"Let"s go home, honey," Rick said. "There isn"t anything we can do right now." He put his arm about his wife. They stopped at the nurse"s station, and Rick gave the charge nurse his card. It had all his numbers. His office. The house. His cell. His e-mail. "Call me if there"s any change," he told her, and she nodded.
Carla called Jill and J. J. that night. Both of them wanted to come home immediately, but Carla told them there was nothing they could do, and warned them that Nora would have a fit if she woke up and her kids weren"t in school, where they belonged. "I"ll keep you up to speed," she told them both, and they agreed to remain where they were for the interim. Next she called Margo.
"I just talked to her yesterday," Margo said, suddenly sounding very frail. "She didn"t try . . ."
"No!" Carla said quickly.
"What about the divorce?" Margo asked.
"Everything is on hold for now."
"I"ll come up," Margo said.
"If you want to, and you can stay with us," Carla replied, "but honestly, there"s nothing you can do right now, and she could wake up any minute." Carla hated lying to Nora"s mother, but she couldn"t possibly explain what Nora had done.
"Well," Margo responded slowly, "I"ll wait, then. Who"s in charge? Not Jeff!"
"No. He signed everything over to Rick. I think he was relieved to do it," Carla explained. "I think he"s afraid of the responsibility under the circ.u.mstances."
"Thank G.o.d!" Margo replied.
That had been the difficult call, but she had gotten through it, Carla thought, relieved. Margo wasn"t the kids. Now all we have to do is wait for Jeff to cave like Nora said he would, Carla considered. But it was all very nerve-racking.
Nora lay in her unconscious state for ten days. There was no change. The hospital kept her hydrated, but they did nothing more. Finally Dr. Sam suggested that his patient would have to be moved to a nursing facility.
"Sh.o.r.ecrest is lovely," he told Rick, "and when she awakens she"ll need physical therapy certainly. They have several excellent therapists."
Rick agreed. He had checked with Jeff"s a.s.sistant, Carol, and learned that she had chosen the best health care policy possible. It even included nursing-home care for several months. "That was very thoughtful of you, Carol," Rick had noted.
Carol laughed. "He"ll never know. He doesn"t bother with stuff like this, and fair is fair. Mrs. B. was always nice to me. And I know where those lovely Christmas gifts with Jeff"s card came from every year. I put J. J. on the policy, but I didn"t dare add Jill."
"I"ll tell her so she can get something for herself if she can afford it," he replied. "Thanks, Carol. If this causes any trouble, let me know."
Carol laughed again. "I already have a job offer from Raoul Kramer," she said.
Rick laughed too, and hung up.
Nora was moved from the hospital into a sunny private room at Sh.o.r.ecrest. The nurses at both the hospital and the nursing facility remarked upon how Nora"s mouth was always smiling. Some smiles were broader than others. It was encouraging, but it was eerie too. Carla had noticed it as well, and one day she bent to whisper in Nora"s ear, "Don"t wear them out, sweetie!"
She couldn"t know, but Nora actually heard her. She was sitting atop Kyle"s chest while he amused himself with her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. His thick c.o.c.k was buried deep in her wet p.u.s.s.y, and she was burning with her l.u.s.t. She laughed softly to herself at Carla"s words. She needed Rolfie too today. "Rolf!" she called, and he came eagerly into the bedroom. "I need two today, darling," she said. She leaned forward, offering Kyle a nipple, which he quickly took and began to suck on hard.
Rolf was behind her now. "I want to put it in your a.s.s," he whispered hotly in her ear. "You haven"t let me do that yet, Nora, and I want to do it so bad." His big hands ma.s.saged the cheeks of her bottom. "You have the cutest tush," he said, stroking her.
"I"m not sure," she teased him. Her c.l.i.t was tingling at the thought of Kyle throbbing in her c.u.n.t, and Rolf throbbing in her a.s.s.
