Timing out on submission due to length, split chapter 5 into 5a and 5b

Continued ...

The next night

Jessica stood naked before Angus, trembling. The bruises on her body made him pause momentarily, but then he remembered the lesson he'd been trying to teach her about her place, her role, her lack of status.

Her behavior at the kennel had been unacceptable and he went out of his way to make that clear to her. His only regret at the time was that he'd had to stop and let Jim have his night with her. But now it was his night and he would use it to continue where he'd left off.

As she hesitantly dropped her folded arms from her breasts, Angus smiled. Just as Jessica had learned his shower ritual, he knew she'd eventually learn her proper place. And the longer it took her to do so the longer he could get off on it.

As he'd pounded his fist down on Jessica the previous day, he'd again been overcome by incredibly strong urges. Not much roused him after he and Beth parted ways, but as soon as he administered punishment to Jessica, something came alive in him.

He'd fucked Jessica several times while he'd beaten her too unable to resist the need even though it was against the rules. The men were to restrict sexual activity with Jessica to their assigned days with her.

The previous night was her night with Jimmy, Angus wasn't supposed to touch her sexually until the next day when she was his, but he hadn't been able to help himself.

Memories from the day before, revived that need. After Beth, Angus had vowed that he would never again let a woman use her wiles against him, he would take what he wanted, and that would be it.

Jessica had made the mistake of challenging him early on, on this point and from that time forward, she found herself standing naked before him in the bathroom on every night he had with her.

He stepped forward and pinched one of her nipples between his fingers.

It had all begun when she had tried to stage a bathing strike.

Perhaps she thought that if she stank, they would stay away from her.

The other men seemed unable to budge her from her stand, but Angus knew exactly what to do. To her credit, it took a good two weeks of fighting and some pretty savage beatings, but he got her to end her strike, and he got a little treat out of it for himself.

Now, on his nights with her, he looked forward to going to the bathroom for a shower where Jessica would, with some coercion, undress and present herself to him.

He would proceed from there as he wished. They would eventually end-up in the shower. He also maintained a strict rule in which she was to wear no clothing while in his room, so once they made it to his room, he'd remind her to drop the towel, and again, present herself to him.

He pinched her other nipple and heard her intake a breath as he non-too gently pulled on it. Moving behind her he slid his hand between her buttocks, then between her legs.

His fingers worked their way through the hair on her pussy and he rammed his fingers into her hole. A whimper escaped her, which was all Angus needed to put him over the edge.

He pushed Jessica onto all fours and thrust into her from behind. As the pleasure mounted his thrusts increased in momentum and depth. Finally he exploded with pleasure.

As Jessica slid onto her stomach, her forehead to the floor, Angus instinctively reached for her.

'Fuck!' Angus muttered to himself, catching himself before he touched her. Beth had trained him good. Even after all these years Angus would habitually try to cuddle after sex.

It made him angry to know that he was so weak, so willing to open himself up for use and abuse. Consciously he knew that any type of intimacy following sex would lead him to doom. Experience had taught him well, yet somehow he couldn't take that knowledge to the subconscious level. He pulled back his hand and got to his feet.

"In the shower," he said, and prepared to have to repeat himself with increasing agitation, but Jessica began to get to her knees. She pushed all instinct to fight, refuse, take a stand, from her mind and forced herself to want to be in the shower.

She made herself want to obey Angus. He pulled her to her feet, and without further prompting Jessica went and got in the shower stall. Angus was rooted to the spot. Jessica stood in the stall, staring at the wall. Normally he'd be pushing, dragging, carrying her to the shower.

Paranoia set in. A few strides and he was at the shower. He spun Jessica around and grabbing a handful of her hair he wretched her head back.

"What are you up to?" he demanded his breath hot on her face. He shook her when she didn't respond.

"I ..." she began, worried about how red his face had become. She was confused, she thought that her compliance was supposed to make him happy not tomato-faced angry.

"You're not getting away with nothing!" Angus thundered, spittle flying from his mouth, sprinkling her face. "Last night wasn't enough for you? Christ Jessica, you're going to wear out my fucking fists!"

"No ... no Angus," Jessica said urgently, "I thought you wanted me in the shower! I can go out again, if you want!"

Angus stared at her. His eyes slid down to where Jessica had inadvertently laid her hands on his chest as she spoke. Her nails weren't digging into him. Her usual battle stare, was oddly absent. Prepared for any attack from her, Angus let go of his grip on her hair.

"This is fine," he said and looked back at her hands that still rested on his chest. Jessica seemed oblivious to the fact that she was leaning on him. As the threat of immediate abuse subsided, Jessica let her hands fall to her side. Angus ran the water and they showered quickly.

Normally he would have lingered over lathering her up, taking pleasure in claiming her most private parts, as his, but he suspected that something was up and he wanted to deal with it in his room, not the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later Angus shepherded Jessica into his room. Locking the door, he turned around prepared to bully Jessica into dropping her towel, but instead found her facing him, towel around her feet, and hands clasped behind her back.

She shook with fear and it took all of her will power to not curl up onto a ball and hide her private, vulnerable parts from Angus. She wanted to so badly but she pushed that possibility out of her mind.

Taken off guard by Jessica's second act of un-coerced obedience Angus stared at her for a moment. 'Okay,' he thought to himself, though still highly skeptical, he allowed himself for the first time to consider the possibility that the beating he'd administered the night before may have actually had some affect.

"Get on the bed," he said, and with only a minor hesitation, Jessica did.

He crawled on the bed after her, moving his pelvis between her legs as he crawled over top of her.

Angus had perfected the art of pushing his way between her legs, his thigh first and then his pelvis, often needing to wedge his way between her firmly clasped thighs, sometimes resorting to grabbing her breast in his hand and squeezing until she let him in.

This time he made his way through with minor resistance. When he got there he worried again about an attack. Well, he decided, if she was going to do it, they may as well get it over with.

"Hands above your head," he said. A more noticeable hesitation this time, but Jessica raised her hands. With his left hand he pinned down her wrists, and took her breast in his right hand.

"You bite me Jessica and so help me God I'll rip your tit right off, got it?" Jessica nodded.

Angus saw her lower lip quiver. Lunging, he took it between his teeth and nipped. Jessica jerked beneath him. An ache grew in his loin.

Releasing her lip he slipped his tongue between her lips and forced it in her mouth. He plunged it deeper into her mouth, into her throat, Jessica as rigid as a board beneath him.

He began to tighten his hold on her breast as Jessica moved her teeth around his tongue, but then he realized she was gagging and withdrew. No sooner had Jessica's gag reflex quieted then Angus was staking claim to her mouth again.

Angus felt every cranny of Jessica's mouth, and was beginning to really enjoy it, when he began to sense that something wasn't quite right. Something felt different. He withdrew again, and looked down at Jessica. She had her eyes closed.

What the hell? Never, ever in the time he'd spent with Jessica did he ever see anything other than her glaring at him or the ceiling, anger and defiance obvious in her expression and eyes.

Even more surprising was the way she felt beneath his body. She was no longer rigid. She had relaxed, her body conforming to his. He knew what would end that fast enough. Hardly gently, Angus thrust himself into her, ensuring that each and every thrust was increasingly violent.

Unable to restrain himself, Angus climaxed and fell on top of Jessica. He lay panting, and suddenly a shiver ran down his spine. Jessica had remained relaxed the whole time. He got to his knees and looked at her.

Her eyes remained closed, and she looked almost serene. Minutes passed before Jessica opened her eyes. She lay staring at the ceiling, not moving.

Not her customary roll to the side, back to him, knees to her chest. The second he was off of her, that was what she'd normally do. And then they'd have a battle of wills as he'd roll her back and try to teach her that she was not to do anything, anything, without his say so.

The longer she lay quietly, the more distraught he became. She was going to do something, he knew it. The longer it took her to do it, the antsier he got. Well, he knew how to speed things up a little. Get her going with whatever it was she had planned.

"Turn over," he said, and Jessica's eyes widened. That was more like it. She knew what he intended to do, and he knew there was no way she'd let him do it easily.

"Jessica, I said ..." but before he could finish the statement, Jessica slowly turned to her stomach.

"On your knees!" he said.

A sob escaped her as she hesitantly got on her knees. Jessica worked hard to ignore the silent screams going off in her head. 'Not this, anything but this!' they cried.

Of all the things Angus did to her, ever, this was by far the worst. The first time had been beyond any pain or violation Jessica had ever felt. The tearing, the force with which Angus had to grind, thrust, pull her back on himself in order to get into her tiny anus ensured the most excruciating kind of pain Jessica had ever felt.

And unlike her vagina which seem to have stretched a little to accommodate his and the other men's giant penises, her anus just never seemed to expand permanently enough to make this violation less painful. It made her personal goal of robbing Angus of as much pleasure from her screams a near impossible pursuit to obtain.

Her body shook violently as she pressed her face into the pillow and presented her ass to him. At least she had the pillow this time, she could bury her face into it and muffle the screams she couldn't keep from escaping.

Angus took her by the hips and pulled her to him. As he began to insert his cock into her rectum he prepared for her hand to lash out at him as it always did. He'd actually got to the point when he would handcuff her for this particular position for fear of losing a testicle.

Not this time though, this time he was ready for a fight, needed a fight. But no fight came. Jessica cried into the pillow as he forced his way in and climaxed. When it was over, she lay crying on the pillow, and Angus sat on the bed mystified.

Maybe he should just beat the crap out of her anyway, make her incapable of inflicting much harm. But Angus had had enough of her crying.

The previous night was one thing, and even now, knowing that she was up to no good, he could've listened to her cry all night if they'd had an actual battle of some sort, but this ... this was too much. She was bawling her eyes out, and he hadn't even hit her.

"Jessica, what the hell are you crying about? "

She continued to cry as if he hadn't even spoken.

"Fucking shit!" he said when he could take the suspense no more. "Turn over Jessica."

She didn't move, probably didn't even hear him through her blabbering.

"Turn over now!" he ordered as he took her arm and rolled her onto her back. Jessica's face was tear stricken and red from crying. He knew that face, but again it was always after a good beating.

"Stop crying," he said, "just stop it will you!" He pulled her up by her arm, meaning to shake her a little, but he over pulled and Jessica fell against him. She ran her hands over her eyes, trying hard to quit crying. As she sniffled, Angus became aware of how warm she felt against him. Warm, and soft. Oh no, he wasn't going down that road! He pushed her from him.

"Okay look, just do whatever you have planned, alright? Just do it, let's get it over with."

Jessica looked at him from the corner of her eye as if he were crazy.

"That's right, you heard me. Just whatever it is, get on with it."

Jessica looked at him again, as if she didn't believe him.

"There'll be consequences, you can be sure of that," Angus added, "but nothing you're not used to ... I'm not kidding Jessica, do it!"

Jessica half shrugged, lay down, turned on her side, and closed her eyes.

Angus lay down beside her, careful not to make contact. It seemed that her plan was to wait till he fell to sleep. That was fine. There was nothing in this room that she could use to do any real damage, and no way for her to get out ... so he'd play along.

He turned off the light and lay beside her. It wasn't too long before she was asleep. Her rhythmic breathing lulling Angus into sleep also but every time he tried to close his eyes, they sprang open. He tossed and turned a few times, thinking he'd wake Jessica up, and she could get on with it, but she never moved.

Finally he decided to goad her into it. If he couldn't sleep, then why should she. He rolled her onto her back and climbed on top. He felt victorious when Jessica tensed as he entered her.

Jessica was so tired, she needed sleep, and she knew from experience that Angus would continue all night if she reacted so she tried to relax. After his second or third thrust, she was successful, and he had barely finished when she fell asleep again.

Angus startled himself awake. He could see a glimmer of light seeping in under the edges of the blind on the window.

He'd spent the night laying on top of Jessica, waking intermittently to have his way with her. She hadn't once through the whole night complained or fought. She'd just taken it, and gone back to sleep.

She felt so good beneath him, soft, warm, that he found himself wishing that he could just lay on top of her forever ... 'shit!' he swore to himself. Anger rushed through him. He had let his guard down and now he was getting weak, turning into a wimp. 'Well, no better time to start the day', he thought as he entered Jessica's anus.

"Good morning Sunshine," he said as Jessica eyes flew open and her arms instinctively came up to defend herself. Angus caught them and pinned them above her head as he thrust in.

Jessica grimaced and shifted below him, but the tension went out of her arms and she made no attempt to struggle. Angus grinned down at her as her displeasure became apparent, but soon the grin diminished.

Before his very eyes Jessica took a deep breath, and then closed her eyes. Her body relaxed beneath him, and as it did, his thrusts lost their force and he became still, having not reached the climax he'd been expecting. He didn't move, just watched her face, and she didn't move for so long that he began to wonder if she'd fallen to sleep again.

Finally she opened her eyes and looked at him. They looked at each other. She was looking, not staring, or glaring defiantly. It only lasted a moment before her eyes slipped from his and stared at his chin. He was tired, and at a loss for what to do. He couldn't explain her behavior in any way that seemed truly plausible. Finally he determined that he needed some space from her. Some time to think.

"Get up," he said while rolling off of her. Jessica complied. She stood on the floor next to the bed, naked, and shifting from foot to foot. "You need to go to the bathroom?" he asked.

Jessica nodded. "And ..." she nearly whispered, "can I take a shower?"

He picked the towel off the floor and handed it to her. Silently he moved aside to let her pass. She shuffled past him, and she seemed to be in pain.

Little wonder, he must have violated her two or three times an hour over the course of the night. With his cock being as big as it was and her pussy and especially her ass being as small and tight as they were, he knew he'd done some damage.

Small consolation considering he hadn't succeeded in egging her on to fighting back, and he still didn't know what she was scheming to do. Thank God his night with her was over. He intended to go back to bed once he delivered her to the living room, at least she wouldn't be his problem for the next few nights.

The men were up when Angus and Jessica entered the dining room. They were all at the table eating when Angus guided Jessica to the table. He was prepared to lecture her on her duty to kiss all the men good morning, but Jessica moved closer to Riley who sat near her.

"Good morning," she said and placed a kiss on his lips.

"Morning," Riley said as Jessica shuffled over to Josh.

"Are you alright?" Josh asked as she awkwardly leaned in to kiss him.

"Yes," she replied and brushed her lips over his, "good morning." But she was anything but alright. She felt torn inside.

"You don't look alright," Scott said as she shuffled over to him.

"Good morning, " she said and kissed him. She felt light headed. Blinking she moved to Jim.

"Jess, you need to sit down," Jim said taking her by the arms as she leaned in to kiss him.

He helped her back to an empty chair near where Angus stood.

"Take this," Angus said as she tried to find a comfortable way to sit on the chair.

Everything ached. Every muscle in her body, her private area, her bum.

"Open your mouth," he said as she shifted on her chair. She did, and he popped a birth control pill into her mouth. He brought a glass of water to her lips.

"How about some breakfast?" Jim asked eager to distract himself from the fact that Angus had inflicted so much pain on Jessica and then just carried on so nonchalantly.

"I'm going back to bed," Angus said unable to believe how exhausted he felt. "Riley," he said and tilted his head toward the hallway.

Riley followed Angus down the hall.

"Keep an eye on her," Angus said following a yawn. "She's up to something."

"I doubt she'll be up to much today, or tonight. She can barely move."

"She'll move if you make her move," Angus replied. "Just watch her ...she's up to something, that's for sure."

"What makes you think that?"

"She's been ... different. You'll know what I mean soon enough. I've been up all fucking night keeping an eye on her."

"All right," Riley said, and moved back to the dining room. He returned just as Jim set a plate of food before Jessica.

"Thank you," she said and then perking up she looked at Josh. "Where's Baby?" she asked.

"Asleep in the corner there, "Josh replied, "eat your breakfast and you can go over and see her."

"I'm going to put disinfectant cream on your back first," Jim said after moving around behind her, and pulling the neckline of her shirt back, peering inside. How Angus had managed to leave gashes with his fists Jim didn't even want to try and understand. They looked just as raw and painful as they had the two nights before and Jim was reminded again just how cruel Angus could be.
"I'll do it," Riley said, anxious to get some inkling as to what kind of behavior had Angus so worked up. "Eat up."

"Okay, " Jessica said, and began eating.

'Okay?"' Riley thought to himself. She'd said it loud and clear. It looked like she was planning on upholding her end of the bargain ... for eating too, she was eating a slow but steady stream of food. But after a few minutes she lay her fork down.

She forced her eyes to Riley's and fought to keep them from slipping "I can't eat any more," she said. She had looked directly at him, and mistook the stunned look on his face as displeasure. She lowered her head. "I'm full." she added hastily.

Now Riley knew why Angus had been awake all night. Something was different. The only thing he could think to do in response was to go along with it and see where it led.

"Pass me the first aid kit Josh," Riley said standing. "On the sofa Jessica." Jessica made her way to the sofa, and it was clear that every step was an effort.

Jessica hesitated when she got there, unsure how to lie down without causing herself pain.

"Get your shirt up first," Riley said from behind her, and he began to pull her shirt up over her shoulder blades. Jessica gasped as pain shot through her.

"I'll help you lie down," Scott said taking her arms to steady her.

"I got her legs." Riley said. One hand holding up her shirt, he wrapped his other around her legs and lifted. Jessica grimaced, until she was on her stomach, and then she lay very still, afraid to move.

"What the hell did he do to her?" Scott hissed at Riley.

Jim and Josh had watched the ordeal from behind the sofa, and now leant in close to Riley and Scott.

"This was uncalled for," Josh growled.

"I thought he was supposed to be going easier on her!" Jim added.

"We'll talk about this later," Riley said, hoping Jessica hadn't heard the conversation. If she had, she gave no indication of it.

Riley spread the cream on her back. A few welts had the red edges that indicated infection. Riley made a mental note to monitor them closely. Jessica grimaced while he worked and once he was done, Jessica sighed and fell to sleep.

"Riley ..." Jim began in a tone and expression that made it evident he planned to complain about Angus again.

"Not here!" Riley interrupted. Was he nuts? He knew better than to discuss this stuff around Jessica, awake or asleep.

"Get her a blanket," he said to Jim.

"You take care of that damn dog!" he said to Josh as the puppy began to whine, "We'll have plenty of time to talk about this tonight."

"But ..." Jim began to protest.

Riley held up his hand. "Nothing is going to change for her whether we talk about it now or later. Later, Angus will be up and we can find out from him what the problem was. Just get her a blanket so she can sleep, and for Christ sake Josh, I swear to God that if that dog isn't out of my sight in the next two seconds, it'll be making me a really good silencer as I shoot your ass!"

Scooping the pup up, Josh went outside. Jim stomped to his room, muttering obscenities under his breath as he went. He returned with a blanket and laid it gently over Jessica.

"One of us has to stay with her ..." Riley began looking between Jim and Scott.

"I will," Jim said quickly. "Go do whatever you need to, I'll watch her."

Before leaving Scott kissed Jessica on the top of her head. 'Shit!' he muttered to himself and then brought his lips to her forehead and confirmed what he was afraid of.

"She's burning up," he said.

"What?" Riley asked and laid his hand on Jessica's forehead. She felt hot. He had attributed the heat coming from her back to the difference between the temperature of the cream and her skin.

"Fuck," he said and reached for the first aid kit that he'd placed on the coffee table. He found the thermometer and slid it under Jessica's arm. Moments later it was clear that she was in the midst of a full-blown fever. Riley pulled the blanket off her. Reaching beneath her he undid the button of her jeans, unzipped them and pulled them off.

"Get me a wet cloth and some cool water," he said to Scott but then thought better of it, "Never mind Scott, the cloth won't be fast enough. Go run some cool water in the bath instead." He rolled Jessica onto her back and then scooped her up in his arms. Jim trailing after him, he headed for the bathroom and then lowered Jessica into the tub that was filling with water.

"No!" Jessica yelled, waking.

"Shhh, Jess," Jim said grabbing her shoulder to keep her from getting up.

"It's cold!" she complained.

"You have a fever Jessica, we have to bring it down. Sit still," Riley said, and began scooping water over her head with his hand. Jessica began to shiver.

"Please ... "she said through chattering teeth, "it's freezing!"

"It's not that cold," Scott said, dipping his finger in the lukewarm water.

"It's the fever ... it's way too high. Jim, go out to the barn and get a couple of Advil. You know where I've been keeping the bottle right? Up in the loft where Jessica could never find it. Scott, go to my room and get the comforter. " Riley ordered.

As Jim and Scott left, Riley unplugged the tub. Grabbing a towel, he pulled Jessica to her feet. Her shirt and panties clung to her. He pulled them off and wrapped her in the towel. When Scott returned with the blanket, Riley wrapped Jessica in it also. He carried her back out to the sofa and laid her down.

"Here Jess," Jim said placing the Advil he'd brought in her mouth and bringing the glass to her mouth. Jessica's teeth chattered on the glass. Jim sat beside her and pulled Jessica onto his lap to help warm her. He wrapped his arms around her and rubbed. Jessica trembled against him.

"I'll be back in half an hour to take her temperature again," Riley said and headed for the door.

"Jessica, did you do something to Angus last night?" Jim asked once Riley had left and Scott had settled himself on the armchair.

"Do something?" Jessica asked through chattering teeth, her head lolling from one side to the other. "No. Was I supposed to?"

"No Jessica, you weren't supposed to, " Scott answered, "but did you?"

"I don't understand ... what was I supposed to do?" Jessica whispered, barely conscious.

"Go to sleep Jess," Jim said, and Jessica's head fell against him. He could feel her shivering.

"She must have done something bad," Scott said.

"Christ. Why can't she just play along?" Jim demanded. "Whoever she inherited that stubborn streak from must've been one hell of a pain in the ass!"

Scott laughed. "No fucking joke. I've never met anyone as stubborn except for maybe Riley and Angus."

"Yeah. That's just great." Jim replied pulling her tighter against him.

"What's going on?" Josh asked, returning with Baby.

"Jessica's got a fever," Scott replied.

"A fever!"

"It's real high," Jim added.

"You think it's because of what Angus did to her?" Josh asked.

"Guarantee it," Jim replied. "I wish he'd get up and tell us what the hell set him off ..." Jim recalled what he'd told Jessica the previous night. Could it all be related? If it was, was he to blame for her current state? He knew he should have kept his trap shut!

"Angus sure has a funny way of being less frightening," Scott observed. "If this is his and Riley's idea of how not to be scary ... I feel sorry for us all. Nothing is ever going to change."

"What the hell is going on?" Angus asked emerging from the hallway. He stood staring at Jim cradling Jessica.

"Jessica's sick," Josh replied, "what did you do to her, and why?"

"Sick?" Angus asked after throwing Josh a dirty look. "You sure she's not pulling a fast one on you?"

"She definitely has a fever. I don't think she's figured out a way to fake that ..." Josh replied throwing back an equally dirty look.

"Don't be too sure," Angus said stalking to the sofa and placing his hand on Jessica's forehead. "Feels legit," he said with a nod.

"Of course it's legit," Jim said through clenched teeth. "We have a thermometer and we know how to use it! What did she do to deserve this ... please don't tell me you were just being an asshole for the hell of it!"

"She was up to something. Everything she did was suspicious."

"Like what?"

"Like everything," Angus answered, not liking Jim tone.

"Can you be more specific?" Scott asked.

"Read my lips ..." Angus said slowly, "Jessica did some suspicious shit last night, ... she was up to something. Why the hell are you asking all these questions? Since when has it been a crime to punish her?"

"What's going on?" Riley asked as he came in the front door. He didn't like the look on Angus' face. He looked like he was going to lose it ... and Jessica hardly seemed able to have done much to make him angry.

"It appears, "Josh said, "that Jessica did some mysteriously suspicious things to warrant getting the crap beaten out of her ... and he," Josh said pointing his finger at Angus, "seems to think that beating Jessica up has become the new national pass time."

"Kicking your ass is going to be my pass time!" Angus yelled lunging for Josh.

"Cool it!" Riley ordered, stepping between Angus and Josh, and grabbing their shirt collars, he shoved them apart.

"You self-righteous son of a bitch!" Angus shouted as he shoved past Riley and reached for Josh.

"Angus, outside!" Riley yelled as he pulled him back.

"Fine, let's take it outside ..."

"No, you and me, outside, now!"

"You hear the way he's talking to me?" Angus demanded, pointing at Josh.

"Outside Angus. Scott, Josh, we've got work to do, so get to it. Jim, you got Jessica for a while?"

Jim nodded. Riley shoved Angus ahead of him toward the door. Without a word Josh stomped to the basement door, taking the pup with him. He disappeared behind the door, slamming it behind him.

"This is getting out of hand," Scott said listening to Josh stomp down the stairs.

"I'll say, Angus is doing a better job of trying to kill Jessica now, than he did when we actually intended to kill her!" Jim replied.

Scott nodded. "The worst part is that if Jessica was doing something suspicious I can understand being worried. I wouldn't employ the same tactics that Angus did, but I'd be trying to figure out what she was up to too."

"So, how are we supposed to know when we can truly trust her?" Jimmy asked as a sense of despondency washed over him.

"When I throw open the door, let her walk through it alone, and know that she'll be coming back ... of her own free will ... I'll be able to trust her. That may never happen." Scott said, his tone reflecting that he shared Jim's disappointment.

Jim dropped his chin to rest on the top of Jessica's head.

"You alright?" Scott asked.

"Nope."

Scott nodded, "Me neither." He looked at Jessica passed out in Jim's arms. He thought about the times he and Jessica were alone in his room looking through magazines, masturbating together. Somehow he had to find a way to trust her completely. "Going to work out my frustrations downstairs." He finally said, "Later."

Jim heard the door to the basement close behind Scott. He felt like shit. He knew Scott was right ... but he couldn't for the life of him think of how to get them to a point where she would return to them of her own free will.

That depressed him all to hell. It was true that the men were his family, the only family he had left ... and he loved them dearly, but he wanted, needed, Jessica in a way he couldn't describe even to himself.

Jessica murmured something quietly.

"I'm here Jess, what do you need?"

"I want to go home," Jessica sobbed quietly. The words hit Jimmy like a ton of bricks. So, she had been up to something.

"You are home Jessica," Jimmy whispered.

"Dad?"

"No, Jessica, it's Jim. You're not well right now. Go to sleep and you'll be better soon."

"Mom, Dad, Jeffery!" Jessica called as the delirium of the fever overtook her.

She began to thrash on Jim's lap. "Mom, Dad, Marcus! Cain! Jeffery!" she called out increasingly loudly.

"Jessica, shhh, Jessica, it's okay, calm down," Jim said restraining her and patting her cheek.

Outside on the front walkway, Angus paced before Riley.

"Josh talks to me like I'm some two-bit punk and you call me out!" he thundered.

"Forget about them for a minute, will you!" Riley replied. "What the hell did Jessica do that was suspicious?'

"He treats me like I'm the enemy when little missy in there would just as soon knock his block off as she would blink ... "

"Forget it for now Angus!" Riley said grabbing his arm as he strode by. "Tell me what you found to be suspicious."

"Everything. She just rolled over and took everything. Didn't fight, and did everything she was supposed to, and when I ... did it ... with her, she closed her eyes and lay there."

"Closed her eyes?"

Angus nodded "And just took it. She has never, ever, just taken it before."

"So you hit her for it?" Riley asked trying not to sound as incredulous as he felt about it.

"No ... you think I should have?" Angus asked clearly misunderstanding the Riley's tone.

"No I don't. Jessica closing her eyes isn't exactly a capital offense. You sure you didn't hit her? She had all those bruises and gashes."

"Those were from the other night. I didn't hit her but I fucked the shit out of her. Told her to hurry up and do whatever she had planned but she wouldn't. " Angus said.

"Let me get this straight, you fucked her into a fever?" Riley demanded.

Angus shrugged, "I guess. I did fuck her a lot. Pretty much all damn night that's why I was so fucking tired this morning. But don't worry Riley, she knows her place and even though she's scheming something I made damn sure she knew who was boss."

Riley was speechless. Angus was looking for Riley's praise. He honestly thought he was doing Riley's bidding. And why wouldn't he. Riley had made sure that Angus and the other men did just that without even having the decency to do so himself.

