Double-Crossed (30 page)

“I am not so sure that all that can be found in a sex game,” said Marianne, uncertain.

“That's because it's not just a sex game. But, come on now. This isn't the time for this conversation. Isn't it wonderful that we get to meet? I've known Peter for a while, and for me, it was very exciting to learn that you were with him.”

A sudden pang of jealousy hit Marianne unexpectedly. “Have you and Peter, er…been together?”

She smiled in a knowing way. “Now, now, you have no business being jealous of Peter's past. You have a past too, after all. However, no, there's never been anything between Peter and me. Peter rarely plays. He brings women, and he gets them to play. In answer to that question, yes, I've played with a number of Peter's dates. You should know my name. I'm Suzanne.”

Marianne felt a flood of relief surge through her and scolded herself for being so jealous. Suzanne was right. She had no business being jealous of Peter about a time before she'd met him.

At this point, the two women joined the other members of the group, and Peter introduced her to John, Suzanne's master. Marianne liked him right away and enjoyed watching the easy banter between the two men. Marianne learned that Peter and John had been friends for years. John spoke to her at one point and told her how special she must be to have so captured Peter.

“He's been looking for you for as long as I've known him.”

Marianne smiled self-consciously and again wondered that he could be so sure about her in such a short period.

They spoke socially for a while, Suzanne openly flirting with her. The excitement of being attractive to a woman intoxicated, but at the same time, Marianne wasn't sure how Peter would react to it. Suzanne looked gorgeous, and tonight she wore a shimmering silvery blue corset with tight, silvery blue PVC pants beneath it. She looked stunning with high heels on and her long, blonde hair flowing over her naked shoulders.

Marianne felt as virginal as intended in her beautiful white. She'd received approving looks all evening, but she couldn't help feeling the inexperience she wore in her clothes. Marianne felt provincial, and wanted the sophistication she saw in those around her.

She started to flirt back with Suzanne, in subtle ways so as not to embarrass Peter. When Suzanne stared suggestively at her, she connected fully with the gaze and held it. This sent waves of delight directly to her pussy. She felt herself growing wet again.

Soon Peter noticed and smiled at her. Then, as if to directly humiliate her, he said aloud to John, “I've noticed our playthings want to play with each other, my friend. How would you feel if I told your Suzanne to kiss my Marianne?”

“Fine by me. I'd like to see it myself.”

Then Peter turned to Suzanne.

“Suzanne, you've misbehaved by flirting with my new submissive without asking me or your master. I think the decision about a punishment needs to come from him. Because you have aroused my interest, I want you to kiss Marianne now, and I invite the rest of the group to watch.”

With a smile on her face, she looked like the Cheshire Cat from
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
. Suzanne walked over to Marianne. She whispered, “Are you ready?” and Marianne nodded.

Then Suzanne placed her hands on Marianne's shoulders. The women were the same height, so when Suzanne stepped close to Marianne, Marianne could feel Suzanne's breasts against her own. Suzanne leaned in, and Marianne moved toward her. Suzanne brushed her lips very gently across Marianne's, and Marianne felt the first tingle in her pussy caused by a kiss from a woman.

Then Suzanne got a little more insistent. Her next kiss was firmer, and she parted her lips and softly swept her tongue around Marianne's lips. Marianne met the warm tongue, connected with her own, and soon the women were in a full embrace. Marianne thrilled to the feel of a lipsticked mouth on hers and the way that her pussy lurched, knowing a woman kissed her. She had broken a big taboo.

When Suzanne pulled away, Peter stepped up to Marianne and put his hand between her legs.

“Mmm…so wet, my little one! I think we may get you to do that again some time!”

There was a small amount of applause from the small group, as everyone seemed to know that this was Marianne's first attempt at public play. Glancing toward Suzanne, Marianne let her eyes linger on Suzanne's for just a minute. Suzanne, clearly turned on, stared hard at Marianne. Behind her, John had his hand between her legs. Her eyes told Marianne she languished in the throes of deep passion.

