She was half unconscious, floating in bliss, when she heard Tamarind and Cherry returning to their own cells.

They were giggling uncontrollably and squealing about Lord Snow being a wild savage. Apparently in the best possible way.

Irene could take credit for that, too.

"Say one word and I'll have my whiphand gag you." Lord Snow glowered at Irene.

She kept her mouth shut and her eyes lowered. It was bad enough to have to come to the pleasure room in a housedress rather than naked. It would be worse if she had to be gagged, too.

"Now, I'm going to talk and you're going to listen. Got that?"

She nodded silently.

"Good. I'm going to change things a little around here. I'm giving you a job."

She raised her eyes to look at him but still did not speak.

"I've decided to make you my director of entertainments. When you were a lady, you always liked games. Now it's your job. When I entertain men after dinner, you are going to organize the entertainment. You remember when all the slaves at Lord Hoffman's party were masked and we had to try to guess who you were? Gentlemen are still talking about that game. I want you to organize entertainments that are just as memorable. They don't have to be games. They can be shows or reviews. Whatever you think will be fun. My only requirement is that you organize something more than the typical offering of a buffet of slaves."

Irene smiled happily. She was going to get laid again. She could hardly wait.

"There's only one stipulation."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You're not to make yourself available to the guests. The other slaves service the guests. Not you. You're the referee, not a player. You're the playwright, not one of the actors."

Irene's heart sank in her chest. She was never going to have a man's c.o.c.k inside her. Not as long as Lord Snow had his way. And a slave's owner always had his way.

He was the cruelest man on earth.

"You will not be naked at the entertainments. I'll supply you with a costume that will make your status clear."

A chast.i.ty belt, most likely, she thought.

"Do you have any questions?"

"What about Nickel?" she asked.

"That doesn't change. She's still my whiphand. She still maintains order in the kennel on my behalf. You'll continue to obey her as you would obey me."

I'll continue to keep licking her c.u.n.t every day, Irene thought. She was sure that Lord Snow didn't know about that duty. She wondered if he would care. He didn't want her getting f.u.c.ked by men, but getting on her knees and licking a woman's c.u.n.t was a whole different affair. He probably wouldn't bat an eyelash.

Except that, if he were to see for himself the former wife of a lord administering such a humiliating service, he'd probably have to drag three slaves into the pleasure room and make them squeal in delight all afternoon to quench his l.u.s.t.

"She'll help you manage the other slaves. If any slave disobeys you or fails to perform to your standards, you may either punish her yourself or ask Nickel to discipline her."

"What If I need something? Masks or dice or d.i.l.d.os?"

"The kennel service will provide supplies for the games. They'll have requisition forms. When you need something, fill one out and give it to your kennelman."

Irene had no more questions.

"Okay. Your first entertainment will be on Sat.u.r.day. Do you think you can organize something by then?"

That was four days from today. "I will."

"Good. Now go tell Nickel that I want to see her."

Irene found Nickel in her cell. "Lord Snow wants to see you in the pleasure room."

"Me?" She looked shocked. "Have you got him all riled up again?"

Nickel was remembering the previous two times that Lord Snow had spoken with Irene in the pleasure room. After both times, he had demanded that slaves rush to him and slake his ardor with an hour of enthusiastic service as soon as Irene left. Nickel would be far less likely than the other slaves to enjoy that duty. "I don't know. He's waiting."

Nickel hurried to attend to her duties, whatever they might be today.

Irene needed to think of an entertainment for Sat.u.r.day evening. She found Cherry sitting alone in the kitchen.

She sat across from her. "You've been at more entertainments than me. Tell me about them."

"What's to tell?" Cherry asked. "They're all about the same. You get led into the billiard room with the other slaves. The gentlemen f.u.c.k you however they like. You do what they say and keep it up until they get tired. You get led back to the kennel."

"Have you ever been in any entertainments that were different? That stood out in any way?"

"Not really."

"Do you ever start out with a little s.e.x show?"

"Huh?"

"You know. A couple of the slaves demonstrate a little girl-on-girl action before moving on to the men." Irene's previous owner did that once. And when she was doing solo entertainments, she usually started with a kind of pantomime about starting as a lady and descending into slavery.

