Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

LIZZIE

T he estate hummed with energy and activity. Richard led me down the servants' hidden staircase until we reached the conservatory. The guests had been kept to the main hall and ballroom for the first part of the party.

While I was getting ready, the servants had decorated the conservatory with small twinkling lights. They glowed like winking fireflies among the foliage. Walking past the orange trees, red dahlias, and pale pink camellias, I spared only a glance for the stained glass windows depicting Eve's downfall in the Garden of Eden. Their brilliant jewel tones were muted without the bright light of the sun.

As we neared the center, I realized my cage had been decorated as well. Strings of lights lined the bars. Gone was my plush cushion nest but the black velvet swing remained. The polished wood floor was now a thick piece of clear glass.

Richard took my hand and guided me through the door. It closed with a decisive click. Pulling out the brass key from his tuxedo breast pocket, he locked me in.

"Hold on," he said.

"What?"

Taking a few steps back, he brushed aside some thick glossy leaves to expose a small pulley machine. When he turned the machine on, the cage began to rock and sway. With a cry, I lunged for the bars. With each turn of the pulley machine's wheel, the cage crept higher and higher into the air.

"Richard!"

The machine stopped when the cage was about four feet up.

I realized, with a start, anyone could peek under the cage and see up my dress.

"Get on your perch, my pretty bird. My staff will be allowing the guests in soon."

Whimpering as the cage swayed with each shift of my weight, I held onto one bar with my left hand and reached for the swing with my right. Awkwardly turning, I tried to hop onto the swing while still keeping my grip on the bar. Once I was seated, I was forced to let go.

I screamed as the swing lurched from one side to the other, pitching the cage wildly.

After several pendulum loops, the swing finally settled.

Richard stepped up to the cage. "Now remember to be a good little bird."

"Yes, Richard."

"I would hate to have to punish you in front of all of these guests by baring your ass and forcing your feathered tail into your tight little hole. To be wearing a dress is a privilege. Please don't forget it."

I swallowed, knowing full well he was capable of doing just that, regardless of who would witness my humiliation. "I won't," I choked out.

Calming my pounding heart, I closed my eyes. This was a test.

Just a test. He wants to see if you'll behave and be good. It's just part of his game. After tonight he'll tire of this one and start a new game. A new fresh hell to endure in order to stay by his side.

The guests were delighted with Richard's entertainment for the evening. My cage was high enough to prevent anyone from being able to grab at me through the bars, although many of the men tried, but not high enough to prevent people from taunting me. All night long, they tossed pieces of canapés onto the cage floor, asking if the birdie wanted to eat. They also kept asking me to sing or talk.

Keeping silent, I swayed on my swing and allowed them all to become a colorful swirl of colors and noise.

With all the additional people, the conservatory became even hotter. The stench of liquor, bodies, and perfume making the air feel thick and heavy.

Soon, the atmosphere turned sinister.

The laughter became too forced, too high-pitched. Guests became unsteady on their feet as they pitched into one another, spilling drinks onto the marble floor. Men took off their tuxedo jackets. Forgotten masks were crushed beneath spiked high heels. Dresses started to fall off shoulders, exposing naked breasts.

In vain, I searched the crowd for Richard. I had only caught a few glimpses of his caped form in the crowd throughout the night. As usual, he was surrounded by admirers and interlopers.

Swinging my head in the direction of a scream, I saw a man had pinned a woman down over the back of an iron bench. Her white ass was on display as he pulled down his pants and began to fuck her from behind.

Another man broke free from the crowd and yanked her dress down to her waist, so her heavy breasts swayed with each thrust. The drunken smile on her face and her cries for harder told me she was enjoying it.

Two females tossed their dresses over their heads and began to kiss. Leaning their heads back and thrusting their tongues out in an exaggerated French kiss to the delight of the guests.

Soon, guests were pairing up under the dark foliage of the trees or engaging in a full group orgy among the flowers. Under my cage was a sea of discarded clothing and naked limbs.

