Chapter 1

What the hell was I doing here? I had asked myself the same question over and over, on the long drive into the city. As I tried to find a park for my Suburban, I couldn't help but notice the youth and vitality on the faces of the hundreds of students all milling around aimlessly. Christ, here I was at 38 joining the student body of a small but well respected University for a late shot at a new start to life. I felt like a dinosaur. 38 isn't old by any stretch of the imagination, but here I was, as nervous as a virgin on her wedding night, terrified by the prospect of spending the next 5 years of my life surrounded by these freshly scrubbed munchkins. What the hell was I doing here?

Finding a park for something as big as the Suburban took a while. I noticed the crowd thinning out as I circled looking for that elusive gap. Damn, I was going to be late for my first lecture. Not a good start to my academic career. Spotting a gap, I wheeled the truck into it and switched off the engine. I sat there for a few moments watching the scurrying students as they frantically wended their way to the doors of the multistorey buildings where for the next 5 years I would try to become a man of letters. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my beaten up old rucksack and moved to join them.

Two minutes later I was standing outside the doors of the building which housed my first lecture hall. I knew this was the building, but had no idea where in the building I was supposed to be. My recon of the day before had been cursory to say the least, and now I was cursing myself for not having done a more thorough examination of the field of battle.

"What the hell am I doing here?" I muttered as I shifted the weight of my pack to a more comfortable spot on my shoulder.

"I ask myself the same thing every semester," came an amused voice from behind me. "I have yet to come up with a good answer."

The first thing that struck me about her was her height. Standing 6'3" myself, I like tall women, and this lady certainly fit the bill. She would have been about 5'11" in what looked like 3-inch heels. Working from the heels up, my eyes encountered a slim but well formed pair of ankles leading into athletic, strong, nicely curved calves, and shapely knees. I could only guess at the shape of her thighs, but from what I could see of their outline beneath the black skirt she was wearing, they would be pretty impressive. Slim hips curve into a narrow waist. Everything between her waist and her wide shoulders was guesswork due to the pile of books and papers she held clasped to her chest. A slim graceful neck led me to her face, framed by a long mane of golden blonde hair. She had a firm jawline, a small pert nose, and full lush pouting lips, enhanced with just a touch of coral lipstick. Her high cheekbones caught and led my fascinated gaze to her eyes. That is where I got stuck.

Ice blue is the only description I can come up with for this woman's eyes. They were the colour of glacier ice in the morning, when the sun first hits it. But for all that they held infinite warmth and humour. They were smiling at me as our gaze locked. The world shrank to the space around us, the air grew hotter and more humid, and I felt like a 15 year old boy facing the object of his desire for the first time.

"You look lost." She said.

"Umm... er... God this is stupid. I'm sorry, I'm looking for lecture hall B32. Could you please point me in the right direction?" I finally managed to spit out.

Her laugh was musical and matched her voice. Low and throaty. "Okay, come on, I'll show you the way. I'm heading that way myself." With that she turned and pushed through the doors into the lecture halls.

I couldn't help it. I couldn't stop what was after all, a perfectly natural male reaction on my part. I checked out her ass.

I have been an ass man all my life, and as such have very high standards. This beauty surpassed my wildest dreams. Her butt was perfection. High, firm and well rounded, her butt swayed hypnotically. I was so busy looking that I walked into the door as it swung shut. Once again cursing my juvenile antics, I yanked open the door and followed her in. She was standing just inside the door, looking back at me with a wry grin on her lovely face.

"You've got to keep an eye on those doors", she said, very tongue in cheek. "They tend to close on you without warning. C'mon Cowboy, let's get you to B32. I'm Carol Ferguson. I teach English Lit."

Oh God... one of my courses was to be English Lit. "Glenn Barrett, and thanks for the help."

"No problem, I was going this way anyway. Here you go." She stopped outside a set of double doors marked B32. "Okay I've got to get going. Have fun and maybe I'll see you in the faculty lounge sometime."

