Desert Trading Post
Page 17
She smiled and pulled it off and handed it to me.
She said, “Now close your eyes while I try on this other one.”
I was confused and said, “Court, you’re already naked. Why would I close my eyes now? Um, Kitty is already out of the bag, as they say, or something like that.”
Courtney smiled and said, “You can always see me naked. It’s not that. It’s that I don’t want you to see my outfit until I have it on, Stupid. Here, take this over to the counter while I get dressed. I can see you from here. But don’t turn around until I tell you.”
I took the dress to the woman at the counter and she started to fold it and pull the tag off.
I saw her glance up for an instant and exclaim, “Whoa! Damn girl.”
Then to me, she said, “You lucky bastard! I sure hope for your sake that’s your wife or girlfriend, and not your sister!”
I said, “No, that’s my wife. She told me not to look yet. Is everything OK?”
The woman said, “That depends. Do you faint easily?” and she smiled and winked at me.
Courtney said, “Stay right there. Close your eyes. I’m coming over, but keep your eyes closed.”
I did as she said and then I heard her say, “OK, open your eyes and turn around.”
The woman at the counter grabbed my arm and said, “You better hold onto something stud. Try not to hit your head on the way down. I’ll get the first-aid kit.”
I frowned and turned around to see what the fuss was about. And then I saw it.
Courtney was standing a few feet away. She was wearing a leather skirt low on her hips. Really low. It must have been right at the very edge of her curly fuzzy bit. I didn’t know quite how to describe it. It was like a skirt, but not like any skirt I’d ever seen. There was a belt of suede with a triangle of leather that hung down in front. It was just long enough to hide her crotch. Or maybe not quite that long. It was made from one piece of leather and cut so that a fringe hung like a skirt all the way around. The tips of the fringe ended about five inches below her crotch, and being fringe, there was the definite expectation that if she weren’t careful, you probably get a peek at her panties. Was she wearing panties?
Courtney smiled at my reaction and turned to show me the back. Behind her, the leather triangle was a bit bigger, but not big enough to be a true skirt. It was more like a bikini, except that it was a skirt. Her butt was sort of covered, but there was a lot of her hips and thighs that was covered only occasionally by the fringe.
I asked myself again, was she wearing underwear? When she spun quickly back to face me again, the fringe flared out and it was clear that she was not. Well, she could have been wearing a very tiny G-string, I supposed, but she wasn’t wearing the panties that she had on when we entered the store.
And the top she had on was just as…spectacular. It was the one-size-fits-all thing that she had picked up. It fit, but on Courtney it was small. There was maybe five inches of leather covering each breast and a fringe at the bottom of each triangle that sort of covered the bottom of her boobs. Sort of. I don’t think the thing provided any support at all. It was more like two little curtains hanging over her breasts.
I finally did manage to speak and said, “Courtney, my gosh. That’s…I mean, you’re beautiful. But where are you going to wear it?”
She grinned and said, “I told you. I will appear in many forms to satisfy the needs we have for variety and adventure. And, Mr. Bulgy-Pants, I plan to wear it at the pool at my parents, house, so there.”
I said, “But Courtney, I um, what you said about my pants and all. And the bulges? I won’t be able to help it.”
She said, “And that’s entirely intentional on my part, I assure you. It was meant to be bulge-worthy, and if it wasn’t, there’d be no point in getting it. I’m a native princess and I need a teepee in your pants to cozy up in.”
The woman smiled and said, “Are you two newlyweds?”
Courtney told her we were; that we had gotten married just a few hours ago.
The woman said, “Then let me give you some advice. Young man, it sounds like you need it more than she does. I didn’t know it when I was younger, but the one thing I can say that I wish I had known was that you better bust it out when you can. What I’m saying is, this girl is an adventurous spirit and you’d be stupid as dirt to try to rein her in. I wish I’d had the gumption to wear that feathered headdress on my foot back when it was small enough and would have meant something.”
