A Devil Named DeVere (The Devil DeVere) (25 page)

Garbed in a
simple gown in a mode worn by the better class of servants, Diana concealed her face behind a heavy veil and exited covertly through the mews where she hailed a hackney coach.

When she gave the driver the address, a notorious gentlemen's domain of King's Place, St. James, she noted an instantaneous shift in the driver's manner from respectful to familiarity bordering insolence. Refusing to acknowledge his lascivious leer, she closed the door in his face and directed her gaze out the opposite window. When the coach lurched forward, Diana suspected he meted out his vengeance by aiming for every pothole in the road.

When they finally arrived, she noted his hesitation to assist her down. He offered a black-toothed grin that made her skin crawl. "O' course, ye can always keep 'yer tuppence in exchange for a tup."

Careful to avoid his face, she retrieved the proper fare from her purse and dropped it wordlessly into his hand.

"Suit yerself," he grumbled, adding, "Uppity whore," at her departing back.

Already shaken, Diana was unsure what would greet her behind the massive portal of the infamous brothel, but the liveried footman who answered maintained the same wooden countenance as in any well-heeled establishment.

Her second surprise came upon entering the vestibule. She had expected cheap and tawdry, but what greeted her was plush opulence—marble floors, soaring ceilings, elaborate artworks adorning the walls, and expensive furnishings—an effect worthy of royalty. Compared to her surroundings and what she had seen of the exotic Salime, she felt gauche and self-conscious in her drab and inconspicuous clothing.

"Have you an appointment, madam?" the footman asked.

"I do not, but I wish to speak with one of your...er...residents. Her name is Salime."

"Your name, madam?" he asked.

"I wish to remain anonymous, but you may convey that I am an acquaintance of Lord DeVere. I believe he is a frequent patron here."

"He is a most honored guest at this establishment," the footman acknowledged. "If you will be pleased to follow me, I will inquire of the proprietress, Mrs. Hayes, whether Madam Salime is receiving." He led Diana into a small sitting room done
in gilt and soft blue pastel. "Do you care for refreshment?" he asked.

"No, thank you," she replied nervously, clutching her handkerchief.

"Very well." He departed with a stiff bow.

After only a few minutes, Diana turned toward the swishing sound of silk. A painted and patched woman of middling years made her entrance with the confident hauteur of a duchess. "I am Mrs. Hayes, the proprietress of this establishment." She smiled, the white paint on her face accentuating the yellow of her teeth. "I understand you are an acquaintance of my Lord DeVere?"

"Yes," Diana replied.

"I am, of course, honored to receive any friend of my lord. Is there something special you seek? I have several strapping fellows in my employ who are both well-equipped and eager to satisfy the poor, neglected women of the ton."

"My business is with Madam Salime," Diana said.

Mrs. Hayes gaze narrowed with speculation. "So you are the one."

"Pardon me?"

"Our Jewel of the East had said there was one who had the
potential to capture the elusive viscount. I wonder now what is hidden behind that veil of yours."

"You may wonder all you like, but my identity is not your concern."

"Ah, but you seek something from me, do you not? This is a house of both business and pleasure, you understand. Perhaps we can come to an arrangement?"

"You wish me to pay you just to speak to her?"

"One hundred guineas per hour for Salime," the bawd said with an avaricious gleam in her eye.

"But I only need a moment," Diana protested.

"Salime's time is exceedingly valuable."

"So she said," Diana replied wryly, wondering if she even had enough coin to procure the brief interview she sought. "I have but ten guineas." She opened her purse.

"That will buy you precisely seven minutes, my dear."

"Seven minutes?" Diana sighed. "So be it then." She gave the madam the ten gold coins, and Mrs. Hayes promptly beckoned to the footman. "Jenkins, take her to Salime."

***

The footman opened the door to a large and exotic room much like DeVere's private apartments, only in this case, a
scantily clad woman reclined on the divan, the stem of a hookah between her teeth. She took a slow pull before casting a lazy gaze toward Diana.

"So you come at last." Her lip curled with insolence.

"Yes. I have come regarding your proposal," Diana said stiffly.

"Come." Salime gestured her to the divan. "You will smoke with me."

"I don't smoke," Diana said. "What is it?"

"Opium," Salime replied. "It relaxes the body and opens the mind." She offered Diana the pipe. "You are sadly in need of both."

Diana scowled.

"You will smoke if you wish to speak with me," Salime insisted.

