Storiesonline.net ------- Winning Numbers by Lazlong Copyright© 2004 by Lazlong ------- Description: What would you do if you won the lottery and had half of the women in San Francisco wanting to make sure you were okay? Codes: Mf slow rom cons ------- ------- [This story was submitted in one piece by the author. It has been divided into multiple chapters to provide compatibility with wider range of browsers, so chapter limits have no meanings. Storiesonline] ------- Chapter 1 What would you do if you suddenly discovered you had won the lottery? Okay, I know I'm not your typical lottery winner. I almost never played the thing. I only bought the ticket because I was feeling so depressed. My divorce had become final the week before. Hell, we hadn't lived together for over a year, so that shouldn't have depressed me, but it did. I was also having problems at work. I was an electrical engineer and had been working for the same company for five years. My boss told me I was doing great, so why did he keep giving me the shit assignments? So, what did I call a shit assignment? How about doing the controls for a conveyor system in the freezer of a grocery distribution center? Okay, maybe that wasn't so bad, by itself, but try doing it in January in Rochester, NY. That job lasted five weeks and I never appreciated warmth more than when I finally got out of there. Then there was the time I managed to have six days at home in thirteen weeks. During that time I was in a different city every week. When I asked my boss why he gave me jobs like this, he said, "Because I know you'll get them done." I guess that was a compliment. After my wife left me because she said I was boring, I tried the dating scene. What a disaster. I asked Shelly, who worked in the personnel department, for dinner and dancing one evening. Shelly is as cute as a button and a lot of fun to talk with at work. Away from work she is a party animal. By the time I finally got her home, I was so tired I politely turned down her offer for a nightcap in her apartment. I met Maria in a bar. I bought her a couple of drinks then she said, "Let's go to my place and set the mattress on fire." Okay, I'm not a prude, but that was a little too fast for me. Hell, I'd only known her for an hour. Then there was Julie. She was the defining example of a dumb blond. My friend, Bill Parks, wanted me to go out with his sister-in-law, Alicia. Alicia seemed nice enough, but she chewed gum all of the time. Jenny was on coke. Cindi had a weird laugh. Marj was too skinny. Okay, so maybe it was me. I didn't want to date. I didn't want to have to date. I wanted sex, Oh God I wanted sex, but I didn't want to have to go through all of the contortions society makes a man go through to get it. So, there I was, going through the checkout of a Pick-n-Save on a Friday evening, buying a six-pack of Miller, knowing I was going to be drinking it alone. The sales girl was a cutie, but much too young for me. In fact, I was surprised she was even allowed to sell beer. She teased me every Friday about my drinking habit and this Friday was no exception. "I see you're still working on becoming an alcoholic, Mr. James," she said. "Yeah, Linda, it's really getting bad. Last week I was out of beer by Wednesday." She flashed me a smile and asked, "Will there be anything else?" "Yeah, give me a quick pick on the lottery," I told her. She rang up the purchase and I made my way home. I had stuck the ticket in my wallet with my change without even looking at the numbers. ------- I was listening to the evening news the following Thursday, sipping on my first beer when I heard the announcer say, "The winner of last week's $64 million lottery has still not come forward to claim his prize. That's right folks, one lucky winner got the whole bundle and he or she still hasn't claimed it." "Nah," I thought. "Totally impossible. Still..." I got the ticket out and looked at it. I didn't remember one of the damned numbers they'd flashed up on the screen, so I booted up my computer and went to the lottery web site. Did you ever have someone hit you in the stomach? Hard? Well, that's what I felt like. The numbers matched. Every damned one of them matched. I must have checked those numbers ten times and every time they matched. I had no idea what to do next so I started scanning the web site. I'll have to say they have a good site. It told me where to go to claim my prize and everything I needed to know. ------- Okay, so I slept in. I figured I was going to be doing a lot of that from now on. I called in and told my boss I was going to be late getting to work. He didn't ask why and I didn't tell him. I took my shower and shaved and took off for the lottery office. After all of the bullshit was over, I found I'd be getting a little over $3 million each year for the next twenty years. I figured with a good tax accountant I could probably keep around $2 million of that. The first thing I did after I got out of there was take the check they gave me down to my bank and deposit it. I filled out a deposit slip and took it and the check to a regular teller and told her I'd like to make a deposit. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw the amount. They made a big fuss over me and asked if I'd like to open any other accounts. I told them I wanted to talk to a tax attorney first and I guess they saw the logic in that. I did keep out a chunk of walking around cash. My next stop was at the Pick-n-Save. My flirty little checkout girl was working the counter, so I got in line. When it was my turn she looked at me and asked, "No beer today, Mr. James?" "No, Linda, I just wanted to come by and tell you that the lottery ticket you sold me last week was a winner. I also wanted to give you this," I said as I counted a thousand dollars out on the counter. Linda's mouth fell open and she said, "I can't take that Mr. James." "Oh, yes you can, Linda. You've always been pleasant to me and I appreciate it. I won $64 million. The least I can do for the person who sold the ticket to me is give her a tip. You have a good day," I said with a smile as I walked out. Linda was still staring at the money. My next stop was work. My boss was on the phone when I went in, but he waved me to a chair. When he got off the phone he started telling me about a new project he wanted me to head. I held up my hand and said, "Jim, I hate to tell you this, but I just came in to turn in my resignation." "What? Ed, if it's a matter of money, I could probably get you a raise," Jim said. "Well, actually, it is a matter of money," I told him. "I won the big lottery this past week. I just went in to collect it. I'll be getting a little over $3 million a year for the next twenty years. I just can't see working with that much money to play with." "Damn... I can't say I blame you Ed. If I'd won that much money, I don't think I'd have even come in. I'd have just called and said fuck you," he said as he reached his hand to shake mine. We kidded around for a few minutes then I went over and cleaned out my desk. I wondered if I'd miss the place, then decided there was no way. One thing I did miss though was my peace and quiet. I called the attorney who had handled my divorce and he recommended a tax attorney. He even got me an appointment for that afternoon. I talked with the taxman for over an hour about how to handle the money so I would have to pay the least amount in taxes. I did tell him I wanted to buy a house or some property, so he figured that into how we should do things. I spent the rest of the day enjoying my new wealth. I bought a car, well actually an SUV. I think that is mandatory. I also went out and had the best meal I had ever had. Then I went home to a ringing telephone. Over the next couple of weeks I received phone calls from every known charity, and from some I think were made up for the occasion. I also received calls from every newspaper reporter, television reporter, and radio reporter in the state. I received calls from every single woman I had ever known and from several married ones just wanting to know "how I was doing?" I finally had to have the damned phone turned off. Then, the women started just dropping by. They'd bring a casserole or a cake or a batch of cookies, "Because I know how it is for bachelors." Why didn't any of them think of that before I won the lottery? Okay, so maybe I was paranoid. It just seemed like everyone wanted something from me. Some of them were even willing to trade, like the women who were willing to trade pussy for financial security. The problem was, I didn't want to buy pussy. I guess I was old fashioned. I wanted to fall in love with a woman and have her fall in love with me. I didn't want her falling in love with my money. I met with a financial planner and an investment broker. They helped me lay out a strategy for investment. Even though the lottery payments would stop in twenty years, I knew I'd never have to work again in my lifetime. Between the lottery payments and the return on investments, there was just too much money coming in to even think about spending it all. I spent nearly a month holed up in my house. I almost never went out and I didn't answer the door when someone knocked. I guess I was becoming a recluse. The problem was, I didn't want to be. I missed people. I missed having a drink with the guys from work and just shooting the shit. So, I decided to get out of the state, where no one would know me. I packed up my SUV and took off one morning before 5:00 AM and headed east. I was away from San Francisco and on my way. By 8:30 AM I was in Reno. I've always loved Reno. There are thousands of people there and not a single one gives a damn who you are. I got lost in the people. I'm not much of a gambler, but I did play the slots some. Over the next few days I took in a couple of shows and enjoyed eating in the different restaurants. I guess I had spent too much time alone recently, because after a few days the throngs of people started to get to me. I felt the need to escape. I continued east, stopping mostly in small towns. This was better, but there was still something missing. I enjoyed talking with some of the oldtimers who hung out at the little cafes in the towns I stopped in, but I needed something more. I just didn't know what it was. I was considering going back and holing up in my old house. Maybe I just needed more solitude before I was ready to face the world again. I was in a little town in western Kansas that morning, having breakfast, when I picked up a realestate brochure to read while I ate. I was thumbing through the brochure when I saw it. There was an entire valley for sale in the Colorado mountains. "Wow," I thought. "Wouldn't that be something." I kept reading and found that there was a little over two thousand acres in the ranch. There was a ranch house and a bunkhouse along with various barns and outbuildings. It sounded a little too good to be true, but I decided to call the realtor anyway. The realtor was a lady by the name of Missy Green. She worked out of an office in Denver and seemed to be very pleased to hear I was interested in the property. "How far is the ranch from Denver?" I asked. "It's about fifty miles. There's a county road that runs right up to the property." "Why are the people selling the place?" "The man who owned it died about six months ago. Although his children were raised on the ranch, none of them want to go back there to live. His wife passed away a few years ago." "I'd like to see the place," I said. "I'm in Kansas right now. Could I meet with you the day after tomorrow?" "The day after tomorrow is a Sunday, Mr. James. Normally I wouldn't let that bother me, but it's my little girl's birthday and we're having a party for her. Could we meet on Monday instead?" I assured her that would be fine and she gave me directions to her office. I hung up the phone feeling better than I had since I won the lottery. ------- Okay, let me say right up front that no matter what kind of mood I had been in, I would have still been captivated by the ranch. It was beautiful. The valley was wide. It was probably a mile or more across. There was a nice stream, maybe thirty feet across flowing through it. As I was driving across the bridge to the ranch house, a large trout cleared the water and went back down with a splash. I was sold right then. The ranch house was made of logs. There were solid hardwood floors put together from boards that were five or six inches wide. The floors were so shiny you could see your reflection in them. There was a great room, when you entered that had to be thirty feet square. This room housed the living room, dining room and the kitchen. There were two bedrooms on the main floor and a huge sleeping loft. A nice, modern bathroom separated the two bedrooms on the main floor and there was a huge bathroom next to the sleeping loft. It looked like the gutters might need a little work, but I couldn't see anything major wrong with the house. The electricity was still hooked up to it, so I tried out the water tap in the kitchen to see if the well pump was still working. It ran clean immediately, so I cupped my hands under the stream and took a big drink. It had to be the best tasting water I'd ever experienced. I was smiling as we walked out to check out the bunkhouse. It was clean and neat, but fairly