Chapter 667

At the Castle

Six weeks earlier continued.

...”It seems to be just what we are thinking of, but not for the first trip. We need to get back into everything before we go that far,” Dessie replied.

“Well, if we can help, just let us know,” Karl said as both he and Glenda came to their feet.

When they had gone, Phillip looked over at his wife, both seeming to realize that they had just made friends, probably good friends, and sex wasn’t even part of it.

“I like them,” Dessie said simply.

“They’re older than we are, but yeah, I like them too. I’ve never been interested in hiking with other people, but these two just might be different.”

“So? What do we do now?”

“I was already sleepy from the long helicopter ride and the blowjob. That great lunch relaxed me even more. The nap I mentioned earlier is still high on my list of things to do, unless you want to hike over to one of the nearby lakes Mia mentioned.”

“No, it hardly seems worth it for just an afternoon. Instead, we should plan a day’s outing and do some canoeing while we’re at the lakes.”

“Good. Let’s do it.”

Back in their suite, they put their maps in their backpacks with their other maps of the area.

“Want to take a shower first?” Dessie asked, hoping to get him interested in sex.

“No, Baby,” he said as he pulled her into a hug. “My interest in having sex with you is coming back, but I have to get a lot of things out of my mind. The trip out, along with having gotten on so well with Karl and Glenda, has helped to get my mind off those memories that seem to be stuck in my head. The long hike tomorrow and the excitement of setting up camp in a totally new place — with just the two of us like old times — should help settle my mind even more. By tomorrow night, if all goes well, I should be able to put some of the bad memories behind me. Some of my favorite memories during our marriage are of our backpacking trips — as you know. I want to rid my mind of seeing you being fucked by your muscle guys and pretty boys. Why in the hell didn’t we stop with just swapping with our close friends on rare occasions? How could you expect that our closeness would continue with what was going on?” he snapped before apologizing as he went into the bedroom.

Dessie felt a chill go up her spine. She knew their relationship was in trouble, but back at the hotel, she had begun to think that their marriage was on the mend. Now, however, she began to realize just how serious the problem had become. He thinks the backpacking trip with just the two of us will help. Be honest with yourself, Girl. There’s an excellent chance that you have fucked your way out of your marriage unless something happens to bring us closer the way we used to be.

Forcing the tears back, she stripped to her panties and bra to sneak under the sheet with her husband. When his breathing deepened, she snuggled against his back. Please give me a chance, she thought as she lay there wide awake.

An hour later, he began to stir, and after a moment, turned over to stare at his wife. Amazing her, he kissed her tenderly. “Get dressed. I have something to show you.”

She used the bathroom and washed her face while he did the same in the other bathroom. Dressed in the same clothes they had on earlier, they stopped at the break room for soft drinks that he opened for both of them.

A moment later, they had walked outside, and he motioned to one of the gravel paths. As they walked along, he reached to take her hand.

At least, he seems to be trying, but if he doesn’t respond to me sexually, what can I do?

After a while, he put their empty cans down by a short post by the edge of the walkway. When he did something to the post,” Dessie asked, “What did you do?”

“I’ll tell you later, but remind me to pick up the cans when we come back,” he said as they continued walking.

They were now out of sight of the castle and into an area of numerous trees with smaller brush and shrubs. The path was no longer gravel, having changed into a simple, barely noticeable footpath with several turns. Being a seasoned backpacker, she could have returned to the castle, but she would have had to make her own way, having lost track of the multiple turns in the now barely-noticeable path. Her husband had stopped twice as he decided which turn to take.

She could hear water running as Philip pushed through a thick shrub and held some of the limbs back so she could pass with less difficulty. Dessie froze as soon as she stepped through.

“Oh, my,” she whispered as her eyes sought out the source of the happy, gurgling sound. “Someone spent an enormous amount of time constructing all this. Surely, this is landscaped. It is sooo perfect in here. Look at the stones in the stream as it goes down the hill. They’re positioned so perfectly that they seem to magnify the sound of the water as it flows around and over them.”

“Karl says that we can swim in the pool there, and it has a sandy bottom. Mia’s husband built this for her.”

“Oh,” Dessie said, “are you sure we can be here? He must have spent months building this.”

“We should be flattered. Karl said that Mia tells very few people about this, but she told him to show this to us, and we are free to use it whenever we wish.”

Dessie turned to face her husband fully as she automatically took his hands. “Baby, no matter how our backpacking goes — and I think it will go wonderfully — we need to continue our relationship with Mia, her sister and brother-in-law, as well as Glenda and Karl.”

Phillip smiled down at her. “I agree, but it might not be an easy relationship to maintain. Oh, Karl and Glenda said they live in Munich, so that wouldn’t be a problem until we go home, but it takes a determined effort to get out here to the castle.”

