Cousin Pt. 04

"Well," Tom began, "I think Mary told you we had some news, too. This will probably come as a real surprise, but we've decided to move. While we were on the trip last summer we met a guy who owned a piece of a small off-shore island near Carolina. He has a house there and no one else for a half mile in any direction. In fact there are only about five places on the island and a lot of the time most everyone is somewhere else. Anyway, he let me know last month that he's interested in selling and we decided we'd like to try it by the ocean for a change."

Dan and Lisa both looked completely surprised. "If that's what you want it sounds wonderful," Lisa said. "You can still write from there, so it does give you a lot of freedom."

"I probably will write some," Tom replied. "And Mary may get to write that novel she told you about. But - and there's no reason you should know at all - we really don't have to."

"You see," Mary put in, "When we were first married and Tom was making all that money out in California, we started to invest. Tom is a very good judge of the future and we bought into several companies which have done rather well, including Intel and Microsoft. We can live - really quite comfortably - on just the dividends."

"Are you keeping the place here?" Dan asked.

"No," Tom replied, "We decided to let it go."

Dan and Lisa looked a little disappointed, but Mary went on before they had much chance to think about it. "There's something else we want to say. Dan and Lisa, we know about your borrowing our playroom downstairs."

The couple looked completely dismayed. "Oh, Aunt Mary, we're really sorry," Lisa began.

But before she could continue, Mary went on, "No, No, don't worry about it. We told you to use the house as if it were your own. We didn't say just part of the house. You have nothing to apologize for. What I want to say is that we know you've tried some of these things and we don't mind at all. As you've probably guessed, Tom and I enjoy a lot of the same stuff. I would like to ask you a couple of things, however. Please don't be embarrassed. You'll see I've got a reason. First, are you into real domination - you know, master-slave stuff - or just playing bondage games?"

Lisa had turned a little red and Dan hesitated some before finally saying, "No, it's just games. We even take turns and none of it carries over into any of the rest of our lives. It just seems fun. Besides, I don't think either of us find humiliation or real domination fun at all. Or even tolerable." Mary nodded to herself. "OK, one other thing. How careful are you? Do you know about safewords and such and about never leaving anyone alone and so on?"

This time Lisa brought herself to speak. "Yes, we're both far to practical to take any kind of chances. We also have our own rules and no one is ever really hurt or goes too far."

Once more Mary nodded to herself. "OK. Now to be fair, let me tell you a couple of things. Tom and I first got into this the first year we were married. We tried some spanking games - everyone had heard of them even back then in the dark ages - and found we really liked the stimulation. We take turns, too, by the way. We didn't start out with the playroom you see downstairs, but over the years we've added stuff and after we moved back here we started fixing up that part of the basement. You may remember there used to be a couple of rooms over it where the porch is now. They were in pretty bad shape so when we tore them down and built the porch we poured a new basement in that part. When you two started coming here in the summer we decided we had better hide it and built the secret entrance. Sometime you'll have to tell me how you found it and got inside, by the way."

"Anyway, as you can see we've tried a lot of things. And we've found we like most of them. We have rules pretty much like yours and we watch to make sure we don't start getting addicted to the point where it effects the rest of our lives. You have probably guessed that we really like sex. And I suspect the same is true of you two. When we were first married we probably averaged five times a day. Some days a lot more. We don't quite make that now, but it's still unusual for a day to go by without a little lovemaking. We usually make a trip to the playroom two or three times a week. By the way, if you read Marnie's diary you'll probably find she was a pretty hot number herself. And so was Jamie. From some of the things she wrote, I even think she and Jamie might have been into a few of these games themselves. But Tom and I decided long ago that as long as we both enjoyed it and no one was hurt - physically or psychologically - there was nothing wrong with a good whipping or such now and then. After all, some people spend a lot of time, money, and effort on golf for a lot less pleasure."

At the mention of golf, both Dan and Lisa broke out laughing. Tom and Mary looked confused and Lisa said, "It's just something Dan said a few weeks ago. Never mind."

Tom shrugged. "So we don't want you two to feel guilty about it or anything, we just want you to feel free to ask questions if they ever come up. We know how hard it is to find someone with whom you can discuss this kind of thing. But on to another subject." He turned towards his wife. "Have you got it, Mary?"

She nodded and pulled a large envelope from behind her. Tom went on. Since we're planning on moving in April, and even though we'll be back for your wedding, we wanted to give you your wedding gift early."

Mary handed the envelope to Dan and said, "Go ahead and open it."

Dan handed the envelope to Lisa and she pulled the flap open. She pulled out several sheets of paper and began to read it together with Dan. In a few seconds, Dan looked up and said, "This is the deed to the farm. You've made out a transfer to us, but, much as we'd love to have it - more than you can imagine - we can't afford it."

"That's right," Lisa said, "Even up here this property must still be worth quite a bit."

"No, you miss the idea," Tom said. "We don't want to sell it to you: We've given it to you free and clear."

The couple looked astounded. Dan's jaw actually dropped open - something he was sure never happened in real life. "That's wonderful," Lisa said. "But it's too much. I know you said you have stocks to live on, but you can't just give away this place."

