His Mistress’s Voice (27 page)

‘No need to stop just for me,’ she said. ‘I just came to see if you were both all right. You were taking a long time, and making such a great deal of noise, that I feared the worst. You might even have needed some help from me. But I see you didn’t.’

Katrina blushed again (it seemed to be a speciality of hers), but she said nothing.

Tom turned the water off and accepted the towel Harriet held out to him. As he dried Katrina he managed to catch her eye. He gave her an encouraging wink. She responded with another of her wan smiles, unsure of the etiquette that governed such ambiguous situations as this. Nor was Tom, but he was playing it by ear and hoping for the best. At least Harriet didn’t look angry.

Harriet took charge again as soon as Katrina was dry. ‘Time for bed. It’s been a busy day.’ She led an unprotesting and rather tired-looking Katrina upstairs to the guest bedroom.

Tom watched with a certain regret. He had hoped this would be the day he got promoted to the guest room. If nothing else, it was bound to be more comfortable than the closet, which now looked like being his resting place for the night. He dried himself and went into the living room to wait for Harriet. She had left his handcuffs and leg-irons lying prominently on the coffee table. Tom got into them and sat down, waiting for his Mistress to check and double-lock them. She was taking her time with Katrina.

Idly, Tom wondered whether the Dutch girl would be spending the night with her hands behind her back in those thumbcuffs. She had been wearing them for some time now. Her shoulders must be aching from being held for so long in that unnatural position. Tom knew about that. He guessed his own shoulders would be aching by morning but that was Harriet’s rule for sleeping. She was the only one who got to spend the nights free.

When Harriet came down she said nothing about Katrina. She automatically checked and double-locked Tom’s manacles. She gave a grunt of what he hoped was approval when she was done. He wondered if she was going to take him to task for the latest romp with Katrina, but she merely went to sit opposite him in her usual look-but-don’t-touch pose, crossing her legs with that exciting whisper of taut nylon. She appeared pensive rather than angry.

‘Ari’s coming for Katrina on Tuesday,’ she said without preamble. ‘We’ll need to get her ideas down tomorrow so we can make a video for Ari on Monday. Good job it’s a Bank Holiday. We’ll need the extra time. I thought a video would be the best way to show him what she likes. What do you think?’

Tom was pleased that she was asking his advice. Up until now she would have just gone on and done whatever she wished, consulting no one. He wondered at the same time if he would be playing opposite Katrina in the projected video, although maybe Ari wouldn’t like seeing his pretty wife being rogered by someone else who amounted to little more than an errand boy. He must have suspected what Harriet was going to do when he left Katrina in her charge, but that wasn’t the same thing as actually seeing what was being done to her.

But Tom said only: ‘That sounds like a good idea. Have you asked her what she thinks?’

‘Yes. Shell go along with it. She’s been missing the sex for a long time and wants to get things moving again.’ Changing the subject abruptly, Harriet asked, ‘What do you think of her?’

This was the question he had expected and dreaded. He alluded to his earlier reply, ‘Where others satiate . . .’ That seemed the safest thing to say.

‘Yes, yes, I know all that,’ Harriet, said crossly, but she looked pleased none the less. ‘Really?’ she asked finally.

‘Madam, your chains are like Wonder Woman’s magic lariat. I cannot tell a lie while wearing them.’ Curiously enough he was telling the truth. But that may have been only because he hadn’t yet got into Harriet’s pants, he told himself. When he compared her with Beth, his late lover suffered in the process. Where Beth had been serious and, towards the end, almost completely passive, Harriet tried to lighten the atmosphere with her banter. And she was most definitely not passive. She drove him to lengths he had never thought of.

‘Well, anyway,’ Harriet said, returning to the previous subject, ‘do you think we can do it by Monday evening? Katrina is willing to do whatever is necessary.’

Once again Tom agreed. Harriet wasn’t the sort of woman one said no to very easily, and in any case he approved of the idea, both for aesthetic and selfish reasons. This might be his best chance to have another go at Katrina. So long as Harriet held herself aloof, he had to make do with whatever else was available. So far, that hadn’t been too bad.

