Twenty-Six
Lilli went stiff with stage fright as she and Karn made their way up onto the announcing platform. It wasn’t very big but it overlooked the grand, mother-of-pearl ballroom, filled with all the richest and most influential Mistresses in all of Opulex. She had always hated being the center of attention, and this was way worse than being in one of the morality plays the Sisters had helped the girls at the convent put on for the benefit of their classmates.
Lilli had only been in one of those plays—she’d been a supporting character with only one line. But when it had come time to speak her piece, she’d stumbled and bumbled and forgotten every word. In the end, she’d nearly fainted from mortification and misery.
This experience was much worse. This time it wasn’t just other girls from the convent and the kindly Sisters watching. This time it was everyone who counted on Yonnie Six and all of them were judging her—harshly.
Lilli had seen the way Priss had preened and strutted and yanked on her bodyslave’s leash, forcing him to kiss her panties. But there was no way she could act like that with Karn. All she could do was stand there, in the middle of the stage, feeling like she had back at the convent auditorium with everyone snickering and giggling and waiting for her to say or do something—anything at all—while she stood there, frozen.
“Mistress Lilliana,” the announcer said and Lilli had the idea that he’d already said it twice before and still she was just standing there.
Suddenly Karn dropped to his knees before her.
“Mistress,” he growled, looking up at her and taking her hands in his. “Allow me to pay obeisance to you.”
“Oh, uh…” Lilli felt like her tongue was tied in knots.
“Look at me,” Karn murmured, for her ears alone. “Lilli, look at me—just concentrate on me and forget what everyone else is doing.”
“All right.” She looked into his mismatched eyes and suddenly found herself drowning in their gold and blue depths.
“Mistress,” Karn rumbled. “May I have the honor of kissing your panties?”
Doing as he had told her, Lilli forced herself to focus on the big Kindred and nothing else.
“Yes,” she said softly, reaching out to stroke his cheek. “Oh yes, Karn—you may.”
“Thank you, Mistress.” And taking her hips in his big hands, he pulled her forward and kissed her.
Lilli bit her lip as she felt his mouth fall, not on the golden lace of her panties, but directly on her exposed and throbbing clit. She couldn’t help moaning as Karn’s hot, wet tongue slid around and around her tender little pearl and then found its way even lower, bathing her entire inner pussy.
“Oh, Karn,” she moaned, grasping his broad shoulders for support as he continued to lick and suck her avidly. He was sending sparks of pleasure through her entire body, making her feel weak in the knees. She forgot all about the fact that she was on a stage, forgot all the other Mistresses watching her. All she could concentrate on was the big Kindred and how much she loved his mouth on her.
She didn’t know how long it lasted, only that when Karn finally pulled back—his mouth shiny with her juices, his eyes half-lidded with lust—she was so close to the edge it felt like even the slightest touch might tip her over into orgasm.
“Karn!” she begged. “Why…why did you stop?”
“Because there are other Mistresses waiting to be announced,” he murmured and nodded at the servant who was announcing people. There was a line of women and bodyslaves behind him and the servant had his arms crossed over his chest and was frowning and tapping his foot impatiently.
But their performance—or rather, Karn’s performance—seemed to have had a completely different effect on the watching Yonnite Mistresses. As Lilli and Karn pulled apart and the big Kindred rose to his feet, they began to clap.
“Oh!” Lilli put a hand to her heart, surprised as she looked out on the sea of approving faces. “Oh, are they clapping for us?”
“They’re clapping for you, little Mistress,” Karn murmured in her ear. “For training me so well.”
“But I never trained you to do any of that!” Lilli protested. “You just, uh, did it.”
“They don’t know that,” Karn pointed out. “So don’t let them find out. Hold your head high and lead me like the dominant Mistress you are.”
Lilli did her best to follow his instructions. Holding her head up, she made her way to a table in the back of the room where Yulla Yodermouth and Beelie and Bodie Bodypom were waving at her to come sit with them.
