by Cynthia Dane
“Miguel?”
Monica flipped through a schedule book. “Looks like he’s made an appointment with you this Friday. Do the same with him.” She pushed the first box toward Judith. “You know what to do.”
Judith peered back into the box, giddy at the sight of the sparkling diamonds. “I know what to do. I’ll blow both of their minds until they can’t be blown anymore.”
“Careful. We want them to still be able to use their pocket books. And keep getting hard for you, of course.”
“Of course.”
That demeanor quickly turned from business to pleasure. Here we go. “So? How are they?”
Judith wasn’t ever embarrassed by sex talk, but even she blushed to think of the ways both men rolled in bed with her. “They are both passionate. Seth is the most surprising. I was expecting him to be more reserved, but in reality he can hold his own against me.”
“That’s good to hear. As for Mr. Bolivar?”
“You really want to hear about that cock of his, huh?”
Monica chuckled. “Just because I’m married doesn’t mean I’m not curious.”
“I’m telling your husband.”
“Go ahead. He won’t mind.”
Judith laughed, louder than her boss. “Miguel knows how to fuck. Let me tell you.”
“Do go on.”
“Hmm, not sure you could handle it. You’re in a delicate disposition, after all.”
“Try me. My husband is coming to pick me up soon. I need some fodder for my brain.”
“Too much info.”
“There’s no such thing around here.”
Judith looked over her shoulder, as if anyone would come up behind her and listen in on their girl talk. “Where do I begin? The guy is huge, in more ways than one.”
“I might have to watch sometime.”
Judith raised one eyebrow. Monica did not often make use of the cameras in the women’s bedrooms. They were there in case something happened and evidence was needed. “If you want to stop in and watch him fuck me, I won’t stop you, but I will charge him extra for it.”
“Don’t give me ideas. I’ve got a baby to pay for.”
“Obviously.”
“What else? Tell me more!”
Sometimes this job was strange indeed. Yet where else could Judith mix pleasure and business so seamlessly?
Chapter 14
SETH
“Thank you for your bid in the interest of Miss Judith. We are writing to inform you that…”
Seth lowered the letter as soon as he was done reading it. So, another man was interested in his muse? Somehow that didn’t surprise him… and yet he was greatly annoyed all the same.
It wasn’t the matter of money. Yes, already promising thirty grand a month was huge, especially for him, but it wasn’t like he didn’t have the money. He wasn’t used to spending so much of it at once, regularly, and on one person. For $30,000 a month he could pay off some poor student’s loans. What was the fun in that?
He had thought long and hard about it. Sometimes too long, and too hard. Whenever Seth had his bearings again, he reminded himself that thirty grand a month wasn’t bad when he was already spending that once a week to fuck her every time he visited. The penny-pincher in him constantly reminded his conscience that he could save thousands by wrapping up his cock and pulling out, but then his conscience retorted with, “Then what’s the fucking point?” He had gone too far. He knew what it was like to make love to her the natural way. There was no going back.
Still, bidding higher made him uneasy. The letter stipulated that increased bids went in $5,000 intervals, so he had to bid at least $35,000 to be taken seriously. Still cheaper than fucking her at the standard rate. Seth hated thinking of Judith like that, but he had to be practical. He was spending a shitton of money on her. Money that he didn’t have to spend if he found love the old fashioned way.
It’s not love, dumbass.
Yet when he lowered the letter and looked at the finished and unfinished paintings in his studio, he couldn’t help but think that there was something more than a mere relationship between professional and client.
Or maybe she really was that good. There was a reason why men like Seth were lining up to buy her, after all.
This is practical. If he was going to continue using her as a muse and get some extra benefits on the side, then it only made sense to become a patron. It would save him money, and he could take her out of her fancy house. That was important to an artist. He wouldn’t be happy with painting her on that estate for the rest of his life. He would want to bring her to his studio. Maybe the gallery opening, if there was one. Fuck it. He wanted to take her to the coast, to the mountains, to Vancouver and Cancun. His family had their own private jet he sometimes borrowed. Why couldn’t he have her there too?
Yes, this was the practical thing to do. Better than the hundred grand he would soon owe the Château for bending his model over for a month and losing himself inside her as nature intended. That didn’t include the modeling fees!
He picked up his phone and dialed Monica Warren’s business number. All Seth could do was raise his bid and hope the other fool didn’t care about Judith as much as he did.
***
“Holy shit.” Zack gasped upon entering his friend’s studio Wednesday morning. “You’ve done all these in two fucking weeks?”
“Is that fast?” Seth was grinning.
“Is that… you bastard! Are you on speed or crack or what?” He didn’t wait for Seth to answer. “Worse. You’re high on this woman.”
Seth didn’t like the tone in his voice. He sat by the largest window in his studio, overlooking a green courtyard between his townhouse and the neighboring apartment building. “She is my muse. That tends to be how it works.”
“You’re playing with some serious fucking fire,” Zack continued, as if Seth cared a single iota about his opinion on the matter. “She’s not any woman, Seth. She’s not even the usual warnings against model types.”
“You might as well stop right there.” He didn’t need to hear this.
