Ross brought Anthony Newton his coffee on that balmy June morning, she found him leaning on the railing of his balcony looking out over the cove, the blue of the sky deep above them, the air warm and perfumed with summer.
“Is that Amanda Sands doing yoga on our beach?” asked Newton, of the slim blonde girl far below them going through her sun salutations in a white top and white yoga pants.
“Yes. She’s going to walk up the stairs when she’s done,” said Susan, referring to the extremely long and steep stone steps that climbed up the cliff to the back of Newton’s house. “Then we’re going swimming,” Susan added. Newton grabbed a pair of binoculars off the patio table and focused in on his best friend’s eighteen-year-old daughter.
“Damn near perfect, isn’t she?” Newton commented. “Who’s going to be spanking her while she’s in town for the next month?”
“I’m not sure,” said Susan, curling up in a deck chair with her own coffee to regard her attractive older lover in the strong morning light. “Why? Would you like to?”
Newton put down the binoculars and shook his head with a smile. “Me? Want to spank such an obviously good girl? Certainly not.”
“Do you have time to meet her today?”
“Of course, she can join us for lunch.”
“She’ll be on her own here, so I expect we’ll be seeing a lot of her.”
“Lovely,” said Newton sincerely; for he had understood from Susan’s reports that Amanda was a most agreeable girl.
“I have to admit, I’m crazy about her,” said Susan of her newest friend.
“I’m glad you’re going swimming. There’s a present I’ve been meaning to give you down at the pool.”
“Oh, really?”
“And just in case you’re wondering, it’s not the pool guy, though you might think so.”
Susan went down to the kitchen to let Dennis know that Hugo Sands’ daughter, whom he had heard much about from his employer, was to join them shortly. Anthony and his servant had recently returned from a long sojourn in London and this was the first time Susan had spoken to the young Englishman, with whom she shared such a long and vivacious history, since their return. She and Dennis had been studiously avoiding each other for a number of months, since a quarrel, harsh words and more had seemed to rend for good the delicate fabric of their complex ongoing relationship. Now both Susan and Dennis appeared shyly ready to put their antipathy behind them and begin afresh on a new footing of tentative politeness and respect. And yet, Susan knew him too well not to smile at the thought of how the hitherto romantically submissive young man would react to being introduced to one as obviously goddess-like as Amanda Sands.
Dennis was unpacking the provisions he’d just purchased in the village and Susan noticed his handsome brow wrinkle when Miss Sands was mentioned.
“So I’ll lay out a lunch for three, shall I?” he asked mildly.
“Yes, please.” said Susan.
“Mr. Newton mentioned she shot a video in Random Point over Christmas,” Dennis ventured.
“Yes, she’s in the scene.”
“Susan –”
“Don’t worry, Dennis, I won’t mention anything about your orientation to Amanda. I’ll never do that again. I give you my word,” said Susan hastily, remembering how mortally offended he had been the last time she’d hinted to a pretty young woman about Dennis’ innate submissiveness. Because the fact was that he was no longer the tame foot slave he had once been and Susan herself was in part responsible for his transformation from submissive to switch to… dom? It was possible. He had turned her under his arm and spanked her, without preamble, to demonstrate his indignation at her outing him as a former sub to William Random’s pretty nanny.
“Thank you!” he breathed, his brow uncreasing.
“However, when you see this babe you’ll want to go down on your knees just like in the old days,” Susan added irreverently. “What are you making for lunch?”
“Salads and light sandwiches. And I got pounds of these Rainier cherries,” Dennis displayed a bowl of the exquisite peach and crimson colored fruit.
Just then Amanda knocked on the kitchen garden door.
“Hey Babe,” Susan said, hugging Amanda.
“Hello, my goddess,” said Amanda, returning her slightly older friend’s embrace and smiling at Dennis over Susan’s bare shoulder. The petite twenty-five year old commercial artist had swathed her small, slim, curvy form in a pair of blue denim capris and a red and white check midriff halter-top. Her hair was arranged in a thick, long blonde braid down her back and her tiny feet were shod in mahogany penny loafers and white cotton anklets.
“This is Dennis,” said Susan. Dennis smiled at Amanda shyly and nodded his head in greeting.
“Hi Dennis,” said Amanda, disengaging from Susan.
“Let’s go check out the pool, Anthony said he left me a present down there,” said Susan, relieving Amanda of her rucksack and pulling her after her by the hand.
“Who’s Dennis?” Amanda asked, happily allowing herself to be lead through the halls of the luxuriously decorated and richly furnished house belonging to Susan’s wealthy lover.
“He’s Anthony’s personal assistant. He drives, valets, shops, even prepares some meals. He’s terrifically useful.”
“Handsome too,” Amanda commented.
“Yes.”
“But I have a boyfriend now so I shouldn’t even be looking,” Amanda chided herself.
“Oh, so you intend to be well behaved this summer in Random Point?”
They exited the house from the rear and took a garden walkway to the tennis courts and indoor pool. Susan noticed upon entering that the flat roof had been replaced with a clear dome of a glasslike material and the moment she entered the hitherto unremarkable pool building she saw that it had been transformed into a tropical hothouse in her absence. The pool still ran down the middle of the hall but it now bisected a lush garden.
“This place has been completely transformed,” breathed Susan, delighted with her new private paradise.
“It smells delirious,” Amanda commented, inhaling the heavy scents of blossoms permeating the warm, moist air within the long, sun drenched room.
“It seems to have everything,” said Susan, noting with approval a large, deep, tiled Jacuzzi off to one side, a mist filled steam room opposite it and a dry sauna beside that. There were also fountains surrounding cupids and goddesses, cabanas for changing clothes, a wall of rolled towels and a wet bar. “We’ll make this our summer party headquarters. Come over whenever you can,” Susan invited Amanda.
A few minutes later, when introduced to Anthony Newton in the dining room, Amanda received a second invitation to make the house her own from her host. Seated at the head of
