Michael Ch. 12

"Apologies for dragging you away from the party." Michelle busied herself making a pot of coffee in the kitchenette of her private quarters.

"I can do that," offered Sammie.

"No, I'm good. Take a seat."

Watching Michelle, Sammie thought she looked tanned and fit. Her hair had grown longer and flopped around with minimal care. Sammie wondered what it foreshadowed, but this relaxed version was a positive sign.

"Thank you, Mistress," said Sammie as she took the coffee cup.

"I just wanted to chat, see how Amanda is getting on,. She seems to be expanding her horizons."

"Yes. If I can speak freely?"

"No point having this chat if you don't."

"Personally, I feel almost part of Amanda. Her mix of genuine warmth and talent for cruel humiliation works for me. This collar reminds me of my old life and binds me to my new one."

"Pleased to hear it. I knew you would be perfect, your obsessive need for submission matches my own obsessions. That with your loyalty is a rare thing."

"Thank you. But I have spoken to Amanda about keeping that balance, that she shouldn't pander to much toward cruelty, which she is apt to do in front of others."

"Showing off you mean. Like filming you getting arse fucked. That was really hot."

"Yes, exactly that," Sammie felt a worm of pleasure at knowing this woman had witnessed her humiliation. "Amanda sometimes listens, sometimes punishes me for speaking out of turn."

"Speaking out of turn is very on-brand for you," smiled Michelle.

"I worry she will lose that balance."

"And become me?"

"Yes."

They regarded each other for a few moments. "Then keep at it. I afford Amanda a freedom and a lifestyle that can be seductive and intoxicating. It can go to a young girl's head, as we saw."

Sammie assumed she was referring to Jalsa. "No one is sorry to see her go."

"So I hear." The party was celebrating Jalsa's departure.

"If I may ask, what will you do with Harriet?"

"I gave her the option of returning to her mother, but she wants to stay. She feels at home within this community. Here she can fufill her deep submissive craving and her masochistic needs."

"That's good news."

"I understand you two have bonded?"

"I think it is important those of us below stairs have each other's support, and space to call our own." Sammie sipped her coffee. There was a formality to their interaction that felt comfortable. "Harriet would prefer to be actively owned. It gives her a strong sense of meaning." There was another brief pause. "I understand from Tilly that you met someone?"

"Yes, a woman who seems to have bewitched me. Her name is Gabrielle--are you suggesting I give Harriet to Gabrielle? Seriously, Gabrielle would denounce me on the spot, probably have me arrested. She does not share our perspective. Very vanilla."

"Shame. It was just a thought."

" A good one, but no, Gabrielle is a civilian. She is though the reason I wanted this chat. I need some advice."

****

Tilly sighed happily on all fours, her arse in the air as Bill ploughed into her, wheezing as he did so.

"She really laid into you arse!" He chuckled, slapping Tilly's bum cheeks, the pale flesh marred by red stripes.

"Yes, Sir, she did." Tilly wriggled on his cock. Bill had been seeing her intermittently--he had even taken her on a date to the cinema.

Tilly felt his seed pumping into her with some regret. Bill was an eager lover but seemed fixated on getting the job done in as little time as possible.

Wiping himself on her discarded skirt, he slapped her arse again. "You enjoy that?"

"Always," replied Tilly dutifully.

Showing off 'his woman' down the pub, his trips to the compound and privileged access had transformed Bill in the eyes of his acquaintances and, to a degree himself. He had lost weight, bought new glasses, and Tilly helped him pick out new clothes.

His prize, though, was two selfies with Michelle. One where he was looking down her cleavage with a big grin on his face. After years of being mocked for claiming to have slept with Raven, he was not shy in showing that he did have a relationship with her.

"Sure that's her?" A voice queried.

"Yeah that's her. I did some work at the Compound about a year ago," another voice interjected.

Bill's loud boasting reached Max, who checked it out one evening.

"He's bragging all the time that he has special access, that you liked him fucking you back in the day. And he's showing everyone that stupid fucking selfie shite!" raged Max.

"To be fair I did enjoy him fucking me. I was a lot younger than, before you know." 'You know' was code for Kax. "Young girls do dumb things."

"He's disrespecting you, hear him tell it, he was running the operation with you as a figurehead!"

"No one believes that!" Michelle thought about popping down to Bill's local. That would cause a stir and be amusing.

"No fucking way, Lady!" Max responded angrily as she floated the idea. "He needs sorting, a proper sorting."

