She looked up at him in surprise.
"Laddie, where did you get these pictures?" she asked, a curious excitement in her voice.
"Give them to me!" he demanded, walking toward her.
"I will not!" she retorted, turning her back to him. "I haven't finished looking at them yet." Lithely she spun away from his outstretched hand, across the room to the far side of the bed. "Let me finish," she said calmly. "Then you can have them back."
"No!" he shouted hoarsely, flinging himself across the bed at her.
She turned to avoid his grasp but his hand caught her shoulder.
The pictures flew from her hand as she fell to the bed beside him. She reached for the pictures.
His hand caught at her shoulder strap to keep her from getting them, and the strap broke in his hand.
He froze suddenly, staring at one white breast that had escaped the bathing suit.
"You broke my strap," she said quietly, making no move to cover herself, her eyes watching his face.
He didn't answer.
She smiled slowly and raised her hand to her breast, rubbing her palm gently across the nipple.
"I'm just as pretty as any of the girls in those pictures, aren't I?" He was fascinated, unable to speak, his eyes following the deliberate movement of her hand. "Aren't I?" she asked again. "You can tell me. I won't tell anyone.
Why do you think I let you watch while I was undressing?"
"You knew I was watching?" he asked in surprise.
She laughed. "Of course, stupid. I could see you in the mirror. I almost burst out laughing.
I thought your eyes would pop out of your head."
He could feel the tension begin to build up inside him.
"I don't think that's funny."
"Look at me," she said. "I like you to look at me. I wish everybody could."
"That's not right," he said.
"Why isn't it?" she demanded.
"What's wrong with it?
I like to look at you, why shouldn't you look at me?"
"But you never did," he said quickly.
A secret smile came to her lips.
"Oh, yes I did."
"You did?
When?"
"The other afternoon when you came back from the beach.
There was no one home and I watched you through the bathroom window.
I saw everything you did."
"Everything?" The word escaped from him in a groan of dismay.
"Everything," she said smugly. "You were exercising your muscle."
Her eyes looked into his. "I never knew it could get so big.
I always thought it was little and kind of droopy like it was when you were a little boy."
There was a tightness in his throat and he could hardly speak.
He began to get up from the bed.
"I think you better get out of here," he said hoarsely.
She looked up at him, still smiling. "Would you like to look at me again?"
He didn't answer.
Her hand reached up and took down the other shoulder strap. She wriggled out of her bathing suit.
He stared down at her naked body, feeling his legs begin to tremble.
He saw her eyes move down over him. His bathrobe hung open.
He looked at her again. "Now take off your bathrobe and let me see all of you," she said.
As if in a daze, he let the bathrobe slip to the floor. With a groan, he sank to his knees beside the bed, holding himself.
Quickly she rolled across the bed and looked down at him.
A faint sound of triumph came into her voice. "Now," she said, "you can do it for me."
His hand reached up to touch her breast.
She let it rest there for a moment, then suddenly moved away from him.