how he's gonna be able to keep that promise the two of you made to each other! Aren't you going nuts... not having made love to Jonnie yet?!! If you feel about him the way I do Brad, how are you able to be alone with him and not want to share yourself with him completely?!!"

Megan smiled softly at the confused look on her friend's face and once again tried to explain to her why she and Jonnie didn't need to rush things. "I know it must seem strange to you, Barbie... because of how urgently you needed to show Brad that you were the one for him to help him get past what happened between him and me. But... how Jonnie makes me feel with just a look, a kiss, a touch..." she paused as she sighed deeply. "Oh, Barbie... it's just so far beyond what Brad and I shared... even as far as we went. I'm sorry... I didn't mean to bring that up again," she stated when she saw Barbie frown slightly.

Barbie smiled sadly and replied, "No... it's OK Megan. I'm past it now because I know you guys are, too. I just hope you guys really have forgiven yourselves and will be able to have a comfortable relationship with each other. After all, you are related... but you two haven't even spoken to one another since before Brad left for The Academy."

Megan turned and looked at her best friend. "Well, no... we haven't spoken, but Brad did send me a letter. I just got it yesterday and I think you might want to read it, too." She opened her dresser drawer and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Barbie and watched as she pulled out the letter to read it. It wasn't very long, but it was to the point.

Dear Megan,

I wish I could tell you that I finally understand what happened between us, but I just don't. I may never figure out how we could've believed for all those years that you and I were "meant to be..." And why I suddenly felt compelled to make you admit your feelings as well...

We know now that it was never meant to be and I had feared for a while that we would never get over that... but I was wrong. And I hope you understand when I say that I'm glad I was wrong... I never want to hurt you in any way and I want you to know that I don't regret what happened. You helped me to realize that there are a lot of different depths to love... like the strong emotional ties you and I shared to deep, passionate, romantic love... which I discovered with Barbie.

It seems she and Jonnie were right all along... Barbie told me that he'd finally made you see he was your true soul mate, and I want you to know that I really am happy for you as I hope you're happy for Barbie and me. I'll always care about you, Meggie... you are family after all, so I have to... ha, ha, ha (you know I'm just kidding!)

I love you, half-sis... take care until we see each other again...

Love, Brad

Barbie smiled up at her as she folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. "Thanks for letting me read that, Meg... it makes me feel a lot better to know that things are going to be OK for all of us!" She stood and handed the letter back to Megan so she could put it away and then moved to stand next to her at the mirror. "Now... let's figure out what to do with your hair for tonight!" she exclaimed excitedly as they smiled at each other in the mirror.

**********

Charles and Diana Richards and Jon and Barbara North watched their kids as they swayed together on the dance floor of the restaurant and nightclub where Jonnie had chosen to celebrate his birthday. The adults were astounded at how rationally and responsibly their children were handling their relationship... considering they were all well aware of how much chemistry existed between Megan and Jonnie.

Jon and Barbara had discovered the first night they were together that the two had figured out how to make love with their clothes on... and they seemed to enjoy it as much as most people did when they were naked! Charles and Diana had discovered the same thing when they caught them in the pool together a few nights later... still in their bathing suits, but they would've sworn they were naked listening to them!

Jonnie and Megan had told their parents that they were in no rush to fully consummate their love. They were perfectly happy to continue getting the rush of physical and emotional completion that they were sharing just from being together and stimulating each other so easily. Megan had further informed her parents that when she turned eighteen less than a month after she left for college, she was going to see a doctor and get herself started on birth control pills so that when she and Jonnie were ready, they wouldn't have to worry.

Now their parents were watching them as they held each other on the dance floor, and they almost envied what they saw going on between them. The sensual stimulation that came so easily to them was only heightened by the deep emotions that were evident in their every look, their every touch, their every kiss...

Jon leaned toward Charles and said, "I see now what you meant when you said those two are probably going to put us to shame! If Jonnie keeps stroking Megan's back like that, it looks like she might orgasm right there on the dance floor! Do you see how she's clinging to him, and how she shivers every time he leans down to kiss her?!! Does anyone else feel like a pervert for getting turned on by watching our kids together?!!" Jon chuckled as he sat back in his chair again, shifting uncomfortably as his cock had hardened and he glanced at his beautiful blonde wife.

Barbara and Diana glanced at each other and laughed softly as Barbara said, "Hey... I'm glad you're enjoying watching them, my love! Our sex life has gotten quite a boost here lately and I know it's because of what you've seen going on between those kids! So don't you dare let it make you feel like a perv!" She and Diana laughed harder when Jon and Charles also started laughing.

Then Barbara looked back at her husband as her laughter faded when she noted the gleam in his deep green eyes as he stared at her, and she purred throatily, "By the way, darling... Happy Anniversary! I'll give you your present later!" she finished with a sexy smile that widened when Jon licked his lips and kissed at her. It had become his signal over the years that he wanted to eat her pussy. She took a deep breath as her cat-like blue eyes sparkled at her handsome husband... the silver spreading in his raven hair at his temples making him even more sexy and distinguished looking at 57 years old... 

Charles glanced toward the dance floor again and stopped laughing as he was mesmerized by the look on his daughter's face when her head fell back as she grabbed Jonnie's shoulders when her back arched in pleasure as he slid his hands down her back to her waist and pulled her tightly against him. Then his left hand slid up the middle of her back to her neck and into her hair, supporting her as he leaned over to kiss her again. Charles was sure his daughter was moaning in pleasure... she just couldn't be heard over the music...

He put his hand over his mouth and shook his head. Goddamn, sweetie... Jonnie's going to have his hands full with you... I wonder if your Mama would've been like this with me when we were your age...

Diana looked at her husband and smirked as she said quietly, "You better believe it, my sexy man..." and then grinned sexily with him when he lowered his hand and his dimple appeared as he winked at her. 

**********

A couple hours later, Jonnie and Megan said goodnight to their parents and friends at the nightclub and left to be alone. He drove straight to his house as his parents had told him they probably wouldn't be home for another few hours; they wanted to stay and dance a while longer to celebrate their anniversary. And Jonnie wanted Megan to give him a special gift for his birthday...

But he had promised her that he would not let them lose control... He went into his bathroom and took off his good clothes and put on a pair of loose-fitting shorts so his cock wouldn't feel so constrained. When he came out, he could see in her eyes that he was going to have to be the strong one. Megan was already so turned on from just dancing with him that she was ready to let him have his way with her... and he feared he might actually have to stop her from trying to take things too far. He said a quick prayer for the strength to do that if it became necessary...

Jonnie walked over to Megan and stood directly in front of her as she stared at his bare chest, taking slow deep breaths, and he grinned when she moaned softly and whispered, "Oh God, you smell good!" He brought his hand up to her chin and tilted her face up to stare into her eyes as he lowered his lips to hers. He whispered back, "Thank you," as his lips brushed hers and both of them closed their eyes as his mouth settled over hers for a tender kiss.

He slowly released her lips and opened his eyes as he lifted his head, noting the look of utter passion and trust on her face, even with her eyes closed. "Open your eyes, sweet Megan. I want to watch your eyes as I undress you," he told her softly when he saw a hint of nervousness in the depths of her hazel eyes as they drifted open.

Jonnie needed to make her understand that he was nervous as well... but his stemmed from the fear that he would be unable to resist her when he finally saw her naked. He brought both of his hands up to her face and cupped it gently.

"I have to stare into your eyes and touch you with my hands as I remove your clothes to gradually build my resistance to give in to temptation when I finally see your full beauty. I can't let us lose control too soon... we still have so much time and so much to get through in our lives and I don't want to ruin anything by rushing to something that will be the most important moment of our lives," he stated sincerely as his thumbs caressed her cheeks.

Megan brought her hands up to his chest and stroked him softly as she smiled and replied, "I know, Jonnie. I just want tonight to be special for you... I want to give you whatever you want... and I trust you..." she whispered and then turned her head to kiss the palm of his left hand and then nuzzled her cheek against it as she stared up at him, seeing the deep passion in his aqua eyes.

Then she took his hands with hers and moved them from her face down to her back and instructed him softly, "Untie my top at my waist and then lift the strap from around my neck."

She moaned softly when she felt his hands graze her bare skin as he undid the bow at the back of her waist. A soft breath hissed through her teeth as he parted the material and then dragged his hands upward, caressing the sides of her breasts until he slid his palms fully over them as he grasped her top and lifted it free from her, dropping it to the floor beside them.

Jonnie groaned softly as he moved his hands to her waist and pulled her against him, anxious to feel her full, bared breasts touching his skin. Then he growled when Megan lifted her arms and wrapped them over his shoulders to crush her chest to his and he could feel her hard nipples poking his flesh. He couldn't resist running his hands up her back to press her even more firmly against him and he felt her tremble even harder than when they were dancing earlier.

He bent his head down and kissed her neck and shoulder and then pulled back from her gently until he could slide his hands around to the front of her body and cup her breasts, closing his eyes and savoring their fullness. Then he opened his eyes as he dragged his thumbs over her nipples, causing her chest to heave as she hissed in another deep breath. He looked down and moaned at how erotic it was to finally see his hands on her gorgeous bare tits.

Her skin was creamy and her nipples and areolas were a dark, rosy pink, the flesh at the tips puckered tightly from her excitement. His cock throbbed and his mouth watered as he bent down and drew his tongue flatly over the tip of her left breast and then closed his lips around it and sucked softly, moaning at how hot it was to feel her firm nipple get even harder as he sucked on it. He had to stop immediately when he felt her collapsing as she cried out from a sudden orgasm; she fell against him and he held her until her body stopped jerking.

Jonnie grinned sexily as he remembered catching his parents making out on the couch late one night just a year or so earlier... his Mom was in the middle of an orgasm as his Dad was fondling and sucking on her breasts. He had embarrassed the hell out of his parents when he busted out laughing, saying he'd suddenly realized why his Mom had been unable to breastfeed he and his sister...

Ever since that night, he and his parents had been having some very frank discussions about sex and love and he learned his parents had shared some very wild things together over the years. Things that he would never have believed people who truly loved each other could do... But his parents had made him understand that they had only been able to do those things because they trusted each other implicitly and they had only been concerned with sharing the ultimate pleasures together because of how deeply they loved each other.

It was partly why he had not been so shocked to learn about how Megan had been conceived. Once he'd heard her father explain why they'd done it and that they'd never regretted it because it had given them Meggie and Charlie, Jonnie had realized that deep love could motivate couples to do all sorts of things they'd otherwise never consider... Like agreeing NOT to lose control by giving in to what both of them desired with every fiber of their beings...   

As soon as Megan was breathing normally again, she looked up Jonnie and said, "I have a feeling that's going to happen a lot tonight..." They smiled at each other as he caressed her cheek again and then the smiles faded as he moved his hands to the waist of her skirt. Her eyelids lowered as she instructed him again. "There's a zipper in back at the middle."

She tried to control her breathing as his hands found it and lowered it slowly and then just let the skirt slide over her hips to pool at their feet. Megan moaned when Jonnie's hands slid down to her ass and caressed it softly through her silky bikini panties. She moaned even louder as her back arched when he cupped her ass and pressed his hard cock against her, her hands clutching his shoulders for support as her head fell backward.

Jonnie dragged his hands from her ass up her back again, pulling her body against him until his hands reached her hair and he released the large barrette that had been holding her hair in a curly mass on the back of her head. As it spilled down her back between her shoulder blades, he dropped the barrette on the floor and then dug his hands into her hair. "I love your long, thick hair, Megan... I always want it loose when I make love to you. I hope you'll always keep it long for me..." he said seductively as he held her still and then kissed her deeply as they moaned into each other's mouths.

As they clung together, holding tightly to each other, Megan suddenly realized she felt even safer in his arms than she had felt with Brad. Jonnie's touch excited her beyond reason but she also felt a trust in him that she'd have never been able to believe could exist when she was younger and still so afraid of her own feelings. So when she felt his hands move down her body to her hips, she moved her hands with his and helped him push her panties down until she felt them fall around her ankles. He continued to kiss her deeply as she clung to him while untangling her feet from her underwear.

Jonnie slowly broke their kiss and stared at her for a moment as he brought his hands up to her hair and pulled a few strands of her golden brown curls forward to dangle over her shoulders. Then he backed away from her far enough to see her entirely naked.

His cock throbbed at the sight. Her eyes were filled with passion and desire as she watched him... Her full breasts were heaving as she panted excitedly and he could see wetness clinging to the soft sable curls at the juncture of her thighs.

Her body was perfect... she wasn't model slim, but she was perfectly shaped. She had definitely inherited her mother's hourglass figure... beautiful full breasts with dark rose tips, a slim waist and rounded hips. Jonnie looked up into her eyes again and he saw she could tell he loved what he saw as her eyes were riveted to the front of his shorts where his hard cock was twitching, yearning to be freed.

She looked up into his eyes and pleaded softly, "Jonnie... let me see you naked, too!" He started to protest, but she persisted. "Please, Jonnie! I promise I won't make a move... I just want to see all of your body. I need to replace one last image... please..." she finished quietly.

He smiled softly and said, "OK... but first, turn around with your back to me and don't turn back around until I say so. Understand?" She returned his smile as she nodded and then turned her back to him. He almost groaned when he saw her ass... it was as perfectly shaped as the rest of her body and he was also noticing that he'd never really paid attention to how sexy her legs were, too. He'd always looked at her legs, but he'd never noticed how shapely they were, especially her thighs...

He closed his eyes for a moment and willed his dick to stop aching as he removed the elastic waist work-out shorts he was wearing, but kept them in his hand as he stood up straight again. Jonnie took a deep breath and said softly, "OK, Megan... you can turn back around," and held his breath as he watched her turn her head to peer over her shoulder as she started to turn around. He expelled it raggedly when he saw flames roar in her eyes as she stared him up and down.

Megan could feel wetness flowing between her legs and she jerked involuntarily when she saw Jonnie's beautiful monster cock standing out proudly from a thatch of curly black hair that was in stark contrast to his nearly hairless torso. His stomach looked like a washboard... his ab muscles were so toned that she could see their definition under his skin and his pectoral muscles made his chest look huge in comparison to his tight waist and lean hips. All the years of physical conditioning he'd endured playing high school sports had really done his body good...

Even his legs were sexy... his impressive balls were resting against the top of his powerfully toned thighs. Megan signaled with her finger for him to turn around and she moaned softly as her eyes traveled from his hard calf muscles up the backs of his legs to that perfect, round ass and she groaned when he flexed his cheeks, making it look even sexier. She sighed at how muscular his back was as it widened up to his broad shoulders and she even admired his strong arms, trembling slightly as she missed the sensation of them wrapped around her tightly...

She moaned again as she watched him bend over with his back still toward her as he put his shorts on again, then he turned around to face her. She closed her eyes slowly and the image of Jonnie standing there naked... looking even better than a statue of a Greek god... instantly formed in her mind's eye. She couldn't stop from moaning again, and then sighed and opened her eyes when she realized he was standing right in front of her.




Price of Past Miracles Ch. 06



Brad was also well built, but not as toned as Jonnie, and he had more hair on his body... something that had always made Megan feel more comfortable with him. She realized it was another way in which he had reminded her of her Dad...

She felt anything BUT comfortable with Jonnie... he excited her in ways she hadn't even known were possible or could even have imagined when she was younger. What she HAD imagined had scared her so badly that it had held her back from him. But now... she wasn't afraid any more. She was ready for whatever he wanted to do to her... She just hoped he really would be able to stay in control and keep her from pushing things too far because she wanted him in the worst way...

Jonnie groaned softly at the look in Megan's eyes and it was almost his undoing. So many nights he'd dreamed of her staring at him with desire as he'd made love to her... but the look she was giving him at that moment was so much more than just desire... Rampant lust... wanton passion... deep, deep love... and absolute trust...

He growled softly as he bent down and picked her up and carried her over to his bed, laying her down. He leaned beside her and stared at her as he trailed his right fingers over her lips, grinning sexily when she parted them and ran the tip of her tongue over her lips and the tips of his fingers. The flames in her eyes told him she was really anticipating the feel of his lips as he tasted her body...

An answering fire roared through his body, causing him to groan as it settled with a hard throb right in his groin, making his stiff cock ache even more. God, Meg... I want you so badly... but I promised you... I promised US... We have plenty of time... but I just hope I can keep that promise... He closed his eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath, willing the ache to subside so he could concentrate on giving her as much pleasure as possible while staying in control.

He kept his eyes closed when he felt her reach up and grasp his neck, pulling him down to kiss him in such a softly erotic way that his lips actually started to tingle. He groaned as he felt the tingle spreading over his body and settling in his groin as she deepened the kiss... she was making love to his mouth and it was working on his cock as well!

