Dante's Circle

[BLACK BART]

This is the second chapter of a story we've decided to continue.

The link to the first is directly below for those who are curious and might enjoy reading where the first chapter left off…


“Full Circle”

Please.. if you feel the need or urge…direct all comments to us directly (PM’s) and not in the body of the thread.

Thank you Arioso for continuing this tale with me.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Dante’s Circle”





The view before him was breath taking. Not simply because he had worked on restoring the structure with his own hands over the past ten weeks. Not because the two story cabin sat on the side of the mountain with a glorious sunset behind it and not even because from his higher vantage he could see the peaceful waters of the lake behind it all.

What made it so heart stopping was the figure on the two-story deck of the house…Her attention drawn by the same sunset the man had climbed to watch and think things through, her body exquisitely profiled by the warm red and orange rays of the dying sun as she stood enraptured at the sight.

It was the woman in every sense of the word. Her lithe body and the way she moved it as she walked to the decks edge. The way she brushed hair back exposing the long neck that supported her delicately featured head. How she placed her hands on the rails she helped create and leaned forward to arch her lithe body back

The man had climbed the mountainside to think about this very woman. To dwell on her and what she meant to him, to think clearly of the relationship they shared and where it was going.

For as much as she was an angel in his eyes she brought out dark desires in him… Passion he thought long ago he had closed the books on…to move to a warmer and decidedly gentler …circle?

It had begun before they returned from the city. The brutal passion they shared he assumed was a much-needed release for both of them after the harsh realities they had just both barely survived. They marked each other as animals do to put their claim on one another, declaring who their mates were to be…for life.

Again he had assumed it was but a temporary lust. Once away from the violent and unreasonable life they were exposed to it would fade.

But it hadn’t.

And that was the first part of his problem.

The woman he had pledged his love and life too had grown increasingly curious.

And like any creature that was truly alive her curiosities led to a growing wanting to explore…and a need to understand the emotions the explorations led to.

He understood those things all too well. Had cradled her in his arms and talked to her of them. Described the physical acts as she requested and gently explained the physical and emotional responses those very acts often brought out in a person.

But instead of cooling the flames it fanned them.

And that was the second and perhaps larger of the portion of the dilemmas he faced.

For in his own past he had faced the same emotions and lusts. Given into them with a ferocity that had surprised and pleased even him. The visions of those past acts coming into his mind and stirring the juices in his groin even now despite the reasoning he talked to himself with.

For even now with the woman he loved and had placed his own life on the line for, he felt the same past lust stir and arise…. and the cravings return. He wasn’t sure he could guide this time. It was too personal…to intimate…the world she wanted to explore made use of that all too well.

And he knew it.

He began to move back down the steep trail. Towards the woman he loved with his very heart and soul. His eyes unable to stray far from her erotic sight as the sunlight made her gown see through…

He wouldn’t…. couldn’t deny her. He had promised himself he would never fail her in all that she asked for or needed. But he had never dreamed it might lead to this…

“Ella”

He spoke as softly as he had crept up behind her and wrapped his arms around her body to pull her against him…

And reminded himself of his promise…

He would NEVER fail her, even if it meant he’d die trying.

 

[Arioso]

Ella MacKenzie DeVries

A fiery sunset painted itself across the sky. Such broad, dramatic strokes of scarlet and gold and amber, it merely fanned the flames of Ella's silent, agitated brooding. What a contradiction she was! At least...she felt that way.

She could feel him watching her.

It was uncanny. This man she hadn't even known a year ago...and now, her whole being was attuned to him. But, no, that wasn't entirely it...she knew he was watching because she'd deliberately baited him. A deep, hidden urge within Ella had prompted her to slip on the sheer, white negligee that had been a gift from her husband mate on their honeymoon and step out onto the deck to catch the waning rays of sunlight. It was a desire so foreign to Ella, who up until she had crossed paths by sheer chance fate with one Eric Griffin DeVries had never thought of herself as passionate. No, she had been the good worker...the diligent, reliable agent, a credit to the FBI and driven workaholic. The plain girl who never turned men's heads at all.

But the two of them had ignited an insatiable passion that both threatened to consume her...and was the richest, steadiest source of peace Ella had known since the death of her father. With Eric...the world was right again.

So...why....didn't she feel right? What was this edginess that she felt around him? This...hunger for something she couldn't fully understand.

But she remembered it. Hints of it. A wild, frenzied lovemaking on the night that they had finally caught her father's murderer...one that had left her with bruises and angry red welts that a few of her co-workers had simply attributed to Assistant Director Harding. After all, he'd had her naked and restrained down in that warehouse for at least fifteen minutes...her screams had been recorded...

Naked...bound....vulnerable....

Even as Ella's pulse raced, she also cringed with guilt at the excitement that the memory roused in her. Why couldn't she calm down and move beyond that night? Why did it haunt her so?

After all...her life was perfect right now. Perfect in a sense of the word that few people ever had the blessed fortune to enjoy. Her surroundings were paradise -- true paradise. She and Eric had spent blissful weeks renovating an old, abandoned cabin by the shores of the lake, not far from the retreat that Jack and Diane ran. Their days had been spent doing nothing more than pouring their sweat and labor into building a home, while their nights had been spent in the tenderest intimacy ever shared between a man and a woman. And Ella's career would be the envy of so many: a unique position had been created for her. She enjoyed the salary and security clearance level of an Assistant Director without having to be tied to an office in the Bureau. It was almost like being a freelance consultant.

And yet...there was something that wanted, that yearned, that hungered...deep inside her. It had only just awakened, and every moment with Eric simply made it grow stronger...



There was a slight creak on one of the wood planks of the deck. Ella smiled, but didn't glance over her shoulder...she continued to stare off into the sultry sunset emblazoned across the sky.

Then her name...murmured with a reverence that bound their very souls together.

"Do you want me, love?" she whispered as darkness crept across the hills, knowing he would hear voice carried on the wind.

Eric's arms slid around her waist as he gathered her to his firm, solid body, pulling her flush against him.

Slowly, she spun around in his embrace and faced him, the gauzy white gown clinging to her nude body, accentuating every sensual curve. Lowering her head like a predator, her eyes raised to pierce his, she was torn between the desire to tease and tempt him enough to provoke him to claim her...and the impulse to claim him herself, with all the fierce possessiveness of a tigress. Sexual need tensed her muscles and softened her at the same time as she ran her fingers suggestively along his arms, sweeping up from his wrists to his shoulders...

....and then continuing with one hand until her fingertip was hooked invitingly just beneath his chin.

"Do you want me enough to take me?"

Her amber eyes smoldered like embers in a fire as she watched him intently, waiting for his response.

 

[BLACK BART]

Eric understood as he looked at the raw desire in El's eyes...

Understood her question.

Did he WANT her enough to TAKE her...was he STRONG enough?

It was a challenge from one mate to another...not defiance...she was strong and his for the taking...IF he was stronger...

The time in the warehouse had aroused them both oddly...Eric by the sensual picture El created bound and helpless...his need to protect overwhelming his lust for her. but the lust never the less lingering...

And El..it was deeper for her. A wanting she didn't fully understand, a need to be claimed...to be consumed by someone stronger...and thus once helpless and out of control...?

Eric knew for each it was a different experience...there were no guarantees...the same action never brought out the same reaction...and like a road there were many paths to what the seekers.... sought.

Ella was to be a seeker...a soul who needed to claimed...and Eric as her chosen mate was to be the guide...if he was strong enough.

There was no problem responding to her challenge. She was erotic and beautiful beyond all his wildest dreams, a body that was sensual and lithe by creation...and made even more desirable by Ella's growing needs and awareness of her own sexuality...

The problem would be once started...could Eric...stop?

All of this passed through Eric’s mind as he felt his own body responding to Ella’s body…as he felt his cock swell and her hand coyly brushing over it…and as she looked at him with hungry and eager, demanding eyes…

It was the touch of her finger under his chin that did it…as if it created the spark and lit the short fuse…and that fuse burned brightly and quick to his very core…

He lifted his own hand and wrapped it around Ella’s wrist. Then began to pull it down and behind her…feeling her fight…not just resist…but FIGHT him…as if testing his strength and resolve..

From somewhere a low chuckle was heard and Eric was surprised to realize it came from his own throat. His muscles corded in his arm, he twisted and forced Ella’s own down behind her and pinned it to her warm buttock, then caught the other that had been teasing him and seeking to release his cock.

That too now joined the first and with one hand he pinned both behind her, looking into Ella’s eyes and seeing approval…need…LUST…

With his free hand he wrapped it into her glorious hair and pulled backwards, forcing Ella to bend…and offer her lips and neck for his taking…and with a growl he did, flattening her lips under his…pressing his tongue in demand and wanting into her mouth…and his now free cock against her own heated groin in promise…

“You are MINE, El…”

He growled as he backed her to the rail so newly created.

“You belong to ME…and must say it.”

He felt her backside touch the rail and stopped, knowing his own eyes blazed with lust and raw need for her…and knowing he wouldn’t continue until she obeyed his demand..

“yessss Eric…I am yoursssss”

Before the last syllable Eric released her arms…not to free her but to let both hands seize the top of the sheer nightgown in his strong hands…and rip it from her…

“Who do you belong to?” He demanded and slid his hands under her arms, lifting her off her feet and placing her on the rail…”Who?”

“You…Eric…You…”

Her legs pushed roughly apart he took his cock in his hand and guided it to the slick warmth between them and without preliminary pushed it into Ella, making her gasp and then moan in response…

“Say it AGAIN” He demanded and pulled back, then hammered forward into her wet canal…

“Youuuu” El moaned and then grunted as he pushed into her once more…

“Again”

Over and over he demanded, his hips pounding against hers, his sex grinding on hers…driving them both into a frenzy as he held her on the rail…and took her.

