The Bracelet Read online

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she murmured, and Kristina’s stomach lurched at the remembrance of similar, delicious subjugation. Her body longed for Tarquin.

  ‘So you should be,’ Laurence replied, and then he was parting her buttocks and carefully rimming the opening of her rear entrance with the lotion, easing a little of it inside the opening of her rectum and swirling his finger around in a featherlight teasing caress as he worked.

  Hester was frantic for her climax now. She was groaning and gasping, thrusting her buttocks provocatively towards him and trying to twist her hips around in order to stimulate herself, but Laurence sharply ordered her to keep still.

  When she obeyed he put his hand back into her bag and drew out a pronged instrument that Kristina realised was a double-headed dildo. Smothering both ends with the lotion he then indicated with his head that Kristina should move nearer the bed.

  She did, walking as lightly as she could, but Laurence wanted Hester to know Kristina was there. ‘My agent’s watching you now, Hester. She’s anxious to see you come. I think she’s been worrying about you all the afternoon. Is that right, Kristina?’

  ‘I was concerned,’ admitted Kristina, relieved to find that her voice sounded steady despite the sexual turmoil she was feeling at the sight of the curvaceous blonde so obviously desperate for a climax with her glistening flesh and twitching muscular spasms.

  ‘Spread your knees a little wider,’ said Laurence. Hester whimpered with excitement and moved as he suggested. Then, when she was steady again, he carefully inserted the prongs of the dildo into her two openings and began to move them in and out in a slow teasing movement, only penetrating a little way at first, causing Hester to thrust back with her hips.

  ‘Wait!’ he snapped. ‘I choose when to penetrate you fully. Tell me how near you are.’

  ‘I’m right there!’ shouted Hester. ‘I feel as though I’m going to explode. My breasts are aching, my stomach’s cramping and I ache between my thighs.’

  ‘You certainly sound ready,’ he admitted, glancing at Kristina. ‘Right then, here we go. You have thirty seconds to climax. After that, I stop and we leave. We’ve taken up enough of Kristina’s valuable time already.’

  Kristina looked at him with a mixture of surprise and admiration. It was a very clever touch at this stage. A few seconds earlier Hester must have felt she’d come the moment he gave her enough stimulation, now she had the psychological fear in her mind that if she didn’t then she’d have to wait much, much longer for her satisfaction.

  Hester recognised the diabolical quality of the trap too. ‘No, not a timed climax, Laurence,’ she begged. ‘Not after all this.’

  Ignoring her, he started to move the two heads in and out of her pulsating openings, working her with consummate skill so that she was shouting and panting as her excitement grew to fever pitch, but all the time he worked he counted off the seconds aloud as well and this distracted her so much that when he said ‘thirty’ she still hadn’t quite come.

  Without any comment, Laurence removed the dildo and pulled Hester upright. ‘Bad luck. We’ll start again back at my flat.’

  As he tore off the silk blindfold, Kristina saw the dazed, disbelieving frustration on Hester’s face, but there was nothing the blonde could say because she was still wearing the bracelet.

  Then, as she clambered off the bed, Laurence abruptly reached between her thighs and squeezed her swollen clitoris between his thumb and forefinger. ‘No!’ cried Hester, but she was too late and Laurence and Kristina watched as her body bent double on itself and the delayed release caused her to momentarily lose control of herself and her muscles.

  She half-fell back on to the bed as her belly continued to ripple and the contractions swept over her while she whimpered helplessly for forgiveness.

  ‘It seems you’ve forgotten how the discipline of the bracelet works,’ said Laurence dispassionately. ‘Perhaps you need another lesson. I think we’ll go straight back to my flat and have it now, before you forget the error of your ways today.’

  Hester gasped, and Kristina saw her right hand move to the bracelet, but then she let her hand fall back to her side and nodded. ‘I think we should,’ she agreed, her voice docile.

  After they’d left and Kristina was on her way back to the office, Kristina couldn’t help wondering exactly what Hester’s lesson would involve.

  ‘Jacqueline’s called three times while you’ve been out,’ said Sue the moment Kristina walked through the door. ‘She asked you to ring back as soon as you got in. Apparently it’s very urgent.’

