Sisterhood - Temptation Ch. 03

The stairs were more difficult than she had anticipated. She had to watch her step, not quite able to get a good view of her own feet as she walked at an awkward sideways angle. She paused for breath at the first floor, leaning against the wall. The chattering and the banging of doors that she had heard on her way down was now absent. The ball must be less than an hour away now. Most girls would be getting showered and dressed. Her roommates had probably already returned from the pool.

She climbed the second flight of stairs up to Vera's floor, moving a little quicker as she gained confidence. She walked with her back to the wall, leaning against it for a brief rest every few steps. After the staircase had doubled back on itself and she was nearly at the top, Katharina startled when she heard someone speak, from out of view behind the other side of the painting she was carrying, "Hello?"

"Oh. Hi," Katharina laughed. She recognized the high-pitched, affectedly cutesy voice of Mari, the girl she had met in Vera's chambers earlier.

"Hi," Mari's smiling face peered round the side of the painting, her fingers clutching the frame, "I thought it was you."

"Careful. Careful!" Katharina winced as the painting tilted slightly in her grip, threatening to teeter over.

"Oh, sorry," Mari giggled. She pushed lightly on the painting, helping Katharina to right it. "Maybe I can help you with that?"

"Um," Katharina hesitated. She wasn't sure that Mari would be much use, and she didn't want to impose on the girl. "It's okay. It's a one-person job. It looks heavy but actually it's just bulky really. I'd hate for you to feel responsible if we dropped it."

"What?" said Mari. She looked up at what Katharina was carrying, as if she were noticing it for the first time, "Oh, this? No, no, you're doing a great job with that on your own. I meant can I help you with this?" Mari fixed her gaze between Katharina's legs, then reached out one hand to slide it under the bulge of Katharina's dick where it was only partly tucked away. Mari looked up at Katharina, "Now this... this is a heavy object that you definitely need my help with."

"Oh no, please," Katharina whispered desperately, "No fun and games, not now. I might drop it. It's really important."

Mari scrabbled with her fingers to hitch up the front of Katharina's gown. She looked up with a mournful grin, batting her eyelids and sticking out her lower lip, "Oh no. Your hands are full with a priceless antique and there's nothing you can do."

"At least help me put it down first," said Katharina, exasperated.

"Oh come on," Mari wagged a finger at her, "That would be no fun."

"Ahh, please. Be careful," Katharina mumbled as she felt Mari's hand yank down the waistband of her tight shorts and reach in to free her dick. It swung out and began to rise and lengthen. Despite her anxiousness for the painting, Katharina felt the first, near-ticklish shiver of delight tremble along her dick and up her spine. The feeling of release after a few hours of tight discomfort spent tucked away in her shorts was already intensely gratifying on its own. Mari's touch felt exquisite.

"Oh, wow! Katharina, baby, why didn't you bring this to Auntie Mari sooner?" Mari giggled as her delicate fingers stroked along the underside of Katharina's shaft, teasing their way out to the tip, "She would have taken such good care of it."

"Oh fuck," Katharina groaned under her breath. She looked down and watched Mari bend to put her lips to the shaft, then purse them slowly and wrap them around it, all the while looking up at Katharina with her pretty, mischievous eyes.

Mari kissed her way slowly to the tip, then took the shaft in one hand and guided it past her lips and into her mouth. A delicious sensation of warmth and wetness enveloped Katharina. She shuddered, holding tight to the frame of the painting. Mari took Katharina only as far as the roof of her mouth, sucking and slurping on the tip, but Katharina could feel that it would probably already be enough to make her come if she didn't keep careful control of herself. To her great embarrassment, she could tell that she was leaking a little into Mari's mouth. Mari seemed either not to notice or not to mind, murmuring and giggling to herself as she lapped at Katharina's dick with her tongue.

Katharina groaned and slouched back against the wall. She concentrated on keeping the painting aloft and propped against her forehead. She looked straight ahead at the back of the frame, trying not to think of Mari's sweet lips and bright eyes. At least with the painting in front of her and her back to the wall, nobody could see her face. Even as this thought occurred to her, Katharina heard somebody pass by, two pairs of shoes clacking hurriedly against the steps.

Katharina gave a gasp of relief as Mari finally relented. She felt a soothing coolness at the tip of her dick as Mari's lips disengaged and exposed it to the air. Mari's hand was still on the shaft, pulling it taut. Katharina thought she could just about hold back the throbbing pressure inside as long as Mari let go soon.