Jonnie lost it when Megan rolled toward him and caressed her left leg between his thighs, rubbing her thigh on his tight balls and aching dick. His hips jerked as he exploded into his workout sweat shorts and he moaned loudly into her mouth as she continued to massage his pulsing shaft with her leg. As it ended, he groaned softly as their lips parted when he flopped back on the bed beside her, panting heavily.

She lifted up on her elbow and smiled down at him as she reached over and ran her fingers through his raven hair, smoothing the curling strands over the tops of his ears. "Do you think that will help you to maintain some control so we don't break OUR promise? You're physically stronger than me, Jonnie... so I would be unable to stop you from taking me... not that I'd want to!!! And I can't promise that I won't beg you to take me! So ultimately, you ARE the one who needs to be strong and in control... But you're an eighteen-year-old guy whose hormones are raging and your soul mate is naked in your bed, willing to let you do whatever you want with me...  Hmmm... you think we're asking just a bit too much of you?!!!" she asked half jokingly and half seriously.

He grinned at her, rolling onto his side facing her as he propped his head on his left hand. "I really do appreciate the fact that you understand just how hard this is for me..." He paused and chuckled as she glanced down at his crotch and smirked at his choice of words. "OK... how DIFFICULT this is for me! Oh, Megan... I never thought it could feel so good to do the things we've done and we haven't even gone all the way yet! How long do you think it will take before we have to go that far in order to give each other as much pleasure as we already have?!!"

He looked at her in awe as they both widened their eyes and shook their heads in wonder. Then he continued, "Right now, I can't even imagine how it's going to feel when I finally... get inside you..." He closed his eyes briefly, as just saying the words made his cock start to stir again. "But I'm also a little scared. Even though we know we're meant to be together, you and I are going to be spending quite a bit of time apart over the next few years. And I'm afraid if we rush to that, it will make it that much harder for us to be apart. We have to go ahead and set our plans for our future goals in motion... we've both known what we want to do with our lives and we can't change that now just because you've finally seen the light..."

He stopped and snorted with laughter when she huffed and reached over and shoved her hand on his shoulder, flopping him onto his back as she knocked him off balance. Jonnie scrambled back up and tackled her, pinning her to the bed beneath him, the feel of her nakedness against him reminding him that he still wanted to taste her...

Their chests heaved together as he lay over top of her. "We have lots of time, Megan... I'm sure I can figure out ways to pleasure you that will keep you coming back for more every time we're apart... Let me show you..." he said seductively as he started to work his way down her body with his lips and hands.

Megan writhed as he ravaged both of her breasts, alternately torturing each one with his mouth while caressing the other with his hand... sucking as much of the tips into his mouth as he could and then backing off to lave her nipples with his tongue. When he felt her hips rolling beneath him, he sucked her left nipple between his lips and nipped it lightly with his teeth. She screamed as her hips bucked against his stomach and he moaned as he felt her soft cunt hair tickling him.

Jonnie released her nipple, kissed her breasts and continued working his way down her body as her climax subsided. He glanced up when his face was poised just above her pussy and saw her head raised, her hazel eyes burning at him in anticipation. He held her gaze as he bent down and slipped his tongue between her pussy lips and licked her softly a few times.

"Oh, Jonnie..." she breathed as her head fell back onto the mattress and her thighs opened wide in further invitation.

"Oh, Meg... sweet Megan!" he groaned as his mouth claimed her flesh and his tongue delved inside to taste more of her sweet cunt. He remembered what Barbie had told him about not being too forceful, so he kept his lips and tongue soft as he kissed and licked at her satiny flesh, but it was all he could do to not just open his mouth wide and devour her! God she tasted good!!!

Not that he had any idea how a girl's cunt was supposed to taste, but he couldn't imagine anyone tasting better... or smelling sweeter. That was why he'd always called her "sweet Megan." He realized now that the scent he'd picked up from her every time he was around her after they hit puberty was the scent of her arousal. Every time she was near him, her attraction to him had caused her juices to flow and he'd been able to smell her excitement... but where it had scared her, it had driven him to distraction!

That was why he'd always felt as confused as she and afraid to tell her how strongly he felt about her. He'd always gotten such mixed signals, but not from anything she had done deliberately. She had no control over her pheromones that had called to him, but her fear always made her back away from him. And since he had no idea why her scent drove him wild, he could only go on how she acted toward him and she had always been afraid of him...

Now she was no longer afraid of him, but he was starting to fear what was happening between them... it was way more powerful than he'd ever imagined. If anything ever happened to her, he knew he'd never feel anything like how she made him feel ever again... worse than that... he wouldn't care what happened to himself.

Jonnie took a deep breath and inhaled Megan's scent as he fought away the gnawing fear in his gut that he'd not be able to live without her... He let the sweet taste of her juices that were constantly flowing, the erotic movement of her body and her loud moans and desperate cries of his name as she came over and over for him reassure him that nothing would ever tear them apart...

When she could take no more, Megan dug her fingers into the wavy black hair on his head where it had been nestled between her legs for almost an hour and begged breathlessly, "Jonnie... please!!! I can't keep doing this! Oh, God... Oh my, God!!! Aaaaaahhhh!!!" she wailed as she came again when he sucked softly on her clit once more. Then, mercifully, he released her and placed a soft kiss on her mound. She felt him crawling up over her as she lay there panting, rolling her head back and forth, her eyes closed as she tried to will her muscles to stop twitching.

She smiled hugely and started chuckling when she heard Jonnie softly singing "Happy Birthday" to himself, and then he leaned down and kissed her and she could clearly taste and smell herself on his lips. It set her senses pulsing even faster than remembering how he had moaned with her when he tasted his cum in her mouth.

Megan wrapped herself around Jonnie and writhed her hips against him as she deepened their kiss and moaned wantonly when he rubbed his hard cock inside his shorts fully between her spread open pussy. She groaned gutturally as her cunt throbbed harder than she'd ever felt before and the sudden need to feel his cock fill her sent her hands to the waist of his shorts as she tried to push them down.

Jonnie groaned as he felt her hands push inside his shorts and grab his ass and he kept thrusting against her until he realized she was using her hands to work his shorts down. He rested his full weight on top of her for a moment as he reached down and pulled his shorts back up and then took her wrists and moved her arms up over her head, imprisoning her hands.

She was grunting into his mouth in protest, so he lifted up to look down at her and said softly, "No Meg... we're not prepared for that and you know it." She looked like she was about to cry. "My sweet Megan... I know how badly you want this and, believe me... so do I!" he groaned desperately. "But it's too soon, my love! I'm afraid that when I finally take all of your body... I'll never be able to be away from you again! Do you understand?!!" he asked her softly and then released her wrists to kiss her desperately when she whimpered and nodded her head.

He held her close as they rolled to the side and continued to kiss, writhe and moan together until she made both of them come when she reached into his shorts and stroked his thick cock as she rubbed her clit on the tip through his shorts. She moaned loudly as she could feel his shaft pulsing in almost the same rhythm as her own climax pulsed through her body and it made her wonder if orgasms felt the same for him as they did for her...

As he held her while their breathing returned to normal, she kissed his neck and said softly, "I love you, Jonnie... and happy birthday. But I feel guilty because I feel like you gave me a present rather than me giving you one!"

His arms tightened around her for a moment and then he loosened his hold and leaned back to look at her as he replied, "Oh no, Meg... you gave me exactly what I wanted! You... all I wanted was you! To have you open yourself to me and trust me... this was the best birthday I've ever had!" His smile turned sad as he added, "I'm just sorry that I won't be able to be with you on your birthday next month to give you whatever you want..."

Megan smiled softly and pulled his head toward hers for a tender kiss. Then she replied, "Oh, Jonnie... I already told you that I felt like you'd given me a gift... So let's just say that we celebrated our birthdays together tonight... OK?!!"

They both smiled genuinely when he nodded in agreement. Then they shared a tender kiss, took deep breaths and backed away from each other as they both felt desire still churning inside of them. Jonnie rolled off the bed, picked up Megan's clothes and handed them to her and told her to use his bathroom to clean up and dress, then he took some clothes and went to the hall bathroom to do the same.

Over the next week and a half before Megan left for Northwestern, they didn't let themselves remove any clothing again... they found plenty of ways to pleasure each other with their hands without having to do that. Both of them knew that it would be too dangerous for them to be naked together again... they knew they were playing with fire...

And both Megan Richards and Jonnie North were starting to fear being totally consumed by the inferno they knew would rage out of control when they finally consummated the ultimate intimate connection of their bodies...  That fear made them back away from each other over the next couple of years until Megan's fear that she was about to lose Jonnie forever made them finally realize that they were no longer scared of being burned...



Price of Past Miracles Ch. 07



Megan Richards threw herself into college life at Northwestern University. She devoted herself solely to her studies, wanting to absorb every aspect of creative and performing arts, speech and communications. Her courses varied widely from creative writing to music to drama to an introduction into directing, editing and movie making... and she excelled at and loved it all. Instead of bringing her attention to those aspects that better suited her talents and her interests, she found herself feeling more and more confused.

And it especially hadn't helped when she went home for the holidays between semesters her freshman year and discovered that she and Jonnie North seemed to have lost some of that spark between them. They had been genuinely happy to see each other as they'd held each other tightly when he met her with her parents at LAX.

But when they kissed, they both looked at each other nervously when they didn't feel the fire that had always existed between them roar instantly to life. Megan had still felt a fluttering in the pit of her stomach when she saw his aqua eyes staring at her as she flew toward him coming out of the gangway at the airport gate. And she had expected the fluttering to burst into flames as soon as she threw herself against him and he picked her up in his arms... but that didn't happen and he'd realized it, too.

They knew they still loved each other but they were confused as to why the raging inferno between them seemed to have dwindled so drastically. They reasoned together that they were both concentrating so hard on their goals that it was nature's way of giving them the peace of mind to do that instead of missing each other so terribly... that seemed perfectly logical to them. Their relationship had felt anything but logical up to that point, so they tried to take it as a good sign... but they were still worried that they'd lost something very special...

They'd spent as much time together as they could during that holiday, talking about how things were going for them and catching up with their whole group of friends. Megan told Jonnie about her inability to narrow her interests as far as the entertainment world was concerned and it made him realize that she was a very talented and creative person... something he'd never been that interested in.

His whole life had been geared toward staying in good physical condition to get into police work, just like his Dad. But he didn't want to be just a cop... he wanted to be the best... to solve the cases that were unsolvable... to find sick serial killers who were still on the loose... to help people feel safe again...

It had always bothered him that the one person he knew he was supposed to be with as they grew up together had always been so frightened of him... but at least he finally understood why. It was just ingrained in him that people needed to know there were still people like him... and his Dad and all of his Dad's friends... who were dedicated to trying to stop all the sick and evil individuals still out there so everyone wouldn't feel so scared all the time...

That was why he was attending USC part-time, taking courses in criminal and behavioral sciences. But he was going to have to come up with most of the money because he didn't want his parents to have to take out a loan to pay for what they hadn't been able to set aside. His Dad had always assumed he would just go directly into the police academy after he graduated, but he'd come to understand how important it was to Jonnie to get into working the really bad cases as soon as he could without having to work his way up as a street cop for years. Now Jonnie just had to figure out how to start making enough money to cover his education...     

Megan's twin half-brother Charlie and his girlfriend, Lily Wilson, were still keeping their relationship secret from their parents. As far as Charles and Diana and Larry and Maria knew, Charlie and Lily were just best friends who were attending UCLA helping each other with their studies for pre-med. Which did keep them busy most of the time, but they still found time to sneak to one or the other's house every so often and remind each other what they shared together when they weren't so buried in their studies...

Tom and Lynda Seldon were so proud, as well as everyone else, of how well Brad was doing at the Air Force Academy. He was one of the star players on their football team, and his academic curriculum had him on track for getting into the space program. He was also spending as much time as he could logging in flight hours to finally get his private pilot's license. Gordon had promised him he would give Brad his plane as soon as he had his license.

His Dad and Uncle Charles' old friend and the former pilot for the FBI Los Angeles office, Gordon Brown, had gotten him hooked on flying when he was a boy. Gordon had bought an old used Cessna years back and had taught Brad how to help him work on the engine and get it ready for flying. Then he had given Brad flying lessons starting when he was fifteen when Lynda had finally relented to her son's constant pleading despite her fear of all the things that could go wrong...

Tom had also helped try to win her over for their son by reminding her that she'd feared early in their marriage something would happen to Tom because of his job, but he'd always managed to get out of every dangerous situation he'd faced unharmed. But Tom didn't tell her that most of the time it was because Charles always had his back... But he didn't need to tell her that... she already knew.

The only reason she'd relented was because she knew Brad had already set his sights on becoming an astronaut... she'd seen it on his face when they'd watched the televised moon landing in July 1969... and she simply couldn't continue to stand in the way of her brave son's dreams. She'd realized he was every bit as brave as his father, but she was worried that he didn't possess the healthy respect for fear that his father did, which would help keep him calm if things ever did go wrong...

Barbie Estevez was the only one of their group who was floundering... still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. She was happy in her relationship with Brad, ecstatic that he'd given her a ring for Christmas and told her it was his promise that as soon as he graduated from The Academy, he was going to marry her. But that was still almost four years away... she had to figure out what to do with herself until then...

**********

The next spring, she and Jonnie lucked into something that turned out to be very rewarding for her and very lucrative for him. Jonnie's mother, Barbara, had agreed to put together a charity fund-raising fashion show because of her association with a Rodeo Drive boutique she'd worked at for years. It was to raise funds for one of the L.A.P.D.'s community programs designed to keep kids off the streets and away from drugs. She had also immediately enlisted Dawn Estevez's help as she'd always envied her good friend's exceptional organizational skills.

Due to Dawn and Barbara's enthusiasm, the press made a big deal out of the event and it gained the attention of a lot of Hollywood bigwigs who wanted to attend the function and help them raise as much money as possible for such a worthy cause. They learned from Diana that The Duke had been largely responsible for talking it up after he'd read about it in the paper, so they'd sent him a nice "Thank You" note and told him they hoped he would be there.

Barbara had also been able to enlist the services of some top professional models who agreed to do it for free since it was for charity. But the day before the show, one of the male models called to cancel because he had suddenly taken ill and it was discovered that he had appendicitis and was going in for surgery that afternoon. Barbara had told him not to worry and that she was sure she could find someone to take his place...

But she'd already had trouble finding male models who were willing to do the show. Most of them had acted like selfish creeps when they were asked to waive their usual pay for the charity event. She was lamenting her dilemma to Dawn and Barbie over lunch that day as they were working on the last minute details for the show the next day when Barbie said, "Why don't you just get Jonnie to do it... he's as good looking as those other guys and he's got a better body, too!"

Dawn and Barbara had frowned at each other as Barbara replied, "Oh, Jonnie would never go for an idea like this! He's just not into this sort of thing!" But as she kept picturing her handsome son sauntering down the runway in some of the skimpy underwear and bathing suits they had thrown in with the men's fashions to entertain the mostly female crowd they were expecting, she started to smile as she realized Barbie was right...

Jonnie was not thrilled with the idea, but he succumbed to his mother's pleading when he met the two other male models and saw them eyeing him with envy and he also realized Barbie was right... In fact, he turned out to be the hit of the show! Every time he stepped out onto the runway, loud applause and feminine shouts of "woohoooo!!!" followed his every move.

He held his breath, clenched his jaw and continued to hide the shy smile that wanted to form and kept his eyelids slightly lowered so his mild fear and embarrassment wouldn't show. He had no idea how sexy he looked parading his perfectly toned body up and down that runway... until he saw the photos Barbie had taken of him.

Then he was glad he had hung onto the business card that a woman from some modeling agency had handed him at the reception afterward and told him to contact her if he was interested in making money at something he was born to do. It was the only card he'd kept because it was the only one that hadn't been shoved into his hand and followed by a look that had told him he would be required to perform in other ways besides just modeling or acting...

Jonnie had been astounded at how much attention he'd received as a result of that show, but he had been happy to learn that the charity had raised more money from that event than they had in the previous two years. It was so successful that Barbara and Dawn had been asked to make it an annual event and Diana had agreed to be involved with subsequent ones because of her Hollywood connections. 

Jonnie had called the modeling agency and found out that, lacking experience, they would want to at least see a portfolio showing what he could do. A portfolio... he wasn't even sure what that was until Barbie explained that it was pictures showing him in different ways... poses, close ups, facial expressions, etc. He almost gave up on the whole idea until Barbie talked him into letting her shoot photos of him and helped him put a portfolio together.

