Velvet Collars

All characters engaging in sexual behavior are over the age of eighteen.

Hello again. I'm trying something new and doing a bit of world-building for this story. So you will have to forgive me if it takes a little while to get to the naughty bits. In this world, oil is a rare and precious thing, thus the world has not moved past the age of the steam engine. But time and fashion have moved on, leaving the Victorian period behind and embracing less conservative styles.

Velvet Collars

Marcus stood in the back of the room alongside a beautiful older woman, who was watching the last of the ingenue cross the auction stage. The seats were filled with prospective dommes who watched the young men and women of noble birth cross the block. Young people who will begin their adulthood in servitude and training of a dominie or dominus. The raven-haired woman glanced at him and smiled, pointedly ignoring the fact that he stood before her wearing only a white silk breechclout. His symbol of innocence. Her tight black dress, heels, and jewelry spoke of a woman of wealth. Her hairdo and perfect makeup spoke of a woman with confidence and style.

He spotted his mother, Lady Mariana, making her way towards them with a big smile. "Lucinda!" she cried as she approached, opening her arms wide to embrace Marcus's companion. As usual, many eyes followed the beautiful blonde woman. After they parted, his mother turned to him and hugged him tightly.

"It was a princely sum she paid for you, my son," she whispered in his ear. All he could do was nod in response before she turned back to the dark-haired woman. As a pair of noble ladies, they were as different as night to day. Where Marianna was fair, tall and lean, Lucinda was of medium height, dark of complexion and all curves, busty and hippy in a way Marcus couldn't help but admire. He couldn't believe his luck to attract such a woman to be his dominie.

"Lucy, I thought you were going to take a young woman this time. You promised that you'd bring her over to our bourg and give me a night I'll never forget!" his mother said with a feigned pout. She waved a hand towards Marcus. "I can hardly do that if you've taken my son as your devotee."

Lucinda laughed and laid a hand on her tall friend's arm. "I'm sorry Mary, when I saw your handsome boy, I couldn't help myself." Marcus blinked hard. He could count on one hand the people his mother allowed to call her Mary. His late father hadn't even been one.

Mariana was beaming as she bowed her head. "Well, thank you for your generosity. What you paid will be an excellent dowry for him."

Marcus couldn't help but agree. Together with the dowry of whatever wife he chose as his bride, they would start off well. His mother glanced over at the dais as the last young woman was led off. His mother sighed.

"I'm glad they affirm the devotee's sexual orientation before the auction, now." She looked back at her friend. "I wish they had done that back when

I crossed

that stage."

Marcus nodded to himself. It was only since the use of the truth serum did the noble houses begin asking such questions. He could still feel the effect of it as he stood there. His father had taken his wife's lesbianism with good grace, though. It was one of Mariana's favorite stories of her husband, and Marcus had heard it many times.

Casting off the restrictions of monogamy, they settled into an easy friendship, allowing each to enjoy their lives as they saw fit, as long as no shame was brought to the family. With one addendum to the agreement. An heir to the noble house of Gavin.

Marcus shifted from one foot to another. The room was kept cool on purpose, he thought, and his nipples were aching and goosebumps stood out on his arms. Lucinda noticed his discomfort and smiled at her friend. "Well, I think I should get my new servant to the house and warm him up."

Mariana nodded and turned back to her son. She stepped forward and hugged him again before stepping back to look into his eyes. "I am so proud of you. I wish your father was alive to see this. To have a countess take you as a devotee is a great honor. He would be proud too." She paused, then added. "I know I complain sometimes about having had to marry your father when it wasn't in my... nature. But seeing the man you have become now at twenty years old," she leaned in and whispered the rest. "I wouldn't change a thing."

***

A chill wind blew over the cobblestone street and swirled Countess Lucinda's dress around her knees. She shivered and pulled her pink sweater around her shoulders before remembering the nearly naked young man at her side. He stood there barefooted, stoically refusing to let his discomfort show outwardly. Marcus was a fine-looking man, she thought. A little over six feet, he was square shouldered and lean, with a fine physique that spoke of speed and agility. According to his finishing school transcript, he had excelled at fencing and equestrianism. They might be outdated skills in some people's eyes, but the discipline it takes to excel at either speaks of a person. His handsome face still held just a hint of boyishness, which gave him an approachable look that she found very appealing. His short brown hair and soft brown eyes, passed to him by his noble father, made her want to cuddle him to her like a teddy bear. Lucinda smiled and then looked at the driver of her great auto-carriage.

