Brains and Brawn
By Submissive Romantic


submissiveromanticone@gmail.com

Edited by Michael-Leonard

Two siblings are separated at birth by a tragic accident; this is their story.

Prolog

It was a beautiful warm sunny day in the Valley of the Sun, just perfect for a
Sunday drive with the family. Mike Stevens sat behind the wheel of his vintage
Mustang convertible. Beside him, his beautiful, eight month pregnant wife
Jennifer, leaned back in the bucket seat; eyes closed absorbing the warmth
from the late October sun. In the back, their one year old daughter, tucked
into her car seat, slept quietly as she usually did moments after beginning
their drive.

'It doesn't get any better than this,' thought Mike as he approached the
intersection up ahead. A truck was in the left turn lane, waiting for the
oncoming traffic to pass. The light was green and the road was clear. As Mike
began to pass the truck he glanced over at Jennifer. He never saw the pickup
truck that ran the light and hit the car broadside, killing him instantly.
Jennifer, because of her condition, had chosen not to wear her lap belt, was
thrown hard against the door and window of the car and nearly out of the
vehicle. In the back, the car seat preformed its function flawlessly,
protecting the baby, who began to scream.

The pickup forced the Mustang sideways, until they both ended up on the
sidewalk, sandwiched between a utility pole and the traffic light pole. After
the sounds of the crash, the crunching of glass and metal, the screeching of
the tires, all that could be heard was the constant sound of the trucks' horn
as the driver lay face first against the steering wheel.

The trucker who had been waiting to make his turn jumped down from his truck
and ran to the pickup, trying to force the drivers' door open. After a few
minutes, several other drivers stopped and cautiously approach the vehicles.
They looked into what was left of the Mustang, horrified at the sight. No one
paid any attention to the woman holding a baby trying to calm it as she walked
down the street away from the scene of the accident. The sound of a police
siren and an ambulance racing to the scene could be heard in the distance as
she turned from the street into her apartment complex.

Moments later EMT personnel were doing their job, assessing the situation and
providing emergency aid. They could tell that the man driving the car was
already dead; the pregnant woman was in extremely critical condition and
probably would not survive. The police were taking care of the man in the
pickup truck, who was clearly drunk and appeared to have no life threatening
injuries. As they lifted the woman out of the car placing her on a stretcher,
she momentarily regained consciousness.

"Please take care of my baby."

"We'll do everything we can," they assured her as they placed an oxygen mask
over her face and started an IV. She slipped back into the darkness, never to
wake again. The ambulance raced to the hospital, where after several hours of
intensive care, it was decided that the only course of action was to free the
unborn baby from the womb. Although she would never know it, Jennifer Stevens
gave birth to a healthy six pound, one ounce baby boy.

Back at the scene of the accident, the police were taking pictures of the
scene and the vehicles involved, and taking statements from any eye witnesses.
A criminal case was surely going to be pressed against the drunk driver. As
two of the officers stood, admiring what was once a beautifully restored
vehicle, one stated almost as an afterthought.

"Why would they have a car seat in the back; the baby was even born yet?"

It wasn't until the following day, during a routine search of the Stevens
home, that they realized that they had another child, a baby girl, and that
she was missing.

Chapter 1

Margaret O'Hara couldn't believe what she had done. She had never so much as
had a parking ticket and now she had committed a felony. Margaret had gone to
church that morning and prayed, asking God for a family of her own. She wanted
a baby and, at thirty two years of age, felt that she would never meet a man
who would give her one. She knew she wasn't the most beautiful woman in the
world, but she felt that at six feet tall and one hundred thirty five pounds,
even her relatively plain features would be attractive to someone. She was
physically fit, had a good job as an administrator in the local hospital and
everyone said she was fun to be around. She just never seemed to meet the
right type of guy.

That day she had decided to walk the several miles to and from church and had
been approaching the intersection around the corner from her apartment when
the accident occurred. She was the first to reach the vehicles and, although
she wasn't a trained medical professional, she knew in her heart that there
was nothing that could be done for either of the adults in the car. She looked
in the back seat, and seeing that the little baby was safe, had reached into
the car and removed her from her car seat. She didn't know why she did it, but
instead of waiting at the scene, she held the baby, gently rocking her back to
sleep as she walked away to the safety of her apartment. She had picked up the
bag that had been thrown out of the vehicle on impact; and upon examining its
contents found a couple of disposable diapers, a bottle of milk, a bottle of
water, and an extra set of clothes.

Margaret called in sick the following day. She arranged for the older woman
who lived next door to baby sit for her while she shopped for all the things
she would need to care for her 'new baby from God.' She told the woman that
she was taking in a foster child and would probably need her to baby sit for
her for several months, during the day while she worked. Margaret set up a
nursery in her spare bedroom.

The next morning she went to work and found out that the parents had died from
injuries sustained in the crash, but that the baby had been taken before the
mother had died. She went up to the maternity ward during her lunch hour and
looked through the glass at the newly born baby.

"Such a shame."

"What?"

I said, "Such a shame about the baby's parents dying like that," said the
charge nurse that had come up behind her.

"I heard that the police are looking for the parents' other child. They think
that someone took the child from the scene of the accident. I can't imagine
who would do such a thing. I asked the detective that had stopped in to see
him -- it's a boy you know -- if they were able to find any next of kin.
Apparently there's no one that they can find. It seems that both parents were
only children with no living relatives. Poor little guy, he's an orphan and so
is his sister if they ever find her."

"What will happen to him?"

"Social services will take him, put him into the system, and hope he gets
adopted. I don't think they will have any problems, he's healthy, a newborn,
and there's no one to come back to challenge an adoption. I just hope they
find the sister soon, who knows what kind of pervert took her."

"Yeah, me too."

"I have to get back to my office; you'll send me the paperwork for his birth
certificate?"

"Don't I always?"

When she got back to her office, Margaret put together her paperwork for
submitting the new births for the last several days for submission to the
State Bureau of Statistics. She held the paperwork waiting for one last
document, that of a baby boy named John Stevens. Later that afternoon, she
received his paperwork, completed what she had to do, and sent out her
paperwork. She prayed that no one would notice the additional form that was
included; the one for Kathryn O'Hara, born October 24, weight eight pounds two
ounces, twenty two inches, Mother - Margaret O'Hara, Father - Unknown.

Three weeks later she received a package in the mail; her daughter's birth
certificate and social security number and various pamphlets about taking care
of a new born baby and discounts for baby products.

"Well Katie; it seems that you are officially mine."

Chapter 2

In the meantime, the Department of Social Services was hard at work screening
several likely candidates for the adoption of John Stevens. After an extensive
background check, one couple stood out as the perfect couple for the adoption.
Robert and Joan Strong were in their early thirties, both had good jobs, and
the potential mother worked out of the house, therefore there would be no need
for day care. They appeared to be model citizens and were extremely desirous
of adopting a child. It seemed that the husband could not provide them with
children because of a childhood disease that caused him to be sterile.

For once the wheels of bureaucracy turned quickly, and within two months of
his birth John Stevens became John Stevens Strong. At the time of the adoption
the social worker, seeing that it would serve no purpose to hide the child's
ancestry from his new parents, provided them with the limited information that
she had.

After a brief discussion, the parents decided that they would provide this
information to their new son if he ever requested it. They agreed that they
would be completely honest with him as to his adoption and who his birth
parents were.

One of Robert's pastimes was investigating his and his wife's ancestry; he had
built an elaborate family tree going back some ten generations. He wanted to
include their son's background as well, so he started his search into the
parents' history. He was shocked to learn that John had a lost sister; they
had not been given that information. So, along with the other documents that
they had received, he placed an abbreviated version of John's family tree,
noting that Mary Stevens, his sister, had been one year old at the time of his
birth. They also included a copy of the newspaper article that had been
written about the accident, noting that Mary had apparently been abducted by
someone and was missing.

"I don't know why he would ever need this information or what possible use it
could be to him, since in all likelihood she will never be found again, but
I'll include it anyway."

Chapter 3

Years went by. Margaret decided that the apartment was just too small for her
growing child. The neighbors were also a problem. Not that they were bad
neighbors; on the contrary, most of them fawned over the child as if she were
their own grandchild. That was the problem; most of the other tenants in the
complex were senior citizens or young adults living together or alone with no
kids. Margaret wanted her daughter to live in a house, in a family-oriented
neighborhood with good schools, close to a park so she could play with other
kids.

She found such an area in the next town over, Peoria, Arizona. It was a small,
but well kept house, and best of all, in an area with a community pool nearby
as well as a large park with lots of grass and a playground and a ball field.
It added about twenty minutes to her commute, but it was well worth it;
nothing but the best for her "Katie."

As Katie got older she grew into a pretty girl, tall for her age, everyone
assumed she took after her mother. They had similar features and could be seen
jogging around the park in the evenings and on the weekends. No one ever
brought up the fact that there wasn't a father in the picture. Everyone just
assumed that Katie was just one of countless other children that came from a
single parent home.

Katie was a real tom-boy. She loved to play sports, especially baseball. On
the weekends, or when school was not in session, it was normal to see her
playing alongside the neighborhood boys. She was always one of the best
players and wasn't afraid to stand up for herself or her team if needed. Much
to her mother's dismay, it was not uncommon for her to come home with a fat
lip or a bloody nose after an altercation with a boy who thought of her as
'just a girl'.

"Katie, what am I going to do with you; you can't keep getting into fights
with the neighbors, it's not lady like. Besides, one of these days you're
really going to get hurt."

"Mom, don't worry about me, I can take care of myself; besides, you should see
what *he* looks like," she said with a smile on her face. "I'll bet he comes
to school on Monday with a black eye."

"Oh dear, please try to behave yourself; we can't afford to have you get in
any trouble."

"Don't worry Mom; I only finish the fights, I never start them."

As the years passed, Katie was able to channel her competitiveness into
sports; baseball, her first love, then volleyball and basketball. She was a
fierce competitor and was not a good loser. In her mind, you would never
achieve your goals if you accepted defeat. She always gave one hundred percent
and expected nothing less from her teammates. It was this attitude that led to
more than a few confrontations with her teammates; but they learned that if
they followed her example they usually ended up as winners.

When Katie wasn't playing sports she was conditioning her body. By the time
she was a freshman in high school, she had convinced her mom that she needed a
place to work out. Margaret got her a membership at the local gym. At the gym
they showed her how to use the various pieces of circuit training equipment.
Katie would complete her workout every evening, and then would walk over to
the weight room and observe how the serious members of the gym would work
their bodies.

One evening she stood in the doorway admiring the chiseled body of one of
off-duty instructors. After completing her set, the woman called her over.

"You've been watching me for the last couple of weeks; do you want to join me?
You look to be in great shape, how tall are you?"

"I'm five feet ten."

"How much do you weigh?"

"About one hundred thirty five pounds."

"If you want to, you can work out with me. I'll show you how you can add about
fifteen pounds of muscle to your body, become a lot stronger than you are now,
and get more definition in your abs."

"I don't want to disrupt your workout routine."

"You won't; if I'm not mistaken, you are a lot stronger than you realize, all
you need is a little guidance and someone to push you to the next level.
Besides it gets rather boring working out alone all the time. What do you say;
we can start tomorrow evening."

"OK, what time do you want me to be here?"

"7:00 would be good. By the way, my name is Joan."

"I'm Katie. Thank you for letting me do this."

"Katie, don't thank me yet. You'll find me a tough task master, but I will get
results, you'll see."

Katie ran home that evening and told her mother about her new workout partner
and her plans for the following evening.

"Just remember that school work comes first. I want you to get a good
education, that means getting into college and you'll need good grades to get
in."

"I know, Mom; I'll make sure my school work is done after school or before I
go to the gym. I promise."

The next evening after dinner and after completing her homework, Katie ran the
mile and a half to the gym. At 7:00 sharp she met Joan in the weight room.

"You ready?"

"I'm ready, Coach."

"Coach, I like that."

Joan put her through a series of exercises in order to determine her strength
levels. She kept a notebook listing Katie's level on each and was impressed by
her overall development.

"Katie, how old are you?"

"I just turned fifteen."

"Wow, you have amazing muscle development for someone so young. I don't think
I reached your levels until I was a freshman in college."

Katie watched as Joan went through her arm and chest routine, noting the
technique used in each exercise. As Joan finished her final set of bench
presses, Katie exclaimed:

"Joan, that was amazing; you just did three sets at one hundred and seventy
five pounds."

"Thanks, I've been lifting for about ten years now, not bad for an old lady of
twenty-four; but I'll have you at this level by the time you graduate from
high school, as long as you stick with me. Come over to the mirrors, I want to
show you something."

They walked over to the mirrors and at Joan's request, Katie removed her
Tee-shirt. They both stood there dressed in their gym shorts and sports bra.

Joan said, "Watch this."

She stood there and tightened her abs. The muscles seemed to almost pop out of
her skin. Katie stared at Joan's body. It looked like she was wearing a suit
of armor. She had not just a six pack, but an eight pack.

"OK, you try."

Katie tensed her abs. Although she had virtually no body fat around her
middle, her abs did not appear to be half as defined as Joan's. There was the
beginning of a six pack visible, but nowhere nearly as defined. Then Joan
released her abs and brought her arms up into a double bicep pose. The muscles
in her arms and shoulders seem to explode into full view. Her arms appeared to
be thick normally, now they looked truly awesome.

"Sixteen inch guns; your turn."

Katie struck the same pose, almost embarrassed at her lack of definition.

Sensing her discomfort, Joan said, "Don't worry, it's only your first day,
give it time. It took a lot of hard work to get to my level. You'll get there
and maybe beyond; it's all up to you. I just wanted to show you what I believe
you are capable of. When I'm done with you, you will be stronger --
physically, and more importantly, mentally as well. Your confidence and self
esteem will be evident to everyone you meet. There will be nothing that you
can't do. That's it for tonight; get home and get some sleep. I'll review what
we learned tonight and come up with a workout routine just for you."

"Joan, thank you so much for all that you're doing for me. But can I ask you a
question?"

"You don't have to ask it. First of all, I'm doing this because I want to do
it; I get the satisfaction of seeing you progress. I see a lot of me in you
and I wish I had someone working with me when I was your age. Finally, I may
want to do this for a living, be a personal trainer, and if I do, I'll need
you to show what all our hard work can accomplish. That's why I'm doing it;
there's no other hidden agenda. Besides, like I told you, it's more fun
working out with someone."

Katie ran home that night, and dreamt of Joan's body and how she was going to
make hers even better.

True to her word, the following day, Joan had a complete workout regimen set
up for Katie. The first day was for her arms and shoulders. The exercises
included push-ups, pull-ups, and chin-ups. They would move to the free weights
for one- and two-arm curls, military presses and the bench press. The next day
would be their legs and glutes day, starting with squats, lunges and ending on
the leg press and the leg extension machines. The third day of the cycle would
be for the body's core, concentrating on sit-ups, leg lifts, and crunches. On
the fourth day, they would start the cycle again.

This went on for over two years. For Katie, going to the gym, working out with
Joan became as normal as breathing. By the middle of her junior year, after
their arms day workout, Joan asked her to come over to the mirrors. They stood
side by side and tensed their abs. If you just looked at their abs you could
not tell them apart; each displayed a prominent eight pack. Next was the
double bicep pose, and here all the hard work that Katie had put in was even
more apparent. Her shoulders were wider and thicker, and her biceps were more
defined. Joan pulled a cloth tape measure from her bag and measured Katie's
bicep.

With a wry smile, Joan said, "Young grasshopper, it appears that you have
caught up to and passed your instructor; seventeen and a quarter inches."

With a squeal of joy Katie reach around Joan and lifted her off the ground in
bear hug and spun around.

When she finally stopped, Katie looked into Joan's eyes, and seeing something
that she didn't truly understand, she put her down and turned away.

"I'm sorry Joan, I don't ...."

"Katie, forget it, don't say anything more, I will always consider you a good
friend and I understand; you're still young and you aren't ready yet, maybe
you never will be. I'm OK with that. Really. I'll see you tomorrow."

It was a very confused young woman that left the gym that night and ran home.

Chapter 4

John's life path took a different turn. As a young boy he excelled in school.
He always brought home straight A's on his report card. He was popular,
outgoing and funny and he was definitely not an athlete.

Growing up, while the other boys in the neighborhood were outside playing
baseball, John was content to stay indoors and watch his mother as she worked
on her computer. He was always asking her questions and she never talked down
to him, always giving him direct answers. He always had his head buried in
books. His mother would give him classics written by Jules Verne, Mark Twain,
and Robert Louis Stevenson. He was a frequent visitor to the public library,
reading all the Hardy Boys novels and anything else that interested him.

At night, after supper, when his father sat in front of his computer and
reviewed the financial news, they would discuss possible investment moves that
his father could make. His father explained what the stock market was, what it
represented, and how someone who paid attention to the current trends in the
economy could accumulate wealth.

By the time he entered high school, John had accumulated over one hundred
thousand dollars in his make-believe portfolio. His father would explain why
the moves that he made were good or bad; why they made or lost money.

You would think that this type of behavior would make him a super nerd, a
target of ridicule from all of the other students. It was because of his good
looks and his sense of humor that the guys in school gave him a pass, and the
girls wanted to go out with him. His mother had taught him how to dance at an
early age and John never had any trouble getting a date for school dances.

Although he was a late bloomer, John did not shy away from the opposite sex.
He had the expected father and son talk about sex but never pushed himself
onto any of his dates. He was always a gentleman. He was not an angel,
however. Several of his dates ended with extremely hot kissing and fondling.

