Early September in Castle Harbor saw most summer renters depart, but not the late summer weather. The days stayed warm, mostly sun-filled, and the nights grew cooler only gradually. A few trees began to turn, a splash of yellow against the green, and the rows of corn that had yielded the first ripe ears turned brown and crisp and rustled in the breeze. But the beaches remained warm and inviting by day, the ocean at its warmest, and were less crowded. For Leslie, this was the time to reclaim the beaches, the bike paths, and the wooded trails from the summer people, and her naturally dark skin grew browner still. The shape of her bikini was barely noticeable—she discarded it at any opportunity— and her breasts became almost of the color of her nipples. Guy approved, and teased her out of her suit even when there was a risk of being caught.
"I am a school teacher," Leslie would protest. "What do my students say if I get into the Castle Harbor Express for 'indecent exposure'?"
"They say, 'Shit, I wish I had been there!'"
"The boys."
"And the girls giggle."
"And the school has to fire my bare ass, whether they want to or not, because the parents go ape shit."
"Well, the principal sure as hell would have nothing to say." Hugh Gaitley was a relatively new member of the Dark Knights; he would not have to imagine how Leslie had looked when arrested.
"He would have to act as indignant as anyone else," said Leslie.
The arguments didn't change much. As they talked, Guy would go on teasing the bikini top, them the bottom, off his wife's flawless little body, trained to perfection in almost daily yoga classes. So far, they had been lucky.
Now, late in the day, on a stretch of deserted Atlantic beach, Leslie waded naked into the calm, warm ocean, squinting in the white glare of the afternoon sun on little rippling wavelets. She turned to Guy, standing beside her. With a grin on her face, she reached over and took his dangling cock in her hand. She gave it two tugs, and said: "Warning bell, warning bell, there is a session of Dark Knights this weekend. You didn't forget?"
"How could I, for God's sake?"
"Oh, that's right," said Leslie, with mock surprise, and, with a swift movement she dropped his penis, cocked her middle finger back against her thumb, and snapped the unfortunate ball that happened to be on her side. Guy yelped in surprise, and his hands flew down to shield himself. Of course, he was in time only to clutch his balls as the sickening, unbearable pain seized his balls, his belly, even his lower back.
"Ow! Shit!" he cried, looking over at her in astonishment.
"You do remember, then?" she asked innocently.
"Fuck," he whined. He said, his voice strained, breath coming hard: "I wasn't ready, at all. From delightful beach, standing by my pretty, naked wife, to agony."
"Straighten up!" snapped Leslie, with mock severity. "You're a Dark Knight."
Guy ignored her, bent double, nursing himself, but his mind went back to the night of their initiation into the Dark Knights, an initiation that went completely off the rails, thanks to two members who had a grudge against him. As he felt the worst of the ache receding, even now, from his balls, he marveled again at what he had suffered, that night. Of course, he had had no choice, none at all.
Leslie bent over and embraced him. She crooned: "I'm sorry, butchy baby—really. Does it hurt a lot?"
"Women can never, ever know," muttered Guy. Suddenly he reached over and snatched a handful of her thick, dark pubic hair and began to surge into the waves, dragging her after him. Leslie screeched, almost fell, and stumbled along. Her hands shot down to grab his wrist, but it didn't help much. She was in the water up to her neck before he released his grip and surged ahead, calling back, "Does it hurt, butchy?" His laugh was cut off as he dived beneath the waves.
Leslie stood looking after him, thoughtfully massaging her pussy hair, then burst out laughing.
When they were drying themselves on the beach, giggling together, Leslie said: "Guy, we've got to talk with Delores before the meeting of the Dark Knights—got to."
"She'll be there, you think?"
"I know Delores—at least, I know her, now. She'll be there."
"After what she did to you?"
"You mean after what you did to her?"
"Well, when I got back from shopping in Riverdale, I stepped in the door and heard you shrieking. Yes, shrieking. And found you tied hand and foot to our bed with Delores licking you into a third orgasm."
Leslie said, thoughtfully, "My clit felt as though it were getting electric shocks—or what I imagine electric shocks might be like."
"May you never find out for sure."
"All things in due course, I suppose. I've found out a lot of things I never imagined I would."
"Not electrodes on your clit."
"No, I suppose not, but listen. We have to talk with her. We at least have to find out what happened to her after you threw her out, like that."
"Quite a challenge for a gorgeous high-school librarian, no?"
Leslie shook her head. "Even now I can't believe it. You left me tied up!"
"I had to deal with her myself. I knew you would interfere, be soft-hearted."
"So you threw her out of the house just as she was, stark naked, and locked the door." Leslie had turned to him, hands on hips, reproachful.
Guy chuckled.
"When you told me, I couldn't believe it!" said Leslie. "That she'd have to drive home naked. But THEN you told me that you didn't even give her car keys to her!"
Guy nodded solemnly, judiciously. "Right," he said. "I figured it would cool her ardor, a little, to find her way home—two miles or—with no clothes on." He shook his head in disbelief. "But she must have done it. She showed up at work, you said. No story in the paper. No gossip. How could she have done it?"
"Well, that is one thing I'm dying to know, aren't you?"
Guy nodded and said, "Cum, just thinking about it."
"But also, how does she feel about us, now?" Before Guy could answer, Leslie said, quickly, "And don't just say 'She had it coming.' Have you any idea, any idea at all, what it must have been like, standing out there naked, absolutely nowhere to call for help, no one to call? This is the high-school library, for God's sake, the wife of the principal! She's incredibly respected, and respectable, in Castle Harbor. Guy! Try to imagine it, for Christ's sake!"
Guy turned to her. He looked contemplative, as though following her direction. Finally, he nodded. "You're right. It's completely incredible."
"She didn't come back to beg you to let her in! She just—left?"
"We've got to find out," said Guy.
"And YOU have to apologize! What she did, she did to me, not you. I would not have punished her at all—certainly not with that fucking nightmare you handed her."
"I was protecting you," Guy protested.
"Bull shit! You were getting off on humiliating a beautiful, sexy woman. You could have ruined her life, never mind humiliating."
A few days later, just at sunset, they sat together on the long, shaded deck of Karen's Place, with a view of the harbor, still packed with yachts, including a few truly impressive mega-yachts. They had selected a table well to the side of the big deck, and in a corner; they needed privacy. From here, the panorama of the harbor spread before them, and, beyond the yachts and their twins reflected in the still water, lay the outer harbor, serene under the September sky. They had not spoken much, concentrating on the cool wine, each preoccupied with vivid memories, conflicting feelings, and a slight case of nerves.
"Here she is," said Guy suddenly, and Leslie quickly looked up. Guy had stood up and was waving at the woman who had just stepped from the restaurant onto the deck.
She was tall—half-a-head taller than Leslie—and her skin much fairer, the pale, perfect skin that collects in the summer sun freckles on the chest, the back of the arms, and the shoulders. She wore a beige sun dress, cool, open to the air, but not especially revealing. Her ornament was her shoulder-length auburn hair—soft, lustrous, swaying as she walked. And, thought Guy, the face was as stunningly beautiful as ever—except that it looked as though it had never known a smile.
Leslie jumped up and hurried to meet her, arms outstretched. "Delores," she said, "you're so beautiful." Delores let her put her arms around her, but did not respond. As she hugged her, Leslie whispered, "And I missed you so much!" Delores nodded. No smile.
"Come on," said Leslie, "say hello to Guy!"
Delores followed her obediently, and, when Guy rose to greet her, allowed him to hug her. She said only, "Hello, Guy."
"Here," said Leslie, with a wide smile, patting a seat beside her.