They took a week or so of afternoons going around to different locations and taking all kinds of different photos using both color and black and white film, as Barbie knew the agencies usually liked to see how well models photographed in all mediums. Jonnie was no expert, but when he saw the prints of what Barbie had shot, getting him to do things and pose in ways that had felt completely natural to him, he was impressed again with how good she'd made him look.

He was especially impressed with some of his close ups... ones in which she'd captured an absolutely smoldering look in his eyes every time she'd told him to think of he and Megan together... But she'd also captured some very pensive expressions by telling him to think about how much he missed Megan and how much he was looking forward to seeing her again. Jonnie figured that would be his trick for making the modeling agency think he knew what he was doing... he'd just think of Megan in whatever way it took to get the emotions they wanted from him.

It turned out that the agency was a new firm trying to get established in L.A. so they weren't promising him huge money right away. But they did promise that if he worked with them and became as big as the owner's instincts were telling her he would, she would generously compensate him as they grew. Jonnie was no fool and he made sure that was all spelled out in the contract they asked him to sign...

It turned out to be a boon for Barbie as well. The agency was impressed with her photos of him, so they offered her a chance to eventually become one of their staff photographers if they were pleased with the freelance assignments they sent her way. Barbie jumped at the chance as she had always loved taking pictures of her friends and had never given a thought to actually becoming a photographer, even though everyone had always told her that she had a knack for capturing some great photos.

During the summer of 1976, Jonnie earned enough money from his modeling jobs to take a couple of summer courses at USC so his schooling wouldn't continue to drag out too long. Megan had been surprised to learn how he was making money, but she was supportive of it... other than the fact that it cut into how much time they'd been able to spend together that summer. But she'd also kept herself busy earning a little money through the recording companies and doing bit parts in some movies and TV shows since she'd finally gotten her SAG card. 

By the following fall, Jonnie was starting to get noticed more and more by some of the bigger names in the fashion world and some of his jobs were requiring him to travel. Jonnie didn't like that it was taking time away from his true goal, but he was starting to get paid some premium wages for his work. And the agency had told him that he'd better take advantage while he was hot to earn as much money as he could because the fashion industry was so volatile that they couldn't guarantee how long his "look" would be "in"...

Thankfully, Barbie had also started to earn recognition for her work, especially for her photos of Jonnie, and they were frequently hired for the same assignments so they were often traveling companions. They spent all of their time together much as they always had growing up... consoling each other over the fact that they were still separated from their soul mates. And helping each other out of awkward situations whenever they found themselves being hit on by people who didn't know how to take "no" for an answer!

They usually did that by acting like they were a couple whenever they were out in public, something they'd never thought to mention to Megan and Brad... and it ended up causing them several months worth of trouble in their private lives...

**********

In early November 1976, Jonnie and Barbie traveled to the Bahamas to do a swimsuit shoot for the following spring and both of them had been fending off advances from a couple of the other models also working the shoot. So Jonnie and Barbie had put on an ostentatious display of a mock sensual kiss, not knowing that a celebrity tabloid photographer had been hiding nearby trying to catch racy photos of all the models in between changes.

The tabloid reporter had recognized the hot newcomer Jonnie North right away, but he'd had to snoop to learn the name of the pretty little photographer he was smooching on the beach that afternoon. The photo was printed in the rag's issue for the first week of December and Megan's roommate at Northwestern brought it to her attention right after exams were over and they were getting ready to leave for Christmas break.

Megan was in shock and she kept thinking on the plane ride home that there had to be some logical explanation. But what kind of logical explanation was there for how Jonnie and Barbie were lip locked together the way they were?!! She decided she would just point-blank ask Jonnie if anything had ever happened between him and Barbie and see if he'd tell her the truth...

Of course Jonnie denied it, knowing that Barbie would never have told Megan about the time she'd allowed him to experiment on her with his fingers before they had gotten together with Megan and Brad, and he never even gave their mock kiss a second thought. Jonnie frowned in confusion at the icy expression that settled over Megan's face and he asked her what was wrong. Then he felt an icy stab to his heart at what she said.

"I'm sorry Jonnie... I don't know how to tell you this, but... whatever I felt for you is gone. I think we've spent so much time apart that it's just... died out. I mean, the last few times we've seen each other, it wasn't like it was before... and I know you've felt that way, too. I think it's time we let go..."

He grabbed her arm as she tried to turn away from him. "NO, MEGAN!!! What are you saying?!!! Where is this coming from?!! Don't do this to me!!!" he gritted hoarsely as his throat tried to close up from the fear that was choking him. He would rather she have fought him and screamed at him in anger and told him that she hated him rather than just staring at him with that hollow look in her eyes... it truly looked like something had died inside her. He let her go and watched as she turned and walked stiffly away... his heart constricting in his chest as he feared he'd lost her for good and he had no idea why...

Something had died inside her... her will to go on at the thought she could no longer trust him. Megan spent the rest of that holiday break avoiding just about everyone, especially Jonnie and Barbie, and she wouldn't talk to anyone, either... except Brad. The day after Brad got home for his short holiday furlough, Megan went to him and broke down, showing him the photo of Jonnie and Barbie and telling him that Jonnie had denied anything happening between them.

Brad confronted Barbie with the same question and got the same response. Then he gave Barbie basically the same reason for breaking off with her... sending her into hysterics, wondering why her soul mate who'd made such passionate love to her the night before was telling her he no longer had feelings for her!

She screamed at him with tears streaming down her face, "You're lying, Brad!!! I know you are!!! I don't know why, but I know you're lying because of last night!!! I know what I saw on your face last night!!!"

He stared at her with that same hollow expression Megan had been walking around with and told her quietly, "No, Barbie... I'm not lying. Didn't you notice how much I kept my eyes closed? I did that because... I was thinking of someone else..." he croaked as he tried to swallow the lump that lie was causing in his throat. Then he turned and walked away from her trying to figure out why she and Jonnie had done something that destroyed their chances with the people they'd claimed to love all their lives...

It made absolutely no sense to him. He had a feeling nothing would ever make sense again... unless Barbie would explain why it happened and then beg him to take her back...

But Barbie and Jonnie were in such a state of shock... they didn't know what to do. Brad and Megan left after the holidays to return to The Academy and Northwestern wondering why neither Barbie nor Jonnie had even attempted to contact them to explain why they'd lied and at least asked to be forgiven. And none of them said a word to any of their parents about what was going on, leaving the adults all scratching their heads as to why Brad and Megan were no longer speaking to Barbie and Jonnie...

A few weeks after Brad had left, Barbie finally broke down crying and told her mother what had happened and that she and Jonnie had no clue why Brad and Megan had gotten that idea. Diana came to Dawn a few weeks later with the answer. She showed up on their doorstep with a copy of the two-month-old tabloid magazine with the incriminating photo.

Diana eyed her good friend and said carefully, "Dawn... I think I know why Megan and Brad broke up with Barbie and Jonnie. Somebody at work brought this to me yesterday because they spotted it and they know Barbara is a friend of mine and that Jonnie is her son. Take a look at this," she said as she flipped the magazine open and shoved it toward Dawn.




Price of Past Miracles Ch. 07



Dawn's hand covered her mouth as she gasped and her eyes flew to Diana's. "Oh, my God... how could this be?!! Barbie has never kept secrets from me... she has always told me everything that's happened with her! This has got to be some kind of mistake... there has got to be an explanation. I'll get her down here right now!" Dawn exclaimed as she moved toward the stairway. "Barbie?!! Barbie... come down here right now!!! This is important!"

They watched as she moved slowly down the stairs, still looking like a zombie ever since Brad broke up with her the day before Christmas Eve. Her eyes were lifeless and she moved listlessly, like she had no energy any more... completely unlike the Barbie everyone had known and loved growing up. She met her mother at the bottom of the stairs and asked quietly, "What is it?"

Dawn handed her the magazine and pointed to the picture. Barbie stared at it for a moment as if she didn't recognize what she was looking at and then she frowned in confusion and read the caption under the photo. Then her mouth flew open and she cried indignantly, "How the hell did this happen?!!" Then she looked up at her mother and her ex-best friend's mother who was staring at her suspiciously. "Oh, God... you've got to believe me... this is NOT what it looks like!!!"

Then she launched into the whole story about how she and Jonnie had acted like a couple on locations so other people would leave them alone. "You can ask everyone at the modeling agency... they know what we've been doing and that we're just friends!!! We told them because we wanted them to back up our story that we were a couple in case anyone asked!!! Oh God... we never even thought to tell Brad and Megan about that!!! Oh, shit... how stupid could we have been?!!!" she squeaked as tears started streaming down her face.

Barbie started pacing nervously and then rushed over to grab her purse and was digging for her car keys as she cried nervously, "Oh, God... I've got to get to Brad and explain this to him! I've got to make him see... this is all just a stupid misunderstanding!!!" She was wandering in circles trying to figure out if she needed to take a jacket or anything else with her when her mother stopped her and shook her slightly.

"Barbie... you can't go to Brad. He's in Colorado, honey. You'll have to call him and hope he'll talk to you. But you probably should get a hold of Jonnie and explain to him what's going on so he can try to contact Megan. You swear, baby, that this is just a stupid misunderstanding... that there is absolutely nothing between you and Jonnie?!! Because if there ever has been, you shouldn't lie about it... there are four peoples' hearts and lives on the line here, Barbie, and you can't base a relationship on a lie," she said gently as she stroked her daughter's tear streaked cheeks.

Barbie sniffed loudly and then took another deep breath. "I swear, Mama... Jonnie and I were always just pretending... we do NOT have feelings like that for each other! All we ever talk about when we're together is how much we miss Brad and Megan... I can't believe this is happening... this is so totally screwed up!!! And all I can do now is pray to God that they'll listen and believe us!!!" she whimpered as her mother took her in her arms.

Dawn glanced at Diana as her daughter sobbed quietly on her shoulder. Diana smiled sadly and nodded her head that she believed Barbie was telling the truth. She left them and went home and called her daughter at school that evening. She tried to talk to her about it, but the second she mentioned Barbie, Megan said stiffly that she didn't want to hear any more and that if she said another word, she was going to hang up. Diana sighed heavily and tried to tell her daughter that she was going to be sorry if she didn't at least talk to Jonnie because she was sure he was going to call her...

"Goodbye, Mama," Megan said hollowly, hung up the phone and headed back to her dorm room to get back to the one-act play she was writing for her drama class. Fifteen minutes later, she was interrupted again when another one of her hall mates knocked on her door to tell her she had another phone call. When the girl told her it was a guy, she wrote something on a piece of paper and got up to hand it to the girl as she said, "Tracy... tell whoever it is that I'm busy and can't take their call right now, and then ask if it's Jonnie... and if it is, tell him this!"

Tracy glanced at the note and winced as she said, "Ouch... are you sure you want me to say this?!!" Then she backed away from the door saying, "OK... OK... I got it!" when she received an angry glare from the girl everyone had always thought was so nice... until she came back from Christmas break.

Tracy went back to the pay phone in the hall and picked it up, repeating the first part of Megan's message and then asked, "Is this Jonnie?" and winced again when the sexy, masculine voice said that he was. Tracy took a deep breath and said, "Well, then, she told me to tell you that she never wants to hear from you again you lying, cheating bastard... sorry," she added sympathetically.

There was silence and then a click, indicating that Jonnie must've hung up. Tracy shook her head slowly as she hung up the phone, wondering how Megan could be so cruel to a guy as awesomely handsome as Jonnie North. She'd seen his picture in lots of magazine ads and he had the sexiest body she'd ever seen on a guy! But then she remembered the photo Megan's roommate had showed her in December, and it definitely wasn't Megan in his arms...

But still... she would at least have talked to the guy, heard him out, and if he was truly sorry, she would've taken him back! She just couldn't understand how Megan could so easily give up a guy that gorgeous...

**********

Jonnie hung up the phone and burst out crying to realize that Megan wouldn't even give him a chance to explain. His heart was breaking and it was all over a stupid misunderstanding and she wouldn't even give him the benefit of the doubt. He cried for the better part of an hour that night and then did his best to steel his heart against ever hurting that badly again... but Megan was the only person who had the power to hurt him that badly. He'd sworn that night that he'd make sure he never gave her the chance again...

Modeling jobs were being thrown his way left and right and he was really starting to build quite a tidy sum in his bank account. He was constantly being sent on go-sees for designers, doing photo shoots for print ads and traveling all over to do runway shows about once a month. Jonnie was so busy he hardly had time to think about his heartache... except every time some skinny model came on to him. He couldn't summon even an inkling of desire for them because he kept picturing Megan's voluptuous figure and recalling how wonderful she had felt in his arms...

And she was still his muse on photo shoots... her face lurking in his memory every time he closed his eyes to dig up whatever emotion the photographer asked of him. Happiness... passion... sensuality... anger... lust... hate... love... He felt all of that for her and he hated to admit to himself that he'd always known that he would always love her... That thought pissed the hell out of him and he became very angry with Megan...

He decided it was time to let go of his irrational hope that she'd finally figure out what a mistake she'd made in not believing in him.  So he tried to let go and kept concentrating on working toward his true career goal that his current sideline was bringing him closer to pursuing with every passing month. And he kept crossing paths with a beautiful model named Kris who was very shapely... and very nice and understanding and sympathetic. The more he saw her, the more his pain over Megan's total rejection of him began to lessen... 

**********

Brad Seldon hadn't faired any better than the other three since his return to The Academy. He made sure that all he ever concentrated on was his studies and his athletic training, pushing himself to the max both academically and physically... it was the only way he could get to sleep at night. He realized he was still in love with Barbie when he very nearly had an "encounter" with one of the new female cadets one night toward the end of January 1977.

He'd gone to the gym for his nightly workout and there were only a few other cadets still there... one of whom was an attractive brunette who'd been eyeing him since she'd arrived the previous term. Brad ignored her as he went through his routine, moving to each of the different weight stations and completing his required number of reps. When he got to the bench press, Cadet Moss came over, stood behind his head and peered down at him with a sexy smile.

"Can I spot for you, Cadet Seldon?" she asked seductively as he looked up, seeing almost straight up her loose workout shorts as she spread her legs straddling the bench just above his head.

He told her "no" as he moved to pick up the weight bar, shifting his eyes away from the crotch of her shorts. Just before he lifted it, he inhaled deeply and then almost groaned when he caught the unmistakable scent of an aroused woman... his cock stirred in his shorts. He knew it was her... Karen... as she was constantly reminding him, and he looked up at her as he said, "Pardon me, Cadet Moss, but you're in my way. Please move back," he stated firmly and watched as she backed away.

He lifted the weights and started trying to concentrate on counting his reps, but he could still smell the faint scent of wet pussy in the air. To his dismay, his cock started to lengthen and harden, despite how hard and fast he was lowering and lifting the weights off his chest. Just as he was putting the bar back in the holding brackets, Karen moved around and straddled his hips on the weight bench, rubbing her crotch up and down the bulge in his shorts.

She leaned down toward him and moaned, "I know you want me, Brad... your cock is hard! We're all alone, now... everyone else is gone! I want you to fuck me, Brad... I've wanted you to fuck me since I first saw you!" she growled heatedly as she writhed her crotch against his, the heat from her pussy penetrating through her shorts and his.

He groaned softly from the initial contact, but his hands immediately went to her hips, lifting her off of him as he struggled to get out from under the bar above him. He finally scooted forward enough to sit up and he grasped Karen's arms, moving her off of him as he stood up from the bench and set her away from him.

She snapped to attention as he barked, "CADET MOSS!!! This is unacceptable behavior! You will cease and desist from any further such contact with me or any other cadet at this Academy! I should write you up right now for an honor code violation, but I am going to assume that this was a one-time moment of weakness and that you will never let it happen again! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!!" he yelled next to her ear as her whole face flushed red.

"YES, SIR!!!" she bellowed, and then swallowed nervously.

"You are dismissed!" he stated firmly and watched as she turned and fled from the gym. He noted that, although she seemed to be embarrassed to have been called on her behavior, she didn't show the slightest sign of breaking down and crying as he would have expected a girl to do.

He was informed a few weeks later that Cadet Moss had been on an undercover assignment designed to test how well some of the male cadets could handle being in such close quarters with females since they had been allowed entry into the Academy for the first time that previous term. Brad and a couple of the others had passed with flying colors... some of the other male cadets, not so well. Although what Brad didn't know was that Karen had pushed him way further than she had any of the others... she'd really wanted him... and she would not have reported it if Brad had given her what she'd been dreaming of!

Brad had found out about that just a week after he'd started receiving messages from Barbie, begging him to call her because she needed to explain something to him. He figured she had finally realized that he knew about her and Jonnie and it had taken her a while to come up with a plausible explanation. He had angrily decided that he was going to punish her by making her continue to pursue him with an apology if she really wanted him that badly.

