The Dangers of Pain Ch. 02

Jeff said, "I got a picture of the two of you. If he tries anything phony about the meeting, we'll have it."

I was still shaking. "What about putting some gin in me?" I laughed and so did they. "Doctor's orders!"

When Denise came home from school the following day, Dorothy Collins was with her. I was anxious for a few moments, but her manner was firm and businesslike.

"Denise tells me you had an encounter with your boyfriend that went bad and you left. But he has been pursuing you and showed up at the park. Do I have that right?"

"Yes. The problem isn't so much what he has done, although I don't appreciate his monkeying with my bank, but what an angry ex-lover might do."

"You are right to be concerned. Anger and a lust for vengeance can drive men to extreme behavior. Tying up with Denise and Jeff was a good idea. The three of you are able to cover for each other and provide witnesses if there is an incident."

"Do we involve the police?"

"After several campus assaults, the local police have added a specialist. His name is Damon Smith. I think you should give him a call and tell him I advised you to make a report about your encounter in the park. That is in his jurisdiction and he will have the report as background if anything else happens. I assume you and David do not have assets to divide?"

"That's right. I previously told him to send my things to a storage place. We never had joint bank accounts."

"So neither of you has any further legal or financial issues to discuss?"

"Not that I know of. As I told him in the park, more than once, we are over."

"Write this down as briefly but completely as possible, and give it to Damon. He may have some advice about personal safety."

"You have been very helpful, would you like to have a glass of wine with us?"

She accepted and we shared conversation about the college. Denise and Jeff were a little stiff, but Dorothy assured them that she kept everything about students confidential, and that included my situation.

As she left, she said, "I'm not showing yet, but there is a spring baby in me. It's our first and we are really excited. One of these days, I hope the two of you will be caring mommies." There was an exchange of hugs and she drove away.

Jeff poured more wine and Denise sat in my lap. "Did you hear that? 'Caring mommies' is our future."

I kissed her and said, "I am so glad the two of you have each other. And taking me into your bed is special. Really special. I have a lot of tension to work out on Jeff tonight."

He ran screaming into the kitchen to tend to dinner while Denise pushed me down and sent her fingers in those bad places that felt so good. I reached up and got her tee shirt off. The bra followed. Her breasts were full and pink. The edge of my hand was rubbing her crotch and her eyes were slitted.

"What's got into you, Alexis? You are hotter than a pistol. Egging Jeff on like that."

"Talking to Dorothy, and hearing about her baby, has loosened me up. I'm feeling horny as an alley cat. You're sure letting Jeff have me is still ok?"

She giggled and kissed me hard. "What about letting me have you. I go by you in the hall and there is this scent of woman that turns me on something fierce. I lie on you and my pussy gets wet."

When Jeff returned from the kitchen with more wine, two naked bodies were writhing on the sofa, moaning at each other.

He said, "I'll be damned," and sat down to watch.

I saw him grinning over Denise's shoulder and jammed an extra finger into her. She swore at me and came, shouting and noticing Jeff at the same time.

We clutched each other and caught our breath. Sex with my new girlfriend was so hot, I couldn't stand it. She kissed me again. We came up for air and a naked Jeff was at our side, his rampant cock ready to go to work.

"You both have to be punished. Who is first?"

I tried to reach for his cock, but was batted away. His girlfriend's muscled ass got a giant swat, because it was close and convenient.

"Bastard, we are going to get you."

His cock disappeared into her like a knife into hot butter. She wanted and needed him, but faked anger. Her curses earned her more hard swats to her bottom, his cock working all the time. I could feel her stiffening, and then everything washed away in a big orgasm that went on and on.

He was stretched out over his girl, kissing and caressing. "You are just one hell of a sexpot. I love you."

Her tongue was warring with mine, our lips finding each other and pressing hard. Her sex was rubbing on me and I gave little humps in response.

"He's still hard. You are next."

I was dragged to the rug and positioned on hands and knees. His entry to me was as smooth as Denise's. Fingers had my tits, scratching and squeezing and pinching. Nerves were shooting off everywhere. In my pussy, in my nipples, on my lips. Denise wormed under me, her head going to my crotch where she could taste both of us. Her wet cummy pussy ended up under my mouth and could not be resisted. I couldn't believe how hot I was. Sex was never this good with David. And I wasn't being tortured.

