Sisterhood - Temptation Ch. 21

"Brilliant," Josephine rubbed her hand against her eyes in a curiously endearing gesture of excitement, "This is going to be so much fun."

"So where do we meet up after?" Ivy asked.

Katharina thought for a moment, "Back out here is probably best. Over there by the doorway into the gardens," she pointed back to the archway.

"Okay," Ivy drew her breath, "Let's go in. I hope you know what you're doing Katja."

"We'll see," Katharina smiled. She nodded ahead to the doorway of the Great Hall, "Okay."

Ivy and Josephine walked ahead, Josephine leading Ivy by the hand. Katharina walked closely behind. She watched the other two pass between the two loose groups of girls gathered beside each pillar of the doorway, just as Yvonne had done.

When Katharina followed, shouldering past another group that was exiting, she felt the sudden wall of heat and sound wash over and envelop her. They were back in the Great Hall, at the heart of the ball, among the movement and the excitement.

She held one arm in front of her, to steady herself and to twist her shoulders so as to present a narrow profile as she passed the other girls standing around them. She kept close behind Ivy, held her eyes down, watching Ivy's hips. When they reached the thickening of bodies at the fringes of the dance, she slowed and looked up. Over the tops of Ivy's and Josephine's heads she watched a few turns of the dance, her eyes sweeping the space in time with the rhythm of a fast reel.

Almost as soon as she had begun watching, she picked out Yvonne and Emmie. Katharina recalled Yvonne's reckless dancing style. She was holding Emmie pressed tight to herself, whirling and swooping between the other dancers, knocking them shoulder to shoulder, unconcerned to avoid contact.

Ivy looked back and smiled, then suddenly she was yanked forward as Josephine led her out and onto the floor to grab hold of her and stride sideways into a free space. Katharina watched the two of them spin away among the other couples, quickly disappearing into the thicker part of the dance. She looked around, and wondered for a moment what to do with herself. Her plan seemed suddenly foolish and her earlier flush of confidence faltered. Nothing occurred to her other than to wait and remain where Ivy and Josephine had left her. To hope that Josephine would be able to swoop by and effect her distraction right when Yvonne and Emmie happened to pass. Katharina nudged her way forward between two tall girls watching the dance, and stood at its edge.

After no more than a few seconds watching, Katharina saw Yvonne and Emmie reappear, then Josephine and Ivy close after them. Each of the two couples stood out from the rest, and it seemed to Katharina as if the attention of the watching crowd was subtly drawn to each as they passed.

Yvonne stood out because of her haphazard movements and her obvious disregard for the presence of other dancers around her. What struck Katharina about Josephine, on the other hand, was simply how magnificent she looked. Joyful, energetic, and desirable. Though the pattern of her movements was superficially consistent with Ivy leading the dance, it was very obvious that Josephine was making the decisions. She moved with a frantic excitement that was almost like Yvonne's recklessness, but much more poised, more delicate. She stood a foot's distance apart from Ivy, holding her loosely, and was sweeping smoothly across the floor as they moved, occasionally twirling outwards to fling back her arm and her head before swooping back in to embrace Ivy tightly and kiss her on the neck.

As Josephine came closer, Katharina saw also that she had shortened the straps of her dress. It now sat just above the tops of her thighs, baring the little creases where they met her slim buttocks. Then with a shrill whoop of exhilaration that was audible above the music and the chatter, Josephine planted Ivy's hands on her waist and leaped in the air, flinging her legs apart as Ivy hoisted her aloft. For the brief but slow moment in which Ivy held Josephine still, hoisted and splayed at the apex of her jump, Josephine's behind was completely bare. Katharina saw the smoothness of the inside of her thighs, the ridges of her pussy, her tuft of short silky hair, even the glisten of a slight beading of sweat on her skin. As Josephine swooped back down through the air, her dress billowed up around her as far as her stomach, then fell slowly back into place, and Katharina felt a slow throb of tightness swell between her legs.

