Cat Scratch Fever

by Sophie Mouette

  It was gratifying enough that she kept going. Each time, she let a little more force land on his skin, until the last couple of blows raised small bee-sting welts. It was nothing compared to what she’d do to a practised pain-slut, but definitely stingy, and it made him gasp, ‘Yellow!’ through clenched teeth, signalling he was reaching the edge of his endurance.

  Letting the whip down, she walked around so she could see his face. That expression – poised on the brink between agony and ecstasy – was so beautiful, especially coupled with the clown nose.

  ‘Do you want to take one more hard stroke, clown? For me?’

  ‘I want to, Mistress. But I don’t know…’ He couldn’t finish the sentence, but she knew what he meant.

  ‘You can,’ she assured him. She knew what she intended to do, even if he didn’t. ‘It’s what you need. What you deserve. You were a very bad clown, you know, being cheeky to the ringmaster.’

  ‘I’ll try.’

  ‘And, remember, there’s no shame in using your safeword.’ She knew he wouldn’t. Scared as he was, he was too proud.

  She’d brought a cool drink downstairs with her. While she let Richard stew, waiting for the blow he feared, she secreted an ice cube in her left hand. When she lashed at nothing with a tremendous crack, she touched the ice cube against his skin.

  And Richard flew into space.

  Once he’d calmed down enough to speak again, she asked, ‘Am I going to have to get the clown suit dry-cleaned?’

  He took a deep breath. His expression was still a little vacant, but his eyes were more or less focused on her. ‘No, Mistress, but it was a near thing.’

  ‘That shows some restraint, clown. I’m pleased enough by that to say I’ll let you come later. Danny has to make a dry-cleaning run tomorrow anyway. It would be a shame if he had to go just to pick up one dress.’

  Richard’s face flamed almost the colour of the rubber nose.

  ‘What? Does it embarrass you to think that my slave will be helping clean up your spunk?’

  Richard nodded tightly.

  ‘He’ll enjoy hearing about this afternoon. Not who you are, of course, but a few select details. Danny’s bisexual and he has a weakness for good-looking older men. He won’t know which one of us to envy more: you for getting my attention or me for getting to play with you.’

  She couldn’t read Richard’s expression, but it certainly wasn’t distaste. She decided to push it. ‘For all he’s so submissive, Danny’s not a passive boy.’ She leant close, whispering in Richard’s ear, ‘I think he’d love fucking your ass while I watched. What do you think about that?’

  She had no idea if Danny would actually enjoy Richard. She liked the image, though, so she was going to play out the fantasy and see how Richard reacted.

  ‘I like something in my ass, Mistress.’ Richard was having trouble talking. ‘But –’

  ‘But you don’t like men.’

  He nodded, clearly relieved she’d taken the words from him.

  ‘You’d probably like Danny if you let yourself. He’s lovely when I dress him up, almost like a pretty girl with a cock. And that’s what you like, isn’t it, a girl with a big rubber cock doing evil things to your ass?’

  Richard gulped.

  ‘Wouldn’t it be better if it were flesh and blood? It wouldn’t make you gay if I ordered you to take it, and you’d get to try something you’ve been curious about. Because, admit it, you have been.’

  He tried to shake his head no, but failed. One of the frequent effects of sub space was an inability to lie. ‘I’m not really attracted to men. I just can’t help wondering –’ he took a deep breath ‘– what it would feel like. If it feels any different with something real.’

  Valerie smiled. ‘Maybe you’ll find out someday, if you ask me nicely.’ (That’d be the day. Everyone had at least one fantasy that seemed a little too out there to fulfil. This – for all that some people might think it tame compared to some of the things he did regularly – was clearly Richard’s.) ‘As for real, if silicone doesn’t seem real to you, someone hasn’t done you right in the past.’

  With those words, she stepped away for a few minutes.

  He couldn’t see her well, tied as he was, but she could keep an eye on him. She could almost feel desire and tension flowing off of him in waves. He needed this badly.

