Dante's Circle

[BLACK BART]

"NO"

The single word hung in the air as Eric let his eyes wander around the room, from the multi stranded "cat o' nine" to the longer and more cumbersome "bull", to the gleaming silver of the assorted cuffs, piercing instruments and clamps...to the intrusive devices that lay waiting on a polished shelf...

"No?"

Shiela's eyes blazed as she saw her revenge slipping away and she stepped towards the man stealing it.

"What do YOU mean NO?"

Eric rested his left hand on Ella's bare and exposed ass...letting his fingers trail between the firm mounds to the moist heat hidden between the orbs...

Almost casually he lifted his right...and then swung it open handed...

the blow catching Shiela's livid face and nearly driving her off her feet.

" I said...NO" Eric repeated and turned to watch his fingers delve deeper, feeling the buttocks tremble and the definate dampness below.

"Do you KNOW who I am?"

The demand came from Shiela's lips as she steadied herself against the wall, the imprint of Eric's fingers already defined on her cheek.

"I know exactly who you are Shiela...you're Phoenix's number one lady and have been for a little over three years. But do you know who I am?"

The gently placed question stopped Shiela in her tracks, her eyes bright as her breasts heaved under the thin blouse she wore, her lips pouting as she mulled the question over in her head.

"But I thought SHE was brought down here to be punished?"

"She IS going to be punished..." Eric let the statement dangle, his face sober as he eyed the confused woman, his fingers now probing the swollen sex of Ella as she whimpered in helpless lust.

"But you said...?" Shiela started again and shifted her legs...

For a second Eric thought she was going to stamp her feet in frustration and waited until she took a deep breath and calmed herself...

"I said NO to you trying to tell ME what to do with HER in this situation. My ROLE in this is to be the punisher and if you knew who I am you wouldn't have made your first mistake."

The statement made her step backwards and she turned her head as if looking at the man in front of her for the first time...and slowly her face changed from angry resentment...to understanding...to lustfull hope.

"That's better...now retie her so her head is able to lift above her shoulders...I don't want her gagging on her own drool...she can't swallow worth a damn with that gag in her mouth and if she tries she might choke...Then take her hair from under that strap and drape it over the right side of her neck, I want to see her face as this happens."

Eric met Shiela's eyes and hid the relief he felt when she nodded and eagerly began to change Ella's position...her eyes bright with the idea of what was to come...

"Do you want a whip...or the cane?" She suggested as she retied the gag and rose to her feet...

Eric's eyes were on Ella's now visible ones, his thoughts on his promise to her he had made an eternity ago at thier cabin...wondering if this was the same woman he had made it to...

"If she has one scar on her before this weekend what do you think Phoenix will do to the one that ordered it?"

The look of lust turned to worry and Eric smiled in minor triumph...

"Hand me that paddle behind you..."

Again Eric's eyes sought out Ella's...the feel of the oak paddle cool to his touch as he battled the conficting emotions inside of himself...

"Now move in front of her and count it off..."

Four inches wide and a half inch thick...the paddle hummed through the air as he took advantage of Ella tracking Shiela's movement, the sound of the wood contacting with her bare flesh reminding him of a gunshot as it echoed off the walls....

And Ella screamed into her gag...

"One"

Before Ella could draw a breath through her nostrils...before she could tense her body....Eric drew the paddle back and swung again...

A second scream echoed the meaty crack of the paddle striking and Ella's body arched backwards...her eyes wide in pain...

"Two"

Ten seconds passed and as Ella relaxed he swung again, her buttocks already bright red guiding his swing...

"Three"

The scream had changed to a whimper...and as his eyes moved from Ella's punished flesh to Shiela's aroused eyes Eric felt his own control slipping even as the paddle swung in another punishing arch...

"Four"

It changed from that point on...Eric's concern had somehow diminished as his lust rose...and he increased the pace of the remaining blows...

"Five..........Six...... Seven..... Eight.... Nine..."

Ella's hair was no longer splayed over one side of her neck...it was tossed wildly obscuring her face and the gagged lips that mewled her pain. And pleasure...

In his mind there was no doubt his wife had changed...become closer to the "beast" within her...for even as she twisted in pain from each blow her hips ground against the horse in restrained pleasure...

"TEN"

Something had changed inside of Eric as well...for as Ella sagged over the horse he didn't look in concern to her...instead he refused to and looked past...and to the lust filled eyes of Sheila...

“Take her gag out and untie her”

Sheila moved to Ella’s hands first and then her ankles, her eyes beaming as she admired her swollen and punished buttocks…her eyes growing wide in surprise as she turned and found Eric nearly on top of her.

“Take your clothes off Sheila…you have something I need”

 

[Arioso]

Ella's tender ass seared with burning pain as if it had been branded. She could feel the heat radiating from her skin into the air, every inch of her cheeks stinging from the lingering impact of the paddle.

Eric had definitely proven he trusted her. He hadn't held back too much to raise suspicion, yet Ella recognized his protective impulse in denying Sheila her wish to see a rival beaten with a cane. For that, Ella was grateful -- the most that Eric had ever done to her in their 'explorations' before was paddle her ass. And this was intense as he'd ever been. She didn't know if she could handle something as brutal as a cane or a whip.

But all of those thoughts sank beneath the murky depths of her wild, agitated mind. Ella was still trembling weakly from her punishment, so much that she couldn't fully stand on her own when Sheila released her, yet her body yearned for more.

Eric. She wanted him...so badly.

How could she feel need this primal, this basic, after he'd delivered such painful blows?

Why had the force that he put behind the paddle excited her so? Why had it aroused her almost to the point of delirium to be utterly helpless before him...and have him show her no mercy?

Something inside Ella felt...jarred....off...like she'd hit a chasm at full speed and rattled her insides. Half of her wanted to slink away, hide in shame, and nurse her wounds. The other half wanted to cling to Eric's feet and beg him to fuck her...to forgive her....to take her back...

And her heart lurched dizzyingly when she saw her beloved seize a very startled Sheila by the arm, his grip iron firm and demanding.

Was he going to fuck Sheila right there, in front of her? It was like a dagger in Ella's heart...and yet...as humiliating as it would be for her...as jealous as she felt...to her shame she also realized how much she craved any chance to witness Eric in all his glory again. Ella had been parted from him for too long...his magnificent, sensual power was irresistible and she needed a dose...even if the most she could hope for was watching him with another woman...a woman who wished her ill and wanted to see her lowered...

Desire and longing shone in Ella's tear-filled eyes as she crouched weakly against the wall. She wept from the pain, from longing, yet she did not look away. Eric's presence alone had her entranced, and her eyes basked in his every move.

Fuck her, my love, Ella thought silently, her unspoken wish bittersweet. If only so that I may watch you and feel your passion in my own pulse.

 

[BLACK BART]

Remorse...anguish...confusion...and pain, all of it burned inside Eric as he lifted Sheila to her feet and wrapped his hands in her blouse, then tugged...

"You're a beautiful woman Sheila any man in his right mind would want to be with you..."

One hand wrapped in her hair he tugged, forcing her back towards the same perch Diana had occupied a minute ago...

"Now take off the skirt unless you want it stained."

His free hand undid his own zipper and as the skirt dropped to the floor his faded jeans joined theml...

"Turn and bend over babe, you've got an amazing ass and I'd like to start that way..."

In reality he didn't need sharp eyed Sheila spotting the anguish in his face as he fucked her.... didn’t want to betray just how much it had cost him to punish Diane for doing nothing wrong...

And yet the vicious spanking HAD aroused him, made him harder than his best wet dream...and it was all too easy to position himself and hammer into Sheila’s eager entrance...

As confused as his emotions left him his body had no problem reacting to the well shaped body it was rubbing against and too quickly his cries of pleasure were following Sheila’s...the grunts and groans echoing off the walls and back to his ears...his eyes clenched tightly together as he swayed in and out of her wet canal...

Minutes later he felt her juices wash his shaft and his own join...and he pulled from her sex half hard, his eyes opening and seeing the woman he had been picturing in his head as he took Sheila...

Ella...

Eyes and face held hard he scooped up his clothes and stepped from the room into the cool hall

"Take care of her Sheila...treat the welts with crème...or you'll answer to ME"

Someone whistled as he strode down the hall and to the bathroom that was near and he didn't bother to turn and see...it didn't matter...what did was the reason he came here in the first place, the woman he had walked away from in the room behind...

Dressed he felt the need for a large, straight up drink.... several...but not at the bar above...

Someplace far, far away...

 

[Arioso]

The mood in the room was awkward after Eric left -- to say the least.

Two women, both of them aching from wounds that stemmed from some place far more intimate than their flesh. Both shaken from all that had just taken place...neither satisfied...each aching for...

Solace?

Ella's buttocks still throbbed from the paddling Eric had given her, almost overwhelming her with a confusing blend of painful discomfort and quivering arousal. She was balanced on a knife's edge between the fearful realization that she hadn't been as prepared to handle the consequences of this investigation as she'd thought...and pride that she had survived her first "punishment", no matter how shaky she was now. Complicating her situation, however, was the silent shame she felt at how it had stoked the fires of her lust to watch Eric bend Sheila over the horse and fuck her from behind. Ella had nearly cum with both of them.

But what gripped her most right at this instant...what triggered a dizzying flash of insight within her...were Sheila's stiff, wooden movements as she moved to get the salve, obedient to Eric's parting command to soothe Ella's chastised flesh. Gone was the sneering, triumphant Sheila of just half an hour ago.

Ella realized a startling truth: everything had gone Sheila's way, and it still wasn't enough. Sheila had seen her "rival" humiliated and beaten, she'd even gotten a good, hard fucking and an orgasm out of the deal. But...none of it had satisfied her.

"Lean against the horse so I can work this in," Sheila instructed her hollowly, not even looking Ella in the eyes.

As Ella complied and felt Sheila's soft hands begin to smooth the first dabs of cool, creamy relief over the burning skin of her buttocks, her mind summoned up an image of Sheila's face scarcely a few days ago...the bruise on her face...Ella's own suspicions about how she'd gotten it.

It terrified Ella. Part of her was so angry...she felt nothing for contempt for a pathetic, jealous woman who had schemed to get her beaten for nothing. But even as the resentment smoldered in her, she understood how similar she and Sheila were...if Ella let herself get trapped in this world, she could slip down to where Sheila was right now...in a hell of loneliness, starved for any real affection...

Ella took a risk.

"It doesn't make anything feel better, does it?" she murmured, needing to regain Sheila as an ally.

Sheila's breath caught in her throat for a second, and Ella knew she was wondering about the exact meaning behind the question. But Sheila took the cautious route. "You'll have trouble sitting for a day or--"

"That wasn't what I meant, Sheila," Ella pressed. "He doesn't love you, and getting me beaten doesn't make it feel any better. Because I'm not the real problem."

"Shut up!" Sheila snapped, her tone rising with alarm and anger. Out of fear and spite, she pinched Ella's already sore ass.

