Chapter 39

It was late on a Saturday evening, and Cal was becoming concerned that Laura would never give up for the night. He had been hiding in her house for going on three hours, and boredom did not begin to describe what he had endured. At least on the many evenings spent in the blind, waiting for a chance to get some evidence, he could read, study, or talk to Cheryl part of the time.

This was the night it had to happen. Two weeks of school had already passed, and he just could not spend any more school nights in the blind. He and his parents had talked on several occasions about the timing, and they agreed that they could not delay any longer.

He had shown them the eight good pictures he had managed to get of Will striking or kicking her. Some of them were captures from video tape, so they were not nearly as crisp. Still, both Will and Laura were easily recognizable, and Will's action was unmistakable. Of course, the video clips themselves were carefully preserved.

Elaine had gone to pieces when he finally showed them the pictures. Her anger at her sister for the comments to Cal was forgotten on a flood of sympathy for Laura's plight. It was a good thing that Will was out of town that night, because Martin and Cal combined might not have been able to stop Elaine from killing her brother-in-law.

By agreement, Cal had not told his parents just what he was going to do to Laura. Only Cheryl knew in detail what he was thinking. In fact, he did not know, even as he hid in her house, just what he would do. It largely depended on how she responded to him.

As Martin had pointed out, it was essential to get through to Laura that her marriage was a disaster, and that her family was aware of just how bad it was. Laura was both proud and tough. Getting through to her might take humiliation to break her down. Cal had firmly determined that no pain would be used. She got more than enough of that from her asshole husband.

For himself, Cal needed to impress on Laura that despite his age, he knew very well how to please a woman. By demonstrating what Laura had been missing in her sex life, he could give her further reasons to dissolve her marriage.

As with any woman who marries into substantial money, Laura was under a pre-nuptial agreement. It was generous enough for her to live comfortably, but not in her current home close to her sister. Martin had paid for legal research that showed that pre-nups were generally invalidated or heavily modified by proven infidelity and/or physical abuse. That was why Cal spent so many hours in the blind.

Will would be gone for the whole weekend on another of his extended 'business trips'. Jolie was spending the weekend somewhere with her gang. Cal still had to shake his head over why Laura and Will could not do anything about the crowd their daughter hung with.

Jolie, a junior and a year younger than Cal, had all but moved out of home. He was not sure just where she slept or what she did for money, but from what he could tell, she spent more nights away from home than in her own bed. He had heard his mother telling Laura that they needed to employ some tough love to straighten Jolie out. The problem was that Laura would have to carry through on her own: Will had completely opted out of any discipline or guidance for their daughter.

So far, Jolie had been fortunate. She had not run afoul of the law, nor had she picked up any nasty diseases. In somewhat of a surprise, she had not jumped on either of the burgeoning fads of body piercings or tatoos. Her only concession to the fad was a navel ring, at least as far as Cal knew. He had heard talk of genital piercings, and maybe...

Jolie was attractive, but too thin, and she had adopted poor posture. Her face was very pretty and she could move with the same grace and poise that her mother and her aunt exhibited. Most of the time, though, she chose the female version of the gang swagger.

In another strange twist, Jolie's grades had not completely crumbled. Cal had always felt that she was in the same league as his sister Rebecca, intellectually. She could probably get Bs with little or no study.

Just as with Laura, Cal had once had a very good relationship with Jolie. Since she fell in with the wrong crowd, though, there was no relationship at all. Only rarely was Jolie involved in any family activity, and when she was, she said almost nothing to Cal. What she did say was usually sarcastic. That was why her warm welcome home to Cal a few weeks earlier was such a complete surprise.

Jolie's 'gang' was primarily made up of rich kids. They chased the latest fashions and the latest thrills with a passion. Most of them were bright and talented, and all were haughty and rebellious. A few were downright amoral. While they were not considered the 'royalty' of the school's society, they were well up the social scale. They were sort of the 'alternate royalty'. Most students envied them both their wealth and their willingness to rebel.

It was not Cal's nature to want to reform Jolie. He was more inclined to just observe. With Laura, he was righting a wrong against himself. Jolie's waywardness affected him only as it troubled his family. Certainly, he would have liked the old closeness he once had with his cousin, but he would not launch any kind of mission to make that happen.

Between an absent, abusive, and unfaithful husband and a wayward daughter, Cal found plenty of room for sympathy toward his aunt. Still, the ridicule had been so constant and so vicious that he had to respond. The sympathy was the reason he had chosen to show Laura that she was wrong, rather than just getting even.

