A Hot Summer at Sarah's Hause 02

Author's note: First, a warning! This is a very detailed story about consensual sex between adults. If you're prudish or underage, please don't read any further. If you enjoy erotic entertainment, you should definitely read on.

Please forgive that I'm no friend of the crude language found in many of the stories here. You won't find the "c" word in my writing, nor will you find women reduced to submissive objects. If you're into stories like these, you'll find plenty to choose from in the various categories. Even though eroticism plays a central role in my story, you shouldn't be bothered by the fact that there is also a little bit of a plot beyond sex.

If you don't mind these limitations, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading Michelle's erotic adventures as much as I enjoyed writing them!

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A HOT SUMMER AT SARAH'S HOUSE

Chapter 2

Delicate Delivery Service

Sarah didn't know how long her niece had been sleeping in her arms. Michelle's breathing was calm and regular. She lay there like an innocent little child. At least, that's how it appeared to the observer, because after all, they couldn't read Michelle's dreams, which at that moment were anything but innocent. Sarah carefully pulled her arm out from under Michelle, making sure not to wake her. The sun had long since set, and a pleasant, warm summer breeze blew through the open balcony door. Sarah reached for the thin blanket at the foot of the bed and gently spread it over Michelle. Despite all her caution, the movement of the blanket on Michelle's bare skin was enough to awaken her from her reverie. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around the darkness of the room.

"And I just thought I was having a wonderful dream. But it was all real!"

"You can bet it was real, my sweetheart and it still is. And I can assure you that it's a wonderful reality," Sarah whispered directly into michelle's ear, brushing a strand of hair from her niece's face.

Sarah tenderly took her niece in her arms and kissed her forehead. She savored the moment of intimacy between her and Michelle, just as she enjoyed feeling her bare skin against hers. It would surely be an eventful two weeks, in which they would experience many more wonderful things together. She brushed aside the thought that her boyfriend would soon interrupt their wonderful time together for a few days and was already pondering whether she should perhaps even share her bed with him and her niece. She had a very open relationship with her boyfriend and could well imagine that Harold might even be the perfect guy for Michelle to experience her first time with. And as far as the bed was concerned, it was definitely big enough for the three of them to sleep in. There would be absolutely no need for Michelle to move upstairs to the attic. The thought somehow appealed to her, but she didn't pursue it any further, because at that moment, all that mattered was the wonderful feeling of holding Michelle in her arms.

"Tell me my sweetheart, are you hungry?"

"Of course!" Michelle replied. "I could even eat half a turkey right now!"

"I can't help you with that, but what do you think about ordering us a pizza?"

"Oh yes, pizza would be great. I'd love to share such a big family pizza with you like we used to order last summer!"

"Quattro Statgioni?"

"Quattro Statgioni!" Michelle confirmed with a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

Sarah pulled her cell phone out from under the bed and dialed the number of her favorite Italian restaurant, which she knew by heart.

"Si?" a somewhat grumpy voice answered on the other end.

"Hello, I'd like a family sized Quattro Stagioni. Could you deliver this to my house?"

"But bella Signorina, don't you know what time it is? I was just about to turn off the oven, because it's already after eleven!"

"Oh, please, please make an exception for one of your most loyal customers!" Sarah tried to persuade him.

"I have to ask Mario, my son, if he can still deliver."

She heard him call loudly for his son and gathered from the passionate Italian discussion she couldn't understand that his son was obviously completely not amused about delivering another pizza at this hour. After a few loud Italian curses, the voice on the other end of the line answered again.

"Alora va bene Signorina, Mario's coming with your pizza in fifteen minutes!"

Sarah thanked him, gave him the address, ended the call, and snuggled back under the covers with Michelle. They lay there without talking for a while, listening to the silence, until Michelle was the first to speak again.

"Tell me, Sarah, after what was so nice earlier, I can't imagine ever wanting to try it with a man."

"For God's sake, Michelle, you've got no idea what nonsense you're talking! That would be like reading "The Little Witch" as a small child and then believing that "Harry Potter" couldn't be any more exciting! One day, hopefully not too far in the future, you'll realize that there's nothing better than being filled by a really well-built man's cock and riding it! There is simply nothing more intense than when two lovers merge into one, and beleive me, this works best when one of them has got a penis and the other has got a vagina."

