The Initiation of Ms Holly (Xcite Erotic Romance Novels) (19 page)

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Some time later, she didn’t know how long, but when the world calmed around her again, she lay on the wooden floor wrapped in his arms, the hard press of his chastity belt against her thigh. She struggled to move, but he pulled her back to him.

‘She’ll find us.’

‘She can’t come in here. Only I have access. And it’s still early. She never rises before noon, especially not after she’s taken sleeping pills.’ He kissed her ear and cupped her breast. ‘We can stay just a little while longer.’

‘You wrote that, and did the sketch?’ She nodded to where she assumed the table was, but it could have just as easily been toward the door.

‘Yes. The sketch, well I come from a long line of artsy folk. As for the rest, I’m the historian of the London Coven.’

‘Then you’re witches?’

‘Of course not. When we chose to call ourselves covens it was an act of defiance really, a way of thumbing our noses at the church, at the powers that be, at the powers that wanted to control what a person believes, what a person does with his or her body, who a person makes love with.’ He chuckled softly. ‘Of course no one knew any of this but us. We were a secret society, and still are after all these years.’

‘How many years?’

‘Lots. Possibly even more than any of us know.’

‘And this isn’t the only coven.’

‘There are others, all organised the same, all overseen by a high council.

‘Then there are members who aren’t on the council?’

‘Yes, people from all walks of life, bankers, scientists, housewives, lorry drivers.’

She took a second to let the thought of a housewife dominatrix sink in before she spoke. ‘Vivienne called me Rita Ellison Holly. Why?’

‘Because I recruited you, you share my name. It’s always been that way with The Mount. I can give you a basic overview of the history and how we work if you’d like. You’ll get all that when you’re finished with the initiation, but if you’re not planning to hang around, then you might as well know now.’

‘I don’t understand. I’ve researched everyone here at The Mount, and granted I couldn’t find much, but I found a little something on everyone. Everyone but you. For you, I found nothing. It’s like you don’t exist.’

‘I don’t. At least not right now.’ He forced a pained laugh. ‘But I keep hoping that will change soon.’

‘That makes no sense. How can you not exist? You’re right here, next to me in my arms, and –’

‘And you’ve never seen my face.’

His words unsettled her, made muscles that had nothing to do with sex knot. She remembered Vivienne referring to him as the monster behind the mask, and in spite of the warmth of the room, she felt cold.

He placed his fingers against her mouth. ‘We won’t speak of this, not now. But I hope the time will come when we can.’

She snuggled back against him, revelling in the shape of his body, wondering what it would be like to be with him without the chastity belt, to stay wrapped in his arms all night. ‘Why are you telling me all this if you know I’m going to write an exposé?’

She felt him shrug against her. ‘Maybe it’s time we were exposed. Maybe we deserve nothing better.’

She didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing.

‘And just so you know, you were never only the entertainment. Everyone who has been with you loves you. We all love you. We want you to be a part of us.’

She struggled to breathe. ‘If you love me, then why don’t you just be with me? Why do you let her do this to you?’

‘I can’t tell you that yet, but I promise if you finish the initiation, she’ll no longer hold sway, and then we can be together. I know that sounds like an excuse, believe me, I know, but it’s the best I can give you right now.’ He placed a soft kiss on the back of her neck. ‘Please trust me. Please just try to hang on just a little longer.’

‘And the exposé?’

His sigh was warm against her neck. ‘Darling, nothing you could do would make me love you less, but consider this; I’m not the only one who will be hurt by this exposé, and the person who will probably be hurt by it the least is Vivienne.’

He helped her to her feet and walked her back to her pallet of pillows on the floor. ‘Get some sleep, my love, and I promise you, we’ll get through this.’

It was nearly three days before they had the chance to speak again, and that only fleetingly, but it was enough. Vivienne was checking out the wine cellar for a special vintage for some VIP arriving unexpectedly, and Lorelei was called away on business. May, who was supposed to be keeping an eye on her, was in the shower. Rita caught Edward on his way to the history vault. With trembling fingers, she passed him the flash card, anxious to be rid of it. ‘This is for you. Alex dropped by the house and picked it up for me.’

For a second he stared down at the tiny piece of plastic and metal before closing his fingers around it in a grip so tight his knuckles shown white in the afternoon light. ‘Are you sure?’

‘I’m sure.’ She swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘All I ever really wanted was to see your face, and I don’t want the first look I see on it to be disappointment.’

He scooped her into his arms and kissed her, whispering in a breathless gasp against her ear. ‘I love you, Rita Holly.’

