Chapter 1

"It's lovely... absolutely lovely!" exclaimed the beautiful, blonde Kitty as she walked into the cabin through the closed half of the Dutch door. "I've never seen anything like it. I never would have dreamed that there could be so much beauty in nature."

Her sister, Janet, darker and somewhat taller, though no less lovely for her being five years older, turned away from her cutting board in the small kitchen and smiled. "I thought you might like it. And judging from the fact that you've only been out for an hour, I can tell that you've only seen a small part of it."

Suddenly Janet's huge German shepherd bounded into the kitchen from another part of the cabin, his tail wagging in expression of his happiness to see his new friend.

"Oh, Duke," Kitty said, bending down to pet his great head, "you should have come with me. There were a lot of rabbits I know you would have liked to chase."

"So you like my little area here, do you?" Janet said as she ceased her preparation of dinner and dried her wet hands on a towel. Her hair was a little darker than her twenty-eight year old sister's, and she wore it in a stylish cut, unlike Kitty, who preferred to let her long golden hair fall loosely to her waist. "And you're right about Duke. He probably should have gone with you. He likes running around in the woods. Give him time, though. He's only known you for a day."

"I'll bet he's quite a companion out here for you," the shapely younger sister said as she continued to stroke the happy-looking dog behind the ears.

"Yes, I don't know how I would get along without him," Janet said, adding her own caressing hand to the powerful animal's muscular flanks. "Did you see the small waterfall in the stream?"

"Yes, I did," Kitty answered. "In fact, I spent most of my time there. It's very peaceful and relaxing."

Janet smiled. "You know, if you want, you can stay here for longer than a week. I hope you didn't think my invitation was limited."

"I don't know," said Kitty, her voice indicating that she was being tempted to stay forever. "A week was all I could get off. There were times today, though, when I thought I would never want to return to St. Louis."

"Don't worry, honey," Janet reassured her. "I'm sure that after a week here, you'll be able to make a decision. And it will be one you can stick with."

"I hope so, Jan," Kitty said thoughtfully. "It's just so... so enchanting out in the woods there. To think that I might leave it to sit behind a desk and be a secretary all day, five days a week... Sometimes it makes me sick."

Janet smiled a knowing smile. She could understand what her curvaceous sister was telling her. Her own husband of six years had literally killed himself working under the pressure of the city. He had often promised himself that he would take it easy as soon as he got enough money. But he never thought he had enough, even though by many standards he was quite a wealthy man. His drive to become more successful than he was had killed him rather suddenly, and Janet decided then and there that she was not going to let the same thing happen to her. She had used his money, a rather substantial sum, to build this cabin in a remote section of New York State's Catskills. When it was finished, she had invited her sister and her brother to her house warming, wanting to show off her "little" cabin in the woods. It was a sort of memorial to her late husband, a man she loved very much. Even though she had pretty much gotten over his loss, she felt a stab of pain every time she realized that he would not be there to share in its peace and relaxation, truly a setting that would have saved his life had he the chance to enjoy it. Janet and her sister had always been close, even though Kitty had moved to St. Louis from New York City after a love affair that had almost destroyed her two years ago.

Now they were together once again, and they were acting like little children, each caught up in the happiness of seeing each other after their long separation. They had written letters to each other, and talked over the telephone many times, making promises that they would get together "someday," but the plans had never come to pass. When Janet had informed Kitty of her plans to build a small cabin in the woods, the younger girl made a definite effort to be with her sister during this time of need. Kitty had explained to her boss that she needed the vacation time, and would quit if he didn't give it to her. She was determined that she was not going to let this opportunity pass her by as she had so many others.

And now she was here. She was glad that she had put her foot down with her boss. The late summer setting was charming in the rolling hills, and she was determined that she would start living each moment as though it were her last. She did not want the same thing happening to her that had happened to Janet's husband.

"Well," the young blonde said, standing up. "I think I'm going to take a bath. I hope you have hot running water out here in the wilderness," she added with a slight chuckle.