Ella spun around with such speed, she caught Sheila off guard. Before the rational side of her mind could remind her that this room, like all others in Dante's Circle, was most likely monitored by video camera, Ella used a few simple moves she'd acquired in her basic training at Quantico to overpower Sheila's resistance. Moves that would shout "COP" to a perceptive eye. By the time that Ella realized she might have given herself away, she had Sheila pinned against the horse, and could only hope that nobody was watching them. Sheila angrily thrashed against Ella's grip, but Ella had far too much experience subduing real criminals to be budged by a petite woman like Sheila who evidently had little or no skill in fighting.

"Sheila, I am no threat to you. So Phoenix has taken me into his bed for a few nights and is treating me like the special of the month. Don't you think I know that he feels nothing for me? Anytime he talks to me, it's all about the money...but that's what is killing you, isn't it?" Ella continued, calmly and relentlessly. She could feel Sheila's body weakening in frustration at its inability to jar Ella loose...and then....there...the first tremors.

"Stop it...shut up..." Sheila whispered hoarsely, and Ella could hear the tears in her voice.

Panic seared through Ella for an instant when she sensed someone in the doorway. If it was Phoenix, they were both busted. But when she raised her eyes, they met the dark, turbulent eyes of her own beloved Eric. He'd cleaned himself up and dressed...but something had drawn him back to their little room.

What she said next was as much for her husband, her mate, as it was for Sheila.

"The pain eats away at you from the inside because you love him, and you'd give anything just for one, tender touch -- one glance that will let you believe he loves you too. But you're starving...you've waited day after day, and it never comes, until you're a shell of yourself...permanently hollow because the one person who could make you whole won't give you what you need," Ella tried to say as gently as she could, empathizing wholly with Sheila's bitter, lonely ache. The one man in the world whose touch Ella craved the most was barely three yards away from her, and she had to brace herself for the likelihood that he would just walk away. Ella brushed a tender kiss against the nape of Sheila's neck and felt the other woman lean into her with a ragged sob.

It had gotten that bad for Sheila.

So starved for anything remotely resembling compassion....tenderness...love...that she would take it however she could get it...even from a woman who was the focus of all her jealousy and frustration.

Ella nuzzled her forehead against Sheila's neck and kept kissing along that smooth column of flesh.

"Phoenix will never love you like you deserve, Sheila. But it has nothing to do with me...or any of the women who will come after me when I'm old news. He doesn't have it in him to love another person more than he loves himself or his money," Ella murmured in between kisses.

"What do you know about it?!!" Sheila snapped, the anger back. Ella had dared raise the very doubts that Sheila herself couldn't bear to think.

"I know because I've seen your face when he wasn't happy, I've seen the bruises," Ella rejoined firmly, her hands gripping Sheila's arms tightly until she felt the other woman relax again. Then she let her fingers trail over Sheila's skin, eventually settling over Sheila's breasts and teasing her nipples into wrinkled, swollen peaks. "You're not wrong to love, Sheila. That man was right...you're beautiful, and any man -- any one -- should be thrilled to be with you. You deserve love, real love. Not all men are like Phoenix. There are some who know how to love a woman -- those are the ones you can trust with your heart. The ones you dream about...the ones who really complete you."

Ella risked a glance at Eric. Even if he was going to walk away for now, even if he felt it was necessary to keep his distance in order to maintain his cover, she needed him to hear her love for him...they had just been through something jarring, very jarring after being separated for so long...and Ella needed this healing more than any salve for her paddled ass.

Then she turned her attentions back to Sheila, nibbling and kissing the juncture of her neck and shoulder while her hands caressed Sheila's breasts as if they were the most precious treasures in the world. "Please, Sheila...teach me how to make you feel good, how to make love to you...we both need this...you know that after what just happened, we'll be basket cases if we just walk away from it without showing each other that people make love as well as hit..."

Slowly, Ella turned Sheila around until she held the petite redhead in a relaxed embrace. Both of them were still nude from the punishment session, and Ella shivered at the delicious feel of Sheila's erect nipples brushing against hers. Their lips met in a long, deep kiss...

...as they began healing the wounds, the pain that couldn't be relieved by a tube of cream...

 

[BLACK BART]

Eric closed the door a second time.

It was a small relief knowing Ella was at least temporarily... safe , that the abusive pattern had been interrupted and in her own way she was reaching for the healing she needed.

That both Sheila and her had to have...

But what was difficult for him was the knowledge she wasn't always going to be safe

And he was helpless to change that.

The choices were hers. Her character...the very way she was shaped and formed inside...her base desires even if she didn't fully know or understand them yet...those were the factors that would determine it all.

And decide if she ever was... safe .

He had battled with the basic urge to wrap his arms around her, to protect her in a cocoon that would indefinitely keep out the real world, tried in a small part when they were together at their home...

And failed.

He had seen it in her eyes and in her body. The way she questioned him silently even as she pressed herself to him...

Time had passed too quickly and Ella was back at a job she loved...felt "obliged" to fulfill to her fullest abilities...

And he knew this would be her undoing...and he had a part in it.

"There are some who know how to love a woman -- those are the ones you can trust with your heart. The ones you dream about...the ones who really complete you."

He heard the words clearly...Knew Ella was half right and half wrong as she spoke them and he opened the door gently...and stood watching his wife seduce the woman who had insisted she be punished.

Mulled them over as he walked down the hall and to a door Shane was casually leaning against.

"Shane...you're going to let me in that room and help me do something contrary to Phoenix's rules...but first we're going to have a discussion about you and a few facts you need to know..."

Was it his words or the look in his face, Eric wondered...Shane was brutally efficient when it came to carrying out Phoenix's wishes...yet he had always been politely careful around Eric in their mutual past...If it came to it Eric wasn’t sure he could take the man down….

Shane nodded and keyed the code in to trigger the doors lock, then stepped back to let Eric move into the surveillance room first...


"Tell me what difference it might make to you if you were a father Shane...and the mother of that child still loves and needs you?"

An hour later the two men stepped out of the tiny room, an understanding reached between them and a common bond formed…

“Phoenix instructed me to watch you while he was away tonight…but not to stop you in ANYTHING you did. He’ll be back tomorrow after the arrangements are finalized and the first person he wants to see is Diana…The meeting is set up for tomorrow night IF she agrees to the terms.

He had a small amount of time then…one chance maybe to be near Ella a final time…to give her a warning and let her decide…to say…goodbye?

The door stood open and the lights were on…the room empty save for the furnishings and the lingering scents of perfume and past passion…

He’d find her…He had to…if for no other reason then the strongest one he knew.

He loved her.

 

[Arioso]

Ella had felt a twinge of yearning when she'd sensed Eric's withdrawal. Come back!

But she couldn't break her cover. No matter how badly she wanted to be in his arms. For the first time ever...she was regretting her career...for it took her away from him.

Still, her training ran deep. Screwing her nerve tightly, she poured all of her need into a deep kiss with Sheila, letting the other woman's mounting passion warm her and ease away the tension. Soon they were clasping each other urgently, their soft breasts rubbing together and their hips grinding. As one, they each began to slide a hand down and bring it between the other's legs.

Sheila gasped into Ella's mouth when Ella's fingers nudged their way between her slickened folds and found a hidden pearl. Ella echoed her groans of pleasure when Sheila's fingers, in turn, slid easily into Ella's own liquid heat. Soon, both women had three fingers buried in each other, slowly thrusting in and out as they cupped and caressed breasts and buttocks with their free hands.

But as Ella closed her eyes and gave herself over to the sensual delight of Sheila's touch, it was Eric's face -- his spirit -- that came to her.

The two women swayed in their primal dance, the rhythm growing more urgent, more desperate, until Ella felt a surge of ecstasy thunder out from her belly. It rumbled powerfully yet evenly as the ocean's waves, leaving Ella gasping and clinging to Sheila who soon followed her over the edge. They stood together in breathless, trembling communion until Sheila whispered her thanks, and then urged Ella that they should both dress and return to the main floor or "they'd catch it tomorrow".

Within another five minutes, Ella found herself dressed and back upstairs in the bar. Sheila herself had retired to Phoenix's office, to resume her post as "manager" for the night in his absence. Ella noticed a new man behind the bar...he looked oddly familiar, although the lighting was dim.

When she finally got a good look at him, her pulse raced and for a moment, the breath caught in her throat. Thank goodness! It was too good to be true...first Eric appeared, and now her team from the Bureau had finally managed to get someone else on the inside. She hadn't worked very closely with this agent...was his name Jeff?...but regardless, he was a good sign. Her back was covered.

With a sense of welcome relief, especially after the drama that had already unfolded this evening, Ella resumed her duties waiting tables. Since her ass was still sore, she was a little more hesitant about sitting in clients' laps -- although when they insisted, she straddled them to minimize the contact of her throbbing buttocks with their legs. Few of them complained, since this put her breasts front and center, so perfectly placed for sucking and biting.

As she easily slipped back into her role as Diana, entertaining all sorts of lewd flirtations from the club's patrons and even reveling in it, Ella caught sight of Eric again, and grew ten times wetter. He was keeping to the fringes of the bar, prowling at the edges of the crowd...but she could feel his gaze on her.

She needed him so badly, she feared she would explode.

However...business first. When she was able to pull herself away from a corpulent old banker who'd had her finger herself so that he could suck the juices clean, Ella made her way to the bar to make contact with her fellow agent.

His eyes met hers as she approached, and she could see the recognition written clearly through them. Extending her hand, she 'introduced' herself carefully, in case anyone might be listening. "Hello, I'm Diana. I take it you've been brought in to help us with the work...going to stick around and help us clean the place up later?"

The young man nodded. His face was so very, very familiar...

"I'm Jeff," he introduced himself. "And yes...I look forward to making sure that everything happens the way it should."

His eyes bored into hers...so intensely that Ella felt it a little unnerving. But perhaps he was just trying to make certain that she understood him. She nodded slightly and added, "Good...well I hope we'll have a chance to get to know each other better soon."

Jeff smiled at her briefly, and again Ella had the eerie sensation that she'd worked with him before...or maybe seen him in the Bureau hallways. But then he had to step away and fill a drink order. Any further debriefing would have to take place later, and would require the utmost caution.

However, when the bar finally closed down for the evening, Ella was unable to find Jeff. It was possible Sheila had called him into the office, or that he'd left to report back to the Bureau...but Ella would have expected him to touch base with her first. Since there wasn't much she could do about it at the moment, she simply went about cleaning up the tables.

She was bent over one of the larger, round tables, gathering up empty glasses when she felt a presence behind her. Familiar hands...hands that had brought her great pleasure...were sliding beneath her skirt to caress her tender ass cheeks.

"The pain should fade in a day or so."

 

[BLACK BART]

"You belong to me tonight Diana"

It wasn't difficult to say the words and let Ella see the raw lust in his eyes.

It wasn't difficult to pull her close to him despite the knowledge his touch pained her as much as it excited her.

What was hard was seeing the look of alarm in her eyes as her full lips opened to protest.

"It's been approved by the management hun...and I promised to return you in time before your next shift..."

and before they were found out by Phoenix...

The look disappeared and somehow magically so did the worry in Eric's heart as he kissed her...