“Youuu, uhhhh” Ella complied and then moaned as she received her reward…

“Again!”

 

[Arioso]

The unyielding grip of Eric's hand around her wrist, strong as steel, sent a thrill through Ella that she still didn't entirely understand. It was specific to Eric, there was something about how he made her feel. Such an affront from any other man or woman would trigger her defensive reflexes, and Ella did indeed have the training to defend herself. With Eric, she strained, her muscles fighting against his, but she didn't resort to any of the strategies that she might have used to free herself against an assailant.

No...with her husband, her mate, she savored the sweet feel of his arms overpowering her.

He wanted her...this much....

When Eric tore her flimsy gown down the front, Ella's body jerked and a sharp, excited gasp leaped from her mouth. Again, felt rather than understood the reason that his violent gesture aroused her so. Something about it made her feel so sexual, so prized...that Eric would defy "proper" behavior to seize what he wanted. It left Ella flushed and panting, her pulse racing like electric current through her veins, her nipples hardening brazenly toward the mate who possessed her so thoroughly, body and soul.

The deck railing was smooth and solid against her ass as Eric compelled her backward, as much with his will as with his physical presence. How different it felt now. Ella trusted without question that she was safe. With her own hands, she had helped Eric hoist the beams up to the deck, had positioned them with him and steadied them while he hammered them to the sturdy, wooden posts. This deck was their creation. But even more than the construction, it was Eric who made her feel safe.

She could yield to him...she WANTED to yield to him...

Ella moaned into his mouth, matching Eric's hunger even against the bruising pressure of his kiss. She willingly bared her neck to him and shivered as he kissed her vulnerable flesh...then nibbled until his gentle nibbles progressively became fervent, aggressive bites. There was no more vulnerable position to be in within the animal kingdom...it was a killing position...and yet Ella trusted Eric completely.

None of these emotions were anything Ella could explain or even recognize completely for herself. But she knew that Eric was teaching her, slowly drawing the realization out of her by his actions and his prompts.

Who do you belong to?!

It wasn't a question that needed answering: both of them knew the answer. It was an exercise...a catechism...

"You!" Ella cried out from the very depths of her soul. Her answer was her desire...her answer was Eric as he drove his aching cock hard and deep into her silky, hot cunt and began fucking her with all the force of his own desire.

Again!

The repetition was no mere, mindless drill. Deep in her gut, Ella could sense that Eric was driving her toward an insight that she couldn't reach rationally. He was almost herding her to circle it, to confront it over and over until she knew.

Again!!

"You! Eric, oh god Eric! I'm yours, only yours!" The confession ripped from Ella's throat, as much a plea as a promise. Please remind me I belong to you...please want me!

Years and years of believing that she was plain, homely, and undesirable had yet to be overcome. Ella had not fully emerged from her shy cocoon, but each thrust of Eric's cock in her steamy depths, each demand for her answer was another tug, another pull, as her lover helped her shed the old vision of herself.

AGAIN!! SAY IT, ELLA!

Ella's entire body rocked with a catastrophic release, her orgasm cascading out from her convulsing, rippling channel as Eric drove her mercilessly over the edge. She wept and screamed all at once, howling like a banshee as her mate finally took all control from her and left her quivering in ecstasy.

"I am yours, Eric, forever! Oh my love!!" Ella cried out, her tight walls clenching fiercely around Eric's rigid length as a flood of her liquid essence bathed his flesh.

The sensation was...a little like falling. It terrified Ella even as it freed her. She had always been self-sufficient, had never needed to rely on anyone. Yet with Eric, she had discovered how desperately she needed someone who could batter through her walls -- and yet catch her as she fell with her crumbling defenses.

And he caught her now, as she fell forward against him, her body dizzy with the throes of passion and emotional release. In the stormy recesses of her mind, still spinning with the feelings that Eric drew out of her, Ella could only wonder at the strength it took for him to bring her through this...but as she marveled at the gift that he bestowed on her, she couldn't even begin to guess at the effect that this was having on him as well...

...she still had no clue as to the primal responses that surged within Eric when the two of them clasped each other in an intimate battle not just of flesh but of heart and mind and spirit...

 

[BLACK BART]

"El do you trust me?” Eric questioned Ella gently as her cheek rubbed his bare chest...

"More than life itself my love" Ella replied without hesitation...and the words thrilled him…

"Put your arms behind you and cross your wrists."

Still seated on the rail with her legs half wrapped around Eric it made an awkward maneuver for Ella...requiring her to lean forward and press herself to him, her breasts flattening against Eric's chest as she obeyed and struggled to maintain her balance as well.

Without a word he used the remnants of the gown to bind her wrists together firmly, taking care not to cut off her circulation but as well to make sure she couldn't free herself.

And then he lifted the second half in his hands and met Ella's eyes as she balanced herself carefully on her delicate perch.

“Close your eyes…”

In a few seconds it was finished, the gossamer fabric wrapped around Ella’s eyes somehow making a difference…not only blinding Ella but preventing her from anticipating what was going to happen…but making her vulnerable and having to concentrate on her others senses. And that was making the scene incredibly erotic to Eric.

“When you give yourself to someone it shows trust…faith…love El….” Eric spoke softly yet his voice was almost harsh with the sheer lust her felt at that moment.

“The world you’re so excited by…the one you feel the need to explore? In it you must “surrender” . You must give not only your body, but the innermost self of your soul…and with the wrong person it can break you…destroy you...”

Eric’s hands were busy as he spoke, caressing the satin skin of Ella, cupping the weight of her full breasts and teasing her nipples into full hardness as he pushed her back…his other hand supporting her so she wouldn’t overbalance…

“You need to dwell on those words El…consider all the meanings and what the cost of them might be…because once you begin there is no return until you’re finished…and the only guarantee is you will not come back the same person you were when you began.”

A long speech considering how beautiful a woman he held helpless in his arms…considering his cock was still nestled deep in her slick sex and now swelled and throb with the growing lust he felt…and how badly he needed to satisfy that lust…

A needt he began to fulfill as he moved his hips slowly in and out of Ella’s canal was rewarded with her gasp…and then moan.

“With the right…person…” Eric hesitated at using the right word ”…. a balance is achieved…for each sacrifice… a reward, for each pain…a pleasure…and as you move through your journey…you grow”

Ella was bent over the rails edge now…only Eric’s grip from behind holding her from a fatal descent…his hips pounding her sex with an urgent need and creating a meaty slapping sound.

Ella’s long legs wrapped themselves around his hips…her breathing and the sounds that escaped telling him she was beyond the worry of falling…beyond the concerns outside of the tiny world the two were now in…and that too added to Eric’s excitement as he neared his peak…

For long minutes all that was heard were the wet sounds of Ella’s and Eric’s body meeting each other…not even the animals of the wild or even the wind seemed to dare interfere…and as Ella’s body covered itself in a sheen of sweat Eric teased her nipples relentlessly, then bent to seize one between his teeth and nip at it.

Ella was his…in every sense of the word…and as she screamed her approval and gave into her second orgasm Eric echoed it, the combination of their voices reverberating up and down the tiny valley much like the call of the wolves that had first greeted Ella.

Pleasure and pain…both so closely related. Eric knew it from his own experiences…and as he gathered Ella in his arms and carried her to their bedroom he silently prayed Ella would find that “balance”…and that he would be there to help her find it.

 

[Arioso]

The world moved around her, yet Ella felt safe and steady in Eric's arms. Her bones had melted and her insides were simmering. There was only one word for what she'd just experienced with her beloved:

Incredible.

At no time when he'd bent her back over the railing had she truly feared any harm. Oh, her belly had quivered and adrenaline had coursed through her veins like electricity crackling along a wire. The sensation of dangling so precariously and blindly over a plummeting drop could not help but trigger instinctive, physiological reactions. But Ella had never doubted Eric, or the sheltering embrace of his arms.

She had relished the soaring, liberating sensation as she let go, completely, cradled her spread thighs around his hips, and yielded everything to him -- body, soul, heart, and mind. No matter how hard he thrust, no matter how wildly her body jerked as his rampant cock slammed home in her steamy depths, it just brought her more alive. Her body was made for him, and she could take all that he was.

Eric settled them both on their vast, marital bed and gathered her bound form against him with a tenderness that scarcely hinted at the frenzied, almost violent, lust he'd released just moments earlier. Even with Eric's warm, slippery cum oozing out of her raw, quivering pussy, it made Ella feel precious, as exquisite as a lustrous pearl that he'd pried out of an oyster's tightly clenched shell. Although still bound and blindfolded, Ella could sense the flickering glow of the many candles she had lit in the room earlier and imagined how reverent, almost sacred, it looked.

"Eric," she murmured hoarsely, her voice rough from the force with which her passion had ripped through. "You are my love and my life's meaning. Thank you for telling me...and for showing me...a little of what surrender is like. I understand that it would be a risk to be taken only with the greatest of care. But Eric...there is no one I would take the risk with besides you. You're the only one I trust that much, and everything you said about giving myself to someone -- the faith, the love it takes -- my whole being is love for you and faith in you. You helped me bring resolution to my past...I trust you with my future. Anything I explore, I want to explore with you, Eric -- you're my right person, you're my only."

By the time Ella was through, Eric's arms seemed to have tightened around her with almost crushing force. She didn't fear any true harm, but she marveled at the barely restrained power that tensed in his muscles and left him shaking a little. Her words seemed to be having a profound effect on Eric, and Ella wished he would share with her just a little of what that was.

But she had learned, over the past weeks as she'd admitted her curiosities, that on this subject...Eric was oddly withdrawn.

"Are you tired?" was all he asked her. "Do you need to rest?"

