Marketplace

by Laura Antoniou

  Robert swallowed hard. Did he really hear that? He blinked and nodded, to let Chris continue.

  “These,” Chris shoved over a pile of binders, “are lesson plans. You are also to familiarize yourself with them, in preparation for some tutoring that Mistress Alexandra wants done.”

  “T-tutoring?” Robert echoed. “In what? Um, who? Please, Chris, I never...”

  “Don’t be silly, Robert, of course you’ve taught. I’ve seen your resume. You’ve conducted seminars in very high level marketing strategies, product placement, and mail order catalog design. These lessons are in subjects far easier than the ones you’ve been successful in, and you’ll be providing a service for the house.” Chris seemed to be much more encouraging than he usually was, and Robert was taken aback by the man’s apparent friendliness and helpfulness. He stared and then nodded helplessly.

  “You will find some clothing in a box under your bed, and hanging on the back of the door of the dorm. Go and put these books neatly by that box, and then get dressed and meet me by the garage. Ms. Selador has a few errands to run, and you will be driving. Your license is in the jacket pocket. Please strive for speed, we’d like to get this done early today.”

  Robert was at the door when he remembered something and turned back. “Please, Chris,” he said earnestly, “if I may ask...who will I be tutoring?”

  A bit of the familiar, nasty Chris showed up in a wide grin. “Sharon, of course. With speed, Robert, with speed!”

  * * * *

  Claudia climbed off the stepping machine and wiped the sweat off of her forehead with a clean, soft towel. She had nothing against strenuous activity every once in a while, but sweating was so... so unladylike. She dutifully recorded her progress on her own chart and padded over to the bar for a drink of water. When she turned back, she was surprised to see Rachel standing in the doorway.

  “Oh!” the little slave gasped. She set her glass down carefully. “I’m sorry, Miss, you just startled me.”

  Rachel smiled. “That’s all right,” she purred, moving into the room. “It’s good to be startled. I see you’re assigned to me today, Claudia-baby.”

  Claudia nodded.

  “That’s nice,” Rachel said. “Because I don’t have much to do this afternoon. So I can afford to spend a lot of time paying attention to you.”

  Claudia gulped and nodded again, afraid to do anything else. Rachel had never behaved like this before! Despite the way she reportedly terrorized poor Brian, neither Claudia nor Robert had ever been even harshly disciplined by her. The times that Claudia had worked with the second floor housekeeper had been spent in sweeping, cleaning and making beds, or folding laundry. Now, however, the look in Rachel’s eyes suggested something far more personal. She waved one hand casually at Claudia. “Go on, finish your exercise,“ she suggested. “I’ll just watch for a little while.”

  And so Rachel did, staying through Claudia’s stretching and low-impact aerobics, and then through the cool down yoga as well. When Claudia opened her eyes after her tenth deep breath cycle, the housekeeper was gone.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Brian limped off to the stable, bruised and sore and streaked with grimy bands of sweat and dust. Grass stains marked his knees and thighs and the sides of his arms, and smudged dirt covered his body. Anywhere that wasn’t covered with the marks of a man who just spent almost two hours rolling around in a field was slashed with a series of thin, angry red lines, which stung and glowed with heat.

  Individual strands of grass and leaves were still stuck in his hair. He had spent a few minutes trying to pull them out by combing his fingers through and knew he hadn’t succeeded. And he was hungry. No lunch today, Grendel had announced. They had wasted too much time trying to do a simple exercise, and there was no sense in giving them more time to be lazy. Brian would proceed to the stable and begin working, and Sharon would clean herself up in time to ask Robert and Claudia if they wanted the oral services she was supposed to have properly offered them that morning. He was, he told them, extremely disappointed. During the entire morning, they had only managed the feat once.

  First, they squabbled over who should pick up the strip of packages. Then, tearing the whole thing in half with their teeth, they were each stuck with three wrapped ones and nothing loose. With no hands to hold the packages, there was nothing to do but crawl to each other, grasp one pack together, and rip it open.

