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Little Ms. Marker

By: Sir Galahad



My name is John d'Eaux, pronounced like the female deer. Please don't try to make a funny joke about it. I assure you, I've heard them all and they weren't funny the first time. My ancestors came from France. Leave it at that.

My folks died when I was little, leaving me to be raised by my Uncle John, a successful stockbroker and confirmed bachelor who hadn't a clue how to deal with an orphan dropped into his lap. Not knowing what else to do, he sent me off to the same boarding schools he had attended as a boy, and camps or chaperoned tours in the summer. We corresponded and telephoned regularly, and when we could get together he taught me many things. The best was how to play poker.

Not just the rules or the psychology, but the odds on turning up specific cards as each card is exposed in the many variations of the game, was what my uncle taught me. I was a fascinated pupil. I'd inherited his mathematical and logical aptitudes, the very things that made Uncle John so successful on Wall Street.

By the time I was a junior at my prep school I had acquired a reputation as a cold, calculating thinking machine at the poker table. I also acquired a Porsche, a professional grade stereo system, several Rolexes and Patek Phillippes, and most of the walking-around money of schoolmates that played the game with their hearts instead of their heads. I accepted their markers if they got in past their allowances, and they usually made good on them promptly. If they didn't, well, explaining to Pater and Mater what happened to the fill-in-the-blank was not my problem.

About then, Uncle John began arranging summer internships with various brokerages (not his) for me. I did the scutwork interns do, of course, but the practical education in how the stock market actually works was priceless. By the time I was eighteen, I knew enough to invest money wisely. When I graduated from Harvard (BS in Economics with a minor in Mathematics, summa cum laude), I was worth more than three million bucks and landed a job a couple of steps above what even an Ivy League grad could reasonably expect.

Work kept me busy for a number of years until my fortune reached take-off point. I quit work in the Street but didn't stop working. Instead of working for someone else, I went into the business of managing my own money. I continued to play poker when I could, mostly at casinos but from time to time with classmates and friends.

It was my skill at the poker table that propelled me into one of the most memorable episodes of my life.

One afternoon I got a call from Fast Eddie Phillips, a buddy who went back to the first day of private school. Eddie's one of my favorite people. He can call me anywhere, anytime for help and get it, no questions asked. This time, though, he was asking a lot.

"Johnny-boy, would you do me a big favor?" he asked.

"If I've got it, you've got it," I replied without hesitation. "What's up?"

"Burry St. Edmonds needs a fifth for a veddy, veddy impawtant poker game tonight. He's trying to close a big deal and needs to impress a couple of people. They're heavy hitters and they supposedly know their way around the table. I told him I'd be there and he asked if I would call and invite you. He doesn't know many good players he could ask for a favor like this.

"Will you come?"

Bradford St. Edmonds, called ‘Burry' as a result of a failed prank that left him covered in stickleburrs, is not one of my favorite people. A trust fund baby, he'd never have made it into a top prep school or Harvard if he hadn't been a legacy, the scion of a family whose pedigree went back to before the Revolution. He'd been coasting on his connections all his life. He was the one I'd won the Porsche from, and I did not think much of either his manners or his morals. He had tried to weasel out of his wager, and had been very put out when I had insisted he sign the car over at once instead of waiting until the next quarter when he could pay me in cash out of dividends from his share of the family business. It should have taught him something, but Burry was a slow learner.

He was skinned in frat house games so often the brothers nicknamed him ‘ATM.' I refused to play cards with him any more after one marathon session in which he lost $53,000 to me that he didn't have. It took the threat of having Uncle John speak to his father about the matter to get Burry to sign over voting stock in the St. Edmonds Company sufficient to cover his debt. Being caught short once in a poker game can be called a mistake, and twice is called a habit; but Burry had elevated habit to a way of life.

Playing cards with somebody like that is a trial at best, but a promise is a promise. I sighed.

"I'll do it because it's you asking me, Eddie, but I won't enjoy it. When should I arrive?"

At nine o'clock I climbed out of a taxi in front of Burry's townhouse in Washington Mews carrying a briefcase. The briefcase contained $100,000 in bank-wrapped bills in addition to the $20,000 I had in my coat. The chances were I wouldn't need anywhere near that much but one always brings cash to the table, even a game that is supposedly just friendly. I knocked on the door.

Burry opened it. "Johnny!" he cried. "Long time no see!"

"Long time," I allowed as he wrung my hand. He'd lost hair and put on weight since I'd last seen him five years ago, but what was interesting was the look of quiet desperation in his eyes. This deal had to be very important; a make or break the company deal, perhaps?

"Just give your coat to Li," he went on, motioning to a girl who stood silently just inside the inner door of the townhouse. I gave her a quick glance, then a slow second look.

She was Chinese, with an impudent uptilted nose. Her shining black hair hung straight to the middle of her back, cut square across in traditional Chinese style. Her eyebrows were plucked into perfect parentheses over almond-shaped green eyes and flawless pale gold skin. Her lips and long nails were painted bright scarlet and she wore a gold herringbone bracelet on each slender wrist. She was dressed in a translucent black dress that fit so closely it might have been sprayed onto her. Although covered, her breasts and nipples were clearly discernable beneath the taut fabric. Firm round buttocks were scarcely concealed as they tested the strength of the cloth over them, and although the treasure between her legs was hidden by her too-short dress while she was standing, I suspected she'd have no secrets when she sat down. Long, well-formed legs with small feet in black stiletto pumps completed the visual package that was Li.

Burry saw where I was looking and slapped me on the back. I loathe being slapped on the back.

"I know what you're thinking, Johnny! A vision! A nice little piece to keep around, right? I got her in California six months back; won her in a poker game as a matter of fact. She's the perfect maid. ‘Fucking me in the bedroom, buttering up the master, puttering all around the house,' as the old song says," he leered, misquoting from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

"Interesting," I said, a touch of annoyance in my voice. The game hadn't even begun and Burry had already had one too many, unless he had evolved into an even bigger jackass than I remembered. Of course, to my way of thinking even one drink is too many if you're going to play serious poker. The irritation I felt with myself for coming in the first place transferred to Burry. From across the room, Eddie caught my eye and excused himself to the two men he was talking to in the corner, coming to my rescue.

"Burry, are we ready to play?" he asked tactfully. Our host, belatedly remembering that his guests were there for a poker night, motioned to his maid and walked through the archway into the parlor. Li undulated through my line of sight, gracefully following her master – if that is in fact what he was to her. Eddie led the way to the others and performed the introductions Burry should have made.

Daniel O'Malley ("And never Danny-boy, if ye don't mind"), six feet of craggy black Irishman dressed in Savile Row style, represented a group of Dublin investors. They were considering carrying the St. Edmonds line in their stores. I took note of his Oxbridge tie. P.G. Wodehouse's books notwithstanding, neither Oxford nor Cambridge is noted for graduating dummies. As befitted an Irish gentleman, his glass held Bushmills, neat. Altogether I figured him for a plunger, not a cardsharp; he had that look. 

Zeb Walker, named for the man who had discovered Pike's Peak, owned a chain of specialty shops in cities from Abilene to Santa Fe. He was dressed in the height of Southwest style, right down to the string tie secured by the gold and silver steer's head slide over the Western shirt and the rodeo champion buckle on the belt that strained to hold his stomach in. Like O'Malley, he was considering adding St. Edmonds to his stores' stock. Smoking a cigar the size and color of a big goose turd and just about as foul-smelling, I noticed he was drinking Perrier with a twist. He looked jovial, but his smiles and chuckles never touched his eyes. I judged him to be as serious a competitor with the pasteboards as myself. 

Fast Eddie's style of play, of course, I already knew. Playing with optimism for the turn of the next card or for the next hand, he relied on inspiration that might or might not show itself. Not a bad trait in a whist player, but a liability in a poker game. With Burry's hunch-playing, try-to-read-your-opponents kind of play in the mix, tonight's game looked to be more entertainment than enjoyment. 

The table in the townhouse's game room was an antique that looked to have done time in a high-class speakeasy. A green glass-shaded overhead lamp accentuated the 1920s look of the room, and the seats were padded leather captain's chairs. A cashbox and a large rack of chips sat on a side table. Li discreetly took her place behind the built-in bar adjacent to the card table. Burry reached into his coat, opened the cashbox and dropped a banded bundle of greenbacks into it.

"Bank's open, gentlemen. Blues are hundreds, yellows are fifties, reds are twenties, and whites are tens. Help yourselves."

From the pile in front of Burry, he had staked himself to at least $10,000. Fast Eddie took a wad of bills out of his wallet and cashed in for the same amount. Walker frowned, took a roll of money from a coat pocket and tossed it into the box, helping himself to twice what Burry and Eddie had taken, mostly in blues. O'Malley matched Eddie and Burry with a $10,000 buy. I went last and purchased $20,000 worth of chips. Eddie waved Li over, telling her to take our drink orders. The Irishman motioned for a refill of his whisky; Burry and Eddie emulated him. Walker asked for another Perrier. I looked at the girl and requested a San Pellegrino with lemon, a Perrier with lemon if not, please. She bowed and retreated as Burry reached into the drawer of the side table and withdrew a fresh deck of cards, ceremoniously showing that the seal was unbroken. He opened the pack, tossed the box and the jokers into a conveniently placed trash can and expertly shuffled the cards.

"Shall we cut for deal, gentlemen?" he asked.

"No need," said O'Malley. "You start, and we'll rotate the deal clockwise from ye, if that meets with the approval of all here?"

The rest of us nodded. "Shall we open with a round of Texas Hold ‘Em?" said Burry with a chuckle. The chuckle sickened and died as he looked at us. The expressions around the table ranged from mere annoyance to utter contempt.

"Five card stud, then?" asked Burry meekly. Hearing no objections, he dealt the cards and the game began.

For the next three hours, we played steadily. Each of us took the measure of the others. The poker varied from stud to draw and five-card to seven-card, with Burry's attempts to introduce exotic variations of the game being received with disdain by the rest of us. Walker was the big winner, I was not far behind him, Burry and O'Malley were well down, and Fast Eddie was nearly cleaned out. Li had been delivering drinks as called for and twice she had offered us a tray of nibblements ranging from small dishes of nuts to tiny skewers of broiled meats. I noticed that as far as she discreetly could she stayed out of Burry's reach, although this didn't prevent him from stroking a thigh or squeezing a buttock as she delivered the food and drink. His actions got less discreet as his alcohol consumption rose. I looked at my watch and stood up.

"Daniel," I said, it being his deal, "please deal me out of this hand. I hate to mix business with pleasure, but there is a phone call I must make. I won't be long."

