Imberly

(My thanks again go to CambriaRose for her editing and advice. It's made these two chapters go much smoother with her help. To the reader, I truly hope you enjoy. It's been fun writing it.)

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She would phone Kimberly on a daily basis and I tried where I could to give her as much privacy when she did. Karen would watch me sneak away and giggle; occasionally she would throw a cushion at me when I did. I would just throw it back and then went and sat on the porch until she was done.

Jenna would also receive a call almost every other day with a request for supplies. Either she or her husband would leave them outside the door, knock once and then leave. I know she chose these times to keep Jenna up to date on what was going on, and yes, Jenna did tell her she was nuts.

Over the next couple of days Karen kept us on a strict regime, I still insisted on fishing. Karen however retaliated and only let me out in shorts, a hat and a bottle of sun lotion. She, however, came along in the skimpiest bikini I had ever seen. Hell, I wasn't even sure the damn thing was legal and even then the top got lost within a few minutes of us both getting comfortable at the end of the jetty. My life had once again settled into a pattern, our morning and evening showers even got accomplished while the water was still warm from time to time as well.

My life had once again become comfortable, well as comfortable as it could when you share a cabin with a naked woman. The sun had just started to dip over the mountains, that chill had just started to creep up on us both as we sat and watched the lake change color. Yet as beautiful as this evening was turning out to be, I just had to open my big mouth and put my foot firmly into it. I had been having a nagging feeling these last couple of days. Karen was getting antsy.

Not at me but I could see her stare at us, even her questions started to get more off the wall, as though she was trying to find the right question to ask. I guess the answers she was looking for seem to elude her and to a person like Karen that seemed to be the ultimate 'square peg, round hole' syndrome and although she was being guarded about it, you could tell the frustration was getting to her.

"This is all going to change again, isn't it?" I asked.

Karen sat for a moment contemplating my words.

"Yes Bobby it is, I had hoped I had given you a big enough push for you to use that momentum on yourself. Oh how I wished I could have seen that."

I looked at her, she had a smile on her face, and her eyes had that faraway look about them as she dreamed of what should have been.

"So I stalled?"

Karen simply nodded her head, refusing to say anymore as we both packed our things away and started walking back to the cabin. I asked her if she thought I was being stubborn, her only reply was that I was being a man. With everything now put away and both of us naked again, Karen sat at the kitchen table. I could tell she was deep in thought yet she still pointed towards the other chair and asked me to please sit for a moment.

"Bobby on a scale of one to ten, how much do you trust me?"

I was used to Karen and her odd questions but even this one caught me out. The look she gave me told me I had to think about it because she was genuinely interested in the answer.

"When all this started with me waking, having you in my bed and naked. I would have given your question maybe a two, yet as time has gone on and I have seen the progress within me that scale has increased by the day. I know what you or, rather we, are doing isn't exactly in any book, but life carries no instruction manual. Sure I could have got up and left at any time that door was always open, but I stayed because I asked for your help. Because it was you who pulled me back from my emotional abyss."

Karen leaned closer, her tits crushed against the edge of the table. I'm not sure she even noticed as she listened to me, yet I was always noticing things about Karen now.

"When Traci died I wanted so much to join her, when the people at the hospital put me back together, in my mind I simply existed treading water, if you will. I came here because I needed to heal and up until Traci's birthday I had come to realize I hadn't even started down that path."

I held out my hand, Karen simply looked at it as it traveled halfway across the table and stopped hand open and palm up. Her cheeks flushed for a moment and she seemed to shudder before her own hand met mine and held on.

"In the trust stakes I would give you a ten and I can count the amount of people who I give that amount of trust on one hand."

The air left Karen's lungs, her eyes welled up and then a smile lit up her face. She mouthed a 'thank you' and letting go of my hand, ran to the bathroom. My first instinct was to follow and try to understand what I had said that had made her cry. As I stood she called out and asked me to make something for us both to drink and she would be out in a minute.

