The Hyacinth House Pt. 03

Adam parked the big car a block away from Jillian's little cottage. This corner of the city was a mix of older mews and terraces, interspersed with newer apartments and warehouse conversions. Most of the street parking was permit only, one car space per dwelling.

He walked on the sunny side of the street, feeling the last warmth of the day on his skin. It was one of those perfect days where the evening descended slowly, where nothing was hurried. He turned the corner into Jillian's street and spotted Maddy's little car parked half way down the road. She was there already, ahead of him.

A small dog yapped from behind a fence.

"Oh, Mitsy, leave him alone, don't be annoying." The dog's owner was sitting in a large wicker chair on the veranda of her small cottage, a clear drink in her hand. She was old, wise beyond decades probably, and Adam was taken immediately by the ancient spirit in her eyes.

"A thing that small, it can hardly startle anyone," he said, reaching down over the fence to give the dog his fingers to sniff. The dog, not so brave once confronted, scurried to her mistress on the porch. "You see, all bluff, no bravado."

The woman laughed, scratching the animal's head with her gnarled fingers. "You don't seem terrifying, young man. She's just a silly thing."

Adam laughed at her words. "I've not been called that in many years," he said. "A young man."

She smiled up at him in appreciation. "At my age, I can hardly remember young men."

"At your age, I suspect they're all you remember. I'd wager many young men wished they were older and knew what they were doing, chasing after you."

He watched as the old woman's eyes brightened, and guessed he was probably right.

"Hush with your flattery," she said, waving an imperious hand. "You have a lovely evening, now. I won't keep you."

Adam gave her an affectionate smile. "I will. Make sure you go in before it gets cold," he said. "Don't catch a chill."

"Thank you, young man. A few minutes more, and I'll go in."

Adam thought she'd probably watch him go down the street, checking where he was off to. He'd ask Jillian if she knew the old woman, the street's night-watcher.

"Old Mrs Evans?" said Jillian, a few minutes later. "She's a magnificent, fierce old thing. I adore her. Did she see you turn in to my gate?"

"I expect so," replied Adam. "Why, will the gossip be endless? She struck me as keeping a close eye on things."

"I'll give her a full report," said Jilly. "She'll shock me with something far more exciting. She's made me blush once or twice, I can tell you."

"But Jillian, of course. You're quite the innocent. You know that."

Jilly looked up at him from behind her perfect curls. "Mister Cain," she said, eyes sparkling with delight at the game they were playing, "are you here to lead me astray?"

He looked at her. "I would say," he said, slowly, "quite the contrary. Madeleine said you went off shopping together, but I don't think I expected this."

Jillian was wearing an exquisite brocade corset, deep blue and shot through with embroidered silver, which restrained her usually voluptuous breasts and accentuated her narrow waist. Adam could see it was vintage, as was the flared, knee-length skirt, probably Dior, most likely from the late nineteen-fifties when figures like Jillian's were de rigueur. Wearing heels, she still had to tilt her head up to taste Adam's lips.

"You are very, very lovely, Jillian. Was it Bonnard who dressed you? The man's a genius, quite brilliant."

"Yes. He's adorable, isn't he? Mind you," she said, spinning on one foot to show off the flare of the skirt, "when you have perfection to start with..."

"Oh Jilly, hush. Listen to you, carrying on." Madeleine came into the room, and if Jilly was femininity personified, Maddy had chosen a more androgynous look. Her hair was slicked back, cut shorter, Adam thought; her taut, athletic body showcased in black dress trousers and a crisp white shirt.

"Madeleine." And the way he said it suggested no words were enough,

"Do you like?" she asked, eager for him to find more words.

"She's beautiful, isn't she, Adam?" Jilly rescued him - his reaction being much the same as hers when Maddy had knocked on the door, thirty minutes earlier.

"She is. Very beautiful. Handsome, even." He moved to her and kissed her on the lips, then took a step back. "We should find someone to paint you, Madeleine. It can be my gift, for when you get married."

"Married? What on earth are you on about, Adam? I'm not getting married."

"Not yet, anyway," he replied, catching Jillian's eye.

Jilly didn't say a word, but then, she didn't need to. She looked up at Adam and pictured him walking her down the aisle of a church, or between twelve trees in some open-air venue. She'd be wearing a touch off-white, of course, with flowers in her hair and a figure-hugging gown, with page-boy Mikey, all small and adorable, walking behind them. She knew already the exact shade of red for her lips, which she'd echo on her lips down below. She'd hug Adam's arm tight and gaze down the aisle, and she'd be the happiest woman in the world.

