Shayna kneaded her temples with her thumbs. Words swam together on her white screen. Had his name been Carl of Clark?

She cycled a breath. Her small breasts rose and fell.

Cark. It had been Cark. She flipped through her notes. Lewis and Clark.

Wind beyond her window let out a loud howl. The pane rattled. A heartbeat squall splashed against the pain.

The lights flickered. For a fractional second it was as dark inside as out. Shay smashed alt-f-s. Word's save progress bar proceeded slowly. Fortunately, the computer did not blink out.

She cycled another heavy breath and slid down in her chair until her feet tapped the wall under the desk. Her skirt pulled up under her buttocks. Her ass practically hung off the chair. She stared at her report.

Okay, Shay, I've just got to— The lights blinked. Longer this time. Something smacked her window. The computer monitor darkened. An image appeared in its ghostly glow.

Shayna's heart thrashed within her breast. She jerked and her chair toppled. She shrieked.

Floor, as hard as concrete, kissed Shayna, hip, shoulder, head in three successive thuds.

"Ow."

Illumination snapped back.

"Ow."

"Shay?"

"Oh, ow."

"God, girl. What y' doin' on the floor?"

Shayna crawled to her knees. Her neighbor, Tiffany, stood in Shayna's door.

Tiffany's roommate poked her head over Tiffany's shoulder. "You 'k'?"

Shayna clambered to her feet. To ease the pull on her bruised scalp, she teased the scrunchy from her hair. Freed, chestnut locks dipped and bobbed before her eyes.

Really? Why can't I have straight hair, like, Sarah. And blond. Maybe I should bleach it.

"Shay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Sarah. Just—" She paused. "—bruised."

Tiffany strode into the room. "You screamed, girl. And fell."

Heat kissed Shayna's cheeks. "I was startled."

"By the lights? Gee, that—"

Shayna didn't let her finish. "I thought I saw . . . something.

"In the monitor.

"A man."

Sarah had entered the room now as well. Her eyebrow climbed her scalp. "A man made you scream?"

Shayna blew out a breath that fluttered her locks. "It was on my monitor. Old guy. All white, like moonlight, or a black and white photo. Had crazy Einstein hair and a . . ."

"A?" Tiffany said.

"A lamp. A lantern. I think."

Sarah laughed. Tiffany's lips carved her face in a silly grin.

"You've been listening to Levi's ghost stories." Sarah laughed again. "I'm surprised your socks are still on."

Ghost stories? Why was Tiffany listening to ghost stories? Had she hooked up with Levi? "Okay – uh – whatever. I guess. I've got to . . ." Shayna waved at her computer.

"Girl, do you ever stop studying?"

"Not with midterms next week."

"Yeah, 'k' have fun with that."

The two girls left Shay's room. She sat and turned back to her computer.

Uh.

The lights flickered once, twice, thrice. There was a pop like a lightbulb imploding. Darkness slammed down. More than one girl's expletive filtered through Shayna's partially open door.

Well, that blows.

The wind outside howled in response.

Shay fished about her desk for her cell-phone. Light blossomed from the handheld monitor. She scrolled through a thousand apps looking for the flashlight.

Before she found it, a boy's tenor trumpeted. "Hey, ladies, come on. Party in the common room."

The response was immediate and gleeful. Doors opened and slammed. Beams of errant light flashed up and down the hall. Girls trooped, or ran, in groups of two or three towards the communal space where the freshman boys and girls wings intersected.

"Hey, Babe, you coming?"

The steel nubs of Shay's chair screamed against the floor tile as she twisted to face Jason. She lifted her eyes from her screen. Her gaze met a deep etched shadowed face, wild hair white hair, a lantern. The icy kiss of fear sucked the air from her lungs.

Shayna's chair toppled. Gravity asserted its hold. Before she hit the floor, she caught the edge of the desk. A cup full of pens toppled and clattered upon the floor like a handful of pick-up sticks. She yelped.

"Fuck, Shay." There was a hint of laughter in Jason's voice. He pointed his flashlight beam such that it no longer highlighted his face in stark white and black shadows.

She pushed herself upright. Her free hand clutched at her wildly beating heart. Her small breasts heaved with every rapid breath. "Don't do that!"

"What? This?" Jason pointed his cellphone flashlight at his face once more. "Boo!"

"Yes—" A pen rolled out from under Shayna's heel. It took her balance with it.

Adrenalin seared her veins. "—crap!" Her butt banged upon the desktop. A loud crack sounded. Pens, books and coffee cup jumped.

My phone!

The cellphone tittered upon the edge of the desk. Shayna grabbed at it. Gravity caught it first. The crystal screen slipped past her fingers.

The phone landed upon edge. There was as sharp crack. A kaleidoscope of light cast by a million prisms danced across the floor and went out.

A cyclone of black moths within Shay's stomach lifted up an acid vapor within her. Her lungs, her throat, her eyes burned. A single sob escaped her throat.

Two full strides and Jason was before Shayna. Strong, muscled bands of comfort enfolded her. Shayna's fingers dug into the front of Jason's shirt. Her head fell against his collar bone.

Another sob escaped her.

"It's okay baby. I'm here." His hands ran over her back. His words turned the acid to something gentler. His hands massaged the moths down, down.

She sniffled loudly. "My report. My phone. The . . ."

"Don't talk. I understand. I'll get you a new one." He hands continued their slow strokes down her back. His fingers pushed at knots of muscle.

As each tangle untied itself, her flesh released a warm rush that drenched the moths' wings. The flock, born of sorrow, was baptized in relief. They metamorphosed to golden butterflies whose wet wings dropped them from flight. They fanned themselves, a million feathers, stroking her core.

Jason's hands followed her spine. On turned around and worked its way back up when it reached the edge of her sweater. The other, though, continued its path down. When it reached her tailbone, Jason smoothed her pleated skirt over her rump. She flinched a little. A spark torched a few of the butterflies who went up in flame. Heat, and a slight ache, erupted in their wake.

Jason's hands froze. "Did that hurt?" There was a note of surprise in Jason's voice.

