Snowed Alone

Snow Bound Volume 3

By Julia P. Lynde

I stood in the driving, sobbing, while Sarah drove away. I stood watching long after her car disappeared, hoping she would turn around and come back to me.

She didn't.

I started screaming at myself. "Why didn't you stop her? Why didn't you make her stay? Why didn't you tell her more how you felt?"

I knew the answers to the first two. If I'd tried to stop her, she'd have run and never looked back. But was she looking back? She was young and beautiful, a free spirit. I was old. Well, not old, but older. I knew better. I knew better than to give her my heart.

She didn't come back.

I must have stood there for ten minutes, praying for her to come back, but the cold eventually drove me back inside. I pulled myself back together and walked around the cabin numbly. Sarah was gone, and the cabin was way too quiet.

I straightened up, washing our last few dishes. I didn't have much to pack. I kept clothes and a computer up here, so I never had to carry anything back and forth. Every few minutes I looked outside, hoping to see her car driving back up.

Staring out the back window for what must have been the twentieth time, I had another crying jag. How could she just drive away? Didn't this weekend mean anything to her? Didn't she know I loved her?

I loved her?

Oh god! I loved her. How stupid, I'd let myself fall in love with someone I knew wasn't going to stay. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I hadn't been in love for a very long time. I wasn't accustomed to let anyone get that close to me. How ironic, a relationship counselor who never had a real relationship of her own.

She hadn't even given me her phone number.

I stared at my phone anyway. Of course, it didn't ring. Finally I called Emily, my best friend and a fellow therapist. We had known each other for years. Emily was straight and happily married, but we still flirted, usually in front of her husband. He loved watching it. She'd told me once she got the best, most attentive sex from him every time I spent time at their house.

"Hey, Allison," she said. "How was the cabin?"

"Oh God, Emily," I said, the sobs bursting forth. "She left! Oh god, she left. She left. She left!"

"Oh Allison," Emily said. "Who left?"

"Sarah!" I said in a wail.

I was sobbing over the phone to my friend. I could hear the concern in her voice, but I couldn't stop crying.

"Are you home? I'm coming over."

"No. You can't. I'm at the cabin," I managed to get out.

She made calming noises over the phone at me. Finally she said, "I take it you met someone."

"Yes, but she left," I said, still crying.

"When did you meet?"

"Friday," I said. "She saved my life."

"Wait! Saved your life?" I was just confusing her further.

"There was a deer. I had an accident. She saved me."

"Oh honey! Are you okay?"

"No! She left!"

It took her twenty minutes to calm me down. "Honey," she said once I was mainly coherent. "Do you need me to drive up and get you?"

"No," I told her. I sniffled at her.

She spent another twenty minutes redirecting my thoughts. She asked me about my work schedule for the week. We didn't talk about our clients; that wasn't ethical. But she got my thinking sufficiently about work.

"Allison, drive straight here," she said. "Remember to gas up. Think about your clients the whole way."

"All right," I told her. "I'll be there about seven."

We hung up. I blew my nose and dried my eyes then went into the basement and turned the water off. I drained the pipes and turned the thermostat down as low as it worked reliably.

On my way out, all I grabbed was the thumb drive Sarah had given me, my purse, and my jacket.

* * *

I managed to hold it together all the way to Emily's. I pulled into her driveway. She and Jim stepped outside, waiting for me. I was sobbing again by the time I reached the steps.

"Oh honey," Emily said, pulling me into her arms. Jim held the door while Emily pulled me into the house. "Jim, check out her car. She was in an accident."

Emily pulled me to her living room and to the sofa. I cried messily on her shoulder. She held me while I cried myself out.

"So stupid," I told her eventually. "Stupid. I knew she'd leave."

Eventually I told her the whole story. I didn't tell her about Sarah's deeper secrets. I wanted to be able to honestly tell Sarah I had never shared any of her secrets with anyone else. But I told Emily all the rest of it, stopping my story only when Jim stepped into the room with tea for both of us.

"I have pictures," I told Emily.

"Jim!" Emily yelled. "Laptop!"

I laughed weakly.

Jim came into the room carrying his laptop. "Did you want to see pictures?" I asked him. It turns out he did. I turned to Emily. "Maybe we shouldn't let him see these. She's a total hottie."

I pulled the thumb drive from my purse and handed it to Emily. She did the computer magic thing and pulled up the images.

"Oh. My. God." said Jim three pictures in. It was one of Sarah in the tub.

"He's going to like some of the others, too," I said.

He did.

We got to one where she was flirting with me through the camera. "You took this one?" he asked. I nodded. "So it's you she's looking at. She's staring right into the lens." I nodded.

"Allison," he said. "Look at that expression. She's in love, too. She'll be back."

"No she won't," I said numbly. "She left."

"She'll be back," he said then stood up. "I can't wait to meet her."

"You aren't meeting her," Emily said. "I'm not letting you within twenty miles of her."

He laughed. "Oh sweetie," he said. "You know I might appreciate other women, but you're the only one I could ever love."

"It's not love I'm worried about," she said. But she was smiling at him.

"Allison," Jim said again. "She'll be back. She just has to figure things out for herself. She'll be back."

"No she won't," I said, starting to blubber again. "She left."

"She'll be back," he pronounced.

He left us alone again, but came out a little while later. "Dinner is ready. Dry your tears, clean up, I made my specialty."

"Frozen pizza?" Emily asked him.

"Actually," he said. "Dinner will be five more minutes. I have to go burn Emily's."

Dinner was salmon, baked and then broken into flakes and spread over a salad. I pulled myself together. "She wrote a book," I told them over dinner. "Emily, I need you to read it. I'm thinking of making my clients buy and read it. But I might not be thinking professionally. I need your honest, professional opinion."

We ate, talked about other things, and then started to clean up. "I've got this," Jim said. "Go order a copy of the book. Allison, are you spending the night?"

"No," I told him. "Do you need another look at Sarah's pictures for, ahem, inspiration?"

"No," Emily said. "He has all the inspiration he needs right here."

Emily bought an electronic copy of Sarah's book then walked me to my car. "Are you sure you don't want to spend the night?"

"I'll be okay," I told her, hugging her. "Thank you, Ems."

* * *

I managed to avoid any more crying jags that night. I went to bed feeling very numb.

In the morning, I found an email from Emily. "One AM. I read the first chapter. Then I read it out loud to Jim. After that we alternated reading the chapters. Just finished. Professional opinion: yes."

I was so pleased Emily had been impressed with Sarah's book.

* * *

I buried myself back in work, the way I always did, and tried not to think about Sarah.

Friday over lunch I checked my email. Nestled in amongst all the other email was one from Sarah. I stared at her name on the screen for a while before reading it. "Hello, Love Slave," it said.

I started to cry.

"I had a very nice time," the letter went on. "You've given me hope I can have a normal future someday. I don't think you know what that means to me. Driving away from you was the hardest thing I've ever done. I got a mile before I started crying. I almost turned around, but I know I'm not ready for a real relationship yet."

I stared out the window for a while before I read the rest.

"I've attached the photos we took before I left. With Love. Sarah."

