Chapter 28: Control ll

Adrienne and I were quite lovey-dovey at school on Thursday. We didn't hold hands or kiss or do anything else that a normal couple does in the hallways. But there was just something different in the way we looked at each other. She hit me a few more times than usual, little taps on the chest or slaps to the shoulder if I made a racy comment or cracked a joke. And we laughed more. A LOT more.

Given my recent few weeks of being depressed, I'm sure that EVERYONE noticed my new behavior.

So after a day filled with me and Adrienne giggling like idiots every other second, Kenny pulled me aside after classes ended. "So NOW are you and Adrienne hooked up again?"

"No."

"Bullshit.".

Giving Kenny a weary look, I dug in my backpack for the tape recorder and hit PLAY: "No. We're just friends."

He chuckled at the tape record but scoffed, "Riiight."

Megan and Kaito were the next to arrive. Bracketed in by three of my friends, I soon found myself cornered in front of my locker. "So what's going on with you and Adrienne, Ben?" my ex-girlfriend queried.

Rewind. Play. "No. We're just friends."

"Right, right." Megan searched my eyes for a second while I looked tremendously bored with the whole thing. Then she smirked and snorted, "Whatever you say ... But you just fucked her yesterday."

"Huh?"

"It's all over your face, Ben," Megan deadpanned. "You've got that look. I KNOW you."

Just then, some instinct told me to look to the left, and I saw Adrienne strutting down the hallway towards me, her eyes radiant and her entire being glowing as she saw me staring back. And uncontrollably I felt a brilliant smile crossing my face as well.

Megan, Kaito, and Kenny, catching my distracted gaze, turned and saw the gorgeous young blonde coming toward us. They looked back at me, then at her, and then back to me. Megan reached up and tapped my chest twice. "Told 'ya."

Then the three of them turned as one to greet my 'just friend'.

"Hey guys!" Adrienne chirped in a cute voice.

"Hey, Adrienne," the others replied and then continued their comical looking back and forth between me and her. And then with fumbling, equally comical excuses, they all walked away.

I stared at the retreating backs and commented offhand, "They all think we're back together."

Blindly, I felt Adrienne's hand slip into mine from the side as her fingers danced around my palm trying to form and interlaced hold. And in a quiet voice she asked, "Are we?"

I felt mixed emotions just then: an upwelling of love and desire for Adrienne tempered with trepidation. I was rebounding, I knew it. But just because I knew it didn't mean it didn't feel good. "Adrienne, I've said before I don't think I'm ready for another relationship right now. I'm not sure if it would be fair to you. And I'm not entirely sure if we could ever recover from another breakup."

I felt Adrienne's hand tighten around mine and as I glanced back at her, I saw a look of worry in her eyes. She was completely and truly in love with me, for whatever reasons, and it had to hurt inside that I didn't yet feel the same way.

But I wanted to feel the same way she did. Adrienne needed me and I was still riding the high of our incredible sex session the night before. She ... inspired me to do things I never would have done before. One-on-one, with her incredible body and fantastic muscle control, I thought she was the most incredible lover I'd ever had. And between that and her desperate desire for me, for my love, I started rethinking whether she and really should just be friends.

Maybe I wasn't totally ready yet for another relationship. But maybe I could take the chance. Didn't she deserve it? Maybe if I just jumped in with both feet and gave her everything I had, our love could endure.

So taking a deep breath, I turned and took Adrienne's other hand in my own. She seemed to sense the change in my mind and a look of hope began to cross her face. "You know, Adrienne, maybe we-"

[do do duh DUH]

The sound of my cell phone going off interrupted my train of thought and before I could really think about it, I reached to my pocket and pulled it out far enough to read the caller I.D.

It was Dawn.

All at once my body stiffened and I stood up straight from the gentle lean towards Adrienne I'd been doing. I dropped her other hand and took half a step back. She never called this early in the day. What was going on?

Half-turning away from Adrienne, I put my left hand over my ear while putting the phone to my right ear. "Hello?"

"BEN!" Dawn screamed through the line. "They're HERE! They're HERE! I got in! Early admission to Berkeley!"

My eyes went wide. Holy shit! I had to get home and open the mail! And if I'd gotten in too, then Dawn's and my plan to reunite would start becoming a reality.

"Okay, okay, I'm going home right now!" I nodded and listened to Dawn babble. "Of course! I'll call you as soon as I open it ... uh, huh ... Bye!"

I hung up the phone and with excited glee I whirled around to the first person I saw, Adrienne. Her face was neutral: not negative, but far from the hopeful excitement she'd shown just seconds earlier. "That was your ex-girlfriend?" she asked.

"Dawn, yeah," I answered. Funny, I realized I'd never heard Adrienne mention Dawn's name. Just 'your girlfriend' or now, 'ex-girlfriend'.

"Something big going down?"

"Her early admission letter just arrived. I need to get home and find out if I got in too!" I said excitedly.

Adrienne smiled. "Okay. Good luck, Ben."

"Thanks!" I beamed at her and couldn't control my smiling.

She shrugged. "What are friends for?"

I got in. The future was now set.

The following week was finals. We studied and crammed and stayed up late. For most of my friends, this set of finals was the most important of their lives. While colleges weighed their application decisions, these grades would represent their last chance to either impress, or disappoint, the admissions committees. But for me, all I had to do was get by. My early admission to Berkeley had already been approved. My stress levels were nearly zero.

Still, I wanted to help my friends, spending my afternoons in study groups with some of them for different classes. I studied Calculus with Lynne and Heather. I drilled Kenny, Elaine, and Daniel on their Physics formulas. And I rehashed English essays with Megan, Cassidy, and the Sanders twins.

And almost every night I studied with Adrienne.

Yes, we actually studied ... most of the time ... Of course, there was that one time I couldn't resist sliding underneath the dining room table and munching Adrienne out while she was attempting to review her Poli. Sci. notes. And there was the time Adrienne thanked me for providing her with summaries of most of her Modern Lit. texts by giving me a blowjob.

And then just about every night we slipped into bed for an energetic fuck before she sent me home.

Every. Night.

