Double-Crossed

by Barbra Novac

  Marianne walked into the velveteen-dark shop. Two large chandeliers lit the room from overhead while low, shadowy lamps with red fringe scattered around adding to the atmosphere. The plush, heavy black curtain blocked out the natural light, and behind it, in the windows, the models acted like mannequins. Walls sported thick-patterned gold and maroon velvet wallpaper, with plush maroon carpet underfoot. Large, gold rococo framed mirrors graced the walls, and chunky gold-colored racks hung low from the ceiling with the clothing hanging off them. Corsets, lace body suits, latex tops, and tiny skirts… Every imaginable style of decadent clothing lay beckoning, luring the shopper into her own dark depths. Fat gold shelves sat against the walls with feathers, sequins, and leather gracing hats gloves, bracelets, and of course, collars. The room screamed opulence—opulence and sophisticated brothel.

  “Madame, can I help you?”

  Marianne turned to see a woman decked out in a beautiful purple corset that held her breasts very high, and a long purple and black lace skirt. The voluptuous skin of her décolletage and upper neck revealed the purest porcelain white, a stark contrast to her striking red curly hair that sat in thick waves down her back. The world would call her tall frame heavily overweight, but her pale skin molded to the corset so perfectly that the curves of her body were essential to the outfit. Marianne was so struck by her beauty that she couldn't imagine her any thinner.

  “Wow! You're so pretty,” Marianne gushed foolishly.

  The saleswoman smiled a little self-consciously. “You're a little too thin for an outfit like this one, but there are lots of things here for thinner women. Is there something you wanted in particular?”

  Marianne jumped when she realized she needed to tell this woman her business there. She looked so beautiful one felt completely distracted.

  “Sorry. I'm staring. Um, yes, I believe Peter made the appointment for me, for eleven.”

  Her attendant stood back a little and looked Marianne up and down. Except for the fact that the woman seemed to have a small smile on her lips, Marianne would have felt very self-conscious.

  “So you're the new lady in Peter's life. Well, well, well. You've landed yourself quite a catch there, darling. Yes. He did ring. He's been very specific, and I must say, now that I've seen you, he's on the money again. He knows exactly what he's doing. No one dresses the women better than Peter does. Let me introduce myself. My name is Hazel.”

  Marianne glanced around the room at the racks of clothes. Opulence dominated everything. It looked like the wardrobe of a high-class mistress or a dramatic actress. She wondered what Peter had in store for her that Hazel decided would work so well the minute she laid eyes on Marianne. Hazel, having put the puzzle together, took over immediately.

  “But come now. We have a special room where we've separated out Peter's clothing selections for you.” She glanced rather awkwardly at Marianne. “I know you're special to Peter, but I hope that you understand. He has been here before, and he is a great favorite among our staff. I hope that doesn't embarrass you.”

  Marianne shook her head as if to say no and followed Hazel along a small corridor that appeared from behind a curtain. The corridor smelt of vanilla incense. The smoky smell reached up into Marianne's brain and tickled at her mind. They walked past several locked doors with “busy” signs done in gold lettering on individual cards. What they could possibly be busy with behind those doors? Soon they came to a door that had “Booked for private session” written on its card. Hazel turned the brass knob, pushing at the heavy wooden door, but stood back to let Marianne walk through first.

  Inside, the room wasn't what she expected. Lots of white furniture, with gold and silver trinkets on display around the room. Matte white wallpaper was splashed all over with lavish gold and silver designs. A large screen in the middle of the room in gold silk, the edges an opulent, heavyset silver, took Marianne's breath away. In contrast to the other rooms, this room sported bright, light energy supplied by a silver-edged window open to the street. Marianne sat in front of the screen on a small gold loveseat. Next to her, a bottle of champagne that chilled in a sterling silver ice bucket sat welcoming. Hazel sat in a deep, white velvet chair to Marianne's left and clapped her hands. The drama of the moment captured Marianne, and she almost felt like a celebrity. After clapping her hands, Hazel leaned in to pour champagne into the two long flutes that were sitting on the small table between them.

