39 comments/ 55203 views/ 71 favorites A Night of Chocolate and Roses By: MSTarot "Merciful Heavens, the cold." Trying to not look like I was shivering I approached my destination. The almost impossible scent of the place came to me well before I got to the gate. Roses? More a spring or summer smell than one for the depths of winter. The iron gate, flanked with its columns of white stone, was cold under my hand. I looked to the vines that trail off down either side, their flowers long gone, their leaves hidden in frost, fairly cover the whole of the wall with their thorny mass. "Would that it was spring," I said under my breath. My words were a foggy mist before my eyes as I neared the door. The morning's cold, bitter winds still tore at my clothes, biting into me when it blew my coat open. The wet cobblestones had long since stripped my feet of any warmth. My button-top boots, worn more for appearance than warmth, had allowed the cold, muddy slush from the street in far too easily. Still, I walked on. Let there be snow on the rooftops, and I would have walked on. The horror and embarrassment of that morning gave me the strength, terror of the scandal waiting to be born spurred me on. Knowing that even then my beloved husband was being held prisoner gave me the will to see myself to journey's end. My cold fingers closed around the little brass pull. I heard the bell ringing inside. Just as I was about to give a second pull, the door opened. "Oh lordy, ma'am." Her eyes went from my face to my feet, taking in the good quality cloth, the cut and style of my coat. "What are you out upon such a day for? Your clothes are near soaked from the snow. Come inside before you catch your death." Smiling with gratitude, I stepped in through the door and past the saucy, pert woman in the black maid's uniform. The maid's deference was so very heartwarming after the morning I had been having. The rudeness... no... absolute brutishness of the bailiffs! "Caught me in the middle of my dusting, you did, ma'am. Otherwise you might have had to stand out there for a goodly while. Everyone's off getting party supplies gathered for tonight, don't you know? Come in here by the fire. I take it you are needing to speak to Milady?" The heat from the fire was almost more than my chilled skin could take. I drank it in, trying to not shudder luxuriously. With a sigh, I turned and gave the maid a nod. "If you please. Would you tell her Mrs. Upton, the wife of James Upton, is asking to see her." Behind my back, I held my hands out to the flames. It was a small fire in truth but to my fingers it was almost painfully hot. "Oh, Mrs. Upton, she told us you would probably pop round today. She said for you to join her in the Rosarium." The little brunette gave the mantelpiece a quick flip with her feather duster. "The... what?" Smiling, she looked at me. "The Rosarium, ma'am. The greenhouse. Come, I'll guide your steps." I followed her, my eyes going to her black skirt. It was far too short. I had seen the style in the travels of my youth, but I hadn't thought anything that scandalous had made its way here. Mother chastised father once when he looked upon a woman dressed so. I pushed the memories away, overcome by the shame I felt from this morning. Thoughts of the shame I have brought to our family made me almost glad that they were gone to a better place. Although, I know, if they still lived, they would have helped us. . "Right through those glass doors and then through the second set. Mind the thorns." "Thank you," I said. Ahead of me was a wall of glass, iron and brass. Beautiful filigree-worked metal held the glass panels with strong but delicate swirls. In the center is a set of double doors, also made of glass. I went to them only to yank my hand back from the door at first touch. The handle was burning hot! Very hesitantly, I moved to it again, my fingers ready to pull back, I slowly touched it again. The metal was probably not as hot to warm fingers as to mine, but the cold of the day would not be chased from my fingers with so little time before a fire. As I stepped through the opening, the scent of roses came to me again. Hesitantly, I walked to the inner doorway. This handle was if anything even warmer. As I opened it, I stood for a second, eyes closed, and just basked in the warmth that flowed out to me. My eyes opened to take in a riotous mélange of thousands of shades from red to pink. Then the scent, the strongest perfume, washed over me. I felt as if months had slid by, and I was standing on a June day, smelling flowers in the garden. Even my feet started to thaw. I bend down quickly and placed my hand on the stone floor. It was miraculously warm! "It's a trick the Romans invented." I stood up quickly, embarrassed at having been caught like that. I turned to look at the woman walking towards me. The light dress she wore would be far more appropriate for summer. Even as the thought came to mind, I realized that I needed to open up some of my own clothing, for I was beginning to sweat. I undid my scarf and unbuttoned my coat to hide my sudden disquiet. This woman was clearly not wearing stays under her dress. It was positively vulgar. "Miss Sionly?" "Lady Sionly, if you please," she said with a smile. "My illustrious great-grand-sire did so very little saving someone of no consequence to earn the title. The least I can do is see to its use." "I'm sorry, my husband told me, Miss," I started to say, but she waved a set of brass shears at me. "Don't be sorry, my dear. Least of all for the foolish mistakes of a man. Now, you are the wife of James Upton." "Yes, my Lady. I came to..." I said. "Oh, I know what you're here for. The bailiffs came round and fetched him this morning." "Yes, my Lady. Just as I was putting breakfast on the table. They tapped him and took him off to a sponging house. I have come to see if you would give him more time." The lovely woman smiled at me sadly. "Men. They get themselves into trouble then wish us to help get them out of it. With no thought to our dignity. Imagine if you had asked him to go beg someone you owed money to." She gave a sigh. "Come with me, my dear." I followed her into, what I later learned, was called a terrarium. The table she lead me to must have been near the middle, because I saw the glass and metal roof high above. I felt even greater warmth coming from the four great pillars that held that frost-rimed ceiling up. At my surprised look, she smiled. "They're tile pipes my dear. I have a furnace burning in the building next door. In fact that's the structure's only purpose. I have the heat pumped under the floor and through these columns. It warms my Rosarium nicely don't you think?" The very idea of a person with so much wealth that they would spend it to keep flowers, however beautiful, in bloom when they are out of season, staggered me. "Rose-water tea, my dear?" she offered, taking a seat. Still feeling lost, I sat down and nodded my head. The cup steamed. She held a spoon over the sugar bowl, and red crystals were sifted into my cup at my nod. The taste was not much to my liking. Like licking a perfume bottle. But I did my best not to be rude. "It's a shame that I had to employ the High Sheriff and his bailiffs. I gave your husband a year and a day to pay me back at least half of what I loaned him. Then a year and a day more to pay back the rest. He's not even managed a third, let alone a half." Lady Sionly sipped at her tea. "I sent a letter to ask him to have payment ready by the evening bell last night. I got no reply so..." "I'm sorry..." Her eyes stopped my words. "I told you not to be. Least of all by what a man has done. Your husband was a man of some means at one time. His lack of forethought reduces you both to a level that's shameful. That he thought to restore his losses by borrowing more is a sign of a less-than-wise man as well. I did give him warning. I insisted he outline his plans to me before I gave him the money. It was a risky venture with a large chance of loss. In truth he was doing little more with the money I gave him than building ice castles. That he should be surprised when the summer heat melted his efforts is beyond me." "He was misinformed. The people involved gave him false information," I tried to explain. To defend my husband. The Lady nodded. "And now with his feathers to the flames he sends you to debase yourself to his creditor to gain him succor. Typical," she sniffed. I felt like crawling under the table or maybe going to hide in the flowers. To hide what pride I had left from sight. My heart burned at what James had led me to do here. "So you won't give him more time?" I said more than asked. She chuckled. "I have said no such thing my dear." I looked up to her with hope. "Do you know what today is?" she asked me, picking up a cut rose from her basket. "It's St. Valentine's Day," I said with a sad tilt to my tone. I had hoped for a bit of color to the day, not the horrid event that ruined not only breakfast but also the whole holiday. "Yes. The celebration of Valentinus." I nodded at the archaic wording. Puzzlement must have been showing on my face. She smiled. "Well, on this day I hold a celebration here in my Rosarium... every year. I invite a private and very select group of friends and associates. I have done this every year for more than a decade." I just looked at her, unsure of what this had to do with my husband. She lifted the rose to her nose, turning her head. Seeing her in profile, I thought that she must have been truly lovely when she was my age. Before the turning of years touched her eyes with tiny wrinkles. Her eyes went suddenly sharp. "I will let you earn the remainder of what was due today. Your husband will be paid half back to me in one night. Would that suit your needs my dear?" "Yes of course! Oh thank you..." I trailed off as I suddenly wondered what I would have to do to "earn" that generosity. She smiled at my sudden unease. "At my party I have...'special entertainment'...to keep my guests happy. If you agree to be one of these entertainers I will settle what's owed." "What...what do you mean? What kind of...entertainment?" I asked. She sat back with a smile, and I quickly moved my eyes from the rose when she laid it against her chest. The dark circles of her...breasts... showed through the thin cloth. I felt my color rise at such lewdness. "That you will know, my lovely, when I have your agreement to be one of my entertainers. You will not be harmed if that is what you are fretting over. I have never had a single complaint in all the years of my hosting this gathering. You will wear a mask to protect your reputation. I can let you know that much at least. My guests will also be masked. For the same reason, of course. Some of them are from a station far above even mine let alone yours, my dear." Her, superior than thou tone set a fire in my heart that burned away any remaining cold. My current circumstances not withstanding her status was not that far above mine! Why my family... "It has the sound of a bawdry affair," I said with utmost disdain for her and her celebration, "and I will have no part of it." I got to my feet and started to walk away. Her words stopped me. "You have two lovely daughters, yes? He spoke of them, even brought the youngest, Emily I believe her name was, here with him. I think he may have hoped I would be swayed by her sweet, innocence to lending him even more money." She shook her head, sadly. "How will you feed them tomorrow? How about the tomorrow after that? The bailiffs will drain every piece of money from him at the sponging-house, then turn him over to the courts. How will you feed their hungry mouths when he's in debtors' prison? How will you win his release?" I stopped, my back to her, her words dug into the place where I had locked such thoughts away. She broke the prison gates and they ran loose, threatening to tear me apart. A sudden rage at James that he had bought our daughter here without telling me, flooded me. To use our child in that way! "You would be wearing a mask. No one will ever know it was you, save myself and I promise I have no wish for what happens at my... bawdry affairs... to become public knowledge," she said. I heard her move behind me. I cut my eyes to the side when she walked around then followed till she was in front of me. She slowly lifted the rose and let its soft petals brush my cheek. The scent of it after the wet, barren odorlessness of winter was all but overwhelming. Sweet, heady, rich... it pulled at me, trying to take me into one of the oldest memories from my childhood, summers in my grandmother's huge rose garden. Gathering flowers with her under the warm sun. I wanted to run and hide in those old memories... to hide from this moment in that rich perfume. "It will be kept 'Under the Rose', my dear." I closed my eyes to her intense gaze. I