"Honey... that's great coffee," Jake smiled at Sharon and pointed to the cup he was holding.

She got the Joke. Harrison Ford had made the same joke in a scene from his newly released move 'Witness'. It was a parody on the old sixties ads for Folgers coffee but she felt uncomfortable with Jake referring to her as 'honey'.

"You get the joke right?" Jake said, suddenly apologetic.

"I get it," Sharon smiled wanly.

They were sitting on the couch in the family room of the holiday house on the foreshore of Lake Wallenpaupack. The central heating had finally made the place comfortably warm. Jake wouldn't allow a fire because smoke from the chimney would draw attention. The windows remained shuttered and from the exterior the house looked empty and winterised. Jake's car was locked away in the shed.

Jake had raided the freezer in the shed and brought in some staples which they had defrosted in the microwave. The presence of such a decadent appliance and the Bertram sportsman in the shed indicated the owners of the house were well to do.

Sharon had made coffee and sandwiches whilst Jake had explored the rest of the house. She felt it was a bizarre situation to be in, drinking coffee and eating sandwiches in front of the television set with her captor, watching the ticker scroll across the bottom of screen asking for any person having knowledge of Sharon's whereabouts to contact the police.

"Sorry about the joke," Jake put his coffee cup down on the table.

"You abduct me and keep me captive in a house that you broke into but you apologise for a lame joke made in poor taste," Sharon turned to him.

"How long are you going to keep me captive?" she glared at him.

"You're the one who handcuffed herself to the case. You should have just handed it over. It's your fault that you are here," Jake retorted.

"You're crazy!" Sharon barked at him.

"You're lucky I'm not," Jake smiled at her.

This is what she hated about him. As much as she should despise him and be fearful of him, Sharon actually found him quite amusing and he had been nothing but considerate and gentlemanly to her. He'd looked up her skirt a couple of times when she'd got in and out of the car but it was instinctual, all men did it. She'd never admit it but she would have been disappointed if he hadn't checked her out, she was quite vain when it came to her appearance and attractiveness.

They had been cooped up in the house all afternoon and into the evening. The house was dark because of the storm shutters on the windows but she knew that it was getting late.

"I'll make you a deal. I'll let you make a phone call if you behave yourself," Jake said.

Sharon perked up immediately.

"Why would you do that?" Sharon suddenly became suspicious.

"Proof of life. If the cops know you are safe and unharmed they might be less inclined to shoot me on sight. They'll settle down a little," Jake replied.

"Ok?" Sharon didn't think he was telling her everything.

"Also it's the right thing to do. There are obviously people out there who love you. They deserve to know that you are safe and well," Jake continued.

"Ok. I'll behave," Sharon's eyes sparkled in anticipation.

"Here are the rules: You get one minute. You don't tell them where we are. You don't tell them anything about me. No hints or codes ok?" Jake stood up.

"Agreed," Sharon said and got up with him.

They went to the breakfast bar and Jake took the handset from the wall-mounted phone and handed it to Sharon.

"Behave," he warned her.

She dialled her home phone number and it was answered immediately by Bethany Williams.

"Hello honey," Sharon breathed into the phone and began to cry softly.

"Hey baby, are you ok?" Bethany breathed into the phone.

Penelope Evesham and Elliot Granger were standing right next to Bethany and they both gasped and then smiled when Bethany acknowledged that she was talking to Sharon.

"I'm safe and well but I can't leave where I am," Sharon was careful not break her promise to Jake.

He was standing next her, his face close to hers so he could hear both sides of the conversation with his fingers resting on the hook so he could hang up immediately if necessary.

"I love you honey," Bethany sobbed into the phone.

"I love you too," tears were running down Sharon's face.

"Are sure you're ok? You're not under duress are you?" Bethany asked.

Bethany was a lawyer and Elliot was the Commander of the Braidwood Police department and they had concocted a series of innocuous questions for Bethany to ask her should Sharon call.

"I'm fine. I'm unharmed and as comfortable as can be expected given the circumstances," Sharon replied.

"What does he want? Is there a ransom?" Bethany asked.

Elliot was spinning his finger, encouraging Bethany to move along and ask as many questions as possible. He knew that the call would be short so that it couldn't be traced.

"There's no ransom. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Sharon explained.

