Spank: The Improbable Adventures of George Aloysius Brown (26 page)

Palms together, fingers straight, he began to pummel her thighs and calves in quick succession, up and down, up and down, beating on them a symphony of sensations. Then he stroked her buttocks, gently kneading and parting them until the twin orbs opened and blossomed and he could see the dark concentric circles of her rose.

Cleopatra shuddered, moving seductively beneath his hands.

"
And what else do the gossips say, pray tell.
"

"
They speak of many things,
"
Seth responded.
"
Plutarch describes your beauty as incomparable and says that you have an irresistible charm, a sweetness in your tone of voice and a tongue like an instrument of many strings.
"

"
Does he indeed. And you, Seth, what say you? Can a tongue be an instrument of many things?
"

"
You mean like this?
"
the Doctor stooped and kissed her, parting the fleshy lips of her labia, licking her until she moaned and cried out with pleasure. Skillfully he brought her to the point of orgasm but no further.

"
Damn you, don't stop!
"
she commanded.

"
Stop? Why, I am just beginning,
"
he replied.
"
I offer my services twicefold for your pleasure, first as now with my tongue and then with my cock.
"

Cleopatra sighed in ecstasy. Let him take his time, she thought, the whole afternoon lay ahead. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled softly and raised her buttocks to facilitate the first of his pledges.

But the Doctor was in no hurry. When you have lived thousands of years it is the precious seconds that make you feel alive.

"
And what say they of me in the servants' quarters?
"
she prompted, her voice barely a whisper.

"
They say you are the most beautiful woman on earth with the sexual power to subjugate any man. They say even the mighty Caesar fell to his knees before you.
"
He paused.

"
And they say you like to be spanked.
"

At this, Cleopatra turned and sat up abruptly, putting her hand over her mouth in mock horror.
"
Liar!
"
she shouted.
"
What man would dare say that? Did Caesar? By all the gods in heaven, how dare you! I should have you killed and your carcass thrown to the wolves.
"

But instead of leaping from the table to summon the palace guards, Cleopatra assumed a position on her knees and elbows, laying her head on her pillow, her arms outstretched, hands clasped together as if praying.

"
Punish me,
"
she said. At once the Doctor moved to her bidding. Holding her firmly around her waist, he stroked her buttocks which were writhing and flinching. And this time he did not keep her waiting.

His hand rose and fell making her cry out with each delivery. He spanked her hard until her cheeks reddened and still she urged him on. Then he gently pulled her to him, placing his hands on her shoulders as he entered her and she moved rhythmically against his loins until her whole body shuddered and she climaxed time and again.

At that moment the Doctor withdrew, his seed spilling onto the marble beneath his feet. He knew his duty. Cleopatra had a son and heir by Caesar and she would have three sons with Mark Antony. But to have a bastard child with a slave of her household would cause a scandal that would resonate for centuries. Altering the course of history was not an option, even for the Lord of Time.

Satisfied, so far, George hit the print button and in his office in the breakfast nook across from the fridge he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet on his kitchen table. It was five o'clock, time for a pint. He assembled the folios as they clattered off the printer and read and re-read what he had written. Not bad, he thought. Well, at least it was a start. Then he put on his hat and coat and strolled to the pub. It had been a good couple of days. He had made a start to his novel and for no other reason he paused at the bottom of the stairs to perform his little Chaplin jig.

Cleopatra's
Other
Lover
, he said to himself.
From the novel by George Aloysius Brown.

He liked the sound of that.

Pall Mall, west of Trafalgar Square, is home to some of the finest clubs in London, among them the Athenium, the Reform Club and the Royal Automobile Club, magnificent structures clad in Portland stone dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries, inspired by the great palaces of Venice and Rome and later by French Renaissance architecture during the era of the Entente Cordiale.
Less well known, but no less splendid, is the Donatien Club, its presence at street level announced by a discreet silver plaque embossed with the club
'
s coat of arms.
There is not the slightest hint of the activities practiced within, although its name says it all to the club
'
s rich and powerful members. Donatien Alphonse Francois
(1740 to 1814), after whom the club is named,
is better known as the Marquis de Sade.

George is not a club man, indeed not much of a belonger of any sort, except for a brief spell in the
'
80s as social secretary for Pimlico Labour Party and its
regular
meeting place in the basement of St. Saviour
'
s Church would be swallowed up in the entry hall of any one of these splendid west end palaces.
But when George saw a discreet classified advertisement in
The
Times
announcing that the Donatien Cub was inviting applications for membership and would be holding an Open House, he saw an opportunity to broaden the scope of his research.

"
It won
'
t do any harm to go along and see,
"
he told himself.

