It's Against the Law Ch. 04

"I got it," yelled a deliriously happy Tracy as she kissed me on the cheek and threw her arms around my neck, "A one man show!"

"What, what kind of one man show?"

"YOU, silly; you're going to have a one man show at my gallery; oh God, honey; I'm going to showcase your talent, you'll be the most famous, sought-after photographer in Chicago. We'll pick the best hundred photos, if that's possible; anyway, you print them and I'll frame them. What do you say?"

Before I could even answer her she thought of something else.

"Oh, and we can have some hard cover books printed too; we'll put twenty shots in it and you can autograph them; oh, honey; we are going to have the best show this town ever saw. What do you think, babe?"

I watched the metamorphosis in total amazement as my warm, sensitive, sometimes submissive girlfriend made the conversion into the strong, confident business woman I saw when we first met. She grabbed her phone and was already about start the ball rolling when she suddenly stopped; I guess I must have looked a little dubious. I made my money as an industrial and commercial photographer, not shooting seascapes. I wondered if this could somehow have a negative impact on my business.

"I'm sorry, darling, sometimes I get carried away, I didn't really ask you if you'd even be interested in doing this, did I?

Tracy listened to my concerns and thought for a few minutes.

"Honey, just like you told me on the beach, I love you and would never do anything to hurt you in any way. If this is something you're not comfortable with then we'll forget the whole idea, but please think about it first. Personally, I think it would only enhance your business; in fact, if we did do this I think we should send personal invitations to all your clients so they can see that you're not only talented in one field, but that your talent as a photographer is endless; I believe your clients would respect your work even more than they do now." She ended her pitch by sitting on my lap, putting her arms around my neck and giving me a big sloppy kiss.

She was so confident, what could I say, "How big do you want the prints," I asked with a smile.

"That's my man," she responded, "What's the largest print you and make?"

She really got excited when I told her I could buy paper by the roll and make prints as large as forty-four inches wide.

Tracy went right to work; she set the date for October fifteenth, it was a Saturday and only five weeks away. Every night she and I would select more shots; I would make various size prints, then she would take them to work the next day and frame them. Of course working at my place well into the evening gave her an excuse to spend the night with me while all this was going on; that was something I was getting extremely used to.

In addition to everything else, Tracy took care of all the advertising, sending out personal invitations, and organizing the gallery; she was a busy woman.

When I agreed to the show I had my own little surprise in mind; all the preparations for it I made myself without Tracy's knowledge.

After closing the gallery the Friday before the show, once again, Tracy went into high gear. She enlisted the aid of her brother to help her, Angie, and myself with getting everything ready for the next morning. I asked Carl where Judy was; he told me she was home with the baby but they had a babysitter for Saturday so she'd be there for the first day of the show. We had two pizzas delivered and worked feverishly until everything was ready to go a little before midnight. Since she had been living with me since we returned from California, Tracy followed me home. We should have both been dead tired after all the work but the truth was we were still running on adrenaline. The next day was big day and we knew we needed sleep but we were just so worked up; we needed a way to relax.

All night long Tracy had definitely been in charge giving everyone instructions on just how she wanted everything done for the show; 'no, not there, over there; that goes here; I want that hung over there;'... it was time for me to take back control.

I got home a few minutes before she did and already had everything ready to be set up; it didn't take long; by the time she walked in I was ready. As soon as she walked into the dark living room she knew something was up.

"Sir?" she quietly inquired.

I activated the wireless remote in my hand; instantly my laptop projector jumped to life, flooding the room with photos of my beautiful, naked slave like an erotic light show. Bigger than life, one image after another quickly flashed against the large screen showing Tracy sensually bound against the majestic backdrop of Monterey Bay.

I heard her gasp as she saw herself for the first time; her nude shapely body was stretched taught with her arms extended high overhead and reaching for the twisted tree branch that supported her bonds. Her breasts were pulled high on her chest and stood out firm and proud. You could see her pussy glistening in the California sun from her secretions.

