The Summer of Aphrodite

by Viva Jones

  Ginnie looked at the toy in her hand in amazement. That had been completely amazing. She was gasping for breath now, amazed at the effects this strange machine had had. Perhaps her nocturnal shopping spree hadn’t been such a disaster after all?

  Chapter Eighteen

  ‘Would you consider a threesome?’ a contented, post-orgasm Anna asked Nathalie. They were lying across Nathalie’s bed, naked, their arms entwined, the loose sheet around them a damp tangle of lust and oils.

  ‘Who with?’

  ‘Richard and me.’

  ‘Are you serious?’ Nathalie raised her head onto her hand.

  ‘Yes. No. I don’t know, I mean, we need for something to happen. I know it sounds strange but I need to feel jealous again. I need to watch him fucking someone else; that I think might inspire me. And the only person I trust is you.’

  ‘Have you spoken about this to Richard?’

  ‘Not really, but I’m sure he’d be open to it.’

  ‘Open to it? Gosh, I am flattered.’

  ’I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that, recently, the only way I can get turned on was by imagining his cock inside you, imagining him kissing you, licking your breasts, eating your pussy. I need to see my husband as a vital sexual being again. I need to see him pleasuring someone else, and getting pleasure from that. I need to get jealous.’

  ‘It’s dangerous,’ Nathalie warned. ‘Once we’ve done it, it can never be undone.’

  ‘Come round this evening. Bring some of your oils. We’ll tell Richard you’re going to give him a massage.’

  ‘I’m not convinced it’s such a good idea. Anyway I can’t tonight, I’m out with Douglas.’

  ‘Douglas?’

  ‘Just for a drive. Aphrodite’s Baths, he suggested it a while ago.’

  ‘You’re going out with Douglas?’ Anna repeated. ‘He’ll think it means more. He’ll expect sex sooner or later.’

  ‘And?’

  Anna fell silent, the jealousy bubbling up inside her like water in a kettle.

  Nathalie went on. ‘He’s strained a muscle cycling, so he’s feeling sorry for himself. Fancies a distraction.’

  ‘But you wouldn’t, with him, would you?’

  ‘This is all very strange coming from the woman who minutes ago was asking me to fuck her husband.’ An irritated Nathalie started to get up. ‘Douglas is perfectly good looking and extremely fit for his age. He’s not married. Why shouldn’t I?’

  ‘It’s just, aren’t you and I enough?’

  ‘You and I? And Richard?’ Nathalie had started to tie a sarong around herself. ‘Anna, you’re married, and you’ve made it clear that you’re committed to your marriage, which is wonderful. You and I are not committed. We’re enjoying ourselves, but we’re both grown up enough to know that it’s not permanent.’ She turned away, signalling their day was over. ‘And no, I will not fuck your husband. We’ve got to live next door to each other, after all. It’s a stupid idea.’

  Anna started to panic, trying to turn that inner kettle down. ‘You’re right, of course you’re right. Please, don’t be angry. Come back.’

  Nathalie broke into a smile and joined her back on the bed. ‘It’s just a drive.’ She kissed her lover on the lips, as Anna’s hands sought out her body under her cotton sarong.

  ‘There’s something about you being covered up, it’s more sexy. I have to search until - oh, here it is, a nipple. A beautiful, tender, responsive nipple.’ As she said this, her fingers played with Nathalie’s hardening bud.

  Nathalie sighed, and they kissed again.

  ‘And then my hand has to search down your body, down your chest, your tummy, way down, until it finds that secret place it loves to touch.’

  Her fingers slipped down between Nathalie’s thighs, softly probing her pussy lips, finding them moist with a mix of her own saliva and Nathalie’s juices, and then two of her fingers slipped straight inside her, and her thumb was tickling her clitoris. Nathalie gasped and kissed Anna’s face, her neck and chest.

  ‘It’s more exciting when I can’t see you,’ Anna continued, ‘and I have to do everything by instinct.’

