Hunter's Moon

Sophia Ashburner watched the comings and goings from her perch on the rooftops overlooking Covent Gardens. It was her favourite haunt for choosing her victims, the hustle and bustle of a London night providing the perfect cover for her to strike or spirit away a favoured mark. She had rooms not far from here to take a glamoured target if she wished, her ample wealth affording enough courtesy to avoid unwanted attention. She had been at this game a long time and although she had travelled far and wide, she had a particular fondness for the London nights and the varied souls they offered. A figure in the crowd caught her attention and she shifted, readying herself for the moment to drop unseen into the throng.

It was the eve of Samhain, October 1875, as Sophia prepared for her first feed of the night. Although her appearance was that of a twenty-something girl, she was in fact over 100 years old, having received her 'gift' during the latter years of the reign of George III.

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She was the daughter of an aristocratic family whose estate had sat some fifty miles from London and there she had spent her entire life, her education and recreation not requiring her to ever leave it. As such, though well read and in good physical health, she had been quite naive in many ways, lacking the experience of contact with people outside the circles her family embraced.

Complacent in the safety of her family's sprawling land, she often stayed out riding, reading or writing until well past dusk, arriving home after dark much to the annoyance of her Mother. "You will be the death of me and likely yourself one of these days," she often scolded upon her daughter's return. Sophia would laugh and shake loose her raven hair from her riding hat, chiding her Mother for fussing. She was afforded such latitude primarily because she was the youngest child and only daughter, her two older brothers tasked with learning the family business and generally acting responsibly.

Sophia's responsibility, if you could call it that, was to choose a suitable husband from those eligible gentlemen who represented an acceptable addition to their family. In 1773 she had just turned twenty and was expected to do this soon; her father had grown impatient on a number of occasions as she turned away proposals one upon another. Not short of choice when it came to suitors, she had little interest in any of them. Sophia had a secret and given her age and family's status, one she guarded vigilantly; although pretending coyness and making the right noises to please her father just enough, Sophia only had eyes for a much fairer prize.

For her own pleasure, Sophia sought the company of women but in her limited world this was no easy task. The frequent dinners and functions her family enjoyed gave her opportunity to meet and mingle with many of England's gentry and while among the painted wives and daughters there were many she thought attractive, making any advance was fraught with risk. To be discovered would spell disaster for Sophia; homosexuality, or even such attraction, was abhorrent to their society and would no doubt lead to incarceration in one of England's private madhouses, likely for life.

There were two occasions when the circumstances aligned themselves to present opportunities and Sophia took them without hesitation, the frustration of needing to express her desires becoming paramount. The first was with one of the chambermaids, Katherine, with whom Sophia had shared many a private moment as she tended to the bed clothes or brought the bedpan on chilly evenings. Though several years older than Sophia, the two had found a shared love of folk tales and would talk and laugh easily together when alone.

Over time, Sophia found herself focusing more on Katherine's delicate features; the shape of her hazel eyes, how they sparkled when she laughed, the fullness of her unpainted lips, how they curved when she smiled, the softness of her delicately tapered fingers as they touched the skin of her neck when Sophia had asked for her hair to be brushed. On a few occasions while doing this, she had seen a faraway look in the woman's eyes as she watched her in the mirror, a slight smile on her lips, her gaze lingering on Sophia's neck and shoulders where exposed.

Quite deliberately on one cold evening, she had bid Katherine help her dress for dinner and the maid agreed with no complaint.

"I am stiff from a long ride today. Would you mind helping with my hosiery, Katherine?" She tried to keep her voice light but inside she trembled with daring and secret desire. She had locked her chamber door already as Katherine had tended the fire and was now planning to lure the object of her desire into a trap.

"Be right there, miss," came the cheery reply and a few moments later, she approached. Sophia sat on the edge of her bed wearing only her slip, the silk hosiery draped over the edge next to her. Katherine knelt in front of her and gently took one of Sophia's bare feet, placing it on her knee. She picked up one hose, gathering it to the foot, then beckoned Sophia to lift one foot while she slid it over. Then very slowly and with gentle stroke, she eased it up the shapely leg, her fingers caressing Sophia's smooth skin as she did. By the time she reached the top of the hose, her hands were on Sophia's upper thigh and the feel of those delicate fingers on that most soft skin drew a small gasp from her lips.

