Magical Mayhem (6 page)

"You did?" She was clearly surprised.

"I did. I swore I would never perform again if I could just get through the first time. But then, I got out there and started enjoying myself... and I enjoyed the applause at the end. It meant that people liked what I was doing. I convinced myself that the stage fright was a small price to pay, and I continued performing. Now, at the most, I get a few butterflies."

"I don't think I can do this, Montague," she whispered, shyly meeting his gaze. "I couldn't bear getting sick like this on stage!"

"You won't." He spoke with confidence.

"You can't be sure of that!" she argued.

"Sure I can." He made sure the bathroom door was securely closed and then, to her absolute shock, he tucked her under his arm and started spanking her again! "This will give you something else to think about, Miss Marley."

Megan knew there were people milling around right outside the door and she forced herself not to cry out in pain. "Stop it, Montague! There are people out there!"

"So?" He was totally unconcerned.

"'So?'" she repeated, aghast. "You are embarrassing me!"

"Then get over yourself," he ordered.

"Okay! Okay!!" she hissed through clenched teeth as he made her buttocks burn again! She was never going to be able to sit again at this rate! The pain was terrible and she felt like running to her bathroom and sitting in a tub of cold water! She quickly amended that thought to 'standing' in a shower with cold water running on her flaming rear. "Please, Montague! I am in terrible pain!"

Montague stopped the spanking, doing his best not to smile at the look of indignation she flashed him. "We have less than three minutes, Megan. Let's go now!" he bossed, opening the door and pulling her out of the bathroom and along after him as he hurried to get into place while the announcer was making his opening comments to the crowd.

Megan felt the nausea threaten her but the curtain went up and she was suddenly too busy to think about being ill! She listened carefully for her cues and brought the handsome man his props when he asked for them. She heard the crowd's gasps of amazement and surprise, applause and laughter, and suddenly realized she was having fun. Montague actually winked at her, sensing her shift in mood, and then it was the two of them working in sync to make the evening enjoyable for the people who came, expecting to be entertained for a while. The applause at the end was loud and it was as clear as could be that Montague had impressed them all with his skill. It was a very good show and Megan was pleased. The final curtain closed and she laughed exuberantly. "We did it, Montague!"

"You did a good job, Megan," he said in approval. "How are you feeling now?"

"I'm fine!" she assured him. "My tummy settled down once we started."

"Good," he said, smiling at her. "Let's get ready for the second show."

It took a lot of work to reset the stage and their props behind the stage. One mistake could throw off the performance and while Megan was doing the best she could, Montague knew that he alone was responsible for the set up. He simply wasn't the type of man to blame an assistant for a mess up of this sort if he didn't bother to take the time to recheck his props. Once he was certain everything was ready to go he helped himself to cold bottled water, offering one to Megan, too. She quietly accepted the water, but he could see that her skin was turning that pasty white color once again. She had a terrible case of stage fright attacking her before each show and that wasn't good. He waited a couple more minutes, then took her hand and led her into the small bathroom once again.

"Montague, what are you doing?" Megan asked in trepidation. She feared she already knew what he intended, and it was exactly why she didn't mention feeling ill to him. She knew his cure for stage fright and she'd already ascertained that her butt was sore enough, thank you.

"What needs to be done, Megan," was his answer as he shut the door. "Put your hands on the sink and bend over," he said quietly, his tone firm and brooking no argument.

"No!" she refused. "I'm too sore for another spanking."

"Sore or not, you are getting your cute fanny set on fire. Bend over, Megan, and stop arguing with me."

"I won't do it!" she replied, turning up her chin, and showing him her glittering green eyes.

"Sure you will," he argued, and then put his foot up on the toilet seat as he easily lifted her and dropped her over his bent leg.

