Bought and Sold

by Tessa Valmur

  Delgardo knew this girl was the most volatile of the slaves he wished to sell today. A college girl from a wealthy Boston family of bankers she had been kidnapped and held to ransom. Her family though had refused to pay the ransom and the kidnappers had panicked as the Police had closed in on them. A contact Delgardo had in America had bought the girl on the cheap from them. Now she was paraded and the bidding started by raised hands with Delgardo's secretary keeping an eye on the bidders.

  'Am I bid any more then for lot number one?' Delgardo looked expectantly around the faces before him. No one responded and the American girl was announced sold. As if suddenly realising what had happened to her she tried to break free but her efforts were useless. She couldn't escape from the man who held her and because of the pole clipped to her collar she couldn't get any nearer to him, although she tried. The man watched as she kicked out wildly in his direction. Delgardo gave the merest nod and two more men appeared at a jog, both holding lassoes. The next time the girl kicked out a rope snaked around her foot and was jerked tight, closing around her ankle then dragging her off balance. The other man lassoed her other ankle and together they dragged her on her back out of the hall.

  Lot number two was a Japanese airline hostess, who had been drugged in a nightclub and had woken to find herself in a packing crate, marked "Fragile - with care". Lot number three, a Swedish blonde who had been backpacking across Europe when she was abducted, went for a similar price to the Japanese girl. Both of them had exhibited submissive natures and had taken to their training very well. The bidding was brisk and slightly better than average, thought Delgardo, as he called for lot number four.

  He would be glad when today's business was concluded. He always felt anxious on the actual auction days. Not because of the auction itself, but because of other considerations. Most of his prospective clients were dangerous people on the wrong side of the law and they attracted too much unwanted attention. There had been, he was sure, several occasions when some had been followed to Rouassa. Probably by the authorities of their country, who had been tracking them. Sinister boats, planes, and foreigners suddenly appeared in Karunga then disappeared as suddenly as the visitors to the auction did after they'd bought their new acquisitions. Delgardo had even wondered whether some criminal ring was watching his operation and was preparing to take control of it.

  'Lot number four ladies and gentlemen...'

  The English girl was led in on a collar and leash. She had been strapped to a cross that Delgardo had designed himself. Made from bamboo, one length of the cross held the girls arms outstretched, while the other length ran the length of her spine. The poles pressed against her back and held her arms drawn slightly back so that she was forced to maintain an upright stance with her breasts jutting forwards. Her nipples, bound with the invisible thread, stood proud from her dark areoles.

  Two leather straps were fastened to the bottom of the pole and these had been fed between her legs and pulled tightly back over the insides of her thighs before being screwed back onto the bamboo pole. The straps drew the globes of her arse apart then prevented her from closing her thighs. This way her sex was kept clearly on show. Another leather strap was drawn tightly under the girl's breasts and fixed to the pole. It served not just to keep the girl strapped to the pole but exaggerated the prominence of her breasts by pressing tightly against her rib cage under their swell. Her whole body had been oiled so that her tanned skin shone. With her sex now shaved the delicate pink folds of flesh were clearly exposed as she was made to parade around the hall.

  'Lot four: English, mid-twenties. Lovely condition, freshly broken in. She responds well to the whip and she makes for a challenging ride. She's very bright and as you'll see from her background notes, she was a British secret agent. She's probably trained in hand to hand combat so don't take any chances with her, her bite will be worse than her bark.'

  A ripple of laughter went through the crowd. The English girl looked up at him, glaring with anger. She seemed to snarl silently at him, her generous bow shaped lips curling back and exposing her clenched teeth. The crowd laughed and Delgardo smiled to himself.

  Amongst Delgardo's henchmen was an old, alcoholic German dentist. An hour ago, Delgardo had leant in the doorway of the room he used and had watched him at work. Zoe had been strapped down onto his dentist's chair and a ring gag forced into her mouth to keep her jaws held open. Delgardo's henchman had then applied a modified filling cement over the tops of the girl's molars. The gag was then removed and her jaws were forced closed and held.

