Ronnie was not the type of girl that was ever forward with any man. In fact, she thought she might prefer being with a lady after all the times men had hurt her. When the abuse starts at home you tend to find other options. It wasn't just her father. He had a whole slew of drunken friends that thought diddling a little girl was acceptable. She left Salt Lake City at 17 and ended up in the middle of nowhere Utah. Just trying to run away from a past that seemed to follow her everywhere, the emotional scars were evident in every part of her personality. She ended up near Red Canyon. The area was beautiful, but the town she was in was a dive. The only work she could find was at a little restaurant/bar called the Luna Mesa and it had pretty much become her home. The old man, Walter, that owned the place was more like a father to her than her own. He was like a father should be. He never tried to touch her and the few times the local men had tried, he gave them a look that said if you do anything, I'll kill you.

For all the thoughts she had about going "to the other side", there was one guy in town that had always intrigued her. Mac was spectacular to look at until he smiled. But even then, she felt she could overlook his teeth. Mac had a wonderfully sculpted body. Nothing too overdone, but every time he reached for something she would try and catch a glimpse of his arms and the curvature in each muscle. It made her feel bad being attracted to him. Every man that had been in her life to that point had hurt her and somehow she knew Mac would be no different, yet he was the only man she had ever actually been sexually attracted to. Sometimes when he'd tell her something, he'd lean in close. When she would feel his breath on her neck immediately goose bumps would rise up on her arms and every once in a while it would make her nipples hard. She was sure Mac never noticed. He was always nice to her when he came in to the Mesa, likely because Walter had made it so clear no one was allowed to mess with her. There were always outsiders though - people who drove in to explore the Canyon - those men didn't know the rules.

This was one of those nights Ronnie would rather be home, wrapped in a blanket. The rain had been coming down off and on for days, which was rare in the Canyon but welcome all the same. What made it bad was all the tourists would flock to find shelter and the Mesa was it. There really wasn't anything else around. Three men walked in looking like the typical preppy hikers that frequented the area. You could tell they ate Clif Bars and only wore North Face clothing when they were out so they looked the part of a nature-loving backpacker. The reality was they just came out to the desert because they could get shit-faced drunk and smoke weed without getting the run around from the local law enforcement. Ronnie approached them to take their order and caught a whiff of booze - these three had already had a fun day.

"What can I get for you gentleman tonight?" she asked in her normal shy voice.

One of the men looked up at her. "You can get me some of you, cutie pie." He reached out to touch her backside, but she shifted quickly enough for him to get the picture.

"Drinks only, tonight boys. Or there is the storm outside." Sometimes when she spoke up for herself she felt stronger, but there was always the moment of hesitation waiting to see how the person would react. Thankfully tonight, these men did not seem to be interested in fighting for a piece of ass. Ronnie took their drink order and sauntered to Walter for him to fill it. Looking over her left shoulder she saw Mac walk in and sit at the far end of the bar. Her heart jumped a little seeing him. She felt her cheeks go flush and she immediately looked down at her serving tray. What the hell was that?

"Your drinks, Veronica." she heard Walter's raspy voice grumble at her. Snapping out of her contemplation she smiled at him and took the drinks to the three men then found ways to keep herself busy so she didn't have to look at Mac again. She could feel his presence like a pressure on her shoulders and for a moment she felt a deep urge to just go talk to him, but resisted. He was a man and no matter how nice he had been in the past there were rumors around town about drugs and women. She wasn't in to drugs and knew that was the reason he had messed up teeth. She was certainly not into entertaining the idea of being with a guy that had a harem. Though, as she processed that she could not recall any local women ever saying they had been in a relationship with him.

As she took the men their third round, the frisky man that had called her cutie pie decided to have another go. He reached out, this time quicker than her and grabbed a handful of ass. Immediately her defenses went up. She shoved the man, not meaning to use so much force but he fell back in his chair and spilled on to the floor. His friends started laughing and teasing him about being knocked down by a girl. Walter and Mac were both watching at the bar waiting to see how the situation would unfold.

"You bitch!" The man yelled as he pulled himself to his feet. "You don't fucking push me!" He lunged at Ronnie, her heart starting to race and all she heard was her father's voice. Come on, Ronnie. Be a good girl for Daddy. In a state of shock, thinking of that bastard old man that used to touch her and fondle her, she paid no attention as the man slapped her across the face. Her skin burning as his hand connected with her cheek, she stumbled back lip bleeding. With all the alacrity of a spry young man Walter was around the counter with his shotgun and pointing it and the guy within seconds. The man put his hands up; trying to demonstrate he knew he'd crossed a line.

"You leave my bar," croaked his grisly voice. Walter slowly shifted the shotgun in an attempt to show he would not hesitate to use it.

