Chapter 6
In time my humiliation faded and our love once more took on the joyous tinge of the old year.
As spring advanced, we left the car for the newly greening grass and stained our skins with its fresh juices. Since the brook and its surroundings were still too cold, we found another favorite place, a daffodil-spotted hillside by an old abandoned farm. There, in the warming sun of afternoon, we made frequent love.
We would take our books there on weekend afternoons and learn more of each other than of our texts. Still, we learned, and our love inspired our studies; we loved and read, and read and loved, and our love lubricated the paths of learning.
As school drew to a close and graduation neared, the time for the annual senior class outing approached. This year it was to be a trip to Bar Harbor. The plan was to stay in a motel; Rod insisted that we both go and that one of us at least should try to get a single room, so that we could recapture our lost New Year's opportunity.
It wasn't difficult. My parents must have had some inkling of my reasons, for they backed me up when I told Mrs. Maury, one of our chaperones who handled such details, that I could not sleep in company, that to rest well I had to be alone; I had my way.
We left on a Friday afternoon in school buses. It was only about an hour's drive, so we arrived with plenty of time to unpack before dinner. There was just time enough for me to show Rod where my room was and kiss him once inside the door. It would be a long time till lights out, when he would be able to sneak past the chaperones to me.
When we had all assembled in the motel restaurant and taken our seats at the long tables provided for our party, I found that Bill was seated just across from Rod and me. I had seen a little of him in the past year, and had had no reason to worry about what he might do, but now he was watching me. Throughout that meal he kept his eyes on me, darting his gaze away only when Rod threatened to catch him at it. He wore a speculative look, as though he were wondering how he might take up where we had left off. I had no sympathy for his hopes; I had not liked him before, had submitted only out of need, and I liked him less now.
He had, from what I'd heard, turned into the sort of slimy creature that stands at the bottom of stairways, hoping to get a look up some poor girl's dress, that is all hands on a date, having no thought for anyone but himself.
When he left the table at the end of the meal, with a last, long, pawing look up and down my body, I shuddered, shaking off the unclean feeling his knowing gaze had given me, and sighed in relief that he was gone.
The evening was spent in clearing up the final plans for the next two days, forming our groups and making sure that everyone knew the schedules.
When that was done we separated into small groups around the record players and radios in some of the rooms to talk and dance a while. Rod and I formed part of one group, though we were impatient for the rest of them to get tired and go to bed.
Finally, we broke away and went to our own rooms to pretend to go to bed. It was not, however, till about 1:30 that the halls grew quiet with the end of the incessant comings and goings of our classmates.
Eventually Rod was able to leave his room and come to me. I was waiting at the door and quickly drew him in when he knocked.
We embraced quickly, the fabric of my nightgown rubbing the tips of my breasts into turgid want, his hands fingering my spine, nails scratching thrills into my skin. We hastened to the bed for whose comfort we had yearned so long and he tore off my gown while I pulled at his pajamas to bare his beloved flesh. When we were both naked, I pulled him down and hugged him to me.
Our limbs entwined, lips pressing lips, and almost immediately I felt his touch upon my moistening pussy. I tipped up my hips and hungrily inhaled him, held him close and quiet as we stroked and murmured the soft words of love, luxuriating in the smooth coolness of the sheets under our limbs.
The pleasant pangs of our linkage became more imperiously demanding, driving us into a surging, pulsing motion that soon carried us to the very brink of completion. There we lingered, letting the tides of passion fade away and return, again and again, over and over, till our desires raged and would brook no more delay. We went crashing up and over the summit, coasted slowly down the other side, and lay, still closely intertwined, panting in the afterglow.
When he had faded from my relaxing grip, I pulled away and took his organ in my hand, fondled and kissed it, teased it till it rose again. His hands and lips responded, focusing their caresses on my breasts, drawing my firming nipples into his mouth to titillate and tease me back to the edge of desire. He kept that up, it seemed, forever, one hand slowly, gently, stroking the lips of my loving cup, two fingers insinuated between them, moistly exciting my soft membranes, pinching and rubbing my clitoris.
