Chapter 8

The water swirling about her made staying awake hard. With Susan unconscious in her arms, however, Laura had no choice.

Following the rampage on the Bow-Flex machine, Laura had slowly recovered. In a daze, she discovered Susan collapsed on the floor. The wolf had vanished.

Convinced Susan was either dead or dying (that awful scream- -had it really been human?) she strained to listen. Though her head lay at an exotic angle, face wrapped in hair, Susan seemed to be breathing. There was a slow movement in her chest, and a soft flutter of eyelids. Laura breathed easier.

That left only her bondage to worry about.

And of course the wolf.

The cuffs were tethered to the benches tubular frame by leather strips, and though tough looking, they were only half an inch wide. Testing the right strap, she pulled against it with all her might, using her tethered legs as support. Every muscle in her body strained. Suddenly the strap broke and, yelling in triumph, she hurriedly released her left wrist, then her feet. She crawled painfully down from the bench.

"Susan? Susan, wake up, honey."

Then, realizing just how badly her rear end hurt, Laura twisted sideways and grabbed her behind. "Oh, God! Oh, my God!" she moaned, crab-walking sideways on her knees. She grimaced then touched her aching, puckered anus - it was one big hemorrhoid - but no blood showed on her fingertips.

Brushing away tangled hair, she cleared Susan's nose and eyes. Susan's jaw hung loose, drool slicking the side of her face. There was a cup-sized wet place on the rug. Susan moaned.

"It's okay, baby," Laura said, cuddling Susan's head in her lap. Her eyes were transfixed on the gout of sperm between Susan's leg (Laura thought of runny egg whites). It had mostly soaked into the carpet.

Must be a quart, she thought, disjointedly. Was that possible?

Laura shuddered.

Carefully picking Susan up, Laura rose and headed for the bathroom. Susan was surprisingly light in her arms. Once outside (lucklessly bumping Susan's head on the sliding glass door) and into the jacuzzi, she painstakingly made her way to the bottom and sat down. She kept Susan on her lap, head on her shoulder. Then she turned on the jets.

"Oh, yes. Thank you God, yes."

She settled the limp Susan against her, releasing her arms and legs, letting them float loose in the currents. Susan's head remained on her shoulder.

The water burned away her pain.

"Susan?"

Susan stirred slightly. Laura bathed her face with a washcloth.

"Can you hear me, hon? Wake up."

Susan's eyelids fluttered. "Whaaa?"

Laura kissed her gently. "Wake up, sleepy head," she whispered. She helped Susan sit up. She held out a cup. "Drink this," she said, holding it to Susan's lips.

Susan, no more coordinated than an infant, swallowed greedily, water spilling down her chin.

"Easy. Easy, you'll choke," Laura warned. She steadied the glass while Susan clutched it baby-like with both hands and drank.

Susan broke away panting. "Good!" She wiped her chin. "More?"

Picking up the pitcher, Laura refilled the glass.

"Fank you."

Laura smiled. "You're welcome," she said, watching Susan empty this glass as well. She refilled the glass for herself.

Susan shifted position on Laura's lap, wincing with pain. "I hurt," she said.

"I know. Me too."

Susan looked around. She placed a hand on her belly, massaging it gently. "I think he actually went into my uterus," she said. Her face pinched. "I feel like he's still there."

Laura shrugged, lightly. "You're not bleeding. That's a good sign."

Susan looked unconvinced. "How are you? He really...you know."

Laura tried not to remember. "I think a doctor's in order."

Susan shook her head. "Not for us." She touched herself gingerly between the legs. It made her jump. She sighed again, tentatively stretching out. "I'll get better," she said. "I always do. So will you." A thick, oozy substance leaked from between her legs and rose to the surface. She splashed it away. She put her head back on the ledge. "First you and the tree, then he wrecks our poor backsides. What next? A horse?"

Laura shuddered. "Please, no."

Susan grinned, brushed her fingers along Laura's arm. "He's done," she said, looking around. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have left." She winced again, then leaned close and kissed Laura's mouth.

"I hope you're right," Laura said, after a time.

"I am."

Laura kissed Susan again, deeply, their tongues dancing a pirouette. Water streaming around Laura's breasts caused shivers of euphoria and she wanted to melt into Susan's mouth. She brought their foreheads together. She said, "I want to fuck you, Susan. Girl to girl." She grinned. "We won't need a condom."