Megan was dangling over Montague's thigh like she was a small child and it was infuriating at how easily he handled her! She wanted to scream, but simply didn't dare! What he was doing was absolutely outrageous, but having someone witness her humiliation was unthinkable. She closed her eyes in preparation of the first stinging spank and she didn't have to wait long. It landed on her upper thigh and she shook her leg, trying to rid herself of the sting. Montague must not have approved of her reaction because he took the hem of her dress and pulled it up so that only her panties were showing. He reapplied the spank to her right thigh and this time Megan had to grit her teeth to keep from shrieking! She was positive she was still wearing stinging red handprints from earlier, and now he was giving her another new set!

Montague was careful to spank where it would do the most good. Her sit spots were next to be reddened and he felt sorry for her when she did her best to save her pride by not crying out in pain. As far as he was concerned a sore butt was a small price to pay to control the stage fright, but then, it wasn't his butt getting spanked. He hoped he wasn't being so hard on her that she would refuse to work for him after tonight! He listened for the three minute call right outside the door and once it sounded, he put Megan on her feet and told her to compose herself. He then took her hand as he'd done earlier and they were in place when the curtain went up. It didn't take long for him to realize that he was in trouble. Megan was angry and making sure he knew it. There was no joy in performing this second show. Nope. Megan was determined to make him pay for spanking her again and letting him know it by being slow to hand him his props, forcing him to add to his patter or risk standing there like a fool.

Megan was enjoying herself. Embarrass her, would he? Well, two could play that game! She smiled ever so sweetly and whacked him with the wand he was to take from her. In the next second the wand whacked her sore backside and burst into a floral arrangement that was breathtaking. Montague never missed a beat as he changed his patter to suit the moment. The audience was laughing hysterically, but the meaning behind his words was clear as could be to her. She needed to straighten up immediately or he was going to give tit for tat.

Montague kept his smile in place but his dark eyes were full of warning as he looked at the stunned Megan. He had no doubt that giving her a hard stroke with the wand was verging on cruel, but the audience didn't pay good money to see them fuss at each other. She either had to behave or he was going to make her wish she did, even if it meant breaking one of his own hard and fast rules about not letting an upset on stage get to him. If she embarrassed him further, he would deal with her as she deserved.

Megan decided to play it safe. She could always yell at him after the performance was over, and she permitted her eyes to convey that to him. Of course, Megan wasn't an angel, and she did everything possible to annoy him, as long as the audience couldn't see it. She handed him his props with a snap, or by letting go a moment too soon so that he had to quickly grab the item to keep from dropping it. Of course, she smiled sweetly throughout, and was positive the audience was unaware of her actions.

Montague was growing angrier by the moment and it took all of his acting ability to hide it from his audience and from the brat at his side who was earning a spanking to end all spankings...! If she thought her butt was sore now, just wait until he was done with this performance. He was going to enjoy spanking her this time! The audience applauded at the end, and Montague was rewarded with the knowledge that they'd enjoyed themselves. Megan smiled and acted the part of the assistant to a tee, accepting their kudos graciously, and making sure the credit was all his. Finally, the curtain closed and their eyes met, all pretenses of 'polite' gone from their expressions.

"I refuse to discuss your improper behavior down here!"

Montague felt his own temper rise at her words, but the icing on top of her childish behavior was the attitude with which she uttered the words. He was not the one in the wrong and she was soon going to learn otherwise. "You may go upstairs to your room, Miss Marley, and I will deal with you once my temper has time to cool."

"I am going to bed. Any discussion of this evening can wait until you gain some perspective." She turned on her heel and marched off, her head held high.

It was all he could do to keep himself from going after her and taking her over his knee wherever he caught up with her! Instead, he fumed as he carefully handled his props. Who the hell did Megan Marley think she was? Her father warned him that she had a hellish temper, and his father said there was only one way to deal with a hellish temper in a woman. He'd been trying to help her, not harm her, and surely she could see that? By the time he was actually finished and returned to the suite the door to her room was firmly closed. He tried the knob, just to see if she was awake, and to his surprise she'd left it unlocked. Megan was in bed and sound asleep, just as she'd told him she would be. She was probably afraid he would fire her and she wouldn't have a place to sleep for the night. Oh, he was going to 'fire' her all right, but not in the way she expected.

