The Gospel of Esther: a Will Silence Adventure

Despite the circumstances, Will found it difficult to tear his eyes away from Zoe. Her eyes closed in mock-ecstasy, she was lavishing the kind of loving attention and expert technique on the barrel of van der Sluys' gun worthy of a very different object. Van der Sluys was breathing heavily, wheezing hoarsely -pig-like, sunken eyes greedily taking in the exquisite lines of Zoe's underwear-clad body and labouring mouth.

The only man in the compartment not hypnotized by the profoundly erotic sight was Jones. There was nothing but calm indifference on the Welshman's face as he watched a beautiful, half-naked woman put absolutely everything she had into a simulated blow job.

Then there was a choking sound. Van der Sluys was ramming the gun down Zoe's throat, relentlessly pushing it forward. Tears were streaming down her face, muffled noises of protest coming from her mouth as she scratched ineffectually at van der Sluys' gun-hand.

Will had never seen Zoe like this -helpless, frightened, making animal noises of distress. It was horrific. Coolly collected, teasing, consummately self-possessed Zoe Brigandeau, with the grace of a dancer and the poise of an empress. She'd always seemed in an untouchable class of her own, another species of woman. Admittedly, Will had been harbouring plans to break through that reserve himself -but in a far more pleasant way. He'd wanted to make Zoe scream in ecstasy, not fear, wanted to go down on her until she melted and then fuck her until her legs gave way, not play sick games with her.

He wasn't going to let van der Sluys hurt Zoe. He didn't want to see her like this ever again. Without even thinking about the gun trained on him, he rose to his feet and charged at van der Sluys, delivering a fury-fuelled punch to the side of the vicious Dutchman's head. Van der Sluys fell down but the next thing Will felt was a sharp and painful crack at the back of his head and he himself collapsed.

Lying on the floor, he regarded Jones above him. That indifference had vanished from the Welshman's face. Now there was a gleam of pure sadistic joy in those light-coloured eyes. Jones had hit Silence with the butt of his revolver -now he held the gun up, reversed, and sent the butt flying into Silence's ribs again and again, listening for the crack of breaking bone.

Van der Sluys was back on his feet, warding Zoe away with a flourish of the gun he still held, its barrel now slick and shiny. Despite the livid bruise on the side of his head, there was a grin on his face. He walked over to Will and kicked him in the side. Steeltoed jackboots, Will noted, while an explosion of pain shook his athletic body.

"Not so fucking smart now, are you?" van der Sluys asked.

Smart-aleck response.

"Fuck... you," he gasped, instead. Van der Sluys' smile just widened.

"So there is a way to hurt you. We all have our vices. But you don't just crave pussy, do you? You've got a weakness for women. For this whore."

He seized Zoe's face in one meaty hand and forced her to regard Will.

"Hmm. I wonder if it works the other way. Does seeing Silence hurt bother you, Zoe? Part of me hopes it doesn't. That'd be funny. But let's see. Hit him, Jones."

Jones obliged with another rib-cracking punch, that familiar light of pleasure shining in his eyes. For the first time since boarding the train, Will suddenly wasn't sure that this was all going to have a happy ending. His eyes met Zoe's and he gave her a rueful wink. It had been a hell of a ride, and being beaten to death by a psychotic Welsh mercenary aboard the Alexandria express train wasn't exactly the big finish Will had always had in mind, but those were the breaks.


***


She was talking to him. She was shaking his hand, her grip firm and tight, her slender little hand even smaller within his grip. Admittedly, she had giggled at his first awkward introduction, but not, Tony felt, in a meanspirited way. It was the unaffected amusement of a girl equally prepared to laugh at herself as at others. And now she was looking at him admiringly -this gorgeous, auburn-haired creature wanted to know about him, thought he sounded exciting. A much stronger man than Tony would have the impulse to brag hard to resist.

"Well, I'm not exactly a tourist..." Tony said, trailing off in what he hoped was a mysterious, impressive manner. He glanced at his own compartment. Fritz and Manny were now in a heated argument and not glancing at him. What was the point of being a globe-trotting gunslinger if you couldn't use it to make unbelievably pretty girls from Boston swoon and drop their panties?

"No," he said, with growing confidence. "I'm not exactly travelling with my aunt."

That had been meant to sound intriguingly mysterious, but on review it just sounded odd. But those melting blue eyes were fixed on him admiringly, those sweet, cupid's bow lips curved into a smile. He could reclaim this.

"Let's just say I'm here on business," he said, nodding meaningfully.

Zoe kneeled on the floor of the compartment, panting, trying to catch her breath. Van der Sluys had roughly pulled the gun from her mouth when Will hit him, and there was the faint taste of blood. Despite the furious retaliation he received Zoe could not help but feel grateful. A gentleman though and through, this Will Silence, albeit not a very smart one.

It was hard not to flinch as Jones rammed his fist holding the gun into Will’s ribcage again. Zoe had always harboured a firm dislike of brute force, and the sound of the impact and the eager glint in Jones’ eyes as he watched Will groan in pain almost made her retch. The last punch would have cracked a rib or two, at least.

But she had a talent to keep her emotions under control when she needed to. She did not react to Will’s wink, either. Rolling her eyes slightly, she broke his gaze, and looked up at van der Sluys who was still clasping her face in his hand.

“The American has the unlucky urge to play the noble saviour”, she said, her voice cool and even. “Some would say that he had it coming.” Another hard punch, but Zoe did not even blink. “Shame. He was a worthy opponent and my only regret would be a pity to see him die at the hands of one of your underlings.” She was glad that she did not have to look at Will now.

“Besides…if Silence is unconscious, he won’t be able to enjoy the rest of the show.” Cocking one eyebrow, she managed a smile, which, due to the black streaks of smeared khol on her face, was rather unsettling. “And I would say that we both perform much better in front of an audience, don’t we?”

Zoe willed herself to ignore the images her remark immediately conjured up in her mind: van der Sluys had a sickening talent for torture and violence, and Zoe had been party to several performances, albeit until now only in the audience. The only thing she could do for Will now was to gain a little bit more time. A little more, until she came up with a real plan.

She unclasped her bra, her eyes set on van der Sluys. Come on, you filthy bastard, she thought. This is what you are here for, after all. Allow yourself to be distracted, just for a little bit.

With a flick of her wrist, Zoe dropped the white piece of lingerie at the Dutchman’s feet. Then she stood up, slowly, careful not to tempt either man into using their fists – or their guns – on her. Hooking her thumbs into the hem of her panties she pulled them down her legs with the grace of a burlesque dancer, and stepped out of them.

She had no idea if this would work. Jones would not be impressed, but he was still under the command of his Dutch boss. And van der Sluys? He had been lusting after her ever since they first met, back in Vienna. Then he had almost courted her, to the extent that a brute, sadistic piece of shit was capable of chivalry. But now? Things had changed since then, and Zoe saw that he was having far too much fun humiliating her. What if he considered this too easy a surrender? It was better not to think of that now.

“I owe you a debt, van der Sluys.”

Spreading out her hands in front of her as if extending an invitation, she stood there, naked, hoping that the Dutchman was enough of a pig to accept it.

***

Following his glance to the compartment where his two companions were seemingly engrossed in a rather heated verbal exchange, Lily gave him an exaggeratedly intrigued smile.

“Yes, maybe you’re not travelling with your aunt, but your friends bicker just like she always does.” Not even a hint of mockery clouded her blue eyes as she said this. She stepped a bit closer and lowered her voice to a conspirational whisper.

“Though you are not the only adventurer on this train, you know.” She took care to brush up against his naked arm as she spoke. “We are sharing a compartment with a lady, an archaeologist, who just told us that she was able to fool a world-famous thief.” Lily looked over her shoulder excitedly, as if checking that nobody was eavesdropping. “Apparently she found this invaluable book in Cairo, a secret text that is worth millions!” Another glance over her shoulder. “And this French woman, a certain Mademoiselle Brigandeau, thinks she has stolen it from her, but all she was able to get was a very good copy! It looks like the thief is in for a rude surprise when she will try to sell it.”

Lily stopped. Was this too bold? Too blunt? Would he call her out on such clumsy a lie? Nevertheless she hoped that he would at least take the bait she was throwing him.

“I wish I would have some adventure in my life, too…,” she sighed, a flirty pout on her lips. “And meet exciting people like you, Tony.” She looked up at him from under lowered lashes, her hand on his arm. “I bet that you meet exciting people all the time, don’t you?”

Van der Sluys found it hard to contain his lust. Zoe had unclasped her sheer white bra, letting the two firm, perfectly formed and amply sized breasts that it had been struggling to contain bounce free. Then she pulled her panties down, inch by smooth inch down those slender, graceful legs. Van der Sluys could feel his mouth watering. Zoe Brigandeau, sumptuously naked and helpless before him. This was what he'd wanted for so very long. There was a sultry pout on those soft, full lips, a glint in those dark blue eyes, that hinted at the obscene, shameless things she could do with the cock hardening in van der Sluys' pants.

I could make you cum until you can't even walk, those challenging, seductive deep blue eyes and that provocatively tilted head seemed to be saying. Van der Sluys imagined white ropes of his cum coating that delicate face, imagined forcing her to lick it off, spraying into her dark hair, over her breasts. He imagined degrading her, humiliating her, reducing her to nothing more than a plaything, forcing his cock between the rounded cheeks of her ass and claiming her there as well.

