by C. P. Vanner
‘I suppose I guessed he was getting a kick out of it,’ Natasha continued, ‘but I wasn’t that sure. I just didn’t understand enough, until one night. I had left my books in his room and I ducked back in straight after a spanking, without knocking, and low and behold he was wanking. I caught him with his cock in his fist. He tried to cover up and yelled at me to get out, but he knew I knew what he was doing.’
Beth giggled and Celeste snorted into her drink, spilling wine down her front.
‘It wasn’t funny,’ Natasha said. ‘It made things worse. The next time he called me in, two days later, he was different. The matron was there. He told me of my misdemeanour. I can’t remember now what it was, but it was definitely something trivial. Then he said he was going to cane me. He made me take off my skirt and knickers and lie over his desk with my arms outstretched so that matron could hold me by the wrists. Then he caned me very hard, and I still had to go back for the inspection the following night. Matron was there again and this time I had to lie over her lap, naked from the waist down while Chambers watched. I was really sore from the cane, you can imagine, and she was not at all gentle. She slapped cream on my buttocks and rubbed it in roughly. I can still feel her stubby fingers pushing and probing, her nails digging into me.
‘It went on like that until I was old enough to leave; every time the welts would fade he would find some excuse to punish me again.’
Natasha stopped talking and picked up the camera again, eyeing the digital image of herself bending over. ‘That’s why I wanted to see this, to see what he would have seen.’
‘What he saw was very beautiful, not that that excuses him, but it makes it more understandable,’ Beth said, then taking the camera she added, ‘May I ask what you felt during a spanking?’
‘I hated him,’ Natasha snapped vehemently.
‘But what did you feel about the actual spanking?’
‘Well,’ she thought for a moment, ‘I don’t suppose, deep down, that I really minded the spanking. Actually, I think it was probably quite a turn on. I just hated him, he was such a bullying creep.’
‘But if it was someone else spanking you?’ Beth persisted.
Natasha raised her eyes to the ceiling, carefully assessing the question again. ‘I wouldn’t mind, I think. It depends on who, though.’
Beth turned to Celeste with a triumphant smile. ‘I told you she was one of us,’ she said.
‘One of us?’ Natasha asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.
Celeste moved to the sofa to sit beside her. She took one of Natasha’s hands in hers. ‘One of us,’ she confirmed. ‘And as your place is so squalid, why don’t you move in here?’ She looked to Beth for approval. ‘She could move into my room - and share my bed until we get another one for her.’
‘No,’ Beth countered, ‘that is not an option. You seem to forget, my dear young lodger, that this is my flat, so I decide who moves in and who shares with who. So, Natasha can share my room... and my bed.’ She smiled calculatingly. ‘My bed is bigger, after all.’
Celeste made a moue of disapproval and cast a mean look in Beth’s direction. ‘Go on, be like that,’ Beth said, ‘and our new flatmate will learn all about house rules and house discipline sooner than you think.’
As she was speaking, Beth tilted up her nose and started to sniff the air. ‘In fact, if what I can smell is our supper burning, she will start her education as an observer this very evening.’
Celeste shrieked and rushed to the kitchen, returning a moment later with a glum look on her face and a blackened casserole in her hand. ‘That’s the tuna pasta,’ she grumbled.
‘Then we’ll go out for supper,’ Beth announced. ‘Celeste will pay, and she’ll pay again when we come back.’
Two hours, two pizzas, and two bottles of wine later, the three girls returned to the flat carrying two suitcases of belongings from Natasha’s flat. Over supper, Natasha had found out what she could about the other two. She was much cheered by Celeste’s story, how the girl, her own age and with a similar education, had in the space of a day or two gone from no work and no future into a career with prospects. Could she, Natasha, follow a similar route? She was bored with modelling and was quite prepared to do it just part-time.
‘I’ve had to use all my assets,’ Celeste had said with a slightly inebriated giggle. ‘Especially the one I’m sitting on!’
‘I wouldn’t mind, as long as I was putting it to good use,’ Natasha replied, also feeling the effects of the drink.
‘All in good time,’ Beth said.