The footsteps of whoever had passed by faded slowly beyond earshot. Mari let go of Katharina's dick and Katharina breathed a trembling sigh of relief. Then Mari turned, pulled down her leggings and bent forward at the waist until her hands touched the floor. Before Katharina could object, Mari reached back between her legs and bent Katharina's dick downward to guide it to her pussy as she backed up.

Katharina bit down on a sudden moan. Mari's pussy was incredibly tight, and felt burning hot. As with her mouth, Mari took in only the tip, plus what felt like a few centimeters more, but it was enough to be nearly unbearably pleasurable. Mari arched her back and twisted her hips from side to side, as if screwing herself on. Then in a momentary lapse of concentration Katharina stole a glance downward. She saw Mari's bare pussy stretched around the end of her dick, and Mari's tiny, point-like butthole twitching as she writhed. It was too much.

"Ahh, no, stop, I'm..." Katharina grunted. She tried to shove Mari off with her hips while clinging to the painting, but only succeeded in driving herself deeper into Mari's unforgivingly tight pussy. A surging warm throb welled up deep beneath the base of Katharina's dick just as Mari hopped forward on her hands to hoist herself off. Then she quickly thrust backward again, reaching once more between her legs to guide Katharina this time to her butthole.

Katharina felt her throbbing dick bend as Mari tried to force it in. It seemed there was no way Mari could stretch to accommodate her, but just as Katharina's first powerful spurt dashed against the cheeks of Mari's bare behind, Mari's butthole gave way and Katharina felt herself slide in, her passage smoothed by the cum already gushing from her dick.

Katharina looked up and grit her teeth, concentrating on not crying out. The sheer pleasure of release was clouded by some discomfort, with her dick bent downward to reach Mari's behind, and its tip held fast in the grip of Mari's outermost ring of muscle. But above all her climax was a powerful, gasping relief. Katharina's skin shivered with excitement and she had to concentrate in order to resist the urge to fling the painting aside, grab Mari by the hips and ram herself deeper in.

After a pause, Mari waddled forward on all fours. Katharina's dick slipped out of Mari's butthole with a quiet squelch then sprang up, still hard and faintly pulsing, to slap against Katharina's stomach and fling a last spurt of cum against the front of her gown all the way up to her neck. Mari crawled away out of sight under the bottom of the painting and got to her feet, swiftly pulling up her leggings.

"Um," Katharina called out hesitantly. She could see the bottom of Mari's legs at the other side of the painting, "That was, uh, nice, but could you...?"

"You need more?" Mari giggled.

"No," said Katharina hurriedly, "No, no. Just... Could you, um, tuck me back in? I'm kind of waving around, er, down there, and my hands are full."

"Oh. Of course," Mari laughed.

"Thanks," Katharina lifted the painting a little and Mari ducked back under to stand in front of her.

Mari held Katharina's gaze with a mischievous smile as pulled open the waistband of Katharina's shorts. "Ooh, still hard," Mari gasped, taking hold of Katharina's dick and bending it down to tuck it inside, "Sure you don't need a bit more?"

"Thanks, no," Katharina grimaced as Mari bent her dick to one side and laid it across her hip and round to the side of her waist, "But maybe another time we could... When it's more convenient."

"Maybe," Mari replied with a smile, "Or maybe I'll just come and get you. When it's not convenient. That's more fun." She pulled Katharina's gown back into place and smoothed it down, then stroked the sideward bulge of Katharina's dick, "That okay?"

Katharina's dick gave a last shivering frisson at Mari's touch, then she felt with relief that it was starting to soften. "Thanks, that's fine," she sighed.

"Okay," Mari chirped, "Bye. And enjoy the ball," She ducked away under Katharina's arm and round the other side of the painting, then Katharina heard her bare footsteps skip away up the stairs.

Katharina leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath. Now that she had survived Mari's ambush with the painting intact, she felt a quiet rush of pride and satisfaction. Perhaps the encounter boded well for the summer ball. She felt as if she wanted to get out there and seduce more dmurrhisi girls right away. With the afterglow of an intense, if slightly painful, orgasm ringing warmly across the surface of her skin, Katharina heaved herself upright and continued climbing the stairs.

