This threw Ren off his game, making him feel lost.
Li Po continued to talk softly, filling the silence that seemed to encompass Ren. Ren listened with half-attention, dazed, confused that he didn’t fit in right away, that these men who had their own pairings, their routine unions, had gotten along fine without him and had no reason to open to him. Li Po was being friendly, and Ren welcomed it, but there was an underlying feeling here of less camaraderie and more competition.
As Li Po talked, Ren learned he’d been in the harem five years. He liked Cam and Tomo just fine. Zanti remained a stranger to him. He said with a laugh, “Aaron argues everything. He takes everything personal. He’s blunt with his opinions. But his voice…”
“Have people been dismissed from the harem?”
“Twice that I know of.” Li Po leaned forward, voice low. “One got really sick. Weak and thin. He needed professional medical help. Master does not deny us quality care. So he was taken away. We all thought he’d get the help he needed and return. But he never did. The other I knew was violent. Some of us are more moody than others, and it’s to be expected, but Brandon was always picking fights. He’d yell a lot, and go into rages where he’d bulldog his way into anyone nearby, knocking them around, shouting nonsense. He lasted two weeks before he was taken away.”
“Where do you think he went?”
“Master keeps other compounds I’ve never seen. They house staff. You know, anyone who works at this place from cleaning crews to groundskeepers. There’s even a medical ward. I went there once for a twisted ankle. We have everything here. Why not compounds for those who don’t fit into the harem? It beats considering the alternative.”
“Master wouldn’t kill an unfit slave, would he?”
Li Po shrugged. “Honestly?”
Ren nodded.
“I truly don’t think so.”
“But why all the secrecy? Why can’t we ever contact the outside world?”
“It’s about control. He owns us. We are his property and his alone. He’s very territorial, I guess. An eccentric rich dude.”
“But why won’t he let anyone see him?”
Another shrug. “Maybe he’s shy. Or maybe hideous. No one knows.”
“How old is he?” Ren asked.
“No clue. But Tomo says he was the first of the harem and that was ten years ago. Tomo loves living here. He’s one of the oldest and the happiest. If Master started this harem young, he might only be in his thirties. But if he was older, well, who knows? He could be thirty or sixty.”
“So no clue about how old this estate is? Its history?”
Li Po shook his hair from his face. “None. When I came here, I had no clue where I was going. I’d never heard of this place. I had some training. I love sex but I didn’t want to whore myself to different people. I wanted one master, and not just for play. The real thing.”
Ren could relate completely to this penchant. It was a desire he could not ignore, one that was as much a part of him as the skin on his body.
“I belonged to a master who traded slaves right and left,” Li Po said. “He got bored fast. Didn’t appreciate I was educated. He sold me online to a mystery man. I actually thought I was being carted off to some underworld hell. But I ended up here. Master bought me based on my profile.”
“What in your profile do you think attracted him? Other than that you’re good looking, I mean. Because you are.”
Li Po smiled wide. “Thank you. So are you. But I speak six languages fluently, and a smattering of five more. My parents moved all over the world as I grew up. Master likes to hear me read and recite lewd erotica in different languages. Says I have a nice speaking voice, too. It’s weird but fine with me. No one ever appreciated my languages before like Master does. And also, he apparently gets off on great voices. He calls Aaron upstairs sometimes just to sing to him for an hour or two. Doesn’t even make him touch himself, according to Aaron’s stories. Oh, and I also dance, sing and act.”
“Where upstairs do we go when we’re called?” Ren asked.
“It’s a room. Well, there are several rooms. You’ll see.” Li Po smiled.
Chapter Twelve
First Afternoon
Ren found a chair by a window and for most of the morning sat in it looking out through parted, pink chiffon. It wasn’t that he wanted out. He knew he’d be in a harem when he was sold, of course and reminded himself he liked the idea of feeling part of a larger family some day.
It was simply that everything was different, strange, and he needed to see it all to process his new reality. To figure out where he fit.
