Playing Their Parts: A Kindred Tales Novel

by Anderson, Evangeline

  After a moment, Stone began the massage again—this time starting at her feet and working his way up. Though Cassie was tense with body anxiety, it was impossible for her not to moan softly as her partner worked the tight muscles of her calves expertly with his big hands.

  She was just starting to relax again, when Stone started in on her thighs.

  Tree-trunk thighs, Keith’s voice whispered in her head. You could really stand to lose some weight there, babe. Maybe if you did some exercises that were just for that area you could get them at least a little smaller…

  Cassie squeezed her thighs together even tighter, miserable with the thought that Stone was probably thinking the exact same things her ex had said to her so many times. Was he wishing he had a thinner partner to play this part with? Maybe Melissa from Vice—she was stick-thin.

  She’s also way back on Earth—light years away from where you and Stone are now, Cassie reminded herself. You need to try and get over this insecurity so you can play your part. Remember what Kat said—you can’t let your cover slip, even for a moment! You could be endangering the whole mission because you’re upset about Stone seeing your overlarge ass!

  But all the self-recrimination and lecturing in the world couldn’t help her relax like she knew she ought to. She just laid there feeling miserable and she actually jumped a little when she felt her partner’s big hands being to caress her bare bottom.

  “Mistress,” Stone murmured, as he rubbed her, lightly at first. “Have I ever told you how beautiful I find this part of your body?”

  “Uh…what?” Cassie actually lifted her head out of the face-rest cushion and looked back at him for a moment in shock. What was he talking about? Was he still just playing a part?

  But the look Stone gave her wasn’t like one conspirator winking at another. In fact, quite the opposite. His pale blue eyes were blazing with desire as he continued to stroke her bottom.

  “Your ass,” he growled softly, beginning to knead the body part in question. “It’s so full…so luscious. It’s a pleasure and a privilege to touch you here and try to ease your tension.”

  Oh my God, I think he actually means it!

  Was her partner an ass-man? Did he actually like big butts and hips and thighs? Was her pear shape as lovely to the big Kindred as a skinny girl’s shape would be to a human man?

  Cassie’s head was spinning. She remembered everything Kat had told her about how the Kindred loved full-figured women. It had seemed like a nice concept at the time but Cassie hadn’t applied the idea to her relationship with Stone. Mostly, she supposed, because they were just friends.

  Only friends don’t rub each other’s asses and then say how much they enjoy doing it! whispered a little voice in her head.

  And how did she feel about that, Cassie asked herself? She had always considered Stone incredibly attractive but way, way out of her league. With his chiseled features and big, hard, muscular body, they weren’t even in the same ballpark. But could it be that her partner found Cassie attractive? As attractive as she found him?

  That was hard to believe and yet, the way Stone was looking at her reminded her of a starving man looking at a buffet. That piercing look in his blue eyes was hungry and it seemed that Cassie was exactly to his taste.

  “Um…thank you, Stone,” she murmured weakly at last. “That…that’s very nice of you.”

  Not sure what else to say, she put her face back in the face-rest. But her partner wasn’t done yet.

  “I love to touch you—love to massage you,” he went on, his long fingers digging skillfully into her flesh as he worked on her bottom and her upper thighs. “I dream about it often, Mistress. About stroking your beautiful body and bringing you pleasure.”

  “You…you’re doing an excellent job of it,” Cassie assured him breathlessly. God, she couldn’t believe he was talking this way to her! He didn’t have to say all this stuff in order to play the part of her body-slave, so why was he saying it?

  “I could do even better if I was allowed to use my tongue and not just my hands,” he growled softly. And then he was parting her legs to massage her inner thighs.

  Cassie gasped quietly but didn’t try to stop him. The sensation of her partner’s big hands on her bare body felt too good for her to protest. And now that it seemed he actually liked this part of her body, she felt much less inclined to try and squirm away from him in shame.

  “So beautiful,” Stone murmured, massaging even deeper. “So ripe and full and perfect.”

