Prologue

Elyse waited patiently by the open trunk of the car as the boy placed the last bag of groceries inside. She found herself smiling, for no particular reason. The sun was warm on her face, and a slight breeze played with her hair, tickling her cheek, teasing her in and out of her daydream.

The soft knit of the light sweater fell away from the firm swell of her breasts as she reached to close the trunk lid, then settled smoothly over them again as she turned to the boy to tip him. She caught him staring and blushed, almost having forgotten how a boy might be distracted by the slight sway of a woman's bare breasts and nipples beneath the ordinary white turtleneck.

Looking over the boy's shoulder, her smile widened, and she waved. Steven had disappeared at the last minute, and now came bounding across the parking lot clutching a small bouquet of wildflowers.

"For you, my lady," he announced as he bowed, raising the offering as though she was royalty. "You!" she said, giggling.

The boy watched them play. He saw the sparkle of happiness in her eyes, and the kiss that Steven planted on her lips, then turned away to give them their privacy. There would be a day in his future as well, he thought as he walked back to his eight hour shift, a day when he would see the same sparkle in the eyes of the perfect girl, the girl of his dreams.

They drove with the top down. The immaculately restored Triumph convertible took each turn as if it had just come off the production line, hugging the road with familiar security as they left the highway behind, traveling the winding lane that led them home.

Elyse stretched her arms upward, the fall air rushing through the spaces between spread fingers. Weeks ago the leaves had changed from summer green to blazing yellows and reds. Now a fresh layer of red and brown covered the roadside as the last of the forest harvest fluttered reluctantly to earth.

Steven glanced at her as he drove, smiling at her playful gesture. He could see where the sweater revealed the soft skin of her belly as she stretched, and the shape of her breasts and nipples under the white knit.

"I've never seen you leave the house like that," Steven said, breaking a long silence. Elyse grinned at him with satisfaction and stretched higher, relieved that he had finally noticed.

"I thought you might like it," she said, her face now tilted upward into the wind.

"I'm sure the boy at the market liked it," he answered with a hint of irritation.

"Mmmm, I didn't think about that. I suppose it's harmless enough. I doubt that I've corrupted him for life." She laughed and turned to look at him. As she lowered her arms, a falling leaf met her outstretched hand and tangled itself in her fingers.

He kept his eyes on the road ahead, refusing to return her look. "What I'd really like is that my wife not expose her breasts to every teenager in town."

Suddenly the joy of the crisp air and fall colors was drained from her. She sat next to him, hands in her lap, shocked into silence. "I - I did it for you..." she said quietly. She stared at the leaf, turning it over and over in her lap. It was perfectly shaped, but brittle and brown, without color or life.

Hidden away in the woods at the end of a gravel lane, the sprawling house's presence was surprisingly overwhelming to anyone who might come upon it by chance. A wedding present from Elyse's father, the summer "cabin" as he called it had belonged to his father as well. Though made of large logs taken generations ago from deep within the same forest, its sheer size and modern interior made it anything but the diminutive description her father was so fond of.

"I'm sorry," Steven said as he turned the key and the car's engine died. "I love the way you look; I love everything about you. You know that. It's just that I don't want everyone in town staring at your body. I know you did it for me, but it's a small town. Someone may take it the wrong way. If everyone thinks you're flirting, well, who knows what might happen? It's embarrassing."

Elyse stared at the leaf, now turned to hard branching veins as its petrified flesh crumbled into her lap. "I know," she told him. "It was silly - I just didn't think about the consequences. I'm sorry."

Steven leaned over and kissed her. "Don't be sorry. Besides, you can show me your nipples, at home, any time, in fact, all the time, if you want." He grinned, hoping to get the same response from her.

She did her best to show him the grin he wanted. As she returned his kiss, she felt his hand on her breast, his fingers teasing her nipple beneath the thin knit sweater. She kissed him harder, the sounds of the woods bringing her alive again, making her wet for him then and there. His belt opened easily, and in seconds her hand closed around his erection, stroking it, pulling it free into the wilderness she loved.

"Not here," he said finally. "Let's go inside."

"Here," she moaned, as she lowered her face to his lap, reaching for the hard tip of his sex with her tongue.

Chapter 1 »