"I never heard of that. We go there for the gentlemen to use, not to get each other off." She frowned. "Not that we would. Nickel is the only one of us who likes to get her c.u.n.t licked by another woman and she always does that in private. She wouldn't consider doing anything like that in front of gentlemen. They'd probably beat her half to death for getting off without them."

They probably wouldn't. One thing that Irene had learned from experience was that a lot of gentlemen enjoy seeing two women together. They don't care if the women like it or not, as long as they go at each other with enthusiasm.

Now she knew why her previous owner had become known for his entertainments. Also, it explained why, the one time that Lord Hoffman had hired a professional entertainment director to stage a s.e.x game, it had been so notable that gentlemen were still talking about it months later.

It seemed that it wouldn't take much effort to make Lord Snow's after-dinner entertainments a lot more entertaining.

m.u.f.fled sounds were beginning to come from the pleasure room where Nickel was cosseted with Lord Snow. The whiphand's predilection for female service didn't matter to the lord. The sounds indicated that he was doing a lot more than talking business in there. Nickel wasn't expressing her pleasure with exuberant squeals as the other slaves had. She was grunting loudly enough to penetrate the heavy door.

She didn't sound happy at all.

Cherry and Irene's eyes met and they exchanged cheerful smiles.

"Pity that Peach is still up at the manor. She'd enjoy this," Cherry said.

"I'm enjoying it enough for both of us," Irene replied. Since arriving, servicing Nickel had been a duty that was no longer shared among the slaves, but was reserved for her, exclusively.

"I'm sure you are." Cherry giggled. "If Lord Snow is as l.u.s.ty with her as he was with the two of us yesterday, Nickel is getting the workout of her life."

A sharp crack was followed by a shuddering groan.

"That's the sound of strap on a.s.s, if I'm not mistaken," Cherry said.

Another crack and groan.

"Not at full force Lord Snow is a strong man but not a gentle one, either."

Crack! Groan.

"He's got her full attention now, no question about that."

Lime and Tamarind entered the kitchen. Their duties at the manor were complete for the day and they'd stopped by their cells to shed their housedresses. Slaves weren't allowed to sit around the kennels clothed, even briefly.

Another crack of the strap was followed by a shaper groan. This one rose in pitch at the end, edging toward a scream.

"What's happening?" Tamarind asked.

"Nickel is servicing Lord Snow," Irene said.

"Irene was in there, raising his l.u.s.t again." Cherry giggled.

This time the crack of the strap was followed by a definite scream.

"Nickel is getting her a.s.s tenderized by the sound of it," Lime said. "I wonder if he's using her own strap on her."

Apple and Peach entered in time to hear Lime's comment.

"I hope so," Apple said as she took a seat.

Peach said nothing, just glared at Irene. She hadn't yet forgiven her for getting her c.u.n.t tenderized. Even though it had been her doing, not Irene's.

Irene didn't care. If Peach tried to start something again, then Nickel would tenderize her c.u.n.t again. Peach suspected that all Irene had to do was make a false accusation, either to Lord Snow during one of their private consultations, or to Nickel after eating out her c.u.n.t, and either one of them would visit a terrible punishment on her. Neither would bother with an investigation or trial.

Irene thought that Peach's fears were well-founded.

What Peach didn't yet know, what none of the other slaves yet knew, was that Irene, having been made the director of entertainment, now had the power to take any one of them on a long tour through h.e.l.l any time she wanted.

She might just do that, not to punish anyone, but to amuse the gentlemen in some way that they had never been amused before.

It was beginning to dawn on her that she had been given more power over the other slaves than even that which was wielded by Nickel.

The strapping had stopped and now an undulating howl was piercing the door. It didn't sound like pain, precisely, but it didn't sound happy, either. It sounded primal like an animal caught in a trap and discovering that it had nowhere to run.

Irene wondered if Nickel took the trouble to keep her a.s.shole stretched and lubed. Maybe not. Probably she thought that no one would dare to use Lord Snow's whiphand that way.

Just for a moment, Irene felt a pang of pity for Nickel.

Just for a moment.

The five slaves Peach, Apple, Cherry, Lime, and Tamarind were beautiful and utterly nude, but every gentleman in the room was eyeing Irene. She looked stunning in a gold lame catsuit as she stood on a foot-high platform near the entrance to the billiard room. Gentlemen grew hard just staring at her.

