The Best Laid Plans

Richard woke up, not sure what time it was. Cat was asleep beside him, curled up on her side with her back to him. He sat up and rubbed sleep from his eye. For once, Cat's house wasn't completely silent in the wee small hours of the morning. It was faint, but he could hear the very distinct sounds of one of the women plying her trade downstairs.

He carefully climbed out of the bed and padded across the attic to the bathroom. He relieved himself, then stood and contemplated the shower, wondering if Cat would mind if he used it, and what the worst that could happen would be if she did mind.

*It's Cat,* he thought with a mental snort. *Her idea of the worst that could happen would probably involve her taking the skin from my back, and she would enjoy every minute of it, too*

He decided to risk it; he felt filthy and couldn't stand it. So he turned on the water and stripped, opening the showerhead and climbing under the water. He quickly showered, glad that Cat didn't use overly scented soap; clean was one thing but walking around smelling like a basket of flowers was quite another.

He cut the water off and grabbed a towel to dry with, then he looked at at clothes he'd been wearing and really didn't want to put them back on. He remembered that there was still a change if clothes here, from the night he had murdered Cat's father. He would just have to find them. He wrapped the towel around his waist, gathered his things and opened the door. He stopped immediately when he saw Cat, kneeling stark naked in front of the door, hands folded in her lap.

"I hope you don't mind, mm. That I took a shower."

"Not at all. And now that you're clean," she paused to suggestively lick her lips, "perhaps Master will allow me to thank him for his generous gift to the house?" She reached up and loosened the towel from his waist, running her hands along his hips and down his thighs as she raised her body and brought her lips to his skin, planting feather-light kisses on the warm, smooth skin of his stomach. His cock hardened,rising to brush along her cheek as if begging for attention, but she ignored it for the time being. She skimmed her fingers up and down his thighs, gently coaxing him into a wider legged stance
as her hands moved closer to the insides of his legs. She moved her kisses down his hips, occasionally running her tongue along the ridge of the bone, or puffing a small warm breath on a sensitive area. Teasingly, her hands moved up his inner thighs, brushing sensitive, erogenous spots that were so often ignored in favor of the more obvious areas.

Soon her mouth and her hands had switched spots; her hands trailed along his hips and stomach while her mouth planted kisses and licks on his thighs.

A low moan escaped his throat; he widened his legs further and dropped the long forgotten clothes he had been holding so that he could brace his arms on the door. He had no idea what she was ultimately planning but if he was already weak kneed from the foreplay he wasn't sure he'd be able to stand when it was all said and done. Another moan as her tongue ran along his balls.

She could feel the muscles in his thighs quivering with anticipation and excitement as she began licking his testicles. She was well aware of his erection just above her face; she glided her fingers over the head as if to say 'I haven't forgotten you', spreading the slick pre-cum around the tip and making his manhood jump at her touch. She would get to that soon; right now she was content to orally explore his testicles, taking them into her mouth, caressing them with her lips and her tongue, all the while listening to him to discover what he liked most and least. When her tongue probed the sensitive spot behind his scrotum, a spot many people never thought to explore, Richard inhaled sharply as he rose onto his toes. She continued to tease the spot with her tongue; Richard was enjoying it but at the same time he was slightly uncomfortable: her tongue was getting a little too close to someplace he wanted no one touching. He shifted his hips back slightly, grateful that she took the hint and completely blissful when she turned her attention to his cock, licking from base to tip and back down, over and over again before she took him into her mouth. She worked him slowly, caressing his erection with her lips and tongue, her hands on his hips encouraging his thrusts. A rhythm set, her hands slowly, innocuously, began moving back, grasping the firm cheeks of his ass, kneading the flesh, driving him against her face as she took his length as far down her throat as she could manage.

He was lost to the ecstasy of the blow job, so he was not paying much attention to her hands until he felt pressure against his anus.

"No," he said, jerking his hips back quickly, pulling himself out of her mouth. He fixed her with a stern glare; she looked back at him unapologetically. "No," he repeated; she gave a small shrug and took him into her mouth once more. She moved her hands to the front of his hips, placing them so she could run her thumbs over his balls. When he was well and truly lost to the pleasure, she slowly began moving her thumbs backward, seeing how far he would let her go. It turned out, not very. He growled at her to watch where she was putting her fingers. When she ignored him, he quickly grabbed her wrists and pinned her hands behind her head, applying enough pressure to make her look up at him.