Suddenly, Marianne felt very tired. Feeling Peter's eyes on her, she turned toward him, hoping he'd notice her fatigue. Straightaway, he announced, “We need to go, folks. We both have obligations tomorrow, and we should be off. But, and I speak on behalf of Marianne here, we'll both be back for other nights.”

Then Marianne drowned in a sea of good-byes and thank yous and kisses on her cheeks and hand shakings. Suzanne, unable to move from where John was pushing fingers into her, smiled and blew Marianne a kiss. At the end of everything, these people were her new friends.

Peter led Marianne by the hand again, and they walked up to Magenta. Peter took her hand, kissed it, and thanked her for the wonderful party. She smiled back and said she always loved to see Peter and that she hoped to see a lot more of Marianne in the future. She gave Marianne a wink, told her she looked beautiful and that Peter was the best dresser she'd ever known.

Marianne smiled, Peter took her arm, and they headed back into the corridor again, where they were met by the girl in the red shorts with their coats.

Peter placed her coat over her shoulders, and with a “Bye, Kimberly” to the frozen woman, they were out in the small domestic street like any other lovers getting to their car in the heat of a Sydney night. Only the watchful eyes of a human mannequin gave any indication of what went on behind the door of that house.

In the car, Peter explained to Marianne that he wasn't coming in tonight.

“I hope you understand,
cherie
, but tonight you need your sleep. I know I told you I'd make you come, but I'm worried about the time now. Do you realize how late it is? You need your rest.”

Marianne suddenly felt very tired, and it must have shown on her face.

“That's right. Plus, you've been through a lot this week. This party won't come up again for twelve months, so I wanted to take you tonight, so you could have the full feel of it, but we both need to get rest now. I'm going to kiss you good night in a very chaste fashion at the front door.”

Marianne could only agree. Exhaustion set in by now. She ached for her bed.

When they got to her apartment building, Peter walked her upstairs, and true to his word, he waited until she opened the door, then walked in behind her when she turned on the lights.

“I was very proud to be with you tonight, Marianne. You're my perfect partner, and I love that I can start right at the beginning with you like this. I'm very happy about what's going on between us. Go to sleep now, my love, and I will call you first thing in the morning. Good night.”

He leaned in and kissed her, and then in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Marianne leaned against the door that had shut him out into the night. Her mind blurred, and she could hardly think. She only wanted bed.
I can digest all of this tomorrow
, she thought.
Right now, I need sleep
.

Just at that moment, she heard a knock at the door.

Peter back again! Maybe he is going to stay after all
.

Marianne opened the door with a grin on her face, forgetting to check through the peephole, to find herself staring into the pale, fluid face of the doctor. She instinctively drew her coat closer around her body to hide her outfit.

“Marianne, I don't mean to disturb you this late in the night, but as a doctor, I am very concerned that you are out this late. Do you even remember you had a terrible accident earlier this week?”

Marianne felt so tired, but not too tired to see how inappropriate this was.

“Doctor, please. It's very late, and I'm uncomfortable about you being on my doorstep at this time of the night. Have you been watching for me at your door?”

In the pause that followed, Marianne could swear she saw his thin lips tighten.

“Of course not,” he said evenly, with that touch of sarcasm she had come to know. “Your door activity woke me up.”

Marianne felt foolish again. He had a way of making her feel stupid every time she spoke.

“God! I must be exhausted. I'm so sorry. But I really do need to get some sleep.”

“I'm assuming Peter has no idea that you were hit. Otherwise a man who really cared about you would never have you out this late. I'm also assuming you didn't do anything too mentally taxing?”

Marianne stared hard at him. Did he actually know these things, or did he have an intuitive knack of knowing what to say to throw her off balance?

“Um, I feel fine, except I have to get some sleep.”

The doctor let out a brief, frustrated sigh.

“I will leave you to get some sleep, and I'll try to go back and get some myself. I'll be here in the morning. Not too early. Let's say ten. I want you to rest, and then I'll give you an examination tomorrow. In addition, please, do nothing else tonight. Get straight to bed.”

With that, he'd left, and she was alone again in the heat of the night with nothing but the endless thoughts of the evening's events whirring about in her head.

