This chapter takes place a litle bit after chapter 2 leaves off. Enjoy and keep the comments coming, please!
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An hour later Bitsy was awakened by Maria's quiet knock on the door. She smiled up at her new friend sleepily. "Are you well, Your Ladyship?"
"Yes, Maria." Despite the bondage of the tie, Bitsy stretched her slender frame. "Could you untie me for a few moments, though? I need to make a phone call."
"I don't see why not," Maria agreed. "His Majesty did not say I couldn't untie you," she said reaching for the silky fabric. After untying Bitsy, she turned to leave. "Let me know if you need anything else," she called back.
Bitsy waited until Maria had shut the door before dialing on her cell phone which she found in her purse conveniently placed in the closet. The receiving end picked up on the second ring. "International Police Department Headquarters, how may I direct your call?"
"Alyssa Mason's secretary's desk, if you please," she demanded in her imperious tones known to make subordinates quaver.
But she had trained her receptionist staff to well to back down. "And who may I say is calling?" the receptionist queried in a laconic tone.
"The woman who signs your paycheck, Elyse," Bitsy ground out. For it was true that Lady Elizabeth "Bitsy" Karnackii Dracula, newly selected First Lieutenant of Count Dracula and concubine of King Stuart of Romania, and Alyssa Elizabeth Mason, Commandant General of the International Police Department headquartered in Paris, with the sole mission of eradicating all witches and werewolves with evil intent from the planet, were one and the same.
Elyse, one of Bitsy's closest friends (although not one privy to her covert "other" identity), giggled. "Right away, Lyssa," she said.
A few seconds later, Alyssa Mason's new secretary, Marcos, the king's brother, answered his desk's extension. "Marcos? Alyssa Mason here. I'm sorry I am unable to be present for your first few days on the job, but that's the burden of field operations. I left a file of your duties and responsibilities on your desk blotter. If you have any questions, either Ginger or Dee Browne will be glad to help. I don't know when I will be able to be in my office in the next few weeks, so this will be a trial by fire." Bitsy's businesslike tones had softened into the southern accent of her Texas hometown of Jasper.
She could hear the king's brother on the other end of the line shuffling through the papers in the folder. "All of it seems fairly straightforward, Ms. Mason."
"Alyssa," she corrected.
"Alyssa, then. You do have a few messages, though." Bitsy inwardly groaned. "The Duchess, that is Tracy Bathory, has called three times to set up an audience with you." Bitsy knew why, of course. As touted by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal as the most influential woman alive, Alyssa Mason had aroused the interest of her former schoolmate, Tracy Bathory, who desperately wanted to help on the "Great Witch Hunt" with a "sizable monetary contribution."
Bitsy spent a few seconds clenching and unclenching her hands into fists. "Tell her that for the meantime, I am unavailable for appointments, but that I will personally contact her when I am able to meet with her. She won't like that, I know, but that honestly is the case."
Marcos just barely managed to hide his groan. "She really won't."
A glance at the huge grandfather clock that dominated one corner of the grand bedchamber alerted Bitsy to the fact that the king would probably return soon. An unwilling warmth and wetness seeped to gather at the newly unfurled petals of her sex. She shouldn't be thinking of him with such desire, but she could not help it. The fascination she had for him—her Master—compelled her to cherish each moment, each attention he lavished upon her. Call it the Stockholm Syndrome, call it latent effects of being placed in the asylum twelve years earlier, but the king in a few short days had become the center of her universe.
"That is all for today, Marcos. I do not know when I shall be able to contact you for the next few days, but again, just check in with Ginger or Dee if there are any problems that arise."
"Yes, Alyssa." The phone call ended after that only to have Maria rapidly enter the room.
She appeared out of breath as she approached Bitsy only to retie her wrists to the wrought iron of the headboard. "The king has returned, and he's in a foul mood. And he's been out riding."
Grimly, Bitsy pictured the king in full riding gear, the boots, the clothes, and the riding crop. She got a sinking feeling in her stomach, but she knew she needed to reassure Maria. "All will be well, my friend. It's nearly dinner time. You must eat!" A nervous Maria scurried away as Stuart came to stand in the doorway.
Bitsy soon realized that her mental picture was not far off the mark. The black riding boots that traveled up his legs to his knees nearly were buffed to a patent black sheen. Strong thighs were encased with buff riding breeches that were almost buttery soft as they caressed the muscles of his upper legs. A white button down shirt, open at the neck to display a patch of reddish-brown hair, the pelt that would extend to cover his body during every full moon, whispered over his torso. With an unreadable yet threatening expression, he swished the heavy black crop through the air. The air of menace was unmistakable, the demon highwayman come to life.
His slave, his pet, summoned up the strength to speak. "Welcome home, Your Highness," she said with a bit of sauciness to break the tension in Stuart's coiled presence.
The sensuous lips that had tormented her, pleasured her, and teased her, flattened into a thin line. "What did you call me, slave?" his questioned thundered throughout the room, bouncing off of the walls. A spark of red showed within the flat black depths of his gaze.
She pulled herself up to a sitting position. At this point, some insane part of her rationalized that it was best to provoke him further; the burgeoning violence she sensed within him needed to be unleashed before it grew into a maelstrom she could never hope to survive. "I said, 'welcome home, Your Highness.'"
Like the dog he was stalking his prey, he shifted toward the bed, never once taking his eyes off of her. "Lie back and spread your legs," he barked.
Compelled more from the dominating force of his presence than from his words, she did as commanded. The king removed his belt and attached one ankle to the headboard that held her wrists hostage; the leather that was warmed by his body heat cinched her foot tightly in place. Her other leg he lifted so that the knee was against the headboard. Using another tie and a complicated series of knots, he secured her thigh, leaving her open, spread widely obscene before him.
His anger had not calmed one iota during his activity. As he surveyed his crude, yet effective hogtying handiwork, his fury only grew. "My butler informed me that Maria untied you earlier today and that you were heard using your phone," he growled. "Tsk, tsk, pet. If you had needed use of your limbs and the phone, all you had to do was earn it, as you will this evening. But first, you consider Maria a friend or confidante, right?" At Bitsy's nod, he laughed insidiously. "Then to help her avoid her punishment at the hands of my male staff, you will submit to a double helping of punishment. Is that understood, slave?"