Living on the edge of urban civilization, the rotting bungalows and abandon warehouses on the Gulf Coast-dead after the oil bust and loss of shrimping to foreign boats, gave me just the place to set up my "studio." In an empty Quonset hut I weld together "sculptures" that end up in the foyers and on the patios of visitors from the North. I don't make much money, but then, I don't need much. My single wide next to the shop has two good air conditioners and my 8 year old F150 carries the steel.

Nan lived in a trailer in the "park" next door. Actually, it's a vacant lot that Brian put 8 beat up old trailers on and rents them out for $250 a month. He really made his money supplying meth to the local high schools-the smells coming out of a couple of the trailers will sometimes make the mosquitoes drop. Then, when Nan's mom drank up the food stamp money, Brian decided she could earn her rent as his live-in girl friend and occasional drug runner. Nan started hanging around my shop.

One night I was a little distracted by the yelling next door, I was behind on my electric bill so the windows were open. They hadn't turned me off-yet. When I did have the cash to pay it I knew there'd be a big fine on top of a couple months usage. I heard a door slam, then it was quiet. A few minutes later I happened to look out the window and saw Nan sitting on the stairs to her trailer, swatting at mosquitoes.

"Hey, Nan, come on over here," I called out the window, she looked like she needed someplace to escape to.

She looked over at my place, about 50 feet away across an overgrown ranch fence, then started toward the driveway to the road so she could come over. I watched her thin form, long skinny legs, light frame, straight blonde hair to her collar, as she went down the drive in dirty pink shorts, a light blue tee, and flip-flops. A couple of minutes later she knocked on my door.

Hi, come on in," I called from the couch. She had been crying, puffy eyes, snotty nose.

She plopped down on my sofa, looking around. I ripped a couple of pieces of paper towel off the roll on the kitchen bar and handed them to her. She wiped her face and blew her nose, then looked around.

"Thanks."

She had been in my place several times over the past few months but just for a few minutes. She usually hung around the shop while I welded, coming in after school. Sometimes I gave her a few pointers on her homework, but more often I think it stayed in her desk at school. I know that she isn't much of a student, not the brightest kid around, but nice. She was some help around the shop, handing me tools, maybe holding a piece. I had to buy a set of smaller leather gloves and adjust a mask for her. She even, a couple of times, tried her hand at welding.

We sat and watched TV for a while. She got up and helped herself to a Coke, I asked her to bring me a beer while she was at it. "ER" ended.

"Your mom kick you out?"

She looked out the window, "Tony, can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure.....Don't you need to tell your mom?"

"She's too high to care." She watched the commercials for a few seconds. "It's hot in here." She fanned herself.

I thought for a moment, then got up and went to the window in the kitchen. "Ok, I'll put on the AC." June in South Texas is good training for Hell. August convinces you that you've graduated. As I passed it, I twisted the knob to high. As I went down the hall, I heard Nan moving around, closing the front door. I went into the bathroom and reached over the tub, closing that window, then I shut the door and took a piss.

When I came out I saw Nan in the bedroom. I stood in the doorway. She was looking down at a fuck book on my chest of drawers. It was open to a full spread of some blonde taking a huge shot in the face. She must have known I was there, she reached down and turned the page, now the blond was laying on her back, one guy's cock in her shaved cunt, another in her mouth. She walked to a window and pushed it down, then reached over and turned on the other AC. I moved aside to let her push by me, "Nice pictures" she said as she passed. I followed her back to the living room. She sat down on the couch, took my beer and drank some. I could feel the cool air from the window unit but it was still hot.

I realized that I must really stink. I had worked late in the shop, finishing up a couple of jumping dolphins for a blue-haired lady in a Lincoln. If she actually showed up the next day I'd be able to pay off the electric and have two weeks of groceries. "I'm going to take a shower," I said. All Nan did was nod.

I took a cool shower, not because I was horny but because it was hot. I pulled on a pair of gym shorts and a Spur's T, then went back into the living room. We had moved to a "reality" show. My beer was empty.

"Can I have another coke?" she called when I went to the fridge.

"Last one," I said as I handed her the red can. I opened my beer and sat back down on the sofa, opposite her.

"Were you serious about staying here?" I asked.

She looked at me. "Can I use your couch? I don't want to go back tonight."

"What about your mom?"

"She's fucking passed out and Brian'll be 'cooking' his shit, smells up the place. Usually when he's finished he tries it out-I don't want to be there."

"How 'bout if I just put a note on the door?"

"Whatever floats your boat," she said, turning back to the TV.

"I just don't want her worried when she wakes up."

The girl turned and looked straight at me. "She won't notice." Her voice was flat.

I decided to drop the subject.

We stayed up for a couple of more hours, then I gave her some blankets and put her to bed on the couch while I crashed in my room. I have another bedroom but it's so full of junk you almost can't open the door. She was still sleeping there when I got up in the morning and went out to the shop.

My customer showed up right on time-9 AM. She was counting out the ten $50s when Nan walked in.

"Oh, is this your daughter?" she asked. She was either not too observant or being polite. If Nancy was my daughter I was having a hell of a time when I was 15.

"No Ma'am," I replied as I folded the bills and put them in my shirt pocket, "Nan's my assistant, in fact she helped out a lot on your piece."

The older woman turned to Nan, "Why thank you dear," she looked admiring at the two jumping dolphins (to me they looked like they were fucking). "You do beautiful work."

Nan didn't say anything, I think she was surprised by the complement, I'd learned that she's not used to praise.

"Let me carry this out to your car and put it in the trunk," I said.

