by Stan Mason
They returned to the men ostensibly shocked at having to be asked to participate in such an indecent deed. Subsequently, the atmosphere was strained for a while. Then Betty took a deep breath and brought the matter to a head.
‘All right, we’ll do it,’ she agreed. ‘But it’s going to cost you both a pretty penny for jewellery, perfume and new clothes. Experience doesn’t come cheap with us. You have to recognise that, if nothing else.’
The two men glanced at each other in surprise. ‘I must say, you’re both good sports,’ offered Tim. ‘Really good sports! I’d better go through the rules with you.’
‘You’ve already told Tina what they are. She put them in a nutshell,’ returned Betty sharply. ‘We pick up the keys. The rooms must be in darkness with the curtains drawn. There’s to be no talking. The doors have to be left slightly ajar, and you’ll be out of the rooms before three o’clock. I think that covers everything. Presumably, we’ll all meet in the dining-room for breakfast.’
It was almost an hour later when the women left the men and went to their respective bedrooms. The game was afoot! All the players were in agreement!
‘I don’t think we covered everything,’ complained Tina, trying to focus her thoughts. ‘Which rooms are we going into? Are you going into your room or are the men keeping to their own rooms? We’ll have to go back and ask them.’
Betty leaned against the wall as her head began to swim. She closed her eyes and screwed up her face as the alcohol began to take its effect. She had no intention of returning to the men to ask further questions. ‘Take the key of my room, dear,’ she told her companion. ‘It’s obvious we have to change in order to keep the same husband. They’re the ones who don’t have to change.’
Tina was less than happy to continue without clarification, but she was equally disinclined to go where her compatriot feared to tread... especially as the Sangria was taking a firm hold of her mind as well. When the handsome young hall porter passed them in the Reception area, Betty looked at him in her drunken euphoria.
‘Here,’ she said to Tina wickedly. ‘I know who I’d rather spend the night with if I had the chance.’
The two women burst into laughter but neither of them saw the two young policemen in new uniforms who entered the front door of the hotel. The police authority had decreed it was the duty of every officer to traverse the floors of hotels of the resort at night in order to ensure that peace and tranquillity prevailed. On this occasion all was silent, but there were times throughout the summer season when drunken louts from different countries caused disturbance and problems. Additionally, some hotels had been targeted by both Spanish and foreign women who sought to sell their services to male tourists. After satisfying their needs, it was their usual custom to rob clients of their traveller’s cheques and passports before vanishing into the night. When the policemen saw Betty and Tina they became rather concerned. The two women were staggering all over the place, one of them just having made a very salacious comment to the hotel hall porter. These tourists needed to be watched carefully in case they started trouble. Consequently, the policemen followed them upstairs to make sure they were bona fide guests of the hotel, intending to monitor their activities closely.
Betty opened the door to her room and went inside, but she left it slightly ajar according to the rules which had been set by Tim. She declined to turn on the light, undressed quickly in the dark and placed a small suitcase about a yard from the door. Then she lay on top of the bedcover waiting patiently, trying to prevent her head from spinning. In her estimation, Tim would arrive shortly, having taken more Dutch Courage than he could usefully handle. He would make a noise at the door, trip over the suitcase, and blunder towards the bed. He would be so drunk, it was likely his only activity would be to simply lay on top of her on the bed and fall fast asleep.
Tina did exactly the same as her counterpart. Although she was less drunk than Betty, she was rather more fearful that something might go wrong. But there were two things in her favour. Firstly, she was almost inebriated and whenever she had too much to drink she felt romantically inclined. There was no better moment for her to be loved and treated like a woman in terms of the flesh. In fact, every fibre of her body yearned for someone to make love to her passionately. Secondly, even if the plan went wrong, she had fancied Ben from the distance for some years, so the experience was likely to be reasonably pleasant even if he wasn’t terribly good at exciting a woman sexually.
A short while after they had entered their rooms, the first policeman arrived. He stared at the open door to Betty’s room and peered inside suspiciously. The light was off and he asked quietly in Spanish if anyone was there. There was no answer so he drew his truncheon and entered. As he came into the room, he tripped over the small suitcase. To balance himself, he threw out an arm which struck the door and closed it before falling headlong on top of Betty on the bed. She was so inebriated she felt no pain. He muttered an expletive in his native tongue only to be cautioned by the woman.
‘The rules!’ she chided. ‘No speaking! Not even amorous phrases in Spanish!’ She wrapped her arms round him and pulled him closely towards, her hot breath almost overpowering him. As expected, he was still wearing his clothes! How unromantic! Wasn’t it typical of the British? Any foreign man would have stripped off all his clothes after closing the door. But not Tim. He was out of his mind under the influence of Sangria. Hushing him as he started to complain, the drink made her feel ultra-romantic and she kissed the man warmly and seductively on the lips until he relaxed. If the future promised presents of jewellery, perfume and new clothes, she felt she ought to make an effort to please him. Why not? Ultimately, in the darkness of the room, without allowing the policeman to speak, she devoted herself to the cause.
‘Lie back and think of England!’ she kept telling herself. ‘Like back and think of England!’
