Mountains of Dawn

Kevin sat beside her. "How did you get in trouble?"

She shivered. He wasn't going to give up. She had to come up with something, and she had to be quick. "Just bad company," she replied.

"What does that mean, bad company?"

"On campus. There were parties in my sorority, parties with… uh…things that shouldn't have happened." She paused. "I was involved in a delicate case in which two people took an overdose."

"What happened?" He sat straight beside her, his hands in his lap.

"I'd learned a bit of first aid. I helped them." She paused again, her mind whirling. Would he buy her story? "The judge gave me leniency because of it, but I had to leave for at least six months. I had to go far away. I came here." She set her mouth in a defiant line. Either he believed her or he didn't.

He frowned. "What's next?" he asked.

"They suggested I come here and help two retired policemen. I can't socialize and I'm not to leave the premises, except for short walks in the hills." She shivered. Her story was getting pretty deep. 'Oh, what a tangled web we weave…'

Kevin leaned closer to her. "What did you do at those wild parties, besides drugs?"

"I didn't do drugs."

"What, then?"

Ohmygod, what do I tell him now? she thought, her stomach churning. No drugs…sex. Sex would do it. "Sex," she said. His expression made her add, "Safe sex, of course."

"A lot of it?" His voice was nearly a whisper.

She tossed her head. "Sure. You have to experiment a lot to know what's good for you, who suits you best."

"And what did you experience?"

"Hmm…lots of partners, lots of different ways to make love." The conversation made her nervous as she added lies upon lies. He was looking at her in such a strange way. She decided to go all the way, why not? "The only thing I missed was a chance to make love to an older man." Brazenly, she looked deep into his eyes. "Someone your age, for example," she said with a provocative look.

Tanya licked her lips. Damned for a lamb, damned for a sheep, she thought, or however that's supposed to go. Either she would lose him now, or she'd have him at least once. "Would you like to be my next experiment?" she asked, her voice soft and husky.