I was waiting behind the door and approached her from behind. "Yes," I stated, "Don't move," I told her as I unzipped her dress.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back as I moved my hands across her shoulders. "How did you know," she whispered, "How did you know this was exactly what I needed tonight."

"Shhhh," I shushed her, "No talking, you will do exactly as I say; do you understand?"

"Yes, Master," she whisper again as her breathing got heavier.

I unhooked her bra and let it drop, the panties were next. I gently pulled her hands behind her and fastened them together with a pair of soft, leather cuffs, then walked her to a kitchen chair I had placed in the middle of the room and facing the sexually charge display flashing across the screen in front of her.

I inserted one of our new toys into her pussy; it was a remote control egg. I was hoping we could use it in public without anyone being the wiser, but even on the low setting, Tracy would have an explosive orgasm within minutes, that made it much too risky to use anywhere but at home.

I sat her down in the chair with her arms over the back. I then tied her ankles to the legs of the chair. She gasped as I tightened the nipple clamps and played with little chain connecting them. "Now, sweetheart," I said trying to sound menacing, "I'm going to turn the egg on but you are not allowed to cum before sucking me to completion, is that clear?"

"Yes, Master," she said breathlessly.

She gasped as I hit the switch for the egg. She was already squirming as I slipped my iron-like cock between her soft, luscious lips. I knew, as excited as I was, it wouldn't take her long to get me off, but she would still have to concentrate hard to keep herself from coming first.

I didn't time it, but I'm guessing it was less than five minutes before I erupted spewing cum by the bucket load, at least that's the way it felt. Tracy was working hard to stay off her impending euphoria; just as my deflating manhood slipped free from its warm home Tracy screamed with rapture.

A little weak in the knees myself, I stumbled back and sat on the edge of the couch. I turned the egg off and watched as my love slowly came back from her trip to the land of ecstasy. She opened her eyes but was still breathing hard. A big smile stretched across her beautiful face and she looked at me with love and respect.

I untied her and took her to bed where we slipped under the sheets for some traditional love making. Within minutes she had me hard as a rock again; for the next two hours we enjoyed one another as only two people in love can.

The next day I was up an hour before the alarm went off; I was too excited to go back to sleep. I didn't want to disturb Tracy so I gently slipped my arm out from under her and showered in the hall bathroom instead of the master bath. I put my robe on and went down stairs to make coffee. I had only been sitting for a few minutes when Tracy joined me.

"So, you excited?" she asked standing again in one of my white dress shirts.

"Oh yeah," I said with a smile.

"Not me, you idiot," she said walking over and giving me a kiss, "I mean about your show today," she chuckled.

"Oh that, yeah to tell you the truth, I am excited," I replied. I walked over to the counter and poured her a cup of brew, "here you go gorgeous," I said setting it down on the table, "have some coffee while I make us breakfast."

"How did you know exactly what I needed last night," she inquired sheepishly.

"I don't know, I just knew," I told her. I hadn't really thought about it but she was right, how did I know? I guess the intimacy we shared as a couple had become deeper than I realized, I was in tune with her inner most feelings. Thinking about it brought a smile to my face; I'm pretty sure Tracy thought the same way judging by the big grin on her face as well.

We got to the gallery a good hour before opening; even thought almost everything was done the night before we still had to make coffee, chill the drinking water, and put out some snacks. Angie was right behind us and Carl and Judy showed up a few minutes later.

We opened the doors at nine o'clock and I was shocked at the number of people that were waiting to get in. Almost instantly the gallery was crowded with the ooos and ahhs of impressed on lookers; in the first twenty minutes I had already sold six hundred dollars' worth of prints and autographed two books. By the time I started looking for Tracy's surprise at ten o'clock the gallery was packed.

I watched intently as the specially equipped SUV pulled up outside the front door; Tracy was busy talking to someone when the large side door of the vehicle opened and a man in a wheelchair was lowered to the sidewalk by an electric lift especially designed for that purpose. I saw Tracy catch the action out of the corner of her eye but didn't realize what was going on until the pretty grey haired lady stepped from the passenger side door and took her place behind the chair; she started pushing the man forward as the driver held the door for them.

