American Blue (3 page)

My hand was useless, a four, an eight, a nine and a jack, in different suits. I pushed a cautious single red
gem
into the centre of the table and watched the others. AJ was completely straight-faced, which made her look even more evil than usual, and she also put out a single red. Pippa was trying to look cool, but there was a slight flush to her cheeks as she placed her own bet, two reds. Jemima was bright-eyed and smiling, but her fingers were trembling as she put a blue gem into the pile.

‘First bets in place,’ AJ said and turned the top card over.

It was an eight, which at least gave me a pair, so I pushed a second red gem into the pile. Both AJ and Pippa did the same, but Jemima put out a second blue, although she had nothing to gain by doing so. She wasn’t even trying to hide her satisfaction as she glanced between us.

‘Ace high,’ AJ said as she laid down her cards.

‘Two kings,’ Pippa said.

I laid down my own cards with a shrug, leaving Jemima grinning.

‘Full house,’ she said.

‘Eights on tens,’ AJ added. ‘It’s all yours, and your deal.’

Jemima scooped in her winnings and took the cards, which she dealt with considerable confidence. I got another bad hand, and had to remind myself that the whole purpose of the game was to get Jemima punished as I put two red gems into the pot. Jemima won again, leaving her with the lion’s share of the gems and me with the extremely uncomfortable prospect of having to go over her knee. Not that she spanked all that hard, or at least not as hard as AJ, but as I was to all intents and purposes her aunt it would mean I was being spanked by my own niece, and with an audience. She’d think it was funny too, and laugh at me, while she was sure to make a big production of it,
both
because it would be the first time and because she had her sister and AJ to show off to.

I actually won the third hand, but it was a brief respite. The fourth went to Pippa and the fifth to AJ, leaving the three of them roughly equal and me very much the worst off, but at least the chances of a spanking from Jemima had receded. I was dealt a pair of sevens and a queen came up on the pack, leaving me with two pairs and a good chance of clawing back some of my losses, so I pushed out my remaining blue gem, only to see AJ rake in the pot on three twos. I was down to two red gems.

‘Looks like we may have a loser,’ AJ said, grinning at me. ‘Come on, let’s have some luck.’

She dealt, and as I picked my cards up I wondered if she was cheating. I had a pair of fours, not enough to risk both my chips on, and I pushed a single out into the middle.

‘Chicken,’ AJ remarked, but added only a single red herself.

Pippa added two reds and Jemima followed suit. AJ turned over the top card to reveal a four, giving me the best hand I’d had so far, and I cursed silently as I pushed out my remaining red. AJ followed with two blues, forcing the others to match her stake or withdraw. It was a bold move, and as I already had three of the available fours I wondered if she was bluffing. Pippa didn’t seem to think so and threw in her hand, but Jemima pushed two of her blues into the centre.

I felt my stomach tighten. If I won I was back in the game, but if I lost I was bust and it would be time for my spanking, from whichever of them was the winner. Jemima put her cards down first and my heart sank at the sight of three kings. The blood had already started to go to my face at the thought of going over Jemima’s
knee
, when AJ laid her cards down and I saw a mix of numbers.

‘Straight,’ she declared. ‘Three to seven. My hand, and I do believe Miss Muffet is bust.’

I tried to hide a grimace, telling myself it was better to be spanked by the tall, dominant AJ than by Jemima. Not that it made much difference as I was about to be done in front of her anyway.

‘Up you get,’ AJ ordered, and snapped her fingers at me as she pushed her chair back.

She moved forward a little to make a lap for me and patted her knee. I undid my jeans to make it easier for her to get them down, a meek gesture she acknowledged with a curt nod. My fingers were shaking badly and I fumbled the tag of my zip twice before I managed to pull it down, but my reaction was far less from apprehension about the coming pain than from the shame of having it done in front of Jemima.

As I laid my body across AJ’s lap I was trying to tell myself I’d be dignified about it and not make a display of myself, but she spanks hard and I knew I wouldn’t be able to cope with the pain. I lose my dignity very quickly when I’m spanked, and always have.

‘Bare bottom, obviously,’ AJ said, and she stuck her thumbs down the back of my jeans.

