Welcome to chapter eight, everyone! We're approaching the end; chapter nine will be the conclusion of this series. Some of you have requested a happy ending - we'll see how things turn out ;-)
Thank you for voting/commenting and enjoy the story!
*****
The two weeks after the dinner with Nora and George passed quickly. With help from one of Ahmad's aides, I reviewed the existing training material and - using the local shop's employees as guinea pigs - I started working on new guidelines that would hopefully improve customer satisfaction and increase revenue.
Unfortunately, the changes would take time until they affected the company's bottom line, which means I still got my ninety-five whip lashes per week, making me the biggest customer our local agency ever had.
In the meanwhile, the job in Kessler's rathole on deck nine added to my misery. I interviewed at more expensive brothels, but after all the abuse my ass had taken recently, nobody was willing to hire me; until I had saved enough money for surgery, I simply couldn't get better employment.
*
On a Tuesday evening, while I was drawing a hot bath in my whirlpool after another appointment with the whipping bot, Nora dropped by for a visit. In her low-cut violet dress, silver tiara, and stiletto heels she looked absolutely stunning. I watched in awe as she walked gracefully towards me.
"Wow, Nora! You look like a queen."
"I do," she said with a mischievous smile. "It's all a lie, of course. I'm a convicted prostitute from Emaris who sucks dicks for fifteen credits."
"'Dicks?' You sucked one dick. If you wanted to make a career out of it, you shouldn't have started with a cop."
She laughed. "True. And it stings that I never got paid, I got that bastard off, after all. I should ask Donnie to collect my money. With interest."
"While he's at it, I'm sure he can get your record expunged."
"Nah, It's fine, I don't want to disappoint George. He was so proud - apparently, getting arrested is some rite of passage."
"The first time's always special," I said and laughed. "I'm honored that you were with me when you got that cherry popped."
"You know, we role-played the entire thing in bed last night, including the collaring and a light spanking. I didn't get my fifteen credits either, but it was fun."
"So you guys made up again?"
"It's complicated, as usual. But since I'm stuck with him, I might as well make the best of it. Which brings me to the reason why I'm here. George has some meetings with the Solarian government and I have to come along and play the charming wife. We'll be on the surface for ten days or so and right after the visit, I'm leaving for Lissandra. I'm going to spend a month there setting up a charity for war orphans."
"Livin' the trophy wife lifestyle."
"Absolutely. Can I leave you alone?"
"I'm all grown up."
"I know, I know, I'm just worried. When you're sick of cantina food, you can go to my quarters, I instructed the staff to make you something to eat whenever you want. And if there's anything at all, you can call me any time, okay? Day and night."
I grinned. "Thanks, mom."
"Joke all you want, I worry!"
"I know," I said and gave her a hug. "You're my best friend. I'll miss you."
"And I will miss you, Cass. Feel free to raid my nightstand while I'm gone."
She gave me a wink and I couldn't help but grin. Nora had an impressive collection of toys, the largest I had ever seen outside a sex shop, and we had used many of them during our play times together.
"But, I almost forgot to tell you." She hiked up her dress and moved her thong to the side. "Notice something?"
"Your clit ring's gone!"
"Yep. Remember that deal with George? A thousand lashes for getting it removed? Took me four sessions and seventy licks, then he threw in the towel. On my last session, I had them record it on video and believe it or not, Big George Vlissidis couldn't watch how wifey got a thrashing. Same as you on Emaris. You act all tough, but you criminals are surprisingly squamish."
"That's because we care about you, girl! Please tell me you wouldn't have gone for the full one thousand."
"I don't know, probably not. Somehow I knew that he would give in sooner or later. He likes to test my limits, but as it turns out, he doesn't want to see me suffer."
"You guys have a weird relationship."
Nora rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it. On some days, I could strangle him and on others we get along nicely. You know, he's a fantastic lover when he wants to be. But don't tell him that, his ego is big enough."
"Whatever! Nora, I have one important question, and I need you to be absolutely honest."
She sat down with me on the bed and looked at me in anticipation. "What is it?"
"How was the service at Everton's?"
Nora laughed out loudly. "Oh, Cass!"
"I'm serious, I spent so much time training the staff there. They have a monopoly on board, that's not good for service quality."