"I understand," said O'Malley. He looked around the table. "In fact, I think we could all use a break. How say ye?" Nods, stretches and the pushing back of chairs answered him. 

"Half an hour?" suggested Burry. Murmurs of agreement from everyone as we got up from the table, heading variously for the bar, the bathroom or the living room. Burry caught up with me in the hall a minute later as I considered where to go to make a private call. 

"If you like, Johnny-boy," he said, slightly slurring his words, "you can use my study." I barely managed to restrain my tongue. The number of people who can get away with calling me ‘Johnny-boy' I can count on my fingers with a couple left over, and Burry isn't one of them. However, perhaps by his standards he was being a gracious host.

"Lead the way," I said.

Burry's study was in gentlemen's club style, with heavy oak and leather furniture and bookshelves on the walls. It was similar to my own, save that mine was furnished with restored antiques and not with what to a trained eye were obvious reproductions. He motioned toward his desk, inviting its use. I accepted the offer of his chair, but pulled out my own satellite phone. It has signal encryption built right in and is about as secure as a portable phone can be. I didn't become wealthy by showing my cards to all and sundry. He cleared his throat before I could dial.

"Uh, Johnny," he began, awkward as a teenager caught with a bottle in his hand and the liquor cabinet open, "I need you to – do me a favor," he finished in a rush. He looked uncomfortable, as if he didn't want to be asking for whatever was to come.

"After the last time we played cards together, Burry, you aren't exactly in my good graces," I pointed out. "What kind of favor are you talking about?"

"Zeb says he wants to play real poker. High stakes poker. And I don't have that much cash available. I'm stretched thin at the moment. This deal I have cooking is important to the company and to me personally.

"Could you – would you back me to the tune of, say, a quarter-million?"

Whoa. This Walker character really meant business, in both senses of the word. I put my arms on the desk and steepled my fingers, staring at the oval defined by my thumbs and index fingers. It's a technique Uncle John taught me for concentration. I thought hard and looked up at Burry.

"I'll have your note of hand." It was not a request.

"But surely – "

"No buts. Here are the terms; take them or leave them. I'll accept your note and marker for $250,000, repayment without interest due by 4 P.M. tomorrow at my home, in cash or voting shares in the St. Edmonds Company. The note is for the money. The marker shall be Li.

"If you bring what you owe me by that time, I give you your note and the girl back. However, if you default by so much as one minute, Li stays with me and you will still owe me the quarter-mil plus ten percent. Fail to repay me in seven days, and I will take it up with the chairman of the St. Edmonds board of directors. I believe that is your father.

"It's your call. Write the note including the part about Li, and we have a deal. Or don't, and look like a wimp in front of Walker and the others. It makes no difference to me."

Burry looked at me, his face pale, little beads of sweat starting on his forehead. I looked back at him without expression. Eddie told me once this habit of mine when dealing with people, the cold eyes and the supernally calm voice, was why Wall Street traders had nicknamed me The Iceman. Burry pulled his desktop scratch pad to him, picked a pen from the vaseful on the desk and scribbled. He signed the paper, tossed down the pen, tore off the top sheet and spun it across the desk to me.

"This is a helluva thing to do to a classmate twice over and a frat brother to boot," he grumbled.

"Who has tried to stiff me twice before, you may remember," I reminded him. "I'm simply protecting my investment. I don't like welshers. Now, if you'll excuse me, I do have to make this phone call." Burry started to leave. I let him get to the door.

"Oh, and Burry?"

"Yes?" he asked, turning back to me, his face a study in mixed gratitude and resentment.

"Be so kind as to send Li in here, would you?" I heard his teeth grind as he closed the door behind him. I smiled and dialed.

A short time later, Li entered Burry's study. She waited, head down and hands crossed in front of her, as I completed my deal and ended the call. I looked at her.

"Has Mr. St. Edmonds spoken to you about your changed status?" I asked. She lifted her head and looked at me.

"Yes," she said softly in a pleasant contralto. "He says that for tonight, and until tomorrow afternoon, I am yours to do with as you like." She looked down at the carpet again. I got up from behind the desk and walked to her. I reached out and tipped her chin up, looking into her eyes.

"I will not do anything that you do not wish me to," I said. "I give you my word on that. Do you understand?"

Li responded by flowing into my arms and reaching up to pull my mouth down to hers. She sighed as our lips met, her arms tightening around me. Our tongues touched, the tips caressing each other, and she moaned against my mouth. The kiss turned hot as she pulled herself closer and moved her legs slightly apart. I responded by dropping my left hand to her tight ass, squeezing a handful of girl-flesh through the silk. She took her hand from my back and reached between us, caressing my rampant cock through the fabric of my trousers. I continued to knead her marvelous buttocks, but now with my hand under her dress. My free hand tangled itself in her hair as I broke the kiss and looked at her, her face flushed, her eyes hot and seeking.

"What do you want, Li?" I asked.

"Fuck me!" she whimpered. "I need to feel your cock inside me, splitting me open, filling me up! Fuck me hard like the whore I am! Please, please! Fuck your slut-toy!"

I led her to the leather couch in front of the fireplace and draped her over the back, her arms stretched out, her breasts struggling to escape the confinement of her dress. I popped them out so they hung free, inviting a man's hands to cup them and pinch the nipples engorged with hot blood, eager for a lover's touch. I flipped the skirt of the dress up over her ass so that it gathered at her waist and left her quim open for my inspection and stepped out of my trousers and boxers. She was naked under the dress. I ran my erect cock over the labia, gathering her honey-dew on it. Li moaned hoarsely with her need and pressed backwards. Using two fingers, I gathered more of her juices and anointed the head of my prick with them before I eased my way past her outer lips. Taking hold of her hips, I thrust forward, entering her.

"Yesss!" Li hissed as my ramrod parted her inner lips and sank deep inside her. I could feel her pussy muscles rippling around my penis as she responded to the prod filling her. She tensed as I withdrew and thrust back against me as I pressed forward again, this time sinking into her up to the hilt. "Aaahh, yes! Fuck me hard! Fuck me like an animal! Use me! Let me pleasure you!"


Little Ms. Marker



There was nothing subtle about this sex act. Li was a wanton, needing the swollen, lusty cock I had to give her. My balls slapped against her ass as we screwed, finding a rhythm that suited us. Leaning forward, I reached under her and found her clit, lightly pinching and stroking it with my right hand as my left grabbed a handful of her raven's wing hair and wound it around my fist to control her, pulling her head up so I could see her face in the mirror over the fireplace. 

"Look at us," I commanded. Her eyes, pinched shut as she concentrated on the sensations I was creating in her cunt, opened and took in the view in the mirror. 

"Fuck me… fuck me… fuck me… " she pleaded, chanting in time with my cock driving into her. "Give me your juice! Spurt your cum into my pussy! Prove I please you! Please! Please!"

I could feel her gasping for air as she neared her climax. I couldn't restrain myself any longer. As she convulsed around my rod with a high-pitched, soft cry, I reached up and grabbed her tits, holding them tight as I pulled her into me and shot my load. Ropes of cum blasted out of my cock, coating her sticky, sucking pussy with my spunk. As we both fell off the peak of climax, she squirmed under me and managed to reverse herself, rotating on my prick, facing me with her legs braced on the floor and he shoulders resting on the couch. I leaned forward and kissed her inviting lips before I withdrew from inside her, my cock slipping out of her with a splorch. 

I pointed to it and without further instructions, Li knelt before me and took the penis that had just fucked her to orgasm into her mouth, using her tongue and lips to clean it, savoring our mixed juices. She could tell I was not trying to initiate another encounter. When she was finished and had carefully dressed me again, I gave her instructions.

"You will continue to serve drinks and food as if nothing has changed. Fix your hair and makeup, and change if you feel you must; but you are not to clean your pubic region nor put on panties. You will allow our juices to seep out of you and drip down your legs. When you are ready, rejoin the players."

"Yes, sir," she said, still kneeling. I extended a hand and raised her to her feet. Knowing what she needed, I told her, "You have pleased me. Go now."

With a smile, Li left the room. After checking my appearance in the mirror, I did likewise. The players were waiting in the living room. A couple of minutes of the half-hour break O'Malley had proposed still remained.

"I trust I haven't kept you waiting," I said politely. Denials greeted my pleasantry, accompanied by Burry's angry glower as he knocked back what was left in his glass. Seeing this, Zeb Walker looked curiously at him before broaching the topic Burry had already mentioned.

"I was just telling the others that down in Texas, when we play poker we play a man's game. Are you willing to up the stakes, sir?"

"How far ‘up' do you have in mind, sir?" I asked.

"A quarter of a million dollars apiece, and let the chips fall where they may," said Walker, watching the rest of us to see how we'd react.

O'Malley was the first to speak. "I haven't that much on me, ye understand. Will ye take a check, to be redeemed in cash when the banks are open tomorrow?"

"Fine with me," said Walker. "Burry, are you in?" Burry looked at me.

"Johnny, will you back me?" he asked. "I don't keep a lot of green in the house, but I can repay you in the morning."

"All right," I said, as if we hadn't already arranged this. "I also will have to leave a note for part of it; I didn't bring that much cash with me. Will a check do?"

"Admirably," said Walker. He looked at Fast Eddie. Eddie shook his head.

"Zeb, your game's too rich for my blood. I'll pass, thank you just the same. However, I enjoy watching others play almost as much as playing myself. If there are no objections, might I serve as banker and dealer?"

There were none. Bowing Burry past him, Walker and the rest of us went back to the game room, where we cashed out the old game. Eddie set us up for the new one, accepting my briefcase, the one Walker retrieved from a closet in the hall, and our notes and checks, doling out chips totaling one million dollars. We collectively agreed that the game would be five card draw, $1,000 ante, three advances, jacks or better to open. Li rejoined us, her makeup repaired and her hair combed. She looked as submissive as before, but her aura was somehow different as she went about the business of taking the drink orders and preparing the nibblements. I noticed Walker and O'Malley eyeing her speculatively, wondering what had changed. Our host, his senses somewhat dulled by drink, did not notice until she served him his bourbon and ice, when his roaming hand encountered a sticky wetness on her thighs. The look he shot me was murderous.

For the next two hours, we played poker with the sort of intensity surgeons bring to open-heart surgery. We each by turns were up and down, but no one took a real beating. 

By 4 A.M., the game was about ready to break up. Burry and O'Malley had a luncheon meeting to finalize the deal they were working out, Eddie had a teleconference at 1 P.M., and Walker was scheduled to meet his wife at his hotel for brunch and shopping. It was Walker who suggested the final hand. 

