Guardsman of Gor

by John Norman

  "I am so happy," she whispered, lying in my arms. "I had never dreamed I could be so happy."

  I thrust the whip again to her mouth and, tenderly, softly, holding it to her lips, she covered it with kisses.

  "You enjoy kissing the whip, don't you?" I asked.

  "Yes, Master," she said.

  "You know well what its lash can do to your softness, do you not?" I asked.

  "Yes, Master," she smiled.

  "And yet you kiss it lovingly," I said.

  "Yes, my Master," she said.

  "Why?" I asked.

  "I do not know," she said. "Perhaps it is a symbol, plain to my vulnerable womanhood, of your manhood, which makes me such a yielding slave. Perhaps it is a symbol of your dominance over me."

  "Does it seem to you that you are kissing a symbol?" I said.

  "Perhaps on some level it seems so," she said, "but I experience it rather differently. It is, you see, a real whip, and one that can be used on me. Thus it seems to me that what I am really doing is kissing a whip, your whip. The whip, in itself, is not a symbol. It is a real whip. It may, of course, have symbolic significance."

  "Kissing the whip is for you," I said, "apparently a rich sexual, and emotional, experience."

  "Yes, Master," she said. "And even if you were a hated master, it would still, for us slaves, be such an experience."

  "Even if the master were a hated one?" I asked.

  "Yes," she said. "On one level we might hate to kneel before him and kiss his whip, but on another level we would be thrilled that he had made us do so. He would be showing us that we are women. Master, perhaps, being a man, cannot fully understand, or understand in its total fullness, what it is for a woman to kneel naked before a man and be forced to kiss his whip. It is, I assure you, a very meaningful experience, and one which she understands in every bit of her body. Indeed, after having kissed a man's whip it is very difficult to continue to hate him, even if he wishes us to do so, enjoying perhaps the humiliation and taming of a woman who hates him. Rather, as slaves, now taught by our master, we find ourselves, almost against our wills, considering how we might perhaps better serve and please him."

  "I see," I said.

  "All women want to be owned by a man strong enough to make her kiss his whip," she said. "What woman would want to be owned by a man of any other sort?"

  I said nothing.

  "You will be strong with me, will you not?" she asked. "You will make me do, and be, uncompromisingly, and as a slave, what you want, will you not?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "Then I kiss your whip," she said, "and love it."

  "You enjoy being a slave?" I asked.

  "I am a slave," she said, "and I love it."

  "You know that you cannot change your mind on this matter," I said, "and that there is no escape for you on Gor."

  "I know it well, Master," she said. "On this world, the law even, as I am a slave, in all its force, puts me in your total power."

  "In the total power of any master," I said, "to whom you might legally belong."

  "Yes, Master," she shuddered. "But it is my hope that you will be kind to me."

  "I shall see if you serve well," I said.

  "I shall serve well," she said. "I think that you will find that the girl you knew on Earth, now collared on Gor, will supply you with wonders of service."

  "Serve me now," I said.

  "Immediately, and in any way Master wishes," she said.

  * * * *

  She lay on her stomach, on her elbows beside me. I lay on my back, looking up at the ceiling.

  "Several collars were removed tonight," she said, "those of Shirley, of Lola and Peggy."

  "To be replaced with other collars shortly," I said.

  "My collar was not removed," she said. "You kept me."

  "Yes," I said.

  "I think you like me," she said. "You could have taken me to the market and sold me. You could do that easily. You are a Gorean master. But you did not do so. I think that perhaps you like me."

  "Perhaps," I said.

  "That will not endanger our relationship, do you think?" she asked.

  "I do not think so," I smiled.

  "You are rich, aren't you?" she asked.

  "As Goreans go," I said. "I think, yes."

  "You could buy many girls?" she asked.

  "Yes," I said.

  "But I am the only girl in the house," she said, pointedly.

  "At the moment," I said.

  "Oh," she said.

  I regarded her, smiling.

  "I will try to be such that you will feel neither the need nor the desire for others," she said.

  "Do you think that you can do the work, and supply the love and service of several, Nameless Slave?" I asked.

  "Yes, Master," she said, fervently, "yes, a thousand times yes!"

  "I shall give you an opportunity to prove yourself," I said.

  "I ask nothing more," she said.

  "You need training," I said.

  "Train me!" she cried. "Train me, piteously, mercilessly, to your standards and pleasure!"

  "I shall do so," I said, quietly.

  "Yes, Master," she said, trembling.

  * * * *

  I held her in my arms, looking down into her eyes. She looked up at me, lovingly.

  "I do not need to report for five days," I told her. "I think that will give us time to become better acquainted."

  "I thought we were already rather well acquainted, Master," she smiled, "and intimately."

  "I do not even know your name," I said.

  "You have not yet given me one!" she laughed.

  "I want to know about you," I said.

  "Master?"

  "I want to know millions of things about you," I said.

  "I am your chained slave," she said. "What else do you need to know?"

  "Everything," I said.

  "The talents of my tongue and fingers?" she asked.

