Mercedes Bends

" For the first time in my life I didn't feel as if I were poor. I made as much as I could because I was afraid somehow I might lose it. But while I was doing so good old shy Tonya was being replaced by her new persona"

"What do you mean?"

"You think I gave those men my real name? I told them my name was Mercedes." She laughed derisively. "I told them I was like the car, black, sleek and one hell of a ride. Mercedes was the one calling the shots, and Tonya was about to pay the price. I planned on calling my father the next morning, but the phone rang at one am and it was him."

"You can imagine the conversation. How could I do that to my mother, how could I shame him like that? I guess one of Roger's friends found out and called back home, the entire town knew hours after Roger had seen me. My father said I had destroyed his reputation. That everyone knew his daughter was a big city prostitute. He told me I was dead to him. Not to be outdone Roger called me later to say the same thing."

"That's a hard story my lady." Victoria told her. "I'm sorry it turned out so poorly for you."

"Did it?" she shrugged "Depends how you see it I suppose. If Roger had not seen me I might have eventually stopped whoring, but with that over and done with I started doing it more frequently, I figured what the hell, if I was going to be a slut, be a successful one right?"

"You weren't a..."

"True, sluts give it away. I was a whore, I forgot. But then something happened that changed my new found career and my life as well. The woman who ran the agency, my pimp for lack of a better word, called me with a special request. It seemed she had a high paying client from the west coast who was in to being demeaned, specifically by black women. She had a woman who took care of men with those types of tastes, who referred to herself as a dominatrix. Well she had to leave town for a family emergency and I was her next best girl that fit his tastes."

"I told her I have no idea what to do and she laughed and said, 'just tease him and treat him like shit. Don't let him fuck you until the very end and keep taking it away from him. I wasn't sure I would be able to do it, but when she told me it was a thousand dollars I agreed. I met him at the hotel and wasn't sure how to start, but he led me a long a little asking my permission to kiss my cheek, asking if could have the privilege of worshipping my feet."

"A true submissive." Victoria nodded, "Many wealthy powerful men have that trait, they..."

"You're preaching to the choir my lady;" Mercedes allowed herself a small smile, "Who do you think pays the bills at the club?"

"Sorry, I'll stop talking just to talk." Victoria sighed.

"While I sat back and watched him lick and suck my toes I...I began to become aroused. With the exception of my first time I had never cum, nor had I wanted to in any of my other sessions, but the way he was doing it, the way he was looking up at me had me worked up."

"Remembering what I was told I said he was doing a lousy job and to keep going. I made him stop and strip for me, I noticed he was only semi-hard and insulted the size of his cock and told him he should be hard for me," she smirked, "Told him maybe I should leave."

"He starts begging for another try and I let him. Then I demanded him to lick my pussy. I came harder than I ever had before. I tied his hands and using my mouth teased him for over a half hour, he was whimpering, practically crying and that tone..."

"I know that tone." Victoria whispered, her eyes bright, "I live for that tone."

"Well that was the first time I'd heard it and I loved it. I got him off with my mouth then made him start again at my feet. I made him lick me again, but this time from behind and tongue my ass."

"I love a good rimjob." Victoria breathed.

"That's obvious from your videos." Mercedes grunted. "I gave him exactly what he wanted. I did well enough she gave me a similar client except this one really wanted to be degraded and he had left a crop on the bed for me to use. I didn't think I could do it, but as I looked at him I started thinking about my earlier experiences as well as what I felt pushed me to do it."

" I got angry and took it out on him. I whipped the shit out of him all the while telling him how pathetic he was, that he had to pay women to fuck him, that he was a worthless dog that I wouldn't even let fuck me even though he was paying. I made him jerk off on my feet then suck off every drop." She shook her head, "The second we were done, he was asking when I would be available next."

"A star was born!" Victoria exclaimed and despite herself, Mercedes laughed.

