Chapter Six

IT WASN’T UNTIL the following Wednesday that Ben actually moved out, and the three days before that proved awkward for both of them. In some ways Kristina was pleased that she didn’t hear from Tarquin, because she wanted Ben out of her life before they next met. On the other hand she found that her body craved him with ever increasing urgency and her dreams became more and more vivid. She would wake covered in perspiration, always on the brink of a climax and so aroused that she had to masturbate in order to ease the tension.

Neither she nor Ben spoke again about the reason for their parting. They spoke about where he intended to live, and whether or not they might meet up for a drink in a couple of months’ time, but that was all.

It was strange, thought Kristina, how intimate you could be with someone and then all at once they were no longer part of your life. For several years she had thought in terms of herself and Ben, now it was only her. She was relieved to discover that this didn’t worry her. She would rather be alone than with a man she no longer desired.

On the Thursday morning she went to work with a much lighter heart. The Chelsea house was hers again, all traces of Ben had been removed and she was once more free. Or at least free to all outward appearances, because inside her mind she was far from free. She was in truth a prisoner of the bracelet, forever waiting for the call that would summon her to escape and ecstasy.

‘Nothing special on today, is there Sue?’ she called as she walked through the front office.

‘No, but a Laurence van Kitson has been on the phone twice already. He says that you know him and wondered if he could call in around noon to discuss an idea he has for a book on diamonds. Do you want to phone him back?’

Kristina hesitated. No doubt Laurence did have a genuine cover for his visit, but equally he probably had another reason and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to see him, knowing how Jackie would feel about it. Then her professional side took over. Laurence was one of the world’s top experts on diamonds, and there might well be a book that he could write, specialised certainly, but there would definitely be a market for it. She took a deep breath. ‘Call him back and say that noon will be fine,’ she said.

At twelve o’clock exactly he was shown into her office. His suit was a light beige, the shirt dark brown with a cream coloured tie and the entire outfit showed off his tanned blond good looks to the best advantage, which Kristina guessed he knew.

She stood up and held out a hand. ‘Nice to see you again, Laurence. Sue tells me you’re thinking of writing a book. Is that true?’

His very pale blue eyes bored into hers. ‘Of course it’s true. I’m not in the habit of lying.’

She bit on her bottom lip. Now was not the moment to tell him that he had an attitude problem, not until she’d heard his outline. ‘So, what angle were you thinking of? Is this intended for the other experts, or lay people?’

‘Both I thought. Details of the world’s finest diamonds naturally, and the way to value them, but there’s also the sexual side of it. You know what they say, diamonds are a girl’s best friend. I want to show why that’s true. Sugar daddies, rich old husbands who shower their young brides with stones large enough to make a river overflow its banks: I’ve got quite a stock of stories about that side of things.’

Kristina nodded. ‘Interesting, but it could end up as neither one thing nor the other. Lay people won’t want to know how to value a stone, and the experts won’t be interested in the other side of it.’

Laurence smiled a thin smile. ‘Everyone’s interested in sex, as I’m sure you know. Experts are no different from anyone else. Diamond dealers, psychologists, they all have their little hobbies.’

A warning bell sounded in Kristina’s head. ‘I’m sure they do,’ she said briskly.

‘I must say I was a bit surprised when Jackie told me exactly what the famous Dr Rashid liked doing in his spare time, but I suppose it’s a release for him after listening to neurotics all day. Just as it’s a release for you to cast aside your business woman’s suit and dangle from a beam without your clothes on.’

‘Keep your voice down!’ hissed Kristina. ‘The girls might hear you.’

‘It’s a thick door and I don’t speak loudly. I was very turned on by what Jackie told me. I’ve been thinking about how you must have looked ever since.’

Kristina was furious. ‘She had no right to tell you. I told her in confidence.’

‘But she had no choice. I waited until she was wearing the bracelet and then asked her what she knew about you and your lover.’

‘She could have taken the bracelet off,’ retorted Kristina.

‘She’d already been waiting two hours for me to let her come. I think taking the bracelet off was the last thing on her mind.’

Kristina felt her face go hot. He was so relaxed, and yet his eyes were watching her intently, judging her reactions, and although she was the one on home ground she felt nervous.

‘I think we should stick to talking about the book,’ she said firmly. ‘Why don’t you prepare me an outline and …’

‘How long did Rashid make you wait? One hour? Two hours? Or was it more? Were you begging him to let you come? What did he make you say? I make Jackie crawl at my feet when she’s begging. And she enjoys it, once she climaxed even before I’d touched her she was so excited by it.’

