The Flood

We always knew the water meadow flooded. In fact it does so most years. But last autumn it showed its true colours and took us all by surprise. As did the whole experience.

It was late October, nights were drawing in and it was a cold damp spell of weather. Jean, my wife, was away at a conference for clinical psychologists in Cambridge; Paul, our oldest son, was three weeks into his second year at university and Grace and I had the house to ourselves.

Grace, my quiet, attractive, twenty-year old daughter. She didn't turn heads or anything dramatic - if anything you didn't notice her with her shoulder length brown hair and slight figure. She was just a little taller than average at about five foot nine. But I always thought she should make more of herself. I mean she could do so easily. But Grace is comfortable with herself, easy going and easy to get on with.

The great love of her life, Nik, had gone to university and had met someone else. Grace accepted all this philosophically, had even anticipated it. There was no blame. But she hadn't found another yet.

She was working that winter in a bookshop in town and seemed to enjoy it. We didn't push her to be more ambitious. If we had she would have smiled at us and told us she was quite happy for now. But I wondered if she really was and if, deep down inside, she was torturing herself for a lost love and for her inability to set it aside completely.

Anyway none of this was in the forefront of my mind at that precise time. We were rubbing along together quite nicely. Jean would be away all week and we both had our separate jobs to get on with. I ran Grace into town each morning; she usually got a lift home. At the end of the day the two of us would rummage around and put a meal together and eat it in front of the fire whilst we watched television. We'd done it before and knew the routine.

It had been raining for days now and the meadow was already under water. When I got home the dip in the driveway below the house was just under water. The house itself stands on a natural raised platform well above any possible flood but the garage is below the house and would soon flood if the water level became exceptionally high.

The driveway ran from the road - the highest point, where the fuel store had been built to be convenient for coal deliveries - down into the dip, and then up just a little to the garage. From there a winding path brought you up to the front door of the house. Grace said she just got home without getting her feet wet.

At about eight o'clock I went out with a pocket lamp to see what was happening; Grace followed me out. The water had risen already and the garage must have had two inches of water in it. I drove the car up onto the road to park it well above the water, higher in fact than the level of the house itself. When I paddled back through the five inches of water on the drive I saw Grace sticking plastic picnic knives into the grass at the water's edge. She grinned.

'I thought we'd be able to see how much it's risen in the morning,' she explained.

'Could be a good way to lose them,' I added.

Grace laughed nervously and we went inside.

We settled down to watch TV. I poured myself a glass of wine. Grace turned down my offer of a drink and was half watching the TV and half reading a book.

Suddenly the lights went out. Click. I heard the central heating pump click off too. The TV faded away leaving momentarily an eerie glow in the darkened room. The fire we had lit was just embers now as we were letting it die down.

'If the power's off the gas heating will cut out too,' Grace said.

'Perhaps we should build the fire up to keep the house warm, then,' I suggested.

Grace nodded. 'And leave this door open so it warms the whole house.'

In the darkness we built the fire up well, put a fireguard round it and sat a while by its warm orange light. Grace had given up trying to read so we chatted. Not about anything much - just the meal the next night, whether we'd be able to get out to go to work in the morning, oh yes, and about the coal for the fire...

'Whatever happens we'll have to get up to the coal store in the morning, even if we have to wade up there and back,' I said.

'We can have towels ready in the kitchen to dry ourselves...' said Grace.

'...and have a hot drink ready too,' I added.

Grace shivered.

'Time for bed,' I suggested. I hadn't wondered quite how we were going to produce the hot drink.

Grace got up and we both groped our way up to our bedrooms, touching familiar objects in the dark. We had already discovered that there were no candles in the house and that the only pocket lamp, or torch as we call them, had almost flat batteries as we had discovered when we went out earlier.

I heard Grace giggling ahead of me.

'What's up?' I asked.

'I nearly said something really stupid,' she said laughing even more loudly.

'Go on,' I said. 'What did you nearly say?'

'I nearly said rechargeable batteries would have been better!'

I laughed too and was still smiling as I climbed into bed. I was soon asleep.

