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Puppet Page 11

by Hamiltion Swift


  After coming home from Newport, Carin again put out her feelers for Kyle. She called her mother-in-law once more but received the same response as the times before. Leaving no stone unturned, she called her old friend, Allie Cousins, who had moved to Vermont several years earlier. After Allie had hooked up briefly with Kyle’s frat mate, Crazy Clark, on the night Carin and Kyle had met, Allie and Clark had a short-lived fling. The relationship ended acrimoniously but on the phone with Carin, Allie promised to call Clark to see if he knew of Kyle’s whereabouts.

  Carin had high hopes that she now might be able to locate Kyle. But after waiting for weeks with no response from Allie, Carin’s mood began to cool. It wasn’t exactly a gloom settling over her but when Justin arrived home in the evenings, the impish spark she’d always delighted in showing him was muted. She had well-planned dinners ready and was dressed in outfits he liked, but her enthusiasm for their simple activities together tempered. Justin asked if she were embarrassed or confused about the sexual things they were doing but she claimed to be comfortable with the fantasy and role-play, knowing he liked it and she liked to please him. When he offered to curtail his imagination, she said she loved him exactly the way he was and would never dream of asking him to change.

  As June turned to July, Carin did very little during the day but lounge on Justin’s back deck. Her only companion, it seemed, was Lord Byron, the neighbor’s cat, whom she’d summon over by sucking air between her pursed lips. On most days, Byron would scurry between the privet hedges within seconds of hearing her special call for him; other times, Carin would have to entice him with food laid along the property line. She had continued to feed Byron daily, as much to keep his visits coming as to protest having been banned from nourishing him in the first place.

  * * * * *

  One Sunday afternoon, as Carin read a Cosmo on the deck, Justin stood inside the kitchen looking out at her. She was topless, wearing only her yellow string bikini bottom and a pair of silver hoop earrings. Byron was curled in the shade beneath her chair as she flipped through articles, no doubt detailing surefire ways to satisfy a man’s needs. Before long, she tossed the magazine on a nearby chair and blew her bangs from her eyes.

  Justin opened the kitchen sliding door and walked into the brightness of the deck. Lord Byron poked his head from under the lounger and crawled out from his shady spot. As Justin came closer, Byron leaped onto Carin’s chair, eventually settling between her shins. Carin squinted up as Justin stood over her, his body casting a slanted line of shadow across her torso.

  “We can’t even get a stupid cat together, Justin,” she said.

  “Oh?”

  “I have to borrow a dumb cat from your stupid neighbor.”

  She bent forward and curled her finger under Byron’s chin, as if to apologize for insulting him. The cat stretched its neck as Carin ran her finger through its orangey-white fur.

  “Borrow?” Justin questioned. “Tennyson’s more yours than Russell’s by this point.”

  “His name’s Byron, and you know what I mean.”

  Justin removed the Cosmo from the chair. He sat down and stared at Carin. Her silver hoop earrings glittered in the sun, highlighting her rich, midsummer tan.

  “I don’t want to complain, Justin,” she said.

  “If you’re unhappy, I want to hear it.”

  “Don’t mind me. I’m just feeling antsy.”

  Carin looked down her legs and fanned Byron’s outstretched front paw between her thumb and finger.

  “About what?”

  “I don’t know. It’s nothing.”

  “You need to tell me.”

  Carin took a deep breath and let it out slowly through puffed cheeks. “You know most of it already. Part of it is about you always working and about us in limbo with Kyle gone. But I guess a third part is about me not having any close friends. After my friend Allie moved to Vermont, I never replaced that bond. I was with Kyle and that was that. I miss her in the summer most, when I don’t have my students.”

  Carin then told Justin that Allie had met and married a man several years her senior after she’d moved north. They opened a B&B together, and as the place became popular, she and Carin saw less and less of each other.

  “You talk on the phone sometimes though, right?” Justin reminded her.

