by Grace, K D
‘I get it.’ Rita was finding breathing almost as difficult as she had when she wore the chastity belt. ‘It’s probably just a coincidence’. Surely it must be a coincidence. How could it possibly be that this motto, or creed or whatever it was, could have anything to do with The Mount? The two were separated by at least a hundred years. It was only a stab in the dark. It meant nothing, so why did she find it so exciting. ‘Is there more?’
‘Lots more.’ Kate sipped her tea then moved to the next page. ‘I’ve tried to find out who owns the collection these drawings belong to, but I’ve had no joy. Anyway, pretty intriguing, the idea of a secret sex cult, don’t you think? It’s just exactly what I need for my novel. There. You see.’ She lifted her cup in salute. ‘I told you, you inspired me.’
Back home Rita spent several hours poring over the site Kate had found, but no matter how she tried, she could find no actual connection between Victorian erotica and The Mount. As for the Latin inscription, she double- and triple-checked her translation and racked her brain to recall anything written in Latin in the Presence Chamber of The Mount, or anything similar in English. She’d only briefly glanced at a menu when she was there with Owen, and though she was concentrating on other things at the time, she recalled nothing unusual about it. After several hours of frustrating effort, she turned her attention back to the exquisite drawings.
She’d done a fair bit of browsing internet porn sites, but none of them had ever made her wet like this site did. She didn’t know why. It was full of old drawings, and yet those drawings felt alive, almost hypnotic, pulling her into the action. She became Venus about to be impaled by Mars, she became a young Victorian maid about to have her pussy licked by a moustached gentleman, she became Leda being seduced by the swan.
She studied the drawings with one hand in her panties, completely forgetting the reason for her research, enjoying the silken feel of herself, a thing that had intrigued her since childhood. Her breasts, her pussy, the rounded cheeks of her bottom, always, almost like magic, responded to her touch offering endless pleasure and comfort.
Whoever had done the drawings understood that desire to stroke, to pleasure, to revel in what it is that drives humans to sex – with someone or alone. She didn’t know why, but the drawings seemed familiar.
With the images coming to life in her imagination, she shut down the computer and adjourned to the bedroom, where she stripped in front of the mirror, inspecting herself, admiring the dark swell of her labia, the anxious press of her clit, peeking from under its hood as she stroked. Then she settled onto the bed legs-splayed, hips rocking against the friction of her fingers in her pout. It was just getting really good when the phone rang.
‘Hello, darling. Are you all right?’
Everything inside her trembled and warmed at the sound of Edward’s voice, and she forgot how angry she had been. ‘I’m OK. You?’
‘I’m missing you terribly. Sorry I haven’t called. I didn’t dare after what happened.’
‘I thought …’ She clenched the phone and fought back a lump in her throat.
‘You thought what, love?’
‘I thought that it was all over, that Vivienne had decided not to let me continue with the initiation, and that you’d …’
‘That I’d what?’
‘That you’d had enough.’
His laughter came as a surprise. ‘First of all, the decision of whether you continue your initiation is not Vivienne’s to make. And secondly, how can I possibly have had enough when I’m as helpless to get to you as you are to me.’ He groaned. ‘God, Rita, it’s almost beyond endurance when I want you so badly.’
He wanted her. He really did want her. She was still lost in that thought when he spoke again.
‘What are you doing?’
She looked down at her slippery fingers still nestled between her labia. ‘Masturbating.’
‘What a coincidence. I’ve got my cock in my hand right now. Knowing you’re on the other end of the phone, I couldn’t put it back in my trousers if I had to.’
She pressed the button to put him on speaker phone so her hands were free. ‘With us, it’s always fucking in the dark. I never see your face, and now I can’t touch you either.’
He chuckled. ‘There are other senses besides touch and sight and smell and taste.
Suddenly she was fighting back tears. ‘This is all that’s left to us.’
‘For now, darling. And for now, we’ll make it be enough.’
‘Are you a monster, Edward?’ She didn’t know where the question came from but once it was out there was no taking it back. ‘Is what Vivienne said the night I stood before the council true? Is there a monster behind the mask?’
