London Lace, Series Complete Set

by Catou Martine

  Eliza followed him back through two cars, wondering where he was leading her. It was hard to keep her balance on the moving train. It flowed ahead smoothly but rocked side to side like a moving animal and she bounced and brushed against the seats she passed.

  They crossed through the dining car, which had a few small tables and a counter to sit at where you could order pre-packaged lunch food plus beer and wine, but nothing fancy. Not like trains of old with proper silverware and linen napkins. Eliza would have liked to have ridden in a train like that.

  Todd led her to the far end of the dining car toward a door that said Staff Only. He looked around to see who might be watching them. The few people in the dining car were occupied so he opened the door and pulled her through.

  “Todd, we can’t be in here!”

  “Shhh…” he said. They were in a narrow hall between storage closets and ahead there seemed to be a small area for staff quarters and storage and another door leading to the engine car. Todd pushed on one of the closet doors. “In here.”

  “How do you know about this?”

  “I know a bloke. You remember Jimmy?”

  “The jockey?”

  “His brother used to work the trains.”

  They were in a narrow water closet with shelving and a sink. Everything was old. The small room was fitted with reclaimed pieces from older trains, including heavily varnished wooden wainscoting, a porcelain sink, a wooden-seat toilet, and a gilt framed mirror. And there was a little window that opened. The perfectly appointed tiny room smelled faintly of cigarette smoke.

  “This is the staff loo. It’s wear he’d come for a fag.”

  Eliza saw a little ashtray on one of the shelves. “What if one of the workers shows up?”

  Todd reached behind her and locked the door. Then he slipped his arm around her waist. “Feel safe now?”

  She felt somewhat claustrophobic. “Can we open the window?”

  Todd unlatched it. The rough, loud clacking of the wheels on the tracks poured in and around them. Eliza gripped the edge of the sink as the train rocked through a curve. Todd leaned in and kissed her neck. He started sucking lightly.

  “Don’t leave a mark,” whispered Eliza.

  “I’m not in prep school anymore.” Todd chuckled. “But I would like to leave my mark on you.” He nipped her lightly with his teeth. Instinctively she flinched, but certain parts of her body were responding rapidly to the sensation of his tongue and teeth on her skin. She felt a warm wet ache between her legs.

  Todd closed the lid of the toilet seat and sat down. “Come here,” he said.

  She only had to take one step forward to be standing in front of him, between his knees. He lifted her skirt and tugged down her panties. She stepped out of them and he tucked them into his pocket. He slid his hands up the back of her knees and thighs. She closed her eyes as he cupped her buttocks. Another turn of the train made her wobble. She rested her hands on Todd’s shoulders while he held the flesh of her ass cheeks, massaging them, pushing them together, pulling them apart. Then he slid his fingers down and through her legs into her flowing juices.

  “Mmmm…,” he murmured. “Nice.”

  She opened her eyes and looked down at him. He was looking up into her face and smiling softly. “You’re beautiful,” he said.

  She smiled self-consciously. “To you,” she said. “But that’s all that matters.”

  And it was all that mattered. His desire for her—powerful enough to draw her into this private loo on a moving train—was utterly intoxicating. She couldn’t get enough of his not getting enough of her. It kept her afloat, buoyant, soaring on her own spirit, to be so cherished, so adored, at this primal physical level. She leaned over to kiss him and as she did, she reached for his belt buckle. His fingers joined hers and soon his zipper was down and his engorged cock stood up like flower in the garden bed of his trousers. Eliza palmed the warm smooth skin and slid her fingers along the sides, circling and massaging. Todd moaned and pulled her ass closer to him. Eliza braced herself against the narrow walls on either side of her and stepped gingerly over Todd’s thighs. He held her against his chest, sighing deeply into her sternum, until she had both feet on the ground, and then he guided her down over his cock.

  As he nudged into her slick opening, they both sighed at the indescribable pleasure of their joining. Eliza sank slowly down until she had him in her up to the hilt and then she stilled, just sat there poised atop his spear, before searching for his lips with hers. She sucked and tongued and fluttered her lips in a sensual dance with his until her full pussy went crazy with the stillness.

