A Hard Man

"Why? You don't seem like someone that would do that to someone. You must have had a good reason to hurt him that badly."

"It's a long story Angel. I had a reason for the fight but now I'm not sure it was a good one. I was an angry jealous kid and lashed out in pain and anger without clearly thinking about what I was doing. Oh, I had to fight but I went too far.

"I was dating Ashley Thomas and he wanted to take her out. I was jealous of the attention she was giving him and almost ready to break up with her but I hadn't yet. I think looking back that she was playing with us and trying to get us to fight over her but I'm still not sure. She was beautiful and knew it. She was a big flirt and knew that pissed me off. Anyway she began flirting with him about two weeks before our fight.

"We were at a victory party after the school football team won a big conference game when we got into it. I graduated the year before. Ashley and Troy were seniors in high school. I really had no business at the party but I was dating Ash and she wanted to go so we did.

If there was anything good about the fight it is that we were all over 18 or I might still be in jail for messing with a minor. At least I lucked out there. Anyway Ashley was flirting with Troy during the party and pushing me away. I saw him pulling her toward the trees and she was resisting I thought. She was giggling but pulling back as if she wanted to get away from him. I followed them into the trees and up to a clearing where he already had blankets spread out. It was obvious he planned the whole evening. I'm not positive he planned on screwing Ash but he definitely planned on screwing someone from the looks of his little love nest.

"Troy pushed Ashley back onto the blankets and tossed her skirt up over her waist. Sometime during the evening she removed her panties. Or hell, maybe she never even wore any that night. I really can't say for sure. Her uh. I could see she was ready for sex. I moved into the clearing and started to curse Troy and Ashley. He looked at me and laughed. I felt two of his football friends grab my arms and hold me. Troy said, "You just stand there asshole while I show you how your betters treat a woman. When we're through I'll teach you some manners. You should know better than to follow a man and his woman when they're looking for a private place.

"Well ole Troy was sure a two minute wonder. His friends made me watch while he took my girlfriend. I still wasn't sure he wasn't raping her but she cleared that up right quick. She looked up at him and pulled him down for a kiss then turned to me and said, "You just couldn't take the hints could you Jessie? Maybe this will teach you that when a woman finds a real man and is ready to move on you should fade away like you are supposed to."

"I said to Ashley what do you mean? You never told me we were through. You let me take you out tonight.

"She looked up at me and said well DUH! What, do I have to draw you a picture? Now you know.

"I was fighting against Troy's friends but I couldn't get away. It seemed like no time before he finished with Ashley and got up. They made me watch while he put his pecker back in his pants. I could see his spend draining from Ashley before he got to me. That pissed me off also. She always made me use a condom and she let him go bareback.

"I had been working pretty hard for a year or so and was able to take Troy's first two punches into my stomach pretty well. His friends got careless after he began hitting me and I got away. I raked my boot down one's shin and stomped his foot. He screamed and let me go while he collapsed onto the ground. I slammed my then loose fist into the second one's neck and put him down then I went after Troy. I kicked his knee and broke it then after he was lying on the ground I stomped his arm and broke it.

"I'm not proud of what I did Angel. I should have never followed them into the woods. I might not have if I was sure he wasn't forcing Ashley. I don't know. I was pissed enough I probably wasn't thinking straight. All I know is the one whose foot I stomped had some broken bones and the other one almost died from his bruised trachea swelling up. I'm just lucky I didn't hit his voice box and kill him. Troy's parents are rich. They pressed charges against me. I got time. If there hadn't been a couple of witnesses that testified it was three against me I might have gotten even more time. Anyway now everyone is afraid of me. My father kicked me out of the house and has even left town now because of some problems we got into after I was released.

"I understand if you are afraid of me Angel and want to get away. I want to help you though if you can trust me. I don't have much and can't pay you but you are welcome to stay here if you want to. After today I can see the two of us can do a lot more than I can alone. I can use your help until you get on your feet if you do want to stay."