He thought about why he'd been so easily able to ignore being turned on by Cadet Moss... he couldn't deny that... and she had seemed to genuinely desire him. The look on her face as she had begged him to fuck her was unmistakable... as well as the scent of her arousal. His cock had throbbed as she'd rubbed herself against him... and he hadn't had sex since the last time he'd made love to Barbie... the night before he broke up with her.

His cock stirred as he thought about her and remembered all the times he'd made love to her... That was why he'd so easily resisted Cadet Moss... because he was still in love with Barbie. Even as hurt as he was by the thought that she'd betrayed him with his ex-best friend, he still loved her and wanted her. And, God help him... he needed her. But that didn't mean he couldn't keep torturing her to see if she still felt as deeply for him...

He decided to make her wait until he went home at the end of the term before he would talk to her. But Brad Seldon might never have gotten the chance to talk to Barbie Estevez again if he had chosen to ignore the last message he received from her before he was about to fly home... 



Price of Past Miracles Ch. 08



Barbie Estevez cried out to Brad Seldon as his plane was going down in flames after being struck by lightning... then she screamed and sat up in her bed, gasping for air. She looked around and realized it was the middle of the night and she was still in her bed... not with Brad in his Cessna 172 Skyhawk in the middle of a violent storm. She put her face in her hands as she started to cry. The nightmare had seemed so real... she'd never had such a vivid dream before in her life...

She couldn't get back to sleep and by nine o'clock in the morning, she was starting to feel sick and it was scaring her so she called Brad's parents. Aunt Lynda informed her that Brad was supposed to be flying home for summer break from The Air Force Academy that afternoon. Barbie broke out in a sweat when she heard that and muttered, "Oh, no... I've got to warn him! It's too dangerous!"

She hung up and immediately dialed the contact number for cadets at The Academy that she had memorized over the past few months and left yet another message. She desperately pleaded with the person who took it to make sure that Brad got the message and that he understood its urgency...

At 11:30, Cadet Jay Hanson caught up to Brad as he was leaving his quarters to head down to the Academy airfield. "Hey Seldon... I've got another message for you from that same chick that's been calling you all semester. You know... why don't you just call the girl and put her out of her misery... and ours? She's been driving us nuts... calling almost every day! We've been making bets on how many times a week she'd call!"

Brad shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry about that... I know it's been a pain in the ass, but I'll be seeing her over the summer and hopefully we'll get something straightened out so she won't be a pain in the ass next term. I assume it was the same message as usual," he sighed as he picked up his duffel bag and another suitcase and started heading down the hallway.

Hanson fell in beside him as he explained, "Well no... this time she sounded really upset and she said it was urgent that you call her before you leave... that it was a matter of life and death... yours to be exact." He chuckled as he added, "Hey, maybe she got so pissed that you wouldn't call her that she hired someone to kill you and now she's trying to warn you because she can't call her hitman off!"

Brad snorted as he glanced at the other guy. "Was that supposed to be funny, Hanson?" he asked sarcastically and then laughed when Jay rolled his eyes and shook his head. Then he sighed again and held out his hand. "Give me the message... maybe I'll call her just to see what this ploy is all about! And it had better be damn good..." he muttered as he pushed the main door open and headed outside into the bright mid-May sunshine. He waved to the other Cadet; "Have a great break, Jay!" he called as they parted.

When Brad got to The Academy airfield, he went to one of the pay phones and dialed Barbie's number. She picked up after the first ring. "Brad, is that you?" he heard her anxious voice asking.

"What do you want, Barbie? What is this 'life and death' crap about?"

"Brad, please... I don't care if you're still mad at me, but you have to listen to me about this! Don't fly today! I had a dream last night that you were caught in a storm and your plane crashed because it was struck by lightning! So please... just don't fly today!"

He frowned as he listened to her and then shook his head as he spoke. "Barbie... that is ridiculous! I've already checked the weather forecasts between here and home and there is no chance of storms anywhere along my flight path. I am not going to change my plans just because you had some stupid dream!"

"But Brad... this wasn't like any dream I've had before! This was so real! Please listen to me!!!"

He cut her off when she started to plead desperately. "Barbie... stop this! I know you've been desperate to talk to me but you don't need to make up stupid shit like this to try to get my attention! We'll talk when I get home... and you'd better have a damn good explanation for why you lied to me!!!" he growled as he started to hang up the phone, but then stopped and listened as she yelled at him before she hung up.

"DAMN YOU, BRAD!!! IF YOU MAKE IT HOME ALIVE, I'LL KILL YOU FOR THINKING I'VE LIED TO YOU!!!" A loud click signaled that she'd slammed the phone down.

He frowned as he wondered what she meant. She was obviously upset and she did sound genuinely scared, saying she was afraid for his life... because of a dream. He shook his head again as he turned away from the phone and headed toward the hangar where his plane was stored.

Just to be sure, Brad checked with the tower before he took off, asking again for the latest weather reports between Colorado Springs and Los Angeles. They told him all reports had showed mostly clear skies to the southwest with a line of storms up over northwestern Nevada that were expected to head east... nowhere near his projected flight path.

At just after 12:30 pm, Brad took off from the Air Force Academy airfield headed to a small airport just outside of Las Vegas where he'd land to rest and refuel before continuing on to L.A. What no one had known was that the line of storms in northwest Nevada was about to be impacted by a fast moving cold front headed south out of Canada, which would push the storms to the south and intensify them...

At around two o'clock, Brad made contact with an airport somewhere over southern Utah and checked the weather reports again. He chuckled softly and shook his head when they advised him that as far as they knew, the skies were clear all the way to Vegas. He had no idea why he was taking Barbie's "dream" so seriously. His mind started to wander as he tried to figure out again what had gone wrong...

If she loved him as much as he had thought she did and was acting like she still did, then why would she have cheated on him with Jonnie?!! It still made absolutely no sense to him, but there was no denying that photograph... His hands had a death grip on the wheel of the plane and his teeth ground together when anger and jealousy surged through him as he recalled the image of Jonnie's arms around Barbie and their lips locked together...

Brad was literally shaken out of his jealous trance when the plane bounced slightly from some turbulence. He looked out the windows and noticed that ahead of him and to his right, the skies seemed to be darkening. He frowned as he contemplated what to do for a moment and decided not to tempt fate. He turned the plane southward toward clearer skies and contacted the nearest airport for directions to divert to Phoenix.

He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly as he thought about his soul mate whom he was determined not to let go of... no matter what had happened. Maybe you were right, Barbie... but I'll be OK...

**********

At around 2:30 in the afternoon, Barbie was sure she was going to have a nervous breakdown. Then suddenly she felt as if a warm breath caressed her face and took away all her fear. She looked around as if trying to see where this sudden source of calm had come from but she couldn't figure it out. Then she jumped when she heard Brad's voice in her head... I'll be OK...

She frowned, as she wasn't sure what that meant. Was he safe... or not? Was he alive... or not? She wandered around her house until about three o'clock, wondering why she wasn't feeling worried any more. She didn't know what else to do, so she called his parents again. His Mom answered the phone and Barbie could tell right away that she sounded worried.

"Aunt Lynda, it's Barbie again. Have you heard anything from Brad since he left?"

Lynda paused before she spoke. "No, we haven't Barbie. And I'm a little worried because he was supposed to call us as soon as he arrived in Vegas. Tom called the airport there and they advised that they were having a terrible storm that hit without any warning. They said they hadn't had any distress calls from any aircraft, but Brad should've been landing just about the time the storm hit and they never heard from him. We're not sure where he is at the moment!" she ended nervously.

Barbie frowned as she heard that but the feeling of calm persisted. "It'll be OK, Aunt Lynda. I'm pretty sure Brad is OK. He called me before he left and I warned him to be on the lookout for storms..." She paused and snorted a laugh as she continued, "Well, actually I told him not to fly today because of that dream I had last night, but I didn't think he believed me. But I think it made him pay attention. Trust me, you'll probably be hearing from him soon. Please let me know when you do, OK? Bye!" she said brightly as she hung up.

Lynda Seldon frowned as she set the phone down, wondering how Barbie was so sure that Brad was OK. Then she jumped when the phone rang again while her hand was still resting on it. She picked it up immediately and sighed when she heard her son's voice.

"Hey, Mom! I'm sorry if you've been worried because I should've called around three, but I didn't go to Vegas. I noticed some bad weather developing ahead of me so I diverted to Phoenix and I just landed a few minutes ago. I checked the weather reports again and they said the storms are starting to break up now that they're hitting the drier air, and as soon as I know it's all clear, I'll call again when I'm getting ready to leave so you and Dad will know about what time to meet me at the airfield."

Lynda smiled as she realized her son was a very competent and responsible pilot. Then she thought about what Barbie had said. "It sounds like Barbie's dream did make you pay attention. I wish you'd give that girl a chance to explain what you've been so pigheaded about, son! You're going to kick yourself and I want you to know that I think you deserve it! You and Megan both have been putting her and Brad through hell for nothing because you didn't want to listen to them or anyone! I just don't understand why..."

Brad cut her off forcefully. "MOM!!! I didn't want to get into any of this over the phone. I'm going to see Barbie as soon as I get home and I've already told her that I'm ready to hear her explanation. Just back off so she and I can work this out... I don't want any interference from anyone else! Every time I talk to anyone, it's like you all want to plead her case and you make it sound like I'm the asshole just because I won't talk to her! Nobody seems to understand how much this hurt ME!!!" he cried into the phone and then stopped when a woman standing nearby glanced at him nervously.

Then he continued more quietly, "I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't mean to yell. I've already figured out that I love her and need her despite what she did to me... I've just been trying to punish her until I was ready to forgive her. So you don't need to plead her case any more, OK? I'll call you again soon..."

He heard his mother sigh loudly as she replied, "Brad... you'd better listen to what Barbie has to say before you tell her any of that, because she may never be able to forgive you! We'll be waiting to hear from you again. Bye, son!" He hung up, shaking his head in confusion again, and walked toward a snack bar in the small airport to have a soda while he waited until his plane was refueled and the weather reports indicated that the storms had cleared.

**********

At around 6:30 that evening, Brad's Mom and Dad met him at the small airport in Santa Monica and Brad realized his mother was right when he asked her to explain why everyone had been telling him and Megan that they'd made a mistake. He did feel like kicking himself... the only mistake Barbie and Jonnie had made was in not mentioning how they were fending off unwanted attention from other people.

He was going to go to Barbie as soon as he got home, but she beat him to the punch. She was waiting in front of their house as soon as they pulled up because Lynda had called and told her they were on their way to get Brad. As soon as he got out of the car, she ran over and threw her arms around him, clinging to him as she cried, "Oh, thank God... I'm so glad to see you!!! I just didn't want that nightmare to come true..."

Then she drew back from him and shoved her hands against his chest. "GODDAMN YOU, BRAD SELDON! Why did you never return my calls so I could tell you what that fucking photo was all about! It was not at all what they said in that shitty tabloid rag!"

She shoved him again, paced away a few steps and then swung around and yelled at him. "AND HOW DARE YOU SO EASILY THINK THAT I COULD BETRAY YOU THAT YOU WOULDN'T EVEN GIVE ME A CHANCE TO EXPLAIN!!! I deserved better than that, Brad! Don't you ever do that to me again!!!" she cried as tears spilled down her cheeks. Then she noticed that Brad was staring at her with tears in his eyes.

When he wordlessly held his arms open to her, she rushed to him and burst out sobbing as he wrapped her in his steely embrace and cried with her. He buried his face in her soft, shining hair, inhaling the memorable scent of her shampoo and murmuring softly, "I'm sorry, Barbie... I'm so sorry, baby, for what I've put us through! I promise I'll never doubt you again..."

Tom Seldon had followed his wife into their house with his son's bags and carried them up to his room. A few minutes later, Brad and Barbie also came inside after their sorrow was starting to melt away as their passion for each other was quickly reigniting. Barbie was wrapped around Brad, clinging to him tightly, as he carried her in the front door and headed straight upstairs to his room.

Lynda started to say something, but Tom stopped her, shaking his head with his fingers at her lips. "Sweetheart... we know they've already been together... What would be the sense in trying to stop them now? Besides, you know how good make-up sex is! And they haven't been together in almost five months... Do you know how hard that is for a young man in love who's been separated from his soul mate after they've already shared such intimacy?!! Don't you remember how tortured we felt waiting just a little over a month from the day we met until we got married before we made love again?!! And we were in our thirties!"

Lynda smiled softly at her husband as she thought back to that time almost twenty-one years earlier... and looking into his hazel eyes, she was still amazed at how sexy he was at 59 years old. The deep dimpled lines in his cheeks were accompanied by a few more lines in his face; the dark brown hair on his head and chest and his thick mustache were gradually turning to a steel gray, but the hair on his head had showed no signs of thinning. And his body was still toned from years of having to stay fit for his job. To her, he was as handsome and virile as ever...

Hell... most of the time, she had trouble remembering that she was 53 and nearly through menopause... he could still turn her on with just a look! Especially when his eyes roved over her body, flames roaring as he traced her curves, even though her breasts sagged considerably more after giving birth to and breastfeeding four children... but he still eyed her with as much desire as ever!

They'd had to cut back a little on their sex life during the years the children were younger... but they'd always made time whenever they could, as both of them would get a little irritable when their frustration got to be too much! Brad had picked up on that during his teens and had teased them at times. "Geez... you guys are in a bad mood again! I'll keep an eye on everything... you two go have sex before you drive us all crazy!"

The first time he said that, Lynda had gasped in embarrassment and Tom had paused in shock for a mere second before he snorted with laughter and then swung her up into his arms and headed for their bedroom as he called over his shoulder, "Thanks, son! We'll see you later!"

And they realized every time Brad did that, he rounded up his younger siblings... DiDi, Robbie and Wayne... and got them involved in something that kept them downstairs and at the other end of the house from their bedroom. And when he was old enough to drive, he'd taken them out to the movies or somewhere so they could be alone.

Tom and Lynda looked at each other and smiled as he pulled his car keys and wallet out of his pockets and called to their daughter. "Didi! Come here, sweetheart!" He'd recently taken to calling his daughter by the same endearment he'd always used with his wife because DiDi was starting to look more and more like her beautiful mother every day... tall and statuesque, the same thick, wavy dark brown hair and the same sparkling, silver-gray eyes. 

She came out of the noisy family room where her younger brothers were arguing over which TV show to watch and looked around. "Where's Brad? I thought you guys went to pick him up!"

Tom replied, "We did, sweetheart, he's upstairs in his room. He's really tired from flying all afternoon and he needs to rest. He told me to tell you guys that he'd see you all in the morning. I'm sure he'd appreciate some peace and quiet for a little while. Here's some money... why don't you and Robbie and Wayne go out for a while and catch a movie or something."

Eighteen-year old DiDi smirked as she took the cash and the car keys from her father. She knew why they were asking them to get out of the house for a little while... "Sure, Dad. We'll make ourselves scarce for a while so you and Mom can have sex!"

Then she walked back to the door of the family room and yelled at her younger brothers, "Robbie... Wayne!!! Quit your arguing and come on! We're going out for a bit... you guys can argue over which movie you want to see in the car! Let's go!"

Seventeen-year old Robbie and fifteen-year old Wayne came bounding out and headed for the front door, waiting for Didi to catch up, then they opened it and disappeared as she paused at the door before closing it. She looked at her parents and chuckled as she said, "You guys have fun... and try not to disturb Brad too much, OK?!!"

She closed the door still chuckling until she saw Barbie Estevez's car parked in front of their house. Her mouth dropped open and she turned to look up toward Brad's bedroom window and noticed light behind the curtains. Evidently, he'd finally realized what a stupid jerk he'd been and was in the process of making it up to Barbie... and their parents were giving him the time and privacy to do so.

Didi chuckled again and shook her head as she went to the car; she realized their parents were probably still going to take advantage of the fact that the house was empty except for Brad and Barbie, who were most likely having sex! It was a good thing their bedrooms were on opposite ends of the upstairs hallway from each other!

Didi laughed even harder when she glanced up after backing out of the driveway to see the light in her parents' bedroom turn on... and stay on... she'd never known them to make love in the dark! She sighed heavily after her laughter faded as she drove away, wondering if she'd ever get as lucky as Brad to find someone to love the way their parents had always loved each other... 

********** 

Brad couldn't seem to stop crying. He felt foolish to realize how stubborn and stupid he'd been but the tears leaking out of his eyes were not tears of sadness. He was looking down at Barbie's beautiful face as he moved inside her, and each slow stroke of their bodies sent an exquisite ache through his chest that he could only describe as... beautiful... so beautiful it kept bringing tears to his eyes.

