Julie let him touch her. She felt the pressure of his hands lift her breasts and move them around her chest. Warmth flowed through the rest of her body as he caressed her.
His hands left. She'd been keeping her eyes closed so she could concentrate on her feelings. She felt abandoned for a few seconds until he kissed the side of her neck.
The Jim in the mirror slid his fingers under the straps of the other Julie's gown. He lifted them and moved them away from her shoulders and down her arms. Her Jim did the same thing.
The gown dropped away from her breasts. She looked at herself with satisfaction. She knew she had good breasts and now she could show them off to Jim. Jim stood rock-still, his eyes riveted to her chest. She twisted her upper body, making her breasts sway, gracefully from side to side. The motion woke him up. He wanted to touch and hold as well was look.
She felt his masculine hands on her white skin and her senses exploded. Her eyes misted over. She caught a glimpse of the poised, attractive woman in the mirror and saw her mouth drop open in arousal.
Jim's hands left her upper body and dropped to her hips. He slowly began to gather up the material of her skirt in his hands. To Julie, it took several centuries for the hem of the gown to rise above her knees then her thighs.
Jim held her skirt around her waist and slid his hand in glacial progress inside her panties. In the mirror her reflection looked steadily back between her legs as Jim's fingers reached their goal. The woman in the mirror stepped each foot to the side, opening her legs and allowing Jim full access to her most private place.
Julie felt Jim's fingers rubbing and caressing. He generated excitement that made her head twirl. His other hand found the tip of one breast and twisted and pinched her. She felt a welcome sense of entrapment. His massive body blocked any retreat she might try to make to the rear. One arm hemmed her in on her right side. She had no escape in that direction. The hand attached to the arm held her solidly between her thighs, fingers locked on her pubic bone and a long finger exploring inside her. His other arm controlled the left side of her body and held her chest tightly against him. She felt both arms and his muscular chest cutting off flight on any side.
The hand that had been caressing her breast found her hand and brought it back behind her. It pressed her hand on a long, thick rod of firm, male erection. She reflexively closed her fingers around it and moved her hand up and down. She heard Jim moan, and the sound filled her with pride. She knew she'd caused that erection and no one else.
Nothing changed for several minutes except Julie's feelings of excitement. For the first time in her life, she wanted a male cock inside her. Not anyone's cock. She wanted Jim's. She ached for it.
Jim's hand left her breast and pushed her hand away from his trousers. He pressed both of her hands against the mirror. She shared a moment of female intimacy with the woman in the mirror until Jim distracted her by bending her over with a large, firm hand in the middle of her back.
Within seconds, she felt a truly magnificent male cock push against the entrance to her womanhood. She jumped. Jim was really big. She raised her head and saw the woman in the mirror smile, spread her feet apart and bend her knees. Julie realized she'd done the same thing. She wondered if her panties would interfere with his activities then felt her hips with one hand. Her panties had evaporated.
Jim pushed gently inside her. She gasped at the same time the woman in the mirror gasped. She closed her eyes as Jim penetrated her in one long, relentless move.
She felt completely full. Her mouth dropped open. She opened her eyes and heard the woman in the mirror and her own voice say, "Heavenly."
Jim moved back and forward again. She pushed back against his thrusts.
Her excitement rose until it leveled off. Her body accommodated Jim's cock easily. He stayed in a careful, considerate rhythm that she matched without effort. She felt sleepy and content.
Abruptly, her contentment vanished. She felt her body tense and contract. She groaned as the muscles in her chest tightened. Her body twitched as her orgasm took control of her. She felt an explosion of sensation in her core and a burst of delicious joy run through her body.
She settled down slowly, bit by bit, until she felt calm and happy. She checked. The woman in the mirror had enjoyed it as much as she had.
However, her hips still contained a stiff and determined visitor. She tensed her internal muscles and moved against him. He howled once and grabbed her hips with both hands. He held her in place and rammed himself inside with extraordinary force and energy. He did it again and again. The woman in the mirror almost bumped the mirror with her forehead several times.