Ella's heart thudded against her ribs. Something in Eric's voice excited her; sleep was the last thing on her mind when she heard him speak like that. "No, love, I'm fine...I'm....ready..."

His mouth plundered hers without warning, leaving Ella so dizzy that she barely noticed as Eric untied her wrists. However, it was a fleeting liberation, for he quickly rolled her on her back, told her to lie still and stretch her arms and legs out toward the four posts on their bed frame. Willingly, Ella complied. She soon found herself secured to the bed -- naked, blindfolded, and spread open for the taking.

Ella was acutely aware of how vulnerable the position left her. Her vital center was defenseless, her arms and legs restrained and unable to kick or thrash effectively. It was....thrilling. She felt herself hoping, yearning that Eric would touch her and tease her -- a confirmation of his desire...

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" she cried out sharply at the sudden burning that seared her inner thigh, dangerously close to her dripping folds.

Blind to all around her, Ella had had no warning of what was to come, and for an instant, she couldn't tell if Eric had dribbled hot wax on her or if he'd...if he'd whipped her with something. All she could tell was that a warm...delicious...sting had etched itself into that sensitive patch of flesh, leaving all the rest of her alert and breathless with anticipation....

 

[BLACK BART]

His hand trembled as he held the tapered candle aloft over Ella’s helpless body…

Not because he was nervous or anxious, not because of his inability to control his excitement…

The problem went much deeper than that. Back into his own past. A part that would be labeled “dark and perverted” by most who just couldn’t understand…

And understanding that after ten years Eric was still mulling over in his heart and soul.

Could a man cause pain to the woman he loved so much? Could he justify it as necessary…needed? The RIGHT thing to do?

Ella and Eric had spent several nights in the weeks they shared discussing the same subject and how it applied to people who moved about in the “world” she was so curious about…

Was their pleasure within the pain?

“ Endorphins “ Eric had explained the medical reasoning. “*They’re released when your body feels pain to combat the sensations…to close the body down so it can survive…but it gives you a feeling of euphoria…peace…and if you mix the stimulus of pleasure into it…it’s more powerful than any drug you can buy on the street…and for some, just as addicting…*”

Oh YES…Eric knew the effects first hand. Could testify to that and describe how he was subjected to the right amount of “Stimulus” at the hand of another woman…

And then pushed beyond.

It all played into the equation as Eric held the burning candle three foot over Ella’s body…

Eric had explained the use of a “safe” word and insisted Ella choose one…a word that would tell whoever she was with she was out of her safe zone…and wanted…needed to stop…a word that wouldn’t be used in the ordinary…or during a “session”…and only the two of them would understand it’s significance of.

In the end Ella had smiled and kissed Eric…then whispered in his ear… “Griffin”…

And until now Eric had never thought of it again. Never dwelled on her choice and if it was connected to his middle name or the creature created by the Egyptians…

Until now as the candle tipped and the paraffin wax dribbled off it’s tip, then floated through the air in a long thin stream to land on Ella’s flawless flesh…

Ella screamed…her body arching, twisting…fighting her bonds…

It was erotic and made Eric’s heart stop, his cock swelling again despite the fact he had just cum…and his body thrilled at the sight of her torment and helplessness despite his mind screaming for him to STOP.

He waited. Knowing this was the only choice Ella had at this moment. To utter the word and pause this session…or to remain silent and let this continue.

There was no shame in it. Nothing to prove.

Ella whimpered and her exposed sex glistened with fresh arousal… no other sounds came from her lips as Eric moved the candle higher and hovered it over the delicate mound of her breast and tipped it again…

Making her body arch even higher this time and a second cry of pain break free from her throat..

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh”

Eric would NOT question her, would NOT insult her ability to decide for herself or honesty of her own needs and limits..

He remained mute, his eyes drinking in the sight of her body shimmering with exertion, the candles around them casting shadows that were almost as arousing as the sight of her body reacting to the stimulus…

His hand was no longer shaking…There was no battle inside…it moved the candle over her right breast and hovered, letting the paraffin melt and gather on the slender tip as his own free hand moved to Ella’s wet sex…

The candle tipped and once again the paraffin almost delicately trailed off of it…and Eric invaded Ella’s sex to find her swollen button…both sensations hitting her body…and mind at the same time…

Ella’s body slowly became his canvas…the candle his brush…and as he continued to tease her sex with one hand he gradually drew a picture over her twisting and turning body…his own growing lust fighting him to hurry…his mind now concentrating on Ella, gauging the effects the double stimuli were having on her…and waiting for her body to overwhelm her mind once again…and force a surrender from it…

“Take meeee my love” Ella moaned at one point as he paused and Eric chuckled, his mute refusal and the increased toying of her swollen nub her answer…and they continued, Eric teasing and tormenting his willing lover…knowing that he would draw another orgasm from her body…

And only then would he release Ella from her bonds…to care for the woman he loved.

 

[Arioso]

The last coherent words Ella had been able to form were a plea for her lover, her mate, to take her and ravage her fully. His silence ravaged her mind. How much more could she take? His fingers and his artful use of the burning wax ravaged her body. How much more could she take?

Ella was lost in a sea of brilliant sensation that threatened to swallow her up. Nothing Eric had told her in words had prepared her for the intensity of it. Each time the searing wax splashed against her skin, there was a brief kiss of pain. But what followed! Sweet mercy, she could hardly bear it yet it was so good! Her flesh groaned with pleasure, quivering and humming with the heat that flared out from each spot where a droplet hit.

And the rush of energy washed up her spine and over her scalp, down her arms and legs to jitter in her toes and tense her hands into agonized fists. Ella's belly tightened with the same, instinctive shudder she felt right before plummeting down the slope of a rollercoaster. Yet, with Eric's fingers plunged between her silky folds and wickedly, insistently stroking her tenderest, most intimate flesh, Ella was allowed no relief or descent. Even as she felt like she was falling, tumbling out of control, he built her higher. It was so erotically intoxicating, it was almost cruel. No, it was loving...it was incredible!

Ella's hips and back arched desperately off the bed and her legs strained against their bonds so mightily that the bed frame creaked in protest. The sweet, jasmine scent of her perfume, Samsara, dabbed lightly on the under-swell of her breasts as an enticement for Eric, flooded her senses as sweat poured from her skin. She writhed with all the force and ardor of a fly trapped in a spider's web, yet her struggle was not against death but against a looming pleasure almost too great to bear.

"Aahh...AAAHH!!...Ohhgodddoohgoddaaaaiiiieeee!!" Ella shrieked, thrashing in her frenzy as Eric's fingers pinched and stretched her swollen clit.

Pain-tinged pleasure stabbed through her nipple like a needle as one final drop of hot wax on her stiffened bud pushed her over the edge.

Ella screamed her husband's name. "ERIC!!!"

He was her completion.

The orgasm thundered through her with tidal-wave force. Her pussy churned wildly, climaxing so violently that her nether lips, her ass, and her thighs became a vast swamp of sensual, feminine essence. Ella's intimate release drenched Eric's fingers as her body surrendered its most private treasure, concealed deep within.

Her lungs ached as she desperately gasped for enough air to fuel the fires that raged through her. Though she couldn't see herself...her bound, shuddering form glowed with a ripe, rosy hue, accentuating the deep, red, swollen bits of flesh that were the crowning glory of her sensuality: her lips...her nipples...her cunt...

There was a brief, momentary calm as her orgasm simmered down. In this blissful, peaceful lull, Ella couldn't think, she could only feel...perfect love and trust for Eric.

And then the shaking began.

Uncontrollable. A fierce, bone-deep rattling. Shock waves from an explosion of desire that had rocked her straight to the core.

Before she could control herself, Ella was crying, sobbing like she hadn't since her father's death. But it wasn't sadness -- she was so confused. Euphoria and devastation seemed to be battling in her soul, and somehow she craved and feared both.

"Eric...Eric...." she gasped, almost hiccuping as she lay quivering on the bed. She wanted nothing more than to be held by her mate then and there...to cling to him and feel the closeness that was infusing her heart and soul.

 

[BLACK BART]

"You're SAFE and with someone who loves you El"

Eric spoke the words softly as his hands flew and quickly untied Ella...

"What you're feeling will pass quickly...sometimes it helps to talk about it...sometimes not...but I can help your body relax and find peace..."

Peace...

Eric knew the meaning of the word. Knew how badly someone NEEDED to find it after his or her understanding of the world was shaken...

From the bedside drawer he pulled a bottle of light oil...then went to work on Ella's wrists first...then her ankles...

She needed physical comfort...to make sure the blood found the natural path back to the delicate appendages to use his strong fingers on Ella and make sure she found that relief.

But Ella needed more...As she relaxed under his ministrations quietly Eric began to speak...telling her how he felt because of what he saw in her...

"Ella from the moment I first saw you I knew you were the most beautiful woman I'd ever met...the natural grace...the poise of your body as you turned to greet me...it all hinted to me of what lay underneath..."

Eric's hands moved gradually from Ella's trim ankles...caressing and kneading her silky flesh with the oil as he inhaled the gentle fragrance she wore...his head swimming with desire still, but his heart guiding him to give Ella what she now needed..


"When I looked into your eyes and saw the shy smile you shared...it told me then of how fragile a belief you had of yourself. I didn't know why...but somehow felt drawn to you...perhaps because of being able to understand that pain and wanting to help."

His hands worked the taut muscles of her legs...his fingers finding the bunched cords and firmly working them free…as his words tried to do the same for Ella’s mind…

“All of that put together didn’t make me ready for the first time we made love El…the raw beauty you possess, how each curve flows into the next…it tore my breath from me even as it thrilled me.”

Ella moved, her legs shifting and her body rolling her over as Eric watched…and their eyes met.

It tore at Eric’s heart…how vulnerable she was at this point…how open her eyes were and the pain that hovered in them…and how often she needed to hear just how much of a beauty she was…and had been denied it.

