Chapter 1

Penny Tucker finished hanging the last of the wet laundry on the line and picked up the empty wicker basket on her way back to the house. She paused on the screened back porch, wiping beads of perspiration from her fair face with the back of one slender arm. Almost hopelessly, she glanced at the thermometer which hung from a rusty nail beside the back door. It was 85 in the shade, and climbing.

Tired and more than a little fed up with her workday routine, Penny let the wicker basket slide from her fingers to the floor as she padded slowly through the kitchen. She noticed that dishes remained in the sink, still unwashed from last night's supper, but she turned away from the sight, unable to feign interest in a new job at that point.

With a low sigh of virtual exhaustion, Penny let herself slump into one of the living room's two threadbare armchairs, carefully choosing the one with the least exposed stuffing. She half-sat, half-lay in the padded chair, with one shapely leg thrown up and over the mounded arm, her foot swinging casually in mid-air.

The heat wave had been going on now, sapping strength and grating nerves, for almost six weeks. There was no end to the steamy weather in sight, if one were to believe the predictions of the meteorologists on radio and television. It was, in fact, the worst heat wave of any spring which Penny could recall, unusual even for the humid region of Georgia in which she lived.

The surrounding woods and hills, they said, would help to deflect and dissipate the summer heat, but Penny had found the exact opposite to be true. The mountains and valleys of her rural home county seemed only to act as a trap for the heat, holding the sun's scorching rays prisoner there even after dusk had descended to bring theoretical relief. Penny idly wished that she had the money necessary to move north, into cooler weather, or even south, to New Orleans on the Gulf.

The thought made Penny Tucker laugh out loud in the dingy little living room. It was not bad enough that her mother's hospital bills and funeral expenses had eaten up every last cent of their already tiny life savings, but she had to care for her younger sister as well. If anyone moved away from the hard- scratch Georgia farm, both would have to go, and that was clearly out of the question. Besides, Melanie, Penny's sister, was barely fifteen, and if they moved north she would have to go back to school, cutting their potential earnings in half.

Penny Tucker had to admit to herself that it was not the unseasonable heat alone which left her on the brink of total exhaustion that spring morning. She had hardly gotten a single wink of sleep the entire night before, and that was not because of the weather. That was Luke's fault.

Luke Hollowell was the oldest son of their nearest neighbors, Old Man and Mrs. Hollowell, who farmed an almost identical plot of tired ground eight miles away to the east. At twenty-one, Luke was two years older than Penny, and, she had to admit it, quite possibly the best looking young man in all of Cowden County. She was quite flattered that he seemed to take such an interest in her, but at the same time, there were things about their budding relationship which deeply disturbed her as well.

Penny felt the old stirring inside her at the mere thought of Luke, and shook the feelings away, rising gracefully from the easy chair and padding softly through the house to the bathroom. She suddenly felt the need for a cool shower, and with Melanie still away at her part-time job in town, there was nothing to prevent her from taking one immediately.

Penny Tucker stood in the middle of the tiny bathroom, one of only two dozen or so in that part of the county which had both a working shower and a toilet. Slowly, almost dreamily, she began to undress for her shower, unable to keep her mind from wandering back to Luke Hollowell and the problem which had kept her awake all night.

Not that Luke himself was a problem, far from it. He was what any other girl in the county might have called a "catch", and Penny would have had to agree with them on that score. No, Luke was not the problem, nor were his feelings for her the problem in and of themselves. It was just that Luke was a man now, with a man's needs, and he wanted to... well, to go too far, too fast.

Numbly, unthinking, Penny's fingers opened the buttons which held her blouse together in front. There were only a few such buttons, and in a moment she was able to shrug the garment off, letting it fall in an untidy heap on the bathroom floor behind her.

Penny Tucker wore a brassiere only on formal occasions, when it was necessary to dress up and go into town, so she was without one now. Glancing at her own reflection in the mirror of the bathroom's medicine cabinet, seeing herself naked from the waist up, she felt a momentary surge of pride at the sight of her own firm young body. She could afford to be proud of the mounding swell of her young breasts, standing taut and perky without need of artificial support, the twin cherry peaks of her little nipples staring back at her from the mirror like eyes narrowed in sensual excitement.

Penny cupped a hand beneath each breast, letting her mind drift for the moment, pleased, enjoying the firm, taut tone of muscle and flesh beneath her hands. Slowly she stroked the orbs of breast flesh, gasping slightly as the contact of her fingertips upon her own nipples brought the rubbery little buds into tingling erection. Electric little jolts of erotic sensation radiated outward from those tiny pleasure buds, igniting responsive fires of passion in her still-covered loins. Hurriedly, Penny dropped her trembling hands away from her chest, taking several deep breaths in rapid succession to calm herself. As she leaned forward to turn on the shower and adjust the water temperature, she let her mind return to Luke Hollowell and their very personal "problem".

