An Unholy Alliance

Artwork by: Bridget Wilde
Medium: Illustration marker, colored pencil, and ink on bristol board
 

                                          Excerpt from Part 23 / Chapter 4

     "You didn't tell me that he was handsome, Sasuke," she purred to her ninja manservant, while
keeping her coal-black eyes fixed upon Tarou. Sasuke, knowing better than to respond, remained
silent.
     Tarou came to a halt at what he felt was a respectful distance, and stood at self-conscious
attention. Kodachi rose from her velvet upholstered chair, taking up a riding crop from its place by
her side. Tarou kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, determined to put on his usual haughty expression
of disdain for her.
     She stopped before him at a distance just inside what might be considered his 'personal space.'
Her eyes flicked over him appraisingly, lingering here and there as she assessed him. Then, satisfied
for the moment, she turned and began to walk behind him for a more extensive inspection.
     The sensation of her riding crop touching him just above his tailbone made him start, and his face
burned red with humiliation as she gave an amused chuckle at his expense.
     The riding crop began to tickle along his hip as she completed her circle. She drew it up along
his lean flank, then over and across his chest to play gently with the sweep of his collarbone.
     "Tall," she remarked with a smile that was regal and aloof. She brought the riding crop down his
sternum. "Handsome." The crop dipped down to his belly. "Mysterious." She caught a length of the
pantyhose sash he kept tied at his waist with her riding crop, and lifted it up to eye level for him to
see.
     "What's your name?" she asked him.
     He cleared his throat. "Tarou."
     She gave him a toothy grin.
     "Just Tarou?"
     The intensity of her look was confounding to him, and he found himself answering her.
     "Pansuto Tarou."
     Her approving smile was both immediate and striking. "Pantyhose?" she asked him teasingly,
leaning in close to whisper the word in his ear. "I like pantyhose..."

An Unholy Alliance
Image Copyright (C) 2000, Bridget Wilde. Used with permission