yet not close enough. His cock is just centimetres away from her pussy. She pulls her red G-string off and opens up her legs, completely lost in her persona. Such a performer, Valentina’s friend is. She begins to touch herself and, as she does so, Mikhail manages to free his arm, so that he brings his hand around to grip his cock. Valentina snaps away as her friend and her lover masturbate together. She is trying not to get too turned on, but it is hard not to feel it. She suppresses her primal urge to join them on the bed. Really, it would just be far too complicated to sleep with Antonella as well.
The two of them climax in synchronicity and Valentina catches a shot of Mikhail’s seed as it marks her friend, gleaming in the spotlight, like stardust on her stomach.
Valentina gathers her things and backs out of the room. Now she should leave them in private. Her last glimpse is of Mikhail tumbling out of the hammock on top of the bed, as Antonella shrieks with glee.
She steps into the corridor at exactly the same time as Leonardo walks out of the Dark Room, the most sacred chamber inside the club where Leonardo’s clients are able to act out those deepest fantasies. He is naked, apart from a black satin mask over his eyes. His skin is shiny with oil and sweat.
‘Been working hard?’ Valentina nods towards the steel door, finding it hard not to sound cheeky.
‘As always,’ her friend answers. ‘How did that go?’
‘Well . . . yes . . . I think it went well.’
‘Did you join in?’
She can sense that her nipples are still erect against the slightness of her silk all-in-one.
‘God, no. I have no desire to sleep with Antonella, for some reason.’
‘Talks too much,’ Leonardo says.
The two of them stand in the corridor and Valentina knows she should move, but she can’t help noticing Leonardo’s reaction to her near-naked presence.
‘It did turn me on, though . . .’ she whispers.
‘Maybe we can try that some time,’ Leonardo says, taking a step towards her, and she feels his naked cock brush against her stomach. ‘Would you like to dominate me?’
‘I think I prefer it the other way around,’ she says, bringing her hand down to touch him. He takes his cue and pulls the string of her all-in-one so that it slides off her body. She is naked and all his as he puts his hand between her legs and touches her.
‘Ah, my dear Valentina; always ready for me,’ he says stroking her tenderly before suddenly spinning her around and pushing her up against the wall.
One of the club rules is, ‘No sex outside of the safety of the rooms.’ As Leonardo himself has said countless times, his club is not a brothel or some Berlinesque fetish club. His place is distinctly Italian: explicit yet always with some decorum; always behind closed doors. And yet right now he is breaking his own cardinal rule and Valentina wants him to. She is in such a state about going to London, and confused over whether she should try to contact Theo, that she needs to abandon all normality, even if for an instant. She pushes her backside against him and he takes her wrists in one hand and holds them tightly behind her. She presses against the cool wall and her body begs for him to fill her. She wants him to go so deep inside her tonight.
Leonardo slams into her, and she answers with a groan. She realises she was more turned on by Antonella and Mikhail’s game than she thought. She is already quivering around Leonardo, aching for him to go further and further. Their coupling doesn’t last for long, but it is intense and primal – outlawed sex. Leonardo thrusts in and out of her and she responds in beat to him. She is climbing, climbing, and together they come suddenly, sliding down the wall as one and collapsing on to the floor, curled up around each other.
Valentina leans over and removes Leonardo’s mask. His eyes are closed and he is breathing heavily.
‘What was all that about?’ she asks. ‘We’re not