The Slaves of New York Read online

  The card read: Velvet Tongue. It had an address in the garment district and a telephone number.

  'What about you?' Kim asked.

  'Don't worry, I've got lots of stuff. Give me the address of your hotel. I'll swing by and pick you up.'

  'Thanks,' Kim said, and then asked, a little uncertainly, 'What sort of place is it?'

  Candy grinned. 'Don't look so worried,' she said. 'It's fun, you'll see. And judging from tonight, you'll thoroughly enjoy it.' She sipped her wine and gave Kim a long and searching stare.

  Chapter Three

  She took the bus down the twenty blocks to W37th Street, got off at the corner of 8th Avenue and walked to the east. The street was littered with the trash of the garment industry, big empty cardboard cylinders that had once held reams of material, cardboard boxes bursting with 'cabbage' from the cutting room floors, and broken mannequins, their arms and legs shattered and deformed.

  The number on the card was 1270 and she found it on the left-hand side, one of a block of identical looking buildings that had once been tenement houses. Puzzled, since she had been expecting some sort of shop, she climbed the stone steps to the front door and rang the bell under a neat plaque, the name Velvet Tongue spelt out in highly stylised lettering.

  'Yes?' a female voice, distorted by the speaker, asked querulously.

  'I, um, I wanted to see some of your clothes.'

  The lock on the door buzzed immediately. Kim pushed it and walked inside, finding herself in a narrow hallway with as much rubbish as she had seen out on the street. All the doors in the hall were firmly closed, with no indication as to where visitors should go. There was a staircase in front of her, its steps covered by a carpet that had been worn threadbare. The noise of electric sowing machines buzzed all around her.

  'Yes?'

  A woman had appeared at the top of the stairs. She appeared to be in her thirties, and was tall and slender. She was wearing a smart black suit over a tight white body. Her long legs were sheathed in very sheer, almost transparent nylon, and she wore black high heels.

  'I - I wanted to see some of your clothes,' Kim repeated uneasily. 'A friend sent me.'

  'May I have your friend's name?' the woman said.

  'Candy... Candy Brook.'

  The woman smiled. 'Of course. Come up, would you? You are supposed to ring and make an appointment.'

  'Sorry, I didn't realise that. Candy didn't say.'

  Kim reached the top of the stairs.

  'Not your fault,' the woman said. She had a rich voice with a soft New England accent, and close up she had fragile and rather haughty looks. Her blonde hair was cut short and framed her face in waves. She extended her hand, her fingers glistening with three large and expensive looking rings. On the lapel of the suit she had a small gold pin, its motif resembling a tiny tongue; this same motif was repeated on the toes of her shoes. 'I'm Lucinda Black,' she said.

  Kim shook her hand and introduced herself.

  'Well, Ms Brook, perhaps you can tell me what you are looking for? Top or bottom?'

  'Both, I think,' Kim said.

  The woman arched a black pencilled eyebrow. 'You're English, I guess. Perhaps you don't have these expressions in England. Over here we often refer to dominants as top and slaves as bottom.'

  'Oh, yes, silly of me.' Kim felt herself blushing under the woman's studious gaze. What Candy had meant by 'special' was becoming abundantly clear. No wonder she hadn't thought her cocktail dresses would be suitable.

  'Well?' the woman asked.

  She remembered the bizarre costumes Ashley had described in his books. If she wanted to attract his attention she was clearly going to have to be dressed as a slave.

  'Bottom,' she said determinedly.

  The woman smiled. 'I would have guessed as much. I can usually tell. Come this way.' She turned and walked along the corridor. 'We have a design service if there's anything you or your master want specially made.'

  'It's for tonight,' Kim said.

  The woman reached a door at the far end of the corridor and opened it. 'This way,' she said, and ushered Kim inside. The room was decorated like a modern and minimalist clothes shop with plain white walls and a large square geometrical abstract painting of three dimensional blocks in prime colours like a deconstructed Rubik's cube. A large rectangular window looked out onto the rooftops, and Kim could glimpse the trees of Madison Square Gardens in the distance. There were three tubular metal clothes racks on wheels arranged on either side of the room, and an elegant long low tan leather bench with pocketed upholstery running down between them.

