Alleyn, Fredrica (26 page)

The baron clapped slowly from the far side of the room. 'An excellent display from everyone. Cassandra and I will retire now. Frangoise, perhaps you could fetch the maids and they can clear up and assist Nicola to bed.'

And so it was that poor Nicola, shattered, abused and yet now secretly lost to the demands of the dark pleasures she'd been shown that evening, had to endure the final humiliation of Sophie and Monique cleaning her up, taking her to her room and putting her to bed.

Her only consolation was the thought that Cassandra had mentioned some kind of ordeal for both of them the following day, an ordeal Nicola would take pleasure in watching.

Chapter Eleven

W
hen Cassandra awoke the next morning she was surprised to find the baron still asleep beside her, one leg thrown over hers. He had come back to her room after he'd finished with Nicola, watched her undress for bed and then asked her if she'd wanted him to send for Peter. When she'd refused the offer he'd taken off his own clothes and announced that he'd sleep in her room for the night.

For Cassandra it had been a bizarre experience. Normally he only used her bed for making love; now and again he would remain there afterwards, but she could never remember him choosing to simply sleep there before.

She'd enjoyed the night; being close to him without any of the sexual arousal and tension that usually accompanied their time together had delighted her, but she wished that she knew the reason for his decision.

As though aware that she was scrutinising him while he slept, the baron's eyes suddenly opened and he looked slightly disorientated for a moment until the memories of the previous evening came flooding back.

'Have you rung for coffee?' he asked.

'Not yet; you seemed to be sound asleep. I didn't want to wake you.'

'I'm awake now, get one of the maids to bring some straight away,' he said, pushing his pillows behind his shoulderblades as he propped himself upright. 'Tell me, Cassandra, what did you think of Nicola last night?'

'I thought she did very well. You certainly didn't make it easy for her.'

He smiled. 'What a strange girl you are! Surely it's to your advantage that I make it difficult. That way she's more likely to fail.'

Cassandra frowned. 'I think you believe she's more likely to succeed this way. She's growing to like it when she's handled roughly, when there's both pain and pleasure. You're helping her, aren't you?'

'Why should I do that?'

'Because you want more reaction from me,' she said, slowly realising the truth. 'I'm not saying the right things am I? You want me to be more aggressive towards her, or to do something that will make sure she fails.'

The baron shook his head. 'Not at all. Your job is to help her learn. So far you've shown her excellent self-control and tried to ease the way for her, just as I'd expected. Today you'll do a little more than that though.'

'I thought that this afternoon was going to be taken up with Sophie and Monique,' Cassandra reminded him.

'Indeed it is, but I want you to explain to Nicola that she can help choose their various competitions in the gym. I want to hear the kind of ideas she has in this situation. And before she dresses this morning I want you to insert some love balls inside her. That combined with more of the cordial should keep her exactly where I want her until the workout in the gym begins!'

'Don't you want to insert them yourself?' asked Cassandra in surprise.

'No, I want to watch you do it on my monitor.

Describe to her what it will feel like, and teach her what muscles to use to keep them in place the whole day.'

Before Cassandra could reply there was a tap on the door and Monique entered with their morning tray of coffee. She placed it on the bedside table and waited with downcast eyes to be dismissed.

The baron studied her thoughtfully. 'Are you looking forward to your afternoon off, Monique?' he asked politely.

'Yes, sir.'

'No doubt you are determined to win; having had a taste of the punishment chair so recently I imagine you are anxious to avoid it a second time.'

The maid lifted her head. 'I'm going to win, sir.'

'I assume Sophie feels the same way,' mused the baron. 'It should be an interesting competition. Run along now.'

Bobbing a swift curtsy the maid left. The baron sighed and stretched voluptuously. 'I think I'll have a swim this morning, and perhaps go for a ride as well. Tell me, Cassandra, how often do you gain your sexual pleasure from acts carried out in order to please me?'

She considered the question. 'I don't think it's ever just to please you. How could it be? It's my body that responds, not yours. I try things that you suggest, allow you to organise many of my sexual activities, but the pleasure's my own.'

His eyes were expressionless as she finished speaking. 'Is that so? You may be interested to know that Nicola gets her pleasure from knowing she's doing as I wish.'

Cassandra shrugged, pretending it was of little interest to her, but inside she was wondering which the baron preferred. Surely he had kept her with him for so long because of her own sexuality, her genuine love of his way of life, not because she was some kind of sexual puppet whose strings he controlled.

'Then we are clearly not in the least alike,' she commented, slipping out of bed and pulling on a jade silk negligee set.

'Not at all alike. The question is, which of you will please me the most?'

'You might decide you need us both,' pointed out Cassandra.

He shook his head. 'No, it will never come to that. There isn't room in my life for both of you.'

'Then we'll have to wait and see,' she said, her tone light.

'Exactly! It could be a difficult decision in the end.'

'I doubt it,' remarked Cassandra, on her way to her bathroom. 'I somehow think that it will be decided for you by the end of the game.'

As she bathed, dressed and got ready to go to Nicola's room, Cassandra kept going over what the baron had told her. She'd seen for herself that Nicola had adapted very quickly to life at the chateau, but she'd also realised that most of her pleasure was caused by the baron's presence. For Cassandra other things, sex with Giovanni, an afternoon with Peter in the swimming pool, chastisement of the maids, could all give her total satisfaction without the baron even being present.