"Right, then," said Walker. "One last hand? Let's up the stakes. $10,000 to start and then up like a kite from there."

Looking at the piles of chips, I figured that I was up about $50,000 give or take a bit, Walker about the same, and Burry even or down perhaps $25,000, which made Daniel O'Malley the loser. Still, the Irishman was game, a worthy opponent.

I had a feeling Zeb Walker been waiting for this moment all night, hoping to catch his opponents tired and inattentive, the better to skin them. O'Malley gave the big Texan a look, but tossed a single blue chip into the middle of the table. Burry followed as did I, Walker being the last to ante up. Eddie dealt the cards, five down apiece. Picking up my hand, I looked at it. I was holding the 9, 10 and jack of spades, the 3 of hearts and the 2 of diamonds. Based on the fact Burry had won the last hand, I'd be betting third, ahead of O'Malley and after Walker. The way we'd been playing, there would be one round of betting before the draw and two after it.

"I'll open for 25," said Burry, tossing the chips into the pot. I figured him for a pair or a prayer.

Walker eyed Burry with amusement. "I'll see your 25 and raise you 10," he said. He was probably holding three of a kind or better.

My bet now. Without comment, I matched Walker. I thought he would interpret this as meaning I had a wait-and-see hand, which was in fact what I was holding.

O'Malley's turn next. He looked at us. "Just to be sporting," he said, and matched Walker and me. The initial $40,000 had grown to $150,000, with the draw still ahead.

Burry drew three. I noticed his eyes widen, then narrow. He'd obviously picked up something good. Walker next. He took two cards. His face did not change expression, but a faint exhalation of breath told me he hadn't received the help he wanted, and would play what he'd gotten in the original deal. I discarded two cards and received two from Eddie. O'Malley took three and his shoulders slumped ever so slightly. Our attention shifted to Burry.

"75," he said, pushing a short stack of blue chips into the center of the table and tossing a yellow after it. Based on past performance, Burry was holding either a full house or possibly a flush.

Walker pushed a stack of blues out to join Burry's. "Your 75, and 25 more," he drawled.

I looked at Walker. "I'll see you, and raise you 50," I said, matching deeds to words as I pushed a pile of chips into the pot. Walker raised an eyebrow at me; my expression did not change. We looked at Daniel O'Malley.

The Irishman looked at the pot, looked at his hand, and tossed it down. "I fold," he said. "The luck of the Irish is somewhere else tonight!"

$475,000 was sitting on the table now. The bet passed back to Burry. He pushed a pile of chips into the pot. "One hundred thousand!" he said, an anticipatory note in his voice.

Walker looked at his host and considered. He started to reach for a stack of chips, then withdrew his hand and put down his cards without a word. Everyone looked at me.

I pushed all my chips into the middle of the table. Looking at Burry, I said, "Call."

Burry laid his hand down. "Full house, queens over aces," he said triumphantly. He started to reach for the chips, but stopped when he saw my face. One at a time, I laid my cards on the table.

"7, 8, 9, 10, and jack; and all spades, I do believe. A straight flush, and my pot. Thank you, gentlemen; a most enjoyable evening."

Walker gave me a mock salute as he stood to cash in his chips, and Daniel O'Malley nodded with satisfaction as he turned to Eddie. I looked at Burry. He had gone pale, staring at the cards that had snatched the pot out from under him. Unable to stand it any longer, Burry left the room as the Texan and the Irishman settled up. 

When they were gone I pushed my chips over to Eddie, taking what bills were left in the cash box and putting them into my briefcase. I picked up the three pieces of paper and looked at them. One was my own check. I wrote "VOID" across it before dropping it into my coat pocket. The second was a check made out to ‘Cash,' drawn on a major New York City bank and signed by Daniel O'Malley. I put that into my wallet, making a mental note to stop by an ATM before going home. The third paper I already knew. It joined O'Malley's check and the wallet disappeared into my blazer's inside pocket, which I buttoned down. Picking up the sat phone, I called for a cab and gave the dispatcher the phone number to ring when it arrived. I handed Eddie the briefcase. 

"That's for you, pal. Thanks."

"But I couldn't!" he protested.

"Eddie, if we were in Vegas I'd be expected to tip the dealer if I won big. Think of it as a finder's fee. You got me into the game and I'm walking out of here well to the good. You earned it, so don't be an ass and embarrass us both, okay?"

Eddie had the good grace to accept without further ado. I watch out for my friends. I knew how well he was doing, and while he could afford to lose the cash he'd lost in the first game it's always better when you can tell your fiancée that you came home a winner. Eddie left carrying my, now his, briefcase.

Li had been standing silently behind the bar all this time. I turned to her.

"Can you be ready to leave in five minutes?" I asked.

She nodded. "While I was upstairs fixing my makeup, I packed a bag."

"Were you hoping Burry would lose?"

"No," she said, "I was counting on it. I have seen him play poker before. If you will wait for me by the front door, I will get my bag."

Burry was standing at the front door. His complexion was no longer the pasty white of shock at having lost. It was now an ugly red, a combination of too much booze and the anger you feel when you think you've been conned. He started to speak, but I cut him off.

"Don't say anything, Burry. Just listen, for once in your life.

"There was no cheating involved in that last hand. Yes, Eddie is a friend of mine but it was you who invited me into this game, not him. You've known him at least as long as I have. You were the one who made those bets, not him. You were ready enough to crow when you were up $75,000 earlier in the evening based on the cards he dealt you. He isn't responsible for the situation you are in right now. You are.

"As the song says, you have to know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em, and know when to walk away. You haven't learned that yet for all you've been playing poker for years." I heard steps behind me; Li coming down the front staircase instead of the back stairs that led to the servants' quarters a townhouse of this age would have. How typical of Burry to have housed her there. Ivy Leaguer or not, the man had no class at all. I continued, "I am holding your note and your marker. I'll expect you not later than 4 P.M. today. I can see myself out."

As if on cue, my phone warbled. I looked out and saw the cab. Taking Li by the arm, I left Burry standing there, looking as if I'd slapped him even though I hadn't raised my voice or laid a finger on him. Li and I got into the taxi and drove away.

Enroute to the ATM, I used my phone to call home. Waters answered on the third ring.

"Yes, sir?" he asked. The number I'd used did not pass through the house switchboard. It was an unlisted line in his quarters and only he and I knew the number.

"I'm bringing home a guest. Is the Rose Room presentable?" 

"I'll see to it. Your ETA, sir?"

"Twelve minutes, give or take."

"I'll be waiting, sir." Click.

Waters is my majordomo. He retired as a colonel after thirty years in the British Army mostly on the staff, and not wanting to rusticate in the country went to butlers' school (yes, there really is such a school) and took his position with me shortly after I began to manage my fortune. Our agreement was that I would invest his salary and manage it for him, and he would keep his pension for walking-around money. After several years of this Waters could have easily afforded a place of his own and hired his own valet, but he was happy to continue in my service. I think it amuses him to make sure his Yankee gentleman is not entirely uncivilized, and that he considers running the house in the city and the manor house upstate as a pleasant way to spend his golden years. He's a friend as well as my butler and he's every bit as resourceful as the legendary Jeeves. I value his opinions second only to those of Uncle John.

The door to the townhouse in Sutton Place opened as the cab pulled away. Immaculate in his cutaway, Waters looked at me with one eyebrow raised, giving no sign that a quarter of an hour before he had been sound asleep. It was by no means the first time I'd brought a woman home with me, but it was the first time I had asked to have a room made ready for one without warning in the wee hours.

"Good morning, sir," he said. "At what time will you wish breakfast, sir?"

"I'll call down," I said. "Miss Li will be staying with us for a day or two. Please set the phone system to refuse and record all calls, all lines; but keep a check on them. The only people from whom I'll take a call are Uncle John and Fast Eddie, and they have my direct line. I'm switching off the ringer in my room."

"Very good, sir. I will just take Miss Li's bag to the Rose Room now." With a courteous nod to Li, Waters disappeared up the stairs. I took Li into my study, mainly to give Waters a chance to perform his magic in Li's room but also to check my messages. Sure enough, Burry had left one for me, a semi-coherent ramble that boiled down to, "I need more time to get the money and I want to modify our deal." He hadn't changed a bit since prep school. All those years since he'd lost his Porsche Speedster to me (I still had it, carefully restored and garaged upstate at the manor), and it seemed he had learned nothing of how the world really works. With a cynical smile, I deleted it. The other messages would keep.

I offered Li a drink; she accepted a small brandy. I watched her as she looked around the room, taking in the leather-bound books, the carved marble fireplace surround and heavy beveled glass gilt-framed mirror over it, the floor with the patina that only decades of polishing can give to wood, the heavy crystal of the decanters on top of the liquor cabinet and the sterling tray they sat upon. It was plain she was contrasting the substance here with the show she had just left. I came up behind her and caressed her arms with my fingertips. She put down the glass and turned to me, her face tilted to receive my kiss, silently conveying her willingness. I kissed her gently and took her by the hand, leading her up the stairs to the second floor. Waters was just leaving the Rose Room as we reached it.

"Your room is ready, miss," he said. "You'll find your things in the bureau and the closet."

"Good night, Li," I said, one hand on the doorknob.

"Good night, sir," she said quietly, entering the room. I pulled the door closed behind her and motioned Waters to follow me to my suite on the opposite end of the house. I knew he was itching to find out what this was all about. Once inside, I waved him to a chair while I tossed my coat and tie in the general direction of the sofa and got us both Talisker, his favorite single malt, from the built-in bar in the sitting room. He settled onto one club chair, sitting at attention, while I sprawled into the other and brought him up to date.

"And that's where we stand," I finished. "I won't take a call from St. Edmonds under any conditions. I doubt he'll show up here before four o'clock, but if he does, put him into the study, let him stew and monitor him. Let me know his state of mind."

"You expect trouble, then." Waters has a way of condensing situations down to the essentials.

"High probability," I agreed. Changing the subject, I asked, "What do you think of Li?"

"Ask me after tomorrow afternoon, sir," Waters said. "Call me when you would like your things laid out. May I suggest the blue double-breasted?" This time it was my eyebrow that rose.

"Indeed you may. Now," I said, draining the last of the whisky, "I'm off to bed."

"Good night, sir." Silent as a night-flying owl, Waters departed. I finished my Talisker and climbed under the covers, leaving a trail of clothes between the sitting room and my bed. Waters, as always, would deal with the mess in the morning.

The whisper of bare feet on carpet snapped me awake. I heard the faint creak of a floorboard as the bedroom door was pushed open. I reached over and turned on the reading light on the nightstand.