"Thank you again." I managed to blurt out before she turned and walked off down the hall. Again I took advantage of her turned head to watch her magnificent ass as she moved off. Just before she turned the corner at the end of the hall she turned and caught me staring. I was ready. I flipped her what I thought would pass for a cool salute accompanied by a rakish grin. Carol laughed, spun on her heel and disappeared around the corner. I turned and walked through the door to start my academic career.

I walked into chaos. Apparently I wasn't the only one that was late. There was no sign of a lecturer, and the kiddies were making the best of it. Welcome Back Kotter sprang to mind immediately. Everywhere I looked in the 200 seat auditorium, there were kids milling about, singing, dancing, and generally raising hell. Crumpled balls of paper flew every which way. Music blared from a portable CD player with a small speaker set up. What the hell was I doing here?

The dress of the day seemed to be 3⁄4 length cargo pants, hung precariously from hipbones of all shapes, sizes, and colours. Boxer shorts seemed to be the underwear of choice on both sexes as evidenced by the waistbands slung above the waistbands of the cargoes. Tank tops, and t-shirts, all with some clever, bright logo seemed to complete the dress code. Sneakers and hats appeared to be mandatory. Standing there in my faded blue jeans, denim shirt, and cowboy boots, with an old army backpack on my shoulder, I felt as old as Methuselah. Shit this was supposed to be 20th Century Literature. It looked like Rioting and Pillage 101.

And then it all stopped. Kiddies scrambled for seats, missiles stopped flying and a general hush descended on the hall. I slipped into a seat at the back and awaited further developments. It took me a few moments and a couple of puzzled looks from a few of the nearer students to realise that they had me tagged as a lecturer, more specifically their lecturer. Then it hit me. So had Carol. God I couldn't wait to see the look on her face when I rolled up to her class... as a student.

Ten minutes later the lecturer had arrived and I was neck deep in 20th Century Literature. Thoughts of Carol Ferguson were pushed to the back of my mind for the next two hours, as I knuckled down to the business of learning. As I walked out of the building into the sunlight, I thought back on my first lecture with a sense of pride and relief. Pride that I had managed to understand the lecture, and relief that I had done a years preparation before enrolling.

I had an hour and a half before I had my next lecture... English Literature. I decided to go and grab some lunch. Grabbing a sub and a shake at an on campus sandwich bar I headed over to a nearby park and grabbed a seat under an old oak. Opening the sandwich I settled down to do some serious people watching. There was no shortage of subjects, the park slowly filling with students and faculty. I sat quietly, contentedly munching on my sandwich and watching the wildlife.

My thoughts shifted to this afternoon's lecture, and the possibility of having Professor Ferguson as my lecturer. She would be one hell of a distraction but these things are sent to try us, was the thought that whipped through my mind. Closing my eyes I pictured her as I last saw her in the hallway of the lecture building.

Slowly the image in my mind changed. First the pile of books disappeared, and I got to see the firm swell of what looked like a magnificent pair of breasts pushing out the silk of her blouse. Slowly her jacket slid off her lovely shoulders, slipped down her arms and slid to the floor. I could see, in my minds eye, the lacy imprint of her bra through the thin silk of her blouse as her breasts thrust proudly against the material.

Slowly, one by one the buttons of her blouse worked their way through the buttonholes. Soon Carol was standing in front of me; blouse unbuttoned, and pulled out of the waistband of her skirt. The brief glimpses of what lay underneath only served to heighten my desire for this woman. Smooth, firm, tanned skin, only broken by the pure white of her bra, as it cradled her firm breasts. Still she hadn't moved. Her clothing was deserting her of its own volition. As I watched in my imagination, the zip at the side of her skirt slowly slid floorward, and her skirt loosened. It was held in place only by the smooth swell of her hips and the firm roundness of her ass. Then as I watched, the skirt gave up its tenuous hold on her hips and floated down to join her jacket on the floor. Finally I was seeing the legs that had mesmerised me just over two hours earlier. My eyes traced their shape from her ankles, up her gorgeous calves, to her...

THWACK! A searing pain in my forehead snapped me back to reality. My eyes shot open in time to see the Frisbee complete its arc from my head to my lap and onto the grass.

