Butterfly - The Girl in the Woods

...

I made good money from my old company, but I didn't spend it on fancy condos, expensive cars, or all the other trappings of so-called wealth. My money was in investments, and frankly my investments made me enough money each year so I didn't have to work if I didn't want to. That's part of the reason I pursued writing - I enjoyed it and I could afford to.

As a result, I never had the kinds of things that con artists liked to steal, and wasn't looking for the fast buck. In many ways, I was the average con artist's nightmare. They had nothing to offer me and I had nothing they could easily take. I brought Marie back and put her in the second bedroom of my flat. It was nothing special, two bedroom, two bath, with about 1400 square feet of space. No gold fixtures, no expensive art, a couple of big screen TVs, but that shit is pretty cheap anymore.

Marie made an appointment to see the first gallery owner, and I took her to her appointment carrying two dozen pieces of art that she was most proud of. We just took my little late model Honda Accord - again pretty damned pedestrian. I helped her bring her work inside to meet Paul, the gallery owner.

Paul looked though what she brought, which in truth was the first time I'd seen most of it. He had a solemn expression as he examined it. He finished his review, then sat back in his chair.

"Well, Miss, you are not ready to do a solo gallery exhibit at this gallery or any other gallery in this city."

"I'm really sorry to have wasted your time."

"But you do have a very few pieces that I'd be willing to show and put up for sale here."

Paul pulled two pieces from what Marie had brought.

"I'm interested in these two, and I'll offer you my standard contract. I take fifty percent of the sales price."

"What kind of sales price?"

"I don't bother with anything that I don't think I can get at least $5000 for."

"You have a contract?"

Paul opened his drawer and pulled out a boilerplate contract.

"Put the names of those two pieces there, date it and sign it."

Marie seemed almost in shock as she filled it out and handed it back to Paul.

"And the rest of my work is worthless?"

"Not necessarily, just not the kind of thing my clients are interested in. There are a couple more that might interest a friend of mine. He has a somewhat different clientele, and looks for different things than I do."

Paul called his friend for us and quickly set up an appointment. He gave us the name and address of the other gallery, so we gathered up the remaining pieces and headed to the other gallery. Carl was the other owner and much like Paul, he cherry picked two of Marie's paintings. Carl tried to offer Marie only forty percent of the sales price, but she quickly pointed out that Paul had offered fifty for what he took.

Carl gave in and offered fifty percent, which Marie accepted. Carl priced her two pieces at $3000 to $4000 each. If all of it sold, it would be $16,000 to $18,000 with Marie getting half that. It wouldn't make her rich anytime soon, but it was better work than hustling dirty old men.

Marie decided to stay at my place. It was a decent location, and had little to tempt her. Another friend of mine got Marie an appointment at a prestigious art school in town. She walked in with samples of her art, along with contracts showing she had placed four pieces at well respected galleries, and they almost fell all over themselves to welcome her and offer her a scholarship. Now I'm sure it didn't hurt that I offered them a donation amounting to more than tuition would have run, but if they hadn't liked her work that would not matter.

I was still attracted to Marie, but after our chat realized that she'd have to turn her life around before she could love anyone and before I could really love and trust her. Instead of making her take a job, I told her as long as she was in school, and working on art, I'd give her some walking around money. It wasn't a lot, not for the city, but she wouldn't have to scrounge or beg or worry.

"Once some of your work starts to sell, you'll have your own money, but this is just to cover you until then."

She took it grudgingly, then two months later her first piece sold. It was only a $4000 sale, so she only got $2000, but it was a start. I got her to bank the money and asked her to think about long term investments. Okay, you're not going to get rich off $2000 every other month, but if you don't have to worry about living expenses, life is a hellish lot easier.

My two friends had another business starting up and I was soon up to my ears in that, mostly working remotely. No, I wasn't getting a salary, nor were they, but it wasn't like we needed one either. On those few social occasions that I felt obligated to attend, Marie would always be my date. I could honestly tell people that she was a promising new artist. Frankly, I think she got a few direct sales off some of that.

