A Slave's Journey Begins

Liam stormed down the back stairs, through the kitchen, and out the door towards the stables. Running out on the session with Tara had been a mistake and with the Banquet tomorrow, he knew Lucas would continue the slave's training without him. The Young Master would hear about it, no doubt, and then there would be questions he didn't want to answer and answers he didn't want to face. Feeling angry and ashamed, Liam began saddling a horse, hoping a long ride and some distance from Blackmore Estate would help clear his head.

"Sir Liam?"

Liam froze as Siara's voice echoed through the stable. What is she doing here, he thought, shrinking back into the horse's stall. He waited, listening for her movements, but when he heard nothing, he poked his head out of the stall only to see nothing as well. Liam strode to the stable doors and looked towards the main house, and then in the other direction towards the woods, wondering where she could have gone so quickly. It was only when he turned to go back that he saw her. She was three feet away from him, sitting on the stable boy's stool, hands folded in her lap, eyes down. He wanted to go to her, put his arms around her, kiss her eyelids, her cheeks, her earlobes, her lips.

Instead, he heard his voice demanding harshly, "Did you follow me here? Go back at once!"

Liam was surprised when she didn't immediately obey his command.

"Permission to ask a question, Sir?" she asked.

No, no questions, Liam's mind warned. "Ask," he replied.

"Why don't you want me?"

When he didn't answer, Siara moved from the stool to kneel before him. "If it's because I... protested when you used me in the woods, I'm sorry."

Liam stared at her. "You're sorry?"

"Yes, Sir. I'm - "

"You're sorry. You're sorry for what I did to you. You're sorry." Liam started laughing a humourless, incredulous laugh, that eventually brought him to his knees in front of the slave. She was looking at him with a mix of confusion and concern. He shook his head at her. How could he explain? "Sorry won't erase your scars, Siara," he said. "Sorry won't change what I've done. You have no idea how much I wish I could go back and do things differently."

"So... do things differently now."

"It's not that easy! You're a slave and I... I feel things for you that I'm not allowed to feel, feelings that I don't know what to do with."

"What does your heart tell you to do?" Siara asked him.

Liam stared at the ground and shrugged his shoulders. Listening to his heart could lead to nothing but trouble for them both.

Taking Liam's hand in hers, Siara pressed his palm to her cleavage, warm and pulsing with life.

"I am a slave and it's true my body belongs to my Master, but my heart tells me... my heart tells me it belongs to you."

Liam watched the rise and fall of her breast beneath his hand, took in the outline of her nipples pressing against the thin fabric of her robe and decided then and there that he would have her again. But where could they go? The thought of taking her in the Training Room, any of the rooms in the slaves' quarters, even his own room, didn't seem right. As long as they remained on the Estate, they were still only a slave and a Steward, equally bound by the Blackmore crest, neither of them able to give themselves freely.

"I want to take you somewhere for the night," Liam said. "Will you ride into town with me?"

"Do you have leave to take me?" Siara asked.

"No. In fact, if we're caught, I suspect we'll both be in a good deal of trouble."

Siara only paused a moment before replying, "Permission to collect my bag and shawl before we go, Liam?

It wasn't like her to address him informally, but they were in uncharted territory now.

"Granted," Liam said, feeling thrilled and terrified alike at what they were about to do.

*****************

Siara rarely left Blackmore Estate, and when she did, it was usually as entertainment on the hunt or at a banquet at another Estate. Unlike Katya who was always trying to escape the walls around her through the books she read, Siara didn't mind her enclosed life. It was all she had ever known and for the most part, she was content to devote herself to the service for which she was intended. When Liam slowed the horse in front of the inn and helped her down, giving the animal to the stable boy, she had no idea what to expect.

Taking her hand, he led her into the main floor tavern, which was quiet except for a few patrons scattered at different tables. After a few words with the innkeeper, he took a seat at an empty table and gestured to the chair across from him. Siara paused and then sat down. It felt strange to be sitting at the table with him, almost like his equal. She kept her hands folded in her lap and her eyes downcast, which was how she came to notice the slave on her hands and knees under the next table. Her naked body bore many bruises and her lip was split and swollen. Siara recognized the sad, scared look in her sunken eyes and longed to offer a comforting word or embrace.

