Back to the Present 5

Gritti`s kiss had a revitalizing effect on Tabea`s senses; however, not quite in the way she would have preferred. First, her tongue came to life and she responded to his kiss before she managed to shake her head, making him withdraw.

»Not convinced yet?«, he asked with a smile, looking down on her. Tabea still more hung from her bonds than she was standing, exhausted from the effects of her massive orgasm. She was covered with sweat and other fluids and the specific fragrance was overwhelming. She was unable to produce more than a croak, but she showed him an angry glance and weakly shook her head. Gritti turned towards Ornella, removed her blindfold and whispered something into her ear. The maid curtseyed and went to one of the tables whilst Gritti picked up the choke pear. Tabea`s eyes widened when she spotted the dreadful gag, but she managed to remain calm.

Ornella, with her wrist still bound in front of her and still sporting her gag, now brought a cup and reached it to Gritti. The Doge took it and said:

»I thought you may prefer water to wine, Tabea. Do you wish to drink?«

Since her throat felt like sand paper, Tabea nodded slightly and Gritti held the mug to her lips, allowing her to take small sips of water. Then, he raised the choke pear.

»What a terrible example of human inventiveness. It must have felt horrible in your mouth!«

Tabea glanced at him. Her first reaction would have been to spit into Gritti`s face or to tell him where he could put the choke pear. But tied as she was, she feared that it would again end up in her mouth and so, she remained silent. Gritti handed the gag to Ornella who took it by its end, looking with disgust at the sopping wet silk wrapped around it. Gritti meanwhile produced another cloth: the linen cloth that had previously blindfolded Ornella.

»And yet, you didn`t seem too reluctant when I – had my way with you.«

He gently dabbed some sweat from Tabea`s forehead and cheeks. The girl felt she was blushing all over, though her skin color almost hid the fact. She knew that there were a thousand excuses for what she had done, but it was true: she had reacted to what Gritti and his maids had done to her.

He now held the cloth to her chest and with his other hand, he brushed over her side. Tabea squirmed and let out a sharp breath.

»You bastard!«, she hissed. Gritti once again let his fingers playfully caress her side whilst his other hand now held the cloth pressed between her legs. Then, he stepped back one step and held the soaked cloth to his nose, inhaling deeply. With a smile, he then balled up the cloth.

»Time for you to get gagged again, Tabea. Now, what do you prefer: a little reminder of your arousal«, he raised the linen wad, »or a not so small reminder of why this is called a torture chamber?«

Now, Gritti pointed at the choke pear still in Ornella`s hand. Tabea instinctively gritted her teeth, since both gags made her shudder. But what could she do? She was tied up and helpless and any struggle she might put up would only prolong her ordeal for a few seconds whilst it would also turn on Gritti. So, she focused on the wad in his hand. Gritti asked:

»So, it`s that one, Tabea? A memory of your joy and arousal?«

Tabea stared daggers at him, but when Gritti reached for the choke pear, she nodded, almost unnoticeable. The Doge again whispered an order into Ornella`s ear and the girl withdrew, taking the dreadful gag with her.

Gritti did nothing quickly. He held the gag to Tabea`s lips, dabbing over them whilst she had to breathe in the scent of her own sweat and arousal. Then, bit by bit, he worked the sodden fabric between her teeth. The linen was soft, but the cloth was rather large and since Gritti`s strong fingers pushed in the wet material very dense, it filled her oral cavity and caused her to produce retching sounds.

Ornella now handed a leather mask to Gritti and he pressed it over the lower half of Tabea`s face and buckled the straps tightly at her nape. The girl tried to cope with the vile taste of her gag and panted heavily through her nose, but at least, the gag was less gruesome than the pear, though the mask prevented her from spitting it out.

»Now, every time you move your jaw or you gulp, you will think of what it was like!«

»Gghhummph!«

Tabea turned her head when Gritti gently caressed her cheek.