"Do I need to, mm. To teach you the meaning...of no?" He glared down at her, his face turned just slightly to the left, giving her a view more of the ruined side than the unblemished. She wondered if he realized he was doing it; was he purposely trying to intimidate her with the empty eye, torn mouth, scarred cheek? If it was an unconscious gesture, what did it mean? Subtle body gestures where often a good indicator to Cat about what her client really wanted or was about to do, clues to the kind of person they truly were. Richard emphasizing the left side of his face was important, but why?

"Do I?" he asked again. The lack of perceivable emotion in his tone made it all the more menacing.

"Does Master think he can?

Richard studied Cat, noting the eager excitement in her eyes. She thought this was some sort of game; she didn't know that deep inside of him, something was unraveling. Every time she called him 'master', a desire to be in control of her rose; the need to make her bend to his will flared within him. He knew it wasn't entirely lust, although that was driving him as well; he felt that, if he could learn to control Cat, he could soon be in control of his own life, become a man again, not a half faced shadow that was sent to do the dirty work. Perhaps he was deluding himself, perhaps there really was no hope for it, but he had to try, had to know the truth for himself, and if he failed, so be it.

Letting go of her hands, he took a step back and said "Turn around." Cat hesitated a moment, then said 'No.'

She had forgotten how quickly Richard could move; her mouth had barely closed around the word when he lunged forward and wrapped his hand around her throat. "Do not toy with me, woman. I thought...I proved that. Mm, you don't know me." He could feel her pulse racing. "You started this. You wanted...to see what I, mm. Was capable of." As he spoke his hand squeezed her throat just enough to make breathing difficult. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase. 'Be careful what you wish for because...mm, you might get it'?" He was doing it again, showing more of the left side of his face to her; she really didn't think he was aware of doing it and she was even more convinced that it was important. She felt the knot of fear driven desire flare to life as she tried to swallow, and could not. Richard tightened his hand further and said "Now turn around. Mm, get on your hands and knees...and start crawling. Towards the bed." Her tongue flicked across her lips and she nodded as best she could with Richard's hand on her throat. Richard released her and straightened; she turned around, placed her hands on the floor, and began crawling away from the bathroom door.

Richard watched her for a moment; he had forgotten how nice her ass was and how much he liked the sight of her from behind, it reminded him of his first night with her.

"You've got. A very nice ass," he told her. "Beautiful, really. Your hips, mm. Are just perfect...to grip and pull you. On to my cock. Stop there," he told her when she neared the armoire. She stopped. Richard walked passed her and opened the doors, quickly finding what he wanted and pulling the items out.

"Up on your knees," he said to her as he moved to stand behind her. "Now put your hands...behind your head." He slipped the cuffs around her wrists and locked them. He was about the slip the collar around her neck when she reached her hands back to grab his cock and slowly begin stroking it.

"And just what. Mm,..do you think you're doing?"

"Well, I can't really see, but I think I'm jerking Master's lovely cock off."

"Why? That isn't... What I told you to do."

"I'm just fulfilling your unvoiced request. You can't tell me you don't want me to do it."

"Rather presumptuous...of you," he stated as he extricated himself from her grip. He grabbed the chain to keep her hands still as he slipped the collar around her neck. Like she had done to him, he locked the chain to the collar; he however chained her hands close to her head, leaving a loop of chain dangling down her spine. And where she had only put a lock on the buckle to make him think he couldn't get the collar off, he made sure that she couldn't get it off. Satisfied with his work, he walked back to stand in front of her. "Also wrong. It was enjoyable, mm. But not what...I want. " He pressed the head of his cock against her lips, gave an insistent nudge. "I want you...to go back to. What you started." She parted her lips and took him in, and he couldn't help but sigh with pleasure and place his hands on her head to guide her motions. He remembered how Cat had insulted him, played on his insecurities, verbally taunted him, and he did the same, although he doubted he hit as many of her nerves as she had hit his. He watched himself slide in and out, let himself get close to the edge of bliss, then quickly pulled out of her mouth, his nerves thrumming with the need for release. He would fuck her, soon, but not yet. She had taught him the joy of prolonging the moment, had shown him how remarkable it could be to repeatedly get to the edge before actually going over it. She was turning him into a selfish bastard, at least as far as his pleasure went, and he was fine with that. But he still had enough manners to know she needed hers, too, and he would gladly see to her needs.

"You've been...a very good little whore," he told her, running his thumb over her plump, glistening mouth. "I think, mm. A little reward...is in order." He didn't think he imagined the anticipatory shiver that shook her body. "That's what all the other men...have done, isn't it? You play, mm. The good little...cock gobbling whore. And they reward you?" She gave a small nod, wondering what he had in store for her. She wasn't expecting too much, physically. He had the mind game part down, although he could have been much more degrading with his words; but still, considering how mannerly and polite he had been the first time he came to the house, 'cock gobbling whore' was a pretty big step.

