Located near the village of Agay, between Cannes and St. Tropez on the French Riviera, is one of the most exclusive, private and undisturbed beaches of the entire Mediterranean. It is located on a forested island of several acres, and about three miles from the mainland. The most beautiful part of the natural, sandy beach is located on the ocean side of the island, thus offering privacy from all those save a few curious yachtsmen and the rubbernecking crew of an occasional passing ship.
The island was posted as "private property" and, since it lay within French territorial waters, trespassing had never been a problem. Police and Coast Guard vessels checked it regularly. There was rumor that the island was owned by a top secret NATO tactical intelligence organization, that it belonged to an eccentric American millionaire, the French government, the gendarmerie.
There was no permanent structure visible on the island, and when small groups or individuals were allowed to pitch camp there for a rugged, outdoors vacation, rumors flew that they were members of European royalty, high government officials, millionaires or friends of such illustrious people.
When the two, beautiful and young American girls came to Agay from the Nice-Cannes airport in a taxi and sought transportation to the island, they were immediately questioned by the police.
The local chief himself came down to the boat house to question the girls, and was promptly set back on his ears by the taller and very slightly older of the two girls, who produced a set of documents that had the man begging a thousand pardons. In turn, the police chief railed at the "stupid" boat owner for daring to question the girls' authority to go to the island with their suitcases and heavy load of camping gear.
And while a new set of rumors spread throughout the gossipy village over the next few days, the “V.I.P." American girls had not been seen, preferring to use the beautiful Oceanside of the small island as their vacation retreat.
Maria Marshall and her companion had come purely and simply for relaxation and sensual pleasure, away from everyone they knew or might bump into.
Maria was a tall, voluptuous girl of twenty-seven. She possessed a truly gorgeous figure. Her 39 inch breasts were firm and finely molded, well able to jut forward without the support of a brassiere. Her beautifully curved thighs had a soft sheen which lent them the satin texture of skin-colored stockings; and her waist was very minute for such a full-figured girl.
Furthermore, Maria Marshall was the leading judo expert among female exponents of the sport in the U.S. She was the proud owner of a black belt and had participated in an extended unarmed combat course in Japan.
She was also the top female agent for Western Intelligence.
Maria emerged from the dazzling blue sea like a love goddess from the foam, her wispy red bikini clinging to her wet skin. She shook her long, golden hair, letting it cascade freely around her lovely shoulders, then stepped up the slight sandy incline to the beach umbrella.
Taking a towel and patting herself dry, Maria sprawled gracefully out under the blazing hot sun to catch every last ray of the quick tanning heat. Her almost naked body was already stained a becoming coppertone though this was only her third day at the Riviera. Another three weeks of this, she sighed blissfully. Another three weeks of doing nothing but relax. Heaven!
The girl lying beside her lit a cigarette and put it between Maria's lips. She watched as Maria drew deeply on the king-size filter then blew a long stream of blue smoke out into the windless air.
Her name was Sandra. She had nothing to do with Intelligence but worked as a secretary in Washington D.C. She had met Maria at a party and the two girls had been very close friends ever since. This was their first holiday together, the first time for two years that Maria had been able to get away in between her assignments.
Sandra knew that her friend worked for Western Intelligence, but had no idea of the important capacity she held. That was something Maria refused to talk about to anyone.
Maria and Sandra both intended to get as tanned and sun-baked as possible. Sandra slipped her arms out of her bikini top. Although her breasts couldn't be compared in actual size with those of Maria's, Sandra certainly owned two lovely and well-shaped globes. They were half out of their cups, the edge of her red nipples just visible.
Too bad we can't sunbathe in the nude, she thought. I suppose it's against the local laws, but it seems such a nuisance that we've got to cover ourselves up like this when the place is so deserted. She glanced behind them. The beach stretched for some 50 yards to their rear, and then the trees took over, the verdant scent wafting through the still air and adding to their pleasure.
