Move Closer Ch. 01

"Hm, classic control freak behaviour, arranging everything so that you're totally dependent on him," said Lainy, adding, "I still say you should go to the police."

"No, I've got Gran to think of. As it is, Bruno managed to alienate me from her, without me giving him an excuse to go after her. My parents died when I was a child and Gran brought me up. I can't do anything to put her at risk. Believe me, Lainy, you just don't know what it's like."

"Oh, but I do. My father used to beat the shit out of my mother and me until I was about ten. Then my Uncle Joss, who was an army captain at the time, heard what was going on. He came to our house, took my father into one of the rooms and shut the door. We don't know what was said in there, but after about ten minutes my father came out white-faced, went and packed a couple of cases and left. We haven't seen the bastard since. My Mum got a divorce, then a couple of years later met and married my stepfather. It took me a long time to learn to trust him but he's a lovely man and now I consider him to be my real Dad.

"Anyway, that's history. The thing now is what to do with you, Caro. You can stay here with me if you wish. You can have the room you used last night—it has its own bathroom. And you can be as private or otherwise as you want."

"Thanks, but right now I can't pay you any rent until I find work. And that won't be easy. I'm a librarian and archivist and those positions don't grow on trees."

"Do you mind getting your hands dirty?" Lainy asked and Caro shook her head. "It's just that I'm a business partner with Joss and an old army friend of his, Will. We run the gym downstairs. Our regular cleaner is on maternity leave and you can take her place in return for board and lodging and some pocket-money. It's not an easy job—the gym's big. The other thing is how to get all your clothing from Bruno's place."

"I'll take the cleaning job, thanks," said Caro, "And I'm a very good cook so I can do all the meals if you like. I've got a key to Bruno's place so we can get my clothes any time in the next several days. Bruno has to fly to Singapore today on business and he won't miss that. There's too much money involved. He'll be away for about a week." Then as an afterthought: "He will be okay to travel, won't he? After the way you hit him?"

Lainy smiled. "He'll probably have a sore neck and nose for a day or two but no real damage—nothing to stop him working. And certainly nothing to what he's done to you."

"Good, then I'll leave him a note saying that I'll keep quiet about him as long as he stays away from me and Gran."

"Okay, that's settled then. Finish your breakfast and I'll take you down to meet Joss and Will." Lainy seemed to hesitate a moment, then added: "If you're going to stay with me, there's something you'd better know. I'm a lesbian. Does that bother you?"

"No, it doesn't worry me," said Caro, "Have you got a girlfriend?"

"No!" The abruptness of the reply discouraged further questions.

Lainy was right—the gym was huge, taking up the whole ground floor of the former warehouse. It was divided into a number of different areas covering every form of physical activity including a large padded area of floor for teaching martial arts. Caro was immediately impressed by Joss and Will. Neither man was very tall, perhaps five-nine or so, but there was an air of quiet self-assurance about them which made Caro feel she would be totally safe in their company. Having introduced Caro, Lainy took the men aside and spoke to them very quietly.

The three gazed at Caro and then Lainy beckoned her over, turned her around and lifted her t-shirt from behind, as high up as her shoulders. Seeing Caro's contusion-covered back, the two men's faces showed utter disgust. There was another whispered conference then Joss turned and spoke to Caro.

"Look, Caro, we can train you so that nobody will ever do this to you again," he said, "Lainy takes the women's self-defence classes twice weekly but we'll work with you every day if you want. It'll be hard and some nights you'll go to bed hating us, but the end result will be worthwhile. What do you say?"

"When do I start?" said Caro.

* * * * *

Joss was wrong. Caro didn't go to bed hating them but loving them, loving them for the time they devoted to her, the new skills they were giving to her. Every day when she had finished her chores, Joss or Will or Lainy, sometimes all three, would take Caro onto the mats for two or three hours and train her hard in a variety of fighting systems. "We don't teach the traditional martial arts here," Will explained at the outset, "They can take years to reach the required standards to earn fancy-coloured belts. We teach people to survive on the streets." And to her surprise, Caro found that she had a natural ability. Within weeks she was helping Lainy run the women's self-defence sessions. Within several months she was allowed to take her own small beginners' class with a minimum of supervision. And because of her professional training, she was also able to relieve her three employers of some of the day-to-day paperwork tasks.