After I closed the lid on the rear of the Town Car I noticed Nan and the woman talking near the door to my shop. I couldn't hear them but, obviously, she was trying to give Nan money and Nan was refusing out of politeness. In a moment Nan reneged and took a bill from the lady, then they hugged.

After she had left I looked over Nan, she was still wearing the same clothes and her hair was a mess. "I need to go to HEB and buy some food, also pay the electric bill."

"Can I come along?"

"Sure."

"I need to get cleaned up," she said. "Will you wait a while?"

"OK, I can get started on my next project." I went over to the metal rack to look around for some materials.

"I'll be right back." Nan disappeared.

I had just pulled down some long, thin strips of plate when she reappeared.

"Tony, Brian's cooking and, well, the place stinks....ahh, can I use your shower?"

I looked at her. She was holding a bundle of clothes, a hair and tooth brush and a pair of sandals.

"Sure hon, the water's wet."

"Thanks." She disappeared again.

I went back to work, drawing out an idea I had for a crane. The only place that Whooping Crane's stay in winter is near here, they're a popular item with the tourists. Then I thought about whether there was any way I could peek into the bathroom. After thinking for a few minutes I decided there was no easy, not obvious way. Still, the idea of a naked ten year old in my shower...

After 20 minutes she appeared again with wet hair and a change of clothes. Now she had on jeans and a blue tee. On the way to the store we stopped at one of the local Tacoreas and got taciquos, Nan wolfed hers down and commented that she'd not had anything to eat the night before. We got groceries then went back. Nan worked with me for the afternoon in the shop.

It was about 4 that there was a loud bang from next door, accompanied by shattering glass, then a lot of swearing and shouting. A dog ran off howling, its cries getting lower as it ran away. We both went to the door to see Brian standing outside the trailer. Most of the windows were blown out and the door was hanging from one hinge. He grabbed the garden hose and went back inside. When he came out he was met by Nan's mother, April. They talked some, she was holding a beer can. Then he went back in while she fell into a plastic lawn chair and drank more of her beer.

"Fuck!" Nan said. "He blew up my house! That mother fucker. All my stuff was in there."

"Looks like he put out the fire," I said. "Maybe you should go over and see if your mom's OK."

"She's fucking fine, the explosion didn't make her drop her beer."

At this point, a few things, mostly boxes of stuff, started flying out the window, accompanied by more cussing and some banging around in the trailer. Then Brian reappeared and said something to April. She struggled to her feet and turned to face us in the doorway fifty feet away.

"Nancy, you better get your ass over here and get your shit before he blows up the whole fucking neighborhood!"

Nan looked at me and rolled her eyes. "I guess now I'll be sleeping in the car."

"Just bring your stuff over here," I said. "I'll talk to your mom."

"Good luck," she said. As we left the shop she stopped me. "Thanks," she said.

"You have a gas leak or something?" I asked April as Nan went to the door and looked in.

"Fucking I don't know. At least the place didn't go up in flames." Then she called after Nan. "Nancy, bring me another fucking beer!"

The black mix-breed lab reappeared, her tail between her legs. She sat down next to April and leaned her head on her knee. I noticed a couple of cuts on her face and chest, she was still bleeding from a cut above her right paw.

The first time I had met April she had been chubby overweight. Now she was bordering in cadaverous. What had been a head of full chestnut hair that just reached her shoulders now hung limply and tangled. Her teeth seemed to be being eaten away.

"Nan can stay over at my place 'till you get this put back together," I said.

Brian appeared at the door carrying a case of cold medicine. "I'm going to put this stuff in number four, it's empty right now.

"I suppose," April said just before draining her beer. "Nan! Where's my fucking beer!"

Nancy came out of the door and handed her mother a can of Coors Lite.

"Bout time girl," her mother said, snatching the can. "Tony says you can stay at his place for a few days...just behave yourself and don't fuck it up like you do everything else."

Nan turned and went back inside. Brian came back and followed her while April nursed her beer. About two minutes later Nan reappeared with a box and put it down next to the stairs, then went back in. Brian came out with some plastic jugs and plastic tubing.

"You need help there?" April asked.

"Yeah."

April walked unsteadily to the plastic jugs, then lifted them and headed down the line of trailers. A little later Nan came out with another box. She put it down-there was a blue and pink teddy bear on top.

"That's it," she said.

I picked up the larger box and we went down the drive. When we got to my trailer I put my box on the table, Nan put hers on the floor. She stayed down, leaning over it. I saw a tear fall onto the bear.

I reached over and lifted her face. "Hey, it's OK. You can stay here as long as you want. We'll clear out the other room for you." She started to sob. I pulled her to me, hugging her. "Fuck, no one should have to put up with this," I said. She didn't make any moves to return the embrace but stood against me, her face in my chest, and quietly cried.

We spent a while cleaning the 'spare' bedroom. Really, it held all the junk I couldn't figure out what to do with, so a lot of the stuff went in the trash. There were more than a few magazines, some I said throw out, some were piled in the corner, and all of the video tapes were kept. A couple of times Nan looked strangely at me when she was holding some especially explicit fuck book. Soon she came to recognize I was keeping the fuck books and throwing the girly mags, so she did the sorting. By the time we finished up it was getting dark.

"Why don't we go out tonight? I've got the cash, it's been an age since I've been to a nice restaurant."

Nan was standing in the kitchen looking out the window at what used to be her home. "OK," she said. But I smell like that shit Brian makes, can I take another shower?"

"Sure," I said, "I need one too. Who goes first?"

"You go ahead, I need to put my stuff away." (We had cleaned out a chest of drawer for her.)

When I got out of the shower I realized that, out of habit, I hadn't brought any clothes with me so I wrapped a towel around my waist and went to my room. Nan looked up when I passed the doorway to her room.

