Masked in Rio Ch. 01

Rio. Just the name invites visions of half naked men and women, dark tropical nights near moonlight kissed beaches, and Carnival. For most people, anyway, it is a dream come true. A paradise to be reached for and eagerly embraced as the top most place to go for romance, erotic adventures, and to relax from the rigors of the modern day world. Most people, but not me.

A year ago, I was a premier female artist in California. Catherine Lavoux was the name on everyone's lips when it came to working with charcoal and pastel chalks. That was before several things happened at once. My rich parents, fed up with what they thought was trivial nonsense, disowned me. My boyfriend decided he wanted something better. Better, to him, was a personal body slave to use as he wanted. His taste ran to leather and whips. Something I wasn't into. A whispered story also had him leaving his former lovers with scars.

He found out that the cash flow wouldn't be up to his standards of living anymore, and left. But not before his verbal lashing had shredded my self confidence until I felt no bigger than a work on the floor. As I lay on my living room floor, he whipped out his cock and jacked off on my quivering body. "Payment for the stay." then walked.

Afterwards, it was worse. No one wanted to buy my works anymore after rumors started about the breakup. People coming to my door demanding drugs and money due to Al, the ex boyfriend, telling them I had it to give out. I was an emotional wreck, sitting in a dark apartment in the middle of a bare floor, contemplating buying a gun and blowing my brains out. Not much left to live for when you're convinced you're not worth a damn to anyone.

It was then that my sister, Rose, forced her way into my apartment and gathered me into her arms. "It's okay. Shhh. It's alright." Rose was the favorite of the family. What she wanted, she got. She didn't agree with my parents and always came over when the times got rough. With her arms around me, I fell apart. I sobbed my heart into her chest.

"I don't know what to do anymore. I'm lost, Rose. Mom and Dad hate me, everyone thinks I'm a drug addict and here for the taking. Al thought he could just.." I couldn't go on.

"Well, we're getting you out of here and under wraps for a couple years. You're definitely moving out of here. And you need rest and time to think." She smiled at me. "Think you're up to living in a small cottage down in Rio? No interruptions, no strings attached? Just a long rest with only a few people coming by to restock the fridge? Within walking distance of a marketplace where you can start selling on the sidewalk if you want."

Slowly, I looked up into her face and nodded. "Anything is better than this right now. I.. I just can't face anyone. Get me out of here, Sis." It was the only time I had actually asked for anything from her.

She nodded and smiled, hugging me warmly. "Come on." she smiled. "You dont need any of this stuff here. do you?"

I glanced around and shuddered. "No.. Nothing.. except..." I dove for the TV set and popped a DVD out of the player, slipping it back into it's jacket. I'd kill anyone that got ahold of my most precious movie.

Hours later, we were at her condo. Slowly, she got the entire story out of me after a hot bath, food, a bottle of good wine, and a comforting arm. When she found out what he was doing, she was furious. It was all I could do not to shrink away from the anger in her voice, the tenseness of her body. "Sis," I whispered, "Don't.. please."

She immediately calmed down. "It's okay, Cat. I'm not angry at you. Go to bed now. Rest. No one will bother you, I promise." she smiled and ran her hand through my hair. "Tomorrow, you and I are going to go shopping, spend the day at a spa and then I'm going to get you out of dodge and off the bull's-eye." The hard glint to her eye made me not ask what she had in mind while I was asleep.

I never did get to the spa and all the shopping we did was done online. The moment we went out together, people started pointing and whispering. It was too much to even think things would get settled that quickly. So she just had things brought up to the condo while I tried to cope with my shattered self-confidence.

Six months later, I awoke to the sounds of parrots chasing each other through the trees, the sound of the surf pounding against the rocks, and the smell of the sea air filling my nose. Off in the distance, I heard a group of musicians begin to warm up. The tempo of the Samba was beginning to be heard everywhere as Carnival crept closer.

Naked, I had a breakfast of fruit, then strolled out the back door and down to the beach. The ocean water sparkled like diamonds in liquid. The temptation was too great to resist. My running dive carried me through the rolling waves and into the torrential waters as they curled in towards the sand. The water cooled my skin and caressed it with each thrust of the waves. Suddenly aware of the sensual movement along my flesh, I moved towards the shore.

