were both lookers. The younger one was a little more slender, less lush, than her sister, but she had a kind of fragile beauty that a slob like Pete probably wouldn't appreciate as much. Max stood waiting for him to make up his mind. Finally, he shrugged.
'It don't make a fuck to me, boss. One woman or another. As long as she's good-lookin'.' Max could see that Pete thought he had gotten the better deal. Well, let him think so. Maybe he had. Pete shoved the girl toward Max. She was crying. Max took a close look at his acquisition.
She had a small, finely-chiseled face, and her brown hair was shoulder length, framing it nicely. She had on a red minidress, nylon hose or panty-hose, and black pumps. Her eyes were wide and blue, giving her an innocent look. Yes, the resemblance was striking.
Her friend was still standing in the middle of the room with terror written all over her face and bearing. She was short and slender, like Sally, and while not beautiful like her friend, she was certainly more than ordinarily pretty. She was heavily freckled, with a clean-cut, girl-back-home took that was attractive. And exciting.
'Well, Red,' Max said, 'Connie, whatever your name is, it looks like you belong to Butch over there.' He walked over to her and gave her a shove toward Butch. She gave a little squeal and tried to stop herself. She fell on the floor, banging one knee so hard it made Max wince a little. Butch gave his gorilla laugh and reached down and pulled her up by her hair. Her grey minidress had hiked up fair enough to reveal the bare beginning of white panties. Now it fell back into place.
Butch pulled her toward him and perched her on his lap like a ventriloquist's dummy. She made an effort to get up and he pulled her back. He must have given her one a hell of a squeeze, because she let out a squeal of pa in. But she didn't try to get up again.
'I wouldn't try anything if I were you,' Max said to the girl. 'Butch isn't much of a deep thinker, and he might just hurt you badly, without meaning to. Sometimes he forgets his own strength. He's the one who opened the back door last night. And he didn't use his shoulder, either. Just his hands.' Max held up his own hands and pantomimed the manner in which Butch had forced the door. The girl's eyes grew even wider. 'I'm not saying he won't hurt you anyway. Butch is just about the meanest man I've ever met. I'm no St. Francis of Assisi myself, but sometimes he makes me shudder. Still, if you're very nice and don't give him any shit, maybe you'll get through this period without any broken bones.'
She was crying, but she sat still, as though she were afraid that moving itself might break her bones. Butch grabbed a thick handful of red hair and jerked her head back. It must have looked like deliberate cruelty to the other women, and to Julie's husband, but Max and Pete had been around Butch enough to know he was just being playful. He grinned at the girl's discomfort. As long as Butch could be supplied with playthings like Connie, there really wasn't much to fear from him.
'That sure is a pretty dress Connie's wearing, isn't it, Butch?' Max said with a laugh. 'Only thing is, it's too long. Covers up too much of her.' The dress was a mini, of course, almost a micro. Connie looked at Max with a startled expression. Max laughed again. 'I think it would be much improved if it had a slit up the front, don't you?'
'Sure,' Butch said, but he was smiling vacantly. He was the only one in the room who didn't understand what Max was getting at. Sometimes, Max thought, it was hard making yourself remember how stupid the big lunk was. 'Don't you think you ought to make a slit in it, Butch?' He pantomimed a tearing motion with his hands. The smile grew broader as Butch realized finally, what Max was suggesting.
'Oh, sure. Sure,' he said. He took the hem of the dress between his hands. It was a good, expensive-looking dress, tailored from sturdy material, but Butch tore it like a piece of Kleenex. He tore it all the way up to the girl's waist, revealing the white panties again. They were lace and brief, bikini panties, and a little of her belly showed above the elastic. Connie gave a shriek, and her hands waved in the air, wildly, like a terrified child's. She was sweating.
