The Bracelet

by Fredrica Alleyn

  ‘But there’s always a risk in things like that,’ murmured Estelle, as though she were talking to a child rather than an intelligent business woman. ‘You must have known that, deep down.’

  ‘No, I didn’t. I believed what others told me.’

  ‘Of course, Sam hasn’t said to me that he’d ever make things difficult for you,’ said Estelle quickly. ‘I’m only saying how it looks to me. Maybe Tarquin got some kind of promise from him about his silence before the evening began. All I’m saying is, there’s a tiny chance he could talk and why take even a small risk over something like this? You could make a lot of money through Laurence. Quite apart from your secret life, think of the business side. Why are you so reluctant to represent our handsome South African?’

  Because I don’t trust him, thought Kristina. Because my best friend is madly in love with him, and he’s exciting, sexy and dangerous. Aren’t those enough reasons? The trouble was, she couldn’t say any of them. They were all related to the society, not the real world.

  She knew really that she had no choice. Quite apart from the danger of Sam talking, and that was something she could easily check with Tarquin, she knew that under normal circumstances she wouldn’t dream of letting someone like Laurence slip through her fingers. Business was business, and she had to remember that.

  What Jackie thought mustn’t be allowed to sway her, not over a book contract, and it wasn’t as though Estelle could have any devious reason for wanting her to represent Laurence.

  ‘All right,’ she conceded. ‘I’ll ring Laurence and arrange for the pair of us to come over and talk to Sam some time. Does he have any particular date in mind?’

  ‘Tomorrow at two,’ said Estelle. ‘I must say, Kristina, I think you’ve made the right decision.’

  ‘I hope so. What sort of sum are we talking here?’

  ‘Five figures,’ Estelle assured her.

  ‘So I should hope, after all this fuss. Well into five figures?’

  ‘I imagine so. Sam hasn’t discussed the fine details with me. I’ll be editing the book of course.’

  ‘Good luck to you. I think you and Laurence should get along very well,’ replied Kristina before she hung up. She hoped she hadn’t made a mistake, but common sense told her that she hadn’t. In the past she wouldn’t have hesitated for a second. Things mustn’t change because of the delights of the bracelet. That was already in her mind far more than it should have been, creeping into her thoughts whenever she had a spare moment. She could not allow it to creep insidiously into her work too.

  In her office in Bloomsbury, Estelle smiled and picked up her phone. ‘Laurence? It’s all arranged. Kristina will represent you. I hope I get a reward for this, it was hard work.’

  ‘You’ll get a reward,’ promised Laurence at the other end of the line. Then he sat in his own office and smiled to himself. Meeting Estelle at a party a few weeks ago had turned out to be very useful. Now he was assured of seeing Kristina again, and with any luck at the next meeting of the male members of the society he’d also manage to have a few words with Tarquin Rashid. Eventually, no matter how long it took him, he was going to have Kristina and Jackie together with him in the same room at the same time, both wearing their bracelets of bondage.

  That night, Kristina didn’t get back from work until eight, but she still rang Tarquin the moment she got in. He was clearly surprised to hear from her, but as soon as she started to talk she knew that she’d done the right thing.

  ‘You mean, Estelle implied Sam Martin would talk about last night to people in the publishing world?’ he asked in astonishment when she’d finally poured out all her fears.

  ‘Yes, she thought he might.’

  ‘She knows perfectly well that isn’t true. I would never have allowed him into my house had I not known that he was the soul of discretion. I’m not saying that he might not wish to see you again. Who could blame him after such an exciting evening? What I am saying is that no one you meet through me would ever threaten your position in the literary world. You must remember, Kristina, that I too have a vested interest in choosing participants very carefully. I could hardly continue in my line of work if such things were a matter of common knowledge.’

  ‘It isn’t the same for men!’ protested Kristina, remembering what Estelle had said.

  ‘Not some men, perhaps, but for anyone connected with the medical world it would be the end of his career. No, you must believe me, nothing we do together presents any kind of security risk.’

  ‘I’m very pleased to hear it,’ said Kristina with relief.

  ‘I hope your day hasn’t been ruined by this inference?’

