“You are so beautiful.” Jarrod reached out and smoothed her hair back from her face. He gently brushed away a tear with his thumb. “I’m sorry I was so rough. But many Masters like hard, heavy sex and I wanted you to know what you could face on Noria.”
Slave or no slave, Hanna had had enough. She threw his belt at him and struggled to sit up. “Does it make you feel better to pretend you are training me for my new Master? To tell yourself this sex was just a training exercise? To pretend you didn’t really enjoy using my body? That you didn’t feel anything at all?”
His expression darkened and he stepped back, his cock slipping from her body.
She wasn’t going to be frightened into silence now. “Is sex impersonal to all Masters? Or just to you?”
The princess’s words cut deep. Jarrod could admit to himself that before now, sex had been impersonal, but tonight had been different. She was different. But what good would it do to admit it to her? They would be reaching Noria in a few hours. They would never see each other again.
“Watch your mouth, slave.” He turned away from the pleading look in her eye and wet a cloth at the sink. He sank to his knees in front of her and cleaned the stickiness from between her legs.
“Micah said not all Masters are cruel,” she said softly.
Her tear-stained face was beautiful to him. The red lash marks across her pale breasts were a stark reminder of the way he had treated her. “Many are.”
She touched his shoulder. “But you’re not.”
How could she say that? “I hurt you. I was too rough.”
She smiled, even though the tears had not yet dried on her cheeks. “It appears I like it rough.”
He silently cursed his cock as it began to stir at her words. “Then you’ll make a fine sex slave.”
“So I’ve been told many times in the past few days.”
He reached for the Marvel Cream. “I must heal your skin.” If she was his slave, he’d leave the marks. He’d like seeing them there, knowing that he put them there, knowing that it made her wet, knowing that she took her punishment well because it pleased him.
He smoothed the soothing cream on the breasts he hadn’t had near enough time to enjoy. He tried not to linger on the firm flesh, but he couldn’t rush. When he finished erasing the marks he’d made on her, it would almost be as if this night had never happened.
“May I ask you a question, Master?”
“What is it, slave?”
“If you’re not staying on this ship, what are you going to do when you get to Noria?”
“Micah and I own a cargo ship. We’ll be leaving in that.”
“Don’t you get tired of being inside a spaceship all the time? Don’t you miss fresh air? Sunshine? There aren’t even any windows here. I don’t even know if it’s day or night. I’d go crazy never seeing outside.”
Jarrod froze, his hands still on her breasts. Her words brought back his memories of his years in the mines. No fresh air. No sunshine. Never knowing if it was day or night. He very nearly went crazy back then. He was surprised a princess would understand.
“It’s almost morning,” he told her, pushing away images of the filthy mine. He swept more cream on her breasts. “The control room and some of the cabins have windows. And we’ll be breathing fresh air in a few hours.” She shuddered beneath his fingers. Probably thinking about what was in store for her when they arrived.
“Why aren’t you on your cargo ship now?”
If she needed to indulge in a little small talk to keep her mind off the future, he couldn’t blame her. “It’s in a repair shop on Noria. We’ll pick it up and head to Ceylon 7 later today.”
“What’s Ceylon 7?”
“It’s a small planet on a major shipping route at the western end of the galaxy. We’re opening a trading post there.”
“Sounds exciting.”
He’d had enough excitement. “I hope it will be profitable.”
“I always wanted to travel. To see more of the universe than Vanya. I just didn’t think it would be like this.”
“I wouldn’t think a princess would have much need to travel.”
“Yeah.” She sounded sad. Probably thinking about her family and her planet that she’d never see again. But she surprised him. “Even a princess can have the desire to see more of the universe than her one small portion.”
“I suppose you’re right.” When he was trapped in the mines he often dreamed of seeing other worlds. Did she feel trapped on Vanya? He didn’t need to know.
