Belle - Lesley Pearse [103]
Belle knew she had to hurry him along, so she parted his long shirt, took hold of his penis and went to wash it with the cloth. His penis instantly reared up, and thankfully it looked very healthy, with no sign of any discharge.
‘He’s pleased to see me,’ she said, copying what she’d heard Hatty say to one of her gentlemen.
‘He sure is,’ Jack gasped.
‘Well, you’d better unfasten my dress for me,’ Belle said.
His breath was hot on the back of her neck, and she could feel his fingers trembling. That he wanted her so badly made her feel a faint stirring of desire for him too. She didn’t think it was going to be too bad.
Once she had stepped out of her dress and thrown it on a chair, she stood there in her short chemise, stockings and shoes and, smiling at him, reached out and took his hand, placing it on one of her breasts.
She was just going to ask him how he wanted her, when he lunged forward, pulling her chemise down to expose her breasts, and took one nipple in his mouth to suck. His hand slid between her legs, and holding her that way he nudged her towards the bed and bent her back down on to it. He wasn’t rough, just passionate, and again Belle felt that stab of desire, so she moved under him, telling him she liked it. All at once he was on her, pushing into her, while his mouth was still glued to her breast. She was only half on the bed, and he was standing on the floor fucking her.
He came after just four or five thrusts, then collapsed on top of her with a sob. She looked at the little clock on her mantelpiece and saw he’d been with her less than ten minutes. It was almost a comic situation; he’d spent more than most people earned in months on her, and it didn’t even last as long as a glass of beer. But she saw the sad side of it: a nice but lonely young man who probably thought coming to a whorehouse made him a real man.
She cuddled him for a couple of minutes, telling him he was marvellous, then eased him up from her and said he must get dressed. She half expected him to say he hadn’t had long enough, but he looked stunned and happy, not a bit disgruntled.
‘Could I call on you next time I get to New Orleans?’ he asked.
‘Of course, I’ll be waiting for you,’ Belle replied.
He was gone in a trice. She shut the door behind him and leaned back on it, closing her eyes. She didn’t feel bad at all, for Jack had seemed really delighted with both her and himself. If they were all like Jack, she might even find herself begging one of them to stay a while longer so she could teach him a thing or two about pleasure.
She laughed to herself then. She was officially a whore now. A fifty-dollar-a-time one at that. She wondered what her mother and Mog would think of that.
*
‘You’ve made a mistake, Martha,’ Belle said at the end of the evening. All the girls had received their pay, and Belle had hung back till everyone else had gone. She wanted to query why she’d only been given two dollars. ‘I went with twelve men. I should be getting three hundred dollars.’
‘No, honey. New girls under contract to me get just two dollars a day until their fee has been repaid and the cost of any gowns, shoes or underwear recovered.’
Belle didn’t know what to say. Two dollars for a night’s work would be as much as she could expect in most other lines of work. But Etienne had said she’d get half of what was taken, and she didn’t like being cheated.
‘Well, I’m sure you won’t mind showing me the books you’re keeping?’ she said after a second’s thought. ‘Show me what you paid for me, what you’ve spent on me so far. That way I’ll know how long I have to go until the debt is paid off.’
She saw Martha’s face tighten, and knew being smart probably wasn’t such a good idea. But she had no intention of retracting anything.
‘Go to bed,’ Martha said in a voice like ice. ‘I’ll talk to you in the morning.’
Belle lay awake for a long time that night, listening