The Lady and Camilla Ch. 03

The party wasn't much to write home about. All the guests were part of His Lordship's work in some way and so it was a mix of businessmen, bankers and politicians that I didn't recognise. Thankfully none of them were clients.

His Lordship's work seemed to involve little more than schmoozing important people on behalf of some finance company, and it seemed that such was the allure of aristocracy that his presence alone was enough to provide a substantial benefit to the company that paid him for his time. Still, there were a lot of very influential, and wealthy, men and women present that night, and I only wished I had some way to surreptitiously hand out business cards while I was mingling.

It had required only a little background briefing from His Lordship for me to be able to converse on some level with those at the party, and since there were no relatives on the invite list the cover story that I was their niece was accepted without question. I got the feeling that my low-cut dress provided a little bit of spice to the evening in any case, and since part of my job was to converse it came easily to me. It also helped that, over the years, I've listened to many men talking (at length) about their work - a subject that most of them seemed comfortable with in an uncomfortable situation - and thus had picked up a small amount of knowledge about a large number of subjects.

From time-to-time over the evening I would catch His Lordship's eye across the room, but I spent more time making sure that Her Ladyship was at ease. I had a feeling that she was my main purpose for being invited, since he was busy most of the evening. Her Ladyship was just as skilled as I was in erudite, stimulating conversation, and was a beautiful and charming woman herself, but I think she felt comforted from seeing a friendly face across the crowded room.

I had discovered a much more sensual side to her than I had expected over the past few days. I now knew that she reacted well to touch, and each time I rested my fingers on her arm it was almost as if I recharged a battery within her. I wonder if she remembered what I was wearing, that beneath my short, tight dress was nothing at all. I would put money on her remembering it very well indeed.

The evening seemed to drag on longer than I had expected but eventually the last of the guests left, the catering company packed up their things and we had the place to ourselves. His Lordship slumped into an armchair and Her Ladyship sat opposite.

"I think that was quite a successful party," he assessed, "But I'm shattered."

I looked at the clock: it was nearly one in the morning.

"Me too," Her Ladyship agreed, "How are you still on your feet Camilla?"

I couldn't really say "because you're paying me for my energy", so I replied: "Plenty of water and not too much champagne." They smiled, and it was partly the truth.

"You know what I could do with now?" His Lordship said to no-one in particular, "A nice, quiet, relaxing drink before bed." He looked wistfully at the drinks cabinet. "Although I'd much prefer it if the catering company were still here to make it for me."

"I know a thing or two about mixing drinks," I said. It was another small part of my training back when I had plans of being a personal assistant, that and a very short stint working behind a bar before I fell into the escort business. "What would you like?"

"Oh, I don't know," he said, "Why don't you surprise me?" There was a touch of flirtation in his voice which was pleasant to hear, although he had given me the worst possible answer. I'd much rather he just told me what he liked so I didn't have to guess.

I looked over at the extensive drinks cabinet to see what they had. The possibilities were pretty large, and there was even ice and a shaker.

"Have you ever had a Negroni?" I asked him.

He thought for a second. "I don't think I have. Do you think I'll like it?"

I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise, I thought, and I'd seen His Lordship drinking gin and tonics and Manhattans so I felt I was on safe ground.

"You'll like it," I said with a wink, "Trust me." It was better that I retained some sense of mystery as to how I was so sure, but all those hours of drinking only minimally and paying attention to what my clients liked generally paid off.

"Mrs-?" I began to ask Her Ladyship.

"Oh, please," Her Ladyship said, "And call me Victoria, will you Camilla? I think we've known each other long enough."

It was said as if I'd been persistently refusing to address Her Ladyship by her first name, when this was the first time I'd been invited to use it.

"Victoria," I said with a smile, "Can you give me a hand? I don't want to risk the shaker coming apart and getting sticky alcohol all over this beautiful dress you bought for me."

I turned my back to her and presented the zip. I smiled to myself, wondering what kind of expressions they would have on their faces. Well, this was part of my job, wasn't it?

Victoria's fingers pinched at the zip and slid it down to the small of my back.

"Thank you," I said, turning back to them and smiling as I pulled the dress off of my shoulders.

I heard His Lordship's intake of breath as he realised I didn't have a bra underneath. Then I wriggled the dress over my hips, and there was another intake of breath as he saw I had no underwear at all. Her Ladyship - sorry, Victoria - also smiled, and I think she knew what was going to happen as soon as I had asked her to unzip the dress.