"There is to be no sorting and no unfortunate accidents. He may be a boasting, loud-mouthed, brainless idiot, but he is right on one thing."

Max doubted it and said so.

"Bill does have privileged status," she paused. "You know I think I will pop round one evening. It will be a nice surprise for him."

Max pondered the surprises he would like to inflict.

****

"So you really like her?" asked Sammie.

"More than like. She enchants me. I can't stop thinking about her. We spent all the time talking, which is difficult because I can't say much about myself, have to keep it minimal."

"Have you slept with her?"

"Yes, sort of, okay no. We've shared nights, made out a little, kissing mainly but I've not seen her naked or had sex, sex. She kind of intimated on our last night that it would be okay, but I didn't take it. I saw her off at the airport, swapped contact details and said I would get in touch."

"Have you?"

"No. What do I say? I thought about a new ID, set up an address, invent a back story."

"Mistress," said Sammie gently.

"I know, I know, as soon as she finds out she'll be devastated at the, well, you know."

"Lies."

"Yeah, that."

"Deceit."

"You made your point, don't make me come over there and slap you."

"You know what you have to do." Sammie ignored the threat.

"Then I'll never see her again. At least my way I'll have some time with her."

"I'm not thinking of you, I'm thinking of her, and her well being." Sammie felt the growing tingle in the back of her neck. She should have guessed Michelle had access to the controls. The tingling slowly faded.

"So I tell her everything?" Michelle muttered after a few minutes of brooding.

"I wouldn't tell her everything, give yourself some chance." Sammie couldn't resist the sarcasm.

The jolt was sudden and sharp. Sammie blinked back the tears.

"You know if I really wanted to punish you, I should do so by not punishing you," said Michelle. "You deliberately provoked me then, didn't you?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"You belong to my daughter, most frustrating. You can go."

"Yes, Mistress." Sammie rose, conscious of a slight regret. The eroticism building between them was seductive.

****

Michelle waited outside the inner-city London school where Gabrielle worked. It had emptied out twenty minutes earlier. Michelle sighed as she spied Gabrielle half running toward her, face buried in a scarf against the chill. Why had she fallen so hard for this woman?

"I couldn't believe it when I saw your message, when did you get back in the country?" said Gabrielle, her face flushed with excitement.

They linked arms and headed to the underground.

"A little while, I had things to do then I thought it would be great to see you, so here I am."

"I'm happy you did!" Gabrielle stopped and appraised Michelle in her long tan coat. "You look so sexy!" Giggling, she kissed Michelle.

"Thanks, so do you."

"Hmm, you are such a smooth talker, I would say you are a heartless seductress except you haven't actually seduced me." The unspoken challenge was in Gabrielle's eyes.

"Perhaps I'm a very compassionate seductress, or maybe I just like you so much my nerve fails me."

"Nope, not buying it."

They boarded the train. Michelle made room for Gabrielle to sit while strap-hanging in front of her. Gabrielle chatted animatedly for the few stops and on the short walk to her flat.

"I'll warn you I'm a bit of a slob, so don't get freaked out."

"I won't," replied Michelle as she followed Gabrielle through the door and looked around her neat and tidy flat. "I knew a woman once, years ago, she was a real slob."

"As bad as me?"

About to correct her, Michelle changed her mind, sensing, for some reason, Gabrielle would like to be seen as a slob. Perfection craving a flaw. "About the same, terrible she was."

Pleased, Gabrielle went to the small kitchen and put the kettle on. Michelle followed. Gabrielle was skittish as they squeezed together and then, with an impatient 'bother!' grabbed Michelle, kissing her passionately.

"I should hang out in kitchens more often!" Michelle smiled, then quietened as they locked lips again.

"I know you've been wanting to do that, but you've got into your head that I'm some delicate bloom, well I'm not, I've had my moments, done things that may even shock you!" Gabrielle reddened.

"Really?"

"Yes, really! Don't be mean. I'm a grown woman, not a china doll!"

Kissing her nose, Michelle held her tightly.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Gabrielle.

"Yeah, we need to talk."

"Sounds ominous."

For me, maybe. "I really like you, more than like and you're a good person."

"Are you going to finally tell me a bit about yourself, like your name isn't Michelle Smith? Because I figured that one out. I even know your real name." Gabrielle looked uncomfortable. Michelle looked surprised.

"You do?"

