***
“Who is that old woman scurrying from bush to bush?” The Baron had released Yeva from her cell, brought her upstairs and helped her bathe and dress. They sat together at their gallery window in the southeast tower.
“Looks like one of the gypsies that are camped on the moor,” Vartan said. “Wonder what she is doing, spying on us?”
“Could she be one of those anarchists from Voldavia who threatened to kill you. We should do something about her.”
“I doubt they would send such a bumbling and stupid old woman to do such a difficult assignment,” Vartan said. “But you are right, we should do something. Tell Graveston to keep a watch on her. If she’s still out there tonight, I’ll have him and Dagan catch her and put her in a cell. Dagan’s friend, Crowley, will terrify her enough for us to get the truth out of her.”
Vartan put his arm around Yeva and pulled her against him. “How was it, my dear? Was your night in the cellar bad?”
“Yes,” she replied. Yeva shifted her position and gingerly caressed her whip marks, “Most of it was awful. But I kept telling myself I wanted to complete the training, to stand at your side as your equal. That gave me strength.”
“You said, ‘most’. What else? Did you enjoy it, too?”
“There were moments,” she said, yawning and stretching like a jungle cat. “The orgasms—they were fantastic, just like you promised. I look forward to training our new maids when my lessons are completed.”
“So do I. You know how much I enjoy lying back on that recliner and having a beautiful young girl masturbate me as I watch a helpless new maid stripped naked, chained up, and whipped by you.”
Yeva kissed him, crushing her lips against his until they both gasped for breath. “I’ll make sure you enjoy every stroke, my darling.”
“Yours, or mine?”
“Both.”
***
“I’ll hide here,” Hedy whispered to herself, “until dark. Then, when that vampire comes out, I’ll see him. When I tell everyone I saw him, they will have to believe me.” She settled down in the shallow depression, listening to the surf, the keening of the gulls, and the sigh of October air rustling the golden leaves on the bush above her. The day warmed, and the lullaby of the waves soon sang her to sleep.
The sun drifted past noon and wafted down into the deep blue of the western sky. The ocean waves swallowed it up and the alchemy of nature transformed the sky to dark, intense indigo. Jupiter blazed in the west, and red Adebaran led his harem of stars up in the east.
At last Hedy woke, rubbing her eyes and staring up at the dark sky. She gasped, realizing how long she had slept. When her gaze dropped to the castle, her breath froze in her throat. Against the menacing darkness of the walls and towers two ink-black silhouettes rose up at the edge of the hollow where she lay. Two men, one tall and lanky, the other short and broad, gazed down at her. In the last whisper of starlight the whiteness of their teeth gleamed in their wide-lipped grin.
Hedy screamed as their powerful hands reached down to seize her.
Chapter Ten
It Was A Dark And Stormy Night
“Who are you, and why were you sneaking around my castle?” Baron Vartan stood in front of Hedy, slapping his riding crop into the palm of his left hand.
“You monster!” She snarled at him, straining her arms against the cuffs holding her wrists high up against the rough stone wall of the cell. She twisted her hips, testing the cuffs holding her ankles far apart. In spite of the chill air in the cellar, she was sweating inside her clothes. Only her shawl had been removed.
“You have no right to keep me prisoner!”
“I can summon Inspector Gall from Lympwick, and he can put you on a ship and send you back to the government police in Voldavia. They will find ways to make you talk about your assassin friends.”
“I’ll never tell you or the police about them. They promised to make me Queen of the Gypsies if I killed you. Karel and the other gypsies are so stupid! They never guessed I came with them just to kill you. I fooled all of you!”
Vartan scowled. “Graveston here, tells me you’ve been spreading rumors about me being a vampire.”
Hedy yanked and jerked against her bonds. “It’s not a rumor. You are a vampire. If I don’t kill you, the villagers will. When they discover I’m missing, they’ll come here with torches and a stake to drive through your heart!”
“Even if that fairy tale were true, it will be too late for you.”
“What do you mean, ‘too late’? My friends are coming to rescue me.”
