Sunday was her new favorite day, Anna decided as she drove down the winding highway. She had the windows of her brown Ford Taurus open and the wind was whipping her auburn curls loose from the carefree ponytail at the back of her head. She felt better about life than she had in some time. Early morning birds fluttering overhead seemed to echo her jovial mood. The stereo was blasting Prince's "Raspberry Beret" and she was singing along with gusto. It felt good to be alive in June.

She thought back to the night before and the look on Paul's face as she left him sitting on his living room floor with his swollen manhood clutched in his hand. He looked fit to be tied. She laughed out loud again and again as she wound her car through the hills on her way back to her home town for Sunday dinner with the folks. She hadn't been home since Christmas, a fact that her mother continually called her about. Today she would surprise them. She would be arriving just after church let out.

Her thoughts shifted to her childhood. This time of year on the farm had been wonderful; lazy days of cut-off jeans and swimming holes, catching fish and watching the sunset. How she missed those innocent days. But even the innocence of youth can be tainted. She remembered how her father had always warned her to stay away from the hired hands when they came to work in the mornings and to the house for the noon meal.

It wasn't hard to understand her father's concern. The way those boys and men looked at her had always made her feel like a side of beef on a locker hook. Even before she had reached puberty they had looked at her like that. Most men did. Even her teachers in that little country school had seen her that way, and some of them were women. She supposed that all that unwanted attention had been the cause of her tendency toward shyness. She didn't understand it then but looking back now she knew, without conceit, it had been because of her unusual type of beauty. She always thought that her features were odd but she had enough men tell her in the ensuing years that she had the exotic look of a goddess.

A smile played at her full lips as she remembered one teacher in particular. Mr. McKinsey was young and tall and dark. All the girls in her fifth-grade class would fuss over him and try to cozy up to him every chance they got. He was good-natured about it and would make each girl feel special in a practical way except for her. Whenever his intense gaze would fall upon her, Anna would feel the need to hide. He was nearly always abrupt with her and she felt that he didn't like her much. It wasn't until years later that she had found out the truth of the matter.

Anna's smile broadened and a warm tingling started somewhere south of her belly as she allowed her mind to be transported back to that night. It was her senior year of high school and she was just weeks shy of her eighteenth birthday. She sat in the stands as the last basketball game of the season was playing out. The cheerleaders had just taken the floor during a timeout. The gymnasium was erupting in screams of school spirit as the girls finished their routine in a flourish of spread eagles and flips when Anna felt sure someone was watching her.

She looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone looking at her and yet she couldn't shake the feeling of someone examining her, as if she was being undressed. She had a sudden desire to button her collar and clutched the fabric closed. As the game continued she just couldn't shake the feeling of being closely studied. She finally turned to her friends and claimed that she didn't feel well. She grabbed her coat and purse and climbed out of the bleachers to head for the exit. She was outside the gym in the hallway and had almost made it to the main doors when she heard her name called.

"Miss Marina, a word with you, please." The voice was full and deep and authoritative and more than just a little familiar.

Anna turned to see Mr. McKinsey standing some yards away. He was crooking his finger at her and his face was impossible to read. Anna tried in vain to think of what offense she could possibly have committed to warrant such imposing attention as she dragged her feet along a path that brought her to stand in front of him.

He took her arm and led her through the doorway that would take them through a murky hallway of the part of the school that was closed for the night.

"Mr. McKinsey, where are we going? Have I done something wrong?" Anna was scared and worried.

"I just need to speak to you, Anna. Let's go in here." Mr. McKinsey pulled her into the nurse's office and closed the door. Anna watched in near-terror as he bolted it.

"What's this all about, Mr. McKinsey? Did I do something wrong? I know I was not your favorite student but..." Anna was cut short by his finger touching her trembling lips.

"That isn't true, Anna. You might even say that you were my all-time favorite. I have watched you grow and become a woman. You have put thoughts in my head that no teacher should ever have for a student, either past or present."

Even in the shadows of the unlit little room she could see the intensity of his eyes as they burned at her. She was becoming ever more terrified with each passing moment. He took a step closer to her. She could feel the heat of his body and it was not unpleasant. There were butterflies in her stomach and she realized that they weren't caused by fear but by the nearness of this tall man.

"Mr. McKinsey, please, what do you want? I have to get back to my friends. They'll wonder where I went."

"Liar," he said with a small smile tugging at his lips. "You were leaving when I stopped you." He fingered the sleeve of her coat as it hung over her arm.

"Yes, well, I... I..."

Mr. McKinsey silenced her stammering with the touch of his hand on her cheek. "If you want to leave, Anna, there's the door." He inclined his head toward the exit. "I won't stop you."

Anna stole a glance over his shoulder at the door. Her eyes darted back to his face as he continued to speak. "I only wanted a moment alone with you. I wanted to tell you that I know things have been tough for you. I know that you are shy and that you sometimes feel out of place among your peers. That's because you're special. You are one of a kind. You should be treated like a queen. I could do that for you, make you feel like a goddess. Would you like that?"

His hand on the side of her face was caressing her now. It felt good she had to admit. She was surprised to realize that she didn't want it to stop. She had never dated. No boy had ever touched her. She didn't know that a mere touch could feel so amazing. She found herself leaning her face into his hand and closing her eyes.

Emboldened by her reaction he reached for her coat with his other hand. He gently removed the garment from its resting-place on her arm and dropped it on a chair. He did the same with her purse. Then he brought his free hand up to the other side of her face. "Open your eyes, Anna. Look at me."

She did as she was told and found his face only inches from her own. "I'm going to kiss you. I'm not forcing you. If you want me to stop just tell me so." He lowered his head slowly, watching her reactions as he moved in for the kiss. She was scarcely breathing. His lips touched hers softly and lingered there, caressing, for just a moment.

She sighed as their lips separated. She felt warm all over. Anna had just received her first kiss and it confounded her. Her body was responding powerfully, and when he bent to kiss her again her arms wound around his neck without any thought from her addled brain. She wasn't sure what was happening, she only knew she didn't want it to stop.

His arms found their way around her waist and pulled her young body closer to his. She pulled her head back with a sharp intake of breath when she felt the hard bulge in his trousers. She looked with surprise into his face.

"Ssshh," he said. "I won't hurt you." His hand had come up to stroke the back of her head. "I want to show you pleasure. It's what you were made for." He kissed her mouth again and trailed his lips down to her throat.

Anna moaned as her skin tightened against his assaulting tongue. It was thoroughly delicious and she was delirious. A weak voice somewhere in the back of her psyche was screaming a muffled warning but she paid it no mind. Her body felt alive for the first time and she didn't want it to stop.

"M... Mr. McKinsey..." she sighed as her head rolled back.

She heard his chuckle. "Don't you think it's time to call me Bruce?"

His name came off her glowing lips like an embrace. She was vaguely aware that he was moving her backward into the sick room. Her mind barely registered that he had lain her down upon one of the cots the room. She only sensed his hands and mouth on her neck and shoulders.

"Anna," he breathed. "If you want me to stop I will." The words whispered in his impassioned voice only ignited her further. He was unbuttoning her blouse as he spoke and kissing each inch of skin as it was exposed.

"No, please... Bruce. Don't stop." That faint voice was back again and she silenced it mentally. Her body was burning with a fire she had never known. When his mouth closed over the first of her virgin nipples she nearly cried out. His hands were on her hips, pulling her up to him and rubbing her pelvis against his. She tangled her slender fingers in his thick hair, panting against the onslaught of sensations he was invoking. She had never gone through anything so splendid.