Scarlett Read online

  She wanted to start earning money straight away now. The very best of the soiled doves, that sounded better than saying whores, could earn up to fifty dollars per time in the top class establishments. Ruby had said her starting price would be between five and ten dollars, depending on how generous her client was. Of course, Jake took a big chunk of it for expenses.

  “You make them happy and most men will pay you well. Whatever the men give to you personally in your room, is yours to keep.”

  Scarlett vowed to make the men happy no matter what it took. I’ll be rich one day then I can do whatever I like.

  Her musing was interrupted as one of the doves sashayed into the parlor. “Jake wants you in the blue room.”

  Her gowns would be delivered tomorrow and she could hardly wait to try on all her new clothes. She wore her hair pinned up today with a few wayward curls brushing her forehead and around the sides of her face, just the way Ruby had shown her. It made her look eighteen at least. The pale green gown she wore at the moment had been taken in yet was still ill-fitting. Now she knew more about clothes, she realized it looked almost frumpy.

  “Now?”

  “Of course.” Cissy tossed her blonde curls. It was bleached, one of the other doves had said. “I wouldn’t keep him waiting, he’s in one of his bad moods.”

  Cissy sat down on one of the upholstered chairs and pulled a bell cord to summon one of the maids to do her bidding, like Scarlett had done, up until a couple of days ago. She would never do it again if she pleased Jake.

  She darted off, trying to control her nervous anticipation. Hopefully Jake would be pleased with her and she could start earning the big money. What she got now was a pittance, even with board and lodging thrown in.

  Scarlett hurried to the blue room. Would she knock on the door or go straight in? Before she could decide, the door was wrenched open and Jake grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the room.

  “I’ve been waiting for you,” he growled.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry, just do what you’re being paid for.” He wore a white shirt and black pants. A gun belt lay on the sideboard with the two bone-handled colts clearly visible. Her eyes went to the bulge between his thighs. She now knew what this meant.

  She put out a tentative hand to touch him, but he grabbed her arm mid-air.

  “What are you doing in that get up, you look like a Parson’s wife?” He took hold of either side of her bodice and ripped it off her shoulders, leaving her breasts exposed.

  “Nice tits, but could be larger.” His tongue came out to lick one nipple while his fingers twisted the other one until she yelped with pain.

  He cuffed the back of her head. “You make no sound, unless it’s a sigh of ecstasy. Understand?”

  She nodded, too nervous to speak.

  “Step out of that gown, I want to see you naked.”

  Trembling, she did as he asked, standing silently as he ran the palm of one hand down her body. When he got to her thigh he inserted two fingers just as Ruby had done. Instead of massaging her, he moved his fingers in and out. Suddenly he pulled out and she was shocked to see moisture glistening on his fingertips.

  “Undress me, Scarlett.”

  With trembling hands she unbuttoned his silk shirt and he shrugged out of it. His chest was well muscled and quite hairy. “My pants.”

  She fumbled with the fastenings.

  “Work faster.”

  She forced herself to do so by sheer willpower and desperation. The moment she opened his pants his manhood sprang out. It was so hard and big she didn’t know how it would fit inside her.

  He picked her up and drove into her. Automatically her legs wrapped around his waist. Her back was now pressed against the wall and she didn’t even know how she got there. Several powerful thrusts followed by a roar, and she felt the warmth of his seed exploding inside her. He withdrew as suddenly as he had entered her. Without a word he handed her a small towel to clean herself and him.

  “Bed.”

  She obliged him without protest. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes and his lips had thinned.

  For the next few hours he taught her so many different ways to pleasure a man she wondered whether she would remember them all. Her whole body ached by the time he had finished.

  “Ruby has taught you well. We’ll have another session tomorrow, then I think you’ll be ready to start servicing clients. Do your job well, and I’ll send you to where you can make real money.”

  He got up from the bed and started dressing. “You stay there, I’ll get Ruby to give you a massage. I worked you hard and I don’t want you to be too sore for lessons tomorrow.” He left her lying naked on the crumpled sheets.”