It was incredible. Adrienne really got off on me spanking her, biting her nipples, pinching her until she squealed in pain. The more I yelled at her, the wetter she got. And the harder I hit her, the wilder she became. By the time we finished, she would be covered in welts and scratch marks and we'd be drowning in our orgasmic fluids the sex was so amazing.

Every. Single. Night.

For an entire week.

I'd literally never spent that much constant time with a girl outside of summer camp, girlfriend or not.

After finals were over, Elaine was hosting one of her usual end of school barbecues. But it wasn't scheduled to begin until the afternoon on Saturday and me and the boys decided to catch up on lost basketball time.

I was sitting on the stairs, lacing up my shoes on Saturday morning when Brooke started coming down. "Heyyy, little sis," I teased. "Someone had a late night."

Brooke blushed and smiled sleepily. "Yeah..." she practically hummed.

I then sat up straighter and arched an eyebrow, putting on my stern big brother face. "Now young lady, you're only fifteen and there are certain rules of curfew that you must obey."

"Aww, Ben!" Brooke's eyes popped open wide and she frowned at me.

"Hey, hey," I said in a more casual voice, holding my hand up. "I promised Mom this morning that I would talk to you about following the rules and not making her worry."

"She never worried about YOU staying out late when you were fifteen!"

"I'm a boy. I can't come home pregnant or kidnapped to be a child prostitute in another state."

"That's not fair!"

"Course it's not fair. But then, I wasn't having sex at fifteen, either." I raised my eyebrows.

Brooke folded her arms over her chest and pouted. "That's YOUR fault, Ben."

"My fault?"

"WHO took my virginity? Hmm?"

I suppressed a laugh, pinching my eyebrows together. "YOU totally came after me on that one, Brooke. If I hadn't, you'd have eventually found someone else who would."

"Ffpt." Brooke's lips vibrated cutely as she blew a raspberry at me.

"ANYways..." I said dramatically to get us back on point. Then I adopted an overly officious tone and recited, "You are hereby forbidden from staying out later than 9pm on a school night and 10pm on a weekend night per the rules of curfew. This constitutes your first and last warning. Failure to comply will result in suspension of departure privileges and immediate grounding."

"This is bullshit, Ben."

"Language, young lady," I said sternly.

"What time did YOU come home last night?"

"Eleven. But I'm seventeen." I rolled my eyes. Always the same attempts to compare us as if she and I had the same rules.

"You're not even dating anyone!"

"That's beside the point." I was starting to get exasperated.

"Fuck this. I'm gonna go find breakfast," Brooke shook her head and started stomping away.

"Brooke! Get back here!" I thundered in a command voice.

Almost immediately, my little sister stiffened and stopped in her tracks. She turned around meekly and I just glared at her until she turned around and came back to stand in front of me.

Once she returned, my face softened and I reached out to take her hand, pulling her down to sit on the stair tread beside me. "Look, sis, I'm not trying to be the bad guy here. I joke about it with the voice and all, but you know Mom and Dad are pretty serious about their curfew laws for you. Same ones Brandi and I had and the same ones the twins will get."

"I know..." she sighed.

"Hey, I just wanted to read you the riot act because I knew it'd be better than having Mom or Dad lecture you. They'd sit you down for an HOUR rehashing the same thing over and again."

"I know ... I just lost track of the time." Brooke blushed and looked down at where our hands were still intertwined. "You know, Kenta's almost as good as you. It's easy to get swept away."

I chuckled and nodded. "I'm sorry I yelled, Brooke."

"No, it's okay. I deserved it." She then smiled and looked away. "You know, it's funny. Whenever someone else yells at me and gives me an order, I usually do the exact opposite just on principle. I don't usually like getting bossed around."

"Then why'd you come back?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. You're my big brother. I know you're not yelling just to be mean or get your way. I trust that you're just trying to look out for me."

I smiled. "I am."

She grinned and then leaned forward, lightly kissing my lips. "Thanks, Ben. I'll be more careful about how late it's getting next time. Don't want Mom and Dad to ground me."

With that, Brooke stood up and started heading for the kitchen again. But three steps away, she turned around. "Hey Ben. You said you didn't get home until eleven last night. Who were you with?"

I shrugged. "Adrienne."

"Again? Just the two of you? Like a date?"

I bit my lip and my eyebrows went up. Adrienne and I had spent a few hours just chatting and grabbing dinner. We talked about our upcoming finals and all sorts of topics without ever actually discussing the nature of our relationship. And then after bringing her back home, she pulled me into her bedroom and proceeded to fuck my brains out, swallowing my cum and taking two more loads inside her body before sending me home. In terms of the itinerary, it was exactly like a date.

But I said, "No, no, not a date."

"You're a terrible liar, Ben," Brooke shook her head and for a moment, I saw a hint of her old evil smile. But the girl had grown up. "I mean, I doubt there's anything I'm doing with Kenta that you're not doing with her. Dinner? Sex?"

"We're just friends," I insisted. Hell, who was I kidding?

Brooke just gave me a little grin. "Riiight."

Three minutes later I pulled up outside Adrienne's house. She came bounding out the door, somehow looking ultra-sexy even though she was just wearing typical jeans and a long-sleeved V-neck. Maybe it was because she was running out to my car. Yeah, the bounce of her boobs was pretty hypnotizing.

"You're late," Adrienne said breathlessly as she hopped in the passenger side, closing the door and dropping her book bag on the floor between her legs. "You said the guys were meeting at 10. It's already 10:05."

I didn't shift the car into gear. Instead, I just sat there, staring at the steering wheel.

"Ben?" Adrienne queried.

Without turning my head, I asked softly, "Adrienne, we're ... just friends ... right?"

She giggled. "Well, friends with benefits."

"Right, right." I bit my lip and sighed. And in a heartfelt voice, I said, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Why?"

Reaching my hand down, I turned off the engine, plunging the car into an even quieter silence. "You want more, don't you? I mean, I know you said you'd take whatever I gave you; but you want more." Slowly, I turned my head to face her.

Adrienne looked thoughtful for a minute, blinking slowly before looking at me curiously. I watched the gears turning in her head for a few seconds before she raised her chin up and said, "No. Actually, I think I like things just the way they are."

