Chapter 2

We didn't climb into bed right away.

But we did most definitely climb into bed.

My interest in Diana, believe it or not, was not centered solely on her body. The fact that I was moneyless and without a job forced me to other considerations.

Point one: Diana had said she owned a sight-seeing business which was foundering for want of a masculine hand on the tiller. Point two: I had two hands which were most definitely masculine. Point three: there is money to be made in the sight-seeing game, especially in Southern California.

Points one through three, inclusive, added up to opportunity with a big fat capital O. At least, that's the way I had it figured on the basis of what Diana had told me thus far. I wanted to hear more.

After she had telephoned a man whom she addressed as Mr. Zimmer, we relaxed on the French Provincial sofa in her living room and discussed things over Scotch on the rocks. Yes, she had deserted the Manhattan kick and gone farther east to join me where the booze was best.

"My company specializes in tours of the movie stars' homes and the studios," she said.

"What studios?" I countered. "The way things are in Hollywood now, there's more activity at the La Brea Tar Pits."

"That's just the trouble," she said. "Or, at least, it's one of the troubles. Another one is that the movie sexpots are deserting Beverly Hills. Now they're scattered all the way from Bel Air to Madrid. Hollywood just isn't what it used to be, and that's what's knocking hell out of my business."

"Change is the law of life," I pontificated. "If we would grow and prosper, we must change with the changing times."

"Please. No lectures." She sipped some more Scotch.

"Look," I said. "The tourists are still coming to California, right? Statistics tell us there are more people arriving in this smog-drenched paradise daily than ever before."

"So?"

"So the tourists still want to see things, don't they? They don't come one, two or three thousand miles and sometimes farther than that-just to get fouled-up on the freeways."

"I guess not."

"So California has a lot more to show them than disappearing movie lots and stars' homes. There are TV programs, night clubs, Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm ... and don't forget charming old Tijuana just two hours' drive away."

"Now, wait a minute, Jack." Diana put her cool fingers on my arm. "Thanks a lot, but you're talking on a larger scale than I can possibly operate. I have only a couple of busses, and small ones at that. To cart people all over Southern California costs money."

"Haven't you ever heard of thinking big?"

"But I don't have the capital. And, anyway, Fanner's got the general sight-seeing business sewed up. They've got an "in" with all the big hotels. I couldn't hope to buck them. Even in the limited field where I've been operating, they've been tough competition."

"Listen," I said, tapping her thigh. (It tapped very nicely.) Bigness can be an asset, but it can also be a liability. Then, too, when a business gets fat and complacent, it can be easy pickings."

"Not for me," she said, finishing her Scotch.

"For us, maybe," I told her firmly.

She gave me a good long look. "You've really got an idea about this, haven't you?"

"Damned right. Now tell me: Do you have any physical assets that can be mortgaged-real estate, busses, that sort of thing?"

"Yesss...." she said slowly. "My husband had the plant all paid for, and I've managed to keep it clear. That's about all I've been able to do."

"Then we can raise enough operating capital to get going."

"You keep saying we," she pointed out. "Pardon me for being blunt, but just why do you think I should take you in?"

"For several reasons, but for now we'll talk about these: First, I know Southern Cal like Mr. Kraft knows cheese. Also, I'm a good salesman and I know how to manage a business. To prove it, I can show you the financial statement on a bar I just sold down in Dago. Add to that the fact that I'm hungry."

"You're also not overly modest, are you?" Diana observed.

"Modesty never gained a man a thing."

She looked at me closely. The liquor had mellowed her quite a bit; I could tell that by her eyes.

"You said there were other reasons," she reminded me. "What are they?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Number one, I'm a man. And I happen to think that a man is what you need most." Her eyes widened a little bit at that, but I went right on: "Number two, I'm available-no wife or kiddies or other encumbrances. Also, I'm not a bad guy when you get to know me. Now, how does that strike you? Be honest. This is no time for fooling."

