Sharrie and Dawn are my own creations and should not be used without my permission. The Sentinel characters are owned etc. by Pet Fly, Inc.

Summary: James spends time with Sharrie.
Warning: Underage relationship. James is in high school.

This story is a sequel to: The Voice of Reason

Sharrie rolled over and floated on her back, the muscles in her arms and legs quivering slightly from the exertion of swimming twenty-five laps. After several minutes, she shifted her weight and allowed her feet to touch down on the bottom of the pool. Slicking back her wet hair, Sharrie turned and found herself staring into the curious eyes of James Ellison. The teen sat with his legs dangling in the water.

"Hello?"

"Your woman doesn't like me very much."

Sharrie walked toward the teenager. "My woman has a name."

James leaned back on his hands, proudly displaying his swimsuit clad package of manhood. "Dawn," he spit out, "does not like me."

Ignoring the teenager, Sharrie climbed out of the pool and grabbed for the towel she had earlier tossed across one of the nearby chairs. Drying off, she examined James, noticing the nervous twitch in his jaw.

"Dawn likes you. It just happens that she likes Simon more."

James squinted up at the afternoon sun. "If she likes me, why did she try to talk Simon into tossing me out on my ass this morning?"

Sharrie slipped a t-shirt on. "Is that what you thought she was doing?"

"Yeah." The teen plucked several blades of grass free and tossed them in the air.

"What makes you think that?" The magazine editor took a seat on the chair nearest to James.

Rolling his eyes, James glanced at the older woman. "She basically told Simon I wasn't worth keeping around because I'm one..." the teen ticked off Dawn's complaints. "... too young, two... ready to chase after each and every ass that shakes its dick at me and three... unable to handle loving an older guy who's blind and black."

"Are you?" Sharrie slipped on her sunglasses.

"Huh?" James stopped splashing his legs in the pool and turned to face his female companion.

"Are you these things Dawn claims you are? Are you too young?"

James puffed out his chest. "Hell no! I'm in the prime of my life. It's Simon who she really needs to worry about. He might be too old to keep up with me."

Sharrie turned her head to the side, hiding the smile that came with the image of Rooster James Ellison strutting his stuff. She cleared the giggles away with a cough. "Maybe you should make sure Simon takes his vitamins."

"Yeah. Good idea." A wicked smile appeared on the teen's face. "Maybe I should include a healthy dose of Viagara, too. Gotta keep his Big Boy saluting."

Sharrie nearly choked on her laughter. Grabbing her water bottle, she took several swallows of the cool liquid. "Thank you, James. That picture is now permanently fixed in my mind."

The teenager snickered. "My man is definitely hung."

"Back to the subject at hand."

James grinned. "Oh... my hand's been on the subject. Been on it quite a few times."

"James!" Sharrie squirted the football player with water.

"Okay, okay." James swung his legs out of the pool and scooted closer to Sharrie's chair. He played with the hem of her t-shirt for several seconds before looking up. "Continuing on... am I gonna chase after dick?" The boy shook his head vehemently. "Only if it's Simon's."

Sharrie allowed the comment to pass. "All right. What about her last claim? Not being able to handle loving Simon because he's blind and black?"

James waved his hand in the air. "Him being black means nothing to me. I'm not in love with his skin color."

The editor probed deeper. "What about Simon's blindness? Does that bother you?"

"It was hard at first." James ducked his head.

"Why was that?"

The football player picked a piece of grass off Sharrie's t-shirt. "The touching. Since he can't see me, he touches me a lot."

Sharrie frowned, confused. "The touching?"

James drew his legs up and wrapped his arms around his knees, the sharing of feelings making him feel a little uncomfortable. "Him touching me... I'm not used to that."

Sharrie took a moment to examine the protective posture the teen had assumed. "When you say touching, do you mean intimately?"

The teenager hid his face, his words barely audible. "No... yes... all of it. I'm not... nobody's ever wanted to touch me like Simon does... like he cares." Like he loves me when nobody else does, James thought.

A painful sadness lanced through Sharrie's heart. "What about your parents? I'm sure your mom hugged and kissed on you."

James looked over at the older woman, his blue eyes shadowed, unhappy childhood memories crowding his mind. "Mom left us when we were little."

"Us?"

"Me and Stevie, my brother."

Sharrie reached out and brushed her hand over the teen's sandy blonde hair. "Oh, James. I'm so sorry."

Blocking out the image of his mother's empty rocking chair, James closed his eyes, his voice again dropping into a whisper. "One day she was there; the next she was gone. No note, no nothing." He wiped his face against his arm, the pain of that long ago loss still haunting his heart. "And she's never been back."

The teen sighed heavily. "It really hurt Stevie."

And you too. Sharrie gripped the teen's shoulder. "What about your Dad?" The muscles under her hand turned to stone.