“Wow, that was really impressive!” Beelie said as Lilli seated herself and Karn took up his position behind her chair.
“Yeah—even better than Priss,” Bodie said. “Don’t tell her that, though,” she added.
“Because here she comes!” Beelie finished for her twin.
Oh, no! Lilli had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. If she’d known Priss was sitting at this table, she would have sat with her mother instead. Or anyplace there was a free chair, for that matter.
“Well, hello, girls. And hello again, Lilliana,” she remarked as she seated herself beside Lilli. “How was your first formal announcement? I’m sorry I missed it but I had to run to the necessary room. I hope you didn’t trip again, like you did outside, or do anything else stupid.”
“Actually, Lilliana did really well,” Yulla said, speaking up for the first time. “Everybody clapped for her and everything.”
“What?” Priss narrowed her sharp blue eyes at Bodie and Beelie. “Is that true?”
“Uh-huh.” They nodded in unison and Bodie said, “She really has her bodyslave trained perfectly.”
“Is that so?” Priss glared at Lilli. “Well, then let me be the first to congratulate you on not tripping over your own two feet up there and acting like an idiot,” she snapped, nodding at the stage where someone else was currently being announced. “I know it must have been really hard for you to overcome your natural inclinations..”
Lilli didn’t know what to say when faced with such open hostility. Such nasty manners hadn’t been allowed at the convent, where everyone treated everyone else with respect and the Sisters insisted on mediating all conflicts, no matter how small.
“Um, where is the necessary room?” she asked the twins, deciding that getting away from the table completely was her best bet. “I need to find it before the ceremony starts.”
“Running away, Lilliana?” Priss sneered at her but Bodie and Beelie seemed to have mercy on her.
“It’s through that back exit,” Beelie said.
“Right beside the elevator bank,” Bodie added.
“Thank you.” Lilli rose and nodded at Karn. “Come on, let’s go.” She nodded her thanks to Bodie and Beelie and, ignoring Priss, headed for the back of the huge, glittering ballroom.
Twenty-Seven
“Well, here we are. Do you really need to use the fresher?” Karn asked, looking down at Lilli when the two of them were finally clear of the ballroom and could talk normally instead of as Mistress and bodyslave. “Or were you looking for an excuse to get out of there so we can solve our mystery?”
“Oh, our mystery!” Lilli brightened at once. “That’s right—we need to find out what happened with the Nightwalker Kindred!”
She’d been so preoccupied with the awful tingle—which Karn had finally soothed with his tongue—and then with Priss being nasty and awful, that she’d nearly forgotten the main reason she and Karn wanted to be here in the first place.
“Exactly—the mystery,” he rumbled. “Are you up for it?”
“I’m up for anything that gets me out of that crowded ballroom with those awful people,” Lilli said fervently. “Come on, let’s go!” She waved her hand over the elevator’s sensor and the shiny, mother-of-pearl door immediately slid open.
Lilli and Karn stepped in and Lilli said, “Take us to Mistress Zangelo’s floor.”
The elevator chimed and a smooth, artificial voice said,
; “I’m sorry, that floor has been restricted as a crime scene area.”
Thinking fast, Lilli said, “Override by order of Mistress Mirabella, member of the Sacred Seven.”
The elevator seemed to take a while to process this but after a moment it chimed again and said, “Access granted.”
Lilli sighed in relief as the doors slid shut and the richly appointed elevator began to hum quietly. Her mother would probably be upset if she found out Lilli had been taking her name in vain, but honestly—what else could she do? An innocent male’s life might hang in the balance. And hopefully, her mother would never find out.
After a moment the elevator chimed again and the smooth artificial voice announced, “Zangelo residence.”
The doors slid open and Lilli and Karn got out into a dimly lit, richly furnished apartment.
“What are we looking for?” Lilli found herself whispering, though she didn’t know why. It wasn’t like there was anyone else here—it was clearly deserted.