She was sure it was better to be like that. He didn't want dependent women, and yet he seemed intrigued by Nicola's swift bending to his will and also by her growing fascination with depravity. As she made her way to the English girl's room Cassandra vowed that she wasn't going to change. She was the way she was, and if Nicola proved to be more attractive to the baron then she would have to accept defeat, despite the fact that he seemed to need her more now than at any other time in their life together.

Perhaps, she thought with a blinding flash of insight, he was afraid that Nicola was going to win when he'd originally been certain Cassandra would triumph. Well, it was his game and he invented the rules. All Cassandra could do was be herself and hope that her love, which could never be voiced aloud, would be to her advantage.

Nicola was already awake, lying staring up at her reflection in the mirror above the bed. Cassandra smiled, thinking how unlikely it would have been to have found the girl naked and studying herself in this way a few days earlier. When Cassandra came into the room, Nicola went to pull her duvet over her.

'There's no point in being modest, not after last night!' laughed Cassandra.

Nicola blushed furiously. 'I couldn't help it. The drinks, the things you all did to me, anyone would have responded.'

'No, some people would simply retreat into themselves and be no fun at all,' corrected Cassandra. 'The truth is that you're a very sensual girl, which is a good thing since you're being tutored by the baron. Now, open your legs, I have something for you.'

'What is it?' asked Nicola nervously as Cassandra opened a red box and took out the two love balls nestling against the velvet container.

'It's a very simple device but extremely arousing and the baron wishes you to wear it today, partly to keep you stimulated and partly as an aid to learning to use your pelvic floor muscles better.'

As she spoke she very gently rubbed the palm of one hand against Nicola's vulva, pressing and rotating so that the outer labia parted of their own accord, revealing her vaginal opening.

'Caress your own breasts,' said Cassandra.

'No, I . . .'

'Please do as I say,' said Cassandra more sharply. 'It's only to make you more lubricated and ease the way in for the love balls.'

At first Nicola felt very self-conscious as she played with her nipples, but then she caught sight of herself in the mirror above and found it more exciting so that within a very short time her lubrication became evident to the waiting Cassandra who carefully pressed the two love balls into the vagina, leaving the end of the string to which they were attached, hanging free.

'There, now that was simple enough wasn't it! Stand up for a moment.'

Nicola stood on the floor and felt the balls pressing heavily against her opening. 'They'll fall out,' she complained.

'Of course they won't, but since they're new to you, they're bound to feel strange. The nerve endings from around your vaginal tissue and ligaments all feed back to the clitoris, which means that every time the balls roll or press against the sides of it you'll get considerable pleasure, and quite often the clitoris itself will move against its hood which is delightful.

'To accentuate the pleasure you must keep flexing your pelvic floor muscle. Just imagine you're spending a penny and trying to stop the flow. Each time you do that the muscle contracts and the sensation from the balls increases. Try it now and see for yourself.'

Nicola could already feel flashes of mounting pleasure coming from the heavy weight within her, and when she did as Cassandra suggested and contracted her internal muscles the sensation was magnified. She drew in her breath sharply.

'Wonderful, isn't it?' enthused Cassandra. 'Most of the time, when you're simply walking, running, or even riding,' she added thoughtfully, 'they'll keep you on the edge of a climax, but sometimes you can actually topple over the edge and have one. If you do, make sure that it's discreet. The baron doesn't wish any to be visible to the rest of us.'

'Suppose he does notice?' asked Nicola.

'Then he'll be displeased,' replied Cassandra. 'And his displeasure is something to be avoided, as you'll see this afternoon.'

'What's the punishment chair?' asked Nicola suddenly.

Cassandra hesitated. 'It's a special chair in the room above yours. The baron devised it himself, and anyone who's used it tries hard to avoid being placed in it a second time.'

'But whoever loses this afternoon has to use it, doesn't she?'

'Yes,' said Cassandra levelly.

'Will I be able to see it then?'

'Possibly, but the baron may wish to reserve your first sight of it for the first time you have to be punished.'

Nicola looked startled. 'Isn't it only for staff?'

'It's for anyone in the chateau who displeases him, myself included,' Cassandra said slowly.

'Did you hate it?' asked Nicola. 'Or was it like last night? Was there pleasure too?'

'It's different for everyone; it can be used in various ways. Now get dressed, and remember to keep flexing your pelvic floor muscle, the men prefer it to be well developed as it makes their orgasms more intense if you can grip them firmly.'

'Will the love balls get uncomfortable?' asked Nicola as Cassandra turned to leave.

'If they do just remember that you're doing it for the baron,' said Cassandra, and the baron, who was watching the two women on his monitor, smiled to himself, knowing that his earlier words had made an impression on his mistress.

They all took breakfast together, and afterwards as they decided how to spend their morning before the afternoon's entertainment with the maids, the baron sat Nicola in a rocking chair in a corner of a sunny drawing room and with apparent absent-mindedness rocked the chair steadily to and fro as they all talked.

For Nicola it was both bliss and agony. The love balls moved ceaselessly within her, and her clitoris was constantly stimulated by this resulting eventually in one orgasm after another. Although none of them were huge they grew in intensity, and she had terrible trouble in disguising the ripples of delight that kept running through her.

At last he stopped. 'Is it too hot in here for you, Nicola?' he asked politely as he went to leave the room with Rupert. 'You seem a little warm. There's perspiration on your top lip.'

Cassandra, who'd been watching him torment the girl with some amusement, nearly laughed aloud when Giovanni, who was staying behind at the chateau for the morning, also started tipping the chair back and forth as he stared out of the window and decided whether or not to have a swim.

'Please, stop!' gasped Nicola suddenly.

'Nicola,' said Cassandra warningly

'What should I stop?' asked the Italian.