“Well, that’s good anyway. I never wanted to act like a bitch mistress from the Seven Hells to begin with.” Trin sighed as he pressed his thumbs to the delicate arch of her foot. “Goddess, you’re good at that!”
“Glad you’re enjoying yourself, Mistress.” Thrace grinned at her. “Just your devoted slave here, doing everything I can to give you pleasure.”
“Very funny.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “You were very convincing back there with Lady Tam-tam you know—telling her how you, uh, fell in love with me when I bought you.” She cleared her throat and his cheeks got flushed again. “You had her completely fooled.”
“I wasn’t trying to fool her—I was telling the truth,” Thrace pointed out. “About the way you bought and rescued me, I mean.” He grinned at Trin. “Of course, you’ll notice I didn’t mention anything about the way you kept me chained to my bed for the next several days.”
“Or the way you tried to choke the life out of me,” Trin reminded him but a little smile was playing around the corners of her mouth. “Or the way you rescued me from B’Rugh and a fate worse than death. Ugh.” She shivered.
“Well, she doesn’t need to know everything,” Thrace said.
“She especially doesn’t need to know that we’re only together until we do this deal.” Trin spoke casually but her words caused a strange hollow sensation somewhere in the pit of Thrace’s stomach. Which made no sense.
“Of course, the deal,” he muttered, frowning.
“I’m worried about it,” Trin admitted. “I don’t think Lady Malroth was too thrilled that we got her room and Lady Tam-tam’s instant affection. It might ruin everything.”
“I doubt it,” Thrace remarked. “She seems like a shrewd businesswoman and you’re offering good quality crystals for a very fair price. She’ll still want the deal. Get her alone after the reception tonight and talk to her then.”
“All right, I will. And I hope you’re right.” Trin looked at him. “I know you hope so, too. Even though I’m not required to treat you like dirt, this can’t be easy for you—being my slave and having to act like you’re madly in love with me. I mean it’s just…silly.” She coughed.
“Uh-huh. Ridiculous,” Thrace said softly, though he didn’t know who he was trying to convince—her or himself. “Anyway, we’ll be out of here soon. Until then, let’s just play our parts. And let me find out how we’re supposed to behave.” He let her small foot slip from his hands and stood up. “Wish me luck, Mistress—I’m going on a fact finding mission. Or, if anyone asks, I’m searching for some calming mint oil to rub into your temples because you feel a headache coming on.”
Trin smiled. “You’re too much, Thrace. Okay, be careful. I think I might just lay down here for a little while and take a nap.” She yawned. “I don’t know why but I’m so sleepy.”
“Aftereffects of the passion berries,” Thrace told her. “It’s all out of your system but it still leaves you feeling drained. Sleep while you can, I’ll come back in time to wake you for the reception.”
“Okay…” Her eyes were already closing and her long, black hair was spread over the blue and gold embroidered pillow. The thin lace panels covering her breasts and sex showed her warm brown curves and her beautiful face was tranquil and serene.
Thrace couldn’t help thinking what a lovely sight she made lying in the center of the sleeping platform like a princess out of an old story. On impulse, he took her hand in his and bent to place a soft kiss in her palm.
“Oh!” Trin opened her eyes and looked at him uncertainly.
“Sleep well, Mistress,” he murmured. Then, reluctantly, he let her go and left.
Chapter Sixteen
“Wake up, baby. Time to get moving.”
The deep voice in her ear was familiar. But who could be calling her ‘baby’? Everyone she knew called her by her surname, as was the custom on Zetta Prime. Well, except for her mother who called her by her first name, Lonnara. So who…
Thrace. It’s Thrace, a little voice in her head whispered. Sure enough, when she opened her eyes, he was sitting beside her on the bed holding a turquoise lace and Neptharian silk gown in his hands.
“What’s that?” Trin asked groggily. Goddess, she felt like she’d been sleeping for a hundred cycles and her head throbbed like a rotten tooth.
“Your outfit for tonight. I just resized it. Sit up and put it on—the reception is in fifteen minutes.”