Katherine looked up in alarm; her attention had been entirely on the skin and shape of Sophia's leg and she had seen how the maid watched them travel up every inch of it with deliberate slowness. It was as she had hoped, of that there was no doubt; Katherine had an eye for Sophia and now she had seen it clearly. Sophia smiled warmly, placed her hands on the maid's cheeks.

"It's alright, you didn't hurt me. Quite the opposite in fact; you have the softest touch, you could drive a girl wild with that touch," she whispered with intent.

Katherine's mouth opened and closed twice before she spoke. "I didn't mean anything, miss. You have divine legs, skin like silk. I just...." she was cut off as Sophia gently pulled her face, urging her to come closer. She knelt higher and Sophia leaned in slowly, keeping her eyes locked on Katherine's until their lips were almost touching. The maid was trembling but did not move, did not pull away.

"Do you want this?" Sophia breathed the words at her. Without waiting for an answer, she pressed their slightly parted lips together anyway.

A long moment passed and Sophia pulled back, the feel of their gentle kiss beginning a cascade of pleasure. She stood and still holding Katherine's face, gently urged her to stand. She kissed her again, feeling more urgency this time and the kisses became firmer, faster, still only with their lips but each pushing and exploring the other until Sophia felt she need more. She pulled Katherine toward her as she fell backwards down onto the bed, the maid, not resisting the pull, falling on top of her. The press of their bodies, though the maid was still fully clothed, drove Sophia more into her passion.

She hooked her legs around the maid's, one arm around her waist, the other at the back of her head and pulled her nose to nose. "Teach me how to kiss if you would, Katherine," whispered Sophia, consumed with her desire.

"As you please, miss," replied the maid, almost breathless. With that, she pressed their lips together again, parting them slightly now, gently pushing her tongue into Sophia's soft mouth.

The Ashburner daughter was a fast learner and within moments they were locked together, their lips a seal as their eager tongues became acquainted. Sophia was soon lost in the joy of it, her focus entirely on the dance of tongues within their mated lips. Katherine's hips began to move against hers and she knew the maid was enjoying this as much as she. Pushing back she found their rhythm and they moved in harmony, each becoming more aroused as the dance of hips joined their tongues in union.

With one hand, Katherine reached down and took hold of Sophia's slip, pulling it up to her hips, exposing the milky skin of her thigh. Releasing the slip, the hand now returned to the thigh, the fingers tracing the curve of it, gently at first then with firmer grip, stroking the silken skin from knee to hip. The pace of their pelvic rhythm gradually increased as each sought more intimate pressure against the other and Katherine began to gently push her breath into Sophia's lungs, their lips still sealed in perfect union.

Following Katherine's lead, Sophia accepted each breath, taking each as deep as it was offered, then returning it, slowly, carefully. The wetness in her loins became a torrent and the desire for pressure became more urgent. The kiss was exquisite, the give and take of breath sublime but Sophia wanted more; the feel of skin on skin, the press of sex on sex, these things beckoned with imminent desire. The part of her mind still anchored in reality poked at her, reminding her she had been dressing for dinner and lost in the passion of her first real kiss, she had lost all track of time.

Katherine, also lost in their kiss of air, her hips betraying her own needful passion, continued to press Sophia down into the bed, still stroking her exposed thigh with sensuous fingers. Sophia was torn now between the nag of reality and the urgency of her physical desire but the distraction broke her rhythm and Katherine sensed the change.

"Something wrong, miss?" she asked, slightly breathless.

"Call me Sophia. Seems silly to still call me 'miss' after such intimacy." Sophia stroked away the hair stuck to Katherine's rosy cheek. The maid looked so pretty in her aroused state, the sheen of her exertion giving her flushed face an ethereal glow in the lamp light.

"Begging your pardon, miss but no, I cannot do that. Your passion is sublime and I want you something fierce but I'll not risk us to be found out by being so familiar. 'Miss' it is and 'miss' it stays." Katherine had a pragmatic look at life that Sophia admired and she had to agree the maid had a point.

