Chapter 2

The day dragged on. All Tara could think of was getting through dinner and having her talk with Vince. She was dying to know his story, but she felt he ought to rest first. Again she was oblivious of what she cooked and of what anyone said at dinner, although she was aware of Clyde Simmons’ glances across the table, but it didn’t bother her in the least. She knew how to handle men like him, and if he approached her again, she wouldn’t hesitate to use force against him.

At last dinner was over, the kitchen cleaned up, and Tara fixed a tray of food and took it up to Vince’s room. He was just waking up as she entered.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“A lot better,” said Vince. “Hey, that smells good! I’m starved!”

“So eat,” Tara said, handing him the tray. “I’m going to find you some clean clothes, and then we’ll talk.”

The boy had appeared at the lodge wearing only sneakers, jeans, and a light cotton shirt, hardly suitable clothing for the Canadian woods. Rummaging through a large collection of clothing left by absent-minded guests, Tara found him some heavy leather boots, overalls, and a flannel shirt. She wasn’t gone long, but by the time she returned to his room, Vince had eaten everything on the tray.

“Feel better?” she asked and grinned.

“Oh, yeah!” he said and sighed. “That’s the first decent meal I’ve had in a week!”

Tara sat down on the edge of the bed, full of concern. “Vince, I think it’s time you told me everything—why you’ve come, how you got here. First of all, have you run away?”

The boy blushed and looked uneasy. “Aw, no...”

“Vince.” Her voice was firm but encouraging. “You’d better tell me the truth, so I’ll know what my position is. I’ll do whatever I can for you, but I don’t want to break the law. You can understand that, I hope?”

He hung his head. “Sorry. I guess I was only thinking of myself.” Then he met her eyes again and sighed. “Okay, here goes. My foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Beecher—well, I didn’t know they weren’t my real parents until last week. But I’ve always wished they weren’t. We never got along. I don’t know just what the problem was, maybe they were too old, too set in their ways, when they adopted me. They thought it was going to be great, having a kid, but actually it was a big nuisance for them. I could never please them, they were always nagging at me, and finally I couldn’t take it any more. We had a big fight last week. I said I wished they weren’t my parents, and Mrs. Beecher—well, she lost control and yelled at me that they weren’t my parents, that I was adopted. That suited me fine. I said I’d go to my real parents, if they’d tell me where to find them. Mr. Beecher said they never knew who my father was, but they did know your name. So I just left. I spent a couple days in Seattle trying to find out where you’d gone, and as soon as I knew, I started walking. That’s about it.”

Tara hung her head, fighting back the tears.

What a hideous thing she’d done to this boy! She’d been so sure, twenty years ago, that the Beechers would be good parents to him, and how wrong she’d been! It must have been terrible for Vince, growing up in a home where he wasn’t wanted.

“I’m terribly sorry, Vince,” she said. “The Beechers seemed like nice people when I met them, but I guess one meeting wasn’t enough. I—I just don’t know what to say” Vince looked mournfully at her. “I don’t mind about that,” he said slowly, “I mean, your mistake about the Beechers. They can be nice enough to strangers, they could fool anybody. But why did you give me up in the first place? Why didn’t you want to keep your own kid?”

Tara blushed deeply. She supposed, now that he was here, he should know the whole story, but it was so shameful, so mortifying to her! And was he old enough to understand?

“How old are you now, Vince?” she asked. “Eighteen, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.” Sensing the reason for her hesitation, he said gently, “It’s all right, Mother, you can tell me everything. For instance, I understand that you weren’t married when you had me. I’m not completely ignorant of things like that.”

Tara took a deep breath, then said, “Very, well, Vince, I suppose you have to know sometime. Actually, it’s a very common story, and there isn’t much to tell. I was very young, and I thought I was in love for the first time. So much in love that I was careless. When I got pregnant, my lover—-your father—well, he didn’t want to get married. Looking back on it, I think it was just as well. We would’ve been divorced eventually anyway. In any case, I couldn’t work and support you and still stay home with you. It was impossible. I thought it was better to give you up to a couple, someone who could provide you with a real home. I only wish I’d chosen more wisely.”

They were both silent a moment, and then Vince said bitterly, “Yeah, I understand now, my father ran out on you! The bastard!”

“Now, Vince,” she protested, “don’t be too hard on him! He was very young, too. He had his whole life ahead of him, didn’t want to be tied down...”

“Bullshit,” said Vince. “He was a louse. He didn’t stand by you, didn’t help you when you needed him. The least he could’ve done was give you some money, so you could’ve kept me, but he just cut out, dumped the whole problem on you. That’s pretty crummy.”

Secretly Tara agreed, but she knew it was wise not to reinforce Vince’s hatred of his father. Bitterness might warp his own development. Also she kept silent about another, equally crushing fact, that she hadn’t wanted to be tied down, either. But what would happen now? Would she be tied down with Vince after all? It was out of the question for him to return to the Beechers, who had abused him. But what alternatives did he have? With a sudden shock, Tara realized the truth—that Vince was there to stay. After a twenty-year vacation from motherhood, she was to have a child on her hands after all. For what else could she do?

“Well, Vince,” she said and sighed, “What’s done is done. I don’t want to talk about your father, and I’d rather you didn’t bring the business up again. In fact, I think we should just drop the whole subject of the past, because hashing it over won’t do any good. Let’s start from right now, take it from there. You want to stay with me, I assume?”