Jake shook his head. Sharon was here because she was belligerent and had defiantly handcuffed herself to the case that he desperately wanted but he wasn't going to speak. He knew that law enforcement would be listening to the call and recording it. He didn't know how sophisticated their voice analysis and identification techniques were but he had no intention of testing it.

"You know I love you. I know that you have been abducted before. Don't do anything to get yourself hurt. I want you to cooperate, to do whatever your kidnapper asks you to do. You know what I mean don't you?" Bethany was now crying.

"It's not like that Bethany," Bethany's crying jag caused Sharon to cry in sympathy with her.

"I love you and I want you know that I'm safe and well and will be released unharmed soon," Sharon said, although she didn't really know that.

"I love you too baby," Bethany replied.

Jake watched the minute hand of his watch crawl across the face indicating the minute was up and he broke the connection.

Sharon hung up the receiver. She was crying silently.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Jake backed away from Sharon. He'd found a drinks cabinet during his search and he went over to it and poured a large slug of Jake Daniels into a tumbler and brought it over to Sharon who was sitting on the couch. She took it from him and took a sip. He went back and poured himself a drink and then sat down, keeping a suitable distance between them.

He couldn't look at Sharon while she was crying so he looked at the television. The banner crawling across the bottom of the screen had changed. A severe weather warning had been issued by the National Weather Service. Jake picked up the remote and the pretty little thing in front of a projected weather map began to speak.

"Near-record cold temperatures caused by a polar vortex are about to affect parts of the U.S. The result will be brutal conditions over the north east United States, residents are warned to take appropriate precautions and expect up to three feet of snow and for temperatures to plummet."

The weather girl waved her hand over the whole state and in particular Braidwood County.

"Shit!" Jake jammed his finger down on the mute button.

Sharon had stopped crying and was looking at the screen.

"Good news and bad news for you I guess," she said, taking another sip of her drink.

Jake looked at her questioningly.

"Well the good news is that weather front means that the search for you will have to be scaled down or suspended. The bad news means we're going to be trapped here unless we get out soon. Maybe now is a good time for you to let me go and for you to hightail it," Sharon said.

"They'll keep the roadblocks up until the weather comes in. We're going nowhere," Jake said with some finality.

He went to the drinks cabinet and came back with the bottle and poured them both another drink.

"Who's Bethany?" Jake asked.

Sharon gave him a steely look.

"Ok. I get it," Jake sighed.

He hadn't figured Sharon for a lesbian, she dressed so femininely and to be frank, provocatively. The lesbians he had seen were typically clad in heavy boots, dungarees, plain t-shirts and other distinctly un-feminine attire. They had short haircuts, were masculine and were very vocal about gay rights, persecution and the male 'gaze'.

Sharon was tall, slim and very attractive with her long brunette hair piled loosely on top of her head held in place with long wooden pins. Her makeup was carefully applied, especially her bright red lipstick. She was wearing a red pencil skirt with a hem that rested mid-thigh, a white satin blouse, tan hosiery and black high heels. The jacket matching her skirt was hanging from the coat rack near the front door. She had a single handcuff around her left wrist from which dangled the remaining links where Rick had cut it free.

The other cuff was secured to the handle of a silver pelican case that Jake had taken into the bedroom he had commandeered for himself.

"You get what?" Sharon hated condescending males.

"This is an argument I'm not going to win so let's let it slide. What did Bethany mean when she said you had been abducted before? You said it yourself in the car, you said this isn't the first time you've been abducted," Jake swirled the liquor round in his glass.

"It's not something I share with strangers," Sharon replied.

The storm front slammed into the house right then. The whole house shook and the central heating kicked into overdrive as the thermostat reacted to the plummeting outside temperature.

"Here's that storm," Jake said soberly.

They walked over to the door and opened it a crack. The wind was howling and snow was falling in blinding sheets, the roof on the shed was already covered in six inches of snow and it was piling up along the walls of the house. Jake slammed the door closed.

"We better get prepared for a few rough days. You can bet the power isn't going to hold out," Just as he said it the house went dark and the steady hum of the central heating ceased.

*****

At Elliot and Penelope's homestead Elliot had checked the generator, checking the battery, the oil level and topping off the diesel tank. Penelope and Bethany sat on the rug in front of the log fire sipping whisky. Penelope was doing her best to reassure Bethany that everything would be ok. They were both fearful that the coming storm would suspend the search for Elliot's sister and her abductor but Elliot explained to both Penelope and Bethany the storm would mean that the abductor would have to hold up somewhere and ride it out.

