The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Casey Evans slung her school bag under the bench and dropped down on her back groaning miserably. What a fucking final exam!? All semester, what had felt like her easy-A class had a ram-you-up-the-A final? Bullshit! She rubbed under her breast and stared up at the pale fluorescent lights.

Almost everyone walking out of the exam hall got a pick-me-up by stealing at least one good look at Casey. The men out of lust. The girls out of jealousy, and sometimes lust. Darryl just judged her shoes. Casey was a vibrant redhead and, though they were currently closed, her soft hazel eyes were intoxicating. She was tall, for a girl, with a taut and flexible build made from a hardscrabble mix of jiu jitsu, touch football, and ballet.

Casey had just scribbled off the last of her freshman year final exams. Her mind was so spent, she felt physically exhausted. She didn’t want to get up for an earthquake. She was dressed in pajama pants and a faded army tank top, pricked upward by her braless nipples. She was kicking the toes of her dirt-stained tennis shoes in an indecipherable Morse code. It was a warm day in Barstow, but in the air conditioned halls of Barstow Community College, Casey wanted a warm suffocating hoodie.

“You look like you got your ass kicked.” Hale grabbed Casey’s knees and spun her into a sitting position.

“It was a knock down drag out brawl,” Casey said, elbowing Hale. “But I won. You?”

“Easy peasy lemon squeezy,” he said, fishing out his phone to check a text.

Casey turned her head and stuck her tongue out at Hale. Hale was a tall shaggy-haired boy in many of her classes. They were both army brats, no surprise that they ended up at Barstow. Hale’s family was to the winds; Casey stayed off campus at her dad’s. They had been friends since they’d congregated with some other classmates last October. They were part of a group of five, adding Darryl, Ereca, and Phil, that often met up after class to study together. Their study group had made the drudgery of Casey’s first year intro courses tolerable. Hale’s obvious jokes were one of the most important features to Casey.

He had one habit that never stopped though; his gaze moved up from her tits back to his phone. She sighed, not unhappy, but feeling a little bit objectified. She was too tired to enjoy being objectified. If he could just go tits, eyes, phone... She wished she’d worn a bra because her nipples always pricked out this top.

For once, Hale’s attention was on his phone. Disinterest bothered Casey a hell of a lot more than over-interest.

She didn’t want to force his attention; she responded to his comment with snark and frustration: “Squeeze your mother’s lemons.”

He sighed, forced a smile. “Sorry, what?”

“You alright?” she asked, realizing something was way off.

“You gotta give me a ride somewhere,” he said, assertively. She smirked. This was their game. Give and take. She knew it ended with them in bed, but playing the game these last couple of months was giving her the time to really get to know him. She figured by the end of the month they’d be boyfriend/girlfriend, but for now it was still push and pull.

“A ride? Somewhere? Dealer’s choice, maybe?” she smirked. “I could drop you off in the middle of the Mojave and you could fight your way back on foot in an epic journey of grit and vengeance.”

Hale smirked.

“To the post office depot,” he said. “I uh... There’s something big I need to pick up.”

“You don’t seem thrilled by it,” she said. “It’s not a coffin or something?” She instantly regretted the joke. She saw on his face it was too near the heart of the matter. She grabbed his wrist and he smiled wanly.

“Uh, no, not thrilled,” he said. “My, uh, I don’t know if there’s a word for it. My step-grandfather died a couple weeks ago.”

Casey upgraded a wrist tug into a slam hug. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry! Were you close?”

“I... Closer than I knew. I only met him the summer Mom and Terry got married. Like two years ago. We stayed at his beach house in North Carolina. I spent six weeks dodging crazy in-laws helping him fix up his truck. Which is to say I handed him tools as he worked and stayed out of the clashes between Mom’s family and Terry’s. Everyone but Old Marcus was... extra.”

“But he was chill? And you guys connected?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Hale said. “I should’ve been at the funeral.”

“Why weren’t you? Barstow’s very good with bereavements. Any of our professors would’ve given you a makeup exam later or even based your grade off previous work in some classes.”

“I know,” Hale said. “Mom was against it, I’m not really part of their family. And Old Marcus would’ve wanted me to excel in school. He didn’t want a big to-do.” Hale laughed. “The best part about your own funeral is it’s the only party where you don’t have to pretend you like the guests.”

“Heh, sounds like I’d have liked him,” Casey said.

“Well you got great taste,” Hale said, noticing the feel of Casey’s head on his shoulder. She rubbed his back. “And he liked me too.”

“What do you mean?” Casey asked.

“I’ve been trying to check in with mom and Terry and it’s just chaos. Terry and his brothers and sisters are ruthless, tearing Old Marcus’s estate apart. That beach house was pretty sweet, but it was one of his smaller properties. Well... Uh, apparently I was in the will. Nothing big, just... well they shipped my, uh, inheritance out to the depot. I could get a cab, but...”

“You need some emotional backup,” Casey inferred. “Well, I’m your chick! But, I gotta call dad and tell him where I’m taking the SUV. Are you ready to go now?”

“Yeah, well, after you call the colonel.”

“Right,” Casey got up. She fished out her phone and stretched as she dialed. “Go take a poop or something and I’ll meet you at lot C.”

“Thanks, Casey. You’re the best,” he said.

“I dunno about the best... Top 5? Most likely.” she said. “Top 8 at the very least.”

Casey screwed on her signature camo army cap as they stepped out of the college building and crossed to the parking lot. Hale slipped on a pair of sunglasses and waited for her to she had to click twice to unlock the enger door as well. She flashed her best grin.

“Buckle up,” she said, and backed out of the space, rolling into the aisle. “Do you know what you’re picking up?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said.

“Will it fit in the SUV?”

“No.”

“We can fold down the back bench and make more room,” she suggested.

“Still too small,” he said, smirking.

“How’re you getting it back to the dorms?” Casey said.

“It has an accelerator and a V-8,” Hale smirked.

“He gave you a car?”

“Yeah, the truck I helped Old Marcus put back together,” Hale said. “I guess because I took an interest in it. He loved his projects and I think he’ll be happy to have it in hands that appreciate it.”

“Cool,” Casey hit her blinker to turn off of campus. “I didn’t know you even had your license.”

“Dad made me get my learner’s the first day I could. I got my full permit, maybe a month delayed, but that was because I was staying with mom and she always fought dad over every little thing.” He sighed. “Would’ve killed for a car in Barstow though. Thank god you were always up for getting us off campus.”

“Yeah, plus Phil was always good to drive,” she said.

“I prefer you,” he said, smirking. She smiled back. “You buy a parking spot yet?”

“No,” Hale said. “If I don’t sign up for summer classes, I gotta move out of the dorms in what? Two weeks?”

“Nine days,” Casey said. “Let me call dad. He’ll probably let you keep the car at our place for a couple of weeks.”

“Maybe we should just hit the road,” he said . “You and me? Off on an adventure.”

“We can do a daytrip, probably,” She smirked. “I know the guys would—”

“You know, I’d rather it just be you and me.”

Casey smiled. She kinda agreed with that, but maybe not for their first outing. “Tap the brakes, Hale.”

“I’ll ease off the gas, some,” he said. “Best I can offer.”

“Well if that’s the best I can get...” She scoffed, but smiled. “Now, shut up.” She spoke up, tapped the button on the wheel, and enunciated: “Call Dad.”

Hale shut up as the phone rang over the SUV speakers.

“Hey Bear-cub,” Gavin answered. “You make it out to the post office, OK?”

“Still on the way,” Casey answered. “I’m in the car with Hale.”

“Hello Colonel,” Hale said, it was just polite to make the man know he could hear him.

“Who else? You driving Darryl or Ereca, too?”

“Darryl went straight back to the dorms,” Casey said. “Eri and Phil didn’t take Econ 102.”

“Right,” Gavin said, some of the smile leaving his voice. “What’s up?”

“So, the thing we’re picking up from the depot? It’s a truck.”

“Wait, truck? Like a pickup?”

“An F150. Yes, sir,” Hale answered.

“And due to his housing situation being in flux, I was hoping he could park it at our house,” Casey said. “Please, daddy? It’d just be until he can lock down his September housing plans.”

“September?” Hale mouthed.

“Big ask and then ease it back until it’s something everyone’s happy with,” Casey explained, also inaudibly.

Gavin sighed. “Listen, I’ll meet you out there. Let me see the truck before I commit to anything. I don’t want some junker leaking brake fluid on your mother’s flowerbeds.”

“You’re the best, Daddy!”

“I don’t know about the best, Bear-cub,” he said. “Top 5, though? Yeah, 100%.”

Casey kissed the air as her Dad hung up.

“It’s not gonna leak brake fluid all over mom’s black-thumb dead-as-doornail flowers, is it?” Casey asked, in an affected worried little girl voice.

Casey and Hale crossed the depot to where her father, in civvies, was shooting the shit with one of the mailmen. He raised a hand and waved. Casey jogged the last twenty yards to her dad. He grabbed her in a hug.

Gavin Evans was a huge man. Six foot four, square jaw, salt-and-pepper short hair, and muscles he knew how to use. Hale was on his best behavior.