"Well, I don't know if I'd find that so great. I just can't imagine that a man could make me feel more intensely than you did today."

"Just let yourself be surprised by what life brings. If you find the right guy and especially if you're in the right mood, there's nothing hotter than sex with a man! Besides, licking a penis is much more exciting than licking a pussy."

"Are you kidding? Nothing can be more exciting than what you let me feel this afternoon!" Michelle protested vigorously.

"Well, just wait until you feel a twitching cock in your mouth for the first time as it gives you its full load of cum as a gift!"

"As a gift? What the hell is supposed tob e a gift about that?"

"Look, what greater recognition could there be for a woman during sex than when a man completely surrenders himself to her and she lets him come in her mouth? Well, maybe apart from the fact that she really wants to get pregnant and would rather have that delicious cum squirted against her cervix."

"Delicious? Are you kidding?"

"A little unusual, perhaps, but when I'm really horny for a man, I know of nothing hotter than feeling that tangy, slightly salty taste on my tongue. Not to mention, cum is nothing more than high-quality protein. In fact, it's the best energy food you can imagine!"

Michelle listened in amazement to her aunt's words. Until now, she always thought her parents had given her comprehensive information, but now she was given a much more detailed insight. It almost seemed to her as if her parents had only told her about bees and flowers. She was just about to ask something when she suddenly heard a motorcycle coming up the driveway. Seconds later, the doorbell rang.

Sarah leaped out of bed, hurried down the stairs, and grabbed her purse, which was lying on the sideboard in the hallway. She had almost opened the door when she suddenly realized she was still stark naked. She turned on her heel in a flash, ran all the way back up the stairs, and grabbed the first blouse she could find in her closet. She hastily rolled up her sleeves and tried, as best she could, to pull the thin fabric of her blouse closed at the front to at least partially cover her nakedness. The fabric wasn't too long and therefore only barely covered her pubic area.

When she opened the door, Mario was standing in front of her. In one hand, he held the oversized pizza, in the other a bottle of red wine, which at this pizzeria is always included as a bonus with a family pizza order. He was a pleasant-looking boy, almost a head taller than Sarah and tanned. Dark curls and dark eyes, just what you'd imagine a stereotypical Italian to look like. Sarah couldn't guess his age but as he drove a motorcycle he should at least be eighteen, even though his childish face didn't let him look older than sixteen, seventeen at the most, but Italians often look much younger than they actually are.

"Please come in!" Sarah invited the boy.

Embarrassed, he stepped into the hallway. He was visibly feeling uncomfortable to be standing in front of a half-naked woman who didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that her blouse barely covered her clean-shaven pubic mound.

Sarah reached into her wallet and was about to pull out a 20-euro note when a coin fell to the floor, hit the floorboards, and landed right between Mario's feet. Sarah bent down to pick up the coin, unable to prevent her blouse from gaping open, revealing her breasts. As she picked up the coin, her gaze fell on the growing bulge beginning to show in Mario's pants. The sight gave her a spontaneous idea.

"Tell me, have you actually eaten anything yourself yet? This pizza is so huge, I'm sure I can't finish it with my sweet niece alone! Besides, you deserve a reward for cutting your evening off short and I'd be delighted if would be our guest!"

"I don't know," Mario stammered, somewhat embarrassed.

"Come on, please do me the favor!" Sarah added, slipping Mario a 5-euro bill as an extra tip.

"And that's for being so kind as to carry my things upstairs."

Sarah gave Mario her most charming smile, which no man had ever been able to resist. She knew exactly what effect she had on men, and she shamelessly used this knowledge to put her daring plan into action.

"All right," Mario agreed, following Sarah up the stairs.

Of course, Sarah made sure to get a head start. She smiled at the thought that this would definitely give him the best view of everything that decent girls would normally hide with their blouses. But she wanted to be anything but a decent girl that night, and this decision was made the very moment she noticed the more than promising bulge in Mario's pants!

"Look, Michelle, I've invited us a charming young man to dinner!" she called from the top of the stairs, before she and her guest had even reached the bedroom. Secretly, she already saw the charming young man lying in her bed as dessert.

Michelle managed to pull the covers over her chest just in time as Sarah entered the room with Mario.

"May I introduce you, this is Michelle," she turned to Mario, pointing to her niece, who looked surprised, the covers pulled up to her chin.