In the warmth of the limo it was difficult to even remember what troubled him for as he drew Ella close to him and removed the light wrap she had quickly slipped on as they left all he could think of was how much he loved her...and wanted her.

"I rented a room across town Ella...a small place but the largest tub I've ever seen...where you can soak and ease the pain?"

It was the only words he was able to speak as Ella gripped his hair and pulled his lips to her breasts...and under the multi-colored flashes of light from the street he nearly took her there and then...

But he resisted despite Ella's pained look...her eyes brightening as he explained as the car slid smoothly to it's stop.

"I want you next to me El...my arms around you as I look into your eyes...and I tell you how much I love and need you..."

Behind the closed door the words were nearly forgotten as Ella stripped off Eric's clothes and knelt before him...her lips on his already swollen cock...a deep moan rolling out of his throat as he leaned back and enjoyed the sensations...

And yet he fought back the orgasm that nearly steam rolled over him and lifted Ella to her feet, his face mirroring the lust of Ella's as he nodded to the bed and whispered his idea...

Seconds later Ella was perched over him...her thighs opened as she knelt over his eager lips, her sex open to his tongue as she gripped the headboard and moaned encouragements to him...His hands were gentle and yet everywhere...teasing her nipples into hardness, stroking the muscles of her neck and shoulders, touching her cheek gently as he broke for air and looked at her half closed eyes...And then Ella shuddered, her body quaking as she whimpered and then cried out, the wash of juices from her sex telling Eric she had reached her first peak...

To his surprise Ella was instantly ready for more...the expected cooing and gentle words replaced by a look of wanton lust as she shifted down his body and guided his cock into her wet sex...and yet he was more than eager to meet her thrust for thrust after she made several slow and tentative moves with her too tender buttocks...

And again lusting eyes were locked...Ella's hands gripped the meat of his chest as they moved together, her nails cutting into his flesh unnoticed as they drove each other mercilessly to a near orgasm and then hovered at it's edge before repeating the teasing process all over again...

And when it came it ripped through both of them, leaving them weak and in each others arms, tears of happiness and pain in both sets of eyes as Eric wrapped his arms around Ella and drew her to him...

For a short time peace wrapped itself over the two lovers and they slept

And after the murmurs and kisses reality set in...and Eric quietly asked his question, gently stating his case and worries, then steadied himself for Ella's answer.

"Ella I'd like for you to NOT return to Dante's Circle...I can tell you as much as Phoenix how the club operates and makes it's illicit money...Don't let your loyalty to your job blind you to what Phoenix is capable of putting you through..."

 

[Arioso]

Ella had perhaps never looked at her husband this way. Her eyes held his intently, lovingly...and with a greater need for shelter than she'd felt since her father died.

With a shaky smile, she raised her hand to his cheek and caressed his face with utmost love and tenderness.

"I'm not blinded," Ella assured him, although her voice was shaky...too shaky. "I'm scared."

She swallowed hard and then whispered. "I'm afraid...not of Phoenix...but of myself."

"El..." Eric tried to comfort her, his expression pinching with concern. As he gathered her close to him, cradling her in his arms, Ella began to weep silent tears.

When she'd steadied herself enough to speak, the confession streamed out of her. It was only the shelter of Eric's embrace and his periodic kisses of support and encouragement that helped her get through all that she needed to say.

"I've done things...I can hardly describe them, my love. I feel so ashamed...but I let three men fuck me all at once, I practically begged for it. I could hide behind the excuse that it was necessary to keep my cover....but, oh Eric, I'm so sorry, I...I enjoyed it."

Fat, hot tears slid down her cheeks and dripped onto the bed sheets.

"Phoenix tapped something inside me, and I don't know if I'm strong enough to control it. I don't want to go there anymore -- I just want you. I know you're right, if I pursue this any further, I'll be in danger...he's turning me into some sex-crazed, wanton creature, a woman I hardly know...and....and she's getting stronger. I even...I even got aroused when you paddled me and then fucked Sheila...just the sight of you was so beautiful...and feeling so vulnerable and helpless for you to do with as you pleased...it hurt, but it also made my heart nearly pound a hole in my chest."

Ella began shaking her head sadly and drew in a ragged, despairing breath. "I'm sorry, my sweet, sweet Eric. I don't deserve you after what I've done. But it's shown me that what I really want and need...is you. If I go any further in Phoenix's realm, I'll be lost....and if you're willing to help me, I'll call off the investigation today. I'm authorized to do that...but even if I weren't, the price is too high. I want out. I have to get out, even if it costs me my job. That's what I realized earlier tonight. My life isn't my career; my life is you. Will you still have me?"

Ella lifted red, teary eyes to her beloved Eric...a man she had betrayed with every wanton, slutty act she'd performed during her investigation of Dante's Circle...a man she hardly deserved. Yet she was ready to give up everything if he would only take her home and help her put all of this behind her.

She would call her team and have them pull Jeff out immediately. She might not even call Phoenix to tell him of her departure, or if she did, she would simply explain that the job had gotten too intense for her to handle. And then, based on what evidence Eric could offer her, the Bureau would move forward with indictments or not, depending on whether there was enough evidence to warrant prosecution.

Trembling, Ella waited for Eric's reply.

 

[BLACK BART]

When Eric had walked out of the Club with Ella there had been only one wish in his mind...

That Ella would never set another foot in the club again...

And now that she suggested it with teary eyes and begged for forgiveness?

"El, think back to the first time we were together and I kissed you. Do you remember?"

He waited, wondering if Ella possessed the willpower to pull her back to a happier time and then smiled as she nodded and began recalling glimpses of that time...

"Your truck...the bumpy ride...Jack and Diane's constant matchmaking...the rug...me falling and you catching me...and you...

He kissed her, as he had when she was in his arms the first time, her eyes open and wondering as their lips touched...and then closing in trusting passion...

For long minutes he held Ella after that, brushing her hair with his fingers, feeling her softer body against his...the tenderness off the moment offsetting the lust he always felt when near or thinking of her...

"I knew then when I kissed you how I felt about you El...I tried to tell you in my own clumsy way and thought you'd think I was insane. We had just met and yet there was something I felt and saw in your eyes at that instant that made me want you in the rest of my life."

Ella turned in his arms and faced him, her eyes dark and intense as she studied his face and he met her gaze to answer her unspoken question.

"It hasn't changed Ella...I love you and always will. When I watched you leave the retreat I had decided even the shortest amount of time with you was worth all the pain that came from missing you. What matters is how we feel about each other and when we're together...The rest of the time is simply spent surviving."

For all the pain and guilt Ella was feeling Eric cursed himself, for if she was guilty for giving into the desires her body had never experienced before...wasn't he even worse for knowing what she had been about to face and not making her ready?

"Ella if we only had more time together...If only I had listened to you and what you were feeling. I could have helped you..."

"Helped me what Eric...turn myself into a bigger slut than I already am?"

There was no anger in her words; only pain and Eric shook his head slowly side to side as if to clear it, trying to find the right words...

"Phoenix knew when he met you what kind of conflicts you were going through. He's an expert at it and knew just what steps to take to guarantee you'd keep moving in the direction he wanted you to. Each and every move was carefully plotted and intended to push you farther and faster towards your own limits."

"But I was the one that said yes Eric...he didn't force me to do anything. I wanted to do it all and more...."

Pain...it was all he could see in every delicate feature of her face and beautiful eyes, at that moment Eric would gladly have traded his life to wipe it all away as if it never happened...but knew he couldn't.

But he could give Ella one thing to slowly replace it and perhaps heal her.

Understanding.

"What happened to you was a blend of reactions El...Physical, emotional, chemical and mental...like an addictive drug everything you did was making you want more...and the man that was responsible for creating the addiction...supplying the situations that fed on your desires...and before you could fully digest what was happening to you and become comfortable with it pushed you to another, wilder situation. He was in control of you from the minute you "hired on", the entire time you thought you were setting a trap for him...he had already sprung his on you."

And now the damning part...Now the admission of his own guilt and how deeply into the lifestyle he had lived...a life that Ella had only taken her first few steps into...and paid so dearly for those steps...

"You never saw it coming El but I could have...Phoenix has spent years perfecting his methods and using people, it's become his life...a life I was in and walked away from...Not because of the desires and emotions it brought out in me, but because of the harm it did to others...I left knowing what Phoenix was capable of doing and let you walk right into his trap."

He had come to rescue Ella...His Ella...and here he sat beside her confessing his sins in the hopes she would accept her own mistakes and grow from them.

What kind of man was he? The kind that gave his own wife over to a man that could rape her mind and body...and make her think she was guilty for wanting the passion it was concealed in?

He had dropped his eyes and now he raised them again...

"You asked what I think you should do Ella.... Make the phone calls, get your agent out of Phoenix's reach...and never go back near him again, for if he gets hold of you one more time?"

He never finished the statement...He couldn't face how close Ella had been pushed to being.... broken...

"Make the calls El..."

 

[Arioso]

"I love you so much, Eric," Ella whispered hoarsely, trembling as she wrapped her arms around her husband. She clung to him tightly, sobbing with joy at the idea of leaving this whole, sordid nightmare behind and returning to where she belonged.

Out at the lake with Eric. Helping him with the retreat, with the kids...giving others the second chance that Eric had just given her.

Her lips found his and savored every quiver, every moan, every lick. The two of them gripped each other's heads, threading their fingers into each other's hair in order to crush their mouths together even more deeply and passionately.

She was going home.

The millstone lifted from around her neck and suddenly Ella felt giddy and free.

"Hold that thought," Ella gasped as she reluctantly broke the kiss, gazing with utter love and adoration into Eric's stormy eyes. "I will gladly make the call, and then afterward I want to make love to the man who owns my heart completely."

Ella had to borrow Eric's cell phone, since all of her things were in Phoenix's room at the club. If she were lucky, once they had enough evidence for a raid, she could reclaim her possessions when her team scoured that den of rogues with a fine-toothed comb. But she had faith in her husband -- if he said he could give her enough evidence, then he could.

Her first call was to her pointperson on the team, to inform him that she was aborting this particular line of investigation, and instead would be relying on evidence gathered from another source. She promised a briefing the following day, but instructed her chief agent to contact the rest of the team to alert them of this new development.

"And make sure that you get Jeff out, too. He just started as a bartender, so he should still be free to come and go as he pleases," Ella finished.

They were pulling up stakes, and she wanted a clean withdrawal. No loose ends, nobody left behind.

Then, she called the Director of the Bureau to inform him of the change in her investigation. As an Assistant Director herself, now, she had authorization to make such decisions according to her own judgment, but she still needed to keep her superiors appraised. While the Director was a little wary about aborting an investigation and going solely on testimony of a former 'partner' in the business, he nonetheless acknowledged that this was not such a "sensitive" case that they couldn't afford to do things a little differently.

When Ella was done, she was all too eager to wrap herself in Eric's arms again. Within moments, she was stretched out alongside him on the bed, nude and twining her legs with his.

"Make love to me...I need gentleness, Eric...wash him away, please," Ella pleaded.