He felt an uncomfortable knot in his stomach. He never recalled having it before Jessica entered his life. He tried to formulate a response that let Angus know he needed to cool it with his abuse of Jessica while still praising Angus' loyalty and misguided sense of accomplishment but he was interrupted by a screech from the house.

"I want to go home, I want to go home!" Jessica's high pitch scream emitted from the house.

"What the hell?" Riley asked.

He and Angus ran for the door. They rushed in just as Scott and Josh came through the basement door. They found Jimmy trying to contain Jessica, who, eyes closed, head thrown back and dripping with sweat, screamed for her family.

"She's completely delirious!" Jimmy shouted as he tried to catch her arms in his and stop them from flailing.

"Run the water in the tub again!" Riley ordered Scott.

He scooped Jessica off of the sofa and followed on Scott's heels to the bathroom. While the water ran, Jessica fought against Riley as he held her in the tub.

"Mom, Dad, I'm sorry!" Jessica cried.

"Jessica!" Riley shouted as her nails caught him across his cheek.

It was on the tip of his tongue to repeat the phrase he'd used so often in the past, when they had aimed at torturing rather than nurturing her 'they're dead Jessica, D E A D, dead!' but he caught himself.

What to say instead?

From the corner of his eye he saw Angus move in behind him, and a moment later there was silence.

Angus stood back rubbing his hand, while Riley kept Jessica from sliding beneath the water. A red mound appeared on her cheek where Angus had struck her. He'd used enough force to cause her head to hit the other side of the tub, and make her unconscious.

"Christ Angus!" Scott said and quickly turned the running water off and unplugged the tub. "Is she alive?"

"Yup." Riley answered after feeling for her pulse. "Get me a towel."

When Jessica lay on the sofa again, partially covered by the towel, the men stood looking at her.

"I told you she was up to something!" Angus said triumphantly.

"She's always up to something," Riley replied, "that's nothing new. But this isn't the answer Angus. Once her temperature is under control, we're having a meeting. Do me a favor till then and sit on your hands ... "

"She was out of control ..."

"I know ... you did a great job Angus, just relax for a bit, will you?"

"You can't seriously believe she deserved any different ..."

"Angus ... I agree that she needed to be dealt with, you did great, we'll discuss this more at the meeting. " Riley said resting his hand on Angus' shoulder. "Why don't you go out and work on the corvette for a while? I'll call you in for the meeting."

"Right, okay," Angus said and moved for the door, shaking the hand he'd struck Jessica with as he went.

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

Several hours later Riley stood looking around at the men. He had spent the time trying to think of a way to reel Angus in without making it obvious he was targeting Angus. In the end the reality of their situation lent itself perfectly to his needs.

"Her temperature's down. She'll be fine." He reassured them. Jessica had been moved to the sofa bed in the basement. Now Jim sat on the sofa in the living room, head in hands, Josh slouch with a dejected air beside him. Scott sat in the rocking chair, rocking a mile a minute, and Angus stalked back and forth behind the sofa. With his proclamation Jim, Josh and Scott were visibly relieved though clearly still pissed at Angus.

"I think it's time that we regroup a little." Riley began. "It's obvious that there are some of us who trust Jessica a little more, than others do. We also have different ways of dealing with her ... in the past it never really mattered. What happened to Jessica was largely inconsequential. Whether she lived or died, our cause benefited. But now, some of us care whether she lives or dies, and this is affecting us. Splitting us up. Does everyone agree?"

The men nodded.

"Fine. Then from now on, there will be no more individual administration of punishment to Jessica. We will meet and discuss any actions to be taken, and I will have the final word. Is that understood?"

"She's planning on escaping Riley, I don't intend to let her!" Angus said in a controlled voice.

"None of us intend to let her," Riley said. "but I intend to apply suitable punishment once she's actually tried to escape. I trust I won't get any argument from the rest of you?"

The others shook their heads.

"If she tries to escape, "Angus said, "just try to stop me from punishing her, my way!" and he turned on his heel and left the house, slamming the front door behind him.

"That went well," Riley muttered under his breath.

"He'll come around ... " Jim began.

"And you!" Riley said pointing at Jim, "There will be no more sniping at Angus about Jessica, am I understood? You have your opinion about her, he has his, and there is no proof that either of you are right, so you keep your thoughts to yourself ... that goes for you too Josh. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Jim and Josh answered. He turned to Scott, who had stopped rocking and sat listening.

"Are you onboard?"

"Yes."

"Good. Josh, you take care of that damn dog, Jim you bring Jessica up here. Handcuff her to the sofa leg ..."

"She's in no position to move ..." Jim began.

"Handcuff her to the leg of the sofa, unless you'd rather we put her back on the leash ..."

"No, no, the sofa is fine,"

"I thought so. We have work to do, let's get to it."

Having brought Jessica's upstairs and lain her on the sofa Jim fastened the handcuff to the leg of the sofa, and then to Jessica's wrist. He looked at Jessica lying unconscious before him. A purple bruise staring at him from her cheek. He looked around. The men had all gone. He leaned in to Jessica's ear.
"Jessica," he whispered. "If you can hear me, listen carefully! There is no Mom, no Dad, no Marcus, Cain or Jeffery ..." in his mind's eye he could see the bodies draped around the car floor. Those people had meant the world to Jessica ... by destroying them, the men had hurt Jessica in the most profound way they could. There was nothing that could be done about that now, but maybe, just maybe he could help make her life bearable.

"There's just us Jessica. Me, Josh, Scott, Riley and Angus, we're your only family. Remember that ..." He pressed his lips to Jessica's hot forehead. "Things'll be better for all of us, if you can just remember that ..."

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

That night

Riley lowered Jessica onto the bed.

She'd been in a state of semi-consciousness for the remainder of the day, and she showed no signs of coming out of it. She could barely move, and likely couldn't attempt an escape even if she wanted to, but Riley wasn't taking any chances.

He took her left arm and handcuffed her wrist to the bed post.

He felt her forehead. She was still too hot. The knot in his stomach seemed to expand and twist. His feeling of guilt grew.

He leaned back on the bed and exhaled. He could kill at the drop of the hat, and he'd had no trouble kidnapping Jessica, but despite the plans they had to use sex to punish her, he was no rapist.

He would never have admitted it to the other men, especially since the shift to the use of sex as a weapon had been his idea, but of the two years that he'd ordered the men to have sex with Jessica, he hadn't touched her sexually. For the longest time, he simply couldn't see her as anything but the young hysterical woman they took from that car that fateful day.

And two years later, he hadn't gotten past that. He'd had stirrings, and often thought that his next night with her would be the one, but then he'd get alone with her, and she'd get that look of terror ... and he just couldn't do it.

He had used the other men and especially Angus to do his dirty work for him and now it was getting out of control. Angus had to be reined in but in a way that still gave Riley access to his insights on Jessica. His were the only ones Riley could trust.

Jim was just too young and naive to be able to see things with Jessica from an objective perspective. Of the five of them, Jim had been the closest to the women in the clan. It was easy to see that he transferred his feelings for his sister to Jessica. It made him vulnerable and Riley couldn't trust a thing he said about her.

And Scott had almost the opposite issue. Being the lady's man he was, Scott couldn't seem to get the message that women weren't all going to swoon at his feet and let him get away with anything just because of his looks and smooth moves. His weakness for women made anything he had to say about Jessica just as meaningless as Jim's observations.

And Josh. Well, Josh Riley still hadn't figured out with respect to his stance with Jessica. He didn't seem to have any obvious weaknesses when it came to women but when it came to Jessica Riley's instincts told him that Josh couldn't be objective either.

And then there were his own instincts and they couldn't be trusted either. His history with women was one of mutual convenience. All the relationships he'd had in the past had been casual.

There was never much he expected from a relationship except for a way to satisfy his sexual needs. His girlfriends were mostly fuck buddies, and all he and the women had in common was a desire to satisfy their sexual urges. He'd never had a lasting intimate relationship with a woman.

His own relationship with the women in the clan was tenuous. It only existed because it had to. His mother, who killed any respect he may have had for her by turning on the clan, had only been in his life because she was his mother. So in essence he didn't know much about the psyche of women and therefore he had a hard time trusting anything he thought he knew about Jessica.

That left him relying on Angus' instincts. The problem there being that Angus was tainted by the unfortunate after effects of Beth. To say he was soured on women was an understatement and so while Angus' instincts with Jessica were likely the most reliable Riley was aware that he had to take them more lightly then Angus did.

And more than that he had to alter the interactions between Angus and Jessica because unlike what was originally planned, Angus' natural need to inflict harm on women to avenge himself with Beth was no longer useful. In fact it was counter-productive.

Riley was fairly satisfied that the solution he had implemented; decreeing that all punishment was to be determined and sanctioned by him first, would address the problem with Angus. And things were at a point now that Riley needed things to improve with Jessica.

His inability to train her as effectively and quickly as he had anticipated was shaking his confidence in himself. Added to that, he had his fantasies about Jessica and what he wanted from her and the longer they weren't coming true the more and more frustrated he got sexually. It didn't help that the mens' self-inflicted isolation kept Riley from "dating". He was getting to the breaking point ... sexually he was frustrated.

And that was the other source of his guilt. Riley had never, never, had to force a woman to have sex with him. But he had concluded that the failure to train Jessica as had been planned could have been heavily affected by his non-compliance with his own plan.

The only way to get back on track was to fuck Jessica. He told himself that it was completely coincidental that his decision to do so occurred at the same time as he became ever increasing sexually frustrated.

He fell back on the bed next to Jessica and stared at the ceiling. Regardless of what he had to do he still had standards. Though not reflecting well on his character, her physical pain would not cause him to delay what he now knew he had to do.

But what did matter to him was that she was not incapacitated. He'd never had sex with a woman who was too drunk to know what she was doing, it just wasn't something he could do. And that self-inflicted mandate also lent itself well as a means of torture, a tool to break Jessica.

He had ordered the men to ensure Jessica was fully conscious of what was happening to her. So, while it may have been easier to ply her with drugs and drink, he decreed that they would not.

So in effect he'd ensured the men had to force themselves on her. He had made his closest friends into monsters. So now it was up to him to rectify the situation. To reign them, especially Angus, and at the same time try to mold Jessica into a compliant, if not willing participant while taking his turn as a would be rapist.

He turned to face Jessica's still form. His balls were quite literally aching as he pushed up on his elbow and looked down at Jessica's battered and fevered face. It was rare to see her that relaxed and it made him want her more. Lowering his mouth to hers he kissed it tentatively.

It was soft, it felt so good, tasted so good, he slid his tongue into it and moved his hand under her shirt and found one of her soft mounds. He teased the nipple until it hardened and then kneaded the soft flesh.

He felt Jessica shift beneath him so he came off her lips and was surprised to see her awake. She was looking at him. Initially she looked confused and then scared but just as quickly as those two reactions occurred she seemed to calm. Despite that her eyes couldn't hold his and slid to his chin but her body remained relaxed, soft beneath him, he could feel her heart beating incredibly fast as he clutched her left tit.

Jessica had awaken confused and it took her a moment to realize that she was in one of her kidnappers beds. What took her by surprise was that it was Riley's.

She only allowed herself a moment to think 'not him too' before she forced herself to go to her zen place. While her last night with Angus was not pain and abuse free there was one big enough change that was enough to convince Jessica to keep following Jim's advice.

Angus hadn't beaten her. True it meant little compared to what he did do to her but it was a change. A good change. So Jessica was even more committed to doing the opposite of what her instincts told her.

This would lead, she was sure, to justice for her family and her freedom. So her immediate instinct to push Riley away, fight, strike out at him, Jessica transformed into relaxing and trying, as much as she could, to want him to be there with her. Touching her. Kissing her. It wasn't easy.

"Do you know where you are?" he growled, panting. He couldn't seem to catch his breath and realized now that his heart was pounding just as much as Jessica's. He waited anxiously for her response. If she was still delusional due to the fever therefore, unfit to be fucked, he was sure he his balls were going to explode.

"Say it." Riley ordered when Jessica nodded her head slightly, "Tell me where you are."

"In your bedroom." Jessica whispered.

With her answer Riley's breath seemed to hitch and then speed up.

"Who's bedroom?" he asked, "Jessica look at me."

Jessica forced her eyes up to his steel black eyes.

"Who are you with? Say my name." Riley demanded, needing to know that Jessica was aware of where she was and who he was.

"Riley." Jessica whispered. Hearing what he needed Riley took her mouth again pressing his body on hers, pinning her against the bed, his hand still clutching her tit. Jessica lay still and pliant through the invasion of his tongue and lips.

Suddenly he groaned and shifted so he was on top of her, wedging his way between her legs. He ripped her undies off, wishing he hadn't bothered putting them on her in the first place, and in one fluent thrust he was in her.

Jessica whimpered briefly and after tensing for a moment she let her legs fall apart closing her eyes and forcing herself to relax as Riley thrust into her progressively harder and faster and it wasn't long until he moaned and she felt his huge cock jerk inside her and the wetness of his cum run out of her and down her thighs. Riley collapsed on top of her and passed out.

Jessica lay beneath him and contemplated that now Jimmy was the only one of the men not using her body for sex. She appreciated that but realized that whether it was one of the men or all of the men it didn't matter. She was now capitulating at the most personal level but she had to believe that they weren't winning. This was all a means to an end.

She shifted below Riley finding it hard to breath. He was so heavy. She tapped his arm with her finger until he looked down at her through a groggy haze.

"I can't breathe." She whispered. Grunting Riley rolled off of her and seemed to fall back to sleep but moments later his arms snaked out and pulled her hard against him.

She waited for more, waited for him to take her again like Angus would have, but he did nothing but hug her and snore. She blinked back some tears as she stared at the ceiling and silently apologized to her family again before drifting off to a nightmare filled slumber.

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

A couple of months had gone by since Jessica's fever. In many ways things had gone the way Jimmy had hoped. She was back to normal physically and she followed every command to a T. To the point where Riley had given her permission to resume seeing the horses, and he even allowed her to see the dogs.

With supervision Jessica would go out for brief visits to the kennel or the barn. This was a relief because Jim had feared that Angus' abuse of her weeks before may have undermined Jim's attempts to have Jessica change her approach to interacting with the men.

In addition to Jessica's near perfect behavior, Jim began to notice subtle differences in how Jessica acted when she was alone with him, Scott and Josh versus how she acted when Riley or Angus were around.

When Angus or Riley were around, Jessica seemed to be her usual reserved self, but when it was just him Scott and Josh she seemed far more relaxed. And when he was alone with her Jessica seemed almost giddy. She'd even gone through a whole night with him, in which she hadn't had a single nightmare.

Even more amazing was that with Riley's commandment, Angus barely paid attention to Jessica at all. He seemed to watch her from afar, but in the whole time since Jessica had recovered, he had grabbed her a few times, slapped her once, but other than that, the violence had decreased.

And while all of this was good, Jim's inability to trust Jessica completely made what was supposed to be a positive and happy change into an emotionally draining and frustrating one. Scott and Josh felt it too ... and they lamented the ironic cruelty of it often.

Every act of Jessica's had the potential for another purpose. It was hard not to second guess the reason or sincerity behind Jessica's words or actions

But over the past few days something seemed off with Jessica. To begin with Riley and Angus had been away for the two days but during that time Jessica's behavior had been almost as introverted and reserved as when they were home.

That very moment Jessica sat on the sofa, curled up into a self-protective ball. Jim had had his night with her the previous night, and Jessica had been really tired. She'd fallen to sleep within the first few minutes of the TV show that they were watching and rather than cuddle like they normally did, Jessica kept her physical distance from him.

Then during the day she'd fallen to sleep on the sofa for most of the day. Now, after dinner, the men had proposed a game of cards, but Jessica sat on the sofa, knees drawn up and simply shook her head. Jim, Josh and Scott exchanged bewildered looks. Jim felt the prickles of paranoia ripple under his skin.

"Come on Jess, here's a chance for you to win another favor." Jim urged.

The tinge of despair in Jim's voice made Jessica look up at him. He was looking at her with a perplexed expression. Scott and Josh sat on dining room chairs that they'd moved on the other side of the coffee table and were watching her as well.

She felt like she should smile or something ... something to make them relax. But she didn't feel like it. She wasn't relaxed and at the moment she didn't care if they were.

She felt angry and annoyed. She pulled her knees to her chest and closed her eyes. Her period was coming and as usual she hurt, everywhere. Her stomach, her breasts, her head, everywhere. And she felt angry. Inside she felt like her blood was boiling. She'd always felt like this just before her period started but since she'd been with the men, the extra anger, irritation, annoyance had been hidden as part of her constant anger, irritation, annoyance, and hatred of the men and the situation.

Now ... now that things were calmer, she noticed these heightened sensations much more. And she didn't know what to do with them. Since she'd started using the universal gym, she'd found that the physical pain from her period had diminished somewhat.

But in the past week, she hadn't had a chance to work out. And so now, the pain seemed so much worse. And Riley and Angus were gone. When they were around, she managed to smother her feelings. But somehow, she didn't feel like smothering them around Jim, Josh and Scott. She dropped her forehead to her knees ... maybe she should be more cautious with how she felt. With the amount of anger coursing through her no good could come from letting it out.

Josh had heard the despair in Jim's voice too and he knew just how Jim felt. Things had been going well for so long. Jessica seemed to be enjoying the comic he was creating and the comic books they read together became a ritual that he, and he was certain Jessica, looked forward to. She'd seemed happy ... happier than she'd ever been before. But now this.

From out of nowhere Jessica seemed distant again. He flashed back to his last night with her and instantly got hard. She'd been fine then ... better than fine, he'd fucked her and she had felt so soft and relaxed beneath him that he'd cum extra hard.

Just remembering how he'd emptied his balls into her made them constrict in his pants ... God he hoped he didn't cum in his pants. There was only one place he ever wanted his cum and that was in Jessica. In her warm and tight pussy ... and suddenly it dawned on him, fuck she hadn't had her pill.

"Christ ..." Josh muttered. Kicking back his he stood. "We forgot to give her the pill." He stalked off to the kitchen to get a pill.

"Shit ..." Scott muttered. That reminded him that he still hadn't fucked Jessica ... nor touched her, since the promise he'd made. He felt his groin tighten as he remembered the nights he had had with her ... her masturbating ... using the toys he'd bought for her. She hadn't asked him to touch her yet ... hadn't even let him use the toys on her. Just watch.

He groaned as the pain in his balls began. He crumpled over a little. At least she let him do that ... but he had been sure that she would have asked him to pleasure her by now. The upside of it though ... he thought to himself as he watched Josh coming back, was that at least he knew she couldn't get pregnant with his kid. But her strange behavior now worried him. What if she never asked him to fuck her? God, what would he do then?

"The pills are done." Josh said returning and stopping next to Jessica, "Here you're going to need this ...." He added holding a pad out to her. Jessica's face turned bright red. The one thing she couldn't get used to was having them have so much control over her body.

Thank God she had had her period before she'd gotten to this retched place. Thank God she'd had it when she'd had the chance to talk to her Mom about it. Otherwise that would have made the humiliation of the men knowing ... of them handing out pads to her like they were band aids, one thousand times worse.

"Jessica ..." Josh repeated, waving the pad in front of her face.

That was the final straw. She wanted to take her own damn pills, wanted to control her pad supply herself, wanted some pills for her pain, she didn't want to place any bets for stupid favors that were meaningless in the long run. Didn't they consider that what she really wanted to ask for was to go home? They probably thought they were doing her some kind of favor with the bets. Knowing Jimmy, Jessica was sure of it. But it wasn't the kind of favor she wanted. Not right now anyway. Jessica grabbed the pad from Josh's hand.

"Thanks for the news flash!" she said. And while she felt like yelling, yelling so loud the roof would come off the house, her voice was very low and controlled. Angry, low and controlled. Josh's expression shifted from shocked, to angry, to confused to shocked again and his jaw hung open. Jessica noticed both Jim and Scott looking like she had insulted them somehow. Her head hurt and she dropped it to her knees again. She didn't care.

"Jessica ..." Josh said in a stern voice, grabbing her shoulder. Jessica jerked away ... her shoulder hurt too.

"Jessica!" All three men growled simultaneously. Josh had crouched down in front of her. She raised her head to find his angry face inches from hers. Scott and Jim had gotten to their feet and stood towering over her.

"I'm sorry ..." Jessica said quietly. She tried to drop her head down again, but Josh caught her chin and tilted her head back. "It hurts so much ... I'm sorry."

"What hurts?" Josh asked, eyeing her with suspicion. He looked really angry.

"Everything." Jessica said and a tear rolled down her cheek. "My head, my abdomen, my arms, ... everything. And I feel so angry. I just want to scream." She continued. "I don't want to play cards, I don't want you giving me my birth control pills, and I don't want you telling me when I will need a pad! It's my body ..." she said with a sob. Tears poured down her face as Josh continued to clutched her chin. The men watched her in silence.
"PMS." Scott finally said.

"What?" Jim asked, unable to take his eyes off of Jessica. He was at a loss for how to respond to her.

"Pre-menstrual Syndrome." Scott said. Jim and Josh looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Women get it before they have their periods!" he snapped at them. He'd read about it in some of the literature he'd bought for Jessica. Thank God he had because otherwise Jessica may have found herself at the receiving end of a good spanking judging from the looks on Josh and Jim's faces. Not to mention his initial reaction.

"Oh come on ..." he said when Josh and Jim didn't stop staring at him, "your mothers probably had it ... your sister Jim? Just before their periods, they get all emotional, angry ... downright bitchy." He paused, reaching down to stroke Jessica's hair.

"Tired?" Jim asked. The previous night making more sense now.

Scott nodded, "And they can have a lot of pain. Everywhere."

"Oh no!" Jessica suddenly said and jerked her head away from both Josh and Scott and leaning over the sofa she vomited. A lot.

"And they can vomit?" Josh asked, rubbing Jessica's back as she heaved over and over again.

"I guess so ..." Scott looking at his feet that were now covered in Jessica dinner.

"S ... s ... s orry," Jessica struggled to say between fountains of projectile puke.

"It's okay Jess," Jim said, "I'll get the mop and bucket ... you just get out, what you have to get out ..." and he disappeared down the hallway.

Jessica had vomited for another two or three minutes, dry heaving for another few. Josh had narrowly missed getting it on him, and he now sat on the sofa, Jessica resting against him. He held her tight with one arm and was stroking her head with the other.

Scott had gone to wash his feet and when he returned he helped Jim clean the floor.

When they were done, they stood looking at Josh and Jessica.

"Wow, that's nasty." Jim mumbled.

"What can we do to help her?" Josh asked.

"Not much," Scott said, at least that was what he had determined from his reading. Jim and Josh looked at Scott in awe. They knew that he was a lady's man ... but they had never guessed that he knew that much about women's physiology.

"Josh ... Josh ..." Jessica said, sitting up and pushing his hands away from her. "I know you're trying to help me ... but it really does hurt when you touch me. Do you mind if I just lie on the sofa by myself?"

Josh hesitated. He was on the brink of saying no and pull her back against him. She had felt good there, and the only way he could think of making her feel better was to hug her. Plus, it felt wrong to let her go. But she was shaking. Her body had been vibrating against him and between that and the puking he was willing to concede that what he wanted was of little consequence compared to what she needed.

"Pain medication would help." Scott said as Josh got up and Jessica lay down on the sofa, clutching her legs to her chest.

The men exchanged a look.

"We're not allowed to give her medication ..." Josh said.

"To hell with that." Jim grumbled.

Scott and Josh looked at him in surprise.

"Look at her ..." he said, his hand sweeping her prostrate form. Jessica moaned. "Not medicating her when she feels like this is like torturing her. I thought we were past that."

Scott and Josh nodded.

"I'll get her some pills." Josh said and headed to the barn.

"I've got the water." Scott said and headed to the kitchen.

"It'll be okay Jessica." Jim said, kneeling down next to her head. His hand hovered over her. His every instinct urging him to touch her, but her obvious pain causing him to pause.

"Here Jessica. Sit up." Josh said having returned from the barn and having taken Jim's place, two pills in his hands.

"Here," Scott said handing Josh the glass of water. Jessica sat up with a groan. She took the pills and washed them down.

"Thanks." She said as she lay back down on the sofa, legs pulled firmly to her chest.

"Why hasn't this happened before?" Jim asked. "She's been here for a long time ..." "It probably has." Scott said.

"And we never noticed?" Josh asked.

"We never cared." Jim said quietly. He felt like shit. He could tell by the looks on Scott and Josh's faces that they didn't feel much better. Scott dropped into the armchair, Josh and Jim onto the other two empty chairs.

"Jessica," Jim said. "How long does this usually last?"

"A couple of days ..." she replied, "sometimes three or four. I've never puked before though ..."

"And when the bleeding starts ... you feel okay?" Scott asked.

"Usually." Jessica said and then groaned. It felt like her brain was going to slide out of her nose. "It feels better then ... still sore, but much better."

"This started a few days ago didn't it?" Jim asked. Jessica nodded. "Well at least it'll mostly be over when Riley and Angus get back." He was certain that despite laying off of Jessica due to Riley's new rules Angus would find some way to make Jessica's situation worse for her.

Jessica groaned, clearly not believing she'd escape the notice or attention of Angus. Jim didn't really believe it himself either. There were some things that were outside his, Josh and Scott abilities to do for Jessica but replaying her words about the birth control pills and pads Jim realized there was something they could do to make her happier.

"If it helps at all, we can't promise anything when Riley and Angus are around but when it's just us, you can control the pills and pads for yourself."

"What the fuck?" Josh demanded just as Jessica gaped at Jim with an expression of absolute surprise which quickly changed to joy.

"Jim ..." Scott grumbled in a low tone.

"She's right you know." Jim said. "It is her body. She should have some control over it."

Scott laughed. "I dare you to try and convince Riley and Angus of that."

Josh groaned, not looking forward to another round of Jim versus Angus. Jessica gasped and clearly didn't relish the idea of involving Riley or Angus in any way.

Jim shook his head, "This is just between us. I know how going down that road would end and Jessica would be the one to suffer most. Jess, you'll just have to be content with getting what you can when you're with us. You good with that?"

Jessica started to nod her head but thought better of it. Clutching her aching head all she could manage was a muffled, "Mhmmm."

Neither Scott or Josh looked particularly pleased when Jim swung his gaze to them.

"They're going to kick our asses when they find out." Scott said quietly.

"If they find out." Jim replied.

Jessica's eyes began to close and she seemed to be relaxing.

"Pain meds kicking in?" Jim asked.

"Yes ..." Jessica replied in a sleepy voice.

"Need to sleep?" Scott asked. Jessica managed a slight nod before drifting off.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Josh said to Jim in a quiet voice.

"Me too." Jim replied, his mind racing. Somehow there had to be a way to get Riley onboard. Angus would do what Riley said. Jim didn't know how, but he was going to get Jessica some of her dignity back even if in the whole scheme of things it was a minor achievement. Control over birth control and sanitary napkins paled in comparison to what he knew she really wanted. But maybe it was the next step toward making Jessica want to stay.

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

Jessica flicked her eyes up from the magazine. It had to be the hundredth time that she'd done so. It was over a week and a half since she'd vomited on the living room floor. Her period had ended two days earlier and she was in Scott's room, reading a new porno magazine that he'd bought.

Scott lay on his stomach across the foot of his bed, doing the same.

Jessica couldn't stop looking at him. And each time she did, she felt a tightening between her legs. It reminded her of how it felt before she orgasmed. The only time she felt the same sensation was when she played with herself, or looked at the magazines. She'd never had that happen when she saw Scott until that very moment.

She tried to determine what had changed. Scott, Jim and Josh had been really nice to her while she had her period. They hadn't touched her , not even a hug, until she told them it didn't hurt anymore. That hadn't stopped Angus of course.

Riley left her alone when she had her time of the month but nothing stopped Angus. To her knowledge Jim, Josh and Scott had not told Angus or Riley about the effects of her period on her, and she was glad. She was certain Angus would take the opportunity to purposely cause her pain. But regardless of Angus and Riley it was nice having personal space with Jim, Josh and Scott.

Scott never expected her to masturbate when she had her period, so she'd had a break from that. And now ... now she had a new magazine, toys at her disposal ... although Scott encouraged her to use her fingers mostly.

