‘Take no notice of him. He only does it to attract attention. I’ve just been exercising him. Why don’t you sit down?’
Nancy settled herself in a nest of huge velvet cushions. Her leg in the callipers stuck out in front of her. A.A. Catto didn’t seem to be able to take her eyes off it. Nancy felt something sticking in her. She tugged at it and produced a short, plaited leather whip. She held it up.
‘You, uh, exercise him a lot?’
A.A. Catto nodded, and settled herself beside Nancy.
‘He pisses me off a great deal.’
Nancy grinned.
‘Men can do that.’
‘Right.’
A.A. Catto reached out and touched the black steel calliper.
‘This is an incredible thing.’
Nancy sat very still and said nothing. A.A. Catto smiled at her, and ran her index finger round the damascening on the steel.
‘I don’t like men. They can be very tiresome. Do you like men, uh, Nancy?’
‘Not a lot.’
‘I have a direct link with this one’s nervous system. I can make him feel whatever I want.’
Nancy looked impressed.
‘That must have been expensive.’
A.A. Catto was puzzled.
‘Expensive? I’ve never thought about it.’
Her eyes went vacant. Nancy waited. After a few minutes they flashed back to life again.
‘I’ve got to take something to keep me going.’
She scrambled to her feet, and rummaged about on the marble table.
‘I can’t find any duramene. You don’t have any, do you?’
Nancy shook her head.
‘I don’t. We don’t get a lot of it down our way.’
‘Too bad.’
A.A. Catto picked up a handful of pills and inspected them.
‘I suppose these will hold me together for a while.’
She put half a dozen of them in her mouth and took a swallow from the nearest glass. Then she returned to the cushions.
‘What did you want to talk to me about?’
‘I heard your name today.’
‘That must have been nice.’
‘It was at the Leader Hotel.’
‘What’s the Leader Hotel?’
‘It’s a broken down fire trap on the other side of town. I keep a string of girls there.’
‘What do they do for you?’
‘They work for me.’
‘That seems very practical. Do you think I’m pretty?’
‘Yes, very pretty.’
‘Go on.’
Nancy was beginning to become used to the way A.A. Catto’s mind jumped around. She went back to her story.
‘Two men were looking for you.’
A.A. Catto laughed.
‘Men are always looking for me.’
‘One of them looked like an assassin. A professional.’
‘You believe he might want to kill me?’
‘It’s possible.’
‘Why would anyone want to kill me?’
Nancy shrugged.
‘I don’t know, but it sure seemed like this guy and his partner had a contract for you.’
She jerked her thumb towards the corner.
‘Maybe he wants you dead?’
A.A. Catto looked at her in disbelief.
‘He wouldn’t dare, besides, he hasn’t had the chance. He’s been with me all the time. He doesn’t leave my sight.’
‘I really don’t know. Maybe I was wrong. I just had this feeling.’
A.A. Catto ran her fingers down the calliper again.
‘And you came to warn me. That was very sweet o,f you.’
‘It was nothing.’
‘I still can’t understand why anyone should want to kill me. I’m beautiful. You do think I’m beautiful, don’t you?’
‘Sure, I think you’re beautiful. I think you’re very beautiful.’
‘If I was one of your girls, would you make me work for you?’
Nancy flashed with horror at the problems this dopefiend could cause if she was a working hooker. She smiled quickly.
‘Honey, if you were working for me, I’d keep you all to myself.’
‘Kiss me, Nancy.’
Nancy leaned over and kissed A.A. Catto in a way that wouldn’t commit her to anything. A.A. Catto’s arms immediately snaked around her, and her tongue darted into Nancy’s mouth. She seemed almost desperate. She clung to Nancy, kissing her face and licking her ear. Nancy quickly responded, partly enjoying it, partly wanting to do the thing right. After a few minutes A.A. Catto moved away. She quickly squirmed out of her silver dress, and stood up for Nancy to inspect her. All she had on were her silver boots. She spread her feet wide apart and put her hands on her hips.
‘Do you like my body?’
Nancy stretched out a hand and stroked the inside of A.A. Catto’s thigh.
‘I think your body’s wonderful.’
A.A. Catto crouched down beside Nancy, and touched one of her small hard breasts. She plucked at the white material of Nancy’s one piece outfit.
‘How do you take this off?’
‘You can’t take it off completely.’
Nancy unclipped her silver belt and let it fall back on the cushions. Then she pointed to a small mother-of-pearl stud at her neck and kissed A.A. Catto on the cheek.
‘If you press that, the whole thing splits down the front.’
A.A. Catto extended a long thin finger and touched the stud. The suit split open down the entire length of Nancy’s body. A.A. Catto began caressing her skin, and Nancy sighed deeply. She reached out, and began to fondle A.A. Catto’s breasts. A.A. Catto traced a path with her fingers down Nancy’s body from her collar bone to the white fuzz of her pubic hair. Then she followed it with her tongue. As she found Nancy’s clitoris, Nancy gave a groan of real pleasure and began to writhe her hips. A.A. Catto looked up from between Nancy’s legs.
‘Was that nice?’
Nancy sighed.
‘Oh, really.’
A.A. Catto squirmed round until the gap between her own legs was presented to Nancy.
‘Now do the same to me.’
For a long while the two women aroused and teased each other with their mouths and tongues. Each time the feeling became too strong one would clutch spasmodically at the other’s legs. At last, A.A. Catto surfaced.
‘This is very nice, but I’d like to get further.’
Nancy opened her eyes. There were beads of perspiration on her upper lip.
‘What do you suggest?’
A.A. Catto grinned.
‘I have some toys that might help us.’
Nancy ran her tongue up A.A. Catto’s thigh.
‘Why don’t you find them?’
A.A. Catto jumped up with a laugh. She looked helplessly round the room.
‘I know they’re here somewhere. I saw them when I was torturing Reave.’
Nancy propped herself up on one elbow.
‘Aren’t you worried that someone might be trying to kill you?’
A.A. Catto paused from rummaging about in the litter that covered the room.
‘I’ll probably worry terribly when I start to come down, but right now I can’t quite believe it. Anyway, it’d be very hard for anyone to get me here. We’re surrounded by guards.’
Nancy sank back into the cushions as A.A. Catto went on searching. Things were working out very differently from the way she had expected. When she’d first thought of coming to the Orchid House it had been for a quick bribe. It seemed to have gone a lot further than that. Her deliberations were interrupted by a buzzing from the wall screen. On the screen, one of the swordsmen was, at last, delivering the finishing blows to the other. A.A. Catto moved over to it, and flicked the control to the communication channel. The huge head and shoulders of a guardian filled the screen. It completely dwarfed A.A. Catto. She took an involuntary step back.