Chapter 8: Strengthening the Bond

The next morning Emily still wasn't feeling well and we spent most of the day in bed watching selections from the resort's collection of movies-on-demand. As Emily cuddled next to me, I could feel the sexual tension building. Aside from an occasional lingering touch and a little extra pampering, I doubt Emily noticed I was slowly building up her arousal. Her mildly queasy stomach and swollen arm were very distracting.

One of the recommendations for stingray stings is to soak them in hot water. With the ocean temperature in the mid-eighties Emily claimed it was hot enough to help, and both of the times we went down to the beach to 'soak her arm' she wore skimpy bikinis that became nearly translucent when wet.

I wanted to take things slow. I was still subtly correcting Emily's attitude and didn't want to rush things as, for the first time, we actually relaxed and enjoyed hanging out together.

The next morning, Monday, we decided to start the week off right with a quick dip in the ocean. I could tell Emily was feeling better as she started to consciously flirt with me. Emily's bikinis became briefer; she snuggled just a little closer; and she always seemed to maintain some sort of physical contact with me, even if it was just holding hands.

I was aware of the growing sexual tension, but was content with the way things were slowly progressing. There was an enormous amount of knowledge about social skills that Emily desperately needed to learn, and the physical act of sex was a low priority. I worked to keep her right on the edge of arousal and I'm certain that, even though she was slightly ill, my attentions were making her incredibly horny. I was not convinced Emily had any substantive knowledge about sex, or even how to get herself off. This was supported by the fact she grew increasingly fidgety yet made no effort to sneak off and take care of things.

'I think I'll let things build for another day, ' I thought with a devilish smile. I gathered our towels and suggested we go visit the Cayman Turtle Farm.

On the way to the Turtle Farm, Emily participated in my conversation with Chad, and we both learned quite a bit about Grand Cayman's history. I was pleased when Emily finally used Chad's name, as opposed to 'the help' or 'driver', but knew better than to make a big deal about it. My surprise was nothing compared to Chad's, especially when Emily maintained a civil tone for the entire twenty-minute car trip through traffic to the turtle farm just north of Seven Mile Beach.

As we climbed out of the limo Chad pulled me aside and slapped me on the back. "I don't know what you did, but the change in Emily is amazing. Way to go man!"

"What did Chad tell you?" Emily asked when I caught up to her.

"Oh, he just reminded me that you treated him like shit when you first got here and still haven't apologized."

"He said... !" she screamed, then pulled up short before I could even cough a warning and grew thoughtful.

"You seem to take people for granted. Chad is very good at his job, yet it's only been in the last day that you have acknowledged him or the rest of 'the staff' as actual people worthy of your attention."

As we headed through the gift shop to the turtle ponds, Emily turned towards me.

"You might be right, but ... I doubt that's what he said."

"Maybe, maybe not, but it's what he meant."

It was a small admission of guilt, but it was progress. With slightly more enthusiasm I dragged us off to explore.

I had no intention to start lecturing right away, and was pleased that Emily's enthusiasm matched my own as we raced off towards one of the numerous holding tanks. How can you not act like a kid when you're surrounded by over sixteen thousand baby sea turtles?

At first Emily was squeamish holding one of the sea turtles as it wiggled around, perhaps reminding her of the baby stingray. After a few moments she was smiling as she enjoyed playing with her new friend. Even I had to laugh at the turtle's valiant attempts for freedom and agreed that its flippers were cute.

Some of Emily's old superior, or possibly just supremely confident, attitude returned as her health improved. I don't believe that people can completely change overnight, so I wasn't all that concerned until she tried to apply this attitude to my teachings.

It started off innocently enough. We'd been discussing some of the more effective approaches to making friends, and Emily had just moved on to describing her 'ideal' man. I'd noticed that Emily seemed so confident in her own judgment that she would interpret any comment from me about her opinions as cause to argue. Yet, she seemed willing to listen when I pointed out why her actions often had the opposite effect of what she really wanted.

Casting aside all judgments as to the qualities Emily looked for in a potential partner, I steered the conversation towards how she would go about meeting and courting men.

