Escape Clause Pt 02

Cassie didn't mind the hours posing for Parker's catalog. Modeling was something she excelled at. There was, of course, no way she could tell her new husband that she had posed for cameras in a completely different universe, in far less clothing! She'd started modeling early, by the time she was in high school she had purchased a car for cash from her earnings. The lingerie catalog in college was a lucrative lark and her swan song to commercial modeling. She knew that after that catalog hit the mailboxes, her agent would get calls for jobs requiring nudity. That was a bridge she vowed never to cross. Though she did pose in the buff on her honeymoon with Ralph, those pictures were only for his eyes. Modeling was fun and got her out of the apartment. She was truly impressed with Parker's skill and workmanship. He truly was a gifted craftsman. His nimble fingers could not only weave intricate, nearly impossible-to-reproduce braids, but could also massage her all over to perfection. Parker was more demanding than Ralph. He expected obedience, whereas Ralph was more lassie-fare. Parker, while controlling also made it abundantly clear how much he treasured and adored, his new wife. His youth and sexual dynamism had already eroded many of Cassie's memories of intimacy with Ralph. She struggled to hold on to the man she still loved, but he was slipping away, bit by bit, like a receding shoreline during the tide change, each time he made love to her. And making love is what he did. Cassie could not maintain the fiction that Parker was taking her by force. She desired him on an almost primal level. She savored his touch, craved his kisses, and desired him inside her to such an extent it was bordering on obsession. What had come over her? Cassie was looking forward to her first meeting of the Second Story Club, she had to know if her reaction to being won was typical or if she was, in reality, a complete wanton.

**

Ralph keyed in the announcement himself: Public Notice Miss Andrea Hinkle has taken up housekeeping with Mr. Ralph Wilton, a local Springtown businessman. Both parties are in agreement. Formal ceremony details forthcoming -- He made sure it ran in every edition and would run again on Sunday. Legally, Andrea was not Mrs. Ralph Wilton yet. She had not been won. Winning a woman resulted in instant betrothal. The announcement he posted was expected of cohabiting couples. This society didn't care how or why couples paired up, nor for what they did behind locked doors, just so long as you were above board about it and took your commitment to monogamy seriously. This included serial monogamy. The upcoming formal ceremony, which Andrea and her mother were already hip-deep in preparations for, would make them legally husband and wife. Marriages, unlike "housekeeping" arrangements were expected to be for life. The word "life" was an elusive term, however. Winning a woman broke one life commitment and started another, Divorce, under certain circumstances was acceptable. On rare occasions, a woman could sue for complete emancipation and run her own affairs. The growing number of female doctors, novelists, and scientists, often sued for emancipation. Female emancipation was not necessarily forever. Emancipated women would live independent lives for a decade or so, before, almost inevitably finding themselves married, and emancipated no more.

Ralph was savoring his first full day back in his boss's chair in the print shop. With the aid of a cane, he had made slow but steady progress through town. It felt good to be apart from Andrea for the day. He was growing increasingly fond of that girl but at times her infatuation for him could be overwhelming, He settled in, gazed out the front window, and was surprised at the face of his apparent next customer!

Parker Gray strode into the Wilton print shop nonchalantly. In his expensive bespoke case, the folder he carried the color photographs of his wares and the catalog mock-up. Cassie was smiling on every page, her braids in the newly trademarked Cassandra Weave. There she was trying on a glove. On another page, she displayed a lovely purse made from the finest leather. Elsewhere she could be seen in leather oven mitts with a matching apron. In every image, she appeared remarkably natural with a rare beauty worthy of a sonnet or song.

Ralph Wilton gazed up from his desk. His face drained of color, but in a moment, he collected himself.

"Gray, what brings you here?"

Parker opened his folder. For the next hour or so he held court.

Ralph stared forlornly at the pictures. He knew that smile well. It was the smile Cassie wore the day after an evening of fantastic sex! There was no way Cassie could force it. During their marriage, she attempted many times to mimic that blissful expression, and had failed. Any lingering allusions Ralph had that she was miserable and missing his touch evaporated..

"It will be expensive Gray, full color for just a cover is pricy an entire catalog prohibitively so."

