“The way you look…be careful. Someone might like to claimyouas a slave.”
“Many would like to. They’ve said as much,” he said, setting her down on a padded table.
She pushed her hair back over her shoulders. “Have they?”
“More often when I was young, but sometimes even now, despite my being a ferocious warrior,” he quipped.
She studied the expanse of his chest, the golden skin and rippling muscles, the freshly healed scars. He was formidable, but also beautiful.
The female physician, named Maylic, emerged. “Well, good morning, lovely pet. How are you today?”
Gissandre nodded.
“And here’s your handsome master.” To Larsinc she said, “I’m Mistress Maylic. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Linc inclined his head. “I looked through the catalogue. I want the thinnest rings for her nipples to mark her as mine.”
Giss sucked in a breath and leaned back. “What?”
“Get them. I’ll talk it over with her,” Linc said.
The healer left, and she shook her head. He moved forward, putting hands on either side of her on the table.
“You’ll say yes, Gissandre,” he murmured, kissing her mouth lightly.
“No,” she whispered back.
“Yes,” he murmured emphatically. “Until you earn your life back, you’re mine. You’ll acknowledge the service I’ve done you in saving your life by serving me in return.”
Her breath grew short as she looked into his eyes.
“Why this?” she whispered.
“Because I demand it.”
“If I do this, will that be the end? Or will there be many more things that you ask for?”
“Many, many more,” he said with a smile that threatened to disarm her.
Coming back, Mistress May said, “Here are some choices.” She held up a tray of small hoops.
Gissandre’s heart thumped. A part of her wanted to hop off the table and run. Another part, a secret part, felt excited at the prospect of being enslaved to Larsinc.
Linc lifted two different rings from the tray and held them out for her to look at. One was a simple gold ring, the portion that would enter her nipple was wire-thin. The next also had a small wire to pierce her, but the gold ring was studded with chips of pale green gemstones.
“This seems very permanent. Must I do this?” she demanded of him.
He nodded. “They’re thin. If you take them out when your servitude it over, the marks won’t even be seen.”
She touched the ring embellished with tiny jewels. “These then.”
Linc handed both hoops back to the healer, and then lowered Giss’s shift to expose her breasts.
“Her breasts are lovely, not too small, nor too large,” Mistress May observed.
“I agree. Perfect. Like the rest of her body,” Linc said. He drew her arms back and restrained them behind her.
“You needn’t do that!” she protested, tugging against the bindings.
