The Initiation of Ms Holly (Xcite Erotic Romance Novels) (22 page)

F
OR THE SECOND TIME
in less than a fortnight, there was a feeling of déjà vu, as the limo pulled up in front of The Mount. Rita might be relying on the Martelli name to get her in the door, but in the end, she knew she would still be one hundred per cent reliant on plain old Rita Holly when it came to facing down Vivienne and proving her innocence.

The driver helped her out of the car. ‘Ms Martelli, shall I escort you to the door?’

Ms Martelli. Suddenly that name didn’t seem nearly so onerous to her. ‘That won’t be necessary, John. I’ll manage from here.’

There were whispers around her as she stepped on to the carpet and under the awning. She heard the Martelli name mentioned several times. Her mother was right. It was time to give them something to talk about,

The door man opened the door and as she entered, she was certain all eyes were on her. Mostly, Lorelei’s eyes were on her, her jaw dropped nearly to the desk where the reservations book lay open. Rita had never felt more proud of her heritage.

‘You have a reservation for Martelli. Rita Martelli.’

Lorelei gave several fish gasps before she regained control ‘But I thought –’

‘You thought the reservation was for my mother. A forgivable mistake.’ Rita held Lorelei’s shocked gaze. ‘I’m told I’ll be joined by the club’s owner. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to that meeting.’

Lorelei led her back to the private dining room, the same one where she had met Edward what seemed like a hundred years ago now. There, in a booth not terribly far from the one where Edward had shown her the best way to drink champagne, Lorelei seated her. Then she stood shifting from foot to foot, in her expensive shoes, as though she were waiting for Rita’s attention.

After what she deemed an appropriate amount of time to let the woman squirm, Rita asked, ‘Is there something else?’

‘I just wanted to say...’

‘Yes?’

‘I didn’t know. Honestly I didn’t.’

Rita smiled sweetly up at the woman, who suddenly seemed to be sweating through her peach taffeta. That’s OK, Lorelei. I’m pretty sure before the night’s over you’ll have a chance to make up for it, a chance I’m thinking you’ll want to take full advantage of. Now go get the owner, would you?’

Lorelei practically ran out of the dining room.

Rita didn’t have to wait long before Aurora came to her table with a bottle of Moet et Chandon on ice and two glasses. ‘Compliments of the owner,’ she said, the corner of her mouth almost twitching with what might have been a smile. ‘He apologises for making you wait, and will be joining you very shortly.’ She poured the champagne and left.

Rita barely had time to take in the smells and sounds of the lovely dining room and to sip the delicate champagne before a familiar voice came from behind her.

‘Sorry I’m late. But I had to go back to my suite for my mask.’ Edward slid into the booth next to her and pressed a warm kiss against her lips. ‘Welcome back, my darling, back to where you belong.’

She suddenly felt light-headed as though she had just finished the whole bottle of fizz. ‘You’re the owner of The Mount?’

‘I am, well the club, at least. And thanks to you and your mother, I’ll soon be regaining the control I’ve lost.’

She felt an unpleasant tightening in her chest, as though the next breath might not be guaranteed. ‘Is that why you didn’t come with me? Because my mother made you an offer you couldn’t refuse? She said she wouldn’t interfere, she said –’

He interrupted her. ‘Your mother hasn’t told you about me, then?’

‘Told me what?’

He moved a little closer and took her hands. ‘A long time ago, I made a very foolish mistake.’ Even though she couldn’t see his face, there was no missing the tightness in his voice, the quickening of his breath. ‘I gambled away what was mine. I owned The Mount, and like you, my family has a long history with The Mount. People looked up to me because of my abilities, because of my position, then I let them down. Then I lost it all.’

‘To Vivienne?’

He nodded. ‘I was young and naïve and in love with her at the time. I thought she loved me too. I thought it was just a friendly game. I thought …’ He forced a humourless chuckle. ‘Well what I thought hardly matters now, does it?’

‘So Vivienne owns you?’ Rita breathed. ‘How can that be?’

He cleared his throat as though it would rid him of threatening emotions. ‘I lost control of The Mount and became her slave. Slaves take on the identity of their masters, so you see, effectively I don’t exist. Not as long as I’m her slave.’ As he paused for a sip of champagne, she noticed his knuckles were white around the delicate stem of the glass. ‘Nothing like that in the history of The Mount had ever happened before. The Council of Elders decided, even though, constitutionally, Vivienne’s wager was on shaky ground, to let the bet stand, to teach me a lesson. They hadn’t figured on Vivienne being such a tyrant, or on her knowing coven law well enough to capitalise on her position and maintain it.’

