Chapter 5

7/21/2019: Updated to the published version.

July 5, 2038 – East Texas

Leah was woken with a kiss. Her eyes flew open, and James was smiling down at her. He was sitting on the bed next to her, leaning over her with his arm at her other side. "Good morning, love."

She frowned at him, hating his endearments. It didn't seem to bother him. He was nothing if not persistent.

He kept smiling. "Not a morning person? That's okay. You can wear your jeans today. I'm taking you home."

She looked at him skeptically. "You're letting me go?"

He gave her a look that questioned either her sanity or intelligence. "I'm taking you to your new home."

She frowned. "Where will I live?"

"With me."

She sat up defiantly. "I won't!"

He gave her that look again and remained calm. "You will."

"Dale said new women are set up in houses by themselves."

"You're special." He kissed her quickly before she could turn her head, just a peck. He stood up and got her clean clothes out of her pack. He waited until she got up, which she did, but not happily. He gave her the clothes and sent her off to the bathroom.

They had breakfast before they left and then took the truck. The bikes were gone, she noted. She didn't speak to him along the way but kept looking around. He pulled into the driveway of a little blue cottage with a front porch. She thought that was promising, houses didn't usually lock the occupants in.

James picked up her pack from the back of the truck and opened her door. She just sat there for a moment, thinking about whether to fight him or not. She had to pick her battles.

He smiled. "You know I don't mind carrying you. I'll take any excuse I can to touch you."

She frowned but did get out of the truck. He took her inside and showed her around. The room they entered was clearly a living room with a sofa, two upholstered chairs, a large flat screen television that hung on the wall, and six bookshelves containing DVDs and books of all sizes. Unnecessarily, he said, "The living room." It looked like he read a great deal.

Pulling her hand, he brought her into the next room. "Combination kitchen and dining room." The room was large and airy with plenty of counter space and cabinets. It was much less cramped than her shelter kitchen. A dark wood table with six chairs sat on the other side of the room.

He pulled her back out and down a short hall. Opening the first door on the right, he said, "Bathroom." She peered in and saw light blue walls, a vanity with a sink, mirror, and shelves above it, a deep bath with a shower head on a long hose, the toilet, and some wooden cabinets.

Tugging her across the hall, he opened a door and went through with her. "Our bedroom." The walls were cream colored. A dark blue comforter lay over the queen-sized bed. Wooden end tables with lamps were set at each end. He put her pack down on the big bed.

She immediately picked it back up, exited the room, and opened another door across the hall. It was another bedroom with a small twin bed. She put her pack in the closet of that room. When she turned around, he was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, giving her that look.

She straightened her back and said, calmly but firmly, "I am not sleeping in the same room or bed with you, James. I don't trust you. I have to pick my battles with you. I'm choosing this one."

He frowned at her for a few moments, but she stared him down. Still, she was quite surprised when he said, "All right. You can sleep in here, for now." He uncrossed his arms. "Come on, we need to go shopping for you."

She didn't fight him on that one. She did need more clothes, and she wanted to look around the colony some more. He took her to a strip mall where the names of the stores had been replaced with generalizations of the items sold there. They entered a large one that said, "Women's Clothing."

She chose several pairs of jeans, T-shirts, panties, bras, socks, and pajamas. She put the first bunch on the counter and went back out to look for more. When she glanced at James, she saw him looking at the labels on her clothes. She thought that was odd until he went out and started pulling clothes off racks. He was choosing things she would never wear like dresses, skirts, and dressy blouses. She decided to ignore him. He could buy whatever he wanted. He couldn't make her wear them.

She brought more of her essentials to the counter and noted a large pile James had dropped off. Without looking through it, she went back out and chose a warm casual jacket in black and a couple of sweaters then returned to the counter. It was July in Texas, but the nights could still get chilly. James came back a few minutes later with another mountain of clothes.

Leah asked, "Who are those for?"

He smiled. "You."

She looked through the pile. "I don't wear dresses or skirts." He had also gotten more jeans. "And I already got jeans."

"Yes, but I got you two larger sizes." He ignored her first comment. He pulled out a large wheel of tickets, the type that used to be for raffles and carnival rides.

A woman came over and smiled. "Ready to check out?"

James nodded, and the woman counted up the items.

Leah was shocked when the woman said, "Eighty-three," and James counted off that many tickets. She told James, "I'll never wear most of this."

He smiled. "We'll see." He took the bags back to the truck and took her to the shoe store. She chose sneakers, sandals, and boots. He insisted on buying her flats and high heels. Again, she told him she would never wear them, but he didn't seem to care.