»It could always be like that, you know? Of course, not always exactly like that«, he again looked over her nude body, still glistering with sweat, »but between such – joyful moments, you would live in my palace. You`d have beautiful dresses, jewelry, your own maids – just think about it, Tabea! I will see for you tomorrow!«

Bowing slightly towards the girl, he stepped away and opened the door of the torture chamber. Shortly after, Lorenzo and Luigi stepped in. Speaking so loud Tabea could hear it, too, he ordered:

»My – guest will stay here for the night! Make her comfortable, then you will withdraw and leave her to the care of Fiamma and Ornella. Oh, and get these girls some fresh straw, some food and stoke the oven! They will stay here for the time being, too!«

***

Carefully, Jelena slipped through the small side door of the palace. Once she had left Aurora`s room, she had found an empty basket and draped a cloth over it. Like that, she had walked along the corridors, always in fear somebody would talk to her or recognize her as the fugitive she was. But luckily, she reached the ground floor and there spotted the servants` entrance through which she now had left the palace. There had been several guards, but except for an occasional lewd comment, none of these had taken notice of her.

»Now, what next?«

She placed the basket in a corner and tried to look unsuspicious as she approached the Basilica San Marco. Inside the church, so Jelena thought, she would at least find some rest to think about her next steps. She had quite a fortune in jewelry, but she had to get money for it and besides, she had to find both Janika and Bela and someone who would help them organize Tabea`s rescue and their getaway.

She was still in her thoughts when suddenly she was grabbed from behind and a hand clamped her mouth shut.

***

Bela wasn`t sure whether he had had luck or bad luck. Sure, breaking his ankle had been bad luck, but the friendly owner of the barn not only had told him that for his seven Scudi, he would take care of Bela for an entire week, but he also had served as a soldier in his youth and therefore had been able to splint his leg in a way Bela would fully recover and could even limp into a corner to follow the call of nature.

Bad luck, however, was that he was condemned to lie down and do nothing. The barn`s owner was a loner and had to work and Janika had left to look for the other girls. He had neither something to read nor a pen and paper and he didn`t dare to show off outside the barn.

»Magic powers my ass!«, he thought bitterly. However, he knew that he was gifted; after all, he had sent Ilona through time – or rather, he had opened a corridor to the future through which Tabea had managed to get hold of Ilona.

»If only I had my magic book!«

He still was perplexed about the sheer coincidence with said book: Bela had bought an empty book to write down his thoughts about Ilona and when he had become more and more obsessed, somehow the writings and paintings had become more and more meaningful.

Bela dropped the twig with which he had tried to clean his teeth.

»By the beard of my Grandma!«

It hadn`t been the book! The reason why it had become magic had been that he had been writing in it, soaking the pages with his obsession about Ilona! The girl had haunted him in his thoughts and dreams and the diary had been his way to focus on doing something about it.

Focus! Perhaps, that was the key to everything! If he found a way to focus his magic powers, he would perhaps need nothing but himself to send Tabea and Jelena back through time.

Bela looked at a pebble some three yards away and thought if he could make it fly over to him if he concentrated enough. Then, he scolded himself for that idea: his aim was not to become a market place magician who could do some tricks, but to help his friends. He had to focus in earnest.

So, Bela took the small candle he had been given and produced two small wax balls he put into his ears. Then, closing his eyes, he blocked out the outer world and tried to concentrate on his powers and what he could do with them.

***

Tabea had to find out that even inside this torture chamber, there were different definitions of making someone »comfortable«. Luigi and Lorenzo had not only brought some fresh straw, but also a few blankets, allowing Ornella and Fiamma to prepare two relatively convenient beds in an empty cell. In addition, now that the oven was put on, it had become warm and on one of the tables, she could see two carafes and a basket with food. However, her own position had improved from being chained to the wall, but could hardly be described as comfortable.

The man had again taken no chances, though Tabea still had been weakened by her previous ordeal. They had loosened the board from the chains and then, with her neck and hands still chained to it and her feet still tied to the spreader bar, she had had to stagger to a rather strange device. It looked like a rocking chair, but it was made of solid iron and had numerous straps with buckles riveted to it. With uneasiness, Tabea had noticed that the seat and the backrest had several holes in it and that there was an iron drawer under the seat. She knew that this could be used to put glowing coal under her butt when she was tied to the chair.