The State Troopers had put up roadblocks and were confident that Sharon was still somewhere in Braidwood County. Having recently received a phone call from her offering proof of life they felt a little better. Bethany had said that Sharon didn't sound unduly distressed but that was no comfort to Elliot who felt helpless being excluded from the search.

Penelope took a call from her brother who had seen the news reports about Sharon's abduction. She reassured Robert that Sharon was safe but was still in the hands of her captor. She also reassured him that she and Elliot would be safe from the coming storm.

She adjusted the heating and went upstairs to find Elliot sitting on their bed with head in his hands.

"I know that you're frustrated because you want to be in charge of the investigation but you know why you're being excluded," Penelope said.

"That doesn't comfort me," Elliot sighed.

Penelope went into the bathroom and after a few minutes Elliot heard the toilet flush and Penelope came out. She was dangling her panties from her fingers and she walked over and drooped them over Elliot's face.

I know what will take your mind off things," she stood in front of him and dropped her skirt.

She was wearing hold-up stockings and her cock was sticking out.

Elliot pulled her onto the bed and helped her out of the rest of her clothes except for her stockings and heels. He impatiently ripped off his uniform and leapt on the bed. He kissed Penelope and she instinctively reached for him and found him erect. Elliot reciprocated and took Penelope in his hand and stroked her to full tumescence.

Penelope manoeuvred herself so that she was on top of Elliot, her mouth over his groin and her cock dangling close to Elliot's lips.

She took Elliot's cock into her mouth and he took hers. They suckled each other until they were both close to orgasm and then Elliot lifted Penelope off him and lay her on the bed and rose over her.

Penelope pushed a pillow under the small of her back and opened her legs. Elliot knew that Penelope had prepared herself in the bathroom and he could see the gleam of lubricant in her puckered bud. He put his cock in the pink wrinkle and pushed.

Penelope smiled up at him as his glans pieced her sphincter. Elliot stopped and smiled down at her as he extracted his cock from her anus and did it again, pushing just the head of cock inside her and then talking it out.

"Don't be a tease," Penelope smiled up at him.

Elliot fell on her and pushed himself inside her. Penelope just lay there with her arms and legs open, not moving.

"Now don't you be a tease," Elliot crushed his lips against hers.

Penelope put her hands on Elliot's shoulder and wrapped her legs around his back and pushed up, impaling herself on his hard pulsing penis. She rubbed her legs on his flanks and raked her heels on his back knowing it would drive him wild.

And it did.

Elliot began to fuck Penelope with long slow strokes, gradually building the intensity when she encouraged him. Penelope's cock pressed into his belly and he could feel her warm, slippery pre-cum on his flesh.

She goaded him on when he began to fuck her harder, rising up to meet his thrusts and kissing him passionately.

When Elliot filled her anus with his scalding seed she came with him, ejaculating her hot spend on his belly. She held him tight and comforted him when he began to cry.

"It's going to be ok sweetheart; it's going to be ok," Penelope stroked his broad shoulders.

But Penelope did not know if it was going to be ok... not really.

*****

The house got darker and colder. There was no power, no fire, the snow was piling up against the walls and accumulating on the roof. Both Jake and Sharon had put their jackets on but it didn't really warm them up.

"We need to light a fire otherwise we're going to freeze to death," Sharon was sitting on the couch shivering.

"The house is supposed to be vacant. If I light a fire the smoke will give away our presence," Jake replied.

"To whom? Who the fuck is going to notice in this ice storm and so what if they do? There's already two feet of fucking snow out there!" Sharon was angry.

"No fucking fire!" Jake said with finality.

Jake took off his overcoat and put it around Sharon's shoulders but this time it brought her little comfort.

"Fuck this," she declared and went down the hall to the bedrooms.

She went into her allocated room and piled up every blanket and duvet she could find, stripping the third bedroom of bedclothes and covers. She let out her hair, took off her shoes and her suit and climbed under the covers hoping that her body would generate enough heat to keep her warm.

Later that night Jake opened the door to Sharon's bedroom and peeked in on her. The light cast by the lantern he was carrying was dim but he could just make her out under the pile of bedclothes. She appeared to be asleep but occasionally she would shiver, the room was bitter cold and he could see the steam coming from her deep breaths.

