She watched the balloons with her binoculars. The two smaller ones had drifted inland, while the larger one continued to move toward her over the water. It had a huge basket under it. It must be at least ten feet square, she thought to herself. It was starting to drop lower and would probably pass close by. Its bright orange, red-orange, green, blue, and beige multicolored globe was so large that it covered a third of the near horizon.

  The balloon was now close enough for her to hear the roar as the burner pulsed on and off. There was a rope dangling from the basket.

  As the balloon approached, Claire became alarmed because it looked as though it might crash into the yacht. As she was about to go tell someone, the captain and two of the crew appeared on deck. The captain was talking on a mobile phone to someone while looking up at the balloon. He didn’t seem to be concerned so Claire relaxed.

  The balloon was almost at the yacht. The rope would certainly hit the ship, she saw, although the balloon was well above the yacht itself. She watched the two crew members move to the stern and grab the rope as it flopped onto the deck.

  “What are they doing?” She asked the captain. It looked crazy to her. Then she saw them hook a loop on the end of the rope to a large hook that had been concealed under a deck panel. The balloon stopped abruptly overhead as the yacht jerked.

  Realization finally struck her as a door in the floor of the basket opened and Elliot dropped rapidly to the deck in a harness, landing just about ten feet from her. She covered the distance in a flash, completely forgetting about the tenderness in her pussy. Her arms encircled his neck and she pulled his mouth down to hers before he could do much more than stand upright on the deck. They kissed hungrily. He pulled her tightly against him. She could feel the wetness of tears on her cheek and could see them on his, as their emotions welled to the surface.

  “I missed you terribly, Darling.” She loved it when he called her that. There was something subtly different in the tone of his voice. Something more endearing and less insular. Or perhaps it was her imagination.

  “Oh, Darling! I missed you so!” She could barely get the words out, being so overcome with joy. Elliot pulled her to him again, gently pushing her hair back so he could kiss her neck.

  “There seems to be a lot more hair than I remember,” he said. The brief change was gone, but his voice effused with happiness and good humor.

  She dodged his question. “Shut up and kiss me. I need two weeks of kisses on my lips and I need them right now!”

  He did kiss her until she finally took her arms from around his neck and, grasping his hard shoulders, held him away at arm’s length.

  “What in the hell are you doing in a balloon?”

  “I like to make an entrance,” he responded as though it were the simplest thing. Then a big grin brightened his face again, showing his teeth and the crow’s feet in the corners of his eyes.

  He’s really glad to see me and he can’t suppress it, she realized. She wouldn’t reveal her observation but simply treasure it in her own heart.

  “How are we getting rid of the balloon?” Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed him by the hand. “I want to go to our cabin for a few minutes before we go. I need you now. When is the launch arriving?”

  “What launch? We’re leaving in the balloon. No time for anything until we're aloft.”

  “I’m not going anywhere in that contraption!”

  “Yes you are,” he said in that firm voice he used with her sometimes. “And we need to leave in a few minutes or the balloon will start to come down on its own.” He took a second to look at the curly-haired brunette he now pulled toward him. “That is a very different look for you. Either I’ve been gone much longer than I thought or that’s one of Monique’s wigs.” He looked suspicious.

  “Don’t you like how I look?” She tried a pout, succeeded a little.

  “Honestly, I like it very much. You know I’m unceasingly aroused by the small and large variations in your appearance. I like you to change, to challenge me with different hair, makeup, clothes, or other, more erotic modifications. I like variety. I want you to be every woman to me. In fact. I insist on it.

  “This is a good surprise and it’s turning me on. Your tan is looking great and the dark brown curls go well with it. Come on, let’s take leave of your hosts and be off in my beautiful balloon. René will send your things on ahead. I have everything we need up there in the basket.”

  Quick hugs and kisses, including an unusually quick one from René, and they ascended to the basket with Elliot’s arms holding her to him as the winch lifted them. In the basket, he closed the trap door and prepared to make way.