Soon we both were gasping with renewed lust. Unable to restrain myself, I yielded to the pounding insistence of my blood and struggled free, swinging to straddle his loins and grasp his member, holding it upright beneath my hovering, hungry cunt. I sank to touch it with swollen lips, and smoothly glided it the length of the glistening groove. He bucked, tried to thrust it in, but I was not ready. I rose, just enough not to lose contact, still sliding it along me. I was enchanted with the sensation, a million slippery volts trickling up my spine, knowing it was within my power to end our anticipation at any moment.
I hovered, touching, touching, gazing on our slight contact. His spearpoint nestled in my folds stirred my blood so it danced to strange wild rhythms. I found it hard to breathe; my heart was pounding; my cheeks burned with lust.
When he raised a hand to touch my cheek and pinch a nipple, he released the dammed flood of desire. I rose up, and, holding him stiffly aimed at the very center of my being, let myself fall directly on him. I nearly fainted with the first rush of sensation from that sudden impalement, but I soon recovered and began to raise and lower myself upon him, occasionally drawing him out to watch his glowing head, then rushing down again. He moaned at this and began to meet me with his own thrusts.
Our previous orgasms prolonged our capabilities and we were able to keep this up for over an hour, finally rushing to a tremendous crescendo of a climax that left us both exhausted, emptied of all desire for the present. We fell asleep, still joined, still clasped in the arms of love.
I had set the alarm for an early hour, well before we expected to have to worry about other people in the halls. When it went off, I found myself being slowly inflated by his awakening organ and we quickly appeased our appetites before he went back to his room. I returned to bed then and, dozing, dreamed of the many more such wonderful nights ahead in our lives. The revery had to end, though, when the halls became alive and we were all called to start the day with breakfast.
All day long, while Rod and I, together with others, explored the island, Bill dogged our steps. The one sour note of our trip was his presence in our group. He stayed close to us all the time, never, it seemed, taking his eyes off me, and, every time that it looked as if Rod were moving away, to explore on his own, or to ask some question of our ranger guide, Bill moved closer. Fortunately, Rod was never out of sight and always returned soon, always failing to see Bill fade back to a safer distance.
I didn't say anything to Rod. I feared that if he were to confront him, stories would be told that I wanted kept quiet, and so I said nothing, though Bill's intent look and insistent approaches scared me so much that I could hardly enjoy our excursion.
That evening several of us were sitting in the motel lounge before a warm fire, keeping off the chill that so often pomes with a June night in Maine. Rod and Bill weren't there; I hadn't seen Bill since dinner and Rod had gone to the men's room. I took the opportunity to ask one of the other girls about Bill.
"Celia, what is it with Bill? He's been following me around all day. Never saying a word, but always there."
She looked up from her boy friend's head, resting in her lap. "Oh, I dunno. His girl friend ditched him about Easter time. About time she did, too."
"What do you mean?" I thought I knew, but I wanted to know what they thought of him; how he appeared to others.
"He's a nasty guy, he is," put in another girl, Linda, looking up with a petulant snarl. "He's mean. I bet he'd pull the wings off flies and feed 'em to spiders."
"He's rough, too," said Celia, grimacing a little. "I had a date with him a while ago, and he couldn't keep his hands to himself." I thought she sounded a bit smug, but Linda interrupted my speculations.
"I had a date with him once, too. I was pretty horny when I went out with him and when he started pawing I let him go on just as far as he wanted." She halted the spate of words to remember, a vindictive smile playing across her lips. "He doesn't give a damn about a girl, though.
It was just wham, bam, thank you ma'am, and if you still wanted more, then the hell with you. And I hear, you know, that he doesn't always let a girl get away from him if she doesn't want to go all the way."
"You mean," I said, trying to look shocked, "he rapes the poor girl? I hope he isn't thinking of me that way." I did hope so, too, though I knew what a cold, unfeeling bastard he was much better than they could ever know. I knew what a bastard Bill was, all right, but I'd hoped that he might have improved, in technique at least, or tact.
"I don't know, Penny," sighed Celia, a bit regretfully it seemed. "You're awfully pretty, you know. Oh! We'd better shut up. Here comes Rod."
She must have had some suspicion, perhaps some envy, of our relationship, that it went far beyond just going steady, and wanted to spare him pain. She was good, I knew, and this only proved it: she didn't try to break us up by talking on about Bill, try to cut Rod loose for her chasing.