By the time he entered his junior year of high school, he had a steady girl
friend. At five-seven and one hundred thirty five pounds, with dark wavy hair,
and dark eyes, John could have had his choice of almost any of the girls in
his school. His girlfriend was short, blonde and had a great figure. They made
a nice looking couple. Everything seemed to be going great until the beginning
of his senior year. Suddenly, she began to become less interested in him, more
distant. When he confronted her with his feelings she lashed out at him,
telling him that she wanted a real man in her life, that he was not aggressive
enough for her, that she was tired of being a virgin and she was not going to
wait any longer for him to make the first move. She broke up with him.

John was heartbroken. He thought that being a gentleman, that not pressuring
her to go further in their relationship, was what girls wanted in a man. Now
he was confused. In addition to that, it was just not in his nature to be an
aggressive type of guy.

He retreated back into the world of books, the place in which he was most
comfortable. At his graduation he took solace in the fact that he was in the
top ten of his class. He had scholarship offers from several big name Ivy
League schools but he decided to stay in state, accepting a full scholarship
plus room and board to University of Arizona in Tucson.

The summer seemed to drag for John. He could hardly wait to begin the next
phase of his life. His major was going to be in applied mathematics; his goal
to get into the space program. The University of Arizona was deeply involved
in, and funded by, the space programs and NASA.

A week before he was scheduled to leave for school, his parents asked him to
come to the den. As he entered he could tell that something was bothering
them. His mother was the first to speak.

"John, we have something to tell you that we feel you have the right to know
and are now mature enough to handle. You know we both love you very much. Oh
dear, I thought I could handle this without crying but I guess I can't. Bobby,
you tell him."

"John, the day you were born, your biological parents were involved in a
terrible automobile accident. Your father died instantly, your mother hung on
for several more hours, giving the doctors just enough time to take you from
her womb before she died. Your mother and I were fortunate enough to be in
position to adopt you."

"We have loved you as much as any parents can love their biological child. As
far as we were concerned you were the child that we could never have."

John sat there, too stunned to speak. Everything that he had ever known about
his parents had changed, or had it? They were the same parents that he had
always loved, that raised him, nurtured him, that made him who he was today.
They had taught him right from wrong. No, nothing had changed. He got up off
his chair, and crossed the room to his parents, hugging first his mother and
then his father.

"I love you both with all my heart; this changes nothing between us."

Now they all were crying tears of joy.

"Here John, I put this file together for you in case you ever got curious, or
needed any information about them. There is one more thing I think you should
know. You had an older sister at the time of the accident. She disappeared
that day; the police believed that she was taken from the scene but have never
been able to track her down."

John took the folder to his room, read it from cover to cover, including
several articles from the local newspaper describing the accident and
referring to the search for his missing sister. He got off the bed, closed the
folder and filed it away with his other important papers.

Chapter 5

Physically Katie was a mature young woman, striking in appearance, strong
willed, full of self-confidence and determination. And yet, emotionally she
was still immature. Her body was sending hormones racing through her system.
At times she couldn't stand it, the urges that seemed to overwhelm her,
especially at night. She wanted to experiment with sex, but was afraid. Afraid
to find out in which direction her urges would take her. She was sexually
aroused by Joan whenever they worked out together. How could she not be, her
body was perfect, she exuded sexual power. She was a mature woman; and Katie
had seen the lust Joan held for her in those eyes. But it went against
everything that she had been taught by her mother, by society, and what she
knew her body was telling her.

The boys in school were no help to her; most of them wanted nothing to do with
her. Some she had grown up with knew of her competitiveness, her aggressive
behavior, and were scared of her. Others thought that the way to win her was
to try to dominate her, to impose their will on her; these learned they were
wrong the hard way. Finally still others believed the rumors going around
school that she was a lesbian and thus avoided her like the plague.

During her senior year she had a couple of dates, had even lost her virginity,
but there was no romance involved and the experience had left her wondering if
she was indeed a lesbian. The only way to find out one way or the other was to
go for it.

One evening after their workout, she surprised Joan by suggesting that they go
to Joan's condo. She had made arrangements with her mom ahead of time.

"OK dear," Margaret had answered, "after all, you're a grown woman. You're
almost nineteen and you've never given me any reason not to trust you. It's
Friday night, call me tomorrow to let me know what your plans are. Please be
careful."

"I will, Mom," Katie assured her.

When they reached her apartment Joan led the way, opened the door and let her
in. Katie looked around the apartment, noting that it was clean, neat and
functional.

"Why don't we shower first, the bathroom is down the hall."

Katie walked slowly towards the bathroom, while Joan moved across the living
room and after searching through her rack of CD's, removed several and
inserted them into her player. The room filled with the sounds of violins and
cellos.

"After a hard workout, I need to relax my body and my mind."

They stood in the middle of the bathroom, facing each other. Understanding
passed wordlessly between them.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I think so."

With that Joan began to slowly remove Katie's sweaty gym clothes. With each
garment removed came a gentle kiss on the newly exposed skin.

"You have an amazing body, if I do say so myself. A tribute to all your hard
work."

When Joan had her naked, she stepped back and, knowing that this was Katie's
first time with a woman, she quickly peeled off her own clothes. Reaching into
the shower, she turned on the water and adjusted the temperature. When it was
just right, Joan gently guided her into the shower. The warm water had a
calming effect on Katie, who was noticeably nervous. Joan poured some liquid
soap into her hands and, starting from Katie's neck, began to gently lather
and caress her magnificent body. Katie took the soap and returned the favor,
marveling at Joan's equally impressive body, noting that it was both hard and
soft at the same time. Had there been a camera hidden in the stall, the video
created would have been an instant sensation. Here were two beautiful
physically perfect women, water and suds dripping down their bodies, caught in
a dance of showery seduction. The temperature in the bathroom was increasing
and it was not caused by the water.

Joan, not wanting to overwhelm her, calmed things down a little by turning
Katie around, poured a little shampoo in her hand and washing her hair. Katie
sighed. When she was done, Joan rinsed out the shampoo, applied some cream
rinse, and turned away from Katie who, taking the hint returned the favor.

They rinsed out their hair, kissed, shut the water and exited the stall. Joan
grabbed a big fluffy towel from the shelf and gently dried Katie's hair and
body. She worshipped the body she helped create planting tiny kisses on each
nipple, her well conditioned abs, her recently shaved mons and, from behind,
her neck and her solid shapely butt. Katie just stood there, as if in a
trance, eyes closed, absorbing the sensations that surrounded her body.
Opening her eyes, she watched as Joan finished drying herself off, dropping
the towel to the floor, and taking her hand and guiding her into the bedroom.

The room was completely feminine in decor, not what she would have imagined
from her hard-working, demanding, Amazonian instructor. Joan pulled off the
comforter, turned down the sheet and guided Katie onto the bed. As she moved
over her, kissing her lips and nipping at her neck, Joan was shaking with
desire for this young woman. Katie however was stiff, filled with conflicting
emotions of anxiety and lust.

"Just lay back and enjoy the sensations."

Joan slowly moved down her body, sucking on one nipple and then the other,
using her tongue to circle each piece of ridged flesh. She moved lower,
letting her tongue explore Katie's navel, a precursor of things to come. Joan
lightly ran her tongue down the area of flesh near the pelvic bones. Katie
shivered with desire, her hips arching off the bed. 'She's ready,' thought
Joan as she reached under Katie's thighs, taking her cheeks into her hands and
slowly licked up each side of her already moist pussy.

Katie moaned with desire. She had never felt anything like this before. Then
she felt Joan's thumbs spread her open and mouth attack her clit. The double
sensation of Joan's tongue swirling around it and the gentle suction on clit
was too much. Her hands shot down to the back of Joan's head; as her hips
began to gyrate, she screamed in ecstasy and her orgasm hit her like a
run-away freight train.

"Oh God, Oh God, Yes, Yes, Yes." She stiffened, held her breath, and the world
around her seemed to fade away.

The next thing she was aware of was lying on her back, feeling Joan's hand
gently caressing her cheek and hearing her whisper in her ear, "welcome back."

Katie could feel Joan's body lying next to her, an arm holding her around her
shoulder and she knew what would be expected from her, what would be the
appropriate thing to do. Now, could she do it? She turned, kissed Joan on the
lips, whispered, "Thank you, that was wonderful," and slowly moved her body
over hers. Their breasts touched, she could feel Joan's extended nipples
bumping into her own as she moved her body back and forth.

'I don't know what to do,' Katie thought. 'Just do what felt good before, what
you would want done to you.'

She took Joan's nipple between her lips, sucked and pulled up. Joan moaned.
She moved to the other one, this time biting on it, as she felt hands grip the
sides of her head.

"Please, now. I can't stand it any longer," pushing Katie's head down between
her legs.

With a sense of urgency, Katie used her thumbs to open Joan's lips and,
without thinking, plunged her tongue into the already dripping pussy. She
moved her tongue in and out, swirled it around the sides, and allowed Joan to
move her head as she desired.

"Suck my clit. Bite me. I'm almost there."

Katie felt Joan's body shake. Her hips lifted off the bed and her hands had a
death grip on the back of Katie's head as she tried to increase the contact
between them.

"Aaahhh, mmmm........"

Katie felt Joan relax and fall back onto the bed. She crawled up beside her
and put her head on her shoulder. Joan's arm slid underneath her and held her
tightly as they both fell asleep.

They were still in that position when Katie awoke. She lay there thinking,
trying to sort out the mixed emotions that she was feeling. That's when she
started to cry, her body shaking slightly. She felt Joan's arm tighten around
her and felt a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"Joan, I tried, I really tried, I just can't..."

"I know, I know; don't worry, I'm a grown woman, I'll survive. I can't say I'm
not disappointed, because I am. Not in you, just in the fact that in our case
it didn't work out. Some people believe that love between two women is wrong,
a sin against nature itself. Others believe that it's hard-wired into some of
us, while others think it's a product of our environment. I'm not sure what it
is, I really don't want to think about it. Someday, you'll find the person
that you are destined to be with, and when you find that person, whether it's
a man or a woman, you'll know. Now just hold me, please."

Katie awoke the next morning, alone in the bed; the smell of fresh coffee
filled the air. Looking around for her clothes, she realized that all she had
when she came here was her workout clothes. She stopped in the bathroom, the
towels and their clothes were no longer there. After taking care of her
morning business, she slowly walked naked into the kitchen. There was Joan,
sitting naked at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of black coffee, the sounds
of a washing machine coming from somewhere in the hall.

"Come sit down; you want a cup of coffee? I have our clothes in the wash, they
should be done soon."

She put a cup of coffee in front of her, along with a bowl containing
sweeteners of various brands and sugar, and a container of skim milk. Katie
fixed her coffee, a little milk and a half of a pack of sugar, stirred it and
took a sip.

"Joan, about last night, it was beautiful, but it's just not right for me.
Where do we stand now, are we still friends? Can we still work out together?"

"Don't be silly, nothing has changed between us, of course we're still
friends. We wouldn't be sitting here naked having a cup of coffee if we
weren't friends."

"Joan, I haven't told you yet, but I received a full scholarship to the
University of Arizona. They want me to play on their women's varsity softball
team. It's a full ride; tuition, books and room and board, everything."

"That's wonderful, I'm so happy for you."

"I'll be moving down to Tucson at the end of August."

"That's OK, that's how it should be. I want you to keep in touch; you have my
e-mail and cell number.

You know where to find me. Whenever you are in the area and you want to work
out, just let me know."

"You know I will; I owe you so much."

"You owe me nothing. One more thing, don't let me catch you letting this
magnificent body of yours getting out of shape, or I'll have to put you
through hell when you get home."

"OK, you have my word. Now what's the plan for today?"

"As much as I would like to see you dressed the way you are, I'll finish
getting your workout clothes ready. We'll go back to the gym, work out and
I'll let you go."

"Let me call my Mom; I want to let her know I'm all right and that I'll be
home later."

Chapter 6

At the beginning of June, all of the area high schools held their graduation
ceremonies and by the end of August all those graduates who were continuing
their educations headed off to college. John and Katie were no exception. They
didn't know each other, but both arrived at UA on the same day, registered,
got their dorm assignments and settled in to begin the next phase of their
lives.

On Wednesday classes began. As freshmen, they were assigned to certain classes
which were mandatory for all first year students, English Composition and
Development of Western Civilization. John's other classes included Advanced
Calculus, Statistical Analysis and, to fulfill his language requirement,
Spanish. Katie had chosen Accounting, Economics and Spanish, all of which
would be credited towards her general requirements for graduation. She still
hadn't decided what she wanted to major in.

John walked into the lecture hall early for his first Western Civ. class. The
room was huge with auditorium seating for at least 250 students. He took a
seat about a third of the way down and a couple of seats in from the center
aisle and passed the time reading. A few minutes later, as the room began to
fill, a tall good looking blonde, wearing a U of A tee-shirt and a pair of
jeans, sat two seats to his left. He smiled, said hi, and returned his
attention to his book. Soon after, the lecturer entered the room, turned to
the large blackboard behind the podium and wrote his name and the course
title. He checked his watch and began class. He explained the course, that
there would be a midterm and a final, and that each student was expected to
attend all lectures but that there would be no attendance taken. John let that
sink in; 'college was so much different than high school,' he thought. The
lecturer, who was a grad student, began with chapter one and talked for 45
minutes, writing pertinent points on the black board. John wrote them in his
notebook and added points that he felt were important. Every once in a while
he would glance over to the blonde, who was highlighting passages in her book
with a yellow marker.

'This is SO much different than high school.'

At the end of class, everyone stood up and made their way up the stairs and
out of the hall. He followed the blonde up the stairs; his eyes couldn't help
but focus on her shapely ass in her tight-fitting jeans. As he turned right
and walked down to the end of the corridor and up the staircase, he took a
closer look at her. Her hair was cut short, her shoulders were wide and her
back appeared to be much bigger than any of the girls that he knew from
school. Her waist was surprisingly narrow, and he was fascinated by the way
she walked. She stood perfectly erect, an air of confidence about her, as she
slowly walked down the hall, like a large cat on the prowl.

All too soon, she turned into a classroom on the third floor. He looked up at
the room number and smiled to himself as he realized that she was in his next
class as well. She took a seat towards the back of the room and he followed
her taking the seat next to her. Ten minutes later the professor, a short,
very distinguished looking gentleman walked in, closed the door and began
speaking in Spanish. The students started looking at one another, most not
understanding a word that was said. Then, he switched to English.

"I told you my name is Professor Sanchez, that this is first year Spanish and
that I was very happy to meet you all. Spanish is one of the romance languages
and I consider it one of the most beautiful."

Once again the professor gave a quick outline of the course. There would be a
midterm and a final. But in addition there would be quizzes, and homework
assignments that would be graded. There was also going to be an oral exam at
the end of the semester. Growing up in Arizona, you come in contact with the
Spanish language almost every day. John had no illusion that this was going to
be easy, but he felt sure he could handle it.

Before he realized it, the class was over and they all left the room. John's
next class, English Comp, was in the next building, so he headed down the
stairs and out into the hot mid-day sun. He crossed the open area and entered
the other building. His class was located on the second floor. He took a seat
in the back and was again pleasantly surprised when a couple of minutes later,
the tall well-built blonde once again entered the room. This time seeing him,
she smiled and sat down next to him.

"I have a feeling that we are going to be seeing a lot of each other this
semester. My name is Katie," and she stuck out her hand.

"I'm John, nice to meet you; I think you're right."

Her hand seemed to surround his and he was surprised at the firmness of her
grip.

"You from Arizona?"

"Yes," he replied, "Glendale. You?"

"Peoria; we're neighbors."

Just then, the classroom door slammed shut and the room became deathly silent.
There was clicking of heels on the vinyl floor as a petite woman in her
forties with dark hair and glasses marched to the front of the room.

"My name is Ms. Barron and this is English Composition 101. If you're not
supposed to be here, I suggest you leave now."

John looked over at Katie, raised his eyebrows and muttered, "Uh oh."

"Today, you are going to write a paper on what you did over the summer. I want
you to give me your best work, as this paper will determine if you belong in
this class or even in college for that matter."

She handed a stack of small blue booklets to each person in the front row of
seats.

"Take one, pass the rest back. You may start when you have a booklet."

To John, it seemed like a childish exercise, but he did his best, even though
English was not one of his favorite subjects. He looked over at Katie; she was
still hard at work.

"Five minutes"

That gave John just enough time to wrap up his final thoughts. He had just
completed the assignment when Ms. Barron exclaimed,

"OK. Pens down. Please drop your booklet off on my desk on your way out."

When they got into the hallway John turned to Katie,

"She's going to be a tough one."

"Yeah, I knew she would be. My roommate was telling me that English Comp is
the main cut course for the freshman class. They use it to weed out the
students that have no business being here. I just hope I can maintain a C
average."

"When's your next class?"

"Not until 2:00. How about you?"

"Mine is not until 3:00. You want to stop for a bite to eat at the Student
Union?"

"Sure, let's go. We can drop our books off on the way and pick up what we need
for later."

When they reached the SU, they got in line in the cafeteria. John took a slice
of pizza and a soda; Katie, a salad with grilled chicken, two hard-boiled
eggs, an apple and a banana, and a bottle of water. They found a table off to
the side of the room and sat down. Katie looked over at his tray,

"Is that all you're having? That's not a very healthy meal."

"I really don't eat all that much. I can't believe that you can eat all that
and stay as trim as you are."

"I'm starved, besides I have to eat a lot to maintain my body weight. I have a
lot of muscle mass to support." Looking around, she pushed the sleeve of her
shirt up her arm and flexed her bicep, holding it for just a few moments.

John's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He hadn't noticed the size of her
arms while he was admiring her figure before. He had never seen a girl with
arms that big before; they were much larger than his own.

"My god, you're huge! You must be awful strong."

"That I am. I'm here on an athletic scholarship."

"Football?"

"No silly; woman's softball."

