Mistress of the Air

The Corseted Domme

landed at the mooring station in Paris. This was familiar territory to the captain. He visited Paris often to meet with the tightknit band of bi-plane aviators, which included several prominent Frenchmen, and to compete at flying meetings. Lady Sally was a frequent visitor to Paris. She had investments in several

Parisien

burlesque clubs including

Le Chat Noir

,

Folies Bergère

and

Caberet Des Noctambules,

being a regular guest at their shows whenever she was in Paris.

The party was met with a rousing welcome. The airfield was decorated with bunting, and the tricolour flag everywhere fluttering in the breeze. They were greeted with a raucous rendition of

La Marseillaise

by a brass band.

Lady Sally, dressed in her most sumptuous and daringly cut velvet gown and brown, knee-length boots, stepped onto the airfield. As soon as her foot touched the ground her hand was swept up and a welcoming kiss planted onto it.

"

Bonjour

, Ladee Salee, it ees a pleasure to welcome you to Parees. You are an honoured guest of

La Societé D'Aviation Et Les Dirigeables.

"

"How kind of you. How delightful. What a marvellous welcome you've laid on for me."

The Frenchman oozed charm with his handsome looks, blue eyes, waxed moustache and oiled hair. He was dressed in a smartly tailored suit, a boater hat and carried a silver-tipped cane.

Captain Wyndham, following behind Lady Sally, recognised the suave tone of voice and reek of expensive perfume as it wafted towards him. It was Monsieur Saunier, his rival, who had beaten him in the bi-plane trials that memorable afternoon in Doncaster. He was turning on his charm and social ease, his arm threaded through Lady Sally's as he led her away from the airship... and her appearing to lap it up. If he had known Saunier would be there to greet Lady Sally the captain would have changed out of his working clothes into something smarter.

Saunier and Lady Sally led the way, arm in arm. The Frenchman turned back, commenting to her, "I see you 'av brought your servants with you, Ladee Sallee."

"They are not merely servants. This is my maid, Victoria, these are my submissive slaves, and this is my dwarf," she explained, introducing them. "And then I have my airship captain with me. Why Monsieur Saunier, you must surely know Captain Wyndham?"

"

Bonjour

Weendham..."

"...

Captain

Wyndham."

"

Mais oui

. We have competed many times. I recall the last time was in

Angleterre

when your plane 'ad a leetle engine trouble, and I beat you to the finish post. But I don't believe that made any deeference to the result, I was always in control of the race," he boasted.

Captain Wyndham seethed.

Arrogant arsehole.

"No, on the contrary, I was on the point of overtaking you when the engine cut out. I'll race you again, then we can prove who's the fastest. Look, there are a couple of bi-planes in front of the hanger."

Monsieur Saunier was taken aback. He was not expecting such an open confrontation, but recognised that to maintain his honour he was obliged to accept Wyndham's challenge.

"Very well, we shall toss a coin for choice of plane."

The two men marched off towards the two awaiting bi-planes, the seething Captain Wyndham leading the way.

A broad smile spread across Lady Sally's red lips. She turned to Victoria, "How amusing to have men compete over one."

"I thought they were racing to see who's the fastest."

"Oh, my maid, you can be so naïve. And who are you rooting for, Victoria?"

"The captain, every time," she said. "And you, madam?"

"... Ah, well, we shall see."

The two bi-planes stuttered to a start. Their engines buzzed, and they soon took to the air. It was risky for the captain to make such a reckless challenge without knowing how the aircraft handled. They were both the same model and, given similar planes, he was convinced he could beat Saunier for speed. Although an airship handled very differently, he had become used to flying at speeds of 100 mph or more, far in excess of what these machines could reach. It was invigorating being in a bi-plane again. There was no escape from the elements and the blast of chilly wind as the plane sped through the air.

Captain Wyndham wasn't going to play cat and mouse games this time, waiting till the last moment to overtake. Having flown for a few minutes to get used to the handling of the craft he intended to lead from the front. He kept close to Saunier's tail, but soon drew up alongside him, dangerously close, so the tips of their wings were nearly touching. The Frenchman stared across at him angrily. The captain could see he was rattled by his aggressive move, but that only pleased him.

