Therese thought about what she had said. “Portia, my dear, if you and your brother behave yourselves, you can stay as long as you need. If the girls like you, you can be part of our little family, but, listen to me: I don’t want you involved in any part of the girls’ business. You and Othello can help out; perhaps play us music and dance, but no men. Is that clear?”
“But why not, Mistress?”
Why not? thought Therese—how can I explain? “It’s because they’re nuns.” Portia looked at her with questions all over her face. “I know it sounds stupid. Nuns shouldn’t be doing that sort of thing, but the army forced us into it. I ordered them to do it. If you come and join them freely…well, I don’t know. It’s not the same and it wouldn’t be right. Can you understand?”
“I don’t mind, Mistress. It’s nothing to me, no matter how many men there are, so long as they don’t beat me and do crazy things.”
Therese reached out and touched her cheek. “Listen to me–no! That’s it. Stay here; eat and get your strength back. Help me and dance for us. That’s enough. And if you want, I can ask the girls to give you proper reading lessons. Othello too, if he wants it. Now eat up your gulas. There’s pork and bigos coming.”
Therese begged a fiddle from the Convent and brought it to the club that afternoon. Othello’s eyes widened as he reached for it and plucked the strings. “Oh, Mistress! Now we’ll have some music!”
Portia came running from the back as he struck up a gypsy tune. Therese stood in the doorway of her office and watched as Portia strutted out in front of him with hands on hips, stamped her foot and started to dance. A wild and primitive dance, her hair and skirt flying as she whirled and pirouetted. The rhythm of her feet was infectious and the girls began to clap with the music. Portia whirled to a halt with a final stamp and a dramatic pose, and the girls cheered her and reached out to pat her back. Therese thought hard for a moment, and called the girls around her.
When Rebecca had finished her work, Therese traveled down to the village with her. She had an appointment with Mrs. Pankova.
Wanda looked a picture as she stepped off the train. Her fur coat was tailored to a nicety and her winter boots heeled and stylish, quite unlike the thick and heavy boots that kept Therese’s feet warm. She was smiling widely, and her eyes sparkled. Her hair fell about her face and blended with the dark brown fur. Therese ran to hug her and whisk her away to the castle.
The girls would not let her rest but hung onto her arms and competed for her attention until Therese chased them away and took her to the refectory for lunch.
“So? Franz has been writing to me, but I still can’t work out if you’ve managed to get into his bed yet. I’ve asked him directly, but he just doesn’t answer that bit of my letters. So I’ll ask you; what have you been doing with Franz?”
Therese blushed and avoided Wanda’s eyes. She did not know what she could say.
“Therese, what have you been doing? You’re turning red, so I know you’ve been trying something naughty.”
“Nothing really. He comes to the club sometimes and takes me to my office to sit for a while.”
“To sit and do what? Answer me, you bad girl!”
“It’s nothing. Honestly. We haven’t done it…”
“And why not? What did I tell you on the railway station when I was leaving? Really, I’m disappointed in you. I was so hoping to have you as a sister-in-law.”
“I can’t, Wanda. No, it’s the truth. I can’t. I’m still a nun inside, I swear it. I’ve got a duty to see the girls through this without thinking about anything else. I’ve got a letter from the Bishop that says we can go back to being proper nuns when it’s all finished. I’m still pure–no, not pure. No normal person is completely pure, but I’m not very sinful. I haven’t given myself to Mefist or anyone else.”
Wanda just looked at her with a half-smile on her face.
“It’s true! As long as we don’t choose to do this, don’t do it from free will, we’re safe. We can go back to being nuns again.” She did not want to talk about what the guarantee had cost, or the Bishop’s private letter, or the enquiries that Rebecca’s father was making. Suddenly, under Wanda’s amused gaze, she was no longer sure of what she was doing or why she was doing it.
“Oh well,” said Wanda, “we’d better eat, drink, and be merry today. Tomorrow Therese and all my friends might turn back into nuns again. What a terrible idea!”
Chapter 36
Therese had expected Wanda to spend some time alone with Mefist, but after a happy, talkative evening in the club, she came with Therese to bed. She rushed from the bathroom without a dressing gown, dived into bed, and wrapped Therese’s arms around her to warm up.