And so on a drizzly Thursday afternoon, bowler-hatted and carrying his rolled-up umbrella, he boarded the number 24 bus at the top of his street and settled in on the upper deck for the 15-minute ride. As the bus weaved through traffic on
Victoria Street
, past Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament before turning into
Whitehall
, he was able to reflect on his progress to date. He had made a friend and formed a literary alliance with a Cambridge University graduate; he had done some useful, although somewhat dispiriting research at Olympia; he had appointed a librarian to his editorial advisory committee; he had learned something of the demographics of the adult video market; he had formulated the genesis of a plot and
written a couple of chapters.

"
So far so good,
"
he told himself, as he got down from the bus at
Trafalgar Square
and set off along
Pall Mall
. A few minutes later and with some trepidation he found himself at the club
'
s imposing entrance and there being no knocker or bell to signal his arrival he pushed open the door. He had fully expected to be challenged by a uniformed doorman wearing kid gloves who would brusquely require him to state his business, but to his surprise there was no-one in sight, not counting the Marquis de Sade himself, or at least his portrait in oils that hung imposingly, although George thought somewhat menacingly, on the far side of the entry hall.
To his left and right there was a marble staircase that spiraled to a wide gallery at first floor level.
Here, tall casement windows opened onto balconies, their balustrades linked by pedestals each decorated with an elaborate frieze and topped by a molded cornice. George had not expected such opulence.

"
Can I help you?
"
A sharp female voice sounded more like a warning than a welcome.

George turned in her direction and was confronted by a slim and immaculately dressed receptionist, elegance personified in a dark business suit worn over a white silk blouse that showed just enough cleavage to merit a quick appraisal. She regarded him quizzically through horn-rimmed spectacles.

"
I saw your ad,
"
George said, by way of introduction.
"
Thought I
'
d drop by to check you out, I mean to check the club out,
"
he added hastily.

"
Quite so,
"
she said.
"
Are you interested in taking out a social or full playing membership? We have vacancies at this time only for players.
"

"
Yes, of course, I
'
m sort of a player,
"
George found himself saying, with more conviction than he really felt.
"
Er, what games specifically are we talking about? I assume, given the club
'
s patronage, that there are no limits.
"

"
Quite so,
"
she replied. This seemed to be her favorite expression.

"
Our members enjoy the full spectrum of sado-masochistic and bondage activities from mild spanking to torture and humiliation.
Whatever you seek you will not be disappointed. It
'
s all in our brochure.
"

"
Well, yes, I see,
"
said George.
"
Well my late wife and I enjoyed a little spanking play, just as an appetizer you understand, I mean it
'
s normal isn
'
t it, a lot of people do it.
"

"
Are you a top or a bottom?
"

George hated labels, but he said he supposed he was a top, most of the time, anyway. He didn
'
t tell her what sometimes happened between them on dark and stormy nights.

"
Well, I think you will be well pleased with our facilities,
"
she said.
"
We have several playrooms, all beautifully decorated. One of our most popular is the Headmaster
'
s Study, which is authentically furnished and equipped with a full range of disciplinary accessories. And believe me there
'
s no a shortage of delinquent female bottoms wanting to be administered to. Our club is open to men and women.
Our role here, with the utmost discretion, is to bring like-minded people together. For our Open House we have another playroom available to prospective members and this is our fully-equipped Dungeon – the finest in
London
I might add. Unfortunately, our Dungeon Master is off sick today, but feel free to look around and there are others of our staff who will be pleased to answer any questions you may have. You have an hour before our members start arriving, judges, barristers, bishops, members of parliament, that sort of person of quality.
I take it that you yourself, Mr. Brown, are a professional person.
"

"
Senior civil servant retired,
"
said George proudly. He didn
'
t tell her he was with Putney & District.

"
Very well, you are welcome to sample either of our play rooms.
Walk in. You will find people there to help you.
"

"
I walk in, just like that?
"
George asked, suddenly feeling a pang of anxiety.

"
Quite so. You can hang your hat and coat in this closet here. Turn first left past the next corridor then first right to the Dungeon. First corridor on your left, then second door on the right, takes you the Headmaster
'
s Study.
Enjoy.
"

Now thoroughly confused, but not wishing to appear disoriented, George deposited his hat coat and umbrella and stepped briskly in the direction she had indicated.
But what had she said?
Was it right, then left, or left then right? He couldn
'
t remember. There were people to help, she had said, so he could always ask and it wouldn
'
t hurt just to poke his nose in.
He pushed open a heavy door in front of him and took two steps into the gloom. Uh oh. Sensing at once that he had made the wrong choice, a moment of unease turned into full-blown panic when he heard the door clang shut behind him. Turning abruptly, he tripped on the uneven flagstones and fell to his knees. His spectacles flew from his nose and skittered across the floor out of sight.

Next thing, a jackboot placed squarely on his neck forced him to spread eagle on the floor and he felt the full force of a riding crop delivered to his prone posterior.