The look in her eyes was full of motherly love, and for some reason, it turned John on. He nodded slowly and then continued on his way as she let his hand drop.
“I will, mom,” he said. “See you tonight.”
CHAPTER 16
John dried off and changed back into his clothes quickly, and headed out of the fitness center. It was a bit of a walk to the address that his mom had given him, and he hurried along as quickly as he could.
The sky had shifted, and it was now overcast, and bleak. John could taste something in the air that was new to him, and he wondered if it was a preemptive marker of an ocean storm. The wind was picking up as well, to the point where he had to adjust his footing or be knocked slightly off balance with each step.
The hill that his mom had been talking about was high, but not nearly as high as the cliffs that led up to Ludling Mansion. A couple of buildings sat on the slope of it and at the top, but John saw the one she had been talking about.
It was small, with an outer paint job and décor that differentiated it from a family home. It could have just as easily have been the office of a lawyer or accountant, but the sign out front said “Alison Orton, Private Investigator” in neat, black letters.
John walked over to the front door, smoothed the lightly wrinkled gray shirt he had on out, and then gently knocked on it three times.
“Come in,” called a confident female voice.
John opened the door and slipped in through it. There was a bathroom to his left, a closed door with a single window that looked like storage to his right, and the main office room straight ahead of him. He walked forward into it and immediately did a double take.
The woman sitting behind the desk facing him was Alison Orton, and he recognized her instantly as the woman who had followed him for most of the day before. John felt his muscles tense up, and his eyes narrowed into a glare. Comparatively, the woman just smiled at him and gestured to a chair in front of him.
“Count Ludling, what a surprise to see you here,” she said. “Why don’t you take a seat over there?”
“What… the fuck?” It took all of John’s restraint not to throw himself at the woman, to demand that she tell him where her camera was. “What’s going on here?”
Alison Orton continued smiling at him, blinking slower than anyone John had ever seen before. She was an attractive woman, skinny and athletic looking, with medium length hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing jeans and a white blouse, and a black, medium length overcoat was hanging from a hook behind her.
“John, relax,” she said. “There are some things I can tell you, and some things that I can’t. If you’d just have a seat, we can talk it out.”
John felt deeply suspicious of the woman. Every confrontation similar to this that he’d seen in action movies or video games always ended with either violence or a long chase scene. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins, and his reason for being there bounced around in his head like an ancient prophecy.
“Fine,” he said, after taking several long seconds to consider his options. He sat down, and then favored the woman with a cool look. “Start talking.”
“Well, you probably know most of what I have to tell you,” she said. “My name is Alison Orton. I’m the only real private investigator on Blackthorn Isle. I doubt this really merits explaining, but that means that people pay me money, and I check into people for them.”
“Check into people?” John resisted the urge to slam his fist down on his desk. “You spent all of yesterday stalking me. I thought… well, let’s just say that it’s not nearly as innocent as you’re making it out to be. Not from my perspective.”
“Oh, come now, I wasn’t trying to scare you!” The PI leaned back in her chair and kicked her feet up on her desk It was a distinctly boyish gesture that was only feminized by the way her blouse was unbuttoned slightly at the top, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of cleavage.
John waited for her to continue, and when it became clear that she didn’t intend to, he began cracking his knuckles and glancing around the room.
“Are you going to get to the point, now?” he asked. “You know what I need to know.”
“I’m a private investigator, John,” she said. “There is a certain level of professional courtesy that comes with that. Note the word private in the name.”
John laughed angrily and then pointed to the newspaper that she had on a table in the corner. It was the same one that he had seen the girl behind the front desk reading at the fitness center, with a picture of him climbing the cliffs on the front page.
“That doesn’t seem very private, Ms. Orton.” There was a certain level of derision that John couldn’t help but let spill over into his voice. “If anything, I can’t imagine a photo like that was taken by anything other than a glorified paparazzi.”
That did manage to get a reaction out of her. She closed her eyes and grimaced, as though the words had stung her physically, and then flicked her head back up at John.
“I take a lot of photos, John,” she said. “Some of them are much, much more interesting than that one.”
John’s heart began to knock against the front of his ribcage. She was playing a dangerous game, and he had no choice other than to play it with her, defending his own goal and those of the people he loved.
“What is it then, blackmail? What do you want from me?”
A curious look came over Alison Orton’s eyes, as though she was considering the proposition. John’s curiosity was eating him alive. She had been there the night before, but what had she seen? How much of it was captured by her camera? It was like playing a game of poker against a player who could be pushing him all in on a bluff.
After a moment, Alison Orton shook her head and shot him a resigned smile.
“I don’t want anything from you, John,” she said softly. “The person who hired me, on the other hand.”
It finally became too much for John to keep his anger contained. He slapped both of his hands down on the polished, word desk, hard. The sound was loud, and the action caused his palms to sting, but Alison Orton didn’t even flinch.