Tabea was seated and then, Luigi untied her right leg, only to strap it to the chair at her ankles. Then, he tied her upper leg to the vertical bar connecting the armrest to the seat, just above her knee. When he had done so to her other leg, Tabea found she had to sit with her legs open.

A broader belt was tied around her waist, pulling her tight to the backrest. Nervously, Tabea had spotted an iron ring on that belt, right above her pubic mound. Memories of crotch ropes appeared in front of her inner eye, but she had been spared at least that ordeal.

She had then been freed from the board, just to be further tied to the chair. Her wrists and elbows were strapped to the armrests and Tabea noticed that the buckles were out of reach. Another strap was pulled directly below her breasts and welded her upper body to the backrest whilst a last one went over her throat, though this one was broad enough not to cut into her flesh and also had been applied loose enough not to block her breathing. When they had finished tying her up, the two men admired their work.

»Are you comfortable, Black Pearl?«, Luigi asked mockingly, staring down at her breasts. Tabea just answered with an angry glance. She was quite sure that Gritti had given order not to really hurt or rape her – but she had no idea about how far he would allow these two men to go.

»Perhaps, we should show her how comfortable she is by presenting her how uncomfortable this chair could be!«, Lorenzo proposed and Luigi grinned. Lorenzo went to the table, filled a mug with wine and emptied it. Whenever Gritti ordered to torture someone in here, it was on him to do the »Territio«: he had to explain to the captive en detail how the torture instruments worked, just to frighten him without actually doing any harm. Over the years, Lorenzo had become quite good in offering a good show.

»This chair is based on an ordinary rocking chair, the dream of every grandmother who sits in front of the house, enjoying the evening sun and watching her grandchildren play.«

Luigi, who had accompanied such »Territiones« often enough, played Lorenzo`s silent support. He stepped in front of the chair, put his hands on Tabea`s breasts and slightly pushed her backwards. Of course, she rocked back, only to sway back, forced to push her boobs into his waiting hands. It was a minor insult after what had been done to her, but Tabea felt embarrassed.

»Of course, tied like that, you are quite available to us, especially now that you are stark naked!«

Luigi stopped the chair, only to knead her boobs harder. Meanwhile, Lorenzo bent down and reached for her feet. The way she was tied allowed him to touch her naked soles. Tabea reared up in her seat and squealed through her gag as the man brushed over her soles. For some minute, he tickled her, forcing Tabea to laugh uncontrollably and to gasp for air.

»If necessary, we can fetch a goat. Their rough tongues work much better than a finger.«

He rose from the floor and stepped closer, pushing Luigi aside, but only to bent over her himself. Tabea still panted from the tickling and her eyes widened as he pushed his hand between her legs, cupping her pubic mound.

»As I said, you are totally available and unable to stop us!«

With his other hand, he caressed her side and Tabea could not help squirming, rocking her hips and grinding her pubic area against his hand. Lorenzo enjoyed this game for some time before he let her go and continued:

»You may have noticed the drawer under your seat. As you may have guessed, this is for putting some red hot iron under your butt. We will spare you a demonstration of that, but be sure, if you encountered it once, you will never again enjoy the smell of roast chicken.«

He grinned and Luigi now pulled away the drawer. For a terrible second, Tabea feared that he had changed his mind about the red hot iron, but Lorenzo now produced two boards, a shorter and a longer one. Each board was spiked with nails.

»These nails fit perfectly through the holes in the chair!«

Luigi took the longer board and pressed it against the backrest. Tabea groaned when she felt the tips of the nails, though the man only poked her a bit, not hurting her. Then, he took the shorter board and put it under her seat. When the nails touched her buttocks, Lorenzo stepped in front of her.

»Of course, these boards can be fixed. Now, imagine sitting on these nails and then get tickled!«

Luigi pushed the board upwards, just enough to make the nails hurt a bit, though they still didn`t pierce her skin. At the same time, Lorenzo flexed his fingers and bent forward.

