Allow Me

Plot With Me

Thank God for friends in low places. Sighing with relief, Adelaide did as she was told. Cold air hit her naked shoulders as the robe slid down a ways. Then, she paused, looking at the camera. It no longer felt like she was doing something perverted, but rather following instructions. And if there was one thing Adelaide excelled at, it was following instructions.

"Don't look at the camera," Georgie said.

Adelaide stiffened, feeling as though she had already made an error. "Where am I supposed to look?"

"Look over my shoulder," Georgie said, her voice light, reassuring Adelaide that she had not done anything exceptionally grave. "Like you are looking at a lover who is walking toward you."

It was a crushing blow to realize that she had never had a lover walk toward her. Only a husband that she had deluded herself into believing was a lover.

But Adelaide was not a stupid woman. Surely, she could conjure up the idea of what it might feel like to be wanted.

Therefore, she did as she was told and set her gaze on the wall over Georgie's shoulder. Her mind ran through so many bodies of so many people she had met over the years, trying to piece them together like Frankenstein's monster to create a lover who might look at her with unyielding desire.

In the end, she could not design anything that resembled a human being, let alone a man. So she kept her eyes locked on a single spot and held her breath, pretending that she was accomplishing her task, until she heard the flash go off.

"Good," Georgie nodded. "Now drop the robe all the way to the floor."

The swishing of fabric upon the hardwood was all that marked Adelaide's descent into depravity. Suddenly, her corset felt like a vice, her chemise a foreign object against her skin. Her nipples pebbled beneath the fabric, creating a friction that she forced herself to ignore.

The flash went off, capturing Adelaide in the first seconds of her vulnerability.

"Marvelous," Georgie breathed, though Adelaide did not feel marvelous at all - she felt quite stupid and untrained. "Turn away from me and untie your corset."

Adelaide frowned. "But then they will only see my backside."

"Yes, you'd be surprised how often men prefer that," Georgie quipped, smiling.

"Oh, love," Gregory chastised over his shoulder.

"Mind the door, Gregory," Georgie barked.

Gregory did as he was told, though Adelaide could feel the pout wafting off of him at being castigated.

Adelaide turned around, facing the windows that looked out over the city streets below. It was the least amount of clothing that she had ever worn in so public a setting. And yet, underneath her well-attuned scruples, her heartbeat quickened. She could not tell if it was fear or excitement.

Either way, her hands trembled a bit as she reached behind her, pulling at the strings which cinched her waist.

The camera went off. She wondered what it saw of her. There was something so permanent about an image. She had been born and bred to be looked at in a ballroom, to be examined with fleeting glances and flattering candlelight. In contrast, whatever she looked like right that second would live on forever.

What a thrilling thought.

She steadied her breath as she pulled and pulled, unweaving herself bit by bit. Finally, the boning fell away from her and she inhaled, then allowed it to drop to the floor beside her robe. The camera flashed again, nabbing yet another piece of her shedding skin.