Chapter 19

The ski resort seemed unimpressive at first, and Alice Appleton rushed past all the young people who were gathered downstairs in the main hall. She felt self-conscious and ill at ease. After all, she was here to get the good clean air, the total change which she hoped might bring her back to some semblance of her former self.

The nervous brunette unpacked and neatly put her clothes away in the drawers of her room. Outside the bright snow sparkled in the sunshine and small figures could be seen in the distance, sliding down the beginner's slopes. The higher slopes were farther off, and Alice was looking forward to getting to them the following day. Meanwhile, she would get acquainted with the grounds, have an early dinner and go straight to bed. The trip had been tiring, and the young English teacher was already in a weakened state. But all this she hoped to change by the time she left the resort. By the time she returned to Scotsdale School, she would be in top form. She would be the teacher that her students deserved!

After taking a long, hot bath during which she soaked luxuriously the silken surfaces of her milk-white skin, Alice stepped from the deep tub and dried herself with a big fluffy towel. Already she felt much better, and getting hungry as a wolf! At first the young teacher contemplated having her dinner sent up to her room, but she was feeling so much better that she decided that she would go down to the dining hall. A pamphlet on the dresser told her that dinner was being served at 7:30. Carefully she dressed, putting on a simple dress of beige wool that covered her ample figure completely, but still made her look beautiful. Then after making sure there were no runs in her stockings, she put on her brown high-heeled pumps and turned about, examining herself in the full length mirror. She looked fine, she decided. It was the perfect thing to wear for the occasion.

Then she sat down and leafed through a magazine while waiting for the time to go downstairs. The magazine was one of several left in the room, and she had chosen it because it was one she had never read before. A man's magazine, it had a pretty girl on the cover dressed up in a white jumpsuit. She was supposed to be skiing, but judging from the fact that her breasts were nakedly thrust through two circular openings in the front of the jumpsuit, Alice deduced that the pretty blonde was in a studio rather than on the slopes. Curiously the young teacher turned the pages, becoming more and more engrossed by the sensual images she found inside. There were actually pictures of people nakedly making love! Also, when she started reading one of the stories, Alice had to put it down because it contained so many four letter words. Obviously, she realized, she had been leading a very sheltered life up until now. There was a new attitude toward sex in the world, one of which she had not even been aware, tucked away as she was at the Scotsdale School.

She read a whole section of letters to the editor which contained requests from readers for advice, and one in particular caught her eye:

"My wife and I have a wonderful and satisfying sexual relationship, and we have tried just about everything we can think of to whet our considerable appetites. The other evening at a dinner party another couple, old friends of ours, seemed to be coming on to us, and for the first time we visualized them not just as old friends, but as exciting sexual partners. My wife and I discussed the idea after the friends had left, and we both decided that we would be very interested in taking them up on what appears to be an invitation to swap sex. How do you think we should let them know that we are more than ready to participate in a foursome?"

It was certainly the most unusual thing that Alice had ever read in any magazine, and the answer was even more startling:

"Call your friends and invite them to dinner again, this time making it clear that you're inviting them for more than the usual fare. Several large bottles of champagne, some soft slow dance music and low lighting should then accomplish both your friends' and your own designs. Good luck!"

Alice thought that she ought to put the magazine down, but she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from its shocking contents. It was like getting a whole new sexual education just reading it! By the time she had read about three quarters of the slick magazine, Alice felt as though she had been given a whole new outlook on life. All of her misadventures at Scotsdale School could be looked at with a new perspective.

As Alice brushed her long dark hair before the mirror, she was very thoughtful. With each stroke of the brush in her glossy tresses, new meaning dawned upon the pretty young woman. Perhaps the reason for her strange lapses was merely due to all those years of repression. She had made herself ill by removing herself from the world of sensuality around her! Abruptly, Alice decided to leave her hair down, instead of pinning it up the way she usually did. Her hair seemed to be a symbol of that very repression which had caused her to go so very far astray! Common sense dictated that she must strive to lead a normal life, rather than the prim stultifying existence that she had led since her tragic relationship with Martin which had eventually caused her to go off the deep end, right in the middle of the school term!

Alice blushed at the memory of all she had done, but for the first time since the odd lapses had begun she had a sense of real hope. Something she could really cling to! By setting up a real relationship with a man, someone nice and pleasant, she would be able to re-establish the chemical balance within her system.