“Hello, thanks for helping me out,” Hale said.

“Dean, run Hale to get his paperwork sorted out,” Gavin clapped the shoulder of the black mailman.

“Right on, this way, kid,” he gestured. Hale followed. There wasn’t much to do, just sign two receipts. One for a small box containing two sets of keys. The other was around back in a lot filled with mail trucks. Casey and Gavin were walking around the only green pickup truck in the yard.

“This is in great shape.”

“Yeah, Old Marcus really believed in taking care of his things,” Hale said.

“And it’s got a bit of nice features. Front bench, no bucket seats,” Gavin said, looking through the window and humming appreciatively. “Toss me the keys.”

“I’d rather open it myself,” Hale said, frowning as Casey tossed her father the keys to the SUV.

“You wanna grab a drink tonight, Dean?” Gavin said, leading the mailman away. He looked over his shoulder. “Get her back by 11.”

“Dad! I’m 19, I’ll be back when I damn well choose,” Casey said, turning a little red.

“Bear-cub, if he’s parking that big truck on my property, he’s not waking your mother up with the engine every night. Sandy’s in bed by 11. That’s the Evans family parking lot curfew,” Gavin said.

“Thanks again, Colonel Evans,” Hale said.

Gavin waved and caught up with Dean. Casey rushed over and elbowed Hale. “Green’s my color,” she said, looking over the truck.

“Yeah,” Hale said. He looked at the keys. No click, old school. He walked around to the enger door, unlocked it and held it open for Casey.

“Oh, such a gentleman!” she said, wagging her tail and bumping him with her hip. “Is this because my dad might be watching?”

“No, I’ll treat you appropriately because you deserve it,” he said, dropping his voice to a close whisper. “I’ll just also wait until I know your dad’s out of earshot before I treat you inappropriately.”

Casey blushed a little as she climbed up into the cab. He shut the door and rushed around. When he was up, he looked over to see Casey digging through the glove box.

“Looking for treasure?”

“Oh! Sorry! I just—”

“It’s cool,” he said. “Anything inside there besides the registration?”

“Owner’s manual. Insurance cards” She pulled out a bunch of cassettes. “Music.”

Hale started the vehicle as Casey loaded Creedence into the tape deck. She sang along to the back end of Run Through The Jungle. She grinned. “Dad and Grandpa love this ancient stuff.”

“Uh huh,” Hale agreed, the music reminding him specifically about Old Marcus. He smirked. “You weren’t going to find the treasure somewhere obvious like the glove box.”

He rolled up to a stop sign and reached into the bench between him and Hale, feeling the catch and popping open a section of the seat. “He always liked these cloak and dagger James Bond things. His hands went back to ten and two and Casey pulled forward and opened the little compartment.

“If he got bucket seats he’d just have a console here,” Casey said.

“He said the bench was for babes,” Hale said, not knowing where he was going and so decided to take a circuitous route to Casey’s. He had three quarters of a tank. “When you’re done digging around, we should take advantage of the cuddle while driving options.”

Casey smirked. That sounded cute, but... “Take me out to eat instead.”

“Jenny’s?”

“Oh my god, that would be great!” she said.

He smirked. “Done.”

“Oh! Treasure!” Casey giggled. She pulled out a tall leather folder, a long felt-covered jewelry box, a leather wallet, and a yellow envelope.

“To Master Hale of The House Valmont!” she read the cover in a deeper silly herald’s voice. “That’s seriously what he wrote.”

“Old Marcus was a kook,” Hale agreed.

“I’ll leave that one for you, personally,” she said. “Can I open the others?”

“Sure,” he said.

She went straight for the jewelry box. It was long, like it should contain a necklace or a chain, and that’s what she expected an old man to give to a young one. But inside was a one large man’s ring, and, one, two.. eight empty recesses for slimmer rings. She picked up the ring and rolled it between her index finger and thumb. It was black with white Viking letters etched around the outside.

“A ring, a cool looking ring,” she said, after checking to see that Hale was watching the road more than her. Hale had his license but he hadn’t driven in over a year and never around Barstow. It was different seeing a town from the driver’s seat when you were used to seeing it from the sidewalks.

“You wanna try it on?”

“No, it’s definitely too big for my fingers,” she said. “Oh, you should’ve taken that right.”

“Yeah, of course, sorry,” he said, putting on his blinker for the next turn. Casey slipped the ring back into its recess where it looked like it intended to sit like a king over the thinner recesses. She snapped the jewelry box closed. She opened the wallet.

In truth, she first rolled the wallet over in her hands. It was a brand new black leather wallet with a brass oval in the corner. The initials HV were cut out of the brass in relief. She pulled it open. “There’s a copy of an insurance card for the truck and a credit card in here. It’s got your name on it.”

“Huh?” he said. “He took out a credit card in my name?”

“Visa,” she said.

“I’ll have to make a call about that,” Hale said.

“There’s probably info in here,” Casey continued her snooping by unwinding the leather tie of the folder. “Or in your letter.”

“Probably,” Hale said, taking the last turn before the restaurant.

“This is a lawyer’s letter. Blah blah blah... Estate of Marcus Hofstedder...” She frowned. “I’m not being too nosey, am I?”

“I like your nose,” he said, smiling and signaling before the parking lot.

“Due to the contentious nature of his relations... blah, blah... The inheritance of each individual has been treated as a private matter. As such, the bequeathal to Hale Cristian Valmont includes the title of Mr Hofstedder’s personal vehicle, model Ford, blah, blah... and the estate in Wilmington, North Carolina at—”

Casey squealed as Hale slammed the brakes and reached for the folder.

“Maybe finish getting all the way out of the street and park first?” Casey said, as the driver of a red Volkswagen honked at them.

They grabbed a booth at the back of the restaurant, ordered burritos and coke and put everything Casey had unearthed from the truck’s hidden compartment across the table. Casey slipped right next to Hale to look over his shoulder. First, he opened the letter.

“Hale,”

It opened directly. No dears or pleasantries. No “I hope this letter finds you well”.

“I’m dead. I’m surprised I lived long enough to meet you. And it wasn’t because I made healthy or safe decisions. I’ve done a lot of good in my life, but raising kids wasn’t one of them. You’re what I hope my boys would’ve ended up being.

“It’s not much, but I’m glad my Betty’s in good hands. It was gonna be enough, but then I slipped my ring into the box and into the compartment only you knew I had built. I have places like that everywhere. I know all of my vultures are looking to search up and down every house, rental property, and building I own looking for treasure, but the truth is, I liquidated and donated almost everything they’re looking for. The ring. Well, I couldn’t let that go just anywhere.

“You seemed to like the beach, if not the company, so I tucked the Wilmington House in there too. There’s a card in your name, and if you need to take a mortgage on the property to start a good life after college. Good on you. You’ll do good, but don’t go crazy. You’re gonna find you need more money soon enough, don’t blow it all on the first redhead, blonde, and brunette you get your hands on.

“It’s on you. You don’t need to tell anyone anything about what I was happy to give you. A man answers only to himself.

“Marcus.”

Hale frowned. Casey pulled his thumb away from the bottom of the letter. It was only covering the PS, but she read the last bit aloud.

“’Don’t trust the raccoon.’” she read. “Good advice.”

The folder just had details about the truck, the house, and the credit. He could pick up the keys from Marcus’s lawyer’s office or email them to mail them out to wherever Hale was, at his pleasure.

“This leather wallet’s nicer than your shitty velcro one,” Casey said, pushing Hale and nudging him to transfer his cards. He did so and she opened the jewelry box.

“I’m not really a ring kinda guy,” Hale said.

She elbowed him.

“Well you did come out with me on this date,” he said. “I suppose I could do something you want me to.”

“Your idea of a date is going through a dead man’s things?”

“Treasure hunting and Mexican food,” he said, correcting her. “And making out afterwards.”

“Let’s call it two out of three,” she said, laughing. She held the ring and reached across Hale to his right hand.

“Are you doing that right?” he asked. He wiggled his left hand ring finger at her.

“It’s not a wedding ring,” she said, eyes rolling as she slipped it down his middle finger. He clenched his fist and frowned. He turned his hand over and revealed a small white ring with black runes on it. This one was definitely sized for a woman.

“Was that under the felt or something?” Casey frowned, spinning the ring box around and dragging her nail around the seam of the box. Hale hadn’t pulled it up and it had no give.

“I think it just magically appeared.”

“It was in the bottom of the secret compartment and you smuggled it in,” she said.

He frowned. He hadn’t reached into the secret compartment at all. And Casey had been very very thorough to be certain she hadn’t missed anything. But the explanation was better than ‘magic’ so Casey was believing it.

Hale smirked. He reached across Casey for her left hand.

“It’s not a wedding ring,” she reminded him, smirking as he changed tack and slipped it down her middle finger instead. She lifted up her hand and said: “It fits better than any ring I’ve ever worn.”

Hale’s was the only ring he had ever worn—excluding candy ones as a child. It fit so comfortably it was like it wasn’t even there.