As beautiful as her deep brown eyes staring up at him full of love, passion and desire. As beautiful as the sight of her long, straight dark brown hair spread on his pillows. As beautiful as the way her body molded to and moved with his. As beautiful as her parted lush lips that seemed to beg for his kiss with each soft sigh and moan she uttered.




Price of Past Miracles Ch. 08



Then he noticed tears gathering in her eyes as she brought her hand up and gently wiped the wetness from his cheeks and around his eyes. "I love you, Barbie... I'll always love you," he whispered as he completely encircled her with his arms and lowered his lips to hers. He deepened the kiss as they gradually increased the force of their thrusts together, but they still kept the pace slow and sensual.

Brad was savoring the sensation of every inch of his cock being engulfed by her tight, hot flesh... easily sliding inside her because of how wet she always was for him. And he was making sure to grind his hips against her... burying himself as deeply inside her as possible, wanting to connect their bodies as tightly as his soul felt connected to hers. He groaned when she encircled his shoulders with her arms and lifted her legs to wrap them around his waist, taking him even deeper inside her.

Her breath caressed his ear as she whispered, "Yes, my love... I wish you could bury yourself inside me and stay here forever... I never want to forget how this feels! I need you, Brad... I've always needed you! I'll never have anyone but you inside me... I am only yours... I have always been yours! I'll never love anyone but you..." Her whisper grew strained as strong emotions tightened her throat.

The exquisite ache in Brad's chest began to radiate throughout his whole body as he heard the emotion in her voice, which brought fresh tears to his eyes. Then the ache turned to tingles as their movement grew in intensity... his thrusts became faster, harder and deeper as Barbie clung to him even tighter... Suddenly, they were both moaning deeply as they came... their flesh throbbing in unison even as tears dripped from their eyes.

As their orgasms waned, they realized that they were both trembling from the force of their coupling and the strong emotions they had experienced with it. Brad lifted his head and looked down at Barbie for a moment as they recognized that their lovemaking had been just as powerful for both of them. He dropped his head to her shoulder and they held each other as they cried quietly together for a few minutes...

They both took deep breaths and sighed audibly as they felt their souls finally lifting from the depths of the despair they had experienced over the last several months to a renewed level of understanding and trust. They slowly released each other from their tight holds and settled next to one another comfortably as they wiped the wetness from their faces. Barbie glanced at Brad when she heard his stomach rumble.

"I haven't had dinner yet," he admitted as they both chuckled.

Barbie lifted up on her elbow and leaned over to kiss him and then crawled off the bed as she said, "C'mon, Cadet Seldon! Let's go downstairs and I'll fix you some dinner. I'm not through with you yet, and you're going to need nourishment if you want to keep up with me!"

Brad grinned as he got up off the bed and pulled on just a pair of gym shorts while he watched her put on one of his large tee shirts... and nothing else. He followed her out his bedroom door and downstairs to the kitchen and they both noticed that the whole house was quiet... everyone else seemed to be gone. Brad smiled softly as he realized his parents must've done for him what he used to do for them...

**********

Brad was scarfing down the last bites of the delicious omelet Barbie had cooked for him as he watched her cleaning up. He almost choked on the last bite when she bent over in front of the stove to put away the freshly cleaned pan she'd used to cook the omelet in the drawer underneath. He'd almost forgotten she wasn't wearing anything under the tee shirt and the sight of her bare ass had his cock springing instantly to life.

He growled softly as he got up from the bar and carried his plate and utensils over to the kitchen sink where Barbie took them from him and started to wash them. As she finished, he stood behind her, fondling her breasts through the tee shirt and rubbing his hard cock against her ass.

As soon as she was done, without a word from either of them, he turned her around, picked her up and carried her over to where the countertop was clear and set her on the edge of it. She reached down between them, pushing the front of his shorts down, and grasped his cock to position him as he entered her slowly. They stared at each other and held on as he began to stroke inside her languidly. Other than their heavy breathing, they were not making a sound... 

**********

After an hour or so of some of the tenderest lovemaking they'd shared in a while, Tom and Lynda knew they had to take a break. They weren't as young as they used to be and they couldn't go at it for hours at a time like they used to without a rest. They groaned softly as they rolled off their bed and pulled on their robes to go down to the kitchen and fix themselves a snack.

As they passed by Brad's room, they noticed his door was open and they glanced in, noting that the bed was rumpled but there was no one in it. When they got downstairs, they saw the light was on in the kitchen and they figured the kids were getting a snack as well, but they didn't hear any noise... until they audibly gasped and then started snorting after it took a few seconds to realize what was going on when they reached the door! They immediately turned around and headed for the living room couch where they collapsed in fits of laughter. 

"Oh, my God!!!" Brad muttered when he heard his parent's at the kitchen door behind him. He quickly withdrew from Barbie, stuffed his cock in his shorts and lifted her down from the counter as they stared at each other, their faces flushed from embarrassment. They could hear his Mom and Dad laughing in the living room. He looked down at Barbie and pulled her against him as he said quietly. "I'm so sorry... I can't believe this happened! I thought they were gone!"

She nodded her head as she replied, "I know... I thought they were gone, too! Otherwise, I would never have... done this..." She trailed off, too embarrassed to admit that she'd needed him so badly that she was eager to have him take her right there on the kitchen countertop! She whimpered as she wondered what Uncle Tom and Aunt Lynda must think of her... But then she realized that they were still laughing... obviously, they didn't think too badly of her!

Brad sighed. "Come on... we'll have to face them sooner or later! Might as well get it over with before everyone else gets back!" He took her hand and led her out of the kitchen to the living room and they stood at the arched entry until his parents noticed them standing there. They sobered somewhat and stood up to face them as Brad said, "We're sorry about that... we thought you guys went out with everyone else!"

Tom bit back another snort of laughter and replied, "Obviously! I certainly hope you wouldn't carry on like that knowing that you could get caught! I thought your mother and I had taught you better than that! We know you kids are well aware that we've always shared a healthy sex life, but we always tried to make sure that you were never directly exposed to it! We didn't want to scar you for life..." He paused as he started to snort with laughter again and added in a strangled voice, "And now you've scarred your mother and me!"

Lynda and Tom busted out laughing and collapsed onto the couch again as Brad and Barbie watched them, wondering why they found the situation so hilarious. Most parents would've been horrified to walk in and catch their kid having sex, especially right there on the kitchen countertop!

Barbie knew damn well that if her parents ever walked in on her and Brad fucking, her mother would have a hell of a time keeping her Dad from going after Brad! But then... her Dad still saw her as his sweet baby girl, but Brad was his parents' oldest son... Fathers were much more protective of their daughters than they were of their sons, and since they saw her more as Brad's girlfriend, or fiancée, she figured Uncle Tom and Aunt Lynda were more comfortable with accepting them as adults. But still... it was embarrassing as hell just to have been caught!

Then the full implications of the situation dawned on Brad and he stared incredulously at his parents as he exclaimed, "Wait a second... you guys have been here the whole time and you're in your robes... You've been having sex, too, haven't you?!! Oh... my... God..." he muttered and slapped his right hand to his face, shaking his head, when both his Mom and Dad nodded and roared with laughter again.

He took Barbie's right hand in his left to lead her back upstairs as he shook his right index finger at his parents, admonishing them, "You guys are sick!!! What kind of an example would this set for DiDi, Robbie and Wayne if they knew you two were not only condoning Barbie and me having pre-marital sex but that the thought of it turns you guys on?!! How could you do that?!!" he exclaimed as he stared accusingly at his father.

Tom jumped up and replied sternly, "Now, hold on son! Your mother and I were not turned on by the thought of you and Barbie making love! If that were the case, do you think we'd have busted out laughing at what we just saw going on in the kitchen?!! We're laughing because it's the only way we can deal with our embarrassment from catching you two in such an awkward situation! Believe me... I am anything but turned on at the moment!"

His irritation over the fact that Brad was, once again, accusing him of being a bad father made Tom return to the source of his own doubts about his fitness as a husband and father. "And do you really believe, knowing the way your mother and I feel about each other, that we need to fantasize about you kids to get turned on?!! I don't think so!!! Your mother is the only woman that I have fantasized about for the last twenty-one years... and that includes the night Megan was conceived! I couldn't have done that if it hadn't been for your mother! So, maybe I haven't always made the best judgments on some things, but I don't want you to ever again question what your mother and I share together! Is that clear?!!" he asked and then took a deep, cleansing breath and released his anger.

Brad was staring at him with concern as he nodded his head and they eyed each other for a moment as they both realized they'd reached an understanding. Then Tom asked his son quietly, "Brad... if your mother and I had tried to talk you out of having sex with Barbie and then forbade you from doing it anywhere in this house, would that have stopped you?"

He chuckled with his son as Brad shook his head, reluctantly admitting the obvious. "We were young once, too, son. We remember what it was like... and your Mom and I have felt that way ever since the moment we saw each other. And from what we've seen between you and Barbie, we're pretty sure that you two are as lucky as we were to find a soul mate. How could we stand in the way of that? Just promise us that you'll try to be a little more discreet about when and where you two have sex!! OK?"

Brad and Barbie laughed softly as they promised and then headed back upstairs to his room. Their leftover embarrassment almost hindered their ability to have any further sex. Barbie sighed as she gave up to get dressed and head home, pulling Brad's tee shirt over her head and then bending down to pick up her clothes from the floor. That was all Brad needed...

He growled as he stripped his shorts off and tackled her onto his bed. She shrieked playfully and started laughing as he kissed all over her face, neck and shoulders and then started working his way down her body. By the time he reached her breasts, her laughter had turned to soft moans and she was writhing as he cupped her mound with his hand and sucked her nipples to stiff peaks.

She groaned and rolled her hips upward when his middle finger slid between her labia and curled inward to slide smoothly inside her wet canal. She bucked when his palm pressed against her engorged clit and rubbed in a circular motion as he continued to stroke his finger in and out of her dripping cunt. Barbie gasped and moaned when she heard Brad whisper next to her ear.

"God, Barbie... you're always so wet, baby! I love how wet you get for me... I want you to come for me, baby! I want feel your little wet cunt pulsing on my finger. And then you know what I'll do... I'll replace my finger with my cock! You want that, don't you, baby? You love my cock, don't you, Barbie? Tell me that you love my cock!"

She moaned deeply, "Oh, God yes, Brad! I love your long, hard cock! But not as much as I love you! Kiss me, Brad! Kiss me and make me come! Mhhhh!!!" she sighed as he claimed her mouth and plunged his warm tongue inside in the same rhythm his finger was stroking inside her pussy. Barbie rolled her hips against his hand once more and groaned as it trigged a slow, deep orgasm for her.

She whimpered when his hand retreated from between her legs, and then moaned and lifted her legs to accept his cock when he settle between her thighs. She sighed again and it turned to a deep groan that matched his as she felt his full seven and a half inch shaft slide all the way inside her as she throbbed around it.

Brad stayed buried inside her, relishing the feel of her cunt pulsing on his cock as she climaxed. He loved that sensation and if he had his way, he'd never wear a condom again! He was so thankful that Barbie had wanted to take responsibility for her own body as far as birth control because he'd discovered that fucking the woman he loved without a condom separating their flesh gave him the most sensational orgasms, both physically and emotionally... and it was the same for Barbie.

They spent a couple more hours together making up for all the time they'd wasted being mad until they heard his sister and brothers return. Brad reluctantly let Barbie out of his bed to clean up and dress so she could return home. When she leaned down to kiss him good night, he quietly tried to persuade her for one more quick fuck until they heard a knock on his door and DiDi's voice taunting him.

"Hey, Brad... I thought you were tired from flying all afternoon, but I guess not! So, has Barbie finally managed to wear your ass out yet?!! Or maybe it's not your ass that's worn out..."

"SHUT UP, DIDI!!!" Brad roared as Barbie giggled and then she kissed him one last time.

She and DiDi chuckled together when she opened the door and said good night to her after she paused to look back and wink at Brad as he leaned on his elbow, grinning. DiDi glanced in and raised her eyebrows at her older brother, still in his bed with nothing but the sheet covering his hips and legs. She suddenly noticed that her brother was no longer a boy; he was a very handsome and well-built man... and she could easily see why Barbie was hot for him! Brad must've caught the look on her face because he grabbed a pillow and flung it at her as he yelled, "SHUT THE GODDAMN DOOR, DIDI!!!"

She chuckled as she quickly leaned in, grabbed the knob and pulled his door shut and then ran to her room and dove onto her bed laughing. She so rarely ever got to pick on Brad when they were growing up and she was finding it amusing that now she could so easily tease him about his sex life! Especially since she and Barbie were pretty good friends and Barbie just loved to talk about how much she loved Brad and how much he turned her on... 

Brad flopped back on his bed and groaned in embarrassment at how his sister was enjoying teasing him. He was just glad that his body no longer instinctively reacted to how pretty she was and he was also glad that he'd never experienced such strong sensations and emotions with Megan as he did with Barbie. And he fervently hoped that Megan and Jonnie would reconcile soon and that they'd discover what he and Barbie had...

That two people who knew each other as well as they knew themselves could share almost non-stop pleasure together... as long as they also trusted each other. But Megan Richards would soon find out that she'd destroyed the trust that had existed between her and Jonnie North, and she would end up paying a very high price to regain the past miracle of his trust...



Price of Past Miracles Ch. 09



Friday, May 13, 1977 was the evening Megan Richards was supposed to be flying home to L.A. from Northwestern University in Illinois. It was also the day Brad had flown home from The Air Force Academy in Colorado... the day Barbie had been convinced that his plane was going to crash from being struck by lightning! But Brad had heeded her warning and avoided the sudden storms that had hit Las Vegas...

Megan's mother had been very relieved when she called home to tell them that she didn't know when she'd be leaving because her flight had been delayed from departing O'Hare because more storms had been developing over the mountains. It was close to 1:00am in Chicago, not quite eleven o'clock in L.A. and her parents told her to let them know if she had to wait until morning to catch a flight.

Then her Dad advised her that Brad was home and urged her to call and talk to him. Megan wondered why, and her curiosity got the better of her, so she called and was a little nervous when she heard Tom's voice answer. Even though he'd never done anything to indicate that he wanted their relationship to change in any way, it still felt so strange to know that he was her father. She cleared her throat and then spoke quietly.

"Uncle... Tom... it's me, Megan. Is Brad there and can I speak to him?"

There was a brief pause and then his voice sounded the same as ever. "Hello, Megan! Yes, he's here. Hang on and I'll get him to the phone. Where are you, sweetie? Are you back in L.A. now?"

"Uh... no, I'm not. I'm still stuck at O'Hare. My flight's been delayed because of bad weather. I've talked to Mama and Daddy so they know, but Daddy told me I should call and talk to Brad. Do you have any idea why?"

There was another pause and she heard what sounded like a heavy sigh. "Yeah, sweetie, I know why your Dad wants you to talk to Brad. I'll go get him. It's good to hear from you, Megan... hang on..."

She closed her eyes as she thought she detected just a hint of sadness in his voice and she wondered why. She thought perhaps it might be due to whatever she was supposed to talk to Brad about... then she heard him on the line and she couldn't tell by the tone of his voice what he had to tell her.

"Hey, Meggie! Sorry to hear you're still stuck in Chicago! I had quite a trip home myself this afternoon... I'll tell you all about when you get home. But... I have something more important you need to hear." He paused and then asked, "Meg... have you talked to Jonnie at all since last Christmas?"

She tensed and stiffly replied that he'd tried to call her once, but she had given him the message that she never wanted to hear from him again and, as far as she knew, he'd gotten the message. Her angry tension started to turn to fear when she heard the tone of Brad's voice when he replied.

"Oh, Meggie... what exactly did your message say?"

She sucked in a breath. "Just that he was a lying, cheating bastard and I never wanted to hear from him again... Why?" she asked nervously.

"Oh, God, Meg..." he groaned. "We were wrong... I know that photo looked bad but we should've asked them to explain it instead of just automatically assuming they lied to us!" Brad continued to explain the whole story to her and that Barbie had forgiven him.

He couldn't see how Megan's face had paled and that she was leaning weakly against the side of the bank of pay phones. "Oh, shit, Brad... What am I gonna do?!!" she cried hoarsely, as tears filled her eyes.

"I don't know, Meggie. But you'd better figure it out quickly, because from what Barbie mentioned earlier, Jonnie's been seeing some model he's worked with off and on and she's the only person since you that's been able to get his attention. If you love him, Meg, you're gonna have to go after him... trust me. Guys have a lot of pride when it comes to being unjustly accused... that's why he didn't keep after you trying to figure out exactly what you were accusing him of! I hope things work out for you, Meggie... good luck!"