Her dark hair glistened with life as Alice put the magazine on her bed, promising herself to finish it when she returned from dinner.

"Heavens!" she cried, looking at her watch. It's almost eight o'clock!" Before she had been so hungry she couldn't wait, and the magazine had made her forget that completely. Now Miss Appleton had a hunger of a different kind. She wanted to have a boyfriend, just like any other normal young woman her age!

Perhaps something of her decision showed in her walk as Alice made her way down the wide stairway that led to the lounge and the dining room. In any case, she felt a new assurance in her beauty, and a new desire to be admired. She congratulated herself silently for the good fortune of having picked up that magazine. "All I needed was a little help, a little advice," she thought.

It seemed as though all eyes turned toward her as she entered the dining room. Men as well as women looked up with interest as Alice stood poised in the doorway. A young man came to greet her.

"Hi," he said casually, "I'm something of a Maitre d' around here. My name's Sandy. May I call you Alice?"

Alice was startled that the young man knew her name, and then she realized that it was in the hotel register, of course, and that it was probably resort policy to try to get every one on a first name basis.

Alice smiled back, noticing what nice teeth Sandy had. "Oh yes. That's fine with me," she replied. Suddenly, it seemed as if it was all going to be very easy. It was nice to be free and easy and informal.

"Come right over here; I've just the seat for you!" Sandy declared, and Alice followed him through the crowded tables toward a corner seat by a window. There were already three other people sitting at the table, and as Alice approached, she saw them look at her with appraising eyes. The two men and a young woman greeted her in a friendly manner, however, and as she sat down, Alice thought that Sandy had made a good choice of tables for her.

During dinner, the trio chatted with her in a casual way that made Alice feel right at home. The girl named Sherry was pretty and a blonde, and she reminded Alice a little of the girl on the cover of the men's magazine she'd been reading. As for the men, the one named Jim seemed to he Sherry's boyfriend, the way they were looking at each other, and the other... Alice's heart beat a little faster at the thought, seemed completely unattached. Besides that, he was much better looking than the man Sherry was interested in and--what's more--seemed very attentive and interested in her!

The dark-haired young man was called Henri, and he was a French Canadian, a doctor, interning at the Medical Institute in San Francisco. Alice was very impressed, never having met a doctor socially before, and she was pleased when Henri seemed impressed with her own status as a private teacher in a boy's school.

Alice felt a certain trouble whenever her eyes met the dark thickly lashed eyes of the young intern, and she couldn't help thinking that he was just perfect. Her stay at the resort would be a pleasant and exciting one as well as one that would put her on the road to health.

"Allow me to show you around after dinner," Henri said in his thickly accented English. It was a deep and charming voice that sent shivers of delight up and down Alice's spine. She noticed that Sherry and her friend Jim were sitting very close to each other as they all had their coffee and brandy. So it was no surprise to Alice when, arm in arm, they wandered away from the table, seemingly lost in each other.

The contented English teacher looked at Henri's fine profile as he drank the last of his brandy, a prominent but beautifully shaped nose, sensuous lips and a strong chin that spoke of his character. Alice, too, wanted to have that same distracted look that had lit up Sherry's face, and she thought it would be easy to look at the young intern that way. Very easy indeed.

The walk around the extensive grounds of the resort proved to be very interesting. The number of activities available to the clientele was amazing. There were films to be seen, a bowling alley with its own bar, indoor tennis courts, an old fashioned ice cream parlor where Alice and Henri stopped to have hot fudge sundaes. Later on they went to the small cocktail lounge where a piano player dispensed liquid melodious music, and they drank hot buttered rums and told each other brief and edited versions of their life stories.

In short, Alice Appleton was having a wonderful time. By the time the young medical intern escorted her to the crowded discotheque, the twenty-three year old brunette was feeling on top of the world. She observed the other young women there, all of them attractive, glowing fine specimens of modern young womanhood. It was clear that none of them had complexes of the sort that had marred Alice's life for the past few years. And Alice wanted desperately to be as much like the pretty "snow bunnies" as possible. Therefore, when Henri's knee pressed close to hers beneath the small table, and when his hand stroked hers gently as though in a questioning manner, Alice displayed no gesture of shock or refusal. She would betray no signs of the horrid nervousness that had driven her to distraction, driven her to the terrible displays of overt sexuality at the Scotsdale School. No, but she would try to find that happy medium between total repression and uncontrollable desire!