Making Will Silence watch it all. Van der Sluys felt just a flicker of hesitation at that thought, much as he'd had when he'd ordered Manny to beat Silence instead of doing it himself. Silence had a reputation amongst women. It was said that once in Tokyo he'd fully satisfied six athletic, skeptical and demanding young women in one night, leaving them purring, sighing, sated and sleepy, and competing for the honour of making him breakfast the next day. Van der Sluys had never had any interest in pleasuring women -what would be the point? But by all accounts, Silence's skills in bed were only part of it -his cock said to be prodiguously large. Van der Sluys didn't want him to be able to make any kind of comparison, even now.

But that thought was swallowed up by the tidal wave of lust that Zoe's naked form drew up. He grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and forced her to her knees.

"You've given us a demonstration of your skills on this," he said, showing her the gun. "Let's see how you do on the real thing. But if I feel anything I don't like..."

He hefted the gun meaningfully.


***


Tony's jaw dropped. Part of him wanted to think about what Lisa was saying, to coolly and calmly consider the stunning news she'd just handed him, but it was so hard to concentrate when she was looking at him with such shy admiration beneath fluttering lashes, when her hand was brushing against his arm. He was conscious above all that he wanted to keep those admiring looks directed at him, he wanted to stay as wild and dangerous and exciting as Lisa clearly thought he was.

But the manuscript that van der Sluys had taken from Zoe Brigandeau was a forgery? The real text was on this train?

His first thought was to tell van der Sluys. But why should he do that? That fucking Dutchman had threatened him, made fun of him. Tony hated him. And if, instead, he took the book...

But how far could he get on his own? This was his first time out of the States. He didn't know the territory, and even besides van der Sluys there were other people looking for the book -those fanatics that had hit the bookshop. He wouldn't stand much chance of reaching Geneva. Van der Sluys would kill him... unless he struck first. If he told the others that he knew how to get his hands on the real Gospel...

All of these thoughts flashed across his face. Tony had never been any good at concealing what he was feeling.

"Yeah... ", he said slowly. "I meet lots of exciting people."

He took a breath.

"Where was this archaeologist?"

He needed a clever lie, something that would deftly conceal his real interest while giving him the answer he needed. Lisa was watching him with those melting blue eyes.

"Y'see... uhh... I think... I really... that's the business I'm here on."

Goddamnit.

Her face betrayed no emotions, but inside Zoe breathed a sigh of relief. Will was safe, for now. A few bruises and maybe a cracked rib were injuries a man like him would be used to. She could sense the Welshman’s disappointment at this turn of events, but one thing was sure: even a merciless bastard like van der Sluys would not allow a good blowjob to be interrupted by the pained groans of his American foe.

Smiling coolly, she looked up at the Dutchman. “Very well then.”

She reached for his belt. With a few quick movements she freed his rock-hard cock from the confines of his trousers. He had obviously enjoyed her performance on the gun. If she managed to deliver the follow-up she intended Zoe hoped that she might get him to lower his guard, to let his attention slip, if only for a few seconds.

Wrapping her left hand lovingly around his hard shaft, she wrapped her lips around the bulbous head. She had had better, but this was, before anything else, a survival strategy. The truth was that Zoe did not really care who she was blowing for work, and once she concentrated on the task before her, her intense dislike of van der Sluys lost its importance.

And van der Sluys? Would he – for the sake of his own pleasure – forget that she was a skilled and dangerous enemy? Zoe had high hopes there, too. She simply knew how to treat a cock. Once she had managed for the head of a Sicilian crime family to turn against his clan in a matter of minutes, simply with the support of a few languorous licks. There had been the blowjob-supported heist of a gold crucifix that went back to the inquisition - the incident had caused a whole Spanish monastery to stage a rebellion against their abbot after she had worked her magic on the poor celibates. The invaluable crucifix had been ample reward for the sore muscles in her jaw and neck, though she still avoided any unnecessary trips to Salamanca.

Closing her eyes as if relishing the feel of his cock in her mouth, she moaned softly. First she sucked only the tip into her mouth, her tongue softly licking the underside of the head. Then she moved forward, taking more than half his length down her throat and keeping it there before she wrapped her lips around his hard rod again, one hand almost shyly assisting each movement. Zoe did not want him to get suspicious just yet.

***

“The business you’re here on?” Lily had trouble to hide her own anxiety as keen interest, surprise and a sheepish attempt at appearing indifferent all made an appearance on Tony’s face. She smiled sweetly. “But you don’t look at all like a thief.” She cocked her head again. “You look more like the kind of adventurer who saves beautiful ladies and who catches the bad guys. You know, like in the pictures?”

For a second, Lily was tempted to slip Will’s name into the conversation, but decided against it. She had been far less than subtle already, and it looked like Tony was happy to spill all his “business” secrets on his own volition.

But she also knew that she did not have much time. If Zoe was set on getting rid of Will, she had to get a move on. “The archaeologist?” she asked with a bored smile. “She is a few carriages down, sitting with my aunt and discussing Hittite pottery with her.” Rolling her eyes, she added: “A strange woman, you know. She insisted that…” Lily whispered even lower, forcing Tony to lean in even more to hear what she was saying. “She insisted that I take the gospel for her, in case someone was looking for her on this train.”

Lily shrugged. “So I am carrying a piece of old papyrus with me that is worth more than the gold of the pharaohs, isn’t that swell?” With one hand, she patted the leather bag slung over her shoulder. “It doesn’t look like much, you know.”

For a moment she wondered if she had taken too much of a risk. Tony was one of Zoe’s men after all, and the temptation of simply taking the valued codex from her must have been quite strong. If she wanted to convince him that she was worth his patience, she would have to up her ante.

“I am sure you would like to have a look”, Lily purred sweetly. “But what will you give me in return if I show the gospel to you?”

Van der Sluys let out an animal grunt of pleasure as Zoe's full, soft lips closed around the head of his cock. She had an amazing gift, you had to give her that. He'd compared her to an Amsterdam whore, but none of those blowsy sluts could have sucked a cock like this. And none of them had Zoe's looks, intelligence or calimastian body either. Even if he hadn't hated her and yet lusted after her so much, there would have been a huge thrill to taking something so beautiful and degrading it, stamping on it, breaking it and making it his. When he was satisfied, he thought he'd pass Zoe among the men. Shore up morale, and give her a taste of the things in store.

Jones wouldn't be interested, of course, unless he was allowed to hurt Zoe. Would van der Sluys let him?

"Ohh... fuck."

It burst out of his mouth unbidden as Zoe pushed more than half his cock down her throat, her blue eyes turned demurely downwards as though to deny what she was doing. Her throat felt so tight, soft and warm. Sweat broke on van der Sluys' forehead. He chuckled.

"I hope... ughn... you did sample Zoe's services," he told Silence almost conversationally. "She's a... ooh... phenomenon. A real cocksucking champ."


***


"But what will you give me in return if I show the gospel to you?"

For just a moment, Tony wondered if he might just possibly be out of his depth. Lisa thought he seemed dashing, glamorous, mysterous... even heroic. He'd always wanted women to think he was all of those, but up until now, none of them (other than his kid sister back in Brooklyn, and she hardly counted) had.

But then he squared his shoulders. This gorgeous, innocent girl was just somehow able to see the real Tony, the one that everyone else overlooked, the one that van der Sluys underestimated at his peril. How would she expect him to act? Decisively. Courageously.

He leaned in even closer. He felt queasy at the thought of what he was planning, going up against the huge, menacing figure of van der Sluys, but then he caught a hint of Lisa's scent -a fresh, faint and clean fragrance, and his nerve was steadied.

"Listen," he said, trying for grit. "I know a way you and I can make... a lot of money out of that pap... that paper thing. What do you say to that?"

Van der Sluys’ involuntary grunt was music to Zoe’s ears. Very well. They were proof enough that the magic of her lips and tongue was working even on pigs like the Dutchman.

She doubled her efforts, bolder now, sure of her success. Maybe it would increase Will’s morale, too – and give him an idea of what he could be looking forward to if they made it out of the train alive. Zoe was grateful that Jones had laid off Will, for now. She knew that he would not be interested in any of this, but as long as his boss was distracted enough not to care about Will, he would be safe.

Her fingers were like a velvet glove around van der Sluys’ hard, slick cock, mimicking the movement of her lips around him whenever she slid his twitching manhood from her mouth. Her tongue was never still, dancing around the head, licking the veiny underside of his cock with almost supernatural skill. Zoe hummed and moaned, knowing that this would heighten van der Sluys’ pleasure. All she wanted was to turn her head, make eye contact with Will, and communicate to him to keep ready. But she did not dare to. Jones, unimpressed by what he saw, would look for any sign of betrayal. Zoe just had to hope that Will would know what to do when she would pounce on the Dutchman. They had this one shot to succeed, and no leeway at all.

Demurely she looked up at van der Sluys from under lowered lashes. Surely the bastard would not last all that much longer.

***

For a brief moment, Lily looked baffled. Was it that easy? Because surely, what he was suggesting was that he would pair up with her, Lily, against his ally and boss, Zoe Brigandeau. Tony obviously hoped to make a pretty penny himself, and unless he was a much more skilled deceiver than the French thief, he did not plan to tell Zoe about the fake copy she held in her possession.

“Well…,” Lily had some trouble to decide on a facial expression. “I suppose…I mean, what is it that you have in mind?” She was nervous now. She had played with very high stakes, and put everything she had on this one card, this one ruse, to save Will and the Gospel. She was not sure if she was really able to follow up on her initial bravery. Tony did not look like he was joking.

Biting her lip, desperately hoping that she looked cute enough to distract, and excited enough to be believable, she opened the leather bag and fished for the thin fake page that Salwa had made. It even felt real. Lily vowed that if she was able to get off this train with both Will – a very much alive Will Silence – and the real Phoebe, she would do anything Salwa asked for, give her anything she might wish for. Please, please, let this work.