Li Po let him be for now. But Ren could feel eyes on him. Eyes from every corner. And Master watched as well. No one told him there were hidden cameras in the atrium, but he could sense it.
Ren needed some time, that was all. Time to acclimate. He would get to know these guys, of course. But everything was too much too fast and he wanted to go slower. Even the public sexcapades did not rouse him. At the Slave Palace, everything roused him. But he’d felt safe there. He’d loved that place. Loved learning all he could from it, and from Masters Holden and Locke.
His eyes stung as he thought of them. Over a year he’d lived there. It had become a home to him. Inside his chest, his heart trembled. As if pieces of it had split off. First his parents. Now having left his training nest forever. His body fidgeted in distress. He was too old for coddling, but there were broken things inside that let their sharp edges be known.
The waterfall poured into the pool making a lovely sound of rain that Ren liked. It soothed him. It filled the air with a dew-scent that made everything seem new and clean.
He drew his legs up into the chair and watched the view from the window he’d chosen, a landscape of emerald dotted with patches of white flowers. There was a huge, many-branched oak, gnarled and ancient, that shaded a white compound about a hundred yards away. The windows of that building were white and shuttered. He sensed no life within it. Maybe it was for storage. He tried to imagine what was in there. Food supplies, perhaps. Or yard equipment. Or maybe it was a garage filled with more collectibles, old cars, or sculptures, or boxes and boxes of more masks from all over the world.
By lunch, Ren was still not feeling quite content.
He ate chicken soup and a salad, wanting to go light. Feeling small.
Li Po sat beside him looking pretty and made idle talk. Ren nodded in the appropriate places. Throughout lunch, Zanti stared at him, brows narrowed. Ren ignored it. The guy was just too weird.
Later, ignoring the continued public randiness of the men which almost seemed to evolve from boredom more than love or lust, he took a nap.
Adjustment periods are normal. Ren remember both Master Holden and Master Locke saying this to him at various times. First, in the context of settling into the Palace routine, the phrase was like a lesson. The other times, it was about the future. Eventually, when he would be sold, he needed to know that even in the best instances, people needed time to adapt and face any life changes, pleasure slaves most of all because they were the most vulnerable in their position of no rights. They needed their training to help them, to speak for them when they had no voice. They needed to be strong of mind and body, both, to contend with the unknowns they might face every day, every year.
Ren needed to be patient with himself.
He sat on his bed among soft pillows and watched the cleaning crew come for the lunch dishes. Two men in white slacks and shirts gathered everything up on a wheeled cart. They cleaned the kitchen area even though it was still sparkling from the morning wipe down. They took all of the trash generated by thirteen men in half a day. Which was minimal, mostly bottles and cans of drinks.
The soft rattle of their work calmed Ren, gave a normalcy to things.
Cam sauntered over and stood in the entryway to Ren’s room. “I have your tablet. It can play games, movies, collect books. Anything that needs to be paid for is on auto. You can’t order physical items
to be delivered, of course, but anything digital can be transferred. Physical items desired go through me.”
“I know how it works,” Ren said. “Thank you.”
A raised sleek golden eyebrow. Taut naked chest expanding with his breath. Cam looked both mystified and disappointed at Ren’s low energy.
“No worries. It’ll get better. You’ll get used to things around here,” Cam said.
“I know. It’s just the trip wore me out and all,” Ren lied. “And why is Zanti staring at me all the time?”
“Is he?”
Cam turned as Zanti came from another alcove. Cam raised his eyebrows at Ren, shrugging, mouth shut. Zanti looked as if he were almost about to laugh.
Ren shook his head.
Zanti offered half a shrug. As Cam turned and moved back to the center of the harem, Zanti sauntered along behind him, sashaying his ass as if he knew Ren was looking. And, yes, Ren was looking, but all of Zanti’s gestures felt more like mocking than a tease. It was a really nice ass, though.
Ren fiddled with the tablet for about fifteen minutes before growing bored. He didn’t want to read or watch movies. He didn’t want to do anything right now. Good thing he had all the time in the universe to do nothing.