  And to her surprise, she did too. Richard in his cool, detached businessman persona might not do much for her, but Richard bare-assed in a clown costume, vulnerable and confessing his secret queer fantasies, did.

  After slithering out of her thong, she selected a strap-on harness that allowed two attachments – one for her. The dildo sank into her easily, its stubby thickness stretching her lips, arousing her further. The weight of the one she would use on Richard pressed against her clit. Neither in itself would be enough to get her off, but Richard’s reactions – and the vibrations she’d kick in for both of them at the critical moment – ought to do it.

  The strap-on was burgundy, like the corset. She took a quick look in the mirror to adjust the angle, grabbed the lube and returned to Richard.

  After a proper greasing, she tested him with one finger, which penetrated easily. ‘So open,’ she purred.

  ‘More. Please,’ he begged as she moved the lubed finger slowly in and out. Soon another finger followed, and another.

  You could have all the toys in the world – and Valerie pretty much did – but sometimes there was nothing better than this simple thing, feeling the heat from inside a man’s body while you opened him up with your fingers. ‘You’re a slut,’ she said as she worked him.

  He was pushing back as best he could, wanting more, grunting inarticulately.

  ‘Say it. Say “I’m a slut.”’ He didn’t, at least not quickly enough for her liking. ‘Say it or you won’t get any more.’ She started to withdraw her fingers.

  That did the trick. ‘I’m a slut, Mistress.’

  ‘Are you an ass-fucked slut?’

  ‘I am your ass-fucked slut.’

  ‘Then get ready for me to use your ass.’ Valerie eased it in, a bit at a time, to a chorus of inarticulate grunts and moans.

  Once it was seated, she flicked the remote attached to the harness.

  Oh my God. Two sets of vibrations, one inside her, the other working on her clit even through the leather of the harness, were doing some extraordinary things to her.

  She worked in and out, varying the rhythm in response to his reactions. Her own body was shimmering with sensation, a wonderful plateau on the way to orgasm.

  ‘Do you want to come, clown slut?’ Stupid question. Of course he wanted to come. But it was part of the ritual.

  ‘Yes…if you’d like that.’

  ‘What would you do for me if I said you could come now?’

  ‘Anything!’ They always said anything when they were desperate to come.

  ‘Would you let Danny fuck you so I could watch?’

  A brief hesitation and then a soft ‘Yes’.

  ‘Would you let me take you to a party dressed like this?’

  ‘Good God, yes!’ No hesitation there.

  The idea – and his apparent eagerness for it – went straight to her clit. Wouldn’t that be something, to show up at one of the select LA fetish parties with Richard as her very own clown on a leash?

  ‘Maybe I’ll let people feed you cotton candy.’

  ‘Yes! Please!’

  For some reason that image really got to her: Richard on his knees in a clown costume, hands clasped behind his back, eating cotton candy like he was sucking cock. Her legs were quivering. She clamped down on the toy inside her, working at it involuntarily, ready to lose her own control.

  ‘Come for me, then!’ she ordered. As he was coming, she threw in, ‘And will you write large cheques to the Sanctuary?’ but she couldn’t tell if his ‘Yes’ was a response or just an exclamation. And at that point Valerie was too lost in the waves of sensations pouring over her to care.

&nb
sp; Before he left, he asked – with an attitude somewhere between the abject sub and the confident businessman – whether he could have the privilege of playing with her again.

  This time, she was a little more clear-headed. ‘It’s been grand and I’d like to see you again. You make a darling clown. But I warned you before we started: I have my conditions.’

  ‘I meant it when I said I’d do anything.’ He smiled nervously at her raised eyebrow. ‘All right, not anything! Pre-discussed limits and all that, and I’m still not sure about Danny. But I’d go through a lot for you. Name your price!’

  ‘You know how much the Sanctuary means to me, Richard. Pop a nice fat cheque off to them in the morning. Then we’ll talk.’

  She expected a nod, a thank-you, ma’am, some sign of compliance. Instead, he looked away for a moment before turning back to her. ‘Things are a little tight right now. I’ve got a business deal in the works that’s tying up a lot of my cash.’