"Caught your eye, has she?" a booming voice startled Siara and she froze, averting her gaze, before she realized the question was not directed at her, but at Liam. "Present yourself properly to this good gentleman," the Merchant said, kicking the girl in the buttocks. She winced as she crawled out from under the table and knelt in front of the Steward. "She's a recent acquisition from the Market two towns back. Still needs a bit of reminding what the hole in her face is for, but she's got a nice, tight ass on her, and she'll take a good hard pounding without a lot of fuss. You're welcome to give her a go, no such thing as too much fucking when you're breaking them in."

"No thank you, Sir," Liam replied stiffly. "Please don't let us interrupt your supper."

"No indeed," the Merchant said, his eyes raking over Siara's body, taking in the glint of metal around her neck under her shawl and the outline of her shapely legs through the sheer fabric of her robe. "I see now that you've already purchased your pleasure for the evening."

Siara bristled inwardly, although outwardly, her face registered no emotion. She was no prostitute to be bought for the night and then discarded! She wished the man would leave them alone, but he continued, "That's a fine toy you have there, lad, but her place is on her knees, where her kind belongs."

"Her place is where I say it is. Now, I'll thank you to leave us be."

The Merchant laughed and said, "I meant no offense, boy. I only caution against leniency when it comes to handling slaves. I beat this one every day just to remind her what she is." Then nodding at Siara, "Let me guess, you've never laid a hand on her, outside of bed that is." He stood and removed his belt, folding it over in his hands. "Well, it will be my pleasure to give you a demonstration in how to properly train a slave."

Although never from Liam's hand, Siara knew the lash of the belt and felt sorry for the girl kneeling before them. Such a beating every day would take a toll on even the most experienced slave.

"I can assure you, Sir, that I need no such demonstrations. Slave, show your markings," Liam commanded.

Siara was always more comfortable naked than clothed, but standing to remove her shawl and robe, she drew the gaze of curious patrons and began to feel uneasy. Surely it was unwise to call attention to themselves like this.

The Merchant whistled through his teeth, stepping closer to Siara as he examined her.

"This is your work?" he asked, looking at the fresh welts on the front of her body from her earlier punishment.

"It is."

"All of it?"

Liam paused. He knew the Merchant was asking about the slave's scars. "Yes," he said, standing himself. "So perhaps it is I who can provide a demonstration for you."

"With pleasure, Sir!" the Merchant replied, holding out his belt to the Steward.

Walking around the table, Liam picked up Siara's bag and robe with one hand and handed her her shawl with the other, which she hastily threw around herself.

"My companion and I have had a long ride and we are in need of rest," he said. "But you may bring her to me at the slaves' quarters of Blackmore Estate and I will be pleased to show you how you may punish and reward your new acquisition in ways that will increase her value tenfold. Only, if you'll indulge me, I'd like to see no more bruises on her body. I prefer a clean canvass." And with that, Liam took Siara's hand and led her up the stairs to the room that was waiting for them.

Once they were behind closed doors, Liam sat heavily on the edge of the bed and dropped his head into his hands, his heart still racing from the encounter downstairs. On the surface, things had remained quite civil, but in truth, Liam had been ready to draw his dagger at any moment if the Merchant had touched Siara with so much as a single finger. It was bad enough he had revealed the Blackmore name, now he could only hope the Merchant would not take him up on his offer.

Liam raised his head to see Siara kneeling in position on the floor. "You don't have to do that," he said. "Come sit with me."

Siara stayed where she was. "Permission to ask a question, Sir?" she asked.

Liam gave a frustrated sigh. "Siara, stop it. You don't have to - "

"Did you mean what you said?" she cut him off. "About preferring a... clean canvass? Is that why you don't want me?"

"You can't still believe that's true! Why do you think I brought you here? I want you more than I've ever wanted anything!"