Mary smiled. "Lisa, Darling, I said we had some stocks. I know it's none of your business, but so you'll feel better about this, I'll tell you the stocks are now worth about eight million and I expect the market to keep going up."

Dan's jaw dropped open for a second time and this time was joined by Lisa's.

Mary went on. "Besides, I told you yesterday that this place has been in the family for over a hundred and twenty years. We don't have any children to pass it on to and no one else in the family is really interested in being responsible for it. You two must know that we have thought of you as children we would have loved to have ourselves. We couldn't be more proud of either of you and the fact that you have fallen in love with each other makes this the best of all possible things we could have imagined. If you look in there" - indicating the envelope - "you will also find that there are some shares of stock. It should be enough to cover the property taxes with the dividends. And before you say anything else, we can afford it. We don't expect you to farm the place. We don't even really farm it ourselves. We don't even expect you to live here full time - at least not now, maybe never. But we've seen the way you look at the land. You two love this mountain as much as we. And I expect you will be as happy here as we have been. I even think Jamie and Marnie would be pleased."

Lisa ran to her aunt and threw her arms around her. "Thank you, Aunt Mary. I don't know what to say, but you are right. We do love it and will always love it."

After a few more minutes of profuse thanks, Mary said, "There's just one thing. We're leaving the playroom just as it is. We'll have fun building another one on our island. But if we come back to visit, we might like to borrow it sometime."

Everyone laughed and Dan assured them it would always be available.

That night Dan and Lisa were too excited to sleep and stayed awake making plans - and making love - until almost dawn. When they left to drive back to school at three that afternoon they were still on such a high that Tom said he could actually see the glow around them. As they drove away, Tom said, "Well, Lover, I think we made the right decision."

"I know we did," Mary answered. Then she added, "But while we still have the place to ourselves, I think I'd like to go downstairs and get as sore as Lisa must have been after Friday. That is, if you think you're man enough and won't wear out too soon."

Tom laughed and gave her a swat on the ass. "Come on, Woman, and we'll see who wears out first."

Spring came and went and finally June arrived and their wedding. As at every wedding everyone agreed that there had never been a more beautiful bride or a more handsome groom. During the reception after the ceremonies, One of Dan's relatives asked where they were going for their honeymoon.

"That's classified," Dan replied. But I can tell you we have found the most beautiful spot on earth and that we'll be able to spend six weeks alone enjoying it."

Two weeks later Dan and Lisa lay sleeping in the grass among a grove of ancient trees on the hill behind the farmhouse. Both were naked and the warm June sun filtered through the leaves to light their bodies. Dan was face down and Lisa was on her side, pressed against him, with her leg lying over his. Faint red lines showed on both of their buttocks where they had been playing earlier.

Lisa came slowly to a half awake state as she heard voices a little farther up the hill. "See who has found our special place and seem to have been enjoying it, Woman. This must be the new couple."

"Aye, and a lovely pair they are. Yon man is a big one and handsome built, for sure."

Lisa blinked and looked towards the ridge top, fifteen yards away. She saw a couple who looked to be in their forties or maybe a little older, but still in good shape. She could tell because the man - well over six feet tall - was wearing only a pair of trousers. The woman, who looked younger by several years except when Lisa looked at her eyes, had on an old fashioned long dress, but it was open and hanging from her hips so she was bare from the waist up. The man had his arm around her shoulders and was caressing her breast. Her breasts were firm and Lisa could see that her nipples were standing erect. The air had a shimmering quality to it and Lisa couldn't be sure what she saw was the same from second to second.

"Aye," the man went on, "Yon lass reminds me of you some thirty years ago."

"What's this?" the woman said in mock resentment. "Do ye mean to tell me that I'm no longer woman enough for you, Jamie Duncan?"

"Now you know better, Wench. You always have and you always will be woman enough for me."

The woman stepped away from the man and then stepped out of her dress completely, folding it over her arm and leaving her completely naked. Lisa noticed she had long, smooth legs. "Then suppose ye come and prove it, my big highland stud. That is if you think you are man enough," she said provocatively.

"Ach," the man responded, "Perhaps I will. And perhaps I should take my strap to your tight arse for that remark, Wench."

"Is that a promise? Or maybe you're not man enough for that either." She laughed and started towards the hill top.

The man started after her, unbuckling and removing his wide leather belt as he went.

Lisa blinked and came more awake. She propped herself up on one elbow and looked where she had seen the couple. There was a slight shimmer in the air. Maybe it was just the heated atmosphere. Then she heard a sharp squeal of almost girlish laughter. Or maybe it was just the wind in the trees. She blinked and stared harder. Had she actually seen and heard the ghosts of Jamie and Marnie Duncan? Or was it just the remains of a leftover dream?

Dan blinked and came awake. He rolled over and smiled up at her. She had just decided that she must have still been dreaming and let herself be pulled into Dan's embrace when she heard another sharp peel of laugher.

She started to pull back up but Dan held her tighter and kissed her deeply. She asked herself if what she had seen and heard was real. Then, as Dan held her tightly and she returned his kiss, she decided that he was real, she was real, and the rest didn't matter at all.