  ‘Right,’ sighed Kristina, who could guess what the call was about.

  She was right in her guess; Jacqueline was very angry. ‘You told me you weren’t going to be Laurence’s agent,’ she shouted down the phone. ‘But you are, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yes,’ admitted Kristina. ‘I was going to tell you, but I haven’t had the chance. It all happened so quickly.’

  ‘And you’ve been out with him today, too. Was there time for anything intimate before you parted company, or will that happen later? He told me he wouldn’t be in touch for a few days; I guessed immediately it was you. How could you do this to me again? After we talked I believed you. I honestly thought you meant what you said, but it was all lies wasn’t it? Why, Kristina? Are you on some power trip that means you have to have everyone in the society?’

  ‘Will you listen for a moment,’ said Kristina sharply. ‘I took Laurence on because I got myself in a bit of a mess through the society, and in the end it made more sense to represent him than to pass him on to someone else.’

  ‘Business sense, or sexual sense?’ asked Jackie tartly.

  ‘Believe it or not, this was a business decision. I realised that I was allowing my private life to interfere with my work. Laurence is a very good proposition from a financial point of view. I thought about turning him down because I knew you’d be upset, but that wasn’t a good enough reason, not where work’s concerned. You wouldn’t miss a journalistic scoop involving Tarquin simply out of consideration for my delicate feelings, would you?’

  ‘Am I meant to deduce from all this that you’re not sexually involved as well?’ asked Jackie, her voice tight with anger.

  ‘Hard as you might find this to believe, that happens to be the truth. We are not sexually involved any more. Last time was a one-off; it won’t happen again.’

  ‘Then why isn’t he free to see me?’ demanded Jackie.

  ‘I don’t know,’ lied Kristina, aware that it wasn’t her place to tell her friend what Laurence chose to do.

  ‘But you must know. He and I had something special going. It was perfect until you joined the society.’

  ‘For the last time would you get this into your head, Jackie. I have never had any contact with Laurence through the society of the bracelet. I’ve never worn the bracelet for him, and I never intend to. What you seem to forget is that he’s perfectly free to see other women through the society apart from you. Perhaps he feels afraid you’re becoming too involved. That’s one of the things we’re supposed to be trying to escape from ourselves, come to that!’

  ‘Is this what Laurence has been telling you?’ demanded Jackie. ‘Does he think I’m trying to take him over?’

  Kristina wished that Jackie would get off the line and leave her alone. She had work to do, and she also kept thinking of Hester and the way Laurence had played with her, physically and mentally, in such an erotic way. It had left Kristina thoroughly aroused, and longing for a call from Tarquin. She was certainly in no mood to listen to her friend’s accusations, especially this time, when they were largely unfounded.

  ‘He never discusses you with me,’ she said shortly. ‘Sorry, I’ve got to go now. The other phone’s ringing.’

  ‘I know he wants to have you under his control, wearing the bracelet,’ hissed Jackie. ‘And if you’re honest, you know it too. That’s why you took him on as a client, not because of his boring book. Well, when he gets his way you might
find you don’t like it as much as you think you will.’

  ‘I’ve never given it a moment’s thought,’ lied Kristina, and she hung up.

  The rest of the afternoon passed far too quickly. There were books to look at, manuscripts to chase up from tardy authors and equally tardy publishers and the usual number of desperate authors suffering from sudden attacks of writer’s block.

  ‘It’s a good job I don’t get agent’s block!’ laughed Kristina when Sue brought in some letters to be signed.

  ‘It isn’t the same,’ Sue pointed out. ‘You’re dealing with sensitive, creative creatures, not ordinary mortals like you and me!’

  ‘True, but it’s a shame they have to be quite so temperamental. I suppose you need to be mad to become a writer in the first place. Is this the lot?’

  ‘Yes, all done. Is it all right if I go now? It’s after six and I’m due to meet Greg at seven. We’re seeing the new Ryan Gosling film. That’s the penalty he has to pay for going to football every Saturday of the season!’

