The Virgin of Greenbrier: The Greenbrier Trilogy, Book One

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

“Time to rise and shine, sleepy head.” Lucretia did not stir from under the warm blanket. With a firm tug he yanked comfort away, “Lucy!”

“Leave me be,” she muttered, reaching down with one hand, trying to find the blanket that wasn’t there.

“Lucretia!”

She shot wide awake, stunned at where she still found herself to be. How she must loathe him, but he was used to it. “No, I won’t. Go away!” she protested. He was used to that, too.

Dr. Addams’ hand was around her bare ankle as he dragged her off the mattress. Lucy reached out just in time to take hold of the doorframe. The doctor pulled harder before landing a sharp slap onto Lucretia’s bare bottom. Her grip on the woodwork instantly released. He snatched both her ankles and pulled her into the center of the main bedroom. “What time is it, little girl?”

“How should I know?” Lucretia yanked at her legs.

His hold was firm. “No, it’s time to get up because your Master says so.” He reached down too fast for Lucretia to stop him and placed another sound slap to her bare ass. “What time is it, Lucy?”

“Stop it! You are not my Master and I am not your slave!” She kicked and twisted more.

Dr. Addams yanked her roughly to her feet and stared her straight in the eyes. “Yes, I am, and yes, you are.” He did not flinch. The fingers of both his hands pressed into the soft flesh of her arms.

“No, I am not!” Her eyes narrowed as if daring him to strike her.

“You are acting like the spoiled little girl your father told me you were.” In some strange way he was rather enjoying her protests, childish or not. She would be a challenge and it had been too long since he had trained anyone with as much self-righteous pride as Lucretia. She was used to being mistress in her own home. Now, she was suddenly on the other side and not at all willing to give up her dominant role in society so easily. He almost kissed her right then and there. Her expression could not have been more willful. “Do you know what we do with naughty, spoiled little girls here?”

Now she looked disgusted as well as furious. “No, and I do not care to know. You people sicken me. Release me this instant!”

His grip on her arms tightened, and he knew he must be hurting her, but she was too stubborn to show it. “Where will you go? Home? Your home is here now, at Greenbrier. Your father has sold you to me and will return you to me should you appear on his doorstep before I have freed you, if I decide to free you at all. You have no place to run to, Lucy. If you run, you could end up in worse hands than mine for I will report you as a run away slave and trust me; you don’t want to end up in the hands of some Slaver. Granted, you are pale as can be, but you’d not be the first slave to pass as white, would you? My Cassandra could almost pass for white.”

Her jaw was firm and red blotches formed on her cheeks. “Let me go.” The words were tight in her throat.

“No.” He was a good nine inches taller than her and considerably stronger. In seconds, she was lifted from the floor and carried to the nearest chair. There Dr. Addams pulled her over his lap and held her down. “In this house respectable ladies who act like spoiled little girls are spanked.” With his left forearm across her shoulder blades, Dr. Addams made sure Lucretia could not move. His right hand immediately went to work on her bottom. First one cheek was spanked then the other. There was no mercy to be had at this point. The harder she fought, the harder the blows landed. Though she had given up trying to actually hit him herself, she now put all her efforts into escape.

“Lay still and obey and this will end,” he told her over her growls and screams.

“Let me go, you bastard! Let me go! Let me go!”

“Not a very nice thing to call your Master, is it?” The spanking continued until Lucy’s bottom went beyond pink to a deep rosy red. “Tell your Master what a good girl you will be and maybe he will stop spanking you.” He paused, running the palm of his hand in smooth circles over her warm skin. “Unless, of course, you don’t want me to stop the spanking. Unless, of course, you like it.”

She screamed and her thrashing intensified. “I hate you! I hate you!”

Dr. Addams’ hand continued its work. The fingers of his left wound up through Lucretia’s hair, tugging at it just a bit and holding her in place. He could see the tears starting to run down her face. He’d struck a chord. He leaned over closer to her ear. “Tell me, do you like it?”

Lucretia’s physical strength was draining fast, “No!”

“If that is true then ask your Master to stop doing it.” Her bottom was glowing under his hand. “Either tell your Master you like it or ask him to please stop.” Lucretia’s body shook with emotion. “Which will it be? We can spend all day like this if we have to. I see a nice wooden paddle in reach when my hand gets tired, so you may as well do as I tell you. You are doing this all to yourself, little one.”

“Stop calling me that,” Lucy’s voice trembled. Six more strikes hit her ass, twice as hard as all the others before.

