Carol stepped into her room, the bed was made up, but little else had changed. And so she was sure Ray had not come back during the day. She entered the bathroom and studied herself in the mirror. Her clothes were covered in dust from the desert, and she looked battered and worn. She stripped and got in the shower, scrubbing herself clean, then rechecked her body and saw that apart from her puffy, abused fanny, there was little sign of the rough sex she had endured that afternoon.

She pulled on her jeans and a T-shirt and set a jacket aside for the bus trip to LA. Then sat on the bed, copied all the DJ photos from her phone, and emailed them to herself before deleting them.

She had two email addresses, one that she used all the time and another that used her maiden name. It was an old address that she didn't use nowadays, but she had never deleted it; as the few times she did check it, there would be an email from some old contact. It was this second email address that she had given to DJ, and it was the one to which she had just sent all the photos.

That done, she started packing both her and Ray's suitcases. By 4:15, the bulk of the packing done, Ray arrived back to the room.

"Christ, I'm tired. You look good and fresh. Have you finished packing?"

"Not quite. I haven't done all of yours as I didn't know what you wanted to wear."

Ray came over and kissed her. She couldn't help but turn her head to the side; she was so guilty. He picked out some casual clothes and headed for the shower. Calling out to ask her to finish packing for him.

Showered and dressed, Ray lay on the bed and motioned Carol to come and have a cuddle. But she made an excuse that she had more to do and told him to shut his eyes for half an hour and that she would wake him if he fell asleep.

She had realised she had forgotten to put concealer on her neck to cover the hickies Kurt had given her. So when Ray lay back and closed his eyes, she ducked into the bathroom and applied the concealer. Carol was pleased to see that the bruise-like mark was already fading. In a couple more days, she may be able to relax a little.

Carol came out of the bathroom and saw that Ray had relaxed and slowed his breathing. When it was time to head down and check out, she had to rouse him from his slumber.

Downstairs, Ray took their passports and joined the line to check out. Carol stayed with the bags and, leaning against the wall, pondered what she should tell Ray. She became aware of a presence alongside her and jumped when a woman spoke in her ear.

"High, I'm Barbara, Ed's wife; we met two nights ago but never spoke to one another."

Carol looked at the woman, her mind still half focussed on her infidelity and what to do about it, when it came to her that Barbara was the England CEO's wife. She awkwardly stammered out a hello.

"Sorry, I was miles away. But, yes, I wasn't in a good state of mind at the dinner the other night; I never really found a moment to say much to anyone."

"I can see you have a lot on your mind. Do you want to talk about it? Having an affair can be so taxing."

Carol wasn't sure she had heard correctly. Her stomach did twenty summersaults, and her mind floundered about, searching for a suitable response. She snapped her head up to look at the woman's expression and was slightly relieved to see no malice, just a friendly, sympathetic smile.

"Don't panic. I'm only offering you an ear to unburden yourself. I don't want you to make any mistakes."

Carol's first instinct was to deny it, but the knowing look Barbara gave her told her she was well and truly caught. "How do you know? Is it that obvious just by looking at me?"

Barbara laughed, "No. I'm not clairvoyant or anything. I was in the Spa a couple of hours ago and saw you get out of a large dark vehicle and kiss a very handsome dark man. The kiss was not one that you give a casual driver. It was very passionate."

"Oh, God! Please don't tell your husband."

"I have no intention of telling Ed or anyone else, but I think you are pondering if you should tell Ray about your affair. That would be a huge mistake. So again, I'd like to talk with you and offer advice. That is if you would like it, as I have been in similar situations myself and know many of the pitfalls."

Carol looked over to where Ray was. And saw that he was now only one place back in the checkout line. "Can I sit by you and talk on the bus?"

"No, I've been on a couple of these trips. Everyone is tired and will spread out to all the empty seats to sleep. So there will be nowhere private. Two questions; Is this your first affair?"

"Yes, I have been absolutely faithful. Never ever thought I would commit adultery."

