Читать книгу Lust Ever After - Rose Fer de - Страница 4

‘And so, gentlemen, although this is a purely scientific demonstration, you can see that the subject is nonetheless displaying clear and unequivocal signs of arousal.’

The girl, Daisy, was indeed very flushed. She lay naked and splayed on the rugged wooden table in the centre of the room, her skin glowing in the light from the paraffin lamps. Some two dozen young men in frock coats and cravats peered down into the arena of the small operating theatre. Daisy heard the creak of floorboards and the rustle of fabric as they shifted to get a better view. Although she was quite warm, gooseflesh rose on her skin as Dr Frankenstein trailed his fingers over her body, pointing out various features of her anatomy. She was finding it very difficult to remain still, despite his frequent admonishments.

‘This specimen is particularly responsive,’ Frankenstein said, his voice crisp and cultured, his hands adept and precise. ‘Observe how her nipples react to even the slightest stimulation.’

Daisy felt them respond just as he described, stiffening instantly. His fingertips gently touched the hard little peaks and she gasped, throwing her head back and pressing her thighs together around the hot pulse she felt quickening there. She trembled, fingering the leather restraints on either side of the table.

As though reading her mind, the doctor said, ‘If you can’t be still, my girl, I will have to use those.’

Her eyes closed and she blushed deeply, struggling to obey. She was unaccustomed to the sensation of being fully naked, let alone so exposed before an audience. A group of gentlemen at that. It created a heady mix of feelings within her: guilt, titillation, fear, excitement.

She reminded herself of what the doctor had told her when he had recruited her for this demonstration. She would be helping her fellow man, assisting in the advancement of medical science and the understanding of human anatomy. There was nothing untoward about his proposal, nothing for her to feel ashamed about. On the contrary, she should be proud of the service she would be providing. And he would give her a gold sovereign for her trouble. She couldn’t hope to make that in a week selling books in her father’s shop.

‘It is of vital importance,’ he had told her, ‘that students of medicine should have a complete understanding of the form and physiology of the fairer sex. Should they really be expected to make guesses based on vague sketches or genteel allusions to “down there” by embarrassed female patients?’

‘I’ll do my best,’ she had told him at last, both frightened and exhilarated by her decision. ‘Er … there’s no need to inform my father, is there?’

Another jolt of nearly unbearable pleasure brought her back to the moment and she gripped the restraints tightly, secretly wishing she were bound. That way she could pretend that this was all against her will. In fact, the idea made her even more lightheaded with desire.

‘Very sensitive indeed,’ Frankenstein was saying. Now he was pinching her tender nipples, rolling them softly between finger and thumb.

Daisy panted and writhed on the table, her body arching lewdly. She couldn’t help its wanton responses, nor the positively obscene thoughts she found accompanying them. She imagined the students crowding round to examine her themselves in even more intimate detail. A dozen pairs of hands stroking her thighs, her breasts, her bottom. Curious fingers exploring and invading every orifice. Strong arms holding her down if she struggled too much.

‘Hysteria is a pervasive underlying condition, gentlemen, present only in the female of the species. It disorders the mind and frustrates the body. You can see for yourselves how easily it is manifested, even in such impersonal surroundings as these. I believe that all women suffer from it to some degree. Fortunately, with the technological advancements of our modern age, it is quite treatable.’ He paused to smile up at his audience. ‘Not to mention extremely lucrative.’

The room hummed with polite laughter and a few murmurs of admiration. Daisy didn’t fully understand what they were talking about. Naturally, she had heard the term ‘hysteria’ before. She had once seen a lady swoon in her father’s shop, having caught sight of the volumes he kept behind his desk for private subscribers. It hadn’t occurred to her at the time that the lady was in a state comparable to the one she found herself in now. But she had peeked at those volumes later herself and the doctor was right; the experience had left her feeling quite inflamed.

‘A lady clearly cannot function in such a state,’ Frankenstein continued, ‘and the mental turbulence must be released by physical means.’

‘And this device you spoke of can actually cure it?’ came a voice from somewhere above her.

‘Alas, no,’ Frankenstein said. ‘The affliction is incurable. But with regular treatments one may at least provide temporary relief. As my thriving practice can attest.’

He went on to describe a steam-powered device called the Alleviator, which produced intense vibrations and very quickly achieved the curative ‘paroxysm’ that physicians found so tedious and difficult to administer by hand. As he explained the process, he gently prised Daisy’s legs apart and placed his hand against her sex, making her whimper with longing. She was extremely wet, an observation Frankenstein immediately shared with the watchers. It only made her wetter. If she hadn’t been hysterical before, she most certainly was now.

She couldn’t help recalling some of the pictures she had seen in one of those forbidden volumes – strange Oriental drawings of men and women unclothed, in astonishing positions, performing acts she wouldn’t have imagined possible. The pictures had made her blush and tingle and her sex had throbbed much as it was doing now. She felt herself drowning in the sensation as he described the procedure in more detail and answered several questions about the mechanics of the device.