She and Lainy quickly became good friends although there was something about Lainy, an odd remoteness which Caro found difficult to penetrate. When Lainy smiled she was beautiful, but she smiled very rarely, seemingly burdened by a permanent air of melancholy. One day Caro asked Joss about this.

"Anything Lainy wants you to know, she'll tell you," he replied.

Sometimes, say once or twice a week, Lainy would disappear, either during the day or early in an evening and never more than for an hour or two. Joss and Will seemed to accept this without question and Caro was never given an explanation, not, she decided, that it was any of her business.

Once, Caro bought a bottle of white wine to go with their evening meal. Lainy said: "Thanks, but no thanks, Caro. I'm teetotal." So instead Caro had some of Lainy's mineral water to make herself a white wine spritzer, her favourite drink.

Then there was the morning when Lainy asked Caro to fetch some important papers from her desk in the flat. "They're in a large white envelope. I put them away some time ago and can't remember which drawer but you'll find them."

There was a bundle of papers in the first drawer that Caro opened and she took them out to check. Lainy's envelope wasn't there but under the papers Caro found four framed photographs lying face down. Curious, she took them out to have a look. Two of the pictures were of Lainy with another girl. Lainy appeared to be a lot younger and slightly fuller of face, her dark hair falling to her shoulders. Her companion was fair-haired and sweet-looking. In one picture the two were facing the camera, arms about each other's shoulders, cheeks pressed together, big smiles on their faces; in the second they were gazing at one another adoringly. The remaining photos were of the second girl by herself: in one she was laughing happily, in the other blowing a kiss to the camera. Some ex-girlfriend of Lainy's, Caro assumed, and replaced the pictures.

A night-time incident

The "snick" of her bedroom door opening was low but it was enough to waken Caro. Not moving, she tried her best to control her breathing, to make it appear that she still slept. Footsteps approached then she felt the covers being drawn back and the weight of a body settling on the far side of the bed. Christ, it was Bruno. How the hell had he found her? How the hell had he found his way into the flat? And so quietly. She knew exactly what would happen now. He would turn her onto her back or stomach, depending on whim, rip down her pyjama shorts and just ram his penis into her, uncaring whether or not he caused her great pain. She wanted to scream but knew what would happen if she did. Caro continued to lie rigid, hoping against hope that he would change his mind and leave her be.

A hand touched her, easing its way beneath her jacket and caressed her belly with soft and gentle stroke. The hand moved up to stroke a breast. to play with a nipple and then down, into the waistband of her shorts to let fingers dance among the curls of her pubic hair. What was going on? This was not the way Bruno usually behaved. Then Caro realised something—the hand caressing her was smaller than Bruno's.

She was eased over onto her back and soft lips descended on hers, a pointed tongue tracing the shape of her mouth and seeking entrance. Caro dared to open her eyes. Despite it being the middle of the night, she found she could see quite clearly. She was staring into a beautiful face with high cheek bones and sad violet eyes, a head with dark, pixie-cut hair...

Caro sprang upright in the bed, panting with shock. The room was still dark and she could see nothing but the glowing figures of her bedside clock. She was alone. Another dream, the third, all different, yet all the same. But what the hell was causing them? For years now she had never dreamed of anything even vaguely sexual and suddenly she was dreaming of a woman—no, not any woman but Lainy—trying to make love to her. Caro lay back down but it was some time before she slept.

Nemesis

Caro was happy. She was sitting outside a coffee shop in a large mall, sipping a cappuccino and reflecting on how her life had changed for the better. She had called her grandmother to make peace and was relieved that the old love was still there. She hadn't told Gran the worst of it, only that she and Bruno had problems and had split up, a fact which seemed to please the old woman. She also warned Gran to beware of any strangers who might approach her at home. And now the cherry on the icing was that Caro had found a part-time job in a small private library, about half-an-hour by bus from the gym. The place was only open three days a week and Caro's initial task was to bring some form of order into a chaotic cataloguing system. The existing librarian was due to retire in the near future and it looked as if his position could be offered to Caro.