Susan turned sideways, deeper into Laura's lap, wrapped her arms around Laura's neck. She said: "I think it would be a good thing, you and me."

Laura nodded. "I think so too. Feel my heartbeat."

Susan lay her hand over Laura's left breast. "It's beating," she said.

"Who's it beating for?"

"Me?"

"Show me someone else."

"I don't want to show you someone else. Not tonight. Not ever."

Keeping their foreheads together, Laura shook her head. "We can't possibly be in love, Susan. Not this fast. What's going on?"

"Lust?"

"That's nasty."

"Then I'm nasty."

"You're not nasty. You're in love." Laura stared into her eyes and Susan became very still. Water pounded from the jets and joggled their bodies, its heat raising beads of perspiration on their skin. Night sounds buzzed safely in the background. Above, stars twinkled brightly. She said: "I wonder if I really mean that?"

"We've known each other six hours." Susan said. "Can two people fall in love in six hours?"

"My head says no, but my insides say yes."

Susan sighed. "Something else here is at play."

Laura could not help but look. Susan joined her.

"It's not fair," Laura said. "No one should screw with your emotions like this." Her heart ached for this slender girl. "If he's messed with us, Susan, I don't want it to stop."

Susan let out a sigh. "He could just as easily turn us into a pair of cat-fighting bitches."

"He won't."

Susan nodded. "Bruce maintains his own weird code of honor." She leaned forward, brushing Laura's lips. "In his own mind, he's making things right." She kissed Laura again, deeper this time, encircling Laura's waist with her legs. Their breasts flattened against one another. Both girls moaned.

"Susan - "

Susan nudged Laura's chin with her own, kissed the underside of her neck. "Take me to bed?"

Laura moaned. "This instant."

"Carry me?" Susan asked, letting Laura slide her into her arms. "Like a bride?" She reattached herself to Laura's mouth.

"Mnnniiiimmmmnnnn."

Retracing her steps, Laura carried Susan back into the house, this time past the odd weight room, down the hallway into Susan's room. She lay Susan gently on the bed and kissed her gently. Then, covering them both with a comforter from the foot of the bed, she took Susan into her arms and enwrapped her.

"I think I really love you," Susan whispered, in the darkness.

Laura found Susan's mouth with her own and for the next four hours, they tested Susan's assertion, before proving it out.

Epilogue

A band of warm afternoon sunlight slanted through the thick trees and shone on Laura's hair. Even this late in the afternoon, it sent rivers of sweat down her chest. The waist of her dress was soaked in it, the skin above of her sundress glistened.

She lay against the tree, book spilled from her hand, legs akimbo, her rear end asleep.

Something touched her toes.

Laura bolted upright and jumped to her feet, hopping up and down. Surrounding her were a herd of goats, clustered in a loose semicircle, shifting uneasily. "Get away!" she screamed.

The goats backed en masse, braying, the smaller and younger ones ready to flee. Laura flung looks back and forth, searching for Tonto, any sign of the billy.

Jesus! Had it been a dream?

She raced forward and the goats scattered, crying loudly and running in all directions for the woods. "Get out of here!" she screamed, kicking at the grass.

A dream! It had been a dream!

Desperate with both relief and loss, she stared at the cabin at the bottom of the hill. Just visible through the trees, nothing around it moved. No sounds other than the braying goats could be heard. The deck, she realized - if it existed- -was on the other side.

"Jesus God, Almighty," she whispered. "Was it a dream?" She looked at her shaking hands. She felt her crotch. Her panties were there, intact and tight, and her left nipple was fine. "I'll be damned," she whispered.

Gathering up her book, Laura hurried down the incline, working around a rotting old stump, skirting an overgrown fence post. Concern pinched her face. What if there were a deck? What if she found a big jacuzzi with a wide, marble ledge?

Stopping twenty feet short of the cabin, heart racing like a horse, she found it hard to breathe. Steeling herself, she moved carefully to the cabin's side, put her hand on the rough planking, continued on to the corner. She looked into the woods, in all directions, then gingerly stepped around the corner of the cabin and disappeared. Moments later, a huge black wolf with coal-black eyes moved into the open, where it stood watching, eyes blackly intent. After a time, it scraped the ground twice and, with a deep and menacing growl, moved forward. It too, disappeared around the side of the cabin.