Karn shrugged.
“Clues, I guess. The Nightwalker was accused of killing his Mistress here. Let’s see what we can find to either confirm or refute that.”
“Okay, but let’s stick together.” Lilli shivered as she looked around the darkened living space. “This gives me the creeps!”
“I won’t leave your side, little Mistress,” Karn promised. “In fact, here…”
And he took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers.
Lilli felt better at once about walking into the dark apartment where a woman had been murdered. Karn was with her—he wouldn’t let anything happen to her, she told herself.
They wandered past the richly furnished living area and through the well-appointed kitchens being careful not to touch anything. Nothing looked out of order until they came to a room off the kitchens which was filled with large metal cages.
“What’s this?” Lilli asked blankly as Karn called for lights, which came on at once.
The big Kindred frowned.
“Looks like some kind of a kennel,” he growled. “Did Mistress Zangelo breed any kind of animals?”
“No.” Lilli felt her gut clench. “But I do think she might have kept rather a lot of bodyslaves.”
“What a fucking way to live!” Karn shook his head as he looked at the empty metal cages.
Each one had a long chain affixed to the back of it, attached to a choke collar. Some had thin blankets lining their chain-link floors and some had nothing at all. A few discarded water and food dishes could be seen too.
“She treated them like animals,” Karn muttered, glaring around at the cramped, bare cages.
“It’s awful.” Lilli felt hot tears prick her eyelids. “How could anyone treat other people this way?”
“Beats the Seven Hells out of me,” Karn growled. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I’ve seen as much as I want to.”
“Wait!” Lilli caught his arm. “What…what’s that?”
She pointed a trembling finger and he turned to follow her gaze. When he saw what she was pointing at, his face grew hard.
“Come on.”
They walked up to the side of the abandoned metal cage and looked down at the dark streaks dried on its bars and the floor in front of it.
“Looks like dried blood,” Karn said at last, frowning.
“Quite a lot of it,” Lilli whispered. She couldn’t seem to stop staring at the streaks and smears on the cage and the floor. “Do…do you think this is where he did it?”
“I’m still not convinced he did do it,” Karn said, frowning. “Come on, let’s go back this way and try to find Mistress Zangelo’s bedchamber. According to the report I read, that’s where the body was found.”
“Okay.” Lilli clutched his hand tighter and he gave her a reassuring squeeze.
“It’s all right, little Mistress,” he rumbled, looking down at her. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I know.” It was the only thing that made Lilli keep going. She knew that if she’d been down here alone in the dim apartment where a bloody murder had been committed, there was no way she could have gone on after seeing those awful smears of dried blood. But being with the big Kindred made her feel safe.
She and Karn wandered around some more until they finally came to a large, circular room with what appeared to be a vast round bed in the middle.
“Do you think this is it?” Lilli looked doubtfully at the chamber. It wasn’t set up like a normal bedroom, and the bed, which was covered in a vast black spread, certainly didn’t appear to be a normal bed.
It was big enough to hold eight or ten people for one thing. For another, the bed seemed to be arranged very strangely. Instead of having pillows at the top of it—if a circular bed could be considered to have a top—it had seven or eight large, long, furry pillows arranged in a spoke-like pattern all around it.
The pillows were almost as long as Lilli was tall and they were covered in soft, thick fur in colors that ranged from deep magenta, to burnt umber, to turquoise. They stood out brightly against the black bedspread.
“What’s the point of all this?” Lilli asked, stepped forward to look at the furry pillows in their strange, spoke-like pattern which almost made the circular bed look like some kind of a wheel.
“Don’t know.” Karn shook his head. “But look—” He pointed. “A surveillance room!”
Lilli followed his finger and saw that there was an open door at the far side of the strange bedchamber. She would have expected it to be the bathing chamber but instead, the glint of computing equipment could be seen.
“This could be what we’ve been looking for!” Karn’s voice was excited. “Come on!”
