Raven Ch. 01

This is the second series of 'Michelle'. Please read the first series for background and context.

****

The woman at the hotel bar looked to be in her mid to late twenties, long black hair and fair complexion. Toned, tall, especially in heels, a black ruffle mini dress completing the look. Her manner easy, confident. The barman knew she was a working girl, a high class one.

Her client, a bland, nondescript businessman, had been tongue-tied for the first twenty minutes, but she was open, warm and tactile, working hard to relax him. Returning from the restroom, he was smiling and slightly flushed from drink as he took his seat next to her.

Glancing at his watch, he made sure she caught the fact it was an expensive one. She duly did, admiring its sleek elegance, observing he must be successful to afford such a watch. He demurred but puffed out his chest in pride.

She knew he wasn't that successful, suspecting he was paying more for her than he could comfortably afford. Perhaps this was a treat to himself. Away from the wife, which he mentioned, and the family, again mentioned, and a chance to blow a wad of cash in one mad selfish gift to himself.

Squeezing his thigh, she suggested they go to his room 'and party'. James liked the idea. His real name was Reginald. He was more of a Reginald, the woman thought.

James groped her arse clumsily in the lift while slobbering down her neck and telling Raven that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met.

Accepting the compliments with practised grace, Raven contemplated how to play him. She guessed it would take about ten seconds to have him on his knees worshipping her, which was fine, but she did wonder if he wanted anything 'different. He had stressed that he just wanted straight sex during booking, but then that was normal. Asking if they could bathe naked in cold rice pudding was never the first thing they requested.

They were in an upper-tier room in a good London Hotel. Raven sat on the sofa and accepted the drink with zero intention of drinking it.

"So, James, tell me what a rich, handsome, successful man like you really wants with a girl like me."

"You mean a Goddess?" He smiled.

"Yes, a Goddess, why should a Goddess like me bother with you? You are nothing to me," Raven changed tack, "but you do carry a shameful secret, don't you?"

He held his breath. "Yes, how did you know?"

"I always know." Raven didn't, but men invariably had at least one shameful secret, even if it was only in their heads. "Tell me," she invited seductively.

"My wife is a lovely woman, and I'm very fortunate. I just wish she was more 'dirty' if you know what I mean. Like if I came home one day and found a pair of her panties lying on the floor and there was man's cum inside them like she had been fucking another guy, she's just so clean."

Raven laughed. "She probably is; she's just not stupid enough to let you find out. Is she home all day?"

"Yes."

"And do you think she spends all that time ironing your briefs and cooking your meals? You want to know how many housewives do what I do for the extra cash and a bit of fun?"

"Really?" James seemed struck by the idea.

"Yes, really. She's probably hanging out with the local tarts and picking up punters for a £20 fuck." Raven could see this working on him. She ditched the Goddess angle.

Rising gracefully, she stood in front of him and slowly hitched up her dress, revealing lacy black knickers and stocking tops. Pulling her knickers to one side, she exposed herself.

"You see that, honey? You see my shaven cunt? I've been selling that since I was eighteen. Blokes in cars, back alleys, seedy hotels, all sticking their fat pricks inside me. You want to know how many guys have fucked me? Go on, guess."

He stared wide-eyed at her pussy, then up at her. "Lots, a hundred or so?"

Laughing, Raven shook her head. "Honey, I'm a whore. I started out as a cheap whore, and now I'm an expensive whore. Try around a thousand or so. I'm a corrupt, black-hearted whore with the stink of degeneracy deep in my bones, and you know what, James?"

"What? Tell me, tell me you love been a fucking whore!" His eyes were feverish, his voice hoarse as he scrambled to undo his trousers.

"I adore being a whore. I love that men pay to stick their dicks in me. I love being a degenerate, filthy cunt."

"Oh, fuck, yes!" He was out of his trousers and ripping at his shirt. Raven stepped out of her dress as they staggered to the bed. "Tell me you've had STD's, abortions!" He yammered.

Rolling on the condom, Raven smiled, "I've had gonorrhoea twice and one abortion. Also, herpes," she added for good measure, letting him push her down onto the bed.

"You filthy, diseased piece of shit!" He snarled as he thrust into her.

"Lucky you are wearing that rubber," laughed Raven, "your cock would probably rot!"

"Yes, yes, you dirty fucking bitch, you fucking stinking cesspool CUNT!"

Twenty-three minutes after entering his room, Raven was riding the lift back down. Stashing the money in her small handbag, she smoothed down her dress and decided to call it a night.