With her dick now freed from between her legs, the ascent was rather more comfortable. Mari had done a decent job of tucking it to the side. Though Katharina realized as she walked that she would probably have preferred it across the other side of her body. The left side of the shaft was slightly more sensitive, and when she tucked it like this it just felt more comforting with the sensitive side exposed, and rubbing faintly against the fabric of her shorts.

She achieved the top of the stairs and made her way to Vera's door. She contemplated setting the painting down so she could knock, but suspected she would struggle to pick it up again. Her arms were really beginning to tire, and more so her fingers, pressed taut around the painting's hard frame. She reached out one foot to tap at the bottom of the door, and felt it give way and push ajar.

Katharina turned sideways to shunt the painting and then herself through the doorway. "Hello?" she called out quietly. She stepped forward. There seemed to be nobody in the main chamber. With a last gasp she leaned carefully forward and set the painting down leaned against the chaise on which she and Mari had sat earlier. Then she straightened up and twisted her torso, easing the stiffness out of her back. She wrung her aching hands together and took a look around. The late afternoon light still shone in through the lace curtains, perhaps a little less brightly than before. And there really was nobody around.

Katharina heard the faint humming sounds of a conversation from the next room, Miss Vera's bedchamber. She hesitated to announce herself. The main door had seemed to be ajar, but she couldn't be sure. And now she had let herself in. It seemed silly to pick up the painting and exit again to knock properly. So she waited, trying to strain out the words from the murmur in the adjoining room. It was indistinct. One voice sounded like Vera's, and seemed to be doing most of the talking. The other was too faint to make out. She gave up, and turned to the painting. She pulled off the covering and set it aside. In the brighter light of Vera's rooms, the forms and details were clearer. There was the artist's signature in the bottom right corner, a hopelessly indecipherable squiggle, barely more than a horizontal line.

Katharina thought to look over at the clock on the shelf above the dressing table. Nearly quarter to eight. The walk back had been slow, or Mari had detained her longer than it had seemed. The ball would be starting very soon. She still had to shower and change. Katharina stole herself and walked over to the door to Vera's bedchamber. She knocked, striking the back of her hand against the wood. It seemed that there was a pause or lull in the conversation taking place on the other side of the door. But Katharina found it hard to tell. She wasn't sure whether she had knocked hard enough for it to be audible. Then some sound or utterance came back. It was too muffled for any words to be discernible, but something about the pattern of intonation made it sound like an affirmation.

Katharina laid her hand on the door handle and pushed down. She swung the door very slowly inward, allowing Miss Vera and her conversation partner time to anticipate her entrance in case she had misinterpreted the murmur she had just heard.

As it spread slowly open, the door revealed first Vera, dressed as she had been in her yoga pants and red top, and standing about a pace away from the bed. Then beside her another girl came into view. This girl was similarly dressed, in a long-sleeved white top with navy blue stripes. She was wearing snugly-fit jeans in place of yoga pants. Katharina recognized her as Lena, a senior girl, also slightly older like Vera, perhaps in her late twenties. As far as Katharina had been able to divine such things, Lena seemed to have about the same sort of role and status in the Sisterhood as Vera did. Like Vera, Lena mentored newer girls and led some of the classes in the Sisterhood's teaching program. It was from occasional dance classes that Katharina knew her.

Katharina had always found Lena somewhat intimidating. She had a subtle smile, appeared cool and aloof. And she was dazzlingly beautiful. She had a sleek, angular face, and her smooth pale skin tinged a slight rosy red at her cheekbones. Her silky, dark blonde hair was always tied immaculately neatly behind her head. She was slim, and she moved with the sort of flawless elegance that made dancing look easy, even enjoyable.

What struck Katharina about Lena at the moment, however, was the fact that Lena had her hand down the front of Vera's pants, the elastic waistband stretched out around Vera's hips. The two girls seemed to have just pulled away from a kiss. Their lips were almost touching, Vera's eyes were closed, and her mouth hung slightly open in what looked like a voiceless groan.

There was a splitsecond during which it seemed that neither of the two had noticed the door opening. But then Katharina hesitated a splitsecond more trying to judge whether she could get away with quickly pulling the door shut, and the two other girls' eyes were suddenly on her.

"Oh. Ah... I'm sorry," Katharina stalled, desperately trying to assess whether it was better to cave in and apologize profusely or to pretend not to have seen what she had, or not to care about it, so as to save them all face, "I... I really thought I heard you say 'come in'."

