stayed in the restroom so long. But they exchanged only a few words, and then there was silence.
Maria saw that her hands were sweaty and slightly soiled, so she decided to remain long enough to wash them. She then suddenly realized how very excited she was about Eva. She wondered if the suspicious bodyguards would or could be persuaded or fooled into letting her out that night. But as she dried her hands, she shook her head dejectedly. Why did it have to be business? Eva Harnecz was the kind of girl Maria would love to meet as a personal and loving friend.
Opening the door casually and moving out into the curtained areaway, Maria found herself suddenly slammed against the wall by a heavy-set man in a lumpy suit! Without saying a word, he brutally pushed her back into the small lavatory room and locked the door!
Chapter 7
The man stood over her after pushing Maria to the floor. He glared down at her and spit in her face in a show of absolute contempt, his face snarling as he said, 'Woman! Bah! Get up! Stand up!'
Maria, supporting herself along the wall, strained and pushed herself up until she was standing again. She was not really physically afraid of the man, but he had gained the drop on her. He held a big pistol in his hand and, regardless of their being in an airplane full of passengers and maybe even a sky-marshal, she knew he would use it if he had to. However, she decided to take an offended and slightly aggressive approach in dealing with him.
'What the hell do you mean by this?' she demanded. 'If you don't get out instantly I'll ring for the stewardess. This is an outrage!'
'The girl who was in here with you,' he said, his voice guttural and deep with menace. 'What were you talking about? What do you want with her?'
Maria narrowed her own eyes. 'That's none of your damned business!' she told him. 'How dare you spy on us? Get out of my way-I'm going to report this to…'
Brutally, he seized her wrist and twisted it sharply; spinning her around and jerking it up until her fingers were almost touching.the nape of her neck. She felt his breath hissing into her hair, his hard and muscular body against hers. A wave of nausea passed through her.
'Listen to me!' he said tersely. 'The girl you were speaking to is very important. You do not communicate with her again! You understand?'
As quietly as possible, Maria was raising her left foot. He was standing so close to her that she felt sure he must feel her weight shifting. But apparently he didn't expect her to retaliate. He gave her wrist another vicious turn. Maria gritted her teeth against the pain.
Then she brought her stiletto heel down as hard as she could on his instep, grinding the sharp point into the soft flesh above his shoe laces.
He screamed in agony, the noise filling the tiny room. Automatically, his hand released her wrist and went down to his injured foot. Expertly, the girl swung round, smashing her bent knee below into his face.
The big man fell heavily to the floor, crashing sideways into the lavatory bowl. Maria seized his neck and lifted his head bodily into the toilet bow then brought the seat cracking down on the back of his skull. She stepped in front of the mirror and calmly made her face up; adjusted her disheveled clothing, and went out shutting the door gently behind her.
'When she walked back down the aisle to her seat, she saw the second man watching her with startled eyes. Maria gave him a sexy smile as she went past, enjoying the look of bewilderment on his face. Deliberately, she ignored Eva. It was probably better to keep the girl in suspense for the time being as to her feelings at being intimidated by the 'bodyguard'.
She took her seat next to Erica, knowing that their bodies and faces were well-hidden by the high-backed armchair type chairs.
'That was a long time!' Erica whispered. 'What happened? Did. you have any luck with her? I saw one of the men get up and bang on the door: then he went into one of the toilets. It wasn't the one you were in, was it?' The girl looked rather concerned, Maria noticed with a renewed interest in her companion.
'Everything's under control,' she reassured Erica, patting her lightly on one nylon-clad knee. 'Haven't you heard? I can take very good care of myself!' She gave the girl a friendly, affectionate smile.
And then, Maria realized, I'm absolutely surrounded by beautiful and available women! Erica looked as if she wouldn't require too much gentle persuasion to submit to a little lesbian love-making. The girl was regarding her with a light in her eyes that was akin to hero-worship. She had evidently realized that Maria had quite a reputation for dealing with thugs. And when the curtains swished back and the bodyguard emerged, his mopping-up operations not altogether successful, judging by the thin trickle of blood at his mouth and the way he was holding his head, Erica's eyes popped with admiration.
Maria lit two cigarettes and placed one delicately between the girl's lips. Yes, definitely Erica, she mentally counted. And, of course, darling Sandra-waiting patiently for her on the island hideaway.
And most important of all, Eva. She must save most of her energy and inspiration for the very beautiful Hungarian, Maria reminded herself.
What about the girl with Eva, the one who looked as if she was her maid? Maria felt reasonably convinced that, knowing Eva’s true nature, her traveling companion wasn’t there solely to help her dress and undress. Their relationship was almost certainly deeper and more intimate than that, she felt sure. Her mind began to conjure up all sorts of interesting and sexy combinations.
First, though, it was imperative that she make absolutely sure of Eva. Business and pleasure before pleasure only, Maria chuckled. And it looked as if the seduction of Eva Harnecz was going to prove more pleasurable than all her other assignments put together!
At 11 p.m., Maria stood in front of the bedroom mirror, checking her appearance for the last time. She wore a close-fitting, yellow chiffon negligee; the thin, silky gauze clinging like a second skin to her otherwise naked body. She turned, presenting her profile to the mirror. The upright melons of her breasts pressed boldly underneath their solitary garment, the ripe thrust of her nipples clearly visible.
Maria had taken great pains to insure that she was looking her loveliest. She had spent a leisurely hour in the bath, sprayed her body liberally with an expensive perfume, made up her face so that her particularly full and luscious lips were shown off to perfection, and then donned the sheer, scanty negligee.
The warm night air wafted sweetly into the room and filled it with the smell of light sea breezes. Maria switched off all the lights except for a pink-bulbed table lamp and walked out onto the balcony.
From the ninth floor, she could see out over the street and beach to the Mediterranean’s horizon. Below her, the girl could see an inspiring panorama of lights and fast-moving traffic, as the tourists and locals alike made toward the late closing bars and restaurants.
The curtains billowed gently as Maria went back to the bed and let herself fall onto the well-sprung mattress, her negligee creeping carelessly above her knees. She put her bands behind her neck, fingers interlocking, causing the prominent balls of her breasts to move in a sexy jiggle. She looked down at them proudly, the nipples made stiff by the friction of the nylon against them. And then there came a faint but insistent rapping at the door.
Quickly, Maria swung her legs off the bed and crossed to it. She opened the door and Eva sidled quickly into the room, breathing heavily and obviously in a state of exhaustion after a tiring run.
Maria turned the key in the lock and helped the panting girl to a chair, sitting on the arm and leaning over her solicitously. “Did you have trouble getting away?” she asked Eva. “What happened? You look terribly out of breath.”
Eva waited until she could speak without panting. “It was the men on the plane,” she told Maria. “They’re supposed to be my bodyguards and they follow me around everywhere I go. But I think I’ve managed to shake them off. I led them quite a chase. We covered the best part of Nice, I should think!”
Eva let her head fall back against the cushion. The Hungarian girl was wearing an evening gown which fell away from her shoulders in a revealing way, exposing a generous amount of her big breasts. It was satin fronted, coming down modestly to her sides and a deep blue in color. The rise and fall of her bosom alternately widened
