by Morgan Hawke
The girls rushed to their feet, cooing anxiously.
Roth bolted for the tub and heaved himself over the edge and into the waist-deep steaming water. It wasn’t hot enough to scald, but the heat penetrated deep into his sore thigh and lower back muscles.
His head went light from raw animal pleasure. He stumbled backward to the far side of the tub and the back of his knees knocked against the underwater bench. He collapsed down onto the seat, submerging to his neck. Heat burrowed into the muscles of his belly, back, and chest, scattering his thoughts even further. He groaned deep and long, his head falling back against the rounded edge of the tub.
He blinked to find himself looking up into the upside-down face of one of his smiling attendants. He was still in the tub, but his head was tilted back and resting on her folded knees while her fingers gently washed his hair.
He frowned up at her, slightly confused. He couldn’t remember when she’d begun washing his hair at all. Had he passed out briefly? He shifted his arms under him to push away and found that he didn’t quite have the strength. His muscles were so relaxed, that it was almost too difficult to lift his hand from the water. “Crap...”
A shadow fell over him and a deep, masculine voice spoke softly. “Are you enjoying your bath, Jaeger?”
~ * ~
Two
What...? Alarmed, Roth looked further up, beyond the girl’s shoulder.
His gaze was met by the pitch-black eyes of a starkly handsome man with high cheekbones, a strong, clean-shaven jawline, and full, mobile lips. Long, pin-straight, black hair fell loose over the shoulders of his voluminous black robe to drape at his waist.
Roth frowned. How does this guy know me? He’d never seen him before in his life. “Who...?”
The man smiled, his black brows winging up. “I am Fox, your trainer.”
Roth’s frown deepened. “What?” He had no idea what the hell was going on, but he was not sticking around to find out! He shoved against the bench to tip forward and get up, but his arms held no strength; nor did his neck. He couldn’t even lift his head from the girl’s lap. His muscles wouldn’t obey him. He tried again, and again...
Ignoring his efforts, the girl chuckled softly, lifted the bucket by her side, and began gently rinsing the soap from his hair.
Fox knelt beside her and smiled down at Roth. “I’m afraid the muscle relaxants are well into your bloodstream. The heat of the bath made the drug even more effective.”
Roth’s eyes widened. “Drugged...? When...? How...?”
Fox reached out to brush his hand over the head of the other girl. “The drug was in the suppository this little angel shoved into your ass.”
So that was it...! Roth clenched his jaw. “What do you want from me?”
Fox’s smile broadened, showing white teeth with slightly overlong incisors. “Only what you owe, Jaeger, which should take about five days of your time.”
Roth’s eyes widened. “Five days?”
Fox nodded. “Once you’ve been properly trained, it should take you that long, more or less, to earn back every sovereign you owe.”
Roth bared his teeth. “Owe to who? Just who the hell are you?”
Fox tilted his head and folded his arms across his chest. “I work for a collection agency. My clients are...” He listed five major gambling houses in five different cites, including the one that once occupied the building he was in. “And this is the combined amount we intend to gain from you...”
Roth tried to shake his head, but his body still wasn’t obeying him. “There’s no way in hell I can pay all that back in five days!”
Fox’s smile didn’t waver. “Did you know that the peony flower symbolizes shame?”
Roth stared. “What?”
Fox pulled a chord from within each of his sleeves. “Now then...” With practiced ease, he crossed the ends behind him, pulling both long sleeves up to his armpits. He then looped the ends over his shoulders, pulled them behind him, and tied the ends together. “Let’s get you out of that bath and properly shaved.”
“Shaved! I like my goatee, thank you very much!”
Fox crouched down, grabbed Roth under the arms, and hauled the soaking wet man out of the water with disgusting ease. “I was not referring to your face.” He turned away from the bath holding the dripping wet Roth suspended by the upper arms. “Ladies?”
Both girls came forward dressed in their short tunics and carrying towels. They ruthlessly scrubbed Roth dry.