"I thought so. Observing you at dinner the other night, I formed the opinion that you were a good faithful wife. Okay, have you stayed in the hotel in LA before?"

"No, it's my first time to the States with Ray." As she said this, she studied Barbara for the first time. She decided the woman must have been stunning in her day, as she was a very handsome woman now and had to be in her early sixties.

Barbara continued, "Well, there is a pool bar at the hotel. I'll meet you there at 10:00 tomorrow morning. Please don't say anything to Ray tonight or before he heads off to his meetings tomorrow. Think about how his knowing about today would shape his life and yours. Do you have children?" Seeing Carol nod her head and mouth 'two', Barbara continued, "Well, that makes it even more important that you keep your affair to yourself. I'll see you in the morning." And she wandered away to stand by her husband, Ed.

Ray walked over, "All checked out. We have time for a coffee if you want." And he picked up their bags and set off for the coffee shop, where they joined some other delegates to wait for the bus.

The bus was a fifty-two seater, and as there were only twenty-seven senior managers and six wives on board, everyone immediately spread out, trying to claim the spare seats. Ray threw his briefcase on the seat behind them but sat next to Carol.

Ray looking quite concerned, asked, "What did you do today, dear? You seem a little out of sorts and distracted since I've gotten back."

"I'm alright, just one of my heavy periods coming on, I think; my stomach is cramping up."

"Bugger, I was looking forward to some fun and games. I'll just have to meet with Mrs Palmer and her daughters for the next few days."

Carol told him about her trip to the Grand Canyon. And that she had gone with the husband of the couple that she had gone dancing with the night before. She mentioned that she had met Tracy and Russell on the flight and that Tracy had made some lewd comments.

"I remember them. At the last party, we were at, Tracy tried to talk me into having a foursome. Said her husband fancied you. They're swingers, you know?"

"You didn't tell me that."

"Didn't want to upset you, and I knew you would never go for that, so I didn't bother telling you."

"Well, I should mention to you that the guy I went with was black, and Tracy made it pretty plain she fancied him, and I think she may have slipped him her phone number."

Ray asked her how she had met a black couple and when she had found out she was going to the Grand Canyon. Carol kept her explanations as close to the truth as possible, only bending the facts when she had to.

"Anyway, be prepared. Tracy is likely to bait you next time we meet them about my having a black lover. She certainly gave me hell when she saw us."

"As if! Christ, I wouldn't believe that if she told me she watched you with him. I know you would never play around."

Ray rose then, stretched out on the seat behind, and soon was lightly snoring away, leaving Carol feeling pretty rotten about what she had done.

——

The following day Ray left the room for his meetings at around 8:00 am. Carol didn't rise until almost 9:00 and wandered down to breakfast. She saw Barbara exiting the lift, so she waited for her, and they got a table together,

Barbara asked if she had weathered the night without letting any secrets slip. And Carol told her what she had disclosed. But couldn't say much more as they were joined by two of the other wives. But Barbara did mention she had flown over the Grand Canyon on one visit.

Then whispered, "I don't think it would have been as interesting a trip as yours, though. I can't wait to hear about it."

After breakfast, they both went back to their rooms to get changed for the pool, and just before 10:00, they seated themselves at a table by the pool bar.

They each ordered a Pina Colada, and while waiting for it, she asked Barbara about Ray playing up at the final dinner. Carol explained that when she got home that night, he had been as drunk as she had ever seen him and told her he had been kissing another woman.

"I subtly quizzed him about it yesterday, but he acted as if he did not know what I was talking about."

"Ah, men, They are quite useless, aren't they? He did kiss one of the show models, but it went no further than that. Is that all you need to know?"

"No. I'd like to know how Ray came to be kissing her. And also, why he got so drunk. I caught him cheating a couple of years ago, and he promised he would never cheat again. That's why I was upset at dinner the other night, as he wouldn't take me to that dinner, and I knew all those models would be there. So when your husband told me you were going, I got pretty pissed."