Then they heard the front door open and Vivienne complaining about the mess the wine cellar was in, and they both fled their separate ways, Rita seeking the far corner of the flat, hoping Vivienne wouldn’t holler for her until she had her emotions under control again.

‘N
O ONE WILL BELIEVE
this story was written by any of the
Talkabout
staff,’ Owen said. It took him a second to realise that the harsh rasping sound was his breath, and he was now wishing like hell that he’d given the steak and kidney pie a miss at lunch. Indigestion was the last thing he had expected when he arrived at the hotel room which had become the venue for his regular rendezvous with Lorelei.

He sat stiffly at the table staring at the monitor of his laptop, but no matter how long he glared at the words of the document, they didn’t set any better with his internal editor. His cock, which until minutes ago had been ready and anxious to play, was now unusually limp. He forced his attention back to Lorelei, but even her outrageous curves swathed in mauve silk couldn’t make the story on the monitor look any better.

She was saying, ‘The magazine will, of course, be given a chance to retract the story and offer an apology to The Mount. I’m sure they won’t want to take us on in court.’

‘I don’t understand. Why are you giving me this story if you’re then going to turn around and sue
Talkabout
for printing it?’

‘It’s not for you to understand, Owen. All you need to know is that it serves our purpose.’

He shoved a sweaty hand through his hair and bit his lip until it hurt. ‘This will end my career, you know that?’

‘Oh come on, darling, don’t pout.’ She fondled his tie, tugging on it until it reminded him disturbingly of a noose, then she giggled softly. ‘You’ve been well compensated, in lots of ways.’ She nodded to his crotch, which suddenly felt extremely vulnerable. Then she added, ‘You’ve made sure Rita Holly gets the credit for the story?’

‘Yes.’ He pulled the tie away from her and tugged at his collar, which seemed unusually tight. ‘Just like you asked, but I’m her editor, no editor with half a brain would print this story.’

Lorelei rolled her eyes. ‘Oh please, Owen, like you care about the magazine’s reputation. We know how much you hate your boss, how much you think this job is beneath someone of your talent. What better way to get even with the bastard? Don’t you see the beauty of the plan?’ She opened the chic leather brief case on the dressing table and rummaged through it. ‘It’s nothing personal, and anyway it won’t be you that we’ll be threatening, will it?’

‘Well, Rita Holly sure as hell doesn’t have any money. She’s a nobody.’

‘That’s right, she’s a nobody. She’s irrelevant. She’s just serving a purpose.’

‘Like I am.’

‘Yes. Like you are. Only she doesn’t know it. You do. You’ve known it from the beginning.’ She pulled a file folder from the case and handed it to him.

‘What’s this?’

‘The lease to your villa in Majorca. Yours to enjoy as long as you live. A bonus for your full cooperation. You do like Majorca, don’t you? I took the liberty of including a few photos.’

And she had. There was a pool, a view of the sea. There was a master bedroom bigger than the whole
Talkabout
office suite. And in spite of the situation in which he found himself, he suddenly had a hard-on.

She handed him a first-class plane ticket. ‘You fly tomorrow, before the magazine hits the streets. Your accounts here have been closed and the money transferred.’ She handed him a sealed envelope. ‘Here are your bank documents.’

For a second, he could do nothing but stare down at the new life The Mount has so effortlessly, and efficiently, arranged for him. At last, he managed a breathy half-whisper. ‘How did you do this? How did you get my information?’

‘That’s not your concern, but you would do well to remember just how easily it was all taken care of.’ She closed the briefcase with a resounding snap. ‘What is your concern is this. That you never set foot on British soil again.’

Before the shock of her words could even knot his stomach, she unzipped the silk dress and stepped out of it. ‘You are never to speak to anyone about anything that has gone on between us.’ She waved a dismissive hand before kneeling on the floor in front of him and unzipping his trousers. ‘Oh it’s all right if you mention the time you came to The Mount with Rita. People saw you there, after all.’ She eased his cock out of his trousers and gave it a deep-throated suck that made the whole encounter seem even more surreal than it already was.

Then she pulled away with an ice cream cone lick to the length of him, and slipped out of her bra. ‘You are never to mention to anyone where you got the money. Is that clear?’

He nodded. He’d didn’t much like bossy women, but God, she was so exquisite, and such a delicious fuck, even when she was manipulating his life like it was some sort of computer game. He forced his attention back to her lecture. ‘Good. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, your long-lost auntie died and left you her fortune.’ She cupped her heavy tits around his cock, and in a mix of horror and arousal, not quite sure if his luck was good or bad, he began to thrust. How could he help himself?