He inched ahead, tilting his plane and swinging it into Saunier's path, forcing him to brake. The Frenchman was furious. The captain then swung back in front of his rival and, taking advantage of Saunier being forced to slow down, turned the throttle full-on. He visualised the escape from the Prussian airship fleet in

The Corseted Domme

, and the exciting burst of acceleration. The engine roared and spewed out a trail of black exhaust fumes. He left Saunier trailing in his wake. But he was not going to let up, he kept the throttle open, increasing the distance between the two planes with every second. There was no way Saunier was going to catch him now. He zoomed past the finishing line at top speed.

After they landed, they walked back to join the others, Captain Wyndham in smug triumph, Monsieur Saunier in angry silence. He looked less suave now he was defeated... and coated in black soot.

"Bravo, captain," exclaimed Lady Sally, as she applauded the two aviators on their return.

"That was crazee flying, Weendham. You could have caused a crash."

"Oh, I thought it was tremendously exciting," said Lady Sally.

The captain narrowed his deep-set eyes, "But I proved I'm the more daring... and faster pilot."

Saunier led the party to the club room at the aerodrome where Lady Sally was introduced to the other committee members of

La Societé.

She was offered a very welcome cup of tea, along with a selection of French

pâtisserie.

The chairman of

La Societé

explained the order of events for the evening whilst Lady Sally stuffed a strawberry

mille-feuille

into her mouth, its cream oozing out from between the crisp, buttery layers of sweet pastry over her scarlet lips. A cream covered strawberry squeezed out of the pastry and plopped onto one of Lady Sally's breasts.

"Oh dear, how careless of me. Would you be so kind as to remove that with your fingers for me?"

The red-faced chairman reached out and delicately picked up the fallen strawberry resting on its shelf of flesh.

"You may eat the strawberry if you wish," she suggested with a sly grin and mischievous twinkle in her eye. "And then if you would just wipe the cream off my breast with your napkin, that would be lovely."

"Yes, of course Ladee Sallee," he said as he carefully dabbed her boob with his napkin.

How she loved to make men squirm.

After tea, the party returned to

The Corseted Domme

to get ready for the evening event, which was to take place in the hall of the Palais-Royale. It was a formal ball in Lady Sally's honour so she had to look her best, taking an age deliberating with Victoria over her choice of dress.

When she swept down the magnificent staircase of the palace into the ballroom, all eyes turned to Lady Sally. She looked stunning in a cerise, taffeta gown accompanied by a silk

chinon

in a flowered print. Needless to say, the bust was cut low and exhibited her elegant neckline and magnificent décolletage to perfection.

Lady Sally took pride of place alongside members of the committee of

La Societé

and other dignitaries whilst her entourage was relegated to another table. Victoria had remained on

The Corseted Domme

to pack her wardrobe into trunks in preparation for the journey home. The captain felt distinctly uncomfortable; he did not like formal occasions, and he had to borrow a dinner-jacket, winged-collared shirt and bow tie from the duke who had spare ones. Unfortunately, the duke was a smaller build than him and it was a tight fit, making him feel more stiff and uncomfortable. He daren't do any dancing, for fear of splitting the pants.

Lady Sally was enjoying every moment. The captain had got used to seeing her in the relative intimacy of her airship but it was clear she revelled in being the centre of attention. Everybody wanted to be seen with her, speak with her, and dance with her. She was thrilled with the ceremony for the presentation of

Le Prix D'Honeur De La Republique

, and the receipt of a golden statuette in the shape of an airship. The speakers extolled the design, technical wizardry and magnificence of

The Corseted Domme

. They were gushing in their praise of Lady Sally's contribution to the promotion of aviation. Until then the captain was not aware of how much she had done, funding flying meetings and sponsoring races over France, including ones he'd competed in and won prizes at. It was strange to think that even before being taken on as her airship pilot he had already been the recipient of her largesse.

The captain felt uncomfortable at these big events and, if he was on his own, he would certainly have found an excuse to leave, but he was Lady's Sally's guest so felt obliged to stick it out. In addition to which, the most important thing was that Lady Sally enjoyed the evening, which she certainly was. The champagne flowed, and Monsieur Saunier insisted on filling her glass at every available opportunity.

Around midnight the ball wound up. Lady Sally had danced with numerous members of the committee and other dignitaries. It happened that she ended up dancing with Monsieur Saunier, looking suave and dapper again after washing off the trail of sooty smoke the captain had left him in. When Lady Sally approached the table to gather up her party to return to the airship, he was with her.

"I'm ready to leave now," she announced. "I've invited Monsieur Saunier to come back to

The Corseted Domme

with me."