"Change!" the call rang out loud and immediate. Josephine's gay, mirth-rippled voice was almost at Katharina's ear.

She watched Josephine spin out and away from Ivy's hold once more, and this time take her leave and stride straight towards where Yvonne was already wavering, stepping away from a frowning Emmie who was still holding her by the hand. Katharina shook herself and opened her eyes wide, dragging her imagination away from the afterimage of Josephine's performance and focusing again on what was happening around her. The rhythm of the dance had in places broken into a murmuring disorder as some couples, particularly those nearest Josephine, hesitated and began to either slow or to spin apart and switch. Others pressed on with the fast pace of the dance, but stumbled or had to shift their trajectory abruptly as others around them began wandering in search of a partner.

Emmie, having swung in a slow arc around Yvonne as they separated, was passing by, now only meters away from where Katharina stood. Katharina jolted herself into motion. But just before she started forward, a girl who had been standing beside her observing the dance stepped out ahead of her and made to take Emmie's hand. Katharina looked up, saw that the girl was dressed entirely in bright white, then caught the profile of a familiar face. Lena's neat, silky ponytail was bobbing at the back of her head as she strode out onto the dance floor.

Katharina stopped still, wavered, then quickly dashed forward again. Lena was too far ahead for it to be possible for Katharina to intercept and meet Emmie first, at least not without either making a very unseemly dash or physically shouldering Lena aside. In a hurry to salvage her plan, only one course of action occurred to Katharina.

"Miss Lena!" she cried, sliding out after Lena with one foot extended.

Lena turned, surprised, and murmured something that sounded like a response just as Katharina took her hand.

"Miss Lena," Katharina repeated, quickly whirling round Lena's body to face her, then fumbling for Lena's hands to take her in a dancing hold, "Would you? I... um..."

"Yes?" Lena arched one eyebrow. Her puzzlement seemed to melt into mere amusement for a moment, then she looked about herself distractedly. It seemed as if she made the slightest of movements towards where Emmie was still standing, now alone, but then she stopped herself, gave a short sigh, and met Katharina's hold, laying her hand on Katharina's shoulder. "Katharina. Well?" she said.

"I, ah, I would just love to dance with you. Here at the ball, I mean. I, um..." Katharina looked up at Lena's stern but smiling face, and she felt her voice catch in her throat, "I... ulkh... I just really admire you and it has sort of been a, you know, a goal of mine to share one dance with you."

"A goal?" the wry smile on Lena's face broadened a little, "A sort of... fantasy or something?"

"No!" Katharina startled herself with the speed and volume at which she shrieked out her response. Mortified, she felt a sudden rush of heat to her cheeks, and hurried to compose herself, "I mean, I just wanted to thank you for teaching us to dance. I know I wasn't the greatest student but I am really grateful and I wanted to have a chance to show you what I've learned."

Lena looked at her quizzically, as if searching her face for the answer to a trivial but vexing puzzle. She took one more look around her, then gave a subtle shrug and smiled again, "Well, Katharina, it would be my honor. Please, show me."

Katharina laughed nervously, then shook herself and tightened her hold on Lena's waist in preparation for the first stride of their dance. She glanced over Lena's shoulder as they began moving, and to her immense relief she saw Ivy finally approaching Emmie. Ivy almost broke into a run, but then she suddenly slowed and her shoes slid across the polished wooden flooring until she collided awkwardly face to face with Emmie. The two of them seemed to exchange a hasty, laughing apology, then Ivy gestured, took Emmie by the hand, and led her off into the dance.

As she took her first few steps, Katharina noticed that her legs were trembling. The sudden rush of nervous energy that had hit her when she made her dash out into the dance was cooling, leaving a jitter of unspent readiness in her muscles. She took stock of the movements of the other dancers around her, then held Lena tighter and moved on briskly, away from Ivy and Emmie.

"Hmm," Lena frowned, "Katharina, what did I tell you about holding your partner too tightly?"

"Oh. Sorry," Katharina stumbled as she hurried to adjust her hold. She glanced behind her and dodged another faster-moving couple as she righted herself.