Kristina’s stomach tightened and she felt her nipples brush against the body that she was wearing beneath her summerweight suit. ‘I honestly don’t want to hear this. It’s private, and Jackie never discusses any of it with me.’

‘That’s because she’s still ashamed to admit her true desires. But you’re not, are you? You accept them as just another part of yourself. That’s what I’m trying to make her do. Unfortunately it’s taking a long time.’

‘I’d like you to go away and do an outline for me,’ said Kristina, her voice almost inaudible. ‘Then, if I like it, I can show it to some people and get their opinions. You wouldn’t get much of an advance, but sometimes books like this can really take off. Sometimes though, they don’t!’

‘I don’t need the money,’ he said, his South African accent thicker than usual. ‘The book interests me, but you interest me more. If I ring you, will you wear the bracelet for me?’

‘No,’ said Kristina firmly. ‘I’m too busy with Tarquin.’

‘Don’t you think variety might have some advantages? Who knows, I might be more to your taste than he is.’

Kristina shook her head. ‘Sorry, Laurence; you’re not my type.’

‘I don’t think that’s true,’ he said with a laugh. ‘Still, I can wait. Tell me, had you ever been blindfolded before?’

Kristina swallowed hard. ‘Would you please keep your voice down and stop talking about things that aren’t strictly business. I keep my private life separate from work you know; I thought that was the whole idea of the society.’

‘And so it is. I’m quite happy to take you out without the bracelet on, you know.’

‘Thank you, Laurence, but I don’t have any free time these days. Are you going to do that outline, or was the whole idea just a way of getting to see me here?’

He shook his head. ‘No, I’ll do the outline, but first I’d like to make love to you on your desk.’

Kristina smiled to herself. ‘Would you really? How very unoriginal. I think perhaps you’d better go now, Laurence. I do have quite a lot to do today.’

‘We could do it now; no one would know,’ he said, getting to his feet. ‘You’re aroused, I can tell. Surely you’d like to know what Jackie’s getting? After all, she knows all about Tarquin.’

‘She what?’ said Kristina in amazement.

‘Didn’t she tell you? He called her soon after she joined, but he wasn’t her kind. Not sufficiently rough probably, although from what I’ve heard of your last session she may not have given him enough time! Come on, Kristina. You look incredibly sexy in that working woman’s outfit. Why waste it?’

‘Look, this is ridiculous,’ protested Kristina, but to her horror she was getting more and more aroused the longer he talked, and she knew that he was right. She did want to learn what he was like. Now that she knew Jackie had been with Tarquin, she didn’t see why she shouldn’t, although since she wasn’t wearing the bracelet it was hardly the same.

‘Please go,’ she said softly.

Laurence stood up and without thinking Kristina walked round to the front of her desk and stood in front of him. His hands went beneath the cheeks of her bottom and he lifted her on to her desk top, then he was feeling beneath her skirt and unfastening the poppers of her body, brushing the material aside and letting his fingers roam between her thighs.

‘Just as I thought, you’re ready for me!’ he said with a smile.

‘I’m not, really I’m not. We can’t do this, the door isn’t even locked,’ protested Kristina, but her body was completely aroused and her desire for this swift, urgent coupling was growing with every second.

‘Just don’t scream out when you come,’ he muttered as he unzipped his trousers and then he was pushing her back over the desk, and spreading her legs as wide as he could before lowering his head and letting his tongue roam round the entrance to her vagina.

Kristina squirmed on the desk and pushed her hips up towards Laurence, trying to open herself to him more fully. He gripped her ankles firmly and then his tongue was touching her damp inner channel with rapid flicking movements that made her gasp as flashes of pleasure streaked through her lower body.

‘Do you want me now?’ he asked. ‘Or shall I leave and start work on my outline?’

‘No, quickly, do it now. I want to feel you inside me,’ she gasped, as without any further preliminaries he supported himself with one knee against the desk and thrust almost brutally into her soft welcoming warmth.

He wasn’t as large as Tarquin, but the angle of penetration was such that every time he moved he stimulated her G spot and Kristina quickly felt herself tightening as her breathing grew ragged and quick.

‘I wish your secretary would come in now,’ muttered Laurence, thrusting rhythmically as Kristina continued to gasp with delight. ‘I’d like her to see what you’re like when you’re about to come, and you are about to come aren’t you?’

‘Yes,’ moaned Kristina, rotating her hips so that she could feel him touching all the walls of her vagina in turn. ‘I’m nearly there, don’t change your rhythm please.’

