The whip's crack was loud in the near silence, as was Jess'
cry of pain as the leather tore once again into the flesh of her bare
back. Black hair cropped short, her arms bound up above her head, and
those long legs secured on the posts to keep her from flailing about
too much.
Mustn't spoil things for all the spectators.
Jess heard a few murmurs of disappointment as a hand firmly
grasped her chin, and she was gently guided to look up into seemingly
bottomless blue eyes. "You shouldn't have let me down that way," the
almost divinely beautiful bosomy blonde murmured to her, "it could
have been so very good between the two of us, too."
"I don't," Jess managed to rasp out through her pain, "hurt
kids."
Those blue eyes narrowed angrily, and the angel face was
twisted with a sneer into something very like a demon's. "So be it,"
she released Jess' chin, moving back. She looked up at the ladies maid
who was wielding the whip so well and said, "Another ten, please."
"Of course, ma'am," the maid curtseyed to her formally before
she began to limber up her whipping arm once again.
The whip cracked loudly, Jess cried out...
..................
...and with a anguished cry came awake on top of her own bed,
tangled up in her cool, clean white sheets. "Only a dream," Jess
panted, her throat sore from her cries. 'No,' she thought to herself
bleakly, 'not a dream, a memory.'
With some relief Jess noted that she was actually alone in her
bed this morning, and felt glad that she wasn't inflicting these
memories or their aftermath on someone else. She wiggled her way out
of the white sheets and off of the little bed, feeling very much older
than her thirty odd years. Dressed only in her boxer shorts she padded
across the messy bedroom to the bathroom, feeling the pull and itch of
the old scars across her back.
It had all happened to her so many years ago, but still Jess
remembered it all vividly. She had been a young punk, too cocky by
far, and had been so easily taken in by the experienced Diana. Even
knowing now all about how utterly debased that cool blonde was, Jess
still felt a quiver deep inside at how beautiful she had been. It was
all over and done with, but she still remembered.
"Too bad that beauty hid the rot that was beneath it so well,
until it was much too late," Jess muttered to herself bitterly. She
looked up at the clock and swore to herself softly, she was going to
be late to open up the shop!
A squirt of mint toothpaste and a quick scrubbing of her
teeth. Jess grabbed at a washcloth, soaking it in the sink full of
piping hot soapy water before roughly scrubbing all of the sweat and
the remnants of the bad dreams away. She hesitated as she turned away,
the thin scars on her back appearing in the mirror, then continued on.
Normally she hid those scars with her magic, but mortal mirrors
revealed the truth, always.
She ran across the clothes strewn bedroom, pulling some clean
underwear out of a dresser drawer before hopping about the room
slipping them and a pair of clean socks on. She wiggled into a pair of
her tight blue jeans, pulled a black T-shirt on over her head, then
flopped down on the side of the bed to slip her leather boots on.
Jess picked her wallet and keys off a stand by the door and
was off.
The young woman was gazing in offended shock at the girlie
images hung up in Jess' front window. As Jess unlocked the front door
the black haired woman turned to her, and Jess noted that she'd be
much more attractive without that pinched expression on her face.
Indignantly she said, "Are you the proprietor of this place? You
should be ashamed! As a woman how can you have imagery that's so
offensive to women in your window?"
With the mood Jess was in right then and there, she wanted to
make the lady regret ever having crossed her. Throttling back her
temper, Jess merely said to her, "You might want to take a closer
look, then." With that, she went inside.
Jess took a quick mental inventory of the little shop, feeling
relieved that nothing there was disturbed. She began to clean the
needles and other pieces of equipment, letting the sheer regularity of
her motions soothe her frayed nerves. The doorbell rang, and Jess'
eyes narrowed as the black haired woman walked inside, an odd look on
her face.
"Yes?" Jess asked pointedly.
"Those pictures," the woman gestured, "they're... mocking,
aren't they?"
Feeling a bit of pleasant surprise that she had actually
spotted the subtlety of the images Jess answered, "In a way, yes."
Looking embarrassed she said, "I'm sorry for what I said out
there."
"No problem," she smiled slightly as she noted how attractive
the girl could be when she smiled and gave a little bow, "Jess Drake,
I'm the owner."
"Alice," the black haired woman offered her hand, "Alice
Sinclare."
"Nice to meet you, Alice," Jess grinned suddenly, "are you
here for a tattoo?"
Alice paled, taking a half step backward as she stammered,
"Oh, no! I do NOT like pain."
Jess had to laugh softly. The young woman in her business
wear, dressed for success, was quite obviously not here for a tattoo.
Still it was fun to tease her a bit. "Sorry," but Jess didn't sound
too terribly repentant.
Alice joined in the laughter, her own voice soft. "I'm opening
up a business nearby," she explained to Jess a bit sheepishly, "and I
was wondering what sort of businesses were around here, so I decided
to take a look around."
"Until you ran into my front window," Jess leaned up against
her front counter, feeling greatly amused as she continued, "and
decided to tell me off about it."
"Well, yes," Alice admitted.
"It's all right," Jess said gently, "it happens." For a moment
she wondered what to do, she didn't normally have guests in her shop.
Tilting her head to the side she asked her, "What sort of business are
you opening, anyway?"
"A..." she hesitated, then Alice continued, "a bookstore."
Jess nodded thoughtfully, "I had heard that the Sisterhood
Bookstore was moving." Alice tensed slightly as Jess continued on
casually, "I'm glad you're moving here."
"Why?" Alice asked worriedly.
"Because there's some new Naiads and a few Diva press titles
that I was looking forward to," Jess explained to her cheerfully.
Alice looked up at her in surprise for a moment, "You mean you
shopped at..?" Then she began to laugh, "I have to learn not to judge
on appearance alone."
Jess' mouth twisted with a sudden, bitter memory, "I guess
it's a lesson that we all have to learn eventually."
By the look on her face it was clear that Alice knew there was
something going on with Jess, but she chose not to ask. "Well,
neighbor," Alice smiled slighly, "is there a place around here you can
get a good cup of coffee?"
"One or two, if you know where to look," Jess said. 'Nobody's
breaking down the door this morning,' she mused. With a smile to
Alice, "Why don't I show you where, we'll get a coffee, and I'll tell
you about the neighborhood."
Alice nodded, "I'd like that."
To be continued...
Note: For those who don't know, Naiad Press publishes various lesbian
Romance novels and erotica. Diva is also a lesbian publisher, but from
Britain and featuring English writers.
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