"And this handsome young man is Mario. He was kind enough to accept my invitation to dinner. The two of us wouldn't have been able to manage the pizza and wine on our own anyway, right, Michelle?"

With a wink, she smiled at her and sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.

"Come on, Mario, just sit down on the bed with us. We don't have any chairs here. But first, please take off your shoes and socks!"

She took the pizza and the bottle of wine from him and placed them both on the bed. Mario took off his shoes and socks and was about to sit down on the bed when Sarah abruptly stopped him.

"Wait, take off your pants too!"

Sarah pointed to Mario's oil-stained right trouser leg, which must have obviously come into contact with his motorcycle's chain.

"I don't want any oil stains on the freshly made bed. I hope you understand?"

Mario looked a little embarrassed and didn't know what to do. The situation was obviously more than uncomfortable for him.

"Come on, take them off! Or aren't you wearing anything underneath?" Sarah continued.

"Yes, but..." Mario looked embarrassed and couldn't get another word out.

"Okay," Sarah tried to defuse the situation, "then I'll give you a kimono to put on if you're embarrassed to sit with us in your shorts. We'll look the other way while you change."

She fished for the red silk kimono hanging on the hook behind the door and tossed it to Mario, who now had no excuse not to take off his pants.

"Michelle, be a nice girl and look away so the young man can change!"

Michelle and Sarah discreetly turned away from Mario, leaving him with no choice but to comply with Sarah's request.

"Okay, you can turn around again," said Mario after throwing on the shiny red garment.

"Great, then let's get to it before the pizza gets cold. Come on, Mario, sit down with us."

Mario sat down on the edge of the bed and took a large slice of pizza from Sarah. Michelle had to make a real effort not to burst out laughing, because Mario really did look too funny in the feminine style kimono. Somehow she felt sorry for him. She sensed how embarrassed he was by the whole situation and how desperately he was searching for a way out of it. The longer she looked at him, however, the more she liked him. He seemed genuinely nice and likeable. Michelle gave him a friendly wink, earning a shy smile from him.

Sarah also noticed that Mario hadn't completely thawed out yet.

"Come on, you're sitting there like you're about to leave. Please sit down on the bed with us!"

Once again, she gave him her sweetest smile, so Mario had no choice but to comply. This, however, resulted in his kimono gaping wide open, revealing the magnificent erection visible through his boxer shorts.

Sarah, who didn't miss even the smallest, and in this case, even the largest, detail, of course immediately noticed what had developed between Mario's legs. Only Michelle didn't notice, as she was far too preoccupied with her pizza. The toppings threatened to fall off to the left and right, which required her full concentration. So, Sarah discreetly nudged her with the tip of her foot to get her attention. Michelle looked at her questioningly and at first didn't understand the strange signs Sarah was making. Sarah repeatedly pointed between her legs, rolled her eyes, and then looked at Mario's crotch. It took a while for Michelle to finally understand and notice the huge bulge between Mario's legs. Her eyes opened wide and she almost choked on her pizza. She struggled to suppress a cry of surprise, which Mario thankfully didn't notice, as he was looking toward the pizza box and taking another slice.

Sarah cast meaningful glances at Michelle. Once again, Michelle was confused and didn't understand what Sarah was trying to tell her. She looked questioningly at her aunt, but the many question marks in her gaze earned her just as many exclamation marks, accompanied by an inviting wink.

"You don't mind if we drink the wine from the bottle, do you?" Sarah turned to Mario and Michelle again.

Since they both shook their heads, she reached for the bottle and opened the screw cap. Luckily, the bottle wasn't corked, because in this case she would have had to get a corkscrew first. This allowed her to stay in bed and continue directing the play she was planning to stage.

"Tell me, Mario, do you actually have a girlfriend?"

She looked questioningly at her counterpart with a winning smile. Mario hurried to swallow the bite so as not to have to answer with his mouth full.

"No, unfortunately not."

"But you've probably had a girlfriend before, right?"

Mario shook his head in embarrassment. Sarah handed him the wine, and he took a long swig before passing the bottle to Michelle.

"What, such an attractive young man and not a single girlfriend yet?"

Sarah shook her head in disbelief and gave Michelle a meaningful look.