Hailing a black cab, she gave an Islington Street address, then settled back, pulling out her phone.

"I've finished for the evening, Mehzin. How is she?"

"Sleeping, good as gold. Shan is still out."

"Okay, see you soon."

Michelle put away her phone and noticed the driver watching her. Feeling playful, she affected not to notice and gave him a quick flash.

The driver smiled, acknowledging the game. Dropping her off, he knocked the fare down. She leant in and kissed him as thanks. It had been a fun journey.

Waiting until the cab was out of sight, she walked to the next street and let herself into a fashionable townhouse.

Mehzin shouted out to her from the kitchen.

"Smells good," said Michelle, hugging the older woman from behind.

"You smell of sex!" Mehzin shook her off.

"That's because I have just had sex. Quick and frantic sex, but sex nonetheless. It's my night off, and I fancied a spot of whoring." She squeezed Mehzin's boobs and ignored the woman's protests. "Oh, you like it really, you moany old bag." Michelle kissed Mehzin to quash any further mock complaints. "I'll pop in and see her."

"I told you, she's asleep."

"I know." Michelle went quietly upstairs. Softly she opened the nursery door and stared in wonderment at her daughter before closing it again.

It had been nearly a year since she had given birth and twenty months since she had quit McCraddocks or at least tried to quit. Instead, Mary had turned it into an indefinite leave of absence on half-pay. That wouldn't last forever, not that it mattered. Her Titchester town flat was rented out and paid for itself, and she was earning well working for Mehzin. Then there was the money she had accumulated with Kax during their time working together. Time that had led to him serving eighteen months for assault.

Joining up with Shan and Mehzin in London had seemed ideal. Working for Mehzin had been an education. It gave her space to deal with being a mother and reflect on an incident that had disquieted her. It wasn't the incident but her response to it, or rather her lack of response that bothered her. Time away had allowed her to come to terms with herself and who she was.

Joining Mehzin at the table, Michelle tucked into the butternut and spinach curry. Mehzin tore off some bread and dipped it into the sauce.

"Client, okay?" Mehzin asked.

"Fine, turned out quick and less boring than I anticipated. All he really wanted was a £10 junkie fuck, except she wouldn't have got into his head." And his cock really would have dropped off.

Mehzin raised an eyebrow as Michelle expanded on the encounter. "So, what he wanted was a filthy mind and the pretence of a corrupt, diseased body. Sounds charming. I still don't understand why you play the whore. Is it solidarity with Shan? You're better than this."

"And Shan isn't?" there was an edge to Michelle's voice.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant, and I told you it's good cover. Raven is a name with a visible source of income, and it's useful to hide behind." And I enjoy it, and yes, it's something I can share with Shan, Michelle added to herself.

"Whatever, what are your plans for the rest of the week?"

"I'm seeing Mr Kax tomorrow. Then I'm working on my project. Great curry this." Michelle added, wanting to deflect Mehzin from asking about her project.

"Ah, your secret project," Mehzin wasn't to be deflected, nor could she hide her annoyance at not knowing what it was. "Don't forget, I will need you around next week. There's a new shipment coming in, and I also need you to do the rounds and keep everyone in line. That is if you can tear yourself away from playing the whore."

"No problem." Michelle ignored Mehzin's irritation. The three shared a bed, but not all their secrets.

****

Kax was in a sour mood. The closer it got to release date, the sourer he got.

Michelle didn't say anything. She was adept at reading his moods, and right now, all he wanted was someone to listen to him and keep quiet.

"Fucker nearly copped it, cunt knows I've only got a few weeks to go." He kneaded his knuckles in frustration.

He went on in similar vein until it was out of his system. Finally, he asked. "She okay?"

"Amanda is fine."

He looked pleased. "Showed Leroy her picture."

Michelle said nothing. Their unexpected child had initially made their relationship awkward. The trial adding further strain, and then Michelle refused to see him in the last four months of her pregnancy which pissed him off.

"Meakins approach you again?"

"No." Shortly after Michelle had resumed visiting Kax, one of the senior guards had intimated a trade of sex in return for making life easier for Kax. Michelle hadn't replied either way but put the offer to Kax.

"Fuck, no. Fucking creep. Tell him to fuck off. What did you tell him?"

"Nothing. Thought I would talk to you first."

"What the fuck for?"