"Very well," Diana snapped, taking in a brisk and choking puff that made her lungs burn and her eyes sting. She threw down the pipe with a glower.

Salime gave her a glassy-eyed smirk. "You must learn patience and to wait for instruction." She offered the stem to Diana once more. "Slowly, gently, draw it into your lungs as if you inhale the fragrance of a delicate flower."

When Diana repeated her attempt, she choked less violently. Within minutes, a peculiar languor settled over her.

"Much better," Salime remarked, settling herself back on the silk cushions. "Now we talk."

"Several weeks ago, you made me an offer—"

"One you snubbed with your English arrogance."

"It was with no disrespect to you, madam."

"No?" Salime looked dubious.

"You don't understand how it is between he and I. We have a history, one that ended badly."

"For both of you, I think. Yet he still desires you
, Khunam
."

"Yes," Diana replied. "He has made it clear, but it's only a matter of vanity, because I snub him."

"I think not," Salime said. "For
Effendi
is a man of great pride, but this reaches deeper. But now you change your mind?"

"Perhaps," Diana answered. "You said you could teach me things. You said 'it is
he
who would soon be enslaved, heart and soul—prostrate at your feet!' I wish to learn what you meant by this."

Salime gifted her with a secretive smile. "You wish to make him wet clay in your hands?"

"Yes. I agreed to a wager and lost. I now must go to him, but I want it to be on
my
terms. Do you understand that?"

"I understand very well,
Khunam.
But did you not agree to give yourself to him completely?"

"Without condition or constraint," Diana confessed.

"Do you not understand what this means? He desires much more from you than just to be a bedmate. You must seek his pleasure in
all
things."

Diana bridled. "I may agree to go to his bed, but I shall not become his
slave!
"

"But what woman would have agreed to such a wager unless she secretly desired to lose it?"

"I assure you I intended no such thing!" Even as she spoke it, Diana wondered at the truth of her own protest.

"It is a dangerous game you wish to play,
Khunam
, for
Effendi
is not without secrets of his own."

"But you will help me?"

Salime nodded.

Diana didn't fully understand why Salime wished to teach her, but she was avowed not to refuse knowledge she could come by in no other way. While she had foolishly wagered and lost, she now had a plan to ensure she would not be the true loser in the end. Four years ago, she had been innocent in the ways of
passion. DeVere had beguiled and seduced her with his dark charm and erotic arts, but now Diana sought the secrets to seduce him in kind.

"I suggest we begin at once," Salime said. "My mornings are my own. Thus you must return tomorrow at nine o'clock. I will speak to Madam Hayes. When she understands for whom this service, your tutelage, is performed, she shall not oppose it, but my services for your tuition in these ways of love shall be procured at no small expense."

The footman rapped upon the door to indicate her time was finished.

"How much?" Diana asked, taking stock of her empty purse.

"I do not speak of gold,
Khanum
, but of something far more valuable that you are sure to lose in this bargain"

"And what, pray, is that?" Diana demanded.

Salime gave her a knowing smile. "Your heart,
Khanum."

Diana had left
Salime the day before feeling empowered by her plan, but in returning to the brothel, she approached a crisis of confidence. Should she really go through with this? Did she truly have the fortitude for it? The questions filled her with a mixture of trepidation and excitement—for the exotic and the erotic together held such a powerful allure.

While the same wooden-faced footman tended the door, this time, Mrs. Hayes greeted her with cloying sweetness. "My dear," she said, "you do not know how very fortunate you are! I have begged, pleaded, and cajoled my most prized gem, Salime, to share her secrets with her sisters in pleasure, but she has been unmoving in her refusal...until you."

"I am honored by her condescension," Diana replied.

"You must play close heed, for should you master the arts of the East, you could command such a pretty price." The bawd's eyes gleamed.

"You think I wish to profit from it?"

"What woman would not? There would always be a place for you here, my dear. You should consider it."

"I fear you misunderstand. I am here for a sole purpose, a personal one."

"But, my dear, every man's interest
eventually
wanes. You would do well to remember that."

"I shall," Diana said tightly. "And while I appreciate your generous offer, I have no interest."

"The offer will stand," Mrs. Hayes answered with a smugness that Diana chose to ignore.

"I pray you will excuse me now, madam, for I would hate to keep Salime waiting."

***

Diana entered Salime's apartments to find her without the hookah.
"Effendi
enjoys many traditions of the East,
Khanum,
" she explained without prelude. "The hookah, as you know, is one of these; the Oriental dance and the hammam are two others."

