Samantha grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the front door. Julia baulked in front of the door. “No.”
“What?”
“I can’t… we can’t walk down the street dressed like this. We look like hookers.”
Samantha giggled. “Well, the housekeeping is a bit short this week.”
“Samantha!”
“I could do with a little extra. Just a couple of tricks on the way to the fundraiser!”
“No.”
Samantha rolled her eyes. “Of course not. I was joking. Look, slip your coat on over the top, slip it off once we’re inside the hall.”
“What about you?”
“I came around here in a coat. I’ll do the same.”
Julia breathed a sigh of relief and reached for her long mac, then giggled.
“What?”
“When we get to the hall we’ll look like a couple of flashers.”
Samantha laughed. “I will if you will.”
“Will what?”
“Flash the pastor.”
“You wouldn’t!”
“I would. Can you just imagine his face?”
Julia rolled her eyes. She could imagine the look of consternation on the face of the pastor as he greeted them. “I guess it might be fun.”
“Guess? Don’t be disingenuous. It’ll be a riot. Hysterical. Are you on?”
“Yes.”
“One condition.”
“Which is?”
“No tugging the skirt down as we’re walking or as we arrive. If we’re going to do this, then we go for the full effect!”
“Samantha!”
“Deal?”
“Deal.” She sighed and hoped her frown conveyed she wasn’t really happy about it.
* * * *
Julia was forced to admit the amount of attention the two of them had received since arriving at the church an hour ago had been overwhelming. From the men, the approval had been almost universal, but from the women, quite the opposite. Samantha, in particular, seemed more popular than Julia was, but that might just be the fact the red stood out more.
The highlight for Julia had been the reaction of the pastor as she took off her coat. Samantha had counted them both down, and they’d removed their coats in unison. Pastor Graham had taken a step back, his mouth dropping open and his eyes round and almost bulging out of their sockets as he took in their outfits. Since the walk from Julia’s house had been several hundred yards, and, at Samantha’s insistence, they hadn’t adjusted their hemline, there’d been two if not three inches of naked thigh showing above the stocking tops. Before Patrick had ushered them through into the main body of the hall, they’d both adjusted them.
Even so, every eye had been drawn to them, and Julia had quickly grabbed a glass of wine to hide her embarrassment behind. Almost every one of her male neighbors had managed to wrangle an excuse to talk to her during the last hour. Most, though, seemed to spend longer with Samantha than her. Ryan, Samantha’s husband, didn’t seem too upset, although she could see he was keeping a close eye on his wife without interrupting her fun. She was in her element. Julia, less so.
“You look fabulous. Good enough to eat.”
Julia turned and gave Steve Hutchins an impish smile. “I thought your thing was photography, not cannibalism.”
“Wrong type of eating.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know, silly. No chance, not tonight. If your camera comes out, I might just cut off your trigger finger…”
“Shutter, not trigger.”
“… trigger finger with the bluntest knife I can find. Like that silver cake sliver over there on the buffet table.”
She watched him shudder, but even though she’d painted him a vivid picture, his stare remained fixed on her bust. Before they could take the conversation any further, Pastor Graham called for attention from the front of the hall.
“Ladies and gentlemen—well, ladies, in particular—could those of you who agreed to be part of our date night pageant please step forward.”
“Duty calls.”
“Have fun.” Steve was grinning from ear to ear, and Julia eyed the steps up to the stage with a frown. The stage was something like three feet higher than the main floor of the hall, and the skirt of the dress was short. Maybe she and Samantha hadn’t thought this all the way through. Even worse, with a tight skirt, it would ride up as she climbed those four shallow steps, and she’d arrive alongside the smiling Patrick Graham with her hands tugging the skirt down into place. Not the most elegant arrival she could think of. Still, it was too late now.
Samantha arrived at the foot of those steps first, and Julia’s worst fears were realised as she watched her red-clad friend climb onto the stage. The first step exposed the wide elasticated top of her stocking, the second step the top edge. By the final step onto the stage, she was flashing as much bare thigh as they had been when they deliberately flashed the pastor. Samantha, however, managed to look quite elegant as she pulled the skirt down into place. There were several groans from the men.
Now it was Julia’s turn, and she plastered a smile on her face as she started the ascent. By the second step, she heard a couple of whistles from the appreciative men in front of the stage, and she mock glared at Steve giving the loudest whistle as she reached the next step. She knew she couldn’t match Samantha’s elegance as she adjusted the dress but got a similar chorus of groans from the gathered men.
“Well, ladies and gentlemen, I am told that the appearance of our Naughty Angel and equally naughty She-Devil, have put off the other contestants. We had seven ladies sign up for this segment, but I’m afraid five have pulled out.”
Another round of groans filled the air as Julia stared at the pastor in open-mouthed shock. She heard a distinct gasp from Samantha. There was a peal of laughter from somewhere toward the back of the hall, about where she’d last seen Ryan.
“No, don’t be disheartened. We can still have a competition, can’t we?”
“With just two?”
“With two delectable young ladies, who’ve put a lot of time and effort into appearing here. Not only that, it took a lot of courage to do so. So, give a big hand for our Naughty Angel and our She-Devil!”