The light from the windows lent a pink veil over the atrium. The falls splashed, the perfect peaceful white noise. Two men were fucking in the alcove next to his. He could hear the grunting and groans, the smacks of flesh on flesh.
Fucking. His favorite subject. Favorite pastime. At the Slave Palace he never had trouble watching, getting aroused by it, learning the best moves. But right now nothing twitched. Not one single part of his body. Surrounded by luxury and beautiful men, and he wasn’t interested?
How could this happen?
He’d pondered his lessons. His youthful enthusiasm for men. His love for sex as he remembered the splash of auras caress all the bodies he’d ever touched and brought pleasure to. All still alive and well in his mind. So what was wrong? Was he sick? Homesick? That was ridiculous! He’d strived hard to make no attachments at the Palace.
Nine million dollars had bought him. Paid for him. He was proud of that. It should be enough and everything else would fall into place. He would obey Master. He would live to serve him no matter the conditions and whether he was called to serve once a day, a week or a year. The honor of that could not be disputed. He had agreed to devote himself without even knowing a thing about the man. He had made that decision. He had no right to mope now.
Forcing himself up, Ren went to the pool and sat on the edge. Three men swam and played in the water. Two tossed a ball back and forth. Laughing. One was Li Po, who looked at him through damp bangs, smiled and waved.
Ren smiled and waved back. The cool water lapped against his shins. He swirled his feet, making more tiny waves. The falls created a mist in his hair.
Ren noticed some of the other men about the atrium watching him. Curious. That was how he read their mildly faded auras of green and gray.
After about five minutes, two men came to the edge of the pool from the other side of the room and sat down, their feet plunging into the sparkling water. If Ren was remembering correctly, one was named Calder, and he was very fair. The other was Aaron, the one Cam said had an incredible singing voice but wasn’t overly talented in bed. He couldn’t believe that if he was here in the harem. Maybe Cam, like Li Po, simply did not prefer him.
“Hi,” said Aaron.
“Hi.” Ren gripped the pool’s edge tighter and pumped his legs a little in the water.
“So what’s the special thing about you?” The tilt of Aaron’s head and his side glance belied the boldness of the question.
“I—I—um.” How to say it? He’d never talked about it with anyone until his conversation with Master in the mask room.
“Don’t want to say, huh? We’ll find out eventually. Is it only that you’re Palace trained? So is Michael. He’s not better than any one of us for it, though.”
“I would not assume that.” Again he stopped, swallowed hard.
Aaron’s grin was quick. There was a gray fog above his head as if he were confused or unsure. Across the pool, Zanti sat on the couch with his tablet. He was watching them intently, poised like a tense rabbit.
Zanti’s attention seemed to be on him quite often. He should have been flattered. Instead, he was annoyed at the little imp.
“So if you’re so great, why don’t you prove it?” Aaron lifted his leg and turned, thighs spread, toward Ren. His lovely cock, pink as dawn, rested semi-tumescent against heavy balls, pressing the side of one thigh. He was handsome but that didn’t matter. Ren could have shown anyone a good time, handsome or not. But if not ordered to do so, why should he?
“Not friendly?” Aaron asked.
Li Po swam over. “Aaron, god! You’re such a bulldog. It’s why I warned Ren about you.”
“You did? I’m so hurt. Is it because I say what I want?”
“Because you have no tact.”
“Tact? Here? Ren’s no prude, either. Li, you just want to be his first, now am I being honest and forward enough without any tact?”
Li Po splashed water all over him. Some of it got on Ren and Calder, but neither flinched. It felt good to Ren.
“You want some of this?” Aaron dove into the pool right at him, and Li Po swam off, Aaron playfully chasing after him. Li Po apparently took no offense and laughed as he swam under the waterfall and came up on the other side. The screen of water veiled him, his dark body a glittered silhouette. Aaron came up from underwater alongside him. The two men embraced, Aaron slightly taller, lighter hued.