  In response to the hand clapping, a woman appeared before them, from a door behind the screen, dressed completely in white. She had a stunning white satin corset that laced up at the back and forced her breasts out the top. The trim detail was white satin ribbon, and the lacing at the back, in the same ribbon, created the final innocent touch. Grommets all the way up the back meant that the busk in the front of the corset was held firmly in position. Any woman who wore this beautiful piece of clothing would have all her curves in the right places, emphasized and obvious. She wore a small tulle skirt under the white corset, with a satin G-string. The tulle had windows of lace detail, and the G-string sank deep into the model's ass all the way up the back to a small satin V that sat at the top of her delectable crevice. Just below the end of the tulle stood the thick white lace of the top of fishnet, stay-up stockings. Silver high heels completed the outfit.

  It was the most beautiful thing Marianne had ever seen. Then Marianne noticed that the woman looked a little like her.

  “Do you like? This is what Peter has chosen for you. He said that tonight is your virginal appearance, and he wants you dressed as a bride, a BDSM bride, that is.” Both Hazel and the model laughed at this joke. Marianne smiled and tried to retain some sense of decorum through the sheer fun of it all. The beauty of the clothing amazed her, including how much attention they'd paid to the detail, and how exciting it was to know that she'd look so lovely tonight.

  “Can I try it on?” she asked, almost in hushed tones.

  “Drink some of your champagne and relax,” said Hazel. “You can try it all on in a minute. Peter gave us your measurements, and we have everything in your size, sitting on a small table behind the screen there. Deanna here is the closest to your size that we have.”

  Marianne took a sip from her light, tingly champagne. Hazel dismissed Deanna and instructed her to remove the clothes. While she undressed off to the side, Hazel asked Marianne some questions.

  “You're fortunate in our eyes. Peter is our favorite customer, and to be frank, some of the models here hoped they might be the one that he chose. He's an enigma in the BDSM world.” Hazel paused here for effect, eyeing Marianne carefully. “You're very beautiful, and you have a vulnerability he can work with; I see why he likes you so much.” She smiled and gave Marianne a nudge. “But still, we're sorry to see him taken.”

  Marianne thrilled at her words.

  “I only met Peter a week ago. It's hard for me to think of him as taken now.”

  “A man like Peter knows what he wants and gets it as soon as he decides. Do you know what he does for a living?

  “He's a lawyer.”

  Hazel stared directly into her eyes unself-consciously. She had soft green eyes that set off her white skin and her flaming red hair beautifully, but she looked so hard into Marianne that Marianne suddenly felt conscious of it.

  “But you do know that he only represents truly bad people. He's famous for it. In addition, he is excellent at his job. He calls it integrity. The task of his profession is not judgment; it's a fair and just representation. Peter believes this so strongly that he will take terrible cases just to be sure they're not vilified.” She looked away, and her cheeks grew faintly red. “Here, we find this admirable. He's widely respected for this attitude and the strength of conviction that he has.” She looked back at Marianne. “It's a very big thing for someone as admired as Peter to take a permanent lover.”

  “I didn't know that Peter was so admired. I'm not surprised, because the way he is encourages it, but I am surprised to find that it is so clearly seen.
”

  Hazel smiled a large, warm smile. Her eyes were fond, and she reached out to Marianne to embrace and engulf her with her being. “Perhaps Peter will become even more now that he is two. Perhaps we will have a deeper, more intricate version of him now that we have a sister to soften him.”

  Marianne smiled. She felt immediately touched by these words, and flattered. She reached out and took Hazel's hand.

  “Thank you. You pay me a great compliment. All I know is that I want to be friends, and I hope that I become worthy of that in the future.”