He'd said something about not being able to compete with a toy. She hadn't understood what he'd meant when he'd said it, but now, with another tightening between her legs she remembered something else he'd said. He said she'd ask him to touch her. He'd said that he could give her more than she could give herself. At the time she'd known that she would never want him to touch her ... would never ask him to touch her. Now she wasn't so sure. Had he tricked her somehow?

Scott flipped the page in the magazine that he was reading, and a slight moan escaped him. Jessica watched as he pressed his pelvis into the bed. Inexplicably, she wanted him to be pressing into her.

"Scott ..." she said before she even knew what she wanted to say.

"Hmmm, " he asked looking up from the page. He had that look on his face. He always had that look when he read a porn magazine or he watched her masturbate.

"Uhhh." He gasped as his eyes fell on her. He thrust his pelvis into the bed again and his expression changed slightly ... became a little pained. That happened when he watched her masturbate too. And when it did, Jessica was certain that he was going to break his promise and touch her. But he didn't. He'd put his hand down his pants and satisfy himself, watching her the whole time. Just like he was watching her now. Jessica felt a shock shoot through her.

Scott licked his lips. God she looked so good. So hot. Even with her clothes on, just sitting there. She had that look that she always had just before she orgasmed but he'd trained himself to ignore it. So many times he wanted to jump her. So many times he almost did. He closed his eyes for a moment. It wouldn't be long, and they'd both masturbate ... not long. He got a grip on himself and exhaled. He opened his eyes and almost came in his pants. She looked so ... ready.

"Were you going to say something?" he asked but he had to turn back to his magazine. He couldn't look at her anymore.

"Do you know those drugs?" Jessica asked. She sounded out of breath but Scott couldn't chance looking at her. "The drugs in some of the stories? The ones that the men slip into the womens' drinks?"

Scott nodded his head, but still couldn't look at her. "Date rape drugs?"

"Yes." Jessica nodded, more to herself than him because he was looking back at his magazine. But that had to be it ... that had to be the reason she felt like she did. He had to have given her a date rape drug. Jessica was quiet for a minute ... she had a fundamental problem with giving in to drugs. He would have cheated if he'd done that, but God she couldn't help the urges. She was beginning to pant.

"What about them?" Scott asked flicking his eyes up when she'd been quiet but he flicked them back down right away. Holy fuck, she was about to get off and he so badly wanted to get her off himself.

"They ... they make the girls want sex, right? Make them crazy for it?" Jessica panted.

Scott was shaking his head. "Date rape drugs knock girls out. They don't remember anything afterwards. You're thinking of aphrodisiacs. There are some foods and drugs that make women horny. Really horny."

Scott waited for a minute, for Jessica to say something more, but she didn't. He could hear her breathing. "Why?" he said, turning his eyes to her but fighting not to turn his head. He was going to blow it. Apparently he wasn't as good at controlling himself as he was beginning to pride himself on being.

"Did ... " Jessica paused. She should have been embarrassed by this, by how badly she wanted him. Was this healthy? What was wrong with her? "Did ..." she tried again. It was beginning to hurt now. "Did you give me one of them? An aphrodisiac?"

Scott was silent for a minute. He thought he'd detected a little of an accusation in her tone.

"No. All I gave you was the cream ... that's it."

"Okay ..." Jessica replied after a moment, and suddenly a thought occurred to Scott.

"Why?" he demanded, snapping his head up to look at her. She had moved a little closer to him and she almost looked like she was in pain herself. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know ... " she said and a flash of fear across her face. "It hurts ..."

"What does?" He got to his knees but was afraid to move toward her. He felt a pain himself, right in his balls.

"Between my legs. I think, think it's my clitoris ..."

"Sounds like blue balls." Scott said bringing his hand to his own private parts and bringing his knees up, curling into a ball. "Welcome to my world. Masturbate, it will take care of it."

Jessica was shaking her head. Her chest was heaving so hard that he thought her breasts were going to pop right out of her shirt ... not that he'd mind. No, no, he would mind ... God he needed some relief. He began undoing his pants.

"I don't want to masturbate ..." Jessica panted out and something in the way she said it made Scott freeze. He looked up at her.

"What do you want then?" he asked slowly ... carefully. He was afraid to hope.

"You. I want you to masturbate me." Jessica said and another shock of pleasure hit her so hard she arched her back, throwing her head back and moaning, "please Scott, please, I think I'm going to die ..."

Scott lunged toward her, grabbed her legs, dragged her down the bed until he was pressing his now completely rock hard penis against her.

"I don't think I can stop if you tell me to ..." he growled as he ripped her shirt open, pulled her bra over her breasts and took one in his mouth.

"I don't care ..."

"I may hurt you ... " he said releasing the first breast and taking the nipple of the other between his teeth.

"I don't care ..." Jessica panted and tried to put her hand under his shirt. She felt the hard muscles of this stomach ... she wanted his shirt off, his pants off, but Scott pushed her hands away, grabbed both her wrists firmly in his left hand and pinned them above her head.

"I'm warning you right now Jessica, keep your hands up here. Here!" he emphasized, squeezing her wrists and slamming them into the bed above her head. "If you don't, they may get ripped off."

Jessica was nodding. "Please hurry ..." she gasped.

Scott let go of her wrists, got up on his knees and tore her pants off. Groaning with pleasure he grabbed her thighs and pushed her legs apart, far apart. Her pussy lips parted for him and he almost came as he looked at the pink meat that they presented him. And the smell ... all reason left him, and Scott dove face first into the warm, liquidy delicacy that awaited him.

Scott chewed, nipped, licked, slid his tongue into her, and Jessica screamed as pleasure erupted in her. Scott put his hand over her mouth but she continued to cum and continued to scream.

"Jesus Christ!" Scott murmured, looking at the bedroom door. "The others are going to come running if you keep screaming like that!"

But Jessica couldn't stop. Her head snapped from side to side and she continued to scream. Looking around the bed, Scott found Jessica's underwear and shoved it in her mouth. It dulled the noise a little bit. Scott rammed his knee against her pussy and rubbed as she pulsated against it. He pulled his pants down.

"Mother fucker!" he yelled as he fought with his pant legs and his underwear. Finally he kicked off his clothes and pushed Jessica back on the bed. She had sat up while he'd tried to get his pants off and gyrated against his leg.

Scott grabbed her by the nape of her knees and pushed her legs open, and unable to control himself, he thrust into her. Over and over. He grasped her shoulders with his hands and held her in place as he rammed and rammed.

He lowered his mouth to hers and used his teeth to pull her underwear out of her mouth. He flung it to the side and brought his lips down hard on her, stifling the screams that continued to emit form Jessica. He kissed, he licked, he bit, he explored and eventually Jessica stopped screaming and started kissing back.

Unable to control himself any more, Scott exploded inside her, groaning into her mouth. Eventually, Scott's thrusts began to slow. But he kissed her. And kissed her. And Jessica kissed back. And then he collapsed on her. Scott lay on top of Jessica, listening to her breathe. He couldn't believe it.

Finally, finally they'd had sex the way they should have from the beginning. Finally, she'd wanted him. But he thought about how he'd eaten her out, how he'd thrust into her, how he'd bitten her lips. What if he'd hurt her? What if she didn't want to do it again. God, he couldn't take that. He ran a hand down the length of her body. He could be more gentle. He could prove it to her.

Gently, he kissed his way down her body, first one nipple then the other. Jessica moaned a little but still slept. He kissed her abdomen, then he gently parted her legs and kissed her thighs. Then with his thumb he gently stroked the hair on her pussy, and then stroked down one lip, letting his thumb disappear into the bush.

He felt her hot and wet on his thumb as he slid it between her lips. He was erect again. Jessica moaned ... holy shit. He slid his thumb into her and then brought his tongue down between her lips. She tasted so good ... she was so wet ... she moaned and then her eyes opened and she looked down at Scott.

He licked a little harder, thrust deeper with his thumb. Jessica sighed and began to pant. He pushed deeper with his tongue, with his teeth. She was so wet, Scott was making a lapping sound, like a dog drinking from a bowl of water. Suddenly Jessica shivered, arched, moaned, and even more wetness spilled onto Scott's face. Her legs began to twitch, and she looked down at Scott while he continued to lick.

"A little twitching won't stop me," he murmured, "you're going to cum again Jessica ... over and over, all night."

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

They lay in one another's arms. It was hours later. Scott kept stroking Jessica's side, from her shoulder all the way down to her butt, as far as he could reach while lying beside her.

"You seemed to enjoy that," Scott said, kissing her forehead.

"Mmmhmmm," Jessica replied, and rolled on to her side so she was leaning against him. She kissed his nipple.

"I didn't hurt you?"

Jessica giggled against his chest. "No. My legs feel like rubber though."

"That's good, that's what multiple orgasms will get you." He said, rubbing her bum. Jessica pushed up on her elbow and looked down at Scott. He was smiling at her with a lazy, sensual, smile. She kissed his lips. Then she slid her eyes down his chest. And there was the scar from when she had shot him. Her eyes locked on it. She couldn't bring herself to apologize for it. She didn't feel sorry. But she brought her lips to it and kissed it gently. Scott stroked her head.

"What about you?" she asked forcing her eyes up from the scar and locking them on Scott's brown eyes. "How are your legs?"

"They're on the verge of wobbliness ..." he said with a toothy smile.
Jessica ran her hand down Scott's chest, down his stomach and began to stroke Scott's penis.

"I could help you with that you know." She said smiling as his penis hardened in her hand. "I could make you completely unable to walk."

"I have no doubt." Scott said and caught his breath as Jessica began to kiss her way done to where her hand stroked him.

"I've never done this before." She said, licking the tip of his penis.

"That's a good start ..." Scott managed to stutter.

"All the books and magazines say it's pretty complicated ..." she said flicking her tongue on the tip of his penis again.

Scott groaned. "I'm sure you can manage ... but I can help you along. Open your mouth ..." he gasped. When Jessica did, he pushed his cock into it and grasped the top of her head. "Just try to swallow it ... all of it." He said, gently pushing on her head. He threw his head back and sighed as pleasure over took him.

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

The next morning Scott felt like a school boy. He made Jessica breakfast and was relieved when the men didn't say anything about her screaming. Maybe they'd fallen to sleep and missed it. While Jessica ate, Scott kept circling around her. He wanted to touch her, he couldn't help himself.

"Will you fucking sit down!" Angus finally shouted at him, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Gotta go to the bathroom." Scott mumbled, his cock having stiffened significantly while he circled Jessica. He practically ran down the hallway. He hoped no one had noticed it.

"What's up with him?" Angus asked Riley.

"Dunno." Riley said with a shrug.

Jessica lowered her head and shovelled eggs into her mouth.

Jim watched her and tried to figure out why she looked different. Her face was blazing red ... but given Angus' shouting he wasn't too surprised. Beyond that there was something else. Something he couldn't put his finger on.

"I fed Baby." Josh said coming in the front door and placing the pup on the floor.

"Thank you ..." Jessica said. When she finished her eggs she looked over at Riley. He seemed oblivious to the fact that she was done eating.

"She's done Riley. Can she get up from the table?" Josh asked. Jessica exhaled in appreciation when Riley nodded.

Scott came back down the hall as Jessica moved to where the puppy sat on the floor. She bent over to pick him up, and Scott turned on his heel and headed back to the bathroom. Oh man, he had a problem. If this kept up, he was going to go blind. His only hope was that his dick would learn some control, and soon. In the bathroom he jacked off, and then after washing his hands he stood looking in the mirror.

"Get it together ..." he ordered himself. He closed his eyes but memories of the previous night kept flashing through his mind. "Think about the shooting!" he mumbled. He remembered the fear of Jessica pointing the gun at him and firing. As his erection faded away he opened his eyes and looked in the mirror again. He knew Jessica could still be planning to escape.

He decided to think about that when he went back out to the living room, he'd just imagine that nothing had changed. He threw cold water on his face and went back out to the living room. He mentally repeated that nothing had changed and he felt a sadness flow through him. He really wished things had changed. But even though he knew every part of her body now ... in detail, he didn't know her mind. And he never would. As he walked into the living room and watched Jessica cuddle Baby, he stopped and stared at her.

He wanted her to promise to be his ... forever. It was a long shot ... but he was a betting man. He bet at the track regularly. Surely the odds of this were improving as time went on. But for the time being he'd have to spend the day in the barn working. He needed a distraction, his cock was having a hard time adjusting to being with Jessica outside his bedroom.

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

Scott had worked in the barn like a demon. Partially to kill the horniness that wouldn't go away. Partially to kill the inexplicable sadness that he still felt. Since he'd thought about the promise that he wanted from Jessica, he felt hollow.

It was a no win situation, he realized. If he asked her and she refused to promise, it would hurt. If he asked her and she promised ... he would never know if she meant it or if she was just saying it to create an opportunity for escape.

Still feeling hollow he had come in, showered, and now sat eating dinner with the others. While he ate he was unable to take his eyes off of Jessica. But Jessica, for her part, was doing her best to not look at him. The more it became obvious that Jessica was avoiding him, the bigger the hole inside him grew.

Jessica sat hunched over her plate. She pressed her thighs together. Her private area tingled and tingled. It had been happening all day but when Scott came back in from outside, and Jessica saw him, she doubled over from the force of the sensation that struck her. She'd almost screamed. She wanted him, physically, so badly. It was ... embarrassing. And with Scott's reappearance from a day of absence, Jessica suddenly felt so shy.

Images of the previous night played in her head. He had touched her, kissed her, licked her, bit her, in places so private ... if it hadn't been for the magazines she never would have imagined that people did those kinds of things. And then she had done it for him. He had told her to swallow the sperm that came shooting out of his manhood. And she had. He'd even had her lick it off of the areas where it had spilled over.

And she'd wanted to. Inexplicably, she'd wanted to. It had seemed almost normal in the bedroom, but out here, in the kitchen, with the other men ... with Baby on the floor ... it felt surreal, odd. And she couldn't look at Scott. Not without physically wanting him, but also not without being incredibly embarrassed and incredibly shy.

Scott was trying to think of something to say to her. Something to make her look at him. But he couldn't think of anything logical. 'How was your day' seemed completely ridiculous given the circumstances. Finally he settled on clearing his throat.

None of the men noticed, but he saw Jessica shift her eyes to him and then snap them back down to her plate. So, she was purposely not looking at him. He felt anger begin to grow. He cleared his throat again. This time Jessica didn't even shift her eyes. He cleared it again. This time all the men looked over at him. Angus, as usual, looked annoyed.

"Tickle ... " Scott said.

"Here, have some beer." Josh said passing him his half empty bottle.

"Thanks." Scott mumbled taking a swig, but his eyes never left Jessica. And her eyes never left her plate. The rest of the night was a living hell for Scott.

He sat sulking in the armchair while Jessica curled herself up on the sofa with the puppy and read comic books with Josh. Well, at the end of the night, she was going to have to look at him. Look at him and give him a good night kiss. He helped himself to several more beer while he waited.

By the time 10 o'clock rolled around, Scott was tipsy, but he was also sitting at the edge of his seat waiting. Finally Josh put down his magazine.

"Bed time." He said to Jessica.

Jessica handed her magazine to Josh and then flitted her eyes around the room ... and Scott could have sworn she flitted past him extra quickly. She got to her feet and started with Jim, who was to Scott's right, and then she proceeded in the opposite direction, making Scott last.

By the time she finished with Riley to his left, Scott was standing, and flexing his hands into fists. When Jessica turned in his direction, she stopped and stood head down. She didn't move. The other men stood looking between her and Scott. Scott normally wasn't someone she had trouble saying good night to. Angus leaned forward in his chair. Here was an unexpected opportunity to punish Jessica.

"Jessica ... " Scott growled. "Get over here!"

Jessica's heart thudded. Scott was angry. Very angry ... and she was breaking the rules. She was jeopardizing her freedoms. Taking a deep breath, Jessica shuffled to stand before Scott, but she couldn't look at him.

In frustration, Scott grabbed her chin and tilted her face up. When Jessica looked at him, for the split second before her eyes slid away, she made a small choking noise and crossed her legs. And her cheeks were blazing red.

Scott paused. She looked uncomfortable ... and really embarrassed. Maybe she was having the same problem he was. He leaned down to her ear,

"Are you ... horny?" he growled quietly. Jessica nodded her head slightly, but was so embarrassed she tried to pull her chin from his hand.

"What the hell is going on?" Angus demanded. Scott looked up and noticed that the men had leaned in a little, probably trying to hear what he'd said to Jessica. From their expressions, they hadn't heard. But Angus had that happy look he got when he was about to pummel Jessica for something. Scott turned to Josh.

"Can I have a minute alone with her?" he asked.

Josh was looking back and forth between Scott and Jessica. He hesitated in answering ... had it been Angus he would have flat out said no, but Scott should be fairly safe. He didn't think he'd beat her ... not when it wasn't his night.

"A minute ... in my room."

Scott nodded, grabbed Jessica by her arm and dragged her down the hallway to Josh's room. He slammed the door shut and pulled Jessica to face him. He took her chin in his hand and tilted her face.

"Why won't you look at me?" he demanded.

"It hurts ..." Jessica answered.

Scott didn't know what to say. He watched a whole new layer of bright redness spread across her face.

"Are you embarrassed?" he asked.

"Yes ..." Jessica replied.

He had an angry tinge to his voice that made her very aware that she had not been following the rules.

"Why?" he asked, the anger in his voice replaced with gentleness as he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. He lowered his face to within inches of hers. The proximity made his cock jump to attention. Jessica felt it against her and blushed even more.

"I don't know. Things seem so different when we're not in your room, but when I look at you ... and I think about what we did ..." Jessica's face turned redder and she slid her eyes away from his.

"Jessica ... look at me."

Jessica forced her eyes back to his but wished she could curl up and disappear.

"Are you afraid of what we did?"

"No," she said. What she felt wasn't fear exactly.

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Yes." She whispered but she turned even redder and her eyes slid away again.

"Jessica ..." Scott said, tilting his head so his eyes caught hers. "All we did was become intimate. That's what men and women do. It's normal. It's okay. You don't need to be embarrassed."

Jessica nodded slightly.

"Do you think you can look at me now? When we're out there?"

"I don't know." Jessica said feeling a pulling her pelvis again, tingling up her legs and into the V between them. "When I look at you, I get ..." her voice faded and the red returned on her cheeks.

"Urges?" Scott asked, a smile spreading across his face.

Jessica nodded.

He leaned in to her and said quietly. "Me too. I had to whack off a few times just to make it through the day." While he was talking Scott ran his hand over Jessica's hip, to her thigh.

"Oh ..." Jessica gasped and pressed herself against him.

"Oh my God Jessica ... I'm going to lose it." Scott said bringing his lips to her, but then pulling back. "This is Josh's night with you ... I can't ... I shouldn't. I'm sorry but I'm sure Josh can take care of things for you." He almost choked on the last half of that sentence ... he wanted to do it himself. He squeezed his eyes shut. God he wanted to do it himself.

"What's wrong?" he asked as Jessica pulled away from him. He opened his eyes and saw her staring at him with a panic stricken expression, she was shaking her head.

"No?" Scott asked. "Josh can't?" he asked in disbelief. Scott leaned back a little. He was certain the other men were having sex with Jessica.

"You and Josh aren't ... you don't have sex?"

He didn't think Jessica could possibly get any redder, but she did. Scott brought his hand up and rubbed his thumb on her cheek. Feeling somehow that by rubbing he could rub out the redness. Jessica was looking down at his chest again ... she brought both her hands up to rest on it. She copied Scott's thumb strokes on her cheek with her thumbs on his chest. She was nodding. With a sigh, she looked up.

"But, we're not ... intimate."

Scott stared at her for a moment. In truth he hadn't really made any kind of distinction between sex and intimacy. He was taken aback that Jessica did. He brought his thumb to her lips and stroked. Boy did he want to strip her down and spend some more time between her legs. He wanted it so bad ... but he just couldn't do it. Josh was waiting ... he was taking Josh's time right now.

"Okay, then Jess, you'll just have to take care of it yourself."

Jessica went pale. And her eyes seemed to grow by 4 or 5 sizes. She was shaking her head.

"Breathe Jessica!" He said when her chest stopped moving.

Jessica gasped.

"Why can't you just masturbate Jessica ... you do it all the time."

"What if he sees me?" Jessica asked in a way that left little doubt that it would be one of the most traumatic things to ever happen to her. Scott could do nothing but stare at Jessica. An unsettled feeling washed over him.

"Jessica. Are you intimate with any of the other men?"

When Jessica shook her head, he wasn't sure how he should feel.

Part of him thought he should be happy. And in a strange way he did feel like he had a special connection with Jessica. But for some reason ... he felt responsibility weighing down on him.

Emotions were swirling around in him. Emotions that he didn't recognize nor know how to handle. As he was trying to figure out what to do next, he forgot that while his one hand was on Jessica's face his other had remained on her leg.

Jessica moved closer to him, and pressed her pelvis against it. Well, he couldn't leave her like this. He was about to pass out from all the blood rushing to his balls, but he could at least go and jerk off. She apparently couldn't ... or wouldn't. Scott glanced at the door. He had a few minutes, hopefully.

"Okay Jessica ..." he murmured, reaching for the button on her pants. "I'll take care of you. Not the way I really want to. There's no time. But I think to keep ourselves sane we'll have to really go at it on the nights your with me. Get it out of our systems, and try not to think about it in between."

Jessica was nodding, but also pressing herself harder against him. She brought her lips to his. He had to do this fast and then get the hell out of there. He doubted very much that Josh would appreciate him eating her out on his bed ... and given much longer that was exactly what he'd be doing. He slid his hand down her pants, fingered his way through the curls that he found inside her underwear, and slid his finger between her lips. He found her clitoris and rubbed.

"Ahhh ..." Jessica moaned against his mouth, and she lifted her leg, pressing herself against him. He stroked and stroked, and before longer she was moaning so loud he was afraid Josh would hear them. He kissed her, hoping his tongue in her mouth would quiet her, and while she didn't scream like the night before, she came close. Suddenly he felt wetness seep between his fingers and Jessica quieted, lowering her leg she fell against him panting.

"We'll have to work on the screaming ..." he whispered into her hair. "I personally love it, but with four other men in the house, it may not be a great thing to do."

"Sorry ... " Jessica mumbled into his chest.

"Don't be. I'm just glad you're enjoying yourself. Do you feel better now?"

"Yes. Thanks."

"Okay." He said. God he had to go. He looked over at Josh's bed. Handcuffs hung open on the headboard. "Come on." He said leading her to the bed.

She sat down, and he locked her wrist into one of the cuffs.

"I'll get Josh. Get some rest okay ... good night." He kissed her forehead and left before he could do something he was sure Josh would make him regret later.

************************************************************* One month later

"God damnit," Jim said and then laughed when Jessica inhaled with great exaggeration.

"Ah the sweet smell of victory." She said with a giggle. They'd been playing two handed euchre and for the fourth time in a row Jessica had beat his pants off. He watched her shuffle the cards before dealing. He never got tired of her smile.

The previous night he'd played his guitar for hours and she'd smiled and swayed the whole time. Urging him to play song after song. With Angus paying less attention to her the past little while, she'd really seemed to relax with him. Become less guarded. Even her nightmares had stopped ... while she was with him anyway.

"Keep that up and I'm going to be afraid to play with you." Jim said with a laugh. "Oh yeah, almost forgot..." he added holding an old issue of Angus' Automotive Illustrative out to her, "Angus tossed this the other night."

"Oh, thanks." Jessica said taking the magazine eagerly and leafing through it. A few weeks back Angus had left an old edition lying on the coffee table and Jessica had read it cover to cover. Enjoying it until she found out it was Angus'.

She'd dropped it like it would bite her and it took some work on Jim's part to convince her that Angus wouldn't care if she read it ... he'd been tossing it. She pulled Baby onto her lap and perused a few pages. Well. This was as good a time to stop playing cards anyway. The other men were outside doing chores and it was time for Jim to make dinner.

"Alright Jess," Jim announced while getting to his feet and heading into the kitchen. "I'll get supper started. Spaghetti sound good to ..." he turned back to the living room and ran into Jessica. "W w what are you doing?" he asked.

"Can I help?" she asked in a tone so light Jimmy got the feeling that she should have been chewing gum and twirling a string of hair around her finger. She stepped around him and into the kitchen.

"It's really not necessary," Jim said panicking as he thought about all the knives that lay within reach. She wasn't supposed to be in the kitchen.

"Oh please, come on, there must be something I can cut up for you, I can put the water on for you ..." she said moving toward the pots hanging on the wall.

"Jessica!" Jimmy nearly shouted. She turned to look at him, and actually looked confused.

"When is the last time you were in the kitchen?" he asked wondering if she were trying to take advantage of him again.

She shrugged.

"Can't remember can you?" He asked. Jessica shook her head. "That's because you have never been in the kitchen ... you are not allowed in the kitchen."

"I'd like to help ... I love to cook," she said with that same airy tone, "it's not fair that you guys always have to cook ... besides, we can spend time together ... please?"

Jimmy got the uncomfortable feeling again that Jessica felt she owed him something.

"Jess, you can sit and talk to me while I cook, we're still spending time together ..."

"I know, but that's boring. Please, I really want to be doing something. Actually," Jessica added, her tone becoming serious, 'I really need to be doing something."

Jimmy hesitated. Technically Jessica wasn't allowed in the kitchen alone. If he was with her ... she wasn't really breaking any rules. He knew she was bored a huge amount of the time, if he cleared the kitchen of any potential weapons how could Jessica cooking be an issue?
"Alright, why don't you get that pot?" he said indicating the furthest, largest pot. Jessica squealed and jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

"Thank you Jimmy, thank you!" she kissed his lips ... a little longer than he would have expected, and went to get the pot. While her back was turned, he gathered all of the knives in the vicinity and threw them into a drawer that was as far from Jessica as possible. Once she had the pot, she didn't hesitate to get water from the sink, place it on the stove, and turn the stove on. It was as if she did it every day.

"Any veggies to cut up for the sauce?" she asked as she practically skipped to the fridge, and stood peering into it.

"I got them ..." Jimmy said taking Jessica by the shoulders and moving her out of the way. "Why don't you grate some cheese ..."

"Where's the grater?" she asked, snatching the cheese from Jim's hand. "The water is boiling." She said peering around Jim. He turned to see steam billowing out from under the pot lid. Jessica moved as if to go around him.

"I got it," he said, "you grate."

"Sit Baby!" Jessica said to the pup that rubbed against her leg. "You think she can eat some cheese?" Jessica asked Jim.

"I don't know ..." Jim said, "try it I guess."

"See if you can catch it ... " she said to Baby. She laughed as the pup nearly missed the piece of cheese.

Scott walked in the front door and did a double take. He saw Jessica in the kitchen, arm moving up and down, Jim not far from her, back to her, stirring a pot.

All need to go to the washroom disappeared as fear gripped him. Was Jim stupid enough to give Jessica a knife? He felt like he was living a double life. When he and Jessica were alone in his room, he felt like he and she were different people. He had nothing to fear from her. He knew every part of her body, she, his ... but out here ... he knew nothing. She was a different person. Possibly one who would be willing to stab him with the kitchen knife. He had to get it from her. Just to be on the safe side.

Neither Jim or Jessica had noticed Scott's entrance. Leaning his rifle against the wall as quietly as he could, he took the opportunity to sneak into the kitchen. He saw the dog lying at Jessica's feet. The dog barely noticed him. He crept behind Jessica, the whole time envisioning how he could get the knife from Jessica as safely as possible.

With the element of surprise, it should be easy. He was about to slip his arm around Jessica's neck, down her front and grab her wrist when he saw the grater on the counter and the orange stub of cheese in her hand. Cheese? She was grating cheese? Relief flooded over him.

"What's going on?" Josh asked from the doorway.

Jessica turned and jumped when she found Scott standing right behind her.

"You scared me!" she stated, as Scott turned back to her, relieved that it was Josh who had spoken and not Riley, or God help them, Angus. "Don't do that again!" she said giving him a small shove on his chest.

"That goes both ways lady," Scott said, "I think my heart stopped when I saw her in here ..." he said to Jim, "are you nuts? Do you know how Angus and Riley would react?"

"Jesus Jim, she just got her privileges back, what are you trying to pull?" Josh said.

