The Initiation of Ms Holly (Xcite Erotic Romance Novels) (10 page)

Her stomach turned to ice. ‘What is it, Edward? Will Vivienne –’

‘Shshsh, darling. It’s OK. This test is out of Vivienne’s hands. Can you get off work for a few days?’

The question did little to settle her nerves. ‘Owen owes me big time. I can’t see there being a problem.’

‘Good. I think you’ll find this part of your initiation considerably more interesting. I have to go, darling, but I’ll check in on you. Leo won’t mind if I visit.’

‘Leo? Wait, Edward. Please tell me –’

‘Don’t worry, Rita. It’ll be OK. I promise. Now I have to go.’

The line went dead. Rita lay for a long time with the phone next to her on the pillow, drifting in and out of sleep, dreaming of Edward and what she would do to him when the initiation was over, and she could see his face. Then, as though someone had poured cold water over her, she remembered, Edward probably wouldn’t like her very much after the initiation, after her story came out. And her story would come out. She was a journalist. It was her job. People wanted to know.

There was no going back to sleep with that thought niggling at her conscience. She had just got up and rebooted the computer when there was a loud knock at the door.

I
N SPITE OF WHAT
Edward had said, Rita didn’t trust Vivienne. Preparing for the worst, she swallowed frayed nerves and opened the door to find two men in blue cover-alls. Their breast pockets sported bright green logos with a stylised leopard stretched atop italic script that read,
The Zoo
.

One looked down at the clipboard and read off a check list. ‘Female, Caucasian, five feet ten inches tall, chestnut hair, curvy build, answers to the name of Rita?’

‘Yes?’

‘You’re to come with us. Leo’s expecting you.’ He lifted a hand to halt her words. ‘Number one rule, pets don’t talk. Number two rule, pets don’t wear clothes.’

As she slipped out of her robe, he took it from her, folded it with military precision and placed it on the credenza near the door. The other man helped her into an oversized trench coat. She was surprised that it no longer bothered her when people she didn’t know saw her naked. These days it was almost routine. The man with the clipboard nodded satisfaction. ‘All right then. Come on.’

She followed the men to a white van, where a third man waited inside by a pet carrier. He took back the trench coat and her pink flip-flops. ‘Get in,’ he said, nodding to the cage. When she balked, he brought a leather riding crop down with a crisp snap against her bare bottom. She yelped. The demanding gape of the pet carrier, way too small for her comfort, seemed to be sucking the oxygen out of the van. Her palms were icy. Her chest and forehead were suddenly bathed in cold sweat.

The second lash across her bottom was more serious. The sting would no doubt leave a welt. ‘I said get in,’ the man ordered. ‘Trust me, you don’t want to displease the Zoo Keeper.’

With her bottom stinging and her heart doing a drum roll, she did as she was told, trying to breathe deeply, willing herself not to panic. The hair on the back of her neck rose with a prickle as the lock clicked behind her and the man stuck the key in his pocket. That was the last thing she saw before the carrier was covered with a heavy black cloth, and she was left in close darkness.

After what seemed like an eternity, the van stopped. She was briefly jostled about in the carrier, then there was an angry voice from the void. ‘What have you done to her?’ She recognised an Eastern European accent. ‘I cannot accept this. She was to be treated with the utmost care.’

‘We did exactly what you said, Leo,’ came clipboard man’s nervous reply. ‘Just like always.’

She scrabbled to stabilise herself as the pet carrier was jostled from the van. In the cool glow of moonlight, she could see Leo, dressed in safari garb, shaking the heavy cloth that had been thrown over her cage at the van men. ‘She is claustrophobic, you imbeciles! The journey must have been nightmare for the poor thing. Get her out of there. Forget it. I will do. Give me the key.’

Clipboard man fumbled the key, and Leo jerked it away from him, opened the cage and with careful hands, helped her out. Her feet had barely touched terra firma before Leo scooped her into his arms, as though she were a child, and carried her away from the cage. She hadn’t realised just what a big man he was, or how strong. She didn’t mind. She wasn’t sure she could trust her own legs just yet.

He spoke words she couldn’t understand, something Slavic, she thought. She could feel their comforting rumble deep in his chest. He had voted against her initiation, she reminded herself. Best not trust any comfort coming from him.

‘She didn’t tell us, Leo,’ said clipboard man, who struggled to keep Leo’s pace. ‘I swear she didn’t tell us. You know we treat your pets good. Blanket usually calms ’em down, doesn’t it?’

‘You can read, yes?’ Leo snapped. ‘It says right on the invoice that she is claustrophobic. Edward told me take precautions.’

‘Begging your pardon, but it says nuffink about ’er being claustrophobic. I wouldn’ta missed that, would I?’

In a room that reminded Rita of the veterinarian’s office where her mother used to take her prize Burmese cats, Leo sat her down on the examination table and grabbed away the clipboard. She feared he would shred the papers as he riffled through them. The growl he offered as he shoved the clipboard back at the man was truly befitting his name. ‘Who gave you this?’