"Penny for them, Jills. You're miles away." Maddy knew all about day-dreams, how time got lost in them; like those days when she had a quick snooze and woke up wet and lazy, sliding two fingers inside her panties and making herself gasp.

"Good god," said Jilly. "That was strange." She stood next to Adam and slid her arm inside his. She looked up at him again, and the look in his eyes was inscrutable. She suspected she'd given herself away completely.

"Umm, Mads, how are we going to do this?" Jilly recovered herself, and was thinking of Maddy's slightly curious plan.

"To be honest," Maddy replied, "I thought we'd leave it to Adam. After all, he's the one who's written all those delicious seduction scenes."

"Circle around you slowly, is that what you mean?" He took them both by the hand, and walked through to Jilly's kitchen.

"Not too slowly," replied Jilly, her gaze, now, very, very direct, looking straight at Adam. She didn't know if her part in Maddy's fantasy-reality scene was as gift, offering, or sacrifice; but what she did know, without a shadow of doubt, was that she was going to take this man as Jillian Jones, her very own self. Everything else was a bonus, even Maddy's voyeuristic desire.

Jilly had no problems spreading her legs wide for Maddy s eyes, because she'd have the man deep inside her. She momentarily wondered what Adam would be like without Madeleine in the room, but she had separate plans for that, another time. She looked up at him, speculating who indeed would undo the first button, unhook the first hook, take in the first gasp of breath.

She was deliberately dressed in silk and lace, knowing that every garment slowly removed was something else revealed, all the way down to her soft, perfect skin. Jillian knew every scar, every blemish, every freckle on her body (except for those on her back, and even those she knew in a mirror). She should do, she'd studied them often enough as a teenager, circling each little place with a texta-pen until she knew her own body better than any map.

She'd trace pathways on her skin for Adam to follow, designed to anticipate and escalate her arousal. She thought he'd probably have his own pathways to wander down, trails discovered and learned with his previous women, but that could only add to her bliss: two sets of wandering hands drifting over her body like erotic geographers, cartographers exploring hidden places. And all the time her Maddy watching, watching, watching with her dark, dreamy eyes.

Jilly hoped Adam would undress Madeleine slowly, for his eyes and hers too, because she wanted to see her new lover spread her long legs wide and slide her fingers between those neat and tidy creases, into the smooth place between her thighs, and make those lips glisten and shine. She'd watch Maddy just as Maddy watched her, until Adam's long cock slid deep inside her body and make her close her eyes and overwhelm everything.

Jillian felt a heavy swell low in her belly, and she gripped Adam's arm.

"Are you okay, darling?" he whispered, placing his hand on her waist to steady her.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Perhaps I'm a little bit hungry. I've not eaten anything since breakfast. Although," she said, as Jilly would, "that was at eleven o'clock, so more like a brunch."

Adam laughed. That was more like Jilly. He'd eat first, saving Jillian for later. "What have you got for us?"

"Maddy and I shopped at that gourmet deli on Blake Street, you know, opposite the council building. So many yummy, perfect things. Come and see." Her entertainment mode kicked in. "Mads, be a darling, open the wine."

Adam watched her sexy sway as she walked around the table. She knew, and cast him a perfect, flirtatious look over her shoulder. "Aren't I divine?"

She was.

Adam and Maddy stood quietly, side by side, watching Jilly conjure the meal into being. "Do you think I look like Nigella," she asked, her coquette's eyes looking sideways at them, before deliberately bending over for something in the bottom drawer of the fridge. Her frock rose up, revealing a delightful thigh and the top of a lacy stocking. She posed, for a perfect five seconds.

"Jilly!" exclaimed Maddy, the girl from the suburbs suddenly back in the room.

"What?" Jilly replied. "You've seen a girl's leg before, surely."

"But never so beautifully wrapped," commented Adam, playing to Jilly's script.

"Oh, Mister Cain, you adorable man. You can sit next to me!"

He did, and a few minutes later Jillian felt confident fingers ease aside the flounce of her skirt and make their way to the clip of a garter at the top of a stocking. With deft fingers, he unclipped the strap, pulling it back slightly then letting it go so it snapped against her skin.

"Could you pass the bread please, Maddy?" he asked, to cover Jillian's gasp.

Jillian looked at Adam with a flash of quick delight. So, she thought, you've played your first pawn, knowing she'd played hers already.

