The couple exchanged a long, sensual kiss.
"In three days!" they said to each other almost as one.
**
In the locker room, Rose met other wives and girlfriends, most of them were at least a decade younger than her. She felt self-conscious.
"All right, ladies, everything, and I do mean everything off. In the lockers, you will find a jewelry safe. Select any four-digit code that you can easily remember to reclaim your valuables later. After you are naked, take as long as you want in the shower. Dry your hair and skin thoroughly before venturing into the next room. Please leave your towels in the bins by the swinging doors. Assessment usually takes about ninety minutes. If any of you wish to back out, speak now or forever hold your peace."
The married women chuckled at that. Despite some nervous laughter and embarrassed glances, none of the dozen or so women chickened out.
The younger women saw much to admire when they viewed Rose Laughlin in the altogether. She had model height, a peaches and cream complexion, long shapely legs a narrow waist with a flat belly that barely contained any post-birth flabbiness. Her breasts were nice-sized, and her cascade of dark brown hair was lovely. Setting everything off and complimenting it nicely was the lovely red rose tattoo about her left ankle. It was her only body art. To some of the younger women, naked Rose was a model of mature femininity. To the others, she was unwanted competition. Rose removed her earrings, her locket containing pictures of Gretchen and Conor, her watch, and finally, her marital jewelry. She always felt vulnerable without her rings. The naked ring finger reminded her of times when Doug had wagered her rings, and she took them off and set them in the kitty. Rose wondered why she put up with it, but she new the reason. The excitement and the illicit thrill of a potential loss. Only once had her husband had the temerity to wager her person. The huge gambler had had Rose hike up her skirt so he could see the entirety of her legs and had ogled her pert bum. If Doug had lost! Still, she often thought of that night. When she and Doug returned to their hotel, they were so horny they made love like rutting hounds. Would she have gone through with it if the cards had fallen a different way? She honestly didn't know but the gambler was supremely handsome and his arousal at the sight of Rose demonstrated that he was well-endowed!
The shower was hot and first-class body wash and shampoo were provided. Rose dried her hair with the provided dryer wrapped in a towel. Putting off the inevitable as long as she could, Rose finally tossed the towel in the hamper, took a deep breath, and plunged through the swinging doors to the assessment floor itself.
What followed was part gynecological exam, part job interview, part beauty contest. They refused to tell her how much she had assessed for other than that her husband would be quite pleased.
"One last detail, ladies," stated a technician. "In the next room, you will be fitted with your collars and receive your nanobot injection. The collars will remain inert until your redemption window closes. Once you are redeemed, we remove the collar, and the nanobots will flush out of your system in about a week. If, however, your redemption window expires, the collars will spring to life and will work in cahoots with the nanobots. Your purchaser will receive the controller to your collar and will use your collar to control you. The collars can cause intense pain or waves of erotic bliss. Which setting your owner chooses is entirely up to them!"
That brought a few gasps from the women, but none of it was new information. All of them had watched news stories about slavery, watched slavery documentaries, or watched those ludicrous Lifetime Channel slave romances. None of them thought that they would ever get this close to the real experience, however.
**
"Is this all I get to wear?"
"Yes, technically we prefer that collateral reside naked, but we are in no legal position to require it. While skimpy, the bikini covers everything essential. You and the rest of the girls are living advertisements. Couples come here from the strip. eye the collateral and the merchandise on the selling floor, imagine each other as a naked, collared item, have a cuddle, a smile, and a kiss, and spend lavishly in our gift shop. What girl who visits Las Vegas today doesn't spend fifty bucks for a general assessment in their underwear? Later they come back and spend time as collateral while their men gamble. You should see this place on Father's Day! Mother's Day, on the other hand, is a ghost town."
The patter elicited a few chuckles. The women rolled their eyes at the barely-there bikinis and tugged them on. Together they entered the adjoining collateral exhibition room and were each assigned a glass-walled room and fed a light snack.
