by Anna Adler
Chase considered this information. “So it’s a mind-reading collar.”
“Don’t be silly. It has nothing to do with mind-reading and everything to do with basic body chemistry. All living beings express things with their body without even being aware of it. We have merely developed technology that can read those silent messages. So if you try to grab someone aggressively, the collar will punish you.”
“I’d rather have you punishing me.”
She chuckled. “I’m sure you would.”
He leaned closer. “What do you say, Mistress? Do I have to be a good pet or a bad pet to get punished?”
Holly looked at him with surprise. The surprise in her eyes morphed into a curious, dark passion as she held his gaze before she caught herself. “Let me think about that,” she said and removed the leather collar from his neck. “Let’s go buy these and move on. We have work to do.”
Chase was about to follow her, but his gaze landed on chains hanging next to the leather leashes. He paused to stare at them. He didn’t care much for the leash for the reason he had stated to Holly: it would get in the way in a fight. It was a bad idea to have something dangling from your neck that the enemy could grab. But if Silenian law dictated that he had to wear a leash, then he would rather have something menacing. Like a chain.
Holly ran her fingers tantalizingly down his bicep. “What? You want a chain?” she purred. Her touch sent electric tingling through his veins.
Chase grunted.
She chuckled. “All right. Choose your favorite and I’ll get it for you.”
Chase chose a heavy chain that was so thick it would barely attach to the thin ring at the front of his metal collar. Holly took it from him, shooting him a smile, and they went to the sales clerk to finalize all their purchases.
“Shall I have these delivered to your apartment?” the woman asked.
“Yes,” Holly replied. “Just leave them outside the door.”
“No, I want to wear the chain right away,” Chase cut in. “I wanna get rid of this.” He lifted his slim leather leash, which he now despised.
Holly nodded. She replaced his leather leash with the chain and handed the leash to the clerk. “This goes to my apartment with the other items.”
The sales clerk cast an admiring look at him. “What a determined pet.”
Holly muttered something in affirmative while she made the payment.
“I hardly ever see them express their opinions like that,” the woman went on, an eager smile on her face. “I wish more pets had character like yours. And I have to say, he looks hot in a chain. So dangerous!”
Chase enjoyed the way the woman looked at him, hungry and excited. Silenians didn’t conceal their lust. He liked being wanted, but what mattered the most was the way Holly looped the end of the chain around her slender but strong hand. Slowly and deliberately. It was mesmerizing. She pulled on the chain on purpose as she turned to go, making him follow. She owned him. That’s what she wanted to show and it was hot. His cock was screaming for attention, but he knew there was no mercy in sight.
Holly walked him to a park. People’s heads turned at the sight of them, and many paused to compliment Holly’s handsome pet. With the heavy chain hanging off his neck, Chase felt like a beast on display. Something was different with Holly, too. He could tell it in the way she walked. She held her head higher, her heels clicking with increased determination. She squeezed the chain in her hand and kept it short and tight. Chase practically felt her grip around his neck. His whole body was turning tense and aroused.
How does she expect me to think about anything important now?
Once they reached the park, Chase noticed they were at the edge of the city. The buildings ended. Before them spread a perfectly manicured lawn dotted by fountains and trees so carefully trimmed they didn’t have a single leaf out of place.
Beyond the park, Chase could see a barrier. It was see-through, but the way it distorted the barren, rocky landscape beyond made it impossible to miss. Holly gave the impression of being on a casual walk as she strolled down the park path, but Chase knew she had an ulterior motive. The park framed the city alongside the edge of the huge, glass-like dome. They walked for a good while, but then Holly cast a look around to make sure they were alone, and strode across the lawn toward the barrier.
“What are we doing?” Chase asked in a low voice.
“Checking out a potential escape route,” she replied.
“There’s a way to get to the other side of the dome?”
“Yeah. There.” Holly paused. She nodded discreetly toward the barrier.
A glowing sign sticking up from the ground said, “Emergency Exit.” Next to it, Chase saw some kind of large metal plate covering the ground. An identical metal plate lay on the other side of the city dome.
“It’s a tunnel,” he voiced his thoughts. “A tunnel going under the edge of the dome.”
“That’s right. It’s locked, of course, with surveillance.”
Chase detected a hovering camera bot above the sealed tunnel.
“I’m pretty sure I can bypass the security,” Holly said. “If you can convince your friends to come and pick you up from the wasteland out there, I’d say this is the best way for you to escape.”
Chase planted his hand on Holly’s shoulder. “You mean, the best way for us to escape. I’m not going without you.”
She put her hand over his. “That’s what I meant. Sorry. This is our back-up plan. If we fail in freeing the pets, we’ll come here and escape through that tunnel.”
Chase considered it a bad sign that Holly was thinking about a back-up plan before considering their actual plan. It told him she didn’t believe in their chances.
“We’re coming back here after dark,” she went on. “I’ll bring our thermal suits and masks and hide them in one of the fountains nearby. That way, we have the suits within easy reach if we have to make a fast getaway.”
