The Lion's Mouth
by T.S. Fesseln

The drive through the late October countryside was singularly dreary. The rain had started as Olivia left her London motel room and it seemed to thicken the further she drove into the rural fields of the south. She had her maps and the excellent sense of direction a former military career had given her, but the numerous narrow lanes and unmarked roads made even a seasoned map-reader like her seem navigationally challenged.

Just when she was about to give up, the road took a turn and there it was.

It was just like Olivia had pictured it. The Lion's Mouth sat like an old, squat codger awaiting another hand of poker. The old carriage inn was straight out of a Dickens novel, with its thick thatched roof and yellowed stucco sides and mullioned windows set deep within its timber-trussed walls. The old oaks and hornbeams that embraced the inn had already shed their leaves, their black skeletal limbs clutching at the drizzly late afternoon sky. It was just what she had fantasized and feared about as she stared at it through her windshield wipers.

Olivia had first heard mention of The Lion's Mouth completely by accident while doing some research. It took time to puzzle the pieces together from the faint references whispered in web logs and chat rooms, but finally she tracked down a few women that had actually experienced the ethereal occurrences within the inn and was convinced of their authenticity. Olivia wanted to become a member of that very exclusive club.

She glanced up into the rearview mirror to take stock of herself. At 34, she was still a very attractive person, with long dark hair and hazel brown eyes that seemed invite everyone to get to know her better. Olivia's morning jogs kept her fit and her sport bras seemed to keep her ample breasts from a sagging fate. Over all, she knew she could still attract a man's attention and a woman's jealousy and that was fine with her.

A clap of thunder startled Olivia and she steeled herself to get out of the rental car and out into the cold rain.

It was a short dash from the parking lot to the front door of the inn and the brunette felt absolutely sodden as she opened the ancient oak door and stepped inside. The pub portion of the Lion's Mouth was filled with smoke and hushed laughter. A few of the patrons turned to look at her out of curiosity, but no stares accusing her of any carnal or perverse thoughts; no one looking through her, telling her 'I know why you are here, lass.'

The man pulling the pints behind the bar was not how Olivia pictured the innkeeper to be. Tall, well-built, and with a shock of blonde hair, he couldn't be more than a few years older than she. His blue eyes were absolutely full of schoolboy charm as they locked onto hers when she stepped up to the bar.

"You must be Miss Howard," the innkeeper smiled.

"Does my American show through that much?" Olivia quipped.

"Not at all, my dear. Who else could you be on a rainy day like today? Actually, you are our last guest to make an appearance this evening, and since I know the rest of these sots, I concluded in Sherlockian fashion that you must be our much anticipated Olivia Howard."

Olivia smiled, "How astute of you, detective ah . . ."

"John Stevenson," the innkeeper sat the glass he was filling down and proffered his hand, "proprietor of this august establishment. You can set your bag down there in the corner and as soon as I get these pints properly served, I will show you to your resting place for this evening."

The brunette settled onto a barstool and took time to look around a bit. Olivia was a people watcher, enjoying making up stories about strangers she saw on her lunch breaks and shopping trips. The patronage of The Lion's Mouth tonight was a delightful smorgasbord for her imagination. There were several older men hunched over their half-filled glasses joking in loud guffaws and hissing snickers. One of them, a tall gaunt looking man will a full gray beard and eyes to match, kept glancing over at her and mentally peeking under her dress. There was a younger couple, resplendent in leathers and piercings, having a heated discussion about local current affairs. A tall and not unattractive blonde sat alone, sipping on a glass of wine and watching the rain paint impressions on the window. Altogether too many good stories to knit together. Olivia didn't know where to start.

"Ready, Miss Howard?" John asked, scooping up her bag.

"Please," she said, following the innkeeper up a narrow flight of stairs to an equally narrow hallway.

"The Lion's Mouth isn't like your Mariotts or Hiltons, so you are going to have to share a washroom with your fellow guests. The one for the fairer sex is to the left here. Good news, there are not very many guests to compete with tonight, so there should be plenty of hot water for a shower."

The hallway took a right into one of the wings of the old inn. She imagined that below would have been the stables. The wood floors in the hall were worn, though polished, and creaked with every step as if in protest to yet another foot stepping on them.