breathed in the smell of the rose. "Your husband will never know either. No man should know what a woman will do to see her children fed," she said in a low soothing tone of voice. My breathing had become panting as nerves settled into my stomach... then went lower. My eyes opened and meet hers. Those hazel depths, they looked into mine with a power that I could not but acknowledge. "I won't be hurt?" She smiled "Not in any way that will leave a mark for more than a moment." I paused at that. "I don't like the idea of being used by a man for his...entertainment." I told her. She brushed my face with the rose again, almost slapping me with it in truth. "It's women only, my dear. Even my male servants are sent away for the night. Ladies only. Don't you think we deserve as much fun, as can be had on this day of romance? How foolish is it to think that so simple a creature as a man can understand the romantic needs of our sex?" I slowed my breathing down as best I could. The butterflies were chasing the rose tea in my stomach though. "I'll have a mask?" I asked. I saw her start to smile. She was reading my face all too well. "We will all have them. I know who all the guests are but they know only me. Maybe a few of them continue to meet after my parties, but that isn't my... bawdry affair." She lifted her eyebrow then gave me a wink. Slowly, I nodded. "Excellent! Here," she handed me the rose she was holding. "I'll have my maid take you up to a room you can use. There will be a bath run, and then she will see to you." Her eyes dropped down to my waist. "There must be certain... adjustments... made to meet the... tastes of my friends." I know my eyes must have been the size of tea saucers. She laughed merrily at the look on my face. "Do not fret so, my dear. As I said, nothing will be done that will cause you any lasting harm." She turned from me as we heard shoes on stone. "Ah, Molly, I was about to ring for you. She will be staying." "Yes Lady. I have her bath already drawn." The little maid looked to me and smiled in a way I didn't care for. "Come along with me. I'll set you to rights, and then you can take a nap till the guests arrive." I looked to the Lady Sionly. She smiled and gestured towards the maid. Just as I was about to reach the edge of the stone circle, I heard her call. Turning I watched her cut a rose from a bush and hold it up. "Be mindful of the rose I gave you. The thorns are small, but like any tiny prick, they can draw blood," she said, her eyes merry. I followed the maid and wished I was leaving the whole house. The front door was in sight, but I followed her up the wide marble steps. The room was furnished to a level of elegance I had never known. Not even my grandmother's bedroom was that beautiful. There was a bathtub! There in the bedroom! Not put before the sitting room fire was at my house. First for the children to use, then myself, and finally John. The tub was copper and trimmed in gold filigree. It had clawed-brass feet that rested on balls of alabaster marble. I saw a large kettle steaming by the roaring fireplace. The rising steam made me ache for the warmth it promised. My last bath had been three days before, and the water had been nearly cold. "You can undress behind the screen. There is a robe back there for you to wear. I'll just top off your bath for you." The pert maid moved to the kettle. The screen drew my eyes to it as I turned. The dark wood frames held panels of white upon which delicate scenes of golden peacocks strutting in display and flowers entwined with brilliantly colored fish were shown with a simple artistry. Going behind the oriental screen I wanted to ask questions of the maid, but didn't want to appear vulgar. As I slipped my buttons, I saw the robe she meant and stopped. It was silk! I touched the fabric and shivered at how wonderful it felt. Then the idea of what it would feel like on my bare skin sent a second shiver through me, this one laced with nervous misgivings. "Need help with any buttons or hooks, ma'am?" I leaned past the side of the screen and saw her pouring the whole kettle of hot water into the tub. The water steams like fog. I watched the ghostly curls drift up to the copper-paneled ceiling. "No thank you. I have it." I said. "Right. Well, I'll just turn down the bed and set a warmer to the sheets." "Why do I need to take a nap?" I asked. I figured that question wasn't too much. "The party will run late. Can't be having you nodding off in the middle of it all," she answered with a grin. I nodded and hide behind the screen again. Item by item, I shed my clothes. Doing this in a strange place had my heart in a-flutter. Folding my dress I unhooked my stays, then my chemise dropped away. Then my drawers and girdle unlaced. I unhooked my bustle and set it aside. I covered my nipples as they came clear of fabric, and the chill of the air behind the screen made them rise. I hated the feeling. Always have. So very unwomanly. When I can't get them to settle back down, I ignored them and slipped my drawers down my legs. I grabbed the robe and draped it around me as quickly as I could. Oh, the feeling of it! I loved it and hated it at the same time. I pulled it close to me, trying to regain my modesty. The fabric felt almost wet as it brushed my skin. My unruly nipples rode even more at the sensation. I tightened the belt around my hips and looked down at my bare legs. The robe came to just past my mid-thigh! "Mercy, I can't wear this," I said to myself. Turning, I saw myself reflected in a mirror set just behind a vase, filled with gold-leafed cattails. The silk fabric, with all those racy patterns those Celestials love to decorate with, now covered me... if only just. All my curves and bumps showed through the thin fabric in a horribly indecent... immodest way. I saw to my horror, the face of the maid reflected from around the side of the screen. She could have seen me! "Your bath's ready, ma'am" Gathering my courage into the small bundle it made, I walked around the screen and over to the bath. The ridiculousness of tying the belt came to me as I realized I was going to have to untie it just as soon as I had done it. My hands shook on the knot. I felt the eyes of the maid on me as I worked the knot loose. They made me squirm. When I had the belt at last undone, I gave her a look till she turned around. Looking down into the tub, I saw patterns of rainbows in the water, and rose petals floated on the surface. I looked quickly to where I laid my rose but saw it was still intact. I wondered what oils that girl added. I was going to smell like some "French house" woman. The water slid up my skin with the sultry embrace of heat. I couldn't quite stop the moan of pleasure as I sank into the oil-softened depths. A Night of Chocolate and Roses Leaning forward, I rested my breasts against my knees. My hair, wet on the ends, was lifted off my back, startling me. The maid draped it around my shoulder and then took a sponge and started to scrub my back. I listened to the soft tune she began to hum. I closed my eyes, but imagined fancies of what would happen to me tonight started to parade past. I popped them back open at the fearful, indignant sights my mind inflicted on me. "What did... did she mean by adjustments?" I asked. I wondered how the question came from my mouth even as the maid gave a soft chuckle. "You don't have to be fretting none, ma'am. It's nothing horrible. Just a might embarrassing at first." Her hand moved to the little table next to the bath. She moved a towel and showed me a razor and a cup with a brush. The set looked so much like my husband's I nearly gasped. "She wants you to be shaved is all." "Shaved? Like my lower legs and my arms? I do that already!" I explained. "Oh yes, ma'am, those certainly. Not just there though. Everywhere." What she meant hit me like a slap in the face. "She can't mean...?" The maid gave my back a harder scrub. "Yes, ma'am, she can. I have to admit it's a bit on the strange side when you do it the first time but you have to remember you spent half your life like that. You will get used to it easily enough after the first moments. You may even come to like it. There's a cleanness to it that's hard to pass on." The idea of facing the world robbed of even the slight privacy of my dark curls was harrowing to me. I felt tears start to drip from my eyes into the bath. "Here now... don't take on. It's not so bad, ma'am. I promise." The maid scooted her chair around till she was beside the tub. I turned, and her saucy eyes caught at mine. "Why, before this night is over you will have had the most wonderful Valentine's Day of your life. The Lady is wonderfully close about secrets. Your honor is as safe in her hands as anyone could want, yet at the same time she will see to it that you get to enjoy pleasures you've never knew could happen," She said. I leaned back at her urging, and she ran the sponge under my chin and down my neck. The soft, soapy water, slick with oils and clingy rose petals, caressed my skin. The back of my head came to rest on the pillow of my hair. I closed my eyes and listened to her as she started to softly hum again. The sponge and her gentle touch were finally enough to get me to relax, if only a little. Then that soft bit of the sea brushed my nipple! With a splash, I startled up, covering myself. "I'll finish by myself," I told her. The maid looked at me unalarmed, then gave a shake of her head. "You can't, ma'am. No way you can shave yourself how milady wants, by yourself. I will have to do that for you." As my mouth dropped open, my hand came up to cover it. The old belief of your soul flying out of your open mouth suddenly seemed not so silly to me. I gave my head a shake of denial. It was met with a twinkle of her eyes and a smile. "Don't worry, ma'am. I've got one myself, and I've seen more than a few others in my day. I'll even do it with my eyes closed, if you like, but I wouldn't recommend it." I looked from her to the razor. The image of her with her hand wrapped around it and her eyes closed blinked past me. I let loose a chuckled at the absurdity of it. Her hand was on my bare shoulder in a shockingly familiar way. "Don't worry. I won't tell a soul you don't have any hair down there." I thought then of my daughters, their faces, as they would be when hunger started to gnaw at them. I thought of my husband, Jim, even then at the sponging-house. The bailiffs grilling him for people he can get money from. Suddenly I felt an overpowering rage at Jim. It was he and his great plans that had put me into this place. This house of... sordid people. I felt that rage burn into me, a far greater heat than the warm water had given. I had an urge to get out of the water and flee. To run from here. To do whatever I must to feed my children. I would borrow the money from someone else. Then of all the hard work I had put in trying to maintain my reputation with my peers, came to me. I had not let our financial troubles come to light of day. I had kept it "under the rose"... "Ready, ma'am?" I looked over to her. She had a razor strop hooked to the bedpost. I watched her start to run the silvery blade back and forth. "It won't take me more than a few shakes and then you can take you a spot of sleep." I turned towards the other side of the tub and grabbed up one of the soft cloths. I started to drape it around me to hide myself from her eyes, but then I realized how nonsensical that was. I dried myself and step from the tub onto the warm bricks before the fire. Staring into the fire, I realized then that I was going to do it. Any point of turning back had been passed when I put that damned silk robe on. Accepting my fate, little more than a plaything. A "Special Entertainment" to be enjoyed by others. I moved towards the maid. Naked as a harlot, I walked to the little chair with the bidet bowl and sat astride it. I closed my eyes as she lathered me up. The brush tickled dreadfully. "Lean back into the bedpost, ma'am." Looking away, I did as she said. I flinched at the first scrape of the blade. The sound of her shaving me was so familiar. I had heard it since the first days of my marriage. The sound of Jim's morning ablutions. The scrape of the razor across his bristles every morning. The only sound that was missing was the snip of his little shears as he trimmed the bars of his mustache to perfection. I had lain in bed many a morning, smiling to watch him playing with his "Moustachio". Tears threatened as I know that in the future, the sound of him shaving would forever bring back memories of this indignity. I bit my bottom lip, as she descended with the razor into places that not even my husband has truly seen in this much light. I squeezed my eyes tightly closed. Maybe if I could not see it being done, it was not happening. A sponge passed over me and I thought for a moment it was