Her mind whirled. How dare he? He couldn’t be serious – but at least he said please. What should she do?
He was still staring at her with an inscrutable expression on his face. She rose to the challenge and, reaching behind her, undid the halter top allowing it to fall to the ground. Surprisingly, his eyes didn’t move from her face, not even a flicker of emotion clouded his expression. ‘If this were another time I would make love to you right now; take you here amongst the pine needles, in the shade of the world’s most majestic of trees.’ His eyes swept around their immediate surroundings and she felt her pulse quicken. Did he mean to rape her? Of course not – the very word implied violation against her will and she wanted him as much as he apparently wanted her.
Still, she felt as though she should offer at least a suggestion of protest. ‘We’re quite near the beach, anyone could come.’
He smiled confidently and finally lowered his gaze to her naked breasts. ‘Yes, anyone could.’
Shocked and excited she gasped at his words, feeling a trickle of her own juices gather in the thin material of her G-string. She tightened her buttocks and clenched her legs together simultaneously. Of course, that was what turned him on the most, the prospect of being discovered. They were a pair of naughty children playing with each other in the woods.
He stepped forwards, bent down and plucked at a length of succulent green ivy that snaked its way through the under-growth. He broke off a length and stood again, winding the ends around his hands. She watched, fascinated, her stomach contracting with a mixture of fear and excitement. He looked as though he was about to strangle her. For a split second her face paled; surely he wouldn’t harm her?
As though reading her mind he smiled, but his voice was serious as he said, ‘I’m not going to hurt you.’
She hadn’t realised that she was holding her breath but she let out a long sigh of relief. She looked at him. Despite his words he was still holding the ivy in that same strange manner – somehow she trusted him, although she didn’t know what was about to happen.
As he stepped forwards her mind cleared; she started to move away from the tree but it was too late. In a flash he blocked her escape with his body and lashed her to the tree, winding the length of ivy around her chest and torso, pinning her arms to her sides.
She looked around her wildly. The whole thing was preposterous – she was tied to a tree in the middle of a forest in broad daylight, when anyone might happen along. Except no one ever did, unless they were trespassers. She remembered the words of warning she had read on the trespass notice the day before – this was Harwood land, out of bounds to all except any living member of the Harwood family, or their guests. Anyone caught there could be dealt with according to the wishes of the prevailing Harwood landowner – in others words, Darius.
‘You can’t do this to me,’ she protested, her words sounding feeble even to her own ears.
Darius merely laughed. ‘You know that’s not true.’ He stepped forwards and stroked a finger across her breasts. ‘You know I can do anything I damned well like.’
He brought his other hand to her breasts and fingered her nipples absently, considering them as though they were inanimate objects. Hillary fought to control her emotions. She was embarrassed that her body should betray her so shamelessly – under Darius’s expert stimulation her nipples had swelled and hardened – but further down her clitoris throbbed and her tingling vagina let forth another gush of liquid.
Moaning, she parted her legs slightly, rubbing her buttocks against the rough bark of the tree trunk. Darius noticed her discomfort but forced himself not to oblige her just yet. He wanted to play with her, make her desire him so badly that she would let him do anything, anything at all.
With maddening slowness, Darius allowed his hands to drift down her body, reaching a certain point before returning to caress her breasts. She wanted him to take her there, as he had suggested, to plunge his cock into her time and time again, relentlessly filling her up and bringing her to an explosive orgasm. She could almost feel him within her and, for a moment, wondered if her wishes were about to be fulfilled – Darius had stepped back from her and was now unzipping his shorts, releasing a rock-hard penis of ample proportions. She felt her legs turn to water at the sight of it and spread them even further.
With unashamed fascination she watched him stroke it fondly for a minute or two, then he stepped forwards and rubbed it against her belly and cotton-covered mound. She could feel its heat against her body and the power pulsating beneath the tightly stretched skin of his shaft. Groaning, she urged her pelvis upwards, cursing the restrictive binding that held her torso firmly to the tree trunk. She tried to move her hands, wanting desperately to touch him.
