"Good morning, master." I curtseyed, turning my gaze to the floor.
He simply nodded and I brought the tray to him. It seemed he had a good night's sleep, but I wasn't about to take any chances. On a good day, a small amount of eye contact could be acceptable. On a bad day, I was punished. Placing the tray on the small table beside his bed, master threw off the blanket.
This was another source of my disappointment with this master. All men are different, some more gifted than others. This master... Not that I'd ever tell him... But not so gifted... I stood nearby, waiting for him to take his seat. The moment he did so, I scurried underneath. I could smell, the moment I came face to face with his disappointment, that he hadn't showered since my punishment. I wasn't sure if that meant now was a continuation, or just him being lazy. Either way, I tried not to gag as I took his meager offering in my mouth. My first master taught me to worship a man's cock. Lavish it with attention, love it from root to tip with my lips, tongue and throat as necessary. This tiny thing barely made it three quarters of the way to my tonsils and I found myself frustrated that I couldn't do this one thing properly. His low grunt, followed by salty mess shooting into my mouth, told me my skills weren't diminished. But the tools I worked with lacked. Swallowing the load, I tried not to think about the rest of it. Master expected me to keep it warm while he ate. But it wouldn't be the first time if he decided to relieve himself in the process. But after last night... I really didn't want to take any chances and kept myself still and ready.
"We're going out tonight, slut," master grumbled.
I didn't respond. Master never asked questions, he simply told me what would happen. Besides, there was no response I could make with his cock in my mouth, that wouldn't result in my being punished.
"I want the house cleaned, my grey suit pressed and ready. I'll eat while we're out. Expect to leave at seven."
Without another word, he simply stood, pulling himself free from my mouth. Without a backward glance, he turned and left towards his bathroom. It was the closest thing he got to a 'good job' or a pat on the head. The simple fact I wasn't being punished in some form, was the sweetest gift he could give me. Crawling out from under the table, I scurried away to perform my duties. Master would lock me in chastity before he left and that included my mouth. So if I wanted to eat, it had to be now.
Maybe he'd lose me in a game of cards tonight. Maybe my next master will be kinder. Or at least a good fuck...
Chapter Two - 2100 words
In times of reflection, the simplest things can hold so much meaning. Take for example, the plaque on my door. Such a simple thing, spelling out 'James Clark.' On one side of things, it was just a bunch of lines carved into wood. When you take it further, someone engineered a machine, to carve my name into a block of wood with such a degree of perfection that can never be rivalled. But take it another step further, and you realise, a tree. A living, breathing organism on this planet, probably decades older than I. Cut down in the prime of its life, to be nailed to one of its brethren, to tell other people whose office this was... It was such a simplistic, yet sad, beauty. And yet, if I fell off the face of the planet, this little bit of dead wood, is just about the only thing that would continue on with my name.
At eighteen, I made the decision to get away. Away as far as I could, as quickly as I could. What stemmed from that was the military. By the time I felt comfortable in my abilities to murder my father, I found I didn't want too any more. I worked my way up, went through school, got some degrees. I spent half my time carrying a gun, and the rest finding people for others to carry guns towards. My official title was analyst. What I did was find people, and work out how to get to them. I was extremely good at my job. I went after everyone from terrorist commanders, to drug smugglers, to awol soldiers if the conditions were right. Hell, one time I was following a hunch and spotted a farmer with a broken leg, miles away from help and sent out some of our guys to pick him up. Just about pissed himself when a fully equipped squad of commando's deployed twenty meters behind him, to carry out a raid, and took him back for medical assistance in the process. I've still got the card his daughter wrote for me.
Then it all went wrong. A sister group for a well known middle eastern terrorist organisation popped up on my radar. They made threats and they weren't afraid of sending messages. Nasty, close up, slow messages. Messages that involved their enemies, AND their families. Their next target was a local leader and we were requested to intervene. I spent days pouring over satellite and drone footage of the local area. I mapped every vehicle seen more than once. I had everything listed, where they went, how long they were there, what they did. Most of them were locals going about their day. Get up, go to work, swing by the store on the way home, visit friends occasionally. But here and there, I started seeing an extra pattern. A different vehicle, every day, would follow the family I was trying to protect. I knew I had my man, but I needed proof. But the moment I sent out some field agents, the pattern changed. I wasn't sure if it were bad luck, or a leak, but I didn't like it. I took my hunch to my commanding officer, but he didn't want to hear it without evidence.
