by A. J. Markam
The dwarf hrmphed. “I have the best prices in all of Exardus!”
“Yeah, I’ll bet,” I grumbled, then turned to Stig and Meera. “Come on, let’s go.”
I found a human merchant with a small hand-drawn cart filled with bags. The only problem was he had the exact same prices as the dwarf.
“Goddammit, they’re charging a markup because we’re so close to a dungeon,” I seethed.
You were only allowed five bags on your person in OtherWorld, so it was to your benefit to have as many bags as possible to carry loot – otherwise you had to start discarding items in order to cram more valuable stuff in. Having only one or two bags necessitated a form of capitalist triage, deciding what the least valuable items were and throwing those away first.
The reason the 20-slot bags were five times as expensive as the 10-slots was because space was at a premium on long dungeon grinds. If you had only 50 slots (5 bags x 10 slots apiece) instead of 100 (5 x 20 slots), you were going to have to start performing capitalist triage a whole lot earlier. By the time you’d chucked 70 gold in artifacts in some of the more lucrative dungeons, you would be ruing the day you skimped out and got 10-slots instead of 20-slot bags.
And God help you if you were like me and only had two bags at 10 slots apiece.
Yet I didn’t even have enough cash for the smallest bag, let alone the three that I wanted.
Although… I DID sort of have a sugar momma…
I turned to Meera. “Could I borrow 30 gold from you? I’ll pay you back.”
The collar glowed and she reached for her silk purse.
“Wait, no – hold on,” I said, and unsnapped her collar.
Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked sad. “Why did you do that?!”
“Because I don’t want to force you to give me the money. If you loan it to me, I want you to do it willingly.”
“Of course I will!” she said, and handed over three ten-gold pieces as the bag merchant drooled.
Part of me knew that she was just as enslaved by her feelings for me as she was by the collar, but I wasn’t exactly following the dictates of my better nature today.
“Thanks,” I told her, then turned to the bag merchant. “What can I get on trade-in for two 10-slot bags?”
“I’ll give you one gold apiece.”
He was selling them for two gold, but I didn’t begrudge him. Buy for a dollar, sell for two.
“Give me 20 more gold, will you?” I asked Meera. “I’m gonna max out what I can carry.”
She happily handed over two more ten-gold pieces, which I handed to the bag merchant along with my two empty bags.
In return, he handed back five bags and 2 gold pieces for the trade-ins.
“A pleasure doing business with you, sir!” he crowed.
“Yeah, I’ll bet it was,” I grumbled as I clipped the bags to my belt.
I had started the day 4000 in debt.
Then I bought a collar, ran a dungeon, and was now 4550 in debt – not just to a mobster, but also an angel.
Well, 4550 minus 3 gold and 38 silver.
I wasn’t feeling particularly good about my financial status at the moment.
I held out the remaining gold and silver to Meera. “Here, I owe you 546 gold and change.”
She shook her head. “Keep it.”
“No, I can’t – ”
“I’ll take it if she doesn’t want it,” the bag merchant offered jokingly.
“Go away,” I snapped at him, and he did.
“I really don’t mind,” Meera said. “Keep the money.”
Welllll… if she INSISTS…
“I only ask one thing,” the angel continued.
“What’s that?”
“Please put the collar back on me.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“I… I like wearing it,” she murmured and blushed.
“You didn’t seem to like it when I told you to be quiet.”
She thought for a second. “Part of the reason I like it is because of the frustration. That you do what you want. You take what you want. I am forced to give up control to you… and I like it,” she said, blushing even deeper.
Huh. Kinky kinky.
“Okay,” I said, placing the collar back around her neck and snapping the ends together.
She sighed contentedly when it was back in place and traced her finger along it with a smile.
“Well, the least I can do is take you and Stig out to dinner, then.”
“Actually,” she said, “may I make another request?”
The girl had just bought me five 20-slot bags. I figured she was entitled to as many requests as she wanted.
“What?”
“I would like to eat at home so that I might serve you. Besides, the chefs who work in my building are amongst the finest in Exardus,” she said, really trying to sell the arrangement. “You would be hard-pressed to find a better meal at any restaurant or inn.”
I shrugged. “Okay. Sure, why not.”
She beamed happily, and we set off for her building.
Dinner was a lavish affair, with sautéed scallops and lobster, tender vegetables, and a desert of honeyed pastries. I drank heavily, as did Stig in his high chair. Baby finally got his bottle.
After the servants came and spirited the dishes away on carts, Meera excused herself to the bathroom.
I remained at the table with Stig, trying not to make eye contact. I was afraid he would bring up Blutus and why I’d opted not to free him.
He didn’t… at least not directly.
“You okay, boss?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said crossly. “Why?”
“You seem a little… not you.”
“Well, I’m definitely me. Nobody’s possessed me,” I joked.
“We’d have to take you to a witch doctor if they did,” Stig said seriously.
I just frowned at him from the corner of my eye, and we sat there in more silence.
Then he brought Blutus up.
“I wonder what the new guy’s doin’.”
