Shalane

His climax was near, but he wanted to wait for her. His arms burned and shook with his exertions, but Angus needed to see Shalane experience what she wanted from him. Suddenly she was thrashing. A low scream rose and then fell as a blush rose up her neck to color her cheeks. Her face turned hard and then soft and serene with a heart stopping smile, and he could no longer hold back. As her muscles squeezed him, his balls tightened, his cock lengthened and expanded, and the ancient urge in him took over, sending him over the edge with a roaring groan he could not hear and did not know he uttered. His head jerked down, and then back, and then down again as his sperm rose to pulse into her.

Spent and devoid of energy, Angus lowered himself to rest on Shalane, panting and tasting the salt on her neck, wishing it were not over, wanting her again -- now -- more fiercely than he had wanted her before. He felt her trembling fingers stroking his back as the mini-aftershocks of her climax shook her.

As he rolled to the side, taking Shalane with him, not wanting to let go of her, he heard her voice, near to tears, asking him, "Why, Angus?"

"I don't know, Shalane. It was some kind of need from the moment I saw you."

"Yeah," Shalane responded. "I felt it too."

For long moments, there was silence and stillness in the room. One or the other of them would shift an arm or move a leg, yet they remained close, touching each other as they relaxed.

It was several hours later when Angus opened his eyes. He was lying on his back and Shalane's back was pressed against his side. One of them had kicked the duvet down to the foot of the bed. He rolled to his side, pulled the cover back over them and put his arm across her, not wanting to be separated from this woman, yet almost afraid of how she would avoid him or move away from him the next day.

***

When Angus opened his eyes, the sky outside his bedroom windows had begun to lighten. He didn't bother to roll over to look at the clock. He was looking at the empty space on the bed beside him, almost afraid to reach his hand out to see if any warmth remained from Shalane who had been sleeping when he closed his eyes.

He listened, silently pleading for the sound of the shower, a rustle of clothing from the room across the hall, or a sound from downstairs. When he heard nothing, he reached out his hand, resting it for a moment feeling enough warmth to cause his smile. Satisfied that Shalane had remained in his bed for the night, Angus took his shower, shaved, and dressed for the day, thinking of the stack of papers on his desk he had not yet reviewed.

At the bottom of the stairs he heard Shalane's voice coming from his office. "... sure, Helen ... As soon as I can get my computer from my car ... Yes, I'll look at the message ... Did Peterson's office send their records for the quarterly reports?" After a few moments of silence, Shalane completed her call, "Okay, I'll call after you get to the office."

Shalane hung up the telephone and turned almost spilling the cup of coffee in her hand. "Angus, oh gosh, you startled me."

"Good morning, are always up so early?"

"Usually, at least on Mondays. It's a busy day for my office." She took a few steps forward, then paused until Angus stepped out of the doorway so she could walk past him. "If I heard correctly, Maria doesn't work on Mondays. I'll fix you breakfast if you tell me what you want."

Angus thought to himself, 'Okay, if she wants to avoid a discussion about last night, I will too.' Instead, he answered her, "She usually leaves something wrapped in foil on the top shelf of the refrigerator. It just needs to be warmed up, toasted, or whatever."

As she poured a cup of coffee for him, she asked what time she could go to town to get the remaining bags from her car, which included her computer case. She also wanted to check on the repairs her vehicle would need before coming back to his house so she could have access to a telephone line to check some emails her assistant had sent. They decided it would be more than an hour before the dealership opened and another one or two hours before they knew anything about her car, plus another half-hour to get back to the house.

"Can you use my computer?" Angus inquired.

"Maybe, for some things. At least for the messages that don't need my software to open."

After their breakfast, Shalane still had over an hour before it would be time to drive to town. Angus sent her to his office, while he went to the ranch office to talk to his foreman. As the time neared to take Shalane to town, Angus walked back into the house and headed toward his study.

"Why didn't you tell me you are Doctor A. I. McCall?"

Angus saw the pages of his newest research spread across his desk, some of them showing his editor's marks and notes. It was not something he tried to hide. He just didn't discuss it openly. Few people would understand. He had left them beside his computer monitor the previous day before he took Shalane for her first ride on a horse.