Sharon was aware of Jake's presence at the door but she gave no indication. Was he going to try to climb into her bed? Would she fight him? Would she welcome him? It was a moot question because Jake turned away and closed the door leaving her in total darkness.

She woke up in the early morning; a single bar of weak sunlight had broken through a small breach in the storm shutter covering her window and inconveniently fell on her face. She lay under the covers not wanting to move out of the small island of warmth her body had generated. The house was silent except the sound of the ice storm raging outside. Reluctantly she got out of bed because of the uncontrollable need to pee.

She had gone to bed dressed in her slip, bra, panties and pantyhose but they gave her no warmth as her feet touched the cold floor. She had arranged jack's overcoat on top of the bedclothes in order to get the maximum amount of warmth that she could and she pulled it around herself and padded down to the bathroom. The toilet seat was icy against her ass but she endured it and gave a sigh of relief as she evacuated her bladder into the bowl. She was surprised that the cistern wasn't iced-up and when she went to wash her hands she found that the water was icy cold.

She went back to her bedroom and wrapped two blankets around herself and made her way to the kitchen-diner. She looked in on Jake's bedroom on the way and saw that he was up and out. The case sat on the floor beside his bed. She felt momentarily guilty when she saw the meagre amount of bedclothes on his bed; she had stripped every spare blanket in the house to put on her own bed and was also wearing his overcoat.

Sharon was surprised not to find Jake in the kitchen or the family room. She made a quick circuit of the house but still couldn't find him. She noticed balled-up newspaper and kindling in the huge fireplace. It looked like Jake was going to relent and light a fire. Then she noticed that the lid on the firewood storage box beside the fireplace was open. It was empty. It was then she heard the feeble scratching at the front door and she ran over to it and opened it.

Jake was on his knees near the door, his arms full of firewood but he couldn't stand up to open the door. He was dressed only in his dark suit and covered in snow, his face a mask of pain, his hands blue.

"What the fuck?" Sharon grabbed him by the arm and helped him inside.

"Wait," he reached outside the door and started to drag the cut logs inside.

"Leave it!" Sharon kicked the logs that were blocking the doorway inside and slammed the door closed.

"We need a fire. You need to keep warm Sharon," Jake's teeth were chattering so hard she could barely understand him.

"Christ! You idiot!" Sharon helped Jake into the family room.

He couldn't stand, he had to crawl. His clothes were nearly frozen stiff and his skin felt glacial. It was then that she realised that she was wearing his overcoat. Why hadn't he at least come and taken it from off her bed before he went outside? She shook off the blankets she had wrapped around her and threw them over Jake who lay on the floor shivering uncontrollably.

"Fuck!" she realised that he was suffering from hypothermia.

She needed to get some heat into his body core. She looked at the fireplace and thought briefly about lighting the fire but that wouldn't work. She had to get him out of his damp frozen clothes and get some heat into his body.

"Fuck!" she said again and began to half-drag him down to her bedroom.

She clawed at his clothes, her fingers becoming stiff with the cold. He tried to stop her but he was too weak. When she had him down to his underwear she helped to lift him on the bed. She pulled back the covers. There was some residual heat left in the bedding in the space where she had slept but not much. She dragged him into the middle of the bed and threw the covers over him.

Jake lay there shivering, unable to speak, half delirious.

"Fuck!" she said for the third time and cast off the overcoat and climbed into the bed beside him.

His skin was icy-cold and he was shaking. She wrapped him in her arms hoping that some of her body heat would transfer to him.

"I'm sorry," he said through chattering teeth.

"Shut up!" she whispered and held onto him tighter.

She held Jake to her body for what seemed like an eternity before he stopped shaking. She thought that it was idiotic for him to go out in the blizzard dressed only in his suit but she felt a little guilty for stealing all of the spare bedding in the house and keeping his overcoat.

"Idiot," she whispered and moved a lank of hair out of his eyes.

He seemed to be fast asleep, his breathing deep and steady. Jake's body was now warm to her touch and she tried to extricate herself from his embrace but he clung to her in his sleep.

"Fuck," she whispered again and gave up.

She fell asleep with his arms around her and her arms around him.

When she woke up her head was resting on his arm and he was leaning over her, watching her.

She pushed him away but outside the pool of their warmth the bed was freezing and she scampered back into his warm embrace.

"You are an idiot," Sharon said, her voice loud in the quiet room.

Jake just furrowed his brow and looked at her.