Shayna scrubbed her eyes on Jason's shirt. "I bruised my tailbone." She pulled back a little. "On the edge of the desk."

"Ah." His lopsided grin was all but invisible in the dark. "Then perhaps I should kiss it all better." His fingers ratcheted up her skirt, which was not particularly long.

"Don't you dare!" She clutched his shirt to prevent him from turning her around.

His other hand slid down her back to cradle her ass alongside the first. "Aw."

Fingers slipped under the cradle of her bikini panties. More butterflies went up in flames.

"Silk?" he said.

"Polyester. You keep stealing the expensive ones."

"What can I say? I'm a trophy hunter."

"You're a thief." She kissed him to take the bite off her words.

Jason held the kiss. His hands slid lower until they were completely underneath her. He lifted just enough such that when he pushed into her kiss she had no traction and had to retreat. He backed her into the desk, hooked his fingers through the crotch of her panties and pulled.

It was elegantly executed. The way his arms wrapped around, underneath and then between her thighs the motion slipped Shayna's legs from beneath her and sat her on the desk. He drew her legs high and pulled back to remove the garment completely.

Shayna followed Jason with her lips. She nearly overbalanced upon her seat. He caught her under her knees and pushed forward again. He leaned into her. First one, and then a second, of Shayna's hands left his shirt to catch her weight against the surface upon which she sat. He pushed her legs up and wide. He hooked the heels of her booties upon the lips of the desk.

Jason plied Shayna's mouth with his tongue. He drank the air from her lungs replacing it with a heady, wet warmth that seeped through her and ate away the last of her caution.

His hands moved away from her. The rattle of a loosed belt buckle chimed. Jason shifted. A heavy, hot weight fell between her legs to bounce upon the flesh guarding her womb.

A sharp gasp seized Shay's lungs. She broke their kiss, half fell and grabbed his shoulder. She hooked her arm around Jason's neck, pushed against the desk with her heels and raised her ass a finger-width or two off the surface. Jason manhandled his member into position.

Shay lowered herself. Jason pushed. His steel rod invaded her, bending as it forged a path along the back contour of her quench. Heat flooded her. She boiled.

"God." Shayna wrapped her other arm about Jason's shoulders. She buried her face in his neck. "Jason."

He pulled out slowly. She clenched, vainly trying to hold him within her. He extracted the length of his heat and then shoved it back in.

Shayna gasped. She cinched down. The ache between her legs escalated. He withdrew. He rammed her again. A squeal escaped her lips. She trembled. Her fingers clawed Jason's back. He grunted and a cauldron's heat splashed within her. Her womb clenched, opened and clenched again. She groaned.

After its sharp climax, the ache within Shay dissolved into a warm glow. She loosened her grip. Her lips longed for Jason's touch once more. She leaned back. Her eyes opened.

A knotted, twisted fist clutched Shay's throat. Every muscle stiffened to ice. The lantern light winked out.

"Shay?"

She pushed Jason away and jumped off the desk. She pressed by Jason.

He grabbed her arm. "Shay, what is it?" His other hand tugged up his pants.

"I saw him again."

"Him? Who?"

"He was watching us."

"Shay, who was watching us."

Shayna wrested her arm from Jason. "The old man. With the lantern." She hugged herself. "He was right here."

"What old man? Shay, are you sure you're okay." Jason reached for her.

She twisted away. "Yes, I'm okay," she snapped. "God, you don't believe me."

"I . . ." His gaze wandered the room helplessly.

Shayna wrested open a drawer. She dragged out a pair of panties from her dwindling supply. She was going to have to go shopping, or maybe panty raid Jason. God, that's stupid. Him and his fetish with her undies. "I'm going to the bathroom. Don't follow me." The door punctuated her departure.

Emergency lights glowed in the hall above the exits. The girl's bathroom was unlucky cat black. When the entry fell closed behind her, she went blind. She slammed her head, edge on, into an open stall door.

"Ow." Ow! Ow.

"Shay?" Jason said, from the entry. He sounded sheepish. "You need a light?" He held his cell-phone. The flashlight app spilled its near blinding LED light across the floor.

"Yeah." She waved him over. She was crouched on the floor with her head in her hands. It really hurt. "Is it bleeding?"

He stepped over and drew her to her feet. "You have to move your hands."

She hesitated and then complied.

"Ouch." He paused. "No blood but—"

Her right eyebrow stung even with his most delicate touch.

"—that looks like it hurt."

"No duh."

"Then I should probably kiss it better." He pulled her into his arms.

"You're such a dork."

"I know."

His lips brushed her brow. She flinched. He pressed another kiss upon her. She let it linger. An aloe-vera balm spread from his touch. She leaned into his chest.

He pulled her tight. Once more his hands massaged their way down her back. One smoothed over her skirt. His fingers inched up its hem.

Shayna stepped out of his arms. "No." She swatted his face with her panties. "I've already fell for that once."

"Aw, but it was so much fun." He reached for her.

She dodged. "For you. Besides, I'm running out of panties."

He moved to catch her. "If you don't put them on, I can't take them off."

"Oh?" An eyebrow shot up. She sidestepped his grab.

"Yeah, if I don't take them off you, I can't keep them." He blocked her escape. "They're not trophies unless you're wearing them."

"Oh my God! You're so a dork."

He gave her a silly grin. "What can I say? It's like deer hunting, only better." He advanced.

Shayna backward into a stall and closed the door on his face. He grabbed the top to pry it open. She slammed the bolt home just in time.

"Hands off. I'm getting dressed, Bambie butcher."

"Whatever. You have to come out sometime. You put those on and those panties are mine."

"Uh huh." An ache, or the memory of an earlier ache, stirred like a languid cat stretching. "You have to get me out of them first."

"Oh, I will. It's not like we have anything better to do."

Cleaned and dressed Shayna slipped from her stall. "What? You think I actually like getting poked by that worm." She spun to avoid Jason's grasp. She laughed and leapt out the bathroom door, Jason close on her heels.

They piled into Sarah and Tiffany.

