The Cottage

I woke up not knowing where I was. I had no idea what I would find when I opened my eyes. The last five nights I had stayed somewhere different; a B&B here, a hostel there, so every morning needed a re-assimilation of what was and what was not.

A breeze ruffled curtains through an open window. I caught the sound of seabirds calling and the swell of the tide, not too distant. Scents of salt and something leafy fresh wafted. My fingers pressed down into a mattress that was both yielding and resistant, one into which my body was curled like a foetus into its own shallow groove. The pillow was of the softest cotton and the sheets the same, that wrapped my body in a delicious way.

I sat up. I was naked. Out of instinct I drew the covers up over myself, because I was looking through an open window, out towards the sea. But there was nobody else in the room and no sign either that anybody else, other than myself, had slept in the bed.

My body felt wonderfully loose, my limbs carrying the ache of the previous day's walking, but in a way that was pleasurable, as if I'd had a really good workout, just what my body needed.

And I had, hadn't I, had a good workout. My god. Aurea. What had she been doing to me.

Getting up, the duvet half-covering my modesty, I went to the window and looked out. It was the cottage I had passed the day before and I was gazing out over the lawn that stretched to the little cove, cut, I now saw, as a vee into which the tide rolled. To my right, the woods down through I'd walked and to my left, the hill I had climbed, and where I had paused to watch Aurea, the woman of gold, under the waterfall.

Where she was now I had no idea. I listened to the house, to see if I could detect the sounds of footsteps or the tinkling of breakfast crockery, perhaps, the murmur of conversation. Nothing. Only the rise and fall of the waves and that roar of the sea that is somehow inside and outside everything else.

Failing to find my clothes, I put on instead a dressing gown that was hanging on the inside of the bedroom door. It was silk, a lilac colour, and the material clung to me as beautifully as the covers had done; at first it was cool, making me shiver, but then my body warmed into it, like a second skin.

I opened the door onto a landing and pushed at the doors there, revealing bedrooms and a bathroom, all done up in immaculate and exquisite furnishings, all carrying the scent of the sea outside and something lightly floral inside. A wooden staircase, wonderful beneath my bare feet, led down to the ground floor and I made a similar cursory exploration, revealing yet again a stylish and well-thought out interior, full of nice things to touch and look at.

The kitchen at least bore evidence of people. A single espresso cup sat on the counter, with residue in its bottom; a mocha was on the gas stove, still warm to the touch.

The kitchen windows gave a view of the lawn and I knew that this was where I wanted to go. The back door was open and I stepped out into the fresh cool of the morning. Dew speckled the grass revealing a trail of footprints down to the cove. Aurea, I thought, and an early morning swim.

I trod in the path she had made, feeling the moisture squirming up between my toes. The sun shone on my skin, and I lifted up my face towards it, as if in supplication. Everything I was feeling, every sensation, was like a kiss. I felt amazing.

I drew the gown tighter around me as I approached the rocky cove where now I could see the waterfall sprinkling over the smooth stone at its base. The sea looked calm, the tide not quite all the way out. I descended the steps I had seen Aurea take and looked out over the water to see if I could spot her.

As I scanned the horizon so the inclination came upon me to immerse myself in the sea's salty embrace. It would be cold, I knew, but the pull of weariness still dragged a little at my limbs. What better way to invigorate myself than a brief dip in the sea. I could wash the salt off under the waterfall, as Aurea had done. I was not a strong swimmer but at the edge of the rocks the water looked shallow. It would only be a quick dip, after all.

Looking about, seeing nobody, not even in the place where, I guessed, I must have watched Aurea, I slipped out of the gown and without thinking twice, lowered myself into the sea from what appeared to be a natural slide.

The cold almost took my breath away. And the water was deeper than I had thought, so that sliding in, and not finding an immediate foothold, my whole body was quickly encased in this freezing sensation. My head dipped under, There was a second of panic, but then one flailing leg found an underwater ledge and I was able to right myself and lift my head out of the water. The cold was something else. And yet that first immersion was the worst of it. Already I could feel myself assimilating to the temperature, as I moved my limbs to keep afloat; the sun made patterns on the surface of the water, the sky was high and clear; I was alive. I yelled in joy.

'People may not be able to see you from here,' a voice said, 'but they can certainly hear you.'