"It was my idea," Jessica interjected.

All three stood staring at her.

"I wanted to help. I love to cook." Silence ensued. "I do know how to cook, you know." More silence. "Is it really that hard to believe?" She asked.

"No, what's hard to believe is that after what you've been through with Angus, you'd be dumb enough to get him mad again!" Scott practically shouted.

Jessica shrank and Scott couldn't believe that she was actually pouting.

"You don't have to be so mean! I just wanted to help that's all. Why should Riley or Angus get mad about that?"

"Why? Why? Oh you're funny Jess. Why don't you ask them that?" Scott demanded.

"Fine!" Jessica said a flicker of fear passing over her expression at the suggestion. "Let me know when you're in a better mood!" and throwing the cheese onto the counter, Jessica pushed past Scott, stomped past Jim and Josh, into the living room and flung herself onto the sofa, Baby following her.

She scooped her up, turned her back on the kitchen and the men, and hid her face in the puppy's fur.

"What the hell was that?" Scott asked Jim and Josh, disbelieving what he just saw.

"Guys ... "Jim said quietly, "she was bored. She wanted to help me cook. She has never, ever, suggested something like that before."

"A trick?" Josh asked.

Jim shook his head. "I don't think so. You saw what she just did ... have you ever seen her like that before?"

"Doesn't mean it's not a trick," Scott said.

"About a month ago, she went the whole night without a single nightmare. For the past two weeks she hasn't had a single one while she was with me." Jim said.

"Not one?" Scott asked.

"What does that mean?" Josh whispered.

"I think she's accepting the fact that she's here, with us." Jim said.

"Well, if Riley or Angus catch her in the kitchen she'll be reconsidering that!" Josh said.

"If she talks to them, like she just did to me, " Scott added watching her sulk on the sofa, "she may not be alive to reconsider anything."

"First off, it's that time of the month, you know she gets crankier then," Jim said.

"Shit ..." Scott hissed through gritted teeth. He'd forgotten about that, and tonight was his night with her.

"And," Jim continued, "she's scared shitless of both Riley and Angus ... even when she has her period she's extra careful around them. I doubt she'll misbehave around them."

"Either one of them could have come through that door while she was grating away," Josh said pointing at the front door.

"Okay ... why don't we see if we can get them to let her help with the cooking?" Jim asked.

Josh and Scott looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"We'd have to be subtle about it ..." Jim added.

"Let me get this straight ... " Scott said, "you want to play mind games with Riley and Angus?"

"I guess you could call it that ...I don't know about you guys, but I want her to help me cook. If she's bored, she's going to have time to think. Think about her family, think about how to get out of here ..."

"If Riley or Angus figure out what we're doing they're going to kill us." Scott said.

"All the more reason to make sure they don't figure it out. Look, if we each, gradually, over-time, let it slip that Jessica loves to cook, and then that she's bored, Riley will come to his own conclusions. I mean, you don't honestly think Riley came up with the 'be nicer to Jessica' idea alone did you?"

"You?" Josh asked. "You did that?"

"Over a very long time, and very gradually, yes. We just have to be smart, smarter than I have been. Riley and Angus pretty much mistrust anything I say right now because they think I'm Jessica's patsy, but if we let them think that we're on their side. Agree with whatever they say, but 'suggest' alternatives, without knowing it, they'll change their minds."

"Okay, I'm in." Josh said, still completely impressed with Jim's success already with Riley.

"Scott?" Jim asked.

"I'm in, but what am I going to do about Lizzy Borden over there?" Scott asked, jerking his thumb in Jessica's direction. "I can't let her get away with that."

"Set her straight," Josh said, "just remember that it's your night with her tonight ... you may want it to be a pleasant one."

"Jim?" Scott asked. "She hardly ever gets mad at you ... "

"Hey," Jim said, "she and I were happily cooking away in the kitchen. But, if you really want me to take care of it, I will."

"Never mind," Scott said and strode into the living room. "Jessica ..."

"Yes?" she answered turning to face him. She looked more relaxed than she had five minutes before.

"Since when have you been allowed to speak to me, much less take off on me, like that?"

"I'm sorry Scott Scott. I was angry, that's all." She got up, and moved to him. Scott instinctively moved back. What used to be her head butt move somehow changed into a peck on the lips. "Do you forgive me?"

Scott didn't know what to say. He looked over at Josh and Jim ... they looked surprised too "Yyeeees, :" he finally managed to say, "but don't do it again."

"Dinner almost ready?" Riley asked as he came in the house. "Is there a problem?"

"Not exactly a problem," Scott replied. "Well, something has you standing around looking like guppies without any water ... what the hell is it?"

"Jessica got a little out of line with Scott, " Josh said.

"But she has since apologized," Jim said, struck by the change that came over Jessica when Riley had entered the room.

She'd been relaxed, easily looking any one of the three of them in eyes, but as soon as Riley arrived, she seemed to have shrunk. Her head was lowered, and she was cowering.

Josh and Scott noticed it too. Scott pulled her to him, she was shaking.

"That's right," he said, "I've forgiven her."

Riley hadn't seemed to notice a change in her demeanor. Josh hoped that Riley wasn't going to mount an inquisition into her behavior. Jessica's fear would probably grow ten-fold.

"Out of line about what?" he asked as he made his way to the kitchen, grabbed a beer from the fridge.

The three men looked at one another. Dare they go so far as to lie? Jim had done that once already, that wasn't a road Scott cared to go down. He didn't know if Josh knew about Jim's lie, but he seemed to be hesitant about what to say next, also.

"About cooking," Scott finally said.

"Cooking?" Riley asked in surprise.

"I let her grate the cheese," Jim admitted. Hell, if she was going to get into trouble, they may as well do it together.

"Why did you suddenly have this overwhelming need to have Jessica grate cheese?"

"She'd asked if she could help ... she was bored."

There was silence as Riley stood staring at Jessica.

"I put the knives away, " Jim added, "I don't think there's much left that she could do."

"Maybe the problem is that you just don't think," Riley answered. "We're talking about substances that we ingest Jim ... no sharp objects are required ...".

"If one of us is with her ... all she can do is cook. She'd feel like she was doing something useful, Riley, she could feel a little more connected ... "

Riley watched Jessica. Her head was buried in Scott's chest, but he could tell she was listening to every word.

"What do you say?" Josh asked. Jim had made some valid points. Maybe if she felt more connected, she'd be happier.

"No. Not right now. Until she proves to me that we can trust her when we're in a position of vulnerability, she can't earn that right. I don't see how she's going to manage that ... "

He watched for some reaction from Jessica, but she remained very still. He wasn't sure yet what to make of the fact that she'd requested to cook. She always made her requests to Jim, Josh or Scott, so he could not be sure of her demeanor when she made them, but he certainly hoped the men were alert and would be able to pick-up on her intentions.

Okay, maybe not Scott. While Jimmy was by far Jessica's patsy, Scott had a knack for getting himself into near death experiences. And while Jessica's behavior for the previous weeks had been practically impeccable her obedience heightened his concerns rather than ease them. However, he was willing to ignore them for the time being. As Jim was so eager to point out, if he wanted her to be obedient, he couldn't punish her for it.

"What's going on?" Angus demanded as he slammed the front door behind himself. He stood staring at Jessica cowering in Scott's arms.

"Jessica is getting domestic on us," Riley answered.

"Say what?"

"I told her that when she proved to us that we could trust her, we'd let her cook."

"Do we have to wait till then to eat?" Angus retorted while heading for the bathroom, his oil covered hands held away from him. "I'm pretty sure we'll all starve."

"Good point. Is dinner ready then?" Riley asked really more interested in eating then debating an issue he couldn't take seriously. "Then let's eat," Riley said when Jim nodded. Everyone served themselves in the kitchen, Jim getting a plate for Jessica, and seated themselves around the table. Jessica paused between Scott and Josh.

"Baby, sit," she commanded pressing down on Baby's bum and snapping her fingers above Baby's head. Riley choked on his beer, it came out of his nose and sprayed from his mouth. She'd repeated the exact same words and actions he'd done earlier in the day while he'd been training a much older pup.

"Jesus Christ Riley!" Angus yelled as he stared at the beer that was spewed on his plate. Riley coughed as he switched plates with Angus. By the time he'd cleared his lungs and looked back at Jessica, she was sitting in her seat and staring at her plate.

"She's too young yet Jessica," he said. Jessica's head flew-up and there was a look of excitement in her eyes.

"How old does she need to be?" she asked.

"Older than this ... another five or six weeks. You want to be the one to train her, do you?"

"Can I?" Jessica asked, wiggling in her seat, clearly eager.

"You've got 5 or 6 weeks to prove to me that you deserve it. I expect you to be the picture of good behavior until then. Do you think you can handle that?"

Jessica nodded her head.

"You're not off to a very good start," Riley grumbled.

"Yes ... yes, I can handle that," she said while trying to maintain eye contact with Riley.

"Ahuh," Riley said and waved his fork at her, "eat your dinner."

He was stunned. A positive interaction. He and Jessica had another positive interaction. They were few and far between, but they were happening. Angus watched as Jessica pushed her food around with her fork. The past several weeks had been frustrating for him. She was being incredibly patient with whatever she had planned for her escape. Patient and deceptive.

Somehow, in the past four weeks she had managed to be on her best behavior ever. Well behaved, and more than just a little weird. The other day he'd found a couple of his Sports Cars Illustrated in Jim's room. When he'd asked Jim how they'd gotten there, he was surprised to find out that Jessica had been reading them. What the hell kind of interest could she possibly have in car magazines?

Angus wished she'd hurry up and get on with whatever she'd planned... then he could go back to his old routines with her ... and most importantly, he could fuck her again. Six weeks with no sex were killing him. Jessica slurped a noodle into her mouth, and Angus couldn't look at her anymore. Even with sauce splattered all over her chin, she'd had a stirring effect on him. And he couldn't do anything about it. The only way he could keep from beating the shit out of her on a regular basis was to stay away from her all together.

Fuck, he needed a drink. He kicked back his chair as he moved to the kitchen. "Anyone else for a shot of whiskey?"

"Later," Riley said. The others declined. Riley pushed his emptied plate away and was surprised to see Jessica lean toward Josh and whisper in his ear.

"Care to share Jessica?" he asked.

Jessica snapped to attention on her chair.

"Well?"

"May I be excused?" she asked.

Excused? Riley thought.

He and Angus exchanged a look. Jessica never got up from the table before them ... but she had finished her meal, there was little reason that she couldn't.

"Alright," Riley said.

Angus lingered by the back wall. He leaned back against it and tossed the shot of whiskey to the back of his throat. Jessica didn't so much as pause once Riley gave the okay.

"Where's your ball Baby?" she asked as she led the pup away from the table, toward the sofa.

The men sat around the table and watched Jessica roll the ball for the pup. She had to wrestle it away from the dog, Baby didn't have the notion of returning the ball yet. Jessica scooted around on the floor with Baby, and soon they were working their way around the sofa.

"Give me that, you silly dog!" Jessica said and after Baby gave it up, Jessica rolled it again. The ball bounced off the sofa leg and spun across the floor directly in front of the front door. The puppy scampered after it, slid across the floor, bumping into the butt of Scott's rifle that leant against the wall. Baby bounced off, and ran back for the ball.

"Baby!" Jessica exclaimed scooting after her, right where she was forbidden to go. The men moved in unison. Riley, Scott, Josh and Jim, jumped from their chairs, Angus heaved himself from the wall. Jessica had turned her back to the guns, but the scraping of the barrel of Scott's gun sliding along the wall caught her attention. She looked over her shoulder, saw the gun falling over, reached out and caught the barrel before it hit the floor.

"Jessica freeze!" Scott yelled.

"Ooops," she muttered. She was about to get up, but when she saw the men coming at her, she froze. "it fell over ..."

"Don't move!" Angus thundered. The men had skidded to a halt a few feet from Jessica. "Put the gun down Jessica, just lay it down!"

Jessica complied. Tail wagging Baby wriggled over to Jessica. She scooped the puppy up just as Josh, who was nearest to Jessica, pulled her to her feet and back into the living room. Angus picked up the gun, and stood staring at it. The others looked from the gun, to Jessica, to one another. Jessica stood in Josh's grip, kissing the puppy, enduring the ensuing shocked silence.

"Fucking hell," Angus exclaimed the reality of what could have happened sinking in. "Who fucking left this here?" Angus thundered. Scott, ashen faced, raised his hand. "Take this motherfucking thing and put it where it's supposed to be!" Angus ordered, stomping over to Scott and jamming it in Scott's chest.

"Right ... sorry," Scott muttered.

"Josh," Riley said coming around to Josh and Jessica, "I think it's time you uphold your end of the bargain we made."

"Huh?"

"The dog Josh ..." Riley said. He felt a strange sense of anger building in him. Surprisingly he wasn't angry at Jessica, but at Josh.

"Oh, oh right. Jessica, Baby is big enough to go back to the kennel now ..."

"The kennel?" Jessica asked, her face crumpled and she was on the verge of tears.

"She can fend for herself now Jessica, " Riley said, "and before you go getting all worked up about this, just keep in mind that Baby, and Scott," Riley threw Scott a dirty look, "have got you into a lot of trouble. Say goodbye to the dog!"

"But she's still a baby!" Jessica began.

"Jess, you'll see her tomorrow," Jim interrupted impatiently. He couldn't believe she was debating this. Even by his standards she had done wrong ... sort of. It didn't seem as though it had been intentional, but who knew ... Jessica stared at Jim.

"Oh ..." she exclaimed bringing her hand to her mouth. She looked at the door, the gun rack, Angus repetitively making a fist with his right hand, and smacking it into his left, Scott sitting on the sofa, his hands grasping his head and pulling his hair. The realization hit her ... she'd been somewhere that could earn her a beating.

"I ... it wasn't on purpose, I wasn't thinking ... bye bye Baby!" Josh had picked-up the dog and headed for the door.

"You weren't thinking?" Riley growled.

Jessica stepped back, right into Jim's arms.

"Then start thinking now. Come here!" Riley was prepared to repeat himself, reach and grab her, but silently and without looking up, Jessica stepped forward. "Take her downstairs, Jim."

"That's it?" Angus asked when Jim returned from escorting Jessica to the basement. He paced around the room.

"We all saw what happened, Angus." Riley said and moved toward Scott, who still sat cradling his head. "Any thoughts on the matter?" he asked him. Scott looked up.
"Christ Scott, are you alright?" Riley asked. His face was so grey, he looked like a corpse. Scott fell back against the sofa. His heart hadn't slowed down yet, and the terror that had gripped him in those few seconds that Jessica had her hands on the rifle, had not dissipated.

"It was loaded," Scott replied.

"I know," Riley replied, and dropped onto the sofa next to Scott. The men were silent.

"Do you think getting to the gun had been her intention?" Jim finally asked.

Angus paused in mid-stride. So now it was all about intention.

"That requires too much guess work," Angus grumbled. It meant that he'd actually have to think about her. Consider her feelings, her thoughts, her wants. That led to a dangerous place.

"She had her back to the guns," Josh replied.

Riley nodded. That was the big thing that stuck in his mind ... and although Angus wouldn't admit it, Riley knew that that was the main reason Angus hadn't ignored the protocol they'd implemented and thrashed Jessica. In his mind's eye, Riley could see Jessica playing with Baby, she hadn't paid any attention to the guns, or for that matter the front door. It wasn't until the gun had fallen that Jessica, reflexively, had reached for the it.

"There were too many of us around," Angus said, "she wouldn't have stood a chance."

"That's never stopped her in the past," Scott replied.

"So, what do you suggest? We just ignore this whole thing?" Angus demanded.

"We haven't ignored anything," Riley said. "The dog is out of the house now ... she has no excuses left ..."

"She'll find another one Riley," Angus grumbled.

"And when she does, we'll deal with it."

"That'd be something new ... "Angus muttered.

"So you think she went for the gun intentionally?" Jim asked Angus.

"I think that it doesn't matter what her intentions were. She was somewhere that she shouldn't have been, end of story."

"Okay, try something new," Jim said, "pretend ... "

"I'm not pretending nothing, " Angus interrupted.

"Just listen, will you!" Jim said, "If you knew for a fact, a fact, that she had had no intentions of running away, it was all an accident, what would you do?"

"It'd never happen," Angus said. He moved toward the kitchen, "I don't need to go down lunatic lane with you because I will never know for a fact that she wasn't trying to get away, and she'll never do anything 'by mistake'. I need another drink ..."

"Scott, Josh, Riley, how bout you? What would you do?" Jim asked. He'd been too close to betraying her, too prepared to believe the worst. He had to have another way to look at this and if he didn't take the others with him, the past month would all be lost. Especially Angus. This was a golden opportunity.

Deep down inside, there was no way that Angus could really believe that Jessica had tried to go for the gun. Her eyes had been on the dog the whole time, her back to the guns, she hadn't paid any mind to it at all.

"If I knew for a fact that she hadn't planned on trying to blow my brains out ... again?" Scott asked with a shudder.

"Yup,"

"I'd take it as a good sign," Josh interrupted. "I mean, even if it hadn't been planned, the second she had her hands on the gun, she would have used it. She has before."

"Riley?" Jim asked.

"Grab me one too will you?" Riley called to Angus as Angus downed a shot of whiskey. He ran his hands over his face.

"Thanks." He said as Angus handed him the shot glass. He downed the drink. The warmth that burned down his gullet made him feel much, much, better.

"Another?" Angus asked.

"Bring the bottle." Riley answered. "So what's your point with this little game Jim? Why are we pretending something that we can't possibly fathom as ever happening?"

"Because we all saw it. We all saw the same thing, and we all saw that she had no intention of going for the gun, and when she had the gun, she had no intention of using it. Like you said, we all would expect her to try to get to the guns, expect her to use one if she had one. She had one, she didn't use it. Maybe our expectations aren't accurate anymore. Nothing can be lost by letting this go, but a whole lot can be gained. Think about it, if you knew for a fact that she hadn't intended anything tonight, what would you do? "

"Okay Jim, you're flapping your lips a lot here. " Riley said, skipping the shot glass and swigging directly from the whiskey bottle.

What bugged Riley more than anything right then wasn't really what Jessica had done, or not done, but the fact that he actually believed that she was innocent. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it.

But while this should have all been good news, it was disconcerting. Did one innocent act necessarily mean there were more to come? "What exactly are we going to gain from all of this?"

"We may get to enjoy knowing that she didn't live up to our expectations for once." Jim replied.

Riley thought for a moment. That wasn't it at all. For once he saw Jim in a different light. This had nothing to do with Jessica, nor him, Scott or Josh. This was all about Angus. He was trying to get Angus to change his perspective on Jessica. The same thing that Riley himself was trying to do.

"Okay, you want to play this game Jim, let's play. I'm going to 'pretend' that she ended-up near the door with gun in hand, all by mistake. Therefore, I am not going to beat the crap out of her."

"Good," Angus said, "because there's enough crap going on here already. Even if it wasn't intentional, she broke the rules. If you don't want to punish her, fine. At the very least make sure she knows that she wasn't supposed to be there and if it happens again, we will beat the crap out of her."

"Sounds fair," Riley said. He could tell by the look on Jim's face that it wasn't quite what he was looking for.

"How 'bout you Scott?" Josh asked, "Are you alright? Seeing Jessica with a gun musta brought back some memories real quick."

"I think I shit my pants ..." Scott said with a laugh. "But I'm pretty sure it was unintentional. I can live with a warning."

"We agree then?" Jim asked.

"But please, for fuck sake Scott, don't lean your gun against the wall like that! What the hell were you thinking?" Riley demanded.

"I wasn't ... I was busy sneaking." Scott replied.

"Sneaking?" Riley and Angus said in unison.

"I saw Jessica in the kitchen, thought she was using a knife. I was thinking so much about how to get it away from her that I completely forgot about the gun."

"Okay, Jessica does not go in the kitchen again until I say so, got it?" Riley asked Jim. Jim nodded. Well, she may not be allowed to cook yet, but at least both Riley and Angus were willing to concede that she hadn't been trying to escape.

Jessica sat crying on the sofa in the basement.

Baby was gone. Poor Baby, all on her own in the kennel ... yes, she'd be with other dogs, but no one would be there to cuddle her. Jessica couldn't believe that she had not realized that she was going into the forbidden area. Fear tore through her as she realized that she'd defied Riley and Angus. She was surprised that she was actually sitting downstairs, alone, the way she liked it best and neither Riley nor had beaten her immediately.

She closed her eyes, "Please don't be mad, please don't be mad, please don't be mad ..." she chanted to herself. She heard the deadbolt unlock. Standing she watched Jim come down the stairs.

"Am I in trouble?" Jessica asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

She looked so distraught that Jim pulled her into his arms. "No. You'll get a bit of a lecture from Riley, surprise, surprise, but everyone agreed that you didn't try to get to the door or grab the gun on purpose. Did you hear me Jess? Why are you shaking?"

"Angus. He told me what he'd do if I went near the guns. He looked really angry."

"Did you go there on purpose?" Jim asked, rubbing his hands up and down her shaking arms.

"No! Not at all."

"Then you have nothing to worry about." He said. Well, she'd sounded sincere, that was for sure.

"Hey, are you two coming up or what?" Angus called from the top of the stairs. Jessica tensed. Her eyes were the size of saucers as she clutched Jim's shirt in her hands.

"He's never going to believe that I didn't do it on purpose!" she whispered.

"We're coming!" Jim called up. "Jessica, weren't you listening? You're not in trouble. Just be calm all right. Do whatever they say before they even say it, and everything will be fine!" He said.

Angus watched Jessica emerge from the basement with Jim. The thing he didn't admit to anyone, and that he had a hard time admitting to himself, was that he honestly did believe that Jessica had ended-up holding that gun by mistake. She shouldn't have been there to begin with, true, but he could see that it wasn't intentional. For the first time ever he could honestly say that it was not likely planned by Jessica. He didn't know what to do with that. Jessica hesitated behind Jim.

"Jessica come ... " Riley began but Jessica stepped out from behind Jim and head down, took a couple of steps forward.

"Closer ..." Jim whispered over Jessica's shoulder. Jessica took another step and stopped.

"Let's see if you can do this without Jim's help," Riley said giving Jim a dirty look. Just how much was Jim coaching her? Was all of this sudden obedience the result of Jim's misguided belief that she needed new ideas on how to lull them into a false sense security.

"Come here." Riley ordered.

Jessica hesitated for a moment, and then took the final several steps to stand directly in front of Riley. She stood staring at the floor. Riley wondered how long it would be before she decided to look at him. He pointed at Jim and then held his finger to his lips. The silence lasted so long Jessica ventured to look up. The look on Riley's face made her look down again.

"Well, you almost got it," Riley said quietly. "Look at me when I'm speaking to you."

Jessica raised her face. She tried hard to keep her eyes trained on Riley, but they looked everywhere but at him. Angus grunted and Riley knew it was his way of pointing out to Riley that Jessica's response was yet another example of the behavior Angus found suspicious.

Riley could see what was freaking Angus out. There was no hatred or anger on Jessica face. The past couple of months had been much calmer with Jessica, more pleasant, but the lack of anger on Jessica's part was proving to be difficult to adjust to. A chill went down Riley's spine.

Not only were the past couple of months calmer but they were incident free. Now, suddenly, Jessica found herself with access to a gun. Instinctively he felt that something seemed amiss, but yet, he honestly couldn't believe that the gun incident was planned by Jessica in any way. Even not planned, she had not taken advantage of the situation, and that was certainly not Jessica's style.

Jessica had dropped her head again. Riley grasped her chin in his hand and raised it until she had no choice but to look at him.

"You broke a couple of rules tonight Jessica. Important rules. Do you have anything to say about that?"

"I'm sorry," Jessica whispered.

"Do that again, and you'll really be sorry." Angus muttered. Jessica instinctively tried to lower her head again.

"Ah, ah, ah," Riley said keeping her chin tilted, "Angus is right, if this happens again we will not take distraction by the dog as an acceptable excuse. Got it?"

"Yes," Jessica said softly.

"Pardon?"

"Yes, " Jessica repeated, barely increasing her volume.

"Alright then ... " Riley said, releasing her chin. "Scott, are you going to be okay tonight?"

Scott blinked at the mention of his name. His heart hadn't stopped pounding yet. He looked at his watch. Ten o'clock already.

"If you'd rather, " Josh interrupted, "you could switch tonight with me. Give yourself some time to calm down." Josh felt like crap about taking Baby away from Jessica. He had this overwhelming feeling that she hated his guts now, and he couldn't stand the idea of her going to bed without him having the opportunity to apologize.

Scott paused for a moment. He did feel a little shaky and it was her time of the month ... it wasn't like he'd get any tonight anyway ... but he couldn't see himself giving up a night with Jessica willingly.

"Thanks, but I'm fine. Let's go Jessica."

Jessica moved from man to man, kissing them goodnight, and then next to Scott, no prompting necessary.

"We shouldn't have let her get off so easy." Angus said after Scott and Jessica disappeared to Scott's bedroom but he didn't feel the anger that he knew he should.

Damn it, he wished he were in Scott's place. Not that he would touch her ... he hadn't in weeks but he needed her alone so he could satisfy himself she hadn't been planning an escape. "I'll be outside!" he said gruffly and headed for the door. Damn her ... proof of innocence aside, he wanted to touch her. He was going soft ... it was hard to keep his emotional distance when he couldn't brutalize her at will. These days, he was better off as far away from her as possible.

As soon as Scott's bedroom door closed, Jessica broke into tears and flung herself onto the bed with a wail, burying her head in her arms.

"What's wrong Jessica?" Scott asked. Was it him, or had she just been melodramatic?

"Poor Baby! All alone in the barn ..." she sniffed.

"She's fine," Scott said sitting next to her and resting his hand on her arm. Jessica raising a gun and pulling the trigger flashed through his mind. Fear gripped him. 'Angus is right,' Scott thought as he pulled his hand away from Jessica. 'She's dangerous."

"Do you really think so?" Jessica asked sitting up, tears streaming down her face. She looked so small, so sincere, so vulnerable. He felt a pull in his loin, and instantly the clarity with which he'd had the revelation, began to fade. They were taming her, in many ways. His nights with her kept getting better and better. She was an animal in bed. She'd turned into quite the accomplished sex kitten.

"Sure," he said putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her to him, "we'll go see her tomorrow. She's probably more than happy to have other dogs to play with."

"It wasn't really her fault ... we were just playing ..." Jessica said while laying her head on Scott's shoulder.

"No, it's not her fault. You're just lucky that neither Riley or Angus focused on whose fault it really is ..." Did she know that he'd messed up in a big way?

"I didn't do it on purpose either!" Jessica said indignantly.

"I never said you did ... I'm just suggesting that you take care not to make that mistake again."

"Do you think Riley will let me bring Baby back?"

"No, and don't push your luck. Baby had to go back eventually anyway. "

"Hmmm," Jessica huffed. "She's still a baby ... she had a while to go before she had to go back!"

"Well, if you feel so strongly about it, why don't you go back out there and bring it up with Riley. I'm sure he'd be very interested in your opinion."

Jessica shrank back on the bed.

"I thought so," Scott said. He looked at Jessica and memories of their nights together flashed through his mind. He'd picked up more sex toys and props and Jessica'd had little trouble using them.

They had incorporated role playing into their nights together. They'd done all the ones Scott had listed previously, the stranger sex in the movie theater, the lifeguard, police officer, and several others and had just recently been moving into more of the sexual fetish arena.

While the role playing was bringing out Jessica's sexual side, Scott was amazed at how much he was enjoying it too. He'd never done it before. All of his other sexual encounters, and there were many, were passionate and enjoyable but they were nothing more than regular encounters between a man and a woman. But these were much more and Scott was surprised to find he enjoyed forcing Jessica to orgasm over and over until she begged him to stop.

She seemed to like it too, in fact he often found her wet and ready for him and they'd gotten into the habit of starting their night off with that to get the edge off and then move to role play. But given what had just happened, with the gun, and the fact that he'd practically shit his pants, he wasn't sure that he was in the mood for that tonight. Even the fact that she was going down on him on a regular basis now ... and pretty darn good at it too, couldn't quite get him past his fear.

