Neil Forit - Lust Takes A Holiday

"All right, be quiet the both of you," the director growled authoritatively, cutting Fred off from replying. "If you want to continue here, you'll both cooperate. Otherwise there'll be a lot of trouble." His eyes narrowed ominously and he focused them on the husband and wife in turn. "If you try to get out of this there's going to be a lot of trouble for everyone. You remember a certain packet of photos in the desk, don't you Dinah? I hope you realize your fingerprints are all over them, and it might be embarrassing if word of that leaked out. So you can see we're all in this together."

The young wife's eyes narrowed as she gazed at Tomley, trembling with hostility. So, he had planted the envelopes too. It was all a trick.

She'd been trapped, she and Fred too, though that didn't make things any easier to take.

"You wouldn't dare do a thing like that," she spat.

"Oh yes, I would, and I've done other things just like it. Our little group here has been going on a long time and we've managed to preserve the utmost secrecy." She watched as he smiled confidently, enunciating his words with calm composure. "We've had to be pretty clever to preserve the anonymity of our group, and we've succeeded. So, don't try going against the tradition. You'll both be cut down quicker than you think. I'm sure you understand."

"Photographs, what the hell are you talking about?" Fred asked, a puzzled frown contorting his face. It seemed like the whole trap had been set much more carefully than he had figured.

"Just relax," Tomley soothed. "Your wife can give you the details later. I'm in a bit of a hurry now, but before I go, let me tell you the first meeting will be tomorrow night at my place. Plan on being there, because if you aren't…"

He needn't have bothered completing the sentence, for both Dinah and Fred Peterson knew exactly what he meant and what was more knew that he would follow through on his threats.

Myra had been sitting down listening to the conversation with an impassive expression on her face. She was casually smoking a cigarette and tilting her head back as she blew jets of air toward the ceiling.

"I think they understand now," she said coldly to the director. "I'd appreciate it if you'd give me a ride home. I'm in just as much a hurry as you are."

"All right, I think I've gotten my message across. I'll expect to see both of you at my place at nine o'clock. Be there."

Perfectly in command, Tomley escorted Myra from the room, leaving the distraught husband and wife facing each other. The tension grew quietly between them until finally Dinah broke from the strain. With her blouse half-unbuttoned she rushed over to Fred and threw her arms around him.

"Oh God, honey, forgive me. I'm so sorry," she begged, sobs choking her throat. "They tricked us. They tricked both of us. What are we going to do about that meeting tomorrow? I'm so afraid."

Stonily, the young scientist backed away from his pleading wife, a frown of distaste disfiguring his forehead. "We're going, that's what we're doing," he said. "And don't think everything's going to be all right. I saw what you did, and I'm not going to forgive you for a long, long time."

Suddenly a flush of anger flooded Dinah's cheeks.

"How can you say that? How can you possibly be so hypocritical. Did you forget that I saw everything you did? Everything." How dare he treat me like this, she thought bitterly. After all he's done he actually has the nerve to act so damn self-righteous and unforgiving. Does he think I'm the only one to blame?

In a day that had already wracked her nerves this was the last straw.

Her eyes blazing, she wordlessly gripped her handbag and headed for the door, turning off the light on the way out. Let him find his own way, she said bitterly to herself. If he wanted to play dirty, so could she.

One thing was sure. Their life together was going to change very quickly. He was going to pay for the way he'd humiliated her, and she was going to make sure that the price was big.

Dinah couldn't help feeling nervous as Ralph Tomley led them through his home the following evening. It was located only five miles or so from the center in a secluded pine area, and it had the aura of a southern mansion of the type she'd only seen in movies before. Tall, stately pillars graced the front; colonial windows with fresh painted shutters broke up the whiteness of the facade, but the exterior was only an introduction to the magnificence of the inside.

The furniture was richly varnished colonial, and the walls were decorated with prints of horses and hunting scenes. Expensive-looking art objects perched on every table, and the carpeting was so plush that she nearly sank into it with each step.

"Where is everyone? I thought this was supposed to be some kind of a meeting?"

"Just relax," the director chuckled casually. "Everyone is downstairs in the game room. Appropriate name for the place, don't you think? I just had it soundproofed. There aren't many neighbors around here, but things get noisy at times, you know."

Her whole body trembled nervously as the older scientist's remarks reminded her of their purpose at his home tonight. Good God, how would she ever get through the evening? Desperately, she wished Fred could offer her some kind of support, but since yesterday he'd hardly spoken to her or even looked at her, for that matter.

In truth, up until this moment, she hadn't worried about his behavior, confident that eventually they would make peace and things would be all right. In a way, too, she'd been looking forward to this evening to avenge herself for the way he'd reacted to discovering her and Tomley.

In the final analysis it had been his fault to begin with, and though he had chastised her, it was really she who wouldn't be able to forgive him for a long, long time.

The events of the previous afternoon had changed things so that they would never be the same again. And it wasn't just that she had discovered him in the naked embrace of another woman. No, the change was deeper than that and reflected something that was going on inside herself for she'd come to the conclusion that she'd enjoyed having sex with Ralph Tomley. It had been a great shock, of course, but had liberated a long-smouldering desire that had lain dormant inside her for God knows how long. It was so ironic that though her husband had tried to do the same thing, it was a total stranger who had finally succeeded-a stranger who'd come into her life to set her wild and free. For the first time she knew that sex didn't necessarily have to be bound up with love, but was a rich and rewarding experience in itself. She'd learned that she could make her own body give her pleasure if only she could loosen up and be prepared for that pleasure.

It was simply a question of attitude, and Ralph Tomley had changed her attitude in a shockingly short time.

The worst of it all was that she wasn't totally certain that she could ever be satisfied with one man again. For if she had felt more fulfillment than ever under the ministrations of a perfect stranger, what was to stop that experience from repeating itself ad infinitum?

Tonight would be the test, and somehow she was praying that she would fail, that she would just be a normal housewife again-an everyday woman who could remain content with the man she happened to be married to.

Pondering these thoughts, Dinah walked demurely between the director and her husband down the staircase to the basement level, where the game room was located. Though dimly lit, the room was filled with party noises indicating a large crowd. Some couples were dancing, some talking loudly and others were spread out on the long low leather couches that lined the walls. All this was normal for any party, but what left her in shocked surprise was that not a soul was wearing a stitch of clothing. Her knees and hands trembled as she beheld the sight, for now she knew that the real test of her new resolve had arrived.