‘Lorelei. She said Vivienne had approved.’

Suddenly, Rita felt nauseated. Was there no escaping the bitch?

Leo dismissed the clipboard man, and she didn’t protest as he eased her onto her side and carefully examined the welt on her bottom, which was still tender enough to make her wince.

‘My poor darling.’ He smoothed damp hair away from her face. ‘I’m so sorry that this happened. Why didn’t you tell those men that you were claustrophobic?’

‘Pets don’t talk.’ Her voice felt scratchy against the back of her throat.

‘Pets don’t talk? What the …’ His eyes widened, his face broke into a broad smile and he kissed her forehead with such enthusiasm that she thought he might leave a bruise. ‘Of course. Pets don’t talk, and you are already obedient pet. Edward is right, you are real treasure.’ Then the smile slipped. ‘But surely you must understand that I would never do anything to harm any of my pets. I am contributor to RSPCA. I am volunteer in the shelters. I think anyone who would harm helpless animal should have their,’ he lapsed back into Slavic, and though she couldn’t understand him, she was certain what he said was not nice. Then the smile returned as quickly as it left. ‘You will see.’ He kissed her forehead again, this time more gently. ‘You will love being pet, and you won’t want to leave when time comes.’

He snapped his fingers, and a woman dressed in a zoo uniform brought water – not in a cup, but in a silver bowl. Leo carefully helped her to sit, but when she reached for the bowl, he pushed her hands aside. ‘Pets use their hands for other things, darling. Feeding you, grooming you and giving you to drink, those are responsibilities of your master.’ The woman held the bowl to her lips. She was aware of Leo gently stroking her back while she drank.

‘There. Is better now, my little dovitsa?’ Again he snapped his fingers and a man dressed in scrubs came into the room, looking more like a porn star than a veterinarian. ‘Dr Marco will examine you now. Make sure you are OK to join other pets.’ He lifted her chin. ‘Some pets must stay in quarantine for little while, but I think claustrophobia is not contagious.’ He nodded to the vet, who moved forward.

‘Oh she’s lovely, Leo. What’s her name?’ The vet took her face in his hands and carefully examined the lymph glands along a sensitive path down her neck.

‘Her name is Rita.’ Leo’s hand moved possessively to stroke her belly, and suddenly she forgot about the ordeal of getting there. ‘She has had quite a trauma, Doctor. I need to know she is OK, and that she will be comfortable to get good night’s sleep. You know how sensitive pets can be in new place.’

The doctor placed a stethoscope, warmed to body temperature between her breasts, listened, then gave a little nod. His breath was warm across her stippling areolae as he gently probed and palpated and cupped until she found it difficult not to move against his touch. At her side, Leo reassuringly stroked and caressed first her hips, then her thighs, then the soft nape of her neck. In her peripheral vision she could see that the front of his safari trousers was well tented.

‘She’s exquisite, Leo, and in excellent condition,’ the doctor said as his hands moved over her belly, pressing and palpating. ‘You’re lucky to have found such a specimen.’

‘Sadly, she is not mine. I am only borrowing her, but I shall enjoy her very much while I have her.’

‘Indeed.’ The doctor guided her on to her hands and knees and positioned her so that her bottom was only inches from his face. He traced the welt with a feather touch, tisk tisking as he did so. ‘The brutes.’

Leo stroked her flank as though he were calming a prize mare. Then the doctor eased her legs apart and shifted her hips until her cunt was fully exposed. ‘There we go, that’s a good girl,’ the doctor half whispered. ‘Hmm.’ He ran a finger down her perineum from just below her anus to separate her labia where the lips folded protectively around her pussy hole, an act that caused her to catch her breath in a soft moan. ‘She’s very wet.’ He slipped a finger up into her, and she grasped down on it involuntarily. There was no hiding it. Phone sex with Edward and what was happening to her now had left her horny as hell and wet enough to mop the examination room floor.

The doctor slid another finger into her and pressed down low on her belly with the other hand. She whimpered, shifted her hips and pressed back.

‘She needs to be serviced, Leo,’ the doctor said. ‘You can’t kennel her like this. The poor thing will never be able to sleep without some relief.’ The probing fingers had gone from examining to thrusting, and Leo was practically humping the side of the table, one hand migrating to stroke Rita’s bottom.

Leo replied with a grunt. ‘All the males are sleeping and she hasn’t been properly introduced. It would be big disruption.’

‘Shall I take care of her then?’ When the doctor brought his thumb to circle her clit, Rita practically went through the roof.

‘Leave her. If you need pleasure, you take with Fila or Rajka. They will take care of your cock, not my pet. It is the rules.’

The doctor sighed and withdrew his fingers, and Rita groaned her frustration, but Leo pushed her hand away as it slid toward her cunt. ‘Leo knows his Ritichka needs to come, but pets don’t touch their pussies. Trust me, I have something much nicer planned for little pussy.’ He produced a blue leather collar studded with rhinestones and clasped it around her neck. Then he attached a lead. ‘Come my darling.’