Li was standing just inside the door, wearing a translucent peignoir robe, her two bracelets, a sensual perfume that wafted its way to my nostrils, and nothing else. Her freshly painted lips parted, showing the pearl of her teeth, and she advanced into the room to stand by my bed.

"I do not wish to sleep alone," she said, looking at me and the quickly rising tent my cock was making of the sheet. "I hope that you do not find my presence here presumptuous." One hand toyed with the sash at her narrow waist that held the peignoir shut.

"Not at all," I said. "Li, you do not have to do this."

As if she hadn't heard me, her eyes dreamy, she pulled the bow and let the robe fall open. Stepping closer, she put her hands under her breasts and lifted them, offering them to me.

"These are made for a man. Made for his hands and lips. Made to please him." I replaced her hands with mine, drawing her to the edge of the bed, caressing the umber pebbles with my thumbs as her fingers laced themselves behind my head and she arched her back.

"Any man?" I asked softly, touching the tips of her breasts with my tongue and squeezing them very gently. Li's hips flexed, rubbing her pussy into the edge of the mattress.

"Not any man," she whispered. "A man whose hands bring pleasure to my senses. A man whose touch sets my mind to singing. A man strong enough to satisfy us both and bring me to ecstasy by his use of my body for his pleasure, who knows what he wants and dares to take it."

She moaned happily as I sucked her tit into my mouth, biting down gently on the hard nipple as my hands slipped around her waist, pulling her in. With a sigh, Li dropped her arms and let the robe fall to the floor so she stood naked before me. I bit down on the nipple for a moment, sucking air in past my teeth. Li gasped sharply and with her left hand pulled my head tighter to her boobs while her right threw back the sheet that covered me, liberating my cock so she could grasp it as she sat on the edge of the bed. I shifted my attentions to her other tit, supporting her in the curve of my right arm while my left hand played softly over her golden skin, stroking her tummy and trailing down onto her thighs before moving with butterfly touches up to the nipple that glistened with my saliva. Her hand started to move, slowly stroking my penis to an even fuller erection.




Little Ms. Marker



We played like this for a few minutes before I pressed her lovely thighs, indicating I wanted greater access. Li obediently changed position, parting her legs so I could see her slit. Freshly shaven, the outer lips were puffy with arousal and I could just make out the clit peeking out at the top of her quim. I reached out and began to caress her pussy lips with one finger, finding them wet with female secretions. My index finger slowly began to trace a path up and down her labia, not yet approaching her clitoris. Her hand tightened on my cock and she moaned. Encouraged by this response, I let my finger brush the clitoral shaft, letting it linger as the slippery friction of my fingertip coated with her feminine oils worked on her. Li threw back her head and whimpered, eyes closing, as I began to circle her clit, feeling it swell, watching it come out of its hood, wanting to play.

"Ohhh," Li moaned. "Oh yes… oh yes… more… please…"

"Swing yourself up here," I ordered, "and fellate me."

Li eagerly climbed onto the bed. Grabbing her long legs, I positioned her for 69, her hairless pussy over my mouth, the inner lips now visible. I bunched the pillows under my head to better support me and used my hands to expose her genitals for my attention. Pulling her back to my mouth, I began to tongue her. Li gasped at the sensation, dropping her head to watch me lick her quiff, faintly smiling as I tasted her luscious juices. A sharp slap on her buttocks reminded her of her duties. Breathing hard, she bent to my cock, taking it into her mouth. Closing her lips behind the head, she sucked gently as her tongue caressed the top of the glans. In response, I stiffened my tongue and pressed into her labia. Li's mouth opened and she gasped at the sensation. I thrust upward and felt my prick bump the back of her mouth. Taking the hint, Li relaxed her throat, adjusted her angle and began to bob up and down on me, taking most of my shaft into her mouth and down her throat, her talented tongue tickling the sensitive frenum and the bulging veins throbbing with hot blood as my rod hardened still more under her ministrations.

For my part, I grabbed her hips to hold her lower body still in order to reciprocate her attentions. Wrapping my left arm around her belly to steady her, I slid two fingers into her wet, waiting cunt. I moved them in and out in time with her head's nodding and the varying suction of her mouth that demonstrated intimate acquaintance with fellatio. The moans deep in her throat, sounds she couldn't force out past the cock blocking their exit were exciting vibrations in and of themselves.

I lifted my head and located her clitoris, now standing proudly free of its hood, and began to use my tongue on it. Li stiffened and her movements stopped, her mouth at the top of a stroke. I felt her pussy clamp down on my two probing fingers. Forcing them back, I added a third and jammed them in while at the same time suckling on her clit like a baby at the breast. Li's jaw opened and she screamed.

"A-a-a-a-h-h! C-U-M-M-I-N-G-G!! AIIEAHH! AAAH! Aahhh…"

At that point, I twisted my head a bit and was able to get her clitoris and much of the shaft across my mouth. Spreading my lips and opening my mouth, I sucked this most tender woman-flesh into my mouth and closed my jaw, nibbling on the shaft while pulling a little air in past the teeth pressing on it.

The effect was if I had flipped a switch and sent high voltage through Li's pussy. She screamed again, my cock pressed to one side of her face so she could get the air she needed. She collapsed onto me, greedily rubbing her mound, her clit and her pussy lips on my face, her juices covering me from eyebrows to chin, as she climaxed again and again, her ecstatic shrieks toning down the scale to sensuous groans as the strength of her orgasms sucked every bit of energy out of her. However, I was not done with little Ms. Marker, not by a damn sight.

I pushed her off me. She rolled to her left, ending on her back with her lovely legs splayed wide. Getting onto my knees, I positioned myself between her golden thighs and pushed her legs up and back as she lay her with her head toward the foot of the bed, powerless to resist me even if she'd been inclined to. Lifting her buttocks with my hands, I ran my rigid pole up and down her sopping, ready slit until it was covered with girl-nectar. Pulling her nether lips apart with my thumbs, I pushed forward and slid my cock home inside the Chinese wench.

For almost a minute, I slowly pumped her, watching her face, her eyes closed, off in some Elysian place deep inside her head, her body accepting the sensations induced by my prod as just another feeling related to her pleasure. Then, as Li came back to reality, she realized she had a cock in her cunt, that she liked what it was doing to her, and that she ought to me to fuck me back. Her eyes opened and she smiled. Her arms came up to grab my shoulders, her forearms pressing against my shoulder blades, wordlessly urging me to drive deep into her. Her hips rose to meet my downstrokes and her legs bent up to put her feet flat on the mattress for better leverage, twisting her pelvis down to bring her clit into contact with my penis as it pistoned in and out of her dripping pussy.

"Oh yes," she moaned. "Oh yes. So big. So hard. Fuck me. Fuck me! Fuck me! Take me for your pleasure! Don't stop! I want to feel it in me! Ohhhh, so goood!"

She lifted her head and our lips met, locking into a burning kiss as I thrust hard into Li's eager cunt, bottoming out with every stroke now, filling her, stretching the greasy walls of her vagina as she took my shaft at maximum penetration, gasping and whimpering against my mouth, sweat slicking our bodies as we fucked. I could feel the cum bubbling in my balls as I rushed toward my own climax. Li could feel it too, arching her back to rub her nipples along my chest, striving for her own golden moment.

"Yes! Yes! Give it to me! Give me your juice! Fuck your slut! Give me your sperm!" she begged. "So goood… give it to me! Fill me up! OHHH YESSS!" she screamed as orgasm overtook her.

I couldn't hold back any more. Her nails bit into my shoulders and her legs wrapped around me, greedily trying to suck my whole body into her cunt. Rushing up through my cock, my sperm geysered into her waiting pussy, the release momentarily blocking out my sight, as if I was shooting new galaxies into the hot blackness that enveloped my prick. Feeling like a glowing comet, I collapsed on top of Li, feebly searching for her lips. We kissed as the afterglow took us and led us into sleep, our bodies still intertwined, unsure as to what was whose.

I awoke an indeterminate time later, alone. Blinking, I looked at the clock on my nightstand. It was a quarter to two. I looked across the room and saw the clothes I had shed so casually the night before were neatly folded on top of the bureau. It had to be Li's doing; Waters never left clothes sitting out. I switched my ringer back on and pressed the button for Waters. He rang back a minute later.

"Good afternoon, sir. It is 1:48 P.M. Shall I bring you brunch?"

"No. Just throw together a steak sandwich and the strongest coffee in the pantry." I paused. "Has Li awakened yet?"

"Miss Li came down for lunch an hour ago, sir. She ate, and I had to dissuade her from washing the dishes She told me she would be in her room. Shall I ring for her, sir?"

"Not just now. Hurry the sandwich along, and bring a cup for yourself. I need your advice." Hanging up the phone, I walked into the bathroom.

I spent almost half an hour under the shower and emerged ready to face what would likely be a momentous meeting at four o'clock. Waters had my steak sandwich waiting in the sitting room on a butler's table. He poured the coffee as I entered. We did not talk until I had finished the sandwich, which by my estimation contained about half a pound of beef. Sipping my second cup of coffee, I discussed with Waters how best to insure that the confrontation with Burry would turn out favorably from my point of view. The suggestion my valet made was startling, but after a moment I saw his reasoning and agreed. Waters went in to lay out my clothes while I walked down the passageway in my robe to the Rose Room. I knocked and entered.

Li was seated at the vanity, making up her face. She was wearing a blue version of the dress she had worn last night, dragons embroidered in gold thread (not real gold; mylar, I noticed) chasing themselves around a hem that barely reached mid-thigh, the edge of the short sleeves that left her shapely arms bare except for her gold bracelets, and the plunging neckline. Her stiletto heels (freshly polished to a mirror finish, doubtless the work of Waters) sat at the foot of the bed. I saw her eyes light when I came in, unless my imagination was working overtime. She rose. I crossed to her and kissed the palm of her hand, not wanting to force her to have to redo her makeup. I felt her tremble as she pressed my hand to her breast, the nipple beneath the fabric already hard under my fingers, stating without words her readiness for sex if that was what I wanted. I gave her tit a gentle squeeze before reluctantly removing my hand.

"When you've finished your toilette, please come to my room," I said. "Waters and I want to talk about what may happen today."

"Yes, sir," Li said obediently. I reached up and stroked her hair, then left.

A short time later the three of us were seated in my sitting room. In the interim I had dressed in the blue double-breasted suit and vest Waters had laid out for me. Li, as she had since I'd first laid eyes on her, looked lovely. I reprised the situation including the phone messages Burry had left first asking, then demanding, that the terms of our agreement be changed; and explained how Waters and I thought the meeting would go down. I asked Li if she wished to be present under the circumstances. She was willing. Almost eager, in fact.

