Taking his cue, Julian stood up, gave what he considered to be a gentlemanly bow and intoned, "It would be my greatest honor and pleasure," although he had an idea that the greatest pleasure was yet to come. He took her in his arms, holding her close enough so that their bodies were just touching and she could easily lay her head against his neck. They moved effortlessly with the music, and before the record had even ended, Victoria, who obviously had listened to it many times and knew exactly when the music would stop, broke free and replaced it with another. When they resumed their dance they were entwined more closely, their bodies now pressed gently yet firmly against each other, their breath falling warmly on the other's skin. He let his lips brush her temple then gently kissed the top of her ear as he held her close. Her breasts rose and fell on his chest and her breathing deepened. After a moment, he bent his head down and kissed her neck, reveling in the shudder he felt ripple through her. Another turn around the room and Julian paused, lifted his hands to her neck, gently cradling her face while he tilted her chin upward and kissed her on the lips. He had intended this to be a delicate kiss, brief, a prelude of things to come. However the passion that he knew must lay just beneath the surface in this lovely young woman, a railroader's daughter from a working class town in England, would not be denied. She met his lips with a fierceness that was unexpected and the kiss was long and deep, her mouth open for him to explore. As they embraced he slid his hands gently over her shoulders, opening the top her robe. Without releasing his lips she dropped her arms to her side letting the robe fall to the floor, then reached up, undid the tie around his waist so he could free himself from the terrycloth cocoon and embraced him once again, pressing her lips as well as her body hard against him. Vickie wore only a delicate negligee and her curves nestled in the contours of his anatomy, her breasts and the increasingly firm nipples that surmounted them impinging enticingly on his torso. Their lower bodies moved in time with the music and he quickly swelled as her mound of Venus worked his penis into a throbbing extension of his desire. She broke free momentarily, stepped back and raised her arms above her head. In one quick movement he lifted off her nightgown and she immediately pressed her now naked body against his, but more gently this time, using it caress him as she moved to her own inward rhythm, the music having stopped and the recurrent scratch of the needle a monotonous beat. She stroked her nails sensuously along his chest and abdomen as she lowered herself to her knees. Without any further prelude she took his penis in her mouth as she held him by the buttocks and used her tongue to sweep along the shaft and around the head while she moved her head back and forth. Julian was taken by surprise as his most sensitive parts were engulfed by warm, moist pleasure of the most intense kind and he could not suppress low moans of delight. It was with the greatest of efforts that he was able to withdraw. He knew he was losing control, not only of his body but also of the situation, and control was something he would never relinquish voluntarily. Reaching down he took her by the shoulders, guiding her to her feet and kissed her on the mouth, the smell of perfume mingling with his own musk-like odor. Julian lifted her up in his arms and gently set her down on the day bed where she made short work of the cover and pillows, which soon lay in a heap on the floor. He knelt by the bed and buried his face in the soft hair of her escutcheon, teasing apart the lips of her womanhood with his tongue and tasting the already wet interior. Julian ran his hand along her sides, pausing to fondle her breasts and sweep his fingers tantalizingly across her nipples, while his tongue moved upward to massage her clitoris. Victoria moaned unselfconsciously as her hips began short upward thrusts against his probing mouth. Outside, rain began to fall once again, pelting the windows overlooking the garden and peels of thunder could be heard in the distance. He continued his oral onslaught and soon had to hold tight to her bucking hips as she moaned louder and then began to cry out, rivaling the rising crescendo of the approaching thunder until spasm after spasm surged through her and she lay back, her moaning replaced by heavy breathing. She reached down and pulled him to her, her body hot and wet from the exertion. Vickie wrapped her arms around him, kissing him fiercely on the mouth, her tongue almost enfolding his while his turgid member lay in her triangle and the wet lips seemed to be clutching at it. They turned on their sides and Julian felt her trying to roll him over, to mount him, but he resisted until her pushing stopped and he gently rolled her on her back. Rising up, he let his penis play over her labia and introitus, intending to enter her slowly and deliberately, but, in seemingly a matter of seconds the thrusting of her pelvis became urgent and, crying out, she arched her back and forced herself around him, her vagina engulfing his penis. She wrapped her legs tightly around his back and pressed him deep inside her. Julian, all thoughts of gentle love making banished, began to thrust with calculated abandon, pushing himself deep within her, feeling the pressure of her vagina, the pounding of his head against her cervix and listening to the increasing intensity of her moans until they became forceful, wanton grunts. She began to cry out his name as their mutual assault was reaching its climax, and when she let out a final, long scream, Julian let himself have his release and with one final thrust exploded all his controlled emotion in one body shuddering ejaculation.
"Oh, Julian, " she whispered and held him close, not wanting to let any of him go.
After a minute he raised himself on his elbows, smiling down at her, not because of any particular fondness, and certainly not out of love, but because he was reminded of some English pundit who defined a gentleman as a man who takes his weight upon his elbows. Victoria saw his smile and, as she had with almost everything about him, misinterpreted it, seeing tenderness that he did not posses and love where there was none. "Oh Julian," how wonderful you are. If you keep that up a girl could fall in love with you."