From many nights watching from the blind, Cal knew that Laura almost always showered before bed, and he hoped that she would not break her pattern that night. Having her fresh and clean would definitely be preferable, but her state of hygiene would not alter his plan.

From his hiding place in the basement, he finally heard the shower in the main floor master suite start up and he breathed a sigh of relief. The whole scenario worked so much better that way. At the same time, a wave of nervousness and uncertainty nearly drove him from the house.

Despite her attacks on him, he did love Laura. There were an awful lot of good things to remember from his early years, a time when Laura seemed to understand him better than did his parents. He wished he could stifle the anger he felt toward her now, and he felt guilty about it. But he could no longer just shrug it off; it had become more frequent and more biting lately. He suspected it was because things between her and Will had deteriorated even further, and that gave him something more than just revenge and ego as a motive for what he was about to do.

Once he was sure that the noise in the pipes was really the shower, he hurried up the stairs to the main floor. He stopped in the hallway to turn the thermostat up several degrees, then moved into the bedroom, making sure that she was already in the shower. From the gym bag he carried, he pulled a jumbo towel and spread it on the bed. Then, he set two bottles on a folded hand towel atop the nightstand. Lastly, he pulled out four lengths of soft rope and set the bag on the far side of the bed from the bathroom.

The next part required careful timing. He stood so that he could barely see in the mirror the area where she would stand to dry herself. He was as completely hidden as he could be, believing there was no chance that she would see him. From his own experience, he believed in the 'sixth sense' phenomenon and was a little concerned that she might somehow 'feel' his presence. There was little he could do about that possibility.

One thing he did not know was whether she would wash her hair in the shower. That was the ideal situation, and he lucked out. Another stroke of luck was the heat lamp in the ceiling that was turned on. Between that and the steam from the shower, the open bathroom was very warm. When the shower was turned off, Cal saw a bath towel pulled from the top of the shower door into the shower enclosure where she obviously intended to dry herself where it was warmest. The next question was whether she would emerge naked or with the towel wrapped around herself.

Things were going very well, as Laura stepped naked from the shower, using the bath towel to dry her hair. She set it down and reached for a second towel to get her hair more dry, and that gave Cal the ideal opportunity. When she had both hands rubbing her hair and the towel over her eyes, he stepped back to the hallway door of the bedroom. He had thought this part through very carefully. There was no way he could avoid startling her, but he did not want her terrified.

"Laura," he called out. "Are you in here? It's Cal."

"Cal!? What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"Can I come in?" he called, ignoring her queries.

"No! Wait!" I just got out of the shower. I... EEEEK!!" At that point, she saw him standing in the archway of the bathroom and frantically tried to cover herself with the towel she had been using on her hair. "Cal! You get out of here, right now!! What do you think you're doing?"

A touch of hysteria crept into her voice and Cal had decided beforehand that his best tactic if that happened was to remain motionless and silent. He would not, however, look away, and he barely restrained laughter as she fumbled with the towel, frantically trying to cover both chest and crotch. The funniest part was that she stayed facing him instead of turning her back to him.

Cal thoroughly enjoyed his first close, unobstructed views of his aunt's private bits as first one, then the other was exposed as she struggled with the towel. Of course, he was not unfamiliar with her body, given her penchant for very brief bikinis around their respective pools. In fact, in the last year when her hazing of him had been going on, it seemed that she had gone out of her way to flaunt her body even more outrageously. And a very nice body it was, too.

Like Cal's mother and sister and cousin, Laura had a tall, slender build. She bordered on thin and awkward, but her natural grace of movement and ultra-feminine all-over padding more than compensated. She had enough breasts, hips, and ass to make her a bikini designer's dream. Of the four, only his cousin Jolie had adopted any of the tall girl slouch. Laura always stood erect and proud. In fact, Cal always thought that she went out of her way to project her medium-sized but very firm breasts. She was not able to display the crevasse-like cleavage that a heavily-endowed woman could, but they were always very apparent, no matter what she wore.

Though he was not skilled at guessing numbers, Cal was impressed by his aunt's small waist and surprisingly flat tummy. There was just a little too much rib showing through for the truly sleek look, but he knew she was proud of her trim physique. Cal's mother often commented on her sister's penchant for teenage-style bared-midriff attire. More than once, Cal had heard Laura retort "If you've got it, flaunt it." Elaine had it, too. She was just lacking Laura's exhibitionist streak.