"Hammam?" Diana regarded her blankly.

"The Turkish bath."

"And why are his hygiene habits relevant?"

Salime made an exasperated noise. "Have you no understanding? The hammam is a ritual, a purification of body and spirit."

"Why is this important?"

"Because you will attend him there. You will cleanse and massage his body and give him pleasure."

"In the bath? Is that not a job for a manservant? I told you I have no wish to be his slave."

"How can you be so ignorant of the ways of the flesh? The massage I would teach you, it is not only to relax the body, but to arouse. If done correctly, you have the power to bring
Effendi
to the very pinnacle of rapture, a release like no other."

"You have done this before?
To him
?"

Salime smiled. "I often attend him in the hammam."

Diana wished she hadn't asked. The image of this woman so intimately touching him, pleasuring him, burned into her brain and made her seethe with an irrational jealousy that was hard to shake off.

"You will disrobe," Salime commanded.

Diana stared at her in incomprehension.

"Disrobe," she repeated. "How else can I teach you anything? Or do you wish me to call in a servant of this house to demonstrate? Of course we must come to that soon, but it will not be without cost. Madam will expect payment."

"You wish to demonstrate on
me
? Is there no other way?" she asked. While Diana was accustomed to being dressed and bathed by a maid, she was loath to expose herself to this worldly woman.

"No,
Khanum.
How can you understand that which you do not know? You must see and feel it to fully comprehend the power over both the mind and the body that lies in skilled hands."

"I will require assistance," Diana said, choking down her qualms. "I cannot manage my laces and stays."

Salime made an impatient sound and spun Diana around, making swift work of both garments. While Diana shrugged out of her gown and stays, Salime retrieved a glass bottle and a large cloth. "It is almond oil," she answered Diana's questioning look. "Most soothing to the body, but it must be heated in a bucket of warm water. Your shift," she commanded, "remove it." She indicated the divan. "Lie there. On your stomach."

Diana proceeded to do as she was bid, feeling strangely unnerved. Salime, however, moved efficiently and impersonally, positioning her body with her head resting on a pillow and her arms down by her side. "You will close your eyes and breathe deeply," she directed. "You must concentrate only on the feel of my hands, what they do when they touch your body. You will memorize this,
Khanum,
for I do this for you only
once.
"

Diana felt the first strokes of warmed, oiled hands on her lower legs, ankles, and feet. The feel of a closed fist on her soles sent a ripple all the way to her belly. The kneading of her lower muscles seemed to work inwardly to penetrate her insides and fill her lower body with a wonderful languor. The sensation moved upward, and her body continued to relax and grow heavy, giving itself up fully to the magical ministrations of Salime's expert hands.

"You see,
Khanum
?" Salime kneaded and molded Diana's back and shoulders. "The massage brings mind and body to a state of unity and peace."

Diana almost moaned her agreement. "I do see. One could so easily put another to sleep in this way."

"Most effectively...if
that
is the goal."

"And if arousal is the object?" Diana asked over her shoulder.

"Then the massage must quickly focus on the areas to be aroused," Salime answered, moving to Diana's buttocks. "This is a most sensitive place to begin such attentions, especially in the man,
Khanum
. There are hidden areas of heightened sensation to be explored—"

Diana abruptly sat up. "It is too much. I am uncomfortable
with this."

"As you wish." Salime stepped away with a shrug. "You may go now."

"Go?"

"Yes. There is no purpose in remaining when you refuse what I teach. I waste no more time." She retrieved Diana's discarded shift and threw it at her.

Diana pulled it hastily over her head. "It's not that... it's just that...we are two women."

"So?" Salime said.

"I am unaccustomed to such intimate touch," Dian explained. "I think I should prefer to watch."

"While that may be arranged,
Khanum
, it is not enough just to watch. As with any art, it must be practiced to develop skill, but any gentleman here will likely wish you to participate."

The notion filled Diana with distaste. After a moment, she asked, "You said you frequently attend Lord DeVere in the hammam. Could it be arranged for me to attend him with you? Perhaps incognito? You know I do not wish to touch another man, so this is the way you must teach me."

Salime answered with a slow nod. "It could be done if that is your wish,
Khanum.
" Salime proceeded across the room to an ornately carved ebony box, retrieving from within an object wrapped in blue velvet. She opened the cloth to reveal what appeared to be an artificial phallus, large, slightly curved, and intricately carved of ivory. "But you must practice with this." She presented the object to Diana. "Do you wish me to demonstrate?"