  Internally she clenched and flexed while Todd pulsed. And while they remained still for a few more moments, the train’s rocking movements and small jolts forced tiny, tantalizing friction-y micro-movements. Eliza let that rocking motion flow through her and she rode it, making a rhythm of it. Todd sat under her, holding her, and let her move atop him. She moved forward and back rather than up and down. The completeness of their joining, having him in her as far as he would go, made Eliza warm and tingly inside and the longer she held back from stronger thrusting movements the more a rare intensity built up inside her, in her deep hot center where she sensed the truth of herself lay.

  Todd’s breath grew more ragged and he clutched at her ass, squeezing and pulling her closer. He tried to lift her slightly and she knew then that he wanted to take her harder and faster to get his release and to feel the full experience of his manhood. Eliza sought to be filled, but Todd, as a man, had an impulse to do the filling. She was ‘be’; he was ‘do’.

  Eliza lifted off of him a few inches. He pulled his lips away. “You are so beautiful,” he said again, this time with a husky voice. “I want you to see how beautiful you are like this.”

  She half smiled, lost in her own deep pleasure of having him deep inside her and not able to pull out, and she knew this would shift soon so she was deeply savoring the sensations and not really listening.

  Todd pushed at her now, pushed her off his lap and out of her and she was surprised, and a little disappointed that her satiating drug had been so quickly withdrawn. Her smile turned into a pout.

  “What are you doing? That felt so good.”

  He nudged her toward the sink and stood up. The train rails reverberated through the floor, the clackety-clack echoed around them. Todd grabbed Eliza by the hips and swiveled her around. When she looked up, she saw her face framed in the gilt mirror above the little porcelain sink.

  “See how beautiful you are,” whispered Todd.

  Her cheeks were flushed, her lips full and swollen, and her eyes half-closed with a look of drunken pleasure. She leaned against the sink and smiled at herself. It was Todd who made her look like that.

  The rushed clacking of the wheels on the tracks suddenly amplified and everything went dark. Eliza felt her ears pop as they entered a tunnel. They hadn’t turned a light on so the small room was instantly dark, and noisy. Todd flipped up Eliza’s skirt and entered her from behind.

  The sensations in the dark, combined with the loud machinations of the train, jolted the rest of Eliza’s senses. She tasted their combined flavors from kissing. The scent of old cigarettes was sharper and now mixed with the tang of her juices infusing the air. Her hands pressed into the edges of the sink as Todd’s hands held her steady so that he could thrust in and out quickly and forcefully. His ragged breath mixed with the rush and roar of the train through the tunnel and flicks of light created a strobe effect so that when Eliza looked in the mirror she saw her beauty along with a dark devouring wildness.

  Todd stabbed into her, taking her roughly after the soft offering earlier, and Eliza liked it. The animal in her devoured his rutting of her and from her deep center a roaring, clutching kind of climax crept up on her. She gripped the edge of the sink, clenched her teeth and pushed back into Todd, forcing him to go as deep as he could go before he withdrew and plunged again. There was a violence to their movements and without thin
king Eliza started murmuring, “Fuck me, fuck me.” Todd must have heard her because he thrust faster, in rhythm to her chanting.

  Her words added a percussive counterpoint to the clacking rails echoing through the tunnel. Todd fucked Eliza to an explosive climax and her ‘fuck me’s died out in gaspy squeals as he spewed into her with three long deep thrusts and a low moan.

  The raging sound died down, fresh air rushed through the window, and daylight filled the tiny room. Eliza looked in the mirror and saw herself crumpled over the sink with Todd, his legs trembling, curled over her back.

  Then there was a sharp knock at the door.

  “Hallo, hallo! Anybody in there? It’s my turn for a ciggy. Hurry y’up.”

  “Out in a minute!” called Todd. Eliza giggled and tried to stand. Todd slipped from her confines and stumbled back. He pulled at his trousers saying, “Shit, someone did come. Go figure.”

