Read The Brat and the Master - a BDSM Erotic Novel Online
Authors: Aishling Morgan
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Erotica
‘Don’t panic,’ she advised. ‘Jasmine’s safe and sound.’
‘This is the life,’ Adam sighed as he settled his back against a tree, then lifted his glass to the sunlight to admire the red gleams within the wine. ‘“I forget the name of the place; I forget the name of the girl; but the wine was Chambertin.” Now that
is
a Hilaire Belloc quote, though I can’t help but feel he got his priorities wrong – either that or the girl he was with at the time was notably substandard. In this case, however, the girl is definitely of a standard with the wine.’
Elaine stretched lazily on the grass, then rolled onto her side so that she could see him as she replied.
‘You, Adam Tyler, are a male chauvinist pig.’
‘Do you really think so?’ Adam answered. ‘I’ve always wanted to be one of those.’
‘No, you haven’t. And you’re not one either, not really – just a dirty, greedy little boy.’
‘Thank you very much!’
‘Don’t be offended. Most men are, at heart. I mean, look at you – you’re a scientist, with a brilliant, incisive mind, but what you really like are girls’ bottoms, and boobs, and panties, and spanking.’
She said the last word with such relish that for a moment, Adam wondered if she wasn’t angling to have her own bottom dealt with, but he quickly put the idea aside as no more than the product of his own fantasies. Both her voice and the languid, sensual pose she’d adopted on the grass suggested a drowsy, slightly drunken arousal, but she’d only had one glass of wine and again he was sure his mind was playing tricks on him. Unfortunately, his cock had no such reservations, stiffening rapidly for the way her elegant body moved beneath the clinging blue dress he’d bought her in Dijon the day before. It ended well above her knees, providing a tantalising display of soft, rounded thighs, while it was all too easy to imagine tugging it slowly up to expose the undoubtedly expensive panties she had on beneath before pulling them down to bare her for the spanking he longed to give her and which she seemed to need. He closed his eyes in an effort to put the image out of his head, but she was no less alluring in his mind’s eye than in reality.
‘What I would really like,’ she said, after a long silence, ‘is a swim.’
Adam’s mind immediately raced to the thought of her stepping naked into some beautiful woodland pool and he struggled to keep his voice steady as he answered her.
‘Let’s see what satellite imagery has to offer then, shall we? We’re in limestone country up here, so there won’t be anything nearby, but … there’s a chain of lakes near somewhere called Lacanche, just a few miles away. The smallest looks good, and it’s almost completely surrounded by woods.’
‘Let’s go,’ Elaine answered, and jumped to her feet.
Adam collected the remains of their picnic and followed her to the hire car, his eyes fixed to the rotation of her rear cheeks beneath her dress. As they settled into their seats she gave him a glance full of what could only be mischief, and as they drove deeper into the hills behind Beaune, he was praying nothing would happen to destroy the moment.
Luck was on his side, right down to providing a convenient place to pull off from the road near the lake, which proved to be smaller than he’d imagined and absolutely quiet, with the surrounding trees and the noonday sun creating a hot, calm oasis of solitude.
Elaine wasted no time, kicking off her sandals to dip one toe into the water, then peeling her dress up over her head in a gesture plainly intended to be casual, but which failed to completely hide her nervousness. As Adam had guessed, she was in matching lingerie, a heavy, dove-grey silk and lace set, even finer than he’d expected. She gave him a wan smile as her hands went to the catch of her bra.
‘I suppose it had better all come off,’ she said, as much a question as a statement.
‘It would be a shame to spoil them,’ Adam agreed, trying to sound cool and in control but with no more success than she’d managed.
Elaine responded with a sharp, urgent nod and her bra came open. She began to shake a little as she let the cups fall from her breasts, but she made no effort to cover herself, nor did she when she peeled her panties down. With that she stood nude in front of him, her eyes slightly downcast for a moment, in shame or uncertainty, before she looked up at him to speak.
‘Come on – you too. If we’re going skinny-dipping, it’s only fair.’
Adam had been drinking the Chambertin from the bottle as he’d watched her strip, and he took a moment to savour the final mouthful before putting his fingers to the buttons of his shirt, deliberately tormenting her. She didn’t react, standing with her hands on her hips as she watched, but her nipples were stiff and he couldn’t help but notice that she was freshly shaved between her legs. That suggested she’d anticipated going naked in front of him, although possibly only to allow him to masturbate while she posed for him, as she had done every night since that first time in Lille.
