2

"Ash, what was that all about?" I asked her, and she smiled. "Nicky, after Monica Delucci yesterday, and now driving around with a really handsome stranger with his arm around me, you've just made me the talking point of Sanderson High, and not for the usual reason!"

I grinned at her. "So what will they say when I drop you at school tomorrow, and kiss you goodbye?"

Ashley laughed out loud. "That would just curl them up!"

When we got in, Mom had found the clothes Ashley had picked up for her, and asked where they'd come from.

"Nicky took me shopping Mom, I tried to stop him, but, well...!"

Mom laughed. "Yeah, I bet! Nicky, you should have saved your money, baby, you may need it!"

That reminded me. I went to my room and got the remainder of the money Barbara had given me, somewhere around $10, 000, less $500 I needed for the muffler and some other replacement spares, and brought it back out to Mom.

"Mom, I want you to have this, you need it, there's bills to pay, food to buy, and I don't need it; I'm home now, and I'll find a job soon, so you better just take it."

Mom stared at me. "Nicky, how much is there?"

Ashley counted it. "$10,250, wow!"

Mom sat down heavily. "Nicky, that's all you have in the world, I can't...!" I cut across her objections.

"Mom, I know you need it, all I'll do with it, pardon my French, is piss it up against the wall, so you take it, use it for Ashley's college or bills, or whatever you need to pay. I don't need it now, you do; I'm not taking it back, I don't want it, end of discussion!"

Mom looked at me with tears in her eyes. "This is a loan, OK, Nick? You'll get it back, I promise you!"

I pulled her close to me, hugged her. "I don't want it back, Mom; it's the family's money now!"

"Excuse me, hello, does this mean I can have a laptop?" enquired Ashley with that impish grin on her face, and Mom laughed. "Yes Honey, you can have a laptop!"I was waiting to drive Ashley to school. Mother had checked with her insurance company and the DMV to see if I could drive her car using my UK License, and told me that I could drive her car with her permission, so I would be covered with her insurance, but she would get me added to her insurance as soon as possible, and that she would take me to the DMV later to get my New York driver's License sorted out. She was also taking me to get my Social Security number issued, and the Department of Labor to check my qualifications.

First though I was taking my gorgeous sister to school...

Ashley bounced out of the house, her bag and books under her arm and slid into the front next to me, waved cheerily at Mom, and grinned at me. "Let's go, Nicky, education awaits!"

As soon as we were out of sight, she slid as close to me as she could and I put my arm around her, Ashley giggling at the stir she was going to cause when I dropped her off. This whole idea of popular/outcast, where you're one of the in-kids, or you're nobody was a little hard for me to understand; the schools in England don't work that way, at least I never saw any evidence of it; we were all united in common cause against the teachers, who saw it as their mission to interrupt our bouts of intense lounging around with lessons, and I had happily ambled from one group to another without ever once wondering if they were the 'right' group to be a part of.

Perhaps it was because there was no premium placed on sporting achievement in the UK school system, none of that urge to win at all costs. I thought about it, but that didn't seem adequate or plausible; teenagers were the same the world over, surely, the same drives, ambitions, likes and dislikes, so what had made them turn so comprehensively on her, made her feel so unwanted? But, at least she was happy right now, so I was happy.

We pulled up outside the school, and Ashley waited for me to open her door for her and hand her out of the car. She curled her hand around the back of my head and pulled me in for a long, sizzling kiss that was definitely inappropriate at that time of the morning, but far too hot to pull away from! I kissed her back with enthusiasm and all the finesse I could muster, at one point her eyes rolling to indicate the group of other kids watching us with intense interest; then I got it; I was on display. OK, if it made her happy.

I eventually let her go and handed her all her stuff, pulling her back into me and planting little butterfly kisses all over her face, special deliveries from me to her, making her grin happily. She walked off inside smiling, without a sideways glance at anyone, obviously enjoying every second of the mystery she was creating. I grinned to myself – the girl had style, I had to give her that.

Still grinning, I turned around and headed back home, Mother had a busy day planned for me, time to get started.

+++

True to her word, Mother took me to the DMV, Department of Labor, Social Security Administration, helping me fill in endless forms and declarations, but at last, all my paperwork that properly identified me as an American Citizen with the right to work, pay taxes and drive was in the pipeline, so all I had to do now was wait until they came through. I spent the rest of the day chatting with Mother, helping her plan dinner, installing the automatic porch light, and cutting in the barrel-bolts in the front and rear doors. Now the house was secure, and they could relax at night. I hadn't installed a light on the rear door, as the neighbors had installed one on their rear porch after what happened to Ashley, and anyone approaching the rear of either house set that off, flooding the rear of both houses with light.

At almost 3pm Mother reminded me to go and pick up Ashley from school. She'd called her insurance agent and added me on to her insurance so I could now drive legally. I decided to wear one of the shirts Ashley'd insisted I buy, and drove down to the school to wait for her, being all 'Joe Cool' with aviator shades, leaning on the car, arms folded, my freshly washed hair flopping down over one eye, just posing like hell and laughing gleefully on the inside at myself for being such a poseur, something I'd always mocked and despised!

I got a few interested looks as people started filing out, and I wondered again at the differences between the school's here and back home; there, as soon as the bell rang we hit the blocks and sprinted for the exits, desperate to not spend a second more than necessary in that place, but here, it seemed as much social as educational; perhaps we could learn a thing or two, I mused.

Ashley eventually came tripping out, her books under her arm and her bag over her shoulder, grinning hugely at me, and planting a big kiss on me as she hand-combed my hair back off my face while a gaggle of girls looked on interestedly.

"Oh look, it's the Englishman!" brayed a harsh voice I recognised.

I turned slowly and slid my sunglasses down to look at chubby, stubby Monica, then slowly look her down, then up, then down again, Monica slowly flushing , the flush deepening when I said "Oh dear, Ashley darling, look, she's out again, and dressed like that, this time, will she never learn?!" The kids around her laughed and giggled, and I heard a muttered buzz "it's that guy...this morning...Ashley...English...DaVinci's...that accent...tall...!"

I looked her up and down one last time, trying desperately to keep a straight face and said "have you had enough yet, dear? Because I can do this all night, if you want! Take my advice and find a hobby, over-eating solves nothing! I do hope I see you again, we can play some more!"