  Of course, they couldn’t relinquish the three that each of them already had. Each one wanted the other to drop theirs. Each one growled and cursed at the other through teeth clenched around the edges of these little gold and white packages.

  Grendel called the two minute time limit, and picked up a rod he had left laying on the top fence rail. It was white, and some kind of plastic, and it had a short handle on one end. To Brian, it looked like a comically long conductor’s baton. Grendel slashed it a couple of times through the air, allowing the two slaves to hear the whistle of its passage, and then proceeded to whip the two of them almost to tears. Then, he told them to start over. And over. And over. They began to drool around the soft squares of metallic plastic, and when they finally tore one open, it kept dropping out of Sharon’s mouth, and she would have to drop onto her belly to retrieve it. And never mind that she dropped it, they were both punished.

  Of course, by the time Sharon had one properly positioned in her mouth, the state of Brian’s cock was not up to being covered in latex. She tried, oh, she tried, but she could not arouse it at the same time as holding the rolled latex. Another beating, this time accompanied by tears and cries, and then she started from the beginning. They ended up tearing open four out of the six packages, ripping holes in three out of the four condoms, and then finally getting one, just one, over the head of Brian’s not-quite-as-hard cock.

  At which time Grendel untied the two of them and gave them their instructions and dismissed them. Oh, and he told Brian to pick up the shredded detritus of the morning wrestling and throw it away. Which was why Brian had a handful of torn plastic and latex in one hand along with grass and dirt in his hair. He found a large trash container and tossed everything in it, and ruffled his hair, causing more bits and pieces to fall out. He looked down at the assorted trash and sighed heavily. What a glorious future I face, he mused. What made me think this was going to be like some hot story out of a gay porn magazine? I spend hours and hours trying to please a woman who is insatiable, my own cock is so neglected it jumps up whenever a breeze hits it, and the most exercise I get is wrestling with another woman while my dick does push-ups. I’m never going to get off again. I think I made a mistake.

  “’Eere now, it’s th’ pretty boy ’imself come to work wi’ th’ commoners,” Jack drawled out, watching him. “You look like you’ve ’ad a bit o’ wrestlin’ action this mornin’, y’do.”

  Brian looked up with a weary expression and shrugged. “I’m here to work with you,” he said sullenly.

  “Oh, yes, Mr. Elliot said you’d be by,” Jack admitted. “But I didn’t think you’d be lookin’ like somethin’ the bleedin’ cat dragged in!” He chuckled. “Well, no matter! You’ll do for what purposes I’ve got t’day. C’mon, I’ll show you th’ tack, an’ teach you t’clean it proper.”

  Brian followed the stableman to a shed that adjoined the stable, and breathed in the rich, enveloping scent of expensive, well kept leather. English-style saddles and assorted bridles and working gear hung from gleaming brass hooks and sat on polished wooden racks. The floor was a burnished blond wood, and the late morning sun streamed in through the opened side door. The windows of the shed were of colored glass, making muted shadows within the interior. Brian could have lived in this room gladly. He breathed the smell in deeply.

  “Aye, it’s nice, ennit?” Jack asked idly. “This ’ere’s the finest gear you’ll find, pretty boy. All quality stuff, so mind me when I show you somethin’, and don’t muck around wi’ what y’don’t know ’ow t’do. Got that?”

  Brian nodd
ed, and Jack pulled a worn blanket from a shelf and tossed it on the floor. “You’ll work down there. You’ve got saddle soap...” Patiently, the stableman explained the cleaning and finishing process and showed Brian where everything was. When Brian could repeat all of it back, the Aussie nodded and motioned outside.

  “Then y’better wash off this mud n’such, boy. You’ll find th’ water out round to your right. Come on back when you’re nice n’ clean!”

  Brian found the water. It was a regular garden hose and the water was cold. But he splashed and rubbed and tried to stand in the sun. He gasped when he saw the the thick pattern of lash marks that Grendel had given him. It literally covered his body from the tops of his shoulders to almost his knees. His arms were especially bad. Shivering, he shook like a wet dog and went back around to where Jack was still waiting. But Jack had something new in his hand, something Sharon had gotten used to seeing daily. Brian stopped, looked down and then back up at Jack’s dancing eyes.

