The Twelve Vitali Ch. 16

"Now, in this room we will be honest with each other. We must be honest to trust each other and move forward in your training," Hella said as she took a step back toward her chair and picked up what could be mistaken for a small wooden ruler, but had a handle and worked beautifully as a stinger. "Tell me, Pet, what is your name?"

"Jane, Jane Bennet," Cat said naming the mask she wore now. The woman surely knew the name she had to use while here at the facility. She squeaked as Hella's hand flashed out leaving a stinging blow on her breast. The impact was negligible, but the red mark came up immediately with a stinging pain that faded quickly.

"That is a name you chose on arrival here, and I need you to be honest with me, not continue with the lies meant to protect you out there beyond this room," she pointed at the door. "Do I need to remind you that in this room you are mine and that I want your absolute obedience? Now, what is your name, pretty pet?"

"Cat," she whispered softly, and was rewarded with a soft smile and another tender kiss from Hella.

"How appropriate that my new pet is a Cat," Hella gave a soft laugh. "Thank you, now I shall be honest with you, pussycat, and tell you that I have spoken with Marcus and I know who you are." She let her fingers trail over the red line on her breast. Her hand lashed out toward the other breast, making Cat bite at her lip to stifle the squeak she let out. "I know where you came from and why you are here," she punctuated each statement with a slap of the stinger, and then kissed Cat again to capture her trembling bottom lip between her own and nibble on it.

Hella placed her hands over Cat's breasts, playing with and squeezing the firm globes that stood proudly from her chest with high pale pink nipples. The girl was obviously aroused on some level by Hella and what she was doing, even if she had said she didn't want a Mistress. Now was the time for the girl to find out just how aroused she could be by a woman. She leant over and began to tongue Cat's nipples. As they became erect, she took them into her mouth and nibbled them with increasing pressure until they were small arrowheads pointing at her Mistress.

Cat groaned in a soft whisper that came out almost like a purr as she felt her nipples being sucked further into Hella's mouth, the pleasure merged with pain when Hella used her teeth, deeply arousing her. It felt wonderful, and wearing her mask of self-protection she could admit that she wanted more, but found that with her muffled groan Hella stopped.

"How perfectly intoxicating you are, you even purr like a little pussycat," Hella gloated as she heard Cat groan with pleasure. She decided that the girl would have to suffer a little more, just to see the effect on her. She took nipple clamps from the small chest near her chair, and before the surprised girl could properly react, she clipped them on her hard nipples. They were only tweezer clamps and would not give too much pain, but they had some small decorative weights attached, which swung so alluringly as Cat winced in discomfort when they were tightened. Although her hands were free and she was obviously in pain, Cat did not try to remove them or move away from Hella, who smiled and flicked the weights so they swung rhythmically from Cat's chest.

"Are we having fun yet?" Hella asked, moving forward again and kissing Cat. "I know I am, and it would be quite easy to get carried away with you."

"Yes, Miss Hella," Cat said in a breathless whisper.

"Oh, goody," Hella grinned. "I know your owner, and I am sure he has introduced the traffic light system of safe words to you. So how are you feeling, Pussycat?"

"Green," Cat responded immediately.

"Mm, lovely, he had started training you, I am pleased by that," Hella let her hand drift down Cat's body to cup her pussy. "Not as pleased as I am by your obvious arousal," she let her fingers slide through the wet folds before bringing them up to Cat's face. "Tell me, have you ever tasted yourself before?"

"Yes, Miss Hella," Cat admitted. She watched Hella sucking on the fingers that had been pressed to her lips as Hella parted the skirt of the wrap around dress and played with her own pussy for a moment or two.

"You obviously enjoy it, as do I. In time you will learn to enjoy the taste of me too," she said as if this was a fact rather than a preference. Then she lifted her hand and smeared the warm, pungent moisture from her own pussy over Cat's lips, not expecting more from her than a token obedience. She was delightfully surprised when Cat's lips parted and her tongue snaked out to taste her Mistress from her fingers. Hella fed Cat her fingers as she returned her free hand to Cat's pussy to tease her and keep her arousal high.

Cat looked into Hella's blue eyes as her need for climax built. This woman had not been what she had expected by the term Mistress, and, despite herself, in this mask, she found she was oddly attracted to her cool, arrogant sense of entitlement. Her arousal and heat were genuine, and only built further with the strange mixture of pleasure and pain Hella seemed to give her so easily. She quivered as she felt Hella's nails rake over her clit again and let out a soft groaning purr around the fingers in her mouth.