"Does it matter?"

"Sort of," Shalane answered with a shrug of her shoulders. "My mother locked their bedroom door because my father was a sleepwalker. She said it was to protect me." She didn't elaborate. If she had been reading some of his research, she didn't need to say anything more.

Angus nodded his head, "What do you know about his problem?"

"Only the things I've read. A couple of articles mentioned your name. I just didn't associate Angus McCall with Doctor A.I. McCall."

"No reason you should. My middle name is Ian. I'll answer your questions on the way to town."

Accustomed to Angus being a silent man, Shalane was surprised by how he changed when he assumed his professional demeanor. He was talkative, informative, and capable of speaking in layman's terms. His area of research involved a subject which was becoming better known, regarding people who committed sexual crimes while sleepwalking, although most of their sexual contacts were with the partner they found in their own bed. Generally, those contacts were not up to the level of rape, but so little was known about the problem, treatment was rarely sought and only recently had doctors recognized that anti-anxiety drugs were an effective treatment.

Angus told Shalane that if she were interested, he would give her the court transcripts of several trials where sufferers were found not guilty when charged with a variety of sex sleep crimes because they really had no idea what was happening. He also offered to allow her to read some of the newest research materials he had just received, but not yet opened, which would become additional chapters to his book.

"Sometimes a sexsomniac is aware of his condition, but doesn't seek help. The complication is that it often goes unreported because of shame and embarrassment," Angus explained, turning his head for a moment to see Shalane nodding.

Shalane's voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, when she confessed, "My mother cautioned me not touch my father."

"Did he ever bother you?"

Shalane shook her head, "No, it wasn't until I was a teenager that she explained when he was asleep he didn't recognize her and she didn't want him to think I was his possible partner or available to him."

"So you learned, from what she said, that you also couldn't touch your father."

"Pretty much so. I wasn't allowed to have friends spend the night. It was our family secret."

"Was the night with Prissy and Billy going to be another effort, like the lightning, to face your fears?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure. I did think about being in a town where no one knew me. If I had a screaming fit, or couldn't escape, I might be able to understand how my mother could stay with my father despite what he would do to her."

"But you couldn't go through with it, could you, Shalane?"

"Not after ... Prissy said Billy was rough ... I didn't like ... when I danced with him ... "

Angus didn't comment, but he finally understood why she backed up when he got near, or walked across the room to keep away from him. It was habit, a learned action, not based on fear. When she approached him and told him not to touch her, it was the way she had learned to act around her father and other men.

A crack in his voice told Shalane how sincere his apology was, when Angus asked, "I didn't help much, did I?"

"You were different, Angus. I wanted you to touch me. I knew I could touch you, that you would stop if I asked. I just knew."

A few minutes later they drove by one of the chain home improvement centers. The parking spaces nearest the store were filled with a variety of pickups and other vehicles with trailers attached to the rear. Contractors were collecting their building supplies for the day.

Angus looked out Shalane's window, "Remind me on the way home, we need to stop there."

She turned to look at him, he was grinning. "I need a new lock for my bedroom door."

Shalane tried to keep her laughter from bubbling up, but Angus was just as bad as she was. "How is he this morning?"

Angus nodded, "After a couple of aspirin and a long hot shower, he can walk, but he's not happy." He held his hand out to her and when she tentatively placed her hand in his, he added, "He apologized. I told him he owed someone else an apology, too. He'll do it, just don't make it too easy on him."

"Isn't there something ..."

Before Shalane could complete her question, Angus was shaking his head. "He's spent 30 days in the county jail, dried out, gained weight, and the first thing he does when he gets out is look for a drink. They talk about an alcoholic not stopping until they hit bottom. Billy's already at the bottom. He's just a drunk, a fully functional drunk. He does his job. He works hard and is one of my best men, but he's a drunk."

"Then why do you ..."

