Chapter 5

Dick wheeled the rental car around a curve on the side of a hill and saw the castle down below on the shores of a rather large, blue pear-shaped lake. The sight looked like something seen on a travel poster. He glanced over to see if Sue had awakened yet, but she slept on. The poor kid, he thought; she had said she hadn't been able to sleep at all for the last three nights. He put it down to bridal nerves, just as he put down her coldness and reluctance to participate in the sex act to nerves. She had slept the sleep of the dead on the five-hour flight over -- not even waking for supper.

Gently, he reached out and shook her awake. "Sue, we're here."

She came awake slowly, her mind swimming reluctantly to the surface of consciousness. Then she remembered and abruptly sat upright. Her muscles ached and her entire body felt as if she had been drugged. Dick was smiling at her, and suddenly she felt a great wave of tenderness and love go out to him. Now that she had had some rest, she was once more determined to make him a good wife. She loved him. That and the knowledge that he loved her would be enough for her. She would permit him sex -- as much sex as he wanted -- and she hoped and prayed that he would never know how much pain he was bringing her each time he invaded her body. When they returned home, she would quietly go to a doctor and get some suppositories to make her numb down there, something to deaden the nerves.

Impulsively, she bent over and kissed his cheek.

Dick nodded his head toward the window. "The castle," he said.

Sue took a deep breath when she saw the lake. At the far end, a small sailboat was a dot of white against a blue and green canvas. Smooth, green rolling hills came down to the water's edge on the other side. It was a land for long hikes, of walking hand in hand, and communing with nature. Below her, the castle looked as if it had come out of another time period; which, of course, it had. There was a small dock and a large white sandy beach.

Oh, Dick, darling. It's so beautiful." This sight alone had made the journey worthwhile, she thought.

Dick grinned at Sue's animation. It was the first time since before the wedding that she had seemed her old self -- happy, vivacious, and affectionate. Last night at the hotel, he had moments when he felt as if he were raping a stranger. He simply didn't understand it. Hell, after he had made love to her the fourth time, he had been able to sleep like a baby. Yet, apparently, she hadn't slept at all. And she hadn't cum, either, even thought he had prolonged his lovemaking in an effort to get her there. When he thought about, she was the first woman -- out of the dozens he had had -- that he hadn't been able to build up to a rip-roaring climax. But, of course, she was his first virgin... and maybe virgins react differently, he thought.

The car swept down the hill, across a small stone bridge, and reached the level. Two large Irish wolfhounds met them at the wrought- iron gate. The dogs, barking furiously, ran alongside the car until they reached the front of the castle.

Up close, the U-shaped structure looked larger than it had from a distance. Counting the crenelated roof, behind which archers had once crouched, it had four stories. The open part of the "U" faced the lake.

The dogs stopped barking and sat on their haunches, gazing expectantly at Dick and Sue, staring at the couple almost as if asking, "Well, aren't you going to get out?"

Dick stepped out of the car and was scratching one of the dogs behind the ear when he saw the woman coming toward them. Tall, full- breasted, black hair cut short, and wearing a long red and grey striped hostess gown that accentuated her splendid mature figure, she smiled and waved in greeting. In one arm, she carried a large bouquet of long stemmed yellow roses. A wide generous mouth, smouldering passionate black eyes with heavy black eyebrows, and the rich tan indicated more than a little Latin blood in her veins. Dick thought with some delight and an instinctive tightening in his groin: My God, what a sexy woman! And Sue, with considerable envy, felt almost childlike opposite her.

"Hallo," she said warmly. "I'm Nora Morgan. You must be Dick and Sue Bennett." Her voice was melodic and deep, with just a hint of Irish in it.

"We are," Sue answered, smiling timidly at her.

"These are for you, Sue," Nora said, holding out the roses. Then she held out her hand to Dick. "Hello... welcome to Castle Fleur," she said again, shaking hands with him. Her grip was especially strong for a woman, and she had a disconcerting way of looking at a man... gazing right at him with such intensity that Dick felt as if he were drowning in her eyes. And, even though he was on his honeymoon, Dick knew with a sudden guilty feeling that he would like nothing better than to have those long legs wrapped around his buttocks, those breasts straining against his chest, and those full lips tightened back against her teeth in lust... as he pounded his hardened cock into her steaming pussy.

Nora's lower lip dropped almost imperceptibly as if she knew what be was thinking. Then she turned to Sue. "You must be weary after your long journey. Come, I'll take you to your room so you can freshen up." When Dick started to grab the bags, she shook her head. "No... leave them," she ordered. "I'll have one of the boys bring them up to you."