"Here you are, Miss Howard, the room you requested," John opened the door and handed the key to Olivia, "Are you sure you want this room? As I have said, we have plenty of others that are just as comfortable."

"Yes," Olivia said, feeling herself almost blush, "this will do."

"I assume you have heard about the room's reputation then?"

"Yes, I have," Olivia smiled a slight smile, "That is why I am here. I am investigating whether your ghost is for real or just another way of getting a few more pounds out of your guests."

"Miss Howard," John said sternly, "First, I charge the same for all the rooms here at The Lion's Mouth. Secondly, I wanted to make sure for your welfare. There have been some incidents and I didn't want to see any harm come to you. But I see you are well armed with a healthy dose of skepticism, so I bid you good night and pray that you have a good nights rest."

With that, John placed her bag on the bed and brusquely left her in the room by herself.

The room was small and cozy, just what she had expected from a centuries-old inn. The bed was an old Victorian brass bed with a feather down comforter neatly tucked in. A vintage oak wardrobe and chest of drawers filled in what little space there was left in the room. The only other piece of furniture was a small rocking chair with a wool blanket folded over the back. Two standing lamps filled the room with a warm, yellow light.

Olivia felt bad about lying to John about the reason she was here. Oh, she knew about the history of this room. She knew about the past innkeeper's fair daughter and the would-be gentleman rapist that met his demise on the end of a soldier's bayonet. The man, a squire and a rogue by the name of Bartholomew Swyver, enjoyed robbing coaches of their wealth and maidens of their maidenhood. According to the tale, he spied the innkeeper's daughter one night while taking in a mug of ale and he knew he had to have her beauty as well as all her charms. He crept through the window of what was then the inn's private chambers and stripped the blonde daughter and bound her to the bed. He was about to consummate the coupling when a soldier of King George's Army crashed through the door and thrust a bayonet through Bartholomew's back.

Thus a ghost was born.

As the tale went, the ghost of the rogue still thirsts for his bound victim. That is why Olivia was really here, to see if the ghost could slack his thirst upon her as well.

Olivia had been into bondage for quite sometime now, but unfortunately, none of her partners would bind her and more than one or two of them ended the relationship within a few days of finding out about her desires. So she dated and had encounters with the local BDSM club, but nothing really satisfied her. The fantasy of rape was an overwhelming urge for her and The Lion's Mouth seemed to be the cure for that particular itch.

She was too excited to be hungry, though her last meal was some greasy fish and chips off of the expressway at around one. Her whole being seemed to be infused with a kind of erotic electricity as she locked the door and opened her bag to get ready for bed. She selected a heavily boned green and black satin corset and a pair of black hose to go along with it. There would be no panties tonight, just a slight strip of soft fur crowning her mons.

She undressed slowly and seductively, as if performing for some invisible audience, carefully folding her dress and undergarments onto the chair.

Olivia slowly rolled one of the black stocking up her leg, taking care not to snag it. Then she repeated the performance on her other leg. The corset was next; it's black lacings a bit difficult as she slowly tightened the garment until it hugged her as tightly as a demon lover. Lingerie always made a woman more sexy and desirable and with the way this corset graced her frame, it should give a rise out of a dead man, she thought to herself.

There were few things she needed to do save to douse the light and crawl under the covers. Outside her window the rain continued it's spattering against the mullioned window along with the scratching of several branches. Only the flashes of lightning lit the room as she lay watching the gloom.

Olivia knew that sleep would be near impossible. Her whole being seemed focused on her sex; it filled with a warm itch that she found nearly impossible to resist. She opened her legs let her finger slide into herself. Slowly, she began to stroke herself, tickling at her clit and sinking her finger deeper within. Her mind wandered into thoughts of ropes and gags and a firm pair of hands holding her and forcing her into doing things even a slut would blush at.

Bolts of pleasure began to shoot through her as she began to massage herself more briskly. The electricity that had been filling her this trip was roiling through her like a molten lightning storm. Now that she was here, in this room, all of her pent up lusts exploded through her soul as wave after wave of pure static bliss stormed through her.

Olivia did not know when she fell asleep. The exhaustion of the plane flight and the drive must have caught up to her a while after her orgasm. However, in the dark room, she was now wide-awake.

She knew she wasn't alone.