“That soon?” Trin sat up in a sudden panic but the motion caused a spike of pain to pierce her brain. “Goddess of Judgment, my head.” She put a hand to her forehead and winced.
“Here. Hold still.” Large warm fingers were suddenly at her temples, rubbing something cool and soothing into her throbbing flesh.
“What’s that?” Trin muttered.
“Calming mint oil of course. Told you I was going to get some. Breathe it in—it’ll help.”
“I thought that was just your cover story,” Trin said, inhaling deeply as he instructed. A cool, faintly sweet scent reached her nose at once. And to her relief, it did ease the headache. “That does help.” She looked at him. “Did you know I’d have a headache when I woke up? More aftereffects of those damn passion berries?”
He nodded. “Afraid so.”
“Well how much longer am I going to keep having them? Feeling so fatigued and waking up with my head pounding…” Trin frowned. “I mean, it’s ridiculous—I barely took one tiny sip of that wine!”
“It was laced with three berries,” he pointed out. “That’s enough for three people your size. “You’re just lucky you didn’t drink any more.”
“But isn’t there a way to get rid of all of it—after effects and all?” Trin demanded. “You should know—you said the passion berries were native to your planet.”
He shrugged obliquely.
“Sure—the same thing that’s the only cure if you take the second and third sips.”
Trin bit her lip. “You mean…penetration and…and insemination?”
“Uh-huh.” His eyes were half-lidded now for some reason and his deep voice was a soft growl.
“That’s…unnatural.” Trin felt her heart pound at the thought…I am one of the Unpenetrated. I have too much self respect to allow such a thing. Besides it’s wrong. Allowing a male to penetrate you with his shaft was like a slap in the face of the Goddess—or so said the priestesses who served in her temple. And while Trin had outgrown many of her childhood beliefs, some were far too ingrained to get rid of. Not that she wanted to. “It’s unthinkable,” she said firmly.
“Not for a lot of females,” Thrace pointed out. “It is the way most people–hell, most species—reproduce, you know.”
“Well not my people,” Trin said sharply. “I don’t want to be penetrated anymore than you do. It’s…wrong.”
He winced and sat back.
“Point taken. All right, let’s forget about it then. I have plenty of mint oil if you get another headache.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at him. “That’s very thoughtful. So what did you learn about our roles here?”
Thrace shrugged. “Not that different from Yonnie Six, really, except there’s no punishment involved. Well, no punishment by pain anyway. I am still expected to wait on you hand and foot and drop to my knees and kiss you to show reverence when we’re announced at the reception…that kind of thing.”
“I’m sorry about that.” Trin bit her lip. When she’d first had the idea to buy a male slave to act as her prop during situations like this, she’d been thinking that males were big dumb brutes—more animal than anything else—so the idea of one of them subjugating himself to her in public hadn’t seemed like a big deal. After all, her stallion, Swift was quick to come running and was happy to perform a few tricks for the treats she always carried in her pocket. Trin had imagined training a slave much the same way.
Now she had a slave—albeit a temporary one—and she knew he was sharply intelligent as well as proud and strong. Asking Th
race to bow and scrape to her every whim seemed wrong…degrading.
Her feelings must have shown on her face because Thrace took her hand in his and looked into her eyes.
“It’s all right—I don’t mind, Mistress.”
“How can you not?” Trin protested. “All this bowing and kissing my foot in public…”
“It’s not your foot I’m supposed to kiss. Haven’t you ever been to a Yonnite High Reception before?”
“Not one where I was announced. Why, what are you supposed to kiss?” Trin felt a surge of apprehension.
Thrace raised an eyebrow at her. “Your panties, Mistress.”
“My what?” Trin’s heart started to pound. “I really don’t think—”
“Hey, it’s all right.” Thrace stroked a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Listen, baby, I know you’ve never been kissed there so I promise to be gentle.”
“I’m not a baby—I’m your Mistress,” Trin reminded him a little sharply, though she secretly rather liked the sweet, caressing name he called her when he forgot himself.
“Mistress, then. What I’m trying to say is, it’s just a quick kiss—nothing too deep or intimate. A formality, really.”
