The Plume: The Second Anthology (6 page)

“Then I shall have to convince you,” he
murmured, speaking so low that only she would be able to hear
him.

He bent closer to claim her with a kiss, but
Athena twisted out of his grasp.

Cheating him of his desire, one more
time.

* * *

The guards were rough, but they didn’t really
hurt Louise. It was all theatrics, which was something she
understood well. No one got hurt at the Plume. Everyone played out
their fantasies. And it all looked so good. She was so excited that
the redhead had fulfilled her dream, even for two hours.

Maybe she didn’t have to be a member to have
her fantasy come true.

She let herself pretend that she had been
kidnapped by sex traders. Just the idea made her heart pound. What
would they do to her? What was the cross? She almost couldn’t bear
the uncertainty.

Although it made her wet and hot.

The rope binding was rough and the guards had
strong hands. They wore black leather hoods, like executioners,
hoods that had some kind of mesh over the eye holes and the mouth.
Their gloves came up to their elbows and were made of the same
black leather, and their black boots came up to their knees.

One had fantastic tattoos all over his body –
at least over all of the skin that Louise could see. She would have
loved to have examined the ink more closely, because it looked as
if the same artist had done all of the work. They were simply blue,
without additional colors, several of them tonal portraits. She
wanted to know what all the images meant, why he had chosen them,
what his story was.

Another had skin tanned gold – or maybe he
was Asian – and had his nipples pierced. The third was just big and
buff.

If they’d had capes – and if their erections
hadn’t been leading the way – they could have been super-heroes.
Every one of them was built and pumped. They also were shaved to
smooth perfection and Louise thought that more than one of them had
oiled down.

Their dicks were huge and hard.

Except for the woman. Louise was titillated
that one of her guards was a woman. She was smaller and finely
built, her breasts bouncing above a black leather corset that
locked around her waist. She hadn’t been any more gentle than the
guys and in a way, she was more terrifying. In a fair fight, Louise
thought she might have been able to beat this woman.

But they weren’t going to fight fair. To be
dominated and used by someone who was weaker than her was a very
exciting idea. Louise couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The guards carried her out of the bar and
down a flight of stone stairs. The air became cooler as they
descended, and Louise appreciated the attention to detail in this
place. It really looked like a prison, like you’d find in a castle.
There were more guards downstairs, and the floors and walls seemed
to be made of fitted stone. There were wrought iron sconces on the
walls, lit with flames, and doors on either side that were studded
with bolts. Every detail was perfect.

She heard a few low moans and a cry of
ecstasy and shivered despite herself.

“Should I scream?” she asked, then decided to
just go for it.

The guards stopped at her cry, and tipped
Louise to her feet. The woman gagged Louise with savage force. Her
eyes glittered on the other side of her mask and Louise’s heart
stopped cold when the woman smiled. She stepped away and then
returned with a foam ball. The male guards chuckled, clearly
knowing what she was going to do.

Louise had no idea, and that felt like a
failure.

The woman wedged the ball between Louise’s
knees, which parted her thighs. Her ankles were still bound. Then
the woman slid one gloved finger slowly through Louise’s pubic hair
and started to caress her. One guard cupped Louise’s breast in his
hand, teasing the nipple. Another did the same with the other
breast. The third moved behind her and slid his erection into the
crack of her butt, moving it up and down. He held her shoulders in
his gloved hands.

But Louise couldn’t look away from the
glitter of the woman’s eyes or her knowing smile. She worked her
fingers back and forth, exciting Louise to a fever pitch, spreading
the wetness over all of her labia then caressing her some more.
Louise thought she might come on the spot, that she might be
powerless to stop herself against the woman’s persuasive touch.

But she knew that would be naughty.

Her heart beat faster. She got hot and her
sex got harder. She was wet enough to drip, all these guys wanting
her but the woman touching her with that slow deliberation,
watching her.