Almost immediately Emily declared that she was a 'flirting expert.'

"I mean, if I can manipulate my parents, how hard can some horny boys be?"

I sensed an opportunity to both humble Emily and hopefully set the tone for the rest of the week. I innocently suggested we go out for a fancy dinner and test her flirting prowess.

The Brasserie--one of the fanciest restaurants in Grand Cayman--had been very eager for me to visit, as their guest book currently included the Iugum imprints of every Elite known to visit the Caymans. The restaurant lived up to its reputation. After the two glasses of wine we had with dinner, Emily's supreme confidence had grown to the point where she seemed to feel damn near omnipotent.

I decided it was time to put my plan into action once I recognized someone from the tour boat. It didn't take much goading as the 'target' appeared to be just over the legal drinking age of 18, and was what most girls would describe as 'Hot'. Unfortunately he seemed well aware of his effect on women, but was almost exactly the type of guy Emily had described.

He did a double take as Emily sauntered over and, obviously recognizing her, began searching the room for me. I gave a slight nod when our eyes met and held my finger to my lips in the almost universal sign of, 'Be quiet'. I winked and made a gesture I hoped he would interpret as, 'Go ahead and have some fun.'

It worked because his eyes locked on Emily and I could tell the game was on. Emily was attractive, and because of her size seemed very sprite-like, but she never had a chance.

The guy returned Emily's greetings with a forced smile and made a show of ordering a couple more drinks. Emily was laying it on thick, but it was obvious it wasn't working as, after what I assumed Emily thought was a clever comment, he turned towards me and made a show of rolling his eyes.

The drinks finally arrived. In a voice that easily carried over the music he stated, "I don't waste my time talking with spoiled brats like you. I prefer real women."

Even I winced as he picked up the drinks, turned, and offered them to the two very attractive girls to his right. Emily stood motionless, mouth agape, as he strolled away from the bar with one woman on each arm.

Fuming, Emily returned to the table. While others would have been put off or at least discouraged, Emily seemed inspired to try again, convinced it had been a fluke. Even though I strongly advised against it, and suggested we go to a different bar, Emily wouldn't give up.

It took being shot down multiple times before Emily shuffled back to the table. Not meeting my eyes, she asked if we could leave.

I guided us away from the club and into the quasi-privacy of the dunes before stopping and forcing her to face me. Emily was near hyperventilating, and I could tell she was struggling to hold back tears.

"It'll be all right," I tried to soothe.

"No it won't!" she cried, angrily wiping away the tears that trickled down her cheeks. "Everyone thinks I'm just some 'spoiled little brat.'"

"Well, aren't you?"

"No!"

"Then why do you keep acting like one?"

"I'm ... not ... trying to," she mumbled.

"All right so maybe I was, but I don't want to be that person anymore."

"People don't change overnight."

"Why can't they?"

"Who you were is a vital part of who you are. What's more important is figuring out who you want to become and trying to reconcile the two."

"How do I do that?"

"I think you're already starting to figure out who you'd like to become. The whole point of a Docent weekend is to help you get there. But you have to be willing to listen and actively try new things."

Emily nodded thoughtfully as she considered my words.

"Do you think I'm a spoiled little brat?"

"You have the potential to be many things," I hedged while firmly meeting her eyes. "Spoiled and a brat are two of them, but you can also be smart and funny."

When Emily started to turn away I reached out and placed a finger under her chin, lifting it so that our eyes met.

"I could do without the former and would like to see much more of the latter."

"Me too," she replied in a soft voice before launching herself into my arms and just clinging to me. I could feel her quivering against my chest and held her tight as she cried it out.

Once Emily seemed to have regained control, I turned us so that we could walk side by side along the beach.

"Would you like to know what went wrong?"

Emily stiffened slightly, but did not miss a step and I felt her nod.

"First, your choice of guy seemed less than ideal. I assume you want someone that appreciates you, not just be some boy-toy you can show off, yet you seemed to be chasing after the shallow eye-candy type.