"We have everything out here," Janet answered, "including a separate bathroom. I wanted to get away from the rat-race of the city, not the comforts."

"I hope you're making a large supper," Kitty said. "Walking around in the forest can make you as hungry as it can dirty."

"Oh, go on now and enjoy your bath," Janet said, returning to her work at the cutting board. "You're my guest here, so don't worry about things like that. Supper will be ready by the time you finish."

Kitty didn't even try to hide her ear to ear grin. She had always liked her sister, and she could see that Janet wanted to make her feel as comfortable as possible. As she walked through the cabin, large as cabins went no matter what Janet said about her "little house in the woods," she noticed that Duke was following her. "You want to watch me get clean, big boy?" she said to the large dog.

"He wants to become friends with you," called Janet after her sister. "He doesn't get to see many people out here, and he really likes being with them. I think it's the only thing he doesn't like about this place."

Closing the bathroom door, she turned on the hot water and let it fill the tub. As the steam rose, coating the mirror over the ornate modern sink, she kicked off her shoes and sat down on the small chair, feeling her tired muscles beginning to relax at the mere thought of getting in the hot tub. Duke came over to her and placed his huge head on her slack-covered right leg.

"Oh, you beautiful dog," she said, holding his head between her hands. "You look like you can be so loyal... Janet is really lucky to have you. It's too bad you can't give me a massage. All that walking has really tightened up my muscles. You'd give me a massage if you could, wouldn't you, boy?"

The large, sleek-coated animal whined his answer up to her, his limpid brown eyes bright and happy with the affection he felt for his new- found friend. The soothing, calm sound of her voice let him know that he was in the presence of someone who liked him, and he began to think of her as another mistress. After all, Janet, his owner, had acted as though this new person was more than welcome. He had decided to do the same.

The shapely young woman smiled fondly down at the friendly dog. She could see the difference between him and the dogs she had known in the city. Where she was living, dogs were kept on leashes and rarely allowed to run free. They looked unhappy most of the time. But here, in the woods, Duke was allowed to do pretty much as he pleased, and it showed in his eyes. He acted as though he wanted to show his happiness for the woman who had made this possible for him, and Kitty knew that Janet had a loyal companion, even way out here in the woods.

Duke lifted his head and pressed it tightly against Kitty's hand, telling her that he liked her and had no fear of her, even though he had only known her for just a few hours. Kitty, too, liked the German shepherd, and she would have liked to pet him all day. But her tub was getting full, and she wanted to take a bath right now more than anything. Duke could wait.

"I'm sorry, you doll, but if I don't get in that tub right away, I'm not going to be ready for dinner. You wouldn't want that to happen, now would you?"

She sighed and began unbuttoning her shirt. With the plane ride and all the walking in the woods, it had been a long, tiring day. Getting in the tub of hot water would make her feel better than she had in months, she knew.

She jumped slightly as the relative silence of the cabin was shattered by the sound of the kitchen door slamming. Duke, too, perked up his ears at the sound and cocked his head to listen, then relaxed as he heard the familiar sounds of Johnny, his mistress's twelve year old son barging into the house.

"Hey, Mom," the boy called out. "Is Aunt Kitty here yet?"

Kitty felt a thrill of happiness as she heard her nephew stomping through the kitchen. She had not seen him since he had come to her sister's cabin. In fact, she had not seen him since she had moved to St. Louis. She tried to imagine how he had changed in the last two years, and she knew that no matter what she thought he might look like, it would be totally different from her mental image. She could not get over how he had looked when she last saw him, so sweet and cheerful, the warm innocent smiles he always had for her. He sounded as though he had not changed from that very much, and she was looking forward to meeting him for the first time after all these years.

"Oh, Duke, you're very lucky... we're both very lucky to have people who love us so much," the curvaceous young woman whispered, dropping to her lushly rounded haunches to take his big head between her slender white hands. "It's a wonderful family I have, and I feel as though you're a part of it." She kissed him on his wet nose and he instantly licked out his long pink tongue to lave warmly over her full lips in response. "You handsome fellow! Janet is certainly lucky to have you around."