“Do you really think anyone's likely to come along and see us?" Sandra asked. "And even if they did, would it matter all that much?"
Maria glanced up lazily. ”I think that's a great idea!" she exclaimed. "Why on earth didn't we think of it before? We can soon slip our bikinis on again if we hear a boat approaching. Here, you untie mine and I'll do yours."
She pulled loose the bow which kept Sandra's bikini-bra up and the flimsy material dropped to the soft sand. Turning, Maria presented her back to Sandra and felt the girl perform the same service for her. "Mmmm, that's better!" she sighed. "Pants as well?"
"Why not?" Sandra smiled. "If we're going to expose ourselves we might as well go all the way!"
They stood up and within a few seconds were stripped of their swimming costumes, two deliciously naked and beautiful girls in a setting of breathtaking natural beauty.
As they settled down to get themselves tanned, Sandra exclaimed: "Hey, wait a minute! Our breasts and tummies are going to be burnt like hell 'if we don't smother them with lotion, not to mention our asses! We'd better rub ourselves with it."
The girl reached out for the suntan oil and unscrewed the cap, tipping the heavy tan liquid into the palm of her hand. She began to apply it to the round, soft orbs of her breasts, rubbing the lotion thoroughly and deeply into the firm dumplings.
Maria watched her, waiting for her turn for the oil. Her eyes seemed to be transfixed by Sandra's massaging of her breasts; they stared in fascination as the girl carefully stroked and fondled them, gradually making her titties shine with the thick, oily mixture.
The red nipples were soon made taut and smaller by Sandra's handling of them. The buds protruded fiercely from the middle of each globe, sticking out in a proud, unashamed erection.
Maria licked her lips as she imagined what it would be like to actually touch the hard buttons, to fondle them and pinch them between her fingers. She had never made a pass at Sandra during their fairly long association; not because she wasn't attracted to the girl, but because she was afraid of repulsing her and frightening her away. She genuinely liked Sandra as a friend and rather than give in to her quite frequent lesbian impulses, she preferred to get her sex kicks elsewhere and keep Sandra as a platonic companion.
But Sandra had herself suggested that they take off their bikinis. Maria wondered if the idyllic Riviera atmosphere had brought out a latent homosexuality in her friend.
And surely Sandra was taking rather a long time about anointing her breasts with the oil? Maria mused over the girl's reaction. Should she make a tentative hint that they get to know each other more intimately? Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, she decided at last.
Sandra was now turning her attention to her belly; rubbing the sun oil firmly into the white patch across her abdomen which had been covered by the bikini pants. She glanced up, met Maria's eyes and smiled.
“It'll be nice to look brown all over, won't it?" she said. "I've always thought how silly it was to have those white places on your body, they look so unsightly. Don't you agree?"
Maria nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Her mouth felt dry and her pulse was already racing. Sandra completed her front and poured some more oil into her hands. She turned, kneeling up on the towel, and began to rub the sun lotion into her buttocks; pressing her fingers firmly into the cheeks and giving them a long, very thorough massage.
Maria could catch brief glimpses of the girl's actual anus as Sandra pulled her ass cheeks open and stroked the scented lotion into her full-fleshed crevice.
Finally, Maria realized that, unconsciously or not, Sandra was doing everything possible to ask for a sexy intimacy with her. An idea occurred to her. It would enable Sandra to decide for herself whether she really wanted to "do things" with her friend or draw back at the last moment.
Maria pressed her hands into the sand, letting the fine particles stick to her fingers. When Sandra had at last finished with the suntan lotion, she reached out for the bottle, then stopped.
“Damn!" she exclaimed. “Just look at my hands. I've got sand all over them! Now I'll have to go back in the water and wash it off. What a damned nuisance!"
Almost immediately, Sandra said: “You don't have to do that, Maria. I’ll give you a rub if you like. You don't particularly want to get all wet again, do you?"
"Not really!" Maria replied. “It's very nice of you, Sandra. Are you sure you don't mind?"