“Ooooh!” she shivered. “Castles in winter! However did people live before there were radiators? Squeeze me; I’m still freezing.”
Cuddling Wanda felt nice. She felt rounded and soft, and her fragrance made Therese’s head spin. She pulled Wanda’s hips harder into her lap and then reached up to pull her back into the warmth. A shiver ran through the vibrant body, and Wanda sighed. “Oh, that’s better. You’re absolutely the best pillow, and I was so cold!”
Therese felt the soft roundness of Wanda’s breast under her arm. The hard button of her nipple was trapped beneath Therese’s wrist. It grew in her mind, and she loosened her grip to touch it and run a fingernail around the edges. “Mmh,” said Wanda, “that’s nice. Do it some more.” Therese cupped the breast in her hand and started to pull and twist at the nipple with her finger and thumb.
“Mmh, so good,” she murmured. “You could make me come just doing that. Oh, yes. That’s right. Don’t stop.” She held her hand over Therese’s and wriggled onto her back. She reached around Therese with her free hand and pulled her head to rest on her shoulder. She released the hand that she had held trapped at her breast. “Go on; don’t stop. I’m enjoying it.”
It felt good to rest her head on Wanda’s shoulder and feel her warmth and vivacity under her cheek. Teasing Wanda’s nipple felt good too; she enjoyed the giving of pleasure and the small noises Wanda was making in her throat. She moved across to the other nipple, to tease it into an equally hard peak.
“Oh, Therese, I love it when you do nice things to me. You must drive Franz wild.”
“He won’t let me do anything to him. He plays with me and makes me come again and again, but he won’t let me touch him.”
“Why ever not? Have you tried?”
“Well, yes, but he says I can’t because I might lose control and make love to him.”
“That doesn’t sound such a bad thing.”
“I suppose you’re right, but he says he won’t listen to me when I’m crazy with sex. That’s all very polite, but I can’t imagine asking him outright when I’m not crazy. He should be asking me, anyway.”
“Oh, the pair of you are made for each other! You won’t make love unless he pushes you into it, and he won’t push you because you think you want to be a nun again. You’re both crazy. Aah, don’t stop doing that. Franz doesn’t know what he’s missing. So what does he do to you, alone in your office?”
“Well, he puts our names in the book, and then he takes me to my office and he looks at me.”
“Looks at you? That doesn’t seem like much.”
“You don’t understand; he looks at me with no clothes on! It gets me all confused. He looks right at my–my thing, and says nice things about it. He sat me on my desk and looked right up inside me once, and just the thought of it made me come!”
“Really? That’s excellent. There’s hope for you yet. I know it does funny things to me too when the right man looks at me so closely. Then when they lick you, mmh, heavenly! That’s the best! Has he done that to you yet?”
“No. He breathed on me once, but it started me coming so much I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“Oh, Therese! He breathed on you! How could he stop himself? He should have pushed it into you right then. I know I would have done.”
“No. When I relaxed again, he just laid me on the desk and kissed me–my mouth, I mean–and that was nice. If I’m honest, he could to anything to me and I’d let him. I’d enjoy it, I’m sure, but he won’t do it because he knows I can’t. I really like Mefist.”
Wanda reached for her and placed a kiss on her lips. “Mmh, sweet,” she said and reached for another. This time she held Therese to her to suck and nibble at her lips. It felt delicious, and at the touch of Wanda’s tongue, Therese opened her mouth to let it in.
Wanda’s hand behind her head slackened, but still Therese kissed on. Wanda took the hand from her breast and moved it down across her stomach. Therese made no resistance and when Wanda stopped guiding her, she moved on across the plains of her stomach to the small brush that graced her mound. “Oh, yes,” sighed Wanda as she felt the fingertips brush her lips. “Do you let Franz do this to you too?”
“Sometimes. It’s very exciting when he does it.”
It was good to have Wanda trembling to her touch, and Therese dipped her fingers down between her open thighs. Wanda’s sex felt soft and full, and she tried to clasp it in her hand. Wanda groaned as she squeezed and lifted her hips up. “Aah, yes!” she muttered, “Do it to me, please. Love me, Therese.”
