{\rtf1\ansi \deflang1033\deff0{\fonttbl {\f0\froman \fcharset0 \fprq2 Times New Roman;}}{\colortbl;\red0\green0\blue0;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\stylesheet{\fs20 \snext0 Normal;} }\notabind\margl1440\margr1440\margt720\margb720\hyphhotz936\ftnbj\fet2\ftnrstpg\aftnnar\viewkind1\lytprtmet\subfontbysize \sectd \headery1440\footery1440\endnhere\endnhere {\*\pnseclvl1\pndec\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl2\pnlcltr\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl3\pnlcrm\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl4\pndec\pnstart1{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}} {\*\pnseclvl5\pnlcltr\pnstart1{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}} {\*\pnseclvl6\pnlcrm\pnstart1{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}} {\*\pnseclvl7\pndec\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl8\pnlcltr\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl9\pnlcrm\pnstart1} {\field{\*\fldinst {\lang4105 SEQ CHAPTER \\h \\r 1}}{\fldrslt }}\pard \fs20\qc {\plain \fs20 \fs20 }{\plain \fs24 \b\ul Renewal}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \par }\pard \fs20 {\plain \fs20 \fs20 \par }\sect \sectd \sbknone\headery790\footery1440\cols2\colsx720\endnhere\colno1\colw4320\colsr720\colno2\colw4320\endnhere {\*\pnseclvl1\pndec\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl2\pnlcltr\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl3\pnlcrm\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl4\pndec\pnstart1{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}} {\*\pnseclvl5\pnlcltr\pnstart1{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}} {\*\pnseclvl6\pnlcrm\pnstart1{\pntxtb (}{\pntxta )}} {\*\pnseclvl7\pndec\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl8\pnlcltr\pnstart1{\pntxta .}} {\*\pnseclvl9\pnlcrm\pnstart1} \pard \fs90\qj\sl-650\slmult0 \keepn\pvpara\dropcapli3\dropcapt1 {\plain \fs90 \dn8\fs90 I\par }\pard \fs20\qj {\plain \fs20 \fs20 t seemed to Charles Moreland that it had been a \softline long, long time since he had had a woman. He was \softline hungry for one, but despite his persuasive speech, \softline his lameness handicapped his chances of being able to \softline overtake a lone woman and {\u8220\'93}have his way{\u8221\'94} with her. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab This did not deter his wishing, nor his \softline frequenting such a hangout for the local misfits as {\u8220\'93}The \softline Club,{\u8221\'94} otherwise registered with the authorities as \softline {\u8220\'93}Adam{\u8217\'92}s Eden.{\u8221\'94} In this place almost anything, save \softline murder, overt rape or lack of funds was permitted, \softline almost encouraged. The proprietor did not mind that his \softline place of business enjoyed a dismal repute, nor that the \softline low-brows of many surrounding locales made it their \softline home away from home. As long as money flowed from \softline the customer side of the bar into his cash drawer all was \softline well.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab On the particular evening which began \softline Charles{\u8217\'92} renaissance, the place was fairly quiet. There \softline were no screaming arguments, only a few sloppy drunks \softline and few druggies in evidence. No weapons were \softline visible. An untypical slow evening. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Adam,{\u8221\'94} for so the proprietor wished to be \softline known although all his clientele knew well that was not \softline his name, actually came from behind the bar to sit with \softline Charles as the latter nursed his tall drink and mused on \softline his sorrows. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Chuck?{\u8221\'94} a name by which Charles hated to be \softline addressed, {\u8220\'93}What seems to be the matter, ol{\u8217\'92} man?{\u8221\'94} \softline Another term which Charles abhorred.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Charles raised bloodshot eyes to the man, if \softline such he could be called.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Adam, I am distraught. There is no cure for \softline my trouble in these distilled waters, not even in your \softline scintillating conversational presence. Ah, but were you \softline a bit more charming, a mite more appealing to the eye, \softline Adam, old sod, I might appreciate you to a fair degree. \softline In short, good barman that you are, you are not a pretty \softline woman.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Oh? How do you know, Chuck?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Adam, the thought that comes to mind is {\u8212\'97} \softline would be, I should say, were it remotely possible that \softline you are of the sex...I cannot say {\u8216\'91}fair,{\u8217\'92} for such an \softline adjective to describe what I have ever been able to see \softline of you, you poor sod, in the poor excuse for \softline illumination with which you flood the place, would be \softline a most grievous misuse of the language which we \softline occasionally speak {\u8212\'97}. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}In short, old master of the house, were you of \softline the female persuasion, I should be more than surprised, \softline I would be shocked, d{\u8217\'92}you hear me, shocked!{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Now, look, Chuck, there{\u8217\'92}s no need to come \softline on like that. Yes, I keep the lights low, more for the \softline clients than for myself, as you well know.{\u8221\'94} \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab The proprietor{\u8217\'92}s voice changed subtly, and \softline something about the very presence made Charles look \softline more closely at this shadow...within which he began to \softline perceive a face, a slender neck and the upper part of a \softline female...yes, female...attractively nude...torso!