Truth and Humility

by J. A. Dennam

be perfectly fine with it. Hell, he even felt good about it. But what about later? After he professes an undying love? She’d have him by the gonads then, and he’d be helpless to defend himself when her time came to move on, tearing off a good portion of his balls in her haste to leave.

  No. He couldn’t do it again. In a last ditch effort to change her mind, he dropped his hand to the bedspread, looked around her room. “If you want me to yourself, babe, I’m good with that. Not particularly keen on the idea of sharing you, either.”

  “But, do you love me?”

  Shit. How did he know that wouldn’t be enough? He looked down at his crotch, noted the boner she’d purposefully worked up and he swore under his breath. “Dammit, Mel, your cruelty knows no bounds!”

  Cruelty. Ha! Well, she had her answer, didn’t she? “Just get out,” she replied dejectedly. “Let someone else take care of that for you.”

  And then she’d slammed the door in his face. Golden-brown eyes scanned the road through sunglasses as he drove through town. It would serve her right to do just that...take his unsatisfied needs to the river, hang out with the group he knew was there, scaling crags and swapping stories and bodily juices around the campfire. ’Twas a sure thing he’d get someone to take care of him there. Yep, they were a randy bunch, which was why he was so adamantly against any of the guys getting close to his sister.

  His other hand took the wheel when his phone rang on the seat beside him. The screen told him it was Danny.

  “If you’re going to ask me about joining the group tonight, the answer’s no.” He wasn’t about to let her interfere in his night of sex play. Way too awkward.

  “If I felt like it, I’d be there already.”

  He didn’t like the tone, didn’t like that he couldn’t order her around anymore. “Then, what do you want?”

  “Janice just called. She’s worried about Mel.”

  “And why would she be?” Melanie was at home. He’d left her there a half hour ago.

  “Because she’s acting weird. In Janice’s words ‘more slutty than usual.’ I thought you could at least stop by Jake’s and make sure she’s okay.”

  “Jake’s! What the hell...” It was a nasty place filled with nasty people...and very horny men. Janice – Mel and Danny’s mutual friend – bartended there on weekends.

  “Look,” Danny purred in his ear, “if you don’t go, I will. I haven’t seen her since the night I got worked over, but if she’s still feeling bad about it...”

  “The hell you will!” His sister getting pawed at in a joint like Jake’s? Forget it. “Just hang tight, I’m tuigh"+0rning around.”

  “Figured you would.”

  Danny was still raw from their argument earlier that day. He could hear it in her voice, noted how she’d already disconnected the call. The little shit.

  He cut the wheel hard. Tires screamed, but he was cool as a cuke as he punched the clutch, shifted into first and leaned into the illegal u-turn. The engine roared while the rear end fishtailed nicely before gripping the asphalt once again.

  What the hell, nobody was around. That always beckoned a dramatic traffic violation as far as he was concerned. Many a folk had white-knuckled the dash when he’d pull something like that, but for him it was the only way to test the limits of his ride.

  Derek blew through the door, looked around until his eyes adjusted to the dim, smoky interior. Grunge rock blasted the place and a handful of patrons lined the bar, a few at the tables. A familiar shriek pricked his ears. He swore under his breath when Melanie’s blond head appeared above the others.

  She was smiling down at some brute who’d just plunked her onto the bar. Wearing an obscenely short pleated skirt, her velvety thighs were bared to roaming hands.

  When she spotted him cutting through the bar, her face fell.

  Was he really ruining her day that much?

  “Get down.” His tone demanded obedience.

  The curt command only pissed her off. Rufus, or Rudy, or whatever his name was, made a full body turn and faced Derek with an amused once-over. “Hey, short-shit. Take the long road.”

  Undaunted, Derek’s eyes never strayed from Melanie’s and he held out his hand. She didn’t take it. “I’m not letting you do this,” he said finally, aware of Janice’s wide-eyed stare as she dried glasses behind the bar. The women were what he focused on. The meathead in front him, not so much.

