Chapter 3
Arthur Webb had never taken the telescope out of its box in the daytime, because Thelma was always at home to prevent him. But today Thelma had gone somewhere without explanation, and he decided to take advantage of her absence.
He gave her twenty minutes, to make certain that she did not plan to return quickly, then he set up the telescope in front of the bedroom window.
Almost anything filled Thelma with fury, and Arthur knew she would be furious with him if she caught him peeping at the neighbors across the way. So it was necessary for him to take elaborate precautions.
He opened the bedroom door wide and adjusted his chair so that he could see the living room reflected in her vanity mirror. He considered putting an object in front of the entrance door, perhaps something metallic. If she came home unexpectedly while he was busy peering through the telescope, the sound would warn him in time.
But of course this would not do at all. Thelma was not stupid. She would know that he was up to something, and even a hint that he was doing something forbidden was enough to throw her into one of her tantrums.
He decided just to leave the bedroom door open, remain alert, and take his chances.
Arthur tightened his hands into knots and cursed silently. He detested himself for being so afraid of Thelma. He had become a mouse, not a man. He had no backbone at all, because of the constant domination she exerted on him.
Their marriage had been like ten miserable years behind bars. He might as well be in prison as to be married to Thelma. She was his warden and his jailer. She had made his life almost unbearable.
And he was too weak to resist her.
At least up to now he had been too weak and ineffective. But lately he had noticed a subtle change in his attitude. For some reason his anger had begun to bubble to the surface. He had even dared to defy her in certain very minor ways. And to his amazement, she would now and then even permit him to get away with it.
Maybe she was just toying with him, giving him a little rope to run on before jerking him up short. One of her favorite tricks was to let him think he was fooling her, then catch him the moment he dropped his guard.
That might be what she was planning today, by leaving the house without the least explanation. Maybe she intended to return suddenly and catch him doing something forbidden.
If that were her game, then he was ready to receive his punishment if he were found out. It was a pretty passive act of defiance, but it still took a lot of courage. Maybe such small rebellions would increase his bravery, until someday he might even face up to her.
But such speculations could wait until another time. Right now he was free to do as he wished. And what he wished for, more than anything else, was one more glimpse of the lovely blonde he had named Gloria.
His dream girl.
Expertly he swung the telescope around until it was aimed at the right window, the window of her bedroom. If only he could reach her as easily from the inside of her apartment building! But he did not even know the number of her apartment. And of course he did not have the courage to go up and knock on her door even if he knew which one was hers.
He was a coward, and he seemed destined to remain one for the rest of his life.
With a pained sigh, Arthur peered into the eyepiece and twisted the lens carefully to bring the image into focus. He looked at the window for several minutes. The drapes were open, but there was no movement inside.
She was probably gone, he decided regretfully. No doubt she worked in the daytime. He should have expected that, but of course he had had to find out for sure.
If only Thelma had waited until this evening to go out. But tonight she would probably watch him like a hawk, and he would not get a chance to watch his lovely Gloria as she removed her clothes for bed.
At last he gave up and turned to explore other windows. Most of the apartments appeared to be empty. But at last he found one which held his interest.
Through a large picture window Arthur had a perfect view of a well-decorated living room. A man dressed in a robe sat lazily on the couch watching a uniformed maid pushing a vacuum cleaner across the floor.
The man's eyes seemed to be fixed intently on the girl's firm buttocks, which swayed slightly under the starched white uniform as she went about her work.
Arthur smiled, for he got the picture at once. Either the man was a woman-hungry bachelor, which was not-likely. Or his wife was out of the apartment and he was getting ideas about the maid.
This was not hard to imagine, for the girl was small and attractive. She was probably of Latin descent, for she had long black hair which fell lushly upon her shoulders and she had skin that was a delicate bronze color.
When the girl turned around and moved toward the window, Arthur saw that she had a pretty face. Her eyes were dark and her mouth ripe for kissing.
Arthur made a sound in his throat, for he too was beginning to experience the same animal hunger which the man, who was sitting much closer to the girl, must be feeling.
All at once the man stood up and walked over to the girl, who was facing away from him. Catching her by surprise, he slipped his arms around her waist and whirled her around. Her eyes were wide, her mouth fell open.