\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Chuck, trade is slow, the help can take care of the bar. Shall we take a little stroll?{\u8221\'94} went on the \softline apparition in more dulcet tones. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Charles felt a strong inclination to go along \softline with this ploy, whatever it might be, if only to satisfy \softline his growing curiosity.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}My dear old sod...lady {\u8212\'97} if what I dimly \softline perceive can possibly be true, against all the odds {\u8212\'97} I \softline shall accompany you to my doom...but stay! I shall \softline require yet another beaker of this distilled pig-swill \softline which you purvey disguised under the much sullied \softline name of gin...or is it vodka today?... ere I set forth on \softline this perilous venture.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Do you want to come, or not, Chuck?{\u8221\'94} The \softline words were harsh, the tone not, rather sweet in fact.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Ah, sweet lips that summon me to...what I \softline know not, but I come, I come with the bated breath of \softline pleasures unknown, yet anticipated ere this night be \softline o{\u8217\'92}er.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Sweets, cut the bull-crap and let{\u8217\'92}s go...if you \softline have the nerve...you po-et!{\u8221\'94} That was an epithet in \softline Adam{\u8217\'92}s vocabulary as Charles well knew, delivered in \softline the same low, contralto tones..\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Aye, I come. Barmaid, once more fill the \softline flowing bowl, that I may go to my...pleasure more \softline happily.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Oh, I think you{\u8217\'92}ll be happy...before the \softline night{\u8217\'92}s over, Charles. Come.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Charles, tall drink in hand with chunks of ice \softline (an ice-pick was a handy weapon) clinking against the \softline silver sides of the vessel {\u8212\'97} Charles had not been far off \softline the mark with his {\u8220\'93}flowing bowl{\u8221\'94} {\u8212\'97} followed after the \softline somewhat shorter, indistinct form of {\u8220\'93}Adam{\u8221\'94} through \softline a doorway that Charles had never before seen, and \softline ascended a short flight of stairs in almost total \softline darkness...to what Charles perceived as a landing \softline perhaps a half-story higher than the bar. Charles, by no \softline means drunk with the alleged alcohol he had earlier \softline consumed, nor as yet bereft of his senses, took another \softline sip of his drink and looked about as best he could. \softline There was, where he now stood, a dimness, not exactly \softline light, but less dark than the stairway.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab To his quickly suppressed shock {\u8212\'97} he }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 had}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \softline tensed a bit {\u8212\'97} Charles felt his clothing begin to \softline evaporate...could it be? Certainly he experienced an \softline increasing sense of nakedness which had begun at his \softline waist, moved slowly but inexorably up his belly and \softline lower chest, down across his lower belly and privates. \softline As the feeling of nakedness passed his penis, that began \softline to stiffen, and Charles thought he could feel a hand, or \softline fingers, stroking him softly, thus encouraging the \softline erection. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Uhm...? I can{\u8217\'92}t see you...Adam, is it?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Do not be afraid, Charles. I said you{\u8217\'92}d be \softline happy, did I not, Charles?{\u8221\'94} \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Ye-es. Th-that voice...I don{\u8217\'92}t believe you are \softline Adam, are you? And if those fingers are yours, oh \softline mystery voice, I }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 know}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 you are not Adam...or at least \softline you{\u8217\'92}re not male.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}How very perceptive of you, Charles,{\u8221\'94} laughed the voice. {\u8220\'93}No, but perhaps I am Adam{\u8217\'92}s... \softline }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 better}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 half?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Uhm,{\u8221\'94} Charles managed to get out, his throat \softline for the moment constricted, {\u8220\'93}d{\u8217\'92}you mean...Eve?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Oh, no. D{\u8217\'92}you not know of Adam{\u8217\'92}s }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 other}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \softline mate, Charles. I thought you erudite!{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Ah...yes, I know of another {\u8216\'91}wife{\u8217\'92} Adam may \softline have had...or who may have had Adam...indeed, of \softline considerable repute she was, not so?{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Yes. You do nicely, Charles. I think you \softline finally deserve to be happy...you were }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 so}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 sad when I \softline saw you below stairs. But...I must give you a \softline choice...