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  Up close, Arabella could see that Giselle’s eyes were a deep, almost brown shade of hazel. A smattering of faint freckles dusted her nose and cheeks. Full lips parted in surprise that didn’t reach those doe eyes. No. Something else dark and forbidden lurked in her gaze. Something akin to a shared secret.

  “Forgive me,” she said breathlessly, her voice tinged with the hint of a French accent. “I didn’t know anyone was here.”

  Unable to form words, Arabella stared.

  Giselle’s chin tilted downward and she gazed from underneath a wealth of dark lashes. “I’m lying. I-I saw you leave the den.”

  Arabella struggled to keep from ogling the lush pair of full breasts or the alluring vee of dark curls just beyond her reach. She trembled, uncertain of how to react.

  Giselle’s gaze lifted, penetrating Arabella’s. “I also saw you watching me with the komtesse,” the kitten said softly.

  Apprehension prickled up and down Arabella’s spine. Just conversing with Giselle outside the den might warrant punishment for them both. The thoughts Arabella was having about the voluptuous kitten would most certainly garner the komtesse’s wrath.

  “I’ve never been exposed to anything like this before,” Arabella said, trying to appear nonchalant.

  Holding her gaze, Giselle stepped closer. Arabella’s breath froze as the kitten guided her hand up with black-mittened paws and teasingly sucked the fingers with which Arabella had recently pleasured herself.

  Her stomach somersaulted. Every nerve in her body seized taut and she thought she would swoon from the shock of the sensation of the kitten’s soft tongue rolling around her fingers. Arabella could not force herself to move. Could not withdraw her fingers. Nor did she want to.

  Instead, she stared into those hazel eyes with their flecks of gold, wishing she could experience more with this forbidden beauty. A devilish smile played on Giselle’s lips before she whirled away and, black tail swishing behind her, disappeared back into the den.

  Arabella stared at the spot where the kitten had stood, wondering if she’d only just imagined the entire exchange. Her damp fingers told her otherwise.

  Once again, she leaned against the wall. She closed her eyes and sighed. Staying out of trouble on her uncle’s estate was hard enough. At Katzenhalle, behaving would be all but impossible.

  * * * * *

  Giselle slipped back into the den unnoticed. The komtesse had busied herself by strapping on one of the phalluses and bending one of the kittens over to give her a thorough fucking.

  Relief swept through Giselle that she had not been missed. Hopefully the komtesse would soon tire of her and allow her the freedoms the other kittens experienced. The komtesse’s appetites were great, and even when time in the den ended for the day, she often summoned Giselle to her chambers to continue.

  Even given the dubious circumstances under which she’d been brought to Katzenhalle, at first Giselle had enjoyed the lavish, hedonistic lifestyle being the komtesse’s favorite entailed. But now it seemed like a prison.

  A prison from which Giselle hoped the new assistant could liberate her. Running away would be all but impossible without help and when she’d heard the new girl hailed from the nearby town of Salzburg, Giselle had grown optimistic. Knowledge of the town would be required to make good an escape and, once she was back on French soil, she could return to her home and tell her father what her stepmother had done.

  Lies had been told. Henchmen had been paid. And Giselle had been brought to Katzenhalle against her will.

  Of course, none of the others believed she hadn’t arrived with a penchant for Sapphism. But before being brought here, Giselle had imagined marrying an aristocrat, managing an estate and producing heirs.

  Instead she’d been delivered into a life of utter debauchery, where she had no choice but to abide by the komtesse’s will.

  All were told they had the freedom to deny her or even to leave Katzenhalle if they so wished. But Giselle knew that was far from the truth. Those who left departed in coffins. She’d learned too much during her nights in the komtesse’s chamber.

  “Ah, Giselle,” the komtesse called, having released the other kitten. She stood, hands on her hips, creating an odd silhouette in her beribboned stays and stockings with the faux cock protruding arrogantly from its harness. She rubbed the phallus suggestively. “Come, sweet kitten.”