"Let him," Kyle murmured. "Together we can give you the climax of your life, Nora. And then send him away, please."
"I"m in charge here," she reminded him, smiling into his handsome face. "I need you both tonight." She could feel Rolf"s finger rubbing her a.n.u.s with sweet-smelling oil. She wiggled provocatively against his finger. His c.o.c.k began foraging between the twin half spheres of her bottom. "Ohh, do it!" she told him. "Do it now!"
His hands closed about her hips to steady them both. He pushed the head of his p.e.n.i.s against the tight little opening. She moaned, and arched her back for him. The sphincter suddenly relaxed, and he was plunging forward. Now Rolf groaned as the tight walls of her flesh tightly encased him. He moved carefully. "Can you find the spot, Kyle?" he asked his male companion.
"I"m close," Kyle replied. "I think it"s time to blow madam"s mind, Rolfie. Agreed?" He moved within her v.a.g.i.n.a, and when he heard Nora gasp, surprised, he said, "Got it!" She gasped again. It was a sharp sound that seemed to pull all the breath from her. "Hey, you found it too!"
Nora screamed softly, but it was a sound of ultimate pleasure as the two men encased within her body gently rubbed against her G-spot. She began to climax, and the waves of the most incredible pleasure she had ever experienced rolled over her again and again and again. She could barely breathe. She was afire, and every inch of her felt more alive than she had ever felt before in her life. Nora had never known so intense a sensation. She didn"t know if she could stand it another minute. "Stop!" she cried to them, but they didn"t.
"Not yet, baby," Rolf husked in her ear.
"Kyle!" Her voice was pleading.
"Just a moment more, Nora," he half sobbed.
"You"re killing me!" she gasped.
"Now!" Kyle said fiercely.
And as another wave slammed into her she felt both men coming in hard spurts inside her body. "Ohhh, G.o.d!" she moaned as they both carefully withdrew from her, rolling onto either side of her. "That was . . ." She found herself at a loss for words.
Both men laughed weakly.
"Yes, it was," Kyle agreed.
They dozed for some time, regaining their strength, and then when they could stand they adjourned to the bathroom, washing each other in the gla.s.s shower that was more than big enough for them all. They climbed into the bathing pool and played like kids, splashing water, and reigniting their pa.s.sions once again. They lay together on the marble floor by the pool. Rolf thrust his thick d.i.c.k into Nora over and over again as Kyle knelt over her chest while Nora sucked his big c.o.c.k until they all came again. They reentered the pool to wash off.
Coming out, Nora said to her lovers, "We"ll do something a little different now. I"ve always wanted to see a guy sucking another guy"s d.i.c.k. And the one getting sucked gets to lick my p.u.s.s.y until we all come again."
"You are full of it tonight," Kyle noted. "I"m not bi, however."
"I am," Rolf said.
"Then that settles it," Nora responded. "On your back, Kyle, my darling. You"re going to lick me while Rolfie sucks that big beautiful c.o.c.k of yours, and I watch to see if he enjoys you or me more." And before Kyle could protest, she was pulling him down, and plunking her c.u.n.t over his face. His tongue immediately began to rummage between her l.a.b.i.a. "Ohh!" Nora exclaimed, feeling a quick burst of excitement, but her eyes were now on Rolf, sucking Kyle"s p.e.n.i.s eagerly. Perhaps a bit too eagerly, she thought. "If you make him come, Rolfie, I will take a big strap to your round tight a.s.s, darling. I want all of Kyle"s j.i.s.m for myself."
Rolf looked up, and nodded faintly. His blue eyes were glazed, and his lips were working furiously on the peg of flesh in his mouth.
Kyle"s lips and tongue were making her juices begin to boil. Nora couldn"t wait to have him inside her again. She was going to send Rolf away when they were done. She didn"t like how eager he was for Kyle"s c.o.c.k. Kyle belonged to her. She could see that Kyle"s d.i.c.k was very hard now. "Stop, Rolf!" she commanded her blond lover, and he obeyed. Nora switched positions, and encased Kyle within her hot body.