“Who hired you?” John all but shouted the words, his voice remaining conversational in volume only. “Ms. Orton, I need to know.”
The private investigator opened her mouth and held up one hand. John was surprised. It looked as though she really wanted to tell him, but something, her professional ethics, most probably, was holding her back.
“John, I’m sorry, I really am,” she said. “Count Ludling, I mean. I’m a professional, I work for money, and I do whatever a client asks of me, to a word.”
John didn’t say anything for a moment. His mind was racing, and suddenly he knew exactly what he needed to do.
“Then consider yourself hired.” He leaned back in his chair and smiled at Alison Orton with friendly ease.
“What?” she asked, with a surprised laugh.
“You’re a mercenary, you’ve made it very clear that you’ll do whatever a client pays you to do. I need a private investigator like that in my life right now.”
Alison Orton shook her head. She looked dumbfounded, as though this was the last thing she’d expected from him.
“Count Ludling, you must understand that it’s not something that I can do,” she said. “There is a conflict of interest, here. I can’t tell you anything about another one of my clients.”
“And if I hire you, then you can’t tell them anything about me, either?”
The private investigator shook her head.
“It’s not that simple, I’ve already…” She blushed, as though it was embarrassing for her to admit directly. “I’ve already started investigating you. I have to tell them what I’ve found out.”
“Have you checked in with your client since last night?” John felt his heart pounding in his chest. This was the question that made all the difference in the world.
Alison Orton shook her head.
“No. I’m scheduled to
meet with them tonight and go over my findings.”
John smiled.
“Well, it just so happens that an emergency case has come up for you,” said John. “And unfortunately for your client, you’ve had to put their case, and all of the others excepting mine, on indefinite hold.”
“Count Ludling, there’s no way-“
“I’ll double whatever your other client is paying you,” said John. “I’m not actually asking you to do anything, other than sit on your investigation of me. It will mean less work, for more money.”
He saw instantly that it was the right approach to take as the private investigator’s eyes lit up slightly. She brought her feet down, slid her chair back slightly from her desk, and leaned forward over it, giving John an unobstructed view of her cleavage.
“Triple it,” she said. John wrinkled his brow and shook his head.
“I’m not asking you to do all that much,” said John. “Just because you’re the only PI in town doesn’t mean that you can take advantage of me.”
The private investigator stood up from her chair and walked around to the other side of the desk. She sat back against it and slowly crossed her legs, smiling seductively at John as she did.
“I’m a people person, John,” she said softly. “When my clients pay me, I do whatever it takes to make them happy.”
Something about the woman’s assertiveness, along with the way she looked at him, was incredibly sexy to John. He felt his cock hardening in his slacks as though she’d cast a spell on it. Logically, he knew that it was all a game to her to get more money from him, but he found himself not caring. He wasn’t paying her for this, not directly, and either way, he’d have to play her game to get her to do what was required.
John met her gaze and nodded. Allison Orton moved slowly, running her hand along his thigh as she dropped down in front of him. John’s cock was bulging out against his slacks, and at the touch of her hand it hardened even further.
She unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. John didn’t say anything as she began to rub his member through his boxers. There was something that felt deeply satisfying at having turned the tables on the woman that he had been so cautious of the day before. He leaned his head back in the chair and gave into the pleasure as the private investigator slowly worked his cock out into the open.
“I don’t do this for all of my clients, though,” she said, her breath tickling John’s cock head as she brought her mouth in close to it. He looked at her and lifted one eyebrow.
“Why me?”
Alison Orton gave the underside of his cock a long lick, all the way from the base to the tip. Her tongue was incredibly soft, and dripping with hot saliva. John shuddered with intense pleasure and became incredibly grateful that he’d listened to his mom when she’d told him to check this woman out.
“I get the feeling we’re going to have a very long and productive working relationship, Count Ludling.” Alison smiled at him, kissed the head of his cock gently, and then went to work sucking it like a woman possessed.
John’s hips jerked forward out of the chair in surprise. The private investigator was not holding back, and she sucked on his cock with lips that gripped it with a vacuum seal. Her tongue moved against the sensitive skin of his prick, and she slurped up and down with quick, dedicated movements.
His entire body was shivering with pleasure. It felt so good that for a moment, John felt as though he couldn’t remember where he was, or why he was there. All he knew was that the woman in front of him could give an amazing blowjob, and he’d been pulled into a world of pleasure that was threatening to short-circuit his mind.
“Oh god,” moaned John.
Alison flicked her eyes up at him, and then pushed her mouth even further forward. He felt his dick slip into somewhere tighter and more restrictive than her mouth and realized that she was deep throating him. It looked as though the skill came easily to her. She pushed her head back and forward a few times, as though using the entrance of her throat to give the tip of his member an extra few squeezes.
Suddenly, she pulled back. John felt a little disappointed as the cool air hit his cock, as though he’d just stepped out of a warm shower in the middle of winter. The private investigator still held his dick in one of her hands and looked up at him with a flirty, teasing look in her eye.