Laura's crotch was not quite bare, but close. That was no surprise, since the string bikini she had worn the last time at the Banners' pool just managed to cover her labia. Any surrounding hair would have stuck out the sides. In fact, Cal vividly remembered the time when Laura had been sitting at the patio table, chatting and drinking. Her legs had been spread, and the narrow crotch covering of her suit had pulled to one side, exposing one lip completely. Another time on the same day, the whole strip had folded together and all but disappeared in her cleft. On both of those occasions, Cal had been the only person positioned to see her display, and he was quite sure it had all been intentional. Given the fact that she had thrown out three nasty comments about his sexuality that same day, he had been more than a little confused about her motivation.

About the time he was evaluating her previously 'unseen' parts, it occurred to her to turn around, and he was treated to a view of her very nice bottom. Cal had never thought it necessary to classify himself as a tit man, a leg man, or an ass man. Had he done so, Laura's firm, unbelievably smooth cheeks might have swayed him toward the latter category. In her string bikini, Laura had shown Cal her bare ass many times. Now, though, it was somehow more erotic.

Having spent a lot of time appraising all of the women, Cal was particularly impressed with how well Laura's parts fit together. Her narrow waist made her slender hips seem more pronounced, and her wide, proud shoulders made her waist seem impossibly small. The bottoms of her ass cheeks tucked under smoothly as they flowed into her surprisingly generous thighs. Those thighs tapered nicely to her knees. From her knees down, she was perhaps a little too thin, but meticulous grooming compensated nicely. As with most tall women, her feet were not dainty, but they were nicely formed and again, her natural grace of movement prevented undo attention to their length.

Cal's musings were brief, and no sooner had Laura turned when she realized her new exposure and tried to move the towel to cover her backside. Just as she got the towel in place, she glanced up and saw him staring at her now-exposed front in the mirror.

It was at this point that anger set in for Laura. She managed to get the towel wrapped around herself in typical after-bath fashion and spun around to glare at her nephew. "What do you think you are doing, Cal?" she spat out. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're going to be in? What are you, some kind of Peeping Tom, now?" He almost winced as he heard the same tone of derision from her that had driven him to this point.

Deciding it was still best to let her vent for a while, he remained quiet, motionless, and expressionless. "Look, you get out of here right now, and I'll forget anything happened, OK?" He still did not react. After staring at him for several seconds, she asked "What is this? Some kind of revenge?"

"Whatever would I want revenge for?" he asked softly.

"Maybe because you can't take my teasing and you think you need to get even?"

"Teasing? Is that what you call it?"

"Of course it's teasing. Don't be so sensitive!"

"I could have written it off as teasing at first," he told her, "but it kept getting more and more vicious. When you purposely ridiculed Cheryl so she could hear it, it went way beyond teasing. That was just plain mean."

"She wasn't supposed to hear that. I didn't mean for..."

"Don't bother to lie. That was the most obvious stage whisper I've ever heard. The whole family knows it, too," he cut her off.

"But..."

"ENOUGH!!" he snapped. "Here's what is going to happen tonight. Just shut up and listen." As her jaw fell in astonishment, he explained. "Tonight, you are going to get an education." She immediately started to speak and he cut her off. "For years, we had a great relationship. For some reason, you decided you didn't want that any more."

"But I never..."

That was as far as she got. "I said shut up and listen!" he shouted, causing her to recoil in shock and a little fear. "I believe I am perfectly justified in exacting some pretty nasty revenge, but I am not going to do that. I believe I know why you turned mean, but we're not even going to talk about that right now." For the first time, her face reflected some sadness, and a little moisture gathered in her eyes as he went on.

"I will be going away next spring, and as things are now, you will forever think I am a sexually repressed wimp, and I will believe you have turned into a hateful bitch." When she made as if to speak, he cut her off quickly, and unmistakable tears began to form.

"Now, I am going to demonstrate to you just how wrong you are about me," he told her, "and give you a chance to persuade me that I am wrong about you."

"How... ?" she started to ask.

"Don't!" he ordered. "I am going to do it by doing some very nice things to and for you; by making you feel very, very good. I am going to make you feel things that I don't believe you have ever felt before."

"But we can't... !" she tried again to speak.

"While I do this, I will keep my pants on. I will not rape you. In fact, I very much want you to submit willingly to what I am going to do. But make no mistake, I am going to do it."

"Cal, you can't just..."

"Yes, I can. You know I am strong enough to make you do anything I want. If you do not submit willingly, I will use these," and he pulled the four lengths of rope from the back of his waistband. "Once you are restrained, I will start with a spanking, and it will not be a gentle one. That would be too bad for what I would like to do."

"Cal, please!" she pled tearfully, "you can't do this! I'm sorry if you took it wrong. I didn't mean..."