"Yes, I shouldn't have done it, but I knew you weren't being straight and there was an ID card on the bedside table in your room at Filo's. You asked me to get your sunglasses, remember? Margot Matthias. And you're Dutch. I thought you might be hiding from someone."

Watching Michelle's expression, Gabrielle burst into apologies. "I know it's wrong and I shouldn't have looked, but you are so mysterious!"

"No, listen. The ID was fake. My name is Michelle."

Gabrielle looked confused. "Why would you have a fake ID? Are you a spy?"

Despite the dread she was feeling, Michelle laughed. "No, I'm not a spy, it's just old habits. I feel comfortable when I have options. Look, can we sit down?"

Gabrielle took their mugs through to the living room, sitting on the small sofa.

"You have a lovely flat." Michelle knew she was delaying the moment.

"Thanks." Gabrielle was staring at her intently, worry lines on her expressive face. It was very fluid, almost transparent. The temptation to lie and spin a glamorous story was almost too much.

"My real name is Leason, not Smith. Michelle Leason." Sometimes it meant something, often not. It had been over a decade ago. Occasionally there would be a rehashed story, but rarely anything new.

Gabrielle frowned, the name did stir a memory. "Were you an actress or something?"

"No." Michelle could see it had some recognition. "See this scar?"

"It's cute, makes you look like a pirate."

"I got this in prison."

The shock played like a 30-second commercial on Gabrielle's face. "Oh, you poor thing!" Instinctively she took Michelle's hand to comfort her. "Can I ask what happened? Was it a man?"

"No, I was done for fraud, drugs, stolen goods, extortion with menaces, running brothels, money laundering, ABH. The brothels bit was bollocks, they put that in to glam it up." That still rankled.

Gabrielle was dredging up an old memory from a decade ago, that was a Michelle, a crime organisation, a woman boss, papers were all over it. Violence and murder? "They called you something else?" It was half statement, half question.

"Yeah, I went by Raven at the time."

Gabrielle disengaged her hand from Michelle's.

****

Max looked in the rearview. They were parked down from Bill's usual pub. It looked like a shithole.

"That bad, huh, Lady?" Michelle had started to open up.

"It could have gone better."

"That's fucked up. I know you liked her."

"Think I could have swung the fraud maybe the drugs, it was all the violence and suspicion of murder that did for me." Michelle sounded aggrieved.

Then Mr Snuggles made an appearance. In all her worry and angst over telling Gabrielle, Michelle had forgotten about the cat, which on hearing a stranger, had initially hidden under the spare bed.

Detecting the telltale shimmer had freaked Michelle and pushed an equally freaked Gabrielle over the edge, who bolted with the cat for her bedroom.

After ten minutes, Michelle knocked and got no answer. She gave it another five, announced she was leaving and let herself out.

Max was quiet, staring straight ahead. Michelle looked at him with suspicion. "Are you fucking laughing?"

Shaking his head, Max composed himself. "No just thinking it's a shame. She seemed a nice woman."

"She is. That fucking cat though, why the fuck--you shit! I knew you were laughing!" Furious, Michelle punched him in the back.

"Sorry, Lady, it's just--oh, God!" he creased up again.

"Fuck you!" Michelle hid a rueful smile. She was going to wring Mr fucking Snuggles' neck.

Bill was playing darts with three other guys when Michelle walked in. A three-sided bar served the main standing area, a small seating section to the side, with a pool table and darts board on the far side. Dark colours, wooden floor. A shithole. A half-full shithole. Silence fell when Michelle stalked in.

Max told her it was a bad idea.

"You're fired." Michelle got out of the car and walked to the pub.

"Fuck's sake!" Max spat in exasperation.

Spotting Bill on the far side, Michelle nodded to the barman and walked over. His gaping astonishment a sight to see. Apart from Michelle, only two other women were in the place, and they were well into their sixties. Being so out of place in this setting amused her.

"Michelle!" Bill exclaimed, then recovered himself. "You want a drink?"

"Orange juice. You playing 501, double to finish?"

"Yeah, you play?"

Nodding, Michelle picked up the lukewarm juice and gave the barman a sour look. "This place run to some fucking ice?"

No one could accuse Bill of being overly bright, but he could smell trouble and rushed to herd it off.

"Hey, Jim, some ice for the lady, she's just joking! Want me to take your coat? Then we can play some arrows. This is Ted, Dan and Will." All three grunted a 'hi', uncertain how to deal with her.

"I did some work at your place. Electrician." Ted offered.

