THIRTY-ONE
Before she slept, Sophia checked her messages, aware that she was due to have a boat trip with Sukhorn later in the day. The Thai woman had arranged for Ananda to pick her up at nine o'clock and she should expect to be back at her hotel at around five thirty. That gave Sophia about seven hours sleep, which should freshen her up perfectly for the day ahead.
After she woke, Sophia made herself coffee and dressed in appropriate style for a visit on what was forecast to be a warm but overcast day to a temple area: a modest knee-length, long-sleeved cream midi dress with matching sneakers. When Sophia stepped out of the air-conditioned lobby to where Ananda had the car waiting, she felt that the temperature was several notches down on the previous couple of days. She greeted her driver in a friendly but professional manner as she took her place in the back seat. His demeanour was the same as if nothing had happened just a few hours ago. She marvelled at his sangfroid, but then thought of it from his point of view: he had got to sleep with a beautiful white woman - the consummation of what he admitted had been one of his great fantasies.
When they got to the pier, Sukhorn was already there, talking with the boat's captain about the day's itinerary, Sophia assumed. She was wearing a sky blue pencil midi skirt with a floral pattern and a white blouse, topped off by a magnificent sky blue large rimmed floppy straw hat and a pair of sunglasses. Sophia was escorted onto the boat by a crewman in a dapper white uniform, complete with sailor hat. On the upper deck, which was protected from the elements by an awning, she found Achara, who was dressed in an ivory trouser suit made of a slinky jersey fabric with a metallic finish with an asymmetric cowl neckline. Beside her on the cushioned seat was an orchid pink shawl for use in the temple grounds. As she did in the ladies' club, Achara kissed Sophia lightly on the cheek. She was wearing an intoxicating perfume, which Sophia couldn't identify. Achara told her it was made from ginger, mimosa and sandalwood by an artisan who had a farm and studio in the countryside about 30 miles from the capital, where he grew all his own ingredients. She told Sophia she would have a bottle sent to her hotel. Sophia secretly wished the dusky beauty would deliver it in person.
After five minutes or so, Sukhorn joined them and offered a tour of the sleek 14-metre motor yacht while last-minute preparations were being made. From the upper deck, where the wheelhouse was located, they made their way to the middle deck, which comprised a foredeck with triple sun bed, the main indoor area (comprising a lounge and a kitchen) and a rear seating area around a table. Accessible by a staircase from the lounge, the lower deck housed a bathroom and, of most interest to Sophia, two cabins, including a forward VIP suite. She lingered a while in the suite with its generous double bed, imagining what delights lay ahead here if everything panned out as she hoped it would.
The boat began its journey up the river. Sukhorn took her guests up to meet the captain and they took their places at the table where Sophia had met Achara. The crewman Sophia had seen earlier appeared as if by magic and they ordered drinks, the local ladies opting for coconut juice sipped fresh from the fruit with a straw, while Sophia went for a lime soda.
'This is the life,' she said, leaning back and watching the water hyacinths gliding by in the river, as she sipped her drink and enjoyed some freshly prepared steamed and fried snacks.
Sukhorn filled Sophia in on the itinerary for the day. After about three quarters of an hour, they would arrive at the Summer Palace. If Sophia had no objection, they would merely moor the boat there for twenty minutes or so to give her the chance to take some photos of the various buildings constructed over the past 150 years or so in different styles, including Thai, Chinese, French and British. They would then journey on to the ancient capital, which would take them perhaps another hour and a half. When they arrived at Ayutthaya, they had a tuk tuk waiting for them, which would allow them to traverse the extensive grounds in comfort and keep walking - and perspiring - to a minimum. They would return to the boat to have a late lunch before setting off on the journey home. That trip, Sukhorn said with a certain allusiveness, might take them as long as they liked. It all depended on whether they wanted to take things nice and slow or whether they had wanted to get back to the hustle and bustle of the city. Sophia knew exactly how she wanted to spend the afternoon and, if she had her way, it would include a lot of hustle and bustle.
The time flew by as they chatted about this and that. Both Thai women had spent time in England - Achara had done a master of fine arts at Goldsmith's College in London - and they were interested to hear about Sophia's experience working at a Japanese bank. Sophia sensed a certain iciness from the women towards the Japanese and wondered if they had relatives who had died during the occupation of their country in the Second World War. She changed the subject and asked them questions about Thailand's history. She was delighted to learn that Anna of
The King and I
fame was particularly associated with the Summer Palace, which they had just visited, and was equally distraught to hear that one queen of Thailand was said to have drowned in the river with her children, all because no attendant dared to dive in after them, since touching royalty was strictly forbidden. Sophia wondered if Achara had children of her own, but her private life remained as much a mystery as Sukhorn's, and she seemed to want it to stay that way. Her dark skin made her look older than the average Thai, who, whether male or female, seemed blessed with the secret of eternal youth. How Sophia longed to give her grey blue contact lenses so that her resemblance to Gene Tierney would be complete!
Although she dared not mention it to her companions, Ayutthaya was a bit of a disappointment to Sophia. What had once been one of the largest cities in the world had been destroyed by the Burmese in the 18th century and although the remains, characterised by crumbling reliquary towers and huge monasteries, gave an idea of past splendours, the vast site - situated on an island between three rivers - had an air of melancholy about it. She was, though, enchanted by the face of The Buddha peering out from the roots of a Banyan tree and got a tourist to take photos of the three of them together with it, and some of her on her own, to show the children. It would probably scare Chloe (Santa had reduced her to tears last Christmas) but Ollie would like it - the roots more than the religious icon, of course.