He took her to the store marked, "Bath and Beauty". She picked out her favorite toiletries. He didn't force anything she didn't choose on her, but every time she put one of something in the basket, he put about ten more in. They had a strong difference in opinion on how long she was staying, but she didn't say anything.

He took her to the home goods store where he loaded up on hangers, towels, sheets, pillows, and a shoe organizer. He asked if there was anything she wanted there, but she shook her head. The back of the truck was almost completely full, but he stopped at the grocery store on the way back to the house anyway.

Leah was surprised that it looked like any pre-plague grocery store with fresh vegetables, fruit, breads, meats, and even frozen packaged foods that had to have been produced before the plague. She had thought all the frozen stuff had long since thawed and asked James about it.

"We found some caches of frozen foods in the beginning. It sits there like a museum mostly, as the stuff is extremely expensive. We do make ice-cream in the colony." He asked her what she liked to eat and bought most of those items. He added a lot of stuff she was unfamiliar with.

He brought her to a shelf lined with Ensure, the complete nutrition drink, and asked what flavor she preferred.

"Why do we need that?"

"Doc's orders. If you don't eat enough, I'm to give you this." He picked up the high calorie kind. "Chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla?"

"I don't want any of it."

The stubborn man put a pack of each flavor in the cart.

When they got to his house, he wouldn't let her bring in any of the bags. "Go sit down and rest. I'll bring everything in, and you can start putting your clothes away."

She told herself to pick her battles, shrugged, and went into the house. She didn't sit down. Instead, she looked through his impressive collection of books and DVDs. He was a fan of science fiction, which she was herself, but she had no intention of telling him they had similar tastes. He brought all the bags into the living room and put the groceries away. By the time he was done with that, it was after noon, and he insisted on stopping for lunch. He cooked them some chicken with a heavy cream sauce and rice. It was very rich, and she couldn't eat much of it. He didn't make her eat more then but brought her snacks every two hours.

After he moved the other bags to her room, he started helping her, pulling out the hangers first. He set up the shoe organizer in the bottom of the closet and helped her put the clothes away. She couldn't believe some of the things he had bought for her like sundresses with flowery feminine prints and no sleeves. She also found he had bought her some short nightgowns and even a few pieces of lingerie, sexy, lacy stuff that she wanted to burn. She buried them in the bottom drawer of the dresser. When she glanced at him, he was grinning and had obviously been watching her the entire time.

She spent the late afternoon reading a book from his collection, and James companionably did the same. She was relieved to have quiet even if she couldn't be alone. A few times, she found herself staring at James.

All that powerful muscle at rest was like a calm sea, deceptively inviting. The ocean could be soothing, relaxing, sensual, and thrilling. What would it be like to take a dip in James? To feel all that power over her, under her, inside her? Would he be gentle, undulating waves on an open sea, or forceful crashed on to the isolated beach of her body?

She admitted to herself that she was attracted to him but feared getting attached. It was best not to even think about the possibilities. She forced herself back into her book but had to do so several times. That James could be so quiet was something she appreciated. Her peace was broken when he said, "It's time for dinner. Ready to head out?"

"We're going out?"

"Yeah, there is always a big outdoor dinner provided in the town square in good weather. It's a time for everyone to socialize and meet new people, like you. Come on." He offered her a hand up from her folded position on the sofa.

She frowned at him. "I don't want to meet people, James. I want to stay in."

Since she didn't take his hand, he slipped the book from her hands and set it on the coffee table. He wrapped his hand gently around her upper arm, pulled her up, and smiled at her. "Okay. I won't make you talk to anyone if you really don't want to, but we're still going."

"You say you're in love with me, but you don't care about what I want at all."

"I care about what's good for you, love." He pulled her in to his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "And I do love you. I'm going to make you very happy. You just aren't used to being around people. It'll be uncomfortable at first, so we'll start slowly. We'll just eat around other people, only stay for an hour or so, and you don't have to talk to people tonight. Okay?"

She sighed. "I guess I don't have much choice, do I?"

He grinned. "No, not really, but you could choose to kiss me right now. I'd really like that."

She looked away from him. "No. Let me go, James. I'll go to this dinner."

He kissed her cheek, but he did release her. She had to put her sneakers back on. When she was ready, he took her hand and led her out to the truck.