There was such a long silence, she feared she had offended him, and he had hung up, but at last he spoke. ‘Vivienne’s right. I am a monster, driven by my urges, by my libido, by my cock, and if I had you here with me now, if it wouldn’t jeopardise your initiation, I would devour you in ways you can’t imagine.’
It was her turn to be silent as the weight of his words pressed in on her, making her heart race with more than a tinge of fear, but making her pussy ache for just such a devouring.
‘I told you I would understand if you didn’t want to go through with the initiation. The monster in me knew, knew from the beginning that we couldn’t be together unless you were willing to do this. But I wanted you so badly that I kept … things from you. I’m sorry.’
‘Maybe I’m a monster too.’ She buried two fingers to the hilt in her slippery cunt and stroked the growing nub of her clit with her thumb. ‘I never imagined I would do what I’ve done and fantasise about doing it again and more. I thought it was just to get to you. But …’
‘But that’s not all you want, is it?’
She didn’t answer, only listened to the acceleration of his breath on the other end of the line.
‘Rita, it’s all right that you liked fucking Alex. What’s not to like? I like fucking Alex.’
‘You’ve fucked Alex?’
His laugh was a breathless grunt. ‘That turns you on, doesn’t it? You’d like to see me fucking Alex, wouldn’t you?’
She shoved a third finger into her cunt as the mental image of Edward drilling Alex like a jack hammer translated into raw heat.
He continued, ‘You’d like to supervise the whole event, hmmm? Maybe with Aurora’s riding crop just to make sure our fucking is up to your standards. My balls ache at the thought of being bent over your knee, Mistress Rita.’
‘Mmmm, and I would spank your bottom so hard for being such a naughty boy, for teasing me like you have.’ There was no hiding her breathlessness as her cunt sucked at her fingers, nor did she try.
‘Are you humping a dildo?’ he asked.
‘My hand. Three, no four fingers,’ she grunted, shoving another one in until her hand cupped her cunt from the inside, her thumb still assaulting her clit at full tilt. ‘A dildo won’t do it when I’m thinking about you. Nothing will properly fill my pussy until I can have your cock. Where are you?’
‘A car park near Brixton. No one else is around, just you and me and the phone.’
‘And Vivienne?’
‘She wasn’t invited,’ by the uneven jerking of his voice, she could tell he was tugging his cock pretty hard.
‘Uncomfortable, are you? she asked.
‘You have no idea. I’ve not had my balls properly emptied since you did the honours in the back of the limo.’
‘In Vivienne’s mouth the other night. That must have been nice.’
‘I was fantasizing about your mouth, on the train,’ he gasped. ‘About you sucking my cock, getting it sticky with chocolate while you cupped my balls and played with your pussy. Oh God, Rita, I feel like I’m gonna burst.’
‘It serves you right. I’ve made a complete slut out of myself for want of your cock, you bastard. And when this initiation is over, oh what I’m going to do to you.’ She thrust and pumped until her arm hurt. She tugged
on her nipples until they were engorged and aching. A desperate whimper escaped her throat. ‘Edward, I need you to fuck me, I need you bad, and I intend to have you.’
On the other end of the phone, all she heard was a grunt and a strangled gasp as he came, and that was enough to send her.
When the world stopped juddering, she lay curled around the phone listening to him breathe. ‘I’m doing OK then? With the initiation, I mean.’
‘You’re doing fantastically, darling. Vivienne didn’t win herself any points by trying to sabotage you like she did. Your next test is being arranged now. You can expect it any time after I hang up.’
Her stomach turned to ice. ‘What is it, Edward? Will Vivienne –’
‘Shshsh, darling. It’s OK. This test is out of Vivienne’s hands. Can you get off work for a few days?’
The question did little to settle her nerves. ‘Owen owes me big time. I can’t see there being a problem.’
‘Good. I think you’ll find this part of your initiation considerably more interesting. I have to go, darling, but I’ll check in on you. Leo won’t mind if I visit.’
‘Leo? Wait, Edward. Please tell me –’
‘Don’t worry, Rita. It’ll be OK. I promise. Now I have to go.’
