The Sun Also Rises

He said, "I will my friend. In the meantime please join us on my boat tomorrow. You are more than welcome. And by all means bring that beautiful woman who is so taken with you."

I did a double take and said confused, "What beautiful woman?" I didn't recall any beautiful women in my lifetime. At least one who had ever been "taken" with me.

He said, "Lady Brett's sister of course. Are there any others?" His tone of voice indicated that he thought I was kidding.

I just sat there looking poleaxed. I said, "Why in the world would you say something like that. She is no doubt somewhere right this minute getting extremely up-close-and-personal with Pedro Romero."

Ali chuckled and said, "If she is it's because you let her get away."

Then he stood and dropped a couple of hundred Euros on the table and sauntered out.

I was still ruminating about what he had said when my phone rang. I figured it was Bill updating me on Mike's status.

Instead it was the only other person in Monte Carlo who had my phone number.

Cohn sounded frantic. He said, "You have to meet me in the lobby right away. Romero took off with her." Then he hung up.

Holy Shit!! Romero had taken off with Britt!! I assumed he would be fucking her sometime tonight, but kidnapping???!!

I sprinted across the street, dodging ferocious Monegasque traffic. This was an all-hands-on-deck situation. And I was in panic mode.

I even remember thinking, "Here I thought that Britt was such a classy woman. I am such a dumbass!! They're all sluts!!"

As I came in the door Cohn was pacing the lobby like the proverbial caged beast. I ran up to him and said panting, "Robert, where is she? I'll kill him if he hurts her."

He looked distraught and said, "It's Brett, she disappeared. I think she is with that guy Romero."

I swear my first thought was, "Three-way!!?"

Then my next thought was stark raving insane joy.

That was when a concerned voice behind me said, "Jake, are you all right. Where did you go?"

I turned and there she was looking at me with worry. She was a study in beauty and elegance.

It was instantaneous. The deflector shields blew up. The walls came tumbling down. And I was unequivocally "all-in" with this woman.

I realize that it sounds stupid. But seeing her like that my heart just soared. And if love is a sense of absolute connection, then I was truly and utterly in love with her.

Britt is very smart. She instantly "got" the picture. I didn't need to say a single word to explain myself. I saw a look of compassion and understanding pass over her face. And I thought I detected something else as well.

I said, "But I thought YOU were with Romero."

She looked appalled and said, "Why would I be with HIM? I have been sitting here waiting for you to return from wherever you bolted off to."

She seemed cool but concerned. She undoubtedly understood what I had been thinking and she was letting me twist for my lack of faith in her.

I was getting lost in those intelligent grey eyes again. I said distractedly, "Never mind that. We can talk later."

Then I turned back to Robert and said, "How can we help?"

He said, "You took off and Britt went to find you. When she didn't come back I went out to see where SHE was. She said she was waiting out here for you. So I came back and Romero and Brett had both vanished. That's when I called you."

I was still wrestling with my emotions. Britt had waited for ME?!!

But I said, "Let's think this through. There are only two places they might have gone. The million dollar RV that follows all of those guys around from race to race, or the pits themselves."

I figured that he would use the same ploy on Brett that he tried with Britt earlier in the day. Except I was pretty sure that Brett would be an easy mark.

The last thing I wanted to have happen was for Cohn to discover Romero and Brett happily fucking. So I said, "Why don't we check out the pits and you check out his motorhome. They are more likely to be there. Since it has a comfortable bed"

I knew that we would find them in the pits. But by sending Cohn to the other place, I was hoping to prevent him from getting locked up for killing both of them.

He said, "Yes! That sounds right! I'll see you back here once I find her!" And he rushed off.

I turned to Britt and I said, "I thought you and Romero were the ones who were going to be together tonight. That's why I took off. I couldn't bear the thought of you with him."

She looked amused and astonished. She said, "Why in the world would you think I would be interested in that BOY?!!

"Does that woman over there interest you?"

She pointed to one of the big-titted, scantily clad sea-skanks who had just come off a party boat out in the harbor.