I opened the attachment. The photos were stunning. I stared at them for a while before forwarding the pictures to Emily with a brief description. I didn't forward Sarah's email. It was too personal.

I stared at my favorite photo while I quietly ate the rest of my lunch at my desk. It was a picture of us looking at each other. My arms were around Sarah's neck, and she had her hands on my waist. We were smiling at each other, and there was a glow in Sarah's eyes.

My phone rang fifteen minutes later. It was Emily.

"Hey," I said.

"Jim is right," she said without preamble. "I'm staring at these pictures. She's in love. She'll be back."

I cried quietly. "No," I said. "She won't."

* * *

It was a lonely weekend.

On Saturday, the hard copies of her books that I had ordered arrived. I stared at them all weekend, never actually opening the box.

The following Tuesday evening was the first night for a new group. It was a LGBT group, three pairs of women and two pairs of guys. Ages ranged from upper twenties to sixty. I had copies of Sarah's book set up for display. Partway through the session, I told people about the book. "You can buy copies from me or get them online," I said. "The electronic copies are less expensive." I told them the best thing they could do is read the book to each other.

I sold three of the copies I had available. The other two couples said they'd buy electronic copies.

Wednesday evening my phone rang. I had both a professional and private number. The professional number rang at work and my cell phone. The private number rang at home and my cell. This was a call on my work number. When I looked at the phone, it said, "Number blocked."

Sometimes when people aren't quite ready to tell me who they are, they try to call anonymously. I wasn't in the mood to talk to a shy prospective client that night; he or she could call back during business hours. I let it roll to voice mail. I settled back in with my laptop, setting up my schedule for spring retreats at the cabin.

Twenty minutes later I received an email. I opened it. It was from Sarah!

"Hello, Allison. Are you still my love slave? I tried calling, and a well-behaved slave would have answered. I'll be trying again tonight and tomorrow. You better answer. Sarah."

My phone didn't ring again until eleven PM. Number blocked. I answered immediately. "Sarah?"

"Hello, Allison," she said. "I've been thinking about you."

"Yes."

"Yes, what?" she asked me.

"I'm still your love slave. If you want me."

She laughed. "Maybe."

"Where are you?" I asked her.

"I'm in my tent," she said. "After you didn't answer earlier, I drove into town and stole an internet connection by sitting in my car outside the library. They have an open wireless connection. But I'm back in my tent now."

"What are you wearing?" I asked her.

"I'm in my sleeping bag. All I'm wearing is one of your pair of undies. I like them."

We talked for a few minutes. "Honey," she said. "I don't have a full charge on my phone. If it cuts off, I won't be able to call back." She paused. "When will you be at your cabin next?"

"I can cancel my Friday appointments and be there tomorrow night," I told her.

"No," she said. "Don't neglect your clients. Friday. What time?"

I started to cry. "Really?"

"Only if you're still my love slave," she said. "Allison, it would just be for the weekend. You understand."

"I won't get there until eight," I told her. I told her how she could let herself in if she arrived before I did.

I heard her smile over the phone. "What are you wearing, Allison?"

"Jeans and a blouse," I admitted. "I'm sitting in my home office, staring at your picture."

"Do you have a headset for your phone? Switch to it. I want your hands free." She waited for me to switch. "Close your laptop now," she ordered. "Turn off all the lights and head go your bedroom."

I wandered around the house, locking up and turning off the lights.

"I want to talk to you while you go to sleep," she said. "Do you need to use the bathroom first? Brush your teeth?"

I did. She told me to mute the call so she could talk, but the noises I'd be making wouldn't transfer over the phone. While I readied myself for bed, she told me about another book cover she had done. I finished in the bathroom and took her off mute. "Will you send me a copy?" I asked.

"If you're good," she said. "Are you going to do exactly what I tell you to do?"

"Yes, Sarah," I said.

"We'll see," she said. "Take your blouse off." She waited for me. "What color is your bra?"

"White," I said. "But lacy."

"Are your nipples erect?"

"Yes," I said, blushing.

"Take your bra off," she ordered.

"It's off," I told her after a moment.

"Tell me what your nipples feel like when you touch them."

"Oh god!" I said.

"No!" she said, angry. "No, we've talked about this. This is you and I, no one else."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm sorry."

"You need to be punished for that. I'm hanging up now."

"No no no! Sarah!"

"You need to be punished."

"Something else. Please, Sarah. Don't go."

"Will you do what I tell you?" she asked.

"Yes, Sarah, anything. Please don't go."

I could tell she pulled her phone away from her ear for a moment.

"My phone is going to die in less than twenty minutes," she said. "I'm sorry, I should have charged it. Take your pants off. Leave the undies on. I want you in the undies and phone head set and nothing else. Do it quickly."

I stripped down to the undies.

"Go to your kitchen," I said. "Describe your house as you go."

I did. "It's a small house," I said. I describe the house as I walked to the kitchen.

"Get yourself a small glass full of ice," she ordered. "Then back to the bedroom."

"What are you going to make me do?" I asked.

"Don't waste time," she said. "We have about seventeen minutes."

I collected the ice.

"It's cold up here," she said.

"Where are you?"

"Boundary Waters," she replied. "Twenty minutes from Ely."

"An hour from my cabin. If it gets too cold, you can always go there."

She smiled. "I'm used to it. Are you back in your bedroom?"

"Yes."

"Climb on the bed, on your back, with the glass of ice. Are the lights turned down?"

"Yes. Just a small lamp next to my bed is on."

"Take one of the ice cubes. Tease your left nipple with it."

"Oh god!"

"Damn it, Allison! Keep this up and you won't be getting an orgasm tonight."

"I'm sorry."

"Two ice cubes," she ordered firmly. "One on each nipple."

"It's cold," I said.

"Imagine my hands teasing you with those ice cubes," she ordered. "Are you my love slave?"

"Yes, Sarah."

"Good. Are your nipples nice and erect now?"

"Yes. And very cold."

"That's for the first offense. Now the second one. Those two ice cubes. Shove them into your vagina. RIGHT NOW."

"Oh Sarah!" I said. But I did what she ordered and began shrieking. "Cold! Cold!"

"Are they both inside?"

"Yes, Sarah."

"Push them in deeper," she ordered.

I reached inside myself and pushed the cubes in deeper. "Cold! Sarah, please, I'm sorry. Please can I take them out?"

"Are you going to forget again?"

"No, Sarah!"

"You may take them out, Allison," she said.

I reached in and tried to snag the ice cubes, but I couldn't grab them.

"I can't," I said. "Oh Sarah, I can't. They're so cold."

"Gravity is your friend," she said, laughing.

I jumped off the bed and began squirming around and jumping up and down while awkwardly holding myself open as much as I could. Eventually I snagged one of the cubes, now much smaller, then the other.

"They're out," I said. "Oh, that was cold."

"Back on the bed, Slave," she ordered firmly. "Flat on your back, knees in the air, legs spread. Close your eyes."

"Yes, Sarah." I shifted around on the bed. I heard a gasp over the phone.

"What?" I asked her.

"I'm doing to myself what you're going to be doing to yourself next," she said.

I immediately felt a rush and I knew I'd find Sarah's panties wet from far more than the ice cube.