As I held my heart in check, Marie seemed to become a little more open. She became more physically affectionate, particularly in public, less so when it was only the two of us at my condo. Still we'd sit together and cuddle, but seldom much more than that. She didn't want me to just be another guy she fucked for what she could get from him, and I didn't want to be one of those guys either.

Of course, about the time things seem to be going well, something blindsides you. Six months or so in, Marie had made about $10,000 from her art - nothing spectacular, but still the sign of a promising art career. Leaving school one day, Marie was arrested for fraud for some of her prior 'activities'. I hired a top notch attorney who said there were charges from ten instances across three states.

Besides the charges in our state, two other states wanted her extradited for fraud prosecution. I paid for a private investigator to dig into all of that. Marie had made a little money from her art, but not enough to cover what all this was going to cost. As the lawyer and investigators dug and pushed back, three sets of charges basically evaporated - there was no physical evidence, only eye witnesses. The lawyers chewed that up when they got several young women with similar appearances and the eye witnesses had trouble picking Marie out from the crowd.

With another four cases there was some physical evidence, but skimpy enough that we got the charges dismissed by a judge. That still left three sets of charges that Marie had to face. The most serious was in our state. I had Marie free on bail while all this played out and of course some of the papers had a field day with stories about how this promising artist was charged with fraud.

We went to trial and the lawyers and investigators had earned their money. There was too much evidence to wholly ignore or shred, but they cast doubt on just enough of it so Marie was acquitted of the charges. Marie looked like a very sweet and proper young woman who the lawyer could depict as a rising star in the art world.

The lawyer painted the charges as a relationship gone bad, where the man was now trying to get back at her. The trial was closely watched by the news media, the art world, and the district attorneys in other jurisdictions who still wanted to bring charges. When Marie was acquitted in this case, the others said they would drop charges in exchange for an apology and 'restitution' of $25,000. Shit, I'd paid way more than that for lawyers and investigators. We paid them off and she was in the clear.

A month later, I got a call from the local district attorney. He said he had something that he felt I ought to see. I came down and watched the interrogation of a young man who had been Marie's partner in some of her con jobs. He had gotten caught and was now facing charges which he was unlikely to beat. He had some interesting things to say about Marie.

"Look, I'll flip that bitch for you, but I want probation only for what you have on me."

"Well, that isn't going to happen, but we're willing to listen to what you have to say."

"She was guilty as hell in that Diaz case, and I can prove it."

"She was acquitted, so whatever you have to say is meaningless."

"What about Fredericks and Zimmer? I can give you stuff on those too."

"Those were dropped in exchange for restitution."

"Look, the bitch is now living with some wealthy tech dude."

"I believe you mean Jacob Freitag."

"That's him. Well I left her on a mountainside for us to run a con on him. Bitch turned on me and she's running it on her own now."

"That must be some sort of long run con, since she's been with him for almost a year now."

"I know the bitch, She has to be bleeding him dry."

"Well, we'll contact Mr. Freitag and see what is happening."

After seeing that, the district attorney turned to me with questions.

"Could he be telling the truth?"

"She admitted that she had run some cons as a result of which she was left on that mountain, though she didn't say it was to run a con on me."

"Look, Freitag, I know you got her clear of all the charges against her, but you have to know she has a history of running cons."

"She admitted that to me over a year ago."

"And you still took her in and have been defending her?"

"I saw someone who I thought had the possibility of turning her life around. I wanted to give her that chance."

"Could she be stealing from you?"

"She has no access to my finances - none. And I check balances regularly, and there are no suspicious transactions."

"Could there be anything else?"

"She costs me a little for food, gifts, clothes, and such but I don't spend lavish amounts on her - apart from her legal fees and such - that probably set me back almost a hundred thousand, but that didn't go into her pocket."

"Watch yourself. We'll be watching her, and we've warned you."

"She warned me about her prior activities long before you arrested and prosecuted her."

"What access would marriage give her to your wealth?"

"If I marry her, it'll be with an ironclad prenup, but we're not lovers and we haven't discussed marriage."

"Sir, you're walking a very dangerous line."