She hung up the phone and swallowed a wave of nausea that swept over her as she realized that the heartache she'd endured... that they'd all endured... could've been avoided if she and Brad had just trusted Jonnie and Barbie. How was she going to get through to Jonnie now? Would he even give her a chance again... why should he? She sure as hell didn't give him one! But she had to try...

Megan pulled a bunch of coins out of her purse and picked up the pay phone again to dial the North's residence in Brentwood Heights. She knew it was getting late, but she prayed they wouldn't be mad at her for calling and that Jonnie would agree to speak to her... After the third ring, she heard Barbara's voice answer.

"Aunt Barb... it's Megan. I hope you aren't mad at me for calling this late, but I need to speak to Jonnie! Is he there? Will he talk to me?!!" There were several seconds of silence, and then she heard Barbara's voice sounding uncharacteristically formal.

"Hello, Megan. I guess I'm not surprised to hear from you this late. Dawn had told me that Brad was coming home and that Barbie was finally going to explain the whole mess to him and I guess you've talked to him and figured out what went wrong. Even if Jonnie were here, I doubt he'd want to speak with you. You have no idea what my son has been through because of what you did! You hurt him, Megan... terribly! He's only recently started to seem like his old self again, so I don't know if it would be a good idea for you to contact him. The only way I'll help you is if you swear to me that the only reason you're trying to contact him is to beg his forgiveness!"

Megan was in tears and couldn't respond for several moments. Then she sniffed loudly and croaked, "I know I hurt him... and I know how badly he must feel, because I wanted to die when I thought... I'm sorry, Aunt Barb!" she cried into the phone. "I know I handled it badly now... and I can't believe I so easily distrusted him! I just want to tell him how sorry I am and I pray that he'll be able to forgive me!!!" she stated brokenly between sobs.

"Oh, Megan..." Barbara said soothingly. "I believe you, honey. You guys are still so young and it's hard to know how to handle situations that are so totally unexpected like that! It was partly Jonnie and Barbie's fault, too, for not telling you guys so you would've known it was a lie! But you and Brad should've told them why you were upset and things wouldn't have gone so far!" She paused as Megan sobbed into the phone again. "OK, honey... I'll tell you how to get in touch with Jonnie..."

Megan sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes and then dug in her purse for a notepad and a pen to write down how to contact Jonnie. According to Barbara, he was on a location shoot in New York City and would be visiting with his uncles and grandparents while he was there. She got the addresses and phone numbers for them and the contact number for the modeling agency that he was on assignment for. She thanked Aunt Barb for the information before she hung up and then immediately headed for the airline ticket counter.

She exchanged her ticket to L.A. for a ticket to New York on a flight that was leaving at 7am. Then she called her parents and told them what she was doing and asked them to wire some money from her savings account to her in New York. She explained that she'd either be back in a day or two or whenever Jonnie came back... depending on whether he was ready to forgive her or not.

Late Saturday night, Megan was on a plane departing La Guardia airport headed for L.A.... sobbing her heart out on a very sympathetic shoulder, but it wasn't Jonnie's. Things had not gone well with him... 

**********

As soon as she'd landed in New York Saturday morning, Megan had called her parents and found out the location of the Western Union office that they'd wire her money to as soon as the L.A. office opened. Then she'd called Jonnie's grandparents and they'd informed her that he was working most of the day on a photo shoot and that she'd need to call the modeling agency to find out where he was. It had taken until late that afternoon before someone at the agency had been able to tell her where to find him.

He'd been stunned to see her when she showed up at the photo shoot in front of The Met Saturday evening. She was standing off to the side, watching, admiring how handsome he looked in a tuxedo and feeling jealous at how good he and the gorgeous female model on his arm looked together. They looked just like a glamorous couple out for an evening in the Big Apple...

As soon as he'd spotted her, he lost all concentration on what he was supposed to be doing. The photographer got irritated and told everyone to take a break and then he'd taken Jonnie aside for a moment, presumably telling him to get his act back together. Megan watched the beautiful female model go up to Jonnie for a minute; he'd smiled at her and said something, kissed her cheek and then turned and made his way over to where she was standing.

"What are you doing here, Megan?" he'd asked dully, like he didn't care one way or the other that she had shown up.

"I... I... know what a mistake I made about that photo of you and Barbie. If I'd only known, Jonnie... I was just so shocked and I didn't want to believe it, but..." She paused and closed her eyes. Her heart was dropping into her stomach at the stoic expression on his face... like it didn't matter to him any more. 

She swallowed nervously and continued. "I'm so sorry, Jonnie... you didn't deserve what I did... what I said. I lied... my feelings for you didn't die... but I buried them because I couldn't stand the pain I felt when I believed you had betrayed me and that I couldn't trust you... But I was wrong, and I needed to tell you that in the hope that you would understand and possibly be able to forgive me... Do you think you'll ever be able to forgive me, Jonnie?" she asked, her voice shaking as tears filled her eyes.

He took a deep breath and looked down and was silent for several moments until he looked back up at her with the same stoic look on his face. He shook his head a few times as he said, "I don't know, Megan. You see... I buried whatever I felt for you, too, because I couldn't stand the pain, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to trust you not to hurt me like that again."

When she started to speak, he put his hand up to stop her. "I know... part of this was my fault in the beginning for not telling you about our ruse. But you took it too far... you didn't even explain what it was you thought I had done and I had no clue because I never even gave that kiss between Barbie and me a second thought until I saw that damn photo!!! And then you wouldn't even talk to me when I called to explain... and I'm sure you remember the message you relayed to me!" The only emotion he was starting to display was anger; he turned away for a moment and composed himself again.

"That was the night I realized you never really trusted me. I'd only helped you start to trust yourself... your own feelings... about how I made you feel. But you didn't trust me, Megan... if you had, you'd have known that photo had to be a mistake and you'd have asked me to explain. Instead, you accused me of something I could never do to you... but that you'd already done to me. You've betrayed me, Megan, twice now... the first time was because of Brad and this time was because of a fucking photo."

He paused as she reached up to wipe away tears that were rolling down her cheeks. "I can't deal with this now. I'm working and this is too much of a distraction, so please... just go home, Megan. I'll contact you when or if I think I might be able to get past this."

He'd turned around and walked away, over to where the gorgeous female model had been standing, watching their entire exchange. She'd put her hand to his cheek and said something to which Jonnie had nodded and looked down, and Megan's gut had twisted when he pulled the model into his arms and hugged her with his head resting on her shoulder for a moment. Then Megan felt sick again when they parted and Jonnie briefly, but softly, kissed the girl before they turned and headed back to where they were supposed to be posing for photos.

Megan had choked back a sob and turned to blindly make her way through the crowd that had gathered on the sidewalk watching the photo shoot. She hailed a cab and told the driver to take her to La Guardia and sobbed the whole way there. When she arrived, she bought a ticket on the first available flight back to L.A., a red eye that would be departing just before midnight, so she found the quietest corner near the departure gate and sat with her back to everyone else and cried the entire time.

She had hoped she'd be all cried out before it would be time to board the flight over four hours later... but she just couldn't stop thinking about how she wished she had a time machine and could go back and fix how badly she'd screwed up. That thought gave her an idea for a song, so she sobered for a moment as she dug through her bag and pulled out her writing journal that she carried with her all the time and started scribbling as tears dripped onto the pages of her notebook.

Just as she was putting her notebook back in her bag, she heard the boarding announcement for her flight, so she composed herself the best she could, dug out her boarding pass and got up to move closer to the gate so she'd be nearby when her section was called. While she was waiting, she started noticing a nice looking older man who was eyeing her sympathetically; a frown creased his forehead, but he tried to smile reassuringly.

Megan did her best to ignore him, but something about his face seemed familiar and she kept glancing at him curiously every so often, also hoping to see if he'd lost interest... but he was still watching her. She turned away so she couldn't glance at him any more because she didn't want him to get the idea that she was interested in talking to him... she wasn't interested in talking to anyone. Except Jonnie...

Fresh tears filled her eyes and she choked back a sob as the image of him kissing that model popped into her head again. She moved to the counter at the gate when her row was called and wordlessly made her way onto the plane and found her seat. Then she was dismayed when she heard a man's voice behind her saying, "Well... it looks like you're stuck with me after all..." and she looked up to see the man who'd been watching her for the last twenty minutes.

It turned out that his seat was next to hers. Megan closed her eyes and frowned as she said, "I appreciate that you seem sympathetic to how upset I am, but please... don't ask if I want to talk about it because I don't!!! I don't need to figure out what went wrong... I already know! I screwed up... that's all there is to it, and now I just have to wait and hope that he'll forgive me... So, that's it... there's nothing more to say," she finished quietly as her lower lip trembled and tears filled her eyes again.

She looked down and kept trying to swallow the lumps in her throat as the man sat down next to her and put his seatbelt on as the stewardesses were doing the usual spiel about safety procedures in case of emergencies. As the plane was pushed back and then started to taxi away from the gate, the man put his fingers under her chin, lifted her face up and nudged her to look at him as he said softly, "Don't worry, Megan, whoever he is, he'll forgive you..."

She burst out sobbing and leaned her head against his shoulder, continuing to cry as the plane taxied into position for takeoff. It wasn't until several minutes later as they neared cruising altitude that Megan began to calm down and then suddenly realized that the man had known her name... She sat up and wiped her face as she stared at him and asked hesitantly, "How... do you know my name?"

He smiled genuinely and replied, "I kind of thought you wouldn't remember me. It's been a few years... I'm Sam Cole; I used to work for a record company that wanted to offer you a contract. I was the one who brought you to their attention and one of the people who met with you and your parents to discuss a deal. I was also the one most disappointed when you turned us down..." He stopped when he saw her eyes widen in recognition.

Megan took a deep breath and exhaled raggedly as she realized he hadn't been eyeing her with any ulterior motives in mind. He was just familiar with her talent and had recognized her even though it had been a few years since they'd met. She felt flattered that he still remembered her. "Wow, Mr. Cole... I can't believe you still remember me! That's quite a compliment!" Then she flushed when he praised her further.

"You're impossible to forget, Megan... a young girl as beautiful and talented as you. I certainly hope you don't plan on hiding your talent from the world forever. Have you given any further thought to a singing career?"

Megan told him all about her studies at Northwestern and how she was finding it difficult to decide in which direction she wanted to go. She still loved performing... acting and singing... but she was becoming just as passionate about writing and thoughts of directing. When she mentioned writing, he asked her what kind of writing she'd done and was impressed that she'd experimented with it all. Short stories, poems, song lyrics, and even a play that she'd also directed, for which she'd received a high grade and high praise when fellow students in her drama class performed it.

She'd called the play Price of Past Miracles... it had been all about the night her and Brad's relationship was revealed. But she never mentioned to anyone that it was autobiographical... they'd just thought it was a poignant, tragic love story. But it had been easy for her to write and direct because it was a story that had written itself and it was a piece of her life...

She'd also gotten a couple of poems and a song out of that episode! She'd been getting some ideas out of this mess with Jonnie, too, and she was still living the agony of it... And she didn't want to think about when or how it would end... 

She and Sam talked during the whole flight back to L.A. He kindly did his best to keep the conversation focused on her career goals. He encouraged her to seriously consider pursuing an acting or singing career while she was still young and energetic... telling her she could always get back to her passion for writing or directing when she got tired of "living life in the limelight."

Megan learned from Sam that he had left the recording company he'd been working for to start up his own and he was still in the process of scouting out talent. He made her promise that if she did decide to pursue a singing career, that she'd come talk to him first... she promised him that she would.

Their flight landed in L.A. at about 2am Pacific Time, and Sam very kindly drove Megan home so she wouldn't have to call and wake her parents to come pick her up. As upset as she had been, she had completely forgotten to call and tell them that she was coming home.

She let herself into the house with her key and was quietly trying to make her way to her bedroom, when her Dad came rushing out of their bedroom at the end of the hall in his pajama bottoms with his gun in his hand. She jumped and gasped and he stopped abruptly.

"Megan... is that you?!! My God, sweetie... you should know better than to sneak around the house in the middle of the night! You know I'm a light sleeper and over twenty years as a Fed has made my nerves just a little jumpy!"

She squeaked, "I'm sorry, Daddy! I just haven't been thinking too clearly lately! I really have to figure out how to stop doing such stupid shit!" she cried as tears once again started to flow.

Her father came to her and wrapped his arms around her and held her as she cried quietly. She nuzzled her face against his solid, hairy chest, inhaling his familiar scent when she sniffled, and started to feel the same comfort she'd always known whenever he'd held her when she was upset. As she calmed down, she felt him loosening his strong arms from around her and she lifted her head to see him looking at her with a strange expression.




Price of Past Miracles Ch. 09



In the dim hallway, she couldn't see his face clearly, but it seemed like he was clenching his jaw. Then his trim mustache curved with his lip into a slight smile as he asked gently, "Are you OK now, sweetie?" 

She smiled back briefly and nodded her head, and he released her completely after he placed a quick kiss on her forehead and then said, "Glad I could help. It's late... I'm still tired and you must be exhausted. I'm going back to bed and we'll talk more when we see you in the morning. OK? Goodnight sweetie." He went back to his bedroom and glanced back at her when he turned to shut the door, pausing to watch as she entered her room and shut the door.

Charles Richards sat down on his side of the bed, turned the bedside lamp on and put his gun back in the nightstand drawer after switching the safety on again. He took a deep breath and blew it out and tried to shake off the sudden nervousness he'd felt when he realized that holding his daughter had started to arouse him... especially when his mind flashed on some of the images of her and Jonnie together.

He was relieved that his arousal wasn't stemming from thoughts that HE wanted Megan, just from the mere fact that she was a beautiful and highly sensual girl and, just like Jon, Sr., he'd gotten turned on from watching how she responded to Jonnie. But he'd never before had any thoughts like that when he was close to her and comforting her as her father... but she wasn't his little girl anymore. And he was all too aware of that... in so many ways...

Charles turned and looked down at his beautiful wife... Megan's mother... and he reached over and gently brushed a strand of golden hair away from her face. She sighed and her eyes fluttered half-open. He told her quietly, "Our daughter is home. She forgot to call us and I caught her sneaking in. She's fine but she'll probably need to talk to us tomorrow. I don't think things worked out for her with Jonnie..."

Diana lifted up on her forearms as she asked, "Are you sure she's OK for now?!! I don't know if I could stand the thought of her crying herself to sleep..."

Charles sighed and stood up as he said, "I'll go check on her..." and went out of their room to Megan's door and listened for a moment. He didn't hear any sound, so he quietly pushed the door open to make sure she was asleep and realized too late what a mistake that was... Megan was asleep... but she was only half covered and her bare breasts were clearly visible in the moonlight streaming through her window.

Charles jerked back, just barely remembering not to slam her bedroom door shut and stood in the hall gulping in air as he willed his cock not to harden. But it was too late... he could feel an erection coming on. He hurried back down the hall to his and Diana's bedroom, shut the door and lay down on their bed with his back to her before his arousal was evident. He looked over his shoulder at his wife and said quickly, "She's fine... fast asleep!"

Diana lifted up further and stared over at her husband, noting his uncharacteristic nervousness. "What's gotten into you, Charles? You're acting awfully strange... Is there something you're not telling me?" He shook his head and denied it. She took a deep breath and sighed as she scooted up behind him to wrap her arm over him in a comforting gesture, but as usual, her hand had a mind of it's own and automatically crept down to his crotch for a quick fondle first.

She lifted up in surprise and looked down at him when she encountered his long, stiff cock. "What have we here?!! Where did this come from and why are you hiding it from me?!!" she asked in surprise, knowing he was never in the habit of not taking advantage of a hard-on when they were in bed together.

Charles groaned in embarrassment and turned onto his back to look his wife in the eyes. He took a deep breath and admitted, "I had some really strange feelings that came over me when I was comforting Meggie a few minutes ago, and just now when I checked on her, I made the mistake of opening her door to make sure she was asleep. Were you aware that our daughter sleeps in the nude?!!" he exclaimed quietly but nervously.

Diana started snorting with laughter at the disconcerted expression on her husband's face. The man who could always so easily figure out why other people thought and felt the way they did without judgment... who was himself a psychologist... was always so quick to judge and condemn himself for being human.

Charles stared at her as she laughed. "This isn't funny, Diana! She's my daughter!!! I can't believe this is happening!!! I've never had these thoughts about her before... Why now?!!"