"Shit, sorry man. You okay?" An oversized bundle of cargo pants and T-shirt ambled over to collect the Frisbee.

"Yeah... no harm done man." The kid stopped, picked up his Frisbee, flicked it back to his buddies, and ambled off again after throwing me a weird look. On reaching his friends, they got into a huddle, which resulted in all of them, throwing me a strange look. Puzzled, I checked myself out to see what the attraction was. My puzzlement didn't last long. I had an enormous hard on. Oh shit.

"What the hell am I doing here?" Rearranging myself, I hobbled off toward the lecture halls. I may as well find the hall for my English Lit. lecture. Thankfully the trouser tentage subsided fairly quickly, and in no time I was striding it out down the halls of academia.

Arriving five minutes early, I found a seat as near to the back of the auditorium as possible. I settled in to wait as students started to trickle in the door. By the time Carol walked in the room was full to overflowing. Walking straight to the desk on the small stage at the front of the room, Carol placed her load of books down and removed her jacket. My mind immediately flew back to my fantasy erotic encounter at lunchtime and I once again found myself sporting a raging hard on. She was truly spectacular. God... I had to concentrate. I was paying damned good money to be here, and the aim was to learn as much as possible about English Literature. Then she was into her introductory address and I had no problem concentrating.

She had a style guaranteed to keep her audience riveted. She spoke with passion and wit, and it wasn't long before the class was immersed in the history of English literature. I looked around at the young, bright, shiny faces that surrounded me and saw wonder. This wasn't the easy B+ class they had signed up for to keep their grade point averages up. This was going to be fun. I can honestly say that I thought about her in a sexual way no more than 5 times a minute during the duration of her lecture, and the way she looked, I think I did damned well.

With about ten minutes of lecture time to go, I was head down, furiously scratching out notes. There was a pause from the lovely Professor Ferguson so naturally I looked up... and once again found myself locked in her ice blue gaze. A small smile played at the corners of her mouth, and her eyes sparkled with mirth. This time I managed to keep my cool and shot her what I like to think was a very rakish cheeky grin. I was shocked to see her blush and quickly look away. Interesting reaction, I thought. Regaining her composure quickly, she continued with her lecture. The next ten minutes flew by, but in that time I managed to catch Carols eye on several occasions. The first few times I got the same reaction... she blushed and turned away. Then something changed. The last two times I caught her eye, she stared back in frank appraisal. And something else... I could swear I caught a hint of a challenge in her look. Defiance. Maybe it was just old-fashioned wishful thinking on my part. Anyway by the time the lecture ended I had the same old problem back again. While the multi coloured multitudes swarmed from the lecture hall, I had to sit and wait for the swelling to go down.

I was concentrating on putting my books back in my bag when I felt someone's gaze on me. There she was, jacket back on, and carrying her armload of books once more.

"You had me believing you were on the faculty." She said with a smile.

"No, you just assumed that based on my age I was a member of the faculty. And you know what they say... assumption is the mother of all fu... foul ups." I corrected myself.

She laughed. "Okay then, it was my... foul up," she said with a wicked grin. "So how did you enjoy the lecture? Are you ready to drop the class yet?"

"I think I may be able to sit through one or two more. It will be a painful mission but I think I can stick it out." This bit of wit was rewarded with another laugh, which surprised me, as it was a weak joke at best.

My hard on was gone and I decided to take a chance and stand up. Grabbing my backpack I was ready to go. We both headed for the door in what could be described as a companionable silence. She was finished for the day and the walk to the car park was not long enough for me. We talked about the class, and what was coming up in the next few weeks. I was happy that I had done the preparation that I had. For the first time today I was relaxed.

All too soon we were at my truck, and again I felt like a schoolboy. I wanted to take her in my arms and kiss her goodbye, but logic told me that course of action might not do my grade point average any good.

"Well here we are." She said. She looked as if she was going to say something else, but then she gave a small shake of her head, as if shaking off a dizzy spell, and the moment was gone. "I'll see you in class tomorrow?"

