Chapter 19

JANUARY.

AUSTRIA / THE MALDIVES / BRUSSELS / THE BALKANS

AUSTRIA. ULI OBSERVED

There are webs, invisible but real, that connect people who care for each other. Uli lay on her familiar bed and thought about who mattered to her. Her mother and Karl, of course; her friends here in Vienna; the new friends she'd made at college in Munich; Luke...

She pondered about that. He wasn't fixed like everyone else, but he was part of her universe. He was who he was, and he couldn't be defined. She couldn't imagine not having him in her life, but she knew that if she ever tried to tie him down he'd drift away like smoke in the wind. On the other hand if she really needed him he'd be there. She was sure of that. Her hand drifted down to her crotch and she began to stroke herself gently. Thinking about him always made her damp. There was a light tap at the door and she sighed.

'Come in, Mum.' The door opened and Frau Fischer, Angela, came in, carrying a tray.

'No party tonight, I'm bored with the TV, and Karl's been on the phone to Bea for hours and probably isn't going to hang up till next week, so I thought I'd come and bother you. What are you up to?' Her daughter smiled.

'I'm meant to be planning my design show, but I started thinking about Luke, and I was just beginning to touch myself up when you came in and spoiled everything.' Mother and daughter caught each others' eye and laughed. Angela offered Uli the tray.

'Hot chocolate with cream and Kirsch, as a sinful nightcap. Where is Luke, anyway?' Uli pouted exaggeratedly.

'In the Maldives with Trudi and Inge, and I'm feeling a bit jealous. I know I told him I was going to be tied up with college work and everything, but I do wish he'd tried a little harder to persuade me. I've got a sort of Luke-substitute at college, and he's a nice guy, and sexy too, but he doesn't quite cut it. I wish I didn't compare everyone with Luke.' Her mother nodded.

'I know that feeling. You didn't try to pin him down, did you?' Uli shook her head.

'We agreed we'd do something in the spring. I'll try to think of something as a surprise.' Her eyes sparkled with sudden mischief. 'Maybe I'll take you along. That'd be a treat for him.' Angela smiled wryly.

'Mothers and daughters shouldn't even think about that sort of thing. But even if you did, I know he wouldn't let either of us down. We're a terrible pair of sluts, aren't we?'

'Not at all, ' said her daughter robustly, 'Luke took us and shook us and made us both better, and we both love him a little bit and we don't mind saying so. And if you want to visit him I'll give you his address. So there!' She sat back in the bed, slightly flushed. Angela felt a prickling behind her eyes.

'I remember when he brought you back here after your trip last summer. You'd turned into a woman and I could see so much of myself in you, and he noticed straight away and got out of the way in a flash so we could be with each other. He seems to understand things somehow... '

THE MALDIVES. INGE AND TRUDI OBSERVED

Inge turned over lazily and took the few strokes necessary to bring her alongside Trudi. The smaller girl was lolling in the shallows, her body dark after five days of tropical sun, and her hair floating around her head in the warm water. She was tugging idly at the two hair extensions that were the only decoration on her otherwise smooth mound, her eyes closed, her breasts just breaking the surface. Inge rolled smoothly and lay next to her. The thin gold chains that linked her nipples and clitoris shimmered against the glow of her slender body.

'Penny for your thoughts, ' she murmured as she lifted the chains delicately, pulling her tiny, chocolate-dark teats away from her body and feeling the growing wave of pleasure as her clit was treated to the same pressure. Trudi spoke without opening her eyes.

'I'm thinking about us and Luke and if it's going anywhere. I love him more than I want to, and I think you do too, and I love you and Uli, and Olga too, and you're my best friend, but ... there's a part of me that's getting all possessive. It frightens me a bit.' Inge looked at her friend.

'You've just said what I've been thinking. It wasn't till we arrived that I realized how much I'd been missing him. It's his own fault for being such a good guy; no, more than a good guy, a very special one. What are we going to do?'