“A formality,” Trin echoed doubtfully. “Well, I guess…”
“It’ll be fine,” he assured her. “But right now, you need to get ready or we’re going to be late.”
“All right, what am I wearing? That?” Trin eyed the turquoise gown apprehensively. If anything it looked even more revealing than the yellow gown she’d fallen asleep in.
“Afraid so,” Thrace said. “I checked and this is the kind of dress all the mistresses are wearing to the reception tonight—the latest Yonnite fashion. You probably won’t like it but it’s going to look fucking gorgeous on you.”
Trin grimaced. “I hate it already.”
“At least the shoes have a lower heel,” he remarked, showing her a pair of turquoise sandals with straps over the arch and heel. “So they shouldn’t hurt your feet as much.”
“Anything but the boots I’m used to is probably going to hurt,” Trin groused. She sighed. “All right—let’s get this over with. Give me the dress and point me towards the fresher.”
Silently, Thrace complied.
After ten minutes of trying to get comfortable in the new outfit, Trin looked down at herself and grimaced. She’d been right—the gown was more revealing than the yellow one. Instead of a whole panel of lace to cover her chest, it only had a thin rectangular strip which barely hid her nipples and stretched tightly from side to side. It kept wanting to come loose and Trin had to adjust it several times to get it to stay in place.
Below, the gown was no better. There was no lace panel this time. Instead, the dress had a kind of strange draw-string type feature which split the bottom part of it into puffy wings. When the draw-string was pulled, the dress spread wide in front and back and only covered the sides of her legs, leaving her ass and sex on display. This clearly revealed the turquoise panties that matched the gown, much to Trin’s growing dismay.
The panties consisted of a tiny lace triangle which barely covered her pussy slit and a few lacy straps which went over her hips to hold it in place. They did their job poorly and the triangle kept twisting to one side or the other, exposing her in a most embarrassing way.
“This is ridiculous,” she muttered, releasing the draw string so that the dress closed and she was covered. “It’s excessive even for Yonnie Six. I’m not walking around exposed all night. There—that’s better,” she added, looking at herself in the 3-D viewer. The top of her dress was still obscene but at least her ass and crotch were modestly covered now.
“Almost done? Reception in five,” Thrace called through the door.
“I know. I’m coming.” Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the fresher. “How do I look?”
Thrace frowned.
“Too covered up. You’re wearing the dress wrong—it’s supposed to be open. How can I get to your panties to kiss you otherwise?”
“I’m not wearing it open,” Trin said firmly. “It’s ridiculous to expect—”
Suddenly a sharp tapping sounded on the door. Trin exchanged glances with Thrace but before either of them could answer it, it burst open to reveal Lady Tam-tam, looking resplendent in an orange and purple mu-mu which swept to the floor and covered everything, which hardly seemed fair to Trin.
“My darlings,” she exclaimed, coming over to them. “Forgive the intrusion but I just remembered that I forgot to give you a new collar for your love-slave. And I promised you one so faithfully—I couldn’t go back on my word.”
“Of course, Lady Tam-tam, please come in,” Trin said, trying to smile. “I’m very grateful—I can’t wait to take the pain collar off Thrace and give him a new one.”
“Good. Here it is.” She withdrew a long, thin rectangular box from the folds of her voluminous gown and opened it, showing the contents to Trin. Inside was a black leather collar studded with pale silvery-blue gems.
“Oh—it’s lovely,” Trin exclaimed, honestly impressed. “But it looks so expensive! What are those gems?”
“Lathian sapphires.” Lady Tam-tam beamed. “They look more expensive than they are though—don’t worry about it. Consider them my gift to you.”
“Thank you.” Trin turned to Thrace. “Let’s get rid of that pain collar, shall we?”
“With greatest pleasure, Mistress,” he rumbled, sinking to his knees before her so that Trin could reach the fastening to the black and silver pain collar.
She took it off, reflecting that just a few days ago it was the only thing that had persuaded her to trust Thrace and his intentions towards her and her crew. But things had changed now. Maybe it was the way they had grown to know and respect each other or maybe it was…something else. But she no longer needed the pain collar to feel safe around him. She felt only relief as she discarded it.
