"Yes. A lady's makeup is softer. Less obvious. A slave's makeup is bolder. More exciting. Provocative."

"I never knew that." She thought for a minute. "Okay. Let's do lady's makeup for our entrance. We don't have to worry about not being provocative enough. We'll be plenty provocative when we're licking each other's p.u.s.s.ies."

Flame cringed at the thought.

"Don't worry," Sapphire said. "I keep myself clean down there. Practically sterile." She laughed.

Flame couldn't laugh with her.

"And we have to wear our hair up," Sapphire said.

Flame was startled. "Up? Slaves never wear their hair up. It's forbidden. Real ladies would crucify us."

"Where's it written that it's forbidden? Nothing is forbidden in an entertainment. Not as long as the gentlemen are kept amused. And we don't have to worry about any ladies. I can guarantee that no lady is ever going to hear about how slaves wear their hair in the billiard room."

"Nothing is forbidden?" Flame asked.

"Well, one thing. Permanent damage to the slaves is strictly forbidden. Normal wear and tear is fine, but nothing that would lower her value. It's not just a matter of cost. It's about respect for the slave's owner. Only an owner is permitted to damage his own slave. My owner isn't in the room so I'm not at risk of permanent damage. Your owner will be there so you have to worry about him. Be extra careful not to offend him tonight because he'll have to do something severe if you embarra.s.s him."

Flame intended to be the perfect slave tonight. No question about that.

When they wore her hair up, everyone would see the numbers tattooed on the napes of their necks. Yet another of the uncountable humiliations in a life of a slave. Flame didn't think that it would bother her too much.

When Sapphire removed her housedress, she turned her back to lay it over the easy chair. Flame was shocked by the criss-cross tangle of heavy scars on her back and b.u.t.tocks.

Sapphire noticed her reaction. She was self-conscious about her scars and always watched for a reaction when she was presented nude.

"I had an owner who liked to be caned," she said. "The only problem was that he felt obligated to punish me with twice as many strokes, twice as hard, to prove that he was my superior. He bought me for twenty-six thousand and, three months later, could only get twelve thousand back at auction. I don't think he cared that I lost fourteen thousand in value so quickly. He had money to burn."

"That's terrible." It was more evidence that Linda had lent the least valuable slave in her husband's kennel to Mrs. Dodge.

"The problem is that the less a slave is worth, the more she's at risk. That owner lost fourteen thousand just by beating me. If my current owner kills me outright and he'll lose only twelve thousand." That was the terrible mathematics of slavery. Sapphire shrugged and smiled sadly. "I'm already thirty-one years old. I'm not planning on living to a ripe old age."

Flame spent the next hour applying makeup and arranging hair with meticulous precision.

When Flame pinned the last lock of Sapphire's hair in place, they both looked like perfect ladies. Except for the bold black numbers tattooed forever on the backs of their necks.

As they waited in the pleasure room, Sapphire spoke less and less. She wasn't as casual about the evening as she pretended. Her silence betrayed her nerves.

Finally, Dodge came. "The gentlemen have a.s.sembled in the billiard room. It's time for you to join us."

The click of their high heels echoed in the stone corridor. Flame had never heard such an ominous sound.

When Dodge opened the door, bright light almost blinded them. Most of the lights in the billiard room were muted to a red glow, but a spotlight was focused on the door that led to the slave kennels.

Soft music played from hidden speakers.

Seven men didn't look like so many until Flame thought about being f.u.c.ked by every single one of them, maybe twice or even three times if they could get it up. From that perspective, the guests looked like a crowd. She couldn't stop herself from looking at crotches and wondering what monsters lurked inside those pants.

Dodge announced them. "Let me present, for your entertainment, Lady Sapphire and Lady Flame."

There were snickers at the ironic t.i.tles. A large, sloppy man with a red beard guffawed loudly.

Flame recognized Baronet Grenfeld. She met his eyes and smiled.

He licked his lips, ostentatiously, and stared at her crotch.

Flame's p.u.s.s.y twitched and her a.s.shole pulsed. As the ranking gentleman in the room, he would be first in line to have her. Every time.

But he would have her only after she had Lady Sapphire.

Sapphire nodded and said, loudly, "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, each and every one of you."

The men smiled back. Someone shouted, "You will. Be sure of that."

The others laughed.

Flame knew what to say and took the lead from Sapphire. "Gentlemen, you all think that you know your ladies, but I can testify that you don't know as much as I do about what is in some of their minds." If any other slave said that, she would be beaten half to death. But Flame had been a lady. That a.s.sertion was not so outrageous when it came from her lips.

