My Saving Grace

I wasn't surprised to see that she didn't have any tan lines on top; like I said, I've seen her and Mom tan bare-breasted on our deck before. I was a little surprised, though, to see that she'd shaved her mound completely bare. I had never seen Grace with a shaved pussy before; she usually kept it trimmed into a neat triangle. Grace must have noted my surprise, and followed my gaze to her nether regions.

"Oh, I did this the day before yesterday," she said. "Matt said he wanted to see it shaved, and since I'd never tried it, I figured I'd do that for him. Do you like it?" She looked up at me shyly, seeking my approval.

Matt was Matthew Segan, a casual acquaintance of mine and Grace's current boyfriend. As for her question: I don't usually care for the bald pussy look, honestly. I prefer it when a woman has a bush. It's nice when she keeps it trimmed and neat, but I just don't like it shaved bare. Kelly had always-

STOP IT! I roared to myself. Stop thinking about her! Snapping back to reality, I smiled at Grace, shrugged, and started pulling my own clothes off.

"It's different, Gracie, that's for sure," I said, as I tossed my clothes to the bank next to hers. "As long as you and Matt like it, that's what matters. If you really want my opinion, though, I'd have to say I prefer a woman to have at least some hair down there." I wouldn't lie to Grace. It would ruin the absolute trust we have in each other.

"Yeah, I don't really care for it either," she said, running her hand casually over her lower lips. "But," she continued, "I promised I'd try it for him, and a promise is a promise!"

I didn't allow myself to dwell on that comment. Instead, I concentrated on admiring my beautiful sister as she knelt naked in the middle of the stream, letting the minnows swim lazily between her fingers.

"Has he seen it yet?"

"No," she said. "He'll have his chance tomorrow afternoon. He's working overnights this week." She glanced up at me, a question in her eyes that she'd never actually give voice to.

"I'll see what Tony is up to tomorrow. He's been wanting to head out to the rifle range before the weather turns cold, so maybe we'll go squeeze off a few rounds," I said in answer to her silent request. I'd been in the house when Grace was having sex in the past. It didn't bother her in the least (or me) but it bugged the shit out of Matt. It wouldn't kill me to get lost for a few hours. Grace's happiness was worth it. The smile that lit up her face was all the thanks I needed.

I stood next to her in the stream, letting the cool water wash over my feet and ankles. It was cool enough to be a bit of shock, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Grace stood up after a few more minutes and washed the mud from the creek bed off her knees. She playfully slapped my ass before walking over to the pile of clothes and got her phone. She frowned at the screen.

"We'd better take off in 15 minutes or so. We're both going to need a shower before we hit the theater," she said.

"Yeah," I said, conscious of the stickiness of dried sweat all over me. I stepped out of the creek and grabbed my clothes. I looked curiously at Grace when she giggled again.

"You might also like some time to take care of that," she said, looking at my crotch. I didn't get it at first, but then I quickly realized my cock was standing at full attention. I was a little embarrassed, but it wasn't too horrible. It would hardly be the first time she had seen me hard.

"Did I do that?" she asked coyly, giving me a sweet smile.

"Yeah," I admitted, grinning sheepishly in return. "What can I say, Gracie, you are really beautiful, and I am a guy after all."

"Yes you are, Kevin, and a damn good guy, at that!" she said. She leaned over and kissed me lightly on the lips. "You really think I'm beautiful?" she asked. Her tone was light, but the look in her eye told me she was having a rare moment of insecurity.

"Grace, you are one of the most beautiful women I know, and I'm not just saying that because I love you. But as nice as your body is, your heart is still your best feature."

"Aww," she crooned, leaning her body into mine for a moment. "You have a talent for saying just the right thing, brother dear." She kissed me again, much more firmly this time, letting me know my words had touched her. "Come on, let's get moving!"

The drive back to the house was quiet, but not somber. Grace quietly sang along with the song on the radio as she drove. One of the things I love about her is that she's one of those people who are almost always in a positive frame of mind. As bad as I felt, watching and listening to her made me feel a little better. Her good mood was almost contagious; it was hard to stay sullen and bitter when I was around her. As if she could hear my thoughts, Grace glanced over at me, smiled, and stroked my hair back.

"Love you, Kev," she said.