Despite the sadness she felt about Baby, she couldn't deny the ache that was growing between her legs. Scott always looked so hungry for her and she had come to enjoy and look forward to orgasming so many times her legs and body shook and twitched. Jessica let her legs fall open. She was fully dressed, but that didn't matter. She could see Scott's eyes dilate as they stared at her crotch.

"Do you want to touch me?" Jessica asked.

Scott nodded. His earlier fear forgotten. "But aren't you on the rag?"

"Not yet." Jessica said, glad that she wasn't, and that she didn't hurt yet either. She needed to cum as badly as Scott did.

Scott licked his lips and moved his hand toward her pelvis. Jessica pushed his hand away.

"If you want to touch me here," Jessica said rubbing her hand over her pulsating vagina, "You'll have to earn it."

"Earn it?" Scott asked. God his cock was so hard it hurt trapped in his pants.

Jessica looked so hot lying on the bed, her hair fanned out around her, obviously as horny as he was, that he groaned with need when she nodded and licked her lips.

"Pull off my socks," Jessica commanded, holding her foot in front of him. Scott did and then the sock from her other foot also.

"If you want to touch me tonight you're going to have to lick my toes clean. All ten of them, thoroughly. And you're going to have to do it so well that I have an orgasm. If you don't, there will be no pussy tonight."

Scott caught his breath. She had to be kidding, her toes? How the hell could he bring her to orgasm by licking her toes.

"That's impossible Jess ..."

"Lick ...." Jessica interrupted in a breathless voice. She'd read about this in one of the fetish magazines and couldn't fathom how toe licking could make a woman orgasm. But now, the way she felt, the way Scott looked, she wanted her toes in his mouth. She held her foot in front of his face and wiggled her toes.

Scott took her foot in his hand and brought her big toe to his mouth. And he began to lick, suck, nibble. It came naturally, and as he moved from one toe to the next, Jessica began to pant. Every suck sent an electric pulse straight to her pussy and she began to rock her pelvis. By the time he'd reached her baby toe, Jessica cried out in pleasure. She watched Scott as he switched feet. She didn't think she'd orgasm again, but by the time Scott had reached her middle toe, she climaxed.

Scott was desperate now to feel her, to taste her pussy. It would without doubt taste better than her toes. He reached again for her crotch but stopped himself mid-reach. What if she made him lick her toes again. He couldn't handle that.

"Can I touch your pussy now?" he asked.

Jessica shook her head and in a breathless voice she said, "Tell me what you're going to do to me ... in detail."

Scott sat back on his haunches and looked at her. She was clothed but he could picture her without her clothes on.

"I'd start off by running my hands along your thighs. Pushing them apart, opening you up, so I could see ... everything." He began in a low, sensual, growl. He almost came right there as he pictured her pink flesh opening up to him. "I'd stroke, around the outside of your pussy, on the lips. Gently, moving slowly, closer to the opening ..."

Jessica arched. "And then what?" she encouraged when Scott hesitated.
"And then, I'd move my fingers to your meat. I'd rub, and then I'd slide my fingers inside and thrust." Jessica arched again, "And I'd thrust again ... "

"And your mouth, what would you do with your mouth?" Jessica asked.

"I'd eat you ... I'd eat your pussy until you came so hard you practically passed out!" That seemed to be the last straw. Jessica thrust her pelvis toward Scott. "Take off my pants and do exactly what you said you would." She hadn't finished her sentence and her pants were already off. Scott did what he had told her he would and they both climaxed as Scott thrust into her. Scott collapsed, panting on top of Jessica.

"Jesus Christ that was good!" Scott muttered between the kisses he placed on Jessica's forehead his face still glistening with her juices. Jessica grunted and moved out from under Scott.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked as she rolled Scott over and ended up straddling him. She pulsed her pussy against him as she ran her hands up his arms, stopping as she gripped his wrists.

"You didn't do it exactly like you said you would," she said and looked up at the handcuffs that hung open, inviting, on the headboard. Bondage. There were many stories of that in the magazines they read too. Jessica had always avoided those stories. Being handcuffed, tied, unable to move always too close to her reality to be of any enjoyment sexually for her. But she'd never considered the idea of Scott being the one tied up. What better way to work him into a frenzy then to limit his abilities to take what he wanted?

"What are you talking about? I did." Scott protested but quickly became distracted by the wet marks her pussy was leaving on his abdomen as she continued to rock and grind on him. God he wanted her pussy on his cock again ... he needed to feel those wet, tight convulsions on his cock.

"No, " Jessica said raising his right wrist up she secured the handcuff around Scott's wrist and then quickly cuffed his left wrist before he had the chance to free it. "you said nothing about intercourse Scott."

Scott opened his mouth to protest. Jessica grabbed her discarded underwear and shoved it in his mouth. Scott writhed beneath her, but froze when Jessica took a hold of his balls. Jessica mistook the look of terror on Scott's face with desire and slid down his body until her lips grazed the wet head of his hardening cock. Jessica was beyond her element now and her mind raced to figure out what to do next.

Whenever Scott forced her to cum he spoke to her. In a low, urgent growl, his hot breath in her ear he'd say things to her. Dirty things, arousing things, things that would have made her cum whether he touched her or not. Jessica had no idea what she could say to arouse Scott but she knew that Scott often used her swollen and sensitive clitoris to force her to orgasm ... biting it, sucking it, rubbing, pinching it ... and she wondered if it worked on a man's cock too.

" I think you may want me to go down on you." She said in a sultry purr that surprised her. " No?" she asked in mock surprise as Scott shook his head vigorously.

Scott never felt as terrified as he did now. Not even when Jessica had shot him. He was completely at her mercy and would be all night. No one would come in here to help him ... unless he could get her underwear out of his mouth and yell for help.

"All of those "All of those magazines you gave me ... all the books. They all had the woman going down on the man ... I'm pretty sure you want me to. Why don't you nod your head Scott?" she asked sweetly as she began to apply pressure to his testicles.

Scott nodded vigorously. "I thought so. Now I'm going to take the underwear out of your mouth and you're going to beg me to go down on you. And nothing else, not another word, or I'll be forced to bite your penis clean off ..." she said and nipped the end of his penis as illustration. Yes, that sounded like something Scott would say to her if the tables were reversed ... forceful, arousing in a strange way. And it seemed to work, Scott's cock hardened and vibrated in her hand.

"Do you understand?"

Scott nodded.

He was terrified. Maybe it was worth getting his dick bitten off, to save his life ... Jessica pulled the underwear from his mouth and licked the top of his penis. "Now beg ..."

"Jessica for Christ sake, let me go! I won't punish you in any way, just undo the cuffs ... ouch!" Jessica nipped his penis and then licked it.

"Beg."

"Jessica ..."

"You have 10 seconds to beg, or I start biting." Jessica said and snapped her teeth together. The sound made Scott catch his breath.

"Please ... please go down on me ..."

Jessica was shaking her head. "That's not very convincing Scott," Jessica said and nipped Scott's cock.

"Okay, okay!" Scott said, and he was surprised when pleasure pulsed through him despite his fear. He was surprised his cock was even hard given how scared he was "Please ..."

"Think about how you're going to say it Scott ... make it dirty ..."

Scott couldn't believe it.

He didn't know Jessica had this in her. The books and magazines he'd given her were good, no doubt about that. But this was beyond anything a book could teach a person. And he couldn't believe that this actually turned him on despite the potential danger he was in.

Jessica nipped him again.

"Please suck me off ... please ..." Scott's voice was husky. "Oh my God!" Scott hissed as Jessica lowered her mouth over his shaft and sucked. And then he exploded.

Jessica smiled as she crawled up his body and brought her lips to his. He could smell and taste himself on and in her mouth. And despite that he couldn't help exploring her mouth with his tongue.

"Should we do it again?" Jessica asked when they finally separated.

"Uncuff me Jessica, now!" Scott ordered. He pulled on the cuffs and fear was back now that the bliss was over. Jessica blinked. There was an edge to Scott's voice. For a moment she couldn't believe what she'd done. It was bold, really bold, and she began to feel embarrassed. She had a hard time looking at Scott as she sat up and pulled on her underwear. It was damp from Scott's mouth.

"Jessica ..."

"Okay. Where are the keys?" Jessica asked, standing and pulling her shirt on.

"In my top drawer."

Jessica went to the drawer. Scott watched her search through his underwear.

Finally she returned, key in hand. She climbed on to the bed and straddled Scott as she reached up and undid the cuffs.

"I'm sorry," she said sitting down on his stomach and lowering her eyes, "I don't know what came over me. The cream and those books ... I'm sorry."

Scott watched Jessica and was both relieved and surprised that she hadn't taken advantage of the situation to suffocate or strangle him. Jessica's cheeks were bright red and she kept her eyes lowered.

"Don't be," Scott said rubbing his hand on her leg, "I liked it. Except for the hand cuffs. That was going a little too far. Look at me Jessica," he said, sitting up.

Jessica raised her eyes.

"You were great. You did exactly what I wanted when I asked you to read the books and magazines. You were so hot, made me cum so hard ... Just no more handcuffs, okay?"

Jessica smiled. "Can you promise me that too?" She asked, her eyes boring into his. "No more handcuffs for me either?"

Scott exhaled. She'd earned it, that was for sure. "I can't promise anything for any of the other men Jessica. But when you're with me, there won't be any more handcuffs. Okay?"

"Okay ..." she said and smiled.

"Come here," he said pulling him to her. He lay back and they got comfortable, Jessica's head on his chest. Scott pulled the blanket over them.

"Have you had any luck with Ebony? Riding him I mean?" Jessica asked.

"No," Scott said with a chuckle. "That's quite the leap. How did the sex we just had make you think of Ebony?"

Jessica looked up at Scott and laughed. "I don't know. That is a little weird ... I was just thinking about some things I've noticed and Ebony was one of them."

"What things have you noticed?" Scott asked.

"Well. There's Riley and Max." Jessica said glad to be finally getting this off her chest.

"What about Riley and Max?" Scott asked. "And unless you're ready to go at it again Jessica I suggest that you stop playing with my nipple."

"Oh ..." Without thinking she'd begun tracing out a circle around one of Scott's nipples. She slid her hand to down to rest on Scott's stomach.

"Not much better Jessica ..." Scott chuckled and took her hand in his. "You were saying?"

"Well, Riley keeps trying to train Max but Max is deaf and blind. And Riley just keeps getting madder and madder."

"Deaf? Blind? The dog is deaf and blind? How exactly did you come to that conclusion?"

"I've been watching, when I have the chance. If you just watch Max you'll see that he doesn't respond to any noise on his right side. He's deaf. And he can't see a single thing Riley's doing."

"How does he get around without bumping into everything?"

"He smells his way along. Ever notice that he always has his nose to the ground?"

Scott looked down at the top of Jessica's head and wondered how the hell Riley could miss something like that.

"Okay ... so, are you going to tell Riley about this?"

Jessica snapped her head up and looked at Scott like he'd lost his mind.

"I guess the answer is no?" he said with a chuckle.

"You guessed correctly ... despite recent events," she said and nodded toward the handcuffs, "I'm really not a glutton for punishment."

"And you think Riley would punish you for telling him about Max?" Scott asked.

"Scott," Jessica said in a tone that implied that he was thick, "Riley would punish me if I breathed at the wrong time much less said anything about his dogs. And Angus ... there's no way in heck I'd even attempt to tell him that he has water in his fuel line."

"You think that's been the problem? Why wouldn't Angus think of that himself?"

"I don't know, but he hasn't. And it's driving me crazy. Every time his attempts at fixing the car fail, he gets angrier at me. I swear one of these days his eyes really will shoot daggers through me. For the life of me I don't know why water in his fuel line makes him angry at me."

"Well, he is a little frustrated ..." Scott said as he realized that he was beginning to feel the urge to go at it again with Jessica and he could see how being unable to would make him cranky too.

Angus never said anything about being sexually frustrated but it was easy to see that he was almost always sporting a hard on and spent far more time in the bathroom than was necessary. Especially for Angus. If Jessica did for Angus what she has done for him, that frustration would be taken care of right well ...

"And then there's Ebony ... " Jessica paused as Scott brought his hand to her breast.

"Hold that thought," Scott said as he turned Jessica onto her back. "I think I need a little snack."

Jessica inhaled as Scott began to kiss his way down her stomach. When he reached his destination, he hesitated.

"Holy shit Jessica, I just realized something ..."

"What?" Jessica said sitting up, alarmed by the suddenness and urgency with which Scott spoke. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing Jessica, nothing. Just relax," Scott said soothingly, gently pushing her back down on the bed. "I just have something I've been meaning to try on you."

"Really?" she asked settling back on the bed.

Scott nodded.

"Your going to love this ..." Scott said, "but we'll need a towel. It may get messy."

"Messy?" Jessica repeated as Scott got up from the bed.

"Stay there," he said and he disappeared through the bedroom door.

Moments later he returned with a towel.

"Lift up," he said.

Jessica did and Scott slid the towels under her butt.

Once Jessica lowered herself onto the towel, Scott began kissing his way up the inside of Jessica's thigh. And when he made his way to her pussy, he slid four of his fingers inside her and began to thrust.

Jessica held her breath as Scott thrust harder.

"Scott, I'm not sure that I like this." The pressure feeling uncomfortable.

"Give it time Jessica ... trust me, just a little longer." And Scott brought his mouth to her clitoris as he increased the pressure with which he thrust. Suddenly a strange sensation began to grow deep within Jessica. It grew and grew and suddenly pleasure shot through Jessica so hard and strong that she convulsed. And then her vagina was pulsating on its own, and Jessica heard the sound of liquid gushing.

"What's that?" she asked.

"You Jessica, it's all you!" Scott said his voice think with desire as he crawled along Jessica's body, and thrust his cock into her. The strength of her pulsating vagina made Scott gasp unexpectedly and he came much faster than he'd intended.

"My God Jessica, your pussy is like a friggin' meat grinder!" he chuckled and bit her neck. Jessica leaned her head into Scott, his neck nips tickling.

"A meat grinder? That's a lovely image!" Jessica said squirming as Scott continued to nip. "Hey, the bed's wet!" Jessica exclaimed as her leg brushed against a moist area. "It's soaking down there!" Jessica continued, starting to sit up.

Scott rolled to the side and looked down where Jessica's hand was feeling around on the towel.

"I'll say," Scott said, leaning his head on his bent arm and smiling at Jessica. "You were a friggin' geyser!"

"What? Me, I was?" She asked sitting up and looking at the puddle of liquid on the towel.

"Yes, you." Scott said sitting up and kissing her on the shoulder. "That's what happens when your G spot goes off."

"My what spot? There's no way I did this Scott, you're the mess maker, not me!"

"G spot Jessica. You've read about it. Some women don't get much more than a really good orgasm. And then some women ... and I'd say without a doubt you are one, ejaculate like geysers."

"If anyone is a geyser around here it's you mister. I know, I had to swallow your geysering ... This would have to be something other than a geyser."

"Okay. A flood gate maybe? Giant leak? Ow!" Scott said as Jessica slapped him on his arm.

"Giant leak?" Jessica demanded.

Scott chuckled and rubbed his hand across her abdomen. "I prefer geyser. So G, how did you like it anyway?"

"It was good," she said and looked down at the towel, "and messy."

Scott chuckled. "A good messy, trust me."

"Well, fair is fair I guess." Jessica said falling against Scott. "You make a mess. I make a mess. Hey, but next time I think you should swallow too. You know, to be fair."

"You make a very good point." Scott said getting up on his knees and moving between Jessica's legs.

"What are you doing?" Jessica asked.

"Getting ready to swallow," Scott said taking Jessica's legs and pulling her toward him.

"Again?" Jessica asked, laughing, "Scott you are insatiable!"

"That G, is a very big word ... and very hard to live up to. But I'll do my best!"

Half an hour later Scott stared into the darkness, and listened to Jessica's rhythmic breathing beside him. Exhausted, she'd fallen to sleep. She had refrained from killing him while he was handcuffed and vulnerable, and then earlier when she'd had the gun but hadn't used it ... He was beginning to see the possibility of a real relationship with Jessica. He liked that idea.

He yawned and rolled toward Jessica. He hoped she would make it through the night without any nightmares. They both needed their sleep. Boy, did they need their sleep.

********************************************************** "Scott! Scott!" Josh's voice came through the bedroom door like a boom box. There were a series of loud thuds on the door as Josh hammered it with his fist.

Scott jerked awake in bed and in a daze automatically began feeling around for his gun. Not able to find it, he began to focus and realize that he was in his room, that he wouldn't have his handgun with him, and Jessica slept next to him undisturbed by the noise.

"What the hell?" Scott muttered as Josh pounded again.

"Are you okay Scott? If you don't answer me right now, I'm coming in!"

"'Course I'm okay!" Scott shouted back, falling back on the bed. "Why wouldn't I be?" 'Handcuffs and sharp teeth aside.' He thought to himself.

"Well shit man, you're late for the work out. We've been waiting for you for half an hour!"

"What the ... " Scott grabbed his watch from the nightstand.

He looked at it, rubbed his eyes and looked at it again. They'd slept in. Holy shit they'd slept in. It was two hours past the time he normally got up.

He looked over at the motionless form of Jessica beside him. She hadn't moved a muscle since Josh's battery on the door. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept in like this, had slept so deeply and soundly that he simply couldn't wake up.

"Sorry," Scott answered, dropping his watch onto the nightstand. "we slept in ... go ahead without me, we'll be out a bit later. I still can't get up ..." Scott muttered the last part to himself as he dropped down on the bed and pulled the blanket up to his neck.

"You're sure you're okay?" Josh asked.

"Positive," Scott mumbled.

Suddenly the bedroom burst open and Josh ran in. He stood looking around the room. Scott sat up. Jessica didn't move.

"What the hell?" Scott demanded.

Josh looked at Jessica's lifeless body, at Scott and then back at Jessica. She lay facing away so he couldn't see her face, but she hadn't moved when he came in.

"Is she asleep?" he asked. Suspicion evident in his tone.

Scott looked over at Jessica and then dropped back on the bed.

"Yeah. Where the hell were you last night when I was tied up ..."

"What?" Josh asked.

"Never mind. It was all good. Don't worry about me Josh. We just had a really ... busy .... night. We need a little more sleep that's all."

"More sleep? Christ Scott, I don't know how much longer Jim and I can cover for you with Riley and Angus ... They've been busy so far and haven't asked too many questions but they're going to be snooping around here as soon as they catch on that things aren't normal."

"Alright. Give us another hour, alright? We'll be out before lunch."

Scott looked up when Josh didn't say anything and he didn't hear him leaving.

Josh stood looking at him with concern and confusion etched on his face.

"Are you sick?"

Scott laughed. "Nope, not at all. Just really, really, spent."

Josh did a double take and looked from Jessica to Scott again.

"With Jessica?" he asked.

"Yup. With Jessica."

"But ... how?"

"Well, I'm too much of a gentleman to go into details," Scott chuckled, "but I can offer you some literature ... and then it's up to you and Jessica."

"You're serious!" Josh stated.

"I am. In the drawer of my nightstand ... there're a couple of books and magazines. Help yourself."

Josh opened the drawer and took out two books and a few magazines.

"You're shittin' me," he mumbled as he looked at naked women on the magazine covers, and then at the book entitled, "The sexual human body."

"I shit you not." Scott said and pulled the blanket over his face. "Now get out ... please."

When he heard the door close, he looked out from under the blanket. Josh was gone.

An hour ... he had an hour in which he and Jessica could sleep. Or an hour in which he and Jessica could fuck.

He reached for Jessica. "Gee, eee, " he said softly, "I never thought I'd say this, but I want to stick my dick into a meat grinder ... again ..."

In an hour they'd managed to go at it six more times.

Jessica lay unmoving in Scott' s arms.

"Oh man ... that was ..." Scott's voice trailed off as he tried to find an appropriate word to describe how much he'd enjoyed himself.

"Exhausting?" Jessica mumbled into his chest.

"Yeah, but that's not how I'd describe it."
"I never would have thought that sex could be a recreational sport Scott, but since you've managed to turn it into one, I think exhausting is a pretty good description."

Scott laughed and kissed the top of her head.

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'fucking fantastic'. 'Mind blowing', "Unbelievable ...."

"Orgasmic?" Jessica added with a laugh when Scott seemed unable to come up with another adjective.

"Orgasmic!" Scott all but shouted ..."That's the word ... describes it perfectly!"

Jessica giggled again and then grew still. A moment later, Scott heard a light snore.

"Jess ...Jess," he said shaking her lightly. "We have to get up." He lifted her arm and it hung limp in his hand. She was completely out. He stared at the ceiling. It wasn't very fair to force her to get up after the marathon they'd just been through, but it wasn't going to be long before Josh came banging on the door again.

Shit ... Josh. Scott slid his eyes down to the top of Jessica's head. He guessed that he should probably warn Jessica that he'd given Josh the magazines and books. Given how adamant she was that she and Josh weren't intimate, Scott figured he had to give her a heads up.

"Jess, " he said again and shook her again. "We really slept in. Josh was here earlier already ... he'll be knocking on my door again any minute." He shook her again. "And ..." he began when she shifted against him, "when Josh was here earlier ... I gave him the magazines and books we've been reading."

That woke her up. She snapped her head back and looked up him. She looked confused ... and apprehensive.

"The sex ones?" she finally asked.

"Yup."

"Why?" she asked, sitting up.

"He was wondering why we'd slept in."

"And you told him?"

"Not in so many words ..." Scott said, kissing her cheeks as they flamed red. "but he took the magazines and books as reference material."

Jessica brought her hands to her face and covered her eyes. She was already having sex with Josh, so she couldn't figure out why she felt so embarrassed, but she did.

"Jess," Scott said softly as he pulled her hands from her face and tilted her face up so she was looking at him. He found her embarrassment refreshing. Despite how much she enjoyed sex, and how good she was at it. And, the fact that she was having sex with all of them anyway ... she still considered it a private matter between her and him. He felt a warmth growing inside. And for once it was in his chest and not his dick.

"It's okay. It's all okay. I swear, I didn't tell him anything. And I'm guessing that with Josh having those magazines and books, you and he can move from having sex to being intimate. And if I interpreted your moaning, thrashing, geysering and meat grinding correctly .." he said smiling as he lowered his lips to hers and kissed lightly, "I'd bet that you enjoy intimate more than sex. Right?"

Jessica nodded and smiled. Her cheeks were still pink but she was smiling.

"Do we have time to get cleaned up?" she asked, glancing at the door.

"I sure as hell hope so ..." Scott said, "Lord knows we need it."

**************************************************** Jim sat on the grass beside Jessica. It was after lunch and Scott and Jessica had finally emerged from Scott's room. Josh had returned from checking on Scott with some incredibly explicit magazines and books. And he'd reported that Scott had said a night of sex was what had made them sleep in. Jim had doubted that.

He and Josh had leafed through the magazines and books. And the very explicitness of them convinced Jim even further. He had been certain that there was a different explanation, until Scott and Jessica made their appearance for lunch. They'd showered, so Jim had at first chalked Jessica's aura of unusually extreme relaxation up to a good hot shower. But then ... Jim couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something different about Jessica. About Jessica with Scott. She seemed to have a bit of a wistful smile on her face. Nothing really obvious, or Riley and Angus would've been all over it, but it was there just below the surface.

And then, Scott had touched her. Just on the arm, just while he was putting her lunch before her on the table, but it was not a normal touch. Jim shook his head as he replayed the moment in his head. It had been a caress. And Jessica ... she had looked up at Scott and smiled. And Jim swore that the smile was a caress back. For a moment he had thought he'd imagined it, but then Josh had noticed it too. He'd tilted his head toward Jessica and Scott, and then the magazines that he still held in his hands and mouthed 'told you' to Jim. And then of course Angus had to stick his nose into the situation and everything had evaporated. The smile disappeared from Jessica's face, and her defenses were up again.

Now Jim sat here beside Jessica, and wondered if he'd actually misread the whole thing. If he had, his moment of hope that a serious change had occurred was nothing more than that, a moment of hope. If Scott had really made her look at those magazines and books, what did she think of them? He tried not to think of Jessica in that way, but now, just considering it, he wondered what she would think of it ... of sex. He glanced at Jessica. She was petting Baby absent mindedly, and had been for the past fifteen minutes. Her attention had been steadfastly kept on Riley, who was off in the distance, training an adult male German Shepherd. The dog had only been with them for a week, but it was clear that Riley was losing his patience with him. As Riley jerked down on the dogs leash, put off by the dog's stubborn refusal to obey a command he'd been given, Jim heard Jessica groan.

"There you are," Josh said appearing from behind the barn. "Do you want to go see the horses?" Josh had been trying to find a way to get a moment alone with Jessica. He knew that Jim doubted Scott's explanation about what had happened between Scott and Jessica the night before. But Josh wasn't so sure. He wanted to ask her about it, but first he had to get passed what had happened with Baby. And now he had the opportunity for both.

From the distance they could hear Riley curse. He turned from the dog in exasperation, and for the first time, noticed Jessica watching him. Now he knew how she'd come to know his commands to the dogs. He supposed it was nice that she took the time to watch ... learn. Suddenly she sprang to her feet, said something to Jim who snapped his head in Riley's direction. Jessica didn't look back before leaving with Josh. Jim moved toward Riley.

"Since when have you taken an interest in dog training?" Riley asked as Jim neared.

"Having trouble with this one?" Jim asked, nodding at the dog.

"You could call it that," Riley said turning to the dog that sat panting, before him.

"What would you say the problem is?"

Riley looked at Jim from the corner of his eye.

Jim rarely, if ever, made small talk with Riley, and never about dog training.

"Stubbornness or stupidity ... take your pick. Why do you ask?"

"Ever have reason to think the dog may be deaf and blind?"

"What?!" Riley growled. "What the hell would make you say that?"

Jim shrugged. "When you give him a command on one side he listens, the other, he doesn't."

"The hand signals are the same, no matter what side I say it on ..."

"He can't see them Riley."

"What the hell? In all the years I've known you, you have never, EVER, shown any interest in dog training, and then suddenly you come up with deaf and blind?"

"Is it that inconceivable?" Jim asked not sure whether Riley found the suggestion preposterous or whether he had hard time with Jim's interest. He began to feel a little insulted.

"How the hell can a dog be deaf and blind, and no one know it?" Riley demanded.

Jim shrugged. "Hey, you're the dog expert. If in your great wisdom you don't feel it is remotely possible ... then forget it ..." Jim turned to leave.

Riley moved to the dog suddenly. He clapped his hands on the right side of the dog. The dog's head swiveled in the direction of the noise.

Riley did the same on by the dog's left ear. No reaction.

"Damn ..." Riley cursed. He waved his hand in front of the dog, the dog didn't respond in any way. He moved his arms closer and repeated the motion. Suddenly the dog looked up and wagged his tail. "Well, I'll be. How the hell did you figure that out?" Riley asked.

"I thought my acute sense of observation was my greatest asset ..." Jim said.

"Yeah, that's it ... seriously, how'd you know? This dog must've been deaf and blind since birth, cause he sure doesn't show any sign of being deaf or blind. I've worked with dogs my whole life, and I didn't pick up on it. What gave you the clue?"

"His one eye crosses just a little," Jim replied, and couldn't help but laugh when Riley moved closer to the dog for a better look. "I'm just kidding. Jessica told me. "

"Jessica?" Riley asked. He was so surprised that the question came out as a whisper. "H .. how did she know?"

"She didn't say," Jim said.

"Well, how the hell am I'm supposed to train a deaf and blind dog?"

"Seems to me that you just have to be sure you're on the side he can hear on."

"Right, thanks for the input."

"Like I said, acute sense of observation ..."

"Where's Jessica now?"

"Gone to see the horses with Josh."

"Should have known," Riley answered. "Come on Max," he said to the dog and took him by the collar and led him to his cage.

"She'd better not be breaking in any horses, " Riley said, falling in step with Jim.

"I think she'd like nothing more than to be doing just that." Jim said.

***************************************************** "Do you think I'll ever get to ride Ebony? Or any horse?" Jessica asked cuddling Baby to her while leaning on the fence of the corral where Ebony grazed.

"Sure," Josh replied. "Listen, Jessica, about last night ..."

"Really ride them? Not just around in circles in the corral?"