  On the left-hand side the first two racks held clothes made from leather. The third rack featured rubber clothing. On the right the racks were adorned with a much wider range of materials; silks, satins, delicate lace, georgette, tulle and jersey. The various garments were presented in sections on the racks; dresses, suits, skirts and blouses nearest to the door, and lingerie, bras, corsets, suspender belts, slips and panties furthest away.

  There were two women already in the room, and one man. The man was immaculately dressed in a sleekly tailored navy suit, a white silk shirt and a dark blue tie. His nails were manicured and his shoes so highly polished they reflected the light. He sat on the leather bench with his legs crossed, reading a copy of the Wall Street Journal. He was facing the doors of two changing cubicles, set into the corner.

  'Just help yourself,' Lucinda said. 'If there's anything you'd like to try on...' She gestured towards the changing cubicles.

  'Thank you,' Kim acknowledged, and began browsing the racks on the left, inhaling the strong odour of expensive leather. The clothes were beautifully made and looked fairly conventional, the suits tailored, the dresses mostly short and tight. It was only when she reached the lingerie that she could tell there was anything outré about their design. The leather corsets were boned and laced, some with a platform bra, others with no bra at all. There were panties with no crotch, and others that looked more like hot-pants but with no covering for the buttocks. A lot of the garments were no more than leather harnesses, some decorated with thick shiny chains, that clearly encircled the body but did not hide it.

  The rubber garments on the next rack were all outrageous. The dresses were figure hugging but had large cut-outs in various places designed to expose the female anatomy. Some were totally backless apart from thick straps stretching like a ladder all the way down the spine. Others had holes for the breasts or the buttocks. There were catsuits too, with the whole area of the crotch removed. The lingerie included old-fashioned looking full-length girdles, and there were even stockings made entirely of rubber. Like the leather, the colour range was restricted to black, white and red.

  Kim glanced at the other two women. One was short and rather chubby. Her curly hair had been dyed orange and one nostril was pierced with a small gold stud. She wore a mini-dress short enough to reveal her plump legs, which were dimpled with cellulite.

  The other was taller with dark brown hair that looked as though it had been shaved then grown back. It hadn't grown back very far and stood on end. She was wearing a tight catsuit made from brown lace. Her small breasts were visible under the thin material but she was wearing a brown satin G-string that hid her pubes. As she turned around Kim could see the narrow string of the panties emerge from between her buttocks, her bottom itself only veiled by the lace.

  As Kim walked across the room to the other racks, the door of the changing cubicle opened and a young girl emerged. Like the girl in the lace dress her hair had been cropped, though hers was even shorter, hardly more than a reddish-brown stubble. She was wearing one of the rubber corsets, a tight garment in red, with thick shoulder straps, that ran from her breasts to the top of her thighs, completely encasing her body. She had red rubber stockings hitched to the stubby suspenders of the corset, and red rubber full-length gloves. Only her shoulders, the top of her arms and a thin band of her thighs above the top of the stockings were bare, the white flesh in stark contrast to
the smooth red rubber. She stood in front of the man, with her eyes cast to the floor.

  'I think she looks charming,' Lucinda said, walking over to the girl and putting an arm around her shoulders. 'It fits her beautifully.'

  'Pandora, get over here,' the man said, looking at the girl in the lace dress and folding his paper. 'Stand by her side. I want to see the two of you together.'

  The willowy girl stood next to the one in the corset, bowing her head in the same way.

  'A nice contrast,' Lucinda said. 'If we find Pandora something in black.'

  'Yes,' the man concurred thoughtfully. 'But I'm not sure about the rubber.'

  'The rubber sounds wonderful,' Lucinda enthused.

  'Sounds?'

  'Yes,' she nodded. 'Are they fully trained?'

  'Of course,' the man replied.

  'Then if I may demonstrate.' Lucinda walked over to the side of the room. Kim had not noticed an elaborate umbrella stand of a Chinese design; a large dragon curled around the cylindrical pot. It contained two or three canes with curled handles, looking like they had once been used in schools. She took one and came back to the girls.

  Seeing what she had in mind, the man smiled. He had a fairly handsome face with a shock of white hair, and sat with a ramrod straight back, though Kim guessed he was well over sixty. 'Over,' he said, looking at the rubber-clad girl.