But, to her surprise, as her young lover responded passionately, she found a new phase beginning in her love life she had never experienced before. The tender hands of a Romeo undressed her slowly in the darkness. With panache, he soon excited her with a series of gentle caresses in erotic areas of her body she didn’t realise existed. After a while the love-making began to heighten in its intensity, exciting her, causing every fibre of her body to explode as she reached Nirvana. ‘Oh, Tim!’ she moaned in ecstasy. ‘Oh, Tim! Where have you been all my life? More! More! MORE!’ And there was more! It lasted continuously for over half-an-hour.
In the meantime, the second policeman appeared on the scene. He had paused on the mezzanine floor below to check that everything was in order. When he climbed the next set of stairs, he discovered that his companion had disappeared. He arrived at the second open door and peered inside. The room was in darkness. Tina was falling asleep as she waited for her paramour. When the policeman entered the room, she became reasonably alert, believing it to be Ben. Her body was tingling with excitement, spurred on by the Spanish wine. She got up quickly and threw her arms around the man, ardently kissing his face and neck, as she pushed the door so that it closed. Despite her earlier protests to Tim outside the bar, she was a very sexually-frustrated woman. It had been a long time since she and Tim had consumed themselves with intimacy. Months! It was time to remedy the situation. Before the man had a chance to defend himself, he was thrown on to the bed and forced to succumb to the violent loving attentions of a woman completely unknown to him. At first, he intended to throw her to one side and leave the room immediately, but the moment his hands moved to her ample breasts his resolve melted, vanishing rapidly. His Latin temperament rose to the surface and he found himself unable to resist, intent on rendering every service in his power to a person whom he recognised was desperately deprived of love and attention. For Tina it was one of the most wonderful experiences in her life. The young policeman, whom she believed to be her husband, made love to her for a long time during which she rode high on a roller-coaste
r, enjoying the most exciting physical sensations of her life.
Some time later, both policemen met at the main door of the hotel. Each stood aloof, maintaining full composure, without hinting or alluding to where they had been or what had passed in the period they were away from each other.
In the meantime, Ben and Tim were less than satisfied with the turn of events. The former had gone upstairs fifteen minutes after the women left the bar but when he got to the door of Tina’s room he found it was closed. He rapped lightly on it without success and returned to the bar angry that his friend’s wife had reneged on the agreement. He drank a few more glasses of Sangria, took the lift to the Reception area and fell asleep in a large armchair. Tim fared little better. When he went upstairs, he found the door to Betty’s room closed. He pushed it drunkenly a few times and then staggered away filled with disappointment. As he dozed on the settee in the hotel Card Room, he felt that his friend’s wife had ‘done the dirty on him’. Clearly, the women had no intention of exchanging partners for the night... a fact which was confirmed by Ben outside the dining-room in the morning just before it opened. The men waited patiently for their wives to come down for breakfast. When they arrived, Betty and Tina were bubbling over with brightness, nursing a healthy glow in their cheeks and both of them seemed to be full of good-health. Tina winked cheekily at Ben, while Betty stared at Tim with admiration.
‘Sleep well?’ laughed Betty.
‘We did!’ commented Tina.
‘You’re the worst pair of spoilsports I’ve ever met!’ growled Tim. ‘Fancy agreeing to the arrangement and then locking us out! If you didn’t want to go through with it you should have told us from the start!’
The two women glanced at each other quickly in confusion and stared back at the two men. Then Betty muttered to Tina and they left the room to sit in the Reception area to discuss the matter in private.
‘I don’t get it,’ admitted Betty. ‘I had a most wonderful experience with Ben last night. He was passionate... knew all the erotic places in my body... affectionate... gentle... caring... brilliant at sex. Absolutely wonderful! The best!’
‘That’s strange,’ returned Tina. ‘Tim was all those things as well. It was wonderful. I’ll dream about it for the rest of my life.’
‘Tim was like that?’ asked Betty incredulously. ‘After all you told me about him? I can’t believe it.’
‘Well I can’t believe it either,’ returned the other woman.
Betty shook her head slowly. ‘What I can’t understand is how a policeman’s truncheon came to be by the side of the bed this morning.’
Tina stared at her in surprise. ‘That’s funny. I found a policeman’s badge between the sheets.’
They stared out of the window at the two young handsome policemen standing outside the hotel. One was missing a truncheon; the other failed to have a badge on the front of his tunic. The two women looked back at each other in astonishment. Then Betty put her hand to her mouth and burst out laughing. As she realised what had happened Tina joined in with her.
‘Well at least we both know the truth,’ Betty managed to say at length. ‘Have a good look at those gorgeous gigolos! Yours was the one without the badge.’
Tina sighed. ‘You know, they would arrest me if they knew what I was thinking!’
Upstairs, two sleepy unshaven men, with large bags under their eyes, stared at each other tiredly. ‘Do you think we did well with our marriages?’ asked Ben.
Tim stared at him gloomily. ‘Yes, I think so. When you think about it, we’re so lucky our wives are faithful. So lucky! O.K., they agreed that we exchange partners for the night, but when you think about it, they knew the right thing to do and closed the doors on us so we couldn’t get to them. They knew it might tear our friendship apart one day. You can’t beat that sort of honesty in women, can you?’