  "Everything," I said, "even your smallest movements and most trivial thoughts."

  "You want to own all of me, don't you?" she asked.

  "I do own all of you," I said. "It is only, now, that I am growing curious about what I own."

  "You wish to make inquiries into the nature of your property?" she said.

  "Yes," I said.

  "I am a girl, and a slave, and I love you," she said.

  I kissed her.

  "I can tell you my measurements," she said, "and my collar size, and the sizes of the wrist and ankle rings that will fit me. I was forced to memorize these things before my first sale."

  "I am tempted to grow fond of you," I said.

  "Of a slave?" she asked.

  "To be sure," I said, "the thought is surely foolish."

  She suddenly lifted her lips to mine and kissed me, deeply and softly, rather helplessly, almost in desperation. "I am almost melting with love for you, my Master," she said. "I know my will means nothing, but I beg to be had."

  I then again, this time gently and at length, with tenderness, took her.

  * * * *

  I looked down at her, curled on the love furs, so small and curvaceous, in the heavy collar, chained by the neck to the slave ring, asleep.

  The light of morning was in the room, filtering through the shutters. It was warm and bright outside. We had slept late. I had been downstairs to get some food. I could hear birds in the garden.

  I kicked her in the side. "Awaken," I said.

  "Oh!" she said, moving with the chain on her neck.

  "Position," I said.

  Swiftly she assumed the position of the pleasure slave, on the love furs, head up, back straight, kneeling back on her heels, her hands on her thighs.

  "You kicked me," she said.

  I cuffed her, backhanded, striking her from her position to her side on the love furs. She looked up at me from the furs, her eyes wide, blood at her mouth. Then she resumed the position of the pleasure slave.

  "Last night," she sa
id. "Did it mean nothing? Surely you love me!"

  "Be silent, Slave," I said.

  "Yes, Master," she said.

  I picked up the whip.

  "Am I to be whipped?" she asked.

  "If it pleases me," I said.

  "Yes, Master," she said.

  I held the whip to her mouth, its blades folded back.

  She kissed it, and shuddered, and I placed it on the couch.

  I slid the bronze pot toward her, across the tiles, to where, going to the end of her chain, she might reach it. "Relieve yourself," I told her, "facing me."

  "Yes, Master," she said and, backing toward the pot, and squatting over it, she did so.

  I enjoyed making her perform this simple, homely act in my presence.

  "I am a slave, aren't I?" she asked.

  "Yes," I said.

  I then slid the pot to the side of the room, and gave her a pan of water and a rag, with which she might freshen herself. When she had done this I put the pan and the rag to one side. She then knelt again in the position of the pleasure slave, on the furs, the heavy chain dangling between her breasts, and then lying over her left thigh, thence descending to the furs and lifting to the slave ring.

  "Good morning," I said to her.

  "Good morning, Master," she said.

  I fed her some dates, by hand, putting them in her mouth, from a tray of food I had brought up from the kitchen.

  "You struck me," she said.

  "Do you object, in the slightest?" I asked.

  "No, Master," she said. "You may do with me as you wish."

  I held a date before her, and she leaned forward, stretching her chained neck to reach it, and I drew it back. She then knelt back again, on her heels. Whether she were to receive the date or not was my decision. I then gave it to her, putting it in her mouth.

  "My Master feeds me," she whispered. "The slave is grateful."

  I then put a shallow porcelain bowl of water on the floor, and pointed to it.

  She drank from it on her hands and knees, lapping from it, as a she-sleen. "My Master waters me," she said, looking at me, from her hands and knees, the chain hanging from the collar on her neck. "A slave is grateful."

  In so simple a fashion, by hand feeding, and floor watering, not permitting the slave to use her hands, I had demonstrated to her, in the Gorean fashion, that her food and water, even such simple things as whether she was to eat or drink, or not, were in my control.

  "You may now sit back against the foot of the couch," I said.

  "Yes, Master," she said.

  I joined her there.

  We then, from the tray, feeding ourselves, taking dates, and slices of larma and pastries, breakfasted and chatted.

  It is pleasant to have breakfast in bed, so to speak, with a naked young lady, especially when she is chained by the neck to your slave ring.

  We chatted of many things, including our former lives, on Earth, and our experiences in the university. She was loquacious and animate.

  "I have a surprise," I told her.

  I brought up from the kitchen, where I had been keeping it hot, a vessel of black wine, with sugars, and cups and spoons. Too, I had brought up a small bowl of powdered bosk milk. We had finished the creams last night and, in any event, it was unlikely they would have lasted the night. If I had wanted creams I would have had to have gone to the market. My house, incidentally, like most Gorean houses, had no ice chest. There is little cold storage on Gor. Generally food is preserved by being dried or salted. Some cold storage, of course, does exist. Ice is cut from ponds in the winter, and then stored in ice houses, under sawdust. One may go to the ice houses for it, or have it delivered in ice wagons. Most Goreans, of course, cannot afford the luxury of ice in the summer.