"I'm in tech. Everything we do is on the edge and risky."

"Not like this, sir. Not like this."

That evening, I talked with Marie about what happened.

"Your former partner was arrested."

"Serves him right. I hope they lock the bastard up for a long time."

"He offered to testify against you in exchange for leniency."

"That rotten asshole."

"Police listened to what he had to say and told him that it wasn't of much value."

"He used me as bait to steal from those people."

"He said leaving you on that mountain was as bait to con me."

"Only half true. He was going to leave me up there to meet and con you. When I refused, he stripped me and left me anyhow."

"Interesting seeing how the story has changed with time."

"If I'd told you that up front, what would you have done?

"Bought you some clothes, fed you, cleaned you up, given you a couple hundred dollars and sent you on your way."

"But instead you got to know me, and saw more in me than I'd ever seen in myself. I'd never have straightened out my life if it hadn't been for you."

"So where do we go from here?"

"I couldn't blame you if you threw me out, but I hope you won't. I've worked hard to try to earn your trust."

"You know I was head over heels in love with you."

"I was in love with you too. But I knew you'd been betrayed by your ex-wife and I didn't want you to get involved with me, then feel I'd betrayed you as everything about my past came out."

"Is there anything else I should know about - anything I'll eventually find and care about later?"

"I dropped out of school, got involved in booze, sex, petty theft, and drugs before I met my partner in the cons. Essentially he used me as a whore to give us the chance to steal from those men. I'm ashamed of the life I've led. I'm deeply appreciative of the opportunities you've given me."

"Some people say the leopard never really changes his spots."

"But the caterpillar chews up plants before becoming a butterfly."

"Are you then my butterfly?"

"I want to be. I want that more than you can imagine."

"And if I told you I'd only marry you with a prenuptial agreement?"

"I'd sign it - gladly. I never wanted a life of crime or a life of extravagance. I just wanted a decent life. You've given me that and shown me how it can be."

I hugged Marie and held her tight for a long time, and she held me tight as well. We loosened our grips and pulled back slightly, then Marie leaned forward and kissed me. For a while now she only kissed me on the cheek or gave me a quick peck on the lips, but this was a full bore passionate kiss. I swear, even my toes tingled from it.

"Jacob, we've held off because I didn't want to use you, and didn't want you to use me."

"Have we gotten to a different place now?"

"You know me now, better than anyone."

"Is that enough?"

"It is for me."

With that, Marie kissed me, took my hand and led me into my bedroom. We got in there, she stopped and turned to me looking concerned and ashamed.

"When I've been with guys before, I was just letting them use my body so I could get something from them."

"That's sad."

"I don't want this to be that way, but I don't know any other way."

"I was only with two other women before I met Andrea, and you'll be the first one since I first met her."

"How many years were you married?"

"Fifteen, and we dated for two years before we married."

"In seventeen years, you never cheated on her?"

"Never, but as best I can tell, she cheated on me with at least seventeen men in that time."

"That's sad."

"So maybe it's time for both of us to get past our sadness and see if we can find genuine love."

Marie held me tight and kissed me, then put her head on my shoulder and cried a little. I stroked her head and her back as she wept out all her sadness for her past and mine. We stood there for several minutes before she regained her composure. Then I walked her over to the bed, we lay down beside each other and kissed.

"Let's start a new chapter in each of our lives, and base it on sweetness, love, and affection."

Marie kissed me and held me tight again. For a few seconds, I thought she was going to cry again. She eased up and leaned back a little bit and gave me a shy smile before speaking.

"Is there anything special you want me to do for you?"

"Relax and enjoy."

I stroked her face very softly before moving in for a kiss. I guess some guys would be trying to stick their tongue as far down her throat as they could. I just had a long series of teasing little kisses with my tongue occasionally flicking out over her lips. She seemed puzzled at first, then kissed me the same way. No make your toes tingle kisses, just little 'I love you' kisses.

Marie rolled on top of me, as I rolled on my back. We paused for a few seconds, just to look at each other and smile before resuming our kissing. As we kissed, I began to caress her back - not exactly super erotic, but I could feel her wiggle against me as we kissed. I let my hand sneak down over her ass - yes it was over her jeans, but she thrust her hips forward when I did.

