The Initiation of Ms Holly (Xcite Erotic Romance Novels) (23 page)

T
HERE WAS NO DENYING
the stirring and fluttering of expensive clothing on the dais as Rita entered the Presence Chamber on Edward’s arm. Only Vivienne sat as still and pale as the bas relief of Venus in the library.

‘What’s the meaning of this?’ Vivienne’s voice was barely controlled anger.

Rita stepped forward with more confidence than she would have thought possible. ‘I petition the High Council of The Mount, London Coven, to reconsider my initiation and my acceptance into said coven and to hear my defence in the case raised against me.’

‘I second the petition,’ Leo spoke up.

‘And I,’ Aurora added. She still wore her waitress uniform, and so tight was the tension in the room that she looked as though she were about to catapult from her seat.

‘This is ludicrous,’ Vivienne snapped. ‘Get her out of here, and stop wasting my time.’

‘She has the right to defend herself, Vivienne,’ Morgan spoke up. ‘You know the law.’

Vivienne adjusted herself on her chair like a queen on her throne and forced a chuckle. ‘All right then. If you all insist on humouring her, who am I to disagree.’ She scrutinised Rita with a disdainful eye. ‘At least she had the decency to dress for the occasion this time. Which of you put up the money for her little dress ?’ Vivienne’s scorching gaze moved from Rita over to Edward. ‘I can’t imagine how she got in.’

‘She came in through the front door,’ Aurora said. ‘She had a reservation.’

‘Is this true?’ Vivienne turned her attention to Lorelei.’

Lorelei nodded.

‘You gave her a reservation?’

‘I did.’

There was ice in Vivienne’s voice. ‘We’ll discuss this later.’ She turned her attention to Edward. ‘Come take your place.’ She patted the seat next to her. ‘Let’s get this little charade over with.’

Edward didn’t move. ‘This is my place, Vivienne. This is where I belong.’

There was a collective shifting among the High Council. Even from where Rita stood, she could see the colour rise along Vivienne’s cheek bones. If this didn’t end tonight, she had no doubt Edward would pay dearly for his insolence.

Edward turned to Leo and nodded.

The Zoo Keeper pulled a copy of
Talkabout
from inside his jacket and opened it to the offending exposé. When he spoke, he sounded unusually formal. ‘Ms Holly, could you please tell the council what is involved in the Crossing Over ceremony?’

Rita shrugged. ‘When someone dies, they’re said to cross over to the other side. I don’t know. What does that have to do with the initiation?’

There was a murmuring among the High Council. Leo raised his hand to silence everyone. ‘What about the Blessing of Five?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘The Making of the History?’

‘No idea.’

Leo frowned down at the magazine open in his hands. ‘And yet is your name on this article, the article which explains all of these secret parts of the final initiation rite.’

‘Oh for heaven sake,’ Vivienne exploded. ‘Can’t you see she’s lying? Of course she’s going to tell you she knows nothing about it. What else is she going to say? She’s a journalist, in case you’ve forgotten.’

‘That’s right. I am a journalist, and I’m a good one.’ Rita took another step forward. ‘One who would never write a story without backing it up with her sources, one who would never leave important questions unanswered. For instance, perhaps you could tell us why Lorelei was meeting secretly with the editor of
Talkabout
at the Ritz?’

Vivienne spoke as though she were humouring an impertinent child. ‘First of all, girl, I don’t answer to you. Second, I don’t keep track of what Lorelei does on her own time.’

‘Perhaps, in the interest of good journalism, I should ask Lorelei then.’

All pretence of tolerance vanished. Vivienne stood and stomped her foot. ‘I already told you, I don’t answer to you, and neither do my people. Who do you think you are waltzing in here taking control? Guards, get this woman out of my sight,’ she yelled.

But as the guards approached, Edward raised a hand, and they both stopped in their tracks. ‘Who does she think she is, indeed.’ He took a step forward and laced his arm through Rita’s. ‘Shall I tell you who she is, Vivienne? She is Rita Holly Martelli, and she has as much right to be here as you do. More actually.’

The colour drained from Vivienne’s face, and she swayed, grabbing the arm of her chair before she collected herself and squared her shoulders. ‘I don’t care if she’s God. Her own mother would agree with me that she’s betrayed The Mount and is not worthy to be a part of it.’

‘My mother, and everyone in this room, knows I didn’t write that tosh. But we all have a pretty good idea of who did. One person here knows for certain who wrote it, two actually, isn’t that right, Lorelei?’