The applause was long and loud, and Julia could feel the heat in her face as she flushed with embarrassment. She wasn’t used to being the center of attention, well, not of this many people, anyway.
The crowd had stratified, the men pushing toward the front, the women dropping back a little. She did notice Pastor Graham’s wife, Maureen, grabbing Steve’s arm and whispering to him. They both started toward the back of the hall, and she noticed the broad grin on Steve’s face. Those two were up to something, and given that Maureen seemed only to do anything with her husband’s approval, that meant the pastor was in on it too. She shot a suspicious glare at the churchman, but he gave off that innocent vibe that said Who me? I don’t know what you mean.
“So, rather than abandon the pageant, we thought we’d ask our two ladies to partake in our other main fundraising activity of the evening. Is everyone in favor?”
A hearty chorus of yeses filled the room. Julia looked at Samantha, and the two women just shrugged. It didn’t look like they had much choice. In any case, they had no idea what that activity would be.
For a brief moment, Julia fantasized about the pastor’s wife turning on some driving rock music with a deep beat, and the two women stripping to the music. Then she shook her head to clear the vision before such an exhibitionistic fantasy took over her body’s reactions. Getting turned on on-stage in front of everyone would not look good. She did wonder if they would end up mud-wrestling or something, but she didn’t think that was something the congregation would tolerate, even if the pastor had thought it was a good idea.
“So, ladies, please go behind the curtain and Maureen and a couple of volunteer helpers will get you ready for the big finale to our fundraiser!”
Pastor Graham started clapping, and everyone joined i
n. Julia looked at Samantha, and the other woman just shrugged. Rather than get a reputation as a party-pooper, or a spoil-sport, Julia sighed in resignation and led her neighbor through the curtains. She let the curtains fall back into place as she came to a full stop just the other side. Steve, Maureen and a couple of neighbors, whose names she couldn’t remember, were grinning at her. It wasn’t the people who held her attention, it was the two solid-looking, T-shaped wooden contraptions behind them.
“What?”
“Well, the second part of the show is to strap the winner and runner-up from date-night, into the stocks and let everyone pay a dollar for three balls to throw at them. Sponge balls, they won’t hurt.”
Maureen had always struck Julia as a somewhat mousey woman who simply did whatever her husband asked of her. Out here, with her husband on the other side of the curtain, she was in charge, and from the expression on her face, she was reveling in it.
“Come on, come on. Let’s get you tied to these.”
“Throw balls at us?”
“As I said, balls. Sponge balls, nice and soft ones. Nobody is allowed to wind up and pitch. They must be tossed underarm. Didn’t Patrick tell you about this?”
“In a word, no.”
“Ah, well it’ll be a nice surprise for you, then.”
“Hardly a nice one.”
Samantha slapped her arm. “Come on grouch, it’ll be fun. We can add up later which one had the most balls tossed at them. Loser gets to buy lunch.”
With that, her neighbor moved over to the nearest large cross beam and stood in front of it, holding her arms out to the sides. Julia could see there were ropes already threaded through holes toward the ends of the bar.
“Sorry, sweetie, you need to face your audience. Can’t have everyone aiming at your butt.”
Samantha thwarted, turned around, and resumed her position.
Steve and one of the other guys, Greg, Julia thought his name was, quickly tied her into place. They looped a rope around her ankles but didn’t tie that too tight then stood back. Everyone turned to look at Julia, and she sighed before stepping up to the other T-shaped baulk of timber. The cross bar came level with the small of her back, so her arms weren’t stretched up by the position they secured her into. It wasn’t too wide, either, so it wasn’t uncomfortable in any way. Just a little humiliating. She had an idea that Steve was sneaking a look up her short skirt as he fastened her ankles to the platform the contraption stood on. Since it wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before, she pretended not to notice him.
“Ready, ladies?”
“No.”
Maureen chuckled, and the guys moved to each side of the two captive women, releasing the brakes on the casters on the bottom of the platforms.
“Stay still. We don’t want it to topple over. It’s the only way you can hurt yourselves.”
Julia nodded, then watched, her face red from embarrassment, as the guys wheeled her through the curtains onto the front of the stage. There was a huge roar of approval when everyone saw what was about to happen. The roar doubled when Samantha was wheeled out next to her. It was a couple of minutes before Pastor Graham was able to make himself heard.
“Our two lovely ladies have agreed to be the targets for our traditional ball toss. Three balls for a dollar, only underarm throwing, no pitching. Wouldn’t want to mark these beautiful hides, would we?”
Julia felt humiliated, but the churchman seemed oblivious to the way he was demeaning them. However, having been tied like this, there was nothing she could do to stop them, without spoiling the fundraiser, which was the reason she’d agreed to do it in the first place.
“Okay, who’s first?”
She was surprised when Maureen stepped forward and handed her husband a pair of dollar bills.
“Which one will it be? The Naughty Angel or the She-Devil?”
“With my role in the community, it has to be one lot at each… delivered by my husband!”
Everyone laughed. They could all see it was a deliberate ice-breaker, although only Julia and Samantha knew this hadn’t been scripted from their point of view.