I stepped out of the expensive garment, folded it neatly, and draped it over the back of a high-backed chair. I would have liked to have finally taken my high heels off, but for all the show of relaxing I was very much still at work.

I walked carefully to the drinks cabinet, conscious that they would both be watching every step of my tall, olive-skinned, nude physique. Even something as simple as walking was something that needed to be practised if one wanted to become a high-class escort, and I had very much perfected it.

I took the gin, Campari, Vermouth, cracked some ice as best I could, and then shook them together. I acted as if I was oblivious to their attentions, but who could ignore a beautiful naked woman mixing a cocktail? And who could not stop and stare when the naked woman brought their drinks over and bent gracefully at the waist to present them?

"Are you not joining us, Camilla?" His Lordship asked, with admirable self-composure, considering I was standing just a foot away from him, my perfect, smooth pussy almost exactly at eye level.

"I don't drink much," I said, which was the truth, especially when I was working.

"I don't think Camilla's inhibitions need to be lowered, George," Her Ladyship said, raising a laugh from all three of us.

"What do you think of the cocktail?" I asked her, and stepped over to her side.

She took a sip. "It's perfect," she said, peering at me over the top of her glass, and then, with a deliberate look up and down my body, she added, "Absolutely perfect."

I smiled, happy with my work, and then, feeling that the mood would allow it, I slid myself onto the arm of the chair beside her, my hand draped behind Her Ladyship and my legs crossed. She stared at my right breast as it came close to her. She would know, if she was one of my typical clients, that, if she wanted to, it was fine to pop the nipple into her mouth, to see how it felt between her lips. My nipple hardened a little at the thought, and I hoped she'd notice.

I looked at His Lordship (I wasn't going to start calling him George unprompted) and his attention was torn between my naked body and his wife's own beautiful, if clothed, figure, sitting relaxed in the chair with her delightful, slender, bare neck and shoulders.

He sat deeper into his chair and I surmised he was shifting position due to the onset of an erection. This was good.

I remained perched on the arm of the chair and made conversation, talking about some of the guests I'd met and asking His Lordship about them. I let my fingers dangle and they lightly touched Victoria's shoulder. Her body tensed, and then relaxed, so I left them there, barely in contact with her delicate collar bone.

They sipped their cocktails, and it seemed my choice had been a good one. His Lordship was making sure not to outpace his wife so they finished around the same time.

"Well," he said, standing suddenly, "Thank you, Camilla, for another delightful evening."

"No, thank you, Sir," I said, automatically standing out of politeness, and then realising how distracting it was for him when I moved.

"Um," he said as he tried to regain his train of thought, "Victoria, are you coming up with me?"

"I think I'll stay with Camilla for a while," was her reply.

If anyone was ever a picture of disappointment, it was His Lordship right there and then, hoping that his wife would follow him to his bedroom. I was disappointed too: I'd spent all this effort getting the engine started, as was my understanding of my job, and then the car wasn't even going to make it out of the garage, so to speak.

"Okay," he said with a downbeat voice, "I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well. And good night, Camilla."

"Good night," I said, mustering a smile.

His footsteps receded up the wooden staircase. I wondered what Her Ladyship had planned that required staying up with me.

"You know, you're very good at what you do, Camilla," she said.

"Thank you, Mrs... Victoria," I said with a smile. Yet I felt that Victoria's refusal to join her husband meant I hadn't done what was expected of me that evening.

"You know, I envy you. For your freedom; the life you have," she continued.

She envied the life she thought I had, I knew. She couldn't see the money worries, the lack of security, the impossibility of a permanent relationship, and the inability to tell the few friends I had what exactly I did for a living.

"You can do just about anything you want to do," she continued, "Be with anyone you want to be with."

I wasn't going to argue that I usually ended up being with anyone that could afford me, and what I thought of it was secondary, which wasn't quite the same thing. I felt that we were getting to the heart of the reason that she wanted to talk to me, and why she hadn't followed her husband upstairs.

"None of us are as free as we may appear," I said by way of countering her statement, "I think a lot of people would envy you. All this," I looked around at the opulent surroundings, "A husband who loves you." I left the last hang in the air: it was what I wanted the conversation to get onto.

She sighed. "Yes, he does love me."

I wondered what was coming next, but instead of following the thought she quickly stood.