"Gaius, your road cloak, if you please," she said to the gaunt, mustachioed man in the driver's seat. A great panel of meters and gauges was to his left, and the brass control levers were set before him, to either side. He snatched a deep red cloak from a cubby behind his head and handed the folded garment to the countess.

Marcus sighed as she opened the cloak and spread it across his shoulders. It was thick and warm. He took a moment to admire the gleaming vehicle.

"How long before we're up to pressure, Gaius?" asked the Countess.

The driver glanced at the gauges and moved a control lever. "About two minutes." The magnificent auto-carriage was designed after an old horse-drawn carriage. Except the horse in this case was a splendid beast of a machine in steel and brass, in the shape of an immense destrier. He could see the red glow of the trilatium chamber that powered the great boiler through the air intake grill, and steam blew from the nostrils of its proud head. Instead of legs, it rolled on four large iron wheels wrapped with two inches of grayish rubber, with two more supporting the carriage in back.

"Is there anything we need before we return home?" she asked, glancing into her purse.

"Countess!"

Marcus heard a male voice call from further down the street. They both glanced northward to see a handsome man walking towards them. He was dressed in a silk shirt with a banded collar, a paisley vest, and dark gray trousers. He walked toward them briskly, with his silver tipped cane held in his right hand. At his left side was a petite young blonde woman, trying her best to keep up with his impressive strides. Her tiny feet were bare on the sidewalk.

"Nigel!" Lucinda exclaimed as they approached. "How lovely to see you!"

The man was on the north side of forty years old, Marcus could see. Broad shouldered and narrow-waisted. But it was the tiny blonde that captured his attention. Like himself, she was nearly entirely naked but for her white silk breechclout and her dominus's gray sports coat draped over her shoulders. She held it closed with her hands against the early spring chill, but he could still see the valley of her ample cleavage. Her blue eyes captured his dark ones, and they smiled shyly at one another. She was exquisite, he thought, with skin like alabaster.

He was dimly aware of Lucinda introducing him to the man, but captured by the young girl's beauty, he didn't respond until he felt a sharp slap to the back of his head. "Pay attention, boy!" she growled.

"I... I'm sorry, Dominie! I..." Marcus stammered, bowing his head.

Lucinda straightened and introduced him again to Lord Nigel. This time Marcus acted appropriately, meeting Nigel's eyes for just a moment and then bowing at the waist to about forty-five degrees and inclining his head. "Pleased to meet you, sir."

Lord Nigel laughed heartily. "Well met, young man. You might not remember me, but we have met before. I was a friend of your father's. Like Countess Lucinda's late husband and so many other noble sons, his loss is felt in our community. And I will forgive you for your moment of distraction." He turned to his blonde companion. "She is beautiful, is she not?"

Marcus lifted his gaze and met the young woman's again. Nigel cleared his throat and continued. "Countess, may I introduce my devotee, Miss Kathleen?" The young woman dropped into a curtsy before the Countess, though she had no skirts to spread.

Lucinda stepped toward the young blonde and took her chin in her hand, smiling confidently at the young woman. "My, she is quite the pretty thing, isn't she, Marcus?"

Marcus definitely thought so. "Yes, Dominie." He caught his breath when the Countess leaned in and placed a sweet kiss on the girl's lips, much to the surprise of the young lady.

Nigel chuckled and feigned an exasperated sound. "See now Countess! You have taken her first kiss from me."

The Countess turned and stepped up to the man and turned her face up to his. He bent and the Countess kissed him hard for several seconds. "There, now I have returned it. But really Nigel, innocent she may be, but do you really think she's never been kissed?"

Nigel waved his hand and bowed, surrendering to her point. "I'm certain you are right. In any case, I look forward to our customary visits to compare notes on our devotees."

The Countess lifted the hem of her dress, revealing a fair bit of a shapely thigh, and curtsied. "As do I, Lord Nigel."

