The Skin Game - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - The Good Slave

Eventually the party walked down into a hollow and was sure they were out of sight of the border fortress. Jesera and William walked at the back of the group. She asked, "Are we out of their sight?"

William nodded, "Yes, there is no way they can see us now."

Jesera turned to Kaessi and looked at her. Her face bore pity and she stepped forward to hug the darker woman. Hern stepped in from anther direction and the two of them encased Kaessi in a crush of hugs.

Jesera said, "I'm so sorry. It's like I remember some things, but not others. But you didn't tell me your previous master had been a criminal. I didn't know they would brand you. I didn't remember the ring until the officer said something about it. I'm so sorry."

Kaessi said, "Mistress may this slave speak?"

Jesera said, "Of course, you may always speak."

"Mistress this slave did not remember either, and she was a Romarian slave. The memories that go with these bodies do not seem to come to us smoothly."

Jesera nodded, "You can say that. And you don't have to refer to yourself in third person or any of that crap, you don't even have to call me mistress."

Kaessi said, "Does it displease mistress?"

Izhak spoke quickly, "Before you ssspeak Jesssera remember ssshe isss compelled to pleassse you. Alssso remember that othersss may overhear her ssspeaking. I think it bessst ssshe ssspeak asss appropriate for a ssslave until ssshe isss freed."

Jesera turned to him and said, "She can't be freed. A collared slave can be freed. Any slave with a ring of obedience is almost never freed. It takes a powerful mage of the high council to remove the ring and they typically aren't inclined to bother. And any slave that is branded can not legally be freed, period. If the slave is involved in a second crime of the same type, they are executed."

Everyone paused as the impact of what had happened sank in.

Willam said, "I didn't think this was a good idea."

Kaessi said, "Master William, don't be cross with Mistress. It really isn't so bad. It's not like I'm afraid you will mistreat me."

William stood up very straight and put his hand on his huge sword. "I will see to it that you are not mistreated, you have my word."

Kaessi turned back to Jesera, "Please Mistress, does speaking as a proper slave displease you?"

Jesera thought for a moment and said, "In public or dealing with strangers you should speak in third person as is expected of a trained slave. But when we are sure of privacy, you are free to express youself like a person not an object. But I think it best if you continue to use master and mistress even then. To not do so, if we are overheard, could cause undue fuss and bother. I know for a fact that old family slaves often don't bother with the third person speech."

"Thank you Mistress."

At that moment Hern bumped into her she made a small sound of pain. Hern glanced down and said, "Sweet Jesus! Izzy get over here and heal her. She's got a nasty burn.

Izhak came over and squatted behind her. Jesera still held her in her arms. Kaessi was very aware that her Mistresses barely concealed breasts were pressed into hers, and that Izhak was stroking her naked ass.

Izhak said, "If I heal it, the brand may disssappear. Doesss anyone have sssome healing sssalve. A little bit ssshould help it heal naturally."

Hern said, "Well hell, give it your best whammy. With that brand gone we might be able to get her freed."

Izhak looked up at Kaessi and Jesera. "Am I incorrect in asssuming that the officccer of the watch will have recorded that Kaesssi ssshould now have a brand, and any attempt at concccealing, or magically removing it, is punissshable."

Jesera nodded, "You are correct. The slave is executed, anyone who assisted is enslaved and branded."

Odan stepped forward and said, "I've got some salve."

Izhak rose and stepped back.

Odan squatted behind her and began to rub the soothing ointment into the skin of her bottom. The pain faded. After a few moments he said, "That looks better, how does it feel."

"It feels much less painful Master Odan. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll be happy to rub your soft little ass any time you want."

Kaessi looked back at him shocked. He was flirting with her. She turned back to her Mistress and looked into her concerned eyes. It occurred to Kaessi that this sort of situation was ripe for manipulation. That, were this just a game and were Casey in control, she would milk all the sympathy for whatever she could get. She would flirt shamelessly with Odan, or any of them if she thought it would get her somewhere, or some good swag. But this wasn't the game. This was real. Her pain was real, the compulsions she was experiencing as part of the obedience ring's enchantments were effecting her feelings and thoughts. And it was clear that these people were experiencing genuine concern for her.