Laying back, I let the water work it's on my pussy. With each pounding wave, the liquid force parted my outer lips and rushed in to torment my clit and slide in and out. The wind cooled my flesh as much as the warm water heated my blood. The combination was exquisite torment for me, in desperation, I pinched my nipples until the pain made me arch my hips into the wave. A small pebble, caught in the wave's torrid motion, hit my clit at the right time to send me plummeting over the edge of orgasm. Not caring who heard me, yet scared of discovery, my mewling cries of release were muffled by my hands and the pounding waves.

Moments, or an eternity, later something made me sit upright and glance around. The feeling of being watched overcame me as my eyes took in the open sea. It wasn't until my eyes scanned the roadway a hundred yards distant did I see a figure on what appeared to be a Harley. Deciding to be bold and give the mysterious figure a small show, I stood, facing him, then backed into the waves to wash off. When I re-emerged and began to walk towards my home, he started the bike and drove off. The roar of twin pipes caused a colorful flight of birds to rise from the trees near my home.

Smiling, I decided enough was enough. Time to go to town and try to draw something.

******

Hours later, I sat underneath a tree sipping a bottle fo lemonade and staring at the set of charcoal drawings I had made. Animals, Trees, anonymous faces in the crowds, the beginnings of the Carnival setup. I even did a scene of a faceless man on a Harley staring out at the crowds from a road.

That one got picked up and bought for the asking price right off the bat. The rest began to trickle away as people watched me draw. It was hard at first, trying to draw with all the people around, but soon, the world went away as my hands seemed to have taken on a life of their own. I never actually meant to sell anything, but they just seemed to attract people. Soon, however, the telltale signs of overload began to get to me. Too many people staring, too many people asking questions. Time to go.

The lemonade cooled my throat and allowed me to relax again and watch the crowds. My mind tried to make up stories about those that I watched. A woman walking across the street clad only in a sarong could possibly have been a model out looking for a good time with a bad boy. A man talking to a fruit seller could be a big time director out trying to find the perfect leading lady to pluck off the streets. Who knew?

My mental roaming came to a screeching halt with the sound of screeching tires and a yip from a tiny form that went flying to land at my feet with a dull thud. It was a medium sized Chihuahua, that lay at my feet, whining softly. Quickly going to my knees, I shucked off the white jacket I was wearing and wrapped the poor dog in it. Thankfully, I had remembered to put on a white tank top underneath. At the moment, however, it didn't matter. A hand touched my shoulder, looking up into the chocolate brown eyes of Melinda, the maid that helped me with my cottage. "Help him, Melinda? Can you help him?"

She nodded silently, "Bring him." she looked at the rest of the group that had surrounded them. "Go find that car! Now! No one harms a beloved pet and gets away with it. No excuses. But no harming them. I just want to know who and where they are." She was furious and it showed. The crowd scattered as she gently picked up my things and we went a block or two up the street and headed into a small apartment building to a room that smelled redolent of dried herbs, beeswax candles, and had a natural feel to the place.

I began to shake with a bit of shock. Each soft whine tore at my heartstrings. Melinda took the dog from my arms and gently sat me down in a chair. "Easy now, chica. The little one will be fine, I think. Let's see." My bloodstained jacket came free from the furry body. She went to work on him. "No broken bones. Just a nasty little cut across his ribcage that will need a bit of tender care." she set a pot of water on to boil, grabbed some herbs from a drawer, then smiled at me. "You, however, don't normally come out of that cottage too much. Rose told me a bit about what happened. You are a brave woman and you need more time."

Smiling slightly, "T..Thanks." I stood and peered at the dog. "W..What does that tag say?" I pointed to a small golden disk attached to a red collar. "Does it have anything in the way of identification?"

Melinda removed the collar before making tea for me, and a poultice for the dog. " No number, just a name. Loki." she looked at me. "Well, you need a companion out there for a bit. Until someone starts looking for this cute pup, he's going to need care and loving attention. Now go sit while I close this cut."