"Let's get ourselves to bed," she said, "It's very late and we're not going to be any good for anything tomorrow as it is."

I smiled and hooked my hand through the crook of her right arm. I wasn't sure whether "getting ourselves to bed" meant we'd be going to the same bed or not. I'd be shown to the guest room and left my things there when I arrived, but it was going to be up to her which room I slept in.

We took a few steps before she paused and, with a lift of each leg, she slid her shoes from her feet and held them between the fingers of her left hand. We were almost exactly the same height but now, without her heels and while I was still in mine, she dropped a couple of inches. I thought for a second of the relief I'd feel when I could take mine off in a few minutes time.

Her dress was soft as it brushed against my bare skin and we walked carefully up the stairs: me, so as not to make too much noise in my stilettos, and her due to the effects of just a little too much alcohol.

Like many aristocratic couples, Victoria and George had separate rooms. Victoria's was just past His Lordship's down the hall, and mine was opposite his room. I presumed their two bedrooms were linked but couldn't know for sure.

There was a faint light from beneath His Lordship's door: he was either reading or getting undressed. I hoped it didn't mean he'd decided to start masturbating to relieve the tension that I'd spent so much energy building up. I still might be able to persuade Her Ladyship to join him, which would give me the rest of the night off too.

"This is my room," I said, glancing at the door opposite His Lordship's. Victoria smiled. "Do you want a hand getting out of your dress?" I asked her, hoping she'd read the intention behind the question: do you want me to come to your room with you?

"Thank you, Camilla, but I think I can manage. And thank you for this evening."

She began to turn and walk towards her room.

"Victoria," I said, and held onto her hand to stop her departure down the hallway.

She turned around, almost saying: "how dare she?" but my expression softened her anger before it had formed.

I glanced down at the light beneath His Lordship's door again. "I know it's not my place..." I said tentatively, "But I really think His Lordship was hoping you would pay him a visit this evening."

She looked at the strip of light. "I know," she said, and looked down at the ground. "I want to," she said, "But... I just don't think I can manage it this evening. Not at the moment."

I continued holding onto her hand. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked. It was the closest I'd come to discussing anything physical with either of them.

"That's very kind of you, Camilla," she said, "But unless you can..." She tailed off, unable to find the words, or perhaps unwilling to.

"He's a very handsome man, your husband," I told her. I felt confident I wasn't overstepping the boundaries of our relationship, since we had a strict agreement that I should make no advances towards him. I was sure they both trusted my professionalism.

"It's not that," she said, "It's just... I have trouble sometimes." She paused, more than a little embarrassed. "If I'm not... turned on, then it doesn't work."

I mouthed an "ah"; "trouble" literally meant the mechanical side of things.

"You know there are..." I began.

"I know," she said, "We've tried them, and they helped a bit but... It's also that I don't really enjoy it. The idea of it... it does nothing for me."

Some of my assumptions were correct then: their marriage was as much about appearance as anything. I could see why she said she envied me, to be with whoever I wanted, of whatever gender I wanted. She couldn't even say the word "sex"; it had to be "it".

I looked into her eyes. "So, what does... do it for you?"

She closed her eyes to hide them and her face coloured.

"You realise..." she began hesitantly, but before she could complete the sentence I took a chance on the mood of the moment and planted a delicate kiss on her lips.

Her eyes remained closed while we kissed and, although I could feel the tension in her, it also felt as if I'd done the right thing. I lifted her hand and placed it onto my bare breast. Even if she wasn't exactly my type, it's hard not to be turned on when you're standing naked and kissing another woman. My nipple rubbed against her palm and I held her hand in place.

"Would it help if... I put you a little more in the mood?" I said gently. I was going to have to skirt around the subject, even now.

Her Ladyship's mouth fell open and I ran my finger gently along her collar bone. Her fingers closed a little as she felt my soft skin yielding beneath her. She quivered a little and I was about to lean forwards to kiss her again when her eyes snapped open and her expression suddenly changed.

"I need to go to bed," she said hurriedly, "And so do you, Camilla."

I could tell from the tone of her voice that this was an instruction that I was not to question. I released her hand and it fell to her side. The air felt suddenly cool on my erect nipple.

Her Ladyship's turned and walked stiffly down the hallway. Standing there, still naked, I watched as she turned and opened the door to her room. She entered without even a glance back at me and I was left to ponder on how to solve the puzzle I was being presented with.