Vince looked frightened. “Oh, gee, yeah! I mean, I hope you want me! I don’t have any place else to go!”

Tara hastened to reassure him. “Of course, Vince. It’s a bit of a shock to me, I’m sure you understand, but we’ll make out all right. There’s plenty of room here, and actually you might be a big help to me around the lodge.” She tried to sound encouraging, but all the while her heart was sinking. This was the end of her freedom, the end of her privacy.

“Sure, I could,” Vince said eagerly, “I could do a lot of things—cut wood, haul stuff, help you with repairs. I won’t be in the way, Mother, I promise!”

Tara felt ashamed of herself. The poor kid had nobody in the world but her. He shouldn’t have to apologize for his very existence!

“Okay, then it’s settled,” she said gently. “You’ll stay here. And now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s getting late, and your poor old mother’s exhausted. I have to get up and make breakfast for the guests at seven.”

“Oh, sure!” Vince said hastily. “I could use some more sleep myself. I know I slept all afternoon, but it’s funny, I’m still tired. I feel like I could sleep all night, too.”

“Well, I should think so!” said Tara. She got up and switched off the bedside lamp.

But she hadn’t even reached the door when his voice came, uncertain and a little frightened: “Mother?”

“Yes, Vince?” In the dim moonlight she couldn’t see the expression on his face, but she sensed that he was upset and feeling insecure. “Do you want me to leave the light on?”

“Aw, no, that’s for babies!” he said manfully. But then, in that uncertain tone again, “It would be nice, though, if you’d lie down with me for a while. I don’t mean to sound chicken or anything, but this is all pretty strange for me, and...” He trailed off, no doubt feeling ashamed of himself.

Tara sighed. Already her maternal responsibilities were beginning! She longed to go to bed, but she couldn’t leave him if he was frightened. She lifted the covers, and crawled into bed beside him. Vince quickly rolled toward her and embraced her. Only then did Tara remember that he was naked.

“Thanks, Mother,” he murmured, snuggling close to her and resting his head on her shoulder.

Tara felt her heart pounding painfully. Apparently Vince saw nothing wrong with their situation, with lying naked in his mother’s arms, but she was alert to all the implications. Granted she was his mother, they were still practically strangers to each other, and he was hardly an infant any more! Teenage boys don’t customarily sleep in their mother’s beds. But she didn’t know quite what to do. Obviously he needed her closeness, her reassurance. Very well, then, just for tonight...

Gingerly she slipped her arms around him and held him, and instantly regretted it. His naked warmth aroused new and alarming sensations in her. She found herself reacting to his manly features—for he was almost as big as she was, and the shape of his body was undeniably masculine. How good he smelled, how soft yet firm was his skin! She longed to caress him, and with the longing came a growing ache in her long-starved pussy. She envied the young girl who would someday be Vince’s lover. What a prize he would be, handsome, well built, charming! Tara sighed, feeling her old unconquerable lust burning in her body. Why couldn’t she get over this need for sex? Why, even more, was it aroused even by her son? Was there something abnormal about her? She prayed he would go to sleep quickly, so she could escape to her own solitary bed. Her horniness was becoming unbearable and, much as she disliked the idea, she’d probably have to masturbate to appease it. But she could hardly beat off in the same bed with Vince!

“Ummmmm,” he sighed. He seemed to be falling asleep, but he did not release his hold on her. If anything, he held her tighter. And in his drowsiness, his hands wandered, grazing her large firm breasts, resting possessively on her hip, her thighs. Tara bit her lip, trying to restrain a hungry sigh of lust. How badly she wanted his touch, how desperately she needed a man! In his innocence, she believed, Vince was arousing her with his sleepy caresses. But what Tara didn’t know was that Vince’s touch wasn’t innocent at all...

Vince was trying to restrain himself. He wanted to caress her more firmly, to touch the secret parts of her body, but he feared to alarm or anger her. He was so excited, he was beginning to tremble.

When he’d run away from his foster parents, Vince hadn’t cared how old his real mother was or what she looked like, so long as she made a home for him. In fact, trying to imagine her, he’d envisioned a plump white-haired old lady, a grandmotherly type. So it had been a very pleasant shock to meet Tara face to face. He’d had to gawk. Jesus, for an older woman, she was actually beautiful! He liked her dark hair and eyes, her beautiful face, and, most of all, her small but voluptuous figure. He’d never seen a nicer pair of tits. Something about Tara made him all hot and eager.

Vince knew all the facts of life, having had a sex education class in junior high, but he had experienced very little. He’d just begun to date, was still clumsy and inept at it, and so far all he’d succeeded at was removing a few bras and, just once, getting his hand inside a girl’s panties. He was dying to know more, to explore a woman’s body at his leisure, and, above all, to fuck. His older friends described it as the greatest experience of all, and just thinking about it made him so horny, he had to jerk off. What would it be like, he wondered incessantly, to stick his prick in a girl’s cunt? He’d never even had his finger in a cunt before, so he had no idea how it would feel inside, but he sensed it would be thrilling. He felt he’d die off frustration if he didn’t get to fuck soon. Now, cuddled in Tara’s arms, he felt the familiar excitement growing inside him. His mother’s fully bloomed body was far more exciting, in fact, than the skinny adolescent girls he’d made out with before. If only there were some way he could get her to take her clothes off! He’d give anything to play with those big beautiful tits! And as he fantasized and lusted, Vince felt his cock suddenly go stiff and aching in frantic erection. Oh, shit, what if she notices?