“I see you’ve been – thinking – again!” She shouted above the roar of the water.
I jumped with surprise and quickly and inefficiently tried to wash the soap from my body. I threw open the shower door and stepped naked onto the bathmat, my erection starting to droop with my embarrassment. I grabbed a bath towel and hurriedly dried myself down, at the same time throwing my wife a glance which was loaded with doubt and uncertainty.
“Well? What did she say?” I asked, rubbing myself with the towel until my skin was red.
Susie breathed out heavily. It didn’t sound good. My erection drooped further.
“I suppose you might be the luckiest man in England, or perhaps your timing was inspired.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean that the object of your incestuous desire was within hours of giving up on you!”
“What?”
She laughed and sat down on the edge of the bath.
“Your beloved daughter (Susie never referred to Sophie as my stepdaughter) has been trying for nearly two months to show you that your advances would be welcome. You of course didn’t notice this.
“Your apparent complete lack of interest in the most precious thing she has to give has hurt her. She thought you didn’t want her after all – that you led her on and then rejected her. She was preparing to let her latest spotty teenage boyfriend take her virginity tomorrow night.”
“Christ!” Was all I could say.
“So if you don’t want to mess things up even further, I suggest you and your lumpy towel get down to her room in the next two minutes!”
I looked down at the tent in the bath towel my revived erection was making and grinned sheepishly. I moved quickly towards the door then stopped suddenly in my tracks.
“And you’re sure you don’t mind, Susie? You’re really sure?”
“I’m sure. I’ve had two months to think about it too Mike.” She replied. I turned back to the door and was just about to go through it when she added.
“Just as long as you always remember who you’re really married to, I think it would be good for both of you.”
“You’re an angel, Suze!” I exclaimed, rushing back and kissing her on the lips.
“Bugger off!” she laughed and I almost ran out of the door. “Be very gentle!” She called after me.
I closed the bedroom door behind me and stood on the landing for a minute, thinking. As you would expect, doubts flooded my mind. What I wanted was certainly not legal – not even natural by most moral standards – but by her own admission it had done Susie no harm; in fact she believed it had helped her.
Did I really have my stepdaughter’s best interests at heart? Or was it just my own perverse sexual gratification? Perhaps these thoughts were merely an attempt to make myself believe I had made a rational, sensible decision, but looking back, nothing short of sheer physical force could have prevented me from crossing to Sophie’s room and gently tapping on the door.
There was a rustling sound from within and a soft, almost inaudible voice said “Hello?”
I opened the door slowly and poked my head around the edge. The room was dark and there was no sign of movement.