over then, the stiff brush was again applied to me, and I was lathered anew. This time the razor felt like it was all but gliding over me. She handled the dangerously sharp blade, in places I would never have been able to move it, with a skill I pondered over then rejected from my head. I shouldn't think of such things. Again the sponge was moved across me, this time with much greater thoroughness. I gasped several times as her fingers all but plunged it into me! "There you are, clean as if you never grew them. Now let's get you back into your robe and tucked away." As I stood, my legs came back together, and I felt it at that very moment. I dropped my hand down, and the bare skin sent a tremble through me. I turned, so she could not see as she walked back with the robe. The silk thing was warm from its time by the fire. I let her settle it around me, then loosely belted the waist. When the fabric touched my bare valley, I all but screamed. "Let me get the warmer, ma'am." I watched her slide the lidded, copper pan of coals out from between the blanket and sheet. She held them open for me. I started to hold the robe closed as I climbed in, but then I didn't. I realized how silly that idea was, given that she had just seen everything there was to see. The bed sheets were as soft as velvet and so comfortingly warm. Only that silly robe was smoother. I sank into the feather mattress. The heavy coverlet she tucked under my chin was trimmed in a deep, thick mink's fur. The blanket alone probably cost more than my husband owed. That thought going round and round in my head made me not notice that the maid hadn't left yet. I looked up, startled to see her standing near my side of the bed. "What are they going to do to me?" I heard the fear in my voice. It alone had wrung this question out of me. The smiled she gave was sweet. "Don't worry so at it. You'll be fine. They do get a bit naughty, and there will be some of them that are a mite wicked. But I promise you, the Lady Sionly won't allow you to come to any harm. She told you that, yes?" she asked, smoothing the fur coverlet. I nodded. "Well there you go, ma'am. She's a right proper one for keeping her word. I'll swear that by the Queen herself, I will. Now, see if you can get a nip under those pretty eyes." With a smile and a half curtsy, she left. Looking over at the fireplace, I saw little steam ghosts still drifting up from my bath. The smell of the oils she added was all around me. I was saturated in it. Ever so slowly, I let my hand slide down across the robe. As my fingers found the split, it opened and my hand crossed the smooth place that for half my life had been covered with thick hair. I felt the now bare skin, soft and pudgy under my fingers, then I touched the lips. They were so exposed to the touch! I felt shame rise up through me in a wave. Light flutters of pleasure began. I yanked my hand away lest I do the unthinkable. Hastily I pulled the robe back together. "Oh, let this night be the fastest in the history of man. Oh, let me wake and this day be all a bad dream," I whispered. The softness of the bed and the warmth of the room finally managed to take the day's tension away enough that I drifted to sleep. The light of a candle woke me. I looked up into the face of the Lady Sionly. I saw the maid lighting the lamps behind her. "Awake, my little lovely! It's nearing the hour for my guests to arrive and for you to come down. I will have you in place when they arrive, so there is food prepared for you there." She gestured towards the fireplace. I noticed the covered silver plate by the fire. "Eat quickly, but lightly. I will see that you have plenty to eat and a carriage to take you home when the last guest leaves. That will, I confess, be after the midnight hour though so do not expect a rushed...bawdry affair." She smiled, then set the candle lamp by the bedside table. She softly sat herself. I noticed the top gown she was wearing was more appropriate for the weather, but under it I saw, if anything, an even thinner dress than the one she wore upon my arrival. Her hand came to rest on top of mine. "I want to assure you again that none of my guests will do you any harm that will endanger your health. They might do a few things that will make you uncomfortable, but that's to be expected. While we are called the weaker sex, we are often the more cruel. Especially with our own. I will be there and will moderate anything that I think is too far beyond the...rules of my parties." When her hand moved, I felt her fingers start to play with mine in a way I did not care for. I disengaged my hand from hers and hid it under the sheet. Her smile showed it was expected that I would do such. I cannot tell if I had offended her though. There was a glint to her eyes that put the smile into question. "Rules...yes there are rules. You for the night will be not known, of course, by your name. I will give you one, and you will answer to it. You will comport yourself as a maid of humble upbringing would. Do not speak unless you are spoken to, and then with only the most polite tone and with brevity. If I find that you have been rude to so much as a single lady, I will tell the Sheriff that I hold the whole amount as due now. Your husband might see the sun again by the time your daughters are of marriageable age. He might have to borrow the money for their dowries though." Hearing a touch of cruelty, I knew that pulling away my hand did offend her. I wish then that I hadn't. Just how in the mercies of this woman, not only myself but also my whole family found ourselves, was frightening. "There will be other entertainments at the party so you will not be the sole focus of the attendees, but you will be a popular one. Be pleasant and hide not a single moment of pleasure from your face. For you will be feeling more than your fair share of pleasure tonight. I want them to see it when you feel it. Do you understand me?" I swallowed against the lump in my throat. I started to nod, but seeing the tightening of her eyes, I answered. "Yes, Lady Sionly." She smiled. It lent an innocence to her features that would lead many into wrongly thinking she was a wonderful person. Even as she patted the coverlet and stood up, I knew differently. The wealth of this woman was such that the pittance my husband borrowed was not even a rose price to her funds. It was the power she was feeling over me and mine that was the root and cause of this night's... indignities. I watched her walk away without looking back. Then I was being bundled out of the bed and into a chair in front of the fire by the maid. "Your name is Molly, yes?" I asked her as she uncovered the plate of food. It was a mixture of cheeses and fruits that I knew come from the colonies. Some I had seen at the market, but the cost of them was always so beyond the pale that I had passed on them, just for trying sake. "Yes, ma'am." She poured me a glass of sherry wine without asking. Normally I didn't partake of fortified wines. Then I decided that a sip or two might be just what my nerves needed. The bitter burn was hidden by the sweetness of the wine, but I felt its warmth settle into me after a few sips. "Have you been to one of these before?" I asked as I pick at the plate of food. The sliver of fruit was tangy to the taste when I bit into it. I didn't know its name though. The maid smiled. "Oh yes, ma'am. Quite a few. In fact that's how I came to be employed here." She went to the fire and leaned over to poke back a log. I caught my breath when the short skirt rode up and her drawers showed. "How so?" I asked, looking down at my plate. I knew it's my nerves making me seek conversation with this menial. Anyone would have been just as good at the moment. "My dear brother, Albert, borrowed a tidy sum from Lady Sionly. Wanted to buy a fishing boat, he did. Well, a bad storm sank his boat out from under him. He had the luck, from our father, to know how to swim, so he made it to shore without drowning. Her ladyship gave him a goodly piece of time to pay back the sum, but he could only manage a job as a docker, loading and unloading cargo off boats. The other captains wouldn't hire him... for having had the nerve to go into business without asking them. The bailiffs picked him up, and they kept him for ten days, and then the courts took him off to the workhouses. He died in the prison one night." Molly sniffled, then shook her head slowly. "Stabbed, he was." That my husband's fate might be the same as this girl's brother came to me in a breath-stealing rush. Molly continued speaking as she settled the fire to her liking. "I had come to ask for employment, to help work off his debt. She took me on. I did one of these parties from the position you're in, and then she kept me on as a maid." "So you were used as her...'special entertainment'...What happens?" I demanded. She smiled and shook her head. "Can't be telling you that. Be worth more than my job to do that. It's the fresh innocence of the woman that her guests like. I offered to do it again, but she said it's a one-time only." "You offered to be used again?" I asked incredulously. Then the shortness of her skirt comes into full circle. She's nothing but a common whore! Her next words confirmed it. "Oh yes, ma'am. I had me a grand time. Would have loved to have a second go." I heard a bell ringing in the distance. "Oh, I've got to be off! Now get a bit more of that in you, and then come down to the Rosarium." I looked around for my clothes, but see with a sudden fright that they had been taken from the ottoman near the screen where I left them. "My clothes?" I asked shaking. "The Lady saw that they had stains from the road, dust and mud and the like. She sent them to be cleaned. They will be ready by the time you're to leave though." "What am I to wear?" I demanded. She looked at me, puzzled. "Well, the robe, of course," she said like she was talking to a child. At the second ringing of the bell, she hurried off before she could say anything else... had she been so inclined. Which I didn't think she would have been. Trapped! I looked down at the plate, and the food turned to ash in my mouth. I pulled the ridiculously thin garment around me tighter, suddenly fearing its loss as well. I ate the rest without tasting the luxurious food. The cost of this "simple" meal would buy food for my whole family. I cursed Lady Sionly. I cursed Jim and his stupidity. I cursed myself for agreeing to do this. There had to have been other options. Bitter tears rolled down my cheeks to drop off my chin. I dabbed at my face with the corner of the silk robe and did my best to cry silently least a passing servant heard me weeping. "Damn you, James." When I set the small silver fork on the empty plate, I knew that I was lying to myself. There were no other options that would keep what's befallen us from becoming general knowledge, thus further ruining us. Taking a deep breath, I steeled my nerve and gathered myself. As I passed the mirror, I saw my hair in wild disarray. My face streaked with dried tears. I stopped, and spying a silvery handled brush near it, I applied one to the other in long strokes. The feeling of the brush in my hair... brought comfort. A sense of calm began to settle upon me as I did so normal a thing. So sensual a thing. I looked at my face as my hair drifted down onto the silk robe, over and over. Still fair of features. My body... I had done all I could to keep trim, the two births not-withstanding. My gaze met my own in the mirror. The eyes of Jezebel looked back into mine for the reflection. More like the face of a courtesan than a whore I thought as I set the sinful brush down. A sadness at the stolen dignity this day had taken from me came back upon me when I moved. I felt that shameful loss of hair again. Harlot or courtesan? One name or the other, I was little more than both. Leaving the mirror and the sultry woman in silk behind, I went to my fate.The tuning of instruments was my first warning, just as I placed my hand on the door. I covered my breasts. The thin robe and lack of anything under it filled me with shame. That she said there would be only women here came back to me. But the musicians? The warm rose smell of the glass Rosarium washed out to greet me when as I opened the doors. I felt my jaw drop. I saw a quartet of ...women...tuning up instruments. A violin, a cello, a small base and a flute vied for harmony, but didn't seem to be trying hard enough to find it. I saw the harpsichord sitting near them. I watched a tall woman speaking with Lady Sionly. She nodded and walked with gliding steps to the others. The ladies were dressed in robes similar to mine! I wondered if they were as devoid of modest raiment under those as I. I wonder too if they had also been sheared. The great planters had been slid to one side of the area, opening up more of the middle