I blinked twice rapidly. "Really? I mean, come on, Adrienne. We see each other every night. Technically, we went on a date last night. Everyone keeps asking if we're together and the sound of, 'No. We're just friends' doesn't even sound truthful to me anymore."

Adrienne didn't say anything, her mouth pinched shut.

I shook my head and gritted my teeth, feeling just a bit annoyed. "You knew. You knew if you could just get me to fuck you then I wouldn't be able to help but develop my feelings for you. To get me in a relationship with you without even realizing it!"

"I'm not trying to trap you, Ben," Adrienne insisted.

"Then what? Adrienne, you said you're in love with me. Is that true?"

Quietly, she replied, "Yes."

"Do you want us to be a couple again?"

She sighed, looked sadly at me, and then answered in the same quiet voice, "No."

I arched my eyebrow, clearly not understanding.

"If you'd asked me a week ago, I'd have said 'yes'. But you're not ready for another relationship, Ben. At least not a relationship with anyone but your ex- girlfriend." Adrienne reached over and rubbed my leg. "I love you, but I don't want to be your girlfriend right now, does that make sense?"

I winced. "Not really. When you're in love, aren't you supposed to want to be with that person?"

She shook her head. "You're still in love with your ex, Ben. I don't want to just be your rebound."

"You already ARE."

"Not really. We're not actually together. We spend as much time or as little time together as we want. No obligations. No restrictions."

My eyebrows went up. "No restrictions? So if I wanted to screw ... say, Donna Kincaid. You'd be fine with that?"

Adrienne shuddered and looked away. I immediately regretted going in that direction but she quickly turned back and said, "As your friend, I would recommend you don't associate with that kind of person. But I wouldn't stop you. And I'd still want to be your friend ... the way we are ... even if you did."

Confused, I bit my lip and frowned, trying to work things out.

"Ben, I just don't want to be your girlfriend unless you can really devote yourself to me. And you can't do that yet, I know. I'm not blaming you. It IS early and, well, it may never happen. I know you still hope in your heart that when summer comes, you and your ex will get back together." Adrienne shrugged. "I accept the situation. And in the meantime, I really am okay with whatever you can give me. That's where we are now."

"So we're just friends with no commitment? I can do whatever I want and you can go do whatever you want? Screw other people?"

"We could, I suppose; but I'm not going to. I'll always be here for you."

"Why?"

"Because you're the only one I want, silly." Adrienne giggled and squeezed my arm.

This all didn't make sense to me and I shook my head. "Wait, wait. You're in love with me and more or less devoted to me, for reasons I don't totally understand, given how much of a moron I clearly am. We hang out like a couple, we have the most incredible sex like a couple, but you're not going to expect fidelity or monogamy or commitment or anything out of me?"

She shrugged. "Pretty much."

I looked away and began to start the engine, just looking for something to latch onto. I didn't turn the key, but turned back to Adrienne. Then I turned back to the steering wheel, didn't start the car AGAIN, and finally returned to Adrienne. "This is all very strange. You're giving me everything and expecting nothing!"

"Pretty much," Adrienne smiled.

"Isn't that a little dangerous for you?"

She shrugged. "I trust you, Ben." She leaned over and put her hand on my chest. "I trust your heart. I know your dick has a mind of it's own, but in the end, I trust that you care about me." She sighed. "Maybe not as much as you care about your ex-girlfriend ... not yet ... But you DO care about me. And you're the only man in the world I trust like that. I need to believe that."

I sighed, not sure whether she was totally sincere or if I was being somehow manipulated in a way I couldn't even fathom. This was just too good to be true. So shaking my head, I started the engine and shifted the car into gear. Kenny was going to give me hell for being late.

Midway through the games, while fighting for a rebound, I caught one of Sung Joon's thrown elbows in the sternum, knocking the wind out of me and leaving the beginnings of a nasty bruise. I had to tap out for a few minutes and sat down by the benches, where the girls were sitting and watching us. Adrienne promptly began clucking over me like a mother hen.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I tried to protest, but she would have none of it, lifting up my shirt and inspecting the damaged skin.

"Hang on, I'll get you some ice," Adrienne sighed and then got up, walking over to the cooler filled with water and Gatorade that we usually brought to these pickup games.

While Adrienne was stuffing an empty Gatorade bottle with ice cubes, Cassidy slid over and sat down beside me.

"What's up, Freckles?" I nodded, acting as if I wasn't in excruciating pain.

"'Just friends', right?" she giggled and glanced back at Megan, who was similarly smiling.

"Yes, really," I sighed and let my head loll back. I was confused as all hell. Adrienne certainly was acting like an attentive girlfriend.

"Well, if you're just friends, then she won't mind me doing this." Cassidy then pulled up my shirt and pressed a brand-new can of Coke to my chest over the developing bruise, the coldness helping to numb away the pain.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" I insisted, but Cassidy just rolled her eyes at me. "Always the macho guy, Ben. You forget, I know how sensitive you can be. Now stop tightening your abs."

"What?" My eyebrows popped up.

"You're tightening your abs, Ben, because you think it looks flabby when you're sitting down and you're embarrassed that I'm raising your shirt. Everyone's belly looks flabbier when you're sitting down. Now RELAX and stop tightening your abs," Cassidy ordered.

I sighed and relaxed, letting just a bit of bulge roll over the waistband of my shorts. Damn women...

"Oh, good idea, Cassidy," Adrienne said as she arrived. "Thanks."

"No problem," the cute redhead chirped and pulled the can away. "You might as well take your shirt off, Ben."

Rolling my eyes, I removed my shirt and just sat there as Adrienne pressed the ice-filled water bottle to my chest. It stung just a little, being much colder than the Coke can. Seeing me wince, Adrienne started stroking my head tenderly. I grumbled for show, but the attention did feel nice.

"Oh, Be-ennn," Megan then giggled. "Since you're not wearing a shirt, do you want me to put sunblock on you?"

I lifted my eyes to Adrienne, looking for any sign that she felt territorial over me; but there wasn't any. The beautiful blonde just smiled and then looked pointedly between me and Megan. "Well, Ben. Do you want her to?"