‘You’re going to have to excuse the state you get me into,’ he remarked as he pushed down his trousers and pants.
Elaine nodded, her eyes flicking to his half-erect cock as it came bare, then back up to his face.
‘You do get hard for me easily, don’t you?’ she asked, as if seeking affirmation.
‘Always,’ he answered. ‘I can’t help it.’
‘I’m glad,’ she said, and before he could answer, she’d already dived into the water.
Adam stripped off what remained of his clothing as fast as he could and followed, only to end up gasping and foundering in the water as he discovered how cold it was, and how deep. Elaine was already well out from the shore and laughed to see his reaction, which he took as fair provocation to give chase. She gave a squeak of alarm as he struck out after her, diving below the surface in such a way that, for one glorious moment, he was presented with a clear view of the full, wet moon of her bottom with the clear water cascading down between her cheeks and over her cunt.
She swam fast, in a smooth, practised crawl, forcing Adam to put every ounce of his strength into his pursuit, so that they were almost at the far side of the lake before he caught her. Grabbing a foot, he pulled her back towards him, to place one hand on top of her head and push down, ducking her. She came up spluttering in mock indignation and tried to do the same to him, but he had been expecting retaliation and pressed hard down on her shoulders to force her under the surface once more. As she came up for the second time, he took her in his arms, pressing his mouth to hers.
To his surprise, there was no resistance, her mouth immediately coming open beneath his own and her answering kiss every bit as passionate. As his feet found the bottom of the lake he let his hands go lower, to cup her bottom – the first time he’d touched her intimately. This sent the blood to his cock despite the chilly water and set her trembling. Her own arms were around him too, clinging tight as they kissed and making no attempt to control the way he was exploring her bottom. Even as his fingers slipped between her cheeks she gave no resistance, save for a sob, deep in her throat. He grew bolder still, pulling her up so that her legs came around his body, with her naked cunt pressed to his cock as he teased between her cheeks.
One fingertip found her anus, which he’d longed to touch since his first, accidental peep at it, but she merely gave another sob and clung tighter still, squashing her naked breasts flat against his chest. He began to tickle the little hole, to make it tighten and squeeze on his intruding digit as he pawed at her bottom with his other hand. His cock was half-stiff now and pressed to her virgin cunt, yet still she seemed compliant, if passive. Daring a yet more intimate touch, he slid his hand further around to cup her sex, stroking between its lips and gently probing her vagina until he felt the tight constriction of her hymen.
At that she finally broke away, so suddenly that Adam went over backwards, taking a mouthful of water before he could recover himself, by which time she was already swimming off. He followed as before, desperate for what she seemed to be offering and fighting the urge to simply take her anyway. Yet he knew that if he came into contact as close as before, his cock would be going in her cunt.
Deliberately, he held back, still cautious of her reputation, allowing her to reach the far side of the lake without catching her, for all that she was no longer swimming with her full energy. When she reached the shallows she climbed out, to sit down on a ledge of rock, wet and dripping in the bright sunlight. Her soft, pink flesh glistened with water, her hair straggling down to lie in wet tails across her breasts. She made no effort to cover herself, but spoke as she lay back on the flat rock.
‘I’m just going to lie in the sun for a bit, then maybe have another swim.’
Half in regret, half in relief Adam thought the moment had been lost, but she was still naked and plainly had no intention of getting dressed for a while. He sat down beside her and began to stroke the smooth, taut skin of her belly, tentatively at first, before allowing his fingers to stray to her breasts. She gave a gentle sigh, and then another as he brushed a nipple. At that he began to explore without restraint, marvelling at the shape and texture of the stiff-tipped globes.
‘You’re right, you know,’ he said softly after a while. ‘You’re my friend, Elaine, and I do respect you as an individual, but it’s your body I’m thinking about when I’m with you. Your breasts, how slender your waist is, your beautiful bottom … What did you say? Bottoms and boobs and panties, and spanking? I can’t stop myself.’
As he spoke, he slipped a hand beneath her knees to roll up her legs, intending to expose her for spanking, but she gave a sudden jerk, pushing back down as she spoke.
