Chapter 8
Greg caught a tug of warning pulling in his belly, but he dismissed it at once. He smiled. It was ridiculous. Of course Karen was enjoying herself. She enjoyed being with people and they didn't have too many friends in the city thus far. So the kid was charming her. Why not? A baby wrapped in a blanket could charm her, too.
He glanced at Sigrid and the big redhead smiled at him, Her eyebrows were raised as though they were saying, I told you so. Greg shook his head and muttered, "No way, lady."
The boy's mother merely shrugged, not bothering to defend her position. "We'll see."
He turned away, looking down at Diana at his other side. She was a cute kid, he decided. Neat, clean, very trim. Small as she appeared he had a feeling that she was in excellent condition, thanks to the family gymnasium. He wanted to touch her arm and her thigh to find out how hard she was, but he didn't dare lay a hand on the child.
He looked at David again and watched the boy as he chatted with Karen. He was stronger than he seemed, as well. Much stronger. He could see that while his body seemed slim and not yet filled out to manhood, what there was of him was very tough. Greg could imagine the lad running ten miles without tiring. And perhaps doing many other things with the stamina of a much heavier man.
Even so, Greg knew Karen. He knew his wife had tough qualities, too. Moral fiber could stand up against physical strength any day in the week. So he leaned back and relaxed, listening to their ongoing conversation.
Karen was shaking her head. "Do you really care what style underwear my husband wears?" Her voice was light, as though she were an adult patronizing a child, which was really the fact of the matter, Greg realized.
David shrugged his thin shoulders. "Not really. I'm sort of wondering why he wears the things in the first place. They're really not necessary, you understand."
Greg felt himself leaning forward and the women on either side of him were also intent. It was as though they were watching a race for high stakes. Greg felt a dampness in his armpits.
Karen was frowning as she sipped at her drink. She really didn't drink, but she merely held a glass at most parties and sipped politely. She never had more than one. Two would make her head reel. Greg turned to Sigrid.
"No fair spiking her glass. That's out of bounds."
The Amazon smiled without taking her eyes off the contestants. "He won't need to get her drunk. You can take her glass away, if you wish."
"Really not necessary?" Karen was saying.
"Heck, no," the boy blurted. "I never wear them. Most of the kids I run around with don't bother."
"That's not very sanitary," Karen countered. "I mean your clothes could get.. . "
David had fixed his stare on her. "Could get what?"
"Well, soiled."
"Soiled by what?"
Her voice trembled and Greg felt his prick stir. What the hell was it getting up for, he wondered. "You know."
"No. You'll have to say it."
Karen pressed her lips together. "I think it's time we talked about something else." She looked at the others, but they-including Greg-were all mute. So she turned back to the boy. "So you don't want to tell me about school."
"It's summer vacation." He half smiled. "You know what?"
"No, what?" she said lightly, apparently pleased that they were getting on some other subject. But she was wrong.
"Diana doesn't wear underwear, either." He laughed as he looked at Sigrid. "Neither does my mother, most of the time."
"David," his mother chided, but it was a gentle chide, as though she were proud of her son.
"like now, when she's got that tight stretch outfit on she doesn't have anything underneath-top or bottom. She says" they would show and they would only cramp her style. She's so strong she's always breaking something."
Karen was turning toward Greg for support, but there was nothing he could do. She'd need to get herself out of the embarrassing situation. He couldn't help her by ganging up on the lad. She'd be able to handle him anyhow and he half smiled, wondering how she would do it.
But David was still doing the talking. "Mrs. Eastman?"
"Yes, David." She was being very light and polite, but Greg could sense the slight tremor in her voice. "How come you wear them?"
"What?" Karen's voice half broke and her hand went instinctively to her thigh, as though she were protecting her body under the panties.
The teen-ager plunged on, his voice and face bland. Greg had to admit Sigrid was holding to her word. He wasn't being aggressive-except in conversation. Even then, his tone was mild, not really suggestive. It was only when he really listened to the words.
"How come you wear pants under your dress?" David was saying and Greg's eyes were wider. He could feel the growing bulge between his legs. He wondered why the scene was exciting him. After all, nothing was happening and nothing was going to happen. Even if it did, he'd hardly get worked up watching his own wife being seduced. That would be sick. Or would it?
Karen was flushing now, the color coming up out of her dress so that her throat and then her cheeks were pink. She crossed her legs protectively and tugged hard on her skirt. Even so, a hell of a lot of thigh was showing. "What makes you think...? I mean, of course I wear pants. I told you, it's the lady-like thing to do." She turned quickly to Sigrid with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I mean for you, you understand. This has nothing to do with your personal habits, Sigrid, or those of Diana..."
Sigrid nodded slowly, half smiling, her attitude gracious, as though she understood: different strokes for different folks.
"I don't wear them," David was saying. "My mother doesn't and Diana doesn't. We seem to get along. How come you wear them?"
Karen drew herself up with a deep breath and Greg saw the boy's eyes drop to her breasts. Karen tried being playful, trying to regain the offensive...if, indeed, she'd ever had it in the first place. "Well, my young Mr. Taylor, what makes you think I do wear pants? I never said as much."
"I could see the line on your skirt when you leaned over to sit down. That's a very tight skirt, Mrs. Eastman. A fellow could see just like that"-he snapped his fingers-"if you had anything on. You have. I can see the tight panty line, like we call it at school."
Greg, of course, knew exactly what the boy was talking about. He'd already noticed the line against the tight skirt a couple of times. But Karen continued to be puzzled, to be flustered. She was losing. "Tight panty fine?"