"Of course I don't." Sandra laughed. “Why should I? We're both girls, aren't we? Don't be nervous. I won't do anything to you that I shouldn't!" She reached out her hand and playfully pushed Maria backwards until the girl was lying stretched out full length on the white beach towel.
The sudden movement caused her fabulous breasts to loll sexily, the huge orbs swaying from side to side on her chest. Sandra raised her eyebrows, staring down at them appreciatively.
"Oh, you've really got a pair, haven't you, Maria!" she exclaimed. "They're lovely, absolute beauties!"
"Glad you like them," Maria murmured. She closed her eyes against the dazzling white sun, but could sense Sandra's gaze fixed steadfastly on her tittles. The girl's breath seemed to have quickened. In the absolute still, broken only by the soft, gentle lapping of the frothy white waves on the beach, she could hear her friend's sharp intake of air as the girl studied her breasts from a very close viewpoint. Mentally she could also picture Sandra's eyes narrowing lustfully and her own far-from-inadequate tits hanging low as she bent down over Maria's nude body.
Sandra's hand began to tremble slightly as she reached down to Maria's right breast. The fingers were well-coated with the suntan oil, now hovering a mere inch or two from the voluptuous surface of her friend's ripe cherry-nipple.
She didn't dare to stop and analyze her emotions. Not now, anyway. She only knew that she wanted more than anything else in the whole world to stroke and press her fingers into the twin mounds of beautiful breast flesh beneath her. Whether it was right or wrong to want to do this, she refused to even consider. The urgent need to 'cup Maria's tittles with her palms and gently massage the softness of the girl's exposed orbs was too strong to be denied.
Then came the magical, beautiful moment! Sandra pressed her fingers, tentatively at first, but with growing firmness, into the yielding orb. It felt so sexy, so terribly sexy, she thought. Moistening her lips, the girl began to massage the breast.
Her other hand also came down and cupped Maria's other breast. Together, they gave the two breasts a lingering, firm and thorough massage, smothering them with the richly perfumed oil until they were both glistening and shiny.
When her fingers brushed inevitably across the bright red nipples, Sandra felt a jolt of sensuous pleasure. The red buds came almost instantly to flower at her touch, and the girl wondered briefly how many other fingers (male and female) had performed the same service for Maria. No matter; now it was her turn to rub and caress them.
Sandra lost all sense of time and couldn't tell if she had been fondling Maria's breasts for seconds or minutes. But at last she realized that she ought to turn her attention to, the girl's belly. Her tummy and hips would be burning from the sun soon if she didn't cover them with the soothing oil.
With a sigh of regret, Sandra removed her hands from Maria's bosom. She allowed them to travel slowly down the soft flesh of the girl's naked front, until her fingers rested lightly on her friend's trim and tiny waist.
She picked up the half-empty bottle and let the oil ooze down onto Maria's bare tummy, the thick droplets trickling lasciviously into the bushy tangle of pubic hairs which protected and partly concealed the girl's cunt.
"Oh!" Maria cried softly. "That tickles! It's running right into my pussy! Can you brush it away for me, darling?"
Sandra gasped as she heard Maria use the word "pussy" in so innocent a voice. She watched, kneeling beside the horizontal girl, as Maria parted her thighs a little, making it easier for her to wipe away the trickling lotion.
Breathlessly, Sandra let her fingers stray down the girl's abdomen, pressing into the flesh and catching up the thick rivulet as it ran into Maria's cunt. Bending forward, she could plainly see the pink lips curling open under their hairy covering. They -looked sleek and sexy, reminding Sandra of the times she'd studied her, own slit with the aid of a hand mirror.
Almost before the girl quite realized what she was doing, Sandra's fingers were fondling into the slit, her other hand resting on Maria's fleshy tummy. Her forefinger moved right inside the girl's cunt, sinking wonderfully into the tight, wet confines and pushing hard to penetrate the clinging hole as much as possible.