"Ah, ah, ah. Oh, Jeff, more."

Everything shot off at once, like a blaze of white light. I screamed into a full body orgasm, just letting go completely.

We lay in a heap for minutes. Our attacker and lover stood, his equipment limp and dripping. "You two are something else. I don't know if I could do that everyday."

Denise and I lay back, spread out before him and not worrying. We smiled and giggled and held hands.

I said, "That's fine fucking, for a couple of college kids."

I was hauled to the shower, with bodily abuse applied.

After, I sipped a cup of coffee and peered over their shoulders at homework. "How is the college treating you?"

"In class, it is fine. Outside of class the higher ups work at seeing how cold they can be. Jeff and I need to be someplace else by next fall."

"Would you mind if your roommate came along?"

Denise stood and took my hand, dragging us into the bedroom. She skinned out of her clothes and I followed. "Get in there."

"Now tell me what is going on with you."

A strange thought went through my mind and I laughed. And clutched at her harder than I needed to.

"Glad you can still laugh. Talk."

"Oh Denise, I am so confused. I was just thinking about a class I had once on stream of consciousness writing. That's what I am, just a hopeless stream of consciousness."

She licked my breast and said, "There's more. Keep talking."

I was crying and shaking. "Oh god, I am falling in love. Falling in love with both of you. I don't know what to do."

Jeff was standing there, next to us. She kissed his hand and said, "Give us a few minutes, ok?"

She left and came back with warm wet towels. Sat across my hips and wiped me. Got rid of the tear streaks. Did a little steam job on my boobs. Put some lotion on her fingers and massaged my front.

I smiled, "You could get good money for doing that."

She stuck her tongue out and went back to work, rubbing in circles, pressing the flesh into toward the middle and then away. She hissed at me, "Did you know important emotions go in and out of your body through your nipples?" I moaned and closed my eyes. Something important did seem to be going on. Her lips were on me, teasing my mammary projections higher and higher.

"Oh god, Denise, I can't take much more..."

She stood and rolled me over. Her hand came down hard on my ass. The sound echoed around the room.

"You think you are the only one with emotions involved? Don't you think Jeff and I are capable of some love?"

The other side of my ass got an even harder smack. A voice at the door said, 'Denise!"

"She gets off on pain, Jeff. She hates it, but there is cleansing. Bad runs out on the floor and goes away."

The door closed and they left me in the dark, my ass hurting.

It was light when my eyes opened. I'd slept the whole night without dreams, without them. I was full of piss and barely made it to the toilet. When I glanced up, Denise was in the doorway, holding out a cup of coffee and looking troubled.

"That was inexcusable, what I did. I'm really sorry."

I pulled her to me, hanging on tight and crying again. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I was so selfish to say what I did."

I sat at the kitchen table after they left for school. I'd warmed up the coffee and it burnt my tongue. God, I was such a bitch to two wonderful young people. Horning in on their lives, even their love lives. Laundering all my miserable insecurities.

I would have to run. God knows where, but I had to get out of their existence, at least for a while. The three of us were imprinting on each other, and that couldn't be good. Denise was giving her whole heart to Jeff, and she deserved all of it back.

Greedy whore that I was, I was competing for his affection. Rotten, rotten, rotten.

On top of everything, David knew where I was and the bastard would continue to use that against me, regardless of telling him off.

Using a dimwitted writer's brain, I forced myself to imagine the next chapter. Get a new identity and lose David. Write a teary letter to Denise and Jeff saying I had to go soak my head for a few weeks. Empty my bank account and close it. Get rid of the car, and get another in a new name.

Midway through packing, I had a harebrained idea. Instead of holing up someplace on the coast, I should ditch the car, take the bus to the Pacific Coast Trail crossing on the highway south of Mt. Hood, and disappear on the trail for a month. No one on the trail uses their real name, and after I got dirtied up in a few days, no one would recognize me. Toughening up my body wouldn't hurt either.

It was crazy, but might work. I needed to get out of the house before Denise and Jeff came back from class. I labored over an emotional note, and even found some tears to drip on it. This was tough love, but I wasn't sure who was getting the tougher end of it. I sniffled my way to the car with my junk and drove away.