"Wild horses couldn't keep me away." She looked at me speculatively.

"I can see that I am going to have to keep an eye on you," she said. "Just to make sure the transition back to school isn't too difficult of course."

"Of course," I said with a laugh. "And I promise I will do my best to live up to your expectations Professor Ferguson."

"I'm sure you won't disappoint Glenn, and the name is Carol."

"See you tomorrow Carol."

"See you tomorrow Glenn." With that she turned and walked away toward her car. I couldn't help myself, I had to stare at her ass and was busy doing so when she turned and caught me. She knew what I had been staring at, but just threw back her head and laughed, spun on her heel and continued on. I could have sworn there was an extra wiggle in her walk.

With a happy sigh I clambered into my truck and started it up. I sat there for a few moments letting the engine idle as it warmed up, watching the departure of my fellow students, most driving junkers of one sort or another. A smile formed on my lips as I went through the day's events in my head. Not bad first day as first days go. With a shake of my head I dropped the truck into gear and drove out of the parking lot.

The next two weeks were a settling in experience. It took a bit of effort and a lot of patience on my part but soon I had a handle on the rhythm of the place. I could accept the difference in attitude and mindset of the bulk of my younger colleagues. They were free and easy and having the time of their lives. There were the inevitable dropouts and transfers from one class to another. Soon the classes had settled in and a pattern started to emerge in the courses. We had our class comedians, our class brains, our class fuck ups and the inevitable class know-all.

I was still having a few problems adjusting to the study schedule I had set myself but it was getting easier. It was basically a self discipline thing that I was determined to get on top of. I was coping well with the course material in all of my classes... even Carol's.

Carol was true to her word... keeping an eye on me and offering daily tips on course work and study subjects. We were also doing some major flirting. I didn't have any major hope of it going any further than just flirting but I could always dream couldn't I? Three afternoons out of five both weeks I managed to walk her to her car at the end of her day. We would talk as we walked and then she would depart for home and I would head into the office for a few work related things. Mostly my business was self supporting and most of my administrative duties could be performed from home, but I felt better making the trip to the office daily. I was able to have time with my team rather than just pass on work instructions over the phone.

It was Monday of the second week when things changed. Walking Carol to her car was a subdued affair. Usually she was chatty and bubbly but today there appeared to be something on her mind. I wasn't going to push so I just walked, enjoying the companionable silence. Finally she stopped and turned to look at me.

"Glenn, I want to ask you something. It's kind of awkward but it's been on my mind for a couple of days. So I'll just ask... okay?"

"Sounds serious." I said with a quizzical raise of the eyebrow. "Should I be worried?"

"No need to worry... I hope." She said with a nervous laugh. Now she had my attention. "Would you like to have dinner with me sometime? I mean... we can go over the course a bit more thoroughly if you want. It would be a chance to go over the course work... "She was repeating herself and blushing like mad.

I was floored. This goddess was offering me a dinner date.

"I'd love to Carol but what about the teacher student thing? Realise I'm not looking for an out here, I'm just trying to make sure this is not going to get you in trouble."

She gave me a devilish grin and said, "If nobody knows how could I get in trouble? Besides I'm not asking you for your hand in marriage, just to share a meal. I am great with a phone but lousy in the kitchen. I could order in some food and you could bring the wine."

Dinner at her place? Things were going from great to fantastic.

"So you don't cook? I'm sorry but marriage is definitely out. I'd love to have dinner with you Carol. Just name a time and place and I'll be there with bells on."

She grinned again. "How about tomorrow night? Is 7.30 okay with you?"

"I'll have to check my busy social schedule but I think I can swing it."

"Okay then... it's a date. I'll give you directions to my place tomorrow. It's a bit out of the way so I'll draw you a map." We resumed walking to our cars the mood a lot lighter than at the beginning of our trek. Soon we were at my truck and as I clambered in she winked and said, "Til tomorrow big boy." She winked, spun on her heel, and was gone. From my car phone I called the office and said I was going to go straight home. I was too keyed up to go into work tonight. Starting the truck I wheeled out of the parking lot and headed for home.