Our drinks had no sooner touched the table top when Karen came out of the bathroom dressed. My pulse rate went up and I was once again as hard as steel. I went to sit but Karen got to me first and held me close to her and then kissed my cheek, my cock now pressed against her jeans and pubic bone. She didn't move away from me as she downed her iced tea in one go and placed her glass back onto the table before kissing my cheek once again.

"Ok I have to leave you for a while, if things go according to plan I should be back here mid-evening tomorrow, if not then early the next day."

A thousand and one thoughts rushed through my head all at once, I'm sure she read most of them as she smiled and added that this was part of that trust thing we had just talked about. Karen once again kissed my cheek and asked for a hug, I held her close and hugged her, my cock pressed even tighter to her pubic bone. I knew I was going to miss her but she had her reasons and all I could do was wait and see.

"I guess I'll get loads of fishing done tomorrow then."

Karen gave a giggle as she hugged me one more time and headed for the door.

"You know one day you are really going to have to tell me why you fish, yet never have a hook on the line."

I simply stood watching the door close. Her car started and pulled away, moments later silence prevailed. The cabin felt empty, almost as though the air had left the place. The one thing I did was make sure I kept myself busy, even picking up a pair of shorts looking at them and shrugging my shoulders and putting them back down. I was so used to being naked now it simply didn't matter if she was here to check if I was. But even doing that I couldn't stave off the inevitable I was going to bed alone for the first time in three weeks and it was a fitful sleep.

I kept waking and moving my arm around the bed looking for Karen. In the end I gave up, brewed a coffee and sat on the porch waiting for the sun come up. It felt strange still being here, as the sun peaked above the mountain's slowly sending its warmth once more over the lake, burning off the morning mist as it did. Although I had paid for six months it was never my intention to still be here, yet this is where I sat five months later. Smiling at that thought, I wondered if I should give Jenna a call later and book another six months.

The rest of the day was as uneventful as I expected it to be, if anything the whole day just seemed to drag. My mind wandered to what Karen was up to and would I go into panic mode when her next phase started, smiling and reminding myself that only time would tell on that particular question. Finally, as sun reached its peak I called it a day and packing away my rod I made something to eat. I even set Karen's place at the table when I did it, smiled and shook my head, deciding that woman had got under my skin in so many ways.

With my mind made up I decided it would do me good to get out for a while, actually getting some clothes on felt a little novel now. Once in town, I even did some shopping before treating myself to something to eat at the diner before heading back. Oh, I knew what I was doing. The reluctance to return to an empty cabin was self-evident, even catching myself smiling when thinking about it. I missed Karen. That woman had kept me sane in one of my darkest moments and although we still touch on the subject from time to time, she also placed herself in harms way when she did it.

I heard a car pull up around midnight and met Karen halfway into the cabin as I came out to investigate. Her clothes were already in her hand and being placed onto the couch when I turned the light on.

"Dammit Bobby, you just scared the crap out of me!"

The smile on her face must have matched mine at the moment. She walked up to me and hugged me, even kissing my neck before she took a step back to talk. I held a finger to her lips to stop her.

"Whatever it is can wait until the morning. You look exhausted and the last thing you need right now is to sit around talking, come to bed."

Telling her to forgo a shower and just get ready for bed, Karen came and snuggled into an already warm bed straight from the bathroom. I'm almost sure I heard her mumble a 'thank you' before she spooned in close and almost immediately went to sleep. Her breathing pattern now confirmed to me she was as I suspected, totally exhausted and would she if asked, be honest and tell me how much sleep she has had since she left yesterday. Smiling to myself as I slipped into my own sleep, three words invaded my mind before the fog of sleep took me. 'I doubt it.'

******* I tried, but I'm just not built to be subtle. Karen caught me trying to sneak out of bed so I could leave her with more time to rest. Whatever she had been doing over the last day looked like it had taken its toll on her. I would have liked her to have rested a lot longer than she had before my moving around the bed woke her. Her head lifted off the pillow and she smiled just before her eyes opened.