I said, "God no!! There is probably no part of her body that isn't artificially enhanced. I like my women real and I might add with an IQ higher than room temperature.

I might be a typical male but I have to connect SOMEWHAT with a person before I want to get intimate with them."

She giggled merrily and said, "My thoughts exactly. Romero is not a person I could EVER connect with in that way."

We strolled hand in hand toward the pits. I was absolutely sure we would find them there.

It was a gorgeous night. Perfect temperature, with light breezes bringing in the faint flowery smell of the hills. After the all-day intensity and pandemonium it was peaceful in the pits. There were still mechanics quietly working on the cars in the lighted shelters behind the pit wall.

There were also guards all over the place. Most of them recognized us from this afternoon. But I think that it was Britt's beauty that actually got us the free pass. A gorgeous woman can get away with a lot with French and Italian guards.

We sauntered past the Ferrari pits and towards the temporary sheds where they store the extra tires and parts. I was glad that Britt was with me since I knew I would need her help with her sister.

I wasn't afraid of Romero. He might be a champion behind the wheel. But I was almost a half-foot taller and close to 100 pounds heavier. However, I was thinking that if we interrupted Brett in the middle of the act I might need Britt's assistance to pry her claws out of my hide.

We surreptitiously opened the shed door and we could hear a loud, wet rhythmic slapping sound.

Slutzilla was in there moaning noisily, "Yesssss harder! Fuck me!! Fuck me!! More!! More!!"

She was bent over a stack of tires arranged so she could stick that gorgeous ass up in the air for Romero to pound. Her huge boobs were out and dangling and Romero was playing with one of her nipples. The smell of rubber and oil was flavored by the aroma of aroused woman.

She started to shriek and then she loudly announced, "AHHHH! YESSS!! CUMMMMING!!"

Meanwhile, Britt was standing there looking cool as Wellington at Waterloo. She had either witnessed something like this before. Or she was just THAT rock steady.

I didn't know what to do. I didn't have a garden hose to turn on them, like I do the dogs at home. And they weren't hurting anybody except perhaps Cohn.

The problem was that he suddenly appeared directly behind us. He had evidently figured-out that I was trying to send him off on a wild-goose-chase and followed us.

He took one look at Romero, who was grunting loudly as he began to finish, let out a roar that would have done credit to an angry bull rhinoceros and rushed past us.

He hit Romero with a shoulder to the ribcage. It was the same thing he must have done to countless Princeton and Yale running backs in his years playing for the Crimson. Romero let out a strained yell, flew up in the air and landed on his back several feet away.

If he wasn't quite out cold. But he was clearly stunned. He looked absurd lying there legs splayed unmoving, with his rock hard dick standing straight up in the air.

Brett let out a shriek that had nothing to do with orgasms and sprawled face first on the stack of tires. Cohn grabbed her violently by her naked hips and put her back in the exact same position that she had been in a few seconds earlier.

She didn't even struggle. She just turned her head and looked back over her shoulder wiggling her butt invitingly. She was very sure of herself. Cohn immediately unzipped and inserted in the place that Romero had just vacated.

Brett let out a long low satisfied groan of satisfaction and went right back to plunging her ass at Cohn. She started just yelling, "That's it baby!! FUCK your woman!! Give it to me good!! Harder!! Harder!!"

All that time Britt and I were just standing there stupefied. It was like watching chimpanzees mating. I was embarrassed for both of them.

Cohn, had ahold of Brett's hair like a bridle. She had her arms braced firmly on the tires and her ass raised up in the air. He was banging on it so hard that the ripples went almost all the way up her radically arched back.

In the interim, Romero had come back to the living.

As Brett was urging Cohn to fuck her harder, Romero was smart enough to dash past us and out the door, unceremoniously clutching his pants to his front.

In the meantime, Brett and Cohn had built to the same kind of slapping moaning crescendo that we had heard when we first opened the door.

I had no ideas beyond an overwhelming desire to get the fuck out of there.

I had seen a few instances of slutty behavior, my former wife for instance. But I had never witnessed anything as fundamentally wanton as what was going on in front of me.