"Next, you have the subtlety of a brick. It's not only gauche, but clearly signals your own inexperience and is a major turn-off for the kind of guy that would treat you decently as opposed to just using you for sex or your money.

"I assume you're not just trying to get laid, yet you seemed to be flaunting your charms rather than tantalizing the men at the bar, and so come across as a tease. It's crucial to know your limits, to be aware of, and only offer, what you are willing to give.

"I'm not saying that teaching you to flirt is a lost cause, but right now you're ripe for being taken advantage of, so you'll need to make a serious effort to learn."

The old Emily would have ripped me a new one and stormed off, but instead she merely nodded and actually made a small effort to keep the conversation going.

"So what should I do differently?"

It was a start. I got us walking along the beach and offered some pointed advice on ways to improve her skills.

"Remember, anyone can be a teacher if you just pay attention. For example, the two girls at the bar..." when Emily's face darkened I quickly switched to, "or Nancy. Do you see Nancy posing that way? Did you see how Gloria teased Chad with just a twinkle in her eye and a twitch of her cheek? They both love flirting, but they never offer more than they are willing to give, and the guys just eat it up!"

We started off slow, with me doing most of the talking. Emily soon warmed to the topic, and I was again amazed at her change in attitude as her questions got significantly better and she seemed genuinely eager to learn.

We ended up walking along the seven-mile beach for quite a while, and the more we talked, the more fidgety Emily got. I assumed Emily was not used to such intimate conversations or having someone genuinely interested in what she had to say.

Even though it was still in the upper seventies and the moonlight wasn't all that bright, I could clearly see her nipples poking through the sheer material of the sleeveless shirt she'd worn for our night out.

It was getting late when I finally called Chad to pick us up.

"When we get home, can I spend the night with you?" Emily asked timidly as we waited for the limo.

"So long as you behave," I replied, pointedly leering at her rock hard nipples. "I guess you can share my bed, but you better be good!"

With a squeal of glee, Emily practically glued herself to my side. Just then Chad arrived. I couldn't stop smiling at her antics as we struggled to simultaneously climb into the limo.

'This might just be a fun week after all, ' I thought as we headed back to the resort.

I woke on Tuesday to the feeling of Emily grinding against me in her sleep. After our discussion last night and other subtle clues, I was convinced Emily had no idea how to get herself off. While there's a fine line between horny and frustrated, I was determined to make her wait. Emily had been a total ass when she arrived and I didn't want to make things easy for her. 'Payback's a bitch!' I chortled.

My laughter woke Emily. With a start she stopped her gentle thrusts and pulled away before once again snuggling close. A few moments later she sleepily murmured, Good morning."

"Good morning," I replied cheerfully while giving her a squeeze.

"Don't tell me you're a morning person," Emily moaned as she pulled the blankets over her head.

"Fine, I won't, but I'm going running so why don't you go back to sleep and I'll see you at breakfast in a couple hours."

"You really are the best," she sighed, and even before I'd fully climbed out of bed she fell back asleep.

Running along the surf was exhilarating! It allowed me the time to gather my thoughts on how best to educate Emily in the three and a half days we had before she left on Friday. I knew what was most important for her to learn, but didn't want to overwhelm her and was trying to figure out how to get the rest of the staff more involved.

I managed to beat my previous time and decided to hang out in the kitchen with Nancy while waiting for Emily to wake up. After giving her a brief update, I started to describe Emily's nocturnal seduction of my upper thigh when I noticed Nancy had stopped laughing.

"It's not very nice to keep her on the edge like this," she offered, clearly indicating that she thought I'd dragged things out too long.

"We both know it's better if you wait."

"Usually, but the poor thing doesn't even know ... well, anything about getting off, regardless of whether you help her."

"I planned on doing something about that soon, but it just hasn't come up."

"Doing something? How?"

"Well, Kael sent a bunch of custom sized toys and The Girls and Boys DVDs..."

"Really?" Nancy replied, suddenly much more interested. "Firsts were my specialty."

"Firsts are every Docent's specialty," I teased.

"True," she agreed, "but you were one of my few male clients."