He raised a hand before she could respond. ‘You have to understand, if it were just Vivienne, I would have run away with you, and never looked back. You can’t imagine how badly I wanted to do just that. But everyone here suffers because of what I did. I owe them all, some of them I can never repay. And besides, you shouldn’t have to run away from your rightful heritage.’

‘So my mother orchestrated the whole thing?’

‘Your mother orchestrated our meeting. I agreed to persuade you to undergo initiation. The rest you did on your own. And when Vivienne had you banished, staying was the only way I could assure you’d be able to fight another day. Then the London Coven will finally be free of Vivienne, and I can take back what’s mine,’ he squeezed her hand and raised it to his lips, ‘hopefully all of what’s mine.’

‘And I was a part of the deal?’

‘No.’ He released her hand. ‘You weren’t.’

‘But you just said my mother used you to bring me into the fold.’

‘Oh, she did. She absolutely used me to bring you into the fold. But my falling in love with you was never a part of the deal. There are things that even someone as powerful as your mother can’t control.’

His words left her breathless, unable to speak. She hardly knew what to say. He loved her? Did he really? She’d secretly hoped, but hopes were barely more than fantasies and not to be trusted.

Into the breach of expectant silence, he tugged at his jacket and cleared his throat again, suddenly unable to meet her gaze. ‘Lorelei has gathered the High Council in the Presence Chamber. If you’re ready, I think it’s time you take your rightful place in The Mount.’ He offered her his arm and escorted her away from the table then down the hallway behind the kitchen toward the stairs, a route she felt quite familiar with now.

At the bottom, she stopped, suddenly unable to move, suddenly feeling weak all over.

Edward took her in his arms. ‘Don’t be afraid, my love. You are Rita Holly Martelli. You come from a long line of members of The Mount, longer than anyone in that room.’ He nodded to the doors. ‘And you’ve done everything right. You’ve made your family proud. You’ve made me proud. When you’ve done what has to be done in there, then this is yours to remove.’ He guided her hand to the cheek of the golden mask. ‘And what’s beneath is yours to keep, if you still want it.’

She lifted her mouth to his and kissed him, forcing words around the tight knot of emotion in her chest. ‘You know that I do. More than I’ve ever wanted anything.’

He offered her his arm, and together they pushed through the double doors into the familiar bedroom light of the Presence Chamber.

E
LLEN
D
ANIELS WAS THE
estate agent who gave Owen the keys to his new villa. Then she’d stayed on for drinks and dinner and sex. Lots of sex. Clearly she found him fascinating, and she was just his type. She had big tits, a pussy with a cast iron grip, and she loved to suck cock. He wasn’t into exclusivity by any means, but, with him just settling in, Ellen offered lots of hot, kinky tail, and she looked fabulous on his arm whenever he went out.

She stood before him dressed to the nines with her arm around the shoulder of a gorgeous brunette, hand resting in a slight cup against the woman’s lovely bra-less breast. ‘Owen, darling,’ Ellen’s throaty contralto always sounded like she was gagging for it. ‘This is Vicki.’ She gave the brunette’s tit a little squeeze, and he couldn’t help noticing those lovely high tits were barely covered by the tiny black dress that looked more like a nightie. ‘She wants to come with us. That is all right, isn’t it?’

One look at the chick’s straining nipples and her nicely rounded bottom was enough to convince him that the only thing better than showing up at The Club with one gorgeous woman on his arm was showing up with two gorgeous women on his arm. ‘Of course you can come, love.’

The woman shot a confused glance at Ellen, who smiled back at her reassuringly and nodded. Then she turned her attention back to Owen. ‘Vicki doesn’t speak English.’

He’d paid a fortune to get reservations for himself and Ellen at the exclusive grand opening of The Club Restaurant. He was pretty sure the place was just a Mount wannabe, but there had been rumours that Vivienne herself might show up, and he wanted to be in the right place just in case.

In her excitement at the news, Vicki gave Ellen an enthusiastic tongue kiss. When she finally came up for air, Ellen smiled apologetically at Owen. ‘Vicki’s very affectionate, and very grateful.’ While he watched, she scrunched the skirt of the brunette’s dress up until her black lace knickers were visible. ‘She has such a yummy pussy. Would you like to taste?’