"Reach down with one finger," she said. "Tell me, are you wet?"

"Soaking," I said, running the index finger of my right hand through my slit.

"Taste it," she ordered.

I slipped my finger into my mouth and sucked.

"Listen to me very carefully, Allison," she said. "If you have not come by the time my batteries run down, you will not finish yourself. You will wait until I can do it Friday. No cheating!"

I pulled my finger out of my mouth. "Yes, Sarah. No cheating."

"If you come while still on the phone, then you are allowed to give yourself two more orgasms before Friday, but if you do, you must email me and tell me all about them. You will tell me what you were thinking about and how it felt."

"Yes, Sarah," I said.

"Take those lovely fingers of yours and tell me, is your clit ready for me?"

I reached down and used two fingers to begin teasing my clit. I gasped. So did she.

"Imagine I'm there with you, touching you while you're touching me," she said.

"Oh Sarah!" I said. I moaned and squirmed.

"You are going to spend Friday night entirely helpless," she said.

She spent the next ten minutes making me tease myself. "Oh Sarah!" I told her. "I'm so close! May I come? Sarah? Sarah?"

Her batteries had gone dead. We were disconnected.

"Noooo!!!!!"

I pulled my hands away from myself immediately, but I couldn't stop squirming. I thought about finishing things. She wouldn't know. Or if she did, what would she do about it?

I kept my hands off myself, but lied in my bed, panting. Eventually I crawled under the covers, set my phone on the nightstand, turned my light off, and tried to sleep.

I did eventually, with my final thoughts of, "She'd called, and I'd see her in two days."

* * *

I woke in the morning. I didn't realize what I was doing, but I finally realized I was cheating. I had two fingers pressing against my clit, and I was only seconds away from an orgasm. I snatched my hand away, then curled into a ball and moaned for a while.

I was a lousy therapist Thursday morning. I called Emily over lunch. "She called! I'm seeing her this weekend."

I told her about the phone call.

"Phone sex?" she said.

"Hey, at least it wasn't sex with the phone," I said.

She laughed.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" she asked me. "A stolen weekend now and again?"

"Right now," I said. "I will take whatever she'll let me have."

"You are in such trouble."

"I know. But oh, I'm so horny."

She laughed. "There's a cure for that."

"She forbade me."

"You are so whipped."

"I know," I told her. "It's so wonderful."

I managed to pull it together and do a better job in the afternoon. I hoped she would call again Thursday, but she didn't. I did receive an email.

"Have you been behaving?"

I wrote back. "Mostly," I wrote. I told her about my wayward hand that morning. There wasn't a reply that night. When I checked my email during a break between clients, there was a reply.

"Slave, Sigh. You must really like your punishments. Email me when you know your exact arrival time. If you are off by more than fifteen minutes, there will be another punishment. Sarah."

I wrote back. "I will be out by four, but drive time can vary depending upon traffic in the city."

A reply came back almost immediately. "I will call you at five for a status update. Make sure you'll be safe to take a phone call. Sarah."

* * *

I wrapped up the day and left shortly before four. Traffic was moderate, and I was well clear of the city by the time she called me.

"Hello, Lover," she said into my ear. "Were you thinking about me?"

"Yes."

"Can you drive safely and talk to me at the same time? I wouldn't want to distract you."

"For now," I said. "There are dead spots later, and the deer can be heavy."

"What time will you arrive?"

"Almost exactly eight," I said. "Assuming no deer."

"Do you know where I am?" she asked me.

"No."

"I'm in your cabin," she said. "You told me I could let myself in. I've been here for an hour."

I smiled.

"I've been snooping," she said, giggling. "Does that bother you?"

"Normally it would," I admitted. "But not when you do it." I paused. "Please don't snoop on the computer. It has patient information in it."

"Too late," she said. "But I didn't get past your password." There was a pause. "Are you angry?"

"No," I told her.

"In the future I'll leave your computer alone and any files I find. Do you know what I'm looking at right now?"

"No."

"I'll give you a hint. It was in your dresser."

"Stealing another pair of undies?"

"Oh, I already did that." Sarah giggled. "I'm now wearing a red pair. Next hint. It fit me."

"Sweater?"

"No." She paused. "I wonder what the price should be for each failed guess. I think you'll owe me one orgasm each until you get any. Next hint. I really don't think it's yours."

I didn't have the vaguest idea.

"No guesses are as bad as a failed guess," she said. "Are we up to three orgasms for me?"

"Yes," I admitted.

"Next hint. I'm jealous."

I suddenly realized what she had found.

"It's Emily's," I said. "It got left with my laundry last summer."

"Is she my competition?" Sarah asked.

"She's my best friend, she's straight, and she's married."

"Does she know about me?"

"I called her sobbing after you left."

"I'm sorry. What did you tell her about me?"

"Mostly about the orgasms you gave me."

She laughed. "What does she do?"

"Sarah," I said. "Octopus."

"You better not have told her anything!" she was practically screaming.

"No, I didn't. Nothing you wouldn't have let me tell her. I swear."

She didn't say anything right away before asking in a small voice. "Does she know I'm fucked up?"

"You're not fucked up," I told her. "I didn't tell her any of your secrets. Please, honey."

She paused again. "Suddenly it's not as much fun wearing this bra. But none of yours fit. They're all too big." Then I heard her voice change. "Guess I'll just go without."

"Tease."

"Damned right," she said. "Did you show her my picture?"

"Yes. Jim practically came on the couch."

She laughed. "You showed them all the pictures?"

"Yes."

"What's your password?"

"What?"

"On this computer. What is your password?"

"I can't tell you that. Sarah, there are client files on that computer."

"There are also naked pictures of you on this computer. And I bet I can find Emily's email address on here, too. What is the password?"

"Sarah, Octopus."

"I'm not playing, Allison. What is the password?"

"Sarah, I can't tell you. Even if you promise to stay out of the client files, I can't tell you. Technically I should have that computer physically inaccessible. Normally there aren't any client files on it, but I left some on it last time I used it. I shouldn't have and normally don't. It was a lapse."

She didn't say anything.

"Please, honey."

"It's okay," she said. "I'll just take more photos later, during your punishment."

"Thank you."

"For punishing you?"

I laughed. "For understanding about the computer."

"I'm sorry," she said. "As soon as you told me there were client files, I should have understood. I wouldn't want anyone going through my files."

I heard her moving around. "The water doesn't work," she said.

"It's turned off in case the furnace goes out," I told her. "The pipes could freeze."

"Oh. I wanted to do laundry."

"It's easy to turn back on," I told her. "Everything is labeled. But you have to go into the basement."

I explained how to find the well room in the basement. "Will I lose signal?"

"Maybe," I told her. I explained how to turn the water back on and everything else she should check. We lost signal, but she called me back several minutes later.

"The hot water heater pilot was fine," she said. "I did the valves in the wrong order. I got wet."

I laughed. "I've done that."

"Shut up," she said. "I'm almost entirely naked, and it was cold. But everything is turned on, and the kitchen faucet seems to work properly, hot and cold. Is it safe to do laundry?"

"Yes."

I heard her fumbling with the washing machine. "Where are you now?"