  Against a rush of anger, Valerie fought to maintain a stony demeanour. She knew that Richard did put a lot back into his businesses, but she also knew that he was unlikely to be as cash-strapped as all that. ‘I guess,’ she said coolly, ‘that you’re just not that interested in seeing me again. “Anything” must mean “Anything that turns you on” not “Anything that pleases me.” And that’s not the way I operate.’ She turned and stalked away.

  Richard was after her in a flash, clutching at her. When she turned, he hit the floor, kneeling so abruptly that she winced for his knees. ‘No. Please, Valerie, I didn’t mean it that way. I’ll send them something tomorrow. I’m sorry, Valerie…Mistress.’

  ‘I haven’t given you permission to call me that out of scene.’ But her voice was gentler now. It was presumptuous, but also flattering.

  ‘I’m sorry. But I can hope, can’t I?’

  ‘Of course you can,’ she said, thinking as she did that pigs might fly someday thanks to genetic engineering, but she wouldn’t hold her breath. ‘Now get that money to them and we’ll talk about seeing you again. And believe me: I’ll be checking with Felicia to see if it’s arrived.’

  He nodded, looking a little glassy eyed and frantic. ‘And once this deal goes down, Valerie, I promise I’ll take care of them properly.’

  16

  With Gabe gone, Felicia found herself with a curious energy. Somehow, he’d sated her restless desire – mostly. She still craved sex, but she figured she could probably live for a few days without crawling out of her skin.

  Instead, she channelled the energy into work. Tuesday morning found her pounding through email that had piled up overnight. She followed that up by an hour of focused office cleaning, finally filing the paperwork strewn across her desk, putting the various books in order on her credenza, opening and dealing with all her mail. She even – with great regret – admitted that the aloe was a lost cause, and gave it a hero’s burial in her trash can.

  She was especially glad she’d taken the time to purge and organise because, soon after she finished, Richard Enoch paid the Sanctuary a surprise visit.

  Board members didn’t often come to the Sanctuary, and almost never unannounced. If they were going to make a visit, they scheduled it in advance so the staff could give them their full attention – and frantically whip into shape any areas that had fallen into disarray.

  ‘Richard!’ she said, holding out her hands as she met him in the gift shop. ‘So lovely to see you.’

  There was something about Richard, something she’d never been able to put her finger on. On the one hand, he was a handsome older man, with silver hair and natural wrinkles around his striking blue eyes that hadn’t been Botoxed into submission. He reminded Felicia a little of George Hamilton. She’d seen Love at First Bite as a girl and had never lost the mild fascination with the actor. Plus, Richard was charming and attentive, remembering details about people and sounding sincere when he asked how things were going with this or that.

  On the other hand, well, there was no spark, nothing that made her feel, even in her wildest fantasies, anything but calm appreciation for his looks and charm. She always sensed that he was holding something of himself back, hiding a secret. She often wondered if he were gay, and of a generation that made him unwilling to reveal the fact – if he’d even accepted it about himself.

  In her previous erotically charged state, she might have felt some twinges but, right now, she felt nothing but business.

  ‘Felicia, you look stunning as always,’ Richard greeted her. Without making her feel slighted, he added, ‘I’m surprised not to see Katherine.’

  ‘She’s on a conference call with the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and some geneticist from the Felid Taxon Advisory Group – the group that keeps the studbooks on endangered species,’ Felicia explained, leading him down the short hall to her office. ‘Lincoln Park is discussing loaning us a snow leopard to breed with one of ours. It would be a major coup for both facilities if the mating is successful.’

  ‘Really?’ A look Felicia couldn’t quite identify – surprise, perhaps? – crossed Richard’s craggy face. ‘I didn’t think you were prepared to take on more animals.’

  ‘We might have to do a little reshuffling, and the final decision will be made after we know how much money we’ve raised. Plus, when the new leopard cubs are old enough, we’ll parcel some of them out to other breeding centres.’

