Black Orchid (8 page)

Her own bottom cleft was one mass of stinging soreness
now, but Maggie barely cared as she studied the tattoo
displayed before her. She was so close to Janine's spread cheeks,
she could smell the faint, sweet odour of feminine perspiration,
could see the puckered pink gateway to her forbidden orifice.

With Janine's head turned away from her, Maggie felt free
to examine her more slowly than she had ever dared to look
at any other woman's secret folds. Between her demurely
closed thighs, she could see her plump, pink sex peeking coyly
through the dark blonde curls. She was wet, a sheen of female
juices shimmering invitingly on the tender skin.

Janine pressed slightly closer and, without thinking, Maggie
acted on impulse, straining her lips forward to place a kiss
against the black orchid tattooed on the other girl's inner cheek.
Janine shuddered and Maggie quickly drew away, appalled at
herself.

'There – all done.' Phoebe's brisk voice, so cool, so clinical,
saved her.

Maggie smiled slightly shakily at her as she helped her off
the couch. She kept her eyes averted from Janine as she dressed
hurriedly, wincing as the soft cotton of her briefs touched the
plaster covered site of her new tattoo.

'I'll give you a supply of plasters. Salt baths are the best thing
while it scabs over. Plenty of air – keep your briefs off as often
as possible.'

Maggie winced as she left. It felt as though she had an inflated
balloon in her cleft and the sticking plaster pulled the
undamaged skin uncomfortably with every movement. She was
grateful to Janine when she took care of the bill, holding her by
the arm as they left as she suddenly felt quite faint. She could
not sit down properly in the car and was forced to lean against
Janine's slim shoulder as the other girl drove her home.

'Now I know why you insisted on driving me!' she broke the
silence between them with a slightly nervous laugh.

Janine smiled, keeping her eyes on the road ahead. When
they arrived at Maggie's flat, she helped her up the steps and
went to make coffee without being asked. Maggie half sat, half
lay across her blue and lemon chintz sofa, listening to the
sound of Janine moving about in the small, modern kitchen.

She loved her flat, treating it as her own, personal little haven
and she rarely invited anyone back there. Those few people who
did get through the door often commented on the unexpectedly
feminine style in which it was decorated. Cool lemons and blues
covered the sofa chairs, matching the soft yellow carpet and
china blue curtains. There was a hint of pink in the striped
wallpaper which she had picked out in the cushions and lamps
which lifted and warmed the colour scheme.

As Janine walked in with coffee steaming in two bone china
mugs, Maggie felt the atmosphere in the usually sunny room
thicken with tension.

'About earlier,' she blurted suddenly after they had both
sipped their coffee in uncomfortable silence for several minutes,
'I don't want you to think that I . . . well, that I could ever . . .'

'Fancy me?' Janine finished for her coolly.

Maggie felt her cheeks suffuse with heat and she realised
she was blushing furiously. There was something about Janine
that made her feel as awkward as a gauche schoolgirl. Since
that fateful day when she had kissed her in the office, Maggie
always had the uncomfortable feeling that Janine was party
to some crucial information of some kind to which she herself
had no access. She always seemed to be wearing an expression
like a cat who has been at the cream whenever Maggie drew
near her.

Worst of all, from her appearance in her dreams to small,
shocking incidents such as the one she had instigated today,
Maggie had found herself responding in a way which had,
until now, been completely alien to her.

'You worry too much, Maggie.'

'But I'm not . . . that way inclined,' she finished, despising
herself for her own coyness.

'Really?' Janine arched a disbelieving eyebrow.

'Yes! I mean, no! You know what I mean, Janine, you're just
being deliberately obtuse.'

Janine put down her empty mug on a coaster on the coffee
table between them. To Maggie's confusion, she leaned across
and dropped a dry, sisterly kiss on her forehead.

'The lady doth protest too much,' she smiled mischievously
before collecting up her bag and making for the door. She
turned as she reached it. 'You should lighten up a little, Maggie,
tune in to your innermost desires. It'll be all right, you'll see.
No, don't get up. I can see myself out.'