  ‘You do it very well,’ Nathalie admitted, groaning with pleasure as her pussy drenched her lover’s fingers.

  ‘I think about this all the time,’ whispered Anna. ‘You and me. I think about it when I’m with Richard. It’s the only thing that turns me on these days, imagining you with us.’

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘Last night I imagined that you and he are fucking, and all I can do is watch. I watch his cock slide in and out of you, I imagine your kisses, hot and lusty, and I imagine his hands on your breasts.’

  ‘And this turns you on?’ Nathalie gasped as Anna’s fingers moved more quickly inside her.

  ‘Oh God, yes. I imagine he’s eating your pussy, I imagine he flips you onto all fours and eats you from behind. I feel this intrigue and jealousy and it makes me come so hard I can’t tell you.’

  Nathalie flipped around so that her face was now above Anna’s pussy, and she began to eat her, taking long, slow licks, flicking at her clitoris as Anna continued manoeuvring her fingers inside her cunt.

  ‘And what about you, don’t we do anything to you?’

  ‘No, I’m just an observer. If I’m lucky I get to lick his balls or something.’ Anna laughed gently as the sensations of Nathalie’s tongue swept over her, the sense of doing something so wonderful yet so utterly naughty. She imagined Richard standing in the doorway, catching them by surprise; she imagined his face trying to take in what was going on. Then she imagined Douglas watching them, a look of shock on his face. How Douglas would envy her fingers right now, her tongue that knew so much about her lover. She wanted to tell the world that she and Nathalie regularly ate each other’s pussies, that there wasn’t an inch of her body she hadn’t touched or licked, and that her orgasms had never been better - and then suddenly she was out of control, thrashing and bucking and crying out with pleasure, and Nathalie too exploded with the tension, crying out, her face drenched in Anna’s juices, each in their powerful and wonderful orgasms, and they slumped again on her bed, panting and giggling and drenched in sweat and lust.

  ***

  ‘So you want me to present this to the bosses?’ Yannakis asked incredulously. ‘A campaign to neuter cats?’ He had joined Tanya in the main office area, and was perched on the side of her desk.

  ‘It would raise Odyssey’s profile, basically; show that they’re committed to doing something constructive for society and prove to potential clients that they want to keep their developments clear of strays.’

  ‘But neutering?’ Yannakis shifted uncomfortably. ‘I’m getting married this weekend, the last thing I want to think about is castration.’

  ‘You’re such a man,’ Tanya scolded him gently. ‘I’ve had a long chat with the representative from Tiggles, and neutering male cats is the kindest thing you can do to them. It liberates them. They’re no longer forced to go out in search of girls, they can stay at home tucked up by the fire, like an old married man.’

  Yannakis smiled but shook his head. ‘I still don’t see why we’d want to get involved in something like this.’

  ‘It’ll be good PR, at the end of the day.’ Tanya emphasised the point with more force than even she realised she had inside her. She was feeling more confident these days, more sure of herself. ‘Good press for a relatively low cost. Look, if you don’t want to do it, that’s fine. I can understand your point of view, sort of.’ She moved towards Yannakis imploringly. ‘But let me instead.’

  ‘You?’ he backed off, almost frightened. ‘You want to go to Nicosia and present this idea to head office?’

  ‘Yes, I do,’ Tanya said firmly. ‘Because I believe in it. There are property developers all over the island, and
most of them are seen to be exploiting the land for their own profit.’ Tanya thought that was how Ginnie had put it. ‘So one that’s seen to be doing something that’s morally worthwhile can only receive good publicity for it. And it’s not that much money at the end of the day, just posters, radio adverts and leaflets for every vet. Think of the good PR, the name recognition all over the place. And yes, I’d like to go and present it,’ she added. ‘Perhaps with a Tiggles representative. She can explain the problem, and I’ll outline the benefits to Odyssey.’