"Suck me off, Nora, please," Rolf begged, and she could see he was hard too.
She nodded, and he was standing over Kyle, his p.e.n.i.s pushing into her mouth. She sucked on him a few times, and he let his load loose. She swallowed the salty, oily substance eagerly. She had developed a strong taste for c.u.m. And when his d.i.c.k was flaccid again she said, "Go away now, Rolfie. I won"t need you again, this evening."
Obediently he walked out.
Still encased within her, Kyle rolled her over onto her back, and began to f.u.c.k her hard. "You can be such a b.i.t.c.h!" he groaned, thrusting, withdrawing, thrusting, withdrawing, thrusting, until they both climaxed.
"I know," Nora admitted. She was happy. Happier than she had ever been in all her life. She almost hoped her plan against her husband didn"t work, and she could stay here forever experiencing mindless s.e.xual ecstasy. And just how long had she been here? The view outside of her apartment terrace was always night. She had woken up once after several hours, and nothing had changed at all. It made her just the slightest bit uneasy. Well, Carla would tell her when they met in her fantasy. She wondered, however, exactly how she could appear in her friend"s world, but she supposed they would tell her.
"Will you come with me to Carla"s fantasy when she calls?" she asked Kyle after their last bout of pleasure.
"Do you want me to, Nora?" He was surprised, but pleased.
"She plays in a pirate"s world. Yes, I think I should like a little strong male backup, darling."
"Then I"ll come," he agreed.
"How will I know when she wants me, and how will I get there?" Nora wondered aloud, her brow concentrated in thought.
"I haven"t the faintest idea," he said. "My purpose is to serve you, Nora. The only problem is that I seem to want more than that."
"What do you want?" she asked, her fingers playing with the nape of his neck.
"Is the s.e.x enough for you, Red Rover? Is that all you really want?" he said softly, and his eyes suddenly met hers.
"What else is there, darling?" Nora replied.
"Don"t you want to be loved?"
"You love me very nicely," she laughed lightly.
"No, d.a.m.nit!" He was suddenly pinioning her, his hands imprisoning her wrists on either side of her head. "Not make love, and you know I didn"t mean make love. Love! As in emotionally attached. Nora, you"re all alone. Don"t you want to be loved? Do you even know what love is?"
"I thought I did once, but obviously I didn"t," she told him.
"I love you!" he said almost desperately.
"You do?" She sounded surprised. "Why?"
"There is no real rhyme or reason to love, Red. It happens. From the moment I first saw you, I wanted more from you than just s.e.x," Kyle said. His green eyes were warm as he looked into her face.
"As I recall," Nora reminded him, "when we first met you couldn"t keep your hands off of my t.i.ts. Did you love them first?"
"You don"t trust men, do you?" he sighed.
"Why should I?" she countered.
"After Jeff, I guess you shouldn"t, but what about all your friends on Ansley Court? Don"t they love their husbands?" Kyle demanded.
"Yes, I think they do," Nora admitted. "I ask myself, what was wrong with me that Jeff could not love me till death do us part? And you know what? There"s nothing wrong with me, Kyle. What was wrong was Jeff. I may be good at a lot of things, but I"m obviously not a very good judge of men. He"s hurt me, Kyle. I did everything I was supposed to do, and frankly more, but he still didn"t love me. But I was too dumb to understand it. I know now that he picked me as his wife because I was the right kind of girl. The kind of a girl a man like him was supposed to marry. I did everything I should, but it still wasn"t enough. And our s.e.x life? Only on my back. Eyes shut tight because he didn"t want me to look at him. No foreplay. Just hump, hump, hump until he was done. Then he would roll off of me. We would shower and go to bed. The second I got pregnant he wouldn"t touch me. And when I had my children it was several months after their births before he could bring himself to have s.e.x with me again. Finally our s.e.x life ceased entirely. When I asked why, Jeff just glared at me and made some remark about inappropriate questions."