"I told you before, you go down just before you wake. I know I've had you between the cheeks of my ass all night because I slept so soundly. Thank you for wanting me to sleep longer, but it's not necessary I wake when you do, ok?"

Shrugging my shoulders and grinning before saying. "Well you can't blame a guy for trying. You looked bushed when you got back."

That serious look appeared on Karen's face once again.

"I know I asked you to trust me and I desperately need you to hang in there and not ask what I've been up to. You are going to know soon enough I can guarantee you that, I just need time to get things organized."

She asked me to trust her and as far as I was concerned that's what she would get, nodding my head and heading for the bathroom with Karen in tow just seemed to seal the deal. Neither one of us spoke as we washed each other and the silence continued through breakfast and onto the jetty as we both set our rods into the water. Neither one of us resented the silence; we just seemed to be in our own thoughts for now.

It was evening when my only questions burst forth.

"Karen. Will I like the new me?"

"You will live again Bobby and that's all that matters. Traci wanted you to move on, she saw her death and loved you enough to blank out the pain as best she could so she could point you in the right direction. What she didn't realize was that you were in just as much pain and simply couldn't hear her words."

We both watched each other as we sat on the couch. I even reached out my hand. Karen watched it, smiled and held it in hers before both came to rest on her thigh.

"I don't want to hurt you Bobby but you will be in pain, and no it has nothing to do with that S&M thing you talked about."

At first we smiled, her shoulders started to quiver and the giggles set us both off. Although I expected things to change, nothing did. I suspected Karen did that deliberately to keep me wondering. For the next week I would wake every morning wondering if this would be the start, only for our routine to take over yet again. I had once again become used to our routine and that was what she was waiting for.

******* I was the first out of the shower, Karen was a little slow this evening, even the towel on the bed didn't register in my mind until later. She walked out of the bathroom carrying a bowl, placed it on the side by the bed and walked back into the bathroom. Moments later she reappeared with shaving foam, a razor and lotion. A chill crept down my spine, the room went just a little cold at that moment as a realization crept up on me and I started to shake my head.

"No Karen I'm not doing this, it's too much."

Not one word passed her lips as she climbed onto the bed and sat on the towel, her legs parted as she did. Her hand went to the shaving foam and she placed some on the other hand, rubbed both hands together and then set about covering her pubic hair with shaving cream. Once satisfied, she cleaned her hands on a towel and lay back, waiting. My eyes had misted, thankfully, blurring the sight in front of me, my head was still shaking. In my mind I could hear myself repeating the same words over and over again. 'I can't' what I didn't realize was that Karen heard me.

Karen sat up, handed me a tissue and waited. Not one word spoken from her. Once I had calmed and the mass of images in my head had settled I finally noticed Karen's hand extended towards me. Instinctively I held mine out towards hers. With speed that took my breath away she held my wrist and thrust a razor into my hand closing my fingers around it. The challenging look on her face still didn't fade.

"Please don't ask me to do this."

Her face stayed defiant when she said. "But Bobby, I'm not asking you to do this."

"You're giving me no choice in this are you?"

Karen's face softened slightly, but the intensity of her eyes remained the same.

"If you wish for choice Bobby I can give you that. We can either do this now, an hour's time or two hours from now. Those are the choices Bobby, but the longer you wait, the longer this is going to take and the more you will dwell on it. You have the razor in your hand, Bobby, wouldn't it be best to just start and get it over with."

I tried so hard to read her face, she gave nothing away. To Karen it was simply a matter of time before I made a choice, what choice would mean her taking action on it.

"My hands are shaking so much I'm frightened I might cut you."

Her smile brightened up the room but not my thoughts of dread at what she was asking me to do. Karen leaned back onto her elbows and winked at me before laying back onto the bed.

"Then stop them shaking, those are my most intimate parts you're placing a razor onto Bobby and I do like to keep them in one place and healthy." She uttered as she closed her eyes.