Pulling the papyrus out of the bag, she held it in front of Tony’s face. This was the moment he would have to decide if he was brave enough to defy his boss for a pretty smile of a stranger. “There it is,” Lily said lightly, trying not to let the nervousness in her voice get the better of her. “If the archaeologist knew that I even showed this to you, she would probably kill me!” Lily giggled. “But I am tired of always hearing about other people’s adventures. I am ready to have a few stories to tell myself!”

Will let out an involuntary gasp of his own, although it went unnoticed under van der Sluys' loud, hoggish grunting and wheezing. He'd been orally serviced and pleasured by haughty noblewomen in Europe, by coolly elegant courtesans in Asia and fiery, tempestuous dancers in Mexico but he'd never seen anything to match Zoe Brigandeau in terms of technique and talent. She was worshipping the Dutchman's cock, giving it the kind of studied attention and concentration that a master musician might display performing a complex symphony. No wonder that van der Sluys' knees were buckling, that an expression of brutish ecstasy was swimming across his face.

If Will had needed any more motivation to set himself and Zoe free, it was the sight of the beautiful thief at work. If this was the erotic magic she could work on van der Sluys, if this was the passion she could summon up to service a man she loathed... his throat went dry at the thought of what Zoe could do under more pleasant circumstances, with a man more appealing to her and more considerate of her own pleasures. A man much like him...

Even Jones was looking on, his expression mildly puzzled. The aesthetics of even Zoe's incredible, mouthwatering nude body had done nothing for him, but he at least seemed vaguely interested in the reaction of his boss. A stream of monotone obscenities, meanwhile, were issuing seemingly without volition from between van der Sluys' lips as his body was racked and savaged by pleasure.

"Fuck yeah suck on that, whore, suck on that you cocksucking... you cocksucking slut, fuck yes, fuck fuck cunt fuck, suck, you dirty shameless little slut, you whore, you like it, I know you like it, fuck fuck fuck... "

He had to be close to coming. Of course, it was hard to blame with Zoe Brigandeau on her knees before him, but all the same, Wil felt a moment of contempt for the brevity of his resistance. Van der Sluys had clearly never bothered to restrain himself in any area of life.

Will tensed, waiting for the moment to strike.


***


Van der Sluys. There were stories about him. He did horrific things to men who double-crossed him -sometimes letting Jones loose on them, sometimes carrying out the work himself. If Tony fucked this up, he'd never see Brooklyn or his little sister again. His mutilated, torture-twisted body would be dumped in some godforsaken stretch of desert and he'd never be heard from again.

He opened his mouth to tell Lisa that he'd just been kidding, that he hadn't really meant anything he'd said. But then he caught her dazzling, shy, hero-worshipping smile, that fascinating soft glimmer in her azure eyes, the graceful, nervous way she tilted her head to look at him and let a soft fall of auburn hair brush against her cheek. She was a gorgeous feminine miracle, the kind of girl he'd never imagined existed in real life. Everything about her was perfect, from her eagerly tilted toes, her taut and enticing rear, wasp-like slim waist and pert, perky breasts, so ripe and ready for a friendly squeeze. She looked delicate, even fragile at first, but then something about the curve of those ripe, shyly smiling lips and the fire hidden in those blue eyes suggested that she would more than capable of holding her own in a bout of playful rough and tumble.

The truth was he'd have done anything to impress this girl.

"Well," Tony said, wishing his voice didn't quiver quite so. "I've got an adventure for us both..."


They entered Manny and Fritz's compartment together, Fritz looking up in sullen, hostile inquiry. But Tony had worked on what he was going to say.

"Boys," he said. "Do you want to make some real money?"

Lily was close to fainting with fear. Tony’s spontaneity was handy, but unexpected, and suddenly her own courage seemed to scare her more than anything. Tagging along behind him into the train carriage where his two companions seemed to stand – or sit – guard, she was almost shaking with nervousness. This was crazy!

On the other hand there was no time to lose. Will might be hurt. And if Tony would actually think about his reckless plan, he might change his mind. In brief, hectic whispers he explained to his companions what Lily had told him. It did not take long to convince them – apparently Zoe was not as popular as she thought she would be.

When the tall, bullish man Tony had addressed as Manny pulled open the compartment door, Lily tensed, expecting to find Zoe threatening Will, or worse. But the sight that greeted all of them was so unexpected that everyone in the scene froze - everyone except Zoe and a quite terrifying man holding a gun who looked uncomfortably at the beautiful thief’s mercy.

Zoe was stark naked, kneeling before this stout man she had never seen before, his head thrown back in obvious bliss. She had her lips and one hand wrapped around his erect manhood in a rather professional manner. Lily’s jaw dropped, and she almost forgot who she was supposed to be and what their plans were. Why on earth…?

Manny let out something that hovered mid-way between an excited grunt and a derisive snort, the first likely in appreciation of Zoe, and the latter for seeing his feared boss quite literally caught with his pants down. Tony –adorably – blushed, and tried to shield Lily from the indecent sight before them. To be fair, Lily was not sure what scared her most about what she saw: the gun-wielding gangsters, Will crouched on the floor in pain, or the naked thief, feasting on the cock of one of her associates in front of everyone.

“Good heavens, Zoe!” Lily had been the first to speak, and luckily, neither Tony nor either of his companions noticed the familiarity in her address. “Can’t you ever think of anything else?”

Zoe, her mouth full, could not answer this quite reasonable question. Manny and Fritz had their guns trained on van der Sluys and Jones, and Tony, with shaking knees and hands, hectically alternated his weapon between the two of them, as if unable to decide which one terrified him the most.

“Time’s up, van der Sluys!” he finally shouted, the tremble in his voice leaving the Welshman to laugh coolly. “We have been kicked around long enough! It’s our turn now to enjoy the spoils.”

Van der Sluys, however ruthless he usually was, did not answer. Zoe was too much of a professional to let such a rude intrusion disturb her. Her ruby lips were still wrapped tightly around the Dutchman’s cock, filling the compartment with obscene, wet sucking noises.

“God damn…” Manny mumbled, his eyes widening. “That girl knows how to handle a cock…”

Fritz cleared his throat, too. Lily looked from Zoe, whose eyes were closed in concentration to Will, who, too, seemed to wait for something. What the hell was going on?

With her free hand, Zoe cupped van der Sluys’ taut balls, making him groan in desperation. He could not stop himself now. Swallowing his cock in almost its complete length and with one last flick of her tongue, Zoe send the Dutchman into a mind-shattering climax.

Will could not quite believe his eyes. Lily, looking quite as fresh, as delicate, as irresistibly pretty as she always did, had walked into the room, flanked by three of van der Sluys' henchmen. His heart died within him for a moment. Even tough, seductive Zoe was suffering under the bruising, brutal attentions of van der Sluys. What he would do to a gorgeous, vulnerable innocent like Lily made Will's heart clench with alarm.

But he was soon relieved on that front. Lily was not the henchman's captive. Indeed, the younger one, Tony, kept glancing at her expectantly, while Fritz and Manny kept their guns trained on van der Sluys and Jones. How on Earth had Lily managed this? The lovely young archaeologist clearly had hidden depths of persuasion that neither he nor Zoe had ever suspected -although nobody with her freshfaced beauty, her shapely nubile body, or her radiant, sunshine smile would ever have needed to be particularly eloquent in getting men to follow her. Most men would be delighted to follow her merely for the opportunity of admiring her delectable, pert rear end from a proper vantage point.

All four men were halted in their tracks by the sight of van der Sluys, sweating profusely, his tongue hanging from his mouth, as Zoe worked a world-class blowjob on his cock. Lily looked as shocked as she was astonished while Tony went scarlet and tried to step in front of her line of vision. The other two simply stared, with naked envy of their boss written on their features. Zoe paid the newcomers no heed, instead putting all of van der Sluys' member down her throat in one fluid movement.

He could hold out no longer and with a final animal grunt, he came.

And Will leapt. He uncoiled like a spring, all of his hard lean body rising up from the floor of the compartment and hurtling across the room at van der Sluys. As he'd anticipated, the Dutchman was still surfing the clouds of the superlative, orgasmic high Zoe's impeccable talents had granted him. He was almost wholly unaware of the world around him -until Will's body crashed into him and he was sent flying away from Zoe and against the wall of the compartment, the gun dropping from his hand.

Jones, reacting on instinct, had spun around and aimed his own gun at Will but Fritz's gun spoke and the Welshman collapsed. Will scrambled to his feet but van der Sluys was quicker, pulling himself against the wall with his gun in his hand. He sneered at Will, his finger moving over the trigger. There was a gunshot... and van der Sluys' hulk-like form slowly slid downwards, a reddened hole in his chest.

"Got you," said Manny proudly. He looked at Will. "Just like Ellroy?"

"Brother," Will said reverently. "I'll introduce you to him myself. And you... "

He grinned at Lily and pulled her close, whispering to her so that her new friends could not hear.

"I always said you were dangerous. Looks like you did the rescuing this time Thank you."

The clean, delicate fragrance of her hair. The warmth of her slender, fragile body against his, the firm pressure of her breasts... the hell with playing along with whatever story she had going. Will wanted very much to kiss her, and so he did -a long, sweet, and warm kiss, a kiss slowly stoking certain flames all along his body.

Tony cleared his throat, and Will reluctantly broke the kiss, holding Lily at his shoulder. Tony was shifting from foot to foot

"Yes?" he said. His tone was amiable, but there was something about the supreme confidence with which he held himself, the light in his cool grey eyes, the half-smile on his lips, that was as intimidating as the iron muscles of his body. The gun was in Tony's hands, but the young gangster seemed to have forgotten it. Tony cast a regretful look at Lily.