I didn't get very far. About a mile down the road I spied her. Carol was bent over under the hood of her car, an old Toyota, which was spouting steam like an active volcano. The puddle of water under the cars engine bay attested to the fact that her wheels weren't going anywhere in a hurry.

As I pulled up behind her I managed to catch the tail end of a stream of words that I would be willing to bet I wouldn't hear as part of her lectures.

"That isn't going anywhere," I called as I jumped down from my truck. "Can I offer you a ride?" Judging from her reaction, she can't have heard my approach. With a half scream, half gasp she spun around, managing to bang her elbow on the edge of the hood as she did so.

"Ahh SHIT!" She presented a ludicrous picture, hopping up and down, holding her elbow, steam streaked face shining in the sun. I thought she looked gorgeous. "Damn! Don't sneak up on a girl like that." Then she started to giggle. It was contagious; soon we had tears rolling down our faces.

"Actually I'd love a ride," she said as we calmed down. "I live out on Waterview Rd. though, and that's a fair way out of town."

"I think I can find it." I had moved into a 200 hectare property on Waterview Rd. just two months earlier. After extensive modifications I was finally living in my dream home. Today was getting better and better. "Climb in, I'll grab your books."

Two minutes later we were headed out of town, Stevie Ray Vaughan providing background music for our comfortable silence. I tried my hardest to stay concentrated on my driving, but she provided a hell of a distraction. She sat turned toward me in her seat, her head back against the door pillar providing me with a hell of a view of her magnificent legs. I kept sneaking peeks at her during the drive, and was convinced I was getting away with it. She had her eyes closed and appeared to be dozing, until she shocked me out of my complacency.

"Are you enjoying the view, Mr. Barrett. You know it is quite improper for you to be taking advantage of my relaxed attitude by ogling my legs while I pretend to sleep." She said with mock severity.

"Damn, and I thought I was being the model of subtlety. You have my humble apologies ma'am." I laughed. "Although, may I be so bold as to say that they are the finest specimens of the female leg, currently ogleable."

She groaned theatrically. "Ogleable? God you really do need English classes don't you?" she said with a grin. The rest of the trip passed in comparative silence, each of us making the occasional comment on the day, the scenery, the car, or the music. She was so easy to get on with.

Soon we were turning into Waterview Rd, so named for the view of the lake running along the northern side of the road. The road ran fairly straight for about three miles then took a sharp turn to the left. Carol informed me that her house was just past the bend. My house was at the end of the road, on the same side, but another 5 miles or so past Carol's place. As we neared the bend I was thinking about whether or not to tell her we were neighbours.

"I want to thank you for the ride Glenn. This must be way out of your way. You saved me from a long walk or an expensive taxi ride. I should have ditched the Toyota months ago but I just couldn't bear to part with her. Theresa has sentimental value... or should I say had sentimental value. It looks like I'll have to order the good stuff for dinner tomorrow night. Actually since we are heading there now do you think you might like to have dinner with me tonight?"

"I'm free if you're sure it won't be any trouble. But how the hell do you get deliveries all the way out here?"

It was at this point that we started into the bend just before her house. As we came out of the curve I started to slow the Suburban in preparation for turning into her driveway. All of a sudden, Carol dived forward and across so she was now lying across the centre console with her head in my lap, and her hand gripping the inside of my thigh.

"Oh shit! Keep driving, please keep driving!"

A house that I could only assume was hers had come into view, and she had a visitor. A gleaming new BMW sat in her driveway, and a tall, powerful looking man, was leaning against the driver's door with a face like thunder and his arms folded across his chest. I didn't ask any questions, just slowly accelerated out of the turn and carried on down the road without appearing to pay any attention to Mr BMW. The one glance was enough to tell me a lot about the guy. He had money for one thing. The suit he was wearing was well cut and looked expensive, and the car was a 2001 Z8 with a retail tag of somewhere around the $128,000 mark. He was obviously pissed off about something, as was born out by his facial expression and attitude, and he evidently scared Carol enough to force her face down into my lap.

