Chapter 6
Gwen had plenty to think about now. All her ideas seemed to have gone spinning through the air in a mad gay frenzy, to land before her in a strange new form. Nothing was the same. She herself had changed.
She lay awake at night, wanting her husband with such a fierce desire she was tempted to run downstairs and attack him! Days when he came home, she wished for the times when he had whispered, "Turn off the fires and come to the bedroom. Dinner can wait."
But Pete was still sulking. Was he waiting for her to make the first move? Or was he so much in love with Karen that he didn't want his wife any more? Gwen worried about that, and the strangeness between them grew harder to dispel.
The following Saturday night, the crowd met at the Crawford's. Gwen had never been inside the Crawford home, and she and Pete both gasped when they saw it.
The house was set alone on a whole city block in the suburbs. It was surrounded by a fence, and the big gates were opened by a guard.
"Wow!" Pete muttered. "I didn't know they lived like this."
"Me, neither," Gwen quavered. She smoothed the skirt of her blue cotton dress with nervous fingers, and wished she had saved her good pink sheath for the occasion.
Inside the house, Gwen stared at the long hallway, the gleaming redwood staircase, the open lighted rooms, chandeliers, paintings, thick rugs.
"Gosh, Pete," she moaned.
"Hush. We were invited," he whispered savagely. By the tight grip of his hand on her arm, she knew he was as nervous as she was.
Barbara Crawford came to greet them. She wore a blue silk sheath, cut Chinese style, with a high mandarin collar, and a skirt slit to the thighs at the sides. She smiled, her gaze lingering on Pete.
"We're both wearing blue, Gwen," she said. "I have a theory about colors. This day must be right for blue for people like us."
She set Gwen at ease immediately, equating her blue silk with Gwen's blue cotton.
"Your house it's so beautiful," Gwen said timidly.
Barbara smiled, her eyes lighting. "Do you like it? I spend months at a time searching for just the right decorations. I had the drapes made, when I couldn't find just the right thing to go with those paintings."
She pointed to several paintings on the walls of the large room. Gwen looked, and felt dizzy. She stared, unable to believe what she saw.
The three paintings on one wall were in a series. In the first one, a girl in a thin transparent dress was being chased by a creature with the face of a man, the skin of an animal, the hoofs of a goat. He had a very large, very obvious masculine instrument. The next picture, he had caught the girl, and was ripping her dress. In the third picture, they were lying on the grass, and she wasn't fighting any more. Her naked white body was half hidden by the animal-like body of the man.
"It's some myth," said Barbara. "Larry liked it, and he had some artist paint those for us."
"Very pretty," said Gwen faintly. The paintings were so vivid, so graphic they were gross. They left nothing at all to the imagination. She turned away, to see Pete staring at the opposite wall.
A single painting stretched from one end to the other, the picture of a nude, elongated, her pink and white body enormous. Huge breasts were topped with luscious cherry-red nipples. The soft curves of her belly melted into plump pink thighs. The brown curly hair around her face was echoed by brown curly hair between the thighs.
"Uh great," said Pete, turning red.
"I think you know everyone here," said Barbara. "Floyd is mixing drinks. How about a dance, Pete?"
Gwen watched her hostess and her husband dance away from her. From the way Barbara was clinging to Pete, she must have seduction on her mind, thought Gwen, newly wise. Karen was not in sight.
"Here you are, bunny rabbit!" It was Don at her side. He slipped his arm around her, and smiled down at her. "How are your scruples tonight, darling?"
"AU in place," Gwen retorted.
He chuckled, and drew her smoothly to the center of the bare floor. As they swayed to the music of the hi fi, he threatened softly, "I'm going to break down those scruples very soon. And you'll be glad I did."
She saw over his shoulder the third painting of the "Myth" series, the goat-like creature lying on the girl. She shivered but was not sure if it was from alarm or anticipation.