Vartan laughed. “What friends? And even if someone does come looking for you, they’ll never find you here. The entrance to this cellar is concealed. That’s why Graveston blindfolded you when they brought you down here. Now all you can see is this little cell, and the darkness beyond. You could die down here, and no one would ever know.”
“Die? But I’m going to be Queen of the Gypsies. You wouldn’t dare hurt me.”
“I don’t have to. I have my faithful servants who would be glad to do that for me.” He turned to Graveston, “Have Dagan bring his friend to this woman’s cell. She’s too ugly to fuck, but I’m sure he can find other ways to have fun with her body. Let me know when they are finished with her. I think after a night of abuse, she will be eager to answer my questions.”
He and Graveston stepped through the iron-barred doorway and slammed it shut.
“Wait! Where are you going?” Hedy’s face blanched. “You can’t leave me here, I’m Queen of the Gypsies!”
“You’re a foolish old woman,” Graveston called back from the corridor, “and you’re nothing, a nobody!”
“I’m a Queen!” her voice shrieked. “Bow down before me!”
***
“My brother, aren’t you going to rescue Hedy?” Radinka asked.
“Of course, little sister,” Karel replied. “After three or four days have passed.”
“But she’s in danger!” her childish face furrowed in worry. “I know Hedy is mean and noisy, but she is one of us.”
“Dear little Radinka, please don’t think that because your beautiful young body is swelled out like a woman’s, and tomorrow is your eighteenth birthday, that you have learned everything. Hedy’s only enemy is herself. If she doesn’t get caught, she will be back tomorrow morning, cold and hungry, complaining as usual.”
“And if she does get caught by that Baron? Hedy says he is a vampire. He will bite her neck and change her into a vampire, too. It’s horrible!”
“My dear baby sister, there are too many fairy tales behind that lovely face of yours. There are no vampires. If Hedy does get caught, the baron will just have her thrashed to shame her and then sent back to us. She deserves what she is asking for.”
“I wish I believed that, but I’m so worried.”
“You have such a tender heart, Radinka. You feel pity for the baby birds who fall out of the nest, and every baby animal that gets separated from its mother.”
Radinka pulled herself up to her full five-foot, one-inch height. “Are you angry with me because I care so much?”
“No, dear child, I think it makes your spirit even more beautiful than your body.”
Radinka’s chestnut-brown eyes clouded with tears. The tips of her glossy raven hair brushed against her petite buttocks as she dabbed her face with her kerchief.
Karel reached down and patted her head. “Don’t weep, pretty one. Hedy will be back soon, and with some well-deserved welts on her ass.”
The sun wallowed down into Blackthorne Forest in the west. The gypsy campfire grew bright and cheerful as dusk deepened into a star-jeweled deep lavender sky. The moon would rise soon, floating his bloated fat belly over the Whitwood Hills in the east. Two by two, the gypsies left the fire for the warmth and comfort of their wagons, and bed. Milos and Varina waited until they were alone, then sneaked off, giggling, into the tall bushes.
Radinka held her breathe, listening. Karel and his wife,
Katarina, slept peacefully, their breathing slow and soft. Radinka carefully slid out of bed and into her shoes. She had not undressed, so she made no sound or commotion. Gently she turned the door handle and slipped outside, carefully making sure she did not jiggle the wagon as she stepped off the stair onto the grass. Pulling her large, cerulean blue shawl around her petite body, she sped away in the darkness.
Off to the west, a brilliant white spike of lightning flashed out and stabbed down into the sea. Roiling black clouds clawed at the stars and devoured them in its inky mouth. The rising wind whipped the cloudy gloom into a fury as it raced toward Radinka. Her tiny feet ran up the lane and onto Fleetfoot Road toward the baron’s castle, toward poor Hedy, and the harsh fate waiting to ravish another beautiful young girl in Darklair.
***
Richard sat by the fireplace in Blackthorne House, his head bowed into his hands. Aunt Caroline knelt on the carpet at his side, her comforting hands on his knees. The dancing light of the flames played across his face as he lifted it and spoke. “How can you be sure no real harm will come to Lissa?”