The line went dead. Rita lay for a long time with the phone next to her on the pillow, drifting in and out of sleep, dreaming of Edward and what she would do to him when the initiation was over, and she could see his face. Then, as though someone had poured cold water over her, she remembered, Edward probably wouldn’t like her very much after the initiation, after her story came out. And her story would come out. She was a journalist. It was her job. People wanted to know.
There was no going back to sleep with that thought niggling at her conscience. She had just got up and rebooted the computer when there was a loud knock at the door.
Chapter Nine
IN SPITE OF WHAT Edward had said, Rita didn’t trust Vivienne. Preparing for the worst, she swallowed frayed nerves and opened the door to find two men in blue cover-alls. Their breast pockets sported bright green logos with a stylised leopard stretched atop italic script that read, The Zoo.
One looked down at the clipboard and read off a check list. ‘Female, Caucasian, five feet ten inches tall, chestnut hair, curvy build, answers to the name of Rita?’
‘Yes?’
‘You’re to come with us. Leo’s expecting you.’ He lifted a hand to halt her words. ‘Number one rule, pets don’t talk. Number two rule, pets don’t wear clothes.’
As she slipped out of her robe, he took it from her, folded it with military precision and placed it on the credenza near the door. The other man helped her into an oversized trench coat. She was surprised that it no longer bothered her when people she didn’t know saw her naked. These days it was almost routine. The man with the clipboard nodded satisfaction. ‘All right then. Come on.’
She followed the men to a white van, where a third man waited inside by a pet carrier. He took back the trench coat and her pink flip-flops. ‘Get in,’ he said, nodding to the cage. When she balked, he brought a leather riding crop down with a crisp snap against her bare bottom. She yelped. The demanding gape of the pet carrier, way too small for her comfort, seemed to be sucking the oxygen out of the van. Her palms were icy. Her chest and forehead were suddenly bathed in cold sweat.
The second lash across her bottom was more serious. The sting would no doubt leave a welt. ‘I said get in,’ the man ordered. ‘Trust me, you don’t want to displease the Zoo Keeper.’
With her bottom stinging and her heart doing a drum roll, she did as she was told, trying to breathe deeply, willing herself not to panic. The hair on the back of her neck rose with a prickle as the lock clicked behind her and the man stuck the key in his pocket. That was the last thing she saw before the carrier was covered with a heavy black cloth, and she was left in close darkness.
After what seemed like an eternity, the van stopped. She was briefly jostled about in the carrier, then there was an angry voice from the void. ‘What have you done to her?’ She recognised an Eastern European accent. ‘I cannot accept this. She was to be treated with the utmost care.’
‘We did exactly what you said, Leo,’ came clipboard man’s nervous reply. ‘Just like always.’
She scrabbled to stabilise herself as the pet carrier was jostled from the van. In the cool glow of moonlight, she could see Leo, dressed in safari garb, shaking the heavy cloth that had been thrown over her cage at the van men. ‘She is claustrophobic, you imbeciles! The journey must have been nightmare for the poor thing. Get her out of there. Forget it. I will do. Give me the key.’
Clipboard man fumbled the key, and Leo jerked it away from him, opened the cage and with careful hands, helped her out. Her feet had barely touched terra firma before Leo scooped her into his arms, as though she were a child, and carried her away from the cage. She hadn’t realised just what a big man he was, or how strong. She didn’t mind. She wasn’t sure she could trust her own legs just yet.
He spoke words she couldn’t understand, something Slavic, she thought. She could feel their comforting rumble deep in his chest. He had voted against her initiation, she reminded herself. Best not trust any comfort coming from him.
‘She didn’t tell us, Leo,’ said clipboard man, who struggled to keep Leo’s pace. ‘I swear she didn’t tell us. You know we treat your pets good. Blanket usually calms ’em down, doesn’t it?’
‘You can read, yes?’ Leo snapped. ‘It says right on the invoice that she is claustrophobic. Edward told me take precautions.’
‘Begging your pardon, but it says nuffink about ’er being claustrophobic. I wouldn’ta missed that, would I?’