“It’s the truth El…Not just because I love you…but because I can see…all these years what you’ve kept hidden. Not just from the men in your life…but from yourself…You’d put any runway model to shame with your grace…drive all the men crazy in a swimsuit issue…But it’s so much more than a picture can capture…it’s the lady inside that makes the woman on the outside.”

Ella’s hands were in his…Eric gently working the thin oil into them and her wrists…his eyes never leaving hers for fear of losing that precious moment. To see if she truly believed in herself…to see herself as the beauty she was, inside and out…as he and others saw her…

He pulled her to him and slid his arm under her legs, then stood, easily lifting and supporting her as he walked to the bathroom and the large oversized tub they had installed.

“I’m going to bathe you El…I want you to feel a mans touch and know how it feels to be worshipped…how to have someone serve you because they WANT to…”

The water ran as he spoke and he held Ella close to him, kissing her face and lips…whispering words of love as he stroked her hair…and stepped into the water with her.

The water wrapped it’s warm embrace around them and Eric began to care for Ella as he promised, smiling as he poured oils into the water and soaped a large sponge, then began to gentle dab and caress her shoulders and neck as the bubbles began to form on the surface of the water. With each touch he would describe what he saw and how it affected him, how the curve of her graceful neck took his breath away…how the swell of her upturned breast made his groin stir, how the nipple begged to him to be kissed and sucked…

By the time they could no longer through the scented bubbles he had Ella’s shoulders and breasts scrubbed, changing the skin color to a bright pink as he slid under the water and continued his gentle cleansing on her stomach and ribs. Hushing her as she giggled and tried to help him…

“This is my pleasure El…something I’ve wanted to do for you?”

El relented with a sigh and leaned back to finally relax and enjoy herself…. her head on the tile of the tub as the rest of her body was hidden under the foam but not oblivious to Eric’s touch…an occasional moan coming from her throat as he worked the sponge into the hollow of her leg... a gasp as he brushed over the intimate swell of her sex…a giggle as he held her foot aloft and washed between each dainty toe and then kissed them…

“Tell me how you feel Ella?”

Eric suggested gently as he half floated in the water around her and reached for a vial of shampoo… Kneeling beside Ella he guided her head carefully to the stream of warm water and rinsed her hair, kissing her lips as she closed her eyes in trust and allowed herself to be lowered, and then smiling as she was lifted and Eric’s hands began to work the soap into a lather in her hair…

“Tell me what’s happening inside you?”

 

[Arioso]

"I don't know...I don't know..." Ella whispered, burrowing her face into the slope where Eric's neck met his shoulder.

Even now, even after the most loving, tender ministration she had ever felt, Ella's body still quivered. Her mind conjured up the image of an orange. She'd had all her defenses peeled away and her insides had been dissected until everything that she was had been spread open.

But the miracle was, she didn't feel devoured...she felt...whole...

"I'm an orange," she chuckled a little giddily, clinging to Eric. When she glanced up at him, rivulets of water streaming down her cheeks from her slickened hair, his arched eyebrow didn't surprise her.

"Sorry, my love...sometimes when I'm too overwhelmed to make sense of something, my brain has an odd way of flashing me with the bizarre..." Ella explained. She drew a deep breath, reminding herself over and over that she was in Eric's arms, that the man she trusted most with her intimate being was cradling her against his chest.

"I thought...I guess I'd just thought that being tied up like that...that...being helpless excited me, but it wasn't what I expected. I was fantasizing that you'd take me...fuck me hard...and I wasn't prepared for the wax. It caught me off guard...and it bothered me a little," Ella confessed, a little uncertain if she should be telling Eric this.

After all...he'd given her a tremendous, breathtaking series of orgasms and then bathed her with infinite tenderness. What she was saying seemed ungrateful somehow, yet she and Eric had promised each other that, above all, they would always be honest.

"You didn't like it?" Eric questioned patiently. His tone of voice was shaded with surprise but no censure.

"I did, Eric...oh, god, it was wonderful. You made me feel things that were so intense...I stopped feeling the pain and it became just the most unbelievable pleasure. But, you were just doing it from a distance....I couldn't feel you...at least, at first...then..."

Ella paused, and Eric prompted her softly, "Then?"

His fingers stroked through her hair, a repetitive, soothing gesture that relaxed Ella and helped her attune herself to what she was feeling.

"Then, I did feel you...not just when you massaged my clit...but...as I started succumbing to the pleasure...with each droplet of wax...I could feel you there, your mark...your attention focused on me...I can't really explain...it was like my responses were our connection...and suddenly, I felt you everywhere. Even though you weren't physically touching me anywhere except my clit, it was...it was so intimate it scared me. I felt like you were inside me, all of me. And now...I love you in a way that's...I want you to have all of me, but I'm not sure I know how to give it. Because...I don't know this side of myself..."

Despite the steamy water, Ella shivered in Eric's arms. She raised her amber eyes to his.

"Is this how it always is, Eric?"

*****

Far from the alpine lake and the cabin where two souls communed over their venture into a new realm, in a server hundreds of miles away, a high priority message arrived in the e-mail account of Special Agent Ella DeVries.

An e-mail message from a senator, concerning certain unresolved details from the investigation that had first brought Ella to Eric.

Details...related to the sordid, underground career of the senator's daughter...

 

[BLACK BART]

Eric

"Is this how it always is, Eric?"

Eric had understood Ella’s comparisons.

Knew the sensations his lover and wife were feeling only too well…As well as the aftermath of it all.

“For each of us every experience is different babe.” He confessed as he dried Ella’s body gently and inspected for any marks on her perfect skin.

There were none…Eric had been well trained in the art of candles for pain and pleasure…and had held his at a safe height…

“With the right person and a safe word almost anything is possible…to be explored, I mean?”

Later as they rested against each other…as the moon shined through the bay windows and played tricks with the shadows…Eric began to tell Ella of his life between the streets and before meeting Jack and Diane…

“I was as curious as you are now. Only then I had few options. I found a Mistress in a “Club” that was willing to take me on and in exchange for bouncer work let me “sit in” a few sessions. It was addictive and I quickly found myself so deep in the life I hardly knew who the man was that first walked into her place.”

He told the story quickly…wanting her to know where he had been in his own life, needing Ella to understand what a “high” it had been for him…

“Until something twisted the woman who was “tutoring” me…She became bitter…hard and began to drink heavier then she ever used to. And then she began to make mistakes and in her business you can’t afford to slip up. It will get someone hurt…maimed…or worse.”

Eric’s mind was on the last time he had seen the woman…after she had nearly killed a man who had wanted to feel humiliated…and had punished him so severely his heart had stopped…

“She got off with probation over the “incident” and had to move her business elsewhere…it had made the papers and the exposure was NOT what her clients wanted. I told her it was time for me to move on and despite the pain and anger I saw in her face she had told me softly I would always be welcome in her place.”

And Eric had put that part of his life behind him. Or so he thought until he met Ella and her growing curiosities…

Ella fell asleep in his arms…Eric admiring her peaceful face in the moonlight and kissing her gently before closing his own eyes…telling himself how fortunate he was to have found his way out of the past lifestyle…and hoping he would never have to return to it.

 

[Arioso]

There were moments in life when the entire world seemed to converge harmoniously. Ella woke to one of them. Her eyes drowsily fluttered open to the soft light of dawn which bathed her face through the vaulted, floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the lake and the hillside. She smiled as she watched the early morning mist rising up from the lake's surface, pristine and smooth as a mirror. Eric's warmth blanketed her. No...even better...his heat, his essence, saturated her through and through. She snuggled against him, pleasantly drained from their shared passion of the night before and wholly content to lay secure in his embrace just a little while longer.

Half an hour later, when she eventually roused herself to climb out of bed, she stretched languidly and noted the deep ache in her limbs. It reminded her a little of how she used to feel after a grueling workout on the obstacle course at Quantico.

She chuckled softly to herself. Ohh, but this was so much better.

Padding naked to their kitchen, Ella started a pot of coffee, then made her way to the work station she'd set up when she and Eric had renovated the cabin. High-speed internet had certainly done wonders for allowing her to fulfill her responsibilities to the bureau out here in the woods! Although she and Eric had promised Jack and Diane they'd visit the retreat and help with some repairs today, Ella never began her day without checking for any new, urgent matters that may have landed on her desk.

A series of passwords, and she was online and into her email account. Her amber eyes glanced down the list of messages, for the most part routine...until they fell upon one marked urgent.

The sender was Senator Atchison.

Ella clicked it open and read:

...several calls made to our residential line from DC club, Dante's Circle....concerns for Shelley....had thought all former ties severed....could you investigate?....

The gurgling, frothy sound of the coffee percolator drew Ella away from her computer screen as she moved to pour Eric and herself two steaming mugs. She wasn't quite certain why the senator felt that a few phone calls were so urgent, although certainly, she would look into having one of the Bureau's agents look into the matter. If anything, given Shelley Atchison's circumstances when she'd finally escaped that world, perhaps it was simply the unidentified father of her child trying to check up on her.

Ella carried the two mugs of coffee back to bed. It was one of her favorite rituals of the day: one or the other of them would awaken first, and then enjoy the simple pleasure of rousing the other and sharing those first, quiet moments in bed, getting ready for another day. She eased down onto their spacious bed, careful not to spill so much as a drop, and smiled down at her husband as he opened his eyes, drawn out of slumber by the rich aroma of coffee.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Ella murmured, leaning down for a tender kiss before she handed Eric a mug.

He grinned and pulled her in for a hug as he took his first sip. As they cuddled together, both of them still feeling the intimate warmth from the explosive passion they'd shared in the night, they made plans to head over to Jack and Diane's in about an hour. Then, as usual, Eric asked her what was new "at the office" -- his teasing phrase for her work, given the unbelievable good fortune that she had to be able to work remotely, in such a breathtaking setting.