Jim howled again and penetrated her deeper than ever before and held her against him. He pumped his semen into her in great pulses. She counted. He did it eight times. She felt a warmth in her center.
Jim withdrew and walked away. Julie stood up and shook her skirt down over her legs. She smiled at the woman in the mirror and woke up.
Julie stretched and smiled. She felt delightfully feminine. Since it was Sunday, she took a long bath. She threw the yoga pants and sweat shirt she usually wore in the dirty clothes basket and dropped a short chemise over her head. It reminded her of the dress she wore in her dream. She wore nothing else. All day, she felt the silk of the chemise touch and caress her skin.
CHAPTER 10
For the next gathering, Julie changed her tactics. She chose a pretty dress that came down four inches above her knees. She'd chosen it for its scoop neckline. She remembered the dream and stood before a mirror looking at herself.
Etienne and Veronique stood directly in back of her. Veronique sighed. "I have done no good with this one. That dress won't make Jim howl like the wolves."
"The dream you gave her was perfect. It should have worked."
"Just a minute. Now, she responds."
Julie raised her skirt up her legs to mid-thigh, then higher, and turned from side to side. She had to admit she had really pretty legs from all those years of dance classes. She'd spent time and a good deal of her budget buying shoes that resembled those from her dream. She'd worn them on and off to get used to their high heels.
She took a deep breath and bent over. Her dress fell away from her chest. She looked and frowned. She could see her breasts and the bra she wore, but the bra would hardly attract a man.
Veronique said, "That bra is better done holding a water dam together."
"I understood that. Your English is improving."
"Merci, mon amor."
Julie took the dress off and removed the bra. She put the dress back on and bent over again. She could see everything she owned above the waist.
Veronique murmured, "You're very lovely, dear heart. Your breasts are perfect. But Jim will suffer the heart attack if you show him that."
She remembered a bra she'd purchased a year earlier. It went with a dress she never wore. She put it on and bent over a final time. Perfect. Just the right combination of lace, ribbon and her lovely figure. If Jim didn’t react, she could assume he’d died and take him out and bury him.
At the party, Julie showed Jim her legs by sitting opposite him during a game of Charades. As she sat down, she slid her skirt up her legs and moved it a little higher each time she moved in her seat. Her legs trailed down and to the side and looked very long and graceful.
She crossed her legs and let the shoe on one foot drop off until it was held by her toes and nothing else. She bounced her foot up and down. The movement distracted Jim from the game. He glanced… then looked… then memorized.
There was a mirror on the wall. Julie kept track of Jim by looking in the mirror. She never looked directly at him.
After the game, she helped serve cookies. She bent at the knees when she held the tray in front of everyone else, but when she offered the plate to Jim, she bent at the waist as she had done in her apartment. She knew her push-up bra made her breasts look full and soft above the cups. The bra had lace across the top and a tiny, blue
bow in front.
She watched him as she held out the plate. He brought his eyes up from the cookies until he looked down her dress. His hand stopped halfway to his mouth and his jaw hung open. He froze. Julie paused to see how long he'd stay that way. It didn't end. She realized that people were going to notice if she prolonged it any more. She moved on to the next person and glanced back at Jim. He hadn't moved. The cookie was still suspended in mid-air.
It’s working, Julie thought. He’s finally noticing me. She sunk the hook after the food was eaten. She invited him to clean up the kitchen with her. No sooner had she spoken the words, than he was following behind her as she led the way to the kitchen. If she wasn’t mistaken, she thought she saw him in the mirror studying her ass. Yesss!
While they washed the dishes, they talked about things other than Monica. This time when she spoke, he actually seemed to be hearing her. He conversed with her while looking into her eyes, and asked questions about her life with genuine interest. In spite of the sexual tension, their conversation flowed easily.