  With the paste set hard, Zoe's teeth were effectively clamped together, making it impossible for her to speak. After a day the paste would begin to dissolve but for the moment all she could do, as she was paraded around the auction hall, was to snarl like a captured wild animal.

  Delgardo looked down at the English girl and smiled with satisfaction.

  'So who would like to open the bidding?'

  Immediately a hand was raised.

  'Any advance upon...'

  His sentence was never completed as another hand was waved.

  'Now, is someone going to give me a figure more like her true worth. Nice firm arse, well muscled legs: all in all a fit body. Imagine what she'd be like under your control, ladies and gentlemen. Come on now, how often would you have the chance to make a British Secret Service agent submit to your will? Remember her training and look at the photographs in your catalogue. Imagine having her body bound for your pleasure.'

  The bids came thick and fast and Delgardo had to keep his excitement firmly under control. He had already taken the bidding well past Auda's reserve for her and he would take fifteen percent of her sale price. It was remarkable, he mused, how much some people would pay for a slave, when if you had the nerve they were just there for the taking.

  'Generous breasts, a very appealing pussy. Look at those wide, dark eyes. Imagine them watching you as you gave her a good whipping. Would anyone care to advance the bidding?'

  It was a three way bid now between two regular clients and an unknown Englishman who had signed in as The Colonel and had put his address in the guest book as Shrevra, Jalhor Province, India. The last bid, by The Colonel was going unchallenged and Delgardo suspected that the bidding for the English girl was just about concluded.

  'Any more bids? Going once, going twice...'

  A hand came up. It was one of his regulars: a Brazilian businessman who had bought many girls from Delgardo. Amongst his various enterprises he ran a dungeon that was used for photographs for a website. A website with a very high access charge because of the nature of the photographs.

  'Right then, is that the final bid? Going once, going twice...'

  The Colonel raised his hand again. The Brazilian looked crestfallen.

  'So, it is with the gentlemen on my right. Going once, going twice... going three times... sold!'

  * * *

  Vanessa sat on the sun deck, a large gin and tonic in one hand, idly flicking through a glossy magazine when she sensed the boat move fractionally sideways. She looked up from the magazine for an explanation. Auda had anchored the boat mid-stream about half a mile from the fort, so as not to draw attention to it. He had taken Zoe to the auction in the small speedboat and had left Basil on the yacht with Vanessa.

  'Basil! Is that you?'

  With no answer immediately forthcoming she stood up. She was about to call out again when she thought she heard hushed voices. Standing up on tiptoe on her bare feet she looked around. The water on one side of the boat had telltale ripples as if something had disturbed it.

  'Hey! Vanessa! You call?'

  She looked around and saw Basil emerging from one of the deck doors.

  'I just thought...'

  Her sentence died in her throat as she saw two men appear from behind the life raft capsule and dash towards Basil. One held a machete and the other a large, serrated edged diver's knife. Basil, seeing the look of alarm on her face, swung around and then bounded away acr
oss the deck, the two men in pursuit.

  Vanessa was agonising over what she should do when she saw two more men climb over the side of the yacht and now she heard the dull scrape of their little boat against the side of Auda's yacht. She swore at their bad luck, the boat had a good arsenal of guns but Basil had appeared on deck unarmed. The main galley was nearest her and she knew there was a revolver kept there. As fast as she could, she ran, but already they were after her.

  Wrenching open the galley door she dived inside just before her pursuers could reach her. She threw her weight back against the door and slid the little bolt into its lock. She dashed across to the map drawer where she knew the revolver was. Behind her the door rattled furiously. The drawer opened at the same time as the galley door burst open.

  The revolver lay before her. She could hear the breathing of men behind her. She closed her hand around the weapon and swung around as a hand grabbed her wrist and an arm slammed against her chest knocking her backwards. Dazed and on her knees she saw she was still holding the gun but the hand around her wrist tightened its grip and shook her arm vigorously. The gun fell from her grasp and slid across the polished wood floor.