'If we push, he'll be gone, ' said Trudi quietly, 'He's always been completely upfront about not committing and he's not going to break his own rules. That's one of the reasons that we trust him. And another thing: if we really pushed, I think Uli would end up at the top of his pile. He likes us, and he's made us like ourselves more, but we were adults when we met him. With Uli it was different. You didn't know her then, but she was so spoilt, and neglected at the same time, and he showed her how to become the person she was meant to be, and his feelings for her are different. He's almost like an artist with his creation. You've seen the way he looks at her sometimes.' Inge nodded.

'It's something we'll have to work at. Not here, though, and not now. What do you want to do?' Trudi sat up and leaned over her friend. She tugged delicately at one slender chain and lowered her mouth to the small breast that was pulled to the surface.

'I want us to get the salt off and warm each other up in the shower, and when we're hot and ready to go we'll wake him up and bop his socks off. It's my turn for his cock this time.'

BRUSSELS. LAURA OBSERVED

Laura finished tallying the week's figures and turned the computer off thankfully. She stretched to get the stiffness out of her neck and shoulders and wondered what to do next. Jeanne was on the desk and there were no more chores till the morning. She stretched again and wished the English teacher was back from wherever he'd gone for Christmas. Now would have been just the moment to see if he had a couple of hours to spare for a friend with privileges. She thought, not for the first time, how strange it was that he'd never tried to pressure her into bed. Of course, there were the two students who visited, and the older woman, their boss, and the beautiful Austrian girl, so it wasn't as if he was frustrated, but still ... it made him unusual, to say the least. When she spoke to him he looked at her, and not at her breasts, she thought inconsequentially; that was rare, too. Her pussy tingled pleasantly: thinking about him was having its usual effect.

'I'm going to have a shower and then get something to eat, Jeanne, ' she told the receptionist. Jeanne was reading a gossip magazine and nodded absently, and Laura stood and made for the lift.

In the shower, relaxing under the hot water, her hands drifted to her crotch. She rolled the ball of her thumb over her mound, feeling the tiny friction of her fine hair against the soft skin, and wriggled as she felt her pussy lips respond to the pressure. One finger slipped into the top of her slit and she began to stroke the little bump of her clitoral sheath. She closed her eyes and imagined that he was with her and that her finger was his tongue lapping at her tenderly, making her feel less like a big blonde cow and more like a prized delicacy. She brought her other hand up to her mouth and suckled on a finger, wishing that it was his cock, long and thick and hard, sliding over her lips...

THE BALKANS. MAGDA AND ELENA OBSERVED

'Not here, Goran, ' said Anita irritably as she removed her boyfriend's hand from her breast for the third time in five minutes. 'My mother's in the next room, and anyway, I'm tired.' She moved away from him slightly and tried to ignore the sulky look on his face. It wasn't his fault, she thought. Brussels had opened her eyes and her mind, and home was suddenly provincial and dull, and poor Goran was provincial and dull too. He'd been pathetically glad to see her, and he'd been as attentive and loving as he could, but...

The Englishman was teaching her more than English, she realized, but she still wasn't quite sure what it was. All he did was listen quietly and make some gentle suggestions, and then fuck her in the way she'd always dreamt about, driving her harder and higher than she'd ever imagined possible. Always before, sex had left her feeling vaguely unfulfilled, even after a perfectly good orgasm, but with him, when he'd dragged her over the edge and let her soar and plunge in spirals of uncontrollable sensation, and then held her quietly, helping her come down without a bump, he'd always made sure she still felt cherished and wanted and warm and complete. She was glad he'd made no demands on her: she wasn't sure she'd be able to deny him anything ... Goran made another grab for her and tried to kiss her, and she pushed him away again, pretending not to notice the hurt in his eyes.

'Is Magda there? It's Elena Strevic, her boss.' Elena lay on the hotel bed, staring at the ceiling. The meetings had been helpful, and seeing her family had been comforting, but she wanted to get back to work. Don't kid yourself, girl, she thought: you want to get back to Luke too. With her free hand she toyed idly with her nipples. She'd never imagined that a man could be so completely there when he was needed, and sensitive enough not to push when he wasn't. Sometimes she wondered if he was a mind reader.

