A History Lesson Ch. 02

She rose when he entered and he had his first good look at her since the dinner at Al's house the previous summer. She had filled out a little; she was obviously eating better. Her face had a rosy glow and she was dressed in a simple black dress that hung very nicely on her.

"Beverly! You have really changed! You look... kinda... well? Jeez Bev, You look great!"

Blushing a little, she replied "James, thank you! You look pretty good yourself."

They went in to their table and had a very nice osso bucco for lunch. James quaffed the better part of a jug of the house Chianti. Beverly was much more animated than he had ever seen her before. He talked to her about her courses and asked some fairly penetrating questions. She responded with some depth and clarity, pleasing him.

When it came time to part, James kissed her on the cheek and said "I'm really impressed Bev! Keep up the good work and let Al or Mark know if you need anything."

Kissing her cheek again, he watched as she walked away, turning once to wave at him. His heart lurched a little, but he passed it off to the osso bucco and wine. Her image in the black dress kept imposing itself in his mind all the way home.

Later that year James went to a party hosted by Mark Braxton at the country club Mark had joined several years ago. James didn't really want to go, but Mark kept pressuring him so much that he didn't see a graceful way out of it. At the party Mark introduced him to a lovely Swedish girl, Erika Johannson. Mark told him she was an intern with a law firm in Grand Rapids. She was tall, looked slim with long blonde hair.

After chatting for a bit, Erika asked him "why are we letting that great band go to waste? Let's dance!"

With that they moved out on the dance floor. There were several fast numbers, and then the band played a slow dance. James pulled her slightly closer, but Erika kept moving in until she was leaning on his chest.

As James danced with her he found she wasn't that slim, her breasts were firm and felt wonderful. He "accidentally" had his hand on her ass a couple times, and it was clear that Erika was very athletic. She made no complaints as his hand moved lower.

After two more slow dances the band took a break.

"James, let's go out on the veranda, I'm warm from the dancing!"

She took his arm and moved him through the large doors to the veranda overlooking the small lake by the first tee. She stood by the railing looking up at the full moon and James was entranced by her beauty. Almost in a daze he leaned over and softly touched her lips with his. She held still for a minute and opened her mouth slightly and brushed James lips with her tongue. The kiss quickly turned passionate and James pulled her tightly to him.

Suddenly, James pulled back "Erika! I'm sorry – I don't know what happened. God I'm terribly embarrassed."

"James, James... It's okay. I confess I find you terribly attractive and I've never felt this comfortable with a man before! Don't say anymore. I can hear the band playing again. Let's just go in and dance some more."

At the end of the evening she asked him for a ride home. When they got there she invited him up to her apartment for a nightcap.

When they entered her apartment, James found it very austere, somewhat cold... and he hoped she wasn't like that. She wasn't!

As she showed him the bedroom, she sat on the bed, kicked off her shoes and started removing her thigh high stockings. With her skirt pulled all the way up, James was instantly in love with her long legs, and just as quickly became erect.

"James, could you come give me a hand with these?"

He walked over and kneeled in front of her and slowly rolled the stockings down. He followed each roll with a kiss to her leg until he had kissed both feet. Slowly he worked his way back up her legs with kisses and frequent pauses for licks. By the time he got to her panties, she was laying on her back with her eyes closed. He figured he was safe with taking her panties off without asking.

That started what was the most erotic experience of Mark's life. His efforts were soon rewarded when Erika suddenly moaned and erupted in a huge orgasm. After a bit she relaxed and just lay there.

The next couple of hours became a blur for James. Several images remained in his mind: a lovely pink nipple that jutted out as he gently bit it; her beautiful ass as he took her from behind; watching her breasts hardly moving as she bounced up and down on him. The night turned into a weekend and James was totally in lust/love.

Erika wanted to get married right away. James was tempted but cautious. He would back off and not see her for a few days, but he just couldn't stay away.

Things came to a head when Erika wanted them to go to Sweden to meet her parents. "James, it will be a wonderful trip, and I just know my folks will fall in love with you, just as I have!"

They flew to London, staying at the Connaught for a couple days. Afternoons were spent mostly sightseeing and shopping. Evenings they went to several plays and enjoyed some "out of this world" cuisine. Every night was finished off with very lustful sex.