  “I'm sure you will! Now! Time for you to try on the outfit! Then we can make any alterations that we need.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  With her new purchases in hand, Marianne left Gallery Serpentine and headed for The Pleasure Chest. Jen worked out front there, arranging a window display. Marianne had been several hours at the fitting, staying to chat further with Hazel and Deanna. She'd found it so exciting and stimulating, she didn't want to leave too early.

  It'd been a good week. Even though she experienced the trauma of the encounter with Don, she felt safe medically with the doctor and then in good hands legally with Peter. When they had some breathing space, she would file a suit against Don, and Peter would either represent her himself or get his firm to do it. Don would pay for what he did, and Marianne felt she had nothing more to fear from Don and the world to which he belonged.

  Joe hadn't contacted her at all since he'd won the hearing, and the absence gave her confidence. She'd promised not to be a liability for him, and even though Joe got what he wanted, Marianne felt that their rapport, their history, and their deep inner knowing of each other would be enough to tide her over now. Joe might be a bad man, but Marianne reached deep inside him and called forth a kind of loyalty. A loyalty that could still be relied upon.

  The doctor had proven to be something of an ally, if a little odd. Despite the accolades at the hospital, the nature of his illness alienated Marianne from him, and she couldn't find it inside her to connect too deeply. His peculiar appearance, combined with his habit of mocking her, might be too much to bear, and she had to admit to herself she found it hard to trust him entirely. She couldn't get over the feeling she had that unnerved her. He'd be a good friend, but she doubted her ability to get close to him.

  Then, of course, she had Peter. A week ago, she didn't know him. How much had happened in a few days! How far they had come in the shortest space of time! The intimacy grew up between them so quickly, Marianne could only feel encouraged by it. The unusual situation moved beyond previous experience. She'd never let herself go with this intensity with anyone so easily, and from the accounts that she got from others; this situation had Peter in new territory as well.

  Common sense told Marianne that nothing like this happened very fast, and that a true love affair would take time and would build to something long lasting and deep. However, what spoke to her now lay below her common sense and her reason. A drive pushed her. A call from the wildness inside each of them to something greater than the sum of their parts. It wasn't the sex, either. The sex had primal need at its core. That need drove the sex. The sex didn't drive the relationship.

  These ideas were going through Marianne's head when she walked into The Pleasure Chest. Jen met her at the door. Her eyes sparkled, and it woke Marianne out of her musings.

  “My God, I've been watching you walk down the street, and you look amazing! You're in love, girl! I don't care if it's only been a few days; you're in love. I can't believe it.” Jen leaned in and hugged the startled Marianne. “I couldn't be happier for you, hon.”

  Marianne felt touched, if a little confused.

  “You were watching me?”

  “Sure, standing here setting up the window display, and I happened to look down the street. I saw you walking toward the shop. I guess I wanted to keep an eye on you. Silly I know. Some sort of protection thing. I can't help worrying about you. As if something dark is creeping up on you from behind. But, I didn't need to. You looked so great and so full of joy and confidence! I just wanted to know I could be a part of whatever you were up to!” She smiled a huge, beaming smile.

  Today, Jen dressed in a lace cat suit. It would have been completely transparent if it were not for the fact that she wore black lace underwear beneath it. Long leather boots and her long black hair loose down her back accented the getup. Her makeup had an intensity to it: stark white face contrasted with heavy black liner around the eyes, with midnight blue lipstick. She looked devilishly sexy. Marianne loved having her as a friend, so she decided to ignore the intuitive overprotection Jen demonstrated toward her.

  “Well, I am really happy. I feel like I may actually be in love. Is that ridiculous? I don't think it is my pussy talking, but it'd be helpful to have your opinion.”

  “Come up to the counter with me. I'll get the staff to finish this.”

  Jen called out to the staff, organized them to complete her window, and the two women sat behind the counter on stools, talking over coffee.