  “You might want to remove that wig so it doesn’t blow away.”

  “Don’t worry; I have it fastened on tight.” They were ascending rapidly and Claire was petrified. “I’m really frightened.”

  He held her briefly and, incredible as it seemed, the old Fifth Dimension song started to play. Gingerly, she looked over the edge to wave at their friends on the yacht below as the balloon and its crew of two lovers sailed up, up and away.

  * * * * *

  They’d reached their cruising altitude of just over six-thousand feet. They were sitting in the huge basket sipping a superb Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne. The only sounds were the occasional roar of the burner and the murmur of the air, stirring around them like a steady, gentle breeze. The ride was incredibly smooth, as though they were floating which, basically, they were.

  They’d been kissing and hugging and gazing into each other’s eyes for most of the hour since they’d left the yacht. Elliot was focused on her, and Claire was absorbed by his presence. Now they were relaxing on a round cushion, her head resting back on his arm. She’d gotten over her initial shock and the paralyzing fear while the balloon rose above the bay. He’s really good at rushing me into bizarre experiences, she thought. I’ve never met anyone who does so many things, and does them all so well. He’d benefited from attentive parents and maternal grandparents while growing up, but had gone far beyond what they’d been able to teach him. She’d come to know that Elliot was interested in and could do almost anything.

  Finally steady, having found her air legs, Claire couldn’t wait any longer to tell him what she and Jean-Pierre had done to her hair. She stood up to face him as he sat there holding his champagne.

  “I have something to tell you,” she said as seriously as she could. “About six days ago on the yacht, I was really missing you and thought maybe I’d have some wine and drown the pain.”

  He looked at her curiously, eyebrows raised and his brow wrinkled, but said nothing.

  “I tried some more of René and Monique's special wine…” He jumped up immediately. The basket shook. That made Claire gulp for two reasons – bouncing in a basket more than a mile in the air, and his reaction.

  “They gave you more of the mood wines after that other experience?” His voice rose to something between disdain and outright anger.

  “I did it myself, for the second time. I was already feeling no pain and it just happened. This other one, the wine of the loss of inhibitions, I shared with Jean-Pierre.”

  “Did you have sex with the spoof?!” He sort of smiled at the idea.

  At that comment, she lost the entire train of thought she was trying to express. She blurted out, “No, but I did have sex with René - no, that’s not true, at least I don’t think it is. Monique had sex with René while our bodies were exchanged. I think that’s what happened, anyway. I don’t remember anything but waking up in bed with René.”

  "You already told me that; it's okay." His voice was impatient and he saw it affect her. He started to say something to mollify her, but she cut him off.

  “That isn’t what I wanted to tell you. What I wanted to say is that the wine I shared with Jean-Pierre somehow got us to do this.” And she pulled the wig off, revealing her completely bald head.

  He choked on the champagne he’d just nervously sipped. Bubbles shot out of his nose and burned like hell. He sputtered, his eyes watering. Then, while swallowing and trying to catch his breath, his fingers reached out to her head to touch the naked scalp timidly. She’d never seen him so stunned.

  “Is that for real?” He asked. She couldn’t read the emotion behind his tone-of-voice.

  “Yes.” Tears were forming in her eyes.

  He lightly rubbed her scalp. He was staring, almost glaring at her. “Jesus Christ, Claire, I don’t think I’ve ever been so surprised in my whole life. This is …”

  “Oh, God! You think I’m ugly!”

  “What? Of course not.” He stopped for a moment, realizing the effect his surprised demeanor was having on her. He stumbled around to remember what he was about to say. Finally, “This is the most erotic thing you’ve ever done on your own.” That was a direct statement, delivered as such. Then his face brightened and his eyes assumed the bedroom look that always ignited desire in her. “This really turns me on!”

  “It does?” He seemed sincere. “But I’m not pretty anymore!”

