AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Again, Maxi gestured. “Dylan, up here with Miss Delgado! Come on.”
Dylan’s expression hardened as she approached the stage. As much as Ari didn’t understand what was about to happen, it didn’t bode well to see Dylan unhappy about her being there.
No one quits. They are simply never seen again.
Maxi’s eyes shifted between the two of them as Ari tried not to show even a smidgen of fear. “Well, well. Our wayward lovers reunite. Or will someone deny that the two of you ran off together? Leaving our club exposed without security! And now, we have a situation on our hands. One I am sure would not exist if it hadn’t been for Romeo and Juliet here.” Maxi tapped her foot on the stage successively, waiting for a response.
Ari’s brow furrowed. The last part of that statement made no sense because what situation had arisen other than missing a shift? She cast her eyes to the floor, then looked toward Maxi with a sympathetic plea. “We’re not denying any of it. I thought my shift was complete after Madame Cove sucked me off in front of everyone.”
Maybe the cocky attitude was a little too strong when the audience gasped at her words. Many coworkers gripped their chests at the tone. Even Dylan cringed after she’d said it.
It happened so fast that even Ari didn’t see the back of Maxi’s hand as it hit her straight across her cheek, hard enough for her head and neck to twist. In any other situation, Ari would have summoned her inner-city gangster and gone to town, but this was Adytum. And a chance at being a real investigative reporter.
She took it down a few notches. “I’m sorry. Wow! That didn’t come out right, Mistress. I just thought I was free for the evening. My apologies.”
“Miss Delgado, I should do it again for you thinking I am some schmuck looking for a lackluster apology. Even if you were stupid enough to believe your shift had ended, my precious Dylan here was not off the clock. Save the bullshit story. We have rules in this company. Rules that Dylan can recite like the alphabet. One of which is not fraternizing with the help. It’s all fun and games to take a break and get your rocks off; it’s another to find love in the shadows. So now, Miss Delgado, I will ask you this question: do you want to keep this job?”
No one quits. They are simply never seen again.
The words replayed in Ari’s mind as she looked at Dylan for any sign of remorse. Instead, her lips were pressed in a straight seam, her head shaking. Things were not going well at all. She blew out a long breath of air from her lungs as she replied, “Yes, Mistress. I would like to remain working for Adytum and you.”
“Then you will submit to a public reprimand of capital punishment for your infraction. Dylan, since you are so determined to bestow your dominating charms on this poor woman, you will dole out her punishment. Right here. Right now.”
Ari’s eyes widened as they darted upward. What the hell did that mean?
Her attention flicked back to Dylan, who extended her hand out. Still hiding emotion behind her pressed mouth, Dylan said nothing as she led the way to a pillory on the stage. It was one Lady Katrina used to bind a slave’s feet while forcing the submissive to perform oral on her. What she hadn’t seen before was the table it pressed up against.
“The punishment always fits the crime here at Adytum,” Maxi said as Dylan ushered Ari to the stage. “Miss Delgado committed the crime of fleeing before her shift ended. Dylan, my love, place your girl in the stockade, feet locked into place.”
“I told you to stay away,” said Dylan through gritted teeth, directing her words at Ari.
“You don’t own me, Dylan. Excuse me, Boss!” Ari snarked as she ripped her hand away, then assumed the position on her back.
Her feet rested on the wood indentations of the merciless stockade. The top of the antique wooden pillory closed tight around her ankles. She tried to pull loose, but she was an accused offender in Adytum’s French prison, where Maxi Delacroix was the warden. Nothing good would come from this. At least there wasn’t a guillotine towering above her.
She glanced over her chest, watching as Dylan secured it closed. So much for Dylan protecting her. She was the one meting out the punishment for their torrid love crime.
Just then, the only thing that came to mind was her safe word. “Cotton Candy!”
There was a slight pause in Dylan’s step, but it was clear she could not summon the strength to defy Maxi. No one defied her.
“Miss Delgado, you are to receive ten strikes on each foot. One for every hour you were away from the club. Darling Dylan, as for you ... love hurts, doesn’t it? I know exactly where your pain resides. Choose your weapon.”
A table with a variety of instruments used on submissives during scenes was located stage right. Ranging from the lightest of feathers to the rigid bamboo cane. Dylan walked toward them as if she were a zombie who’d lost all sensibility.
“Cotton-fucking-candy, Dylan!” Ari’s voice screeched. She hoped the words penetrated Dylan’s haunted trance and brought her back to life.
Menacing laughter erupted among the members of the staff and the girls in the audience, confirming that a safe word meant nothing in this sick and twisted realm Maxi had created. Like a page from The Stepford Wives, they all reveled in Ari’s torment. Even Dylan, who didn’t hesitate to pick the deadliest weapon on the table. The rattan cane, which Dylan’s hand cradled with such ease it seemed a mere extension of herself.
When Dylan returned to the pillory, Ari peered forward and found nothing. Once a woman she admired and loved, Dylan was void of emotion. Death of a beautiful soul at the hands of a sadistic Mistress of Ceremonies.
“Dylan, please. This isn’t right,” Ari said, once again hoping she’d break through whatever ties bound her to this world.
“Isn’t it wonderful to see our darling Dylan understand the severity of Miss Delgado’s actions? Oh, yes. Justice will be served today. Indeed. Remember, serving penance is much better than the alternative. Now, Dylan, I expect you to count out the strikes loud enough for the audience to join in. I’m sure everyone in the room is equally upset with Miss Delgado for abandoning the team.”
Maxi’s final proclamation roared through the room, as well as Ari’s body, and the panic released the flood gate of tears. “Let the reprimand begin!”
The room transformed into a dystopian world that cherished pain and suffering. Terror consumed Ari. Her safe word did nothing. This sadistic world in which Dylan lived was exactly as Terry claimed. Consent was a buzzword with no meaning. The well-being of high-priced love slaves did not matter to them. They wanted obedience and loyalty. It was a one-sided commitment to the club whose only mission was catering to the whims of arrogant and entitled rich women who got off on ignoring the limits of desperate women in need of money. Women who were in impossible situations as a result of a society designed to keep the poor down.