Diana said, "I don't know what to say." Her voice was smoky and it cracked once in the middle of the sentence. Her eyes were smoky, also. That let's-go-to-bed look was creeping into them.

I looked down at her breasts, almost half exposed above the scoop-top dress she was wearing. She had an uplift bra that was a world beater, serving those big mounds up in a way to make your mouth water. I took plenty of time looking her over, then I lifted my eyes to hers. "As you told me in the bar, you have no virginity to lose."

"You're a very direct man," she murmured, and wet her lips with a red tongue-tip.

"Very."

Our eyes locked again, and I decided it was time to make my move. The openness of her gaze told me I had clear sailing.

I moved closer and encircled her with my arms, pulling her abundant body against me. Her bosom pressed my chest and yielded. The scent of Chantilly drifted up from delightful places. I watched her lips slowly preparing.

Then I sent my mouth swooping downward.

At first touch, her red lips were soft. They were parted slightly. I moved mine against them, tightening the suction and forcing her lips farther apart. Suddenly hers quivered and pulled at mine and, at the same time, I felt her arms extend themselves around my back and take hold. Then she made a little sound, and her warm tongue rose up and entered my mouth.

The fact that Diana Manzer wanted it, and wanted it in a real big way, couldn't be denied. I figured if I gave it to her just as she wanted it, it might sell her on the idea of a more permanent relationship for us. I'd had some experience with lonely widows before. I wasn't entirely cynical about the thing, however. Any way you looked at it, I was in for a good time.

I wasn't looking at anything right then, actually. My eyes were closed and I was feeling. Feeling Diana's soft warm lips which had opened like the petals of a flower, and feeling her tongue which was probing the inside of my mouth, circling and twisting and curling around mine. One of her hands was pulling against my back, the fingers sharp-tipped, while the other one ruffled the short hairs at the back of my head. Her curvaceous, sweet-smelling warmth was molded to me.

After receiving the thrusting ministrations of her tongue for some seconds, I pressed firmly with my own, forcing hers back into the lush cave from which it had come and entering after it to continue making love in the molten heat of our mutual passion.

Our bodies were turned half-facing one another on the sofa, and momentarily I felt the anxious moving of Diana's thighs and the sleekness of her stockinged ankle as it began to rub my lower leg in a mute plea to extend the scope of our lovemaking.

I moved one hand from her back, slipping it along her far side and down onto the warm rise of her hip. The fingers worked their way along her clothed thigh to find her dress-hem, which had pulled well above her knee. As we continued to kiss, I fingered her skirt and slip away from her leg, deftly edged beneath both garments, then sent my hand upward.

This time there was no skirt or slip between her flesh and my fingers. There was just Diana, encased in sleek, tightly drawn nylon. I rubbed the nylon with my palm and teased the tactile skin beneath it with my fingertips.

Diana moaned, her tongue suddenly become wilder, her hands grasping against me fiercely.

I stroked her stockinged thigh back and forth, then let my fingers slip down its outer slope. She lifted her leg to allow more latitude for my playing. My hand worked its way down and around and gradually upward.

The tip of one finger touched a garter which had nylon bunched in its metallic grip. I edged another finger onto it, then moved them upward along the elastic strap. After slipping them underneath the strap, I lifted it and pressed with my thumb against the button of the clasp. It released, the garter coming free.

I stroked Diana's bare thigh and, as I did this, she tore her mouth from mine. She was panting. "Oh, Jack, that turns me on!"

As her head lay against the top of the sofa, I nibbled the edges of her lips. At the same time, I found the other garter on her stocking top. I opened it as I had done its twin. Her stocking became limp.

Bending over her, I brushed my fingers across the top of her right thigh, then I touched at its inner slope and at the inner slope of her left, and continued over the left thigh until I found another garter clasp. It came open. I petted her some more, my fingers inching higher and then dropping back to take care of the final garter.