“Oh, darling!" Maria murmured. "Has the oil got right into me, then?"
"Yes, yes it has!" Sandra panted, "I'm afraid I'll have to put my finger all the way up your pussy, otherwise it'll sting you terribly!"
"All right, then." Maria parted her legs a little wider. "Is that better? Can you do it more easily now?"
"Mmm! Oh, yes, that's much better!" Sandra gasped. Her finger was beginning to frig Maria, turning around and around inside the constricted slit. She pushed it deeply all the way into the hole, then drew it slowly out again. She could feel the girl's crotch pressing down in a subtle, urging motion onto her finger; silently approving of the treatment she was giving the exposed cunt.
Sandra wriggled a second finger into the warm, moist slot. Together, they fondled and explored Maria's cunt, working up and down inside the hot crevice and giving it an intimate, extended feeling.
Slowly, her other hand began to play with the tufts of hair which grew wildly on the bulge of her friend's pubic mound. She slipped her fingers into the silky forest, pressing them into the firm, hard mound and rubbing it sexily. The tip of her forefinger slid into the top of Maria's slit and touched the bumpy protuberance of the girl's clitoris. She began to stroke the clit passionately, her fingernail scratching deliberately onto the thrusting red button and tweaking it saucily.
An itching sensation seemed to suddenly start at her nipples. A not unpleasant, sexy ticklishness that made Sandra feel an urge to scratch her hot little buds; raking her nails roughly across them to relieve the growing itchiness.
But she couldn't leave Maria's pussy alone! The precious pink-lipped darling was so succulent, so thrilling to touch. She was about to whisper to Maria and ask the girl to help her out when she realized that Maria herself was causing the itching!
Unobtrusively, the other girl had raised her hand and was calmly caressing the very tips of her two breasts, lightly rubbing her fingers across the hardening nipples and making them sprout to a juicy erectness.
Sandra squirmed deliciously, the action causing her breasts to move with an inviting swaying motion: Maria started to pinch the titties more firmly, pulling them downward so that Sandra's breasts (one at a time) were stretched into sexily elongated shapes.
Slowly but surely, Sandra realized that she was being seduced by her own sensual nature and by the tantalizing ministrations of her girl friend. She felt far too aroused, however, to think of objecting to the sexy game on which they'd embarked. Perhaps it was the hot sun, the soft and relaxing sand and the beauty of the Riviera holiday. Or maybe it went deeper than that. But whatever had suddenly brought on her raging desire to explore Maria's naked body, Sandra knew that it was impossible for her to even think of calling a halt to their caressing.
She renewed her attention to Maria's cunt now driving her two fingers in and out of the slick hole with relentless passion. She gave the task her complete concentration, determined to force Maria to a strong orgasm.
Out of the corner of one eye, Sandra could just see the rosy thrust of the girl's nipple, sticking up in the air; rising out of that gorgeous white breast with tempting, seductive prominence. She began to lower her mouth towards it, opening her lips ready to receive the red rose of Maria's nipple.
As it disappeared between her teeth, the girl emitted a long, heart felt moan of pleasure. A sigh which escaped her lips like a breath of ecstasy, as she closed her mouth over the ripe and hard beauty and began to suck on the crimson fruit as if her life depended on its sustenance.
She could taste, also, the suntan oil which she'd rubbed plentifully into the breast. It seemed to make the action of sucking the girl's tit more sexy than ever, as if the thick oil was Maria's milk and she the girl's baby.
As Sandra's face buried itself into her breast, lips firmly and tightly around her nipple, Maria transferred her hand from Sandra's titty to the girl's buttocks, stroking her fingers around the sweetly bared waist and then down over her friend's spine, finally rubbing them into the cheeks of Sandra's thrust-out ass. The older girl caressed the finely textured globes, running her fingers possessively and with mounting excitement over the full and curvy flesh.