The man looked at his buddies. "Come on, let's leave this dump. Ain't no poon worth all this." The three stood and went to walk out, Mr. Gropey-Hands nudging Ronnie with his shoulder as he walked past. She stumbled backward coming back to reality in time to steady herself. She could feel herself wanting to cry, but held back her tears. Ronnie couldn't help but look over at Mac. He had sat there and watched the whole thing go down and had done nothing. It was too much to ask there was any real charm in him outside of those crystal-like eyes that could pierce your soul with a glance.

As the three men approached the door, Mac stood and walked over, opening the rusty screen for them. "I'll be seeing ya." He said in his mellow tone, cracking a smile and revealing his horrible meth mouth. The men all have looks of disgust and started laughing. Mac scowled and just continued to hold open the door. Ronnie could hear the men laughing and mocking Mac as they exited on to the porch.

Mac looked over at Walter. The old man walked back around the counter and stashed his shotgun. "Veronica, you okay honey?" His voice always sounded grouchy, yet he always said nice things to her. The fact that he would call her honey and then not cop a feel made her completely comfortable around him.

Ronnie brought her hand up to her lip and could taste the coppery blood. "I'll be okay. I'm sorry about that. He was getting fresh. I... he..." she started fumbling her words as the moment started sinking in. What was it going to take to just live her life with a man trying to get into her pants? And it seemed the one guy she would be willing was not actually interested.

"It's alright darlin'. Let's just call it a night. How about I have Mac here give you a ride home. I can't have you waking in the rain." Walter gave Mac a look that said she better make it home safe. Mac just nodded and put the whiskey bottle back behind the bar.

Ronnie looked over at Mac who was drinking what would be his last shot for the night. Again she could feel that pressure building. The nervous energy you get when you're 10 and you have a schoolyard crush. How is it she could even feel remotely attracted to this man? Ronnie gave a slight grin and walked behind the bar, head down to grab her bag. As she walked back around and toward the door, she saw Mac shoot Walter another look but kept her head down.

The air outside was crisp. The rain was coming down good and there was sure to be flash flooding in the area. The puddles just off the porch had been growing all day and formed a bit of a lake where the parking lot used to be. Ronnie looked over at Mac and shivered a bit. She was only wearing jeans and a plain white t-shirt, no jacket because the weather had been so unpredictable over the past few weeks.

"Come on then, girl. I ain't got all night." Mac waived her toward his crappy old red pick-up. He headed toward the driver's side, stepping out into Lake Luna Mesa without complaint. Ronnie stood there for a moment and then stepped out from under the meager protection the porch covering offered. Instantly she was soaked. She looked down at her shirt and could see her bra. Wonderful. All I need tonight is for Mac to see my stupid body react once to something he says. As she tried the door to the truck it was locked. She could see Mac looking at her through the window as the dirt and grime washed off the roof making strange patterns on their way down. Almost a full thirty seconds later, he leaned over and unlocked the door.

"Thank you," she said climbing in to the cab. "Sorry about getting your truck all wet."

"It's alright, Ronnie. It ain't getting any fucking cleaner in this weather. I like the wet anyway." He glanced at her and smiled and somehow she was not as uncomfortable with it as she thought she would be. Most times when men hit on her or attempted to use subtle innuendos she would just lock right up and want nothing to do with them. Mac was different. Was it just because he was so sexy? Honestly, she had not put much thought in to other men and things she would and wouldn't like in them, but the idea of experiencing consensual sex – and especially with Mac – was something she had thought about since she started working at the Luna Mesa.

You know he's an angry man. The little voice in her head started to kick in. Was he an angry man? She had seen him fight with men plenty of times, but other than the rumors she had never seen him beating on a girl and he had certainly not ever been mean to her. They hardly, if ever, saw each other away from the Luna Mesa. Maybe she was jumping the gun. Being abused growing up did not have to mean she could not enjoy sex now. Somehow she knew she had to get that thought out of her mind. Ronnie glanced at Mac as he focused on the road.

"I am soaked. I look like one of those girls in a wet t-shirt contest." She giggled uncomfortably.

Mac took his eyes off the road and she could feel the truck slow a little. He scowled at her with an intensity that made her heart jump again. "Your titties aren't big enough for one of those contests. You'd lose." He turned and faced the road again and the truck picked back up its forward momentum.

Ronnie sat there for a moment, feeling rotten inside. Why did she even try? She was no good at it - just a broken girl and no way to repair the damage. The truck pulled into what should have been a driveway, but all the houses out here seemed to have no landscaping or architecture outside. Just lots of red dirt, sand and maybe a few bushes or trees. She sat there for a minute wanting to say something to him about his comment, but couldn't think of anything that didn't sound juvenile. As she got out, she heard his door open and turned.

"Thank you for the ride, Mac," as she turned to walk into her house.

"That's it? Man gives you a ride home and you only say 'thank you'? You gotta be fucking kidding me." Mac sounded angry but she thought maybe she sensed hurt in his voice.

