Grace Under Pressure

 

She let her mind wonder as she ran. Lost in her thoughts, she pushed herself. She realized the irony of it all. Grace. That was her name, and yet, she felt like she had none. Named for her grandmother, she had always felt like it was an impossibility to live up to. Overweight, she had recently begun to exercise and diet. If nothing else, she thought that she might LOOK more graceful if she wasn't carrying all this spare flab around. So she had begun walking. Then running. OK...maybe running was a bit of a stretch, but at least it was faster than her walking. Her husband had told her to wait for him to go with her, but she wanted to get this over with while it was still somewhat cool, and after all, he wouldn't be off work until 4, right in the middle of the heat. So she had gone alone. He didn't like that; had told her it wasn't safe, that she might get attacked...or worse. But she rationalized to herself that no one would bother HER ...why would they?
As she ran, she listened to an inspirational tape, one of those that they sold on late night TV to desperate listeners that needed someone to tell them that they could "do it". As hard as she tried to focus on the words of the speaker, all she could hear was her heart pounding and worried that she might have a heart attack out here alone and no one would know where she was...maybe she should have listened after all...
Hindsight being 20/20, she made up her mind to go home and heed the advice of her husband. She turned around and started back towards the parking area, bound and determined to try to listen better. As she ran, she felt a great relief within her. She KNEW that he didn't make arbitrary rules, that his rules were for her benefit and safety.
Only a half a mile to go. Unfortunately, she didn't have the stamina for the entire run, so she stopped to rest. The park that they ran in was beautiful, with walking paths and bike trails snaking through it. And every so often, one of those charming little "horse rails" that men used to tie their horses to in the "olden" days. Granted, they were only used as scenery and to keep people from driving into the parkways, but they were still very charming. She rested herself at one of these and tried to catch her breath.
She didn't hear the man approach. He was counting on that, having noticed her headset. Without saying a word, he put the knife to her throat. She gasped. He pushed her over the rail and pressed the tip of the knife a bit harder so that she would know he meant business and for her to not cause a scene. She froze, unable to move. He popped the earpiece out of her ear and spoke directly into it with a strong Spanish (?) accent. He told her to do as she was told and she would not be hurt, but that if she screamed or tried to run....well, he could NOT guarantee her safety.
He told her to put her head and shoulders between the rails of the guard, and to pull her arms back over the top from underneath the rail. She wondered at his strange instructions, but did exactly as she was told. As uncomfortable as the position was, she realized that it made it that much harder to make her get away if the possibility presented itself. Then he tied her hands to the rail and she understood. What she DIDN'T know was why? What could her possibly want with HER? She didn't have any money on her, and she wasn't the type of girl that stirred men to lust, so obviously it wasn't rape...what DID he want?
He covered her eyes with a cloth of some sort and then began to speak in an accent so strong that she could not really understand most of what he said. He began to pull her shorts down over her hips and thighs...She begged him to stop. He ignored her. She pleaded. He continued. She felt him rubbing himself against her backside and attempted to pull away, but that only hurt her arms. That was about the time she realized that she was not only TERRIFIED, she was horny...WHAT??? Where had THAT thought come from. She couldn't be. Her life was on the line and she was thinking about SEX???? She began sobbing, begging him to release her...he laughed...in his thick accent, she was only able to pick out three words...one of them was Grace. How had he known her name? She didn't even have any ID on her, he couldn't possibly know her name, unless....
She knew now why her husband had gone to work on his day off. He hadn't been scheduled...he had PLANNED this. He must have found out about her walking alone and decided to scare her into submission. It had just about worked. She grinned to herself. Two could play at that game....

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She began to beg and plead for him to take her. She began telling him how her husband just couldn't satisfy her and that HE, her captor, had everything she wanted...she laughed at her own cleverness. She moaned and wiggled. She ground her ass against his groin. Not that THAT was a lie, oh..she wanted it alright. And she knew the SECOND that he figured out that she knew it was him....That was the second that they dropped all pretenses and just began to FEEL. And she begged him in earnest to take her. To use her. To make her his. He slid into her and gave her what she wanted.

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Later, walking back to the car, with his juices still wet on her thighs, she realized that this wasn't over. She would still have to answer for running alone. She glanced sideways through her lashes at him as they walked..."so...are we good, then?" she asked.
He looked her straight in the eyes and replied..."Oh no...we aren't even CLOSE..."
She put her hand in his and whispered a silent prayer of thanks for the man by her side.