"You're right. When the other woman came back she was told to take me under her wing and train me. Her real name I never new, but she went by Katrina and she was as vicious as any woman I have ever seen in the Circle, possibly even Persephone and like our high mistress Katrina preferred the company of women. She had told me it had been three years since she had a let a john fuck her and it had cost the last one ten thousand dollars for the pleasure."

"She must have been a hell of a teacher my lady, because there's many in the Circle who believe you're as hardcore as they come." She paused then asked, "Any interest in women Mercedes?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Well..." she shrugged, "Many women with your negative experience find women more enjoyable. So I thought..."

"Thought," she smirked, "Or hoped?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Victoria demanded

"If it means nothing to you, then it means nothing to me," She smiled as her high lady frowned, she'd had suspicions about Victoria's sexuality for awhile now and felt by her defensive reaction she'd just confirmed those suspicions.

"But you're correct," she continued as Victoria sat back with a sour look on her face as she realized she may have just given herself away. "Katrina taught me the ropes and also made note of my angst towards men and taught me to channel it, to use it to be able to be as harsh as necessary, but also what lines to never cross. Within months I was in as high demand as she was. At that point I was approached by a woman who ran a bordello in New Orleans who offered me a staggering amount of money to come work there."

"If I recall you went didn't you?"

"Eventually. The money was tempting, more than I would make at any job upon graduation. But I was a year away from my degree and wanted to graduate. After all the desire to better myself is what led me to enter prostitution in the first place. Upon my graduation, which out of my family only my aunt Mary attended, I traveled to New Orleans and began working for her."

She frowned, "That's when I realized that I was not being forced to do this anymore, it was my choice. I think if I had stayed just a hooker, I would have turned to the world of business, but I...I couldn't get enough of the control being a Mistress provided me."

"I'm sure it was more profitable."

"By far I came there highly regarded and only increased my reputation once there. I was twenty two and getting a thousand dollars per session. I worked there for four years when a man that had come to me once a week for a month made me a very interesting offer. His name was Peter Williams and he'd made a lot of money in the porn industry directing what he called vanilla stroke."

"His fetishes however, ran much darker and he, along with a business partner named Monty, had decided to open a fetish club in New York City. Monty was handling all the business and red tape aspects and Peter was in charge of the entertainment. He was a true submissive and was looking for the best Mistress money could buy to train the staff. He was adamant that he wanted The Velvet Rope to be the real deal and not full of posers."

Mercedes picked up her lukewarm tea and finished it, she was feeling much more relaxed right now. Telling her story had eased some of the pain of her conversation with her brother and just as importantly she had inadvertently stumbled on her out with her video. She remained silent, watching Victoria stare down at the table her eyes lost in thought. Mercedes wondered if she was beginning to see where this was going.

Victoria was no fool and would be racking her brain to try to figure out when Mercedes had been mistreated. The answer was obvious, but many times they were the answers that were overlooked. She had no doubt her high lady was also stewing over the fact she may have given something away about herself. Deciding she'd let her think long enough, Mercedes picked up her story,

"The offer was a large salary and a huge bonus if I could train a staff of a dozen men and women within the six months before they opened. I was also given the incentive that I could keep all the money I charged for any of my own sessions. I'd spent my entire life in the south and between being curious about life in a city like New York and a lucrative opportunity; I accepted and moved to New York."

"I accomplished what he wanted and the club opened and did very well. On the surface it was just a theme club with some demonstrations, but in the back rooms, it was no limits and there was plenty of sex to be had for a price. The club dodged the cops through Peter's partner's connections and also under the guise that what went on in the backroom was about humiliation not sex. The law states no intercourse or oral sex, they say nothing about bondage and hot wax, so we were able to get away with a lot."

"During my time there Peter, who started as my client, began spending more and more time with me and eventually it hit me that he had more than a little affection for me."

"He was falling for you?"

"Understand we spent a lot of time together and most non sexual. I taught him my trade, he taught me the business. I also had an MBA and he did not trust Monty so he allowed me to start looking into the books and other details. I saw an opportunity and admittedly began to play into his feelings for me. We began having sex that was not about control, in fact many nights Peter was quite sweet to me."