“How would you like to be stuck in one place for your whole life, never knowing anything about other people? Other worlds?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“I didn’t think so.”
He didn’t want to think he could have anything in common with a princess. He didn’t want to think about anything right now. Her breasts were completely healed, no signs of the whipping she’d endured. He swept his hands over the firm flesh one last time. His dark fingers were such a contrast to her pale skin. He spread a thin coating of cream over her arms and the marks from her binding disappeared completely.
“Turn around and bend over the bed,” he said curtly. He was proud of how quickly she obeyed. He pressed her head down onto the mattress and straightened her legs. The king should be damn grateful he was receiving an obedient slave and not some frightened naïve princess.
Her ass was still red, so he smoothed more of the cream over her cheeks to remove any tell-tale signs of the spanking he’d given her. His chest began to ache as he remembered the sassy way she tempted him and the way his hand stung as he spanked her willing ass. He’d never seen anyone so beautiful as when she leaned into the strikes of the belt. His stroking hand trembled as he remembered the way she came repeatedly beneath him, giving herself more fully to him than any woman ever had before.
“Thank you.” Her words were soft, mostly buried into the mattress. “Thank you for showing me how to please my Master. Thank you for showing me—”
Her words cut off as they heard the door slide open. A chill ran over his skin and he froze. How could he have forgotten to lock it from the inside?
“What the fuck are you doing?”
Luckily, it was Micah who caught him with his pants around his ankles and his hands on the bare ass of the Norian king’s new sex slave. Jarrod jumped to his feet and pulled up his pants. He helped the princess up and sat her down on the bunk.
“Are you crazy?” Micah cried. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“I have no desire to die,” Jarrod replied as calmly as possible. His heart was still racing. But if he was honest with himself, he wouldn’t have passed up this night for anything, even a death sentence.
“Jarrod was giving me some slave training,” the princess said softly.
“Yeah. Right. Slave training.” Micah turned to Jarrod. “We’ll be in Norian airspace in a few minutes. We have to get up on deck.”
Jarrod nodded. He glanced at the princess, her eyes wide and worried. “Someone will come for you once we’ve landed.” She nodded. He turned and followed Micah out of the princess’s room. He didn’t look back before the door slid shut. This time he didn’t want to see the tears in her eyes.
Hanna stared at the closed door, new nerves tumbling in her stomach. This was it. The start of her new life as a sex slave. A life of serving a Master she didn’t know. A Master who couldn’t possibly move her the way Jarrod had.
But that wasn’t her concern, was it? Her only concern was to please her Master, whoever he was. Jarrod had taught her that well enough. If she pleased her Master, she’d receive pleasure in return. She had to believe that.
She was sorry she’d never see Jarrod again, but she’d survived when she’d been separated from her family at an early age to live in the palace. She’d survive this time too. And no one would know if, when she closed her eyes, she imagined it was Jarrod’s body she was pleasing with her hands and mouth and body. Her memories of her first Master would carry her
through the days ahead.
Her body felt warm and well used. She realized she liked the feeling. She glanced over to the chains and cuffs hanging from the wall. Her sex tingled as she wondered if she’d be led from the ship in chains.
Hanna rose and began to pace the small room. How long before someone came to get her? Even though she was scared, she was determined to leave the ship with her shoulders straight and head high, not cowering and crying, as Micah had described some of the other Vanyan women.
She gasped as she realized she hadn’t thought of the other women or the princess or escape plans since Jarrod stepped into the room last night. She wished she could have saved them all from the fate they had in store, but she’d finally accepted the fact that the situation was beyond her control. She’d resigned herself to the fact that she was going to leave here and be taken to a slave station on her way to becoming a sex slave for a king.
Essentially, she’d been serving a king since she was a young girl. Her years at the palace had usually been boring but also restrictive. She’d had a few chores, then nothing to do but be ready when the princess needed her. Nowhere to go but where the princess wanted to go. She’d never been allowed to follow her own dreams, her own desires. She’d been told what to do and when and where.