  Ruby arrived a short time later accompanied by a maid carrying a dish of steaming water and clean towels. “Put it on the dresser then leave us,” Ruby instructed.

  Once the girl left, Ruby opened the bag she was carrying. It contained jars of potions and oils.

  “You did well, Scarlett.” She placed a large towel over the sheet. “Jake was pleased with you.”

  “I didn’t think it would take so long.” Scarlett was so weary now she wondered how she could speak.

  “Jake has an insatiable appetite, he’ll be using a couple of the other doves before the day is through.”

  Scarlett sighed with relief on feeling the cooling potions Ruby rubbed into her sore parts.

  “He certainly gave you a thorough working over.”

  “Ruby, he said he wants to do it again tomorrow.”

  “Well, let him. He’ll keep doing it until he thinks you’re ready for one of our clients. I’ve got a feeling you’ll be servicing him as well for a time.”

  “Do I get paid when Jake….”

  “No, of course not. He owns you. You’re his to do with as he pleases for as long as he wants. Never deny him. Always give him what he asks for.”

  “But….”

  “There was one really pretty girl here who refused him after he’d used her roughly, and you know what he did?”

  Scarlett shook her head.

  “Took to her with the knife he always carries. He cut her face to shreds, then threw her into the street. They found her body floating in the river a couple of days later.”

  “How awful.”

  “Awful is not the word for it. There was blood everywhere after he’d finished with her.”

  Scarlett shuddered. “I’ll do anything he asks of me.”

  ****

  The next few days passed almost in a daze for Scarlett. Jake used her continuously before she had her first client. If it had not been for Ruby’s potions she wouldn’t have been able to walk.

  The first man she serviced was a middle-aged businessman. He didn’t say what kind of business he ran and she didn’t ask. Another one of Ruby’s rules – Talk to the men, but ask nothing about their private lives.

  Compared to Jake’s demanding, almost brutal methods, this man’s attempt was insipid; he gave her a five dollar tip, so she wasn’t complaining.

  ****

  About twelve months after Scarlett started working at The Black Stetson, she had built up a stable of regular men, some came in several nights a week, others intermittently, and each of them paid well.

  This one particular day she overhead Jake talking to Ruby in the next room. Well, yelling was closer to the mark.

  “That sonofabitch, Michael De Rosa, enticed three of my best girls into his Gilded Cage brothel.” He stomped up and down.

  “He’s probably trying to put you out of business,” Ruby said.

  “Yeah. He won’t succeed, though. Why in tarnation would women want to degrade themselves by sitting in a cage waiting for customers? That damn place of his is like a zoo or a prison.”

  “He pays well.”

  “So do I,” he snarled. “Those sluts were doing well off me.”

  “Calm down. Do you want a pipe?”

  “Yes, yes, give me one.”
<
br />   Suddenly silence reigned. Scarlett had learned what a pipe was. Opium, and Jake always partook of it when he was upset because it calmed him down. It was also addictive. In Chinatown there were opium dens to cater for addicted users.

  “I’m going to send Scarlett up to the ‘Elegant Lady,’ he said, his voice softer and much calmer than before.

  “You can’t, she’s doing well for you down here.”

  “I need her up there in New Orleans to take customers away from Michael De Rosa.”

  “She’s barely sixteen, Jake, it’s too young to go on that river boat.”

  “She knows how to handle herself and men. Thanks to that scheming polecat De Rosa, I’m losing money. I need her to bring in extra clients. She’s so young and virginal looking, she’ll be irresistible to those wealthy plantation owners and snooty Frenchies. I can fleece them at the card tables as well.”

  New Orleans was a long way from Wyoming. I’ll make sure I get a good deal out of Jake for agreeing to go there. She was confident in her ability to bargain with him now that she was his most popular and asked for dove.

  She didn’t have to share her room with any of the other doves now. Some of her regulars came to her at odd hours of the day or night. Because they were paying top dollar for her, Jake had agreed she should have her own boudoir.