The man kissed her fiercely, his hands moving up and down her provocative body. She tried to twist out of his grasp. Her small fists pounded against his head, then her fingers became claws raking his face.
But the man was not about to give up so easily.
Catching the front of her dress, he tore it open with a downward sweep of his hands. The shredded cloth fell away, revealing the dusky flesh beneath.
The girl fought like a cat, but the man doubled her over, shoved her down on the couch. While he held her imprisoned, he tugged at the bra until it gave way. Then in a manner of seconds her panties too were torn away.
She fought and scratched and kicked up at him. Her heavy breasts bounced like two firm, rubbery globes. They were proud breasts tipped with big round circlets and throbbing nipples a sight to make any man go out of his head with desire.
Arthur felt wild pangs of excitement coursing through his bloodstream. If only he had the nerve to attempt what the man was doing, to get his hands on the velvety smooth flesh of such a sensuous little sex-cat!
The girl was stripped naked now, her fleshy young body glistening with sweat. Her magnificent breasts rose and fell with the violence of her breathing.
Shoving a knee into her stomach, the man held her down while he tore off the robe he was wearing. And then they were both naked. While Arthur watched unknown to them. He had a perfect, ringside seat.
The girl did not seem, to be struggling so fiercely now. And Arthur noticed a strange, intoxicated gleam in her eyes as she stared at the man's virile nakedness. The look of anger on her face turned to one of expectation.
Her head tilted as she stared up at the man. Though she continued to hold him off, her chin was raised proudly. She seemed to be taunting him with her beauty, challenging him. Her jutting breasts beckoned to him.
She bared her teeth and hissed an insult words which Arthur could not hear. But he knew that the tone of her voice was probably fiercely seductive.
She wanted the man to take her, but she intended to make him fight for what he got. It was by making an animal game of love that her Latin blood was fired up.
The man dropped down upon her sprawling body, and her hands shot up, clawing his face. He caught her by the wrists and lunged at her brutally. ATI at once her defenses collapsed. Her arms encircled his neck, her legs scissored, locking high around his swiveling waist.
The mating was sudden and fierce. Arthur sat intoxicated, watching the two excited people lunge at each other. The girl's hands crawled up and down the man's back, the nails digging into his flesh. And at the same time he drove at her with sledge-hammer blows, arching his body, straining violently, causing her to thrash her head in a frenzy of passion. It was wild thrilling!
And Arthur was seeing it all through the telescope, so vividly that he felt he was sitting in the same room with them. All he had to supply with his imagination was the harshness of their breathing and their animal cries.
He was witnessing a rape! Actually it was a pseudo-rape, for the girl had been more than willing to give in, once her defenses were broken.
But there was something primitively exciting in the sight of a man overpowering a woman with his superior strength. It filled Arthur with brutal urges he had not experienced in many years ... Desires to exert his own manhood.
This was the way he would like to make love to a woman even to Thelma if he only dared assert himself. This was the kind of passion that caused the vital juices to flow through the bloodstream. This was what made a man feel like a man. This was the primeval urge that had been dulled by centuries of civilization and soft living.
All at once Arthur froze and held his breath.
He thought he had heard the front door latch turning. But he had been so intent on what he was watching through the eyepiece that he could not be sure.
Glancing at the mirror on the wall, he saw an edge of the door as it moved inward.
Frantically he jumped to his feet. He shoved on the legs of the tripod, collapsing them. But he would not have time to unscrew the telescope from the tripod. He would have to hide it all and hope for a chance to dismantle everything later, when Thelma was not watching.
He heard her footsteps and his blood turned to ice.
Quickly he shoved the telescope under the bed. The chair was turned toward the window, and that would surely give him away. He turned it around just as Thelma walked through the bedroom door.
"What are you doing, Arthur?" she demanded with her usual hard, insolent tone.
"Nothing, dear-" He swallowed and took a deep breath. "Nothing at all."
"You're up to something," she insisted. Her dark eyes fixed him coldly, piercing to the very center of his being. "Why are you so nervous?"
"Am I nervous?" He laughed ineffectually. "Well, I suppose you startled me a little-"
"Oh, did I?" Her smile was mirthless. "If I startled you, then you must have been doing something you shouldn't."