With a start, Hanna realized that although she’d never been called one, she’d been a slave all along.
Chapter Four
Hanna didn’t see Jarrod again before she left the slave ship. She didn’t even catch a glimpse of the other Vanyan women as she was led away by Crock, the guard who’d chained her up on her first day on the ship. He seemed to take delight in wrapping one end of a heavy chain several times around her neck. Then he wound the rest of the chain around his fist before leading her out of the ship.
She squinted as they stepped out of the ship into the bright sunlight. She paused to look around her, but Crock growled and tugged on the chain. The hard surface of the landing area was hot on her bare feet.
Dozens of ships were spread out over a huge paved area. Hundreds of people milled about going to and from the ships. Crock led her out a guarded gate and toward a group of low buildings not far away. Her heart thudded so loudly it almost drowned out the din of voices coming from everywhere.
She felt so exposed, but no one looked twice at her, naked, being led in chains through the crowded streets. In fact, every woman she saw was naked, in collars and cuffs. Was every woman a sex slave here on Noria?
Hanna noticed in surprise that none of the women had any hair covering the woman’s spot between their legs. They had to feel so much more naked and exposed. Or was that normal on Noria? Some of the slaves walked behind well-dressed men without a lead of any kind. Some followed on leads of different lengths and types. None of them had heavy chains coiled around their necks.
Some of the people they passed had skin as dark as Jarrod’s. Some as light as hers and many with shades in between. Were they all Norians or a blend of inhabitants from all the planets she was just now becoming aware of? Having never seen any people other than Vanyans, she found the differences fascinating. She had much to learn about the worlds beyond her home planet.
They turned through a gate and into a large courtyard surrounded by whitewashed buildings. Hanna was led down a winding alley until suddenly Crock tugged her inside a doorway. They came to a halt inside a cool, dark room with no windows. The weight of the chains was lifted from around her neck and Crock left her with a tall, slender woman. She was beautiful and graceful, with long straight blonde hair, naked except for a smooth silver collar and silver cuffs at her wrists and ankles. She introduced herself as Fawn.
“This is the slave station,” Fawn told her, gesturing around them. Her voice was smooth and rich, almost musical. “Here we will prepare you for your duties before you meet your Master.”
The slave station! To hear the words out loud made it seem all the more real. Hanna wished she felt as calm and serene as the lovely woman sounded. She swallowed her nerves as best she could. “Do you know anything about the other women who were taken with me?”
Fawn frowned and immediately Hanna felt chastised. “I can’t answer any questions about them. You should be concerned about nothing else but your life as a slave. You should only be concerned with how to please your Master.”
Hadn’t Jarrod told her the same thing?
“King Barrus is anxious for you to begin your duties,” Fawn told her. “We will prepare your body today as the king has directed.”
“Prepare my body?” That didn’t sound good.
Fawn’s brown eyes warmed. “Nothing to worry about. A bath and some other rituals first. Then you’ll be fitted with your collar and cuffs. And whatever other specific orders your Master has given us to make you ready for him.”
Hanna followed Fawn into a large room in which a deep, round tub was sunk into the middle of the tiled floor. Colored cushions were scattered about the floor. While the sea blue tiles looked like they should be cold, the floor was warm against her bare feet. Fawn motioned for Hanna to walk down the steps into the water.
Her stomach fluttered with nerves, but she discovered the warm water was relaxing. She sat on a narrow bench built into the side, the water up to her shoulders. Hanna looked up to see two more naked women, also collared and cuffed, had entered the room. The three women got into the tub with Hanna.
“We are here to ready you for your Master,” a small woman with dark curly hair said. “I am Starr.” She picked up a bottle from the edge of the tub and poured some fragrant gel into her hand.
“First we will wash your beautiful hair,” the third woman said. “I am Treena.” She was as tall as Fawn, with straight hair even darker than Starr’s. Treena sat down beside Hanna and put her long arm around Hanna’s shoulder. “Lean back into the water.”
