centre of the room she addressed them all. ‘As I have already informed Miss Sanders, the outcome of this evening will determine if she gets to stay on the fifth floor.’ The manageress looked directly at Jess, ‘You will need to impress me. If you don’t, if you fail to throw off the last few reservations you have about the life we lead here, then you will be replaced, not just here, but downstairs as well.’
Jess’s stomach churned. She felt both sick and excited as she listened, her pussy twitching in expectation.
‘Master Philips and Miss Sarah here have both survived similar experiences. Many others have not.’
Chewing her bottom lip, Jess’s eyes darted from Miss Sarah to Lee. They had known something like this would happen, but neither had said anything. Yet she still wasn’t sure what “this” was, and how it could be her test when Mr Wheeler was the one so obviously incarcerated.
‘Mr Wheeler is learning a lesson of his own.’ Mrs Peters seemed to be reading Jess’s mind again. ‘The test, however, is yours. If you pass this, you’ll face one final challenge ... if not, well, I’m happy to recommend you to another hotel as a clerk. In that area, at least, you are capable.’
Her boss’s compliment had all the barbs of an insult, and Jess was determined to pass this test, whatever it was. Now she’d accepted the fact that she couldn’t go back to life alone with a vibrator, she wasn’t even sure a regular boyfriend would be enough any more.
Jess’s new acceptance of her situation however, didn’t make her any more confident when it came to being face to face with three other more experienced people, all of whom were watching her intently, and would be totally indifferent to her failure.
‘Miss Sarah, could you assist me please?’ Mrs Peters stretched out a hand, into which her assistant immediately placed her cane, before standing respectfully behind her superior’s shoulders awaiting instructions.
‘Miss Sanders, I would like you to fetch the stool from the desk, and place it directly in front of Mr Wheeler.’
Jess found her hands shaking as she lifted the wooden seat and placed it before the captive.
‘Now, I’d like you to remove his blindfold.’
Again Jess obeyed, taking care to be gentle as the tethered man was granted his sight. As he acclimatised himself to the subdued lighting, she stared into his blinking eyes trying to gain his sympathy, but instead she saw rage, and a deep hot lust which both fired her own desires and chilled her to the bone.
Mrs Peters laughed, ‘If you’re looking to Mr Wheeler for understanding Miss Sanders, then I fear you are looking in the wrong place. The poor man has been kept on the edge of climax for almost three hours now, and I don’t think he’ll have the energy or patience to concentrate on anything but getting what his body so badly needs.’
Sam tried to talk, but his gag smothered his words and a spray of frustrated spittle shot from the corners of his mouth.
‘Once Sam tells me what I want to hear, then he’ll be free to join in.’ As she spoke, Laura Peters began to pace the study. ‘Until that time, he will remain imprisoned.’
Jess wondered how he was supposed to make his intentions known when he was muffled, but was sensible enough not to ask. She was also afraid. She’d been frightened and nervous almost every moment since she’d been thrown out of her depth at Fables, but this was different. Jess had no doubt why she’d been asked to place the stool there, and she knew it was going to hurt. She wasn’t sure she could withstand the show they were all about to put on, with her in the victim role, simply so Mr Wheeler would be turned on to the point that he’d give in to whatever demands Mrs Peters made of him.
‘Undress, Miss Sanders.’
Peeling off her blouse and skirt, Jess was suddenly grateful for all the exhausting workouts she’d endured, which had given her more body confidence than she’d ever