Tired of being toyed with by my THREE ex-girlfriends, I grumbled and just stood up, reaching for my shirt again.

"Oh, oh, c'mon Ben. You really should ice that," Adrienne protested.

Gritting my teeth, I just waved at them dismissively and re-joined the game.

"What the hell does she see in him?" Kenny grumbled and took a big drink from his beer, the red Solo cup obscuring what I knew to be a scowl.

I glanced over where he was looking and saw Rachel Tyler, Kenny's ex-girlfriend, chatting with Derek Rigby. She was quite obviously flirting and playing with her hair.

"Hey, hey. There are other fish in the sea," I patted him on the shoulder.

"Like who?" Kenny rolled his eyes at me. "It's easy for you to say, Mr. Stud Muffin Ben. You've HAD most of the fish at our sea."

"No I haven't," I protested.

"Well you've had enough," he bitched.

I grabbed Kenny's shoulder and aimed him back towards the covered patio, where Elaine had set up the sound system and had a dance mix playing in MP3 format. She'd gone all out, stringing up a disco ball, strobes, and various other colored lights to illuminate the area. It almost looked like a professional party. "C'mon, man. Let's get you dancing and socializing a bit."

"With who?" Kenny snorted. "Half these girls aren't interested and the other half remember me as the pervert from two, three years ago."

I sighed and then glanced over to the side, where Adrienne and Cassidy were chatting together. Adrienne pointedly had her gaze locked onto me. For someone who claimed she didn't want us to be a couple, she certainly spent a lot of her focus on me. Yeah, she claimed it was because she knew I wasn't ready to devote myself to her. That, I might buy. But she also claimed not to mind if I hung out with other girls, and for some reason I felt I need to PROVE to her that she would get jealous of me.

"C'mon, Kenny. I'll set you up with the hottest girl here." I shoved him forward.

"What?"

A few seconds later, I bowed theatrically before Adrienne and Cassidy and drawled, "Ladies ... Would you be so kind as to join us for a dance?"

Adrienne giggled at my sweeping arms and lavish gestures. Cassidy just frowned a bit at the prospect of dancing with Kenny. He wasn't a bad guy or anything and he was very good looking. She just had zero interest in him as a boyfriend and too many memories of him trying to cop a feel at previous events.

"Sure," Adrienne smiled and set her drink down.

"Thank you, madam," I took her hand and immediately passed it into Kenny's. Then before either of them could react, I took Cassidy's hand and asked, "Shall we, Freckles?"

Cassidy giggled and let me lead her to the dance floor. A second later, Adrienne then tugged Kenny over, giving me a mischievous look. We started bumping and grooving to the fast-paced music and once the four of us populated the dance floor, we were soon joined by six others who'd been hanging back and waiting for someone to get things going.

A very odd thing happened over the next hour or so. Every time I'd been at a dancing party with Adrienne the past couple of years, she flirted and twirled and danced with EVERYONE. Guy, girl, didn't matter. She'd boogie and bump and grind and sway her hips into anyone who cared to dance with her.

But this night, once Kenny left her, Adrienne didn't dance with ANYONE. No, she didn't leave the dance floor or anything. But she kept her hands and hips to herself while dancing the fast songs in a group and declined every single request during a slow song. She took those times to grab some water or a beer, hanging back with her eyes mostly on me.

I, on the other hand, seemed on a mission to dance and flirt with every girl there NOT named Adrienne. I started with Cassidy, Megan, and then Elaine. I grinded my crotch into Abbie and Allie Sanders, making Allie blush and actually start to get aroused. Lynne and Heather had come to Elaine's for the first time, having made friends with our crew over the past semester. I got a little freaky with Lynne, making the petite brunette turn beet red and actually remove my hands from her ass in embarrassment. And with Heather, I practically started fucking her on the dance floor.

Throughout it all, Adrienne just smiled and laughed along with everyone else at my antics. Yeah, I was kinda drunk, too.

I was getting a little hot and heavy with Stephanie Vo when Sung Joon finally cut me off. "Hey, keep it in your shorts," he growled politely but with a bit of an edge.

The sound of his voice seemed to make my chest hurt right where he'd elbowed me, and I backed off noticeably, not having realized just how close to Stephanie's private parts I'd been getting.

For her part, dancing with me had Stephanie pretty wired. She was panting and staring back and forth between the two of us with heavy eyelids. And then without another word, Stephanie grabbed her boyfriend and dragged him off to find Elaine, no doubt to locate a bedroom for their private use.

At that point, I decided to take a step back and evaluate the situation. I was pretty tipsy and it took my eyes a second to focus. But when I did I saw with relief that everyone was having a good time. I hadn't done anything really serious. In fact, my prodding seemed to have one good side effect: Kenny was dancing pretty closely with Abbie Sanders, the two of them wearing silly grins on their faces.

I wandered over to get some water, and after quaffing the cup, Adrienne slid along side me, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Are you done trying to prove a point?" she asked in a teasing voice.

"What?"

"I told you Ben, we're just friends. I'm not going to get jealous of whatever you do with other girls."

I tried to play dumb. "I'm just flirting a bit."

"You don't usually flirt like THAT, Ben; and you're not THAT drunk." Adrienne rolled her eyes. "I know you don't understand it, but you could fuck them all in a row and it wouldn't change the way I feel about you."

"You're right." I sighed and shook my head. "I don't understand it."

Adrienne turned to face me and wrapped her arms around my neck, staring at me closely. "Well, do you have more things you want to try to make me jealous? Or can we just go back to my place now and fuck our brains out?"

If Adrienne wasn't my girlfriend, then she was certainly the best 'friend' I'd ever had. I cruised down the boulevard at the minimum-acceptable speed, doing my level best just to keep the car going in a straight line. That was all I could focus on with my dick wedged halfway down Adrienne's throat.

She pulled back and licked the crown, her tongue swiping around my helmet before plunging me back into her throat. And the next time she pulled back she came completely off my dick, panting for air and turning her face up to me. "I want you to push me just a little more tonight, Ben. Hit me harder ... And just a little longer..."