“I just have to get a message to Jax to see if he’s willing to come pick us up.”
“I’ll get a connection up on the VR monitor. Come on. Let’s head home.”
Chapter 18
Holly gripped Chase’s chain as she walked, giving in to the pleasure, momentarily, of having her incredible male by her side, on a leash. In a perfect world, Silenia would be free and every intelligent being, human or alien, could come and go as they pleased. In a perfect world, she could live together with Chase in whatever way she chose and no one could ever take him away from her. But how will I accomplish these dreams? They all felt unreachable.
At least she had a back-up plan in place. She hoped Jax would take the risk and come fetch them. It was the only way to make sure Chase would get off the planet and, most likely, she would have to go with him. She wanted to help the enslaved aliens, but she didn’t know how. If only she could think…
They arrived at her apartment. Her purchases sat neatly wrapped in a pile next to the door. Chase grabbed them, and entering the apartment, Holly noticed the cleaning bots had managed to recycle all the debris Chase’s fit of rage had left behind. The office room was now bare, but spotlessly clean. Holly ordered Chase to put the items in the living room. She proceeded to unwrap the new VR monitor and set it up.
“Right,” she said once she finished. “I don’t know how to get a message to your friend, so you can take over now.”
She vacated the seat and Chase sat down. Holly removed his collar. She left Chase to his task and went to put away the clothing and the other items they had bought. Then came the thermal suits. She would need waterproof wrapping and some weights so she could dump the suits in a fountain. Holly searched her closets. Fifteen minutes later, she had fashioned a suitable wrapping out of a reflective shower curtain and some tape. Her windowsill hosted heavy, decorative vases. One of those would do for the weight.
Chase entered the room. “Mistress? I got word from Jax.”
“You don’t have to call me Mistress,” she said as she finished ty
ing up the thermal suit and mask-package.
He frowned. “I want to.”
And damn me for liking it…
She smiled. “What did Jax say?”
“The first two messages were curses and death threats. The third one was an okay. He’s coming, twenty-four hours from now. I need to send him the coordinates of the pick-up area outside the city.”
“Right. I’ll get you those coordinates.”
“What about our actual plan?”
Holly sighed. “I have no idea, Chase. The more I think about it, the more impossible it feels.”
“You’ve given up already?”
“Any plan I have is bound to fail and get us both killed.”
“How about if we talk to a few pet owners? If we get them aboard the plan of freeing the pets…”
She shook her head. “That’s never going to work.”
“You can’t be the only one on this planet who sees that owning other intelligent beings is wrong. If we can find the others—”
“There are others, but they’re a small minority. The majority of the population is so brainwashed they believe they’re the good guys.”
“Still…if we could talk to the pet owners.”
“I know what you mean, but we would somehow have to undo a lifetime of conditioning in twenty-four hours. We would have to get the brainwashed majority on our side, but they’re not going to agree to change this society overnight, just like that.”
“How about we storm the headquarters and take over the government?”
Holly chuckled. “Very funny.”
“What’s the government like? Who rules over you? A king? An AI?”
“A parliament and a chairman.”
“Are they located here in Sky Dome One?”
“Yes.”
“And you know which building they’re in?”
“Yes. It’s the big marble palace located near the Central Station.”
“So theoretically…we could sneak in and take over the parliament?”
Holly chuckled again. “At gunpoint, or what? Sure, theoretically we could do that. But we would be declared terrorists. No one would listen to anything we have to say. Holding the parliament hostage would only piss off the entire nation. You’d be killed and I’d get locked away for life.”
“Yeah, but these are options. We have to consider everything we have at hand.”
Holly sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.
Chase stepped closer. “You’re tense, Mistress.”
“I’m desperate, that’s what.”
“You should relax. It’s what I learned from my stints in prison. No matter how bad your situation is, stay calm. Panicking doesn’t help. You’ll think better when you’re relaxed.”
“I don’t have time to relax. Time’s the one thing we’re running out of, remember?”
“Mistress…”
“Stop calling me that!”
Chase’s eyes flashed. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall. He glared down at her. “I don’t have a collar on, so the way I see it, I can do whatever I want. I can call you Mistress if it pleases me. And I’m bigger than you, so I can force you to relax, whether you like it or not.”
Holly stared at him, shocked. “You can’t force me.”
“I’ll lock you in the cage. You can do your fretting in there.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“I’m doing this for your own good.” He began to drag her toward the bedroom. Holly dug her heels to the floor.
“Stop it!”
“You can either stop worrying or spend some time in the cage.”
“Okay! Damn it, Chase. How do you want me to relax?”
He paused. “The question is, how do you want to do this? First off, I suggest you put a collar on me. I’m not feeling particularly obedient without one.”
Holly stared at him. “You want to wear a collar?”
“I want you to make use of me. I can help you get your mind off things, but you have to tell me how.”
“Make use of you, huh?”
He leaned over her. “Or would you rather I make use of you?”
She put her hands against his chest and pushed. “Back off. Wait here.”
