PROLOGUE
1: A Dinner Party In Suburbia
It was a casual, nonchalant, dinner party conversation
really. The fact that Julia spoke between popping bright red, fresh
strawberries, between her full, deep red lips was a focal point for her guests.
The ladies grinned at their hostess's teasing antics as the guys squirmed with
a weird, sophisticated embarrassment.
"I did tell the guy that MY way was the smoothest way. That
if the merger was done MY way then at least... at the very least he would come
out of it with something...."
Her voice educated, perfectly punctuated English with not
the slightest hint of a regional accent. There was a pause as Julia, quite
deliberately made a little show of sliding another strawberry into her
mouth. Except this time she didn't just
'pop' it in. She just slightly parted her lips, peeling smooth, deep red top
lip from smooth deep red bottom lip. At that point then she put the end of the
strawberry to her mouth, and pushed with her index finger, sliding the slightly
hairy strawberry in suggestively, and blatantly seductively. She got the strawberry into her mouth partly
by pushing it and partly by sucking it in, depressing her cheeks as she did
so. And because she had got all of her guests' attention with the little story that she
hadn't yet finished, she was assured that all eyes around the dinner table were
completely on her. It was one of her girlfriends that broke the relative
silence in the first instance.
"Jeeze Julia, those strawberries must be goddamed petrified
in that bowl. Take it easy will ya."
There was a round of restrained, relaxed laughter. Julia
played to the crowd by just letting the sprig end of the rather large
strawberry protrude from between her lips and then further suggestively, and
quickly suck in and out feigning a kind of oral sex. It was as though she were
performing oral sex on this quit innocent strawberry. Julia sucked in the strawberry fully and
spoke as she chewed.
"Mmmmm petrified, petrifaction... don't you just love those
words? I do, I just love them."
The words, petrified and petrifaction dripped from her lips
as though she enjoyed saying them; as though she were pleasuring herself in
saying them. She didn't bat a heavily mascara'd eyelid. She didn't even do what
she did with even a hint of a smile. Her beautiful, huge eyes remained open,
quite sparking and she shifted her gaze from one, to the next and so on of her
guests as she continued to have oral sex with the strawberry at the same time
ripping off the sprig and discarding it. This time she played with it as she
chewed. Manipulating it with her tongue and not hiding that fact. It was the same woman, Julia's next in
command at the mergers and acquisitions company in the City, and
also her closest friend who spoke again.
"Too much wine darling, too much wine. Look at these poor
guys... they're all drooling in their puddings."
She herself had been practically drooling at Julia's
display and had let her eyes wander at will over her boss's ample cleavage as
the exhibitionism had progressed.
"Mmmmm now there's another word 'drooling'. Dontcha just
love that word? Haaaaahaaaaaa."
Again the dripping words over lipsticked lips. But this
time there was a gurgle from the back of her throat. Like a little groan that
crept up the throat and into the mouth before the spill over the lips. And
then, that almost manic little laugh at the end. It was an act for her
audience. Except it was an all natural act.
So much so that it didn't look, or feel like an act at all. The complexity, the perversity, and the
deranged debauchery that Julia was capable of had barely been touched. Hinted
at yes. Exposed no.
***
Julia had six guests. Three women, and three guys. They
were couples. Julia was the only odd one out in that she didn't have a
partner. Except that it didn't seem odd.
The thirty eight year old City worker seemed quite comfortable with being
without a partner. It seemed natural and she was completely at ease with it.
This was a regular, monthly thing. The
last Friday of every month. Salaries had been paid, bonuses confirmed and this
was Julia's way of showing her gratitude to the colleagues who were also her
friends. Two of the woman worked with her and for her, and one of the guys. The
partners were welcome guests at the little gatherings. It had been a regular
thing for the past five years. Very rarely were any of the last Friday dinner
parties missed. A couple of times, they had tried to rotate the location of the
parties, to the houses or apartments of the others. Somehow though for some reason they had never
had the same success or the same ambience as when they were held at Julia's
huge house. These gated communities were the latest thing, and the regular
party guests kind of got a rush out of being buzzed through those huge wrought
iron gates. And then there was also the
fact that Julia did know how to throw a party. Oh yes she could throw a party
all right.
It was a strange mix of light heartedness and intensity
from Julia. The mix was magnetic. It was a magnetism that escaped the group.
They knew it was there, but none of them would ever be able to explain, or put
their fingers onto the reason why these little get-togethers were so
successful. So looked forward to every month. It was just a regular, must-do
date in all of their diaries.