Spartan. The barns and outbuildings were in good repair and well taken care of. We talked about the water supply; it was a well. We talked about the electrical power; there was a backup generator. We talked about mineral rights and a hundred other things. Finally, I asked, "Okay, Ms. Green, I know the asking price in the brochure was $650,000. What is the minimum they'd take?" "Well, I don't know, Mr. James. First off, it might be a little hard to get financing on this place because it is so remote. If you have financing, up front, they might take a little less. If it is a long drawn out process, they won't." "Ms. Green, I'm talking cash, as soon as I can be shown a clear title to the place." "Oh, in that case, you could probably get it for as low as $550,000. The title is no problem. They already had a title search done and have agreed to title insurance as well." "Okay, write up an offer for $550,000, for immediate occupancy. Be sure the offer states that I want all of the mineral rights." Missy Green was smiling from ear to ear as we got back into the car. "You know, Mr. James, the ranch is going to be totally cut off in the winter. The county might snow plow the county road once a month. From where the county road ends and yours begins, you're on your own." "Thank you for being so honest, Ms. Green. I had kind of figured that out for myself. I think I'll also be looking for something on the well-maintained section of the road. Something with a large garage or pole barn." "I'll look into it for you, if you're interested. I'd assume you'd want something as close to the ranch as possible, but still on the maintained area of the road." "Yes, it could be just a piece of land. I could always have a garage built. I won't need it until the end of summer, but I'd take it as soon as you found it." We drove on back into town. She wrote up the offer and I signed it. I told her I'd be at the Radison until I heard from her, and then I went to get some dinner. I had a million plans running through my mind as I ate my Surf and Turf. I knew I'd want to get a good 4-wheel drive vehicle of some kind and I'd want a couple of snowmobiles. I'd do some research during the summer to see if there was anything that would work out better. I had noticed a stock gate across the road at the edge of the property. I decided I wanted to put in a better gate and some chain link fencing to make things a little more private. I'd ask Ms. Green who I might get to do the fencing after my offer was accepted. ------- Things went a lot more smoothly than I thought they would and I was living in the ranch house within a week. Two weeks after that and I had a new gate across the road. I had the contractor run 8' chain link fence for a hundred yards on either side of the gate. The ends of the chain link were out of sight of the road. I bought all new furniture for the house and had it delivered shortly after I moved in. I also bought two large chest type freezers and had them put in the bunkhouse. I had the electricity put into my name and had the phone connected with an unlisted number. Then I arranged with a satellite company for satellite TV and Internet access. I didn't expect I'd watch a lot of TV, but I wanted it if I should decide to indulge myself. I stocked the pantry with every type of canned goods imaginable and filled the freezers with beef, pork, chicken, frozen veggies and frozen juices. I didn't touch any of the frozen stuff, but made regular trips to the grocery store instead during the summer and fall. I wanted the frozen stuff for winter, which was now coming on. I was cleaning out the gutters on the house one day and repairing a couple of sagging areas when I met Jethro. I looked out across the yard and saw this disreputable excuse for a dog making his way slowly toward me. He was huge, with a shaggy, yellowish-brown coat and soulful brown eyes. His head and tail were hanging down and he looked like he was on his last legs. I got down from the ladder and walked toward him. At first, I don't think he even saw me. When he did, his head came up and he gave his tail a little wag. I walked to within about ten feet of him then got down on my knees. He increased his speed slightly, but you could tell it was an effort. When he got to me he tried to lick my face, but I held him off while I looked him over. I couldn't find any injuries, but he was foot-sore and malnourished. I invited him in the house, although he stunk to the high heavens, and cut up a porterhouse steak for him that I'd taken out for my dinner. He liked that just fine. I didn't want to over feed him, so I let it go at that for the time being. Jethro went over to where sun was streaming in through the patio doors and went to sleep. He slept all afternoon. Why did I name him Jethro? I'll be damned if I know. He just looked like a Jethro. I gave him a bath that afternoon. I fried up some hamburger and made some rice, then mixed them together for his supper. He ate like he'd never had a meal before. I made my new friend up a bed in the living room and went off to bed myself. I awoke in the middle of the night with a large not quite so smelly creature cuddled up to my backside. I took Jethro to the vet in Denver the next day. The vet pretty much concurred with me, so I had him give Jethro all of his shots and check him for heartworm. The vet told me I should bring him back in six weeks for follow-up and boosters. Oh, well, the pooch had only cost me $200 so far. Then I hit the grocery store and stocked up on a winter's supply of dog food. We got our first snows in October. They weren't very deep and they melted off fairly quickly. It was in the first week of November when we got our first big one. The television said we'd gotten around fourteen inches in the mountains, but I measured eighteen. The temperature dropped from the upper twenties just before the snow started to nearly zero within a few hours. Jethro and I were snug and warm, without a care in the world, until Jethro started acting up. He started running to me then to the door then repeating the maneuver. I thought he just wanted out, so I opened the door for him. Jethro ran outside, then turned and started barking at me. I started to close the door and he ran back to it. I opened the door for him and he ran away about fifty feet or so then stopped and started barking at me again. I had no idea what was going on, so I walked outside a few feet. Jethro ran another twenty feet, then stopped and started barking again. "Okay, the furry idiot wants me to follow him," I thought. I went back inside and put on my heavy parka, gloves and boots. When I went back outside, he was still waiting. When I got nearly up to him, Jethro took off again, running another fifty feet or so, then stopping. He kept this up until I was a couple of hundred yards from the house. I was thinking about going back to the house and getting one of the snowmobiles when Jethro stopped and started pawing at a mound of snow. When I got to where he was I could see that it was a person lying there. It was dark enough that I couldn't tell if it was a man, woman, or child. It looked small enough that I was betting on woman or child. I managed to get the person in a fireman's carry and started trudging back toward the house. Jethro was excited, bouncing back and forth like a puppy. "It's easy for you to be excited, fuzzy face. I'm the one who has to carry the load," I told him. It didn't dampen his mood. When I got my burden inside the house, I could see it was a young girl I'd brought back. She was wearing earmuffs, a medium weight jacket, and ski pants. She had tennis shoes on her feet, which had gotten wet and had frozen. I tried to wake her up, but all she would do was moan. I knew I had to get her warm quickly and I knew her cold, wet clothes had to come off. I started with the shoes. The laces were frozen, so I used a knife to split the laces. I got her shoes and socks off and rubbed her feet for a couple of minutes before going on. The earmuffs had done a fairly good job of protecting her ears, but I worried about the rest of her face. I chaffed her forehead and cheeks, letting the warmth of my hands warm her face. As I started removing her jacket, Jethro started licking her face. I almost stopped him, but decided it might be good for her. I got the jacket off and found she had a short sleeved shirt on under it. I gave her arms a good rubdown, then tried to wake her again. She still wasn't responding, so I removed her shirt and ski pants. I rolled her over on her stomach and started rubbing her back. I rubbed until there was a rosy glow to her skin, then moved down to do her legs. When I first saw the girl, I thought she was probably thirteen or fourteen. Now, I upped my estimate to fifteen or sixteen. She had the cutest little bubble butt sticking up, just begging to be caressed. I was a gentleman. I ignored it. Well, I did look at it, but I didn't touch it. Anyway, I rubbed her legs one at a time until I got down to her feet, then rubbed them again. I rolled her over and repeated the process on her front side. Actually, I was pretty proud of myself for avoiding her naughty bits. After the rubdown, her skin didn't feel that cold, so I figured she'd wake up shortly. I rolled her up in a blanket and laid her in front of the fireplace. I decided to make some hot chocolate, more for myself than because I thought she might wake up. I had just poured myself a cup when I heard her groan. I took the cup with me and walked over by the fireplace. She was rolling around as if she was having a bad dream, so I set the cup on the hearth and gently shook her shoulder. "Miss? Miss? Wake up Miss." The girl's eyelids fluttered, then blinked open. Then she screamed. Okay, so I know I'm not Brad Pitt. I'm not Lon Chaney either. I said, "You're okay, Miss. Jethro and I carried you in and warmed you up." She looked at me suspiciously and I started laughing. "What are you laughing at, shit head?" she asked in a snotty voice. "I'm laughing because the first time you saw me you screamed," I told her. "I didn't think I was that ugly." "You're ugly enough, pervert. Where are my clothes?" She was glaring at me like I had stolen her teddy bear. "Your clothes are in the dryer, Miss. Everything you had on was wet and some things had even frozen. They should be dry in another half-hour or so. Would you like some hot chocolate?" I asked, extending the cup to her. She took the cup and mumbled thanks then she asked, "Where the fuck am I?" I looked over at Jethro and asked, "Jethro, why couldn't you had found us a nice, sweet, innocent damsel in distress, instead of the Wicked Witch of the West?" Jethro didn't answer. "I asked you where the fuck we are," the girl said. "I know you did, Miss, I don't answer questions that have the word fuck in them though." The girl took a sip of her hot chocolate and glared at me. I went to the kitchen and got myself a cup. When I came back she asked, "Would you tell me where we are, please?" "Much better," I said. "I'm Ed James and we are on my ranch. It's about fifty miles from Denver, in the mountains." "Can you take me to Denver?" "I'm afraid not, Miss. We are in the midst of a blizzard. If the snow doesn't melt, you may be here until spring." "Oh fuck. You'd enjoy that, wouldn't you?" "Not especially. I prefer my women to be a little more grown up. I don't like little girls who have to use profanity in every sentence to try to prove they're an adult." "Fuck you!" "No thanks." "Huh?" "You said fuck you and I was just letting you know I didn't want you to fuck me." The girl didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, so I said, "There are two bedrooms downstairs. You can use either one of them. Both have locks on their doors. I sleep in the loft, upstairs. There is food in the kitchen. If you would like to get dressed and fix yourself something to eat, feel free. If you'd like to crash for the night, go ahead. If you'd like to get dressed and go back out in the snowstorm, you're welcome to do that too. I'm going to bed." She didn't say anything else and neither did I. I got up and climbed the stairs to my bedroom. I put some Mozart on the stereo and turned the volume low, then removed my clothes and climbed into bed. I thought I'd have a hard time falling asleep, but I was out within minutes. ------- I awoke to sunlight coming through my skylight. Evidently the storm had blown itself out during the night. I went through my morning routine, showered and shaved. I got dressed and went down to make some coffee. I was surprised to find the girl already drinking a cup. "Good morning," I said. "Did you sleep well?" I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down across the breakfast bar from her. "Yes... Look, I'm sorry I was acting so badly last night. Thank you for bringing me in out of the snow." "You're welcome, Miss. Would you mind telling me your name? I'm getting tired of calling you Miss." "I'll tell you, but if you laugh or make a joke, the wicked witch will be back and I'll scratch your eyes out. It's Tina Tolliver." "I think Tina is a very pretty name. So, tell me Tina, Why were you out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a blizzard?" Tina started crying softly. I didn't know if I should try to comfort her, or let her work it out for herself. She looked up before I