{\u8217\'92}Adam{\u8217\'92}s choice,{\u8221\'94} I believe it was once called.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Charles{\u8217\'92} penis had swollen to monstrous \softline proportions, far longer and thicker than he had ever \softline experienced, yet he was responding more sensuously to \softline the slow, light strokes than he had dreamed his body \softline capable of responding to any stimulation again. His hips \softline were slowly and pleasantly gyrating in syncopation with \softline those strokes. He desperately did not want \softline this...whatever {\u8220\'93}this{\u8221\'94} was...to end, yet his mind told him \softline that he was courting, if not actually about to experience, \softline extreme danger.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Adam...no, that{\u8217\'92}s not right, it{\u8217\'92}s...{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}...the name we do not mention, Charles!{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Uhm, yes, of course. Ooh, that was...}{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 ni-ice}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 .{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Charles{\u8217\'92} body jerked and shook as a wave of pleasure \softline such as he had never known passed through from his \softline throbbing penis to his soggy mind.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Do you want to return...down the stairs, \softline Charles?{\u8221\'94} murmured the voice, the stroking lighter and \softline more tantalizing than before.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab The thought that {\u8220\'93}down the stairs{\u8221\'94} was not \softline what the voice had started to say crossed Charles{\u8217\'92} mind, \softline and for an instant he really, really desperately wanted to \softline break free and run screaming down those stairs...could \softline they be found?...but his body refused, no longer entirely \softline under his control.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab His mind reluctantly, his tongue willingly, \softline gave the word, {\u8220\'93}N...no, I abide what you...have for me, \softline nameless one.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Come, then, Charles, lonely one.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Charles thought he had moved to the bed...he \softline believed it to be a bed...and felt himself grasped \softline powerfully yet very, very comfortably by arms and legs, \softline what felt to him like thighs around his hips, his penis, now throbbing with almost unbearable anticipation, \softline slowly entering a wet aperture that what was left of his \softline fading conscious mind told himself might be a human \softline vagina.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Charles felt a pumping sensation, realised that \softline his body was performing coitus without his volition, yet \softline he began to enjoy the feeling and returned, as best he \softline could, the embrace with the shifting shape he thought to \softline be under...over...around...him.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab His mouth was opened by a smooth, warm, \softline slippery, muscled object he took to be a tongue. It \softline tasted momentarily }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 like}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 a tongue, then he no longer \softline cared. He could feel less and less of what he had once \softline philosophically defined as {\u8220\'93}the essential me {\u8212\'97} \softline Charles,{\u8221\'94} while {\u8220\'93}the bod{\u8217\'92}{\u8221\'94} wrestled joyfully with the \softline shape{\u8217\'92}s members, no longer wondering with what he \softline was so gleefully entangled.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab There came a time of which all that had been \softline Charles remembered was the ultimate bliss, ultimate \softline attainment. Then there was a clouded period, the entity \softline passive for an indefinite time.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Ah, pretty one, you have been happy, have \softline you not?{\u8221\'94} came a voce...perhaps just a...mental tickle? \softline in the entity{\u8217\'92}s mind. The shape standing at the bedside \softline whispered,. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Now you will be happy all the time. Set forth \softline on your journey, and we shall meet again.{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Charlene gathered herself, rose from the bed, \softline found herself already clothed in close-fitting gown, \softline nylons, shoes. The high heels made no noise as she \softline moved to the doorway.\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u8220\'93}Through that doorway lies your future. Go, \softline now, and enjoy...working...for me...{\u8221\'94}\par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab She was back in the bar. Charlene accepted a \softline young fellow{\u8217\'92}s hesitant invitation and moved to his \softline table with his other friends. The group was gay, young, \softline bent on sexual conquest or submission before the night \softline was out. None was drunk, not even tipsy, while their \softline minds concentrated on their hopes and fears for this \softline evening. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Charlene was more than willing to oblige when \softline the young man who had invited her to join the party \softline proposed that she and he adjourn to another place. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Charlene would return alone. \par }{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Another soul to serve the ever hungry Adam{\u8217\'92}s \softline . . . wife?}}