The knock on the thick, carved wooden door was soft, hesitant. The middle aged man - of a military mien, his hair touched with grey - rose from the couch where he had been reclining. The hour was late and the cool desert air wafted through the arched windows of the high ceilinged room, while the bright moon cast shadows through the openings.
"Enter!"
A slender female figure, wearing only a pair of diaphanous silk shorts, stood shyly in the doorway, eyes downcast. He had noticed her among the woman slaves who had served the guests at the banquet that evening, and had admired her petite figure, long shining fair hair (a contrast to the dark tones of all the others), pale skin and wary, submissive comportment. She had been barefoot, like all the slaves, and wearing a thin short gown with nothing under it, which provided glimpses of her graceful nude shape.
He had remarked on her to his host, and been told that she was a recent addition to the household, purchased from a trader "who had found her heaven knows where, in Ultima Thule perhaps...she's quite fresh and unspoiled. I'll send her to your room tonight."
He had thanked his host and had waited in pleasant anticipation. Now he examined her more closely in the light of the lamp; she had large, expressive blue grey eyes, which regarded him fearfully, a cute snub nose, a rosebud mouth and small but well-shaped breasts. Her skin glowed; her belly was flat with a deeply incised navel, and her legs were beautifully shaped. She flushed under his frank gaze.
"Master sent me to be with you tonight."
Her voice was low and pleasant, albeit trembling a little, with an unfamiliar accent. He beckoned her into the room and closed the door. She stood submissively, eyes lowered and arms at her bare sides, while he walked around to observe her back view. Her bottom was firm, small and beautifully shaped.
"Take that off."
Blushing, she slipped her delicate fingers into her single garment and pulled it down; then stood straight again, motionless under his examination except for a barely perceptible trembling, looking down at the floor. A delicate flush of embarrassment touched her skin. Her bare buttocks were exquisitely rounded; they drew the eye to the secret places concealed in their divide, to which men of his nation were especially partial. He observed several thin pink stripes bisecting the delicate flesh, and outlined them with a finger, causing her to flinch nervously, then quickly assume her submissive stance.
"What are these, then?"
"Mistress whipped me yesterday." Her voice quavered as she spoke almost inaudibly.
"Why did she do that?" Although slaves were routinely whipped, he was curious what specific offense this shy, unassuming female might have committed.
"She...she told me I was not learning quickly enough." A tear welled out of a lovely eye
"Learning what?"
"How to please...she says that I am to be a bed slave, to give pleasure with my mouth...and other places. She made me use my mouth on a guard, for practice she said. I had never done anything like that, and I tried to do well - I liked sucking his thing, the way it was so firm and smooth, and his noises made me excited.