A little while later I was sitting in the living room watching the TV and I got a glimpse of her, also wearing nothing but a towel, going from the bathroom into her new room.

When she came out I was really pleasantly surprised. Nan had on some nice fashion jeans and a green top. Sequences across the top with string straps, the front was pointed down in the middle, had fringes. I'm sure my eyes got big when she passed and I saw the open back, held with only a shoe string across from one shoulder blade to the other.

"Hey, you clean up nice!" I said.

She turned her head and looked at me over her shoulder (that's when I noticed the eye makeup and lip gloss). "Fuck you," she had a friendly smile.

Nan was tall for her age, a few inches short of five feet, and that made her skinny. Her hair, dirty blonde, just reached her shoulders, she kept it mostly in a low pony tail but now she had it loose and parted down the middle. She has wide set, almost Chinese eyes, a small nose and small mouth. While she's not beautiful, she's pretty, reasonable eye-candy.

As we were getting in the truck a little later I told her, "Really, you look really nice, pretty and....sexy." She slid over to the middle of the seat and, while I was starting the engine, she reached up and kissed me on the cheek. Quietly, almost too low to hear, she said, "You're so nice to me, no one else cares."

I slid my arm around her side and gave her a friendly hug to my side. "I think you're a sweet-heart," I said. "I like having you around."

We drove across the causeway out to the bearer island where a small town sits at one of the few 'passes' from the Gulf to the lagoons. It's mostly hotels and sport fishing and boasts more than a few nice places to eat. We sat at an outside table overlooking the marina and watched the sun go down over Texas. A big tanker went by on its way out to sea, dolphins were jumping in the bow wave, the wake made the fishing and shrimping boats tied to the docks rock. Later we went out onto the beach.

I parked my truck about 20 feet from the water and we both took off our shoes, then walked through the murky dark. In keeping with the weather in South Texas, it was very humid and warm, the air was like a hazy blanket. There were quite a few others out there, a number of camp fires in front of motor homes or tents. For a while we held hands and, just before we got back to the truck, we were arm in arm. We were silent on the drive back across the bay and it was a quiet time with the TV for a couple of hours before we both went off to bed. Nan sat next to me and cuddled up to my side. I had a hard time not looking down her top and trying to get a glimpse of the strawberry cones pushing against the green fabric. A couple of times I did get a nip flash.

The alcohol and walk, along with a really enjoyable evening with Nancy, made me drop off right away and I didn't stir until eight the next morning. I was making breakfast when a sleepy ten year old came in.

"How'd you sleep, darling?" I asked.

She was wearing a cotton night gown. She stretched, then sat down at the table. "Won-der-ful," she said.

Her hair was a mess but her face was just beautiful in the sun through the window. "You look like you had a good snooze. In fact, you look really good."

I turned back to the stove. "How do you like your eggs?"

"Anything's great."

"I do mine medium, that OK?"

"Great."

I poured her some orange juice, then put two bacon strips on a each plate on the counter. These were followed by toast, then the eggs. When I put the plate in front of her and slid into my seat she looked up at me.

"Why are you so nice?"

"How am I nice?" I asked. "I'd do this for anyone."

She looked down at her plate. "No one's ever made me breakfast before," she said in a low voice.

"Oh come on. Someone had to when you were a baby."

"Yeah, I guess..." she looked sad. "I mean, not that I can remember."

"Don't you get breakfast before school?" I asked.

"No, mom says she's paying taxes so I can have breakfast there."

"What about now, when school's out?"

"I don't know," she took a sip of her orange juice. "Usually there's some leftovers or something. I pretty much take care of myself. Mom's more interested in beer. Brian usually brings home stuff."

"Well, eat up before it gets cold," I said.

"Thank you."

As she took a bite of one of the bacon strips, I noticed that her eyes were watering and her face was red.

We worked the whole day on more sculptures, I taught Nan how to use the oxy-acetylene cutter and gave her some more practice welding-her help was really great and we got a lot done. During the day I noticed that she touched me often, a hand on my arm, several friendly hugs, one more than friendly when she lay her cheek against my chest. She just seemed to eat up having the attention-the positive attention. Every time I told her she did something well or that she was a big help she'd be quiet for a few minutes and, more than once, she gave me long looks.

We drove out to What-a-Burger for lunch. During the afternoon she became even more affectionate, a couple of times peering up at me with a face that just begged for a kiss. Once I did, leaning down and giving her a peck on the lips. As a reward I got a long dewy-eyed face-it was pretty obvious that she had a crush on me.

As the shadows got long, but the heat and humidity remained just this side of hell, we were both getting kind of drained. About four I called it a day and we both escaped to the air conditioning of my trailer.

Nan pulled her top away from her skin (she had definitely had a 'wet tee-shirt' thing going) and fanned herself. "Whew...I need a shower."

"You can go first," I said. "I'll start hunting up something for dinner."

Fifteen minutes later I was pleased to see her towel-clad figure go down the hall for the few steps between the bathroom and her bedroom. The towel barely reached below her butt-for an instant I got a flash of a cheek. "Shower's open!" she called from her room just before the door closed.

A while later I came back into the living room, now smelling a lot better, to a sight that really made my head spin. Nan was sitting on the sofa, still wearing only a towel. It had fallen open across her thigh but was still well closed across her chest and the other thigh was covered. Really sexy yes, but she was also looking through one of my 'Barely Legal' magazines. A quick glance, a really cute little redhead was on her back on a bed, some lucky guy on his knees cramming his schlong into her shaved pussy.

Nan turned the page (I don't think she knew I was there), now the red head was sucking him off and, on the opposite page, was a series of shots as she took his cum in her mouth. Then she noticed me and, for a moment looked shocked, then embarrassed. She closed the book.