We turned and walked out closing the door on Brett's shrieks and Cohn's baritone groans.

We walked silently back to the hotel. I don't think either of us could come up with the words.

Witnessing that scene made me ashamed to be part of the same species.

When we got to the lobby Britt spun me around to face her. She had a serious and determined look on her face as she said those ominous five words, "Jake we need to talk."

I said earnestly, "I know. Where do you want to do that?"

She said, "Can we go someplace private? I want peace and quiet after what we just witnessed."

One obvious place for privacy was my room. But that was about as far from the context that either of us wanted to create as the Planet Tatooine.

I said, "I have heard that the Exotic Garden is a nice place to sit at night if you want to be alone."

She said, "Thank you.'

That was not as odd a statement as it might have sounded. She was thanking me for not inviting her up to see my etchings.

I parked the Evoque in the little lot down the street from the Entrance to the Garden.

It was relatively quiet and peaceful as we walked hand in hand through the entrance and then navigated our way down the terraces to a place where we could sit and look out over the Mediterranean and the Ville Monaco to our left.

The sky was literally dark purple with a million stars set in it. The Mediterranean is a special place at night. The silence and beauty of the setting was breathtaking.

We found a bench. She sat next to me oriented toward me but not touching. She wasn't being unfriendly. She just wanted some space.

This was not romance. It was going to be a serious talk between two rational people. I recognized the similarity in approach. We both handled things exactly the same way.

I said, "When I saw you with Romero it nearly killed me. I really don't know you and I was afraid that you might turn out to be like your sister. In retrospect, I'm very sincerely sorry that I ever had that thought."

She said, "Your mistake is understandable. He DID outright proposition me while you were watching us. That probably came through in his body language.

"I kept pushing him away to get him out of my space. But he kept forcing himself on me. I didn't know that you had arrived until he pointed you out.

"I could imagine what you thought was happening between him and me. And it made me furious. He had obviously connived to give you that impression.

"Then you rushed out without giving me a chance to explain. I looked for you but you had already disappeared. So I just sat in the lobby and waited for you. I knew you would come back sooner or later.

"That was when Robert came rushing up and you know the rest.

"Why were you so upset? I would have come to you the moment I knew you were there. Does this have anything to do with that thundercloud that is always hanging over you?"

I said, "I came home from work one day. And my wife of five years just up-and announced that she was leaving me for a man who she had been conducting a six month long affair with.

"I trusted her. And I didn't see it coming.

"Since that day I have had no confidence in the morals or integrity of a single soul, particularly a woman. And I never get close enough to anyone to let them prove otherwise.

"I don't WANT to be THIS alienated. It's just the way I am and have been for the past fourteen months.

"I came to France to try to repair the damage to my self-respect. I needed to get a renewed sense of who I was and a healthier direction in life.

"I thought I might be recovering. But then I saw you and Romero interacting as you were. And it was déjà vu all over again.

"I couldn't stand the pain. So I went to find Bill and Mike. Mike is the poor unfortunate guy who committed his heart to Brett. I thought that I knew how he felt.

"I realize that I misjudged you terribly and I am sorry. I hope we can get to know each other better, without the monkeys which are relentlessly fucking in my head getting in the way of our doing that."

She looked at me with wide luminous eyes and said, "What do you think about the scene that you just witnessed with my sister. Do you think I am like her because I am related to her?"

I said, "God No!! That was something out of Animal Planet.

"I sincerely believe that you are an intelligent and level headed woman, who is forthright and honorable. You are as much like Brett as I am like Cohn. Their behavior is not even close to what either of us would consider normal."

Then she turned deadly serious. She said, "Do you view me in the same light as you do your former wife?"

That made me think. I said, "Janet was smart and funny and beautiful like you. It was just that there was fundamental damage that I didn't see.

"In my mind you are a perfect woman, beauty, intelligence and kind-heartedness in one package. And in the very short time that I have known you your obvious intellect and superb sense of self have drawn me to you in a way that I have never experienced in my life.