  She could feel him pressing against her outer pussy lips as he rubbed her now. Though he didn’t enter her, with every massaging stroke, she could feel the pads of his thumbs pressing against her sensitive clit on either side—in essence, giving her a clit massage too, even though he never directly touched it, having never parted her pussy lips.

  Cassie bit her lip as sparks of pleasure rushed through her. She couldn’t hold back the moan that rose to her lips or stop herself from lifting her hips and spreading her legs, giving Stone better access to her bare pussy.

  “Gods, Mistress, so gorgeous,” he growled hoarsely. “Are you ready to flip over and let me massage your front now?”

  “My…my front?” Cassie bit her lip, her uncertainty rushing back. Should she let her partner do this? It was, after all, supposed to be an erotic massage but still…

  “There are certain areas I could reach more easily if you turned over for me,” Stone murmured. As he spoke, his thumbs rubbed relentlessly against her outer pussy lips, caressing her swollen clit within and making Cassie hotter than she could ever remember being.

  “I…I don’t know, Stone,” she whispered. “That seems rather, er, intimate, don’t you think?”

  “Trust me,” he murmured again. “You know that I’ll always be gentle with you, Cassandra. I’ll never hurt you. I just want to give you pleasure.”

  His use of her real name instead of calling her “Mistress” made Cassie wonder if they were going too far. Was Stone forgetting himself? Losing himself in the role he was playing?

  If so, she was definitely in danger of losing herself too. The big Kindred’s hands on her body were incredibly erotic. He touched her with a knowledge and skill that no other lover she’d ever been with had displayed.

  But he’s my partner—my best friend, Cassie reminded herself hazily. I can’t lose sight of that! If I’m not careful, I’ll ruin the best friendship in my life!

  Because how could they go back to being just partners if they went too far together here? Cassie didn’t believe in the idea of “friends with benefits.” She’d tried it once before, with a dear friend in college, and had lost him as a consequence. When you brought physical intimacy into a friendship, it almost always killed the friendship and ruined any relationship going forward. Things just got…awkward after you went too far with a friend.

  But all the reasoning in the world couldn’t seem to compete with the fact that Stone’s hands on her body felt so incredibly good and his warm, rich scent was making her dizzy with lust.

  “Turn over, Cassandra,” he growled softly in her ear. “Let me massage your beautiful breasts. Let me stroke your hot little pussy until you come for me. I can smell your desire—I know you want it as much as I do.”

  “Oh, God!” Cassie gasped, her hips bucking as he continued to rub her pussy with his thumbs. Was she really going to do this? Should she?

  Most definitely not, whispered the voice of reason in her head. But somehow she found she was doing it, turning over to bare her breasts to her partner and maybe even spread her legs for him…

  “Enough. We are satisfied with what we see.”

  The deep, burbling voice startled Cassie so much that she let out a surprised squeak and nearly fell off the table. Once again, she had forgotten that they were being watched. It sent a cold chill down her back to realize that this intimate moment with her partner was being observed by the disgusting, slug-like Xempi Gozeriam.

  “Careful!” Stone caught her and
helped her off the table. “Are you well, Mistress?” he asked, looking down at her, his brow furrowed with anxiety.

  “I…I’m fine. I just need to get dressed. I…”

  But when Cassie looked down at herself, she realized that she was dressed. Once more she was wearing the metal bikini, black leather boots, and cape. The soft white massage clothes had disappeared—and so had the tropical hut with the waves shushing gently outside its door. The only thing left to let her know it hadn’t all been a dream was the light sheen of massage oil on her skin.

  “Where…how…” She looked around herself, not understanding.

  “As we told you before, the dream-star makes thoughts into reality but only for a limited time,” Xempi Gozeriam told her. His Slimefullness was unfortunately visible again, up on the stage on his raised dais, surrounded by his female guards—a much less pleasant sight than the tropical massage hut Stone had dreamed up.