Gripping the silken cords of my swing, I pressed my thighs in tight. I could feel my nipples swell and harden under the tight confines of the dress bodice.

Where was Richard?

Suddenly his warning of baring my ass and forcing the plug into my bottom felt less like a threat and more like a promise.

With my mask, I felt the thrill of anonymity.

Envisioning Richard pulling the cage down and climbing inside only to bend me over the swing and violently fuck me, I pressed my palm against the juncture of my thighs. My groans were swallowed in the cacophony of moans and cries below me as I allowed myself to be swept up into the sexual energy of the room.

Then, the bottom of the cage pitched downward. Looking, I expected to see Richard's seductive smirk. Instead I saw the drunken, flushed faces of several men.

"Can birdie come out and play?" slurred one of them.

The cage then pitched to the other side.

"Here, Tweetie, Tweetie, Tweetie," shouted another man from the other side.

Between them, they began to rock and sway my cage.

"Richard! Richard!" I screamed as the sharply tilting cage threw me off the swing. Sliding along the cage floor, I hit the hard metal bars on one side. Immediately both men and women began to claw and tear at my dress. The delicate gold overlay shredded as diamonds and emeralds pinged to the floor. My mask had fallen off, and one woman reached through the bars to snatch it up. Another woman tried to take it from her. They began to pull at each other's hair as they tumbled to the floor, rolling on top of one another as men began to shout, "cat fight, cat fight."

"Richard!" I screamed desperately.

Using all their weight several men managed to pull the cage off its chain. It fell violently to the floor, smashing the bars on one side. The glass floor shattered as my shoulder slammed painfully against the marble. Then the cage began to roll as the men pushed it to get to the damaged side.

With nothing to hold onto, I tumbled and rolled with the cage, my legs getting tangled in my skirts and the fallen silk cords of the swing as I was roughly tossed about while shards of glass rained down on me.

Hands reached in to yank at the weakened bars, pulling them away, till there was a large gaping hole.

A fat sweaty face thrust through the opening. "Does Polly want a cock?" he sneered, before laughing at his own joke.

Lashing out, I tried to kick at his groping hands but soon he was joined by several others. Snatching both my ankles, they began to pull. Panicking, I latched onto the remaining bars. Curling my hands into fists, I tried to hold on. My heart beating wildly, I couldn't even summon the breath to scream.

"Richard," I choked out weakly before my hands gave way and they yanked me free from the safety of my prison.

Richard

"Oh, my God."

Over the rising din of the inebriated crowd, I heard Elizabeth scream my name. Turning, I was just in time to see her cage crash to the floor.

"Jesus Christ." My blood ran cold.

Throwing my mask and feathered cloak aside, I shoved at the swarming bodies around me, desperate to get to her.

She should have been safe. I had taken every precaution to make sure she was safe.

"Out of my way," I roared as I threw a man to the floor and shoved another.

Elizabeth's terrorized cries rang in my ears.

Another man blocked my path; swaying drunkenly, he slurred, "Richard, we need to talk, and I won't take no for an answ?—"

Seizing him by the lapels of his tuxedo jacket, I pulled my arm back and punched him square in the jaw before tossing his now limp body aside.

Racing forward, my path was blocked by a horde of writhing, naked bodies.

Elizabeth screamed again. My heart pounded a terrified cadence in my ears as I struggled to locate her through the dense trees and plants by the direction of her screams.

Finally, I saw her being hoisted in the air by several men, her dress in tatters around her body. Two woman were now pulling at her hair and the necklace at her throat.

Veering off the path, I crashed through the plants and trees, trampling the delicate flowers.

Fuck! I needed to get to her.

After an eternity, I was close.

"Elizabeth," I shouted.

Her arm flung out as she desperately reached for me over the pitching sea of drunken bodies. Her beautiful face stark white with fear. "Richard!"

Grasping an overhanging branch of a tree, I swung forward, striking two of the men who held her aloft in the back with my feet. They tumbled forward.

Without the support of their hands, Elizabeth began to topple to the hard floor below.

"Richard!"