"How did you get so big, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I work out almost two hours a day, every day, and I've been doing it since I
was fifteen years old."

"I was never very good at sports, I spent most of my time reading and
studying. I'm here on an academic scholarship. I want to get involved in the
space program."

"Oh, are you some sort of rocket scientist? I'm just teasing you. But all
kidding aside, you must be really smart. Hey we make a pretty good pair;
Brains and Brawn."

She laughed at her own joke and it was music to his ears. The more he talked
to her, the more he became infatuated with her. There was something about her
that seemed to draw him like a moth to a flame. They eased back into a casual
conversation and told each other about growing up, their families, and their
likes and dislikes. John couldn't believe how much they had in common.

Before they knew it, it was twenty to two. John walked Katie over to her dorm,
and watched as she entered the building. He walked over to his dorm, collapsed
on the bed and daydreamed about her. At a quarter to three he picked up his
books for his last two classes and ran the two blocks to the building where
they were held. He knew she wouldn't be there, but he looked for her anyway.

It was a little after five when he made it back to his dorm room. His roommate
Eddie was there.

"So how did your first day go?"

"Not bad, how was yours?"

"Great, I only had one class today."

Eddie was here on a basketball scholarship. He was six feet nine and weighed
about two hundred and fifty pounds. He had told John that he was taking the
minimum number of credits that he was allowed to carry and still be considered
a full-time student. He was here to make a name for himself as a basketball
player; he had no intention of ever getting a degree.

"Hey John, who was that girl I saw you with at the SU? Man she looked sweet."

"She's a girl from a couple of my morning classes."

"You trying to put the moves on her or is she fair game?"

"She's just a friend for now; I just met here today."

"You better watch out, someone -- maybe me -- is gonna get her first."

"I don't think so; I think she can handle herself quite well."

"Don't say I didn't warn you. You going down for dinner?"

"Later, after the crowd thins out."

"Well, I can't wait, I'm starved. See you later, John."

It was nearly seven o'clock before John made his way to the SU for dinner. The
crowd had thinned out and there were plenty of tables to choose from. As he
ate he couldn't help thinking about Katie. Even though he had just met her, he
knew he was already beginning to fall for her. The way she walked, smiled,
laughed... everything about her made him want to know even more about her, to
be with her.

As he stared down at his empty plate, he remembered something that she had
said at lunch, something about working out every day for a couple of hours. He
looked at his watch.

'I wonder if she's over at the gym right now.'

He practically ran across the campus to the gym and showed his student ID at
the door. Walking around, he was amazed at the size of the place. It was so
much bigger than the one at his old school. To one side, through a set of
double doors, were several basketball courts, all in use. There were
collapsible stands surrounding the courts and a second level of fixed seating
above them. He counted eight baskets; two appeared to be in the middle of the
two outer courts and were currently folded upwards towards the ceiling. As he
looked a little closer he realized that he was standing under one of the
baskets of the main court and at the other end of the room was the other one.
The courts that were in use tonight ran width-wise across the main court which
he assumed was for the varsity games.

He turned and walked out of the room. Once he was back in the vestibule, he
crossed over to another set of doors which opened into a hallway. As he walked
down the hall, he passed several closed doors. Inside the rooms he could see
racquetball courts on one side and on the other, a well equipped workout room.
He opened the door and slipped into the room. It was large, had several rows
of treadmills, ellipticals and stair climbers on one side. In the middle of
the room appeared to be a complete circuit of exercise equipment designed to
target various muscle groups. The other side of the room contained the free
weights.

The room appeared to be nearly deserted. There were two people running on
treadmills, someone in the middle of the circuit machines, and two people over
on the free weights. One guy on the free weights had just finished his workout
and was walking towards him; a towel around his neck, heading to the doorway
leading to the locker rooms to John's left. Just as he was about to leave in
disappointment he spotted her. She was just finishing up a set on the bench
press. To his untrained eye, it looked like she had been lifting the detached
rear axle of a railroad car. He couldn't read the numbers on the weights, but
they looked heavy. She walked over to another piece of equipment, squatted
down, adjusting the amount of weight on one side and then on the other.
Grabbing hold of the handles which were attached to cables she began to work
her shoulders and her arms. Her muscles seemed to bulge as the weights on
either side of her moved up and down on the frame.

'God, she magnificent,' he thought, as he gazed at her body, his hand absent
mindedly adjusting his growing erection constricted by his jeans.

'I've got to get out of here before she sees me and thinks I'm some sort of
pervert.'

He retreated out of the room and out of the gym, relieved that he hadn't been
seen.

Katie finished her exercise and, looking in the mirror in front of her, flexed
her biceps, a smile of satisfaction at what she had just seen, on her lips.

'So, John seems to like strong women with muscles,' she thought. 'This could
get interesting, very interesting.'

Chapter 7

They saw a lot of each other that first semester. They had at least one class
together every day. They would meet for lunch, have dinner together, or
arrange to meet in the library to study or do homework. They would go out
socially on occasion, but neither of them considered it dating. They were just
good friends, for now.

Academically, John was having no trouble at all adjusting to college life. He
had aced all of his mid-terms and was well on his way to a 4.0 first semester.
Katie was not having it that easy. She was passing all of her courses, but it
appeared that she was destined to be, at best, an average student. She was
fine with that; her primary focus at this point was the upcoming softball
season. She had already met with the varsity coach and could not wait to get
on the baseball field for her tryout.

One day in the early in December, they were having dinner together. The
conversation centered around the upcoming finals and grade point averages.

"Katie, you know you have to maintain at least a 2.0 GPA in order to avoid
probation. If you fall below that, they can suspend you from extracurricular
activities, which may include softball as well."

"What about my scholarship?"

"That too, I'm afraid."

"John, what am I going to do? I think I can eke out a B in Accounting and
Economics, and a C in Western Civ, but I'm afraid of Spanish and English Comp.
I need this scholarship, and I really want to play softball."

"OK, here's what we are going to do. For the next week, every spare moment we
have will be used to go over Spanish and Western Civ. If we can get you up to
a B in one of those two, all you'll need is a C in the other and a D in Comp.
Together, we'll get you through this."

With a sequel of delight she jumped up, rushed to John's side of the table and
lifted him clean out of the chair in a mind blowing, rib crunching bear hug.

"Katie put me down, I can't breathe."

Katie was in no hurry to comply, he felt wonderful in her arms. She could feel
his cock twitching in his pants.

'I'm turning him on big time.' With a smile she put him back on the ground.

"I'm heading to the gym, dream about me tonight." She picked up her bag and
walked out of the hall.

John, his face several shades of red darker than usual, sat back down to the
applause of several students seated nearby, and waited for his erection to
subside.

True to his word, John spent all of his spare time working with Katie,
reviewing his notes from Western Civ and going over grammar rules and
vocabulary from Spanish. Not that it was a chore. He loved every minute of it.
Being in close proximity to this beautiful, overwhelming woman was almost more
than he could stand. By the end of the week they were ready. Their exams were
tough, but when they came out of their last one together, they each knew that
they had done well.

The following morning, John waited outside Katie's dorm. Katie's mom was
picking her up early. They got a quick cup of coffee and headed over to the
pre-arranged meeting place. John's mom would be picking him up later that day.
When Katie spotted her mom, she waived, picked up her bag of clothes, her
books and other personal items and , before running over to the car turned to
John and kissed him on the cheek.

"See you in a couple of weeks."

When she got in the car, her mother having seen the kiss, asked, "Who's the
young man you were with?"

"That's John; he's been my best friend at school this semester. He's helped me
study; he got me through my exams. He's the best."

"He's really cute, too."

"Yeah, I know."

John, suddenly felt all alone, even though he was surrounded by hundreds of
students, all trying to finish up last minute details for the semester break.
It had only been several hours since he had watched Katie leave with her
mother and already he missed her.

When his mom arrived, he was ready. On the long drive back home she asked how
exams were, how things were going, and had he made any friends.

Without thinking John blurted out, "I met the most wonderful girl I've ever
known. She's beautiful, fun to be with, sexy and amazingly strong."

Realizing that what he had just thought, he had said aloud -- and to his own
mother -- he turned scarlet and stared straight ahead.

'Sounds like someone's in love.' His mother just smiled and asked no more
questions.

Katie made arrangements with Joan to meet her after Christmas Day at the gym.
They had a great workout, during which Katie told her about the guy she had
met at school.

"He's extremely smart, funny, and has Tom Cruise-like good looks, and he
really likes my muscles."

"Sounds like a keeper to me. I'm happy for you Katie, truly happy. It sounds
like you're in love."

"Maybe, I just may be."

They worked out hard every day for the next ten days. As she had promised,
Katie had kept her body in great shape and was actually stronger now than when
she had left for school.

John spent most of his time off reading and missing Katie. He did, however,
meet up with a couple of friends from high school and talked their ears off
about the girl he met at school.

"Come on John, who do you think you're kidding? What would a girl like that
see in a guy like you?"

That night, John had an anxiety attack, what *did* Katie see in him? Could she
really like a bookworm nerd like him? Was he imagining more to their
friendship than there really was? The next morning he awoke fully resolved to
do whatever it took to win her over.

The next semester started on January 11. They had arranged before they had
left for the semester break to meet the night before at 6:00 at the SU. He sat
there waiting, would she remember, would his plan work?

He had brought a gym bag and workout clothes and he planned to ask her to help
him get into shape.

His face lit up as he saw her enter the building. She smiled that wonderful
smile of hers as she glided over to his table.

"John, it's so good to see you again. I missed you," she said giving him a
kiss on the cheek. She pulled out a chair and started to sit, when she spotted
his gym bag.

"What's this?"

"Katie, that's my workout stuff. I decided that I would start working out this
semester. I want to get in better shape, maybe put on a little more muscle."

"That's wonderful, John. You could use a little more muscle on that body of
yours. We could work out together if you don't mind joining me for late night
workouts. I find that the gym is less crowded and it's easier to get a good
workout after 9:00."

"I was sort of hoping that you would let me join you, I've never done anything
like this before."

"It would be my pleasure; it's the least I could do to repay you for all the
help you gave me last semester. By the way, I ended up with a 2.8 GPA thanks
to you. But I'm warning you now, just because you're my best friend, I'm not
going to go easy on you. If you're serious about this, I'm going to work that
body of yours hard."

"Can we start tonight?"

"Sure! I already worked out this afternoon, before the gym got too crowded.
I'll set up a program for you just like my friend Joan had done for me. Let's
have something light to eat now, then we can go over to the gym and I'll put
you through some tests to see what your strength levels are. Nothing too tough
tonight; after all, it's your first time."

Later, as they walked over to the gym, bits and pieces of their earlier
conversation kept popping into his mind.

'Best friend... work your body hard.... Maybe, just maybe, this could be lead
to something.'

Upon entering the gym, John allowed Katie to guide him to the large fitness
room. She pointed to the locker room.

"You change in there; I'll meet you at the treadmills."

John found an empty locker, changed into his shorts and tee-shirt, white socks
and sneakers, and with more than a little apprehension, left the locker room.
Katie had the treadmill already programmed for what she considered a short,
light warm up; one mile at a pace of just under four miles per hour.

"John, stand here, when I press this button the tread will start to move. Hold
onto the handles and start to walk. The machine will slowly pick up speed
until it reaches its preset pace. At that point you may feel more comfortable
jogging. You can read how fast you are going and how far you've gone here;
this is how much time you have left before your cool down begins. Ready?"

And she pushed the button.

She stood back and watched with amusement as John, startled by the sudden
movement, latched onto the handles for dear life. When he realized that the
machine was not going to throw him off, he settled down into a fast walk,
which soon escalated into a slow jog. Katie watched him closely, looking for
any signs of fatigue, knowing that this was the first exercise other than his
daily walks on campus that John had done in a long, long time. Sure enough,
around the three quarter mile mark, John began to show signs of fatigue, his
mouth was wide open gulping down air and sweat was dripping down his face.
Katie reached over and hit the cool down button.

"Why did you do that, I could have made it."

"John, don't worry about it. I got all the information I needed. This was a
warm up exercise; you're warmed up. Come on lets go to the circuit."

As they walked to the first machine Katie wrote in her pad.

"John, this is a 'Lat Pull' machine. Sit here, reach up when I tell you and
grab the bar, your hands shoulder width apart, and pull it down to your chest;
let it back up until your arms are almost straight, and then repeat the
exercise. This pin adjusts the amount of weight that that you will be lifting.
We'll start you off with twenty pounds and see how that feels." She bent over,
pulled the pin out of the weight marked one hundred, and inserted it into the
one marked twenty. "OK, begin."

John stood momentarily, reached up and grabbed the bar as instructed; sat back
on the bench and pulled the bar down to his chest.

"Good, now give me four more, and let the weights back down."

John completed his five reps and did as instructed.

"How did that feel?"

"It was easy."

"OK; let's increase the weight by ten and do five more."

John did the next five reps and rested.

"It was a little harder, but I can do more."

"OK; let's increase it by ten more and this time give me ten more reps."

John started again; this was a lot harder than before. By the time he reached
his tenth and final rep, Katie could tell that he had just about reached his
limit. When he was done, he sagged back down onto the bench and rubbed his
shoulder. Katie marked down the results as they moved to the next machine.

This process was repeated over and over again on ten different machines, some
for his arms and shoulders, some for his legs and two for his core. When he
was finished, John's shirt was soaked with sweat, his arms and legs felt like
wet noodles, and he stood there praying to god that they were not going over
to the free weights.

Katie laughed, as if she could read his thoughts. "Don't worry you're done for
now, you're not ready yet for the free weights. You did really well for your
first time and I have all the information I need. Tomorrow you have the day
off to rest and recover; we'll start for real on Thursday. Go in and shower,
I'm going back to my dorm, I have some work to do. See you in class tomorrow."

John stood in the shower letting the hot water soothe his tired body. Inside
he beamed with pride. He had done it, his first day of exercise. He had
survived and, best of all, Katie said he had done well.

'I just hope this doesn't kill me.'

After his shower, he dressed and made his way back to his dorm room. Eddie,
his roommate, just laughed as John mumbled hello and crawled into bed and
passed out. Katie, on the other hand was busy late into the night. She set up
four month exercise program for John to follow. She set it up in an excel
worksheet and attached it to an e-mail which she sent to Joan.

"Hi Joan,

How's everything going? Got any new clients? You should be swamped now that
people are trying to lose weight after the holidays.

You remember that good-looking guy I was telling you about. He shocked me
tonight; asking me to help him work out, to put on a little muscle and get him
into shape. He wants to work out with me.

I put together a program, can you look it over and make any corrections or
comments that you think are appropriate.

Thanks.

Love, Katie"

It took less than a half an hour for Joan to reply with her comments.

"Hi Katie,

Everything is great here. I picked up ten new clients so far this year. About
half of them will be gone in less than two months once they realize the amount
of work they have to put in to look as good as we do. (LOL) Oh well, I still
have my day job.

I looked over your program; I made a couple of minor changes (marked in red),
other than that everything looks good. Are you sure this is a guy? At five
seven, 135 lbs I'm not so sure. I just hope you don't kill him. (LOL)

Stay in touch

Love, Joan."

Katie laughed when she read Joan's reply and couldn't resist one last reply of
her own.

"Joan,

Thanks a lot for your help.

Yes, I'm sure he's a guy. Last semester I picked him up and held him in a bear
hug until I thought he would pass out. The reason I held him for so long was
because I could feel his cock growing through his pants and I wanted to see
how big it was. Let's just say that I think I found out where at least five of
those 135 pounds was hiding. (LOL).

Good Night.

Katie"

John opened his eyes the next morning, realized he had to pee, and tried to
get out of bed. That's when he found out that every muscle in his body, other
than those in his face, was stiff and sore. He hobbled over to the bathroom,
dropped his underwear, and relieved his bladder.

'That was a mistake; how am I going to pick them back up?'

He didn't; he just kicked them over to the corner and shuffled back out to his
bed. John reached over to his dresser, got a clean pair of briefs and, with a
deep breath, reached down and pulled them up.

It took him almost ten minutes to fully dress himself.

'Oh God, this is only after the first day, which according to Katie was just a
light workout. How am I ever going to survive this? Is she really worth this?'

He knew the answer was yes -- and more.

He picked up his books for his first three classes and hobbled down the
stairs. As he exited the building, there was Katie, two containers of coffee
in her hands.

She laughed when she saw him walk over to her, the pain he was experiencing
etched on his face.

"Don't worry, you'll get over it. It only feels like this for the first couple
of workouts, then your body will get used to it. Here's some Advil and some
coffee. Let's go, we don't want to be late."

Walking a little more slowly than normal, they made their way to their first
class. Once again this semester they were in three classes together, all of
which were scheduled this morning. The Advil helped and, by the end of their
third class, he felt almost back to normal.

'She's been doing this almost every day since she was fifteen years old. No
wonder she looks like she does,' he thought, his mind wandering back to that
first night that he saw her in the gym.

Chapter 8

Katie had problems of her own. It was now time for her to earn her
scholarship. She attended her first mandatory meeting for all potential
players for the upcoming season that evening. The practice schedule was handed
out, as well as the upcoming season's schedule.

"For you first years, please note that practices are scheduled for all day
Saturday and, before the season, on Tuesdays and Fridays from 2:00 to 5:00.
It's up to you to attend these practices and maintain your academics as well.
The varsity squad will be cut down to fifteen by February 15, the day before
our first game. Any questions?"

As she walked back to her dorm, Katie thought, 'Welcome to the world of the
student athlete. This sure is nothing like high school. I guess there's no
such thing as a free ride. I'm going to have to work my ass off to pull this
off and I'm going to need John's help more than ever.'