‘Not that, Adam, not a spanking, and especially not in the nappy-changing position. Jesus, Adam!’
He pulled back, embarrassed and confused, while she was blushing hot and shaking badly. For an instant, he considered spanking her anyway, and in exactly the position he’d envisaged, with her legs rolled high to spread her cheeks and show off her cunt and anus as she was smacked, taking deliberate pleasure in her exposure and humiliation. He shook his head, fighting against the urge, and wished his cock wasn’t quite so blatantly erect, as if to betray his innermost thoughts.
Elaine laid herself down once more, but her eyes were open and she was shaking badly. Adam spread his hands in a gesture of helpless resignation, keen to break the awkward silence but unable to think of anything to say. She made to rise, thought better of it and closed her eyes once more, then spoke.
‘Why don’t you just fuck me, Adam?’
He reacted without further thought, swinging himself around to kneel on the rock even as her legs came up to make space. She turned her head to the side, her eyes still closed, while her fingers were clutched hard to the edges of the rock and her whole body was shaking, but she gave no resistance as he eased her thighs gently open to spread out the wet, fleshy bloom of her cunt. He took his cock in hand, stroking himself as his gaze feasted on her bare, pink sex, shaved smooth and wet with juice, the mouth of her vagina so open that the taut arc of her hymen was plainly visible.
Part of him wanted to ask if it was really what she wanted, another part to ram his cock up into her virgin cunt to the tune of her cries and gasps of pain, then leave her sobbing for her lost innocence with her legs still wide and a blended trickle of his spunk and her juices running out of her. He did neither, but mounted her and pushed the head of his cock to her sex, rubbing on her clitoris until she began to moan and snatch at the rock beneath her.
‘Do it,’ she breathed. ‘Fuck me, Adam.’
He pressed his cock to her cunt-hole, gently, rubbing against the slippery flesh before pushing in until he could feel the constriction that held her sacred. She began to whimper, a sound to inspire a cruel joy too good to resist. He held back, cock still pressed up to her straining hymen, until her whimpering broke to urgent, needy sobs and finally to a weak pleading as she begged again to be fucked.
Adam pushed, his teeth gritted against his own pain for an instant before Elaine’s hymen suddenly gave – as the full length of his erection was jammed deep into her cunt, tight but now no longer virgin. Her scream of pain and imagined despair rang out, echoing from the trees, but her arms came around him, clinging tight with her nails locked into the flesh of his back as he began to thrust into her. The pain was clear on her face, her mouth set tight-lipped and her eyes hard closed, but that only added to Adam’s ecstasy as he drove his cock in and out of her deflowered cunt-hole. He was fucking Elaine – beautiful, untouchable Elaine, lesbian Elaine, dominant Elaine, virgin Elaine was now spread naked underneath him with her body bucking to the thrusts of his cock in her sloppy cunt.
When he came, his scream was as loud as hers had been at the instant her hymen had yielded, and it held no less emotion – albeit cruel lust more than anything else. And yet, the instant he was done he cuddled her close, whispering gently into her ear to tell her it would be all right, even as he gasped for breath. Elaine didn’t answer immediately, her arms still around him, her thighs still cocked as wide as they’d go, but she kissed his nose before she spoke.
‘Thank you.’
‘Thank
you
,’ Adam answered, rolling off but not away from her. ‘I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I first met you.’
‘I know,’ she replied. ‘But that wasn’t why I let you. I had to do it and you were the right man, at the right time. That was private, very private, though, between you and me only, and I do mean that. Promise me?’
‘I promise.’
‘I’m afraid it’s not likely to happen again either, although I won’t say definitely, because it was wonderful.’
‘That’s a shame – that it’s unlikely, I mean!’
‘Never mind. You have Jasmine.’
‘I hope so. I’m not sure where she is, remember?’
‘I think I can tell you that. You’ll find her at Cornfed’s flat.’
Chapter Six
‘Cornfed? Open the door!’
Adam had pushed open the letterbox of his friend’s flat with his fingers, but the interior was too gloomy to make out any detail beyond a somewhat untidy passageway. The only hint that anybody was about came from a vague snuffling noise, like a pig rootling for delicacies among swill.
‘Wake up!’ Adam yelled. ‘Jasmine? Are you there?’