"If I could keep that up I'd probably be dead or in a record book; maybe both." They laughed, then kissed, a tender post coital kiss. Just as he had planned.
Vickie grabbed hold of the edge of the covers and slid beneath them motioning him to follow. She rolled on her side, languidly extending an arm toward him, "We can shower in the morning. Oh, the Victrola; it will run out of steam soon." The rasp of the needle seemed to echo in the now quiet room. Her voice had trailed off and her arm settled slowly to her side followed seconds later by the soft sound of snoring as she sunk into an exhausted sleep.
Julian swung to the side of the bed, rather pleased with himself and his performance, stood up, walked to the antique looking box on the table and lifted the needle from the center of the record where it oscillated back and forth. Returning to the bed he was already thinking about contingencies, "what ifs," and problems to be solved. Included in the latter was Kent Mallory. His thinking did not get very far since he, too, was overcome by fatigue, and as he slid into bed, operational plans blended with flashbacks to the intense sexual pleasure he had just experienced. The last thought he had before falling asleep was that Vickie took up an awful lot of room in the bed.
* *
At about the same time that Julian opened his eyes to bright sunlight streaming in from the windows, Kent was at the Bahnhof boarding the early morning train to Lugano. He hadn't slept very well. Even after he had gone over all aspects of their plan the night before, trying to think of all possibilities, just as Templeton had instructed him, and felt that he could finally rest, repose nonetheless eluded him. His mind was in turmoil, too many thoughts vying for attention, and always that remorseful voice could be heard in the background, One of our boys will probably be killed. Wasn't that what Gerhard had implied? We can cancel it from our end. Kent's head hurt and he felt lethargic so he decided on strong coffee in the dining car and the passing Swiss countryside as the needed antidote.
Sitting in the tastefully appointed car, a small vase with a delicate flower resting on a clean white linen tablecloth, and the smell of freshly brewed espresso in the air, the tension seemed to ebb. When the waiter brought him a coffee service, silver spoon placed just so o
n the cloth napkin, Kent was already beginning to think he had been too pessimistic in his assessment of the situation. There was no reason the field agent had to die. Surely there must be numerous ways for them to get to the plutonium before he had a chance to retrieve it, especially since they and their new found General would have access to almost immediate transport as well as a cadre of loyal supporters. When the agent arrived at the place where it had been secreted, it simply wouldn't be there. Certainly not the first time that the OSS would have received faulty information or some other players had snatched their prize. The agent merely had to return to Switzerland; probably not too difficult given all the confusion present in a war torn and defeated country, and he would not have the burden of the plutonium or it's deadly aftermath. Yes, their operation just might make it easier for the agent to survive his foray into Germany.
Kent stepped off the train in Lugano to a bright day, the sun already above the peaks in a clear blue sky with hardly a cloud in view. It was cooler than the last time, although with no breeze blowing off the lake it seemed quite pleasant and he strolled to their rendezvous with his coat open and a smile on his face. Along the strand, several blocks from the café, he noticed a very attractive woman standing at the rail, her back to the lake, watching the morning traffic pass. Kent glanced her way and thought he saw a smile flash briefly before she looked beyond him as if searching for someone. "Well," he thought, "if she doesn't find her husband or boyfriend maybe I can be the one she's looking for. We'll see when I come back this way." His pace quickened as he approached the clustered tables of the small restaurant, taking on more of a businesslike air until he strode up to where Waldman sat reading a newspaper, a cup of coffee and the remains of a croissant on the table. The general looked up and before he had even risen from his chair to greet him, Kent had his arm extended in greeting, the smile still on his face. Gerhard took his hand and shook it, a quizzical look passing fleetingly across his face as he wondered about Kent's change in attitude from their last encounter. "Good to see you again. I'm told we needed to talk."
"Yes. Please sit down. Coffee?"
"No thanks, I must have gone through a couple of pots on the train." He pulled out the chair across the table and sat down.
"If you don't mind me saying, you seem in a better mood than last week."
"I think this deal can really work for all of us. I have to admit that I had reservations before but now I believe that my concerns can all be taken care of."
Gerhard nodded. "There are always ways," then added quickly, "Ways that will work for both parties."
"Yes, that's it exactly. First, though, what do we need to discuss?"
Before replying, he put his paper on the chair next to him and reached for the coffee cup, allowing him to unobtrusively survey the surroundings for anyone who might be a not so casual observer. Satisfied that no one else seemed interested in their conversation, Waldman leaned toward Kent and spoke in a soft voice, maintaining a casual non-conspiratorial appearance. Just two businessmen conducting some private transaction. "The salesman from the other company, Mr. S, I believe, will be giving your man a picture of his ward to prevent him from being falsely directed to anyone else. He will be instructed to ask her to take him to a certain place that she knows, a place where something occurred or perhaps a place they visited on some special occasion. She knows nothing about the product or that it was hidden at this location. Your man will have been told the details of how to locate the package once they reach the place where it was left. They each have half of the key."
"That is clever; simple and effective. But I have the feeling that you have your countermeasures ready; which is probably why I'm here."