Barbara hesitated, then said, "Is this you're trying to find dirt on him so you can feel good about yourself, or do you want to sort it with him so you can make sure it is not a threat to your marriage?"

"I don't know. Maybe! But I need to know either way. It was partly me being upset with Ray that put me in the situation I got in."

"Okay, first, you have to understand who the trade show models are. So sit back and relax. It's going to be a long story."

Barbara paused, trying to sort her thoughts in order.

"Ed has been bringing me to the trade shows both here in Vegas and the alternate one in Orlando for about ten years now. And over time, I have developed an almost morbid fascination with the show models. They are hired to look pretty and pull male clients onto the stand. Almost every stand will have one or two in some instances. But the money they earn working on the stand is a pittance to what they can earn on their backs at night. So many of them are actually up-market hookers."

Carol butted in and said she had heard Ray telling some mates about the show models two years before. And that they charged about $5000 for a bonk.

"Yes, well, on the final night, they try and get a lot more than that. Over the length of the show, they try and groom clients. They may be visitors or the stand staff. But the good money is with nailing the big bosses. And it has become a tradition that this happens at the final dinner, where people get drunk and let their hair down. They aim to get at least one punter to cough up a big sum."

"But how does that relate to Ray? He's not one of the wealthy managers; that would be Bob or Geoffrey on our stand."

Barbara continued, "I pop into the show every day for an hour or so. I delight in watching them work. The model with her eye on Ray was extremely attractive and in her late teens. She had been flirting with him all week. I think she genuinely fancied him. He had bargained her down nearly $3,000 but couldn't get her down to anywhere near the amount he wanted.

Carol let out a small gasp and muttered, "The bastard."

Barbara put her hand on Carol's arm, "Look, he may have been serious, but I think he was just playing with her, seeing how low he could bargain her down."

Anyway, last night she was all over him, but being the final night, she wanted $8,000. Ray was sitting with Ed and me, and the model turned up the heat. She sat in his lap, wriggling her butt around and kissing him. I heard her saying she had an offer from an Asian guy on the stand next to ours for $10,000, and there was no way she was dropping below eight. Well, after about an hour, she got angry with Ray and took off to another table to sit on some little Asia guy's lap.

And soon they up and left the room. Ray was pissed and started drinking heavily."

"So he got plastered because he didn't make out, The rotten bastard."

"Pot calling the kettle black, don't you think?"

"Yes, I suppose so. Why do you have a thing about watching the show models."

"I suppose If I'm to get you to open up, I guess I need to tell you a bit about myself, and then maybe you will open up with me, as I'm incredibly intrigued by how you managed to fuck a black man.

Opening up about my own life will be something new for me. I have never opened up and talked about my past with anyone. So all we discuss here today is to be kept between us. Okay?"

"Yes, I can keep a secret."

"Okay, here goes. I was a hooker myself for four years. So watching these girls work intrigues me."

Carol almost dropped her drink. She would have been less surprised if Barbara had said the Queen was her cousin. After all, she did look aristocratic. She squeaked out, "How?"

Barbara again said it was a long story and started talking.

"I grew up in a coal village in Wales. My father was in a senior management position. By the time I reached my teens, he had already worked his way up from cleaning up the coal dregs in the earth's bowels. He didn't want his kids to have anything to do with the mines and spent every working hour saving his earnings so he could send us all to University. My two brothers had all but finished their degrees by the time I was sixteen. Then calamity hit. The mines closed, with little prospect of him ever getting employment again. He did get a redundancy payment, but that was never going to last until he was sixty-five and could go on a pension. And so it looked like I was destined to become a shop assistant."

Barbara took a sip of her drink and then continued. "I worked my butt off and landed a half scholarship at University College London. But I still needed to find an extra couple of thousand pounds, plus money for board and keep. So my prospects were looking pretty gloomy. One day my father came home, took me aside and told me he had approached the guy that owned the mine and asked him for a loan to send me to UCL and that I had an appointment to see the guy the next day."