could decide and said, "My parents died a week ago in a car accident. My uncle, who I hadn't seen since I was a little kid, came to Steamboat Springs to get me. He was supposed to take me to Denver to live with him and my aunt. When we got out in the middle of nowhere, he pulled off the side of the road and told me I could either give him a blowjob or I could walk to Denver. I jumped out of the car and ran into the woods." "Tina, the closest highway to here has to be at least twelve or fifteen miles away. Did you walk all that way?" "I guess I did. It was around ten o'clock yesterday morning when I ran away from him." "My God! That's a hell of a feat in good weather. I'm amazed that you made it this far. Do you have any other relatives we should get in touch with?" "No. Mom only had the one sister. Dad didn't have any siblings. I'm all alone except for my aunt and her pervert." "I'm sorry, Tina. What would you like to do?" "I just don't know, Ed. I was thinking last night I'd try to get to my aunt and tell her what her husband did, but now I'm not sure. Mom said her sister has pancreatic cancer and that she isn't going to live very long. If she died I'd be left with the pervert or placed in foster care." "How old are you, Tina?" "I'm fifteen. I'll be sixteen next month." "If your aunt has pancreatic cancer, she isn't going to last two years, Tina. Were you close to her?" "No, I don't remember seeing her more than a very few times in my life. The last time I saw her must have been five years ago. Mom and her exchanged phone calls a couple of times a month, but we didn't visit. I never knew why." "How long ago did your Mom tell you about your aunt's cancer?" "I'm not sure. It was several months ago though." "Tina, I suspect your aunt is near death. That's probably why your uncle felt he could get away with what he did." Tina started quietly crying again. I reached over and placed my hand on top of hers. "Don't worry, young lady. We'll work something out. For right now, I doubt you have anyone looking for you. You can stay here for as long as you like." "Oh, Ed. I can't put you out like that. I don't have any money or any way to repay you." "Don't worry about it, Tina. The only expense you're going to be is for a little food and some clothes. I'll get you into something on the Internet so that you can finish high school or at least get your GED." "That would be so nice, Ed. Could I cook and clean for you to help pay my way?" "You can do your share, Tina, but I like to cook, so I'll be doing at least some of that. As for cleaning, fuzzy face over there makes more of a mess than I do. If you want to help with the cleaning that would be fine, but don't get obsessive about it." "Deal," Tina said with a big smile. "Deal," I agreed. "We have plenty of food here for both of us for the whole winter. Clothing for you is going to be a problem." "You were serious about not being able to get out, weren't you?" "Yes and no. We can get out, but it won't be easy. I have a garage about twenty miles from here with a good four wheel drive vehicle in it. It's on a section of road that is maintained. The problem is, we'd have to take a snowmobile to get to the garage. Do you think you could handle that?" "I think so, Ed. I don't have any heavy clothes though." "Well, you could wear what you had on when you got here. I have an extra parka you could wear over the coat you had on and you could wear a couple of pairs of my sweat pants over your ski pants. That would probably keep you warm enough." "Can you afford to buy clothes for me, Ed?" "Tina, if I can afford to live here all winter without working, I think I can afford to buy you some clothes." "I never thought of that," Tina said. "When could we go?" "I think tomorrow or the next day would be best. That way we'd be sure the roads were clear from the garage on into town." "Okay. Could I borrow a pair of sweat pants and a sweatshirt from you? I'd like to wash what I have on." "Sure. Go up to my bedroom. The bottom drawer of my dresser has both of those." I had to laugh when Tina came back, wearing my clothes. There was enough material bunched around her ankles to make another pair of pants and the arms of the sweatshirt hung at least three inches past the tips of her fingers. "I have just five letters for you, Tina," I said. "What?" "C-L-O-W-N." Tina has a beautiful laugh. That was the first time I'd heard it. ------- The day went by quickly. Tina got her laundry started and insisted on doing mine too. I started researching alternative methods for getting a high school education or its equivalent on the Internet. Tina came in after a while and I told her to pull up a chair and I'd tell her what I'd found out. We went over options and she decided a GED was probably her best choice. I found quite a few sites offering training over the Internet for preparing for the GED. We picked what looked like the best of the bunch and I signed her up for it. Tina finished her laundry, but continued to wear my sweats for the rest of the day. She was looking at her tennis shoes when I came back in with a load of wood for the fireplace. "What did you do to my shoes?" she asked. "The laces were frozen and I had to cut them. I have more laces. Look in the second drawer down in the bathroom." Tina laughed. "I was afraid I was going to have to wear them like this." "They'd have fallen off inside two minutes. Although, you might be setting a style, like those idiots who wear their jeans so low they're almost falling off their butts." "Yeah, I really had to tie the string in these sweats tight to keep them from falling off my butt," she giggled. "Now that would be a sight worth seeing," I thought, or did I say it aloud? Tina left to find some shoestrings with what might have been a little extra sway in her hips. ------- Tina fixed dinner. I was amazed. She is a very good cook. "Where did you learn to cook like this?" I asked her. "My Mom was a great cook and she taught me how. Actually, she forced me to learn. At first I hated it, but then I actually started to like it and started to experiment a little with spices and the like." "Well. Whatever you did, I like it." Tina smiled like she hadn't gotten that many compliments in her life. Maybe I could get her talking and I could find out what her life had been like before. ------- I got up at my normal time the next morning and did my shower and shave routine. I got dressed and headed down to make some coffee. Tina beat me to it again. "I don't believe it," I said as I poured myself a cup. "I've never heard of a teenage girl who is an early riser." "You'd better get used to it. I don't know why, but I've always gotten up early. I seem to think better and function better in the morning." "That's cool. I've always been an early riser myself. I plan my day while I have my coffee. Did you always live in Steamboat Springs, Tina?" "Pretty much all my life. I guess I'll miss it in a way." "You probably have a lot of friends you'll miss too. You can call anyone you'd like, you know." "Thank you, Ed, but I never really had that many friends. My best friend was three years older than me. She got married this summer and moved to Arizona." "Before I ask you my next nosey question, I should tell you that I never really had a lot of friends either. I've done a lot of thinking about that and I think I know why. So, my question to you is, why didn't you have a lot of friends?" "I guess I was always kind of a loner. It seemed like the people I really liked were always too busy to have time to spend with me, because they were always so much older than me. Since I was around ten years old, I thought the kids my age were too childish to hang around with. The people I would have liked to have been friends with were in their twenties." "Why did you feel the kids your age were childish?" "Well, it seemed like the girls went straight from playing with dolls to playing with boys. I never was into dolls. I liked boys, men really, but I wasn't obsessed with them. I've always enjoyed talking with boys and I'll have to admit I'm attracted to them, but I didn't like sitting around with the other girls talking about which one had the cutest butt. I couldn't have cared less if Mary had kissed Jimmy behind the school. I wanted to meet a guy; fall in love with him; and have him fall in love with me." "You are an amazing young lady, Tina. I was almost ten years older than you are now when I realized what I wanted out of a relationship." "How old are you now, Ed?" "I'm ten years older than you. I turned twenty-five a couple of months ago." "What do you do for a living?" "I'm an electrical engineer. I came into a little money and this ranch a while back, so I thought I'd take some time off and just enjoy myself." "How long did you work as an engineer?" "Five years with the same company. I graduated high school when I was sixteen then got my bachelor's degree when I was twenty. I was Super Geek in high school." Tina giggled. "I was more of a Super Freak. Most kids thought I was too stuck up to hang around them. Others thought I was too shy. I didn't try to change their minds and they didn't try to find out if they were wrong." "I didn't date much in high school or college. I was much younger that the other kids in my classes. Hell, when I was a freshman in high school, the kids my age were in the sixth or seventh grade. I had been working as an engineer for two years when I met my wife." "You're married?" "I was. I'm divorced now. My ex-wife said I was too boring." "What?" Tina giggled. "Maybe you weren't boring her enough?" "Tina, you are a shit. No, our sex life was fine. Ruth wanted more of a social life. She wanted us to join the country club. She wanted us to buy a boat and join the yacht club. She wanted me to join the Rotary club and the young republican's club. She thought I should run for political office. I wasn't in to any of that." "What did you want?" "I wanted barbecues in the back yard. I wanted to buy a boat, but I wanted to fish and water ski. I wanted a close circle of friends we could visit with and play cards with on Saturday night. Nothing fancy, just comfortable." "I take it you didn't want to get into politics either?" "Too true. Tina, I think all politicians have sold their souls to the devil. If they are not corrupt when they go into politics, they are corrupted soon after. That is absolutely the last thing I'd want to do." Tina laughed. "I don't know about selling their souls to the devil thing, but I do agree on the corruption. If I have my way, I'll never come in contact with politics or politicians. What would you like for breakfast, Ed?" "I think there are some eggs left. Why don't we have bacon and eggs this morning? We'll pick up more eggs when we go to town tomorrow." Tina got up and started putting together our breakfast. "When are you going to start on your GED studies?" I asked. "The first thing they do is give you some tests to see where you're starting from. I thought I'd take one or more of them after breakfast. I guess they take a couple of days to evaluate the tests, then they come back with study plans." "That's great. I think this may be a good program for you. You know there's a television with satellite access don't you?" "Yeah, but I'm not much into TV. I like to watch a movie now and then, but that's about it." "What do you like to do for fun?" I asked. "Well... I hate to admit this to you, but I'm an Internet junkie. I like to chat with people on-line because they don't know how old I am. I also like outdoor things. My Dad used to take me hiking and camping. I love to look up at the stars at night, while laying around a campfire." "Those are kind of opposite ends of the spectrum. You're not into cyber sex or anything like that are you?" "No, though I have thought about it," Tina said with a blush. "It's clean and safe." "Not as safe as you might think," I told her. "I've read of a lot of cases where a couple met through the chat rooms then later met in person. You think you know the person from talking with them, but you really don't. In a chat room you can be whoever you want to be. If I started telling you a pack of lies right now, you'd be able to tell very quickly. You could tell it in my eyes or my facial expressions or my body language. You're not able to do that if you're chatting on the Internet." "I guess you're right. I think you can tell to some extent when you're chatting though. There was this one guy I talked with a lot. We told each other everything. He even knew how old I was. After we'd talked for several months, he started wanting to meet me in person. Something about that scared me and I kept putting him off. I'm glad I did." "I'm glad you did too. I worked with a guy who was a real winner. All of the engineers traveled a lot. We'd go to a job site and be there anywhere from a few days to a few months. When this guy would find out he was going to a certain city; he'd start chatting up the women on the Internet in or around that city. He'd tell them he was being transferred to that city and that he was recently divorced. When he'd go there to do the job, he'd already have several dates lined up. Since they'd talked with him on-line so much, most of the women felt like they knew him well. Most of them went to bed with him on the first or second date." "That's terrible, Ed." "Yes, it is. When he left