‘If you were wearing the bracelet,’ whispered Laurence, ‘you wouldn’t be allowed to tell me what to do would you?’

‘No, but I’m not,’ said Kristina hoarsely. ‘Faster, do it faster.’

Laurence obeyed, and suddenly Kristina gave a muffled cry of delight and then he felt her contracting around him, milking every drop of his sperm as he shuddered with the violence of his own climax.

The moment they were both finished he withdrew and straightened his clothing. ‘Yes,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘I think you’re definitely the right literary agent for me. We seem to understand each other, and that’s very important, wouldn’t you agree?’

Kristina couldn’t look at him. The almost brutal coupling had shaken her badly, because her response had been instantaneous and uncontrollable. Now that it was over she wanted him gone. While he remained he was a reminder of the way her sexuality was starting to take over her life.

Scrambling off the desk she pulled her skirt down, leaving the body unfastened between her legs. That would have to be seen to later, in the cloakroom. ‘I think you should go now,’ she said abruptly.

‘I agree. I got what I came for anyway. Shall I post you the outline?’

‘That would probably be best,’ she agreed, still avoiding his eyes.

‘Fine, until the next time then.’ He held out his hand and Kristina felt she had no choice but to take it. After all, he hadn’t forced her; she’d wanted him as much as he’d wanted her.

‘Laurence,’ she said slowly. ‘You won’t mention this to Jackie will you? She’s my best friend, and I’d hate to think that she knew anything about it.’

‘I might not,’ he murmured, fiddling inside his jacket pocket.

‘Look, if it weren’t for the fact that Jackie’s been with Tarquin I’d never have agreed, but this isn’t really the same as that because this wasn’t anything to do with the society, which might hurt her more.’

‘To be honest,’ said Laurence, ‘Jackie’s never even met Tarquin. I only said that to ease your conscience.’

‘But you told me earlier that you never lied!’ cried Kristina.

He nodded. ‘That’s right, I did. That was a lie as well!’

‘Jackie said you always broke the rules,’ exclaimed Kristina. ‘Why on earth did I believe you?’

‘Because you wanted to, Kristina. You were frantic to try me out, and as long as I could ease your conscience a little that was fine by you. I said what you needed to hear because I wanted you. Don’t blame me for your desires.’

‘But there’s no need to tell Jackie.’

‘No,’ he agreed. ‘There isn’t any need, although it might be fun. However, I don’t think I will tell her.’

Kristina sat down abruptly as relief flooded through her. ‘Good!’

‘I shall just play her this,’ he added, and he took his iPod out of his pocket. ‘I kept it recording until we’d finished. The sounds should make everything clear, don’t you agree?’

‘You bastard!’ shouted Kristina, quite forgetting the girls in the other room. ‘This was all a set-up job wasn’t it? You wanted something new to use to torment Jackie with.’

‘No, I can torment Jackie in plenty of ways without screwing you on your office desk. It was you I wanted, and you I got. But in the end,’ he added softly, ‘I intend to have you when you’re wearing the bracelet. That will be an entirely different experience for both of us.’

‘It won’t happen,’ she said shortly. ‘I wouldn’t trust myself to you.’

‘We’ll see,’ he said tightly. ‘You certainly sounded as though you enjoyed this little episode. I hope no one outside heard anything; you were far more vocal than I expected. Tarquin must have helped you shed some of your inhibitions!’

‘Please go now, Laurence,’ said Kristina. ‘And I’ve changed my mind about the book. I think you should try another agent. I make it a policy never to get sexually involved with my clients.’

‘Where’s your business head gone? There could be money in this book.’

‘Then I’ll be the loser, but that’s my decision. Goodbye, Laurence.’

He leant across her desk. ‘It isn’t goodbye, Kristina. We both know that. Let’s just say until the next time.’ Then he traced the outline of her lips with his finger and walked out of the room.

Kristina sat in her chair and wished with all her heart that she didn’t have to see Jackie the following evening, because she was certain that by then Laurence would have used his recording. The trouble was, he’d given her an explosive climax. Their bodies had been completely in tune, and no matter what she said to Jackie that was a truth it would be impossible to deny.

‘What’s happening to me?’ she said out loud, but there was no one to give her an answer.

As soon as Kristina walked into the restaurant the following evening and saw the expression on her friend’s face she knew that it was just as she’d feared; Laurence had told Jackie all about them. Bracing herself for a difficult couple of hours she joined her at their table. ‘Nice outfit,’ she commented.