  The man stared at her bikini-clad body and grinned victoriously. Picking himself up off the floor he grabbed her hair and hauled her to her feet. When she tried to hit him he blocked her flailing arm and a second later Vanessa found herself being pushed ahead of him out of the galley, her arms wrenched and held behind her back by one man, the other leading her by her hair.

  'Get your filthy hands off me!'

  When she tried to kick the man behind her he quickly let go of her arms and caught hold of her ankle.

  'Let me go!'

  Vanessa glared furiously at him as he forced her to hop to keep her balance. The other man had let go of her hair and stood laughing.

  'Come on darling, down on your hands and knees!'

  Vanessa looked around her in alarm, a dozen men were milling across the deck of the boat and she could see Basil swimming furiously for the shore. The man holding her leg lifted it higher and she was forced to support herself on her hands as she was tipped over.

  'That's it bitch, on your knees.'

  There was a raucous rush of laughter and the men closed around her. One caught hold of her hair and another flicked the toe of his boot against her arm, dragging her off balance. Powerful hands twisted her hands behind her back. With her chin pressing against the deck, someone bound a rope around her ankles.

  'Let's get this fancy thing cast off and under way!'

  The shout came from someone used to giving orders. Vanessa saw the majority of the pirates scatter but several remained, two at least holding her down while a third bound her wrists together behind her back.

  'Get the girl below deck, we can enjoy her later, once we've got clear of Rouassa. Can you believe that anyone could be so stupid as to leave a boat like this lying around as a present; especially with her on board for the taking! We'll all have our share of her juicy little body then we'll sell her for a tidy sum!'

  The leader's belly laugh was echoed by half a dozen other men and Vanessa was dragged below deck, bound and helpless and cursing Auda for being so negligent.

  She was taken kicking and screaming to the main berth where she was tossed down onto the bed. The men tore the bikini from her and her pants were forced into her mouth. They then gagged her with one of her own stockings and tied her ankles together with another.

  'What a body, why wait for the captain's order before we have her? Look at her, I reckon we should have her now.'

  'Don't be an idiot, if he finds out he'll have your guts for garters!'

  'Aye, we'd best get back up on deck smartish or he'll be after us.'

  'You just 'ave a nice little rest darling and we'll all be back to see you later!'

  Vanessa squirmed ineffectually as the man squeezed then slapped her breast.

  As soon as the men had left her alone she curled her legs up behind her until she could just reach her ankles with her bound hands. They had tied rope around her wrists but her fingers were still free and she reckoned that the stocking they'd bound her ankles with, she might be able to untie, given enough time. Thankfully her long fingernails made the job easier and soon she could feel the twists of nylon loosening. Working a fingertip into the material she tugged and teased at the fabric until the knot released itself.

  Whilst she had developed a taste for adventure, she was certain that these men spelt trouble for her. If the pirates hadn't managed to stop Basil's escape, then there was a good chance that he'd get to Auda and pretty soon he'd come after his stolen boat. She knew he was not the sort of man to take what had just happened lying down. Perhaps he'd be able to hire some men from the slave fort and get a boat to pursue them. Meantime though the pirates were obviously keen to put as many miles as possible between themselves and where they'd stolen the boat. They had been anchored a good couple of miles up the river estuary, as long as she could escape now, within sight of land, she'd have a decent chance of getting back to Auda.

  With her feet now unfettered she began searching the room as best she could with her hands still bound, for something sharp enough to cut through the rope around her wrists. She frantically pulled open locker drawers and gave a silent shout of joy when she found a sheathed dagger that belonged to Auda. It took her only a couple of moments to jam the knife between her knees and then drag the rope that bound her wrists back and forth against the blade. Just as the rope frayed then snapped though the cabin door opened.

  'So where the hell do you think you're going?'