  Yannakis looked baffled. He was trying to decide whether his bosses would approve of the idea, in which case he should be the one to present it, or whether they’d hate it, and he should therefore let her. The main phone rang and, relieved for the extra time it gave him, he picked it up, only to have to pass it straight over to Tanya.

  ‘Mr Makhtabi for you,’ he said.

  Tanya tried not to blush. ‘Hello, and what can I do for you, today?’ she asked in as neutral a voice as possible. ‘Yes, I’m very well, thank you, and you?’ Her eyes darted quickly at Yannakis, who was still pondering. ‘Yes, I could do that,’ Tanya agreed. ‘Four o’clock? Certainly. It will be a pleasure.’ She hung up.

  ‘What does he want now?’ Yannakis asked.

  ‘More information for some contacts of his who might be interested, he’d like me to take it round.’

  ‘The feminine touch, eh? Well done,’ Yannakis added grudgingly. ‘So you’re going at four?’ He paused. ‘Look, let me think about your proposal, OK? Maybe I can sound them out in Nicosia first. So don’t do anything yet, right?’ He made a sort of gun hand movement Tanya didn’t understand, then he slid off her desk and returned to his own office.

  Tanya picked up the phone and called Ginnie. ‘It went all right, I think,’ she told her. ‘Yannakis is going to sound them out, but I’m insisting it’s me and you who do the presentation.’

  Already she started picturing a new suit she might wear for it, or perhaps a neat shift dress. The shopping in Cyprus was actually pretty limited, she started thinking. A few days in London would be more like it. See her family and do the big shops in the West End. It was something to aim for. The trouble with Makhtabi was that he kept paying her in jewellery, when really she’d prefer cash. She could always sell it in London though, she mused. Dolores had mentioned another potential Russian party, and if she could sell another couple of houses she’d really have enough to justify a trip to London. The thought of a major shopping spree, where she could walk into virtually any fancy store with her head held high, made her pussy start to tingle. Tanya shifted in her seat. Four o’clock wasn’t that far off. It was just work, at the end of the day.

  ***

  At six that evening Nathalie turned up on Douglas’s door step. She’d finished his Aphrodite book and handed it back to him.

  ‘You’re punctual, I like that,’ he told her approvingly, ushering her indoors. She looked around, marvelling at how masculine and impersonal his living room was. There were books and papers everywhere but, apart from a few candles, not a single photo or decorative object. Everything was functional. She was intrigued.

  ‘I’m nearly ready,’ he called out from the kitchen, only to appear carrying a cool-box. ‘Shall we?’

  His car was a convertible, and the wind on Nathalie’s face felt invigorating. She was wearing a cotton summer dress she’d picked up on the sea front and carried a sarong, which she now used as a scarf to restrain her hair.

  ‘How’s your muscle strain?’ she asked over the noise of the air whistling past them.

  ‘Not much better,’ he told her, his voice raised. ‘It’s a bore, but it’ll go away.’

  ‘Lavender, rosemary and cypress,’ Nathalie recited. ‘That’s what you need. I’ll fix you a potion.’

  ‘Will you rub it in, too?’

  ‘I’ll bring it round tomorrow,’ she said, ignoring him. ‘After your nap.’

  ‘Why not before? Then you can join me.’

  The drive took them northwards on what was usually one of Douglas’s cycling routes, through hillside towns surrounded by vineyards and cypress forests towards the Akamas Peninsular on the north-westernmost tip of the island. Neither said much. Nathalie sat back and enjoyed the exhilaration of sitting in an open top car and letting the wind blast through her. She didn’t particularly notice the Mercedes that was following them, even if Douglas did. He’d seen it before, or at least, if not that particular one, something like it. It was beige and had more than its share of dents and scratches. Douglas told himself there were plenty of Mercedes around that looked like that. It was nothing to worry about.

  Once they reached the coast road, the views were spectacular. To the east lay the mountains, to the north the sea and to the west the bay and its rocky headland.

  ‘It’s fabulous,’ Nathalie cried out over the noise of the engine and the wind.