"Are you capable of the job, Wilton?"

"Anything you can do in leather I can do in print."

Ralph wrote some figures on a slate.

"Here's the estimate. As you can see the price goes down the more copies you buy. The reason for that is simple. More product reduces the price of ink and material."

Harper said, "I'll take two thousand copies, for now."

"Two thousand? In a town this size? Are you daft?"

"We shall see who is daft, Wilton."

"Very well. I will need half up front."

"Certainly!"

Parker reached into his ornately tooled billfold and extracted a pile of bank notes.

"I need two weeks. I have other jobs ahead of yours."

"I understand."

With that, he tipped his cap and strode out the door.

Gray's intended press run was insane. Ralph wondered what he was missing. Try as he might, Ralph found it next to impossible to despise young Gray. The tanner was only the latest in a long line of men who had desired Cassie. During their entire marriage, Ralph had grown used to witnessing men, from across the room, undressing his wife with their eyes. At first, it had irked him. Later, he took delight in it. A dude would look at Cassie with lust, and then take in Ralph and look confused. Ralph for his part, made it a point to return an expression to the leering fool that said, "Yeah, she's mine, she's all-natural, and she's incredible in bed!" Nine times out of ten those guys would blink and turn their heads. Parker Gray was that tenth exemption with the motive, opportunity, and muscle to do something about it. The mayor and other town elders had told Ralph not to try and contact or, if he could help it, have any social interaction with Cassie until at least a year had passed. Ralph understood the rationale. What exactly would he say to her anyway? She'd already dealt with or was dealing with those very questions. He could get her back without receiving a burst of gamma radiation, becoming the Incredible Hulk, and tearing Gray apart in a rematch! He wondered what the town elders would say about Gray foisting Cassie under his nose for a business venture. Who would he complain to? What difference would it make? Besides, the way Andrea and her mother were spending his money for their dream wedding, he needed the job.

**

Andrea and her mother were ring shopping. Ralph had set a budget limit and told the Hinkle women to pick out what they liked,

"After all he stated, you have to be happy with how it looks on your finger, you are the one wearing it."

As for his own wedding ring? Its presence raised issues he preferred not to deal with. He removed it and placed it in a silk hankie with Cassie's marital jewelry. These he placed in a hidden drawer in his writing desk. The drawer contained a few other items. Objects that would raise questions as to their origin in this timeline and the slim album of nudes of Cassie that Ralph had taken on their honeymoon. With Andrea out of the house for a while, he took one long leisurely reminiscence tour while he jerked off. Then he made sure that the secret draw was well-locked.

**

Andrea disliked that the gossip about her and Ralph was trailing off. The illicit thrill she got from being the topic of conversation in virtually every Springtown residence. It was exhilarating. Like the rush, she got from too much coffee or a few sips of whiskey. If only she could make that feeling last! While her mother was discussing something with the jeweler, Mr. Simonson, Andrea snuck a gold hat pin under her blouse. It resided in her bandeau. The cool of the object and the illicit fact of its presence gave Andrea some of the thrill she had been seeking. The thought of being part of a tremendous secret was so utterly delicious! And fat old, rich Mr. Simonson would never miss it! She practically floated home.

**

Cassie didn't have permission to attend the meeting of the Second Story Club. She was fairly certain she didn't need it as the businessmen's meetings always ran late. If Parker was anything like Ralph was at that event, he too would come home very late smelling of beer and cigars and feeling amorous in the extreme! She donned a light coat as there was an early autumn chill.

Springtown was quiet, the gas street lamps lining the wooden sidewalk cast a reddish glow over everything. Owls hooted in the distance; crickets sang in the darkness beyond Main Street. Her trip ended, appropriately enough in a second-story storefront above the milliner. With a mix of anticipation and curiosity, she knocked on the door.

Wanda Sinclair's face was smiling in the doorway.

"Cassandra! You made it!"