"Gee, Shay—" Sarah staggered back a step. "—there you are." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "We were coming to—"

Tiffany interrupted. "Were you two – you know – in the bathroom?"

"No."

"Yes." Jason pulled the wadded pair of Shayna's panties from his pocket.

"My God, Shayna. The bathroom? You did it in the shower, right? Not in a stall?"

Shayna slugged Jason. "We didn't do it in the bathroom!"

Jason raised his hands to ward off another blow. He glanced at Tiffany. "Actually, we did it over the sink. In front of the mirror. So she could watch."

"Jason!"

"Oh my God! Really?" Sarah said.

Tiffany covered her mouth with both hands. She was still unable to hide the grin that carved her cheeks.

"We did it in my room."

"But you did it!" Tiffany said.

Fire ignited Shayna's cheeks. Tiffany had been prying into Jason's and Shayna's extra-circular activities for some time now.

Jason slipped across the hall such that Tiffany and Sarah were between him and Shayna. "Yup, and I've got proof." He waved her panties at the girls once more.

"Jason." Shayna's voice was low and dangerous. She grabbed at her underwear.

Jason snatched it back.

"Give me!"

Jason grabbed Sarah by the shoulders and levered her into Shayna's path. "You lost them fair and square. Their mine now. I think I'll show everyone in the common-room."

Shayna lunged. A finger snagged the elastic of her lost bikini but she bounced off Sarah and the elastic snapped back at Jason. He leapt back two paces, turned and ran.

Damn it. Boys!

She almost caught him at the common-room door. It opened in and he had to break his stride to fling it wide. He exited the hall a mere stride ahead of Shayna.

The room was packed. Girls and boys from all four wings of the freshman hall crowded the space. Two dozen LED beams tore the darkness with their stark white light. Blue monitor glow haloed nearly everybody's hands. It wasn't two heartbeats before someone pressed a beer in Shayna's hands.

Luke pulled the icy beverage back. "Oops, sorry. Girl." He traded the beer with a Michael's Hard Lemonade. He popped the cap. "Drink up before someone comes and takes our suds away."

A boy dislodged two girls dancing to their iPhone tunes and climbed up on top of the coffee table. "Listen up everyone."

Laughter, girly squeals and general teen chatter continued on uninterrupted.

"Quiet!"

There was a heartbeat pause in the brouhaha. A dozen LED beams centered on his face. He flinched. It was Kyle.

"Great. Next game! I've got a free cappuccino—" Kyle waved a coupon over his head. "—for the first girl to get laid and the bragging rights for the boy that can prove he did it!"

The announcement was greeted with several feminine shrieks and masculine howls.

Tiffany grabbed Jason's and Shayna's arms and thrust them in the air. "Winners!"

All LED beams turned towards the trio.

Kyle paused, mid stride, half on and half off the coffee table. "Proof?"

"Don't you dare," Shayna said.

Jason shot her a sheepish grin. He raised her thong like a flag in his free hand.

"Damn," Kyle said. "I wanted to win. Tiffany, you want to try for second place?"

Laughter erupted. Flashlight beams turned away and teens went back to their drinking. Even though he was only two paces away, between the boys congratulating her and the girls asking for details, Shayna had to fight to get to Jason's side. When she made it, she anchored herself to his arm. She hid her face behind his biceps. He cheeks burned so hot she thought they must be blistering.

"I can't believe you did that."

"Don't blame me. Blame Tiffany."

"Listen up everybody!" Kyle said from his coffee table podium. "Since Jason and Shayna have so cruelly truncated our entertainment. It's time for ghost stories!" He reached down and dragged someone from the crowd "Levi!"

Numerous teens scrambled for the few couches surrounding the dark TV and coffee tables. It was like a mad game of musical chairs although some kids went back to their drinks and private conversations. A lightless foosball game rattled away in one dark corner.

"Okay everyone. Lights out. Come on. Put those phones away."

Bit by bit, the room darkened. Shayna was struck by how black it got. Normally a galaxy of city lights would have been visible from the plate glass windows beyond the TV. Dornbecher Hospital was lit up by emergency power. Everything else was a black hole before which the campus trees twisted in the wind as if performing a primitive, wild, erotic dance.

Levi climbed up upon the coffee table. "Okay—" His voice was raspy from some childhood trauma. It was an effect he took full advantage of. "—everyone's heard of the secret tunnel in the admin mansion, haven't they? The one from the library to the mansion's old bedroom?"

There was a muted chorus of agreement. Someone, Kyle, Shayna thought, handed Levi a candle. The flame dipped Levi's face into cadaverous shadow.

Shayna's breath hitched. Jason put an arm around her shoulder. He drew her close.

"But does anyone know about the other tunnels? The ones Old Meyer dug from the mansion to the outbuildings. The old bathhouse and the gardener's shed. How about the ones to the stables?"

"The stables are gone, Levi."

Levi rotated his head to face the speaker. In the dark, it was almost disembodied by the candle flame. "Are they? Perhaps they're no longer stables for horses. The dorms are built on old foundations. Old Meyer had a path to the tack room and the stalls of his favorite mares." Levi nodded his head towards the girl's dorm room wings. "They might've been over there."

In the pause that followed, Shayna could hear the couch squeak and groan as people shifted. Shayna gulped a swallow of her hard lemonade and pressed closer to Jason.

"Old Meyer gave the mansion and all the grounds to the school while he was still alive. He lived here, in the mansion. But nobody would see him for months at a time and when they did, he was strangely aged. Hair went white. It was never combed and stuck out everywhere. Very Einsteinian. Liver spots blossomed on his face.

"One day they found him dead outside the utility closet by the girl's bathroom. He'd been burned. Like a torch. By the oil from his lantern. There was a peephole in the closet. Right into the showers. You can guess what happened."

A titter of laughter swept the audience.

"Thing is, they say Old Meyer was looking for his Betsy. Always looking for his Betsy. She was a flapper girl, in the twenties. They were engaged, 'cept Meyer caught her with another man. His business partner, Fred.