  Obediently, Giselle padded across the den, her senses assaulted by the movement of the thick dowel snuggled in her bottom. She bent and braced her paws on the armrests of the komtesse’s chair. Fingers raked through her slit before she felt the tip of the cock nudge her opening. She bit her bottom lip as the leather slid inside, awakening the delicate tissue within. Her lashes fluttered closed.

  Why did it have to feel so good? Guilt welled that her body betrayed her so easily.

  Visions of the lovely raven-haired assistant formed in her head, surprising Giselle. She’d never fantasized about any of the women here, but now she imagined the black-haired newcomer behind her, thrusting the phallus in and out of her channel.

  How could she grow so desirous for another woman’s touch, for such sinful sexual practices? But she did. Time and time again she gave over to the lust and need for physical release.

  Perhaps the visions in her head lay in the fact she planned to use the new attendant to help her escape Katzenhalle.

  The komtesse tugged gently on Giselle’s tail, igniting the nerve endings in that orifice until her muscles clenched around both invasions. Insidious pleasure coursed through her. She deserved the komtesse’s punishments. The spankings, having leather and wooden dildos stuffed into her bottom, being tied and ridden to hell and back by the komtesse. All of it and more. Yes, she deserved it, even welcomed it on some dark level.

  It was as if she had no control over her body or desires, and it was that very loss of control that fueled her unspoken demand to be free.

  Giselle’s thighs trembled as her focus swirled around the cock deep inside her cunny. Her head dropped and as she ignored the komtesse’s soft laughter, bliss built and built and then crashed. Giselle cried out, clawing the armrests with her paws until the komtesse milked the last tendril of ecstasy from her sex-ravaged body.

  Spent, Giselle wilted to the floor, sagging over the chair to lay her cheek against the cushion. The komtesse bent over her and brushed her lips along the shell of her ear. “Later, my precious pet,” she said, and patted Giselle on the head. “Later.”

  * * * * *

  Arabella mingled with the other assistants as they filtered out of the den and made their way back to the preparation room to undress the kittens.

  “What happened to you?” Eva asked.

  Arabella shrugged. “Nothing.” She quickly changed the subject. “What happens now?”

  “We bathe the kittens and then join the other servants in the dining hall.”

  “And the komtesse?”

  “She retires to her rooms.” Eva’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “She usually takes her favorite with her. Most often it’s the newest kitten. No one holds the komtesse’s attention for long.”

  Arabella’s shoulders sagged with relief. Hopefully, Petra would be attending the komtesse instead of Giselle. Biting her bottom lip, Arabella considered her thoughts. Why should it perturb her if the komtesse favored Giselle?

  The kittens were forbidden fruit and this fascination with the komtesse’s favorite could prove very dangerous. But try as she might, Arabella couldn’t control her obsessive thoughts about the woman who’d just sucked the cream off her fingers.

  She’d never been intrigued by anyone this way before. But then again, she’d always been the assertive one, talking servant girls into quick kisses and clumsy caresses. They’d indulged her because of her position—not because they’d been interested in the prospect of more.

  Arabella realized she enjoyed being pursued.

  Kittens began climbing onto the tables, most chattering excitedly about the initiation. Whe
n Petra came through the door, her face bright and flushed, the others clapped and cheered. Voicing her gratitude, she mounted Eva and Arabella’s table.

  “You did well,” Eva said as she poured oil into her hands and began rubbing Petra’s shoulders. “Arabella, fetch the water and clean her bottom.”

  Eager as she was to hear Petra recount her experience, Arabella found herself disappointed that Giselle would now have to go to another assistant.

  She retrieved a basin of water and a bathing cloth and began to gently bathe Petra’s crotch. Arabella noticed how blushed and swollen the girl’s folds appeared. And her rosette still bore signs of the oily lubricant used to ease the phallus inside her. Faint but still rosy strap marks marred the pale cheeks. Arabella’s clitoris jolted at the memory of watching the sensuous spectacle.

  “I know I shall sleep well tonight,” Petra boasted.

  “Ha! You might as well give up on that notion,” a blonde kitten at the next table piped up. “The komtesse will be sending for you. Just you wait.”

  “Yes,” another added. “We all know how she adores her new pets.”