Rod was there, but I had learned all I really wanted to know. It hadn't calmed my fears, but now I knew I wanted Rod beside me that night more than ever.
For two or three hours we sat by the fire and talked, my head resting on Rod's shoulder, his hand lightly and steadily stroking my hair. We talked of the finally ended years of high school, of what we intended to do that summer, of where we would go after that.
College was not for me; I had done fairly well, but not that well; erotic pleasures are distracting. I hoped, though, to be near Rod, who was more fortunate; his grades had been good and in the fall he would be leaving for the University of Maine, to study forestry and fisheries biology.
Our class would scatter. One had been accepted at a school in Wisconsin, another would go to Texas. The rest would be nearer, but still far from their homes. There were only a few who, like me, would not be going on, but would stay to farm, or tend a shop, or join the army and go on from there; some would marry in time and never leave the town.
I envied them all. Though my future seemed bright to them with my shining Rod, the dark secrets of my past, the ugly hold upon my family and the things it forced us to, would always shadow my life.
Since the day had been active and tiring, we all went to our rooms earlier than the night before. Shortly after I was in my room, waiting for the halls to quiet, waiting for Rod. When all was calm and peaceful, I went to the door to listen for his steps. I didn't want to make him wait too long in the hall. Someone might see him.
Soon I heard soft footsteps coming quickly down the hall. They stopped before the door, and I swung it open, reaching for his arm even as he slipped quickly through the gap.
"Come in, honey. Oh, hurry! Ohhh!"
"Shut up, you little bitch!" It was Bill! What was he doing here? "You scream and I'll kill you! You and that Rod! Mooning around all over the place, paying no attention to me at all. And I was your first. Wasn't I?"
His hissing words broke the spell that held me rigid, staring, gaping, and I drew in air. "Wh-wh-what're you doing here? Get out! Out!"
He didn't hear, just went on. "Wasn't I? You don't think so, huh? What's the matter? Am I so repulsive? Do I make love like a dog or something? You sure look like you think so. So maybe I do. Maybe that's why I can't get so many dates. I'm sure you wouldn't have been telling any stories to turn the girls off me, huh? That doesn't matter anyway. I'm not here for a date with you.
"I've seen you and Rod. I've waited outside your house for years, off and on...." I moved, sidling away, and he grabbed me by the flesh of my upper arm. I stifled a gasp, but he went on. " ... hoping you'd come out and look for me again. But no! You stay home, with those parents of yours and their orgies, and then you start meeting this Rod of yours. I've seen you! I've followed you around and seen you! And now I want some too! I've watched long enough. I want to know why you enjoy it so much with him. Have you changed? Or am I so awful?"
His grip on my arm didn't relax, but tightened with every stifled shout. "Oh! Oh! M-my God! You can't! I-I-I'll scream! N-no! N-no! You're hurting me! Let go!" Indignation clogged my throat; I nearly choked on my words, but I didn't want to attract attention if I could help it.
"Maybe I won't kill you if you scream. Maybe I'll just tell everybody just what a slut you are. And what kind of parents you got. And the garden parties they throw. Naah! You won't scream."
Oh, how right he was. Not only Would the night be ruined, but that last threat meant more to me than life itself. If he told, I was sure that I would lose Rod, and more.
He took my acquiescence for granted, and even as I thought those thoughts, he was pushing me down upon my bed, tearing off my nightgown with brutal hands.
He stood back, staring down at my naked body while he lowered his pants and hauled out his distended prick. He laughed and hurled himself upon me, wrenching my legs apart, and, his wrist a bar across my throat to still my struggles, launched his searing invasion of my cunt.
I lay helpless before his onslaught. My soft and tender membranes, parched with terror, gave me only pain from his furious pounding.
But as I lay impaled on his ruthless weapon, I heard, through the soundless screaming in my ears, a light tapping on the door. In sudden, desperate hope, I cried out.
"Ohh! Don't! Oh, it hurts!" I thrashed, trying to throw him off, ignoring his curses and slaps as he tried to quiet me back to at least inert cooperation. That noise, together with the creaking of the bed beneath us, must have been all that Rod needed. Oh, if only he had gone away in silent jealousy, or better, that we had never come on this trip!