So 11:00 the following day saw me waiting at the bus stop, ready to travel into the city for a lunchtime meeting. I couldn't understand why my father was crying when I had left and had told me I didn't have to do anything I didn't want and that he would find another way. However, I was soon to understand. When I caught that bus that morning, I was a seventeen-year-old virgin; four hours later, when I returned home, my virginity was well gone. But I did have the promise of free board in London and a cheque for the remaining university fees.

Charles was the pit owner's name. He owned a two-bedroom apartment in Camden Town, Primrose Hill, to be exact. He only used the apartment three or four times a year when he came to London to sort the accounts and his taxes. The apartment was only a fifteen-minute walk from UCL, so it was ideal for me. I was under no illusions about his future visits to London and was quite prepared to succumb to his attentions to keep the arrangement going. To survive, I took a job at a local bookstore, but the money was not good, so I was going hungry most weeks. I had dates with guys I met at Uni, hoping they would buy me a meal, but many were just as hard up as I was."

Barbara paused, but Carol waved at her to continue, fascinated as to where this was leading.

"On his first visit, I told Charles I was struggling and asked for more money. But the bastard had gotten a bit tight now he had taken my virginity. So I only managed to wrangle $50.00 from him for a night of sex. It was enough to keep me for the following month or so, though. On Charles's second visit, about six months after I arrived in London, he brought a friend. They wanted a threesome, something I was not at all keen about; I mean, we are talking about two old buggars. Charles had to be seventy, and this new admirer was Charles' banker, a Jew called Levi. He was about sixty and as ugly as sin.

I held out until the money they were offering became impossible to refuse. And so started my demise into the oldest profession."

Carol gasped out, "God, that must have been horrible."

"No, once the lights were out, I just closed my eyes, decided to grin, bear it, and thought about all the money. But as the night wore on, I started to enjoy it. Levi turned out to be an incredible lover, bloody kinky, but he got me off every time he fucked me. For the next few months, Levi came around weekly and paid me two hundred pounds a pop. Put that in perspective; the average wage was around twelve pounds a week at the time. So I was suddenly able to buy clothes and eat well.

"Then one night, Levi turned up with a business acquaintance and tried to negotiate with me for another threesome. I asked for five hundred pounds for the night; they didn't even blink. I wished I had asked double that amount.

"The guy Levi had with him was half his age and must have fucked me six times and in every position and hole, you could imagine. Levi himself took me several times. The next day I could hardly walk, but fuck was I satisfied, especially when I walked to the bank and deposited my ill-earned gains. My reputation must have passed quickly around the banking fraternity, as I slept with two or three clients every week for the next three and a half years. One night Levi brought me to an Arab prince to service; he paid two thousand pounds for the night."

"Does your husband know?" Carol asked.

"He knows my background and that I turned tricks to pay my way through college. But we have never discussed it, so he knows none of the details I have shared with you."

"Did you see Levi or his colleagues after you had earned your degree?"

"I've never turned a trick since I graduated. But I did bump into a couple of my clients through my work.

As an aside, a couple of days after graduating, I called Charles and negotiated the purchase of the apartment. Of course, he didn't want to sell, but early in my second year of Varsity, I had a hidden camera installed in my bedroom. Not for blackmail purposes but to satisfy my voyeuristic desires. During the meeting with Charles, I dropped a couple of photos of us together and said he could have both negatives and all images I possessed, but in return, I wanted to purchase the apartment. He didn't put up much of a fight about selling to me. But he was a hard bastard when it came to the price. I had to pay close to market value; it was the best deal I ever made, though. I still own the apartment today, and it is valued in the millions. So if you and Ray ever get to visit the UK, just ask, and you are free to use it. A couple of joint venture owners have used it on their visits."

Carol laughed, "Is the camera still operating? I wouldn't be very comfortable staying there knowing you were taking photos or video."

