Divine Cruelty (2 page)

'Excellent timing,' Master Vince bellowed. He stood in the pulpit with a mousy blonde cowering beneath his great shadow. 'I was just going to send O'Mara looking for you,' he proclaimed. 'But I can see there's no need for that now.'

Not replying, knowing she wasn't expected to say anything yet, Rachel stepped past him, walked behind the altar, and knelt down. Her heart was pounding hard and she tried telling herself it was only the usual nerves that always came before she gave the master a reading.

But she knew that wasn't entirely the truth. She had never lied to Master Vince before and her intention to do that this evening weighed more heavily than any of the chains he had ever made her wear.

O'Mara hurried to her side and pulled the ermine robe from Rachel's shoulders. With something close to an elaborate flourish, the mousy blonde spread the cloak on the altar then scurried back to the sanctuary of Master Vince's shadow. She stared expectantly up at him like a well-trained cur.

Ignoring her obvious adulation, Master Vince produced his filofax and flicked through the pages. He glanced briefly towards the front row of pews and nodded at Jason. Keenly observing every detail, Rachel knew this was a silent instruction for his aide to begin working on her.

Jason pulled himself from Pearl's side. Even with his head bowed in obvious respect he still towered a good six feet six inches. His tight T-shirt and jeans showed off a muscular frame and revealed massive biceps that were decorated with black ink tattoos. Slowly, he took his position behind Rachel and wiped the sweat from his palms on the hips of his jeans. He stared toward the pulpit waiting for the master's command.

Master Vince traced a finger against one open page and frowned to himself. Without looking up he said absently, 'You know what to do, Jason. Go ahead and prepare her to read the cards.'

They were the words Rachel was always loath to hear. They were the words that invariably preceded her blackest suffering.

Jason grabbed a fistful of hair and tugged sharply back.

His hand was so large she felt sure he could have held all her head without stretching his reach but his size and power weren't the most intimidating aspects of the treatment. He was only moving her head so he had access to the chains dangling from her breasts and Rachel thought he could have managed that without being so brutal. The knowledge that he could be so callous when it wasn't necessary always left her wondering how cruel he might be if he thought she merited the suffering.

The pain was sudden, swift and sharp. A thousand stinging needles pierced her scalp as she squealed silently in protest. She bit back her cry, knowing there was far worse to come, and stared silently up at the vaulted ceiling.

Jason reached in front of her and wrapped his fist around the chains that connected her body piercings. Whereas Helena had been cautious, Jason showed none of that sensitive reserve. He secured his grip, tugged once to test his hold was sufficient, then lifted his arm upward. Rachel was almost dragged from her knees - came close to being suspended by the rings through her nipples and clitoris hood - before he relented and gave her a moment to relax.

Bright fire roared from her breasts and sex, warming her so severely sweat glistened on her brow and down her back. As the loathsome waves of pleasure began to ebb through her, Rachel sniffed back a tear and started shuffling the tarocco. Behind her the electric whine of a vibrator's motor whirred with despicable familiarity. Rachel flushed, ashamed by the deep-seated longing the sound inspired. She kept her gaze fixed firmly on the cards, not wanting to think about any of the faces watching her, or the vile pleasure that was about to begin.

Jason's hand slapped against her buttocks and he hissed for her to lean forward.

Obediently, Rachel did as he asked. She parted her legs, exposing herself fully, and tried to ready her body for the penetration. As she had known it would, the rounded dome of a lubricated phallus rubbed against her cleft. It stroked up and down between her cheeks, lazily teasing her responsive flesh. Unable to stop herself, her responses governed by the arousal burning between her legs, she tried wriggling onto the buzzing length of rubber.

He slapped her backside again, and told her to be still. This time there was more force to the blow and a whisper of his obvious power trembled through her buttocks. Not needing him to say the words again, worried about how he might treat her if she openly defied him, Rachel forced herself to remain rigid while Jason continued to tease her cleft.