"My father is a first class bastard and I'd rather not talk about him." A patch of grass was angrily ripped free.

Sharrie pulled back in surprise upon hearing the dangerous tone of James' voice. The youth's words literally dripped with hatred and the older woman couldn't help but wonder about the relationship between father and son. A quick look at James' closed features and Sharrie decided to bench that specific topic and move on.

"Tell me about Stevie."

It was a few seconds before James chuckled, a genuine smile transforming his somber features. "Stevie's three years younger than me and if I may say so, he's a pretty good kid. In fact, he just made the junior high school swim team."

"I take it, you're very proud of your little brother?" Sharrie smiled.

"Yeah. It's really only me and him. And Sally, our housekeeper. The three Musketeers."

Sharrie noticed Senior Ellison had been left out of the equation. "What does Stevie think about you and Simon?"

James blushed slightly. "I haven't told him yet. Stevie's still having trouble understanding why I like dick and not pussy."

"He has a problem with you being gay?"

The teen pursed his lips and thought for a second. "I don't think so but then, we really haven't talked about it. I like guys and if Stevie doesn't think that's cool... well... I guess it's something I'll have to live with." Just like I've learned to live without... the teen shook his head, forcing back the gloomy thoughts.

James turned to Sharrie, a mischievous glint appearing in his eyes. "Why do you like pussy?"

"Because I don't like dick?" The woman's look said...duh!

The high school student laughed, the sound boisterously happy. "I like you, Sharrie Davis." Falling on to his back, James smiled up at the slightly plump woman. "But seriously, why do you prefer pussy over dick? And why Dawn?"

Sharrie patted the teen on his thigh. "Men do absolutely nothing for me. Leaves me absolutely cold. But women... " A secret smile teased a corner of the woman's mouth. "I've been attracted to women since I was in high school."

"But why?" James pushed for more information.

Sharrie ran a hand through her short, chestnut colored hair. "It's hard to explain. Besides the obvious... the softness, the curves, I like tangling with the female mind. Love embracing a woman's heart, her emotions. It's an experience I really can't explain to you, James. I just know I like talking with them, spending time with them and..." Sharrie pinched the teen. "... making love to them."

James made a face and stuck out his tongue at his afternoon companion. "But why Dawn? Speak of the devil..." He cocked his head toward the approaching woman.

Sharrie smiled at her mate and the small child she carried. "Now, I know my woman, as you put it, is not perfect." The editor ignored the muttered Amen. "And there are some days when Dawn drives me up the wall. But if I had to say why I love her... I'd say it's because she's everything I want in a life partner. She's intelligent, caring, gentle and, most important of all, she loves my daughter."

James flipped over on his stomach. "Daughter? That's your daughter?" The teen watched as the two women kissed deeply. "I didn't know you had a daughter. Hell, I just found out that you two are living in the caretaker's house down the hill."

"Been there for about two years now." Sharrie took possession of her wiggly daughter. Brushing back the child's blonde curls, she made the introductions. "James, this is Chloe, my wicked, wicked daughter." A raspberry was blown on the toddler's belly. "Chloe, meet James."

Fascinated with the small child, James scrambled to his knees and held out a finger. Chloe latched on to the offered digit and brought it to her mouth, smiling happily as she sucked noisily on it.

"Is she hungry?" The football player scooted closer.

Dawn settled down behind Sharrie on the pool chair. "She better not be! I just got finished feeding Miss Porky Pig."

The redhead searched out her lover's hand and gave it a tender kiss. Lifting an eyebrow, she silently questioned James' presence. The older woman mouthed later and Dawn nodded her understanding.

The teen leaned forward and touched the child's hair with his free hand. "She's really cute. What are you gonna do about getting her a father?"

Dawn smiled at her lover. "She doesn't need a father... she has both of us."

Freeing his finger, James frowned at the slobbery mess Chloe had gifted him with. "What about her having a manly influence in her life?"

Sharrie snorted. "You volunteering?"

The toddler tumbled off her mother's lap and fell straight into James' arms. The two stared at each other for several seconds. Finally, Chloe patted the youth on his chin, snuggled closer and promptly went to sleep.

James grinned at the two women. "Hey! I gotta idea. Me and Simon can be her fathers." The teen buried his nose in the small child's curls. "Yep. That's it! You be her mothers and we'll be her fathers."

Dawn watched as the teen rocked her stepdaughter back and forth. Sharing a knowing look with her partner, she laughed, "Heaven help us. We're in for it now."

The end

End Work of Desire, Chapter 6 by Angelise: angelise7@hotmail.com

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Disclaimer: The Sentinel is owned etc. by Pet Fly, Inc. These pages and the stories on them are not meant to infringe on, nor are they endorsed by, Pet Fly, Inc. and Paramount.