Chapter 22

BRUSSELS, MUNICH, SPAIN: APRIL

MAGDA, LUKE OBSERVED

'Don't you dare stop, you bastard, or I'll get off and bite it!' Magda pushed herself hard down onto Luke's cock and hooked her hands under his shoulders. Her head was resting on his chest and she heard his heart pounding as he arched his back and drove upwards into her. Her pussy was stretched impossibly wide to accept all of him, and a muffled gasp was forced out of her. His chest shook as he laughed softly at her response and fresh sparkles of desire chased through her.

'I wouldn't dare, ' he murmured into the top of her head. 'You might actually do it, and then you'd be really cross with yourself, and Elena and Anita would have to go into full mourning, and... ' Magda slid forward, losing a precious centimeter of his length, and clamped her lips over his. She'd fully intended to kiss him till they ran out of breath but she felt a bubble of sheer joy rising in her and started laughing into his mouth. He grasped her hips, hauling her back and resettling her with his cock deep inside her. She felt it swell and the walls of her pussy were stretched again. His hand snaked down and the ball of his thumb brushed against her clit, rolling across the tip with delicate precision. She dug her fingers into his flesh and moaned helplessly. She was impossibly sensitive after the long, tender ministrations of his mouth, and groaned again as a warning quiver in her belly signaled another orgasm creeping up on her. He sensed the change in her and his fingertips stroked her again, his hips twisting and rising gently, drilling her and sliding the ridge of his glans across her G spot, raising her need another notch.

'I'm going to fill your cunt so full and so hard you'll be spitting my cum for a week, you sexy diplomat, you, ' he whispered, and the coarse words crackled through her as he rolled their bodies over with gentle force and lodged himself between her legs. She was hopelessly spreadeagled, completely exposed to him, and he thrust hard, rolling his pubic bone over her mound and crushing her clit gently between their bodies. Their climaxes were gathering and he began to drive steadily into her, stoking their fires and pushing release closer and closer to the surface. She was being filled with unbearable need and she bit his shoulder hard as he accelerated again. Her body began to tremble helplessly as it readied itself for orgasm. A subtle change in his breathing told her that his balls had been dragged tight against the base of his cock and she strained to open herself even wider. A spasm of pure lust overtook her, and her cunt clamped down hard on his engorged cock. His breath was hot on her neck and he thrust twice, and then again, pushing her to the brink and then over it. She flailed beneath him, betrayed by her need, surrendering to the bolts of orgasm that pierced her, connecting every part of her in a web of agonizing fulfillment. Through the haze she felt the hot, powerful gouts of his seed forcing themselves into her, flooding her until she couldn't bear it, and she came again triumphantly, clenching herself round his cock and reveling in her power as he groaned helplessly. For a moment she hovered on the brink of Nirvana, and then the pinnacle was gone and she spiraled down, landing safely in his arms, she thought fancifully, her body relaxing, her heart hammering, her breath whistling through her as she gasped for air.

When his weight became too much she opened her eyes and gazed at his relaxed face, his familiar features only inches away, his eyes half-closed and his mouth half-open as he recovered. Sweat trickled down his temple and a drop gathered and splashed onto her cheek. I did that to him, she thought exultantly: he's the best fuck ever and I can wipe him out completely. She twisted and nibbled his chin tenderly.

'Off you get, Luke, or you'll crush me to death and poor Jurgen will be desolated.' His lips twitched in a half-smile at her confident request and he did as he was told, his cock sliding out of her, leaving a feeling of emptiness and need. She felt his semen dribbling out of her and wriggled round and wormed into the crook of his arm, holding the feeling of strength and desirability that he'd ignited. He caught her mood and lay quietly, letting her experience her victory.

'Alright then, missus, ' he muttered finally. 'What do you want to do next? Please can it be something calm and stress-free? I haven't got the energy I used to.' She idly tugged at his chest hair.

'I feel all warm and yummy. Can we have a shower, and then I half-promised Anita we'd meet her for a drink at that bar she likes near the Grande Place.'

'Good plan. I need refreshment and Laura's let supplies run down. I don't think there's even any wine left.'