"Oh! Really?" I gasped. I'm sure my jaw hit the floor.

While a guy's opinion is respected, there are certain issues when a girl's opinion is more valued, or at least is easier to accept, and jilling off is definitely one of them.

At Nancy's nod, I sensed a near perfect opportunity to delegate. "Want to give the DVDs to Emily?"

"How about you guys eat breakfast in here, and, if things go well, you invite me to dinner later tonight and we'll let Emily decide?"

"Sounds like a plan." I kissed her on the cheek and headed upstairs to change. Emily was still asleep as I entered the room, but I made plenty of noise and she was gone after I took my shower.

When I made it down to the kitchen, I found Emily and Nancy huddled around the table. I was immediately suspicious when they noticed me and the conversation stopped.

"Good morning, Alex," Nancy called out in a sing song voice.

"Good morning, Alex," Emily parroted in an equally sugary voice.

Rolling my eyes, I pulled out a chair, grabbed a bagel, and waited for the teasing to begin.

"Good morning ladies."

"About time you got 'up, '" Emily teased. For some reason this set off a round of giggles.

"I've been up for a while." Wanting to get down to business, I asked, "Did you know Nancy is a Docent?"

"Yeah, she said you were her ... ow!" she cried, reaching down to rub her foot.

"My friend at the Institute," Nancy interjected.

I tried not to react, but Emily found my non-reaction hilarious.

"Nancy, have you been corrupting Emily behind my back?"

"I'm positively shocked you would even suggest such a thing!" Nancy scoffed in an overly dramatic voice that had Emily pealing with laughter.

'Fifteen minutes, and they're already acting like sisters, ' I mused, impressed by Nancy's skill.

"So Emily, why did you want us to come to Cayman?" I asked, hoping to change the topic.

"Well, Arkansas is a little too rainy this time of year," she drawled, letting her southern accent shine through for the first time. "I wanted to vacation somewhere warm with white sand beaches and plenty of scuba."

"Yes, we all know you like getting wet," Nancy chimed in before I could offer a smartass comment of my own.

"I was talking about diving!" Emily sputtered, turning bright red.

The conversation soon drifted back to girl talk. It was impressive to watch Nancy give more than she got, yet Emily never lost her temper.

'Definitely a step in the right direction, ' I thought while letting the conversation flow around me.

When we finally ran out of food, I suggested we get more comfortable and head into the living room. Nancy begged off, claiming she had errands to run, but promised to join us for dinner.

"I like her," Emily proclaimed as she snuggled up against me on the couch.

Now that Nancy had broken the ice, and sensing Emily was ready to move onto more personal topics, I finally brought up sex. Over the next hour or so, I described in detail most of the major positions. Part of me wanted to maintain the highly charged sexual tension that had been building over the last 36 hours, but I also wanted to ensure Emily wasn't sexually ignorant.

If I thought Emily had been eager to learn before, I now had her undivided attention as I carefully revealed details as to the optimal angles and positions given her current size, and described positions she'd probably enjoy in a few years. By this point she was really starting to squirm, so I casually mentioned that I'd brought some Institute porn with me.

"You have Institute porn!" she shrieked, her eyes gleaming in anticipation as she turned to face me.

"Of course. But you act like you've never seen porn before."

"That's because I haven't," she harrumphed while folding her arms angrily over her small breasts. "Father won't even let me watch R-rated movies."

"Don't worry; we'll have plenty of time to watch some after dinner."

"What? Why not now?"

"We can watch DVDs any time, " I explained, "and it's too beautiful a day to spend indoors."

"But..."

"But you did want to go scuba diving, right?"

She started to pout, but then her eyes lit up.

"Wait! You'll go diving with me?"

"It's certainly more fun than diving alone."

Emily squealed as she launched herself at me, and I just had to roll my eyes at her change in mood. 'If only all teenagers were this easily distracted, ' I thought. Disengaging her arms, I picked up the phone to give Bill at Eden Rock a call.