"I would not miss this," she said, a flicker of something very old momentarily visible in her jade eyes. I recalled what soldiers on the frontier had said during the fighting there: ‘Whatever happens, don't let them give you to the women.'

At ten minutes to four the three of us took our places. Waters had rearranged the furniture in my study for this meeting. I was seated in a leather wingback chair in front of the fireplace, facing the door. The mate to my chair was drawn up in front of the desk. The note Burry had signed lay on a small table to the right of my chair. There was a large tasseled cushion I normally used as a pillow if I wanted to grab a short nap and didn't feel like going to my room on the floor to my right. Li stood close to the fireplace, just in my peripheral vision. Waters was in a hidden servants' passageway behind a door that looked like part of the paneling, sitting on a high stool. His perch commanded the entire study through what appeared to be an air vent. I had linked my desktop computer to the official U.S. time clock at the National Observatory, and turned the screen around so it could be read without going behind the desk. We waited.

Four o'clock came and went with no sign of Burry. The grandfather's clock in the hall struck the quarter-hour. Still no sign of St. Edmonds. Four-thirty was marked only by the half hour chime. Four forty-five clicked past on the monitor along with another chime from the hall clock.

At ten minutes to five the doorbell rang. There was no noise, but I knew Waters had left his post to bring Burry to the study..

"Mr. St. Edmonds, sir," announced Waters.

Burry shambled forward as the study door closed behind him. He had shaved and changed clothes since the poker game, but his tie was loose in an unbuttoned collar and his eyes had a hunted look. They darted around the room, taking in Li standing by the hearth, me sitting and casually leaning on the left arm of my chair, the computer screen with its relentlessly changing numbers, and the paper on the table next to me. He was sweating. I could smell him as he stopped about six feet away from me. He stank of cigarette smoke, whisky and fear. I knew then Waters had been right in his assessment of enemy intentions.

I looked at Burry as coldly as I had the night before. "Have you got the money?" I asked. No point in wasting pleasantries on him; let's just get right to it.

He looked down at the floor and shook his head. "No, I don't. I couldn't – "

"No matter. As I said, voting stock in the St. Edmonds Company is acceptable. If you'll just sign the certificates and hand them – "

"I can't!" he babbled, close to tears. "I can't! Not those! Give me two weeks and I can pay you double! I just signed up O'Malley's for the company! I'll pay you double when my bonus comes through for this deal!"

"Not two weeks, St. Edmonds. One week. No, six days now," I corrected myself. "In the next six days, you either turn over $250,000 in St. Edmonds voting stock to me, plus a $25,000 penalty for late payment as you agreed; or I will meet with your father to discuss the matter, just as I promised.

"If you welsh on me, not only will I discuss this with your father, I will discuss it with some people I know in Las Vegas. Friends of mine, with whom I play poker from time to time. People who own casinos, who know that unlike yours my word is good. If I ask them to, they'll have you blacklisted with every casino in the country.

"I am sure you are aware that casino owners share their blacklists. I can make your name stink from here to Timbuktu. You'll be persona non grata at every gambling house in the world. I can do that and you know it. Six days from now, I will. Do you understand me?"

Burry's shoulders dropped in defeat. I didn't think he'd expected his ploy to work, but his character (or rather his lack of character) had forced him to try.

"Yes, I understand," he muttered. He turned to leave, but my voice brought him up sharply.

"Just a moment, St. Edmonds. I'm not done." Burry turned back and looked at me, his face expressionless. I picked up his note and tapped it. His eyes shifted to the piece of scratch paper in my hand. A bead of sweat rolled unnoticed down the side of his face as I read.

" ‘If I default on this loan Chan Ho Li, my maid who will serve as my marker for this debt, shall remain with John d'Eaux and I will still owe him the money plus ten percent. Li shall remain with John even after the money is repaid if I fail to pay on time.'

"That is what you wrote. Do you deny it?"

"No."

"What time is it?" Burry looked at the time clock displayed on the monitor.

"Four fifty-six," he said.

Li, who had stayed in the background during the confrontation, came forward. She stopped three feet from him. He looked at her. She returned his look with utter loathing. She unfastened the two herringbone bracelets on her wrists and let them fall to the floor. With a sweep of her foot she spurned them, sending them skittering across the floor to land in the fireplace. She turned her back on Burry, walked to me and settled on the cushion beside my chair, resting a hand on my arm.

"Now I know what it is like to belong to a real man. I am his now. You are a disgusting piece of filth, you impotent pig, and I hope you rot in hell."

Burry's face went bright red with killing rage. He started toward Li, his hands outstretched to choke the life out of her. A sharp click! stopped him in his tracks. I hadn't moved from the chair. He looked at me.

A Walther PPK with its hammer back was nestled in my right hand, aimed at his groin. 

"One more step, and you lose something more important to you than money."

Burry's face turned white at the ti-chak of a pump shotgun being racked into battery behind him. Waters had emerged from his hiding place and was pointing a 12-gauge at Burry's head.

"If you'd be good enough to undo your belt, drop your trousers to the floor, and put your hands behind your neck, sir." Ashen-faced, Burry meekly did as Waters ordered. "Thank you, sir. I'll just see you out." Waters motioned with the shotgun and Burry shuffled out of the room under Waters' watchful eyes. Neither Li nor I moved until Waters returned.

"He's gone, sir," he said. I uncocked and safetied the pistol and put it back into the holster that rode on my right hip. Waters disappeared. I got up and stretched. Li looked up at me.

"May I have a brandy, sir?" she asked.

"Help yourself," I said, motioning to the tray. Li fixed herself a large brandy. It seemed the strain had told more on her than her demeanor had shown. I waved away her silent offer to pour for me as I turned the monitor back the way it belonged and sat down at my desk.

"Wait for me in my sitting room," I said. "I'll be along in a few minutes. I have an idea but I must act on it right away or nothing will come of it." Dismissing Li from my mind wasn't an easy thing to do, but to accomplish the plan that had come to me while Burry was babbling about stock, commissions and money required it. I set to work, consulting data files and once taking down a book from the shelves. Half an hour later with my plan in motion I switched off, got up and slowly walked upstairs to my suite. Li was waiting for me. I walked past her into the bedroom; she followed.

"Let me take your coat," she said. I took it off and handed it to her. Its weight caught her by surprise. She looked a question at me.

"Don't let the tailoring fool you. Under the wool are two layers of Kevlar fabric. The vest and the pants, likewise. The company that makes the ‘lining' claims it will stop shrapnel and grenade fragments and most pistol bullets. Waters and I thought St. Edmonds might try something foolish." Silently, Li laid the coat on the chair while I removed the clip from the Walther, cleared it and put both into the top drawer of my highboy. She helped me into a silk bathrobe. We returned to the sitting room. I took a seat on the couch. Li remained standing in front of me until I patted the seat next to me and told her to get me a whisky with ice and then sit down. When she was seated, I looked at her.

"Li, you know that in America there is no slavery. Men do not buy and sell women. I do not own you. You are free to leave any time you wish."

She slid closer to me. "I know that, sir," she said. "But I do not wish to go. I belong to you because I choose to give myself to you, not because you won me in a poker game."

I thought about this for a minute. "So what are you to me, exactly?"

"Whatever you wish me to be. I have been your waitress and your maid. I have been your slut, and I liked that very much. I have been your co-conspirator. Most of all I would like to be your lover, always open to you, wanting only to please you." She looked up at me from beneath lowered lashes. "Shall I please you now?"

"Take off your clothes and come sit with me. I want to know more about you."

Li was only wearing her dress and a pair of thong panties, so it should not have taken very long. However, Li strung out the process, humming softly as she swayed and shimmied on her 6 inch stiletto heels. Her disrobing was an erotic striptease that left me with an aching erection which did not pass unnoticed. In the tiniest of thongs and those high heels, she glided back to the couch and sat with her back to me, settling in with her back on my ribs, her legs up over the arm of the couch, her breasts and nipples within easy reach, and my woody easily accessible to her.

I began to stroke her silken skin, avoiding the erogenous zones. She sighed and closed her eyes. "Tell me about yourself," I commanded. Li opened her eyes, took the glass of whisky from my other hand, swallowed half of it and began to talk.

Her family had lived in Shanghai, China's window on the Western world. They were merchant traders and had been for a couple of centuries; not major players, but well respected. The family legend/skeleton was that one of her great-grandmothers had a liaison with a member of the German embassy during the Roaring ‘20s and consequently wed in haste ("That's where I get these," said Li, pointing to her green eyes and bringing my hand to her breasts, which were much larger than those of most Chinese women). Many of their holdings had been seized or bombed during the Second World War, and the family fortune had suffered. The Japanese government had yet to pay reparations.




Little Ms. Marker



Great-grandfather and grandfather had been dedicated Nationalists and had escaped to Taiwan just ahead of Mao's Communists when Chiang Kai-shek lost the civil war. The family had to start over, although great-grandfather had been smart enough to shift much of the family money from Shanghai banking houses to the Bank of Hong Kong after World War II, long before they had to flee the mainland. 

By the time Li reached adulthood, the family was doing well in the import-export business. However, she wanted to be more than just a daughter of the house and possibly bait to lure executive talent into the family firm. She had been spotted by a man who claimed to be a scout for a modeling agency in Tokyo. Her parents forbade her to go, so as girls throughout history have done she went anyway.

The firm in question was semi-legitimate in that they did provide models for trade shows, exhibitions, and print and TV advertising. However, their real business was providing ‘pillow geisha' to visiting Western businessmen. Even here, Li had been lucky.

One of these visitors fell for her and brought her to Los Angeles on a student visa, promising to marry her after she established residency. The relationship had fallen apart when she discovered her rising film executive had a Caucasian wife and no intention of leaving her. Further, that exec had a split personality. By day he was in the vanilla side of the movie business, but by night he was a sex film financer. The breakup left Li in a precarious position.

Not daring to ask for government help and unwilling to approach the Chinese community in L.A. because of the disgrace it would bring to her family, she looked for other solutions. The money she had saved did not go far or last for long. Eventually she had to approach contacts she had made via her ex-lover in the erotic film industry.

Li took up with a porno director. He agreed to take care of her if she'd do interracial porn and give him most of what she made. She played supporting parts in eight or ten of his movies under a stage name and was being groomed for starring roles ("Does that bother you?" she asked. "No," I admitted, "it excites me, to be honest") when the director had gotten in over his head in a poker session half a year before and put Li and her services up as collateral in the game Burry had won. St. Edmonds had taken possession of her and brought her to New York.