She hadn't touched any of the food the hotel staff left for them, but Montague was a big man and it took a lot of fuel to keep him going. He ate his fill, and then watched a movie before he took to his bed. His temper was still simmering, but he would deal with it in the morning. He went right to sleep, but his last thoughts were of Megan, and how she did much better than he'd expected she would for her first time.

* * *

Megan awoke with the feeling that she was in big trouble... and then she remembered why! She had to be totally insane! Why did she do such outlandish things? It was no wonder she couldn't hold onto a job! Perhaps she should go home and work for her Uncle? If she did something wrong there at least no one would be shocked. She started to cry, feeling sorry for herself. How dare Montague fire her after all the hours she'd spent learning to assist him? How dare he be upset with her when he started it? Oh God, she sounded like a bratty child! He started it!! How much more pathetic could she be? She'd tried to ruin Montague's performance and all she could say was 'he started it'? What was wrong with her? There was no way he wouldn't fire her now. She got to her feet and got out her suitcases and started packing what was hers. She would give her father a couple more hours to sleep before calling him and asking him to come and get her. What a failure she was!

Montague woke early, in spite of being up so late. He needed to speak to Megan and try to make her understand why he'd spanked her. She would probably quit, and he couldn't bear the thought of her leaving him. Leaving him? What a strange way to put it. She wasn't his girlfriend, for goodness sake, and he was acting like he was going through a breakup. He showered, brushed his teeth and shaved before dressing and going to knock on her door. When he thought he heard her say 'come in', he opened the door and walked in, only to find her packing. "No...! I won't let you leave, Megan!" He blurted out the words immediately. "Please give me a chance to explain..."

"You don't need to explain. I know what a screw-up I am!!"

"You are not!" he quickly disagreed. He walked over and picked up a suitcase and dumped everything on the bed.

"You didn't come in here to fire me?" she asked, confused. "After the horrible way I behaved last night?"

"You didn't understand, and I hurt your feelings," he explained. "The spankings weren't a punishment, honey. I was trying to take your mind off your stage fright. I read somewhere that it works..." he added.

"It worked, but I was embarrassed," she explained, then added self-consciously, "My temper took over then. I am so awful!"

"I think I love your temper," he confessed, shocked when the words slipped out. She looked at him, her green eyes wide. "Yes, I know how crazy that sounds." He chuckled. "Why don't you get dressed and we'll go out for breakfast and try to talk like two intelligent adults. I don't want you to quit, Megan. I mean it."

"I am not quitting," she said. "I thought you would fire me for sure, so I was getting my bags ready to leave. I know how badly I behaved last night."

"You came close to getting your butt spanked on stage," he admitted with a grin. "I have a temper, too, and we aren't through discussing this."

"I would have died if you'd done that!" she told him.

"Good thing you took my one and only warning seriously," he said without batting an eye, and forgetting that only a minute ago he was begging her to stay.

"I would have screamed the place down and they would have called the police and had you arrested."

"Are we fussing already?" he asked with a grin, and then she giggled, too. "Let's get something to eat, Megan. I'm hungry."

"I don't want to go down and try to sit. My bottom is truly sore."

"From those little taps?" he scoffed.

"You have no idea of your own strength, Montague. It really hurts to sit, even on the bed."

"I'll order room service," he said decisively, leaving the room, and wondering if she really was bruised, or trying to make him feel guilty.

Megan smiled happily and started putting away her clothes. She still had a job, and she hoped she was forgiven. Still, there was a niggling part of her that warned she hadn't heard the last of her behavior last night. Her temper led her to behave outrageously, and while she really didn't think she could tolerate another spanking, she certainly earned one. By the time their meal arrived, she was showered, dressed, and looking presentable. The busboy set up their table in front of the window so they could look outside at the pretty day, but all she could do was eye the chairs dubiously. Did she nonchalantly pick up a pillow and place it on her seat, or simply brace herself and try to get through the meal quickly?