“Sitting in an inn, eating a meal,” I snapped. “With my money.”
“More like the angel’s money,” Stig muttered under his breath.
“What?!” I said, though I’d heard him perfectly.
Stig ignored the question and went right for the jugular. “Why didn’t you free him, boss?”
Ah. There it was.
“I already told you – remember Dorp?” I snarled.
“He’s not as annoying as Dorp.”
“That you KNOW of. Who knows how annoying he could be? Dorp wasn’t annoying right out of the gate.”
“Yes he was.”
“…okay,” I admitted, “he kind of was. But Blutus was all whiny and shit. Did you really want to listen to that all night?!”
“That still doesn’t mean you can’t – ”
“Meera likes wearing a collar!” I interrupted. “She’s fine with it!”
“Yeah, but she’s weird.”
“Ye– w– ” I stuttered, unable to contradict him. “Well you’re not exactly normal, either!”
“She likes it because of – ” Stig said derisively as he fwap-fwap-fwapped the OK symbol with one finger.
“Would you stop doing that?”
“Alaria used to – ” fwap-fwap-fwap “ – with you without the collar.”
My face went pale at the mention of her name.
“Alaria didn’t like the collar,” Stig said softly.
“Well SHE’S not HERE, IS SHE?!” I shouted as I stood up.
Stig hunched over in fear. “S-sorry, boss.”
Seeing Stig shrink down in the highchair made me feel like I was yelling at a frightened toddler – which made me feel sick. I quickly got ahold of my anger.
“Whatever,” I muttered. I turned back towards the bedroom, desperate to get away from this conversation. “What’s taking her so long? MEERA!”
“In here, Master,” the angel’s v
oice called out.
“What’re you doing in there?!”
“I require your help, Master.”
Ahhh… a reason not to hang out with Stig any longer.
“Sorry,” Stig repeated quietly.
“Forget it,” I said, not looking back at him.
I walked into the bedroom. There were no candles burning, and everything inside the room was dark enough that it took a couple of seconds for my eyes to adjust.
A rectangle of moonlight from the bay window stood out brightly among the shadows. Kneeling on the floor in the patch of light was Meera – without a stitch of clothing on except the collar.
She was absolutely stunning in the moonlight. Her skin was porcelain and flawless. Her breasts stood out firm and full from her chest, with her small, round nipples dark against the milky perfection of her skin. Her hair fell in platinum cascades around her shoulders, robbed by the moonlight of their normal golden sheen. Her wings, which were folded on her back, almost seemed to radiate a supernatural light. The only part of her that actually did glow – the halo over her head – was almost completely lost in the luminous sheen of the moonlight.
I froze in place. Well, most of me did. One particular part was growing quite rapidly.
And all thoughts of Stig and Alaria had been instantaneously wiped from my brain.
“Meera… what’s going on?”
She looked up at me dolefully. “I was a bad girl today.”
Actually, she’d been a pretty good girl, all things considered. But I wasn’t about to argue with a hot naked blonde.
“Uh huh,” I murmured, entranced by her beauty.
“I deserve to be punished,” she said in a breathy voice.
“Uh huh,” I repeated, staring at her lovely breasts. “And how should I do that?”
“Any way that you see fit… Master.”
My time with the frost elves had taught me a few tricks in the ‘punishment’ department, so I was kind of looking forward to this.
But first I needed to get rid of a certain imp.
I stuck my head around the corner. “Hey Stig?”
“Yeah, boss?” he asked, twisting around in his highchair.
“I need you to get lost for a couple of hours. Actually… make it all night.”
“You want me to go sleep out on the street?!” he asked in shocked indignation.
I reached in my bag, pulled out a piece of gold, and flipped it through the air with my thumb.
Stig caught it and stared with wide eyes at the golden coin.
“Go find the new guy and have some fun,” I ordered. “But not too much fun. Just be back down at the dungeon tomorrow morning at sunrise.”
“Yes, boss!” he said gleefully, jumped down from the highchair, and raced out of the apartment on all fours.
I returned to the bedroom and sat down on the bed, although I had to reach in my pants and adjust myself first. Then I patted my legs.
“Get up here and lie on my lap,” I growled sternly.
I didn’t feel stern at all, but I knew that was what she wanted – the fantasy.
It was part of the performance. Kinky kabuki.
She quickly stood up. I watched, drooling, as her breasts jiggled and swayed.
Then I caught myself and regained my composure. Wouldn’t do to have Mr. Discipline gawping like an idiot.
She lay down across my lap, her upper body on one side, her long legs on the other. Her firm stomach pressed against my thighs, and her delicious ass jutted up into the air.
I could feel the warmth of her naked skin against my legs, and my cock swelled a little bit more.
“Like this?” she asked demurely.
“On all fours,” I commanded, though it took a lot of effort to keep the wonder out of my voice and the authoritarian tone in. Her ass alone was enough to strike most men dumb in admiration.