***

Marcus shivered as he sat on the soft leather couch inside the auto-carriage. The cab was much more comfortable, warmed by the hot air from the boiler. Countess Lucinda gazed at him with a thoughtful smile. "Do you have questions for me, young man?"

Marcus had been well coached by his mother on what to do on his first day. "Yes, Ma'am. How shall I address you?"

Lucinda smiled and then dipped into her purse. "In public, Dominie Lucinda, if you please. But at home or in private, just Dominie will suffice." She smiled seductively at him. "In more intimate situations, other things." It made her smile to see a shudder pass through the young man.

Marcus studied the woman before him. Just a hand-span over five feet tall, she was a fine figure of a woman. In her early to mid forties, he supposed, but her olive skin still had a youthful glow about it. Her hair was black and lustrous and her eyes were dark and full of mystery.

From her purse, Lucinda pulled a red velvet collar. She held it out with both hands towards him. Marcus knew what to do. He pushed the cloak off his shoulders onto the cushions and then spun to kneel with his back to her on the floor of the coach. The collar had a golden griffon embroidered on it, the Countess's family crest, along with a single vertical stripe near the gold buckle.

After his collar was buckled on, he felt his dominie's hands caress down over his shoulders. "So like your father," she said, almost to herself. He spun once again and knelt before her, his head bowed.

"You knew my father?" he asked softly.

Fumbling again in her purse, she nodded. "Yes, your dad and I were 'playmates' after finishing primary school. We had some fun for a summer and then he went off to his finishing school, and I, mine."

Marcus nodded, well aware that 'playmates' referred to lovers who had not engaged in actual penetrative sex.

"By the time I saw him again, he was already wed to your mother, who was also a dear friend." She stifled a yawn and set her purse aside. "Now, let us rest. It is a two-hour trip home and I'm sure it will be a long day for both of us."

Lucinda held up a small vial that Marcus recognized as a twin to the one he'd been given that morning. "It is an unfortunate thing that the truth potion takes so long to take effect and doesn't last for but an hour or so. Drink this and when we get home, you and I will have a little chat. Now rest, my handsome devotee."

"Yes Dominie," Marcus said as he quaffed the small vial of pink liquid.

***

In his mind, Marcus had been expecting some sort of grand old manor that was the norm for nobility, especially those living in the countryside. This was nothing like that. It was just a single story, built of white marble, with grand columns leading far into what appeared to be some sort of courtyard. Lucinda noted her devotee's interest.

"The family manor burned to the ground when I was a girl. My father was an investor in the development of trilatium, and had one of the first of such boilers put in the home. Sadly, it was before the alloy was perfected." Her voice sounded a little sad, but then she straightened and smiled. "Then he had this built at enormous expense, but I find it a brighter and more cheery place than some old brick manor house, don't you think?"

Marcus agreed it did and said so. In front of the Roman-looking home stood an older woman in servant's garb, and two well-dressed men. As they pulled up, one of the men, a short but broad fellow in his thirties, opened the carriage door and bowed. "Countess."

Lucinda stepped out and past the man. "Thank you, Harrison," she said before stepping into the embrace of the other man. The resemblance to Lord Nigel was striking, and shortly he would learn that they were indeed cousins. She kissed the man warmly and then stepped back, revealing Marcus as he stepped from the coach.

"Eugene, this is Marcus. Marcus, this is my consort, Eugene."

Marcus stepped forward and again bowed. "Pleased to meet you, sir."

Lucinda stepped up to him, and pulled the road cloak from his shoulders, revealing his nearly naked body. She handed the cloak to the Rubenesque woman. "Marcus, this is Darla, my head housemaid." She caught his eye and her expression became serious. "You will obey her as you would me, though there are some things she will not ask of you." Lucinda smiled suggestively. "At least at first."

Marcus examined the older woman. Her graying hair was put up in a demure bun and she was smiling widely at Marcus, examining every inch of him. The maid was a little taller than the Countess, but was of a much fuller figure, with massive breasts held behind a collared blue blouse with a white lacey apron. Her skirt fell just below her knees and she wore a sensible leather work shoe, contrasting to the high heels worn by her matron.