Maybe Aaron had been confused or unsure around Ren, but his aura changed when he was with Li Po to friendly green and lusty pink. Ren chided himself for being somewhat surly. He would not get off to a great start as the newest of the harem if he remained too aloof. But he wasn’t ready to be open and playful. Not yet. Not with his heart hammering in his chest like a stuttering engine afraid to start.
He glanced over the pool again and saw Zanti’s brows narrowed, lower lip caught between his teeth. When Zanti raised an eyebrow at him, Ren’s heart fluttered. What was it about that boy? This continued hands-off silent enticement gave Ren a start as he felt the first, warm spark of arousal since his arrival.
Calder, a few feet away, kicking at the water and wiping droplets from his eyes, drew Ren’s attention. “Aaron’s pretty sweet. Really. Everyone likes to say he bugs them. He’s just got a big bold mouth. He can seem rude. But he’s good. He’s really good.”
Ren said, “It’s okay. It’s all fine.”
And it was. It had to be. Of course he wasn’t shy at all, either, and he watched Li Po and Aaron make out standing up in thigh-high water behind the waterfall. It was fine. All of it. Beautiful. Sex was beautiful. But he needed something else. An impetus he wasn’t getting. Something to make him respond, because he hadn’t gotten hard in two days since leaving the Palace. Simply, that was not like him. Even after a day of training, he was ready for more. And every morning at the Palace he woke with an erection. He was young and insatiable and he loved that feeling.
But now? Nothing. No such feelings. For two days.
He glanced at Zanti who had gone back to reading, then back at Aaron and Li Po behind the waterfall caressing, kissing. Aaron knelt for the smaller man, taking him into his mouth.
“They are good together and they know it,” Calder supplied, voice barely above a whisper.
As Ren idly watched, he thought about Master’s voice. About their brief meeting and how all the masks had watched as he turned proud and naked for Master, as he answered his questions. An edge of heat swept through him at the memory, on top of what he’d just experienced when he’d looked at Zanti, a too brief encounter with no visuals, no touch, no scent or burnt-sweet taste of excitement on the air. Only a mechanical voice. Echoing. Yet he wanted more. And that mystery fueled something deep inside him.
Li Po had apparently finished for
now, and pushed Aaron back on a rocky outcropping, lifting his long, golden legs up, bent at the knee. Li Po’s dark head bent between Aaron’s legs and Aaron groaned.
Calder had dark blond curls thick about his face, giving him a cherub look. But he was neither plump nor an angel. His lean body, sporting a proud erection, slipped into the pool and he slowly swam over to the falls and walked right through them. Ren watched Li Po reach out to him and pull him into an embrace, and just like that they’d created a threesome.
Ren heard Master’s voice again, distant and cool. I acquire rare and beautiful things that appeal to me.
Ren needed to remember that. He was one of them. This was a good thing. And his body fluttered very slightly again at the thought.
Chapter Thirteen
First Summons
Ren woke to thicker light denoting late afternoon. No one had bothered him when he’d decided to head back to his bed for another nap. Though he had not done much at all, he was tired and wrung out.
Seeing he was awake, Cam approached and stood at the open alcove entrance, perfect body glimmering with a pink-blue aura. “Do you need an aspirin or something more? I can put in a note on my tablet for Niko to take you to medical if you’re not feeling well.”
“No.” Ren sat up.
“All right. Dinner is in ten.”
“Thank you.”
There was a common oval table made of brown oak, the edges carved with ivy, where most of the men sat for their meals. But some took their plates and lounged, feet up, on various couches and chairs, maybe needing to be alone for a while, or simply enjoying the more luxurious cushioning for their primed and toned buttocks.
They had dumpling soup, plates of roasted chicken dripping with juices, warm tortillas with melted butter, tossed salads, plates piled with cheeses and fruits, golden hot rolls, beans, rice, steaks, broccoli. It was a buffet of choices, and you could dish up whatever you wanted.
The Slave Harem: A Kingdom of Slaves Book Page 9