Cursed Ch. 01

I took a hot shower and scrubbed my body hard. No matter how much I scrubbed, I still knew Tony's seed was deep inside of me. I felt dirty and used. I wrapped my damp hair in a towel and put on my nightgown. At least, I was starting to relax. I was exhausted and looking forward to a long sleep. My heart sank when I found the bedroom door open and the room empty. I knew there was something wrong with Steve. He was a pedophile, and he had taken my baby! I rushed down the stairs when I heard laughter coming from the kitchen. I shoved the door open.

Amber looked up from an enormous bowl of ice cream and said, "Mommy, it's delicious. I can share mine with you."

Steve was sitting at the opposite end of the kitchen table, holding a spoonful of ice cream to his mouth.

Steve said, "There's plenty of ice cream. Take a seat, and I'll get you a bowl."

I sat down, trying to cover my embarrassment. "Thanks, that would be nice."

"Mommy, Steve is telling me a story about Brave Tiffany and Bold Amber. Tiffany is the queen, and princess Amber is her daughter. She likes to ride horses and practice sword fighting. Her mom wants her to practice sewing and write poetry. Her mom and dad want her to marry a prince. She doesn't like any of them because they are stupid and full of themselves."

I said, "I hope you can sleep after all of that ice cream."

Steve laughed, "I was hoping the ice cream would help her to get to sleep. Sorry, I didn't think about the sugar."

Amber said, "What did the princess do about all of the stupid princes?"

"Well, Amber convinced her dad to send them all away."

She clapped her hands and said, "Yea for Amber. But what is her dad's name? Maybe it's Steve. Please make it be Steve."

Steve laughed, "OK, the king's name is Steve. He's old and kind of quiet, but he loves his wife and daughter very much."

I was amused to see Steve duck his head and blush.

Amber said, "What did the princess do next?"

Well, a new prince showed up with his parents, the king and queen of Outlandia. They were very eager for their son to be married and provide them with an heir.

"What do you mean hair?"

"Oh, heir sounds like hair. The parents wanted a grandchild to inherit the throne after they die. That is what an heir is."

"OK, sorry, I interrupted."

"I'm glad you interrupted. Anytime I say something you don't understand, please ask. I am happy you are paying attention."

"OK, did Bold Amber like the new prince?"

"Well, she didn't meet him right away. He was shy and liked to read. He didn't want to meet Amber, so he walked around the castle until he found a quiet place to read. It turns out that the spot he chose was Amber's favorite place to hide from everyone. Amber was dressed in the outfit she used to practice sword fighting and looked like a boy with long hair. She was angry when she found him sitting in her secret place. She didn't know who he was, but she knew his being in her spot made her mad."

"The prince was used to people (particularly his parents) being upset with his habit of sneaking away to read. He didn't know who Amber was and thought she was a young boy. He certainly had no idea know that she was the princess he was supposed to woo."

"What does woo mean?"

Oh, woo is when a man tries to convince a woman to marry him."

"Can a woman woo a man."

Steve laughed, "I don't know why not. Sure, they can."

Tiffany said, "Let's take a break. I want Amber to brush her teeth and get into bed. You can tell her more of your tall tale after she's settled."

After Amber had gotten into bed, Steve continued, "When Amber finished scolding the prince, he asked if she liked stories about dragons and heroes. When she said yes, he read her a story. He didn't mind that she interrupted him quite often to ask questions. He said that he liked her questions because it showed that she was paying attention. Suddenly Amber shrieked. The prince was confused because he wasn't reading a scary part. Amber had just used her hand to measure the height of the sun. (No one had invented clocks yet.)"

She said, "I'm late for my fencing lesson. Come along, you can join me."

"The young prince had carefully avoided any fighting lessons no matter how much his father pleaded. However, he liked Amber, so he tagged along."

"The fencing master was pleased to have another student. He gave them blunt fighting swords. He told the princess to attack him. Amber circled around for a moment before suddenly lunging at the master. He easily blocked her sword, but she dropped to the ground and dealt the master a sharp blow to his padded shin. The master was pleased. He asked the prince to attack him. Every time the prince swung at the master, his blow was easily blocked. The master stopped and gave him some pointers. By the end of the lesson, the prince was tired and sweaty but was surprised that he had enjoyed the exercise. He particularly liked watching his new friend fighting her teacher with considerable skill. The princess said she had to get ready for dinner. She told the prince she would like to meet him in their secret spot tomorrow."

"The prince went back to his quarters, and his mother was surprised to see him sweaty. She had the servants give the prince a bath and dress him in his finery. His parents told him he should be on his best behavior because he would meet the princess for the first time at dinner. The king and queen were sitting at the table with the princess when the young prince entered with his parents. The prince did not recognize the princess. She was wearing a colorful dress, and her hair was done up with ribbons.

The princess' parents told the prince that their daughter's name was Amber. The prince's parents introduced their son as Elric. The princess laughed when she recognized the prince. The prince was hurt to be laughed at by someone he had just met."