"There're Sherry and Jim," Henri said, nodding in the direction of the dance floor.

"Don't they look nice together!" Alice declared. Sherry was a good head taller than Jim, but nevertheless, the couple had something about them that "clicked." Alice was lost in admiration for her new friends as she watched them dancing smoothly together to the longest set of dance music she'd ever heard.

"We could look like that," Henri suggested. His eyes were a deep velvety black as Alice looked at him. Already he was rising and taking her with him toward the dance floor, and then she felt his arms around her, his strong lean body hard against her softness as they swayed together, their bodies making a mounting interior music that created a building excitement in Alice's loins.

"So you read "Mating" magazine!" Henri picked up the men's magazine from Alice's bed and began to leaf through it.

Alice blushed. She was feeling the effects of all the drinks she and Henri had had in the discotheque. Then she decided to reply boldly. After all, she was an adult, and she had made new decisions about the course of her life. No sense in breaking down now, just when it looked as if she was winning out against the puritanical principles that had led to her recent downfall!

"Yes, Yes I do." she said, "Well, it was here when I came. And I must say I found it very interesting."

"Like those naked girls?"

"Uh... well, some of them are very pretty. There were some naked men, too." Then Alice felt herself really turning a bright crimson. It seemed like an open invitation to Henri to take off his clothes. But she was pleased when he didn't pick up on the statement and instead changed the subject completely.

"Say, I'm not sleepy at all; are you?"

"Well, no... but it is quite late, I think," she was trying to look at her watch, but her vision was blurred, and she gave up.

"Tell you what, I'll go get some drinks. Too late for room service, but there's always a way around this place."

"Well, I don't know."

But Henri took her gently up in his arms and kissed her with such tenderness combined, that the dark haired teacher felt herself melting against his strong young body. "Yes, some drinks would be nice," she agreed breathlessly when he finally let her loose.

Henri blew her another kiss and exited rapidly. When he was gone, Alice felt terribly alone. Suddenly, she had to think about everything, the prospect of his coming back, of what might--what would--happen between them that night. Should she change her clothes or not? Alice paced nervously about the room and then paused and looked out the window. The night lights illuminated the grounds below. She felt a loneliness inside her that made the moment extremely melancholy. Yes, she would change from her dress into something else, the beautiful young teacher decided.

When at last a soft knock came at the door, Alice was clad in a softly clinging gown of pink silk, and beneath her naked body it quivered with each motion she made, creating a shining shimmery effect that enhanced her already considerable beauty.

"How lovely you look!" Henri declared, and Alice was glad she had put on the provocative gown.

The glasses tinkled pleasantly as Henri put them down, and on his arm were the bucket of ice, a towel, and in the bucket a large bottle of champagne. The champagne was so easy to drink that Alice allowed Henri to pour five or six glasses for both of them, which they sipped between long warm kisses. As they were both sitting on the bed, Alice felt herself wanting more and more to lie down. It was growing increasingly difficult to remain upright.

Finally, she lay back upon the pillow, and as Henri put his glass down on the nearby dresser, he stretched himself out over her reclining figure, speaking softly in her ear.

"I want you, Alice. You know that!"

Alice shuddered. He was so close. "Yes, yes, I know!" She wanted to add, And I want you too. All of me wants you! But she was silent. It was so hard to talk anyway, and now his tongue was so hot and wet in her mouth, his hands moving surely and easily over the soft curves of her willing body!

Henri looked down at the quivering young woman beneath him. He let his eyes roam at will upon the open cleavage of her soft silk gown. The smooth cream-white swell of her nakedly exposed breasts showed clearly, and he began to touch them, feeling their soft firmness mold to his hands. Freeing one from the material of the dressing gown, he bent to suck upon the throbbing little nipple, feeling Alice shiver beneath him. She was an exciting one! he thought. Just the type he liked. There was something fine in her, a hesitation that excited him. The swinging resort life was obviously a little new to her, but she was ready to learn! Well, he'd teach her a few things. She wouldn't be the first chick to learn a whole new variety of tricks from Doctor Henri!

"Take this off!" he announced, sure of himself now.

"Oh!" Alice replied. But she needn't have said anything, for Henri began to strip her of the peach-colored material, pulling it down until she lay naked and defenseless beneath his lustful gaze. His fingers moved, creating hot sparks of lust along Alice's yielding flesh, tracing desire along all the heated silk surfaces of her trembling body.