For her, more than for any other slave, nothing was forbidden in this room.

Sapphire moved close and put her arm around Flame's waist.

"When the doors are closed," Flame said, "when the gentlemen are out of the room, you don't know how your ladies might amuse themselves."

She turned her head to Sapphire and leaned close.

Their lips met. Sapphire kissed her long and pa.s.sionately.

When she broke away, Flame said, "You never know what a lady might wear under her skirts." She slowly pulled her skirt to mid-thigh and c.o.c.ked her leg to show the red stocking held up by a garter clip.

Sapphire followed suit.

"Or what your lady might not be wearing." She pulled her skirt all the way to her waist and turned to show the audience a naked b.u.t.tock.

Sapphire turned forward and pulled her skirt high enough to flash a glimpse of her shaved pubis.

There was scattered applause.

Both slaves dropped their skirts back to their ankles. "I'm not saying that your lady is as shameless as us," Flame said. "I'm only saying that you don't know."

Sapphire took that as her cue. "Some of them might enjoy each other as intimately as Lady Flame and I do." She drew Flame into another long, wet kiss. This time, she reached up to pull the bow that secured the laces on the back of Flame's bodice.

Flame felt her top loosen and did the same to Sapphire.

Sapphire caressed Flame's b.r.e.a.s.t.s through the fabric of her bodice with one hand while she slowly unlaced the back of her dress with the other, pulling the ribbon through one eyelet at a time, stretching it out so that every man in the room could see that the bodice was coming undone.

Flame grabbed Sapphire's b.u.t.tocks, pulled their hips into tight contact, and ground her crotch slowly against her.

When Flame's bodice was completely unlaced, Sapphire pulled away from their clinch and slid Flame's dress off her shoulders and down her arms.

The fabric slipped off Flame's b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Some of the men gasped wetly at the sight of a former lady's t.i.ts.

Sapphire let the top half of Flame's dress hang from her hips and wrists and began kissing her neck and shoulders. She slowly moved down to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and began sucking on her nipples, alternating kisses with gentle bites, taking a nipple gently between her teeth and pulling it out to form a little pink tent before releasing it to snap back into place.

Flame could not help but respond to the stimulation. As her breathing became fast and deep, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s heaved against Sapphire's mouth.

The audience was silent. Rapt. Wondering if their wives engaged in such scandalous behavior when they were visiting each other for afternoon tea.

Sapphire moved further down, laying a line of kisses the length of Flame's flat belly and pulling Flame's dress over her hips to bare her hairless crotch.

Flame slipped her hands out of her cuffs and let the dress fall to the floor.

Sapphire buried her face between Flame's thighs. No one in the audience could see what she was doing in there, but she licked avidly at Flame's c.u.n.t anyway.

Sapphire had claimed that she was not interested in women, but Flame was beginning to doubt that.

When Sapphire pulled away, and turned her face to the crowd, the lower half was slick with her saliva and Flame's juices. She smiled sweetly and slowly licked her lips.

The men were awestruck.

She rose, stepped in front of Flame and presented her back to her and her front to the audience.

Flame began unlacing the back of Sapphire's bodice. Every time the lace slipped out of an eyelet, she reached up and slipped Sapphire's dress a little further off her shoulders.

She was revealing Sapphire's body in tantalizing increments.

Eventually it reached the point where Sapphire's bodice could not longer defy gravity and it slipped to her waist.

When Sapphire's torso was naked, Flame reached under her arms to ma.s.sage her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Sapphire fell back against Flame's naked chest.

Her body was hot and dry. Flame could feel the corrugation of her terrible scars against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Then Sapphire laid her head back on Flame's shoulder, offering her long white neck to the crowd. That was, arguably, Sapphire's most sensual feature.

She turned her head to whisper in Flame's ear. "Unpin my hair. You'll be the naked lady for a while longer, but I'm already the slave." Then she kissed Flame's earlobe and tugged on it with her teeth.

Flame removed her hands and re-wrapped them around the outside of Sapphire's arms, then she slid them from her b.r.e.a.s.t.s past her shoulders and up her neck. She paused briefly to caress that most vulnerable, most sensitive skin. Seven pairs of eyes watched the pulse beat, strong and fast, beside Sapphire's throat tangible evidence of the emotion that roiled beneath her languid exterior.

Flame pulled the pins that held Sapphire's hair, one by one, and tossed them to the floor. Each time a pin was pulled, another wave of blonde cascaded over Flame's shoulder.