  Petra’s cheeks grew even pinker with pleasure.

  Arabella chanced a glance at Giselle, who lay facedown on a table while her assistant massaged her back with oils. Her expression didn’t indicate whether she envied Petra’s position as new kitten.

  “No mittens, no ears, no tail,” another of the kittens teased. “You’ll be able to use your hands.”

  “And do other things too,” a kitten added with a shake of her bottom.

  “Yes, and the komtesse enjoys wearing the harness,” yet another injected. “If you’re not sore now, you will be come dawn.”

  Again, Arabella noticed no reaction from Giselle.

  A female servant strode into the room, bearing a card on a silver salver, and Petra sat up expectantly. But her lips parted in dismay when the servant bypassed her.

  And delivered the note to Giselle instead.

  A hush fell over the room as Giselle read the note then climbed off the table, not even bothering to retrieve her robe before she left with the servant.

  All eyes riveted to Petra, who sat dumbfounded and near tears, her bottom lip quivering.

  Eva stroked her hair. “It’s all right, love. You need your rest anyway.”

  “Somebody needs to take that Frenchy down a notch,” one of the kittens groused.

  A chorus of agreements rang out amongst the others.

  “You know why the komtesse favors her, don’t you?” one kitten said, swinging her legs over the side of the table as she sat. She didn’t wait for anyone to answer. “She’s the only one here titled as high as the komtesse.”

  “I heard it was because she eats cunny so well. You know how those French are with their tongues,” said another. To prove her point, she licked at the air.

  A bout of laughter ensued that made Arabella ball her fists. Maybe the komtesse had exquisite taste and recognized true beauty when she saw it. Still, Arabella considered Petra somewhat of a friend. She hated to see the novice kitten disappointed. And to be honest, she also hated to think of Giselle alone with the komtesse.

  * * * * *

  “Leave us,” the komtesse told her handmaid as Giselle walked into the spacious chamber.

  “Fabulous,” the aristocrat crooned as soon as the maid departed. “Now I have you all to myself.”

  As if you didn’t own me in the den…

  An array of the komtesse’s usual playthings was spread out on the foot of the bed. A paddle covered with fur on one side and textured leather on the other, a flogger, red silk sashes to blindfold and restrain, a harness with not one but two thick faux cocks attached.

  “I’ve drawn a scented bath for you,” the komtesse said. Her crimson-and-gold banyan rustled as she came closer.

  Giselle tried to not flinch when the aristocrat cupped her cheek and caressed. “I’ve also requested that champagne be brought up. The initiation has only whetted my appetite for you, my pet.”

  “Yes, my Mistress.”

  “Please call me Katarina when we are in private.” Her dark eyes drank Giselle in. Her hand skimmed down to Giselle’s breast, where she cupped and squeezed softly before tweaking one of her nipples.

  Giselle had wanted to remain distant but she could not. Once again, her body succumbed and she arched into the other woman’s touch. Guilt flared, fueling her need to suffer punishment at her lover’s hands.

  Her passage tightened in anticipation of the exquisite tortures Katarina had planned for her.

  The komtesse patted Giselle’s bottom. “Into the bath with you.”

  Tingling from her scalp to her toes, Giselle started toward the komtesse’s bathing chamber.

  “I want you clean inside and out,” Katarina called.

  Giselle’s blood heated and pumped thickly through her veins as she stepped into the steaming, fragrant bath. She hadn’t realized how tired she was until she immersed herself to the neck in the lavender-scented water. Her tension melted away, replaced with the knowledge she would soon be submitting completely, relinquishing control of and responsibility for what she’d become and what she’d endured here at Katzenhalle.

  It would be easier if she could simply accept her virtual imprisonment, but something within prevented her.

  “Here’s your champagne, my pet,” Katarina said, sitting on the tiled lip around the tub.

  Giselle accepted the glass of sparking liquid and sipped. Surrender washed through her along with the effervescent drink. The komtesse could be a cruel mistress and punishment was just what Giselle needed to assuage this consuming guilt.

  She lifted her gaze. “The assistants bathed me earlier.”