of the structure. As I looked around, my eyes stopped on the exotic face of a Celestial. She was doing incomprehensible things at a table covered with strange devices of glass. I saw many gilded bags of something before, but it was her silk robes of brilliant hues, by far grander than my own or the musicians', which caught my eyes. When her slanted eyes looked up and met mine, I looked away. Those black cat-like, eyes should not be brought into the presence of a white lady. At a gesture from Lady Sionly, I walked over. I noticed then a strange table behind her. I was sure it was not here during my first visit. A Night of Chocolate and Roses "You look beautiful, my dear," she said reaching over to lift my hair from the robe. "Perfect, in fact." She turned and gestured to the table behind her. I looked at the strange thing, not understanding. I didn't like the smile she gave me. It was like one I would give a simpleton. "Before my guests arrive I wish you to doff your robe and lay yourself upon here." Her finger lifted a strand of silk from the end of the table. I noticed then that there were others. "You don't have much time." I looked at her lifted eyebrow and what she wanted of me sunk in. I was to be laid out naked upon this table for all to see. Naked ...and shaved bare to the world! I started to shake. To tremble, in fact. Again she smiled. "Come, my dear. Let me place you in position. Once you're there it will be much easier for you to just forget those silly thoughts that are plaguing your mind. Come." Trembling, I felt myself caught between flight and fight. Between wanting to run in horror or claw at her face in rage. "Now!" The strong, noble tone, of her voice rang off bones inbred to accept such commands from nobility. I was moving into her reach before I was even aware I was doing so. Molly was behind me, and the robe was slipped away before I could say yea or nay. Then the hands of the Lady were upon me, turning me. The top of the table was warm, soft leather. I leaned back, panting. Molly's hands were on my arms lifting them above my head. I hardly noticed what the Lady was doing till the silk pulled tight. One arm bound, I started to try and pull the other free! Molly, her muscles by far stronger than mine from years of physical labour, held me tighter. Lady Sionly leaned forward till she was looking down at my face. "Remember that your husband goes free upon my signed word. His debts for the year paid for this one night." She moved back and started to tie the other hand. "Relax, ma'am. It's not going to be bad." It was the soft whisper of the maid, the knowledge that she endured this and lived through it, that gave me enough courage to lie calmly as my hand was tied. I felt terror again when they moved to my legs. I panted and had to use all my will not to yank my foot from her grasp. Trying to slow my breathing I looked up at the glass far above with its light dusting of snow. I thought then of my little girls. By now my sister had them fed and snuggled away in her daughters' bed. They wouldn't be asleep of course. They would lie gossiping with their two cousins for half the night. Far better their gossip than the gossip of servants. I was then so very thankful, that my search for a new maid had been unsuccessful. Our old gardener, so saddened at the death of his wife our old maid, he had retired. The new man was not set to arrive till spring. Oh merciful heavens, the gossip of servants would have been the social ruin of us after this morning. "The mask!" I said suddenly, as thoughts of "gossip" came to me. I heard the lady chuckle. "I did not forget, my dear, even if you did." I saw the thing for only a half second. A thin domino of porcelain and jewels, it was beautiful to behold. I watched as Molly covered the inside of it with something, then she aligned it over my face. "Close your eyes, my dear," said The Lady. With the garden hidden behind my eyelids, I felt the slight weight of the thing placed upon my face. The way it held my skin gave me assurance that it wouldn't be pulled away to leave me in scandal. I gasped and blushed when I feel a hand between my legs. Delicate fingers slipped along the hairless fold, then dipped down to caress the opening. I tried to move away from it, but found that I could hardly even turn myself. "Quite lovely down here. Fresh and innocent. My guests are going to love you." said Lady Sionly. She walked away without a word more. Molly gave my shoulder a pat, then ducked out of view, under the table. As I felt the table shift under me, I started to pull at the silk bindings in horror. My legs were drawn open even as my arms were doing the same. The splits I saw in the surface divided, went wider, and wider still. Then even more so! It took maybe a half-a-minute but I was just that quickly spread-eagled in the middle of the garden. When Molly reappeared, the look on her face was a half-smirk. She was still wearing it as she walked away. Lying there, exposed to the eyes of any of Lady Sionly's servants that might want to pass and have a look, I noticed as the minutes crawl, that more than a few did so. I started to worry that the constant blush to my face would become permanent before the night was out. Finally, I closed my eyes and just listened to the slowly building harmonies of the musicians. . Turning my head when they stopped, I watched them also disrobe. Against my will, my eyes dropped and I saw that they were as shorn as I was. I quickly looked away. The sight of them told me just how bare I, myself, was. They at least were not open so vulgarly to display! Then the music started in earnest. A soft and perfect blending that I would not have credited them with ability to give. The gentle sounds of Mozart's String Quintet No.4 soon floated through the rose garden like the scent of the roses. Powerfully present but at the same time easily lost to distractions. Lady Sionly's voice filled the garden. "Welcome my friends, close and not yet close, to the Rose Garden of Sionly. My Rosarium is your haven from the world of men for the night. I welcome you all." Lady Sionly said grandly. I turned my head as she begins her speech. Seeing the number of masked women that walked in, I had to turn away and blush. I could do little else. I had been expecting a few but at least a dozen were already through the glass doors! With more, to judge by the voices following. Trying to stay calm, I listened to their chatter and let the words drift past unnoticed. Curiosity, though made me look back when I heard the glass doors close. There must have been more than twenty women there. Nay, more than thirty! "Ladies. I wish to thank you all. Let me first address those whom I have not met. Those I yet do not know so well as my old friends, who told you of this party. I know that coming to such a gathering with so little forewarning and with only the knowledge that you will have a wonderful time took courage. You are ladies of station low and high behind those masks. Your reputations would be tarnished outside those doors should it be known that you attended such a party. That was the reason for the curtain-drawn carriages, and the secrecy with which the masks were given to you with. I welcome you and hope that after this night, one and all of you will return for many more... such nights." said Lady Sionly with a smile. I listened, unable to believe that this many ladies would come here not knowing what would be in store for them, masks or no masks. "This is, my dear guests, the Night of Valentinus. The night of lovers. You, one and all, have been given a gift as you walked into the door. If you would open your gift I will explain its purpose." Again curiosity made me look. I noticed then that many of the women had shed heavier clothes in favor of by far lighter garments. Scandalously light! Translucent. Gauzy. Some of them had little more than a layer or two between them and the situation I was in. As I watched, each lady opens a little, red box. From within I saw them lift out lengths of ribbon. I saw that they were silk when they turned them in the light. Every color was there. I noticed then that a small gemstone hung from each by silver clasps. Some were similar. No!...they were paired. "Now, in addition to this being Valentinus night, this is also another holiday. One that history tried to erase, and time tried to forget. This was the time of year when the Romans, masters of pleasure and life, celebrated a holiday called Lupecalia." Lady Sionly paused and smiled to her audience. "The Roman Festival of Fertility." I heard chuckles and twitters of laughter. "Now I know that some of you, like myself, wish for no such thing in your lives at this time, if ever again. But I also know from speaking with a few of you that you very much wish for that. The people of Rome would gather to feast and drink. They would draw marked tiles. Those with similar marks would form couples for the night, thus the festival was celebrated for many a century." My mind reeled at the depraved pagan idea. Sleeping with a man drawn at random? A legion of bastard born children would have been the only such thing that would produce. "Now the color of the silk will be the name that you will go by till you depart. The type of stone you have will match another in the room. I bid you find your partner for the evening and get acquainted while my maids serve drinks." I turned away from the laughing, giggling women as they started to figure out who their ...partner... was for the night. There was a vile taste in my mouth. "Keep your opinions from your face, my dear." She was suddenly there looking down at me. "Remember be polite," she said in a soft menacing whisper. Lady Sionly left off the "or else" but I could hear it. I lay there, forcing a blank expression to my features as she looked me over. I could feel the blush rise again under her gaze. "Good enough," she said in breath as she started to turn. She clapped her hands. "Ladies of Love, let me present to you some of my evening's entertainments. The wonderful music that will fill our ears tonight comes from these women's gifted hands." The players took up a quick, almost laughing tune, then stopped it suddenly. I watched them stand and bow. "For those who indulge in the quickly-becoming-forbidden taste of Absinthe, I have an ample supply in stock." I noticed one of the maids standing behind a side table that was filled with glasses and bottles. I saw a few of them were indeed that evil green color. The madness of this gathering came more into my understanding. The Lady Sionly gestured again with a grace that told much of her skills as a dancer. "For those with more exotic taste...shall we say, my Asian friend, Miss Woo, has more than a few ways to let you indulge. Fear not the hand of the law. I have the word of the wife of the High Sheriff, he will answer nothing till dawn." One of the ladies tittered. She blushed when all eyes went to her. Smiling, the Lady turned, her arms spread wide. "Within my garden, you will find many places where anything that delights you can be indulged. Be it smoke, drink, food or lust... they are prepared." Then she gave a half-turn to me. "And allow me to have the pleasure to introduce to you, Miss Innocence. She has agreed to be here for our indulgences as well." I heard the Lady chuckle. "She has never felt more than even the most familiar touch of a woman upon her, save one I just gave to her moments before you arrived. Enjoy her in any fashion you please. I will have several items of pleasure here next to her very soon." Feeling the eyes of the gathering come upon me, I wanted to huddle under the mask on my face. To hide all of me under the little domino. "Oh, Lady Sionly, she is gorgeous," said a soft, sultry voice. I half-turned my head and saw the speaker step up beside the Lady of Roses. "Miss Innocence, you say? I can see that from her color. Do not worry, my dear. We will treat you well." I shivered at the look of lust that came into her eyes. I struggled to keep my face calm as more than a few of them came to stand looking down at me. "Can we touch her?" I heard a young voice ask. Several of the ladies chuckled. "My dear, you may do far more than touch her," said Lady Sionly, smiling. "You may indulge your every whim! Every desire that may have come upon you in the arms of your lady lover, but you had not the courage to ask for." I felt my breath quicken as The Lady placed a hand upon my shoulder. Her fingers draped down across my breast. "I ask only that you not do her any injury. Inflict no marks upon her that will last more than this night." I shuddered at the sound of disappointment that a few of them made. The Lady chuckled. "Yes, my dear, naughty ladies, no whips." WHIPS! Again, that disappointed sound. "Do not worry though, my dears. I'm sure your creative minds will easily find ways to indulge