His hand went between her shoulder blades, pushing her face onto the ermine-cloaked altar. The end of the vibrator rested briefly against her labia, tingling frantically against her clitoris, and then Jason changed his target.

Before Rachel could even think to protest the rounded end pressed at her anus.

Sickened by the depravity of her own need, she held herself still as the penetration began. The phallus pushed hard at her sphincter, forced the defiant muscle to yield, before rushing easily inside. She had an instant to amend her initial thoughts, realising Jason had selected a butt-plug and not a dildo, and then the wide, shivering length was nestled into the confines of her backside. The electric motor growled so loudly its echo chattered through her clenched jaw.

'Stop playing with her, Jason,' Master Vince complained. He sounded bored. 'We're not doing this for her pleasure or your entertainment. She's meant to be giving me a reading.'

Unhurried by the master's command, Jason released his hold on Rachel and turned back to the collection of dildos and butt-plugs.

Rachel continued to pass random cards from one hand to the other, dreading the ordeal that lay ahead and hoping it would soon be over. She could feel the gazes of her audience stealing over her flesh - Master Bernard's half-smile, hurtful because he so seldom deigned to notice her while she was reading, and Pearl's salacious leer, disquieting because of the woman's perverse drives - and she wished their attention wasn't such a spur to her arousal. Rachel didn't consider herself an exhibitionist by nature but it was still darkly satisfying to be the centre of so much lascivious interest. Not letting herself think about who was watching, willing herself to concentrate on the cards and what was expected of her, she continued to shuffle the tarocco.

Jason selected a second vibrator and pushed the buzzing shaft against her cleft. It danced deliciously against her clitoris and an echo of the pleasure trembled through the piercing at her prepuce.

Rachel steeled herself for the anguish that was going to follow, unmoved by the knowledge it would be balanced by an equal amount of joy. Trying to wriggle her knees wider apart, wanting to make the entry as easy and pain free as possible, she allowed the vibrating end to nestle against her hole. She was aware of her labia tingling - a sensation so close to the heights of orgasm it was almost as though she had already reached that plateau - then Jason was thrusting the dildo past her pussy lips and deep into her sex.

Unable to stop herself, she groaned.

The butt-plug opened her wide, filling her backside and throbbing there like an aching desire. Alone it would have been distinctly uncomfortable but, with the accompaniment of the vibrator slipping into her pussy, the sensation of stretching threatened to be too much. Her labia were close to being torn apart, her sphincter was on the verge of ripping open and she knew her inner muscles hadn't been made to cope with such vast, vibrating quantities. She chugged breath in an effort to control her response and resisted the urge to ball her hands into fists. Holding the tarocco as steadily as she was able, trying only to concentrate on the seventy eight cards, she knew she was nearly ready to begin.

She thought Master Vince sensed as much because he glanced up from his filofax and fixed her with a slow, cruel smile.

Jason pulled Rachel's head back and once again reached for her chains. He retained his hold on her hair as he effortlessly lifted upwards and suspended her above the floor.

Rachel couldn't work out if she was being held by her hair or her piercings and the distinction seemed unimportant. Her pussy and breasts were ablaze with burning agony and the sensations were so intense she couldn't work out if they were pleasure or pain. The balance of her response swayed from excesses of joy to extremes of torment and, knowing now was the time when she had to begin, she whispered, 'May the tarocco show my master's destiny.' The words came out in a guttural croak. 'Let the tarocco be his guide,' she begged.

Master Vince nodded as though satisfied. He began to flick back and forth through the pages in front of him as though he was looking for a specific starting point. Glancing down at O'Mara, seeming to notice her for the first time, he scowled and pointed towards the altar. 'Stop grovelling at my bloody feet,' he snapped angrily. 'Go and help Jason.'

Immediately, O'Mara rushed to do as she had been told. Falling to her knees, she insinuated herself between Jason and Rachel and struggled to keep the dildo where it had been planted. Rachel's overstretched muscles were trying to force the length of rubber out but the mousy blonde quickly pushed it back. Clearly anxious to do her master's bidding she seemed to take great pleasure from burying the phallus deep between Rachel's legs.