She handed Mario the wine again and noted with approval that he took another long swig. The bottle went around again and was barely half full when Sarah picked up the thread again.

"How come you've never had a girlfriend? The way you look, girls should be running after you in droves, right?"

"I wish I knew for myself. I can't tell you! I somehow never dare to approach the girls I like. And by the time I finally get over it, they've already been picked up by someone else."

"Well, at least you're not gay! You're not gay, are you?"

"No, of course not!"

"Oh, I'm glad to hear that, and it's very reassuring. You don't give me the impression that you're gay either."

"Why? How do you want to see that?"

"Well, there are certain physical signs that can tell whether men are happy when they sit opposite a pretty, scantily clad woman," Sarah answered deliberately ambiguously.

Mario, visibly nervous, took another long swig from the bottle Sarah had handed him, ignoring Sarah's allusion. He probably didn't understand its meaning anyway, because his attention at that moment seemed more focused on Sarah's gaping blouse.

"Tell me, do you actually think Michelle is pretty?"

"Yes, very pretty!" Mario replied, embarrassed but sincere, before taking the next long swig from the bottle.

"And do you think I'm pretty too?" Sarah wanted to know, leaning forward slightly so that her breasts were now fully visible.

"You're very pretty too," came the reply, a little less embarrassed this time.

The wine seemed to be slowly taking effect. At least Mario was starting to thaw. He was also no longer constantly avoiding Sarah and Michelle's gaze. Sarah slid closer to Mario, placed her hand on his thigh, and was pleased that he didn't shy away from her as she had initially feared.

"Have you ever seen a woman naked?" she asked directly, moving her hand slightly up his thigh.

Despite the effect of the wine, Mario seemed to be becoming embarrassed again, not least because of Sarah's hand on his thigh.

"Yes, I have. On the internet. And on TV," he added after a brief pause.

"I mean really, almost within reach?" Sarah replied.

Without waiting for Mario's answer, she slowly moved her hand further up his thigh and suddenly, with a lightning-fast movement, pulled away the covers that had just been protectively covering Michelle's nakedness. Michelle was completely taken by surprise and didn't have a chance to prevent it.

At first, Michelle was completely speechless, but quickly recovered. Normally, her first instinct would have been to protest loudly. However, the atmosphere in Sarah's bedroom was so erotically charged that, to her own surprise, she didn't feel at all uncomfortable with her suddenly exposed nakedness. Sarah's question-and-answer game, and especially Mario's visible reaction to it, had already turned her on considerably, so she willingly played along. She was even bold enough to support the plot by pulling one of her legs up and spreading it outward, giving the completely astonished Mario an unobstructed view of her exposed privates. Not even twenty-four hours earlier, she would never have dreamed of showing herself so shamelessly in front of a young man she didn't even know at all.

Mario was so speechless that Sarah took advantage of the moment of surprise to slip her hand through the open fly into his shorts in a quick movement and grasp his erect cock.

"I knew you couldn't possibly be gay. Otherwise, your cock wouldn't be so hard and big in my hand. Obviously, you like what you see. At least, this magnificent cock seems to like it!" Sarah whispered into Mario's ear as she ran her hand up and down the throbbing shaft in slow, pumping motions.

"Do you like this, or should I rather stop?" she demanded of the boy. Unable to answer, he just sat there, staring, electrified, between Michelle's provocatively spread thighs, beads of sweat on his forehead.

"So I should rather stop?" Sarah persisted.

Only now did Mario seem to awaken from his trance. He looked Sarah in the eyes with a mixture of shame, despair, and lust.

"No, please don't stop," he begged, breathing heavily.

"Okay, then I won't stop. But I'd also really like to see with my own eyes what's hidden in your shorts. Michelle, please help me free this magnificent cock from these shorts!"

Sarah pulled her hand back and gently but firmly pushed Mario into the pillow. He let this happen without resistance, resigned to his fate. At first, Michelle hesitated, but then she straightened up and approached the two of them. With trembling hands, she reached for the waistband and slowly pulled the shorts down, piece by piece. Sarah pushed the erect penis down, allowing Michelle to pull the pants down over him without hindrance. As soon as his pants were down, Mario's manhood stood up to its full height before the astonished eyes of the two.

"My God, how beautiful he is!" Michelle exclaimed with genuine admiration. "And how big!"