The light heartedness part came solely from the assembled
guests who were so relaxed and so apparently used to Julia's exhibitive and
suggestive ways that the little gurgles of laughter and chat just rolled round
the walls of the modern, minimalist dining room and then faded into the
intensity. The intensity part came from
Julia herself. It was in her eyes. Came from behind her eyes. Came from deep
within her eyes. No sign of the same smile that was painted across her
girlfriends lips. Or the part smiles across the guys' lips. Julia enjoyed the
attention she could command. She had
done it for years. Commanded and got the attention of guys and women
alike. This group seemed so relaxed, so
at ease with each other and with the fact that their boss, the stunning,
statuesque Julia, let her hair down that once a month, nothing seemed really out of place.
Nothing, not even Julia's exhibitionism was 'wrong'. It just seem all okay.
Happy days!
There was always but always that underlying 'thing' with
Julia. Intensity, yes that was the word, intensity. And yet, on the face of it,
this was quite simply a group of people who normally existed in a high pressure
environment, relaxing. For one night of a busy, busy life, the Boss, Julia got
caterers in to cook and serve. The
caterers then melted away as the evening proceeded and the conversations and
the antics that took place simply stayed within the walls, within that house,
within that gated community.
Julia didn't even laugh off her friends comment. It was
like she was in the middle of an act that she wouldn't let be disrupted on any
account. Slowly devouring the helpless, innocent piece of fruit. The noises she
made with her mouth, with her lips and tongue were deliberate. As deliberately
suggestive as the actual act of having oral sex with the innocent strawberry
was. She chewed the strawberry noisily
so that the attention was on her mouth. Quite astonishingly every single eye in
that dining room was completely utterly focussed on those deep red lips. Even
after she had chewed and swallowed, her tongue had swiped her lips and the
slipped back in. The eyes watched and then further watched the roll of Julia's
throat as the strawberry went to its final destination.
To say that more than one spine was chilled in that room at that display would
be an understatement.
"Anyway.... as I was saying. I did tell him My way, or
disaster would ensue. I did get the
impression that he thought he was dealing with some sort of bimbo or something.
I mean for fucks sakes, I'm not even blonde. Actually, I don't
think it was even the blonde thing. His attitude definitely
suggested that he preferred it if another guy was taking care of
things. So I said, 'fine have it your
way' and made him sign a disclaimer before final contracts were drawn up. The disclaimer just had to be done. I
couldn't let it go through otherwise."
From the overtly sexual encounter with a piece or two of
delicate fruit, to the hard nosed acutely edged details of another transaction;
one that would ultimately ruin a guy and the company he had built up over
thirty years. The transition from one mode to the other was seamless. It was
seamless in a morph like way. It was seamless in a chilling way.
"It went through, and he lost everything. And I do mean
everything. Once the various debtors had linked in with the fact that he had
refused to take expert advice, they all wanted a piece. I had no alternative than to break up the
company and sell off the various assets.
I don't know what it is with some men. Biting off their noses to spite
their faces. Sooo silly. Present company excepted of course."
There was another little rumble of laughter as the group,
at last, broke the attentions away from Julia's lips and downed a little more
wine. There was that few seconds of
silence that must have seemed like minutes as lips sucked at wine goblets and
as throats rolled the resulting swallows.
"Of course, the debtors didn't get everything. In actual fact they didn't get anywhere near what they had
claimed for. But we, on the other hand,
did quite nicely out of the sell off it must be said."
For the first time a wide, beaming smile crossed Julia's
face. Benevolent victory. The eyes lit up, the perfect white teeth sparkled. It
was as though she got her own kind of buzz out of seeing this poor unnamed man
and his company ruined. It was a hint as to her ruthlessness and an even more
subtle hint of something deeper within Julia. In utter fairness to her, she had
to be ruthless in her line of business. She just had to be.
"Come let's retire to the lounge."
***
Julia's dinner parties were kind of 'informal formal' for
want of a better description. Instead of the usual power-suits associated with
the super fast world of the City, it was an excuse for the ladies to dress up.
Get in touch with their hyper-femininity.
That is, the girls found it great fun to bring out the big guns in
designer evening and cocktail wear, whilst the guys could tone it down a bit
having been in suits for the better part of the previous month.
If Julia hadn't forged out an uber-successful career in the
City, she could have, with ease become a super model. A clothes horse to the
world's exclusive designers. With size zero firmly in the past, and a
resurgence in curvy femininity, Julia would have made it and made it big.