  “Y’know,” Jack said slowly, working his hand back and forth, “I b’lieve I’ve got one more thing t’teach you, pretty boy. Come on inside.”

  Brian walked forward, a dazed look in his eyes. Now? Here? Like this? And when he entered the tack room, he saw that Jack had tossed a long nylon strap up through two of the internal crossbeams. Each end of the strap was a loop, about three feet off the ground. They were about four feet apart. The blanket was folded underneath them.

  As he stared at this strange arrangement, Jack took him by one shoulder and literally threw him down onto the floor, and kicked him to position himself so that his shoulders were on the blanket. The swiftness of the attack and the pain in his body dulled Brian into a kind of shock, but he paid attention as Jack caught one ankle and placed it into one of the open loops and tightened the strap around it. Now, Brian’s leg was pulled up and out, forcing his shoulders and back against the floor. He groaned, but offered no resistance as Jack fastened the other leg as well.

  “That’s a nice boy,” Jack crooned. “Nice an’ open, aren’t you? And Brian could only whimper as Jack prepared himself and positioned himself comfortably, his cock at the perfect level to Brian’s butt hole, Brian with his legs up in the air, his body wracked with shivers and tremors of anticipation.

  When Jack plunged in with one sharp thrust, Brian screamed out and pounded his fists against the floor. Yes! Yes! Do it! Somewhere, he heard himself actually saying these things, but the only sound in the hot little room was Jack’s satisfied grunting and Brian’s groans of pleasure and agony. His much abused cock rose yet again.

  And Jack started to play with it! “Y’know, pretty boy,” the stableman said, pulling out to plunge in again, “You’re not allowed to shoot y’spunk.”

  But Brian did anyway, screaming his frustration and ecstasy while Jack laughed and finished him off.

  Brian suddenly remembered why he had wanted to become a slave.

  * * * *

  Claudia followed Ms. Rachel up to the floor with the servants’ quarters and worked at changing sheets. She had never been in these rooms before, and she marveled at how well they were appointed and furnished. The household servants lived much better than the slaves. Here, and only here, were there television sets and VCRs. In a large recreation room, there was even a pinball machine, and a magazine rack held what looked like all the latest media and entertainment guides. Rachel let Claudia clean up table of empty cups and a bowl that held popcorn leftovers, and shooed her out of the room when Claudia’s eyes lingered too long at the cover of a women’s magazine.

  As Claudia carried the tray down to the kitchen, she thought, that’s another strange thing about being here. At my Mistress’ house, I watched TV and movies with her and Carl. We always had a lot of newspapers and magazines, and I could read them if I wanted to. Now, I don’t know if anything is going on in the world. I don’t know what’s happening on my favorite shows, or even if there has been any big, important news that everyone is talking about. My entire world is here.

  Rachel met her at the head of the stairs and directed her to one of the servants’ rooms. As they crossed the threshold, Rachel reached out and took a tight handful of Claudia‘s hair and shook her head gently. Claudia froze.

  “Now it’s my turn,” the housekeeper said, pushing the slave into the room and maintaining that grip in her hair. “Your friend with the black hair is all right, but I think you’ll be better.”

  “Oh!” Claudia whimpered. “Oh, my.”

  “Hush now, little girl. No need to talk. You want this, and you want it bad. I heard you turned down the pretty one at lunch time. That was probably a good choice. She looks like she could make a wrestle in the sheets into something that’s as much fun as humping a rock.” Rachel spoke softly, her voice pitched almost in a whisper. “But you want a girl, don’t you? A real girl, not an over-grown Barbie doll. So when I turn you loose, you’re going to turn around and undress me, and then I’m going to make you scream, little girl. And you’re going to love every minute of it and thank me sweet, like the good little kitten you are.”

  Claudia’s breath was already coming in gasps. She moaned as Rachel gave her head one more shake. “And what’s more, my kitten, is that you’re not going to get to come today. And you’ll still thank me.”