your... appetites... in that direction." I arched up off the table with a screech of pain flying through my teeth as the Lady moved her hand and gave my left nipple a fearful twisting! The applause and laughter my cry brought about were not a welcome sign. "Go lightly with her at first, my dears. After all, she is Innocent." I shivered as The Lady's fingers softly caressed the smarting nipple. When she walked out of my sight, several of the ladies followed her, and a few drifted off toward the Celestial and her...enticements. But more than a few came slowly over to me. "What should we do?" asked the young woman I heard speak before. "I saw this done at one of these. The sight is a memory I cherish." I turned my head to the woman who was speaking. In her hand she was holding several of the roses that the Lady cut earlier. She handed them out to the women, and they started to surround the table. The touch of the first rose on my skin was like a bee sting. It startled me that much. Then they all picked a spot and started to brush the roses across me! The feeling of it! How to describe it. Soft, velvet-like. The touches come at me from so many places, some of them unexpected. "How about here? I don't think I've ever seen one shaved like this." asked the young woman. I gasped for breath as the young woman ran her rose up my nether lips. I pulled at the silk bindings trying to get away from the caresses. "Oh my!" I wished that I could stay still as I realized that my writhing was exciting the unnatural lusts in these women, but I couldn't. The feeling of a half dozen roses kissing my skin had me wiggling, with the one being applied to my bare cunny being the most infuriating. Shivers ran though me as roses touched my nipples. My ears. My chin. One brushed my nose, leaving its scent for a moment, and then it was softly petting my eyelids. I flinched as several of them suddenly begin to tickle my feet! Like a magnet, more of them descended there! I cried out and tried to pull my legs away, but the silk cords had me bound tightly to their whims. My eyes popped open, and I found myself looking at the young woman who was steadily brushing my lower lips with her rose. She smiled at me. She smiled? I panted, I jerked and twitched, little gasps escaped me as the roses tickled, kissed, lapped, brushed, and did a dozen other things to my skin. "Oh, this is wonderful!" said one of them with giddy joy. Wonderful? I wished then that she was the one tied here. I would place far more than a rose to her skin! Maybe a dozen women doing their best to tickle her would feel wonderful then! "Stop for a moment," said the older woman's voice. I blessed her when they obey. Though the young woman's rose left my lips last of them all. "Let her catch her breath for a second." I looked up at the black mask that hid her eyes and cheeks. The dark sparkles of gemstones ringed her eyes. I saw the strand of silk around her neck was a brilliant blue. The red stone that hung from it sparkled in such a way that I knew it was a cut ruby. The Lady Sionly gives away precious stones as party gifts! I sucked in my breath as her hand descended between my legs. I felt her fingers open my lips. "Not quite so innocent," she said with a chuckle. "In fact, do you have any children, my dear, Miss Innocence?" For a second, I almost didn't answer. Then the warning of the Lady came back to me. "I have two." "Sons?" asked the younger lady. I felt her rose brush the older lady's fingers as...Blue... caressed me. I noticed her ribbon then. It was pink but her stone was the same cut ruby as Blue's. This girl, to be with this older woman? Like a maid and a matron together. Looking to her face, I saw her question hanging. "Daughters," I said with a whisper. Pink, tilted her head then smiled at me again. "Hope I have daughters," said Pink, wistfully. "You should get your perverted self with a man then!" came the thought to my mind. I had to struggle to keep it from my face...or mouth. That was the last thought I could focus on for quite a while as the women reapplied their roses with even greater vigor. All too soon I began to beg for them to stop. The requests for mercy started leaving my lips when I felt myself moistening under the touch of Pink's rose. She was making long, slow strokes across my lower lips with a mindless rhythm. "No! No!" I begged when I felt fingers open me, and a rose applied to the inner parts. Then the little nub up at the top drew the attention of Blue. With a more skilled touch, her rose started to circle me. "Oh, please stop!" I begged them as I arched my back off the table. It was the only motion of resistance the bindings allowed me, and it did nothing but make the petal caress me harder. I started to feel little things clinging to me in places. I realized their flowers were starting to fall apart from the constant tickling. I panted and thanked the heavens for that blessing. Then, as my face falls to the side, I saw the huge number of cut roses in the basket. Enough for hours of this! My fingers clawed at the leather under my hands. I felt an irritation building beyond what I could stand. The mixture of women working at me with different agendas, some to tickle, some to caress, was driving me mad! "Will she spend?" asked Pink then. There was an eagerness in her voice to see such that was sinful! I heard Blue chuckle. "That might take more than a few roses. We've got her hot though." said Blue. Hot? I was dripping sweat and...other less common fluids, from every place the roses had touched, and that was everywhere. Panting, I all but collapsed when Blue again called a halt. "She looks delicious," said a deeper, sultry voice. I opened my eyes to see a woman with a black silk ribbon around her neck. The blue stone matched the one on the girl that was tucked under her arm. Again the disparity in ages disturbed me. "Has anyone tasted her?" she asked. I can see that the mask she wore had cut stone of the darkest jade covering most of it. Her eyes matched the color perfectly. I gave a small sound of denial when a finger was pushed into me. It became a pant when a second joined it. They moved up inside me till the palm rested on my bare skin. I felt myself leaking down my thighs when they were pulled out. I looked up at Pink and realized that it was her fingers. She brought one to her mouth. I had to hide my disgust as she sucked my juices from her fingertip. She made a slight sign of, if not distaste, then minor dislike. "Bitter. What do you think, Blue?" I watched, unable to believe it when the older woman took her companion's shiny finger into her mouth. She sucked first that one, then both that went into me, into her mouth. I watched her face as she tasted me. "Not bad. Just a trifle bitter, yes. Has to do with her diet, I would think. No matter. There is a way, right at hand, to make her far sweeter," said Blue smiling. I heard wheels on stone, and when I looked over, I saw Molly rolling up a small table. It was made of cast iron. A small bed of coals sat in an iron bowl under a larger pot. Molly lifted the lid with a thick cover; she gave whatever was in it a stir. "Just right, my ladies," she said with a smile. I tried to see what Blue, was doing, but her body blocked the way. Then she turned. A Night of Chocolate and Roses "NO!" That my scream of pain didn't bring the law running from miles away was a wonder. A line of fire crossed my stomach from near my hip to my belly button. I felt like I was scalded! The clapping and sounds of approval from the girls surrounding me sent shivers over me. I watched panting as Pink leaned down and licked my belly! "Umm! I love chocolate," she said with a purring sound. I saw a little dribble of brown running down from Pink's lips. The blond haired lady next to her, a brilliantly white stone hung between her breasts on a ribbon of red, turned Pink's head with a finger to her chin, and with a long tongue followed it back to her mouth, and then smothered Pink's lips with kisses. A slightly plump lady, with a green ribbon and the matching white stone, gave Lady Red's arm a light pop. "You're with me and you don't share?" she said with a wounded tone of jest. "Don't worry my darling, Lady Green. There is plenty more," said Blue with a smile. "Please!" I screamed out as she flicked the spoon over me, and a dozen drops of the molten chocolate struck me. I tried, without hope to move myself away from them as they all lean forward and started to lick up the chocolate. My nails clawed into the leather trying to get a grip, anything to give me some sense of normalcy. Then there was more and more of the hot dark stuff ladled onto me. My breasts were soon a mess of smeared brown. My belly was a hot gathering place for pools of it. I lifted my head and saw the lady with the black ribbon lead her... companion... between my legs. She pushed the younger woman down till she was on her knees between my legs. Knowing what was to come, I shook my head in denial. "Let her first taste be bitter. Then let her taste sweet," said Lady Black. Unable to believe I was seeing it, I watched as the young woman lowers her face between my thighs. I saw only the top of her head as it vanished below my belly and the head of Pink. The young companion of Blue was tonguing chocolate out of my belly button with relish. I felt a mouth upon me for the very first time! Shivering, I cried out and tried to move, but all that did was grind me into her face. I heard, but didn't hear the laughter around me, as the young woman began to apply herself to licking me. I was shaking my head at the impossibility of this. I was panting at the actuality of it. "Now this will make her spend," said Blue to Pink with a smile. I watched the older woman lean forward to then lick the chocolate-smeared mouth of the younger woman. The two of them entwined their tongues above me. When they part, her lips covered in chocolate, Blue looked down at me. She smiled. Before I could turn my head she leaned down and her lips found mine! The taste of the chocolate hit me then. I had tasted it only once before, and the wonderful memory of that time would be forever hidden under the memory of this time. As the woman's tongue slipped into my mouth, I gave up trying to pull free. The horrible licking going on between my legs had me in a fury. I felt my hips moving with little of my own guidance. Lady Blue, caressed my hair back out of my eyes, looked down on me with a smug smile. "I'm the first woman to ever kiss you, aren't I?" she asked. I could only nod. I had not the breath for words. "Now let her taste sweet," said Lady Black, from near my feet. I closed my eyes, with a sigh, as Blue turned away from me again. Blessedly, the woman between my legs had stopped licking. "Eyaa!" Like living fire, I felt every line of the hot mess as my lower lips were covered in a dark deluge! Then, not just Black's young lady, but another leaned in and started to lick at me. I felt tongues descend from everywhere, and other spoons dripped the hot fluid onto me. I twisted and shook, reeling against the pain from the heat and even more so from the growing feeling their tongues were building in me. Shaking, I opened my eyes to find Pink, hovering over my face. "I've never seen a woman spend," she said softly. Blue caressed her companion's hair, and laughed. "Well, you are about to," she said. Her finger hooked the pink ribbon. "Give her a second kiss from a woman before the rest of these get at her." She tugged the younger girl down towards my face. The confidence that Blue had when she kissed me was not there in the younger girl. She was hesitant, giving me first a light peck, then a more determined one. I tasted the chocolate she had licked from my stomach on her mouth. "Merciful Heavens." I mumbled as I pull my face to the side. The tongues between my legs seemed to have converged on the little nub and were devouring me from that point out. I felt strong hands on mine and looked up to see Lady Sionly holding one of my hands. Blue had the other. I looked down when I felt a mouth on my nipple. I saw Pink sucking me, and then her teeth gently bite the hard point! A warm pair of lips pulled my lower lips out, in a way I have never felt. It was that hard, wet, slick feeling of suction that made me lift my hips to chase after it. "OH my, YES!" I heard my cries drown out the music, the laughter, the lower moans from deeper in the garden. My voice alone rang out to the glass ceiling with a force I could never match. Like a thousand snowflakes of light, my vision blurred before my eyes. I felt lightning crossing through every part of me, little shocks that set me to twitching and shaking. I felt like I was falling and flying and climbing and dying all at once. Those feelings and a thousand more came as I felt it build again, and then I squeezed tight to the hands that hold mine. "Oh, please! Yes, yes, yes!" Twitching