I arranged for a private intermediate scuba lesson with Bill. Things went really well and, despite my nerves, we learned a lot. Emily seemed to enjoy critiquing my amateur skills, but her suggestions were useful and even Bill laughed at some of her wittier comments.

Emily had somehow found an even skimpier neon-pink bikini and seemed to be testing out some of the flirting techniques I'd mentioned the night before.

Obviously used to the attention from his younger clients, Bill took it all in stride, but seemed unsure of how far he should let things go. At one point, Emily was blatantly rubbing up against him as he adjusted some of her scuba gear. I think it was only my small cough that prevented things from going further.

After our lesson Emily reached up and gave Bill a noisy kiss on the cheek.

"I'd offer you a better tip, but I don't think he would approve."

With a shake of my head I thanked Bill for the lesson. He leaned towards me and asked quietly, "Just what are you trying to teach that girl," before slapping me on the back and wishing me luck.

We had time to kill before dinner and wandered around George Town, eventually ending up at one of the numerous bars that lined the beach. Using our lesson with Bill as an example, I tried to explain how to be more subtle. However, my words didn't seem to be sinking in. Hoping that some additional practice might be more effective, I helped Emily pick out a few 'targets.'

After plenty of discussion and practice conversations, I cut Emily loose and let her approach a couple of the guys. The results were vastly improved, but it seemed that no matter how many different ways I tried to explain the dating process, it just wasn't sinking in. I was careful to be very supportive of Emily's improvement and vowed to come up with a new way of explaining things before our next night out.

In addition to some serious flirting, I also helped Emily develop a more thorough understanding of her current limits. Just talking about how far she wanted to go with a guy seemed to get her flushed and squirming in her seat once again. Some like to say that girls are less horny, but my own experience indicates they are just better at hiding it.

While Emily really seemed to be getting into the conversation, my stomach soon started grumbling. After all of the swimming and walking I realized I was famished.

"I'm starved. Are you ready to go?" I asked.

"I've been ready all day," she replied in a saucy voice. "I think I could do just about anything."

"Careful, never offer something you're not willing to give."

"And what makes you think I'm not willing?"

"Alright, no more flirting advice for today. Now, do you want to go get food?"

"Food? Why didn't you say so sooner? Of course I'm ready for dinner!"

Nancy joined us for dinner in the formal dining room and, like at breakfast, immediately hit it off with Emily. Almost instantly the conversation digressed to whispered girl talk and I was mostly ignored. 'At least we're not eating at opposite ends of the table, ' I shrugged. I assumed Emily didn't have many girls to hang out with, so I didn't begrudge her new friendship. Well, not too much at least.

Emily grew increasingly fidgety as the meal progressed. Once finished, I cleared my throat to get their attention. They stopped talking and sheepishly turned to look at me.

"Nancy, would you like to borrow some DVDs for tonight?"

"Girls Night?"

"If you'd like."

"Can we?" Emily asked eagerly.

"Yes, of course!" Nancy agreed.

"Emily, think you could get things ready down here while Nancy and I fetch the gear from upstairs?"

"Sure!" she replied, practically jumping out of her chair.

Once upstairs I gave Nancy one more opportunity to back out, but she insisted that she wanted to get more involved. I handed Nancy my Institute DVDs to explore and added the box of supplies Kael sent. After several 'wows!' at the number and variety of my collection, Nancy agreed with my recommendations of two quasi-instructional Institute productions and the Boys and Girls 'How To' DVDs.

Nancy picked up the scaled down Rabbit Pearl and exclaimed, "I've got one of these!" She squinted at it and added, "But I think mine's a bit bigger."

We headed back downstairs. I was impressed that Emily had managed to get the entire room set up. The huge HDTV dominated the far wall seemed ready to go and Emily had already dimmed the lights and closed the blinds.

"Have fun, girls, and have a good night," I called as I headed back to my room.

Back in my room I decided to catch up on my email. There was a long letter from Amy and several messages from The Girls wondering how things were going and letting me know about their new classes. With their reminder I mentally groaned at the six chapters I had yet to read for my 'Intro to Economics' class, but made no effort to pull out the text.