Breathing pretty hard myself, I managed to gasp, "This is just so weird, Adrienne." I shook my head, thinking of the last week and a half of playing bondage with the gorgeous young blonde. "I never would have thought you'd be into pain."

Her eyes flashed brilliantly as a street lamp whizzed by. "It's not about pain, Ben. It's about control." She bent down and took another popsicle lick at my wet cock. "I put myself in your hands ... sir."

As if to punctuate her point, when the sexy teenager swallowed my cock again, I dropped my right hand and pinned her head down, forcibly keeping me fully lodged in her throat for an extra few seconds before releasing her to back up and breathe again.

I tapped the accelerator just a little harder. We needed to get back to Adrienne's house NOW.

It was a fucking incredible sight. I had a stunningly gorgeous blonde 17-year-old spread eagle on her back, all four limbs tied with handkerchiefs and bungee cords to the four posts. Her head hung backwards off the foot of the bed, leaving her face upside-down before me while her lips were widely stretched around my cock as I slowly pumped in and out of her mouth.

"Mmm, more..." Adrienne whimpered with what little breath I afforded her. And then my hips slid forward, my cock sliding into her mouth and to the entrance of her throat, preventing her from speaking any further. But I complied with her request and lightly slapped the wooden back-scratcher against one of her upright nipples.

Her mouth filled with cock, Adrienne could only grunt at the impact. I felt the vibrations carrying into her throat muscles before I withdrew to make sure she could breathe. I had to admit, I had a severe temptation to thrust in and see just how long she could hold her breath.

In fact, Adrienne's entire body was temptation personified. Spread out like this, her slender limbs seemed even longer and more elegant. Her legs went on forever and ever away from me before her ankles met the headboard. I could see her juicing snatch, naked pussy lips already spread wide in anticipation of penetration. Her bare-shaven mound led back to a flat tummy and tiny waist. The dents of her ribcage were just noticeable before the volcanic mounds of her big, heavy breasts, firm enough to remain mostly upright despite their massive girth. And of course, her model-perfect face with exquisite cheekbones and piercingly- intense eyes. I was both heart-broken and amazingly aroused to see that face gaping open to allow my dick to spear into her mouth.

It was all just too much. After hours of flirting and playing around with my friends, getting my adrenaline pumping and my libido charged, I was already pretty horny by the time we left the party. Adrienne's blowjob in the car had nearly set me off. Fucking her face upside-down like this just blew my mind. And with a strangled cry, I thrust all the way into her throat, holding her head to my crotch as I nutted my load straight past her tonsils and deep into her belly.

I probably held my cock in there just a little too long for my own tastes, pushing Adrienne to the limit, preventing her from breathing as she fought to swallow everything I gave her. When I finally came back to my senses, I realized she was choking a bit and I abruptly pulled out, quickly dropping to my knees and stroking her hair while I watched fresh tears forming in her eyes. "Adrienne, are you okay?"

Coughing, not an easy thing to do when upside-down, she swallowed gingerly and gasped for air before nodding. "I'm okay."

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize." Her eyes flashed. "I'm fine." And then she coughed again and continued breathing hard. I had to admit, it was more intoxicating watching the rise and fall of her big bosoms than any beer had been that night.

I quickly went around, untying the handkerchiefs around her limbs before physically rotating her around so that we were both in a more normal orientation to the bed. Leaning against the headboard pillows, I pulled Adrienne over so that she lay on her side, her head on my chest as she continued to recover from my throat-fucking.

"Did I go too far?" I asked with concern.

She shook her head. "I'm not worried about that, Ben. I can handle anything you give me. I know you'll stop in time."

I bit my lip a little nervously. "Sometimes I think you put too much trust in me."

Adrienne sighed, tilting her head up to me. For perhaps the first time in weeks, I saw a little doubt in her eyes. "I have to Ben. I have to believe."

I stroked Adrienne's back and searched her eyes. There was something, just beneath the surface. I knew if I could just figure out the one piece of knowledge I was missing, I would understand the whole puzzle of Adrienne's psyche. I HAD to know.

We stared at each other for what felt like an hour before I rubbed her cheek with my thumb and asked gently, "Who was the last man you trusted, Adrienne?"

She winced and looked away, clearly uncomfortable with my question. Sensing I would be pushing too hard, too fast if I pressed, I dropped it and asked a different question. "You may not like this one any better, but when was the last time you had sex before me?"

Adrienne frowned and looked away. I started to think that maybe I should just keep my mouth shut when she finally looked back at me and said in a quiet voice, "Tyson Richardson."

"Tyson?" I jerked my head around. "The big Mercedes-driving Tyson?"

She nodded.

"I thought you said he was a jerk?" I exclaimed incredulously, thinking back to that time in August I showed up outside Adrienne's house and confronted the guy into leaving her alone. "He called you a bitch!"

Adrienne looked down and away. "He was a jerk. But he was a jerk I thought I could control. Yeah, the guy was big and strong and all, but I had him eating out of the palm of my hand."

"He didn't look so in the palm of your hand that night," I arched an eyebrow.

Adrienne frowned, looking down. She exhaled slowly before saying, "No, not that night. But on our next date..."

I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to let her tell her story.

"The first time we had sex I was on top. I could manipulate that boy like I had a joystick in my hands," Adrienne sighed.

She went silent, lost in thought as her gaze moved a thousand yards off into the distance. I waited her out for a few seconds before venturing. "But what happened after that?"

She ignored my question and instead moved straight on. I couldn't help but wonder if she was hiding something from me. "Then when I was dating Tommy, I couldn't even go through with having sex. Being pinned down like that, feeling his hot breath against my neck, I just had a panic attack."

Adrienne shivered and I squeezed her a little tighter while shushing soothingly. I felt her hands clutch harder at me as well. I knew there was more to the story of how she broke up with Tyson, but I didn't want to press her on it right now. She seemed too fragile.

A tear rolled down Adrienne's cheek. "After Tommy, it was the same with Kyle. Then Dexter." She ticked off the three boys she'd dated at the beginning of the year. "I was wound up so tight. I didn't really think they'd hurt me or anything, but I was afraid. I COULDN'T lose control. Because if I did ... then maybe ... maybe they'd do something I didn't want. And I couldn't handle that."