Sitting up in her bed, she searched the room. The shadows failed to reveal anything. The storm had passed and now only the soft moaning of the wind and the rustle of the branches filled the silence. Twice she was tempted to turn on her bedside lamp, but sitting there she was afraid to move. Olivia wished now that she had worn something a little less revealing as she pulled the covers around her.

The minutes passed very slowly as she watched and listened. The stillness of the shadows was her only companion.

But Olivia knew she was being watched by some unknown pair of eyes. It was awhile before she decided it was her overworked imagination and curled back up to go to sleep.

The attack was brutal and swift. A leather sack was forced over her head and just as quickly her wrists were pulled together and bound over her head. The brunette was just about to scream when a rope forced part of the sack between her teeth, effectively gagging her.

Still, Olivia was not entirely helpless, and she still tried to scream as she tried to kick at her attacker. The thrashed in her bonds but her feet connected with nothing.

Suddenly, she felt her left ankle being pulled to the corner of the bed. Again she kicked, finding only thin air as it was tied off. Something grabbed her right ankle and yanked it to the opposite corner. Now she was indeed helpless as she fought her bindings.

The power of his touch as he crouched over her was both terrifying and erotic. The ghost's hands firmly massaged her breasts, kneading her nipples to stiffness underneath her corset as he straddled her. Slowly his hands felt down her sides and over her bare hips, lifting them up. She could feel the stiff heat of his cock against her body. She could feel the ghosts need to take her.

A desire began to fill Olivia like no other.

The ghost continued to explore the body beneath the tight corset. His fingers pulled down the corset's cups and pulled her naked breasts out. Bolts of pure pleasure coursed through her as he pinched her to near pain before massaging her breasts roughly again. He did it three or four more times, causing her to scream into her gag before his lips and tongue began to lave the pain out of them, leaving only the aching pleasure.

The ghost's kisses went trailed over her chest and her neck stippled with a nibble or two. Olivia hips were already rocking with a need that was building within her. Her moans were not of pain anymore; they were of lust.

Olivia felt herself being lifted up and the ghost's manhood easing itself into her, filling her more completely than she had been before. Slowly, he began to thrust into her. The molten pleasure started to whirl through her again like building thunderheads as she matched his thrusts, gripping him as tightly as she could.

Faster and faster he rammed into her. The white-hot bliss soon engulfed her in a whirlwind storm as she bucked and screamed in her bonds. Olivia kept cumming and cumming and there was no stopping the assault as he kept pushing into her. Then, with one large shove, he buried himself deep within her and she could feel his seed spray into her.

Then, just as suddenly, the ghost left.

Exhausted, Olivia lay in her bonds, basking in the warm afterglow of her orgasm. It was the most intense she had ever had. Weakly she pulled at her bindings, but they held firm. Gradually, she fell back asleep, the smell of leather surrounding her dreams.

Morning came with the chirping of the birds outside of her window, basking in the sunshine that streamed into the small room. Olivia's bindings were gone, but their marks still showed on her wrists and ankles. The taste of leather still filled her mouth as she looked about the room. Everything was in its place and nothing had changed, except maybe for her. She quickly dressed and went down the hall for a quick shower and afterward she wound her way down into the pub.

The smell of sausage and eggs filled the room as the inn's few overnight guests ate and talked and enjoyed the warmth the sun spread through the room. She sat down at one of the small booths. Just as she settled, John the innkeeper appeared with an infectious grin on his face.

"I hope you had a good night's stay, Miss Howard," he said. "Care for some breakfast?"

"Yes I did and yes I would," Olivia smiled.

"Good, very good," John smiled, "Scrambled eggs and sausage are the specialty of the house, so I will stir some up."

Olivia's mind turned over the events of last night, sorting out the intense feelings and emotions that really couldn't be expressed into words. She knew that she would only desire more of the same and to find it would nearly be impossible.

John appeared with the steaming sausage and eggs, sitting them down beside her before kneeling down to whisper to her.

"Miss Howard, any time you are in the area, please feel welcome to stay with us again. I will make sure that you have the same room as last night to ensure you feel at home."

And with that, John turned and left, leaving Olivia pondering whether to stay another night or two.

The End

Permission is granted for private use. The author wishes any agencies that wish to publish this work, to please contact him at FESSELN1@aol.com. Or visit his weblog at http://fesselnsfiction.blogspot.com/ . Any comments are gladly accepted and encouraged.