It turned into a waiting game, Karen refused to move and I was still in shock that she would ask this of me. The bedroom door was open, I could have walked out of there anytime I liked. To be honest, I was eyeing up that open door rather a lot right about now. At least now my hands stopped shaking and watching Karen's stomach rise and fall helped with my concentration and even helped in some way with my own breathing. My hand went out and touched her pubic mound.

Karen jumped and my face burned, her chest took in oxygen so quickly I did wonder if she would ever release it. It had been so long since I had done this, I needed more practice. With a sharp blade this close to a woman's most sensitive parts, it was pure fear that drove me on. Taking the coward's way out and starting right at the top of her pubic bone, small strokes as small as I could. Beads of sweat started to slide down my forehead and onto my nose. Occasionally when my eyes stung with sweat I would stop immediately and clear my vision.

Soon I was in my own world, totally focused on shaving the pubic hair off of Karen's pussy. Some would call it tunnel vision; at least my hands stopped shaking. I was a few minutes into this before I realized that the glistening fluid trickling between her engorged pussy lips. This coupled with her bullet hard nipples, and the rapid way her chest was moving, was a clear indication to me she was most definitely in her own world as well.

I was shaving a woman I had known for only a few months, my fingers touched parts of her that must be claiming a great amount of her self-will to stay very still. Karen had placed great trust in me, not to mention a very sharp razor. Yes, this woman thrust a razor into my hand and basically told me to get to it, I considered that trust in any language. Placing the razor back into the bowl, watching it sink under the red hair already floating on the top. Not trusting myself to speak I placed a hand on her inner thigh and gently pushed her leg further back.

Once satisfied, I repeated the exercise with her other leg. At least now her breathing had calmed, it was just a shame my own anxiety hadn't. I was never like this when I shaved Traci. For a moment a great sadness enveloped me. Karen raised her head to look towards me and I wondered if she had somehow sensed my mood change. Pausing to take a deep breath, I smiled back at her. I couldn't stop now, even with that last thought in my head. With my razor once again in my hand I used a finger to push one side of her pussy lip down. I listened to her suck in air and a muffled thud as her head once again rested onto the bed.

A calm seemed to have enveloped me, all thoughts of panic now gone to be replaced by a need to do this well. Any hesitancy that I shouldn't be doing this soon vanished when two of my fingers instinctively sank into her pussy. They were met by a slow moan from Karen as both my fingers and my thumb held her bloated pussy lip still, seconds before the razor ran along her warm flesh. I felt the need to stifle a smile as I noticed her clench the bed sheet and twist it in her hands. I watched as my thumb pressed down on the hood that barely covered her red and blood filled clit, as the razor caught and vanquished every pubic hair surrounding my thumb.

As the last of the shaving cream was deposited into the bowl. I quickly cleaned her now bald pussy and surrounding area with a towel, wet her pubic area again and re-applied shaving cream over the whole area and started again. An almost inaudible groan of despair came from Karen as my fingers once again repeated the same cycle of invasion into her most intimate parts in order to protect that sensitive flesh from my razor. At one stage I had to stop and ask if she was ok as her pussy clamped together, holding my fingers within her.

It took her a few moments and some attempt to regulate her breathing before she nodded her head. This was the first time I had looked up from shaving her, Karen was a sheen of sweat, her whole body just glowed. This woman was so desperately trying to hang on to some semblance of keeping still and not distracting me from what she had asked of me, that I had failed to notice how close to her own limits she was at that very moment. Her pussy finally relaxed enough to allow my fingers to leave her wet silky tunnel. So intense was my attention to what I was doing, I didn't take into account what she was also doing to me.

******* As I wiped away the last of the cream from around her pussy, my hand went to the lotion bottle and Karen sat up. Her eyes totally dilated, her cheeks and upper chest a contrasting red against her pale skin. Her nipples were bullet hard and extended even longer than I had seen them when we went swimming in the lake from time to time. Sweat from her body now took the opportunity of her change in position to run down her breasts. That and the rapid breathing that Karen was still trying desperately hard to bring back under control just made me watch her chest even longer. At first she looked down and then smiled.