Angel sat looking at Jess in shock. She heard about the fight while she was in school. She didn't know it was Jess that had been involved. She went to school in Branson instead of Hollister so did not know any of the people personally.

Angel looked at Jess and said, "I told you I wanted work. You're the only one who has given me a chance and at least now I have a safe warm place to stay and food to eat. I'd be a fool to leave unless you do try to hurt me. I don't know you well and you have scared me several times but that is mostly because of how I've had to live recently. Yes I want to stay at least for a while if you will let me. Besides I'm not that much different from you.

"I had to leave Branson a couple weeks ago because I got into trouble there. My daddy died in the spring last year. Momma was Mexican and didn't have her papers. She worked as a maid in a third rate motel. She got $70 a week and we got to live in one of the rooms. Her boss wanted us both to sleep with him or he would turn her in. Momma let him have her but when I refused the bastard turned her in to the INS and they deported her. I was born here in the states so they couldn't deport me. Daddy was a citizen but they never did the paperwork to make Momma a legal permanent resident. I don't know why. Anyway I went back to the motel and fought with the asshole that turned Momma in. I was trying to get our things from the room but he wouldn't let me have them. I pushed him down and he hit his head. The desk clerk called the police and I had to run. So you see I'm no better than you are. Are you afraid of me?"

Jess looked at the little slender woman and laughed. "No Angel I can't say I'm afraid of you. What say we just agree we're both dangerous outlaws and see if we can make a living out here in the sticks?"

Jess stood and walked toward the door. Just before going outside he said, "I think I'm going to go check my limb lines to see if we have any fish before I cut more wood today. You want to come with me? We have to be careful because it's not fishing season but I fish to save money on food. Besides I like fish."

The rest of the winter Jess and Angel worked building a stockpile of firewood for future sale. They sold enough to support the two of them but feeding Angel and buying her some warmer clothes almost eliminated Jess's ability to save money. In mid March Jess's wood deliveries almost completely stopped and he knew he would need to find something else to make a buck on.

One day it was raining and they couldn't work in the woods. Jess was sitting in a chair in his plastic garage watching the rain fall. He was gazing out over the cleared part of the clearing when a thought came to him. He hated to spend the money but he decided to purchase a garden tiller. They could put out a garden to see if he could grow some food to help cut expenses.

The next day Jess went to town and purchased a used tiller. Jess figured he had at most two acres of open ground in the little clearing. He picked what he thought was the best location and began working removing the grass and undergrowth then he began tilling. For the next two weeks almost all he and Angel did was work on their garden. It was a horribly hard job. The ground was rocky. There were a lot of roots in the garden plot from the underbrush and small trees Jess cleared out. The soil was hard. He even went to the farm of a friend and got several truck loads of manure and some topsoil to till into the garden spot.

Many evenings Jess and Angel were almost too tired to clean up and eat before they went to bed. They slowly made headway on the garden however. As Jess cleared and tilled Angel hauled the rocks and roots away. As soon as they had a small place cleared they put in their manure and planted some early crops then moved on to clear and prepare more ground for later planting. Finally by mid April the entire space they intended to turn into a garden was cleared and ready for planting. Jess then took soil samples and took them to the county agent for testing to see how much fertilize and lime they needed to apply. He hoped it would be very little since they tilled in cow manure, soil and some straw from his friends farm.

As the days passed of course the gardening was shoehorned in between work in his (now their) lawn mowing business. By warm weather Jess managed to pick up enough lawns to mow that they grossed an average of $300 a day. Normally Jess operated the ZTR mower and Angel did the trimming and most of the weed eating and edging. They did not work Saturday afternoon or Sunday in the lawn care business. They used those days to service their equipment and do their chores at home. Many evenings after getting home from doing yard work they worked in the garden weeding or picking and preserving their crops.

As spring and early summer warmed the air and water Jess stopped bathing inside the trailer and began going back to the stream as he did the previous year. Angel bathed inside until late May because she said the stream was still too cold but Jess began using it in early May. By this time the two were fast friends and trusted each other implicitly. They knew each other so well they could almost finish the other's sentence sometimes. They now joked and laughing with each other as friends do.