They kissed each other's cheeks and then Cassie was led inside and introduced to the fourteen women in attendance. The first thing that struck Cassie was, that despite the wide diversity of ages present, all the women were exceptionally beautiful. The youngest was just twenty-one the oldest was a gorgeous silver-haired woman of seventy. Cassie introduced herself. She told of her marriage to Ralph, her encounter at the battle circle, and the heady emotional experience with Parker. The women served her tea and chocolates. They provided plenty of tissues for the many tears she shed. When Cassie cried herself out, Wanda smiled slyly. "We've all been where you are, Cassandra. Now for the more important current situation, How's the sex, with Parker?"

After a stunned pause, Cassie grinned and responded, "Incredible!"

The silver-haired septuagenarian replied, "It ALWAYS is!"

The assembled women laughed in unison the tension completely broken.

A beautiful blonde in her mid-thirties declared "Never forget, we were WON! That makes us number one in everything!"

"Every man in town who is not our husband, wishes they were our husband!' exclaimed a trim, well-endowed brunette.

A staggeringly beautiful redhead with a complexion that Cassie admired, and a darling figure said, "I've been won TWICE! I thought the sex was great the first time I was won but two years later I found myself a naked prize in the battle circle once more and discovered that I could go from white hot to incandescent between the sheets! I mean Bill and I practically set the sheets on fire every damn time!"

"Then these feelings I'm having, the incredible desire, the incredible joy I feel with Parker, are normal?"

"Indeed, they are, dear."

"There is something so primal about the battle circle. The nudity of all parties, the unbridled passions. When mankind lived in the jungle, men obtained their wives the same way. Muscle, stamina, attraction, stiff cocks, and wet pussies! That is what mankind is when you strip away the civilization. You've never been wetter, right, Cassie? You've never been taken like the way Parker takes you, have you?"

Cassie nodded.

"Quick what color are the eyes of the husband who lost you?"

"Ralph?... Brown."

"You had to think about it!"

"What color are Parker's"

"Green!" returned Cassie.

"Not a moment's hesitation there!" Laughter all the way around.

An older woman with ivory skin, bee-stung lips, and chestnut hair opined, "I ran into my first husband at the bank the other day. He was in line in front of me and I swear it took a good ten minutes before I recognized him."

"But I loved Ralph!"

"No one is claiming that you didn't" put in Wanda. "We all loved our first husbands, but fate took them out of our lives. There was nothing wrong with any of them. Start a journal, and write letters to him that you will never send. Physically and emotionally, he's probably slipping away from you like wet sand. That is part of the process. You will find, that after you have been writing for a while, that there is nothing he provided you that your new man doesn't surpass in every way. A man who battles for a bride has a certain intangible quality. These are men the maker poured everything into. These are the men who run into burning buildings and rescue children. These are men who come home from war with dozens of ribbons for heroism on their chests. These are men who know how to make a woman cream her step-ins with just a glance! Normal men just can't compete."

"I never believed in that," said Cassie.

"Note the past tense, darling!" stated a dark-complected, curly-haired woman with a brilliant smile. "I thought that too, a man is more than muscle, size, tight buttocks and impressive manhood. But once you've been with a man who is all of that, you see it for the lie it is. The stories our mothers feed us out of their own disillusionment and silent misery."

There was a long moment of contemplation as the women allowed Cassie to ruminate for a span of time.

Wanda tapped her gavel on the desk. "Welcoming of our new member completed. Is there any old business?"

**

Cassie returned home with a membership guide, a beautiful Second Story brooch, useful for travel so she could be recognized by club members in other cities, a copy of "Helene's Progression" the first chapter of which they read together in the meeting. A novel about an orphaned girl who used her natural charms to seduce the most handsome and the most powerful men in her small town while keeping them all blissfully unaware of each other, was the spiciest, most delightfully smutty thing Cassie had read in years! The final bit of business was to think of a theme suggestion for their next meeting for their big fundraiser.

"The bachelor pare down brings us enough to fund the club and its activities for the entire year," stated the treasurer.

"Bachelor pare down?" asked Cassie.

"The bachelor convention draws all the single men from the surrounding territories. They meet at the Springtown Opera House. It's an annual event where they smoke, play cards, and organize sports to convince themselves if not the world that they are all incredible catches. We sing and dance and pare down for donations."