Roth struggled to stand, but his legs refused to work. “Damn it!” Dangling like a rag doll in Fox’s hands, he suddenly realized that Fox was a full head taller than he was, and very strong—too strong for his slender build. However, Roth didn’t sense anything dark or twisted about Fox. He seemed almost...elegant. He didn’t have the aggressive sharpness of movement that would have marked him as military, as a trained killer. There was no trace of steel or gunpowder in his scent either. He smelled of sandalwood soap and simple sweat. He smelled civilian.
Roth groaned in self-disgust. He, one of the most deadly Lieutenant Colonels in the Black Rose Company, a man who led companies of men capable of leveling whole cities, had been captured and subdued by ordinary civilians.
And the man intended to shave him? “If not my face, then what the hell are you shaving?”
Fox leaned close to Roth’s ear. “Your body hair, of course; your legs, underarms, pubic hair...”
“My what...?” Roth was able to twist his head just enough to aim a sideways glare at the smug bastard holding him up by the arms like a toddler. “Damn it, Fox, I’m not a girl!”
The two girls giggled and began working a simple white terry-cloth bathrobe onto Roth’s limp body. They didn’t tie it closed.
“Thank you, ladies.” Fox turned Roth to face him then crouched to grab Roth about the waist.
Roth couldn’t stop himself from falling forward over Fox’s shoulder like a limp rag. He couldn’t even lift a hand to brush his long hair from his eyes. “Damn it...”
Fox closed his arms around Roth’s thighs and stood. “No, you are not female.” He strode out of the partitioned bath area with the man draped over his shoulder. “But this does not change the fact that for the next five days, you will be an extremely expensive courtesan.”
Roth’s mouth fell open. “A...WHAT!? No fucking way! I am not gonna be some damned whore!”
Fox snorted, but there was no humor in the sound. “You are not being given a choice.” His steps were steady and sure, as though the sleekly muscled Black Rose Company Lieutenant Colonel weighed nothing. “This time, you will pay back your debts, Jaeger.”
Grinding his teeth, Roth stared at the gun, still on its stool getting further and further away. The bastard had a point about not having a choice. He couldn’t move a goddamned finger, at least until the drug wore off. “Isn’t there anything else I can do?”
“Courtesan work is the most effective and the least time-consuming.”
The two girls dashed past him. Somewhere in front of them, a door opened.
Roth tried to struggle but his body simply refused to cooperate. “Bastard! You can’t do this to me!”
Fox sighed. “You did this to yourself, Jaeger.”
Roth struggled to regain control over his body, to escape, with all his will, but his muscles refused to obey. The doors closed behind him, shutting away the last glimpse of his beloved pistol sitting innocently on its stool along with his clothes.
He was so fucked.
* * * * * *
In a small upstairs room with plain unpainted wooden walls, one door, and no windows, Fox crouched to lay Roth out on a white cotton sheet spread out on the polished plank floor.
Roth blinked up at Fox’s face, his first chance to see it straight on, and had to forcibly close his mouth. The man was fucking gorgeous. For a guy. He had very fine features with up-slanted black eyes under dark winging brows, strongly defined cheekbones, and a jaw line that wasn’t too square or too broad. Eve
n his nose was well made. His lips however, belonged on a woman. They were entirely too full, especially that bottom one.
Fox leaned over Roth and spread Roth’s bathrobe wide. His black gaze focused on Roth’s face then traveled down his displayed body clearly assessing what he saw. He brushed a finger along one of the jagged scars that decorated Roth’s chest and belly.
Roth shoved his pride aside and cleared his throat. “I’m all scarred up. No one is going to want to pay for a body like mine.”
Fox looked into Roth’s eyes and smiled. “On the contrary, the scars prove how powerful and deadly you truly are.”
Roth felt the oddest coiling of...gratification from Fox’s words.
Fox’s smile broadened to reveal his slightly overlong incisors. “Do you have any idea how many men would love to fuck a man they know is capable of killing them?”
“What?” Roth’s eyes widened. “M—men...?”
Fox’s black brow lifted. “You didn’t honestly think you’d be servicing women?”