»Nnngggg! Uuhhmmmph!«

With widened eyes, Tabea shook her head no and squirmed in her seat. Smiling, Lorenzo withdrew and Luigi removed the board, too.

»Of course, there are more possibilities to make this chair really unpleasant for the one sitting on it. But unfortunately, we now have to go. Just remember my little demonstration and enjoy the comfort of just being allowed to sit like you do now!«

He bowed and stepped back. Luigi groped her boobs for one last time before he followed his comrade, leaving Tabea alone with the two maids. These now came close and Tabea moaned, hoping they would at least remove her gag. However, Ornella just played with a stray of her dark brown curls and said:

»Now, what do you think, Fiamma? How shall we treat her? Like a friend, like a guest – or like a criminal?«

Fiamma stepped beside her and also began to play with her red curls. They looked down at Tabea as if they were playing some evil game. The day before, these two maids had been friendly and obliging, but now, they were in charge and in addition, she and Jelena had attacked them and left them bound and gagged.

»First of all, we will now get 100 Scudi each – thanks to her!«

They were talking as if Tabea wasn`t there, but both glimpsed at her to see her reactions. Fiamma now said:

»However, she and the other threatened us with knifes! Then, they took our clothes and tied and gagged us! How embarrassing when the guards found us!«

The redhead sounded a bit overdone and according to what Gritti had said earlier and how these two had been flirting with the guards before, Tabea was sure this hadn`t been the first time the men had seen the two maids in just their underwear. However, none of the girls asked for her opinion.

»Then, His Highness forced us to do unspeakable things to you!«, Ornella added. She even waved her index finger, as if Tabea had been a naughty girl and forced them to touch or lick her. The two maids then withdrew and accompanied by some giggling, they had a whispered conversation. After some minutes, Fiamma returned:

»We have decided to help you, Tabea!«

Tabea felt a spark of hope, but she didn`t like the way the redhead smiled. And indeed, Fiamma now added:

»Helping you in learning more about submission and humility!«

***

»You scared me to death! Couldn`t you just have talked to me?«

Jelena wasn`t really angry about Janika who had been the attacker from behind. In fact, she was more than relieved to see her. Quickly, they exchanged information about what had happened to them so far and, hiding inside the Basilica, they now discussed what to do next.

»We have the jewelry, but if we offer it to the wrong people, they will either call the authorities or cut our throats and throw our bodies into the lagoon.«

Jelena wanted to get Tabea out of the dungeon, but she had agreed upon trying to make money first. Once they had a safe hideout and, also important, a boat to get away from Venice soon, they could make plans to free Tabea.

»So, what can we do?«

Janika grinned.

»You seem to forget I have been a policewoman. And I don`t think that criminals of this time are so much different from those of my time. So, I should be able to find someone who will maybe pay a bad price for the jewelry, but at least will not do worse than cheat us.«

***

When Andrea Gritti had reached his room, he did not call for his servant, but took off his clothes by himself. If the washing woman had thoughts about what he had done, it was their glass of wine, but he didn`t want too much rumor about it. However, when he reminded his encounter with the black beauty, he still felt a tingle in his loins and he decided to take the opportunity and to visit Aurora.

In a way, he felt sorry for her, since she had been loyal to him during the last 12 years – more loyal than his wife that he had married to get better contact to her influential family and who had so far failed in bearing him a son. Gritti had a reputation as a Ladies` man, but with growing age, he found it rather strenuous to split his time between his wife and his Mistress. But today, he would be at least able to show Aurora that he still was a man.

Wearing a rather plain gown, he went to the room where he had kept Jelena and Tabea and then entered the corridor leading to his Mistress via the side door. He was quite sure that she would be there and soon, he would-

When he opened the door to Aurora`s room, he almost fell backwards: the chamber looked as if it had been pillaged by a company of soldiers, with clothes and shards lying everywhere. Gritti tightened his grip on his stick when he heard a faint noise.

»Mhhmmm! Uuhhmmm!«

He entered the room and his eyes fell on Aurora, lying on the bed. First, he noticed her bare breasts, since her dress had been ripped open. She was tied to the bedposts and a strip of cloth held a big wad in her mouth. Aurora moaned and tore on her bonds when he looked down at her.