Jackie, who did indeed look stunning in a white silk blouse, black velvet waistcoat, black mini-skirt and thigh-high velvet boots, didn’t bother to acknowledge the compliment, she just picked up her glass and drained the contents before calling the waiter over. ‘Another dry martini and something for my friend.’

The waiter glanced at Kristina, who felt rather conventionally dressed in a simple short-sleeved russet dress with a scoop neckline, the fabric covered in tiny gold sequins. She smiled at him. ‘I’ll have the same,’ she said lightly, hoping to improve the atmosphere. ‘I’m not late, am I?’ she asked Jacqueline.

‘No, I’m early. I got my article finished and came straight here. You should get the paper on Monday, I think you’ll find the article interesting.’

‘What’s it about then?’

‘How women betray their best friends far more often than men betray theirs.’

Kristina decided not to comment, and picked up the menu. ‘I’ll have the salmon. I love fish, but I never cook it myself because the smell gets everywhere.’

‘Rather like you,’ said Jacqueline.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ asked Kristina.

‘That you seem to get everywhere. I’ll have the lamb. You can order when he brings our drinks back. And get some wine too.’

‘So, how’s your week been?’ asked Kristina bravely, deciding that the sooner it was all out in the open the better.

‘Not particularly brilliant, certainly not as good as yours sounded when Laurence played me the recording of the pair of you.’

‘When did he do that?’ asked Kristina.

‘Last night, very late last night by which time he’d already reduced me to a screaming, pleading mass of frustration. Your little recording was the icing on the cake for him. And do you know what?’ she added furiously. ‘When I heard it, I came! I hated myself for that, but I couldn’t help it; I was so near and then listening to you, the noises you were making and the things you said to him, it was too much. I came and Laurence stood there and laughed at me. I’ve never been so humiliated.’

‘Your drinks,’ murmured the young waiter, who’d been hovering at Kristina’s shoulder waiting for a pause so that he could put the glasses down.

Kristina quickly gave their order and sent him off again. She thought that he’d probably heard some of what Jackie had said, but right at this moment that didn’t seem to matter. What mattered was her friend’s pain.

‘Jackie, I know you’re hurt but you have to believe that I’d never have done it if I hadn’t thought …’

‘That you’d get away with it?’ asked Jackie. ‘That Laurence would keep it secret? Well, you certainly don’t know him very well. Tarquin may be an honourable man for all I know, but Laurence is not. What’s the matter with you, isn’t one incredible lover enough?’

Kristina shifted awkwardly on her chair. ‘He came to me with an idea for a book, Jackie.’

‘I bet he did! What was it? Sixty-Nine Positions on a Desktop?’

‘It was about diamonds, and he really had thought it through well. The trouble was that he started talking about the things that I’d done with Tarquin, and I was annoyed that you’d told him when you’d promised me that you wouldn’t.’

‘I didn’t have any choice!’ wailed Jacqueline, her voice rising so high that nearby diners turned to stare at them.

‘Sshh! I know that now, but I didn’t at first, and even after Laurence explained I thought that you could have taken off the bracelet and refused to answer.’

‘Oh did you? Well, as it happens I was right on the brink of my first orgasm for two hours and taking the bracelet off was the last thing on my mind,’ said Jackie, remembering to lower her voice.

‘Yes, he told me that later.’

‘But you still wanted to screw him in your office, to compare him with Tarquin, was that it?’

‘No, of course not. The trouble was, he lied to me. He said that you and Tarquin had been lovers ages ago but you decided he wasn’t right for you. That made me think that I was just evening the score if you like, especially as you’d never told me about it.’

‘But I’ve never met Tarquin!’ protested Jackie.

‘I know that now, but at the time I believed him.’

‘Even if I had,’ Jackie pointed out, ‘it would have been through the society, when I was wearing the bracelet. You didn’t bother with that did you? You went and had sex with him and told him how you wanted it. “Faster, do it faster”,’ she mimicked, and Kristina’s hands felt damp with perspiration.

‘Jackie, people are listening to us. For heaven’s sake lower your voice.’

‘You’re my best friend. I told you how much Laurence meant to me and at the first opportunity you went and had it away with him. How do you think that makes me feel? I’m so obsessed with him that I can hardly eat or sleep. I spend all my days waiting for the summons, and then when it comes I wonder what kind of a session it’s going to be. Sometimes it’s bliss, and sometimes it’s more like hell, but hell with the greatest reward imaginable at the end of it. He’s taken over my entire life, and you just lie back on your desk and try him out without sparing a thought for me. I’ll say one thing, though; it helped me write a brilliant article for the first time in weeks.’