Julia forced herself to smile as the pastor reached into the bucket of balls someone else brought forward and moved to stand in front of them.
“No, from the floor, Patrick. Let everyone see them try to twist to escape. More fun that way.” Maureen turned and winked at Julia, her hand, where nobody else could see, signaling for her to play along. Julia gave a tight nod. There was nothing else for it.
As Pastor Graham lobbed the first ball toward her, she twisted to the left and let it pass by. The second one went over her shoulder, but the third one hit her right in the stomach. She gasped, out of surprise, it hadn’t hurt at all. In fact, she’d hardly felt it. One thing she did notice, though, was her dress had slipped up to expose a little of the wide lace of her white stocking top.
The churchman turned his attention to Samantha and managed to score two hits, one a little high, catching Samantha right on her cleavage.
“Oops. Sorry.”
Julia thought the pastor meant it, but the end result was several of the men pushing forward waving dollars in front of them.
For the next twenty minutes, both women were bombarded with soft sponge balls from what seemed like every direction – although nobody had got around behind them. Julia spent the time gamely trying to avoid being hit, but there was no chance of avoiding all of them. None of them hurt or even stung a little, but a fair proportion scored hits. She remained conscious of the way her skirt had hiked up with every squirming attempt to avoid a shot, but there was nothing she could do to pull it down and cover her now exposed thighs. Samantha was in an even worse state, her skirt exposing almost three inches of bare thigh, and every time she moved it slipped higher still. After a while, Julia reduced her own movements, trying not to let her own skirt become indecent. At least her panties were opaque and not thin, transparent lace. That would have been too much. From some of the stares at her from the main floor of the hall, she was sure the front of her panties could be glimpsed, even if they weren’t on full display, yet.
A lot of the women had joined the fun, throwing balls at the two women, and Julia relaxed and allowed herself to laugh and giggle along with everyone else, letting the feeling of humiliation subside.
After another ten minutes, the queues at the baskets of balls had died down, and a couple of the other member of the congregation started retrieving the thrown ones while Ryan approached Samantha.
“I wonder if we could borrow this for an evening?”
“No.”
Julia couldn’t help a giggle but watched in envy as Ryan produced a bottle of water and offered his wife a drink. Since her hands were tied, she couldn’t take the bottle but had to allow Ryan to feed it to her.
Steve approached Julia with a bottle for her.
“Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Oh? What’s it worth?”
“Nothing, you lecher. Now give me a drink.”
Steve chuckled and held the bottle in front of her face but out of reach. She glared at him until he relented and took the cap off.
“Are you sure there’s nothing you’d trade for some of this?”
“I’m certain.”
“Worth a try.”
She knew there was no malice to his words, so she played along. She didn’t think he would want anyone else to know about the voyeuristic games the talented amateur photographer played with his sexy neighbor. Neighbors if you counted Samantha, which she felt sure she could. From the same point of view, she didn’t want anyone else around here to know she got just as turned on by her exhibitionistic displays for her neighbor over the road.
Steve brought the bottle up to her lips and tipped it a little. She only got a dribble of water but swallowed and smiled.
“Thank you.”
“More?”
“Yes.”
As he tipped the bottle to her lips, Maureen called out from the ot
her side of the stage. “Steve?”
“Yes.”
The distraction was enough. His reaction as he turned his head pulled the bottle away from her lips and at the same time tipped it a little. Not exactly a torrent, but a gush of water spilt from the bottle straight down onto Julia’s chest. Her squeal of shock rooted everyone to the spot, attracting all eyes to the commotion.
“Oh, my God! Sorry!”
Julia panted for breath and glared at Steve. That water had been cold and had soaked through the thin dress straight onto her skin. It had run under the top edge of her bra and was just as cold there. Her nipples had tightened at the shock, even though they hadn’t got wet. Steve tried to smile then his gaze dropped, and she watched as his eyes went wide.
Glancing down, she gasped in shock. Cotton, when wet, goes transparent, and the top part of her dress above her bust had done just that. Every detail of her skin was visible through the soaked material. Even worse, more water than she thought had soaked through into the top of her bra and that was turning translucent as she watched. Not as far down as the nipple, but her sexy attire was on the verge of becoming indecent, as well as uncomfortable now it was wet.
“Get me out of here.”
“No chance. You look incredible. I bet a little tweak to the rules would make this fundraiser a night to remember.”
Everyone was staring at her as Steve walked away. She could see he had a real shit-eating grin on his face, and she blushed hard. Samantha was looking at her from her place in her own stocks but could do nothing more than shrug. The other woman’s red dress had hiked up a lot since she’d been secured and she was showing a long length of thigh on both sides. Her panties weren’t far off being on show. Julia had not moved around quite as much, so she felt quite secure where she was. At least when compared to Samantha.
She watched as Steve and Maureen conferred at the front of the stage, just beyond hearing range. Maureen glanced at her and smiled, and Julia knew the two of them were cooking up something. A moment later, Maureen disappeared toward the kitchen area, returning a minute later with a small bucket. When she put it down next to the replenished bucket of balls, she could see the bucket was full of water.
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