Dick watched the two women walking in front of him; it was not a good comparison. Nora obviously was all woman -- and very very sure of herself. The long hostess gown covered her limbs, but if her legs were like the rest of her -- arms, breasts, hips -- then they would be perfect too. Sue? Well, Sue had every bit as good a figure -- not quite as tall, but offsetting this was her undeniable femininity, a sort of helplessness that made a male want to protect her. Actually, aside from colouring and height, the main difference between the two women lay in their projected sensuality and poise. Sue seemed almost adolescently self-conscious as she walked next to Nora, and if Dick had been able to read Sue's mind at that very moment he would have realized just how inferior his wife felt.

Nora led them to a spacious, expensively decorated room on the third floor. Large picture windows looked out over the lake and distant hills. "This is your sitting room," Nora said. "Wood for the fireplace is in the box there." She opened a connecting door. "This is your bedroom. I'm sure you'll find it comfortable." There was a big king- sized bed under a blue and white striped canopy. She indicated another door, "And the shower..." The shower, Dick noted, was large enough for three people; it had an overhead nozzle and two fine spray nozzles which shot a stream of water midriff -- front and back. Dick couldn't help thinking, "What a great play pen." Something must have shown on his face, because Nora dimpled and Sue blushed.

"Dr. Morgan and I would like you to be our guests for cocktails before dinner this evening," Nora said.

Sue glanced at Dick, who replied, "That's very kind of you, Mrs. Morgan."

"You must call me Nora. And Dr. Morgan shall insist that you call him Tom."

"All right, Nora," Dick said. "What time?"

"Well... let's see. You're the only guests we have at the moment. Lord Medwell and Lady Margaret will be checking in tomorrow; then we have another young American couple due in on Thursday. So we can be flexible about dinner time tonight. An hour from now?"

Sue felt grimy after the flight and car trip. She said, "I would like to take a shower, and change into something else."

Nora was immediately apologetic. "Of course, my dear. How thoughtless of me. I'll have your bags brought up at once." She glanced at her watch. "It's five thirty now. Shall we say seven thirtish?"

Neither Sue nor Dick were prepared for Dr. Morgan when they met him two hours later. He had a stern military bearing about him which was deceptive, for he turned out to be just as warm and friendly as Nora. And, as his wife had said, he did insist on being called 'Tom'. He was at least two inches taller than Dick's six feet, and weighed in the neighborhood of 220 pounds -- and it was a lean 220 pounds at that. A grey mustache cut a thin line across his lips. All in all, Sue thought as she stared at him in open admiration, he cuts a dashing figure... like something out of a liquor ad or a suspense film about Scotland Yard. He, like his wife, exuded an animallike sensuality. Side by side, the Morgan couple definitely would be attention-getters, even in a crowd of sophisticates.

Dick and Sue both felt at ease with them during cocktails in the huge library. This was surprising in view of the fact that Nora was in her mid thirties and Tom probably in his middle or late forties.

From the library, they went to the baronial hall-like dining room where the four of them were served by a dour and silent old Irish maid. It was not until the final course that Sue got around to asking, "What kind of a doctor are you, Tom?"

"A retired one," he said, smiling mysteriously as he held up his wine glass to the candlelight and inspected its contents.

Nora said, "Tom! Don't tease." She turned to Sue and said, "He was a gynecologist -- a very successful and famous one, I might add."

Tom snorted as though enjoying a private joke and a look of warning was flashed by his wife. As brief as it was, it sufficed, for the man came back to his winning ways again. "All sorts of rich ladies with all sorts of rich ladies problems." He shrugged and laughed. "A very lucrative profession. I made enough in ten years to refurbish the family castle. And here I am."

Nora commented, "Actually Tom is much too modest. He has a great many other talents. Right now he's doing some very important research on ESP."

"ESP?" Sue asked.

"Extra sensory perception," Nora explained.

Tom, who was rolling a fork back and forth between his thumb and forefinger, looked up and said, "It's mainly a hobby -- something to keep me busy -- although the government is interested in the experiments. I believe that ESP can be enhanced by putting a person in a light hypnotic state; then we place someone very close to this person in another room and attempt to establish communication between the two."

Dick, whose eyes had widened, said unbelievingly, "You mean mental telepathy?"

Tom nodded, and smiled. "I can understand your doubt. I'd be incredulous myself if I hadn't received proof that it seems to work... at least with some people."

Sue was sitting there engrossed, in rapt attention. This was the most fascinating thing she had ever listened to in her life.

Nora said casually, "Why not try the basic experiment tonight, using Dick and Sue? Let them see for themselves."