It took her several more turns to collect herself, calm her breathing, and find the rhythm of the music. When she had done so, she noticed that she and Lena had made their way across most of the breadth of the dancing surface, and were now near the apse end of the hall. They had moved in silence, with Katharina focusing intently on the dance.

"Not bad Katharina," Lena smiled, "I hope I'm not making you nervous."

"Oh, no," Katharina shook her head, "I just, um, I'm sorry I'm not living up to everything you taught us. I thought I'd mastered it, but..."

Lena glanced over her shoulder to check the space behind her, then Katharina felt the weight of Lena's body in her arms lean subtly back, pulling her gently forward into a clearer patch of the dance. "You are doing fine," said Lena, "And if you are concerned about your technique, just remember, the dance is only one part of it, one facet of your abilities. Do you recall what I always said?"

Katharina remembered enough to know what Lena was referring to, but the preparatory dance classes now felt suddenly like a very distant memory, and she struggled for a moment to find the particular phrase Lena had always spoken. "That, um... they are our guests and our duty is their pleasure?"

"Their entertainment, yes," Lena nodded, "But their pleasure too, I suppose. So come on. If you're still keen on showing me what you've learned, you can have a go at entertaining me."

"Ah, oh... okay," Katharina had the impression that Lena was, in her particular gentle manner, turning the tables after Katharina's impulsive ambush.

She recalled that many of the senior girls had appropriated Lena's frequent use of the term 'entertainment' as a euphemism for seduction and sexual satisfaction. Lena had not seemed necessarily to intend it that way herself, but as Katharina looked Lena in the eyes and began searching for something to say, the image of herself and Lena kissing flashed briefly and vividly in her imagination, and she felt sure that somehow Lena could read it on her face. She looked away, downward, but her eyes found immediately the outline of Lena's black bra beneath her translucent white top, and saw the firm jiggle of her breasts with each stride.

"Sorry," a faint puff of laughter left Lena's lips and her cheeks creased with a sympathetic smile, "I was only joking. I don't mean to torment you. I have to say I enjoyed talking to you earlier, even if it was only briefly."

"In Miss Vera's apartments?" Katharina asked. She felt a nervous tension in her muscles slowly relax. The prospect of conversing about history or Sisterhood matters felt a lot more comfortable than making a demonstration of her abilities in flirtatious talk.

They made a slow turn to round the corner of the dancing space, and Lena looked up to the ceiling, in what was probably the approximate direction of the upper floors where Vera's chambers were located, "Yes, when we saw that mysterious painting you dug out of the library."

"Yes, the... painting," Katharina's voice trailed off even as she began to speak. A realization came upon her, in a way that seemed curiously both sudden yet tantalizingly slow, as if a conclusion formed and announced itself immediately, but then took some moments more to become solid enough to articulate.

She saw the painting in her imagination. The dancing figures, women with long dark hair. Though the figures themselves had been part of a larger scene, Katharina recalled how their faces had been drawn in careful detail. She couldn't quite picture them with clarity, but she could picture another face that she had seen very recently, and she knew now with surety why that face had seemed to her peculiarly familiar. A cool bristle of excitement passed across the skin of her shoulders and her scalp as the realization fell into place.

"Yes," Lena turned back from where she had been looking and seemed to notice Katharina's expression, "Are you thinking about something?"

Before Katharina could respond, yet another face captured her attention. This time not a face from memory, but one that was right before her. As she and Lena swirled along the shorter edge of the dance floor, she locked eyes with Emmie, who was walking just in front of the rank of girls watching the dance. Emmie was partnerless. She looked as if she was still part of the dance, striding across at its edge, but her steps were slowing.

"Chaaange!" a shrill cry came from several paces away, near the center of the dance. It was unmistakably Josephine's, tinged with her happy, impudent laughter.

"Yes," Katharina looked once into Lena's eyes, hesitating, gathering her nerve. "And thank you. For all your teaching and your kindness and everything, and I hope we can talk again later."