After fondling her ass, I let my hand slip under her top to stroke the skin of her back directly. Marie stroked my head and my face and ran her hands across my chest. I began to draw her top up her sides, and Marie lifted her body, then raised her arms to let me take it off her. She began to unbutton my shirt, pulling the tail out and opening it wide.

We continued to kiss and touch until I reached behind Marie and unhooked her bra. She giggled as she slipped it off and lowered herself again so I could feel her nipples scratching my chest. I eased a hand around and stroked her breast from one side. She shifted her weight to the other side to lift up slightly and let me play with her breast from the front..

Marie didn't have large breasts but they had a nice shape and a nice feel. As I ran my thumb over the nipple, Marie moaned and kissed me harder. She began moving her hips around over my hips, which made my already hard dick even harder. The movement also brought her other nipple across my chest slightly.

I loved playing with that nipple, but I wanted more. I rolled her off me onto her back then lowered my lips to the nipple I'd been fondling, while my hand shifted over to the over nipple. I kissed all around the edge of the breast, moving in slow circles in toward that perfect looking nipple. When I finally got there, Marie made the most satisfied sigh, and grabbed my head.

I teased the nipple with my lips, my tongue, and even a little with my teeth. After several minutes, I shifted sides and began to lick, kiss, and suck the breast I'd been touching, while touching the one I'd been kissing. Marie squirmed and moaned while letting her hands wander all over my upper body. I worked over her breasts until she stiffened, then arched her back. She moaned and even shrieked as I could feel her stomach muscles rippling under me.

As she came down off that, she pulled me back up and began to kiss me like a woman possessed. For a few seconds, it felt like she was trying to devour me, but that felt great to me. It gradually worked its way back down to the sweet kisses we'd started with, before she stopped and looked at me.

"That was marvelous, Jacob. I want to make you feel just a good as you did me."

"That sounds like you think I'm done with you. I'm just starting good."

I slowly kissed my way down to her belly button. I stuck my tongue in her navel and she giggled and squirmed. I unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans and she lifted her hips, which let me pull jeans and panties down to her ankles. She dropped her hips and lifted her feel to let me take them the rest of the way off. I slipped off my own clothes as well.

Marie spread her legs wide, letting me look up to her cute pussy, which was already glistening from wetness. As tempting as her pussy was, I decided to take it slower. I began to kiss her ankle, then slowly kiss my way up her leg, shifting back and forth from the front to the inside of the leg. As I neared the top, I shift to the inside of her thigh approaching her love nest.

Marie spread her legs even wider and began to hump the air around my head. I did a little circle to the side of her pussy, never quite kissing it, before coming back down to start up the other leg the same way. Again I circled just outside her pussy kissing my way up to the little strip of hair that she had just above.

I kissed my way back down the other side, almost but not quite touching her pussy lips. I could tell she desperately wanted me to touch them. As I got to the bottom I shifted over and just barely skirted the other side until I was near her clit which was peeking out from the folds of her pussy. I blew very lightly on her clit and she moaned, almost begging.

I stuck out my tongue and licked the edge of her labia all the way down and back the other side, giving the clit a quick lick as I got to the top. She gasped and I licked my way back down, this time farther inside her pussy lips. As I got back to the top, I spent a little time nibbling, kissing, and sucking on her clit. I stuck my tongue as far inside her as it would go and she almost bucked me off her.

I eased a finger in and got it as far in as it would go before easing it back out. I teased her clit with my mouth as I fucked her with my finger until she exploded into another orgasm, bigger than before. Look, I'd done much the same with my ex-wife Andrea, but she never seemed to enjoy it half as much as Marie did. I don't know, maybe once you've been eaten out a hundred times, number 101 is nothing special.

I moved back up Marie's body and kissed her, with her pussy juice on my lips as I did. If anything that seemed to excite her further. I rolled onto my side and rolled her over to face me as we kissed and stroked each other's bodies.