"Going out in that storm dressed like that," she explained.

"I wanted to have a fire going when you woke up. You were right. Without some heat in the house we are going to freeze to death," Jake whispered.

"And you nearly killed yourself doing it," her voice held no warmth.

"It's my fault that you're here. I feel responsible for you," Jake gave her a feeble smile.

He was handsome, even with his face stubble and mussed hair.

"You keep reminding me that it's my fault; that I'm here because I handcuffed myself to the case," she replied.

"Then I guess we are at an impasse," Jake's smile became a grin.

Jake's body was pressed against hers and she was aware that he was erect. She could feel it pressing into her belly.

"I'll get up and get the fire going," Jake tried to extricate himself from the tangle of limbs.

Sharon clung to him.

"Stay here and keep me warm a while longer," her voice sounded thick and sultry.

Jake looked at her questioningly. He gazed at the circle of sapphire blue on the outer ring of her brown irises, her high cheekbones and the faded bright-red lipstick on her full lips. He reached out and stroked the fine wrinkles on her forehead and the outer corners of her eyes and his finger drifted down to her mouth and traced her lips. He was once again beguiled by her dignity and elegance.

"You don't have to do this," his own voice was thick with lust.

Sharon tried to reply but he kept his finger on her lips.

"You're not my captive. You're a victim of circumstance. I don't want you to do something you will regret later," he moved his finger from her lips and stroked a stray lock of hair from her eyes.

"Why would I regret it?" Sharon stroked his cheek.

"Bethany?" Jake whispered.

"You heard her. She gave me permission," Sharon gave him a weak smile.

Jake looked puzzled.

"She told me to cooperate, to do whatever my kidnapper asks me to do. She said that I knew what she meant," Sharon's lips were so close to Jake's that they were almost touching.

"That's not what she meant and you know it. She meant for you to... you know... if I was to force you, for you to cooperate," Jake whispered.

"You talk too much. Stop rationalising," Sharon pressed her lips to his.

Jake returned the kiss, at first tentatively but when she opened her mouth he used his tongue. Sharon hooked her leg over his thigh to bring him closer, his cock pressed into her belly. It had been a very long time since she had felt a man's body against hers and she forgotten how exciting it was. Jake put his hand on her leg and stroked her thigh.

"You're still wearing your nylons," he hissed in her ear.

"Would you like me take them off?" her hand closed over his and pushed it further up her leg.

"Hell no! I love the feel of a woman's legs in nylons," he growled.

Sharon guided his hand to her groin and released it.

"You can take it from here," she smiled at him.

"You're a woman who knows what she wants," Jake's fingers stroked the satin panel at the front of her panties.

Sharon hissed and pressed her mouth back on his and thrust her tongue into him. She found his penis and freed it from his underwear. Jake helped her take off his underpants; he was naked, she still in her slip, panties, bra and pantyhose. Using the hand that was trapped under her body Jake reached into the small of her back and unclasped her bar. Sharon impatiently pulled it out of the top of her slip.

Jake found her nipples firm and supple as ripe berries when he put his mouth on her breasts. He moved from one teat to the other, ensuring each breast received his attention. Sharon squeezed his cock with one hand and guided his head from her breasts to her face. She bit his lip when Jake put his hand inside her panties and pressed the sleek nylon gusset of her pantyhose into her fleshy folds.

She could smell her sex. She could smell Jake's perspiration and her own body odour. She could taste their sour morning breath intermingling when they kissed. She could feel the rasp of his beard. This wasn't the clean, sanitised sex that she and Bethany practiced. This was grungy, sweaty lust. It was what she craved right now. It was right for the moment. She would never have considered squeezing the cock of the man who had abducted her, never would have dreamed of forcing his hand between her legs and pushing it into her sodden, smelly cunt. This was just for now. This was what she wanted. This was what she needed. This was what she craved.

Sharon briefly pushed Jake away from her and he was disappointed, thinking she had changed her mind but all she was doing was pulling her slip over her head and shucking down her panties. She put her hands inside the waistband of her pantyhose so she could pull them down but Jake stopped her.

"Leave them on," Jake said; his voice guttural.

"How are you going to? Oh... just like that!" Sharon squealed with surprise when Jake pushed a finger into the gusset of her pantyhose and tore a hole in them

He drove the finger inside her hot, wet cunt and pressed his thumb on her clitoris.