"Most of it is the usual routine," Ella shrugged easily. "Except a request from Senator Atchison. I hadn't expected to hear from him so soon...especially given the scandal surrounding his dealings with A. D. Harding. But apparently Shelley has been getting some calls from an establishment called Dante's Circle, and he's hoping the FBI can investigate."

Ella had turned to set down her mug while she was speaking, so she was unprepared for the absolutely stone-cold, deathly pale expression on her husband's face when she glanced back at him.

"Eric?" she frowned, shivering as if from a chill at the sober, troubled mood that seemed to have gripped him so suddenly. "What is it, love? What's wrong?"

 

[BLACK BART]

Somehow he should have known...should have put the clues together and the odd feelings he was having over Shelley being involved in all of this...how it had linked to Ella's ex-boss and his enigma...and finally to him.

"Dante's Circle.... El....I know the place... intimately."

Much too intimately...

"I called the place nearly a month ago...trying to find the woman that used to own and run it...she was my..."mentor"??? you might say?"

What an inadequate term Eric knew...

"I was hoping for insights as to how to help us explore the intimate questions you have...and found out she was still working there...but the place is now run by a man I had hoped to forget..."

A man that would take a great deal of pleasure in breaking a strong willed woman such as his sweet Ella...

"He answered the phone....seemed impressed in assuming I was still "in the life"...and offered me a job at "HIS" business if I ever wanted one. He caters to the sickest and richest clients I've ever imagined existed....and that money and influence only increases the depravity of the things they do."

Or of what he was aware of....Eric knew there were things kept secret to protect those that broke the laws made to protect the average people...

"He calls himself Phoenix, we all used an alter-ego....and is just the kind to use the club to increase his own power base...using people along the way in order to become richer and be able to control and destroy the ones that oppose him..."

Eric shuddered then shook off the feeling of gloom...smiling and kissing Ella as she looked with worried eyes at him...

"You can send a couple of agents down there....have them check out the place with survelliance, I'm sure you know better than I what to do...and we can wait here for the results while we help Jack and Diane...right?"

 

[Arioso]

Ella let her tongue coax her husband's out to play...gently...lovingly...until their shared, physical intimacy melted away the chilling sense of menace that had hung in the air as Eric told her of his past association with Dante's Circle. As soon as she felt the strength of their connection warming her down to her toes, she drew back and smiled at her treasured mate, caressing his cheek.

"Since the senator offered so few details and just requested an investigation, I probably could send two of our D.C. agents to check it out. I'll go fire off an e-mail to the bureau and then...hmmm...join you in the shower?" she suggested, her eyes twinkling playfully at him.

Eric rewarded her with a sensual, rakish grin that was pure sin. It was all she could do to scurry out of his reach before he had the chance to seize her and drag her down on the bed. Laughing gaily, she ran off to her workstation and sent a quick message.

The bathroom mirror was just beginning to cloud with steam when she slipped into the shower and wrapped her arms around Eric's waist. The muscles in his back and shoulders tensed in delicioius anticipation at her touch...and Ella lost no time in teasing her lips and tongue across that smooth expanse, nipping occasionally at his flesh with her teeth.

"Mmm...I love your back, darling," she murmured as her hands stroked along his flanks, then gradually glided around to tease and cup his balls.

When she reached out to grab a sponge so she could wash him, Eric's fingers wrapped around her wrist and halted her. He turned...a feral heat smoldering in his gaze.

Within moments, Ella's back was up against the tiled wall of the shower, her legs spread to either side of Eric's hips as he impaled her on his cock. Ella threaded her fingers through his slickened hair and groaned as his steely length plunged into her heated depths again and again...an endless affirmation of their passion.

"No matter how often we make love," Ella murmured as she bowed her forehead to Eric's. "No matter how much I have of you...I still want more. God, I love you!"

Even after the two of them had shivered out their release, Ella clung to Eric, her chest heaving as she breathed deeply. Her soul sang when she was in his arms.

Drying off was almost as intimate as showering. They rubbed each other with thick, terrycloth towels, playfully mussing each other's hair, before they went to their respective drawers and pulled on some comfortable work clothes.

No doubt Jack and Diane would be putting them to work. Honest, sweating work.

But they loved it.

Soon Ella and Eric were driving off in the same old pickup he'd had when he gave Ella her first tour of the small town he'd come to call home.

With her mind focused on the day's projects at the retreat, Ella gave no further thought to Dante's Circle...and what she might have sent two junior agents to confront...

 

[BLACK BART]

It was like the first time they had met at the cabins all over again...

Only better. Gone from Ella was nearly all the self doubts of just how lovely a woman she was...You could see it in her walk, how she looked at Eric and touched him...how she teased him from a safe distance and then waited expectantly for the desired reaction...and squealed with mock fright when Eric came charging after her to claim his prize...

Jack and Diane could see it and smiled at each other, nodding with approval, claiming credit for predicting it would happen...and laughing as Ella and Eric playfully chased each other around..

Despite the playful antics they found a lot of work to be done...and tackled it like starving people would a first meal...docks were erected by the creeks that flowed into the lake...canoes were found and repaired...a second and larger building was planned and the footings laid for it...

Jack and Diane had been busy while Ella and Eric were off...they had secured enough funds from several organizations that were sympathetic to guarantee they could not only maintain the retreat...but enlarge it and add a second doctor to help Diane with the troubled past lives of their guests and a teacher to meet the hungry minds that could now concentrate on a future that existed more than day to day...

The first day passed quickly and blended into the next...and then another...and Eric was fully relaxed, lulled into a joyful bliss that let him smile at any and everything...and to tease Ella endlessly about how much he truly loved her the most...

And what made it even more perfect for Eric was the personal satisfaction of seeing the youthful faces of the teenagers that were beginning to smile as well...

The scars of past lives were beginning to heal...pleasant memories were pushing away the nightmares...as Diane had predicted early on all the kids needed was an even chance and they would bounce back...

"I don't ever want to leave her El. "

Eric confessed during a quiet moment as they rested from the efforts of placing the first wall of the new hall up... they were building things...helping to create not only shelters but new lives for the teens that had little hopes before...

"And it's selfish but I don't ever want you to either..."

Ella had smiled and kissed him...murmuring the same sentiments and then grinning as the tittering voices of two young girls came to them from behind...

"Diane has told us to come get both of you for dinner"

The first had chimed quickly as Eric teased them about peeking...

"And Jack said for you to come before he threw it out!"

The second blond haired waif followed up. And then they ran away giggling to themselves...

It was just like old times...and even better..

 

[Arioso]

Ella savored the long, lazy days with Eric, as they turned their energies to helping Jack and Diane with countless repairs that were swiftly transforming the retreat into a community... a haven. Of course, she loved teasing Eric, too...provoking him until he chased after her and claimed her. God how she loved it when he claimed her! She found, though, that one of her greatest pleasures was in seeing the bittersweet joy on his face in those unguarded moments when he watched some of the teens. It was like seeing the pain of his own youth washed away. There were moments when Ella nearly wept for him, for all that he had survived -- and yet her heart nearly burst from the happiness that shone through in his expression as he poured his body and soul into the work that would make a difference for each of these kids.

He didn't want to lose even one of them. He cared with every fiber of his being. And Ella loved him for that.

Some of the teens had a little more trouble settling in than others, and on one occasion, two boys got into a taunting match that came to blows. Eric was in the thick of it in a heartbeat, knocking a few heads together until they cooled off. Yet he was a natural leader: once the trouble was over, instead of scowling at them, he cajoled them and joked with them until they laughed...making sure that he integrated them back into the community. It stirred a warm pride in Ella to see how Eric refused to give up on anyone.

Dinners with Jack and Diane inevitably went late into the evening. The four friends might start out talking about their day's work, but would find themselves swapping stories about their travels or embarrassing moments from the past long after their plates had been picked clean and empty dishes sat on the table waiting to be washed. On nights when they'd shared a fair amount of wine and talked far into the wee hours, Jack and Diane would insist that Eric and Ella stay in a room that had been set aside for them, refusing to let them drive even the few miles to their cabin.

It was after one such night, as Eric and Ella were slowly waking up in the guestroom at the retreat, that Ella's cell phone chirped to life. Ella blinked in surprise at getting a call at 7:30 am, especially after she saw on the caller ID that it was from the Bureau.

"DeVries," she answered, her voice sharp and businesslike.

It wasn't good news.

As the details came over the line, Ella's entire body grew tense and her brow furrowed deeply. Eric watched the change in her with concern and rested his hand on her back.

"What's the damage? Can the investigation be salvaged?" Ella asked. She listened for several more minutes, nodding curtly once or twice, then finally disconnected.

"What's wrong, El?" Eric asked her.

She turned to him, her expression grim.

"Thompson and Hendley, the two agents we sent undercover to Dante's Circle, had to get out -- fast. The worst of it is, it's because Hendley was on the verge of breaking their cover. Thompson had to make the call on his own...and now Hendley is resigning from the Bureau," Ella explained, still stunned from the news.

"Are you saying...one of them snapped?" Eric asked soberly.

"That's what Thompson reported to the Assistant Director in D.C. Apparently, Hendley had a strong reaction to some of what they experienced as part of the investigation...strong enough that he doesn't want to stay with the FBI any longer, and that he almost revealed their investigation to personnel in the club," Ella continued.

She rose up from the bed and began to pace, her arms folded across her chest.

Eric recognized instantly the signs in her body language.

"There's more, isn't there?" he prompted, his eyes following her movements intently. "Ella, what is it?"

Ella paused and locked her gaze with his.