"But Meyer didn't go after Fred. He went for Betsy. Caught her in the stable. Raped her. Fucked her to death. Burnt the building down. He used a tunnel to escape. Police could never pin it on him.

"Years later, he married another woman. Looked like Betsy. The groundskeeper is her kid. Kook carries the same damned lantern.

"Anyhow, Old Meyer was always looking, always seeking his dead Betsy. When his wife died, he started watching the college girls. He comes to them when they're getting fucked, or about to get fucked. He watches them in their rooms. That's why Anna left so suddenly."

There was a gasp. Sarah had a hand over her mouth.

Speculation over the abrupt departure of Shayna's roommate was almost as rampant as the rumors about Jason's and Shayna's love life. Anna had been dating Levi.

Shayna's small breasts rose and fell in a silent sigh.

"Some say it's the groundskeeper using the tunnels. Like his old man. You ever see that man without his hat? White, Einsteinian hair. But Anna knew better. She saw Old Meyer's ghost. She didn't wait around to be fucked to death like poor Betsy."

Levi fell silent. Outside the wind howled. A muted rumble of distant thunder rolled through the room. A girl giggled. There was a note of hysteria in her voice.

"You're so full of shit, Levi." Tiffany's voice was derisive.

The spell was broken. Several people laughed. Cell-phone LED flashlights flicked on. The candle was put out.

"Good one, Levi." Kyle slapped the storyteller on the back. "A beer?"

"Sure."

The door to one of the boys' halls opened. The groundskeeper, hair windblown, hat missing, trench-jacket damp, pointed the beam of an old fashioned bullseye lantern at the cooler full of beer and girly drinks.

Someone screamed.

Mr. Meyer ignored the shriek. "Okay everyone. Whose is this?"

Bottles, empty or not, clinked upon every imaginable surface as one. Teens scattered.

Mr. Meyer raised his voice. "You know alcohol is not permitted!

"You—" He pointed his light right at Shayna "—and you." The beam moved to Jason. "Get rid of this. If it's here when I get back, I'll have the school put a fine on every one of your rooms." He trooped back to the emergency stairwell at the end of the hall.

His voice echoed back through the closing door. "Kids."

Students poked their heads from the other three halls where they'd been hiding.

Kyle's head hung as he stood over the ice chest. "What you goin' t' do with it?"

Jason shrugged.

"Throw it out?" Shayna said.

"Man, there's more than a hundred bucks there."

Levi stepped up. "Take it to the bonfire glade. Restart the party there."

"That's half way across campus." Shayna's arms already hurt with the thought of trudging the ice laden chest through the woods.

"Fuck. So?"

"It outside," Jason said.

Tiffany said, "And cold."

"Windy," Sarah added.

"Wet," Shay said.

Kyle shot Jason a pleading look. "Beer."

"Beer!" several more voices chorused.

Shayna's breasts heaved. "Fine. Come on." She reached for the ice-chest.

The trudge down the stairwell was awkward. The tramp across the grounds windy. The first time Shayna went to set down her half the load, Kyle shouldered her out of the way and took up her burden. Boys swapped out several times as they made their way across the darkened, windy campus.

The bonfire glade was just off campus. The wealthy man that owned the woods didn't seem to mind the college kid parties so long as they kept the tomfoolery contained. Alpha-Kappa-Lambda and Beta-Sigma-Omega periodically organized trash sweeps of the woods in order to maintain their benefactor's goodwill. Some of the boys and most of the girls ran ahead of the beer to get the fire, and party, started.

Shayna dropped behind them all. She glanced back. Their dorms looked like an abandoned black brick. Without light, it looked cold. Still its darkened windows looked more welcoming than the gust lashed grounds.

She hugged herself against the chill. The wind ripped her skirt first one way and then another. Chill nibbled at the flesh above her knee high socks. Cold fingers caressed her ass every time her skirt swept up in a gust.

Jason slipped back with her. "Shay, something wrong?"

Shayna shivered. "Cold."

"Yeah, forgot my jacket too." He draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her into his side. "Here. I'll be your coat."

"Mmm. Nice coat." She huddled into him. "Is that stench mink or just armpit?" She smirked up at him.

Jason's eyes narrowed. "Armpit. You like?"

"Hmm. The warmth is nice."

Thus bundled, their pace was hampered and the pair fell behind their compatriots. With only Jason's cell-phone flashlight, the path grew dark.

Jason pushed a branch out of their way. A dead, wet leaf splashed against Shayna's face. Her heels sank a finger width or two into the damp soil of the woodland path with every pace.

"You sure this is the right path?"

"I'm sure."

"I can't see the fire."

"It's a ways back yet. Not supposed to see it from campus."

"Let's go back."

"Why? Everyone's out here, Shay."

Shayna stepped into Jason's path. She huddled into his chest and tilted her eyes up to meet his. They looked back in the nighttime gloom.

"We can – you know."

Pressed against him as she was, she felt his response despite the intervening layers of clothes.

He bent over and sucked her lip into his mouth. His tongue ran over it. Nerves sparked upon both pairs of Shayna's lips.

Jason pulled back. He let Shayna's lip tug free of his teeth. "How 'bout here?" His voice was husky.

"It's cold."

Jason's left hand slipped under her skirt. Goosebumps erupted in the wake of the warmth he trailed over her cheeks.

"Not for long."

"It's wet."

"You will be."

His lips moved from her mouth to her throat. He kissed down along her jaw. His right hand preceded the onslaught. Her button down sweater and blouse parted at the touch of his fingers. Shayna's breath hitched when he planted a kiss at the center of her breast.

Oh God. Shit. She was trembling. I'm goin' t' – he's goin' t' – we just—

Jason's lips trailed lower. Her thoughts seized. His tongue swirled in her belly button. Heat swamped it. Her fingers curled in his hair. He moved lower and pulled the tails of her blouse from her skirt. She shivered. The wind's chill fingers caressed her flesh. It licked at her belly and the sides of her breast. She pebbled.

Jason unzipped her skirt and then grabbing it with both hands. He yanked the plaid garment to the forest floor.

"Jason, not here."