When the last pin was tossed aside, Sapphire turned her head towards Flame. "Kiss me," she whispered.

Flame turned to her and kissed her, long and deep, her mouth open and their tongues flicking against each other.

The men were standing close enough to see every detail of their kiss.

While they kissed, Sapphire pulled her own dress over her hips and let it flow down her thighs to the floor.

Both slaves were naked but for their high-heeled shoes, stockings, and garter belts.

Sapphire, her back still pressed against Flame's chest, took Flame's hands in hers and led her to the billiard table.

The men parted to let the slaves pa.s.s.

The billiard table had been covered with a mattress that had been manufactured to fit into the top exactly. n.o.body would be playing billiards tonight.

Every manor had a billiard room with a table, but Flame had never seen her husband or any other gentleman actually play billiards. She wondered if any of them knew how.

Two steps leading up to the mattress ran the length of the sides of the table. There were no steps on the ends.

As they walked, Flame hugging Sapphire from behind, she could feel the rough corduroy of Sapphire's scarred back working against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and belly. Sapphire had deftly arranged the performance so that no man had yet seen her scars. They had only seen her body from the front.

Sapphire couldn't sustain that for the whole evening, but she was going to delay revealing her disfigurement for as long as possible.

When they reached the table, Sapphire kicked off her shoes, whirled around and lay down on the mattress with her knees bent sharply so that her stocking feet rested on the edge. Her knees were parted wide and her bald wet c.u.n.t was open like an exotic, fleshy orchid.

She had accomplished the maneuver in one smooth motion, almost looking like a trained dancer. Her scars had been revealed, but so briefly that no man had taken note of them. They were all staring at her wet, pulsing s.e.x.

She extended her arms toward Flame in a gesture of entreaty.

Flame's hair was still pinned up in the style of a lady. When Flame kicked off her shoes and stepped forward, Sapphire encircled her bare neck with her hands and pulled her head down into her c.u.n.t. Her movements looked gentle and sensual but her hands felt like an iron collar against the back of Flame's neck. Flame had no choice but to press her mouth to Sapphire's c.u.n.t.

Once there, she had to start licking because that was the only thing to do.

Sapphire tasted musky savory rather than sweet. Though the idea of penetrating another woman with her tongue bordered on revolting, Flame found that the reality was tolerable. Better than licking grease off Dodge's bathroom floor, for sure. And she did that every single night.

When Sapphire eased the pressure on Flame's neck, Flame pulled her lips far enough away so that the men who were pressing close could see her tongue sliding along the length of Sapphire's pink slit and then thrusting into it as far as she could reach.

The men were entranced by the sight of a lady's hairdo bobbing over a slave's wet c.u.n.t, her tongue stimulating the slave to moan in pa.s.sion. Sapphire's hands still covered the tell-tale tattoo on the back of Flame's neck and that touch added verisimilitude to the fantastic illusion.

After a few minutes, Sapphire's hips began bucking in uncontrolled pa.s.sion.

At first, Flame hoped that it was only simulated pa.s.sion, then thought, What the h.e.l.l? If she can get off on this, then good for her. She redoubled her efforts, alternating deep thrusts into Sapphire's v.a.g.i.n.al vault with fast, light flicks on her c.l.i.t.

While Flame was bent over, her mouth driving Sapphire to scream in ecstasy, she felt hands grab her hips, then a c.o.c.k slide into her virgin a.s.shole. The penetration was slow but unrelenting.

Flame was grateful that she had spent time stretching and lubing herself before coming here because the man behind her was going to force his way in, no matter what resistance he had to overcome. He wouldn't have waited to let her apply lube even if she had a tube in her hands. He couldn't even be bothered trying to ease his entry with his own spittle. If she hadn't been ready to accommodate him, he would have torn her apart for sure.

Despite her preparation, despite knowing to relax her sphincter muscles to accept the intruder by the contrary action of trying to expel him, she still felt discomfort that bordered on pain.

This was no accident. The man wanted to make her suffer with his crude, unrelenting violation. She was a slave. It was her job to give the man what he wanted. So she began to whine as though she were suffering terrible pain, and began jerking her hips as though she were trying to escape. But she was careful not to move so far or so suddenly that she might thwart him. Rather, she made sure that her movements further impaled herself on his c.o.c.k. Her whines turned to m.u.f.fled screams and she beat her hands against the mattress.

The man violating her rumbled a throaty laugh. "What's the matter, lady? You never took it up the a.s.s before."