"Well... we had a kind of arrangement. About the... Gospel," he mumbled.

Will cocked an eyebrow at Lily. Had the Gospel itself been the price of the henchmen's shift of allegiance? It did not seem at all like Lily to trade that for his life and Zoe's, but then Lily was showing all kinds of new dimensions to her character today. She had confronted some of the most dangerous men in the northern hemisphere to rescue him, after all. He felt a rush of warmth and gratitude and affection and admiration towards her, and wanted to kiss her once again. He decided not to. Tony was still there, and Will was not a cruel man.

Instead, he attended to the compartment's other beauty. Neither Fritz nor Manny had been able to tear their eyes away from Zoe's nude form since the confrontation had ended. Although she bore their stares with a cool and queenly indifference, Will decided that they'd had enough of a show. He knelt down, removing his white shirt. Underneath his body had been bruised and cut by van der Sluys and his men but it looked immaculately hard, well-defined and chiselled.

He drew the shirt around Zoe's shoulders, giving her a comradely wink. Zoe's talents in distracting van der Sluys had been as vital to their success as Lily's intervention. The fact was that he owed both girls his life -a debt that he had many ideas about how to repay.

After the compartment door slid open with a crash, spewing immaculate, sweet Lily into the room followed by van der Sluys’ angry henchmen, everything happened very fast. The timing was perfect. Just as the grunting Dutchman came, releasing thick spurts of come into her mouth, his fingers roughly grabbing her hair.

She had enough time to return the favour. “I believe this is yours, asshole,” she snarled after spitting the milky liquid into his surprised face. It was the last thing he saw.

A job well done, though something told Zoe that she would have some explaining to do, later.

After giving Fritz and Manny the order to clean up the mess they had made, Zoe led Lily and Will out of the compartment. She had no doubts that they would be able to take care of everything – after all, they had worked for van der Sluys for years. They were professionals.

Tom had been appeased with Salwa’s excellent fake of the Phoebe text, and was now standing guard in the first compartment by the door, making sure that nobody would interrupt his comrades scrubbing the blood from the walls of the carriage. Zoe almost felt sorry that he would have to take of his raging hard-on all by himself – a good-looking fellow like him should not go to waste. But first things first.

Lily did not quite understand why Will was not furious with Zoe. She had stolen from them, tricked them, and led Will into a trap. Surely, the sight of her pretty breasts was not enough to make him forget all that? But Lily was immediately distracted herself when she saw the dark bruises and cuts on Will’s body.

“Oh! Will! Are you alright?” She brushed his skin with her fingertips, anxious not to hurt him more. “Did these people do this to you? Do you need a doctor?”

Zoe, who despite Will’s white shirt around her shoulders was still quite nude, rolled her eyes, but could not help a smile. Sweet, innocent Lily Jones was irresistible in her concern. It was as if the swashbuckling performance she had just given had all but evaporated.

“Well, it looks like the associates are united and well again. Not a moment too early, Mademoiselle Jones. Merci.”

Lily scoffed. Her arms crossed in front of her chest, she glared at the dark-haired thief. “Associates? In your dreams! After what you just did?”

“What I did?”

The slender archaeologist made a gesture that meant to describe the lewd act she had just witnessed, not very accurately. Zoe laughed.

“You mean the world class blowjob I just gave van der Sluys to prevent Will from being beaten to death by that sadistic Welsh pig? Trust me, everyone here enjoyed the show except you.” She winked at Will while brushing against her ruby lips with one finger suggestively, making Lily even angrier.

“You really have no shame, do you? How could you do such a thing if you didn’t want to do it? Only harlots would lead a man on like that!”

Zoe stood very close to Lily now, her dark blue eyes narrowing.

“You mean like you, when you flirted with that poor lad outside, making him believe that you would give him anything he wanted if he helped you? Trust me - he was counting on getting a taste of you himself. Only desire would turn a man like him into such a courageous little fool. Had my lips not been wrapped so firmly around van der Sluys’ cock,” – Lily blushed deeply at this detailed description – “we would all be dead by now.” Lily looked like a deer caught in the headlights, unable to move. Zoe stood so close to Lily that she could feel the heat radiating off her skin, her nipples brushing against the archaeologist’s chest. “At least I gave the poor van der Sluys a bit of joy before he went.”

The white shirt slid from Zoe’s shoulders, revealing all of her glorious body again. She did not care. Nudity was not a state that she was ashamed of, and after the fear and the adrenaline rush of their capture, she felt tense and wound-up. She was sure that Will felt the same. And Lily? Somewhere underneath that coy, prudish behaviour slept a wild little beast, and Zoe felt like freeing it, now. Maybe all she needed were a few pointers?

Turning away from the pretty American, Zoe turned to face Will, a challenging smile on her lips. Surely, he would not turn her down again?

For all Lily's concern, Will no longer felt the pain of the various cuts and bruises van der Sluys and his men had stamped into his hard, chiselled and tightly muscled body, although he certainly appreciated the touch of Lily's delicate, gentle fingertips along the well-defined lines of his body. He felt like his blood was crackling like wildfire in his veins. The sight of Zoe's stunning naked body, which she was making no effort to conceal, and the memory of her extraordinary, obscene way she'd worked over van der Sluys' cock, coupled with Lily's well-meaning, wide-eyed investigation, were proving irresistible.

The two young beauties were standing very close together as they argued with the kind of passion usually reserved for the bedroom. It was as though Lily was rooted to the spot, her gorgeous blue eyes wide and shocked, a delicious flush flooding her beautiful face, but she did not step back as Zoe came ever closer, affording a wonderful view of her nubile body. By the end of the heated exchange, she was so close that she would just have needed to tilt her head forward very slightly for the two to kiss.

Then Zoe turned to Will, as his shirt fell unheeded from her slender shoulders, and there was a knowing smile on her lips. He stepped forward, and placed his hands on Lily's shoulders, towering behind the delicate, petite archaeologist, while Zoe remained in front of her.

"Zoe's right," he said softly, but with a hint of fire and steel underneath. "She was captured, too, and she saved my life."

Lily's slim, warm body seemed to quiver slightly. He pressed his bare, immaculately muscled chest against her back. He could feel the delectable, round swell of that pert little ass against his groin and his cock swelled, a massive and insistent outline against his pants.

"But you saved my life too," he said. "You rescued me... just like I once rescued you from a boring old husband", he added, with a teasing grin, reminding her of the story they had used to escape the Citadel and the very thorough, vigorous and frequent fucking that Will had described as his rescue method. At the time, Will had boasted of a huge, outsized cock to the guard -Lily could feel gratifying truth of the legend pressed against the cheeks of her derriere.

"I'm trying to come up with a way to thank you both," he added, brushing aside a lock of auburn hair and whispering into her ear. He nibbled her ear lobe gently and then gave a lingering kiss to the area of smooth skin just below the ear. His grip on her shoulders tightened, locking her in place.

"I think I've got a few ideas. What do you think, Zoe?" he asked, looking up at her over Lily's shoulder with a devilish gleam in his eye.

Lily held her breath. Was this...? She gasped, and her cheeks coloured. Apparently Will had not lied about everything in the Citadel.

When Will nibbled her earlobe, a whimper escaped her throat and she suddenly was completely helpless. How good that felt! And if he was able to turn her knees to jelly with such a simple, such a faint caress, what would Will Silence be able to reduce her to once she gave herself up to him? His kiss, lingering on the soft skin beneath her ear, drew another soft moan from her parted lips.

Zoe smiled at her expression of utter bliss. Lily was already under Will’s spell, and how could she not be? She was impatient to see what else Will Silence was capable of, and if the beautiful archaeologist would live up to the promises that her supple, slender body seemed to hold.

“No!”

Lily’s urgent whisper interrupted her thoughts unexpectedly.

“No?” Zoe looked up, looking sincerely surprised for the first time since the trio had met in the old bookshop.

Lily shook her head, as if trying to shake off the emotions she had been about to give in to. A pity, really.

“I don’t want this!”

“But you do…” Zoe brushed one finger over Lily’s lips. Oh, the things they could do together! It was hard for the thief not to groan in frustration. How could anyone be this uptight? All she wanted was to give in to the familiar hunger, feel their hands, their lips, their naked skin. Now.

Lily’s delicate face was flushed. “I…oh, just let me be.” Impatiently she brushed off the other woman’s hand. Why did she not just give in to her desire? Lily did not really know that herself, but something still made her hesitate. She remembered Zoe’s words back in the garden, and the scene she had just witnessed in the train compartment. But yes, she did want this. She did want Will’s hands to wander from her shoulders down to her chest, cupping each of her breasts before sliding lower, teasingly, slowly. She wanted to...but for some reason, she was still scared.

Was it the fact that she felt too vulnerable still vis-à-vis Will? Was she too angry with Zoe to even contemplate something this outrageous? Was it because she knew that two gangsters were cleaning corpses out of the compartment next door? Or was she maybe just the little prude that Zoe accused her to be? But whatever the reason for her hesitation, all she knew was that she was not ready for this. Not just yet.

Stepping out firmly from between the two sirens trying to seduce her, Lily said: “I’d rather sit this one out with Tom out there,” she said, obviously very flustered and not in all honesty.

Zoe felt a tinge of disappointment. She could have sworn that Lily had been so very close to giving in, and that all she had needed was a little push into Will’s arms. But even expert hunters like Zoe Brigandeau were wrong sometimes, and she was not one to force matters.

Throwing Will a challenging glance, she smiled.

“Yes, chérie, I am sure that Tom out there would be very grateful for your company.”

The catacombs of Alexandria held their secrets well.