Caroline sighed, “When I sneaked a look at Lissa’s diary, I read her decision to spend a secret night in the Baron’s cellar as a sex-prisoner. That bride of yours takes too many chances! She’s going to get seriously hurt, or worse, if she doesn’t learn some sense! We all have fun playing out bondage sex fantasies, but she is positively reckless.”
The blustering night wind rattled the window panes. Caroline stood up and held out her hands to the warmth of the fire. “To go to such a remote place and surrender to captivity in the hands of people we know so little about is dangerous. I rode out to visit the Baron that day and talked with him. I was satisfied that he would not allow his people to maim her or threaten her life. He agreed that Lissa needed to be taught a lesson about trusting strangers, so he suggested keeping her prisoner for a week to frighten some sense into her. You needn’t worry. He assures me she is being punished, but kept safe from any real harm.”
“You’re sure about Baron Vartan? What about his people? Can we trust them, too?”
“They’ve been in his service for years--but...”
“What?”
Caroline turned toward Richard, the dark shadows dancing across her face. “Lissa mentioned something in her diary about a sex-beast kept prisoner in the cellar, and it being given bound and helpless girls to indulge its unnatural sex cravings with.”
“That would be a temptation Lissa couldn’t resist. Shouldn’t we ride out to the Baron’s castle and rescue her tonight?”
“Not tonight. Listen to that thunder!” It’s going to be a terrible storm! We’ll wait until morning.”
***
“Excuse me, sir, but this girl knocked on our castle door and asked about a gypsy named ‘Hedy’. Do you know anything about such a person, Baron?”
Baron Vartan turned around in his wing chair and looked at the girl. “Did you lose your way, or are you seeking help.” He noticed her shivering in her wet clothes. “Come, child, sit here close to the fireplace. The frigid night wind is howling, and you must be chilled through to the bone.”
Radinka hung back, nervously scuffing one shoe on top of the other.
“This ‘Hedy’, is she your mother?”
“N-n-no, sir, Mister Baron. S-s-she’s a woman with our b-b-band of gypsies. She s-s-said she was coming here. I was afraid she m-m-might...get hurt.”
“My dear child! I can hear your teeth chattering. You must warm yourself.” He looked back at his butler, “Graveston, have we seen a gypsy woman? Did anyone with that name come to our door today?”
“No, Baron. This child is the only person that has come to our door since Inspector Gall visited us.”
Vartan gestured to her, “Come, child, there is nothing to be afraid of. Come close to the fire and warm yourself.”
Radinka approached him slowly, her head bowed slightly, her eyes half-hidden under her long, lush eyelashes.
“It’s all right, child. No one will hurt you. What is your name?”
She slowly sat down on the front edge of the second wing-backed chair and spread out her arms toward the warmth. “My n-n-name is Radinka, s-s-sir. We came from Voldavia. I r-r-remember hearing a-b-bout you when we were still living there.”
Vartan turned to his butler, “Graveston, please tell Devora to fetch some warm, dry clothing for this young girl. She will become seriously ill if she doesn’t change soon.” He turned back to the trembling Radinka, “Now child, my maid will take you to her room, and help you out of those soaked clothes. Then you can enjoy the warmth and hospitality of my castle.”
“T—thank you, s-s-sir!” she said through her chattering teeth. “You’re very kind, sir. Not at all like the s-s-stories I’ve heard about you.”
Vartan leaned forward, his eyes glittering with some secret fire, “What kind of stories my dear?”
Graveston took her wet shawl and draped a plaid wool tartan over her shoulders. Radinka pulled it close and stopped shivering. She lowered her head and stared at her fingers twisting together. “I’m sorry, sir. I should not have said that.”
“It’s all right, my dear. I know we are foreigners to the people, and it’s always easier to invent a reason for our fears than confront them and admit we are imagining things. Ah! Here’s Devora.” He stood and gestured toward the gypsy girl. “Here’s a poor, lost child, soaked and shivering. Please take her to your room and get her out of those wet clothes.”