"Ha! You have a quick mind. Yes, there are now several video cameras installed. But that old camera is long gone. I would show you where they are and how to turn them on and off if you wanted?"

"That could be interesting. DJ took some photos and is sending them to me. I should have been horrified to learn he had photos, but surprisingly it did not bother me, and I'm looking forward to seeing them. Anyway, continue. What happened after your graduation?"

"I was snapped up by one of London's leading law firms. A couple of the Firm's partners were quite progressive and knew the Firm needed to change with the times. So that year, they took on another woman and me as junior associates. Law firms in those days were almost totally male-dominated. There were several of the partners that were opposed to having women lawyers, though, and they tried hard to make life difficult for us. But my previous four years mixing with powerful older men, where I had all the power, taught me a lot. I was hardened and knew all their weaknesses. So I have never questioned nor been unhappy with my time as an escort. I would never have succeeded as a lawyer if I had not had that experience."

"You said you met a couple of the bankers in your work. Did they hit on you or threaten you with your past?"

"No. Quite the opposite. The partner the Firm had paired me with, Richard, predominately handled divorce cases. He was a terrible misogynist and was one of my biggest detractors. He came to me one day with a divorce case that no one in the Firm wanted to touch. It was defending a wife whose husband was suing for divorce, on the grounds she had been unfaithful.

The husband was well-known, very wealthy, and had hired one of the best divorce lawyers in London to prosecute her. She denied all the accusations, and the case had become quite vindictive. The husband wanted to cut his wife from receiving a penny from him.

Richard relinquished almost all aspects of the case to me. He saw my inevitable failure with the case as an excellent way to make me look bad. And so I trundled along to the first meeting with the husband and his lawyer all on my own. And lo and behold, who should be sitting across the table from me, but one of my old regulars.

I saw the shock register on the banker's face, and knowing I could dig up incriminating photos of him with me, gave me immense confidence. His lawyer was a supercilious bastard who treated me with absolute disdain. I slipped the husband a note telling him to call me, which he did five minutes after our meeting finished. We met in a cafe around the corner, and I never even mentioned the photos.

It took little to convince him to withdraw his case, and I got his wife a fair settlement. Needless to say, my handling of that case brought me a lot of traction in the Firm. In fact, I might have been the Firm's first female partner if I hadn't met and married Ed."

"How did you meet Ed?"

"Later, that's enough of me. How did you meet your beautiful black man? I'm impressed. I've never been with a black man."

So Carol explained her makeover, the long taxi queue, and her stupid decision to walk back to the hotel, how DJ had stopped, offered her a lift, and subsequently asked her for lunch. Barbara interrupted and asked why he was called DJ.

"Well, I found that his full name was Demarious Jones but that he hated the name and hadn't been called that for many years."

Carol went on to explain how DJ had asked her out the next day. And that, much against her better sense, and because she was so pissed with Ray, she consented to go to a bike meet with him. She explained about the dirt-bike meeting, meeting his friends and about him joining her in the shower after the racing. But she clammed up when Barbara pressed for details. She became shy but did admit they had made love, and it had been incredibly good.

"I want to know the details."

"I'm embarrassed. Tell me more about how you met Ed, and I'll think about it."

Barbara paused in thought; she knew that to get Carol to relax and give up her secrets, she needed to share some details she had never shared with anyone. She also decided to juice up her narrative and get Carol to do the same.

"In the first two years after I graduated, I hardly dated. All my energy went into winning as many cases as possible, trying to secure my position in the Firm. The couple of guys I dated were around my age, and the sex was insipid. Funny word to use, I know, but after some of the kinky stuff I had done with my clients, neither guy came close to pressing any of my buttons. I faked orgasms to end the dates quickly and swore not to bother again. Then Richard landed a case different from what normally landed on our desks. It involved an import/export company that had violated some vague government regulations. The client was proving awkward. He was young and didn't want to back down in any way. Not what Richard was advising; he wanted him to plead guilty and take a small fine.

