As the first lands I’m almost jerked off my feet. He waits while I writhe, fighting to stay in position but needing to move about to deflect the sudden sharp flash of pain.
Another strike. The shock makes me gasp but this time I’m prepared so it stings less.
The third blow is softer still. He pauses to feel me, his hand cool on the burning stripes he’s etched into me. And now he starts a new torment as his soothing caress turns into a slow exploration between my legs. He wants to know what’s happening down there. I’m already soft, swollen, wet.
With a satisfied chuckle he takes aim again, finishing the last two strokes with a flourish. He leans close and murmurs against my neck as I pant to catch my breath. ‘You OK?’
I swallow. ‘I’m fine.’
His kiss lingers on my neck. ‘More?’
‘No. I want …’ I tremble, unsure if this is allowed. But the bracelets mean I have a say now. At least I think that’s what he said.
‘What? What do you want, Ella? Tell me.’
He trails soft kisses along my spine while he draws the switch slowly between my legs, letting me feel every rough nick, every inch of its harsh, springy length. It slides perilously close to my eager sex, splayed for his delight. I can’t see the stripes but I feel them blend into a hot glow.
‘I want you inside.’ I’m ashamed to ask. I sound tinny and unreal in the gathering darkness of the tall trees all around us.
‘Where, Ella? Tell me. Here?’ He reaches down to feel the place and drops kisses along my shoulder blades.
‘
Please
,’ I say as the head of his erection grazes my burning bottom in a silky nudge of greeting. All at once he slams into me, jerking me hard against the tree with his power and his weight. He feels so good.
Far above us the sky remains light, pearly now as the sunlight fades. Down here in the growing darkness the bracelets gleam and flash as he pounds.
He reaches underneath me, teasing me open, his touch light, tingling like sparks. I close my eyes and sigh, treasuring the slow climb to rapture as he moves gently inside me, easing his stroke to slow us, to prolong the moment …
And then he pauses, quivers and slowly withdraws. ‘Know what? I’ve got a better plan. We’ll finish this in bed.’
Grr.
My rapture’s on hold, poised at the peak. I straighten up. ‘Are you serious?’
He smiles at me calmly as he fastens himself. ‘Any objection?’ His voice is low and amused.
‘Where do I start?’ With an effort I unclench my teeth and he kisses me gently on the forehead.
‘Hey, chill. Good for you. Teach you some discipline. Come on, race you back.’
We run to the house, the way much easier downhill. He seizes my hand and drags me along the last few feet of driveway, his eyes dancing at the sight of my flushed cheeks, my wild hair and my heaving breasts. He’s still holding the switch, swishing it through the air and taking pretend swipes at my legs to speed me up.
The bracelets are heavy now, their weight and the movement from my running etching redness into my wrists. The diamonds flash in the glow from the elegant garden lighting that floods the grounds under the tall, graceful windows.
As we draw near the front entrance we pull up short.
A pale, haughty-looking man with a ponytail and a small pointy beard is coming down the steps. He’s wearing a lizard-skin jacket, tight jeans and stacked heels.
He eyes us with distaste. ‘Who the hell are you?’
I feel a moment’s pity for Ponytail.
He won’t know what’s hit him.
At my side Darnley stiffens, then reaches for his phone. ‘
G2
.’ His soft murmur is barely audible in the hushed peace of the driveway. But now we notice things our fascination with each other blotted out earlier – voices from the house, movements in the windows.
We have visitors.
Darnley slips the phone back in his pocket as the butler hurries out to meet us, his face anxious.
‘Mr Wolfe, sir, these people are –’
At that moment Eldon appears in the main doorway. ‘Yo, bro’. How’s tricks? I brought some friends along. Thought we’d party now Mom and Dad have gone.’
‘Mr Wolfe, sir –’ The butler is still scanning Darnley’s face in a silent, urgent plea. It’s the first time I’ve seen this wooden individual so agitated.
‘Mr Eldon said –’
Tension crackles around us. Darnley shifts his gaze back to Eldon, his face a mask. ‘Have these people got clearance?’
Eldon’s face contracts. ‘
Clearance?
Why should they? Dammit, Darnley, they’re friends of mine.’