Back in the flat they made coffee and began to get ready for bed. Celeste wandered off unsteadily to run a bath while Beth and Natasha remained behind in the sitting room. Natasha took Beth by the hand and thanked her for letting her move in. ‘I feel that my life is about to change,’ she said. ‘I will do anything to work with you, to learn from you.’
‘You will,’ Beth said succinctly, ‘but I’ll put you to the test first.’
They could hear Celeste leaving the bathroom and moving about in the hall, and Beth called her in. She appeared wearing her fluffy robe; otherwise she was naked. Beth made her lie over her lap on the sofa, and lifted the hem of the robe. ‘Spank her,’ she commanded Natasha.
‘I - I,’ Natasha stammered, her eyes wide.
‘She ruined our supper,’ Beth pointed out, ‘so she deserves to be spanked.’
‘Oh no, I couldn’t,’ Natasha protested. She looked pleadingly at Beth. ‘I am more accustomed to being spanked,’ she added, by way of explanation.
Beth picked up one of Natasha’s hands and laid it on Celeste’s buttocks. ‘Spank her,’ she repeated.
Natasha slapped Celeste twice, feeble slaps, and then stopped. ‘I can’t do it,’ she moaned. ‘She’s too lovely.’
Beth spanked Celeste hard. ‘What would you like to do?’ she asked Natasha. She spanked Celeste’s bottom again. ‘When you see this?’ And she spanked it a third time.
‘I would like... I would like to kiss her,’ Natasha blurted.
Beth spanked Celeste again. ‘Kiss her?’ she asked, bringing her palm down crisply yet again.
‘Yes, and make love to her,’ Natasha explained shyly.
Beth continued spanking her younger friend. ‘Then you shall when I’ve finished with her,’ she said. ‘She’ll have a nice red bottom and you can kiss it better.’ She delivered a ferocious flurry of blows on the reddened flesh while Celeste moaned and wriggled but made no serious attempt to get away.
After a few minutes, Natasha reached out and grasped Beth’s arm. ‘That’s enough,’ she said, falling to her knees between Celeste’s legs. ‘Oh, you poor thing,’ she murmured, burying her face between Celeste’s buttocks. ‘Your poor bottom.’ She licked the crimson buttocks and then sank lower, her mouth pressed against Celeste’s sex, her tongue probing wetly.
Beth was content to watch and stroke Natasha’s silky hair, while with the other hand she stroked Celeste’s taut bottom, allowing one finger to probe within her tight anus. She enjoyed the spectacle of her new young and beautiful friend bringing the other to a noisy, writhing climax on her lap.
‘All for one, and one for all,’ Beth purred contentedly, and put paid to any talk about the sleeping arrangements. That night, all three girls slept in Beth’s bed.
Chapter 12
Talking to oneself is the first sign of madness, Beth said to herself as she studied her reflection in the mirror, but it did not stop her conversation. She was not mad, she was happy. The job was going well, Natasha was a good and willing flatmate who actually paid the rent from her modelling income without being asked, and even Celeste coughed up on demand now that she was earning a salary and could not plead poverty. The sun was shining, the world looked beautiful, and her mind and body were fulfilled - oh, so fulfilled.
What could be better?
But the reflectio
n wagged its finger at Beth. At times like this, the reflection said, things go wrong. It is the law of nature. When your head is in the air you don’t see the banana skin at your feet.
Two hours later, Beth and Natasha had checked into a suite at an ultra-modern west end hotel. Across one end of the lobby as they arrived hung a huge sign: Power to the Future. Dozens of men and a few women were darting around studying notice boards on easels, proclaiming the times and the places of various lectures and symposia. Some made notes on clipboards, others gathered in groups making polite conversation whilst trying to decipher their companions’ lapel badges.
‘It’s all go,’ Natasha said as they were heading to the lift.
‘There’s electricity in the air,’ Beth replied with a giggle.
Power to the Future was the biennial gathering of the huge utility companies from across Europe and North America, and Beth and Natasha were on a scouting mission. The companies represented at the conference were among the largest in the industrial sector, and an advertising contract with just one of them could keep a relatively small advertising company off the breadline for years.