Therese could feel moisture in the palm of her hand—it was Wanda’s excitement. She reached deeply between Wanda’s thighs with her middle finger to touch her behind her sex. She slowly trailed her finger up and immediately fell into Wanda’s wet softness. It was warm and very slippery. She touched Wanda’s entrance and she could feel it kissing and sucking her fingertip, inviting it to dive deep inside.
Therese left the invitation and moved very slowly upwards, her finger wrapped in Wanda’s soft, wet folds. She reached the magic button and, pressing firmly, drew the length of her finger along it as she pulled out of Wanda’s furrow. The effect was electric. Wanda was hanging on to her and kissing her, rigid as she pushed her hips up and opened her legs as widely as she could. She was shuddering with orgasm, and Therese felt alarmed at what she had done.
Her alarm turned to pleasure as Wanda collapsed with a sigh. “Oh Therese! That was wonderful, and so quick! Now I’m going to do it to you.” But she looked so completely relaxed that Therese would not allow it.
“No. Not tonight. Tonight it’s my turn, so you just lie there and let me do what I want.” She bent to kiss her again. Wanda was soft and yielding as Therese leaned over her. She lay open for Therese to take, waiting to surrender everything. Therese lowered her kisses to reach her nipples.
Wanda slowly rocked from side to side as Therese plundered her breasts. Wanda seemed lost in a dream, and Therese wondered what she was feeling. Therese lowered herself again to trail kisses across Wanda’s stomach to the tuft of wiry hair. She kissed and rested her cheek on it. Wanda was hot and exciting. Her perfume filled Therese’s mind as her lithe body heaved up and down beneath her cheek.
Wanda’s thighs were spread wide, and Therese moved to lie on her stomach between them. Wanda’s sex lay open in front of her but despite the bedclothes being thrown back, she could see nothing. “Light,” she said, “Turn on the light!”
“Don’t stop,” pleaded Wanda, lifting her hips, “Don’t–oh, light. Yes, but don’t stop.”
In the glow of the bedside light, Therese stared at Wanda’s sex. It was wide open for her. The full outer lips had opened and flattened as Wanda spread herself wide. In the furrow between them, Wanda’s clitoris hid like a covered finger. Below it her inner lips gaped open and Therese looked into Wanda’s wet, sugar-pink heart. As she watched, the closed entrance of her tunnel tightened on itself and relaxed again. It was wet with slippery excitement. Therese reached out a fingertip, and the pink mouth immediately swallowed it. “Aah! More!” said Wanda.
Ignoring her need, Therese removed her finger and reached up for her clitoris. The cover moved freely over the hard shaft beneath. She pushed up, and the hard pink pearl peeped out at her. Experimentally, she slid the cover up and down. Wanda moaned. Using both thumbs, Therese forced the hood back as far as it would go. The button stood proud, and she reached for it with her tongue.
Wanda’s hips tipped backwards and forwards as Therese licked her clitoris rhythmically. She was panting and moaning and Therese could not guess what she felt. Still licking the exposed button, she moved to stir Wanda’s entrance again. Two fingers slipped easily inside, and Therese reached in as far as she could.
Wanda was open for her, and welcomed her as she pumped her fingers in and out. Wanda was crying, “No, no, stop!” but she was pulling Therese’s head into her, not pushing it away. Therese had all four fingers inside her now and pumped and licked as fast as she could. It was difficult to follow Wanda’s gyrating hips.
Wanda’s cries reached a crescendo, and Therese pushed into her for the last time. She sucked Wanda’s clitoris into her mouth and bit down hard on it with covered teeth. Wanda’s thighs were crushing her, and her mouth was being pulled hard into Wanda’s sex by her hands behind her head. They had welded into one rigid, unmoving statue as Wanda rode wave after wave of pleasure.