  “At least they had good timing.” Eliza dropped her skirt over her hips and ran her fingers through her hair. She dabbed at herself with the paper hand towels.

  “I’ll go out first,” she said.

  A uniformed bloke stood in the hall with his arms crossed. “Finally,” he said when she emerged.

  “Sorry,” she said, as he looked at her strangely, probably wondering where her uniform was. He tried to push past her.

  “Oh, but wait,” she added. “There’s someone else.”

  “Sorry, mate,” said Todd slipping past him and ushering Eliza down the hall toward the dining car.

  “Hey!” called the train attendant. “You’re not allowed back here. What were you doing?” While he was peeking suspiciously into the water closet, they dashed out of sight as quick as rabbits.

  High and happy, they wobbled through the dining car.

  “Wait, I’m going to grab some beer and peanuts. I’m famished after that.” Eliza hung on to his arm as he fished out some pounds.

  The girl behind the counter smiled at them. “On yer honeymoon then?”

  Eliza looked up, surprised. “Oh, um. No.” While at the same time, Todd said, “Yes! Why, yes we are. How can you tell?”

  “By yer grinning faces, of course. Yer glowing, you two.”

  Eliza was already flushed but in this moment she blushed even deeper. For a girl who’d given nary a thought to getting married, being taken for a bride was a bit of a shock.

  When they got back to their seats and took their first sips of beer, Eliza said,

  “Why did you tell her we were on honeymoon?”

  Todd laughed. “Why not? It was her idea. I just wanted to egg her on.”

  “Oh.” So it hadn’t meant anything to him. Why then was Eliza suddenly worried it meant something to her?

  She was so glad to be going back to London to immerse herself in work. It was the only thing that kept her head on straight.

  THE SHOW MUST GO ON

  The next two weeks went by in a blur. Todd stayed at Eliza’s flat every few nights—sneaking in under the cover of night— but he was otherwise busy with Tatum and the other Montgomerys coming up with new business strategies. Tatum’s father had recently purchased a publishing corporation that included “The Racing Post” and they wanted Todd to be involved in its management. He still resisted being a suit. He wanted to keep working with horses, but it was looking more and more likely that Evergreen Downs would be put on the market to finance other family ventures. Eliza could tell that he wasn’t enjoying London life that much apart from their secret rendez-vous. Though he was putting in some time with Melissa Selfridge in order to make their cover-romance more believable, Todd told Eliza that they mostly talked about what Melissa and Christine would do after they left London, and Melissa spent a lot of time thanking him profusely for helping to protect her reputation.

  Meanwhile, Eliza and Carmen were working twelve-hours days already and those hours would just ramp up in the weeks leading up to the Royal Ascot.

  One night Stella called to invite Eliza out for drinks.

  “You have been working so hard. I am not taking no for an answer,” said Stella. “You have to build in some little breaks in the midst of this deadline or you might totally burn out.”

  Eliza relented. “All right, all right. An hour.”

  “Tori wants to join us.”

  “Great. I haven’t seen her in weeks either.”

  Eliza sent Carmen home to have a late dinner with her boyfriend, Antonio, and she went to meet her girlfriends at the pub.

  Stella and Tori had already ordered a round of Mojave Martinis by the time Eliza arrived at half past nine. It was a refreshing change to get out for drinks with friends, and it seemed as if Tori really needed to talk.

  “It’s our anniversary coming up and I have to do something to spice things up. Tatum’s getting bored or something. After only six years! It’s enough to make a girl a nervous wreck.”

  “Why don’t you get on with having tots. You’ll be the opposite of bored.”

  “I’m ready but Tatum, I don’t know. He’s regretting not sowing more oats or some such nonsense.”

  “Do you think he’s going to have an affair?”

  “I told him I’d kill him if he did. And then I’d divorce him. Lose-lose for him. But we’re trying to talk about stuff. Fantasies and what-not. I’m open to ideas.”

  Stella raised an eyebrow. “What kind of ideas?”

  “Remember, I was a virgin when I got married. I’m kind of handicapped in that department.”

  “Men always fantasize about threesomes.”