I’d never imagined for an instant that I’d be allowed the modesty of keeping my knickers up, but she didn’t even allow me to attend to them separately. She just pushed everything down as one, exposing the full, pale moon of my bottom to the girls. Jemima had begun to giggle, and moved her chair to get a better view of my spanking. AJ gave my cheeks a wobble, then cocked one knee up to lift my bottom and make sure my pussy showed from behind.

It was a position I’ve been in so many times, but not usually with my young nieces sitting behind me
giggling
at the sight of my bare rear view. The bubble of shame that had been building up in my throat burst out as a sob when AJ’s hand settled across my cheeks. Then it began. She spanked every bit as hard as I’d expected, but I still wasn’t ready for the pain. I never am, and never will be. No matter how often I get it, those first smacks sting so much I start to wriggle, and no matter how often I tell myself I’ll take it like a lady I always seem to lose control.

AJ knew how to handle me too, spanking as hard as she could right from the start in a deliberate effort to break me. She succeeded, all my resolve vanishing beneath the stinging pain as I began to squirm and kick my legs in my half-down panties, just as lewd and ridiculous as ever. My pussy was already showing, and I’d soon begun to buck so wildly that my cheeks were coming apart to show off my bumhole as well, causing Jemima to dissolve in a fit of disgusted giggles.

That was too much. I burst into tears, blubbering my heart out as my bottom bounced under AJ’s hand. She knew me far too well to stop just because I was crying, and paused only to pull my knickers and jeans down a little further and call me a baby before she began to spank once more. I’d given in completely, every last shred of dignity gone as I squirmed and kicked in her grip, tears streaming down my face and spittle spraying from my mouth with every smack. Even when it stopped I stayed as I was, limp across her lap with my burning bottom thrust high and every rude detail of cunt and anus on show to the girls, no longer caring.

‘Get up, slut,’ AJ ordered. ‘If you think I’m going to frig you off you can forget it.’

I hadn’t thought my sense of humiliation could get any worse, but at her words it did and I was babbling denials even as I jumped to my feet. My bottom was
hot
and glowing, my pussy wet and ready, but the thought of being masturbated to orgasm in front of Jemima was still agonisingly shameful, and every bit as desirable.

‘… I didn’t, really,’ I was saying, and my face must have been the same colour as my bottom.

‘Yeah, right,’ AJ answered, and Jemima giggled. ‘Tidy yourself up, you’re a mess.’

Pippa gave me a sympathetic smile as she handed me a box of tissues, but she’d enjoyed the show just as much as the others. I was still crying, and I’d begun to snivel, adding a final touch to my embarrassment as I wiped my eyes and nose before reaching down to pull up my clothes. AJ wagged a finger at me.

‘Uh, uh, no you don’t. I think it better be bare bums for losers.’

I knew better than to argue and sat down as I was, wincing as my tender flesh pressed the wicker chair seat. Jemima glanced at me, her face set in an impish grin.

‘I want to see you get caned too,’ she announced.

‘Maybe you will,’ AJ said as she took up the cards, ‘or maybe you’ll get it yourself.’

‘I can take it better than Auntie Penny,’ she said, her voice full of scorn.

I ignored her. She had a higher pain threshold than me, it was true, and could take quite a lot from Hudson or Morris, and she wasn’t as hung up about exposing herself either. On the other hand I’d seen her throw a spanking tantrum more than once and knew how sensitive she could be if the situation wasn’t exactly to her liking, which was another thing that worried me about her going in for commercial punishment scenes.

‘Six of the best this time,’ AJ reminded us as she dished out the cards. ‘Even up the chips, Miss Muffet.’

I did as I was told, dividing the glass gems equally as before, but now with my hot, bare bottom pressed to the wicker of my chair, something it was impossible to push out of my mind. She had at least dealt me a decent hand this time, with a pair of twos and a pair of aces, surely the perfect chance to build up a big stake before I began to play carefully, thus ensuring that somebody other than me got the cane.

‘I’ll risk three,’ Pippa said, pushing out her gems.

After a moment’s deliberate hesitation I pushed out three myself, keen to show confidence but not too much. Jemima added a blue and wasn’t even trying to hide her satisfaction at what was obviously a good hand. AJ glanced once at Jemima before advancing a single red gem, then turned the top card, another two. I had a full house.