It was as Rita suspected, the Martelli name held a powerful sway over the woman’s shifting loyalties. Lorelei nodded. ‘I know. Yes.’ She looked at Vivienne.

‘I said get her out of here,’ Vivienne shouted to the guards.

They didn’t move. No one moved. No one breathed. At last Edward spoke. ‘All those who are convinced that the initiation of Rita Holly has come to a successful conclusion and that she is worthy of membership into The Mount, London Coven, please stand up now.’

Lorelei was the first to stand, followed quickly by everyone else except Vivienne, who dropped into her chair as though her strength were gone.

Edward took Rita’s hand and led her onto the dais. ‘Members of The Mount, London Coven, may I present to you Rita Ellison Holly Martelli, our new companion in freedom.’

Instead of waiting for each member to come forward and welcome her, as was tradition, Rita moved to stand in front of Vivienne. There was a collective gasp among the High Council, and Edward grabbed her arm, but she gently shrugged him off.

‘Vivienne Arlington Page, your life is mine to do with as I choose.’

The council gasp became a shocked murmur, which Rita ignored.

‘It’s within my power to banish you without any coven support and leave you to survive in the world as you’ve not had to do since you were accepted into The Mount.’ She nodded at the look of surprise on Vivienne’s face. ‘Yes, my mother tutored me well on coven law, and I’m a fast learner.’

The murmur died away and the room was swathed in wire-tight silence.

Rita continued. ‘Coven law states that your position is forfeit to the one you’ve wronged. I think it’s safe to say that includes just about everyone in this room, no one more so than Edward.’ She turned to face the council. ‘As in accordance with the law, who among you wishes to take up this woman’s position and fulfil the duties she has forfeited?’

The silence in the room felt like a tightly held breath. At last Leo took a step forward and spoke. ‘Is as you have stated, Vivienne Arlington Page now belongs to you. Since it is you who have broken her power, then I say that it is to you her power and position should go.’

Around the room, there were nods of agreement. Leo continued. ‘Are there any who would object to this?’

No one did.

In spite of her fantasies about this moment, the sudden urge to run from such responsibility was visceral, but Rita squared her shoulders, swallowed the fear and was amazed by the steadiness of her own voice. ‘If this is the decision of the council, then I will abide by it. I take my rightful place as head of the High Council and reinstate the three year rotation of that position of power.’

She turned her attention back to Vivienne, who slumped in her chair, gaze locked on the floor. ‘I have no wish for revenge upon you, Vivienne, so I offer you a choice. You may take the punishment I deem suitable for your actions, then serve as my slave until I see fit to release you. If this is unacceptable to you, then you may be banished from The Mount for ever. I leave you the choice.’

Again there was the collective gasp, and from no one louder than Vivienne. ‘I don’t understand,’ she breathed.

‘It’s simple. I don’t want your job as manager of The Mount Club. You do it well and you have a presence. I have other interests. If you choose to take my offer, you’ll stay in your apartments, doing your job, serving me.’

Rita ignored the murmurs on the dais. ‘If you serve me well, I’ll treat you with the respect any member of The Mount deserves, and I’ll give you the right to earn your freedom. But if you cross me, even once, my mother tells me there’s a zookeeper in the Argentine Coven who would love to have you for a pet. I hear she’s not nearly so gentle as our Leo.’ She reached out her hand to Vivienne.

The whole council seemed frozen in time, silent, breathless, waiting. Then, with a sigh and a whisper of silk, Vivienne slid from the chair on to her knees and pressed Rita’s hand to her lips. ‘Do with me what you will, Mistress.’

Barely aware of the surprised mumblings on the dais, Rita helped her to her feet and motioned for Aurora. ‘Slaves don’t wear such finery.’

Morgan came to Aurora’s aid. They removed jewellery, gown, sexy lingerie, everything, until Vivienne stood in her stunning nakedness, too exquisite for Rita to resist. The woman’s eyelids fluttered, and a serrated gasp escaped her throat as Rita brushed her breasts with her fingertips. Her nipples were instantly erect.

‘You like that?’ Rita hoped she didn’t sound as surprised as she felt.

‘Yes, Mistress.’ Vivienne’s response was breathless, her words clipped. ‘I like it a lot.’ Without clothes it was easy to see the tensing muscles in Vivienne’s tummy and the subtle rocking of her hips.