  Immediately, seemingly unconcerned about Kim and the other woman, the girl turned around so her back was facing the man, spread her legs apart and bent to grasp her ankles. Though the corset was long and covered most of her buttocks it did not hide her crotch, which was completely exposed. Like Candy, the girl's labia were hairless. To Kim's astonishment, on either side the labia had been pierced by tiny gold rings. Hanging from each of these rings was a larger ring, through which a heart-shaped padlock had been threaded and locked in place. This clearly prevented anyone gaining access to the girl's vagina. What's more, the padlock was clearly heavy and stretched the delicate flesh downward. Lucinda put one hand on the small of the girl's back and raised the other, then cut the cane down across her rubber-covered buttocks. The girl yelped, but did not move.

  'You see, a pleasing sound,' Lucinda said proudly, smiling at the man.

  'Yes,' he agreed, uncrossing his legs and getting to his feet. He took the whip from Lucinda's hand. 'I see your point.'

  He ran the end of the cane up the girl's leg, over the rubber stocking, and onto her bare thigh. Then he raised it and cut down viciously, aiming for the narrow strip of bare flesh above the stockings. The girl yelped again and a long red weal appeared across both thighs.

  'All right, you've convinced me,' he said.

  Kim could see that a bulge had appeared in the front of his trousers.

  Lucinda noticed it too. 'Don't feel shy, Grenville,' she said, her eyes smiling, 'if you want to do something about that. We're all friends here. These two are both bottoms,' she said, gesturing towards Kim and the blonde. 'They'll not object.'

  'No wonder I spend so much money here,' the man said thickly.

  'It's what makes my job so interesting,' Lucinda replied.

  She took two steps forward and casually ran manicured fingers down his front to his tented trousers. She smiled at him, unzipped the fly, and fished inside. Her forearm moved rhythmically a couple of times, and then she extracted his burgeoning penis. Kim could actually see it growing in the confident woman's fist.

  'Which one do you want?' Lucinda asked.

  He nodded at Pandora.

  'Come on girl, come here and serve your master,' Lucinda ordered. She gave the man's erection a final squeeze, then let it go.

  Pandora sunk to her knees. She reached up, took the base of his cock in one hand and fed it into her mouth. She sucked it so avidly her cheeks dimpled.

  'Is she good at that?' Lucinda asked casually. They all watched as the girl began to pump her mouth up and down on his gnarled phallus.

  'Mmm... not bad,' he croaked.

  Kim saw him shudder.

  'How long have you had her?' Lucinda continued conversationally.

  'Four months. But she was with Eric before me. He comes here, doesn't he?'

  'Yes, of course.' Lucinda took the cane from his hand and moved to stand beside the girl in the rubber corset, who was still bent over and exposed. She ran her free hand over her buttocks and grasped the padlock, pulling it from side to side. The girl gasped.

  'Do you want the key?' the man asked.

  'No,' Lucinda said coolly. 'This is for your benefit. I thought it might excite you even more.'

  'It does.' He put his hands out and gripped Pandora's head, pulling her further onto him until her lips and nose were buried against his pubic hair.

  'And this?' Lucinda dropped the padlock and positioned herself behind the kneeling girl, and sliced the cane across her buttocks. The girl jerked, but stoically maintained her position.

  'Oh yes,' he said, his voice sounding strained. Kim saw his fingers grip the girl's head more tightly, not allowing her to pull back.

  Thwack!

  The sound echoed across the large room. The girl cried out, but the sound was muffled by the man's cock.

  Thwack!

  Kim saw the man shake as he thrust his hips up and threw his head back, his fingers holding the girl's head like a vice. Pandora's cheeks dimpled and she swallowed several times.

  Lucinda was smiling. 'I like to see that,' she said softly.

  'You should be running your own stable,' the man said. 'You're so good at knowing just the way to treat them.' He pulled away from the girl's mouth. She had swallowed most of his sperm, but a trickle escaped and ran down her chin and dropped onto the man's shoes. Immediately she dipped her head and licked it off.

  'I don't have that sort of money, Grenville,' Lucinda said. 'Anyway, I prefer doing what I do now.

  'The leather outfits you ordered are ready, too,' she added, her businesslike manner restored. 'Shall I send them over with the corsets?'