"Does pare down mean what I think it does?" asked Cassie warily.

'Oh, not very far, dear, lots of legs, some decolletage, tight around the hips something lacy but tasteful. They all dream of second-story girls, even though only a tiny fraction of them will ever be in the battle circle either as a defendant or challenger. But they are all young and full of dreams. Battle Circle victors are the heroes in all the stupid dramas they watch in the theaters. The shows where the handsome stranger comes to town on a coming-of-age night and bests a local lothario for the prettiest young wife in town? There are at least a hundred different plays with that same plot. I swear it rots their brains! At their age, that is all they want to be. After the convention, some join the army or the navy, others end their apprenticeships and start working for themselves, others find jobs in town or on the surrounding farms and preen and preen on Friday nights and gather where the young women gather. After the convention, they are useless! It is far better they give some of their money to us instead of drinking and smoking it all away. "

"Last year's theme was "the shop girl," put in Wanda Sinclair. "Those girls in the big shops in the big cities, between eighteen and marriage. The perfect chaste woman who can be easily led to a life of debauchery, at least according to those trashy magazines men read. The ideal corruptible girl next door."

"We need something a bit more sensual this year," stated the septuagenarian. "Motherhood "is always a bust and "the farmer's daughter" has been done to death."

"What about nurses?" suggested Cassie, All that white! White stockings, white lace!"

"That is a very good idea, Cassandra. Everyone think on that, or possibly come up with something better. We are up against the clock, so if there is nothing else to add to the agenda, I will gavel this meeting closed."

Cassie slid out of her dress and put her hair down, she would welcome her younger husband home wearing only her satiny slip and underthings. It felt so good to be hugged wearing silk! Parker strode through the front door. As Cassie expected, he was redolent of booze and tobacco smoke. She accepted his embrace and avidly returned his kiss despite the pungent odors. That he was in a randy mood was obvious by the way his hands roved possessively over his older wife's trim form. This suited Cassie fine as the spicy novel and the meeting with her peers had her reevaluating and reappreciating Harper.

"Anything you want, big guy! So long as you brush your teeth and shower first."

"I'll brush my teeth, but you are joining me in the shower!"

It was a very good night for both. In the afterglow, Cassie was able to tell Harper about the Second Story club meeting, including details about the bachelor pare down."

After ascertaining how far she intended to go, Harper's look of anger transitioned to one of delight.

"If I hadn't won you, I'd have been in the audience this year. Of course, then you wouldn't be performing this year as the most beautiful bride on that stage!"

He kissed her deeply.

"I have the best wife in the universe!"

To Cassie's surprise and delight, he was ready to go again.

**

Ralph had to admit that Andrea's complete adoration certainly boosted his ego. The teenager was utterly besotted with him in a way no woman had ever looked at Ralph before. He had striven to impress Cassie and win her heart. Pulling that off had been perhaps, the single most notable accomplishment of his life. Never had Ralph been the target of a woman's intense ardor. It was novel and invigorating. With each passing day, he found his affection for the youngster growing and his pain at losing Cassie shrinking a bit more. It helped that it was clear that young Harper wasn't beating or abusing Cassie. Everything he heard was that the tanner and leather goods manufacturer treasured her with almost the same devotion Ralph had shown her. He had to admit, he adored the lad's taste in women. He strode through his front door to a luscious kiss from Andrea. Who then announced,

"Mother is coming to dinner and my father will be by in an hour and a half or so. He really wants to meet you. You've spoiled his plans to marry me off to one of his business associates and he wants to know what he is getting out of the deal."

"Well, he's pragmatic at least."

Her increasingly lovely face broke out in an enchanting leer as she helped him off with his jacket and whispered hotly in his ear, "I think we can squeeze one in before they arrive."

Yes, the girl was growing on him indeed!

**

Parker arrived to pick up his order from the Wilton print shop.

"You do excellent work, Wilton!"

"What did you expect? This is my profession, Gray!"

The leather goods manufacturer and salesman paged through his new catalog. It came out even better than he imagined. His Cassandra looked so beautiful. He knew that this catalog would bring him tons of new business and inspire repeat purchases from his past and current customers.