“Why? I don’t think you’ve realized what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?”
Zack looked him square in the eye, a serious demeanor that did not suit him crossing his face. “You’re falling for an escort, to put it lightly. Don’t you get it? She’s not your girlfriend. She never will be your girlfriend, unless she quits her job, I guess. Don’t count on it, though. I saw those girls there. They’ve got a good thing going. Unless they want out anyway, they’re not likely to run off even with a rich doctor like you.”
Seth turned away. “Didn’t realize I had asked for your unsolicited advice. Please. Give me the benefit of a doubt here. First of all, I’m not in love with her. I barely know her.”
“I’ll say.”
“Second, I know what kind of relationship we have. I pay for her time and, yes, her services.”
“Expensive services. You won’t even buy a new car because you think it’s too expensive, and you could pay cash. Dude, you’ve got more than one thing hard for this woman if you’re shelling out thousands of dollars to spend a few afternoons with her.”
“Hey, stay out of it, would you? If I want your advice, I will ask for it.”
Zack shook his head, but not before turning toward the finished portraits lining one wall. “This woman has done wonders for your work, that’s true.”
“But?” Might as well let him have it.
“But don’t let her ruin your personal life. There’s no point to having a great art career if a woman’s breaking your heart and wallet.”
“I can take care of myself, thanks.”
Seth had considered telling him about the bidding and possibly becoming Judith’s patron. He would’ve played along had Seth been accepted for the starting bid. Knowing that his friend was offering more money, though? Preposterous.
Now he knew better. Best that Zack didn’t know about what went on a
t the Château, aside from Judith being his friend’s new model, anyway. Joy had yet to get back on any possible gallery shows, but they were hopeful. Until then… it should be Seth and Judith only.
How unfortunate. For the first time in a long time, Seth had a woman to brag about. So what if he paid for her? That was a detail. Judith may not have been his real girlfriend, but she was real. A real conversationalist. A real intellectual when she was allowed to be. A real hottie when Seth let lust overcome him.
Zack left, still shaking his head and mumbling about going down to the marina to play on his boat. Seth turned back to a painting he was finishing up. He was due to see Judith that afternoon for fresh sketches, but wanted to finish this up first. Yet the longer he stared at his own work, the more he thought of Judith, and how great it would be existing as her #1 man. A privilege worth paying for.
I wonder if she gets any say in it. Could Judith choose him over the other man? Or was she at her madam’s whim? Today I can show her what a real man I am. After business, of course. Except Seth’s brain was already overran with every naughty thing he wanted to do to her. Everything he would tell her to do to him, to herself. The more he was around her, the more he wanted to assert himself – and she responded how he desired.
No wonder he was willing to throw tens of thousands of dollars at her a month.
***
The first thing Seth saw when he walked into Judith’s room later that afternoon was his painting hanging above her vanity. Looks good there. For some reason he hadn’t expected to see it – almost as if he had forgotten all about it, which was funny, because he had been in such a tizzy when told to send a gift along with his bid. Wonder what the other guy got her. Probably something a lot more impersonal.
“Glad you liked it,” he said, standing in front of her vanity as Judith rested her chin on his shoulder. “I wasn’t sure if it would be good enough.”
“It’s touching. Can’t say a man has ever given me a portrait of myself before. Let alone one as nice as that.” She smiled at their reflection. “One of the other girls said it made me look egotistical hanging it up… but I like to think it shows I know what my worth is around here.”
That only inflated Seth’s ego. “How are you doing?” He tipped her chin up with the end of his sketching pencil. “Keeping busy?”
She still smiled. “Always. A girl has to make a living.”
Does that mean she’s seen a lot of other men? For some reason, Seth didn’t want to think about that. Until then, the idea of her being with other men didn’t bother him. It was her living, after all. Even if she hadn’t delivered sexual services to these other supposed men… and he didn’t delude himself into thinking at least that other man bidding on her didn’t know how good she was in bed… she still had entertained them. Made them feel big and important. She was a courtesan first, paid sexual partner second. If she didn’t do anything else, she was at least making men feel good.
He couldn’t think about that, though. She was with him now, was she not?
“How do you want me today?” She was wearing her usual silk robe, the one that always teased him with flashes of her breasts and nether lips, perfectly groomed, always. “On the bed? By the window? We could even go outside, if you want…” She glanced at the clouds outside. “Or perhaps not. Weather isn’t super up here lately.”
“It’s nice down in the city.”
Judith sighed. “Isn’t it always?”
“Have you been recently?”
“It’s been about three weeks since I last left the grounds.” She caught the look of concern spreading across his face. “By choice. We’re allowed to leave as long as it doesn’t affect work. We’re so far out here in the middle of nowhere, though, and none of us have cars… we have to borrow the madam’s car or have a friend come get us. Suffice to say, that opportunity doesn’t come up much.” She laughed, sitting on the edge of the bed, robe opening to show a peaking nipple. Focus, dumbass. Seth went back to setting up his easel and canvas. “We usually go down together for shopping or whatever. Reminds me, I need to go into town. Cheaper than having my beauty supplies shipped up here… especially since we have a good relationship with one of the boutiques downtown. They give us discounts because the owner is a regular here.”
