Chapter 9

It was still dark. And silent. It felt like about four A.M. Elaine was lying on her stomach. She couldn't see the alarm clock, but she didn't want to know the time. One hand was between her legs, but it wasn't moving. It was... reassuring. She wasn't really aware of it.

Remembering the fleeting images she'd dreamed, she put them together in her mind. Gary had picked her up after college. He was waiting for her, leaning on some nondescript sports car. He'd embraced her and she'd melted. His hands had stolen down to her ass to squeeze the firm, supple flesh concealed under her mini. Just before they'd kissed, he'd realised her predicament. He made a big show out of being surprised she wasn't wearing knickers.

Then he'd spanked her in broad daylight. Right in the college parking lot.

Elaine squirmed on her fingers, remembering how he'd arranged her, leaning on the hood of his car, pushing out her ass. Students walked by saying things that embarrassed her to the core. He'd spanked her for being such a naughty girl; for not wearing panties with such a short skirt. Laughing and shaking his head, Gary had tormented her for accepting such a stupid bet in the first place, while onlookers encouraged him to spank her more.

In her dreams, Elaine had adjusted her stance, presenting her ass provocatively, just as he'd told her to do. He hadn't spanked her hard. But he'd loudly announced that he'd stop if she didn't tell him how hot her cunt was. She admitted it without hesitation and a girl in the crowd called her a slut as Gary started spanking her again.

In her dreams.

She'd woken a number of times during the dreams, breaking the seemingly continuous events into shorter segments that made little sense at the time. In those vignettes, Gary's eyes kept appearing.

Over and over.

Smiling.

Mocking.

Fleeting glimpses and long stares.

Making her cream her fucking cunt. That's what he'd said to her as he'd smacked her ass.

'I bet you are creaming your fucking cunt.'

She wished he hadn't used those words. She knew Gary to be masterful and tasteful rather than foul-mouthed. She didn't know how he would act with her... how he'd be with her. Elaine's body flushed at the memory of his words. Only he hadn't said them. It wasn't Gary mocking her about her wet pussy.

She had conjured the words, and the admission made her press her fingers gently into her opening, immediately confirming its wetness.

It was ME who wanted to hear those nasty words. I dreamt them. I made him say them.

God... I'm so bad.

She groaned softly as her fingers slid in deeper, grazing her clit.

Catching herself in the act, she froze.

From between her legs she brought her hand up to her mouth. Without thinking she slid the wet fingers between her lips. She could hardly believe it. She was sucking her fingers of her own volition. They didn't taste bad. Not sweet. Kind of savoury. She had the thought that they tasted like sex.

She wanted sex.

She wanted the intimacy... And the skin... She wanted the tastes and the smells... The feel of a body, desiring hers... Confirmed with words, limbs tangled and slick with perspiration... Breaths urgent... Nails... Muscle...

Her ears were hot.

Sucking gently, her mind wandered back to Gary's words. The words she had dreamed. They were there, released within the padded cell of her unconscious mind.

'I bet you are creaming your fucking cunt.'

Freud would have had a field day.

By the time her alarm sounded, Elaine had been slipping in and out of consciousness for what felt like hours. She was in no mood to move, let alone get out of bed. Her dreams were so real they resulted in actual and persistent excitement, not just a fleeting twinge of pleasure. For the first time in a long time she considered calling in sick. Her body was alive and on edge. She kept thinking about the parking lot.

She couldn't help it.

Dragging herself to the bathroom, she hoped she'd feel better after a shower and fortunately she did. She even managed to tidy up her little Mohawk, finding to her relief that she could keep her thoughts in check if she had something else to think about. Like getting ready for work.

A cup of coffee and I'll be fine.

Ten minutes later her roommates joined her in the kitchen. Chelsea yawned and stretched, almost revealing her sex as her nightie, which was almost see-through anyway, rode up. "Mmmmm. Who wants coffee?"

"No thanks," said Elaine.

"Make mine a double," Kendra said, looking Elaine up and down. "You're so conscientious, Elaine."

Elaine rolled her eyes. "Is that leftover spaghetti okay for tonight?"

"Sure," Kendra said, narrowing her eyes. "I hope you don't have panties on under there."

Elaine glanced down at her nicely creased black work pants. She shook her head and finished the last of her coffee. "I don't have time for this. I've gotta go."

"I think I see a panty line."

"You do not, and you know it."

"Show me then. And show me your bag. I don't want you cheating and putting panties on after you've left."

Elaine sighed. "Whatever." Undoing the button, she unzipped the front halfway and worked the pants down her hips a little, then turned sideways and pulled one side a lot further down, revealing almost the whole right cheek of her ass. Elaine felt bold and her breath caught as she asked, "S... Satisfied?"

"Ah, sure," said Kendra, quickly closing Elaine's bag and handing it to back to her. "You better get going."

While walking down the stairs outside the apartment, Elaine thought it was getting easier to expose herself to her roommates. At first it had been almost impossible. But each time it was getting easier. It was almost fun. A bit weird. But kind of fun all the same.

Then she had a horrific thought that stopped her in her tracks.

"Oh, my God!"

Shaking uncontrollably, she opened the backpack in her arms and there, shoved down beside a couple of her textbooks, was the crushed colourful plastic wrapping from her new sex toys. "No!" she whimpered in a strangled scream, shoving the bag closed and fumbling with the zipper. "Dammit. Fuck!"

Elaine's legs felt like jelly, but she moved them slowly, one after the other and the feeling in them slowly returned. She walked quickly down the last of the stairs blushing like crazy. And the worst thing was, her pussy was soaked!