‘Why don’t you untie me now, Darius,’ she urged, hoping that he would at least loosen the binding.
At her words he stopped what he was doing and looked at her, seeing how the verdant twine made small tracks in her flesh. Hooking a finger under a length of ivy which ran around the tops of her breasts and arms, he surveyed the damage underneath – a bright-white stripe now quickly turning red. Releasing the twine so that it snapped back into place, he considered her dilemma for a moment, and his. If he released her completely it would ruin his enjoyment and probably hers too; on the other hand he found no enjoyment in causing actual harm.
After deliberating he stepped around the back of the tree trunk and loosened the knots a little. Immediately her knees sagged with relief and she sank a little; this gave him an idea.
Going back to the front of the tree he commanded her to kneel down, legs apart so that he could lash her ankles together. Instead of binding her whole body he simply brought her arms back and down and tied the wrists together, then he linked the wrists and ankles in such a way that any attempt to struggle would result in a tightening of the knots. He warned her of this, smiling at the force of human nature that compelled her to test the truth of his claim immediately. Of course it worked as he said it would.
Hillary was surprised by this new development, she had expected him to simply untie her and then screw her in the undergrowth; as it was she couldn’t see any advantage to this position. Darius could.
He stood in front of her once again, his swollen cock swaying in front of her face like a metronome. For a moment or two Hillary watched it, mesmerised, her body aching to feel its length inside her.
He stared down at her, saw how she looked at him, wide-eyed not with fear but with an eagerness to find out what would happen next. Curving his lips into a slight smile he decided to show her. He put his hand down to steady his cock, then guided the tip towards her closed mouth, the tip following the outline of her full fleshy lips like a large red lipstick. She wouldn’t open up. Of course, she was stubborn, stubborn to the last like a horse he had had once. To win the horse over he had used a careful blend of kindness and cruelty, perhaps that was what was needed now. ‘Open your mouth, Hillary.’
She shook her head defiantly, either he could fuck her or forget it. ‘No,’ she hissed through clenched teeth.
‘Don’t be a silly girl, do as you’re told.’
Hillary fumed at his words. How dare he? The arrogant bastard! She longed to tell him to screw himself but didn’t dare open her mouth to speak.
‘If you don’t cooperate I’ll simply have to make you.’
She snorted derisively – oh yes, make her – she’d like to see the day any man made her do something she didn’t want to.
She suddenly felt amused and mocked him with her eyes. So the Lord of the Manor wanted a blow job, did he? Well, he’d have to make it worth her while. Okay, she was tied up but that didn’t mean he could have exactly what he wanted. Not straight away, anyhow. She looked up and saw his disbelief as she kept her mouth firmly closed. Of course he could force her, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t want to seem so desperate.
His face was thunder as he looked down on this stubborn, gorgeous woman. No one had refused
Darius before. Not like this. If she refused because of coyness, it wouldn’t be so bad. But this was sheer pig-headedness. Then he had an idea. Hillary saw it flash across his face and he smiled and took away his penis.
Darius crouched down towards her. He looked straight into her eyes and, with an expert hand, reached towards her crotch. His fingers hovered tantalisingly at the outer lips of her vagina. She gasped. He stopped, looked down and said, ‘We’ll see what happens now, shall we?’ And with that his fingers delved inside her and started to explore her deepest place. She felt a certain orgasm rise as he fingered and played with her. Then he stopped.
She howled, ‘You bastard! You can’t do that!’
‘As I said before, I can do anything.’ He smirked.
Then, just as quickly as he’d stopped, he started again, this time bringing her off spectacularly.
He let her recover for a couple of minutes, then stood up and held his penis once again to her lips. She greedily swallowed him, milking him with her mouth, loving it, feeling as though she was the one in control. Then, in a fit of sudden chivalry, he withdrew and rested his aching, throbbing shaft against the soft flesh of her cheek, allowing the powerful jet of semen to soak her hair.