the area, he'd just change his screen name and start all over again. He'd brag about his conquests at work, but his wife never found out." "Someone should have cut his balls off." "Now that sounds more like the lady I pulled in out of the snow the other night," I laughed. "I'm sorry about that, Ed," Tina said with downcast eyes. "I don't normally talk like that. My uncle had me all shook up, then I woke up, nearly naked, in a man's house. I knew you had undressed me, but I didn't know if you had taken advantage of me. Now, I'm sure you didn't." "No, I didn't. I consciously avoided massaging all of your most interesting places when I rubbed you down. I'll have to admit I was tempted though. You are a beautiful young lady, Tina, and I'm just like any other guy." "No. You're not just like other men, Ed. I think I could walk around here naked and you might enjoy the view, but you'd never do anything about it if you didn't think I wanted you to." "You are certainly right. I would definitely enjoy the view. I would leave you alone though." We finished our breakfast and Tina went off to take her tests. I went out and got more wood for the fireplace, then settled in with a good book. I did turn on the TV long enough to catch a weather report. It looked like we were going to be clear for a few days, so the trip to town tomorrow was a definite possibility. I'd check road conditions later on the Internet. Tina came wandering back in around noon and plopped down on the couch across from me. "I've taken four of the tests and I have two to go," she told me. "I'm exhausted." "Then, sit right there, young lady, and I'll get you something to eat." "I can fix lunch, Ed," she protested. "No way. I need to get off my dead ass anyway. I've been sitting here reading for hours. If I keep up this level of activity all winter, I'll weigh seven hundred pounds by spring." Tina giggled. "Yeah, I can feel my butt getting wider as I sit in front of that computer screen too. I guess we'll be blimpo and blimpette." "Have you ever done any cross-country skiing?" "Hey, I'm from Steamboat Springs. Of course I've done some cross-country skiing. A lot of it actually. I really enjoy it, and it's a good way to get your exercise in the winter." "I used to go with my Dad when I was a kid. I haven't been in years, but I think we'll pick up some equipment when we're in town tomorrow. We've got a little over two thousand acres here we can explore." "That'd be fun. We really do need to be sure to get some exercise. I can't stand for my butt to get much bigger." "You have a perfectly lovely butt, my dear. Remember, I've seen it in just your panties." Tina blushed. "Yes, I know, you dirty old man." I fixed roast beef sandwiches for lunch and Tina went back to her tests soon after. She said she wanted to finish all of them before we left tomorrow. I took Jethro outside for a romp. He seemed to love the snow and he loved for me to throw sticks for him to chase. I had been reading for a while again when Tina came back in. "Ed, I am so totally exhausted I don't know if I can even move," she told me. "That was the hardest set of tests I've ever taken. I hope the classes aren't that bad." "I'm sure they won't be. Apparently they want to know exactly what you know so they can tailor a study plan to suit you. I would imagine they'll let you move at your own pace for the studying." "I've decided I want to finish it as soon as I can though. If you could graduate high school when you were sixteen, maybe I could too." "Yes, but you don't have to. Don't get into it so heavily that you burn out and don't finish." I went on the Internet and checked road conditions. Everything looked like a go for tomorrow, so I let Tina know. We just fended for ourselves for dinner and both of us went to bed early. ------- I set my alarm and beat Tina up. The coffee had just finished brewing when she came into the living room wearing her bra and panties. I must have been staring at her because she giggled and said, "You've seen me this way before. I've decided that people are too hung up on nudity. I'm going to dress the way I'm most comfortable from now on. Is that okay with you?" "Uh... Yeah, it's okay with me. You're going to be the one to clean my drool up off the floor though." Tina laughed. It was a warm comfortable sound. "You can dress or undress any way you like too. You won't offend me." "I'm not nearly as pretty as you are, Tina. I might frighten you. Remember, you screamed the first time you saw me and I was fully clothed." Tina went to get herself some coffee. "That was because I thought you were going to rape me. Now I know you wouldn't." We finished our coffee and decided to hit the road without breakfast. Tina looked like a blimp when we had her all bundled up. I got the snow mobile out and hooked the sled on behind it while she was dressing, then went back inside to warm up for a minute before we took off. I had a complete snow mobile outfit and I told Tina we'd get her one before we started back. I'd managed to dig up a pair of insulated mittens for her. They were too big, but they were warm. Our helmets had an intercom built into them, so we could talk on the ride in. It was nice riding along, talking about anything and everything with her arms around me. When we got to the garage, I pulled the snow mobile inside and got my Jeep Cherokee ready to go. It started right up and I was a little proud I'd had the foresight to get it. Tina stripped down to what she'd been wearing when I found her for the ride in and I took off my snow mobile suit as well. We took them with us so they'd stay warm for the trip back. Our first stop in town was the bank. I took out two thousand in cash and gave a thousand of it to Tina. "I expect you to spend all of it," I told her. "I want you to get what you want and need. If you need more money, let me know. The only thing to remember is that everything you buy, plus some groceries and some ski stuff has to fit on the sled." "Ed, I don't need all of this. A couple of pairs of jeans and a couple of shirts and some underwear is plenty." "No, it isn't, sweetie. I want you to feel good about yourself." "But, I do feel good about myself. In fact, I feel better about myself than I have in a long time. I'm kind of proud of the fact I ran away from that pervert." "You should be proud of yourself. That took a lot of courage. Leaving the highway wasn't too bright though." Tina giggled. " I guess it wasn't, but I was afraid he'd grab me on the highway and force me to go with him." "I figured that was the reason. Anyway it worked out well." "Better than I'd ever hoped," she smiled. We went to the biggest mall in Denver and I left Tina to do her clothes shopping thing while I went to look around. I found something in a sporting goods store and ended up buying two of them. It was a GPS system for hikers. I figured Tina and I could use them when we were skiing. I also went to a jewelry store and bought a locket for Tina for her upcoming birthday. It was heart shaped and had a small heart shaped diamond. I had it inscribed then went to see how Tina was doing. When I found her, she had more bags and packages than I'd have thought she could carry by herself. She started loading me up with them and said, "Ed, I need for you to go to the pharmacy with me." "Why is that, Tina?" "I have a new prescription for birth control pills," she said. "I've been on them for a couple of years now. The guy at the pharmacy says he won't give me more than one month's worth at a time." "You don't really need them, Tina." "I know, but they help to regulate my period. I don't get the cramps and mood swings when I take them." "Okay, let's talk to him. I'm your older brother if he asks." The pharmacist was reluctant to give out more than one month's worth of pills at a time. "We live in a small village back in the mountains," I told him. "My sister has very bad periods if she doesn't take the pill and our village doesn't have a pharmacy. When we go back we probably won't be coming out again until April or May." The pharmacist reluctantly agreed and gave Tina six months worth of pills. I reminded her to pick up six months of feminine products as well. "Well, that was embarrassing," Tina giggled as we left the store. "I've never gone shopping for tampons with a guy before." I laughed with her. "My ex-wife was always asking me to pick up tampons for her," I said. "At first it bothered me, but then I thought 'what the hell.' It's all a part of life." "So it wouldn't bother you if I asked you to buy tampons for me?" "Not in the least." We loaded all of Tina's packages in the Jeep then headed to the sporting goods store. A very knowledgeable young man fitted us with skis, boots, clothing and all of the other things we'd need. I dropped a bundle, but I figured it'd be worth it. We had a delicious lunch in a very nice restaurant, then went to the grocery store to pick up some perishable items. We got eggs, milk, salad makings and whatever else we could think of we'd want. We were ready to head home by 2:00 PM. We just barely managed to load everything on the sled. I'd picked up some boxes at the grocery store. Without them we wouldn't have made it. The ride back was just as pleasant as the ride out. ------- We carried all of Tina's things into her bedroom then I let Jethro out for a romp. I started putting away the groceries while Tina went in to try on her new clothes. Tina came out to show me a new sweater and jeans, then disappeared back into her room after I'd complimented her. A few minutes later she was showing me a blouse with a different pair of jeans. Then came a sweatshirt and sweatpants, then a skirt and blouse, and so on. This kept up during the entire time I was putting the groceries away. I was sitting on the couch, sipping an iced tea when Tina came out wearing a negligee. It was fairly conservative, but it was long and silky and slinky and she looked like a million bucks in it. I told her so and she blushed and went back into her bedroom. She came out a few minutes later in another negligee that was much like the first one, but was shorter and exposed a lot more of her cleavage. "Tina, you are absolutely beautiful, and your outfits are very sexy. I think it's time to stop the style show now though. You are way too sexy to be teasing me like this." "Awh, but I had all of my Victoria's Secret stuff to show you," she giggled, and then went off to put on something a little more respectable, I hoped. When Tina came back in, she was dressed in a nice blouse and Jeans. We decided that since we'd had such a nice lunch, we could make do with soup and sandwiches. "I'll make you a good meal tomorrow night," Tina promised. "How does pot roast sound?" Tina came over and sat down beside me. She kind of leaned against me and without thinking I put my arm around her shoulders. She sighed and snuggled in. We sat there for a couple of minutes before Tina said, "So, you didn't like my little style show." "Oh, I liked it, Tina. I liked it too much. First off, let me assure you that you are safe around me. I would never do anything to hurt you. I am a man though and seeing a pretty, scantily clad young woman causes me to have a reaction. It really isn't fair to put a man in that kind of a position if there isn't anything he can do about it." "What if I wanted you to do something about it?" "It's not going to happen, sweetie. I'm responsible for you. I'm supposed to take care of you, not take advantage of you. You're only fifteen and I'm twenty-five. I have a lot more life experience than you do, so anything I did with you would be taking advantage of you." "I'll be sixteen in a month. The legal age of consent in Colorado is fifteen, if the man is less than ten years older than the woman. I looked it up on the Internet. You are less than ten years older than me." It was my turn to sigh. "Tina, no matter how tempting it is, sex is much better if it is with someone you love. I had a lot of opportunities for sex with some very nice looking women a while back, but I turned them all down because I didn't love them." "I love you, Ed. Don't you love me?" she asked as the tears started leaking out of her eyes. "Tina, I've only known you for four days. The day I met you, you were the wicked witch of the west. But... Yes, I think I do love you. I'm not sure right now if it is the love I'd feel for a daughter, or if it is the love I'd feel for a wife. I want to be sure about that before we do anything we might be sorry for later." "I guess I can understand that," Tina said with a big sigh. "In the mean time, sweetie, I'd like for you to examine the way you feel about me. Do you think you love me because I saved your life? Do you think you love me because you like who I am and would like to spend your life with me? Or, do you think you love me because I make your panties wet?" Tina giggled. "How about 'D' all of the above?" "'A' and 'C' are possible, although I don't see how a guy like me could make your panties wet. We haven't known each other long enough to know about 'B' though. Give it some time, Tina, and think about it. If it's just sex, I'll buy you a vibrator. If it's just because I saved you, forget about it. Gratitude is not a good basis for a relationship. When or if you ever get to the point you can say, without reservation, that you want to spend the rest of