Diana nodded, too shocked to speak.

"Sit then." Salime lowered herself to a cushion on the floor and indicated Diana should do the same. "This is the
kamış
, a most magnificent organ of pleasure. It is perfectly made for worship with your hands, your mouth, and your
kılıf.
"

"
Kilif?
"

"Your woman's sheath.
The control of which is another skill you must master."

"What do you mean?"

"You must learn to relax the body and squeeze only the muscles inside the
kilif
. If you learn this command of your inner muscles, you will command both his pleasure...and your own. Use your fingers or use the phallus to practice this skill. The most expert of women can bring a man to completion simply by milking his
kamış
with her
kilif
alone. Master this, and he will belong to you and no other."

"You have done this?" Diana asked.
With him?

"Never with
Effendi
," Salime answered the unvoiced question.

The notion that DeVere exercised at least some discretion with his various consorts gave Diana some small satisfaction. She
had
known the wonder of his
kamış
in her
kilif,
and she found the thought of doing so again uncontrollably arousing. While initially disgruntled about losing the wager, Diana now reasoned that there was no harm in enjoying the penalty—as long as
she
remained in control. Thus, she listened and watched raptly, resolved to master all of what Salime shared.

"When we go to the hammam, he will lie on the hot marble, and you will begin the massage with hands prepared with warm oil. You will knead, soothe, and rub, working slowly and deliberately from feet to neck and then back to the buttocks where you will linger with increasing intimacy.

"When he is thoroughly relaxed, he will turn over onto his back, and you will repeat the motions, rubbing the warm oil into his skin, advancing slowly toward the inner thighs and lower belly. Do this well and without touching the pleasure organ, and you will have him in a state of full arousal, heightened to an increased intensity as he anticipates your touch upon his
kamış.

"
You will firmly massage the bone above the
kamış
and then attend to his
testis,
kneading gently, for some men are very sensitive while others enjoy firmer handling. Behind his
testis,
use smooth downward strokes toward the 'sacred spot'. Circle and probe gently with your fingers, for mastering this technique affords him pleasure and can also be used to forestall emission. Do you comprehend,
Khanum
?"

"Yes, I follow you," Diana replied.

"To massage the
kamış,
place one hand just so." Salime wrapped her fingers firmly around the base of the phallus. "Gently squeeze and pull upward, sliding completely off. Repeat with the other hand, squeezing and pulling. Slowly. Sliding completely off. Continue on, and after a time, change directions, sliding your hand downward. When his breathing quickens, change the technique again, taking the
kamış
between both hands and rubbing it briskly back and forth, as if to start a fire." She handed the object to Diana. "You do it."

The artificial phallus was hard and smooth yet warm in her hands from Salime's touch. Diana closed her eyes and imagined it was DeVere, an image that heated her insides, exciting a place that had been dormant far too long.

"When his excitation increases again, you must massage the head with the palm of your hand," Salime instructed, demonstrating with a rotation of her wrist. Diana repeated the motion as if she were juicing a lemon. "The variation of these techniques will bring him closer and closer to
boşalma,
but if you feel the hardening of the
testis,
you must forestall this event by either moving to the sacred spot or by squeezing and holding the tip of the
kamış
.

"If you hold back his
boşalma
six times, his final emission will be powerful and his rapture intense and complete." Salime regarded her steadily. "I can instruct you in the ways of pleasure,
Khanum
, but when the time comes, you must be prepared to do
all
as I teach you."

"You do not waste your time, Salime."

"Also understand that I do this not for you but only for
Effendi,
for his happiness."

"I understand," Diana said.

Salime regarded Diana with narrowed eyes. "We shall see. Come now." She rose and led Diana into an adjacent dressing room littered with silk scarves and various articles of richly embroidered clothing. Sizing Diana up, she handed her a pair of diaphanous, Turkish trousers in violet with a matching silver-embroidered tunic, a type of girdle ornamented with bronze coins, and a pair of slippers with silver bells. "Put those on. You must learn to dance."

After an hour of intense instruction that made every muscle in Diana's body scream, Salime remarked, "You dance with the grace and agility of a gravid camel! You must practice and come back tomorrow. You have much to learn."

"Of course," Diana said with humility. The dance Salime had performed with its rhythmic hip gyrations and obscenely erotic undulations had amazed and mesmerized her. She could easily imagine the seductive power of such a dance and wanted desperately to master it.