The miserable scoundrel! the infernal coward! 

Go? Never! 

But mark this and learn to your cost, there is no escape for you. We shall be brother and sister–the only two that are left of the beautiful, happy family. 

You shall never leave me–never! 

Your very breath will be a torture to you. You shall see me at the head of my table, with all my children round me, and their wives worship the Lady of Shalott. 

The Lady of Shalott. 

Near the bridge stands the Lady of Shalott. And she gazes long at the tumbling stream. It is evening-time and happy and bright. 

The moon shines silvery clear, and she sees a speck that moves in the sky. A white bird with golden wings. 

It nears her position. 

We shall be brother and sister.

Man and wife.

We shall bring in a new generation of purity.

The Lady of Shalott.

– – –

I checked my watch. It was 11:09 pm. 

I was jostled by the crowds making their way between bars. Drinking their problems away. I could use a drink, too, I thought. 

With a glance over my shoulder, I spotted an alleyway with a broken-down fire escape. I stepped into the shadows and headed for it, my heart beating fast. Just before I reached the fire escape, I heard a voice behind me–a woman's voice. "Hey! Wait up!"

I turned swiftly, my hand slipping into my pocket to grip the cool metal of my knife. 

"What do you want?" My voice was low and measured. 

“It’s me. Where have you been, Evan? I’ve been looking for you. I thought you might be in the bar.” Her voice was soft, a near-whisper, and sounded as if she was close to tears. 

“What do you want?” I narrowed my eyes at her and she took a step back, but only slightly–as if she didn’t want her retreat to be obvious. 

“I just wanted to say hello, see if you were okay. I didn’t mean anything by it."

I shook my head, but as I did so, she reached out and touched my arm. 

"Evan," she said in a voice like honey, "are you all right?" 

Her touch sent electricity through my whole body. “I am now.” I replied instinctively, and kissed her. 

She didn’t pull away and she didn’t resist me, but I could tell by the way she breathed that my kiss seemed to shock her. I could feel her tremble as she stood there, so close to me and yet so defensively still. 

"I'm sorry," I said softly into her hair.

"No," she replied fervently, "don't stop.” 

She placed her hand on my crotch and pulled me close. I kissed her again. This time she returned the kiss with a fervor that made my head spin. My hands moved over her body; I felt the silk of her skirt as it slipped through my fingers. She quietly moaned as my fingertips brushed her pussy. I groaned with pleasure as my hand slid under her blouse and I took hold of her breast, squeezing her flesh and tracing my finger over her nipple. 

She was putty in my hands. 

She moaned as I massaged her and she clung to me, her head on my shoulder. I could feel the hard, fervent throb of the pulse emanating from her groin and it was all I could do to keep from going mad. My cock ached from pressing against my zipper. I released some pressure by grinding my crotch against her thigh, pressing my cock through my jeans against her thighs. I put my hand up under her skirt and between her legs and she broke our kiss for a gasp.

"Oh!" she said. "You're too much for me. I'm going to–I can't stand it!" She made a little tragic gesture with her arms.

The hand that had been between her legs came away wet. She tasted herself from my fingers and my heart jumped into my throat as with one motion I swept the girl up in my arms and set her on one of the metal trash cans in the alley. 

Startled, a racoon scurried away with a slice of pizza in its mouth. 

“Oh my!” She giggled. 

I raised the long line of her skirt to her waist and under it felt the softness of her skin. I began at once to caress her. My hands wrapped around her hips and squeezed her buttocks as I pulled her into my cock.

"Oh," she sighed, "you don't know how long I've wanted this–for weeks and weeks."

I moved one hand over her firm breast beneath her blouse as I traced her ass to her hips to her crotch to finally reach her pussy with my other hand. I had forgotten where we were and what we were doing. I didn’t care. The girl seemed to be floating in space, her eyes closed and her breath came quick and excited. She was warm and wet and weightless all at once.

"You're so lovely," I said, without thinking, "too lovely for any man to look on save in dreams."

I had commenced kissing at the top of her head and was coming gradually down the line of her neck, across her heaving breasts, down her stomach when suddenly she wrapped her legs around my waist. 

“I need you now,” she demanded. 

I felt her unfasten my belt. She reached into my boxers and released my cock. I was rock hard and throbbing. All my thoughts and logic were erased by my lust and desire to feel her. 

Condom? What did that matter? I needed to be inside her. 

Now! 

She pulled me to her and slid her warm, wet pussy over me. I groaned at how tight she was as she gasped at my girth. She wrapped herself around every part of me. I’d never felt or experienced anything so perfect.

“Oh fuck!” she cried out, a moment before my lips reached her mouth. 

I was too entranced to stop her, to question what might happen, as our tongues fought against each other. Her lips were soft and sweet. Wet. Her legs pinned me inside her as she twisted on me and pulled my cock deeper inside her. It was impossible for me to do anything save hold her and be in the moment. Even if I wanted to leave her–which I wouldn’t for anything in the world. 

“Oh! oh! OH! Yes!” she was crying out in a frenzy of abandonment, as she ground herself against me. “Harder, HARDER!” Her body vibrated against me. I squeezed her tighter and bit down on her nipple which only brought greater groans of pleasure from her lips.

This was the first time I had a partner other than Tonya in months, but this girl was so sweet and young that I did not feel any shame. On the contrary, it seemed to me that I could do no better than her and that if she would let me–in time–I would be able to be happy again. Her youth gave me the strength I had been missing for so long.

She clung to my neck with one arm, pressing my head hard against her, while with the other she clenched my arm and thrust her pelvis desperately. I buried my face in the nape of her neck, smelling the faint odor of sweat and perfume that was unfamiliar but which had a strangely intoxicating effect on me. 

I could feel her heart thumping against me, and then I began to tremble and shake all over, and the reaction of my own body brought a new flood of moisture to her. She shuddered once, violently, and then relaxed limply in my arms as I released myself inside her.

Everything gave way instantly and I felt complete and entirely empty all at once. 

After a moment she raised her face and looked at me with wide open eyes, as if only then realizing that I was still holding her. That we were still connected in the most intimate way imaginable.

I kissed her on the lips as I carefully pulled out of her. My seed dripped from her like an overstuffed Bavarian donut.

"You see," I said, "what you do to me?" 

She raised her face and looked at me with a dazed air. Her eyes met mine straight in the gaze. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and drew my head down to hers again, while she murmured, "Oh, Evan, how you do love me!" 

I could feel the pressure of her lips on my forehead. 

"You see?" I repeated softly.

And she answered with a smile, "You love me, Evan–you love me!"

It was not until some time after this that I became clearly aware of what she had said. 

Then it flashed over me that if I gave way to my passion a second time I would be lost–ruined forever. I would be false to the woman who had saved me. It was a ghastly thought, sickening and appalling; yet it filled me with a wild desire to carry out my impulses instantly, lest the consciousness of my treachery should force itself upon me, and turn me sick and faint. It was a ghastly thought that now for the first time I had begun to doubt the truth of my utter repentance–that there might be something false even in the woman who might save me. But what could I do? It was only too clear that she would never consent unless she were quite sure that she herself might escape. What could I do? There was nothing for it but to wait. It would be better–for my pleasure–to prolong the agony as much as possible. 

I refastened my pants and helped her down from the trash can. She leaned against me as she pulled her skirt back down. 

“Thank you!” she whispered, with breathless eagerness. “You were so good–” 

“You were,” I replied with a long kiss on her cheek. 

She blew me a kiss over her shoulder as she stepped away back into the bustling sidewalk. I sighed and climbed up the fire escape.