Michelle kept her temper. "Because this is an environment you know and I don't. Anything I do, no matter how well-intentioned, could do more harm than good."

Kax glared at her but was pleased she acknowledged his experience. "He figured you were some dumb white bitch he could scare into opening her legs. Guess he doesn't know you too well."

"Or you, Mr Kax."

For the first time, he smiled, "Yeah." He didn't add that Michelle was probably the only one who did.

"May I talk freely, Mr Kax?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not going to keep apologising for refusing to see you while I was pregnant. We are not a couple in the traditional sense, but I like you a lot. I value what we have, Amanda or no Amanda."

"Yeah, I hear you." Kax didn't tell Michelle he liked her or missed her. He didn't need vulnerability right now.

The 'I hear you' had been enough for Michelle. They were two people who did understand each other. From that point on, the awkwardness gradually disappeared, and Kax allowed himself to show an interest. He had fathered a boy when he was nineteen. Last time he heard, the boy had been adopted and was doing okay. Kax had left it at that.

This time was different. Not just he that was older but because of who the mother was. The only woman he had ever liked and still did. It was soon after that he casually suggested making their relationship more traditional.

"Sure, I guess," replied Michelle.

"You guess? Is that all you have to say?" Kax was annoyed again.

Puzzled, Michelle was at a loss what to say. "No, I mean that would be great," she smiled.

"Well, okay, that's settled then," he grumbled, mollified by her positive reaction. "When I get out, we'll sort it."

"Yeah." Michelle paused. "Sort what?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, forget it."

"Fine, suit yourself, I've no fucking idea what--"Michelle stopped suddenly and put her hands to her face. "Oh, my God!"

Kax glowered as she looked at him in delighted astonishment.

"Oh, my God," she repeated. "Yes, yes, if I think you are saying what you are saying!"

Still staring, Kax leant forward. "Are you crying?"

"No, yes, fuck off!" Michelle dabbed her eyes and smiled happily. It may not have been the most romantic proposal or setting, but Michelle wouldn't have changed it for anything.

"I would be honoured to be your wife, Mr Kax," said Michelle formally, blinking back the tears that threatened again.

It didn't show, but Kax was pleased. "Yeah, well, time I stepped up. I have a family to look after."

"You're such a romantic, Mr Kax."

He laughed, his face softening. "Honestly, I didn't know what you would say. We're a bit fucked up as a couple."

"No, we're perfect for each other. You've always been the one for me. I knew that almost from the first time I met you." And that was as close as Michelle was going to get to declaring her undying love for him.

"Thanks, Lady." He decided to change the subject. "How is that project of yours going?" Kax being in prison meant you never talked specifics. Michelle not been in prison did, so she told him. It was her third reason for moving to London.

****

It had been pure chance. She and Kax had stopped at a motorway service when she spotted a familiar figure. A figure she hadn't seen in years. Frozen in shock, Michelle stared until Kax returned from the restroom.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Nothing. We have to go. Wait, no, sit!"

They sat.

"Who you looking at, Lady?"

Eventually, Michelle replied. "My father." Her face was white. "Keep an eye on them over there," she said abruptly, then walking hurriedly to the restroom where she was violently sick.

Eventually, she returned to find them and Kax gone. Frantically she looked around, then was almost sick again. Finally, she saw Kax coming back into the service area and dashed over.

"Where are they?"

"Gone."

"What do you mean fucking gone? Gone where?"

"Lady, how the fuck should I know?"

"You fucking lost them, him, again!" She hit him; people paused to look.

"Calm down. I followed them to their car and took a few pics. I've got the car registration."

Relief washed over her. "Thank God!" She hugged him and spent the journey back gazing at the pics. Her father had left her when she was eleven. Her father had a partner, a wife. Her father had a daughter. A daughter that wasn't her. Her name, she found out later, was Megan.

The additional news of pregnancy came soon after, then Kax was arrested, his past catching up with him, and more recent allegations. It looked serious for a time but having a law firm with contacts in your corner got him eighteen months. Kax took that all day long.

It was at this point Michelle quit McCraddocks and hooked up with Shan and Mehzin in London. Her baby occupied Michelle's main thoughts, but her father and Megan were never far. She hired an investigator to look into them during her pregnancy and had a thick folder on their backgrounds, especially Megan. Michelle reserved her hate for Megan.

****

Michelle stirred as Shan came through the bedroom door. Checking her phone, Michelle saw it was just gone one in the morning.

"Hiya, babe," Michelle whispered, activating the voice-controlled light.