your life with me, then we can talk about love.""Okay, I'll do that, Ed. In the mean time can I tell you that I have a serious case of like for you and that I have a serious case of lust for you and that I may be madly in love with you?" "Yes, you can tell me that, and I'll tell you the exact same thing." Tina kissed me softly on the lips, then snuggled in beside me again. Who needs to eat when you're snuggling? Obviously not me, or Tina either for that matter. It was nearly 9:00 PM when my stomach growled. Tina laughed at me, so we decided just to have a bowl of soup before calling it a night. ------- Chapter 2 When I went down to the kitchen, the coffee was made and Tina was frying bacon. "Sit down," Tina said as I came into the kitchen, so I sat down at the breakfast bar. Tina brought me a cup of coffee, then kissed me gently on the lips. "What a way to start the day," I thought. "Good morning, Tina," I said. "Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?" "I slept just fine, thank you. You?" "I slept like a baby. In fact, I slept better than I have since my parents died. I think it was the snuggling before bed that made me sleep so well," she said with a big smile. "Good. We'll have to do that more often. After dinner though." "That's why I'm making you such a good breakfast," Tina giggled. We ate breakfast, and then Tina took off to see if the GED training place had gotten back to her yet. She was gone for about a half an hour when she came back in, smiling from ear to ear. "Not bad!" she said. "What do you mean. Not bad?" "I got the results back from the GED place. They said if I took the GED test today I'd pass every portion of it, except for possibly the math. They estimated I'd need six months to finish the math course they have laid out for me, but I bet I can do it in three." "That's fantastic, Tina. You're only a sophomore, right?" Tina ran over to me and gave me a big hug. "That's right and thanks to you, I'll be out of school this year." "Have you thought about college?" "I don't know how I'd do that, Ed. I'm not even sure I want to." "Well, it's not something you have to decide right away, love. Take your GED then if you decide you want to go to college, now or in the future, talk to me about it and we'll work something out." Tina decided to get started on her math course, so she disappeared, back to the computer. I played with the hiker's GPS devices and got them set up. These were really nice. I could set the house as our base. The device showed my position and the position of the house. It also gave me the distance I was from the house in miles, kilometers, feet, yards or meters. Supposedly it was accurate to within five feet. Tina reappeared just before lunch and plopped down beside me on the couch. I put my arm around her and we talked for a few minutes. After a while she said she needed to fix lunch and she took off for the kitchen area. I watched her as she worked. "This is becoming very domestic," I thought. I had to admit to myself that I liked it. We had lunch and snuggled on the couch for a while. "Would you like to go out and try out our new ski stuff?" I asked Tina. "I'd love to, Ed, but I have to put the pot roast on in less than an hour. Could we do it tomorrow? I'll plan something that takes a lot less time for dinner." "Sure. Tomorrow will be fine. I don't think the snow is going to go anywhere for a while." Boy was I right about that. When Tina got up to go back to her math class, she gave me another soft kiss on the lips. All of our kisses so far had been brother/sister or father/daughter type kisses. They were loving, but not sexy. I was very confused over my feelings toward Tina. In many ways I felt like her father. I felt I needed to take care of her and protect her. I felt like I needed to guide her and let her shape her future the way she wanted it shaped. In other ways I felt like anything but her father. When she was sitting beside me with my arm around her I felt like we were long time lovers enjoying each other's company. When she put on her little style show, I was very aroused and I wanted to be her lover. When she was working in the kitchen, I felt like her husband. "I guess the advice I gave Tina applies to me too," I thought. "I just have to wait and see how our feelings develop." Dinner was fantastic. Tina had fixed potatoes, carrots and onions in with the roast. I ate way too much and I praised her profusely. "My ex-wife wasn't much of a cook," I told her. "She wanted to go out to eat every night. That's why I learned to cook. This is a real treat for me." "We could go out to eat, but I think it would be a little cold," Tina teased. Tina protested when I started helping clean up after dinner, but then I think she realized just how nice it was to work with someone, because the protests soon stopped. We ended up, back on the couch, snuggled and talking about our day. Again, we exchanged a soft sweet kiss before going off to our separate beds. ------- We settled into a routine over the next few days. I had bought some woodworking tools and had fixed up one of the outbuildings as a workshop during the summer. I had always enjoyed working with wood and now I had the time to pursue that hobby. I worked at it mainly while Tina was studying her math. After much discussion, we had decided that she would spend no more than two or three hours a day studying. She argued that if she studied more she would finish quicker, but I didn't want her to burn out. I'll admit, I also wanted her to just have some fun. We spent some time skiing almost every day. She was far better than I was at the start, but as things came back to me, I improved quickly. We spent the evenings snuggled on the couch, talking about everything and nothing. I was amazed at what a great conversationalist Tina was for someone who was not even sixteen years old. She had firm opinions and wasn't afraid to defend them. I really enjoyed the discussions we got into when we disagreed on something. ------- We totally lost track of what day of the week it was or the date for that matter. Every few days I'd go on the computer to check on e-mails and I made it a point to always look at the date because I didn't want to miss Tina's birthday. She'd told me her birthday was December 12th. Actually, she'd complained about it because it was too close to Christmas. On the day before her birthday, I told Tina I wanted to cook dinner. I fixed a couple of lobster tails for each of us and a small steak along with a rice dish I've always enjoyed. After we ate, I helped Tina clean up the kitchen then got a fire started in the fireplace. I sat down in my easy chair, facing the fire to wait for Tina to come in. In a few minutes Tina came in and parked herself on my lap. She put one arm around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder. I put both my arms around her and hugged her. "What's this all about?" I asked. "I don't know, Ed, It just felt right. It still does feel right for that matter." "Yeah, it does," I said as I squeezed her again. We sat there for quite some time and then Tina asked, "Ed, could you do me a favor?" "I can try," I said. "Would you kiss me, just once, like you would kiss a girlfriend?" "I don't know if that's a good idea, Tina." "Why? We both know we're not going to do anything more. I'm trying to figure out if I love you like a father or like a boyfriend. I think that would help me decide." "The reason it's a bad idea, Tina, is that although I know we're not going to do anything else, it might make me want to do something else. Then I'd feel frustrated. I might get angry. If I got angry I might bite. You're the closest one to me, so I'd probably be biting you. Your nose is awfully close, so it'd probably be your nose that I bit. Then you'd have to go around for the rest of your life without a nose." Tina giggled and then said, "I'll take my chances." "Okay, but remember, I warned you." Our lips touched as sweetly and gently as they had before. Instead of stopping immediately as we had always done, we let the kiss continue to build. Our lips felt at home while they were in contact. Sweet and gentle became urgent. Urgent became demanding. I traced her lips with my tongue and she opened to me. Our tongues dueled like they had been doing it for years. When we finally broke apart I realized I had never been kissed before. Yes, I had had cheap imitations, but I'd never had a real kiss. We both sighed then Tina said, "If you try to tell me you still think of me as your daughter, then you must be into incest." She wiggled her butt on my iron hard erection. I don't know why I didn't go into cave man mode and carry her off to my bedroom, but I didn't. I didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. I couldn't say anything. Finally, I said, "Tina, my love, that just proves we lust after each other. It still doesn't prove we love each other for who we are. When my ex-wife and I were dating and for a long while after we were married, we screwed like bunnies. But, that's really all we had. She was my first and the sex was so new and so good that I didn't realize we didn't have much else in common. I don't want to fall into that trap again." Tina looked a little frustrated when she said, "You can't tell me you didn't feel that as much as I did, Ed. Have you ever had a kiss that felt that good?" "No, I haven't. In fact, I was thinking as we broke apart that I had never been kissed before." "Do you know why that is, Ed?" "No." "It's because our souls touched while we kissed. We became one person, seeking and giving pleasure equally. Think about it, Ed. I think you'll realize I'm telling the truth." We sat there for a while with our arms around each other. My erection finally subsided and we started to talk. We didn't talk about us. We talked about everything else under the sun. I think I had learned more about Tina the last few weeks than I had ever known about my ex-wife. Much later, we were both getting sleepy and my bladder was feeling a lot of pressure, so we decided to go to bed. We went off to our separate beds, both of us feeling the loss of the close contact we'd shared all evening. We shared another of those soul kisses before we parted and little Ed led my way to the bathroom. ------- When I awoke, I could feel that it was early. It was early even for me. I could feel Jethro snuggled up to my butt so I pulled away from him, mumbling as I turned over to look at the clock. It wasn't Jethro that was beside me. "What the..." I said as I tried to reach across the person, who had to be Tina, to get to the lamp on my nightstand. By the time I finally reached the lamp, Tina had rolled on her back and was giggling at my antics. The light blinded us both momentarily. "Tina, what the HELL are you doing in my bed?" "I just wanted to see what it was like sleeping in the same bed with someone." "Tina, up until now, I think we've been honest with each other. I don't think you're being honest with me now." "Okay. It's... It's just that after the kisses we shared last night, I got really lonely when I went to bed. I thought about it for a while and decided I needed to talk to you about it. I came up here and you had already gone to sleep. I... I... just slipped in bed with you. I snuggled up to your back and I went to sleep myself." "Well... I guess there's no harm done. It isn't a good idea for you to be in bed with me though." "Why not? I have on a nightgown and you have on your boxer shorts. It's not like we were lying here naked or anything." "How do you know I have my boxers on?" I asked. Tina gave me an evil look and said, "I checked." "What would have done if I'd been naked?" "I'd have probably gotten naked too." "Tina! Sweetheart, there is just so much temptation a man can take. Even the thought of you naked drives me up the wall. I realized something last night. I realized I'm in love with you. What you said about our souls touching made a lot of sense. I love you enough that I don't want us to rush into anything. I want us to take things slowly. I want us to enjoy every step of the way as we build our relationship." "Oh, Ed, I love you too. Does that mean we can share more kisses like we had last night?" "Well, I think we've taken that step," I said with a smile. "I think it only makes sense to enjoy it for a while." I pulled Tina into my arms and kissed her. Our kisses the night before paled in comparison. When our lips finally released, I said, "Happy Birthday, love." "Tina's smile could have lit up the room. "You remembered!" "Of course I remembered. You always remember the special days of someone you love." We snuggled for a while, then I told her to stay in bed while I fixed breakfast for her. I made Eggs Benedict and brought them to her along with a Mimosa. I'm sure she thought the Mimosa was just orange juice, but when she tasted it, her eyes lit up. I explained that there was Champagne and Triple Sec mixed with the orange juice and what it was called. When Tina finished eating, I removed the tray and she stretched and lay back. She was wearing the nightgown she had been wearing when I stopped her style show a few weeks ago. I could see the tops of her breasts, and when she had stretched the gown had pulled up enough that I could clearly see her bikini panties. I sprang an immediate woody. "Tina, you either need to pull the covers over you, or