by Carol Storm
* * * * *
"This used to be a real whorehouse," Matt told her afterwards. He was lying on his back, holding Crystal May in his arms, and she was resting with her cheek against his bare chest. "The girls here were starved and beaten, kept locked in their rooms, forced to do sick things with any guy who had the money. There were diseases, bad teeth, no doctors. A lot of them were on drugs, too."
"It all sounds perfectly ghastly." Crystal May shuddered, and she wasn't putting on any act. "Something tells me that a handsome federal lawman from the East must have put a stop to it."
"I didn't do it all by myself," Matt replied, stroking Crystal May's tousled golden hair. "I took care of the legal side of it, arresting the competition and throwing the old owners into jail. But I didn't have the money for renovations. This place had to be rebuilt from top to bottom, new plumbing, new kitchen, new carpets and furniture ... it was really a million-dollar investment. Luckily I found a partner who was willing to take a chance, a bright young lawyer named Steven Tallarico. The two of us were old buddies from college. We used to play football together."
"That's just what I figured," Crystal May sighed. If she weren't so sleepy, she would have expressed herself more elegantly, and said something like "I thought so" or "I imagined as much." But she felt so warm and peaceful inside. Matt's lovemaking and the way he held her afterwards while telling the story of his life made her feel cherished and utterly secure.
But then she had a disturbing thought.
"That money you all used to get the new business started," she murmured, her voice drowsy. "That money belonged to Steven's family, didn't it? Y'all started over with mob money."
"It was Steve's money," Matt said sharply, tightening one hand over the curve of her buttocks. "He worked his ass off in college and in law school, just like me. Both of us caught hell for being who we were, him the son of a big-time mobster and me the son of a small-town crooked cop. But we stuck together. This place was our chance for a new start. A chance for us to make the big money and do it right. Not the way our families did. Not the way our fathers did."
"I'm mighty proud of you, honey," Crystal May sighed as Matt ran his rough hand over her tender buttocks. She'd just had one spanking for not showing respect. She didn't want another one for prying into his past. Drowsily, she told herself that she already knew all she needed to know. Matt was the man who had changed this place from a prison into a peaceful sanctuary. Her yearning heart and her passionate body wanted to submit to the strong, dominant male without question. Yet her independent spirit and her intelligent mind were greedy to learn more, to get all the facts.
Did Steven's family rightfully have a stake in this place? Is that why they were muscling in? What about the drug cartel? What about Madame Madeline? Crystal May wondered if she had been around in the bad old days. Had she been a common whore? Or had she been the woman in charge, beating the girls and starving them, perhaps even giving them drugs to keep them in line?
"That's enough about my life," Matt grunted, almost as if he could read her mind. "What's your story, Crystal May? How did a country girl like you end up in a nasty place like this?"
"This isn't a nasty place," Crystal May corrected gently. She snuggled up to Matt, burying her face in his muscular chest. "It's a special place, and I'm proud to be here. I'm proud to be with you."
"Prove it." Matt Gold shifted beneath her so that she felt the hot, rigid length of him pressed against her thighs. He had grown hard again in no time at all, while she lay resting on his chest.
"I can't prove it," Crystal May giggled. "Honey, I'm too worn out to even wiggle a finger."
"The hell you are, sugar." The lawman spun her over and pinned her down across the huge bed, taking her so hard and fast that it felt almost like a punishment. But this time she knew better.
CHAPTER FIVE
Crystal May was still sound asleep when the new girls brought in breakfast on a fancy tray.
"My, my, didn't you have a big night." Dark-haired Debbie grinned as she shook Crystal May with playful hands. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Madame Madeline can't wait all day!"
"Where's Matt?" Rolling over on her back, the tousled, rosy-cheeked blonde knuckled the sleep from her eyes, trying to remember where she was and what had happened to her. She felt like she'd been through an earthquake or a train wreck, or maybe a battle. Her whole body felt bruised and battered and sore. Yet when she stretched her sore muscles there was another feeling, an enticing combination of pleasurable aches that made her smile and savor even the slightest pain.