As they had previously planned, John and Katie met in the SU. Over coffee,
they compared her class schedule to her practice schedule and the season
schedule. Thanks to the luck of the draw, she would only miss one class on
Friday and no classes on Tuesday. Since most of the games were scheduled on
Saturdays, it appeared that, for the most part if she made the team, she would
have minimal disruptions to her school work.

"Katie, I can take notes for you in Western Civ and we can review them on
Sunday, don't worry about that. If you find that our working out together
takes up too much time, I'll just stop."

"Not a chance buddy. You're not going to get off that easy. You wanted to work
out to improve that body of yours and I'm not going to be your excuse to stop
even before you start. We have a standing date, every Monday, Wednesday and
Friday at 8:00; and don't make me come looking for you."

Friday evening they met for dinner at 5:30, ate, hung around until 7:45 and
walked over to the gym.

After changing they started out on the treadmill to loosen up, John walking
for a mile, and Katie running for two. Then it was over to the circuit
machines. On first machine, the lat pull, they alternated, John starting out
at 40 lbs. for ten reps. He got up and let Katie have her turn. He stood there
stunned as she did twelve reps at one hundred forty pounds -- the entire stack
of weights. Before she got up she reached down and reset the load to his forty
and moved off the seat.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Sorry."

He sat down and did his next set. As he reached his tenth rep he had to press
out that final rep.

"Good"

He got up and watched as she repeated her twelve reps, her back and shoulders
expanding to their maximum.

'Good Lord! Look at her; she looks like she could keep it up all night. I am
such a wimp. I can barely do forty pounds. She could probably break me in two
if she wanted. I'd better not ever get her mad at me.'

"Alright, one more set, John; push it as far as you can."

John got as far as eight reps, and then he got half way on the ninth. His arms
failed and he was forced to stand to ease the weights back down.

"Good job, John."

Katie took her turn and completed her twelve reps with no problem.

They went around the complete circuit the same way. By the time they reached
the end, John was exhausted and felt totally humiliated by his performance.

"John, why the long face? You did great tonight."

"Katie, I feel so inadequate compared to you."

"I told you before, you can't judge yourself by me; I've been doing this for
over four years, you've been doing it for one day. Besides, I think you'd
better get used to the fact that I will always be bigger and stronger than
you. Don't you see we are built differently; no matter how much you try, your
body is not going to build enough muscle to be as strong as me. It's not your
fault, it's in your genes. I guess you got the brains from your parents and I
got the brawn from mine. Now get yourself into the shower; I have about a half
an hour more work to do on the free weights. See you tomorrow."

Somewhat appeased, John headed for the shower. Afterwards, as he was leaving
the locker room, he glanced over at the free weights, looking for Katie. He
spotted her on the bench press. There was a guy there standing behind the
bench, his hands under the bar as Katie pushed the bar up until she could
re-rack the weight. The guy's shirt was so tight around his arms and his chest
that John was sure that it would ripe to shreds if he even took a deep breath.
His arms looked to be bigger than John's thighs.

"Great job Katie, he heard him say to her; 235 is a new personal best."

John turned and walked out of the gym. 'How can I ever hope to compete with
him for her love?'

He never heard the rest of the conversation.

"I saw you working out with that guy before. You were working him pretty hard.
Who is he?"

"That's John. He doesn't know it yet but he's going to be my boyfriend. I
really like him a lot; I'm trying to help him get over his insecurity about
being smaller than me. Are you going to be at practice tomorrow?"

"No, they don't use the strength coach for women's softball; but they should.
I'll bet they reconsider that decision once they see you on the field and at
bat."

"Thanks, Larry, and thanks for spotting for me. I don't get to try for
personal bests very often. I won't do it unless I have a spotter."

"No problem. Good night."

John awoke the next morning with a splitting headache, in addition to every
muscle in his body complaining about being overworked. Three Advil took care
of the physical pain, but did nothing for his broken heart. He knew he
shouldn't feel that way, after all he and Katie weren't really involved
romantically with one another. She had said that he was her best friend. What
hurt was that he wanted it to be so much more and now she was involved with
that muscle-bound guy from the gym. What happened to "Brains and Brawn?"

He looked over at the clock; eight fifteen. 'Shit, I promised Katie I would
meet her downstairs at eight thirty and go watch her practice.'

He got up, and as fast as he could, got dressed, splashed some water on his
face, combed his hair and ran downstairs. Outside, Katie was sitting on the
stone wall, dressed in sweats and sneakers, her gym bag by her side. She was
sipping on her morning coffee; a second container sat next to her. As she
handed him the coffee, he tried his best to be upbeat, but failed. Katie
noticed his mood, but chalked it up to the early hour and his sore body.

They walked in silence across the campus to the smallest of three athletic
stadiums that had been constructed on or near the campus. Women's softball is
big at the University of Arizona. Not as popular as football or men's
basketball, but it plays an important in student life. Every year the
University fields an excellent team. They have finished first in their
conference many times, and only UCLA has won more World Series Championships
than UA.

This practice was very important to Katie. If she did well today she would be
noticed by the coaches and that would be an important first step in making the
team. If she did exceptionally well, maybe she could win a position on the
starting team. It all depended on what she did today.

That was the reason John was there. She was his best friend as well and he
just couldn't let her down.

When they entered the field area, John looked into her eyes and gave her a
kiss on the cheek and whispered in her ear, "Good luck, Brawn. Go get 'em,"
and took a seat ten rows up behind the third base dugout. Katie went into the
dugout, switched from sneakers to cleats and, carrying her glove, walked over
to the group of other women standing around waiting for the coaches to arrive.
They didn't have long to wait.

Promptly at nine o'clock, the coaches came out onto the field, instructed the
veteran players to take their positions from the prior year. That left about
fifteen women; these were the freshmen or walk-ons, looking to make the team.

"Pitchers and catchers, go with Coach Jones. The rest of you, if you played
ball in high school or last year somewhere else, take your positions along
with the rest of the women."

Katie had always played first base in high school, so she jogged over to first
and introduced herself to the other first baseman, who basically ignored her
extended hand. The coach started hitting balls to the infield. Each player was
given several chances to field at her position. Katie noticed that Donna, the
other first baseman appeared awkward and unsure of herself at the position.
What the coach noticed was that Katie appeared to be completely at ease in the
field; she was light on her feet and provided a bigger target for the other
infielders. Defensively she just looked better.

'I hope she can hit as well as she fields,' the Coach thought to himself.
'We'll see this afternoon.'

The whole morning was devoted to fielding practice, the Coach yelling out
instructions and teaching the players how to play their positions at the
college level. Many of the newer women had never been taught the finer points
of the game; they had gotten by on their athleticism alone. It was up to the
coaches to mold them into college level players.

At the lunch break, the coaches reviewed their notes. Each player was graded
and ranked. The players sat around munching on protein bars and fruit and
drinking bottles of water. Some of the women talked among themselves. The
veterans mostly sat together, viewing the newer players as threats to their
places on the team.

After the break, the coach sent one player out to each position, the rest
would start off batting practice. The veteran pitcher was instructed to throw
at three quarter speed. This was to give the coaches an idea as to how each
player could hit. Katie, being a first year player, was third in the batting
order.

The Coach started batting practice with a quick little speech.

"Some people think that hitting a softball is easy, they haven't seen fast
pitch softball. The pitcher works from a pitching rubber forty three feet from
home plate and delivers the pitch with a circular swing of her arm as she
steps towards the batter. At that distance, the ball reaches the batter in a
hurry. The batter has a fraction of a second to see the ball and swing her bat
in order to make contact with the ball. To give you some idea of the how hard
that can be, the average fast pitch speed at the collegiate level is about 63
mph; that equates to an major league baseball pitcher who at 60 feet and
throws at about one hundred mph. A number of years ago, an exhibition game was
arranged between an all-star team of professional baseball players and a
touring softball team called 'The King and his Court'. After four innings the
game was called off, because the baseball players were too embarrassed to
continue. It seemed that only one player, Rod Carew, was even able to foul a
pitch off. So, don't be discouraged if you have trouble hitting at this
level."

When it was Katie's turn to hit, she grabbed a bat and walked confidently up
to the plate. The first several pitches she missed completely. She hadn't
swung a bat in over six months and was a little rusty. John sat there
helpless; worried for Katie's sake. The next couple of pitches she fouled off;
she was beginning to get her timing back. On the tenth pitch she saw she drove
the ball deep over the left field fence. With each swing after that she hit
the ball hard, including two more over the fence. After twenty pitches, Coach
called for the next batter.

He called her over, asked what her name was and said,

"Great job up there, you looked really good, even when you were missing your
arms were extended and your head was still. You looked like a hitter. I want
you to go out to first base and tell Donna to come in and hit."

As Katie stood out near first base she could see Coach talking to Donna and
she did not look happy. After everyone had had a chance to hit, Coach called
Katie back to the hit again. He walked out to the mound and spoke with his
pitcher. He returned to the dugout and shouted out to Katie,

"Get ready they're going to come in faster now."

Katie fouled off the first three pitches, she was a little behind each one.
Determined to do better she swung hard at the next pitch and drove it into
center field. The next three pitches she lined to the left fielder, and the
next three over the left field fence.

"OK that's enough; come on in."

As the pitcher passed Katie she smiled and walked up to the Coach and said
with a laugh, "You sure know how to take the wind out of someone's sails, I'm
glad she's on our team."

Donna just looked at her with a scowl on her face, threw her glove into the
dugout and sat at the end of the bench.

"Hi, I'm Maria. I'm the captain of the team; great job out there. Don't worry
about her," nodding her head in Donna's direction. "She'll get over it, she's
just upset that she's no longer the only power hitter on the team. I'm sure
Coach is going to move her back to the outfield, where she played two years
ago. And once she realizes that, with you hitting behind her the opposing
teams won't be able to pitch around her and she'll get a lot more at bats. If
Connie our third baseman can hit the way she did last year, they won't be able
to pitch around you, either. We've always been good defensibly, now we'll have
real power in the middle of the order. Believe me, nothing will make Donna
happier than to win the World Series in Oklahoma this year, her final year in
school."

"OK everybody, good work out there today. See you at 2:00 on Tuesday."

Katie changed into her sneakers, grabbed her bag and walked over towards the
stands. As she did, she glanced over her shoulder and saw a heated
conversation taking place between Donna and Maria. She reached the first row
of seats just about the same time that John did.

"You did great today, Katie. I'm sure you'll make the starting team."

Katie threw her arm over John's shoulder and started to walk towards the exit.
She felt John flinch ever so slightly as she did.

"What's wrong, John? Are you still sore from our workout?"

But she could see from the look on his face that something else was troubling
him.

She pulled him back over to the stands and forced him to sit next to her.

"Alright, what's wrong? Something's bothering you; out with it."

John took a deep breath, steadied himself, and confronted her.

"I saw you last night, after our workout, talking with that big guy. He was
flirting with you and I suddenly realized that I could never interest you the
way someone like him can. I know we're good friends, but I hoped that it could
be more than that."

Katie was dumbfounded, 'what's he talking about?' and then she remembered.

"You're talking about Larry. Silly, he's the strength coach for the football
and wrestling teams. I asked him to spot for me last night so I could attempt
to beat my personal best on the bench press. He wasn't flirting with me;
besides, he's happily married and has a couple of kids and must be at least
thirty years old."

She waited for that to sink in and then asked him the really important
question as far as she was concerned.

"Were you serious about what you said about wanting our relationship to be
more than just as friends?"

"Yes."

"Well, all you had to do was ask me to go out with you. I've been waiting for
you to kiss me for over a month. I was beginning to think you no longer found
me attractive."

Now it was John's turn to be dumbfounded.

"Really?"

This time when he kissed her it wasn't on the cheek.

After a minute or two, Katie got up, pulled John up onto his feet. "Come on
boyfriend, I have to go back to my room; I really need a shower."

Chapter 9

The spring semester seemed to fly by. Katie not only made the team as a
freshman, she became the starting first-baseman. Maria had been right; once
Donna realized that having Katie in the batting order behind her was the best
thing that could happen, they won their conference title and also won the
Collegiate World Series in Oklahoma.

John made college life look easy. Once again he was well on his way to another
4.0 grade point average. He also found time to help Katie in her studies and
maintained his workout schedule, which was beginning to pay dividends as well.
He would never be mistaken for a world-class body builder, but when he stood
naked in front of a mirror, he no longer looked like a small child. His chest
had filled out, his abs were visible, and his arms were more defined.

What was also developing was the romance between Katie and John. The more they
saw of each other, the more they realized how right they were for one another.
They were like a wooden circle that had been cut down the middle with a jig
saw. Not in a straight line, but cut randomly, leaving two unequal pieces,
each with parts of different widths that separately looked odd and ill-formed,
but when placed side by side fit perfectly together. Brains and Brawn
complemented each other's strengths and compensated for one another's
weaknesses. They both knew it; they were soul-mates and began planning their
lives together.

Katie decided to major in business management, with an emphasis in
entrepreneurship; she planned on being her own boss. She had the
determination, the self confidence, and the drive to make it in the business
world. They decided that it would be best for John to accelerate his college
education. In his desired field, advanced degrees in physics and mathematics
were essential. The plan was for John to increase his course load by one per
semester and take classes during the breaks between semesters, so he could
graduate in three years and begin his master's program. After exams, John and
Katie decided it was time that they met each other's parents. They traveled
home with John's mom. Katie stayed for dinner that night and later John drove
her home and spent some time talking with her mom before driving home.

The next morning at breakfast John waited for his parents' opinion of Katie.

"Well, what did you think of her?" asked John when he could no longer stand
the silence. Both his parents had solemn looks on their faces; then when they
couldn't hold it in any longer, burst out laughing.

"We're sorry, John, we're just teasing you, we both think she's wonderful; you
make a good-looking couple."

"I'm glad you approve of her, because someday she's going to be my wife. We've
been talking about it, we're going to get engaged for Christmas, and will
probably get married next summer."

"Whoa, why the rush? You're both still young and still in school," his Dad
said.

"Dad, we've been together practically every day since we started school. Mom,
you remember what you said to me back in high school when I had broken up with
Debbie; you said when I met the right girl for me I'd know. Katie is the right
girl."

A similar conversation was happening at Katie's house.

"You're not pregnant are you?"

Katie knew why her mother was concerned; she had once asked about her mom
about her father. In response, Margaret had shown her a copy of her birth
certificate pointing to the line where her father's name would have been.

"I'm not proud of that, but I thought you should know."

'No Mom, I'm not pregnant. In fact, we've never been together like that. We
both feel that we can wait until we're married, which is one reason why we
want to get married next summer."

"What about school? Where would you live? What are you going to do for money?"

"We already looked into moving in together once we're married. The school has
several dorm buildings that accommodate married students. As to school, we
both intend to complete our undergraduate degrees. I'll finish in four years;
John will finish in three and start on his masters degree, which he may be
able to complete a short time after I graduate. After that, I plan to either
start my own business or at least get a job, with the intent to go out on my
own as soon as possible. John will continue his schooling at UA for his
doctorate, while either teaching and/or doing research for the space program.
As to money, we'll both still have our scholarships for the next two years at
least. After that, we'll have to see. John still has money available to him
from his parents for his education, and maybe we'll get part time jobs until I
graduate. Don't worry we'll do what we have to in order to make it work."

"I just want the best for you."

"Mom, he is the best for me."

"I can see that you love each other, and he is really cute. As long as you
think you can make it work and his parents approve, you have my blessings. I
will always be here for you. One more thing: I think you had better get
yourself on the pill, just to be on the safe side. You will have plenty of
time to start a family after you graduate."

Katie and John spent a glorious week together. They spent some time at each
other's houses, getting to know each other better. Katie introduced John to
Joan and the three of them worked out together. In the gym Katie and Joan put
on a show for him, each trying to out-do the other. By the time they finished,
John had to excuse himself, retreating to the locker room, barely able to keep
his substantial erection in his shorts.

"Girl, I don't know how you can keep your hands off him," said Joan. "He's
enough to almost turn me straight."

"You just keep *your* hands off him; he's all mine."

They were still laughing when John returned, red-faced, but temporarily
relieved. Katie and John said their goodbyes and jogged back to Katie's house,
showered (separately of course) and settled in for the evening. John slept on
the couch that night. The next morning after breakfast, Katie drove him back
to his parent's house. John retrieved his laundry, said his goodbyes to his
mom and dad, and they headed back to school.

"I'm going to miss you, you sure you can't stay with me; I'll have the room
all to myself? I promise to be good."

"I know you'll be good, but who's going to stop me from having my way with
you," laughed Katie. "Besides, I have to go to work tomorrow. I start my
waitress job at the Shannon Rose, remember? You just concentrate on your
classes, call me when you can, and don't forget to work out. The session will
be over before you know it."

It was tough cramming two courses into the intersession. John spent all
morning in one class, all afternoon in the other, and his evenings and
weekends in the library, after which he worked out as he promised he would.
All his hard work paid off because, by the time he started his second year, he
already had thirty six credits towards graduation and had maintained a 4.0
GPA.

Katie was equally busy on her end, working as many hours as she could,
volunteering for extra shifts, and doing what she had to do to increase her
tips. Prompt service, a friendly smile, and a flirtation here and there all
allowed her to accumulate over $4,000 by the end of the summer. She made
friends with the owners and picked their brains for the best ways to run a
business like theirs. One other thing she did learn was the benefits that come
with a good education. After graduation, the only position that she would take
in the food and beverage industry would be that of an owner; waitressing was
far too much work for the money she made.

Chapter 10

The fall semester seemed to be over before they knew it. As planned, John had
purchased an engagement ring with money he invested years ago. It wasn't the
largest or most expensive ring available, but when she received it that
Christmas Eve Katie knew that she would treasure it always. They planned the
wedding for the end of May, after school ended for the year, after any post
season softball tournaments, and before the start of the summer classes.