"Yes here." He breathed upon the flesh her panties still armored.

A tremor wracked Shayna's body.

His mouth sealed over the lace that guarded her. He found her most vulnerable spot. She yelped.

"Jason, please. Someone will see us." Her fingers trembled against his scalp.

He pealed her panties down her thigh. His hot breath assaulted her directly.

"Jason—" He breasts heaved "—please."

He kissed her. Her temperature climbed. Heat suffused her flesh.

"God." The word came out as a sigh. Her knees trembled and bent. She ground her petals against his face. "Jason."

His hands on her hips, Jason turned Shay. He stood behind her, placed a hand on her neck and bent her forward. She braced her hands against the bowls of a tree to keep from falling. Jason's hands traveled back to her waist.

The first thrust shoved Shay up on her toes. Heat speared all the way to her womb. Nausea warred with the sudden ache between her legs.

The next thrust buckled her arms. His piston compressed the ache within her and forced its pressure to spread through even more nerves.

Another slam of flesh within her flesh. She bit her lip and whimpered.

"Fuck! Shay, you're hot. This is hot. The woods. Never done it outside before. Like animals. We're animals, Shay." He slammed into her, pinioning her on his rod. "Oh, fuck. Shay!"

His shaft swelled. It bumped and twitched. Ache vibrated through her epicenter and touched off explosions where his stick drummed within her.

"Oh." The low note pulled all the way through her as though fish-hooked in her womb and dragged up out of her mouth. Her body convulsed a single time. Shay's muscles pulled drum tight as though frozen in orgasm. The pressure built and built and built.

Wavy locks trailed over her forehead and brushed the sodden forest floor. Sweat dripped from her brow. Her face contorted. Her eyes squeezed shut. She panted. The pleasure would not rupture. She lifted her head to moan, to scream, to plead, to do she knew not what.

A pale being floated through the woods towards her. Wild white hair. Ancient face. Hooded lantern.

Shayna screamed. She tried to pull herself up. The balloon exploded. Convulsion after convulsion rocked her core in a wave that flushed the strength from her muscles. She fell off Jason's spent member and collapsed her knees.

"Shit! What was that?" Tiffany ran up. She took one look at Shayna and Jason and said, "Again? I swear, you two are like rabbits."

Jason buckled his pants and helped Shayna to her feet. He handed her, her skirt. He pocketed her panties. "That was one hell of an orgasm. I've heard you groan, but scream?"

"I . . ."

"You were thinking of Levi's story. I swear he's so full of shit."

Shayna shot Tiffany a sour look. She turned her back and began buttoning her blouse. "I want my panties back."

"Not a chance. I said I'd get them. I got them fair and square."

"I'm not going commando." She cinched her skirt around her waist.

"Tonight you are."

Her meager breast heaved. "Jason."

"Oh give over, Shay," Tiffany said. "If you didn't want him to have them, you shouldn't have played."

"Tiff, you too?"

"You're the one that agreed to his silly game and then fuck him every other day. Lord knows I would." Tiffany's last words were barely audible.

"We don't fuck." Shayna's timber was petulant.

"That's right." There was the lilt of laughter in Jason's voice "We make love."

"Fuck. Screw. Hump. Make love. It's all the same. You're having more sex and better sex than any four other freshman at school. I'm jealous."

"I'm sure I can help with that," Jason said. He was laughing now.

"No you can't!" Shayna slugged him.

"Ow." He staggered a step. "I wasn't serious."

"You said it!"

"Come on love birds, party's this way." Tiffany hooked a thumb over her shoulder. She marched into the woods before them.

Shayna followed. As she walked, she felt around her tailbone. "Is my skirt zipped?"

Jason caught her waistband and batted her hand a way. "Stop for a moment. Would you?"

She stopped.

He tugged at her skirt. It hopped up a finger width. "It is now." He gave her a slight push. "Go."

Ahead bonfire cast crazy shadows amongst the trees. Laughter, shrieks and music flooded the wood. Someone had set up an iPhone boom-box.

Kyle greeted them as they entered the glade. He slapped Jason on the back. "Hey man, thought we lost y'."

"No man, just collecting more trophies."

"Jason!"

Shayna rounded on Jason and shot him the evil eye. He gave her a goofy grin and shrugged.

Tiffany snorted and mouthed, "He's your boyfriend." She abandoned Shay and headed off to where Levi was dancing wildly by himself.

Kyle looked from Jason to Shayna and back at Jason again. "Got proof?"

Shayna's stare leapt from Jason to Kyle. "Really?"

"Yup," Jason said in the same moment. He pulled both pairs of Shayna's panties from his pocked.

Kyle shook his head. "Shit man, don't know how you do it. We should crown you King Fuck or something."

"Hey, when you have it, you have it."

"Hey all, listen up!" Kyle took Shayna's panties and held them over his head. "Listen up!"

About half the crowd turned to look.

"I crown Jason this year's King Fuck."

Several cat calls sounded coupled with a few whistles. Heat kissed Shayna's cheeks and breasts. Her stomach stirred as though it were a cauldron. For a heartbeat, her balance deserted her and she wobbled dangerously. She ducked her head and stepped into a tree's shadow.

Kyle caught her arm and dragged her out. "And his Queen, Shayna, Queen Fucked!" He caught both their arms and thrust them in the sky. "All hail King Fuck and Queen Fucked."

The boys roared their approval. The girls laughed. Everyone cheered and several people clapped.

"Okay, your majesties—" He returned Jason's trophy. "—drink, dance, make merry. See if you can keep your pants on." He flourished a flowery bow and stepped aside.

Shayna pirouetted and raced for the cover of darkness. Jason caught her.

"Come back, Shay, we're celebrities. By this time tomorrow, half of them won't remember. Drink?"

"No! Jason, this isn't funny." Shayna's eyes began to burn. "I – You – You're my first. I loved you. And you – you making a joke out of it."

"We're just having fun."

"I'm not."

"Oh come on, Shay, they loved it."

"I want to go back."

"Come on, don't be like that."

"Let go."

"No, Shay. Come dance." He dragged her towards the bonfire.