Not that I was complaining of course. The warmth of her face against my lap was having the same effect as my daydreaming had earlier. I prayed that she wouldn't be offended as my dick thickened and announced its presence against her cheek.

Checking the rearview mirror, I saw him watching as we carried on down the road.

"Stay down. He's watching, and I'd hate to think what his impression would be if he saw your head emerge from my lap. I'll let you know when you can come up."

"You are enjoying this aren't you?" There was a touch of amusement in her voice, along with obvious stress. For some reason this guy really scared her. "Where are we going?"

"I know of a place a bit further down the road. We can go there for a while. Don't worry, he won't be able to get to you. But you do owe me an explanation. Also I apologise for the... umm... reaction... if you know what I mean." What she did next shocked the hell out of me. She slid her hand up my thigh, stopping just short of my engorgement, and slowly, languorously, rubbed her cheek against my throbbing cock. I was so charged up I almost came. As it was I swerved across the road.

"You mean this?" she purred as I regained control of the vehicle. A quick check of the rearview mirror showed me that we were far enough from her house that the swerve probably wouldn't have been detected by Mr BMW.

"Jesus Christ lady... " I bellowed. I received a quick squeeze of the thigh and another rub from her cheek in reply, accompanied by her laugh. "Okay, you can come up now." I told her with some reluctance; I was enjoying this.

"If I must." She responded with an exaggerated sigh. She sat up but was careful to keep herself pretty low in the seat. This had the twin effects of keeping her out of view of Mr BMW if he was still watching, and also hiking her skirt further up her gorgeous thighs. Being only human I looked down and damned near ran off the road again. The crotch of a very lacy pair of pure white panties was visible. They contrasted beautifully with her firm tanned thighs. I wondered if her bra was a match for the panties, and also whether the tan was an all over effort.

"Do you like white?" I looked up into her smiling eyes. She made no attempt to cover herself, which I appreciated no end. This woman was driving me nuts.

"The colour of the wrapping has never been a major factor for me. It's always been the gift inside that has been important. But yes, white looks great on you."

We had reached the end of Waterview Rd. Before us were the gates to my humble abode. Reaching up I pressed the button on one of two remotes attached to the sun visor, and slowed as the gates opened inward. As we drove through they closed behind us, automatically locking again. The driveway was paved and lined with trees providing a nice drive to the house, which was out of view behind a stand of mature oaks.

"Where are we?" Carol asked as we continued up the driveway.

"Somewhere safe." Was all I would say for the moment. She took that like a trooper and again I was impressed by her calm. She had only known me for a matter of a few hours and was displaying a lot of trust in me. Mind you, she had been semi-intimate with my dick. This was a very interesting lady. She reached over and laid her hand on my thigh again letting it lie there possessively. I decided that I liked her. My dick had made that same decision days ago. I was happy that we thought alike.

The house hove into view bringing a murmur of admiration from Carol. It was a sprawling, two story, Colonial with a huge wrap around patio, and decks coming off the main rooms on the second floor. I'd bought the house a year earlier and had expanded the original homestead before moving in. My additions to an already large house had been completed in the same style as the original building. The new wing held an indoor swimming pool, a gym, and a home theatre. A hot tub had been built into the deck outside the library and was covered by a glass conservatory, which was filled with ferns from all over the world. It was my small jungle away from home. Sometimes I liked to read in the hot tub, finding it incredibly relaxing.

Pushing a button on the other remote, I slowed and waited as the garage door slid up and out of the way. I drove in, parked the car and turned off the engine. I got out and walked to the alarm keypad, punched in the deactivation code, and turned to see Carol hopping out of the passenger door. Leaving her books in the Suburban she walked around the truck and over to me, stopping a couple of feet away.

"What is this place?" she asked with a touch of unease in her voice.

"Sanctuary... shall we go inside?" I said opening the door to the house. I walked in ahead of her, and was pleased to here the click of her heels on the tiles of the entranceway as she followed me inside. Walking through to the lounge, I still couldn't bring myself to call it the Great Room, I threw my pack onto the floor in the corner and moved to the wet bar.