“I would offer to take you down myself, but I know that’s not allowed.”
Judith batted his eyelashes at him. She has such beautiful hazel eyes. They were nearly impossible to capture with his paints, but he tried. Judith’s eye color was the only thing about her that changed from painting to painting. Sometimes they were bright gold. Other times they were an earthy brown. Today? A pale green. “You could take me if you were my patron,” she said with a saccharin edge. It made Seth laugh.
“I’m working on it. Not my fault some other man has his eyes on you too.”
“I’m so popular.” Judith rolled on her back, robe falling open and revealing her breasts without a care in the world. “You men fighting over me in the hopes of winning my heart and body. Ooh la la.”
Resist. There is work to do. She would definitely be naked for today’s modeling gig. “How about we start with you lying on the bed? I mostly need the poses. I can come up with different backgrounds later, if pressed.”
Judith got into position. Not the one he necessarily wanted, but he could adjust her limbs and head later. For now, she was fine lying on her side with her elbow propped up. Naked, of course. I can’t wait to have her. Have her? What was he? A Neanderthal? Quickly turning into one, yes. Soon he would be rutting on top of her, grunting, happy to be there and watching his money fall out of his wallet.
“If you become my patron,” Judith said, still too sweet for words, “you can do whatever you want to me. Whenever. Put me naked in the middle of the park to pose for one your nude portraits. As long as you buy me a pretty dress afterward.”
I would love to spoil you like that. Strange. Seth had never thought that about a woman before. His old girlfriends often goaded him to spend money on clothes and jewelry. Bags. Perfume. He never understood why he should do that outside of the usual gifts. Wasn’t it enough that he often bought dinner or price of admission to anywhere they went? That made sense. Why should he have to buy a woman a Givenchy dress? What did that have to do with him? Now, if she wanted a pretty bra or something…
“I’ll take you shopping wherever you want.”
“So you’re going to keep bidding, yeah?”
Seth looked between her gorgeous face and what light deigned to come through the window. The curtains were thrown open, but the clouds obscured his natural light. “For as long as I can. Even this man has his limits.”
“Bah. I hope you do, and not because I need a patron. If I could have one, I would certainly choose a great guy like you.”
He knew she was goading him. He knew this was a tactic. Yet there was a hint of reality in her voice. Enough to make him think she was telling the truth, on some level. “And the other guy? How great is he?”
“Hmm.” Judith’s toes wiggled as she thought about what to say. “He’s different from you. A high-roller who knows what he wants.” That’s all she would say.
I should have figured. Lots of different kinds of men would want Judith. Even those types of rich ilk that Seth couldn’t stand to be around. I delivered their babies, after all. Whenever such a man bothered to come to a consultation, he was always on his cell phone, ignoring the miracle of life swimming in his tired wife’s womb. Seth long ago learned to not bother with them.
He began to sketch. “Do you like him?”
“Enough. That’s not a fair question, though. He’s so different from you that I wouldn’t be able to answer one way or the other.”
“What kind of man am I? Do I even want to know your real opinion of me?”
“Ah, don’t worry about it. I think you’re great. You’re not as uptight as I thought you were when I first met you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“I’m serious.
I don’t get a lot of doctors up here, but you’re not a doctor anymore, are you?”
“I still have my title, so, technically… I haven’t practiced in a few years.”
“Doctors can go either way, right? Some are really rigid and unable to accept things not going their way. They don’t have any fun. They don’t know how to express themselves other than through a diagnosis.”
Seth snorted. “You described my father, the original Dr. Christens.”
Judith continued as if he hadn’t said anything. “Then there are guys like you, who are rather sensitive.”
“Now those are fighting words.”
“Don’t misunderstand me, Seth. I like a sensitive guy well enough.” Her smiled broadened. “Particularly if he still knows how to ram a girl between the legs.”
“That’s okay. I can be as sensitive as you want.” He considered something for a moment, her face only half sketched. “Is this other guy nice to you?”
Judith stared at her comforter, lost in thought for more than a few seconds. “He understands me well. We have a professional relationship.”
Seth didn’t want to think about what that meant. “Let the best man win.”
Judith pinched one of her nipples. What, was she trying to kill him already? “You should be more assertive than that.”
“You like assertive, do you?”
“I can switch.”
“So you like to Domme?”
“I do, but it’s not a part of my identity. It’s something fun. If a man or woman wants to pay me to call them a dirty wretch and spank them until they come, hey, I’ll have a good enough time. I definitely like being on the bottom too, though.”
“So I’ve noticed.” And noticed. And noticed again. Judith didn’t seem to mind him in any position. She came hard in missionary, and she came as hard doggy style. That second one allowed for more intensity, however. Plus, the good doctor had been allowed to indulge in his more hedonistic side. Most of his previous girlfriends would’ve rather get on the bed, spread wide, and think of the Commonwealth queen. I need to expand my dating pool. It wouldn’t be wrong for him to have other relationships outside of Judith, right? She had her clients she kept satisfied… and as Zack kept saying, they were not in a real relationship. Right.
