Chapter 3

"How do you do, Mrs. Cummings," Maxwell Alexander greeted smoothly as he rose courteously from his chair and extended his hand to the desirable, fresh-faced young blonde, a wide charming grin on his face. "It's certainly a pleasant surprise to see--I mean, meet you this afternoon. Now tell me, please, what can I do for you?"

"Well, Mr. Alexander, it's a little complicated," Kathy admitted slowly and rather shyly as she glanced covertly at the ruggedly handsome, middle-aged man who had seated himself again after making certain that she was comfortable in her own chair. From Henry's occasional descriptions of his boss's appearance and temperament, she had expected Mr. Alexander to look like a little old wizened man and not at all the hearty, he-man-like individual seated before her. "You... you are Mr. Alexander, aren't you?"

"Yes, the very same, my dear," he informed her with a broad chuckle. Max's gaze intensified as he drank in the sight of Henry Cummings' young wife's lush, girlish figure, the birth of a notion sparking in his narrowing eyes. God, what a juicy little bitch, he thought with salacious delight. Her long coppery-gold hair and big fluttery brown eyes were like something out of one of his wildest fantasies and her body, hell, his mouth was watering just looking at it. It was sensationally ravishing, an erotic dream, and he fully intended now to make that dream come true. God, how had that punk Cummings ever managed to land a sexy dish like this, he wondered in speculative astonishment. Max's mind was already working on the interesting possibilities of getting a devilish revenge against his forgetful magazine editor as well as reaping the sexual fruit of the fool's savory little wife. He smiled suavely and murmured suggestively, "Well, I'm sure I have enough time for a lovely young girl like you. Here, why don't you sit down over there, on the couch, where we can be comfortable during our chat?"

"Thank you, Mr. Alexander," Kathy replied in a soft but uncertain voice as she rose and followed the important, older man to the plush black leather couch that lined the span of almost one entire wall of the huge, sumptuously decorated office. Her thoughts reverted automatically back to Henry's words about this man, his employer, that he was "a powerful, dynamic leader of men," but all she could think of at the moment was how Max Alexander's penetrating gaze threatened to bore right through her clothes to her bare flesh when he stood for what seemed an eternity beside the couch, above her. She felt a cold shiver of apprehension course through her, as though his piercing eyes were stripping her bare, and the ever-fatherly, too-friendly, tone of voice he used with her made her feel even more uncomfortable and worried.

"It--it's very kind of you to see me without my having made an appointment," she excused herself, carefully avoiding his eyes as she settled herself more sedately on the sofa, struggling not to betray her discomfort around him.

"No, not at all," he reassured expansively. He recognized the sudden fear blazing clearly in the beautiful girl's brown eyes when she caught him blatantly inspecting her stunning, voluptuous body and he realized with lecherous delight that she was no doubt just as young and innocent as she seemed to be. Christ, what else should he expect, since she was married to Cummings, he concluded sarcastically. And that was all the better for him, the boss, for what could be more fun than introducing this perky-looking, hot little piece of exciting ass to a couple of things that she could take home to show her husband? He would make Maxwell Alexander a name that her husband would remember for the rest of his life. But first, Max decided, he would have to make this sweet young bitch feel more at home with him, not so touchy and afraid. He could hardly wait to get his eager hands and mouth on those ripe alluring curves of soft flesh and bring her to a grand pitch of abandonment and ecstasy that would make her beg, beg for what he had to give her--good hard cock!

But she had to be ready, he reminded himself and for the time being he would have to be content just to relish the youthful choiceness of her tender, intoxicating body from a discreet distance.

"Forgive me for staring at you, my dear," he said softly with the same sly practiced sincerity that he used so often with the more difficult members of his board of directors. "I don't know quite how to say this, but I certainly never expected Henry's wife to be so... so attractive... and intelligent, too, I imagine."

"Oh, thank you for being so kind, sir, but I'm just a plain housewife and probably don't deserve so much praise," Kathy demurred, yet was secretly pleased that the handsome mature man had immediately discerned the very thing that she had been trying so hard to show Henry. It was rewarding to be flattered so generously and the conversation was going so easily that she could not resist the temptation to get directly to the point. "Most men don't think a mere wife needs any brains to function, but I'd like to show Henry that that's not really true."

"Oh, that's too bad. I didn't know you two were having any trouble. I'm afraid I can't understand how any man could possibly underestimate a charming woman like you. You can tell me about it, if you want to... And please, call me Max," he said good- naturedly, tilting his face downwards to conceal the little smile of triumph that was twitching at the corners of his mouth. Holy Christ, he had already found the key to this gorgeous girl's emotions--on his very first attempt--not to mention what was surely the way into her pants! There was no doubt about it, Henry Cummings did not know how to handle his tasty young wife, but, by God, he, Max Alexander, certainly did... more than she knew... and he would keep on understanding her so well that she would still be thanking him for his kindness when he gained control of her luscious body. "Now, would you like to have a bit of refreshment with me?"