Slowly Wanda started to relax. “Don’t move, don’t move,” she begged. “Aah! Oh Jesu!” She shuddered uncontrollably as Therese released her tormented button. “Aah! No! Don’t move! It’s too much.” Therese left her fingers inside, feeling the spasms running through Wanda’s sex. As they became less frequent, she slowly pulled her fingers out, feeling the tunnel close behind her. Cruelly, she trailed the departing fingers up over Wanda’s button. “Aah!” she cried, grabbing for them, “Please, no more.”
Therese lay on her back in the dark with her arm around Wanda. Her hand cupped Therese’s breast but had no sexual intent. Wanda was exhausted, and Therese felt proud. It was good to make love to the girl now resting on her shoulder, good to give so much pleasure to someone you loved.
The next morning Therese rose alone, leaving Wanda curled up and sleeping deeply.
The girls were cleaning when she got to the club. Today would be busy, but she needed them to get some fresh air. When they had finished cleaning, she chased them out with their skis and told them not to come back before lunch.
Wanda turned up about ten o’clock, still looking sleepy. Maria had left her croissants on one of the tables, and Therese went to the bar to make coffee. Wanda brought the croissants and sat on the other side of the bar to watch. Standing on the rail of her barstool, she reached to grab Therese by the ears and pull her across for a kiss. “You were wonderful last night. I haven’t felt anything like that for–I don’t know how long. Thank you, and next time it will be my turn.”
“You’re feeling well this morning? I didn’t hurt you?”
“Hurt me? Oh, you mean inside! No, of course not. When I’m so excited you can put your whole hand in.”
“A whole hand?” Therese winced at the thought. “That must hurt!”
“Oh no. Not if you’re all excited and wet. You just feel very full, and it’s unbelievably exciting to have your lover’s hand moving around inside you. You should try it!”
Therese thought of her sex stretching around Wanda’s hand or Mefist’s, and rejected the idea. Wanda might be elastic enough to manage, but Therese was quite sure she was not. “What are you doing today? You could join the girls out skiing if you like.”
“I thought I was going to stay with you. Sit and chat, you know.”
“Sorry, my love, but after lunch the club is closed. We’re preparing a little surprise for the men, and you, of course. Would you be very upset if I asked you to meet a couple of my protégés? They’ll take care of you all afternoon, and I know they’ll jump at the chance to meet a fine city lady. Just don’t tell them what you get up to at night; I’ve got my reputation to think of.”
As it was Saturday, the General’s office was preparing to finish work at twelve o’clock. Therese took Wanda to visit the General and then introduced her to Rebecca, who was happy to take Wanda down to the village t
o meet Jana. Before she left, Rebecca reached into her handbag and gave Therese a sealed envelope.
Therese carried the envelope back to her office before opening it. It contained a telegram from Mr. Isaacs to Rebecca. It was short and economical. It simply stated, The name on the account you have queried is Herbert Adler love Papi.
Therese thoughtfully put the envelope in her desk. Bishop Adler was not being honest with her or the Church.
Chapter 37
Therese stood in darkness outside the door to the officers’ mess. Around her the girls clustered, silent but nervously rustling in their costumes. They had been waiting for a long time, certainly more than ten minutes, and the tension was making her sick. Then, at last, the door latch clicked and it opened a little.
“Therese?” asked Mefist. “Oh, there you are. All ready? Good, the stage is yours…”
Her stomach twisting inside her, Therese stepped into the light. The room was quiet and expectant. The dining tables were arranged along the walls, as they had been that long-ago evening when Maria had come to be punished. The men clutched their wine glasses and looked already merry. In the centre of the table, in the seat of honour, sat Wanda with the General relegated to her right hand. Therese pushed herself to the centre of the room, and Wanda started to applaud.
Everyone was clapping and denying her the opportunity to start. Then someone called, “She’s wearing a dress!,” and laughter and catcalls followed.
She held up her hands to quieten them. “My Lady, gentlemen, please! Let me have some quiet.”
“She’s still wearing a dress,” came the complaint, this time in a hoarse whisper.
“And so I am,” she said defiantly. “I shall keep wearing it until someone makes it worth my while to take it off!”
The room filled with more applause, and the men shouted, “Mefist! Tell her to take it off! Mefist! She’s not listening to us!”
The Prince and the Nun Page 24