Maddy, bless her, was oblivious, and passed the bread basket over to Adam.

"Do you play chess, Adam?"

"Not for a long time, Jillian. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason, really. Something just made me think of moves on a chessboard." Her fingers landed lightly on Adam's thigh, and began to wander up.

"The thing I like about chess," said Adam, "is that the queen's the most powerful piece."

"Quite appropriate, and how it should be," Jillian replied. "What do you think, Mads?"

"I was never much good at it, to be honest," Maddy said.

"Not the game, Mads. The queen, being the most powerful piece."

"Oh, I get you. A strong woman who goes in every direction? Reminds me a bit of me, right at this moment."

"We'll make sure you don't fall off the edge of the board," commented Adam.

Jillian's hand lay comfortably on his groin, and Adam turned ever so slightly towards her. Jillian eased her thighs apart and pressed her knee against his. She was wet already, had been since she first slipped into her stockings, and Adam was responding as if he knew. She wondered if he'd picked up her scent in amongst the other sensory delights of the evening.

She took in a deep breath, her breasts rose up in the corset, and his eyes narrowed. His senses were on high alert, and even if her scent was subliminal, he'd lick his lips soon, to taste her.

"Madeleine," Adam asked, "do you still want to do this? Are you sure?"

"Oh God yes. Having you both with me, you're a feast for my eyes."

"I want to undress you first, then, and make you comfortable in your watching chair. Can I do that, undress you?" Adam was testing Maddy's exhibitionist limits, as well as her desire to watch. He was focussed entirely on Madeleine now, guiding her past her initial fantasy, driving her desire as high as he could.

Jilly watched, sensing immediately what he was doing, knowing that her turn would come later. Now, everything was for Maddy. Jilly would follow Adam's cue - he seemed to have dug something a little deeper from Mads which Jilly didn't know about, and was twisting her a little higher, guiding her responses; commanding her, even.

Jilly flashed on the imagery of the big hunting cats in the Madelyn chapters, and thought of Maddy's naked throat. She looked down at her red fingernails, which she'd always pictured around Adam's cock, but now she imagined them on Maddy's flesh. Sweet god, she thought, I want to devour her, eat her alive.

But what's he going to do to me, if I want her so much, just from looking? Jillian's nipples peaked ice hard, a thrilling pain filling behind her flesh. Fuuck, she thought, how many alphas are there in this room?

"Come here then, Madeleine. Stand in front of me, where Jillian can see you."

Adam's clear articulation of both their names, in his soft English voice, gave the proceedings a certain elegant formality. It was no longer whimsy, they weren't just pretty, frivolous women - this was serious, the evening before them something to remember.

A shiver ran down Madeleine's spine, and her nipples thickened, showing dark through her shirt.

Jilly gasped at the sudden visible arousal of her lover, evidence of Adam's command. She eased herself sideways on her chair, spreading her legs wider, eager for his words in her ear, telling her what he wanted, what he wanted her to do. She'd fight him, being Jilly, but oh fuck, her surrender when it came... she'd be sweet oblivion.

Jillian's throat felt hot. She leaned forward to watch, and was conscious of her breasts, so heavy and full. She luxuriated in her sexuality: the flush on her chest and throat, the heaviness in her breasts and the exquisite tightness in her nipples, the blossoming of her cunt. All this, just from watching a clothed woman stand before a man!

Jilly ached for Adam to undress Maddy, to expose the feast for her eyes. My god, she thought, what will it be like when he turns his attention to me? She was half delirious already, just from watching.

Adam stood behind Madeleine so that Jilly could see her clearly. He glanced down at the voluptuous woman seated at the table, taking in her flush, her wide eyes, slightly open mouth, and the high cleavage. His prick pulsed in response, and he held her gaze, looking over Maddy's shoulder.

He leaned forward, placing his hand possessively on Maddy's hip, and whispered in her ear. "Undo the buttons of your shirt , Madeleine. Slowly, one by one... ahh, good girl. Good girl... now, open the front. Slowly! Show Jillian your breasts... ohhh, see how she looks at you..."

"Are you wet, Jillian?" he asked, bringing the other woman into the scene, knowing full well that she was.

"Present your breasts to her, Maddy, offer them in your hands. Your baby girl, see, see how she..."

"Jilly, these breasts. They're yours, babes... Ohhh..."