After opening the door for Ashley and helping her get in, I walked around the car and climbed in, put my arm around her and kissed her properly, and drove away, seeing poor, piggy little Monica standing there, looking baffled, repartee obviously not one of her strong points, her limited intellect trying to work out if she'd been insulted or not. I was enjoying myself tremendously; the cod 'James Bond/Hugh Grant/Euro trash' accent was completely foreign to my normal mode of speech, but such huge fun to drop on an ignorant bully like Monica; perhaps she'd take the hint and leave Ashley alone from now on; if not, there was so much more where that came from...

Ashley was delighted. "Nick, everyone's curious about you, the school's buzzing about the mysterious English boy who's been seen around with me! People who haven't spoken to me in three years have been asking me who you are, are you really English, was it true about what you did to Monica in DaVinci's! I'm enjoying my moment, believe me, knowing I'm sleeping with Albany's latest Mystery-Man!"

I grinned at her obvious enjoyment of the whole situation. "So, did you tell anyone who I really am?" I teased her.

"Are you kidding, tell that bunch the truth about my brown-eyed handsome man? They'd be camping on our doorstep just to get a crack at you! All I told them was that you were English, that you'd come especially to see me, that you had perfect manners and olde-worlde courtesy, were charming, sophisticated, well-bred and completely infatuated with me! By the time I'd finished their mouths were watering and their knees were trembling; damn, it was fun!"

I was a little embarrassed at this litany, but Ashley just grinned, and quickly pecked me on the cheek.

"Turn here Nick, I want to show you something!" she ordered, so I obediently turned, following her directions a little way out of town until we came to a small secluded woodland glade. I put the car in 'Park' and turned to her. "OK Ashley, what is it you wanted to show me?" I asked.

"It's this place, Nick; this is my quiet place. It's where I used to come when things got too bad at school, when the taunting and the name-calling were too much to take. I could come here and be quiet, get some peace, think about daddy and remember the stories he used to tell me when I was small, and tell them to myself again so I could hear his voice inside my head again and feel close to him once more. Don't step there!"

I looked at my feet, there was nothing but sun-dappled grass and leaf litter, and I looked at her quizzically.

"That's Pooh and Piglet's heffalump trap, be careful, there's a few around. Over there, that's where Rabbit lives. Over there, that big old maple? That's where Owl and Piglet live, and here, this patch of cane, that's where the Woozle wasn't, so be quiet, it could be anywhere!"

At the edge of the glade was a small stream or brook, the water chuckling as it trickled through its stony bed, and she showed me where Ratty and Mole lived, and where they kept their little boat, and where Ratty dived for the picnic basket, and off in the blue distance Toad Hall, just visible if you looked just right, past the little islet where Ratty and Mole worshipped the Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and over across the stream, on the far bank, the Wild Wood and the home of Mr. Badger.

She looked so adorable, being perfectly serious as she introduced me to her favourite people and characters. Lucy and Edmund, Peter and Susan, Prigio and Ricardo, Bilbo, Frodo, Merlin and Wart, Dorothy, Ozma and Charlotte, they all came out to be introduced again; many of them were old friends from my own childhood, from stories told long ago in a perfect summer, and she made them come alive for me again here, in this place where she still felt safe and untroubled by the world, her lively imagination unfettered and uncoloured by her treatment at the hands of her peers.

Her sense of wonder at the stories her father had told her when she was small was undimmed by the passing of the years, childlike but not in the least childish; her faith and belief in the values of those characters was clear and compelling, and I found myself in turn enchanted, beguiled and utterly charmed by her all over again.

At last, though, she decided she'd shown me enough of her own timeless, secret world for now, leaving me feeling privileged to have entered it, if only for a short while. I knew now that this place would always be as enchanted for me as it was for her, and I was grateful to her for allowing me to step into her magical world, if only for a short time.

Reality slowly crowded back in, and now she wanted me to hold and kiss her, be hers, something I was only too willing to do.

We walked back to the car, and I lifted her up and sat her on the bonnet of the car, dipping down to kiss her properly, my hands pulling her close so I was standing between her legs. Ashley wrapped her legs around me and pulled me closer, trapping me against her as we kissed, our tongues fencing, my hands sliding automatically under her top and playing with her perfect little breasts, her delectable nipples.

As we kissed I tugged and squeezed her nipples lightly, making her sigh against my lips, her hand reaching for my rapidly hardening cock, and rubbing it as it bulged behind my fly.

"Nick, I want you now!" she murmured into my mouth, her hands insistent on me, making me hot and ready for her. I slid my hands up under her skirt and hooked the waistband of her panties, Ashley closing her legs as I tugged them down, and giggling as she kicked them off.

"I meant it Nick, you said you were mine, so that means I own you, and I want you now, so when you're ready...!"

I gently urged her back down onto the bonnet, lifting her legs behind her knees and pushing them up, and dipped my head down to gently kiss her on her bare little pussy, her eyes snapping open in shock; obviously this was a first for her (and to be honest, only a second for me, but the first time I'd done it, damn, it was good!) but as I kissed and nibbled and lapped, she purred and relaxed, enjoying the feel of my tongue on her rapidly swelling labia, and when I pointed my tongue and pushed it between her lips, she gave a loud groan, pushing her hips up to my mouth. I put my hands on her lovely taut buttocks and lifted her to me, licking and lapping at her, her scent rich and fresh and feminine. I licked from her little pink rosebud to her button in its little hood, teasing her and making her writhe and moan and buck against me, pushing her hooded clit against my tongue.

As her clit emerged, slick and dewy with her sweet juices, I lapped at it, making her almost convulse with the sensations emanating from that innocuous-looking little pearl of flesh, her hands coming up to hold my head tight against her pussy to keep on making her feel what she was feeling. Her nipples were rigidly erect, and she was pinching and pulling them as I ate her, moaning and gasping as she writhed under me, her face flushed and her orgasm building as I lapped and licked her.

At last, when I sucked her clit between my lips and rapidly brushed my tongue across it, she came like a thunderbolt, a scream of release escaping from her as her back arched, the tendons in her neck standing out in high relief as her climax billowed and gusted through her, a spray of her tangy, honeyed ejaculate squirting across my mouth and chin. She collapsed in a breathless, boneless heap on the bonnet of the car, a smile of fulfillment on her face, her eyes closed and breathing ragged as orgasmic aftershocks chased and faded through her.

Eventually, her breathing evened-out and her flush dissipated. Her eyes opened, and she smiled at me, a sweet, sunny smile. "Holy Shit, Nick, what the hell did you do to me? I have never done that before!" she grinned. Her eyes suddenly widened. "What about you, Nick, that was all for me, what about you?"