She had tried to make the best of it and become his mistress; but while Burry put up a bluff, studly man-of-the-world front, that's all it was: a bluff. He treated her decently at first, but apart from copping a feel or fingering her once in awhile, he did not treat Li as a beautiful, hot-blooded woman expects to be treated.

One night she slipped into Burry's bed and tried to get him to ravish her. Despite her best efforts with hands, tits, tongue and lips, she couldn't get his dick to stir. Burry's response to her attentions was to beat her half to death and threaten to kill her if she ever told anyone about it. Burry St. Edmonds had a deep, dark secret, one Li had inadvertently learned: He could not get it up even with the help of drugs. 

It seemed he'd lost a pile of money in an illegal high stakes game and hadn't paid his debt fast enough to suit the gangster holding his IOU. Two enforcers from the Five Families had kicked the hell out of St. Edmonds, inflicting massive damage to the nerves that control the penis. He could piss with it, but that was all. The nerve damage was irreversible. His cock had been rendered totally and permanently flaccid.

Burry reduced Li to the status of housemaid, always displayed to his guests and visitors as a sex object but never touched by him except with a cat o' nine tails in his study. He lashed her and used the handle as a dildo on her when the mood took him. He used flagellation as compensation for his impotence.

And now Li belonged to me. She settled back, her lips and her legs slightly parted, ready for whatever I might want of her.

Continuing to caress her, I thought about what she had told me. What I was feeling could not possibly be what the thought lurking in the back of my mind hinted at. I mean, we'd only known each other for a day! Still…

I reached over to the drink I was still holding and fished out an ice cube. Li closed her eyes. As always, her nipples were hard little buttons, a feature of hers I found tremendously erotic, hinting as it did of her sensuous nature. The ice cube left a trail of moisture as I tormented her tits, her gasp of surprise at the unexpected chill of the ice yielding to a small hiss of pleasure as her nips puckered from the cold and erected further in response to my touch. I played with them for a minute, feeling Li squirm under my hand. As the ice trailed down her belly toward her crotch, I leaned over and took a nipple between my teeth, pulling up, forcing it to lengthen. Li cried out at the sudden pain, then moaned as my mouth warmed the hard nubbin. She took hold of the other nipple, pinching it between her fingernails and twisting as she pulled on it, pleasurable pain contorting her face.

"Ohhh… ohh… ohh… don't stop… hurts so good. Suck ‘em hard, bite ‘em… please…" 

My jaw relaxed a bit and I leaned forward to get a little slack on her breast. It was the work of a moment to suck the aureola as well as the nipple into my mouth and while continuing to suck on her boob, lock down with my teeth and pull her tit taut again. Li's free hand clutched at my head, her red nails biting into my scalp as I ground my teeth from side to side, the tendons standing out in her neck as she arched her head, eyes squeezed tightly shut to hold back the cry of mixed pain and delight. 

"Aieeh… ohhh… aaahhh… please…. hurt me… yesss… bite my tits… like that… oh, so good… yesss…"

Her pleading and reactions would have aroused a marble statue, which I certainly was not. Continuing to torment her boobs, I tried to work my hand with the melting ice cube under the thong panty Li was wearing. It fit like a second skin and I could not get at her pussy. Irritated, I set the ice on her belly button, grabbed a handful of fabric and ripped. The thong tore away in my grasp. I flung it aside, picked up the ice again and began to tease her clit.

I rubbed the length of her clitoral shaft, the warmth from her body melting the ice wherever it touched her. Her hips rose under my hand, wanting more contact between us. A tremor passed through her as I parted her pussy lips and shoved what was left of the ice cube inside before my blunt fingernails began to dance on ‘the little man in the boat,' my nails sending jolts of sexual electricity through her.

"Ohh… oohhhh, I'm cumming… cumming now… cumming… yesss!" she whimpered, the pitch rising as she climaxed, water and pussy-juice oozing from her slit. He head fell back against my legs. Shifting my position,  I released her tit, got my right arm under her silky thighs and my left under her shoulders and with a powerful drive of my legs managed to stand. Her arms went around my neck, her lips seeking mine with hot little kisses calculated to drive a man insane with lust.

"I need you inside me. I want you to fuck me. Fill my pussy and make me your whore! Give me your cock! Pound me like an animal! I want you to use me! Please, fuck me hard!"

By this time we had gone from the sitting room to the bedroom. I set Li down on the bed on her back, her firm ass just hanging over the side. She raised her legs and grabbed her heels, pulling her exquisitely formed legs up, out and back, her labia spreading to show the entrance to her pussy glistening pink, dripping with her juices, fully aroused and ready for my cock.

"Take me," she begged. "I need it! Take your slut! Fuck me hard!"

I shed everything I was wearing in seconds. Stepping in between Li's legs, her cunt positioned at the ideal height for the monster from my pants to split , I mounted my eager Chinese doll, forcing my way past the opening she was clenching tight in her desire to have it filled. She screamed with pleasure as I sank home into her liquid depths, relaxing her pussy to let me penetrate her as far as I could, whimpering as my balls slapped her ass.

"Eeeehh! Yes! Like that!" she sighed happily. "Fuck me! I want to pleasure you! Don't worry about me! Fuck me like the bitch I am! Hard as you can! Give me your beautiful cock! Fuck my cunt! Take me! Use me!"

I needed no urging. My rock-hard cock slid in and out of her, my breath coming in ragged gasps as my balls slapped her buttocks with every stroke. Her legs came down to wrap around me, her stiletto-clad heels pressing down, trying to cram even more of me into her fuck-tunnel. He nails scored my back, leaving furrows in my skin as she pulled my head down to her hotly seeking mouth, groaning with unbridled lust, urging me to screw her without mercy or letup, wanton and wanting, needing my swollen cock to fill her up and assuage the burning need driving her, eager to climax and to feel me explode inside her and validate her reason for being in my bed.

I felt her pussy rippling around me as Li sought to give me the most pleasure she could. She was skilled in the arts of lovemaking, no doubt of it. The rhythmic milking of my prick was an exquisite pleasure bordering on pain as I rode my slut. There was no doubt in my mind that she was my slut. Her green eyes were on me, watching my face as she did things to me, noting what I liked and what I didn't, wanting to please me in bed now and later, not worrying about her own pleasure but only about mine. Her breathing deepened and a sexual flush colored her breasts despite her concentration on my needs. I wasn't about to ignore hers.

I leaned in and got a nipple between my teeth, pulling and biting down a little. She yelped, but as the erotic bite overrode her initial pain reaction, she moaned deep in her throat.

"No, it's I who is to pleasure you! Don't worry about me! Do what you want to me, it doesn't matter if I reach the peak or not!" She writhed under me but didn't attempt to break the hold my teeth had on her tit.

I grabbed a handful of her raven mane and pulled sharply on it. She moaned again, but never stopped fucking me back, her hips rocking against mine, meeting my thrusts as I pillaged her red-hot depths.

"Tell me what you want," I ordered.

"I want you to cum in me," she gasped. "I want to feel you cum in my pussy! I want your seed inside me! I want your cum in me!"

"Do you want to cum?" I demanded. "Tell me, Li!"

"Oh yes! I want to cum on your beautiful hard cock! Oh, so good! I'm close! But I mustn't! It's for me to pleasure you! Ohhh…"

"I want you to cum for me, Li," I said. "Say it!"

"I want to cum," she whispered.

"Say it again!"

"I want to cum!"

"Again!"

"I want to cum! I want to cum! Please!"

I took her other nipple in my mouth and bit as I pulled on her hair, simultaneously getting a finger onto her clit and rubbing it roughly. She reacted.

"AIEEAH!" Li screamed as she locked her legs around me, thrusting herself up for the deepest penetration I could give her. Her eyes squeezed tightly shut, as tight as she clamped her vagina around my cock. Her cunt muscles had a seizure as she lost control of her body. The climax that had been building in my balls erupted like Old Faithful, my load shooting spasmodically into her in time with her pussy squeezes. I didn't thrust but only pressed relentlessly into her as what felt like gallons of cum spurted out into her hungry cunt. After a time where time stopped, that felt like an eternity even though it could only have been seconds, Li's limbs slackened and fell limp on to the bed. Barely able to stand, I eased out of her and crawled up beside her, for the moment, spent. I joined her in the sleep of the well-fucked.

When we awoke after a half-hour nap (I'm not a teenager who can play football all afternoon and then fuck all night, after all) I told Li that she should dress for dinner; not formal, but suitable for the office. She insisted on cleaning me up, first with her tongue and then with a damp towel. My cock awoke from its nap as she sucked on it, but rather than instigate a session that might disappoint her, something I didn't want to do, I pulled her to her feet. Taking her in my arms, I kissed her gently, running my hands over her luscious body, reassuring her that I wasn't angry. I helped her back into her dress and told her I'd knock for her in an hour. I called Waters and told him when dinner would be. I knew he would make sure the cook (who is not a live-in, by her choice) had something ready for us then.

When I knocked on Li's door, she was dressed in a simple white blouse and black skirt, still wearing her pumps. I frowned.

"You do not like what I am wearing, sir?" she asked.

"I take it your wardrobe is limited," I said. "Should I send a messenger to pick up your things from St. Edmonds?"

Her face hardened. "There is nothing there I need to see again," she said. "I took all the valuables I had with me and all the decent clothing too."

"Then tomorrow you and I shall spend some time shopping for you," I said. "If you are going to be my mistress, I must see to it that you have a proper wardrobe."

Over her momentary snit, Li flowed into my arms. I let my hands wander over her and she wriggled with pleasure.

"How ‘proper' is proper, sir? I have always thought that if a woman is wearing clothes that do not make a man imagine what she looks like under them and want to get her out of them and into his bed, she is failing in her duty to her lover. A woman should make herself desirable."

"I'm sure we can find some things that meet that standard while still being decorous," I said with a chuckle. Li had unwittingly echoed my own opinion on women's fashions. I offered her my arm and we went down to dinner.

Waters perceived the subtle change in Li's and my relationship the moment we walked in, though he said nothing about it as he want about serving the meal. Afterwards, when Li had retired to her room, he looked the question at me. That man can say more with a tilt of his head and a quirk of his eyebrows than most politicians can say in a campaign speech.

"Miss Li will be staying, then," he observed as he poured more coffee.

"Yes," I agreed. "Please have the car ready tomorrow morning. We'll be going shopping. Li needs a new wardrobe more appropriate than what she brought with her."

