Sin and Scandal. Carol Storm
we have business to discuss."
Crystal May stood up, feeling a bit shaky on her legs. The pale, delicate-featured blonde could still feel Matt Gold's hand on her flaming ass cheeks, just like he was still in the room with her. Her poor behind felt hot, burning hot. She imagined it glowing red like the burner on a stove. She tried to get dressed, but she was all thumbs. Her hands were shaking and she couldn't control the way her fingers kept fumbling the job. The whole time she was worried about sitting down again.
"Here, darling." Madame poured her a drink from the cut-glass decanter on her desk. "This should help. And I've put a cushion down for you to sit on while we talk."
"Thank you, ma'am." Crystal May sat down ever so slowly, but the pain was not so bad. Madame poured a drink for herself as well.
"To your first time, my dear." The head of the school raised her glass in a toast.
"Yes, ma'am." Crystal May closed her eyes and swallowed some of the amber-colored liquid. It was like drinking a forest fire. The liquor in the glass burned so bad that it made her cough.
"Slowly, my dear. The idea is to sip. Savor the pleasure. Yes, that's much better."
"That was worse than the spanking!" When she could breathe again, Crystal May gave a shaky laugh. Her throat was still burning, yet slowly the warmth slid lower and pooled in her belly.
"Adult pleasures often take some getting used to," the older woman said. "Don't you think?"
"I reckon so." Crystal May felt a mite better now. She felt warm inside and out, and not just because of the liquor in her glass. Madame was initiating her into liquor, the same as Matt had initiated her into spanking. Only instead of feeling hurt or put down she felt flattered and proud. "Well, I imagine that I can learn to do anything with a fine ... with an exceptional teacher like you."
"You'll have other teachers," Madame told her. The older woman sipped her drink slowly. "In time you'll discover that pain and pleasure are never far apart. But at the moment we need to discuss business, not pleasure. Do you know why Matt Gold paid us a visit this afternoon?"
"Why, I reckon – I mean I imagine he was trying to spy on us, to see if we were breaking the law. To determine if we were engaged in any unlawful activities."
"No, that's not it." Madame poured a little more liquor into her glass, and into Crystal May's too. "Your grammar and vocabulary are improving, my dear. But you happen to be mistaken."
"Oh." Crystal May frowned. What good was building your vocabulary when you were still the same dumb person underneath? And what good was acting like a lady when any low-down lawman could treat you like a whore? The country girl picked up her glass and took another drink, and it made her burn inside, just like before. Only this time the liquor made her a little bit reckless. "Well, if Agent Matt Gold wasn't here to get us in trouble, why did I have to let him spank me?"
"I let him spank you." Madame's calm voice and level gaze put Crystal May right back in her place. "I made that decision for three reasons. First, because you deserved it. You were eating sweets behind my back. Second, you've been dodging your true potential for far too long. I didn't bring you here to scrub the floors. And third, Matt Gold is more than just an FBI agent. He's a friend, and he's here to protect us from real danger."
"What danger?" Crystal May gulped the rest of her drink without even tasting it. "I'm sorry, Madame, I was rude just now and I apologize. My behavior was impertinent and unacceptable."
"That's quite all right, my dear," Madame said quietly. "As I remarked a moment ago, your vocabulary is improving steadily, and your manners are impeccable – when you want them to be. Matt Gold is an FBI agent, not some lustful sheriff's deputy or a corrupt city vice cop on a prostitution sweep. He's part of the Organized Crime Task Force, and his specialty is the mob."
"But we're not mixed up with the mob!" Crystal May's hand flew to her throat. "Are we?"
"We are not," Madeline Charles confirmed. "But we are a business as well as a school. Recently we've been making a great deal of money with our private shows. And along with the money has come a certain amount of unwanted attention. From the law, and from others as well."
"You mean mob guys," Crystal May cut in. She forgot the rule about not interrupting a lady.
"Correct. Our shows are clean and wholesome. Our young ladies are disciplined in a traditional manner, and never forced into sexual acts. But some of our regular customers would like to see a change of policy. And they want a share of the even greater profits that would surely result."
"They want us to become real whores." Crystal May felt dizzy all of a sudden, like she'd been spinning for hours on one of those wild rides at the county fair. But this was no ride. "I'm sorry, Madame, but I could never let folks watch me if I thought ... if it could lead to something like that!"
"We won't let it happen," Madame Madeline told her gently. But her proud black eyes said plain as day that they were both in real trouble. "I only wanted you to understand that it was for the good of the school that I let Matt Gold discipline you today. He's after the mob, but he's also genuinely concerned about our safety. Naturally he wants to keep a close eye on all the girls."
"Naturally." Crystal May looked into her empty glass. Madame was smart and very brave, fighting for her rights and protecting her girls like a queen. But Matt Gold had just been using her. She was one of the girls, and that was all. Crystal May felt cheap and dirty. All the liquor she'd drunk was still in her system, only now it was making her feel sleepy. She wanted to sleep forever.
"Off you go now," Madame said soothingly, like she knew just what Crystal May wanted. "You've had a busy day, dear. I'm sorry I had to discipline you. But you did very well and I'm proud of you. You passed the test. Now go to your room and rest. Carla will wake you in time for dinner."
Crystal May got up, moving just like a sleepwalker. Or like one of those fancy wind-up dolls. Madame Madeline was pushing her buttons just like a toy. But the lady stopped her at the door.
"Oh, just one more question, my dear. Where did you get that candy bar?"
The slim blonde straightened her shoulders. "Reckon I stole it from the delivery truck when that old boy wasn't looking." Madame could make her do just about anything, all right. Except for one thing. A country girl never snitched.
"Hey, Sleeping Beauty! Wake up! Tonight's the night."
"Huh?" Crystal May felt blinded by the glare from the little lamp over her bed. She put her hands up over her eyes quick as lightning, but she could still hear Carla Brunelli loud and clear.
"Come on, honey, get up and take a shower. We've got dinner with Madame in half an hour, and after that there's going to be a show. It's about time you got to see what this place is about!"
"About time?" Crystal May squinted up at the Italian girl. Whenever there was a show everyone got new dresses to wear. Carla was already dressed in a slinky black evening dress that really accentuated her stunningly voluptuous figure. "Did you have to cover my shift in the kitchen?"
"Sure, but that's all right. I notice I didn't get any new demerits on the board this afternoon. So nobody knows where you got that candy bar?"
"Nobody." The pretty blonde sat up on the bed, knuckling sleep from her eyes. She wasn't a snitch, but she didn't like keeping things from Madeline Charles. Crystal May owed the woman.
"Aw, don't feel bad, honey. Everyone gets their first spanking sometime. Here, put this on."
"Huh?" Crystal May looked up. Carla was offering her a tiny medallion on a chain.
"It's a Saint Christopher Medal," the dark-eyed beauty confided, patting her companion on the arm. "I've got one just like it under my pillow. You keep it there until you need it. Put it on when you're going somewhere and it'll always keep you safe."
"That's mighty kind of you, Carla. I'm much obliged."
Crystal May liked