Frances let her eyes travel around the room. Things the family took for granted were
quite obvious to the girl. The portraits and statues all featured erotic scenes, and
there were pillows beside chairs on the floors as well as some bolts secured in curious
places. The whole family is into the same thing Liam and I enjoy, Frances realized.
She thought about Liam’s reply when she asked him about his work. “Cynthia, Liam tells
me you are quite an avid flower collector.” She looked around the room for reactions.
Daryl coughed, Sloan froze, and Kyle almost spat out his beer. Alexander smiled at her
warmly, with almost an excited approval in his eyes. Frances was encouraged as she
realized her outrageous deductions about this family were looking more and more as though
they were accurate. “I think I would like to see them sometime.”
“Oh, shit,” Liam whispered.
Cynthia stared into the girl’s eyes, and Frances gave her a slight nod. “Daryl brought
me a special Orchid I’ve been working on. Of course, I’m only a week into training…”
“I’d love to see your new flower,” Frances said. She understood there would be no
turning back. Either way, she was sure that Cynthia knew that she was aware of their
secret.
“Alexander… do you think?” Cynthia questioned.
“I think Liam’s little angel has extraordinary capabilities and intuition,” Alexander
chuckled. “I’ll go fetch your Orchid.”
Liam cleared his throat. “The Orchid, mother?”
“Only your angel is prettier, Liam,” Cynthia assured him.
“If I were a flower, what would you name me?” Frances asked curiously.
“That’s easy,” Cynthia answered. “Calla… for my slender white calla lilies. Even though
they’re not as exotic as some other species, though I have managed some interesting
hybrids, they have a serene grace, beautiful curving white lines, and they used to be a
favorite of my mother’s.”
“Is that where you learned gardening?” Frances asked.
“It’s where my love of gardening was inspired,” Cynthia agreed.
“Mother, are you sure? I mean, Frances and I have not discussed…” Liam was unsure how to
proceed. He had counted on a few days in the guesthouse to figure out a way to discuss
things with Frances.
Frances answered, “Liam, do you remember telling me that you thought your mother and I
shared a kindred alliance? Trust your instincts. I promise, this won’t break me
either.”
“But, Frances, you don’t understand.” Liam began to panic. This is a mistake. She’s
going to despise us… she’s going to despise me.
“Understand what, Liam?” Frances asked gently. “That the ‘flowers’ you and your brothers
collect for your mother… are women?” Frances saw the almost pained expression on her
lover’s face. “I think I began to realize yesterday, when you started getting nervous and
making excuses. Today, I almost had to put my foot on the pedal to get us here in time
for dinner. Any slower, and we would have been going in reverse.”
Frances turned to Cynthia. “Naturally, I assumed it was because he was embarrassed to
introduce me to you. That’s a scenario I’m familiar with. I slowly began to realize that
he had begun to think of differences in his family that might make me uncomfortable.
Then, there was the suggestion we stay in the guesthouse, instead of the main building.
There were a few other things he said, but when I looked around your room… you have no
flowers in here. I would expect vases or portraits of bouquets from such an avid
collector. Instead, all the artwork is of beautiful women… in some rather unusual
situations,” Frances added.
She looked at one picture of a woman tied to a bed with silk scarves and blindfolded.
There was a naked man kneeling beside her, and another standing by the foot railing.
“Liam, I think I like that one the best.” Frances had no idea why she felt so at ease
with these people, and so completely confident and accepted. The nervousness had left the
brothers’ faces, and they were looking at her with almost the same intense warmth Liam
usually had in his eyes, though she could see that Liam was still ready to grab her hand
and bolt. “A slipper for every foot,” Frances murmured.
“What?” Cynthia asked.
“Oh… it’s just something mother used to say to make me feel better. She’d read me
Cinderella, and when the prince placed the glass slipper onto her foot, she told me that
is what my life would be like. That I should be patient, because there would be a perfect
fit for me somewhere in the world.”
“Liam, did you tell her?” Cynthia asked. She had paled slightly. The secret was held in
the family, because this feeling of unaccepted inadequacy was her only weakness.
Frances turned to Liam and asked, “Remember when you picked me up in the middle of
nowhere?” She turned to Cynthia and said, “It really was the middle of nowhere. At the
last minute, I decided to go to a concert, and for the first time in my life, I
hitchhiked. I mean, obviously with my limitations, the entire idea was dangerous. My
first ride was from a truck driver who left me off on some back road. Two trucks passed
me in three hours, and then Liam came along, buzzing down the back road in his sport car.
When he stopped, I couldn’t believe it. I was quite a ridiculous sight, I imagine, with
my floppy hat, flannel shirt and sunglasses covering half my face.”
“I thought you were beautiful,” Liam admitted. It was all that he seemed to be able to
manage.
“We started talking, and you kept trying to get me to take my sunglasses off. When I
finally did, I expected you to ditch me at the next stop. Instead, you told me how girls
should have been envious… how men should have actually wanted me. At first, I thought you
were making fun of me, but I began to see that you were serious. It reminded me of my
prom… or rather, my ‘should have been’ prom.” Frances stared at her lap in painful
memory. “I ended up finding the brightest star outside my window, and actually wishing,
maybe begging, for my fairy godmother to come rescue me. Little girls can hang a lot of
dreams on fairytales.” She looked up at Cynthia. “I hadn’t thought of that in years,
until Liam picked me up.”
Frances looked into the swimming green of Cynthia’s filled eyes. “Oh, I’m so sorry,”
Frances said. “I didn’t mean to depress everyone. Believe me, I am well used to the
smirks and stares and isolation by now. It hardly ever gets to me. It hasn’t hit me once
since I met Liam,” she smiled.
Daryl spoke up, “Maybe we’re a little odd, Frances, but I can assure you that every one
of us sees you as a most exquisite flower.”
“And without sounding cocky, I think we’re expert judges in that matter.” Sloan issued a
rare smile.
“Alexander calls it ‘Cinderella Syndrome’,” Cynthia replied. “I rather thought it was a
condition unique to me,” she smiled.
Frances frowned. “Great… like I need something else to add to my litany of problems.”
Cynthia laughed. “Well, Alexander has devised a rather accomplished form of therapy to
help me deal with it.”
“Did I hear my name mentioned?” Alexander asked. He led Orchid in, gagged with a shiny
black leather plug, and the beautiful leash Sloan had made clipped to her ‘Y’ shaped
restrictive chains. Alexander had warned her of the consequences of misbehaving, and her
pussy was still swollen and sore from his last punishment with the cane.
Where the boys’ eyes would be naturally drawn to Orchid, they were now focused on
Frances. Sloan had even sidled to the entryway, to catch her if she ran. Instead, she
had the most remarkable, unexpected reaction any of them could have anticipated.
Frances rose, and her mouth dropped slightly open in surprise. She walked over to
Orchid, and looked her up and down. Orchid’s eyes followed the girl in shock, instead of
the pleading Alexander had anticipated. Frances said, “Marissa?”
“Oh shit,” Kyle whispered to Daryl.
“You know her?” Liam asked. The whole family stiffened a bit, waiting to see Liam’s
angel’s reaction to her friend’s predicament.
Frances smiled, and she reached out and actually tugged the chain a bit. “Oh, yes, Liam.
I know her. Remember that girl I told you about from school? The way she used to taunt
me?” Frances looked into the Orchid’s amber eyes. “You remember, don’t you, Marissa?
‘Poor little Fanny with her weird disease. Better not get near her or she’ll suck all of
the color out of you like a vampire.’ I thought you left to be some kind of
super-model.”
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