»What happened?«

»Mhhmmm!«

Gritti stepped closer towards the bed when he staggered over a toppled footstool. With waving arms, he landed on the carpeted floor. Cursing, the overweight man tried to get up when suddenly, he became rigid and stared at a crumpled dress that was lying right in front of him.

It was a plain blue dress and had a patch in a slightly darker blue at its skirt. Gritti knew this patch and he could tell that it would be right above the left buttock if the original owner was wearing it: it was the dress of Fiamma, one of his personal maids.

Gritti had loved to watch the redhead bent forward when she put firewood in the oven and so, he recognized this dress from thousands of others. Slowly, the old, gouty man came to his feet, but at the same time, his mind worked very fast.

The guards had told him that they had arrested Tabea who had only been wearing a camisole and from Ornella, he knew that she had previously taken her dress whilst Jelena had put on Fiamma`s. But if Jelena had been in this room, too, why had the guards not noticed her? Was it possible that she had overpowered Aurora? But why had she left such a chaos?

»Uuuhmmm! Mhhmmph!«

Gritti got up and went to the bed where he sat down and freed Aurora from her gag.

»Oh, Polpetto, thanks to God you are here! It-, two or three men, they came out of nowhere! They- they-«

Aurora`s eyes filled with tears, but Gritti seemed surprisingly cold to her. He calmly asked:

»Who did this to you?«

»I-I don`t know! Shortly after your guards arrested the black captive, I tried to recover from the shock, when suddenly, I was grabbed from behind! They forced a cloth into my mouth and tied me to the bed and then, they grabbed all my jewelry, ripped my clothes, destroyed everything – it was horrible! A nightmare!«

»Two or three men, you said?«, Gritti asked, sounding a bit absent-minded. Aurora gulped, since he didn`t show any pity for her.

»I have no idea who they were, but they sounded as if they were no simple thieves. One of them said something about you being a ›bloody Turk-friend‹!«

Some of the other nobles criticized Gritti for his attempts to remain in good terms with the Ottomans and so, Aurora`s plan of distraction was to make him believe that the attackers had been members of one of these families. However, he still seemed to be uncertain about something.

»Polpetto, please, these ropes are hurting me! Please, get me loose!«

Gritti now bent over her, his eyes only inches apart from hers. He looked at her and almost whispered as he asked:

»Two or three men – and nobody else?«

»Wha-what do you meaaauuhhmmm!«

Aurora now became frightened, but when she tried to talk to him, Gritti took the still damp wad that had gagged her before and pressed it on her mouth. Despite her resistance, he could work the gag back into her oral cavity, pushing hard and stuffing it deep into her throat. Whilst he then tied the cloth strap between her lips, he said:

»Two or three men – and one of them has been dressed in the dress of my maid Fiamma and took it off right in front of you! The other fugitive has been here, too – and I now wonder why you haven`t told the guards or me about that!«

With widened eyes, Aurora moaned, but Gritti now stood up and limped towards the door that he pushed open. Then, he left, slamming the door shut.

Desperately, Aurora fought her ties, but Jelena had done too good a job in binding her up and so, she still was bound and gagged as she had been left when Gritti came back – accompanied by Lorenzo and Luigi. The two men stared at Aurora`s bare breasts and the Mistress blushed all over and cringed under their gaze, but Gritti `s face was a mask of cold anger.

»Signorina Aurora has some information about the whereabouts of the other captive. However, she has decided not to tell me deliberately and therefore, we will have to ask her more directly. Get her downstairs!«

***

»Now, what do you say?«

Jelena startled. For more than one and a half hour, she guessed, she had been sitting in a corner of the Basilica, pretending to pray and fearing that either someone would recognize her or try to steal the jewelry hidden under her skirts. Meanwhile, Janika had taken the combined money of her and Jelena and left for some ominous preparations. Now, it turned out that said preparations had been a new dress that looked much better than the shabby one she had worn before. She also wore a black cloak with a hood, concealing her blonde hair. Handing a similar cloak to Jelena, she whispered:

»Dressed like that, we might pass as an impoverished Lady and her maid. Unfortunately, I now have to pawn my jewelry, since my late husband left me with nothing but a heap of debts!«

Jelena scoffed at Janika`s acting, but she had to admit that the plan by itself was good. A pawnbroker would not pay them nearly as much as the jewelry was worth, but it would be far less dangerous than to sell it to real criminals.