They sat down and ate. Hale read the letter maybe thirty times. He went over the legal documents a half dozen times. He checked the credit card on his phone. Shit. He wasn’t rich, but he was comfortable in a way he hadn’t been in college.

“I’m going to take the truck, head to Wilmington,” he decided. He smirked and turned to Casey. “You’re coming.”

“Of course,” she said.

Straight yes? Hale frowned.

“Should we call Darryl or—”

“Just us,” Hale said, feeling better that she was pushing.

“Cool!” Casey said.

Hale frowned. “You done?”

She picked up her soda and slurped the bottom of the glass through the straw. “Yeah, you?”

“No, the date was treasure hunting, Mexican food,” he gestured to the table. “And sweet sweet lovemaking.”

“I it being making out,” Casey’s smile and rebuke lifted the weight from Hale’s confusion. “But, yeah, do we have to do it at the table?”

“No, we can move back to the truck,” he said, grinning.

Casey took a deep breath and said, quietly, “Fucking thank god for that, at least.”

Hale managed to drive the truck behind the back of a dumpster to give them some privacy. It wasn’t much, but they weren’t visible to every car that came down the road. A coyote was watching them from the side of the dumpster, but that was the best he could do. Besides, who gave a shit about some coyote when he had Casey straddling his right thigh and kissing the shit out of his jaw and throat?

She had even less of an answer for why she was suddenly so hyper affectionate, but if she didn’t give Hale some sweet sweet lovemaking, she’d feel clammy and dead inside. He turned off the engine and tossed the keys in the cupholder. Casey squealed as she fell flat on her back. He grabbed her left hand with his right. Their rings clinked as he stretched her down and across the bench.

Yeah, benches were for babes.

Hale hoped that the reason why Casey had changed her mind about this escalation was anything other than the money in his . Yet, he had money and if that’s what she wanted, she was what he wanted.

He could fight personal worthlessness on his own time.

Casey’s body was warm and fit as she dragged her tank top up and off her shoulders. He had seen her nipples poke through dozens of tops in his time, but this was the first time he’d seen her bare breasts. The first time he had seen bare breasts since that summer at Old Marcus’s. His hands magnetted to Casey’s tits and she groaned and grabbed his hands around herself.

“Eager?” she chuckled. The redhead’s fair skin blushed from her nose to her navel, hiding the few freckles across her collarbone and tits. He pushed up and kissed that blushing skin with a vengeance. He pressed his teeth into her throat and she sighed, pressing his head against her.

She was shaking, from her ankles to her knees. She was spread around him, her pajama pants rubbing against the rough crotch of his jeans. Her breath hitched and she pulled him higher for a kiss.

God, this was happening! Right here! She had always imagined fooling around in Hale’s dorm room. Phil would’ve left and given them the room at a word, but until Casey was ready, she had used Phil as a safeguard.

Safety was gone.

This was so hot. She bit his lip and pulled and tugged at his shirt, ineffectually. She raised up a little and started tugging at his belt. “Oh fuck, wait, what do we need? Do you have anything?”

“Shit, no,” he realized.

“I, I think I have a condom, but it’s in my purse, which is... Back home.”

He said the dumbest thing ever. Something he knew she’d push back on. “I’ll pull out.”

“Promise?!” she hissed.

He hooked her pinkie.

“OK,” she said, nodding, with the pinkie swear, but she had already been pushing down her bottoms as he spoke. He grabbed her pants and tugged them off, leaving her in her dirty sneakers and a nervous smile. His hands rubbed up and down her thighs as he pushed her back down.

“Get your own clothes off!” Casey said, pouting. She at least was excited to see him naked. She’d felt his erection through his pants. She was vibrating with eager nerves. She licked the edges of her teeth. She pulled at his shirt while he went for his jeans.

He had to pull her hands away to thrust his jeans and boxers to his knees. He yanked off the shirt and tossed it onto the back bench of the cab. She reached down and touched his dick. Were her fingers shaking or was he shuddering? Casey bit the inside of her cheek.

Hale kissed her fiercely again. He ran his hand up her thighs and rubbed her pussy. She was dripping. He felt so much better. Look at what he could do to get Casey going! He brought his scented fingers back to her face and pulled his lips off of hers.

She sucked her lips back over her teeth.

“You’re ready?” he asked, cock, rubbing up and down her slit. He cleared his throat. He smirked and declared: “You’re ready.”

She nodded aggressively. In a word, she’d gone from wanting a hell of a lot more lead up to all but begging for his dick. She stroked him as he lifted her ass off the seats. She closed her eyes as his cock slipped inside her.

Her voice filled the cab of the truck like music. She almost sounded like she was hyperventilating; did she even know how to breathe?

Hale started slow and Casey grabbed his upper arms for dear life. This wasn’t some dumbass fuck with some let’s-just-get-rid-of-our-virginities jerk like she’d know in high school. This was lovemaking.

She stared up into his dark eyes and her heart melted. She rolled and gasped with every plunge inside of her. Hale reached over her head and grabbed the door’s armrest. For leverage.

Casey wailed as the next thrust struck deep inside of her. She closed her eyes, she kept her mouth shut. Hale kissed her throat. She squealed breathlessly. They kept going, the sound of their bodies slapping drowned out her moans and squeaks.

For a moment.

Casey grunted and whined before giving in and letting her voice boom: “Hale! Fucking hell! Hale!”

“Yeah,” he panted, rolling his hips between her thighs. “Yeah, keep going.”

Casey arched her back, rocking her hips upward as Hale plunged downward. Her legs wrapped around his waist and locked behind his ass.

“Casey!” he moaned, happily in her ear. “You’re gonna cum when I cum.”

She nodded. She was gonna cum. She’d never cum during sex before. Lack of trying probably. There’d been a reason she had forced Hale to take things glacially slow until now.

Until now.

Hale couldn’t get enough of Casey’s body. He pinched her nipples, squeezed her thighs, death-gripped her ass. He couldn’t do much to change positions in the tight quarters of the truck bench, but he did as much as he could. She was red, darker than her hair, her eyes were glimmering up at him.

He had promised to pull out.

Three, four, five more dangerous thrusts.

He had promised he’d pull out! Did his word mean nothing to him?

It was a struggle to unlock Casey’s ankles from behind his ass, but it was in the nick of time that he yanked his cock free of her pussy. She yelped, the first rope splashed up her stomach and she pitched and rocked as her orgasm could finally reach her. She felt the fog part in her mind as she screamed his name. Hale’s cum sprayed, smeared, and slathered over Casey’s left breast. He hung onto the handle and breathed heavily over her.

“Oh my god,” he said.

She reached up and touched his cheek.

“That was awesome,” he said. “You’re my girlfriend now.”

He wouldn’t have played her game of give and take over that statement. He didn’t notice that she didn’t try.

“Uh...” Casey said. “You don’t have Kleenex or napkins, do you?”

Neither Hale nor Casey could keep the smiles off their faces. They arrived at Casey’s and parked the truck to the left of the driveway. They got out. The SUV was in the driveway. Excellent, their late night plans required it.

“Come on,” Casey said, using the sun visor mirror to make sure there were no wet spots on her tits or her crotch.

Hale nodded, getting out, leaving the truck unlocked until Casey elbowed him. He went back and locked the doors. He met her on the stairs as they went inside and kicked their sneakers off on the mat.

“That’s the truck then?” Sandra, Casey’s mother, came out to greet them. “I’m sure Casey already invited you upon learning about your grandfather, but you’re staying for dinner.”

“Of course,” Hale said, nixing their dinner plans. So long as they made it to the drive-in by sundown, he’d be happy. The colonel was on the back terrace, barbecuing. Sandra pushed Hale out to talk to him and led Casey to the kitchen.

“So you two finally hooked up?” Sandra asked.

“Mom?!”

“Sweetheart, you’ve got just-been-fucked eyes, hair, skin, and smiles,” Sandra said. “And the boy’s even worse. You’re sure you’ve shown better taste this time?”

“Uh...”

“Well your father seems to think so,” Sandra said. She put two big wooden spoons in Casey’s hands. “Toss the salad. What are your plans?”

“Tonight, we’ll hit the drive-in,” Casey said.

“Obviously,” Sandra snorted.

“I dunno. Tomorrow, next week, or sometime. We’re gonna go on a road trip to North Carolina.”

“What?!”

Hale and Gavin heard the confused shout from the kitchen.

“Woman stuff,” the colonel said. “Look, if Casey doesn’t hold you to the right standards, Sandy’s gonna.”

“And you too?”

“My standards for my daughter’s boyfriend are practically unattainable,” Gavin said, turning over the steaks. “Sandy’s are higher.”

“’If you want to punch someone in the nose, aim for the back of the head,’” Hale said. “Old Marcus’s advice for everything.”

“Marcus was your grandfather? Condolences,” Gavin said.

Hale didn’t correct the distinction. He simply accepted the sentiment.

“That’s good advice, doing your best is about aiming yourself a little further than your last best,” he said. “Casey’s gonna make you a better man.”

“Yeah,” Hale said. “She has high standards too.”

“Now she does. Thank Jesus,” Gavin said, shaking his head. “Medium rare?”

