The Plume: The Second Anthology (7 page)

The woman, though. What would the woman do to
her? Louise shivered in anticipation.

If this was punishment, she couldn’t imagine
a reward.

She was pressed against the metal frame, one
guard fondling her butt. It must have been one of the men, because
his hands were large and powerful. She heard the click of heels as
the woman came around in front of her. She wrapped a wide leather
belt around Tess’s waist and secured her to the junction at the
middle of the X. She tugged it hard to force the buckle to the next
hole in the belt, ensuring that Louise caught her breath.

The woman guard smiled.

The metal had been curved so that a woman’s
body would fit against it. Louise’s ankles were untied and her legs
spread wide, gloved hands sliding down her legs with what might
have been appreciation. Her thighs and then her ankles were secured
to the lower arms of the cross with similar wide leather bands. As
soon as her thighs were secured, the woman reached between her legs
again and began to caress her clitoris again. Louise wanted to
writhe.

Her arms were untied, then the woman stepped
abruptly back. The guards spun the cross like a roulette wheel.
Louise gasped into her gag as she found herself upside down. Her
arms and hands were secured to the other two arms of the cross.

She was spread-eagle and helpless.

A mouth closed over her sex and Louise nearly
went through the roof. The woman stood to one side, watching
Louise, her toe tapping. It must have been a man who ate her, who
ran his tongue over her, who licked her and sucked her and dragged
his teeth over her aching clitoris.

Louise moaned from the depths of her
soul.

One guard stepped forward again and removed a
pin from the top of the pillar. Louise saw that the cross was
mounting on a bearing, just as she was tipped to be horizontal. The
guard – who was between her thighs now – replaced the pin in the
top of the pillar. He ran a gloved hand over her sex and
laughed.

“Wet snatch on this one. Anna’s right. I
think she likes it here.”

“She wanted to know what it was like.”

“We’d better make sure she gets her money’s
worth,” said another and they laughed together.

“As long as I get her last,” the woman said
darkly. Louise shivered.

A guard in front of her untied her gag. She
licked her lips, only to have his gloved hand land across her
mouth. “We don’t like a lot of noise,” he advised her, his eyes
glinting through the mesh covered holes in his hood. “Moaning is
good.”

“Groaning is good,” said another and the
guards laughed.

“Screaming in ecstasy works, as well,”
contributed a third.

“But only when she’s allowed,” said the
woman, wagging his finger at Louise.

They had to give her permission to come?
Louise shivered in anticipation. How would she be punished if she
came without permission? She wanted to find out.

The guard in front of her smiled. “But mostly
we want to put that mouth to use. Understand?”

Louise nodded. It was exciting to be at their
mercy. The guard stepped back and she watched as he put on a
condom. A flicker of movement at either side revealed that the
other two male guards were doing the same.

“Who’s first tonight?” he asked, then he
nodded. Louise felt a gloved hand brush her ankle, then gasped
aloud when the wheel spun again. She closed her eyes at the whirl
of the room around her, not sure what to expect when it
stopped.

All Louise could see was the guard with the
pierced nipples.

He grinned.

“One for me and one for you,” he said,
looking over her. Who was behind her? Louise didn’t know. She
couldn’t look and there was no time. The pierced guard stepped
forward and caught her head in his hands. “Open wide, bad girl,” he
said and Louise took his massive cock in her mouth. “I want you to
take it all and like it.” He was hard and thick, his hands locking
around her head to hold her exactly where he wanted.

Louise locked her mouth around him,
determined to make him come sooner than he expected. She wasn’t
entirely powerless in this encounter and she was good at giving
head. She flicked her tongue across the tip of his penis and heard
him catch his breath.

“Already open wide at this end,” said another
guard, sliding his finger over Louise’s wet sex. She moaned at his
sure touch, then he slid his cock deep into her from behind. The
ribs on the condom made her aware of every inch of his penetration.
She felt stetched wide and filled. “Nice and tight, too.” He locked
his hands around her waist and began to pump.