Angus laughed a short bark of humor, "His many times over grandfather tried to drive my many times over grandfather off this land. The two men became friends, or at least no longer enemies. They doctored each other, fed each other, and they went hunting together. My ancestor learned how to survive on this land and taught his ancestor to read.

"Prissy says he won't marry her," Shalane didn't think she was telling a secret because Angus was nodding. "She said he asked her once. But he changed his mind and said he needed to wait a little longer."

Angus shrugged his shoulders, "That's my fault. He says he can't get married until I do, because he can't have a son until I have one."

"He's not serious, Angus, is he?"

"Yep. That's how it's been done for a few generations. The time he proposed was when my sister planned to marry a man she worked with. He died when the building was bombed."

"Oh my goodness."

***

For the remainder of the day, they took care of Shalane's transportation problem, learning it would be later in the week before the new component shipped from the manufacturer would arrive so the mechanic could install it in her car. When they returned to the ranch she found something in the refrigerator to fix for their lunch and worked on her computer, with her cell phone nearby until Angus convinced her to go for another ride.

After a late supper, they watched a movie they had selected on the way home. Angus took her to his bed and made love to her until she was trembling and pleading.

Tuesday, Angus finally sat down at his desk and worked on several chapters of his book, completing the changes the editor was requesting. Several times he looked up from his work and saw Shalane sitting in the corner of the room, her feet curled under her. She was working on her computer and once she had closed it and was half asleep. A few times he opened his mouth to say something to her and then went back to work.

He worked until he was complaining that his eyes were crossing. They went for a ride, going farther and staying gone longer than the previous day, getting back to the house when there was little light left to the day. After reheating the supper Maria had left for them, Angus filled the bathtub with hot water and left Shalane soaking the soreness from her legs and back.

About the time she said her fingers were beginning to look like prunes, he dried her off, put her into bed, and pulled her into his arms, telling her to go to sleep. Before dawn, Angus was pushing his rigid cock into her wet heat, groaning from the sensations of her surrounding him.

It was not the slow gentle love making of the previous night. He wasn't gentle and he wasn't slow; it was a hunger he could not seem to satisfy. His body was pounding against her and she was meeting his every stroke. The mountain they were climbing was a steep summit neither of them seemed able to reach. Finally, with a roar from him and a deep guttural groan from her, they were grabbing and holding each other, shuddering from the intensity of their orgasms.

For a moment he couldn't move, and then he didn't want to move. He wanted to remain exactly where he was, buried so deep in her that she seemed to be part of him and he was permanently part of her.

"I'm taking you home today," Angus announced as he rolled to the side, angry his cock had softened enough to slip out of her heat.

"You don't need to ..."

"Yes, dammit, it's the only way I know you'll come back."

Shalane laughed and groaned, both at the same time, her breathing had not yet returned to normal. "I'll have your car, Angus. I have to come back."

"Okay, then I'll take you home because I don't want to let you out of my sight."

"Angus ..."

He was leaning over her, brushing hair from her face, kissing her with an intensity he could barely believe of himself. "My God, woman, don't you understand? I've known you for four days, and I want you more than I did the first time I saw you."

"What is this about?" It was the same question he had asked her a few days earlier.

"I guess it's about a proposal, or whatever you call it."

"Are you angry about it?"

Angus took a deep breath and blew it out, trying to control himself. "Oh no, sweetheart," he kissed her gently. "I'm not sure I can explain. I'm careful, cautious, and sometimes slow to make a decision about things I say or do. I don't believe in love at first sight. People should take time to learn about each other, become comfortable together, and make decisions about what they want. I don't want to do any of that. I just want you."

"Yes, Angus."

His frustration and indecision made his words sound exasperated, "Yes what, Shalane?"

"Yes, Angus, you should tell Billy he can marry Prissy."

***

EPILOG: It was rather easy to move Shalane's business to the ranch. The mother and daughter who worked for her were delighted to move into a temporary building until Angus could build another house that was large enough for them to have a home and would accommodate Shalane's business. Billy did marry Prissy. Their first child was a son, but it took Angus a little longer. His son, Ian, would grow up with two older sisters.

***

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2Xwidderwoman