Their lives continued at a hectic pace. John was taking six courses again this
semester, helping Katie with her studies and working out three nights a week.
Katie started softball practice recognized as one of the stars of the team.
With John's help she was able to bring up her GPA to a respectable 3.0, and
had increased her time in the gym to six nights a week. She helped John on
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and did her serious workouts on Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday.

Right after midterm exams, John noticed that she seemed to be a little moody.

"Katie, what's wrong, you seem unhappy?"

"I am a little frustrated, that's all. The season started out OK, but with
Donna graduating, teams are beginning to pitch around me more and more. I know
we're still winning, but I feel like I'm not doing my share."

John knew that Katie was partially right because he always attended all of the
games they played at home and it was true that she was being walked or forced
to swing at pitches she would normally not.

"Katie, you can't think of it that way. You get on base more than any other
player on the team and you've scored the most runs as a result of the players
behind you doing their jobs. Everyone knows it and appreciates your abilities.
You have to let others get the glory for the good of the team."

With that he took her in his arms, squeezed tightly and, with a lot of effort,
lifted her off the ground and spun around, kissing her passionately.

"I see my man is feeling strong these days," she said, giggling like a young
school girl. "Just remember who the Brawn in this relationship is."

She suddenly grabbed him under the arm pits, and almost effortlessly lifted
his one hundred and fifty plus pounds until her arms were straight and his
head was touching the ceiling. Katie held him that way for a few minutes. She
knew her strength was exciting him; she could feel his erection throbbing
against her chest. The thought that she was turning him on excited her as
well; she couldn't wait for the semester to end and the next phase of their
lives to begin.

After their finals, John and Katie left school and returned to their
respective homes. They were very anxious to get on with the wedding. Katie's
mother had done most of the planning, with the help of John's parents. Because
both families were small and John and Katie did not have a lot of friends,
they had planned an intimate wedding to be held a luxurious resort in
Scottsdale, followed by dinner attended by the family and friends. Joan was
going to be the Maid of Honor and John's dad was his Best Man.

As John stood in the front of the room, and watched Katie escorted up the isle
by Margaret, he felt that he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth.
This beautiful, sexy woman was going to be his bride. After a short ceremony
they turned towards one another and exchanged pledges of love and fidelity.
They each placed a wedding band on the other's ring finger, and the minister
pronounced them husband and wife.

"You may now kiss the bride."

Their passionate kiss was anything but chaste; a prelude of things to come.

The dinner was spectacular. Toasts were made, speeches were given, and
everyone shared stories about the newlyweds. The staff brought out a small
wedding cake which the John and Katie dutifully cut and fed to each other.
Coffee was served and the guests each received a generous portion of the cake.
One by one the guests and family members said their goodbyes to the newlyweds
and their parents. Katie and John walked their parents out to lobby, thanking
them for making it such a memorable evening.

John's father handed him a key and with a Cheshire cat grin said, "Have fun,
you two;" for which he received a punch in the arm from his wife and Katie's
mom.

"John, don't forget that you have to get back to school by Wednesday morning,"
said his Mom with a wink and they turned and headed out the door.

Katie took John by the arm and headed down the hall towards their room.

"Come on; I've waited two years for this night and I won't wait another second
longer."

When they reached the door to their suite, John pulled the key from his pocket
and unlocked the door. He stepped back and said, "I believe it's traditional
for the groom to carry his bride across the threshold."

Before he could react, Katie reached down behind his legs with one arm and
behind his back with the other and laughed, "I think you already know that I
am anything but traditional," she replied as she entered the suite carrying
her husband.

Once inside she put him down, placed the 'do not disturb' sign on the outside
door knob, and taking John by the hand led him towards the bedroom. The bridal
suite had a sunken whirlpool tub, which was already filled with steaming water
and bubbles; and, even though neither of them had turned twenty one, a chilled
bottle of champagne sat in a bucket of ice next to the tub. In the bedroom,
the king-sized bed had been turned down, a chocolate kiss on each pillow. A
note from Katie's Mom lay on the bed.

'You'll find your bathing suits and a change of clothes in the closet. I'll be
over about noon tomorrow to pick up your wedding dress and John's tux. Just
leave anything you want me to bring home in the living room.

Love you both,

Mom'

"Let's leave the hot tub for later," Katie whispered, as she kicked off her
shoes.

John walked up to her and gently pulled her head down to his as he tenderly
kissed her lips. Then stepping back, turned her around and slowly pulled down
the zipper on her simple, but elegant white bridal dress. The dress had been
his mother's, which she was honored to have Katie borrow. The zipper traveled
down her entire back ending a few inches below her waist. John wanted to
unwrap his bride like a treasured Christmas gift, slowly and carefully. He
planted little kisses on her shoulders and down her back as she allowed the
dress to cascade off her shoulders and settle at her feet. He marveled at the
contrast of soft, smooth nearly flawless skin and broad, powerful shoulders
and back. She was naked except for the pale blue thong underwear that did
nothing to cover her magnificent muscular butt. She stepped over her dress and
turned to face him, her hands sliding up under the inside of his jacket
caressing his chest. He shrugged his shoulders and the jacket fell to the
floor. Her hands shook as she fumbled with the buttons of his shirt and
removed his tie. John kicked off his dress shoes as Katie tugged on his belt
and loosened his pants, which fell to floor and Katie practically ripped his
undershirt as she tugged it up over his head.

"Hmmmm, my man has developed quite nicely," she said as she caressed his arms
and chest. "All that hard work in the gym has really paid off. There's one
more part of your body that I've been dying to examine for the last two years
ever since that first week of school when I saw you watching me work out from
across the room."

John stood there at the foot of the bed as Katie slowly fell to her knees
before him. She helped him step out of his pants and pulled off his socks,
with a playful little smile, she looked up into his eyes as she planted little
kisses on the mound covered by his briefs. He stood there shaking with desire
as she moved her hands up the outsides of his legs and, upon reaching the
waistband of his briefs, slowly pulled them down releasing the object of her
desire.

It was Katie's turn to be awe struck. She had expected that he was big, but
she never dreamed that he would be this big. There, inches from her face,
protruding from his trim body, was the most beautiful piece of man-flesh that
she could ever have imagined. It was long and thick and pulsated with the beat
of his heart. Its head was dark red, damp with pre-cum, and seemed to be
staring right at her. Momentarily, her self confidence was shaken. Could she
handle something this big? She wasn't a virgin, but it had been nearly three
years since she had lost her virginity and that guy was nowhere near as big as
John. She reached out with both hands and held it feeling its heat, the
softness of the skin, and the hardness of the shaft. She moved closer and
planted a kiss on the exposed head as she slowly moved her hands back and
forth.

"Katie, please. I'm so close if you don't stop I'm going to explode," John
moaned as she continued to drive him out of his mind with desire.

Katie had no intention of stopping, she released her hands, opened her mouth
and engulfed the head as she grabbed his ass and worked his cock in and out.

"Oh god, oh god, I can't hold it any longer. Oh Katie, I love you!"

It was music to Katie's ears as she felt his cock swell in her mouth and erupt
inside, shooting his cum into her mouth and down her throat. She held him
tightly as she felt his legs tremble. The pleasure she received knowing that
she had pleased her man, triggered her own small orgasm, a prelude of things
to come.

When John recovered he opened his eyes and reached down to help Katie to her
feet. They kissed passionately, their tongues dueling for supremacy, as he
guided them onto the bed. When she was on her back in the center of the bed,
he broke the kiss and whispered, "That was wonderful, my love. Now it's my
turn."

He slid slowly down her body, kissing her neck and her shoulders, stopping to
admire her breasts; full, nearly round half spheres topped with dark pink
nipples fully erect about a quarter inch long. He ran his tongue around first
one, then the other, using his teeth to gently bite each one as he alternated
between sucking first one then the other. Her moans were music to his ears as
he felt her arch her back off the bed forcing more of her breasts into his
mouth. Her hands guided his head as he continued his journey down her body. He
was only too happy to comply as she parted her legs offering herself to him.
He hesitated slightly, pausing to admire her. Her lips were full, her clit
peeking out from its hood; she was wet with desire and her scent was
intoxicating. She whimpered as he teased her, gently blowing on her clit and
lightly licking her up one side and down the other, carefully avoiding direct
stimulation of her clit.

"John... please, please hurry," was all she said as he took her clit between
his lips and ran circles around it with his tongue.

"Oh my god, yes that's it. Yes... yes."

Her body arched off the bed, her hands held his head tightly, as her orgasm
traveled up her body and exploded in her brain. Her body shook and her
breathing became erratic as wave after wave of pleasure racked her body.
Finally, just when she thought she could no longer stand it, John released her
and she collapsed back onto the bed. Pleased with himself that he was able to
return the pleasure she had given him, John crawled back up her body, laying
next to her and kissing her gently on the lips.

"Oh John, that was wonderful. Let me rest for a minute, OK?"

A minute turned into a half hour as they both closed their eyes and relaxed in
each other's arms.

John was awoken from a beautiful dream by a hand gently caressing his
hardening cock.

"I see you're almost ready again," Katie said as she pushed him gently but
firmly over onto his back. She threw her leg over his body and took his hands
into hers. She looked down into his eyes, smiled and slowly began to rub
herself up and down his erection. She leaned over offering first one, then the
other of her extended nipples for him to suck on. When she felt she had him in
just the right position, she pushed down on his cock, which slowly began to
disappear into her body.

"Oooo, so good, so good. Easy, don't move... let me get used to that monster
of yours."

Slowly she began to move up and down, each time taking a little more in, until
she had all of it. She sat up, closed her eyes and reveled in the feelings
that were emanating from her body. She pulled his hands up to her breasts, he
needed no encouraging and immediately began to squeeze her breasts and pull
gently on her nipples. Her head tilted back, her eyes were shut and her mouth
opened in a silent scream as her orgasm hit her. Her hips moved faster and
faster as she moved up and down John's cock, her clit rubbing along its entire
length. John could feel her pussy pulsating as if trying to swallow him whole.
He arched his hips off the bed in an effort to stuff even more of himself into
her, then with a guttural moan he came, feeling like she was turning him
inside out. Katie came again as she felt him cum within her, then when she
regained control she eased herself down onto the mattress next to her man;
smiled and resting her head on his shoulder and fell asleep.

They were still coupled, when she felt his cock involuntarily starting to
twitch, to begin to grow once again. He opened his eyes as she pulled herself
off of him, his cock slipping out of her with a soft pop.

"It seems my man hasn't had enough yet. I think we should see if the hot tub
is running. I could use a glass of that Champagne."

She helped him off the bed and they walked out of the bedroom and into the
tub, which was still running. The hot water felt wonderful as they eased into
it. John reached over and after a little effort popped the cork, poured a
glass for each of them and handing her a glass proposed a toast;

"To the love of my life; the woman who fills my heart with joy, who is my
guiding light and my strength."

They sipped from each other's glass, and as they eased back into the water,
John added one last comment, "And who's trying to kill me with sex."

Katie laughed, then replied, "If you think that was something, wait until I
start playing rough. Besides, Champagne always makes me horny; I think you
better rest up for round two."

The next morning, John woke up first; he got up on one elbow and gazed down of
his beautiful sleeping wife. He smiled to himself as he remembered the
previous evening. They had indeed gone on to round two after finishing the
Champagne. In fact, after falling asleep in each other's arms once again, he
awoke sometime later to sensations of Katie trying to coax one more erection
out of his well-worn cock. His mind was saying no but his body had different
ideas and soon she had him ready for action. This time, he started out on top,
his cock plunging in and out of her as she urged him on. His stamina was
beginning fade, when at the last minute she turned them over, still coupled,
and rode him hard until she sat up, expanded her chest and flexed her biceps
as she milked the last of his cum from his overworked balls.

She collapsed onto the bed next to him, completely worn out but fully sated
and whispered, "I love you, John; good night."

The honeymoon lasted three days. Three glorious days sitting poolside in the
shade, away from the blistering sun in the late spring heat, taking occasional
dips in the pool, recharging their batteries for the night of passion that
awaited them.

But all good things must come to an end, and on Tuesday morning they checked
out of the resort and drove first to his parents house, where he picked up
some clean clothes, and then to her mother's place.

There they gathered together the items that they would need for the fall
semester. John kissed his mother-in-law goodbye and Katie drove them south to
Tucson.

When they arrived John checked in and received his key for his new dorm room.
It was located in a small co-ed building. It was a double occupancy room, but
this being the summer break, he would be the only occupant. They re-arranged
the furniture, moving the single beds together; they used the king-size sheets
that they brought from home as well as a king-sized blanket for their bed. The
two small desks were moved together one wall. Katie was thankful that the room
had its own small bathroom with a shower stall and a toilet. The sink was
outside the bathroom next to the small walk-in closet. The entrance to the
room was located on the outside wall. It was just perfect; this would be their
first apartment.

They had made an arrangement with the Dean of Students; they would be able to
live together in the dorm, which would normally be restricted to students of
the same sex, as long as they didn't disturb the other students. The school
was bending the rules for them for two reasons. First, Katie was a star
athlete and they wanted to keep her happy. The second and more important
reason as far as the Dean was concerned, was the fact that John was seen as a
rising star in the fields of Physics and Astronomy; both department heads
wanted him in their post graduate and doctoral programs. When they had the
room just they wanted it, they walked across the nearly deserted campus to the
SU and had a quiet dinner together.

"Katie, it seems like we're always saying good bye. Can't you stay a couple of
more nights?"

"John, you know I want to, but I can't; I promised Tim that I would start
Wednesday afternoon. He wants me to work with him this summer, serving the bar
and learning the business. He thinks of me as the daughter he never had. I
can't let him down. Besides this education is going to be just as important as
my business degree will be for our future."

"I know, but the last few days and nights have been heaven on earth for me,
and it's going to be lonely here without you."

"We have one more night together; why are we sitting here talking?"

They practically ran across campus back to their dorm building, up the outside
stair case to the third floor and into their room. Their clothing landed
everywhere as they raced to get naked and jump into bed. Their love making was
intense; their sexual desire for each other seemed to have no end. It was
after midnight when they finally settled into each other's arms and slept.

John, as usual, was up first. He took a quick shower, dressed, and made a pot
of coffee. Katie woke to the smell of fresh brewed coffee. He brought her a
cup; she sat up still naked from the night before, and took a sip.

"Breakfast in bed; I could get used to this."

John watched her drink,

'God, she is beautiful! How did I ever get so lucky to have a woman like her
love me?'

"I could get used to serving you like this if you promise to always dress just
the way you are."

He could feel the blood flowing into his growing erection; how he wanted to
jump back into bed. But looking at the clock, he knew he didn't have the time;
he had a class in twenty minutes. He leaned over and took her cup, placing it
on one of the desks, and kissed her... a long lingering kiss.

Reluctantly he broke the kiss and said, "I have to go, I have less than twenty
minutes to get to class. I'm going to miss you; call me when you get home
tonight after work. I love you."

"I love you, too. Don't forget to keep up with your workouts. Just because
you're a married man doesn't mean that you can allow that young stud body of
yours go to pot. I'll call you after work."

Chapter 11

After John left for class, Katie got out of bed, cleaned up the room, took her
shower, dressed, and drove north to her mom's house. When she got there the
house was empty and her mom was already at work. She changed into her Shannon
Rose work tee-shirt, the green one which was a little tighter than she
normally wore, and drove across town arriving there a little before the lunch
crowd.

"Katie, it's good to see you again," said Tim O'Shea the majority owner of the
tavern. "Like I promised you last time, you're going to work the bar this
summer. I'm going to teach you all about the business. You won't be able to
tend bar until next year when you turn 21, but I show you what you'll need to
know."

Tim gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I swear, every time I see you
you're a little bigger and a little more solid than you were before; maybe I
should hire you as a bouncer instead of a waitress. And what's this?"

He held her left hand and smiled.

"You got married? I assume the lucky guy is that John you were telling me
about. Congratulations, my dear. There are going to be a lot of broken hearts
sitting at this bar when they spot that ring on your finger."

Over the next two and a half months, Katie learned the bar business from the
inside. She waited on the patrons that sat at the bar and ate their lunch, and
on the half dozen tables around the perimeter of the bar room. When the lunch
crowd thinned out, Tim showed her how to make the standard drinks that made up
about ninety-five percent of the bar sales. It was pretty simple really. Most
of the guys drank beers and/or shots; the women mostly drank wine or beer.
Then there were the more exotic drinks. Because they were in Arizona,
margaritas were fairly popular, as well as martinis for the business men and
women.

But her real education came between three and four, when the bar was almost
empty and Tim would tell her how he ran his business.

"Katie, the most important lesson that I can teach you is this; never, ever
cheat a customer. There's plenty of markup in the liquor, wine, and beer
sales; you always want a customer to feel like he's getting his money's worth.
The next thing you have to remember is that this is a cash business. Less now
than in the good old days, but there is still plenty of cash that goes across
the bar every day. Cash is hard to ignore, especially for those who really
need it. That's why I have those security cameras in the ceiling over the bar
and the dining room. Everyone assumes that it's for watching the patrons, and
that's true in a way, but the real purpose is to keep my employees and my
partners honest. In the back of their minds they know that Tim is always
watching. There's only one person that pockets any cash around here and that's
me. I take care of my partners but I keep control of the amount of cash that
never hits the register. You can't be a pig in this business. The tax people
can get access to your alcohol purchase records, and with that they have a
pretty good idea what your sales volume should be. If you're a pig and take
too much, you end up in the slaughterhouse. I keep two sets of books: one for
the tax people to see, the other stays in my head. I know how many sales
dollars were never recorded and can calculate my real gross profit at almost
any time. That's the way I can tell if my employees are stealing or being
careless, either way it costs me money."

Katie stored these pearls of wisdom away. They would be just as valuable to
her as her formal education, maybe more so.