"When the Bureau team debriefed Thompson, they asked if there was any chance that another pair of agents could be sent in. According to his judgment, a pair of agents might be suspicious, given that he and Hendley showed up as a pair and pulled out so suddenly. But..." she hesitated and drew a deep breath. "But, Thompson said that the management was conducting a discreet search for a female bartender."

Ella could see the instant comprehension in Eric's eyes, and the swift, troubled reaction that followed.

"Ella....no. No, don't do this...it's too dangerous," he urged, rising up from the bed to take her in his arms.

"I know it's dangerous. Hendley was a tough agent -- it's hard for me to imagine what it took to nearly break him. But it's for that very reason that I need to go," Ella insisted softly. "This is a case that originally came to me. I passed it off to someone else, and now we're losing a good agent. How can I shuffle it off again -- this time to someone who would have to go in alone?"

"El, you don't know these people!" Eric pressed her, the concern in his voice tinged with alarm.

"No, I don't," Ella agreed, nodding. "But I know my people; and I know my job. Eric, I couldn't live with myself if I left this to another agent...a less experienced agent....and she met the same fate as Hendley. Besides," she smiled, trying to cajole him as hopefully as she could manage, "I have plenty of experience blending into the background and not being noticed."

 

[BLACK BART]

"What's on your mind son?"

Eric didn't turn to answer as he felt a hand on his shoulder...

"That it's a beautiful sunset"

His own hand rose to touch the smaller and he watched the last rays of red sunlight flickering off the now calm waters surface.

"and such a useless waste for a single pair of eyes..."

"Ella will be all right Eric...she is a trained agent and can defend herself quite well..." The gentle voice reassured...

The hand slid off Eric’s broad shoulders as he turned to face his visitor...his eyes showing his gratitude for the hopeful words.

"I'm not worried about Ella taking care of herself hand to hand, given the right chance she's thrown me..."

He smiled at the recent memory of Ella doing just that...he had found himself laying on the retreats sandy shore as a group of amused teenagers giggled and then laughed...

Ella had flipped him over her hip as easily as tying a shoe...and he was expecting it and unable to stop her...the demonstration concluded he had joined the laughter as Ella announced gently...

"Might doesn't always make right..."

"But she's never trained for this kind of encounter and the man she's going to face will use her own desires against her."

The smile slid from the tall mans face and his eyes grew dark as his mind moved to the image of a leering face from long ago...

"You seem sure of that Eric...is it as bad as all that? And if so...what are you going to do?"

He was sure...and as he looked down into Diane's worried face he forced a smile...

"Ella used her Rank and called in a helicopter...I'm not as well connected but will catch the redeye out tomorrow morning. I'll be several days behind her but have a plan in which she won't know I'm following her."

Unless he had to tell her that was...Eric had made his mind up at the painful departure of Ella earlier that afternoon...and a single phone call had set his own plan in motion.

"It's time the "Griffin" was reunited with the "Phoenix" Diane...it's been long overdue....

***************************************************

Twelve hours in the future Eric was true to his words and boarded the first of many flights to come...and Ella was already making her alibis and introductions to the "receptionist" at Dante's Circle...

 

[Arioso]

Anna stood in front of the heavy, windowless door, so non-descript and well-camouflaged. The club itself was on the fringes of the Financial District, nestled so unobtrusively between a high-rise and a parking lot, with only a brass 'D' and 'C' on the door to identify the establishment.

Dante's Circle.

Businesspeople, secretaries, lawyers, sanitation workers, cabs, buses, bicycle couriers...so many must pass by every day without sparing even the slightest thought for what lay inside.

She pressed the buzzer in the doorframe and waited calmly.

"I'll check in by phone once a week. If you don't receive a call, send someone undercover to the club as a customer. It may be that my circumstances prevented a call, but I can give the okay signal in person. If I trip the sprinkler system or the fire alarm, it means I'm in trouble."

Ella had been careful to establish clear protocols and safeguards with her team at the Bureau. And she was experienced enough to know that even with an "airtight" set of procedures in place, nothing was foolproof...she was walking into the lion's den.

And she might not have done so if it was simply a question of Shelley Atchison.

But investigations had revealed a number of questionable disappearances of young women...some of them runaways who had fallen prey to the streets...other's misguided college girls...illegal immigrants... And Dante's Circle seemed to be at the heart of it.

Ella had been unable to turn her back on the assignment. If there was indeed some sort of sinister underworld, swallowing vulnerable young women into its belly, she had to use whatever power and influence she possessed to stop it.

Just like Eric had felt honor-bound to build a retreat for teens who were as down-and-out as he'd once been.

A momentary pang stabbed through her heart as she looked down at her left hand...at the bare emptiness of her ring finger. Removing her wedding band had been one of the hardest things she'd had to do. It had been hard enough leaving Eric behind; but without the ring, she felt truly separated from the man who held her heart and spirit safe in his embrace.

But it had been necessary for her cover. She couldn't complicate matters with suspicious questions about her husband and whether or not he "approved" of her working in a place like this.

A series of clicks announced the unlocking of the door, which swung back to reveal a stunningly beautiful redhead. She perused Ella with a subtle sweep of her eyes up and down, then smiled coyly and asked, "May I help you?"

Showtime...

"Yes, I'm Diana Payton. I have an appointment for a job interview...the bartender's position," Ella replied, offering the undercover name she'd chosen.

"Oh, yes, we spoke on the phone," the woman remarked, extending her manicured hand for Ella to shake, then stepping back and ushering her through the door. "Please come in, Ms. Payton."

Ella followed her into a tasteful, if a bit exotic, foyer with a few leather wingback chairs that faced an expansive mahogany desk. Several oil paintings adorned the walls, all of them portraying female nudes in one form or another. Some were "tasteful" portraits that revealed only a bit of bare breast, others looked like figure studies, with a nude female model reclining in an artistic pose on a platform draped in folds of cloth. And then there were a few scenes straight out of classical mythology, with lascivious satyrs seizing and pawing naked maenads in postures that ranged from the erotic to the downright obscene.

Smoothing the hem of her elegant, short black skirt beneath her, Ella eased into one of the wingback chairs and faced the redheaded woman across the desk. She'd tried to dress the part of a recently divorced woman with little experience in "gentlemen's clubs", which was believable enough and thus should be easier for her to pull off. Her unruly, dark hair was swept up in a loose twist, with a few tendrils spilling out around her neck. She'd paired a tight, clingy chestnut lambswool sweater with her skirt, its warm brown hue bringing out the amber of her eyes, yet monotone enough to let her maintain her appearance of plainness. She needed a balance...attractive enough to get hired, but drab enough to be able to fade into the background so that she could study the club, unnoticed.

"I'm Sheila," the redhead introduced herself. "I handle reception in the front office, but also work in the back. Why don't we start with your interest in working at the club."

"Well...I was just divorced a little over a year ago, and I guess you could say my husband's lawyers were better. He left me without anything," Ella launched into her cover story. She noted that Sheila listened with feigned sympathy...perhaps believing the story, but not caring terribly much. "I've tried to find work, but with the job market as tight as it is, I haven't had much luck, and now I'm behind in my bills. I do know how to mix drinks, and I thought this might be a job I could do."

"Hmm, I see," Sheila noted with a nod. "But why not a regular bar? What do you know about Dante's Circle?"

Ella was aware that the other woman was studying her, but this was anticipated. If anything, it confirmed that there was definitely illicit business going on in this club...the kind that made the management extremely cautious about who they hired.

Licking her lips and letting her eyes flick away nervously to convey the impression of a meek, inexperienced housewife, Ella answered, "Well, I didn't find much when I googled the name of the club." Sheila smirked at this. "Just that it was described as a club geared toward certain...pleasures. So, I guess that the environment I'd be bartending in would involve some...ahm, adult activities. But the salary offered is so much higher than other bartending positions, it would actually help me get back on my feet. For what I could earn at a sports bar or even an upscale restaurant, I'd still just be treading water."

As Ella spoke, she could see the amusement growing in Sheila's eyes.

"Yes, this club caters to adult activities," Sheila nodded, her voice almost a laughing purr. "And you would be expected to dress appropriately. Tell me, Diana, would you have a problem going topless?"

Ella summoned a lovely blush to her cheeks. "Nooo," she said slowly, knowing full well that this assignment would probably involve far more than baring her tits...yet needing to appear shyly hesitant. "If that's part of the dress code, I can mix martinis and whiskey sours just as well with my top off as I can with it on."

Her attempt at humor had the desired effect. Sheila smiled in approval.

"And if the manager needed you to take on a few...extra duties?" Sheila prompted, narrowing her eyes to scrutinize Ella even more intently.

"Well," Ella swallowed, making her voice soft yet resolute. "If it meant keeping a good job, I'd do what I could to keep the management happy."

Sheila's grin widened and she nodded. "Good. Why don't you come back to see the main room and check out the bar, Diana. I'll have to have you speak with the manager, since he has final say in all hires, but you sound like you just might work."

Ella released a sigh of relief, a very convincing response of a "divorcee" who was down on her luck and in need of cash. Well, I guess I've passed one test....

She followed Sheila down a long hallway and into a spacious cocktail lounge with booths, several cafe tables arranged in cabaret seating, and a curtained stage. The bar was along the back wall: a heavy, polished wood that looked like it had been restored from the Speakeasy days, with a mirror and rows of liquor bottles and glasses behind it.

"Go check out the bar and get a feel for it, Diana," Sheila urged her with a wave of the hand as she walked off toward a set of stairs. Then, with a wicked smile and over-the-shoulder glance, Sheila added, "Oh, and take off your top. The manager will want to check out your tits."

Ella's eyes widened a little, and the flush that burned her cheeks required little acting. However, she kept her cool, reminding herself that, yes, the appearance of her breasts would most likely be an important criteria in the decision to hire her or not.