“Yeah,” Hale said.

“Good, because if you said anything beyond that, you’d be getting medium rare,” Gavin said.

“Honey,” Sandra called. “We have to talk.”

Gavin looked at his wife and at Hale. “Should I throw him out first?”

“No,” Sandra said. “Not yet.”

It had taken her best puppy-dog eyes and literally just picking up the keys and daring her father to stop her. They were in the SUV, because the double feature ended past 11 and Casey and Hale promised to not be taking the truck after. She backed the SUV into the Drive-in parking space, turned the radio to the right channel and grinned.

“Aren’t we supposed to be facing the other way?” Hale asked.

“Not if we roll down the back bench and make a pillow fort in the back,” Casey grinned. She wobbled in the bucket seat. “The Ford was tight enough. We couldn’t even cuddle like this.”

“Smart,” Hale said, and as excited as he was as they stowed the back bench, loaded all the odds and ends that had accumulated in a family vehicle onto the front enger seat and sat down on the blanket. Hale wrapped his arm over Casey. “You told your mom we’re going to North Carolina?”

“We are,” she said.

He looked at her and kissed her.

“Masturbate.”

He said, the light had just hit the screen and they had the back hatch of the SUV open. No one was watching them, but they were open to the world. Casey had changed, her mother’s insistence, for a date.

“I don’t want you jumping in so deeply, so quickly with that boy.” “No daughter of mine is going on a date in PJs!” Mixed messages to be sure. Casey had on a light lip gloss and some eyeliner. Her dirty kick-around sneakers had been replaced with cute red flats. The grungy tank top was now a deep cut green v-neck with her best lift and show-off bra underneath. She wore a short skirt. A skirt she instantly hiked up and pulled her panties aside.

“Take those off,” Hale said.

Casey blushed redder than the fires of hell as she wiggled her ass and kicked off the panties.

“Were you just waiting to be this bold?” he asked as she began teasing her clit.

“No,” she shook her head. “I wanted to get sexy, but... this is fun and scary.” She slipped her fingers inside of herself.

“Only keep masturbating if you want to,” he said. She pulled her hand out and rolled her skirt down quickly.

Hale ran the ring around his finger. He reached for Casey’s hand. He tried to pull her ring off and she yanked her hand back. “No!”

“Give me the ring,” he said. She started to pull it off. “No, stop,” she had the tip of her finger still through the aperture. “If it feels better, keep it on.”

She pushed it back down.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I think they are magic,” he gestured his ring in front of her. “I think I have control over you.”

“Oh my god! You totally do!” she said, realizing it as well. She looked at her ring. She tried to slide it up and off.

“Stop,” he said.

She looked up. It wasn’t like she had been able to move it past the knuckle anyway.

“I needed to know why you started that fight with your mom and I had to explain to your dad what I said as a joke,” he said. “Doesn’t mean I want to give this up.”

“But, I don’t want to just be a puppet,” she said.

“Is it OK that you’re my puppet?”

“No, slavery is wrong,” she answered easily.

“I meant, mine, romantically,” he said. “Is that wrong?”

“No, I was planning for that,” she said.

“Right,” he said. “The trouble is the brutality of control. How about...” He thought about all the interactions he’d ever had with Casey. He always got what he wanted, eventually, but with her input, after a while. “How about we talk about control? I want you. I want to have you. But I want all the Casey I’ve always wanted. It’s not good enough to pull you around like a puppet. But, I’m not giving up the ability to pull you around.”

She scoffed, but smiled. She stroked her hair back over her ears. “So, like a spirit of the law then. Not the letter?”

“Right,” he said.

“OK, but... Maybe a few ground rules then?” she said, knowing if he agreed to them, she’d be good.

“Right,” he asked, but then thought with a frown. “How many ground rules?”

“Twenty-ish? Thirty?” she suggested.

He made the noise of a Family Feud buzzer. “No way. Too many.”

She held up her fingers. “How about I count down from ten?”

It wasn’t a bad call, but Hale smirked. He pointed to her shoes. “One.” Her socks. “Two.” Her skirt. “Three.” Her shirt. “Four.” Her bra. “Five.”

“What about six?” she asked, embarrassed as she pointed to the g-string she had given to him.

“Nah, you missed out on six,” he said. “A rule for each piece. Go.”

She laughed. She slipped off her right shoe. “Spirit of the law? Not the letter, right?”

“That is rule one,” he agreed, taking the shoe.

“Alright then,” she grinned, taking off the left. “Then for rule two...”

“Clever girl,” he said.

“Rule two: no making me act like a slut in front of dad or mom... Or really anyone... No, I mean, if I suck your dick and Ereca sees, that wouldn’t be the worst. No sex stuff in front of dad or mom.”

“I can agree to that,” Hale said, taking the shoe. She pulled off her sock and wiggled her toes. Hale grabbed her foot and twisted away from the opening credits of Barbie. He pressed into her sole and she grinned.

“OK, three... Uh, no ing me around.”

“God no! You are mine!” he said, strongly.

“Right, thank you,” he took the sock and tossed it away. She pulled off the second sock.

“Four, hm... No, like punching me or hitting me... Spanks and maybe a bit of choking or silly sexy roughness or good, but don’t be abusive.”

“I don’t think that needed to be a rule,” he said, taking the sock. He pulled both of her feet onto his lap. “You didn’t think I’d end up like that, did you?”

“No,” she said. “But I’m being careful.” She put her thumbs in the waistband of her skirt and wiggled her hips. She slid the skirt to his hands so he could pluck it off her feet.

“Five?” he asked.

“No forcing me to get ugly tattoos or weird piercings or stuff like that,” she said.

“I like your skin the way it is,” Hale grinned, running his hands up her calves and to her knees. He pulled her thighs open as she ran her fingers over her shirt. His eyes went up and she smiled. She pulled off her top. Her bra inhibited her tits jiggling less than she would’ve liked had she planned to mesmerize him. He took the shirt and she grinned.

“No making me commit crimes, like robbing somebody or stuff,” she said.

“Is public indecency, OK?” he asked.

“No crimes against others,” she said. “Better?”

“I was kind of thinking these would be more basic boyfriend/girlfriend stuff.”

“Our relationship is not basic,” she said, unhooking her bra. She was definitely in the mood to be objectified as she slid the straps down to her elbows and the cups off her handful-sized breasts. She giggled, still nervous, having only just kissed him for the first time that afternoon.

“Last rule,” he said, picking the bra.

“I’m still wearing makeup,” she tested, brightly.

Damn! This playfulness was one of his favorite parts of her.

“Nah, I want to see those eyeshadowed eyes looking up at me while you suck my dick,” he said.

“Right,” she laughed, licking her lips. “Last rule?”

“Last rule.”

“You can’t just ditch me,” she said. “I’m yours and you’re not giving this ring to another hotter girl that comes around!”

She was fierce with that demand. “Yes!” Hale shouted, finally hearing something he needed to hear. “That’s the Casey I wanted!”

She bloomed into a bright smile. She was blushing, from her nose to below her tits. The flush on her skin was only a shade less bright than the glimmer in her eyes. She tossed her thigh over Hale’s legs and straddled him. He grabbed her ass.

“You’re mine,” he said.

“I’m yours,” she licked her lips. She grabbed his right hand and lifted it up so that their rings kissed. Then he pulled her down to share the same connection with her. She was naked, he was still dressed. Her wet crotch grinded over his jeans. She bit his lip and groaned. His free hand kneaded the firmness of her ass. Her free hand tugged the hem of his shirt up to his nipples.

“God! Impatient, aren’t we?”

“I’ve been slow to jump into bed with you, but I was always going to be totally sex crazy when we did,” she said. Hale’s shirt got tossed away in the cap. He grabbed her hips and rolled her onto his back.

“Sex crazy is good,” he said. He froze and retreated, breaking the grip of her legs. “You’re not gonna turn into a naughty schizophrenic.” He spun the ring on his finger. “Because I meant—”

“I got it,” she said. “Spirit of the law.”

She reached for the fly of his jeans. He laughed relaxingly. The movie had started and there were other cars around them. Others were already rocking hard. To Casey and Hale, they were the only people in each other’s universes.

He was naked, except for his socks. He grabbed her ankles and shoved her knees to her chest. He dove down and smelled the eager scent of her cunt. She grabbed his hair, eyes widening. Her heart hammered as the first ever tongue touched her sex. She squealed.

She tasted savory and a little spicy. He poked his tongue up and down along her folds and sucked her clit. She kicked the seatbelt and started moaning.

He didn’t know what he was doing. He was shocked by how thrilled she seemed. So he kept doing his first action, lick on the left to the top, lick on the right to top. Her shivering clit danced and lifted with his tongue. Her sweet nectar ran down his chin. Her nails raked his scalp. Her voice was twisted, angelic and satanic on alternate breaths.

“Hale! Oh god!” She could barely form words. Her hands went wild, sometimes jerking her hair, sometimes his. Her heart hammered against her ribs. She couldn’t find much oxygen in the shallow gasping breaths she managed. She was going to die in orgasmic bliss. It would be worth it. She came, bursting in a spray of joy, up his nose and onto his cheeks. He blinked. She blinked and sloughed down into a puddle as her muscles relaxed.

