Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Dark Night...  Bright Morning

   (M/F, romance)

   Intro - This is a short story I put together for a writing competition.
The challenge was to write a story of less than 1000 words.  This came in
at a 998 word count.



   The phone rang around nine o'clock at night while I was working the
second shift.  I answered it, surprised anyone would call at that time.

   "Mike.  It's Lisa.  Can you pick me up?" she asked.  She didn't say why
but I detected fear in her voice.  I got the address from her and told my
co-worker that something important had come up and had to leave.  He sensed
something was wrong and said he'd cover for me.  I went to my car and
headed toward the address she had given me.

   Lisa was a dancer at a local strip club I frequented.  We had become
friends over the past year.  She was not like most of the other girls that
worked there who played me for whatever money they could get.  I became
like an older brother to her who she would come to for advice on various
things or just enjoy hanging out.  She had to stop dancing because she was
pregnant, but we still met for a casual lunch or dinner to stay in touch.

   I arrived at the address.  It was a small carryout near where she lived
with her boyfriend.  She was sitting on the curb in the pouring rain.  I
pulled up and she got into the car.  I saw the bruises on her arms and her
face was very red as though she had been slapped around.  I didn't have to
ask what happened.  Her boyfriend had done it before.

   "Do you want to go to the emergency room and the sheriffs department to
file charges?" I asked.

   "No, he didn't hit me anywhere that could hurt the baby," she said. 
"Filing charges is useless, the last time he spent a night in jail and the
charges were reduced to drunk and disorderly.  Can I just crash at your
place tonight until I figure things out?"

   "Sure, do you want to talk about what happened?" I asked as I pulled out
of the parking lot and headed toward my apartment.

   "Not now.  Thanks for picking me up," she said.  We drove the rest of
the way in silence.  She had a blank look on her face as she gazed out the
window.

   After we entered the apartment, I could see she was shivering from being
wet and cold.

   "You need to get out of those wet clothes.  Why don't you go take a warm
shower or bath to warm up?" I told her.

   After about twenty minutes, she came out to the living room.  She only
had a towel wrapped around her.  It hadn't dawned on me she didn't have
anything to wear.

   "Let me see if I can find something for you to wear," I said as I went
to my room.  Normally one of my larger t-shirts would work but that was not
an option because she was pregnant.  I had a robe she could wear and that
was about it.

   When she saw me with the robe she took off the towel, reached for it,
and put it on.  I was a little shocked by my reaction.  I had seen her
naked countless times when she danced and was easily turned on by her.  But
now she was almost eight months pregnant.  I had seen pregnant women at the
beach in two piece suits and I always found them to be unattractive.  Maybe
it is different when it is someone you care about because I found her to be
more attractive than I ever had before.

   Lisa must have noticed the look on my face and smiled for the first time
that night.  She reached around me and hugged me.  "I need to get some
sleep.  Thanks for coming to my rescue," she said to me.

   Taking her hand I led her to the spare bedroom.  "Get some rest Lisa. 
We can talk in the morning," I said.  I then gave her a friendly kiss on
top of her head.

   I went to bed myself and quickly fell asleep.  During the night I woke
up when I heard the door open and then close.  I could see Lisa next to the
bed pulling the covers back.  She hesitated momentarily, took the robe off,
and climbed into bed with me.  She didn't say anything as she placed my arm
around her and rested her head on my shoulder.  She closed her eyes and
fell asleep.

   I was awakened by the sensation of something wet rubbing against my
morning erection.  I opened my eyes to see Lisa straddling me and rubbing
her pussy on my cock.

   When she saw I was awake, she only said, "Love me," as she lowered
herself onto my cock.

   I felt a mixture of guilt and love as she repeated the moves of the lap
dances she had given me many times.  Was I taking advantage of her
vulnerability or did she feel how much I cared about her?  I was at a loss
for words.

   I caressed her soft skin as she continued to ride me.  Her pace
quickened and her breath came in short gasps.  She was smiling at me as the
pleasure of her orgasm spread thru her body.  She didn't even slow down as
she waited for me to shoot my load inside her.  When I started cumming, her
eyes grew wide and she came a second time.

   She lay down next to me and I propped myself up and looked at her as I
caressed her face and ran my fingers through her hair.

   "You really love me don't you?" she asked.

   "Yes," I told her.  I kissed her on her lips for the first time.

   "I love you too.  I'm sorry it took someone to treat me bad to recognize
it."

   "I think we just made a baby," I said with a smile.

   She understood what I meant.

   We now have been married eighteen years and have three wonderful
children.