"Twenty minutes from Mille Lacs," I replied. "Traffic is light."

I heard the washing machine start.

"Do you have a boat?"

"Several," I told her. "A pontoon boat, a row boat, two canoes and two kayaks."

"Where are they?"

"In storage," I explained. "There's a place in town. The canoes are in my garage in the city. The kayaks are hanging from the ceiling of the garage up there. If you go out, you'll see them over your car."

I heard doors opening. "Oh, there they are. Ooh, way too cold for no clothes out here. Now I'm all nipped out."

"You are such a tease."

She giggled. "Will you teach me to row a kayak?"

My voice caught. "Yes. Paddle. Yes, I'd love to teach you." I paused. "Sarah."

"Don't ask," she said. "I know exactly what I asked. I haven't stopped thinking about you."

It was January. She certainly wasn't expecting kayaking lessons on a frozen lake. For a while I couldn't say anything, my voice caught in my throat.

"Allison," she said quietly. "I'll run if you try to control me. I'm sorry. I won't want to, but I won't be able to stop."

"I understand, Sarah," I told her. "If I slip, will you forgive me?"

"I don't know," she said. "It depends on how badly you scare me off."

We didn't talk for a few minutes.

"You never told me what Emily does."

"She's a therapist."

"Your therapist?"

"No. Best friends. Friends don't treat friends."

"Don't you dare tell her I'm screwed up."

"You're not," I denied. "But I wouldn't."

"She knows you're a lesbian?"

"Yes," I said, laughing. I told her how I would flirt with her in front of her husband.

"She flirts back?"

"Outrageously."

She laughed. "I wonder how badly the three of us could get him worked up."

"Now that's just an evil thought," I said.

"I know." She giggled. "She sounds like a good friend."

I heard sounds in the background.

"What are you doing?"

"I ran out of things to snoop through," she said. "Now I'm making dinner for us. Will you be hungry?"

"Yes. For you."

"Are you paying proper attention to your driving, Allison?"

"Yes, Sarah," I said. "It's no different than if we were riding in the car together."

I was a little distracted, but her reminder got my mind back on the road. Traffic was light and didn't require much attention, but it was dusk, and I had to watch for deer.

"If I were there, we could watch for deer together."

"I'm coming up on Mille Lacs," I told her. "I don't know what cell coverage is like once I get past. It should be good for another thirty minutes. After that, I don't know."

"When you get here, you will come inside. You will remove every piece of clothing you are wearing. There will be things for you to put on sitting on the dining room table. You will put them on and then find me."

"Yes, Sarah."

We continued to talk as I drove past Lake Mille Lacs. It's a big lake and took nearly thirty minutes.

"All right, Allison," Sarah said. "I'm worried about deer now and that I'm distracting you. We're going to hang up now and you're going to focus entirely on driving. I'll be waiting for you when you get here. I have groceries for us."

I laughed. "I bought some yesterday, too."

"You're my love slave?" she asked.

"Yes, Sarah."

"Good girl. Hang up now."

* * *

Her car was in the garage when I arrived right at eight. Until I saw her car, it was hard to believe she was really waiting for me. There was something about knowing she'd been in my cabin for hours that made me feel really good.

I pulled in and parked. I got out of the car and retrieved my two sacks of groceries from the trunk. I carried them in.

"Sarah?"

She didn't answer.

I walked to the kitchen and set the sacks on the counter.

"Sarah?" Silence.

I turned around and walked to the dining room table. I stared at the things waiting for me. There was a note.

I slowly undressed, removing every stitch, then read the note.

"Slave. Hands in front. You will put everything on. I am in the tub. Failure to follow directions will be met with the most severe punishment I can think of. Sarah."

Sitting on the table were several pieces of bondage gear. Sure, I knew about them. I had clients with fetishes. And I'd thought about things like this before, but in the past I always assumed I'd be the ones applying things like this, not the one wearing them.

"Sarah?"

"Read the goddamned note," she yelled. "Then get your ass in here."

She had left me two sets of restraints. Each set included a set of leather cuffs connected by a short chain. There were six little locks. No keys. One set of cuffs was larger than the other. I sat in a chair and wrapped one cuff around my ankle and locked it. Then I did the other.

There was a blindfold, but it wasn't a simple blindfold. There were all these straps.

And there was something that was clearly a gag.

I stared at them.

"Stop screwing around," she yelled.

I gulped then picked up the gag. I opened my mouth, inserted it, and then buckled it behind my head. I locked it with one of the little locks.

Then I picked up the blindfold. It took me some time to figure out how it went. I buckled it in, and I couldn't see anything. I fumbled for and found a lock and locked the buckle. Then I fumbled with the wrist restraints, but eventually I got everything properly locked.

My heart was pounding.

I stood up and began shuffling my way to the bathroom, feeling with my hands and feet. I bumped into a few pieces of furniture. The gag muffled my curses.

I heard splashing then wet footsteps.

"Stop," she said. I froze where I was. I listened to wet feet walk over to me. Then her hands were on my arms. "I wasn't sure whether you would do it." She paused. "Did you hurt yourself?"

I shook my head.

There was a pause. "Are you scared?"

I wasn't sure how to answer that.

"Maybe a little bit scared?"

I nodded.

"Octopus?" she asked.

I shook my head firmly no.

"Are you sure? You said you wanted to spend Friday night helpless and screaming my name. I'm not sure about the screaming part."

I laughed into the gag but nodded.

"I bought these for you," she told me. "A week ago."

"Mmmmm," I said into the gag. She pulled me into a wet hug.

"Follow," she said, pulling on my hands. I shuffled after her as she led the way to the bathroom. Once we arrived, she said, "Sit here on the floor next to the tub. I'm not done with my bath."

She helped me sit and I leaned against the tub. I heard her splash her way back into the tub and settle in. She reached out and caressed my cheek. "You did everything right, Love." She reached behind my neck and pulled me two her, kissing me around the gag.

"Your punishment for your wayward hands is this. The blindfold remains until morning. You don't get to look at me. I'll remove the gag in a little while, as I want proper kisses. Do you accept your punishment?"

I nodded.

Everything was very frustrating. I so wanted to look at her, feel her, kiss her, wrap my arms and body around her. I squirmed a little.

"I had three orgasms Wednesday night," she said.

I squirmed some more.

"Did you cheat, other than the wayward hands yesterday morning?"

I shook my head.

"And now you're all frustrated." I nodded. "Poor girl." She splashed around in the tub for a while. Every now and then she reached out of the tub and ran her fingers along my bare skin. Sometimes it was just an arm, sometimes a cheek. A few times she played with my nipples for a while, causing me to squirm.

"Mmmmm."

"You don't like this?" she asked. "I should stop?"

I shook my head.

"Is that no you don't like this or no, I shouldn't stop."

"Mmmmm!"

She laughed. There was more splashing, then she was pushing me backwards and her mouth found my right nipple. She nipped playfully then began sucking. I almost went wild with the sensation.

It was getting harder and harder to think. Everything was very overwhelming.

She splashed around some more then climbed out of the tub. I listened to her dry herself, then the hair dryer came on. I sat there next to the tub and listened to her dry her hair. Periodically she walked over and teased me with her feet or hands.