They'd finished putting the dishes away when Julie lifted her shoulder and moaned. Jim said, "What's wrong?"
And that’s when Julie sunk her hook. "I have a cramp in my neck. I get these when I stand for a long time." She turned her back to him and lifted her long hair. "See, I've got a knot in the muscles of my shoulder and neck. It hurts."
The Jim that never noticed her, that was slow to act on her suggestions or enticements, disappeared. The new Jim quickly put both hands on her shoulder and neck and massaged. "Does this help?"
"Yes. That's perfect." His touch was amazing, and Julie had waited for this moment for so long. The moment when the man of her dreams was genuinely attracted to her as a man to a woman.
Jim spent time on the muscles in her shoulders. After a few minutes, the massage turned from attention to her muscles to gentle strokes across her skin. She encouraged him by leaning toward the hand that was caressing her the most. She moaned. "This is perfect."
She had to make a decision. Should she acknowledge the change in their relationship or act as if it hadn't happened?
She was pretty sure she knew what to do. She’d seen Jim play basketball a number of times. Whenever the defense pressured him, he reacted immediately by attacking the basket. She smiled at him and said, "Thank you. The cramp is gone" and moved back toward the sink.
One of Jim's hands landed on her shoulder and stopped her progress. The other turned her around slightly. He looked down into her eyes with a very serious expression. He turned her back around so she was facing away from him, pulled her in close to his body and moved her hair away from the side of her neck. She tilted her head a little to make it easier for him.
She felt his lips graze her skin and smiled knowing she’d made the right play. He kissed the tender skin of her neck just under her ear. She lifted her hand to his head to hold him against her. The soft, tender kisses went on for some time.
Jim said, "I'm sorry."
"For kissing me?” Julie felt as though her stomach had dropped to the floor. He was sorry? Now what would she do? “I… I wanted you to do that."
"No, I'm not sorry for kissing you. Not sorry at all. I’m sorry I didn't do it sooner. I'm sorry I never looked at you as anything more than Monica's friend.” He whispered against her ear, “Will you forgive me?"
She turned. "Only if you continue to kiss me," she grinned widely at him.
"Definitely," he smiled back. Jim wrapped his arms around her and held her the way a man holds a bouquet of flowers he doesn't want to crush. His lips pressed against hers. Julie put her arms around his neck and he pulled her against him. Jim felt the fullness of her breasts against his chest and inhaled her perfume. His tongue parted her lips and slowly explored her mouth. She moaned softly. Julie was in heaven. This was the exact moment she would never forget as long as she lived. Their first kiss.
Veronique and Etienne crowed with delight. Veronique said, "I have done well. Jim sees her as the woman now. Que magnifique!"
They should have turned around. Inez and Jacques stood in the doorway. Inez looked at Julie with deep hatred. She was pissed and under any other circumstance, she would have simply done something mildly annoying as retribution like writing Julie's name and phone number on a men's room wall with the inscription "For a good time, call Julie". Not tonight. Jacques reached inside her and pumped her emotions up to a boil. He whispered in her ear. "She doesn't deserve him. You do. He will come into a fortune when his parents die. That money should be yours. She’s taken it from you. She must be punished. How can you do it? Think, mon cheri, what could be horrible and permanent for this stealer of men." Her face became hard with cruelty and aggression.
CHAPTER 11
Inez picked up money from time to time by selling drugs on campus. Her supplier, BB Thompson, would be able to aid her in this situation, she was certain of it.
She left the gathering and drove to the industrial part of town. She pulled into the driveway of an odd house right in the middle of the factories and warehouses. The companies who constructed the buildings bought out all of the houses but one. By chance, no one wanted or needed the small post-war bungalow. It served as a luncheonette for a while and then a house of prostitution. Finally, it was abandoned and BB moved in.
Inez could hear screams coming from the back of the house. She didn't knock. She passed several bikers sprawled on a couch and walked into the back bedroom. BB was beating a man close to death with his fists. The man was covered in his own blood. Inez didn't notice him. She said, "BB, I need to talk to you about something that will make you a lot of money. Is there someplace private?"