Hanna was a bit uneasy as she leaned back into the warm water, but lying back in Treena’s arms was very pleasant. Her breasts were large and soft and Hanna’s cheek brushed against one as Treena supported her in the water.
Starr sat at her head and lathered her hair. Hanna didn’t remember anyone ever washing her hair before. It was a delicious sensation. She closed her eyes and let the warm water envelop her.
Once her hair was rinsed clean, Fawn, who had been watching, motioned to Hanna to stand up. “We will wash you now.” She picked up a sponge and poured another sweet-smelling lotion onto it. Treena and Starr did as well.
The three women began together to soap Hanna’s body. The sponges were soft, the lotion forming creamy suds that were smooth against her skin. They lathered her entire body, an erotic massage that Hanna couldn’t help but enjoy. After she’d sank back under the water to wash off the suds, they led her from the tub and dried her off with soft, warm towels. They combed her hair and dried it. When they were done, Fawn took her hand and led her to a long low cushion spread out on the floor.
“Lie down here.”
Hanna did as she was told. “How long will I be here at the station?” She could get used to this pampering.
“You will be tested as soon as we are finished here. If all goes well, you will be serving the king tonight.” Fawn turned and walked across the room.
“Tonight?” Hanna’s heart beat wildly. “I thought I had to go through some kind of training.” And what was this about a test? She started to sit up, but Treena gently, silently, pressed her shoulders back down onto the cushion.
“King Barrus prefers to do his own slave training,” Fawn said. She returned with a flat-bottomed basket and knelt down beside Hanna’s thigh.
But Hanna couldn’t relax. “Should I be frightened of my Master?”
Fawn stroked her thigh. “No. The king expects strict obedience, but he is not a cruel Master.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I was once the king’s personal slave, so you can rest assured,” Fawn replied.
“I was also,” Treena said, kneeling at her head. She began to smooth a rich, fragrant oil
on Hanna’s face.
“As was I,” Starr said, kneeling beside her on the opposite side from Fawn. She placed one of Hanna’s arms on her lap and began to smooth on the luxurious oil also. “You needn’t fear him.”
“All three of you? I don’t understand. Does he have a whole group of sex slaves? Do you still belong to him?”
“The king gets bored easily,” Starr replied. “But he uses his slaves one at a time.”
“He enjoys his personal slave’s body for a while, but then wants someone new,” Treena added. She’d finished with Hanna’s face and began smoothing oil on her neck and shoulders.
“For now you are that someone new.” Fawn pushed firmly at Hanna’s inner thighs.
Hanna let Fawn part her thighs. She was suddenly too relaxed to resist. “I feel so strange. What’s happening to me?”
“The oil has relaxing properties as it is absorbed into your skin,” Fawn told her. “It will help you through the preparations.”
Starr rubbed her oil-covered hands together. “Mmm. It’s nice.”
Hanna tried to care about the fact that she was essentially being drugged, but she couldn’t summon the energy. She did, however, have more questions. “Do all the king’s former slaves end up working here at the station?”
“No.” Fawn cupped her hand over Hanna’s sex. “The king wants his slaves to be bare here. All Norian slaves are bare here. I will remove the hair now.”
“No!” She tried to bring her legs back together, but Fawn held her thighs apart.
“Don’t fight us now, slave,” Fawn said sharply. “You have no say in the matter.”
Hadn’t Jarrod warned her of that too?
Resigned, Hanna let her legs fall open. There was nothing else she could do. As Fawn trimmed her intimate hair close to her skin, Hanna tried to relax again and enjoy the soft caresses as Treena and Starr smoothed more oil over her body. Hanna felt a strange sensation as Fawn spread something warm and wet between her legs. Then she pressed something down, covering her entire woman’s area.
Chains of Desire Page 6