She marched out of the room and returned, the new, thick leather collar in hand. She pulled her shoulders back and walked over to Chase in determined steps. She could see the difference that came over him, the tensing muscles, the increasing intensity of his dark gaze. She could feel the difference in herself too, profoundly, as if something misaligned clicked into place.
“On your knees,” she ordered.
Chase sunk to his knees. The tall, strong alien who could lift her like a doll knelt at her command. He gazed up at her, hunger in his eyes. Holly fastened the collar around his neck and straightened up to gaze down at him.
“I could order you to the cage now,” she said. “I could tell you to sit there quietly until further notice, and you would obey.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, looking somewhat bothered by that prospect. “I’m yours to command, Mistress.”
“But you’d rather stay in my company and help me relax.”
“Yes, Mistress…you need to set your mind free.”
“Set my mind free?”
“We have to think of something they never thought about. You’ve lived here your whole life, so if anyone knows the loopholes in the system, it’s you. But you need to stop poisoning your mind with fear.”
Holly considered him. She hooked a finger through the ring in his collar. “Come, pet. You’re going to give me a massage.”
Holly went to her largest armchair, pulling Chase alongside her. She pointed at the floor in front of her. “Knees.”
Chase knelt beside the armchair. Holly sat down and nudged off her slippers.
“Massage my feet,” she ordered.
Somehow, she expected him to be offended, but Chase grinned. He took her right foot in his hand and removed the sock. She watched how he petted her foot, gentle and adoring.
“You have beautiful feet, Mistress,” he rumbled. “So nice and smooth…”
Holly took impeccable care of her feet, with frequent salt baths and pedicures, so she was pleased that he appreciated the result. Getting foot massages at the spa was the only thing she vaguely enjoyed on Silenia.
“And this color…” He touched his fingertips to her dark red toenails. “It’s perfect on you.”
“It’s called oxblood,” she said. “My favorite color.”
“Mine too, as of now.”
He began to massage her feet. He had skillful hands. They were big, warm and coarse, but he knew how to rub her gently. Pleasant shivers went through her. She moaned as he pressed his thumb into her instep.
“Am I doing this right?” he asked.
“Yes. Mm. Keep doing that.”
He applied gentle pressure, causing her to moan again. Chase grinned, looking pleased with himself.
Holly leaned back in her chair and exhaled. I need to relax and think. Set my mind free. Her gaze landed on the data pad lying on the coffee table next to the chair. She picked it up and switched it on.
Hmm.
Her brow furrowed with concentration as she looked over the data she’d recorded.
“What are you doing, Mistress?” Chase asked while he rubbed her toes.
“Just looking at something.” She returned her attention to Chase, who watched her expectantly. “I have done all kinds of…illegal…things over the years at IPT.”
He grinned with appreciation. “Such as?”
Her cheeks flushed and she needed a second to gather her thoughts.
“This is my private log,” she explained, growing serious as she glanced at the device. “I’ve taken secret video footage of the suffering pets as they’re being forced to obey. It’s…not pretty.”
Holly hit play on a random outtake and showed the data pad to Chase. The blurry, shaky recording showed a naked Lurexia
n female, small and frail, curled up in a corner of a cell, sobbing.
Chase froze and his expression darkened. A vein pulsed in his temple. Holly knew exactly how he felt.
“I have heaps of these clips,” she said, pausing the recording and placing the data pad back in her lap. “I wanted to collect evidence.”
Chase seemed to swallow his rage and continued to massage her feet. “Why haven’t you published them, Mistress?”
Holly bit her lip. “It’s not that simple.” She hesitated. “I originally wanted to publish this data in the VR, but I knew I’d get locked up for life. My work contract states that if I ever leak information about IPT or their methods, the punishment is lifetime imprisonment. The truth is, I was scared. If I uploaded this material, it would get deleted as soon as the supervising AI got wind of it. This data pad is disconnected from all public networks. I wouldn’t even dare to handle this footage otherwise.”
She paused, stared down at her feet Chase was massaging then looked out the window. She thought she was over the pain of regret, but it was still sharp inside her. “But back in the day, I still had a friend. I told my friend Alex about pet training and showed him this footage. He was shocked and outraged and said something had to be done. I don’t know what he did or who he talked to, but next thing I knew, he’d disappeared. I didn’t hear about him for weeks. I found out he’d been taken to Cloverfield Correctional. He landed in prison because of me. Alex never exposed me, but he remained locked up for months, and when he was released…he was like a different person, with a terrible, haunted look in his eyes. He didn’t want to talk to me anymore. He took a new job and moved out of Sky Dome One.”
“I see.”
“I didn’t dare talk to anyone afterward. I didn’t want anyone else to go to prison for my sake, and if the authorities found out I had breached my contract... But anyway, my biggest fear is…I wanted people to see this, but what if it doesn’t make any difference? They can so easily dismiss it as lies or a computer glitch. What if I try to make this public and nothing changes, but I end up getting arrested? I can’t help the pets from prison.”
Chase considered her words and nodded. “I’m glad you kept your head down. You getting arrested wouldn’t help anyone. I’d be dead now if it wasn’t for you.”