  Kristina smiled. ‘That’s fine, go ahead. I’ll lock up as soon as I’ve sorted out tomorrow’s work. Remind me to chase Lindsey Price about her children’s book. She’s way overdue and her editor’s getting a bit nervous.’

  ‘Will do,’ promised Sue.

  Once she was alone, Kristina found that there was more work to sort through than she’d thought and it was seven thirty before she was ready to leave. She’d just reached the outer office when the phone went. After a brief hesitation she picked it up before her voicemail cut in.

  ‘Kristina Masterton.’

  ‘I thought you must still be at work,’ said Tarquin’s voice. She drew in a sharp breath, praying that he was going to suggest seeing her. ‘I tried your home number a couple of times and this was my last attempt.’

  ‘Lucky you caught me; I was about to leave.’

  ‘Are you free tonight? Estelle and I are having a literary evening; you seemed the ideal guest for the occasion.’

  Kristina’s excitement faded a little. She didn’t want a literary evening; she wanted, needed, eroticism and sensuality, but more than that she needed to see Tarquin and so she didn’t hesitate. ‘That sounds like fun. What time?’

  ‘Come now,’ he suggested. ‘You can eat here.’

  ‘But I’m wearing my office clothes!’ she protested.

  ‘That doesn’t matter in the least,’ Tarquin assured her gently. ‘By the end of the evening you won’t be wearing anything at all.’

  Her pulse quickened and once again her excitement rose. She should have known, she thought to herself. Tarquin wouldn’t bother to ask her to an ordinary literary dinner party. This was something special, and even the fact that it included Estelle didn’t put her off.

  ‘In that case, I’ll be there in the next half hour,’ she promised him.

  ‘It’s nice to know that you’re always ready to try new things,’ he murmured. ‘I find that I’m beginning to look forward to our meetings more and more. All you need to bring with you tonight is yourself and your undoubtedly considerable depth of knowledge about the plays of William Shakespeare.’

  ‘Shakespeare?’ asked Kristina blankly, but he’d already hung up on her. She shrugged to herself. Shakespeare had never been one of her favourite playwrights, and you could put what she knew about his plays on the back of a postage stamp, but she didn’t think that was likely to spoil the evening.

  In Tarquin’s house Estelle looked at him as he replaced the receiver. ‘Well?’ she asked eagerly.

  He half-smiled. ‘I got the feeling that our attractive literary agent is not the greatest admirer of the Bard.’

  ‘All the more fun for us then!’

  He shook his head. ‘All the more fun for me, Estelle.’

  She pouted. ‘Surely I’m allowed to enjoy it too? After all, I’m seeing far less of you since Kristina came on to the scene. This is my compensation.’

  ‘We see plenty of each other,’ he murmured. Estelle wondered why it was that she couldn’t ever get really close to him. Her only comfort was that no other woman could either.

  ‘I’ll set up the room,’ she said quickly.

  ‘Good. I’ll prepare the questions. Easy at first I think, in order to lull her into a sense of security, then the more difficult ones. Make quite sure to set the scene exactly as I said. Atmosphere makes such a difference to an evening like this.’

  Estelle pressed herself against him and he took her face between his hands and kissed her lightly on the mouth. ‘It’s strange that the society’s never tempted you,’ he murmured.

  ‘I’d never wear a bracelet that meant I was helpless, some kind of sexual toy for a man to use as he chose,’ she retorted. ‘I’ve far too much self-respect for that.’

  He nodded. ‘I thought that was what you believed.’

  Estelle frowned. ‘What do you mean, “believed”?’

  ‘I think your reasons are actually more profound than that.’

  ‘Is this a professional assessment?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes, it is.’

  ‘Then please let me have the benefit of your expert knowledge. Why don’t I want to join the society?’

  ‘Because you’re afraid of finding out what would happen if you ever allowed yourself to lose control of a situation. It takes a very special kind of self-confidence to do that, you know.’

  ‘You don’t think I’ve got much self-confidence?’ she asked in disbelief.

  ‘Not in your personal relationships, no. Most people haven’t, Estelle. You’re not in the minority.’