How could Rita’s touch be that exciting to one who hated her so badly? Cautiously Rita leaned close and kissed her. Vivienne’s mouth was responsive, lips parted, tongue welcoming. Her breath grew heavier as the kiss deepened. Rita caressed the slender waist and the swell of her bottom, until now an act done only in her fantasies.

‘Please, Mistress,’ Vivienne breathed.

Arousal overcame shock as Rita insinuated her hand between Vivienne’s thighs, pressing her middle finger against surprisingly slippery folds to thrust upward. The sense of power was almost as arousing as the hot grip of pussy. Vivienne shuddered at her penetration and uttered a kitten-like cry.

She shifted and rocked, and her whole body grew tight as Rita thumbed hard-pressed circles around her new slave’s distended clit. With two, then three, fingers, she thrust and scissored the sucking grasp of her cunt. Vivienne went feral, humping her hand, gabbling and grunting like some sex-crazed pet from Leo’s zoo.

Rita felt her own pussy tremble in empathy. ‘Is this what you wanted?’

Vivienne managed only a nod before she shuddered so violently that she fell back into the chair, writhing and gasping, gathering herself into a convulsing foetal hug while the council watched in shock.

When, at last, Vivienne’s orgasm had eased to little quivers, Rita found her voice. ‘If you wanted me to make you come, all you had to do was ask. You had complete control over me.’ She helped her to her feet. ‘And now I have control over you.’ Holding Vivienne in a hard gaze, Rita motioned for the guards. ‘Take my slave to the dungeon. Let her think about her bad behaviour and anticipate her punishment. I’ll attend to her personally, but first,’ she turned to Edward. ‘I have a more urgent matter.

A
S THE
H
IGH
C
OUNCIL
watched, Aurora helped Vivienne into a slave shift, then the guards led her away to the dungeon. Even in the clothing of a slave, Vivienne still looked like the queen of the universe. No doubt she knew better than most how much worse it could have been for her. Rita didn’t want her broken, she just wanted her a little more submissive, and she was looking forward to teaching her all about submission.

When the doors closed behind Vivienne, Rita pulled Edward into a blood-boiling kiss that left him gasping for oxygen. ‘If there are no further objections,’ she addressed the council, ‘then I want what’s been promised me.’

There was a mutual nodding of heads, and Leo stepped forward. ‘What has been promised you, you have rightfully earned. The ritual is prepared.’

Edward offered her a pussy-creaming smile and caressed her breasts through the clingy fabric of her gown. ‘Expensive dress?’

She chuckled softly and cupped his hands tighter to her. ‘Very. Will you have Aurora cut it off me?’

He traced the swell of her nipples with his thumbs, then dropped a humid kiss onto each one. ‘I think we might manage without that this time.’ He nodded to Alex, who moved behind her, sending shivers up her spine as he nibbled her nape. Then he unzipped her dress and slipped it off her shoulders, lingering to slide his hands over her exposed breasts.

Morgan and Leo moved forward to support her while she stepped out of the gown. Then Edward knelt in front of her and undid her stockings from blue lace suspenders, placing a kiss high on the inside of each thigh, nuzzling in close until she could feel the hard edge of his mask and the heat of his breath against the damp crotch of her panties.

Aurora and Lorelei knelt on either side and removed her stilettos and stockings. The delicious sensation of tongue and teeth on her instep generated tremors that snaked up her legs straight to her pussy. As Aurora began to nibble and suck her toes, she squirmed with such pleasure that Morgan and Leo’s support became essential.

While Aurora fellated Rita’s toes, Lorelei nipped and licked the muscular bulge of her calf blazing a trail up the back of her thigh ever closer to the tightening muscles of her bottom. Meanwhile, Alex made his approach from the north, teasing and nipping his way down her spine to the small of her back.

As Edward removed her garter belt and eased down her panties, Morgan and Leo tongue-bathed her arms and shoulders, working their way over the ticklish flesh of her arm pits to the outer swell of her breasts where they lingered to caress and suckle. Every sensation was stronger than the last culminating in Edward flicking his tongue in ravenous slurps over the tip of her heavy clitoris straining at the apex of her cunt.

Then, just when she was about to come, he stood and moved aside for Leo, who took her mouth with none of the reserve he had shown toward her when she was his pet. He slid his hand between her legs to stroke her slippery pout with his palm. His voice vibrated next to her ear. ‘Rita Ellison Holly Martelli, You are now changed.’

She struggled to concentrate on his words and not the pleasure his hand generated against her thrumming cunt.