"Stand up," he said. He walked back to her toy chest while she got to her feet, grabbing something he knew she would like. "I know...you're thinking I'm being to nice," he said as he turned to face her. "You want me, mm. To hurt you more, don't you?"

"It is entirely up to Master, what he does to me," she replied meekly. "It's about what Master wants and what he is willing to do to get it." Her words and they way she looked at him while she said them unleashed something in him; he had felt it at the beginning, but finally enough had broken and he knew there were no restraints.

It may have been the first moments of the decent into madness, it could have been the start of his ascension from Hell; he would never know for sure and at times he would see them as one in the same. He was forceful and dominating, at times very intimidating; but he was never brutal, never overly viscous. He praised her and rewarded her in one breath then berated and punished her the next. He had her pleading with him to stop one moment and then begging him for more.

When it was all said and done, they laid on the floor in a flushed, sweaty tangle of limbs, panting for breath as pulses slowed and nerves twitched in the aftermath of ecstasy. Richard disentangled his body from Cat's and stood on rubbery legs, feeling almost drunk and slightly disconnected from his body.

He looked down at Cat; her eyes were closed, a small contented smile curved her lips, her hands still locked behind her neck.

"I don't know...what you've done to me," he told her. "But...God...I love it." He was startled by the admission, but it was the absolute truth. She opened her eyes and looked up at him...he was a long, lean blur to her, but there was no mistaking the satisfaction in his voice.

"I'm glad Master is pleased," she purred. "Would Master be so kind as to unlock his humble servant?"

"Humble?" Richard echoed with a small snort. "You?" He fetched the keys, helped her into a sitting position, and unlocked the cuffs and collar. She winced as she lowered her arms, they had been in one position for so long that get muscles were stiff, and to be honest, her right shoulder had never completely recovered from her first session with Richard.

"Are you alright?" he asked, rubbing her arms to encourage bloodflow.

"I haven't felt this good in a very long time," she told him, squinting over her should at him. "How are you?"

"I'm...good," he said after a moment's thought. She noted that he was looking at her with the right side of his face turned towards her. It convinced her further that there was great meaning in the fact that he'd gone through most of that fantastic session left face dominate. It just did nothing to tell her what the significance was.

"Can you find my glasses?" She asked. Richard stood up and searched the floor, finally finding them halfway across the attic floor. He brought them to her, offered his hands to help her up, strangely pleased with himself when she staggered and had to lean on him for support.

"Did I, mm...I mean, was it..."

"Don't get modest on me," Cat informed him "That was fucking fantastic and you know it. Don't try to hide that grin, you certainly have the right to it." She chuckled and shook her head. "I would never have thought it, but you're a natural. A little too polite sometimes...you said please to me twice...but all in all you were born for it. I'd be willing to bet you rose pretty quick up the command chain in the army."

"You'd lose. Never, mm. Got beyond private." He shrugged, because it didn't matter and he didn't care. She regarded him oddly for a moment, like she was going to ask something she shouldn't necessarily ask, but it quickly passed.

"Let's go get some food," she said instead.

"I'm...not hungry."

"Bullshit. You ate a sandwich last night, and that's it. Believe me, after the workout we just had, you need to eat. I won't watch, if that's what's holding you back." She saw a look of relief on his face.

They threw on some clothes and headed downstairs. They were walking down the hall to the kitchen when a slim, dark haired young woman wearing nothing but a short red, hooded cape ran by; she was followed by a man wearing nothing but a wolf mask.

"I'm going to catch you and eat you, my lovely! Hehehehe!" The man said. Richard knew the voice, and there was only one man in Atlantic City who had that weaselly giggle.

"Morning, Cat!" the young woman said as she ran past; all the right parts jiggled as she moved and Richard couldn't help but admire her for a moment. Then the man went past; Richard hoped that between the lovely woman he was chasing and the wolf mask blocking most of his vision the other man wouldn't notice him, but no such luck. Like a child caught red handed doing something he knew full well he shouldn't be doing, Mickey Doyle came to an immediate halt in front of Richard.

"Oh...uh..." Mickey slid the mask up his forehead and looked at Richard. "Um, I know you don't exactly like me," he said, his voice shaky with nerves and guilt, which were heightened each instant that Richard stared at his face (an unnerving experience at any time, Mickey always thought, but so much worse now because Mickey knew he could be in big trouble, and Richard was staring at his face more intently than usual because Mickey was naked and that was just not something Richard needed or wanted to see.) "But if you could, hehe, not mention to Nucky that you saw me here? I'd be grateful. And I'd owe you a big one...hehe." Mickey swallowed when Richard stayed silent. "I won't tell Nucky you're here either."