Diana stopped laughing as she realized he was really upset with himself. She leaned over and stared him in the eyes and said seductively, "Why don't you go sneak into Megan's room and see if she'd like to get fucked by her Daddy?!!" His mouth dropped open as he frowned at her in horror. "Oh, go on, darling... wouldn't you like to fuck your beautiful daughter? She's naked in her bed and I'll bet she's just waiting for you..."

Charles growled in anger and was about to shove his wife off his chest when he felt her hand groping his crotch, grasping his half limp cock. She grinned in satisfaction and said smugly, "See... even though you find Megan beautiful and arousing, you'd never take advantage of her! She's still your little girl even though it's very hard to remember that now! Oops... poor choice of words," she added as she tugged on his softening shaft.

Charles closed his eyes and laughed self-deprecatingly as he realized Diana was just proving a point... one that he should've recognized himself. He pulled her down to him and kissed her tenderly for a moment. "Thank you, pretty lady... you always have such... interesting ways of making a point! I don't always get them at first, but they definitely make an impression!"

Diana pulled back from him and scooted up on her knees as she started to unbutton the pajama top she was wearing. "And what kind of an impression will... this make?" she asked seductively as she threw open the top and shrugged it off her shoulders.

"And how about this?" as she stood up on the bed and wriggled her hips suggestively as she inched her panties down her legs and off and then straddled his body on her feet, staring down at him with her hands on her hips. His eyes were glued to her golden pussy and she knew the evidence of her arousal was plain to see.

So she admitted to him what had made her so wet. "You see, my sexy man... even though the knowledge that you find our daughter alluring makes me jealous, just imagining watching you fuck her turns me on! You're still a very sexy man and our daughter is gorgeous and very sensual... and I can't help how hot it makes me feel to fantasize about watching you fuck our little girl's tight pussy with your big, beautiful cock ... even though I know you'd never do it!!" she growled sexily.

Charles groaned, "Goddamn it, Diana... I don't know what's turning me on now! The sight of your dripping cunt and gorgeous body or the fucking hot images you're planting in my head!!! Turn around, woman... and suck my throbbing dick while you sit on my face!!!"

He didn't have to tell her twice! It was four o'clock in the morning before they finally got back to sleep...

**********

The next day, Megan told her parents how badly things had gone with Jonnie and about talking to Sam Cole on the plane. When Jonnie returned from New York a few days later, he still avoided Megan, even though she'd left a message with his mother that she was hoping to hear from him as soon as he was ready to talk to her. It was a few months before that would happen...

Megan met with Same Cole the next week, but he couldn't talk her into a recording deal. Instead, she talked him into looking at a couple of songs she'd written and asked him if he could put her in touch with a musician who'd be interested in helping her develop the music to go with her lyrics. He was excited at the potential they had to be great country songs, so he put her in touch with some musicians he knew in Nashville.

Megan flew to Nashville for a few days at the end of May 1977 to work with a few studio musicians developing the songs and then they recorded them as demos at the end of the week, with Megan doing the lead vocals. The first song was one she'd written as a result of her and Brad's story that she'd entitled Love No More and the other one she'd written about how much she loved Jonnie called Forever Yours. She had no idea how prophetic the lyrics of the last chorus of that song were when she wrote and sang them:

I'll be forever yours...
Until the day I can no longer recall your face so sweet...
Until the end of time or my heart can no longer beat...

A couple weeks later, Megan got a call from Sam with some stunning news. A recording company in Nashville had heard the demos and they wanted to buy the rights to record her songs... but they didn't want anyone but her to sing them. Megan was ecstatic, but she didn't want to sign on to a full contract while she was still attending college.

Sam acted as her agent and got her a deal with the company to produce one album including her two songs and any other songs she and the record company could agree on. The deal paid her a very fair sum up front for her songs and also a percentage of the album sales. They had no idea how lucrative that would turn out to be for both of them...

Megan spent the rest of that summer dividing her time between Nashville and Los Angeles. Whenever Jonnie was out of town on modeling assignments, she was in Nashville working on recording her album. She was getting more and more worried that Jonnie kept avoiding her, because she was also starting to see stories about him and that gorgeous model named Kris linked together in various celebrity magazines. They kept mentioning "rumors" that hot models Jonnie North and Kristina Davidson were having a "hot" affair...

At Jonnie's 20th birthday party on August 10, 1977, Megan Richards finally worked up the courage to confront him. That night would trigger a future event that neither one of them could possibly have predicted but it would prove to Jonnie just how much Megan loved him and he would never again doubt their trust in each other...



Price of Past Miracles Ch. 10



Megan Richards waited and watched for a chance to catch Jonnie North alone at his birthday party in the posh nightclub that the modeling agency had rented for their star client. But she rarely ever saw him without that gorgeous model Kristina Davidson hanging on his arm. But she stayed unobtrusive and observant, thinking the other woman was bound to get sidetracked at some point...

Jonnie had asked the agency to be sure to invite all of his friends... including Megan. He wasn't as angry any more... Kris had been keeping in touch with him and spending a lot of time with him when they were working together and she was a nice distraction. But although he enjoyed her company and did find her very attractive, he knew he wouldn't fall for her... his heart belonged only to Megan. And he was starting to feel guilty, thinking that he might have been leading Kris on in some way so he was planning to talk to her at some point that evening to make sure she understood that they could never be anything more than friends.

Megan was at the party, but she was avoiding him and he figured it was because Kris was with him every moment and that was bound to bother Megan if she still loved him. But he'd never really doubted that... Megan wouldn't have been so hurt and pissed at him when she thought he'd betrayed her if she hadn't loved him. But he was just as hurt and pissed at her for believing him capable of betraying her...

And round and round it would go forever unless both of them finally got to a point where they could just let it go... he just had no idea when he would reach that point. But he was beginning to see that he would soon forgive her and be ready to start again. He needed to let her know that so she wouldn't lose all hope and give up... and possibly turn to someone else for comfort...

Jonnie looked at his beautiful friend and said, "Would you please excuse me for a few minutes, Kris? I need to go speak to Megan privately... OK?" He kissed her cheek when she smiled and nodded and left her to go find where Megan was currently hiding herself.

Kris watched him walking away and her smile grew wider. She was hoping that Jonnie was going to tell Megan that he was falling in love with her and it was time for Megan to realize that and let him go. Kris had felt it was only a matter of time before Jonnie would realize that they were perfect for each other... she loved him and all the fun times and the jokes they'd shared over the "rumors" that had been spreading about their "hot" affair. She felt perhaps he was meant to be her soul mate...

Megan saw Jonnie strolling through the nightclub looking around and he was alone... she finally had her chance. She stepped out from behind the column she'd been leaning on and moved toward him. He nodded at her slightly, indicating that he had been looking for her, so she squared her shoulders and walked right up to him.

Before he could even open his mouth, she stated what she most needed to hear from him. "Jonnie... if you have feelings for Kris Davidson and there is no hope that you will ever be able to forgive me, then please tell me right now so I know where I stand!"

He raised his eyebrows and stared at her for a moment. She looked scared to death and was obviously afraid that she was not going to like his response. He took a deep breath and frowned slightly as he figured out how to phrase his reply. He didn't want her to get the impression that he wasn't still mad at her...

He spoke quietly, "Well... I do have feelings for Kris..." He clenched his jaw to hide a slight smile when Megan's eyes widened even further, but he didn't want to be cruel to her... "Feelings of friendship," he added sincerely and saw her take a deep breath as a look of relief flooded her eyes.

Then he continued sternly, "As for forgiving you... I'm still working on that. As far as I'm concerned, you have a lot of work to do to earn my trust again and to prove that you trust me! And I realize how hard that is to do when we aren't spending any time together, so we'll have to start working on that. But it's going to be difficult while our schedules are still so busy, but that's going to change by the end of this year. I'll be quitting this modeling gig so I can get back to USC and finish my degree. You know I've only been doing this for the money and now I have enough to finish school."

That was an understatement! He wasn't about to tell Megan that he had several hundred thousand dollars in the bank and a contract in the works to be a commercial spokesman for a new brand of men's cologne that could net him another several thousand over the next few years... not that he believed she wanted him just because he had money! According to her Mom and Dad, Megan was on the verge of making quite a bit of money herself if her album turned out to be a hit... and he was sure it would.

Megan smiled at him and he felt that familiar ache in the pit of his stomach again... for the first time in a while he felt that longing for her again. But he wasn't about to give in to it just yet... he was still mad at her after all! He frowned and shook his head as he replied, "So, by the end of this year, we should be able to start working on repairing what went wrong. And if we can get together any time before then, it would be a good way to try to talk honestly about the pain we both experienced so we'll be past that by then. OK?"

She nodded solemnly and then frowned herself as she asked him one last question. "Jonnie... I know I probably shouldn't ask this, but... I've been reading in some magazines about a rumor that you and Kris are... lovers..." She winced as she said the word. "Is it... true?" she asked hesitantly.

Jonnie smiled ruefully as he shook his head and then replied sarcastically, "Well, at least you are ASKING about it this time instead of just assuming!" He hesitated and sighed heavily as he continued. "No... it's not true." He snorted a laugh as he added, "Kris and I always get a good laugh every time we hear that another rag has printed it again!"

Then his face softened as he said, "You'd like Kris... she's really sweet and she's been very kind to me throughout this whole mess. If it hadn't been for her, I'd probably still be pissed as hell at you. But she was the one who helped me to realize that you had lashed out at me because of your own pain, which made me realize you wouldn't have done that if you hadn't loved me. But trust should've made you come to me before you had to be smacked between the eyes with the truth!" he ended emphatically.

Jonnie paused and shook his head again as he realized that every discussion they got into would keep coming back around to the same issue until they were able to sit down at some point and just hash it out. He looked over and saw Kris waiting for him with a questioning look on her face and it reminded him that he still needed to talk to her and make sure she understood their relationship.

He looked back at Megan and said, "I have to go... Kris is waiting for me and she is an out-of-town guest and I don't want to be rude to her. So... do you understand where we're at right now?" She nodded and smiled sadly and he leaned down and kissed her cheek softly. Then he touched her cheek and said sincerely, "Learn to trust me, Megan, and we'll find our way back to each other... I promise."

He smiled softly when tears filled her eyes as she nodded once more, knowing that she understood and would wait for him however long it took for them to find their way back to each other. Then he turned to make his way over to where Kris was standing and he saw her smile brightly at him after she glanced over at Megan. She seemed happy that he and Megan seemed to have come to an understanding...

When Kris saw Megan crying and wiping her eyes as Jonnie walked away from her, she was certain that he'd told her good bye. And he had such a serious look on his face as he approached her that she was also certain he was finally going to reveal his true feelings for her...

Jonnie took Kris' hand and said, "Let's go outside and get some fresh air. And I need to talk to you... alone."

They found a quiet alley beside the nightclub, and Kris waited breathlessly to hear what Jonnie wanted to tell her... then she could scarcely breath when what she heard coming out of his mouth was not at all what she'd expected.

He took her left hand in both of his, stared into her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. "Kris... you know your friendship these past several months has meant the world to me, and I am so grateful to you for showing me that what happened wasn't the end of the world! If it hadn't been for you... I don't know how long it would've taken for me to want to move on. And one of the things you helped me to realize was that, even though Megan hurt me terribly, it didn't mean she didn't love me! And I've never stopped loving her. I have always loved her... and I always will.

"And I just wanted to make sure you understand that, because I've never wanted to do anything that would lead you on and make you think that I wanted to be anything more than friends. If I've given you that impression, I am so sorry and I hope you can forgive me," he stated sincerely as he saw a frown gradually creasing her brow as she looked away while he was expressing his regret if he'd confused her.

Kris Davidson heard a roaring inside her head and felt a burning rage she'd never experienced before as soon as Jonnie had said that he loved Megan... always had and always would...

THAT BASTARD!!! HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO YOU!!! YOU'VE LOVED HIM SINCE THE MOMENT YOU MET HIM!!! HOW COULD HE STILL LOVE A WOMAN WHO TURNED HER BACK ON HIM EVEN THOUGH SHE CLAIMED TO LOVE HIM!!! YOU WOULD NEVER DO THAT TO HIM!!! WHY CAN'T HE SEE THAT?!! WHY CAN'T HE SEE THAT SHE DOESN'T DESERVE HIM?!! HE BELONGS WITH YOU!!! YOU HAVE TO MAKE HIM SEE THAT...

Kris shook her head to clear away the noise of her surprising rage, confused as to why she was reacting so strongly as she realized Jonnie had also been saying something about being sorry if he'd led her to think he wanted them to be anything more than friends... She frowned harder as she replied, "Jonnie... where would you have gotten the idea that I thought we were more than just friends?!!" She laughed sarcastically. "Please... don't tell me that you're now starting to believe those stupid rumors!"

He sighed with relief and then chuckled with her. "Oh... good! I'm so glad to see that you feel the same! The last thing I'd ever want to do is hurt you, Kris... you've been so great to me! And I hope when I leave the modeling biz at the end of this year, that you'll still keep in touch... I value your friendship! And I'm sure you'll like Megan once you get a chance to know her. She really is a wonderful person..."

Jonnie stopped when he saw what he thought was a flash of pain in Kris' eyes, but then it was gone and she smiled slightly as she replied, "Well... I doubt I'll have much opportunity to get to know her if you're getting out of the business. Our paths probably won't cross that often... I so rarely come to L.A."

Jonnie smiled sadly at the thought that he and Kris probably wouldn't see much of each other once he was done with modeling. He bent forward and kissed her cheek and then said gently, "I want you to know that I'll miss seeing you and working with you... maybe if we're lucky, we'll got a lot more assignments together during these next four months! Come on... let's get back inside! I am the guest of honor and some people may be looking for me by now!"

As he took her hand in his and led her back inside the nightclub, Kris Davidson felt confused as she heard a strange voice inside her head... You're damn right he's going to be seeing a lot more of you over the next several months... we'll see to that!!!

**********

Jonnie and Megan got their first chance to visit with each other toward the end of September 1977 when he and Kris were assigned to do a runway show in Chicago on a Saturday night. Jonnie immediately called Megan at Northwestern and told her when it was and that he'd be there from Friday to Sunday and that he was getting her a ticket to the show. They also made plans to meet Friday night for dinner so they could talk.

The dinner went OK, but they didn't really talk about what had gone wrong. They both recognized that they still hadn't let go of all the initial pain they'd felt and they didn't want to get into an argument in the restaurant. So they kept their conversation limited to what they'd been doing since they hadn't been in touch, both of them laughing softly when they realized that they'd been keeping tabs on each other through their parents.

After dinner, they went for a walk in a park along the shores of Lake Michigan and finally started to relate to each other how hurt they'd been by the whole situation. Jonnie patiently stood next to Megan and listened as she broke down from telling him how sick and scared she'd felt to think that he'd betrayed her and that she'd lost him to her best friend and how she'd wished to die because of the pain...

And then Megan sobbed even harder when Jonnie railed at her and then ended up crying as he poured out his anger and pain over the knowledge that she'd so easily believed him capable of betraying her. Then he grabbed her and hugged her to him as they both sobbed when she again begged him to forgive her for that...

They stood and held each for a long time as they let the cool nighttime breeze off the lake help to blow away their lingering pain. As he started to release her, she looked up at him and he was captured by the deep sorrow that still lingered in her eyes. He leaned down to kiss her gently, only wanting to comfort her, but his lips tingled when hers molded so naturally to his, instantly recalling for both of them the memory of how fiery their attraction had been for one another.

Their lips moved together for a moment as their eyes closed, testing how well they remembered the feel of touching each other that intimately. It had been almost a year since the last time they'd kissed, but before they realized it, their bodies started to feel that same burn, starting in their guts and spreading like wildfires until it came blazing out of their mouths as their lips parted and their tongues sought each other's moist heat.

They groaned desperately as they clung together, the kiss growing ever more intimate as their bodies strained with movements of remembered passion and mounting desire. Before he knew what he was doing, Jonnie backed Megan up against the railing they'd been leaning on looking out over the water, lifting her up as she parted her thighs and wrapped her legs around his hips as he ground his hard cock against her. Within a minute, both of them threw their heads back, gasping raggedly as they came together, their backs arched in pleasure.

Jonnie and Megan lifted their heads to look at each other in shock, still gasping for air as they realized the inferno between them had suddenly roared to life again... He backed away and slowly lowered her to her to her feet as they struggled to control their breathing. Then he turned around and moved a few feet away as the almost overwhelming urge to grab her and drag her back to his hotel room and finally claim her body with his had the fire igniting in his groin again.

"Jonnie?" he heard her ask hesitantly from behind him and he could tell she was confused and concerned as to why he'd suddenly moved away from her. He turned back around, his chest still heaving nervously, and said, "I'm sorry, Megan... I was just... caught off guard. I didn't expect that to happen between us again... especially after everything else that's happened."