Roth slid his gaze to the side. “I have before.” A number of wealthy widowers and more than a few married women whose husbands were...otherwise occupied, had showered him with money, in trade for his bedroom skills.
Fox snorted. “Privately, I’m sure.” He walked around to Roth’s feet. “Women do not frequent brothels, unless they are looking for work.” He casually pushed Roth’s legs apart then stepped over his leg to stand between them. His gaze focused quite obviously on Roth’s genital area. “A natural redhead. Nice.”
Roth felt heat filling his cheeks and closed his eyes. Damn it, why am I blushing? Women had commented on his hair color for years. What was it about this guy that had him acting like such a nervous little virgin?
One of the girls brought over a large sitting pillow.
The other girl set a basin of steaming water by Roth’s knee and a cup nearly overflowing with foam. A stubby wooden handle stuck out of it.
Roth swallowed. He knew shaving soap when he saw it.
Fox set the pillow between Roth’s thighs. With a whisper of fabric, he sat cross-legged on the pillow, his knees pushing Roth’s upper thighs further apart. He reached into his sleeve, and pulled out a cloth-wrapped bundle as long as his forearm beside the bowl. He unrolled the bundle to reveal long slender needles and the ivory handle of a folding knife. “Please remain calm.” He lifted the ivory handle. “I assure you, I am quite skilled.” A flick of his wrist exposed the gleaming blade of a straight razor. “You have been blessed with very little body hair. This will not take long.”
Roth eyed the razor. “Gee, thanks.”
Without the slightest hesitation, Fox lifted Roth’s flaccid dick, applied the soap, and began scraping the razor across his flesh, denuding him of his short and curlies with swift, smooth strokes, even around his balls.
Roth swallowed. The man was definitely a pro.
The girls lifted one of Roth’s legs.
Fox soaped up the leg and shaved it clean from thigh to toe. The leg was set down and the other was lifted, and shaved. The underarm area took mere seconds. His sparse chest and belly hair did take a bit more time, but not much.
Fox cleaned off the last of the soap with a warm, wet cloth, then wiped his razor, folded it, and set it back down. He smiled. “Now then, only a few more small matters to attend to, and we can begin your training.”
Roth was not at all comfortable with the breeze caressing his freshly denuded...parts. Embarrassment warmed his cheeks and triggered his temper. “This drug will wear off sooner or later, and when it does, you sadistic bastard, I am going to kick your ass from here to the sea!”
Fox nodded. “You are correct. The drug will wear off in about twenty minutes.” He lifted one of the long gleaming needles. “And so other means must be used to ensure your submission.”
Roth eyed the needle. “Is that some sort of acupuncture needle?
Fox smiled. “Indeed it is.”
The girls shoved Roth over onto his belly and tugged the bathrobe off of him.
Roth gasped. “What the fuck are you doing now, you bastard?”
Fox leaned over his back. “I am shutting off that foul mouth of yours.”
Roth felt something prick the back of his neck. The prick became a wiggle then a burn. “Ow... Fu-!” His voice cut off before he could finish the word. Shocked, he gasped in a breath and tried again. He couldn’t make a sound above a whisper. His vocal chords wouldn’t work. His voice was gone.
Fox sighed. “Much better.” He leaned over Roth, his palm sliding up Roth’s back, and spoke softly into his ear. “Don’t worry, I will return your voice, once you have paid off your debt in full.” He leaned back.
Roth felt a prick in the back of his ankle right next to the tendon. Shit! What is that bastard doing now? There was a wiggle and a burn that faded.
Between his legs, Fox shifted. Another prick stabbed into his other ankle, a wiggle, and then a burn. “Just so you know I’ve deadened the portion of your Achilles tendons that controls your feet. You can use your legs to sit any way you like, but I’m afraid that standing or walking is now impossible for you.”
Roth’s heart hammered in his chest. The son of a bitch crippled me! He opened his mouth to shout out every expletive he could think off, but all that escaped his throat were whispers.