Siara slowly unwrapped the shawl from her shoulders and let it fall to the ground leaving her naked before him. "If you want me," she said, "then take me."

Liam pulled her to her feet and kissed her. She kissed him back with abandon, her tongue sweeping through his mouth, her lips parting and for the first time, demanding more, even as he drew back from her. He let her go and backed away. There was a wildness in her eyes and he could feel desire radiating off of her like heat from a fire. Fuck me, her body screamed at him. Fuck me now. All at once, as had happened to him so many times before, Liam felt the weight of insecurity bearing down on him. With only the tools of his own body at his disposal, he felt woefully inadequate, completely incapable of satisfying the goddess he saw in front of him.

He felt his erection dying and turned away from her, full of shame and anger. What kind of man am I? What's the matter with me?

Siara had seen his arousal when she dropped her shawl and had felt it pressed against her when their lips met, but now she saw it fading as she was left staring at Liam's back. She was an excellent pleasure slave, of that she felt quite sure and she was certain she could please him if he would just give her the chance.

Coming up behind him, she rested her hands lightly on his shoulders. "Liam," she whispered, "Tell me what I'm doing wrong. Tell me how you want me and I'll make it so."

"I don't know!" Liam said, his voice breaking, adding to his humiliation. "Damnit, when we're in the Training Room together, I know exactly what to do. I can punish you, I can mark you, I can make you cum," he paused, and then in a softer voice, "I can make you cry. But outside of that room... Everything is different. You become something I don't know how to touch. I don't know who I am with you, Siara, and I don't know what to do."

The weight of Siara's hands lifted from his shoulders and Liam's heart sank. He was no Master to her and he never should have thought he could be. Bringing her here had been a mistake. He was about to turn and tell her so when the blindfold covered his eyes.

Siara listened to what the Steward's words and body were telling her and all at once she understood why he had used her as he had in the woods and why he wasn't able to use her as he wanted now. He didn't know what to do, but she did. She couldn't say what instinct had prompted her to choose the things she had to fill her bag, but she knew now how she would be using them, if he would permit her. Pleasure was what she knew best after all, and tonight he needed her to be Mistress in her own domain.

She had retrieved the blindfold from her bag and felt Liam stiffen as she slipped it on. His hands came up to his face and she covered them with hers.

"Trust me, Liam," she said, bringing his arms gently to his sides.

Deprived of sight, Liam felt nervous, helpless, and strangely aroused. He had blindfolded many slaves in the Training Room, but he himself had never been blindfolded. The understanding that Siara was in control now released him of the pressure he felt and he allowed himself to be guided by her sure hands.

She undressed him slowly, stopping to kiss and caress as she revealed each part of his body, until he was naked and fully erect. Dropping to her knees in front of him, she took him easily in her mouth and began sucking his cock, her skilled tongue and throat working together to bring him closer and closer to climax. Just as he was on the verge of orgasm, Siara stopped and stood up, pressing her mouth to his in a passionate kiss. He could taste the salt of precum on her lips and as his hand brushed her pussy, he could feel the wetness there.

Liam was so lost in the moment, he barely noticed that as Siara kissed him, she was backing him into the wall. When he had nowhere else to go, she said, "Don't move."

Liam felt her body retreat and then return, except that she had brought something with her. She placed the object in his hands and let him explore it, trying to figure out what he was holding. Liam's hands and memory knew the contents of the Training Room's antechamber well and as he felt the shape of the short, fat phallus attached at the base to the long, thick one, he knew at once that he held a double-ended penetrator. On rare occasions when he had been presented with two slaves at once for training or punishment for a joint crime, he had used this thing, inserting the short end into one slave's pussy and forcing her to fuck the other's ass with the long end. The short end curved perfectly to press against that special spot in the vaginal canal, sending intense jolts of pleasure surging through the body of its wearer the harder she thrust. It could be a cruel and powerful tool and Liam's stomach knotted as he realized what Siara intended.