"No no," he replied quickly. "It's just that I didn't know when to expect you home. You never told me where you were going and when you'd be back."
Evidently his explanation convinced her, for she turned away, ignoring him. It was then that he noticed the packages in her arms. Thelma dropped the packages onto the bed and gave him a satisfied smile.
"I've been shopping, Arthur. I have a surprise for you. Something I saw the other night-" She paused, then shrugged. "Through the telescope if you must know. It roused my curiosity. Go in the other room and wait-"
"Yes, dear," he murmured.
She followed him to the door and closed it behind him. Lighting a cigarette, he sat on the couch and stared apprehensively through the window at the apartment house across the way. What was it she had seen?
Of course almost anything imaginable could be observed through the telescope if a person had the patience to search long enough. But something that Thelma had witnessed had excited her curiosity enough that she had gone shopping. What was it she had in those packages?
Well, he would know soon enough.
He snuffed out the cigarette and stood up. Nervously he began to pace back and forth across the living room, wondering just what she was up to in the bedroom.
When the door opened he whirled around.
His mouth fell open, and he stood goggling at his wife. She had been transformed into a provocatively voluptuous yet frightening creature whom he hardly recognized.
This was his wife!
And yet he had never seen her dressed in such a bizarre manner. She was superb with her eyes blazing with malice and her dark hair tangled wildly about her face.
But it was her costume, more than anything else, which sent a shiver along his spine.
Around her waist was a tight leather garment which was a cross between a corset and a garter belt. It raised her full breasts succulently, supporting them without covering them, causing the hardened nipples to jut out like tiny points of flame. She had touched the nipples with lipstick to heighten their color!
The lower part of the black leather corset arched across the white dome of her belly, exposing her thighs and her woman-hood in all its mysterious splendor.
Two black ribbons of cloth stretched down from the corset, clasping the sheer black hose which encased her shapely legs. On her feet she wore black leather boots with amazingly high spiked heels. White laces were crisscrossed up the front of the boots, drawing them snugly around her calves.
There was a strangely diabolic expression on Thelma's face as she walked toward him. One arm was hidden behind her back. She held out a leather-clad hand, beckoning to him.
"Take off your clothes, Arthur. I have a surprise for you. Who knows? Maybe you'll like what I'm going to do-"
"What is that?" he gasped.
"Do as I say!" she replied with sudden anger.
Arthur nodded fearfully and began unbuttoning his shirt. Then he stepped out of his pants and underwear. Glancing toward the window, he caught his breath.
"I'd better pull the drapes."
"No!" Thelma replied sharply. "Leave them open. Maybe some of our neighbors across the way will want to watch. They've been nice enough to entertain us-"
A chill passed along Arthur's spine. He felt confused and frightened by this strange thing which was happening to him. Thelma took her hand from behind her back and showed him the coiled whip she had been hiding. Arthur's heart stopped. He began to tremble uncontrollably.
"I'm going to show you once and for all who is the master of this house." Her voice quivered with suppressed excitement. "I'm going to make you crawl, Arthur. I'm going to make you lick my boots like the miserable, spineless animal that you are-"
"Please, Thelma-" he croaked.
"Down on your knees!" she demanded. ' Arthur felt a sudden twisting of fear in his stomach. He was defenseless against her, for she held a whip. She could make him obey
even against his will.
But he was not so certain that he wanted to defy her. For some strange reason he was caught up in a turmoil of conflicting urges. He wanted to refuse to obey, and yet he had just as powerful a need to submit to her. He remembered the submissive man he had matched the other night groveling at the woman's feet
the woman who had been dressed in much the same manner as Thelma was dressed now.
Was he actually like that man? Was it his nature to be dominated by an overpowering female? Surely he must have craved torture, or he would never have lived with Thelma for so many years, allowing her to treat him like a dog.
Then perhaps this was only the final and logical conclusion. This was the culmination of their relationship a twisted thing which could hardly be called a marriage.
"Obey!" Thelma screamed at him fiercely.
Her eyes were blazing with an inner frenzy. She dropped one end of the whip and let the short strip of leather dangle in front of her.
Arthur stared at the lash as though it were a deadly snake. His blood was icy cold with apprehension, and yet he was enchanted by the coiled leather menace.