'Hello?' Magda's voice was cautious.

'It's Elena. Can you talk?' There was a pause.

'In English would be better. I'm still up to my neck in family. What's up?'

'I'm all finished and don't know what to do. I was thinking of going back tomorrow and clearing some of the paperwork. It'd be nice to make some wiggle room in case anything comes up.' There was a chuckle down the line.

'Are you being my boss or my friend? If you're my boss then you're setting a wonderful example and I agree about the workload and I'll tear myself away from here and come with you to help, and if you're my friend I know precisely what you hope will come up, and I'll tear myself away from here, etc., etc.' Elena let out the breath she'd been holding.

'I'm being both, really, because somebody showed me how to. If I get us seats on a flight tomorrow afternoon will that give you enough time?' A short pause, then:

'Can you get three tickets? I called Anita this morning and she's desperate to get away. Her boyfriend's trying to persuade her to apply for a transfer back here, and her parents want her to settle down and have babies, and if she doesn't escape soon she's going to have a huge row with everybody and then feel guilty and upset.' Elena nodded to herself. She wasn't surprised.

'I'll call her, and come over all official and make sure her family knows she's indispensable and is needed urgently. What are you doing at the moment?' There was another chuckle.

'Planning my excuses. Look, my mum is listening like mad but she doesn't speak English at all, so let's have an argument that she can understand, and then she'll know that you're a mean boss and you're forcing me back to work and it's not just me leaving early.' Elena shifted on the bed and slid her free hand to her pussy. She pushed a finger through her humid folds and felt a ripple of pleasure flicker through her belly.

'OK. But I warn you: I'm naked, and I'm touching myself, thinking about what might come up, and I'm beginning to get wet, so it had better be a short, sharp argument.'

BETWEEN THE MALDIVES AND BRUSSELS, AND AFTER. LUKE'S VOICE

The flight attendant was being too solicitous, so I'd asked for a blanket and was pretending to be asleep. The last two days with Trudi and Inge had passed in a dizzying haze of pleasure, each of us conscious that our time together was dwindling. Unspoken questions had hovered over us and I knew that they both wanted to make plans for next time, but I'd said nothing and they hadn't pushed. They'd nibbled round the problem though.

'Nothing nicer than a mouthful of cock for breakfast, ' Trudi had mumbled as I struggled to wake up. She was crouched over me, her rump high in the air, her head moving gently as she ran her lips along the length of my shaft and back. Inge was sitting cross-legged at my head, trailing her fingers over my forehead and round my ears. The posture had pulled her pussy lips wider apart than usual, and the entrance of her vagina winked brazenly at me. Her labia were glistening and I reached out and swiped the length of her with my thumb, then transferred it to my mouth, savoring the fresh dew.

'Nothing like fresh pussy if no-one's squeezed any oranges. What have you two got in mind now?' They looked at one another slyly, then Trudi's mouth sank back down my cockshaft and Inge's face split in a wide grin.

'We're going to make sure you miss us, and that you go home thinking that we're the best tag team you've ever met. That way we might get invited again.' I could sense a current of seriousness under her light words and I flicked her clit ring gently then blew over the little nub that was beginning to protrude.

'One, you're a tag team to die for, as you both know very well, and two, I seem to remember that this little jaunt was your suggestion. I'm the one that should be hoping for a return match. Why not let Trudi get on with what she's doing and you come and sit on my face?' Her eyes lit up and she rose smoothly to her knees and straddled me.

'You'd really rather have me than orange juice?' All this talk about breakfast was making me hungry.

'Oranges are cheap and easy. Get your ass down here, woman.' I reached up and grasped her hips, pulling her gaping pussy to my mouth, and her hot, moist folds closed over my lips. Trudi stroked my balls gently and swirled her tongue round my glans and my hips quivered with anticipation. Inge gasped suddenly and I realized that Trudi had hooked one finger through her chain and was tugging at it gently. I felt Inge's clit moving rhythmically against my lower lip and stabbed my tongue up and into her hot vault, gathering the seeping juices of arousal that she was producing. Her body twisted and she forced herself further onto me, her breath quickening. The strong muscles in her thighs were trembling and I pulled my head back, rimming the crinkled bud of her anus delicately and worrying at the tight ring of her sphincter with the tip of my tongue.