“I don’t care. I can feel something for Mia, and she’s already done something very personal for us. Fischer and Sophia seem like nice people, too. All of them are ... different compared to most of our current friends. Besides, I think we need some new friends.”

“I assume that you’re saying we need some friends instead of fuck buddies. If you haven’t noticed, our old friends don’t seem to call or invite us over nearly as much as they used to. If you want to be friends with Mia and the others, I’m all for it, but once we’re back home, it will take quite a plane ride every time we come to visit. And with Mia, it will also require a helicopter ride.”

“I don’t care. Just look,” she said as she swept her hand around, “Mia, for some reason, has shared something very personal with us that she hasn’t shared with many others. I don’t know why she’s being so nice to us, unless it’s just her personality, but, somehow, we need to show our appreciation.”

“There’s something else,” Phillip said as he took his wife’s hand to lead her past another set of thick shrubbery.

Dessie instantly froze. “Oh, Phil,” she gasped out. “Her husband really loved her.” Then, in an almost whisper, “There is no telling how many hours he spent in building this place, and now a beautiful padded bench for them to make love amidst all this.”

Turning back to her husband, she quietly added, “Are you certain she meant for us to use all this?” she asked as she swept her hand all around. “That lover’s bench must have been very special to them.”

“I suggest that you tactfully ask her. I, like you, feel that the bench is special, but according to Karl, he has asked her specifically, and she wanted to share the place and the lovemaking bench with special people.”

“Then I will be her friend, no matter what,” Dessie asserted.

Startling her, Phillip leaned to kiss her — a kiss that went on for some time. When he broke the kiss, “Oh, Phil. I’m sorry, so sorry. Somehow, someway, I’m going to make it up to you.”

They held each other for a time before Dessie quietly asked, “Can we walk down to the pool? I want to see it up close.”

“Sure,” he quietly said as he took her hand, and they started down the path.

A few minutes later, they stopped by the side of the pool to stare down into the nearly crystal clear water. Karl had been right. The pool had a bottom that appeared to be composed of sand and worn-smooth, white river stones. He reached into the water to scoop up a handful of the polished and rounded stones as well as the equally light-colored sand. “Ten to one, this came out of a stream around here. That man put in many hours on this pool alone, let alone all the landscaping that went into this whole thing.”

“Baby?” Dessie began to ask as the two stopped long enough for Phillip to move the little marker on the stone post that indicated that the lovers’ hideaway was in use. “Uh, our finances are in good shape, right?”

“What?” Uh, sure,” he said with a frown as he retrieved the drink cans and they continued toward the castle. “We have more money than we could ever spend in ten lifetimes. As I’ve mentioned already, I lucked up on a couple of start-ups last year and added a ridiculous amount to our total. I’m almost afraid to invest in anything new for fear that the law of averages will catch up and I’ll lose a few million.”

“But I know you and enough about our investments to realize that will not happen.”

“So, do you want to buy a castle or something?” he joked.

“Not buy one per se, but maybe invest in one that belongs to someone we like a lot.”

“Do you know something that I don’t? Is Mia in financial trouble?” he asked as he deposited the cans in a receptacle.

“Not ... that I know of, but...”

“If she has a decent number of guests, she should be okay with what this place rents for a month.”

“She’s mentioned that her husband died just before they could open the castle for business. You’re the financial genius in the family. Stop and think how much it probably cost to modernize the castle. I don’t know how many suites they have or how many are regularly active, but her expenditures have to be staggering to have everything brought in by helicopter, even if it is a local organization.”

“So, what do you propose doing? We hardly know the woman.”

“Oh, I don’t mean to do anything immediately, but I think she needs help or will in the near future. I guess it’s just a feeling I have, but I’m worried about her — about all three of them if she goes under. Besides, I would hate for this beautiful building to be bought up by some chain that would divide up the suites and put in as many rooms as they could manage. Think what would happen to her lover’s hideaway. That man loved his wife — really loved her, and I’m sure she loved him just as much. She wouldn’t just lose the castle; she would lose that as well. The thought of her losing it literally makes me feel sick.”

“How did she manage to get this place, do you suppose?” he asked. “She might be rich for all I know.”

“She isn’t rich, and there’s something about her. She’s stressed.”

“So? Most anyone with a business like hers is going to be stressed,” he said. “She has to have her clientele brought in via helicopter. Granted, most probably don’t come as far as we did, but that has got to cut down on her business. Then again, her rates are high enough that she wouldn’t have to have that many guests. If she can keep a steady clientele, she can make money — if the payments on the castle aren’t too high, but that’s a big if. She said that, other than us, she doesn’t have any guests scheduled until Friday, if I remember correctly. I imagine, if she charges the doctors at all, it is a much-reduced rate.”