August, 1923, Venice, Italy
The Galloways, a British couple with a passing acquaintance of Lady Elizabeth when she was married to Lord Aynsley; the bishop of Milan; and the Austrian industrialist, Josef, the Baron von Holst, were sitting on the beach of the luxury resort hotel on the Adriatic near the city of Venice, Italy. The Galloways were chatting away with Elizabeth—or trying to—as she devoted much of her attention to the baron, a bigger than life, charismatic man in his robust mid thirties, who dominated the group without half trying.
The baron was well over six feet tall, broad of chest and not so broad of waist, with aristocratic features and bearing, with a strong jaw line, somewhat florid complexion, and a mane of reddish brown hair, which also cascaded over the dip in the top of his one-piece swimming costume. His thighs were those of a sportsman, solid-muscle beefy, his hands and feet were huge, and the bulge in the crotch of his swimming costume was as well. Elizabeth, thinking of him as a fine stallion, was nearly melting from the sight of him sitting in the folding canvas beach chair, which was straining to manage his bulk. At thirty-six, the man was at the height of his career and sexual power, as anyone looking at him could discern. He also was recognized as a man you didn't say "no" to.
The other man present, the bishop of Milan, must, Elizabeth thought, have ice running through his veins, as he wore a black cassock, buttoned to his throat, as he sat beside the baron. He was a cadaverous man who Elizabeth thought of as the Grim Reaper each time she saw him. Tall and thin, he was dark complexioned and had a flowing mane of jet-black hair. Despite all of the darkness, he wasn't sweating under the strong sun.
A sharply hooked nose spoiled any chance of anyone considering him handsome, and the expressions of his face exuded secrecy, judgmentalism, and "don't mess with me" warning. His eyes were a cold, steel blue that gave the impression of seeing and stripping naked everything and everyone. His primary idiosyncrasy was that the nails on his long, slender fingers were unusually long and were painted jet black. As with most Italians, he spoke with his hands, and anyone in a conversation with him had trouble concentrating on his face rather than the fluttering hands. He showed every evidence of using his hands purposely in that vein—to deny everyone access to his true thoughts by watching his eyes.
Whereas the Galloways were focused on Elizabeth and Elizabeth was trying to focus on the baron, both the baron and the bishop had eyes only for the figure of the young man swimming far off the beach in long, expert strokes.
With a sigh, Mrs. Galloway rose from her canvas chair, which wasn't easy for her—she was an overlarge woman. This was much in contrast with Lady Elizabeth, who was buxom but otherwise trim of figure and dressed in the highest style and deepest cut of swimming fashion of the time. At forty, she looked much younger, and had gone to every effort to do so.
"I believe I am in for a nap before high tea," Mrs. Galloway said. "Will you join us on the hotel verandah for that at 5:00, Lady Elizabeth?" With a "humph," Galloway, also rose. He was in steel and would have preferred to stay and speak with the munitions manufacturer, Josef von Holst, if the man had paid any attention to him at all and if Mrs. Galloway would have permitted it.
"Lady Elizabeth will be having high tea with me," the baron said, his voice a deep baritone with an edge of "to be obeyed" command to it.
Flustered, because this was the first that she had heard of the appointment—but clearly pleased—Elizabeth turned to Ann Galloway. "Perhaps tomorrow. But a nap does sound good. I believe I will take one as well. So, Baron . . ."
"I will have us served in the small gazebo in the forested glade behind the hotel. At 5:00," the baron answered. And that was that for the Galloways and Lady Elizabeth, who, rummaging around in the tented cabana behind them for their beach apparel, started their progress off the beach and toward the hotel.
The baron momentarily watched the hour-glass form of the handsome Elizabeth move away, her buttocks swaying against each other in her stately gait, before turning his attention back to the swimmer in the distance.
"Those orbs beg for breeding," the baron muttered.
The bishop raised his eyebrows but not necessarily for the reason one supposed. "I could say the same for the son. He's a handsome young man," the bishop said.
"Yes, very handsome," the baron agreed. "Ripe even."