Jake wasn't particularly rough with her, but he was forceful, so different from the gentle manipulation that Bethany used to excite her. She revelled in the feel of his stubbled face on her soft milky-white breasts and the sting of his teeth as he gently nibbled her nipples. She delighted in the sensation of his steely manhood throbbing in her fingers. When he crushed his lips against hers and drove his tongue into her mouth she writhed in delight. He slipped another finger inside her steamy cunt and kneaded her clitoris with his thumb and Sharon gasped.

She squealed with delight when he lifted her off him and threw her down on the bed. He pulled the covers over his shoulders and fell on her, driving his rock-hard cock deep into her steamy sheath. Sharon lifted her legs and wrapped them around his hard muscled body. Knowing he had a thing for nylons she rubbed her silken sheathed thighs and calves against his tender flesh. Under the covers they were a writhing mass of steamy lust-fuelled debauchery.

The feel of Sharon's silky limbs on his sensitive skin drove Jake wild with lust and he held Sharon down on the bed and began to fuck her hard; almost violently. When he kissed her she bit his lip, drawing blood, her fingernails raked his back.

"Fuck me! Fuck me! Fuck me!" she gasped.

She had forgotten what it felt like to have a hard fleshy cock inside her. It felt wonderful and she rose up off the bed to meet Jake's thrusts, she ground her pubis into his, forcing his cock all the way inside her. Her vagina clung to the flesh of his manhood, almost like it was reluctant to release it. Jake revelled in the feel of her tight cunt clinging to his throbbing cock, the juxtaposition of the sleek silky nylons on his flanks and her long nails scratching his back and her teeth nibbling on his lips and tongue.

Jake's groin ground against her clitoris and his glans pressed on that special place inside vagina and Sharon felt delicious waves of pleasure radiating from those places building to a climax. Jake could feel her cunt contracting around his cock and the flood of juices dripping from her sex. He was close to climax too.

Sharon wrapped her arms and legs around Jake and physically rose up off the bed and crushed her body against his as an earth-shattering orgasm wracked her body. She ground her pubis against his as she felt his pulsing manhood expand and explode deep inside her. The musky smell of semen joined the stench of her cunt and their comingled sweat.

She sex was hard, dirty and rough and Sharon loved it. She hadn't experienced an orgasm like this since her teens and the dark memory of how that occurred remained supressed. Even Beau Benstead had been unable to elicit such decadent sexual ardour from her during their brief torrid affair.

Sharon would have screamed but Jake's mouth was on her, his tongue exploring her as he rutted against her, driving her back down on the bed as he thrust and probed her aching slit.

Jake fell on top of her exhausted when he finally came down from the pinnacle of his climax. Sharon kept her legs and arms wrapped around his body but she was softly stroking him; his cock was still inside her, not quite steely hard but still erect. She felt her juices and his seed dribble from her snatch and run down her ass and onto the sheets.

He lifted his head and looked her in the eyes. She met his gaze and smiled. Her smile made his heart skip a beat and he couldn't help but kiss her. The kiss was not hard and torrid but soft and loving. Sharon responded and returned the kiss and a tinge of guilt ran through her but it was quickly replaced with lust when Jake began to slowly thrust into her.

"Again?" she looked into his eyes.

Jake nodded.

"My god; you're insatiable," Sharon sighed but she began to rise to meet his thrusts.

They had to leave the bed eventually and it was Jake who got out first. He put on his overcoat and wrapped a blanket around himself and went into the family room and lit the fire. He made Sharon stay in bed until the fire was roaring and the room was warm. She put on her blouse and threw a blanket over her shoulders and made her way into the family room and sat in front of fire until she was too hot.

There were practicalities to take care of.

Jake brought in more wood and food from the freezer in the shed. Even without power the food would still keep in the arctic temperatures. Sharon explored the house more thoroughly. In the master bedroom she found two dressers, one full of men's clothing and the other full of women's. The fireplace was fitted with a wrought iron crane, bail and trammel hook to facilitate cooking and Jake found a cast iron cooking set consisting of a skillet, grill pan, Dutch oven and kettle.

Sharon made coffee and toast and they sat on a rug in front of the fire and ate the toast and drank the coffee. She filled every utensil with water and heated it to boiling point and carefully traipsed it to the bathroom and half-filled the bath.

"Why you doing that?" Jake asked around a mouthful of toast.

"Honey, I don't wanna be rude but you stink and so do I," she held her nose comically.