But he came bursting through the light door, sending it flying off its hinges, crashing on the floor. He saw what was happening and let out a cry of rage, pounced on Bill and yanked him off and out of me. My biggest feeling just then was not relief, nor fear of what might come next, but pain, as Bill's swollen prick was ripped from me. That pain soon vanished, though, replaced by awe and fear, when I saw Rod holding him up against the wall, pounding his fist into Bill's face, thumping his knee repeatedly into his groin.
"Rod! Stop! Oh, stop!" I tugged at his arm, trying to distract his attention from his target. I must have had some effect, for he drew back, let Bill slump to the floor, groaning in what must have been terrible pain, his face already swelling, his prick in shrunken retreat from his punishment. If only he had been unconscious! But Rod had not been working on him long enough for that, only seconds really, though it had seemed much longer, and his blows had been directed with the inaccuracy of rage.
"You don't know what a slut you got there, do you?" Bill growled. "A regular whore. I had her when she was only twelve. Lord only knows how many others have gotten into her. And you should see the parties her parents give. Ever been to one?" He was panting, gasping, as he recovered, venting his spleen to bring back his strength.
"Everybody out in the back yard balling. We used to watch them from under the hedge. That's where we screwed. She could hardly wait till she was old enough to join the parties herself."
My dear Rod, though, paid no attention, but let out a howl of rage. "I don't believe you, you lying bastard. And you're not going to spread that kind of a tale about my Penny either. Are you?" He pulled Bill to his feet and held him against the wall, waving his fist in the classic threat.
"You let me out of here and I will for sure. If you hadn't busted in I was going to keep my mouth shut, but now you've ruined it. And I'll ruin her." .
These words, whined through obvious pain, filtered through a mask of blood, were the last he ever uttered. Rod shook him, drew back his arm, cried, "Then you're not getting out of here," and hit him right on the nose. His arm began to rise and fall, ending each time with the meaty smack of bone thudding against flesh, with terrifying regularity.
A thin wailing scream seemed to fill the room as Bill slumped to the floor again, a defensively huddled, twitching contortion helplessly trying to resist as Rod straightened him out to pound his head on the tiles, thumbs digging into his windpipe. I screamed, and people, already on their way, seemed to flood into the room before I could draw another breath.
One of the chaperones forced her way through the crowd. "What's going on here? Oh, my God! Someone call a doctor!"
Someone threw a blanket around me, shielding my nakedness. I couldn't talk, but Rod could. "I heard Penny scream and busted in. He was raping her."
"What the hell did you do that for?" someone asked. "You coulda hollered."
"I was only going to beat him up, but he started saying things, threatening her. I hope he's dead!" He fell back into a chair, realizing the enormity of what he'd said and done.
My only thought was that he had not deserted me. He had come like a knight to the rescue.
He raised his head from his hands, looked straight at me, eyes wide and clear, free of guilt. "I don't care, Penny. I don't care if it's all true. I love you."
It didn't seem long till the doctor arrived. Someone had apparently called the police too, for they were right behind him. He bent over Bill immediately, checking his pulse.
"This boy's still alive, officer, but you'd better call an ambulance right away. He might not make it if we don't get him to a hospital." The audience gasped and, unnecessarily, he added, "He's in pretty bad shape. Who did it?"
Rod raised his head and slowly turned to remark, dully, "I did."
The police chased all the spectators out, including our chaperones, who were the most reluctant to go, and then asked the motel manager for an empty room. They took Rod to it for questioning, telling me to get dressed; they'd be back for me soon.
In the hour that I waited, Bill was removed, and I could hear the wondering whispers in the hall from those who stayed near to watch. I welcomed the distraction of the police returning.
The sergeant entered the room, leaving a man at the door. "It's all right, Miss. He told us the whole story. Now, just a few questions to confirm it with you; and then, I'm afraid, we'll have to take him into custody. I'm sorry. He was your boy friend, wasn't he?"
"He still is." He was very sympathetic, very patient with my tears, and he got all the information from me that he wanted, even the fact that Bill's threats were based on truth. My dread secret was out at last!
"Well, Miss, we'll try to keep this quiet. There's no need for a scandal unless it has to be brought out at the trial."
"Trial? What trial? Rod just beat him up, didn't he?"
"I'm afraid not. We received word a little while ago that he died on the way to the hospital. Your friend will at least be charged with manslaughter."