"What makes you think. Nucky doesn't know I'm here?" Richard asked. He saw Cat's eyes widen, knew he'd have to explain when they were alone, but more importantly, he saw fear in Mickey's eyes. "I won't, mm. Tell him I saw you here. But...you will owe me."

"Of course! Hehe, anything for our dear departed king's most loyal servant. Hehe."

"Oh Wolfie..." The young woman in the cape was peering around a doorway, beckoning Mickey seductively.

"Tabby is waiting for you," Cat told Mickey with a smile and a small wave of her hand. "She seems quite eager for you to ride her little red hood."

"Hehe. I shall, madam. Believe me I shall." With one last giggle, Mickey pulled the wolf mask over his face and dashed into the room Tabby was in. Richard steeled himself and turned to Cat, who was glaring at him with her arms crossed. She looked exactly like she had the first night he had come...like she was ready to shoot him where he stood.

"Let me...explain, please," he said.

"Oh my! What a big dick you have!"

"All the better to fuck you with, my dear! Hehe!"

"Can we go someplace. Mm, where we don't...have to hear Mickey Doyle. Having sex?" Richard couldn't repress his shudder at the thought. Cat nodded, turned, and continued to the kitchen. Richard followed her, going over what he wanted to say and hoping she would believe it. Hoping she would at least kill him quickly if she didn't.

The door shut behind him, Cat went to the stove and started making coffee.

"I thought you said Nucky didn't know you were here." Her tone was calm, but Richard knew it was false.

"I never...actually said he didn't know," Richard pointed out.

"So he does know, which means you lied to me the first night." The calm tone of voice was still there, barely. Her body, however, was tense with anger. "Do you know what happens to people that lie to me, Richard?"

"I've heard...that you kill them. Mm, well...at least one. Robin's son...mentioned it once."

"You have until the coffee is ready to explain yourself, then."

"Nucky did tell me to come...the first night. He, mm. Wanted me to kill you, although he never...ordered me to. But even if he had...I wouldn't have."

"Why not?"

"You've done nothing. Mm, to warrant it."

"Nucky thinks I have."

"I... Am not Nucky." Richard didn't have much time, if she was serious about his chance to explain being over when the coffee was done. "Most everyone I've killed...was either trying to kill me. Mm, or they had done something. Like try to kill someone I cared for, mm. Or owed something to. There was...always a reason. Except once. I...can't do that. Again." Guilt over her father still ate at him, a sense of self-preservation he hadn't believed he still possessed kept his mouth shut on the matter. "When you, mm. Came rushing at me and. Started yelling at me...I just knew. Mm, killing you would be wrong."

"Technically, killing anyone is wrong," she pointed out. "Sit down." Richard sat at the table, and Cat joined him with two cups of coffee, setting one of them in front of Richard. "I want the truth," she said, sitting across from him. "The absolute truth, right now. Are you here now in any way because of Nucky Thompson."

"Yes."

"I see. And what is it that he wants you to do."

"He wants you out, mm. I told him I...wanted to try and get you out. Without violence." He fiddled with the coffee cup, avoiding Cat's eyes.

"So...what? This has all been some ruse to get me out? What were you hoping? That you'd somehow dominate me into leaving? Or maybe that you would fuck me so good I would up and go?" She sounded hurt, and that surprised him. Yes, she was a passionate woman, but she wasn't emotional. He had thought she saw him only as a tool against Nucky, and someone to play her bedroom games with. He hadn't expected to discover that there was some emotional attachment on her part. And it made him feel even worse than he already did.

"Do you remember, the first night in the attic...you, mm. Warned me that I would discover things...about myself that I. Might be better off not knowing. Until that night...I thought I. Mm, was fine always being behind someone. Taking orders. Being a soldier. It's never been...any other way for me. But when you let me take control..." He was under no illusion that it had been otherwise. "I felt...
I guess, for the first time...in my life. Mm, I felt like I was in control of something. And...I liked it. It took time for me. To understand it...mm, and come to terms with it. It feels...like something I can't live without and...I realized mm, that if Nucky succeeds in driving you out...if you're not here...I won't be able to feel it." He stared into the coffee cup, waiting for Cat to say something. She stayed silent, and eventually he looked up at her, finding her looking at him intently; it was the same look she had given him earlier, when he told her he had never gained any rank in the army. She didn't look angry. She didn't look pleased either. She just looked very contemplative, and Richard wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"So the only reason you want to help is because you like having power over me," she finally said.

"I thought that, mm. At first. But I realized that...the only people who benefit from Nucky's plan. Are Nucky and his cronies."