Karen appeared, with Jim Roth behind her. Gwen watched her warily from Don's arms. Karen looked at Pete, but didn't try to break in on Barbara's monopoly. Her green eyes were narrowed. She turned back to Jim and put a jeweled hand on his shoulder. Her body was encased in a green sleek sheath that rippled as she moved.
Don drew Gwen closer. His lips brushed against hers. Gwen tried to draw away. Don kept a firm hand on her waist and held her.
"We're just dancing, baby," he murmured, laughter in his voice.
"I I'd like a drink," said Gwen, to get out of his arms. The sensations she was feeling were pleasant and dangerous.
Obediently, he paused near the bar. Floyd Marshall mixed drinks for them. His balding head was covered with drops of sweat as he worked busily. Gwen wondered what he thought when he saw his beautiful wife Karen in the arms of other more attractive men.
Larry came over as she finished her first drink.
"My dance, Gwen," he said.
She remembered what had happened as they had danced at the picnic. He seemed to be quite uninhibited at times. But she couldn't refuse her host.
"My wife-likes your husband," said Larry in Gwen's ear.
Gwen jerked. She looked around and saw Barbara dancing with Pete, both arms around his neck. Pete's face was red, his black eyes sparkling. Barbara's lithe form was pressed firmly to his tall lean body.
"I'd be jealous if he wasn't married to you," Larry murmured.
Gwen refused to speculate on all the hidden meanings in that remark.
She danced with Larry, then with Arthur Stowell. Arthur was nicer tonight than usual, and was only mildly sarcastic. The evening began to spin past. She had another drink, and another.
They played games. Gwen would have thought the games were childish except for the way they were played.
In musical chairs, each man sat on a chair, and the girls sat on their laps. At the sudden pause in the music, the girls were supposed to jump up and find new partners before the music began again. But each time, the music was played for a long time. Gwen squirmed on the lap of Don Hoover, and he played frankly with her breasts till she was so hot she wanted to explode. It seemed ages till the music stopped. He held her too long, and by the time she got free and jumped up, all the men had girls on their laps.
"I'm out," said' Gwen, with relief. She stood near the hi fi being operated by Floyd, and watched with fascination.
Pete had Elbe Roth on his lap. The woman was squirming and playing around freely. Pete's hands went awkwardly to her waist to hold her. Elbe took his hands and placed them on her big melon breasts. Pete's face went even more red. But his large hands stayed there, fingers curved around the mounds.
Later they played hide-and-seek. It was fun at first, in the big house. Gwen hid in a closet, and was one of the first ones found by Don.
"Got you!" he cried. He grabbed her and kissed her mouth. "Now you have to come with me and find the others."
She laughed and came with him, and they raced up the wide stairway.
"This is a favorite place," Don whispered, and opened a door. A squeal greeted them. Gwen stared.
Nola Stowell was leaning against the wall of the room. Larry Crawford was standing in front of her. They were very close. Gwen saw he had pulled up Nola's dress, and his hands were firmly on her bare waist. Nola peeked at Gwen and Don around Larry's arm.
"Go away-" she said. "Oooh honey oooh-"
Gwen swallowed. He was making love to her! As she stared, the two bodies jerked together. Nola's eyes closed in ecstasy. Her feet went up on tiptoe, one foot on either side of Larry's shoes.
"Ooooh ooooh," cried Nola. "Sweet you're killing me oooooh-"
Don laughed, and closed the door after them. "They're playing a game of their own," he said cheerfully. "Let's keep on looking, bunny."
They found Pete, then Karen, then Floyd. All joined in the search for others. Up to the attic, down to the basement they went, peering in all the rooms. Gwen had never seen such a house, with such gorgeous, colorful furnishings, rugs, chairs, beds, drapes, elaborate bathroom fixtures. In one bathroom, they found Isobel. She wasn't alone. Arthur Stowell was sitting on the edge of the bathtub. Isobel was kneeling before him, her hands busy.
"Oh!" gasped Gwen. Isobel didn't even look around. Her blonde head ducked down to the object her hands were caressing. Gwen bumped into Pete in her haste to get out.