“Just how old are you, anyway?” she asked him. Instead of answering her, he reached out and pulled her head forward, pushing her lips against his cock. The private investigator resisted ever so briefly, and then went back to work, sucking with the same intensity that he had before.
For the first time since coming to Blackthorn Isle, John felt like he was beginning to understand what it meant to be Count. It was about his interactions with the people on the island, the way they saw him, and the power that he had over them. He found himself wondering if he was using it correctly, or just taking advantage of it. Part of him felt as though he needed to put a stop to what Allison Orton was doing, and set a professional boundary that would make things far less complicated in the future.
But she was swirling her tongue around the head of his cock, and stroking him off with her lips, and it felt so good. John felt the pleasure began to build in his crotch, and involuntarily tightened his hold on the private investigator’s head. His cock had reached its limit, and he began to shoot his white, sticky load deep into her mouth. He saw her give a frustrated look up at him as she, with no other choice, began to swallow it.
After a couple of spurts, John collapsed back into his chair. Alison stood up and wiped her mouth off, and then pruned her clothing as though she was trying to regain her dignity as she walked back over to her side of the desk.
“I’m working for you now, Count Ludling,” she said with a sigh. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about this.”
“Good,” replied John. He zipped up his pants and stood up from his chair, wondering if he should shake her hand or not.
“You know, that’s one thing that you and the old Count have in common.” Alison Orton looked at him sharply.
“What?” asked John.
“Secrets,” she said. “The two of you are the same. Both just walking piles of secrets.”
John didn’t say anything. He was done, and from the looks of it, so was the private investigator. He slowly turned away from her and left the office.
CHAPTER 17
The words echoed in John’s head as he made his way out of the private investigator’s office. He was keeping secrets. It felt as though every day that went by left him with more of them, whether it was the evolving relationship between him in his mother, an unwanted affair with the wife of the tavern owner, or the way he treated his own maid.
John wondered if it was just part of what money and prestige did to a person. He was living a normal life a week ago, with few if any complications worked into the mix. And now, it felt as though that life was only a distant memory, a series of events that had happened to someone else, an old collection of habits and routines that he could never return to.
He sighed and began to walk along the road that led back into town. The hill was steep, and heading down it at a normal pace made each step feel awkward, as though he was about to lose his footing.
The dark gray clouds overhead had begun to shift and move across the sky quickly. John had only made it a couple of hundred feet before gentle drops of rain began to drop down on him, leaving tiny wet circles on the shoulders and back of his exposed dress shirt.
There was something else about what Alison Orton had said that he couldn’t let go. Like just about everyone on the island, she had a better idea and picture of who his grandfather had been than he did. Up until that moment, John had mostly heard about what a great person Marcus van Ludling had been, equal parts kindness and generosity.
To hear that the man kept secrets made him feel as though he understood the situation even less than he had thought. Any sense of control that John might have had was quickly evaporating. He wante
d to know more, about his grandfather, about how and why he had died, and especially about why the private investigator had been after him in the first place. All of it felt as though it was tied together, somehow.
John suddenly felt an urgent need to check in with his mother. She was just is entwined in the situation on the island as he was. The only way he would get the answers that he needed would be to talk with her and try to get any clues that he could as to what was going on from her old memories of growing up on Blackthorn.
He started walking faster down the sidewalk, feeling the rain pick up as he passed through the main section of the town. An umbrella would be nice, he thought to himself. As if on cue, one was pushed over his head, the skin of it white with pink flowers adorning it.
“I take it you didn’t read the weather report this morning, John?” Kari van Katho was smiling, her arm with the umbrella extended up, and her face pushed forward girlishly towards him. John smiled, and then was caught a little off guard as he saw Ms. Willis walk up behind her, an umbrella of her own in her hand.
“Hello John,” said the teacher. “We just finished up the lesson for today. Did you manage to take care of your pressing business?”
The question was laden with a bid of skepticism, as though she was on the verge of writing his reason off as an excuse. John opened his mouth to answer but felt his eyes being distractedly drawn to the older woman’s bosom first.
She was wearing a white blouse, and enough rain had apparently snuck around the edges of her umbrella to turn the garment virtually sheer. The bra that she had on behind it was either red or pink, and probably a half size smaller than it should have been. Ms. Willis caught his eye after a second and blushed.
“Uh, sorry, Ms. Willis, but I really did have something that I needed to do.” John scratched his head and stepped in closer to Kari to get out of the rain. “But yes, it’s been totally taken care of.”
“Good,” said his teacher. She had a funny look in his eye, as though she wanted to reprimand him as though he were a boy, but somehow couldn’t stop herself from seeing him as a man. “I expect you to come in a little early on Monday. And I will be stopping in at the Ludling Estate sometime over the weekend to give you a little bit of extra instruction.”
Illicit Inheritance: The Complete Collection (Taboo Erotica) Page 12
