The Awakening, Zuleika and the Barbarian (5 page)

"Is she a virgin?" Renée wanted to know.

"No, I have seen to that," Monsieur Georges said with a small smile. "Nor is she diseased. I have also seen to that,
madame
. I know the kind of young lady you prefer, for have I not been coming here for over ten years. Michelle needs refining, but she is most enthusiastic."

"If she is willing to come, bring her to me when her papa is gone, but not before. And see that she learns to read and write. If she is suitable, I will reimburse you any expense involved."

"Excellent,
madame,"
Monsieur Georges replied. "You are a most excellent business woman." He arose and, bowing, kissed her hand.

Her guests would be fine without her for an hour or so, Renée knew. Returning to the duke's side, she took his arm, and they left the salon. Renée's bedchamber was not on the floor above with the girls, but rather toward the rear of the house on the same floor where the salons were located. The duke knew the way, having been there many times before. No sooner had they entered than he pushed her against the closed door and kissed her hard. His lips moved from her lips to her neck and bared shoulders. His mouth was hot on her flesh.

"Take off your damned clothes, Renée," the duke said impatiently.

She laughed. "So eager,
mon brave
. I hope you will not act this way with my niece. You will terrify her."

"I want to fuck
you,"
he answered her bluntly, pulling off his own garments. "Having seen the exquisite Marguerite, I am suddenly very hot to fuck,
chérie."

"As Chez Renée strives to please its guests,
monseigneur
, how can I not comply with such an easy request. I shall be happy to stand in for my niece tonight." Renée quickly stripped off her bodice, skirts, undergarments, and shoes.

"Damn,
madame
, but for a woman of any age you are in incredible form," the duke said, smacking his lips. "I believe your niece has inherited those fine round breasts of yours." His gaze moved appreciatively over her lush form. She had a very narrow waist, but her full hips certainly matched her full bosom. He pulled her against him, his swollen cock rubbing against her dark bush. "On your back, wench!" he growled in her ear as they fell to the bed.

Renée wrapped her legs about her lover, sighing with pleasure as he slid into her. "You need a young wife, César," she told him. "I shall soon no longer be able to keep up with you."

"I know," he agreed, "but the thought of impregnating some pale virgin just for the sake of an heir revolts me. I may let my younger brother and his brats inherit from me. Then I can continue to do as I please. Ahhhh, bitch, you are hot for me too,
n'est-ce pas?"
He thrust deeply into her again and again until both were weak, and most replete with the pleasure their bodies had given to each other.

Afterward they drank champagne, lying naked, until finally Madame Renée arose and, after bathing her private parts, dressed once more. "You may remain the night if it pleases you, César," she told him with a small smile, preparing to leave the room.

He stretched his long frame lazily.
"Non, merci
, but I must be home early for a meeting with the king. It would not do for me to appear in the same clothing I wore today, would it?" He chuckled. "Poor old Louis, but then I forget, you like him."

"He is a decent, if old-fashioned man," she responded. "He comes to talk with me, nothing more, for he is not able as you know, poor soul. But I often wonder if any man would have been able with that ugly princess he married, even given his difficulty. He was always astounded that the revolution had the courage, as he puts it, to execute his brother and his brother's family."

"What do you talk about with him?" The Duc de Caraville was curious. King Louis XVIII was indeed intelligent, but he was also a man with a great sense of his own importance, and not a great deal of common sense.

Renée laughed softly. "We speak on literature, and poetry," she said. "And he loves gossip, what little I may give him without breaking any confidences. He has great charm, but surely you recall that he had a very unfortunate marriage with his Savoyard princess. He has a rare physical deformity. The marriage was never consummated. Perhaps if it had, they both would have been happier."

"There are other ways . . . " the duke began.

"His difficulty leaves him unable to enjoy even the most innocent of carnal pleasures," Renée replied. Then she shook a warning finger at the duke. "But you did not hear that from me, chérie."

The duke grinned. "Eh, what?" he replied, putting his hand to his ear in a gesture of attempting to hear better.

"Bonsoir
, César," she told him. "I will see you again soon."

"Tomorrow night, Renée, and have the luscious Marguerite available for me to meet then. I promise to give you your week, but I do think the little beauty should be familiar with the man who will awaken her senses."

"You are very wicked," she chuckled, waggling a finger at him again. Then she closed the door, and hurried off down the corridor to the salon to see how her other guests were enjoying themselves.

At noon the following day Marguerite joined her aunt in Renée's bedchamber, bringing with her a tray of delicacies. Setting the tray on the nearby table, she poured her aunt a porcelain cup of strong Turkish coffee, mixing the appropriate amount of sugar into the cup first. Handing it to Renée, she put a hot flaky croissant on a plate with some sweet butter and strawberry preserves. Taking the plate, Renée gobbled the croissant and demanded another. "Passion increases the appetite," she said.

"And the waistline," Marguerite teased her relation.

"I am no bigger than I was as a girl," Renée said, but then she amended, "well, perhaps a trifle more ample in certain areas."

"Your bosom?" Marguerite said innocently.

"You are a wicked child," Renée replied, laughing.
"Mais oui
. My breasts, and my hips, and perhaps my waist, but only a little. A man likes a woman with a bit of flesh on her bones."

"Will they like me?" Marguerite wondered aloud.

"Oh, yes, chérie, they will
all
like you. Are you certain that this is the life you want,
ma petite?
Take my generosity. Let me send you and Emilie to Brittany. This life does not have to be for you."