Ben nodded. ‘No, you’re quite right. Because of that, I’m going to keep my end of the bargain. Jewellery, perfume and new clothes. Why not?’
‘Yes,’ concurred Tim. ‘Why not? I reckon we’re two of the luckiest fellows alive to have such faithful wives. We should count our blessings.’
Outside, two young handsome policemen walked down the road towards the police-station to sign off duty. In their opinion, it had been a very tiring night. Clearly, some tourists willingly showed their appreciation to the Spanish police for protecting them. At the cost of the price of an old truncheon and a new badge it was well worth it!
When Duty Calls
Tamsin preened herself in front of the tall mirror in the bedroom of her cottage, running her hands smoothly over her slender body. The note which had landed on her doormat a short while earlier told her she was expected to be on duty that night. Miles had arranged for another shipment of contraband to be collected and delivered. As she debated whether to continue the charade, weighing up all the prospects, a ship’s fog-horn sounded twice in the distance and she moved towards the window to peer out through the slit in the curtains. She was at the watershed of her life and really had no idea how to deal with the situation. At twenty-two years old, she was a tall, slim, attractive blonde whose parents had been killed in a motor vehicle accident a year earlier. Apart from their town-house, they had owned a cottage by the sea. After the funeral, Tamsin felt she wanted to get away from it all for a while to adjust to her tragic loss. She had come down to the cottage by the sea where she met Miles, a rough, uncouth, arrogant young man who had taken a distinct liking to her. Unfortunately, his life-style was different to that of most of his contemporaries. He preferred to be his own boss and, as his talents were spread thinly on the ground, he had started up his own business... smuggling contraband for a fence who distributed the goods to customers in the south-west at very cheap prices. She soon discovered that living in this remote hamlet isolated her from the rest of the world. At the same time, Miles insisted she accompanied him on all his missions, professing that he was employing her as a full-time agent. Certainly he paid her money each week for her efforts, feeble as they were, but the job was inconsistent, dangerous and full of risks. Consequently, as a result of isolation, the illegal activities in which she was employed, and the undesirable attention that Miles gave to her in his uncouth manner, her personal life was in a state of vacuum. In this outlying area there was little chance of leading a normal life, let alone the opportunity to meet a handsome young man who would arrive on a galloping white charger to carry her off to safety. Destiny seemed determined to place a hold on her plans for the future and she stayed on as though held there by an invisible force.
It was getting dark now and the mist began to fall quickly. She could barely see the waves of the sea from her bedroom window as they pounded relentlessly against the shore. At the same time, the cobblestone road leading from the bay to the town had disappeared into oblivion. She went to her wardrobe to select the clothes she intended to wear for the rendezvous. Her choice for the occasion was limited by simplicity and anonymity. Undeniably, the best form of dress was a black sweater, black slacks and Wellington-boots. The colour failed to embellish her beauty by a long chalk but this was not the time for charm or grace. It was business and there was a duty to be done! For most of the time she thought about Miles. There was no reason why he should intrude on her thoughts. None at all. She didn’t love him, she didn’t like him, she didn’t have any particular feelings towards him, although sometimes his rough manner became violent which caused problems. Yet he was the only man in her life... the only man with whom she had contact at the present time. When she had first met him, there was the sincere hope that their relationship might blossom and flourish. However, his quick temper, self-centred interest, arrogance, lack of affection, and his love for money created a tremendous undercurrent of concern and affected any chances of a romantic relationship between them. Naturally, he was often angered at the distance she placed between them. However, she couldn’t bear to
allow him to touch her because, now that she knew him so well, he made her skin crawl.
The ship’s fog-horn sounded twice again and she prepared to leave the cottage. It was not the kind of job where fast action and split-second timing were essential. Nonetheless, it was important she was on her guard all the time in case something untoward happened. It never did, but danger was always prevalent and there was no room for error on the high seas! She left the house and walked quickly over the cobblestones towards her destination. Visibility was becoming very poor by now; she could hardly see ten paces in front of her. Yet, in her line of business, low visibility, mist and fog were of great advantage. At the far end of the beach a small wooden hut had been pitched. It was the normal point of rendezvous! Silently, she flitted along the cobblestones shrouded by the mist to meet the cold damp sand of the beach. She approached the hut, paused and listened carefully, but all that could be heard was the gushing of the waves pounding against the shore. Suddenly, there was the slight sound of a footstep in the mist and, before she had time to think, a large pair of masculine arms clamped round her waist from behind, squeezing her so tightly that she could hardly breathe.
‘Miles!’ she gasped, trying to catch her breath. The man released her, spinning her round with a broad grin on his face. His straw-coloured hair was cropped close and his blue eyes twinkled as he gave a low laugh.
‘Sorry to scare you like that, sweetie,’ he said coolly. ‘Just my little joke. You’re a wee bit keen tonight getting here so early, aren’t you?’
She snorted angrily as the fear subsided and her heart thumped noisily in her breast. ‘You know, one day Miles, I’ll... .’ she began, but he silenced her by placing a finger to her lips.