Louise imagined herself as a picture at an
exhibition and knew with sudden clarity what sculpture she would
create to be exhibited along with Rex’s photographs. She would
pitch the idea to Josh and it would happen, Rex would persuaded.
The entire piece unfolded in her mind, along with a conviction that
anything could happen.

The vision was as exciting her as much as the
woman’s touch. Louise felt her hips buck, seemingly of their own
volition, and shuddered in desire.

The woman abruptly withdrew her hand. “Ready
and willing,” she said with satisfaction. She continued to stare at
Louise, even as she lifted her hand to the mouth of one of the male
guards.

He licked her gloved fingertips, devouring
Louise’s juice, and made a growl in the back of his throat. “Then
let’s not keep her waiting,” he said.

“Let’s not keep us waiting,” corrected the
guy who had his erection against Louise’s butt.

Louise was lifted into the air once more.

The woman kept one hand on Louise’s thigh,
her fingertips sliding back and forth over Louise’s skin. Louise
burned for more.

Two hours wouldn’t be nearly enough to make
her tired of this place.

* * *

Athena was losing her edge. She’d nearly
fallen for the Count’s ridiculous line about love, only pulling
back from him in the nick of time. She knew he was a liar. She knew
he was only interested in his own pleasure. She didn’t doubt that
he wanted her, but she was sure he’d toss her aside when he was
done.

Just like the last time.

Well, she’d learned a few things since
then.

The bar was filled with restless energy, the
members jostling each other after the capture of the imposter.
Athena had a responsibility to them, to ensure that that energy
found a good outlet.

It was the perfect time to reveal her
surprise.

Athena ignored the Count, leaning past him to
the bar. “My hat and whip, please, Tony.”

The bartender grinned as he handed her the
gold top hat and black bull whip. “Lights, camera and action?” he
teased.

“It’s time for a treat,” Athena said, knowing
that everything had been prepared. “Let’s do it.”

Tony flicked the switches behind the bar and
the everything in the Plume changed. The dance music segued into
the carousel music typically heard at a circus. Instead of golden
light and a pulsing strobe beneath the dance floor, there were
spotlights circling from overhead, spiralling over the crowd. The
dance floor hummed, a section of it rising to create a platform in
the middle of the bar. The lights changed to gold and red and
streamers were released from the ceiling. At the same time, swings
were lowered from the darkness overhead.

The members gasped in delight and laughed
with each other. Athena strode through the crowd and leapt on to
the rising platform, putting her top hat on her head. “Ladies and
gentlemen, girls and boys!” she cried. “I welcome you to the circus
at the Plume!”

The members roared approval just as the
swings were lowered from the darkness overhead. They were
essentially bars, like the swings used by trapeze artists, and on
each one perched a slave girl dressed as a peacock. Their costumes
were all a-glitter, all blue and green and gold and purple. They
wore shiny corsets and had tails of peacock feathers that spread
wide and high behind them. They swung over the crowd, flashing
their genitals and the seams in their stockings.

The crowd was rapt at the display.

“Exotic creatures on every side,” Athena
cried, well aware that the Count lounged against the bar, watching
her with a smile. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing
that his pussycats had given her this idea. Seven cages were
wheeled through the crowd then, each one containing a member in
costume.

“Lions and tigers and bears!” Athena cried.
Two tigers, actually, a lion, a wolf, two bears – one black and one
polar – and a cheetah prowled their cages and made menacing noises.
One of the peacock girls jumped from her swing to the top of the
polar bear’s cage and he swatted at her, pushing his great paw
between the bars as she ran back and forth and squealed in apparent
terror.

A member jumped to the top of the wolf’s cage
and snatched at a peacock girl, hauling himself up on to her swing
beside her. The crowd cheered approval as the pair necked.

This was going as well as Athena had
hoped.