BB stood five feet eight inches tall. When he was fourteen, a gang of bullies beat him savagely with baseball bats. He survived, but hate and revenge made a home in his heart. He recruited his own gang and dealt with the bullies with drive-by shootings.
He built himself up with weights the wrong way. Impatient and short sighted, he took steroids to put on muscle. The drugs emphasized his natural cruelty and lack of self-control. He led Inez outside to his car. They were alone. He said, "How much money?"
Inez said, "Ten grand."
"That works. What do you want done?"
"I want a girl's life ruined. Permanently. Any ideas?"
"Yeah," BB smiled. His eye were tiny slits in a round, pudgy face. "I'll sell her to a man I know. He runs a brothel in Mexico. She'll never recover after a year as a hooker. He'll get her addicted to meth if I ask him to."
A dark shadow fell on Inez' emotions. For a second, she shuddered at the prospect of forcing another woman into prostitution. Jacques said, "No, my little one. She must be punished. She should have her life torn apart. She stole your man and embarrassed and humiliated you. That's not something you can forgive or forget." He paused. "And there's the money that should be yours."
Inez nodded agreement, although she didn't know she was agreeing with Jacques. At that moment, she embraced evil and cruelty. She handed a small piece of paper with Julie's address and phone number to BB. She said, "Grab her any time after midnight. She'll be asleep and alone. She's a goody-goody." Inez turned on her heel and strode away quickly, an excited half-smile across her face.
CHAPTER 12
Jim drove Julie home and took her hand in his as he walked her to her apartment entrance. Few words were spoken, this was all so new, but he kissed her again long and slowly at her doorway. He didn't try to get into her apartment.
Julie walked inside, and leaned against the closed door. Tonight felt as though it was the best night of her life. Tonight was the start of what she knew to be her destiny - a future with Jim.
She changed into her nightie and went to bed. Etienne and Veronique watched from across the room with a smile on their faces. They had succeeded with this couple, time to move on. They slipped away.
A minute later, Veronique lay down on a small bed beside a four-year-old girl who was twitching in her sleep. Veronique put her
arm around her and said, into her ear, "Quiet, little Michelle. All is well. There are no monsters under the bed or in the closet. Your loving grand maman chased them away." Veronique stroked Michelle's forehead and hair. In a few minutes, Michelle slept soundly.
They left Michelle's bedroom quietly, even though Michelle wouldn't have heard them if they'd driven away in a steam locomotive. Outside, Veronique said, "I am restless, dear husband. Watching the fine Julie discover herself has stoked my memories. How I loved being alive and having a proper body. So stirring. I want more."
"I know a way," Etienne said. "Come with me."
BB found the address easily. He studied the apartment building and grinned. Julie’s apartment was on the first floor and next to a door leading outside. This couldn’t be simpler. He walked inside and kicked the door in with one blow.
He stomped through the front room into the bedroom. He didn’t see the pictures of her family on the dresser or the lacrosse stick from her high school days. He didn’t see the handmade quilt on the bed or the stack of letters from home on her night stand.
He paused as he stood by the bed. Very gently, he lifted the single sheet covering Julie and tossed it down by her feet.
Slowly, he picked up her tee shirt and laid it back under her shoulders. His hands hovered over her breasts for a second then clamped down on them. He pulled and twisted.
Julie woke up immediately. She looked down at the hands abusing her body then up at the walking nightmare who owned them. She opened her mouth to scream and BB hit her with his closed fist on the point of her chin. Her head whipped back, and she lost consciousness.
BB spent a few minutes exploring her body until he heard someone in the apartment next to Julie moving around. He threw her body over his shoulder and walked quickly out of the building to his car. He dumped her in the back with two members of his motorcycle gang and drove off.
Bears of Burden: THORN Page 52