and shaking, I arched up, driving my nether lips and the little nub into the mouth of the girl... into any mouth that would give me this! I didn't care. Let it be anyone, and I would bless them. I opened my eyes for a second and saw lady Pink, just looking at my face with a look of wonder in her eyes. I suddenly had an insane desire to taste her lips again. I arched my head up towards her. There was a second's confusion in her face, and then she smiled and leaned down to kiss me again. Our mouths entwined, our lips seeking purchase with one another. I drove my tongue in hunting for more of the chocolate to taste. The long ago memory fell away to its proper place as I filled my mouth with by far more of its flavor. I was begging, crying, pleading for them to stop. I gripped and held myself tight to the hands of the Lady Sionly and Blue as again I spend, hoping they never do! I kissed, between moans, the wonderful sweet mouth of Pink. A sharp bite of teeth along one lower lip pulled me out from the spell, bringing it to an end. The woman's mouth moved away from me, and then she leaned back in and placed a soft kiss upon my quivering, nether lips. I shivered and moaned under even that light touch. I shook my head in denial as I saw another woman lean in. "Perhaps we should let Miss Innocence rest?" Lady Sionly placed her hand on the woman's shoulder. "Allow my maids to clean her up. No need to exhaust her fully. It's a long night, and some of you haven't had a moment's time with your partners yet." I wanted to thank the Lady and curse her at the same time. Leaning my head to the side I saw the women walk away from me. I noticed that Lady Pink looked back at me several times. She gave me a smile when she saw my eyes on her. "Lordy, they made a sticky mess of you, ma'am. Come, I'll put you to right." Looking down at Molly, I watched her untie first my feet and then she came around and untied my hands. The Lady Sionly was watching me. Part of me wanted to run now that I was free... The rest of me, however? Wanted to stay. The rest wanted more. Molly's hand on my arm guided me away from my table and around to the side of the garden. A living screen of climbing roses there hides a small water closet. Next to the door was a basin with a pitcher. I sat on the stool next to it as Molly took a sponge and slowly cleaned me. "See there, ma'am, it wasn't nearly as bad as you were fretting on about, was it?" "Am I burned?" I asked. An image of my body streaked with lines of blisters came to mind. "Oh, not at all! I had the chocolate at just the right temperature. It was much cooler than candle wax in fact. You're just a little red from the heat is all. Here let me get under there." I watched, feeling disjointed, as she lifted my breast and sponged the smears of chocolate from underneath off my skin. Then she did the second. "Here, stand up and lean forward. I'll get your cunny clean. Though from the look of it, they licked you fairly clean down there already," she said with a naughty smile. Leaning on the stool in a posture I would have never put myself in just hours ago, I felt the soft sponge brushing my lips. The texture was a strange feeling to the super sensitive points. I felt a line of my juices leak out, and then her finger brushed it away. Glancing over my shoulder, I watched her pull her finger from her mouth. She gave me a guilty smile. "You are sweet," she said with a saucy look. She turned when she heard steps behind her. "She's all cleaned up, milady." I stood up and turned to face the Lady Sionly. Her eyes were on my face. "I could tell by your face that was your first time to ever... spend. Wasn't it my dear?" she asked softly. After a second I gave a small nod. The Lady smiled. She stepped forward and placed a small kiss upon my lips. "From the women of the world that have had what the French so aptly call 'La petite mort' we welcome you." She brushed my hair from my eyes. "You may now join us, I pitying the rest of our sex that have not." Closing my eyes, I found myself leaning into that caress. "So, still willing to be my entertainment?" she asked, catching my chin between her fingers. Blinking, I saw her eyes looking me over. I heard a part of myself screaming "run" from somewhere in the depths of my mind. I wanted to heed that warning, but then I moved, and the super sensitive bare skin between my legs brushed together. The jolt of pleasure was minor when compared to what was just done to me, but it was more than enough to make me not listen to the little voice. I wanted more! Nodding, I saw her smile. "Not so horrible, is it, my dear?" "No, milady." She offered me a tall glass of bubbling champagne I took the glass from her and sipped at the sweet, strong wine it held. The bubbly liquid vanished in my mouth. I more breathed it than drank it, but oh, it was just what my throat needed. "If you're ready, my dear, I think there are more than a few women that want you back on your table. I nodded, and turning to Molly, I gave her a smile. She gave me back a wink. Together, they tied me back down on my altar of lust. The ladies were quick to return. Again I endured the caresses of roses, and then someone brought a feather from off their mask into play. I howled and pulled at my binding to get away from that horrid tickling. Panting, I felt something cool drip to my skin. When I looked up, I saw Pink standing over me with something cupped in her hand. Little golden drops were falling from off one side. She slowly let it drip down the whole of my front. She rubbed her hands together and then placed them on me. I moaned as she began to rub the sweet smelling oil into my skin. Then other hands were there applying more oil. I very quickly lost count of how many women were caressing my body, but no place was spared the touch of soft hands. And they were soft! So very different from the hands of my husband. His were strong and hard; his hands would grab and pull. Theirs were small, soft, and they lifted and smoothed. I soon felt like wet dough in their fingers. They had me twisting to allow them even more places to touch. I saw a sparkle out of the corner of my eye. I watched the older woman, Blue, walk around between my legs. For a half second, I saw a long cylinder that sparkled of cut-crystal. The facets, they caught the lights and sent them shimmering. Then the glass thing was pushed up inside me. "Oh, yes!" I opened my leg to allow it deeper. Then, as it went deeper, I felt it thicken! "Oh, my heavens, yes." I felt myself shiver as my lips opened far wider than they ever have before, stretching around the thickening, ridged glass. Then, with it at its full depth, I felt Blue's fingers circling the tight skin, a sensation totally new to me. Like so many others tonight. As I moaned at the pleasure of it, I heard her chuckle. "Want to hold this for me, Pink?" she asked. I watched the younger woman move a hand down to the thing. She gave it a little tug, letting my body push it out, and then she placed it back at depth. "Oh, yes. That feels wonderful." I moaned mindlessly. "I think Miss Innocence is enjoying herself now." I opened my eye to see Lady Black run a hand down my side. Her nails gently scraped my skin. She handed something to Blue. "You do it. I want to watch her face." I looked up into Black's green eyes and saw a desire there that I didn't care for. Then I felt the hands of Blue between my legs again. My bottom cheeks were parted. Long, oil-covered fingers caressed between the cheeks! I flinched and tried to pull away when those fingers crossed the forbidden hole. I shook my head. "Oh please, don't touch me there," I said when they moved back across me harder. "Hush, my dear," said Black. She took a long draw on the thin pipe she held in her hand and leaned forward. Before I could move my face, she kissed me. The smoke poured from her thin, pursed lips past mine, and then her hand was there covering my nose and mouth. I felt the smoke fill my chest with a hot, full feeling. I took a puff off one of my father's rolled cigars once. That horrid taste caused me to gag. This? It was almost sweet. As she moved her hand, I sucked in a breath, and the smoke went even deeper. I coughed out a puff, and then I tasted a strange flavor in my mouth. I couldn't place anything that it was close to but...what was I...What was I thinking about? I felt like the hands on me turned to fur, and the oil seemed to warm under their touch. I gave my hips a lift and pushed against the wonderful thing of glass that sat so very deep inside me. I saw the grin on Pink's face, and I smiled back at her. The fingers against my hidden place suddenly didn't feel so bad now. I moved a little, and I felt them circle me there. I lifted my head and looked down at the Lady Blue. She gave me a lust-filled look, and then her fingers were parting my bottom cheeks wider. The first thought that I was going to be penetrated back there came through with a hazy sense of wonder. Then, moments after the cool touch, I felt "something" slip into me an inch, and the floating feeling started to quickly fade. "No!" I moaned out as she pushed that "something" deeper into me. Clinching against it, I could feel the super slick surfaces of it and I guessed it was another of the glass things. These toys made to replace a man's parts. But back there? Oh, I tried to get myself away from it as it went deeper. Then the Lady Black was back in my face. She again blew my open mouth full of the smoke from her pipe. I tried to stop her from holding my face again, but she easily defeated that. My lungs filled with the sweet smoke, I felt its effects again. Stronger this time. I suddenly wondered what all the fuss I was making was for. I just relaxed. My breath went out in a gasp when Black moved her hand, and the Lady Blue pushed the thing into me fully. It felt like it popped in! It suddenly became slimmer after the middle part. More filled than I have ever been, I rolled my head from side to side, trying to deny the wonderful feeling that was starting to build again. I watched the Lady Pink move around and look between my legs. I noticed then that Blue was smiling at her. "Just like you did for me." With her hand on Pink's shoulder, she guided the younger woman downward. "Just be gentle with the little nub. She will enjoy it if you lick around the toy as well." "Oh please." I mumbled when Pink lowered herself down and placed her mouth upon me. Her tongue was suddenly everywhere. The little button, across the shaved places, down around where the glass toy had me spread open so very wide. I felt a bit of pressure and realized that Blue was lightly popping the end of the thing she had put in me from behind. I gasped with every tap! I watched Lady Black lean down to my nipple and then I winced as she bit harder than anyone ever had before. If not for the sucking mouth of Pink, I would have been screaming in pain. As it was, the moans leaving me were not just from pain. Then the thing in my cunny was moved nearly out of me and just as quickly pushed back in! Over and over I moaned, begged and cried out as these three women went to work to make me spend for their pleasure. There were other hands on me still, but I found myself focused on these three alone. The pain of Black, the deep filled sensations of Blue and the soft, yet frenzied, licking and sucking of Pink. I was awash in colors! I blessed and cursed the bands of silk that held me. If free, I would have pushed the women away. I thanked all that was holy that I was not. I wanted this to go on forever! Hands on my legs, oily fingers held my cheeks wide. Strong, slick fingers massaged my breast. The sucking and nibbling of Lady Black's mouth went from breast to breast. "The nub!" I screamed to Pink, as she moved her mouth down towards the toy. She went back to the point of the most pleasure and sucked harder upon me. "Oh, I love all of you!" I cried out as I felt it start. I loved the sound of their soft laughter. Their efforts seemed to double, and I felt the tears running down my face. I clutched at the hands holding tight to mine. My legs were untied, lifted and then spread incredibly wide. The two wonderful pieces of glass were then given to separate hands to control, and I felt myself being worked to a far more open state in both places. I screamed when the wider section was pulling out in the back, then driven back in. The pain would be horrible except for the feeling of Pink's mouth. She moved when my legs were undone and now hovered over me from the side, sucking me and licking just the little nub like a woman possessed. That was what they were! They were possessed! But not by some horrible vision of evil from the Good Book. Rather they had been taken by the old pagan god of the Romans. I could all but hear the hooves of Pan, his pipes playing softly in the roses, and I felt myself