"Good reading?" I asked with a smile.

"I guess."

I walked through the room into the kitchen, going to check the pizza in the oven. Taking my dare, Nancy opened the magazine again.

"That tastes gross," she said, "it's like having a mouth full of snot."

For a moment I was speechless, trying to come up with a response. She turned the page back to where the couple was fucking. "I don't think it's so great." Her voice was low, sad.

After checking the oven I went back in and sat down next to her. "Brian?"

She looked at me, her eyes were watering. "When he's high, and Mom's passed out...well, I guess I don't mind all that much...the first time, a couple of years ago, that hurt but...it's just fucking now."

I started to say something but she cut me off, "And don't get all stupid because I'm only ten...I know what I'm doing."

"OK," I said. "But, it shouldn't be 'just fucking.'"

"He doesn't care," she replied, an edge of anger showing in her voice, "when he's high he'd fuck anything with a hole."

At this I had to smile. "Must make that Lab nervous."

She started to giggle, then laugh. She put her arm on my shoulder and leaned her forehead against it, laughing, then the laughing started to change into crying. I put my arm around her as she cried. I kissed the top of her head.

After a minute or so she pulled away and wiped her tears and snot with the back of her arm. "Why are you so nice to me?"

For a moment I didn't know what to say that wouldn't sound like a platitude. Then, "I like you," I said. "I've been pretty lonely for a while and, well, I've had a lot of fun having you here."

She looked at me with a brooding expression, then sniffled. "I better put something on." She stood up and went back into her bedroom.

We ate a frozen pizza, then drove to the video store for a movie. The rest of the evening was spent watching 'Last of the Mohicans.' The movie gets pretty intense and many of the scenes are extremely violent. I was a little afraid that it was a bit much for a ten year old but Nan seemed to really fall into the movie and get caught up in the love story and conflict. During many of the battle scenes she squeezed my arm painfully, and, as the story reached its final climax she held close to me.

"Damn," she said when it was over.

I looked at her, she returned my gaze and I leaned down and kissed her. Somehow the atmosphere changed. Nancy pulled back from the kiss, her face was calm. "I'm going to sleep in your bed tonight." Then she stood up and took my hand, pulling me up standing. Without saying another word, she lifted her top off and let it fall to the floor next to her, then she started pulling at mine.

I helped her, my shirt joined hers at our feet, then I wrapped my arms around her, her warm and soft skin pressed against mine. Again I leaned down and we kissed, this time letting our tongues intertwine. I ran my hand up her back and into her hair, cradling her head. Her hands were cool, one in the small of my back, the other between my shoulder blades. She, of course, was a lot shorter than I and I had to bend over to kiss her. Her chest was against my abdomen and, I'm sure, she could feel my growing cock against her stomach through my jeans.

She broke away, a smile on her face, and turned down the hall, walking quickly to my bedroom. For a moment I just stood there, in the middle of my living room, and watched her bare back as she walked. There were two small dimples on either side in the small of her back, her shoulder blades were sharp 'V's. Then I turned around and looked at the TV, the credits were still rolling by, and thought to myself, 'do I really want to do this?'

I picked up the remote and hit the OFF button, then shrugged and headed down the hall.

When I came into the room, Nan was standing at the foot of the bed, bent over, pulling her shorts free of her feet. She rose back up half way and, now smiling, pushed her panties down to her feet. She leaned back and sat on the foot of the bed, then worked her feet free. Still smiling, she leaned back on her arms and sat with her legs comfortably spread, showing me her hairless crack.

As she watched, I undid my belt, then my pants, and released my jeans. I had to bend over to pull my socks off, then I was able to work my pants and shorts off by stepping on the cuffs. My cock sprang free, standing out at a better than 90ø angle. I'm perfectly willing to admit that I'm not huge, about seven inches and the thickness of a broom handle, but, I realized that considering who my lover was, this time it was good that I'm not too well hung.

Nan's eyes flared when she saw my cock. Later I would learn that this was the first time she had ever asked to be fucked-every other time it had been tantamount to rape. She giggled and worked her way back on the unmade bed. As I walked around the side of the bed, she lifted her ass up and worked the light blanket and top sheet under her, then pushed her legs under the covers. I slid in next to her, the covers only up to our thighs.

As I gathered her against me, I was shocked by how small she was, incredibly light, her thin bones and soft skin left no doubt that she was still a child. She was remarkably supple and smooth, as I pulled her she bent like a cat and slid up against me, warm from my chest to my calves. My cock pushed hard up against her hip and thigh, there her skin was as hot as it was smooth, but with firm muscles underneath.

She looked up at me, she was laying on her back, I was on my side, lifted up on one elbow. "You'll go slow,...Brian,...he always hurts me."

I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "I won't do anything you don't want," I said. Then I kissed her on the lips and she opened her mouth to mine. At the same time I ran my hand over her hip and to the rise of her sex. When I pushed my finger along her slit I felt her stiffen for a moment, then relax. As she brought one hand up onto the back of my neck she pushed her knees apart some, allowing my finger to move slightly into the warm and moist crevice.

The movement of her thigh against my cock almost made me cum right there, I my dick twitched as I desperately fought the urge to hump against her side and spew my jez on her hip. I pulled back, lifting my face away from her and clenched my jaw. Her eyes widened in alarm.

"Did I do something...?" she stammered.

"No..no...honey,..." I had to catch my breath, "I have to slow down,...I,...ohhh,...you're just such a turn on..."

At this she started to giggle.

That broke the moment and I started to laugh too. I lifted up and surveyed her. Her skin was a milky white except for her arms, neck and face. Her legs were covered by the sheet so I couldn't see them but I had noticed that she didn't seem to have much of a tan.