She was still living in Lainy's flat, which suited the two of them well, and still putting in a good number of hours a week training. There was one odd thing, though, not exactly disturbing Caro but puzzling her. She had found in recent weeks—ever since the start of those dreams in fact—that she was thinking more and more about Lainy, frequently day-dreaming of her, seeing her as something more than a friend... something much more... As much as anything it was an emotional outreaching. Perhaps it was gratitude. No... it was something more than that. Was it possible it could even be love? Bewildered by these feelings, Caro would think to herself, What's going on with me? I can't be in love with a woman, I'm straight...

A voice, smooth and cultured, interrupted her thoughts, a voice which sent a momentary chill through her body. "Hello, Caro, how very nice to meet you here."

As the man settled himself into a chair next to hers, Caro said: "What are you doing here, Bruno?"

"Is that any way to greet someone? If you must know, I had to see a client in this area and I thought I'd grab a coffee before returning to the City. And imagine my delight when I saw an old friend sitting here. We have things to discuss, Caro."

Caro's voice was cold. "I'm not your friend, Bruno, and we have nothing at all to discuss."

Bruno reached out and covered one of Caro's hands with his. To an onlooker, it would have appeared to be an affectionate gesture. But he squeezed hard and Caro winced. "Stop it, Bruno, you're hurting me."

For a second, Bruno St Clair looked puzzled. There was nothing of fear or subservience in Caro's voice, just a plain matter-of-factness. He applied the pressure a little. "It's going to be worse, dear Caro—you know that, don't you? You have to be punished for humiliating me that night."

"Whatever happened to you that night was entirely of your own making. And I've left you—I thought my note made that clear to you."

Bruno shook his head sadly. "What's going to happen now, Caro, is that we're going to my car and we're going home where you'll be punished. And our relationship ends when I say it does, not when you fancy. Now get up and walk away quietly with me."

"Supposing I call for help?" said Caro.

An element of viciousness crept into his voice. "No, dear Caro, you won't do that. Remember poor old Grannie at home all by herself—imagine her getting an unwanted visit. I don't have to remind you what happened to Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother when the Big Bad Wolf came calling. Now let's go. It'll get worse if I have to repeat myself."

Again to Bruno's surprise, Caro simply shrugged and stood up. "Okay, where's the car? Still got the Porsche?" In a tone of contempt she added: "Personally, I always thought it a bit vulgar." Anger him if you can, Joss would have said, it'll keep him off balance and make him careless.

"One more black mark, dear Caro." Anger there, through gritted teeth—the car was Bruno's great joy. He gripped her elbow and steered her away from the coffee shop towards the stairs to the multi-storey car park.

They emerged on the second level. It was still the Porsche, a low-slung phallic symbol in virulent red. Caro glanced around, saw nobody in the area. As Bruno reached into his pocket for the keys, Caro pulled away from him and suddenly her demeanour changed from one of defiance to one of abject fear. "Oh God, Bruno, I'm so sorry... please don't hurt me, Bruno..." She could see Bruno relax a little, a look of triumph and anticipation in his eyes.

Still wailing and pleading, Caro threw her arms around Bruno, effectively pinning his arms to his side, and then drove her knee, very hard, into his groin. Bruno let out an anguished squeal and doubled over, clutching at his injured parts. Caro seized one arm in a lock, bending his index finger backwards and applying leverage to his straightened elbow, driving the man to his knees.

"Stop it, Caro! You're hurting me!"

Caro applied a little more pressure and bent to say: "Funny, pain never bothered you when you were hurting me, Bruno. Now, stay away from me, stay away from my grandmother. I'll hold to my promise not to go to the police for now. But come near me again and I'll probably break that promise." She pushed him away and he collapsed.

As Caro walked to the stair-well, she could hear Bruno vomiting.

That evening in the gym, she told Lainy and Joss what had happened. "How did you feel afterwards?" Joss asked her.

"Good." Caro thought for a moment and added: "I mean, it felt good that I wasn't scared any more and that I could handle him. But I didn't feel all that good about hurting him. I don't like hurting people, not even people like Bruno."