‘Bedtime,’ said Harriet abruptly. She stood up and waited while Tom struggled to his feet. ‘Think about some scenes for the video before you go to sleep,’ she said as she led him to the closet. As she had done before, Harriet had placed the bucket within Tom’s reach. She fastened the short chain to his leg-irons and left him tethered to the floor.

The door closed and Tom heard the key turn in the lock. Then the light went out and he was alone for the night. He tried to think of scenes for Katrina’s demo tape, but instead found himself thinking of Katrina herself. Was she likewise thinking of him as she lay in her solitary bed? Or had Harriet decided that she shouldn’t sleep alone? Tom didn’t know if Harriet was that way inclined, but suspected that there were very few things she ruled out. With that thought something else came up to disturb his concentration. Too bad he couldn’t get his hands on it. In her thoroughness Harriet had seen to that.

Chapter Seven

Harriet opened the door in the morning. Katrina stood close by, peering in at him. Her hands were still cuffed behind her, and she was still nude. ‘Did you spend the whole night in there?’ she asked. She sounded sympathetic, and Harriet glanced at her sharply. She didn’t say anything more, but gave Tom a smile of commiseration when Harriet turned her back to unlock him.

He was stiff after the night’s confinement and Harriet had to take his arm to help him stand. Tom wondered if there weren’t a certain possessiveness in the gesture. Was this show for Katrina’s benefit? He hoped they had laid that particular ghost to rest the previous night, but he was still not sure. Jealousy is not easily forgotten. As he stretched his cramped shoulders Tom glanced surreptitiously at Katrina. She shrugged her own shoulders as if to say that she’d like to stretch too. Harriet gave no sign she had noticed this by-play.

Without waiting for orders Tom went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the three of them. He served Harriet and then turned to feed Katrina, who of course couldn’t feed herself. His own stomach felt empty, but he said nothing, concentrating on the scenery as the Dutch girl ate from his hand. Katrina seemed less embarrassed than she had been. She was getting used to the regime, Tom thought. Ari didn’t know what he had missed by ignoring his wife’s predilection for B&D.

‘If you can tear your thoughts away from our guest,’ Harriet said acidly, ‘perhaps you can outline your ideas for the video.’

Tom came back to reality abruptly. The ground was still dangerous. Ad-libbing furiously, he said, ‘We should dress her provocatively – something like you wore last night would do. Let’s show her figure off for Ari, in case he’s forgotten what she’s got. We can always invent some poses to show her off when she’s tied up – again as provocatively as possible. As you said a neat package always looks more seductive.’

He hoped the oblique compliments to Harriet’s appearance and her ideas would turn aside the gathering storm. Apparently the remarks passed muster and Harriet gave a grunt which was more approving than otherwise.

In order to forestall any further questions, Tom concentrated on feeding Katrina, who looked apprehensively from one to the other of them as she sensed the tension in the air. Harriet finished eating first and announced that she was going upstairs to dress for the occasion. Tom took the breakfast things into the kitchen to wash up. Katrina followed him. She appeared to want company so Tom pulled out a chair so she could sit down and got on with the washing up.

Katrina asked abruptly: ‘Will she use the riding crop on me again? That was painful.’

‘I’m not sure,’ Tom replied, ‘but if you really object you can always tell her so.’

‘I wouldn’t like to cross her when she’s in this mood,’ Katrina said. ‘The beating hurt. I mean,’ she said confusedly, ‘it hurt but at the same time I found it exciting to be naked and helpless. But it’s more important to be tied up and . . . how do you say . . . used? Sexually.’

‘Yes, that’s close enough. I understand what you want. So does Harriet. After all, her whole business is built on people like you and me. I don’t think you have to be afraid to say what you want. In the first place, I think she’s on your side and wants to help you with Ari. And secondly you’re more a guest than I am. I’m her assistant, not much more than an employee now. You’re more in the position of a customer who has come to her for help in solving a problem. She’ll listen to you.’ And, he added silently, she’ll be glad to get the job done and you safely out of here. Tom had thought Harriet was going to overcome her jealousy, but maybe he had overestimated her capacity for accommodation. The fact that Katrina was younger didn’t help.