  “Look you little...”

  It took one elbow to the jaw. The man went down like a sack of spuds. Dirty pool, Derek thought, but he wasn’t in the mood to listen to the spiel. “Thanks, Janice,” he said, and took both of Melanie’s wrists. Her mouth was still open as he pulled her down, her bare cheeks squeaking against the polished surface of the bar.

  “What did you do?” Melanie breathed, her neck twisting as she continued to gape at the body on the floor. The guy was so big...

  But Derek didn’t answer as he dragged her out the door and through the parking lot. No, he was much too livid to interact with her just yet. Fucking high heels and a skirt like that...it’s a wonder she hadn’t been gang-banged in the first five minutes.

  Not bothering to load her through the passenger side, Derek opened his door and fois five minutrced her behind the wheel where she obediently scooched to make room.

  She was brooding, arms crossed under ample breasts when the engine roared to life. “That wasn’t very nice,” she snapped, still concerned for the guy whom she’d stepped over in the bar. “The least you could do is give him fair warning that you’re stronger than you look.”

  Derek sawed his teeth together, reached for the sunglasses on the dash as he steered out of the lot and directly into the setting sun. Why he was so damned angry he didn’t know. Melanie was her own woman, always had been. Why shouldn’t he let her pimp herself out to any blowhard with a penis?

  The Challenger sailed toward her neighborhood, entered a baron stretch of two-lane highway that bridged one suburb with another.

  “I’m not going home.” No answer yet again and Melanie didn’t appreciate the silent treatment. Not when she was the one being wronged. “My car is still at Jake’s.”

  “You should have thought about that before you left your apartment.”

  “Derek Bennett, you can just kiss my ass!”

  To his utter shock, she reached for the door handle. His instep mashed the brakes so hard, the Challenger came to a choked stop on the shoulder and died. By the time he’d set the emergency brake, she was huffing it on foot back toward town.

  “Melanie!”

  She didn’t bother to turn around. He was following her, probably strutting in those sunglasses and tight jeans, but for all she cared he could get back in his pony car and go fuck himself.

  She only made it twenty feet before she was hoisted up from behind and carried under his arm with her head toward the rear. Wind blew up her skirt exposing her thong to any traffic that might drive by. “Derek, put me down!”

  “You didn’t mind baring your ass in public a minute ago.”

  He opened the passenger door, cursed when her high-heel put a scratch in the paint. “You’re pushing it, Mel!” he thundered, delivering a stinging slap to her behind that only made her struggle more with outrage. Unwilling to risk the shoes again, he threw her down across the warm hood and gathered her hands behind her back. She was bent over in a most arousing position, her bottom half covered with little more than floss and a band of pleated plaid. Her long, silken hair fanned out over the scoop, and she screamed in frustration, kicked. Derek wedged his legs in between hers in order to keep the jewels from taking a hit.

  He leaned over, covered her body with his. “Are we going to calm down?”

  “I hate you!”

  “I thought you loved me.”

  “You’ll never hear me say it again!”

  “And you’ll never hear me say it at all.”

  “Then, leave me alone!”

  “So you can spread your legs for some idiot in a shit-
hole like Jake’s?” Baring his teeth with purpose, he reached around and slipped his hand inside the front of her thong, pushed his fingers into her moist channel and gripped her hard. Her head came up on a gasp then dropped back down to loudly impact with the hood.

  “Fuck your price, Mel,” he growled. “When it comes to this, I’m all you’ll ever need. I know it. You know it.” His fingers slid in and out of her while his palm stroked her expertly. He knew her body so well, was able to control her desire as if he held a remote. When Melanie began to mewl beneath him he backed off, let her squirm. “Tell me what you want.”

  “Derek, we’re on the side of the road!” she panted, opening for him wider.

  “You love it,” was his response, the thrill of the moment gripping him just as hard. His fingers resumed a slow rhythm, just enough to taunt her with what she was denying herself if she refused him. “You see, I know what you like. No one else will ever understand you the way I do. Now, tell me what you want,” he repeated through clenched teeth.