  ‘I see.’ Richard sat in her newly cleaned-off guest chair (a bit gingerly, Felicia thought, and hoped he wasn’t feeling unwell). ‘So things are going well?’

  ‘As well as can be expected.’ She flashed him a wry smile. ‘By that, I mean the week before a major fundraiser is always a chaotic time. All told, we’re doing quite well. We’ve sold seventy per cent of the tickets, and already received several generous pledges for the new cubs.’

  ‘Oh! Oh…that’s wonderful, Felicia. Congratulations.’ Richard reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket. ‘In fact, that’s why I’m here. I decided it was high time I made another donation myself. Baby cubs need new shoes, and all that.’

  Felicia smiled gamely at his terrible joke. Her expression changed into a genuine grin of delight, however, when she looked at the cheque he’d just handed her. ‘Richard! This is wonderful. Thank you so much!’

  He shifted in his seat. ‘Well. I’m glad I could help, given everything that’s happened recently. You know, I’d love to take a walk around the site before I go. Would it be possible for you to escort me?’

  He was so delightfully formal sometimes. She really didn’t have the time, but you never said no to a board member.

  As they strolled along the central green, he asked about how the sewage leak repairs were going.

  Felicia gleefully swept her hand in a wide arc. ‘Look! You can barely tell where they had to dig up the line.’ Even she found it hard to believe that the leak had happened last Friday. It was only Tuesday and the place looked great. ‘You can see a few obvious lines there, and there, where they laid new sod, but those will be smoothed away by this weekend – and, once chairs are put out and twilight has fallen, no one will ever notice. I have to credit the entire staff, because everyone pitched in some major overtime, gratis, to get things cleaned up, including Lance here.’

  Lance happened to be walking by with a cart they used to schlep around the pounds of meat for feeding time. She briefly introduced him to Richard, explaining Lance’s contribution of landscaping plants thanks to a connection. She watched Lance head towards the café, noting that he had an extra spring in his step. She hoped it wasn’t because he’d successfully pulled the wool over everybody’s eyes.

  To Richard, she continued, ‘We’ve already sent a huge letter of thanks to the Sanitation Department, because they jumped on the problem as quickly as they could, and their guys were great.’

  ‘Hmm, good,’ Richard said. He sounded a little vague, and Felicia noticed he seemed to be scanning the area, as if looking for something. He glanced past the jaguar enclosure, and Felic
ia felt a flash of guilt. They were keeping an awful lot from the board right now. She was worried that she’d slip up and mention the vandalism. If they had any hard evidence, it would be different.

  Richard seemed to shake himself out of his reverie. ‘Glad to hear everything’s pulling together. I was a bit concerned after that editorial in the paper yesterday.’

  Felicia subtly steered him away from the cheetah enclosure; Caramel was still cranky and Felicia just didn’t want the reminder anyway.

  ‘It wasn’t the best publicity,’ she said, ‘but in the end it was pretty positive, saying they wanted us to succeed. That’s always nice to hear. As a result, some of the donors have even chipped in a few dollars to help cover the costs of the re-landscaping. This whole experience is really showing us how much people support the Sanctuary. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had an extra-successful benefit!’

  ‘Who would have thought?’ Richard said. ‘You certainly have a way of turning lemons into lemonade. Well, I must be off. Give my regards to Katherine, and I’ll see you Friday at the benefit.’

  ‘Saturday,’ Felicia reminded him.

  He gave a short laugh. ‘Of course. Saturday. Take care, Felicia.’

  Frowning, she watched him walk quickly away. That was strange. Such a sudden turnaround.

  Oh well. Not her problem. He’d brought them a nice cheque, and she’d write up a thank-you note for Katherine to sign, and make sure she listed him in the benefit booklet – which she had to finish designing and get to Kinko’s by 8 p.m. that night. Back to work.

  There was a message from Valerie Turner when she got back. More ticket sales – great! – and, she said, another fabulous idea. Oh. Dear.

  Felicia considered putting off the return call, but it was possible one of the guests had bought an entire table and would have to be listed in the booklet.

  ‘Safari theme!’ was all Valerie said at first.