Morristown

Chapter Three

The first Friday night at school ended up a raucous party and Red was the reason why. Anne Peabody was pounding on the piano, singing "Whatever Lola Wants" with nineteen year old Caitlyn Vance. Their dogs were curled at their feet oblivious to the noise above their head.

Joe Goldstein clapped his hands Anne's shoulders, "Come on, Red, play something we can dance to."

"Who are you going to dance with, Piper?" Anne laughed at the image of the man dancing with his dog but she changed the tune and started singing in a sweet soprano.

I was dancing with my darling
To the Tennessee waltz
When an old friend I happened to see
Introduced her to my darling
And while they were dancing
My friend stole my sweetheart from me.

"Caitlyn," Joe asked the teenager beside Anne, "do you know how to two step?"

"No, Mr. Goldstein," giggled the girl, "are you going to teach me?"

"It would be my pleasure, and you can call me Joe."

Soon the floor was an interesting mixture of people moving slowly around in time with the music. Even Russell Washington squired Anita Gardner to the gentle dance music played by the feisty grandmother from Michigan.

Jim was sitting back enjoying Anne's music, his hands rubbing Hank's thick fur behind his ears. The dog seemed to like this; he leaned into Jim and made little sounds deep in his throat. Jim could really get the hang of having a pet around; he just didn't know if he could really put his complete trust in an animal.

A hand fell on Jim's shoulder. "Hello, Mr. Dunbar," the honeyed voice of Ashley Rush brought a smile to his face. "How would you like to trip the light fantastic with me?"

"I'm afraid I left my yippie-ki-yay at home, Ms. Rush, but I might be persuaded to take a walk through these hallowed halls with you, but you would have to call me Jim."

"Jim, call me Ashley. Teddy and I will show you all around the joint."

He stood up and took hold of Hank's leash. "I've said this far too often in the past eight months, but lead the way."

"Where're you two going?" Sam Coleman asked as they headed out the door.

"Anyplace that isn't playing country music," Ashley giggled as she and Jim made it out the door.

"Hey, what about community spirit?" Sam laughed.

"I'll serve and protect, but I won't listen to whining cowboy songs," Jim replied as he pulled the door shut behind him. "Well, that wasn't what I'd call sneaking out, but we escaped. Now what?"

"Now," Ashley's breathy whisper sent shivers down his spine as she ran her hand up Jim's arm found his face and then gently ran her fingers over his lips, "you get to know what the phrase 'what happens in Morristown, stays in Morristown' means."

"I thought that was Vegas," a tremor ran through the words.

"Am I in Vegas… are you… and do you know what I have in mind?"

"I'm a detective; I'm trained to follow the clues and I am very good at my job." Jim followed as Ashley tugged him down the hall, past the classrooms and to the councilors' offices. The dogs didn't seem to care what was happening, or what was about to happen, but Jim felt as if he had a four-legged chaperone on his arm.

A door knob rattled.

"Damn, the door is locked." Ashley's voice was tight with disappointment. "You wouldn't happen to have a skeleton key, would you?"

"Actually, I have this," Jim rattled his key ring. Pushing the woman aside he searched the door for a dead bolt and, finding none, felt for the key hole on the knob. "If I take this little piece of metal right next to my apartment key, insert it like so and wiggle it around a bit, you might be surprised." With that Jim let the vibrations that shook the lock pick to tell him when he passed each tumbler. Soon a tiny click and a gentle push proved he could still open a simple lock.

"Oh, that is a useful skill," cooed Ashley as she pushed Jim into the office. "They didn't teach us that in real estate law."

Nervously Jim closed the door behind him. "Are the lights out?"

"You don't know? So you have zero vision," she tapped him on the shoulder and ran her hands over his chest. "Good thing I can tell light from dark and it is very, very dark in here. So, leave the puppies by the door and we can explore. Stay Teddy, be a good boy."

"Yeah, down Hank, relax… this may take awhile." Jim shook the leash off his hand, turned and pulled the woman tight to his chest.

Ashley molded herself to Jim's long frame and pulled his head down to her lips. With a savage intensity she plundered his mouth with her kisses. Jim answered with the same intensity. For the first time since the shooting he was an equal partner to the woman in his arms. He didn't care who Ashley was or why she was throwing herself at him, all Jim knew was he was the man she wanted now and now was all that mattered.