we need to get dressed. We can't say you are sweet sixteen and never been kissed, but I want to be able to say you are sweet sixteen and never had sex." Tina giggled and climbed out of bed. She put her arms around me and pulled me into a kiss. "You ain't seen nothing yet," she said when we pulled apart. This time I knew for sure there was an extra sway in her lovely bottom as she left the room. ------- I gave Tina the locket I had bought for her when we had gone to town. She was ecstatic. I had had it inscribed. "For Tina, Love, Ed." "I love you too, Ed," she told me as she hugged me. "I don't know how I ever got so lucky as to have you find me. I hope you know you're never going to get rid of me now." "I hope not," I told her seriously. "You can't legally get married in this state until you're eighteen years old, unless you have your parents' consent. I hope you don't change your mind before then, because when you're eighteen, I'm going to ask you to marry me." Tears were leaking out of Tina's eyes when she said, "When I'm eighteen, I'll say YES!" We kissed again then I asked, "Okay, birthday girl, how would you feel about a trip to town today?" "We could do that, Ed, but why?" "Christmas is just around the corner and I have some shopping to do." "You don't have to get anything for me, Ed. I have all I want or need. I don't want to cost you any more money than I already have." "I guess it's time to tell you something I've been keeping a secret," I told her. "We don't have to worry about money, now or ever." "What do you mean?" "Last spring, I won the California lottery. I never have to work again, if I don't want to, and we can spend pretty much whatever we want." Tina was stunned. "Ed, I didn't know that. I figured you'd have to go back to work in the spring." "Nope. I won $64 million. They pay it out at a little over three million a year for the next twenty years. After taxes we will have over two million a year. I'll get my next installment in about three months and after the returns on the investments I made, we will still have almost two million left from this year. I don't think we need to worry about Christmas presents." "Why have you kept this a secret?" "Tina, I had a whole gang of women chasing after me right after I won the lottery. I realized they were just after my money. I wanted to meet someone who I could love and who loved me for who I was, not for what I had. I fell in love with you and you fell in love with me. You didn't know I had money, so I know it's me you love, not what I have." "It is you I fell in love with, Ed. Thank you for telling me about the money now. I was worried about how much you were spending on me. I saw how much the GED school cost you and I know how much you spent on clothes and things for me." "I'm sorry you were worried, sweetie. I just wanted to be sure first. So, do you think you're up for a trip to town? I thought we could buy you a fancy dress and I'd take you to the best restaurant in Denver for your birthday dinner." "And now you're sure?" Tina asked. "More sure than I've ever been of anything," I told her. "Good. Let's get ready to go to town. If we eat dinner there isn't it going to be awfully late when we get home?" "Not if we spend the night in the best hotel in Denver," I said. "I'll make a reservation while you pack what you'll need for a couple or three days away." I did make a reservation and we both packed. We were on the snowmobile within an hour. ------- We went to a nice dress shop and I sent Tina in with a thousand dollars in cash. I didn't want to see what she was going to buy, until she was wearing it. While she was trying on dresses and figuring out what she was going to buy I walked around the area. I saw a jewelry store. A necklace in the window caught my eye. It was a double string of very nice pearls. I just had to buy it for her. While I was in the store, I asked the sales lady what kinds of engagement rings they had. Since she knew I was buying the double strand of pearls, she started me off with the higher end rings. One of them had a setting I fell in love with, but when I asked her about the quality of the stone she hedged a bit. "Could you have the stone that's in the ring now replaced with one of the finest quality you have?" I asked. "Most assuredly, Sir. This is a one and a quarter caret stone, but the setting will take anywhere from a one caret to a one and a half caret. What size would you like?" "I think I like the size that's in it now," I told her. "It's impressive, but not gaudy. When could you have the stone replaced and the ring resized to a size four?" I was guessing at a size four, but Tina's hands were about the size of my ex-wife and she had worn a four. "It will take about a week, Mr. James. Will that be satisfactory?" I was terribly disappointed. "I'm sorry. I'm only going to be in town until noon tomorrow. I guess I'll just have to wait until I'm going to be in town longer." "We could have it shipped to you, Mr. James." "Not to where I live," I laughed. "I live on a ranch up in the mountains. There's a twenty mile snowmobile ride just to get to highway that has been plowed." "In that case, let me talk to the manager and see if we can work something out," she said. I nodded and she went into the back of the store. She was back shortly with a portly gentleman who looked like he might have been in his early sixties. He introduced himself as the manager and told me he had just the stone I wanted. He went into a long description of the stone, which I didn't follow completely. When he ran down, I told him that sounded exactly like what I wanted, but that I needed it mounted and the ring resized by noon tomorrow. He assured me it could be done, but warned me that it was going to be expensive, as if I hadn't guessed that already. When I walked back passed the dress shop, Tina was waiting for me. I hung the garment bag in the car and put her other bags on the back seat. Since it was nearly noon, we drove to the hotel and checked in. I had managed to get a reservation for the Presidential Suite at the Hotel Monaco. When you talk about luxury hotels in Denver, the Hotel Monaco is at the top of the list. Tina's mouth fell open when the bellman showed us into the suite. It was damned near as big as our house. I tipped the bellman and he thanked us and left. "This is amazing, Ed," Tina said as she threw her arms around my neck. "You didn't have to get anything this big though." "I know that, love. I just wanted to spoil you on your birthday." We put our clothes away then went to the dining room to get some lunch. The food was extremely good and I wondered if I had made a mistake in not making reservations for dinner where we were now. Although Tina was from Steamboat Springs, which is not that far from Denver, she was unfamiliar with the city. Since I was from San Francisco, I knew very little of it. We spent the afternoon exploring. We did a lot of hand holding as we walked around and exchanged an occasional light kiss. The afternoon passed quickly for two people having fun. Our dinner reservations were for seven, so by five o'clock we headed back to the hotel so we could get cleaned up and changed. The suite we were in had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a sitting room. We had plenty of room for both of us to get ready without getting in each other's way. I got a Coke out of the mini-bar and took a few sips out of it, just killing time, really. Then, I decided to see what the view was like from the balcony. I had been standing there a few minutes and was just thinking about going back inside because the cold had started to steal through my clothes, when Tina came out, wrapped in a thick robe. She kissed me and told me she was going to take a shower. I told her I would be taking one shortly and she started back inside. "Ed." I looked up. Tina had dropped her robe and was walking away from me, looking back over her shoulder. She was nude, and her beautiful butt was swaying invitingly as she walked. I almost had a heart attack. I showered, shaved, and got dressed, and then went to sit in the sitting room. Tina came out around six-thirty. The dress she had bought was not that fancy. It was your standard "little black dress", but on her, it was stunning. It had spaghetti straps and the front was low enough that I could see the swell of the tops of her breasts. The hem came to just above her knees. She turned and I could see that the back came down to the small of her back. I was stunned. She looked like a sophisticated young lady in her twenties. I was having trouble speaking, so she finally walked over beside me and asked, "Well? What do you think?" "I think you are the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen," I told her. "I think we need to go buy a cattle prod before dinner so I can keep the men away from you." "Thank you, kind sir. Your lady is starving. Are you ready to go?" I got up and pulled her to me. I kissed her softly so as not to smear her lipstick, then linked her arm through mine and headed for the door. The restaurant we went to was one of the finest in Denver. It was called The Broker. It was in an old bank building and the booths we were seated in were the actual booths people had set in to go through their safety deposit boxes. The food and service were outstanding and we shared a bottle of good wine with the meal. Afterwards, I asked Tina if she'd like to go dancing. She was immediately excited by the idea, so we went to a dance club I had found on the Internet. The place played music from the 1930's to the 2000's. My ex-wife had talked me into taking dance lessons and surprisingly enough, I found I enjoyed dancing. I actually got fairly good at it and Tina was a natural. It seemed like she could anticipate my every move. I was exhausted when we left the place sometime after midnight and Tina was glowing. "You never told me you were such an accomplished dancer," I told her. "Ed, that was the first time in my life I've ever done that type of dancing. I loved it. Can you teach me more of the steps?" "It would be my pleasure. I love you, Tina, forever and always." "I love you, Ed, forever and always." Tina went off to get ready for bed and I stripped down to my boxers and got a Coke out of the mini-bar. I decided a shower was in order to get some of the sweat and smoke off of me so I took my Coke into the bathroom with me. When I came out of the bathroom, I yelled at Tina that I was going to bed. She didn't answer so I figured she must still be in her bathroom. I went into the bedroom and when I turned on the light, there was Tina. She was under the covers, lying on her back, smiling at me. "This is not a good idea," I said. "I'm not asking you to make love to me, Ed. Just let me sleep in here with you. I slept better last night than I have since my parents died. I felt safe." What could I do? "Turn you head while I put some boxers." Tina turned her head. As I was slipping into my shorts, she said, "I should peek. After all, you got to see me this afternoon." I turned out the light and slid into bed. "I turned my head this afternoon." "Sure you did," she giggled. "I saw you watching me. Now, give me a goodnight kiss." "Demanding, aren't you?" I asked as I pulled her to me. ------- We had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel dining room. "Tina, I had planned on going back today, but since we haven't done any Christmas shopping, would you mind staying another night?" "No, I don't mind. Could we maybe go to a movie or something?" "I think a movie would be fun. Let's grab a newspaper so we can see what's playing and when. We can just grab a casual dinner." "Fast food?" "Oh God. Okay, I told you I love you, now I'll prove it. We can get fast food." Tina grinned from ear to ear. "I love you too, Ed." After breakfast we went back to the mall where Tina had done her clothes shopping. We agreed to meet at the information kiosk in two hours. I gave her some cash and we went our separate ways. Shopping for presents for a sixteen-year old girl was interesting to say the least. In most ways, Tina was mature, far beyond her years, in others she was like a ten-year old. I had some ideas for the mature side of her. The first one I was thinking about was an ankle bracelet. I found one in gold with a string of small rubies along each side that I really liked. I had it engraved saying, "To Tina, the love of my life, Ed." I also found some nice ruby earrings that went well with it, so I got them too. In one of the nicer dress shops, I bought her an evening gown. It was not quite as daring as the one she had bought for herself, but the color would bring out the blue in her eyes. The sales lady talked me into buying panties and a strapless bra to go with it. As I was walking along, my nose was attracted to a leather goods shop. I stopped to look and enjoy the smell and I saw a coat that would look wonderful on Tina. It was long, coming down to just below the knees. It had a belted waist and wide lapels. I just had to go in and check it out. The sales lady was very helpful. She told me this was from a top of the line dealer and that the materials were all first class. With a $2,500.00 price tag I figured it should be, but I refrained from saying so. I took the coat. The only other thing I was thinking of for her was a Playstation. I bought a