There was no denying that she had been aroused by the rough, intense pleasures that Phoenix had tempted her with. Her body had tasted of the forbidden fruit and enjoyed its sinful decadence. But Ella was reaching out to Eric with her soul...she needed the one thing Phoenix was incapable of supplying.

Love.

Ella caressed her beloved mate with the same tenderness she needed to feel, stroking her hands reverently over his flesh, marveling at each smooth plane and firm sinew. Her lips and tongue danced with his slowly, seducing him with breathless shyness and soul-deep need.

When he finally sank into her, sheathing his cock in her velvety warmth, Ella felt as if a piece of her had been restored. She was whole again, after a long, dark emptiness. Her body writhed beneath his, radiating joy and life.

As she came, shuddering deliciously around his own, throbbing flesh, Ella whispered against his ear once again, "I love you."

 

[BLACK BART]

Eric drifted off to sleep holding Ella in his arms, her cheek resting on his bare chest as he caressed her hair. All was right in the world at that very moment, her withdrawal from Phoenix's dark world relieving his fears of her being hurt, the words she uttered as she shuddered under him in passionate release thrilling his heart...

But in another world the greedy and perverse factors were coming together, the desires for revenge and wealth drawing them together to form another plan...

Phoenix was livid...The message passed to him from THIS man was stunning...

The bartender had hinted of secrets when he was hired and Phoenix had chosen to ignore them, his mind focused on greater things and rewards...

Now the same mat sat coyly at the corner of his desk and dangled a badge...

A badge that declared him a FEDERAL AGENT, nonetheless...

And with a smile he announced he wasn't the FIRST to infiltrate Phoenix's organization...

"Your star for the weekend has pulled the plug on her investigation as well....I doubt you'll see her back here again...UNLESS you convince her she needs to return for another reason...One I know will work if it's done right."

Phoenix stared at the man and listened carefully, he had no other choice or much else to lose it seemed...The agent before him had an endless knowledge of how his organization worked and that meant "Diane" had done her job all too well, leaving his empire on the verge of crumbling in on itself...

And yet when "Jeff" stated his reason for "giving up" the lead agent...Phoenix saw a ray of hope that would guarantee his freedom...and own revenge...

What do I need to do?

He had asked, his eyes shining with near desperation as he mentally calculated the risks of staying and facing the music...

"Make sure she doesn't come back...and that I get a copy of the video"

Jeff’s leering grin was infectious and as he raised the cell phone he explained what was about to happen...

"I'm going to reply to the Agency’s "ABORT" code I received earlier...Our STAR will get the message I send where ever she is...and come running to my rescue...then it's all up to you how fast you can whisk her away...

Phoenix joined him in the grin at that point...his eyes hard at the thought of what "Diane" had cost him and what she was going to pay for doing so...

And as Jeff dialed the number and then the code that triggered the alert "AGENT COMPROMISED" he made his own phone calls...to clean out the club, remove all the damning evidence...and send his funds to an oversea account.

After he was done with Diane he’d walk away a very rich…and free man, and set up shop in another state.

 

[Arioso]

Ella stretched languidly beside Eric. She was waking up to a feeling of profound peace for the first time in a long time. After so many days and nights buried alive in that lurid prison, Ella felt herself breathing in her freedom and smiling as her eyes fluttered open.

Her amber eyes gazed up into her husband's. Ella's smile broadened. He'd been watching her sleep again...one of his favorite pastimes back home. Eric gently brushed his knuckles against her cheek.

"Good morning, baby," he greeted her softly.

"Mmm...good morning," Ella sighed, leaning up for a kiss as he bowed his face down to hers.

She ruffled his hair after a quick kiss and practically sprang out of bed.

Eric laughed heartily. "What's the hurry, hon?"

Ella's eyes twinkled merrily as she sauntered toward the dresser in their suite. "Are you kidding? The sooner we pack and get the debriefing done at the Bureau, the sooner we can both be back on the road, heading home -- for good."

"What do you mean, for good?" Eric asked, his eyebrows rising hesitantly.

Ella grabbed her cell phone and came back to sit beside Eric. She wrapped one arm around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss, hitting the speed dial for her voice mail messages with her free hand.

"It means, my love...while I was in Dante's Circle, I felt so...lost...so hollow, in spite of all the lust, that it made me think about what I really want to spend my life doing. I'd always thought it was my career...but when I was working the club, the one thing I dreamed of was just going home and spending my life with you. I think I'm ready to leave the Bureau. And with this case wrapped up, I can walk away knowing I got at least a few good jobs done," Ella explained, her eyes gleaming with such affection for the man who had changed her life -- and filled it with himself.

But...

then...

everything screeched to a terrible halt.

"Oh no."

Ella's heart crunched, ice-cold and sharp with shards.

"El...what is it?" Eric asked. He rested his strong hands on her shoulders, caressing her to offer his strength while he looked down at the text display on her phone.

It was just a set of numbers: 787191

It felt like a rock had lodged in her throat. Ella didn't want to say it...she couldn't...

Eric grew even more concerned at her rigid posture and stony silence. His grip tightened on her shoulders and he brought his face close to hers, his gaze reaching into her eyes like a lifeline.

"It's Bureau code," Ella explained woodenly, when she finally found the will to speak. "It means an agent has been compromised during investigation. It means Jeff is in trouble."

"Oh El," Eric breathed, aghast.

She felt like a shell of herself, all over again, although her keen mind was already racing through possible scenarios.

Ella snapped her head up -- Special Agent MacKenzie once more in the driver's seat with eyes blazing. "What would Phoenix do to a cop who threatened his operation?"

Eric hesitated. Ella could see the discomfort and doubt flit across his face. "Well...I can't say exactly...but it wouldn't be pretty."

"Would he kill a man?" Ella pressed.

Eric's expression darkened. "No...I don't think so. At least...he wouldn't have back when I was still working with him."

But Ella could see it in her husband's eyes -- he was no longer certain just what limits Phoenix would respect, and which ones he wouldn't.

"Dammit," Ella cursed. She didn't want to go back in. She wanted to go home with her husband!

Weary, stoic resignation settled over her and Ella felt her shoulders bracing beneath the weight. Her decision was written all over her body. Eric began shaking his head, frowning in alarm at what he saw.

"No, El....no, you can't..."

"I have to!" Ella bit out more violently than she would have liked. She closed her eyes, calming herself. The last thing she needed to do was take her fear and frustration out on Eric. Sighing shakily, she whispered, "Baby, I can't leave one of my team in jeopardy like that, not when we're so close. I couldn't live with myself."

"Don't do this, Ella. Don't go back -- what you've seen of Phoenix so far has been tame compared to the worst he can do," Eric warned.

"All the more reason that I have to get my agent out," Ella argued.

The mood in the room was strained as Ella checked in with her team at the Bureau and discussed the new development. She wasn't going to ignore Eric's warning, far from it. If she went back into that club, she was going to have at least a dozen agents outside for backup and ready to come in if she didn't emerge with Jeff in one hour. With any luck, she'd still be able to slip in and masquerade as Diana -- she'd rather not give Phoenix cause to bolt unless absolutely necessary.

After all the arrangements were made with her team, Ella hugged Eric tightly before dressing in her club outfit and preparing to take a cab back to Dante's Circle.

"At least let me drive you," Eric insisted with heartbreaking devotion. Ella felt the tears well in her eyes as she looked at the incredible man who always made her feel precious -- and safe.

She reluctantly shook her head.

"No, my love. For my cover, I was just a toy of yours last night -- one you'd pay and send out the door back to the club when you'd enjoyed yourself. But if...if he contacts you...do what you can to cover for me...and stall him. Then call my team at the Bureau and tell them everything. I hope I'll be seeing you soon, my love."

Eric pulled her close for an ardent, desperate last kiss before she left, and for an instant Ella was tempted to take the cowardly way out and leave Jeff's rescue to another set of agents. But that was less certain: no one else had the access she might still have.

Ella knew she wouldn't be able to sleep at night if anything went wrong because she'd been afraid to put herself on the line.

And so, locking her heart down in an iron cage, she drew away from her husband's fierce embrace and left the hotel room.

Within forty-five minutes, she was at the familiar, discreet door marked only by a brass "DC". Never before had it seemed so much like the portal of hell itself.

However, hope glimmered in Ella's breast and she breathed a little easier when Phoenix answered her buzz at the intercom with a pleased, welcoming purr. He mentioned only that he was looking forward to discussing some plans for the weekend...

...it seemed she might actually be having a stroke of luck.

Ella once again entered the club and made her way deep into its sinister recesses, headed for Phoenix's office but keeping an eye out for any sign of Jeff.

 

[BLACK BART]

"Come in Diana I'm glad you're back early...we've got a lot to talk about"

Phoenix was relaxed; his feet perched on the bare surface of the desk as he watched the lithe figure of Diana approach...

"How was the evening with Eric? Did you enjoy yourself with him? Most do..."

He grinned as Diana's face blushed deeply, gently laughing at her embarrassment...

"That's one thing I enjoy about you Diana.... how your body tells me what you don't want to admit...Come sit on the desk next to me and we'll talk."

He watched her alert eyes as she approached, the lack of clutter in the entire room drawing her attention until she lifted herself to the familiar desktop once again.

"That's his specialty you know...to reach inside while he touches you...I'm told it draws the woman out and makes the experience more...intense. I'm curious to hear your opinion on that...but it'll have to wait."

His warm hand on the cool skin of her thigh he watched her shudder and then close her eyes slowly to relax as he continued.

"You've noticed the club is bare staffed...all that are remaining behind are doing the final cleaning before we close..."

"As in for the night?"

"Permanently hun...the new bartender we hired turned out to be a cop...and though we're not doing anything illegal at the club they frown on the activities we do after hours...I've decided to move on and not reopen after this."

"What about the rest of your staff...and the cop?"

The question was deceptively casual and yet he felt the muscles in her leg tense...

"I've left the decision to each person if they want to join me when I open the new club...and made sure everyone has a large enough final check to carry them over regardless of the decision...the cop is safe in Shane's hands and we'll deal with him after the weekend..."

"How?"

Phoenix fixed Diana with a hard stare and watched her own eyes narrow as her entire body grew rigid...

"That depends on how this excursion turns out...and if you're coming with us."

It seemed like an eternity and Phoenix considered ending the facade before reminding himself how much money was riding on Diana’s arrival at the party...and how badly he wanted to teach her a lesson she'd never forget.

"The contract is right beside you Diana, in return for 96 hours of your time our customer will deposit a cool quarter million into your account, all you need to do is follow directions and act out the fantasies he wants you to..."

Somewhere inside a decision had been made and Phoenix knew she had weighed the alternatives as her shoulders rose and fell before she reached for the pen and signed it with a flourish.

"When do we leave?"

Tucking the contract inside his jacket pocket Phoenix pulled a blindfold from his pocket and stood between her open legs...

"Right after I put this on you, you not knowing where the site is will protect you as much as it will everyone else...."