"I sincerely think that you are as genuine as you seem to be. But I really can't judge that until I know you better. I would like to try to do that if you are willing."

She looked like that was the answer she wanted because she said, "My entire life I have been Lady Brett Ashley's little sister. Nobody has ever judged me for who I am or what I do. They just see me as a younger version of Brett. And the last thing I want to be is like her.

"I have had a few lovers and I probably like sex better than she does. But there has to be something between me and the man before I ever consider letting him in my body.

"Without connection sex is just animal behavior. It might be incredible from a hormonal standpoint. But sex like that is no different than the mating conduct of any other species. And I like to think that I have evolved a little bit further than that.

"I have to sense the individual's personhood during the act. That is critical because I need to give myself totally to a man in order to get any real satisfaction. Brett's impersonal approach would corrode my soul."

The thought of Britt utterly abandoning herself to another man pegged my jealousy meter again. I realized that sex was a natural part of any woman's history. But Britt had already made such a solid connection with me that I didn't want to even VISUALIZE her with another guy.

I admitted to myself that my getting jealous and over-protective in such a short space was insane. But the feeling was there nonetheless.

And it was so illogical that it scared the shit out of me. What was happening to my carefully constructed facade of detached cynicism???!!

Meanwhile she was still talking to me. It was like she didn't realize that I was suffering from horrible green-eyed pangs.

She said, "I am aware of the fact that I am attractive to men. And frankly that is more upsetting than it is anything else.

"I believe that I am a lot more than my looks. I need a man to want me for my intelligence and my inner self. The problem is that, everybody tries to put me in that cage, even my colleagues.

"They make jokes about my breasts subtracting IQ points from the men around me due to the distraction they create. Imagine people only judging you based on the size of the bulge in your pants and you will get some idea of what it feels like to be me.

"So I have tried very hard to minimize my sexuality."

I thought to myself if she is trying to minimize her sexuality I can't imagine what she would be like if she tried to MAXIMIZE it. I knew that she would be hotter than her sister. And her sister was the hottest woman I had ever met.

Britt looked troubled as she said, "I have accomplished some meaningful things in my short academic career, undertakings and accomplishments that would define a man.

"And the only recognition that I have gotten so far is that I am sexually attractive??!! That is both unfair to a person like me and humiliating.

"I want to be appreciated for who I am, NOT what I look like. And my relationships have to be based on a union of equals. I want to make a life with a man that is founded on mutual respect between two like-minded people, not one based on my looks, or sexuality.

"When I eventually give myself to a man I plan on doing it for life and that is a long time. Passion will die down and beauty will fade. But the bond between one man and one woman will always have to be there for me to ever be happy.

"From the beginning I recognized your basic decency, your willingness to treat me as your partner and peer, not your "woman" and that attracted me to you right away.

"You also have a top flight mind, which I absolutely require in a life's companion.

"And honestly, I have wanted to take the next step with you from the moment we met. I know that you have legitimate trust issues. So I will do whatever is comfortable to navigate you around your past experiences.

"But I would like to move forward with our relationship. I promise you that you will never regret it"

That was all said in a neutral tone of voice. It was an exchange of ideas between two absolutely likeminded people. There was no flowery romantic tone, or heated sentiments.

More importantly the subtext had none of the, "Now that we've gotten THAT behind us let's fuck!" that so many of these type of getting-to-know-you conversations have.

It was exactly the way I would have handled things, if I was trying to establish a true link with another person. And it further reinforced my belief that Lady Britannia Ashley was the woman for me. A special person who I could always trust and somebody who I could make a life with.

Isolation and loneliness are not the normal condition for human beings. And I realized that I needed somebody. Even with all of the phony philosophizing that I had been doing in order to convince myself otherwise.

But after what I had been through, committing myself to a woman required my having complete unshakable confidence in the steadfastness of her very soul.

This cool, smart, honorable and coincidentally totally gorgeous woman was offering to carefully and judiciously build a relationship with me. And I felt assured enough that she had the natural intelligence and graciousness to take that step.