She was supposed to be here, according to Caroline, but while the thought of her living with Henry Lomas was irritating, Adam had no wish to be a hypocrite, given what had happened in France. Once more, he put his mouth to the letterbox.
‘Cornfed? I know you’re there, and I don’t mind you being with Jasmine, but will you please open the bloody door?’
This time his call was answered by a grunt, then a bump, as if of a heavy body falling out of bed. Adam stood back, and presently Cornfed’s moon-round face appeared at the door, bleary-eyed and even more dishevelled than usual.
‘Hard work, isn’t she?’ Adam remarked with genuine sympathy. ‘Can I come in?’
‘You’re looking for Girl Six?’ Cornfed enquired. ‘She’s not here. You can come in, though. Coffee?’
‘Girl Six?’ Adam queried. ‘Do you mean Jasmine, and if so, why’s she Girl Six?’
‘Yeah, Jasmine. She’s one of Steelhand’s girls now. That’s the name he’s given her.’
‘Mark Langley?’ Adam retorted, anger flaring at the news. ‘And what gives him the fucking right? I’ll kill the bastard!’
‘I wouldn’t, mate,’ Cornfed advised. ‘He was in the special forces.’
‘Bollocks,’ Adam snapped back. ‘He’s full of shit. So what, is she with him now?’
‘Yeah, I reckon. They went home together after Dark Angels, and he was with her when she came round to try out the machine.’
‘What machine?’
‘She bought the Cornfed Mark 5 Fucking Machine.’
‘What with? She hasn’t got any money.’
‘Yeah … well, you’re going to have to pay for it, obviously, but it’s still a present. Lighten up, Adam. All the cutest girls end up with Steelhand eventually, but he’ll let you play with her. He’s good like that.’
‘The bastard!’ Adam snarled, and kicked the wall. ‘I’ll … I’ll …’
‘There’s nothing you can do, mate. He’s top dog, and the girls know it. I used to be with this really pretty girl once, Stephanie. She was into bondage and she liked me because I’m a good rigger, and she liked my machines, but she’d only been to a couple of clubs before she chose him instead. Sorry, mate, but that’s just the way things go. He’s the man, and …’
‘Don’t talk rubbish,’ Adam interrupted. ‘He’s just some puffed-up phoney with a big mouth and a high opinion of himself. Why do you put up with him?’
‘It’s just the way things are,’ Cornfed replied, obviously uncomfortable.
‘For you, maybe,’ Adam answered, ‘but not for me. Right, I’m going to see him, now.’
‘Er … don’t you want your coffee? And what about the machine?’
‘I’ll talk to you later,’ Adam answered, and slammed the door behind him.
As he drove across London, he found himself forced to reflect on an awkward fact – that Jasmine had a perfect right to be with Mark if she wanted to, just as Mark had a perfect right to play with Jasmine. There was no getting away from it, nor the knowledge that he was in a weak position when it came to confronting them, although that did nothing to reduce his resentment. This was not so much for what might have happened between the two of them as for Mark Langley’s intolerable presumption in claiming Jasmine as his own.
‘I’ll give him Girl Six,’ Adam growled as he pulled the car up near to the red-brick Victorian mansion in which Mark Langley had a flat.
It was only the second time he’d been to the address, and he’d never been inside, never having been invited to one of the notorious Steelhand couples parties. He had, however, heard that the interior of the basement flat Mark occupied was entirely kitted out for fetish sex, with a strong emphasis on male dominance. Surveying the building, all he could see was one window looking in on a tiny but otherwise perfectly ordinary kitchen, while the other had been blacked out. He drew in a breath, trying not to reflect on Mark’s tall, powerfully built frame and manner of calm assurance, then clattered down the iron stairs to a black-painted door. There was no response to his first prod at the bell, but the second was answered by a voice from within – not Mark’s but Jasmine’s.
‘Who is it?’
‘It’s Adam. Open up.’
‘Adam!’
Her voice was a squeak of utter joy, and the door was immediately flung open. She flew straight into his arms, kissing him passionately on the mouth until he found himself responding and pulling back only reluctantly.
‘I’ve missed you so much!’ she said when she finally detached herself.
‘What … what are you doing here, then?’ Adam demanded, taken aback by her clearly genuine fervour.
‘Staying with Mark,’ she answered casually. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’
‘I thought you were going to stay at my flat, and then when you weren’t there I thought you’d abandoned me. I’ve only been gone just over a week!’