The nonsense hopping, arm waving, drinking crowd enveloped them.

"I want my panties back."

"Shay, dance. You're always wanting to dance. Dance. Dance with me." He spun her towards him and gyrated to the music.

She pushed him away and marched for the trail back to their dorms. Jason leapt after her.

Sarah, wildly bouncing to the beat of the music, intercepted them. She thrust drinks in their hands. "Your drinks, your majesties." She giggled. She held up her own drink and shouted, "A toast to fuckers. A toast to their King and Queen."

After a slight hesitation, everyone cheered.

"See Shayna, we're celebrities."

Sarah tossed her recently emptied bottle aside which she had upended over her mouth after the toast. "It's bad luck not to drink to your own toast, Queen Fucked."

Jason took a good healthy swallow of his beer. Shayna sipped hers.

"No, you got t' chug. Like I did."

Jason snorted and downed his beer.

"Shayna," Sarah said.

Shayna side stepped Sarah. Sarah cut her off.

"Oh no you don't. Chug it."

Jason said, "Come on, chug it, Shay."

"Chug it," Levi said.

"Chug it." That was Tiffany.

"Chug it. Chug it. Chug it." The chant circled the bonfire.

"Fine." Shayna upended the lemon wine-cooler. Carbon-dioxide hit her stomach like a bomb. She managed half the bottle. Tears stung her eyes as carbonation boiled her sinuses. Her gut heaved. Fortunately, she kept it down.

"Chug it. Chug it. Chug it."

Shayna sucked in a steadying breath. She upended the bottle a second time. She staggered as step when she let it down.

"Lightweight," Tiffany said.

"So." Shayna burped. "Ouch. At least I'm getting—" She wobbled slightly. "—at least I'm getting dick."

"I can get dick."

"I'm getting good dick."

"Girlfriend, I don't know about good dick, but you are getting dicked good."

Shayna clutched her stomach. "Oh. Uh. Tiffany. I don't feel so good."

"Not here." Tiffany took her arm and guided her to the edge of the clearing.

Shayna belched. Her mouth filled with saliva. "It was only two drinks."

"And Sarah gave you the second one, right?"

"Uh huh."

"And she opened it?"

"Yeah, so."

"So, I thought you knew. Sarah likes to spike drinks with a little something extra. I don't know what it is or where she gets it but it's good, after the initial rush."

"Oh God. She – she drugged me?"

"Sit. Head between your knees. Give it a few minutes. You'll feel better."

And she did. After a minute on the ground, tinglies began to dance under her skin. Cheeks and breasts flushed hot, cooled and warmed again. Sparks periodically erupted in some very sensitive spots. They left her smoldering.

"Hey, Shay, there you are!" Jason strode up. "I thought you'd gotten away." Mild puzzlement washed over his face. "You okay?"

"She's fine," Tiffany said.

"I—" Shayna blinked a few times. She reached for Jason's hand. He helped her up. "—I feel good. Want t' dance?"

"I thought you'd never ask." He dragged her back to the bonfire.

They danced. Hopping. Jumping. Moving. Sweating.

Slow dances. Breast to chest. Heat.

Pirouettes. Spins. A kaleidoscope of color.

Words. Shouts. Laughter. A cacophony of sound.

Shana's arms were over her head. She writhed like a snake. The arch of her pelvis ground against Jason's jeans. A rising ache blossomed within her.

"Jason."

"Yeah?"

He pressed himself against her. Her ache trebled.

"Let's go back." She bit her lip. Her expression slipped from mock seduction to stupid grin.

He glanced about. They were nearly the last ones left.

"Sure." He took her arm and directed her towards the trail home.

Shayna's legs didn't want to obey. The trees seemed to want to drift left. She kept colliding with Jason. Presently they emerged from the woods upon one of the university's pea-gravel paths.

"How many drinks did you have, Shay?"

A grin twerked her lips. "Two." She giggled.

"Well, I had six. Wait here." He deposited her upon a convenient park-bench. "I need to pee."

"Sarah drugged me."

Jason strode a few strides back into the wood. "I kind of figured," he called back. His shadow was swallowed by the deep shade between trees.

Shayna kicked her ass over backwards on the bench such that her legs poked through a gap in the aluminum slats and her arms rested upon the backrest. Her chin dropped to cradle upon her crossed wrists. Her eyes drooped.

A wain light bathed her face. Through the eyelashes she struggled to keep open she saw a pale man. He held a lantern. She could see trees through him.

Fear clenched. It couldn't get ahold on her soul. It just drained away but it took to her giddy inebriation with it. She sat up straighter to get a better look.

The man was old. Liver spots covered his scalp. Windswept hair stuck out from his temples and over his ears. He was dressed for wind and rain. His old timey lantern illuminated his face and chest. Below he simply faded away. His expression was sad.

"Are you Meyer?" Shayna said.

"Who the hell are you talking to, Shayna?"

Shayna's gaze snapped to Jason who'd stepped up beside her. When she looked back the ghost was gone.

"I saw Levi's ghost."

"I think you're addled."

She shot him a petulant frown. "He was right there."

"And I'm right here. Let's go back."

A dangerous recklessness welled within Shayna. She untangled herself from the park-bench and stood. "You don't believe me."

"No. I don't."

She rocked up on her toes and kissed him. It was slow, open mouthed, a little sloppy, hot and soft. She pushed him down on the bench and climbed into his lap.

"What the hell? Shay?"

"You don't believe me." She fumbled with his belt. The drug induced heat between her legs warmed again.

"So you're going to fuck me?"

"You are King Fuck. Maybe when Queen Fucked is fucked to death you'll believe me. That is how Levi's ghost preyed upon girls, isn't it?"

"Shay, your stoned." He tried to lever her out of his lap.

She grabbed his member through his boxers. With her free hand she planted his hand between her legs. She maneuvered his thumb upon her button and a finger within her slot. She forced her tongue into his mouth and his shaft swelled between her fingers.

Jason resisted a moment longer. "Fuck it." He plumbed her depths with his hand. Heat turned to ach. Ache grew to demand.