  “Claire, you’re stunning! I can’t believe it. You’re the sexiest, most beautiful and desirable woman I’ve ever seen.” For the moment, at least, she’d cracked his fabled self-control.

  “You’re just saying that.” She knew he wasn’t.

  “No I’m not. And I’ll prove it.” He reached to untie her cropped-top.

  “No, wait, there’s more.”

  “That’s hard to believe.”

  “Please. Just be quiet and listen. I wanted to do this for you before you came back, but I was afraid you wouldn’t like it. So I waited and then my hair was gone and then I was sure I wanted to do it because I wanted to do something to make you happy ‘cause you’ve filled my life with such happiness and so I did and … and … here it is!” She pulled off her top herself and he stood there staring at the exquisite tattoo on her lovely breast.

  He immediately recognized her “C” intertwined and interlocked with his ‘E.’ He was, for the first time in his memory, speechless.

  “Well?” She asked. She could tell by his face that she had done something wonderful in his eyes.

  “Is it real?”

  “As real as the skin it’s tattooed into.”

  He was so struck, so pleased that he couldn’t shout. But he spoke in a forceful quiet. “Oh Claire! You've really blown me away here! I don’t think I’ve ever been so turned on. You are so ravishingly attractive, so erotic. I’m sorry, but this can’t wait. I take that back. I’m not sorry at all.”

  He reached for her tan shoulders to lay her back down on the soft cushion, his intent obvious. Before he moved her, she grasped his hands and returned them to his side.

  He looked at her quizzically. “What?” He asked.

  “Wait. There’s more.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding. I honestly don’t think I can survive more excitement!”

  She smiled at that. This was exceeding her best expectations. Here’s hoping for another score on my last surprise, she thought.

  “Step back a little, be still, and watch.” He did, one hand rubbing his face, the other one shaking with excitement as he placed his sloshing glass of champagne on a wicker table, fastened to the balloon’s basket.

  Barefoot, now wearing only the thong swimsuit bottom, she slowly turned her back to him. He studied her from her tan, flawless, hairless scalp down to the lovely seahorse, on down to her pert bottom, accentuated by the thong straps around her waist and disappearing into her crack, down her legs to her pretty feet. Slowly, she pulled the thong down her thighs and let it fall. With one hand on the basket rail, she stepped out of it and kicked it aside. She turned to face him, both hands behind her on the rail.

  The sun glinted off the new ring and her pussy caught his eye. He immediately knelt down before her to see if his eyes were deceiving him.

  “This was a spur-of-the-moment thing that happened right after I got the tattoo. It’s through my clitoris, just like Monique’s.”

  “They were able to do that safely?” He said with awe.

  “The guy who tattooed our initials on me was an expert piercer – he’d done Monique’s – and he assured me that I could get this piercing. I guess I’m one in a hundred.” She smiled shyly.

  “Claire, you are one in a billion!” He was totally obsessed with the woman. She owned him at that moment and he realized she always would.

  “I guess I won’t know for sure until it heals, but it should enhance sex for both of us. I’ll admit it; I did this for me too. I learned firsthand how much more pleasure Monique’s provided, and it was awesome! I hope you don’t mind that I did this.” She thought he was okay with it.

  “Of course I don’t mind, Claire. I’m just so pleased to be on this erotic journey with you.”

  “You started it, Buster.”

  “So I guess I’ll have to keep it going.”

  “Somehow, I don’t think that’ll be a problem. You’re very inventive.”

  “I’ll definitely have to be. Is it terribly sore?”

  “Not terribly, but you’ll have to take me from behind. I’ve kept my rear door unlocked and stretched for you, so you can use either opening from that direction. Take your pick!”

  The sun was setting to a chorus of brilliant tendrils of radiant color as he entered her. His passion burned brighter than it ever had before. They consumed each other hungrily. She didn’t even feel the tenderness of the new or older rings as he danced within her. She didn’t notice the reverberation of the burners keeping them more than a mile above the Mediterranean coast. Her whole world centered on Elliot as the crimsons and golds and oranges of the setting sun blazed all around them. Her pleasure burst forth from deep within her. It engulfed her again and again as he remained hard and persistent inside her body. Finally, he could hold back no longer and exploded just as she came to another peak. She felt the burst of his fluid within her. All was well. To Claire at that moment, the world was a warm, kind, friendly, surprising, wonderful, ever-erotic place.