‘Of course I haven’t abandoned you, silly! I was lonely, that’s all, and Mark offered. I was staying with Henry at first, but Mark took me home after Dark Angels.’
‘So you slept with Cornfed and Steelhand?’
‘Yes,’ she answered, now sulky. ‘You promised not to try and control me, Adam, and you’ve been with Elaine and Caroline. I bet you fucked them, didn’t you?’
‘Only Caroline,’ Adam told her, after a moment’s hesitation, ‘and I’m not trying to control you – but Mark Langley will, take it from me.’
‘Then he’s got another think coming.’
‘Mark doesn’t think, he just knows, or he thinks he knows, and one of the things he thinks he knows is that every woman on the planet secretly wants to belong to him. What’s all this Girl Six business?’
‘Nothing much. Mark likes to play slave games, that’s all, and the girls all have numbers, so it’s like we’re completely unimportant except when it comes to sex. It’s a bit weird, but quite fun in a way. Please don’t be cross, Adam – or, if you must be cross, punish me.’
‘It’s not you I’m cross with. It’s Mark fucking Langley I’m cross with. Fine, play with him, and Cornfed, and anyone else you like, but I am not taking this crap about having to ask his permission. I mean, who the hell does he think he is?’
‘He says he’s the alpha male, so it’s only right that –’
‘Alpha male?’ Adam echoed, interrupting. ‘Humans don’t have alpha males, Jasmine. Even when applied to apes, it’s a ropy theory. Do you know about baboons?’
‘Baboons? Um … not really.’
‘They always used to say the females stayed with the dominant male, but it’s not true. The females hang out together and the dominant male keeps the other males away. The females don’t care, unless they want sex, and when they do, why, the dominant male is the only one around. That’s what Steelhand is, a great, big, rutting, dominant male baboon.’
Jasmine giggled. Adam could already feel his anger starting to fade, and it seemed clear that whatever Steelhand might have said, she did not think of herself as one of his girls.
‘What does that make you?’ she asked, teasing.
‘A hunter – and you’re caught!’
He ducked down as he spoke, to catch her up around her knees and haul her over his shoulder. She responded with a squeal of surprise and then with laughter, her feet kicking and her hands thumping on his back in mock protest as he carried her back the way he’d come. All she had on was a short, red summer dress which had ridden up as he’d put her across his shoulder, so as he reached the level of the pavement, she had her bare bottom presented to the world. Her cunt and a large area of her cheeks were visible beneath the hem, as Adam realised only when a woman walking her dogs gave him a look of sheer horror.
‘You haven’t got any panties on, have you?’ he asked her sternly, allowing a hand to stray between her legs to check even as he hastily put her down.
‘No,’ Jasmine giggled, ‘and did you see the look on that woman’s face? It was like you’d got me and you were going to add her to your collection as soon as you were done! Ooh, here comes a guy – pick me up … pick me up, Adam!’
‘Get into the car, you little slut!’ Adam ordered. ‘Aren’t you embarrassed?’
‘Yes, horribly. Come on, pick me up.’
‘You’ll get me arrested, Jasmine, and anyway, what are you doing running around with no knickers on in the middle of the day?’
‘Master doesn’t allow his girls to wear panties. I’m not even supposed to open the door.’
‘Master? Steelhand? Ha! And what girls? I’ll admit he gets through them, but I’ve never seen him with more than two at a time.’
‘Lucy and Della are in bed … Girls Four and One, I’m supposed to say. I don’t know about the others.’
A stab of jealousy hit Adam at the thought of the hated Steelhand having three girls together in his bed, worst of all Jasmine. Lucy was petite and dark with a teasing manner and a full mouth that seemed to beg to have a cock stuck in it. The tall, bony Della did very little for him physically, but she always gave the impression that for her to so much as speak to any man except Steelhand was a privilege, which made the idea of spanking and humiliating her immensely appealing.
As they spoke, he led Jasmine along the street by her hand and they soon reached the car, parked across the street from a pub outside which a crowd of drinkers were enjoying the sunshine.
‘Pick me up again, Adam,’ Jasmine pleaded. ‘Like you did before, so my bum shows – please?’
‘Pick you up?’ Adam retorted as he fumbled for his keys. ‘I’ll spank you in a minute.’