'That's because you're off tomorrow morning, ' she said reasonably, 'and no-one wants stuff rotting in the fridge; anyway, poor Laura looked exhausted when I arrived. You must have screwed her right through the mattress.'

'Wine doesn't rot, and she was probably faking it to scare you.' he grumbled, and swung himself off the bed. 'Come on then, sweetheart. Let's have that shower, and try not to drip on the carpet when you get up.' She giggled.

'Rude bastard. I should have bitten it off when I had the chance. You'd better carry me.'

ANITA, ELENA OBSERVED

'Why don't you come too?' asked Anita. 'We're only going to have a Friday night drink and say goodbye. He's on a late flight tonight. That's why he's been going through us like a chainsaw, making sure we don't have anything to complain about. Four in three days. It's almost showing off. I hope Magda's having fun and that's he's not too tired. I made him sweat last night.' She stretched and then flinched as Elena's tongue slid over her labia. 'Don't do that again yet, or I'll explode. What with him and you, I'm as sensitive as a soap bubble down there.' Elena lifted her head from Anita's strong thigh.

'Don't boast. He left me wasted too, so there's no need to pretend. I saw you when you limped in this morning. And I can't help licking you: it's your tattoos. I can't keep away from them, and your body's so hard and soft at the same time, and you taste so good ... Anita, if I come with you he'll know in a flash what ... I mean he picks up on things like that straight away. It doesn't matter to me, but you're... ' Her voice tailed off and then she started again. 'I mean, I genuinely never thought we'd end up like this. It's so strange: you're the last person in the world I'd have imagined going down on me.' Her tongue snaked out again and Anita wriggled.

'First real time for me and I can't quite believe it. It was talking about him that got me going. Whatever possessed us to start telling each other all the details?'

'It's his attitude rubbing off on us, ' said her boss seriously. 'He's so upfront about what he likes and wants and is planning to do, that being furtive and ashamed just seems silly after a while. You're the one he's affected most though. I've never seen such a change in a person.' Anita ran her finger down the other woman's back.

'I know. For ages now, when I've been going on to him about how I want to be more like you or Magda, and manage to be confident, and seductive, and innocent, and knowing, at the same time, he's said that would be silly, because trying to turn myself into someone else would be like rejecting who I am, and I ought to go looking for that first. I've been thinking about that. You must have noticed that I've been pushing myself a little, trying to be more open about my physical side.' Her hand slipped round Elena's torso and cupped one soft breast. 'So I can say that your body's so different from mine, and that's exciting for me too. Anyway, I was talking to Magda the other night, and I know she's bi, because we've played games in the shower once or twice, but nothing serious, and she was talking about the differences, and saying that she hadn't been exercising that bit of her recently, and did I fancy a little session, and I was embarrassed and said no, but then I realized that part of me was turned on by the idea. And then when you and I were comparing Luke-notes this afternoon I started getting hotter and hotter, and you didn't seem to mind, and then, when you actually encouraged me, I thought, who better to experiment with? I know you won't laugh at me or gossip. I don't mind Magda knowing, but not anyone else, please. There's still a bit of small-town girl in me.' Elena chuckled.

'And in me, I promise. Bi isn't a huge part of me, but it's nice occasionally. I'll blackmail you into bed when I need seeing to and he isn't around. There's only three or four months left, you know, and then he'll be gone.' Anita didn't reply, and they lay quietly for a while, wrapped in their own thoughts, stroking each others' bodies absently.

'When he's not here it'll be different, ' said Anita eventually. 'Magda will be with Jurgen until they get tired of each other, and then she'll move on. She used to be so shy and now ... well, she's changed a lot too; but you and I, we're more alike, I think. There's part of you that doesn't want to be distracted by a traditional type relationship, and I'm that way too. Luke's helped me realize that, and now I know about it it's just a part of what I am, and not a bubble of scared ignorance choking me and making me think I'm abnormal. I owe him.'

'We all owe him. We've discovered something about ourselves as well as each other, and since we don't go out on the pull, we'll have this with each other, once in a while, till one of us meets a guy who's worth taking a chance with. There aren't many men who'd have been able to show us that. Sometimes I think he's a manipulator, and sometimes a mindreader. What time's this drink then? It's four-thirty now.'