opened fully to the rhythm of his playing. The ladies plunged the glass toys into me freely, not caring if I moaned, cried, or screamed. I didn't care either. Let them split me! Break me! Leave me torn to twain I cared not! I shook my head and sent screams of pleasure and demands for more up from the very depths of my lust-filled heart. As I shivered and shook my way through dozens of quivers, they did not give me any pause. On and on they drove me harder and harder. I saw the snow on the distant ceiling, the white on glass, sparking blinks from the lights in the Rosarium. They blazed up, then died down into a soft darkness. They took me with them... into that little death. How long I passed without thought I knew not, of course. I was sure when I woke that it was several minutes. I had been untied and there was a sore, slack feeling in me that told of the removal of the items of glass pleasure. Turning my head I saw them sitting on the iron table. The little bed of coals had been replenished with more and one of the maids was placing shavings of chocolate into the iron pot. A Night of Chocolate and Roses I turned away, my mind failing to take in the meaning behind the vision my eyes were giving me. I saw Molly, knelt down, level almost with the table, bathing my skin with her soft sponge. Seeing my eyes, she smiled. "Went for a little nap did you, ma'am? It's a wonderful thing when that happens, isn't it? Well, I've about got you put to right again." She looked up, and I saw the Lady Sionly looking down at her. "She's alright my Lady. Just been dreaming is all." "That's wonderful," she said with a smile to me. "Bind her back when you are done." "Yes, ma'am." "And angle the table. She needs to taste for herself the wonders of a woman's passion." "Yes, my Lady," said Molly. As her fingers went to work around my ankle, the Lady of Roses, walked away to where Lady Black was laying reclined, smoking. That view was blocked as Molly came round to by my head. "Sorry about this. I had hoped they might not want this. All the blood's going to rush to your pretty, little head." She ducked under the table and I felt the table shifting. I quickly understood what she meant as my feet rose and my head lowered. I was soon lying on an incline. When Molly stood up, I noticed I was more on level with her waist. I saw then that the little black skirt she wears had nothing under it now to hide her shaved sex. Why that suddenly seemed inappropriate, given that I had been bare under the stars for half the night, I could not fathom. For a few moments, I was left to lie there. I listened to the soft sounds that filled the garden. Moans of pleasure, a little gasp that might have been pain. The music was a drifting of instruments that gave birth to a song that may have had no name, but filled the whole of me with soft warmth. I squirmed when I felt rose petals on the bottoms of my feet. The little giggle belonged to Pink. I could tell that by now. When she spoke she had a slight slur to her words that I attributed to drink, but there was also now a confidence there that she didn't have when I heard her first speak. "Will she taste me?" I heard her ask. When I heard the Lady Sionly answer, I knew whom she was speaking to. "She is not as experienced as the Lady Blue was for you earlier. She has never done that, so she might not be as enjoyable at first. She will learn quickly, with some... genteel persuasion." I watched the young Pink walk around to stand by my head. The light dress she once wore was long gone to hang over some chair. Bare as myself save for the strip of ribbon and her mask, she looked down at my face and smiled. "Please, Miss Innocence. Do this for me. I want to know that mine is your first." I couldn't quite figure out what she was wanting till she moved around above me. I saw her pale white thighs come around the side of my head and then my nose brushed across her sex as she straddled my face! "Oh, dear heavens, no." I tried to say, but my words came out as a mumble buried in her flesh! There was a wet smothering feeling to the contact, was my first thought, then there was a slight musk smell, mixed with perfume...maybe a hint of rose water from when the maid cleaned her. Then I felt an almost oily feeling brush my mouth as she moved her lips against mine! "It's her juices!" I thought, the inner part of me screaming that this could not be happening. My mouth could not touch a woman there! I was not like these women! "Is she licking you?" I just did hear Lady Sionly ask. The warm softness of Pink's thighs was all but closing my ears to sounds. "No. I can't feel her tongue at all," said the young girl, her disappointment carried with every word. I got one warning drop of heat. Then a whole ladle of melted chocolate was poured over my cunny! I screamed, but the sound was muffled. "Lick her, Miss Innocence! She wishes it, and I desire you to do it. Remember your cause and apply yourself." The Lady's words were in a tone of command. Like Queen's Guard, the words expected obedience. Panting, I moved my face to the side to try and beg for this to not happen. Then there was more chocolate poured across me. A living line of fire from one nipple to the next! I fought the bonds, I pulled and tugged. I tried to twist. I lifted myself to try and get away, but that only robbed me of all my air as Pink's wet lips smothered me completely. Heat, after heat, after heat! My tongue went out of my mouth without any controlling though. I felt the folds of skin move around the side of it, and the young girl settled herself down nearer my mouth. "She's doing it!" she said with a fierce joy. "She's licking me!" I heard applause from all around. I realized then that I was again the center of attention. I... "She stopped." Again the single drip was a warning. Then the valley of my hip to the bare shaven skin was deluged with heat! As my scream died out almost unheard and certainly unheeded, I gave up and push my mouth up into the slick folds of skin. I drove my tongue as deep into the young woman as I could. The taste was nothing I cared for but nothing bad at the same time. Almost a sweet taste, with a hint of... I couldn't describe it. Like bitter almonds maybe. Kissed with raspberries and crisp as apple. I felt her moan against my face but the sound was hidden by her thighs as they tightened. "Oh, my Lady. She's wonderful at this!" I am? I suddenly wondered what I was doing that she liked. I knew by now what felt good to me when these women had licked me, but I was doing nothing with their familiar skill. I was simply applying my tongue to everything. Then I brushed that little nub at the top. "Oh, she's got my clitty!' "Clitty?" I thought. "Is that what she calls it? I had heard the men mention given the clitty a 'flick and a tickle' and never once thought this nub was what they meant." The vulgar bastards. "I truly am Miss Innocence," I thought, as I moved my face to get a bit of air. Again her... clitty... came to my mouth. Remembering what it felt like when she was licking me, I took it between my lips and gently sucked upon it. Like I would have to a finger pin-stuck while sewing. Her hands dropped down, and I felt them smear the chocolate across my breasts. She gave little tugs at my nipples that hurt, but didn't at the same time. I could tell she was making a mess across my chest, but I knew Molly wouldn't have to sponge it off. There must have been a half dozen or more of the women who suddenly descended onto me, licking everywhere that the chocolate had gone. I was feeling tongues, lips, and even teeth lashing the whole of me. Then even more chocolate was poured, always into the most tender of places. When I felt my lower lips were spread and held open, I tried to shake my head but couldn't move. Pink's thighs were too tight. I thought I had known heat. I thought that the warm shock had been awful when it hit my nipples. I let cry a screech when I felt the molten, wet stuff poured into my held-open... cunny! It ran down into me with a blistering fire that brought tears to my eyes. I didn't have to even be able to look to know it was the Lady Black that had done this to me. Her cruel streak had been causing me pain from the start. Then there were fingers dipping into me. I just did hear the sounds of woman moaning approval, as they tasted chocolate and me together. I... had to wonder what that would be like. With my mouth filled with Pink's juices, I suddenly longed to have that super sweet flavor added to it. I managed to get my face moved out from under her for just a second. "May I have some, please?" I begged. The tittering laughter rung out all around me. Then there were fingers full of the warm stuff being passed under the cunny of Pink. I licked at them, my tongue pushing past and into her. Between the fingers, I tasted what the ladies were tasting and had to agree. It was wonderful! I applied my mouth to her now with greedy pleasure, licking and sucking everything I could find. When she ground herself forward, my tongue brushed across a tight, swirl of wrinkles... I didn't even care. There was a feeling of need rising again in my body but this one was different. I felt all warm, like the chocolate had flowed into my very bones and given up its heat. From all directions mouths were on me, licking and tasting and sucking. I moaned nearly continuously as I did my very best to devour the sweet sex of Lady Pink. There was a sudden trembling to her thighs, a shuddering spasm that shook the whole of my head. Her body was brought down onto my mouth, depriving me of the little air I was getting. I tried to push her up, but with only my nose, chin and tongue, there was little chance that I would dislodge her. I licked all the harder, feeling her shaking. "I need to breathe!" I thought as I found her clit in the wet mess of chocolate and folds of skin. I sucked it in between my lips, and the cry that she gave out reached even my muffled ear. "Oh, Lady! YES! Oh... Please... let this never stop!" She shook and moaned, and then I gasped for a quick breath as she leaned forward across me. I heard giggles and a few protests as she made the other women move. Then her mouth was on me. I could tell the difference from their harsher tongues. Like hers was more given to making me spend than to giving her pleasure in the tasting. I lifted my face into her now. I could have just leaned back and stopped, but I chose to continue sucking and licking at this wonderfully beautiful woman. I lapped at thick juices when they start to weep out from her cunny, as she cried a second time. It had a deeper, somehow darker flavor than what I had been tasting, but with that sweet hint of chocolate still there, I loved it all the more! After a third small shriek from her, I felt her thighs go slack to either side of my face. Her head turned from me and I felt her arms wrap around my waist. That she was crying came to me then. I gave my hand a tug, and someone saw it. I felt the silky ribbons pulled away, and I brought my hand around to touch Lady Pink along her spine. I caressed her back the way I would have a child that woke from a bad dream. A soft petting of calm assurance that I understand. And I did. I understood her tears all too well, this woman behind the mask. She knew, as I did, that the incredible pleasures we had felt and shared were but fleeting moments in a life where our sex was forbidden such by the other. Told silly things by even the doctors that tend to us. I held her to me, and suddenly, I wished I had to never turn her lose. My whole reason for coming here and doing this faded. I didn't care now about what drove me to do this. I wanted more. I wanted a lifetime of it. I felt my own tears cutting pathways through the chocolate smears on my face. "Come, my dears. Let's get you all cleaned up," said the Lady Sionly with a soft, gentle voice. Like your mother would use to comfort you after a skinned knee or a bad dream. Like I've used many a time with my own daughters. As Pink was assisted up from me, she suddenly dropped to her knees, and her face hovered, reversed, just above mine. "Thou art my love, and I am thine. I drew thee to be my Valentine." Her eyes still wet with tears, she brushed the wet strands of my hair back from my face. I looked up into her eyes and smiled as she completed the verse. "The lot was cast, and then I drew, and fortune said it should be you." Her lips touched mine in a gentle, soft kiss. There was a passion there I had never known. I returned it fully till it ended. Hugging myself with one arm, I watched Lady Blue lead her away with a strong feeling of jealously. Molly was there then. She set the table to right. Her fingers worried the knot from my left wrist, then with a smile, she helped my shaky legs carry me to the little screened-in loo. I had a fierce need for the use of such and for a