He continued. ‘You are no longer as you were, and who you have become is one made new. You now belong to us and we to you. You have crossed over to this family who have claimed you as their own.’

Without losing the rhythm of his stroking, he turned his attention to Edward. ‘This woman takes upon herself your name. Is therefore you who must guide her across.’ As he stepped away, Edward lifted her into his arms and carried her down another flight of stairs hidden behind the dais. The others followed. At the bottom, they entered a round stone chamber lit with sconced candles. It smelled strongly of herbs and old candle wax. There, in the middle, Edward lowered her onto a large stone slab unadorned and unhewn. The others moved to circle her rocky bed.

From somewhere, Lorelei produced a vial of oil that smelled of evergreen and sage and placed a drop of it on her forehead. ‘I anoint your head that you might always act wisely as you sojourn in The Mount.’

She bent and gave Rita a lingering kiss as she handed the oil to Alex, who continued the ritual. ‘I anoint your heart that compassion might always imbue your actions.’ Once done, his straying hands and mouth detoured from her heart to her breasts, while Lorelei continued her explorations of her willing mouth.

Aurora was saying something about anointing her womb and her becoming a creative force in The Mount, but it was hard to concentrate when the enforcer’s palm was curled over Rita’s pubis with her middle finger circling and stroking the node of her clit.

Morgan anointed her knees, something about humility in all she did, but it wasn’t her knees he was kissing. Instead, he was working his way up the inside of her thighs.

When the vial was finally passed to Leo, Rita was so lost in the physicality of the High Council’s blessing that she feared she might come and ruin their lovely ceremony.

‘I anoint your feet,’ Leo was saying, ‘that you may never stray from the path you have chosen.’ As he bathed her ankle and heels with his tongue, she was beginning to hope they’d just keep on anointing, at least until she came.

From her aroused haze, she could see Edward standing at her feet, his golden mask shimmering in the candle light. He spoke. ‘This is the history of Rita Ellison Holly Martelli, fledgling member of The Mount, London Coven nominated for initiation by Edward Darcy Ellison.

Alex pulled away from her breasts and spoke. ‘A worthy dance partner and one loyal from the beginning.’

‘Punished for disobedience by me,’ Aurora pulled away and took over the history.

And it went on and on, with each council member droning through the whole history of her time at The Mount, which seemed pretty silly considering that it couldn’t have been more than a few weeks. Besides, she already knew her history, and she was horny and desperate to get to Edward.

‘I know of no one who wore the cat suit better,’ Morgan was saying.

She was just about to voice her impatience when Edward moved to stroke her pubic curls and caress her folds. ‘Hold on just a little longer, darling.’ His voice was tight, and he seemed to be struggling to breathe. ‘I know how badly you need to come. We both do, but it’ll be so worth it, just like I promised.

Everything seemed haloed in golden light and her whole body buzzed not unlike it had the night she was chained to the Harley. For a second she drifted away, lost in the drone of her own history and Edward’s yummy caresses.

‘We now offer up the gift that was promised,’ Leo was saying. Suddenly the world was back in sharp focus. From his pocket, the Zoo Keeper took a silver key on a chain and placed it around her neck.

Aurora and Alex helped her to sit. ‘Take what’s rightfully yours,’ Aurora nodded to Edward.

With her body still thrumming, Rita rose on her knees and moved toward the man who had inhabited all her fantasies since that first night on the Eurostar. Her heart raced in her chest. Her hands trembled.

Edward caressed her neck and bent to kiss the spot where her pulse hammered against her throat, as though by doing so he might calm its shuddering. Then he straightened and searched her face. ‘I’m yours, Rita Holly, body and soul. Let what has been promised be fulfilled.’

Holding her breath, she reached behind his head, and with unsteady fingers, untied the black velvet ribbon that held the mask in place, then she carefully pulled it away.

There was a collective sigh of approval from the council.

It was neither the face of a monster nor of an angel she uncovered. Edward unmasked was rough-edged and completely lacking that expensive pretty-boy patina that Rita assumed would have appealed to Vivienne. His cheekbones were high and well defined. His nose was slightly crooked, as though it might have been broken at one time. Just above his left temple a thin white scar skirted his eye and stopped at the rise of his cheekbone. It was a small imperfection that made him look like he was not someone to be trifled with. That thought made her insides quiver with anticipation.

It was then she noticed the tight line of his lips, the slight wrinkling of his high forehead. ‘Well?’ he said.