She looked into her Mistress' eyes and said, "This slave's ass belongs to my Mistress. I'm sure she'll let you rub when it pleases her to do so." Kaessi noticed that Mistress' hands where not still. They were slowly running up and down her bare back. Kaessi had noticed that Jesera looked at her the same way the men did. Or least William and the soldiers. Odan and Hern seemed to have different vibe. And Izhak was very difficult to read, but he had demonstrated this morning that lizardman or not, he liked what he saw.

There was a long pause and the Hern said, "Well, we've gone through a lot to get this far. Day's a waisting. Why don't we get moving."

Odan and Izhak both agreed and began to walk down the road. William said, "Wait a minute. Hern does Kaessi's bag have any spare clothes in it?"

Kaessi answered first. "Master Hern you need not look. I foolishly did not have any spare clothes. But that is okay, I don't really need any, the weather is quite nice."

Willaim said, "Well I'm sure somebody has something for you wear. I've got a blanket here. We can cut a hole and you can wear it like a poncho."

Jesera still held Kaessi and she realized that she might not want the boys to know she had the hots for her naked slave girl. She leaned in close and whispered. "Mistress forgive me if I'm speaking out of place, but I'm wondering if it might not please you to keep me naked. If you would keep me naked give me a signal."

Jesera said nothing, but she squeezed Kaessi in her arms. Coming as close as a rather dainty woman could come to a bear hug. Kaessi said, "Please Master William, don't damage your blanket. I have often been nude by my own choice."

He stopped, the blanket half pulled from his pack. He said in a surprised tone, "You'd rather be naked?"

Hern said, "I think Kaessi is a bit of exhibitionist. Her previous outfit didn't leave much of anything to imagination."

Kaessi said, "It is true my clothes didn't hide much. Does my naked body displease Master William?"

He slowly pushed the blanket back into the back pack. He said, "No. You're quite possibly the sexiest thing I've ever seen. I just though you'd... Never mind." William almost angrily threw the back pack up onto his shoulders and took off down the road.

Soon he was leading and the others followed along behind. In the rear were Jesera and Kaessi. Jesera kept her arm around Kaessi as though protecting her. But when she was sure none of the men were looking, he fingers would dart in and tweak a nipple or her hand would slide down her back and cup a buttock.

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The group walked for hours. Stopping for brief cold meals twice before nightfall. As the sky started to fade toward dark William pointed off the road at a structure made of three simple log walls and wooden shingles. He said, "Look there is a travelers shelter. We should camp."

Hern said, "Why don't you all see what you can find to make a fire. I'd stay in pairs. Leave your packs, Kaessi and I will see what we can whip up for dinner."

Everyone agreed. William and Izhak headed off in one direction, Odan and Jesera in another.

As Hern started rummaging through things he started talking. "Let me guess. You're an ugly duckling, a two bagger, a frog princess. You play the slut and tease in the game as a way to vicariously live out your slutty fantasies."

Kaessi stopped looking through her bag and turned to Hern surprised at his monologue.

Hern continued, his voice increasingly sarcastic. "Look, if you really want to find out what it's like I'll help you. I don't mind setting you up. But don't try your shit on me, it wont work. Hern stood up and walked over to her. The armored warrior towered nearly a foot taller and easily weighed twice what she did. Hern tapped himself on his chest and said, "Back home, I was a woman. So I know what you're doing. And it can poison any sort of working relationship we might all have. Unless, you're willing to be the group slut. In which case, everyone is going to treat you like an appliance. Something to be used for their personal pleasure and passed along. That's the route you're headed down. If you try to flirt and tease everyone, I'll personally see to it that you get what's coming to you. I want to get home, and you're not going to fuck it up. Do you understand me?!" The last sentence was delivered in a voice that was very nearly a shout.

Kaessi looked up at the irate warrior and said, "You were a woman?"

"Yes!"

Kaessi stopped and thought about it. Casey had only had sex once with a very drunk girl who had basically given him a mercy fuck. It had been pretty cool, but frankly he hadn't thought it was that much better than what he could accomplish with his hand. Kaessi had memories of sexual practices he had only read about. But they were, like all of Kaessi's memories, vague, foggy and indistinct. But Kaessi knew what it was like having sex with men, women and creatures not human. She remembered often enjoying it.