'He's a mixture of both, but he's not cynical and he'd die rather than hurt anyone, ' said Anita, 'and the drinks aren't until sevenish. There's plenty of time. Tell me again how he took you in the shower. He did that to me once, and I thought I was going to die.' She squeezed Elena's nipple gently and the older woman squirmed as it stiffened.

'Only if you eat me out between sentences, and let me do the same.' Anita wriggled round and ran her tongue over Elena's scarlet, swollen pussy lips.

'Deal. So he'd fucked you once, you said, and you were in the shower rinsing off, and he was washing you, the way he does, and then you felt his finger sliding round your ring and into your ass, and then what... ?'

ULI, LOTTIE OBSERVED

'No, Dieter, not tonight.' Uli twisted a strand of hair round her fingers and listened sadly. 'I told you this morning, it's an early flight and I've still got stuff to clean up after the show. This place is a tip, and I can't leave everything for Lottie to do, and I haven't even thought about packing. Last night was fun, and I'm only going to be away for ten days... ' The voice in her ear spoke again and she frowned.

'I'm not rejecting you, Dieter, and I'm not deliberately hurting you. You know that perfectly well. I've been completely honest with you, and told you exactly what we can have together and how good it could be if you'd only let it. You can't force me to love you just by being devoted.' Her voice softened.

'Dieter, you're driving me away from something I value, and you're hurting yourself at the same time. Please, please, try to accept that I've got my own mind, and I've made my own decisions, and that you're an important part of them but not everything. It's not just Luke, it's my career, and everything else in my life, and... ' The voice squawked and she stiffened angrily. 'That's not so! You know very well I could go to ... to Australia by myself for Easter if I wanted to, and ... and stay in a ten star hotel too, and eat caviar every night ... Yes, he does know about you, and he has done since before Christmas, and he knows why I don't want to end it with you, and he doesn't ask me to sacrifice anything for him. You could learn from him, the same as I have... ' Her eyes were hot now, anger and sadness swirling in them.

'No, Dieter, what I'm saying does not make me a whore ... Don't insult me, Dieter: it's childish and it reduces you, and I want to believe you're better than that ... No. I'm going to hang up now and let you think. I'll be back on Wednesday week and we'll talk again then, if you're not still full of self-pity.' She put the receiver down and ran her hands through her hair unhappily. The phone rang again and she glanced at the caller ID, then sighed and ignored it. She looked round the untidy room and groaned. She might as well start the cleaning.

The German spring had surprised everyone and it was unseasonably hot: even though the sun was setting, the flat was stifling. Uli opened the windows and let the breeze flush the day's stale air away. It was still too warm, but at least she felt she could breathe. She shook herself angrily, then stripped off her T-shirt and shorts and let the current of air caress her hot skin. She looked down at her body, then took off her panties and ran the palm of her hand over the slender wedge of pubic hair that decorated her mound. She stood motionless for a little while, thinking, then walked slowly to the bathroom and looked for the razor and skin gel.

She was working obsessively, still naked, her slender body glistening with sweat, trying to lose herself in the therapy of physical effort, when Lottie arrived.

'Uli, for heaven's sake!' She looked round the room, now almost back to normal, her freckled face a study in pleased surprise. Her red hair was tied back and her wide mouth creased into a shamefaced grin. 'I was half afraid you were going to leave it for me to do, and now I feel like a bitch. Thanks, sweetie.' Her eyes flickered over her friend's body and her eyebrows rose when she noticed Uli's smooth pubis. 'You've gone bald again: does that mean... ?' Uli nodded tiredly, and dropped onto the sofa.

'He called and was going on and on, saying that I was killing him, and I was trying to be reassuring, and then he started calling me a slut and saying that I was just going screwing for a free holiday, so I had to remind him that money's not a problem for me. I hate doing that, and then he lost it, so I lost it and told him not to be stupid and childish, and hung up. I thought about it for a bit and then I decided I wasn't going to take that from him. So the stripe came off.' She sniffed. 'Symbolic something, I suppose. It was inevitable, and I know that, but I didn't want it to be with such bad feelings.' Her voice trembled and her eyes filled with tears. Lottie shot over to the sofa and sat next to her, pulling her into an embrace. Uli put her head on her friend's generous, soft breasts and began to sob silently. After a while her body quietened and she sat up.