  * * * * *

  They drifted through the night and the following morning. About mid-afternoon they completed their journey over the water and made landfall in Portofino. He maneuvered the balloon to land at the water’s edge, near a launch which carried them out to a cruise ship in the harbor. Their belongings had arrived before them. The ship departed at dinnertime, on its way to the Greek island of Santorini. Claire and Elliot retired to their cabin right after their dinner with the ship’s captain, one of Elliot’s long-time friends. Of course he is, a smiling Claire thought to herself.

  “After making love in your balloon, anything else will seem pretty dull,” she joked.

  “Don’t jump to any conclusions until we’ve given it a try.” He helped her out of her dress - a red, sleeveless one he particularly liked on her. He removed her bra and panties. He was aroused by the sight of her “house guest,” which she’d worn since they’d made love the night before.

  Claire removed the brown, curly wig and carefully set it aside. Elliot stripped quickly as she stood naked before him at the foot of the bed. He was already erect and hard. He lifted her up and placed her carefully onto the bed, then dropped forcefully next to her. She gasped as her legs pressed suddenly together from the bed’s rocking. She rolled to her side, her back to him. Instantly, his penis was probing between her legs and found her moist vaginal opening. He slowly, rhythmically, moved into her as her wetness lubricated him. He paused as the tip of his penis probed her “G” spot and she shuddered with passion.

  Both of them felt the increased rubbing from the rings in Claire’s inner labia. The rings were causing her inner lips to drag along and move more vigorously against his shaft and, hence, spreading their sensitive response across her pussy like never before. She loved the feel of her ample inner labia sealing the connection to him by surrounding his hard penis with warmth, softness, and the sensitivity of her fleshiness there. The newest ring was still sore, but the pain now mixed with pleasure as her clit was becoming sufficiently healed to broadcast its message of arousal across her genitals, and up to her ringed nipples.

  From behind, his left arm reached around her to cup her left breast and toy with the ring fixed within it. He kissed the seahorse by her shoulder blade and then nuzzled her naked neck from behind. They fell into an easy rhythm, with Claire pushing back against him in time with his thrusts into her.

  She moved his hand down to her clit ring so he could feel it. He rested his hand there; he was too concerned that he’d hurt her to play with the newest addition to her increasingly erotic sex center. But the feel of his fingers resting against the clit ring turned them both on further. “You are so hot,” he whispered in her ear. The deep throatiness of his voice, his maleness within her, and his hand resting on her ringed clit was too much and she came, thrusting even harder back against him.

  Elliot nipped at her neck and moved his hand up to her breast again, then up to her naked scalp as he came, the squirt of cum within her causing her to climax again and cry out with astounding pleasure.

  His erection didn’t abate, and he remained hard within her. Feeling his continued readiness, she asked him to “open my back door,” sliding off of him so he could carefully remove the large plug. Before he did that, he tied each of her wrists to a bed post. Once opened, she knelt with her arms spread apart above her and her head on a pillow. He knelt behind her and, already dripping with her juices, he entered her presented, welcoming ass.

  He filled her and it was wonderful. Both of his arms reached around her to grasp her breasts. Her nipples, permanently erect since they’d been pierced, seemed to grow even harder as her arousal continued unabated. “Fuck me hard, Lover!” She cried out. At that point she wanted nothing in the world but to be loved, owned, pampered, abused, and thoroughly fucked by Elliot, in every orifice of her body that she could take him into. She felt deliciously trapped by her tied wrists, his possession of her ass, and his strong arms wrapped around her. She felt totally mastered. She wanted nothing more than to submit to his will in everything.