“A gift from the Countess,” said the ambassador as she showed me to my room. “To s
“A gift from the Countess,” said the ambassador as she showed me to my room. “To say thank you for your help with the Coriolis affair and to make your weekend more pleasant,” she said with knowing smirk, gesturing at the group of girls before me.“I don’t understand,” I replied, genuinely confused. The girls gazed at me with pleasant smiles and perfect postures, long legs arrayed like posed mannequins.“What is there to not understand?” said the ambassador. “They are yours for the weekend, to do with as you please.”I felt my heart begin to pound and a wave of dizziness wash over me as I realized what she meant. The Countess had said she’d send a gift to my room, I’d expected a fruit basket or a bottle of champagne, but this…“That’s very kind of the Countess,” I replied, surveying the group of young beauties before me. Each one was more lovely than the last; each one glowing with the radiance of youth. “But I really can’t accept. In my country we don’t…”“With respect, Ms. Ford, you are not in your country now,” replied the ambassador, her thick accent lending weight to her serious tone. “You are in the Countess’s country, and such an offering is a gesture of the highest respect. These girls are picked from the Countess’s own college of courtesans and companions. They are born to serve a mistress, born to be utterly obedient and utterly discrete. They were selected according to your preferences and…”“Wait,” I said, interrupting her as she spoke, “my preferences. What do you mean?”The ambassador turned to me with an expression of subtle bemusement. She raised her eyebrow and smirked. “Why Ms. Ford. The Countess knows all about you. Every minor perversion, every obsession, every fleeting fantasy and secret fetish. She knows about the girl in Las Vegas and the exclusive club. She knows about the auctions that you attend and the temptations that you flirt with there. She knows about the stories you write and the sins you enjoy.”She paused and allowed the full weight of her words to settle in my mind. I felt exposed, undone, as though my entire life had been laid bare, simultaneously angry that the Countess had revealed me so easily, but also something else… excited.“This is a unique opportunity, Ms. Ford. These girls are truly yours for three nights. They will do just what you ask of them, and more besides. They will not question you, they will not judge you, they are your dolls. You will have the mansion and all of its contents and amenities for your private use, from the moment I drive away until the moment I return on Monday morning. What happens in these walls will remain yours and yours alone.” She paused, studying my reaction. “Or… you could walk away forever, pass the Countess your thanks and take an early flight back to America and your secret fantasies, never to find out what might have happened.”I turned from her and sighed, brow furrowed in a likeness of concentration, as if the choice she’d handed me was any choice at all. At the front of the group of girls, a pretty young blonde with aqua eyes smiled at me and shifted in place, resting her hand on the knee of the girl beside her, idly stroking her black nylon-covered thigh, shifting the hem of her short dress ever higher.From somewhere far away, a voice spoke and I realized that it was mine. “Thank you Madame Ambassador. I’ll see you on Monday.” -- source link