Hannah's taxi left her at the top of Stone's driveway, and she felt naked as she walked down the brick path to his door. He had told her to wear something slutty, and she found she couldn't disobey him. She had chosen a one piece zip-up sleeveless black dress, which she was wearing without a bra. The hemline ended at her upper thighs, with a few merciful inches of scalloped lace at the bottom.
Her pink high heels accentuated the muscles of her calves and thighs, and made her tilt her pelvis. She felt like she was on a date with a new beau; it had been twenty five years since she started seeing Jordan at New Gilead. Her thoughts were still clouded. Should she call someone? Was there something she needed to remember?
The door opened before she rang the bell. She was greeted by a tall, slender, gorgeous black woman standing before her, practically nude; she wore only a diamond studded collar, thong panties and a pair of high heels. "Good evening, Mrs. Jubal."
"I've met you before, haven't I? Aren't you... November? November Bearshak?"
The tall woman shook her head and looked past Hannah. "Sonny calls me Peppermint, and that's my name now. Please follow me."
Hannah marveled at the entryway. Every inch spoke of luxury and decadence. The floor was marble, covered with animal skin rugs. The columns were Ionian white, dividing the rooms. She walked past scores of beautiful nude or nearly nude men and women, through glass doors into a torchlit garden.
Stone was standing in a grove of small trees. He was wearing a toga, laurels around his head, and a long black cape. He plucked an apple from the tree as Peppermint announced: "Sonny, your guest has arrived."
He took a large bite of the apple and leered at Hannah. "That's how I like to see you. Here, take a bite of this apple." Juice dripped from where he'd bitten it.
She shook her head. "No thank you."
Stone cackled. "So polite. Take a bite." He grabbed her neck and shoved the apple into her mouth. She gnawed a piece off, and he withdrew his hand. She sniffled as she wiped her mouth, already beginning to cry.
He cupped her chin. "No beauty is so transcendent as a woman's tears." He put his thumb in her mouth, and she immediately sucked it, opening her eyes wide to him and bobbing her head up and down. Stone grinned. "I like that. But you should be kneeling."
She knelt before him in the lush grass, and he walked a circle around her, as if he was deciding something important. "Peppermint, tell me. How many women do you think Hannah here has kissed? How many has she gone to bed with?"
Peppermint looked at Hannah's hair shining in the torchlight. "One? Maybe two?"
Stone smirked. "Tell her, Hannah. How many?"
"Ten," she mumbled.
"Ten?"