Hale pulled his face from her crotch, grinning like an idiot. He grabbed her face and kissed her. She a second later realized the taste on her lips was her own sex. Coming from Hale’s mouth, she tasted wonderful. She tried to roll him, she wanted to repay him. She wanted to be naughty for him. He pushed her down.

“Condoms in your purse?” he said, holding her down by the belly and reaching past the driver’s seat to grab her bag. He pulled it back.

“Yeah, just under my wallet,” she said.

He wasn’t as comfortable opening her bag as she had been rummaging through the truck. He handed the whole bag to her. She dragged out a Durex and ripped the foil.

“I got it,” she said, grabbing his dick, “Lean back.”

She put the rubber on the tip, kissing him as she rolled it down. She didn’t break from his lips until he was sheathed. She smiled at him. “Come on! Fuck me.”

He smiled. “Whenever I made a demand of you, you tempered it.”

“Yeah?”

“When you make a demand of me, I add to it.”

“What?!” She squealed as he grabbed her hips and flipped her onto her knees. He put his cockhead to her pussy. He stopped. She took another few seconds before she breathed. He hadn’t moved. She flipped her hair and looked back over her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“If I turn you around, we can both watch the movie,” he said.

She started laughing, but they wiggled, shifted and realigned so she had her hand against the rear door, peaking over the door as Hale bent over her back.

They didn’t give the movie any attention.

Hale stroked himself home. He pushed, a little slower than Casey would’ve liked. She gasped as he hilted deep. It felt like her eyes were about to burst out of her head. She shook.

“Oh god!” From behind the tip of his cock rippled over the wall of her pussy. She twitched when the pressure of his cock found a wonderful place inside her. Her left knee flinched and she would’ve crashed down onto her belly if Hale hadn’t such a great grip on her hips. She reached back and grabbed his hand.

Hale laced their fingers together, she felt the chill of his ring crossed with the heat of his body. She yowled, ramming her hips back into him. She gasped, shocked at her own vigor, even though it was less than his. She was using her right hand to push off the tailgate. The SUV shook harder than any other vehicle in the lot.

“Case!” Hale grunted, teeth clenched.

“Just like that! Just like that! Just like that!” she demanded, grinding into him. She froze as a spasm kicked her stomach back. Their rhythm fell out of sync. They were a mess, sloppy, banging together with discordant tempo to the percussion of their slapping skin. “Almost!” She shouted.

Hale grabbed a handful of her hair. “Fuck! You are one hot bitch!” he moaned. He held her steady and pounded into her at a steeper angle. Casey’s eyes crossed under her clenched eyelids. She dropped. Her tits rubbing on the carpet. Her nails scratched the floor. Hale drove himself inside her with enough force that his balls slapped her ass with every thrust.

“Faster,” she squealed. “Faster!”

Hale grunted and groaned. His body was flinching with every hammering thrust. She was crying out. She was so close. She couldn’t think. She was flopping like a fish on her belly. Hale’s breath tickled the sweat on her neck. His weight, his strength, his scent, his dominance over her. She moaned, trying to hold her core steady.

Hale’s warm cum splashed back in the rubber. He pressed her body down as the pair of them quivered.

“How was that?”

“Roll me over,” Casey said, nose full of carpet lint. “I need to kiss you.”

Casey tossed three condoms into the trash bin before they drove off the lot. She was unable to stop smiling. Her hair was a mess, her makeup was worse, the clothes she did put on were sticking to her sweaty skin. Hale was as much of a mess. Traces of her lip gloss glimmered on her neck. She looked at him.

“What was the second movie?” she asked.

“Oppenheimer?” he said.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

They laughed wildly.

“Let’s go to your dorm room,” she said.

“Darryl will be there.”

“My pussy’s so abused, I just want to lay down with you in bed,” she said. “I can’t do that if I take you to my place.”

They pulled onto the highway back to Barstow. She drummed his hands on the dash. He looked at her. “Do you have any more condoms?”

“No,” she said.

“Let’s go to a pharmacy then,” he said. “I could also use a Gatorade.”

“Yeah...” she laughed. “Yeah.”

They pulled in under the lit up 24 hours sign and parked as close to the doors as didn’t require a placard. They got out and Hale rushed around the front of the car to grab up Casey’s hand. She giggled and squeezed his fingers. They kissed, what was intended as a peck had Casey wobbling after the minute it lasted.

Hale pushed Casey by the butt as the automatic door opened. He caught sight of a coyote watching them. He went inside.

They grabbed more condoms, drinks, and snacks. Hale started towards the checkouts but Casey grabbed his sleeve.

“What?”

“You need some things for your truck,” she said. “Kleenex at the least.”

Hale nodded, agreeing. “We’ll do a proper shopping trip tomorrow.”

“OK,” she said. She hugged his elbow and they made their purchases. Hale looked for the coyote as they jogged to the car. It watched them as he got in the enger seat.

“Hey, look,” he said. But when Casey turned his head, the animal was gone.

“What?”

“Oh, I just saw a coyote,” he said. “Nothing big, thought you’d like a look.”

“Save the condoms for the morning,” she said. “Please?”

“I’m as spent as you are,” he said. He spun the ring and felt like he didn’t need to be.

Darryl woke up with the sun. He sat up in bed and caught sight of the red bloom of hair in Hale’s bed. He smirked. “Finally!” he said under his breath, grabbing his shower shoes and robe before heading out of their room.

He headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast before they got out of bed. His fingers flying on his iPhone.

People had to know.

Casey was shocked when her phone started ringing. She and Hale laughed, picking sleep from their eyes as she grabbed her phone from her purse on the floor.

“Is the Colonel upset that we didn’t bring the vehicle back?”

“It’s Eri,” Casey said. She put a finger to her lips and answered.

“Bitch! You knew I liked him!”

“What?” Casey said. “That was months ago and you didn’t make a move!”

“What?” Hale mouthed. Casey pushed his face and pointed to the shopping bag on his desk. He slipped out of bed, wearing his boxers. Casey was in her bra and g-string.

“I told you! I thought you were giving me space?!”

“Darryl and Phil told you otherwise,” Casey replied. “Seriously, Ereca I—”

“I’m in the cafeteria. I know you’re upstairs. Get down here!”

Ereca hung up. Casey tossed her phone on the bed. Casey looked at Hale as he downed a bottle of Gatorade. “You knew Ereca like you, right?”

“What? Since when?!” he said.

Casey sighed. “Yeah, well, she’s mad because she confided in me and—”

“Tell her to fuck off,” Hale said. “I wanted you and I hadn’t spent a second going after her. She’s delusional.”

“That’s not nice,” Casey said. She finished texting: “No, fuck off, spending the day with MY boyfriend.” She looked up. “Let’s go get your truck. I want to wash your nut down with a breakfast burrito.”

“God, you’re so fucking top eight, it’s insane!” he said.

She stuck out her tongue. “When you say it, it’s assholish.”

The Colonel wasn’t home when Casey pulled into the driveway.

“Y’know,” she said. “I’m looking forward to when you drive. It’s just... sexier.”

“Cool,” Hale said. “I like driving.”

They went inside.

“Mom!” Casey called out. Sandra came and met her daughter and Hale in the kitchen.

“Fresh clothes and a coat of deodorant isn’t going to cut it,” she said, walking by Hale. “Take the shower in the hallway. Casey’ll use the one in the master bathroom.”

“Or...”

“No,” Sandra said. “You want to fool around like teenagers—”

“We are teenagers.”

“You’ll need your own place,” Sandra said, ignoring Casey’s interjections. “My keys?”

Casey tossed her mother the keys, kissed Hale, said: “I’ll miss you!” and rushed down to her bedroom for fresh clothes.

“There’s towels on the rack,” Sandra said. “Move. You really don’t want to come visiting when you smell that much like Casey and sweat.”

Hale showered with military precision and impatience. He was looking out the window as he dried his hair. A coyote was sitting and watching the window from the backyard, just next to the toolshed. Hale grinned and gave the canine the finger guns. The coyote yipped in response.

“Right,” he said.

His clothes had been fresh and clean, but wanting to avoid Ereca and conversation that morning, he had just slapped them on and chased Casey down to the parking lot. He did feel better after a shower. Dry again, dressed again, his hair returned to its natural tangled mess, he headed out and found Sandra in the kitchen, fiddling with a tablet and sipping a cup of coffee.

“Even on her most impatient days, Casey’s still going to take twenty minutes. Do you want a cup? Pop Tarts?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Mugs are in that cupboard. Toaster’s under the corner cupboard and the Pop Tarts are in it. Help yourself.”

Hale nodded. The coffee was made and there was clearly enough for him, Casey, and Sandra. It still felt strange digging around someone else’s kitchen and helping himself. He took one bite before he ed. “We were going to go out for breakfast burritos.”

“Yeah, like teenage boys can’t sneak in an extra meal everyday,” Sandra rolled her eyes.