The third guard ducked beneath the cross, his
mouth closing on Louise’s erect nipple. He moved his tongue across
the taut peak, massaging her breasts with his hands, pinching the
other nipple with his fingertips. She felt claimed on every side, a
servant to their pleasure.

And keenly aware that Anna was just
watching.

Waiting.

And would have what she wanted last.

Louise couldn’t wait.

* * *

The Count watched the Plume descend into
chaotic pleasure.

He was impressed. The circus theme was
well-executed, no expense spared on the trappings for the display.
And Athena had timed the surprise well. The members had been edgy
after the capture of the imposter, the crowd filled with a
restlessness that needed an outlet.

This was a great one.

He was also annoyed. He refused to watch
Athena being banged by the lion and fondled by dozens. She was
blissful in her release, and he was irritated by the sight.

Once, she had looked to him for such
pleasure.

On one side of the Count, a wolf tamed a
dominatrix clad in leather and chains. On the other, a waitress was
claimed by a polar bear. Overhead, two peacock girls twined
themselves around a swing, gliding over the crowd as they ate each
other alive. Someone had stolen one of his pussycats, and another
had run away to join the festivities.

The Count unclipped the leash from the third
one, indicating the pair of men who had wheeled out the cage with
Athena’s lion. They were watching his kitty cat openly. “Looks like
they need a feline to tame,” the Count said to her. “Go play hide
and seek.”

She didn’t need any urging to scamper away.
She ran straight to them, flicked her tail at them and said
something – probably “catch me if you can” – then ran. They were
after her in a flash.

He left her leash on the bar and turned away.
For once, he wasn’t interested in participating in the pleasures of
the Plume and that was a troubling change.

The Count needed to think about that.

* * *

Louise’s two hours were up. She was blissful
and satisfied, and feeling very appreciative of the amenities of
the Plume. The showers were hot, with great water pressure. She
could have stood under the steaming deluge for the rest of the
night, replaying the pleasure she’d experienced.

She didn’t want to leave.

She was wondering whether she could make
another deal with the redhead, based on a refusal to keep the deal
and leave now.

Someone else entered the showers and Louise
turned around, expecting a stranger or a guard.

It was Anna.

Louise’s heart stopped. Despite her
anticipation, Anna had never taken her. She’d simply watched as the
male guards had claimed Louise in every possible way.

Would she make a demand now?

Anna stared at Louise as she undressed. She
methodically removed her uniform, tugging off the boots and
unlacing the corset. She stacked it all on the bench to one side of
the large shower zone, her gaze locked on Louise all the while.

She removed her hood last, shaking out her
hair as she revealed herself fully.

Anna was Asian, to Louise’s surprise. She had
short dark hair, cropped in a spikey cut, and the ends were tinted
bright fuschia. She stood and let Louise look, then smiled a little
and came into the showers. She took the place beside Louise,
turning on the water and letting it run over her face, before she
turned that intent gaze upon Louise again.

“So, did you like the Plume?”

Louise couldn’t lie. “I loved it. I don’t
want to leave.”

“It’s like that at first,” Anna said quietly.
“Then it all kind of becomes the same.”

Louise could understand that theoretically
but in this moment, it seemed that it would take a long time for
her to become bored with the Plume.

“You don’t believe me,” Anna said, no
question in her tone.

“I think it would take a long time.”

Anna shook her head as she took some liquid
soap from the dispenser. “Not long at all. It’s the emotional
connection that makes it all work.” She lathered the soap in her
hands, then flicked a look at Louise. “Do you feel ours?”

Louise nodded, shy with the admission.

Anna reached out to spread the lather on
Louise’s breasts. At first her touch was light as a feather, her
fingertips sliding over Louise’s skin. Then she curved her hands
around Louise’s breasts, massaging them, teasing the nipples. She
slid her hands over Louise, working up a lather as she awakened
Louise’s desire one more time.

She flicked a look at Louise, then eased her
hand between Louise’s legs. She caressed her labia and then her
clitoris, her fingers working with a persistence that made Louise’s
heart pound.