Maybe I'm imagining it. Maybe she didn't see. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

Walking gingerly across the quadrangle, Elaine headed for the bus stop. She watched a bus leave while she was stuck on the other side of the road. They came every ten minutes so she wasn't concerned.

She had a thought. For a minute or two she'd be alone. Spying a dumpster, she ran over and quickly emptied her bag of the incriminating evidence.

Her day was not going well.

And of course every bump and vibration of the bus seemed multiplied by ten. By the time she'd reached her stop, Elaine felt like a quivering mass of warm wet goo. She was glad her skirt was black. On unsteady legs, she trudged into the glass building and rode up the elevator. First stop: the restroom.

Thankfully work was uneventful and she managed to calm down. Everyone including Elaine was very busy, and she managed to go most of the morning without thinking about what Kendra may or may not have seen. By the time she was on the bus home again, she felt almost normal.

With palpable relief, Elaine entered a silent apartment. She quickly changed into the clothes she'd laid out on her bed, donning her trusty black skirt, saving a t-shirt and going with the black and white halter. Before either of her roommates could arrive home, she'd headed off to class.

She dreaded seeing her roommates. As the day wore on, Elaine thought more and more about Kendra going through her bag. It was like the Gestapo or something. Elaine wouldn't have done it. Not even as a joke. It was just... rude.

This bet WAS just for fun... right?

It was during one of her classes that Elaine started getting angry. Checking was fine, she decided, but going through her bag was not. This whole 'not wearing underwear' thing was just a harmless prank, and if no one cheated, then no one was getting a Brazilian, and no one was streaking the damned staircase. Going through her bag was an invasion of privacy that was out of proportion to the bet. She had to say something. And besides, if Kendra was already bald, then what kind of a threat was a Brazilian? That wasn't fair.

Elaine hung out in the library, postponing going home for as long as she could.

Late in the day she hauled her body up the stairs to her apartment and quietly opened the front door. The music system was on, which didn't bode well, but after dumping her bag and heading for the kitchen she found the apartment was empty. The note on the table said the girls had gone to the gym and would be home by six.

After setting the table and microwaving the spaghetti sauce until it was no longer frozen, Elaine took fresh pasta out, ready to boil. The girls came home within minutes but they were strangely quiet and retired straight to their rooms. A moment later Chelsea came out again, turned off the music system and flopped on the sofa, switching on the T.V.

Elaine stood in the kitchen doorway. "How was the gym?"

"It was okay," said Chelsea, channel surfing.

Elaine knew when Chelsea wasn't in the mood to talk. "Spaghetti can be ready in fifteen minutes if you're hungry."

"Yeah, starving."

Clad only in a towel, Kendra appeared in the lounge room entranceway. "Do I have time for a shower?"

"Sure," said Elaine. "Is fifteen minutes okay?"

"Perfect. Thanks. God, I'm so hungry I could eat our defensive line," Kendra said, winking at Elaine. Chelsea giggled but kept watching the television. MTV was on. Kendra headed to the bathroom with an over-the-top toss of her hair that Elaine thought was pretty funny.

She's acting weird, Elaine thought, an uncertain smile on her face. She shook her head and turned back to the kitchen. Maybe I'm being overly sensitive... Maybe going through my bag wasn't such a big deal. Ugh. She should have just trusted me.

Elaine's face was a fragile mask of determination as she broke the spaghetti in two and added it to the now boiling water.

If I don't say anything, I could double whammy her. She would have to hold out on hassling me about my new toys, and I might get a chance to nail her with knickers in that over-shoulder bag she always takes to class. I BET that's what she's doing...

As she stirred the spaghetti and reheated the sauce, Elaine saw a glimmer of victory and it made her smile. At the very least she could just keep her mouth shut and see if Kendra said anything. Kendra would probably wait until tomorrow night before she got desperate. Hmmmm, thought Elaine. Or, she might even try it again in the morning, thinking it's a good distraction.

No. She's not that stupid. It might have been an 'all or nothing' move. Elaine grinned with renewed optimism. We'll see...

Just as she'd suspected, dinner was fine. No snide comments, no knowing looks. Just as though Kendra hadn't seen a thing. Which was probably what she hoped Elaine thought. Probably.

Argh! Maybe I'm just imagining it!

Kendra even offered to wash up again, but for some reason Chelsea insisted.

"Okay," Kendra said. "Well, I'm going to watch T.V. with a good book." She rolled her eyes. Elaine figured she meant a boring textbook. "Oh, and I'll get pizza tomorrow night. My treat."

"Cool," said Chelsea. "I want one from that new place, what's it called? Slammin' salami?"

"Tony's Pepperoni, you dill," Kendra teased, giggling.

"Oh, yeah," Chelsea said, blushing as Elaine and Kendra cracked up.

"You're too much, Chelsea," said Kendra. "I better fix you up with Dale again."

"Noooooo!"

Elaine smiled all the way down the hall to her room. She even smiled all the way back to the bathroom and all through her shower. And when she turned on her computer and relaxed in front of it, she was still smiling. She was so glad there was no drama.

Her day had been so stressful. She felt like she could have gone to bed and slept all night. But she wanted to talk to Gary. Elaine needed something to... something for...

She couldn't put her finger on the words she was trying to express. It was like she needed a holiday from her stressful reality.

Elaine was instantly excited by the discovery of an email from him. Just seeing his name on the email sent ripples of pleasure across her skin. She clicked it open and read his words, her smile returning.