"Having fun, Isobel?" asked Don. He laughed when she didn't answer, and came out and closed the door.
"Gosh Pete," Gwen whispered to her husband.
"I know," said Pete. "No holds barred, huh?"
But in spite of his light words, Gwen knew Pete was getting all stirred up. She brushed against him a moment before starting on. She felt under her seeking hand the hard ridge that told her Pete was aroused.
They found Barbara hiding in a basement room, a pine-paneled playroom. She was laughing and pink-cheeked as they discovered her behind a screen.
"I knew Pete would find me," she drawled, hooking her hand in Pete's arm.
"It was your perfume," said Pete.
She smiled, a slow languid smile up at him. Gwen stiffened with alarm as Pete put his arm around Barbara.
All the sights were arousing her. They must be even more stimulating to Pete, thought Gwen, as the gang went back to the main room. Some began dancing again. Larry came back and claimed Gwen.
"Hi, pretty one," he said. "I've been saving myself for you."
Something made her retort boldly, "It didn't look that way to me!"
He grinned down at her. "Oh, I didn't finish," he said casually. "I saw you come in, and something said to me, 'Larry boy, that girl is ready for you. Don't disappoint her.' So I pulled out of Nola and saved myself for you."
Gwen was stunned at his frank language. She turned red, swallowed, could not answer. The images he made in her mind blended with the very images of what she had just witnessed.
Larry drew her closer, pulled her over to the corner. His seeking hands went to her waist, down lower. He pressed himself against her.
"No," said Gwen faintly.
"Yes, honey, oh, yes, very, very yes," he said. His mouth kissed the side of her neck, under her ear. His lips opened. She felt his teeth nibble at her ear. A wild thrill went through her. She stood still as he kissed her, licked at her flesh, bit gently from her ear lobe down her neck to her shoulder. His hands were not idle. He caressed her buttocks through her dress. Then he whipped up the full skirt. His big warm hands clamped on her rounded buttocks through the thin panty-girdle. She squirmed in his arms. He only came closer.
She felt his hardness pressing on her belly. Then he bent lower. One foot slid between her feet, forcing her legs open. He stooped and maneuvered deftly. Through the barrier of their clothes, she felt his masculinity pushing upward to her soft, wet, feminine need.
She gasped for breath, and heat rushed through her. Larry bit her neck. It reminded her of the way a stallion bit his mare as they mated in the pastures. The stallion's teeth would snap at the mare's neck as she stood with nostrils flaring, eyes rolling in fright as the stallion forced her around, then mounted her from behind. Gwen could see, behind closed eyes, the mare, with lowered head, panting, as the stallion worked at her.
Larry said, "Come upstairs with me!" It was an order. Blindly she began to obey him. He caught her hands, drew her with him toward the door.
Then she saw Pete. Barbara's arms were around his neck. She was swaying with him, hips in an erotic dance of their own. She was drawing him toward the door also.
"What am I doing?" Gwen muttered. "Pete!" she said aloud. "Pete!"
Pete turned a dazed red face toward her.
Larry said crossly, "Oh, come on, Gwen. Don't be coy!"
"I we have to go home," said Gwen. She broke free from Larry and grabbed Pete's arm desperately. "Pete, we we have to go home!"
For a moment, she thought Pete would not come. He stared at her, at Barbara, at Gwen again.
"Oh yes. We have to go," he agreed thickly.
"No, you don't have to go," said Barbara gently. "Come on, Pete. Come with me."
But Pete went with Gwen. She gave a big sigh as they ran out the door. Pete's arm was around her. She was safe, she thought. Safe with Pete. And Pete was safely with her.
"Let's go home," she said. "I want oh, Pete I want you!"
He grabbed her in the darkness outside the big house. His hands were rough, but she gloried in the roughness. He kissed her mouth.
"And I want you like crazy," he said. "Let's get home before I bust wide open!"
"I can't wait," she said, cheerfully brazen.
They raced for the car, laughing with sheer delight and anticipation.