Twenty-Eight
Karn couldn’t believe his luck. The setup in the surveillance room was essentially the same as what Lilli’s mother had in her secret home office. It was humming quietly to itself—clearly the Opulex authorities had neglected to turn it off when they had declared this apartment a crime scene area.
He took a seat and grabbed the manipu-cube at once, looking for files of the night the murder had been committed. Everything was encrypted but that didn’t bother Karn a bit. After years in the Elite Espionage Corps, he was excellent at breaking encryptions. After a few moments, he figured out the rather simple code the programmer had used and he was in.
As he had hoped, the entire house was under surveillance with a hidden camera apparently secreted in each room—some rooms had more than one. He was looking for images from the bedchamber where the body had been found, but that file came up blank, along with many others.
Looks like someone erased it, Karn thought grimly. Who had done it? Was it the murderer, covering their tracks? Or some authority figure who didn’t want to accuse a prominent Mistress of a heinous crime?
He was just about to despair when he found a file for the large kennel room he and Lilli had already visited. It had been hidden in an innocuous folder marked, expendable assets, which might explain why whoever had erased the other files had missed it.
He clicked on it and up popped an image of the kennel room.
“Oh!” Lilli whispered in shock as Karn played the footage. “Look at that! That must be the Nightwalker Kindred!”
“And that must be the murderer,” Karn growled. They watched together as the scene played out. It was only a few moments long, but it was clear what had happened—the Nightwalker Kindred had been framed.
He pressed the spy device on the nail of his left ring finger again, hoping to record the data and send it on to Commander Sylvan and the Mother Ship—but there was a problem.
“There’s a send-block on it,” Karn growled in frustration.
“A what?” Lilli frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, uh…I wanted to send it to your Mother’s computing device,” Karn said, thinking quickly. Damn it, he had to be more careful around the little female! He had gotten entirely too comfortable committing espionage with Lilli in the same room with him.<
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“To my mother’s device?” Lilli asked, clearly confused.
“So she can see the truth. She’s the Archivist, isn’t she? This ought to go to her,” Karn said pointing at the screen. “But maybe I can record it instead—on this,” he added, picking up a tiny drive at random out of a pile on the desktop. “Let’s see what’s on it—maybe we can erase it and put the scene from the kennel room on it instead. Then I can load it secretly onto your Mother’s computing device. She’ll wonder where it came from, but she’ll have to act on it. After all, the case is in court—or going to court—very soon.”
“Oh, and as the Archivist, she’s supposed to supply the court with any relevant documents or evidence. Right!” Lilli exclaimed. “Good idea, Karn.”
“Thanks, baby.” He grinned at her and slipped the tiny, fingernail-sized drive into a slot in the manipu-cube.
He thought he’d take a quick look at the files on the drive before erasing them, but when the image popped up on the liquid crystal screen, he forgot all about that. Because what appeared on the screen seemed to be some kind of amateur porn—made right in the next room with the circular bed.
“Oh, my…” Lilli’s voice was hushed as she looked over his shoulder at the screen. “What…what are they doing?”
The scene showed the same bed they had just seen, only this time it was occupied. Five Mistresses—all of them wearing masks, apparently for anonymity—were lying full length on the long, furry pillows. They had their skirts hitched up to their waists, showing bare bottoms and it was clear they had no panties on—not even the skimpy kind that Yonnite High Society favored. This was obvious because they had their legs spread and their knees were bent, resting on either side of the pillows they were lying on.
“Mmm,” one murmured, rubbing against the fur of her pillow. “Lady Zangelo, this feels lovely.”
“I told you—no names!” another of the masked Mistresses snapped. “And of course it’s nice—it’s fresh zoola fur. It costs a ridiculous sum, of course and it’s doubly expensive since I have to throw all the pillows out and get fresh ones for every friction party. But I think it’s worth it. Rub it against your nipples—the feeling is quite unique.”
Protecting His Mistress...Book 24 in the Kindred Tales Series Page 13