"I guess quite a bit above average!" Sarah estimated, cupping the erect cock with her hand again.

"At least it's bigger than the ones my classmates have got" Mario explained moaning, letting his head sink back as Sarah slowly pulled back the foreskin, exposing the sensitive glans, and gently stroked it with her fingers.

"All the better! And pretty thick, too. I can barely wrap my hand around it!"

Sarah spotted the precum oozing from the urethra and picked it up with her index finger.

"Here, have a taste, sweetheart!"

She held out her index finger to Michelle, who curiously licked it, savoring the taste.

"It really tastes kind of unique!"

"Yes, you're right. This is actually precum."

"Precum?"

"Yes. It's the fluid that comes out of the glans to make it nice and slippery so it can penetrate the woman's vagina more easily. Just like we get wet for the same reason when we're aroused. It's not comparable to sperm but still delicious in its own way. There's nothing that compares to the taste of cum. But just wait and see what's to come!"

With these words, she approached the glans, licking the sensitive membrane on the underside a few times before pausing briefly to turn to Michelle.

"Look here," she said, pointing her finger at Mario's frenulum, "this is the spot on their cock where most men really love to be touched!"

Michelle watched closely as Sarah tenderly licked the small bulge at the base of the glans repeatedly with her tongue, before then licking up and down the entire shaft several times. When she reached the top, she repeatedly licked the glans until she finally took it all into her mouth.

Fascinated, Michelle watched the spectacle and found herself reaching between her thighs with her fingers, searching for her clitoris. She quickly found what she was looking for and began to moan softly, never taking her eyes off Sarah and Mario. From the corner of her eye, Sarah watched Michelle pleasure herself while her lips tightly wrapped around Mario's penis.

"Come on, give it a try, you'll love it. And I can take care of you in the meantime!"

Sarah stepped back and made way for Michelle, who, with a pounding heart, awaited a completely new experience. She had never believed she could even feel any desire for this. But now, almost reverently, she reached out her hand to the erect penis that was already eagerly awaiting her touch. It felt hard and warm, yet somehow soft and vulnerable at the same time. She looked at the protruding veins that were clearly visible and shimmered blue through the skin. She carefully placed her hand around this beautiful phallus, trying to gauge its diameter and imagining how it would feel if it penetrated her. Surely it would fill her completely, but perhaps it wouldn't even fit at all! Oh my God, did she actually just think about that? Sahra's words suddenly resurfaced in her mind. "One day, hopefully not too far in the future, you'll realize that there's nothing better than being filled by a really well-built man's cock and riding it!"

The thought of how it would feel to take that big cock inside her made Michelle feel really warm and she felt herself getting not just moist, but downright wet! Lost in thought, she ran her hand up and down Mario's shaft. Only now did her gaze fall on his testicles, which seemed to move almost imperceptibly in their enclosure. As she gently stroked them with her fingertips, Mario couldn't suppress a longing moan any longer, so she lingered a little longer, caressing those two mysterious little balls, which she immediately took to her heart. So this is what it felt like to touch a man in his most intimate region! Michelle wondered if Mario was feeling the same pleasure that Sarah had given her several times this afternoon?

Michelle thought back to the afternoon when Sarah had brought her to orgasm several times with her tongue. At the same time, she had Sarah's shaved pussy in front of her eyes again, which she had licked so passionately with her tongue that Sarah, too, had experienced multiple orgasms. It was definitely most intense with the tongue, she thought, and wondered if the same was true for Mario. After all, Sarah had also licked this penis with her tongue, so that even the purple head of the penis was still glistening with her saliva. Didn't Sarah claim that licking a penis is much more exciting than licking a pussy?

Michelle decided to find out the answer to this question herself. Curious, she stuck out her tongue. The touch of her tongue on the swollen glans felt amazingly good. Just as she had copied Sarah's example, she explored the entire length of the penis with her tongue, repeatedly running it up and down, feeling the different contours and textures, sometimes firm and sometimes soft, sometimes smooth and sometimes textured, sliding beneath her tongue. Apparently, Mario had some particularly sensitive spots on his penis, because every time she ran her tongue over the fold of skin beneath his glans, he moaned audibly with obvious pleasure.