'Thanks. That was reaction, not unhappiness, and I'm glad you were here to catch it.' She gave Lottie a kiss and stood up. 'There's beer in the fridge. Do you want one?' Lottie nodded vigorously.

'Catching tension is what friends are for, and cold beer completes the cure. You fetch it while I get naked too. I've sweated right through everything. We'll finish the room afterwards.' They sat on the sofa relaxedly, their bodies cooling, talking about their triumph in the Spring Show, and letting the emotion seep away. Diametrical opposites physically, Uli's tall slimness contrasting sharply with Lottie's rounded, fuller body, they had nevertheless become close friends since deciding to live together. Lottie put her bottle down and looked curiously at the blonde girl.

'So when am I going to meet this mysterious Luke? Twice this year you've sneaked off to see him, and you come back glowing like a lighthouse and with enough energy for three people. You don't have to hide him, you know: I won't try to steal him, and I don't think I'm much competition.' She looked down at her plump body and chuckled. 'I like myself like this, and there are plenty of guys who are hot for big girls once you get them to admit it.' Uli smiled.

'It's nothing to do with that. I'd be up for a threesome in a flash, if you wanted to and it felt right, and he cares more about people than bodies, which is another reason I love him. But I'm scared of letting him into all the parts of my life. There's so much of him, and I'm almost totally crazy about him, but there's a part of me that's scared he'll take me over. Not deliberately, but just by being who he is. I think he knows that, and that's why he hasn't invited himself here. He's never put me in a position where I can't say no, but I need to be surer of myself before I let myself love him completely: surer that I can be complete without him, I mean. And then I wonder who I'm kidding, and I start getting frightened that I won't be able to do without him and that I couldn't manage by myself if anything happened to us... ' She ran her hands down her body. 'Look at me: I'm upset about Dieter, I'm worried about the holiday and how we'll be when we're together, but my nipples are like rocks, and I'm dribbling like a leaky tap just from talking about him. It's pathetic. I'm going to have to shower and dress or I'll be staining the upholstery. I'm a hopeless case.' She leaned over and kissed Lottie. 'Thanks for listening. Your reward is to do the last bits and pieces in here. I'm going to get clean, and pack, and count the minutes till I get to Alicante.'

LUKE'S VOICE

I was at the arrival gate when she appeared, her eyes darting round. She was thinner than usual, and looked nervous and tense.

'Hello, pretty lady. Want a hand with your luggage?' She squealed and let go of both cases and flung herself at me.

'Luke, darling, Ohmygod, it's so good to see you.' Her arms twined round my neck and I wrapped mine round her body and let her bury her head in my shoulder. After a moment she raised her face to mine and we kissed. Time stopped as her rich scent made my head spin, then the kiss broke as we were startled by a round of applause from the other passengers. I realized we'd been blocking the exit, and moved her to one side before hauling her cases out of the way.

Come on, sweetheart. You look knackered.' She nodded.

'Can't fool you, can I? I'm tired, and yesterday was horrible, and what with being upset and excited at the same time I didn't sleep much, so I'm a bit weepy and a bit delicate, and I'm so glad I'm here.' Her eyes were filling with tears and I scooped her into my arms again.

'Forty minutes to the house, shower, hold you while you fall asleep, eat and talk when you wake up, go to bed again properly. How does that sound?' She leaned into me tiredly and nuzzled my neck again.

'As if I've died and gone to heaven.'

In the car she sat quietly, and when I glanced at her after ten minutes she was dozing. I turned off the Autovia and drove slowly along back roads to the village. As I pulled up she opened her eyes.

'Where are we?' I turned off the engine.

'Home.'

She was dead on her feet and showed no curiosity as I led her into the cool interior and up the narrow stairs. She made no protest as I slipped her travel-creased clothes off her body and then shed my own T-shirt and shorts and ushered her into the shower. She stood quietly, swaying with exhaustion, as I soaped and rinsed her, not reacting even when I parted her buttocks to clean her ass and pussy. The little racing stripe had gone and I got an inkling of where some of the unhappiness was coming from. She stood still while I dried her, and then followed me like a little girl to the bedroom. When she saw the bed she sighed and started blindly forward.