"The Mendez facilities are still better, but the service was okay. The first time, they made me wait for fifteen minutes because the girl at the counter had to call her manager and the manager probably called Donnie. They were a bit nervous about whipping the boss's wife."
I chuckled. "I can imagine."
"But enough talk about business, I get plenty of that with George."
She gave me a sensual kiss on my lips and got on her knees in front of me.
"You seem tense, Cass, let me give you some stress relief. Do you want the Emarian whore or the royal experience?"
I smiled and stroked her cheek. "The royal experience, if it pleases your majesty."
*
A couple days later, Ahmad and I had selected half a dozen locations that I would visit on my trip. It was great being able to get off the ship for a few days and I was looking forward to enjoying the expense account that Ahmad had allocated for me.
As per George's orders, I stopped by his office - there was still the matter of procuring a hyperspace-capable ship and without his approval, I couldn't go anywhere. Tense and slightly nervous I walked up to his huge desk - I knew him well enough by now, he wouldn't make things easy.
"I got a little something made for you," he said with his typical broad grin.
He opened a drawer in his desk and handed me an expensive looking black jewelry box.
Knowing his wife's adornments, I wasn't keen on receiving gifts from George - whatever it was, I doubted he had my best interest in mind. Reluctantly, I opened the box and I wasn't surprised when I saw its contents. It was a black, sparkly collar with a ring at its front, similar to the one Nora had worn a few weeks ago.
Not at all happy that I would have to wear a collar again, I took it from the box and examined it from all sides. It wasn't the heaviest one I ever had, but it was no toy either - removing it without the key would require serious machinery.
The worst thing though was the inscription. "Personal property of George Vlissidis," I read, printed on the outside in silver letters.
"How do you like it?" he asked.
"It's ... pretty," I said, unable to fake even a hint of enthusiasm.
"It's got a tracker built in, so you don't get lost," he said and I could tell that he enjoyed this immensely.
An ankle tracker would have worked just as well, I thought.
"Oh, and it's got a few other useful things built in. Stuff that only works in a collar," he said, as if he had read my mind. "Let's just say I wouldn't want to be near it when someone tries to cut it off."
Fantastic. It made sense of course - with my unquantified debt to George, I was little more than a slave anyway. The collar just made it official.
"I have to wear it from now on?"
"Only when you're off the ship." He took the collar from my hands. "I'll help you."
"Do you want me to kneel?" I asked, a little bit more aggressively than I intended. Provoking him was not a good idea - despite his friendly tone he was still the deadliest thug this side of the Riva nebula.
George laughed loudly. "Don't be ridiculous."
I lifted my hair and let him lock the collar around my neck. For someone as fiercely independent as me, being marked as property was the worst feeling in the world.
"Looks good on you."
I sighed. "So I'm your property now?"
George grinned. "The collar is, but don't blame me if it leads to misunderstandings. You might find it useful though, nobody messes with my stuff."
Very funny, I thought. Even though he didn't consider me his slave, absolutely everybody else would.
"I expect you back in three days. You stay on mission and do your job, no distractions. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Talk to Donnie on your way out. He'll give you a guy for protection."
*
I hadn't really expected that he would send me out alone. Despite the tracker around my neck, he wanted to take additional precautions and from his perspective, it was understandable. The last time I had managed to avoid capture for months.
Donnie had already compiled a list of qualified men and left it up to me to choose. Still annoyed about the collar, I flipped through the profiles that he put on his large office display. I didn't know any of them, so I simply picked the best looking one. It was shallow and sexist, but guys did it to me all the time, so I enjoyed my petty little revenge.
According to his profile, the guy I selected was a former special forces soldier with some unspecified background in engineering. He also had some basic skills as a pilot, which meant we could share cockpit duty. But as long as he didn't get in my way, I didn't care who was coming along for the ride.
*
The next day, a few minutes before the scheduled departure time, I took my bag with some of the clothes that Nora had given me and stopped by her quarters to say goodbye.
Nora scowled when she saw my collar. "George and his stupid jokes. If he thinks he can have sex with me tomorrow, he's in for a surprise."
"It's fine, don't worry about it. I'll get a scarf or something to cover it up."
