“…are you going to wear tonight?” Lady Mirabella’s strident voice disrupted Lilli’s thoughts.
“What?” She looked up at her mother quickly, putting her hands to her cheeks instinctively to hide the blush. Her face felt hot under her hands and she hoped her mother wouldn’t notice.
“Honestly, Lilliana—where are you tonight? I’ve already asked you twice—what are you going to wear at our little reception tonight?” Lady Mirabella repeated impatiently. “I think your new gauzy green outfit would look lovely.”
Lilli bit her lip. The “green outfit” was sheer up top and showed her nipples. Of course, dressing to accentuate your sexual assets was a Yonnite tradition and she knew she ought to get used to it. But back at the convent, she’d never worn anything see-through or low-cut or remotely suggestive. She wondered if she would ever get used to dressing as she had to for life in Yonnite society.
She had little choice, of course. Now that Mother was a member of the Sacred Seven, there were an endless number of balls and soirees and receptions where she had to be dressed up. So as uncomfortable as it made her feel, she still had to wear the outfits she was given.
“I guess…guess the green will be all right,” she said tentatively.
Mistress Mirabella snorted impatiently.
“All right? All right? Lilli, you’ve got to look better than all right! This dinner is to honor you—your coming of age and formally becoming my heir. Several other members of the Sacred Seven will be there—as will your friends—their daughters.”
Lilli thought again about pointing out how those girls were not her friends. All of them had been raised in Opulex, instead of being sent off to a convent to be raised. They were used to the opulent Yonnite lifestyle which included a devotion to fashion and a constant desire to one-up all your friends and enemies.
The meaning in such a life eluded Lilli, who had been raised to view simplicity, frugality, and modesty as the greatest good by the Sisters of Chastity and Honor.
She honestly didn’t understand wanting to always be better than everyone else—to have the biggest buildings, the most credit, the most expensive clothes, the most ostentatious jewels, and the most impressive bodyslave. What was the point of all that, anyway? Material things didn’t make you happy—having inner peace did.
But of course, she couldn’t say such things to her mother. Lady Mirabella would be shocked and horrified to hear such thoughts. She had been born into opulent wealth and had amassed still more of it as she grew older. Influence and power ran in her blood and she would be very upset if she thought they didn’t run in Lilli’s blood as well.
In fact, she might well disown me, Lilli thought grimly. After all, she didn’t care enough to raise me herself. She always said she was too busy to have a child underfoot and that’s why she paid the Sisters to raise me instead.
She would have to do a credible job of acting like her mother’s daughter tonight at the banquet, she told herself. Her mother wasn’t one to suffer fools gladly and she would be unmerciful if Lilli embarrassed her.
I’ll do my best, Lilli thought. Having such a big, impressive bodyslave should help.
She caught the Kindred’s eyes once more and held them for as long as she could before dropping her own. How could he stare at her so steadily like that? And why did it make her heart pound when he did?
Lilli didn’t have any answers. She only knew that her new bodyslave was something different—something special. She hoped he would help her make a good showing tonight.
But first, of course, she would have to get him ready.
Four
“Give him a good washing,” Lady Mirabella directed sternly when she and Lilli and the big Kindred slave were all standing in the entryway to Lilli’s rooms. “Scrub him from top to bottom, Lilliana. You must get the stink of that market off him before our little soiree tonight.”
Actually, Lilli didn’t think the big Kindred stunk at all. To her, he smelled good—a warm, spicy, masculine scent that seemed to awaken her senses and make her want to get closer to him. But she couldn’t say that to her Mother—Lady Mirabella expected her to wash her new bodyslave and so wash him she must. But there was one question on her mind.
“Must…must I wash him everywhere, Mother?” she asked, her eyes flicking down to his massive shaft. It was no longer hard, as it had been after she touched it at the slave market. But it was still immensely long and thick and rather intimidating, Lilli thought.
“You mean his shaft?” Lady Mirabella snorted. “Why should that bother you? You seemed eager enough to handle it back at the market.”
Lilli felt her cheeks get hot.
“I…I was just curious, that’s all,” she said in a low voice. “But I never thought…I mean…couldn’t he wash that part himself?”