"Not good enough!" he said sharply. "You don't say things that mean and that often without believing something. I am going to prove you wrong. Now, will you let me please you willingly, or... ?" and he held up the ropes.

He saw her shiver as she looked at the ropes, and he knew that they held real terror for her. Silently, he pled with her not to make him do what Will must have done. She didn't make him. "Wh... what do you want me to do?" she whimpered.

"Good. First, get rid of the towel. I am going to see and touch every inch of you for the next few hours, so get used to it."

"You're WHAT!!??" she shouted in alarm.

"I said I was going to make you feel very good. What did you think I meant?" he asked.

"B... but you said you wouldn't... that your pants..."

"I meant that?"

"Then how can you make me... ?"

"That will be part of the education, Laura. You see, you are the one with the limited sexual knowledge and experience, not me."

"Listen! I've been married for seventeen years. Will is..."

"Will is a cave man!" Cal cut her off. "He only knows brutality and cave man sex. That's all you know." Her face reddened and she started to protest, but he stopped her once again. Simply by holding up the ropes, he was able to make her wilt. After looking at him tearfully for many seconds, she dropped the towel and stared at him with tearful but defiant eyes.

"Good. Do you need to use the toilet?" She shook her head slightly. "Ah. Peed in the shower, huh?" he asked with a flash of inspiration. It somehow occurred to him that he had not heard the toilet flush before the shower started. Her face turned bright red as he held out his hand to her. Both of hers were covering up and she had to decide which to surrender. She chose her crotch and extended that hand shakily toward him.

When their hands touched, he stood right where he was and told her "Laura, I really want to get back to what we used to have between us. Maybe you think this is a strange way to do it, but it is the only way for me. Contrary to what you may think, I have an ego, and you have battered it badly." Without saying any more, he led her to the bed and had her lie face down on the big towel.

As a therapeutic masseur, Cal would have made a good busboy. But the many sensual massages he had given Teri and Tessa and Cheryl had made him quite good at that. Coupled with the complete newness to Laura, the impact was immediate. When she first lay down, she was still embarrassed over her nakedness and upset at the accusations he had made: accusations she knew to be sadly correct. Her mind was in turmoil as she questioned for the umpteenth time just why she had harassed him as she had. Her skin, especially on her bare bottom, felt like it was burning and crawling from his gaze. The urge to jump up and dash away was almost overwhelming. She was held in place by the knowledge of his strength, the surprising determination he had exhibited, and the deep-seated conviction that she deserved whatever he chose to do to her.

Cal warmed some oil between his hands and spread it carefully over the tops of her shoulders. When she flinched, he held his hands still and spoke softly in her ear. The feel of his bare legs against hers startled her when he climbed up and straddled her thighs. Just as she was about to object, she felt fabric against the back of her legs and knew that he had kept his pants on as he had promised. Part of her brain wondered why that was so important to her.

Over the next several minutes, Cal spread oil and rubbed lightly over her upper back. He saw some discolored areas and went very softly over them. When he increased the pressure slightly, she winced as he touched a couple of spots. "I'm trying to avoid the ones I can see," he said quietly. "Let me know if there are some spots that hurt but don't show."

"Hurt? Why would I hurt?" she tried to bluff.

"Laura, I know," he told her.

"Know what? What are you talking about?" she asked, sounding desperate.

That was a decision point. He had the pictures ready to show her, but he sensed that they would not have the proper effect right then. She knew she was under his control and that she had to submit, but she was by no means broken. For the moment, he dropped the subject of her bruises.

Nothing more was said and he worked his way slowly down her back. As he reached her waist, he felt her tense up. He got up from straddling her legs and began working on her feet, toe by toe. As he moved up her calves and to her thighs, he purposely pushed her legs farther apart. When he felt her start to resist, he spoke her name gently. After a pause, she relaxed a little. The more he worked on her thighs, the more she relaxed, and the more he could smell evidence of arousal.

When he moved up onto her buttocks, they hardened at first and he had to gentle her with words and strokes. He spent a very long time working her bottom before she entered the relaxed, almost dreamlike state he wanted. So far, there had been nothing overtly sexual, but it was time to change that.

After everything that she had said over the last year, it was hard for Cal to feel the old affection for her, but it was easier than he thought to kiss her ear tenderly and whisper to her "Laura, things are going to get intimate now." When she sucked in her breath and stiffened, he went on. "It's going to happen. It will feel very good if you let it. I want it to feel good for you. Just relax and enjoy, please." The fact that her worst humiliation of the evening was coming up he did not mention. He felt somewhat guilty for only telling her he was going to make her feel good.