The doctor looked disappointed as Leo helped her from the examination table. ‘What will you do?’

‘She will sleep with Blossom tonight. Blossom will take care of her until she can be properly serviced. Now do something about that before you burst.’ He nodded to the bulge in the doctor’s trousers.

Leo led Rita into a moonlit courtyard, around a pool surrounded by a lush garden and up the path to the main house. ‘Wipe your feet, darling.’ He nodded to the braided rug just inside the door. ‘Millicent is very upset when there are paw prints all over the foyer.’

He led her down a long hallway past rooms which were visibly opulent even in the muted tones of night. At last he opened double doors into a study, lit by the soft glow from a fireplace. Bookshelves with glass doors reached from floor to high ceiling, no doubt protecting rare volumes and leather bindings. A ladder of ageing wood and wrought iron rested on rollers against one section of shelves. The furniture was comfortably worn cordovan leather, and the oriental carpets were, no doubt, expensive and hand-made. The room smelled of wood and leather and ageing volumes and Rita felt instantly at home.

Leo slipped out of his shoes and poured himself a glass of something strong and amber from a crystal decanter on an antique table near the door. Then he sat down in a large wing-backed chair in front of the fireplace. He guided her to kneel next to him and rest her head on his thigh, his bulge scant centimetres from her cheek. As he stroked her nape and smoothed her hair, she reached for his fly, but he pushed her hands away with a light slap.

‘That is no no, Rita. Pets may certainly sniff, and nuzzle, but at the Zoo pets don’t have sex with their minders. I brought you here so that Blossom could help you feel better.’

For the first time, Rita noticed the dark form of a woman lying curled on the carpet in front of the fireplace.

Leo unclipped the leash from Rita’s collar and stroked her tummy. ‘Go on now. Go introduce yourself.’ He shooed her toward the woman on the carpet whose dark eyes seemed enormous in the dancing firelight. She uncurled herself and stretched into a sitting position. It was hard to tell the exact shade of her skin, but even in the muted light of the fire it was dark. Her body was long and slender. Her small high breasts were topped with enormous melt-in-your mouth nipples.

‘Blossom is the only one of my pets that stays in house all the time. Blossom, darling, this is Rita. She has had very rough journey to be here with us, and her pussy is very uncomfortable. Make her feel at home.’ Again he made a shooing motion, and Rita moved to join Blossom on the carpet.

She had barely dropped to her knees before the other pet buried her face, nose first, in Rita’s bottom, sniffing and licking, making Rita’s cunt gape and surge. Then, she presented her lovely arse to Rita, dark hole gripping and relaxing as Rita reciprocated, at first tentatively, awkwardly, until she got the hang of it, then more enthusiastically with her growing arousal.

Once she and Rita were properly acquainted, Blossom slid her tongue in slow, even laps over Rita’s body, beginning behind her right ear and working her way down the nape of her neck on to her breasts. She pressed with the pad of her tongue, then drew her lips closed between each lick in a nip of a kiss that made Rita’s skin goose-flesh like a million tiny clits engorged with sensation. Each slide of the tongue and purse of the lips built on the last until Rita writhed helplessly beneath each caress, whimpering at the pleasure of it. Blossom licked her way over Rita’s belly and on to her hip, easing her down onto the carpet, nudging her legs apart until Rita could feel the dark pet’s warm breath against her pussy. Then she laid her head on Rita’s thigh and snaked her incredible tongue over Rita’s cunt, making her catch her breath in tight little grunts and bear down against the insinuations of mouth and lips and the occasional nip of teeth against her heavy clit.

Leo chuckled softly. ‘Our Rita does have a lovely pussy, doesn’t she, Blossom? Make her come, darling. Make her feel better.’

Rita pushed and scooted on the carpet until she could return the favour, laying her head on Blossom’s thigh and burying her face in the musky femaleness of the pet, whose clit mirrored her nipples in sheer swollen deliciousness.

‘Oh yes, that’s Leo’s good girls, that’s my horny little darlings,’ Leo breathed.

Above their own grunts and moans, Rita heard the sound of a zipper and looked up to see Leo fondling his balls free from his trousers and caressing a heavy erection. The cordovan leather squeaked in protest as his stroking grew more urgent. The wet sounds of sex mingled with the smell of animal heat, and Rita found herself wanting to growl and bite and display her swollen cunt for Leo, like a red flag before a bull. She wished he’d join them. His cock looked positively equine. She could imagine the nice tight fit, with him taking turns in her pussy, then in Blossom’s. Just then Blossom tongued her clit and nipped her with a throaty growl that sent her over the edge grunting and trembling. Blossom wasn’t far behind. Leo watched them come, his cock thrusting in his tight fist like a wild thing he struggled to tame, until at last his body stiffened and bowed back against the chair, and he ejaculated in heavy spurts onto the polished wood floor.