Dear Readers,

The novels in this collection-The Mistress of Castle Rohmenstadt, The Desires of Rebecca, and Domestic Service, published by the now-defunct Masquerade Books of New York in 1996, 1997, and 1998, respectively-marked the beginning of my career as a professional writer, and I am particularly happy to have them back in print after all these years, especially with Pink Flamingo.

I look back at those days before the turn of the century, and at the plots and characters depicted here, very fondly. These novels originally were written with some sort of pre-Windows computer and saved on actual floppy disks. Back then I printed a manuscript with one of those screechy printers using accordion-type paper with sprocket holes at the edges, and I submitted it to my publisher via cardboard box through the U.S. Mail, for God's sake. I don't think I had the internet until '98 or '99, and I communicated with my editor via Grahambellophone, finally sending-again, via snail mail-a disk only at the end of the process.

To a writer, novels are like one's children, each different and special, all lovable in their own particular ways. I had written stories and scenes and snippets for years, of course, but The Mistress of Castle Rohmenstadt was my very first book-length work, and at the same time that I was flexing my erotic imagination, I retained some of the flowery "romance"-type language. I can still remember the excitement of my first sale, the big advance check, the thrill of seeing the book in print. I whistled "Paperback Writer" on the way in to my day job.

With The Desires of Rebecca I was really starting to get in the groove. I jumped into a first-person narrative with feet, setting the story four centuries in the past and using the voice appropriate to the period. I had just taken a fencing class, and if I do say so myself, the swordfight scene in Chapter Nine is pretty nicely rendered indeed. When I reread the piece recently, I fell in love with the beautiful, flatteringly possessive, inescapably flawed Captain all over again.

With Domestic Service I hit the peak of my Masquerade days. Rather than experimenting with a castle of mysterious delights in the deep forests of Eastern Europe, or with Sapphic swashbucklers of the old Spanish Main, I brought the action back to the present-day Midwest. There was something very satisfying about the utter realness of it, the uncertainties of a happily married man trying so hard not to do the wrong thing...as temptation is dangled so slender and sly-eyed before him.

In these three novels, then, we see the seeds of notions which will flower in my more recent work with Pink Flamingo: colorful and exotic settings, as seen now in my 1930s science-fictional Slave to Six Worlds or the prehistoric The Ring of the Giants, the lusty lesbians of Sarah's Girlfriend and others, sternly commanding ladies as in The Supremacy of Samantha and the Alyssa's Needs saga, and the exquisitely near naughtiness of the perverts next door in works such as Rachel's Re-education and The Magic Box.

I still love these tales from the beginning of my career, and I am so very pleased to be able to present them to readers once more. The ancient 5.25-inch floppy disks that held the original manuscripts have long since vanished into oblivion, so...well, I simply "re-mastered" them by typing fresh electronic files from the paperbacks I pulled off my shelves-a tad time-consuming, perhaps, but a labor of love. True to my art, I resisted the temptation to tamper here and there, but instead only fixed a stray typo or old printing glitch whenever encountered.

If you enjoy these books even half as much as I did, it will have been worthwhile. For your patronage, thank you-and come again...

-O.M.R.

The Mistress of Castle Rohmenstadt

Originally published by Masquerade Books, 1996

Chapter One

 

When Katherine first caught a glimpse of Castle Rohmenstadt through the forest, she could not help gasping. Her sensual, innocent lips opened in surprise, and the expressive dark eyebrows above her striking green eyes climbed. Sunlight gleamed upon the flowing chestnut waves which cascaded about her shoulders. Her heart beat rapidly beneath her high young breasts as she wondered if this were all really happening.

The pretty twenty-year-old American had been to Europe only once before, three years earlier, when she had met her great-great uncle Ernst for the first and last time. He had visited Katherine and her parents at their hotel in Paris. Although she well remembered the haunting gaze of his piercing black eyes, the glamour and excitement of the City of Lights had held far more interest to the girl than any distant relative ever could. Afterward she and her parents had toured Europe, but they certainly had not been far enough east to visit the ancient family home which the mysterious old man's will now left to her.

"Beautiful, is it not, miss?" said the driver-Karl was his name, she reminded herself-over his shoulder in richly accented tones. The young man was smooth-shaven and blond, handsome...ruggedly built beneath his quaint double-breasted chauffeur's uniform with its rows of gleaming brass buttons. Pale blue eyes studied the road ahead-almost a little too intently, Katherine imagined. His nose was bold and hawkish, the jutting mass of his manly jaw firm. Yet she sensed no arrogance or condescension from this virile specimen. If anything, he was painfully polite.

"Yes," breathed Katherine, returning her gaze to the window. "It's incredible!" Constructed of dark stonework, the high fortress walls were pierced by narrow, arched windows and were crowned with battlements. Pointed towers stood at the corners of the castle, while steep roofs covered the great spaces inside.

"This castle has been in your family for generations, miss," Karl added amiably. Distantly Katherine observed that his lips seemed almost slightly effeminate. Despite his other rugged features, those lips were thin and expressive...strangely so. She tried not to notice as he continued, "Herr Ernst said that your ancestors built it as a refuge from the rest of the world. Empires have risen and fallen, wars raged across the rest of the continent, borders shifted-yet Castle Rohmenstadt has remained untouched."

Katherine felt a thrill of pride at his words. Yes, this family treasure was something rare and precious, something to be proud of, to cherish. "Until a few years ago, I didn't even know this place existed," she said nervously. She bit her lower lip, pearly teeth indenting the full, rounded pink flesh.

"Herr Ernst always spoke most highly of you, miss." Katherine felt another quivering sensation run through her body as she watched Karl's strong, honest shoulders muscle the dark sedan over the winding forest road. "He knew that you should be the one to take possession of the castle."

"I know Uncle Ernst must have wanted that, but...well, I don't really know anything about running a castle," she admitted.

"Oh, miss," Karl chuckled, "this is hardly necessary-"

"Please," she said softly. "Call me Katherine."

"Why, thank you, miss- Katherine," the big man replied. He glanced quickly at the mirror, then continued, "You see, we-the servants-do the actual managing of the castle. We care for the castle and the grounds-and, of course, for you yourself."

Katherine felt herself blushing. She crossed her trim legs and began swinging the raised foot idly. Her sleek jean-clad thighs rubbed together, sending a sensation which was ever so faintly pleasurable tingling, half-unnoticed, to the pit of her hungry belly. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

"What is really necessary, miss-ah, Katherine," he corrected himself swiftly, "is that a Rohmenstadt reside in her ancestral home."

"Thank you, Karl," she said, staring absently at the back of his muscular neck. "My parents' lawyers have told me that's all I have to do to collect the inheritance-just keep living here, but it's still nice to hear you say so." And it was, she realized suddenly. Here she was thousands of miles from home, dependent upon strangers she had never met. No parents to run to, no friends she could call up on the phone. She shivered briefly and not for the first time she almost wondered if the inheritance really was worth it all.

"We will do everything we can to help you...Katherine," Karl reassured her, sneaking an uncertain look in the mirror. Dappled sunlight played across his handsome features as the car sped through the dense wood.

She let her half-lidded green eyes meet his deep blue ones and smiled. She shifted her hips purposefully in the wide seat, and felt her breathing come a little faster. "Thank you," she murmured at length.