"You're right of course," Sophia agreed and pulled Katherine's lips to hers for another brief but softly moist kiss. "No, nothing is wrong but I am supposed to be dressing for dinner and I have no idea of the time now." She laughed, still wet and aching for more time and intimacy with her sensual maid. "I'd better do my duty lest raise suspicion but come to my chambers tonight when the guests depart. I require more of your services, I fear," she announced with comic nonchalance.

Katherine kissed her firmly, her tongue swiftly but sensitively teasing at hers for an instant before she released her hold on Sophia's leg and raised her body from their clinch.

"As you please, miss." She breathed the words at Sophia, her own need still obvious from her dreamy eyes and pink tinged cheeks. With that she got up from the bed, smoothed down her dress and rewrapped and tied her hair in a neat bun. "Will there be anything else for now, miss?"

"I seem to be wearing only one hose," giggled Sophia as she pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the bed. "Would you mind...?"

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It was nearly midnight when Sophia finally made it back to her chambers, more than little tipsy from the wine she had drunk. As she entered and locked the door, she was grateful for the quiet, the dimly lit lamps adding to the peacefulness after the noise and vexations of the party. Sophia was largely a private creature and though not antisocial per se, her life had been mostly quiet and free from human distractions. A noise from the fireplace drew her attention and she saw Katherine kneeling there, adding a fresh log.

Blinking away the fog of wine, she stared at the maid, struggling to focus on what it was that was different. The log now settled in place, she stood and turned, curtsying quickly to her mistress.

"An enjoyable evening, miss?" she asked, a mischievous edge to her voice.

Sophia's breath caught in her throat as she beheld the maid's nakedness, her long brown hair released from its bun and brushed out to its full length, spilling around her naked shoulders like chocolate. The firelight and flickering lamp light played over her skin and Sophia gazed upon her with renewed desire. Trying to keep her eyes on the naked maid, she made her way to her dresser and began fumbling at the buttons on her dress, hands eager to remove the prison of cloth.

"If it pleases you, miss...?" Katherine was already next to her, holding her hands, then moving her own fingers to the buttons to deftly continue where Sophia left off. The raven haired girl nodded, struck dumb by the reality of her quite beautiful maid, raised her hands and allowed Katherine to remove her dress. She continued to undress Sophia, her skilful fingers softly stroking her naked skin as it began to emerge from the clothing until she also stood naked, save for her silk hosiery.

Katherine stood back, looking now upon Sophia's exposed body with the glint of lust in her hazel eyes. She said nothing, merely looked her up and down, before kneeling in front of her and placing her hands at the top of one shapely naked thigh. Slowly, softly, she ran her hands down the length of Sophia's shapely leg, pushing the hose before them, repeating the action with the other leg so that her mistress stood as naked as she. Standing then herself, their proximity left them almost touching and the ache she recalled form earlier in the evening returned swiftly as Sophia resisted the urge to simply grab the maid and pull their nakedness together.

Katherine raised her hands now to Sophia's hair, removed the combs holding it in place and pulled the long dark locks down over her shoulders. With a cursory glance, she seemed satisfied that Sophia was now completely unadorned and placed one hand on her neck, the soft fingers stroking her jaw as she did. The other hand she placed on the girl's hip, then slid it around her waist as she took one last step and brought their bodies together in a heavenly meeting of soft flesh.

Sophia shuddered as she surrendered to the sensations; the kiss of breasts as they cushioned together, the press of her tummy against Katherine's, pulled gently but firmly from behind by the arm around her waist. She mirrored Katherine's touch, putting one hand on her cheek and the other arm around the maid's waist, pulled them more firmly together. The tingle in her loins had fast become an ache, the wetness there now unmistakable. She wanted to throw herself onto the maid with reckless abandon but enjoyed the slow seduction, so continued to follow Katherine's lead.

Their lips were brushing each other with the faintest of touch, eyes locked to each other as if in hypnotic trance and Sophia allowed her breath to come and go in time with Katherine's. Her body grew hot, felt in turn the heat from the maid as each woman allowed their desire to build. As Sophia felt her need begin to overwhelm her reason, Katherine pressed their lips together, sliding her tongue between them to reach for hers, finding it, teasing it. With tiny steps she walked their joined bodies toward the bed.