  ‘Thought you’d enjoy it,’ he replied, glancing in the rear view mirror. He’d hoped the car behind would stop in the fishing town of Polis Chrysochous, or disappear once they’d reached Latsi Beach, and when it didn’t, he feared something was wrong. ‘Let’s go and find a view of the sunset,’ he suggested, hauling the cool-box from the back seat.

  They took the path which led down to the grotto, and sat down on a rock looking out to sea. There were a few other tourists around, and the air resonated with the chanting of cicadas. Douglas opened the cool-box and removed a bottle of champagne. ‘Aphrodite used to bathe here of course, and legend has it that bathing in her pool brings eternal youth. An alternative legend is that you’ll marry a Cypriot and never leave the island, but that’s less exotic.’

  ‘There is something magical here, I can feel it.’ Nathalie flipped off her sandals and jumped down to the water’s edge, where she pulled off her dress, threw it back on the rocks and immersed herself, naked, in the sea. She swam for a few minutes, enjoying the thought of Douglas’ eyes boring into her, happy to show off her trim figure and lack of inhibition. She turned and floated on her back, revealing her breasts to him, watching his gaze, and smiling. How he wanted her, she just knew it. And maybe she did want him, too; it was just a matter of time.

  When she returned to the rock, she wrapped herself up in her sarong as if nothing had happened. ‘Better than botox,’ she said.

  Douglas handed her a glass. ‘Do you never wear underwear?’

  ‘Not in this heat. Pushing the boat out, aren’t you?’

  ‘Birthday gift from my daughter. It’s been gathering dust in my kitchen for yonks.’

  They chinked glasses, looking into each other’s eyes. For a second Nathalie could imagine herself kissing him, and wondered at how very different he’d feel from Anna’s softness. She could imagine his bristles grazing her, his lips more jagged and demanding, his body heavier and more aggressive.

  ‘And where is your daughter?’

  ‘That one’s in Surrey, married to a banker. They’re buying a place in Tuscany. Such a cliché.’

  Nathalie watched as the sun started its descent into the sea. ‘It’s awesome, isn’t it, watching nature like this? The tides, the sun, the moon, they have such a huge impact on our lives and we mere humans are powerless against them. They’re humbling.’

  Douglas said nothing, he just drank some champagne and cast a glance over his shoulder.

  ‘There are trails, you know,’ he started brightly. ‘Aphrodite and Adonis walking trails. They take you past the ruins of the Byzantine monastery, where they’re said to have met secretly to make love.’

  ‘Wasn’t this even where he first saw her? He was out hunting and stopped off for a drink of water. The moment he drank it, he fell madly in-love. See? I did read your book.’

  He smiled. ‘Good girl.’

  ‘Poor old Hephaestus, the husband. He didn’t stand a chance.’

  ‘I
t’s said he surrounded this whole peninsular with an invisible fence of gold. On a good sunset, like this, you feel you can almost see it.’

  The sun was sinking now, turning the turquoise sea orange. They sat in companionable silence, and as the temperature dropped a degree, Nathalie pulled on her summer dress and used the sarong as a shawl. They’d drunk only half the bottle, but that was enough. Douglas stuffed the end with a rubber bung and put it back in the cool-box. As he helped Nathalie to her feet she stumbled on a jutting rock, and he supported her. For a second, they met each other’s eyes. Then she turned away, and began the walk back up towards the car.

  Driving off, Douglas glanced in the rear view mirror. Along the coast road, Nathalie was too engrossed in the sea to notice the Mercedes appearing behind them. The first she knew of it was a large thud, which almost sent them tumbling down the verge.

  ‘What the hell - ?’ she started, before realising they were in trouble.

  The Mercedes was now on their right and swerving into them, trying to force them off the road. Douglas tried going faster but it stayed with them, so he hit the brakes violently which nearly sent Nathalie over the windscreen. Her seat belt snapped her back, and she was winded.