Sandra's buttocks were clenched tight; as if the girl were afraid to relax the muscles for fear that Maria would put her fingers between the cheeks and feel for her unprotected anus itself. But soon, relaxing gradually under the expert caressing, Sandra permitted her hips to untense. The superb globes were now slack and much sexier to handle. Maria put her hand underneath the one nearest to her and lifted it slightly upwards.
It enabled her to glimpse the side view of Sandra's wide-lipped cunt, nestling securely and safely between the girl's marvelous thighs. She ran her fingers up over the ass mound again; crooking them slightly so that they dug into the soft flesh.
So supple and so smooth-skinned Sandra's ass was! Maria reveled in the feel of the ass which was now thrusting itself boldly against her hand, as if urging her to explore it more intimately.
It was obvious that Sandra was growing more and more excited. Her teeth worked on Maria's nipple forcefully. The girl was treating it to a series of sharp, nibbling bites that sent waves of bliss shooting through Maria's body. And her fingers hadn't ceased their frigging of her cunt for one single moment. She still worked them as urgently and as sexily inside the liquid slit, the fingers of her other hand playing incessantly with the girl's clitty button.
Maria could feel herself being brought speedily to the brink of her orgasm, but bravely held herself back, wanting them both to reach their climaxes at the same time. To accomplish this, she now slid the fingers and thumb of her right hand into Sandra's ass crease, stealing slowly but surely between the smooth cheeks and fondling at the deep indentation. Sandra stiffened momentarily, then relaxed again, allowing Maria's hand to proceed without hindrance. The latter girl brushed the tips of her fingers over the prominent bump of Sandra's anus, feeling the minute crater with its sexy outer wrinkle.
She pressed her little finger into the orifice, letting the hot, tight channel close stickily around the intruder. Then the girl started to move her hand backwards and forwards, gradually gaining entrance with her smallest finger, until, finally, it had succeeded in penetrating Sandra's anus right to its hilt.
Maria now wiggled her remaining fingers further beneath the girl's thighs, her breath coming in quick pants as they found and started to fondle Sandra's tucked-away pussy. The lips were already straining open and it was a simple task for her to probe her fingers between them and insert two of her digits into the exposed gash.
In they slid, deeper and deeper into the moist recesses of the wondrous cunt, until Maria could feel them both jammed into the girl's hole as far as they could penetrate. She started to work them around in a small, tight circle, keeping her fingers firmly on the supple wet walls and letting her nails press intimately against the ultra-soft fleshiness.
There, on the deserted private beach of white sand, the two girls fondled each other's most sensitive places, wantonly pressed together in an uninhibited sexual embrace. Above them, the incredibly blue sky and the white disc of the blinding sun. Nothing else, not even a solitary gull to witness their passionate caressing.
Maria's lips began to hunger for the taste of Sandra’s exciting Clint. Her tongue itched to feel the heat of the girl's vulva. She lifted herself up off the beach towel and, being careful not to dislodge Sandra's mouth from her breast where the girl was still feeding, began to maneuver Sandra's thigh so that her legs were parted on either side of her face…
This meant, of course, that Sandra was forced to relinquish her sucking of Maria's nipple, but she quickly realized that there was an even more attractive place for her to put her mouth.
Positioning herself downward, facing Maria's thighs, Sandra lowered her lips into the very center of the girl's cunt, brushing aside the luxuriant growth of pubic hair so that she was able to work her eager tongue into the revealed slit of her friend's pussy.
A moment later, she felt Maria's mouth performing the self-same intimacy with her own pussy. They licked daintily into one another's cunts, shyly at first, then with mounting and abandoned passion. The sun blazed remorselessly into Sandra's naked back, but she scarcely felt the burning, so absorbed was she in her concentrated cunt-sucking.
Stopping only to catch their breaths and give their tongues a quick moistening with saliva, the girls steadily and lingeringly licked and sucked. Maria had the advantage of being able to look up into Sandra's parted buttocks and feast her eyes on the girl's exposed asshole. She could also pass her hands from their fondling of the plump white cheeks and sexily touch the prim, pursed hole itself, which she did with greater and greater frequency.