"Dear, you certainly have an eye for strapping young men," Eugene said with a chuckle. "I hope he wasn't

too

expensive." Marcus looked again at his dominie's consort. It wasn't unusual for widows to take a live-in lover or companion, especially after the great war had made so many widows, like his own mother.

Marcus could see no guile or jealousy in the older man's face, who was grinning.

"He was

very expensive

." The Countess stated with a laugh. "But I'm positive he will serve well."

He bent and kissed her again. "I'm sure you're right." He glanced between the Countess and Marcus again. "As you undoubtably have a full evening ahead of you, I will spirit out and play some cards at the club. And then polo at Wilby's tomorrow morning."

The Countess smiled and stepped aside so that he could walk towards the carriage. "Enjoy, darling."

The four of them walked into the home, and he found the courtyard was quite large and held the family garden. A young woman was tending the plot, digging up weeds that had managed to take root since the last year's harvest. She wore a khaki blouse and women's trousers of the same color. The woman tipped her straw sun hat and smiled at them as they walked by. "Good afternoon, Countess."

Lucinda waved and smiled as she stopped and looked at Marcus. "You and Amanda will grow to be great friends, I'm sure, as you will spend a lot of time out here with her." She glanced at her to other servants. "As well as Harrison and Darla."

Marcus just nodded, as if it was expected. As a boy, he had once teased a young man who worked in his father's fields, belittling him for his station in life. His father was enraged by his ungentlemanly behavior and had removed him from school before setting him to work with the farm hand all day, every day, and living with the other workers in the bunkhouse for a month. The lesson had taught him humility and a deep appreciation for the work of his family's employees. If the farm work had been physically challenging, catching up with a month of school work had been harder.

At the front door, Lucinda turned to Darla. "Please see him bathed and shaved. Bring him to my chambers in an hour."

The maid nodded and guided the young man gently towards the grand front doors, which were an ornate mixture of wrought iron, wood, and glass. Marcus pulled the heavy door open, which swung easily on steel hinges, and they entered the home before turning sharply down a hall and away from the Countess and her butler. The ceilings were very high, reinforcing the idea of an ancient Roman estate. He felt the pale marble cool beneath his feet. "The house is not so large as it appears. Six bedrooms and eight baths." Darla said with a touch of pride in her voice. Like the outside, the interior was a marvel of polished stone in contrasting hues and patterns. Long carpets covered the floors, and paintings and tapestries covered the walls, damping down the echo that a hall like this would ordinarily have. Electric lights gave everything a warm glow that Marcus quite liked.

Entering a bathroom with a large claw-footed tub, the curvy woman turned the spigots on and added a scented oil to the water. Marcus stood there as she balanced the hot and cold spigots to achieve the proper temperature until the woman turned to him with a frown. "Well, don't just stand there. Getcher knickers off, boy!"

Marcus jumped and shyly removed the breechclout. Darla pointed to a hamper. "Put it there, I'll wash it and get it to the Countess." Marcus was about to ask why the Countess would want it, when she pointed to the tub. "Get in now, there's soap. Wash yourself like yer to be introduced to the Queen." Her eyes traveled down his naked body and an appreciative smile appeared on her face. She saw his hand tremble. "Nervous, boy?"

The truth serum kicked in and his feelings just gushed out of him. "Oh gods, yes! What if she doesn't like me after having paid so much? What if I make a fool of myself? What if..."

"Easy now, lad! Easy!" Darla interrupted him. "I've been on the Countess's staff for twelve years and in that time I've seen eight young men and four young ladies naked in this tub. Just keep your mouth closed," she smiled knowingly. "Unless it's needed for something fun, and keep your ears open. Do as you're told and keep your wits about you, and you'll do fine."

After he was finished bathing, Darla stepped out of her uniform and shoes, standing before him in just a bra and cotton panties. Her breasts were massive, bigger by far than the single pair he'd seen and touched in his lifetime. He imagined his two hands holding each globe, his fingers sinking into her soft flesh. She walked to the sink and added some shaving soap and water to a mug and began whipping it into a lather. The woman hummed a little tune and her big, round ass bounced with the beat in her head. He felt blood rushing into his cock and thanked the gods he was sitting in a foot of water.

Darla walked up and waved up with her hand. "Okay, now stand up and we'll get yer fun parts sorted."