Lena's hitherto faultless composure seemed to break briefly in surprise, or at least amusement. Her mouth opened a fraction but did not speak as Katharina stepped back and swung her smoothly by the hand, out and away among the other dancers.

Katharina let go, whirled around, and found Emmie, standing not far from where she had seen her moments before. Katharina rushed forward. Then immediately she checked herself, not wishing to seem too eager or hasty, but found that as she slowed she slid across the polished wood, just as she had seen Ivy do before. She dug in, scuffing her shoes against the floor and staggered to a halt, bumping gently into Emmie at the hip.

Katharina put her arm around Emmie's waist and pulled her close. "Hi," she gasped.

"Hello," Emmie laughed.

Katharina hurried to catch her breath. She smiled, "Do you recognize me?"

There was a pause, then Emmie looked up at her with the same pouting, heavy-lidded smile that Katharina recognized from their earlier encounter. It was a gesture that struck Katharina as a little affected, but that she found powerfully attractive nonetheless. "You know," Emmie giggled, "You should never ask that."

"Oh?"

"Because then I can be cruel and say 'no'," Emmie replied.

Katharina frowned, "And why would you do that?"

Emmie put her hands around Katharina's waist and they stood face to face, Emmie's dark eyes looking up, "In the hope of manipulating you of course."

"Great," Katharina laughed, "Well I think you'd probably succeed."

"In that case," Emmie laid one hand on Katharina's stomach, nuzzled at her blouse with the tips of her fingers, "Then no, I don't remember you from when we danced earlier, and you got hard while holding me."

"Shh!" Katharina blurted in surprise. She looked around her quickly. Several of the girls standing at the fringes of the dance were looking at her and Emmie, and glanced away when she met their gaze.

Katharina took Emmie firmly by the hand and ushered her away and off the dance floor. Two girls stood aside to let them pass, and they stepped forward into the sparser space in front of the domed apse.

Katharina hunched to bring her face closer to Emmie's and whispered, "I... You really noticed that?"

"It's okay," Emmie laughed, waving her hand dismissively, "I was very flattered."

"Oh. Well I'm sorry about that. I guess it was just, um, very nice, holding you," Katharina turned to face Emmie and took a moment to look at her.

Katharina was fairly sure that Emmie had changed since they had last met. Katharina recalled Emmie having worn something dark, with a low neckline, a ballgown of sorts. The dress Emmie was wearing now was dark gray, and long like a gown, with the hem at her ankles and partly covering her flat shoes. But it was less elaborate and less revealing than the one she had worn before. In particular the neckline was very high and had only a small V-shaped indent in it, baring a sliver of Emmie's skin just below the clavicle. But though her figure was completely covered, its fulsome shape was entirely on display. The dress was extremely tight. The fabric had a certain elasticity to it, and it stretched and bulged along with the contours of Emmie's body.

Katharina found that Emmie looked even more desirable than she had before. "You're just really hot, I suppose. I couldn't do anything about it."

Emmie looked very pleased. She smiled and took Katharina's hands, "And I was just about to say that your flirting technique has gotten a lit more subtle since I last saw you."

"Hah," Katharina laughed, "Well, speaking of the last time we met, how about that tour of the house? There's something I would like to take a look at, just really quickly, and I'd love to take you with me."

"Then take me," Emmie swung round and held herself close at Katharina's side, "Show me."

Katharina led off along the edge of the hall, past the bar alcove and heading for the side entrance at its far end, "Let's get away from the hall. This way."

They moved quickly. Katharina tried not to hurry, and paused at a few junctures to look to her side and check that Emmie was not having to trot to keep up with her. They slowed as the crowd thickened in front of the bar, where Katharina had to slip ahead and lead Emmie by the hand in single file to pass between groups of girls. Their progress slowed again when they reached the lesser-used but much narrower side entrance to the hall. Katharina nodded ahead and smiled at Emmie, then led her through the archway and into the corridor beyond.