Tales of the Odalisque

by Josie Litton

  “Because we’ve been able to determine that they are forgeries. Excellent ones, to be sure, detectable only by the most advanced means. They would have stood up to any scrutiny that she could reasonably expect to encounter and then some. Whoever built the cover identity she’s using started years ago and spared no expense.”

  That was definitely not good. Very few people had either the ability or the foresight to do any such thing. Whoever she was, the treacherous beauty had an agenda that went far beyond the jewels, cash or artwork he had thought she could be after.

  “A foreign government then?” he asked. “Russia perhaps, or Germany?”

  “Possibly,” Adrian agreed, “although I wouldn’t rule out some of the larger international conglomerates. They operate like independent states when they can. My point is that whoever dispatched her considers her mission important enough to risk burning a legend that took years to build. No one does that for anything less than the highest stakes.”

  “All my files are encrypted and quarantined, both physically and electronically,” Lucius said, grimly satisfied that he had put such sensitive material beyond her reach.

  If Adrian was at all reassured by that, his response did not reflect it. Quietly, he said, “Then we have to consider what she is really after, my friend. I’ve talked this over with my people and we all agree, you are her likeliest target.”

  “Me?” Lucius could not conceal his surprise. Not that he thought of himself as invulnerable; he was nowhere near to being such a fool. He’d just never considered that if an enemy did come against him, it would be in the guise of a beautiful, winsome young woman.

  “In the past five years,” Adrian said, “you have been of vital assistance to the Empire on no less than two dozen occasions. Simply put, you are a tremendous asset to King and Country. Someone who has reason to resent or fear that might very well wish to take you off the board.”

  “If someone wanted to kill me, why not just try to pick me off on the street? It’s not as though I’m in hiding.”

  “Perhaps they’d like to question you first, find out what they can learn from you.”

  That did give Lucius pause. Ultimately, no man could withstand torture. In the end, everyone could be broken.

  “Frankly,” Adrian said, “if we were on the other side, I’d consider sending a beguiling woman, a virgin no less, to get through your defenses.”

  Lucius barked a laugh. “If she’s out to seduce me, she’s woefully unprepared. Arabella is convinced that she is a true innocence.”

  ”I bow to Miss Hamilton’s expertise, of course, but this is no joking matter. You must exercise the greatest caution.”

  To hell with that. He should deal with the deceitful minx in the most expeditious manner possible. “Or I could simply boot her out onto the street.”

  Even as he spoke, Lucius knew he would do no such thing. On the contrary, he would keep the lovely Natalia close, the better to discover just how treacherous she really was and repay her accordingly.

  Pretending to believe his threat, Adrian said, “Indeed but then neither you nor we would have the opportunity to discover who she is working with and to what end.”

  With amused resignation, Lucius said, “You want me to be the bait.”

  “I could pretty that up but yes, that’s it. Lure Miss Bollinger into exposing what she is truly after. Catch her in the act and perhaps we can turn her to our own advantage. Failing that, we can at least extract whatever useful information she possesses.”

  At the thought of what the latter would entail, Lucius felt a sudden, entirely irrational spurt of white hot anger, followed by what he could only regard as a mad desire to protect his wayward virgin. Cynically, he considered that while His Majesty’s government never stooped to torture, so-called ‘enhanced interrogation’ was permitted. The line between the two could be very fine indeed, almost to the point of being non-existent.

  “We’ll see,” he said before abruptly ringing off.

  Chapter Seven

  Returning to the theatre in the crypt of the abbey where she had recently suffered such debasement gave Natalia pause. For once, she was glad of the obscuring bonnet. Hopefully, no one would notice how ill-at-ease she was.

  In place of the flogging bench, the center of the stage was now occupied by what appeared to be nothing more sinister than an ordinary massage table. She had no inkling why it was there until irrepressible Clara leaned a little closer and murmured, “I’ve been looking forward to this all week.”