"I love you too, Gracie."

"You probably won't believe this right now, but trust me, it'll get better." I had no answer to that, so I just accepted her gentle caress and sat in companionable silence for the rest of the drive.

The movie was good: scary, good special effects (of course), but best of all, there was actually a plot! Gracie jumped frequently, and even squeaked a couple of times. I had almost as much fun watching her reactions as I did watching the movie. By the time the show ended and we'd had a bite to eat, it was well after midnight. Gracie tended to bed down early, especially when she had plans or classes the next day, so she said goodnight as soon as we made it home.

Now I was once again alone with my thoughts. Thinking of Kelly was normal; we'd been together exclusively (or so I thought) for the last six years, and it had been only 24 hours since the meltdown of our relationship. I think it was natural for me to still be dwelling on it, even though I knew it wasn't healthy and wouldn't accomplish anything. I finally managed to get to sleep, but it wasn't very restful.

The next morning, I showered early and ate a quick breakfast. I made a call to my friend Tony, grabbed my AR-15 carbine and some ammo, and it was off to the range. I made it point to go a couple times a month. I'd never be an Army Ranger, but I wasn't too bad at it. Shooting is fun, and a great stress reliever. I made it about halfway to the Northview Gun Club when I had a blowout! I was only going 55, thankfully, and this stretch of highway is straight and four lanes wide.

I managed to keep my 2010 Subaru Outlander from spinning out, and pulled off onto the shoulder of the highway. I looked my tires over carefully, but there was too much debris from my blowout to tell what had caused it. Sighing, I pulled my phone out to call Tony and tell him what happened. Then I got down to the task of getting it changed.

Naturally, as so often happens, my spare tire was low. It wasn't flat, but it was low enough that I didn't trust it. Damn, this weekend had the highest suck factor of any I'd had so far! Not having any other option, I put on the spare and drove as slowly and carefully as I could to the first exit ramp. I finally made it to one of those big-box supercenter stores and bought a new tire. I made damn sure they aired up my spare, too!

By now, it was almost 1 in the afternoon, and I was starving. I called Tony and begged off. I might as well go home, put my stuff back in the safe, and find something to do in town. When I pulled onto our street, I noticed Matt's Charger parked in our driveway (in my spot, of course.) What surprised me was that there was another car parked on the street in front of our next door neighbor.

The neighbor in question, Mrs. Bertha Coombs, was a crusty old lady. She was short, pushing 80, and was one of the toughest people I knew! Her biggest pet peeve was people parking in front of her house. She didn't even let her own visiting family members park there, so seeing a car there was odd to say the least.

Annoyed at the necessity, I parked my Subaru at the curb in front of our house, grabbed my gun case and range bag, and started inside. Things took another turn as I reached the front door and found it to be unlocked. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up! Grace, for all of her good qualities, had a strong distrust of the general population. She would never - repeat, NEVER - leave the door unlocked! We're all human and we all make mistakes, but she would never make that one!

My annoyance forgotten, I stripped the case off of my AR-15 carbine and loaded it with a 30-round MagPul P-mag. I pulled the adjustable stock out to the first position to keep it tight, and stepped carefully into the house. Almost as an afterthought, I slipped my electronic ear protectors on. They were a handy thing to have; the amplified soft sounds, left normal ones alone, and greatly diminished loud sounds to protect you hearing. If the worst happened and I had to take a shot, at least I wouldn't deafen myself.

The first floor of our house is designed on an open plan. It took almost no time at all to see that was unoccupied. I could hear noises from upstairs. Grace didn't sound like she was in trouble; she actually sounded like she was having a good time. The muzzle of my AR-15 dropped slightly as I considered whether I was overreacting. Then I heard a soft creaking sound from the upstairs hall. Grace's bedroom was directly overhead from where I was standing. If she and Matt were in there (and clearly they had to be) who was in the hallway?

Plus, there was the whole business with the front door being unsecured.

I snapped my weapon back to the threat-response position and made my way to the stairs. The first turn and the landing were clear, as was the second flight. I approached the top very slowly. I grew up here, so I know where all the creaky spots are. It wasn't hard to avoid them as long as I took it slow.