Harriet came down shortly thereafter, wearing, Tom was glad to see, her leather dominatrix outfit. He thought she looked both lovely and menacing, but he said nothing. He had made his point earlier, and there was nothing to be gained by fawning. She beckoned to Katrina to follow her. To Tom she said: ‘Join us downstairs when you finish here.’

Tom was looking forward to the video session, but he took his time in order to give Harriet the opportunity to make her preparations. He guessed that Harriet had given more thought to the operation than he had. He planned to follow her scenario, since he had none of his own. Give her time to get moving and it would be easier to play along.

When Tom got to the cellar things were well underway. Katrina was strung up by her wrists to an overhead hook. Her legs were spread and her ankles tied to ring bolts set into the floor. She looked appealingly helpless and evidently excited. Her face was flushed and her heavy breasts were rising and falling quickly in time with her rapid and shallow breathing. This was different from merely wearing thumbcuffs as she had done since her arrival. Now she was spread out, on display, open to anyone who happened by. The fact that only Harriet and Tom were there made no difference to her.

Harriet was busy setting up the lights for the video camera when Tom came down. He thought she looked equally appealing in her snug leather outfit and tights. The pair of them made a nice contrast; the one helpless and naked; the other encased by what was in effect armour. Harriet’s cheerful efficiency and bustle were set off by Katrina’s enforced immobility. Tom wondered how Harriet would look strung up in Katrina’s place and what it would take to get her there.

He was relegated to running the video camera while Harriet moved and posed Katrina. Harriet was having all the fun while he did the dull bits – a not uncommon situation for an assistant. And there were many times when he wished he could get closer to Katrina, whose ordeal had got him very excited. But Harriet ignored him for what seemed hours as she tied and untied Katrina and moved her from place to place.

Finally Harriet called a halt. She untied Katrina from the chair to which the Dutch girl had been tied for the last sequence and while she stretched her cramped limbs, Harriet collected the camera. ‘I’ll have to edit this so Ari gets the best shots. Amateur films and video tapes usually need a lot of cutting.’ She managed to imply that the cuts would be primarily due to his ineptitude with the camera.

From the cabinet where she stored her bondage gear Harriet selected a pair of handcuffs. With these she fastened Tom’s wrists together behind his back. She gagged him, and then told Katrina, ‘Amuse yourself with him while I’m working on the tape. If you manage to amuse him at the same time I won’t mind.’

Katrina looked dubiously at Harriet. She seemed to have no idea what to do next, but Harriet swept from the room without another word. When she was gone, Katrina looked somewhat relieved but still at a loss. She looked to Tom for some hint.

Although he couldn’t say anything, he managed to convey the idea by semaphore.

Katrina noticed the erection and moved in his direction, an interesting look on her lovely face. She seemed to have got over her initial puzzlement and shyness. The time with Harriet had done her some good.

Somewhat to his surprise, Tom was elected – ordered would not be too strong a word – to drive Katrina back to the airport to meet Ari for the flight home. When he arrived at Harriet’s place she was ready to go. He found both women sitting demurely in the living room. Katrina was wearing the dress she had arrived in, and her legs in the dark tights looked every bit as good as they ever had. Harriet too was dressed to go out. If he had had to choose between them at that moment the choice would have been hard one. Perhaps it was just as well Katrina was going.

Harriet saw them to the door, where she kissed Katrina goodbye. ‘You’ve got the parcel for Ari, haven’t you?’

Katrina nodded as she hugged Harriet. ‘Thank you so much for everything. I hope I can come back soon to see you.’

Tom hoped the same but tried not to show too much obvious interest.

‘Goodbye then. And good luck,’ Harriet said. To Tom she went on, ‘I’d like you to come back tomorrow evening, please. I’ll be busy this evening and tomorrow but I’ll need you in later.’ She spoke exactly as if she were giving the maid some time off – which in a manner of speaking she was. She waved as Tom helped Katrina into the car and drove off.

Tom was struck by a sudden thought: this was the first time Harriet had asked him to come in during the week. Maybe this was going to be another turning point in their relationship. She hadn’t asked him to turn over the key he had got from Helen. That looked like a good sign.