"MOM, DAD," she shouted, "OH MY GOD," everyone stopped and looked as Tracy ran to her mother and dad with tears in her eyes, hugging and kissing them both; it was a couple minutes before Tracy's emotions would allow her to talk. "How did you get here?"

"Your nice young man over there arranged it for us," her mother told her. Tracy looked at me with tears of gratitude. About that time Carl and Judy, who were in the back helping with something, came out to see what the commotion was. They too rushed over and welcomed them with hugs and kisses.

Tracy had talked many times about how she tried to get her dad out of the house but he was self-conscious about his condition and didn't want anyone to see him like that. Tracy came over and put her arm around me while her brother fawned over their parents. "How did you do it; how did you get him to come?"

"It was easy," I replied.

She knew better and gave me a look that told me so.

"Okay, maybe not that easy. I had to do some flirting with you mother first. Once I got her on my side we double-teamed your dad. When I explained that this would be a very special day in the life of his daughter, he relented; after that you couldn't have held him back with an army," I told her.

"I love you," she said reaching up and kissing me on the cheek. She didn't know it yet but I had a couple more surprises to spring before the end of the day.

As the hours passed I grew more and more astonished at the interest generated by my photography. Between Tracy and me, we had printed and framed a hundred and ten shots in various sizes; in addition, she had two-hundred, hard cover coffee-table style books made containing another twenty shots; each book sold for twenty bucks. By three o'clock in the afternoon only sixty books were left and there was already a lot more bare wall seen than this morning.

"Didn't I tell you, honey?" Tracy whispered as she came over and grabbed my arm, "If there's one thing I know it's what people like to hang on their walls."

"I never even imagined anything like this," I said looking around. "I...well, I guess I'm just amazed that people are actually paying this kind of money to have one of my photos hanging on their wall."

Tracy smiled, "I figured everything up; we had about thirty-five thousand dollars' in inventory for the show; we haven't even complete the first day yet and we've sold two-thirds of it. I'm guessing we'll be sold out before the end of the day tomorrow."

I almost felt weak in the knees; of course I was sharing that fifty-fifty with Tracy, but even at that, seventeen grand wasn't half bad, especially when you considered all the fun Tracy and I had putting the whole thing together. I smiled and give her a kiss. "Honey, it's getting late and I imagine your parents are getting tired but there's something I want to do before they go," I told her. She looked curious as I ran into the back room where I had smuggled my surprise in from the back door. I walked back out to the gallery.

"Excuse me everyone," I said raising my voice to get everyone's attention. "I want to thank everyone for coming today and for all the flattering and generous comments you've given me; you really know how to bolster a guy's ego." That got a little chuckle from the crowd.

"I also want to thank the very lovely Tracy Anderson for talking me into doing this and for all the hard work she put into making this a truly memorable event. I also want to thank her assistant, Angie, and her brother, Carl and his lovely wife, Judy for helping as well." Everyone clapped.

"I also want to give a very special thanks to someone, for without them none of this would have been possible, Mr. and Mrs. Todd Anderson. As you..." I had to stop and minute while everyone applauded again.

"I'm sure you have all seen the unbelievably beautiful watercolor paintings for which Mr. Anderson is so famous; well, it was one of his paintings that inspired this entire exhibit and I would like to offer Mr. and Mrs. Anderson a small token of my appreciation."

As I finished my little speech I unwrapped their gift and presented it to Tracy's parents; I knew Mr. Anderson recognized it immediately by the look in his eye and the tear rolling down his cheek. "Oh, darling look, it's just like your painting," Mrs. Anderson said hugging her husband. Unable to speak any longer due to his illness, he rapidly nodded his head in agreement.

I heard a couple gasps, looked up and saw they came from Tracy and Carl; it had been the first either of them had seen it. It had been my secret project from the moment Tracy stood on the beach with tears in her eyes telling, me about her father painting those cliffs. I made the print during the day when Tracy was at the gallery and gave it to my framer. I picked it up on Friday before the show and smuggled into the shop earlier when Tracy was distracted. What no one knew yet, was that I also had smaller versions done for Tracy and Carl.