The next two days were a blur of closing out bank and credit card accounts, mixed in with buying outdoor gear and provisions. I found a row of RV's in a Walmart lot and hid behind them for a restless night of sleep in the car. The next morning, I accepted three thousand for it and took a taxi to the bus station. At five pm, the bus driver let a woman with a dark wig under a floppy hat out at a service station a few miles from the trailhead. He thought I was visiting my aunt at her summer place and I hoped that was his only recollection. Everything I owned was on my back.

By the time it got dark, I was five miles south of the highway on the PCT, ready to use my trail moniker of Sleepyeyes with whomever came by. And a story of having started at the Columbia River crossing. Dinner was a deli sandwich and water. Alexis might lose some fat on this trip.

The first week was hell. Everything hurt, and my toes blistered. I sang to myself, but spent a lot of time cursing too. Every day, my brain got a little less frazzled, and my body a little stronger. Every morning, sipping strong coffee and taping my toes, Mt Jefferson looked closer. Every night, the food sack looked smaller. People I chatted with on the trail mentioned their resupply support. Alexis Crawford did not have any resupply support and didn't want any. Everyone who might go to the police had received a note of some kind, none of them pointing to a mountain trail. There was six thousand dollars in cash in my pack and that was going to have to last.

After the rush of excitement to get away, it was sinking in that I was very alone in the wilderness. The bravery of civilization leaked out as I had time on the trail to examine all the ways I might encounter trouble, human and otherwise. In gloomy moments, I also missed the sex with Denise and Jeff. The abstinence manuals I had seen years ago advised keeping busy to avoid thoughts of sex. Yes, I was keeping busy! My mood reached bottom one cold, rainy morning as I was climbing the trail on the east side of Mt. Jefferson. Life was shitty. No boyfriend. Bear bait on a snowy volcano. My editor crossing me off his list. Body still sore as hell. Only two day's food left.

Something kept me trudging along. Alexis, I said to myself, you can do this. You had the guts to escape David and his hand beating your ass. If you put in some extra trail hours, you can reach the highway crossing that leads to Sisters by late tomorrow. Hitch a ride to town for a long hot shower and a soft bed and a big meal.

The next few hours were strange. The rain was turning to drizzle. The more I concentrated on getting to the highway crossing, the clearer my mind got. A little voice said, don't worry about things you can't control. Worry about getting this body off the mountain to the south.

The next afternoon, I was standing at the edge of the highway in the warm sun, feeling a lot better. With my hat off, and hair brushed out, someone might even pick me up. A large RV came around the curve in the road, and I half heartedly held out my thumb. Probably paying too much attention to the narrow road to stop. But, as I looked down the road, his tail lights were on. My god, he was stopping and the door was opening. I ran up to find a woman in her fifties smiling at me.

"Going to town for resupply?"

I nodded and she said to climb in. I clambered up, hauling the pack behind. She introduced me to husband Ben behind the wheel and said her name was Martha. I was offered a beer or a soda and took the latter. Beer later. It turned out their daughter Linda had done the PCT last summer. On her own.

"Alexis, I didn't have a decent night's sleep half the summer worrying about that poor girl. We drove up here to help with resupply and got her right where you were standing. My darling was tan as a bug, lean and mean and so dirty I couldn't believe it. She looked straight at me, a hundred days on the trail from the Mexican border and said, 'Well, mom?' "

I hugged her and said, "Sounds like your eagle had fledged."

"Oh my goodness yes. Will you stay and have some dinner with us? We would love to hear your trail story."

In the crazy ways these things happen, I found myself, less than an hour later, in a two bedroom suite at the fanciest motel in town. They wouldn't allow me to pay, so I made them promise I could buy dinner. And Ben insisted on retracing their route in the morning to drop me off back at the trailhead.

Martha said, "We do a motel stop about once a week. Let's us stand under the shower for a long, long time, which we can't do in the RV. And we get to mess around in a big bed." She smiled and I stared back, "Martha, I'm horrified." We hugged and laughed.

It wasn't much later, after a gin and tonic at the restaurant, that I was confessing to being on the trail to banish my breakup with David.

"After a few days, it is just the trail and the nice people you meet, and the animals, and the stars at night. That horrible man disappears from your brain!"