  She had studied him when he came to her one evening when she didn’t have a client. He was arrogant, cunning and dangerous. His one weakness was greed. Like her he had had a harsh childhood. She wasn’t sure what had happened to him, although sometimes in his sleep he would yell out. “Don’t hit me, Pa. I’ll be nice to the man.” Over and over he used to say it until he woke up drenched in sweat.

  She never let on that she had heard him, always remembering the dove whose face he had carved up for defying him. Like her, he probably wanted so much money he would never live in fear or poverty again. Where they differed was, he had lots of money now and still wasn’t satisfied. Once she got enough money to buy a small business and a house, she would give all of this away and happily live a humble, normal life.

  Chapter Three

  New Orleans

  It had taken days to get here. Scarlett had lost count of the different trains and coaches she had travelled in. Alighting from the train, she waited on the platform for her trunks to be unloaded. Someone from the Elegant Lady steamboat would be meeting her Jake had said. He had been going to accompany her until a horse stomped on his foot and broke it a few days before she left. He had telegraphed Owen, the man who ran his New Orleans operation to arrange for her to be taken care of.

  “Miss Scarlett?” A middle-aged, dark skinned man plodded up to her.

  “Yes.”

  “Mr. Owen sent Joseph to collect you.”

  How strange for a man to introduce himself in such a manner. “I’m pleased to meet you, Joseph. I’ve got quite a lot of luggage.”

  He grinned at her. “I know that. You be a mighty pretty gal Miss Scarlett. Joseph likes gals with red hair.”

  By the looks of his shabby clothing he wouldn’t be able to afford her.

  Joseph collected a trolley, placed her three trunks and large carpet bag on to it and wheeled it away while she followed carrying a small carpet bag and her reticule. What she wouldn’t give for a long hot bath. Did steamboats have bathing facilities? It was high class; every bordello Jake owned was, so there was no reason to expect Elegant Lady would be any different.

  Jake hated rich people, not that it stopped him from taking the money they spent on gambling and soiled doves.

  Joseph brought her to a fancy carriage with a silver crest on the door. It was pulled by a pair of black horses with glistening coats and flowing tails. Not that she knew anything about horses, except they had four legs, neighed and left droppings on the road. She had stepped in a pile once and it had ruined her shoes.

  He helped her into the carriage, before loading up her luggage. It was hot, the humidity stifling in her long sleeved velvet gown and numerous petticoats. The air was permeated with the scent of spices mingled with the sickly sweetness of flowers.

  Joseph sat on a seat up at the front and flicked his whip. They were off, the horses hooves cli-clopped on the cobbled road. After a time, Scarlet glimpsed the Mississippi River. Far into the distance smoke billowed skyward from a river steamer. Would Elegant Lady be like that? She closed her eyes to blot out the glare of the sun on the glass windows of the carriage and to shut out the noise of the busy street.

  “We here, Miss Scarlett.”

  The Elegant Lady lived up to her name. It was a large boat painted cream with green trimmings, brass fittings and black chimney stacks. It was a few feet away from the shore and Scarlett dubiously eyed the gangway. It did have rails, fortunately.

  Joseph helped her down and escorted her up the gangway where she was met by a grey-haired man who wore a white jacket trimmed with gold braid. The Captain maybe?

  He stared at her, his jaw dropping, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

  “This is Miss Scarlett, Captain.” Joseph made the introductions before returning to the carriage to collect her trunks.

  “Welcome aboard Miss Scarlet, I’m Captain Stevenson.”

  “Pleased to meet you.” She gave a nervous trill of laughter. “I’ve never been on a ship before.”

  He chuckled. “It’s a boat, Miss.”

  “Please call me Scarlett.”

  “All right, Scarlett it is. I’ll get one of the crew to escort you down to your cabin.”

  “Down? You mean under the water?” She glanced fearfully around.