"If I may be so bold as to say so, sir, that would be wise. It's one thing for a woman to have sexually provocative attire in her wardrobe. It is something else again for a woman's wardrobe to consist of nothing else. May I suggest that we make an appointment with one of the better salons?"

"We place ourselves in your capable hands, Waters. Let me know at what time we will be leaving the house."

"Very good, sir."

I retired to my bedroom, intending to have a quiet brandy and go to sleep. I found my bed already occupied. Li was waiting for me, naked between the sheets. Her hair was spread upon the pillows and she toyed with a strand of it, brushing the hairs over her nipples, teasing herself into readiness to receive her lover.

"I have been waiting for you," she said. "I have been long without a man. Please come to bed and let me pleasure you."

"Li, I am not made of iron," I said. "Today has been stressful, despite our coming together. What I really need to do is sleep. Just sleep."

Li smiled and swung her legs out of my bed. Tired as I was, my cock still responded to her. She saw but paid no mind to it. She patted the mattress.

"Lie down, then. I know what you need. I will rub your back and help you to relax."

I took off my clothes and laid on the bed, face down. Li settled down over my hips and massaged me. Starting at my shoulders, she worked her way down my back and arms, her hands loosening the tension and leaving a feeling of contented lassitude behind them. The bed creaked as she shifted position to work on my legs and I felt myself beginning to drift, my cares and worries forgotten. Li took me by the shoulders and turned me over. She continued the massage down my front, rubbing my pecs and my abdominal muscles as she moved down my body. I felt as if I was glowing all over.

Warmth engulfed my penis and I felt it expanding and lengthening in arousal. I opened my eyes.

Li's head was bobbing up and down over my cock, her saliva shining along the shaft as she sucked me to fullest erection. She saw me looking at her. A hand replaced her mouth as she stared into my eyes, a pleased smile on her face.

"It is my place to pleasure you. Just lie back and let me take you inside me. It does not matter if I cum or not. I'll do everything, my darling. Just enjoy me," she whispered.

She moved up my chest and positioned herself, her knees outside my hips. Leaning back, she impaled herself on me, sighing as she sank down onto my rod. She began to move up and down on my prick, her hands resting on my chest as she rode me. Her head was thrown back, her eyes squeezed shut as she concentrated on her fucking.

"Oh yes… oh yes… you fill me, my love. Such a beautiful cock. Don't hold back. Just let go. Give me your cum. Don't restrain yourself. Just let go. I love your cock in my pussy. Go on. Fill me with your sperm. I want you to," she cooed. "Give it to me. Just let go…"

My body responded to Li's urgings. My buttocks flexed and my hips drove up to meet her downward thrusts, instinctively seeking to bury my cock deep into this willing woman. Her skilled pussy muscles worked on the rigid shaft that split her cunt lips and forced its way into her womb. Her nipples jutted out, as swollen with hot blood as the cock that sought its release inside her welcoming vagina. I felt it coming, irresistible.

"Aaah… oh, God…. Cumming! Take it, Li! Take it!"

"Yes, my love! Let it go! I want it! Now, darling! Now!"

I felt my cock jerk inside my wench as I climaxed, spurting inside her in that moment of exquisite release that you wish could last forever. Li hadn't reached orgasm, but as she let me slip out of her and lay on my chest, I saw an enigmatic smile on her face. I reached to stroke her hair and slid into sleep in mid-caress.

Bladder pressure awoke me several hours later. Li was curled in the crook of my arm, one leg thrown across my thighs, a cat-who-lives-in-the-creamery look on her face. As I slid out of bed to take care of business, I noticed that my penis had been carefully cleaned of its coating of love-juices. Whether Li had used a facecloth or her tongue and mouth, it was a mark of esteem and respect on the part of my lover. There was more to her feelings for me than the sense that she'd gotten a ticket on the gravy train. When I came back to bed I gathered her into my arms. Without waking, she sighed and cuddled into my chest, those lovely hard nipples dragging over my skin. I cupped one of her tits and still caressing her, dozed off again. Pleasant dreams followed, featuring Li submitting to anything I wanted to do with her.

The telephone rang at 8 AM the next morning. Li started awake, fright in her eyes until she remembered where she was. I looked at the flashing light that indicated which line was in use, punched it and picked up the handset.

"Waters, you were born in Porlock."

"No, sir, I was born in Grantley. We have an appointment with a renowned atelier at 10 AM. She is reputed to have a temper, so better we should not be late."

"Very well. Serve in the dining room. We'll be down shortly."

" ‘We,' sir?"

"Yes, we, Waters."

"Indeed, sir, very good." I hung up the phone and looked at the Chinese beauty who had declared her feelings the night before. Unable to believe my good fortune, I hugged her for a minute before planting a soft kiss on her lips.

"Much as I'd like to have you, my dear, we have an appointment with a designer at 10. Waters is waiting breakfast on us. Would you like first crack at the shower?"




Little Ms. Marker



Li looked impishly at me from under her lashes. "Why not share it, darling?"

Mixed showering is much more fun than showering alone. Despite this, we went downstairs promptly at 8:45, holding hands. Waters raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing, merely encouraging us to eat quickly before bundling us into the Mercedes luxury sedan I keep as a town car, yet another souvenir of my prowess at the card table. It's really a small limousine and comes with all the bells and whistles, from a GPS system to an electric privacy screen that can be raised and lowered to a small refrigerator in the rear. Pretentious, but luxurious.

Part way through the showing of the designer's line for Li's and my benefit, my sat phone buzzed. With an apologetic wave to the designer, I stepped into the hallway outside the second floor showroom to take the call. The first fruits of my plan had ripened. Making the necessary arrangements took only a couple of minutes. I rejoined Li.

Like most men, I regard clothes-shopping as a necessary evil. However, watching Li try on the ready-to-wear clothes of this fashion maven was a delight. Two hours later, Waters was hard-pressed to cram all of our purchases into the trunk; and that didn't count the custom-tailored dresses that would follow in a few days. I did not consider my time to have been wasted.

Over the next few days, Li and I spent a few hours each day shopping for her. She never played me as a sugar daddy and asked for my opinions, though she did not always agree with me. She demonstrated bargaining skills that would have made an Arab rug merchant envious when circumstances and wares permitted. Though she might be estranged from her father, it was clear he had taught her the rules of negotiating and that she had been an attentive pupil. The shopping sprees didn't cost as much as I'd been prepared to spend.

I couldn't neglect business completely and did not try to. In addition to the usual trading and searching for opportunities, more fruits from my little scheme was falling into my hands. Bonded messengers stopped by the house two or three times a day, dropping off and picking up packages and letters. This went on for two weeks. I could tell Waters was more than a little curious to know what I was doing, but I kept my own counsel and told neither him nor Li what I was about. Finally, both of them put their feet down.

I had just dispatched the latest messenger and locked the envelope he had delivered into the study safe when Li and Waters marched in. Without saying a word, Li took me by the hand and sat me down where I had confronted Burry St. Edmonds.

"John, my darling," said Li firmly, "I do not know what you are doing with all this coming and going, but I do know it is tiring you. Waters has been telling me about the house upstate. We think you should go away for a few days, and leave your business behind. The break will do you good."

I looked at Waters. "Both of you, then?"

"Yes, sir," he said. "Miss Li is right. Whatever this project is, it will keep for a few days. And you may have forgotten, sir, that your Uncle John will be coming to dinner a week from Thursday."

"You're right; I did forget," I admitted. "He'll give me hell in a handbasket if I look like I've been doing too much chair parade. I presume our bags are packed, Waters?"

"Yours and Miss Li's are, sir. With your permission, I should like to remain here this time. I've the monthly accounts to go over, and Miss Janson and I have show tickets that are hard to obtain."

Miss Janson was the au pair of a family who lived in the condominium apartment complex halfway up the next block. She and Waters had been carrying on a liaison for more than a year now. Apparently she liked older men. I looked at him with an ironic smile. 

"And three's a crowd in any case, right? I daresay we can manage without you for a few days. I'll call and let you know when we'll be starting back. Please bring the car around." 

You have to know when to hold ‘em and when to fold. In this case, Li had the winning hand. Half an hour later, we were headed to the Hudson Valley.

The next four days were bliss. Waters had phoned ahead and activated a procedure he'd put in place years before. A local employment agency sent down a housekeeper to take care of the mansion, which mostly meant dusting and cleaning up after the estate manager brought the house up from standby mode. I left it in mothballs for about half the year. Li insisted on doing the cooking. Fortunately I'm fond of Chinese cuisine, and anybody can broil a steak. And a good thing, too; I needed my strength. 

My China doll, demure and submissive though she appeared, had a high sex drive. She was ready for me to have her any time, any way, anywhere. She would play any role I wanted her to play, from an innocent girl to a sultry seductress. I preferred her in the latter role. Where most women exhaust, she renewed me. She could always get a rise out of my cock. Li was not an insatiable nymphomaniac, for she almost always climaxed with me or for me. The contented smile she wore when asleep in my arms was more confirmation of my ability to satisfy my wench than most women could make with a speech of a thousand words.

She took care of me in other ways. We took to bathing together even if we did not end up having sex in the bathroom, as we often did. She shaved me and massaged me. She also persuaded me to work out in the manor's ancient gym. The house had come fully furnished when I'd bought the estate at auction, and one of the rooms adjoining the indoor swimming pool was set up as a gymnasium circa 1920. Nothing fancy, just free weights, parallel bars, rowing machines and a contraption called a mechanical horse. Usually when I came to the manor I was too busy with social obligations or business to bother much with that wing of the house. It was here, though, that an unusual session of lovemaking with my mistress occurred.

I was working out with the free weights one afternoon, doing snatches and clean-&-jerks, when Li swayed into the room. She had clearly been rummaging in the Costume Room, a third floor room under the eaves that had been converted from storage into a cedar-lined walk-in closet by a previous owner who had been seriously into costume parties. There were racks and racks of theatrical costumes, trunks full of accessories, and old dressers filled with paste jewelry The clothes came in all sizes, men's and women's alike She was wearing a female pirate's outfit of sheer white thin linen flowing shirt, the ends tied under her breasts to leave her midriff bare, loose black cotton pants bloused into black thigh-high boots with their tops turned down, and a red sash at her waist. I nodded hello, but didn't interrupt my routine. 

She came over to me as I completed a snatch, holding my own weight over my head, drew a feather out of the sash and began to tickle me under the ribs where she knew I was frightfully ticklish. I jumped and almost dropped the bar.

"Li, stop that!" I snapped.

She laughed like silver bells tinkling and tickled me again. I lowered the weights to chest height and glared at her as she continued to tease me with the feather.

"Do that once more, and I'll spank you until your ass is red," I warned.