Ben looked at me and asked, "Does it work the other way too?" We all smiled at each other, thinking of men losing their dragon ladies.

In the morning, the three of us were very mellow. With newly thin hips, I treated myself to pancakes. My filthy trail clothes had been through the motel laundry and life was looking up.

Martha asked, "Have you had enough trail? We are headed east into the Wallowas and would enjoy having you along. If you don't mind the low ceiling, the bed over the driver is comfy."

I concentrated on my next bite of pancake, then looked up and smiled, "You are very kind. Since I am on an unplanned vacation, I will take you up on the offer and go east instead of south!"

Martha and I went shopping while Ben tended to the RV tanks and gas. I asked what Linda was doing this summer and she said her daughter was living in Port Angeles and working as a seasonal ranger in Olympic National Park.

"There is some pretty wild country up there," I said.

"Yes, that girl knows how to worry her mother!"

"You look adventurous yourself, bouncing around the country in that machine."

We were standing on the curb, waiting for Ben, when she put her arm around me and kissed my cheek.

"Alexis, I remember what my mother's life was like. It was a rare girl who got any freedom. Whenever I get anxious about Linda, I think of the excitement of discovering things for yourself. I even envy the fact she can find a man and have whatever kind of loving she wants!"

Martha blushed and I leaned over, whispering, "Even finding a girlfriend."

She pulled my hair and said, "Oh, you are a naughty one."

I whispered again, "Or even dumping a guy if he can't get her off!"

"Alexis, you are definitely a bad girl. Are you telling me that orgasms count?"

Ben drove up to find us holding hands and laughing. We passed up the grocery bags and he decided to get on the road while we stored things and made some lunch. Martha explained that it was about a four hour drive to a place called Phillips Lake, where they had a reservation at a campground.

After the two of us finished our sandwiches, Martha went forward and slipped into Ben's lap, where she promptly got a grope of her front and a kiss on the back of her neck.

"Bad boy, go keep Alexis company." He eased out from under her and came to the dining table for a bite to eat.

"That's a slick maneuver you have for changing drivers."

"Hard to find spots to pull over, so we worked that out. Need a straight quiet stretch of road."

"Martha seems competent and organized."

"That's why I married her. We've always been a good team. It's none of my business, but what happened to you and your guy?"

Alexis debated what to say. "We got into rough sex and he went over the line. Way over the line."

He gazed silently at her. "Was it all his fault?"

"No. I don't suppose it ever is with a couple. But I think he thought he had a sub in me. He didn't and I left. He didn't take it well. Fucked with my bank account and other things."

"What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a writer, thank god. My job goes with me."

He smiled. "Why don't you keep Martha company. I'm going to have a quick nap."

I took the passenger seat and she glanced over, "I heard Ben giving you the third degree. I hope it wasn't too bad."

"No. I'm working to get control over my emotions and put this behind me. A week on the trail helped a lot."

She kept driving but reached a hand to clasp mine with hers, and a smile. I was on the rebound from the isolation of the PCT and thankful for the comfort of the RV, which was winging me away to another unplanned adventure. And for this strong woman, who seemed to know where my addled brain was.

The miles passed quickly. The eastern Oregon scenery was beautiful, and rolling country turned into sharp foothills as we neared the lake. Martha talked about her history with Ben. She was a farm girl from Nebraska who had met her husband at the university. He was smart and pursued his agronomy degree through a PhD. A succession of positions in and out of government agriculture departments had moved them around the Middle West. She didn't want to be second fiddle to his career and went to nursing school. It was a good degree, especially when she obtained her R.N. Wherever they went, nurses were needed.

After several years of good sex, but no pregnancy, she suggested a weekend devoted to getting her knocked up. She deliberately used the slang term to get him excited. She even found a romantic lodge in the Big Horn mountains of Wyoming, and visited a sex store to expand her horizons. Then, to get him more fired up, she cut off their sex for two weeks in advance.

The lodge was surrounded by private little cabins. The owners ensured the beds were well made, and the bathrooms complete with bidets. Martha knew you weren't supposed to stare, but smiled at the behavior of the other couples, who openly held hands and kissed in public. She had very carefully calendared the trip to meet her time to ovulate.