A grand was easy money for an afternoon of lying on her bed, which was where Sette sent her, dress still on. Apparently, she wasn’t eager for June to rip it off. If June could get more money out of her, hey, good for her!
“You’ve modeled before?” Sette repositioned her easel at least ten times, attempting to find the perfect spot to catch the light on her model’s body. “Fashion? Like magazines?”
People were so utterly hopeless.Fashion like magazines, huh?June didn’t concern herself with designer fashion, although she stocked whatever clients gave her and what looked nice because it was necessary for her job. She only knew the names Givenchy and Donatello because she had to.
“Not quite.” June kicked off her flats and drew her legs up on her bed. With her head propped up on her arm, she regarded the artist taking out her supplies with mild curiosity. “Unless you used to subscribe toHustler, you’ve probably never seen my pictures.”
To her credit, Sette remained unfazed. “Depends on how long ago it was.”
Laughing, June rested her head on the bed and kicked one leg up behind her. “What was it… must’ve been ten years ago, almost. As I said, it’s been a while.”
Sette went to the window and fiddled with the lace curtains, letting in more light, then forcing it back again before deciding it was acceptable. She returned to her easel, canvas now ready, and picked up a sharpened pencil. Here we go.“You’ve been doing this for a while, huh?”
“What do you mean… this?”
Always telling how a person responded to something like that. Were they assholes? Dirtbags? Well-meaning fuckheads? Were they going to rescue her from sex work? Use her until she died? “Adult work, I suppose.”
“We call it sex work, although there are different levels of it.”
“Wasn’t sure I was allowed to say that here. Everything is so coded and subtle…”
“Legalities.”
“I figured.”
They were silent for a minute, June trying to remain still but finally relaxing against her own bed. “Yes, I’ve been doing this since I was eighteen, pretty much.”
Sette glanced between her and the canvas, pencil lead softly scraping. “Tell me about it.”
June laughed. “Why? You don’t care about my career as a professional seductress.”
“You don’t have to share those kinds of details. Tell me things most people don’t hear about. Tell me the boring behind-the-scenes things.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re going to be together for two hours, and I like to get to know my models. Helps bring life to the portrait.”
“Hmm.” June kicked both legs up. “All right. Where do I begin?”
She started from the beginning. Over the next half hour, June regaled her with the truncated story of her life. How she tried going to community college after high school, but was bored and boundless. She started paying her tuition with sexy photoshoots she saw advertised in a magazine. She only had to show a little skin.I liked it.Most scandal I enjoyed in a good long while.Someone suggested she work at an erotic restaurant where the women were topless. With breasts like hers? Tips poured like the beer from her pitchers. Then she started working weekends at a neighboring strip club. Her first brush with full-service sex work was when things got heated during a private lap dance. One minute she was doing her thing to the Yin-Yang Twins playing on the speakers, and the next? The good-looking client asked her how much for the full ride.
She never had a pimp or a madam. Monique was the closest to such a thing, although pleasure houses were a different beast from internet-based or street work. While Monique did most of the grunt work to bring clients in, June was mostly paying for the privilege to work there. She also had to follow the rules, but the rules were worth following when she could make thousands of dollars in a night.
Between the strip club and the Manoir, though, there was doing side work online. Camming, mostly, although she took clients through Craigslist for a while. She didn’t get into the BDSM stuff until a fellow worker asked if she wanted to try for an opening at a dungeon. June had finally found a new home to express some of her darker tendencies. Whippin’ and chainin’ and callin’ people filth? Sign her up! The money was awesome!
After a few years, she made it to the big show at Midnight, which Sette had heard of. “I used to do shows there, sometimes with the same partners, other times with volunteers from the audience.” June tugged her skirt up her thighs, hoping to catch Sette’s attention. She looked at her skin, but then returned to hercanvas. By now, she had put on a pair of spectacles that made her look like a learned professor.Teach me something.“It was there I met Monique. She poached me, although sometimes I do exhibitions in exchange for free advertisement up here.” She might have to do that again soon if no patrons were forthcoming.
“You like this work? I mean, pardon me…”
“Yes, I do.” Better to answer her plainly than ignore the question. Lots of people asked her if she “liked hooking,” or whatever they wanted to call it. “I’m good at it. I enjoy it, mostly. I make way more money doing this than if I tried going back to civilian life.” She rolled over, hair covering half her face. “Even if I retired, I’d still do it on the side. I get a thrill from seducing people, Dr. Christie.”
Sette didn’t correct her. Must’ve been the purr in her voice.
June lifted one leg in the air, giving Sette a view of her thong.Remember how I blew your mind? Remember how good I felt under your hands? If that was for free, imagine how good I am when you’re paying me. I’m the best. You see this pussy? You could put whatever you want in there. I like you, Sette Christie. I’ll charge you extra to put something in me, but I’d let you have the honor in the first place. Because itisan honor. Not just anyone gets to touch me like that. Only the special ones.She glanced at her bottle of lube on the nightstand. Sette glanced at it, too.
“You putting that in your drawing?”
Sette smiled back at her. She didn’t have a large smile, but there was something… soft, about it. Warm. Inviting.She doesn’t smile for many people, I bet. June was feeling more special by the minute. “I don’t think there’s enough room to fit it in. You are the focus of this drawing.”
