The curvaceous ‘cat’ Gianna turned on her spikes and left, sheathing her bloodied claws with a practiced aplomb and enjoying the residual discomfort and anger that her crude remarks had left behind.  Nicholas was initially unsettled by Gianna’s reference to Kelly ‘humping the legs of the guests’ but his mind quickly formed a picture of Kelly in such a position with a guest trying to shake her away from his leg and he could hardly refrain from cracking a dry smile.<br/><br/>It’s a rather good thing that he did refrain because what he saw when he caught Kelly’s expression was a mask of gobsmacked indignation.  On the other hand, Nicholas thought she looked sublime in her state of discomposure; eyes wide, cheeks flushed and mouth open but screaming silent oaths it seemed.  Her next utterance was totally anticipated...the ‘take me home’ line was a perfectly understandable response under the circumstances.<br/><br/>“Darling, I think we should take a stroll around the tables first, there may be something you like, you never know...”  he said as he slid an open hand up between Kelly’s shoulder blades, grabbed a hunk of hair, careful not to spoil her appearance, and pulled her mouth up to meet his. With a full kiss on her red, moistened lips he smiled into her loving eyes “... and besides, Gianna is footing the bill for all this, including the extremely decadent bubbly that I know you like!”<br/><br/>Kelly seemed to soften a little and allowed herself to be led by the hand around the display rooms but she kept her eyes open for any opportunity to scowl if she came within eyesight of the hostess.  Nicholas’ concern for her discomfort eased over the next hour and as the meal was served in the main dining room, the duck was cooked to perfection; medium rare, having been rested prior to serving to retain its juices.  Gianna had positioned them closest to the door, no doubt another slight in their disfavour, and Nicholas could see her at the far end of the long table, smiling with or rather at her guests; her large, dark eyes penetrating across the table as she cast a somewhat intimidating ‘I know something that you don’t’ visage in their direction.<br/><br/>Half an hour passed by and their flutes were bottomless throughout.  Feeling a little tired, Nicholas said to Kelly rather louder than he would have wished “Enough is enough, shall we leave now? Bugger the auction, I think we’ve had enough of her majesty’s pleasure for one day, don’t you dear?” They were both beginning to experience the first lethargic effects of their drug laden drinks consumed around twenty minutes earlier. Just at that moment, their chocolate mousse desserts arrived, unusually accompanied by two ‘very special’ glasses of Louis Roederer 1927. “Oh my word...look darling...an old Louis has come out of the bottle...we shouldn’t let that go to waste, eh?”<br/><br/>Kelly beamed brightly as they both took their glasses and with a flourish toasted each other; looking straight up the table at their host, they downed their glasses in a show of conspiratorial defiance. Gianna watched from afar as a disconcerting grin spread across her face.  She held her own glass aloft to them in a silent acknowledgement, as though only they and no-one else were in the room and a sinister victory had been won.<br/><br/>It was as though the staff knew of their pending departure; their chairs were moved back to allow them to stand. Nicholas felt strangely elated as well as a little dizzy; he was both present and yet somewhere else as he was accompanied by two hefty waiters out across the thick hotel carpet and his mind struggled hopelessly to remain lucid.  Kelly was by his side...he hoped.<br/><br/>“The car is this way, sir. “  Instead of leading them out to the car rank at the front of the hotel, they were led to the open, nearby lift that transported them silently down to the car park; by the time the doors closed, the pair of them had entirely lost their ability to stand, to make a sound, or even move a muscle. The last charge of alcohol had combined with the drug to take them both quickly past the last bastion of resistance and into unconsciousness.<br/>