women would, he concluded, admit to such interest, for their jealousy would be too great to admit that their lover or husband could have found consolation in a woman other than themselves.
But she was sincere; that was the crux of it. She wanted to know his amorous predilections so she could please him. If that were true, and he had no reason to doubt it, what a glorious mistress she would make. “But haven't I been explicit, sweet?” he asked.
“Oh, silly, of course you haven't, and you've made the outline so enchanting I feel like the Sultan Shahriyar with Scheherazade, though that is not, my love, to imply at all that you have any lack of masculinity. Here I am, waiting for the story to be told me, and you stop it there. That's hardly fair since I said I would take the consequences.”
“How beautiful you are, Marcia. I like your coiffure, so free and flowing. I can hardly keep from plunging my fingers into it and feeling the soft elusive silk.”
“You shan't, not till you've satisfied my feminine curiosity. I want to know everything. Yes, my darling, don't be afraid. I want you to tell me what you did with all those lovely girls. How lucky they were, too, for you were almost inexperienced then, long before I knew you. I'm envious of them; I want to put myself in their place, but I can't unless you tell me all.”
Then he sat down, not too close to her, and said, “Well, how shall I start my darling?”
“Oh, you tantalizing creature! You exasperate me, Max. Begin, why of course, with that charming girl who prepared you-the one like a hospital nurse. Describe her-what she did-your reaction to it. Please, honey, if you want me to love you tonight. Please.”
He smiled voluptuously. “My dear young lady, this is our wedding night. You're alone with me, the door can be quickly locked, and I've no doubt the suite is soundproof, so figure out for yourself what chance you'd have escaping my caresses- odious though they may be.”
She laughed heartily, though a sweet pink flush suffused her cheeks. “Oh my darling, you idiot- do you actually think this will be a rape tonight? Oh, laugh-yes, Max-for I've read how many wedding nights are just that. But not yours, my dear one. I'm way behind you in experience, I know it, but I do feel I can satisfy your every wish. And I can do it better if I know something of your past love-making. Please, it's much better stimulant than all the champagne.”
“How engagingly you please, my dear one. Very well, I shall spare your tender ears not a single detail or love word, though I warn you, you may be quite shocked before the night is done.”
“By your words or your deeds, my liege lord?” she whispered, very very sweetly.
He felt his heart pound erratically at that thrilling intimation. “Then listen, Marcia-and may I apologize in advance for anything I may say that will offend you.”
“In advance, too, my beloved Max, you won't offend me. I know you to be a cultured man of fine taste, a very darling man. Besides, I'm yours, and what you feel I too feel. Make me feel it, live it with you as if I were there invisibly watching over you, my love. Yes, and ready to step in to please you if any of those fascinating women did not!”
Again he drew a deep breath. She stupefied him. What man could count himself so lucky as to have a girl like this ready to sleep beside him-all his- a beautiful face and body, an imaginative mind which no man before had savored yet which was all his, eager to be, desiring to give him all possible joys of the flesh!
“Well, my curious minx, let's see. I was taken by the master of ceremonies to a boudoir adjoining the bathroom of one of the large suites on the second floor of the house.”
“Yes? He did-did he stay then-while-”
“Oh, no, Marcia, sweet,” he chuckled, at her almost ingenuous, yet so exquisitely delicious avidity to learn each nuance. “No, he showed me the door, bade me a courteous au revoir, told me I would be sent for when all was in readiness, and said only that I wasn't to-shall we say-become too excited.”
“Ah? And what did he mean by that, my handsome reprobate?”
He flushed and so did she, but her sweet, widened, humid eyes fixed so ardently on him that he couldn't digress or evade. Nor did he, wishing suddenly with a tingle of excitement to test this probity of hers, this candor and to stimulate her by words-to deeds, to daring, and to delights.
“Well, let's see. Since I was to satisfy the whims of perhaps three women, I was to conserve my energy so that none would be disappointed.”
“How very charmingly replied, my darling one. But tonight, you see, you shall have only one insatiable young woman. But I warn you, she will demand all your energy.”
It took his breath away to hear this from those soft, full red lips, to see that sweet cameo face so lighted with teasing promise. And he knew then, without doubt, that Marcia would fulfill that promise to the ultimate degree. Oh, to crush that maddeningly rounded, firm lithe body to his-to know its naked beauty and virgin treasures!
As if abashed by her own daring, the young brown-haired beauty bowed her head, studied intently the play of her left hand on her lap, then puffed on her cigarette. “Go on, dear,” she murmured.
“Very well, my love. I entered this room and found standing before the mirror a handsome brunette. She was about twenty-four, with a very voluptuous rounded form and a face like a girl just out of finishing school with that paradoxical addition of a primness of composed features. Her skin was intensely white, though I have no doubt that yours-the finest-would far surpass hers.”
“Oh? Pure conjecture,” Marcia laughed, pretending to draw the folds of her gown about her ripe young body.
“I'm not so sure,” he retorted laughingly. “At any rate, the young lady was dressed in a white satin housecoat with trim little black leather pumps and sheer black hose which as I could see, since the skirt of her housecoat was not too long, covered pretty calves and ankles.”
“Ever the roving eye.” Marcia throatily chuckled, puffing at her cigarette. But the surge of her bosom indicated that all this preamble had not been without emotional results.
“And why not, my darling? You were not in sight then.”
“Oh, all right, don't rub it in. What did the girl say and do?”
“I'm coming to that, you charming curiosity cat. She smiled very sedately and said, 'What a pleasure it is to prepare such a handsome guest. The young ladies will truly have a treat in store for them. And now, sir, if you will do just as I say, I'll prepare you for the evening ahead.' She had closely bobbed hair and a pretty little nurse's cap- that is why I said she suggested the hospital nurse. And, indeed, she had a clinical precision to her which both surprised and enchanted me. She came to me and said, 'I'm going to undress you now, you know, a special robe is set aside for you. Then too, I must perfume and anoint you. I trust you won't be offended, it's quite customary, as perhaps the master of ceremonies told you.'
“I told her, Marcia, my love, that I understood that, as a matter of scientific curiosity, I was hers to do with as she would. She then undressed me completely-yes, even my shorts-and when I was naked as a babe before her, without the least hesitance or flushing on her part, she said, 'My, what a strong and handsome body you have. It's a real delight for me. If you like, you may call me by my name. It is Irma.'
“So, Marcia, I told her it was far more to my pleasure that such a lovely girl attend me, and she smiled faintly and said that I was certain to afford all the others great joy tonight. Then, to my surprise, she went down on her knees, took a jar of ointment and showed it to me, asking if I had any objection to it. Of course I said no, curious to know what she would do.
“But before putting on the ointment she began, to my intense surprise and, I confess it shamelessly, my complete delight, to tongue bathe me!”
“Oh? How original, dear; certainly such a preparation as that must have made you very amorous.”
He trembled. So wise, so candid was this lovely virgin-already he felt his male senses stirring pleasantly in his vitals. “It did, I shall not deny it. Indeed, in the first few moments when her soft little tongue began to lick my feet and ankles, I experienced the usual phenomenon of desire.”
“You mean, my love, that you had an erection?” softly came the astounding word from his virgin wife.
“Marcia, you provocative darling! Yes, and if you keep up such interruptions you will produce the same effect and won't have a chance to hear the story you asked for.”
“I intend to produce that effect. I'd be a poor sort of wife if I could not. But as to interrupting to spoil the story-no, no, my lover.”
And once again, the sophisticated Max was left speechless by the charmingly bold coquetry of his wife.
