spend the night here, courtesy of Ralph and Norma. And while her husband hadn't said so, there had been intimations that the weekend might be extended to two nights, the four of them returning late Monday. She hoped not. God, she hoped not, for then Howard would never be away from Ralph's almost evil influence. A small shudder passed through her. What would happen with such concentrated exposure to his manager's suggestions?
Her inner torment stopped abruptly as she was suddenly brought back to the present by Norma's thin, smooth-skinned hand on her shoulder. She looked at the woman, who was smiling in a concerned, worried way, and Cindy smiled back as best she could.
'Something's the matter, isn't it, Cindy?' the other woman said in a condescending way. 'You've been sitting here all evening, your face like a mask of tragedy.'
'Oh… oh, it's nothing, Norma. Really it isn't.'
'Of course it is, Cindy. A woman can tell, just like I could tell the other night when we talked in The Gandydancer. Do you want to confide in me now, Cindy? Before you explode with whatever's bothering you?'
The hapless wife hesitated, opened her mouth to say something, then caught herself and stopped. It was too embarrassing. Just how could she go about confiding to this woman that her husband had influenced Howard to the point where their whole life was nearly crumbling? Norma, the wife that she was, would certainly go to the defense of her husband, and rightly so, for what proof had Cindy? And Ralph, big-hearted and no doubt thinking he was doing the right thing, would be crushed and hurt — perhaps to the point of damaging Howard's career. No, Cindy couldn't tell Norma that.
But still, she was so low and miserable that she had to confide in someone. The martinis had helped in loosening her soul, in making her want to confess her innermost agony, and as she looked at Norma, her eyes once more filled with salty tears and two droplets began to course down her cheeks. Perhaps it would be a mistake, but if she chose her words and skirted the problem with Ralph, she could tell Norma.
She looked around to make sure that she would not be overheard by her husband or Ralph, saw them in a heated discussion on the merits of spoon fishing over live bait, and then turned back to Norma.
'It's… it's Howard,' she whispered.
'I thought it might be,' Norma said with pursed lips. 'He's been acting almost as strangely as you have, Cindy.' She stood up, glancing at the men as she did. 'Let's step into the kitchen where we can be alone, all right?'
Nodding, Cindy followed Norma into the kitchen. She leaned against the old cast-iron wood cook stove, her hands clasped in front of her, not sure where to begin. Finally she blurted, 'I… can't seem to make him happy anymore, Norma.'
If Cindy had been a little more sober, a little less upset with her own problems, she might have noticed the sudden gleam in Ralph's wife's eyes. The spark which was almost a gloat, for in Norma's mind an entirely different set of thoughts were going on, thoughts which if Cindy had known would have sent her screaming from the cabin.
You better believe he's not happy with you, Norma thought. And he won't be… ever… until you learn what I had to learn. Your lessons are already started, only you don't know it, my sweet little innocent… and tonight is going to be a real test… when Ralph throws his wonderfully huge and talented cock into your tight, clasping cunt… or even better, between those red lips of yours…
Outwardly, the calculating wife of Howard's boss smiled with assurance and said, 'I'm sure that he loves you, though.'
'I don't know,' moaned Cindy. 'Not anymore. He… he's demanding… things of me which I… I just can't do!'
'You mean… sexually?'
Her face a livid color of scarlet, Cindy nodded. 'I try to be a good wife for him. I want to please him so very much. I cook him good meals and clean the house every day and try to show him I love him in everything I do, but lately it doesn't seem to be pleasing him like it used to.'
Norma took the nearly crying little wife by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye, knowing that this was when she could really set the stage for Ralph… as well as herself and that strong hunk of man, Howard. Her pussy tingled at the thought of getting fucked by that handsome, young salesman. She said, 'Now I'm going to give you some advice, Cindy. I'll be blunt and truthful, and I hope you'll understand. If you do, then I'm sure that your marriage will be saved.'
'Yes?' There was a ray of hope in Cindy's voice. 'You really think so, Norma?'
'I wouldn't be telling you this if I didn't. I had to go through the same thing with Ralph, and you can see that after ten years we are still very happily together. The same can be true of you and Howard. Now first of all, a man loves a woman sexually, not by the food she cooks. He can go to a restaurant for that, and a maid can be brought in to clean the house, and a laundry can do his clothes just fine. But his wife can do something which no other woman can do — satisfy him sexually. After all, he married her because he loved her, which makes their relations much closer than he could get with say, some girl he could meet in a bar. Right?'
'Oh, yes!'
'And let me tell you this: no man is going to leave his wife if he knows he's got the best bed-partner right there at home. That's not to say that sex for its own sake is wrong, mind you; it's just not as good as with the one you love.' Damned right, Norma thought, feeling another man's cock deep in my warm pussy is a thrill, and I love it, but it only makes me appreciate the heart and love I have for Ralph later, when we're making love… and the same goes for him!
Norma continued in earnest appeal. 'So it's up to you to do everything and I mean everything — that you can to make your husband happy in bed. When I married Ralph, I was so inexperienced that I thought the only way to make love was flat on my back, staring at the ceiling. No wonder I never really enjoyed it! I was too uptight, too worried that I would do something wrong, but Ralph was insistent and forced me to follow his lead, to join in all sorts of wild and wonderful games. At first I hated it, but after I learned to let myself go, once I saw that what people do in the privacy of their lives can't be wrong as long as it gives pleasure to them both, I really started enjoying sex. Now,' and here Norma chuckled, 'now I'm as insatiable as my husband!'
'You… think that's what's the matter with Howie and me?'
'I know it, Cindy. A man likes variety and not the same old thing. It's the spice of life after all, and keeps him interested in you…'
Norma talked on, lecturing Cindy, and as she did so the sweet, innocent housewife avidly drank in her words. It was true what she said. Norma and Ralph were happy after all these years. Howard had been bitter when she refused to do things to him — with him — of a sexual nature; things like posing with him in the picture taking, things like kissing his penis and letting him kiss her between the legs.
As the other woman talked, Cindy saw that it wasn't Howard or Ralph who was at fault for her misery, but herself. Her selfish attitude, one born of ignorance and timidity, and yes, even of prudery. She was a prude, just as Howard had accused!
Well, things were going to change, and change fast. She made up her mind to that. Tonight they were going to change, she vowed. Tonight she would try to kiss Howard's penis, even if it killed her. When fifteen minutes later she walked back out to the living room, she was firmly convinced this was the way to Howard's heart, and she sat back down and poured herself another martini.
I've got to have strength to go through with tats, she said to herself, gritting her teeth. Some more liquor will help… She downed the strong drink and poured another. Just then there was the large shadow of Howard's boss hovering over her, and she looked up, startled. He grinned down at her expansively.
'Care to dance, my dear?' he asked.
'No… no, thank you, Ralph.'
'Oh, come on. Norma asked your husband to, and they're having fun. See?' He indicated the couple who were dancing on the rug, and it was only then that Cindy realized that the living room had changed in the brief time she'd been in the kitchen. She had no idea that Ralph had been busily at work, having seen his lovely wife take her into the kitchen, that he had been waiting for the chance to start his work…
Low, slow-rhythmed music filtered from the large radio-phonograph combination in one corner, filling the room with almost a fog of violins and muted woodwinds. The fire had been banked, and now only the glowing embers lit the room, making deep, dancing shadows against the walls and ceiling. And there, in the middle of the room were Norma and Howard, dancing.