Ashley's hands slipped under Jim's shirt and slid up to grasp his nipples and twist them as hard as he had ever done to any woman. He arched his head back and groaned. This was the first time any woman had taken the lead in lovemaking as thoroughly as Ashley Rush had. He pushed her away and traced down her torso to the top of her skirt. Quickly he reached under the skirt and found nothing but warm, smooth skin.

"I've been planning this all day," Ashley's throaty laughter coaxed Jim's fingers to keep exploring her. "I've wanted you ever since I heard you were a police officer."

"Actually, I'm a detective," Jim whispered and pulled her close so she could feel what she was arousing in him.

Stepping back Jim found a desk behind him and swung round to balance Ashley on the cluttered work space. They did not think; they did not stop the frantic fumbling that lead to its inevitable conclusion. When it was over Jim let out long, shuddering breathes and started to pet Ashley in his patented after the after glow, cool down routine.

"I have to go," Ashley said breathlessly as she pulled the sides of her open blouse together. "Wait about five minutes and head to your room."

"Hey, why don't we go back to my room and then I'll get us a coffee," Jim reached out, wanting this feeling to last longer.

Ashley called Teddy to her, "No, we can't… I don't want anyone to figure out what happened here."

Jim was confused, "Ashley, what's the matter?"

She reached up and patted Jim on the cheek, "Nothing is the matter, I just had to ease a little tension and so did you. No strings, okay Jimmy?" Ashley was out the door without a good bye.

With that parting shot, Jim Dunbar finally got to feel what it was like to be used.

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Sam Coleman was standing outside the recreation room when he saw Jim Dunbar and Hank slink back to their room. Earlier when he had seen Ashley Rush march past, head high and a smile splitting her face he figured out what had happened. It wasn't hard, really, to see when the combination of personalities here would be explosive. He could almost see the notches on the bed post that beautiful and proud divorce lawyer collected and she had picked Jim Dunbar to add to her list of conquests. Why Dunbar? Because he was the hero, the one who made the news all over the tri-state area. Coleman hadn't been a psychologist councilor at The Seeing Eye without seeing just about everything and he had seen this kind of behavior far too often. Quickly Sam left the party and went to Dunbar's room.

Jim had pulled off his shirt and jeans, throwing them and not caring where they landed. He felt like he had been dipped in slime and needed a shower desperately. Then some jerk off was knocking at his door and if it was that ball buster he was going to personally drag her through the hall and toss her into the snow.

"Jim, it's Sam," Coleman waited patiently for the door to open. "Can I come in?"

"Hold on," Jim called as he searched for his clothes. Finding his jeans he quickly pulled them on before he threw open the door. Sam entered and started picking up the scattered clothing, all the while watching Jim stand dejected in the middle of the room.

"You look as though you've been through…"

"What," Dunbar shot back.

"I'd say a life altering experience. Sit down, Jim, and let me tell you something I'm sure you don't want to hear."

Coleman threw Jim's shirt at him and settled in the desk chair. When Jim realized he had his shirt, he roughly jammed it on and flopped on the bed.

"Jim, ya know that there are a lotta people with a lotta kinks out in the world. One of those kinks is making love to disabled people and especially if they are disabled themselves. Just because we might know someone has one of those kinks it's not a reason to shut them out of this program."

Jim's jaw dropped, "You knew about…"

"We trust that the people who come here are sufficiently adult that they can control themselves for twenty eight days." Coleman saw several emotions roll over the other man's face and decided that he did not have to play Jiminy Cricket. "Jim, we do not accept children in this program so everyone here is an adult. I just wanted you to know that even adults need to figure out their problems before they act on them."

Jim chewed his lip before he spoke, "So I'm acting out?"

"Right now, you're the only one who knows if you are. So, go take your shower, head to bed and start fresh tomorrow." Sam headed toward the door, but stopped and put a hand on Jim's shoulder. "I won't have a conversation like this with you again, but I hope you will feel free to speak to me whenever you need. Okay?"

"I'll think about it," was all Dunbar could say as Coleman left the room.

tbc