  “It’s not the same. In high school, we confided all our secrets to each other. Her stories were always spicier than mine but it was good having that closeness. It would be fun to talk like that again. I finally have some juicy tales to offer!”

  Carin looked up with a mischievous grin. The little pixie in her wasn’t completely gone.

  As the conversation moved along, Justin promised to cut more of his work travel. He also said he’d think about getting a cat for the beach house. When neither of those offers broke Carin’s mope, he suggested she call Allie and arrange a visit to the B&B.

  Hearing the suggestion, Carin jumped from her lounge chair, sending Byron scurrying off the deck and through the hedge. She smothered Justin with hugs and kisses then strutted half naked into the kitchen to call her friend. Justin was left engulfed in the scent of suntan oil and jasmine. He picked up the Cosmo from the deck and sat looking at it. The skinny, big-boobed cover model was composed and striking, but his excitable girlfriend was far more beautiful.

  Carin had visited Allie’s B&B only once before, shortly after Kyle had vanished, at a time when Carin had desperately needed a getaway. Like now, she’d felt unsettled and restless, but within twenty-four hours of that visit, she’d forgotten her troubles. She fell in love with the B&B and fell right back in step with Allie. She was surrounded by nature, animals and love—the very things that made her happiest in life and that she now wanted to share with Justin forever.

  By the time Justin had read five of The Ten Most Amazing Male Erogenous Zones!, Carin had booked a weekend visit to the B&B.

  * * * * *

  Allie and her husband Rick had lived in their stone farmhouse a year before acting on their dream to convert it into a B&B. They worked tirelessly for several years making it what it was today—a showplace that was listed in all the best travel guides. Carin said she couldn’t wait to show Justin around the grounds and hoped to settle in to the same cozy little room she’d stayed in after Kyle’s departure.

  They arrived on a Friday afternoon late in July after a five-hour drive through a slice of New England sunshine. The property was nestled among a string of rolling hills, along the banks of a fast-running river. Two-hundred-year-old oaks and maples shaded the B&B, which had recently been featured in a Country Living spread that raved about its bird watching, trout fishing and nearby hiking trails.

  As Carin and Justin got out of the car, Justin noticed a loveseat swing on the farmhouse’s wraparound porch. Impressive herb, vegetable and flower gardens peppered the property. The soothing sounds of a neighing horse could be heard from within a huge barn behind the inn. Justin understood how a glowing article could be written about such a place.

  Allie greeted them on the porch with champagne in fluted glasses garnished with sliced peaches. The sophistication of the cocktail was juxtaposed by the simple outfit she wore—white blouse, jeans and Birkenstocks. She was attractive and tall, with a swimmer’s body that rarely stood still, but she looked several years older than her friend of the same age. Justin sensed that her straw-like hair had once been lustrous, her muddy brown eyes previously holding sunshine. Coupled with wrinkles around her mouth and eyes, she looked as if she’d waited one too many rides before exiting a carnival. She was warm and gracious and Justin liked her immediately, mostly because she doted on Carin like a mother hen.

  The two girls began chatting while Allie fussed with crudités she had waiting on a glass-top table on the porch. She topped crackers with a cheese spread and placed them in front of Carin, demanding she eat. Allie talked faster than Carin, stepped on her friend’s words, laughed louder and came across as strong and assertive. It was easy to deduce tha
t in high school, Carin might have had trouble keeping up with Allie, if Carin had attempted to keep up at all.

  After a champagne toast, Allie denied Carin’s request to stay in the same room she’d stayed in before and led her and Justin along a winding path by the river to a three-room guesthouse tucked into a hill. Filled with authentic Southwestern art on the walls, American Indian rugs running the hallway and a handmade, queen-size birch bark bed, it was a cozy and unique spot.

  Justin recognized immediately that Carin was in her element at the B&B. The place held her rhythm right and she was relaxed and happy. The chin-up duckiness that had always warmed Justin’s heart was back with a vengeance, and she was never more adorable.