She has wild hair, and it took quite a while for it to dry.

The hair dryer clicked off and then I sensed her standing directly in front of me. "Give me your hands," she ordered. "And stand up."

With her help, I struggled to my feet. As soon as I was, she shoved me until I had my back against the wall, and her mouth latched on my breast. I moaned into the gag.

She nipped me playfully and suckled me for several minutes, my nipples becoming further engorged and sensitive. Eventually she pulled away with one more final tiny nip on each nipple.

"Mine," she growled.

I nodded.

She took my hands. "Follow." She didn't wait but began tugging me out of the bathroom and down the hallway. I shuffled after her to the bedroom. My emotions were a jumble but all settled around one thing. "She was here. With me."

When we got to the bedroom, she pushed me onto the bed. "Sit."

I sat obediently. She sat down next to me.

"Is this what you want?" she asked me.

Was it ever. I nodded.

"This is what a relationship with me is going to be like," she said.

I moaned into the gag and leaned against her. A relationship! She was offering more than a weekend. I struggled to tell her how I felt.

"Hush," she said. "I still think you can't do this. But I can't stop thinking about you."

"Mmmmmm," I said.

She giggled. "That was eloquently said."

"Mmmmmm!"

She giggled again. "Climb up on the bed, kneeling in the middle." I complied with the orders. After a moment I felt her hands on my ankles. She released both my ankles. "Spread them." She nudged them apart until she was satisfied. Then she snaked her way between my legs until she was underneath me. She didn't waste any time but immediately clamped her mouth over my sex.

"Mmmmmm!"

She reached up with her fingers and spread my labia, then her lips and tongue found my clit.

I almost came immediately.

She pulled away from me. "You are so wet, Slave. This is the only orgasm I'm giving you tonight, so try to enjoy it."

She her mouth was back on me. Soon her fingers invaded me and I couldn't stop squirming. I was so ready it didn't take her at all long to have my on the edge. She held me like that for several minutes, her lips teasing my clit while her fingers worked inside me. Then she began flicking her tongue against my clit urgently, and I immediately began to climax, screaming into the gag. I felt my juices practically gushing over her face, but she kept flicking and lipping at my sensitive clit, her fingers pressed into my g-spot. I came, and came, and came.

When my shudders relaxed, she pulled her mouth away from me. "And that's what a relationship with me is about, too," she said. I could feel the pleasure in her voice.

She slithered back out from under me. "Lie down," she ordered. I collapsed to the bed, breathing heavily through my nose. Then her hands were at my head and I felt her unbuckle the gag. She removed it gently from my mouth.

"Oh Sarah," I said. "Oh Sarah."

"Mine," she said.

"Yours," I agreed.

She rolled me onto my back and attacked my mouth with hers, her tongue invading thoroughly. She tasted like me, and I moaned against her. Finally she broke the kiss.

"Give me your hands," she ordered. I did, and she unlatched my wrists. "The blindfold stays until morning. You may do anything you want to pleasure me."

Judging by her screams and shudders, I succeeded in pleasing her.

* * *

Other than the blindfold, she kept me naked during dinner. She pulled on a pair of undies. "Yours, in case you're wondering," she said.

I laughed.

She led me into the kitchen and set me on a stool.

"I made stew," she said. "Comfort food." She giggled. "I'll have to feed you."

I heard her putter in the kitchen.

"There's meat, and potatos, lots of potatoes and carrots. And parsnips. Do you like parsnips?"

"Yes," I told her. "But I've never had them in stew."

"And bread. I bought bread. No greens today. But we have fixings for salad for tomorrow."

I listened as she put the groceries away that I bought.

"Slave."

"Yes, Sarah?"

"I never asked you. Do you want a relationship?"

"Yes! I love you."

"That's lust," she said, laughing.

"That too," I told her. "But I know the difference."

"Slave," she said. "I love you too. Allison."

She walked over and kissed me thoroughly. We both tasted like the other. "I like tasting myself on your lips," she told me.

"Hold me?" I asked.

She wrapped her arms around me and I laid my head on her shoulder. She held me like that for a while then pulled away. "I have to stir or it's going to burn on the bottom while I'm reheating it."

She stepped away, and I heard her at the stove, stirring. "What have you been doing for the last two weeks?"

"Thinking about you," I said. "And crying a lot."

"I'm sorry." She paused. "When I couldn't get you out of my head, I knew I'd be back, if you would have me. I was afraid you would come to your senses."

"I have," I told her. "I'll do anything required to make this work."

She laughed.

I heard her open cupboard doors. She carried things to the dining room table then fetched me and led me to a chair. She had me sit sideways with her in another chair, sitting facing me.

"Open for the choo-choo," she said, giggling.

I opened my mouth obediently. She placed a small amount of stew in my mouth. I closed my lips around the spoon.

"Oh, that's really good," I told her.

"I'm just making sure you have plenty of energy. I have plans for you."

She alternated feeding me and herself.

"There is desert, too," she said. "I made lemon bars. Making them with my mother is one of my few fond memories from growing up."

"Was she that bad?"

Sarah was silent for a moment. I thought I'd made a mistake asking. "No," she said. "She just wasn't there much. My aunt raised me more than she did."

"Did you like your aunt?"

"No."

The tone suggested I shouldn't ask anything further. We were quiet for a while.

"Allison," she eventually said quietly.

"I'm sorry."

"No. That's not what I was going to say. Just don't push, okay? It'll all come out eventually."

"Sarah? Are you crying?"

"No."

"Oh honey." She was crying.

She let me pull her into my arms and laid her head against my shoulder.

"No questions," she said.

She didn't stay in my arms very long before she pulled away. "It was a long time ago," she said. "None of this. This is going to be a good weekend just about us."

"I love you," I told her.

She kissed me. Her lips were salty.

"You barely know me," she said. "That's lust talking. No hush. I'm going to go clean myself up."

She disappeared into the bathroom but wasn't gone very long. "All better," she said cheerfully. "There's a little more stew left. Did you want another bowl?"

"Maybe a little bread in the juice," I asked.

After dinner she pulled me to the living room. We sat on the sofa. I felt silly with the blindfold. I told her that.

"I would really like to see you," I told her.

She didn't say anything right away. "I'm sorry," she said eventually. "You're not submissive enough. You're pushing."

I lowered my head, not sure what to say.

"Allison," she said. "You need to surrender to me. You keep trying to take control. The only thing I want you thinking about is surrendering to me."

I slipped off the sofa and knelt in front of her, lowering my head in her lap. She stroked my head and shoulders for a while. Her touch was divine. I told her that.

"You see?" she said. "Surrendering to me feels good."

"It does," I agreed. "I'm sorry it's just... I didn't think you were coming back."

"Allison," she said. "The scared part of me is just under the surface. It's so close, and it's everything I have to push her away. She's so afraid. She has so much reason to be afraid."

We stayed like that for a while, me kneeling, bent over, my head in her lap, her half hugging me. Finally she said, "I want to talk. Get back up here. You can sit on the sofa or you can lie with your head in my lap."

"I'd like that last one," I said.

She helped me arrange myself on the sofa, my head in her lap. She caressed my face while we talked.

