Free Under a Stern Reign by Raymond Wilde Page B

upper slope of one breast Genevieve could see a small tattooed design that, at a glance, looked like a star. Above her powdered visage the woman wore her usual white wig. ‘Don’t you know it’s not safe for you to be out here alone any more?’ she said. ‘It’s getting dark and cold, too. Come, get in and ride with me. I’m on my way to the chateau to see the count.’
    Genevieve found herself blushing as she climbed up; what could she say after spying the spectacle of the woman and the count? And what would Madame Coubette be thinking after witnessing the shameful spectacle of her and Elise together?
    â€˜I hope the count did not punish you too severely yesterday morning,’ the woman said without preamble. ‘He often has too quick and hot a temper, and a heavy hand.’ Genevieve remained silent, sitting beside Madame Coubette. ‘Perhaps,’ the woman continued, ‘your pretty little derrière is still sore. Like most men, he does not understand we ladies.’ She casually laid a hand on Genevieve’s knee and squeezed. ‘He’s lucky that I understand him, though. That’s why we’re such close friends, despite our backgrounds.’
    Coyly, Genevieve glanced at the woman. She radiated an elegant voluptuousness. It was enticing and yet daunting. She thought how she had at times heard talk of courtesans and women of pleasure, and though she had never met any, she imagined they would be something not so far removed from the ornate woman beside her.
    Madame Coubette returned the inspection, her look indecipherable and invasive, and it made Genevieve lower her eyes.
    â€˜Don’t be so shy of me, my darling,’ the woman chided. ‘Your little liaison with Elise seems perfectly charming to me. We girls have all sorts of passions of which men know nothing. There are things we can share with each other that men simply don’t understand. Men have created the world and they are the masters of it. It is for this reason that we must please them. We are their toys and we learn how to make them happy. But when it comes to our pleasures... oh, it is so often only another woman that understands.’
    Madame Coubette moved closer to Genevieve and the hand on her knee massaged gently, making Genevieve uncomfortable. ‘I-I don’t understand what you mean,’ she stuttered defensively. ‘And I think you may have the wrong idea; Elise and I are good friends and we were only playing a game.’
    â€˜Oh, of course you were,’ the woman mocked, her eyes sparkling mischievously. ‘But tell me, are you just Elise’s whore, or are you available to outside offers too?’ Genevieve couldn’t believe her ears, but the woman went on before she could relay her indignation. ‘I mean, do you have a going rate? A list of services offered, perhaps?’ Anger gripped Genevieve, but she was rendered utterly speechless by the woman’s outrageous musings. ‘How much would you charge, for example, to provide a little tongue work on a lady like me?’
    The hand on Genevieve’s knee moved and clamped through her dress between her thighs, the fingers finding and latching to the lips of her sex, and the harsh assault sent a bewildering, unexpected tremor through her.
    Then with the poor girl stunned and distracted by the speed and unexpectedness of the assault, the woman gripped her blonde hair with her free hand and tugged back, arching Genevieve’s slender neck and making her squeal at the vicious discomfort, involuntarily thrusting her breasts forward.
    Madame Coubette’s countenance was now extremely alarming as she undid the rough cloak around Genevieve’s shoulders and gazed hungrily down at her bare throat and cleavage. The girl’s breasts swelled as she breathed anxiously, her tight bodice rendering their creamy upper slopes available to the woman’s greedy eyes.
    â€˜It is best that you