Shayna's breath grew ragged. She fished Jason's manhood from the hole in his boxers. She positioned his poniard and slowly impaled herself.

So pinioned, she grabbed his face in both hands. Their lips welded. Her tongue sought to taste his tonsils. She levered herself up, dropped and transfixed herself again, and again, and again.

Jason pried his lips from hers. "Shit, Shay, I've got t' breathe."

Shayna rested her forehead against his. She sank into another impalement. She grunted. A slack, lost expression crawled across Jason's face. He was about to come.

She rose up and skewered herself again. Little eddies of tension clamped about her button. Her eyes squeezed shut. She climbed his pole again.

She fell. Jason ground out a pained groan. His pole bounced against her womb. Wet heat washed her core. Strain coiled tighter. Her hips bucked. Jason grunted again. More liquid heat. Seizures rocked Shayna's abs. Jason's member swelled yet again. Pleasure climbed towards pain.

"Oh fuck!" Jason said. "It won't stop!" He came in her a fourth time. His face was etched with pain. It made him look old. His hair was wild and stuck out at odd angles. A heat rash splotched his face. Under the starlight it looked like liver spots.

Shayna screamed. She levered herself up. Achy need demanded she sink down again. She pushed. Her legs shook. She came off his member.

She fell off Jason and badly bruised a leg between park-bench slats. She toppled to the gravel path. Fear and pain wared for dominance.

Upon Jason, a woman still rode him. She was young and wore her hair in a tousled bob. She wore a hyper short sequined dress. Its hemline dangled with long frills. The dress, like she, shown with a silver light. The bench, Jason and even his prick were visible through her flesh.

Jason came. A moonlit mist erupted from his penis. As it filled her, the woman's light grew brighter. As it emptied him, he withered.

Betsy climbed off the husk she straddled. She advanced upon Shayna. Although her leg hurt horribly, Shayna crab scrambled away.

A grin grew wider and wider upon Betsy's face until it was inhumanly wide. Her mouth yawned open and she stooped as though she were going to devour Shayna. Terror flooded Shayna's bladder. Hot pain burned her urethra. Shayna screamed.

"Ho there! Where are you? Where are you?" someone bellowed. Lantern light cut crazy shadows amongst the trees. The gardener raced up the path. He skid in the gravel and with his free hand pulled Shayna from the ground. "Back!" he bellowed. He shown his light full upon the ghost. "Back!"

Betsy evaporated.

"Oh God. Oh shit. Oh God." Shayna buried her face in the gardener's coat and cried.

For just a heartbeat he held her. Then he shoved her back. "Damn kids! Can't you keep your pants on anymore?" His gaze flicked over her skirt. "Or at least your panties? Didn't Dad warn y'!"

"D—Dad?"

"Yes. Founder of this school. Mr. Meyer. You idiot kids call him Old Meyer. Goes about with a lantern trying to warn people. You never listen."

A flicker of anger singed Shayna's terror. "He didn't talk!"

"Of course he didn't! He's a ghost! No lungs."

"But—"

"Haven't you heard the stories?"

"Yes!" Shayna's tears stopped. Ravenous rage consumed her fear. "I heard the one where he fucks girls to death!"

"Figures. Boys." The gardener's tone was gentler. "Idiots will take their own lives to get between a girls legs."

"Are you saying Jason—"

"No. Story gets corrupted every year. He pro'ly didn't know the real version." The gardener chuckled a little.

"What?"

"Not frightened anymore, are you?"

Shayna blinked.

The gardener took her by the arm and helped her down the path.

"What's the real version?"

"It was the roaring twenties. Betsy and Dad were engaged. He caught her with another man, his business partner. Dad cut the engagement off. Betsy killed herself. Ate rat poison. In her death throws she knocked over a lantern in the barn. Burned to the ground.

"Dad moved on. Met a better woman. Raised me. Was always a little haunted though. Said he saw Betsy sometimes."

The gardener's voice took on a sad note. "Didn't believe him until he died. That's when student boys started dying. Dad came back. Tries to warn the girls. Works sometimes. Most times it doesn't. Fear seems to make your kind seek comfort in bed. Figure that's why so many dates get taken to horror movies."

"But then your Dad – he's . . ."

"Yup. He's a good ghost, if such a thing exists.

"Can't figure something though? You two engaged?"

Shayna glanced at him askance. "No. Why?"

"Don't know." Gardener Meyer paused. "I thought that was the commonality. I thought that was how she picked them."

Jason. Shayna looked over her shoulder. The park-bench was some ways distant now. "What about . . ." She couldn't bring herself to say his name aloud. A numb haze kept her tears at bay.

"Weather won't hurt him now. Police'll want him there anyhow."

"Police?"

"Yup. You've got some hard days ahead of you. Don't worry though. Corner will pin it on heart attack. Best if you call the death in yourself though. Don't want it looking like you are hiding something."

"My phone don't work."

"They're back now. Notice the lights?"

Lights. Shit. How hadn't she noticed? All of Portland blazed. The school and even the park paths were illuminated.

As gardener Meyer had predicted, it was a long week with the police. Tears came after a little sleep and wouldn't stop. Jason's Mom came to the dorm to retrieve his stuff. That's when the ring was found. Three-quarter carrot yellow diamond. No one questioned whom he'd intended it for.

***

Seven years later, Shayna rode in a black sedan beside her fiancé, Todd. Portland's lights lit up the night. Wind whipped leaves across the road. A splash of rain washed the windshield. A sense of Deja vu wrapped about Shayna.

Her gaze dropped to the ring on her heart-finger. She twisted it nervously. The diamond was a whole carrot. It sparked blue when it caught the light. The love it reflected drew her eyes back to her soon to be husband.

Todd's shoulders were wide. She'd traced the muscles criminally hidden by his shirt more than once. His chin was strong and covered in about nine days of chestnut whiskers. He sported a slightly broken nose. His eyes were just like Jason's.

Todd was eight years her elder. He'd used his youth learning women well. He'd cost her a small fortune in panties.