After an hour and a half seeing the sites, they were driven back to the boat and were glad of the opportunity to freshen up before lunch. Sophia dabbled with the idea of having a shower but, noticing that her companions had no intention of doing so, she merely used a flannel to make herself more presentable. She wished she had worn some fragrance, since both Thai women smelt so good, but the aloe vera deodorant she was wearing would have to do. Lunch included a particular favourite of Sophia's - spicy minced pork wrapped in lettuce leaves - and was washed down by a bottle of dry white wine from the Aosta valley, which was very refreshing.
The moment Sophia had been waiting for finally arrived, when Sukhorn led the way below to the VIP suite. Sukhorn announced that she was going to have a shower and suggested to Achara that she use the other bathroom off the corridor towards the stern. The women disappeared, still fully clothed (though they had removed their shoes and were wearing slippers) to their respective bathrooms. That left Sophia on her own for the time being - time she spent productively enough responding to messages and sending photos of the day to Peter after she had kicked of her sneakers.
Achara returned first, wearing only a towel tucked up above her chest. She had not washed her hair, but had let it down. It had a mere hint of curl in it and the jet black locks reached down to the middle of her back. She looked radiant in the afterglow from the shower and sat down at the dressing table and brushed her tresses. Sophia was hemming and hawing about taking herself off to the shower Achara had used when Sukhorn came out of the ensuite bathroom and indicated to her that it was now hers to use. She went in as the others had done, fully dressed, and didn't lock the door behind her. The shower area was surprisingly large, set off from the rest of the room by two sliding glass doors. Sophia took her time in the shower, just in case she got lucky. After five minutes, realising she wouldn't be receiving any intruders, she finished off and dried herself down. Like the other two, she came out wearing only a towel.
The two women were lying naked on the bed awaiting her. They provided quite a contrast: Sukhorn with her fair skin, her short hair, her larger breasts and her neatly trimmed bush, and Achara with her dark skin, her long hair, her petite breasts and her more luxuriant growth. It seemed as if they had been talking rather than playing with each other. They beckoned Sophia to join them on the king size bed and made room for her between them.
The boat appeared to be moving much more slowly now, as Sukhorn made the first move on Sophia. She ran her long fingernails across the blonde's belly, then back up at a slight diagonal over her ribcage. When she came to one side, she returned to the other, zigzagging her way to the underside of the full breasts. Sophia gasped as those cool nails grazed her sensitive fatty tissue, willing them onwards and upwards. Before they could reach her aching nipples, Achara's soft lips met hers, the mere tip of her tongue darting out from her mouth and investigating Sophia's lips. The English woman opened her mouth to encourage Achara's lips and tongue to penetrate further, but for the moment they maintained their focus on her lips, nibbling on them as if foraging for food. In the meantime, Sukhorn's fingers had located Sophia's nipples, and were stroking them gently, sometimes with the pad of the finger, sometimes with the nail. Sophia appreciated the attention, but her unspoken desire was for Sukhorn's ample mouth to clamp itself on her nipples and work them until she was close to coming. In the ideal scenario, Achara's fingers would penetrate her sex and finish off the job.
Sophia, as we have seen so often in our story, needed once more to be taught a lesson in the virtue of patience. The other virtue which she was signally lacking was that of empathy, of putting herself in the position of the other person and asking what
they
would like in a given situation. At Veronique's behest, the two Thai ladies had taken it upon themselves to teach the English woman these invaluable lessons. So, they remained in the shallows, as it were, paddling, rather than plunging into the depths of the ocean that lay just beyond them. Sophia, with her almost Machiavellian ability to read other people, understood what was going on and took it upon herself to take them to the steep shelf dividing the shallows from the depths and send them spiralling into the abyss.
Thus were they engaged in a battle of wills, the two older women relying on their self-command and their teamwork, the younger woman relying on her willpower and her raw sexuality. It appeared to Sophia that only a synchronised bilateral strike would have a chance of working. Even if that were successful, final victory would by no means be guaranteed. There were just too many unknowns and variables.
Swiftly moving her position, she pinned Sukhorn's legs down with her hands and clamped her mouth on her vulva, even as she lowered her own sex onto the Thai woman's face. At the same time, she drove a finger into Achara's tight pussy and working blind located her clitoris with her thumb and started to massage it urgently. She could feel Achara writhing under her attentions with tell-tale execrations in Thai providing confirmation of success on that front. Sukhorn's attempts at resistance were pathetic in the extreme. Not only was her box giving up its secrets to Sophia, but her tongue was driving into Sophia's vagina as if there was no tomorrow.
So thin were Sophia's forces spread on the ground that she knew she had to get the job done before the enemy realised that she was operating a giant bluff. Swivelling her body in such a way that her pussy remained glued to Sukhorn's face, she replaced her tongue with two fingers and gave herself 30 seconds in which to bring the older woman to orgasm. That freed up her tongue for the delightful Achara; indeed, as she found out when she started frantically licking her out, for the
delicious
Achara. It seemed impossible, but Sophia had pulled it off. As if in celebration of the double whammy, the boat's horn sounded a long blast. And as if it were on the same wavelength as Sophia, it picked up knots and sped back to the City of Angels.
THIRTY-TWO