  She was fairly squirming in her seat as were the other virgins. Their excitement was so evident that the abbess had to call them to order.

  “Ladies,” Arabella Hamilton said sternly, “I realize that not all of you are interested in acquiring an extended contract. However, the techniques imparted in this demonstration, as advanced as they may appear, can stand you in good stead as you go forward on your chosen path, whatever that may be.”

  “What does she mean, extended contract?” Natalia asked in a whisper.

  On her other side, Lei Su replied, “It’s not unusual for girls to be offered much longer arrangements beyond the initial period of the auction. At least one Odalisque virgin agreed to a three-year contract and walked away at the end of it with millions.”

  “Left him broken-hearted, too,” Clara said with a grin. “Poor fellow was hoping to convince her to marry him.”

  “Have there been actual marriages?” Natalia asked. She hadn’t considered that possibility perhaps because the subject of matrimony itself was of no interest to her.

  The girls exchanged a look before Lei Su said, “If the rumors are true, several ladies in society, here and abroad, have sat where we are right now.”

  “We’ll find out,” Clara whispered. “I’ve heard that there’s an entire sisterhood of--

  “Ladies!” the abbess interrupted. “If you are quite through chattering…”

  A young woman in a sarong walked out onto the stage accompanied by a young man. She was lovely but got only the most passing notice. He on the other hand…

  Peter, as he was introduced, was tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular without being bulky. He was also entirely nude.

  Without a glance at the virgins, he stretched out matter-of-factly face up on the massage table, his arms at his sides and his eyes closed. So relaxed did he appear that he might have been about to take a nap.

  “Kalea is expert in the art of tantric massage,” the abbess said, indicating the young woman. “Watch carefully, observing in particular where and how she uses her hands.”

  Natalia was preparing to do exactly that when a movement on the opposite side of the stage directly in her line of vision distracted her. Even as she stiffened in shock, Clara dug an elbow into her side.

  “Oh, my god,” the other girl murmured. “Luscious is here again!”

  A stir rippled through the virgins. Only a scathing look from the abbess settled them down again.

  The demonstration proceeded. With an air of perfect serenity, Kalea oiled her hands, cupped Peter’s testicles and began massaging them gently. The muscles of his buttocks flexed but otherwise he did not react.

  Natalia’s breath caught. Lucius was staring not at the carnal exhibition being carried out in front of him but at her. His gaze might as well have been a physical touch, so powerful was its impact. She was unable to look away, held in thrall to him just as before, yet still vividly aware of the intimate act playing out right before her eyes.

  Kalea shifted slightly and began to massage the area around the testicles and penis, keeping that up for long moments as she stroked the pubic bone and inner thighs, even extending her oiled fingers to lightly brush over the area between the balls and anus.

  As though possessed of a will entirely its own, the cock hardened, extending inches beyond its hitherto flaccid length at the same time it swelled in girth.

  Natalia shifted on the stone bench. Her nipples were already hard and becoming ever more so by the moment. S
he could feel a flush spreading from her cheeks down her throat and over the swell of her unbound breasts. As all the virgins, the robe was her sole garment; beneath it she was entirely nude.

  Gracefully, Kalea grasped the hardened penis in her hand and began stroking the shaft up and down, slowly, then more rapidly, and slowly once again.

  Natalia dragged in breath, acutely aware of Lucius’ nearness, his arms crossed over his broad chest, standing seemingly at ease despite the erotic spectacle they were both witnessing. Any hope she had of concealing her response was eroding rapidly. Her breasts felt heavy and aching. She shifted again, aware of Clara’s thigh pressing against her on one side and Lei Su’s on the other. With a start, she realized that she was smelling their arousal mingling with her own.

  At the massage table, Kalea increased the rhythm of her strokes, using both hands and slightly twisting on each upward motion.

  Natalia struggled to follow along on the assumption that there would be a test later, Miss Sheridan being a fan of the dreaded pop quiz. Surely, the Sensible Virgin would be diligent in her studies.