  'Please do,' he confirmed. 'And perhaps you'd like to come over to dinner next week. I'm sure we could find a way to keep you entertained.'

  'That would be delightful,' Lucinda accepted his offer, smiling beautifully.

  Pandora zipped up his fly. He waved her to her feet and sat down again, opening his paper. The other girl went back into the changing room.

  Kim began to examine the other clothes, trying to concentrate on what she was doing there. Clearly, the world Jake Ashley conjured up in his books was less of a work of fiction than she had thought. Grenville was obviously a master, like the one in the books, and Lucinda had described the chubby blonde as a 'bottom', which meant she probably had a master too. Grenville had also referred to a man called Eric, who made a third. And then there was Ashley himself. And from what the man had said, it sounded as if they all knew each other.

  Kim searched the rack of dresses. They were all designed to reveal a great deal more than they hid. Some had necklines split to the waist, others were completely backless. There were skirts so short they hardly covered the legs at all, and others with splits that went well above the thigh. The silk, satin and lace lingerie was no less exotic, with tight panels of satin inset with lace, panties so high cut the waistband rested on top of the hips and bras in styles that either left the breasts exposed or lifted and squeezed them into an alluring cleavage.

  'Can I help?' Lucinda said, walking up to Kim's side.

  'I was thinking of this,' Kim said, holding up a dress in a shimmering silver material. It had a halter-neck but no back, the dress cut so low that it would reveal the upper curves of the buttocks and probably a little glimpse of the cleft between them. The skirt too, though full length, was split to the top of the thigh. Kim had never worn anything like it before, but she was sure it would attract Jake Ashley's attention.

  'A good choice. It comes with this.' Lucinda pulled out another clothes hanger from the rack. Hanging from it was a thick silver choker made from a hinged piece of solid metal
. There were two D-rings on the front of the choker, extending from which were two thick silver chains. Attached to the ends of these were two manacles, also in silver. The choker and the manacles were inset with diamanté.

  'I'm sure your master would approve. Is he taking you to an auction?'

  'An auction?'

  'You're very new to this, aren't you?'

  'Yes.' Kim suddenly felt embarrassed and naïve.

  'An auction is where you get sold to another owner,' the chubby girl interrupted. 'I've been sold twice,' she said proudly. Then she took a tight satin tube dress and walked into the changing cubicle.

  'Actually,' Kim said, 'I just want to impress him.'

  'Oh.' Kim was surprised to detect a look of disapproval sweep across Lucinda's face. 'Well, I'm sure that will do the trick,' the woman added. 'Try it on. You won't be able to wear anything underneath it but tights. We have some lovely crotchless ones, of course. I'll get you a pair.'

  'Crotchless?'

  'You must know you are not permitted to wear anything that covers your pussy.'

  'Oh yes, of course,' Kim said, blushing, smiling weakly. 'I forgot.'

  'My, you are new,' Lucinda said, with a distinct note of disapproval.

  Kim glanced at the price of the dress. It was the most expensive garment she had ever considered buying, and she prayed it would be worth it. But if she got the interview with Ashley it would be syndicated around the world, and she would very soon get her money back.

  Candy pecked Kim on the cheek as she squeezed into the grimy interior of a yellow cab. 'Hi, you look sensational,' she said enthusiastically.

  'Thanks,' Kim replied quietly, not quite so sure of her appearance.

  'What's in the bag?'

  Kim was carrying a small carrier bag. She opened it and showed the slave collar to Candy. 'I thought I'd put it on when we get there.'

  'Yah, I guess that's sensible.'

  Unfortunately the June heat in New York was breaking all records, and it was much too hot to wear anything over the revealing dress. As she'd suspected, the dress exposed an inch or two of the cleavage between her buttocks as well as the generous outline of her unfettered breasts, the backless design making it impossible for her to wear a bra, the soft flesh dangerously close to escaping its snug confines. There wasn't a single man who hadn't stopped and stared as she'd walked through the hotel foyer and out to the street. The cab driver too, with a grimy beard and a T-shirt that looked as though he'd slept in it for weeks, couldn't stop eyeing her in the mirror, adjusting it so he could see her legs, the split in the skirt revealing the whole of one thigh.