Hale laughed. “I saw a coyote out back from the bathroom window. He’s not going to get into the trash or anything, is he?”

Sandra sighed. “I hope not.”

Casey lay on her belly, stretched across the bench of the cab, her mouth tight around his cock as her red hair bobbed up and down. Hale gripped the wheel with white knuckles, driving exactly the speed limit, and checking his mirrors more fastidiously than he ever had.

This was the way he wanted to die. Casey gave a good blow job. He didn’t want to die, but if he had to, this was how he’d choose to go.

Casey held his shaft at the base, her ring finger and pinky swirling through the hair on his balls as she chicken-headed on the shaft. She felt safe in Hale’s presence. She was thinking about this act as more naughty than dangerous. What if someone looked in through his window and saw her head in his lap. Her toes, in her sandals, clicked off the enger side window.

Hale couldn’t look down as he struggled to where he needed to turn. He breathed. Casey, still totally oblivious, just deepthroated his dick. Her tongue swirled aggressively around the top.

He yanked her hair and dragged her off his cock. She huffed and gazed up with confusion. “We’re here.”

“Cool, park somewhere I can finish,” she said as smiled, licking the cockhead, and diving back down. She made meowing noises around his shaft.

He couldn’t argue with that, so he petted her hair and parked away from the front of the restaurant. He couldn’t recline his seat, but he did the best he could.

Her lips were tight around the shaft. She used her tongue wildly. She hoped he was enjoying it, but she really wished he could tell her what felt best. She faked it, licking and sucking, bobbing and gulping as she hurried him towards orgasm.

He started tangling her hair in his fingers, he choked back some of his breath, and finally, with the pressure in his core, he gave a tap. She didn’t realize it was a warning. Her eyes opened in shock as he sprayed up against her cheeks.

“Shit! Thank you!” he said. He didn’t let her retreat until he stopped shaking. She gathered his cum in her mouth like a squirrel with nuts, unable to comfortably swallow anything until he let go of her hair and she pushed herself up onto her knees. She grinned and made a show of drinking everything down.

“Breakfast burritos?” he asked, panting hard.

She kissed his cheek.

“Then we go somewhere and buy Kleenex for the truck and all the rest we need.”

Phil drove his mother’s Accord into the parking spot and Ereca was out the backseat before he could shift down to park. At least Ereca closed the door. He watched her dumpy ass rush into the restaurant.

“Is this a fucking dumb idea?” Phil asked Darryl in the enger seat.

“Of course it is,” he said. “Do you see Casey’s SUV?”

“No,” Phil said.

“But Ereca was sure they were here?” Darryl said. “C’mon, maybe we dodged a bullet.”

“What is this shit anyways?” Phil asked. “We were all waiting for Casey and Hale to finally start fucking, right?”

“Ereca’s apparently dumb,” Darryl said. He held the door for Phil and followed him in. “Oh look, they’re here. This will go well.”

The five friends ended up together at a table in the back. Hale was keeping his hand under the table, gripping Casey’s. He didn’t want to show off the ring. Casey was thrilled and gestured with hers.

“Isn’t it cute?!”

“It’s... kinda badass more than cute,” Darryl said. “Real viking warrior shit.”

“Yeah, not for a girlfriend,” Ereca sniped.

“I think it’s great for a girlfriend,” Hale said. The waitress came over with her and Casey’s breakfast. “Whatever they want, it’s on me.”

“Really?” Darryl said. “Thanks man. Now I wish I hadn’t gone to the cafeteria for a limp bagel.”

“You gonna order anything?” the waitress asked, hoping to increase her tip.

“Coffee, two sugars, two cream, and a banana bread muffin.”

“Awesome,” Phil said. “Same. Wait, one sugar, one cream, but same.”

“Creamers and sugar packs are on the table,” the waitress said. “Miss?”

Ereca looked at Hale and then said. “The big breakfast, a large orange juice, green tea, and a slice of cheesecake.”

“Thanks, be right back with the drinks,” the waitress left.

Casey glared at Ereca but Hale seemed unawares that the girl was just ordering to make him spend money as vengeance. She was a bigger girl than Casey, shorter too, but she wasn’t packing away that much food out of fatness, this was coming out of spite.

“So, you got a truck?” Phil said. “Like your own fucking vehicle?”

“Yeah,” Hale said.

“I didn’t even know you were looking for one,” Darryl said.

“It’s inherited,” he said. “My...” Fuck it, he didn’t want to explain the step part. “Grandfather died.”

“Oh shit! Sorry man!” Darryl said.

“You could’ve got out of finals for that reason,” Ereca said. She smiled for the waitress as her tea and juice was delivered off the tray.

“And I’ll be right back with the urn.” The waitress said to the boys.

Hale was eating with just his left hand. Darryl noticed, but figured he was holding hands with Casey. Romantic. Not something he had expected out of Hale.

“Guys, Hale’s got a truck,” Phil started saying. “We could go on a summer road trip. Down to LA? Maybe through to Las Vegas? We all pitch in some gas and it will be lit!”

“Yeah,” Ereca said. “We could get to know each other much better!”

Casey heard the come on in Ereca’s voice. Hell, it was so obvious Phil and Hale picked up on it.

“I...” Hale frowned and puttered off. “We were considering a trip.”

Darryl could see it. He wanted to spend some alone time with his new girlfriend. He smirked and said: “Road trip sounds amazing. No parents to upset. No roommates to wake up. Just non stop monkey sex. Thanks darlin’.”

He directed the last bit to the waitress who filled his cup. Phil was about to interject but saw the truth of the matter. “Right, yeah. Do you guys have somewhere you want to go together?”

“Actually, I think a group trip would—”

Darryl elbowed Ereca. “Ship’s sailed. You’re either happy for them or their third wheel, their former friend, or their threesome sidepiece. Be happy for them. This was a long time coming.”

“Sorry, I didn’t notice Ereca. You should’ve said something,” Hale said. He frowned.

“Don’t be sorry,” Casey said.

“I’m thrilled you two got together,” Phil said.

“Yeah, Hale’s been intolerable with your constant dip-your-toes-in-the-pool-and-run-off strategy,” Darryl said.

Ereca smoldered in her unfair anger.

Hale and Casey pushed the shopping cart through The Dollar General on Main Street.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me Ereca liked me?” Hale asked.

“One,” she said. “I was giving you a chance and didn’t want you to get what you needed from her and stop putting in the effort with me. Two, I can’t speak for the guys. Three, Ereca’s never asked a guy out before, she assumed she just needed to be cryptic and indirect and you’d read her mind.”

“You know what?” he said. “I appreciate your strategy. Ereca’s not top 80.”

“Ouch!” Casey said. “She’s cute though.”

“What?”

Casey flashed her ring. “If you stay by the rules and want to have a threesome like Darryl suggested, you could keep me from getting mad or jealous.”

“But not Ereca from getting mad, jealous, or hurt,” Hale said. He grabbed Casey’s hip and squeezed her from the side. “Hard . I’d need another ring or something.”

“Fair,” Casey said. She let out a relieved sigh.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t be mad or jealous?”

“No, I said you could keep me from getting mad or jealous,” Casey said. “You haven’t done that yet.”

“That’s true.”

It was half past 10 pm when Hale parked the truck in Casey’s driveway. They wanted to give Casey enough time to drive him to the dorm and get back without abusing the Colonel’s good will by waking Sandra up with the vehicles.

“I’m just going to take a pee,” Casey kissed him and ran inside. He decided to wait out in the cool desert night.

“She’s a real looker. Nice and hot,” came a voice. “Good choice.”

“Yeah, she’s...” Hale turned around expecting to see some creepy neighbor of Casey’s but there was no one outside. He barely caught sight of even a coyote loping away. He scratched his neck, felt the coolness of the ring on his neck.

“Alright!” Casey said. “I can’t stay over like last night, mom needs the SUV in the morning. I might not even be able to come pick you up.”

He frowned. “Catch.”

“Ah!” Casey was shocked, but she managed to grab the keys off her tits. Even before they fell to the asphalt!

“Come get me with the truck in the morning,” he said.

“Oh! Yeah! That’ll work!” she said.

“Did I tell you you were hot today?”

“Like a dozen times,” she laughed, starting the vehicle. “Tell me again though.”

“You’re a real looker. Nice and hot.”

She snorted. “Ha! My grandpa calls pretty girls lookers. Thanks.” She flashed her teeth.

It was near 11:30 when she got home, because even though it was just 10 minutes to the college and 10 minutes back, Darryl was out at Phil’s and they fucked again.

Casey’s bed was a tiny twin, bought for her when she was sixth grade and never replaced. She’d never taken a boy back to her room before. Even in high school she sneaked out. Now her shoulders crushed Ranger, her favorite plushie, as her knees sat on Hale’s shoulder blades. He lifted her by the ass and slowly licked her labia.

Casey’s mind was overwhelmed with an ecstatic joy she had never experienced before. As Hale’s tongue lapped at her inner folds, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride that he had claimed her with the ring. She tugged on her bangs, feeling the warm metal of her ring against her forehead. She bit the meat of her palm to keep from making noise.

Even in an empty house.