Chapter Fifteen

That night, Marianne dreamt strange dreams. She loved the night at Salon Kitties and everything that happened to her right up until the doctor had put fear into her heart.

Was he right? Why did Peter take her to something like that when she'd been so badly hurt that week?

Her head filled with conflicting voices. Part of her said not to worry, that Peter loved her and had watched her very carefully all night. He looked after her and promised she would always be safe. Another part of her asked why wasn't he doing everything he could to get Don for what he did to her? God, she hadn't even filed a police report.

She had dreams of people floating around her, telling her different things. The doctor's face, and then Peter's flew at her and away again. They drifted around in the air, both men smiling and caring for her. Soon other faces crashed through these two as if they were sheets of glass. The face of Joe coming to the fore, then suddenly disappearing, replaced by Don's fist belting into the side of her head again.

Marianne woke a few times in the night in a sweat. With a fan next to her bed to cool her down, she fell back to sleep easily each time. However, the dreams were persistent, and she couldn't get a proper night's sleep.

She woke at eight-thirty in the morning and felt as though she had a hangover. It wasn't from drinking any alcohol the night before, but the dreams she'd had sat high in her consciousness. Thank God, it was Friday, and she could have a day at home. She felt terrible.

Her phone rang at that point. As she moved toward it, she saw Peter's number flash up, and a slight feeling of irritation grew in her. Couldn't he leave her alone for a minute?

“Good morning, sweetheart. How did you sleep? I just thought I'd give you a call to see how you're going after such a big night last night.”

“I'm okay, but I had a lot of weird dreams, and now I feel unwell. I have a headache. I'm wondering if the night might have been too much for me. If…maybe…we pushed the envelope there a little.”

A pause that could be felt sat between them until he said, “How sick do you feel?”

“I'm not well. I feel dizzy and headachy, and a little disoriented.”

“It's fairly common after a night like the one that you experienced, and you've been sick this week. Perhaps I should take you to a doctor. I know a good one who…”

“It's okay, Peter. My doctor friend is coming this morning to take care of me.”

“Marianne, are you sure he's the best one to be doing that? I'd like to get you looked at by someone I trust and who understands the kind of night that you had.”

Marianne felt strangely irritated. “Please, I just want to be alone today. I will be looked at by someone who is very reputable, and I need some space.”

“I wanted to help. Please take your time, and I'll call tonight to see how you're feeling.”

Then he hung up.

Maybe she'd been too harsh. However, in the end, she didn't care about being too harsh. She needed to get to bed again, and she started to feel unwell. Peter had sounded a little offended, but it wasn't the time to care about that. She had to leave him to look after himself so that she could focus on herself. Right now, she needed her bed. Words went round and round in her head.

Thank God I don't have to call work and let them know I won't be in. Thank God I had planned to have the entire week off
.

She collapsed into her bed at nine, but she couldn't sleep then. The way she'd spoken to Peter distracted her and guilt set in. The constant churning in her belly a constant reminder she'd gone too far in her frosty behavior toward him.

She got up and took some headache tablets and then went back to bed. After a while, her headache started to fade, but the ache in her belly stayed the same. It felt like fear, but fear that came at her from outside. She couldn't understand why she felt so worked up, so sick, so uncomfortable.

At ten exactly, a rapping of knuckles brought her back to reality. With just her robe on, Marianne went to the door. Peeping through the small hole, she opened it to find Dr. Zamenof there as she expected.

“Hello, Marianne. How are you feeling?”

“Sick. I feel really sick.”

“Well, I can't say that I'm surprised. No one has been looking after you very well lately, including yourself. I will have to examine you.”

He walked past her into the lounge room, but she didn't care to argue with him. She just wanted him to check her over, tell her about her good health and that all she needed was bed rest.

She sat in a chair, and he stood over her. He looked into her eyes with a small torch and went through several tests with her, blood pressure and the like. As he examined her, she looked unselfconsciously at him. He was translucent, as if his whole body was fading. That was it. His body, aware of its own impending death, had decided to change from its earthly form early.