There was a flicker of expression across his and Devora’s face, a secret, sly, understanding between them.
Radinka’s eyes widened as she looked at Devora’s skimpy maid uniform; flared black velvet skirt, it’s lace trimmed hem high above her knees, the white bib and attached waist apron the only other covering for her breasts. Devora’s nipples pressed twin points forward against the bib.
Devora noticed the girl’s wide-eyed surprise, “Oh, don’t be shocked, child. I was undressing for bed when Graveston knocked and gave me the Baron’s message. I didn’t have time to get fully dressed.”
Graveston coughed and turned to hide his grin.
“Come along, child.” Devora smiled and held out her hands, helping Radinka up from the chair.
“My name is Radinka,” she replied. “My big brother, Karel, says our mother named me that because I’m so full of energy.”
Devora smiled, “Radinka. That’s such a pretty name for such a pretty girl.”
The gypsy girl lowered her head and blushed.
Devora tilted her head toward the window streaked with rain. “You’ll have to spend the night with us, dear. We can’t send you home in this storm.” She stroked the girl’s frail, rosy cheek. Her voice was a throaty, hoarse whisper. “You can sleep with me. Maybe we can find an exotic use for all your energy.” Wrapping one arm around the petite girl, and grasping the gypsy girl’s hand with hers, Devora gently nudged her out of the room.
Graveston looked at the Baron, one eyebrow arched in inquiry, a cryptic smile on his lips.
“I don’t know. She won’t be 18 years old until after midnight.”
“We can have a surprise birthday party for her. We could stick our lively candles in her virgin cake and wish her a happy birthday.”
“I’ll consider that. First, I want you to go down in the cellar and see if that obstinate woman is ready to tell me what I want to know.”
“Yes, Baron. Right away.”
“The first thing we need to do is get you into a nice, steaming tub of hot water and give you a bath,” Devora said. She swept her eyes hungrily over the girl’s body.
“Oh, that would be so nice,” Radinka said. “I’m so cold, and the hot water would relax me so I can sleep. I’ve been so terribly frightened by the darkness, the storm, and then forcing myself to come up to the huge stone walls and knock on your door.”
“You’re very brave, Radinka, and inside the walls of this castle are so many delightful ways we can reward your courage.
“You are all so very kind. I feel so safe and protected from harm here. I’m glad I came here tonight.”
Devora grinned and a wolf’s-gleam glowed in her eyes. “So am I.” She drew the gypsy girl’s diminutive body against hers and smiled down into her face. “We are going to be such wonderfully close friends.”
“I am so very lucky tonight!”
Devora grinned again and caressed Radinka’s cheek. “So am I.” She led the girl through a door into the bathroom. “The Baron installed all the newest furnishings. It’s quite modern, for the castle being so isolated.”
Radinka swept her eyes over the gleaming white porcelain bath and sink fixtures with brass fittings. She clasped her hands together and her face beamed. “How wonderful. I feel like I am a rich lady.”
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could stay here with us during the time your people are camped on the heath. We could share such wonderful experiences together.” Devora opened the faucet and water poured into the double-sized tub.
Clouds of steam rose up into the air and curled around the two girls. “The other faucet is cold water. Adjust them both until the water feels just the right temperature. I’ll fetch a fuzzy warm flannel nightgown and bring it to you when you finish your bath.”
“Oh, this is going to be such a wonderful, magical night.”
“Yes, I’m sure it will be, my naive little girl,” Devora muttered as she stepped into the hallway and shut the door.
***
Hedy’s naked body drooped, dangling from wrist chains in the center of the cell. Her legs were spread wide, her ankles cuffed to chains stretched across to ring bolts in the sidewalls. A scattering of whip marks decorated her back, buttocks, thighs and belly. Her sagging breasts hadn’t been touched—yet. Her hair was strewn and tangled around her head. Wild strands hung diagonally across her face.
Dagan’s sweating, naked body stood before her as he slowly rubbed the whip back and forth in her crotch. He turned as Graveston entered the cell.
Lust Lurks at Dark Lair Page 13