She tossed her head back, grunting, groaning, gasping, her legs locking behind Hale’s back. Her thighs spasmed around his ears, clapping and making his skull ring. He touched her asshole with her thumb. She swallowed a scream. She clenched her jaw as tightly as possible. She threw herself sideways.

Ranger, her plush dog, slipped off the edge of the bed. She rocked back onto her shoulders. She stared at the roof. No amount of hand biting and breath swallowing was going to hold back her orgasmic adulation. “What the fuck are you doing to me?” she moaned. Her teeth hurt.

He couldn’t believe how well she was doing. He had no clue on how to eat a pussy. He just did what Phil told him to. He spelled C-A-S-E-Y over and over again, making sure to whap Casey’s clit at the top of each letter. She was a mess, dripping precum and pussy juice down her crack and onto her bed.

“Fuck! Fuck!” She managed to keep her voice quiet, but not silent. She wouldn’t manage for long. Her nails scraped his scalp, grabbing his hair and trying to steer him. He followed her signals, using his tongue to set her heart hammering a frantic tattoo.

“Hale!” she croaked. She shrieked. She covered her face with both hands and held her jaw shut. She flopped like a strobe light fish. Trying to hold the orgasm down just raised the bars in her sexual pressure cooker. She shrieked a second time, cumming, a blast of pleasure rushing up her spine like a lightning strike, blanking her out.

Hale took a deep breath. He had to tickle her knee and make her squeal and laugh, breathlessly, to uncage her thighs’ deathgrip on his skull. She flopped onto the bed as he climbed up and kissed her on the lips.

She smelled her juices on his face and she fished him out of his boxers. “Fuck me...” she said.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Casey and Hale froze like deer in headlights, staring at Casey’s door. No one was home! No one was supposed to be home before six! It wasn’t three!

Sandra’s voice came through the door: “He stays for dinner, Casey. No rushing him out before your Dad gets home. And make sure you both get showers.”

Casey and Hale huffed and puffed. Not answering Casey’s mother. They stared at each other. Hale’s cock hovered, hard at the entrance of her pussy. He started to retreat.

“Why?” she asked, very quietly.

“The rules. Not in front of your parents,” he said.

Loud, deafening music boomed out of the living room. Drowning out whatever they might get up to. Casey and Hale stared at each other, frowning until they couldn’t stop laughing.

“Grab Ranger?” she said, pointing off the edge of the bed. She used to bite Ranger to keep her orgasms quiet in middle school. She could do it again.

“What are your plans for the summer?” Gavin asked Hale at the dinner table.

Hale looked at Casey.

“Besides that!” Gavin said, impatiently.

“Well, I think Ereca, Phil, and Darryl found a three-bedroom and I was asked to help split the rent, but...”

“You do need a place to live,” Sandra said.

“And you can visit Casey, but we’re not putting you up,” Gavin said.

“Right,” Hale said. “It’s an option.”

Casey frowned at Hale.

“You should get your shit together,” Gavin said. “You’re out of the dorms in a week?”

“Six days.”

Ereca slammed into Hale with a hug from the side. Casey raised an eyebrow and Hale shrugged. Casey had brought the truck over in the morning, like she always did, and they were eating in the cafeteria with Darryl.

“I’m gonna take a leak,” Hale said, extricating himself.

“Drive safe,” Darryl said.

“You coming to see the apartment with us this afternoon?” Ereca called after him. He didn’t answer as he slipped into the restroom. He splashed water on his face.

“This town’s too small for you. I wouldn’t get tied down with those people.”

“Those people are my...”

He turned and saw a coyote sitting on the floor.

“Yeah, stop looking around. I said it.” He pointed his nose to Hale’s ring. “You gotta be careful with that thing.”

“How can you talk?”

“How can your girlfriend forfeit her free will?”

“Shit, I—”

“Calm your shit,” the coyote said. “You and me. Right now. We’re low-key. Breathe in. Breathe out. You start screaming and you start getting asked questions whose answers are court-mandated pharmaceuticals.”

“Shit... You’ve been following me,” Hale said.

“Or I’m falling for that ginger girl. Ass is fantastic. And, she didn’t think you were swinging out of your weight class before I stepped in.”

“And let me guess, now I owe you?”

“Hardly,” the coyote said. “Truth is, I’ve got another couple of favors I owe you.”

Hale frowned.

“Get out of town. Marcus made sure you got wings and a chick. Why’re you debating hanging around to what? Have all the privacy with Casey four people in a three bedroom can give you? Fuck that noise. Drive.”

Hale turned around. He closed his eyes and turned back. The tail of the coyote disappeared as it walked out of the restroom.

At least he wasn’t vanishing like a ghost.

He rolled the ring around on his finger.

“Thanks for the ride!” Ereca launched herself over the front bench and kissed Hale on the cheek. “Come up!”

“You guys can handle the place, just the three of you, right?”

“Pretty handedly,” Phil said. “Dude, if you’re not in, you’re not in. You just need something.”

Darryl shrugged. “I think he’s got all he needs.”

“No, you should at least come up and—”

“Ease off Eri,” Phil said. “You missed your shot. Find another game to play.”

Ereca snarled at Phil, but she slid out of the truck. Casey slid over and snuggled him.

“Let’s get out of town,” he said. “Go to North Carolina.”

“You sure?”

“We stick to cheap hotels, maybe even get some camping gear, and we can have a crazy good trip. Just you and me.”

“I’d like that.”

“But first...”

“First? First, isn’t shopping for a tent and stuff?”

“First is...” Hale picked up Casey’s hand and put her ring next to his. “We figure out what these words are.”

“Oh,” Casey laughed. “Yeah... Why didn’t we do that already?”

“We needed a break from schoolwork,” Hale said.

“Oh, is that why my pussy’s so sore?” Casey smirked.

“How about this?” Casey slid her phone in front of Hale’s face.

They were in the Barstow College Library. It was nearly empty, except for a few tables with people quietly typing away at their computers. They were just off the main road, and the sun was shining brightly through the large windows. Outside, the parking lot was more empty than not, and the occasional student walked by with their backpack on, headphones drowning out the world, and dropping at a desk to bury their head in the notes for one last final.

“Draupnir?” he said. “What is it?”

“It’s a magic ring. The legend is that it was given to Odin by elves, and every ninth day, it would drop eight rings.”

“One ring,” Hale said, gesturing to his and her rings.

“Eight recesses in the jewelry box,” Casey countered.

“Does it say anything about women, sex, or coyotes? Raccoons?”

“What?” Casey shook her head. “No, it was just a symbol of wealth. More identical rings. Wealth kept pouring out of Draupnir.”

Hale rolled the ring around in his hands. “It hasn’t dropped any more.”

“Ninth day, . You’ve been wearing it for what?”

“Five days,” Hale said.

“So, if the ninth day comes around...” Casey said. “You can get another girl.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Hale asked.

“Truck, road, North Carolina.”

“I like it. Now, what about the words on the band?”

“See these runes here and here are different?” she lined up her hands and spun the rings on their fingers. Most of the sentence was the same except for two words. “Man and woman. Sword and cup.”

“My man sword?”

“Goes into my woman cup.” she giggled. “Honestly, we’re not linguists. Why don’t we take pictures of the rings, look up some professor of Norse history and get him to send us back translations?”

Hale frowned. He looked around.

“What are you looking for?”

“A coyote. I need advice.”

“Mine’s not good enough?” Casey said, pouting cutely. “I could get a cute coyote ear headband?” She bit her lip, rolled up her t-shirt, and flashed her tits, giggling as she yanked the garment back down before anyone in the library saw. “Coyotes don’t wear other clothes, right?”

“Uh...” Hale said, letting Casey take the pictures.

The sock on the door was probably not necessary. Darryl, Phil, and Ereca had borrowed the truck to move into their apartment. The dorm room was barren. So much of what had decorated and filled the room had belonged to Darryl.

Hale didn’t own much. One poster on the wall, his computer on the desk, a closet full of clothes, and the redheaded girl holding his dick.

Casey brought her tongue to the seam of his balls and smiled, cross-eyed as she stared at the cockhead on her forehead. She opened her mouth. He put the head of his dick in. She brought her hands up, jerking the length as she slobbered and drooled.

Casey felt Hale’s warm shaft slide into her hands. It was rock hard and pulsing with his heartbeat. His cock throbbed under her fingers. She traced a slow circle around the head and pulled her lips back. She held her breath and let a sputter of spit drip from her lips, down the head of his cock and onto his balls. She rubbed in her spit until it shined.

Hale stroked his fingers through her bangs and tucked her hair from her face and behind her ears. She giggled, kissing the tip and opening her mouth wide. Hale rocked his hips forward and back, grinding his cockhead across her lips and cheeks. She tilted her head and held her lips and tongue still.

Hale groaned aggressively. Casey choked, trying to hide her discomfort and failing. She was working on her endurance and it was very slowly improving. She had mastered using her tongue and even relaxing her throat when she squeezed his head. But she still gagged when he jumped his dick to the back of her throat too fast. She hummed loudly, wiping the few stress tears from her eyes, and trying to keep her cool.