In some cases, I had been using my looks and knowledge of men's weaknesses to give me an advantage. Although still quite antagonistic towards me, Richard was not above using my natural attributes for his own ends. He asked me to dress up sexily and meet with the client to see if I could get the client to see sense and change his position."

"What does this have to do with Ed?" Carol inquired.

"Plenty! You see, Cesar and I are still lovers. So any explanation of my marriage to Ed has to include him."

"Does Ed know about Cesar?"

"Yes, but I'll tell you about that later."

"I met with Cesar for lunch. He was the same age as me and drop-dead gorgeous. He was born in the UK, but to Portuguese parents, who had emigrated to the UK and started importing olive oil. The father had died two years previously, and Cesar had taken over the company's running. He was dark skinned, had black hair pulled back in a ponytail and the most wonderful dark brown eyes. We bonded immediately, cut the lunch short and drove to his apartment. He made me take my panties off, spread my legs wide, and felt me up as he drove. We almost had sex in his car outside his apartment. I'm sure we would have if there hadn't been so many people on the pavement that day. He was an incredibly kinky lover, just how I liked it. He fucked me in the arse over his kitchen bench, That being the first object he could lean me over when we entered his apartment. Anal sex was one of my big turn-ons, which Levi always demanded in those early days in London. I came like a freight train. When we both had our breath back, Cesar lay me on his bed and made beautiful slow love to me for the rest of the afternoon. And during the brief spells we weren't fucking, we sorted out the best defence for his upcoming case. A month later, the Court gave him a small fine and no convictions against his name,"

"Why didn't you marry him?" Carol asked.

"Well, for the next year, Cesar and I had a turbulent affair. I never knew when he would likely turn up, and he would disappear for weeks without contact. Remember, we are taking the early seventies, so no mobile phones. I knew he travelled overseas to do his business, but I was jealous of his absences. But every time he turned up and I tried to get an explanation from him, we just wound up in bed and had the most incredible sex. Then he disappeared for a month, and in desperation, I finally drove around to his apartment. His car was outside, and as I sat plucking up the courage to knock on his door, he exited with an older woman. I was devastated and cried all the way back to my apartment."

"Shit, surely, you didn't take him back after that?"

"I did, Cesar turned up a few days later, and I held him at bay until he agreed to sit and explain himself. The woman was his mother, but he freely admitted I was not the only woman he was fucking. He said he didn't want a steady relationship with me, that in his experience, relationships soon soured. He said the sex we had, was better than he had had with anyone else and figured if we lived together, our sex life would soon become mediocre, and he did not want that to happen. He said he did see himself marrying and having children someday, but he wanted to keep me as his mistress, not a wife.

The next few months were hard; he turned up infrequently, but I gave in and submitted to his demands every time. Then I met another guy one night and took him home to my apartment. Poor guy, I fucked him all over the house, real dirty revenge stuff. The next time Cesar turned up, I showed him photos of my dirty liaison, hoping to force an accommodation. I stood back, waiting for the explosion. Nothing, instead, Cesar got turned on, and soon we were in my bed, him insisting I fucked him just as I fucked the guy in the photos."

"Wow! And I thought my experience with DJ had been Kinky. I'd be interested to know if I showed my photos with DJ to Ray. If I would get the same result?"

Barbara gave Carol a shake of her head, "Not a good idea. But something I don't understand is how DJ took photos of you guys fucking. Did he have a hidden camera set-up?"

Carol blushed crimson, then reluctantly revealed that another man was present. Barbara pushed her for details, and Carol told her about Kurt and how he had awakened desires she had never known she had harboured.

When Carol had answered Barbara's many questions, they realised it was 1:30, and they were both hungry. Over lunch, Barbara asked Carol where she thought her marriage might go. And Carol explained her doubts and fears.

"Well, as I see it, you have two basic choices. You try and put this affair behind you and concentrate on getting Ray to meet your needs, or you find yourself a Cesar, a lover who can meet your most secret desires."