Pippa kept her face straight but added only a single red gem, so she had presumably not improved her hand. I knew I could force Jemima and AJ to bet high or withdraw and decided to throw caution to the wind, pushing out two blue gems. Jemima gave me a worried look, but added two blues of her own. AJ shrugged and threw her cards down.

‘Let’s see,’ Jemima demanded.

I put my cards down, hoping to see her face fall, only for a sick feeling to well up in my stomach as her grin grew broader still. She began to put her cards down one by one, the three of clubs, then the four, the five and the six, which with the two on top of the pack gave her a straight flush.

‘Three eights,’ Pippa said, tossing her cards down.

I barely heard. In one hand I had reduced my chips by more than half, while Jemima had a huge advantage. I was going to get caned, bare bottom in front of her, or more likely by her, and while it was marginally less humiliating than an over the knee spanking, that
was
very little consolation. It was a lot more painful. Her grin grew positively manic as she gathered up the cards.

‘This is fun,’ she said as she began to deal. ‘I love it.’

‘I bet you do,’ Pippa answered her, ‘but we’ll get you, just you wait.’

Jemima stuck her tongue out at her sister and continued dealing. I had a single blue chip and seven reds left, so I was well behind but not entirely out of the game. Unfortunately my luck was out, a series of bad hands slowly eroding my chips as the weak feeling in my stomach and the bubble of fear in my throat grew ever greater. Soon only my blue gem remained, a last precious barrier between me and six strokes of my own cane.

Pippa hadn’t done too well either, and looked a little nervous as she dealt the next hand. I got yet another load of rubbish and was forced to cash in my blue with Jemima for five reds so that I didn’t have to risk too much. The extra card was no good to me either and I was forced to throw in, leaving me with four red gems. Pippa gambled and lost three, but she still had a blue and two reds left.

‘I really love it,’ Jemima declared happily as she raked in her winnings, ‘and I am really, really going to love caning you, Auntie Penny.’

I didn’t bother to answer, but the colour of my face must have betrayed my feelings. She’d always had a cruel streak, more mischief than sadism perhaps, while being the baby of the family seemed to have instilled a desire in her to get back at her elders. I could remember the way she’d tormented her sister at Morris’s, the time they’d been tricked into spanking each other, and now it looked as if it was my turn.

For once I had good cards, three sevens and a nine, although it was almost certainly too late to matter. My
only
chance was to play cautiously and hope Pippa went bust first, so I put out a single gem. Jemima turned up the top card to reveal the remaining seven and I silently cursed my luck to see the sort of hand I’d wanted for the entire game.

I was also last in turn to bet, so could do nothing but match AJ’s bet and push out my last three gems into the centre. Jemima and Pippa had already thrown in with a single red each, so my precious four sevens was wasted on a gain of a mere six reds when I beat AJ’s two pairs. Yet I had ten and Pippa was down to her last six, so all I had to do was bet singles and hope she didn’t win. That would mean taking the cane from her own sister, but better her than me.

AJ had put the brandy bottle on the table and filled our glasses as I dealt. I’d had the best part of a bottle of wine and three large brandies, but I could only feel the alcohol as a sort of background buzz, and it was doing nothing to reduce my nerves. I had a pair of tens, but risked a single red and folded, which was just as well. AJ took the hand with three aces and I was down to nine with Pippa on five.

For the next three hands I watched her pile of chips get slowly smaller and the expression of consternation on her face grew. I’d won again and had fifteen chips, but I could feel her tension as she pushed out her second last red. She glanced at her cards, almost put them down and then thought better of it, watching as I turned over the extra card. It was a six, which gave me two pairs, but that made very little difference.

Jemima was smiling as she added a blue chip to the pile. AJ followed suit and Pippa was left with no choice but to add her last red or fold. She added the red, her mouth twitching into a wan smile as she put down her cards.

‘Jacks and sixes.’

‘Jacks and eights!’ Jemima crowed. ‘You’re bust, Pippa!’

AJ had actually won the hand, but it made no difference. Jemima had by far the most chips, so she got to wield the cane, and Pippa was bust, so she had to take it. I felt weak with relief at my narrow escape, but guilty too as the whole thing had been my suggestion and Pippa was looking extremely sorry for herself as she got up.