Taking her hands Phoenix paused to admire the graceful figure of the woman he had gained so much pleasure from, grateful she was blinded to the lust he knew was on his face as he thought ahead to what was planned for her...

"There's a tunnel under the block here...created for fire emergencies and never recorded because of the security risk to the old bank...We'll use that and then when we reach the car we'll have some more time to discuss "things" on the ride over..."

His hand around her waist he guided down the steps and through the now open door that led into the tunnel...it was one of the prime reasons he had bought the club...and used the tunnel to spirit people out of the building when he didn't want to raise questions...

Minutes later they were seated in the rear of a waiting car that was headed towards the highway and the open country beyond...

"What do you plan to do with the money you make from this Diana?"

His hands on her blouse he began to undo each button as she responded and quickly slid the fabric off her before boing the same for her bra...

"Lift your hips a bit would you?" He prompted softly and smiled as she moved to obey, then tugged her skirt and panty off to join the growing pile on the floor...

Again he took a moment to admire his passenger and compare mentally the two different sides he knew of her...his disrobing her wasn't an action of lust when he began, more to make sure she didn't have a "wire" under her clothes...clothes he intended to leave behind when they switched transportaion...

"So why don't you answer my earlier question Diana...if for nothing else to pass the time?"

 

[Arioso]

In extreme circumstances, Ella knew how to make use of whatever she had.

Herself...only herself.

It was suicide to give herself over into Phoenix's hands again -- and without backup? She should have played it safe and aborted. But the loyal agent in her hadn't wanted to give up: a member of her team was in trouble, and if she played along, there was a chance, even a slim one, that she could get him out.

When Phoenix had mentioned the tunnel beneath the building, alarms had gone off in Ella's mind. Her team wouldn't see her leave the building -- by the time they made their move into the club, she would be miles away and untraceable. Unless she used what she had. Herself.

She'd thought quickly. And thankfully, an opportunity had presented itself.

While Phoenix had been busy tying the blindfold over her eyes, Ella had kicked off her shoes and felt around on the floor with her feet until she found what she needed.

A stray thumb tack, lying abandoned beneath his desk, forgotten in the rush to clear everything out. With icy discipline, Ella pressed her toe down on it. She swallowed back any noise that would betray her as the sharp point pierced her flesh and the blood welled up.

She had no breadcrumbs to trail through the woods....but she could still leave a few clues for her agents to detect.

As Ella had suspected, Phoenix either did not notice her lack of shoes, or he was unwilling to make an issue of it when he guided her toward the tunnel. Barefoot, she made certain to rub her bleeding toe into the floor every few paces and mark their path.

But if Ella had the strength to draw her own blood in order to leave evidence behind, in other areas she was rapidly weakening. Eric was right; Phoenix did know how to turn her own reactions against her. Starting with that blindfolded walk through the tunnel.

She was forced to trust him again. Unable to see, anxiety churned in Ella's gut and made her pulse quicken. The darkness made her feel vulnerable...so utterly vulnerable. Her skin prickled with each hesitant step, and though Ella loathed to leave herself so open to Phoenix's control, she was compelled to yield to his guidance, to lean on him intimately as he wrapped one arm around her waist and rested his warm palm against her hip.

When her trembling grew noticeable, Phoenix paused in the tunnel and faced her, his body pressed against hers.

"Relax, Diana," he whispered, his voice thick with erotic promise. "You're trembling...I love how I can make you tremble..."

"It just makes me nervous not to be able to see what's coming."

Even as she tried to keep her voice steady, Ella knew that her answer had an ominous, double meaning.

"Yesss...but it arouses you not to be in control, doesn't it?" Phoenix prompted her.

To her deep shame, Ella felt her body quiver in eager response...betraying her once again. Wetness was already pooling between her thighs. How could this be happening! Just that morning, she had been so happy that she would never have to see this man again! Why was she wet for him now?

Ella asked herself the question again when Phoenix had settled her in the back of the limousine and began removing her clothes. By then, her nipples were bullet hard, jutting out stiff and swollen as his hands peeled away her blouse and bra. She hadn't wanted to find herself in this position again...not ever again....and yet here she was.

The worst of it was, the more she struggled to maintain her control, to stay disciplined and not let the pleasure take hold of her, the more compelling it became. Ella could hardly breathe, her chest was so tight with anticipation and need.

"What do you plan to do with the money you make from this, Diana?" Phoenix's voice rumbled seductively near her ear.

"Would you think I was trying out for Miss America if I said I planned to give it all to a worthy cause?" Ella quipped, attempting to distance herself from the heady, erotic allure of the situation through humor. Although there was an element of truth to her answer...when she got through this, she'd take every filthy cent she got out of Phoenix this way and use it for the kids that Eric was helping.

Phoenix chuckled, but his hands continued moving over Ella's body until he had stripped her completely bare. In a matter of moments, he had her naked, handcuffed, and blindfolded...utterly at his mercy.

"So why don't you answer my earlier question...?"

Ella's heart rebelled. She would not let this loathesome manipulator into that part of her life, she couldn't. That would profane something that was sacred to her.

As nonchalantly as she could, Ella stammered softly, "The evening was fine. I enjoyed myself very well."

She could not help the blush that crept across her cheeks, or the feminine softening of her voice....just the thought of Eric made her a different person for that euphoric instant when he was in her mind.

She also could not see Phoenix's eyes narrow as he observed the reactions of a woman very much in love...

 

[BLACK BART]

She was lying...Phoenix could see it clearly despite the blindfold and hear it in the way her voice became...alive. It hadn't been "fine", her experience with Eric...it had been much, much more...and yet she had returned willingly to Phoenix....

He shrugged it off as her sense of duty...the fact she returned was what Jeff predicted...and with each mile further away from the city there was less and less chance her precious bureau would ever catch up with her...

"Did he tell you it was his concept that recreated the club Diana? Or that we were still equal partners in it despite his walking away from it? We grew up together Eric and I...were raised in the same filthy streets and survived because of the skills we developed early on...and the woman who owned the club previously taking interest in us. Eric wanted a haven where people could explore their sexuality openly in a safe environment...and the idea caught on. But it was myself that found the true potential of the club and it's unique customers."

He paused and took the moment to slowly unzip his pants...the sound of the metal zipper coming undone quite clear to Diana and evidenced by her head turning towards him...half a minute later a second pile of clothes rested beside the first and he reached for Diana, easily lifting her under her arms to guide her to him...

"Spread your legs Diana I'm going to fuck you"

He didn't have to wonder if she were ready...or if she would resist...he KNEW Diana was aroused and wanted what was going to happen...

Obediently she opened her thighs and he guided her sex over his swollen, rigid cock, forcing her to impale herself on it as he watched...

"Eric is a consummate lover Diana...but he has a weakness in thinking people should explore their desires at their own pace...I'm not weak and know in order for a person to find those desire they have to be PUSHED..."

Hands on her hips he lifted Diana and then forced her down again, drawing a gasp as the head of his cock nearly pulled out of her before hammering deep into her once again...

Diana's breasts swayed with the savage motion and she bit her lip...the whine of pleasure coming from her throat betraying her as she shook her head side to side in denial of his words...

Again he lifted her and drove her downward, drawing a gasp as she shuddered and tried to lift herself in order to repeat the motions...

"My pace hun....my WAY....you're going to have to beg me if you want it faster...or harder..."

Over and over he lifted her and hammered her wet sex down on his rigid shaft...drawing a moan with each teasing motion as he drove her closer to her orgasm...

and then stopped...cruelly refusing to allow her to cum by suspending her aloft...the tip of his cock rubbing her dripping slit....

"He has the ability to do this Diana...but not the courage....if you knew him the way I do you'd realize he could never give you what you need....a MAN to control you and bring out the slut in you"

Again he repeated the same torturing maneuvers, teasing her rigid nipples with his tongue and then teeth as he fucked her...and as he sensed her rapidly approaching orgasm...stopping.

"From the moment I saw you Diana...when you took your top off...I knew what you were and how AROUSED you get at being controlled...you were so WET I would be willing to bet you had to change your panties when you got home, didn't you..."

Over and over he taunted her...drove her willing and needy to the brink of it's much wanted release and then refused it...all the while hammering the words home...

"What do you want me to DO to you Diana...WHAT are you???"

Until finally as the interior of the car was filled with the musky scent of her arousal and the windows were covered with moisture from their combined body heat...

Diana relented and moaned...

"Fuck me...please...just...fuck ME"

And Phoenix countered cruelly, still refusing her...

"Not until you answer me....WHAT are you?"

Whimpering with need and embarrassment Diana released her final vestige of resistance and moaned through swollen lips...

"your slut"

Grinning with triumph Phoenix hammered into her...driving her up and down savagely as if she weighed nothing...Diana's whimpers and moans growing louder and higher as she greedily took the full length of his cock inside her...the meaty sounds of flesh slapping against flesh accenting the act and her whimpered replies to his demands...

"I'm.....uhhhh.....your.....uhhhhh......slut.."

Neither of them felt the car slow or heard it...for as it did Diana wailed in pleasure as her body found it's release...and Phoenix joined her, emptying himself into her quivering body...

And as Diana sagged against him the door opened the cool air washed over them both and Phoenix laughed...

"Take her to the plane boys and then load the rest of the luggage, I'll be with you as soon as I get dressed..."

A hand under each arm Diana was helped away on weak legs...Phoenix admiring the shape of her body as she was led towards the waiting aircraft...his mind on what was going to happen next to her as he dressed and followed, joining her beside the modified recliner she was strapped into...

"Rest up Diana you'll need it...because when you get there I'll introduce you to the man that bought you...and what he wants done to you..."

 

[Arioso]

It was easier to give him the answers he wanted.

At first, Ella had silently fumed against this....this con artist. As soon as he started talking about Eric, sneering about how Eric wasn't man enough to give Ella what she really needed, Ella's heart hardened against him. Phoenix obviously thought she was stupid enough to be swayed by such words.

She would have to be very careful. If he was trying this hard to undercut Eric in her esteem, she may have betrayed too much feeling. And Ella couldn't afford to let Phoenix know exactly how deep her connection to Eric ran.

But then....then...

Phoenix began seducing her...not with words, and not even with tender caresses. No, he fucked her hard, ruthlessly, and without regard for her as a person. He used her body like a toy for stimulating his cock.

And Ella's resolve began to weaken under the strain.

She found herself succumbing to the logic of convenience again. She had to pretend to cooperate at least...didn't she? She couldn't fight too hard...

So she let herself cave. Ella said exactly what she thought Phoenix wanted to hear: that she was his slut, that she craved and needed him to fuck her however he wanted. And Ella desperately tried to block out Diana's satisfied, purring chuckle in the back of her mind as she guiltily enjoyed every minute of it.

Her body grew even more wildly aroused when Phoenix callously passed her into the hands of two unknown men while she was completely naked and had his cum dripping out of her snatch. Had they also seen his cock pull out of her whorish cunt right after filling her with his spunk? It was degrading -- she was being handed off like merchandise to be loaded onto a plane. A sexual plaything that had been bought and paid for, to service someone else's pleasure. To Ella's shame, the idea made her flush with lust.

