Chapter 11
Thanks to a lovely pet named Melsint, Gissandre was introduced to all thirteen other pets in the facility’s containment center, including Benier who had been seen on the com screen when she’d arrived. He was currently lolling in his cage, sucking on an herbal soothing cocktail from a nippled dispenser on the bottom of his cage, next to his pillow.
Giss wanted to ask Benier if he was sore. And whether it had hurt awfully the first time he’d had his bottom used by his master for sexual gratification. She found, though, that she was too tongue-tied to ask anything about those things.
“Miss Melsint, what precisely are you doing in a cage? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in one since you’ve been coming here. Have you been naughty?” Beni asked, stretching restlessly on his thick pillow.
Melsint, who had sandy hair and very pretty eyes, smiled sweetly. She had very nice curves to her body, and a softness to her belly. Had she carried a child? Or might she be carrying one now? The thought of being bred as a pet was both shocking and exciting. Giss’s nipples tightened, tenting the shift’s fabric. She battled with herself about whether she should discard the gown as she’d promised Linc she’d try to do.
Melsint traced a finger over her bars. “My master has to be away for a meeting, just for a few hours, but the spa has rules. No pets left unattended in the rooms when masters are away.”
He snorted a little laugh. “You’re not to be trusted with a suite, when you run a castle?”
“I don’t run a castle. Who said that?” Melsint asked coyly. “There is a very capable housekeeper at my home. And a very highborn lady in residence whom we all consider mistress over everything.”
“Six and nonsense,” he said with a giggle.
“Hush, Beni. You’re too drunk for words.”
“Well, two parties in two days! And Louexe and I were in the stocks last night for everyone to use. She’s got three holes, you know, but I’ve just got two. And you know what brutes a couple of those masters can be. Well, you don’t know, but you can imagine. I saw the pretty whipping you got for show at Lord Ceylik’s winter festival party, and afterward the way your commander master draped you over the cushions and used your juicy plum tail for so long you cried into your elbow by the end.” Beni shivered. “Don’t get me wrong. He’s a bull of a man, and it’s gorgeous to watch him fuck your pretty body, but you know how sore you are after. Imagine that twelve times in a night. Twelve! You would suck a nipple of liquor tonic till the bottle ran dry too!”
“Hush, little darling. There are new pets here, and you’re scaring them. You know Master Gorgie dotes on you and only puts you in the stocks because you brag about how popular you are, and how disappointed everyone would be if you didn’t go in them. You’re just overtired. Go to sleep.”
“I am tired. So tired,” he said with a yawn. “You know, I believe that pet right there, Gillandre, is the most beautiful girl pet I’ve ever seen. Now mind you, I’ve never seen your sister-in-law naked in a cage—”
“Benier, that is enough,” Melsint said, cutting him off firmly. “Not another word from you, or Mr. Eco will have to put a gag in.”
“She is so pretty. Both of them are and that’s the truly truth.” Beni’s lids drooped until they closed and then he began to snore softly.
Melsint clucked her tongue. “That boy is done in.” Then she looked at Gissandre. “You are very beautiful though, and I’m as sorry as I can be if he scared you. And also that he got your name wrong.”
“It’s all right.”
“So are you going to take your shift off?”
Giss bit the corner of her mouth and nodded quickly. Then, before she could change her mind, she slid the gown over her head and draped it in a delicate circle at the edge of her cage.
“Who are you?” Giss asked Melsint. “You introduced yourself as though you were one of these pets, but clearly your life is different?”
“I’m a pet like you. Are those nips freshly pierced?”
“Yes,” Giss said self-consciously. “He wanted them.”
“Yes, they do like proof,” she said, amused. “I remember when I was pierced. I was so upset. Are you feeling emotional?”
“No, not at the moment. But yours are out?”
“Um, yes.” Melsint’s cheeks turned a lovely peach. “My master decided to breed me, so he had them taken out so they wouldn’t interfere with milking.” Rushing her words, she added, “And I have other marks anyway. His family’s crest tattooed in a hidden place. And there’s a little brand on my bottom.”
Gissandre’s brows shot up. “Did you say a brand?”
She nodded. “Very small. Right under my left cheek in the thigh crease. Even with everything off, you couldn’t notice it or think it was more than a birthmark. But it’s his initials, which he likes.”
Giss felt appalled, but her belly clenched and her nipples tightened. What was compelling about being marked forever? Something. “How long have you been with your master?”
“He’s owned me close to three years.”
“And you’ve been mostly happy?”