‘He wasn’t meant to tell you,’ protested Kristina. ‘I felt utterly ashamed afterwards, and begged him to keep quiet about it, but then he showed me he’d recorded us and I knew he wouldn’t. He’s really not a very nice person, Jackie.’

Her friend stared at her in astonishment, scarcely noticing as their food was placed in front of them. ‘Not a very nice person? You’ve got a nerve! Are you trying to get me to drop him and leave the way clear for you? I suppose you want to visit both Laurence and Tarquin now. Perhaps I should move in with Ben so that you can have enough space to yourself?’

‘I wouldn’t put on the bracelet for Laurence if you paid me a million pounds,’ said Kristina levelly. ‘Yes, he’s sexually attractive. Yes, he made love in a very exciting way and I enjoyed it. But no, I do not wish to put myself at his mercy. He’s a liar, probably some kind of a sadist and in my opinion dangerous.’

‘Then stay away from him,’ shouted Jackie.

Kristina glanced around the restaurant. ‘If you don’t keep your voice down, I’m going,’ she said sharply. ‘How much have you had to drink tonight?’

‘That’s my business. Kristina, do I have your word that you’ll never have sex with him again?’

Kristina hesitated. If she gave her word then that would be it. She couldn’t let Jackie down twice, but for some reason she found it impossible to say the words Jacqueline wanted to hear. She had the strange feeling that she and Laurence were destined to make love again. She had no idea where, or why, but she knew it could happen and if she was utterly truthful with herself she wouldn’t mind, as long as she wasn’t wearing the bracelet.

‘No, I can’t say that,’ she muttered.

‘Why not? You’ve just told me what a dreadful man he is, and suggested that he’s bad for me, so how come you won’t agree never to have sex with him again?’

‘Because now that I belong to the society I don’t know what’s going to happen. Suppose Tarquin and I met up with you and Laurence when we were both wearing the bracelets? What could I do if Tarquin told me to let Laurence make love to me? I’d have to obey, because I don’t want to lose Tarquin any more than you want to lose Laurence.’

‘It doesn’t sound very likely,’ said Jackie doubtfully.

Kristina knew that, but at least it was an explanation that her friend could understand. ‘No, and I don’t suppose it will ever happen but in case it does I can’t give you the promise you want.’

‘And that’s the only reason?’ demanded Jackie.

Kristina nodded. ‘Of course it is. Laurence isn’t my client any more. I’ve told him to find another agent.’

‘Have you? He didn’t mention that.’

‘No,’ said Kristina drily. ‘I don’t suppose he did!’

Jackie suddenly slumped back in her chair. ‘Kristina, don’t ever put me through another twenty-four hours like that again. I’ve suffered such jealousy I didn’t know how to cope.’

‘I can only repeat that I’m really and truly sorry,’ said Kristina, reaching for her friend’s hand. ‘I think the entire episode was a put-up job, dreamed up by Laurence as a new and refined way of both torturing and stimulating you, and from what you say it worked.’

Jackie nodded. ‘Yes, it worked. I came and came, and then he entered me and that set me off again, but once I got home all I could hear was you crying out with excitement, and it drove me out of my mind.’

‘Tarquin made me listen to a recording of myself,’ confessed Kristina. ‘I found that a terrific turn-on. Jackie, do you ever think that perhaps we shouldn’t have started this? That it’s changing us?’

Jacqueline shook her head. ‘My only regret is that I didn’t find out about the society earlier. As far as I’m concerned it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.’

‘I thought I’d work better because of it,’ explained Kristina. ‘It isn’t working like that though; I’m finding it difficult to concentrate. I can’t afford to let things slide; I’m only as good as my last big deal. Suppose Laurence’s book gets published and becomes a bestseller? I’ll have turned him down as a client because of the society!’

‘But for the society I doubt if you’d ever have heard from Laurence,’ said Jackie matter-of-factly. ‘If you’re right and he only used the book as an excuse then without the society there wouldn’t have been a book. You see how easy it is to get things the wrong way round. In this case the society might have been an advantage to you, if you hadn’t got carried away by lust and ruined the entire deal.’

‘Okay, I’m in the wrong. How many times do I have to apologise?’

‘Hundreds!’ For the first time that evening Jackie laughed. ‘It’s all right, I don’t mean it. We’ll forget it now. As for your work, the self-discipline side is up to you. I’m sure Tarquin doesn’t waste his time at work thinking about you.’

‘No,’ admitted Kristina, ruefully. ‘I don’t suppose he does. As you say, it’s up to me to manage my life better. At least I now know what I don’t want, and that’s someone like Ben in my life.’