I handed her up off the bonnet and kissed her. "I can taste me!" she grinned, "Yum, nice!"

I turned her round and she bent over and placed her hands on the car bonnet, her perfect rump sticking out provocatively.

"Oooh, Nick, this is so nasty, you naughty boy, what are you going to do to me? On my own mother's car, too!" she grinned, sticking her tongue out at me. I moved up behind her and slid my hands up under her top, cupping her breasts and lightly pinching her nipples, still hard as two cherry-stones, rubbing her breasts and kissing her neck, nibbling her ear and licking the base of her throat. I freed myself from my jeans, and Ashley reached behind herself to guide me to her.

"Are you ready, Sweetheart?" I whispered, and she grinned and nodded, breathing deeply as I slid into her in one long thrust, burying myself to the hilt in her satiny cavern.

I pumped slowly, savouring the experience, enjoying the feel of her firm buttocks bouncing and moulding against my midsection as I pumped in and out of her, the feel of her wet heat enfolding my cock, the bullet-hardness and texture of her nipples as I rubbed and squeezed them as I jammed myself repeatedly into her.

The most exciting thing for me was the arch of her back as her short skirt rode up, exposing the full glory of her spectacular behind and the contours of the small of her back as she arched inwards under my onslaught. Coupled with the sight of my cock disappearing between those sweet, taut globes into her soaking little pussy, it was almost too much to bear. As I pumped her she moaned and gasped, her hand working away at her clit as she quivered under me, gabbling out encouragement to me as I fucked her.

"Yes, Nicky, fuck me hard, oh God, yes! Shove that cock in me, you belong to me, fuck me 'til I scream, big brother, fill your little sister up with your hot cum!"

Her words were having a definite effect on me; the sight of this lovely girl quivering under my onslaught, and my cock driving between those delectable cheeks, and her reinforcing the thought that I was her brother was only adding to the erotic and carnal delight of the moment. I was her brother, and I didn't give a fuck, all I wanted to do was hammer this girl with my cock, fill her with my essence, shatter the taboo and make her mine completely. I was besotted with her now, and I wanted to keep on doing this forever, with her and no-one else.

At last, I could hold back no longer. "Ashley, I can't...!" I gasped, and in that instant she clenched her teeth and gave a guttural groan, her pussy clamping down on me as she orgasmed, her whole body tense as a violin string while she shook and shuddered in the throes of an immense climax, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes as she came off on my cock. As I felt her come, I let myself go, shooting pulse after pulse of spunk deep into her inner recesses, filling her up as I fired my tribute into her hot, wet, fluttering pussy.

Eventually she stopped shaking, and slumped down over the bonnet, me on top of her, my own muscles twitching and quivering in reaction to the stress of orgasm, until my cock softened and slipped from her, a last tail of sperm bubbling out of me and splattering down the back of her thigh, making her giggle.

"That was wonderful, Nick, we should do this more often!" she breathed, twisting her head round to lick and nibble at my jaw as I supported myself on my forearms above her.

I grinned back, standing back up and pulling her upright to turn her around so I could hold and kiss her again, grab hold of her lovely hot silky little backside and grind her against me some more, and lick and nibble her sexy, pouty lips, just the act of doing that making my flaccid cock begin to firm-up and prime for action again.

Ashley bucked and giggled, twisting out of my grip. "Oh no you don't, Nick, we have to be at Judy's place, then we have to get home, if you keep me here any longer, Mom's gonna ask questions! Down boy!"

With that, she leaned into the car and took a pack of Wet Wipes from the glove compartment, and carefully cleaned the trickle of sperm bubbling down her thigh from her swollen, just-fucked pussy. She handed me the pack. "Better freshen-up too, Nick, we're kind of advertising what we've been doing!"

Once we cleaned up, Ashley directed me until we came to a very nice, definitely upscale neighborhood, large imposing houses set in their own gardens, mature trees, manicured lawns and sculpted hedges much in evidence, and a Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz or BMW parked on nearly every drive. We stopped outside a large red brick house with tall windows and a large weeping willow in the middle of the front lawn.

As I stopped the car Ashley jumped out and picked up her school bag.

"This is Judy's home, her entrance is round the side, this way, Nicky!"

She led me around the side of the house to an external staircase and ushered me up to the door at the top; as we got there it was opened by a short slim girl with multi-coloured streaked hair cut in a jagged mop. She was wearing a tiny denim skirt and an off the shoulder reprint Sex Pistols 'God Save The Queen' tee-shirt. She had thick black eyebrows, setting-off a piquantly pretty, pixie little face, with winged, you-be-damned pink glasses and a pendant piercing in her bottom lip.

Ashley grinned at me and hugged her friend.

"Judy, this is Nicky, my...friend, from England; Nicky, this is my best friend, Judy Nixon, founder member and current president of The Loser's Club!"

I shook hands with her. "It's nice to meet you, Judy, I'm very pleased to finally meet some of Ashley's friends!"

She beamed at me, and looked at Ashley's secret little smile.

"Whoo, that accent, how do you stop yourself climbing all over him...wait...NO, you already have, Ashley, you slut! Fucking-A, girl!"

Ashley was blushing scarlet, but grinning slyly, and Judy started demanding details. I felt I should say something at this point.

"Hello, excuse me, I'm still here..." and Ashley picked up on what I was saying, damping down her friend with a promise to reveal all another time.

"I brought you the English assignment, Jude, it's not due back 'til Monday, so no need to go crazy. There's also a History assignment, and oh, look, a math assignment!"

Judy took the papers from her and flicked through them

"Thanks Ash, I was afraid I was going to have to fuck that creep to get my English Lit grade, you saved me from a completely forgettable experience!"

The two of them hugged and we left as we had to be back to help finish dinner. On the way down the stairs, she explained why she was bringing assignments to her friend.

Apparently Judy likes to wear very short skirts, and very skimpy underwear, and the English teacher always made her sit in the front row, on the pretext that she needed watching. During the lesson, he would gradually slide down lower and lower in his seat until he was staring up her skirt at her crotch. She had objected, vocally, and at some length, using certain short and expressively robust Anglo-Saxon words, and had gotten herself suspended for a week, hence the side-trip for us.

As we were walking back to the car, I saw that one of the double-garage doors was up, and there was a man with the bonnet up on a black Range Rover Vogue, looking baffled. Ashley waved at him.

"Hi, Dr. Nixon! Problems?"

He waved back distractedly.