In a room that reminded Rita of the veterinarian’s office where her mother used to take her prize Burmese cats, Leo sat her down on the examination table and grabbed away the clipboard. She feared he would shred the papers as he riffled through them. The growl he offered as he shoved the clipboard back at the man was truly befitting his name. ‘Who gave you this?’
‘Lorelei. She said Vivienne had approved.’
Suddenly, Rita felt nauseated. Was there no escaping the bitch?
Leo dismissed the clipboard man, and she didn’t protest as he eased her onto her side and carefully examined the welt on her bottom, which was still tender enough to make her wince.
‘My poor darling.’ He smoothed damp hair away from her face. ‘I’m so sorry that this happened. Why didn’t you tell those men that you were claustrophobic?’
‘Pets don’t talk.’ Her voice felt scratchy against the back of her throat.
‘Pets don’t talk? What the …’ His eyes widened, his face broke into a broad smile and he kissed her forehead with such enthusiasm that she thought he might leave a bruise. ‘Of course. Pets don’t talk, and you are already obedient pet. Edward is right, you are real treasure.’ Then the smile slipped. ‘But surely you must understand that I would never do anything to harm any of my pets. I am contributor to RSPCA. I am volunteer in the shelters. I think anyone who would harm helpless animal should have their,’ he lapsed back into Slavic, and though she couldn’t understand him, she was certain what he said was not nice. Then the smile returned as quickly as it left. ‘You will see.’ He kissed her forehead again, this time more gently. ‘You will love being pet, and you won’t want to leave when time comes.’
He snapped his fingers, and a woman dressed in a zoo uniform brought water – not in a cup, but in a silver bowl. Leo carefully helped her to sit, but when she reached for the bowl, he pushed her hands aside. ‘Pets use their hands for other things, darling. Feeding you, grooming you and giving you to drink, those are responsibilities of your master.’ The woman held the bowl to her lips. She was aware of Leo gently stroking her back while she drank.
‘There. Is better now, my little dovitsa?’ Again he snapped his fingers and a man dressed in scrubs came into the room, looking more like a porn star than a veterinarian. ‘Dr Marco will
examine you now. Make sure you are OK to join other pets.’ He lifted her chin. ‘Some pets must stay in quarantine for little while, but I think claustrophobia is not contagious.’ He nodded to the vet, who moved forward.
‘Oh she’s lovely, Leo. What’s her name?’ The vet took her face in his hands and carefully examined the lymph glands along a sensitive path down her neck.
‘Her name is Rita.’ Leo’s hand moved possessively to stroke her belly, and suddenly she forgot about the ordeal of getting there. ‘She has had quite a trauma, Doctor. I need to know she is OK, and that she will be comfortable to get good night’s sleep. You know how sensitive pets can be in new place.’
The doctor placed a stethoscope, warmed to body temperature between her breasts, listened, then gave a little nod. His breath was warm across her stippling areolae as he gently probed and palpated and cupped until she found it difficult not to move against his touch. At her side, Leo reassuringly stroked and caressed first her hips, then her thighs, then the soft nape of her neck. In her peripheral vision she could see that the front of his safari trousers was well tented.
‘She’s exquisite, Leo, and in excellent condition,’ the doctor said as his hands moved over her belly, pressing and palpating. ‘You’re lucky to have found such a specimen.’
‘Sadly, she is not mine. I am only borrowing her, but I shall enjoy her very much while I have her.’
‘Indeed.’ The doctor guided her on to her hands and knees and positioned her so that her bottom was only inches from his face. He traced the welt with a feather touch, tisk tisking as he did so. ‘The brutes.’
Leo stroked her flank as though he were calming a prize mare. Then the doctor eased her legs apart and shifted her hips until her cunt was fully exposed. ‘There we go, that’s a good girl,’ the doctor half whispered. ‘Hmm.’ He ran a finger down her perineum from just below her anus to separate her labia where the lips folded protectively around her pussy hole, an act that caused her to catch her breath in a soft moan. ‘She’s very wet.’ He slipped a finger up into her, and she grasped down on it involuntarily. There was no hiding it. Phone sex with Edward and what was happening to her now had left her horny as hell and wet enough to mop the examination room floor.