  A few drops of what she had learned was called pre-come--or pre-cum, apparently there was no agreement on the spelling--oozed from the tip of the penis. At once, Kalea stopped. She kept hold of the cock but her hand dropped to its base, which she encircled with what looked like a very firm grip.

  Struggling for breath, Natalia felt the heat of Lucius’ gaze more intensely than ever. Her entire body responded helplessly. As desperate as she was to look away from him, she could not do so. Instead, the treacherous thought teased at her--what would it be like to touch him as Kalea was touching Peter, explore his body so intimately, bring him to the very edge of release?

  After a few moments, the masseuse resumed her motions. Again and again, she brought the hapless male to the verge of orgasm and held him there. When she pressed on a spot midway between the testicles and anus, pre-come oozed over her hand and down the shaft.

  Natalia pressed her legs tightly together but that only made the problem worse. Her clit was swollen and hypersensitive. She felt scalding hot and so wet that she feared when she finally did stand, the evidence of her arousal would be visible on the back of her robe. Around her, she was distantly aware that the other virgins were raptly attentive. But nothing mattered except Lucius’ own remorseless presence, watching her, gauging her every response.

  “And now,” the abbess said, “observe as Kalea performs the maneuver commonly known as ‘milking’ a male. For your reference, when carried to completion, this can result in a release of unparalleled intensity.”

  Natalia’s instinct was the shut her eyes; she truly didn’t think she could bear much more. But that incessant, wanton voice deep inside her simply would not be denied.

  What if she had Kalea’s skills? What if that was Lucius in all his naked glory stretched out beneath her questing hands?

  Caught between acute arousal and unwilling fascination, she watched as Kalea slipped an oiled finger into Peter’s anus and gently maneuvered it side to side and up and down. The results were dramatic, to say the least. The young man’s entire body shuddered. His back began to arch and just as it did--

  Kalea removed her finger, deftly untied the knot holding up her sarong and lifted herself agilely onto the table. Quickly straddling Peter, she drew his cock to her and settled slowly onto it until it vanished entirely into her cunt.

  With her head thrown back, her long dark hair brushing her buttocks, she wrapped her fingers around the base of his penis and rode him vigorously, coming herself before, in the midst of her own orgasm, she finally withdrew her hand and allowed him to join her in release.

  Natalia stared transfixed at the pair as they peaked together. Never had she seen anything so beautiful or so powerful. Instinctively, she felt she should not be watching and wrenched her gaze away, only to find herself ensnared in Lucius’ gaze. He had stepped far enough out of the shadows for her to see the unholy gleam in his eyes and the hard curve of his sinful mouth.

  Kalea rose gracefully from the table, semen slipping down her inner thighs, and smiled at the enthusiastic applause from the virgins. All but Natalia who was still far too distracted by Lucius to be aware of anything else.

  “Any questions?” the abbess asked her flock.

  Chapter Eight

  Lucius jerked off in the shower under a down rush of icy water that had failed to quell his fierce arousal. Damn her! If he’d had Natalia there with him, she would have been on her knees, her lovely mouth filled with his cock. And that would have been only the beginning. On the floor, against the wall, in his bed, he would have taken her again and again. By morning, neither one of them would have been able to walk.

  The best he could salvage from the situation was that he came quickly. Half-a-dozen strokes and his release was upon him. Rather than come all over her exquisite breasts, he had to content himself with the tiled wall of the shower, a reality that did nothing whatsoever to improve his mood.

  With a towel wrapped around his lean hips and droplets of water still clinging to his dark hair, he walked out into the main living room of the Mayfair apartment with its sweeping views of Hyde Park. He kept another, much smaller apartment on the top floor of the club but rarely stayed there. Experience had taught him that living above the shop, as it were, didn’t suit him. He preferred to keep his professional and private lives separate.

