Mistress of Siren Cove Ch. 08-10

"Claridge's, please," Elysia said quietly to the driver, trying to hide her Chicago accent.

To Elysia, the grandeur of Claridge's was breathtaking, and would be a fitting backdrop for two women of means. They each had a room which spoke of luxury obtained at a price. They spent the next two days acclimating to a new time zone, and to London itself. Both had been there before, but neither with quite so much money to spend.

On the evening of the third day, Elysia appeared, unescorted, with an invitation, at a charity benefit hosted at the Ritz. Antoinette remained at the hotel. Elysia was not interested in the charity and was apparently only there to be seen, like many of the fashionable women there. Her target was Bill Tandry, a handsome CEO of a tech startup, known for his brilliance, but not his charm. He was there with his wife.

With ticket in hand and allure turned on, she made a grand entrance. The room buzzed with the elite of London, but Elysia's eyes went immediately to Tandry, standing with a drink next to his wife. She waited until the wife walked off to chat with a friend. Navigating through the sea of guests, Elysia neared him and leaned in close. The hum of her siren song, soft yet compelling, filled his ears, and like a moth to a flame, Tandry was drawn to her, and the rest of the room faded. As she smiled at him, she suddenly seemed the most beautiful woman in the room.

"Hello, I'm Bill Tandry," he said with a smile, while his usual guarded demeanor melted away by her charm.

"It's stuffy in here, don't you think?" Elysia's voice was warm with invitation. She lightly took his hand and led him through the crowd to the open doors to the dimly lit terrace. She continued humming as she walked, and Tandry walked closer to her, eager to be with her.

Outside, without a word, Elysia moved close to him, lightly kissed his lips, and looked into his eyes. She sensed in him a strong response to her and knew that he would come to her if she asked.

"Please come to me, tomorrow night at seven, will you?" Then she gave him her name, hotel, and room number.

"Yes, I will come," he said with excitement in his eyes.

"But for now, you must return to your wife. And remember, my name must remain our little secret."

Then she left Tandry standing there, dazed, and disappeared into the crowd. As soon as she was well hidden by people, she left the hotel.

The next evening, as Tandry stepped into her room at exactly seven, Elysia was anxious. She had done a seduction and entrapment before, with Antoinette, but now she was alone with this man, and the stakes were high. Dinner was quiet, and she had fun laughing and flirting with the handsome man. After eating, they had drinks sitting on a sofa, and she sat close to him, her hand resting lightly on his knee. They kissed, and she allowed him to touch her. As his hands caressed her body, she felt his urgency to make love to her but wanted to wait until his need for her had peaked. When she thought he was ready, she led him to the bedroom, and they lay together. Afterward she said, "You are mine now."

To secure the binding, she called him to her room on four more nights. Each time she told him as he left that he could not, under any circumstances, tell anyone about her. As they spent time together, she induced Tandry to tell her about his work, and then she sent detailed summaries of what he told her to the Palace analysts. The word came back that the technology would be as dangerous as they expected.

Tandry's company was working on technology that would revolutionize food production. It would not increase the food supply but would only automate food production, eliminating the jobs of tens of millions of people. The result would be more profits but also more poverty and despair in the world. The analysts told Elysia to get them all the data on the technology, the funding, and the plans for use.

"Do you think he's ready?" she asked Antoinette. She had given Antoinette details of the ongoing seduction each time she and Tandry saw each other. Antoinette thought for a long time, and then said yes. Elysia agreed and she texted Tandry letting him know they needed to talk.

When Tandry contacted Elysia, she ordered him to send all the data concerning the project to her by email, and then forget that he did it. He complied without asking any questions, and then she forwarded the information to the Palace. It was not long before the analysts told her that the results of the technology would be even worse than they imagined, while Tandry's little company would make a fortune.