  “Derek, please!”

  “Say it!”

  “I want you!”

  In an act of triumph, Derek increased his pressure and speed. “Come for me, Mel,” he groaned. When she screamed out a violent orgasm he felt her vagina close tightly around his fingers and it was too much. Desperate with need, he released her hands, unzipped his jeans. To hell with traffic, they’d deal with it if it came.

  Melanie lay draped over the hood, taking in air and recovering when she felt her thong snap from her hips. The stringy panties slithered uselessly down one leg to settle around her ankle. Derek pushed inside her with such force she moaned in shock.

  After one recuperative moment, he pulled out and slammed into her again...and again...each powerful stroke taking them both down a path of wild abandonment. He gathered her hair up and wound it around his fist, pulling hard and lifting her upper body for better access to her breasts. His other hand reached into her blouse, found she wasn’t wearing a bra. It only made him more determined to keep her out of bars like Jake’s. Never again. Whether she accepted it or not, she would never again let anyone else do this to her.

  “Oh, God!” Melanie’s high-pitched prayer sang through the hills as she took his thrusts in deep, her body moving in time over the car. Her insides began to draw up once again.

  Derek felt her tighten around him and a sound began a sumph, Delow in his sternum, grew with his building release. They came together in an astonishing gut-wrencher that nearly blinded him with a mixture of ecstasy and pain. His fierce roar was coupled with a tightening hold on her hair that made Melanie gasp with delight. As was the norm, he spilled everything inside her, drove it in as deep as he could.

  She was always struck at how much he filled her, how complete she was when they were joined. His body dropped, forearms impacting heavily with the hood on each side of her head. His breath warmed her cheek.

  “That...was so unfair,” she panted, though a smile played at her lips.

  Derek squinted his eyes to clear the mud from his brain. Damned if he’d ever be able to see straight again. “Yes, it was. Remember that next time you want to try it on me.”

  Oh, yeah... She’d forgotten about that. “I didn’t know it would make you so mad,” she breathed. “But I think I need to be taught another less – ”

  He shushed her. His eyesight still hadn’t recovered, but his ears still worked. “Car’s coming,” he said and was off and out of her so fast she squeaked. Before she could attempt a dignif

  ied entry, he lifted her bodily from the hood, opened the car door and stuffed her into the passenger seat.

  The only thing the passing family of four saw was him hiking up his zipper as he circled around the back of the car.

  Just when Melanie began to worry over the mess she was making on his vinyl, he opened his door and slid in beside her. One hand on the ignition, the other draped over the wheel, he sent her a half-smile that quickened her heart. “Now, let’s go back to your place and do that again.”

  Wow. How could she possibly say no to that?

  When he popped the clutch, the rear tires sent soft shoulder matter arcing up behind them. It was then she wondered... when they got to her place, would he notice the strip of condoms still waiting for use on her bedside table?

  Thank God for birth control.

  Chapter 17

  Derek’s warning had bothered Danny since he’d issued it the day before. Something told her not to push, so she didn’t. It was just as well that the truth came out later than sooner. She could wait if he needed the time.

  Anticipating her late night swim, she slid into shorts and a tank top. Darkness was descending and she was emotionally exhausted. Peering out the window of her second-floor bedroom, she noticed the moon was a mere sliver in the sky, which was fine with her. The path to her tree house was so familiar, sheis fithe could follow it with her eyes closed.

  “Let’s see,” she said aloud and rifled through the books on her desk for the reference materials she’d collected from the library the previous Friday. The meager selection offered nothing of the quality of Austin’s father’s book, but at least the internet connect card she’d purchased for her laptop would allow her to surf the web in the blessed privacy of the tree house. Now that the lavish fort was outfitted with electricity, it was possible to plug in and work as long as she needed to, out of the reach of her father’s watchful eye.

  She zipped the duffel bag closed over her collection of supplies and hiked it over her shoulder. As she made her way to the back door, she passed her parents who were sitting at the small table in the kitchen. “I’m headed out. See you in the morning.”