  Her temper flared. ‘I suppose that means Kristina is more confident and liberated than I am?’

  ‘I don’t think I want to answer that. This isn’t the time for a quarrel, and in any case the remark wasn’t meant to be a comparison between you and another woman. It was an analysis of your personality, nothing more.’

  ‘It’s a pity you can’t stop analysing everything,’ she snapped as she walked away.

  Twenty-five minutes after she’d received the phone call, Kristina rang Tarquin’s door bell. It was Estelle who opened the door, and she smiled pleasantly at the newcomer.

  ‘Hi, glad you could make it. How’s Laurence? Sam seems very impressed by him and his book.’

  ‘I think that’s because Sam knows the family and has an interest in diamonds. I’m not sure that the book will do as well as he imagines, but that’s not my problem,’ replied Kristina.

  ‘Of course not. Anyway, we mustn’t talk shop. Tarquin would be very annoyed. This evening is meant to be an escape from all that, isn’t that right?’

  ‘Yes,’ agreed Kristina. ‘It’s a very good form of stress-relief!’

  ‘I hope you feel the same after the evening’s entertainment. We’re using the back room. I don’t think you’ve been in there before, have you?’

  Kristina shook her head, and went with Estelle down the hallway. When they reached the door to the room Tarquin appeared from what she assumed to be the kitchen area. He was wearing light blue slacks and a white short-sleeved shirt, a far more casual outfit than Kristina had ever seen him in before, and yet he somehow still managed to look formal. He nodded in greeting, then handed over the bracelet.

  ‘Perhaps you’d like to look in the room before you put this on?’ he suggested.

  Behind her ribs, Kristina’s heart thumped. ‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I trust you enough to put it on now.’

  ‘Excellent. As usual you can remove it at any point in time. Shall we go through?’ and he pushed open the door.

  Kristina hadn’t been sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t the scene that met her eyes. The room was in semi-darkness, the thick curtains drawn to shut out the evening light. Dimmed lamps provided an eerie glow. But it was the furniture that astonished her; in the middle of the room was a large, comfortable-looking leather chair with the beam from a suspended spotlight trained on it, while in the shadow directly opposite the chair were two straight-back
ed tapestry chairs with a small table in front of them. In the dim recesses of the room she could see that other pieces of furniture had been pushed out of the way, but she couldn’t make out any of them clearly, and in any case she wasn’t interested in them. The layout of the room made her think of an interrogation scene from a film, and her throat tightened.

  ‘Does it remind you of anything?’ asked Tarquin, his hand stroking softly through her dark, curly hair.

  ‘Yes, an interrogation room at a police station,’ she responded.

  ‘Do they really have such comfortable leather chairs for their suspects?’

  Kristina turned her face up to his. ‘I suppose not. I’ve never been questioned by the police.’

  ‘You’re not frightened, are you?’

  ‘Yes,’ she admitted. ‘I am a little.’

  ‘There’s no need. I did tell you this was to be a literary evening, remember?’

  ‘But I can’t see what this has to do … Wait a minute, it’s like Mastermind!’

  He nodded. ‘Exactly, this is our own quiz room for the night. I shall be the question master, Estelle will be the timekeeper and you, naturally, are the contestant.’

  ‘Only me?’ asked Kristina.

  ‘Yes, there’s only you because the rules are not precisely the same as on the television show! Every time you make a mistake, you’ll be punished. The punishments vary in severity according to the difficulty of the question. Sometimes we won’t stop until you’ve incurred a few penalties. That way we can have one punishment session for a group of errors.’

  ‘And the questions are on the plays of Shakespeare?’ asked Kristina.

  ‘Yes, not too taxing for a literary agent I’m sure. Now, let me see what you’re wearing.’

  He stood back and looked at her. She was dressed in a knee-length cream linen skirt with a blue jacket that was nipped in at the waist, then flared out over her hips. On her feet were blue high-heeled shoes and her holdups were navy blue silk.

  ‘You’re dressed for the part,’ he said with satisfaction. ‘I think it’s time you took your seat. Estelle, get the stop-watch ready and sort the questions for me please.’