Three Rivers (47 page)

After she had bathed and put on fresh makeup, she slipped into the magnificent nightdress he had bought her for this night.

Isabel looked at herself in it and realized what great erotic feelings and fantasies Alexis must have about her. The nightgown was elegant but evoked a feeling of base sexuality. Her nipples and the dark flesh around them protruded through the openings in the lace, and the slits up the side exposed her thighs, hips and legs. It was, without question, a nightdress to tantalize the sexual appetites of a man. When she put the peignoir over it and pinned the diamond dragonfly at the closing under her breasts, she realized that she did not feel like Isabel at all, but like some sexual object designed, prepared and ready for her man to use.

She was deeply excited. This would be a night of pure sexuality. Tonight she would use Alexis as the sexual
animal that he was, and together they would reach new heights, as husband and wife.

She sighed and went to the safe for her diamond earrings. She would wear them this evening.

When Alexis came for her, she was looking out of the oversized portholes to the banks of the river. She could see fires twinkling in the distances.

He looked at her and said, “I cannot believe we have done it, and you are my wife.”

He could not help but take each of her nipples in his hands and roll them around with his fingers. Then they went up on deck together.

The felucca looked an absolute dream. It was totally silent on board except for the sounds of the Nile lapping up against the boat, and Rita and Winston, who were on the raised deck lying among the cushions, snoring away.

The deck was lit by lanterns, and under the
huppah
of flowers a large bed had been made and covered in silk embroideries. It looked like the most magnificent four-poster bed in the world with its canopy of glorious flowers above.

Towards the stern of the boat a sumptuous table had been laid. There were quail in a casserole of rice, several different salads and fruits, along with cheeses and baked ham. And for dessert — the wedding cake.

When they cut their wedding cake, both their hands were on the knife. They repeated their vows exactly as they had under the
huppah
, only hours before. She knew then that he loved her in a way that she had never been loved. It was all that she had ever wanted.

They kissed each other, their mouths tasting of the sweet and rich wedding cake. They went up and lay among the cushions on the raised deck. They found set on one of the small ivory-inlaid tables a jug of hot, sweet coffee, and a pair of small cups on a tray. Alexis poured for them, and they sipped and smiled at each other lovingly.

He leaned back, took a box from one of the tables and prepared a few lines of coke. They sniffed them and floated off together as the boat rocked them gently. Occasionally they could hear laughter above the cicadas’ symphony, somewhere in the distance. They lay on their backs looking up at a ceiling of stars, like diamonds thrown helter-skelter on black velvet.

They were silent now for a very long time. He pulled
her up to her feet, undid the dragonfly and took off the peignoir. He undid his kaftan and dropped it where they were standing. He picked up a large box from among the cushions and put one arm around her waist; they started down the stairs. He moved his hand from her waist to the cheek of her ass and walked her that way to the bed under the huppah.

He put the large box and the small box of coke down among the cushions and looked at her, taking her in his arms. His cock was huge and erect. With one hand around it, he lifted it and offered it to her; with the other he held his scrotum.

She dropped to her knees, ready to make love to him, but he caught her as she was going down and he lifted her. She could feel his erection pushing against her, he held her so tight to him.

“No, do nothing now,” he told her. “I want to take you, make love to you, be tender and cruel to you and keep doing it for a long time. You must not touch me yet. Later, much later, I will give myself to you. It will be different for you tonight. You will be very tight. I will play on you, work on you, open you wide again.”

He took the little box of coke and put his fingers in it and rubbed it on her nipples and then put a bit on the tip of her tongue. It made her feel instantly sexier as he went down and sucked the coke off her nipples. All the time his hands were moving over her hindquarters, separating them and pushing them together. Finally he lifted her nightdress over her head and then caught her breasts as they fell into the palms of his hands.

He put his finger inside her, and she was wet. He pushed up as high as he could and found her very tight. Reaching over to the large box, he took out a small jar of cream, and rubbed it high up into her vagina.