Adam's hands cupping her tight breasts interrupted Maddy's words. He repeated the offering to Jilly, curving his palms over both nipples, before stepping back to slip the shirt from Madeleine's shoulders, baring her torso for Jilly's eyes and for his hands.

"You see, Madeleine? You are very beautiful. I keep saying it, I know, but this..." and he ran both hands down her sides and over her belly, "is perfection." He held her belly for ten seconds, his stillness a counterpoint to her quick breathing.

"Now," he said, his voice a little louder so that Jilly could hear, "undo the belt and the zip... do you need to slip your heels off, darling? Or will the pants easily fall?"

"Fall, they'll fall," Maddy managed to reply, as she moved to do as instructed.

"Good," Adam responded. "We like a naked woman in heels, don't we, Jillian?"

Jilly noted the hint for later, but watched spellbound as Maddy undid the tailored trousers, bending slightly to ease them down her long legs, stepping out of them. A black triangle of cloth hid her sex.

"Turn around slowly, once... there. And the thong. Take it off." Maddy eased the black shred of silk down her legs, revealing a soft landing strip at the base of her belly. "Naked, with two dressed partners. How does it feel, Madeleine?"

She stood silently for a moment, before replying. "I'm who I am, Adam. I like being me." She stood tall and faced him. "I'm the same height as you, in these heels. We can look each other in the eye." She took a step towards him.

Jilly held her breath, waiting to hear Adam's response to Maddy's challenge.

"We always have, darling. Right from that first day in the street. Remember? You touched my arm. You took my hand. You gave me your name first, remember?"

"I did, didn't I? 'Hello, I'm Maddy,' I said."

"You did. I didn't forget, and I won't ever forget. Not my Mads." And with those word and her pet name, Adam entered Madeleine's life forever.

"Come now, darling, let's get you comfortable, so I can make a fuss over Jillian. She's being surprisingly patient."

"That's because she can't get enough of this... " Maddy turned around once to show herself off. "Or this." And she leaned down to kiss Jilly on the lips.

"Liking what you see, Jills? I do." Maddy laughed with delight, and with astonishment that she was going through with her plan. "I'll wear Jilly's Klimt gown. Mustn't catch a chill while I'm watching." Even in her fantasy, Maddy was practical.

Adam took her through to Jilly's bedroom and made sure she was comfortable in a chair by the bed.

"Thank you, Adam. For doing this, indulging me. Caring for me. You do, don't you, you really do care. I... " She stopped talking, and took his hands in hers. "You... you look after me. That's what I love most about you. You look after me, Jilly too... you make us feel... special. Wanted." She paused. "Do your ears burn? We talk about you, quite a lot." She smiled, and was lovely. "Us girls. You can imagine..."

Adam listened quietly. He'd grown used to Madeleine's musings, talking to herself really, but with someone listening.

Maddy looked up at him, with soft, serene eyes. "I love you, Adam Cain. There. I've not said it before, but it's true. I love you. As a lover, as my friend." She kissed his hands. "You. It's nice. It doesn't happen to me much, this love thing." She kissed his lips. "I want to make love with you, another time, just you and me."

She smiled, and was very, very beautiful with it. "But not now. My Jilly's out there, all dressed up for a handsome man, and she's a bit of a show-off. Go to her, Adam, slowly take off her gorgeous clothes, and make love to Jills. Will you do that, make love to Jilly, so I can see?"

"Make love to Jillian? Miss Jillian Jones? Well, let me think about..."

She smacked his hand. "Adam, you're such a tease. You know you want to! I want to, so it goes to reason that you must. Jilly's a curvy, sexy, soft thing - not all hard and lean like me. Surely you want to rest your head between those lovely breasts, plunge your lovely cock into her sweet kitty, have her whisper naughty words in your ear? Caress your cock with those long red nails?" She looked at her own nails, trimmed short for netball, then studied him.

"Go on, my darling man. Show me what you do." She kissed his hand better where she'd smacked him. She'd not hurt him at all, but she kissed him better anyway.

"I never watched Jilly at those parties, not all the way. I couldn't bear it. But you, you're different. You'll look after her properly, I know you will. Go to Jilly, Adam. Show her how precious she is." She settled back in the chair, pulling her legs up under her. "It's my turn to watch you two now. Pretend I'm not here." She grinned. "I'll be very quiet, I promise."

Adam laughed softly. "Promise?"

"Pinky fingers!" And they sealed the promise by linking their little fingers together.

"Now that's a first," said Adam.