Alexander had been advised by priests of Ra and Osiris of the most auspicious place to build his great city. He had traced the outline of its foundations in a dream. Mystics, scholars, charlatans, fanatics, merchants, priests and thieves had always flocked to the port city. This was where the Great Library and the shining Lighthouse, wonders of the ancient world, had been built. Here Cleopatra had seduced emperors. This was the crossroads of three worlds, where the Greek and Roman culture met emissaries of the ancient civilizations of Asia and the mysteries of the Dark Continent.

A king of fools, Carabbas, had been crowned in Alexandria, with even those carrying out the ritual unaware of its potent occult symbolism, dark mirror image of the death of another holy fool and king in Palestine ten years before. Philo had written of riots and the corruption of good men, and from Alexandria fought to thwart the mad Emperor of the World, who would plant an image of himself, an abomination of desolation, in the navel of the world in Jerusalem.

And when the Christians came and set up the throne of St Mark's, they too danced unaware to the rhythms of mysteries, secrets and power in this place. Strange heresies and dreams festered among them -Arius and his dreamlike heresy of the Son as creature; his enemy Athanasius, with his unrivalled knowledge of court intrigue and necromancy, working curses upon his foes from his hiding places among the desert monasteries. When Cyril's mad monks tore the philosopher Hypatia apart, they little dreamed that they were carrying out a sacrificial pagan ritual, a ritual that would be mirrored in Whitechapel in London many centuries later, a feat of black magic that would ensure the continued sway of Man over Woman.

Invaders came and went: Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, British. But Alexandria conquered them as much as they conquered her.

Torchlight flickered on the carvings of the underground catacombs. They spoke to the mixture of the city above: dogheaded soldiers of Horus dressed in the armour of Roman legionaries flanking Apollo with his lyre. Carved stone serpents slithered everywhere.

Alekto always felt a certain electric shiver run through her body as she contemplated the stonework, particularly the images of serpents. She knew what they stood for. The serpent, spirit of wisdom, offering his precious forbidden gift to Eve at the dawn of time. Lucifer the Morning Star electing to reign in Hell rather than live a day more under the tyrannical rule of Heaven. The Watchers who fell from grace because of their lust for mortal women. The wild kundalini serpent lying coiled asleep at the base of her spine, only needing to be teased and coaxed into wakefulness to run throughout her entire body, filling her with bliss.

Alekto was young, slim, hawk-nosed and completely nude, padding barefoot through the tunnels and unabashedly displaying her voluptuous, calimastian and calypygian body. Her flawless, olive complexion and the dark curls of her hair spoke of her ancestry, as mixed and polyglot as the city above her -Greek, Arab, Jewish, and Coptic, while her flashing dark eyes recalled the city's legendary strong-willed temptresses.

Her destination was the largest cavern underneath Alexandria, a place that had once served as a feasthall for pagan mourners, then as a chapel and place of refuge for the first, persecuted Christians. Their roughhewn stone altar still stood there, its stark harshness incongrous among the lush, verdant carvings.

In the past, Alekto and her followers had used the altar as the centre piece for rites of their own. She vividly remembered bending over it, letting one muscular devotee fuck her from behind while she dipped her tongue in and out of a female cultist's sweet sex, hearing all around her the slap of flesh on flesh, the lewd wet noises and groans of pleasure of orgy throughout the entire chapel. It made her go moist just thinking of it.

But that would have to wait, for the victory celebrations. The brotherhood were already assembled in the chapel, muffled in their black robes. Men and women, Christians, Muslims and Jews -all members of the same sect, all seekers of the same truth, all knowers of the same secret. The flesh was good, not evil. God was a distant tyrant, Lucifer a dangerous but indispensable ally of all rebels against Him, and Sophia, handmaiden of wisdom and art, was the only true divinity.

They were the Children of Esther. They knew that their matriach had recorded the truth of all these things, had composed the tantric rituals that would finally redress the balance between Man and Woman, and put an end to the terrible, self-destructive rule of men throughout the world, but her words had only survived in scraps and allusions. Until now.

Alekto leap up on to the altar and sat there, swinging her bare legs insolently, proudly showing her assembled followers the moist, shaven pink pussy between her legs.

"The rumours are true, brothers and sisters," she said. "The Gospel of Esther has been recovered."

There was an instant buzz of whispers and startled exclamations. Alekto did not call for quiet, or hammer on the stone of the altar. She simply fixed the speakers, one after another, with her dark level gaze and they fell silent.

"Our enemies have preceded us. The Laureate has sent agents into Egypt."

The Children had clashed with the Laureate, their ideological nemeses, time and again.

"And Pretorius has people in place as well. But the Gospel is currently in the hands of a trio who seem to want it for their own purposes... an adventurer, a scholar and a thief."

Adventurers, scholars, and thieves... the trinity of characters who had built Alexandria, who had always been drawn to this place. There was more than coincidence at work. This was fate. Alekto felt a rush of excitement at the thought of the coming confrontation.

"We do not yet know where they stand in the Great Struggle. Two of them are women... but then some of Man's most obsequious and loyal servants have ever been women. In any case, we will not harm them unless we have to... but we will take the Gospel from them. It is our holy book and it belongs to us, now and for all eternity."

Ah, Alexandria! Zoe stood in the balcony of the hotel, breathing in the fresh, salty air. She had always preferred cities that looked out onto the sea, cities that were open and full of possibilities. And Alexandria seemed like just such a city: wild, unpredictable, indulgent.

She had been able to secure a few items of clothing from a fellow traveller’s suitcase that suited her taste, and now she was clad in an elegant long pencil skirt and a thin silk blouse that seemed to reveal more than it was hiding without being vulgar. The unpleasant experience of her capture had already started to fade.

The rather dull remainder of their train ride had given Zoe the opportunity to think about what to do next. Will had readily forgiven her the brief escapade and Zoe was sure that eventually Lily, the sanctimonious goody two shoes, would come around as well. Oh, Liliana. The dark-haired thief smiled at the thought of the slender archaeologist’s flushed cheeks when Will had whispered promises of pleasure into her ear.

But the more worrying piece of information she had to ponder was her employer, or, as circumstances seemed to suggest, her previous employer. Pretorius had always been a ruthless old man who did not hesitate to destroy whatever – or whomever – was in his path and Zoe knew for a fact that he had a very low tolerance for betrayal.

Van der Sluys was and his detestable Welsh henchman were dead, but Zoe knew very well that this did not mean that the hunt was off. Quite on the contrary – few people felt the sting of failure as sharply as Pretorius did, and she was sure that he would want this unpleasant sensation to be as brief as possible. Zoe knew that she and the Dutchmen were only a minuscule part of the army the businessman was able to deploy at his will, and as soon as he would get wind of van der Sluy’s demise, he would send someone else, someone less unreliable.

However, Pretorius was a practical man who was able to focus on his interests beyond petty revenge. He was after the Gospel, not after her. The logical conclusion was that she had to rid herself of the vexing codex or at the very least leave a misleading trail for his bloodhounds to follow. As long as the text was still in their possession, all of them were in mortal danger, and as far as Zoe was concerned, very few things were actually worth dying for – and a dusty old scroll was certainly not amongst them.

But that was not to say that she was willing to forfeit the reward she was able to collect from its sale.

***
Lily sighed. They had arrived in Alexandria, but somehow she was unable to feel any relief. The episode in the train was still on her mind. Will’s very open proposition, his touch, his kisses – all of it had put her in a state of utter confusion. She had spent the rest of the journey cramped into a compartment with Tom, trying to ignore his languorous stares.

And despite her refusal, Lily could not help feeling a tinge of regret. Having rescued both Will and Zoe from the clutches of their dangerous foe, she had felt like their equal for the very first time. And yet, when being confronted with their seductive powers – and her own desires – Lily had been incredibly scared.

Only now did she realise how exhausted she was. Had they been able to shake off their pursuers? Were they safe? And what about Braun and his order? There were so many unanswered questions, but Lily was simply too tired to consider any of them.

Alexandria. Lily had the strange feeling that somehow, this city would bring answers to question she did not yet dare to ask.

Will had changed into a lightweight linen suit that subtly outlined the hard, chiselled angles of his body. As with everything about him, he wore the suit with an unaffected, unthinking insouciant self-possession. Always confident and sure of himself, never swaggering. As he passed through the hotel lobby, fashionably-dressed women looked up from their cocktails, their eyes narrowing in hooded, lustful speculation, before they regretfully returned to the conversation of their invariably pudgy, well-to-do companions. Will Silence walking through the lobby was something like a sleek, lean winter wolf stalking through a dog show of overfed terriers and prissy, ribbon-bedecked poddles.

At the suite of rooms they had taken, he made his way through Zoe's room abd took a moment to appreciate the sight of her straight, slender form -the way her long dark hair blew back in the cool breeze from the ocean, falling down like a waterfall to the irresistible swell of her toned ass. Will knew that Zoe would be quite as happy to stand completely nude for all Alexandria to see on this balcony, coolly indifferent to the admiring stares of the city.

Will slipped up behind her and laid his hands on her slim shoulders, on to the smooth bare skin underneath her blouse. He began to slowly and expertly massage the muscles, drawing out the tensions. Neither of them needed to talk about their experiences on the train -tough professionals, they could shrug it off and move on.

"I've booked us passage on a tramp steamer. It leaves for Marseille in a week. Til then I guess we'll just have to... find a way to amuse ourselves."


***

Alekto recieved her share of stares as she entered the hotel lobby as well. She was dressed in a sheer black cocktail dress that fitted the outline of her body like a sheath and pressed her round, high breasts together.

She looked about for one of the three she had come to 'accidentally' encounter.