Though covered from collar to ankles, the elastic fabric fit so snugly that it could have been painted on. Every muscle was perfectly delineated. Her body was a visible as if she were nude, but the metallic sheen made her appear armored inaccessible for carnal use.

It was a costume designed simultaneously to tempt and to frustrate the male libido.

She had to give Lord Snow credit. He had chosen the perfect costume for his director of entertainment. The degrading golden collar around her neck looked like it was part of the costume. Just a bit of jewelry added to complement the dress.

She a.s.sumed that Lord Snow had consulted a professional designer. No highborn gentleman would know this much about haut couture.

The gentlemen's reaction to her appearance made her proud of her body. It had been lovely when she was a lady, but now with her diet strictly controlled, it was trim and fit enough to stun gentlemen into drooling silence.

The other slaves watched her with naked envy. And no small amount of trepidation. And some considerable anger.

"Gentlemen, if I can have your attention, please." It was a silly thing to say. Not one of the dozen men had given their attention to anything else since she had walked into the billiard room.

"I am Lord Snow's director of entertainment. Tonight, I offer these five slaves for your enjoyment. But, before we start, I'd like you to understand their situation.

"These poor slaves are starving. They received no food yesterday nor today. Not one of them has had a single bite to eat since dinner on Thursday. Not a single bite. Their bellies are as empty as empty can be.

"You can be certain that they noticed the buffet of wonderful canapes by the far wall as soon as they entered the room. You can be certain that they smell those delicious odors wafting across the room. If you look closely, you can see their noses twitching. Their mouths are watering freely. Some of them are even drooling down their chins." She turned to Cherry and wiped a drop of spittle that was hanging from the corner of her mouth. She had intended to mime the action with a pretend bit of drool, but found that she didn't have to. Cherry was salivating so much that it was dribbling out of her mouth. And she wasn't the only one.

"These slave's mouths will be plenty sloppy when you choose to use them that way." There was light laughter from the gentlemen. "And you can expect them to swallow what you deposit with exceptional gusto tonight." More laughter. "Don't be surprised if they thank you for the delicious treat with tears of grat.i.tude in their eyes." The gentlemen found her hilarious.

"Of course, these slaves wouldn't dare touch the canapes that we have provided for you. They would starve themselves to death, first." She wasn't entirely sure about that, but the gentlemen would believe it. "But if you find that a slave is giving you exceptional service. If she has given you pleasure beyond your usual expectations, you may choose to reward her with a morsel. Tonight, gentlemen, you will have these slaves eating out of your hand."

There was scattered applause that swelled into an ovation.

"But these slaves will have an additional incentive to please you. At the end of the entertainment, you will be asked to indicate which one of these slaves provided the most pleasurable service. The slave who is least appreciated will endure a third day of starvation. She will be forced to watch the others eat breakfast and dinner tomorrow, but will not be permitted to put even a single crumb in her mouth until Monday morning.

"Every one of these slaves will work to earn as many canapes as possible tonight, for fear that she will be the one selected to fast again tomorrow.

"Do you have any questions, gentlemen?"

A voice from the middle of the group: "Are you going to shed your clothes and join the others?"

"No, Sir Lawrence." Irene knew that knight. He wasn't a bad fellow overall, but he had a bit higher opinion of himself than he merited and that annoyed some of his peers. "As the director of entertainment, I will not be available for service."

There were a few groans of frustration.

That was a compliment to her desirability but it contained dangerous undercurrent. No slave should ever make a gentleman think that she was denying him anything. She had to offer something in place of s.e.xual service. So she was prepared to offer myself as a sacrifice. "But let me tell you about the other part of tonight's entertainment. As a slave in Lord Snow's kennel, I, too, have been starved for two days. Believe me, I would like nothing better than to drop to my knees and serve you and hope to earn one of those wonderful treats from your hand." Irene looked over at the canape buffer with undisguised longing. "I will envy these other slaves every time I see one of them enjoy a delicious morsel of food. I will feel it especially keenly because, unlike them, I already know that I will go to bed tonight with nothing but unrelieved hunger gnawing at my belly. The best that I can hope is that I will be fed again at breakfast.