She really was skinny, her rib cage was clearly visible, the waves only being muted on her chest where pale pink areolas, about nickel sized. Her lower ribs seemed to stick out, the white skin sweeping down along her thin stomach and small navel. Her hips also protruded, her belly was flat just above the large rise of her sex. There was no sign of developing hair. The shape of the muscles of her thighs were clear under taunt skin.

I reached up and started rubbing one of her nipples with the pad of my fingers. Nan put her far arm over her head while she ran her other hand along my spine. She looked down. "Nothing there," she said.

"That's fine with me," I said.

"You're on my arm."

"Oh!" I said as I lifted up. She worked her left arm out from under me, then put it over her head too, stretching like a cat next to me. As I gently moved her nipple in a circle it contracted and rose. Nan slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Do you like this?" I asked.

Nan exhaled, "It's nice."

Now I leaned down and kissed the rise, then through pursed lips I ran the tip of my tongue from side to side. Again she took a deep breath and I felt her hand on the back of my head. I moved my hand down her side and again caressed her slit, this time she lifted her right knee and spread her legs for my probing hand.

Her pussy crack was warm and moist, but not slick. I was sure that, if I pushed too hard, I'd hurt her so I just started moving her clit ridge around, not attempting to slide my finger. I was using my middle finger so I put my entire hand over her sex and started a slow massage.

"Ohhhhh...." she breathed. She lifted her ass slightly and turned her hips out. In the process she rubbed her thigh against my rock hard member (I really can't remember any time that I've had more of an aching hard-on) and again I had to really concentrate not to blow.

My massaging was beginning to have the desired affect and Nancy started to hump against my hand while making small grunting noises. I moved over to the other nipple and she wrapped her arms around my head, lifting her knees off the bed and I felt her shiver. At the same moment her crack became much moister, moving from sticky to slick. I reached down between her legs and was rewarded when my finger penetrated up inside her.

Nancy gasped and held still, a look of alarm on her face.

"Am I hurting you?" I asked.

"Oh God, no," she moaned. She reached down and put her hand over mine, then gently pushed it so my finger went a little deeper inside her. "Ahhhh,...." She breathed, then started moving my hand up and down.

She reached farther down and pressed on my middle finger, pushing it more inside herself and I complied, pushing into her ten year old cunt until the whole length was inside her. She held it there and then started to hump against my hand. Her movements quickly grew more energetic as her breathing deepened. After about half a minute she gasped and shuddered again, jamming my hand against her sex. Then she relaxed, releasing the pressure on my hand.

I pulled my finger out of her but, again, started massaging her cunt. With her eyes closed she again stretched and smiled. She looked at me. "Put it in me but, please, go slow."

For a moment I considered climbing on top of her but somehow it seemed that that would be too awkward. I rolled on my back and pulled her with me. "Here, you on top, then you can control..."

With a smile she scrambled across my hips and reached down, taking hold of my dick. I reached around her ass and pulled her smooth, hairless pussy open as she positioned the head and gently leaned back. Her eyes came open wide and a ragged breath hissed out of her throat as she sank back, taking my cock inside her.

"Ohhhhh....god.....that's.....nice," she whispered as she sank down, pushing my cock deep into her vagina. She lifted her head up and started rocking back and forth, running my member in and out of her little girl pussy. Although she was no virgin, her pussy was still the tightest I've ever experienced-also not very deep, only about half of my cock would slide into her before I hit the top.

Her rocking became more determined and she started to breath with her movements. I was really lost with the feelings-she was so light on top of me, her thighs splayed out across my hips, her hands on my shoulders as she held herself up, carefully moving my cock back and forth inside herself.

I reached up and put my hands on her ribs, then rubbed her erect-cone nipples with my thumbs. She started moving more rapidly and pushed harder as she learned what she could do and not hurt herself.

Meanwhile, I was quickly climbing to an awesome climax. I pushed her up and looked along my belly at my cock, pushing inside her clean pussy. I lifted her farther and caught a glimpse of her clit ridge between her lips-and this put me over the edge.

I humped up inside her to meet her backwards thrust and started to blow my slime inside her ten-year-old cunt. The sudden addition made her even more slippery and she groaned and started moving faster. I think the feeling of me flooding her womb with my sperm got her off and, after just a few seconds more, she grunted and pushed down on me, then froze for an instant, then lifted and fell twice more before freezing again.

It felt like I pumped a quart of cum into her little clam before she relaxed, her hands still on my shoulders. There was a drop of sweat making its way down her neck and my hands were damp where they had been in her arm pits.

Nan lay down on top of me, still panting. She was so light! It was just incredible to hold her small frame on top of me. My cock was still deep inside her and I could feel my pulse.

After a few minutes her breathing slowed and my dick began to shrink. When it slipped out of her she said, "Mmmmmm....that was wonderful." She lifted up and climbed off of me but then fell, spread-eagle on the bed. Her eyes were bright looking at me. "You're so nice...I want to stay here always."

"I hope your mother will let you," I said. "But, if she knew..."

Her face lost some of its shine. "All she cares about is staying high."

"I'm sorry I said anything," I said. "Just forget it, you can stay here as long as you can."

She turned her head away but stayed laying there on her stomach.

"I want a beer," I said, rolling off the bed. "Do you want anything?"

I was headed for the door and turned to look at her. She had turned her head again and was lifted up slightly, looking over her shoulder. But her hips were still flat on the sheets, her legs spread, and I could clearly see her little girl hairless clam, wet with my sperm. "I'll take one," she said.

I walked to the kitchen and opened two bottles, when I got back to the bedroom she was sitting up. "God, you're the most sexy thing I've ever seen."