She shoved aside the crotch of her friend’s panties, and the chick’s eyelids fluttered. She sucked her bottom lip and caught her breath as Ellen parted her cunt lips and slipped a finger into her distended snatch. Owen was already hard enough to strain the expensive fabric of his trousers as he watched Ellen thumb the nub of her friend’s clit, before bringing her juicy fingers to his lips for a taste.

‘Mmmmph. Good,’ he groaned, licking and slurping.

Ellen nuzzled the top of the brunette’s dress open until her dark nipples were forced upward free of the bodice. She pulled Owen, first to her own mouth for a deep-throated kiss, then she guided him down to Vicki’s peek-a-boo nipples. ‘Aren’t they nice,’ she crooned as he suckled and kneaded the brunette.

‘And look,’ she shoved him away long enough to turn Vicki around and bend her over the arm of the couch. There she pushed the dress up and slid the crumpled panties down until the chick’s nicely tanned bottom was completely exposed. ‘Her little bum hole is so nice, don’t you think?’

Owen could barely hold his wad as Ellen parted her friend’s raised buttocks and began to tongue-fuck her pulsating dark pucker.

The brunette groaned and thrust her arse back into Ellen’s face. She grunted some expletive he didn’t understand. Dirty talk he figured, and he nearly ripped out his fly in his effort to free his cock. Desperate for relief, he fingered and poked until he had spread the brunette’s slippery pout. With such a raging hard-on he could hardly walk let alone make it to The Club. That was all right. They’d show up fashionably late and well fucked, the way he figured most wealthy people did. As he shoved into Vicki’s tight snatch, Ellen hopped on to the leather couch, mindless of her stilettos, and positioned herself over Vicki’s mouth, pulling aside her own thong for a good pussy licking.

Owen wondered if it got any better than this, fucking one chick senseless while she ate another chick’s sopping pussy. Just a quickie before dinner, then, after an expensive meal, eaten while being seen and admired at The Club, the three of them would continue the party here at his villa. Unless Vivienne had better plans for him. That thought, along with the brunette’s tightly gripping pussy, was enough to make him jiz.

Owen felt nauseated as the restaurant manager handed him back his bank card. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Frank, but the charge has been declined.’

The meal they had just eaten would have set him back a month’s salary at
Talkabout
. He forced a smile, trying to remain calm, trying to keep the expensive dinner from coming back up. ‘There has to be a mistake. Try again.’

The manager shook his head. ‘I’ve tried it three times, sir.’

‘Then try a fourth time’ Owen growled. ‘I know how much I have in my account. What’s the matter with you stupid people?’

Out of nowhere, a very large man in charcoal suit moved to stand protectively next to the manager. People at the tables around them began to whisper among themselves. Ellen heaved a busty sigh and produced a credit card from her bag. The manager studied it for a moment, then looked up at her wide-eyed. ‘You work for Coraline Martelli?’

She nodded to Vicki. ‘We both do. And we’ll take care of the bill.’

‘But I thought you were an estate agent.’ Owen sputtered.

‘I am if Ms Martelli wants me to be.’ She ran a finger down the side of his sweating face. ‘You don’t look well, Owen, darling. But at least you’ve been well fucked tonight, and I can’t think of anyone more deserving. Now why don’t you go on home and take some rest.’

Confusion and panic rose at the back of his throat. Normally he would feel good about being on the radar of someone as important as Coraline Martelli, instead, he felt like he’d just swallowed a fish bone.

The drive home seemed interminable. How could a night that started out so well end up so shit? The closer he got to home, the tighter the knot in his stomach got. He thought of Lorelei’s warning, but he’d done nothing wrong. He’d kept every rule. The whole incident with his bank card had to be some mistake. He’d iron it all out in the morning. He reminded himself things always looked better in daylight. Then he saw the heavy chain and padlock across the gate to his villa with the two uniformed men standing in front, and he knew this time that wouldn’t be the case.

‘Owen Frank?’ The bigger of the two spoke with a heavy Spanish accent.

‘Yes?’

‘We are to escort you to pack your belongings. You are trespassing on Martelli property.’

The nausea returned with a vengeance and, for a second, he thought he’d either throw up or pass out. Instead, he choked out his protest. ‘There has to be a mistake. The place was leased to me. How can it belong to Coraline Martelli?’

‘Oh, it doesn’t belong to Coraline Martelli any more. She has deeded it over as a gift to her daughter.’

‘Her daughter?’

‘That’s right. She says you know her daughter.’

‘How the hell would I know her daughter?’

The big man unlocked the padlock and stepped aside for Owen to enter. ‘Rita Holly Martelli?’ He shrugged. ‘Strange, Ms Martelli said that you would understand.’