Chapter 10. Family Relations
Ashley had just started to calm down a bit from the disturbing evening at the bar with her Uncle and "Daddy Al." Her head felt a more steady on her neck, though the margaritas had certainly not yet totally loosened their grip on her, and she still felt the unsteady drifting feeling the hard alcohol had engendered. She was regaining the ability to concentrate on the detective novel she was reading, avidly engrossed as she was in following the travails of the strong female protagonist.
She lounged in one of the hotel's high-backed beige, overstuffed armchairs, her bare legs bent, resting against the chair's arm, her body at an angle, her book resting on her lap. Tonight, of course, as usual, her Uncle had dictated her sleepwear. He certainly didn't allow her to lounge about in her preferred, loose, boy-style pajamas, dictating instead that she wear ultra-feminine, girlish sleepwear. Tonight, he had pondered for a while over her the suitcase of clothes he'd insisted she bring on their brief weekend excursion, far too many clothes for only two days away, she thought, and had finally chosen a translucent, sheer, gauzy pink, babydoll nightgown whose ruffled hem reached down to the middle of her upper thighs. The bodice consisted of two soft, unstructured cups of pique, cream lace contrasting nicely with the pink of the nightie. At the juncture of the bra cups a cream satin knot secured the two sides. Below the bow, a small gap served to display just a demure glimpse of the inner swell of each of Ashley's creamy, soft, full breasts. The hem of the babydoll draped loosely across her upper thighs as she read. Her feet were tucked in below her thighs, her candy red toenails peeking out.
It was a testament to Edwards' training that his niece, who only a short time ago would have been mortified by being with a man while so skimpily attired, was now resigned enough to be so exposed to her Uncle that she was able for a moment to forget where she was and how she was dressed in the older man's presence, that she was able to attend to any other activity. In fact, Ashley was sleepily engrossed in her novel, and was unaware as her Uncle looked up from his own book towards her, and consider her intently as he tipped his glass slightly and savored the heat of his fine Scotch Whiskey. He examined her leisurely and with pleasure, his attention focusing on the soft drape of the nightgown's hem over his niece's trim thighs, which, compressed by her trim calves tucked under them, broadened and swelled ripely. "Ripe" was, as well, he thought, a good word for the way her heavy bosom swelled the lace of her top. Ashley turned a page distractedly. Edward's stare focused on the sway this engendered in his niece's free hanging breasts, their lace covering doing little to conceal the rounded orbs' pendulous shift. After Ashley's admirable boobs had stopped their fluid movement, his attention moved to her long bare arms, and her rounded shoulder, on which a single cream-colored, thin, satin strap was delicately poised. Her eyes shone brightly from a slight inebriation, and Ashley's auburn shoulder-length hair flashed with deep chestnut and reddish glints by the warm light of the room's sconce lamps and the fire in the small, dark wooded fireplace.
Edwards, unlike his niece in her nightwear, was still dressed as he had been during the evening, in corduroy trousers and a red turtleneck. Ashley had not considered why her uncle had not changed for the evening, but she was accustomed to his being dressed while she was to one degree or another in deshabille. Had she stopped to think of it she might even have been relieved considering the duties she had so recently been called upon to fulfill when last he had presented himself to her wearing only a bathrobe. But her relief would have been misplaced. Edward had plans for the remainder of the evening that would have distressed the oblivious young thing had she known of them.
The commencement of Edwards plans was signaled by a sound, that of knocking on the room's door. Ashley looked up puzzled, which the naive girl would not have she overheard the brief conversation which had taken place her Uncle had parted ways with the sad, older man at the bar. Their exchange had brightened that fellows expression notably.
"My dear fellow," Edwards had said leaning towards Alfred conspiratorially, "It would please Ashley no end, I'm sure, of you were to come by in an hour to our hotel and help with her bedtime ritual? Why, you haven't even received you explanation for the meaning of her nickname, have you, and I have no doubt this would amuse you no end. Here's the address, come by for a nightcap and a chat and help put Tee Emm to bed, won't you? An hour should be just right to get her relaxed and dressed for bed."
The man had agreed enthusiastically and parted quickly, eager to leave before this splendid opportunity changed on him. He hadn't even waited for Ashley to return from the restroom where she'd gone to calm herself after her awful evening. When she did return, her pleasure at her rude Daddy's departure showed clearly on her face and in the way her body relaxed. Edwards observed that with pleasure, relishing his niece's misapprehension that her evening's travails were done. They had, he knew, only entered a more refined and humiliating second act to which he'd secured the leading protagonist and arranged the new set.
It was to this set, his and Ashley's cozy hotel suite, which he admitted Daddy Al, as Ashley eyes widened, and she tensed her legs and pulled them deeper under her, pulling hastily at the brief length of the skirt of her nightie in a vain attempt to cover their bareness. Due to the skirt's brevity however, she was unable to draw it down below the middle of her thighs, despite leaning forward. She was unable to avoid leaving bare a long expanse of her fetching, bronzed, smooth, feminine leg.
She had hoped to never see the weasely, old, lecher again, ever, and here he was again! Worse, she was undressed and her Uncle had obviously planned him to be here. Her vision blurred and her chin trembled, her gaze dropping to the floor so she didn't have to observe the men exchanging pleasantries, her Uncle ushering the stranger into the room. She trembled at the thought of what might be in store for her this evening. She'd be at the mercy of her Uncle and this brutish, awful low-life. Her thoughts spun as she recalled him railing against the new generation and their permissive ways and his inability to properly discipline his own wayward daughters. Her Uncle might want to illustrate how very differently he went about educating and disciplining her! She sprung up to flee to her room, but froze where she had stood. She knew that if she didn't obey her Uncle's every command and whim, her punishment would be much much worse. If he wanted, she knew, even that punishment would be meted out not in private with her Uncle who she was at least accustomed to, but in front of the creepy stranger as well.
"My dear Daddy," invited Edwards, "do sit. So good of you to stop by. You caught Ashley just before her bedtime as you can see, but no matter, she can serve us a nightcap. And keep us entertained awhile." Ashley's stomach knotted as she heard she might be "entertainment." "No need for her to retire just yet," continued Edwars, "even though she is dressed for bed! Ashley, whi don't you serve your Daddy here a glass of Scotch!"
As the men sat down, Edwards in his chair and Daddy Al on one end of the ample sofa, Ashley walked slowly to the drinks cart next to Edwards chair. Her bare feet shuffled a bit on the bare wooden floor.
"Yes, girlie's lookin' ready to be tucked in, eh? And a very fetching little outfit she's wearing, I must say! Looks very comfortable for bed, light and wispy-like."
