Chapter 7

“Hello?”

“Is that Eric? It’s Karim. Do you have time to talk?”

“Of course.”

“I thought you might welcome a one to one conversation.”

“I understand. Do you want to come round? As it happens, Maya’s out at the moment.”

“I know. I watched her go. I’m parked at the end of your road. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

Eric opened the door to Karim. There wasn’t anything about his visitor that marked him out as the stud that Maya had described. The short, solidly-muscled man had an infectious smile that masked his hard-headed commercial acumen. His elevated position in the business hierarchy was reflected in the new Mercedes he had just parked outside the house, as well as in the very expensive suit he was wearing.

“Coffee?” Eric offered.

“Not right now, thank you. I’ve just escaped from another corporate lunch. On the other hand, I’m bursting for a pee, if I could...”

Eric directed Karim to the bathroom and went into the sitting room to wait. When Karim returned, Eric waved him to an armchair.

“I need to clear something up first,” Karim began. “Maya said you had agreed to what happened at the hotel last weekend.”

“Absolutely. It was the sort of adventure that she and I have often discussed as fantasy. It was very exciting for both of us to have it happen in reality.”

“It’s a relief to hear you say that. It bothered me that all we had was her word for it. It bothered Leila a lot more.”

“You know, Karim, a quick phone call would have clarified that, so I assume there are other matters you want to talk about?”

“I thought you might want to ask questions about what did happen.”

Eric smiled. “I got a very complete story from her on her return. She’s not a woman to fool herself and we’ve both always tried to be open and honest. She came back buzzing ... dripping, too!”

Karim looked a little uncomfortable. “That was her decision,” he said. “She told us...”

“ ... that I’d lick her clean as soon as she got home,” Eric finished the sentence. “I did and I loved it. It wasn’t planned but it was great. And that was only the beginning of a great night. Can I ask a simple and brutal question? Did you enjoy fucking Maya?”

“She was fabulous. It was a pleasure to see her so turned on. I loved it and from her reaction, so did she. Such a terrific body, too, but you know that.”

“And Leila?”

“Leila was expecting a night of sex, but only with me. She had to get over having a real, live person in bed with us, first, but then she really got into it and enjoyed it. She and I agreed when we first got together that both of us were free to explore sexually, but neither of us has felt the urge to go beyond fantasy. It has come as a surprise. We never thought we’d have sex with anybody we knew, let alone with a close friend. I assume that you and Maya share fantasies, too?

“We do. Like you, it’s been fantasy until recently and as she told you, Leila certainly came into the stories. Now it’s real, I’m waiting to see what she wants to try next, if anything.”

“That brings me to the question I wanted to ask you. Does any of it involve Leila or me?”

“Various possibilities included one or both of you, provided you were interested. But there have been other ideas that didn’t.”

“Leila hasn’t taken this in as relaxed a way as Maya and you,” Karim said. He sat back. “In fantasy, Leila has always been open to anything, but reality was a bit overwhelming for her. We have taken a big step, but if we are going to go further down that road, it’s going to take thorough planning. Leila will need to be prepared carefully. A change of hotel will be required too. The people from the room next door gave us a very funny look as we were leaving in the morning.”