Mature!

Please refrain from reading if sex and/or violence will offend. Thank you.

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The next morning, weary and sore, I was barely able to move. This, of course, awarded me yet more beatings. While we bathed, He had me wash Him as quickly as I could, so there was no playing, no enjoyment. I did get breakfast, but it was done sooner than I would have liked. That morning, we had a few meetings, but when they were done, He sat at his console silently again, and looked up information. Around lunch time, He said, “Go bring me lunch, Slave.”

Obediently, I went to the kitchen, feeling my way through the halls, and asked the new cook for lunch for Him. I returned to His office carefully holding a tray of food, which He bade me set on the table next to Him. I was about to return to my position behind Him, when He pulled me down onto his lap. Startled, I almost fell, but managed not to, cuddling against His chest as I normally did at meals.

He held me there for several minutes, His face pressed into my neck and hair, His arms holding me against him. Then, we ate. When we were done, I would have risen, but He kept His arm about my waist, holding me in His lap. He continued looking at his console for the rest of the afternoon, and as evening drew near, we again went for a walk in the gardens before supper.

Several days passed like this, and during those days, He was tender and loving one moment, and forceful and violent the next. I found myself constantly unable to predict when He would be which, and I continued to acquire bruises, though He never made me bleed. Finally, one morning while we were in His office, I heard Him turn away from His console.

“Slave,” He addressed me curtly, “Tell me about the ones that took you from the party.”

Startled, I remained silent just a moment too long, and was rewarded by a sharp slap across my cheek. But He didn't repeat himself, and I managed to stutter, “Th-they w-were three men a-and one w-w-woman, Master.”

“I know that!” He snapped at me, “Tell me about them.”

Mustering up my courage, I thought about what I had heard that night, and I managed to stop stuttering, “Master, the woman was tall, and she wore a short dress that clung close to her skin and heels that clicked unevenly when she walked. The men were big and strong, and one of them wore a big ring,” which had scratched me and hurt terribly when he had hit me. “He wore boots, but the other two wore something softer-sounding. Slippers, I think. The one with the ring was waiting outside for them, he wasn't inside. The other two men were in a room that the woman took me to.”

He was dead silent for a while, and I waited for Him to beat me again, but He never did. Finally, I heard Him turn back to His console, but He did not type. After about an hour, He rose, clipped a leash to my circlet, and took me out into the garden for a walk.

I walked silently just behind Him, wondering why He had asked me about the people, knowing that I hadn't seen them. I hoped my answer had been good enough for Him, and given that He hadn't beat me yet, I guessed it was a pretty good answer. At supper, He fed me while I sat on His lap, as usual, but my fare was not the same as it normally was. He fed me from His own plate that night, which was much better food than what He normally fed me, though my normal food wasn't bad, really, simply not very flavorful.

That night, He made gentle love to me, and I was pleased to fall asleep in His arms. In our morning bath, after I washed Him, I went to the other side to wash myself. He joined me there after just a few moments, though, and took the soap from me.

Without saying a word, He began to wash me, even shampooing my hair for me. When that was done, He massaged my back, which felt so very good that I simply relaxed into His arms when He had finished. He held me close to Him for a while, stroking my hair, then released me and climbed from the bath. Immediately, I followed Him, found a towel, and began to dry Him very thoroughly.

After breakfast, He had several meetings. For the first time, I paid attention to them, and found some of these meetings to be very boring, talking mostly of finances. I did learn that He traded in slaves: He bought them, professionally trained them, and resold them. But other than that, He also was president of a large contracting business. They built houses, mostly. Very large, expensive houses, I surmised.

As the meetings continued on, pushing lunch back, I tired of hearing numbers, the latest building concerns, and reports of employees' conduct. Finally, we stopped to eat, and after lunch, I went to the laundry room, while He went through the house. Now, I understood that He not only inspected the house, but also disciplined his slaves if He saw need for it.

Knitting once more with Granny, I was treated to more of her stories once the other women had all gone. From her, I learned that our master was also the second son of one of the most influential Senate members in this system. More interested, at the time, in our location, and how I had come to be on a planet that was not Earth (for I didn't remember knowing of travels between planets before I left Earth), I asked about the system we were in, and how we got there. When supper time came along, I was sorry to leave the old woman, but she assured me she would be well.

After that day, I resolved to pay more attention to the morning meetings, though, for I guessed I could learn things about my master there. We passed several more days in peace, and He neglected His typing at the console again, for the most part. I thought that maybe He had been researching the people He thought had taken me at that party, but He never told me about it

* * *

“Slave!” He called to me from across the room, “Bring me that stack of tablecloths.”

It had been nearly six months since that disastrous party, and He was to host a party at His own home. Well, not quite His own home. He moved several slaves from His home to a different mansion about a week before the party. I missed Granny, but was happy to be allowed to explore this new mansion. Surprisingly, He had allowed me to stray from his side as often as I wished, save for mealtimes and the night.

I searched around on the long table I was standing near, until I found a stack of soft, patterned tablecloths. I lifted them, then maneuvered my way through the maze of tables to where I heard Him moving things around. He lifted the top one from my stack and expertly draped it over the nearest table. We went around the room, covering each of the little round tables.