Michelle ignored him. "We playing?"

"Yeah, teams of two, I'll partner, Michelle. You okay with that?" Bill asked.

"I'll sit this one out," offered Dan.

"No need. Max will partner up." Michelle looked at Max as he walked through. "He just got fired, he could do with a night out."

"Least I didn't get dumped," he shot back, taking off his coat. "Beer, draught." He said to the barman. "You buying, Lady?"

"Nope. Buy your own fucking drinks."

"I'll get it!" Bill chucked crumpled notes onto the bar.

The three other guys exchanged unhappy looks, giving Bill the what the fuck signal.

"Michelle, great to see you, and nice of you to come here, but we just want a drink and a friendly game, you know."

"I heard you've been boasting about fucking me back in the day."

Misery and uncertainty settled over Bill, unsure what to say.

"He did you know," smiled Michelle at the other three guys. "Wasn't bad for a total arsehole."

Laughter broke out, the tension easing. "Thought you were great too!" Bill chipped in.

"Such a sweet talker, are we getting this game going or what?"

"I'll partner, Max then," said Dan, "You okay with that?"

"Your funeral, Max is shit at darts."

"Fuck you, Lady," grinned Max.

"Guess you can say that, now you're sacked," laughed Ted.

"Mate, she sacks me at least once a month." Max chucked a dart at the board, missing the twenty.

"Told you he was shit," said Michelle smugly.

****

Naomi's balls rubbed along Amanda's face, smooth and delicious to the taste. The trans woman was lying atop Amanda, her own lips kissing the girl's long limbs, admiring her smooth calves. Shifting up, Naomi put her cock back into Amanda's mouth, who made little suckling noises of pleasure; Naomi kissed the girl's moist slit in return.

Persuading Naomi to stay a few days longer had stretched to over a week. Amanda had found her attractive on film. In the flesh, she was transfixed by her. In turn, Naomi had found the interplay between Amanda and Sammie highly erotic. Zapping the older woman with a casual indifference had captured her attention. Elaine Chang had also returned for the weekend, and the petite film director was pirouetting around a naked and bound Sammie, the smell of dope hanging in the air.

Secured upright to a metal post by leather straps, Sammie was there for decoration as much as anything else. But the anal plug extension on the post was not just for show, nor the fact it was wired to the same shock device on her neck and that the third component, a vibrating wand fixed onto her clit, was proving perhaps the most challenging part to cope with. That, and the cocaine Elaine had taken to snorting off Sammie's breasts which had begun to absorb through the sweat on Sammie's skin and was causing her heart to race.

All three devices worked on a random pattern, sometimes the wand and the neck collar, then the anal plug, then the anal plug and wand, never the collar and the plug. Sammie was unsure how long she had been here or how many times she had come. She wasn't even sure if this was torture or bliss or just torturous bliss, or even blissful torture. If she could smile, Sammie would have done so at the scrambled thoughts in her head, but the ball gag made smiling difficult, and besides, she was exhausted.

The neck collar kicked in, tensing Sammie. She watched her charge and Naomi mutually pleasure each other orally. The discussion with Michelle about balance echoed in her mind, and while this wasn't the cruelty Sammie feared, she knew this hedonism of the past few days wasn't quite the balance she was hoping for either, but then as the wand between her legs activated alongside the collar, Sammie lost herself in a drug-fuelled haze.

****

Gabrielle hugged Mr Snuggles in her lap as she talked to her sister via her laptop.

"Don't get involved, Gabby, you're not in too deep, just stay clear."

"I know, it's just I could feel her pain, you can't hold a person's past against them, people do change."

"No, you're just romanticising the situation. You always do this, see a bird with a broken wing, and you rush to help. Look at the shit with Melanie, always making excuses for her, then it gets toxic, and you're miserable. At least this time, you had a heads up. Be thankful for that. Remember your first impression of this woman? You said she walks like a predator, and there's a reason for it. She is one!"

"You're right, but--"

"But you find her attractive, and the fact she may be dangerous is compelling too. Look we all love a bad boy, or girl, think we can change them, make them happy. I get it. What you have to understand is that there is bad and there is murderous pyscho bad. You want the rumours? I talked to Carlos about her. You know she owns one of the villas in the hills? All this staying in small hotels, she has her own fucking villa! With staff! And then there is Patti Moore, moved out to the other island years ago. Kept herself to herself. Gave evidence against this Leason woman. Disappeared without trace. Probably dropped down a ravine!"