Zoe leant her head back against his chest and smiled.

“So far all the things you amuse yourself with have been rather frustrating, William Silence”, Zoe purred. “But maybe you have decided that you owe me for saving you from that Welsh beast?”

***

Still utterly exhausted, Lily had tried to find some sleep. But as she was stretched out on the soft, comfortable hotel bed, she finally had to accept that sleep would not come, that she was simply still too wired to rest. The sun had just started to set and a beautiful orange light was coming in through the balcony windows. A beautiful moment for a little walk.

But she did not dare to venture out into the streets of Alexandria all by herself. Recent experience had shown that it was more advisable to remain close to Will and the thief, no matter how tedious, or frightening, their company might be, but surely nothing could be said against a drink in the hotel bar.

The hotel had a lovely outside terrace where some couples were already enjoying an early evening aperitif. Lily walked over to the bar and ordered a drink for herself. But when she turned to walk to the terrace she failed to see the dark, slender woman who approached the bar just when Lily wanted to leave it.

Momentarily distracted by the wink of the bartender, Lily spilled her drink down the front of the other woman’s very expensive-looking cocktail dress.

“I am so sorry!” Lily blushed deeply, all too aware of the silent chuckles and stares from other patrons in the lobby. “I am so very sorry!” She was clumsily patted around the slender woman’s dress.

“That’s quite alright.” The voice of the other woman was low and smooth, like the pleasant purr of a cat. Lily looked up in surprise, and for the first time took in the young woman’s face. She was breathtakingly beautiful, and had an aristocratic air about her. Why did she have to be so bloody clumsy?

“My name is Alekta. And you are?”

“I am Li…Jones. Dr. Lily…” Aleksa raised her eyebrows. “That’s a very foreign name.” Lily sighed, angry at her own incapability to stay calm. “Liliana Jones.” She smiled. “I am sorry to make your acquaintance like that. I am sure you had someone waiting for you as well!”

Aleksa shook her head and laughed. “Nobody! I was actually on my way to have a boring, solitary drink. You saved me from that, Liliana.”

Lily took the other woman by the arm and led to her to the nearby washroom as her gaze fell onto a piece of jewellery around her slender wrist. Was it possible? It had to be a copy. The intertwined snakes, the tree symbols, the distinct filigree silverwork were all marvellously done, no doubt by a master equal in skill to Salwa. It was impossible that this bracelet was genuine. The Children of Esther were a legend they had laughed about in grad school, and academics that defended theories of their existence were regularly ridiculed as occultists and fools amongst their peers.

Almost without realising it, Lily lifted the woman’s arm up to her face rather roughly in order to look at the fine piece of jewellery, causing Alekta to call out in surprise. Lily blushed again, and smiled apologetically. “I am sorry,” she stuttered again, as if realising only now that the bracelet had still been attached to the woman’s arm. “Professional curiosity took the better of me.” She smiled shyly. “That’s a very pretty bracelet you have there.”

Alekta’s dark eyes flashed in amusement and recognition. “You have very good taste.” Sliding the bracelet off her wrist she handed it to the slender archaeologist. “Keep it!” Lily stared at her and laughed. “I just spilled a drink on you and you give me such a precious gift in return? My manners might be atrocious, but they are not that bad.”

The other woman smiled again. “Nonsense. I have way too much jewellery, and this would look fantastic on you.” With that, she put it around Lily’s wrist, obviously accepting no more arguments.

“You spoke of ‘professional curiosity’? Are you a designer maybe? Or a trader of antique pieces?” Lily shook her head. “Not at all. I’m an archaeologist. This bracelet looks like something I have seen before in my studies of…early Christianity.” She was afraid that the beautiful Alexandrian lady would turn out to be one of these slightly obnoxious types that looked for spirituality and enlightenment in anything that had the appearance of the exotic and oriental.

But to her relief, Alekta nodded only. “Indeed! Well, you should meet my friends. If you will, we are also scholars of a similar field. I am sure you would find our meetings to be of interest. How long are you here for?”

Lily’s eyes lit up. “I would love to come. I believe I am here for at least a few days.”

“How about later tonight?” Aleksa took her by the wrists, clearly enthused by the idea. “We should dine together. Our circle meets tonight, I can take you! They would be delighted to get to know you, Liliana!”

The archaeologist hesitated. Will had emphasized – several times, and, as Lily had found, in a most patronising manner – that she was not to leave the hotel without consulting him or Zoe, especially not all by herself. But here was a cultured and interested young woman, a scholar just like herself, who clearly had an interest in the study of Esther. There would be so many things she would be able to talk about with her that Will and Zoe would neither understand nor be interested in. She decided that leaving a note would suffice.

“Why not? I will change, and join you later?” Alekta clapped in her hands in excitement. “Here is my card. I will tell the driver to pick you up in one hour.”

It was agreed. Lily almost ran back up to her room. Finally there was someone who would understand her, who shared her interests, and who would not constantly judge or mock her. Zoe and Will could enjoy each other’s company for a while.

Alekta followed Lily with her eyes. Her mission was off to an excellent start. Liliana Jones might feign professional interest, but the priestess recognised a future follower of Esther when she saw one. The archaeologist might not have known it yet, but she was facing the most exhilarating choice of her whole life.

Braun disliked Alexandria even more than he had Cairo.

Cairo at least had a dry, dusty heat. There was something lush, warm, moist and fertile in the ocean breezes that swept through Alexandria's alleyways and courts. There was a sly, knowing look to the faces of the people. And there was an intolerable mish-mash of races and cultures. It was a city with secrets, and it made Braun's head hurt.

His head was already tender enough, with the crack Silence had given to it back in Cairo. It didn't hurt nearly as much as his pride, every time he brooded on how Silence had mastered and humiliated him in front of Zoe Brigandeau and, above all, Lily Jones. He'd forbidden the men from even saying Silence's detestable name. The thought of what the adventurer, with his handsome face and hard, agile body, might have done to Lily by now made Braun want to punch the wall until it shattered.

The men were whispering about him. He knew it. Some of them wanted to return to London, seek new orders from the Laureate. But he knew. He should have known from the start. Of course Silence and Brigandeau were agents of the Children of Esther. How they could be anything other? The Children had been a thorn in the side of the Laureate for centuries, and they were well-known to operate from Alexandria. Find those witches, and Braun would have found the Gospel, and Lily with it.

And so they stayed at their safehouse in Alexandria, every day searching the streets for any clue as to the location of the elusive Children. Braun knew the Gospel was near. He could almost taste it.


***


The balustrade was made of ornate, opaque iron fretwork and it came up to Zoe's waist. That gave Will an idea.

"Oh yes," he said, as Zoe nuzzled comfortably against his chest. "And I can think of a most appropriate way to show my gratitude."

He steadied her with a hand on her shoulder, then placed himself between her and the balustrade and knelt down, making himself invisible to the street. He put his arms around Zoe's slim legs, and rested his face against the folds of her skirt.

"Guess what it is," he challenged, grinning up at her.

“I know what I want it to be”, Zoe said with a smile, looking down at Will. With both hands, she slowly hiked up her skirt, her eyes never leaving his. “I want you to make me come on this balcony, make me scream out your name to all of Alexandria.” The hem of her skirt was around her knees now. “That is the least I deserve.”

***
Lily sat I front of the dressing table in her room, contemplating her face. Would this do? She was both excited and anxious about the prospect of dining with Alekta and her doubtlessly equally elegant friends. What if they thought her to appear too…ordinary? For a brief moment she even caught herself wanting to ask for Zoe’s advice.

The slender archaeologist had applied a shade of dark lipstick – briefly borrowed from her travel companion – that gave her delicate face a daringly beautiful air. She pursed her lips, raising one eyebrow. “Oh, I am enchanted to make your acquaintance, monsieur…” she whispered, faking Zoe’s ridiculously seductive French accent. Did men really fall for that? She tucked a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear. No, she would impress them with her sharp intellect, with her wit, her vast knowledge of early Aramaic texts. With a glance at her bag, she smiled. Yes, she certainly had something that might just capture their interest.

Lily had slipped her leather notebook and the carefully wrapped Gospel in her bag. She did not want to let the invaluable document out of her sight again, and certainly not alone in a hotel with Zoe. And she was curious – no, rather painfully eager to find out - if Alekta and her learned friends would finally be a group of people with whom she could share the excitement of having found such a treasured and long lost text.

She stood up and slowly turned in front of the mirror. When Zoe had helped herself to a new wardrobe in the Alexandria train, she had forced a couple of beautiful light summer dresses onto Lily, insisting that she would look less conspicuous looking like a travelling lady instead of an erring, lost little tramp. Then she had protested, sworn that she would never wear Zoe’s loot, that she would much rather look the tramp than the thief – but now, looking at herself in the mirror, she was glad that Zoe had simply ignored accepted all of her objections.

The pastel silk looked lovely against her sun kissed skin, and Lily hoped that she would not be horrifyingly underdressed for an elegant dinner party – she abhorred appearing the unaware American. She had also slipped Alekta’s bracelet around her wrist. For a while she looked at it and how the golden rays of dusk were reflected in the intricate silverwork. Where had Alekta come across such a beautiful piece? Lily knew that Alexandria was rumoured to be the seat of the Children of Esther, but in her mind that information was in par with the belief that Santa Claus lived somewhere around the Polar Circle. It would be intriguing to find out what Alekta and her friends thought about this.