‘There you are then. You look better too, far less tense and exhausted. Think of your visits to Tarquin as a kind of sexual aromatherapy, very good for the entire system!’

‘And free!’ added Kristina, and they both burst out laughing. Later though, Kristina thought to herself that it wasn’t truly free; there was a price for everything, and her price was the sensation that her life was beginning to run out of control.

The following Tuesday she still hadn’t had another call from Tarquin, and her nerves were stretched to breaking point. She knew that he might have had to go abroad to give a talk, or could even be ill, but she worried constantly that it was her suggestion that they go out together while she wore the bracelet that had put him off.

Finally deciding that she must make the best of it and use the time to get on with some work she arranged for a new author, Peter Guard, to come round to her house early on the Tuesday evening for a bite to eat and a chat. He was writing a psychological thriller and they both wanted it to be sold to the States as well, which meant adding more characters than he’d originally allowed for. He was in his late twenties, a freelance artist and part-time photographer as well as an aspiring writer, so she felt that the evening should be interesting and helpful for her as well as for him.

He arrived at five-thirty and they had a couple of drinks as they went over his original synopsis. ‘There isn’t enough love interest,’ Kristina pointed out. ‘I know your hero has a girlfriend, but it’s all a bit unreal. There’s no depth to their emotions. I think if there were it would make her death at the end far more effective. What do you think?’

Peter shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I’m not into heavy commitment myself and that’s just the way it came out. I might find it difficult writing about anything more intense.’

‘Well, I can probably help a bit, but if you’re really not comfortable with it then we’ll leave it alone. There’s no point in writing about things that aren’t real to you, because if you do that your readers certainly won’t believe a word of it.’

‘Perhaps you’d better teach me how to get involved with a woman?’ he teased.

‘That would be delightful, but I never mix business with pleasure!’ She laughed. ‘Why not think about it a bit more and then we’ll eat. I’ve got a lasagne in the oven. Is that all right?’

‘Sure, I eat anything.’

She was passing the phone when it rang, and picked it up on the second ring. ‘Hello?’

‘Kristina?’ asked Tarquin’s soft, precise voice.

Her heart hammered against her ribs. ‘Yes.’

‘I have tickets for the opera tonight. Meet me in the Crush Bar at Covent Garden at seven-fifteen and wear a long dress. We’re sharing a box with Estelle and one of her friends. I’ll bring the bracelet with me.’

‘Tonight?’

‘Yes. I’m sorry it’s such short notice but a friend passed the tickets on to me late this afternoon. Is there a problem?’

She thought of Peter Guard sitting in her living room. ‘I’m afraid there is,’ she admitted.

‘Please, don’t apologise. I quite understand. Perhaps some other time then. Enjoy your evening,’ he said smoothly.

‘No! Wait!’ exclaimed Kristina, her mind racing feverishly. ‘It’s only work, I’m sure my client will understand. I’ll be there, don’t worry.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, yes absolutely sure.’

‘Good,’ he said and she could hear the pleasure in his voice. ‘It’s Tosca. I thought you’d enjoy that. You’re the kind of woman who probably finds herself drawn to Scarpia!’ He laughed, more to himself than to her, and then hung up, leaving Kristina standing with the telephone in her hand wondering what on earth she’d done.

Slowly she put the phone back on the wall and walked into the living room. ‘Peter, I’m terribly sorry but something’s come up that means I have to go out,’ she said awkwardly.

His face grew concerned. ‘No one’s ill I hope?’

‘No, not exactly, but it is a bit of a crisis. I feel terrible about this but I really don’t have any choice.’

He smiled reassuringly at her. ‘Please, don’t apologise. I hope you can sort things out. Perhaps you could ring me at home and we’ll arrange another meeting. Things were just getting interesting. What you said made a lot of sense.’

He was being so polite about it all that Kristina felt even worse. She could hardly believe that she was driving a client away like this, but the prospect of a night at the opera wearing the bracelet of bondage was just too arousing to pass up, and she couldn’t wait for Peter to be gone. ‘Of course I’ll ring,’ she promised. ‘And thanks for being so understanding.’

The moment the front door closed behind him she turned off the oven, took out the lasagne and stood it on the side then raced into the bathroom for a quick shower. After that she put on a long, black, crushed velvet gown, sleeveless with a huge white shawl-style collar, threw a black lace stole over her shoulders and called a mini-cab. She arrived at the Crush Bar at Covent Garden with one minute to spare.