I don't know how much later it was but I know I had begun to feel quite cold as the heat upstairs had presumably dissipated through the roof as the temperature nose-dived after midnight. I realized Grace had slipped into bed beside me. I was in my pyjamas - not one to change my routines! - Grace was still dressed in her jeans and sloppy jumper. I was facing her as she moulded her back against my chest.

'I'm cold, dad,' she grunted. And then we both slept on until daylight filtered through the windows. I hadn't closed the curtains. I awoke to find my arm was now across Grace's stomach as she lay on her back beside me. I tried to remove my arm but as I did so she turned her head towards me and smiled.

'Sleep well?' she asked.

'Yes, I did after...'

Grace interrupted me: 'So did I after I got warm again.' She smiled still as her fingers played an unheard tune on the back of my hand. 'I've had an idea,' she said, getting out of the bed and disappearing. I heard her patter her way downstairs and the noise of her poking the fire and doing something else in the hearth penetrated the wall space and could be heard distantly upstairs in my room.

I got up and went to the bathroom. I thought it might be an idea to store some water in case the tap supply was contaminated by the floodwaters and decided to mention this to Grace. I went to the lounge where I found her watching the fire.

She had contrived to wedge a latticed oven tray over the fire to create a flat surface. On it a small saucepan full of water was just starting to sizzle. To the right two slices of bread were toasting.

'Cup of tea and a slice of toast, sir?' she asked with a smug grin.

'Yes, please, Your Highness!' I replied. I often call her that.

ooo000ooo

After breakfast we donned old trainers and our Berghaus waterproof jackets and prepared to go to get some coal. Grace had put the towels ready. I had some top quality Orvis fisherman's waders in the garage but I knew that by the time I got there I would be soaking wet and Grace didn't have anything like that so we just set off down the path into the dip. As we walked forwards, carrying two buckets each that we had found in the larder, Grace suddenly slipped and disappeared from view. I threw myself after her, foolishly so given the relatively shallow depth in my unnecessary panic, and pulled her from the water. By now we were both soaked to the skin from head to toe and already trembling with cold.

We pressed on urgently and reached the coal store. Fumbling with the padlocks we opened the store and began to fill our buckets. Soon we set off with two buckets each, leaving two unfilled buckets outside the store.

We got back to the house without further mishap and left our treasure under the eaves. I told Grace to get inside and said that I would bring the two remaining buckets with some firewood. She said that I wasn't going anywhere without her, trembling terribly as she spoke. Neither of us really had the energy to argue so we set off again.

We reached the store, loaded the firewood, replaced the padlock and set off for the house, which we reached after a few minutes. Grace had found another empty bucket in the store and had filled that with coal too. We were both exhausted, very cold and shivering uncontrollably. 'Leave the buckets out here,' I said when we got back to the house and pushed Grace indoors.

I followed her into the kitchen. 'We'd best get this lot off,' I managed.

Teeth chattering, Grace barely managed to reply: 'Yes.'

Grace pulled her sweater over her head and, heavy with water, it dropped to the floor. She wasn't wearing a bra - I knew she rarely did - and her small round breasts with stiff pink nipples somehow evidenced how cold she was. She began to pull her jeans down and I threw her a towel to cover herself but she started to try to dry her hair as she used her feet alternately to work her jeans down to her ankles. She stepped out of them and looked at me.

By this time I was naked. Towel in hand I moved behind Grace and began to dry her back vigorously, hoping to warm her up too.

'Thanks, dad,' she croaked. It would be a lie to say I wasn't aware of her nudity, of her straight back and of the curves of her bottom, which I dried as well. She turned to me and smiled as she picked up the last towel off the stool. Stepping really close to me she reached up to dry my face and pummel my hair to dry it quickly. I was even more aware of her nudity, of her breasts moving with her efforts to dry me.

Grace paused. 'We'll never get warm like this,' she said, pulling me by the arm out of the kitchen. She led the way upstairs and disappeared a moment only to reappear clutching three or four thick blankets. In my bedroom she rapidly unfolded them and spread them on top of the duvet to make a thick layer.