‘Yes, please! Please, please, please, please, please!’ Jasmine answered. ‘Over the bonnet, bare, in front of everyone. Go on, Adam, please? Don’t I deserve it, for going off with Mark? Come on, please, a good, hard, bare-bottom spanking in front of all these people – please!’
‘I have a car,’ Adam pointed out. ‘It has a number plate. Now get in.’
‘So? Punish me, Adam, right here, right now. Don’t you think my bottom should be given a public airing? Think how ashamed of myself I’ll be, when you pull up my dress and all these people see I’ve got no panties on. And then you’ll spank me and they’d all be looking at me and thinking what a naughty girl I am. A bad, bad, girl – so bad I need my bottom smacked in public.’
‘They’re more likely to be thinking what a bad, bad boy I am – so bad they need to call the police.’
‘Maybe,’ Jasmine admitted, ‘but wouldn’t it be worth it, to do me bare in public?’
‘No,’ Adam stated emphatically, ‘but believe me, I am going to do you once we’re in private. Hard.’
Jasmine began to pout, and Adam was forced to push her head down to make her get into the car. A lot of people were already looking, and as she bent down, her dress came up, just enough to provide a brief flash of bare cunt, if the expressions on the faces of the people at the nearest tables were anything to go by. Adam gave them a smile and a shrug, then hurried to get in himself, full of anger and embarrassment and arousal all at once as he twisted the key in the ignition.
‘Hard,’ he repeated. ‘I’d do it with a fucking paddle, if I had one.’
‘Yes, please,’ she sighed. ‘Stop off and get one. You can try it out on me in the shop.’
‘A wooden spoon will do the trick just as well,’ Adam grated as he pulled out.
‘Even better,’ Jasmine sighed, leaning back into her seat. ‘In a sex shop they’d expect to a see a girl spanked occasionally, I imagine, but not in an ordinary shop. You can get wooden spoons in those pound shops, you know, and you could do me in front of the owner, and maybe let him have a go, maybe make me suck his cock when he’s spanked me, to pay for the spoon. One pound, Adam, you could make me give a blowjob for one pound, to show off what a worthless little tart I am.’
‘You’re not worthless, and …’ Adam began, then stopped as he saw the look of ecstasy on her face. ‘Just put your fucking seat belt on, will you?’
‘Yes, Master,’ she answered. ‘God you’re good, so angry, and so strong, much better than Mark. He never gets angry. But you should have spanked me, Adam, you should have spanked me bare in public.’
‘Believe me, I’m sorely tempted,’ he answered.
‘Just do it,’ she sighed.
She closed her eyes and, to his alarm, he saw that she was fiddling the hem of her dress up to expose her pussy as her thighs came wide.
‘Jasmine! We’re in the middle of London … well, Acton, anyway. You can’t do that!’
‘Why not?’ she breathed. ‘If you’re not going to spank me, at least I can play with my pussy.’
‘You are the limit,’ he answered, ‘the real fucking limit.’
‘Then spank me. Take me out of the car, Adam, and put me across your knee and spank my naughty bottom, just the way I used to be spanked at Foxdens, bare bottom over his knee. Oh, but he was so good. He used to spank me so hard, on my panties, or on my bare bottom if I was really naughty, but when he got horny he’d usually pull them down anyway. I used to love it when he told me my panties were coming down, and it hurt so much, and he used to play with my bottom …’
Jasmine trailed off with a moan. She’d been playing with herself as she talked, her head to one side, her thighs spread wide and her fingers busy with her cunt. Adam turned into a smaller road as soon as he could, in a desperate effort not to be seen. It featured a double line of red suburban villas like the one Steelhand lived in, and its pavements were mercifully free of people. It was also a one-way street with a turn at the end, where a high, green bank marked the course of a railway. As he reached the junction he was struck by an idea, one which would hopefully not only calm his raging feelings but give him the edge over Steelhand when it came to Jasmine’s affections.
The road went off to the right, but on the left, a spur ran a short distance alongside the railway embankment to terminate in a rusty fence, while the final house of the terrace showed a high, windowless wall to the sky, and to passing trains. Adam pulled up beneath the wall, on which a billboard showed a smiling farmer holding up a packet of butter, aimed at catching the attention of commuters and long-distance passengers on the railway lines opposite.