I looked down at Courtney’s feet and saw that she had a little feather and beads kind of sandal on her right foot, opposite her anklet. Except that it wasn’t really a sandal at all. There was a loop around her ankle and another around her middle toe, but there was no sole at all. It was an ornamental um, barefoot slipper, that maybe would be worn for ceremonial dances or something. And the ceremony it would be used for had to be a wedding or a fertility dance or something like that. It was so much more than naked. The “teepee” went a little higher as I imagined the dance that she might do for me.
Courtney smiled and said to the woman, “Be as honest with us as you want to be. We won’t be offended at all. Really. Don’t hold back. Tell us what we need to hear.”
The woman said, “I don’t know if you need to hear it or not. I don’t think people need my help nearly as much as I used to think. But here’s what I’d say. Prance in the moonlight. Have sex in as many different places and in as many different ways as you can come up with. There’s lot’s of regrets in life, but I don’t think anybody ever says they wish they’d spent less time making love to the person they couldn’t stand to be away from. You changing clothes like that was no show for my benefit or to tease an old woman; that was for you, Stud. Because if she don’t love you, I’m a lizard. I’d say, get it on as often as she’ll have you. And you Missy, give it to him all you can.”
Courtney said, “You’re preaching to the choir, Sister! Amen to that! Davey, give this wise medicine woman a thousand dollars and we’ll be in our way.”
The woman smiled and said, “That’ll be 60 dollars.”
Courtney said, “Nonsense! This is a historical monument to a bygone era of road trips and happy vacationers and roadside desert attractions. And we need to make a donation to support the fine work that you are doing to keep a tradition alive. Davey, pay the woman.”
The woman laughed again and said, “In the old days, we had tribal dancers and the men would tell their legends and we’d sell a lot of wooden tomahawks and children’s moccasins. I’m happy that you appreciated us. Sixty dollars.”
Courtney said, “No! OK. I can see that a donation isn’t in the cards. Here,” and she ran to the shelves and picked out two more of the skirts and tops and five of the slippers and came back a dropped them on the counter.
She looked in the glass case nearby and said, “I’ll take that turquoise and silver necklace, and that smaller one, and that pocket knife. Is that a toe ring? I’m getting into this foot jewelry thing. Give me that one. It’s real silver, right?”
The woman said, “Um, yes Darlin’, it is. Look, you didn’t come here for this. I think you came for a memory from way back somewhere, and…”
Courtney strode to the clothing racks again and pulled out another tank top, this one was just a shirt, not a dress. It was brown with white lettering that had the name of the shop on it. Holding it up to herself, I could see that once again, it was at least one size too small. Then she grabbed another one at least two sizes too big.
She asked the woman, “You have underwear to match, don’t you?”
The woman pointed at a small shelf in the corner.
Courtney came back with at least five pair of string bikinis in various colors with various animals printed on the front, rear, or both.
The woman said, “That one pair is a different size.”
Courtney said, “That pair is for my mom. Now, let’s see? What else can I absolutely not live without? Ah, I need a dashboard ornament for our car. A s
exy maiden with wiggly hips and a short skirt.”
The woman grinned and reached for something beside the cash register and said, “Like this?”
Courtney said, “Exactly! We’ll take three. How much are we up to?”
The woman added up our recent purchases and said, “That’s 723 dollars.”
Courtney sighed in exasperation and looked around the store again.
The woman said, “Girlie, look, I appreciate this and I want desperately to ask you what your game is, but this isn’t a game for you, is it?”
Courtney said, “No, it is not! And I’m not leaving until I spend a thousand dollars. Even.”
I turned to the woman and said, “You have been so kind this afternoon, and you have given me some great advice, and I couldn’t be happier with the clothes…”
Courtney marched back from where she’d looked at more clothes and plopped another item onto the pile and declared, “It’s a matching loincloth for you, my big brave husband.”