"Big talk," she purred. "You wouldn't dare, I bet." She danced to one side as she reached out with the feather and went after my tickle spots a third time.

The barbell hit the floor with a clang as I threw it clear. I spun around and caught her by the wrist, pulling her in and twisting her arm behind her back. She cried out in surprise as I pushed her across to the weight bench, sat down, pulled her across my knees and yanked her pantaloons down, baring the globes of her ass to the breeze. She writhed around and tried to break free. This ended up with my holding both her wrists in my left hand and with my right leg trapping both of hers between it and the bench.

"I warned you. You asked for this, and now you're going to get it!" I told her. She squirmed, but I noticed the look in her eyes was neither fear nor anger; but anticipation. I brought my right hand down hard onto her buttocks.

SMACK! My hand left its imprint in red on her ass. Li cried out, but I paid no heed as I spanked her, hitting at random but with the goal of doing as I'd promised and turning those lovely cheeks beet red. Li's cried turned to whimpers and then to moans as the spanking went on. My cock was ramrod straight and hard as the steel bar I'd been lifting. I felt wetness on my leg and reached under her to feel her pussy as she ground into my thigh. Her slit gaped wide and wet, her clit standing out. She was getting off on this!

I let go of her hands and lifted my leg off hers. Instantly she turned to me, kicking off the boots and pants and tearing the blouse open to expose her lovely breasts, a flush on her chest and her nipples sticking straight out, begging for my touch.

"Oh, John, fuck me! Take me hard! I want it rough!" she panted. She pulled my hand to her tits and moaned as I pinched her nipples and she locked her mouth to mine, her tongue questing for my tonsils. She broke the kiss and led me to the mechanical horse, lying down on its neck with her ass on the saddle and her feet backward in the stirrups, her thigh spreading wide to expose her pussy in all its moist pink glory. It was the work of a moment to shed my shorts. I climbed aboard, mounting her with one long, firm stroke. She sighed happily and switched the horse on.

It took a few moments to get the hang of riding Li while also riding the mechanical horse, but once I found the rhythm, the effort needed was much less than fucking on a bed. She rose under me, taking my cock all the way in with every rise of the horse. I balanced myself at the canter and thrust forward with my pelvis as the horse moved up, just as I did on horseback. Li braced herself, accepting me into her pussy, moaning with pleasure as we moved with the machine.

"Oh yes… oh yes… go… go… more! More! I'm close! Fuck me, my stud! Aiaahhh!"

I felt her cunt spasm under me as she climaxed, the flush fading from her chest. I was nowhere near cumming, though, and after the trouble she had gone to in getting me into the saddle as it were, I was not about to stop until I filled her womb up with my cock-cream. I didn't dare let go of the ‘neck' of the machine lest I lose my balance, fall and possibly break something important; but I could still use my head.

Awkwardly, I leaned down and latched onto a nipple. Li cried out in surprise but I ignored her, biting down and pulling on it, gently grinding my teeth to stimulate her. I felt her pelvis slam up into mine as she began her quest for another orgasm.

"Oh, you bastard!" she whimpered. "Hurt me so good! Make me your whore! Hurt me! Make me cum on your beautiful cock! Fuck me hard, my love!"

I let go of her nipple. I took the other in my mouth, sucking as hard as I could, while at the same time I increased the speed of the machine. Li cried out.

"Oh yes! Like that! Force me! Harder! Hurt me! Make me cum! Yes! Yes! Yes!" She rippled her pussy muscles as I slammed into her, trying to drill through her cunt all the way up into her belly. I could feel my own climax building, accumulating in my balls with a pressure that would not be contained for long. Li's boobs were reddened again, partly from arousal and partly in response to my abusing her nips with teeth and tongue. I spoke around the nipple I was teasing between my teeth.

"Are you close, baby?"

"Yes," she gasped, "I'm ready. Let go, darling! Let me feel your cum spray my quim! Please! Let me have your spunk!"

Unable to hold back any longer, my cock shot its load deep into her. It felt like a volcanic eruption, hot magma blowing out of my prick and splashing the walls of her quivering cunt as Li climaxed with me, her squeal of joy mixing with my groan of release as our juices mingled in the cauldron of her pussy. She slowed the horse to a stop as we slipped down the far side of the sexual curve, our passion, for the moment, spent. Carefully, we disentangled ourselves and gingerly stood up beside out mechanical marital aid. She came into my arms and huddled at my chest as I stroked her back and buttocks before, without any urging from me, she went to her knees and began to clean the cum cocktail off my cock. When she was done, she continued to kneel and looked up at me.

"I am your mistress, John. I have never known such pleasure as we have together. I want to stay with you, always."

I lifted her to her feet and kissed her, tasting our juices on her lips. "You will tell me if you ever want to go, won't you, Li?"

She sighed and lifted my hand to her breast, rubbing the hard nubbin that tipped it into my palm. "My love, you will be a long time waiting for me to ask." Leaving our clothes where they had fallen, Li and I walked, arms around each other, to the bedroom where our bed awaited.

That night I called Waters and told him we would return to the city the next day. When we arrived, as usual Waters was waiting at the front door. 

"Welcome home, sir," he said, his usual salutation after I'd been away without him. He took the bags I'd removed from the trunk and continued, "If you will come with me, sir and miss?" and started up the stairs.

Now this was not typical of Waters. I looked at Li; she gave a little shrug to say that she didn't have a clue either. Holding hands, we followed Waters upstairs.

He did not stop at the Rose Room as I had expected. Instead, he continued down the hall to my suite, opened the door and carried the bags through the sitting room on into the bedroom. He set the suitcases on the bed and opened them as we looked at a door in the wall next to the walk-in closet that had not been there when we went upstate.

"Waters, where did this door come from?" I asked.

"Manhattan Architectural Salvage, sir," said Waters, deliberately misunderstanding the question as he removed the laundry bag from my suitcase. I gave him a look as I pushed the door open and Li and I walked through.

The door led into what had been a guest room with its own bath next to my bedroom. It had been transformed into a lady's boudoir, feminine yet elegant in the Art Deco style. An open doorway marked the bathroom, all chrome, Carrera marble and onyx accents. On the wall the two baths shared was a door that obviously led into my bathroom. We opened it and reentered my suite via the bath. Before I could say anything, Waters spoke.

"I took the liberty of remodeling the master suite to its earlier configuration, sir, when it became clear that Miss Li was not just a passing fancy but rather a permanent fixture in your life."

"And what brought you to this conclusion?" I asked.

"When she is with you, you are happy, sir. When you are with her, she is radiant. When the two of you are at home, the house is warmer. You work well together. It is a remarkable thing to see." Changing the subject, Waters went on, " Miss Li, you will find your things in the walk-in closet and the bureau. If you will give me a list of what cosmetics you may need, I will purchase them when next I do the shopping."

It took Li a moment to realize that Waters was deferring to her as if she were the mistress of the house, in the same way he deferred to me. "I'll have it for you in the morning, Waters."

"Thank you, miss," he said. To me he added, "Luncheon will be served in half an hour, sir." With a courteous nod of his head, Waters retreated, closing the door as he departed. Li and I stared after him, then looked at each other. Waters had just put into words what we had been feeling for some time. At last I said, "Well, my love, I suppose we should wash off the travel dirt before lunch."

Li stepped close and put her arms around me. I held her and kissed her gently. She looked into my eyes and said, "Do you know, John, this is the first time you've ever said you love me?"

I shrugged. "Only the first time I've said it out loud, darling," I said. "I've been skirting around it in my head since the first night we slept together. It took Waters stating the obvious to free me of my fear of telling you." I kissed her again and released her. Running a finger down my arm, she swayed away to freshen up.

As he served lunch Waters reminded me, "Tomorrow night is your dinner with your Uncle John, sir. Cook plans to serve roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, if that meets with your approval. Will there be four for dinner?"

"I'm sure of it," I said. "Thank you for reminding me. I'll just confirm with him today."

At seven o'clock the next evening, the doorbell rang and Waters ushered Uncle John and his companion, Angela Wilkinson, into the parlor where Li and I stood waiting. His silver hair complementing the silver rims of his glasses, the Savile Row suit adding dignity to his distinguished bearing, he looked perfectly at ease. The Paris original looked good on the willowy blonde of indeterminate age. Angela was a worthy consort to him and had shared his house and his bed for several years. Ms. Wilkinson was a partner in a modeling agency; but unlike the outfit with which Li had been involved in Tokyo this one was legitimate. She traveled a lot in the course of her work and was frequently linked in the tabloids to this actor or that producer, but always came back to her Silver Fox. I'd learned long ago never to believe the gossip rags, knowing Uncle John would not keep a perfidious woman in his life.

Both Uncle John and his lady-friend gave Li a careful once-over after introductions were performed. I had deliberately told Uncle John little more than the fact that I'd acquired a girlfriend because I wanted to observe his and Angela's initial reactions. His people sense was acute, and Angela's sharper still thanks to her involvement with the fashion and PR worlds. Though she did her best to conceal it, I could tell Li was nervous.

Uncle John was the first to speak.

"So you're the girl who's managed to sink a hook into Johnny-boy!" he rumbled, a grin of pleasure splitting his craggy face. "Many have tried, but you're the first to succeed. Congratulations!"

Angela laughed. "See her blush, John! I think you've actually embarrassed the girl. And you might be wrong; it could be the other way around, but either way she's happy about it."

"As am I," I replied, rising to Li's defense.

"Indeed?" said Uncle John. He looked at Li and asked her a question in Chinese. She looked startled, but bowed to him and replied. Her blush deepened but the corners of her lips turned upward. She visibly relaxed.

From the doorway came a discreet cough. "Dinner is served, sir," said Waters.

Uncle John immediately turned gallant and offered Li his arm. "If you'll permit me, m'dear?" Li bowed again and smiled, taking his arm and leaving me to escort the lovely Angela to the dinner table.

Conversation was intermittent over the meal as we paid respectful attention to the roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and fresh vegetables. My uncle monopolized Li's attention by continuing to speak to her in Chinese, leaving me to entertain his significant other. When at length we had finished dessert and were on our second cups of coffee, Uncle John broke protocol by rising first.

"Angela, dear, would you be good enough to retire to the parlor with Li, please? The two of you can talk girl-talk while we menfolk have our cigars and port in John's study."

She cocked an eyebrow at this politely worded order, but obediently pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. Li looked a question at me and I nodded slightly. She also rose and looked at Waters."

"Waters, would you bring fresh cups and the coffee service to the parlor, please?"

"At once, miss," he replied. The ladies left the room and we followed them down the corridor to my study.