Sipping the tea, I watched, wincing at each of the five tiny stitches. "Drawing his picture and posting it around town with a Found notice on it would probably get more attention. Sometimes people think their dog is kidnapped and only when a reward is posted, do they get their dog back because some moron is too greedy and cold hearted to work for a living." I sipped the tea and smiled, "You work as veterinarian when you aren't watching me try and get my act together?"

Melinda simply smiled. "I care for people and animals who can't go to the regular doctor. I learned it from my own mother and grandmother. They've tended to the children and the poor around here for ages. I don't mind. It makes it a tighter knit community around here."

As she began to put a bandage around his middle, Loki seemed to have more life in his body and started to glance around. "He seems a likeable little guy." The dog lifted his head and licked my hand when my fingers came within range. "Healthy and no scruffiness. This is someone's best friend." My eyes met Melinda's. "Thank you, Melinda. Can I keep my stuff here until tomorrow? I can come back to pick the drawing pad up and all that after I get him into somewhere safe."

She nodded. "Go, chica. The only payment I ask is keep that dog safe.." a truly mischievous grin lit her face, "And that you join in the Festivities of Carnival!" she crowed slightly.

Shaking my head, my eyes met hers. "It's only a week away." I protested weakly. But I knew that, once she made up her mind, there hadn't been an excuse yet that would get her to change it. "I'll find something to wear. I promise. But don't try to set me up with anyone."

Loki seemed to think that was a good idea and barked once in agreement with that last comment as we both walked out the door.

Back on the streets, I paused to pick up some food from a nearby store, both dog and human food before heading home. Reaction set in the moment I was alone near one of the palm trees that marked the surroundings of my home. It drove me to my knees, shaking and tears began to flow down my face in torrents. "Oh gods.. Oh gods.." became my mantra as the emotions and trauma of the day came crashing down on me.

The paralysis would have been longer if Loki hadn't squirmed himself up to lick my face and snuggle closer. Blinking through the tears, the dog stared up at me with his liquid brown eyes, then glanced over my shoulder and barked softly. I turned to look and, sure enough, the same motorcycle sat on the side of the road in the same place it had been in this morning. Shaking off the vestiges of the attack, I stood slowly and stared back.

After a few minutes, the mystery man's head nodded in acknowledgement before he stomped on the kick start, sending the roar of a Harley echoing off the hills. A few moments later, he had made the U turn and headed back into Rio, or wherever his home was. For the first time in a long while, my mind was curious as to who was watching me. Not because they knew who I was and the circumstances surrounding me, but because they were mysterious, untouchable, unknowable.

The feeling followed me all the way into the house. After fixing an early dinner for the two of us, it was only five in the afternoon, I checked the bandages on the dog. Just for my own peace of mind, then grabbed a chilled bottle of sweet red wine and a glass from the fridge. Smiling, my eyes took in the setting sun, then the TV set and DVD player. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm in a mood. I've only got one movie to play and, well," Damnit, I was blushing in front of a dog. I never blush! "It's got my favorite actor in it."

The Chihuahua looked up at me with intelligent eyes and panted before nuzzling the empty bowl around, looking for more tidbits.

Lost in my own thought, I put the disk in the player. "The movie's the not rated version, Loki. It's `Wild Orchid'. " Moving to a spot on the floor and picking up the remote. "What makes this so special is that one of my ex-friends." I winced at the thought and sipped some wine. "Actually worked in the business while the dvd was being reproduced from the original tape. He actually got Mickey Rourke to give him permission to put a little video at the beginning of the movie for me."

My eyes looked at the floor and a wash of anger burned it's way through my veins as I remembered the so-called gift. "Of course, he didn't tell me that he had originally given it to his girlfriend for a sloppy seconds fuck. Or that her name was Catherine. She threw him out of the house for it, calling Rourke a perverted has been and told him to get rid of it. So I got it instead." The memory of the ruined and cracked jewel case brought tears close to the surface again.

"I know he's older, a bit rougher around the edges. I know he sounds different from the movie. But I really dont think that matters, do you?" My eyes took in the dog who had crawled into my lap and settled in. Taking another drink, I found myself telling the entire story to someone for the very first time. "Now, now I can't be in crowds, not for very long anyways. I cant relax and I just.."