‘Everybody who comes here gets clearance. You know that.’ Like everything else about him Darnley’s rage is carefully controlled but somehow that makes him even more terrifying. His fury is aimed at Eldon but it raises a prickle of tiny hairs all over me, too.
Ponytail actually takes a step back. ‘Who is this? Eldon? What gives?’ His voice sounds squeaky.
Eldon’s locked into Darnley’s stern gaze, his mouth stubborn. ‘
What?
Fuck no. Why should they get clearance?’
‘Get rid of them.’
Darnley’s low snarl bristles with menace. Eldon holds his ground, his slack good looks shrinking into a tight scowl. ‘Fuck off, man. That’s just for when family are here.’
‘It’s for when
anyone
’s here, you moron.’
As Darnley squares up to his brother there’s another, higher, squeak from Ponytail. ‘
Holy shit
, Eldon. What
is
this? Invasion of the frigging Body Snatchers?’
From all around us men are emerging from the trees and from the sides of the house. I even spot one on the roof.
They’re dark and dangerous and they’re armed.
Darnley’s men.
Eldon takes one look around him and his eyes fill with tears of rage and frustration. ‘For fuck’s sake, Darnley, what’s the fucking matter with you? These are friends of mine. Film people. I got a possible film deal here, man. My first big break. And you have to go shit all over it with your fucking goons, you fucking megalomaniac control-freak.’
His voice is shrill now, his face contorted like an angry toddler taking home his ball. I half expect him to stamp his foot.
He may be outplayed but he still has the power to wound. His eyes flash. ‘And next time you torture your girlfriend while you’re boning her at least have the decency to treat her to some fucking Band-Aids afterwards, not solid freakin’ gold cuffs. Then maybe she’ll freakin’ heal, you freakin’ perverted
freak
.’
Darnley stands very still, his face stony as his men gather round us in a silent, solemn ring. From the house we hear protesting cries as more unseen visitors are rounded up and herded down the steps towards us, swelling the crowd.
All eyes instantly fasten on our little group, Darnley at its centre, his controlled fury like a force field.
In the tense silence he turns slowly to face me, his expression unreadable. ‘Go to the Lincoln Suite and stay there. This won’t take long. I’ll catch you later.’
I quail at the rage I sense building under his calm surface. I’m scared to speak in front of all these people but I give a faint nod to convey to him that I get he has things to do –
Wolfe things
– and our loving reunion must wait.
Unexpectedly he folds his hand slowly round my neck, tilts up my chin with his thumb and kisses me on the mouth. ‘See you later.’ His look is so intense, his touch so gentle, we might be alone here.
The others look on in silence.
He releases me slowly. His touch lingers in a statement of power, some kind of primitive signal to everyone here about territory or ownership. I’m unfamiliar with the finer points of male stand-offs but I feel a tiny spark of pride that he’s marked me out for this one.
As I make my way to the Lincoln Suite I’m already winding down when I hear voices.
What?
In the doorway to our rooms I stand very still. There are three women in here. Two are casually eyeing up the Kandinsky, the other is sprawled on our bed. Her bright kaftan and fluorescent headband look outlandish, Greenwich Village going on Woodstock. They stop talking and look me up and down. One of them flicks a cigarette into a flower vase where it smoulders unpleasantly.
‘What do you want?’ A tall girl with sandals and a jutting chin scowls at me.
‘You’re in my room,’ I say evenly.
She arches an eyebrow. ‘Oh, yeah? Who says? We got here first. Go find one of your own.’
Just then Bullen, Darnley’s driver, pushes past me.
‘Security alert, ladies. Everyone’s to report outside.’
They look affronted but Bullen’s blank stare and prominent holster are very persuasive. He turns to me and lowers his voice.
‘Two gunmen spotted heading this way, ma’am. One may be in the woods, one in the house. We’ve been ordered to clear the area.’
I make an effort to keep a straight face.
Gunmen?
The women look scared as he herds them towards the door and sweeps the room with a professional two-handed gun pointed into corners, cupboards and even under the bed. Another guard appears and looks on in silence as Bullen checks the other rooms in the suite and then comes back to the door, his face solemn.
As I watch something clicks:
G2
. Two gunmen? Was that some kind of code?