  Claudia’s hands trembled as she unfastened the buttons and zippers of Rachel’s plain but well made uniform. As it was shed and neatly hung up, piece by piece, Rachel was revealed to be a woman with a few secrets under her dark, forbidding garb. Gold rings pierced her thick, dark nipples, and a tattoo of a winged cat with long claws and exposed fangs curled around her upper right arm, to the top of her shoulder. Claudia swallowed hard. She had seen such decoration on various guests at Mistress’ parties, but never so closely. And never under similar circumstances.

  “Do you like them?” Rachel asked, touching her breasts. The rings sparkled and danced as she cupped her breasts and lifted them. “Kiss them. Show me that you appreciate how beautiful they are.”

  Claudia bent her head and placed her carefully soft lips on one nipple. They are beautiful, she thought, pressing harder. Her eyes closed in the proper way to worship. Why didn’t Brian mention them?

  “Good kitten. Now finish.”

  The skirt was removed, displaying another tattoo, this one in the small of Rachel’s back. It was a work of art. A winged disk rested in the center, just above the arch of her buttocks, and from it radiated black and purple feathers changing at the tips to blue licks of flame, which ended at her hips. Claudia gasped and dropped to her knees. Without being asked to, she kissed the center of the disk.

  “Oh, you are hungry,” Rachel said with a chuckle. “Now, if I was one of the owners, you‘d be in trouble! But I like that, kitten, so why don’t you just keep on doing it?”

  Claudia eagerly ran her lips over the design, giving loving kisses to every inch, following the top of Rachel’s ass to both sides of her body. Rachel sighed and played with her nipple rings for a while, stopping Claudia only after the girl had made three passes over the entire tattoo.

  “Now you get to do that all over me,” she sighed. And she stretched out on her bed, putting her arms comfortably behind her head and nodded to the kneeling girl.

  Claudia threw herself into the task, licking and kissing every inch of Rachel’s torso, and then following Rachel’s directive to skip the delta between her legs and just continue at the thighs and work down to the feet. Claudia followed every direction with a speed and joy that amazed her. Surely the room couldn’t be as warm as Claudia felt? Surely this, this maid, wasn’t making Claudia’s body squirm and thrum with eager passion?

  Ah, surely it was. Claudia kissed every toe on each foot, and sucked on them when Rachel suggested that such a service might feel very nice. And then, when Rachel finally sat up, grabbed Claudia by the hair once again and dragged her mouth into the triangle of dark hair, Claudia let out a moaning cry of joy that was not lost at all. Rachel laughed with erotic satisfaction
as Claudia writhed and clutched and tried so pathetically and preciously to please.

  Claudia felt Rachel tremble and shake and tasted the sharp nectar of a woman’s ecstasy. But Rachel was in no way sated. Her hand pulled Claudia tighter to her and Claudia mewed and continued. It hadn’t been that long ago when her Mistress had commanded such service, but her hunger and her joy in finding someone so easy to please were as powerful as Rachel’s lust. When Rachel pulled Claudia up and put her on her back, Claudia whimpered and thrust up to Rachel’s cruel fingers, making sounds that she had never made before. She was far too hot to remember to be embarrassed. Each pinch of a nipple, each thrust into her own sex, and every biting kiss was sensual agony and an explosion of bliss.

  As Rachel finally fell back to take several long breaths and stretch out, Claudia felt like an old rag. Limp, soaking wet, and worn to a frazzle. The taste and feel of the other woman was coating her, covering her in a cloak of the familiar, and making her body tingle with need, desire, and the torment of fulfillment.

  “Ah, you’re not bad, kitten,” Rachel finally said.

  “Thank you, Miss,” Claudia whispered. “You... you’re wonderful.” And so beautiful, she thought, looking at the decorated woman’s body. No one would ever know that such a strong, tough lady was under those dark, plain clothes. She wished she could hear Rachel’s story.

  But Rachel only laughed and pushed herself up on one elbow. “You think so? Well, wait until you’ve been done by Alex! Or even Grendel.” She gave the slave a push off the bed. “Now get out, I’m sure Chris has got something for you to do for a while. I’ll see you in two hours or so.”