A Betty's Pledge: Volume One (30 page)

Was I supposed to stay with him? Or was the invitation only extended through the evening?
Should I leave, or should I remain with him, comfortable and protected in his embrace
for another couple of hours?

Despite my hardened exterior about sex and men, I had to admit that Isaac was unlike
anyone I’d ever been with before. Granted, my sexual history with men hadn’t been
anything to light fireworks over.

It had been my experience that men just didn’t take the time to learn my body. They
didn’t take the time and focus away from themselves long enough to pleasure the person
they were with, to make sure their partner got off just as well as they did. Perhaps
it was a little presumptuous of me, but what I knew of sex, I knew it was supposed
to be a two-way street—not only one person got to ride the golden pony, as it were.

Until recently, that had been my summary of men. Until I was with Isaac.

Every single moment in that room was about me. From beginning to end, he’d made me
feel beautiful, wanted, erotically sensuous, but at the same time, he made me feel
safe and secure. He took my hints and went with them, never pushing me or overstepping
my boundaries, as loose and frail as they may have been.

His entire concentration was on me and my pleasure, and it was an experience I wouldn’t
soon forget.

Last night had been so much more than sex to me. It awoke something deep inside me
that I was afraid I’d never find. The passion I’d read about in countless romance
novels that had seemed like some kind of forbidden, hopeless fantasy. I knew it existed,
but had never been close to it. It was like this unattainable thing reserved only
for soul mates and porn stars.

And neither of those options seemed likely for me in this lifetime . . . one definitely
less than the other.

After last night with Isaac, I could understand how it would be hard for some of these
women not to fall head over heels. Not into love, per se, but definitely into an all-consuming
lust. If that kind of passion could exist between any two people, a woman and a veritable
average Joe, then I could understand why there were so many scandalous bitches in
the world.

“Mady?” Diane said, pulling me back into the here and now. She’d moved from the foot
of my bed to sit next to me, looking at me with a concerned expression.

“I’m sorry,” I said, refocusing on her question. “Um, I left because I just didn’t
want to start off my time here with that kind of thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, after last night, I can see how easy it would be to mistake passion for
other
emotions. Especially with someone like me, who never experienced even a hint of that
kind of thing. Well, except with you, of course.”

Diane giggled. “I’m flattered, Mady.”

“I just woke up and saw us lying there together and decided right then that I couldn’t
look at him as anything more than my instructor,” I told her with a shrug, reliving
the warring thoughts in my mind. It felt strange to refer to him like that, even weirder
hearing myself say it out loud, but that was what he was essentially. And to sleep
with him would be blurring the lines a little too early in the game, in my opinion.

“You know, I really like chocolate,” Diane said in an absentminded tone, causing me
to glance up at her. “The darker, the better, and I have a feeling we’ll be able to
scrounge up some chocolate cake downstairs if we’re lucky.”

Diane changed the subject in the best way she could—enticing me with promises of a
chocolate-induced stupor. And I couldn’t have loved her more for it.

“Come on,” she said, nudging me softly with her shoulder. “You still have some time
before your training. Let’s get good and sauced.”

“You’re gonna be there? In the Deck, I mean.” I said as I stood from the bed, walking
over to my dresser to grab some sweat cutoffs and a tank top.

“Yeah, but only for the question aspect of it.”

“Well, lead the way, oh bringer of thy sinful delight.”

****~~****

If I thought I’d been borderline lethargic after my night with Isaac, I hadn’t been
the only one. None of the Betties dressed up for the lesson, favoring sweats and yoga
pants. Comfort clothing was in, and it seemed a result of eventful and fulfilling
nights, leaving us feeling a little lethargic and grungy. Yet I, for one, enjoyed
the way my body felt both limber and sore.

Entering the eastside Deck, I found Tricia and Sonia standing by the large glass window
that overlooked a darkened room beyond, talking quietly to each other while sipping
on flutes of champagne. I was relieved to find both Marissa and Sarah wrapped under
a large blanket. They were muttering softly to each other in rapid succession like
two old biddies sharing the latest gossip.

“Hey girls.” Meeting both their smiling faces, there seemed to be something a bit
different in their eyes. More
alive
. I’d been worried about how their nights went, but it was obvious that there were
no disappointments on their end.

“Mady.” Sarah greeted me warmly as Marissa lifted the large blanket, making room for
me underneath.

“Hey girlie. How was your night?”

“Never mind that. I want to know what put those smiles on your faces. Good night?”

“The best,” Marissa said, her eyes closing dreamily.

“Marissa was just going to tell me all about it,” Sarah replied, turning toward Marissa
expectantly. “Who was your Consort?”

Marissa glanced around her quickly, seeing if the two bimbos were eavesdropping on
our convo. My eyes followed hers to see both Tricia and Sonia deep in their own discussion,
oblivious to the three of us. Just the way I liked it.

“I’m not sharing unless you guys will,” she said as she looked back at me, her expression
barring no argument.

“I’m down to share,” Sarah answered automatically. “I was with Carson.”

“Really?”

“Ooooh, yummy . . .” Marissa said with a smile.

“You have no idea.” If the sly smirk on Sarah’s face was any indication, that little
peek I’d received of his body during what had come to be known as ‘Shirtless Manmeat
Moving Day’ was only a tease to what was hidden underneath all of that clothing.

“And who was the guy to put that pretty little exhausted smile you have on your face?”
Marissa asked me, giving me a little wink to emphasis her observation.

“Isaac,” I told her unabashedly, smiling like a madwoman as Sarah fanned herself dramatically
and Marissa let out a low whistle.

“Oh my God, seriously?” Sonia’s bitchy-ass voice rang out from across the deck, echoing
around the walls like screeching nails on a chalkboard. “It’s like they’ve never been
laid before, the way they’re talking.”

