She picked up her panties and started to thread one leg through before she realized they might not fit over the tail. She glanced over and found him frowning. He shook his head. “No panties. The tail stays in to remind you of my displeasure with your behavior. Just robes.”
She swallowed and dropped the panties, tossing the robes over her head. They brushed against the tail, which made it jiggle inside her. Her sex flooded with fresh heat. She feared the tail would show beneath the robes, but there was nothing to be done for that.
Seke opened the door and ushered her out. His hand at her back only served to press the robes more insistently against the tail. When his palm drifted lower and he twiddled the fluffy end of the plug, giving it a shake, she jerked away from him, whirling with flashing eyes. It was bad enough to make her walk about the castle with a tail in her ass, but to tease her with it— to further humiliate her—was not fair.
Of course, fair didn’t exist for a slave. She knew that, and yet Seke somehow made her believe it might. His adherence to some old Zandian code of honor, perhaps, encouraged that thought.
Seke stopped, facing her. “Eyes down, hands behind your back. Give me your submission or I’ll lift the robes and let every being here see the punishment you’re enduring.”
Her face burned, her ears and neck flushed and tingled with anger and embarrassment, but the consequence he described was too horrible. She obeyed, lowering her head and clasping her hands behind her back, holding them above the tail.
“Better.” His deep voice resonated in every cell of her body. “Don’t test me, little human. I wish to protect your dignity in public, but if you offer resistance, I will not hesitate to strip you of
it. Are we clear?”
Her cheeks burned even hotter. “Yes...master.”
“Thank you.” He placed his hand behind her back, fingers twining over hers in no particular pattern. It was an oddly comforting gesture, and it took the bite away from his sharp remonstrance, though her belly still twisted.
They arrived in the Great Hall, which was empty. She checked the soil on the large banana plant just inside the arched open door and found it moist. Either Lamira had already watered or one of the servants had. She said nothing to Seke, though, not wanting to return to the confinement of his chamber yet. Instead, she walked around, pinching off dead leaves, examining fruit and harvesting the few that were ready, placing them in the enormous copper bowl the palace chef Barr kept on the long table for the purpose. He would use them either for the meal the Zandians ate once every ten planet rotations, or, more likely, to feed her and Lamira, as they required food multiple times every planet rotation.
“Oh, you’re looking beautiful today, aren’t you?” she murmured to a particularly vibrant tomato plant, whose stalks hung with heavy fruit. Her fingers caressed the leaves as she tested the plump, red fruit to see which were ready to drop. On the agrifarm, they’d raised many crops originally from Earth, but all had been genetically modified to survive on Ocretia. These plants had been grown from heirloom seeds Zander had somehow managed to procure at great expense. The result was the most succulent, delicious fruit she’d ever tasted. All the food served in Zander’s pod was like that—flavors that exploded in her mouth. She almost felt as if she were eating sunshine each time she savored a fresh fruit or vegetable. Her skin had taken on a new glow, hair and nails growing faster since she’d arrived.
“Hmm, thank you for these. They are perfect,” she cooed to the plant.
She caught Seke’s look—half bemused, half fascinated. “You talk to them?”
She shrugged, ducking her head. “I know it’s silly. On the agrifarm, the plants were all we had for company for most of each planet rotation. We worked alone, each with our own plot. I suppose, to me, they became like friends.”
She looked up, prepared to see his amusement, or worse—scorn.
But he fingered a leaf, thoughtfully. “They are living beings, I suppose. I wouldn’t be surprised if things grew so well here because of the love you and Lamira impart to them every day.”
A caress of warmth swooped through her chest at his understanding, even appreciation for the small service Lamira had found she could provide to Zander and his pod.
“So how do you know when they’re ready—color?” he asked, turning a half-green tomato on the vine.
“Yes, and touch.” She picked up his hand and guided it to a tomato ready to drop. “Test this one. Give it a small tug. When it’s finished growing, it practically falls from the stalk.” She half-feared he’d pull too hard, his strength being so much greater than hers, but her warrior had a light touch, no doubt honed with all his study of battle arts. He plucked it gently from the vine and held it up with an uncharacteristic smile.
It sent shocks of pleasure right down to her toes. Had he ever smiled before? A big smile like that, with white teeth gleaming? She hadn’t seen it.
He brought the tomato to his mouth. She followed the motion with her gaze, enthralled by the softness of his beautiful lips, the straight white teeth opening to take a bite. Juice and seeds spurted out, hitting her in the face, dribbling down his chin.
He shouted in pleasure and surprise, laughing as he reached to thumb the mess from her face, his tongue sweeping down his chin to lick the rest. “Delicious. It’s better when you pick it yourself, isn’t it?”
She beamed, irrationally pleased he understood. “Yes, it is.”
He held the half-eaten fruit to her mouth. “Here, you must be hungry. Daneth tells me you eat two to three times per planet rotation.”
She tried to take the tomato from him, but he didn’t relinquish it, insisting on feeding her. Face growing warm, she nibbled and bit at it, trying to look dainty as juice spilled down her front and splattered on the floor.
Seke chuckled again, the rich sound of his voice echoing throughout the hall. He popped the rest into her mouth, and she closed her lips, trying to manage the huge mouthful without looking ridiculous. Still chuckling, Seke moved away, initiating his own examination of the plants growing in huge, beautifully painted pots all around the room.
She picked plump lemonberries, cultivated from seeds from the Earth-like, human-populated planet of Jesel. They grew on small, heaping bushes covered in tiny, hair-like thorns. Normally, she was adept at plucking berries without catching a pricker, but she looked over her shoulder to see what Seke found interesting and brushed up against a patch of thorns.
“Ouch!” She yanked her thumb back and held it close to her face, angling it into the light to see how many of the culprits had embedded in her skin.
“Let me see it.” Before she could refuse his help, Seke took her hand and brought her thumb to his mouth, closing his lips over the area. His tongue brushed along the offended flesh then he sucked, hard. Her body heated by several degrees, as if his mouth had been on her nipple. Or two feet lower, on her sex.