‘If we’ve got to go to that conference,’ Beth had said two days before, ‘we’ll go in style.’ She explained to Natasha how the only way to make good contacts and to seek new business was to be there and to mix with the delegates. That was why she had booked the suite and why she was taking Natasha. ‘With your looks...’ she said, allowing her thoughts to drift.
Now, in the suite, she grasped Natasha by the shoulders. ‘Do well here, Tash, and I’ll introduce you to Richard Cross. You never know, you might have a future behind the camera.’
Natasha leaned forward to kiss Beth on the cheek. ‘I’ll do anything you say. You’re the boss.’
‘And don’t you forget it,’ Beth said. ‘I have ways of reminding you,’ and she lightly slapped the girl’s rump.
Two hours later Natasha had lost some of her enthusiasm, having sat through a lecture entitled Generation in the Twenty-First Century without understanding a word of it.
‘Shoulders back, chest out, our work starts now,’ Beth said, when they met at lunchtime. She led Natasha by the arm through the swing doors of the bar. It was crowded but the girls, smiling and shoving in equal measure, secured a small table near the bar. They ordered drinks, realising from the scrum that they were unlikely to be served more than once.
Before she had taken a sip of hers, Beth heard a voice. ‘Is it Ms Forrester?’ someone asked.
The girls looked up to find a tall man of about fifty standing over them. His hair was greying but his complexion shone with good health and good grooming. ‘Peregrine Merchant, Eastern Light,’ he introduced himself.
Beth held out a hand. ‘I know, I haven’t forgotten,’ she said with a smile. ‘This is Natasha Perry.’ Merchant took Natasha’s proffered hand in both of his, and his smile widened. ‘Natasha, do you mind if I sit awhile.’ He pulled up a chair without waiting for an answer.
They chatted for a moment until they noticed someone at the bar waving at Merchant. He got up, saying, ‘Don’t go away, I’ll be right back.’
As soon as he was out of earshot, Beth turned to Natasha. ‘Listen carefully, I must be quick. Eastern Light used to have a contract with us. When that contract ran out they signed up with another company. No time now to tell you why. Anyway, that contract is running out in a month. They are punting around; everyone knows it. Try to find out what he’s thinking. He’s the chairman.’
‘What, me?’ Natasha said in dismay. ‘Where will you be?’
‘I’ll leave you to it. He likes you, I can tell. And he loves girls; he pinched my bottom once.’
Natasha felt nervous when Merchant returned. As he sat down, Beth stood up. ‘I’ll leave you in Natasha’s company, if you don’t mind, Peregrine,’ she said. ‘I’ve seen someone I must talk to over there.’
Merchant turned his chair slightly so his knees pressed against Natasha’s. ‘I don’t mind at all,’ he said over his shoulder. ‘You needn’t hurry back,’ he added quietly, his face close to Natasha’s.
By five o’clock Beth was feeling tired and dispirited. She had talked to so many people without results, listened to two debates about arcane subjects, and swallowed too many cups of coffee and tea. It had been a waste of time; her only hope was Natasha. When she found the other girl in the lobby, Natasha’s expression and body language told her what she needed to know, or rather, what she didn’t need to know.
Natasha shook her head. ‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘I tried, I really tried. I think he fancies me but he’s quite cagey.’
‘What did you expect?’ Beth said hotly. ‘Him to give it to you on a plate?’
Natasha took Beth by the hand. ‘Don’t be angry. I’m just not very good at this sort of thing. I tried everything...’
‘And you failed,’ Beth retorted unkindly. ‘So it’s time for plan B. Meet me upstairs in an hour,’ and she strode off.
She found Merchant where she thought he would be, in the bar. He seemed pleased to see her. ‘What a charming young lady you employ, Beth,’ he gushed. ‘You must be coming up in the world to have an assistant at your beck and call. She speaks very highly of you.’
‘And she speaks very highly of you, Peregrine,’ Beth said, and then took him by the hand. ‘Only you didn’t talk about what she wanted to hear you talk about.’