I slipped their driver a fifty to help Mr. and Mrs. Anderson in with the photo once they were home again. After that it seemed like the last couple hours flew by in moments. Tracy tallied up the day before we left; we had done twenty-two thousand dollars the first day.

After we locked up I suggested we eat down town since we were already there. We found a nice little place on Wacker Dr. and enjoyed dinner while my girl gushed all over me for giving her parents such a wonderful day. She couldn't get over how I snuck that big framed print into her gallery without her knowledge; if she thought that was something...just wait!

"That was good," I mentioned as we walked out of the restaurant, "Listen, it's such a beautiful night and we won't have many more for a while, what do say we stroll down to the lakefront."

She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed me again; I took that as a yes. We went down by the rocks and watched as the full moon rose from its watery veil and lit a path skipping along the waves and ending at our feet.

Tracy laid her head on my shoulder as I put my arm around her and pulled her tightly to my side. "I just don't know how I will ever thank you for what you did for dad and mom," she sighed.

Here goes, I thought as I took a deep breath. "Honey, have you ever thought about all the things we've shared since knowing each other?"

"Shared? No... I guess I hadn't really thought about it, why?"

"Well I was thinking the other day, we share a love for art in almost any form; we share a love for Shakespeare, you shared your inner most secrets and desires with me; we shared a vacation..."

She was starting to look at me a little funny, I know she was wondering where all this talk about sharing was leading; I reached in my pocket and brought out a tiny box..."Honey, I have some I want to share with you," she put her hand to her mouth in silent disbelief as I knelt down on one knee, "My darling, Tracy Anderson, I want to share the rest of my life with you," I said presenting her with a ring.

"Oh my God, honey; YES," she almost screamed, "Oh God how I love you, my darling man, yes, yes, yes, I will marry you!"

She leaned down and showered me with hugs, kisses, and tears of joy. I guess you could say it was a day I'll never forget. Later that night was also very memorable, Tracy made sure of it.

Sunday at the gallery was even busier than the day before; Carl and Judy were there again giving us a hand. Thank God Tracy knew to have a catalog printed because by the afternoon we had very few actual prints left and she was now taking orders for more.

I was talking with client of mine who was telling me he just order a large print for his office when I felt a tap on my shoulder and a familiar voice, "Hello, Dalton."

I turned around and stared right into the big brown eyes of the woman who was once my universe. "Jean," I said a little breathlessly. I often wondered how I'd feel if I ran into her again. I never did hate her; I remember thinking at the time I wished I could; it might have made the pain easier to deal with. Now, seeing her again reminded me of the pain but it wasn't really there anymore; Tracy did a good job of replacing it with love.

"How are doing?" she asked holding out her hand.

"I'm doing well, Jean, how about yourself?"

She smiled a little sheepishly but ignored my question as she looked around a little until her eyes fell on one of the last remaining large photos hanging on the side wall. "I guess you are doing well; this is fantastic, Dalton; your own one man show at a beautiful, down town gallery; when did you start doing stuff like this?"

Just then Tracy came over to give me an update on the sales; she took a hold of my arm and kissed me on the cheek then stretched out her hand to Jean, of course not knowing who she was, "Hello, ma'am, I see you've met the photographer; have you had a chance to look around? I'm sorry but we have very few pieces left; however, we do have catalogs over there on the table and we are taking orders..."

"Ah, honey," I thought I might as well interrupt, she was just wasting her breath anyway; I noticed Jean's face as I started to introduce them, she looked like she was about to be hit by a freight train. "This is Jean, my ex-wife; Jean, this is Tracy, the owner of this beautiful gallery and my fiancée."

It was almost imperceptible but I heard the tiniest gasp from Jean. She looked at Tracy then back at me, "Oh...I, ah...congratulations," she said unsuccessfully trying to force a small smile.

"Thank you," Tracy replied in her usual cheery way.

I could see the pain in Jean's face; evidently she didn't have anyone in her life yet and I had the distinct feeling she came hoping to rekindle a spark. I saw her eyes glistening with moisture.