"I would agree with that," the bishop said. "Very desirable. He would go for a fortune in the Turkish souks."
"What do you know of buying young men in a Turkish souk?" the baron asked.
"Enough," the bishop answered with a sly little smile. "But those two. What do you know of them? She hardly looks old enough to be his mother."
"And yet she is, I have learned."
"You have learned?"
"My solicitors have been busy since I met the Winslow woman and her ripe son, Paul. American—the woman is. The young man is hers but the other half of him is British. Lord Aynsley's son. The two are divorced. Aynsley's family insisted all along on a British wife. He married the American long enough for her family to refurbish Aynsley's Rest. He's married again now. The son is nineteen. She's kept him tied to her apron strings. Only now, this fall, starting at Cambridge—at the father's insistence. I think the woman would take the young man back to Boston if she could. Very dominating. And he appears to be totally submissive to her."
"Submissiveness is not necessarily a bad thing."
"No, it's not. And he's a saucy thing. I get every indication from him that he would be interested if set free of her. The young man needs to be released. He needs to be dominated."
"I would be interested too."
"I'll keep that in mind, of course. There is some help you could be to me in exchange—later in the year. You could help me now by needing to go back to the hotel for a nap. I see that he is swimming back to the beach."
The priest sighed. "As long as you keep me in mind. You of course are going to break him."
"Yes, of course. He's ripe for it. He will thank me for it one day."
"Now? Here?"
"Yes, now. In the cabana, I think. Your time will come Giuseppe. For now you need a nap."
"I cannot watch from afar?"
"Not the first time, no. I may need to use force that isn't for your eyes."
"You would be surprised what my eyes would enjoy. And the woman? She has her eye on you. Did the Aynsleys leave her any of her money?"
"Apparently that was more than enough to sustain her—and a husband as well."
"You lost your wife last year, didn't you?"
"Yes, she never recovered from childbirth," the baron answered. If there was any regret in his voice, the bishop couldn't discern it. "Left me with a boy to raise. Every man needs an heir."
"And a playmate to spare," the bishop said, his eyes still on the young Paul Winslow, who was turning in languid circles off the beach. "A chit to play in the game, as it were. You will, of course, seduce the mother too—as camouflage."
"I'm surprised you're not a cardinal yet," the baron said, "as perceptive as you are. As I said, I will keep you in mind. Now, withdraw, if you please."
The baron was alone, standing in the sand in front of his chair as Paul Winslow, stumbled up to the beach through the surf. The young man was all smiles; tousled blond hair; trim, well-muscled body; sunny disposition; and flirty aspect.
"Where did everyone go?" he asked, giving the baron a speculative look. Von Holst took the opportunity of the young man standing in water to his ankles in swirling surf and looking at him while making some effort to maintain his balance to shrug his shoulders out of the top of his swimming costume and let the waist drop down to the curve of his lower belly, showing a magnificent torso of muscular pecs and washboard abs—providing the perfect form that Greek warriors beat their breastplates in. Unconsciously—perhaps—Paul shrugged out of the top of his suit as well, possibly unconsciously, making a man-to-man gesture.
Von Holst couldn't quite decide whether the young man's flirting was unconscious or purposeful. And it didn't matter to him one way or the other. He very much thought that the young man was uninitiated, though, and that did matter to him a lot.
"They've all gone to the hotel—for naps. They will be asleep for an hour or more. Leaving just us."
"Leaving just us," Paul repeated, his voice breathless now.
Josef pushed the front of his suit down to where it dipped just below where the curly reddish hair of his bush ran into the root of his thick cock, showing enough of the cock to reveal its thick girth. This was as close to the flashing of his equipment that he felt safe showing on the beach. If the young man was going to run, it would be now. If he hadn't been signaling interest in the baron for two days he was a hopelessly naïve young man.
The baron looked down at his own bush and then looked up at Paul, still standing in the surf, gratified to see that Paul's eyes had gone there too. The young man was trembling. His eyes had gone large.
"Come into the cabana with me," the baron commanded.