Sandra chose to occupy her fingers with the enlarged red clitoris which protruded at the top of Maria's generously lengthy gash. Her fingertips petted and squeezed the hard knob, making it throb in response.
Both their tongues licked all the way along their respective lips. Starting at the first, topmost parting of the lips, they would work slowly and teasingly down the center of the slit, lapping with a sensuous deliberation until their tongues came to the deepness of the hole itself. Then they stopped and, curling into a long, fang-like length of wet muscle, darted as deeply as possible into the exposed bareness of the orifice.
After performing several in-and-out strokes in this fashion (imitating with surprising accuracy the fucking of a prick), they would withdraw their tongues and let them slip back to the clitoris again, ready to repeat the caress.
The girls could feel each other's breasts pressing firmly against their nude tummies. The nipples were hot and pointy, hard, thick buttons which stuck into the softness of their belly flesh and spurred them on to a quickening of their tongue licking.
And as if by some prearranged signal, Sandra and Maria began, at precisely the same moment, to vary their mouthing activities. They changed to a hard, slurping sucking at the well-licked cunts, drawing as much of the flesh between their lips as possible and clamping their teeth down on the succulent treats.
At the same time, their hips and buttocks started to grind furiously, until both girls were writhing in ecstatic communion; urging their naked bodies tighter and tighter together, shedding every last shred of inhibition, bent only upon achieving the bliss of orgasm.
Unable to check her desire, Maria suddenly plunged her forefinger hard into Sandra's ass, burying it completely in the shapely crevice and then twisting it around and around, not pausing for a moment in her perpetual sucking of the girls cunt. In and out of Maria's anus she jammed her finger, making it sink again and again into the tight and protesting orifice.
While this was the very first time that Sandra had been penetrated in this fashion, the girl felt not the slightest discomfort. She was much too excited to notice anything except the pleasure which Maria's finger was giving to her. The twin attentions her friend was paying to her bottom and to her cunt filled Sandra with overwhelming bliss, making her thrust her crotch frantically downwards against Maria's face, urging the girl to do whatever she liked with her willing and completely defenseless charms.
Maria accepted the challenge gladly. She scarcely needed Sandra's silent urgings to give full vent to her imagination and her lust. Her cheeks were sucked sharply inwards as she pulled nearly the whole of Sandra's thick cunt lips into her mouth. Then she fastened her teeth tightly around the trapped pussy flesh and began to lick with quick, lightening strokes of her quivering tongue up and down the secured meat.
Maria thought she heard a muffled moaning coming from Sandra, but the girl's mouth was buried deeply into her pubic hairs and any sound she might have made was instantly stifled by the thick growth. However, a scant moment later Maria felt the first spasms of Sandra's orgasm. She kept her lips tightly pressed against the girl's cunt and frantically sucked with an even harder action at the tormented lips.
Her own climax wasn't long delayed. As Sandra continued to helplessly spasm and writhe with lust, Maria felt her cunt starting to throb with a terrible itching beat. She raised her buttocks upwards off the towel and clenched and unclenched the cheeks in a furiously passionate concentration.
Her entire body shuddered with ecstasy. Her mind spiraled off into a glorious fantasy of never-ending excitement and bliss as she released her long delayed climax.
The girls remained in their impassioned clasp for long minutes after their orgasms. Eventually, Sandra rolled herself off Maria's body, flopping. onto the burning sand beside the girl in an exhausted but completely satisfied condition. Maria reached out for her hand and entwined their fingers intimately.
"No regrets, darling?" she asked softly.
"None. Oh, none!" Sandra cried. "It was wonderful… perfect! I've never enjoyed myself so much, not with anyone!" She gazed into Maria's eyes frankly. "You make love so beautifully!" she told the girl. "So very, very beautifully!"