Hella felt the tell-tale quiver of her new pet's body and took her fingers from her mouth, replacing it with her own as she pulled a clamp from Cat's nipple and swallowed the cry of pain that fed her own sadistic nature. Keeping her thumb on Cat's clit, she pushed two fingers into her and curled them as she fucked the girl with them as she ripped the second clamp from her body and quickly wrapped an arm around Cat's body as she shook uncontrollably and cried out again into the kiss.

The heady mix of being with a woman, the intense pain on her nipples, and the pleasure of Hella's fingers totally undid Cat, and her legs buckled as her orgasm ripped through her. She felt Hella helping her to sit on the floor with surprisingly strong arms, for which she was grateful, while she gasped and quivered as waves of pleasure rolled through her.

Hella sat back in her big comfortable chair. She widened her legs and, parting the skirt of the wrap around dress, exposed her pussy to the hazy-eyed stare of Cat. She smiled encouragingly but gave no direction, wondering what the girl would do and if she would act on her own or obediently wait to be invited to dine on her new Mistress.

Cat was nervous, there was the anticipation she always felt before sex but it mixed with the determination to show Mateo and this woman that she would try to do what they wanted. She couldn't deny that Hella was beautiful, and in a strange detached way could acknowledge her sexual abilities to bring her please which increased her attractiveness at that moment. She didn't know what to do to give another woman pleasure, however. Caught like a deer in the headlights, she knelt upon the leather pad she knew was her place and waited for instruction.

"Come, my pretty Pussycat, you liked the taste from my fingers, so come seek the source," Hella said with a voice heavy with lust as her fingers rubbed gently at her pussy. Cat crawled across the small space to kneel between Hella's thighs, which opened further as Cat glanced at her Mistress's face and her neatly trimmed pussy. "This first time I will allow a small amount of exploration, but you will learn how to pleasure me the way I like," Hella said and leaned back, closing her eyes and pulling her hands away and giving Cat free access to her pussy for a time.

Cat tentatively reached out and started to gently, but insistently, rub Hella's pussy. It was already well lubricated. As Cat massaged the soft skin she let her fingers slide through the folds. Tentatively she inserted one of her fingers. She realised Hella was deeply aroused, so inserted a second and caressed her pussy with increasing urgency. Hella sighed with evident pleasure, her hand reaching out to stroke and pet Cat's hair. Encouraged and knowing she could do more, she leaned forward and began to lick Hella's pussy, all the while moving her fingers slowly in and out of her.

Cat eased the lips apart so her tongue could penetrate ever deeper into the warm wet hole. Trying to mirror the things she knew she enjoyed. Hella was shocked at the ardour of the girl, but any thoughts were silenced by a wave of pleasure. As Cat forced her tongue ever further into her pussy, Hella gasped with pleasure. This untrained pussycat was giving her exquisite, almost impossible pleasure. How could someone who looked and acted so naïve and innocent be such a hungry slut at heart? Hella bit her lip hoping to prolong the pleasure as Cat ate her deliciously, but it was no use, she soon came with a long drawn out moan of pleasure.

Hella reached forward and clasped Cat's head tightly between her hands to still her movements on her sensitive clit. Cat turned her vivid blue eyes up to meet Hella's, her face shiny with cum, and Hella moaned softly at the sight. This girl definitely had potential, and Hella was glad she hadn't walked away after the first frustrating meeting.

"Today was merely a gentle introduction to each other. You should know I am a harsh Mistress who will push you to use those safe words and will not tolerate the disobedience or brattiness of our earlier meeting," she leaned forward and kissed Cat, biting her bottom lip sharply, making her gasp. "Rest well, my pretty little pussycat, tomorrow we will begin exploring and pushing all those limits you named today, and I am looking forward to it," she gave an evil smile and her eyes lit up, making Cat quiver.

Once Cat had dressed and left the room, Hella stood and turned toward a mirror that ran at a head height along the side wall and bowed, knowing that the three pairs of eyes hidden there would have been watching her gentle the skittish girl.

*****

"I've been waiting for a visit from you. How long have you suspected?" Paolo Vitali looked directly at Ricco as two of his nephews took a seat in his office.

"Six months, give or take?" Ricco shrugged slightly, confused by his uncle's easy acceptance of them being there.

"Wait. What do you mean 'you've been waiting for a visit from him'?" Matteo asked guardedly. "We haven't even told you why we're here yet."

"It's not hard to figure out. Ricco's always had good gut feelings about things, he just hasn't trusted them enough to talk to anyone before who would take him seriously," Paolo said easily. "That's also why I never play poker with him, he can read most men like books. The boy had Oracle stamped on his head at birth, a fact none of you dumbasses seemed to notice or take advantage of," he chuckled. "He's not the only one, of course. Even you have good intuition when your brain is above your waistline," Paolo addressed Matteo. "Is Knox waiting outside for you?"