I now freed myself from her loose embrace and slipped from the sofa to come to rest on my knees in front of it. Her legs were at my left side, against me, and without hesitation I took hold of the hem of her skirt and slip and pressed them upward until I had bared her thighs entirely. I bent my head and fastened my lips against the honeyed flesh.

Diana whimpered in her need, moving her legs to make more room for me, and at the same time bringing her hands to the back of my head where they began to press. I worked my mouth along the lush slope of her left thigh and then her right. I wanted to take all the time in the world with this, teasing her with the brushing of my lips and the sliding pressure of my tongue-tip.

As I kept kissing her, I slowly lowered each of her nylons, brushing first one and then the other an inch or two at a time. Diana was making it more and more difficult for me to move back and forth from one of her legs to the other because she was inching them farther apart. Also, they were twisting and turning passionately beneath my lips. She raised the right one, as she had done before, and this gave me access to the full width of its inner side. The skin was marvelously soft there. I caressed it, licking gently with my tongue.

Diana was going wild by this time, making little noises and twisting and turning on the couch. She acted as if she wanted me to put an immediate end to her sweet misery, but I knew she wasn't ready yet. We had just begun.

When I had given thorough attention to both of her white, lush thighs, I sat back on my haunches and lifted one of her feet in order to remove her shoe and the stocking which was rumpled at her ankle. After that, I took off the other shoe and nylon. This made her legs completely nude.

But there was a lot more clothing in the way.

Her head was still back against the top of the sofa when I moved up beside her again. Her lips were parted moistly and her eyes were closed. Her raven hair had become pleasantly mussed, one waved lock falling across her cheek.

I found the zipper at her right side and lowered the tab. Then I urged her upright and released the fastener at her back.

"Do you want to stand up, dear," I asked, "and we'll get this dress off?"

"Oh, Jack...." she half-moaned. "We shouldn't. We really shouldn't."

"Nonsense," I said and nibbled at her lips again. They opened, and I took the lower one between both of mine and sucked it. She shuddered.

I helped her to her feet and without bending, gathered her dress in my hands. I lifted it all the way up her body and over her head. I tossed it at a chair.

Her underclothes were pale blue-a wired strapless bra with lace cups, and a shining nylon half slip with a lacy upward slash at one side. Her breasts rose above the bra in lush, delectable fullness. The cups were cut so low that they barely contained her nipples. I knew that I could easily lift each breast out, but I wanted to get rid of the bra entirely.

I was quick to do it. The bra's wide back strap came apart in my fingers and Diana's bountiful breasts tumbled free.

They were very large-larger than my hands could contain-and they were lush and soft, but firm enough to stand outward in trembling grandeur. At the crest of each globular mound, wide rust-red circles bloomed, and at the center of each circle was a nub of deeper hue. The nubs were barely crinkled now, lying almost flat. Except for her nipples, her breasts were a smooth pinkish white and this tone continued upward and downward on her body with no distracting tanlines to mar the symmetry of her form. Diana appeared not to be a sun-worshipper, and that made her a California rarity.

Resisting a strong desire to lift and fondle each of her breasts immediately, I took hold of the elastic at her waist and let it down. I knelt before her to finish removing the half slip, then I tossed it away.

Diana stood now in a single garment-a brief blue panty girdle, its garters hanging free. I reached for its top and began to roll it down, gradually freeing her spongy buttocks and the soft bowl of her belly. It came down her thighs, past her knees, and then was off.

I took her buttocks in my hands and pulled her to me.

Her body shook as I kissed her. She said, "Oohhhh...." very softly, and then she pulled away and turned toward the bedroom. Her white, trembling buttocks were a delight as she moved quickly from the room and disappeared into dimness.

I was on my feet and after her. She was stretched out on the bed when I arrived beside it. Though there was no light in the room, there was enough illumination from the open doorway to cast a soft glow on the long lushness of her body, her legs parted slightly and one knee upraised.

Moving quickly, I rid myself of my clothes. Then I got on my knees on the bed beside her.

