His eyes lit up, and he smiled.
A car waited for us outside, and he helped me into the back. A driver and another Knight sat in the front. We pulled out and fell in behind another black SUV. A quick glance behind us showed another one following us. Standard procedure for high-ranking Knights traveling in Westport, but I hadn’t seen that in Salisbury or the areas north toward Sarum and Stonehenge.
The driver took us across the river and headed west, the way Oriel had taken us earlier in the day. I had a quick, wild image of Muirgen greeting us at her mushroom turned into a country inn, then dismissed it.
We passed through two villages before slowing and pulling into an old country manor house in the third village. It was surrounded by beautifully manicured lawns and gardens bursting with late-spring flowers. A doorman came out to open my door and took my hand as I stepped out. I didn’t have to pretend to be wide-eyed. It wasn’t a castle, but definitely a couple of large steps up from what I expected.
Inside, a front desk signaled that it was a hotel as well as a restaurant. A little brass plaque said, “Built 1623.” Only a few tables in the restaurant were occupied, and we were led to one by a window overlooking the gardens. As we walked past a couple being served, I saw that the chef fancied himself a gastronomist and his dishes as works of art. The combination of white linen tablecloths, fine crystal and china, and waitstaff in starched white shirts with black bow ties signaled that the prices were way out of line for a casual dinner.
“This is very nice,” I said to Muller after we were seated. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a place like this.”
He beamed. “Yes, I like it very much, but I don’t come here often. It’s not as enjoyable unless one has a charming companion for dinner.”
I followed his lead, let him recommend dishes I should try, and ordered the cheapest things he suggested. The wine came, and as before, I drank as little as I could without him becoming suspicious. I did notice, however, that he drank less than on our previous date.
But he really didn’t have to ply me with alcohol. I had dressed sexy for him, we were out in the country in a place I couldn’t easily get away from, and there was a hotel room directly above us. I silently bet myself that he had a room already reserved.
Dinner was very good, dessert divine, and I ordered an Irish coffee to go with it.
“That is the best meal I’ve ever had,” I said. “Under-Marshal Muller, I’m not used to luxury like this.”
“Please, Erin, when we’re out like this, call me Reinhard. It’s so much less awkward.”
I blushed and looked down at my lap. “But, you’re my superior officer. I couldn’t presume.”
“But I insist. Come, finish your coffee, and let’s take a walk in the garden.”
I glanced out the window. The sun had set, but there were some lights providing illumination in the garden.
“Yes, that would be nice.” I took a drink of my coffee and put my folded napkin on the table. “Shall we?”
Muller raised his hand, and the waiter came with the check. Without hardly glancing at the bill, Muller signed it and handed it back. That confirmed that he, or perhaps I should say we, were registered guests. I silently chuckled to myself. Knights didn’t wed, so we wouldn’t be Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
The garden was pleasant, though the evening was cool. I hadn’t brought a sweater or a jacket, and my usual way of warming myself was off-limits, as witches couldn’t shield.
“I should have brought a sweater,” I said, “or studied a spell for warming myself. I’m not a very accomplished witch. Most of what I know is directly connected with my work.”
“How is your circle involved with the work out at Sarum?” Muller asked.
That surprised me a little, as he should have known exactly what I did. “We work with the wards guarding the primary installation at Stonehenge,” I replied.
“The wards guarding the ley lines?”
“Yes.” I stopped and looked at him. “I assumed you were familiar with what we do. You’re in charge of security, aren’t you?”
Muller reached out and drew me closer. “There are several different duties involving witches at Sarum.”
I took a deep breath. “I’m not involved with all of that, but I have been present for all the important spells that are cast.”
“I just wondered. At certain times, mages are barred from the facility at Stonehenge.”
“When the ley lines are disrupted, as they are now. Yes, I participated in the ritual.”
We were so close that I had to turn my face up to see his. He leaned down and kissed me. I froze at first, then relaxed into the kiss, and wrapped my arms around him. The kiss deepened, and suddenly, he took a step forward and pushed me backward against the trunk of a tree. His hands slid over my body, my ribs, down over my hips, and one hand cupped my ass. His other hand slid up to my breast.
I broke the kiss and moaned. “Oh, God.”
The hand on my ass slid lower, picking up the hem of my dress.