Joss nodded approval. "You're okay, Caro. When you start enjoying hurting, then that makes you as bad as the bad guys. Now we're going to step up your training. The next time, if there is a next time, Bruno will be ready for you, so you'll have to do something quite different, take him by surprise..."

And they went to the mats...

A strange beauty

Lainy reached out and clutched at Caro's hand. She seemed rapt as she listened to Pavane for a Dead Princess and may not have realized what she was doing. Caro realized full well and felt a thrill of pleasure as their fingers interlaced: her perceived fondness for Lainy seemed to be growing deeper day by day.

It had taken Caro a good twenty minutes to persuade Lainy to come to the concert with her. "I'm not sure I'd enjoy an evening of classical music," Lainy had said, but admitting when asked that she'd never been to such a concert. "Not even with... never mind..."

Caro waved the tickets under her nose. "I went to some trouble to get these and the least you can do is give it a try. I went to that country music concert with you thinking I'd be bored and as it turned out, I loved it. You might love this.

"Look, if somebody told you he didn't like Chinese food and then admitted he'd never tried it, you'd think he was an idiot, wouldn't you?"

"That's different."

"No it's not. Come with me, Lainy, and if you don't like it, then we'll leave early, okay?"

And now it seemed that Lainy was loving it. As the final notes of Ravel's music died away, she turned to Caro, who thought she could see the sparkle of unshed tears in her friend's eyes but in the dim light of the concert hall couldn't be certain. "Oh God, Caro," Lainy said, "I didn't realize that a piece of music could be so strange and so beautiful and yet seem so sad at the same time. I could just see it..."

"All good classical music can paint pictures," Caro told her, "Some represent specific scenes, others you can use imagination to create what you want from the music. The main item tonight is Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. One of the movements portrays country dancing, another a thunderstorm. Close your eyes and let your imagination drift so you'll see the dancing and feel the storm."

As the opening notes of the symphony were played, Caro felt an urge to hold Lainy's hand again. She reached out and Lainy happily accepted and held Caro's hand between both of hers.

Back at the flat later, the two sat together on the sofa drinking coffee. "Thank you for taking me to that concert, Caro," said Lainy, "I really had no idea just how lovely classical music could be. Can we go to another concert soon?"

"I'll watch out for programmes I think you'll like, nothing too heavy," Caro promised.

Then to her surprise, Lainy leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. For several seconds, Caro leaned into the kiss and Lainy raised a hand to Caro's cheek. The kiss was something Caro had been half-hoping would happen for weeks now but suddenly she didn't know how to handle it. Flustered, she pulled back and stood up. "Goodnight, Lainy."

Once in her room, Caro realized that she had wanted the kiss to continue but mentally she had panicked. What's happening to me? I'm straight, aren't I? But I think I'm in love with Lainy... no, I know I'm in love with Lainy... I think I have been for months... but I'm straight... aren't I...?

There was something else. Her nipples had become rigid, pressing against her silken bra, and... My God, I'm wet down there. But I never get wet down there...

Caro dropped her skirt and fumbled at the crotch of her panties. It was very damp. Caro undressed quickly and climbed into bed naked. She reached down and touched her slit. To her surprise, the lips felt thick and swollen. Caro ran an index finger up and down an unaccustomed line of slippery moisture, slid it deep into her pussy and then withdrew it and brought it up to her face. In the light from her bedside lamp, she could see that her finger was thickly coated with glistening juice. Caro sniffed at it and was further aroused by her own musky smell. Thinking, I've never done anything like this before, she took the finger into her mouth and sucked off the tangy secretion. Christ, but that tastes good...

Reaching down to her pussy again, Caro started to masturbate, something she very rarely did. As the pressure built up, she buried her face in her pillow to muffle her moans and her eventual small cry as she came off.

In her bedroom, Lainy, too, was masturbating. As she fingered herself and rubbed her clitoris, the same thought kept repeating itself in her mind, over and over, like a musical riff. Oh, Caro, love, why do you have to be straight?

Radclyffe's

They had finished their evening meal and Lainy said: "Right, I'm taking you out tonight, Caro. You took me to that lovely concert last week, so I'm taking you to a nightclub I know."