  The only drawback to the weekend was that the B&B was packed with people because of the free advertising from the Country Living piece. Allie was busy much of the time and Rick was even more unavailable—though the two couples did meet for late-night drinks in the inn’s bar on Saturday. Carin was open in telling Allie how happy she was and wasn’t shy in asking her friend if she’d heard anything about Kyle. Justin was surprised she’d ask Allie about the ex in his presence and listened intently as Allie mentioned contacting someone named Crazy Clark who had no clue where Kyle was.

  On Sunday morning, after the other guests had eaten breakfast, the foursome met again over eggs Benedict and fresh melon on the back porch of the main house overlooking the rolling hills. Rick later took Carin for a walk around the property while Allie and Justin drank more coffee.

  “I’ve never seen Carin so happy,” Allie started. “You must be doing something right.”

  “I don’t mind telling you how much we care for each other.”

  “I saw how you gave her the seat overlooking the mountains, Justin. I saw you push in her chair and ask if her meal was to her liking. It’s easy to spot a man in love.”

  “I hear her marriage wasn’t so great.”

  “No…it wasn’t. I was her maid of honor. In hindsight, I should have… I don’t know. Sometimes Carin needs looking after. You seem to do that well.”

  “What’s with Kyle, anyway?”

  “He was sweet in the beginning. Very handsome. But a big drinker. It got bad. Her decision to marry always troubled me. We all make dumb choices, I guess.”

  “Or put ourselves in positions to not make choices,” Justin added.

  “I know Carin very well. I can tell you she’s finally found what she missed out on. I hope you know how much you mean to her and how sensitive she is. She’s a truly unique person.”

  Justin made a show of pouring more coffee from a porcelain pot, hoping this woman he barely knew wouldn’t notice his blinking eyes. After he refilled their mugs, Allie slid a folded piece of paper across the table.

  “His name’s Clark Johnson. People called him Crazy Clark back then. I used to date him, sort of. Last night, I told Carin he doesn’t know where Kyle is but he does.”

  “Oh?”

  “He offered to give me the address if I gave him something in return. I used to give it freely but not anymore.”

  “Nice guy.”

  “Actually, he’s a complete a-hole. If you want to get to Kyle, and I hope you do, Crazy Asshole Clark is your conduit.”

  Justin thanked her and put the slip of paper into his wallet.

  * * * * *

  Justin and Carin began their trek back home before lunch on Sunday, traveling the winding blue highways through Vermont. Carin’s hair was pulled back in a bun and her body was displayed nicely in a short, white sleeveless sundress. She was still in good spirits, teasing him mile after mile. She turned in her seat and put her bare feet on his lap, touching him through his pants and letting him glimpse her lacy white thong.

  When he saw her in that position, so similar to her pose during their drive to Newport, Justin remembered a remark one of the party girls from his past had made. They had just finished screwing for the first time after flirting for a day or two. He was panting on top of her when she’d whispered, “It’s all downhill from here.” At the time, Justin thought the comment was a jaded observation on relationships, but later, he realized she was right. Theirs had been a sexual thing—there was no love to keep the bond growing. They’d enjoyed the chase and the capture was exhilarating. But there was nothing of value to sustain it.

  Seeing Carin giggling as she teased him made Justin realize that their relationship was anything but jaded. Their love was always climbing and there was no downhill in sight.

  Justin’s cock jumped like a trout under her trolling feet and she moved her toes against him. When he was good and hard, she crawled over and gave soft kisses on his cheek. She told him she loved him and pinched the bulge in his pants lightly between her thumb and forefinger. Justin loved looking at her in this position…her driving position…with her knees on the passenger seat and her cute backside rising in the air.

  They stopped for lunch at a rednecky bar two hours south of Allie and Rick’s place. They played pool and drank cold beer from longneck bottles and ate hot, greasy French fries from wax paper-lined, red plastic wicker baskets. Every guy in the place eyed Carin in her sundress as she bent over the pool table to take a shot.