Standing some five feet ten inches in her bare feet and with a jaw dropping
40d-26-36 figure, it wasn't just her manner, or the things she did that
commanded attention. Words such as Amazonian and Statuesque had been used to describe
her. But not only that, she was confident in her manner and the way she carried
herself and, there was an air of authority about her that quite frankly
mesmerised all whose eyes were cast over her.
She had a thick mane of succulent dark red hair that was as stunning as
it was natural. And, despite her thirty eight years, she had a flawless natural
beauty that captivated anyone who came into contact with
her. Julia was quite simply the perfect package and whilst outside her circle
there would have been undoubted jealousy and resentment towards her, personally
and what she had achieved, within her tight little circle there was no such
jealousies. The women knew their
husbands drooled after her. For god's sakes, they drooled after her
themselves! But it was just that. Dinner
party drools, and the mind fodder required for quick wank
sessions during intense weeks wheeling and dealing in the City for the guys. It
was Julia's way of instilling some karma, spirit and
morale in her team. She seemed to do
that with an expert and relaxed ease.
Julia's house was a new build. A mock mansion built in the
traditional Victorian or Georgian style. And yet inside, there was a conflict.
Georgian and Victorian meets modern, eclectic, minimalist. A huge, high double
fronted door which opened into an entrance hall that would be better suited to
being called a foyer since from either side, a large sweeping staircase arched
round and met in the middle of the first floor. That balcony then overlooking
the entire entrance area. On the first
floor, six en-suite bedrooms that included two master suites plus four guest
suites. The master suites all including
full size walk-in dressing rooms. On the
ground floor, through to the right coming in from the front door, a reception
room that led through to a dining room and two further large reception rooms.
In the main reception room or 'lounge' as Julia had come to call it, a fully
stocked bar and sumptuous furniture that was designed for relaxation. A huge sixty inch LCD High Definition screen
that was 3D ready, adorned one wall and premium sound had been plumbed in with
all wiring and connections invisible to the highest of standards. Off the
dining room a massive, fully equipped kitchen complete with Aga Cooker that had
been and would be sorely underused. State of the art appliances all gleaming in
stainless steel and aluminium. That was another contrast, the old style Aga cooker and the super modern, stainless steel
appliances. In a modern house that was
both traditional, and modern. A criminal profiler would never be able to
accurately profile Julia. At least not from where she lived.
Julia had owned the house for less than a year and had only
been moved in for around six months. She didn't cook, wouldn't cook. Even the
fridges were reserved for the best in champagne and wines plus only the best in
nibbles. But nothing substantial in food otherwise. She bought the place for
its entertainment potential. And for its privacy. Especially for the privacy
and the security. Coming in at almost £2 million, this property was situated in
the higher end of estate agency stock.
Off to the left of the front door as one comes in, and
through rather grand double glass door, a
ground level indoor heated swimming pool, sauna, Jacuzzi
and gym facilities. More or less a self contained
leisure and fitness facility. From that area a staircase to the basement where
there was a fully fitted cinema with state of the art audio video facilities. This was where
serious film watchers could immerse themselves in high end, HD digital pictures
and surround sound.
Despite all of what the house offered, it remained a simple
fact that the focal point of the impressive property was that entrance foyer.
Marble tiled, high and surrounded by the two sweeping staircases that met into
a balcony on the first floor. Impressive. Yes indeed. Julia knew how to spend
her money. And this entrance hall was completely minimalist. Just the marble
floors and mirrored walls to either side to give an impression of space. Lots
of space. And light. Lots of natural light mixed with a surreal light that was
thrown in by the huge stained glass window above the front doors. No overly
dressed consort tables or other furniture taking up floor space. There were just two thick round pillars, each
one set to the inside of the foots of the stair cases that swept up to the
first floor. These pillars, looked like serious load baring pillars that
disappeared up into the ceiling high above the ground floor hall. At the bases of these pillars just two
expensive looking statues of very fulsome, topless women, cast or painted in
black. These statues simply looked on anyone who came in through the front
doors. Like centurions of the feminine kind. One would imagine, quite
intimidating sights for anyone entering the house for the first time. Like eyes
would have to be, need to be diverted. Like the statues had been there
purposely to put house guests, or visitors on the back foot. A simple, yet
superbly effective tactic.