Her most recent date with the strapping young mountain man had been just the night before, and Penny's thoughts returned to the events of that evening as she continued undressing there in the bathroom. She unbuckled the belt about her waist, and then unfastened her faded work jeans, swiftly running the zipper down and open with a soft, sensual whirring sound, and beginning to slide the tight pants downward over the bell curve of her full, womanly hips.

She and Luke had gone to see a movie in Cromwell, the county seat, and then had stopped off at a little roadhouse on the way home for some drinks. The proprietor of the roadhouse was the sheriff's second cousin, and thus exempt from many of the regulations which governed such offenses as the serving of alcohol to minors and the mandatory closing hour imposed by state law. Penny and Luke had stayed late, drinking more than their fair share of the moonshine whiskey which the roadhouse owner purchased from local bootleggers and rebottled himself with forged legitimate labels.

It was late when Luke delivered Penny to her front door. She was tired, and more than a little tipsy from the effects of the "white lightning" they had both consumed. She would have liked to go directly to sleep, but Luke had seemed anxious to stay and talk, about what he chose to refer to as "their future".

Penny was not entirely pleased with the way he discussed their coming life together as if everything had already been settled, all decisions made. But she had to admit that it did feel good when he took her in his arms, and in her present woozy state it was comforting to lean against his broad and muscular chest, feeling his big hands lightly caressing her back through the thin material of her summer dress. She was almost able to ignore his presumptuous words, allowing herself simply to bask in the glow of his obvious affection for her, enjoying the physical sensations which his touch and his nearness inspired in her ripe young body.

Penny was almost taken by surprise when he cupped one strong hand beneath her chin, lifting her face up until it was almost on a level with his own. He bent his head swiftly forward, swiftly and expertly covering her mouth with his in what quickly became a deep and searching soul kiss.

Penny welcomed the kiss, letting her own lips and teeth gradually open, bringing her tongue hesitantly forward to fence and duel with his in a liquid little dance of rising passion. A little sigh rose deep in her throat as Luke tightened his arms instinctively around her, pulling her closer against him so that her firm spherical breasts flattened sensuously against his chest. The erotic chafing of her own fleshy orbs against Luke's muscular young body forced another whining little moan from Penny's throat, into the warm moist cavern of his hungry mouth.

It seemed to Penny Tucker that she had almost been able to recapture the moonlit magic of last night, as she stood there, slowly disrobing in her own bathroom. Coming to her senses for a moment, she completed the task of skimming her jeans downward and off the tanned columns of her trim legs, kicking them backwards and away to join the rumpled pile of her blouse. Deftly her slender fingers worked their way into the elastic waistband of her tight bikini underpants, and then that last item of clothing was itself inching along the golden line of her hips and legs, soon to join the other pieces of apparel on the floor as Penny stood totally naked before the hissing, steaming shower.

Judging that the shower water was too hot for her liking, Penny reached forward once more, turning the cold water up to greater volume, until a cool shower had replaced the hissing spray of steam. Without hesitation then, she stepped quickly into the shower, basking in the refreshing, rejuvenating coolness of the cascading waters, reveling in the tingling sensation which that gushing stream produced on impact with her flesh. It seemed to Penny that the rhythmic drumming of the water against her body had an almost hypnotic effect upon her, encouraging her mind to ramble back to the events of the previous night and her date with young Luke Hollowell.

She recalled how willingly, almost eagerly, she had gone into his embrace and shared his deep, searching kiss. She had even welcomed the increasingly powerful sweep of his hands along the graceful curve of her spine, not even complaining when those exploring hands made their tentative first move downward toward the curving swell of her tight buttocks.

Luke had touched her there before, on her ass, and despite her initial reluctance, she had learned with time to accept the gesture as part of what she considered their "innocent" love play. God knew that her mother would not have considered it innocent, of course. Her mother had had some very definite ideas about the place of sex in the eternal scheme of things, and she had exerted her full influence in an effort to drill those same outdated beliefs into her two young daughters.

To Lily Tucker, sex had been merely a necessary evil, thought up by God during a weak moment and permitted to continue solely for the procreation of children. It was a woman's cross to bear in life, and a delight enjoyed solely by the male of the species. Good girls simply did not desire or enjoy sex in any form, and that was that. The gospel of Lily Tucker, in a nutshell.

And of course, Mother Tucker was gone now. But even before the hand of providence reached out to induct her into a better world, Penny Tucker and her younger sister Melanie had come to doubt the all-consuming wisdom of their mother's words. Both of them had noticed the birth of new stirring sensations within their budding young bodies, and neither of them had been inclined to accept the antiquated view of sex as nothing but a tiresome burden.

Still, old teachings died hard, and on that moonlit night, as Luke held her tightly against him and his hands wandered more boldly over the firmness of her young woman's flesh, Penny had felt the nagging little voice of instilled conscience crying out in the back of her mind, warning her to stop before it was too late, before she became one of 'those girls'!

And yet, Luke Hollowell's strong hands had felt so wonderfully right on her body, that somehow she had lacked the strength or conviction to halt his advances immediately. Instead, she had weakly decided to revel in the glorious sensations for just a few moments longer before putting an end to the licentious enjoyment. She had been momentarily shocked to feel the budding swell of his erection nudging her loins as he hugged her closer, but her astonishment had quickly given way to a warm fluid sensation of ever mounting excitement.