"If you earn the right Jessica, you'll get to ride. Will you listen to me for a second? I'm trying to apologize about taking Baby away yesterday."

Jessica suddenly looked sad, and cuddled the puppy closer.

"Do you think I'll be able to bring her back in? I miss her, and she's still just a baby ..."

"I don't think so Jessica. She was going to have to go back to the kennels eventually anyway ... it was just temporary remember?"

Jessica looked at Josh. A faint smile appeared on her face. "I'm pretty sure that Princess Assicej would forgive Prince Aushoj, especially since he seems so worried about it."

At the mention of the comic book characters that Josh had been faithfully developing night after night, Josh smiled and lowered his head. He was blushing, and he couldn't help it. The story of the Princess and Prince from different planets had grown and evolved into quite a love story. There were so many parallels to how he felt about Jessica, about his hopes for their relationship, that when spoken about in the light of day, he felt like he was baring his soul to the world. Jessica edged closer to Josh, until her shoulder pressed against him.

"Do you know what I think Prince Aushoj would do to make it up to Assicej?" All Josh could do was shake his head. Her spontaneity made him giddy.

"Ebony," Jessica said nodding toward the black stallion. "I think he'd let the Princess pet him."

"Are you nuts?" Josh asked. "You'll get stomped!"

Jessica and Josh stood staring at each other. Jessica smiled as Josh's face turned redder and redder. The small chance that Assicej and Aushoj were purely fictional characters, was now decimated. Josh couldn't believe how vulnerable he felt ... bordering on embarrassed. But Jessica smiled as she kissed him on his cheek.

"Don't worry Prince Aushoj, I'll be careful. Ebony just needs me to be calm and gentle when I go in there, that's all. Can I?"

Josh nodded. It wasn't until Jessica was on the other side of the corral fence and slowly yet assuredly making her way toward the stallion, that Josh realized what he'd done. The horse stood stalk still, watching Jessica's advance. If Jessica had any fear or reservation at all, she didn't show it.

Josh held his breath as Jessica moved forward. For her part Jessica was excited to finally get the opportunity to show Scott that Ebony wasn't the wild untamable horse he seemed to think he was. She had meant to raise it with Scott the previous night ... suggest to him that rather than saddle training him it would go far for him to try and connect with him. But as her pleasantly used private parts reminded her, she hadn't had the chance. Oh well, now she had the opportunity to make first contact for Scott.

Riley and Jim rounded the corner of the barn, just in time to see Jessica closing the distance between herself and the stallion.

"Shit!" they muttered in unison.

"Is she out of her tree?" Riley demanded as he broke into a run.

"Riley ... Riley!" Jim said, catching up to Riley and grabbing his arm.

"If you startle Ebony, Jessica is going to get hurt. We have to move slowly, quietly." Riley slowed down. They walked as slowly and quietly as they could until they stood beside Josh.

"What the hell is she doing in there?" Riley asked Josh.

"I let her go Riley, but I'll be damned if I know why," Josh said.

"I'm going in after her," Jim said.

"Wait a minute, Scott's already going," Riley said and nodded toward Scott, who had entered the corral at the other end, lasso rope in hand.

He walked slowly and steadily toward the stallion and Jessica.

"That's a good boy," Jessica was cooing to the horse, who now rested his nose in her hands. She ran them gently over his nose and then along his face, to his neck. "It's all right," Jessica said to Scott, who had gotten close enough that he had to decide whether to lasso the horse, or take his chances on walking closer. "You can come closer, he's fine."

Scott took some tentative steps forward. It wasn't long before he stood next to Jessica.

"That's a good boy Ebony," Jessica said, "Scott's not going to hurt you. See? Scott's your friend. Pet him!" she ordered Scott.

Scott raised his hand to the horse's neck. This horse was one of Scott's greatest challenges. It seemed that he just couldn't get the horse to warm to him.

"You have to talk to him, " Jessica said.

"Good boy," Scott said.

"No, something more personal."

"I have nothing personal to say to a horse, Jessica!" Scott muttered in disbelief.

"Shhh, it's okay Ebony, " Jessica said as the horse lifted his head in response to Scott's tone, and after a shake of his head, he nudged Jessica's lips with his nose.

"Thanks for the kiss Ebony," Jessica said. "Go on Scott, say something." She urged.

"Okay ... how about, just what do you think you're doing out here?"

"Helping," Jessica answered, "and your tone isn't. Look, all Ebony needs is a little break from the lassoing and rodeo riding, and a whole lot of quiet affection."

"What are you, the Dr. Phil of the horse world?"

"Dr. who?"

"Never mind ... what's your great plan for getting out of here now?" Scott replied.

"Just pet and walk away," Jessica answered, pressing her forehead against the horse.

"Then let's get going before Riley blows a gasket."

"Riley?" Jessica asked. She turned pale. Her eyes slid to the right but she resisted turning her head. "I thought he was training the dogs."

"Nope. He's standing right over there looking like he's ready to hop the fence and take his chances with Ebony."

Jessica's hand shot out and grabbed Scotts arm. "I'm in trouble, aren't I? I'm never going to get to ride the horses ..."

"Not if you keep doing stupid stuff like this."

Jessica blinked back some tears.

"It wasn't stupid! I was helping you ..."

"I don't need this kind of help Jessica. This does not fall under the "behaving" category."

"I had Josh's permission." Jessica countered.

"This isn't a debate Jessica ... you did?" Scott asked flabbergast that Josh would do such a thing. Jessica nodded. "This isn't like the 'permission' you had from Jim to ride Ebony, is it?"

"No, there was no misunderstanding this time." Jessica answered.

"Misunderstanding ... " Scott muttered. " If Josh gave you permission, fine, but I have to hear this from Josh himself. Let's go."

Jessica barely had time to kiss Ebony's nose before Scott took her by the arm and led her to Riley, Jim and Josh.

"Did you tell Jessica she could go in the corral?" Scott demanded as they neared the men.

Josh nodded, but it was clear from the expression on his face that he could barely believe it himself.

"Take her in the house Scott, " Riley said. He was at a loss for a reaction. He needed time to think. Jessica lowered her head.

"Not going to argue with Riley?" Scott asked Jessica as she and he moved off toward the house.

"Ha, ha," Jessica replied .

"I'm not kidding Jessica. Why do I get the attitude and Riley gets blessedly silent obedience?"

"I can be quite happy being blessedly quiet," Jessica replied, "it just seems to me that you spend an awful lot of time bugging me to talk. You want silence ... I can do that too."

"Hey I never said I didn't want you to talk to me ... I just want to hear things like, 'Yes Scott, you're right Scott, I'll do whatever you say Scott'. Any chance you can manage something like that?"

"Give me something to work with, and it'll be no problem," Jessica replied.

"Oh, you're quite the comedian ...What the hell?" Scott added, spying Angus coming from the direction of the road. He had a large item on his shoulder, and from the distance it looked like a dog.

"One of the dogs!" Jessica exclaimed quietly. They hadn't gone far from the corral so Scott guided Jessica back, too curious to not investigate what had happened.

When Angus reached the corral he flung the dog's body to the ground.

"One dead dog." He muttered and looked at Jim as if he had single handedly killed it.

"Ginger!" Jessica gasped and ran to the lifeless body. "What happened?" she asked kneeling next to Ginger and looking in horror at the giant gash on the dog's neck.

"Trap," Angus replied.

He was unable to look at her. It had looked like she and Scott had been leaving, which had made Angus feel some relief. The past few nights he'd been having some disturbing dreams about Jessica.

As if the dreams weren't bad enough, the feelings that they were invoking were even worse. In the dreams he and Jessica were together. Together, together. And they were happy. Very happy. He was happier than he'd ever been in his life. There had even been a few mornings that he had woken up and to his horror found himself hugging Jessica. She'd been asleep each time, as far as he knew, she had no idea that it had happened.

But each time he was angry with himself. He began to wonder if he could trust himself to be around her. Even now, he had a desire to be with her. The only thing he could do to avoid falling prey to it, was to keep a distance from her. He'd been having great luck with it, but now here she was, at his feet. At least some good could come from this, she was staring at a good example of what could happen to her if she tried to escape.

"Trap?" Jessica asked, still staring in horror at the wound, "Why would Ginger be near a trap?" She looked up at Jim, and saw Angus scowling at her. She averted her eyes to the ground.

"I believe you were on your way back to the house Jessica," Riley interrupted. "Scott ... " and he thrust his head in the direction of the house.

"Right, let's go Jessica." Scott said.

Jessica stared at the dog. "What about the puppies?" she asked quietly. "What will they do without their mother? And what if they get stuck in the trap?"

"That's a good question for Jim, "Angus replied. He had a self-satisfied look on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest and stood waiting for Jim's reply.
"What?" Jim demanded.

"Why was it, again, that we had to litter the parameter of our property with bear traps?"

"Littered? The property is littered with traps? But why?" Jessica asked.

"You know damn well why those traps are there!" Angus thundered. Jessica shrank. "And you take a good hard look at Ginger Jessica, 'cause if you try to make a run for it, you'll be joining her!"

"Scott, get her out of here!" Riley ordered as Jessica seemed to collapse even closer to the ground.

"But they're dangerous," Jessica said.

"Excuse me?!" Angus demanded, grabbing Jessica by her arm and yanking her to her feet. He grabbed her by her forearms and pulled her to him.

"Did you say something?"

She was too close. He hadn't fucked her in so long, and she smelled so good. Damn her. She stared at the red stubble on his chin. And there was just something about her look that made his pecker almost jump out of his pants. He felt out of control. Maybe, if he got her alone, got his rocks off, the feeling would subside and he could feel more in control.

"I said, did you say something!" Angus repeated himself.

"Would you care to repeat yourself Jessica," Riley asked.

Jessica shook her head.

"Pardon?"

"No, " Jessica whispered.

"Then I suggest that you stay out of our business." Riley said.

"Maybe I should take a little alone time with Jessica, " Angus said increasing the pressure on her arms, "make sure she gets the picture."

"She gets it," Scott said fearing a repeat of the incident a few weeks past. "We were about to go in the house, right Jessica?"

Jessica bobbed her head vigorously.

"Angus ..." Scott urged when he hadn't released Jessica.

"Next time, you won't be so lucky!" Angus replied. His need was so strong that he nearly doubled over in pain.

Jessica moved beside Scott, relief flooding over her.

"Can I bring Baby with us?" she whispered to Scott.

"Good God Jessica, just get moving!"

"That's just great!" Jim growled at Angus once Jessica was out of hearing range. "Now she thinks I killed the dog!"

"You pretty much did." Riley said moving to crouch over the dog's body and inspecting the wound.

"W .. w ... what?" Jim demanded.

"Whose bleeding heart idea was it to take Jessica off her leash?" Riley asked.

"Jesus Christ Jim, the way you argued about it you would've thought that you were the one on the leash!" Angus said.

"You know Angus, sometimes it's a good idea to try and put yourself in someone else's place!" Jim replied.

"Give me a break ..." Angus began.

"Let's not rehash that." Josh said eager to avoid the turmoil that the whole leash debate had caused, "Things have gotten better with Jessica since then, let's just be satisfied with that."

"Yeah, things have gotten a lot better. She's also talking to us a lot more now ... in case you haven't noticed." Jim added in an indignant tone.

"She's talking alright," Angus said, "about things she has no business talking about. Did it ever occur to you that nothing would work better for her than to have those traps removed? "

'That's right,' Angus continued to himself, 'she's just trying to find a way to screw us.' He desperately wanted to rekindle the anger he used to feel about Jessica. To his consternation, all he was able to summon was fear. He feared the day that Jessica successfully escaped. He'd have to kill her. He'd have to hunt her down and kill her. Not for politics anymore, just for his sanity. "D'you think?" Josh asked feeling a sense of disappointment. With her nightmares happening less frequently, and her general attitude change he had hoped that she'd decided to just be content there with him ... them.

"While we're on the topic of bleeding hearts," Riley said, turning to Josh. "What the hell were you doing, letting Jessica go in the corral with Ebony?"

"She asked ... she sounded so sure about how Ebony would behave ... "

"Since when has Jessica been able to do whatever she asks to do?" Riley asked completely dumbfounded by Josh's reasoning.

"She was right though, " Jim said, "Ebony was fine. She's told me that before Ebony just needs a good pet ... "

"It seems to me that Jessica could sell you swamp land!" Angus said with disgust. It was all Jim's fault. His soft hearted ways led Angus to the point where he could no longer dehumanize Jessica. Without that , he was succumbing to emotion.

"That's uncalled for," Jim exclaimed, "Riley, I thought we'd agreed that there'd be no more sniping ... he's sniping."

"You know what Jimbo, when I decide to snipe, you'll know it. The bullet will take half your head off."

"Hey, that's enough!" Riley interrupted. "We're family, so let's start acting like it!"

"Right." Angus grumbled, "What do you want me to do with the body?"

"I'll take care of it," Riley said.

"Fine. I'll go reset the trap just in case someone else should try to wander where they are not supposed to be!"

Angus stalked off.

"It's no mystery why Jessica wants nothing to do with him!" Jim muttered and marched off in the opposite direction.

Jim's words ricocheted in Rileys' mind.

What he'd really meant was it was little wonder to Jim why Jessica wanted nothing to do with Angus, and what he'd left unsaid in Riley's presence, was 'and Riley''. And what had he said before that? Jessica was talking to 'them' more. Jessica wasn't speaking to Riley any more than usual. So she and he had had some positive interactions. Real communication, that did not make.

In fact, if he didn't pry things out of her, she'd barely say two words to him. Maybe it was just an exaggeration on Jim's part ... but then she had told Jim that Max was deaf and blind ... what were the chances that she would have told Riley directly if he'd been near her at the time? Slim to none. Riley felt jealously growing.

"Those two are like oil and water," Josh said as he watched Jim go in the house and slam the door behind him.

"We'll have to do something to repair that rift between them. It's not good the way things are right now." Riley said, but frankly he couldn't blame Angus for his reactions.

Josh nodded his head. "I don't know how we'd do that. They're on opposite sides of the road, and I don't think either one can even see the other one's side."

"We used to all be on the same side Josh."

"We still are, in a lot of ways. But when it comes to Jessica, Angus refuses to bend. That's going to be a problem."

Riley nodded his head.

"What's his problem, anyway?" Josh asked, "I thought we all wanted a relationship with Jessica."

"Angus wants anything but," Riley said. "Beth really hurt him."

"Seriously? He's so hard on Jessica because of Beth?" Josh exclaimed finally seeing some reason behind Angus' behavior. Now it all made sense.

"Well, that makes it easier. We just have to convince him that Jessica isn't going to do to him, what Beth did."

"Oh yeah, that's easy." Riley said with a snicker.

"Okay, not easy, but doable."

"Let me know when you figure out how. I'm going to go check on the dogs. I've gotta figure out what to do with Max." Riley said and turned to leave.

"You may want to check if he's blind and deaf," Josh replied.

"What?" Riley asked.

"I know it's a long shot, but Jessica seems convinced that he's blind and deaf."

"He is blind and deaf. I checked it out earlier with Jim."

"I'll be damned!" Josh exclaimed. "Well, you may want to tell Angus to check if there's water in his fuel line ... another one of Jessica's theories that may be true."

"How the hell would Jessica know if there's water in the fuel line?" Riley demanded.

Josh shrugged. "She has been reading Angus' magazines a lot lately ... and she was right about the dog ..."

"Get rid of the body for me will you?" Riley asked, not even waiting for Josh's response. He found Angus returning from the trap.

"Water in the fuel line," Riley said.

"What?" Angus asked, secretly glad that his overalls were so baggy. His hard-on had not subsided in any way, and he didn't want Riley to guess what he was going to be doing in the bathroom in a few minutes.

"Is there a chance that there's water in your fuel line?"

Angus hesitated. "I hadn't thought of that."

"But it's possible?"

"It's possible, and pretty probable. I don't know why I didn't think of that myself. Thanks!" And he began to move toward the corvette.

"Don't thank me," Riley said, following Angus. How could Jessica possibly know these things?

"Huh?" Angus asked, the tone of Riley's voice catching his attention.

"It was Jessica."

"Jessica told you that?"

"She told Josh ... who told me. She also told Jim, and Josh for that matter, that Max is blind and deaf."

"How can he be blind and deaf without you knowing it?" Angus demanded.

"He is Angus. I checked when Jim told me. Now you have to check the fuel line."

"What is she up to?" Angus muttered.

"I don't know Angus. What I do know is that things are changing. I'd like you to consider the fact that Jessica and Beth are completely separate people, and you're in a completely different situation with Jessica than you were with Beth."

Angus looked down at his crotch. No obvious bulge. There was no way Riley could know about his current need, nor the dreams he'd been having about Jessica.

"What the hell brought that on?" Angus demanded.

"Jim's not the enemy Angus. And in your case, neither is Jessica." Riley held his palm up to Angus, as Angus seemed on the verge of arguing.

"For you, the enemy is Beth. And there's nothing you can do about that. But Jessica. Everything is different with Jessica. Yes, she may be scheming to escape. And if she does, you can blow her brains out and get your sense of justice. She can't hurt you like Beth did."

Angus stared at Riley. He cleared his throat. He was a little creeped out. It was almost as if Riley knew what he was going through.

"What are you getting at Riley?" Angus asked.

"It's alright to relax a little Angus. You're the one in control here, not Jessica. Enjoy that a little."

"Have you relaxed?" Angus asked.

"Enough to be interested in something more than just holding Jessica captive. I want some reciprocity from her," Riley said, but simultaneously felt surprised by the words he spoke. He hadn't consciously thought it through.

"I've been taking it easier on her Riley ..."

"I know. I'm talking about moving beyond that. Have you noticed anything about the way that Jessica interacts with the others?"

"You mean how she wraps them around her little finger?"

"The way she seems so much more at ease with them. You have to have noticed that."

"Maybe a little," Angus replied. In fact he had spent so much time avoiding Jessica that he hadn't noticed much. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Nothing specific, "Riley replied. "Just don't hold Beth against Jessica. That's all."

"Right. Okay. Can I go now? I've gotta go for a piss."

"Just check that water in the fuel line ..."

"I will," Angus replied, and headed for the house.

Ten minutes, and several jerk-offs later, Angus made his way back to the living room. Fantasies of Jessica fighting with him, and attempts at restraining her leading to unbelievable sex, made Angus feel more alive than he had in years. In his fantasies, Jessica never meant to really hurt him, it was just foreplay.

Maybe Riley's suggestion that Beth and Jessica weren't the same had merit. After all, sex between him and Beth had been fantastic, but not animalistic, brutal. With Jessica, that was what turned him on. So long as he was sure she wouldn't actually kill him. And unfortunately in reality, he was not sure of that. Not at all. He hated to admit it, but he wanted to be.

As he came into the center of the living room, he allowed himself to look at Jessica, really look at her. She sat on the sofa, and she looked very forlorn. The usual smoldering hatred, just below the surface, was absent. The Jessica that sat on the sofa now, could be the Jessica of his fantasies ... an unmistakable sense of vulnerability overcame him.

As vulnerable as Jessica looked to an unsuspecting eye Angus himself felt one hundred times more vulnerable. He was heading down a slippery slope, and he had to do something to save himself. In his mind's eye, a memory of Jessica in some past time, running away from him, played out. The anger that he'd felt then, came back to him. Good. He turned on his heel and headed out the door.

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

"What's going on ... why's the dog in here?" Riley asked, closing the front door behind him. Jessica was curled on the sofa, hugging Baby, Jim sat on the sofa next to Jessica, and Scott and Josh stood in the kitchen. They looked like they'd been discussing something.

Scott motioned Riley over.

"That dog is not coming back in the house!" he said to Scott and Josh.

"This is not good," Josh said, "she's really upset about the puppies not having their mother ... I think she may be thinking about her own. Mother, that is." Riley turned to look at Jessica. She had her face buried on the dog's fur. Next to her, Jim shrugged his shoulders. Riley couldn't believe it, but he was actually feeling sorry for Jessica.

Any compassion he may have had for her when they'd first taken her, had been stomped out by Jessica's repeated attacks and attempts to flee. But the loss he'd felt at losing his family came back to him, and for a moment he wished he could ease Jessica's pain. Before he knew what he was doing, he had moved to the sofa and sat between Jim and Jessica.

"Jessica," he said, and wondered what he could possibly say to make her feel better. Jessica looked up and fear passed over her face. She drew Baby closer to her.

"I know it seems bad for the pups that Ginger is dead ... but I was about to start weaning them anyway. They would've been separated in a day or two, no matter what." Riley paused. This wasn't completely true. He wouldn't have weaned them for another few weeks at least, but it certainly wasn't going to hurt them to be weaned a bit earlier.

"Really?" Jessica asked as the fear in her expression gave way to relief.

"You bet," Riley answered.

"So, it's okay for them to not have their mother?"

"Perfectly."

Jessica nodded. She seemed relieved as she kissed Baby on the head. Riley sat watching Jessica. Another positive interaction with Jessica. What would it take to make it a full conversation? He was so reluctant to bring the whole Ebony issue up, because he knew that the positive would disappear from the interaction.

"See Jess, you were worried for nothing," Josh kneeling next to the sofa, running his hand over Baby's head. Jessica looked up from the dog, smiled and nodded. And that was the reason Riley couldn't let the incident with Ebony go. Even if Josh's brains had slid down to his dick, Jessica had to know enough not to ask to do stupid stuff.

"Jessica," Riley began, and instantly the smile disappeared from her face. Fear replaced it, and her eyes automatically looked to the floor. What the hell? A moment ago Jessica was smiling up at Josh, and one word from him, and she looked like Jack the Ripper had just spoken to her. Riley felt winded, like someone had just punched him in the gut. He couldn't remember the last time his feelings had been hurt like this.

"I guess I should be thankful that you don't just ignore me like Max does ... " Riley mumbled, maybe the dog could be a bridge for them. Maybe she'd be willing to share her observations about the dog's disabilities with him ... but his comment was met with silence. Jessica didn't so much as blink.

"Max might be deaf and blind Riley," Scott said from the kitchen. Riley felt his cheeks go hot. So he and Angus were the only ones Jessica hadn't shared her theory with?

"Really?" Riley said in a controlled voice, "And where did you get that idea?" He asked, never moving his eyes from Jessica. Scott looked from Riley to Jessica, to Jim and Josh, completely bewildered. Jim slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. Leave it to Riley to find a way to make a positive move on Jessica's part look bad. Would anything ever make this man happy?

"I told you that already," Josh said wondering why Riley was acting so surprised by the news.

"Yes. You did Josh, thanks. Jessica, look at me." Jessica forced her eyes up. "The next time you have something to tell me, do it yourself. Understand?"

Jessica nodded. Her eyes lowered again.

"I'm not done yet," Riley said, "and I expect you to look at me when I'm talking to you ... good," he said when she looked up again. "If you ever want to get permission to go horseback riding, you've got to stop doing stupid things. Hey," he said snapping his fingers in front of Jessica as her eyes began to slide away again, "I swear to God Jessica, if I have to tell you to look at me again during this conversation, you and I are going to have a little alone time where you can practice doing nothing but looking at me for hours and hours."

"I gave her permission to see Ebony," Josh interrupted.

"I know you did!" Riley snapped, "That's beside the point. Jessica, I don't want to see you on the inside of that corral again." Jessica snapped to attention. Now he had her attention. "Do you have something to say?"

"But ... when I can ride ... " Jessica's voice trailed off. Riley looked like was about to reach out and strangle her. "I asked Josh ... he said it was okay ..."

"So, because you were able to sweet talk Josh into letting you do something stupid, it's alright?" Riley demanded.

"B b but ... when I'm allowed to ride ... I need to go in the corral ..."

"If ... big if, you're allowed to ride. Don't take anything for granted Jessica. At the rate you're going, the only thing you'll be riding is the sofa."

"Wait a minute!" Josh demanded. "Jessica did what she was supposed to. She asked me permission and I gave it to her. Are you telling me now that my word means nothing?"

"I don't know about Jessica," Jim piped in, getting to his feet, "but I'm getting confused. Which is it Riley, can she ask us permission to do stuff or not? Are you the only authority here?"

'Shit', Riley swore under his breath. Jim, Josh and Scott stood glaring at him. Riley got to his feet.

"Let's continue this conversation with Jessica in the basement."

"No, I think this is something Jessica should hear. She's been sticking to the rules Riley. She's supposed to ask for permission to do something out of the ordinary ... and she did. It's only fair to her, and to us, to know up front what is acceptable and what's not." Jim said.

'So much for not disagreeing in front of her,' Riley thought to himself.

"Fine. You make a very good point Jim. Maybe it's not a problem with Jessica, but a problem with you numbskulls. Start using your brains, will you? Next week we'll be at ... work," Riley said.

He slid his eyes over to Jessica. No reaction. The others had looked to Jessica also fearing a negative reaction. But Jessica seemed unaffected by the knowledge that the men would be returning to their acts of violence. All four men looked at one another, unsure what to make of Jessica's apparent acceptance of this fact.

"And when that time comes, someone's going to have to stay here with Jessica. If you still want it to be you ... you'd better start making better decisions with her."

"Fuck!" Josh hissed.

Jim lowered his head in exasperation.

After the attack on Jessica's family, the clan had taken a break to let things cool down. When word had come that the clans would co-ordinate renewed attacks, it had been decided that Jim, Scott and Josh would remain behind with Jessica. They had been wounded during the attack on Jessica's family.

Although the wounds had not caused any permanent damage, none of the three had any desire to be active in the field again. Initially, none of them were going to participate. Jessica was so difficult to handle, it was questionable whether any one of them could be left alone with her. But as Jessica seemed to have mellowed, Jim, Scott and Josh worked hard to convince Riley that they'd be okay alone with her. They had succeeded but now it seemed Riley was willing to rescind the agreement.
"Okay, okay," Jim said, holding his hands up. It wouldn't take much to cause Riley to change his mind about the whole thing. "We'll be more careful. Okay? You don't have to worry Riley, really."

"Luckily for you, you still have time to prove yourselves ... wait a minute! Why am I the one looking like the bad guy here?" Riley demanded. "Don't we all want Jessica to be safe? I don't think any of you want her to get trampled for Christ sake!"

The door slammed. Angus had returned and stood observing them. Jessica had jumped at the sound, she sat with her eyes squeezed shut, her heart pounding.

"Jesus Angus, is it that hard for you to close the door normally for a change?" Scott demanded. "You scared the crap out of us!"

"You mean I scared the crap out of you and Jessica," Angus replied, "what does that tell you?"

"Guys!" Riley interrupted. "Let's stick to the topic. Start being smarter ... and Jessica knows enough not to ask to do certain things. For crying out loud Jessica, don't you have any sense of self-preservation?"

Jessica had still been cringing from Angus' entrance. With Riley's question, she opened one eye and looked at him. They were all silent. Self-preservation. It occurred to Riley that she either had a large dose of a misguided sense of self-preservation, or no sense at all. Everything she'd done in the past few years could fall under either category.

"Stupid question," Riley said. "Jessica, Baby's gotta go back outside. I've gotta get back to work, I'll take her with me." He held his hands out. Jessica kissed Baby on the head, and passed her over to Riley.

"Stay out of trouble." He said and headed for the door.

Angus nodded to Riley as he came toward him. Riley tilted his chin at the door, and both disappeared through it.

"What's up?" Riley asked as he dropped Baby onto her feet on the lawn and turned in the direction of the kennels.

"There was water in the fuel line." Angus replied.

Riley froze mid-stride. He turned to stare at the house. Angus followed his gaze.

"What do you think she's up to?" Angus asked.

"I don't know. You?"

"I don't believe for a second that her goal has changed in any way. She wants to run away, but now she's biding her time till she does. All this talk about Beth, and giving Jessica a chance ..." Angus said, hoping the catch in his voice wasn't evident. "It's bullshit. She'll use whatever she can to pull a fast one on us."

Riley looked at Angus in surprise.

"What?" Angus asked.

"So you're convinced that she's not to be trusted?" Riley asked, but couldn't help but smile. Nothing that Angus said was new. He'd repeated his same old argument, but this time, much less convincingly. The hell and brim fire was gone.

"What are you smiling about? I just told you that I don't trust her!"