“At least not by a man of worth.” Tricia added her two cents in. The duo complete:
Bitch One and Bitch Two.

“Umm, I don’t think we were talking to you all,” Sarah said, her voice timid but she
wasn’t backing down from their attitude nonetheless. I was proud of her; a complete
change to how she’d been inside that limo.

“I doesn’t matter if you were talking to us or not, we could hear you all simpering
like stray dogs from over here,” Sonia replied. “It’s pathetic, and in all honesty,
just another reason it perplexes me how the three of you even got into the program.”

“Wow . . . girls, it seems like someone has a case of sour grapes.” My tone came across
sarcastic, laced with feigned concern, just as I’d intended.

“How do you figure?” Bitch One glared at me, crossing her thin arms across her plastic
chest.

“Well, it’s apparent that the three of us had something between our legs last night.
And if my math is right that means one of you two catty bitches was alone hitting
the Rabbit all night.”

“You see, that’s where you would be wrong.” Sonia gave me a shit-eating grin. “You’d
be an idiot if you think that any of those men you were with wasn’t with one of us
last night, too. Just because they had to take you little girls to bed doesn’t mean
that they didn’t invite a real woman to play as well.”

“That’s not how it works, Sonia, and you know it,” Sarah said, leveling an icy glare
of her own across the room.

“No, how it works is you three need to put your big girl panties on and stop acting
like the world’s filled with sunshine and roses because you climaxed for the first
time.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think our conversation is any of your damn business.” In the
back of my mind, there was a part of me that was questioning if what she said could
be true or not. The idea of swapping juices with one of those girls gave my stomach
a roll, not to mention the idea that what I’d shared with Isaac last night had just
been his first course. It seemed like something close to sacrilegious in my book.

“How could I help myself with the three of you all giggly and naïve over there? It’s
disgusting, really.”

“Well, I’m sorry you feel the need to make others feel bad because you had a lonely
night, Sonia. But I, for one, refuse to let your acrid personality ruin our day because
you didn’t get your kitty pet like the rest of us did. Excuse me.”

I turned toward the other girls, effectively giving Sonia a cold shoulder and cutting
off the conversation. Oh, she could sit there and continue her little tirade, but
I was done. And by the looks on Marissa and Sarah’s faces, they were as well.

“Forget them,” I told my two friends bluntly. “They can keep their cold, petty asses
over there. I’m sick of them.”

“Come on, I want to know more about last night. Who were you with, Ris?” Sarah encouraged,
and I couldn’t love her more in that moment for changing the subject.

“Can we talk about it later? I don’t know; it just feels weird talking about it now
when they can hear.”

“Just forget about them,” I told her. “Listen, where I grew up, there were plenty
of girls like those two. They only act the way they do because they’re jealous. I
know why Sonia acted the way she did, and it was because she was the only one of us
who was left out of the fun. Just see her attitude for what it is and tell us who
you boinked last night.”

Sarah laughed. “I completely agree with that assessment, Ms. Betty,” she said as she
held an imaginary goblet of honor toward my direction.

“All right, fine.” Marissa glanced over to Sonia and Tricia to see if they were eavesdropping.
When she was satisfied that they were in their own discussion, Marissa turned back
to me, her eyes eager but her face tinted with a telltale blush. Whether it was from
remembering the deets from her night with her Consort or from embarrassment at the
idea of Sonia and Tricia listening in, I couldn’t tell. She looked down at the blanket
when she answered.

“Trent,” she said in a soft whisper, and Sarah let out a little giggle at her admission.

“And?”

“And, it was nice . . .” Marissa stared at the patterns in her blanket, her finger
tracing the edges of a particularly interesting design.

Sarah scoffed. “Nice? My grandmother is nice. That man is fuckhawt, so I know that
there has to be more to it than just nice.”

“He is pretty delicious, isn’t he?” Marissa sighed.

“So tell me something,” Sarah said, leaning in to us further while lowering her voice.
“How many tats does he have?”

“Umm, quite a few. Most of them you can see with his shirt off.”

“And the others?” I said, watching as Marissa’s eyes seemed to glaze over at a memory.

“There’s a few that seem to be, well, strategically placed.” A smirk framed her pink,
plush lips.

“How so?” Sarah smiled, awaiting her answer.

“Well, he seemed to get more . . . how should I say this . . . aroused when I traced
them with my tongue.”

“Ugh,” Sarah fanned her face.

“Hey, I have a question for you guys,” I said after a moment of shared giggles and
whispered secrets. “Did either of you stay the night with your Consort?”

“What do you mean?” Sarah looked at me, her expression showing her confusion.

“I mean did you guys stay in the playroom when you were done?”

“No,” Marissa said, looking at me with one eyebrow raised. It looked like she wanted
to say more, but was interrupted when the door to the Deck opened and a few of the
Dames walked in.

“Ladies, have a seat,” Diane said. She stood in front of the two-way mirror, blocking
our view and garnering our attention. I watched as Kaitlin and Mina took seats closest
to the door, both in the middle of a whispered discussion. I caught Sonia glaring
at me as she pushed away from the window. To piss her off further, I blew her a little
‘fuck you’ kiss, using the tip of my middle finger as launching deck. In return, her
eyes narrowed and her nose flared, then she abruptly turned and planted her skinny
ass on a chair right next to Tricia.

“Today is going to be your first official training day. I know most of you had your
first experience with your Consorts last night, but that’s just part of the program:
An opportunity to play out what you witness in the Deck.”

Sarah giggled as a sly smirk appeared on Diane’s face, a small indulgence of her otherwise
all-business demeanor.