I continued, saying, “I’m really happy with the clothes, and the jewelry is wonderful, but Ma’am, my car isn’t very big and if she tries to buy a cigar store Indian, I’ll have to tie it to the roof of the car and I’d rather not. I love her, and her generosity is one of the things that I love most. I’m asking you for help. What did you tell us? That we’d be as dumb as dirt to try to rein her in? That was your very words if I remember right. Either you help me find a way to end this or I better look for some rope or a bigger vehicle. But, I’m no dummy. She’s doing this for a reason and I fully support it. But I think that you can help me if you um, forgive me, aren’t too stubborn about it.”
The woman laughed and shook her head.
She said, “Fella, I think you might be wiser than you look. Here, I have an idea. If our native princess will agree to it. How about this? Miss Pocahontas, you stop shopping. I happen to be a bit of a wizard at customizing things, but I ain’t cheap. I can adorn this loin-cloth and that outfit you apparently intend to wear home without the encumbrance of panties. Hell, the natives didn’t wear any, but anyway, I can take some conchos and feathers and whatnot and make these real special.”
Courtney said happily, “Oh, that sounds perfect! Yes! How much will it cost then?”
The woman shook her head and said, “Exactly one thousand dollars.”
Courtney looked downcast suddenly and said, “Oh. I better put something back. We just got married and we’re on a little bit of a budget and I shouldn’t spend more than 995 dollars.”
The woman snapped her head up and glared good-naturedly at Courtney.
Courtney said, “Oh, I could do a thousand as a donation for the upkeep and staffing of a historical landmark, but I can’t spend that much on myself. I better put back one of the dashboard wigglers.”
The woman said, “I think I love both of you. I’m seeing how this works. OK, I can take five dollars off the price of, uh, something, and give you a tour of the museum. Tickets are two and a half each. Five dollars for the both of you. It supports the…um, museum.”
Courtney said, “Oh Dave, let’s do it!”
I said, “Well, yeah. We have to see the museum!”
The woman smiled and said, “Don’t expect much. Hey, go out on the porch and take a soda each, and before you complain, it’s part of the tour, so you paid for it and might as well drink it. I’ll go in the back and make some special modifications to the outfits and throw in a magical incantation as part of the package. You might just be the weirdest and most lovable girl that’s ever stopped in my store.”
Courtney said, “And you might be the most special trading post owner that I have ever had the pleasure of doing business with,” and she headed for the door.
Chapter 16 - Reconnecting
The woman said, “Darlin’ I need your outfit.”
Courtney grinned and pulled off the top and bottom and handed them to the woman. Then she picked up the dress that she was buying and walked outside. She didn’t put it on, she just carried it. And went outside naked. Just like that. And I ran after her.
There was no one in the parking lot and the highway was a couple of hundred feet away, and it was unlikely that anyone noticed as Courtney stretched in the shadow of the porch, but I sure did.
I put my arm around her and said, “You fabulous little pixie.”
Courtney grinned and said, “You want it, don’t you? Right now. Right here on the porch. You want me to drop to my knees and blow you right this very minute, don’t you?”
I said, “I said, actually, I’d want something other than oral, but we can’t always get what we want.”
She said, “No, but here! Stand in front of me and shield me from the highway. Now, kiss me and shove your fingers in me and make me come. Hurry! I’m so horny I’m going to explode! But I’ll be very quiet about it. Come on, be quick!”
Courtney shoved me in front of her and started to kiss me hard.
I couldn’t believe what was happening. It wasn’t in public, but it was outdoors in the middle of the day, almost in sight of the highway, and the shop woman was just inside. But I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to. The woman had told me to “bust it out” as often as Courtney wanted it. So I kissed her and slipped my hand between her legs and my fingers slid in easily. She had told the truth: she was ready for it. I counted, just to see how long it would take her. I got to six seconds and Courtney shuddered and squeezed my fingers and slumped against my shoulder. She breathed for a minute and then put the dress over her head and straightened it down her sides.
