The Dark Frontier A. Decker (i like reading TXT) 📖

“What you see before you,” he added with unconcealed feeling as he put a heavy hand on Frank’s head and turned it to face directly into the mirror, “is one of the more wretched examples of our species.”

‘How right you are,’ thought Frank. For the focus of his attention remained on his adversary, and he affected an uncomfortable smile as he stared back into those narrow eyes.

“You claim to be frank. Yet you’re not even honest enough to admit where you stand. Or even what your true name is. You’d sooner crawl under stones and hide in shadows to survive. I don’t know whether you pretend to be a socialist, a communist, or just a sympathiser. Maybe you’re even a Jew. But we do know some of the people you mix with.”

“I don’t mix with anyone. I’m not the mixing type.”

“You mix with Zimmermann. And that’s not the kind of company I would recommend. At the same time you attempt to mix with Mademoiselle Roche. And that’s the kind of company that can get you into serious trouble.”

Breitner began to study his fingernails with a sinister attention to detail. “You see, you have choices. It’s entirely your decision. But one thing is certain: it’s a decision you must make sooner or later. I have tried in my own modest way to show you the kind of benefits you can enjoy if you decide to make the right choice,” he added with a sweeping gesture over the sumptuous half-eaten feast on the table behind them. “Maria and Helga are rather less modest. But equally compelling.”

These words were the cue for the two girls. As Willi Breitner moved back towards the door, they both rose from the table and sidled over to Frank. With a look of mischief in their smiles, they each took an arm.

“But do remember, my dear Mr Silverstone,” he added, as he reached the door, “or is it Eigenmann? Take great care to consider these benefits. And weigh them carefully against the disadvantages when you make your choice.”

These words, as calculated as the rest of the occasion, prefaced his departure. Without further comment, he left Frank with the menace of his razor-thin smile engraved on his guest’s memory. And the dubious charms of Helga and Maria. They had a duty to perform and Frank could be sure they would do it in the thoroughgoing spirit of Kraft durch Freude.

They said nothing, just smiled, as they led Frank out of the dining room and up a wide, heavily banistered staircase. Maria on his right giggled now and then as they went, while Helga held rather more tightly onto his left arm as if afraid he might run. But he was sufficiently familiar with the Breitners of the world to know that there was little point in running. And since he was not entirely averse to the pleasures these two girls could offer, he saw no good reason not to let himself be led into the sumptuous bedroom that had been set aside for the occasion. This too was decorated with erotic scenes and orgies similar to those in the dining room.

It was easy to forget the menacing words of Breitner, as he watched the two of them disrobe each other, caressing like lovers as they did so, against the backdrop of these paintings.

“Which of us would you like to try first?” Maria cajoled, as Helga quietly teased her friend’s satin lingerie down over her legs. Maria stepped out of this last remaining garment, while Helga sat back gazing up at her in admiration of her naked body.

“Perhaps he’s the greedy type,” Helga suggested. “Maybe he’d prefer to take both of us at once.”

Now, finally divested of any shyness, as if this too was simply an article of clothing, Helga revealed herself as an unabashed lady of pleasure. Frank was enthralled by the transformation, but his excitement was mingled with all the inertia of nervous indecision. He felt like a fifteen-year-old confronted with the opportunity for his first carnal experience, uncertain whether he should seize it or whether – underneath it all – she was just making fun of him. His hesitation evidently amused them.

But this teasing interlude was brought to an ugly close when the bedroom door crashed open. The scene that greeted two of Breitner’s gorillas when they crashed into the room brought an instant flicker of mirth to their faces that chilled Frank with their menace. A menace that was in stark contrast to the amusement he saw on the faces of both Helga and Maria, whose nervous giggles distantly echoed the ominous chuckles of Breitner’s bullies.

“What do you make of this, Horst?” said the bigger one, throwing his words across the room as if he were tossing fish heads to a hungry cat. Frank fancied he could almost smell the fish on his hands.

“What I make of it? Well, I wouldn’t care to say, Wolfgang. But since you ask, I’d say he doesn’t much like our girls.”

“Maybe he doesn’t like girls at all,” said the one called Wolfgang. His eyes lit up at this suggestion. And the insinuation brought more nervous giggles from Helga and Maria.

All at once Frank felt an arm around his shoulders.

“Is that right?”

It was the one called Horst. His leery smile could not have been closer to Frank’s face. A faint hint of tooth decay filtered through on the warm breath. It made him want to heave. And his whole body tensed at the prospect of what was to come.

“Over here girls,” said Horst, keeping his arm firmly round Frank’s shoulders. Helga and Maria picked up their giggles from the bed where they had been sitting and moved eagerly in his direction. They were enjoying the sport. Horst removed his arm from Frank’s shoulder and stepped aside.

“He’s all yours, girls. Let’s see what he makes of you.”

With giggling deliberation, they set about disrobing Frank, layer by layer, down to the vulnerable quick of utter nakedness. Under any other circumstances