The second floor is more traditionally laid out than the ground floor. There's a hallway running from the front of the house to the back, off of which opens my room, Gracie's room, a bathroom, and the master suite which we left alone.

As I poked my head cautiously over the lip of the stairs, I could see a figure crouching at the door to Gracie's room. In the darkness (there are no windows in the hallway and all the doors were closed), I couldn't make out any details, not even whether it was a male or a female. Focusing harder, I could see that there was some light. There was a faint outline of light from Grace's door, indicating that it wasn't completely closed. There was also a faint light coming from the figure's hand. What the fuck?

Making my decision, I softly adjusted the brightness setting on my Aim Point sight. Rising to stand at my full height, I hit the switch for the hallway lights, screaming, "FREEZE, MOTHERFUCKER!" Alright, so I don't have any original lines of my own. At least I didn't say something like 'Reach for the sky!,' or 'in about ten seconds, you're gonna be cloud dancing!' It was a tense moment, cut me some slack.

Through the narrow window of my Aim Point sight, the light revealed the kneeling figure to be a man. It was hard to tell with him kneeling, but he looked to be about my height and age range.

But he was built a lot bigger. His muscles had muscles. Now here was a guy who clearly spent some time at the weight bench! His right hand, still raised against the crack in Grace's door, held a phone of some kind with a pretty large screen. Maybe one of the high-end Galaxy models, or a Note? Whatever, it didn't matter. His left hand was invisible between his splayed legs, but it didn't take a lot of imagination to guess what he was doing with it. I now had a pretty good idea what the bastard was up to, and my temper was starting to flare.

The noise from Gracie's room had changed from moans and cries of pleasure to confused voices. "Kevin?" I heard her call.

"Gracie, stay in your room! There's a man in the hallway right by your door! I have him at gunpoint! Call the cops right fucking now!" I roared, not letting the muzzle of my carbine move even a fraction off target. This fucker was so big, he'd literally rip me apart if he got his massive bear paws on me. I might be able to outrun him, but then Gracie and Matt would be defenseless! If the big bastard was smart, he'd stay right where he was until the cops got here. If he was really stupid, he'd come at me and make me shoot him. If he was really evil, he'd charge into Gracie's room and put her - and maybe Matt - between himself and me. Please, God, let him be smart!

Through the crack in the door, I could hear Matt and Grace talking. Grace sounded terrified (only natural, I thought). Matt sounded pretty scared too, but there was something off. I couldn't make out what he was saying, because I didn't dare give it much thought. Mr. Grizzly Bear in the hallway deserved my undivided attention at the moment.

The pale-skinned hulk knelt there glaring at me for moment, then he stood up. My estimate of his height was way off...he was taller than me by several inches at least. He must outweigh me by a good 50 pounds, or more! It occurred to me once more that if he got a hold of me, I was finished. He could turn me into raw hamburger without breaking a sweat.

In the quiet of the hallway, the safety selector made a loud clicking sound as I pushed it to the "fire" position with my thumb. "Relax and stay right where you are, Frankenstein. You're one big motherfucker, but nobody's bullet proof."

He was still looking right at me, but now he seemed unsure of himself. "Who the hell are you?" he said, in a deep, gravelly voice.

I couldn't believe what I'd just heard. "Who am I? I fucking LIVE here! Who are you, and what the fuck are doing in my house, besides jerking off while recording my sister having sex?" And the evidence that he was doing exactly that couldn't be more clear. The phone was still in his hand, and his rather impressive manhood was still hanging out of his fly. His facial expression was confused, now, like he couldn't process what he'd just heard.

"Matt," he said, without taking his eyes off of me, "You forgot to mention a few details to me!" I had an even worse feeling now than I did before, but things were starting to click into place. I had an ugly theory that happened to fit the facts. If I was right, my beloved sister was about to join the nasty break-up club. Maybe we could order T-shirts?

I heard another flurry of conversation from Grace's room, again too distorted for me to understand. Then, her bedroom door opened and Matt stepped out, holding his hands skyward.

"Kevin," he said, "Take it easy. There's no need for anyone to get hurt."

"Matt, what the fuck?" I said, as he stepped deliberately between me and Andre the Giant. Instantly I brought the carbine's muzzle higher, resting the red dot of my Aim Point sight on Mr. Grizzly's head, and hoped Matt wouldn't get fragged in the process. Matt couldn't miss the motion and stopped dead.

