The Gilded Cage Ch. 02

The car pulled up outside the house and Tammy saw that the show was broadcasting every minute of it. Connor turned to ask her the question she knew was coming but she interrupted him before he could speak

"Yes, Connor, I trust you. What can we do about all this?"

Connor looked deep into her eyes

"Firstly you have to continue the masquerade with the Guild. If they find out you suspect they will kill you. Secondly you have to obey me without question, no matter how odd the instruction may seem. Finally I am posing as your boyfriend. They know you do not have one but they are human, they will doubt themselves and do endless checks. That may just buy us the time we need to plan a proper means of ending all this. Now, kiss me."

Tammy was surprised by the request

"Sorry?"

"Hurry, they are watching us and we are in a parked car talking. I am the boyfriend you have not seen in weeks and unless you kiss me they are going to assume it was not sweet-nothings we were exchanging."

Tammy sank into a kiss with Connor and for the first time all day she felt safe. It was a shame when the kiss ended and they had to leave. As Connor took a few bags from the trunk of the car he slipped in his computer, all the time making more small talk about how things had been for him in the last two weeks. Tammy quickly realised that he knew the Guild could hear every word and she joined in as best she could.

Once inside Connor put his bags in the main hall. He called to Tammy who was in the kitchen.

"Honey, I know you have to get back to work in a few minutes but I am very dirty from the flight and need a shower. Why don't you join me?"

Still getting used to her role, Tammy hesitated for a moment before remembering what she needed to project to the audience

"Ok Connor, sounds wonderful. I only have ten minutes though before I get back."

They ascended into the bathroom and closed the door. Connor spoke clearly to Tammy for the first time

"For reasons best known to himself, C vetoed the use of audio or visual equipment in the bathroom during the show. Maybe he's got an aversion to bodily waste or something. It does mean, importantly, that this is the one room we can talk freely in. I've set a precedent for us showering together now but they will expect us to come out of here having showered. The smallest slip may alert them. I am afraid modesty must be left to one side Tammy during this matter. We need to shower now please."

Connor broke the ice first by stripping quickly. Tammy could see he was well built even for a man in his 40's and she could not help but feel a little aroused as she watched him enter the shower. She disrobed herself in a matter of seconds and joined him.

The shower was designed for one and there was little room for two strangers to be in there without touching. Tammy did her best but every now and then her breasts caught his arm or back, making her wince. Connor had clearly noticed this

"Tammy we are meant to be a couple of over a year's standing and unless we get our body-language right out there we are going to fool no-one. I understand and respect your shyness but it will get you killed unless you move past it. I think the fastest way for that to happen is for us to touch each other in here, get used to our bodies, as lovers should be. Soap up your hands and stimulate me, make me erect and get a good look at my erection. Then wash my body, slowly, until you get over your shyness around me."

Tammy soaped up her hands and began to stroke Connor's flaccid penis with one, soft finger before she cupped his balls and massaged them. Connor groaned as the sensations registered and soon Tammy could feel his manhood becoming firmer. She felt herself becoming aroused as she looked at him and felt pleased that, if she had to have a pretend boyfriend, it was at least with someone who was so sexually confident.

Her hands began to wash Connor, exploring every inch of his muscular frame as the water washed away her inhibitions. When she was done Connor soaped up his hands and began to massage her shoulders, sending shivers up and down her back, before he placed the most delicate of touches onto each breast. As the soap washed away he replaced his hands with his mouth, suckling each breast in turn as his hands stroked her buttocks, in a combination that made her understand just how talented this man was. Looking deep into her eyes, Connor slowly moved his fingers to her vagina and began to stimulate her inside and out in a way that made her knees buckle. Finally he washed her legs and back before he was complete. Looking at her again he said, in a voice designed to reassure.

"You are beautiful Tammy and we will get you out of this, you have my word. I hope this initial session helped that objective greatly. Now you have to get dressed and return to work to face John Green again. Remember he is designed to push you to well beyond your limits, to see if the money and prospect will make you into a de facto prostitute rather than quit and face ruin. If they think you will play along then you will remain interesting to them and you will live. Never forget that rule, Tammy. The show is designed to provide sexual interest, nothing more or less, and the moment you stop showing that promise to them they will cancel you for good. Improvise if you can but follow their bread-trail if you cannot."

"What about you?"

"I will stay here and work. I've unnerved them enough and I do not want them to think I am a loose cannon. I have just flown in so it's logical that I would take the day off anyway. Come straight home after work."

Bastion watched his monitor as it showed him the couple exiting the bathroom very much arm in arm and clearly in love. He decided a comment for the daily digest was in order

"As you can see gentlemen the man called Connor is clearly a boyfriend, although one our extensive research failed to find. Although his presence was not anticipated it is in the very nature of the show, the thrill shall we say, that it is unscripted. Whilst our research continues on Connor we shall focus back on Miss Squires as she continues at work. I have cancelled the personal-trainer who was meant to become Miss Squire's boyfriend for the moment, though that option remains open again if we decide to eliminate Connor."

Bastion closed the channel as another opened. "Bastion, this is Aegis again. Nice speak to calm to jitters of the listeners but what do you really think about this new guy?"

"We only have a still from the camera and a first name, so searching the databases will take time. We are starting in Lexington and working outwards."

"You could expedite the search greatly if you declared a breach, for you would gain a lot more than just your own network."

Bastion snorted in contempt

"A breach? For a boyfriend coming to visit? I can assure you that whichever research missed Connor will pay for it dearly but I think it a little premature to sound the alarm just yet. At best it would make me look a laughing stock if he turns out to be the nothing he appears and at worst, after C inevitably hears about it, it may cause him to question my ability to handle my team. Connor is part of the show until I identify he needs to no longer be a part. When that time comes I intend to handle it within my own team, as I am sure you understand Aegis."

"I do Bastion and I was merely offering my thoughts. I'll watch the show with a keener interest than usual, my friend. Take care."

Tammy felt strangely empowered as she drove back to the office. Although the events of the past 24 hours had been hellish, simply knowing what was happening gave her some sense of control. Connor had not only briefed her but he had also grounded her, giving her both a morbid dread of the future and a hope that she could somehow avoid what had happened to the other contestants. Keep sexually interesting, that was what Connor had said. As long as she was she would remain alive.