Isabel was longing to have him. She knew her smallness excited him so that he grew to even larger proportions. She could feel the throbbing of his blood pumping in his penis.

Alexis moved himself slowly along the outside of her genitals and then between the wet and slippery lips. Finally he dipped the very tip of it into the small opening of her vagina. She was amazed at how small the opening was. She wanted him so much, but now she was afraid that he would never get it into her. He was tender with
her about it and treated her as if she were a virgin bride. He slowly managed to get the head of his cock inside her.

With his arms under her armpits, he drew her up towards him, her legs high up now on his shoulders. He kissed her, and when he saw her passion rising, he let her down gently on the cushions. Then, pulling her legs even higher on his shoulders, he felt her wet orgasm running over the knob of his cock. Suddenly he rammed as hard as he could up through her, and she screamed from the pain.

Although Isabel had screamed, at that very same moment she was flooded with an enormous orgasm. That first scream was not the only one that came from the felucca that night. It was as if she had been a virgin. Whatever the old woman had done, she had done well for the both of them. Alexis had her many times. They slept in between and were never satiated.

The sun came up and the lanterns were still burning when Alexis lay looking at the sleeping Isabel. He wanted to see the sun rise on the Nile with his wife, and so he woke her by gently spreading her legs and licking her like a pussycat.

She woke from his tongue and lazily sat up. She kissed him good morning while he slipped her nightgown over her head. He lifted her breasts and adjusted them in her gown by drawing the nipples into the holes cut through the lace. Then he cupped her breasts in his hands and smiled at her. He found her peignoir where they had dropped it the night before, and he helped her on with it.

She took his kaftan and dressed him, tying the strings on the side. Then they went together to the bow of the felucca and, stepping up on the small raised platform, sat on some cushions and watched the sun rise.

They heard the sounds of early morning — birds, and the rustling of small animals on the banks of the river. Far up the Nile, in the magnificent sunrise, they saw a felucca in full sail. The sun was up about half an hour when they heard voices and turned to see the dinghy coming towards the
Mamounia
with the crew, Gamal and Doreya.

Alexis said, “Come, let’s pick up our things from under the canopy and go to bed below.”

She picked up the cocaine box, and in the larger box he put the jars of ointments and the other accessories they had used. He noticed a few bloodstains on the cushions,
and for all his Western education, the Arab in him came out and he felt a kind of pride. He quickly turned Isabel away from seeing them, but it was too late.

Isabel looked at him and said, “We have to be the most depraved, debauched couple in the world,” and had the good grace to blush.

“Yes, aren’t we lucky!” Alexis roared.

They laughed and then hurried down to the cabin before everyone arrived on board.

Isabel was awake, that is, her mind was awake, but her body was asleep, and her eyes were still closed. She was feeling very lazy and sensual. She felt herself moving up and down and round and round with her pelvis, hardly moving the rest of her body. She opened her eyes and realized that she was moving with Alexis’s cock. She closed her eyes again and reached out her arms to pull him against her. They kissed, and he said, “Good morning, my lady wife.”

Isabel opened her eyes again and smiled up at him. They rolled together on their sides and faced each other as he kept pumping in and out. He had her coming now in stronger orgasms, could wait no longer himself. He let go and flooded her. Isabel squeezed hard on him, and he felt himself held there by her. They kissed while they were together like that and then lay there and dozed.

Much later Alexis woke and unfolded himself from Isabel and went into the bathroom. He ran the bath and filled it with a wonderful scent and soap bubbles while he shaved. Later he went back to kiss Isabel awake, then dragged her out of bed and into the double bathtub with him. She had only just enough time to wrap a towel around her hair and brush her teeth while Alexis ordered breakfast for them.

When they finally went up on deck and were greeted by some of the crew and Gamal, they realized they had slept the day away. It was five in the afternoon. They sat in their simple white galabias on the beautiful felucca that was in full sail, making great speed up the Nile. Isabel adored the movement of the boat, and loved watching the crew at work. They were all smiles and happy to be traveling up the river.