  “No.” He chuckled. “I take it you’ve never been on a boat before?”

  “Never.” She only hoped she wouldn’t get sea sick or was it river sick? Jake, what have you done to me?

  “Liam,” the Captain called out to a young man who was sitting down coiling ropes.

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Escort Miss Scarlett down to her cabin.”

  He jumped up and Scarlett’s heart fluttered. What a ruggedly handsome man. He had dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes. She estimated him to be in his late twenties, early thirties maybe. What she could see of his bare arms showed them to be tanned and well-muscled.

  “Miss Scarlett.” His smile showed even white teeth and a dimple in his tanned cheek.

  Butterflies swirled around in the pit of her stomach as he strode up to her with a loose limbed grace. He was at least six feet tall and carried himself like a military man. He wore a blue work shirt and brown pants with the legs rolled up to his knees. His feet were bare.

  “Make sure one of the stewards brings Miss Scarlett water to bathe in.”

  “Yes Sir.” Liam gave a half-hearted salute.

  “None of your insolence,” the Captain said with a twinkle in his eyes. “I can easily get myself another man to pilot the boat.”

  “Not one as good as me.” Liam grinned.

  Scarlett liked the friendly camaraderie between the two men even though she wasn’t sure it was quite proper behavior for a captain and a crewman.

  “Are you allowed to talk to Captain Stevenson like that?” She followed Liam down a flight of stairs.

  He laughed. “I can when none of the other crew are about, he’s my father.”

  “Oh!” The shock caused her to trip. His arm shot out and saved her from falling off the bottom step. The moment his hand caught hold of her shoulder, a shaft of heat surged through her body. He must have felt it as he stepped back a pace.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “It could be good between us,” he said softly.

  “You’re very bold and sure of yourself, Mr. Stevenson.”

  “Liam.”

  “All right, Liam.”

  “I don’t believe in wasting time, that’s one thing the war taught me. Life is precious, don’t waste a moment of it. You’re one of Jake’s soiled doves, aren’t you?”

  There
was no condemnation in his voice although she fervently wished she wasn’t. “Yes.” Heat rushed into her cheeks. There was no point denying it as his father part owned the boat with Jake.”

  “Half a dozen of the other doves have already arrived to join the ones that were already here,” Liam said. “This is virtually a floating whore house with gambling on the side.”

  His assessment was blunt and truthful.

  “Don’t pass judgement on us, you don’t know what drives a woman to lead a life like this.”

  They passed down a narrow, oak lined passageway with doors on either side before stopping at a cabin with number six written on the door.

  “This is your cabin.” He stepped back a pace to allow her to precede him.

  It was a spacious mahogany lined room dominated by a large bed jutting out from one wall. It had a green silk quilt with several matching pillows, the curtains covering the porthole being a similar color. Scarlett realized this was where she would service the men when she wasn’t circulating around the gambling tables enticing men to buy expensive drinks.

  “I’ll leave you to it. One of the stewards will bring up your luggage. Beautiful lady, we’ll be setting sail soon.” His gaze swept her from head to foot, lingering longest at breast level.

  “Thank you, Liam.”

  “My pleasure.” He leaned in and kissed her on the mouth. When she didn’t push him away, he deepened the kiss. She liked it. Giving her a brief salute, he stepped out of the cabin leaving her in turmoil.

  A few minutes later a young steward wheeled in a trolley containing her trunks. She had barely unpacked and hung up her gowns when another knock came to the door. When she opened it a pretty dark haired girl entered. She wore a low cut lemon gown.

  “Welcome aboard Elegant Lady. I’m Cora. I look after the welfare of all the girls. I’ll show you around and explain your duties.”

  Cora sat in the chair leaving Scarlett to sit on the bed. “There are four passenger decks with fifty cabins and staterooms on this boat. There’s a large saloon with a dance floor and a section for poker tables as well.” She barely paused for breath. “The lower decks contain freight and crew quarters.”

  “I didn’t know the boat was that big, how long does a trip last?”