**
The MILFy brunette immediately caught his attention. Dark hair always appealed to him as blondes left him cold, always. He also liked the fact that she was older. Not that he didn't appreciate the hot young things also dwelling in the collateral exhibit, but he wanted someone he could talk to. A woman who was a contemporary and shared his experiences and tastes. The fact that she had given birth meant she had some real-life experience that some college coed on a lark could never hope to match or comprehend. He had the boys to consider as well. If he brought a slave home from Vegas, she would have to be one they could relate to. A more maternal choice was the right choice. There was a bit of deviltry in her blue eyes she knew her way around a cock and was probably a dynamo between the sheets. The rose tattoo made her easy to find in the database. He looked at her reserve price and whistled. Steep, but within his means. Buying cheap, especially a slave, was a monumentally stupid idea. He sent a text to his bank asking that they wire the funds to secure this one, IF she came on the market. If she was redeemed, he was only out of the money for a few days. What was the point of coming to Las Vegas if you weren't prepared to do a little gambling?
**
Doug was in his element. This contest was as good as won. He had enough now to clear all his goals. He'd be able to spring Rose early if he wanted to. The thought of her in the notorious Collateral Exhibit at the Slave Shack thrilled him. He loved it when other men noticed his wife. The thought of them eyeing her with the collar around her neck sucking their cocks, made him hard. He wondered what it would be like to gamble Rose's favors away for real.
"Double or nothing?"
Why not?"
Tonight was his lucky night. They shook hands, the cards moved around the table.
**
Rose had to admit the stares she was getting from the crowd made her feel very good indeed. She was holding her own against the college girls and the famous model who was placed as collateral by her agent as a publicity stunt. Some of the guys checking her out were real creeps. She was surprised they weren't wearing raincoats. Others were very pleasant to look at. She imagined herself as their property for a few fleeting moments. It was a harmless fantasy. Rose stepped out of the jacuzzi and made her way over to the bar for another daiquiri. This was the life!
**
"Impossible!" gasped Douglas Laughlin.
"Denying reality ain't gonna change it," came the reply from across the table. The high-stakes gambler gathered up all of Doug's previous good fortune. Looking at the Doug's crestfallen expression the owner of the windfall peeled off a hundred-dollar bill and placed it in front of Doug.
"Here's carfare back to your hotel, chump."
He laughed derisively.
Doug sat there stunned as the man placed the piles of bills and chips into a very large satchel. He looked at the lone C-note. It wasn't much but it could win him a few hands at the casino and those few hands could multiply. He could still deliver on the promise he made his wife. But did he have the time? Dough gathered up the Franklin and scurried away towards the nearest casino betting floor like a cockroach for the wall cracks when the kitchen light is turned on.
**
The contractor in town for the builder's convention checked his reserve status on the rose-tattooed MILF. He had a competitor. Someone else had matched the reserve price. How high was he willing to go? It seemed obscene to use Margery's insurance payout for such a caddish purchase, yet he had seen something in the tall, trim brunette. Something he very much wanted to possess. "I'm sorry, honey," he whispered as he pressed the authorization button to increase his bid.
**
Rose shamelessly flirted with a college kid who was clearly smitten by cougars. He was hot as hell and built like a Greek god. Obviously, a shopper and viewer and not a buyer, Rose contemplated being owned by such a hot young stud. It was harmless fun. The thought of being compelled to service some shriveled dick pervert, the sort of guys she was convinced were the only type to buy slaves, chilled her to the marrow. She winked at the guy and hiked up her bikini top just enough to expose one areola and nipple. The kid grinned from ear to ear and flashed thumbs up.
**
Doug was up against the clock. Sixty -two hours had passed. He hadn't slept, he hadn't shaved, he had barely eaten. He was running on caffeine and inertia. He had only ten hours to double his current stake just so that he could redeem and liberate, Rose. He's fucked up before but never this badly. Worse, he had won all the money he had hoped. Why had he accepted that double-or-nothing proposal? If he lost Rose, he'd never forgive himself. What would he tell the kids? Would they ever forgive him? In desperation, he played hand after hand. His pile of bills and chips continued to grow.