He saw her bite her bottom lip to prevent herself from crying out. “I know. I can check for myself to see if you like it.” As he pressed his fingers between her legs and played with her tenderness, utter horror filled her eyes along with something else. As much as her mind must be telling her to pull away, her body was responding otherwise. “Any idea how hot and wet you are, little one? I think she likes being spanked, doesn’t she?”

Her body tightened like a spring then suddenly released in a violent fit of protest as Lucretia tried to squirm away. Dr. Addams stood and dumped her without dignity to the floor. Well-trained himself, the doctor made his expression a cold, emotionless mask. Lucretia glared up at him. “I said don’t call me that. I’m not a little girl.”

He sighed with disappointment and turned away. When she squeaked he knew he had her exactly where he wanted her. “I had hoped,” he began, slowly turning to face her, “that we could have had a nice day together. Instead, I find myself considering putting you at the bottom of the stairs again. Better yet, I see you out in the courtyard. It’s a lovely day. Everyone is sure to see you there. What do you think now?”

Her face tightened. She blinked. Her nostrils flared, but her bottom lip quivered. The doctor grinned at the sprawled, naked helplessness on the floor at his feet. Her butt could not possibly be any redder and what could she do about it? He knew the more she fought this place, the worse it would become for her. Lucretia looked down at the floor.

“No thoughts? Ah well, I’ll decide then.” Dr. Addams retrieved the familiar iron shackles. “Let’s go to the courtyard.”

“No…” Lucretia started to say.

“No?”

Her whole body shook. “No, I mean… no, please, I…” She was going to do it, he realized. “Please, Sir… I’ll be…good…I…” Her eyes narrowed, barely looking at him before the lids dropped down once more. “I’ll be good, Master.” She spat the last word out with utter disgust.

“Much better.” The shackles were put away and then his hand reached down to help her to her feet. With reluctance, she took it. “See how much nicer I can be when you simply obey?” He didn’t mind when she gave him no answer. She’d taken a major step by calling him Master and for now that was enough. “We’ll eat breakfast then take you to see Thomas, the blacksmith.”

Lucy snatched her hand from his, “Blacksmith?”

“I’m sure you’ve seen the collars and cuffs the others wear. Who else will fit you for your very own set?” The doctor chuckled. “Come with me. Breakfast is ready.”

The dining room was simple but elegant. As with the rest of the house, it was immaculately cleaned and polished. The twenty-foot-long table rested in the center and the length of it was lined with chairs. At the far end sat a chair grander than the rest. It was to this place that the doctor led Lucretia. He could almost taste her shame and embarrassment. Had she the courage to look around her, Lucretia would have noticed that no one was looking at her at all, but he didn’t tell her to do so. That would have taken away some of his fun. All sat perfectly still as Dr. Addams and Lucy entered. All looked down, hands folded neatly in their laps, waiting.

The doctor pulled out the chair at the head of the table but sat himself instead of offering it to Lucretia. “Sit down, little one,” he told her. She looked up. There was nowhere at hand for her to sit. All the chairs in the room where occupied. Lucretia looked at him, bewildered, her lips parted as if to speak, but he cut her off, “On the floor, beside me. It’s generally considered quite an honor.”

“The floor, sir?”

“Chairs are a privilege in my house, not a right. You have to earn a chair to sit in just as you have to earn your own bedroom and free-time for yourself. Everyone sitting here this morning has earned her seat to breakfast. Behave, obey, and submit and maybe you can get one sooner than you think.”

Lucretia sank to the floor. At least she was less visible down here. That was a plus. A scent she knew well drifted to her. It was not food though she could smell that, too. It was leather. Lucretia had always loved the smell of leather. Her father used to take her to visit the tanners as a small child, and a trip to the stable or tack shop had always thrilled her. Not because she could ride a horse very well with all the lessons she’d been given; but, in all these places, Lucretia was forever enticed and strangely excited by the leather aromas. Had she been permitted, she would have spent her whole day in any of the three places. She had even been known to steal a small scrap of leather that was of no use to anyone and tuck it into her basket. Once home, she would take it to her room and enjoy the smell and texture of it. Now that very same smell was with her again. Where was it coming from?

Trying not to be obvious, Lucretia lifted her head to sniff the air. It was right here, beside her, Dr. Addams’ black leather boots. She could never let him know how much she loved that smell, never. “You like grits, Lucy?” he asked.