  Gozeriam was penetrating no less than four of his guards now, with his slimeshafts, Cassie saw, as she tried to keep the disgust off her face. The guards all had stoic looks on their faces, as though they dealt with this all the time—which they probably did, she thought, feeling ill.

  “So you, uh, found our performance acceptable, your Greatness?” Cassie asked, lifting her chin and trying to retain her “Mistress” persona.

  “Eminently,” Gozeriam burbled. “We must admit, we were becoming bored at first until you introduced the element of the forbidden, Mistress.”

  “Uh, the forbidden?” Cassie frowned, not certain what the huge Slimerian meant.

  “But of course—when you pretended to be reluctant to allow your slave to disrobe you. Most Yonnite Mistresses expect their body-slaves to follow their instructions implicitly. Your body-slave ought to have stopped when you expressed reluctance. Instead, he persisted and rendered you nude. Then he continued touching you and saying things that no proper body-slave would dare to say to his Mistress. And yet you allowed it—even welcomed it. Yes…” Gozeriam nodded ponderously. “It was a most titillating performance.”

  His slime was presently bright pink, Cassie noticed. Was that the color of lust for him? It must be, considering what he was doing to his poor guards.

  “Oh, uh, thank you, your Slimefullness.” She bowed her head respectfully.

  “We will certainly keep it in mind as we write your scripts in the future,” the porn magnate continued. “In fact, we feel so inspired, you may expect a script tomorrow.”

  “I…didn’t know you wrote the scripts yourself,” Cassie said. “That’s…most impressive, your Greatness.”

  “We only write when we feel inspired,” Gozeriam burbled. “Otherwise, we leave the script-writing to our cadre of authors. Speaking of which, you can follow T’lle Vos’don, one of our head writers, to your rooms. We excuse you from our presence so that we may begin the creative process.”

  As he spoke, a small humanoid male with dark purple skin, long silver whiskers, and round pink spectacles perched on his beak-like nose came forward and made a bow to Cassie.

  “Oh, um, hello,” she said uncertainly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Good day, my Lady.” The little man straightened up and grinned at her. “Do come this way and I’ll show you to the humanoid actors’ rooms.”

  “Thank you.” Cassie remembered to bow to Gozeriam before she turned to go. “Um, and thank you, your Slimefullness, for giving us a chance.”

  “You are most welcome. We will be pleased to watch you and your body-slave continue your excellent performance, Mistress,” the Slimerian informed her. “We will see you tomorrow.”

  “Thank you,” Cassie said again. “Good night.” And she and Stone followed the little man with purple skin out of the throne room.

  Twenty-Seven

  “Well, that was quite a remarkable audition, I must say,” T’lle Vos’don remarked to Cassie as he led them away from the cavernous throne room. “The use of the forbidden, was, as his Slimefullness remarked, most unexpected and welcome. Most Yonnite pornography is so straightforward—‘slave touch me here’ or ‘slave lick me there.’ And the body-slave must always obey. Allowing your slave to have the upper hand was a most novel approach.”

  “Yes, we…planned it that way,” Cassie said, hoping he would believe her.

  “Indeed—most creative!”

  T’lle Vos’don nodded eagerly as he led her and Stone through a door in the far corner of the throne room which was much smaller and less impressive than the massive golden disks which had rolled aside to allow them to enter in the front.

  “It turned his Greatness’s slime quite a lovely shade of pink—most impressive!” he went on gushing.

  “Thank you,” Cassie said, giving their guide a weak smile. To be honest, she was still thinking about what had happened between her and Stone and wondering if it was a big mistake. They had never touched each other that way before—had never even come close. Was this mission going to mean the end of their friendship?

  She wondered if Stone was bothered as well, but when she turned her head to look at him, his face was stoic and impassive. Maybe he didn’t feel anything at all about what the two of them had done together. Maybe it was all just an act to him and Cassie was reading way too much into the erotic words he’d spoken as he massaged her.

  Ugh—I have to stop thinking about it! she told herself. Have to get over it and get on with my life! Concentrate on the mission.