"Hey, you're awake. I wasn't sure." Shan leant over and kissed her lover's forehead.

"Busy night?"

"Yeah, Dinner with Toby and his client. Other girl was Lauren. Nice girl, sexy and smart. First time I've worked with her." Shan left her expensive dress on the floor, rolled down her stockings, balled them and threw them into the corner. Shan was a natural slob.

Naked, she climbed into bed and cuddled up to Michelle.

"Lauren good at the job?"

"Yeah, the client was a creep, she handled him well. Older than she looks, very refined, elegant, classic English rose. Great at eating pussy," Shan grinned in the dark as she lay in Michelle's arms.

"Whore."

"True."

They lay there quietly, Michelle enjoying Shan's musky odour of sex and sweat. She liked earthy smells, as did Shan. It triggered a memory. "Remember that time you brought me spare clothes after I slept with Wendy? And I came out of the shower to find your face buried between her thighs. You claimed you loved her stink."

"I did not say that! I mean, I did, but I didn't say it. In fact, I was a bit embarrassed!"

"Embarrassed? You were brazen as hell, just started dating the woman, and you steamed in the next day!" Michelle was giggling at the memory.

"I saw her a few times actually," confessed Shan.

"You cow! You never said--she never said!"

"Well, of course, we didn't. We were fucking behind your back. One Saturday, you left to work with Karen, and I went in ten minutes later. I was waiting outside for you to go."

"You conniving bitch!" Michelle pushed Shan away in mock protest.

"Hey, stop! I'm falling out of bed!"

"Falling into Wendy's bed, you mean!"

"I couldn't resist! She would sit on my face with that gorgeous fucking arse! I couldn't get enough of it. Used to smell your pussy on her too sometimes--ouch!" Laughing, Shan lay on the floor as Michelle tried to swat her with a pillow.

"Sush! Amanda!" Michelle said suddenly.

Instantly they stopped and listened. The monitor was in Mehzin's room for the night.

"Think we are okay," whispered Shan as she climbed back in.

Settling back down, they huddled. "Did you do Wendy after she got married?" Michelle asked.

"No, well, we had a grope at the reception, but Wendy was too terrified of Donna. And smitten."

"Yeah, funny little thing Donna, don't think she liked me much."

"That's only because you and Wendy were a bit of an item for a while. Me, I was Wendy's dirty secret, so Donna was fine with me."

"Slut bag."

"True. Good one too."

Both girls laughed.

"Hey, who else did you fuck while I was dating them? Rosie?"

"Everyone fucked Rosie. The woman is absolute filth. I did warn you about her. Mead was out for obvious reasons." Shan added with some bite.

"Yeah, I really went for him towards the end about his dinosaur attitudes. Used to bug me."

"It bugged you?"

"Okay, fair point."

Shan relaxed. "Rosie did invite me round once. I swear she tried to eat me, literally!"

"She was wild underneath all that sweetness."

"Wild? The woman was batty!"

"Yeah, but the sex, babe, she let me do things-"

Shan stopped Michelle with a kiss. "How about we let lesbian lovers of the past lie?" She slipped her hand between Michelle's thighs, caressing her.

"Well, when you put it like that," Michelle returned the fondle. "You say this Lauren knew how to eat pussy?" She began trailing her tongue between Shan's breasts and down to her tummy.

"One of the best, babe. Think you can do any better?"

"Oh, I know I can," murmured Michelle as she went down on her lover.

****

Michelle watched the young girl chatting with two of her friends. Megan was the quiet one of the three. Shoulder length light brown hair. A bit heavy in the boobs and bum. Nineteen years old. Which meant she had been born when Michael, her father, was still with Linda. This enraged Michelle further. She had a slight hope that Michael was not Megan's dad, but the investigator had scotched that one. Megan was the issue of an affair with Carol, a dumpy, vacuous brunette. At least, that's how Michelle viewed her.

It was petty, but Michelle did gain some satisfaction that Megan favoured her mother in body type, just as Michelle had Linda's tall, slender figure. Michelle was taking her consolation victories where she could. Sitting behind a partition in the sandwich bar, she was close enough to hear and concealed enough to the casual look.

The two friends were teasing Megan, which seemed to be a common occurrence. Becky was blonde, thin with sharp features. Hale was a stunning mixed-race girl with a wide smile. Becky was a bitch, and Hale too full of herself. Both looked down on Megan. Michelle loathed all three of them.