Jake sniffed an armpit and screwed up his face.

"Come on before the water gets cold," she held out her hand and Jake stood up.

"That water won't stay warm for very long so it looks like we're sharing a bath," she smiled seductively at him.

Jake tried his best to initiate sex while they were naked in the bath but Sharon wasn't having anything to do with it until she had thoroughly washed her body and brushed her teeth. She made Jake shave and wash his hair. She put Jake in a dressing down she had found in the master bedroom and sent him to tend the fire while she tended to herself.

The roaring fire was warming the small house and she was comfortable sitting at the vanity in the master bedroom dressed only in a negligee. As she applied her makeup another pang of guilt glided across her subconscious like a shadow on a sunny day. Was she being unfaithful to Bethany or was she just being pragmatic given the circumstances? She pushed the guilt down deep inside herself and made herself forget about Bethany, Elliot and Penelope, the people she loved and who loved her. They weren't here. They weren't in the same predicament. If they were, what would they do?

She knew what Penelope had done to survive back when she was Poppy Evesham walking the streets and selling her body to keep her brother in boarding school. But this wasn't the same and she knew it.

"Fuck it! I'll do what I have to... what I want to," she said to the face in the mirror and put on anther coat of lipstick.

If she didn't feel guilty about wearing the lady of the house's lingerie and hosiery and using her makeup, why should she feel guilty about a little bit of casual fucking?

She opened the package of pantyhose and slid them up her legs followed by the full-cut nylon panties she had found in the dresser. The pantyhose would help keep her legs warm and she always liked the feel of the diaphanous nylons on her legs; she felt undressed without hosiery. More importantly she knew they would drive Jake wild. He had made no attempt to hide his pantyhose fetish.

When she went back into the family room she found Jack had put the pelican case on the breakfast bar. The security locks looked formidable.

"What's in the case?" she asked, taking the kettle off the trammel hook and bringing it to the kitchen to make tea.

"I honestly don't know and I don't wanna know. They paid me to collect it and bring it to them," Jake opened the tea caddy and took out two Earl Grey tea bags.

When Sharon stood next to Jake to pour the hot water in the cups he surprised her by pulling her close and kissing her affectionately. It wasn't lustful or passionate, it was tender and sweet. She liked it but she also didn't like it.

Raw energetic fucking she could justify to herself as survival or as a response to being held captive; a means of continued subsistence. But displays of affection were not a consequence of survival, they were not primal urges, they were considered actions. Once again she felt a twinge of guilt but the feel of Jake's soft lips on hers and his hard body pressing against her quickly dissipated the guilt.

She disengaged from Jake and made the tea and then she touched the cold metal of the case.

"Doesn't it intrigue you? You said that men have died trying to deliver this case," she stroked the corrugated aluminium surface.

"No. It's what I do. I collect things and deliver them," Jake looked at her over the rim of his cup.

"Like you collected me?" Sharon goaded him.

"You're an unintended consequence," Jake's icy blue eyes were full of amusement.

"Now you're just teasing me," Sharon might be in her forties but she felt like a schoolgirl in his presence.

"Let me make it up to you," Jake lunged for her.

Sharon squealed and kicked her legs and pounded her fists on his back when he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder and carried her to the bedroom but she moaned like a slattern when he ripped out the crotch of her pantyhose with his teeth and used his mouth on her before he fucked her.

There was no guilt evident when she orgasmed the second time with Jake buried inside her, his lips on hers, her legs locked around his torso.

There was nothing to do while they were holed up in the house but eat, drink and fuck so that's what they did. Jake exercised for one hour a day and Sharon power walked in circles around the family room. Their fucking was frequent and vigorous but it didn't burn the calories they were eating.

On the fifth day of isolation the lights suddenly came on and the TV burst into life. The news was mainly about the ice storm and the damage it had caused, there was a footnote scroll along the bottom of the screen: 'Braidwood Woman Still Missing'. All emergency services were allocated to dealing with incidents and accidents related to the weather, including local and State police.

Jake looked out the window and then at Sharon who was staring pensively at the television.

"The roads are safe enough to travel and now is the ideal time for me to leave with most of the police forces dealing with other emergencies," Jake said.

"I know it's weird to be saying this but I'm kind of sad that we are going to leave," Sharon replied.

Jake sat down next to her and stroked her hair.

"Another time; another place, who knows?" he said whimsically.