"No," he said, holding it out to her. It was one thing to be blindfolded, perhaps even to be bound, but he could not consent to this. He knew there were some men who preferred the company of their paiges to that of their slaves, but he wasn't that type and after all the time they had spent together, the suggestion itself seemed a violation.

"Turn around, Liam," Siara's voice was like steel wrapped in silk, soft but unyielding. She took the offending object from his hands and then the faint but familiar scent of oil filled his nostrils.

"I don't want you like this!" Liam cried, tearing the blindfold from his eyes. What he saw took his breath away. Siara had spilled the oil generously over her body, her bronze skin glistening in the warm lamplight. Taking the fat head of the shorter phallus in her mouth, she sucked it as she had sucked his cock, opening her lips wide around it and letting her spit run down. At the same time, she worked the other end of it with her hand, coating it from base to tip with oil. Then, parting her legs, Liam watched as she filled her own cunt.

The image was stunning - Siara's beautiful body, slick with oil, hot and wet with desire, with one cock inside her and another jutting out from the juncture of her thighs. Despite what he had said, what he thought he knew to be true, Liam found himself rock hard and entirely powerless under the slave's spell.

She approached him, her green eyes luminous, and with her hands on his shoulders, turned his body so that he faced the wall. He could feel her breath, warm on his neck, her breasts slippery against his back, and then her long finger pushing for entry at his asshole while the other hand reached around to close around the base of his cock.

"You may not want me like this," she whispered into his ear, "but I want you like this."

Liam closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the wall. I want you, she said. How many times had he dreamed of hearing her say those words, knowing it was impossible. Slaves were not at liberty to want. But like this? He didn't know if he could do it. And he didn't know if he could walk away. He had never been fucked this way before, had never experienced for himself what he had put slaves through time and time again often without a second thought. He heard his own voice echoing in his head with the words that were a regular part of training a slave's ass. Relax, breathe, you can take it.

Liam took a deep breath and focused on the sensation of having Siara inside him while he remained outside of her. Her finger slid in and out of his passage, letting his body open to her slowly, until she sensed he was ready for more. He tensed as he felt her finger slip out, replaced by the cool tip of the long rubber phallus. Oiled and open though he was, the stretching of his anal ring was still painful and Liam groaned into the wall as Siara inched her way deeper and deeper inside him.

Siara felt his resistance, but pushed forward anyway, her hand wrapped firmly around his cock. Once all the way in, she pulled back and then gripping his shoulder for leverage, thrust into him again, changing the angle of her penetration as Mistress Leanna had taught her. She heard Liam's sharp cry as she found the hidden bundle of nerves she sought and answered with a moan as her movements stimulated her own centre of pleasure. She began stroking his cock in time with her thrusts, her heart racing as she fucked him. Their bodies moved as one, deeply connected, until they were both on the edge of orgasm.

Liam felt delirious. There was pain yes, but mixed with the most intense pleasure he had ever known, coupled with the warm body of the woman he loved pressed against him, the sounds of her arousal like music to his ears. Whatever magic she was using on him was beyond his ability to control and too soon, he covered the wall with thick cum, each spurt directly connected to the target deep inside him that exploded with sensation each time Siara hit her mark.

Afterwards, Liam stumbled to the bed and collapsed on it, his legs weak beneath him. He was barely aware of Siara's actions until she knelt on the floor beside him on a blanket pulled from her bag.

"May I be of any other service to you, Sir?" she asked.

"No," he replied. "You've served me better than I could have asked for. Better than I deserve." Then, after a moment's hesitation, "And did I... serve you as you wanted?" It was a strange question to pose to a slave and he already knew from her sounds, her smell, the tremors of her body, that she had cum just as hard as he had, but he wanted to hear her say it.

"Yes Sir," Siara said, a smile in her voice, "You did." She proceeded to extinguish the lamps and lie down on the floor. For a time there was only the sound of their breathing in the darkness. Then she said, ""Whatever happens at the Banquet tomorrow, know that you'll be the only one who has had me like this."

The Banquet. The Merchant. Liam had forgotten all about these things and he pushed them from his mind once more as sleep closed in on him, protecting him from all that the morning would bring.