"Hello Ashley, yeah, something's wrong with the suspension, it's not adjusting, and I just spoke with the dealership, their so-called experts were out here earlier, they couldn't work out what the problem was, and now they're saying 4 weeks for a replacement air-suspension. 4 weeks!"

She nudged me. "Nick knows British cars, do you want him to have a look?"

Dr. Nixon Looked at me. "Are you a mechanic, young man?"

"Yes I am," I replied, "newly qualified, but I have a Jaguar-Land Rover certification."

He looked closely at me.

"English, eh? Well, you should know about these cars then. What's your opinion? New air-suspension system?"

I took the keys from him and turned the engine on and pressed the EAS button three times to jack it up fully, but not feeling the car rising up.

I went to the front of the car and unclipped the plastic cover to the suspension compressor at the left side of the engine bay, undid the three mounting nuts with a spanner from the open tool kit on the bench next to the car, and disconnected the outlet hose from the compressor for the air-suspension system. I could feel the motor gritting and vibrating, and when I put my finger over the outlet nozzle I wasn't feeling anything like the pressure I should have felt if it were working properly.

I grinned over at Judy's dad. "This is your problem, Dr. Nixon; the compressor is basically dead; if you touch it you can feel the impeller gritting and knocking, so the seals and bearings have failed. The good news is, they're nowhere near as expensive as a replacement air-system. They're about £250 in England, so probably about $500 here. It's a common fault with the Vogue and HSE 4 and 4.6 litre EAS models, but not in vehicles as young as this; they usually fail somewhere around 150,000 miles. The good news is, it's easily fixed. If you get your dealer to order you a replacement Land Rover compressor, not an after-market one, I'll come back and put it in for you. In the meantime, don't drive it, you'll permanently damage the suspension, and a complete replacement system costs £4,000 in England, so it would probably be at least double that here."

Dr. Nixon smiled at me, pulled out his cell and dialled a number, when it answered he handed the phone to me.

"Tell him what you just told me, and give him the part you need!"

I spoke briefly to the parts bloke on the other end, reading out the part number on the compressor body, and he gave me a 48 hour collection time.

I handed Dr. Nixon his phone and he grinned at me.

"What's your name, son?"

"My name's Nick, Nick Davies, I'm staying with Ashley and her Mother, I'm ..." Ashley jumped in with "...a family friend from England!"

"Well, Nick, Nick Davies, if you can diagnose the problem in a few seconds, perhaps you and I should have a talk. The so-called specialists from the dealership were here for over an hour, and all they could come up with was that I should probably have the entire suspension system replaced! Are you planning on staying in Albany?"

I told him I was, that I was waiting for my paperwork, that I was an American citizen but brought up in England, so I had to wait for my papers and qualifications to be issued and assessed, and that I was in the process of getting my Social Security number.

"OK Nick, if you come back on Thursday, put that back in for me and get it to work, I think we should have a talk afterwards."

I promised him I'd come as soon as the part was ready, and he thanked me. As we were walking back to the car, he stopped me again.

"Nick, what other European cars are you trained?"

I had to think for a second, all my papers were still with the Employment people,

"I have service and repair certifications for Jaguar-Land Rover, you already knew that, BMW and Mini-Cooper, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Renault and Peugeot-Citroen, SEAT, Volvo and Saab, and I also hold a Lotus powertrain specialist mechanic's certificate. In 5 years, they cram in a lot in Technical College in England!" I grinned.

Dr. Nixon looked at me closely. "Have you got a job lined up anywhere yet, Nick?" he asked, and I confessed that I hadn't looked; I was still waiting for my assessments to come back.

"Look, I have some friends in town who might like to talk to you, how about we get this little problem here out of the way, and then we can start making some calls; with your background, I think some people are going to be very interested in you, so we'll make some calls once you're done here. See you Thursday!"

We shook hands and walked back to the car, Ashley nudging me excitedly. Once we got in the car she leaned over and kissed me.

"Wow, you sure charmed him, Nicky, I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on you!" she laughed. "I think you've scored a hit there! Just imagine, if he could help you find a job, how cool would that be?"

I chucked her chin.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Ash, I haven't done anything yet!" I reminded her, "Let's see what happens Thursday, first!"

We got home and helped mother with the final preparations for dinner, but it was still only not quite 5 pm, too early for dinner for me, so I told mother I'd take Ashley out for a drive, look around town and relax after the busy day.

"Sure, Nicky, whatever you want, dinner at 6.30 sharp, OK?" she smiled.

Ashley followed me out, trying not to grin, and thanked me politely as I opened her door for her and handed her into the car. When we'd first come in, she'd changed into a tight white polo top and grey sweatpants, and looked lithe and athletic with her glossy, bright bronze hair tumbling loose around her shoulders, framing her beautiful face and setting-off her startling green eyes.

"So where we really going, Nicky, and what do you want to do, as if I didn't know!" she grinned

I looked at her innocently.

"I was just wondering if you had any more 'quiet places' you might want to show me, somewhere we can actually talk, instead of just...you know!"

She cocked her head at me and grinned. "Just...'talk', huh? OK, I'll show you another "quiet place", if all you want to do is...talk!"

I back-pedalled a little. "OK, I may want to do more than just talk, but talk first, OK?"

She winked at me and pointed down the road.

"That-away, Nicky, and don't spare the horses!"

Following her directions, on a different route out of town, we drove a long, meandering route until we were in a rural, almost wild part of the outskirts of town.

"Where are we, Ash? I'm lost, I'm not sure I could find my way home from here." I admitted.

"We're on French's Mill Road, that's Norman's Kill over there. Daddy used to bring me out here when I was small, he used to say this was as wild as he ever wanted to be and still be able to make it back to town if we saw a bear! Of course, there are no bears...or maybe..." she tried to keep a straight face, but started giggling.

"Oh Nicky, you should have seen your face when I mentioned bears! Nicky, this is Albany, not Yellowstone!"

I had to admit, the thought of bears had unsettled me momentarily; I'd forgotten that America has some large and ferocious predators lurking in the forests, not like the UK, where the largest wildlife you have to worry about is the occasional preoccupied badger ambling across the lawn or urbanised fox rooting around in your dustbins.

"So, Nicky, now that we're here, what do you want to talk about, and remember, we're on the clock, boy, so spit it out!"

I got out of the car, helped Ashley out, and leaned against the bonnet of the car, Ashley in the curl of my arm.