"Your boyfriend got up early," Annie chirped, carefully setting the tray on Crystal May's lap. "We all had breakfast in the main dining room, the ladies in dresses and the men in suits and ties." The full-figured redhead gave a dreamy sigh, her bosom heaving as she rolled her eyes dramatically. "You are one lucky girl, Crystal May. That FBI man is so good-looking, and I mean seriously hot. Even under a jacket and tie you can see all his muscles! And the way he smiles ..."
"Yes, I know all about his muscles." The rumpled beauty gave a sniff of disdain as she forked up a bite of fluffy scrambled eggs. She didn't like the idea of other girls having breakfast with Matt while she slept. Listening to his stories, laughing at his jokes. Undressing him with their eyes. No, that wasn't it, she told herself quickly, putting down her fork and sipping from a cup of coffee. She just didn't like the idea of Matt having a bunch of other men come in and meet with him. There was no doubt in Crystal May's mind that it had something to do with rescuing Carla from that place. Matt had promised her they would take care of that situation together, on their own. But now he was calling in outside help, making plans that didn't include her. At least, that was how it looked to her.
And as she drank her morning coffee, the rich, creamy flavor brought back memories, of lessons and discipline and the busy daily routine. Crystal May sighed, realizing too late that she hadn't really escaped from captivity. She was still just a prisoner at Madame's special school.
"Madame Madeline will be in to see you shortly," Debbie said with a smile, reading the troubled look on Crystal May's face. "I think she has something really special planned for you!"
"Special? What do you mean?" Crystal May's frown deepened as she set down her empty cup on the pretty little wicker tray. Her small feet moved restlessly under the satin sheets.
"Better eat up all your fruit and Danish," Annie teased. "You've got a big day ahead!"
The two girls left the Royal Suite together, walking arm in arm, laughing their heads off. Crystal May didn't like the feeling of being played with, set up for some sort of nasty practical joke. Or was it some kind of punishment? That made her think of Matt, and she squirmed a little in bed. She wouldn't mind if he came back to punish her, maybe just for sleeping late and missing breakfast.
But Matt had gone off and left her. After everything they did together, he just up and left.
Every morning Pa had gone off to work in the mines, carrying his lunch pail and wearing his hard hat with the light in front. He was the tallest, strongest, handsomest man in the world, and he never left without giving his little girl a hug. "See you at dinner, Crystal May," he always said. Those words were a promise. They held her whole world together, in spite of all the mean, hard times.
But one day Pa broke his promise. He didn't come home for dinner. He never came home again. Crystal May couldn't even think about that day without crying. But she knew one thing. She would never let Matt nor no other man hurt her the way Pa had done. So if Matt was gone, or if it turned out she couldn't trust him, well sir, she just had to take charge, and be that much stronger.
Crystal May dabbed her tears with a frilly napkin. She had to keep up her strength and fight for Carla. She was just finishing her fruit cup when Madeline Charles walked through the door.
* * * * *
"Don't be nervous, Chrissie," Madame instructed crisply, as they pulled up at the rear staff entrance of the fancy health club. "Remember, you have the
easiest part of this assignment."
"You and Matt made sure of that, didn't you?" Crystal May asked, looking the poised and sexy older woman right in the eye. "Neither of you really trusts me. You don't respect me, either!"
"Darling, I have all the respect in the world for you. I was devastated when you left us, and so thrilled when you came home safe and sound. But after all that excitement, naturally you needed rest. You were sound asleep when we made our plans. And frankly, Agent Gold was in favor of allowing you to rest and recuperate a little longer. I had to persuade him to give you something to do. I have the highest respect for your ability to improvise, learn and adapt, and I know you will rise to any challenge." Madeline Charles smirked knowingly. "I also know how restless you get in captivity."
"Thank you, Ma'am. Now just what do I have to do? Am I supposed to offer myself to some big businessman at the country club?" The blonde blushed, fingering the phony name stitched in blue thread on her starched pink and white uniform. "I want to help, you all know that. But I refuse to have sex with a stranger!"