She disappeared though the door with a languid wave,
leaving Maggie staring after her in confusion.

It was two weeks before Maggie felt up to returning to the club.
Janine had been working away from the office and she found
it a relief not to have her around for a while. It had taken all
her willpower not to wince every time she sat down and all her
presence of mind to keep her attention on her work and off the
growing ache between her legs.

After the Jefferson Company fiasco, Maggie had received a
rocket, followed by a written warning from her immediate boss.
Since then she had tried to keep her head down, working late
and coming in early to make up for lost time. After two weeks
of this punishing regime, she felt she had earned an evening
off so she left work and headed straight for Lady's Lane.

The first person she saw as she went into the gym was
Alexander. He was crouched by the rowing machine, adjusting
something in its mechanism. Maggie felt her legs turn to water
as he glanced up and his startingly blue eyes met hers across
the room. Slowly, he rose to his feet and smiled at her, beckoning
her over.

'Ready for a workout, Maggie?' he asked her, his voice like
warm honey dripping over her finely tuned nerves.

She sank onto the rowing machine he had just been
adjusting, and tried not to shiver in response to the touch of
his warm hand which rested lightly on her shoulder. There
were two other women in the room, Tina she recognised from
the Exhibition Room on her second visit and an overweight
blonde who was making heavy work of the bench press. Tina
nodded politely to her before going back to her sit ups.

To Maggie's surprise, Alexander showed no inclination to
leave her side as she began to exercise. He stopped her to
reposition her feet and the touch of his fingers against her
ankles sent little sparks of electricity rushing up her calves.

God, but he was beautiful! No matter how many times she
saw him, Maggie never failed to be moved by the satisfying
symmetry of his features, the strength of his perfectly muscled
body which glowed bronze with a healthy, animal sheen.

She tried to concentrate on the exercise, but as her pulse
rate quickened, so did the tempo of her desire for him. Suddenly,
she wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his arms and
to feel the powerful thud of his heartbeat against hers.

He indicated with a nod that she should finish rowing and
move onto the next machine. As she stood, Maggie stumbled
against him. Alexander's strong arms came around her and for
a second she allowed herself to lean against him, closing her
eyes to savour the sensation. She loved the way he smelled, a
unique combination of musk and citrus, As he steadied her,
she could feel the raw strength of him which was confined by
the velvet smooth texture of his skin.

Realising that she was prolonging the moment just a little
too obviously, Maggie blushed and moved on. As she took her
place on the leg spreader, she could not resist a glance up at
him through her lashes. She sucked in her breath as she saw
he was watching her, his bright blue eyes hooded, his firm,
sensual lips twisted into a half smile.

There was something about that smile that sent a jolt of
delicious anticipation through her. He turned away then to
attend to the blonde who had reached the end of the circuit
and Maggie tried to concentrate on the exercise. It wasn't easy.
Every time she looked up, Alexander was in her line of vision.

From every angle he looked magnificent, every line and
plane of his well sculpted body visible through the uniform of
tight black shorts and T-shirt which was cut away at the shoulders.
His golden blonde hair was shaved at the nape of his neck
and around his ears, worn longer on the top where it was thick
and strong, inviting her to run her fingers through it.

The door of the gym opened and Tristan stepped through.
He greeted Alexander cheerfully and made a point of speaking
to each of the club members in turn.

'I'll be off then,' Alexander said.

Maggie's dismay must have been written all over her face
for Alexander smiled slightly as he glanced over at her. She
watched him covertly as he picked up a towel and strode out
of the gym, through a door marked '
Private
'.

She waited a few moments until Tristan's back was turned
and the other women were engrossed in their own routines
before slipping quietly through the door after Alexander.

Maggie found herself in a narrow corridor, white walled with
a terracotta tiled floor. At the end was a swing door with a
round window and a notice proclaiming
Strictly Private – Staff
Only Beyond This Point
. She hesitated for a moment, then,
remembering Alexander's smile and the promise it held, she
pushed the door open.