They remained silent and still for some time afterwards. Hillary basked in the afterglow of her own orgasm which had erupted from her unexpectedly as he came against her face leaving her dimly aware of the slow trickle of viscous juice running down her neck and shoulder. He was stunned by the quick build-up and the ferocity of his release. Only one woman had ever had that effect on him before and that was Ilona.
Suddenly, remembering his promise to Ilona the night before, he glanced at his watch. Damn, she would be waiting for him at the house already. With no time for apologies or regrets he wiped himself with a handful of leaves and zipped up his shorts.
Hillary stared at him. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’ve got to go.’ He offered nothing by way of explanation as he untied her from the tree.
Unsteadily, Hillary rose to her feet, rubbing her wrists then bending to do the same to her ankles. It was a mistake to bend forwards so quickly but she realised too late. Suddenly she felt light headed, her mind was going blank and her legs had turned to water. She groped blindly at thin air for a few seconds, her lips silently mouthing a plea for help. Darius moved swiftly but it was too late. Overcome by a powerful cocktail of heat and emotion Hillary fell to the ground in a dead faint, cracking her head on a tree root as she fell.
When she came round she was lying on the back seat of Alicia’s Mercedes. She turned her head cautiously to see Darius leaning against the side of the car nonchalantly polishing his rifle. Sensing her movement he turned around and smiled down at her. ‘I’m glad to see you’re all right, you must have had too much sun.’
Hillary struggled to sit up. She looked at her watch – it was half past five, over two hours since she had first bumped into Darius in the forest. It was obvious that he had carried her to the car but she couldn’t quite remember how they had passed the time. Darius mistook her look of confusion. ‘Do you feel okay to drive?’ His voice brought her back to reality.
She nodded automatically which made her head feel as though it were about to split in two. She clasped it in both hands, the pain bringing tears to her eyes. ‘I don’t think so actually,’ she muttered weakly.
Darius shut the car door, went around the back of the car and placed his rifle in the boot, then climbed into the driver’s seat. ‘Lie down and I’ll drive you home.’
As they pulled up outside the house Odile came sauntering out to greet them. With a look of surprise she glanced at Darius and then rushed to the car as she saw him help Hillary to her feet. ‘My God, what happened to you?’ she said.
Before Hillary could reply Darius spoke, his tone gentle and reassuring. ‘It’s nothing to worry about, she just spent a little too long in the sun, that’s all. She fainted in the forest and hit her head, after a good rest she’ll be as right as rain.’
Odile thanked Darius and then led Hillary inside the house and straight to her room. Hillary couldn’t help noticing that everywhere seemed strangely quiet.
‘Alicia and Chloe have gone for a picnic,’ Odile explained. She looked embarrassed. ‘In fact, Theo and I were just about to go for a walk but if you’d rather I stayed?’
Hillary went to shake her head and then thought better of it. ‘No, really, I’ll be fine. You go ahead and I’ll meet Theo later. All I want to do now is sleep.’
Odile still looked doubtful. ‘Are you sure that’s wise? You could have concussion.’
‘I’m sure, now go have a good time.’ Hillary pushed her gently from the room, refusing to acknowledge any further protestations.
As soon as Odile had left, she sank gratefully onto her bed and within minutes fell into a deep sleep broken only by dreams of being an innocent wench ravished alternately by the dark mysterious Lord of the Manor and hoards of pillaging Vikings. When she awoke several hours later she had no real recollection of her dreams, or of that afternoon’s encounter with Darius, only a vague feeling of restlessness and an overpowering desire for sexual satisfaction. By the time Odile returned, she was feeling more like her normal self and rushed to meet the renowned Theo. She wasn’t disappointed.
Towering over both herself and Odile at well over six feet, Theo was the epitome of African splendour. Big, black and beautiful were the three words that summed him up most succinctly, Hillary decided. His looks were matched perfectly by an air of innate confidence, his movements almost choreographed in their fluidity and grace and his voice sent shivers down Hillary’s spine – the carefully enunciated words dripped like treacle from his tongue and formed smooth, dark rivulets of conversation. Hillary fell instantly under his spell.