So she crossed over to the bar and stepped behind it. Then, drawing a deep breath, she peeled her sweater up over her head and set it down on the smooth wood surface. Her plain, black satin bra soon followed, and Ella was acutely aware of the cool air kissing her tender nipples.

Moments passed...and while she waited for the manager, she decided to busy herself by taking stock of the different varieties of alcohol on the shelf. With her back turned to the main room, she heard the manager's approach before she saw him...

 

[BLACK BART]

Phoenix

The tall man stood quietly looking through the two way glass, watching the well shaped form of thier potential new employee move about behind the bar.

"She fits the bill in the physical department. And I liked her reply to you about keeping her employer happy...Check her background and verify she is divorced and who she claims to be...I'll go finish the interview"

It was but a few steps and he moved through the storage room door... then quietly into the cool interior of the lounge and into the aisle of the bar behind the woman...

"Are they real Miss Payton?"

"Excuse me?"

"I asked you if they are real...It is "Miss" Payton isn't it? My policy is NOT to allow employees of the married status."

"It IS "Miss" and my breasts are natural..Mister....???"

Miss Payton had replied and though her glance had gone to the sweater laying on the bars surface she had made no move to cover herself....

"My name is Phoenix, Miss Payton, Manager & Owner of Dante's Circle ...and I wasn't referring to your breasts...your ear rings...are they real?"

Phoenix smiled and watched Miss Payton blush...and then smiled as he watched the blush spread from her face to her neck...and below...

"Jewelry is allright in the club but I suggest you use Zirconian...it's less expensive if you lose anything?"

He had walked down the aisle until he stood within an arms reach, then stood looking down to the shorter woman and making no pretense of admiring her entire appearance.

"I'd like you to mix me a drink Miss Payton...lets say an "Oral Sex on the Beach"...what's in it and how would you do it?"

Crowded into the corner of the bar with no escape the woman kept her wits...and recited the ingrediants without blinking....

Ice, Melon liqueur, Orange juice, Raspberry Liqueur and Vodka....shaken, not stirred...unless you'd like a "Sex on the Beach"?

"I can't stand the taste of peach schnapps" Phoenix grimaced and watched the woman smile... it lit up her face and eyes...and held his attention from the sway of her firm breasts for a several long seconds.

"You have nice legs Miss Payton....you move as if you're an athlete and I'm thinking you should wear the briefest of mini skirts or shorts to show them off to the fullest..."

"So I'm hired then Mister Phoenix?"

"It's Phoenix and you'll be on proabation for 30 days, you start tonight at five P.M. and work til closing...after that we'll talk to you about advancement within our company."

The interview was over...Phoenix lifted the sweater and satin bra in his hands and offered it to his new employee...then watched as she dressed and slid past him...


His eyes never left her swaying ass until the door closed behind her…

 

[Arioso]

Twenty dollars an hour.

There was definitely some major money changing hands in that club if Phoenix could afford to pay a starting bartender twenty dollars an hour.

Ella reflected on that as she showered and readied herself for her first night on the job.

She had paused on her way out the door after her interview to press the manager on the matter of her salary. After all, she wouldn't have made a believable, down-and-out former housewife if she hadn't made some pretense of being concerned about money. And Phoenix's answer had simply provided more evidence, albeit minute, that this was a high-stakes business.

She'd transfer whatever earnings were deposited into the dummy bank account the Bureau had set up for her to one of the local homeless shelters when this was all over.

In the meantime, Ella pondered the impression she would need to create that evening, and how to achieve it. Wrapped in a towel, she stood at the closet in her small, shabby apartment (also set up by the Bureau) and sorted through the various garments that were to be her undercover wardrobe for the next few....weeks...Ella hoped it would be no more than a few weeks.

She missed Eric. Deeply, right down to her bones...her soul ached for him...her body was heavy with memories of his touch, his touch that she hadn't felt in a few days...

Ella finally selected a short, lycra skirt in rich violet, a color that had always accentuated her amber eyes and their unique contrast with her dark hair and pale skin. She set it on the bed and then sat down to slide on panties and then a garter belt. She rolled black, nylon stockings up each leg and clipped them to the garters, and wondered at how such a simple gesture could leave her feeling so sexy. Just go with it, Ella...you'll need that extra oomph for this assignment...

After she'd pulled on her skirt -- and discovered that it barely covered the tops of her stockings -- Ella buttoned up a rather loose-fitting, silver-grey blouse. It was enough to keep her decent for the subway ride over to the club, and she figured she'd be dispensing with the top as soon as she started work.

Remembering Phoenix's comment, she switched her earrings...a pair of tiny, gold filament rings took the place of her diamonds. Then, before she did her makeup, she wrapped two, damp locks of her hair loosely around her head and secured them in the back, creating a soft, draped look reminiscent of the Pre-Raphaelite medieval maidens so in fashion in Romantic art. She didn't overdo her makeup -- if she was expected to paint her face garishly, she'd find out tonight. Instead, she simply highlighted her eyes with a little mascara and light shadow, and then added warmth to her face with a deep, cranberry lipstick.

"Let's hope that does it," Ella sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror.

How she wished Eric were there to wrap his arms around her and hook his chin over her shoulder as he looked with her into the mirror and murmured his love in her ear...

On her way out of the run-down apartment building, Ella spared a brief nod and greeting for the withered old landlord, who promptly cursed her in Croatian. That was why the Bureau used this building so often...the landlord could barely speak English, and if anyone was trying to fish for information about a tenant, his answer was always that ALL of his tenants were no-good deadbeats...

The subway ride took her only twenty minutes, and at 4:55 pm she was walking through the door to Dante's Circle. Sheila was there to greet her and introduce her to several other women who would be working that night...many of whom were already topless, or were dressed in some extremely revealing fetish-wear.

Ella reminded herself not to stare more than would be believable for a recent divorcee. Instead, she shed her blouse and left it in a staff-only dressing room, smiled and thanked the other women who complimented her on her "lovely tits", and then made her way to the bar.

As the clients began to filter in, Ella found her rhythm. The early, after-work crowd didn't afford her much in the way of evidence about the darker dealings in this club. Many of them looked like average, older executives or middle-management...some of them weary, some of them clearly celebrating a recent success...but, true to Ella's expectations, their attention was usually focused on the other female employees.

It left her free to do her work behind the bar, quietly mixing drinks...and watching what transpired as the evening wore on...

 

[BLACK BART]

"Shiela put the new bartender on the floor tomorrow night serving drinks as she mixes them."

"What if she objects?" The redhead asked softly and looked up towards him.

"Point out the extra tips she'll get for letting them grab her ass or tits...and the brownie points she'll score with me."

"And if she refuses?" Shiela returned her hands stroking the swollen shaft in her hands.

Phoenix paused and thought it over a few seconds, then pushed the back of Shiela's head, pushing her lips back onto his cock.

"Just tell her that much and then send her up to me after her shift is over. If she has any questions I'll pacify her...

Phoenix knew a good thing when he saw one..."Miss Payton" was too good to waste behind the bar...and if she was the "law" the regular customers would quickly weed her out...and if they failed to he had a trick or two up his sleeve...He'd give her two weeks on "bug duty" and if she was still working for him move her to the lower floors...

With that thought he smiled and turned his thoughts toward the job at hand...or mouth...Shiela's mouth to be exact as it bobbed up and down eagerly on his cock..

"That's good baby...just a little more and daddy will be happy..."

 

[Arioso]

"But...wouldn't it make more sense for me to stay behind the bar? I mean, who'll mix the drinks if I'm out on the floor?" Ella questioned Sheila as they sat facing each other, once again, across the mahogany desk.

It was only her second night, and her job description seemed to be changing.

"Well, just think of the advantages. Your tips will be higher," Sheila countered smoothly...and with all the vapid, blank-eyed polish of someone who didn't realize that she'd utterly changed the subject without answering the question.

Ella sighed and counted to ten. The girl was an idiot. This order had to be coming from higher up, which meant Ella had better play along.

"Yes, I guess so, and that would help me with my bills," Ella agreed. "But...I will still just be serving drinks, won't I?"

Sheila averted her eyes demurely and cocked her head to the side. An evasive smile tugged at her lips. "If that's what you really want. But our clients like to be able to feel and touch, and some of them might complain if you're too...frigid..."

Bitch.

Ella masked her gut reaction to a slur she'd heard all too often in the past by shifting the discussion to an issue she was far more concerned with -- truly and legitimately concerned. For if Sheila didn't give her the right answer, she'd pull out of the investigation. There were some risks that the Bureau did not expect her to take.

"Touching is one thing, but I need to know, Sheila -- the management won't ask me to do anything that would put me at risk for an STD, would it?" Ella pressed, her tone of voice stern and serious.

And still, the klunkheaded girl didn't seem to get it. She blathered like the most featherbrained salesgirl who had memorized a canned sales pitch without actually thinking about it.

"Oh, relax, Diana, all of our clients are too high class for any concern. This isn't a dive," Sheila cooed with a smile.

Ella shook her head. "Not good enough. Nothing is worth AIDS, and even the richest executive of a Forbes 500 company can have it and not know it. I'd rather go bankrupt and start from scratch, if you can't assure me that I'm not going to be put at risk."

Eventually, Sheila finally offered Ella the assurances that she needed, although the conversation left both women a little wary. Ella, because she still didn't feel terribly assured; and Sheila, because something about the way this Diana carried herself intimidated the young redhead.

However, both of them shook it off when the club opened again that evening -- for there was money to be made, and clients to be served.

This evening, Ella had chosen to wear a pair of yellow satin tap pants (so short they barely covered her ass cheeks) over dark stockings with seams that ran up the backs of her shapely legs. As a finishing touch, she'd hooked a clip-on bowtie around her neck. It wasn't quite the classic cigarette girl look, but it would do.