She chuckled softly. ‘There, you see? The whole arrangement is growing on you, isn’t it?’ As if to emphasise her words, she began to tongue the head of his cock, creating a seesaw of irresistible sensations each time he thrust.

‘I have …’ Lick , thrust, ‘family here …’ Lick, thrust suck. ‘Friends,’ he grunted, cupping the sides of her tits to tighten their grip, feeling like his balls would burst from the weight of their load, and wondering how he could be aroused when his world was crumbling around him …sort of.

‘Your friends can come to you.’ Lick. Lick. Thrust. ‘Remember,’ suck, thrust, ‘you can afford to fly them to your villa whenever you want.’ She stood and slid out of her knickers in a move that was as business-like as her handling of the contents of the briefcase, and Jesus, it was such a turn on! The woman was destroying his career, and she would, no doubt make him come, in the process, and he would absolutely not resist. Was that sick, or what?

‘Vivienne’s given you a win-win situation.’ He returned his attention to the mouth that had been sucking his cock and tried to concentrate on her words. ‘Surely you can see that, Owen? She even arranged to have your belongings shipped to you. And my cunt.’ With her long mauve nails, she opened her slit making certain he got a good look at the juicy pink swell of her, then she rubbed her thumb rhythmically over the growing nub of her clit. ‘My very horny cunt is all yours until the limo comes to take you to the airport.’ With that she positioned her pout above his cock and wriggled down onto him, squeezing and kneading with her girlie muscles until he couldn’t think straight, until it was all he could do to hold his wad.

‘But remember, Owen dear,’ she leaned forward and bit his earlobe almost causing pain. ‘If you break any of these simple rules Vivienne has set for you,’ her voice became a humid whisper, ‘you’ll lose it all as quickly as you gained it.’ She chuckled softly. ‘The Mount giveth, and The Mount taketh away.’ She ground her bottom into his lap and gripped him so tightly that he cried out, unable to breathe, as he shot his load in gut-wrenching spurts.

When he was done, she grabbed his hair and pulled him into a deep, dangerous kiss, her tongue snaking inside his mouth like she owned it. Then she pulled away and wiped mauve lipstick from his parched lips. ‘There. You see, Owen? Money, sex, a story that will rock London. All your dreams are coming true, just like you always wanted.’

‘G
ET DRESSED
,’ M
AY SPOKE
like she was talking to a naughty child. She handed Rita jeans and a T-shirt and a hooded jacket along with some plain-Jane underwear, then she left, pulling the door shut behind her. Rita heard the key turn in the lock.

She had been changing Vivienne’s bed, a task the woman delighted in giving her on the mornings after the orgy had been particularly good, in spite of the fact that there was a full cleaning staff. It was only then that Rita noticed the silence, and her skin crawled up her spine. Vivienne’s flat was never silent, usually not even in the middle of the night. She wasn’t certain, but it felt like she was alone in the house. She had never been locked in before. There was no need. She knew well enough that if she left, the initiation was over, and she had failed. Vivienne would have loved nothing more, but if she had endured this much, she wasn’t about to give the bitch the satisfaction.

Feeling a rising sense of unease in her chest, she stripped out of her slave dress and put on the street clothes, which felt oddly confining after the days in nothing but the loose cotton shift. She folded the shift neatly and continued with her work. When the bed was changed and the room tidied, she sat down on the floor at the foot of the bed and waited.

The shadows were lengthening when the lock turned in the door, and to her surprise two guards, whom she had never seen before, came into the room.

‘Rita Holly?’ The big one said in a resonant voice that reminded her of a street preacher.

‘Yes?’

‘You are to come with us.’

With one behind and one in front of her, they marched her down the back stairway to the level of the main restaurant, then past the kitchen and down the long stairs to the Presence Chamber. With each step the knot in her stomach grew colder and tighter. Something was wrong. It couldn’t be more obvious if it were written all over the walls in big red letters.

Inside the room, all chairs on the dais were occupied. No one was dressed for the occasion. In fact they all looked as though someone had grabbed them in the middle of whatever it was they were doing. Alex was in sweats with a towel around his neck, looking as though he had had a work-out but no shower. Leo was in khakis with grass stains on both knees, Both Aurora and Morgan looked as though they had just dropped in from the banking district. Lorelei and Vivienne looked like they were dressed for a day of shopping. And Edward looked especially incongruous in the dapper golden mask and jeans with an untucked cotton shirt. No one spoke. No one smiled.