The powerful animal whined as he tried to nuzzle closer to her, and she hugged him tightly, "Oooooooohhhhh, I can see why Janet thinks so highly of you," she whispered, kissing him between the eyes before straightening up. "Now... I really have to take that bath."

She continued her undressing, never once thinking that there was anything wrong with having Duke watch her as she removed her clothing. She could remember a time not so long ago when she would have felt self-conscious about having even an animal watch her undress, but there was something free and uninhibited about this setting, and she was actually glad that she was not alone. She smiled down at the great dog, thinking that there was a very good chance indeed that she might never return to St. Louis. Everything was so pretty here, so relaxing, so free... She could not remember feeling this good in the city.

Duke watched her smiling down at him. He dropped his head for an instant and sneezed. Then he continued to watch her smooth, soft curves ripple and sway as she exposed more and more of her silky flesh to his eyes. Her long, blonde hair almost matched her evenly tanned skin, and it was just as golden and full as that between her long, slender legs. He danced around her, and wanted to do something to let her know how happy he was that she had come to visit.

Kitty watched the animal all the time she undressed. There was something about him that seemed to hypnotize her... something about his eager-looking eyes. She could see that he was totally devoted to her sister, but she could also see that he wanted to start sharing that devotion. It was a wonderful feeling, knowing that Duke had accepted her right away, and she wondered if there was something she could do to show the beautiful dog how much she appreciated his friendship.

Slowly, gently, she lowered her now naked body into the steaming hot water. Even though the day had been very warm, she sighed as the soothing effects of the hot bath instantly made her muscles unwind from her day's hiking. All the problems she might have carried with her from the city seemed to become drained in the warm water, and she submerged her naked young body, delighting in the slightly tickling sensations of the bubbles from the soap she had added to the water. She caressed the fluffy suds over her full, rounded breasts, sensing her tiny pink nipples hardening beneath the water as though sexually aroused, an arousal she had not known in some time. Not since she had left the man who had almost totally destroyed her life. It was sad, she thought. He had been such a wonderful man when she first met him, so loving and tender. She thought back to her days of lovemaking with him, the only man she had ever loved. Even though she had many bitter memories of him, she liked to dwell on his hands wandering over her body, the way they had when they had first started going out. At least they were happy thoughts, memories she hoped she never forgot.

She stopped her self-sensuous act. She wanted to finish her bath and see her nephew. But as she pulled her hands away from her body to finish her bathing, she brushed a huge mountain of suds across her swollen nipples, and a series of rippling delights stabbed through her sensitive loins and mountingly enticed belly.

'This is ridiculous, ' she thought to herself. 'I can't be thinking about something like that now. I want to be with my sister and nephew. I can control my physical need for the time being... can't I?' She put her lascivious thoughts out of her mind as she stepped from the tub. 'There is a time and a place for everything.' She found her thoughts wandering to her short but intense affair with Bill. She had loved him, trusted him, and for a while she thought he loved and trusted her. There had been many men who had wanted her, but when she found Bill, she believed that she had found someone different. She loved his body... loved the way he made love to her, showing what it was like to be a woman, and not just a girl... loved welcoming his long, thick cock in her cunt... his gentle, patient thrusts building in her eager and hungry body a passion she had never known existed... his warm, wet tongue licking feverishly up between her legs... that blissful moment each time when he would explode his searing, wonderful cum inside her!

Yes, those had been wonderful moments... thoughts that she never wanted to forget. Perhaps someday she would find another man she could love and trust as she had Bill... a love she hoped did not come only once in a lifetime.

Duke watched closely the soft movements of her wetly glistening body as she climbed from the tub and began toweling herself down, his keen sense of smell detecting the sudden scent of her female nakedness even through the aromas of her bubble bath. He knew that smell... the scent of arousal... his mistress had trained him well. He sensed the heavy weight growing in the depths of his own loins as he watched her turn to look at her curvaceous form reflected in the steam covered mirror.