‘You made it,’ said Tarquin as he walked towards her from the bar. ‘Here, let me put this on you. The dress is beautiful,’ he added and then he was tenderly slipping the gold bracelet over her hand until it was once more nestling against her skin.

‘It should be a wonderful night,’ he said gravely.

Kristina nodded. ‘Yes, it should.’

‘We’d better make our way to the box. The curtain goes up in fifteen minutes and Estelle and Sam are already in their seats. One thing, I’d prefer it if you removed your panties before we take our places.’

She looked round the crowded bar. ‘Here?’

He nodded. ‘No one will notice. Ease them down through your dress and then step out of them.’

‘I can’t!’ she whispered. ‘I’ll pop into the cloakroom.’

‘There’s no time. Do it here.’

Kristina’s hands trembled but she managed to roll the panties down beneath her dress by rubbing against the sides of her legs and when they were at last round her ankles she stepped carefully out of them, then picked them up and put them in her evening bag. As she closed the clasp she saw that several men and women were watching her out of the corners of their eyes, and her face went scarlet.

‘That’s better,’ said Tarquin with a half-smile. ‘Now for the entertainment.’

When they walked into the box, Estelle glanced round from her seat and smiled at Kristina. ‘What a gorgeous dress! Sam, I’m sure you’ve heard of Kristina but I don’t know if you’ve actually met each other?’

The man next to her stood up and smiled warmly at Kristina. He was about sixty, but a well-preserved sixty and his grey eyes were warm with appreciation as he held out his hand. ‘I’m sure we haven’t met; I’d certainly remember such a lovely young lady.’

‘Then I’ll introduce you,’ said Tarquin, standing behind Kristina with one hand resting lightly on her shoulder. ‘Kristina, this is Sam Martin, chairman of Stoddart-Wades. Sam, meet Kristina Masterton, literary agent extraordinaire!’

‘Of course I’ve heard of you,’ said Sam, smiling even more broadly. ‘But I don’t think we’ve had any business dealings. Now that you’re representing young Laurence though, that will all change. Estelle here’s been telling me about his proposed book on diamonds and I really think we could make something out of it, but then you’re famous for picking winners!’

Kristina felt like a goldfish as her mouth opened and closed helplessly. First of all it was a nightmare to find that the man who was sharing their box on the night she was wearing the bracelet turned out to be the chairman of Stoddart-Wades, and then to learn that Laurence had talked to Estelle about his book and claimed her for his agent was too much to take in. She saw Estelle, who was dressed in a long red brocade sheath dress with elbow-length gloves, watching her closely and knew that she was taking great delight in Kristina’s discomfort.

‘It’s very nice to meet you, Sam,’ she said with her most professional smile. ‘Your publishing house has had a very good year.’

‘And next year will be even better. Estelle here is going to make our non-fiction list the strongest in the country. There won’t be a coffee-table in the land that doesn’t have one of our books on it in twelve months’ time, you mark my words.’

Much to Kristina’s relief, at that moment the lights dimmed and she was spared having to answer that even if Laurence’s book was one of those, she wouldn’t be representing him.

Tarquin had been right in thinking that Kristina liked Tosca, but she didn’t like the soprano very much and when the first act ended she turned to him and pulled a face. ‘If that’s the new Maria Callas, I’m the new Sharon Stone!’

‘Your lack of underwear probably qualifies you for that rather more than our soprano’s voice qualifies her!’ he retorted with a grin. She smiled back at him, forgetting for a moment the thin gold chain that was encircling her wrist. Then he bent closer to her. ‘When the second act begins I want you to go down on your knees in front of me and give me oral sex,’ he whispered. ‘Don’t stop until you feel my hands cup your face.’

Kristina stared at him. ‘What about Sam?’

‘He’ll be very envious,’ said Tarquin placidly.

‘But he’s in my line of work. I mean, he and I are likely to meet again. I can’t possibly …’

‘Then take the bracelet off,’ said Tarquin casually. ‘Make up your mind though. The lights are going down again and I want you to join them!’

Kristina didn’t even smile at the joke. She felt frantic with fear. Normally what he’d asked of her would have been exciting and erotic, but the presence of Sam added another dimension and she knew that this was why he’d been invited. The additional danger that his presence added made the entire episode far more meaningful, but if she did as Tarquin asked, then she would have passed yet another test.

Except that it wasn’t a test, she thought wildly. This was meant to be an escape, sexual fantasies played out in the safety of a society where anything was possible and pleasure was all that mattered.

‘Give me the bracelet,’ said Tarquin, his voice very low.