I sat down next to her and handed her a bottle. "Thank you," she said as we clinked our bottles together.

We were silent now for a while, the air conditioner cycled off and we could hear frogs outside. In the distance a truck went by on the road.

"Can I really stay here?" Nancy asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes."

We were silent for a few more minutes.

"I have to go back to school in August," she said.

"The bus stops the same place," I said. That's when it hit me and a wave of guilt flooded over me-I had just fucked a fifth grader, not even in fifth grade yet. But, I couldn't say anything, not now. Nan needed so much to feel wanted-I was so screwed.

But, our thoughts were on completely different subjects. Nan reached out and took my cock in her hand. She started stroking it. "What's it feel like?"

Despite my recent train of thought, I started to get hard in her hand. "It feels pretty damn good."

As she stroked me I went from firm into hard. "How does it do that?"

"Ahh...I don't know...fills with blood somehow..."

With a giggle she rolled onto her knees and handed me her beer. Now, with both hands, she stroked my dick. I leaned my head back, holding a beer in each hand. "That's really good," I mumbled. Now she leaned down and took me in her mouth. "Oh God..."

Her eyes just sparkled as she sucked me, she looked straight at me several times and held me there, deep in her face. Soon I was building toward another eruption. "Honey," I tried to lift her head off, "I'm going to cum."

She just smiled around my dick and plunged it deep. I started to cum.

A stream of white goo ran out of her mouth and down my rod, then another on the other side. "Mmmff...mmmff," she said and I felt her swallow.

It's wasn't much, after all I had just filled her womb with my juice a few minutes earlier. He lifted off, cum smeared on her lips and chin. "Honey, you didn't have to...."

"I don't mind for you," she said, then bent back down and sucked the last bit of cum out of me, then crawled up and kissed me. Her breath smelled of cum and her face was wet, she tasted like it, but I didn't mind. We necked deeply and she lay back down on top of me. Then she lifted off and took her beer, swallowing a big swig.

"Let's finish our beers, then make a run to DQ."

"Won't they be closed?"

"Then we can go to Sonic." I said, looking at my watch.

Turned out, Diary Queen was still open, then we went back to my place. We fucked again, this time with Nancy laying on her back on the edge of the bed, me on my knees on the floor, watching my cock slide in and out of her pink pussy lips. Nan, for a time, held her knees up and tried to look down at me but, as she came, she lay back on the bed and put her feet on the floor, pushing her hips up to meet me, opening herself as far as she could to my dick. After she had cum I dribbled the last of my sperm inside her, then we cuddled up for the night and didn't wake until the sun was well up.

We worked that day and finished up the metal part of the heron. Then we had to drive into the city, about twenty miles, to get some of the glaze paint that I use. We had dinner at a fish place, then returned. That night we made love again, but this time I did do something that Nan had only seen pictures of.

She was naked, laying next to me, as I finger-fucked her, bringing her almost to climax while, again, sucking on her nipples. But this time, I didn't bring her off. She was flat on her back, legs and arms splayed out, sweat shining on her flushed skin and, I suppose, she was expecting me to start to fuck her as I climbed over her on my hands and knees. But, instead, I moved my kisses down from her chest to her ribs and then to her stomach. It wasn't until I kissed her left hip bone, then kissed her just above her mons that she realized what I was going to do.

"Oh! You're going to....ooooooo....." as I ran my tongue along her open, hairless pussy slit. She started to uncontrollably hump her cunt up into my face as I tongue-lashed her clit, then tongue fucked her. She positively yelled when she came, jerking under me, shoving her sex up into my face.

"Oh, fuck, that, oh..." she panted after she had calmed down.

A crawled forward and my cock slid easily inside her.

We fucked for at least 15 minutes, switching positions several times-missionary, her on top, sitting up, doggy-style, on our knees, me behind, then on our backs, her squatting on me where I watched her ass hole puckering as my cock slammed in her cunt. Then we ended up sitting on the edge of the bed with her facing away from me. I looked to the side and saw us in the mirrored closet door. I sort of picked her up, impaled on me, and turned us, sitting back down facing the mirror. Now we could both see us fucking, my cock in her spread, hairless pussy, her cone nipples sticking out for me to rub and gently pinch. She probably came eight times before I let loose with a torrent of goo, pumping her so full that she overflowed with sheets of cum running down my cock and over my balls.

For the next couple of weeks life went on like this. A couple of times I sort of said that it really wasn't right for a 26 year old guy to have a 10 year old lover but the subject always upset Nan. She had been rejected so much all her life, she simply couldn't face any from me. And sex was both something that proved to her that I wanted her and part of her way of holding on to me- of course, I really didn't mind that much either. We worked most days, then fucked every night. Once we drove down to the beach, hanging out next to a fire until well after midnight. Then she fucked me in the bed of my pickup, I looked up at the few stars that could be seen through the haze as she rocked back and forth on top of me, sucking my sperm out of my balls into her preteen womb.

Then one morning all hell broke loose. Bridges were burnt and neither of our lives would ever be the same.

It was about seven o'clock in the morning. The sun was up and I had floated in and out of sleep a couple of times. Nan was cuddled up to my side, her head on my shoulder, drooling on me. I was thinking about sliding out of bed to take a leak.

I was torn to wide awake by yelling outside the trailer. Men were yelling and I heard someone run by, then the sound of him going over the fence. More yelling and a couple of bangs as doors in the trailer park were smashed. Nan stiffened, coming awake. We both jumped with the POP-POP-POP of guns.

Someone yelled, "Get down, get down on the fucking ground!" There was a crash, then silence.