She was in a changing room, obviously used by the trainers
if the names on the lockers were anything to go by. First names
only, Judd, Tristan, Dean, Bruno. The one marked Alexander
stood open. The atmosphere in the windowless room was close
in spite of the air extractor fans which buzzed discreetly around
her. She could hear running water and walked toward its
source.

Rounding the corner, she could see Alexander's naked body
through the glass shower screen in the corner. He had his back
to her, and the steam swirling around in the cubicle obscured
her view of him. Quickly stripping off her clothes, Maggie
stepped into the shower with him.

His movements stilled as he felt her presence, but he showed
no surprise as he turned to face her. Maggie smiled tentatively
and stepped forward, the tips of her breasts almost touching
his wet chest in the close confines of the shower.

His chest was completely hairless, so smooth she wondered
if he shaved it. Almost shyly, she ran her hands over it and
down his arms. The light hairs there tickled her fingertips.
Alexander did not respond to her touch, watching impassively
as she reached for the shower gel and squirted a generous
portion onto her hands.

He stood, statue still as she began to lather his chest and
shoulders, moulding the finely drawn muscles of his arms with
her hands until he was entirely covered in thick, white suds
from the waist up. Only then did she divert her attention downwards
to his insultingly unaroused penis.

To her surprise, it barely responded to her careful soaping.
Rinsing it off, she dropped to her knees and began to run it gently
back and forth between her palms. He was circumcised, the
exposed glans soft and vulnerable at the end of an unexpectedly
long and slender stem. Lifting it in her hand, Maggie brought
her lips to the tip.

She gasped as Alexander suddenly grabbed her by the
elbows and hauled her back to her feet. He looked grim, his
thick, blond brows drawn together in a frown that completely
transformed his normally friendly face. Her actions had obviously
displeased him in some way, but he didn't say a word as
he gently, but insistently turned her round.

Suddenly unsure of herself, Maggie held her shoulders tense
as he began to soap them. She had forgotten how clever his
fingers were and she soon felt a delicious languor invade her
limbs. Without realising she was moving, she leaned back
against him.

There was no mistaking that he was erect now, the slim,
hard rod pressed into the small of her back, pointing up her
spine. Perhaps he preferred not to be touched, maybe he got
his kicks from arousing others, Maggie thought dreamily as
his soapy hands described big, slow circles on her full
breasts.

She gasped as he suddenly tweaked her hardening nipples,
pinching them almost painfully before turning his attention
to the wet curls between her legs. All rational thought fled as
he meticulously soaped each tender fold of flesh, lingering
almost lovingly on her burgeoning clitoris. Her legs felt
weightless as she leaned against him and gave herself up to
the sensation of his soapy wet fingers against her slippery
flesh leaves.

Working up a richer lather, Alexander began to soap the
twin orifices of her vagina and anus, pushing the suds deep
inside her so that she felt stuffed with delicate, air filled
bubbles.

'Oh!'

She groaned as he reached for the showerhead and directed
the spray between her legs. The water cascaded over the eager
nub before he redirected it upwards. Maggie's knees buckled
as she felt the surge of warm water bubble up inside her and
pour out again down the insides of her thighs.

Alexander thwarted her attempts to touch herself, pulling
her arms behind her back by the elbows and growling, close
to her ear, 'Oh no you don't. Come with me.'

He turned off the water and wrapped a thick, white towel
round his waist. Maggie took the identical towel he offered her
and wound it sarong style, under her arms. Wordlessly, she
followed him as he padded through the shower area and headed
for double pine doors at the far end of the changing rooms. As
he opened them, thick, hot steam billowed out, enveloping them
in its heavy, fragrant heat.

Once inside the sauna, Alexander bolted the doors behind
them. Maggie felt a curious sensation curl in the pit of her
stomach as he turned towards her.

'Sit,' he ordered tersely.