"Neither do I Angus. But do you remember how excited she got when I told her that I might let her train Baby with me? I don't know about you, but I'd like to see that more often."

The total euphoria that was on Jessica's face when she'd been thrown from Ebony, and she'd looked down at him as he'd checked her for broken bones, flashed through Angus' mind. He began to feel a pull in his groin again. Christ, he hadn't been this horny since he'd been a teenager! He shook his head.

"So, you're going to let her train that mutt with you, great. If you think I'm going to let her work on the vette with me, you've got another thing coming. Do you realize how easy it'd be for her to stick me with the screw driver when I'm not paying attention?"

"You're right. All I'm saying is, consider the possibilities. There's a lot we can get from her, whether she plans to run, or not."

"Yeah. Okay."

"Angus!" Jim yelled from the front door, "Help!"

Angus and Riley exchanged a glance before racing to the house.

"In the bathroom," Jim said and led the way to the bathroom.

When they entered they found Josh holding a bucket, and Jessica on her knees in the middle of a geyser of water under the counter, hands outstretched and trying to plug a leaking pipe. She screamed as the water sprayed her in the face, and she tried unsuccessfully to get her face out of the path of the water. Josh tried to maneuver the bucket around her under the counter, and suddenly the water stopped. There was a shocked silence as Jessica shook her soaked head.

Scott raced in to the bathroom, "Did it stop?" he demanded.

He'd gone into the basement in an attempt to turn the water off.

"Holy shit Jessica!" Scott commented when he saw her hair dripping, shirt plastered to her chest. Jessica looked down at herself, and began to laugh.

"What the hell happened?" Riley asked, still feeling the panic he'd felt on his way in. Angus was unable to speak. Anger had gripped him, he was sure Jessica had done something in an attempt to escape. Perhaps even succeeding in killing Scott this time ... and the anger he'd felt was not easily shaken now.

Jessica turned to see Riley and Angus scowling at her, and the laughter ceased.

"The pipe broke," Josh said.

"It broke, or it was broken?" Angus asked in a low voice.

"Broke," Josh replied, doing a double take when he saw the expression on Angus' face. "I was standing right next to Jessica, right here, when it happened. Trust me, it broke on its own."

Riley nodded. He felt physical relief as the tension eased out of his body. For the first time, he realized how much energy it took for him to get that angry.

"You going to fix it?" Riley asked Angus.

Angus nodded.

"I'll need help though," he said moving forward to get a look under the counter. "To get the piping off, I have to slide under the counter. I need someone to hand me the tools, like we did when we changed the sink a few years back."

"I can help," Jim said. "I'll get Jessica cleaned-up and then we'll be back."

"Josh, want to give me a hand in the barns then?" Scott asked. "I never did get finished in there."

Josh nodded and disappeared with Scott.

"Come on Jess," Jim said and held his hand out to her. Jessica moved to get up, and bumped into Angus.

"Sorry," she said, and began to crawl forward. Angus caught Jessica by her arm and pulled her to her feet. Jessica's shirt was plastered to her chest, she stood shivering, her erect nipples protruding from her shirt. When Angus didn't let her go, Jessica looked up, and followed his line of vision to her chest. Jessica's cheeks turned red as she hugged herself with her free arm. Angus couldn't move his eyes from where the little peaks had been. He couldn't take any more.

"I'll change her," he grumbled and he pulled her behind him by the arm.

No sooner had the door to his room closed, Angus pulled Jessica to him. His hands slid up her shirt, found her nipples and rubbed. Jessica was shaking, her flesh was freezing. He pulled her shirt over her head, he reached for her pants and cursed. She was on the rag! Damn it, when was she supposed to start the pills again? He couldn't remember but her bleeding never stopped him before. It just made things messier.

"Are you bleeding?" he demanded while tugging on the waist of her pants. Why the hell was he asking her? Like she'd tell the truth ... he'd have to find out for himself.

"No," Jessica whispered. Angus looked down at her, her cheeks were bright red and she was looking everywhere but at him. He couldn't wait any longer. He ripped her pants off, and pushed her onto his bed. Jessica turned her head to the side as Angus' hand moved down her thighs, and pushed her legs apart.

"Kiss me," he said gruffly. Jessica had closed her eyes. But Angus took her chin in his hand and turned her face to his. She opened her eyes to stare at the stubble on his chin.

"I said, kiss me," Angus was panting, out of breath from the mounting pleasure. His one hand had found Jessica's opening and he slammed his fingers into it, his other hand tilted her chin up.

He lowered his lips to hers and slipped his tongue between her lips. Her lips were rigid at first, and he slid his hand down to her breast, cupped it as he normally would in preparation to protect himself. But then Jessica softened, and her lips became pliable. He used his tongue to feel around her mouth, and as his fingers prodded Jessica's hole, the flesh around it, a moistness trickled from it.

Angus couldn't wait any longer. He got to his knees, nudged her legs apart with his knee and rammed himself into the opening his fingers had held ready for him. His hands moved to her shoulders and held her in place as he thrust over and over again, finally feeling a sensation so pleasurable that he groaned and fell on top of her. He lay panting, unable to move. God, if he'd waited any longer with his pent up need he would've blown her head right off.

Jessica didn't move beneath him. Just lay still, warm and soft. She smelled so good, the urge to hold her to him began to take hold. Damn it, he was weak. No wonder Beth had pulled one over on him. He should take her up the ass, hurt her a little again. Maybe he'd force her to enact her escape plan and get the inevitable over with. But, it wasn't his night with her, he'd already gone too far. He rolled off of Jessica and sat up.

"Get dressed." He said without looking at her.

Jessica didn't move. She'd been thrown off by his demand that she kiss him. And he hadn't hurt her. A phrase ran through her mind ... 'men think with their peckers ... you want to change the way a man thinks, do a good job on his pecker!'. As though through a fog, she realized she'd heard her mother's friend say it once. She hadn't understood what it'd meant then, but now she was getting the idea.

Angus looked over his shoulder and caught Jessica watching him.

"Oh," Jessica exclaimed, and dropped her gaze. She sat up. She couldn't figure Angus out. She'd come to expect to be used by Angus, physically, and then ignored. He rarely paid any attention to any part of her that was above her neck. Tonight he had. And he hadn't gone out of his way to hurt her. And with the help of the cream that Scott kept putting on her private areas, she could have had an orgasm had Angus been a little gentler, taken a little more time.

Maybe her mother's friend had been right. She wasn't sure she was up to the task of finding out. Jessica moved off the far side of the bed and to the chest of drawers. She kept her back to him as she worked on a bra, and slipped on a shirt. She closed the drawer and stood quietly before it. She seemed to be studying the knob on the drawer.

Angus felt unsettled. Why, he didn't know. There'd been something odd about the expression on Jessica's face, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. She'd never so openly looked at him before ... in fact her eyes had never strayed in his direction unless they were forced to.

"Let's go," he said. Jessica turned and moved toward the door. She reached Angus as he was getting to his feet, almost colliding with her. She tried to scoot by him, but he grabbed her arm.

"I asked you to kiss me earlier Jessica, you owe me a kiss."

"I ... I ... we did ..." Jessica stammered.

"No ..." Angus replied kind of liking the gentler side of Jessica. It occurred to him that normally, by now, he'd be fighting to hang on to her arm ... protecting his vulnerable parts from Jessica's jabs.

"I asked you to kiss me. But I ended-up kissing you. You owe me a kiss."

"Uhhh ..." Jessica seemed to be struggling with a flurry of emotions. Fear, confusion, desperation, resignation, all seemed to play across her face.

"I'm waiting ... and if I were you, I wouldn't keep me waiting for too long."

Jessica inhaled and placing her hands on his chest, she pushed up on her toes and brushed his cheek with her lips.

She stood before him, head lowered, enduring the silence that followed. At any moment now, Angus could be hurting her again. But, if he didn't hurt her, what did it mean? Should she try ... try to use sex to get what she wanted? No, she couldn't. What she wanted, he would never give her. But still, things could get better. With the exception of Riley, they had improved with the others.

"That was a kiss alright Jessica, but when I talk about a kiss from you to me, I definitely and in no way, mean on my cheek."

Jessica flicked her eyes up at him for a moment and then stared at the floor again. She shifted from foot to foot.

"Where do you think I would want you to kiss me?" Angus asked. This was almost like his fantasies. Not physically fighting, but Jessica being coy ... making him tease things out of her. He felt a stirring in his groin. He was never going to get around to fixing that sink.

"I asked you a question Jessica ... " pleasure was mounting.

"Lips," Jessica whispered.

"What was that?"

"On the lips," Jessica replied.

"So?"

Jessica placed her hands on his chest again, and paused. She stood staring at his chest. She suddenly had an overwhelming urge to make Angus like her. He had been nicer to her lately, maybe if she tried a little harder to be nice to him ...

Angus stood staring at her. He couldn't possibly fuck her again, could he? Jim was waiting in the bathroom for them. They'd already well exceeded the time it took to change clothing.

Slowly, Jessica raised her eyes and looked in his. She held his gaze for several seconds, and then slowly raised herself up to his lips. Her lips locked on his and delivered a kiss much like he'd fantasized about hours earlier, in the bathroom. She stopped short of using her tongue but it was electric anyway. She looked in his eyes again, before moving away from him. Angus was stunned. Absolutely stunned. His desire gave way to something else ... something he didn't know what to do with. He could hear his bedroom clock ticking away. They had to get out of the bedroom before something unpredictable, and emotionally dangerous happened.

Angus cleared his throat.

"We'd better go," he said, but as Jessica took a step forward, he wasn't really ready to let her go yet. He was still struggling inside with the desire to have Jessica again. Angus' arm shot out to stop her. It inadvertently landed on her left breast. She froze ... fear played across her face. He let his hand fall. Relief replaced the fear in Jessica's expression. Well, it wasn't his night with her anyway. Obviously the fantasy he'd been hoping for wasn't going to happen, the fear that had played on Jessica's face made that clear.

"After you ..." he said. Jessica moved to the door quickly. She wanted to get away from him. That knowledge had disappointment washing over him. Angus shook his head. Things were getting confusing.

Jim was coming out of the bathroom as they came to the doorway.

"There you are ... is everything alright?" he asked, studying Jessica to see if Angus had hurt her. She wouldn't look him in the eye, but otherwise seemed alright.

"Fine." Angus grumbled. "Toolbox is in the garage. Be right back."

The second Angus was gone, Jim turned to Jessica.

"Did Angus hurt you?" Jim asked bending down to get into her line of vision. "Did he hit you?"

Jessica shook her head.

"Jessica, look at me will you. What happened?"

Chin tucked in, Jessica rolled her eyes up to look at him. Her cheeks grew red.

"Oh God," Jim mumbled. "You don't mean ... he didn't ..."

Jessica looked down at the floor quickly and shifted uncomfortably.

"It's ... it's not his night with you ... Hell, it's not even night ... I'm sorry Jess."

Jessica nodded.

Angus stomped back in, carrying the toolbox and long pieces of tubing.

"I'll tell you what tools I need, you pass them to me," he said as he bent onto his knees before the sink.

"Right," Jim replied, wondering whether he dared bring up the breach of rules with Angus. This was to be Jim's night with Jessica, he had every right to be angry! Christ, he couldn't say anything. The second he did, Angus would strike back at Jessica.

"What's your problem?" Angus asked.

"Nothing ..." Jim answered, taken aback, was he that easy to read?

"Could've fooled me," Angus replied shifting his eyes over to where Jessica stood fidgeting.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jim replied looking over at Jessica also.

"As long as you're sure," Angus said and made his way under the counter. At least Jessica hadn't gone whining to Jim about their interlude. He had no idea who he would've been more pissed at ... Jessica for complaining, or Jim for having the nerve to bring it up.

"Just take a seat on the toilet there Jess," Jim said, opening the tool box, "this shouldn't take long."

"Christ it's dark under here," Angus complained, "I knew we shouldn't have set this up like this. Why the hell would we have the joint under the counter? I can barely fit under here ... damnit."

"Here's the flashlight," Jim said sliding a small snake light under the counter with Angus.

"Thanks. Alright, I need the basin wrench,"

"Jim!" Josh yelled from the living room.

"Coming!" Jim yelled, jumping to his feet. "Back in a sec Angus."

Jim held a finger up at Jessica. She nodded and he ran out the door.

"Thanks for your help there ..." Angus grumbled, leaning to the side, trying to see out from under the cabinet. He felt around with his hand until it landed on the tool box. He felt his way along the side of the box. Suddenly he felt metal against the top of this hand. He turned his palm up and his fingers closed around a tool.

"Thanks," he said pulling it closer to the light. It was the right wrench ... 'what do you know', Angus muttered to himself.

"Son of a ... pass the adjustable wrench will you," Angus said. Now he remembered why he hated tight places. Alternating between the basin and adjustable wrench, Angus finally managed to get the cracked tubing separated.

"Here," he said sliding the first piece of tubing out to Jim. "This is the original broken one, and I think I cracked the bottom tube here, while trying to separate them. So what you're going to have to do is measure this new tubing to the same length as this old piece. There's a hacksaw in the toolbox."

Angus paused and heard Jim moving around, and then the saw cutting into the tubing. Jim pushed the tube beside Angus.

"Okay, here's the other piece." Angus said shoving the second piece out.

"Hey, this fits perfect," Angus commented as he fit the tube to the existing piping and began attaching it.

He heard the saw working on the tubing. Intermingled with its rhythmic whine, was the sound of footsteps, running, and a bang, like the bathroom door banging against the wall.

"Jessica!" he heard Riley yell, "Put that down, now!"

Angus heard something fall to the floor. He scrambled out from under the counter ... what the hell had she done to Jim?

He came into the light blinking. He looked around for Jim, and found him standing near the bathroom door, face frozen in the same contorted expression as Riley, Josh and Scott.

None of them moved. Angus blinked. What the hell was Jim doing over there? He swung his gaze toward the toolbox, and found Jessica kneeling near him, the piping in one hand, and the hacksaw lying on the ground beside her. He stared, unable to move. Jessica too was frozen, head turned to the other men. She was panting and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Angus could see the excess piece of piping next to her knee.

"Move back Jessica," Riley said in a voice filled with fury. Jessica turned her gaze away from the men, and looked directly at Angus. She looked scared, and oddly, confused. She held Angus' gaze for a second before looking down at the floor as she crawled back away from the piping.

"Are you alright Angus?" Scott demanded as he moved forward and kicked the saw further away from Jessica. His heart pounded in his chest. Images of Jessica sawing his head off while he hung helpless in the handcuffs on his headboard played in his mind. Thank God she hadn't had a weapon on hand!
"Did she cut you?" Scott asked, scanning Angus for signs of a wound. Angus shook his head.

"I'm fine," Angus said.

Riley stalked over to where Jessica crouched on all fours. He ran his hands over her, frisking every nook and cranny before pulling her up by her shirt collar.

Jessica dangled above the floor in Riley's grip, he bashed her against the wall, knocking the air out of her. He stuck his face into hers, his contorted face making it obvious that he'd love nothing more than to rip her apart.

"This is the last straw Jessica!" He thundered as his free hand worked his belt free. "I've been bending over backwards to try and help you earn some freedom, avoid receiving the pain you seem so desperate to get ... but this ... this takes us back to square one. You want to be enemy number one Jessica? Fine, be enemy number one. You, me and my belt are going to have a lot of time now to play that game. Let's go!"

Riley carried her by her shirt collar toward the bathroom door. Jessica hung like a dead rabbit in his grasp.

"Wait," Angus said. "Riley ... wait!" he got to his feet and jogged after Riley. Riley stopped just as Angus neared him.

"You're right Angus ... sorry. You go first. I'll finish with whatever is left of her." And he handed Jessica to Angus. Angus took Jessica by the arms, and had to hold her up. She'd become dead weight, and had a look of absolute terror on her face.

"Jim," Angus said turning to Jim. He hesitated before speaking when he saw how grey and destroyed Jim looked. "Is this the first time you returned since leaving to help Josh?"

Jim nodded. "I'm sorry Angus ... I never thought ... I would never have believed ..."

"Take her downstairs Jim," Angus said handing Jessica to him.

"I don't think I can." Jim replied. He sounded wounded, and he wouldn't look at Jessica. Angus turned to Josh and then Scott. Neither one looked any better than Jim.

"Shit." He muttered, and scooping Jessica into his arms, he left the bathroom, and headed for the basement. Downstairs he lay Jessica on the sofa. He stood staring at her for a moment, and she stared back. He shook his head and went back up the stairs.

When Angus left, Jessica rocked back and forth on the sofa in the basement. It had been so long since she'd done anything really useful that she'd jumped at the chance to help Angus. She was surprised that he let her and they'd been working together so nicely. She couldn't understand why Angus had looked so surprised to see her there. She was so confused. She took a deep breath. She had no idea what was going to happen and that worried her. Really worried her.

When Angus returned upstairs, none of the men had left the bathroom.

He found them standing exactly as he had left them.

"Where's Jessica?" Scott demanded.

"Downstairs." Angus replied.

"Downstairs?" Josh asked, "Why are you here?"

"I don't know," Angus said. "I do know that I need a drink. Anyone else?"

"I don't want anything to diminish the satisfaction that I'm going to get from re-educating Jessica." Riley said.

"There's a waiting list here Angus," Josh said in a beaten tone, "would you mind getting on with it. I'd like my turn some time tonight."

"You were gone for well over ten minutes Jim," Angus said. Jim nodded and looked like all he wanted to do was slit his own wrists.

"In those ten minutes, Jessica handed me tools, and cut the piping."

The men's heads seemed to snap up in unison.

"She was coming after you with the saw Angus." Riley said, "We all saw it, first hand."

"Was she holding the piece of piping ahead of her ... like she was about to shove it under the counter?"

Riley opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out.

"Where was the saw?" Angus continued, "Was she actually trying to cut me?"

"Just what the hell are you saying?" Scott demanded. His nerves were shot, and he felt like he was going to puke. The last thing he needed was Angus playing twenty questions.

"I'm saying that for ten minutes, at least, Jessica had access to every tool in that box. She spent that time, handing me tools and cutting the piping."

"You don't think she was trying to kill you?" Jim asked.

Angus couldn't believe he was about to say it, but oddly he felt he had to. "No." he replied.

"You don't think she was trying to escape?" Josh asked.

"Hey, I never said that!" Angus said, holding his hands up in protest, "This has to all be part of her master plan somehow. But just now, she was not trying to kill me." Angus shook his head. He could not believe he'd just spoken those words.

"You're sure?" Riley asked. He felt drained.

"She's still alive, isn't she?" Angus asked.

"Christ!" Jim exploded. "I swear to God Angus, I thought I was going to be away for a second ... I didn't know there was a damn wild dog out there!"

"Jim," Angus said holding up his hand, "it's okay. I should've checked to make sure you'd taken her with you. What kind of dumb ass was I to make myself vulnerable like that?"

Jim looked stunned. "Thanks," he said, not quite believing that Angus was being so understanding about the whole thing. Angus nodded.

"What does this mean then?" Riley asked. When he replayed the scene in his mind ... opening the door, seeing Jessica, he had to admit that the saw was not being held in any threatening manner. She in fact looked like she was about to hand the piping to someone, and the saw just happened to be with her. Even if she'd had no intention of harming Angus, for Riley, Jessica and saws just didn't mix.

"Maybe she doesn't plan on trying to kill her way out anymore?" Josh said. It was a relieving thought.

"She could be trying to lull us into a false sense of security," Angus said.

"Huh?" the men asked simultaneously, looking at him like he'd grown two heads.

"But you just said ..." Jim began to protest.

"I know, I know," Angus said. "Jessica did have every opportunity to harm me if she'd intended to. I'm leaving it at that ... "

"She should have known better than to pick up potential weapons," Riley added.

"Yup," Angus agreed, "we should make that point to her."

Riley looked at Angus from the corner of his eye. This had to be the first time ever that Angus wasn't pulling excuses from thin air for a reason to beat the crap out of Jessica.

"You guys go ahead," Jim said, moving to the bathroom door, "but I need some time to think. I'll be outside getting rid of that dog's body." And he disappeared through the door.

"Another dog?" Angus asked.

"A wild dog. It came from out of nowhere, started chasing down the horses, " Scott replied.

"Must be sick," Angus said. "No way any normal dog would do that in broad daylight ... with people around."

"He doesn't look sick," Riley answered, finding it hard to care much about the conversation. "So, what you're telling me is that you have no plan to punish Jessica for this at all?"

"I guess not," Angus replied. "For some reason I don't feel like punishing her ... for this anyway. Give me a few minutes and I'll find something to come down on her for." He couldn't' explain it ... even to himself. He just didn't feel angry at her for what she did. Maybe that was Jim's problem ... maybe that was why he never felt like punishing her. In fact, didn't he always have some similar argument ... that she could've done A, but instead she did B? Angus groaned ... the fact that he was starting to understand Jim worried him.

"So, you're just going to leave her in the basement?" Riley asked.

"No, one of you are free to take her out. I'm going to finish this damn plumbing."

"Well, hell. She needs to be told what she did wrong. We didn't freak out for nothing!" Riley said. The front door slammed, and seconds later, Jim stormed back into the bathroom.

"It's my night with Jessica ... " Jim stated, "and I'm starting it early. If any of you have something to say to her ... do it now."

"That'd be me then," Riley said, and headed out to the living room.

The others followed. Angus looked at the plumbing, and then the door. The sink could wait. Maybe Jessica would do something that would give him a reason to get mad at her. It was unsettling to not have that purpose. He came into the living room just as Riley led Jessica through the basement door. Her look of misery did nothing to inflame his anger. He fell back against the wall. For once he had no agenda with Jessica. Looking around the room at the other men, Angus could see that they on the other hand, did. He was definitely having a Jim moment, it made him feel off balance.

"Sofa, Jessica, sit." Riley said.

Head bowed, Jessica moved to the sofa, and sat.

Jim lowered himself onto the armchair and buried his head in his hands. He would have his time with her soon enough, and he had no idea what he'd say. He'd effectively betrayed her.

When he saw her with that saw ... he believed ... he knew, without a doubt that she had intended to kill Angus. He'd felt like his heart had been ripped out and trampled. He obviously wasn't as sure of Jessica as he'd thought he was. But he'd felt even worse when he learned that Jessica had not intended to hurt Angus after all.

After the initial pain of betrayal, an anger had swept over him. He'd wanted to inflict some of the pain he'd felt, on Jessica ... what if he had? He glanced up and saw Riley circling around the sofa to stand before Jessica. Hopefully Jessica would be in half decent shape after this, good enough shape that he could get her to say something that would assure him that he could actually trust her ... so he would never have this doubt again.

Scott stood near the sofa and watched Jessica sitting quietly on the sofa. Her face was red from crying. She tried to sniffle as quietly as she could. The terror he'd felt when he'd seen Jessica with the saw was now replaced with relief. If Angus was right, that Jessica had just been helping him ... not intending to hurt him ... then perhaps he had nothing to fear from her himself. It would be nice to not have to live in that constant doubt from day to day. And maybe he had been perfectly safe in those handcuffs the night before.

"Jessica," Riley said.

Josh watched Jessica look up at Riley. Guilt ran through him. She had a tear stained face ... the same tear stained face that she'd had every day for almost the whole first year they'd had her. The worst part was that earlier, in the bathroom, that was the face he himself wanted to give back to Jessica. He'd felt an anger that he hadn't felt for a surprisingly long time. He'd felt doubly angry because of that fact alone. Now he felt nothing but guilt. What if he'd carried out his wishes and then found out that Jessica had only been helping? He would have destroyed any trust she'd had in him.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" Riley asked.

Jessica nodded.

"What was it?"

"I ..." Jessica began, lowering her eyes. They stopped at his pelvis, and she froze.

"Well?" Riley prompted, and then followed Jessica's gaze. Her eyes were frozen on his hand that hung beside him. Riley lifted his hand. His fist gripped his belt, buckle up. Jessica's eyes followed the belt.

"I forgot I had it ..." Riley muttered, but when he moved to put it on, Jessica gasped, reflexively pulling her legs up and hugging them against her chest.

Riley paused. "I'm putting it on Jessica. You're not planning on giving me a reason to use it, are you?"

Jessica shook her head vigorously, and didn't stop until Riley had re-buckled it around his waist.

"You were about to tell us what you'd done wrong." Riley said.

Jessica said something into her chest, where her chin rested. Riley crouched before her. He couldn't bring himself to make her look at him, and speak louder. She was scared, and rightly so. Rather than try to be less scary for Jessica, he'd purposely intended to terrify and abuse her. Somehow his and Angus' roles had reversed, and he had fully intended to carry out Angus' worst, or more.

"I couldn't hear you Jessica, none of us could."

"I was helping Angus," Jessica said.

"With what Jessica?" Riley asked.

"Fixing the sink," Jessica replied.

"No ... I mean what were you using to help Angus?"

"The tools."

"Bingo!" Riley said, but his elation at having her admit the problem lasted for only a moment.

Jessica looked up at him with a blank expression.

"The tools Jessica. You know, screw drivers, wrenches, saws ... that's a down right arsenal. What made you think it'd be alright for you to use them?"

"I wanted to help." Jessica replied.

"You wanted to help ..." Riley repeated, and looked back at Angus. Angus shrugged. He didn't know what to do with this. At the moment he was very confused, more with himself than with Jessica.

"Well that's great," Riley said, "except for one thing." He reached up and grabbed Jessica's forearms. Her eyes widened, but she kept them on Riley's.

"You aren't allowed to help." His tone lacked the conviction he'd wanted it to. He was unnerved by her unwavering stare. He had so wanted change in Jessica's behavior, and now that it seemed to be happening, he was uncomfortable. How real was it?

"Why?"

Riley stared at Jessica.

"Shit!" he heard Scott mutter behind him. From the corner of his eye, Riley he saw Jim look up at Jessica in utter disbelief. Josh began pacing behind the sofa. Riley looked to Angus for some assistance. He hadn't moved, but he was staring hard at Jessica. This was getting weirder by the second. Normally this same question from Jessica would at the very least cause Angus to go into a tizzy, and he himself would be ready to throttle her. Angus wasn't reacting, and Riley had no desire to harm her, just be sure that she wasn't trying to find some way to escape. He turned back to Jessica.

"Is that supposed to be a serious question?" he demanded. The tone of his voice finally caused Jessica to drop her gaze.

"I asked you a question Jessica!" She nodded and managed to raise her eyes up to Riley's chin.

"Yes ... " she said.

"Yes?"

"Yes, a serious question." She whispered.

"I seem to recall an earlier conversation where I told you that you had to earn our trust before you earned the right to help out."

Jessica was nodding.

"So you remember that too?"

Jessica nodded. "But ..."

"But? There's a but in here?" Riley demanded struck by her cheekiness. "Oh no, no, no, " Riley said when Jessica tried to drop her gaze again. "You have more to say, so say it!"

"But ... " Jessica began again.

"Look at me Jessica!"

Jessica swallowed hard, and raised her eyes.

"You were saying?" he asked when her eyes finally moved to his.

"But ... how, how can I earn it?".

"By behaving ... " Riley answered through clenched teeth.

Jessica shrank back against the sofa.

"By staying out of the kitchen, off horses, away from screw drivers, saws, guns, and doing what you're told! How's that for a start!"

"Riley," Jim said.

"What?"

"I think Jessica should go downstairs again."

"What?"

"We need to talk. She should go downstairs."

Riley stared at Jessica.

"You're so lucky!" He growled. "'Take her!" he said, pushing himself to his feet he moved to the kitchen and stood with his hands behind his head. Angus moved past him to the bar. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey, removed the lid and took a swig. He handed the bottle to Riley and watched while Jim led Jessica to the basement door.

"Why didn't you do it?" Riley asked after taking a swig.

"It?" Angus asked.

"You know ... beat the snot out of Jessica. Christ Angus, she broke all the rules ... you of all people should've been tearing her to pieces."

"Hey, what happened to being all warm and fuzzy?" Angus asked.

"That's not funny Angus."

"I wasn't trying to be funny. Oh I get it. I'm only supposed to be warm and fuzzy when it's convenient for you?"

"Be serious will you!"