"Well, I..." Kathy blushed faintly as she tried to make up her mind about the wisdom of accepting a drink with Henry's boss.

"Oh, come on, we can talk more easily if we're relaxed," Max encouraged, a sudden flash of inspiration triggering his scheming mind on to fresh designs.

"Umm, well, yes, I guess I'd like a small one," she heard herself say, even though she had never imagined that she would become friendly so quickly with her husband's employer. Though it was already well into the afternoon and Henry would be getting off work in a few hours, the delicious strawberry-blonde decided courageously that it could not hurt to talk with this obviously warm-hearted man for a while longer. After all, he had immediately understood her predicament, the kind of problem she was having in her marriage, and she definitely needed someone to commiserate with her anyway. Besides, she was almost positive now that she would get the job whenever she worked up the necessary bravery to ask for it. It would be nice to become friends with her future employer--perhaps even convenient. "Uh, Max," she began hesitantly, using his first name for the first time as she watched the tall, brawny man walk quickly toward a Chinese lacquered cabinet on the other side of the commodious office, "please don't make mine too strong. I... I haven't had much experience at drinking."

"Don't worry yourself, because I'm just going to give you a bit of rare French liqueur. It's special, some stuff I had imported," Max assured her, still grinning.

And you, my dear, are going to find out just how special it is in a few minutes, Max chortled to himself with a vulgar grin as he withdrew a crystal decanter from an ornate liquor chest in the corner of the room. As he reached inside for two cordial glasses, the gloating executive peered surreptitiously over his shoulder, slyly feasting his eyes on Kathy's exciting, sensual body like some sort of monarch about to enjoy a ritual sacrifice. He could barely wait to see the effect this drink would have on her, to watch her, to watch her sweet, innocent face when she first began to feel the effects of the potent aphrodisiac on her nervous system. This licorice-flavored liqueur was generously spiked with absinthe and Max knew from his own lewd experience that there was not a single woman in the world who could successfully resist its legendary lust-producing powers. He poured an ample portion of the liquid in the glass he planned to give Kathy and then measured out an equally large dose for himself, just in case he might need a bit of extra stimulation after his delightful session with June earlier that afternoon. But he doubted he would need it, not with such a fresh, naturally-arousing young morsel of female flesh such as Kathy around. Hell, he could already feel his prick beginning to jump impatiently in his trousers, just at the idea of ramming it in someone as young and magnificently formed as Kathy Cummings appeared to be. The fact that she was married to that intellectual kid, Henry Cummings, who had slighted him so rudely in his own company's magazine, made the prospect all the more pleasing to think of.

Actually, he was not even really interested in his revenge anymore, Max decided with a feeling of irony, as he turned from the liquor cabinet and walked back briskly toward the opulent leather couch. Seducing young Cummings' pretty wife had been merely an intriguing idea at first but now he was much more excited by the nearness and fragrant scent of the naive, full- breasted girl seated on the couch before him. He had fucked a lot of women in his life but seldom did a man find an opportunity to get his hands on anything as sweet and fuckable as the thrilling, tawny-haired young housewife who was now smiling up at him gratefully as he handed her the brimming glass of aphrodisiac he had poured and she unsuspectingly accepted. The beautiful Mrs. Cummings might even try to play hard-to-get, at least at first, and that would make it all the more fun, watching her being slowly subjugated despite all the moral values and idiotic principles that she had obviously built up into a kind of fortress during the relatively short span of her life. Seeing them all crumble in one cataclysmic fall, when he rammed his stiff cock deep between her soon-to-be wide-spread legs, would be a pleasure that was well worth working for and one that should not be bought too easily. It might cost him a pretty penny to purchase a rare aphrodisiac like this, and to maintain an office as impressive as this one, but that was a cheap price to pay for the ultimate thrill of that one final irreparable lunge of his penis into a tight, obviously little-used pussy like hers.

Max pictured the almost angelic-faced blonde lying flat on her back with her long, splendid legs pried wide apart and just the thought of the helpless mewling grunts of pleasure he would force from her soft, pink lips goaded his limp prick into aching hardness inside his trousers, so that he was obliged to sit down hurriedly beside her before the throbbing bulge betrayed his true intentions.

"Oh, I really do like this drink," Kathy beamed with a smile of surprise after she had lifted her glass and taken a small experimental sip. It tasted like liquid licorice and went down very smoothly, like velvet. She lifted her glass again and took a longer sip, relishing the satiny sweetness.