When we finished, He swept me up close to Him with his arm and kissed me passionately. I pressed closer to His chest, knowing this pleased Him, as we kissed. When He finally released me, I was breathless, reveling in the passion and gentleness He'd exhibited since we arrived at this other mansion.

He moved away, arranging flowers in vases, and I wandered back through the halls, ending up in the kitchen. I stayed there for a long while, helping where I could, but mostly loving the wonderful smells. He had promised me that I would be allowed to eat some before the party, if I was good, and, smelling the mouthwatering smells in that kitchen, I vowed to be as good and helpful as possible.

Eventually, I wandered back, toward the ballroom. Once there, I sat at the piano and began experimenting—quietly—with the keys. Eventually, I thought I had the piano figured out, and I ran through a short lullaby I remembered from my dreams of my mother. I added a bit of a flourish to the end, and smiled proudly. To me, at least, it had sounded both sweet and beautiful.

Then, as if to show how much I had been concentrating on my playing, He startled me by putting his arms around me, leaning forward as He did so, and played a short snatch of a dance tune I often heard being played at the parties. I jumped a bit at the feeling of His arms around me, and His breath on my cheek, and accidentally hit His chin with my head, causing Him to play a discordant note.

He laughed and lifted me off the bench, kissing my cheek, then set me on my feet. “You played well, Salve. When we return home, you will learn piano.”

I felt heat rising into my cheeks at the praise, and I cuddled up close to Him, then stood on my tiptoes to kiss His soft mouth. I felt Him smile, but then He pushed me gently away. “Our guests will arrive soon, and we are not dressed yet.”

He led the way back to our room, which we shared as in His home mansion. There, I dressed us both up in nice clothes. Before we left the room, He captured my hands, and said softly, “You are to please my guests in any way they ask. You will dance with them, sit with them, or lay with them. You are not to leave the house.” Then He released me, and pushed me gently in the direction of the kitchen.

I went there eagerly, thinking of what He'd said. I fervently hoped that I would be asked only to dance or sit with the guests. While I was eating, I wondered that I had never been allowed to leave His side before at parties. Why should this one be different? Finally, as I finished my last bite, I concluded that it was because He was hosting the party.

When the guests began to arrive, I stood next to Him by the door, as He greeted every one. I was not alone with Him, though, for all the women slaves stood with us. Eventually, I noticed that some guests passed right by us, after greeting our master, but some stopped to find an escort from those slaves lining the hall.

Eventually, one man smelling of a strong cologne paused by me and took my hand. “You're a pretty one,” the man told me, his voice deep and gravelly, “Come.” He led me away, into the ballroom, where people were already mingling, though there was no music yet.

I walked with the man as he spoke to other guests, and I noticed that he shuffled when he walked. Mentally, I dubbed him Shuffle, because of that. He seemed to take pleasure in feeding me bits of food, and I soon found myself quite full of olives and cheese, and something else that I couldn't identify. Shuffle became quite angry if I refused his bits of food, though, so I silently accepted them.

Not long after the music started, he took me by the waist and tried to dance with me. I had never danced before that, so I was clumsy, and it seemed that Shuffle was as poor a dancer as I. Finally, he gave up trying to dance, two songs later, but he didn't release me. Instead, he bent forward and kissed my lips greedily. On his lips, I could taste the liquor he'd been drinking all evening, and I nearly gagged.

Unfortunately, Shuffle seemed to take my near-gagging as an invitation to continue, and he hummed happily as he half-dragged me to one of the multitude of rooms in this mansion. Once there, he shut the door, and near tore off my clothing, and then his as well. Then he pressed against me, and I was startled to realize that Shuffle was a young man, a little younger even than my master.

I had little time to pursue this thought, though, as his lips again found mine, and he pawed at my bare skin. I was immediately repulsed by the smell of the alcohol mingling with his cologne and his own sweat. He pushed me back toward the bed, and I tripped over the edge of it, with him landing atop me, knocking the breath out of me.

As I gasped for air, Shuffle clumsily shoved himself into me, thrusting hard and painfully. When he finally finished, he fell against my chest, asleep almost immediately. I lay there, wondering how to get from beneath him. When I tried to gently move him off my chest, he woke up and held on to me fiercely. “No,” he growled menacingly, before going back to sleep. It took me several minutes to realize that he had started drooling on my breast, as he slept.

For at least an hour, probably closer to two, Shuffle slept on me, drooling quite happily. Then he woke with a start and lifted his head. “Mff,” he muttered as he got off me. He patted my hip and said cheerfully, “That was a good girl.” Then he rose and dressed himself, leaving me alone in the room.

After a few minutes, I, too, rose, hunted around for my dress, dressed quickly, and returned to the party. There, I was snared into dancing with several other men. Fortunately, I was not led back into any bedrooms, and I spent my time trying to remember the various dance steps, and trying not to trip over anyone's feet.

By the time the last guest had gone, I was so weary that I could barely even undress my master, and He ended up helping me undress myself. Then, I had to concentrate on pleasing Him, before I was finally allowed to relax into His embrace and sleep.