"Stay here," I said to Nan, then I crept out of bed and lifted the curtain. The trailer park next door was full of police cars. Another came screaming in and skidded to a stop in a cloud of dust. Two more cops jumped out, their guns drawn, and ran behind a trailer. Then I could hear a siren coming down the road.

I crept to the front room and looked out. There were a group of police gathered around a figure laying on the ground, Nan's Mom was also laying on the ground, on her stomach, handcuffed. Two police were standing over her, guns pointed at her. I heard Nan come up beside me.

"Oh my God!" she gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "Mom!"

She went toward the door but I grabbed her arm. "Stay here, we can't go out."

At first she twisted, trying to get her arm free but then stopped.

"Let me sit down." She collapsed on the sofa, too in shock to cry.

"It's best if we just stay here, let the cops come to us."

Nan nodded.

An ambulance pulled up the drive and stopped, the paramedics jumped out and talked to one of the cops. He pointed at the figure on the ground (now I could see that it was a cop), then at the trailer. One of the paramedics ran back to the ambulance and came back with two cases as the other pushed through the circle of police and knelt next to the officer. The first paramedic put a case next to his partner, then ran to the trailer with the other.

"We'd better get dressed," I said.

Five minutes later there was a knock on the door-a cop.

"Sir, we have to ask you to stay inside."

"Ah, sure, officer, what's going on? I heard the shooting."

"We busted a drug lab. One of our officers was hit. So was one of the people in the lab."

"Oh, I hope they're OK."

"The guy in the trailer'll be. The officer's in pretty bad shape."

Nan walked up behind me.

"This your daughter, sir?"

"Ahhh, yes," (I don't know why I lied). Nan looked at me with shock.

"You need to stay in, miss," he said to her.

"Yes sir," she said.

The cop turned to go. "We'll come by when it's clear. If you need to leave call 911 and tell them where you are. They'll call us and we'll arrange it."

"Thank you, officer," I said and closed the door.

Nan looked at me. "Why'd you tell him I was your daughter?"

"It just seemed...well...there wouldn't be any questions." Looking over her shoulder and out the window I saw them putting Nan's mom in a car. "Any way, once things have calmed down, I'll go to the sheriff's department and find out what's going on."

"What's going to happen now?" Tears were starting in Nan's eyes.

"I don't know, hun." I hugged her.

It was just after noon when another cop came by and said it was clear for us to leave. He said not to cross the 'Crime Scene' tape, then left, going to other homes in the area.

"I need to go into town but, I think it'd be best if you stayed here," I said.

"Why? I want to see my mom."

"I doubt they'll let her see anyone. But, if you go into the police they'll call CPS and put you in a foster home. I want to try to arrange for you to stay with me, if I can. I need to be careful what's said to the police."

"Can't we just stay here, not say anything?"

"You're mom's going to say something. I want to offer for you to stay here, she may not think of that."

"Oh." Nan looked scared. "I don't want to be alone."

I was silent for a few minutes, trying to think of what to do. "Well, maybe it'd be best if you did come with me. That way the cops won't think I'm kidnapping you or anything. But you've got to only answer questions, and then don't say much, just that you want to stay here."

On the drive to the county seat we got our stories straight-not that they were lies. Nan had been staying with me for a couple of weeks, ever since there had been a fire in her trailer. Her mom had moved in with her boyfriend and they didn't have room for three. She was staying just as long as it took to get a new trailer. I'd tell the cops outright that she was welcome to stay with me, in fact, that I thought it'd be best. Hopefully her mom would agree. Anyway, it'd only be a couple of days before some judge would set bail, if there were any real charges against her at all-she might even be home that evening.

When we walked into the County Sheriff's office I immediately knew that there was something very wrong-it was just the atmosphere of the place-there was only one deputy in front, in spite of a parking lot full of cruisers. And it was quiet, I had been there a couple of times before on business, once to make a report after my garage had been burglarized and another time to bail out a friend who had had too much to drink before getting on his motorcycle. Unlike the other times, the television was off and there was a silent crowd filling the plastic chairs in the room. My anxiety doubled when I saw the black ribbon around the deputy's star.

I told Nancy to find a seat and went up to the counter. "Earlier today, there was a raid down near the bay and a woman was arrested, April Born, is she still in custody?"

The Deputy looked up at me, his expression was fierce, I almost took a step back. "Yeah, she's here."

"Well...ah...I have her daughter," I waved toward where Nan was sitting.

I could see a lot of conflict in his expression, it was obviously an effort for him to get his emotions under control. He leaned forward, then gestured with his finger to come closer.

"Sir, I guess you don't know. She's here and she's going to be charged with murder of a police officer. I doubt she's going to be out soon, if at all."

My head swam and vision darkened with shock. "Holy shit. Did she shoot that cop?"

"Yeah, she shot him. He had a wife and a little boy, maybe a classmate," he looked at Nan. "That young lady," he nodded, "has some real problems."

"Fuck...what happens now?"

He straightened back up. "Well, we'll call CPS. They'll find somewhere for her to stay."

I decided to keep my mouth shut for now. "I guess you'd better call. How long will it take for them to get here?"

"The office's just across the street. If there's a caseworker there, not long." He picked up the phone, then consulted a paper laminated to the counter.

"I'm going to sit down," I said.

I crossed to Nan and she made room for me on the bench. "What's up?"

"You're mom's here, they're calling about you now. I don't think they knew about you."

"When can I see my mom?"

"I don't know," I replied.

The deputy was talking into the phone and looking at us. He hung up, then said, "Ms. Hollands will be over shortly. You need to stay here, sir, and the girl."

"Sure," I said.

"Who's that?" Nan asked. "What's going on?"

"They had to call someone from CPS."