And, apparently, several of the customers approved.

When Ella served a gray-haired gentleman a martini, he ran his hand appreciatively up her thigh and caressed her satin-clad buttocks. He slipped her a $10 tip and patted her ass as she walked away.

When she mixed a round of redheaded sluts for a table of lawyers, she had to bite her tongue and force a smile to her face as they groped her tits one after the other, some complimenting her politely, others just leering. For her troubles, Ella pocketed over $50 in tips. She'd get her next clue about how crooked this place was at closing, when she learned how much of her tips she'd actually get to keep.

But the true test of her will came late in the evening, when one of the other girls told her that a solitary, dark-haired man at one of the corner tables wanted a shot of tequila with a lime chaser. It seemed simple enough...or, as it turned out...deceptively simple...

"One shot of tequila, sir," Ella smiled warmly down at her current customer. His dark hair and beard were neatly trimmed and he wore a tailored suit that fit him perfectly. Even his nails were impeccably manicured, giving the impression of wealth...and discipline.

"Sit down, my dear," he said evenly, his voice neither soft nor loud...just commanding.

Ella blinked a little uncertainly, and reached to pull out a chair.

"No, on my lap."

Dark eyes stared calmly into hers, signaling that no refusal would be accepted.

Slowly, her gaze locked on his, Ella sank down onto the dark-haired gentleman's lap. He wrapped one arm casually around her waist, while with his free hand he plucked a wedge of lime from the tray she'd set down before him...and began squeezing lime juice over her nipples.

Ella's eyes widened and she let out a soft gasp.

This brought a hint of a smile to her customer's mouth, but he said nothing.

Next, he sprinkled salt over her stiffened peaks. Because of the lime juice, the crystals clung to her nipples, coating them like frost.

The man raised his shot glass to Ella, half in salute, half in...warning. With one swift, smart gesture, he tossed back his tequila...and then...

...latched on.

His lips were strong...warm...insistent. Ella couldn't hold back a moan as he suckled as hungrily as an infant, rolling her nipple with his tongue, teasing it, laving greedily. He squeezed his lips so tightly around her delicate flesh, she worried it would leave a bruise...and yet it built such an aching pleasure! When he scraped her nipple with his teeth, then bit it and tugged, stretching her areola into a taut cone, Ella writhed on his lap and dug her fingernails into his shoulder. He pulled her tighter with the arm wrapped around her waist, and continued sucking and licking until he'd cleaned off every last trace of lime juice and salt, and left her flushed and panting.

Then...he moved to her other breast and gave it the same, toe-curling attention. By the time he was done, Ella's thong and the crotch of her shorts were damp. Hell, he'd nearly made her cum.

Guilt stabbed at her. Only Eric should make her feel that way!

Dazed, she rose up when the gentleman nudged her off his lap. He reached into his breast pocket and handed her a $50 bill.

"Thank you, my dear. However, I despise bar salt. The next time you serve me tequila, I'll want to get the taste of salt from...somewhere else..."

The man's eyes bored into hers, as dark as sin.

"Wear a skirt."

Ella trembled all the way back to the bar.

 

[BLACK BART]

Phoenix

Phoenix remained at his usual perch and watched intently. Nothing would pull his attention away from the "lap dance" his newest employee was giving one of the regulars...not even the sobbing of Sheila as she curled up in the corner of the offices couch.

Or was it giving into ?

Either way he watched as she stopped trying to push off the larger mans lap and let him finish "cleaning" her second breast...

And himself harden as she was obviously reacting to the sensations by the way her hips were grinding away at his...

The look on Miss Payton’s face was priceless as she returned to the bar, her cheeks were obviously flushed even in the bars lighting, her eyes were puffy in a way only one word would fully describe...

" AROUSED "

And from the way her hands were unconsciously touching herself she needed to be finished off...

*But not tonight* Phoenix sighed inwardly *He never fucked a new employee...even one as drop dead gorgeous as this one, at least not until AFTER he had her working in the lower level*

"Sheila get your ASS over here" He barked and watched the redhead uncurl from the couch and move to stand. "Crawl over here"

The mark on her face where he had slapped her to the couch was quite livid.... not enough to permanently damage the goods he knew...just long enough to remind her to follow orders and keep her mouth SHUT when dealing with new and curious employees.

An hour later as Sheila finally did rise to her feet and adjust her skirt downward Phoenix forgave her...

"Make SURE Miss Payton stops in to see me BEFORE she clocks out, ok doll?"

 

[Arioso]

Ella did her best to make it through the remainder of her shift, but it was sheer torture.

After that extremely intense serving of tequila, her body was on fire. Unfortunately for her, that merely made her situation worse. With her skin flushed and glowing with arousal, her nipples straining forward brazenly with need, her eyes hooded and every move of her legs, hips, and arms lithe and sensual as only the stirrings of lust could make them...she drew even greater attention from the clients, like a flame drawing moths.

And their attentions only served to fan the flames of her arousal.

A lady client lazily stroked her hand up Ella's thigh, scratching her nails across Ella's flesh and leaving burning red trails there.

A corpulent old man with five-o'clock shadow insisted that she straddle his lap so he could bury his face in between her breasts and press them against his cheeks. Ella felt like she had rug burn by the time he was through!

It went on and on...testing Ella's stamina...and she silently remarked that she was serving herself as much as she was serving drinks.

When closing time finally arrived, she heaved a sigh of relief. She wanted nothing more than to go home and pleasure herself...with her fingers and whatever she could find...as she fantasized about her sweet Eric.

"Diana?"

Ella looked up from the bar and frowned at the sight of Sheila approaching her. An angry red hand-print burned across her cheek.

"Sheila! What happened to you?!" Ella breathed in alarm.

"It's nothing," the redhead smiled weakly as she shook her head dismissively. "But I needed to tell you that Phoenix wants to see you in his office before you leave tonight."

Ella's eyebrows rose. "Me? Why?"

Everything about Sheila's demeanor closed up, as if she was nervous about speaking. And it suddenly hit Ella: the girl was afraid to talk to her.

Dammit! She must have gotten in trouble because of me.

Not only did Ella feel a painful stab of guilt at being the cause of Sheila's misfortune, but she fumed inwardly at having lost a potential source of information. It was pretty clear that the girl would be unlikely to talk without some serious persuasion -- and that, in itself, would raise suspicion.

"I'll show you to his office," Sheila simply said, gesturing for Ella to follow her.

They walked toward the stairs Ella had noticed earlier. Just before the corridor down to the stairs, Sheila pointed out a door that Ella was to go through. Ella thanked her and spared a brief glance toward the stairwell. It seemed to lead down to a lower level, and red lighting gave it a decidedly...sinister...glow. Ella arched her eyebrow. It reminded her of Dante's Inferno, which, she realized, was probably the intent.

She rapped lightly on the door.

Come.

At the smooth, muffled instruction to enter, Ella pushed open the door and stepped into the manager's office.

Her training was deeply ingrained. The first thing she did when she entered the room was to scan it as unobtrusively as possible. She quickly noted certain details -- the wall safe; a large, wooden cabinet with doors locked shut; a window overlooking the lounge area that was obviously concealed behind a two-way mirror. But all of these, she spared only the briefest of glances. She let her eyes rest longer on trivial, eye-catching details that a new employee might gawk at -- the nude photos on the wall, the plush sofa....and...the massive, polished desk behind which her employer sat.

Ella directed her gaze toward him, feeling a little self-conscious at her near-nudity, especially considering that her nipples still hadn't softened and were as throbbingly stiff as ever.

"Excuse me, Mr. Phoenix, you wanted to see me?"

 

[BLACK BART]

Phoenix

"It's Phoenix plain and simple, Diana...Close the door will you please?"

Phoenix closed the slim file that lay on his desk and stood as Diana turned and closed the door...

*the door clicked shut and then hummed with an ominous tone*

And as Diana turned back she found the eyes of Phoenix studying her intently...

"You've had a long day of work Diana and I won't waste much of your time. Why don't you mix us each a Scotch and come sit with me on the couch.

Despite the neutral tone of the words it wasn't a request...

Phoenix waited where he had reclined and accepted his glass as Diana joined him...

"I wanted to talk to you before you worked the floor tonight...Sheila was lax in telling you and I think it might have created some... awkward though perhaps pleasurable moments for you tonight?"

His eyes deliberately moved down to her full breasts and the still aroused nipples that proudly pointed outwards and held there for long seconds before returning to her face.

"There are certain rules I have created to protect not only my customers, but my employees...by the expression on your face tonight it was the first time you were asked to give a customer a lap dance..."

Phoenix smiled and then laughed at the flush that rose in Diana's cheeks at the memory of her treatment in the mans lap...

"His name is Roger...we only use the first names of our customers, it guarantees a small sense of privacy to them.... Roger is a Tuesday and Thursday night regular and as you know tips generously...in return for being allowed certain...liberties."

"And do those liberties include fucking your employees?"

The question was direct and Phoenix lifted an eyebrow, then sipped at his drink...

"You're an intelligent woman Diana...and exceptionally beautiful...that's why I put you on the floor so quickly. To see how the customers reacted to you as well as how you carried yourself."

It was Diana's turn to lift an eyebrow and Phoenix smiled again knowing she was still waiting to have her question answered.

"No matter what else happens Diana...you are NOT expected to sleep with the clientele on this floor. The tips you receive are in appreciation for the liberties you allow the customers to take. Though we benefit in you allowing greater liberties I do not insist on them, it’s your choice...A woman with your erotic qualities and present financial situation should easily be able to make the two parts of this equation balance...and enjoy yourself while it happens...that is...unless I've missed something that was omitted in your file?"

He nodded to the file he had set down on the pile of paperwork and then turned back to Diana for her reply...