The summer went by quickly; it wasn't all work for Katie. She would meet Joan
later in the evening after her shift; they would push each other hard and had
a real competition between them to see who was the stronger of the two. Katie
usually won, but Joan was never far behind.

Her strength provided a break from the daily grind of her job. Whenever Tim
ran short of clean glasses, he would ask Katie to get a clean rack. The
patrons, especially the men, would notice the bulges of her arms as she
carried thirty or more beer mugs out from the kitchen or when they need a
couple of cases of beer for the bar, Katie would bring them up from the cellar
in one trip.

One day a couple of the regulars were watching as she brought up two cases of
beer. One guy commented rather loudly that he didn't think she was very
strong. Tim overheard the two arguing and asked them if they wanted to find
out how strong she really was.

He put a ten-spot down on the bar and said, "Show me the color of your money;
put up or shut up. For each bet placed I'll match it. I propose a little arm
wrestling contest; winner takes all."

He walked over to Katie and whispered, "Take it easy on him; make it look
close. I don't want to scare them off; this could be good money for the both
of us."

When Katie and Tim walked back to the other side of the bar, there were ten
ten-dollar bills lined up on the bar and a guy about thirty-five years old had
his arm on the bar waiting for her. Katie smiled at him and placed her arm on
the bar, trying to make her arm look smaller than his.

Tim yelled, "Ready... go!"

Katie allowed her arm to be moved back towards the bar a little, than held it
steady. Anyone could see that now her bicep looked huge compared to before;
but they were all too busy rooting for her opponent. She slowly started to
bring her arm back into the upright position and then, after glancing over at
Tim for his approval, began to push his arm down until finally she had it down
on the bar.

"Sorry gentlemen, better luck next time."

Tim grabbed the money off the bar, took back his bet and kept three of the
bills, putting them in his pocket, the rest he handed to Katie. He refilled
the glass of the loser of the contest, turned to Katie, smiled and walked over
to the other side of the bar.

Later after they had gone, Tim told her, "I wouldn't be surprised if that
becomes a regular feature around here. I'll supply the money, you supply the
brawn and we'll both make a pretty good amount of tax-free money."

For the last couple weeks before she went back to school, Katie arm wrestled
two sometimes three times a day. She took on all comers, and by the end of her
last shift she had made an extra eleven hundred dollars.

"Katie, I hate to see you go. It's been a lot of fun having you here this
summer. Give me a call when you have your break; I definitely want you back.
Now, go back to that husband of yours and don't kill him."

Although she had gone back to school every couple of weeks for a night when
she couldn't stand not seeing him, she couldn't wait another second. She raced
home, changed out of her work clothes and, after saying goodbye to her mom,
headed down to John in order to surprise him.

The drive to Tucson took about three hours. She parked the car and ran the two
blocks from the parking garage to the dorm. She bounded up the stairs and then
quietly inserted her key and opened the door. She expected to find the room
dark and John asleep in the bed. When she entered the room, she could hear the
water running in the shower. Peeking in the open door she could see John's
silhouette in the frosted glass of the shower stall.

'This is even better than I hoped for,' she thought as she quickly stripped
out of her clothes and crept into the bathroom. She waited for him to get his
head under the shower stream so he wouldn't hear her open the door and slip
inside. There was barely enough room for her to stand behind him, avoiding all
contact with his body.

Suddenly, she threw one arm around his chest and the other over his hip
grabbing hold of his flaccid cock she held him tightly as she whispered in her
sexiest voice, "Did you miss me, Lover-boy?"

John screamed with fright and would have collapsed to the floor if it was for
her powerful hold around his chest.

"Are you crazy, you practically gave me a heart attack," he yelled as the
water sprayed into his face and cascaded down his chest. Katie just held him
tightly to her chest all the time whispering in his ear and fondling his
growing erection.

"I sorry I scared you," Katie said through her laughter. "Do you forgive me,
or should I just leave now?"

She loosened her grip on him just enough for him to spin around in her arms.

"Don't even think about opening that door," he replied as he forced her back
against the shower wall and began kissing her, as his left hand came up to her
breast and his right searched out the wetness between her legs. Soon he was
completely hard and, as her leg moved up around his hip allowing him better
access, he entered her. This was not making love, this was pure animalistic
sex. It had been nearly three weeks since they had been together and both of
them were horny as hell. Katie felt the throbbing of his cock as John shot his
cum into her. That was the trigger that sent her over the edge. She held him
tightly and felt her body tremble as wave after wave of pleasure washed over
her.

"Welcome home, Darling," he said as he turned her around so that she could
stand under the shower head. He reached behind her grabbed the shampoo bottle
and lathered her hair. She felt as if she had died and gone to heaven; no one
had washed her hair in a long, long time and certainly not while she was being
poked in the butt by a rejuvenating cock. After he had rinsed the shampoo out
of her hair, he put some conditioner on her head. Then he grabbed the soap,
lathered up his hands and started to wash her body, his hands paying a lot of
attention to her breasts. She arched her back and, opening her legs, trapped
the thing that had been poking her butt between her thighs. She felt that she
could remain in this position forever.

Reluctantly, she said, "Why don't you get out, dry off, and let me finish.
I'll join you in bed in a few minutes."

Chapter 12

Three days later they began their third year of school. They soon fell back
into their usual routine of early classes, studying, and working out. This
year it was different: they no longer had to go their separate ways at night.
The love-making was always fantastic, but it was more than sex, it was the
afterglow. Being able to hold your lover in your arms, to fall into a peaceful
sleep, with no time restraints until the following morning, was wonderful.

Katie loved being in school. She loved the whole college experience; the
independence, the responsibilities, the dorm life, all of it was enhanced by
having John at her side to experience it with her. She loved the new dorm
building. It was small with only sixty-three rooms, which made becoming
socially involved with your neighbors a lot easier. In their building they
were seen as sort of celebrities; they were married, living together and
attending classes.

One day Katie was approached by two girls from the building who asked her if
she had ever thought of rushing a sorority. They explained that their sorority
was Chi Omega. The girls were honest to her in their sales pitch:

"We're not rated the highest, but we believe we are the best. Most sites rate
the sororities based upon looks, popularity, classiness and social life. We
like to think more along the lines of involvement, sisterhood and academics.
Why don't you come over to the house this weekend; we're having a rush party.
Come and meet some of the sisters."

When Katie got back to their room, John was sitting at his desk, highlighting
some passages in one of his textbooks. He was so focused on what he was doing
that he didn't hear her come in and walk up behind him. He jumped as she
placed her hands on his shoulders. She laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

"I guess I'm going to have to knock whenever I come in from now on."

"I was just talking to a Sally and Jenna from on the second floor; they asked
me to stop over at their sorority house on Saturday night, they're having a
rush party. I think I'm going to go. I'm not saying that I'm going to rush
their house, but I want to find out more about them, meet some of the sisters
and maybe develop some contacts which will be beneficial for our future."

John looked up at her with a quizzical look.

"John, if I'm going to go into business for myself someday, I'm going to have
to have a large circle of contacts, especially in the area. It couldn't hurt."

"I guess," John said, returning to his reading.

This was one area in which they were as different as night and day. John was
not a people person. He was more comfortable living in his world of academics
than meeting and socializing with new people. It was not that he was
antisocial, he just had trouble making small talk; his was the world of math
and physics, the theoretical world. It was why he agreed with Katie that he
should accelerate his advancement towards his ultimate goal of getting his
doctoral? degree. The sooner he could finish his undergraduate and master's
work, the sooner he could start his research work.

Katie shrugged and retrieved her Management of Business textbook, kicked off
her sneakers and fell onto the bed. She had a chapter to read before her class
tomorrow. As she read, she tried to apply the information in the book to
situations she had encountered at work. The more she read, the more she
realized how smart a businessman Tim O'Shea was.

After a half an hour John closed his book and turned to look at Katie; she was
still hard at work. He thought about before and how wrapped up he was in his
studying, realizing that he had basically ignored her. He knew that she was
the best thing that could ever happen to him and that he should never forget
that. He eased himself onto the bed behind her and gently rubbed her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I guess I was just too wrapped up in my world to listen to things
that you considered important in yours. Let's talk about it."

Katie closed her book, rolled onto her back and started to talk.

"John, the more I think about it the more I like the idea of opening up an
Irish Pub here in Tucson. I've checked around; there is not one Irish Pub in
the entire area. The closest one is the one where I work during the break. Tim
is teaching me all about the business. He's been doing it for over thirty
years, so I think he knows what he's talking about. I asked him what he
thought of the idea of opening up a pub here. He said he was too old to do it
again, but he thought it was a good idea. We would need to get a good location
near the main part of the campus. It will take a good deal of money to get
started; but if we can get a business loan, and maybe some grant money, I
think it could be done. I could work for Tim while you finish school, then
once you have your masters you could get a teaching post here and do your
research for your doctorate."

"Katie, that would mean living apart again; I'm not sure I could take being
stuck here all by myself for months at a time. I would miss you too much."

"That's sweet, John, really sweet, but I could work my schedule so I can be
home a couple of nights a week. Tim and I stumbled on a way to make some
additional money so I don't have to work as many hours. I never told you: this
past break, I started arm wrestling the guys at the bar. I get seventy percent
of the winnings; Tim gets the rest because he covers the bets. I made over
$1,100 so far."

John could feel his cock throbbing in his pants. He was getting really turned
on by the mental picture of his wife's powerful arms forcing down the arm of
some loud overconfident guy at the bar. Katie could feel it too.

"Hold that thought for later, stud," she said with a laugh. "We have to get
something to eat and workout before we can play. If you're really good later,
maybe I'll give you a free demonstration."

Chapter 13

Katie and John were busier than ever. Katie pledged Chi Omega and although she
didn't like some of the crap she had to put up with as a pledge she stuck with
it, bonding with the rest of the girls in her pledge class and the sisters of
the sorority. Her social life was beginning to have an effect on her academic
performance, which meant that John had to spend more time helping her study.
Most of his day consisted of class time, studying for his exams, and helping
her. In his 'spare time' John worked out and had his meals. The best time of
day for the both of them was the time that they spent in bed, making love or
just cuddling, until fatigue got the upper hand and they fell into a peaceful
sleep.

Before they knew it, it was exam time again. After their last exams, they
packed some things into Katie's car and drove to her mom's, dropped off some
laundry to do later, and headed over to see John's parents.

They stayed for dinner and left about at about ten, returning to her mom's
place. Margaret greeted them at the door and hugged them both saying, "I have
your room all ready; I assume you'll both be staying here for the holidays.
Let's have coffee and we can talk."

It was a wonderful relaxing week; a time to decompress. They alternated
between the two houses spending time and sharing their experiences. Two days
after Christmas, Katie returned to work and John was getting restless; he
wanted to go back to school. Because the pub was busier than normal, with kids
returning from college and snowbirds returning to the Valley of the Sun, Tim
asked her to work twelve hour shifts. Since she was now twenty-one, Tim had
Katie working the bar much of the time while he looked on, helping her learn
the proper way to draw a perfect pint of Guinness, or how to mix the various
cocktails of the day. She was loving every minute of it, flirting with the
customers and learning the finer points of bartending. The money was great,
but that left John home alone most of time. Katie felt bad about leaving him
and, after she came home from her shift, she took a quick shower and crawled
naked into bed.

"Shhhh, we have to be quiet, we don't want to wake up my mom," she whispered
in his ear. She started at his mouth, moved to his neck and made her way down
his body, kissing, licking and biting as she went. Her ultimate goal was clear
and John trembled with anticipation and desire. Her hands tugged at his
briefs, until his blood-engorged cock sprang into view. She was always amazed
that such a relatively small guy could have such a magnificent cock. She took
it into her hands and began to run her tongue around the still exposed head.
John let out a soft moan. She could feel him trying to lift his hips off the
bed in an attempt to get more into her mouth.

"Patience my dear, this is only the beginning."

She continued to tease its head with her tongue, occasionally pulling back,
while stroking its length.

When she sensed that he was close to cumming she grabbed the head firmly until
the moment was past, and then started over again. Katie did this several
times; each time the interval between crises grew shorter until she sensed
that he was near the point of no return. Now she reversed her position and,
throwing her leg over his chest, presented to him her dripping pussy. Crazed
with desire, he pulled her down so he could attack her clit, while she
engulfed his cock. The result was like two runaway freight trains colliding;
each felt the climax of the other, their cries muffled by the other's body,
each receiving the juices of the other.

Katie was the first to recover; cleaning his now deflating member, reversed
herself and began to lick his face like a cat cleaning the milk covered faces
of its kittens.

"I'm sorry I had to leave you all alone again today; I hope you're not mad at
me?"

How could he ever get mad at her? He cuddled up behind her and held her tight
as she rolled over onto her side and fell asleep.

The next morning he woke up early, crept out of bed, dressed and walked out to
the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Margaret came out of her room about
twenty minutes later dressed and ready for work.

"Good morning, Mom; can I get you a cup of coffee?"

"That would be wonderful," she replied. "It's not often that I have a cup
before I leave for work. I usually just stop on the way and pick up a cup at
the McDonald's drive-in."

He poured her a cup and sat back down, knowing that she took her coffee as he
did: black, no sugar.

After sitting for a few minutes in silence, Margaret said, "I heard you two
last night; I woke up with the sound of the shower and had trouble falling
back to sleep."

John could feel his face getting red.

"Don't be embarrassed John, I think it's wonderful that she's found someone
who truly makes her happy. You two make such a cute couple. I think you're
perfect for one another. I just wish I had found someone like you when I was
your age."

It slipped out before he could stop it: "What about Katie's father?"

"I guess Katie never told you, I never really knew who her father was." She
told him the story that she had made up so long ago and had repeated in her
head so many times that even she had begun to believe it was true.

"There was a party, I got drunk and woke up the next day in some no-tell,
motel, alone. Katie was conceived that night. I never knew who the father
was."

Embarrassed and feeling sorry for her, John sat there listening in silence,
until she was finished.

"I never met my birth parents, I was adopted."

"See you both have something in common, neither of you know who your father
was," she said trying to lighten the mood.

He didn't want to contradict her so he never mentioned the fact that he knew
the names of both of his birth parents or the story behind his adoption.

"Well, I have to get going; I don't want to be late for work. Thanks for the
coffee and especially for being such a wonderful son-in-law."

After she left, John poured himself a second cup and went out to the living
room to watch the morning news. At nine o'clock he shut off the TV and looked
in on Katie. She was still asleep but must have been restless because she had
kicked off the blanket; her glorious body was totally exposed. John, the
memory of the prior evening still fresh in his mind, undressed and crawled
onto the bed.

'Payback is wonderful,' he thought as he gently licked along the edges of her
exposed pussy; occasionally blowing on her extending clit. He looked up at her
face; she was making the cute little faces and whimpering noises she always
made when she was approaching her climax. John returned his attention to what
he was doing; he could see her juices dripping out of her and could feel her
hips slowly gyrating.

Quickly he got into position over her, taking care not to wake her; and
positioned his cock between her lips. Slowly he entered her; all of his weight
was supported by his arms and legs. He began moving slowly in and out, with
long even strokes. Her breathing became more erratic and she became flush.
John froze, buried deep inside her, as he felt the tiny contractions of her
orgasm begin. Her eyes suddenly opened, a look of total confusion on her face
until her conscious mind caught up with the sensations that her body was
sending to her brain. John renewed his movements as Katie grabbed him behind
the head and mashed their lips together in a passionate kiss. He felt her legs
cross over the backs of his thighs forcing him down on her urging him on.

"Harder; faster, that's it. Oh God, yes, I've missed this so much."

She screamed as her second orgasm rush through her body, and John exploded
within her.

When they both recovered she said, "Please tell me my mom is already at work."

John nodded, "when she left and I saw you lying here I figured I'd wake you up
so you could get ready for work."

"Hmmmm, that was a wonderful way to wake up, a lot better than our alarm
clock."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Chapter 14

New Year's Eve was one of the pub's busiest nights. John would have been alone
that night, because Katie had to work, so she convinced him that he should
come to work with her. He could see first-hand what she did and how much she
enjoyed it. John had never been to an Irish Pub before. In fact, he had never
been to any type of bar before. He sat on the last stool, at the far end of
the bar, and watched as Katie worked the bar. He could tell that she was in
her element, doing what she loved to do. She laughed and talked with the
customers as she hustled their orders. It was a little slow during the day,
but the bar began to fill up around four o'clock. Tim stayed with her until
six, when his two partners came in to take over for the evening. They each
took a side of the bar; Katie took the side that John was sitting at. Because
John was not much of a drinker, she would give him a pint of beer, which he
nursed as long as possible; when he needed a refill she would give him a glass
of water or diet soda. Over the course of her twelve hour shift he probably
had six beers in all. He spent a lot of time in the bathroom. In between drink
orders she would walk over by him and talk about how she loved what she was
doing.

Sometime around ten o'clock, one of the regulars that had been there for about
an hour or so, called out to Katie as he propped him arm onto the bar,

"Katie O'Hara get over here. I challenge you to a test of strength and I have
twenty bucks that says I can beat you."

Katie tried to ignore him, figuring that it was the alcohol talking. But the
longer she ignored him the louder he got. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders,
walked up to him and coupled her hand in his. She looked at the bar, there
must have been close to three hundred dollars in bets in front of the patrons,
who were all sure that they couldn't lose. Tim had already gone home for the
evening so it was up to her to make good on the bets if she lost.

John watched as Katie prepared for the contest; worried that her challenger
appeared to be bigger than she was, but also excited that he was going to be a
witness to the event. Almost mesmerized by all the shouting, John got out of
his seat and walked around until he was able to look into her eyes.

The other bartender came over and started them with, "All set; go!