"Now isn't that better, my dear? Drink up," Max chuckled, smirking to himself as he raised his own glass and drained it with one great gulp. He watched the innocent wife finish off the contents of her glass and had to resist the temptation to pour them each a second portion. But he knew he had to be careful. After all, the little lady would be going home to her husband that evening and Max found himself wondering sardonically if the forgetful punk would even know what to do if his choice little wife suddenly began to behave like a sex-crazed slut. It would be interesting to observe some other time, he thought, but for now he would have to watch his step until he had her completely under his influence, which, if he had his way, would not take very long to accomplish.

"So then, tell me about your problems, Kathy," the older man said in a fake but convincingly paternal tone of voice as he settled his husky frame back into the softness of the black leather sofa, his hip a scant few inches from her sleekly formed thigh. With studied nonchalance, he slipped one arm up on the cushions behind her shoulders, leaning closer toward her as he added jovially, "I can't imagine any problem with Henry that you couldn't handle with just a flutter of those eyelashes of yours."

"Oh, Max, this is serious," she protested almost gaily, giggling in spite of herself. Strangely, she was already beginning to feel the effects of the drink he had given her, a warm, euphoric lightheadedness and slight tingling sensation all over her soft ivory flesh, and suddenly she was no longer as afraid of this wealthy imposing man who was now sitting so close to her.

Having made up her mind to be absolutely frank with Max, she looked down at her hands clasped in her lap and slowly announced, "Henry doesn't take me seriously at all, Mr. Alexander... I mean, Max. No matter what I do, to him I'm either stupid or just plain wrong, and to tell you the truth, I'm getting awfully tired of it. I want to show him that I have a good mind and am perfectly capable of using it!"

"Of course, my dear, of course you can," Max soothed as he reached over and patted her arm to confirm his words. "And I'm sure that together, you and I will be able to figure out a way to show him that you're not someone who deserves to be sold short. As a matter of fact, if you weren't married to Henry, you'd probably have a career of your own and, if you don't mind my saying so, there would be quite a few men after your beautiful young body."

Kathy shivered slightly from the abrupt change of tone in his voice and at the unexpected boldness of his somehow clammy touch. Before, he had been gracious and rather fatherly, protective in his understanding of her marital troubles with Henry, but now, suddenly, he had changed in a matter of minutes. And she also detected a certain brazen confidence in his manner that frightened her and for some reasons made her feel even more apprehensive than she had felt when she had first walked into his office.

She picked up her glass again, hoping to find more of the comforting warmth that the liqueur had given her, but she found that her glass was empty.

"I think that one of those is enough for you," the middle- aged company president advised her with a deep laugh as he caught her staring down unhappily into her glass. As the exquisitely- shaped young blonde looked up at him in confused dismay, he grinningly added, "Well, we wouldn't want you to go home drunk, would we? Your husband might think that you were out doing something naughty this afternoon, instead of staying home to be the good little housekeeper he thinks you are."

"Yes, while he's interviewing all those beautiful models all day in his office," Kathy said bitterly, unknowingly echoing Max's own thoughts of earlier that afternoon. Sitting up straight then on the plush couch, she suddenly shook out her long, glistening red-gold tresses in a gesture of angry defiance. "Maybe I should do something naughty for a change, to show him that he can't always take me so much for granted. I'm not just a piece of furniture in his house, you know!"

"I'll say this, dear--if you were, I'd like to buy out the store where he bought you," Max smiled, nodding his head up and down. "In any case, believe me, you're much more beautiful than all of those other gorgeous girls who keep floating in and out of his office all the time."

Clucking softly, he reached over and draped his arm around her wispy waist, tightening his hold as he pulled her close back against his broad muscular shoulder. She little realized what she was doing as she allowed herself to fall limply back against him, all the fight taken out of her by Max's last words about her husband's constant contact with the lovely models. She had never dared to ask Henry who actually found and hired all those girls in the magazine but now a terrible suspicion began to form in her mind about why their own sex life was suffering so much. Good God, if a man had dozens of beautiful sexy women in his office every day, why would he bother to care about his devoted wife who was always waiting at home for him? Why would he take the time to discuss strange and unusual sex acts, though, when he could undoubtedly find all the variation he wanted right in the privacy of his own office? Surely they would gladly do all he asked, and more, even worse perverted acts than his own dumb little wife could think of, the blonde reasoned in a sudden fury of jealousy. Maybe, just maybe it was because Henry was even more of a stranger to her than she had imagined lately; maybe he got some sort of evil thrill out of having a faithful wife as someone he could always count on and a stable of pretty girls at the same time.