"No, I don't think I could live with being unfaithful. So I don't intend to play around again."

"Then you need to work on ways to get Ray to fulfil some of your newfound desires. I have some ideas."

After lunch, they headed back to the pool. Barbara told Carol she had never had a female friend she could talk to and hoped they could write to one another when the trip was over and maybe visit one another. Carol asked again about how she had met Ed. Barbara acknowledged the question but sat contemplating where to start.

"I met him at one of the Firm's parties a little over a year after I took up with Cesar. I was looking for a husband as I had gotten clucky and wanted children, but I had met no one I was remotely interested in. I realise now that I was looking for entirely the wrong man. I wanted a guy like Cesar; super attractive, dynamite in bed and intelligent. That type of guy is rare, and more often than not, is only after a one-night stand. Ed approached me at the party. I found it easy talking with him. There was no stress in our conversation, as I was not interested in bedding him. He was portly and balding and did not have any clothes sense. But I knew he had money, as his clothes were expensive and he wouldn't have been at the Firms party if he didn't have money.

By the end of the evening, I was still with him and enjoying his company. So when he asked if I would have dinner and go to a show with him. I surprised myself with my ready acceptance. Three more dates followed, all enjoyable before I even acknowledged that I had romantic feelings for him. I sat in my apartment, evaluating how I felt. He was different to anyone else I had ever dated. There was no pressure from him to get me in the sack; he gave me his total attention throughout the date, I never caught him taking sly glances at any pretty woman nearby, and he was incredibly proud of me when he introduced me to his friends. I realised I needed to up the anti and see if there might be a future in our relationship, and I decided there and then to bed him on our next date.

"How long before you married?" Carol asked.

"About four months after I met him. It was me who asked to marry. Even today, he admits that he would never have dared pose the question, thinking I was so far out of his league."

"Did you move in with him immediately?"

"No, it was very prim and proper. He never slept the night in my apartment; our lovemaking was mostly done at his hotel. You see, he was, and still is, a very wealthy man. He had an estate in Somerset, which he maintained for some family members and twenty household staff. He also has property in both Ireland and France."

Why does he work then?"

"He does not need to work at all, but the company is his absolute joy in life, and he loves the people, challenges and all the business travel. However, managing the estates is a burden, and he mostly leaves that to his accountants. The other family members are hopeless at managing money or the estates. You know the English branch of our company is located in Bristol, so we have a lovely home there, where we live for nine or ten months a year."

"Where do you live for the other three months? Carol inquired, eyes raised.

"We have a small apartment in Brussels and another in Saint-Raphaël on the French Riviera. I also own an apartment near Porto, Portugal. It is where Cesar's parents came from, and he has many relatives there."

"Good lord. Do you go there with Cesar?"

"No, I go there on my own mostly, but Cesar tries to visit for a couple of days when I stay there. Sometimes when the weather is bad in Bristol, I hop on a plane and spend a week in Porto. It is my place of refuge."

"Did you have children?"

"Yes, three, two boys and a girl. The second boy is Cesar's child; if I were to show you photos, you would see the resemblance."

"And Ed knows this."

"We have never discussed it, but yes, he must know. Ed has never worried much about sex; he can happily go for months without any. He has known about Ceasar since we first met; all he asks is for me to be discreet. Anyway, enough about Ed and me. Let's discuss your marriage."

Between cooling down in the pool and ordering drinks, they discussed ways that Carol could get Ray to satisfy her newly awakened desires.

Barbara's phone dinged around 4:45 to say the meetings were over, and they were all being picked up for dinner at 6:00. So they both headed up to their rooms to get changed.

Dinner that night was at the Buco de Beppo Restaurant at Huntington Beach. Carol sat next to Barbara, but they had little time for any conversation, as the expectation was that everyone would mingle. Instead, Carol suddenly found all the men eager to chat her up. It was as if every man there knew she was an easy touch, and she had to avoid more than one wayward hand.