Katie's arm swelled as the contest began. Neither contestant appeared to be
gaining an advantage. John could see the smile on her face as she stared into
the eyes of her opponent. After a minute of the stalemate, Katie looked up
into John's eyes. She could tell by the expression on his face that that he
was aroused by the action. She gave him a wink, blew him a kiss, and -- slowly
at first -- proceeded to gain the advantage. The crowd was shouting
encouragement to her opponent, but it would be of no help. With a final burst
of strength, she slammed his hand down onto the bar. She gathered the money
from the bar and walked back to the corner were John was just returning to his
seat.

"That was awesome," he whispered in a lustful tone." When does your shift
end?"

"Just after midnight," she replied as she handed the cash to him. "Watch this
for me."

As the countdown began, Katie made her way over to John's corner and as
everybody yelled "Happy New Year" she held his head in her hands and gave him
a very passionate kiss. When she finally broke the kiss she whispered in his
ear,

"I'll be wanting a lot more of that tonight, kind sir."

She told her fellow bartenders that she would be leaving in a few minutes and
announced to her patrons that this was her last call for the evening. The
crowd seemed to thin out almost immediately, only the serious partiers
remained. She scooped up her tips from the bar and retrieved the rest from her
tip mug under the bar.

"Good Night all, and Happy New Year," she shouted as she came out from behind
the bar and met John at the door. Arm in arm they walked out to her car.

"I'd better drive," she said as she got behind the wheel.

"I'm fine," John replied.

"I know that, but you drive too slowly. I want to get home before Mom gets
back from her night out."

In less than ten minutes, they were pulling into the complex and ten minutes
after that they were naked in bed. Katie was on top, riding him hard as she
held John's hands over his head and offered her breasts for him to suck.

"You liked that back at the bar, didn't you? It really turns you on knowing
that your wife is so strong."

All John could do was nod his head in reply.

"Well it turns me on as well, knowing that I have the strength to do whatever
I want with this body of yours and that there is nothing that you can do to
stop me."

She increased her pace as her hips pounded down onto his body. Soon they were
both coming hard.

Afterwards, as they lay side by side recovering in the afterglow, Katie
whispered, "I'm sorry if I was a little rough tonight, I didn't hurt you did
I?"

"No you didn't hurt me and there's nothing to be sorry about; I loved every
minute of it."

"Good, I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. Sometimes I just get the urge
to totally dominate you; just knowing that I can makes it that much better for
me. I just want you to know that I love you and that I would never ever do
anything to hurt you."

Just then they heard noise coming from the kitchen; keys rattled as they were
tossed onto the table. They heard footsteps in the hallway as Margaret headed
for her room.

John looked at the clock; it was nearly 1:30 in the morning.

"Your mom must have had a good time tonight."

"It's not what you think. She and a few of her lady friends get together every
New Year's Eve and have a little party, they play cards, get drunk, stay up
until midnight, then stay to clean up. It's only a few blocks from here so she
walked home. It's sad really; she never goes out on a date, she has no male
friends as far as I know. I think, after what happen that night I was
conceived, she just gave up on men altogether."

Katie turned onto her side and John held her tight; it felt so good to hold
her in his arms.

They spent a quiet New Year's Day with John's parents. John said his goodbyes
and they returned to Margaret's house, packed the car, and settled in for the
night. The following morning, they drove back to school and, after checking
in, they returned to their dorm room. Katie stayed for a couple of days, but
the day that John's classes resumed, she drove back to her mom's and returned
to her job. John felt like he was on an emotional rollercoaster; his days were
filled with intellectual stimulation, but his nights were filled with
loneliness, until Katie returned for the start of the spring semester.

Chapter 15

The spring semester, and the summer that followed, were more of the same.
Katie led her team to the conference championship and a second-place finish at
the World Series championship in Oklahoma that year. John completed another
perfect 4.0 semester, and during the summer session completed his
undergraduate degree in Physics with a minor in Astronomy. He was looking
forward to beginning his master's degree program in the fall. Katie continued
her education in tavern management with Tim.

At the insistence of John's parents, they agreed that John would attend
graduation ceremonies the following spring when Katie was scheduled to
graduate. Once again John set his schedule on an accelerated pace, if all went
according to plan he would not only receive his undergraduate degree, but
would also his masters degree at the same time.

Their fourth year in school was much like their third. John spent almost all
of his time attending classes, and studying and writing papers. Katie, on the
other hand, spent more of her time centered around the sorority, attending
classes, but concentrating on those classes which she felt would be on the
most help to her upon graduation. They still found the time to work-out
together three days a week, with Katie spending an additional hour afterwards
on the free weights.

During the spring semester, Katie would get up early on the weekends and would
go out into the area surrounding the main campus for morning runs. She would
run through the streets of Tucson looking for a building that could be used
for an Irish Pub. On one of her runs she found what she was looking for. The
building was located in the business district, approximately two blocks from
the main part of the campus. More importantly however, it was also on a
heavily traveled street. The building itself was a two-story stand alone
structure with three retail shops on the first floor and what appeared to be
apartments on the second. There was plenty of street parking and a parking lot
in the back of the building. The retail space was currently occupied by a
small deli, an insurance agency, and a gift shop. And best of all, there was a
'for sale' sign on the building.

Katie sprinted back to the dorm. She found John just as she left him: sleeping
peacefully in bed. Yanking off the covers, she jumped onto his naked prone
body.

"John, get up! I think I found the perfect building for my Irish Pub; come on
I'll show you!" she said grabbing his hands and pinning him to the bed as he
struggled against his unknown assailant. Slowly he became aware of who was
sitting on top of him and what she was saying to him.

"Katie, that's great, but don't you think I should get dressed first."

"OK, if you insist," she giggled as she began to gyrate her ass onto his
growing erection.

An hour later, after they had showered after making love, they walked across
campus in the direction of the building.

'How are we going to afford to buy a building; neither of us are working full
time,' he thought, but he knew better than to say anything that would be
contrary to anything that she set her mind on.

Soon they were standing in front of the building. It looked like a nice area;
the building looked pretty good from the outside. The question was, where were
they going to get the money?

Katie wrote down the name and number of the real estate agent, and taking John
by the arm, led him back to their dorm.

"John, it would be just perfect for my pub. We could live in one of the four
apartments upstairs. It would be within walking distance of the university for
you. I could run the pub and be there to manage it full time. Once we were
well-established, we could think about moving to our own house somewhere
outside of the city. I'm going to call to find out more information."

John watched as Katie made the call. He watched her expression change from one
of joy to one of total despair as she scribbled down numbers. After ending the
call she looked up at John and said,

"They want a million dollars for the building and a 20% down payment. That
means we would have to come up with at least $400,000; $200,000 for the down
payment and $200,000 to cover the closing costs and renovations to the
building before we could open. Where would we get that kind of money?"

"Well, I have some money put aside in stocks; maybe my parents have some money
put away for my education that we could borrow."

"I could check with my mom; maybe she put aside a college fund that we could
borrow. But I'm sure that we would need a whole lot more than that."

They sat pondering on their dilemma, as Katie started her computer.

"I've got to set up a business plan. We have to find out how much money we can
get our hands on, and how much we are going to need to operate the business
and the building. If we can raise $100,000 ourselves, and $300,000 by
borrowing from third parties, I think we can make it work. Look, the rent on
the four apartments at $1,000 month will pay for the mortgage and the building
costs."

"Four apartments?"

"Yes; we would have to pay rent, too. The pub rent would be used to pay back
the third party loans. The pub would have to do about $10,000 a week gross
before we could see a profit. The work will be hard; I'll have to work seven
days a week at the beginning, but I think we can make this happen.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to go see Tim; he gets in early on Sunday. I'll show him
my numbers and ask him to review my plan. Maybe I can get him to come down one
day next week and take a look at the building. He can tell me if I need to
plan for any additional renovation costs."

She called Tim at the bar and set up a meeting for 9:00 AM the next day, which
meant a very early morning for her. At 6:00 she was on the road heading north
for her appointment. As she drove, the numbers kept rolling around in her
head. She was sure it could be done.

"Katie, my dear, it's good to see you again. Come on in, let's sit over here.
I'll get you a cup of coffee and we can go over this business plan of yours."

For the next hour Tim read her plan, asked a lot of questions, did some
calculations and asked more questions. They finished the pot of coffee and had
started on a second, when Tim pushed back from the table. After a long pause
he began to speak.

"Katie, they've taught you well. Your numbers look good to me. If the building
is in decent shape, I see no problems with your estimates. The only question I
have is about your third party backers. Can you get the money? And, what
happens if you need more?"

"Tim, to be honest with you, I don't know. That's my one area of concern. This
has all happen so quickly that I haven't had time to explore my options as of
yet."

"Katie, I'm really excited for you. I haven't had been this excited since I
bought this place twenty-five years ago. Let me tell you what I can do for
you. You know I'm a widower, with no family here; only a couple of distant
relatives in the old country. I've got more money than I could ever spend, and
some money that no one knows about. Ever since I've met you, I've thought of
you as the daughter that I never had. Why don't we do this? I will be your
third party, your backer. I will supply whatever money you need in order to
set up the pub."

Katie sat there too stunned to speak. Tim was the answer to her prayers.

"This is what we'll do; you know that Thursday is my day off. Why don't I meet
you in Tucson say around 11:00AM; we'll take a look at this building of yours.
If it's as good as you think it is we'll put together an offer. I know several
contractors who are slow right now, who owe me a few favors. We can get them
to give us proposals. I also have an excellent accounting firm that
specializes in the hospitality industry; they can help you set up the business
properly. I also have a great lawyer; he'll do all the legal stuff."

"Tim, I don't know what to say. You've already done so much for me. I've
gotten as much of an education from you as I have from school. Are you sure
about this?"

"My dear, I'm as sure as I have ever been about anything in my life. I will
want one thing in return however."

'Here it comes; I knew it was too good to be true.'

"When the time comes, say in about ten years or so, I want you to buy me and
my partners out. I'm getting too old for this business and I would like to
return to Ireland and live out the rest of my life in the beautiful
countryside of the land of my birth. I know my partners feel the same way I
do, and since they are older than I am and only own 49% of the business, I'm
sure they will have no problem with my plan."

After a moment of silence, during which time she digested all that he was
offering to her, Katie stood, reached over the table and hugged him, showering
him with kisses.

"Easy, Katie, easy. I'm an old man; don't break anything"

"Then it's settled; I will meet you Thursday at 11:00. Call me when you have
the appointment set up with the realtor. Now get out of here; I have work to
do before we can open."

With tears in her eyes she left the bar and drove to her mother's house. After
explaining why she was in Peoria, she explained everything that was going on.
Margaret told her that she had set aside about $25,000 for Katie's education
which she would give her.

"I wish it could be more, but on one income it was the best I could do."

"Mom, don't worry about it you've given me so much already. I'm sorry I can't
stay any longer, but I can't wait to tell John the news."

Three and a half hours later, she was running up the stairs to their dorm
room.

"John, John, you're not going to believe it!" she said as she rushed into the
room.

John was lying on the bed, just beginning to come out of the nap he had been
taking. Katie jumped on the bed and smothered him with kisses.

"Tim is going to back us on the building. He's coming down Thursday to see it.
I can't believe it; this is really going to happen. Even my mom has $25,000
for us."

"That's wonderful Katie; let me tell you my good news. I spoke with my dad
today. You know those stocks that I told you about, my dad told me that their
worth over $100,000. I had no idea. We used to sit together when I was growing
up and play the stock market. I would pick stocks to buy and sell and my

dad would track them for me. I always thought that we were just fooling
around; he never told me that they were real investments."

"John, that's wonderful. With that money, the money my mom has for me, the
money I've been able to save and Tim's money, we should be in good shape. The
only stipulation is that Tim wants me to buy his bar when he's ready to
retire, in about ten years from now."

John looked at her, "Katie, will we be able to do that? If we can, we should
be set for life. We'll have a steady flow of income and with my work here at
the university, we'll never have to worry about money. We can start a family
someday, provide for their education, and plan for our retirement."

"We can start on that family right now if you want?"

"I thought you were on the pill," he said as he slipped off his shorts, his
erection already becoming evident.

"I am," she said as she took off her clothes, "but that doesn't mean we can't
practice."

Thursday morning at eleven, she met Tim and the real estate agent at the
building. After introductions they did a walk though of the building. The
upstairs apartments were reached by a staircase in the back of the building,
which led to a central hallway running from the back to the front; two
apartments were on each side of the hall. The real estate agent let them into
one of the apartments, informing them that they were all the same size and
layout. Katie felt that the apartments were of good size and that she and John
would be more than happy living in one of them.

Tim was more interested in the retail space on the first floor. He noted that
the deli had a small kitchen in the back which would provide the starting
point for the Pub's kitchen. The entire space would have to be gutted and the
load-bearing columns for the second floor would have to stay, but he was sure
that a good architect could work them into the floor plan. Each unit in the
building had a section of the basement directly below it. Once opened to each
other, they would provide more than enough room for storage, walk-in coolers
for the beer kegs, easy access for the tap lines, and space for a prep
kitchen.

"If my niece and I were to put 25% down and we offered the owner his asking
price would he consider holding the mortgage on the building?"

The realtor replied that he didn't know the answer to that, but that he would
find out and get back to him.

They shook hands, Tim gave him his business card, and they parted company.

"Come on Katie, let's go have lunch."

They walked down the block in silence to a small pizzeria and waited for a
table. Katie was dying to know what he thought of the building but held her
questions until they were seated.

"Well, what do you think of it? Will it work? Is it worth the money?"

"Whoa, slow down, Katie. Let's order then we can talk."

They looked over the menu, ordered their lunch, and got down to business.

"Katie, I think the building is just perfect for what you want to do; and
because of the depressed real estate market you're getting it at a great
price. We won't be sure until we get it inspected, but it looks to be in good
shape, it's unusual to have a mixed use building in this area, but I guess the
builder felt that with its proximity to the campus that the apartments would
be a good selling point."

"What was that about my being your niece?"

"Well Katie, even with a sizeable down payment, I think you may have trouble
getting a banker to give you a mortgage because of your age and lack of
business experience. If we can get the owner to take back the paper, we can
avoid the banks altogether. It will be worth the extra money to stay away from
that type of hassle. Besides, I'm sure we can negotiate better terms privately
than with a bank. As to your being my niece, it gives them a lot more comfort
knowing that family is involved"

Over lunch Tim did a quick sketch of a possible floor plan, always asking
Katie for her opinions.

"With the bar in the middle of the floor, set up like mine with three sides...
tall tables here in front along the windows, booths on either side against the
wall... the dining room running along the entire back wall behind the bar from
the kitchen to here, where the restrooms will be, with entrances from the bar
and the dining room... flat screen TVs mounted here, here, and here in the
bar...."

By the time they finished lunch, they had the interior of the Pub all laid
out. Katie gave him a hug and a big kiss and hurried off to find John.

"John, this is really going to work! Tim loved the building; we even did a
preliminary floor plan. I'm so excited! The agent is going to get back to the
Tim, after he confers with his client."

John had never seen Katie so excited and so happy. He was truly happy for her.
Silently, he hoped that there would be room enough in her life for him.

Chapter 16

Four weeks later, Katie graduated with a degree in Business Management; John
graduated with an undergraduate degree and a masters in Physics; and they
became the proud owners of the future home of Katie O'Hara's Irish Pub and
Restaurant. The existing tenants on the first floor were given the option to
be bought out of their leases and, since they each had less than a year to go
before renewal, they all agreed. The tenants on the second floor were all on
month-to-month leases. When Katie explained that she was the new owner and
what she intended to do with the building, they lost all of the four tenants.
This was to be expected and fit into their plans for the future. Katie and
John took over one of the apartments and, after some cosmetic improvements to
the three vacancies, listed them with the university as off-campus housing.

John, for the first time in three years, did not have classes. He spent much
of the summer doing the renovations of the apartments. He impressed Katie with
his ability to install new plumbing and light fixtures.

"Katie, it's not really that hard as long as you can follow instructions. I
will never be as good as a contractor. It takes me twice as long to do
something, but I eventually get it done. I spend a lot of time at the Home
Depot asking questions; talking with the retired contractors, picking their
brains."

By the end of the August, however, John was ready to assume his new role as
instructor, teaching first and second year students in Physics and Astronomy.
He would also begin his classes for his doctoral degree. Due to John's
outstanding undergraduate and post-graduate academic achievements, he was
accepted into a group doing research for a new NASA project. The purpose of
the project was to rendezvous with an asteroid and return to earth with
pristine samples of organic materials. Although he would be so low on totem
pole that he would never receive any outside recognition for his
contributions, it would serve him well in his quest for his Ph.D.

Katie was amazed as to how quickly she was spending the money that Tim had
advanced to them.

"Don't worry about Katie, I've been looking over your budget and you're right
in line. If anything you're actually under budget. I guess that's because of
the recession. The contractors are giving you great prices because they want
to keep their people busy."

"I just don't want to keep coming to you for more money."

"Katie, you only get to do this once, so do it right the first time. When do
you think you will be ready to open?"

"If we don't run into any problems, I'm thinking we will open the doors right
after Labor Day. I was hoping for two weeks earlier but that's not going to
happen."

On the Saturday night before Labor Day, Katie, John and the staff of Katie
O'Hara's hosted a private party for family, and invited friends and their
dates as a final test before their grand opening. Just before the first guests
arrived, Katie stood at the doorway and surveyed all that they had
accomplished. The dark wood of the walls and bar, accented by highly polished
brass rails; the beer taps featuring Guinness, Porterhouse, Harp, Smithwick's
and O'Hara's, along with Sam Adams, Dos Equis and Coors; the center of the
bar, displaying various bottles of Irish and Scotch whiskies and a variety of
other adult beverages; all added to the welcoming atmosphere. Satisfied, she
turned, gave John a big hug and a kiss, and opened the doors.