"Yeah who knows? Now take me to bed and make love to me one last time," she leaned in and kissed him.

They made no effort to hide their presence at the house. Sharon was going to have to explain what had happened to her during her abduction and she would tell the truth, but she would leave out their lovemaking of course. She would be frank that she had developed a symbiotic relation with Jake as a means of survival. Would Bethany know about the sex? It was likely. Women just had that intuition. Penelope would guess too. After all, Penelope and Elliot's relationship had blossomed during the time she spent isolated with him in that safe house all those years ago.

She knew nothing of Jake's life and Jake wasn't even his real name. There was nothing she could tell the police that would help them find him. She on the other hand had told Jake her most intimate secrets including her abduction and repeated rape when she was just nineteen. He held her close and shed a tear when she told him.

"Ok. Let's get the fuck out of Dodge," Jake sighed as he started the engine of his car.

Sharon had changed back into the fitted red business suit she had been wearing when she was abducted at the police station but unlike the last time she was in Jake's car she made no attempt to pull her skirt down over her exposed thighs. He could get a good look at what he was leaving behind.

The brushed aluminium pelican case sat on the back seat of the car.

"Do you really not know what is in the case?" Sharon asked for what had to be the hundredth time.

Jake just gave her a sardonic look and turned his eyes back to the road. They were back on the 590 heading towards Braidwood.

The patter of machine gun bullets hitting the back of the car sounded like pebbles bouncing off a trash can.

Jake reached out and pulled Sharon down into her seat just as the back window blew out. He tried his best keep the car on the road but he finally had to allow the car to come to rest on the side of the road in a controlled skid. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his pistol.

"Stay here! Don't move no matter what happens!" he ordered and leapt from the car, rolling in the gravel.

He scampered into the scrub just as the car from which the gunfire had erupted skidded to a stop and the driver jumped out and pointed his M3 sub-machine pistol at Jake's car. He stayed behind the car door using it as a shield.

"Just hand over the case! No one needs to get hurt!" he yelled at Jake's car.

"Fuck!" Jake hissed when Sharon got out of the car.

"Don't shoot. I'll give you the case," Sharon opened the back door and reached for the case.

The shooter came out from behind the door and aimed his machine gun at Sharon and pulled the trigger. The GM M3 was a popular weapon because of its .45 ACP rounds and its 450 RPM rate of fire. Unfortunately one of the design faults was its propensity to jam because of the magazines single feed design. This is what saved Sharon Granger's life.

The driver removed the magazine to clear the feed and Jake leapt from the bushes. He managed to get to Sharon just as the other man slammed the magazine back into the M3 and pulled the trigger. Jake managed to put his body between the shooter and Sharon as he opened up with his own 9mm pistol.
The third round from Jake's gun took the top of the shooter's head off but not before Jake took a .45 ACP round in his upper body. Had he not been shielding Sharon the round would have hit her in the head.

Having a brother who was a policeman, working with policemen, and living in a rural area Sharon was used to guns and gunfire but the sound of the M3 and the bark of Jakes pistol so close to her body caused her to scream.

Jake put his hand over her mouth and made her stand still.

"Are you hit anywhere?" Jake checked her over carefully.

Wearing a red suit, if she was hit it might not be obvious. Sharon hadn't seen Jake take the round to the shoulder and the blood was not obvious on his dark suit.

"I'm fine," Sharon said when she gained control of herself.

"Let's get out of here. I'll drop you off home and then hit the road. Can you give me some time?" Jake asked.

Sharon pulled him into a warm embrace and kissed him for her answer. Fifteen minutes later Jake pulled up at the entrance gate to the long well-kept gravel drive that led to the ranch-style house Sharon shared with Bethany.

"I don't know what to say," Sharon stared out the windscreen but was seeing nothing.

"Neither do I," Jake was so choked that he couldn't speak.

His shoulder was throbbing and blood was pooling on the seat.

Sharon opened the door and got out of the car. As soon as she closed it Jake pulled out on the road and hit the gas. Sharon watched him disappear over a rise before she slowly turned towards the house. It was only then that she noticed Jake's blood on her suit.

On the back seat of Jake's car, inside the pelican case, the little red light on a small plastic box suddenly illuminated when the passive integrated transponder was activated by a low-frequency radio signal. Someone somewhere was tracking the case.

The End

Please, please, please leave me some comments xxx Michele