'Yeah, that looks a lot better,' Max said. 'Looks more comfortable, too. Now what do you think of those boots?' Her boots came up almost to her knees. 'I think those cover up too much of what everyone would like to see, don't you, Butch?' This time it didn't need any explaining to Butch. He had the idea. He reached down and took the right boot, wedging his thumbs between the front and Connie's shin, and laying his fingers flat along the outside of the leather. The boot was tougher than the dress had been, of course, but the difference was hardly noticeable. Butch had to give it a couple of tugs, but once it started to give, it went clear down to the instep on one rip. Threads of leather stuck out of the ripped part, and the lining, a pale white, showed through. Butch gave the boot's foot a twist, turning Connie's ankle in the process. She cried out with pain, and turned her whole body, but the boot was off. Butch turned his attention to the other boot.
'Please, I'll take it off,' Connie begged, but Butch ignored her.
'You wouldn't want to cheat Butch of his fun, would you, sweetheart?' Max asked. Butch tore the second boot more easily than he had the first, since he had learned the strength of it. It came off and fell to the floor, torn and ruined, like its mate.
'You know,' Pete said, getting into the game, 'I don't think I like the dress that way. I think it would be better if it was open all the way up the front.' He laughed with irrepressible glee as he said it. They were all feeling good now. After the tension of waiting for the girls to arrive, the place was filled with a kind of party air. They were chums again, having a good time together.
'You really think so?' Max asked. 'I don't know. I liked it this way. I still do. But I guess it can't do any harm to try it your way. Why don't you open it the rest of the way, Butch? Let's see how it looks.'
Butch grinned and then chortled. It sounded like a gorilla's roar, and sent a chill over the women. He took the front of the shattered dress between his hands and ripped it all the way to the neck. Connie's bra was white and lacy, too, and brief. It matched the panties. Her breasts weren't the biggest Max had ever seen, but they were nicely formed, and the bra was light enough in construction to let them jiggle as her tiny body shook with sobs.
'You really like it better that way?' Max asked. 'I don't think so. I liked it better the other way.'
'Yeah,' Pete agreed. 'I guess you're right.'
'In fact, I don't like it this way at all. I think you ought to take it all the way off, Butch.'
Butch took the dress in his hands and tore it back off the girl's shoulders. She screamed and kicked her feet in a fit of terror. Butch laughed. The remains of the dress hung down over his lap, draped there like a doily. Connie had nothing left but her panties and bra, and they didn't leave much to the imagination. The panties were thin enough so Max could tell that she was a genuine redhead. Connie looked around like a caged animal, as though still expecting someone to take pity on her. Sally looked at her for a moment, and then at the floor. She was as helpless as Connie, and she knew she was likely to get the same kind of treatment before long. She looked as though she were trying to blank out her mind.
Julie was leaning against an old upright piano that stood against the wall near the door to the hall. She was watching, as though she felt it her duty to watch. She didn't look as shocked at Connie's treatment as Sally did. No doubt because she had had a night to get used to the idea of rape, a full night to get used to the idea of being owned by three men who weren't bothered by civilized restraints. Her husband was still trussed up, of course, and in no shape to help anyone. Twenty-four hours without food hadn't weakened him yet, but would get to him soon. He looked at the girl and then, as she looked to him for aid, he looked at his legs, stretched out before him.
Connie even looked at Pete and Max for a moment, her face a pathetic plea. The two men just grinned back at her.
'You know,' Pete said, 'I think that's the best combination we've hit yet. She's lookin' better and better.'
'I wonder if she's freckled like that all over?' Max threw out.
'She seems to be.'
'No, I mean all over. I wonder if she has a freckled ass?'
'I doubt it. I never saw a freckled ass.'
'And never hope to see one?' Max and Pete both laughed. 'I wonder if Butch would be nice enough to let us see his girl's ass?' Max said.
Pete laughed like someone having too much fun to hold it in. 'How about it, Butch? I'll let you see my girl's ass if you'll let me see your girl's ass.'
Butch grinned back at them uncertainly, not quite sure he understood what they wanted him to do. 'Go ahead,' Max said. 'Let's see what she's hiding under those panties, Butch. That is, if you don't mind showing us your girl's poontang.'
