like… well, like Jane Eyre or somebody.'
Neal laughed. 'I'm kind of looking forward to it myself, all right. But if you hear any howling beasts in the middle of the night, don't you dare go out to investigate!'
She poked his arm lightly. 'Oh you!'
He sobered for a moment, kissing her again and peering into her eyes. 'You will have a good time won't you? I'll be thinking about you all the while I'm in Greece.'
'And I about you, darling,' she replied. 'But I'll have a fine time, I know I will.'
If young Sharon Court had but overheard in that moment the low-toned conversation being carried on by the other two people waiting with them — Lena and Rodney Alvaro — she would not have been so certain of her enjoyment of the next few days at Marlowe Manor; she would, in fact, have recoiled in abject horror and disbelief at the exchange of words between her supposed best friend and the man who was her husband's superior. Never in her wildest imagination could she have considered the dark and licentious plotting of these two outwardly normal, respectable people.
Lena Alvaro — smallish, pert, just past thirty — stood very close to her graying, distinguished, somewhat portly mate, her dark eyes flashing with a usually hidden intensity. Her black, close-cropped hair shone with reddish highlights in the strong light of the airport waiting area, and her generous red mouth was quirked into a smile of anticipation and delight. Her long-nailed fingers plucked at the buttons on his overcoat in emphasis as she spoke.
'Yes, everything is arranged with Mark,' Lena was saying softly. 'He's given all his servants the week off, all except Wafto of course. And he has all the necessary items we'll need for a complete subjugation of dear sweet Sharon.'
'Good, good,' enthused Rodney, his brown eyes showing their approval of his wife; he never stopped marveling at the depths of her wantonness, so carefully hidden from public view — wantonness, and yes, her streak of sadistic delight in the debauching of young, innocent women like Neal Court's wife. 'I'll keep Neal in Athens about three days. That ought to give you enough time, especially if Rajah is up to his old tricks,' he chuckled lewdly, almost inaudibly.
'Mark — and Wafto — will see to that,' Lena told him.
'Wafto,' Rodney chuckled almost sardonically. 'Sometimes I shudder when I think of that ugly little man's penis inside your fine belly, my sweet. Promise me you won't suck him while you're at Marlowe Manor.'
'I won't make any such promise at all,' Lena said, her eyes gleaming. 'You know how much I like the taste of a man in my mouth.'
Rodney sighed. 'I suppose I'll have to console myself with the thought of getting my own cock — and my tongue, too! — between those soft, silky thighs of Mrs. Sharon Court.'
'And so you will, my love, as soon as you return.'
'She's not going to be an easy one to conquer,' Rodney mused. 'She's devoted to Neal, and she's intelligent too.'
'Just leave things to Mark and Wafto — and yes, Rajah — and I, my pet,' said Lena. 'I've cultivated that young beauty long enough; the time is ripe for action, now.'
'You know best, Lena,' Rodney said, gathering her into his arms, pressing her firm, rounded body tight against his. 'You never fail me — or yourself — do you?'
'Never,' she replied, nipping his ear. 'Mrs. Sharon Court will be a new woman, indeed, when you return three days from now.'
'I'll not have any doubts at all.'
'Now then, about Neal,' Lena said.
'Yes?'
'Will you tell him of Mark and I? Prepare him for a shock when he returns?'
'I think not,' said Rodney. 'I had debated doing so — and perhaps taking him round to those Eurasian twins in the Old Quarters of Athens, the ones who have performed so admirably upon other guests of mine in the past; but he is as devoted to young Sharon as she is to him. I don't think it would be wise to give him any inkling of what perhaps might happen at Marlowe Manor before he rejoins his beauteous young wife.'
'And when you and he return?'
'If you have done your job well, as I know you will, my sweet, we shall have no trouble with Neal. There is Wafto's magnificent potion, and Mark's hidden cameras; once Neal has joined in the festivities, as surely he will, there will be nothing he can do to us without risking his own ruination. And, if he is like so many in the past, he will realize the immense pleasures of the flesh — just as his Sharon surely shall — and become a convert to our way of thinking.'
'Then we'll proceed along those lines,' Lena said. 'I'll tell Mark what we've discussed.'
'Good,' he kissed her neck. 'Now remember, my love, save some of that fine energy for your husband; don't spend it all on Mark and Wafto — and Rajah, though I refuse to think of you with that…'
'Hush, now,' Lena cautioned, smiling. 'You know that no man satisfies me like you, pet, fat and fiftyish though you may be. Your cock is still the most magnificent I have ever had.'
'I could receive no greater compliment, Lena my love…'
Just then, the voice of the public address announcer came from the overhead speakers, announcing that Flight 171 to Athens was now boarding at Gate 11. All passengers were requested to embark immediately.
Standing several feet away from the venereous, plotting Alvaro couple, innocently oblivious of their hideous future plans for them, the happily married young Americans embraced one last time. Their kiss was long and passionate, and it was with reluctance that Neal Court withdrew his mouth from the sweet soft lips of his wife and gently held her away. 'They're calling the flight, sweetheart,' he said. 'Rodney and I have to be boarding the plane now.'
'I know,' Sharon said with a sigh. 'Oh Neal, you will be careful, won't you? Please?'
'Of course I will. Now you promised: no worrying.'
'Okay.'
'We'll be together again soon,' he laughed. 'After all, what's three little days, anyway?'
Rodney Alvaro, beaming, came up to them just then. 'We'd best be getting along, my boy,' he said in a kindly voice to Neal. 'They're not in the habit of holding flights for even such important personages as you and I,' he winked, poking the younger man lightly on the arm.
Neal laughed, and Sharon managed a smile of her own. Lena came up beside her, taking her arm in a friendly way, as the two men stepped through the railed divider, handing their tickets to the man at the raised counter there. The man checked the tickets, returned the stubs to them, and Neal and Rodney proceeded to the chute which led to the waiting jet. They turned there, waving, and Lena and Sharon waved back. The young blonde wife blew a kiss to her departing husband just before he disappeared down the chute.
Sharon sighed a little tremulously. 'Oh, Lena, I do hope everything will be all right.'
'Of course it will, dear,' soothed the older, dark-haired woman. 'Come along, now. We can watch them take off from the Observation Deck.'
Less than half an hour later, the plane carrying Neal Court and Rodney Alvaro to Athens taxied down the runway and executed a routine takeoff, being swallowed after a few moments by the thick, gray billows of fog. 'There, you see?' Lena chided softly. 'Nothing at all to fret about, was there?'
'No, of course not,' said Sharon. She made a face. 'Sometimes I can be an awfully silly goose.'
'Nonsense!' Lena told her: 'It's perfectly natural to be concerned about the ones you love. I feel the same way about Rodney flying, even after all these years.'
Sharon was surprised. 'You do? But you seem so calm…'
'A facade, built up over many years,' Lena said smoothly. 'You'll learn the art of being a businessman's wife after a few years, never fear.'
'I hope so,' said Sharon. 'Not only for my sake, but for Neal's.'
The two women walked down to the parking area, bending their lithe bodies into the sharp, cold wind which sent the tendrils of fog eddying high overhead. They located the Alvaros' Jaguar sedan and slipped inside.
'Brrr,' shivered Sharon, hugging herself tightly with both arms; in spite of the heavy clothing she wore, the wind and the fog had penetrated to put a chill on her flesh. 'I hope it isn't going to be this cold at Marlowe Manor.'
