as she felt herself being mentally undressed by the woman who was sitting statue still at the dining table.
Mark seemed amused rather than put out. ‘Anya is very pretty, isn’t she? I’m sure you’ll look good together.’
The almost-housekeeper didn’t reply, but smiled serenely as if in agreement, sending Anya’s crotch from tacky to sodden. It had been far too long since she’d been with a woman and, faced with the shapely, pale-skinned blonde, Anya hoped it wouldn’t be too long before that situation changed.
‘Perhaps you would be so kind as to accompany us to the living room for the more informal part of your interview?’ Mark held open the dining room door, and Clara rose from the table. Anya followed her from the room, her eyes appreciating the subtle yet, she suspected, deliberate sway of hips beneath the navy A-line skirt.
It had only been minutes since she’d last been in the living room, but it already felt like hours as Anya’s imagination skipped forward to what might happen next.
Until that moment she hadn’t noticed how much the aroma of leather and beeswax hung in the air from the highly polished furniture. Anya felt as if every sense in her had been heightened as she considered what Mark was planning.
‘Please could you both kick off your shoes and go to the middle of the room?’
Clara and Anya exchanged a brief questioning glance as they did as Mark said, hovering side by side surrounded by the square of comfy chairs and sofas. Walking around them in a slow circle, he studied every inch of them carefully, as if considering a great many different options of potentially erotic interest.
Stopping directly before them, Mark took each girl by the shoulder and pivoted them so they were back to back, their bottoms meeting, their hair mingling, as their heads were positioned against each other.
Mark took three steps back, his eyes narrowing as he studied them further. Then, after what seemed like an eternity to Anya as her body reacted to the presence of the woman behind her, he sat on one of the sofas and crossed his arms, a satisfied smile playing at the corner of his lips, lighting up his ever-deepening dark eyes.
‘Anya, you are to be congratulated. Your search for a suitable housekeeper has been a fine achievement in your first week of work. You even got my height requirement exactly right.’
Clara appeared confused, but held her tongue, her body beginning to sway slightly.
‘Whether Miss Hooper gets the job, however, will depend on how she performs during this interview.’ Mark’s eyes roamed over every inch of the newcomer as she did her best to remain still, supporting more and more of her weight against Anya. ‘I think it is only fair to repeat at this point that if you wish to leave at any time Clara – if you think I ask too much – you are at liberty to leave. You are a slave, but you are not a prisoner. I will ask much of both you and Anya, but the choice to stay with me, unless I have sound reasons to dismiss you, is yours and yours alone.’
Wishing Mark would hurry up and tell them what he wanted them to do, Anya licked her lips, trying to get some moisture back into them, convinced that she couldn’t have any lipstick left around her mouth by now.
‘Take one step forward each.’
The women obeyed, both immediately feeling bereft of contact.
‘Now turn to face each other.’
Although there was a two-metre gap between them, Anya could feel the texture of the air that circulated around them as they regarded each other. They hadn’t even shared a proper conversation, yet Anya felt she knew exactly what Clara was thinking, because she was thinking precisely the same thing. Please hurry, Mark, I want to see her naked.
Sure that he was taking his time just to add to the tension, Anya did her best to bite back her desire to beg Mark to speed things up, feeling very conscious of her hands as they rested limply by her sides.
‘Strip.’
Anya, mindful of how