'Come on, dad,' she said and, lifting the bedding she slipped under and into bed. I followed and lay beside her. We were both still shivering and not fully dry. I put my arms around Grace and held her to me. I sensed her responsiveness as she moved one leg over mine and pressed herself against me. We lay still, somehow drawing on the heat now coming off our bodies that was trapped by the weight of the bedding over us. Slowly warmth was restored to us both and I sensed Grace relax and then her breathing calmed.

I also became more aware that one of my hands that held her was on her left breast and I felt her nipple on the palm of my hand. I began to move it away. Grace rolled to face me and smiled again as she had earlier that morning.

'It's all right, dad, I promise,' she said as she shifted slightly and lay partly on my chest, partly on her side, with one leg between my two legs. I was unsure what to do - but Grace simply moved her face to mine and we kissed. And as we kissed we became more aware of our own desires. Grace pushed her tongue cautiously into my mouth and I reciprocated joyously drinking in her soft warmth.

Grace was gently moving her leg, pushing ever so slightly up into my crutch. I felt her hand on my stomach and was able to move my arm around her shoulder so my hand was on the small of her back. I moved my fingers lower, down onto her bottom. I heard her sigh. I stopped.

'Don't stop,' she whispered. 'I want this.' Her fingers moved to my penis, which was by now fully engorged. I felt her hold me and squeeze me. I breathed in sharply.

'You know I want you, don't you?' she asked.

I kissed her again, urgently. I wanted the sex of this woman for myself. I wanted to take her and I knew I couldn't stop myself. I pushed Grace back onto her back and started to move over on top of her.

She smiled and swept her hair away from her face. 'I want what you want,' she said between our kisses as our mutual urgency took control. I was ready to penetrate my daughter and she was holding my distended cock just on her cunt lips, rocking her hips slowly, enticingly, irresistibly.

'Are you su..' I was about to say the word 'sure' when Grace somehow raised her lower body and thrust herself up onto my cock and maintained this force with hands under her bottom. She had impaled herself on me, willingly, wantonly and I thrilled to the feeling as I entered her.

'Fuck me,' she said. I began to move in and out, pushing further as we built to a rhythm. 'Yes,' she groaned, then: 'Don't be too nice,' she whispered.

I grabbed her breast and pinched a nipple; she grabbed my bottom and pulled herself onto me, surrendering herself to her passion. I shagged her as hard as I could, ramming my hips into her as I sought to drive my cock as deeply inside her as I could.

'Fantastic,' she moaned, still rocking responsively to me. 'Fucking fantastic,' she moaned as she squirmed her lower body relentlessly on my cock.

This was more than I could cope with and I couldn't stop that feeling tingling down my spine, from my brain it seemed. I knew it was unstoppable. And I wanted it anyway. I wanted to flood her cunt with my hot come.

'I'm coming,' I groaned, seeking to pull free.

'Don't stop!' she shouted, holding me as I came and I spent myself inside her tight young cunt. I had never fucked anyone this young before and I came plentifully. I kept on pounding her until she arched her back in her own fulfilment, screaming: 'Push! Push!' She came too and I thrilled to be there with her nudity touching me all over. Slowly we subsided and lay together.

'You've done that before,' she whispered with a little giggling laugh.

'So have you,' I rejoined.

'Mmm. I'm not an innocent little girl, you know.'

'No, you're a very beautiful woman, Grace,' I replied.

'And I needed that,' she said, smiling. 'I haven't done anything as good as that for a long time. You've no idea how much I needed it.' Grace lay staring into my eyes. We just held hands.

'Why haven't you, you know, been out with anyone else, Grace?' I asked her.

'I told mum not long ago that apart from Nik there was only one person I could ever want the way I wanted Nik, the way I had learnt to be with him. She asked who that was and I told her.'

'Who was it?' I asked.

'You,' she said very quietly. 'Mum said nothing for a long time. Then an hour or so later she came to my room and said something very special.'

'Go on.'

'She said she could share you as long as I didn't want you all to myself. It sounded like a joke but she hugged me and I knew she wasn't just joking. She said I had to tell you though, not her. We've never mentioned it again.'

We lay together a while longer until Grace got up.

'I'm going to see if there is any hot water left.'

ooo000ooo

We spent the rest of the day quietly. Grace read and made drinks on the fire. We often caught each other watching each other, if you know what I mean. Grace came and nestled next to me for a while. We kissed again.