"You made love to him?" She clapped her hands, "First baking; now romance, my lady this has been a most informative conversation!"

"That it has." Mercedes answered coolly, "On my end as well." That wiped the smile from Victoria's face and with a satisfied nod, she went on.

"If you need to know, yes there were times it was like that. He never told me he loved me, and even if he did I would have not been so cruel as to lie to him. However, I had more than little affection towards him; it was the closest thing in my life to a relationship, still is. I knew it meant more to him when he started getting upset when I would take a client, but I assured him there no longer any sex, just training."

She shrugged, "That was a lie, but he didn't need to know that. As we grew closer he went against Monty's wishes and put me in charge of all club operations; everything from payroll to ordering food and liquor."

"I ran the club for the next two years and except for some brushes with the law that Monty's connections took care of, all was well. Then something both bad, but for me, ultimately good, happened. One night I woke up to find Peter wasn't in bed."

"You were living together?"

"Yes, in fact in the same suite I stay in now at the club. He had a penthouse in Manhattan, but most nights we stayed there. Anyway I found him in the living room and he said he didn't feel well and as going to watch a movie. Just before I went back to bed he gave me kiss and a hug and told me how happy I made him and he would always take care of me. I thought it was odd, but Peter drank more than his share and would occasionally get a little emotional. "

"I went back to bed and the next morning he wasn't next to me. I found him on the couch; he'd suffered a heart attack during the night."

"I'm sorry" Victoria said, "That must have been hard."

"It was harder than I'd thought. Peter was the only man in my life who'd been decent to me and I realized I did have more feelings for him than I'd thought. At the funeral I met his daughter, who for the record was probably only a couple of years older than me. I expected some shit, but she was very affable."

"She said Peter talked about me quite often and she was glad he was happy. She then told me her father had a history of heart problems. The doctors had warned him to take care of himself, but aside from medication he did what he chose. He ate poorly, drank way too much and his sex life was..." she allowed herself a small smile, "He was living with a dominatrix half his age. He reminded me of our brother Lovecraft in the sense he said he would never abstain from anything, because life as too short he lived his life to the fullest and died happy."

"And you contributed to that happiness."

"I did. I had no regrets. A week later I found out what he meant about taking care of me. I received a call from his lawyer who asked me to come to his office. Peter's daughter was there as well. The lawyer informed us that Peter had left his penthouse and several other properties as well as most of his financial assets to his daughter. To me, he left a fair some of money, but most importantly, I now legally owned half the club."

"Monty was livid and offered to buy me out, but I refused. The two of us began fighting about everything and he was making the day to day operations of the club difficult. One night he told me he would have his connections stop protecting us and allow them to close the club due to prostitution and blame all of that on me, he was, after all, just a money man. He told me I had a week to sign off my half to him for a very small sum of money."

She paused again and gave Victoria a big smile, "That was right about the same time a certain blonde model wandered into the club asking permission to do a photo shoot there."

Victoria smiled back at her and laughed, "If I remember you were not very happy to meet me."

"You were a stuck up bitch." Mercedes told her, "With quite an air of entitlement."

"Bad first impression."

"Nothing's changed my lady, I just know you better now."

"Thanks," Victoria rolled her eyes.

"Well although I was not impressed with your public persona, the Lady Felicia was impressed with me. Impressed enough to send a Dominatrix originally from Ireland named Morrigan to come and tell me about the Circle and invite me to join."

" I initially said no, I lived that lifestyle in public, had money and why did I need them? The fact I would have to submit myself to an initiation was the final reason to say no. I had been through enough shit at the hands of men. I would never submit again."

"Morrigan told me to please think about it and when I didn't call I was visited by Abigail Lefay herself from the notorious Black Flame."

"Persephone came to you?" Victoria's eyes widened, "I never knew that."