  “Ewww…”

  Stella laughed. “Seriously, Tori? That’s your reaction? What about being ‘open’?”

  Tori pursed her lips. “I guess it would depend on who it was.”

  It wasn’t that long ago that Eliza might have volunteered for the position; she used to have such a crush on Tatum. But he and Todd had such similar features her crush had evaporated when she fell for Todd, whose personality she distinctly preferred. Not that Tatum wasn’t a great guy, just a little spoiled.

  “It might be enough to just talk about it,” said Stella, still offering advice. “Men seem to like the idea but rarely have the guts to play it out. At least that’s been my experience.”

  “Yours, too, Eliza?” asked Tori.

  “My only advice is be careful what you wish for.”

  Both girlfriends raised their eyebrows. “Do tell,” said Stella.

  Eliza surprised herself by blushing, not that it was easy to see in the dim light of the pub. “It happened once but it was entirely unplanned. I just kind of went along with it.”

  “Details! Spit it out,” said Tori leaning forward on her stool.

  “I had a crush on a bloke, and he liked me, too, but he had a steady girlfriend. One night, at a party, he told me they’d broken up, so we went to make out in his car. Things got pretty hot and heavy. I’d had months of dreaming about him. And then his girlfriend—ex-girlfriend, I thought—comes out to the car and I was sure she was going to lay into us, but she just climbs into the car, smiling, and joins us.

  “I’m… you know, giving him…” She gestures with her hand and her mouth. “And the ex comes in from the other side of the car and kind of joins me, starts kissing me. I was so aroused at that point it felt good, and it made him so hot. I thought I’d be grossed out but I wasn’t. Turns out they’d kind of planned it. Weren’t broken up at all.”

  Eliza took a sip of her martini.

  “What did you do? Did you all do it again another time?”

  “We kind of shared him for a while, but we didn’t do the threesome again. Once was enough for me. I didn’t like feeling like the third wheel.”

  “No kidding,” said Stella.

  “Wow,” said Tori. “I guess it could be kind of fun. I suppose I don’t really have a problem with the girl stuff. Eight years at a girl’s-only boarding school, you know.”

  She took a sip of her martini while Eliza and Stella smiled expectantly.

 
“What?” said Tori. Then she shook her head and laughed. “I am not going into details. Sorry. Suffice it to say that most of it went on around me but a few of the girls were very attracted to me, and they pretty much offered to do anything I’d let them do. So….”

  “So?” said Eliza and Stella together.

  Tori shrugged and downplayed everything. “So I got some good tongue action. Girls are way better at that. Just sayin’.”

  Stella roared with laughter. “You do surprise me, Sweet Victoria Manning.” Stella twirled her finger for another round.

  “Oh, I have to visit the loo before I have another,” said Tori. “Be right back.”

  Stella continued to chuckle as Tori sashayed through the pub. “She is a rare find, that one.”

  “Listen, Stella, I’ve been meaning to tell you something. You might get a call for bridesmaids dresses for a fake wedding.”

  “Huh? Why?” Three fresh martinis arrived at the table.

  “I’ve given your name to Melissa Selfridge, who has to plan a wedding, but it’s not going to happen.”

  “The girl from the paper? The one who snagged your man? How do you know that?”

  “Because I snagged him.” Eliza grinned and raised her glass for a toast.

  “Wait, what? I need details, Eliza. You can’t drop a bomb like that.”

  “Drink to me first.” She did. Then she held up a hand.

  “Hold on, before you tell me, and before I drink any more, let me get this straight. If Miss Selfridge comes in for a wedding package I just play along but don’t actually make anything?”

  “What? What are you talking about?” said Tori, hopping back onto her stool.

  “Stella!” cried Eliza.

  “What? It’s supposed to be a secret? From Tori? I didn’t think you two had secrets.”

  “Yeah, me too,” said Tori looking momentarily hurt. She took a deep sip of her drink.

  Eliza sighed. “If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone, even Tatum. At least not until I say it’s all right. And you can’t get mad at me.”

  “That’s a lot of rules for one secret. Why can’t I tell Tatum?”