The response from the Mistress was swift and unequivocal. The project must be stopped, and the technology shelved. They would do this by cutting off its funding. The data from Tandry showed that he was entirely dependent on a single venture capital firm, and the man in charge of the funding was James Teal. Their plan was simple. Antoinette would get to Teal and make him stop the funding for the project.

Wasting no time, Antoinette arranged a meeting with Teal. It wasn't long before she had him aching to be with her, and she invited him to her bed that very night. After several nights with Antoinette, he was thoroughly under her spell.

Antoinette told Teal to send her the funding package for Tandry's project, which she then forwarded to the Palace. The next day she received instructions that she used to get Teal to cancel the remaining funding for the project. The Palace analysts had prepared a meticulously detailed and irrefutable report, which showed that continuing to fund Tandry's project would lead to massive financial losses for Teal's company and possible legal problems. The analysis, which Teal was to claim was his own work, was designed to instill doubt and fear in the hearts of the investors.

Teal went to management with the report, and based on Teal's conclusions, they had no choice but to pull the plug on the project. Future funding was withdrawn, leaving Tandry's project in limbo and its future uncertain. In addition, Antoinette had Teal quietly put the word out on the street that Tandry's project was poison so that other venture firms would steer clear of the company. Teal's firm, once confident in the investment, now licked its wounds and went looking for new opportunities.

While the funding package was being canceled, and while Tandry started a fruitless search for new funding, Antoinette and Elysia continued to take the men to their beds, keeping them eager to listen to the suggestions of their siren lovers.

Two weeks had flown by since the venture capital firm yanked the funding, leaving the project starved for cash to make payroll and pay rent. Company morale was at an all-time low. This is when Elysia stepped in once again, with her influence over Tandry stronger than ever.

"Bill, it's time to let it go," Elysia said, her voice filled with sympathy and concern for him. "Without venture capital backing, the odds of bringing this technology to market are slim. Maybe it's time to consider other options."

Tandry, desperate and cornered, knew she was right. He called a meeting with his partners, his voice heavy with the weight of defeat. "The funding's gone," he admitted, "and our only option is to sell the patents we've got and use the money to move on to something new."

The suggestion was met with a mix of resignation and reluctant agreement. But all agreed that it was time to sell and cut their losses.

Two days later, the Palace's legal and analysis teams had put together an offer to acquire Tandry's technology. The negotiations were swift and silent, the paperwork impeccable, and before Tandry and his team knew it, the patents were no longer theirs. The Mistress had the technology and related patents put on a shelf, not to be used unless someone could do so without destroying the lives of millions.

Antoinette and Elysia brought each man to their beds one more time, and after several hours of lovemaking, both women kissed their men goodbye.

Each one said, on parting, "You will now forget me, forget my name and face, and forget anything you said to me, anything I said to you, and anything you did at my request." Both men repeated these instructions, and when the doors closed, they both were left standing in a hotel hallway, wondering how they got there.

Antoinette and Elysia prepared to depart, their mission accomplished, but before they left had a celebratory dinner. After dinner, they both went to Elysia's room to relax. They were leaving for home the next day and just wanted to put everything out of their minds and enjoy each other's company.

As it got late, Antoinette asked, "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Of course," replied Elysia. "I get tired of sleeping alone. I'm going to take a shower. Do you want to join me?"

"Yes, I would. We can wash each other's backs."

They both stepped into the large shower, letting the hot water wash away the tension of the last two months.

"I can't believe we did this," said Antoinette. "I mean, I am glad we did it, but I am glad it is over. I was so anxious, all the time. I am still anxious now that it is over."

Elysia looked at her sympathetically and took her in her arms. Antoinette let out a little sob of pent-up stress, and Elysia held her tighter as the water ran over them. They stepped out of the shower and dried each other's hair, then crawled into bed. Neither put anything on because they wanted to feel the warmth of each other as they kissed and held each other close. As Elysia held Antoinette, she wondered, "Is this love?"

Continued... Ch 11