On her way out she passed by Zoe’s room, but when she lifted her finger to knock on the door, she heard soft voices from inside, too low to be able to hear what was said, but it seemed like a very intimate conversation. She heard Will’s low voice followed by Zoe’s clear laughter and decided not to interrupt. Lily had no mind to walk in on one of their outrageous tableaus again only to look the prude fool. She felt a brief sting of jealousy. Why did Will prefer the lying, vulgar, indifferent thief to her? Zoe’s laughter trailed off into a soft moan and Lily found herself blushing. She had not mentioned Will’s proposal from the train again, but ever since then she was almost unable to look him in the eyes. But all of that was of little importance now.

On a piece of the hotel stationary she scribbled a note: “I have stepped out to dine with a group of scholars here in Alexandria. A distinguished lady called Alekta expressed interest in my studies. I will be back soon. Lily.” She hesitated. It was tempting not to include the address noted on her new friend’s card. It would serve them well. But in the end she quickly added the name of the street. Slipping the sheet of letter paper underneath Zoe’s door, she left.

A black car waited in front of the hotel door, and a smartly dressed driver rushed towards Lily as she emerged. “Mademoiselle”, he cooed. “I am here to escort you to the Lady Alekta. She and her friends are impatiently awaiting your arrival.”

The crisp rustle of Zoe's skirt hitting the balcony was the sweetest sound Will had ever heard. He stared in admiration at Zoe's slender, smooth legs and the crisp white panties that would not conceal their treasure for very long.

"Well then," he said. "I advise you to hold on to something. Alexandria's supposed to be hard to shock... let's put that to the test."

Slowly and lovingly, he peeled the panties off Zoe, sliding them down her legs to her delicate, graceful feet. Now her top half was still elegantly and tastefully dressed -but below she was completely naked. He inhaled the sweet, womanly scent of her sex, and stroked a hand down her thigh, luxuriating in her satin smoothness.

Then he cupped her firm, toned ass in both hands, supporting her and holding her in place. Zoe's knees would start to buckle under sheer pleasure before very long, but he wasn't going to let her simply swoon.

Then he leant forward and just brushed the edge of her clit with his tongue, an electric contact. One lick became another, then another, each time bringing him a little closer in, each time withdrawing to kiss the soft skin around her pussy, slowly warming her up and introducing her to the pleasures he'd bring.

Zoe looked down at Will, smiling. It looked like the uncomfortable train ride and her unpleasant encounter with the late Dutchman had not been for nothing after all. “You have no idea how much pleasure it gives me to see you on your knees before me, Monsieur Silence”, she purred. “It’s a pretty sight.” Will clearly was not one to hold grudges. His earlier hesitations – presumable due to a misguided sense of duty towards the pretty archaeologist – had all but evaporated.

She sighed as his hands caressed her legs, travelling up her thighs. It was a powerful erotic signal as his fingers hooked into the waistband of her panties to pull them down, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Well then - I advise you to hold on to something. Alexandria's supposed to be hard to shock... let's put that to the test.”

She lifted her right foot a few inches of the ground, resting it against Will’s thigh to allow him better access. “You know how much I like a good challenge.”

His grip on her ass, demanding and confident, drew a soft moan from her parted lips. Below on the street, a couple left the hotel, she holding on to her companion with a giggle. Her heels were clattering on the pavement as they walked off. A hotel doorman briefly glanced up to the balcony and Zoe smiled at him. At her feet, invisible to anyone else, Will lovingly caressed her exposed pussy with hsi tongue, teasing her mercilessly.

When he leant in, tentatively flicking his tongue against her clit, Zoe threw her head back and closed her eyes. God, yes. Alexandria would not be disappointed.

Alekta felt a delicious shiver run all the way through her slender brown body. It had been a long time since she had met anyone she desired as much as Liliana Jones. On the surface, she was sweet milk and honey but anyone who had eyes to see could see a fire within her, the flames of a true daughter of Esther. In the hotel lounge, her every little movement, her every shy, big-eyed glance, had whispered ravish me, ravish me like the drumbeat of her heart.

Alekta was naked once again, in the study full of secret things that her mother had used before her, and her grandmother before that. It was lined with the mysterious tools of woman's magic. Masks hung from the walls, spices filled the air with their subtle, provocative aroma and fertility idols from India and Africa were arrayed on the table before her, though their jutting phalluses held no interest for Alekta at the present moment. She was thinking instead of the firm curves of Liliana's breasts, of the delicious, juicy place between her legs.

Alekta took a black candle, lit it and began to recite the words of the spell written on the manuscript before her. A spell Esther was said to have used once -how appropriate it should be used to return her gospel to her children.

"May Liliana Jones know only desire. May she know neither rest nor tranquillity until she is in my arms."


Will listened for that first soft, musical moan from Zoe, that sign that her resistance was starting to break down. Pursing his lips, he sucked the juices from her clitoris, stimulating it at the same time with repeated flicks of his tongue.


"May her juice drip like honey from her sex. May her breasts ache for my touch. May her limbs turn soft and un like wax melting in a furnace in my embrace."


Will savoured the taste of Zoe, letting it drip into his open mouth as he kissed, licked and sucked the same spot, his hands holding Zoe in place despite the fearsome pleasures moving through her.


"Day or night, may her only thought be my kisses, her only satisfaction my embrace. May she be transformed into a wanton, shameless creature of pleasure."


Now Will judged the time right. He began alternating between thorough licks of Zoe's clit and plunging his tongue deep into her pussy, relentlessly inreasing the tempo and intensity, responding with intimate, almost psychic speed to the shifts in her body and the noises she made, always aiming at the same goal: to make Zoe Brigandeau scream his name out to all Alexandria.

Sitting in the back of the car, Lily was excitedly nervous. She had no idea what to expect of the coming evening, but her gut feel told her that her spilling her drink on Alekta’s dress in the hotel lobby had indeed been a chance encounter. Such a fascinating, smart and beautiful woman! She was nothing like Zoe at all. No, Alekta was classy, was seductive without ulterior motives, making her so much more desirable than Zoe Brigandeau could ever be.

Lily frowned at her hands in her lap. If Will could just see that! She remembered the faint whispers and the laughter she had heard through Zoe’s door, and jealousy washed over her again. Why did he still fall for the thief’s ruses when it was so very obvious that she cared nothing for him, or for Lily, or, for that matter, for the Gospel of Esther. But Alekta was different. Despite having only just met her, Lily knew – she sensed with every lonely fibre of her body – that she did care for her, and for everything they might learn from each other.

The silent driver glanced in his rear view mirror every now and then, discreetly making sure that his pretty backseat passenger was comfortable. But he nevertheless refused to answer any of Lily’s nervous questions, despite her trying both English, and the most Egyptian Arabic she was able to muster. He simply smiled at her, nodding reassuringly, and drove on.

***

Zoe’s knees started to tremble. Beyond anything else, she loved the feeling of crossing the line between conscious titillation and mind-shattering pleasure. She loved the feeling of giving in to her more primal urges, when her thoughts began to drift into the blurry realm of absolute indulgence. It was almost like meditation. Like the worship of a more primitive deity. It was that moment when her nerves, her subconscious, her body took over, rendering her vulnerable and strong all at the same time. And Will knew just how to push her over that edge.

Her fingers firmly gripped his hair, urging him on, the intensity of her grasp an unmistakable indicator of the pleasure his attentions were bringing her. She did not need to guide him – William Silence knew exactly what he was doing, and he seemed to sense with telepathic precision when to shift the pressure of his tongue.

Fuck, this was good. She wanted to close her eyes again, but the obscenity of making eye contact with passers-by in the street below while Will drove her to blissful ecstasy was far too tempting to be missed. When a louder moan escaped her lips, the doorman looked up, visibly intrigued, but he was too bashful to hold Zoe’s bold gaze. But she saw that he was stealing furtive glances, obviously sensing that something interesting was happening on the balcony above him.

“Mon dieu, Will”, she sighed, “you’re so good at this that I might let you do this again.” Her hips started rocking against him involuntarily, in rhythm with his caresses, while her eyes remained set on the man on the pavement who was now staring up at this beautiful creature above him, so obviously lost in her own ecstasy.

The silverware was arranged, immaculate piece after piece, along the long table. Candles had been lit, giving a romantic eventide ambience to the elegantly furnished room. There was just a hint of incense in the air. A procession of servants chosen for their discretion as well as their good looks waited in the kitchen to serve dish after delicious dish -and all of it lightly spiced with a drug of Alekta's own composition, a drug that would gradually reduce inhibitions and build up arousal, slowly at first and then with growing, irresistible power.

All of the other guests had already arrived and were mingling in the front room of Alekta's family town house. All fellow Children, all alive with excitement and expectation for the night's events. A sacred orgy would mark the return of the Gospel to Esther's faithful.

Two men, three women. There was John Wilder, a self-proclaimed magus from London. He certainly looked the part, with his saturnine looks, fierce dark eyes and tall, lean body. He'd sought the Children out himself, claiming to desire their occult secrets. Alekta strongly suspected that what he'd actually desired had been a cult of pliant young women whom he could groom into his own personal harem. He'd been disappointed on that score but he still somehow remained within the order, forever scheming and recruiting impressionable new initiates to his own inner circle. Alekta found that her personal dislike of Wilder, mingled with her lust, added a particularly pleasurable picquant note to sex with him.

The other man, Abdur Rahman, was a very different story. Dear Abdur Rahman was as stupid and loyal as he was muscle-bound -he and his family had belonged to the Children for generations. There was no real spice to fucking him -a dutiful and unimaginative lover, Abdur Rahman simply did as he was told in bed as everywhere else, but his strength and stamina were still impressive.