"Baby" I began, "where are we going here? I told you yesterday what I wanted, that hasn't changed one iota, and I want to be part of your life, maybe the major part, but I want to know how you see us doing this. If we're going to be us, you and me, then Mom...Mother needs to know; I've just dropped out of the sky into the middle of your lives, how am I going to stay there if I hide something this important from her? And by the way; I'm the world's worst liar, I might as well carry a big sign and blow a klaxon every time I try and lie, so I won't be able to tell a convincing story if Mother twigs on and asks me outright what's going on. So what do you want to do?"

She looked into my eyes, seeing...what? Eventually she nodded.

"You're right, Nicky, we should tell her as soon as possible. If she finds out, or catches us, well, I don't know, but it'll be bad, and look worse, like we were just casual fuck-buddies or something; I know mom was afraid I'd never recover from the...you know, the trauma thing, or that I'd go off the deep end, be unable to have any real relationships and just screw any and everybody in sight because my head was all fucked-up. I want to be able to tell her in a way that shows this isn't the case, that it's not simply the trauma kicking in and I've chosen to self-destruct as a career slut because I hate and can't trust all men. That's kind of an exaggerated take on how she's thinking right now, but it covers the main points."

She grinned at me.

"I know this whole 'long-lost brother' thing is also an issue, but we have to make her see, that's how we can make this work in our favour as a couple; four days ago we didn't even know you were alive, you disappeared before I was born, so you're not my brother, not really, there's no long family history together to get past; to be honest, other than that genetic connection, we have nothing, no shared experience of each other growing up, no sibling bond, anything. The guilt that goes with breaking that taboo doesn't exist here, because I think that guilt is based on the fact that you are disregarding all past connection and breaking all existing bonds in order to go forward with a new version of the relationship. None of that is true in our case; we have no history, period. She'll be hurt, I know, but I think, I hope, she'll see that, she's not stupid."

I was surprised and gratified to hear my own musings of the previous day reflected back at me like that. She'd obviously been giving this whole relationship of ours some in-depth consideration and reflection, and was articulating how she thought we should go forward with a lot more clarity and insight than I had been able to bring to it. For my part, I was well aware that she'd suffered a deep and bruising injury; even if it didn't show externally, there were probably still those memories and unresolved guilt, shame and anger issues lurking inside. She'd thrown herself into this thing with me, and while I'd enjoyed how it had happened, and was enthralled at the thought of continuing with her, a part of me was concerned at how rapidly it had happened. But my concern was solely for her. I was completely smitten with her, and I didn't ever want to give her cause to think or believe that I wasn't 150% into this relationship; to do less would be to damage her all over again, and lose her forever.

I thought I could understand, in a limited sense, what was going on with her; her apparent rapid recovery was really just her personality reasserting itself, compensating for the hurt and trauma; she had forced herself to get past what had happened to her, but inside, maybe nothing much had changed, maybe she'd just refused to let it dominate her. I didn't know how much or what type of rape counselling was available, but perhaps that was one area I could actually be of use, maybe I could convince her to join a group where she could unload whatever she was still carrying around, and help her to finally let go of the hurt and shame.

I really loved this girl, but I needed her to be with me because she wanted to be with me, not because she thought I was the only option available to her. I'd come to her when she was deeply vulnerable, so the very real possibility existed that what she was feeling for me was just passing reflexive need to reach out to another person. Once clarity of vision returned, if she decided that I was not the one for her, that what we were doing was not what she really wanted, I would have to respect that and let her go – she was still my little sister, that would never change, and I would never want her to think she had to stay with me simply because she thought she would hurt me if she left; it was all about what was right for her, not about what I wanted, it had to be.

Even so, the thought that I might have to let her go tore at me like steel hooks, and I could feel my eyes stinging at the thought of losing her, a hollow ache starting to build up inside me. Was this really what love was supposed to be like? Because right now, it hurt like hell, and who was I kidding, it could get a whole lot worse.

Ashley poked me gently in the ribs, and I realised I was staring blankly at nothing as all this ran through my head.

"You were thinking some pretty deep thoughts there, Nick, you were miles away. Care to share?"

I drew a deep breath, blinking away the tears, and Ashley saw the droplets on my eyelashes.

"Nick, what's wrong, why are you...?" I stopped her.

"Ashley, before you tell our mother, you have to be really, really sure that this is what you want. We kind of fell into bed with each other and started making all kinds of plans, getting all caught up in each other, but I don't think you should be making life choices like this unless and until you know for certain which part of you is doing the choosing. You say you're over what happened to you, and I want to believe you, I really do."

"What you have to ask yourself though is; have you really dealt with it and moved on, or just painted over it and hoped it'll go away with time? When I saw you properly for the first time, I thought you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, and I wondered how I could ever be anything more than just your older brother come home. What I don't know is whether you're ready to have, not just me, but anybody, in the same way. What happened to you is bound to leave scars, probably deep scars, you have to know that, and perhaps, just possibly, those feelings from what happened are leading you to make some wrong assumptions about what you want and who you need. I know you're the girl for me, and I don't want anyone else, but how can you be sure I'm the one for you, that you're not just over-responding to me because you think there's no-one else for you? I want to be your anchor in life, not just a convenient lifeline."

She looked at me with tears in her eyes, and she looked so adorable, so vulnerable, that I just wanted to hold her close and make it go away, but I had to make her understand what I was saying.

"Will you promise me one thing, Ashley?" I asked her

"Ask me first Nicky, I'm not promising anything until I know what you're going to say!"

"OK Ashley, will you promise me that you won't say anything to Mother until you've considered, really considered, what we're doing here? I want you to be mine, God I think you're perfect for me, but you have to be certain that what you're feeling for me isn't just because you feel like you have no other option, that it's real, and it's what you really want. You've captured my heart, and I want you to give me yours in return, but only when you're completely ready; I'm not going anywhere any time soon, so take your time."

She looked up at me.

"Oh Nicky, I do want you, and I'm sure I'm feeling what you're feeling; it's more than just attraction, it feels right, deep down inside, it doesn't make me want to shut off and cringe like I used to do when I'd be out with Judy and guys would try and pick us up. I used to feel repulsed by that, like it was dirty and unclean, like it would make me even dirtier than I already was, but I don't feel that way when I think about you, or hold you, or make love to you. You make me feel fresh and clean and new inside, like what happened is really over and gone."

"Maybe I do need therapy, I don't know; I did try it, I went to some counselling sessions with a group, but it only made me feel worse; those poor women and girls, they had really horrific stories to tell; mine was almost nothing compared to some of the ordeals those poor women went through, and it didn't help in the slightest; it made me feel like I was wallowing in their pain and misery, and just brought what happened to me into sharper focus, the last thing I wanted to happen."