Far from feeling threatened by Hillary’s obvious adoration, Odile was pleased her man was such a hit with her friends – Chloe and Alicia had been similarly impressed when they had first met him. She left him regaling Hillary with stories of Paris and his opinion of French fashion versus British and went to make some coffee. She returned with a tray to find Hillary sitting alone, staring out of the window.
Odile glanced around. ‘Where is he?’
Hillary turned around. ‘Oh, sorry. I was miles away. He’s just gone to use the bathroom.’ She nodded in the general direction of the door.
Odile set the tray of coffee down on a side table and began to pour it into three cups. ‘You look pensive, is everything okay? Theo didn’t say anything to upset you, did he?’
‘Of course not,’ Hillary said, laughing, ‘I was just daydreaming, that’s all.’
Odile wasn’t convinced by her friend’s apparent nonchalance. ‘Did Darius do something?’
To her acute embarrassment Hillary felt her cheeks redden. ‘No, what makes you say that?’ She glanced down at her hands as Odile handed her a cup of coffee. ‘In fact, if it wasn’t for him I could still be lying unconscious in the forest.’ It was obvious that Odile was intrigued but their conversation was cut short by the reappearance of Theo.
For a second he stood in the doorway, filling it completely; he even had to stoop a little. ‘Is this one for me?’ He walked over to the table and picked up the remaining coffee as Odile and Hillary both nodded.
Just then the front door opened and the house was once again filled with a cacophony of voices. Theo looked alarmed.
‘Don’t panic!’ Hillary said, laughing. ‘It’s only Chloe and Alicia.’
He rolled his eyes in mock alarm and, in one bound, crossed the room and grabbed Odile by the hand. ‘Come, ma cherie, we will depart this – this mad-house for a little while.’
Odile laughed. ‘We’ll go to the pub for a while. Would you like to come, Hillary?’
Normally Hillary would have tactfully refused but the sound of Alicia and Chloe screeching at each other was too much for her pounding head to bear. She nodded gratefully. ‘I think a hasty retreat is just what the doctor ordered,’
she said, glancing at her watch. ‘Besides which Gus and Clive should be arriving any time now. They would probably appreciate a bit of time alone to get reacquainted.’
‘If you say so.’ Odile snorted derisively. ‘You forget I’ve known Chloe and Gus for quite some time; unless he has the sense to bring her something horrendously expensive she’ll be nagging him within an inch of his life before he’s even had time to pour a drink.’
Hillary smiled ruefully. ‘The same goes for Alicia; most of the time Clive can’t do a thing right as far as she’s concerned.’
The two women looked at each other for a moment and smiled conspiratorially; Hillary put their thoughts into words. ‘Thank God we’ve the sense to stay single.’
Theo didn’t comment on her remark but looked enquiringly at Odile who caught his expression and shrugged. He had seen her look at other women that way before and knew from past experience how events invariably unfolded. Nevertheless, he was positive that Hillary was a complete innocent regarding anything outside the realm of heterosexual sex. He felt his pulse quicken; perhaps this would prove to be a most interesting visit after all.
5
To Hillary’s profound disappointment Gus and Clive arrived just as she was leaving with Odile and Theo, their open-topped cars screeching to a halt either side of the trio.
Clive stood up on the driver’s seat and gestured rudely to Gus. ‘That’s a tenner you owe me, you slow bastard!’ He glanced down at Hillary. ‘Hi, sis-in-law, where’s the old millstone?’
‘If you mean your wife, she’s in the house.’ Hillary nodded over her shoulder, her attitude deliberately off-hand. She knew Alicia had her faults but Clive always managed to rub her up the wrong way, and invariably she would end up leaping to her sister’s defence regardless of whether she needed it, or even deserved it. Gus wasn’t much better but definitely the more bearable of the two – at least she wasn’t related to him.
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Page 7