It was a wonderful trial run. Not that everything went perfectly, it never
does; but those things that didn't were insignificant in nature and quickly
resolved. Towards the end of the night she noticed Tim standing on a stool,
reaching up to one of the wooden beams that crisscrossed the ceiling. He
appeared to be pinning something to the beam.

"I thought this would be a nice touch; I saw it done in a bar in New York.
They're insignia patches from first responders. You can start with these three
and soon you'll have them coming in from all over the country."

Katie looked up at the patches; they were from the Tucson, Peoria, and
Glendale police departments.

"I thought at one point it would be a good thing to put up University logos,
but I nixed that idea when I realized that if the guys from the UA saw
anything from anywhere else up there they would just rip it down."

Tim walked over to her, threw his arms around her and gave her a hug.

"Katie, you've done a wonder job here. You have remembered your lessons well;
the Pub is going to be a huge success. I have to go now. If you ever need
anything all you have to do is ask."

When the crowd had all gone home and the staff had done the lion's share of
the clean up, Katie sent them each home with a full day's pay and a hundred
dollar tip, while John finished up in the kitchen.

"Thank you everyone, I'll see you for the official grand opening on Tuesday."

She locked the front door, turned the lights down so that the bar was lit by
only soft ambient light of the brewers' display signs. When John came out from
the kitchen, he called out to her.

"Katie, are you OK? Where are you?"

"Right here, darling," she said as she slowly prowled out from around the far
side of the bar. "I think it's time that we christened the bar properly."

It took a second or two before John realized that she was completely naked.
Her body was back lit; he could see its curves but no details. It didn't
matter, however; he knew and worshipped every square inch of her gloriously
seductive body.

"Come here, John. Hurry, you're way over dressed and I'm horny as hell."

With little effort she lifted him onto the bar and began undressing him, his
clothing dropping to the floor. When she had him naked, she eased him down
until he was lying flat on the bar with his erection standing straight up.
Although the wood was cold and hard, he was far too excited to care.

"John, tonight was the greatest night of my life; everything I've worked
towards for the last four years came together tonight and I could have done
none of it without you. Thank you for being you and for sharing this with me.
I promise you that I will never let you down and that you will always be
number one in my life. I love you."

She climbed up onto the bar and, straddling his hips, took him deep inside
her; there was no need for foreplay.

"I've needed this all night," she said as she closed her eyes and rode him,
slowly at first, then with increased urgency.

Reaching up he grabbed her breasts, lightly twisting and pulling at her
extended nipples. Katie felt her first orgasm roar through her body; her
grunts and moans were music to his ears. When she came down from her orgasmic
high, she felt him begin to lift his hips slowly up off the bar. Katie tensed
her internal muscles, intensifying John's pleasure. Soon a second, more
powerful climax overpowered her.

"Oh God, I'm cumming again."

John could feel the little tremors, as her pussy clenched around him as he
paused once again.

Finally, when he felt the time was right he put his arms around her neck,
pulled his upper body off the bar, and kissed her deeply. Only his feet were
touching the bar as he once again plunged deeply in and out of her, now for
his pleasure. Soon he could hold off no longer and with a low groan, exploded
within her.

After a few moments of pure bliss, John realized that he was still holding
himself off the bar. He could feel the muscles of her back and shoulders
bulging from holding his additional weight. He knew from experience that she
could hold him like this for a lot longer if she wanted to, but it had been a
long day so he let himself back down onto the bar.

"That was great."

She looked down at him and smiled. "It sure was; just what I needed."

Then looking back up at the windows on the street side of the Pub she laughed
and said, "I hope those blackout windows work like they said, otherwise, we
just put on quite a show for our neighbors."

Chapter 17

"Do you believe it's been ten years already?"

Katie lay in bed next to John; listening to the just barely-audible noise
emanating from the pub below. It felt good to be in bed at a decent hour,
holding the man she adored in her arms, knowing that her new partners were
taking care of the business. At Tim's suggestion she had taken on two
partners, selling them a minority interest in the now highly-successful
business. They both had been long-time employees, one a bartender and the
other the cook. They now owned forty-eight percent of the business and would
be paying her a substantial monthly sum for the next ten years. She had also
negotiated a great deal with Tim and his partners for the purchase of the
Shannon Rose, with Tim once again supplying the funds needed to buy out his
partners.

"Tim, are you sure you are OK with this?"

"Katie, as long as you keep making the payments I'll have all the money I
could ever spend. I'll going to enjoy myself, relaxing on my front porch, in
my favorite rocking chair, overlooking a very peaceful and green valley. I've
had enough of the desert."

John, officially known as John R. Strong, PhD, had cut back on his teaching
and was now deeply involved in several NASA-funded projects. His first NASA
project had evolved from landing a craft on an asteroid in order to get
samples, to landing a craft on an asteroid in order to change its course to
avoid an impact with earth. He was also consulting for a private company that
had contacted him shortly after his paper had been published on the
feasibility of capturing an asteroid for mining purposes.

"Katie, just think of it. Someday we'll be able detour an approaching
asteroid, slow down its speed, and park it in an orbit around the moon. Then
chunks of it can be shuttled to a mining facility on the surface. When we've
removed all the useful minerals from the ore, what is left can be discarded on
the surface or sent back into space."

Coming from anybody else she would have laughed and told them they were
watching too many reruns of Star Trek, but coming from John it made perfect
sense.

Everything in their lives was just about perfect; so you know that's when
something catastrophic was about to happen. They got the news on Sunday
morning. Margaret had been driving home from church the evening before she
still went to the same one she had been going to most of her life. She left
the parking lot from a different exit than she normally did. As she drove down
the street, she realized that she was on the street that passed by the complex
that she used to live in. As she entered the intersection, she saw a car
approaching her from the left.

'He's coming awfully fast; doesn't he realize he has a red light.'

It was later determined that, because of the angle of the sun, he probably
never saw the red light. He hit the driver's side of her car at approximately
forty miles an hour sending her car sideways down the street into the traffic
that was stopped coming from the opposite direction. Margaret was brought to
the same hospital where she still worked, suffering major head trauma and
internal injuries. Word spread quickly throughout the hospital and someone
from personnel was able to get a contact number for her daughter Katie.

When Katie and John entered the ICU, they were given the details of the
accident and Margaret's prognosis.

"She's had an extreme amount of head trauma. I'm not sure she's going to make
it. We've done what we could to alleviate the pressure on her brain, but we
can't tell how much damage has already been done."

"Will she regain consciousness?"

"We won't know until it happens. I wish there was more I could tell you, but
with this type of head injury we never know."

Katie was devastated. She put her head on John's shoulder and started to sob.

"Katie, John, you both can spend the night here in the hospital if you wish.
Your mother is well-loved here and anything we can do for you just ask. If she
makes it through the next 24 hours, she has a chance."

They spent the next two days there at the hospital, checking in with the
nurses for updates on her condition. Tuesday night the Doctor informed them
that they were monitoring brain functions and, although she was not brain
dead, she was in a deep coma.

"Please, you two have to go home get some rest. I don't think she's in any
immediate danger; there is nothing you can do for her now."

They went home, received comforting support from the Pub staff, and got a bit
of sleep. The next morning, Katie insisted that John return to work. She spent
a couple of hours working in the Pub's office, trying to catch up and keep her
mind off her Mom's condition. As soon as Fran, one of her partners came in,
she left the Pub and headed to the hospital. This would be the pattern for the
next thirty days.

Although, Margaret's condition had stabilized, and had even improved to a
point where she was opening her eyes, the doctor told Katie that he was very
concerned that Margaret showed no signs of cognitive functions. He warned that
the longer this went on the less of a chance there was that she would ever
come out of her vegetative state.

"Katie, there's nothing more we can do for her here; we are going to move her
to a long term care facility in Phoenix. I suggest that you encourage family
and friends to visit her often. Outside stimuli is often the only way that we
get through to patients in her condition. Sit by her bedside, stroke her hand,
talk to her, and read to her. It might get her brain functioning more normally
again."

Because of her otherwise excellent health, and her brain's ability to run the
involuntary functions of her body, breathing on her own, her heart working
normally, to everyone who saw her Margaret appeared to be sleeping. Sometimes
her eyes would be open but were focused on nothing, unseeing. She had been
fitted with a feeding tube and was being given the nutrients she needed to
survive.

After several months of taking her normal shift at the Pub and then driving up
to Phoenix every few days to spend the night with her Mom reading to her,
Katie was reaching the point of exhaustion. One evening, after finishing "Gone
with the Wind," Katie just sat on the bed held her hand and talked to her.

"You know Mom, I don't know if I mentioned, John told me a couple of months
ago that he was adopted. He told me that his birth parents were killed at the
same intersection where your accident occurred and that he was taken from his
dying mother's womb. How sad is that?"

If she had been more alert, Katie would have seen the flash of awareness come
to her mother's eyes and the single tear that rolled down her cheek. She could
not, however, have heard the scream that was echoing in the darkness of her
mother's mind,

'Oh my God; what have I done!'

Margaret held on to life for exactly one year after that fateful night. Katie
received a call from the facility shortly after her death.

It was eleven o'clock that night when her mobile phone began to vibrate. Katie
looked at the caller ID and she knew.

"Yes, this is Katie O'Hara. It's over isn't it? How?" There was a long pause
and then Katie said thank you and disconnected the call.

John held her as she let it all come out, all the grief and worry, poured out
of her. When she finally calmed down enough to speak she said.

"They really don't know why, she just seemed to shut down as if someone just
turned her off. It wasn't a heart attack, there was no sign of distress on her
brain monitor. It's as if God said, 'that's enough; you've suffered long
enough, and it's time to come home.'"

Chapter 18

After several months of procrastinating, Katie finally decided that it was
time to clean out her mother's home. The house was neat and clean, well
organized and appeared to be just as she remembered it. The furniture was old,
but still in good shape. She decided not to waste time having an estate sale.
She called in a company that specialized in buying the contents of houses that
were in an estate situation. They gave her a price for the furniture and
appliances and other personal items. Katie knew that the price was low but her
time was worth more than the difference. She excluded certain items that were
keepsakes and agreed to a final clean-out at the end of the week.

She donated her mother's clothing to the Goodwill organization and spent the
last two days going through her desk and file cabinet in her home office. As
with everything else in her life her files were all neat and well organized.
Katie found copies of old tax returns, paid bills, instruction manuals for
items she no longer had, several family photo albums and several files of
financial account records and a box of old bank statements.

Katie had two empty storage boxes with her. Anything that she was going to
keep went into those boxes. Anything that could be thrown out was placed in
the garbage cans. She had just gotten to the last of the desk drawers when the
clean-out company arrived. Not wanting to hold them up, Katie grabbed the last
of the files and a large manila envelope and threw them into the storage
boxes. She'd look through them again when she got home.

She took the storage boxes and several pictures from the walls out to her car.
She watched as, one by one, all of her mother's possessions were loaded into a
truck. Just before they left she inspected the near empty house. They had done
a good job; there was no noticeable damage anywhere. The boss brought her a
check, had her sign a bill of sale, and it was done. She picked up the large
garbage cans from the office and brought them out to the garage, dumping them
into the town's rolling garbage bin and then rolled the bin out to the curb
for pickup. She asked one of the neighbors to roll the bin behind the house;
she would be back next week to get the place ready for sale.

Katie took one last look around, shed a tear, and headed back to Tucson.

Epilog

The house was sold six months later. Because of its size and location they got
a decent price for it. Soon Katie and John settled back into their
anything-but-normal lifestyles. The storage boxes with her mother's personal
effects and papers were put in the basement under the bar and promptly
forgotten. It would be almost ten more years before they would be opened
again.

John came home one afternoon after giving a presentation of his now
highly-prized research on asteroids. As he opened the door to the apartment,
he was greeted by a sight that he never got tired of. Katie was on her hands
and knees, dressed in her workout shorts and a tee shirt, her still shapely
butt swaying back and forth as she reached over to put papers on one of
several piles in front of her.

"Katie O'Hara Strong, you get more beautiful every day."

She turned her head towards him, smiled, shook her butt again and said,

"You'll get to see just how beautiful later, up close and personal. Right now
I'm busy trying to sort through my mother's papers. I don't know what made me
think about them this afternoon; I suddenly remembered that I never did this
after she died."

John could see that the contents of both of the boxes had been emptied out
onto the living room floor and that Katie was throwing most of it back into
one of them. The rest she was placing in piles on the floor in front of her.
She appeared to be almost finished.

"I'm going to open a beer; do you want anything?"

"That sounds good; get me one too, thanks."

John was in the kitchen, looking through the cabinets for something to much
on, when he heard Katie exclaim, "Oh my GOD!" and call out to him.

"John, did you ever put anything into these cartons; any of your old papers?"

"No, of course not. I don't think I've ever seen those boxes before and I
certainly would never have put anything of mine in them."

With a tremor in her voice, she said, "Come here; look at this."

John put the beers down on the floor as he knelt down next to her and looked
at what she was showing him.

"This file was in that envelope from my Mom's desk. When I opened it I found
old newspaper clippings about an auto accident. I started to read one of them
and realized that they were about the accident that killed your birth
parents."

He looked at the yellowed newspaper article and realized that he had seen it
before. Getting up he ran into the office that they shared and, from his file
cabinet, pulled out the old folder that his father had started for him more
than forty years ago.

"Katie, I have my folder right here. Why would your Mom have kept a file about
that accident?"

"John, it gets worse. You never told me that you had an older sister."

"Yeah, they never found her. The police figured that someone reached into the
car and took her out of her car seat before they arrived on the scene."

"John, you still don't get it do you? My mother lived in the apartment complex
right there at the scene of the accident."

"No that's impossible; we've seen your birth certificate, you were born the
same day that I was."

"That wasn't the only thing in the file. Here's a copy of my birth
certificate, and a copy of the application that the hospital sends to the
Bureau of Statistics when registering new births. Look who's signature is on
the application."

John looked but he already knew the answer.

"John, I'm not only your wife; I'm your sister!"

With that she jumped up and ran out the door of the apartment, down the stairs
and onto the street; John in hot pursuit. It was no use trying to catch her;
they had traveled a little more than a mile before Katie disappeared into the
night. The only thing that John could do was to return to the apartment and
wait for her to return.

An hour later John heard a knock at the door. When he opened it, there she
stood, totally exhausted, completely drenched with sweat.

"Come in before you pass out in the hall."

He ran to the kitchen and returned with two bottles of water.

"Here, drink these; get yourself undressed and into the shower. We've got to
get your temperature back down to normal before you go into shock."

"I'm sorry I ran, I had to get away to think."

"Shhh, no talking now. Get in there, I'll bring you some dry clothes."

John stood in the doorway, making sure she made it safely into the shower. He
went to their room, got her a fresh pair of panties, shorts, and a tee shirt,
and placed them on the bathroom vanity and returned to the living room.

After twenty minutes, he heard the water stop and the shower curtain get
pulled back. Ten minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom, slowly walking
towards him, as if, she was unsure of herself and of him.

To John, however, her vulnerability only made her more desirable. At nearly
forty-three years of age she looked as good as she had the first time he had
ever met her. He stood up, closed the distance between them, took her in his
arms, and kissed her tenderly.

When they finally broke their embrace she said, "Oh, John, what are we going
to do; I'm your sister."

John steered her to the sofa and after she sat down, took her hands in his and
knelt at her feet.

"Katie, you are still the same person that I fell head-over-heels in love with
that first day of class; and you're still the same person I woke up next to
this morning. I don't care that by all indications you are my sister. For our
entire lives we have lived as our parents' only children. The rest of society
knows us as man and wife; not by any deception on our parts, but by whom we
are, how we've lived, and what we have done together. I am not about to throw
that away and neither should you."

"But John, suppose somebody learns the truth?"

"How can they; as far as the State of Arizona is concerned, we were born on
the same day, in the same hospital and each had a different mother. The only
way someone could find out is if they had all the information that is in that
file."

"Why do you think she did what she did?"

"I don't know; maybe she desperately needed to have a child and had no hope of
ever having one. Then circumstances presented an opportunity which she took,
never truly realizing what she was doing. I like to think that she took you
out of that car for your own protection, and once she felt you in her arms she
just couldn't help herself. Once she did what she did, there was no turning
back and she had the means to completely hide, in plain sight, what she did."

"It's a good thing she died; never knowing.... Oh John, what have I done?"

John got up and sat next to his crying wife.

"Katie what's the matter."

"One night, I told her the story you told me about how you were adopted. It
was during one of my visits to the nursing home; after I had finished reading
"Gone with the Wind" to her. I just sat there and talked about anything that
popped into my head. You don't suppose she understood do you?"

"There's no way of knowing for sure, but I would think she never even knew you
were there."

They sat there for a while in silence and then John stood up, "Katie, why
don't you go downstairs, get a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses and meet
me on the patio by the chimenia. I have a couple of things I have to do up
here and I'll come down."

Normally Katie would have asked him questions, but not tonight.

Ten minutes later, John joined her on the patio. The sun had been down for
about an hour and the desert air was cool. A light breeze was blowing. John
walked over to the chimenia and prepared a fire. After he got the kindling
burning, he placed several small logs in the fire box. As they caught on fire,
he picked up what looked to Katie like some rolled-up newspaper, placed it in
the center of the fire and closed the door.

He stepped back and took a seat next to her, pouring each of them a glass of
wine.

"Here's to my beautiful wife; the only woman I will ever love."

They touched glasses, took a sip, and settled back in their chairs, watching
the flames dance and the smoke dissipate into the desert night.

The End

Thanks for reading. I hoped you enjoyed it.

Your comments are always welcome.

Submissive Romantic

submissiveromanticone@gmail.com