Thelma's black eyes continued to stare at him. Her gaze was overwhelming. He had no strength left to resist her. He had to obey.
Slowly he fell to his knees before her. He lowered his head until his face touched the carpet. He was trembling inside. His eyes were squeezed tight as he waited fearfully yet almost expectantly.
The cracking sound of leather against flesh and the ripple of pain across his back were simultaneous. Arthur's body arched up like an uncoiling spring, but he did not attempt to rise. He bit his lip and waited numbly.
There was a whirring noise as the leather cut through the air. The whip landed across his back like the touch of a branding iron. Lightning bolts of pain ripped in all directions. His flesh was hot, tingling like millions of pinpricks. The heat became a gentle warmth that was almost soothing.
Arthur cried out as the next blow landed, but it was not a harsh cry of torment. He felt too warm inside, too filled with sensual delirium.
He held himself taut, waiting for the next lash of the whip while his heart throbbed with excitement. The flash of pain became a gentle caress, an erotic delight. His aching flesh oozed with tingling warmth.
A numbness crept over his whole body, and for a moment Arthur was not aware that the whipping had stopped.
He heard the heavy sound of Thelma's breathing. He raised his head, blinking his eyes. She had driven all defiance from him, dominated him with the strength of her will. And yet a tiny flicker of hatred remained in his chest like a small bright flame.
Thelma stood above him, clad in her fantastic leather costume. She moved her statuesque legs wide apart, planting her black leather boots firmly against the floor. Her hands rested on her hips. She tilted her haunches, taunting him with the awesome sight of her shameless nakedness.
"Now, Arthur-" she said huskily. "You know what I want you to do. You don't have to be told-"
He nodded abjectly. The fiery passion in her eyes spoke more than words. Her wantonly exposed breasts rose and fell with the frenzy of her desire.
Her gloved hands clasped the curves of her waist as she awaited his final act of submission. She arched her back, and a shiver of expectancy passed across the pale surface of her flesh.
She whimpered when his hot breath fell upon her loins. She tilted her head back and sank her teeth into the ripe red curve of her lip. Slowly, seductively her body began to weave before him.
Her soft naked flesh felt cool against his flushed cheeks. His seeking caress caused a sudden tremor to pass through her swaying body.
"Oh, yes-" she cried. "That's what I want-"
Catching his head with her gloved hands, she pressed his face into the acented warmth. He felt the tingling of her excitement, the pulsing of her desire as he lashed at her with hungering frenzy.
Both of them were caught up in the sudden madness. He sought to drive animal cries from her as he attacked relentlessly, clinging to her churning hips.
His hands slid up, clutching her buttocks. He sank his fingers into the round globes of quivering flesh, grasping her in a tight embrace. And all the while his teasing lips drove cry after cry of sensual pleasure from her gaping mouth.
Thelma's ecstasy became unbearable. As she was driven closer and closer to the pinnacle she began to writhe with delirious torment. Her clutching hands tore at his hair. Her thrusting thighs revolved spasmodically.
She went suddenly tense and then limp as shuddering tremors caught hold of her. She rolled her hips in delighted torment, screaming her passion to the skies.
Slowly the waves subsided and she staggered back. Falling weakly upon the couch, she continued to stare at him with wide, cruel eyes. Her nostrils flared with the last ebbing ripple of her desire. There was a smile on her swollen lips, a taunting smile of triumph.
Arthur felt the sudden renewal of anger, like the twist of a knife in his guts. Once more he had given her pleasure in spite of himself. She had used him for her own selfish gratification. He was her puppet, and she delighted in demonstrating this over and over again.
There had been a moment of intoxication when he too had been caught up in the spell of animal lust. He had submitted to her completely, permitted her to dominate him with the cruel leather whip.
He had surrendered his manhood as he had done from the very beginning of their marriage. But he was not the same man now, for subtle changes had begun to work inside him. His own self-loathing fed fuel to the flames of his hatred. She had degraded him long enough, humiliated him to the point where he could no longer bear it. Rebellion was very near the surface now like the seething of a volcano on the verge of erupting. Soon he would burst out of this cage of cowardice in which she had imprisoned him. Soon he would have his revenge...