"Right ... I don't know why I didn't go ballistic. Any other time, I would. But I swear to you Riley, I thought Jim was in the room with me the whole time. She passed me all the right tools, cut the piping to the right size ... she had plenty of time to kill me, and she didn't."

Jim had returned and stood with Scott and Josh, listening to Riley and Angus' conversation.

Angus pointed at them. "Them, maybe you could see her not killing, but me? I've abused her in every way possible. At the very least you'd think she'd look for revenge. She didn't, and I just didn't feel like punishing her for that. That all right with you?"

Riley dropped his head. "Yeah, okay."

He turned to Jim. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"I agree with Angus." Jim said.

Riley looked from Jim to Angus, and then back again. "Now I've heard it all. I don't know about you guys, but I'd like to start today over again. Start it again, and skip all this weird shit."

"It's not that inconceivable that I would agree with Angus," Jim said. "We used to agree on a lot of things. As for today, I don't want to start it over again. I like it just the way it is. I don't think Jessica should be punished for it."

"Ditto, " Angus said. Riley looked at him and swore. Angus winked at Jim and laughed.

"Okay, now I'm weirded out, " Scott said holding his hand for the bottle Riley still held. Riley handed it to him. Scott took a long pull from it before handing it to Josh.

Josh looked at the white liquid in the bottle. It was three quarters full. "I hope we've got another bottle back there ... this won't be enough." And he threw his head back and gulped.

"So get on with it Jim. That's not what you sent Jessica downstairs for ... " Riley moved to the living room and fell onto the sofa. He looked at his watch. It was only five o'clock, but it felt like midnight. He suddenly felt very tired. Jim returned to the armchair, Scott and Josh sat beside Riley on the sofa, and Angus pulled a chair from the kitchen into the living room. Turning it, he heaved himself onto it.

"I think it's time to start letting Jessica help out more." Jim said.

"Good idea," Angus said, "let's give her a chainsaw and let her clear out some of the deadwood ... I'm sure she'd start with me."

"Ha, ha," Jim said, "Jessica's getting bored, so she's starting to do unpredictable things. I suggest we give her some responsibility. Something that she can put her energy into."

"But like Angus said," Josh said, "what can she do that doesn't pose a risk to us?"

"Do you guys honestly still believe that she intends to hurt us?" Jim asked.

"Just because she didn't take the opportunity today, doesn't mean she won't another time." Angus said.

"This was one act of co-operation from her Jim," Riley said, "she has a history of many, many, attempts at hurting us."

"Attempts?" Scott asked incredulity in his voice.

"Okay, so she has successfully caused us harm ... " Jim conceded.

"Some of us ... she has successfully caused some of us harm." Scott corrected.

"Amen," Angus added.

"Okay ... I get it. Her past behavior makes it hard to believe that she won't do it again," Jim said his voice thick with impatience. "But today she had a perfect opportunity and she didn't take it. I say that the more positive the response she gets from us about that, the more likely she is to repeat the behavior."

"So, what do you suggest we let her do?" Riley asked. He'd never felt so unsure of himself before. For the first time that he could remember, he didn't know exactly what to do with her.

If Jessica were a dog, what Jim said made sense. Positive reinforcement worked like a charm. But Jessica was no dog, she'd proved that more than once. He had told Angus to play along with Jessica and they would deal with her attempts to escape as they came along ... if he followed his own advice, what Jim was suggesting made even more sense.
Sense or no, there was a huge element of uncertainty with Jessica. The line between positive reinforcement and creating their own death wish, was thin.

"We should start with cooking. Let her take over cooking, at least one meal of the day. One of us is with her at all times, it would be impossible for her to poison our food. If that goes well, we could move on to something else. But I really think that this is the time we have to do something drastic ... a positive drastic, to prove to Jessica that good behavior really does pay off."

"I know I'm going to regret this someday," Riley said, "but unless anyone has any drastic opposition to what Jim is suggesting, I'm willing to go along." He finished his sentence and looked to Angus.

"I don't care if she cooks," Angus said, "but she's going to eat everything before I do. And any chemicals we have left in the kitchen need to be removed ... that includes the dish soap."

"Dish soap?" Scott asked. "So you'll blow bubbles out your ass for a day or two, get a grip!"

"Mark my words, " Angus said, "she'll find some way to make it toxic."

"We'll watch her," Jim said. "Nothing but good old food will be in our meals."

"Ahuh," Angus said, not sounding the least bit as though he believed it.

"We can start with lunches," Josh said. "If you don't want to eat what she makes, you can make yourself a sandwich or something."

"Sound good to you?" Riley asked Scott. Scott nodded but didn't look convinced.

"Angus?"

"Yup," Angus replied but wondered why he was going along with it. It seemed like domestic bliss was just going to cause him to get even more emotionally ensnared by her. 'On the other hand,' he thought to himself, 'this could force her hand, then I can go back to beating the crap out of her and enjoying it.'

"Wait a minute," Scott said, "what about the rules she broke. So she didn't gut Angus. Though I'm thankful for that, she did break the rules just by picking up the wrench, never mind the saw."

"I don't think we can focus on that right now," Jim said. He was hoping to tell Jessica about the new rule before anyone had the chance to change their minds ... he got up and began moving toward the basement door. "Cooking should distract her for a while, and once she gets hooked on it, it will be a powerful carrot to dangle in front of her nose."

"Yeah, "Josh added, "she won't do anything to jeopardize that freedom."

"Nice theory," Riley said, "guess we'll have to test it. Go ahead and get her Jim. We'll see how much of an incentive cooking becomes."

Riley had stood to watch Jim lead Jessica to the sofa. Her head was lowered, but her eyes flicked up intermittently. As Riley watched her, he felt a tinge of jealously. When she looked at Jim, Josh, or Scott, she seemed fine, but when her eyes landed on Angus ... and then himself, she looked away as if it physically hurt her to see them. She sat between Scott and Josh.

"Jessica, " Riley began in a quiet voice. He was unsure about how he felt. He flip flopped between anger and dejection. Both he and Angus had bent over backwards to be nicer to her and yet she seemed to be just as afraid of them as before. Jessica must have been reassured by calmness of his voice, because she looked up at him, but couldn't hold the gaze.

"You broke the rules." he said. Anger was beginning to win first place in the whirlwind of emotions that swirled within him. How hard could it be to look at him? It wasn't like his eyes would jump out of his head and bite her! The others, save Angus, had been just as angry with her ... just as ready to punish her, why was her fear reserved for only him and Angus?

"Jessica," Jim interrupted. He ignored Riley's scowl. "It's become obvious that you need some responsibility around here."

Jessica's head snapped up and she looked at Jim expectantly.

"So ... Riley has something to tell you."

Riley had been glowering at Jim, and was taken aback when he realized Jessica had shifted her attention back to him.

"Right," Riley began. "in appreciation of your ... help ... with Angus ... we've decided that you can cook lunches. If you behave, you can cook other meals also ... "

He was interrupted by a small squeal from Jessica. She bounced in a place a little clearly excited. "Thank you." she said.

"But this time you have to obey the rules. You step out of line in the kitchen, and that's the end of your cooking days ... got it?" Riley demanded.

Jessica was nodding her head repeatedly. He was beginning to wonder if she really understood what she'd done wrong.

"Jessica. What exactly is it that you did wrong in the bathroom?" Jessica's euphoria seemed to disappear. She stopped grinning from ear to ear, and seemed to be thinking. "I ... the tools ... I used the tools to help Angus?" she asked.

Riley looked at Angus, just waiting for his patience to run out. He should be snapping at any moment, but he looked nowhere ready to do so.

"Wait a minute!" Scott said bolting upright in his seat. Suddenly everything made sense. It was so obvious. Scott looked at Jessica. Relief flooded over him.

"Jessica, what were you doing in the kitchen with Jim yesterday?" he asked her.

"Helping him make dinner," Jessica said.

"And in the corral today with Ebony?" Scott continued.

"Helping you understand him ... he needs some gentleness you know ... you've gotta talk to him like he's a person."

"And with the information you asked us to pass onto Riley and Angus?" Scott continued.

"Well, Riley hadn't realized that Max was blind and deaf, and Angus hadn't realized that he had water in his fuel line."

"And so, by telling them, you hoped to ...?" Scott trailed off.

"Help them," Jessica replied.

"And in the bathroom, with Angus? What were you trying to do?"

Jessica shrugged and glanced around the room at the men. "I thought I was helping ..." her voice trailed off.

"There you go, " Scott ended, feeling like the biggest heel in the world. "All this misbehavior is really just Jessica trying to help."

Jim groaned and brought his hands to his head. He was a moron. Why hadn't he seen it? Josh chugged back the last of the whiskey in the bottle he'd been nursing. Riley turned to Angus, waiting for his usual diatribe that would spout from him following any conversation that made excuses for Jessica, but it didn't come. Angus shrugged and moved toward the bar.

"Fine," Riley said more to himself than to anyone else.

He turned back to Jessica.

"Now you can help in the kitchen. Here's a rule of thumb for you ... if your help requires that you use any kind of an object, ask for permission first. Got it?"

"Yes," Jessica replied. She'd maintained eye contact with him when she answered, and she still hadn't dropped her gaze.

"Okay ... good, then," Riley said. He felt exhausted and yet exhilarated. Maybe Jim would switch nights with him. He felt like this was a pivotal moment for him with Jessica.

"All done?" Jim asked getting up from the armchair, "Can I take Jessica to bed now?"

Jessica looked up at Jim. Riley dropped his head. So much for that.

"Anyone else want a word with Jessica?" Riley asked. There was no reply.

"Come on Jess," Jim said holding his hand out to her.

"Good night," Jessica said turning to Scott on her right and giving him a kiss. She did the same for Josh. Riley was not in the mood to have to cajole her into kissing him goodnight, it would be more than he could stand on this night, but to his surprise he didn't have to. "Good night," she said, placing a kiss on his lips.

"Yeah," was all he could reply.

Angus still stood by the bar, a new bottle of whiskey in hand. Without hesitation, Jessica walked across the living room, stood on her toes and planted a kiss on his lips. "Good night."

"Night," he replied. He wanted to say something positive about the work she'd done in the bathroom, but the words wouldn't come out. Damn ... she was already moving back to Jim. Oh well, it was probably better to drop the whole thing anyway. Wouldn't want her to get the idea that it would be alright for her to use the saw again. Angus looked down at the bottle in his hand ... thank God for booze.

Jim locked his bedroom door and turned to find Jessica bouncing up and down on his bed, a big smile plastered on her face.

"I get to cook!" she squealed, clapping her hands together.

"Are you insane!" Jim thundered climbing on the bed and grabbing Jessica by her arms.

"Are you mad at me?" Jessica asked in surprise.

"What was your first clue? The fact that I wanted to throttle you in the bathroom earlier?"

"You did?" Jessica asked. Christ, either she was the best actress alive, or she really didn't have any idea what had nearly happened to her.

"Yes, I did. And so did all of the other men. Jessica, you crossed a really big line. This wasn't like the gun incident ... you were alone with Angus and as far as we could tell, you were about to saw the man in half! What the hell possessed you to do such a thing?"

Jim looked down at Jessica unable to even guess at what her answer would be.

"And," he said, starting to get confused by the faint smile that grew on Jessica's lips. Jim had once again come through for her. She was allowed to help now. She wanted nothing else but to kiss him right then. Her eyes searched his face, his eyes, and Jim began to feel lost. "Don't you dare tell me you were trying to help ... what the hell are you smiling at?"

"You ... and I guess I didn't really think much about it ... I just did it." Jessica's smile was growing. Jim was bewildered.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked, "You can't 'just do' things ... stop smiling like that, you're making me nervous!"

"Well, that's too bad." Jessica replied, "I guess that if I can't 'just do' things, then I can't just do this ..." and she leaned in and kissed Jim. Her lips locked with his, and he felt a jolt of excitement when her tongue slipped into his mouth. They fell onto the bed. Jessica slid on top of him. Pleasure was growing between her legs and she wanted Jim so badly.

Jim's mind went blank and his hands were all over her. They slid under her shirt, found her breasts. Jessica's hand slid down and rubbed on the bulge in his pants.

"Christ!" Jim said, his brain registering what was happening. "Stop Jess ... we have to stop." He grabbed Jessica's hand and pulled it away from his groin.

"No we don't," Jessica murmured and slid her other hand to his groin.

"Yes ... yes we do!" Jim said grabbing her hand and pulling it away.

He rolled Jessica off of him and sat up.

"Jesus!" he swore as he tried to catch his breath, tried to get a grip on the urges he was feeling. When he finally felt controlled enough to look at Jessica she lay looking back at him. Her chest was heaving and from beneath her shirt he could see the outlines of her breasts ... her breasts that had felt so good in his hands.

'Get a grip!' he thought as he shook his head.

"You don't really want to stop," Jessica said, taking his hand.

"Yes I do ... "

"No," she said shaking her head. "You still have that look on your face."

"What look?" Jim asked.

"The same look the others get, just before we ... you know."

"Okay," Jim nodded, "part of me doesn't want to stop. But we have to, for now."

Jessica sat up beside Jim.

"If you don't really want to stop, why are we?" Jessica asked.

"Because, I'm mad and I don't want to do this while I'm mad."

"That seems to be the only time Angus likes to do it," Jessica replied.

Jim exhaled. He was happier not knowing some of these details.

"What can I do to make you stop being mad at me?" she asked.

"I need to know why you did what you did. Is this all part of some plan to escape?"

Jessica looked down at her hands. She shrugged. "I don't think so." She replied.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Jim said, getting of the bed and pacing, "You don't think so ... just what I wanted to hear!"

"What do you want to hear?" Jessica asked. She was still turned on and really wished they could continue with what they'd started. She hadn't realized before just how much she wanted Jim, in that way.

"The truth would be nice!" Jim yelled.

"I told you the truth." Jessica said, "I was just doing what you told me to. Angus needed help, I helped him."

Jim looked at Jessica. "So there was no angle in this that would help you escape?" he asked.

"I can't think of one," Jessica replied.

"That's not a resounding 'no' Jessica," Jim replied feeling disappointed.

"How can I say 'yes' or 'no'? When I helped Angus it was for no other reason than to, surprise, surprise, help him. I honestly hadn't given it much thought either way. But, if it would make you feel better, I could come up with something right now!"

"Alright Jess, I get the point," Jim said as Jessica's voice grew louder. She was getting angry and God, the last thing he wanted was for her to start planning something she may not have previously thought about.

"Do you? You told me to not think, but to act. Well, that's what I did!"

"Okay ... okay," Jim said getting back on the bed with Jessica. "Sorry," he said in a soothing tone. He rubbed her arms.

Jessica was smoldering. She had successfully enacted her plan up until this point. Had managed to clear her mind, had even gone so far as to forget about her family, and here was Jim ... the one with the bright idea to begin with, making her remember.

"You're ticked," Jim said surprised by the scowl on her face.

Thankfully it wasn't the same look she'd had when she'd hated him and the others. She was angry alright, but in a different way.

"Yes." She replied and pulled away from him. "Are we done now? I'd like to go to sleep."

"It's only eight o'clock, Jess. We haven't even had supper ..."

"I'm not hungry."

Jim was about to argue when the feel of Jessica against him, her tongue in his mouth, came back to him full force.

"I'm an idiot!" Jim said. There was no doubt about it. Jessica had been kissing him. It had been her choice, he hadn't forced anything on her. And then like a moron he'd stopped her. Because he'd been mad? Crazy more like it. And now she was mad at him. She sat, leaning against the headboard of the bed, arms folded. And she wouldn't look at him.

"Jess. I'm sorry."

Jessica responded with a "Hmmph" and continued being angry.

"You know. You and I have a certain relationship." Jim paused. He wasn't sure what to say or how to say it. He really hadn't thought about the logistics of sex with Jessica. He'd had a relationship or two in the past but sex was never a big part of it. And given the circumstances with Jessica he had never really followed the train of thought to its full conclusion. Except for recent events with Scott and the magazines sex had been nothing more than an distant dream. He'd gotten her attention though, she sat looking at him expectantly.

"I've always thought of you as a friend Jessica. I never thought much about us having sex."

"That's funny," Jessica said but didn't really look like she planned on laughing. She didn't say anything more though. She just kept looking at him.

"How's that funny?" Jim asked when he finally realized she wouldn't continue.

"We are friends Jimmy. You're my best friend. I'd go so far as to say my only friend, but Josh and Scott have done some friend like stuff so I guess that wouldn't be entirely fair."

"That's what's funny?"

"No. What's funny is that you're the only one I wouldn't have minded having sex with. Ha, ha ..." she said when Jim didn't react. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course ..."

"Who is Pam?"

"Pam?" Jim asked, stunned.

"You dream about her Jimmy. A lot. Did she die? Did you love her a lot?"

"Yes. To both questions."

"I'm sorry."

"Thanks."

"Had you been together for a long time?"

"No ... oh, no Jessica, she wasn't my girlfriend. She was my sister."

"Oh ... sorry." A flurry of emotions played across Jessica's face. The final one looked particularly pained. Jim was afraid that she was thinking about her family.

"She was troubled Jessica," Jim said, not sure whether continuing the conversation would help or hurt.

"Did it have something to do with my family? Is that why you killed them?" Jessica asked. She was looking straight at Jim, straight in the eye. He couldn't for the life of him figure out how the topic of sex got them to a conversation about her family. He was unprepared. Other than the accusations that she hurled at him and the other men, Jessica had never spoken of her family to him. Suddenly he was scared. What did this mean?

"No. Something just came over her one day Jessica. Out of the blue, she just wasn't happy anymore. I don't know what to say about your family. There are a million reasons for what we did ... and there are none. I'm sorry that I can't say anything more comforting than that. And I'm sorry I can't bring them back, undo everything. As much as I'd hate having never met you ... I'd give it up to see you happy again."

"Thanks," Jessica said.

Jim didn't know what to say or do now. Jessica wasn't crying, and she seemed reflective more than sad. He had the sudden realization that things could go backwards from here.

"To be honest Jessica I'm not sure how we ended up in this conversation. I hope you're okay ... that everything's okay."

Jessica nodded.

"I guess I thought that maybe you still loved Pam ... if she'd been your girlfriend. And that maybe you didn't want to have sex because of that."

"I'm glad you asked then, because no, that's not it. I guess I just felt that sex would complicate things. And I wasn't sure how much you'd enjoy it. Plus, I didn't want you doing it for the wrong reasons. You don't owe me anything Jessica ... for helping you sometimes."

Jim thought back to the time that he'd lied to the men about Jessica asking for permission to ride Ebony. He'd had the distinct feeling that she thought he'd take sex as some kind of pay back.

Jessica nodded."I know. The fact that you've been so nice to me has made me think of you that way. But it's not because I feel like I have to ... I just ... want to ... with you."

"Jess, did you and Scott have so much sex last night that you couldn't get up this morning?"

Jessica nodded, and a slight pink spread over her cheeks.

"And you enjoyed it?"

"I did." She said. And then she smiled. "Scott was pretty persistent about that. He made sure I enjoyed it."

"Well, Scott is pretty experienced in that ... in sex ... and making girls enjoy it ... " Jim was blabbering and snapped his mouth shut before he could say more to embarrass himself.

Jessica smiled and took his hand.

"I wouldn't compare you. You don't have to worry about that."

Jim nodded. Now what?

"Jim. Did Josh date Pam?"

"Josh? No. Why?"

"He's been dreaming about her too. Unless it's a different Pam."

"Well, he did know her forever ... she was practically his sister too."

"Oh."

"Do I dream about anything else?" Jim asked, suddenly self-conscious.

"No."

"And you're okay, after this conversation about Pam, your family ... everything's fine?"

"I was being honest Jim ... about everything. I've been doing like you said, becoming someone else. I was just trying to help Angus. I did enjoy last night with Scott, and I do want to have sex with you. But I kind of see your point, it's a little awkward, isn't it?" She entwined her fingers with his. "I mean, how do we start?"

"Well. Right now, I'd really like to kiss you." Jim said. The knowledge that Jessica wanted to have sex with him, not as some form of pay back, but a true desire, made him see her and want her in a whole new way.

Jessica leaned her head against the headboard, tilted her face toward Jim and closed her eyes.

Jim looked at her and tried to get himself under control. He was so unprepared.
Jessica opened an eye and looked at Jim.

"Did you mean an air kiss?" Jessica asked.

"No ..." Jim said laughing. "I just wasn't expecting this tonight. I don't want to hurt you. It's been a while since I've had sex, I'm very ... let's say 'excited'."

"Can you have sex when you're not excited?" Jessica asked, and she looked so innocent and serious when she asked that Jim had to laugh.

"I guess you have a point." Jim said leaning in to her.

The laughter had helped relax him a little but as soon as Jessica closed her eyes and tilted her head again, the urge to grab her and just go at it came back and he froze before making contact.

"You're a very light kisser Jimmy, I don't see how you're going to hurt me." Jessica replied, opening her eyes for the second time.

Jim looked down at her. She was so damn cute. He never thought he could have sex with cute ... but it sure wasn't doing anything to dull his desire.

"Give me a minute," Jim said moving off of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Jessica asked.

"To the bathroom just to take a bit of the edge off."

"Okay ... so not number 1 or 2?" Jessica asked confusion evident on her face.

Jim chuckled. "No, not number 1 or 2. Just a little self-service. It'll help me go slower."

"Self servi... oh!" Jessica said finally getting it. "You don't have to do self- service Jim, I can help you ..." she said getting onto her knees and moving toward him, her eyes planted firmly on the bulge in his pants.

"Maybe ... no definitely later Jess. But this first time ... I want to service you and I can't do it if all I want to do is jump you. Just lay back and relax, I'll be back in a minute."

Jim left the bedroom and returned five minutes later.

He groaned as he walked in the room and saw Jessica lying stretched out on the bed. She was fully clothed and simply turned her head to look at him, but it brought the desire back.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine ... I'll just have to exert more self-control than I'd planned to ..."

"It didn't work?" Jessica asked sitting up.

"Not as well as I'd hoped," Jim admitted as he moved to the bed. "Do you mind if we turn off the light? I think not seeing you may help."

"Okay ..." Jessica said and Jim flicked off the lights.

He felt his way to the bed and then slid in next to Jessica.

"Now for that kiss," Jim said pulling her to him.

"The real one?" Jessica asked.

Jim couldn't help but laugh before he brought his lips to hers. He kissed her slow, and deep. It had to be the longest kiss Jessica had ever had, and as he did, he softly caressed her legs and thighs over her pants ... slowly working his way to the V between her legs and when he got there he stroked and stroked.

Jessica lifted herself against his hand, dying for him to remove her pants.

"Was that real?" Jim asked his lips brushing hers as he spoke.

Jessica couldn't catch her breath. All she could do is nod.

Jim chuckled as he brought his lips to her neck. He nipped gently. Jessica couldn't take it anymore. She took Jimmy's hand and brought it to the waist of her pants.

"Without my pants ..." Jessica muttered.

Jim pulled off her pants, her bra and shirt, and then his clothes.

When he moved back over her Jessica threw herself into him, pushing her tongue into his mouth, her vagina against his pelvis.

"Whoa, Jessica," Jimmy said his voice husky. "Slow ... take it slow."

"No, faster!" Jessica panted.

"No Jessica," Jimmy said holding her wrists firmly, bringing her hands up over head and pinning her to the bed with his body.

"I want to take my time." He said, his lips brushing against hers as he spoke, "and really feel you."

He moved back a little and began running his hands down her arm but Jessica threw her arms and legs around him, and kissed him.

"You're not making this easy Jessica," Jim said with an exasperated laugh, grabbing her wrists and bringing her hands above her head again.

"Lie still ... lie still." He whispered as she continued to squirm beneath him.

"Jessica ... Jessica," Jim said laying his hand on her left breast and stroking. "I want to enjoy this, take it slow, explore you. But you have to stay still."

Jessica forced herself to relax on the bed even though every fiber of her body was pounding ... wanting, needing.

"That's it ..." Jim said. He began to slide his hand up her chest but stopped over her heart. "Calm Jessica, breathe, relax. I plan to take my time ... all night if I have to, and if your heart keeps going like this it's going to pop right out of your chest."

"I can't control it ..." Jessica replied, "and when you touch me, it just gets faster. I just want you more ..."

Jim slid his hand to the side of her chest, felt the bones of her ribcage, counted them as he moved up to her armpit, and then slid it along her arm.

When he got to her bicep, he stopped, and squeezed. It was hard. Muscular. He had no idea that she was so muscular. It wasn't obvious through the mens' baggy clothes which Jessica wore, that was for sure. But naked, to the touch, she definitely had rock hard muscles.

He switched the hand that held her wrists above her head and felt the other arm. Not surprisingly it had muscle too. Jim ran his hand down her side. Sliding lower, he rested it between her legs before he ran his hand down her thigh. Again, muscle. It dawned on him that if she wore even the least revealing of clothing, he would have probably considered sex with her much sooner.

"Uh!" Jessica exclaimed, clutching handfuls of Jim's hair in her hands, as Jim brought his lips up along her inner thigh. He paused, but only for a moment.

"Ah, Jimmy!" Jessica exclaimed again as he slid his tongue between the lips of her pussy and licked. Lightly.

"Jimmy!!!" Jessica cried out as Jimmy exhaled his warm breath on her wet sex, and licked more firmly. And then pleasure exploded through her body and she felt her vagina begin to pulsate. She pulled Jimmy up.

"Now Jimmy, now!"

Jimmy entered her and then his control was gone. He held Jessica firmly by the shoulders and thrust into her, and then pleasure shook him with a blinding intensity. And then Jessica cried out, clutching him to her. Sweating and out of breath they collapsed together on the bed.

"Oh my God," Jimmy mumbled as he kissed Jessica's face gently.

Jessica mumbled an incoherent agreement and then fell to sleep, exhausted. Jim closed his eyes too. He couldn't move a muscle. That wet spot that Jessica had made would have to be dealt with in the morning.

Later that night, Jessica awoke in the dark. Jim lay snoring beside her. Something was different but she couldn't figure out what it was. She lay very still and tried to figure it out. Then it came to her. She was smiling. She was smiling in the dark, she was relaxed and happy. Even without blocking her memories.

She remembered her family, what had happened. And it was okay. She didn't mind. And deep down she knew her family didn't mind. She was happy for the first time in years. She didn't need to escape any more. There was no point. Where would she go? What would she do? Besides, there would be no vindication for her family through escape. It was a waste of energy. Not to mention that the men were pre-occupied with the idea that she wanted to escape. Even Jimmy, the least controlling of them all, constantly worried that she planned to run away. Jessica inhaled deeply. No, she'd have to avenge her family some other way. Something better than escape or murder. She didn't know what that way would be, but she wasn't worried about it. She'd already been here for years ... if it took the rest of her life, she would get satisfaction somehow.

In the meantime she could stop trying to suppress memories of her family, stop expending energy on escape or fighting. After all, as Jim had suggested, she had reasons to like Scott, Josh and Jim. No real luck with Riley or Angus, but at least she didn't hate them anymore. Indifference had to count for something. She had accidentally broken several major rules and not been punished.

Her heart pounded when she considered that she'd actually had a loaded gun in her hand, and hadn't used it. But most importantly, none of the men had punished her for it. And then Angus, and the saw. She had been completely honest with Jim, everything she'd done, she'd done opposite to her instinct. If she'd felt like hitting Angus, she kissed him. When he was under that sink ... she hadn't even felt like hurting him in any way. The whole thing had reminded her of her father ... she hadn't realized it at the time, but now, she did. She had helped her father fix the sink ... the toilet ... the car, so many times, been so happy doing so ... she'd had little conscious choice but to help him.

There was hope. If she kept doing the opposite of what her instincts said, perhaps things could get better with Riley and Angus and then maybe she could avoid being beaten, enjoy life a little, and keep an eye out for whatever opportunity may present itself so she could avenge her family. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Jim rolled toward her and wrapped his arms around her. She cuddled up against him and was stunned to realize that she loved him.

There was that problem also. When it came time to do what she had to, would she be able to? Could she do it to Jimmy ... even Scott or Josh? She began to feel anxiety return. She squeezed her eyes shut. No, she promised herself, her family, that no matter what she felt for any of the men, when the time came she would do what she had to. The resolution made, Jessica closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

continued in 5b