Playstation II and half a dozen games that the nerdish salesman recommended. I figured this gift would cater to Tina's childish side without being too blatant about it. I was loaded down by now, so I took my purchases out to the four-wheel drive. When I came back in, I noticed I still had a half of an hour to wait before Tina would show up at our rendezvous, so I stopped and had a soda in the food court. When I got to the kiosk, I was pleasantly surprised to see Tina waiting for me. I was not so pleasantly surprised by the number of packages she had. We were certainly going to be pushing the limits of our sled again. We carted them all out to our transportation, and then went to find some lunch. We decided to push the limit a little farther and bought some Christmas decorations after lunch. We didn't get a lot, but we did get a tree stand, lights, bulbs, and icicles. We did a little wandering around in the afternoon, then I left Tina at the hotel while I went back to the jewelers and picked up the ring I had them modify for her. ------- Dinner was burgers and fries. Yuck! Oh, well, I guess you have to cater to the appetite of a teenager once in a while. The movie we picked was a romantic comedy and we had a lot of fun watching it. Tina snuggled close and I put my arm around her. We shared a large soft drink and a bucket of popcorn. When we got back to the hotel, we each went to our own bathroom. I finished my shower and got in bed first. I just left the light on, because I knew Tina would be joining me. She didn't disappoint me. We snuggled for a while then I said, "Tina, you said you slept better last night than you ever had. So did I. I'll have to admit I'm still a little afraid of where this is going. I've pretty much fallen in love with you. You are very young and I wonder if you can be sure at your age that you are really in love with me. If you have any doubts at all please let me know. Even now, I'd be totally devastated if you decided you needed to go your separate way, If I get in any deeper, it might kill me if you left me." "Ed, I hope it doesn't scare you, but I don't ever plan to leave you. I know we can't get married until I'm eighteen, but that's what I want. If you'll have me, when I turn eighteen, I'll be your wife." What can you say to that. I didn't say anything. I kissed her. Tina may be only sixteen, but she kisses like an adult. In fact for the most part, Tina acts like an adult and thinks like an adult as well. We finally fell asleep with my arms wrapped around her and her butt snuggled into my belly. ------- We awoke the same way except, my hands, which had been safely on her belly and side when we went to sleep, were now holding her lovely breasts. When I realized where they were, I started to move them, but Tina held my hands to her and said, "Please don't. That feels so good." "How long have you been awake, love?" "Oh, I don't know. Maybe a half of an hour or so." "Was I holding your breasts the whole time?" "Uhm, yes. I love you, Ed." "I love you too, Tina. I'm sorry, but I am going to have to let go. My bladder is about to burst." Tina giggled and said, "Well, we wouldn't want that to happen. I could stand a trip to the bathroom myself." I let go and Tina got out of bed first. As I was getting to my feet, Tina pulled her nightgown off and stood in front of me, completely nude. God! She is the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. "I need a kiss first though," she said. Okay, so I caressed her butt as we kissed. God, I love her. ------- We decided to get an early start for home, so I loaded our vehicle, then checked out. We had breakfast in the hotel then hit the road. By 9:30 we had the sled packed and were on the snowmobile on the last leg going home. When we got there, we each hid the other's presents, then fixed some lunch. Tina wanted to get a tree right away, so we went out looking. If she'd had her way, we'd have had a twenty-footer, but I finally got her to decide on one that was around six feet tall. We dragged the tree back to the house and I got it in its stand while Tina opened all of the decorations we'd bought. We had a good time decorating the tree and shared several kisses as we did it. ------- After dinner we sat in front of the fire and talked about our trip. "I really enjoyed the dancing," Tina told me. "I guess I can understand more now what Mom and Dad meant when they talked about music. Even the oldie stuff was nice to dance to." "I've always enjoyed that type of dancing," I told her. "Maybe we could take some classes this summer. I'm thinking we'll spend about half of our time here on the ranch and maybe we'll buy a house in close to Denver for the rest of the time. That is, if you still plan to stay with me after the weather clears up." "I don't know how many times I have to tell you that I plan to stay with you for the rest of my life," Tina said, half indignantly. "In that case." I said as I reached into the pocket of my jeans and removed the ring box. "Tina, when you are eighteen, will you marry me?" I opened the box and showed her the ring. Tina's eyes were wide as she stared at the ring, and then she turned her eyes toward me. She didn't say anything for maybe thirty seconds, then she threw her arms around my neck and started sobbing. I held her and when she started to calm down, I kissed her on the cheek. "Ed, of course I'll marry you," she said. "I wish it could be sooner, but I'll settle for waiting two years." I took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger. The fit wasn't bad. Tina held her hand out and looked at the ring. She again put her arms around me and kissed me like there was no tomorrow. "This is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen," she told me. "The most beautiful ring for the most beautiful girl," I said. When I had gone to bed, much later, I wasn't surprised when Tina joined me. I was surprised when I put my arm around her and found she was nude. Who am I to fight it? I cupped her breast and we fell asleep that way. ------- When I awoke, I was laying on my back with my arm around Tina. She was on her side with her breasts pressed into my side and one leg lying across me. I held her and just looked at her for a long time. She really was the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. Finally, hydraulic pressure became too great and I had to get up to go to the bathroom. After I had finished my business, I decided to go ahead and shave then shower. I finished shaving in my usual efficient manner then turned on the water for my shower. When it reached an acceptable temperature, I dropped my boxers and stepped in. I hadn't much more than gotten wet before Tina slipped in with me. My breath caught in my throat, she was so beautiful. "You know you're really asking for it, don't you, little girl?" I asked as I pulled her in for a kiss. Tina giggled. "I've been asking for it for a couple of weeks now," she told me. "The problem is, I still haven't gotten it." "And... I still think we should wait for a while, love," I said as I stroked her back and butt. "Why?" "Come on and get your hair wet," I told her. "I want to shampoo your hair." Tina got her hair wet and I started massaging in the shampoo. "We're really just getting to know each other, Tina. I know I love you and I know I want to be with you, but I want you to know a lot more about me before we take the next big step." There's something so sensuous about washing a woman's hair. I don't know what it is exactly, but it's almost sexual in nature. I had her rinse, and then I massaged in the conditioner. Tina must have liked it too, because she was softly moaning as I ministered to her. I soaped up my hands and started by washing her face. I washed every inch of her body as I continued to talk. "When my ex-wife and I got together, it was explosive. We had sex together way too soon, long before we knew anything about each other." "Okay, so you want us to get to know each other better before we have sex?" "Yes, I do, sweetie. I want to know everything about you and I want you to know everything about me. That way, if you suddenly decide you don't want to live with me, you won't have given away something that I couldn't return." "Okay, I guess I can understand that, Ed. Turn around and let me wash you." After breakfast, I told Tina to forget her math class for a day that I wanted to just talk with her for a while. She smiled and claimed a spot on my lap in front of the fireplace. "What did you want to talk about, Ed?" "Us... You, me, the two of us together..." "Okay. You go first." "I think I told you that I graduated high school when I was sixteen, and then got my bachelor's degree when I was twenty. If you looked up the word geek while I was in high school, you'd have seen my picture. Being a geek and being so much younger than the other kids in my class, I never dated in high school. I don't think you'd have even looked at me if we had been in school together." "I don't know about that. The geek part wouldn't have bothered me, but the age difference might have. The guy I was dating before Mom and Dad died was considered a geek by most kids. I liked him because he was smart." "Anyway, I was a junior in college before I had my first date. As a junior, I was about the same age as the freshman girls coming in. I dated several of them, but didn't hit it off with any of them. Senior year was about the same. I think the biggest problem I had was that they all seemed so immature." "Tell me about it. I think I had the same problem with most of the kids I went to school with." "When I got out of college, I went to work for this company that did conveyor systems. The first two years I was there, I was in the R & D department. I enjoyed the work and I got along well with almost everyone. I had only been there about six months when my parents died. Something went wrong with the gas furnace in the home I was raised in. They say Dad must have gotten up and started trying to figure out what was wrong, when the gas, which had filled the house, exploded. I was devastated." Tina snuggled her head on my shoulder and kissed my cheek. "Anyway, I had to arrange some time off so I could go home for the funeral, and there was some paperwork I had to take care of with their attorney. The person in the Human Resources department who helped me arrange things was Ruth." "Did you start dating her right away?" "No. Not really. When I got back from taking care of my parents, I checked in with personnel and saw her again. I'll have to admit I was attracted to her. She had red hair and freckles and blue eyes. I thanked her for her help and went to work. The next day when I was eating lunch in the cafeteria, she came up just after I had set down and asked if she could join me. Of course I agreed. "I was feeling vulnerable and she was sympathetic about the loss of my parents. We talked during lunch and I found myself becoming more attracted to her the whole time. She was a couple of years older than I was, but that didn't bother me at all. When lunch was over we both went back to work. "It was a couple of days later when she asked to join me at lunch again. This time she sat beside me and all through lunch, she kept touching my hand or my shoulder. I was very flattered that she was paying attention to me. "Eating lunch together became a regular thing. We talked about work or politics or a hundred subjects, but we never talked about ourselves. After about a month of this, I asked her out on a date. We had fun and made out a little before I took her home. "On the second date we had wild monkey sex. I was a virgin and it just exploded my world. I didn't have a clue as to what a woman wanted or needed, but Ruth helped me through it. I didn't question at the time how she knew so much about sex. "We dated for almost six months before I asked her to marry me. I was a little surprised when she agreed because her parents hated me. They came from blue blooded society types and I was from a blue-collar working class family. Anyway, we were married three months later. "I had bought a small home not long before I met Ruth, and although it wasn't what she was accustomed to, she moved in with me. As I learned how to please her, the sex became better and better. I don't think she ever had any complaints about that. "What she did start complaining about shortly after we were married was our social life. She had grown up in the country club, so she thought we should be able to join it immediately. The dues for the damned thing were over two thousand a year, but she finally talked me into forking it over." "I hate social climbers, Ed. There was a woman who Mom went to school with that was like that. Their credit cards were maxed out and she didn't know how she was going to make the payments, but they always went to all of the functions at the country club." "Yeah, I know what you mean. Ruth's parents had a forty-eight foot sail boat. She couldn't figure out why we couldn't afford to spend a half a million for one just like it. Then she started on me to buy a bigger house. I had a three bedroom ranch style house, but it just wouldn't do. What she described as what she wanted would have cost us at least a million. "Then she started on politics. She wanted me to run for city council. I said no, and she blew up. 