"As you said this is quite an enlightening conversation." Mercedes told her with a smug smile, "To say our High Mistress is impressive is an understatement, but I was adamant I would not submit to any man ever again. She asked me to look beyond the sex and think of the power and connections, surely there was something I needed the group could accomplish."

"The club."

"Exactly. After Abigail left, I was approached by Monty who told me I had three days left to decide. I called Abigail and told her I would agree to join, but I needed help. She called back and gave me the address for a hotel in Manhattan where I would meet my initiator. If I went through with it and made it into the group, she would immediately tell the Mistress of our Circle to use their influence to back Monty off. So I agreed and..."

"Your initiation." Victoria said softly, "That's what you were..."

"Oh, yes my initiation." Mercedes sneered the word. "I was not just physically punished, but humiliated and degraded past the point of decency by your brother Mephisto"

"He's our..."

"He's your brother, I lay no claim to that rich piece of shit poser who's never worked for anything in his life including his membership to the Circle."

"Amado did what he had too Mercedes. The rule is the initiate is to be broken, no amount of physicality could accomplish that with you, he found your weakness and..."

"He referred to me as a trailer trash nigger many times amongst other colorful expressions. Made several slave jokes, I felt like I was the center of a Klan meeting."

"He apologized many times my lady."

"With great insincerity. But I let it go for the moment because Morrigan had assured me I would get a payback night the following year, said it was..." she smiled wickedly "A Rule."

Victoria looked away from her, but not before Mercedes could see she was pissed. The game was now going to swing to her favor. Victoria swallowed hard, then turning back to face her said quietly, "Touche, my sister."

"Well seeing I've gone this far, let me just finish by saying that two days after my disgraceful initiation, I was approached by Monty who had such a mysterious change of heart that not only was he not going to force me out, but told me he would sell his half of the club to me for the same paltry sum he had offered for my half."

" It seems the Circle's connections far outweighed his. That was six years ago and I have been an exemplary member ever since and now that we have reached the present, my dear high lady let us discuss the rules of this group."

"You didn't have this planned." Victoria told her, "There was no way you manipulated me into this."

"I'll admit you're right Felicia," she tapped the table, "Because we will be discussing the group now. See I have a habit of trying to bury what upsets me, had I not told you the story you wanted to hear I may not have equated the past with the present."

"Be careful what you wish for." Victoria said for the second time today.

"Yes, so let us discuss why it was okay to break a rule to not allow me my well earned payback against that scum, but I have to adhere to the rule of sex in the videos."

"Mercedes you know that I went to Scarlett on your behalf as did Lovecraft saying that it was wrong for you to be denied a payback. She said she felt there was too much ill will and you would cross the line."

"Like that motherfucker crossed the line?" She hissed. "Fucking me in the ass while telling me he thought that's how spooks like to get fucked?"

"I..." she tossed her hands in the air. "The initiation is about breaking in anyway needed to. I for one did not approve of his method and told him so."

"I'm sure he gave a shit."

"Lovecraft wanted to punish him, but was denied as well. Mercedes, there is nothing we could do. Scarlett knew after your video you would be too vicious in a payback."

"I'm sure a certain sniveling half breed Spaniard went crying to her along with his fellow playboy poser Orion, another weakling whose daddy bought them the world."

"So you want me to tell Scarlett that you refuse to obey because of her decision years ago?"

"I want fair treatment. If Mephisto can be let off the hook so can I. Or," she leveled her finger across the table, "You tell her that when I get my payback I will be more than happy to provide her with a video of her liking."

"I don't think Scarlett will respond well to an ultimatum." Victoria replied, "However, I see some room to maneuver here."

"I knew you would."

"Tell you what Mercedes, I'll tell Scarlett of your frustration. Then you turn in a video and I will get you your payback."

"There is no guarantee you can, she turned you down before. How about I get my payback and that's my next video," she flashed an evil smile, "It will be one to remember."

"Would you let him fuck you?"

Mercedes slammed her palm down on the table causing Victoria to jump. "I will cut that piece of shit's cock off with a rusted knife if he ever brings it anywhere near me again!"