***
The group had moved into the main lounge of the house. All
were scattered around the extreme deep, leather covered sofas and seats and
there was the general mishmash of sound that occurred when several
conversations were on the go all at one. A melting of sound that created a din.
In this case though it was a soft, kind of orderly din. Julia had supervised the clearing away of
some glasses from the dining room to the kitchen area and sent the last of the
caterers away. As she came back into the
lounge, the din hushed. She had that effect. Without saying a word she could
hush a room. All eyes on her and the spectacular cocktail dress she had chosen
for the night. A black number that was
both low cut in the front and back and was short enough at several inches above
the knees to display and expose what were actually incredibly
long and shapely legs. The dress was very provocative in that the main body of
it was a silky smooth black satin that left enough flesh on view that attention
was gripped. It was sexy enough without... but the dress was then covered in a
transparent layer of finer black silk. Almost like a nylon. So the flesh
exposed by the main dress was covered, but only in an additional source of
provocation that was the transparent silky nylon material.
Julia looked stunning. Incredibly so. And the gentle roll,
the soft movement of her breasts under that wispy see-through layer drew the
eyes in. And kept them drawn in. The
confident, almost arrogant strut that Julia employed when she walked did
everything to emphasise herself to anyone that might have been watching. That is everyone. The fact that she
always, but always had her feet arched into the severest stiletto heels that
she could manage only added to the sight she presented to everyone. In this case,
simple black pumps that sported such thin, tapered stiletto heels that any
onlooker would wonder, mostly in jaw dropping silence how she managed still to
look so elegant. The heels were tipped,
quite cruelly with steel caps that kind of contrasted alarmingly with the
otherwise smooth shiny blackness of the rest of the shoe. The vision in black that was Julia then
finished of with those quite spectacular legs being clad in only the most
expensive, sheerest nylon. It was
completely understandable that as she entered, or re-entered a room, all
conversation hushed and all eyes were drawn to her.
"Oh don't tell me, you've all been talking about me and
that's why its gone so quiet in here."
Julia knew that wasn't the case. It was simply her way of
having a little joke. As the evening wore on her voice had become more throaty,
more husky. It seemed everything she said was said with a tease. She just
simply could not help herself. She slumped on to a sofa next to one of her colleague's
husband's. It was like another little
game she played. Which one should she
turn into a gibbering wreck this time?
Steven sat like the proverbial fly in the spider's web. Tried to move to
get over an 'all is cool with the world' look that didn't actually
work. As Julia's hips gently
brushed his, he reddened up into a blush which the group thought was a
hoot. It was ridiculous. These were a
well established group of mature friends that had been meeting like this for
years. And yet, every time, Julia was
able to pick one and reduce them to a nervous wreck who would be afraid to move
in case they exposed the raging erection that had been caused by her simply
entering the room. It was as though one might hint at a touch of Female
Domination of the Fetish kind. All the
ingredients were there. But it was just that, a hint.
The rasp of nylon on nylon as Julia crossed her legs was
quite sharp, and acute in the relative silence of the room. It was also
deliberate. No-one could wear nylons like that, and not know of that whispering
rasp as nylon thigh rubbed nylon thigh.
Women naturally crossed their legs, and they also naturally, consciously or not, enjoyed drawing attention to themselves
or their better attributes. Julia had so many 'better attributes' that it would
be difficult to focus on just one. Her
legs though were up there with the best of them. And her leg crosses were
always a sight to behold. Leaving the stiletto'd foot of her crossed over leg
just slightly bouncing. Probably even
that slight bouncing of the stiletto was deliberate. It was the wife of this
night's particular 'victim' that had decided to at least
partly save him from being completely humbled and devoured by Julia.
"Julia darling how DO you walk in those heels, they look
positively impossible?"
There was a chorus of approval. Good question good
question!
"Oh... well its simple really. Lots and lots of
practice. When I'm here all alone. I
just practice in high heels. Hmmm yes, that's what I do, practice."
Julia answered in a deadpan straight tone that was neither
jokey or serious. It left the woman asking the question, and those waiting to
hear the answer, wondering if that is in fact what she did do, or not. Did she
spend all of her down time, simply practising on high
heels? Another of the women then asked.
"Or more to the point Julia... just tell us, when ARE you
going to get yourself a man? Or a woman come to that? We KNOW you are partial
to a bit of skirt you know. I mean
there's you rattling round in this gorgeous house all alone. Such a waste. I
would have thought someone would have snapped you up a long time ago. Don't tell us you are going for all that 'I
prefer my own space nonsense.?"