She swallowed, and continued.

"If you ask me to, I'll give it another chance, and see if it helps clear out whatever's remaining, although I still think you're all the therapy I need now. I don't think I can relate to some therapist or counsellor, no matter how experienced or well-meaning; I've spent nights crying about what happened, I've had nightmares about it, I swore off boys and sex because they meant the same thing in my mind, and that was a place I couldn't go, but you changed that for me, so to answer your question, yes I've thought about this, and yes, I think I've made my choice for the right reasons, and yes, I think you're the one for me. That's three yes votes in a row, Nick; you can't get better than that! You're not rid of me just yet, Nicholas Davies, older brother of mine, emphasis on 'mine'!"

I grinned down at her. She really was stunning, fresh and beautiful, still innocent and trusting, and my heart went out to her all over again. I wanted her, but I could feel deep down inside, in that instinctual part of me that knew what was really going on, that I had to go slowly with her, let her set the pace, so we could make this work.

She hugged me, throwing her arms around me, the blaze of pain as her palms slapped my shoulder blades waking me up in a hurry. "Ashley...my back...my back...!" and she instantly let go, concern written all over her face."Oh gosh Nicky, I'm sorry, I forgot, please baby, take your shirt off, I want to see if I started you bleeding again!"

I smiled at her. "I see, a cunning ploy to get me naked! I've got your number now, Miss Lowry!" I teased her, and she lightly slapped my arm as she unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it down to look at my back and shoulders. There were a few small blood spots on the fabric, but nothing else. She took the opportunity to look properly at my injuries, checking on the state of the cuts and bruises.

"It's starting to heal, but it still looks chewed-up. You look like you've been flogged. You really should have had these looked at, it's gonna be permanently scarred baby, no question! You can tell our kids it happened when you were saving me from a shark attack, be the big hero-daddy!"

I grinned at that. "There's only one teeny, negligible, hardly worth mentioning little flaw in your plan, princess; no sharks in Albany!"

She pouted. "All right, we tell them the truth; that mommy's a screamer and she likes to claw while she's doing the belly-rub! Would they buy that?"

I laughed. "Ashley, you're a very naughty girl and a bad influence, no wonder my mother told me not to play with you!" I followed that up with a gentle pinch of her pneumatic little bum-cheek, making her jump and giggle. She helped me put my shirt back on, not that I needed it, but it was nice to feel her nimble little hands pulling my shirt straight and popping the buttons back in; and suddenly, I was transported back to my childhood, memories of Barbara dressing me when I was small suddenly bright and vivid, her smile as she showed me how to line up my buttons and do my shoelaces into proper bows. Two big tears rolled down my cheeks as the guilt I still had rolling around inside reared up and cannoned into me, reminding me how little I'd done for her, and four days ago, only four days, I'd left her and she'd...she'd...!

"Nicky? Nicky!" Ashley was holding my face in both hands, staring into my eyes. "Nicky, what is it, what happened, why are you crying? Talk to me, baby!"

At that, all my self control dissolved, and I held her tightly, all my shame and guilt at leaving her to her fate roiling inside me, image after image of Barbara flashing though my mind; her sitting with me at the breakfast table, chatting before I had to go to school, her tucking me in at night when I was small and calling me 'Little St Nick' before blowing me a kiss as she turned off the light, her sweet smile, and those terrible bruises and cuts on her arms and face from my father and his scotch and his belt and his fists. I'd never done anything for her, and now I never could, she was gone, at the end, all I had done was run, and I'd left her behind...

I slumped down to sit on the ground, uncaring where I was, my awakened guilt and misery raw and fresh, searing me all over again. I had forgotten her, just four days and I'd already forgotten her! How could I have been so thoughtless, so wrapped up in my own new world that I'd let her go just like that? I deserved some of the blame for what happened to her, she'd tried to protect me, and all I'd done was run, I'd left her and run, I hadn't tried hard enough to save her, she was my world and I'd done nothing to take her away from what was coming, it should have been me, she didn't have to die, I should burn, I should...

"Nick, baby, Nicky, what is it, tell me, please...!" I could hear Ashley's voice, but it was making no sense over the noise of my memories, Barbara shrieking and laughing as I chased her in the garden with an especially long earthworm in my hand, or her telling me folktales from all over England, her soft sweet voice reading to me from 'Dragon in the Harbour' and 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader', her helpless cries as he battered her.

I felt someone tugging me to my feet, but it was a remote sensation, something happening to someone else, and the drive home was a blur of impressions, jarring confusingly with the tumult in my head as I tried desperately to rebuild her, to work out a way that the last few days couldn't have happened so I could have her back whole and safe, so that my shame could be wiped out and that yawning chasm of guilt down the middle of me would close.

We must have arrived home, the next thing I remember is Mother helping me out of the car, but I was such a mess, shaking, crying, gabbling hysterically, that I'm not even sure I'm remembering a true event. But I was home, so Ashley must have gotten me here somehow. I heard her on the phone in the other room.

"Judy? I need your dad, Nick's had some sort of flashback, or breakdown, something, but he's in a real mess, he needs help, and all I could think of was your dad, could you ask him. Could you come as well, please, Nicky's in a bad way. Hurry, Jude, please!"

Then Ashley was with me, sitting astride me, her fingers interlaced behind my neck, pulling me up to look at her, her voice softly thundering in my ears, speaking slowly and deliberately, but still making almost no sense.

"Nicky, look at me, look at me! Dr. Nixon's on his way over, he's going to look at you, can you talk, can you tell him what's going on? Nicky, honey, it's me, look at me!" Mother watched this with a look comprised of a strange mix of surprise, sadness and vindication, like she'd been proved right over something, not that I was in any real condition to draw conclusions from that; I was still wondering if the top of my head had come unscrewed and God was punching my brain for me.

Minutes or hours later there was a knock at the door and Mother answered, letting in Dr. Nixon, with Judy trailing him, who almost immediately went into a huddle with Ashley in the dining room. I remember him looking into my eyes and questioning me, but I don't have any idea what answers I gave, if any. At some point he unbuttoned my shirt and had mother help him roll me over to look at my back, and I remember him saying "His father did that? How? So mother told him. He gave a snort, and checked it over, saying that it was healing nicely, no signs of infection or reopening of any of the partially healed cuts.

He gave me a quick squirt of something up my nostrils, and asked Ashley and Judy to sit with me while he talked with Mother in the hallway.

