Читать книгу Shadow Lane Volume 1 & 2: The Romance of Discipline, Spanking, Sex, B&D and Anal Eroticism in a Small New England Village - Eve Howard - Страница 10
ОглавлениеThe incident took place just before noon at the antiques shop. Hugo’s new assistant, Jane, did not expect her boss in until after lunch. As usual, business was slow. Jane even had time to practice walking up and down the aisles in the dainty high-heeled pumps Hugo had given her. He had given her other handsome items to wear while she was working in the shop. A silk dress, a wool suit and a string of pearls enhanced her wardrobe considerably and caused her to regard her own reflection in a new and interesting way.
It occurred to Jane that she might reasonably protest being asked to dress in an objectifying manner, but she’d never worn high heels or form sculpting dresses before, and she decided that she enjoyed doing so. She’d practiced classic feminist values since high school and knew she had nothing further to prove in this regard. What possible harm could it do to look sexy for a change?
Bored with the chapter on colonial sideboards that Hugo had marked for her to read, and not expecting any customers to tinkle the bell until at least 12:15, Jane wandered into the cedar-scented room marked: Special Collection, which Hugo had told Jane she was not to disturb.
Hugo specifically did not want Jane in this room because it contained folios, books and drawings of an erotic nature. And he knew how she viewed such material.
The room into which Jane now slipped, was furnished with a table and chairs and was comfortably lit for book gazing. She had not examined the contents of this room before. When she did, she recoiled at what she found. For even in the less offensive novels, Jane recognized a preoccupation with the notion of feminine submission.
On discovering this treasure trove of handsomely bound erotica, Jane was uncomfortable and confused. She had signed petitions against pornography. Now she found herself employed by a man who sold it and she didn’t know how to react. Because in the few weeks Hugo Sands had employed her, she had already become attracted to her first poised older man.
The books in his collection celebrated sexism. Yet, upon reading a particularly sensual passage, Jane became aroused. However, this was easily explained. Since being jilted the previous month, she had been without a lover. And this was much on her mind.
When Hugo came in at 12:30, somewhat earlier than expected, he seemed very surprised to find Jane reading a volume of Sweet Gwendolyn, with a deeply creased brow.
“You’re not supposed to be in here,” he chided her.
“Hugo, what are you doing with all of these perverse books?”
“The stock in this room is of interest to collectors like everything else in the shop,” he explained. Hugo took the volume out of her hands, snapped it shut and put it away. “And you shouldn’t be touching these books without putting white cotton gloves on first,” he chided.
“I’d like to know how you can justify pandering to the sadomasochistic tastes of these collectors!” Jane demanded.
“I’m sure you would, but you’ve got a customer waiting,” Hugo said, hustling her out the door and switching off the light behind them. “He’s been waiting ten minutes,” he added. “He made a point of telling me so.”
These comments worked to instantly remind Jane of her position, and she calmly went out front to attend to the needs of the shop.
The customer Hugo had spoken of proved a happy distraction, as he immediately purchased, without haggling, an oval mirror for his wife’s boudoir, at the cost of fifteen hundred dollars.
Hugo came out after the customer had gone. “Good girl,” he said. “Now you’re doing your job.”
It was only Jane’s second respectable sale since beginning work and she was thrilled. But after she had asked Hugo as many questions as occurred to her about the origins of the mirror she had just sold, she remembered what they’d been talking about before.
“So why do you have all those books?” she attacked the old subject with fresh energy.
“My Special Collection?”
“Yes, that collection of exploitive, woman-oppressing smut.”
“Jane, you’re a Philistine.”
“What?” Jane sputtered.
“You’re so ignorant I can barely hold a conversation with you,” Hugo informed her, before strolling back to his office. This silenced Jane momentarily and at one she left for lunch. When she returned at two, he was still in his office. As there were no customers in the shop, she went back to confront him again.
“Excuse me,” she said, walking into his office, where he sat at his typewriter, adrift in correspondence. “Could we continue our discussion from before? It’s been bothering me.”
Hugo sighed, leaned back and motioned to a chair. “All right, Jane. Sit down.” He turned off his typewriter and lit a cigarette. “Now what’s on your mind?”
“Why do you sell pornography?”
“Jane, I’ll answer you honestly. Erotica - collecting, selling, even publishing, is my real interest. Not antiques. Now, your purpose in my life - the reason I hired you, is to work in my antiques business. That’s why you should be spending your free time reading the books I give you - on furniture, not the books I don’t give you, on sex. Understand?”
Once again, he’d deflated her carefully formed arguments. “Now please go back out front, Jane. I just heard a customer.”
Jane was speechless and frustrated when she hurried out front. The customer turned out to be just a browser who quickly left. So Jane went back to Hugo’s office again.
“Are you back? Again? Well, as long as you’re here, you can make me some coffee.”
Jane had never been asked by Hugo to do this before. “Everything you’ll need is in the lounge,” he said, pointing to the door to the adjoining room.
But now, thoroughly distracted from his letters, Hugo got up and followed her, admiring the shape of her beautiful bottom under the smooth electric blue silk dress.
“Tell me something, Jane,” he said, watching her busy herself at the long chrome range. “Did that ex-boyfriend of yours ever spank you?”
“Spank me? Of course not.”
“Amazing,” Hugo observed, for Michael Flagg had been on his mailing list from the start.
“What is?”
“That he could resist the impulse for so long,” Hugo said, going back into his office again.
A few minutes later, Jane came in with the coffee tray. Although she was being terribly annoying that day, Hugo was finding it hard to keep his eyes off her stunning body and long legs.
“As a matter of fact,” Jane admitted, “Michael threatened to spank me on a number of occasions, but never did.” She smiled, but the recollection also brought her color up.
“Did he! And yet it never came to pass. Why not?”
“I don’t think he ever seriously intended to spank me.”
“No. Of course not.” Hugo tasted the coffee.
“Saying that was just his way of letting me know that he thought I’d gone too far,” Jane explained. “How is the coffee?” she added anxiously.
“Horrible. I’ll have to teach you how to brew coffee.”
“You shouldn’t drink so much coffee,” Jane said. “And you shouldn’t smoke.”
“And you shouldn’t lecture your employer,” Hugo said; “If you wish to continue to not be spanked.”
After Jane turned on her stiletto heel and strutted out of his office, Hugo sat for a few minutes wondering again how Michael Flagg could have ever resisted paddling that pert behind for two days, no less two years. He himself had only been around Jane on a regular basis for two weeks, but even so far, the day did not go by when he did not imagine the pleasure of putting the opinionated little activist over his knee.
It was when Jane began to expound on her philosophy and interests that the urge to upend and correct her was strongest in Hugo. Today he’d fought the urge valiantly, but did not know how much longer he could continue to do so, especially if she thought she was going to lecture him each time she got bored.