**
The contractor checked the status of things on his phone. He wondered if he was spending too much but his competition seemed to be getting cold feet. His latest bid on Item 39072-B had gone unchallenged for more than an hour. It was all academic anyway. A woman who looked like that was sure to be redeemed. He strode by the Collateral Exhibit unobtrusively. His desired prize was lying on her stomach, floating in the middle of the pool on a pink inflatable. Man did she have a great ass! He allowed himself the fantasy of taking her home. How hard would she be to train? Would she hate him forever or could he bring her around? Questions with no answers. He received a text from his contact at a steel structure company. Their special deal to invited guests would start in twenty minutes and no stragglers would be admitted. He had plenty of time to make it. He took one last side-long glance at the bobbing brunette and emitted a soft sigh.
**
Time! There just was not enough time! He was still short by dozens of thousands. He felt certain he could reclaim his prior summit, but the math and the clock were against him. Perhaps a loan shark could help him make up the difference? Douglas Laughlin had built associations and friendships over the years that would horrify Rose if she ever learned of them. He gathered his winnings in a briefcase and reached for his cell phone. Vinny answered at all hours.
**
The signs lit up all over the Collateral Exhibit. Two-Hour Warning! At the end of that time the "items on display" either went back to their mundane lives or met their buyers in their new lives as slaves. The Two-Hour Warning was a popular event on the strip. There was lots of betting action in the stands regarding who would be redeemed and who would be sold off. Las Vegas found a way to take a cut of everything! The formerly playful and flirtatious women became quieter and more withdrawn. Even the model who knew she had been redeemed already, turned serious. The reactions when some were inevitably involuntarily enslaved were a sight to behold. Depending on your outlook, it was either a display of pure sadism or an erotic thrill that would linger for days and weeks. To some witnesses, it was both.
**
Rose wished she had something more concealing than her damned string bikini. Now that the mood was somber, it seemed the stares of the witnesses were far more penetrating and focused. Every last one of them was imagining her without a stitch!
**
The contractor sipped a beer and watched the final falderal with bemused indifference. Sure, his bid was still at the top of the leaderboard, but that meant nothing! He'd be getting his money back in a few hours. Idly, he wondered how much interest the casino had collected on his money while they held it. He was mainly curious about what dude would claim Miss Rose tattoo. Would he compare favorably to that guy? In any event, it would be fun watching the fetching brunette strut offstage with swagger and poise for a final time. Dang! He wished he was drinking something stronger than beer.
**
"Douglas my man, the only collateral you have that is worth what it would take to float you that much is your babelicious wife, and you've already mortgaged her! Sure, I could have the boys rush in with a last-minute bid and spring Rose. If we did that, however, we sure as shit would keep her and not turn her over to you. She'd fetch good money at our cat houses in Reno. We'd fuck her until we couldn't get it up anymore. You don't want that, Douglas."
"But you have to help me!"
"Says who, Douglas? Says, who? I'm not unsympathetic, but I'm a practical man. Take what you have won so far and go home. Pay close attention to the hole where Rose used to reside and learn your lesson. Never go double or nothing with Shaunessy!"
**
The builder watched as the petite, but striking redhead was liberated from her collar and bolted across the stage and into the arms of a shaved gorilla and buried him under a fusillade of kisses. The incredibly hot Latina emitted an audible gasp as her collar was activated. She was led across the stage where her bikini was torn off and a tattoo artist applied a government-issued barcode to her right butt cheek. While the collar denoted slavery, the barcode denoted identity, possession, and complete history. The collar was sometimes removed from especially obedient slaves, the tattoo was forever.
The famous model, showing why she would never be successful as an actress hammed up the arrival of her famous boyfriend while the cameras flashed. The crowd was not fooled, and a torrent of boos ensued. The contractor's cell phone buzzed. He read a text message telling him to. If possible, be at the backstage entrance to the Collateral Exhibit as quickly and as safely as possible.
"Holy shit!" he exclaimed.
As it happened his seat was not far away from the access door to backstage. The info on his phone and driver's license were his pass. His heart was beating a mile a minute as a security guard led him deep into the complex. He had bid on the gorgeous brunette as a lark, now what? He considered his attire, a pair of khaki trousers and a T-shirt bearing the whimsical logo of a minor league baseball team. That was sure to look impressive to the cameras! If he had even considered the possibility that he would win; he would have dressed more professionally. And what was he going to say to rose tattoo now that he owned her?