  She smiled to herself. He used the English language so quaintly and she found that very endearing. ‘No, not ruined, but there was a dark cloud on the horizon.’

  ‘I trust it’s now been dispersed?’

  She laughed. ‘Totally dispersed.’

  ‘I will contact you very soon,’ he promised before he hung up.

  All in all, thought Kristina when she went to bed, she’d done quite well for herself. She’d kept Laurence as a client, and that was going to bring in good money, and she’d also shown Estelle up as a less than truthful trouble-maker.

  Her last thought of the day, before sleep claimed her, was that in the end she’d thrown off the effects of the bracelet and acquitted herself well as a literary agent again, which was the way she’d intended it to be from the start. Jackie was wrong. The thrill of sexual obedience didn’t have to take you over to the extent she’d implied. You really could have it all.

  Once again, Kristina’s confidence was misplaced.

  Chapter Eight

  BECAUSE KRISTINA’S HOUSE was on the way, it had been arranged that Laurence should call round there at one o’clock the following day and then the two of them would go on to the meeting at Stoddart-Wades. He was fifteen minutes late, but the comment that Kristina intended to make was stifled when she saw that he had someone with him.

  His companion was a tall blonde woman in her early thirties. She was very striking, with immaculate make-up and large, long-lashed blue eyes that seemed far more innocent than the rest of her.

  She was vaguely familiar to Kristina, but before she had a chance to try and place her, Laurence and the woman had walked into the house. ‘This is Hester,’ he said with a thin smile. ‘Don’t worry, Hester won’t be accompanying us to our meeting. She’ll wait quietly here until we return. Isn’t that right Hester?’

  ‘Of course,’ replied the blonde in a surprisingly meek voice, and it was then that Kristina looked down and saw the thin gold bracelet on the other woman’s wrist.

  Laurence noticed Kristina’s glance and without taking his eyes off her, pushed firmly on Hester’s shoulders until she was sitting on the sofa. Then he stood at the back of it and ran his hands caressingly round the blonde’s full breasts, which were tightly encased in a black lycra dress. He massaged them firmly, moving the globes in circles until Hester’s breath quickened and colour rose in her cheeks.

  ‘She’s very responsive,’ he said laconically to the astonished Kristina. ‘That’s one of the things I like best about her. Unfortunately she’s abroad on business a lot, but today she happened to be free and neither of us wanted to pass up the opportunity to meet. I hope you don’t mind if she stays here until we get back? She could provide a lot of very good references.’

  ‘I don’t mind,’ said Kristina, trying not to look as though the scene was having any effect on her. ‘There are plenty of books on the shelves, Hester. Feel free to browse through any of them.’

  ‘I’m afraid Hester won’t be free to do anything,’ said Laurence sharply. ‘Where’s the spare bedroom?’

  Kristina frowned. ‘It’s on the left at the top of the stairs, but we’ve got to go now. We’re late as it is.’

  ‘This won’t take a moment,’ he assured her, his clipped South African vowels sounding more pronounced than usual. ‘Hester, this way.’ The blonde rose and fo
llowed him, as she had to while she continued wearing the bracelet, and Kristina found that she couldn’t resist following them.

  Once inside the spare room, Laurence pulled the black Lycra dress off over Hester’s head, revealing a lush naked body with soft womanly curves. Then he laid her naked on her back on the bed and pulled some silk cord out of his jacket pocket.

  Kristina stayed in the doorway, watching intently as he tied Hester’s ankles and wrists and then covered her eyes with a dark blue silk scarf, adjusting it carefully in order to leave her ears uncovered. Fleetingly he allowed his right hand to brush against her rounded hips and cross the softness of her belly, then with a regretful sigh he perched on the edge of the bed.

  ‘Don’t move until I get back, Hester,’ he ordered. ‘I’m sorry about this meeting, but since I can’t pay you the kind of attention you’d like right now, I’m going to leave you a little something to listen to in my absence. It might help pass the time.’ Kristina stared as he laid an iPod in the middle of the bed, put the headphones over Hester’s ears and then pressed play.

  ‘What was that?’ asked Kristina as they left the house.