When Aurea had said James was in the UK government, my immediate picture was of this bespectacled Oxbridge type who'd gained every position he'd held through the contacts his family had.

I had not pictured this handsome black guy, whose shirt stretched tight over his upper torso and in whose smart pressed trousers, at my eye level, curled an obvious bulge.

He was sitting on the edge of the rocky ledge. I did not know how long he had been watching me but his grin told me that he knew I was swimming naked and, what was more, that he was not going to move while I got myself out the water.

'What have you brought us, sweetie?' He said then, and I was aware of Aurea practically materialising beside me, as if she was a mermaid from a depths.

She brushed my cheek with her lips and ran a hand over my sopping hair.

'This is Sally. Sally, this is James.'

'Sally eh,' James said.

Aurea lifted herself up out of the sea using her forearms as levers. She was strong and athletic. Water streamed down her back, from the honey tresses of her hair, as she sauntered quite naked over to where James was sitting. She bent to kiss him full on the lips and he took the opportunity to squeeze one of her heavy breasts.

'God I missed you last night,' he said, 'I got back here as early as I could. I was hoping for a swim together.'

'Too late,' Aurea said, coquettishly, disentangling herself from his embrace and swinging her hips back down the lawn towards the house.

'Not even a little al fresco shower?' James called after her. 'Oh well, shame.' He turned back to me, still bobbing in the water.

'You know, the longer you stay in there, the colder you'll be.' I noted concern, I thought, mingled with the amusement at my predicament. 'Here,' he said, and reached over a hand, which I took. He hoisted me out of the water and I did my best to balance myself on the slippery rocks, but I stumbled, and fell into his chest.

'Now you've got me wet,' James said, 'and that won't do at all.' But he held me close to him and I sensed his virile power, the way he pressed forwards, the look in his eyes and the deep rich tones of his voice.

'You're quite something,' he said, and I felt his gaze drifting down my body, at my own bosoms which, while not quite as developed as Aurea's, were still a handful, at the tuft of hair between my legs, slick with seawater, at the shape of my thighs. 'Tell me, how did...'

'No,' I said, putting my finger to his lips, 'not now. I'm cold. I want to go inside.'

'Of course, I'm sorry,' he said, 'I'm forgetting myself. It's just, it's not often we have a special guest here. Come, come inside, we'll find you a towel and get you warmed up.'

I bet you'd like to, I thought to myself, I bet you would.

Inside me those turbulent emotions were revolving once more. I was seething, first, at the humiliation, at how Aurea had barely greeted me and how she had left me with this strange man, vulnerable and naked. Yet another part of me, through Aurea's attitude, felt oddly comforted, accepted, almost. As if by being there, with the three of them, I had passed a kind of test. I knew that these people were the kind of people who got what they wanted, when they wanted. Being with them that kind of power I could already feel as a part of me. The evening before, in my hotel room, Aurea had said that she had done what she did, because I had shown her what to do. That was the way these people worked. They did not even need to ask.

Once inside, towelled and showered - this time alone - and dressed in some of Aurea's clothes (mine were being washed, I knew not where and by whom), a t-shirt and shorts, I went down to the kitchen where breakfast was being prepared.

'Just what do you think,' I said to both of them, 'is going to happen here?'

Aurea was at the table, nibbling on a piece of toast, while James had eaten and was studying a newspaper, one knee over the other. They looked at each other, and laughed.

'To be honest darling,' Aurea said, 'we're not sure yet. But you mustn't get the impression we're these sex maniacs or anything. Although we're very open about sex, both of us. I love to fuck and be fucked, for example. But I think you realise that already. She was the one,' she said to James.

'The one?' He said, 'the one who was watching you?'

She raised her eyebrows to signal yes.

'Well,' he said, 'well well, so somebody does have a small interest after all. And what did you think, when you were watching her?'

This was not going how I'd planned. But I realised I didn't really know what I wanted to say. On one hand I was slightly fearful of these people, who'd whisked me away to their cottage of lust with barely my say so, but on the other I was curious as to what might happen next. My attitude came across half-defiant, half-hoping. I changed tack, to come across bolder than I felt.

'Did she mention,' I said, 'what we did last night?'