Without taking her eyes from Katharina's, Lena whipped her hand deftly out from inside Vera's pants, yanking up the waistband as she went, then letting it snap back into place. Lena's voice was a quiet, husky purr, "Maybe I did."

The intense, ecstatic grimace that Katharina had briefly glimpsed on Vera's face melted quickly to a bright hot blush. "Katharina. Lovely to see you. Please," she flustered, "Don't worry at all. We'll be right with you."

Though she realized with a slowly-dawning dread where her own eyes were heading, Katharina found it was too late to stop herself from looking down at the very prominent tent-like horizontal bulge beneath Vera's tight yoga pants. There seemed to be a faintly glistening darker patch on the material at the very tip of the bulge.

Lena stepped forward and put her hand on Katharina's upper arm, gripping firmly. "Come," Lena ushered her back through the doorway into the main room, "Vera has one more piece of paperwork to take care of before she can see you. We can wait a moment in the next room. She will join us shortly," Lena spoke the last few words over her shoulder as she walked out, pulling Katharina with her.

Lena pulled the door quickly shut behind them and marched with Katharina over to the chaise in the middle of the room. Finding it mostly occupied with the painting, Lena wedged herself neatly into the bit of spare space between the frame of the painting and the arm of the chaise. "Please," she indicated the tall leather armchair next to her.

Katharina sat down. "I'm sorry about that," she began.

Lena smiled and put one finger to her lips, "Sh. Please, don't mention it." She looked Katharina up and down, "You're a debutante, aren't you? Vera shouldn't have kept you waiting. The ball will be starting any moment. It's my fault, really. I shouldn't have detained her."

"Oh no," Katharina said feebly, waving her hand in dismissal.

"You've been doing some research for her, I gather?" Lena cocked one eyebrow.

Katharina nodded.

Lena turned her head to the frame of the painting beside her, "Is this part of it?" she sounded somewhat surprised, "Did you carry this all the way up here for her?"

"Yes. Well, I mean, I had some help from one of the ka'ini." Katharina thought of Mari. Though not strictly, or even loosely, true, the little disclaimer came to Katharina instinctively as a means of downplaying her feat, so as to avoid having to fend off an awkward compliment on her strength or her dedication.

Lena turned back to her, "May I take a look at it?"

It had occurred to Katharina that Vera might prefer to hear about the outcome of her research in confidence. Katharina didn't remember Vera having said anything about it being a secret, but it somehow felt that way. On the other hand, the painting was right in front of them, and Lena's request had sounded more like a pleasantry than an earnest question. Katharina shuddered inwardly even at the thought of refusing Lena anything. "Of course," she said, holding out her hand to indicate the front of the painting.

Lena rose, and Katharina followed her. They walked round, faced the painting, then both took several steps back in order to take it in in its entirety. After a moment, Katharina thought she saw Lena smile.

"What do you think it's about?" Lena asked.

"A rite of some sort," Katharina said hesitantly.

"Clearly," Lena seemed to study the background to the scene for a moment, "Where do you think it is taking place?"

"Oh," Katharina looked it over again. She saw the ruins, the grassy hillside, the mountains in the distance, "I don't know. Where?"

Lena looked excited, "Aha. One moment," she walked round the painting and strode over to the tall main window at the far end of the room. She pulled open the gauzy curtains with a sweep of her arms, then turned back to face Katharina, "You see?"

Katharina looked out of the window, unsure whether she should follow Lena to get a closer look. The window gave onto the steep wooded hillside on the east side of the house, and at one edge there was a glimpse of the heat-hazed air over the valley below.

Perhaps noting Katharina's nonplussed expression, Lena turned again to look out of the window. "Oh," she chuckled, "Sorry. My mistake. I was hoping for a dramatic reveal. But of course Vera's apartments don't look out onto that side of the house."

"So it's taking place here?" Katharina guessed.

"Correct," Lena walked back over to join her, "The mountain range you see in the background, those are the peaks to the north of the house. Which, silly me, we can't actually see from here."

Katharina vaguely recognized the serrated outline of the mountaintops, in particular two closely neighboring peaks that stood either side of a tall, thin gap, like the teeth of a spanner. A group of the more sporty girls had climbed them earlier in the summer.