James and Erika moved on to Malmö, where her parents lived. Malmö is a fairly large city in southern Sweden, across from Denmark. James enjoyed the visit very much. Her father, Arne, was a professor in the Division of Historical Archaeology at Lund University. He took James for lunch at the school and talked to him about some of his research projects. Given their common interests, they got on famously.

From there they went on to Stockholm for a week. They stayed in a small, but very comfortable hotel remodeled from a 700 year old warehouse. The stairs to their second floor room were stone, with a trough worn in the middle from thousands of people over hundreds of years.

The hotel was on Gamla Stan (Old Town), a small island in the center of Stockholm. The town dated back to the 13^th century. With 33 restaurants in the small town, eating out was easy. Since the night life was nothing like London's, they spent much more time in their room becoming better acquainted!

The highlight for James was taking the overnight ferry to Helsinki. Leaving Stockholm, the ferry went past thousands of small islands before reaching the open waters of the Baltic. Many of the islands had one or more houses on them. One very small island that caught his eye was completely covered by a house.

At sunset, they were on the stern looking back towards Stockholm. With his arm around Erika, looking at the beautiful red streaked clouds, James felt his reservations slipping away. That night their love making was less physical and more sensual, a slower, more loving pace.

Finally after three months together they took off for Las Vegas and got married and enjoyed a great honeymoon at the Venetian. Erika had never been to Vegas before and was dazzled by the bright lights, the crowds, and the noise. The 24 x 7 atmosphere was a revelation for her.

The following year was perfect for James. His work with the foundation was both challenging and rewarding. Erika was incredible: she was sweet, thoughtful, and very, very responsive. She had finished her internship and they were talking about having children.

Mark suggested to him periodically that she should start doing the legal work for the foundation. It was similar to what she had been working on with her law firm and as Mark pointed out it would only take a couple days a week, so it wouldn't interfere with them having a child.

James was traveling fairly often, usually overnights; sometimes a couple nights when he went to Detroit. Erika, being a new lawyer, was working quite a few late nights. Sometimes when she came home late, she didn't want to make love. Other times it was fine. James didn't think too much about it.

Once at a party he was standing on the end of the balcony enjoying the quiet. Hidden behind a large potted bush he hadn't seen anyone approach but suddenly he heard a couple quietly talking.

First was a woman's voice saying somewhat desperately, "I don't know what to do? I'm really falling in love with him!"

Somewhat fainter, in a voice James could barely hear and only partially understand, a man said something that sounded like "... take this tape ... listen ... me a call".

With that the couple started walking away.

"Damn! That sounded like Erika!"

Thinking for a minute, then with a start he moved around the bush but the couple was gone. He mused over it for several days before it faded out of his mind. He didn't say anything to Erika, because he really didn't know what to say.

In early December James flew to Milwaukee for a two day trip to meet with some members of the history department at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. They had heard of some of the things he had accomplished and wanted to talk with him about it. They had the funding available, they just wanted to do it right.

As soon as he arrived at the school, he found out that four of the professors that were going to be there had been golfing, and had been in a minor accident on the drive back to the school. They were okay, but couldn't make the meeting. James said that was fine, he had the secretary call and get him a late flight back, and took the department head out to dinner just to chat. He didn't bother calling Erika, she was probably still in meetings at work.

James got back to their new home around 11 o'clock. Erika's car was there, but all the lights appeared to be out. Walking down the hallway to the master bedroom he saw a strip of light under the door, and then he heard murmuring, like a quiet conversation going on. As he started to open the door, he heard Erika say "how much longer do I have to keep up this charade. You know I really do love him now. I didn't plan on it but it just happened. I don't care about the money anymore, I just want James."

Someone, it sounded like Mark, returned "just hold tight until the idiot takes you on as the lawyer for the foundation. He has tons of money locked up in that stupid history program, and with you there it will be easier to get our hands on it. Most of his personal fortune is wrapped up in trusts and will take longer. I've got the car accident all planned."

"Meanwhile unless you want me to give that tape to James and to the police you are going to keep giving me this great sex!"

James quietly opened the door a bit more to make sure it was Mark. Through the slit he could see his lovely wife and Mark Braxton sitting naked in bed, Erika with tears in her eyes and mascara running.

"Damn!" he thought,"his bed, his wife!"

James quickly worked out his options. His anger was telling him to take Mark to pieces and kick hisfaithful spouse out the door. Deciding he needed to think it through (even with money, killing Mark could be a chancy proposition!) he went down to his study and grabbed his favorite single malt, the peaty Islay Bruich Laddich and poured a more than generous glass.

