Master of the Game

Eve undressed and bathed and put on a new sheer, black negligee that clung to her figure. At one A.M. there was a discreet tap on the door. She hurried to open it, and George Mellis stepped in.

He stood there, his eyes filled with admiration. "Matia mou, you make the Venus de Milo look like a hag."

"I have an advantage over her," Eve whispered. "I have two arms."

And she put both arms around George Mellis and drew him to her. His kiss made something explode inside her. His lips pressed hard against hers, and she felt his tongue exploring her mouth.

"Oh, my God!" Eve moaned.

He started to strip off his jacket, and she helped him. In a moment he was free of his trousers and French shorts, and he was naked before her. He had the most glorious physique Eve had ever seen. He was hard and erect.

"Quick," Eve said. "Make love to me." She moved onto the bed, her body on fire.

He commanded, "Turn over. Give me your ass."

She looked up at him. "I – I don’t – "

And he hit her on the mouth. She stared up at him in shock.

"Turn over."

"No."

He hit her again, harder, and the room began to swim in front of her.

"Please, no."

He hit her again, savagely. She felt his powerful hands turning her over, pulling her up on her knees.

"For God’s sake," she gasped, "stop it! I’ll scream."

He smashed his arm across the back of her neck, and Eve started to lose consciousness. Dimly, she felt him raise her hips higher into the air. He pulled her cheeks apart, and his body pressed against hers. There was a sudden, excruciating pain as he plunged deep inside her. She opened her mouth to scream, but she stopped in terror of what he might do to her.

She begged, "Oh, please, you’re hurting me…"

She tried to pull away from him, but he was holding her hips tightly, plunging into her again and again, tearing her apart with his enormous penis. The pain was unbearable.

"Oh, God, no!" she whispered. "Stop it! Please stop it!"

He kept moving in, deeper and faster, and the last thing Eve remembered was a wild groan that came from deep inside him and seemed to explode in her ears.

When she regained consciousness and opened her eyes, George Mellis was sitting in a chair, fully dressed, smoking a cigarette. He moved over to the bed and stroked her forehead. She cringed from his touch.

"How do you feel, darling?"

Eve tried to sit up, but the pain was too great. She felt as though she had been ripped apart. "You goddamned animal…" Her voice was a ragged whisper.

He laughed. "I was gentle with you."

She looked at him in disbelief.

He smiled. "I can sometimes be very rough." He stroked her hair again. "But I love you, so I was kind. You’ll get used to it, Hree-se’e-moo. I promise you."

If she had had a weapon at that moment, Eve would have killed him. "You’re insane!"

She saw the gleam that came into his eyes, and she saw his hand clench into a fist, and in that instant she knew stark terror. He was insane.

She said quickly, "I didn’t mean it. It’s just that I – I’ve never experienced anything like that before. Please, I’d like to go to sleep now. Please."

George Mellis stared at her for a long moment, and then relaxed. He rose and walked over to the dressing table where Eve had put her jewelry. There was a platinum bracelet and an expensive diamond necklace lying there. He scooped up the necklace, examined it and slipped it into his pocket. "I’ll keep this as a little souvenir."

She was afraid to open her mouth to protest.

"Good night, darling." And he walked back to the bed, leaned over and gently kissed Eve’s lips.

She waited until he had gone, and then crawled out of bed, her body burning with pain. Every step was an agony. It was not until she had locked the bedroom door that she felt safe again. She was not sure she would be able to make it to the bathroom, and she fell back onto the bed, waiting for the pain to recede. She couldn’t believe the enormity of the rage she felt. He had sodomized her – horribly and brutally. She wondered what he had done to that other girl who had wanted to commit suicide.

When Eve finally dragged herself into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, she was aghast. Her face was bruised and discolored where he had hit her, and one eye was almost swollen shut. She ran a hot bath and crawled into it like a wounded animal, letting the soothing water wash away the pain. Eve lay there for a long time, and, finally, when the water was starting to cool, she got out of the tub and took a few tentative steps. The pain had lessened, but it was still agonizing. She lay awake for the rest of the night, terrified that he might return.

When Eve arose at dawn, she saw that the sheets were stained with her blood. She was going to make him pay for that. She walked into the bathroom, moving carefully, and ran another hot bath. Her face was even more swollen and the bruises were livid. She dipped a washcloth into cold water and applied it to her cheek and eye. Then she lay in the tub, thinking about George Mellis. There was something puzzling about his behavior that had nothing to do with his sadism. And she suddenly realized what it was. The necklace. Why had he taken it?

Two hours later, Eve went downstairs to join the other guests for breakfast, even though she had no appetite. She badly needed to talk to Nita Ludwig.

"My God! What happened to your face?" Nita asked.

Eve smiled ruefully. "The silliest thing. I got up in the middle of the night to go to the loo, and I didn’t bother turning on the light. I walked right into one of your fancy doors."

"Would you like to have a doctor look at that?"