Luke's hips had taken up an almost unconscious grinding motion, stroking his hidden cock harder and harder against her pinned loins, while his hands became ever more demanding in their journey over her weak and trembling flesh.

Penny was surprised to find herself trembling as she stood there, naked beneath the hissing stream of the shower. The old familiar stirrings had begun within her once more, and she sought to still them by getting on with the business of bathing. Picking up the fat bar of soap from a plastic tray at her elbow, she began to lather her arms and shoulders, sighing with contentment as the cool water and soapy suds cascaded across her chest and onto her flat little belly, trickling deliciously down the valley between her ripe young breasts.

Idly, her mind returning to the events of the night before, Penny Tucker began to slap and lather her breasts more energetically. She barely noticed that her nipples stiffened into instant quivering erection at the first touch of her soft, soapy hands, but she was vaguely conscious of the seductive, enticing feelings which her own caress inspired in her tingling, vibrant breast flesh.

Penny's mind wandered once more back to the previous evening on her porch, while her hands kneaded and massaged her soapy breasts with ever-increasing vigor. She remembered clearly how Luke Hollowell's strong hands had crept slowly but confidently up her sides, finally coming to rest at the underside of her firm swelling breasts, pausing there for a moment as if fearing to go further, to take more liberties with her trembling young woman's body.

When Luke took her breasts fully in his hands, he did so with such suddenness and vigor that she almost gasped in surprise. Having taken the initiative, however, all hesitation seemed to melt away from the young man, and he soon began to fondle the delicious orbs of her tits as if they had always been his to command and always would be. He cupped and rotated those taut young mounds in his hungry palms, feeling the excited little nipples spiking outward through her clothing to chafe against his hands. Penny feared that the milking, massaging strokes of his big hands might make her swoon and faint dead away where she stood on the porch.

Standing there in her own shower, Penny was rather amazed to find that the rotary motion of her own scrubbing hands upon her tits recalled the same sensations which Luke's lewd caresses had inspired. Her nipples were quiveringly erect now, and each feathery stroke of her darting, swirling fingertips sent new jolts of electrifying desire racing downward across Penny's abdomen to explode in the lightly furred valley of her crotch.

Testing her own feelings, fighting down the momentary stab of guilt which rose unbidden in her mind, Penny captured one nipple between the thumb and forefinger of each hand. Slowly, tauntingly, she massaged that crinkled erectile flesh with strong rotary motions, milking the electric little buds for every twinge of passion which she could evoke. The effort left her weak and panting, leaning against one wall of the shower stall for support.

Losing herself for the moment in a private fantasy world of her own, Penny Tucker was drawn back almost unconsciously to her porch and the lascivious scene enacted there only the previous evening. She vividly recalled the sensations evoked by Luke Hollowell's hands as they stroked and fondled her tits, driving her to the very brink of a frenzy with his passionate manipulations. Penny had clenched her firm thighs tightly together where she stood, almost losing her balance as she fought to quell the mounting flames of lust then burning in the luxuriant valley between her legs.

Penny was disturbed by the churning sensations of fluid heat which seemed to inundate her little pussy all at once. As she clenched her thighs together, she was aghast to discover that the narrow crotchband of her skimpy little panties was already moist with the wetness of her own feminine lust secretions. As she clenched her legs together and squirmed incitefully against Luke's straining grasp, that moist crotchband rode up further into the lightly furred canyon of her cunt, chafing for the first time against her budding little clitoris, and igniting an entirely new set of feelings within her confused and excited young body.

Standing there in her shower, Penny felt the same renewed stirrings between her legs that she had experienced on the night before. Slowly, timidly at first, she slid one soapy hand downward along the gentle sloping curve of her belly, her fingertips seeking and finding the outskirts of her furry pubic triangle. There was another fleeting moment of hesitation, as conscience battled with need, and then the long fingers were dipping still lower, stroking the outer lips of her tingling, burning cunt with long, sensuous caresses.

Penny had no initial intention of massaging her own pussy flesh to the point of orgasm. Quite the contrary, she had first intended to massage away the mounting sensations of lust which were brewing and growing in that fertile little valley. Now, however, and to her considerable amazement, she found that her own manual ministrations had the exact opposite effect, causing new burning tendrils of delight to fan outward across her heaving naked torso. Penny's breath caught in her throat, and she braced her feet more firmly against the sides of the shower to keep from falling, the same motion spreading her thighs farther apart and giving her questing fingers greater access to her palpitating cuntal lips. Her other hand joined the game with less hesitation, more eagerness and zeal.

Penny Tucker's eyes were tightly closed, her mind crossing the barriers of time and space to recapture the events of the previous evening while her hands worked ever more feverishly over the plane of her now widely splayed cunt. So lost was she in her own world of erotic fantasy that she never heard the opening and closing of the living room door.