Calming down he decided that what he would enjoy the most was a slow, sure, more devastating response. Mark was a sure thing; James felt only a hot fire of pure hate for him!

Erika, well he didn't know about her. He considered, "I do love her. I don't know how this started, but from what I heard she wishes it hadn't. I can't live with her in any case. If he was blackmailing or threatening her she should have come to me."

"Yeah, it would have been over for us but I would have taken care of her, given her money and shipped her back to Malmö. Now the most I would be willing to do would be to keep her out of jail. Sleeping with that asshole Mark tore it for me."

He left quietly and went to a hotel for the night.

The next morning James called a fishing buddy in Ann Arbor with whom he had invested substantial sums. His friend had started a new security company (hell, James had the money and itwas hard to find someone to listen to his fishing stories – besides, he didn't want the investment company to manageall his money). The company designed and manufactured surveillance equipment and had a consulting arm to assist clients. James explained his problem and what he wanted done.

James mostly stayed away from home for the next week, telling Erika that several "emergencies" had popped up. He just came by a couple times to pick up clothes and leave. Thinking about what he had overheard he drove only rental cars and at that, made sure to change them daily.

After a week his friend called "You're not going to like this but we've got it all on tape, everything we need. We have caught Mark and your Erika on tape twice in bed... and talking. It turns out that Mark has known Erika for several years, more for sex than anything else. After a time he kept complaining to her about this dork he managed money for that was just throwing it away."

"Erika asked several times if there was any way they could get some of James' money. They came up with the plan of letting you and her meet at the party (this was the real reason for the party), see if she could seduce you, and with her tender loving ways get you to marry her. The other part was for Mark to find a way to see that you met an untimely death. It's amazing how patient they have been."

"I will say" the friend continued, "that your wife seems to have had a change of heart. They are arguing a lot, but it seems that Mark has an audio tape that totally incriminates Erika. It seems he has been holding this over her, not just for the plot, but to make her keep up the sex. I'd say she does purely hate that bastard!"

"And I'll give her credit; she isnot enjoying the sex. She's not even trying tofake an orgasm. Mark gets really pissed at her. I expect he will get violent with her before much longer."

"Jesus" James replied.

He was devastated. He had totally accepted Erika's love. He had always known Mark was an asshole, but to do this!

After talking about it they took it to the police. Mark was to be arrested and prosecuted. Erika was to be offered a chance to be a witness and escape prosecution. If she accepted she would be allowed to return to Sweden and never come back. James would give her some money, but nothing like he would have if she had come to him.

A couple of days later they were both arrested. At the arraignment hearing Mark put up the $500,000 bail and promptly disappeared.

James met with Erika in an interview room at his lawyer's office; he had cared so much for her and wanted to understand what had happened.

She was somewhat hysterical, and said "my god, I don't know. I guess I got caught up in thinking about the money. I was having sex with both you and Mark regularly – and the secrecy, and the thought of all that money made it so exciting." Glancing up at him she snorted "I really screwed the plan up though, damn I fell in love with you. If I'd only stopped to think about it... "

"You should have talked to me. You know I couldn't have continued with our marriage, but I would have taken care of you!"

"I really do love you. I didn't realize how much until we got caught. Now I just wish I'd met you before I met Mark. Oh god! I'm so sorry, James! I'll do anything I can to help fix that creep after the police catch him."

James got on with his life. Mark was gone and Erika was under house arrest with a security bracelet until such time as Mark was apprehended. After starting annulment proceedings, James moved out of his new home and back to his home in Baldwin for a while. He just needed some down time.

Al called several times giving him an update on the donations and the scholarship program. He always made sure to give James an update on Beverly also. In his most recent call he talked a little more about how Bev was doing.

"She sure has been a surprise! She is doing great in school, and everyone has fallen in love with her. She asks about you all the time."

Al continued, "Several boys try to hang around her, but they don't have much luck. She has really opened up; she is not nearly as shy. If you want to know what I think, it's that she has her eye on you. Should I tell her about Mark and Erika, and the annulment? She is working with Mark's replacement, but she doesn't have any idea at all that's happened."

"No," James replied "don't tell her anything. I don't want to distract her from her studies. You can tell her I said hi and for her to keep up the good work. I'll try to get down there in a few weeks. Thanks for all that you and your family have done, both for Beverly and for me."

"No problem," Al responded, "like I said we all love her like she was family!"