The situation was dizzyingly erotic for Daisy. The doctor never once called her by name; he merely referred to her as ‘the subject’. And yet somehow his impersonal manner only enhanced her arousal. Her entire body felt inflamed, all her senses heightened. Frankenstein urged her legs wider apart and with his fingers he spread her open. She closed her eyes, awash with the sense of exposure and the peculiar pleasure it brought her.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to experience this ‘paroxysm’ if it would relieve her symptoms of hysteria. The physical hunger was itself wildly pleasurable and she didn’t want it to end. Indeed, every time he touched her, however dispassionately, she felt her heart race faster.

One of the students spoke up. ‘Sir, may we ask for a demonstration of how this device works?’

‘Ah, no,’ Frankenstein said. ‘Unfortunately, the device is too large to transport. I keep it in a special private chamber in my consulting rooms. The ladies must come to me, you see.’

Daisy tried to imagine the apparatus and found she grew even more excited by the picture her mind was creating. She saw herself standing before a huge contraption of cold steel, twisting her hands nervously as she waited to surrender her body to its treatment. At Dr Frankenstein’s instruction, she removed her dress and wore only her chemise. A hooded assistant, with smooth feminine hands, helped her up onto a wide wooden platform. She eased Daisy onto her back on a gleaming metal table and fastened her arms tightly above her head with manacles. Then she pulled Daisy’s legs wide apart, securing them with iron bands around her knees and ankles. The position left her sex completely exposed.

Daisy heard a deep rumbling as the steam engine roared to life and the entire structure began to throb around her. There was the low hum of voices as Dr Frankenstein and his lady assistant discussed various settings for the machine and moved around Daisy making adjustments. She heard the sound of a crank turning, the clank and rattle of a chain, and she looked up to see a strange mechanism being lowered into position between her legs. It too was made of cold steel and shaped like the male parts she had seen in the forbidden books. Unable to escape, she had no choice but to submit as Dr Frankenstein pushed the mechanism deep inside her, making her cry out. The assistant told her softly to be quiet and she bit back a cry as the device began to pump like a piston, in and out, in and out. She strained against her bonds to reassure herself that she was held fast.

She closed her eyes as a pair of soft hands untied the laces of her chemise, exposing her full breasts. Helpless and fully on display, Daisy surrendered to the exquisite sensations as the assistant caressed her. The cold machine ravished her while warm human hands cupped her breasts, tweaking the nipples. As had been pointed out to the roomful of students, she was highly responsive. The enormous engine bombarded her with pleasure so intense she wasn’t sure she could take it. Then the lady lowered her head to Daisy’s breasts, pressing her lips against –

‘But, sir, surely you don’t intend to leave the girl in such a state?’

The voice startled Daisy from her fantasy and she opened her eyes, surprised for a moment to find herself back in the operating theatre and not strapped into the steel contraption.

‘Certainly not,’ Frankenstein said, ‘but, given the state of extreme arousal in the subject, I don’t imagine it will prove very difficult to treat her by hand.’

Daisy bit her lip, desperately wanting relief now. He was right; there was no way she could function in such a disordered state. She needed his help. She looked up at him pleadingly, grinding her sex hard against his hand, completely unashamed of the copious wetness she knew he could feel there.

He smiled at her and began to massage the soft folds of her sex, first gently, then with more vigour. Daisy abandoned herself to the ministrations of his skilful fingers, crying out with no concern for her shameless display. She didn’t know what to expect but she knew it when it came. The powerful feelings seemed to spread out from her sex, flooding her whole body. Every muscle was tensed and trembling as she hovered on the brink of ecstasy. At last she reached a peak and a series of spasms overtook her, making her scream. She clamped her legs tightly around his hand as she succumbed to the internal battering that pounded her like waves.

She went limp as the violent spasms gradually faded to a gentle pulsing. She rolled onto her side and drew her legs up to her chest, curling into a ball. She heard the doctor’s voice as if from far away, addressing the room. Whatever he was saying, it had nothing to do with her. Any anxiety she had been feeling at the start of the demonstration was long gone. All she wanted now was to bask in the glow of the delicious relief.

Some time later, he helped her to her feet. The room was empty. He turned away discreetly as she dressed herself, her legs shaky from the experience. She was certain the evidence of what he had done to her was painted across her face for all to see.

‘You did very well,’ he said, ‘and you’ve more than earned your fee.’ He passed her the gold sovereign he had promised her.

‘Thank you, sir,’ she said shyly, too embarrassed to meet his eyes. She tucked the coin into her shoe and clasped her hands as she worked up the courage to ask him the question burning in her mind.

At last she spoke. ‘Sir? This device you spoke of …’

‘Yes, Daisy?’

‘If you ever wished to … Well, that is to say …’ She bit her lip and forced the words out. ‘Might you one day need someone for a demonstration of how it works?’

He smiled and touched her face fondly, as though he’d known all along what was in her mind.