"Tell me about this place in the summer," Sarah said. "Are there loons?"

"Yes," I told her.

"I love their cry. They're so mean to the other waterfowl, but I love their cry at night."

"What do you mean about the other waterfowl."

"They compete for the same food, so the loons try to push out the ducks." She paused. "Let's not talk about that. Do you fish?"

"I used to, a long time ago on a different lake," I told her. "With my grandfather. He died. Some of the men who come up go fishing. I make them take their wives and order them to handle all the slimy parts. I pull them aside and tell them it's their responsibility to make sure their wives have a nice time. If they have a good enough time, they're more likely to go again."

"I bet half the men use fishing to get away from their wives."

I laughed. "That is the habit. It's a horrible habit. You can't be around the same person twenty-four hours a day for years, but they come on a couples retreat. They should focus on their wives. Or their husbands."

"Husbands?"

I grinned at her. "I run LGBT groups too."

"Ohhh," she said. She was silent. "You know, I never really have spent much time around other gay or lesbian couples. I've been pretty solo." She paused. "Do your straight clients know?"

"I make sure they know my orientation," I told her. "Homophobes piss me off."

"Good for you!" she said. She leaned down and kissed me. "I love you, too, Allison."

"I thought it was lust."

She giggled.

"I don't come up very often in the winter," I told her. "I don't really know how to enjoy it."

"You need to buy some cross country skis. And maybe a warmer, all be it less stylish parka."

I laughed. "Maybe." I paused. "I didn't see any skis in your car."

"I'm pretty much a minimalist," she said. She paused. "That's how I say I can't afford them."

"I'll buy two pairs then," I offered.

"No."

Before I could protest, she leaned over and kissed me again. She broke the kiss then immediately put her hand gently over my lips. "No buying me anything. You can take me to dinners. That's all. For now."

"For now?"

"For now."

I smiled up at her. "So we can learn to cross country ski next year."

She caressed my face again.

"Do you bring clients here in the winter?"

"Not historically," I said. "But I'm going to do a Valentine's Day event here. I'm charging an arm and a leg. Emily and Jim are going to help." I paused. "I hope you'll be here, too."

"Maybe. We'll see. Don't pressure me."

"No pressure," I agreed. "Valentine's Day is on a Thursday this year. The couples are all told they need to be here Wednesday night and stay through the weekend. They're taking Thursday and Friday off work. I had one couple beg to be allowed to drive up early on Thursday. Their daughter has a recital Wednesday night. They promised to be here by eleven."

"Any gay couples?" she asked.

"One. Friends. They're coming for free in exchange for helping with dinners."

"So three paying couples?"

"Yes. I let Emily use the cabin for some of her events in exchange for her helping me with a few of mine each year. I'm making a lot of money on this one."

"Is that important to you? The money?"

I didn't say anything right away.

"I'm not criticizing," she said from above me. "I'm trying to understand."

"I've never asked myself that," I told her. "It's not the money. It's... " I paused, not sure how to put it. "It's a way of telling me they value what I'm giving them. If someone is willing to pay a lot of money, it means I'm giving them something valuable. It's not the money, it's the ego."

She didn't say anything, but she caressed my face.

"There's more," I told her. "I grew up poor. I've accomplished what I've accomplished, and it's all been on my own. No man to lean on. No parents giving me the moon. I'm proud of that. Is that wrong?"

"No," she said. "I'm proud of my book covers. I'm proud I've gotten where I am from where I've been. I measure it differently." She paused. "Did you tell Emily how kinky I was with you?"

"Yes. Is that okay?"

She laughed. "Yes. I was just curious. What did she say?"

"Honestly, I don't remember. I was pretty upset at the time. But Jim saw the pictures and told me you were in love with me."

"Lust."

I laughed.

"Oh," she said. "It's snowing."

"Really?"

"No, you can't look." But she bent down and kissed me again.

After the kiss, I told her, "I told Emily about the phone sex."

Sarah laughed. "And the ice?"

"No. I didn't offer details."

"If you play your cards right, there will be more phone sex in your future. I'll send you encrypted photos and not tell you the password until we're on the phone together."

"When I'm at work?"

"No, when you're at home."

"Won't you be there?"

She was quiet. "No. I won't move to the city. I might visit."

"I thought-"

She put her hand over my mouth again, hushing me.

"Right now, I want to focus on this weekend," she said. "I don't think you can be submissive at home. And I'll run."

I didn't say anything.

"All right?" she asked.

"No," I said. "Not long term."

"For now," Sarah said, caressing my face. "For now, we have weekends. And phone sex, if you're really really good."

I smiled faintly at her.

"Tell me that's enough," she said.

"It's not," I told her.

"Allison..."

"Wait, please, Sarah," I said. "Let me think."

We sat quietly. She had stopped caressing me.

"Sarah, please caress me."

"Cheeky slave," she said. But she began caressing my face again.

I thought about it for a while. "Sarah, every minute of every day isn't going to be enough. I'm not pressuring you for more. But I can never be close enough to you. I can never have enough of you. However, I am very happy to share whatever time you have for me. It will never be enough, but it will be enough, if that makes sense."

She leaned down and kissed me.

"Do you like lemon bars, slave?" she asked.

I laughed. "I don't know. I bet I like yours."

"Sit up," she ordered, helping me. "Wait here."

She puttered in the kitchen for a several minutes then came back. "I have tea and lemon bars," she said. She set things down on the table, making two trips. "The tea needs to steep. I wonder what I can do with you while we're waiting."

She crawled onto my lap, straddling me, and began kissing me, one hand on my breast. I moaned into the kiss. She broke the kiss and said, "You owe me three more orgasms tonight. Chain orgasms don't count for more than one, but you do get extra credit points for them."

I laughed, wrapping my arms around her and hugging her.

She slipped off my lap and sat next to me. "Here's your tea," she said. I held out my hands and she slipped a mug into them. I took a sip. "Open your mouth," she ordered.

I obeyed, and she slipped a small lemon bar into them." It was wonderful. Very light and, well, lemony.

"Sarah, that's wonderful," I told her after I ate it.

"I'm glad you like them," she said. "I made an entire pan, and there are just the two of us." She paused. "We won't finish them. You can share them with your clients next week."

She leaned against me while we drank tea and ate her lemon bars. Then she lied down with her head in my lap for a while. "Well me about growing up," she told me.

"May I ask a question first?"

She reached up and caressed my arm. "Only if you promise not to keep your hands to yourself."

I laughed and began touching her while we talked.

"How far back in your history is it safe to ask about? Last week?"

"Hmm. Keep caressing and I'll tell you." We stayed like that for a minute. "Twenty-one," she said. "Four years ago. Nothing before. And nothing like, what happened when I turned twenty-one."

"Mom and Dad divorced when I was four," I told her. "He basically skipped out leaving my mom and little brother behind. He tried to reconnect a few times after I was an adult, but I don't want anything to do with him. My brother doesn't, either." I told her about growing up for a while.

"Mom did what she could. She loved us."

"Is she gone?"

"No," I said. "I don't see her so often. She hasn't come to grips with everything."

"I'm sorry," Sarah said.