  “The palace is huge,” she said to T’lle Vos’don, trying take her mind off her problems with her partner. She waved a hand, indicating the main hallway they were in, which branched out into many other corridors. “Just immense.”

  “Yes, indeed—and some find it to be a bit confusing,” the little purple-skinned man confided. “But it’s not really so difficult. Shall I tell you the secret of finding your way around?”

  “Oh yes, please.” Cassie nodded eagerly. Anything that helped them navigate the maze of hallways and corridors would be most welcome.

  “Well…” T’lle Vos’don looked around, as though he thought someone might be listening. “This is not something everyone knows. In fact, only the most trusted advisors and favorites of his Slimefullness are privy to the information. But he seemed to like you and your body-slave so much, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me telling you.”

  “You’re very kind.” Cassie smiled at the little man ingratiatingly. “Please, go on.”

  “All right, then. To get anywhere in the palace, you simply tap the wall and say where you want to go. Yes, it’s really that easy!” T’lle Vos’don exclaimed, beaming at her. “Here, allow me to demonstrate.”

  He stepped over to the right-hand wall and tapped it smartly three times with his fingertip. In a low, but stern voice he commanded,

  “By order of his Slimefullness, take me to room four hundred and ninety- seven in the humanoid actors’ wing.”

  At once a tiny dot of light appeared on the smooth, white wall where the little man had tapped. It blinked off and on for a moment and then became a trail of lights, leading further down the hallway.

  “And now we simply follow the lights!” T’lle Vos’don grinned at Cassie again. “They will take us directly to your bed chamber, Mistress!”

  “How amazing!” Cassie exclaimed, not having to pretend to be amazed at all. “And how useful—I wish the buildings back on my home world had light guides like this.”

  She thought of the time her father had gotten his gall bladder removed in Tampa General Hospital, a sprawling building that took up a large chunk of Davis Island. She and her mother had gotten lost twice going to visit him after the operation. A light guidance system like this would be really good in a big, confusing place like that.

  “It is extremely useful, but please remember that it’s not commonly known,” T’lle Vos’don warned her. “Please don’t use it if anyone is around. It’s strictly for those late-night vid-shoots when you’re trying to find your way back to your room and there’s no on
e about to ask directions.”

  “Of course—I’ll be discrete,” Cassie promised.

  “Thank you. And now…here we are at your room. Just press your hand to the panel in the middle to open it. It will automatically key to your palm print and not allow anyone else to enter.”

  They had turned the corner and ended up in front of a door with a number on it in a hallway filled with doors that were exactly alike. It reminded Cassie of a hotel back on Earth—except the carpet in the corridor appeared to be alive. It was a soft, cushiony moss that was bright red in some patches and orange and brown in others like autumn leaves.

  “Thank you,” she said to T’lle Vos’don again. “You’ve been most kind.”

  “I’m just looking forward to seeing more of your work, my dear.” He bowed to her formally. “My best wishes for a good night’s sleep. In the morning if you’re hungry, simply follow the other actors to the humanoid Dining Hall.”

  Then he nodded again and whisked away, leaving Cassie alone with her partner, feeling awkward in a way she never had before.

  Twenty-Eight

  “Well, we passed the first hurtle,” Stone remarked, after checking their bed chamber thoroughly for bugs and vid devices and assuring himself they weren’t being watched or listened to. “We got the job without blowing our cover.”

  “Yes, I guess we did.” Cassandra shot him an unreadable glance and then looked away, her cheeks slightly pink.

  Stone frowned.

  “Is there something wrong?”

  “Wrong? No, of course not,” she denied quickly. “This is a nice room, isn’t it? Look—we even have a floating beanbag bed. Never seen one of those before.”

  She drifted over to the immense mattress which was shaped rather like the human chair called a “beanbag” and stroked its side. It had a shiny golden cover on it and it was hovering about a meter up in the air. It looked big enough for two, but Stone wasn’t sure they ought to share it. For one thing, it might look strange if a Mistress invited her body-slave to sleep with her.