It had taken several days to sort out the consequences of the accident at the building site and another few days to get their uncle to agree to meet with them away from the family home where Stefano had finally managed to convince the doctors he belonged. Now they sat stunned as questions they'd both planned to ask seemed irrelevant now.

"Yes, he's parked across the street," Matteo said warily.

"Good, then let's go," Paolo said, grabbing his phone and wallet from the top drawer of his desk.

"Where?" he asked.

"To see Roberto. That is why you've come, isn't it? You're not sick, are you? You look a bit pale," Paolo smirked. It wasn't often he had the upper hand on any of his nephews, and he was enjoying the moment.

Paolo spoke briefly to his receptionist, a pretty young woman with a sparkling collar around her neck, and left the surgery. He slid into the car, taking a seat in the front beside Knox, leaving his nephews to make themselves comfortable in the back seat. Despite being thrown off balance by Paolo's announcement, Matteo chaffed at the lack of control he had over the last few months of his life. He needed Cat back at home. He found that he needed his brother with him too now, but most of all he needed to know with some certainty what was happening in his family. He drew a deep breath, and whether Stefano was still unwell or not he planned to get answers from his fathers' today.

Arriving home, they went directly to the library where the remaining members of the current table were gathered looking pensive. Saying nothing as Matteo and Ricco entered, they all moved to a bookcase door and moved into the Athenaeum.

"What the hell is going on?" Matteo whispered to Ricco.

"I think we are about to find out the answers to all our questions," Ricco said seriously as they followed the older men through the door and took seats at the end of the table, mirroring their fathers', who were already in place before they had arrived. Both looked as they normally did without any sign that one had recent heart surgery and the other was hiding a serious illness.

"The future of this family has been pondered, discussed, and argued over greatly during the last six months," Cosimo broke the silence. "While we have always tried to hold to the old ways, circumstances have not always allowed us that luxury, and in the last few years we have conspired to further our plans for the family in subtle ways to bring us to this point in time where a decision must be made and explained."

"You two clowns will lead," Frankie said, cutting off his brother. "Cat told Roberto that she would accept Ricco into your relationship if you were given the chair, the only question we needed answered was if you would accept him."

"Not just accept him, but bond with him; listen to his counsel and try to understand his desires and match them with your own," Cosimo corrected.

"You've been listening to us with these." Ricco stated rather than asked.

"It gave us a more accurate picture, and we were all impressed by the way you both handled Jacobi's deflated ego," Cosimo nodded.

"This isn't why we came! This isn't why we are here today. Papa, tell us what is happening, we have the right to know," Matteo tried and failed to keep his voice even and steady. "The truth this time, no more games or puzzles or trials, we need the truth if you want us to step up now before we can see what the younger brothers will make of their lives," he said.

"That is why you were chosen, even before Cat, which only made the choice easier for me," Roberto said gently. "I am dying. I have been for some years now. I knew, given enough time, that you would find yourself again and love greatly, but time is running out now, I'm afraid. I've been in remission twice now, but, as they say, third times the charm," he gave his sons a crooked smile.

"How long?" Matteo demanded, looking from Roberto to Paolo.

"Six months, maybe a year, if we are lucky and the cancer slows its growth, but it is an aggressive beast, and this time it has worked its way to his brain," Paolo said.

"You all forced him to try every avenue of treatment, I assume?" Matteo was staring at the big man who had always seemed six-foot-tall and bulletproof to him.

"Theresa has been the worst of them, but it is time to let me rest now and enjoy my home and family. You will do this, Matteo, not just because I ask it of you, but for our family. Ricco will be your rock, as Stefano has always been mine. The two of you can and will do amazing things with the power you possess and the table that will be assembled to support you. Your uncles will stay as mentors for as long as needed, but at the family gathering, after announcing your engagement to the entire family, we will announce the table to the twelve who will populate it."

"Can we know before then? Can we know now which of our cousins will join us, at least if not who will sit in each chair?" Ricco asked.

"What are you doing? We just found out Papa is dying!" Matteo turned on his brother.

"That's true, but we also just found out that before he can step down and enjoy what little time he has left we need to step up and start taking some of the responsibility from him... From them both. There will be time to wallow in grief, but while they are alive is not that time," Ricco said with determination. "Both of us have a business of our own to manage, on top of what is coming. It is better if we know who we will have to rely on to pick up the slack and who will be in the same position as we are now in a month's time. We need answers, and it looks like for once we are going to get them."

"You're right," Matteo acknowledged, and couldn't get his head around how cool, calm, and collected Ricco seemed after hearing such devastating news. "Are you sure you chose correctly between us?" He turned to the older men with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on his face.