Something she didn't want. Like something Tyson had done? I didn't have any confirmations, but I could have my suspicions for what could suddenly make Adrienne too scared to have sex, or even have a man on top of her. Something not so different from what had happened to her a long time ago.

"Adrienne ... who was the last man you trusted?" I asked softly, feeling like I already knew the answer.

She whimpered and closed her eyes, burying her face against my chest. She shuddered, just once, and a glint of familiarity popped into my head. I'd seen her like this just once before, during Spring Break. And as the epiphany hit me, I held her tightly and asked, "Was it Adam?"

Adrienne jerked and whimpered at the sound of her rapist brother's name, her head turning away from me as her body tried to curl itself into a fetal position. She sobbed and shuddered while I did my best just to hold on. And when Adrienne wailed in agony, it was no longer the voice of the gorgeous queen bee of the school, but instead the tiny, frightened cry of a 10-year-old girl.

"Shh, shh..." I wrapped her up in my arms, rocking her back and forth while Adrienne continued bawling uncontrollably. I couldn't imagine what was going through her mind, what had gone through her mind for seven years after being molested and raped by her older brother, a member of her family and someone she should have been able to trust. The abuse had gone on for a year, even winding up in pregnancy and then abortion for the then 11-year-old who'd just barely started her menses.

Intellectually, I'd known Adrienne had gone through counseling and therapy after everything came to light. Thinking back to when I really got to know her in High School, I never would have thought she had something like that in her background. She was just too confident, too self-assured, too aware of her beauty and power over the male sex.

But looking at it a different way, she HAD to be confident, assured, and decisive. With a dead mother and absent father, Adrienne'd had to become self-reliant and take responsibility at an extremely young age. There was no one to support her, no one to give her guidance. She'd really been all alone in so many ways.

And most of all, given what had happened to her, Adrienne had to be IN CONTROL. As long as she had a boy wrapped around her little finger, she could manipulate their actions, manage their moods, and never put herself in a position where she could be hurt. I remembered how even though she was known as a party girl and had no problems putting out for her boyfriends, she carefully avoided getting into the bad situations that other hot girls found themselves in, like pulling trains, gangbangs, or drugs. Nothing where Adrienne might not be able to control the situation.

Except with me.

She abdicated responsibility and put herself in my hands. She let me tie her up and leave her vulnerable. She even put a freaking wooden back-scratcher into my hands and had me hitting her with it until her nipples were sore and she had red welts across her naked body. Adrienne deliberately relinquished control ... to me ... and had me physically hurting her.

Had she finally cracked under the strain? Was she just using me as an instrument of pain, deliberately hurting herself physically because of some messed up psychological break? She kept asking me to hit her harder. Keep hitting her longer. Hurt her just a little more.

What the heck was going through her mind?

I wouldn't find out right now, because Adrienne had fallen asleep in my arms. Her face was still curled into the grimace of anguish, her teeth clenched and her eyes pinched. I stroked her cheek gently. And unwilling to leave her, I simply pulled the covers over us, turned out the light, and spooned my naked body around hers as I closed my eyes.

I woke up just after 8am when my cell phone lit up. Just before falling asleep, I'd had the presence of mind last night to shoot a text message to my mom, letting her know I was crashing at Adrienne's house and I'd explain the details later. But I'd neglected to turn it to vibrate and the chiming of an incoming text message stirred me from my slumber.

Wincing against the morning light, I did my best to slide myself out from beneath Adrienne's weight on my chest to reach for the nightstand. Just by my fingertips, I managed to snag my phone and thumb over to the message. It was my mom, telling me to call her when I woke up and let her know when I'd be coming home.

I sighed and set the phone back down, sagging my head back into the pillow. I glanced down at Adrienne, now looking so peaceful as she slept on my chest, the twisted expression of agony from last night now gone. Smiling, I gently ran my fingers through her hair and down her back.

"Are you in trouble?" Adrienne murmured without opening her eyes.

My eyebrows popped in surprise that she was awake, but I recovered quickly and stroked her head a little more firmly. "No. Everything's cool."

Moaning quietly, Adrienne then began to stretch out her neck and limbs, yawning before slowly turning her head upright so that her chin dug a little bit into my chest.

"Oww," I grimaced and Adrienne popped her head up, seeing that she'd just pressed onto the bruise where Sung had elbowed me yesterday.

"Oh, sorry!" she said excitedly, waking up much more quickly.

"It's okay, it's okay," I soothed and then lay my head back.

Smiling, Adrienne settled her cheek back down onto my chest, carefully avoiding the bruise while looking at me adoringly with wide eyes. "I love you, Ben," she said, full of emotion.

I sighed and gave her a little smile, patting her head tenderly. "I know."

It was good enough for her. She didn't have to hear me return it. Just my acknowledgement that she did love me was all she needed. Moving with slow deliberation, Adrienne started shifting her naked body, sliding against mine as she brought her head up towards my face and moved her leg over mine. Her left hand came up, tickling my thigh before she found my morning erection and she began stroking it gently, causing me to gasp.

"I love you, Ben," Adrienne repeated before dipping her mouth to mine and engaging me in a warm, beautiful morning kiss. Slow-burn ... just the way I liked it.

Slow-burn was also an appropriate adjective for Adrienne's body. I actually felt her skin heating up beneath my fingers as I embraced her. While our kiss deepened and ratcheted up in intensity, I felt her body coming alive in my arms as she slid on top of me, crushing those heavenly tits into my chest. She laid her moistened pussy on top of my cock, dry humping it while letting her hands rove up and along my arms.

At one of our momentary breaks for air, Adrienne rested her forehead against mine and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry about last night, Ben. I know I promised to fuck your brains out and we didn't even have sex."

"You NEVER have to apologize to me for that, Adrienne," I replied warmly and kissed her again. I wasn't really in the mood then and besides, she was certainly making up for it now.

Sure enough, after several minutes of grinding with my cock trapped between my own belly and her crotch, Adrienne shifted back and reached down to elevate my dick into position. And with practiced ease, she sunk down onto it, taking my thickness deep inside her body.