He looked at her in mock horror. ‘You mean, this?’ he said, holding up his briefcase. He clutched it to his chest with his arms around it. ‘You mean she wanted to see inside this with those great big, beautiful eyes.’
‘Is that where it is?’ Beth asked.
He laughed. ‘My dear girl, that’s for me to know and you to find out,’ he said, and then became serious. ‘I’m not a fool, you know, Beth. I knew what you two were up to.’
‘I know you’re not a fool, Peregrine. But your contract with the company I shall not name is coming to an end. You could give me a clue about the way you’re thinking.’
He considered her words for a while. ‘A clue,’ he said eventually. ‘Now let me see, what would that be worth? At least drinks and supper, I would say. On your expense account.’
‘Seven o’clock,’ Beth said. ‘Upstairs, in suite one-five-two-four.’
At six forty-five in the bedroom of their suite, Beth said, ‘Tash, whatever I say in the next few minutes, whatever I do, you go along with it.’
At six fifty Beth made sure the main door to the suite, the door to the corridor, was left slightly ajar.
At six fifty-five she called Natasha into the bedroom again, leaving that door slightly open too.
At six fifty-seven, she announced loudly and sternly, ‘Natasha, you are a good-for-nothing, useless waste of space. Come here, I am going to teach you a lesson. Get over my lap,’ and just then there was a light tap on the outside door, and Beth heard footsteps enter and then stop. At the same moment she smacked Natasha hard, across both buttocks. ‘I’m going to teach you a lesson,’ she repeated, and smacked the girl again, and again.
At six fifty-nine Natasha, crying, ran from the bedroom into the sitting room and bumped into Peregrine Merchant standing near the door, his face flushed, a lecherous grin on his lips. She shrieked in horror and sobbed even louder.
‘Come back here - I haven’t finished with you yet,’ Beth shouted from the bedroom.
At exactly seven o’clock she entered the sitting room and smiled at Merchant. ‘Hello, Peregrine, I didn’t realise you were here,’ she said. ‘Just a minute, I’ll be right with you.’
At one minute past seven Beth was talking to Natasha in a corner of the room. Her voice was a sibilant whisper capable of being overheard, and the only person other than Natasha within earshot was Merchant. Only certain words were audible. ‘Deal with you later... very severely... tonight after dinner... my hairbrush... on your bare bottom.’
/>
At two minutes past seven, Natasha left the suite with her head down to hide her tears.
At three minutes past seven, Beth took Merchant’s arm. ‘Drinks downstairs, I think, Peregrine. I’ve had enough of this place for a while.’
At four minutes past seven, Beth and Peregrine left the suite, closing the door behind them.
At a restaurant more frequented by tourists than gourmets, where the service was surly, the portions large but badly cooked, and the bill even larger, Beth and Peregrine Merchant eyed each other across the table. Both knew what the other wanted and each was determined not to crack first.
Merchant poured more wine into their glasses. ‘You were very tough on Natasha, Beth,’ he said casually. ‘I couldn’t help hearing. What had she done?’
‘Not enough,’ Beth replied briskly. She changed her tone and looked up at him from under her eyelashes. ‘You could at least give me an idea of how many companies are in the running,’ she said, completely changing the subject.
‘Six,’ he disclosed frankly. ‘She’s a very pretty girl; I’m surprised she puts up with it,’ he commented, bringing the subject back to where he preferred it.
‘She’s a very naughty girl and she has to put up with it if she wants to work for me,’ Beth said. ‘Is Cross, Carstairs and Denton one of the six? Surely you can tell me that.’
‘It could be,’ Merchant said, nodding inscrutably and reaching for his glass. ‘Are you really going to be... to be punishing her later?’
‘I could be,’ Beth teased, matching his inscrutability. ‘Will you tell me if we’re on the list?’
‘I might do, if you do.’
‘And I might do, if you do.’
‘Yes, you are on the list,’ Merchant conceded.
‘Yes, I am going to spank her,’ Beth told him.
‘Is there any way I could assist, or at least be there?’ Merchant asked.
‘Is there any way I could assist our chances to get to the top of the list?’ Beth replied.