It was against Maggie's nature to obey such an imperiously
issued command, but she did it none the less, bruising the
backs of her knees against the edge of the slatted pine seat
as she stumbled against it. She watched Alexander warily as
he paced the small, square room, his expression masked by
steam.

Her eyes widened in alarm as he suddenly opened a
cupboard and took something out. He handed the object to
her, watching her closely as she examined it. It was a small
switch, the wooden handle about six inches long from which
a handful of what looked like horsehair dangled in long,
spindly strands.

'Have you ever used one of these, Maggie?' Alexander asked
coldly.

She shook her head, unable to take her eyes off the sinister
looking object in her hands..

'In a proper sauna, you would use one of these to beat yourself.
It's supposed to increase the circulation.'

He took it from her and examined it minutely, running the
tip of his forefinger along the handle and dangling the ends
of the horsehair against his palm.

'It's a clever little device, made to redden the skin, not to
break it. Yet it packs quite a punch. Hold out your hand and
I'll show you.'

Reluctantly, Maggie offered him her hand, palm upward.
Alexander smiled slightly, then he flicked the switch across
Maggie's palm. He watched her face intently as she snatched
it back and curled her fingers over the stinging weal. The
sudden pain had taken her breath away and she looked up at
Alexander through eyes welling with tears.

'That hurt!' she protested croakily.

'Good. I have to teach you a lesson, Maggie darling. A lesson
about trespassing where you have no business and touching
a man without an invitation.'

He watched as she absorbed his words and the incredulity
and horror crossed her face.

'What . . .? You wouldn't dare!'

Maggie flinched away as Alexander advanced on her,
cowering against the warm wall of the sauna as he dropped
down on his haunches in front of her. She felt unsure of herself,
frightened even, and she did not like the feeling one bit.

'Wouldn't I?' he whispered huskily. 'Aren't you just a little
bit curious, Maggie?'

She shook her head even while the invidious thought formed
itself in her head that, yes, she would like to know how it
would feel to entrust herself completely to this hypnotically
powerful stranger.

He laughed, suddenly and kissed her. It was a kiss of such
sweet tenderness that Maggie relaxed, all the tension flowing
out of her as he tasted the sweet honey of her lips. She was
barely aware that he was gradually compelling her to sink to
her knees onto the hard, damp floor before him. She jumped
as she felt the scratchy stroke of the switch across the backs
of her thighs.

'Trust me, Maggie. Take your punishment well and you'll
earn a reward.'

His voice was like silk, easing over her trembling limbs as
he coaxed her onto her hands and knees in front of him and
slowly peeled away her towel. She felt exposed, horribly vulnerable
as her breasts hung heavily downwards. She could feel
Alexander's eyes on them even before he reached down and
squeezed them in his large hands.

'Beautiful,' he murmured, 'like two great udders just waiting
to be milked.'

He swung them slightly as he released them and Maggie
watched them move ponderously from side to side, unable to
tear her eyes away. A wave of shame, the like of which she had
never before experienced, washed over her as Alexander
slapped them sharply on the underside and her nipples hardened
visibly in response.

'You see – I knew you'd like it,' he whispered, close to her
ear.

He slapped her breasts again and she moaned softly.

'No!' She jumped as he suddenly grabbed her chin and
brought her face up to his. 'I haven't given you permission to
enjoy this, bitch! If I find any hint of wetness between your
rampant thighs you'll regret it – do you understand?'

Maggie nodded, tears welling in her eyes as she realised
that she was already moist, she was becoming aroused by the
control Alexander was exerting over her despite her shame
and fear.

'Crawl across the room and show me you're dry,' he barked.

Maggie began slowly, concentrating on putting one hand,
one knee before the other for fear of falling flat on her face.

'Arse high!'

Her arms and legs were shaking so much she was afraid they
wouldn't be able to hold her weight as she pushed her bottom
out and up, sure that the gathering fluid between her legs would
be plain to his suspicious eyes. Her breasts and knees scraped
the wooden floor and she was grateful when she reached the
other side of the room.