The town square was an enormous park area bordered on all sides by streets. Buildings with large lawns in front of them faced the square on all four sides. There was a town hall with some government offices, an auditorium, a church, a fire house, and a police station, though here police were called Guards. These buildings offered parking lots used for the square as well. James parked in front of the Guards building.

Booths with different kinds of food were set up along one side of the park. Rows and rows of picnic tables spread out across most of the remainder. The square was full of people. Leah thought she had never seen more people gathered in one place, even before the plague. She asked James, "Why do they all come here?"

"To socialize. It's always full of people after the work hours, all the way into the night. It's the time of day when people meet and talk to their friends or meet new people. It keeps us strong as a community. No one ever has to eat dinner alone."

"What if you don't want to?"

"You can certainly eat at home if you want to. There are a couple of restaurants as well. No one has to come here." She gave him an 'oh really' look, and he grinned, unrepentant. "Except you." He led her to the booths and showed her what was on offer.

There was a huge variety from American classics to Italian and Chinese. She hadn't eaten Chinese food since before the plague and so chose that. They took their pepper steak, fried rice, and egg rolls to a table. It was really delicious and spicy. Several people stopped by the table to say hello to James. They looked at her curiously, and he introduced her, but she just waved her hand at them and they moved on. James didn't make her talk, even to him. He seemed content just that she be around people.

After they returned home, she took another long shower. James had a tankless water heater that heated the water quickly as it ran through the device, so there was no end to the hot water. When she was done, she toweled off and put on the cotton pajamas she had brought into the bathroom with her. She opened the door to let all the steam out and had just started to comb her hair when James appeared in the doorway.

Leah looked at him. "Do you need the bathroom?"

He shook his head and smiled. He approached her and gently took the comb from her. "Here, let me do that." He picked up her brush from the shelf as well, took her hand, and pulled her into the living room. He sat down on the couch, spread his legs, and tugged her down to sit between them.

He proceeded to gently comb out her wet hair. It was long, ending just below her bra strap when she was wearing one. She wasn't wearing one now and felt the lack. He started the comb at the bottom, carefully getting the tangles out. Each time he gently tugged on her hair, the nerves in her scalp sang. The sensations spread through her body in a very soothing way. It got much better, or worse, when he had all the tangles out and started the comb at her scalp. It made her feel drowsy.

The warmth of his thighs on the outside of hers was doing something else to her. He parted her hair down the middle, combing it to each side. She wondered what he was doing, but then he pressed a soft kiss to the back of her neck. She opened her mouth to protest, but he was already combing her hair straight back again. The soothing sensations took her small outrage away, and she said nothing. She thought that he must surely finish soon, but when her hair began to dry, he switched to the brush. That was much worse, or better, because of all the bristles that now gently massaged her scalp.

She got up the energy to ask, "Aren't you done yet? Surely that is more than a hundred strokes."

He kept brushing. "I'm not counting. I'm waiting for your hair to dry."

She was shocked but couldn't really respond. She had used all her energy on the first question and was just too relaxed. By the time her hair did dry, she felt drugged, completely relaxed, and warm all over. She started to drift into sleep, going in and out without knowing how much time passed each time.

The warmth in her legs spread, intensified between them, and her breasts felt sensitive. He was turning her on, but how? She dimly realized that he was kissing her neck and her right ear. His hands were caressing her sides and across her stomach; they stayed to the sides of her breasts. It felt good, and she was too relaxed to care enough to object.

He turned her head with his right hand and brought his mouth to hers. The kiss was soft and gentle. His left hand moved and closed over her breast. That woke her up. She pulled her mouth from his. "Stop."

He moved his hand back to the side of her breast and rubbed his thumb along the flesh there through her top. He brought his mouth back to hers and kissed her again, but his spell was broken.

She turned her head, pulling her mouth from his, and scrambled away from him.

He let her go but asked, "What's wrong?"

She accused, "You were trying to seduce me."

He smiled. "Yes, I was. It seemed to be working too. Why fight it?" He opened his arms and beckoned her with his hands. "Come back."

She shook her head. "I'm going to bed." He started to grin, so she specified, "Alone." She went to her room and locked the door.

The next day passed much the same with reading and a visit to the square for dinner. Leah had fried fish. After her shower, she kept the door closed, quickly combed her hair, and braided it down the back. The steam in the bathroom made her pajamas stick to her skin, but there was no fan that she could find. She intended to go straight to her bedroom, but James was in the hall when she opened the door. He looked her up and down, smiling appreciatively at the way the cotton clung to her body. She pulled the fabric away from her chest and moved towards her room.