And the way these unseen men strapped her into her seat simply fueled her shameful arousal. The way they tied her ankles kept them just far apart enough to expose her drooling pussy. It was torture: the tickle of Phoenix's seed as it oozed from her fucked snatch was maddening, like an itch she couldn't scratch, and a brazen marker of what a slut she was. Her wrists were still cuffed behind her back, so she was forced to lie on them which thrust her chest and tits forward.

Her worst enemy, though, was her own mind.

They were getting on a plane. Phoenix could be taking her anywhere. She was in tremendous jeopardy: once they left the ground, her team might never be able to find her. Phoenix could hold her prisoner indefinitely -- or worse. Yet...

...yet...why...why?

...why did the fantasy that she was being kidnapped...to be trapped in a life of sexual servitude...send such a rush of heat between her legs and make her grow wet?

The guilt stabbed at Ella's heart. She was horrible. How could she do this to Eric? How could she be feeling such a sordid, disgusting lust, when she might possibly never see her beloved again?

A small, cruel voice inside her head taunted her.

You're not good enough for a man like Eric. You don't deserve him. This is where you belong...if you can't stop fantasizing about a beast like Phoenix, then he's right -- you are a pathetic little whore who needs someone like him to control you.

Grimly, Ella clenched her jaw and tried to fight against that inner despair. She couldn't give in. She had to be strong -- she had an agent on the line, and a husband to return to...

"Rest up Diana you'll need it...because when you get there I'll introduce you to the man that bought you...and what he wants done to you..."

Ella couldn't help the instinctive shiver that ran through her at those words. But she did try to rise above it, and calmly asked Phoenix, "What is this for? Why do you need to tie me to the seat? It's not as if I'll be getting off the plane in mid-flight, is it?"

Phoenix's rumbling laugh reached her through the darkness of her blindfold. "What, don't you like it?"

"Well, I might want to get up and stretch my legs, especially if it will be a long flight..."

Ella let her sentence trail off, fishing for any clues as to how far away he'd be taking her.

 

[BLACK BART]

"You're an intelligent woman Diana...what would happen if the buyers location was disclosed? I can't take the chance of putting you in that risky situation... Once the plane levels off I can let you up and show you around and then you'll understand the power this man has..."

It was true. The minute they had boarded the twin engine customized jet Phoenix was longer in control of the situation...the plane was full of the Senators own security forces with instructions to make sure Diana was brought to the man...Phoenix had "influence" but knew better than to try and push it or he'd find himself none too gently removed from the plane regardless if it was landed or not..

Seated next to her the planes engines prevented further conversation as they taxied out to the runway.... the power of the takeoff pressed him back into his chair as he turned to watched the prone figure of Diana...his mind on how it could have turned out so different...

"IF only things WERE different..."

He spoke the words and reached a hand out to touch her cheek...allowing himself a rare moment of confusion to consider the emotions "Diana" brought out in him...how her own primitive passions and arousals had reached something inside his own jaded soul.

The interior of the room canted at a crazy angle and then leveled off...and Phoenix slipped out of his own seat to move to Diana...

"You can get up now babe"

The blindfold off first he smiled down at her as he undid the straps holding her nude body to the reclined chair as if it were something he did for her everyday...

"I'll show you to the bathroom and the outfits I brought with...the ones you picked out on your shopping trip I think...When you're showered and dressed make SURE you return to the upper level seats IMMEDIATELY, understood?"

Standing with her arms still cuffed behind her Diana was a sight that tore his breath away, how helpless and erotic she was...not just in her physical sense but from the energy that seeped from her very being...and Phoenix couldn't resist stealing a kiss from her full lips before he undid the handcuffs and massaged her wrists.

"Let's go Diana"

Arm wrapped around her waist he walked with her...guiding her down the winding steps and to the floor below...

The level was dim despite the daylight outside...the windows covered to follow the explicit orders of the man who owned the plane...the interior lighting casting shadows but clearly showing the leering and hungry faces of over a dozen seated men...

"Security...but NOT mine Diana"

Phoenix stressed and glared at a man as he reached for her bare breast, his own hand intersecting the mans to firmly push it away...and then press Diana's hips to the midsection of the plane...catcalls and lewd comments quickly filled the area and Phoenix knew more than a few hands groped Diana without his being able to spot them...or stop the actions before they reached the labeled door. Phoenix looked directly into her eyes and hoped she had understood his message and the warning tones of it, his face held stiff and stern yet his eyes pleading as she stepped into the bathroom...

"Your clothes and the shower are here babe, lock it once you're inside..."

Appearances...Phoenix knew he was the equal of any of the hired thugs seated around them...even two or three of them, but if they sensed any weakness or worry in him they'd come at Diana in a hungry pack...

"Be careful boys...look but NOT touch, your Boss and mine would be very unhappy if anyone bruised the goods..."

 

[Arioso]

Was this how her father had felt when he'd begun suspecting AD Harding's betrayal?

Ella stood in the cramped bathroom for a few moments, just breathing in and out to calm herself as she reflected over what she'd seen.

One of those men had been Secret Service at one time. She'd swear to it -- she remembered his face. The question was, how much did he know about her?

Relax, she tried to tell herself, Phoenix has insinuated dozens of times that some of his clients are powerful politicians. I can't break my cover just because I'm anticipating that someone else might do it.

Indeed, the only thing she had left was her cover. There was no safety in this situation, not now that they were airborne. If she was going to survive this, she would have to play her role to perfection. But the idea made Ella tremble nervously...there were more than a dozen men out there. Sweet mother of mercy, please let them just be security...and not part of her "job" this weekend. She could never handle that many!

And yet, even as she tried to force the sobering, disturbing image from her mind, Ella couldn't block it entirely. Flashes of herself lying on her back, her legs held wide open while man after man settled between them and fucked her crept in, sabotaging her efforts to concentrate on just getting through this charade and finding a way to free Jeff, wherever he was being held.

Ella tried to steady herself by focusing on the routine mechanics of showering. It worked, to a degree, but when she emerged from the narrow stall and dried off, the erotic potency of her situation returned with a vengeance. Just the sight of the outfits she had to choose from left Ella in the unenviable position of participating in her own humiliation. After all -- she would have to pick what to wear, and that could suggest that she wanted to be treated a certain way. Butterflies darted about in her gut as she confronted her options...how should she present herself?

The seductive, temple priestess gown would make her seem too much like a sacrifice...

But...the leather corset and boots...would they invite too much rough treatment?

In the end, Ella opted for the leather. She zipped the boots up all the way to her mid thigh before wrapping the corset around her waist and cinching it tight, until her bare breasts were lifted up over the top of the demi-cups. A pair of black satin gloves completed her ensemble as she pulled them up her arms past the elbows.

Now she had to walk back past those men, dressed like a hard-core slut with no panties whatsoever to protect her from their lascivious hands. It would be like running the gauntlet.

Ella took a deep breath, trying to draw upon her inner strength for inspiration. As she opened the door, she felt Diana all-too-willingly step up to the challenge.

Ella's entire body suddenly relaxed into the loose, powerful grace of a panther. Each stride was languid and sensual, flexing the muscles in her thighs and quads and making her hips sway easilly from side to side. She practically prowled through the midst of the crowd of goons and tough guys, and their hoots only fueled her proud determination.

At the first grab of a hand on her flank, the second stage of Ella's plan kicked in. With a swiftness that came from years of disciplined training in hand-to-hand combat, Ella seized the offender's wrist, twisting it just the right way to put him at a disadvantage. The hoots dimmed in sudden bewilderment.

Still twisting the man's arm at a painfully unnatural angle, Ella straddled his lap and lowered herself down...making sure to grind her dripping cunt all over the crotch of his trousers.

"You wait your turn, little man," Ella purred, her voice a tempting blend of brazen invitation and undisguised menace.

She was no match for a dozen thugs, but she could take any of these men here if it was one-on-one -- and she let them sense the hint of that, fanning the flames of their male fantasies.

With a flourish, Ella leaned forward and gave her "captive" a quick, sharp bite on his jawline before she rose to her feet and finished the journey to the stairs.

All catcalls and hoots were now directed toward the unfortunate man whom she'd taunted. Though Ella couldn't see it, his crotch was not only glistening wet from her juices, it was also prominently tented over a very, very erect cock.

However, Ella knew better than to linger. She mounted the spiral staircase quickly and returned to the relatively private cabin she shared with Phoenix. The sight of him once again summoned a sense of dread.

Was this her burning warehouse?

She had no choice but to enter it...

With a cool, steady gaze fixed on Phoenix's eyes, Ella began to saunter toward him where he relaxed in his seat.

"That's a lot of security for one little woman," Ella remarked evenly. Her lips curved into a sly, teasing grin. "Or is it for you, Phoenix? Do you scare this man that much? Are you dangerous?"

The last word came out as soft and seductive as the serpent's hiss in the Garden of Eden. Ella had felt the tension in the air, had sensed Phoenix's own uneasiness with the men down below. There was no need to hide from it. She faced it...faced it, and embraced it with Diana's own, passionate taste for that erotic thrill of being on the razor's edge...

 

[BLACK BART]

"I would have bet you wore the dress Diana"

Phoenix spoke casually as his eyes drank in the changed woman that swayed
towards him... or was it more accurate to say stalked?

"Though your choice better fits what the Senator has in mind for you."

The tidbit he dangled drew a tiny response that was quickly covered, Diana's eyes widening before quickly returning to the sly, hungry look she held when she entered.

"So I'm going to be dessert for a Senator...what can he do any other man can't?"

It was his turn to widen his eyes and take a long...good... look at the woman who had stopped less than an arms reach from him...

"The men back there aren't security mostly...in fact there are only two with us, the rest are actors who will be joining you during the next four days...and as for what the Senator can do?"

Running his hands up and down Diana's bare thighs he smiled as her nipples hardened in immediate, unconcious response...

"You're turned on by the danger of the unknown aren't you Diana...like a hunger you can't satisfy your body and mind feed from the very idea of it..."

Diana's eyes were shining, her breathing coming to her in short gasps as his hands probed her sex, her breasts swelling and lifting from the lewd support of the outfit she had chosen and now wore...

And yet as his hands probed her sex and thier eyes met both knew there was no turning back...for thier own individual and personal reasons they had come to this point of no return and had but one way to move

"You've agreed to be the plaything of an old and very perverse man Diana...one that gets his rocks off by watching pretty young things like you act out his twisted fantasies...and you'll do it...because a part of you craves it and you want to be used the way he'll use you...and he will...by making you be his secretary...the businesswoman he saw on the street last week as he passed by in his limo...the actress he sat next to as he had dinner at that swank restaurant the month before...and you'll DO it because as each mans cock pulse in and out of your body...as you twist and turn in the ropes that bind you so tightly...you'll be out of the control you've led your past life so carefully by...and in the hands of the man you'll call...master."

The floor of the plane tilted again and the engines changed from a mellow throbbing to a harsher howl as the pilot positioned them for a landing...and Phoenix's hands moved from Diana's flesh to the handcuffs and blindfold he had removed from Diana a short time before. Eyes still holding hers he fastened the cold metal to her wrists behind her back and kissed her softly before covering her eyes.

