Hawk pulled into the stables and felt his heart drop. Tara was waiting for him - with Sarah. He hadn't seen Sarah in over 3 months. Now she shows up? He had taken the new horse out to clear his head. So much for that.
Francesca was one of the many women in town who had been making blatant advances towards him. He had staved them off for years. Nothing broke his resolve, until the beautiful woman standing before him broke his heart. He couldn't blame her. It was his own fault.
His shame had led him down an even darker path, however. He gave in. He wasn't even attracted to Francesca. She was just always there. Always teasing. He was angry. At himself, at Charles, and at Sarah. She wouldn't accept his apology. She blocked his calls. Did he want revenge?
He had made the mistake so many of us have before. Time heals things, not getting drunk and giving in to temptation. Now Francesca was showing pictures to the entire town, claiming she had taken his virginity. He knew it wasn't true. He had lost it long ago.
With a cautious look he greeted them. "Hello." Tara took the horse's reins. "What do you think of her Hawk? You are the only one she has let ride besides me. I'm surprised."
"Maybe Hawk just has a way with wild women," said Sarah. She looked playful, not angry. He knew better than to take the bait. He kept silent.
"I see there is only one way to get you two to talk with each other," said Tara, "on the horse. Both of you. Now."
Hawk beckoned for Sarah to go ahead. She beckoned right back. He climbed up and slid forward in the saddle. She climbed up and settled in behind him, taking hold of the reins. He was in a dangerous spot with his balls resting against the pommel.
Tara slapped the horse in the rump.
Hawk thought they would both be thrown off. His instinct was to protect Sarah, but how could he, being in front of her? They were nearly thrown, but Sarah had skills with horses he didn't know about. She kept her balance and wrapped him tight to help him keep his. She was saving him from falling, or was she making sure he didn't miss the chance to have the pommel pound his testicles as much as possible?
Instead of fighting the horse as it bucked and kicked, she slowly coaxed it into moving forward. It's energy was spent on a gallop, not trying to throw them. Hawk was thoroughly impressed. "Is there anything you aren't good at?"
"Some might say forgiveness," she said, "but I just like to ask for a little penance."
"I failed you there.I'm sorry. I should have been more patient."
"Did you? One look at those buck teeth of hers and I would say you withstood some severe punishment. Also, the pommel pounding was your sister's idea, but I didn't object."
He looked back at her. Was she forgiving him? His hopefulness gushed forward. "She did NOT take my virginity."
"I know."
"How do you know?"
"Because no virgin could make me feel the way you did using your tongue like you did the other night in the stables. That takes experience."
"Or motivation like I have never felt in my life. Please forgive me, Sarah. I have been such a fool." He was nearly in tears, and not because his balls were starting to swell.
"That you have, but dry up a bit. Your sister is tough enough to take without that huge grin on her face." They were back in the stables. He hadn't even noticed.
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"HE WHAT?"
"He made bail. I'm sorry Ms. Keller. I have no say over what the court decides. I can only offer you protection. I can have someone with you 24/7."
"No," she said, "have them at my house. He will go after the children next."
"You don't intend to stay there as well?"
"Chief Andrews, I have no intention of letting this slimeball dictate my behavior. He was lucky I didn't kill him before. I will not be so forgiving again."
Sarah couldn't believe this was happening. Charles was a doctor. He was acting more like the one-armed man. Finding a sham office in this town with a phone that forwarded calls to his office in San Francisco was a major crime. He lost his license to practice medicine and his world slowly unraveled. Sarah had no idea how low he had gotten until he showed up in town and tried to kill her. He blamed her for his problems. Like most pathetic losers, he wouldn't accept the responsibility himself. Pathetic losers were no longer going to dictate her behavior.
Jason was much better now about handling things. While Captain Andrews provided incompetent officers at her home, Jason made sure that Charles didn't make a move without her knowing about it. Tara and he protected the house. The family was very well connected and provided people to shadow Charles and people to watch the studio. Some of the men doing the latter were quite rough looking. Perhaps horse breeding wasn't the only business the family got into.
The best part was that Jason was a different person. He seemed to find a new purpose. He even agreed to let her teach him MMA. The poor kid. Being the teacher's pet was not a good thing in martial arts class. Every painful kick and punch was demonstrated on you.
He had almost paid for his sins. She had one more punishment for him, however.
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She was insane. There was no way he was going to let her do that to him. This was a class demonstration. She wouldn't really do this, would she? Oh fuck why did he volunteer for this life?
"Let's go over the steps one more time, class," said Sarah. "Use your leg position to get as much power into the strike as possible. The pubic bone is right here." She pushed on the area in his crotch shamelessly. "With an open palm try to strike it at exactly a 90 degree angle. This will rupture both the skin and the underlying tissue. In the same motion you grab hold of the cords and vessels holding his testicles. Don't grab the testicles themselves or you will just pull on the cords. The objective is to shear them in half. If you did everything correctly, you can completely pull his inner testicles out and sling them over your shoulder."
Even though she had gone over it for the third time, the class still looked on in horror. Perhaps it was the gleam in her eye. Perhaps it was the terrified look on his face. Or was it Tara snickering in the corner? She wasn't even part of the class.
"Are you ready, Hawk?" She still hadn't returned to calling him Jason.
"Yes." He closed his eyes. He knew she had to be joking. She wouldn't really rip his balls off. What he was afraid of was that she was just going to give him a good ball busting. She had taken a great interest in how badly the pommel had beaten his balls after the wild ride on the horse last week. After examining them closely for some time, she advised using some ice packs. It wasn't the only item in his crotch that needed cooling off. Maybe this time she would at least take care of that problem.
She struck without warning. He heard a loud "Pop" and everyone screamed. He screamed louder than anyone. Then he heard his sister laughing. He opened his eyes just in time to see her waving the balloon around and everyone start laughing. If he hadn't been so humiliated, he would have probably lost his pee.
Another "Pop" came from downstairs. Then another. Then a very loud "Bang".
"What the hell?" Sarah asked. She headed towards the stairs but was blown backwards by a large explosion. The floor became unstable and started sagging towards the stairwell. People were screaming and clamoring for something to hold onto. The fire alarms went off and water started spraying from overhead. Something hit Jason in the head and he started losing consciousness. He heard one more explosion.
When he woke he was propped up against a wall. His sister lay next to him. She had a nasty gash on the back of her head. The room was otherwise empty except for Sarah - and Charles. Sarah looked OK, but wasn't making a move towards Charles. Then he realized why. Charles had a gun again. He was holding it against the head of one of the students, a young boy.
Something cold stirred in Jason. Something he had never felt before. He had always considered himself a peaceful person, but this Charles needed to die. How he had gotten hold of another gun was a mystery. How he managed to bring bombs into the Dojo was an even bigger mystery. There was only one answer. There was someone else involved. The man had lived here at least a few nights at some point. Who did he know?
Sarah was incredibly brave. "Please stop, Charles. He is terrified. It is me you want. I'll walk out of here and you can do whatever it is you think I deserve. Just leave the poor boy alone."