All at once a surge of desire coursed through her and without replying she waited until the theatre was dark and then slid to her knees between his parted thighs. The long velvet dress rustled as she moved, and she knew that Sam Martin must be aware of what was happening, but the moment she took Tarquin’s huge penis into her hands and felt the soft skin of the glans she was so hungry for him that nothing else mattered.

Carefully she licked all along the shaft of his erection, spreading saliva everywhere in order to make her movements easier. His erection strained upwards at the touch of her tongue, and this made it simple for her to lick along the underside of the shaft before pressing her lips against it and rubbing them up and down towards the head. His thighs spread further apart and although he kept his eyes fixed on the stage his breathing was becoming audible in the confines of the box.

Warming to her task, Kristina licked very lightly on his frenulum, that highly sensitive place where his glans joined the shaft on the underside and as he caught his breath she rose a little higher on her knees. Then, after sliding a finger inside her mouth, she drew his glans between her lips so that she could stimulate it with both her tongue and her finger even as she sucked in a slow steady rhythm.

Tarquin was having trouble sitting still and, once, a tiny groan escaped from between his clenched lips. When she heard that, Kristina used the fingers of her free hand to stimulate his shaft while she continued to suck on the head of his erection, and she felt a tiny rippling sensation beneath her fingers as he neared his climax.

Frantically Kristina began to suck harder on his glans, but suddenly she felt his hands cupping her face and she could have wailed with disappointment when she realised that he wasn’t going to come in her mouth after all. Reluctantly she released him, her body shaking with excitement and arousal.

Tarquin’s hands tilted her face up and he bent his head down to her. ‘Raise your dress and sit on my lap,’ he whispered. ‘I want to come inside you.’

Kristina was driven frantic by his words, but when she glanced round the box she realised that both Estelle and Sam were watching her, although Sam quickly looked back to the stage when he saw her head turn.

As quietly as she could, Kristina manoeuvred her dress upwards, and then she was struggling to rise sufficiently for Tarquin to pull her on to his lap. For a moment the tip of his penis remained poised at the opening of her vagina, and then he pulled her down on to him with one quick movement and suddenly he was deep inside her, filling her totally and immediately easing the ache of frustration that her manipulation of him had caused.

She sat quite still, waiting for his instructions as she felt his breath, warm on the nape of her neck. ‘Use your internal muscles to bring me to a climax,’ he muttered. ‘Keep quite still, do it all internally.’

As she tightened her pelvic muscles the pressure inside her pelvic area increased and she felt a spiral of tight pleasure spread through her lower abdomen. When she released the muscles the spiral died away, but the more she worked the greater her own pleasure grew and soon she was very close to a climax herself. Greedily she worked at Tarquin’s enclosed penis, tensing and releasing her muscles in the rhythm that suited her best until at last the pleasure was constant and the ache of the approaching climax almost overbearingly sweet.

Then, just before she reached the point of no return, she felt Tarquin’s hips jerk helplessly and when she tried to continue contracting her muscles around him he lifted her upwards from the hips, forcing her to climb off him and return to her seat, her whole body swollen and heavy with the thwarted orgasm.

‘Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore’ sang the soprano, looking up towards the top circle. Kristina shivered, not at the beauty of the music but at the words. I have lived for love. It was like her life now, and she knew it, although in truth it was probably less romantic. She was living for lust.

When the opera was finally over Sam Martin and Estelle left separately. Sam was unable to look Kristina in the eye, but Tarquin kept a firm hold on Kristina’s elbow.

‘You did well,’ he said pleasantly. ‘I imagine that you’d like a reward. After all, we are both meant to get pleasure from our meetings.’

‘I did get pleasure from it. I enjoyed every moment,’ replied Kristina honestly.

‘But you didn’t manage to come, did you?’

‘No, not quite.’

‘Then we must rectify that. My car’s just round the corner, we’ll go back to the house and continue the evening there. What did you think of the opera?’

‘The bits I saw were quite good, and yes, I liked Scarpia best!’

Tarquin lightly touched the bracelet round her wrist. ‘Sometimes, you know, I think I’d like to spend an evening with you without this bracelet for company, but then I tell myself that perhaps that isn’t such a good idea. Maybe it would change things too much. What do you think?’

‘When I’m wearing this bracelet I don’t think very much at all,’ replied Kristina, anxious not to fall into any trap and give the wrong reply, although the very fact that he’d mentioned such a thing gave her a warm glow.

He nodded. ‘Absolutely, I can see that would be the case. Well, I shall think about it further another time. For now we’ll go home. I have another surprise for you there. I hope it adds to your evening’s pleasure.’

Kristina hoped so too.