We talked for a while. My hands grew increasingly bold. I had my left hand playing with a nipple and my right between her legs. She opened her legs for me but didn't say anything.

"Will you tell me about your friends?" I asked her.

"Well," she said. "My closest friend currently has her fingers inside me, trying to make me squirm." As emphasis, she squirmed. "I want you to tease me like that for a while. That feels really nice."

"Who else?"

"Other friends?" She paused, gasped, then said, "No one."

I didn't know what to say about that.

"Keep doing that," she told me. She squirmed a little. "Oh. Um." She paused again. "My life started over four years ago, Allison. In that time, I've had two lovers, neither of them for more than a night, until you. You are my-" she gasped. "Oh, that's nice. You are my only friend. Scared?"

"Honored," I told her.

"Keep teasing," she said, squirming. "Make this last."

"Yes, Sarah," I said.

"I get fan mail," she said. "People who want to be my friend."

I laughed. "How does that work?"

"People write the authors of the books I do covers for asking about the model. Sometimes I'm recognized. A few times, not very many."

I kept my hand teasing her, playing with her clit, pinching it, then sliding inside her for a while. Slow and gentle, not rushing her. She was very wet and squirming under my hand.

"Jim wants to meet you," I told her.

"I bet Emily wasn't thrilled about that."

"She said something about a twenty-mile distance from you."

Sarah gasped and reached down to press my hand into her.

"Does that mean I need to be twenty miles away at Valentine's Day?"

"No," I said. "It means Emily was teasing him."

"Enough teasing," she said demandingly. "Kiss me. Finish me."

I leaned over and kissed her, holding her lips captive and sliding my tongue between her lips. She moaned as my fingers grew more insistent. Soon she was squirming and moaning, pressing my hand more firmly against her. She began to pant.

"Yes, Allison. Oh yes!" she whispered.

She started going wild under my hand, panting hard and moaning. "Yes, yes," she said. "Oh yes. Oh yes, so close."

"Please come for me, Sarah," I told her. "Let me feel you come."

She started to shudder, her vagina contracting against my fingers.

"Yes! Allison, yes!"

She thrust her hips up in to my hand, forcing my fingers deeper, then she screamed my name, shudders running through her body before she collapsed to the couth. She pressed my hand firm and I felt her continue to shudder.

Finally she lay still, panting quietly. After a minute, she rolled out of my lap and stood up. She took my hands. "Stand," she ordered. Then she led the way to the bedroom. "Stay."

I heard her putter around the cabin for a while before she returned.

"That was a good start to convincing me you're a worthwhile love slave," she said. I could hear her grinning. "Maybe I'll keep you."

I spent the next hour convincing her.

Snowed Alone is continued in the fourth Snow Bound short story, Snow Breeze.

About the author:

Julia P. Lynde lives and works in the American mid-west.

Julia is older than most of the characters in her books. She has blue eyes and grey hair. She enjoys hiking in the mountains (difficult to do in the mid-west) and hosting dinner parties.

Julia can be reached via email as julia.p.lynde@gmail.com.

Julia's other works include:

Novels

Rewind:

Emerging from traumatic events of her past, Shane is left dealing with newfound self-revelations until she seeks help from an unexpected quarter.

Veronica is a stunning and powerful businesswoman who knows what she wants and lives for the seduction involved in getting it.

Complicated doesn't begin to describe the results.

Rewind features graphic sex between consenting women and some light BDSM.

Pulled to the Dark: The Siriena Series Volume 1:

Felicia Conner begins having recurring dreams of the woman who gave her a great new job. Night after night, Petra appears in her dreams. Petra begins to teach Felicia the wonders of the dream world she inhabits while Felicia begins to wonder how she can have such lifelike dreams night after night.

Petra welcomes Felicia to the world of Siriena, where the world may just very well be as it seems.

This complete novel of 95,000 words contains swords, magic, intriguing characters, an easy-to-hate villain and graphic sex scenes between Felicia and Petra.

Shorts

Bound in Arrogance

"You wouldn't last two hours of my attention," Penny told me, turning it into a wager. Foolishly, I rose to the bait.

Bound in Arrogance features Veronica and Penny several years prior to the events in Rewind. It features light BDSM.

Snow Bound

First in the five-part Snow Bound series.

After a near experience with a deer, Allison is pulled from her car by Sarah, troubled twenty-five-year-old photographer. Sarah drives Allison to Allison's secluded cabin on a lake, where the two become snow bound.

Allison finds Sarah deeply attractive. Will Sarah's troubled past interfere with a possible future?

This short of 10,000 words contains graphic sex, light bondage, domination, and a mind game or two.

Snow Rebound

Second part in the five-part Snow Bound series.

Allison and Sarah continue their weekend at Sarah's cabin. Sarah shares some of her troubles with Allison.

This short of 16,000 words takes up where Snow Bound finished and is written from Allison's point of view. There is graphic sex, bondage and domination.

An Excerpt from Rewind

I remember the girl. She was young enough I thought of her as a girl but old enough I should call her a woman. She seemed unextraordinary. She was of moderate height wearing nondescript clothes. Jeans and a tee-shirt, I suppose. I’m not really sure now. In an earlier age she would have appeared out of place downtown during business hours, but with casual Friday turning into casual everyday over the years, the girl looked only slightly less dressed up than many of the people hurrying along the sidewalks during their lunch breaks.

Only she wasn’t hurrying. Maybe that’s why I first noticed her. Or maybe it was her hair. Long and almost flame red. One couldn’t help but notice her hair. It was unkempt and wind-tossed, but still very striking. I remember wondering whether she realized just how wonderful her hair was.

She seemed oblivious to what was going on around her. She stopped and knelt down, I suppose to tie her shoe. She must not have noticed the light rail train coming up behind her.

I don’t remember where I was going, what I was doing there. But I remember this. I was suddenly next to her, reaching down and wrapping my arms around her midriff, yanking her up to pull her out of the way moments before the train could reach her. She let out a quick screech. Or maybe it was the train.

I remember the impact. The train struck me in the back, really just a glancing blow, but it sent both of us flying. I hit something else. A parked car, perhaps.

Then all went black.

* * *

Time passed. I couldn’t have told you how much. I could only tell you that time had passed. Awareness came to me patiently. It started with sounds. None of the expected sounds, though. No traffic noises, no beeping of hospital machines, no footsteps of nurses hurrying to tend to patients.

I remembered the accident. I knew I had to have been badly hurt. I did a little mental check, wondering when the pain would kick in. I wondered briefly if I had been paralyzed in the accident, if that was the reason why I couldn’t feel anything. But I realized that I could feel my weight against the bed and a sheet pulled up to my chin. I eventually decided I must be on some really good painkillers. Gratitude seemed an appropriate emotion.

At some point I opened my eyes. It was dark at first, but then the room began to brighten. It was strange. Although I could see light, there was no form, nothing for my eyes to focus upon. It was as if I were seeing the entire world through frosted glass.

I heard a noise, the sound of someone shifting in a chair beside my bed. I turned my head to see who was watching over me. What I saw instead was a bright light, too bright to look into. I squinted, but that didn’t help. Then the light began to dim and a form began to take shape. Sitting in a comfortable chair beside my bed was a woman I didn’t recognize.