“Yeah, keep going,” he said, stroking her cheek and gently holding a fistful of hair into a ponytail.

She smiled, looking up at him, but mostly seeing his wrist and not his eyes. She started snaking her neck left and right, looking around his arm to see the goofy sex-glad look on Hale’s face. She fluttered her tongue. He gasped.

She tightened her grip on the shaft, half-punching herself in the lips as she pushed her mouth and throat over the full length. He grunted and thrust harder. Casey held on, even through a gag. She smiled, proud of herself. Her lips popped off.

“Push my head up and down a bit faster now,” she said, rolling her lips around his cockhead, she slurped him into her mouth again.

Hale grinned, “You asked for it!”

Casey squealed, her throat tightening around his cock. Her gullet made a fleeting gasp of his dick before she was dragged up, lips to foreskin, and thrust back down. She stroked as best as she could, but he was using her face like a masturbation sock. She reached her left hand under her. She wanted to cum when his cum sprayed into her mouth. She knew it made him happier and every sexual encounter was better with a cum.

She slid her fingers into her open fly and under her panties. She was soaking wet, she just had to hang around Hale for ten minutes to be ready to go. She was in love and the sex was better because of it. She groaned, flicking her engorged clit as she slurped around his dick. Everything was messy.

“Case! Casey!” Hale shuddered.

Good! She thought, pinching her clitoris and lifting her hips in her spasms. She heard the distant echo of Hale’s ejaculation. She had been here before. She brought her lips to the head and he pushed her down. The splash back reached her teeth but she sucked it all back up, drinking down the last gushes of semen. She sat back, eyes wet from the battering to her throat and her skin red from their shared cum. Hale was panting like he’d run a marathon, struggling to get his fingers out of the mess he’d made of her hair.

She was giggling madly.

Knock-knock-knock!

“I’ll get it, you’re totally naked,” Casey said. She grabbed her t-shirt and pulled it down over her bare breasts. Hale put his pillow over his dick. Casey opened the door.

Ereca stood there.

“I’ve been a bitch and crazy,” she said. “Can I come in and apologize?”

Casey looked back.

“We’ll meet you in the cafeteria in twenty?”

“Oh,” Ereca frowned.

“What?”

“I don’t want to apologize in front of everyone.”

“We’ll be lucky if there’s three people down there. The last finals are writing right now.”

“Please?”

“Come back in twenty!” Hale shouted from the bed. “And don’t mention any smells!”

“I’ll be back,” Ereca agreed, running off.

“I’m not going to get fucked?” Casey said.

“We’ve got twenty minutes,” he said.

“We’re gonna want to get dressed too,” Casey said.

“Good point,” Hale said. He shouted: “Hey Google, set a timer for eighteen minutes!”

Ereca hit Hale with a hug when she rushed into the dorm room. Hale and Casey were both dressed now, though the room cloyingly smelled of sex and sweat.

“Can I talk to him alone?” Ereca asked Casey, even before the hug had ended.

“No,” Hale said. “Did you bring the truck back?”

“I can’t drive,” Ereca said. “The boys dropped me off before they went to Phil’s to move him in.”

She stepped back and looked at both of them. Casey smiled as Hale’s hand rubbed up and down her back, hiding the ring from Ereca.

“Right,” Ereca took a deep breath. “I acted like a spoiled brat. To both of you. Because I thought everyone knew what I was thinking. What I wanted. I can’t pretend I’m happy to see you two together, but I’ll get there. You’re my friends and I want to be your friend back at you. I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” Hale said in an instant.

Casey thought for an instant. Was Hale making her accept Ereca’s apology? It didn’t feel like it. Hale was saying he was over it.

Was Casey?

Yeah, she was. So long as Hale was.

“Agreed, apology accepted.”

Casey accepted the hug from Ereca.

“God, it smells like... Oh god in here.” Ereca pushed off. “I better go before I start pushing for an invite.”

The wink she gave Hale and Casey suggested that she would accept that kind of invitation. Neither Hale or Casey suggested anything perverted between the three of them.

Ereca left the dorm room, convinced she’d wear them down. She hummed to herself. He’d get tired of Casey again, she was bland and unadventurous. Boys needed some variety! Some spice!

She was feeling hot.

“Maybe we’d get more replies if you let me send the pictures to more professors?” Casey suggested. They were loading Hale’s boxes into Casey’s bedroom.

He wasn’t moving in. That was very clear and repeatedly stated by The Colonel, Sandra, and Hale himself. He had to be out of the dorms, and they had decided on driving I-40 all the way to Wilmington, taking as many stops as they could along the way. But, they weren’t going to keep a dorm’s room worth of stuff in the trunk bed on the entire trip.

“Those the last boxes?” Sandra said. “I was expecting a lot more stuff.”

“Well, there’s a suitcase, but I’m keeping that for clothes,” Hale said.

“And his backpack, but that’s just for his computer and shaving stuff.”

“That, the camping gear, and a toolbox is all we need,” Hale said. “Oh, and Casey’s stuff.”

“Let me guess,” Gavin said. “By volume, Casey’s packed four times as much as you’ve got.”

“I got two suitcases, Dad!” Casey said.

“They are both bigger than mine,” Hale said.

“You got a medkit?”

“Part of the camping gear,” Hale said.

“I’m going to give your inventory a double-check,” the Colonel said. “You definitely are short something.”

Hale didn’t pretend he could stop Gavin from going out to the truck and doing his thing. So he didn’t. He carried his boxes down the hall to put them in Casey’s room so they’d be here when he came back for school in September. That was over three months away.

Casey kicked the door closed behind them.

“Your Mom’s gonna know, Casey,” Hale said, unzipping his jeans.

“I wanted to talk about the rings,” she said, dropping on her bed and grabbing his dick. He walked to straddle her knees as she began two-handed stroking him. “We could try a dozen or more professors. Someone who’ll reply. We need answers, don’t we?”

Hale held her shoulders, watching her bright hazel eyes as she gave him a long handjob with licks to his cockhead. He pushed his jeans and boxers down to his ankles.

“I don’t like showing it off,” he said. “It feels...”

“Personal?”

“Very,” he agreed. She kissed the tip and rolled her head around.

“But you’re comfortable staying in the dark?” she asked, hiking her t-shirt up and letting her tits drop free from under the fabric. He squatted and she squeezed her tits around his dick, bending her neck to bring her lips to the cockhead pushing up through her cleavage.

He let her work in silence, but for his happy stretched out breaths. She used the springs of her mattress, to ride her tits up and down his shaft. She swirled her tongue over the head with every chance she got. She opened her mouth when she pulled back on her tits.

“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” she pleaded when his breath accelerated. He pushed her face down tighter. She made a seal around his dick end and grabbed the shaft with both hands, letting her tits fall and bounce away as she jacked him into her lips.

He shot a stream of hot, goopy cum that pooled on her tongue. She kept stroking until he breathed in regular breaths. She tilted her head back and swallowed.

“We really should send some more emails, OK? Think about it.”

She rolled down her shirt and he kissed her on the forehead.

Getting away from the Evanses took too long. They had wanted to meet their friends for lunch, but it was close enough to four to call it an early dinner. They gathered at Jenny’s. One last send off meal.

Ereca was doing her best to be seen as happy.

“Lots of pictures,” she demanded. “From all over, you gotta make memories.”

“Casey? Taking selfies? Perish the thought!” Darryl teased.

“Guys, I want to say, I’m fucking super envious,” Phil said. “Have all the fun. When it’s all said and done. I want there to be no fun left. None. Salt the Earth so fun will never grow again.”

“Will do,” Hale laughed.

Hale picked up the check. The hugs and goodbyes took too long.

“There’s so much room in that truck,” Ereca sighed.

“No one’s biting, horndog,” Darryl onished her.

Casey stifled a mean laugh. Ereca’s skin darkened in blush. Hale gave her another hug.

“We’re off guys, we had a destination in mind tonight and even if we leave right now, we’re going to be driving too long to get there.

“Yeah,” Phil said. “Get on the road.”

It still took another ten minutes to cross the parking lot. Casey and Hale got in through the driver’s side door, they’d been doing it for days now. It let them cuddle as he drove. He waved to his friends as he pulled the door shut. Casey shuffled through the cassettes and slipped in Bruce Springsteen.

“Fuck!” Hale said, pulling his hand back from the steering wheel.

“What?” Casey asked, turning and looking at the third ring in Hale’s hand. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“We really have to send those emails now,” Hale said.

“No, I mean, you’re right. But I was thinking that you could keep Ereca from getting hurt now,” Casey said. “That was your issue, wasn’t it?”

Hale looked across the parking lot where Ereca was looking at them from Phil’s car.

“Do you your last rule?”

“Don’t take my ring and trade to a prettier girl?” Casey said. “Yeah, it’s my most important one.”

“I wouldn’t keep that promise to Ereca,” he said.

“Right,” she said, plucking the ring from Hale’s hand and dropping it into the cupholder. “Then we’ll figure something else out.”

Hale nodded. He put the truck into gear and locked eyes with a coyote as he drove out of the parking lot.