That evening, I watched in horror as their home was swarmed in the night by insurgents. Two days later we received a dvd. The contents of which I will take to my grave. But in the aftermath, my commanding officer ate his meals through a straw for six months. I was court marshalled and dishonorably discharged. And Pauline, my assistant, handed in her paperwork to retire.
She picked me up when I was released. She introduced me to her wife Susan, who promptly invited me to dinner at their home. Between the three of us, we managed to hash out a business model. We ran a private investigation unit. Susan ran the front counter, answering the phone and keeping our paperwork up to date. Pauline did the back room work, and I did the heavy lifting when needed. It was simple, elegant and I'd only walked in on them having a 'moment' twice. The first was apparently a celebration when we bought our office building. The second, was less an accident, and more Pauline rubbing it in, that even though I'd agreed to let them have my sperm, I wasn't ever going to touch them. Since then, I make a note to check to see if Susan is at the front desk, before heading into the filing room.
So that just about brings everything up to the present, as my phone lit up and made a quiet tone. My office was always quiet, so a loud ringer wasn't necessary. Reaching out, I plucked it from the desk.
"Yes?" I sighed.
"You're not gonna like this," Pauling said straight away. "Athena Smith, age thirty-two. She's got an up to date ID and address due to repeated doctors visits for contraceptives. But that's the easy part. She's been bouncing around for most of her life. Her mother died in a car crash that she survived, when she was five. A local sheriff took her in until she was sixteen. Then she spent a few months with a known pimp, then a known dealer. It's basically a long list of her dropping on and off the grid with various men in powerful positions opposite the law."
I just rubbed my eyes, thinking about the situation. "So she's probably a gold digger with a bad boy complex?"
Pauline was silent for a few moments, before clearing her throat. "According to her medical records, the ones I could find, and a few websites owned and operated by individuals she's had relations with... I think she's a slave."
The screams... Those awful screams... The eyes of the helpless victims, staring in horror as the man with the knives moved down the line. Men... Women... Children... Their bodies broken, again and again, until they could no longer struggle. Their skin flayed until they could not scream. Their lives ended, because I couldn't do my job... Because my commanding officer didn't take my concerns seriously... Those precious lives...
The next thing I knew, both Susan and Pauline were holding me firmly in my chair. I didn't know how long it had been since I'd fallen into the PTSD driven anxiety attack. The flashbacks were so real, I sometimes acted out. But somehow, Pauline and Susan always managed to get me under control. I don't know how, but they do. It was just a shame they weren't always around.
"I'm okay," I said stiffly.
Pauline released me after a moment, stepping back, but Susan always mothered me a bit, so it was no surprise when she was the last to step away. "We're done for the day. The girls would love to see you. You can come with me to pick them up. After that, you have a plane to catch."
I thought about refusing for the thousandth time. But I knew that I needed my fix before I left. Nothing failed to cheer me up, quite like two three year olds, screaming, 'Unky James!' Before tackling both my legs. To them, that's all I was. But that didn't mean I couldn't love them with all my heart. Even if they weren't really my girls.
"Wait, plane?"
Pauline stood a little straighter, "Unless you want to leave your sister till tomorrow?"
Yeah... I needed my fix...
***
I had a love, hate relationship with this place. On one side of things, other than master, this was all the socialisation I got. I could smile and chat with people as I walked too and from the bar. Occasionally I'd be held up and someone would talk to me. On the other hand, my chastity belt was torture. Master always did it up tight enough to cut into me. If that wasn't bad enough, he also brought his own entertainment. The sharp teeth of which were clamped over my clitoris. I'd learned, years ago now, to turn pain and discomfort into a form of pleasure if need be. So the teeth weren't the worst thing in the world. It was the batteries he'd crammed up inside me that made it bad... In his pocket he carried a small remote. He could administer a small, pleasant tickle, all the way up to a debilitating jolt of pain, right through my core. The batteries, acting like big plugs, and it was all held in place by the too tight chastity belt.