They'd both grown up in Portland. They'd even gone to the same high-school but she'd not run into him here. Not even when she'd been dating his brother.

They'd met in the old world. The first time was in the Parisian Library and then again at the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice.

They'd spent two months in Rome waiting for access to the Vatican Library and then traveled to the Biblioteca Nacional de Espana together. They'd finally found the missing piece in Oxford. Coupled with what she'd found in Berlin and he'd found in St. Petersburg, they'd found enough to build their trap.

The realization had swamped Shayna with euphoria. Apparently, Todd had experienced a similar effect. He took her right there in the stacks. It'd been Shayna's first time since Jason. Two wild weeks later, Todd had given her the ring and promised she'd be the last woman he'd ever touch.

Todd pulled their sedan into an empty lot near the Freshman Dorm. As the car died and the lights winked out, Shayna twisted Todd's ring of her finger.

Hand shaking, she drew another from her purse. It was three-quarters carrot and would have sparked yellow had there been much light. The narrow gold band was festooned with odd, nearly nonsensical runes.

It had taken a week to layout the engraving and another to find a jeweler who could do it. They'd spent a month making sure the arcana was exactly right. Shayna twisted it on her finger.

Todd's hand covered hers. "You okay, dear."

She licked her lips. "No. Remembering Jason."

"Me too. That's why we're doing this. For Jason."

I can't lose you too. "I'm scared."

"It'll be okay."

"You've never seen her before. She's horrible."

"You're the bravest woman I know." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Come on. It's time to go."

They climbed from the car. Outside it was cold and windy and her pleated skirt wouldn't stay down.

Shayna led the way across camps to the park paths on the wooded side. She'd been worried she wouldn't recognize the bench but she marched right to it. With no preamble, she stepped out of her g-string and handed it to Todd.

"Nice. Like it. Why the enticement?"

Heat touched Shayna's cheeks. She shrugged. "Thought it was a special occasion."

"Might have to frame this one too."

"God, you're a bigger dork than even Jason."

"Hey, I'm losing most of them in a month but I got t' remember the special occasions. First time, ghost hunting, wedding. That'll make a good collage."

"Whatever turns you on." God, sometimes men are such idiots.

"Hey, you're the idiot marrying the idiot. But hey, it's not these the turn me on—" He waved her panties at her. "—it's the memories they inspire."

And sometimes they can read minds. She stepped up to him and kissed him.

Todd's arms wrapped around Shayna's waist and he kissed her back. They exchanged a few more that became increasingly heated. Todd's hands slipped to her ass. She moved her head to his shoulder, banded her arms about him and pulled herself as tight as she could.

Todd's lips moved to her neck. She bared herself to his loving assault. Warmth, like sun motes, slowly spiraled through her flesh to settle in her core. Her breathing slowed to an easy, hypnotic rhythm. That is what Todd did that Jason never learned. Todd could make love. It was even more inescapable than his lust. Instinctively she knew she'd never deny him.

Suddenly, she jerked. The heat in her core crystalized and she stiffened.

Still trapped in her arms, Todd leaned away. "What?"

"Look." Her voice was merely a whisper.

"I don't—" He paused. "—see anything."

"It's him. Mr. Meyer. He's here."

Todd's lips touched hers. "It's going to work."

She bobbed her head in acquis. Her eyes were so wide they hurt.

Todd attached her mouth then. Their lips welded. Their tongues tangled. One hand pinned her. The other stoked the ache that blossomed at the conjoining of her thighs.

His assault was so sudden her body responded before she could stop it. She moaned into his mouth. Her nethers clenched, opened and clenched. Her womb convulsed. Lust's liquids lubricated the inside of her thighs.

"Fuck, Shay. Fuck. I swear you're the hottest woman in the world." He sank to the bench and pulled her atop his lap. His hands made frantic work of his belt. "God, I'm glad I found you." He planted his swollen prick at her slot. "I swear I would've gone insane if you hadn't said yes."

Shayna bonded Todd's lips in an endless kiss. She sank upon his lance. His heat wormed its way to her core. Her flesh flushed. Pressure built. She clamped down upon it. It was uncontainable. It swelled and swelled and swelled.

A light flared. Pain seared a band around Shayna's heart-finger. She clawed at her left hand. Pain. Pleasure. Mixed signals consumed her brain. A wave the ground first her pelvis, then her abs and then her breasts into Todd flooded through her. She whimpered.

"Fuck." Todd panted. "Shay."

Liquid heat splashed deep within her. She was still pinioned. Todd was swelling again.

The burning intensified. A flesh-quake rocked Shayna. Todd bucked between her legs.

A pale light grew. Over Todd's shoulder Old Meyer materialized. He approached, his gaze fixated upon Shayna's finger. Heartbeats hammered by. At last his eyes met Shayna's.

"Oh no. Oh God no. Please," Shayna said. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Terror added to tension. Bliss unraveled within her.

The ghost smiled a sad smile. Age seemed to melt from him. A young man, strapping, strong, and handsome in suit and bowtie replaced the Einsteinian elder. He stepped into Todd and disappeared.

Todd grabbed Shayna's hips and pressed down so hard she bruised. His shaft bumped and throbbed within her. A growl guttered in his throat. Again he spilled himself in her core. His prick swelled again.

"No!" Shayna screamed. She tore the ring from her finger and flung it. It hung in the air. Two silver forms materialized. Betsy wore the ring.

Bare below the waist, young Meyer plowed Betsy. Every thrust pounded the evil, lust, pain and hopelessness from her distorted face. Her features softened. She curled about her lover. Warmth, comfort, love and radiant bliss enraptured her.

The pair disappeared. Not even the ring upon Betsy's finger remained.

Shayna's and Todd's gazes returned to each-other.

"I think," Todd said, "I'm cured of porn."

"Oh?" An eyebrow climbed Shayna's brow. His warmth remained within her. It was soft but not yet flaccid. She could still gain purchase. She massaged it with the muscles in her core. "Are you cured of this?"

Todd gathered her head between his hands. He kissed her long and soft. "Shay, I'll never be cured of you."