"Oh," Nan's face went white.

It was only about five minutes before a well dressed black woman, maybe 45 came in and crossed to the deputy. He was on the phone and she waited but he pointed at us and handed her a sheet of paper. She walked over and I stood up.

"I'm Loretta Hollands with Family Regulatory and Protective Services."

"I'm Anthony Johnson," I said, holding out my hand, "and this is Nan."

"Hi Nancy," she said. "It's nice to see you again."

"Yeah...sure..." Nancy said with a lot of sarcasm.

"You've met?" I asked.

"Nancy and I have spoken a couple of times," Loretta said. "But not for a while."

This was not where I wanted the conversation to go. I knew I needed to get back on track. "Can we go somewhere private?" I asked.

"Are you her father?" Loretta asked.

"No, I'm just a neighbor, but, well, Nan has been staying with me."

The counselor looked at me with some surprise, then at Nan.

"He's a neighbor," Nancy said.

Loretta looked at me, I could see that she was making a decision. It passed through my mind that it was good I had shaved that morning and was wearing decent clothes.

"Ok." She turned to the desk across the room. "Paul, is there a room we can use."

He looked up, then turned and looked to the side. "I guess their all open," he said.

"Please let us in," Loretta said.

We were buzzed into the corridor that led deeper into the station, then went into a small interrogation room, table, four chairs, blank walls, a video camera high in one corner.

We were in there for about 20 minutes, there was a lot of chit-chat as Loretta tried to size me up and figure out exactly what the situation was-why a ten year old was living with a neighbor rather than with her family. She asked me for ID, about my trailer, whether I had a gun (yes, two, with trigger locks and the ammo in the garage), how old was my truck, did I have a dog.... She had seen a couple of my works around the area, one was in front of a local library, and she became a lot warmer after that.

--Where was Nan's father?-She'd never met him, thought he lived somewhere in Florida.

--Why was she with me?-Watching her after the fire.

--Did she have any family in the area?-No.

Then Loretta asked me to wait in the hallway, she wanted to talk to Nan alone. I was real nervous standing outside the closed door. I could only hear murmurings through the door. I only waited about five minutes before Loretta came out. She closed the door behind her.

"I'm going to see Nancy's mother. If she agrees we'll place her with you until the juvenile judge can decide." She paused. "She doesn't know, does she?"

"No."

"When I come back, we'll have to tell her." She looked at the closed door. "Her mom will probably never get out. She could get the death penalty."

"I know," I said. "This is really bad."

Loretta looked me straight in the face. "This isn't the first time I've seen Nancy. She's not had a happy life. Two years ago her teacher contacted us about her but we couldn't prove neglect."

"Now, I learn this, I feel like I've failed that child. I didn't know that Nan's mom was involved with the meth lab, otherwise the raid would have happened a long time ago. Brian Renald's been supplying the area with crystal meth for three years. He's probably responsible for half a dozen overdoses and two murders. If I'd known Nancy was living there...." For a moment a look of sadness, maybe even dispair, crossed her face.

"I'll tell you this much, she insists that she wants to be with you. My guess is that you're the first one to treat her like she's not a problem. I watched you two in there."

I looked at the door. "She wasn't happy at home. She's really opened up in the past couple of weeks. She always seemed so...depressed. Now, well, she's happier-at least until today. She's been hanging around the shop for as long as I've lived there. There really wasn't anything I could do other than give her a safe place. It's like, Christ, where else could a kid go?"

"You wait in there with her. I have to go see her mother and get her consent. Then we'll tell Nancy."

It took about half an hour before she came back. We didn't talk much, Nancy just stared at the table.

The door opened, startling us both, and Loretta cam in. She had a file with her.

"Nancy, your mother says you can stay with Mr. Johnson," she paused, looking sad, "but first, we have to tell you something..."

For the next two days, the only time Nancy wasn't crying was when she slept, and there was precious little of that. All I could do was hold her as she sobbed. Loretta tried to be gentle, but she didn't lie...Nan's mom would probably never come home again.

On the third day Loretta called, then arrived 45 minutes later with court papers for me to sign. In two weeks I'd have to appear in court, with Nancy. Loretta also told me, when we were outside, that Brian's bail had been set at $1 million, the judge had denied April bail.

I had to get back to work and I think the diversion helped Nancy as we finished up the heron, then started some fish.

Epilogue

Two weeks later, I was granted temporary custody of Nancy pending the outcome of the trial. She started fifth grade at the end of August and, a week later, when I met with her teacher, she commented that Nan was nothing like she had expected in her classroom. It seemed that, over the summer, the child had made a 180 and was now a pleasure to have in class.

In December, April was sentenced to life without parole for the murder of a police officer. Two months earlier, Brian had gotten 25 years on drug charges and felony aggravated assault.

A year later, in March, the adoption was finalized...she was now Nancy Johnson.

That's not to say that everything went wonderfully from then on-Nancy was a young lady with a lot on her shoulders and there was some acting out. More than once I got calls from the principal of her school. But, over time she moved from being one of the 'challenged home-life' students to a 'class leader.' At the middle school she was a cheer leader and volley ball jock. Now, at the high school, it's the JV squad and getting hard looks from the varsity coaches.

As for the other, let me just say that, as her life became more normal, so did the sleeping arrangements. After I would tell her to turn off the TV and do homework, she would go to her own bedroom-that was the way things should be.

I'll always cherish those short two weeks that we shared a bed but, Nancy needed to escape from her earlier life-and that was part of it.

Still, even now, after five years and a move to a house that I bought, she occasionally looks at me with a little smile and says, "I'm going to bed, are you turning in soon?" On those nights, when I do get to bed, there's a warm body waiting.