Fox rolled to his feet and knelt at Roth’s shoulder. There were two needles in his hand. He chuckled. “Well, you aren’t completely silent, but whispers are easily muffled.” He lifted Roth’s arm and set it so that it laid alongside him palm up. He lifted a needle and inserted it in Roth’s wrist, just below the heel of his hand. Wiggle, burn... He pulled the needle free, stepped over Roth’s back, and did the same to his other wrist. “Done.” He stood and walked back toward Roth’s feet.
What the fuck did he just do? Roth succeeded in pulling his arms back up and tried to fist his hands to sit up. His fingers would not close enough to make contact. He stared at them in shock. My hands...! There was no way in hell he could shoot a gun or use a sword like this!
“As you’ve probably guessed, not only has your voice been cut down to a whisper, but neither your feet nor your fingers function, though you still have use of your palms. Without your feet, you cannot walk. Without your fingers, you cannot feed yourself, wash yourself, or dress yourself. Nor can you shout for help. You are in effect, completely helpless.”
Roth huffed for breath, his heart slamming in his chest. A wind he couldn’t feel rushed in his ears. If even one of my enemies finds me like this, I’m a dead man.
Fox patted his ass. “If you are worried about being discovered by your enemies, I assure you, that you are safe here. There are among us quite a few individuals fully capable of taking on any enemy that might discover you.”
Roth sucked in a breath. How the hell would these civilians be able to protect him from any one of the highly trained killers that would be interested in taking his head?
Fox snorted. “I can practically read the thoughts from your expressions.” He stepped up to Roth’s head and squatted down to peer into his eyes. “Among all your petty little wars, did you never consider that some of us walking among you might not be human at all?”
Roth frowned and whispered. “Not...human?” Was this some kind of a joke?
Fox smiled broadly enough to reveal that both his upper and lower canines were over-long. The man had actual fangs. He lowered his head and pressed his finger to his eye. He gave a soft grunt and lowered his hand. In his palm was a dark brown contact. He lifted his gaze to Roth, revealing one golden eye with an elongated pupil. He turned his head and used a finger to brush back a lock of his long black hair. A large black-furred triangular ear unfolded from the side of his head.
Fox was definitely not human.
Eyes wide, Roth stared at Fox and whispered. “What are you?”
Fox folded his ear back down, concealing it under his hair, then replaced his contact. “The simplest and most accurate descripti
on of what I am would be a fox that learned to assume human form.” He winked at Roth with a human-looking black eye. “If you want to know any more, then I suggest you visit a library.”
Roth frowned. A fox that could take human form? That actually sounded familiar.
Fox stepped over Roth’s thigh and seated himself between Roth’s legs once more. “Now then, let’s get you properly cleaned and prepared.”
Cleaned? But he’d just had a bath...? Roth turned his head to look back at Fox then jolted in surprise. He could actually turn his head. The drug was finally wearing off.
One of the girls offered Fox a long-necked clear plastic squeeze bottle filled with a thick golden liquid. The other girl set what appeared to be a hospital bedpan by Roth’s knee.
Roth frowned and whispered. “What the hell is that?”
Fox smiled. “The oil has been warmed to slightly higher than body temperature, so it will not shock your bowels.” He gripped one check of Roth’s ass and lowered the rounded nose of the bottle.
Roth suddenly knew exactly what it was. His heart stuttered in his chest and his eyes opened wide. “That’s an—?”
Fox pressed the narrow opening against Roth’s anus. “Yes, this is exactly what you think it is.” He slid it into Roth’s body.
There was only the slightest of aches from the bottle’s neck, and the warmth of the oil surging into him wasn’t unpleasant, but the humiliation pouring through Roth made him shudder all the way up his spine. He looked away and closed his eyes. He loathed enemas. Always had. Always would.
Fox pulled the emptied bottle free and handed it to one of the kneeling girls. “Oil is far more effective than water, so this will not take long at all.” He rose from his pillow to walk over toward Roth’s head. “Prepare yourself.” He grabbed Roth under the arms and lifted him then slid his arms slid around Roth’s chest to hold him heart to heart. His lips brushed Roth’s ear. “You should be able to move your legs enough to kneel.” He lowered himself to one knee.