Sophia felt the bed behind her thighs and fell backwards still holding tightly to Katherine, pulled her face so their mouths could not part and as they hit the bed, their teeth grated against each other, momentum pushing them hard together. The maid grunted from the impact and Sophia absorbed it, thrilling in the forbidden pleasure. She slid one leg between Katherine's, wrapped around it, felt her do the same and they locked to each other as the kiss became more urgent. The moist heat against her told of the maid's pleasure, mirroring her own in intensity and they almost gasped in and out of each other now, beginning to lose control of the slow burning seduction. As she felt her lungs burn with the need for air but not wanting to break the exchange of breath, Katherine pulled away, breaking the seal, leaving an amount of spittle upon Sophia's wanton lips. She lowered her mouth again to the waiting lips and softly sucked away the remainder of their kiss before pushing herself off Sophia and moving down her body, kissing each breast softly as she did so.

Instinctively, Sophia did not move, merely closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of those soft kisses as they travelled down her body, over her tummy to her hips, then her inner thigh. She opened her legs more to allow Katherine's head to approach her swollen and needful sex. As the first soft kiss landed on her other lips, Sophia trembled, knowing something wonderful was about to befall her. The maid began to gently stroke the lips with her tongue, then softly pushed between them, teasing the waiting clitoris, alternately circling then pressing it gently.

She wanted to clamp her thighs around Katherine's head, hold her mouth against her sex. Heat was building in her, she knew not to what end, only that she needed this and did not want it to stop. Unconsciously, her hips began to move in opposition to the stroking tongue, which now moved down to taste deeper in her between its circling and pressing on her clitoris. Sophia felt tingling there, a pressure in her stomach, her heart thundered in her chest and now, bereft of reason, she gripped the bed clothes, throwing her head back to try and quell the building scream.

Like she could read the need of her body, Katherine's stroking tongue circled faster, pressed harder until Sophia felt her mind would break with such extreme sensation. Then, just as she thought she had reached her limit, white hot fire hit her like a crashing wave, her sex burning, her mind awash with pleasure she had never felt, the waiting scream breaking forth. The tongue reduced its pace, with very gentle touches now, each sending a shock though Sophia's body which seemed to have taken a mind all its own, jerking and bucking with each soft touch.

Katherine stopped probing with her tongue and climbed back up the bed to straddle the exhausted Sophia, lowered her face and kissed her passionately. Her mouth was sticky, sweet with a musky aroma Sophia had never encountered. Knowing it must be the juice of her own loins, she kissed the maid with as much vigour as she could manage though she still shook, exhausted from the first orgasm she had ever experienced.

"Such pleasure as I never imagined," she whispered as the maid pulled back her face for a moment.

"Happy to be of service, miss," said the maid almost in a whisper, her lips stroking Sophia's as she spoke.

Feeling her strength slowly return, she grabbed the smiling maid with both arms pulling her body down to hers once more then rolled to the side, reversing their positions. She kissed Katherine hard for a long moment, then whispered in her ear. "I'm a fast learner, my teacher." In perfect imitation of Katherine's seductive ritual, she began to kiss her way down the glistening nakedness to return the pleasure she had just experienced, needing to know the beautiful maid was a satisfied as she.

They lost all track of time in the all consuming passion of their love-making and after several exchanges of secret kisses and the ensuing fire of orgasm, they lay together in Sophia's bed, a tangle of limbs, soft skin, perspiration and feminine aroma. Sophia was overwhelmed and now, utterly spent, she clung tightly to the architect of that pleasure, kissing her softly, feeling their well oiled smoothness sliding easily together. She wanted to hold her forever, wrapped in their pleasure and each other, high society and its rules be damned. They both knew the danger of their passion, though and as they drifted into sleep, cradled in each other's arms, both wondered on the future and what fate may hold for this forbidden union.

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When Sophia awoke, unaware of the hour, her arms and bed were empty, only the depression in the pillow next to her evidence that Katherine had been there. Casting her mind back over their night of passion and smiled to herself; her maid was an extraordinary girl and she could not have guessed she was such a seductress. She rose and rang for hot water, the musky aroma of their love-making very much in evidence upon her. Expecting Katherine to bring the water she was surprised to see one of the other maids arrive at her door and wondered where her lover had got to. She bathed quickly, dressed for walking and skipped downstairs to see who was abroad.