She offered him a smile and a hiccup of a laugh. ‘You’ll do, Edward Ellison. You’ll do.’

He pulled her into a hard embrace, forcing the breath from her. ‘I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that.’ The words were smothered against her shoulder.

She could have stayed there for ever, laced in his arms, but Edward extricated himself and stepped back, giving the others room to unzip and unbutton and kiss and caress until he stood before her in only his boxers. Aurora knelt to slip them over his hips, lingering long enough to tongue his navel and the light path of auburn hair trailing down to his penis. To that, she had no access. It was firmly caged in the confinement of Vivienne’s chastity belt.

Before Rita could voice her protest, Edward nodded to the silver key hanging around her neck. ‘I’m yours now, darling. My face is not all you have access to.’

‘It’s like Christmas.’ Morgan offered a wet sigh that sounded nothing like it came from a man who rode a Hog. ‘Go on, luv. Open it.’

‘We haven’t had a new member in a while,’ Aurora added.

Rita took the key from around her neck, careful not to drop it in the mix of nerves and arousal coursing through her body. Edward joined her on the altar slab, straddling her on his knees, presenting the metal prison of the chastity belt before her. Then he took her hand and guided the key to the lock.

The whole council held its breath in anticipation, as the key turned. With a chink of metal, the belt opened, and Edward gasped almost painfully as his penis sprang free from its bonds and immediately into Rita’s waiting hand. She nearly lost patience as Lorelei and Leo removed the belt from around Edward’s waist. She’d waited so damned long for this. When they were done, she threw the key as far as she could. It landed with a metallic clink in a dark corner.

Once freed from his prison, Edward sprang like a leopard, pushing her back onto the slab and shoving her legs open with his knees. With very little manoeuvring, he pushed into her with a grunt that ended in a sharp gasp as she tightened her grip around him, tightened it as though she would never let him go, and in truth, now that she finally had him, she didn’t plan to. With each driving thrust, he raked her clit with his pubic bone, making it raw and demanding. She wrapped her legs around him and arched upward to meet him, not wanting to linger, not wanting to make it last, just wanting relief from the long wait.

He curled his fingers in her hair and pulled her closer, his breath coming in great gasps. ‘The ceremony’s officially over when we come, then everyone else can come, and we can leave,’ he panted. ‘Then I can have you all to myself.’ The tension that made his whole body feel like tight, warm leather drew her to the brink right next to him, growling and pushing and bearing down. Each thrust built upon the one before, engulfing Rita in the same altered state she had experienced on the Harley only magnified by the emotions that raged through her.

When her orgasm came, she howled like an untamed pet in Leo’s zoo, like the scream of the Harley under Morgan’s expert control. With one last thrust, Edward exploded inside her, grunting and shuddering, holding her to him so tightly that she feared he might break her, as he emptied himself in her. ‘I love you, Rita Holly,’ he gasped as he collapsed on top of her. ‘And now I have you right where you belong.’

Then the room erupted in frenetic sex. Morgan and Leo were both on their knees between Lorelei’s legs, one in front, one behind, their tongues at work on both her holes. But it felt like they were doing it to Rita. As she watched, her pussy clenched around Edward’s penis, still erect inside her. Strangely, she also felt what Leo and Morgan were feeling too, balls heavy, cocks arching toward receptive orifices.

‘Do you understand now?’ Edward began to thrust again as they caught a glimpse of Alex slipping his thick cock into Aurora’s swollen pout. The enforcer had shed her waitress uniform down to her fishnet stockings and suspenders. Alex had forced her pert breasts upward out of the leather bra to suck and bite her nipples until they looked like maraschino cherries on mounds of pale ice cream.

‘It feels like me.’ Rita choked on the emotion of the words. ‘Like I’m doing it, like I’m feeling it all.’

‘Like all of us, like we’re all feeling it,’ Edward replied. And suddenly it was as though everyone had piled onto the stone altar next to them.

Flesh pounded flesh. The smells of candle wax and herbs were subsumed in the smells of hot, urgent fucking. Whimpers and thrusts and growls crescendoed to a group orgasm that rocked the chamber, which suddenly felt big enough to contain the whole universe. Then it shrank back around them, shrank until it felt like a womb about to give birth. Indeed, it was about to give birth to Rita Ellison Holly Martelli, who saw herself for the first time through the eyes of her new family. It was a family she was proud to be a part of, a family she was very much looking forward to getting to know better.