'I might have known!' His voice was hard, mocking her as
he reached down and dipped his finger between her legs, then
held it up in front of her heated face so that she see the evidence
of her own arousal glistening on it.

She resisted as he pressed it against her lips, giving in with
a groan of defeat as he pushed past her teeth and forced her
to lick her own love juice from his finger.

'You know what this means, don't you?' he said silkily. 'You
want me to punish you, don't you? Say it.'

'No!'

'Yes. You've been a bad, bad girl, Maggie, you know that, don't
you? You deserve to be whipped for your lewd behaviour.'

'No! Yes! Oh . . .!'

Maggie cried out as the first stroke of the switch came down
on her raised buttocks, swiftly followed by another beside it.
Alexander waited for her to catch her breath before delivering
a third blow, careful, it seemed to avoid the spot where it landed
before.

After only a dozen or so strokes, Maggie's bottom felt as if
it was on fire. She was aware of every square inch of her skin
and hot tears ran swiftly down her face, plopping into a pool
on the floor in front of her. The heat of the sauna clogged her
nose and throat, making it hard to breathe and her sex burned
in sympathy with her bottom.

'No, please! No more!' she sobbed.

Miraculously, Alexander paused. She felt the gentle touch
of his lips against her inflamed skin, soothing her. The
burning sensation mellowed into a warm glow as he caressed
her flaming cheeks with one hand, smoothing her hair with
another.

Maggie had a sudden, irresistibly strong urge to touch
herself, to release the pent up tension which had been building
in her straining clitoris.

'That's right,' Alexander crooned, helping her into a more
comfortable position, 'touch yourself, baby, let me see you
come.'

Maggie closed her eyes against him, concentrating instead
on the building pressure deep inside her. Leaning against the
bench which ran around the room, she opened her legs wide
and rubbed her hot fingers around the slick, soft flesh of her
vulva. Her clitoris had slipped its hood and quivered eagerly
towards the familiar touch of her fingers.

Circling her middle finger around it once, twice, three times,
Maggie felt the beginnings of an orgasm start at her core.

'Open your eyes,' Alexander commanded and she obeyed
instantly, holding his intense blue gaze as the waves began to
radiate out from her clitoris and she tapped it hard with her
forefinger with an increasingly frantic rhythm.

'That's right, baby, make it come, let it go . . . push.'

'Ah! I'm coming! I'm coming!' she yelled, half in triumph,
half in anguish as her climax pulsed through her, more intense
then she could ever remember, before she collapsed forward
into Alexander's waiting arms.

'Ssh,' he crooned, stroking her hair as she calmed down, 'it's all
right. You were terrific, Maggie. Just as I knew you would be.'

He licked at the corners of her eyes, tasting the salt of her
tears before lifting her up and carrying her out of the sauna.

Antony was ploughing his way through a pile of paperwork
when Alexander burst into the room. He took one look at the
younger man's flushed, intent face and knew what he wanted.
In spite of himself, he felt an answering need stir in his
groin.

'You're looking a bit flushed, Alex. Something wrong?'

Alexander ignored him, merely unzipping his trousers and
releasing an enormous erection.

'Shut up, Antony, and suck me,' he snapped.

Antony considered telling him to suck himself but already
a film of lust was obscuring his reason and he obligingly sank
to his knees. His jaw ached, the back of his throat closing up
in protest as Alexander mercilessly thrust into his mouth. He
was relieved when at last the thick, milky fluid flowed and
lubricated his throat.

Afterwards, Alexander zipped his trousers without a word
and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Antony feeling
piqued. Ungrateful little sod, using him like that! His own
arousal gradually ebbed away leaving a dull, gnawing ache in
his balls. He slumped on the sofa and fumed.

'Here – I've made you coffee.'

'Big bloody deal,' Antony growled as he took the mug from
him.

He stiffened as Alex sat down beside him and slung a sympathetic
arm round his shoulder.