Memorial weekend Jess decreed a holiday. They did not work any of the three days. On Sunday Jess picked up his small cooler with beer inside, his soap and towel and said, "I'm heading for the creek. If ya don't want to see me naked you probably oughtta holler before you show up so I can put my shorts on."

Almost an hour after he went to the stream Jess was laying on his back floating in the quiet water. He heard a swishing sound and felt some waves rock him then something landed across his chest and he went under.

Jess tried to yell and got a mouth full of water. He began floundering around fighting whatever had landed on him when all at once the weight lifted. He stood in the chest deep water coughing. He heard laughter and turned to see Angel standing behind him. She was wearing panties and a bra. It was obvious she had dunked him.

Jess let out a roar and dove for her. Angel screamed and backed away but she wasn't fast enough. She held her arms out toward him trying to ward Jess away as women do at times. He brushed past her arms, grabbed her and picked her up. He turned her sideways and dropped her into the water. She hit with a splash and went under. Jess stood watching while she came spluttering to the surface.

Angel dove for Jess and began wrestling with him trying to dunk him once again. She was pushing on his chest and her hands slipped. That caused her to ram her breasts against Jess with one of her arms on either side of his body.

Jess looked down at Angel. She was looking up at him. All at once Jess grabbed Angel and pulled her tightly to his chest. He bent his head down slightly and found her lips. Had there been someone watching they would have never believed this was their first kiss. Angel wrapped her arms around Jess and pulled him to her as tightly as she could while her tongue thrust deeply into his mouth. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around Jess's waist while they kissed.

How long is a kiss? Sometimes it is just a microsecond in cosmic time. Other times it seems to go on forever yet actually lasted seconds only. This was one of those kisses. Neither knew how long it lasted. However long it was it was not long enough. After they caught their breath they dove into another one, then another. Jess was panting. His hard cock was pressing against Angel's wet panties, pressing them into her cleft. Angel was moaning and writhing against Jess as she tried to grind her pussy into his hard cock.

Jess walked from the stream carrying Angel. He clumsily but carefully knelt beside the blanket spread alongside the stream and laid her on it. He knelt beside her and looked deeply into her eyes. Jess placed his hand gently on Angel's bare stomach and bent forward to give her another kiss. She grabbed him and pulled him down with one arm while her other one reached for his hard manhood. Angel grasped the object she was searching for and gasped at its apparent size.

The kiss continued and Angel spread her legs pulling and pushing until Jess got the hint and moved over her and between her legs. Angel thrust her hips upward while she pulled Jess's cock toward her still panty clad pussy. Angel removed her arm from around Jess and pulled the crotch of her panties aside. She pulled Jess's cock toward her dripping pussy with the other hand.

When Jess felt her well lubricated lips and thrusting pelvis he involuntarily thrust his hips toward her. A slip, a wondrous smooth, wet warm feeling then nirvana. His cock slid into Angel. She gasped then wildly thrust her hips upward driving Jess the rest of the way into her hungry pussy. There were no words spoken. None were needed. Jess and Angel stared into each other's eyes as their bodies began that age old dance of love and lust.

For several minutes all that was heard in the small clearing beside the stream was the slap, slap, slap of the copulating couple and their moans and groans of pleasure. Then Angel screamed. Her heels locked around Jess's thighs and she slammed her crotch upward. Faster almost than the eye could see she slammed and thrust repeatedly against Jess as her orgasm ripped through her. When he felt her inner muscles throbbing, gripping and milking him Jess dove over the precipice and crashed into his own orgasm. He slammed against Angel and held himself rigid while his cock throbbed and jerked pumping his seed into the center of her being.

Jess groaned and collapsed over Angel holding himself off her on his elbows. He gave her a gentle kiss then rolled to the side and lay panting on his back. Angel rolled toward Jess and threw her leg over his thigh and an arm over his chest. She moved to give him a gentle kiss then laid her head on his shoulder. They drifted off to sleep entwined together.