  Immediately the girl, kneeling, prepared to serve me. "I believe Master prefers his black wine 'second slave,'" she said.

  "Yes," I said.

  I watched her pouring the beverage. She did so carefully, deferentially, being careful not to spill a drop. I noticed how her breasts depended from her body. How marvelous it is to be served by a beautiful woman.

  "There are two cups," she whispered.

  "One is for you," I said.

  "Black wine is expensive," she said.

  "Pour one for yourself," I said.

  "Even though I am a slave?" she asked.

  "Yes," I said.

  "Am I a high slave?" she asked.

  "Do you wish me to hold your head back, my hand in your hair, your back almost breaking, and force the spout of the vessel between your teeth, pouring the wine as it is, black and scalding, down your throat?" I asked.

  "No, Master!" she said.

  "Your brand is pretty," I said.

  "Thank you, Master," she said.

  "You are not a high slave," I said. "You are a low slave. You are the lowest of low slaves."

  "Yes, Master," she said.

  "And do not forget it," I said.

  "No, Master," she said.

  "Now pour yourself a cup of wine," I said.

  "Yes, Master," she said. "May I mollify my beverage?"

  "Yes," I said.

  I watched her as she mixed in a plentiful helping of powdered bosk milk, and two of the assorted sugars. She then left the small, rounded metal cup on the tray.

  "Why do you not drink?" I asked her.

  "A girl does not drink before her master," she said.

  "I see that you are not totally stupid," I said.

  "Thank you, Master," she said.

  She looked at me.

  "That was a test, was it not?" she asked.

  "Certainly," I said.

  "I am pleased that I passed it," she said.

  "You did well," I said.

  "What would have happened," she asked, "had I failed the test?"

  "What do you think?" I asked.

  "I would have been whipped?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "Then I am very pleased I passed it," she said.

  "A highly intelligent woman might fail that test once," I said. "But only a very stupid woman could fail it twice."

  "I am sure of it," she said. "One remonstrance of the lash is likely to well imprint the lesson."

  "There are many subtleties expected in the behavior of a slave," I said. "I hope that you are familiar with them."

  "I do not even think of them now," she said. "I suspect most have now become second nature with me. Certainly the refraining from eating or drinking before the master is familiar to any slave. I trust that if I err in certain others which may be less familiar, or of which I am simply ignorant, for these things may differ from city to city, and town to town, and domicile to domicile, you will inform me of my error, and the nature of what is required, and spare the lash, unless, of course, there might ensue a repetition of the fault."

  "We shall see," I said.

  "We desire to please," she said.

  I did not respond to her.

  "Master will do with me, of course, as he sees fit," she said.

  "Yes," I said.

  "I am a slave," she said.

  "Yes," I said.

  I then sipped the black wine. She, too, then, after it was clear that I had drunk, lifted her own cup to her lips.

  "Yes," I said, "you may drink, Slave."

  She then, head down, holding the small cup by its two tiny handles, sipped the beverage.

  We drank the black wine in silence, sipping it, looking at one another.

  How beautiful she was, and I owned her!

  "I love belonging to you, Master," she whispered.

  "Finish the wine," I told her.

  "Yes, Master," she said. I put my own cup on the tray.

  I looked at her, from her small feet, to her ankles and calves, her sweet thighs, the sweet belly of her, her waist, and marvelous breasts, her shoulders, and arms and hands, her fair throat, chained, her lovely lips, her sensitive, delicate features, her deep, vulnerable eyes, and the marvelous wealth of her dark, cascad
ing hair, perhaps never cut, except for shaping, since she had been brought to Gor.

  Timidly she put her own small cup on the tray. "Master desires me," she said.

  I moved the tray to the side, well away from the furs.

  She was half kneeling, half crouching, near the far corner of the large couch. I saw that she was frightened.

  "Do you sometimes fear the desire of your Master?" I asked.

  "Sometimes," she said. "Your eyes."

  "What is it that you see in my eyes?" I asked.

  "A Gorean lust," she said, "and I, a chained slave, know myself the helpless vessel upon which it will be vented."

  I snapped my fingers. She, even though frightened, must come to my arms.

  I threw the chain back over her shoulder, and held her. She half tried to pull away, frightened.

  "How can you feel such desire for one who is only a slave?" she asked.

  "How could one feel such desire," I laughed, "for one who was not a slave?"

  She shuddered. It was pleasant to feel her enslaved beauty trembling in my arms.

  "To be sure," I said, "you are only a nameless slave."

  "Has Master considered a name for me?" she asked.

  "Down!" I said. "On your hands and knees on the furs, head touching the furs!"

  Swiftly, fearfully, she complied.

  I slapped her. "Oh!" she cried.

  "I can think of a name for you," I told her.

  "Please, no, Master!" she cried.

  I then put my hand on her. She squirmed. "You seem well informed as to the desires of Masters," I said. "I trust you are similarly well informed as to the desires of slaves."

  She whimpered.

  "I can think of another name for you," I said.

  "Please, no, Master," she said.