"A short walk off the plane and to the house hun...and I'll introduce you to the Senator who has been so impatiently waiting for you, he will no doubt be pleased to explain what he wants in detail to you and eager to begin."

 

[Arioso]

Each revelation, each clue that Phoenix let slip increased Ella's anxiety...and, she ruefully realized, her arousal.

A senator...and one with a private airstrip, no less...

She knew of at least seventeen who did, all of them on very powerful committees, all of them with well over twenty years of seniority in the senate. The flight hadn't been terribly long...but still, there were so many senators who maintained private estates near the capitol that it would be difficult for Ella to surmise which one had bought her.

And why would a powerful senator pay over a quarter of a million dollars for four days and nights with her, to use in his sordid fantasies? What kind of man was that obsessed with his own kink?

As troubled as Ella was by those questions, she was even more concerned -- and frightened -- by the questions she had to ask about herself. For as Phoenix hinted at what would happen, her clit surged to life, swelling and hardening as eagerly as her nipples did. To Ella's shame, deep inside her there was flare of sexual excitement at her situation. She should be on her guard, vigilant against the danger she knew she was in. But a secret side of her reveled in being displayed so brazenly, her breasts and her pussy bare and available as if she were a whore strutting her stuff for a desired buyer.

Worse still, Ella knew that it had not just been Phoenix's probing fingers that had drawn a thick stream of sensual nectar from her pussy. No, she had felt her pussy clench at his smooth, taunting revelation that all of those men on the lower deck of the plane were going to use her -- they were going to fuck her. It was obvious to Ella how unprepared she was to maintain her control under these conditions. She'd been fucked by three men in succession only once, back at Dante's Circle. Yet she had enjoyed it -- she'd loved it and wanted more, had even felt herself hungering to be degraded and exploited as a fucktoy.

Ella wasn't certain that she could handle what she might be forced to take here. Wasn't sure her stamina could stand up to the kind of gang bang this mysterious client might possibly demand...but even more troubling, she wasn't sure she could cling to her senses and maintain a rational frame of mind if she were swarmed by a crowd of men with all the fierceness and energy of a pack of wild dogs.

"Yesss, you do enjoy the danger, don't you, babe?" Phoenix whispered in her ear as he gripped her by the upper arms and began guiding her carefully out of the plane.

A throaty whimper was the only answer Ella could muster. Her steps down from the plane were shy and hesitant due to her blindfold, yet so graceful. The high leather boots caressed her inner thighs, their heels thrusting her shapely ass out and making her hips sway as she walked with Phoenix toward her unseen, unknown fate.

As her thighs brushed together, Ella could feel the hint of moisture clinging to her nether lips. Her folds were ripe and swollen, so ready to part around a cock...or whatever else might be plunged into her.

Ella could hear the difference when the click of her heels on the landing-strip asphalt changed to a more stony click, as if on marble. The scent of freshly cut grass and roses flooded her senses -- no doubt the grounds were impeccably manicured. Phoenix guided her along a path for a few minutes, then finally ushered her through a door. Now the click of her heels sounded hollow, as it would on a wood parquet floor.

Phoenix brought her to a halt after a few paces, positioning her to face in a certain direction. With an involuntary shiver, Ella wondered if the client, this perverted senator, was seated in front of her, admiring every brazen, exposed inch of her flesh. Her nipples strained out like tender bullets.

"Here we are, Diana. Raise your arms -- lace your fingers together and rest your hands against the back of your head with your elbows out. Show the man whom you have agreed willingly to serve what he's paid for," Phoenix instructed, his voice laced with pleasure.

Ella could practically hear him salivating over his profits as she moved to comply, raising her arms and positioning them so that her naked, ripe tits were shoved forward in an obscene offering to....what had Phoenix said?...her master??

From the dimmest reaches of her mind, Ella could hear her conscience reminding her that she was here solely to free one of her agents if she could. She had to resist the seduction...

...she had to...

....had to....ohhhh....had to endure whatever would happen to her...

Ella's pussy grew even slicker with her own desire as she heard quiet, controlled footsteps approach on the wood floor, and waited in anticipation of the voice of this anonymous client...wondered what he would say...how they would begin...

 

[BLACK BART]

Again the blindfold lent it's protection to Diana...for as the man aproached with the swagger of being used to great power Phoenix pulled the tazer from his pocket and aimed it at her...

"She IS everything in the FLESH as you promised Phoenix"

His voice was deep and strong...the practiced timbre of it serving the politician well in his career over the many years...and yet the raw lust in it couldn't be hidden as he fondled the waiting woman’s breasts...

"I only hope she is as MUCH in spirit as you promised in her PERFORMANCES to come."

"She IS, Senator...I can testify to that personally."

Phoenix spoke softly as the Senator's fingers cruelly pinched and tugged at Diana's swollen nipples as they held a conversation as if she weren't in the room with them...

"See for yourself.... sir."

The tazer hovered at Diana's back...one false move and Phoenix would trigger it, sending hundreds of thousands of volts into her body...

"Indeed I will"

The white haired and noble looking man dropped his hands from Diana's tortured nipples to slide one between her thighs, a deep chuckle coming out of his as she spread her legs without being told to...

"That's a GOOD slut..."

He complimented as he slid a finger into her wet sex and began to finger her rapidly.

"You're wet and ready for my COCK aren't you my precious...or anything else I choose to have stuck in you?"

Two fingers now worked her sex and both men chuckled as Diana's hips began to move with them, trying desperately to take them deeper into her...

And suddenly the dignitary pulled them from her sex, a wet squelching sound coming with the removal of them as if her body were trying to hold them in her...

"Her juices are SWEET, Phoenix...and flowing from her like the cow she is..."

His voice was pleased as he lifted his fingers to his lips and tasted Diana's juices, his eyes filled with glee over what was to come next....

"Take her to the dressing room on the left and put her in the outfit I've chosen, leave the boots on...it's a nice touch I think...then after giving her the instructions I've supplied bring her to the Studio on the lower level where we'll be waiting for her.

Phoenix watched as the man sauntered away; his heels clicking crisply on the polished floor as he moved to and out the double French doors, sliding the weapon into his pocket before turning to Diana and removing the blindfold.

"This way babe we've got about fifteen minutes to get you ready "

Inside the dressing room Phoenix watched Diana slip out of her outfit and then into the short leather skirt and white blouse waiting for her, his eyes admiring the sheerness and cut of the blouse and how the black push up bra was lifting her ample chest..

"You're going to be his "Secretary" in this scenario Diana"

He read from the sheet of paper as she made the final adjustments to the skirt and began to brush her hair thoughtfully supplied...

"One that has a high set of morals and yet has been very, very bad...He'll order you around a bit, make some lewd demands and you're to resist him verbally while he sits at his desk...He's going to use the intercom and call in a group of men, then order them to rip your clothes off as you fight them...before they pin you to the desk..."

Phoenix dropped the paper to the floor and met Diana's eyes, his smile telling her of his own arousal at reading the paper to her and the predicament she was in...

"You can imagine the rest babe...are you READY?"

 

[Arioso]

Ella had been responding on instinct, for inside she was....frozen.

Senator Atcheson.

She knew his voice.

HE was the one who had paid such a high price to acquire her, and Ella had a terrible, terrifying idea as to his reasons.

Her throat constricted, so tightly that she almost couldn't breathe. In her gut, it felt like a lead weight was pulling her down.

Of course. He was the one who had sent her into Dante's Circle to investigate in the first place. She'd been set up from the minute she'd agreed to take the case.

And now she was trapped.

It was more than Phoenix's nearness to her, the heat of his body right at her back as he held -- what? a gun? -- poised and ready. She had enough experience in the Bureau to know when a weapon was aimed at her, even blindfolded. It was even more than the two security agents who had been on the plane -- one of whom she was now certain had been in the Secret Service. It was the entire situation. Senator Atcheson was well-connected and powerful...and now it was clear that he had turned his formidable machine against her.

But why? All for one defeat, one loss, in her last investigation? He was hardened veteran of power politics -- Ella would have expected him to be angry at AD Harding's fall, but not to sweat it or dwell on it when it was merely one lost battle in the greater scheme of things. She might even have expected him to pressure the Bureau to fire her, and exact his revenge by depriving her of her career. He could have done that without spending a quarter of a million dollars -- why go to these lengths?!!

All of these thoughts surged through Ella's body, yet she held herself utterly still and submitted to the senator's touch, her body so poised that it betrayed none of her inner turmoil.

She had no choice but to play along. At this point, Ella had no illusions: her life depended on it.

When the senator left, Phoenix removed the blindfold and began describing the scenario that Ella would have to act out. Two things became clearer to her:

This first little roleplay was a dead-on match for what she imagined the senator had wanted to do to her right after she had exposed AD Harding's corruption.

And...Phoenix knew. He knew.

She could see it in his eyes.

"You're going to be his "Secretary" in this scenario Diana. One that has a high set of morals and yet has been very, very bad...He'll order you around a bit, make some lewd demands and you're to resist him verbally while he sits at his desk...He's going to use the intercom and call in a group of men, then order them to rip your clothes off as you fight them...before they pin you to the desk..."

As Ella dressed herself in the short, black leather skirt and a sheer, white blouse with a plunging V-neckline and elegant pearl buttons down the front that very much resembled the peaks of her nipples pressing against the fabric, she watched Phoenix as he watched her. In his eyes, Ella saw the damning truth. He knew.

"You can imagine the rest babe...are you READY?"

Numbly, Ella nodded. No tears came to her eyes....they would be useless, and Ella was too concerned with survival to feel any betrayal or emotional anguish. Although, when Phoenix grinned smugly and leaned in to steal one more kiss before handing her over to a man who wanted to carry out a sordid, brutal revenge, she coolly turned her face to the side.

"Don't. Neither of us needs to carry on a ruse any more," Ella murmured woodenly.

She felt nothing for him. Perhaps a little grudging acknowledgment that he had out-strategized her. But in her heart...in that part of her that felt anything remotely passionate or sensual.....nothing.

"They're waiting," Ella added bluntly, turning her eyes back to Phoenix and gazing at him expectantly until he shrugged and led her down to the "studio".

Yes...he felt nothing for her, either. As she would have expected.

He was in this for the money.

When they entered the spacious, sound-proofed room, Ella's throat tightened again. There were lights and film equipment: Senator Atcheson intended to film his revenge on her. But to Ella's utter shame and revulsion, she felt something else tighten.

Her nipples.

And her clit.

Working at Dante's Circle had twisted her, released some perverse side of her that got aroused at danger when it was mingled with sex and lust. And here she was, in a situation that could hardly be any more dangerous or menacing to her...walking slowly toward a man who obviously hated her as he sat, smiling with wicked satisfaction at her approach...and her body was flooding with arousal at what he had planned for her.

Her rape.