Maria smiled sweetly at her. "So do you, doll," she whispered. 'Weren't we silly to waste the last three days when we could have been doing things like this to each other?"
Sandra nodded. Then she said, her voice betraying concern, "Have you made love with other girls, Maria? Do you like women better than men?"
Maria squeezed her hand. "Would it make any difference to us if I had, if I do?" she asked. "All right. I don't want there to be any secrets between us. I do prefer my own sex, I get much more pleasure out of caressing a beautiful girl like you than snuggling up to a hairy, muscular male.
"You'll see," she promised. "There are lots of things that two women can do to each other to give pleasure. I'll show you. Just now was only the beginning. Come into my arms, darling, and I'll… "
She broke off suddenly, releasing Sandra's hand and sitting up. "Quick!" she cried. "I can hear a boat coming! Better get back into your bikini!"
Her sharp ears had picked up the distant sound of a motorboat approaching the secluded beach. Both girls hurriedly pulled their swim suits back on, Maria fastening her bra just as the boat came into view.
The lone male occupant left his boat at the edge of the beach and ran quickly across the sand, waving a yellow envelope and calling to them in French.
Maria took it from him and tore it open. It was a cable from Western Intelligence Headquarters. Her eyes ran over the text and she swore loudly and at length. She turned to Sandra.
"It's from my boss," she told the girl between clenched teeth. "He's ordered me back to the States! A special job has just come up! Of all the bastard luck!" Sandra could see tears starting from her eyes and a lump started to rise in her own throat as she realized that their idyllic holiday was going to be abruptly terminated almost before it had so beautifully begun..
"Can't you refuse to go?" she asked tentatively. "They can get someone else. They've got hundreds of people working for them, haven't they?"
Maria shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not," she said. "The cable is marked Urgent. I can't ignore it. It must be something they think only I can do! Though God knows what it could be. Maybe some unfinished business from one of my previous assignments." She looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Now, darling. It may only take a couple of days. Why don't you stay on.here? With luck, I'll be able to return within a short while." She lowered her voice, eyes growing tender and sexy. "Then we can carry on where we left off! What do you say?"
Sandra bit her lip. "All right," she said at last. "If you say so. But please, get back as soon as you can, won't you darling? I’ll miss you so much… so very, very much!"
Maria looked down at the sobbing girl. "I want to be back with you too, darling, just as quickly as I can," she told her, then became more realistic as she added, "If… just if, something should happen that it takes more than a few days. I'll try to send you a cable. But, please, remember, darling, that it may be impossible for me."
"It will! I know it will!" Sandra became frantically depressed and tried to hold on to Maria, as if she could prevent her from leaving. "It's all over! Our wonderful, beautiful vacation we planned for so long! It's over, Maria! I know it is! They'll probably send you halfway around the world to Vietnam or Japan or Hong Kong or… ”
With deliberate but slow and painless force, Maria pushed the younger girl's arms away, then grasped her by the shoulders. "Look, darling!" she said sternly. "I have absolutely no choice! If it wasn't for the job… and the people I know as a result of my job, we would never have had even these three idyllic days in such a beautiful spot… alone together!"
Sandra's body relaxed and she began to shake her head in resignation, recalling the flight schedule from Nice-Cannes to Paris that she had studied so often. "Maria! The next plane for Paris isn't until this evening. It won't take long to get to the shore, and then the taxi ride to the airport. Let's… let's make love in our tent… the way honeymooners would… on the soft mattress. Please, Maria. We do have time… ”
"While the man from the telegraph office is still here?" Maria queried her companion with amusement, nodding to the man who had walked a very discreet distance away from them and was looking out at the sea. "I'll give him an acknowledgement to send back to Washington, darling. And you run up and bring my purse down to pay him."
"And then?" Sandra asked, hopefully.
“Yes, darling," Maria said, throwing her a kiss. "We'll have an hour or more just to ourselves… ”