drink. She, unasked, had it waiting when I come out. Water...no melted snow. It washed my sore throat with a cool embrace that I gave a sigh for. Sitting down, I let her clean me. So covered in a stain of brown I was, I could have been mistaken for mulatto, I thought, as I watched her washing the chocolate away. It took her some time to clean me, as it was everywhere. And I mean everywhere! I finally had to again make use of the loo to get the last of it from me, and I was still sure I smelled of it for days to come. "The Lady said that she thinks you have done your duty for one night. She said to go have you some of the food from the tables and to have a bit to drink. She wants you to relax till the last guests leave." Molly looked up at the garden. "Maybe a few hours till then though. Some are just now coming down from chasing the dragon. They will want to sample a few things they have missed out on. Anyway, the milady said you're off the entertainment list for the night." I gave a tired nod. Molly smiled and leaned into me. Her lips were a soft peck, but it brought a smile to my face. The saucy little flirt. "Told you it wasn't going to be bad now, didn't I?" she said with a grin. Smiling, I nodded. She gave me a soft pat and a second kiss that lasted a bit longer. "I've got to go help the other maids. You made a right mess of a good dozen ladies, you did!" she told me with a reproachful tone. Chuckling, I watched the curve of her bottom, just hidden under her skirt as she walked away. "The garden is quieter now," I thought as I walk back out to the others. The table sat, looking so very innocent. Hardly at all like what it was. A place of pleasure and pain in near equal measure. Turning, I picked up some fruits from one of the small tables and drifted over to one of the softly padded divans. Leaning back, I lay, uncaring that I was naked to the eyes of everyone. Other than the maids, there was hardly a single stitch of clothing upon anyone. Well, other than the ribbons. Red, Green, Purple, I hunted, among the many colors of the garden, Yellow, Orange, Violet. I searched among the ribbons and roses from the one of perfect hue. I saw her then, my lovely Pink. She was sitting on a pillow with her head leaned back against the divan chair that held the more plump, Lady Blue. The older woman was brushing Pink's face with a long rose. I could see that both ladies were at the point of exhaustion, like myself. I wondered then just how many times Blue had come to these gatherings? I knew without asking that it was Pink's first time here, but the older lady? She had been directing the action around me, telling ladies what and how to do the wonderful and pleasurable things that were done. How many times? How many Valentine's Nights has she been here to guide these younger women through this night of Sapphic pleasure. What must she have been like without that mask? A mother? A family matron? She looked up and caught my eyes. She gave me a smile, and leaning down, said something softly to Pink. I watched her hand go to the blue ribbon at her neck, and she did something to it. Then Pink was on her feet. She leaned down and kissed Blue tenderly. I watched the way the young woman kept her eyes from me as she crossed the garden to where I lay reclined. She knelt down onto one of the dozens of pillows that ringed the seat. "Blue said to give you this." Into my open hand was placed the small, cut stone. I looked up from it to its twin hanging on Pink's little ribbon, then across the garden to Lady Blue. The older woman had gotten to her feet and was clearly making her goodbye to Lady Sionly. She saw me and smiled. I smiled back and nodded. "Sit here with me, Pink," I said, moving enough for the younger woman to sit down. I realized then that though I was calling her younger she was, in truth, but a year or so less than my own age. Looking down, I saw the lighter band of skin around her finger where her wedding ring normally sat. It was not as pale as my own. I cuddled the younger woman in my arms and just held her. When her face turned to me, I looked into her eyes and wished that her mask wasn't there. I wanted to see those eyes without it. I wanted... Leaning in I placed a kiss upon the woman's mouth. I did it of my own choosing. I felt her smile as our lips touched. She seemed to melt into me ever so very softly. My hand went to the ruby hanging from her pink ribbon. I brushed from the ribbon across her breast. The points of her breast were far darker than my own. As I touched her there, she moaned and wiggled herself even closer to me. "Happy St. Valentine's Day, Miss Innocence," she said to me softly by my ear. I chuckled. "I'm hardly innocent anymore my dear, Pink," I said with a smile. "Let in the maid, that out a maid never departed more," she said with a soft grin. "Well then what should I call you?" she asked, looking up at my face. After a second I lifted my hand with the little red stone, the match...no... the mate to hers. "Ruby," I told her softly, showing her the stone. I hid the shiver when I heard the name spoken. Placing the stone on the table, I ran a hand down her body and my fingers dipped into her. They explored where my tongue went not so long before. She moaned a bit at my touch, then gave a little shake of her head. "I can't call you that. I have a... friend... that has that name. It would feel too...strange. Though... I have at times wished I could lie with her like we are now," she confessed to me. She leaned her head into my breast and snuggled her face into my skin. That simple act, so nearly childlike, awakened the protective mother in me. I buried my cheek against her soft hair and just listened to her breathe. Holding her to me, I brushed her curls back from where it has gotten caught on her mask. As I caress it out the way I notice a little dark mole, just by her ear. My breath caught in my throat as I realized that she did indeed know a... Ruby. A Ruby Upton. And that I knew who my little Pink was! For one night, more than a year ago, she and I had sat together talking in the dining room. While my husband James and his younger brother Tomas in the sitting room, along with a few of their male friends, drank brandy and smoked their foul smelling cigars. The little conversation we had when she asked me for the secrets to getting with child. She desired to have one with all her heart. That one time was all I ever saw of her. Till now. "Happy Lupecalia," I said to her softly, knowing the reason that brought her here. At least one of them. I held my brother's little wife to me and listened to the soft sounds of the garden as revelers slowly drifted away. I let my fingers just rest atop her sex. Enjoying the warm, wet feeling of her. I... I swallowed against the feelings that had risen in me. Forbidden feeling about things I knew I could never have. That this world of men and their silly rules wouldn't let me have. I gave my fingers a twitch. I smiled when she moaned. With a soft motion of my fingers, I just listened to her as I moved my hand. I kissed her mouth when she looked up at me. With a delicate interweaving of tongues, I gave her every bit of love that I would ever be able to show her. I loved it when she started to pant, and I clutched her to me when she shivered. "I love you," she told me when her breathing calmed. "And I love you...my little Pink flower." Her eyes crinkled in a secret smile as I came so very close, purely by chance it must seem to her, to calling her by her name. Rose. A Rose, in the rose garden, how very appropriate, I thought as she began to move. "I have to go," she said, sadly. I nodded and stood up. She and I were of a height as I remembered. To kiss someone that doesn't tower over me was a pleasure I fond wonderful. I held her, naked body to naked body, letting these last moments endure. Then I let her slowly go till her last finger slipped out of mine. A Night of Chocolate and Roses "Goodbye... Ruby," she said with a smile. "Goodbye... Pink." I could not but watch her walk away. By the door she turned and waved. After that I sat alone in the garden, suddenly very sad. My eyes went to the table. I almost longed to go and lay myself back down there. I would not be sad then. I wanted suddenly for this night to not be ending. I wanted more. I wanted more! "Ma'am, the Lady said you may go get dressed now if you like. I drew a proper bath so you don't smell like a candy shop." Molly smiled down at me. "Lady Sionly said she will be with you just as soon as the last guest departs." Nodding, I took the robe she handed me. It felt strange suddenly to place clothing upon me. Like what was the need for such. However when I stepped into the hall, the cool night air gave me ample reason. The summer warmth of the Rosarium fled as I made my way up the stairs and into dark, candle-lit halls back to the room I slept in earlier. The bed was made, and my clothes lay neat and cleaned upon its soft, fur-lined coverlet. The bath steamed, and its heat drew me like a flame does a moth. Warm water made more than a few places sting. The most tender of places were where the scorching heat of the chocolate had been applied repeatedly! I would have curse Lady Black if I had known her name to do so. I sank into the tub and had to fight the urge to sleep. I was standing by the fire, drying myself, still bare to the world when Lady Sionly walked in with a piece of paper in her hand. I felt a need to cover myself from her eyes. The absurdity of that hit me, but the feeling didn't flee. "Here you are, my dear. The release and my signed acceptance of the credit being paid up till this time next year. Tell your husband I will let him have this little...extension but no others. To get me repaid as soon as he may." she told me all stern business. "Yes, my lady." I held the soft cloth to me. She let her eyes take that in, then sighed. "Well, I will leave you to dress, my dear. When you free him tonight he will no doubt want to... have you... to reassert his manhood after being taken like that." She gave her head a tilt. "Remember the old advice. Grip the bed and think of England!" She turned to leave in a perturbed mood. "Lady Sionly?" I called after her just before she reached the door. She slowly turned to look at me. "Yes, my dear Mrs. Upton?" "Can...can I come back? " I asked softly. "Be Miss Innocence again?" A soft smile made its way to her lips. The little wrinkles by her eyes lifted and crinkled. She walked back over to stand in front of me. I took a hesitant step back, and felt the hot warmth of the fire on my bare bottom. "You can never be Miss Innocence again, my lovely. That is lost to you." she told me after a second's pause. Unexpectedly a tear ran down my cheek as I turned to look away. Her hand came to mine and her fingers take hold of the damp cloth. She pulled it suddenly from between my fingers, causing me to gasp, and let the cloth drop to the floor. Her eyes alight with pleasure, she looked me up and down. "But you will be forever welcome among my... Roses." Her lips touched mine in a kiss so very wonderful I wished it would never end. Her hand brushed my naked cunny then. So very tender there I gasped at her touch. She stepped away from me, her fingers still cupping the naked skin. Looking down she ran her hand across the shaved bare patch. . "Tell your husband you did this for him as a surprise." She smiled and winked. "When you go get him tonight." I caught her hand as she went to walk away. "I'll go get him in the morning." I told her, looking into her beautiful eyes. I loved the smile on her face as I led her to the bed. * (I would like to thank patientlee and NaokoSmith for their editing and help with 'English' style and tone. Any mistakes you find I still claim as my own.) * I was advised to post an appendix to this story to explain a few terms I used that are no longer in common usage. Sponging house- When you got into debt you were arrested, but not taken to jail. Instead you were held for days or weeks while being grilled (Think modern police interrogation methods) for people that could loan you money to pay your debt. A very early form of collections agency, Tapped- What it was called when you were taken by the bailiffs. They would 'tap' your shoulder with a stick, and you would do well to go quietly. Celestial- A rude name for a person of oriental heritage. Really more of an American term but it became popular in the media around Europe at the time frame of the story. "Under the Rose" - Was a phrase used to say "keeping something secret". "Beyond the pale" - Was used to say something was "unacceptable" Docker- A man in 1800s England that worked at the shipping docks unloading cargo. More of a common laborer. Spend- Was a term used for orgasm before the word orgasm in common usage appeared. If you have any others that gave you problems, PM me, and I will try to explain.