  Something sinister flashed in Katarina’s eyes. She drew in a deep breath and then let it out slowly before she stood and offered her hand to help Giselle out of the bath.

  With a tenderness the woman didn’t seem capable of possessing, Katarina dried Giselle, peppering her body with almost chaste kisses.

  “You are so very beautiful,” Katarina whispered as she tucked a lock of Giselle’s hair behind her ear. “So beautiful.”

  Giselle said nothing, but instead drained her glass of champagne and then moved into the bedchamber, where she bent and placed her palms on the bed. The komtesse’s punishments were far easier to accept than her caresses.

  Katarina chose the fur-covered paddle and stroked the soft side up and down each of Giselle’s legs, over her belly and around to her back. Giselle’s heart thundered. The torture to come made her relish these moments of tender comfort.

  “None of my kittens enjoy the lash as much as you,” Katarina said, her voice low and husky.

  With that, she komtesse’s hand flattened on Giselle’s spine. She held her breath until the paddle fell, the soft fur only drawing blood to the skin’s surface, readying her for the wicked leather side that would leave her stinging.

  Over and over the furry paddle licked and teased. Giselle wanted more. She needed more. “Punish me,” she heard herself say. “Please.”

  A low chuckle played in the komtesse’s throat and Giselle gasped as she felt the sharp bite of leather connect with her bottom. The smack echoed in the chamber. Heat shot through her then ebbed back into the site of the blow to throb and burn. She wanted to buck her hips. Her clitoris pounded and her nipples ached.

  A second swat landed on the other side before, once again, the soft fur brushed the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs. Control slipped away as the komtesse spanked her thoroughly, one side of her bottom then the other. Tears burned Giselle’s eyes and slid down her cheeks. It hurt so terribly bad, but some dark part of her needed to hurt. It was the only way she could allow herself to relent, to enjoy the sinful pleasure of sex with another woman.

  “Taste me,” the komtesse commanded.

  Trembling, Giselle sank to her knees and turned, opening her mouth as Katarina’s cunny pushed against her face. Clinging to the komtesse’s thighs, Gi
selle sucked the distended clitoris and raked her tongue through the juicy folds, delving as deeply as she could into the opening. Once more the traitorous image of the new assistant welled in her thoughts.

  “Mmm,” Giselle voiced as she shifted to get impossibly closer. Continuing to lave, she worked a finger inside the komtesse’s sheath and tickled. All will stripped from her, Giselle poured herself wantonly into her desires. The komtesse’s sex ground against her mouth and Giselle fought, struggling to maintain her hold on the aroused pearl that served as the key to Katarina’s pleasure.

  Fingers entwined in her hair and she groaned when the komtesse tugged her head backward. “Lie on the bed and spread your legs.”

  “But you haven’t—”

  “On the bed!” Katarina ordered, pointing.

  Giselle scrambled to her feet and climbed onto the bed. She stretched out and opened her thighs, shaking as the komtesse joined her.

  “Look at that beautiful mons.” Katarina burrowed her fingers into the tuft of curls before spreading the folds open. “Just look how pretty you are down there.”

  Giselle’s chest rose and fell with quick breaths.

  “Tell me you want my mouth on you,” Katarina said, her gaze never wavering from Giselle’s crotch. “Tell me you want me to lick your cunny and your ass and that you want to come undone on my tongue.”

  Clutching the counterpane, Giselle whimpered.

  The komtesse plucked Giselle’s clitoris with her thumb and forefinger. She arched off the bed, the little shard of pain coursing through her body like sweet honey. Oh yes. Make it hurt.

  Katarina’s eyebrow arched. “You’re wet for me.” A long finger eased inside Giselle’s passage and back out again, making her ache at the loss of it.

  The komtesse leaned forward to trace the wet fingertip around each diamond-hard nipple. After bestowing a thorough kiss on each breast, she trailed her tongue down Giselle’s belly before blowing a heated breath over her sex.

  Again, Giselle rose to meet her partner.

  “Tell me what you want,” Katarina commanded softly.

  “T-taste me.”