“Please, no, Herr Muller. Please. I’m not that kind of girl.”
He pressed his crotch against me but drew his upper body back slightly. “I want you. Don’t deny me.” He squeezed my breast, and I let out another moan. “Don’t deny yourself.”
He kissed me again, and I let his hands roam wherever he wanted.
I broke the kiss again. “Not here,” I panted. “People could see us. Take me back to your place, or my hotel, if you wish.”
“I can do better than that,” he said. Putting his arm around me, he walked me back to the hotel. We bypassed the restaurant and the front desk, going directly to the stairs.
He opened the door to a corner room and stood aside for me to enter. As soon as he closed the door behind us, he was all over me. I had to slow him down a little, afraid he might tear my dress. Putting my hands on his chest, I pushed him away.
“Wait.” I reached up to my neck and unbuttoned the dress, in the process touching two of the charms I was wearing under the collar. Although I had tried them in front of the mirror in my hotel room, I held my breath.
One of the charms made me invisible. The other one created a simulacrum, a doppelgänger. I took a step back and began directing the product of Muirgen’s magic. It had no will of its own, but looked and felt exactly like me, or so she had told me. I had to be present to tell it what to do, and I had to mouth whatever it said. It couldn’t do anything on its own, or anything very complex, but it didn’t have to. I needed it only to do something very basically human.
My image stripped out of her dress, leaving only her black lace panties on. From there, Muller took charge. Unfortunately, I had to stand close enough to hear whatever he might whisper so I could answer appropriately if needed. And I had to direct her hands, mouth, and legs by sending her mental images. It was awkward at first, but soon I got the hang of it. Like playing a video game using a mental interface.
I had been trained as a courtesan. In my role of spy and assassin, training in the carnal arts was considered part of my toolbox. And if a person is taught from a young age—starting at puberty for me—that, what they’re doing, is morally righteous, they never question the orders they receive or have any qualms about their actions.
Other than two occasions when I worked for the Illuminati, I had never been recorded having sex. Those occasions were part of blackmail plots, and I had never paid much attention to the photos in one case or the video in the other. Neither had porn ever held any attraction for me. So, watching myself have sex, in essence directing myself in an erotic stage play, was rather fascinating.
The difficult part was that I didn’t have any feedback. I couldn’t feel her, and so I couldn’t feel Muller touch her. And I discovered the most difficult thing was faking an orgasm. Watching her when I tried, she seemed a little half-hearted in her effort. Luckily, as with most men, he didn’t seem to worry about it too much.
After they finished, I made my simulacrum get up from the bed and go to the bathroom. I followed her in, took off my clothes, and touched the charms. The doppelgänger vanished. I flushed the toilet and went back out to join Muller on the bed.
We petted and kissed a bit, and he told me how beautiful I was. I told him he was the best lover I’d ever had.
When he got frisky again, I excused myself to the bathroom, invoked the charms, and sent Erin2, as I began to think of her, out to play with him again. He was a very randy man, and I spent a lot of time going to and from the bathroom that night.
In the morning, after another trip between the bed and the bathroom, I took the third charm and invoked it, putting the ring on my pinkie finger.
We got dressed and went downstairs to eat breakfast. If I was a woman with any shame, I would have been embarrassed at wearing an evening dress to breakfast. Nothing like broadcasting that you hadn’t expected to spend the night but did. But I was in operational mode, and I strutted my walk of shame. I had planned the operation, and it was going down exactly as planned.
When we went back up to the room, I let Erin2 seduce him again, while I cast the spell Muirgen had taught me to go with the ring charm.
After Erin2 returned to the bathroom and I joined Muller on the bed, he said, “What would you say to a transfer? Come to work with me. I have need of a witch who knows what’s going on.”
I turned my face away. “I-I don’t know.”
“It could be very beneficial to your career,” he said, reaching for me and pulling me against him.
“How can you do that? I’m needed where I am.”
“I can fix it. I can rescind the transfer of the woman who was there before you.”
“Where would I live?”
“There is a flat. It’s very nice.”
He had taken the bait, time to set the hook. I placed the ring against his lips and said the final Word.
“And I get a promotion to chevalier?”
“Yes.” He didn’t change expression or move.
“Mmmm.” I licked my lips in delight. “And you want me to monitor security at Stonehenge?”