  Back on the blue highways, Carin resumed teasing him, pulling his head toward her and kissing him on the mouth while he did his best to stay on the country road. She guided his hand between her legs and placed it at her watery oasis, a haven surrounded by a rippling heat. He pulled his hand from her a few times while trying to concentrate on the road and each time she put it right back between her legs.

  Finally Justin pulled the car onto the shoulder by some farmland, telling Carin she was about to get what she’d been begging for. Carin scampered over the seatback while Justin spanked her butt playfully, and then he climbed over the seat and positioned himself on top of her. She spread her legs as best as the confines of the backseat would allow and he pulled himself free from his pants. He sank into her with one stroke and Carin moaned so loudly that a line of crows perched on a telephone wire turned their heads to see what the fuss was about.

  They made love hard and fast on the side of the road while a distant tractor rumbled back and forth. The tractor’s engine became louder with each pass until it fell silent. Justin continued pumping away and Carin locked her ankles behind his back. Neither cared if a farmer was walking toward the car with head cocked in curiosity. Before long, they both came hard and loud, Carin holding Justin against her, keeping him inside her and kissing his face over and over, as she always did when his face was near.

  They stayed parked on that little road for another fifteen minutes, kissing and snuggling on the backseat, never caring to look up, never wondering if a farmer might be enjoying their dalliance as much as they were.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Justin asked Carin to officially move in to his beach house soon after their return from Allie and Rick’s place. She said yes but not as enthusiastically as Justin had anticipated. Over the next few weeks, they furniture shopped and redecorated, buying Carin a dresser and making his place seem more like their place. But it didn’t seem to be enough for her.

  Despite her occasional fits of dissatisfaction, Carin was, as always, Justin’s ever-loving puppet. It was never more obvious than the night he came home from a business trip and found her in the master bath dressed in a schoolgirl costume.

  He had been in Houston for four days. Taking a limo home from La Guardia, he arrived in Darien well after dinner and entered the house calling her name. Hearing no reply, he put down his travel bag in the foyer and bounded up the stairs two at a time. Striding down the hallway and into the master bedroom, he noticed a wedge of light escaping the partially closed bathroom door and headed for it. He hesitated when he got to the door and pushed it open slowly. Carin stood in front of a full-length mirror, smoothing creases from a white halter-top as it clung to her perfect breasts.

  Justin wasn’t surprised to find her wearing the costume. Before he’d left for his trip,
she’d teased him about ordering it. What surprised him was that she was even more enticing in it than she’d been in his imagination. With her hair in pigtails and satin bows of over-the-knee stockings showing beneath her plaid skirt, she looked adorably innocent and ready for anything at the same time, a contrast that had always exhilarated Justin. When she noticed his reflection in the mirror, she bit her lower lip and pulled back her shoulders.

  “Hi, baby,” she said, looking over her shoulder. “I’ve missed you.”

  “You look amazing in that costume, my love,” he replied.

  He came to her quickly and kissed her as they stood in front of the mirror. Her skin was soft and glistening with body oil. Justin lost himself in her slippery suppleness as well as the sprinkled scent of her perfume.

  As his intoxication heightened, so did the passion of their kisses. It was minutes before they slowly unwound their embrace. Pulling away, Justin kept his hands on Carin’s shoulders and looked at her adorable face. Her eyes were crystal clear and guiltless. They were sparklingly bright and penetratingly blue, exuding innocence and lust at the same time. Justin had never seen eyes that showed such incongruence. The effect made him dizzy.

  His gaze lowered down her body to the bows of her stockings and slowly moved up again. Her miniskirt hung on her hipbones, exposing her bare midriff. Her breasts overflowed the halter-top. White lacey half cups of a new bra showed underneath it, where the halter’s knot tied. As his hands slid under Carin’s arms, she must have realized she was about to be lifted because she rose onto her toes.

 

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