A cage was wheeled close to her and spun. The
slave inside roared and the crowd cheered. It was Charlie, who
hadn’t surrendered his studded dog collar or any of his studs. His
tattoos, though, were mostly hidden by his lion costume. Athena
liked the look of him in the tawny bodysuit, with the great ruff of
mane around his head. His gloves were padded to be shaped like paws
and he had long talons. Athena couldn’t wait to see what he did
with those.

Charlie was totally into his role. He prowled
the cage and snarled at the members, flicking his tail. He was
pumped and his cock was erect, his eyes shining with
anticipation.

Because she’d picked him.

Athena cracked her whip. “Aren’t we lucky
that these dangerous beasts are caged?” she shouted and the slaves
in the cages roared again. Charlie flicked his tongue at her,
flashing his tongue stud. Athena laughed at his antics.

Then she pulled a golden church key from
beneath her skirts. “What would I ever do if this lion got the
key?” she asked.

A guy dressed in biker leathers lunged for
her. Athena cracked her whip to keep him back and they squared off,
the crowd choosing sides. Athena ensured the whip cracked over his
head but the guy in the leathers dove for her in a football tackle.
They went down hard together, his mouth closing around her nipple.
He bit and Athena gasped at his move. Before she knew it, he had
the key and someone had hauled the whip out of her grasp.

She thought he might have tossed the key to
Charlie – who was roaring again - but instead he cast Athena over
his shoulder. He unlocked the door to the cage, flung her inside,
then locked it again.

The crowd shouted approval.

Charlie grinned.

Athena was surprised by her predicament, but
not entirely disappointed. The members rocked the cage, shaking the
bars on all sides as she and Charlie circled each other. “Here
kitty, kitty,” Athena said with a smile. “Nice kitty kitty.”

“Naughty kitty kitty,” Charlie said and
snatched at her.

“Make a good show of it, kitty kitty,” Athena
whispered.

Charlie grinned wickedly. He spun her and
pushed her against the bars of the cage, holding her captive there
as he wrapped his tail around her. He bound her arms to her body
with the furry length of it, then shoved the end into her
mouth.

Athena squirmed, knowing she had no chance
against his strength. His gloved hands closed over her breasts and
squeezed, those nails digging lightly into her skin. He kissed her
ear, his breath hot against her skin, and he flicked his tongue
against her. Athena moaned, wriggling against the cold bars of the
cage and Charlie laughed.

She was ready for him to take her, but Athena
was surprised.

The members reached up and caressed Athena’s
breasts, teasing her nipples to peaks. She looked down in surprise
at a sea of exploring hands, some gloved in leather, some sheathed
in velvet, others just bare skin.

Charlie forced his knee between hers and more
busy hands caressed Athena’s wet sex. Athena thought she would come
on the spot. There were dozens of fingers stroking her and teasing
her, so many that Athena couldn’t keep track of them all. All she
could see were the domino masks of the members on the other side of
the bars, hundreds of them blurring together into an anonymous
mass.

Bent on giving her pleasure.

Just when she thought she couldn’t stand any
more, Charlie drove himself into her from behind. He pushed her
higher, bracing her weight between himself and the cage. As he
pumped into her the crowd began to shout approval, the fingers
moved more demandingly against her. One gorgeous man in latex leapt
up on to the cage, tugging the tail from Athena’s mouth and kissed
her with a possessiveness that stole her breath away.

She belonged to all of them.

She was the plaything of all of them.

They were giving her the greatest orgasm
possible as her reward.

And the Count was watching.

Heaven. This was heaven. Athena moaned from
the depths of her soul as she started to come, and once she
started, she couldn’t stop.

* * *

Three

Louise was carried into a large room, and the
door was closed behind the party. It shut with a clang and she
heard a bolt being slid home. A dozen torches lit the room with
golden firelight. In the middle of the floor was a metal cross,
like an X, standing on end. It was mounted to a pillar which was
secured to the floor.

X marks the spot, Louise thought. She saw
that the four guards were sealed into the room with her. She
shuddered, imagining them taking her in turn until they’d had their
fill. Their erections indicated that they liked the idea as much as
she did.