Annabel went to bed
early and woke up early, feeling refreshed and energetic. Before going
downstairs she went to Carla’s room and peeked in through the door,
which was cracked open. Carla was sleeping on her side with her back to
the door, breathing audibly. In her sleep she did not seem like the same
powerful person; she looked vulnerable, innocent even.
After having breakfast
Annabel went to the gym, the bank, the post office, the grocery store,
and the farmers market. When she got back home she put everything away
and, just out of curiosity, went upstairs and looked into Carla’s room
again. Carla had rolled onto her other side and now had a sleep mask on.
A sheet covered her lower half but her breasts were in full view.
Annabel bit her lip. She remembered what those nipples felt like in her
mouth, and she could hardly wait to taste them again.
Back downstairs, she got
her book and set up in the corner of the kitchen where she liked to
read. It was midafternoon before Carla appeared in her robe, looking
bleary-eyed and rumpled. Annabel offered to make some breakfast but
Carla waved her off, saying she only wanted a cup of coffee.
Sitting down at the
kitchen table, Carla shaded her eyes from the bright sunlight as she
sipped her coffee. “I may have gone a little overboard last night,” she
said. “Whiskey is not always my friend.”
“You didn’t drive, did
you?” asked Annabel. She was surprised at how parental she sounded, but
she was genuinely concerned. Carla, sensing this, answered honestly.
“No, Kim was driving,” she said. “Thank God.”
After finishing her
coffee Carla disappeared upstairs, and Annabel didn’t see her again for a couple hours. But when she returned Carla looked like her regular self
again, cleaned up and bright-eyed. She was wearing a black string bikini
that hid very little of her body, and Annabel found herself averting
her eyes in reflexive embarrassment, despite the intimacies the two of
them had shared.
“I’m going to go lay
out,” said Carla. “Listen, I’m kind of partied out, I think I’m going to
stay home tonight. Can you make something nice for dinner?”
Annabel nodded, glad
that she had stocked up on supplies. As Carla sunbathed she labored
diligently on a meal of roast chicken and vegetables, and they sat down
to eat just as the sun was going down.
For awhile they were
just like members of a normal family having a meal together, talking
about this and that. The only off note was that Carla, who had taken off
her top while sunbathing, was still dressed only in her bikini bottoms.
Annabel found herself distracted and rather flustered by the sight of
Carla’s naked breasts, a sheen of sweat forming on her forehead. It
came as somewhat of a relief when the night began to cool down and Carla
put on a shirt on.
After the meal Carla
thanked Annabel and went back upstairs, having made no move to help
clean up. Annabel supposed that this was pretty normal, too. By the time
she’d cleared the table and washed the dishes, it was completely dark
and quiet in the house.
But as she left the
kitchen Annabel heard music coming from upstairs – droning and
hypnotic, with a throbbing bassline and Eastern-sounding instruments.
Something about it drew her in, and she found herself climbing the
stairs one by one, the music growing a little louder with each step.
At the top of the stairs
she turned toward Carla's room, where the music was coming from. It was
dim in there, the only light coming from several candles in various
parts of the room. There was a strong smell of incense and a haze of
smoke hovered in the air.
It took a few seconds
for Annabel to locate Carla, who was sitting in a chair by the window,
gazing out impassively at the ocean. When Annabel entered the room Carla
turned toward her with a look that gave her a chill: It was cold,
imperious, penetrating.
In fact Carla had been
sitting there thinking that she’d been going too easy on Annabel, losing
her edge. Annabel had a genuine sweetness to her that Carla found
charming, but she didn’t want to go soft. A lot of pleasure had passed
between them, but there needed to be something more.
When Carla looked at her
that way, part of Annabel wanted to flee. But she didn’t. Instead, she
found herself walking over to where Carla was and dropping to her knees.
Pleased with this
response, Carla took Annabel’s chin in her hands and gave her a good,
hard kiss on the mouth. Annabel felt herself melting; whatever Carla
wanted from her, Annabel was going to give, they both knew that.
Carla went to her
bedside table and grabbed her sleep mask, which she used to blindfold
Annabel. Then she stood Annabel up and stripped her; one by one
Annabel’s shirt, bra, skirt, and panties hit the floor. Carla left
Annabel’s socks on, because she always liked that look.
Now Carla arranged the
docile older woman on the bed and once again tied her head and foot to the
bedposts. For a moment she stood there looking down at her bound,
helpless, sightless stepmother. She wondered what Annabel thought was
coming. Probably not what she was going to get.
.
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