Loki leaped out of my arms and dragged the remote to me, even though he shouldn't have been doing that. He moved before my hands could catch him. However he did it, through a bite or a paw swat, the movie started playing.

The face that I had come to know so well appeared before any of the credits. He was sitting in what appeared to be a living room that had a fireplace, lounging on the couch in leather pants and vest without a shirt on, the bare skin gleaming in the flickering light. Holding a wineglass. Somehow, in this time and place, he seemed more real, more.. personal, than when I watched him up in that apartment so long ago.

"Catherine," Came the voice through the surround sound speakers wrapping itself around me like a sensual blanket. "your friend here says that you enjoy watching this movie a lot. I wont tell you exactly what he told me because it would give the mystery away." He winked at the camera, then took a sip of wine.

"I want you to sit back and enjoy this movie as it was intended to be enjoyed. As an experience for the senses. Have you ever felt that wild, untamed hunger? That serious need that drives you to reach for the unknown?" His hand slowly caressed it's way down his chest to his waistband, running a finger through the leather beltloops. "Have you ever wanted something you know you couldn't have?"

Heat ran through me as my hand mirrored his, slowly running my hands over my chest, pausing where he hadn't, at my nipples, pinching and pulling. A smouldering fire began to heat my skin as my hands slowly moved down to my waistline to tease the same areas that he was teasing. Taking a sip of wine, I returned my attention to the screen.

He stared at the camera, then undid the top button of his pants. "I know what you want." He licked his lips and slowly drew down the zipper. The sound seemed more sinful comming from the speakers. "You want to be out of control. You need to let go of your rational thoughts and simply Feel." His hands slowly parted the leather, revealing what the clothing had struggled to contain. His thick, rigid cock lay flat against his stomach. "Feel, Catherine. Not watch, feel. Run your hands down your legs and back up. Remove your clothing and run your fingers over yourself."

My eyes were riveted to the screen as I struggled to get out of my clothes. Somehow the little pup had made himself scarse. After another drink of my wine, I began to run my hands over my body, lightly scraping my nails up and down the insides of my thighs as Mickey caressed his chest and slowly peeled the leather off his fine looking legs. Mirroring his hands, mine began working their magic on my flesh. Soft mewling moans filled my room and it took me a moment to realize that they were comming from me.

After a moment, he moved from the couch to the soft rug in front of the fireplace. The view of his sexy ass moving was almost hypnotic. Taking a sip of wine, he lay back on one elbow and began to slowly stroke his cock, giving a soft moan as his hand wrapped around the shaft. "I can see you now. Laying back and running your hands over your body. Do you burn? Are you on fire?" His hand began to move a little faster. I could see the beads of sweat beginning to form on his body. "Put your fingers in your pussy, Catherine. Play with your clit. Feel them slide in and out on your wetness."

Helpless when those words seeped into my brain, I slowly parted the wet outer lips and slid two, then three fingers in. The sensation was incredible, like a bolt of heated lightning soaking into your skin and making you ache for the next bolt to hit. Hit it did when my thumb brushed that sensative pearl. I'd done this several times before, but this.. this was something more powerful. I never took my eyes off the screen as my hands began their slow dance.

"That's right. Slowly work yourself." His breath got faster as he spead his legs to a more comfortable position. "Dip your fingers into the wine that I know you're drinking, dribble it over your breasts so that the liquid runs down your body in a red waterfall." He gasped to himself as his eyes, blazing with fire and lust, stared intently at the camera.

With a shaking hand, the wine went down my body, teasing it in slow trickles to pool in my palm and fingers that were caressing my clit and finger fucking my pussy. I could feel the slick wetness of the combined juices flow down the crack of my ass to the floor. Soon I could feel it begin. The tingle that started in my toes. The slow burn to orgams had started. Slowly, I watched as he sped up his hand on his cock. Watching him getting harder, his eyes darkening as his breathing came in deep huffs.

"Feel it, Catherine." he gritted out as his body tensed in time with mine, "Oh God. Yes, Cum for me. Now, feel your self cum." Anything else he would have said came out in a long drawn out moan that blended in with my scream of utter release. I did not need to see the white ropy spurts of cum to know that he was feeling a powerful orgasm. His moans said it all.