"Not a good - or a smart - place to be, Matt," I said, way more calmly than I felt. "Clear my line of fire. My sister likes you a lot, but that fact won't stop me from dropping the hammer if the Grape Ape behind you wants to play rough!"

"Kevin, this isn't what you think," Matt said, taking another step towards me. All of a sudden, my suspicions seemed to be confirmed.

"Grace!" I yelled. "Are the cops on the way yet?"

"YES!" she shouted. "I'm staying on the line with the 911 dispatcher until they get here!"

I took a careful step back, making sure I could cover both of them now. "Both of you just stay where you are, and keep cool, nobody needs to get hurt, okay? Just wait for the cops, and we'll all walk away from this with a pulse."

Matt didn't miss the fact that I was keeping him covered with my weapon as well. "Kevin, please, put the gun down, okay? We were-"

"I know exactly what you were about to do, you sick fuck!" I interrupted him, barely in control of my rage. "You let the Son of Kong here into the house, or maybe even found a way to get him a key, right? The plan was that you would keep Grace occupied while he came in and recorded the two of you going at it. Then you'd give him the sign, he'd come in, and you'd get a little threeway action! And if my sister didn't like that idea, well too bad! You had naked video of her you could post online and blackmail her into it! Or maybe old Colossus there would just overpower her and take her by force!"

Obviously I couldn't see my own expression, but it must have looked pretty bad to Matt. He visibly paled beneath his pretty-boy tan. "Kevin, wait, please, let's just all calm down-"

"Oh shut the fuck up, you stupid ass-clown!" I shouted. "If I can figure out what's going on, you can bet Grace has too! You're fucking finished, so quit your whining and wait for the damn cops!"

"He doesn't have the balls to do it," the gorilla said. "I'm gonna take that thing away from you and shove it so far up your ass, you'll fire a shot every time you belch! Then I'm gonna do whatever I feel like to that delicious bitch, and I'll make it last all damn night-"

As he spoke, Mighty Joe Young made a critical error in his tactical planning. He reached forward and took two huge strides towards me. He covered half the distance between us in just those two steps, and I had to make my choice. The AR-15 nudged my shoulder gently, and the sound of the shot was, in a word, deafening. The muzzle blast was worse; there was no space for it to dissipate. The bullet slammed into the floor less than 6 inches from the toes of Kong's left foot, and he came to an almost instant halt.

The two of them, Matt and Mr. Bear, saw the little splinters of carpet and plywood dusting his shoes and realized that I was perfectly willing to pull the trigger. While Matt whimpered in terror, the giant just stood and scowled at me...but he shut up and kept his distance. There was going to be hell to pay later, when Mom saw the hole I'd just made in her floor. That was a pain in the ass that could wait for later, though.

"I believe," I said in a casual tone, "that should cover any questions about my balls, don't you, Apocalypse?" Shifting the muzzle upwards again, I kept it trained on them. "Just so you know, the next time I'll shoot to kill."

I knew they couldn't hear anything I'd said through the ringing in their ears, but they obviously got the point. They stayed put until the police finally arrived. I didn't even let the big bastard zip himself up. As far as I was concerned, he could let it all hang out for a little while longer.

###

What followed was a real nightmare. The cops arrested the gorilla, who it turned out was named Lance Forster. Lance, really? No, I'll let that one go. After some discussion (and a moment listening to audio recorded on my phone) they also arrested Matt. The idiot actually admitted to them that he'd told Lance where the emergency hide-a-key was kept. (That admission startled me. I couldn't believe Grace would let that information slip, but there you go.) A criminology student at the University once remarked to me that many criminals literally talk themselves right into a cell. I

guess Matt was proof of that. My new buddy Lance was at least somewhat smarter: he kept his mouth shut.

As soon as Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum were in custody, I called our parents. As it turned out, they were only a couple hours away at the riverboat casino south of us. They said they'd be home, ASAP. Grace was a total wreck. She clung tightly to me most of the time, and when she had no choice but to let go of me, she made sure I was always within her line of sight.

Finally, after they finished taking statements from the two of us, the police left. I folded Grace tightly into my arms and caressed her, whispering soft reassurances in her ear.