"What else would you want?" The nerves took control again and she felt the shiver move up her spine.

Mac stepped closer to her and grabbed her hips, pulling her close to him. She could feel him getting hard and for the first time she felt okay with a man hitting on her. The man at the bar had only wanted a little action. Why was that so bad and Mac okay? As her body started to tingle she instinctively gyrated closer towards him, giving her invite. He leaned in to kiss her and as his tongue filled her mouth suddenly she felt unsure what to do. Sex had always been a bad thing or a forced thing. She wanted him, but she just didn't know how to make love to a guy. Ronnie tried kissing back, following Mac's lead but became very self-aware that she was not doing a very good job of keeping him turned on.

Mac pulled away from her. "Damn girl. You a virgin or something? Don't you know what you're doing?" When he growled at her like that she probably should have seen all sorts of red flags, but they were just not flying. She wanted to be with Mac and was praying he would not care about her inexperience.

Ronnie let out an awkward chuckle, "No, I'm not a virgin. I just… I have never…" She stopped. She didn't know what to say to him. He obviously had more experience than her and now she was just the naïve little girl that was horny and didn't know how to go about getting any.

Mac grunted. She could tell he was trying to figure it out, but wasn't putting the pieces together. "So do you wanna fuck, or not?" he grumbled. Ronnie gently nodded and grabbed his hand, leading him inside. Mac glanced at Ronnie's cherub ass as he followed her and decided it would be worth at least some of his time. And he wasted none once they got in to her living room. He scooped her up forcing her legs around him and started to kiss her again. The fact that she was clueless really meant nothing to him. He was going to get what he wanted out of it regardless.

Ronnie was incredibly turned on and tried to just go with the flow. Mac wasn't stopping so she must be doing something right. He slammed her down on the couch and peeled her shoes and jeans off. She started to take off her t-shirt, but before she could Mac had his knife out. Ronnie froze, but Mac just reached over and cut the bottom end enough to get a tear going, then ripped her shirt off. He lay on top of her and she could feel his hand unbuckling his own pants. Once his dick was lying on her thigh and she could feel a slow throb she knew she was doing the right thing. He reached his hand down inside her panties and she moaned with approval as his fingers started exploring. When he stopped she opened her eyes to see him licking his fingertips. "You taste good. You're mine." He sat up and grabbed his knife again, cutting her panties and bra from her.

There was a remote fear niggling in the back of Ronnie's mind, but at this point she just wanted Mac inside her. She wanted to know what it felt like. He started to thrust into her and the overwhelming feeling of awe spilled over her. Somehow it hurt and felt good simultaneously. She grunted and moaned and rocked in line with his motions and with every sound of satisfaction he made it only made her get more into it. The moment of joy would not last though.

Mac grabbed her wrists and threw her hands up over her head. She was still enjoying herself as his tongue ran across her nipples, making them rock hard. It only made him thrust harder and each time she felt like she was going to explode. She could feel him biting her and that didn't bother her either. It was the moment he let out the slow, breathy sentence, "Cum for daddy" that ended all the fun. Ronnie felt that sickly feeling immediately and started to close her legs, but Mac wasn't having it. She started writhing, trying to break free from his grip, but it only turned Mac on more. Twisting her wrists away from his large hands, he figured out she was actually trying to get him to stop. Then came the cries of 'No' and the tears. For Mac, it meant nothing. He was ready to go and this bitch was not going to stop that. He placed one hand on her shoulder and grabbed her inner thigh with the other hand, pinning her down and keeping her legs spread enough to finish the job.

His grip was tight and as he continued on, ignoring her pleas. She could feel his fingertips digging in to her shoulders as her tears puddled under her neck. Part of her wanted to go back to the moment before he spoke. The level of pleasure had been immense. Mac wasn't going to stop and he still kept hitting the right spot inside that made her want to move with him. She focused on his face for a moment. He was so wrapped up in the pleasure he had no clue he had even done anything wrong, she thought. She reached her arm up around his neck and pulled him closer to her so she could feel his bare skin on hers. He only seemed to like that more and continued until that moment of climax. She felt her whole body shake and quiver, his hand squeezing her thigh to the point of bruising she was sure. It didn't matter. All the bad times, she had never experience that part - that moment.

Mac sat up and started to pull his pants up. He didn't say anything as he looked around for his shirt. Ronnie lay there trying to figure out what she should do next. When Mac stood and headed for the door, Ronnie felt a wave of hurt. "You're not going to stay?" she asked sweetly.

"Fuck no. Thanks for the ride though." He walked out and she could hear him get into his truck and drive off. Somehow, Mac leaving the way he did and as quickly as he did ended up not hurting so bad. She lay there naked and alone thinking about what had just happened. She said no but he kept on going. Some would call that rape, but she just knew deep down, he didn't stop because he really wanted her. She would have to wait to find out if that were true the next time he came into the bar.