Chapter 4

The warm, triumphant tropical sun rose brightly on the following day and found Alice Carlton still dawdling in the bed, a thin sheet covering her luscious, sweat-soaked body. She had slept brokenly that night, and when brief sleep came, awful dreams of perverted sexuality ran rampant. And each dream featured handsome, suave Roger Antrim.

She turned around in the bed, her hand searching for Richard's familiar presence. But Richard was not there. She looked at the alarm clock on the night table and found out to her utter surprise that it was mid-afternoon. She had slept all that time! No wonder Richard wasn't there. He must have' gotten hungry and decided not to wake her up. She would surely find him downstairs in the dining room of the hotel or in the lobby.

Pulling the sheet tight from the bottom, she let it fill slowly over her body. The two mounds of her large and generous breasts stood out in bold relief. Alice looked down at than and the night's forbidden feeling of sensuality flooded over her again in a powerfully shocking wave. Still drowsy from her disturbed slumbers, she lacked the strength to resist it and decided to enjoy herself--just a little bit. She wiggled her buttocks in the bed and moved her breasts back and forth under the linen sheet. Almost immediately, she felt her nipples hardening and puckering. She looked down again and saw the pointed tips sharply etched by the thin linen.

Dare she touch them? She compromised and decided it would be all right. Withdrawing her arms from under the cover, she now began fondling her breasts with her opened hands in bold circular movements. She closed her eyes and abandoned herself to the eerie tickling sensations that radiated out from her teased breasts to the farthest edges of her aroused body.

"Oooohhhh," she moaned softly to herself, "it feels so good, it feels sooo goood!"

Moments later, she was rubbing her body with a thick terry towel until it turned a glowing pink. She dressed quickly, but carefully, wanting to look as beautiful as she could.

She completed her outfit with a frilly garter belt that supported her lightweight nylons, and tossed on a skimpy slip that barely reached to the top of her thighs. Her thin clinging dress was of a light blue color, setting off the color of her eyes.

Then, Alice proceeded to put on her make up, trying to cover as well as possible the traces of sexual hangover with bases and powder. She didn't want Richard to notice anything.

There was the sound of familiar voices outside their room. Was it possible? She was clearly hearing Roger's voice! She blushed furiously at the thought that she would have to see him again after last night's shameful incident. Why had he come, she wondered, trying desperately force a natural expression on her face as she walked towards the door and opened it.

"Alice, darling, I'm so glad you've awakened!" Richard exclaimed going over to kiss her.

His breath smelled of liquor...

How early you're beginning to celebrate, Dick darling!" she teased him lightly, surprised at this action coming from her usually sober husband.

Richard seemed to be in an excellent mood as he started to give her a scientific explanation of how the best cure for a hangover was a drink the morning after.

Alice had noticed Roger's admiring glance detailing her and although she felt somewhat embarrassed, she couldn't help also being flattered. She thought that after all, Roger couldn't possibly have disappeared just like that. Now, under the soothing influence of the strong daylight penetrating in the room through the open windows, last night's incident had lost much of its importance and the young woman felt again light and carefree as she walked between the two men in the direction of the elevator. She was hungry and welcomed their invitation to take her to have lunch.

As she attacked with definite enthusiasm her sizzling steak, Richard's voice rose, a note of excitement in it.

"Alice, darling, imagine what! Roger has invited us to spend a few days at the plantation... isn't that wonderful! It's a unique opportunity for me! I'll be able to study some of the most curious aspects of Voodoo, aspects I could never get to see otherwise... !

"But... Richard," Alice started in an unsteady voice, a shiver suddenly passing through her. She didn't like the idea... she didn't like it at all. There was something about the invitation she just couldn't pinpoint; as though those few day at the plantation would change the course of her life... "Richard," she repeated in a feeble attempt to dissuade him, but already knowing that they would go, "Don't you remember, darling... it's my vacation, too... and I am not interested in voodoo..."

Roger smiled his old charming smile.

"Alice, I know I shouldn't... the decision is yours... but I do promise you a wonderful time... life on a plantation can be quite exciting, I assure you... Besides, Henrietta is positively dying to meet you. We don't often have the opportunity of having guests and I have talked to her so much about you... I'm sure you also want to see my wife, the woman I married..."

"Roger is right," Richard insisted. "And he has already telephoned Henrietta to inform her of our arrival. You don't have any idea what it means to me to get this opportunity to study voodoo in a place where all the primitive, unadulterated beliefs are held in their untouched purity..."

That same afternoon, they traveled to Nevine Plantation in Roger's car.