She brought this up with Barbara the next time they sat down.

Barbara gave her a knowing smile, "It's uncanny, isn't it? How do they know? I can assure you that you look no different. I've had the same thing happen to me over the years. It must be very subtle changes in your body language they pick up on."

When Ray and Carol got to bed that night, he told her that he was tired, so she didn't have to worry about him wanting to make love, "I know you're not up for it, what with your period coming on."

Carol was a little disappointed, as after all her talk with Barbara, she felt a bit horny.

The next morning, after Ray had left for the final day of meetings, she opened her iPad, checked the emails, and was excited to find a message from DJ. It was short and sweet, saying he was missing her terribly and that he had copied all the photos to his Dropbox, and he gave its address.

Carol didn't have a clue how to open a Dropbox, so she asked Barbara about it at breakfast.

"Sure. I know how to set that up. Bring your computer to the pool, and we'll have a look."

Carol was very unsure about this, knowing very well what the photos may reveal. But she reasoned there was no other option. There was no one else she could ask, and the very nature of the photos meant she couldn't take it to a computer doctor to sort out.

At the pool, they again seated themselves near the bar but not so close as to be overheard. Barbara was unfamiliar with the iPad, but after searching for how to install Dropbox on YouTube, she got an account set up, and they opened DJ's shared folder.

She saw the were twenty-seven photos and a video. Twenty photos were dated three days before, and seven were dated the day after. Barbara clicked on the first photo, and Carol nearly fainted with embarrassment. She was on the bed, DJ holding her legs over his shoulders, and the angle clearly showed half of his thick shaft buried in her cunt. The look on her face embarrassed her most; her face was twisted in a look of carnal longing. Put the photo in front of a jury, and no one would ever believe the sex wasn't consensual.

Carol made a half-hearted effort to stop Barbara from seeing any more, but she brushed Carol's limp hand away.

"Look at them with me," Barbara whispered, "I've seen dozens of these, and I doubt they are going to be any worse than what I have taken over the years in my apartment."

Carol was sure she was wrong. The photos were far more graphic than she had ever expected. And the video was shocking; it was only twenty minutes long, but in that time, she was fucked in every hole by both men and was pleading in the dirtiest language for them to fuck her harder.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. They swapped details and talked about Carol visiting England.

Dinner that night was a quiet affair; some managers had already left for the airport. Ed and Ray had arranged for a Shuttle to share after lunch the next day, as they were both flying out within an hour of each other. The subject of them visiting England was raised, and Ed pushed Ray to come and spend some time at the company premises in Bristol to see how he ran things. Tentatively Ray agreed to them visiting in June of the following year but said he could be away from the office for no more than two weeks. But he readily agreed to Barbara's suggestion that Carol stay for a few weeks longer.

They got to bed early, around 10:00 pm. Carol's mind drifted to the photos concealed on her iPad sitting beside the bed, and a voracious craving to fuck washed over her. As Ray got into bed, she asked, "Do you want to try anal? You haven't had sex for a few days."

Ray looked surprised. They had only tried anal a couple of times, and Carol had always complained that she didn't like it and that it hurt.

"Are you sure?" He asked, "I can wait until your period has finished."

"I want you now. Our sex has been getting stale for the last couple of years. I want to try some new things. Barbara says Ed talks dirty to her and that it really turns her on."

Saying this, she got on her hands and knees and hitched her nighty above her waist. Ray didn't need a second invitation; he was behind her and rubbing his cock around her slit in a flash. Then she felt him hop off the bed, and she panicked, thinking he had seen her abused cunt and knew she had been unfaithful. But Ray had just gone to the bathroom and, returning with a tube of lubrication, was soon oiled up and deep in her arse.

She had to start the dirty talk herself, as he was unsure how dirty she wanted him to be. But when they finally came, he was calling her his favourite slut and used some choice words to describe how dirty she was.

Carol loved it. She fell asleep, thinking of everything she wanted to try when they returned home.