She was glowing with a white, golden, purple, red, silver light. I blinked. She was still glowing, smiling softly at me. I looked around, but all I could see was the bed I was in and the woman in her chair. There was nothing else to see.

I looked back at her, opened my mouth to speak. All that came out was a rough croak. I closed my mouth and swallowed. The woman continued to wait patiently, still smiling softly at me. I looked at her, waiting for my voice to come to me, and realized how amazingly beautiful she was. Here was a woman to steal the hearts of all mankind with just a glance of her eyes and a twitch of her mirthful lips. I was at least half in love with her immediately.

I tried again to speak. This time, the sounds made more sense. “Where am I?” I paused for just a moment. The woman seemed to know I had more to say. “The girl? Is she okay?”

As if pleased with my questions, her smile grew briefly before being replaced with a more serious expression. “Where are you? You are Between.”

The answer made no sense. “Between where?”

“Between Earth and Heaven,” was the reply. Which also made no sense. The woman just watched me, ever patiently, while I puzzled it out. I stared off in the distance, focusing on nothing for a moment, then my eyes snatched back to hers.

“I was wrong.”

“To be fair,” she replied. “You never really made up your mind one way or the other.”

I considered her words. She didn’t seem upset with me. “You’re…” I said, asking a question.

She just nodded once, slowly, almost as a mini bow.

“So, I died.”

“You weren’t supposed to,” she said. “Neither of you were. I’m sorry. I was…” she paused. “Distracted,” she said eventually.  “If I had seen what she was going to do, I’d have intervened.”

“But,” I said, sputtering. “You’re God. You can do anything! Can’t you just roll back time, undo everything?”

She looked at me sadly, apologetically. “You shouldn’t believe all the propaganda.”

“You said, ‘What she was going to do.’ She knew the train was coming?”

The woman nodded again. “I knew she was troubled. She had much to be troubled over, but so much promise too. I had such hopes for her.” Then she looked at me directly. “And for you.”

“For me? I’m just-“

She interrupted me. “No one is just anything. You all cast ripples throughout the world with small actions sometimes having such profound effect. You had some ripples waiting inside you, ripples I very much would have enjoyed watching. And the girl, too. I needed her, needed her to seek help for her troubles.” She paused, smiled for a moment. “Help can appear in the strangest places, you know.”

I let her words sink in. “The girl died too?”

“No. And yes. Her body is in a coma. Very recoverable. I wouldn’t even need to nudge things along. Which I almost never do anyway. But her soul is a different story. It’s in tatters. I can’t send her back like this, not for a long time. Too long for her body to wait for her.”

A glass of water appeared in her hand. She stood up, cradling my body for me, and held the glass to my lips. I drank carefully. Then she laid me back into the bed and smoothed the sheet over my body again.

She watched me, allowing me to settle my thoughts, before she spoke again.

“So, where was I? Oh, yes. Ripples. I would really, truly enjoy watching those ripples from both of you. But the problem is, I have one working soul: yours. And one working body: hers. I can’t send her soul back to her body, and I can’t send your soul back to your body. So we’re left with one working solution.”

She sat back, looking quite pleased with herself. She let me figure out the rest on my own.

“You want to send me back into her body?”

“Exactly!” she said, beaming. “It’s a good body. Slightly bruised of late, but bruises heal. She’s troubled, and you’ll inherit those troubles. You’ll have her memories, and I’ll leave you some of your own. I can’t let you take too many details with you; leaving you with the temptation to contact people from your old life is far too cruel. And I hope you can embrace this new life rather than pine for the old one.”

“You’re talking as if I have a choice.”

“Of course you do,” she told me. “I never send a soul to Earth if it doesn’t want to go.”

I considered for a moment. “Can I ask some questions first?”

“You want to know why I allow evil in the world.”

It was my turn to smile. “Of course I do, but I can figure that out on my own.”

She laughed, and it was if the heavens laughed with her. I suppose they did. “I gave you all brains,” she said finally. “I do so love when you actually use them.”

She sat, chuckling to herself for a few more moments, then quieted down and waited for me to ask my questions.

“Why me?” I asked simply.

“Oh, so many reasons,” she said. “But at the core of them is this: you have such a strong sense of right and wrong, and it all comes from within yourself. You don’t need me or anyone else to tell you what’s right and what’s wrong. I love this about you.”

I considered what she said. She was right, I guess. I hadn’t lived my life worrying so much about what others thought was right and what was wrong, but I decided myself. “What about when I’m at a disagreement with the religious leaders?”

“Ah, the people who profess to speak for me, who know what I like and what I don’t?”

I nodded.

“Take those people with a grain of salt,” she said simply.

“One more question?” I asked. She nodded. “My dog?”

“Your brother.”

At that point, I started to cry. “Hush, hush,” she said, patting my hand. “Your brother is going to grow to love your dog.”

“I know,” I said, blubbering. “He’s good with dogs. I was just afraid no one would take her in.”

She crawled into the bed with me, cradling me in her arms, rocking back and forth and making soothing noises.

“I’m sorry,” I said after a time. “I shouldn’t be this upset.”

“It’s hard to give up everything you once knew,” she replied. She continued to rock me as a mother would a young child. As I calmed down, she laid me back into the bed and slipped into her chair again. I dried my eyes with the sheet. She smiled.

“So what do you want me to do when I go back?”

“Be yourself,” she said. “Would you like some advice?”

I nodded.

She raised one finger. “Don’t talk about any of this.”

“They’ll think I’m mad.”

“Exactly.” She raised another finger. “Follow your heart.” She raised a third finger. “Trust your instincts.” She waggled her fingers at me. “Remember, help is sometimes found in unexpected places.”

She continued to waggle her fingers, almost in a wave, and I felt myself slipping away from her. But then she spoke again, and it was is if she were whispering directly into my ear.

“One last thing,” she said. “I surely do enjoy reading your stories.”

I remember my last thought as everything disappeared.

God likes my stories?

An Excerpt from Pulled to the Dark

I couldn't move.

At first I couldn't see, either.

I heard a voice, a woman's voice. She was humming and speaking words in a language I didn't recognize. Then, slowly, I could see.

I still couldn't move.

The woman was kneeling over me. That's all I could see, her form, kneeling over me. She saw my eyes looking at her, and she smiled, still humming and speaking words I didn't know.

She had long, raven black hair. It was brushed away from her right ear and hung over her left shoulder, dangling down between us. She was dressed in a bright red silk blouse and black skirt. She had slight features and bright green eyes. I judged her slightly older than my twenty-eight years.

She was perhaps the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.

I stared into her eyes. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came forth. "Where am I," I wanted to ask. "Who are you? What are you doing to me?"

She lifted her hand and placed it over my lips. Still, she smiled, speaking those words, her beautiful green eyes staring into mine.

She lifted her fingers from my mouth. They were long and delicate. Then I felt her stroke my sides with those same fingers, long, delicate strokes. I realized I was undressed, lying on my back with this woman staring down at me, still speaking her magic words.

I woke with a start, but one word hung in my ears.

"Mine."

Snowed Alone

Copyright 2012 by Julia P. Lynde

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.

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