I broke the kiss and groaned to the ceiling at the exquisite sensation of her tight pussy surrounding me with wet warmth. And the sexy teenager moaned against my neck as well.

I slid my hands off her ass, up her sides and paused briefly to run my fingers along the sides of her boobs. But eventually, I came back from my detour and brought my fingers to her face, turning her to me so that we could kiss with loving passion.

And together, we made sweet love.

This morning was a stark contrast to most of our prior sexual encounters. Yeah, we made tender love from time to time while we'd been dating, but far more often Adrienne and I had engaged in aggressive, wild fucking. Adrienne was just extremely sensitive and multi-orgasmic, loving energetic, athletic sex. Her enthusiasm for it made me enjoy it that much more as well. And once we started screwing each other again, nearly all of our encounters were with me spanking her, pinning her down, or otherwise dominating her while I took my pleasure from her compliant body.

But this time we made love. "Oh, yesss..." Adrienne hissed while I nibbled on her neck and guided her body with my hands. She rose and fell with a slow grace, spending a lot of time just hunching and rotating her hips as my cock carved out every nook and cranny inside her pussy.

As my orgasm approached, I raised her head up in my hands, kissing this beautiful girl with a passion and emotion I hadn't felt since ... since Dawn ... And more to the point, a passion I hadn't felt since Dawn that post-Halloween weekend. It was just so intense, feeling the emotions pouring off of Adrienne right now almost immediately after her mental anguish over Adam the previous night.

And when I looked into Adrienne's eyes, I saw HER. The expression in those hazel irises was so startling, I actually lost the sexual rhythm for a moment. The past few weeks, every time I'd looked into her eyes I'd seen a fiery intensity. Adrienne had been so laser-focused on me, almost with a cold resolve that tempered her affection. But now I just saw happy joy. She was relaxed, and I thought it not a coincidence that Adrienne was on top of me for the first time since we'd started screwing weeks ago. She wasn't prostrating herself before me, submitting herself before my domination. She was just making love and happily enjoying the sensations.

She was beautiful.

Gradually, our hip thrusts and energetic bounces began to speed up. Our breathing got shallower and shallower, the sound of both of us panting filling the air. At the moment of climax, Adrienne clutched my head urgently, pressing her forehead into mine and her nose against mine as she tightened up and groaned, humming out her orgasm as the pleasure tore through her body.

And I was cumming with her. My hands clamped down on her buttcheeks, pinning her body tightly against mine while I felt my cock expand and then blow, spurting gobs of semen up into her spasming pussy.

When we were done, as our bodies sagged against each other and began to cool down, I wiped the sweat from Adrienne's brow and then kissed her passionately, doing my best to replicate her nuclear liplock. I knew right then that my whole plan with Dawn was in trouble. 'Just friends' or not, I cared a great deal for this young woman, and I felt a responsibility to protect her from the world that had already been cruel to her in so many ways.

I was starting to fall in love with Adrienne again.

The heavenly, floating-on-air feeling of passionate love carried with us into the bathroom. We took care of business before slipping into the shower together. And the happy-go-lucky mirth buoyed our every movement as we playfully splashed and soaped and kissed and groped.

Along the way it occurred to me that we were making a lot of noise in the house on a Sunday morning. I knew Adrienne's dad worked a lot, but on Sunday, two days before Christmas? "Uh, when's your dad coming home?" I asked nervously.

Adrienne giggled, "Not until tomorrow. He's somewhere in Asia right now, working until the last minute before coming home for his obligatory Christmas visit. I think he's happier sleeping in hotels in other cities than at home."

I frowned. "I thought you said you and he were doing better. That he was coming home more often."

She shrugged. "He has. Just not this week."

Feeling bad for Adrienne's lack of family support, I nevertheless was pleased we weren't going to be rushed today. I could spend all eternity with a naked Adrienne beneath a shower. Seriously, this girl, wet and glistening, could make a mannequin have an instant hard-on.

Adrienne read my change in attitude and fitting a little grin on her face, reached her fingers out to start stroking my growing cock. "Mmm ... ready to go again?"

"Almost," I groaned as her soapy fingers massaged my scrotum.

"You wanna do me here?" she leaned into my ear and moaned. "Against the shower wall? Or face-down on the bed?"

I groaned, not answering intelligibly while she kept stroking me. Both scenarios seemed wonderful. The idea of gripping Adrienne's wet, slick body while I pounded her so hard her tits bounced off the shower tile was quite the turn-on. And doggy-style on the bed had always been our favorite position, allowing me to grip her boobs as handholds while staring at that perfect ass being split apart by my cock.

"Think it over," Adrienne husked before dropping to her knees and shoving most of my dick into her mouth.

I was hard enough to etch glass in less than two seconds. But I was having too much fun inside the sexy young blonde's mouth and she seemed happily to keep blowing me for the joy of it.

In the end, Adrienne decided for us. She stood up and planted a nuclear kiss on me while wrapping her arms around my neck, then pulled back and growled, "Let's go back to bed. I need you to tie me up again." The determined intensity was in her eyes once again.

We dried off quickly, if not quite thoroughly. And then taking my hand, my stunningly gorgeous 'not-girlfriend' led me back to her bed where she retrieved the handkerchiefs. And settling to her knees on the mattress with her feet tucked beneath her butt, she held up her hands, palms upright and wrists together, pleading in a quiet voice, "Fuck me, Ben. I put myself in your hands ... sir."

The cute way she said "sir" always got a rise out of me, and she knew it. It wasn't like I considered myself a dominant personality. I was just ... Ben. But the word "sir" still stirred an adrenaline rush of power in me. Feeding off of that, I got into the character I'd played with Adrienne for the past week and a half, taking charge as I quickly bound her wrists together and then roughly flipped her over into a doggy position.

But I wasn't done yet. Taking two of the bungee cords, I fastened them both to her wrist restraints and extended each of them to opposite ends of the headboard. Straining to loop them around the posts, I eventually got them set, which left Adrienne's hands bound together on top of the mattress, her body locked at the midpoint of the bed and unable to really move without falling over.

This also forced her to spread her legs to the sides to maintain balance, and with a little smile of glee, she turned her head back to me. "Are you gonna fuck me now?"