  Not that he had much of the latter of late. Between the expansion of the Odalisque chain, various other investments, and his occasional work on behalf of the Empire, he’d had scant time to pursue anything that resembled leisure. Although he maintained his training level, he could scarcely remember the last time he’d participated in an MMA match. Singapore, he thought, three years ago. Cage matches, like sex, had once been such a core part of his life that he’d taken both for granted. Now it seemed as though he stood on the edge of a void with no notion of how to fill it.

  His cock stirred again. He stared down at the bulge forming under the towel and shook his head in amazement. What on earth was wrong with the bloody thing? Here he was, having as close to an existential discussion with himself as he’d ever come and it was--

  Cage. With disgust, he made the connection. While his brain was reminiscing about competition and victory, his cock leaped to the idea of Natalia caged, naked and confined, awaiting his pleasure.

  A nice cage, to be sure, something Victorian with artfully scrolled metalwork and spacious, perhaps with a swing to provide her with healthy exercise.

  Despite his best efforts, Lucius found himself picturing her naked, those lovely breasts bouncing a bit, swinging back and forth, her legs parted and her cunt on full display--

  He needed a drink because he damn well was not going to jerk off again. Not yet at least. Going down to the theatre had been a mistake. He should have stayed in his office reviewing numbers or going over leases or something equally boring.

  The price of dildos had gone up again, thanks to the Chinese dildo makers who had a monopoly on the best of them and were demanding higher wages. Worldwide, the Odalisque chain went through a hell of a lot of dildos, not to mention other sex toys. He could have spent some time caring about that. But no, he had to remember the tantric demonstration Arabella had scheduled and decide to observe Natalia’s reaction to it.

  Her innocence, at least, was real; he was convinced that no one could blush like that on cue. Too easily, he imagined the lovely rosy hue spreading over her entire body, her breasts pinking, the nipples hard, begging to be sucked, her cunt wet and swollen, pearly cream seeping from her…

  His hand tightened on the cut crystal glass as he threw back the last inch of whiskey. He had to get control of himself. Tantric sex, the sacred ritual of giving and receiving release, had its benefits. But there were times when a man just wanted a quick, hard fuck. Dozens of beautiful, skilled women at the club would have happily provided him with exactly that.

  But he wanted her--the world’s most infu
riating virgin--treacherous, lying and just possibly dangerous Miss Bollinger. Wanted her under him, her exquisite legs spread wide, her pussy glistening with her arousal, his name on her lips, pleading…

  Above all, he wanted her at his mercy. Then and only then was he convinced that he would get the truth from her. The irony that the one woman he wanted to fuck was the same woman he should stay as far away from as possible did not escape him. But neither was he deterred by it.

  Whatever Natalia’s intentions, he had his own plans for her and nothing was going to get in the way of them.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  “Ladies,” Miss Sheridan called out, “a little less giggling, if you please. Gag reflexes are not to be taken lightly. They can cause problems at the most inopportune moments.”

  “That’s the truth,” Kathleen murmured. “I remember one time I was going down on a chap I fancied--well, why not, he’d done the same for me. Got a bit carried away. Learned to my sorrow--and his--that Bushwhackers and blow jobs don’t mix.”

  Reminded yet again that ‘virgin’ was a strictly technical term where her fellow novices were concerned, Natalia smothered a sigh.

  “Training, ladies,” Miss Sheridan declared, “is how we conquer that reflex. Practice, practice, practice. Let’s begin.”

  Gingerly, Natalia picked up one of the long, jellied tubes lying in their see-through plastic wraps on the table before her. Out of the array of bright colors available, hers happened to be neon pink. Holding it between two fingers, she stared at it dubiously.

  The object was about eight inches long and more than an inch around. Her expression made it clear that she thought there had to be some misunderstanding. No one could expect her to put the thing in her mouth, much less actually down her throat.

  “Fellatio,” Miss Sheridan said, “is an ancient art that has been refined over the centuries. We’ll be exploring every aspect of it. But first we must have the basics in place and that starts with conquering the gag reflex.”