The new gem-studded collar fit Thrace perfectly, emphasizing his strong throat and broad, bare shoulders. Trin took a little longer than she needed to putting it on, enjoying the touch of his warm skin and the way he looked kneeling in front of her. Goddess, she’d never thought much of the male form before but Thrace really was a work of art. Every muscle was sculpted, standing out in bold relief.
Impulsively, she carded her fingers through his hair, caressing him gently in the way she imagined a real mistress would do with a slave she cared for. Or maybe it’s just because you want to touch him, whispered a little voice in her head. But Trin pushed it away—she was just playing a part for Lady Tam-tam, the same way Thrace was.
Thrace looked up at her gentle touch, his eyes blazing.
“Mistress…” he whispered hoarsely.
“Lovely,” Lady Tam-tam said, smiling. “I just knew those Lathian sapphires would bring out his eyes!”
“They really do,” Trin murmured as Thrace held her gaze with his. “They’re…beautiful.” But she wasn’t looking at the stones.
“Not as beautiful as you, Mistress,” Thrace rumbled. Taking both her hands in his, he brought them to his lips and kissed the insides of her wrists, just over the pulse points. “Thank you for trusting me,” he murmured. “Thank you for understanding that you don’t need pain to command me. You own me, body and soul. No pain any collar could inflict on me would be as deep as losing you.”
“Of…of course,” Trin whispered, rather breathlessly. It was hard not to be affected by his words, even though she knew they were only part of his act.
“That’s wonderful.” Lady Tam-tam’s eyes were brimming. “Oh my dear, how lucky you are to hold the heart of such a male. Truly, I envy you. It makes me miss my poor Nales so much! Well…” She took a deep breath. “It’s time we got to the reception.” She looked at Trin more closely and frowned. “Only you can’t go like that. You must open the skirt of your gown—otherwise how can your love-slave make a proper obeisance and show his affection for you?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Lady Tam-tam,”
Trin said. Then, having an inspiration she said, “I guess I just thought since your dress is so lovely and modest I could emulate you.”
“That’s very sweet of you, my dear, but I’m only dressed like this because I don’t have the figure to wear the latest fashions anymore.” Lady Tam-tam smiled. “You on the other hand are just perfect! You need to show off your figure. Now go on—open your gown and we’ll go.”
“Nice try,” Thrace muttered, for her ears alone. Then in a louder voice he said, “I’ll do it, Mistress.” He was still kneeling before her and it only took him a minute to pull the silken draw string, parting the gown both in front and in back and fix it in place. When the small turquoise triangle of her panties was revealed, he drew in a deep breath. “Gods…”
“That’s enough, Thrace,” Trin murmured nervously. “You may rise.”
“Don’t discourage him, my dear,” Lady Tam-tam remarked as the huge Havoc got gracefully to his feet. “He’s simply admiring your beauty. It’s a heady thing to be so desired by a male—don’t you agree?”
“I…suppose so,” Trin said uncertainly. “Honestly, I’m not much used to it. Thrace is the first body-slave I’ve ever owned and before him I didn’t deal with males.” She felt it was wise to stick as close to the truth as possible—at least with her personal history.
“Interesting,” Lady Tam-tam nodded thoughtfully as she preceded them from the room. “Most mistresses are given their first slave by the age of seventeen or eighteen cycles but I suppose that your mother decided to wait and let you choose your own?”
“Something like that,” Trin murmured uneasily, wondering what her mother and everyone else she’d ever known on Zetta Prime would think if they could see her now. They’d probably be horrified to see how close she and Thrace had been getting.
Well, they’re not here and besides, I’m my own woman. I’ve been on my own long enough not to care what they think, she told herself firmly. Still, she couldn’t quite push the thought completely to the back of her mind.
As Trin tried to ignore her guilty thoughts, Lady Tam-tam led them down long, winding corridors richly decorated with gold-framed holo-pics and moving statues. At last they came to a tall set of double doors, covered in vines and flowers which seemed to be real.