"Mrs. Lowry, I gave Nick a shot of Midazolam, it's a mild sedative-hypnotic, it should calm him down, at least enough so he can get some sleep tonight. From what I can see, he's suffering from delayed emotional shock of some sort, coupled with stress, fatigue, and the after-effects of that beating; he's been holding it off pretty well but something triggered this...episode, some memory trigger that's caused a flashback. Whatever the cause, some sort of catharsis seems to have been achieved, but I'm not a psychiatrist, so I can't be sure what I'm seeing here. He's calmed down, so I think he'll be OK for now, but I'd like to see him again tomorrow. What brought this on?"

"Baby, what set Nicky off?" asked Mother, and Ashley told her she was looking at my back, she'd been helping me button up my shirt, when I'd started crying and talking to Barbara. Mother explained to Dr. Nixon who Barbara was, and what had happened to her, how she'd refused to leave with me, and instead had killed herself.

Dr. Nixon looked pensive. "That probably explains a lot. He's obviously still reacting to the news of her death, plus the aftermath of what happened to him. I met him earlier with Ashley when she dropped some assignments off for Judy. How does he come to be living with you?"

"He's my son, his father took him to England over 18 years ago, he's just come home." replied Mother, oblivious to the fact that we'd not mentioned our connection when we met the doctor earlier that day.

Dr. Nixon said nothing, but Ashley went pale, then red while Judy stared at her wide-eyed, before grinning slowly and nudging her suggestively. I watched this byplay uncomprehendingly; right now all I wanted was Barbara, but she was gone, forever, and I needed her so badly I could taste it.

Dr. Nixon chatted for a few more minutes with Mother, and then made to leave, asking Judy if she wanted to come along.

"No thanks Dad, I want to talk to Ashley, help her keep an eye on Nick, she'll drop me home later, right Ash?" said Judy, mugging furiously.

"What? Oh...yes, of course, I'll drop her off later, Dr. Nixon, don't worry!" said Ashley, avoiding his eye. Dr. Nixon started to say something and thought better of it, shook hands with Mother again and left.

Mother came back into the room, shooed the girls out and quickly helped me undress, pulling the sheets back up over me.

"You get some rest now Nicky, I'll bring you something to eat a little later, OK?" she smiled, and I nodded, although I didn't want anything, I just wanted to sleep. When she left, Ashley came back in and sat next to the bed, and Judy perched at the foot of the bed, grinning archly at me.

"Nicky, do you know who I am?" asked Ashley, and I smiled at such a silly question. Of course I knew, her name was...Ashley?

I looked at her uncertainly, memory still tumbling and whirling, her face one of a whole stream of memories that I couldn't quite grab hold of, all I knew was that she was important to me, although the reason why was just out of my grasp.

"Leave him, Ashley, he's in shock," said Judy, "I don't think he knows his own name right now. He'll be OK after he's had some rest; don't worry, girl, your secret's safe with me, I'm just jealous I don't have a hot brother to manhandle!"

Ashley looked troubled. "You don't think we're...sick, or, or, perverts or something do you? Because I can't help it, I love him, and he loves me, and we fit together like it was supposed to be; it doesn't feel wrong, just very, very right. Can you understand that, Jude? Really?" pleaded Ashley and Judy just grinned at her.

"'course I understand, Ashley, who you want is up to you, I'm not gonna judge, especially when you consider some of the morons I've dated in the past; at least Nick's a real guy, what you see is what you get, and he's got a bad case of you; he couldn't take his eyes off you, not once! Fuck, I should be lucky enough to have a brother like him; all I've got is a moron cousin who keeps grabbing my tits!"

Ashley smiled. "Thanks, Jude, I needed to hear that. Come on, let's leave Nicky to get some sleep, dinner's ready, I hope you like pork chops!"

As they were leaving, Judy smiled at Ashley and said; "You should have asked my dad to stay, I think he's interested in your mom; he could hardly take his eyes off her ass!"

Ashley spun around, a look of shock on her face. "Judy Nixon, what did you just say?"

Judy grinned back, completely unperturbed.

"I said,' you should have asked...!"

"I heard what you said, Judy, I wanna know what you mean by it!" interrupted Ashley.

Judy looked her in the eye.

"Ash, your Mom's cute, my dad's single, he's coming back to see Nick tomorrow, and for the record, my dad NEVER makes house-calls, and he was all goo-goo, dreamy-eyed when he left, it was sickening, really, so yeah, maybe we should get them together, see what happens, who knows...!"

Ashley smiled at the thought.

"It would be kind of cool for her to date someone, she's been alone for four years now, and you know what it's been like for us, for her, all...this, around us, maybe you're right..."

Their voices faded as they went into the dining room, and I suddenly felt an overwhelming need to sleep, exhaustion rising up out of nowhere and pulling my eyes shut.

I woke early, the sounds of Mother getting ready to go to work clear and distinct in the early morning. She looked in on me, and smiled back when I smiled at her.

"Good morning, sleepyhead, how are you this morning? You had us all quite worried yesterday, so Ashley's taking the day off to stay with you in case you need anything. Dr. Nixon is also coming to see you later, so you just rest, you've been overdoing things a little and you need to get your strength up. See you tonight, honey, and listen to what Ashley tells you!" she smiled mock sternly.

I heard her telling Ashley I was awake, and to listen out for me, and then the sound of the front door closing and the car pulling away. I daydreamed for a while, until I felt eyes on me, and there was Ashley in the bedroom doorway, wearing a longish T-shirt and panties and grinning broadly.

"Hi Nicky, need some company?" she drawled, and my cock immediately jumped. Without waiting for an answer, she peeled off her T-shirt and panties and slid into bed next to me, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me close.

"God, baby, you had me worried last night! How the hell I got you back in the car is a mystery, you weigh a ton, you big slab of meat! What happened, Nicky, I was so scared!"

I told her what I remembered, that I'd flashed-back on Barbara looking after me when I was small, and how in the midst of all the new things happening to me, especially Ashley, I'd pushed her to the back of my mind, virtually forgotten her, after just a few days, when she'd been the centre of my life from early childhood!

All the things I remembered about Barbara, and my feelings for her, rushed out of me, snapshot memories, of Barbara holding me and comforting when the dream monsters came for me, kissing it better when hurt myself, walking me to school, her hand in mine, sitting me on her lap on chilly evenings, wrapping a robe around the two of us and making me warm and drowsy, then putting me to bed, and kissing me good night, a million childhood moments wrapped around the woman I'd loved most in the entire world, and now she was gone.