'Hold me till I fall asleep, Luke. You've washed all the shit away and now there's only the tiredness left. I love you so much.' The words blurred as I helped her into bed. I didn't need to hold her: within five seconds her body had relaxed and her breathing had slowed and deepened. I arranged the mosquito-net carefully, lowered the blinds as quietly as possible, and tip-toed out, closing the door.

I was preparing salad and wondering whether to risk a touch more garlic in the marinade when I heard sounds from upstairs. I had orange juice in the fridge and was on my way up when the toilet flushed, and she emerged from the bathroom, still looking sleep-rumpled. I followed her back into the bedroom and handed her the glass. She drank thirstily and passed it back, then pushed her hair back off her face.

'I'm here, and you're wonderful and whatever you're cooking smells delicious, and I want a proper kiss and the guided tour, please. Kiss first.' She melted into my arms and we lay for a long time, our tongues dancing together, our noses brushing, looking into each others' eyes. Her nipples hardened and pressed against mine, but I knew that this wasn't the time for anything more. She broke the silence.

'How long was I asleep and where am I? Geographically, I mean'.

'Nearly six hours, and it's early evening, and you're about thirty kilometers from the sea and fifty from Alicante, in a little village whose name you won't remember for ten seconds, because it's quite long and complicated, on the top floor of a two-storey house which used to be a cow-shed till I bought it twelve years ago. Do you want to see it?' She nipped my ear lightly.

'I want to get used to being with you again before I start spilling all my woes. Anyway, they seem smaller already and I need to put them in order. Maybe if I put some clothes on we could go and look at the village. I bet there's a bar where you know everybody.'

'There's only one bar here, and one shop, and one hairdressers and one everything, ' I said, 'and they're all in the same place. Come and have a look at the house and then get dressed while I put supper on hold.'

It didn't take long. Two bedrooms, a shower and toilet; one large room and a kitchen downstairs. Air-conditioning, which is a necessary curse for half the year. A small patio with wisteria and vines competing for space. A tumbledown stone shed that would be a garage one day when I lived here more and needed to buy a car instead of renting one, but which meanwhile was a riot of flowering plants that I'd put there to hide the ruins. She was entranced, and I glowed with vicarious pride.

'Did you do all the work yourself?' I threw my hands up in horror and came clean.

'Hell, no. Everything was done by local people, as and when I had the money to pay them. I made a point of never going outside the village for help. It took longer of course: in fact this is only the second year it's been properly habitable, but everyone knows someone who's worked on it: I could probably leave the doors open when I'm away. I'm their pet English guy and they're proud of me. We're off the tourist track here, and I've become an honorary local. It's quite fun most of the time. Going to church is dull, but I try to make the effort or there'd be rumors flying around that I'm a practising Satanist.' She laughed whole-heartedly.

'I'd never have imagined it in a million years. What will they think when they realize you've got a woman here? Won't your reputation suffer?' I smiled at her.

'The whole village knows already, so you'd better be prepared for a lot of curiosity. There'll be sighs of relief all round that I've managed to find someone at last. They probably thought I was a chronic masturbator at best, and a child molesting necrophiliac at worst.' She hugged me cheerfully and I ran my fingers down her naked back and buttocks, feeling a tingle of desire. She stuck her ass out and wiggled it against my hand

'I'm your woman and I've got a right to be inspected. Oh, Luke, you were so gentle with me and I feel so much better. How can I thank you?' I put a finger to her mouth.

'Don't ask silly questions. Go and get dressed, you hussy. I unpacked your stuff while you were snoring.' She thundered up the stairs and I slid food back into the fridge. God only knew what time we'd stagger back. They keep late hours in Spain.

I love my village. The only thing it hasn't got is my kind of work. So I visit when I can, and pay the mortgage faithfully, and make plans, and stay on good terms with the local power structure. And now I was bringing a woman into my private place. I'd thought it through in an objective kind of way, but the reality was different.

The reality reappeared in the doorway and my doubts swirled away like used dishwater.