  The men moved quickly to snatch the dagger from where it lay but Vanessa was quicker. The weapon clutched before her she retreated a few steps.

  'Any closer and I'll use it!'

  'Of course you will my darlin', and we don't want that do we?'

  The man smiled and took a step back.

  'Just let me go... you can keep the boat,' Vanessa kept the dagger held high and nervously advanced a couple of steps.

  'Alright then sweetheart, just whatever you want.'

  The man moved away from the door, holding his hands up above his head and grinning at her.

  'Just keep back!'

  Vanessa glanced at the door and edged a little closer. The man smiled and nodded.

  'Go on, you go first and I'll call to my men to keep out of your way.'

  'No, you go ahead and tell them.'

  'Alright then, just whatever you say.'

  Vanessa watched the man move to leave the room and she stepped after him. She was just wondering what she should do next when he spun around, his hand grasping her wrist before she could react.

  He tightened his grip. Vanessa tried to hit the man with her other hand but he easily blocked her then jerked her arm forcing her to drop the dagger. In the next second he pushed her back down onto the bed and picked up the dagger.

  'Fiery tempered little thing, aren't you? I wonder what I should do with you?'

  'Let me go. The man who owns this boat won't care about losing it but he'll be furious if you take me as well.'

  'Will he now?' laughed the pirate, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. 'Well, that makes me very scared, very scared indeed!'

  'I'm only trying to help you.'

  'Are you? Well, I reckon if I keep you on board, my men won't be able to concentrate on their jobs, so we'll just have to get rid of you, won't we?'

  'Yes, that's by far the best idea,' Vanessa agreed, enthusiastically.

  'So, I think we'll sell you to the slave market, since we're so close. You'll sell for a tidy sum won't you?'

  'No, you can't do that!'

  'And meantime, I think maybe it's only fair if I let my crew enjoy your tasty little body. I bet you'd like that wouldn't you, you little wench!'

  'Please don't! Can't I just look after you?'

  'Oh no, that'd upset my crew and I wouldn't want to do that. No, best if I let them all enjoy you. Keep the lads happy an' all t
hat!'

  The pirate then gave a shout and in no time at all a handful of men had spilt into the cabin.

  'Right,' snapped the leader. 'Get her on her belly, time to give her a lesson in good manners!'

  Vanessa just had time to see the leader unbuckle the heavy leather belt around his breeches and pull it free, before four pairs of hands took hold of her arms and legs. Forced face down on the bed, she glanced nervously back over her shoulder.

  'Pull her good and tight lads!'

  Vanessa felt the hands around her ankles and wrists draw her limbs to full stretch. There was the sound of the belt swishing through the air then Vanessa felt a terrible stinging across her buttocks.

  'Yeeow! Stop it!'

  Wide eyed with alarm she looked over her shoulder to see the belt whistling down through the air again towards her bare legs.

  Vanessa shook her head, tears pricking her eyes, a burning sensation spreading across her thighs. The belt snapped down again, this time over her back.

  'Oww! Stop it!' she blurted, tears welling up in her eyes as the pain across the backs of her legs throbbed unbearably. The belt snapped down again over her rump and Vanessa jerked and writhed against the four pairs of hands that held her down.

  'I can't bear it! Let me go! No more... please...'

  There was a nerve-racking pause and Vanessa fearfully looked up at the leader of the pirates. She had given up trying to pull free from the hands that grasped her and held her arms and legs outstretched. Her shoulders ached fearfully and needles of pain ran down her legs from the tension that her legs were under.

  'Starting to feel sorry for yourself, eh?'

  'Yes...please don't whip me anymore,' Vanessa begged, looking up at the leader with wide, sorrowful eyes.

  'Right then girl. We're going to stay at sea for three days then we'll return and sell you at the slave market. By then whoever had you before should be elsewhere. Now, until then you've got a simple choice to make: either you service each of my crew every day and willingly or you can stay bound to this bed and every six hours you'll get twenty lashes. It's your choice!'