Once, and only once, had I tried to help her, and a few hours later she was dead, and I could never again hold her, tell her I was sorry, tell her I needed her; all my last chances, to tell her how much I loved her, to take her away somewhere safe, to make it right with her, had been taken from me in one blow. Once again the hollow loss and sick despair rose up and washed over me, the guilt a bright venomous thread through all of it, a stinging lash of reproach for not doing enough when she needed me most, and suddenly Ashley was there, holding me, looking deeply into my eyes.

"Nicky, listen to me, listen!" she said, softly but intently. "She's always going to be there inside you, just like daddy's always there inside me, his voice, the smell of his cologne, the feel of his bristly chin on Saturday mornings when he didn't shave because he didn't have to, and anytime I need to I can talk to him, and hear his voice, and feel connected to him again. That's where Barbara is now, inside you, and you'll always have her, no-one can take her away from you ever again. She may not have been your mother, but she was your Mom when you needed one; she made you who you are, and we'll always be grateful for that."

"She kept you safe, and at the end, she sent you away to make sure you stayed safe, that was her biggest gift to you. Treasure her memory, Nicky, and remember how much she loved you. Baby, you didn't do anything wrong, at the end you did exactly what she wanted you to do. She loved you, and so she let you go, respect that, Nicky, remember her as she was, and keep her alive inside you, just like I keep my daddy alive inside me!"

I looked at her in wonder. Somehow she'd known to say exactly the right thing to pull me back out of myself, and again I felt myself drawing even closer to this enchanting, beautiful, exciting girl whose life I had so recently fallen into. I held her close and kissed her gratefully, thanking her for helping me see what Barbara had done for me, and why.

We lay a little while longer, enjoying the feel of skin on skin contact, the warmth and personal connection it brought. I was beginning to doze again, when I felt Ashley stirring restlessly against me. I turned to her and she seemed preoccupied about something, so I asked her what was wrong.

She got a little line between her eyebrows, a worry line.

"Nick, Judy's dad, he knows about us, he asked Mom why you lived here and she told him you were her son, and it sure didn't take him long to put two and two together. Judy's cool with it, she says she's envious of me, but I'm worried. Suppose he tells Mom before we get a chance to?"

I thought about it for a moment.

"Look, we already decided that we should go slow, so we shouldn't go jumping the gun just yet. When I see him today, I'll ask him to respect a confidence, and let you and I work it out with Mother; besides, I'm his patient, so if I ask him to keep a confidence, he has to respect doctor/patient privilege, doesn't he? Or is that just something for the TV shows? He seems like a decent man, perhaps he'll decide none of this is his business and keep out of it. Have faith, Ash, it will be alright, I promise!"

She grinned at me and her hand snaked down to grab my rapidly hardening cock.

"Do you swear by the power of this thing that it will be OK?" she grinned mischievously, giving me a quick shake and squeeze.

I grabbed her and disengaged her hand long enough to slip my shorts off, before pulling her on top of me.

"Now, where were we?" I asked her, and she immediately pulled herself up and kissed me passionately, my hands sliding down to grab and hold her delightfully firm and springy bum. Her kisses became slower, more considered, her tongue slowly fencing with mine as she ground and gyrated slowly on top of me, trapping my erect cock between her thighs as she slowly raised and lowered her pelvis. My manhood was throbbing painfully now, all seven inches and more at full stretch, and the sensation of her damp pussy lips sliding along it as she rubbed herself off on me pressed all my buttons and lit up my central nervous system like a Christmas tree.

She sat up and raised herself up slightly, aiming my cock with one small hand, and then slowly impaled herself on me, sliding down until I was embedded to the hilt in her. Then she started rocking back and forth, rising slightly as she did so, to rub her clit against my pubic hair as she pumped and squeezed me with her talented pussy muscles. Her movements caused my cock-head to flick against the neck of her womb, a sensation she obviously liked, judging by the groan she gave every time she did it, and the flush that spread down her throat and upper chest.

I rubbed and squeezed her nipples, making them stiff and solid, and each time I flicked them with my thumbs she groaned and tried to trap my hands against her breasts. At last she succeeded, and pressed my hands hard against her nipples, using my hands to stimulate herself. All the while the insistent motions of her hips as she rose and fell and gyrated on top of me were almost more than I could stand.

I dropped my hands down to hold her gorgeous arse, those fabulous globular buttocks drawing my hands like magnets, and as she pumped and shuddered above me, I squeezed and pulled them apart, one finger slowly sliding into her tight little anus, to pump in time with her as she pleasured herself on me. All too soon, her breathing began to hitch and speed up, and her movements on me became more uncontrolled, more frantic as she sped up, pumping and grinding and squeezing.

When her orgasm hit her, she screamed in release, her pussy rippling along the length of my cock like a milking machine, and I could hold back no longer. I cried out in the extremity of my own release, spunk bulleting out of me and deep inside her womb, splashing inside and spraying over her cervix. The sensation of me pumping inside her set her off again and the rippling contractions of her pussy rolled my own orgasm on and on, until at last I was wrung dry.

Ashley slumped down on top of me, breathless as she recovered from her shattering orgasm, eventually grinning and inching forward to kiss me."Thank you Nicky, as always, that was wonderful, I think I'll keep you!" she grinned. I was about to say something when we were interrupted by the sound of someone clapping. Ashley screamed and dived for cover, and my heart sank as I realised we were caught cold. I looked up fearfully, expecting to see Mother, but instead Judy was standing there in the doorway, leaning against the frame, with one raised eyebrow and a huge grin pasted on her pixie face. She hip-swayed into the room and pulled the covers up over my mid-section, grinning down at Ashley.

"Quite a show Ash, interesting technique; you should get him to try ramming that toad-sticker in your ass, now that'll really make you scream!" she smiled, and sat on the end of the bed.

"Judy! How did you ...when...why are you here?" stammered Ashley.

"Slow down, sweetie! I figured you'd stay home today, girl, so I thought I'd come and get some of the sordid details, help you minister to the fallen, that sort of thing; seems you were 'ministering' quite well all by yourself! You really should check your front door is locked before you decide to fuck your big brother!"

Judy grinned a big, happy, shit-eating grin, obviously having a ball. "Just imagine, I could have been ANYBODY, your mom for starters; I mean, HOW bad would that have been! You are such a dirty girl, your own brother, I'm shocked, I'm speechless, I'm jealous!"