"Not yet," I growled. And then I let fly with my right hand to spank her asscheek.

"Eeep!" the sexy, naked 17-year-old squeaked. And then she squealed, "EEEP!" as I hit her left asscheek. And then I let her breathe.

"Oh, Ben..." she sighed after momentarily recovering from the minor pain, panting heavily.

I took that time to settle myself behind her, spreading her reddened asscheeks to the side before notching my dick into her slot. And without mercy, I rammed my hips forward, skewering her in a single thrust.

"AAAHHH!" Adrienne threw her head back and screamed as I stretched her to the limits without giving her time to adjust. The way was still slickened with the load of cum I'd planted inside her thirty minutes earlier, and with plenty of lubrication I started hammering my way through her tightly clenched cunt.

"Hit me," Adrienne hummed.

I reached out and spanked her with a resounding [thwack].

"Again," she groaned.

[thwack]

"Again."

[thwack]

Panting for breath, Adrienne squirmed, feeling the itch of her ass while I tenderly ran my palm along her cheeks, pumping my dick slowly in and out of her now sopping wet pussy. Whatever pain she was in, Adrienne was certainly getting even wetter from the abuse.

"Hit me again," Adrienne gasped.

I reached back and let fly. [thwack]

"Again!"

[thwack!]

"Harder!"

[THWACK]

HARDER!"

[THWACK!]

"OWWW!!!"

I stared at my right hand, and then at the fresh handprint still white against her asscheek. Adrienne whimpered piteously, a couple sobs of pain mingled in that and I started to think I should back off a bit. Hell, my own had was starting to hurt.

But almost immediately, Adrienne cried softly, "Hit me again!"

"Adrienne..."

"Hit me!" she interrupted shrilly.

"Adrienne!" I barked. This wasn't me.

"Pleeeease," she begged. "You don't understand, Ben. I know why I got scared with Tommy and Kyle and Dexter." She paused and took a deep breath. "I never told you that Tyson hit me."

"What?" It was the confirmation of what I'd already suspected in the back of my head.

"Tyson beat me, Ben," Adrienne stated in a quiet voice.

"WHAT?" My pulse was racing and my dick throbbed inside her of it's own accord.

"But I'm not scared anymore! Don't you see! Now hit me, Ben! Please!"

"Adrienne!" I gasped in confusion.

"HIT ME!" she screamed in a commanding voice. And without thinking about it, I let my hand fly.

[thwack]

"Again!"

[thwack!]

"Again!"

[THWACK]

"HARDER!"

[THWACK]

"HARDER!!!"

[THWACK!!!]

"AAAGHHH!"

That last one was so hard that she collapsed face down just to the right of her bound hands, sobbing real tears down her eyes. The bungee cord was across her forehead, vibrating with tension. I'd never hit her that hard before.

"Hit me..." Adrienne whimpered from the same position.

I hesitated. She was clearly in a lot of pain, something I did NOT want to see in her. Hell, despite her nakedness and snug pussy, I hadn't even been fucking her for the last minute. My mind was whirling with images of her prone body and of an enraged Tyson smacking her around, and not just with spanks to the ass.

"Hit me!" Adrienne ordered.

"Adrienne-"

"HIT ME! I'm in your hands! I submit myself to you, Ben! Now fucking HIT ME!"

The light bulb went off in my head. Adrienne had said it before: It wasn't about pain. It was about control. She wasn't a masochist, getting sexually aroused just off pain. Adrienne was psychologically damaged, feeling the need to put herself in my hands and under my control. She'd been so terribly hurt, betrayed by the people she should have been able to trust and even physically abused by a lover. And on a leap of faith, Adrienne put herself at my mercy, praying that I didn't let her down.

And I finally got it.

"HIT ME!" Adrienne cried.

And softly I said, "No."

"Huh?"

I slid over her body, dipped my head to her ear, and husked, "No."

"But I deserve it," she whimpered. "I've been such a bitch, toying with men, never letting them into my heart."

"No."

"And I put myself into your hands, Ben. To use and abuse as you will. I'm tired of always trying to be in control. I'm tired of trying to be a grown-up and never having a childhood. And I'm tired of keeping myself so closed off. I need this, Ben. I need to believe that this is the worst you can do to me."

I stroked her cheek and then pulled my dick out of her, shuffling on my knees around her prone body to get to her hands. "You're right. You put yourself in my hands. You're under my control. And I won't hurt you anymore. THAT'S the worst that I can do to you."

"But-"

"No." I said gently as I released the bungee cords and began unwrapping the handkerchief around her wrists. "I'm in charge. You submitted yourself to me. So you'll do what I want," I said gently. "And what I want is to make tender love you, Adrienne."

She began whimpering as I turned her over onto her back. "Bennn-"

"It's not about pain, Adrienne; it's about control. Let go. Lose yourself in me, and I won't let you down. You CAN trust me."

I sighed, scared to say what I had next but feeling it deep in my heart.

"Adrienne, I love you. And I don't want to hurt you anymore."

We made love quietly, Adrienne crying for nearly the entire time. But as long as she had the happy smile on her face, I didn't mind.

We made love missionary style, my heavy weight hovering above her. But I didn't pin her down. My hands were beneath her shoulders, holding her gently while I leveraged myself on my elbows to keep from crushing her. That also gave us just enough clearance for her bouncing tits to scrape oh-so-nicely against my chest.

Her hands clutched at my biceps, holding and squeezing reflexively while bolts of pleasure shot up and down her spine. She tossed her head left and right, moaning, "Oh, gawd ... oh, gawd ... oh, gawd..." over and again, a litany of ecstatic bliss.

And with her legs hooked over my thighs and pulling me deeper into her body, Adrienne squeezed her eyes shut and came, screaming out my name while I bucked and filled her up with gallons of liquid love.

Her body arched into me, searching for that skin-to-skin contact while at last I let my elbows go to settle my weight down onto her chest. I felt the final blasts of cum jet out of my cock to disappear somewhere in the back of her vaginal canal while she wrapped her arms around my back and hugged me tightly.

And finally, for the first time in seven years, Adrienne Dennis was at peace