David giggled, suddenly a blushing young boy. "I know it sounds funny. I guess it's an inside joke we have at school. You know, when we watch girls in the halls."
Karen licked her lips, again turning to smile at the r others. Then she confronted the boy again. Greg gave her credit for not being a quitter. But her breathing had changed and her breasts rose and fell faster. She was getting angry...or something. It was more than simple anger.
"Does it really bother you?" she snapped.
David shrugged his thin shoulder. "Not really. You were the one who wanted to talk about underwear."
"David!" Sigrid said sharply. "Don't be impolite."
Greg turned to the boy's mother. She was being totally fair about the whole thing. David looked apologetic.
"I'm sorry. But if you want to be uncomfortable in pants, that's up to you." He sucked on his lower hp for a moment as Karen looked even more uncomfortable. Then he said: "I guess maybe you're sort of damp down there once in a while, huh? You need the protection."
At this point Greg would have bet his job and car that Karen would have jumped up and marched out of the room with Greg right behind her. He gripped his knees, ready to rise. But Diana placed her hand on the back of his and patted him as though to tell him to relax and sit back. She was right. Karen didn't jump up. She didn't move. She sat and stared, like a rabbit transfixed by the bright light of a night hunter. She simply stared into the lens.
I She tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come. She licked her lips and wiped her damp' hands together. Greg could see them shining. There was also perspiration on her upper lip. Her breasts jumped up and down even faster but she kept her knees crossed, her body protected instinctively.
She didn't lash out at the boy. She didn't tell him he was being much too familiar and insulting. Instead she said, still trying to be coy and above it all: "I don't have any more problems than anyone else."
David nodded like a wise little man. "Well, nobody could ever accuse you of being a broad, Mrs. Eastman. You have swell hips, not an inch too wide."
Karen's flush deepened at this unexpected praise. "Why, thank you, David."
Greg had to bite his tongue. Christ, didn't she see? The kid was working his way into an intimate conversation like a master, flattering his way into a discussion of her very private areas. He shook his head when he saw Sigrid turning to smile at him.
"You know what I would do?" he continued, his voice rather high. He might have been getting excited, but his squeaky voice was the only sign.
Karen sighed as though she knew she was having trouble escaping and that things would get worse. Shit, Greg thought, the kid's talk can't hurt her. That's a long way from seduction. "What would you do?" Karen asked.
"First chance I got I'd sneak out of the room and take off my pants, if I was you. No use you being all bound up. Besides, pants sort of turn people off. Just the thought of them being a sort of buffer. You know, what could happen by accident when a girl...a woman, is wearing pants?"
Karen cleared her throat again and coughed lightly into her fist. She uncrossed her legs and recrossed them. Greg could hear the smooth flesh of her thighs hiss together.
"I definitely think we should change the subject," she stammered.
David spread his thin hands. "Okay. Tell me, Mrs. Eastman, do you usually have an orgasm when you're in bed with a man?"
Karen's jaw dropped open, as did Greg's. He turned his head to Sigrid and then to Diana, but they merely smiled at him. Sigrid murmured, "We have a deal. He'll wait for her to make the first move. Meanwhile, he can say anything he-likes."
"Talk," he muttered. "That's all there will be. She'll walk out of here in ten seconds."
But Karen didn't walk out. Instead she closed her mouth, except to lick her lips as she gulped. "I...I really don't think that's any of your business, young man." Why the hell didn't she slap him and walk out? Greg kept asking himself. Meanwhile, his prick was growing in his crotch. It was coming up to full size and he wasn't at all certain why.
Greg was amazed when Karen decided to answer his question. "Well...I do some of the time. Some times I don't. It's sort of hit and miss, I guess."
"You guess?" David was like a prosecuting attorney.
"All right, sometimes yes, other times, no." Her eyes blazed. "Do you really need to know everything?"
"Tell me, are you tight?"
"Now you listen here!" Karen blurted and she half stood, her head bobbing toward the others. "What sort of a show is this?"
The boy shrugged again, still as calm as ever while Karen continued to lose control. Her hands were shaking as she sat down again, gripping her knees. "Don't tell me anything you don't want to," he said simply.
"Thank you very much," she hissed. There was nothing but the sound of her breathing for a full minute. Then she spoke. "I dare say I am."
"You're what?" the boy countered.
"What you asked me."
"You tell me."
"All right, I'm tight." She blew out her cheeks. "At least I think I am, according to what I've seen and heard about other women. We do get together at the office and talk, you know."
"I figured you did." He smiled. "Are you proud of being tight? Do you think it makes you a better shack-up?"
His words continued to stun Greg, but Karen seemed to be getting accustomed to them, as though it couldn't get any worse and she were getting numb. "I'd rather be tight than loose, if you must know."
"I don't have to know anything, Mrs. Eastman. I'm just making conversation."
"Making her, he means," Diana whispered from Greg's side.
Greg could sit still no longer. He had to do something to break up this thing. So he stood. "Sigrid, you haven't shown Karen the family gymnasium. How about a quick tour?"
Everybody rose. "Good idea," Sigrid replied. "Come along Diana, David, we'll all go in and show our guests the equipment."
At that moment it was Karen who stunned Greg when she said, her voice shy and half broken, "If you'll excuse me, I've got to go wash my hands."
Greg waited while she was gone and so did the others. Greg wanted to watch when she came out of the bathroom and, it seemed, the others did, too.