"What a fool," Kyle told her, kissing her mouth softly. "He had no idea, did he, about the pa.s.sion boiling inside of you?"
"He would have been shocked if he did," Nora laughed bitterly.
"I love you," Kyle repeated, kissing her again.
"You want me," Nora responded.
"I have had you. Many times. In many ways. And in an astounding variety of positions, my darling Red. I could almost wish it wasn"t so, but I do love you. But you will break my heart to revenge yourself for being hurt, I"m afraid." He rolled onto his back again.
"Will you leave me?" She struggled to keep her voice strong.
"No," he replied bleakly.
"Why not?" His response had rea.s.sured her.
"Because I love you," he said simply.
"You"re a figment of my imagination brought to life by whatever it is that created The Channel and keeps it going," Nora said cruelly. "I could discard you. I could change you into a brute whose only pleasure is in pain!" she threatened him.
"Yes, you could, but then I wouldn"t be the kind of man you really want, or need, Nora. You don"t want that kind of man. You want a strong, sensitive man who will love you, my darling."
"I don"t need to be taken care of," Nora snapped. "Been there. Did that!"
"No, you don"t need a keeper," he agreed. "You need someone to love you as well as make love to you. That"s the man I am."
"I have a husband who has screwed practically everything with a pulse, Kyle. Now it"s my turn! I only wish he knew," Nora responded angrily.
"Yeah, like that"s really going to make you feel better," Kyle said tightly. "And any time you want to, baby, we can invade his dreams and show him how I can f.u.c.k you until you are screaming with pleasure. But I wouldn"t advise it. He might want you back. Do you want him back?"
"Never! The b.a.s.t.a.r.d betrayed me! Made a fool of me! If I could revenge myself in some way on him, I would, Kyle. I swear I would! I hate him for what he"s done to me! To our children!" And suddenly Nora began to cry. She wept bitterly in great gulping sobs for several long minutes, unable to stop.
Kyle wrapped his arms about her tightly, holding her against his broad chest, his eyes closed as he experienced her pain for himself. He was the man she really desired for herself even if she hadn"t yet reached the realization of that truth yet. She would. His big hand soothed her, stroking her red hair as her sobs began to ease and then fade away. Finally he tipped her face up to him, and started to lick away the tears staining her visage.
"Don"t look at me," she hiccuped. "I look awful when I cry."
"You look beautiful, Red. You always look beautiful to me," he told her.
"Shut up! You"re going to make me cry again," Nora muttered.
"I would never make you cry, Red," he promised her. "I just want to love you."
"I"m so afraid," she whispered at him.
"Of what?" he gently probed.
"I"m not sure I know how to love, and if I did love you, and you found someone else, I don"t think I could bear it, Kyle." Her eyelashes were all spiky from her tears.
"Remember, darling, that I"m your fantasy," he reminded her.
"But it all seems so real to me, Kyle. I don"t know how Mr. Nicholas does it, but The Channel has become reality for me," Nora admitted. "If I admit to loving you, you"ll get bored with me, and do what Jeff did. You"ll look for other women, and leave me."
"I will never leave you as long as you want me, Nora. I swear it!" he said. "I belong to you, Red. I"m yours!"
Before they could pursue the subject further, the telephone rang. Nora picked up the handset. "h.e.l.lo?"
"This is the concierge, Mrs. Buckley. You have been invited to join another fantasy this evening. You will find the appropriate costumes in your closet. When you"re ready just step into the elevator, and push the red b.u.t.ton. You can return to your own fantasy by the same means when you wish to return," the faceless voice said.
"I"d like to take Kyle with me," Nora said.
"Of course, Mrs. Buckley. There is a costume for him as well. Enjoy your evening," the concierge said, and hung up.