Lucretia blushed as if caught doing something wrong. “Yes, sir, I like grits.” He handed her a bowl and a spoon. They had even been buttered and salted for her. She didn’t dare ask for the little sprinkle of sugar on them. It didn’t matter. She was famished and would eat them without the sugar.

When her bowl was empty, Dr. Addams looked down again. “We have ham or venison sausage. Which do you prefer?”

Her grandmother Borgia had always made the most delicious venison sausage so that is what she asked for. She was given that and a glass of milk, miraculously cold, and even a cup of tea to go with it. As simple as this fare was, it was the best breakfast Lucretia could remember having in ages. Finally, Dr. Addams handed her down a napkin with which she dutifully wiped her hands and mouth. The others at the table were finishing as well and Lucretia’s dishes were taken away. They were dismissed, and when the room was empty, the doctor smiled down at her. He looked so happy and content. “You did well. Would you get up and go get me a cigar? They are over on the sideboard in the box, upper left hand corner.”

Lucretia retrieved one of the cigars. He lit it and leaned back fully in his chair, stretching his legs and crossing his ankles. “Sit down, little one. Use a chair if you like.” She pulled one out and sat, fingers twisting in her lap. She could not look at him. “You’re very pretty, you know that?”

She hadn’t been told that very often except by her slaves. They probably only said it out of obligation to their Mistress. Her father never told her and her mother only on rare occasions. Lucretia stared at her hands in silence.

“I asked you a question, Lucy. Do you know you are pretty?”

She shrugged. “If you say so, sir,” she replied.

“You don’t think you are?”

“Not in particular, sir, but thank you for saying so all the same.”

His dark eyebrows arched a bit as he chuckled. “So you do have some manners. What a nice response. Now if only you would sit up properly instead of slumping in that chair. You are a lady, aren’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then show me how a lady should sit. It is certainly not like you are now.”

Sitting up as she’d been taught all her life meant straightening her back, pushing back her shoulders and lifting her chin, all of which would expose her to him in a way she did not want to be exposed. “I…I can’t, Sir.”

“Why? I thought you were a lady.”

“I am.” Oh, Lucretia, don’t start with the crying again, she thought to herself as her face began to tingle. Just sit up straight. He’s already seen more of you than any other man. He knows what you look like.

“Prove it.” He puffed slowly on the cigar, blowing the smoke up towards the ceiling. His unwavering gaze only made her struggle and fidget in the chair. “Prove to me you are the proper lady you say you are and maybe tomorrow at breakfast you can have a chair at the table instead of a place on the floor.”

Problem was she wasn’t so sure she wanted a chair now. If it meant sitting up here, exposed to everyone and everything, it would suit her better to be on the floor. She could hide down there. “And you could smell the leather of his boots, too,” her mind whispered. She took a deep breath and lifting her head, looked at him and the glowing tip of the cigar clenched between his teeth. Lucretia sat back, straightened her posture and sat just as she had been told to do hundreds of times over the course of her twenty years.

“Other than the look of terror in your eyes, that’s quite nice. And you are much prettier when I can see your face. However, one thing we do here, something perhaps you have not been taught. Unless you are asked, you never look a Master or Mistress directly in the eyes. Keep your chin up, your posture flawless, but your eyes down or on your task, whatever it may be.”

She was happy to oblige. Lucretia had never liked looking people in the eyes much. Averting his gaze now was a blessing. The doctor took another puff or two on his cigar. He seemed to nod with approval. The few minutes they sat there in silence together seemed an eternity to Lucy. She felt like a carnival freak, but she would not let herself give in to crying again. The thought occurred to her that, perhaps, if she was able to do as he said and obey as they all had been telling her to do, she could get out of here all the quicker. Once she was out, she’d leave Virginia completely. Maybe she could go see her cousin in Pennsylvania again. Living under her father’s roof would no longer be an option, not after what he’d done. Maybe she could move further South where she could keep her own slaves. She’d let him believe she had been broken and then he’d let her go. Six months, she mused. It was only for six months, sooner, if possible.

Lucretia cleared her throat, “May I speak, sir?”

He was surprised. “My saying otherwise never stopped you before, but being as you asked so nicely, yes. What is on your mind, little one?”

“I am curious, sir, about this visit to the blacksmith you mentioned.”

He grinned. “Yes. We do need to go see Thomas, don’t we? I had forgotten. I was so enjoying the sight of you there it slipped my mind. Thank you for the reminder.” He rose, offered her his hand then his arm as she stood. “It is off to the blacksmith, then, to get you properly dressed for my home.”