  ‘Oh, just a little something I put together this morning. It’s a very intimate conversation really. I tell her all the things I’m going to do to her when I get back, and remind her of how it will feel. Once we return she should be more than ready for me, don’t you agree?’

  Kristina did. By blindfolding Hester, Laurence had made sure that her mind, with nothing else to focus on, would create its own scenes as his arousal tape played on and on.

  ‘What about Jackie?’ she asked curiously.

  Laurence raised his eyebrows. ‘What about her?’

  ‘I thought that you and she spent most of your time together, that’s all.’

  ‘We do, but Hester and I go back a long way. She’s very big in the fashion industry and spends most of her time abroad. When we can meet up, we do. It makes a nice change for her. Most of the time she’s telling her men what to do and how to make her come. Wearing the bracelet gives her a holiday! How did it make you feel watching me prepare her?’

  ‘I was worried we’d be late,’ said Kristina shortly, refusing to admit to him that she was very aroused herself, and that she kept imagining how Hester must be feeling lying helplessly on the bed with Laurence’s silkily suggestive voice in her ears.

  ‘Is that all? I could have sworn it had turned you on too! Let’s hope Sam Martin doesn’t keep us too long or Hester will go mad with frustration!’

  Sam was waiting for them in the entrance lobby. He greeted Kristina with a kiss on both cheeks and an arm that rested just a shade too familiarly on her waist, but his expression was strictly business-like.

  ‘Come up to my office,’ he said warmly. ‘Let’s hope this is the first of many such meetings.’

  ‘I expect Hester would like that too,’ whispered Laurence to Kristina, and sparks of arousal stirred inside her at the thought of the helpless, even more aroused blonde waiting for Laurence to return.

  For the first half hour they talked about the construction of the book, and how specialised Sam wanted it to be, before moving on to their advertising plans and personal publicity by Laurence.

  ‘You’re a good-looking young man,’ remarked Sam. ‘Women will flock to buy it if we can get you on something like The One Show. What do you say, Kristina?’

  ‘Women certainly seem to like him,’ she agreed, although she couldn’t help wondering if ‘like’ would be quite the right word to describe how Hester must be feeling at that moment.

  ‘Yes, you and the book are a good package. Try not to be too intelligent though; we don’t want to put the average reader off, if you know what I mean!’ He laughed, but Laurence didn’t.

  ‘I’m afraid I can’t act the fool, even to sell my own book,’ he said shortly.

  ‘No, no! I didn’t mean act the fool, I meant try not to seem too superior. There’s a big difference, and if you’re going to attract the ordinary reader then there has to be a warm side to you. Sure, there’s an attraction about men who seem remote and hard to catch, but it’s not the kind of attraction that sells books. Isn’t that right, Kristina?’

  ‘Yes, and I think I can probably help Laurence on that before we get to the publicity stage,’ Kristina promised him.

  Sam nodded. ‘I’m certain you can. Kristina’s a very friendly girl underneath that professional business woman’s exterior, Laurence. Believe me, I know that better than anyone.’

  Laurence turned his pale blue eyes on Kristina. ‘Is that a fact? I didn’t realise you two were that well acquainted.’

  ‘We haven’t know each other long,’ said Kristina, far more calmly than she felt. ‘It’s just that we got on very well when we did meet up one evening. Isn’t that right, Sam?’

  He nodded enthusiastically. ‘One of the best nights out I’ve had in years.’

  Kristina knew that Laurence had guessed something had gone on that was connected with the society, but she was determined to put a stop to that line of thought. ‘We went to Covent Garden’s new production of Tosca and it was a memorable performance for all of us,’ she said with a tight smile. ‘It’s just a pity Mrs Martin couldn’t be there as well.’

  Sam recognised the veiled threat and the gleam in his eyes died away. ‘Sadly my wife doesn’t enjoy the opera.’

  ‘Neither do I,’ said Laurence. ‘Ghastly noise. I’m always waiting for the intervals and the next bottle of champagne. So, when do you want the manuscript delivered?’