With a wave from Vivienne, the two guards stepped back, and Rita was left alone in the middle of the big room. ‘I’m guessing you know what this is about,’ Vivienne said. It was only then that Rita noticed the copy of
Talkabout
magazine resting open across her lap, and the knot in her stomach clenched still tighter.

Vivienne stood and came to pace in front of her, magazine in hand. ‘Personally, I would have thought you’d at least have the decency to leave before this, this piece of rubbish hit the stand. But then you’ve never had any shame, have you?’ She came to stand in front of Rita and began to read from the magazine.

Drugs, sex cult, white slavery, endangered species gourmet, we’ve all heard the
wild rumours and the gossip about that enigmatic dance club and restaurant, The Mount. And who is to say what’s actually true since reservations are rarer than hen’s teeth, and a night out at The Mount would set most people back a couple months’ salary.

She waved her hand. ‘But never mind any of that, let’s skip over to the good part, shall we?’ She ruffled through the pages and began to read again.

There in front of the High Council, I was stripped and two of the bouncers were ordered to ‘make me come.’

Suddenly Rita felt light-headed, and her face felt as though it would burst into flames.

‘Oh it gets better, much better.’ Vivienne began to pace again and read as though she were auditioning for a role on the West End.

There were at least a dozen of us, all naked, all wearing collars, all forbidden to speak. Then Leo, the bearded one they call The Zoo
Keeper, singled me out along with one of the male pets, whom he called Aralias and ordered him to have intercourse with me while he observed and masturbated. He always watched when–

‘Stop it.’ Rita’s voice sounded breathless, like she’d been running. ‘I didn’t write that. I’ve written better than that since I was twelve.’

Vivienne turned on her and slapped her so hard she nearly lost her balance. The two guards came to her aid as she struggled to right herself and to hold back the tears that were as much from rage and frustration as they were from the sting of the slap.

‘Of course you wrote this,’ Vivienne roared. ‘How stupid do you think we are? Who else would have known these things? Who?’ She shook the mangled magazine in Rita’s face, then calmed herself and offered a smile that would have sweetened honey. ‘Of course The Mount will demand a retraction and an apology. You, well you’re hardly worth suing, are you?’ She heaved a sigh. ‘The worst I can do to you is banish you from The Mount and end this travesty of your initiation. If everyone had listened to me in the first place none of this would have happened.

‘She didn’t write it, Vivienne.’ The room was suddenly silent, and Edward got to his feet, holding up the flash card Rita had given him. ‘She gave me this almost a week ago.’

‘Oh for fuck’s sake, Edward, how stupid can you be?’ Vivienne snapped her fingers and
Lorelei stood, rattling several sheets of paper. ‘Read it,’ Vivienne ordered.

Lorelei cleared her throat and began to read as though she were reading a poem.

–
At first I was afraid, hand-cuffed to the handlebars of the Harley, alone in the dark with both my holes filled But when I calmed down a bit, I realised I could not only come easily in this predicament, but I could come repeatedly, and every orgasm built on the last, every orgasm was stronger than the one before.

Vivienne raised a hand to stop her. ‘I’m not without my resources, Rita. Surely you didn’t think I would trust a journalist into the flock without doing a little research of my own.’

‘If you’d done a little research, you’d have known breaking and entering is illegal, but I’m sure you didn’t do it yourself, did you?’

There was another hard slap across the face, and this time Rita tasted blood.

‘You stupid vile bitch!’ Rita lunged, but the guards grabbed her arms and held her tight.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rita saw two more guards move to flank Edward, who nearly catapulted off the dais to get to her, roaring her name like a lion protecting his pride. Vivienne ignored him.

Rita forced a deep breath, straightened herself and shrugged free of the guards. ‘You know I didn’t write that.’ She held Vivienne’s gaze. ‘If I had written it your arse would have been nailed to the wall where it belongs.’ She turned her attention to the rest of the council. ‘I don’t understand any of you. You outnumber her. Why do you let her push you around like a bunch of goddamned sheep? You know she’s lying. Surely you know she’s lying.’

Vivienne tossed the magazine at Rita’s feet and returned to her chair on the dais as though she were queen of the universe. ‘You’ve all read the evidence. It’s time to vote. Shall we?’ She sounded like she had just asked the local ladies’ club if they wanted tea or coffee.

‘Leo?’

The big man looked tired and drawn. His gaze was on the space behind Rita. His face was neutral. ‘Banish her.’

Aurora bit her lip and shook her head. ‘Banish her.’

Alex cursed under his breath, his eyes locked on her, then he nodded almost painfully. ‘Banish her.’