Richard was very excited by the trip and he listened intently to everything Roger was telling him about his adopted country. Always, the word Voodoo came back to haunt their conversation and Alice thought to herself that if voodoo was what she had witnessed last night, then her husband would be in for a big disappointment, for she felt quite sure that it was merely a more sophisticated sex show...

It was completely dark when Roger finally pulled up to a long wide verandah and Nevins Mansions appeared, looking like a baronial manor of yester-years, its graceful yet sumptuous lines befitting bygone days when beautiful ladies in "crinolines" and straw hats sat out on the porch chatting with elegant gentlemen callers. And the exuberant beauty of the tropical setting further enhanced the charm and splendor of Nevins Mansion.

The young couple followed their friend who was escorting them across the wide expanse of concrete to a huge white door. Roger pressed a button. The door opened. An imposing black butler in uniform stood there.

"Oh, bonsoir Nicolas, is Madame waiting for us?" Roger asked casually.

The Negro smiled a big, white smile and bowed respectfully to let the master of Nevins Mansion and his guests pass inside the house.

"Madame has been waiting for you, she will be coming in a minute," Nicolas replied.

Then, as they were looking around, trying to absorb the splendid luxury surrounding them, a grave feminine voice with polished, exquisite modulations interrupted their contemplative reverie.

"Welcome to Nevine Mansion!"

It was Henrietta Nevins Antrim and her presence filled the huge foyer.

The charming smile... and turning to Richard.

"Oh, you must be Richard Carlton, and this is your lovely young wife! A delightful couple, your friends make, Roger dear, you never told me Mrs. Carlton was so pretty!"

Alice blushed furiously and hated herself for it.

Voluptuous... Exotic... Alice wondered what was the word for Henrietta... It was friend who told her later, much later, that the only word befitting the mistress of Nevins Parisian was "over-whelming," and he was right...

She looked older, and yet somehow younger than what they had been led to expect--particularly Alice--from Roger's brief comments about he wife. Her long, jet black hair caught in a twist on top of her head, her face, almost Oriental in the slanted effect of its huge dark eyes, hinted of strange mysteries in hushed boudoirs.

When Henrietta Antrim spoke, her voice sounded rather raucous, with that rasping hoarseness of many years of chain smoking and drinking habits that had long ceased to be within the scope of normal social demands to become the crutch that helped her carry the weight of a reality that was too much for her to bear.

Of course, all these details didn't strike Alice at first sight, but the thoughts insidiously penetrated into her mind during the days she spent at Nevins Mansion, and long after the tragedy came to pass, and they learned of the details of it, Richard and her would exchange their impressions of their host and particularly their most remarkable hostess...

They sipped slowly on some excellent brandy before Henrietta suggested that they would maybe like to freshen up before supper and would they like to be shown to their room.

"Well, darling, what do you think?" Alice smiled at her husband who was standing In the middle of the room which could have been Queen Victoria's bedroom... There was even a canopy over bed.

"It's... it's just overwhelming," Richard said, pronouncing for the first time a word he was to use quite frequently in the future when referring to Nevins Mansion and its inhabitants.

"Dick, darling, wouldn't you rather be home?"

He kissed her sweet-smelling hair and searched for her lips. They kissed lengthily. His tongue met hers In hot desire, combating with hers in dampness. Her fingers spread behind his head, caressing his neck, welding his mouth to hers. She moaned softly, passion spinning through her sinews. Their bodies met, converged, and became one, each pressed lustfully against the other.

"Oh, Alice, darling, I wish supper was already over," and his voice was rough, telling her what she wanted to know.

They were thankful the meal wasn't as lengthy as they had feared.

Richard's fingers were firm and strong as they slowly drew her close. Now his arms, strong and masculine were going around her waist. Her hands flew around his muscular neck, deliciousness lancing her throbbing flesh. Her breasts touched his chest, their points instantly congealing into hardness.

"I love you, Alice," he murmured.

She raised her face to his and he kissed her deeply, tenderly and she could feel a rush of warmth permeate her body, washing away all traces of her shameful behavior of last night's.

"I feel so warm, so safe," she whispered, letting her head rest against his shoulder. And it was true. This was her place, in her husband's arms. It was him whom she loved, his touch she longed for. How could she have been so foolish and allow even the thought of Roger Antrim disturb her happiness!

Her nerves began to tingle as she returned his kiss. Her arms reached across him and clung to his sides and her fingers dug into his ribs. She felt the same old urgency sweeping through her as he covered her face, her throat, her neck with sweet, fluttering kisses.