When she spoke about it to Alexis, he said, “You cannot imagine how proud they are to be taking us on our wedding trip. They love the Nile and the felucca and are
very proud of their skills. It is the epitome, the peak, to be taking the new lady of the house on her first trip, and her wedding trip at that, on the river.”

She left Alexis at the table and wandered around the boat. She found a place for herself up on the right-hand side, in the bow, and watched them plough through the river. She could see the banks on either side and the view straight ahead. Her mind drifted off, thinking of nothing. She just went with the rhythm of the boat and the beauty of her life.

In time she went back to Alexis and poured herself another cup of coffee. He was smiling over the gossip of the night before told to him by Gamal. The servants had all had a wonderful time at his wedding party on the shore. There was a great deal of dancing, feasting with the village people and lovemaking with the paid women sent to them by Alexis.

Alexis told all this to Isabel and then said, “You have no idea how proud they are of our passion.”

“Passion?” Isabel began to blush. “What do they know of our passion?”

Alexis laughed and said, “Yes, my dear, passion. Every time you let out a scream, which, by the way, resounded over the water, it was a sign of how successful the marriage would be.” He patted her on the cheek and said, “Never mind, Gamal has been with me a long time and he knows everything, darling. But we will not allow them to see everything.”

Seeing Isabel’s embarrassment, he was quick to add, “They heard me scream as well, and knew then that we would be happy always. It seems that our passion fired quite an orgy among our crew.”

Just then Gamal arrived with a silver tray. On it were half a dozen letters. Alexis picked them up, and Isabel asked how they had got there.

“They were brought aboard by Alexander yesterday,” he explained. “I gave instructions only to send post that will keep me abreast of things going on but do not need my attention.”

He took an antique, Islamic, inlaid gold-and-bronze letter opener and opened some envelopes, reading the letters as he went on chatting with Isabel. Then in the middle of the pile he found Kate’s postcard to Isabel. Alexis did not read it, but when he picked it up, an
ominous feeling went through him. He handed it to Isabel, saying, “Darling, this one is for you.”

Isabel read the postcard. When she finished, she handed it to him, saying, “My mother is incorrigible.”

Alexis was puzzled by the card. He found Kate’s actions extraordinary. He asked Isabel, “Why did she send this calculated and, I might add, very unattractive card, instead of calling us?”

“Alexis, do not even begin to try to understand.” Isabel groaned. “It is all done to keep me feeling guilty. I am afraid that in the last act of her life, she will still be trying to make me feel guilty for something I cannot give her or do for her. Just leave it to Kate to find me, even in the middle of the Nile on my first day as your wife, not to send love, but to make some strange point.”

“My dear Isabel, she is far more clever in her sickness than that. The card arrived yesterday, on our wedding day. Please, let us not think about it. You are not upset, are you?”

“No, Alexis, she is far away by now. I cannot explain it, but it is almost as if some mad woman I have heard about does these things. For the first time in my life, I don’t even think of Kate my mother being alive any more. Do you know, since I stepped on this boat with you, I haven’t even thought of her. Do you know, Alexis, this is the first time in my life that twenty-four hours have passed without my even thinking of her once! Not only does she not affect me, but she no longer exists. I only wish, for her own sake, that she would stop and lie back and enjoy the rest of her life. But she will not. All I can do now is not think about her anymore.” With that, Isabel began to cry softly.

Alexis was very angry. There was something so unhealthy, so destructive, so unloving about the postcard from Kate. He remembered her voice on the telephone and wondered why this woman, whom he had not even met, so upset him.

Alexis had never been involved with anyone as common as Kate Wells. He did not want to pursue it with Isabel, but he hoped that it
was
true that she no longer existed for Isabel. As far as Alexis Hyatt was concerned, a woman like that had no place in his world
or
his wife’s. He would in time make that very clear, not to Isabel, but to his mother-in-law.

He pulled Isabel down and sat her next to him. Isabel put her arm around him and kissed him on the cheek. As she did, she picked up the postcard and balled it up in her fist, then tossed it into the wind.