"Kiss me here, Jack," Diana murmured as she gathered the twin bounties of her chest between her hands, forcing the mounds together and raising them toward my lips. Her nipples had firmed slightly.

I eased her hands away and took her breasts in my own grasp, fingers extending upward along their j outer sides and my thumbs underneath them. I squeezed gently, my fingertips sinking into their softness. I waggled them and Diana moaned. Then I brought my forefingers and thumbs up to their crests and began teasing her nipples. I stroked and rolled them between my thumbs and fingers, urging them up. They responded quickly, stretching tall and thick and very red. I plucked at them.

Diana wriggled beneath me, her shoulders twisting, her thighs opening and closing in need. I knew it would be cruel to make her wait much longer, so I bent my head and took a swollen red nipple into my mouth.

She cried out sharply.

I loved the fleshy tower with my tongue as my lips drew upon the surrounding flesh, my teeth biting her gently. She moaned. She ruffled my hair. I let that nipple go and went to its twin, treating it in the same manner.

After that, I shook both breasts between my hands, letting the turgid tips rub back and forth against my mouth. I flicked my tongue at them and then nipped first one and the other.

"Oh, Jack, I'm going to scream!" Diana said harshly. "Finish me! For God's sake, finish me!"

She reached for me, tugging and trying to pull me on top of her. At the same time she tried to get her near leg around me. This process caused her to become very open, and the sight of all that womanly enticement was too much for me to resist.

I swung nimbly into place and fell to my elbows.

"Now! Now! Now!" she chanted urgently.

I ran my hands beneath her body and downward to grasp her plump buttocks. They were two magnificent, squeezable handfuls. I lifted her that way as she churned and tried to reach me.

I pressed forward, nudging her at exactly the right place.

She let out a strangled cry at. the contact.

I discovered that I wouldn't have to treat her gently. She was as ready as a woman could be. Here it comes, babe! I thought as I tilted her buttocks a little more, until she was just right. Then, in single exertion, I took her.

"OOHHH!" she screamed, and her legs came up around me.

It had been a long time since she'd had it, I presumed, from the way she was reacting. Either that or else I was an even more formidable man than I'd thought. But I didn't bother to debate the issue. Right then there was something far better to do.

I began to do it and she began to help me. We alternately slid apart and slammed together. It wasn't necessary to hold her by the buttocks any more because her legs were clutching me for dear life, rhythmically flexing.

After propping myself on my arms, I watched her contorted face. That's one of the kicks, as far as I'm concerned-seeing their sweet torture when they're being ravished.

Diana was being ravished expertly, and she was appreciating it. Her eyes were jammed closed. Her head tossed. Her mouth was open, twisting, revealing her gleaming teeth. She was talking, also, in gasping spurts-telling me just what she liked about me in those blunt Anglo-Saxonisms that nobody's ever im proved upon.

I said, "Yes, baby, yes," and kept slamming. Not too fast, yet. Just hard and steady.

We bucked and rolled and struggled. She panted sharply and tore at my back. Her legs skidded high on me, giving me an even straighter shot at her. She took all I had, believe you me. There was no holding back.

It wasn't long before I could feel her getting there, and so I ran my arms under her ribs and grabbed on tight. Then I tore out all the stops. She howled. She really howled with joy as I pummeled her. The big balloon got bigger ... bigger and bigger still....

She swiveled and lifted, thrusting herself at the sky, and just then the balloon went bang, and I was plunging in the warm embrace of ecstasy, groaning and straining out of myself again and again.

I rolled onto my back.

Diana was half on top of me, kissing me all over the face with her open mouth, her breath hot and sweet and pumping from deep in her lungs.

I held her to me with my arms around her back and, when my mouth was free enough to let me speak, I asked, "Is it a deal, baby-all the way, you and me?"

"Yes, lover!" she gasped. "Oh, yes, lover!" And she kept kissing me.

I hardly need tell you that I got little sleep that night