Chapter I
Shannon and Ryan entered the one star luxury of the Wonder Seven Motel. It was the last room in the motel. The room had a double bed, wood-paneled walls, shag carpeting, and a console television with rabbit ears. Ryan thought that they had walked into the Seventies.
Without taking off her denim trench coat, a despondent Shannon sat on the brown and yellow striped bedspread. She was still trembling. It could either be the cold or she was still shaken up from the car accident. Her J. Jill jeans and Ugg boots were soaked.
Silently looking at her pout, Ryan dropped Shannon's suitcase on the floor. It was the only thing they could get out of the car that they could carry through the snow. The quiet in the room was broken by the first few notes of Kool and the Gang's "Jungle Boogie".
Shannon searched through her Vuitton handbag, hoping that the snowstorm hadn't ruined the leather, grabbing her cell phone.
"Hi, Audrey."
Ryan could see Shannon become upset as she relayed the details of the accident to her friend.
"There was a deer in the middle of the interstate. The car in front of us swerved to miss it, and lost control. Before you knew it, he was in a spin, and I had nowhere to go. He crashed into the side of our Civic. Just totally broadsided us."
Shannon fought back the tears. Ryan took off his Eddie Bauer coat and hung it on the hook behind the door. He sat next to Shannon on the bed, trying to figure out how to console her.
"No, the car is totaled. We won't make it back to Manitowoc tonight; our folks are coming up here to pick us up tomorrow."
Ryan had left suburban Milwaukee that morning to drive up to Rochester and pick up his sister at Eastern Minnesota State. She had taken her last exam that morning, and was eager to get back to start her winter recess with a party back home with her old friends from high school.
"We're at some fleabag motel in Onalaska. God, its creepy here. I think we're the only people not paying by the hour."
Looking out the window, Ryan saw the snow continue to fall. It was two days before Christmas, and those hopeful for a white holiday were getting their wish. Six inches had fallen from the time they left Rochester, and Ryan estimated that there would be at least a foot and a half on the ground now.
"Okay, Audrey. I'll call you tomorrow. Bye."
Shannon hung up her phone, and covered her face with her hands.
"Are you okay, Shannon?"
"This just sucks, Ryan. I just want to go home."
Shannon looked up at Ryan, her face red, with tears streaming out of her sky blue eyes. Ryan put his arm around Shannon, trying to comfort her.
"Shannon, it's alright. There's nothing to worry about, and everything will be okay. The important thing is that we're not hurt. That was a nasty accident, and I am just thankful that we are safe and sound."
"We could have been killed. I could have killed us," Shannon was gasping for breath with each word.
"There was nothing you could have done, Shannon. Someone must've been looking out for us."
He patted her left hand with his, amazed at how cold it was. They had stood outside for almost two hours, filling out police reports and waiting for the tow truck, and Shannon was still thawing out from the cold. Emotionally drained and physically exhausted, Ryan sensed she was on the verge of a breakdown.
"Hey, Shannon, you have some dry clothes in your bag. Why don't you go and take a nice hot shower? Maybe it will calm your nerves a bit."
She looked up at Ryan and nodded before walking into the bathroom. Within seconds, Ryan heard the shower running.
Shannon adjusted the water temperature to somewhere between hot and scalding. Shannon was shocked at how cold the water was. Figuring it would take a few minutes to warm up; she slowly took off her coat and hung it on the hook behind the door. She pulled her sweater over her head and dropped it to the floor. She noticed that her stomach had turned a reddish pink from being out in the harsh elements. Unbuttoning her jeans, she pushed them down to the floor. Gripping her woolen socks, in one motion she stepped out of her clothes, and stood before the mirror in her pink Victoria's Secret demi bra and aqua string bikini Jockey underwear.
Shannon liked how her body looked. A swimmer in high school, she had a sleek figure with very little fat, but had nice muscle tone to her legs and shoulders. She took off her bra, and her breasts drooped very little. Her nipples hardened as they met the cool air, and she held a breast in each hand. Very little of her breasts escaped her hands, as steam started to fill the room. She walked over to the shower and reached in with her hand making sure the water was to her liking.
Pushing her underwear to the floor, and then stepping into the hot water, Shannon finally started to relax. She put her head under the water, turning her past-the-shoulder wavy blonde hair to a darker shade, almost the brownish color of her trimmed triangle of pubic hair. She didn't dare use the thin wafer of hotel soap, for fear of what it would do to her soft skin. Feeling the numbness start to disappear, she ran her hands all over her flat stomach, over her smooth hips, and toned thighs, savoring the warmth that the water delivered. Shannon touched the outside of her pussy, tempted to release some of the pent up frustration in her body.