'Do I look OK?' she asked. 'I don't really know what to wear when I'm being inspected. Will a skirt and blouse do? I don't want to shock people.'

'You're perfect.' I said, and discovered that I meant it.

She held my hand as we walked the two hundred meters to the main square, her eyes everywhere, gobbling up the new sights and storing them for examination later.

'There's a stream running down the side of the road, ' she said wonderingly.

'Used to be the water for the whole village. It's about the only one round here that doesn't dry up in summer.' She dipped a hand in the water and flicked the drops at me.

'Why?' she asked suddenly.

'Why what?'

'Why me?' she said simply. 'Mum says you've never brought anyone here, and last year I had to drag the fact that you even had a house out of you with pliers, and now you casually invite me to come into your private world, and you don't seem to have thought twice about it. Though I know you must have, ' she added, 'because you think about everything. But my question stands. Why me, why now?' I shrugged.

'Have you been reading my mind? I thought about it more than twice, I promise you, and I was nervous as a kitten till I saw you. It seemed the right time, and don't insult yourself by saying "why me?" No-one else comes close.' She didn't press me any further, but she squeezed my hand hard.

This place is out of a history book, ' she said after a moment. 'Is everything as old as it looks?'

'Most of it. The Civil War managed to miss them and they didn't get a proper road in here till the seventies, and you might have noticed it's a bit steep, so there's not much space for development. There's a castle about a kilometer down that lane. I'll show you tomorrow.' We turned the corner into the square and I stopped suddenly. The little terrace outside Manuel's bar had more tables than usual, and was full of people. As far as I could see the interior was full too. To my horror I saw that a table by the entrance was conspicuously empty. 'Oh, shit.' I said.

'What?' 'Take a look. You're going to have to kiss a lot of total strangers tonight. It looks as if it's going to turn into a memorable evening.' She gave a little skip.

'Let's do it then. When it's us we can do anything.'

'Memorable was right, ' she mumbled through a mouthful of toothpaste. 'Do they party like that all the time?' I shook my head.

'Usually only during fiesta week. But it's Saturday, and there was a new person to be curious about, and they like me, and they loved you. I didn't expect dancing though. You looked good when the Mayor was whirling you round.' She rinsed and spat.

'He must be seventy if he's a day and he was feeling me up like a randy teenager. I couldn't believe it. Good job I put a bra on or he'd have had a stroke. The kids were sweet too, staring at me as if I was from Mars.'

You're the first natural blonde they've seen. You must have kissed the whole population of the place twice. Thanks for putting up with it.' She blew me a kiss.

'I was with you, so it was alright.' She yawned and stretched. 'I can't believe I'm still tired. I might fall asleep on you unless you're very forceful.' I put my arms round her and pressed myself against her buttocks, looking at our reflections in the little mirror over the basin.

'We'll take it as it comes. Look at us: are we conventional?' She caught my eye in the mirror and we smiled at each other.

'Well, we'll go to bed and see what comes up, ' she murmured, 'and if it doesn't there's always the morning.'

'Warm enough for no sheets and a mosquito net to be romantic under, ' she sighed happily as we spooned peacefully against each other. 'I could drift off like this, no problem. There's something happening behind me though.' I groaned.

'Not my fault. I can smell you and feel you and I react. It'll go away in a while.' I felt her silent laughter.

'Don't you dare apologize. Anyway, it's a two-way street.' I felt her hand move to her crotch and she wriggled slightly, then a finger nudged my lips. The rich scent of fresh woman filled my nostrils and I suckled her finger greedily. My cock throbbed and she pushed her ass against it.

'If you just slide it in gently and leave it there, then we'll either fall asleep or we won't, and it doesn't matter which.' She raised her thigh a little and I guided myself along the valley between her labia till the tip of my cock was nudging the entrance to her pussy. She squirmed and I slipped into her moist depths. I was aroused, but curiously I felt no sense of urgency, nor any need to do more than let my cock nestle in the warm cavern that seemed to have been designed for it. She pushed her rump against me and squeezed briefly once, then relaxed again. We sighed simultaneously as the comfort of union filled us, and she gave a soft mumble of appreciation. Her body relaxed and after the shortest time she was asleep. Within minutes I had followed her lead.