And so it went, with each vote feeling like a nail in her coffin, until a sense of betrayal sizzled along her nerve, and the knot in her stomach became a clenched fist. Only Edward did not vote. He wasn’t given a vote because she was his recruit. She had no doubt he would be well punished after she left. ‘I’m sorry, Rita,’ he said very softly. ‘I’m so, so sorry.’

She managed only a step forward before the guards flanked her again. ‘If you’re so sorry, Edward, then vote with your feet. Come with me. Don’t let that bitch tell you who you can and can’t be with. You can do what you want. You don’t have to – ’

‘Edward? Do what he wants?’ Vivienne laughed as though she had just heard the best joke ever. ‘Afraid not, girl. He’s not free to go with you anywhere. I warned you that you would never be able to understand the relationship Edward and I share. But I’ll try to boil it down for your simple mind. Edward belongs to me, and he knows it, don’t you darling?’ With her hand on his shoulder, she pushed him back down in the chair next to her.

And he stayed.

For the first time, Rita felt like the bottom had dropped out of her world. She turned on her heels and fled up the steps, stumbling through a haze of tears. The guards hurried after her until she pushed through the back exit, then she was alone. Out on the street in was raining, and night was settling on the water pocked Thames. There was a limo waiting to take her home, but she ignored it. She wanted nothing else to do with The Mount. Ever again.

She had sacrificed her job, her heart, everything, and for what? She had enough money for next month’s rent, then after that? Well she didn’t know what after that. At the moment, living rough sounded better than hearing her mother’s I told you so when she showed up home broke and miserable.

It was only after she left The Mount that she realised her mobile had been returned to the inside zipper pocket of the jacket, along with her wallet. In her state, she would not have noticed if the mobile hadn’t signalled an incoming text. For a second, her spirits lifted. Perhaps it was Edward texting to make things right. She jerked it from her pocket, practically dropping it on the wet pavement. It wasn’t Edward. It wasn’t a number she recognised. It simply read.

F U try 2 contact Edward or any1 at TM again, your mum will b told evry detail of the past few wks.

She shoved the offending phone back in her pocket and walked on in the rain, letting the tears fall uncontrolled. Surely the mysterious texter must know that she couldn’t find Edward even if she wanted to. He didn’t exist. Hadn’t he told her that himself? Hadn’t her efforts to research him proven that? She didn’t understand it, but the thought still gave her a chill. Damn it, she should have at least stormed the dais and unmasked him. Surely she deserved to see the face of the man who her ruined her life. Perhaps Vivienne was right. Perhaps he really was a monster after all.

She wasn’t sure how long she walked, but at some point she got tired of being wet and cold and caught a taxi.

As she stumbled up the stairs to her flat, she bumped into Lidia, the cleaning woman, and tried to force an apologetic smile.

‘Oh Ms Holly, Hi. You are so wet. You’ll catch cold.’

‘I’m fine, Lidia,’ she lied. Who knew, maybe next week she’d be needing Lidia to put in a good word for her with the house cleaning agency she worked for. ‘What about you? Do you have an umbrella?’ The girl always seemed so under-dressed for the London weather.

‘My cousin, he is driving taxi. He will come for me.’ She smiled. ‘Did Mr Owen get your memory stick to you? He said you needed it real bad for the important story.’

‘Pardon?’ Rita stopped in her tracks and stood dripping on the carpet. ‘Owen was here?’

‘Oh yes. It is almost two weeks ago now. I let him in. He said it would be OK. Ms Holly? Are you all right?’

Rita suddenly remembered to breathe.

‘Ms Holly, you must go inside now. You’ll catch cold.’

Rita nodded and stumbled up the stairs as though she were sleep-walking. The slimy bastard betrayed her. She should have known when he offered to help with the story that he had something up his sleeve. Damn it!
She knew she shouldn’t trust him, but she would have never expected him to pull a stunt like this. He must have been working in cahoots with Vivienne. Surely it couldn’t be a coincidence that he wrote her story and Vivienne ended up with a copy of her private journals. She’d kill him. Next time she saw him she’d rip his throat out and make him eat it. Fat lot of good that would do. The damage was done, and all she could think about was that now she would never get to see Edward’s face.

She slinked up the last flight of stairs barely able to put one soggy foot in front of the other, aching in places she didn’t know existed until tonight, wondering how she’d ever face tomorrow. There was a bottle of malbec in the pantry. She’d start with that, then she’d worry about what to do next. She turned the key in the lock, shoved open the door with gargantuan effort and found herself face to face with her mother.