Suddenly Grace jumped up.

'What a fool I am,' she almost shouted. 'Why didn't I think of it earlier?'

She disappeared and ran upstairs, returning moments later with a portable radio that Paul had got for Christmas a couple of years ago. Grace held it up triumphantly. 'Paul's wind-up radio,' she said, starting to wind it up.

We spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the local news. Everywhere was in chaos due to the floods. We were safe where we were and luckier than most. We realized no one would be coming to help us for now and there were others in far greater need.

A helicopter was heard later flying over, no doubt rescuing someone in distress.

Grace made tea, managing to fry some eggs and bread over the fire, which I kept burning brightly. We sat in the gloom as the light failed and listened to the radio. Grace tuned in to all the different stations greedily picking up all the news. I leaned back on the sofa and thought about what we had done.

I couldn't stop watching her. She seemed to stretch her legs out more, they seemed longer, sleeker: she appeared to walk more purposefully with shoulders thrown back. Grace was tense like a superbly conditioned animal and I knew I wanted her again if she would only have me. But maybe I had just been what she needed to restore her self-esteem and she would be too embarrassed by our illicit intimacy to want to remind me of it. I thought I would do nothing to push her.

After tea she stood facing the sink washing our plates and cutlery in warm water from a pan over the fire. I walked up behind her and put my arms around her. I pressed myself up against her. I wondered if she would be aware of the hardness of my cock as it pressed into the crack of her bottom. I felt her brace herself and support herself with her hands either side of the sink. And then, ashamed a little that it was inappropriate, I moved away.

Not long after nine o'clock Grace stretched afoot out towards me on the sofa.

'I'm ready for bed,' she said getting to her feet.

I followed, unsure what she meant exactly. Once upstairs she went to the bathroom and when I saw her dark shape pass my door to go to her own room I too went to the bathroom. I then went back to my room and undressed. I was picking up my pyjamas when I glanced up and saw her leaning temptingly in the doorway. A clear, moonlit, windswept sky illuminated in the window behind her enabled me to see enough detail to tell she was naked.

'Put them down,' she said, softly. She walked over and put her arms around my neck, pressing herself against me once again. We kissed, rekindling the flames of my desire, and hers too I knew, before sliding into bed.

Our bodies tangled, seeking unity, enjoying the touch of her breasts, the smoothness of her skin, the firmness of her bottom, as I held her. Grace struggled to move on top of me.

'I want you,' I said quietly.

'So, I pleased you this morning, then?'

Funny, I realized I hadn't told her what an amazing time I had had or how sexually exciting her body is.

'You were exhilarating, wonderful. I've spent the day wondering if you'd ever let me have you again...'

'There's lots of things I still want us to do together,' she whispered as if she feared who might overhear us. We kissed, our bodies in intimate contact from our tongues to our feet. My hands held her hard young body. I felt so good.

By the moonlight I could just tell that Grace had grinned cheekily at me and had then begun to scuttle down my body until her face reached my crutch. She lifted herself just a little and swirled her tongue around my stiffened rod.

'All right?' she asked. I nodded in amazement: Jean had never taken any kind of interest in oral sex.

Grace resumed and licked me. I was in a new kind of heaven I had never visited before. Grace continued to suck the end of my cock and I was acutely aware of the pressure of the suction she was devoting to the tip of my penis.

'God, that feels so good,' I whispered.

'Not as good as it is for me,' she replied.

Grace continued, moving her head and lips up and down the engorged length of me. Rasping her roughened tongue surface on me, driving me to new heights of pleasure. She took all of me into her mouth and throat, moving up and down my shaft.

Eventually, overpowered by the sheer eroticism of what Grace was doing to me, with me, I struggled to warn her I was about to erupt and blast my semen wherever it could penetrate but she took no heed, barely stopping as she sucked and moved increasingly rapidly up and down my pleasured erection.

Inevitably I came and Grace allowed me to ejaculate all over the back of her throat. She swallowed me down and, somehow, I knew she had enjoyed the aftertaste of sexual fulfilment before and I knew she had enjoyed it as she slowly relaxed and tenderly held me. And I her. I was in a land I had always dreamt of reaching one day.