  “Baby, I fell in love with Bill the exact same way over fifteen years ago. Nothing has diminished since. If anything, we're stronger than we've ever been. Our love did grow when it involved more than sex. We have the business, and we have our house, and we have some mutual investments, but on the whole, I tell people that I fell in love with Bill the day we met.” She added a slight smile. “To be frank, I think it happens a lot that way when people are not vanilla. There's honesty to the way we live our lives. It takes courage to be the people that we are, and I think the rewards are experiences like deep passion.”

  Intrigued, Marianne wanted to hear more. Besides it felt good to have a conversation with someone who didn't think she was a few sandwiches short of her picnic.

  “I do think I may be in love. I haven't told him. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet, but I can't believe how strong it is.”

  “This has forever written all over it, sweets. All I can say is, it's brilliant that you met in my shop. I know that you probably would have met him under other circumstances, seeing as he worked for Joe, but I think it is wonderful that it actually happened here.” She broke off, touching Marianne on the shoulder affectionately. “Now, time for girly talk. Show me what you have in the bag.”

  Marianne spent the next hour or so going thought the contents of the bag. They laughed and chatted until Marianne realized the time at three, and Peter would be at her house at six expecting to be able to take her out to the “surprise.”

  Hugging her friend good-bye, she made a beeline for home.

  Once there, she ran herself a hot bath. She shaved her body, buffed, and prepared herself for Peter's arrival. Having studied the way Hazel did her makeup in Gallery Serpentine, Marianne decided to do the same. She opened her laptop and found some decent directions on how best to apply makeup for the look she wanted.

  She chose a very glamorous style of eye makeup, and although Marianne had many different products—another one of the perks of having been with a wealthy asshole for a long time—she always made herself up the same way. So using the directions she had found on the Internet, she went for a very alluring look—something intense, heavily shimmering, in silver and gold to match the beautiful white of her bridal BDSM outfit.

  With her body polished and prepared, she put the beautiful lingerie on just before time for Peter to arrive. She thrilled knowing he'd picked it all for her and that he would have his own version of anticipating what he'd see when she opened the door.

  The stockings had a shimmery silver edge to them at the lace tops, and the corset, in a mother-of-pearl white, created its own sheen to add to the overall effect. In the shop, they'd shown her the trick to lacing up the corset on her own; she still struggled, and Marianne thanked God she'd left lots of time to get ready and did things like her nails earlier in the evening.

  When finally done with the lacing at the back, she slid into her high, silver heels, and the look completed before her eyes. Sta
nding in front of the mirror in the bedroom, she expressed delight with what she saw. Her hair hung down straight, falling low down her back, sitting in a delicate line underneath her shoulder blades. Her large breasts protruded out of the top of the corset and sat high and full, the smooth ribbon just covering her nipples. It made her breasts look firm and seductive.

  On her lower half, she wore the small thong surrounded by the light tulle skirt that came just to the tops of her stockings, and below that, the rest of her was all leg with her higher-than-high, silver fuck-me shoes at the bottom. The effect was a delicious combination of sophisticated burlesque and high society slut. She felt sexy and seductive and caught between the two identities presented to her in the mirror.

  Just at that moment, the doorbell rang.

  Marianne looked through the peephole to be sure Peter stood at her door. She didn't want anyone else catching her in this outfit.

  It was Peter.

  She stood half behind the door, so that it covered her, and opened it. He wore black pants and a black shirt, and with this outfit offsetting his black hair and dark blue eyes, he looked gorgeous. As she let him in, she couldn't help noticing the muscles ripple under his shirt as he moved into the room. She caught a brief smell of his cologne, and her pussy quivered. Moving behind him, she closed the door and stood with her back to it as he turned to face her.

  The admiration in his eyes, immediate and obvious, thrilled her. She could see that she astounded him. He stood back and looked her up and down with serious, penetrating eyes that told her he meant business and that this would be a very wild ride.

  “Turn around,” he said first.