It was the group's turn to tease their spectacular hostess.
And she soaked it all up. The same as she soaked up adoration that was heaped on her at all times and from all directions. Julia
just sipped from her goblet of red wine and had casually placed a well
manicured hand down on the thigh of the poor unfortunate husband sitting next
to her. Again he had shifted but had made the shift look like an attempted
escape. Julia had simply, gently squeezed his thigh having the effect of making
him sit perfectly still whilst the rest of the group simply laughed at his
deepening blush.
"Welllll.. its like this and as you all know, I can get a
man any time I want to. I can certainly take my pick when it come to sex. Same with other women really. I do like
encounters with other women it MUST be said.
But at the end of the day, I do like my own space. Here I am in total control and I like that.
If I was partnered with someone, who lived with me here... well... all that would
kind of go.... Ohhhhh no, I just cannot be doing with all of that..."
Julia's voice trailed off with a little chuckle. She didn't
need to go into deeper explanation. They got it. As she had spoken she had
gently rubbed the guy's thigh next to her and he had, in general shrunk back
into the leather of the sofa. Probably if one listened carefully enough, one
would hear the faintest whimpering coming from between his thin, super
stretched lips as he tried, even in his obvious humiliation, to appear cool and
calm and in control. He was anything but that. And this WAS Julia after all.
She absolutely loved to be the centre of attention and could do that with ease.
She didn't NEED to do it at the expense of anyone else. But often she did. Only eventually, once the fun was had, and
the smiles of and little giggles of approval of her mischievousness had died
down did she lift the hand from the guy's thigh. There was an almost audible sigh of relief
from him as the conversation took another turn.
This time, Julia's closest friend and colleague spoke again.
"It's a shame Lydia couldn't join us. I know its been us, and just us for years
now, but I got the feeling she actually WANTED to say
yes when you invited her... maybe she will take the plunge another time?"
Lydia was a promising prospect, just 19 years old, who had
joined Julia's team just a few months previously. Straight from university with
a masters degree, she showed a natural, and at times, ruthless aptitude in the
tasks she was given. Julia took another
long sip of wine, the smack of her lips telling all that she was considering an
answer.
"Lydia is really, really shy.
Maybe just maybe she is here in spirit?
I know she is single and I know that she is often at a loose end. This is her first job in London since she got
here. Maybe in time she will join
us. But yes I agree with you, we could
do with swelling our little parties by one. It would be fun. We'll have to work
on her. Make her feel more comfortable. And more 'one of us'. I'm sure she'll
come round eventually."
A few hours, and more than a few bottles of wine and brandy
later, the party gently broke up.
"Well girls and boys it has been nice, as always having you
around. But now I want you all to fuck off and leave
me alone."
Julia spoke with that husky tone that didn't in any way
give away how much she had drunk. She could drink for England and never got
'pissed'. The group all broke into
raucous laughter at her 'fuck off' jibe.
It was such a brutal thing to say it could only be funny. The fuck word was
another that seemed to drip off Julia lips almost pornographically. She didn't use swear words often, so when she
did use them, they kind of had an impact.
The whole group had moved onto the drive directly outside the front of
the house. Those who were driving, and had been drinking only moderately all
night, went to the expensive cars and started them up whilst the others said
their goodbyes to Julia. Julia saved the
goodbye for her closest friend, Sylvia to last.
A warm hug and an unashamed full kiss on the mouth. Quite a sight that all of those in immediate
proximity watched with a lust that was only just contained. As was usual Julia did things for effect.
This was no different except there was a little wink, and a look of warmth
between the two as she had moved in for the kill, as it were.
The kiss had lasted some considerable time. And had been a
lingering full contact kiss. Lips locked on lips. Mouths open, eyes closed kind
of kiss that remained sealed and simply left the onlookers wondering if tongues
had been involved in any way at all. Hard to believe that tongues hadn't been
involved. It might have been a play for
the group. And it DID get the attention, especially when Sylvia had engaged
fully and then pressed herself into the curves of her boss and closest friend.
But that kiss was one to end all kisses. Only very eventually did the two peel
away from each other with wide bright smiles. There was more to that kiss than
met the eye. Sylvia's eyes had misted over, become almost vacant. The arousal
was obvious from her flushed complexion. Julia patted her ass with a wry smile.
Yes another hint at something like malice that existed within this complex,
beautiful woman.
Julia waved car by car off before going in, and closing the
door. It was 2am.