The women push past me in their haste to get away. The other man follows them like a watchful sheepdog, ensuring they stay in line.
Bullen lingers in the doorway for a moment. ‘It’s OK, ma’am, it’s safe for you. I’ll send one of the maids to clean up.’
‘Thank you, Bullen. I appreciate that. Er, G2?’
His cliff-face settles into its familiar stony mask. ‘Yes, ma’am.’
While the maid’s changing the bed I watch from the window as the unscripted visitors are herded out onto the driveway and driven away. Eldon looks on helplessly, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. Finally he and Darnley walk back into the house, Eldon still muttering angrily, Darnley in tight-lipped silence. They head for the sitting room and slam the door. I hear angry voices.
This may take a while.
Some three hours later, it’s well after midnight. I’ve washed and showered, filed my nails and applied some scent, caught up on some emails and checked over some lessons for the new semester, but Darnley’s still a no-show. What’s taking him so long?
I’m desperately sorry for him. He was looking forward to seeing Eldon again. Things between the brothers have always been stormy. Now it looks like they’re set to get a whole lot worse.
I get into bed, switch off the light and try to sleep.
Much later I can still hear voices. With a sigh I slip into a wrap and tiptoe downstairs. I frown at a sudden burst of laughter from the sitting area. Quietly I peep round the doorway and hold my breath at the scene before me.
Eldon’s stretched out on one long sofa, hands behind his head. He’s partway through some joke, a pretty filthy one by the sound of it, his voice low and slurred and thick with laughter as he closes in on the punchline.
Darnley sprawls opposite, long legs straight out before him. The low table between them holds several beer cans, some upright, others at crazy angles. They roll on their sides, glinting in the low, flickering light from the fire. There are more empty cans on the floor.
As I watch, Eldon’s punchline arrives in an explosion of laughter from them both. Darnley leans forward and cracks open another can.
I tiptoe silently away, smiling now. I’ve lost my lover for tonight but it’s in a good cause.
Darnley’s found his brother.
I wake up in a shaft of sunshine, my face rammed into my pillow. The glare of the snowy linen almost hurts my eyes so I close them and drift off again. My arms are stretched around something. The dream is fading now but I strain to call it back, I was enjoying that … I was dreaming I was with Darnley, my face buried in his chest.
Something else hurts too. It takes me a few moments to work out what.
It’s my bum.
It stings and burns in the hot sun. Someone’s stroking it, their firm touch turning the cruel stripes I got yesterday into burning, fiery gold.
I can almost smell him, his dark, animal aroma that lurks under his crisp aftershave like a predator, firing me into pounding arousal whenever I least expect it.
‘Hey.’
Shit.
He
is
here. My eyes snap open and now I’m fully awake and his hands are on my backside, warm, stroking, sending waves of pleasure through me even though they remind me of the ferocity of that switch.
That hurt.
And what was more, if I’m completely honest, that was
hot
. And now his loving caresses are lulling me back to dreamland …
‘Wake up.’ To make sure of this he slips his hand deep between my legs and presses, his fingers searching into my private places, his touch, like his closeness, sparking instant arousal. Everywhere down south starts to throb.
Fully awake now I slide my arms out from under the pillow I’ve been hugging. I blink, dazzled, and then snap to attention.
I’m still wearing the bracelets.
He keeps the key but he’s not removed them.
His low murmur flows around me, rich and dark. ‘I told you to wait up. Sleeping on duty? Disgraceful. You’re a very bad girl.’
He grins as he hauls me over him and finds my mouth, his hands sliding all over my lazy curves as he greets my quivering skin, now shimmering under his touch, eager for action. I lean along him and wind my fingers into his hair and kiss him deep, relishing the hard muscles rippling underneath my softer, swelling breasts and his column of hot, burning gristle lying directly under my belly.
He tastes so good …
I pull away with a smile and let my hair fall around us in a silky curtain. ‘You made a night of it.’
He kisses me again with soft touches of his lips and I see his eyes glow. ‘Yep. Now I’m making a morning of it. Sit up so I can admire the view.’
I do it, laughing and pleased his evening went so well. I arch my back and hold my breasts up for him, making them bulge a little, and then flick back my hair and pout with one finger in my mouth, fellating it gently like some porno tramp.