Racked by spasms she could no longer contain, Rachel kicked and struggled helplessly. She knew trying to break free was always counterproductive but that didn't stop her from attempting to wrench her body away from O'Mara and Jason. The torment at her nipples and clitoris was a constant anguish but the slow torture of the dildo in her pussy was proving just as infuriating. Each time her inner muscles seemed to have won control, and forced a brief reprieve from the buzzing thickness, Rachel could feel the shaft being ploughed forcefully back inside. Almost as if the mousy blonde was punishing Rachel for her body's involuntary responses, O'Mara altered the settings on both vibrators so they were set to their fiercest level. Wave after wave of furious pleasure scorched through both holes and Rachel could do nothing except writhe frantically in mid-air. The ordeal was proving more unbearable than usual and she groaned unhappily. Staring miserably up at the pulpit, she silently willed Master Vince to ask the first of the night's questions.

Miraculously, as though he had seen her suffering and was heeding her unvoiced plea for leniency, he coughed to clear his throat. 'We'll begin by going through the accounts,' he decided.

Rachel groaned with relief. The questions were beginning which meant the end of her ordeal might soon be in sight. She began to shuffle the cards more quickly and tried to distance herself from the growing threat of orgasm. It would have been easier if O'Mara hadn't been teasing - stroking a finger against the taut muscle of her sphincter and darting her tongue against the bristling flesh of Rachel's labia - but those were distractions Rachel was used to ignoring. Knowing exactly what was expected of her, she focused intently on Master Vince and the questions he had to ask.

'The snake portfolio has been reviewed this week,' he began.

Swallowing thickly, Rachel nodded.

She didn't know what the snake portfolio was, and had no idea about the shares or transactions it might deal with, but she didn't need to know those details to answer the master's questions. All she needed to do was try and think past the magnificent anguish she was enduring and read the tarocco accordingly.

'I've been given a choice of two alternative investment opportunities,' Master Vince continued. 'The first is my broker's suggestion. Is it the one I should select?'

O'Mara licked around the vibrator that throbbed in Rachel's pussy. The electric torment of the phallus and the smooth, silky balm of the blonde's tongue made for a miraculous combination. Rachel could have happily screamed with an agonised orgasm in that moment but she knew the master wouldn't have approved.

Trying not to show the effort involved, Rachel turned over the top card from the deck and studied it through a veil of tears. She couldn't make out which it was but, at this stage of the divination, that didn't matter. It was sufficient to see it was one of the sword cards and that was enough for her to know what to say.

'No.' The word was a hoarse rasp, a perfect blend of distress and rapture.

Master Vince marked a cross in his filofax and glared down towards the seats. 'Do I go with the alternative proposal? Do I go with Bernard's suggestion?'

Jason's grip began to slip and Rachel could feel her suspended torment become precarious. She shrieked when she thought she was going to be dropped to the floor, then screamed when he renewed his grip and tugged more sharply upwards. Fresh fire erupted in her nipples and she glanced down at the distended orbs just to assure herself the flesh hadn't been torn. She knew that in the morning her teats would ache but for the moment, it seemed as though the harm she had suffered wasn't as severe as it could have been.

'Do I go with the alternative proposal?' Master Vince repeated.

Rachel could detect a tinge of irritation in his voice.

'Do I go with Bernard's suggestion?'

She caught a glimpse of pentacles on the next card and smiled in spite of her anguish. 'Yes,' she moaned. 'You should go with Master Bernard's suggestion.'

Master Vince made another mark in his filofax and then went through the Cat, Tiger and Elephant portfolios. Coolly, he gave Rachel an alternative each time and she replied with a yes or a no, depending on how the cards told her to respond. She had no idea what she was committing him to or how her decisions would affect their futures. She only knew he relied on her divination with the tarocco and it had clearly served him well enough in the past to make him continue to use her repeatedly. With bitter tears trailing down her cheeks, she wished he wasn't so adamant about the conditions that needed to be met before he allowed her to read the cards.