"Sie haben richtig. You are right. I will have the girl removed from her apartment and held in a secure location while one of my own operatives takes up residence in her place. When your man arrives she will find out from him the instructions necessary to get to the package."
"But how will she know where to go. What he has to say will have meaning only to Schroe...to the salesman's girlfriend."
"That presents only the slightest of delays, not really a problem at all. Remember, we will be holding the girl. She is a civilian, relatively sheltered and inexperienced. It will be easy to make her tell us the meaning of his message." Waldman could sense the unease building in Kent and he immediately ratcheted down his intensity, made his voice assume a more comforting tone, his face a more compassionate appearance before continuing. "She is known to be so very naïve; it will not be necessary to use force. It is likely that even the threat of violence will be unnecessary. I am certain that she can be tricked into revealing what we need. For instance we can tell her that we are friends of her beloved Heinrich, sent to fetch her and to retrieve something of great importance that will protect both of them in the chaotic times ahead. That we must keep her out of sight for her own safety. That we have to maintain a pretense of holding her against her will for her own safety. You see, my friend," and the lack of any negative response or change in facial expression on Kent's part at the use of that term was not lost on Gerhard, "there are many subterfuges of a, how shall I say, more gentle nature that we can use to extract the information we need."
"I can see that you're good at this business. I would assume that once our man arrives at the location the material will already have been retrieved and, with nothing else for him to do, he'll make his way back as best he can. Simply another deal that didn't work out."
"Yes, of course, you are right again. I can see that you, too, know your business, and I can also see that your attitude about our little project seems more positive."
For the briefest of moments Kent's face clouded over to be quickly replaced by a smile that became a grin as he responded, "I can see a bigger picture now; mutual benefits, something to be gained from this rotten war that neither of us wanted and probably didn't do shit for either of our careers —— a better life for all of us when it's over. As we say, 'I'm on board now,' I really want this deal to work." SS General Gerhard Waldman smiled back, not because he agreed with anything Kent had said, but because it had been so easy to manipulate this novice. "Now, why am I here?"
"The rival salesman has sent a picture of his young woman to your company where it will be passed on to our mutual friend, Mr. T., to be given to the salesman who will soon depart for Germany." He reached into the pocket of his gray tweed blazer and extracted a small manila envelope. Handing it to Mallory he said, "You must bring this to your partner as soon as possible. It contains a photograph of the woman who will be in the apartment, and it has to be substituted for the other picture." Kent grasped it between thumb and forefinger, balancing the edge of the small packet on the table top while Gerhard continued, "My sources tell me that he has written a simple recognition code on the back of the photo, one sentence or phrase that your man must say and a set response from Maria."
"Maria?"
"Excuse me, I failed to mention that his young lady is named 'Maria'. It is important that this code be added to what I have given you before it gets to the traveler and it is crucial that Maria's response be sent to me immediately so I can get it to my woman. I am afraid I will have to ask you to come to Lugano one more time to bring it to me. Because of the relative proximity of this place to my area of command I can meet you here; Bern is too far for me to travel with any certainty or security. I hope you don't mind."
"No trouble, my friend. Besides, they have good coffee on the train. There is one more thing, though. This other salesman; we've never discussed what will happen to him. He will be told that his merchandise could not be picked up, and our man will return without his young lady. He's certain to start asking questions, protesting to us as well as to the head of our company that there was some sort of double cross. Mr. T. and I can handle anything directed at us but if our boss gets wind of the problem he's sure to start investigating on his own. We could be really fucked."
"What would you suggest?"
"Do
you think he would go along with our business plan if he were offered a share of the profits? Maybe you could arrange to get his girl out of Germany."
"Although he would probably do almost anything to protect his girl I believe he has become far too idealistic and committed to join us."
"I'm worried about what he might do."
"So am I."
"Well, what would you suggest?"
"That you leave it to me." Waldman was amazed that he could be so naïve and was surprised that Templeton hadn't explained to him the necessity of killing Schroeder."
"Ah, I know what you're implying but that too could lead to problems. Don't you think it's worth trying another way?"
"Any word of this to him before the operation starts and everything is in jeopardy including us." This idiot may be the greatest jeopardy of all. He has to be controlled and, for the moment, placated.
"Hmm."
"I'll tell you what. Once the project is safely underway I'll contact him and make some delicate inquiries. Then we can make a decision based on his response."
"OK, that seems reasonable and may be best all the way around. Well, if there's nothing else I guess I'm off to the station. I think I could just make the afternoon train back."
"Until our next meeting, then." Gerhard stood and held out his hand. Kent slipped the envelope into the inside pocket of his jacket then grasped Waldman's hand before turning and starting off in a brisk walk back the way he had come.
Kent felt that he had accomplished a great deal, that he had made a contribution that could ultimately make the plan better, or at least safer, and safe was important for him. Waldman, on the other hand, felt that there was now an unexpected complication, an extraneous player that had to be dealt with. Should he handle things himself or try to arrange a meeting with Templeton? He wasn't used to consulting with anyone when it came to command decisions, but although he was a major player in this he was not really the one in charge. It would be at least two days until Mallory returned. He would sleep on it.
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