  “Again?” Mary observed over her reading glasses. Freshly cut coupons littered the table. “Honey, you haven’t slept in your own bed since you’ve been back.”

  “The one in the tree house is more comfortable.”

  “Well, here,” Mary said, rising to rifle through the fridge, “at least take the rest of this casserole with you in case you get hungry. You didn’t eat much supper and you need to keep your strength up if you’re going to start work tomorrow.”

  Danny’s hand slipped from the doorknob and she took the giant container with chagrin. Another liberal round of leftovers she’ll have to dispose of somehow. Then confusion set in. “Work tomorrow?”

  Mary glanced at her husband, jerked her head in their daughter’s direction in a not-so-secret communiqué.

  “Oh, Danny,” Herb jumped in, almost having missed his cue, “We’ve been contracted to tear down that old grain plant on highway five. Think you can take her?”

  Hope sprung eternal. “With my eyes closed, Pop. How many men do I get?”

  “Six and you start early.”

  Her smile was wide. “Is the pay the same?”

  “Same as what your brothers get.”

  It was a huge step. Herb was finally getting over his ire with her, allowing her to re-establish her supervisory position in the family business. She walked over to him and placed a fat kiss atop his thick head of hair. The older man chuckled affectionately and took up another grocery ad. When he knew she was gone, Herb peered at his wife through the glasses. “That ought to put a smile back on her face.”

  As Danny walked through the meadow in her climbing shoes, she thought about the job. It couldn’t have come at a better time. Now she could afford the $60-a-month for the Internet connect card without having to borrow from Derek. And with the bills going to her new P.O. Box, her father would never have to know she was still hammering away at her on-line courses.

  The walnut tree stood tall in the distance. The elaborate construction nestled among its high branches resembled a gazebo since she’d added the circular lower level a few years ago. It had started out a simple box. But the box had shrunk as her body grew and larger walls were required. She decided to make the new addition as big as was structurally sound without the need for ground supports. The tall trunk jutting through was offset from th
e center to create a small space for the rear kitchenette and a larger space for the main room, which faced the pond. In order to fit a small table outside the main room, she added an alcove that robbed the space from the deck instead. Made decorative with swinging shutters and a green tin roof, the tree house looked like a charming sky villa from the outside.

  The distance from the ground wasn’t as much, but it was still incredibly high.

  Danny set her duffel bag on the dumb waiter at the base of the trunk and pulled the rope until the platform reached the top, latched tight, effectively transferring her stash to the kitchen above to be retrieved later. Her nieces and nephews used to ascend up to the structure using the contraption until one of them fell and broke his arm. Since then, they’d been banned. But before long she would have to build them their own tree fort in order to cut down on their fascination with hers.

  Before climbing her way up, she shirked her shoes, pulled the tank top up and over her head. The tight white shorts and underwear came off next and she left her clothes piled by the massive trunk.

  Naked and cloaked in darkness, Danny padded to the grassy bank, dipped her toe in for a test. The ever-moving water was reliably cool. Perfect. Silt slicked between her toes muddying just a portion of the surface. Two more steps took her deep enough to lift her knees and let buoyancy take over. Ahh. She loved this. Needed this. It was the most relaxed she’d felt since...

  But she wouldn’t think about that. Thoughts of him were unwelcome, but it seemed the more she tried to forget, the more insistently they hounded her.

  Something brushed her leg. Fish. She swam out to the center of the pond, at one with the cold-blooded creatures beneath her. Filling her lungs with air, she flailed her arms and brought her toes out of the water. They barely surfaced as she lay on her back and let the water lap over her breasts and belly.

  She was in her muted world again. Her head was filled with underwater noise as her ears flooded with liquid. The stars were so brilliant, more so now than usual. Was it an atmospheric anomaly that cleared the air so much this night? Being far from the city, there wasn’t as much smog or pollution to murk up the sky. She sighed, her chest rising and falling.