Trudi's lips were suckling daintily at my cock, then she raised her head and I sensed her body rising and turning. Moments later her plump labia were caressing my glans. She was sodden with lust and as she sank onto me, searching for the deepest penetration she could stand, Inge leant forward and embraced her. I reached behind me and pulled the pillow forward so I could maintain contact with her pussy. They were settling into a shared cadence, accelerating infinitely slowly, and I let my focus narrow to the triangular union of our bodies. Each thrust of my cock evoked a hiss of breath from Trudi and I felt the force of my energy rising through her and sparkling from her to Inge. The waves sank through her, and I tasted my own desire on her pussy, magnified by its voyage through their bodies. We held the moment and time slowed, our bodies moving as one, knowing each others' needs perfectly. They were as centered as I was, each of us perfectly balanced in the giving and acceptance of pleasure. It's rare to find that with one woman: to achieve it with two is a gift from the gods, and I thrust upwards at the same moment as suckling at Inge's clit, my mind filled with lust and gratitude. Inge writhed as I caught her clitoral ring in my teeth and twisted it slightly; her thighs spasmed once and a trickle of fresh juice dribbled onto my face. At the other end Trudi's tempo had increased and her stomach muscles were beginning to contract, squeezing my cock as she rode me to her climax. The end came suddenly, taking us all by surprise. As Trudi tugged harder on Inge's chains the taller girl reached forward and pinched and twisted her nipples with the delicate cruelty that Trudi sometimes craved. Her pussy clutched me like a vice and her hand jerked Inge's chain again. I felt my balls lurch and churn as both girls ground down onto me, and the tide of orgasm broke over us. With one last despairing thrust I emptied myself into Trudi's hungry cunt and at the same time Inge groaned and flooded me with a rush of fluid, sweet and pungent. Trudi stiffened over me, holding herself motionless as her internal muscles milked me dry, then she slumped forward against Inge and their mouths met in a slow kiss.

A hand was shaking me and I opened my eyes reluctantly.

'We're beginning our descent into Brussels, sir. Could you please raise your seat to the upright position and fasten your seatbelt?'

Exhaustion had caught up with me and I'd slept for nearly fourteen hours, with only one bladder-break. When my eyes opened and didn't feel as if they were being propped up with matchsticks, I decided to give consciousness another chance. Heaving myself upright I set a course for the shower.

Soap and hot water never disappoint. Twenty minutes later, smooth of chin and clear of eye, I sauntered down the stairs. My body said it was early morning but the clock disagreed and insisted that it was nearly eight in the evening. I didn't care. I wanted breakfast. As I came down the last flight Laura looked up from her computer screen and saw me.

'Luke, you're awake! How are you feeling? You're so brown!' She looked as if she wanted to hug me but was worried about appearing forward, so I slipped behind the desk and put my arms round her.

'Good to see you too, kid. How was Christmas and New Year?' She let go of my neck and made a face.

'Lots of work and not enough fun, not this side of the counter at least.' She blushed prettily. 'I crossed the counter once, with a guy from Poland who was staying, but it was a mistake. He looked a bit like you, and I think that's why I let him persuade me. Afterwards, he asked me how it was for me, and when I told him it had been the best twenty-three seconds of my life he got all huffy and checked out early.'

'Some guys just can't take a joke. When I've got some routine back we'll go and have a meal and you can tell me all the sordid details, but what I want now is food. Are you on duty all evening?' She nodded and I scowled exaggeratedly, and she blushed again and smiled. Then she went back into professional mode.

'Before I forget, there've been messages piling up for you for a couple of days now. They're all from your harem, I think, trying to find out when you'll be back, at least that's who they sounded like. I didn't want to disturb you so I told them that you were still away and they should try again later.' She shook her head. 'What puzzles me is how we're not jealous of each other.'