She said, “That was sweet. I liked it. Thank you. Sweetie, you must be the most patient man on Earth. Oh, of course you are. The men of our planet, Sapphire Immacula, are all patient and thoughtful and don’t mind their women having a quickie, even when there’s nowhere for the man to get the attention that he deserves at the same time. All the men of our planet are like that. None of the Earthmen are up to our standards at all. I will service your vessel as soon as it is safe to dock you in my port.”
Courtney looked good in the dress. It was clear that she wasn’t wearing a bra, but it seemed OK. People would know if they bothered to look, but no one would think that it was slutty or inappropriate. Some dresses are like that. You know that there’s no bra, but there isn’t supposed to be. This one could go either way, but I thought it probably looked best without one. And she seemed to be comfortable in it.
The two of us took sodas from the old cooler on the porch and sat side by side on the bench in front of the store. It was hot, but we had shade, and it felt good. About 20 minutes later, the woman opened the door and told us to come back inside.
She said, “You pay upfront for the tour. And no refunds.”
She rang up an even thousand dollars on the register and I paid with a credit card. Our purchases were already in bags and ready to go.
The woman said, “OK, it’s time for the tour. You don’t want to be late. Come on, most of the museum is outside. If you miss your tour, there’s no refunds.”
Outside, standing on the porch, she said, “OK, first some history. A long time ago, before Spanish settlers came and did what they did, this building wasn’t even here. It was built much later. Same with the highway. This bench has been here a long time. The cooler was brought here by the soda distributor on a truck, on that very highway. And, I don’t tell most visitors this, but right here where we are standing is where the natives say that a brave warrior and his princess stood one afternoon, with her naked except for her jewelry, and had an orgasm while they kissed. They say that she was the most beautiful and generous young woman and that you can still see the stars that are over her head every night when you look up at the sky. Well, that concludes our tour. No questions. The gift shop is now closed and may stay that way for a few days while I go see the ocean or something like that. It’s been nice meeting you kids. If you need directions, Mexico is that way, and Canada is off in that direction. I’m grateful to have spent an hour with you. Bye.”
We grabbed our bags and tossed them in the back of the car excitedly and headed south again. Courtney put her feet up on the dash and blew cool air up her dress.
That had been fun. Seeing Courtney naked was fun; giving the woman a big sale was fun; being generous was fun; and the things that Courtney bought were extremely fun. The first two days we’d been together felt dangerous. The next two days had been great, but now, this afternoon, things had definitely gotten fun. I hoped it would last. Courtney kept flipping into her imaginary space-princess character, and I loved it. By the time we stopped laughing, we were about half an hour from Blythe, but it was almost time to meet for dinner.
I asked if we should call her folks and let them know that we’d meet them at the restaurant, but Courtney said that it was already arranged.
She said, “Remember? We said that if we didn’t come to the house, we’d meet them at six.”
She was right. But I was used to double-checking. Courtney was being honest. And letting all of us be adults. We had agreed, and nothing had changed, so we’d trust everyone to do the right thing. It was refreshing.
Courtney directed me through town to the little Mexican restaurant where we would meet her parents. It was a hole-in-the-wall place that seated maybe 12 tables. It had obviously been an old house before it was turned into a business. Dan and Dotty were already there and when we walked through the door, both of them ran over to greet us and welcome us again.
When we sat down, Dotty held Courtney’s hand on the tabletop and Dan said, “So Dave, how is it? Married life?”
Dotty said, “Oh Dan, don’t be stupid. Just say what you really want to.”
Dan smiled and said, “OK. Dave, Son, we can’t thank you enough for whatever part you’ve had in bringing Courtney back home, even if it’s only a visit. You are our hero. We won’t insist, but her room is still there, and you guys are welcome to stay for as long as you want. Take an extended vacation if you can. Do you have plans for a honeymoon?”