She got up on her knees and braced herself on straight arms, which allowed her breasts to hang down heavy and full from her body. I could only see her left breast, but it was absolutely perfect. Her little pink nipple was the cherry on top of the most perfect scoop of vanilla ice cream ever.
I wanted to reach out and cup her breast in my hand – to feel her full, heavy weight in my palm – to touch her nipple and feel it stiffen under my fingertips –
Jesus.
It was going to be hard not to touch her.
Hell, something was hard already, and I’d barely touched her at all.
“Like this?” she asked again hesitantly.
“Yes, like that,” I snarled, and took a second to drink her in again before I continued the performance. “You were a bad, bad girl today.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“Do you know what happens to bad girls?”
“…they get spanked,” she said breathlessly.
“That’s right. They get spanked. But you’re going to get a special punishment for being so bad.”
She looked at me over her shoulder, her eyes wide with both fear and glee. “What?”
“I didn’t say to look at me,” I barked.
She went back to staring at the bed. “Yes, Master.”
“Now… I’m going to do one of two things. I’m either going to touch you very lightly and pleasurably… or I’m going to spank you. Hard. And you’re not going to know which one I’m going to do.”
It was a little trick I’d picked up from Eluun during her time with me and Alaria. The anticipation and uncertainty were part of the erotic thrill – the spankee not knowing whether she was going to get pleasure or pain.
Plus, I would get to touch Meera softly, which was something I enjoyed.
It might not have been exactly what she wanted, but too fucking bad. I wasn’t really into spanking, so if I was going to do this, I was going to have a little fun, too.
Meera almost immediately tried to contradict me. “I think I should just be spa– ”
WHAP!
I struck her ass with the flat of my palm. The jiggle of her flesh was amazing.
“AH!” she half-gasped, half-cried out.
“You dare to tell me how to discipline you?” I snarled.
“No, Master,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry, Master.”
“You’re going to be sorry, that’s for sure,” I growled. “Now – tell me all the ways you were a bad girl today.”
“Well… I talked back to you…”
I let my fingers lightly trace over her ass, the barest whisper of a caress.
Her skin was softer than silk.
“Ohhhhh,” I heard her moan.
WHAP!
“OH!” she cried out.
“Good girls don’t talk back, do they?”
“No,” she whispered and shook her head, her long hair hiding her face from view.
I was silent and didn’t move.
I knew she was anticipating something – pain or pleasure – but I made her wait.
And wait.
And wait.
After about 20 seconds, she couldn’t take it anymore. “Master, shouldn’t you – ”
WHAP!
“AH!” she cried out.
“What did I tell you about mouthing off about how I discipline you?” I snapped.
But as I said it, I traced my fingers lightly over her ass again.
I could feel the warm glow of where I’d struck her. The outline of my hand was a dark flush on her otherwise porcelain skin.
“Unnnhhhhh… I’m… sorry, Master,” she moaned as I traced lightly over the perfect swell of her ass.
“Sorry for what?”
“…sorry… for talking back to you…”
I let my fingers drift down lightly between her cheeks, caressing her pussy like a feather.
Holy SHIT.
She was drenched already.
Her lips weren’t just a little damp, but literally dripping.
I slowly moved my fingertips across her skin, so lightly that I was barely touching her. Her wetness was the
only contact between her skin and mine.
“Unnnnnnhhhh…” she groaned, and she lowered her head all the way to the bed in bliss.
WHAP!
“AH!” she yelped, her head jerking up, her hair whipping through the air.
“How else were you a bad girl?” I asked, and didn’t touch her at all.
“I… I was impatient.”
I still didn’t touch her. “What else?”
“I… I didn’t always follow instructions exactly.”
Still no touch. “What else?”
She began to get fidgety, clearly wanting something – either a caress or a spank.
I refused to give her either.
“I… I was – Master?” she said, and I knew she was about to ask me if she should be spanked.
“Keep listing what you did wrong.”
“Yes, Master,” she whimpered, though she arched her back and pushed her ass up in the air, just begging to be touched.
I still refused to indulge her.
“I was… I had a bad attitude sometimes… and sometimes I lost my temper… and I got impatient – ”
“You said that already,” I growled.
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you saying that you were only a bad girl in a couple of ways?”
“No, Master.”
“Because I can think of lots of ways you were very, very bad.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Concentrate.”
“Yes, Master.”
As she began to list her infractions again, I finally decided to ease the tension.
Not for her pleasure, really. But for mine.
I took my finger and gently stroked between her lips, easing my fingertip just inside her.
“OHHHHH,” she groaned, and I saw her grab the cover of the bed with both hands.
WHAP!
“OH!” she cried out.
“You haven’t told me the thing you did that was worst of all,” I said as I went back to slowly rubbing my wet finger along her lips.
“W-what, Master?” she whispered, her entire body trembling.
WHAP!
“UNH!”
“You had impure thoughts today, didn’t you?”
I traced my finger along her slit until I reached her clit, which was swollen and hot. I slowly began to circle it – again, so lightly that her wetness was the only thing connecting her skin and mine.
She moaned. “Yes… yes, Master…”