He said, "What's so funny?"

The princess replied, "Don't you recognize me."

"No, I've never met you before."

The princess giggled, "You read me a story about dragons and heroes, and then you joined me for my fencing lesson."

The Prince thought it was a great joke on him, and he laughed. His parents were surprised since the prince was always so serious.

Well, the prince and princess fell in love, and a grand wedding was arranged. Amber did not want to be married in a stuffy church, so the ceremony was held at a park on a hill next to the castle. Amber and Elric promised to love each other for eternity. They were pronounced man and wife. Elric and Amber kissed for the first time. As they turned to walk to their waiting carriage, a fire-breathing dragon swooped down and grabbed Elric in his claws. The monstrous dragon flew off with the struggling prince in his grasp.

Amber gasped, "Oh no!"

Steve concluded by saying, "Tomorrow night, I'll tell you the story of Bold Amber's quest to save the prince. Now I think it's time for bed."

She yawned and murmured, "But Bold Amber is a girl, how can she save the prince from a monstrous dragon?"

Steve laughed, "The same way your mother saved me tonight. Amber is brave and smart. She has studied hard and knows more than most boys about how to fight a dragon. Now get some sleep."

Amber said, "Goodnight."

Steve replied, "Goodnight Amber. Don't let the bedbugs bite."

Steve turned to me and said, "If you need anything more, let me know otherwise, I'm going to bed too."

I said, "I think I'm fine. Thanks for everything, Steve."

When Steve left, I closed the door. After a moment's hesitation, I locked the door. I turned off the light and crawled into bed with my daughter. She was already asleep and breathing softly. I know I was exhausted, as well. It had been a hard day. If not for Steve, we would be sleeping in a shelter if we were lucky enough to get in one. It was sweet that Steve had told my daughter that I had saved him from the bad guy. Luckily Amber had not awakened until I screamed when that asshole crammed his rough finger deep into my sore vagina. She had no idea the thug had just robbed me and then attempted to rape me. If Steve had not been there, he would have taken me in front of my daughter.

Still, I didn't know Steve and had no reason to trust him. Once his ribs healed, he would probably tell me I owed him. All the men I had ever known, except my father, only wanted one thing from a woman, and Tony had helped himself to that earlier.

I thought about Tony's offer of help and his claim that I was his girl. If he meant it, he might not be a bad choice. He was single and in his late thirties. He even owned his own business. He wasn't bad looking, and he had shown that he knew how to pleasure me in ways I had never experienced. I shivered as I recalled Tony driving his huge cock into my lonely pussy. Still, I couldn't believe the bastard had taken me against my will with my daughter sleeping in the room. Was it rape if you responded to a man's touch and had three orgasms? I even remembered yelling at him to fuck me harder.

Steve had offered to talk to me tomorrow about my problems. My biggest problem after Amber's illness was my payday loan. I could not see how I would ever free myself from my debt. Even if Tony paid me more for stripping, the payday thug would take it all. How could Tony or Steve help me against those bloodsuckers? Steve had tried and nearly gotten a kick in the head for his troubles.

The first thing tomorrow, I had to get to a drug store for some Plan B. Oh God tomorrow, could it be any worse than today? I hoped Steve would let us stay a second night. I didn't know what to do with Amber when I went to work. I had been using an elderly woman who lived next to my apartment as a sitter, but she expected to be paid up front. I didn't want to think about work. Tony was expecting me to perform as his new star stripper. Could I even face him again? What if he wanted more sex?

I drifted to sleep, thinking of Steve's story about Brave Tiffany and Bold Amber. His story brought back warm memories of my father's tales about Brave Tiffany fighting to save her prince. I dreamed about a time when I was young and innocent.

***

Steve

As I walked back to my bedroom, I heard Tiffany lock the door behind me. I was dog-tired, and my ribs hurt. I expected my body would hurt worse tomorrow. My embarrassment from the beating would last even longer than the physical pain. I eased my aching body into bed and closed my eyes. What had I gotten myself into? All I knew about this woman was that she was a stripper with money problems and a young daughter. Oh, and she was drop dead gorgeous. Yeah and close to the same age as my daughters. Jesus, what was I thinking? It had been a crazy night, but I felt more alive than I had in a couple of years.

I remembered Tiffany's athletic body gyrating on my lap. I found myself getting hard as I pictured her dancing in her thong. I stumbled out of bed and retrieved a sock I had tossed in the direction of my dirty clothes hamper. I turned toward the bed and paused. I had no reason not to trust Tiffany, but I'd been stupid once tonight. I locked my bedroom door before crawling back into bed.

I lay down and slipped the sock over my growing erection. I grimaced from the pain in my side when I gave my dick a quick stroke. I switched to my left hand and continued fantasizing about the stripper down the hall. I could almost smell the sweat on her glistening body as she danced naked for me alone. I came hard before drifting off to sleep with a smile on my face.