A few minutes later, perhaps more, perhaps less Jess returned to wakefulness. He felt the pressure of Angels contact. He turned his head toward her and stared into her eyes. When she saw him look at her Angel smiled and moved the arm she had lying on his chest. She gently caressed Jess's face then moved to give him another gentle kiss. Her eyes were glistening. After the kiss Angel hugged Jess tightly and rose from beside him. She reached behind her and released the hooks on her bra then shrugged it off. Next she pushed her panties off and threw them onto the blanket. She smiled down at Jess as he looked at her beautiful naked body then she laid beside him and put her head on his shoulder once again. She threw her arm and leg back over Jess and snuggled into him.

Jess tightened his arm and pulled her tighter to his body. He lay on his back looking up through the tree leaves. Without looking at Angel Jess said, "You know I love you don't you? I've never felt this way before. If you want to leave now it would tear my heart out. I would understand but it would gut me. I know I have nothing to offer a woman though so if you want to go I'll help you all I can. Just please go now before I fall more in love with you."

Angel moved until she was sitting beside Jess. Her face showed anger. She looked down on his reclining body and said, "Do you think I would have made love with you if I didn't love you too? Don't you think I know we don't have much? We have our health and strength though and you have this land. We have a job doing yard work in the summer and selling wood in the winter. We can get by just fine. I stayed with you before we fell in love. Why would you think I would leave now?"

"Things changed today. I took advantage"

"Jess nothing happened that we didn't want to happen. You know as well as I do that we were headed toward this now for weeks. I sneaked up on you in the creek today and started all this. I love you Jess or I would never have let you make love to me. We can't do this often though because I'm not on birth control. I finished my period yesterday or I would not have let this happen today. Next week would you please take me to the health department so I can pick up some birth control pills?"

Jess pulled Angel down across his chest. He raised his head and gave her another kiss then said, "Yes. Oh HELL yes. We'll go by the office the next time we're in town."

Angel stood and held her hand out to Jess. When he took it she helped him rise and led him back to the stream and their private swimming hole. After the two new lovers swam a while longer Angel stood beside Jess. When he stood also she leaned into him and gave him a gentle kiss. She stepped back and said, "It's getting late. I'm going back to the house to fix supper now."

Jess stood watching as his Angel moved slowly and sensuously out of the water. She had filled out and put some meat on her bones since they first met. Now she looked perfect. When they first met Angel was unhealthily skinny. When she got to the blanket Angel picked it and her discarded underwear up and walked toward their small trailer without bothering to dress again. Jess felt his cock twitch as he watched her absolutely perfect ass disappear from his view.

Jess slowly walked from the stream and gathered his clothes together. He followed behind Angel carrying his clothes also. When he got to the edge of the clearing he stood watching Angel move around the fire preparing the meal. She did not bother to dress. Naturally she was being very careful working around the fire. When she bent over, hell every time she moved, Angel's beautiful C cup breasts wobbled and shook for the world to see. Her perfect pink nipples led the way. He didn't know why they were still hard but they were and he loved to see it. Of course Jess loved looking at the pretty little pussy she showed occasionally much more than he did the titties.

After the meal it was too warm still to go inside the trailer. Jess brought some chunks of wood close to the trailer several days ago to sit on but they were not comfortable. He looked around a few minutes then pulled his pants and boots on. He went into the plastic garage and got his chain saw and walked toward the lake.

Angel watched him go then when she heard the saw start and keep running for a while she dressed in her work clothes and followed. Jess cut down several cedar trees several feet tall and from three to six inches in diameter. He trimmed the limbs off up until the diameter was a little over an inch. Angel moved the brush out of his way and piled it as she normally did when they cut wood. As they worked Angel asked, "Jess what are you cutting these cedars for?"

"It's a surprise Angel. I want to make something but I'm not sure I can."

After several minutes Jess turned his saw off and picked up one of the tree trunks. He began walking back to the trailer pulling the tree and carrying his saw. Angel grabbed a trunk and followed. It took the two of them several trips to pull all the tree trunks to the plastic garage.