Madame Madeline threw back her head and laughed. "Nothing of the sort, my dear. You only need to follow my lead. I'll be chatting up someone who can help us, and you'll be serving her drinks. We may or may not have a chance to go through her purse. On the night of the meeting, you and Matt will be entering the ski lodge undercover, as a wealthy couple looking for thrills. The front door will be guarded, of course, but the back door may not be. Snatching the keys and copying them ahead of time will pave the way for Matt's team to enter the building silently."
"Yes, ma'am." Crystal May swallowed hard as she prepared to get out of the car. She didn't want to look like she was stalling, but there was something she had to know. "Madame Madeline, if we pull this off, and save the school from a criminal takeover, will you let Carla and me go free?"
The dark-eyed older woman gave Crystal May an almost pitying look. "You really don't know your own strength, do you dear?"
"Huh?"
"I knew when I first met you that you were destined for great things, Crystal May. You have natural refinement, natural allure, and the kind of idealism and moral courage that can't be taught. You've had the upper hand with Matt ever since he first put you over his knee."
"Are you crazy?" The country girl thought she was hearing things. "Matt's got me run ragged trying to keep up with him, and whenever I make the least little mistake he spanks me."
"Yes, it's clear he's crazy about you. And that you've bent him to your will by submitting. At this point the real danger isn't that Matt is in control of you, but that he's not in control of himself. You did that, my dear. But you're just too naïve to understand. Good luck, 'Chrissie.'"
It wasn't really an easy assignment, Crystal May thought, grabbing another tray full of drinks and heading back out to the huge outdoor pool. She had been on her feet all afternoon and she was downright tired. Working at the health club was just like waitressing, only the customers were not even sitting up and eating a decent meal. They were lying around every which way on fancy reclining chairs, relaxing and reading magazines and chatting back and forth. Most of the club regulars were very successful women, thin and rich and tanned, fit from working out and swimming in the pool. Some of them were still doing laps now, but most of them were resting after a morning workout.
Madame Madeline had cornered one of the club women right away. She was pretty, but the slim young woman with the short brown hair and sad gray eyes really didn't look like a senator's wife. Right now she was lying in a shady corner, listening to Madame Madeline talk about life back east. Her big, sad eyes lit up each time Madame mentioned a place like Rome or Manhattan or Paris. She looked like someone who was bored with her life and lonely. Crystal May felt sorry for her.
"The Senator is all right, but Mrs. Huddleston is a real bitch," she said with a sigh, as Crystal May took away her empty glass and put down a full one in its place. "She doesn't love him, not even a little bit. Paul keeps promising he's going to get out of politics, get a divorce and leave her. Then we could go away together. But Paul takes his work so seriously, and she just loves the Washington social scene. It's like an exhausting masquerade that never ends, with me being her personal assistant in public and his lover in private. Between work and charity events I see her as much as I see him. The three of us are together nearly all the time, but the two of us can't ... I mean we hardly ever ..."
"Mm, sounds like Paul needs a wakeup call," Madame said softly, sipping her own drink. Crystal May could see that she hadn't put away anywhere near as much as the other woman. Every time she came back with the tray she could see the lost-looking brunette sinking lower and lower into her reclining chair, her eyes getting droopy as she listened to Madame's tales of far-away places. And then she was out. When she was asleep, the senator's unhappy young lover looked so sweet and pretty. In a way she seemed almost innocent.
"The keys," Madame Madeline hissed, handing Crystal May her prize. "Get to work."
Crystal May knew what she had to do. She scampered inside right away, and pattered down a flight of stairs to the club equipment room. This was actually more like a locker room, only it was used by men and women alike. The club had tons of golf clubs and tennis rackets for guests to use, but some of the regular members liked to keep their own personal equipment locked up safe downstairs between visits. All Crystal May had to do was hang the keys inside one of the lockers, and then someone else would pick them up and copy them while the lady was still asleep by the pool. It was good planning for Crystal May not to be away from the pool for more than a few minutes. That way she wouldn't look like a suspect if anything went wrong.