"Oh, but it's for the greater good of the city! New hotel, new stores..."

"You don't really... believe that."

"If I did, would I have come at you like I did that first night?" Richard had to admit she had a point. "I don't know what the hell you're doing here, Richard. You told me you weren't here because of Nucky, and that was a lie. You said you would be willing to help, and sure, you got us booze, but that was apparently just so I'd fuck you...Why are you shaking your head?"

"I didn't get you...the liquor so you would fuck me," he told her. "I got it, mm. Because I told you I would. And I'm...a man of my word."

"Really? Then aren't you up shit creek? Because you told me you would help me, but you also told Nucky you'd try to get me out." She leaned forward and stared him down. Richard stared back at her, unblinking.

"Have you ever, mm. Had a moment of absolute clarity. Where you see things...the way they really are?"

"They're called epiphanies, and yes, I've had one or two. Pretty sure I'm having one now, listening to you."

"You can never...make things easy. Can you?" Richard's temper flared. "Shut your mouth. For five fucking minutes. Mm, and try listening. To someone else for a change!" Cat's eyes widened, her mouth opened in shock, and she looked like she wanted to say something, but instead she closed her mouth and nodded. Richard took a deep breath, put his hands on the table and composed himself. "I thought...I could make both of you happy, but...Nucky is wrong. There is, mm no reason to take this neighborhood. There is plenty of room...to expand pretty much everywhere else. Mm, And there isn't anything...in the surrounding areas, that tourists would want to visit. Just more residential areas and warehouses." Richard's mouth twisted in thought. "It doesn't make sense. But, mm... That isn't why...I told you. I would help you. I think you're right in this, Cat. I joined the army...because I saw a greedy tyrant. Mm, trying to take more than..his fair share. I look at Nucky,...and I see the same thing. It doesn't matter to him...who he destroys along the way. So long, mm...as he gets what he wants. I never thought that I would care. I thought I would just...mm, follow orders, like a good soldier. But I can't. I can't watch him ruin other peoples' lives. I can't...listen to him, I can't do...what he will want me to do."

"What will he want you to do?" she asked quietly.

"He'll want me. Mm, to start killing people...close to you. Your girls."

"I see."

"Do you? Do you...understand what standing up to him. Really means? It will be war, Cat. Mm, fought here...in the streets you've known...your whole life. Involving people...you care about. Right now...your resistance is an annoyance to him. But, mm, if you're not out by September first...he will not take it well. And I don't think...I need to remind you that he has more men, more guns, mm and more power than you."

"Are you trying to say there's no chance of winning? Or are you trying to convince me to give up?"

"Neither. I want...to make sure. Mm, you know what you're facing." He looked at her earnestly. "This isn't a game. There won't be a safe word if it...gets to be too much. If you honestly intend to fight him..." He trailed off, not wanting to say she was liable to get herself, and everyone in the neighborhood, killed. But she knew. She wasn't stupid, and she had been dealing with Nucky a lot longer than he had.

"it will have to be everyone's own decision," she said, more to herself than to him. "I can't decide that for anyone."

"You're going to need...everyone you can get to help."

"Assuming enough people are willing, what do we do? How do we fight him?"

"You can't take him on, mm. Head to head. He's too powerful You'll have to make sure...that you're well set by September. I guess it will, mm. Depend on how many people are willing to fight...what your best. Course of action would be."

"I can get everyone together tonight, explain the danger and the consequences. You can explain the plans to those who are willing."

"Alright." Then what she said actually set in. "Wait. What?"

"Did I stutter?" she asked, one black eyebrow raised questioningly. "Or are you not going to help?"

"I'll help," Richard said. "But why would...mm, I be the one telling them?"

"Because you know what you're doing, you know more about Nucky's operation than I do, and for as much as my neighbors like and respect me, I am still a woman, and a whore to boot, and some people won't see any of that as good leadership material." She stood up and walked around the table to stand next to him.

"Why would...they listen to me?" he asked, looking up at her. "They don't know me. Why would, mm. They trust me?"

"If they don't, well, I guess that means they won't go along with it, and I guess that will be my cue to give in to Nucky." She shrugged, a nonchalant gesture that contained a world of sorrow. "I don't think it will come to that though. No one wants to lose their homes or businesses. We've known for a long time that just saying no to Nucky wouldn't be enough, but we just didn't know what we could do, how to really stand up to him." It was a moment where Richard saw how worried and stressed over the situation she really was. He didn't know how she would react, but he reached out and took one of her hands in his.

"I will help you. ...In any way. I can," he reassured her. "It...probably won't do. Mm, much good, but I'm with you."