Chloe and Anneke were lovers, although they took great pleasure in introducing third, fourth and fifth partners to their play. Chloe -mystical, ethereal and tantalizingly dreamy, was blonde and waifish -her hair and pale blue eyes speaking of her German heritage, her manner of the strict Alexandrian convent from which Anneke had freed her. Nubian Anneke was a lovely, earthy creature, with her skin like smooth chocolate and her hard, compact little body with its rolling hips and strong shoulders.

The last woman present was the quiet, delicate Korean girl Mai. Mai was always scrupulously polite, rarely raising her voice above a whisper, but she turned into a screaming, scratching hellcat in bed, demanding to be fucked harder and faster in a mixture of Korean, Greek, and obscene English. She'd worn even Abdur Rahman out one evening -Alekta could still remember the sight of the hulk of a man lying exhausted at the foot of the bed and Mai pummelling him with small bare feet, trying in vain to get her Arabic stallion to rise again.

She'd chosen the guest list with great care. Wilder could be sardonically amusing, in his patronising and portentuous manner. Abdur Rahman wasn't much of a conversationalist but Chloe and Anneke made up for it. The pair complemented each other perfectly -Chloe's fascinating but obscure and vague theological speculation being constantly grounded by Anneke's warmth, consideration and practicality. Finally Mai, if one broke past her reserve, had a wealth of strange and interesting ideas and experiences of her travels to share.

Alekta hoped Lily would enjoy the conversation... but that was not her primary concern in picking guests. This initiation feast would be unlike any other in the history of the Children of Esther. The seduction of Liliana Jones and the recovery of the Gospel would be marked by an orgy of truly epic proportions.


***

Will could tell from Zoe's movements that she was being observed -and that she was enjoying the sensation. Her body was rocking in time with his licks and dips of his tongue, sighs and increasingly louder moans escaping her lips.

Not a scream yet, though. He'd have to fix that. He tightened his grip on her lovely ass, relishing the feel of satin-smooth skin beneath his fingers, and then plunged his tongue stiff and extended forward into the sweet wet bud of her sex, fucking her with his tongue, flicking it in and out and from side to side, curling it inside her before snapping it out again, while using his hands against her ass to push her on to him, to spreadeagle her against his mouth and its probing tongue.

He wanted her breathless, speechless, screaming his name in ecstasy while her juices poured down his body, entirely forgetful of the watching city, the white-hot lightning of pleasure cascading through her body and bringing her to heights even Zoe Brigandeau had never ascended before. Flick curl lick flick curl lick flick curl lick to an unceasing pounding rhythm, until her every nerve was alive with the joy of being.

Lily looked around, clutching a slim, crystal glass of Kir Royale that a very handsome servant had put in her hand upon entering the mansion of her hostess. The front room was tastefully decorated, obviously by someone who knew a thing or two about the antique trade. Alekta came striding towards her, her arms spread to embrace her like an old friend.

“Liliana! I am so happy you are here – all my friends here are impatient to meet you.” Lily looked around, smiling shyly, while Alekta introduced each of her other guests to her. Afterwards, she clapped her hands lightly and asked everyone to proceed next door where dinner was being served.

Lily was asked to sit at the head of the table, and despite much polite protest on her part, she was unable to deter Alekta from assigning her such a prominent place. She was both nervous and excited at the feeling of being the centre of so much distinguished attention. To her right sat the Anneke and Abdur Raman, while the brooding Englishman Alekta had introduced as John Wilder was seated to her left. Chloe sat next to him, whereas Mai sat to the left of Abdur Raman. Alekta sat across from Lily, smiling at her from under long, dark lashes. One seat had remained empty, and Lily wondered if another guest was to arrive later on.

“So Dr Jones - I heard from Alekta that you are a scholar?” The tone of Wilder’s tone of voice could have been admiration, or mockery.

“Well, I do spend the overwhelming majority of my time in university libraries”, Lily retorted. “Though I am not entirely sure if that qualifies me as a scholar.”

Wilders laughed dryly. “Indeed.”

“And you? Do you have an interest in early Christianity?” Lily was unhappy about this so painfully overeager question. A bit more small talk would not hurt anyone.

“In a way I think you could say that”, Wilders said. A row of servants appeared, carrying plates covered in melon and fresh goat’s cheese. Again Lily could not stop marvelling at how good-looking each of them were. And indeed – the whole company, each person in Alekta’s elegant dining room, was stunningly beautiful. Somehow, this was rather intimidating.

“Do you work in a university?” Lily proceeded.

“No.” At first she thought that this was all he was going to say, but then he continued. “I dabble in magic, if you will.”

Lily laughed out loud, and only realised that he had not been joking when his dark eyes rested on her with an air of offense, one eyebrow raised. It was Anneke that took pity on her.

“Did you enjoy Cairo then?” Anneke smiled warmly at Lily. “I have travelled to see the wonders of that city and the old Egyptian civilisation so many times now, and I never get of it.” Chloe nodded vehemently. “Nothing beats a moonlight cruise on the Nile…few things give me a more profound sense of serenity.”

“Sadly I did not have the opportunity for sightseeing this time at all”, Lily said. “I was there on…academic business, and there were too many people I had to deal with in a very short time.”

“There are too many bloody tourists crowding the city these days”, Wilder remarked, impaling a piece of melon on his fork.

Lily blushed, wondering if the criticism was directed at her. “Well, they were less hunting for the perfect picture opportunity as much as they were hunting…us, I guess?” Wilder, who had feigned disinterest so far, looked up, his eyebrows raised. “Now, that sounds like this dinner will take an interesting turn after all.” He looked straight at her, and Lily felt her blush deepen. “And who could blame them, too?”

But before she could answer, the dark, broad-shouldered man that Alekta had introduced as “a long-standing family friend”, spoke up. Motioning at her silver bracelet, Abdur Rahman wiggled his eyebrows at her in a conspirational manner. “So, my dear, you are a true believer then?”

Lily, who immediately felt like she was being baited into revealing herself as nothing more than a tourist of the occult shook her head and laughed softly. “Oh no, this lovely bracelet was a gift from the charming hostess, Alekta.” She beamed at the beautiful woman across from her at the table. Turning towards Abdur Rahman again, she added, mainly for the Englishman’s benefit: “I’m a scientist, and I only believe what I can prove.”

The Englishman to her left gave Alekta a sly grin that Lily was unable to interpret. She was surprised how much this obvious charlatan – this “mage” - was able to unnerve her. She was still not sure if all he wanted to do was test her.

Alekta, conscious of her pretty guest’s discomfort, raised a glass. “To friends and science!” Everyone around the table joined her. “And to the new member in our family!” Lily laughed softly, and took a large swig of the crisp white wine. She was looking forward to getting to know this new “family” better.


***

Zoe’s head fell back again as Will started a veritable attack on her senses, obviously set on making her pleasure – and his skills – known to all of Alexandria. Zoe did not mind. Her fingers clutching strands of his hair, she now did start to moan louder, whispering his name over and over. Obviously he was not content with just that. Jolts of incredible arousal had her on tip-toes now, and would she not have been in his firm grip, Zoe would have keeled over, her knees too weak to stand.

Very able and skilled lovers – both male and female – had had the privilege of pleasuring Zoe Brigandeau in much the same way, but very few – Zoe dared to think that not even the Indian prince she had once seduced on her travels in Goa – had ever been able to rob her of all caution like this. A thief and a criminal, she could not afford all-encompassing bliss, and yet, here she was, unable to control herself any longer.

“Oh fuck, oh three hells, WILL!”

There it was. Heads flicked up towards the balcony where a beautiful, dark-haired woman seemed to be in the throes of, well, intense pleasure.

She looked down, her gaze heavy and dazed, and she could make out the doorman who had all but abandoned his duties and stared up at her, an erection only badly concealed by his slack trousers. Zoe smiled. Once or twice the doorman’s hand had treacherously strayed towards his crotch. “Bad boy”, she mouthed, sure that he would not be able to see.

Will did not let up. With a loud scream, and a curse, Zoe tumbled into an orgasm that was so intense that for a moment, she was afraid she would faint in Will’s arms – a triumph she did not yet want to afford him. Bucking against him, her slender legs shivering like that of a nervous fowl, she came, screaming, uncaring about who might be alerted by this.

Alekta could feel the aphrodisiacs in the food beginning to take effect -although it might just as well have been her close observation of the winsome, delectable Liliana. Her every move somehow so endearing yet so arousing -uncalculated, untrained and yet signalling the untapped ardour the auburn-haired scholar possessed in abundance. Alekta smiled as Liliana eagerly raised her glass.

"I believe in science too," she said softly. "All of my beliefs I can prove."

She touched Liliana's hand lightly, let her fingers linger there a moment on the delicately sunkissed skin of her wrist. She felt Liliana's pulse there -a quick, tremulous beat like that of a little bird.

"Faith is something more than that, though," Chloe put in diffidently. She smiled dreamily at Liliana. "It is wonderful to know, wonderful as well to believe."

It was a quote, one of those that had survived from the Gospel of Esther. Alekta wondered if Liliana would recognise it. She leant over, intentionally giving the shy young scholar an excellent view of her cleavage.

"Don't let Wilder tease you," she whispered confidentially. "He's an insufferable man but he... has his uses."


***


Zoe bucked and quivered, screaming out in ecstasy and mashing herself against his pleasure, half-insensate from the sheer pleasure Will's skilled tongue was bringing to her. This was an entirely new and wonderful side to Zoe Brigandeau, one that he had been very curious about. Now the cool, composed thief was screaming his name out like a wanton creature for all Alexandria to hear.

But still she was resisting, part of her holding back some tiny measure of satisfaction. And Will wasn't having that. Even as she writhed in the throes of a shattering orgasm, he jammed his tongue into her g-spot, ravaging it, trying to bring her to the point of blacking out from the sheer pleasure.