He caught her in his arms, turning her to him, and holding her close. He smiled down at her. "Where do you think you're going?"

By now she knew better than to try to fight him. He never let go if he didn't want to. "To bed."

He lifted his hand to her wet braid, still smiling, obviously amused at this weak attempt to thwart him. "You can't go to bed with wet hair, love." He pulled her back into the bathroom, grabbed her comb and brush, and tugged her into the living room.

"Then get me a hair dryer!"

He sat on the couch and pulled her down between his legs, just like the night before. "You have a hair dryer." He began to unbraid her hair.

She specified, "I need an electric blow dryer."

He didn't say anything, but when he had her braid undone, he blew across her neck. It made her muscles jump. She laughed, partly because it tickled and partly because it was funny. He combed her hair back above her left ear and blew across it. That made her shiver. "Stop it, James."

"You said you wanted a blow dryer."

"I said I wanted an electric blow dryer."

He brushed his fingertips down her neck from the back of her ear, making her shoulders tense and shake. He brought his mouth to ear and whispered, "You don't feel the electricity?"

She put her hands on his thighs and tried to push herself up and away from him. She didn't get anywhere. His thighs tightened around her, and he locked her legs in place with his. His arms came around her, and he held her tightly to his chest. He didn't say anything, didn't try anything, just held her immobile.

Her body reacted in a completely inappropriate way. You shouldn't like this! she told it. This was going way too far. He was actually succeeding in turning her body against her. How long could she hold out against this onslaught? "Let me go, James, please."

He deliberately misunderstood her. "I told you I was never going to let you leave me, and I meant it." He kissed her cheek and nuzzled the side of her face. "You should just accept it."

"You know what I mean. Stop holding me still. I don't like it." That was a lie, but she thought she was a good liar at least.

He wiggled against her, and she became aware of a hard protrusion against her back. "Are you sure? Because I like it a lot."

Even though she knew it was useless, her instincts told her to fight, and she listened. She tried to pull his arms apart in front of her and to pull her legs out from under his. She succeeded only in squirming. He loosened his grip, allowing her to squirm around some more. She thought he was just teasing her when he didn't give up any more ground, but she realized the truth when she felt that protrusion at her back grow. She froze.

He groaned. "Don't stop, Leah."

Not a single muscle did she move. She even tried to breathe as shallowly as possible. Yes, her body wanted him, traitor that it was, but her mind did not. She was far from ready to admit defeat. He had caught her, but she wasn't convinced he could keep her in the colony forever. "Release me, James."

"Are you going to behave and let me dry your hair?"

"Yes, as long as you don't try to do anything else."

He didn't respond for a moment, but then he slowly dropped his arms and legs from around her. In turn, she scooted forward a couple of inches, slowly so as not to appear to be running away. He picked up the comb again and went back to work on her hair. This time she fought the drugging sensations he induced.

It was useless, her body was taking his side now. She snapped out of it that time to find his right hand under her shirt, his fingers caressing her rib cage. More shocking was his left hand, tucked into the waistband of her pajama bottoms and inside her underwear. He was rubbing at the skin over her pelvic bone. Apparently, he had noticed the night before that she would snap out of it if he went for the obviously objectionable bits of her.

"Stop." She pulled at his left arm and pushed at his right.

They went the other way. His right hand came up to her left breast, caressing it. His left hand moved to the center, slipped through her curls, and a finger went lower, grazing her swollen numb and lower still slipping through the moisture there.

"James! Let me go! I said stop!"

He groaned and put his chin on her shoulder. "But you want me."

"I don't!"

"The evidence is on my finger, love." He wiggled that finger for emphasis.

She gasped but tried to make it part of her outrage. "I said stop, James! Are you going to rape me?"

He pressed his chin into her shoulder with more force for a moment, thinking about it, or perhaps fighting with himself. Then he pulled his hands away and out of her clothes. He picked his chin up and kissed her neck. "No."

She scrambled away from him, and he didn't try to stop her. She ran to the bathroom and locked the door. She cleaned herself up, getting rid of the 'evidence'. For a moment, she thought about ending the need herself. She feared he would hear her and break the door down at the worst possible moment. If she was near to orgasm, he wouldn't need to rape her, just hold her hands away until she said yes.

She strained and forced herself to pee, which helped a lot. When she had washed up, she opened the door to find him standing there again. He looked disappointed, so she thought he had been listening, jumped to the conclusion that she was right, and called him a bastard in her head. Aloud, she hissed, "Good night," and went to her bedroom. She locked that door as well.