I started writing a 'What I've been up to' email update. I tried not to gloat too much, but after checking the weather in Colorado Springs just to make sure there wasn't any snow forecast for my flight back I noticed the average temperature had been in the mid 30's. True, it was sunny in both places, but the Cayman highs had been in the low 80's every day and I figured I was justified in rubbing it in.

I was again impressed by the detail in Amy's email and decided it would be easier to give her a call.

"Hey, Alex!" Amy's voice cheerful voice greeted me. "How's it going? Having fun in the sun?"

"You wouldn't believe how nice it is down here!"

"Oh, I can imagine. I was just reading your update email. Is the water really in the 80s? That's hotter than CC's heated pool!"

"Yeah, the water is the perfect temperature: it's warm enough to not shiver and cool enough to not overheat."

Before calling, I'd intended to apologize for taking my frustrations out on her, but judging by the way we were joking around just like old times it just didn't seem appropriate.

"About our discussion just before I left, we're cool now, right?"

"What, you mean when you made things personal and I nearly ripped you a new one?"

"Um, yeah," I stammered, not quite certain she was teasing.

"Of course; it's great to talk to you."

"Good," I replied in a relieved voice. "So, how're things going?"

"Things are going well. I think having Rachael and the rest of The Girls to talk to has really helped Sarah calm down and organize her thoughts. Sarah realized very quickly that she owes you an apology."

'Well, no shit!' I silently agreed, but didn't want to interrupt.

"She tried to call a couple times, but I assume you had your phone off as it went straight to voicemail. So she's unsure of how to contact you as letters just seem so impersonal."

"True, but I like the way letters force you to gather your thoughts. It's not like she has to send them."

"Hmm..."

"A letter would be a good start, but we'll definitely need to talk once I get back."

"I'm not sure if Sarah's ready for that yet. She's still quite emotional about the whole situation."

"If possible, try to help her find a bit of humility, but don't let her get too carried away. I was frustrated and hurt, but I do not hate her."

"Duh!" Amy teased. I could tell she was ready to move on to other topics.

"How're the rest of The Girls doing?"

"Everyone seems to be doing well, although Jackie's been acting a bit odd lately. Definitely not her usual teasing self, but I think she just misses having her favorite punching bag nearby." Pausing to take a breath Amy added, "We all miss you."

"Yeah, I miss you too; it's not quite the same without The Girls around."

"I'm sure you have plenty of other things to distract you," she teased.

"You can say that again," I laughed as I mentally reviewed all the trouble Emily had gotten into when she first arrived. Pulling myself out of my reverie, I continued, "Anyway, I should probably get going."

"Me too, good luck!"

"You too, have a good night!"

With that I hung up and once again left things in Amy's capable hands.

Later, I found myself tossing and turning in my empty bed. I'd stayed up late catching up on my reading for class, but had yet to hear any sound from downstairs, let alone a soft knock on my door.

Staring up at the ceiling I grudgingly admitted that I missed Emily. I still wasn't sure how I felt about her, but she'd made some impressive strides over the last few days and I'd grown used to having her nearby. I forced myself to relax and eventually drifted off to sleep.

I was awoken what felt like moments later when Emily snuggled close, her still flushed cheek burning against my shoulder,

"Nancy is fun," she whispered, "but I missed you."

It was quite possibly the cutest thing she'd said all week. Holding her close I drifted back to sleep, only this time there was a smile on my lips.

I'm not sure how late Emily joined me, but she didn't stir when I got up to go running on the beach the next morning. A small part of my mind could barely believe it was Wednesday and that we would only have a couple more days together.

Starting at a slow jog, I had plenty of energy to think as I ran along the edge of the surf where the moist sand was relatively well packed. Thinking of Emily, I realized I was more than just stalling. With her former attitude, and my conviction that she would eventually regress, I really didn't find her all that attractive.

I mentally justified making Emily wait for several reasons. First, very few people had ever said 'No' to her. Second, and more important, I was worried that the physical size difference between us would be too uncomfortable. And third, it was unlikely Emily would be physically capable of having sex two nights in a row.