Sin and Scandal - Carol Storm

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wearing lip-gloss. My bottom was red all over!"

      "Those things are all perfectly natural." The dark-haired lady in the fur coat made a sort of clucking sound. "I can see now why you ran away, my dear. It's perfectly normal and healthy for an attractive young girl to be interested in her appearance. And yet there you were, trapped in that dreadful place! It must be horrible to be hungry and cold and poor, with no chance of a better life."

      "No, ma'am, it wasn't horrible. It was just my life. Until the preacher went too far."

      "Oh, dear. What did he do? A few smacks on the backside wouldn't scare off a real country girl like you." Madeline's dark eyes revealed genuine admiration for the girl's strength of character. This one had potential, she could feel it. All she needed was a firm hand.

      "I reckon they wouldn't." Crystal May tipped up her chin, feeling just a mite proud of herself. "Pa whipped me many a time when I was a young girl, but only when I deserved it. I reckon I could stand it when I knew it was for my own good. I reckon I even liked it in a way. But the preacher, he wasn't trying to save my soul. He was just trying to get at me behind Ma's back! One night he even came sneaking into my bedroom, but I was ready. I had a baseball bat that belonged to my little brother Tommy. I laid into him till he ran out howling. But the next day, he beat on Ma when I was at work. He beat her bad. And I couldn't stop it. Reckon that was when I knew I had to move on."

      "It wasn't your fault, darling," the big city woman said gently, patting the tearful young runaway on the back. "Why couldn't your mother just call the sheriff?"

      Crystal May choked back her tears, resisting the urge to cry on the older woman's shoulder. Instead she straightened her shoulders, and drank more of the sinfully rich hot chocolate. "Preacher and the sheriff are old friends. They hunt deer together every fall."

      "Old friends," Madeline huffed. "Deer hunting. The sheer barbarity of it all! Crystal May, you've taken some very hard knocks early in life. Are you ready to take a chance on a better future?"

      "Not if it means doing what the preacher wanted me to do." The blue-eyed girl gave the big city woman a steady look, letting her know that she meant business. "I've heard of people who take in young runaways, and then make them sell drugs on the street. Or have sex with strangers, or make movies with all their clothes off. I wouldn't be interested in no kind of business like that, ma'am."

      "Fair enough." Madeline liked the girl's spirit as well as her natural allure. "But how would you feel about going to a sort of school? Learning the proper way to speak and act and dress? Studying how to entertain, and practicing for when you catch a husband of your own. And you will catch a husband of your own. Any girl who graduates from Madame Madeline's always does."

      "I reckon I'd like that. But I'm a little old for high school. I just turned nineteen last month."

      The sophisticated older woman suppressed a smile. "It's not that kind of school, dear. Think of it more as a modeling academy."

      "Oh." Crystal May's blue eyes quickly narrowed with suspicion. "That sounds mighty fine, ma'am. But how would I ever pay you?"

      "Oh, just by helping out around the house. You're not afraid of a little hard work, are you?"

      "No, I like hard work."

      "Then you have nothing to worry about. So what's it going to be?"

      When Crystal May woke up the next morning, she felt like she'd died and gone to heaven. She rolled over on her back, her sleepy eyes blinking in the sunlight. The window curtains were frilly and feminine, softening the light and making her feel protected from the world outside. It was mighty late, but she didn't care. Just lying there in the warm, golden light made her feel so good. She was safe here. She could feel it right down to her bones. Only she couldn't remember where she was.

      Madame Madeline's place! That was it. Crystal May stretched and yawned, waking up nice and easy while she remembered. She had been hitchhiking when she met Madeline Charles. The rich lady invited her to come and visit, and after she said yes they stopped for dinner at a fancy restaurant. Crystal May pictured herself at the table, shy at first, but then gobbling up everything in sight. It was downright rude, the way she ate. But she was so hungry! And the big city woman just laughed, anyway. They had peach ice cream for dessert, and a bottle of fancy red wine imported from France.

      Crystal May fell asleep right after dinner. It was dark when they finally got to Madame Madeline's place, and there were all kinds of pretty girls lying around the parlor in their pajamas. Everyone wanted to talk to her, and find out where she was from, but she was just too sleepy to chat. All she could do was nod and smile, until someone finally took her upstairs. She had a nice hot shower and fell into bed, and she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

      Now she got to wondering exactly where she was. Not what house, but what part of the country. Was this the country or the big city? Crystal May stumbled out of bed, nearly getting her foot caught in the lace bedcovers, and sort of hopped over to the window. It was country, all right. Crystal May saw mountains in the distance, but they weren't the coal mining mountains back home. They were taller than that, so tall they were covered with snow. Crystal May shivered. And then she saw a truck parked just around the side of the house.

      It was just a regular old delivery truck, but a huge amount of food and wine was getting delivered to Madame Madeline's. And two real nice-looking boys were doing the unloading.

      "Don't even think about it, doll face."

      "Huh?" Crystal May spun around, her eyes wide and one slim hand flying up to her throat. Relief swept over her when she saw it was just one of the real pretty girls from the night before.

      "Delivery boys are off limits, Goldilocks. That's a quick way to earn a spanking."

      "Oh." Crystal May felt a little shy. "Do you do the spanking?"

      "Not me, baby doll. I just cook for the other girls. And this morning you're going to help me. My name is Carla Brunelli. What's yours?"

      "Crystal May Snow."

      The two of them shook hands, real friendly, but also sort of looking each other up and down. Crystal May wondered if Carla was really just a cook. She looked more like an Italian movie star. She was dressed in dark blue pajamas just like Crystal May's. But instead of being small and fair, this girl was tall and dark with curly black hair and a real ripe pair of melons.

      "Why are delivery boys off limits?" Crystal May asked, as they were walking down the hall to the kitchen. Everything looked mighty clean and neat. There were no spider webs anywhere and the floors were all waxed, with a real nice smell like lemons. Every time they passed a door, Crystal May wondered who was inside. Were they all just runaway girls like her, sleeping late in their pajamas? Or was something else going on that she didn't know about?

      "No smoking, no screwing, no drugs. No drinking alcohol unless you're dining with Madame and the other staff … or with our guests. And when you meet our regulars, honey, you'll see right away why delivery boys are a total waste of time. I'm talking gorgeous guys with tons of cash."

      Crystal May put the brakes on sudden like, folding her slim white arms over her breasts. "This here ain't any kind of school. This is a whorehouse, ain't it? Well, I told Madame Charles I wouldn't be no part of it. I'm not sleeping with any rich man for money!" She stamped her foot, but it didn't make much of a noise because she was wearing fluffy bedroom slippers with furry bottoms. Stomping the freshly waxed floor didn't hurt the hallway none. It did hurt her foot some, though.

      Carla Brunelli rolled her eyes. They were as black as licorice. "God, you are such a hillbilly! Listen, dumbbell, a whorehouse is where they pay you to have sex. And you have to have sex with any trick who asks, no matter how old or mean or fat or disgusting the guy happens to be. What happens here at Madame Madeline's is totally different. Us lucky girls get paid to behave properly, and wear nice clothes and act like young ladies. And if we don't follow all the rules just right, we get spanked. Now there are guys who pay a huge amount of money to Madame Charles, just so they can do the spanking. And there are

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