'That wouldn't cost you any money, ' she screamed at me. I told her that although it wouldn't cost me any money, it would cost me my self-respect. She left me." "She moved out? How long had you been married?" "Yes, she moved back in with her parents. We had been married about six months at the time. She was gone for three months, then she came back and wanted to try to make things work between us. The sex was great, so she moved back in with me." "How long did it last that time?" "She was bitching again within a couple of months. She left me again after about five months. She was gone for about six months that time, then she came back." "Oh, shit, Ed. This all had to be hard on you." "Yes, it was. She was only back with me about a month that time and when she left, I filed for divorce. I'd had enough. She fought the divorce, not agreeing on a settlement and anything else she could do to delay it, but eventually it was finalized the week before I won the lottery." "Oh, God! You're lucky on that one." "Yeah, I'm sure she'd have gotten her half or more." "You said you'd started out at your company in R & D, but didn't you tell me before that you'd done a lot of traveling? How did that come about?" "Just before Ruth came back to me the first time, the company I worked for was bought out by another company. The company that bought us wanted to pull out all of the short-term profits they could before reselling us. They closed down the R & D department completely. I watched eighteen people get fired that day and then they called me in. I thought I was number nineteen. It turned out that the vice president of engineering was impressed by me and so I was asked if I'd like to transfer to the controls engineering department. I knew there'd be a lot of travel, but Ruth and I were separated so I didn't mind. I regretted it later, but for then, it helped take my mind off of things at home." "Wow. You've had an interesting life so far. So, it's because you and Ruth had sex on the second date that you're putting me off?" "That and the fact that you are a virgin. I know how important that is to a woman. I don't want to take your virginity, then have things not work out for some reason." "You don't have to take anything, Ed. I'm offering it to you, so all you have to do is accept what is being offered to you." We sat for a long while, cuddling and kissing while we talked. Tina would have been in the same position I had been in except her elementary school did not give out double promotions. Tina's parents had been blue-collar like mine were. They'd had a happy home life, all of them exchanging hugs and telling each other they were loved. Tina didn't have any brothers or sisters due to an infertility problem her father had suffered from. Tina had had a very good relationship with both of her parents. She'd always considered her mother to be her best friend. They had talked about everything and from an early age Tina had been treated like an adult. When she had questions about boys or dating or sex, her mother had answered her honestly and as thoroughly as she thought Tina was ready for. "She even taught me how to masturbate," Tina giggled. "Oh, she didn't show me or anything, but she did tell me what to look for and how to manipulate myself for the most pleasure. She even caught me a couple of times and didn't make a big deal out of it." "Now that's an interesting thought," I laughed. "What's that?" "Watching you masturbate." "Oh..." I laughed again. "I'm just teasing, sweetie. Masturbation is usually a very private thing, although it can be fun for a man and woman to masturbate at the same time while watching each other." "I'd never even thought of that. It does sound exciting though." We fixed an easy lunch then resumed our position in front of the fireplace. Tina stripped to her panties and bra then sat on my knees and took off my shirt so she could snuggle against my bare chest. "Daddy always took me fishing and camping. Sometimes I'd wondered if he had wanted a boy instead of a girl, but then he'd hug me and I'd realize he was very satisfied with what he had. He called me Tiny as often as he called me Tina. I'm not small, but Daddy was this giant bear of a man. "Some of my earliest memories are of Daddy picking me up and swinging me around. He did that until the day he died," Tina sniffled. I hugged her close and kissed her forehead. ------- When we went to bed that night, neither of us tried to be coy. Tina stripped completely, so I did too. Tina smiled as she looked at my cock. "Does that mean we're going to... ?" she asked. "No, but maybe we can play around a little." Tina's grin got even bigger as she reached out and stroked my cock. "Come on," I said as I took Tina's hand and led her to the bed. We kissed gently and then with a little more passion. I started planting little kisses all around her face. I worked my way down and did the same to her neck and shoulders. By the time I had worked my way down to her breasts, Tina was squirming on the bed. I kissed and licked the undersides of her breasts until she started trying to move so I'd make contact with her nipples. I skipped her nipples and went to the upper side of the wonderful treasures. By now, Tina was moaning softly. I finally took pity on her and flattened my tongue. I licked across her right nipple first and followed it almost immediately with a broad lick across her left nipple. I continued licking her nipples for a couple of minutes. Every time my tongue would flick across her little nub, she'd moan and arch her back trying to make better contact. When I thought she was as aroused as she was going to get from this tactic, I sucked her left nipple into my mouth and started nursing it as I massaged it with my tongue. Tina went wild. I had never had a woman have an orgasm without at least touching her pussy. Tina did. I moved up beside her as she shuddered through her release. "Oh, God, Ed," Tina said when she finally calmed down enough to talk. "I had no idea my breasts were so sensitive. No one has ever touched me there. Well, my boyfriend touched them once, but it was an accident, I think." "If your boyfriend touched these beautiful treasures, it wasn't by accident," I laughed. "Are you ready for phase two?" Tina nodded so I scooted down and kissed both of her nipples again. I started kissing my way down her body until I was just above her pubic hair. It was fine and soft and nearly straight. It was also a delight to play with. I gently blew in it, which elicited a gasp from Tina, then I gently tugged on it with my lips. I played with her fleece for several minutes and while I did, her pelvis started to raise and lower. When I thought she was ready, I ran my tongue, very lightly from the bottom of her pussy to the top. Tina gasped and grabbed my hair. I thought for a second she was going to yank it out, but she relaxed her grip slightly and I continued. I knew this was Tina's first time to have this done to her, so I wanted to make it as good as possible. Instead of diving right in, I kissed around the outer lips, returning every once in a while to drag my tongue up the full length of her pussy. Each time I used my tongue, I let it penetrate a little farther between her lips. Finally, as I was bringing my tongue up in a long lick, I flicked Tina's clit as my tongue passed over it. She screamed and bucked her hips in an immediate orgasm. Tina was trying to rub her clit on my mouth or nose, so I penetrated her as far as I could with my tongue, avoiding her clit as much as possible and just tried to maintain my position. Tina's was building slowly to an orgasm and I wanted to prolong her buildup as long as possible. Tina had other ideas though. She pulled me by my ears until my mouth was directly over her clit. She was trying to force it into my mouth, so I obliged her. I sucked her clit in and drummed it with my tongue. Tina went wild. I grasped her butt cheeks in both hands and held on for dear life. Tina's whole body was shaking as she screamed out her orgasm. I'll swear they heard her in Denver. Then she collapsed. I thought for a minute she had passed out, but then she moaned. I moved up beside her and cradled her until she recovered. "My God," Tina said after she could finally talk again. "No wonder adults don't want kids to have sex." "What do you mean, love?" "If kids knew how good it was they'd never do anything else." I laughed and told her, "It isn't always that good, sweetie. I had a cousin named Cara who I was very close to when I was a kid. She was a couple of years older than I was, but for some reason we were always best friends. When she lost her virginity, it was a terrible experience. From what she told me it was close to being date rape. Anyway, she didn't have an orgasm and she hurt like hell." "Yeah, I know. I've heard other girls talking and almost all of them had bad first time experiences. I think it was so good for me because you care enough to want it to be good for me. A boy my age would be trying to stick it in instead of lying here holding me." "I do want to make it good for you, Tina. That's why we're not going to do anything else tonight. This is the first time that someone other than yourself has given you an orgasm. The first time we actually have sex will probably hurt a little. I want you to be able to remember this time and not have any pain associated with it." "Ed, the orgasms you just gave me were so much better than I ever gave myself that there is no comparison. What can I do for you to make you feel good?" "You already have, sweetheart. I'd rather keep tonight just for you. You can touch me or look at me if you'd like, but I don't need anything else." "I'd really like to do something for you, Ed, but if that's what you want." Tina did inspect my cock and played with it for a while, and then said she was ready for sleep. She turned her back to me and I spooned up against her. Even though I was a horny as hell, I fell asleep quickly. ------- I awoke the next morning to something most men just dream about. Tina was sucking on my morning erection. She had no experience at this but she made up for the lack with lots of enthusiasm. I let her keep at it for a couple of minutes, then I pulled her up beside me. We kissed and cuddled for a few minutes, then I started giving her the same treatment I had the night before. I played with her lovely breasts until she was just on the verge of an orgasm, then started working down her body. Tina wasn't having any of that though. She grabbed me by the ears and pulled me up beside her. "I want you inside me," she said as our eyes met. "I know it may hurt, but I don't care." "Are you sure, Honey?" I asked. "Yes, I'm sure. Now shut up and make love to me." "I think it might be easier if you were on top, love. That way you can control what's happening." Tina nodded and rolled me over on my back. She straddled me then rubbed the head of my cock back and forth through her wetness a few times. I smiled at her as she positioned me at her opening. "Take it as slowly as you want, sweetie," I told her. Tina smiled and nodded, then did something terribly rash. She got me started into her, then just dropped. Her eyes got big and she said, "Unh." She just sat there for a minute, fully impaled. "Are you okay?" I asked. "I'm getting there," she said. "One of my girlfriends told me it was better to get it over quickly. If that was better, I'd hate to see worse." "Honey, you're not used to having something in there. Your insides have to stretch to accept this thing that's intruding in you. If you had taken it slow, tearing your hymen would have been the only pain you'd have had." "Well, it's over with now, so I don't have to worry about it any more. The pain is all gone now and it's starting to feel good. Weird but good." "It may hurt a little when you start to move, so be careful and take it easy." Tina slowly raised up about half an inch then lowered herself just as slowly. She smiled and did it again. The next time she raised a couple of inches and let herself back down. Soon she was taking full strokes. I started raising up to meet her as she was coming down and her smile got wider. It wasn't long before Tina started speeding up. I could tell she was getting close to an orgasm because the insides of her vagina started fluttering. The closer she got the more pronounced the fluttering became. Of course this brought me even closer to my own release. I held off as long as I could and I was afraid I was going to leave Tina hanging, but just as I realized I couldn't hold it back any longer, Tina started to explode. I was right behind her. I thought sex with Ruth had been great. It was nothing compared to what I was feeling with Tina. She collapsed on top of me and I put my arms around her. Tina was making little whimpering sounds as I stroked her back and sides. I think we both must have drifted back to sleep for a while. I awoke with my face just inches from Tina's she was looking at me adoringly. I kissed her softly and realized we were still joined together. "Good morning," I said. "Oh, it has been a great morning so far." Tina told me with a big smile on her face. "I think I'd like to wake up this way every morning." "I think that can be arranged," I said. "For the rest of our lives?" "For the rest of our lives." ------- The End ------- Posted: 2004-09-18 ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------