'More surprises!' James exclaimed. 'This is really turning out to be a day of new information. And where did, ' he lingered on the word, 'this take place? Here, at the cottage?'

'No,' Aurea said, and I saw her for the first time a bit put out, on the back foot, 'she was staying at the Kingfisher in Tawbridge. I took pity on her, as she was hungry. Turns out I was hungrier.'

'Speaking of being hungry,' I said, and sat down at the table, 'I'm starving.'

'What we have in mind this morning,' James was saying, 'is a little walk.'

'I'm supposed to be walking anyway,' I said, 'I'm on a schedule, walking the coast path.'

'Treat this as a day off,' Aurea said. She had changed and was wearing a light blue cotton shirt and pleated tennis skirt. It did everything for her curvy figure. I thought to myself, my god, that woman was down on me last night.

'We won't go far,' James went on, 'just through the woods and up to the village. We can get some lunch up there. Might be a good chance to get to know one another.'

I looked between them for a secret exchange, some private glance, to guess their agenda.

'No,' Aurea said, 'that is really it. Just a walk in the woods. If you like, James can drop you back at Tawbridge later on. We can't say goodbye yet, can we?'

No, of course, it was rude to leave so quickly. These people had been nothing if not hospitable. And they intrigued me, more than that, they aroused in me new feelings. I was changing day by day it seemed. Where was the Sally who had started the walk?

The way they were touching each other, even while I stood in the same room. As James stood to wash the dishes, so Aurea caressed his back and let her hand descend to his buttocks, gripping each one. They looked firm and muscular. Then, as Aurea turned to collect more plates from the table, he turned and slid his hands up her bare thighs, lifting her skirt to reveal her panties, pressing himself into her from behind.

Things were getting heated. As I watched from the doorway I watched James' hands come up over her breasts, high and firm in her bra cups, squeezing each one as he continued to press into her, nibbling at her ear, tonguing her neck. Aurea was looking at me. It would have been the gaze from the waterfall, when she saw me watching, a look of quiet pleasure, of calm contemplation. She reached around and pulled his head closer to him, wanting his breath and his lips over her skin. Her ass was rubbing against his crotch. He began to undo the buttons on her blouse so that her breasts spilled out, and he took hold of them gleefully, cooing into her ear, as she closed her eyes and prepared to give herself to him completely.

'What is going to happen here,' she said, eyes still closed, 'is whatever you want, Sally.'

She turned to face James and they kissed, a passionate kiss, her hair was in his fist, her left leg hoisted up around him. They were going to do it there and then, and I was going to watch. Once again I was hovering between active and passive involvement. I could run, out of the house, over the cliffs, far away. I could stay. I could watch. I could, if I wanted, join them.

At that thought the muscles at the base of stomach squeezed. My core began to ache. I had seen Aurea, in her nakedness, and desired her, as she was, as a sexual being who was open and giving and totally into what she was doing. I knew I desired James too, his muscular frame was very attractive, and the thought of what he was hiding in his trousers caused me a new frisson of excitement.

'Fuck me,' she said, turning once again, bending so her ass was towards his groin, both her hands on the kitchen table. 'Fuck my pussy.'

'Oh-hoh,' James said, 'someone is impatient. Someone cannot wait. Well, first, my dear, I want to get a little pleasure myself. After all, it's me that has been waiting for you, and you've already had a little fun, no?'

She made a squeal of annoyance. But then he took her ass in both his hands and dropped down behind her.

'I want to taste you,' he said, 'I've been dreaming about your wet cunt all the way home.'

At this she bucked into him again. From where I was I could not see what was happening. I began to edge around the kitchen wall until James was in profile, squatting on the floor, his face up in between Aurea's thighs. I moved a little closer. He had twitched her panties to one side so that only her pussy and asshole were revealed. His nose was practically in her ass already. He was licking her with long but slow strokes, right up between her wet lips; she was dripping, practically sopping wet. Her wrists were shaking on the tabletop. She gyrated her hips so that his mouth covered all of her. Then he flicked his tongue up her clit and she buckled once, twice; I thought she was going to climax there and then. My right hand was undoing the zipper on my shorts. I wanted to feel myself; I knew I was wet too.