 

[BLACK BART]

Phoenix had to admit as he watched the Senator that the man was a professional at what he was doing...for example as Diana moved into the room and towards him the camera angles showed a figure of a man seated behind the desk but obscured his face, directing the brunt of the attention to Diana's sleek form...her long, lean legs...the way the blouse enhanced the full swells of her breasts...and finally resting on her own face and the turmoil hovering on it.

And the man was astute enough to pickup on that troubled look as she stopped in front of the desk and use it to begin his perverse little fantasy...

"Miss MacKenzie I'm so glad we finally found this opportunity to meet in person, I've had this little....problem...I've wanted to discuss with you for sometime now...Actually it's a small clerical error made on your part that I wanted to point out"

The man was a professional...he had directed the cameramen to remain focused on the subject...Ella MacKenzie. And to give the "subject" due credit she was trying to stick to the directions given to her...


"I'm sorry SIR...But I'm not aware of any error I've made, but I'm sure I can correct it to your...satisfaction?"

Phoenix KNEW it was part of a SCRIPT the Senator had created...that it was ONLY an old mans fantasy...but then WHY when he spoke did it sound so DAMNED REAL?

"That will be difficult Miss MacKenzie...You see the error you made was SMALL on paper...BUT quite LARGE in someone’s life outside your own."
"Then I apologize SIR and if you think that inadequate...perhaps I should apologize to whoever's life I affected?"

The monitor that Phoenix was watching clearly showed the puzzlement on her fine featured face...and he knew that by the concentrated stare she was giving the Senator she was trying to make sense of just WHAT the man was trying to tell her...

"That would be a beginning I admit Miss MacKenzie, but only a minute start...You see the "problem" you created with your clerical error made it quite personal to several people and the actions from that error are now quite irreversible..."

"It might be easier for me to correct the problem IF I knew the specific details, SIR"

The camera angles changed...backing to focus on the entire figure of the woman as she tensed...her instincts telling her she wasn't going to like what she was going to hear...


"NO, Miss Mackenzie it won't BE...But to better help you understand the significance of the matter and the ramifications of it...I'll oblige you in this matter.

The Senators hand was quite visible as it moved across the desk and a finger pressed a lone control on it...and Phoenix didn't need to watch the monitors to know what was happening next...From four different directions a man walked onto the "set" until they formed a loose ring around her.

"You see Miss MacKenzie the clerical ERROR you made was in a report you initiated upon beginning an investigation into your past commanding officer...a minor omission but one that would have made an enormous difference in the outcome in this mans future and career. I'm confident you know who I'm referring to but still aren’t sure on the significance of the error you made.... he was related to a very influential citizen who could have saved him from the embarrassments you put him through, but now it's too late for him...and for YOU.
As if on a well-rehearsed cue the men lunged forward, gripping her arms to pin her face first against the desk, slapping and punching her none too gently before the Senator's gleaming eyes as he leaned forward and sneered at her…
“The art of surviving in politics is knowing who you’re fucking with and when not to Miss MacKenzie…you crossed that line…and now it’s my chore to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.”

 

[Arioso]

It was a surreal blend of the real and the staged.

Ella knew instantly that these really were paid actors when they began punching her in the back. Either that, or Senator Atcheson wanted them to do permanent, internal damage. She couldn't hold back a very real yelp when one of the goons delivered a blow perilously close to her kidneys. She tasted blood in the back of her throat...was this it, then? He wanted to rape her and leave her to die of internal hemorrhaging?

Senator Atcheson's words, however, had been very, very real. Ella knew what he was talking about, although she was still puzzled about his fixation on her. She had not been the one to initiate any of these investigations -- HE had. But in his twisted, corrupted mind, somehow his own instigation of this entire chain of events had vanished, and he'd built her into a zealous crusader who had chosen, herself, to ruin someone's life.

The bastard was even using her real name. Ella was in no position to challenge him. She lay weakly against the desk, her back radiating pain although she'd certainly taken her fair share of blows during martial arts courses at Quantico.

Nonetheless, Ella managed to raise her head in defiance and stare coldly into the senator's eyes. Why not give the man his money's worth. She wasn't going to go down without a fight, and Ella knew he was just dying to beat her down anyway. At least she would have her say.

"If I have been incompetent at my job, sir, then you should have fired me and rehabilitated whomever was jeopardized by my clerical error. Wouldn't that have been a better way to keep your organization running smoothly?" she prodded coolly.

Ella knew she'd guessed correctly about the senator's twisted desires when his eyes flared with heat and lust at her refusal to surrender just yet. He was so hungry to slap her down and humiliate her, the old man was practically drooling.

"Ahh, but that isn't the problem, is it, Miss MacKenzie?" Senator Atcheson chuckled back at her in a deep, sinister growl. "No, you see you're very good at what you do -- too good. The problem is that you never learned when to leave well enough alone, and you fucked with the wrong person. Now...it's going to cost you. You're going to learn just what it feels like to get fucked yourself."

With a sharp nod to the four men pinning her to the desk, Senator Atcheson set them on her. "Get this little bitch ready for me."

Ella yelped in pain as they hauled her up into a standing position again. Her lower back throbbed where she'd taken a particularly severe blow; she likely had an ugly bruise there. Two men held her arms while the other two focused on her blouse and her skirt. The one who seized hold of her skirt tore it viciously from her hips, raising burning welts on her hips as the fabric was violently yanked away from her, baring her smooth, naked pussy. Meanwhile, the other man stood in front of her and backhanded her across the face, snapping her head to the side. Then, sneering his cruel delight, he took hold of the low-cut front of her blouse and ripped it apart, pulling the panels open to the sides and exposing her smooth, round tits.

And, to Ella's tremendous shame, exposing her swollen, stiff, aroused nipples.

"Look at you, Miss MacKenzie!" Senator Atcheson roared in smug satisfaction. "Such a hypocrite. You let the world think you're such a righteous, moral woman -- always on the straight-and-narrow. Yet here is the truth -- you are no more than a desperate little whore who needs a really good, hard fuck."

"It would take a sick man with no concept of morals at all to think that!" Ella fired back, perhaps the last shot she would be able to fire. Even naked and held in such a humiliating position, she wasn't going to let him go on his tirade without making him hear the truth -- even if he didn't want to hear it.

"You think you know, don't you," Senator Atcheson smirked, his voice low and deadly as he gestured for his thugs to pick her up and spread her out on his desk. "Miss MacKenzie -- You. Have. No. Idea."

Ella writhed weakly against the four men who held her, but the beating they'd showered on her back had taken much of the fight out of her. At least, by her standards. No doubt, she was bucking and writhing wildly by the standards of a typical porn starlet who had never had to endure one of the Bureau's training courses. But it wasn't enough to keep her captors from spreading her arms and legs out wide. In fact, all she accomplished was to make herself look like a sensual, erotic, frightened sacrificial victim.

Senator Atcheson rose slowly and deliberately from his elegant, executive chair. He undid his expensive slacks and freed his hard cock, but undressed no further. Ella knew it was just another way to rub her nose in his power. He moved between her legs and slid two fingers inside her pussy -- still wet from her earlier arousal.

"That's a good slut," he rumbled as he curved his fingers slightly and scraped them over Ella's g-spot, tearing a reluctant, grudging moan of pleasure from her.

Without warning, the senator slapped her hard across the face. Ella cried out, but her cry of shock and pain shaded into another deep groan of pleasure as he kept rubbing her g-spot and moved his thumb over her swollen clit to tease it as well.

"You're going to learn your place, Miss MacKenzie. You're going to take everything I have to teach you...you'll take your punishment...and you'll still beg me like the slut you are!"

Ella shrieked and her body arched up from the desk as Senator Atcheson rammed the full length of his cock into her cunt and began fucking her viciously. He delivered one more slap to her face, drawing tears from her eyes, before he decided on a different target. Ella cried out at the first, stinging blow when his palm slapped her tits.

"See, you whore! Your body loves this...your body knows WHAT YOU ARE!"

Ella's whole body lurched and jerked over the desk's smooth, wooden surface with each thrust of the senator's hips and cock. She kept her head turned to the side, and her eyes were blurred with tears, but she hardly needed to see her breasts to know how fully they betrayed her.

As much as she loathed the man who was raping her, Ella could not deny it. Her nipples had grown rock hard and strained up eagerly for more pain...and her own pussy was growing wetter and wetter, heating up to take everything the senator had to give....and more...

He leaned forward over her, his face hovering directly over one full, round breast and its hard nipple like a lion ready to seize its prey. "Now this is how you should be, my dear...so ripe and willingly available to me....we'll get you very well trained by the time this is done."

Ella shivered at the sinister menace in his words. Trained?! Willingly available?!!! However, the dark thoughts slipped from her mind as he took her throbbing nipple in his mouth and began to suck...and bite...and flick it with his tongue until Ella was shaking her head desperately, moaning and trying to stop the inevitable pleasure from rising...

 

[BLACK BART]

Phoenix watched in awe as the Senator raped Ella’s body ruthlessly…He felt no pity for the abuse she was suffering or the future humiliation’s he knew were in store for her. What held his attention and admiration was the way he was using her own cravings coupled with physical punishment to quickly push her to a point where she would be repeatedly used by all the men in the room as an amusing plaything…

Inside the room the Senator was laughing as Ella’s body shook violently as her orgasm washed over her body, the wail that escaped her lips a twisted mix of pain and incredible PLEASURE…

“See what I mean boys?” The Senator declared proudly as he continued to rape her quivering body “Make the whore Cum and she’ll do whatever we want for as LONG as we want!”

And with that triumphant tone he released his seed into her in a frenzied pounding of flesh against flesh before backing away on wobbly legs…

“You enjoyed that didn’t you SLUT.”

The Senator nodded and Ella was lifted from the desk and none too gently guided towards an undressed man who lay on his back atop a sturdy and narrow coffee table…his cock hard and swollen in anticipation, the grin on his face telling everyone there was more to the simple looking situation then met their eyes…

“Bind her wrists behind her” The Senator instructed and watched as his instructions were skillfully carried out leaving Ella’s wrists and elbows tightly bound, her breasts thrust forward and swaying erotically as her shoulders were pulled backwards and she was prodded forward.

“Have a seat Miss MacKenzie, it’s going to be a long night for you and I wouldn’t want your strength to fail before it’s over.”

The words were dripping with sarcasm as Ella was forced to straddle the man and then slowly lower herself until her own sex hovered over his throbbing cock.

“You might have been too busy to be introduced so let me correct that”

Leering as he approached the Senator made a perverse parody of his manners as he continued.

“The man under you is Paul, he enjoys fucking sluts forced into unique situations, while the man approaching you is his brother Peter, as you might guess by the paddle in his hand he finds his thrills more by creating pain then the actual act. Quite a perfect pair don’t you think?
The rules are quite simple…as long as you continue to fuck brother Paul under you the Peter won’t touch you…should you slow Peter will gladly oblige you with his own form of encouragement…BUT should you stop or try to step off his brother before he cums?”

The Senators face was a mocking one of horror at the idea…and yet his eyes showed the glee he was feeling…as did the final words he spat at her.

“Now fuck my boy silly…WHORE”