Mario's moans inspired Michelle, and so she licked his frenulum with particular intensity until she could no longer bear to find out the answer to the most important question she asked herself: How would it feel and what would it taste like if she took Mario's glans completely into her mouth and drew his semen from this impressive cock?

At the same moment as she gently ran her lips over the sensitive glans, she noticed Sarah's finger slowly stroking down between her buttocks, approaching her pussy. As the finger gently ran over her anus, lingering there for a moment with small, circular movements, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up completely thrilled. She almost released Mario's glans from her mouth. But the finger continued its journey undeterred, only seconds later to plunge deep into her vagina, dripping wet with desire.

For a brief moment, Michelle was distracted, concentrating more on the finger in her vagina than on the tip of Mario's penis between her lips. She felt the finger disappearing again and again into the depths, stimulating the wonderfully sensitive underside of her clitoris and her G-Spot on its way back, only to immediately disappear back into her vagina. Secretly, she wished Sarah would sink a second or even third finger inside her, but she trusted that Sarah knew exactly how to give her the most wonderful sensations!

Michelle internalized the rhythm of the finger steadily penetrating her and tried to take it over with her lips, which she had now placed back over Mario's glans. Again and again, her lips slid over the glans, over the rim, down a bit along the shaft, and then back up again. Bit by bit, she took the penis into her mouth until almost half of it disappeared deep into her throat. She couldn't go any deeper, nor did she want to, because the first attempt to take it any deeper triggered a gag reflex that she only managed to suppress with difficulty. Besides, she found it much more enjoyable to lick Mario's glans with her tongue, which was no longer possible once it was deep in her throat. So she used her hand for the remaining part that her mouth couldn't manage. With pumping movements, she repeatedly moved up and down the shaft, for which Mario thanked her with gurgling sounds and increasingly loud moans. Luckily, she still remembered the porn she had secretly watched some time ago, so she knew roughly how to synchronize her hand and her lips on Mario's erection.

The young Italian raised his pelvis towards her more and more impetuously, his breathing becoming more and more labored. Michelle was pleased by Mario's obviously increasing excitement, as his reaction made her understand that she was obviously doing a good job. Michelle didn't need any experience with men to sense that Mario's orgasm was imminent. She was practically anticipating the moment when he would release his semen into her mouth, giving her his precious juice as a gift, as Sarah had called it. She was already mentally preparing for the moment of ejaculation when she suddenly felt Sarah's wet finger withdraw from her, travel back up through the crack between her buttocks, stop at her rosette, and plunge slickly into her anus. There, it immediately resumed the rhythm it had held just seconds before in her vagina.

Michelle almost thought her pelvic floor would rupture as a fulminant anal orgasm rocked her pelvic region. This orgasm hit her so suddenly, so unexpectedly, and with such force that she wanted to scream out loud. But to do that, she would have had to release Mario's cock from her mouth, and she absolutely didn't want to do that, as she expected him to ejaculate at any moment. She didn't want to miss this moment for anything in the world, because Sarah's words echoed in her ears that this was the greatest gift a man could give a woman. Until the eagerly awaited ejaculation, she wouldn't let anything or anyone deter her from satisfying her curiosity to taste this semen!

And her efforts were about to be rewarded! And how they were! With a loud groan, Mario arched beneath her. Cascades of hot cum shot from his glans, pouring into Michelle's mouth, filling it more and more with his life-giving protein, so powerful that some of it dripped from the corners of her mouth and caught in Mario's pubic hair. Greedily, Michelle took in as much as she could until she had sucked every last drop from the pulsating and twitching glans, and Mario's penis slipped from her lips after what felt like endless sucking and licking.

Michelle still had Mario's cum in her mouth, but resisted the temptation to swallow it straight away to savor its taste even longer.

Very carefully, Sarah let her finger slide out of Michelle's anus again. She wrapped both arms around her niece and hugged her as if to say, "Well done, I'm proud of you!"

Michelle straightened up, knelt, and turned to Sarah. They both sought and found each other's lips, which opened to share the precious elixir of life.

To be continued...

Author's Note: Your votes are appreciated and even more are your comments. Receiving personal feedback from my readers is a great honor for me and more or less the recognition for the time I have spent on this project. If my story resonates with you as much as I hope, I will publish another part every week. The next chapters are already finished and only need proofreading by my wife, without whom I would not have written this story at all!