He smiled softly at her when he noticed that she was blinking nervously in confusion. "I think it's a good sign, Megan. Our bodies still recognize that we belong together even though our hearts are still hurting and our minds confused. We'll be OK eventually... but it's too soon to jump back into such intimacy again. I still need you to prove that you trust me because I will not be hurt that way again. Understand?" he asked her solemnly.

She smiled and nodded and he held his hand toward her saying, "Come on... let's go hail you a taxi." She took his hand and they walked out of Grant Park and a few blocks up Michigan Avenue until he was able to flag down a taxi to take her back to Northwestern. He kissed her softly before she climbed into the back seat and told her, "I'll see you tomorrow, sweet Megan."

Jonnie slowly walked another block and then turned on Lake Street toward the Fairmont Hotel where he was staying for the weekend. As he approached the hotel, he saw Kris heading quickly toward the lobby doors being followed by some man who grabbed her arm and then yelled angrily at her when she jerked away from him. Jonnie hastened his pace to see if she needed help.

"I told you I wasn't interested... now please leave me alone!" Kris was crying at the man, tears welling in her eyes as he glared angrily at her.

"Is there a problem, Kris?" Jonnie asked as he approached and then stepped between her and the man, glancing back and forth between them.

He looked at her when she spoke quietly. "I just want him to leave me alone... that's all!" Her mouth was trembling and she looked scared to death.

Jonnie frowned as he looked back at the man again. "You heard her, mister... take off!" he said, making his voice sound authoritative just like his Dad had always done when dealing with troublemakers.

The man glared at him for a moment and then glanced around at the crowd of people who'd stopped at the sound of a disturbance. Then he sneered at Jonnie, "Sure thing, pretty boy. I guess I'd better not mess up that pretty face of yours... you'd probably sue me for ruining your career!" The man laughed evilly as he turned around and walked away. When he was about a block away, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the hundred-dollar bill the gorgeous girl had paid him to play that little scene with her and he laughed again... it was the easiest hundred dollars he'd ever earned!

Jonnie frowned as he watched the mean bastard walking away, wondering how a man who dressed like he had absolutely no sense of fashion knew that he was a model... He shook his head and looked back at Kris, who was still on the verge of tears and trembling from head to toe. He took her in his arms and hugged her for a moment. "Are you OK now?" he asked her gently.

Kris had been acting up to the point when that stupid asshole had made the comment about ruining Jonnie's career... he could very nearly have blown her plan if Jonnie figured out that she'd set that whole thing up! She'd have to distract him from wondering how that man, a complete stranger, had known that his face mattered to his career... She clung to him and whispered desperately, "No... I'm not OK!!! I'm so scared and I... don't want to be alone!! Please, Jonnie... don't leave me alone tonight!"

He took her upstairs to her room and ordered a bottle of wine from room service when she said she needed a drink to calm her nerves and waited for it while she took a shower. He stayed for while and drank a couple of glasses with her while she told him why she was so scared... because she'd been attacked and raped a few years back by some man who'd been stalking her. Jonnie took her in his arms to hold her when she broke down crying and then he picked her up and carried her to the bed to lay her down when he felt her sagging against him.

When he tried to leave her after laying her down and pulling the covers over her, she clung to him and cried again, saying she was still too scared to be alone. So he lay down on the bed with her, over top of the covers, and put his arm around her to comfort her as she scooted her back against the front of him. He intended to stay with her only until she fell asleep, but he ended up falling asleep as well...




Price of Past Miracles Ch. 10



Jonnie almost made a huge mistake when he started to wake up a couple hours later from a dream he was having about Megan. She was about to make love to him... she was poised above him, lowering herself onto his hard cock when he suddenly realized how real it felt and he heard a soft feminine moan...

His eyes popped open just in time to see Kris kneeling over top of him and pushing herself down onto his cock... her eyes were closed and she didn't realize he was awake. But somehow, she'd managed to open his pants and maneuver his cock out without waking him and she was about to fuck him!!! He grabbed her hips, forcibly lifting her off of him as he exclaimed, "KRIS!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!!"

Her eyes popped open and widened as he was pushing her aside and she suddenly looked as shocked as he as she gasped, "Oh, my God!! What's happening?!! How the hell did this happen?!! I'm so sorry, Jonnie!! I... I... don't know what I was doing!!!"

He scrambled up off the bed as he was closing his pants and headed for the door to her hotel room. Then he stopped and looked back at her as she was cowering behind the covers and said, "I'm sorry, Kris... I hope you don't feel I took advantage of you somehow, but we need to make sure that we never put ourselves in a situation like this again! We're just friends and this was inappropriate! I'll do my best to comfort you when you're scared, but not like this! Good night, Kris... I'm sorry and I hope you can get back to sleep..."

Kris Davidson nearly screamed in frustration when Jonnie walked out of her hotel room, leaving her pussy wet and throbbing... she'd nearly gotten halfway down his awesomely huge cock before he'd woken up! She didn't get to actually fuck him, but it would be close enough to the truth for her to tell Megan that she knew what it was like to have his cock inside her! She was sure it would be enough to create doubt in Megan's mind and once again accuse Jonnie of cheating on her...

Kris frowned as she once again tried to figure out why she felt so desperate to tear Jonnie and Megan apart. She'd always known she had feelings for Jonnie, but she had never felt so desperate to try to make someone love her the way she did him... It didn't make any sense to her because she'd always been able to attract any guy she'd wanted! So what was it about Jonnie that made her feel so driven to have him?!!

And the inexplicable rage she felt every time he rebuffed her was beginning to scare her... it was like she had no control over her own emotions or actions any more. She felt like a woman possessed by some evil force at times when she caught herself suddenly doing things that she'd have never done... like convincing that bum to act like he was attacking her and actually paying him for it! And practically raping Jonnie and pretending she was doing it in her sleep... She just wasn't herself any more but she had no idea why and no idea how to stop whatever was happening to her...

**********

Jonnie went to his own room down the hall, shed his clothes and took a shower, finally realizing that he was still a mess from the orgasm he'd had with Megan in the park hours earlier. But it was a while before he was able to get back to sleep as guilt gnawed at him, wondering if he should mention this incident to Megan when he saw her the next day.

He finally decided against it... nothing had happened... at least nothing that he'd done deliberately. And apparently Kris hadn't planned on it, either... It was just an accident... that was all... one he'd never let happen again.

**********

At the reception after the runway show Saturday night, Jonnie was introducing Megan to some of the other models and then he took her over to meet Kris, who'd been sheepishly avoiding him most of the day. She'd apologized to him again for what had happened and he'd told her to think no more of it and that he'd already let it go.

Kris and Megan greeted each other graciously and Megan said that Jonnie had told her how much he valued Kris' friendship. Kris smiled warmly and said that Jonnie had mentioned to her how talented Megan was and that she was looking forward to hearing when Megan's album would be out. Jonnie smiled genuinely when it looked as though the two girls he most admired would also turn out to be friends.

He left them chatting to get drinks for all of them, but when he returned, Kris was gone and Megan was looking at him with her face ashen. He frowned as he recognized the distrust in her eyes. He set the drinks down and put his hands on her arms and tried not to notice that she flinched. "Megan... what's wrong?" he asked nervously.

She stared at him as she asked stiffly, "Did you stay with Kris in her hotel room last night?"

Jonnie closed his eyes and cursed under his breath, wondering why Kris had felt it necessary to tell Megan about that. He took a deep breath and opened his aqua eyes to stare intently into her wary hazel eyes. "Megan... this is going to be your first test. I am asking you to trust me because I'm going to tell you exactly what happened. I know it will sound bad... as bad as that damn photo looked! But I am swearing to you that it is the absolute truth. Will you trust me?" he asked gravely.

She closed her eyes briefly and swallowed as she nodded and he prayed to see the truth of her trust in him in her eyes as he explained the whole story. She frowned sadly when he got to the part about how he'd woken up, but when he told her how he'd handled it, she swallowed and took a deep breath and seemed to calm down as she blew it out. When he asked her again if she believed him, she smiled hesitantly as she nodded her head.

His story had been almost exactly the same as what Kris had told her, except Kris had said Jonnie begged her to continue when they both realized what was happening, but she said she had refused because she knew he was trying to get back with Megan. But Megan had picked up on the way Kris talked about Jonnie and the way she looked at him and she began to realize that Kris had a thing for Jonnie so it was entirely conceivable that she'd lie to Megan to try to break them up...

But Megan also realized that while Jonnie might be angry at Kris for telling her what happened, he probably would not believe her if she told him that Kris had deliberately lied; Kris would just deny that and use it against Megan. She believed that Jonnie thought of Kris as only a friend and she did believe that he would not let things go any further. She would just let Kris continue to dig her own grave... she was sure Jonnie would one day discover on his own what Kris was up to!

But that didn't happen until Thanksgiving...

Jonnie invited Kris to come join all his family and friends for the holiday when she had sadly told him that her parents were going to Europe so she'd be all alone. She and Jonnie and Barbie had to be in Mexico the following Saturday for a photo shoot so they would also be traveling together on Friday.

The whole group of families and friends gathered at the Clark's mansion in Bel Air, as they did every other year because it was the only place large enough to accommodate over twenty people. Uncle Bob and Aunt Lisa were so glad to see all of their "nieces and nephews"... they treated all of their friends' children as if they were family since they'd never been able to have children of their own.

Everyone enjoyed catching up with what was going on in all their lives. Uncle Bob and Aunt Lisa reminded Megan's brother Charlie and Lily Wilson that if they ever needed financial help getting through med school, their "scholarship fund" was ready and available. Bob and Lisa told Barbie and Brad that they'd be welcome to use the grounds of their mansion if they wanted to have an outdoor wedding when they announced that they were getting married in June 1979 as soon as Brad graduated from The Air Force Academy. They were also anxiously awaiting the release of Megan's album the following week and they talked about how impressed they were that Jonnie was going to give up his lucrative modeling career to go back and finish his degree so he could get into police work.

When Uncle Bob stood to say the prayer for everyone, he graciously welcomed Kris Davidson into their home, thanked God for the happiness and safety of everyone and asked His continued protection over all of them. But that prayer fell on a pair of deaf ears at the table that evening... and God would provide protection in the only way He could... through the unwavering devotion of two people who were born to love one another...

**********

After dinner was over, Jonnie and Megan drove Kris back to her hotel. She had insisted on staying at a hotel because she said she didn't want to be a burden to anyone. Megan had been secretly relieved as she knew Kris had never given up on trying to get Jonnie to notice her and to make him fall in love with her... but Jonnie had never noticed her subtle flirting. And it had proven to Megan that he was beyond reproach when it came to his trustworthiness.

When they arrived at her hotel, Kris asked Jonnie to come in with her because she needed to confirm some of their travel arrangements for the next day. She'd told him and Barbie that the modeling agency had contacted her with a change in their flight schedule and she'd written it down but had forgotten to bring the note to give it to them at dinner.

Megan was distrusting Kris more and more and she wasn't about to let Jonnie go up to the room with her alone. Even though she trusted him, she did NOT trust Kris... especially since Barbie had told her at dinner earlier that she'd had a disturbing dream about Kris the night before in which she'd seen her holding a gun! But Barbie had no idea if she was pointing it at anyone... but she'd woken up in a cold sweat from the dream.

Megan had also noticed Lily Wilson jerk her hand out of Kris' when they were introduced and Megan asked Lily what was wrong afterward. She was stunned when Lily told her that the moment her hand touched Kris', she felt like her blood had turned to ice and she saw nothing but blackness for a second. Lily said she'd experienced that same thing a few times before and she'd noticed that it was with people who'd turned out to be very untrustworthy...

Megan noticed a flash of anger in Kris' eyes when she said she was going up with them, adding that she didn't want to stay in the car by herself. She didn't care that she'd pissed her off, but she wasn't about to take any chances on how far Kris might go... especially in light of Barbie's dream and Lily's instant reaction to her. 

When they got to the room, Kris went to a shoulder bag on the dresser saying she was getting out the note she'd written, but instead of pulling out a piece of paper, she pulled out a gun and pointed it right at Megan and Jonnie. Kris frowned sadly at the look of utter shock on Jonnie's face and asked, "Why have you pushed me to this? Why couldn't I make you love me? What's wrong with me?"

Jonnie moved Megan behind him and spoke calmly. "There is nothing wrong with you, Kris. Any guy would be lucky to have you. And you deserve to be loved... but you can't MAKE someone love you. If I had never known Megan, I probably could've loved you very easily. But I've known Megan all my life... I've loved her all my life. And nobody is pushing you to do anything... you can stop this now before someone gets hurt and I promise you, nothing will happen to you."

He was using information he'd read in one of his criminal psych books that had stated the proper ways to handle negotiating with someone who was upset and holding hostages. All he could remember was that it had said to keep your voice smooth and even, to answer the person's questions honestly and to not make it sound like you were patronizing them...

He swallowed nervously when he suddenly realized that saying he could have loved her if he'd never met Megan might've sounded patronizing to her. Jonnie took a step toward Kris, but she backed away from him, so he stopped and waited to see what she'd do or say next.

She just stood there staring at him sadly, her eyes filled with tears and her gun hand shaking slightly. Then she said hollowly, "You were supposed to love me... not her. And if I can't make you love me, then I can't let her have you... If I can't have you in life, then maybe I can have you in death..." She raised her gun arm a little higher and started to squeeze the trigger...

Megan had moved beside Jonnie when Kris had said she wasn't going to let her have him, and when she saw Kris aiming the gun squarely at Jonnie's chest, she screamed, "NO!!!" and jumped in front of him just as the gun fired. The bullet struck her in the upper chest and she was thrown backward against Jonnie. He yelled her name as he caught her in his arms and knelt down with her as she sagged limply to the floor.

Jonnie looked up and saw Kris staring at the gun in her hand as if she was shocked. He also looked at her shaking hand and screamed inside his head, DROP THE DAMN GUN!!!

Kris' hand flinched and the gun dropped to the floor, so he jumped up and tackled her, knocking her away from the gun. He noticed that she wasn't fighting him, so he got up, pulling her with him and dragged her to a chair and sat her in it.

He went back to the gun on the floor and carefully nudged it with his foot across the room toward the door as he went to Megan and checked her pulse. Then he got up, went to the phone, called the front desk, identified himself and which room he was in and advised them to call the police and an ambulance immediately. Then he grabbed some towels from the bathroom and brought them out to tend to Megan.

A couple minutes later, there was banging on the hotel room door and a loud voice announcing it was a security guard. Jonnie called out, "My name is Jonathan Christopher North, Jr. My father is Detective Jonathan North of the L.A.P.D. I am NOT the person who fired the gun, but I have subdued her, and I am going to open the door now!" he yelled over his shoulder as he backed toward the door, keeping his eyes on Kris, making sure she didn't move.

Once the security guard was inside and saw the situation, Jonnie showed him where the gun was and told him not to touch it and to make sure Kris didn't move. But that was unlikely... she'd curled into a ball and was rocking back and forth and whimpering in the chair.

Jonnie rushed to Megan to tend to her bleeding chest. He'd never seen so much blood... it seemed like an awful lot had already seeped out of her and it had been only a few minutes since she'd been shot. He pressed a thick, folded towel to where he could see blood still oozing through the material of her dress and applied what he hoped was enough pressure to slow the bleeding.

He was immensely relieved when he saw her frown and she moaned weakly... at least he knew she was still alive. But her face was deathly pale and she seemed to want to be conscious, but she couldn't do anything more than roll her head as she winced and frowned and moaned. So he started talking to her, hoping that she could hear him.

"Megan, baby... hang on. Help is on the way. I'm here, Meggie... it's me, Jonnie. Stay with me, Meg... I'm not going to let anything else happen to you! You hear me? You hang on!"

Megan was floating in and out of consciousness and she kept trying to figure out where she was. Then she couldn't feel anything... she felt like she was floating. She was drifting among soft clouds and everything was so quiet... so peaceful. She gave up struggling trying to remember what it was she was supposed to be doing... it didn't seem to matter any more...

Jonnie noticed Megan's eyelids fluttering and then she suddenly went limp. He put his fingers to her throat and realized that there was no pulse. He screamed her name and immediately started CPR, making the security guard hold a towel to the wound on her chest as he did compressions and blew air into her lungs until the emergency crew arrived just a couple minutes later.

Jonnie North moved back and started sobbing as he watched an emergency technician using the defibrillator to try to shock Megan Richard's heart into beating again... but there was only one way that would happen. And it wouldn't be because of any past miracles...

All anyone could rely on now was their gifts of the future...