Marguerite laughed.
"Non, tante
. I must learn to be independent like you have been. In that way I shall never again be at anyone's mercy. If I had been stronger, wiser, I would have seen that Charles gave me a copy of his will. I would have seen that the
avocat
read that will publicly before my stepson arrived from England. There was time,
tante
, but I was foolish. And because I was, William Abbott rendered me helpless, or so he thought. Had he not threatened my daughter with his vileness,
his own baby half-sister
, I could not have come to my decision. So,
tante
, I will follow in your footsteps. If I am good at my profession, perhaps one day you will allow me to manage this enterprise of yours. I hope I can be worthy."

"And Emilie?" Renée asked.

"Emilie will remain at St. Anne's for the interim,
tante
. Until I am certain she is safe in England, I dare not send her there. She is young. She will not understand what I do any more than I understood until you told me," Marguerite said.

Renée nodded.
"Non
, you are right,
ma petite
. Now I must ask you a question. Will you join us tonight in the salon? You need do nothing more than converse with my guests. They are all gentlemen."

"I had not thought you would want me in your salon so soon," Marguerite said hesitantly.

"I think it is better that you see what is involved,
ma petite
, sooner than later. I shall also take you to observe one of the girls with a lover. Perhaps then you will decide this life is not for you," Renée told her niece. "I will have a gown sent to your room,
chérie
, for you will not have anything suitable among your wardrobe, I fear."

"But,
tante
, I am in mourning," Marguerite said.

"Not in this house,
chérie
. In your heart you may continue to mourn your Charles, but in my salon you must be charming and tempting," Renée replied quietly. "You are fortunate to be so fair. You will be ravishing in almost any color. Now run along,
ma petite
. I must nap for a while before arising."

"But,
tante
, you have only awakened an hour ago," Marguerite said. "Do you always rest so much?"

"Of course,
chérie
. When I rest I neither frown nor smile, both of which lead to premature wrinkles. A lady cannot be too careful of her appearance when she reaches that certain age," Renée noted.

"And have you reached that certain age,
tante?"
Marguerite's light blue eyes were twinkling with mischief.

"Not quite," Renée admitted, "but I am, I fear, very near." She waved the younger woman away. "Go along now. Josie and Leonie will tell you all about the gentlemen who come here. You are less likely to be frightened of them if you know something about them. Remember they will know nothing about you other than you are my widowed niece." Renée closed her eyes, and drew her black satin sleep mask down over her eyes again. "Go away,
chérie."

Marguerite tiptoed from her aunt's bedchamber and hurried down the corridor to a small blue and white salon, where the other two young women were now seated in loose house robes, and sipping cups of green tea while they nibbled on miniature meat pasties.

"Madame says you will join us tonight, but only to be social, not to fuck.
Sacrebleu!
I cannot wait until you are ready to fuck. Last night there were a dozen men here and but the two of us, although Madame took the duke off to amuse herself. Leonie and I were up all night satisfying the others."

"You see more than one gentleman a night?" Marguerite asked.

"Usually," Josie said, tossing her tangled red curls. "And each one is different. I always thought a cock was just a cock, but Madame Renée showed me otherwise."

"They will certainly enjoy fucking you," Leonie said, licking a crumb from the corner of her mouth. "You are beautiful, of course, but not having known a man's passion in several years, you will be very tight, almost a virgin again," she giggled.

"Mon Dieu
, I hope not to suffer like a virgin as I did on my wedding night," Marguerite told them.

"Non! Non!"
Leonie reassured her. "The virgin shield does not grow back,
chérie
. Your love sheath will just be very tight, and how the gentlemen love a tight sheath. Josie and I douche with a mixture of alum and warm water, as Madame taught us, to retain the tightness. We'll show you how to do it too."

Marguerite nodded, then she said, "Tell me about who comes."

"They all
come
when we have them," Josie giggled wickedly.

"Non! Non!
I meant. . ." Marguerite blushed.

"She knows what you meant," Leonie laughed. "I see it is up to me to be serious. Well,
chérie
, there is the Duc de Caraville. Tall, dark, and dangerous. And, mon Dieu! What an insatiable lover! General Egide. He is older, and content to have a simple fuck. He was one of Napoleon's generals. Occasionally Monsieur Georges comes to visit from Nantes, where he is a wealthy silk merchant. Sometimes he brings us beautiful bolts of material. He can be most generous. Count Cirello comes from Rome because he is so respected there, but because his brother is a cardinal, he dare not misbehave. He comes to Paris several times a year, and is
very
naughty here."

"How is he naughty?" Marguerite asked.

"He likes to bottom-fuck," Josie explained. "Ever been bottom-fucked? Try it once, but if you don't like it, stay away from the count! Tell her about the Persians, Leonie."

"They are princes. Identical twins and ambassadors to the court from their own king. They like to have a woman together, and they always come at the exact same time. It's amazing! And then there's Lord Darby. He raises horses for racing at Ascot, and Prince Dmitri Romanov, a cousin of the czar. He comes from St. Petersburg twice a year. He is a famous gambler, and very lucky too."

"The others aren't as interesting. Count St. Denis, Monsieur de Eustache, who is a banker, Baron Amalhardt. Now the baron likes to spank us before he fucks us," Josie explained.

"I thought my aunt allowed no brutality," Marguerite said nervously.

"He doesn't hurt you. Just gives your buttocks a good warming, which seems to make his cock hard as a rock. He can ream a girl for half an hour before coming,
chérie
, and you will come a dozen times before he does. He's really quite wonderful," Josie sighed.