“I wanted you from the first,” Anna said
quietly. “But I wanted you alone.”

“Yes.”

“I like that you snuck in.”

“I’ll never manage it again.” Louise leaned
back against the wall, hypnotized by Anna’s sure touch. She parted
her legs, which made Anna smile.

“I like people who go after what they want,”
Anna said, then leaned against Louise and kissed her. Those fingers
continued to torment her, driving Louise wild with their incessant
demand.

Her tongue did the same.

In one way, Louise was surprised to be kissed
so passionately by a woman.

In another, she knew that this was exactly
what she’d always been waiting for. It had been Anna’s presence
that had thrilled her the most, and now Anna’s kiss made her feel
that she would only be satisfied this time.

But she could participate. She speared her
fingers through Anna’s short hair, deepening their kiss. She tasted
Anna’s surprise, felt her chuckle, then Anna rubbed her breasts
against the lather on Louise’s. Her nipples were hard and when they
grazed Louise’s skin, Louise felt electrified. Her fingers worked,
but Louise didn’t want to come just yet.

She wanted to share.

She spun them around, trapping Anna against
the tiled wall instead, then dropped to her knees. The hot water
showered down upon them as Louise spread Anna’s thighs with her
hands. She bent and ate Anna, at first gently and then with
increasing force. She flicked her tongue against her wet cunt, she
dragged her teeth against Anna’s hard clitoris, she sucked and she
nibbled and she pushed her fingers inside Anna’s hot snatch.

Anna moaned and bucked her hips, her clitoris
getting harder with every passing second. Her hands were knotted in
Louise’s hair, holding her close and holding fast. When Anna
stiffened and cried out in pleasure, Louise felt almost as much
pleasure inw what she’d done. When Anna reached for her and kissed
her deeply, some last knot of resistance unfurled in Louise.

This was what she had been missing in her
life.

Maybe meeting Anna was the reason she’d even
been able to sneak into the Plume.

“Let’s get out of here,” Anna whispered
moments later, urgency in her tone. She was soaked and flushed, the
pink tips of her hair in her eyes, but she looked radiant. Louise
wanted to eat her again.

With jam. And walnuts.

“Let’s go somewhere other than the Plume,”
Anna said, taking Louise’s silence for uncertainty. She ran her
hands over Louise with a proprietary ease that felt right. “Let’s
make coffee and lie around naked and have sex when we want to.”

“Jam and walnuts.”

Anna laughed. “I’m game if you are.”

Louise smiled before she had a thought. “Is
it allowed for members to meet outside?”

“No.” Anna shrugged. “But my shift is over.
I’m off the clock and I don’t care what they do.” She pivoted and
scrubbed herself clean, the change in her tone and manner almost
dismissive.

Of the Plume?

Or of Louise?

“But what happens if you get caught?”

Anna shrugged. “Maybe they’ll punish me. I
hear the Count is going to set up a manor house with a full staff
of slave maids.” She winked at Louise, evidently enamored of the
idea.

That wasn’t what Louise wanted to hear. “You
think he’s sexy?”

“No, but being locked in the maids’ quarters
every night, with two or three dozen other women, that wouldn’t be
all bad.”

“I see.” Louise turned away, rinsing off the
soap.

Anna caught her shoulders from behind and
leaned close to whisper. “But probably they’ll kick me out,
especially since you’re not a member. I’m not so worried about
that, not now.” And she ran her hands down Louise’s arms, fondling
her with a mixture of power and tenderness that stole Louise’s
breath away.

She glanced over her shoulder and met the
heat in Anna’s eyes. “I have coffee at my apartment.”

* * *

“You did what?” Rex must have heard
wrong.

“I solved the problem,” Athena said,
uncontrite. They were in the office of the Plume just before nine
in the morning. Rex had arrived to do some paperwork and Athena was
just ending her night.

Athena had kicked off her boots and was
drawing off her long gloves, tugging one fingertip at a time. Rex
glowered at her, certain he must have heard her incorrectly.