"You there, stop! What the devil do you think you're doing?"
"Ma'am?" Crystal May felt her heart jump right into her throat as she spun around in panic. This wasn't part of the plan! She was supposed to stick the keys in locker number 555. That was the number she had memorized. But for some reason the door wouldn't open and she had been rattling it like mad. Now it looked like she was trying to break into someone's private locker!
"What's your name, girl? I haven't seen you around here before." The woman who had caught Crystal May came forward, into the yellow pool of light from the small overhead bulb. Despite that loud voice and a very confident personality she didn't really look like a club member. She was a big woman, not fat but heavy, like she ate whatever she wanted and didn't worry about a few extra pounds. She wasn't tanned, and she wasn't dressed in tennis shorts or a bathing suit, either. She had on tons of jewelry, heavy pieces of real gold, and she wore a baggy gray suit that made her look like the queen of the elephants. Crystal May tried to laugh at that like it was a joke, but the skinny girl couldn't help being scared of the big heavy powerful looking woman. She was a queen elephant, all right. The kind all the other jungle animals were afraid of.
"I wasn't doing anything, really!" Crystal May's squeaky voice made her sound like a liar right off. She tried to get hold of herself, and think of a good story, but she just hadn't planned for a situation like this. The minute she started talking she could feel a telltale blush rise to her cheeks. "My name is Chrissie, ma'am. I'm brand new here and still learning my job. I wasn't stealing, I swear it! I was just looking for a place to change out of my uniform. My shift is almost over!"
"Really? And where are your street clothes, brand new Chrissie?" The great big woman came even closer, so close that Crystal May could smell her perfume. It wasn't the light, flowery scent that she usually smelled on other women. This was a heavy, musky, spicy sort of aroma, like the cologne rich and powerful older men wore to attract much younger women. The elephant queen had splashed on a lot of it, enough to make Crystal May feel dizzy. The smell seemed to envelop all her senses.
"My c-c-clothes are right inside this locker here," the slim blonde stammered, her country accent coming out thick and strong as her mind spun with desperate plans to escape. She still had the keys clutched in her sweaty hand, hidden behind her ba
ck. Could she shove her way past the bulky older woman and run upstairs? But how would she find Matt? And oh, wouldn't he be furious if she compromised the mission by making the drop off in public? Before she could even think of a plan the bigger and stronger older woman reached over and simply yanked open the door to locker 555, standing so close that the back of her arm brushed right over the curve of Crystal May's breasts.
"Nothing here," the older woman said, in a satisfied way. She turned to look at Crystal May, her piggy brown eyes gleaming, her flabby face wreathed in a triumphant smile. "Do you mean to tell me that you were going to get undressed and just prance around stark naked?"
"No, no!" Crystal May pictured the image, imagining her total humiliation in vivid detail.
"Why don't you undress for me right now?" The elephant queen's voice grew husky, her brown eyes glittering with growing excitement. Yet she seemed as strong and in control as ever. "You really should be punished for lying to a club member. This really isn't your locker, is it dear?"
"No! I mean, yes ... I mean I really want to be punished!" Crystal May felt a huge weight slide off her shoulders, as if she had just gotten an awful secret off her chest. She looked up into the older woman's heavy, lined face and smiled, knowing she had only one shot here. She had to hope and pray that she had gotten the big fat woman's number, and that a spanking was all she wanted. She could deal with that, Crystal May told herself. A quick no-nonsense spanking to clear her head.
"Shouldn't you leave that to your husband, honey?" The familiar male voice was tinged with amusement and cynicism. Just the sound of it was enough to snap Crystal May out of her trance.
"To her husband? Are you married to this thieving little girl, Mr. Goodman?" The elephant queen turned around, her tone not giving away any kind of shock or surprise or embarrassment. In a way Crystal May almost admired the older woman's utter self-control. She got her own wits back too, and as quick as lightning she stuck the stolen keys in the locker and shut the door.