  ‘I think you can safely leave the contract details to me, Laurence,’ said Kristina lightly. Laurence went very white, and for a moment an expression of anger crossed his lean face, but then it vanished and the realisation that he was more dangerous than she’d thought flashed through Kristina’s mind.

  ‘Naturally I’m not expecting to draw up my own contract,’ he assured her. ‘But as I’m the one who has to write the book, I thought I should know how long I’ve got.’

  ‘How long will it take you?’ asked Sam.

  Laurence laughed. ‘As long as I want.’

  ‘Let’s say twelve months,’ suggested Kristina. ‘If you deliver early I’m sure Sam won’t mind, but that allows for delays if your day-to-day business affairs hold it up.’

  ‘Sounds fine to me,’ agreed Sam.

  After that they talked for another twenty minutes and then, much to Kristina’s relief because she’d been horribly aware of Hester throughout the entire meeting, she and Laurence were free to leave.

  ‘How about a cup of coffee somewhere?’ he suggested.

  Kristina shook her head. ‘I have to get back to the office, and you have to collect Hester.’

  He smiled with his mouth, but once again his eyes were cold. ‘I hadn’t forgotten her. Anticipation works wonders. She won’t mind waiting and the recording is on repeat.’

  ‘I still don’t want coffee.’

  ‘You’ll come back and let me in to get her though?’

  Kristina looked at her watch and sighed. ‘I’ll have to, but I’ve got loads left to do at the office, and very little time to do it in.’

  The minute they were back inside the house, Laurence went into the kitchen and started to fill the kettle.

  ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ demanded Kristina. ‘I’m not wearing a bracelet, you know. I want you and Hester out of here, fast.’

  ‘I’m thirsty. You go; I’ll lock up carefully if that’s what’s worrying you.’

  ‘I want to see you both leave,’ replied Kristina. ‘Now would you go upstairs, untie your friend and take her back to your own place.’

  For a moment Laurence stared at her, then without another word he brushed past her and walked slowly up the stairs. Kristina waited in the hallway. The moment Laurence opened the door to the spare bedroom she heard Hester start to scream at him.

  Her threats as to what she intended to do when she was free and what she thought of him for leaving her li
stening to the tape were far from subservient, and Kristina smiled to herself, but then she saw Laurence descending the stairs on his own and the smile left her face.

  ‘Where’s Hester?’

  ‘She can’t wait. I’ll have to let her come now or she’ll keep screaming all the way to my flat. It won’t take more than a few minutes. You can watch if you like.’

  Astounded, Kristina saw him pick up Hester’s shoulder bag and then carry it back up to the bedroom. Part of her wanted to tell him to get the hell out of her house and take the blonde Hester with him, but the other part, the part that enjoyed belonging to the society of the bracelet, wanted to see what was going to happen in the spare room. Almost without realising what she was doing, she too climbed the stairs to the spare room.

  Hester’s ankles and wrists had been untied, but she was still wearing the blindfold. She heard the sound of a second set of footsteps in the room and turned her head blindly towards the noise.

  ‘It’s only Kristina,’ said Laurence. ‘As my agent she’s like one of the family. Besides, we are using her bed! Time to carry out all my promises, I think. Kristina, do you have a spare pillow? I may need it later.’

  ‘There are two on the bed, that will have to be enough,’ retorted Kristina, unwilling to leave the room for even a moment.

  ‘Right then, Hester. On your hands and knees, just like I said on the tape,’ ordered Laurence, and Hester, who was now totally silent, obeyed without question.

  Kristina looked at the blonde woman’s full smooth buttocks and then Laurence began to massage them, just as earlier he’d massaged her breasts. He moved the cheeks of her bottom around, and kneaded at the flesh with his fingers, pressing up hard from underneath.

  Out of Hester’s bag he drew some massage lotion and a pair of thin rubber gloves and soon he was spreading the lotion over the blonde’s upper thighs and bottom and then across her lower back and down the crack at the base of her spine, where the cheeks of her bottom met. When he reached that highly sensitive area Hester wriggled and shouted at him to hurry.

  ‘Hester, remember the bracelet,’ said Laurence warningly. ‘I’m not one of your toy boys. I call the tune here.’