It turned out that Janika wanted to get to a few pawnbrokers to look less suspicious. So, they started their tour of pawning jewelry and indeed, they made quite a sum by just selling the rings. Janika had decided that the diadem and the emerald could be recognized and that they would sell them when they had left Venice.

»Now, we will book a room in a good hotel and tomorrow, you will get back and contact your new friend. Meanwhile, I will fetch Bela and we will hire a boat. I still have no idea how to get Tabea from the dungeon, but we should be prepared to leave immediately anyway!«

Jelena nodded, though having to wait another night made her feel guilty towards Tabea who was still suffering in the torture chamber. But Janika was right: it would get them nowhere if they were hanging around in front of the Doge`s Palace. So, she followed the blonde who was on her way back to the better quarters of the city.

***

Bela felt exhausted and highly excited at the same time. For some hours, he had tried to concentrate on his magic powers, focusing on his goal, to find a way through time. And suddenly, there had been something. He could not quite put his finger on it, but in front of his inner eye, he could see the same picture again and again – and it was not part of his memory. He could spot an airing with some burning flames, two men who were wearing strange clothes and in the background, a very strange looking coach with neither horses nor a drawbar. One of the men held a glooming flat box to his mouth and seemed to speak through it in a Hungarian Bela considered strange.

Tabea and Jelena had told him about the men who had kidnapped them and forced them to accompany Ilona on her way back to the 16th century, to see if the magic book worked. It had worked, and obviously, they now knew how to use it, for later, they had sent Janika to look after the two girls, too. So, he was at least able to get some kind of contact to the other time.

He opened his eyes and suddenly felt worried. If he would be able to send Tabea and Jelena back – would Janika accompany them? For some reason he could not explain, time travelling only worked for women and so, he could not come with her to that strange time with their flying machines and something called computers and internet. It would have been an interesting experience, but more important to him was that now he had found a loving partner, he didn`t want to lose her.

»That`s what the philosophers call a dilemma!«, Bela considered and massaged his temples.

***

The first lesson in humility Fiamma and Ornella had in mind for Tabea was neither doing anything kinky nor torturing her physically. Instead, they had just begun to open to eat in front of her eyes. Obviously, Gritti did not only enjoy good meals himself, but also allowed his servants to eat well, for they not only had bread, but also roast chicken, cheese, fruits and also some wine. Tabea would have thought that her current predicament and what had been done to her would have spoiled her appetite, but to her dismay, she felt famished. She hadn`t eaten since last evening and in addition, she always felt hungry after she had had sex. Obviously, it didn`t matter that it hadn`t been consensual.

She felt saliva run into her mouth and repeatedly had to swallow, though she knew her gag had soaked the juices of her previous arousal. Ornella giggled when she heard how Tabea`s stomach grumbled.

»You want some chicken, too?«, she asked, holding a deliciously smelling chicken leg under her nose. Tabea groaned and though she hated herself for giving in, she nodded. Ornella turned towards Fiamma and asked:

»She`s hungry. But how do we know she has learned how to be a good and devote girl and has earned something to eat?«

»Yummy, Yummy, empty tummy!«, the redhead rhymed, patting Tabea`s belly. The Black answered with another grumble from her stomach and Fiamma placed a kiss on her forehead.

»I think for the moment, it will be sufficient if she licks my foot – a leg for a leg, that sounds fair, doesn`t it?«

She lifted her slip, reached for her garter and loosened it so she could peel down one of her stockings. Now, they tortured Tabea`s nose with a terrible mélange of scents: Fiamma`s feet and the roast chicken. She cringed and moaned with despair.

Now, Fiamma raised her foot and poked her big toe against Tabea`s nose.

»The choice is yours!«, she purred.

***