That could be me, I thought, with James behind me, licking my wet pussy. He could put it in my ass too. And at that thought his weight transferred and he brought her down lower so that his tongue was now in her hole, lubricating it with the juices from her pussy, just as Aurea had done to me the night before. I knew the sensation, I knew what pleasure she must be feeling.

'Goddamn you,' she growled, 'fuck me already, make me come, do whatever,' but her breath was catching and she held his head with one hand, forcing his tongue deeper in her ass.

'You want it now baby?' James said.

'Yes!'

'How do you want it?'

'Put it in my ass, now!'

'What's the magic word?'

'Please, for god's sake, fuck my ass, fuck my pussy, fuck me any way you want, just fuck me! Please!'

Her cries threatened to bring the house down. I watched as James stepped back and unbuttoned his trousers, his cock straining to be released. When it did he had to unfurl it out from his underpants. He was already rock hard, and long. Really, Aurea was going to take that in her ass? I couldn't believe it. I was mesmerised. I had even stopped playing with myself.

James scooped up the juices from Aurea's dripping pussy and, with one finger, worked a way into her asshole. He penetrated her like that as he greased his own dick, sizing her up.

'Ready baby?'

'More than ready'

She leant back for one more kiss on the lips, her arm encircling his neck. He took hold of her now naked breasts.

'When I'm done, I'm spraying my load all over these.'

'Pig,' she said, but bent once again, ready to take him.

He moved forward, the tip of his shaft at her entrance. Sensing him, she edged back into him, wiggling her hips. He grasped both sides of her ass and began to thrust inwards in one long slow motion. Her face was clenched in concentration, teeth biting her lower lip. With her right hand she splayed over one buttock, widening her asshole, giving him extra entry. Something seemed to give. He was inside her, his muscular legs rocking as he fucked her ass with smooth strokes. Her breasts bounced freely outside her open cotton blouse. She had her eyes shut, moaning in pleasure.

I reached forwards. I had barely even touched her so far. I fondled one breast, squeezing the nipple, feeling it harden under my touch.

'Wha...?" She exclaimed, and opened her eyes and saw it was me. Her head bent around, her mouth opened, and I was kissing her, our tongues mingling. I felt her fingers fumble at my t-shirt and I lifted it up over my head, so that my own breasts sprang clear.

'Oh wow,' I heard James say.

While he pounded her ass she bent and took my breasts in her mouth, suckling at the nipples, squeezing the flesh. I slipped down my shorts. Her hand reached to touch me between my legs, her fingers came up, slippery with my moistness. I took them in my own mouth.

'Double wow,' James said.

I had chosen, it seemed, even if I was not aware of having done so.

My own hand snaked down Aurea's stomach, her chest thrusting up as her back arched, James' forehead creased with sweat as he continued to slide his cock in and out of her ass. I reached her open pussy and my fingers found her swollen bud. With a light, deft touch, trying to emulate how she had manipulated me the night before, I circled her clit with the tips of my fingers.

'Oh my god,' she wailed, 'oh my god, do not stop doing that.'

I kept stroking her, and sucking at her nipples, nipping the flesh around her neck, as James upped his rhythm and I felt her body tense and then, just as quickly, melt. She shuddered under my touch.

'My god,' she said, 'fuck, that was incredible.'

James withdrew his cock out of her ass. Her hole dilated as his tip left her. She reached around with her fingers to touch herself, smearing pussy juice over her asshole, savouring what had just been done to her.

'Now,' James said, 'what are we going to do with this one here?'

His hands were fondling my ass. He was still rock hard and I knew that very very soon I was going to want to feel him inside me.

'Indeed,' Aurea said, 'why don't we warm her up a little?'

'You mean....' James said, chuckling.

'Yes.'

I was about to find out what they had in mind. James dropped down behind me and Aurea moved around behind me too. My panties were slipped over my behind and down my legs. Resting my hands on the table, as Aurea had done, I bent for them, exposed and ready.

'She's really wet already,' Aurea murmured.

'She has a beautiful ass too.'

'I've already tasted it. It is delicious.'

'Really? Then let me try.'

Tongues began to lap at me, at once soft and rasping, up my pussy and in my asshole. I could not tell who was where, nor even when I felt a finger, no, fingers, push into me, into both my holes,.

'God she does taste good.'

'Lick my fingers baby.'

'Oh yeah.'