Unlike Casey at home, here in this world as Kaessi, she could walk, she was attractive, and in all probability she could have all the sex he would ever want. The problem was, it would quite possibly be with men. If she wasn't wrong about her Mistress she would likely get to find out what girl on girl sex was like... first hand.

She really didn't quite understand Hern's tirade, or what she had done to bring it on. She considered sharing that she had been a man back on Earth. But she already felt deeply humiliated by what had happened with the Romarian soldier Novans. She felt herself blush as the fuzzy memories of her time with the warrior standing in front of her floated vaguely through her mind. It was quite likely she would get fucked sooner or later by somebody. If they all thought she was, and had always been a woman, that might make her a slut.. And somehow that was less humiliating that coming clean.

After all these thoughts passed through her head she looked up at Hern and said, "Master Hern, I don't want to cause any problems. But I also wish to please my Mistress. She indicated to me that she likes me naked. To tell the truth, I find it a turn on. Especially when I'm the only one who is naked. I will tell her about your concerns, and I'm sure she will make the right decision."

"That's a cop out. You're just playing up the slave role."

"No master, I am not." She reached up and touched her nose ring.

Hern raised an eyebrow. He said, "You're a twenty-first level character. Don't tell me that you can't ignore an enchantment, at least temporarily."

Kaessi's eyes opened wide, and her mouth. "Master, you're right."

"Go ahead, do something that you don't think your Mistress would approve of."

Kaessi wondered what that might be. A devilish thought occurred to her. Kissing Hern would mean even though she was kissing the body of a man, she would be kissing the woman inside. And it felt sort of like they had already kissed before. In fact they had done much more than kiss. And in all probability Mistress would not be happy with her smooching on Hern. She gathered her resolve and started toward him.

Hern jerked back.

Kaessi slowly put out her hand and took a handful of his hair. Then she raised herself upwards. It was as if her weight doubled. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead from the effort, but eventually she gave Hern a light kiss on the lips. She dropped back and looked up at him. Her eyes were shinning. "You were right Master, I can fight the enchantment. Not all the time, but if I really need to do something contrary to its compulsions I can."

Hern rubbed his lips, "Well, that wasn't what I was thinking about."

Kaessi nodded. "Master, we are all new born to this life, despite our foggy confused memories of lives in the other world. I mean no harm. And I mean it, the best way to control my behavior is through my Mistress. I can fight the compulsions, but it is easier to go along with them. If I know it is not only what she wants, but something good for the party, good for reaching our goal and returning to Earth, it will be doubly so."

Hern nodded and they went back to prepping dinner.

Shortly the others returned with a small amount of firewood. Apparently this shelter was frequently used and the area was picked clean. But there was enough wood to make hot tea and soup for dinner. And to sit around and chat for while afterwards. Hern picked on Odan to do clean up this time, leaving Kaessi sitting next to Jesera.

Jesera said, "I've got to visit the lady's shrubbery. She looked at Kaessi, "What about you?" Kaessi nodded. It came to her that on the few occasions when Casey had been around women in groups, that they usually went to the restroom together. So they rose and walked around the rear wall of the three sided shelter.

Jesera kept walking till they were some distance away. Then she turned to Kaessi and said, "Kaessi I want you understand that it would displease me greatly if I accidentally forced you to do something you don't want to do."

"Yes Mistress."

"I mean specifically sexually."

"Yes Mistress."

"Kaessi, are you a lesbian?"

"Mistress that is difficult question to answer. If you mean, do I think you are beautiful and attractive here and now. Yes. You're touch makes me aroused."

"But is that the obedience ring, or you?"

"Both I think. I want to please you, at least some of that, maybe a lot of that, is the ring. But I am a twenty-first level thief. I can fight the compulsions when I really want to do so. And when I examine my feelings, I can honestly say that were I to see you back home, I would be attracted to you. Here and now, I am at least as attracted to you. So far, my sexual experiences here, with men, have been a mixed bag and I'm not sure I want more. But by the same token, the idea of being with a man excites me on some level. So Mistress, I think you could call me bisexual."

Jesera sighed. "That's the problem. I want you, I want to suck on those perky little breasts and eat your pussy till you scream. But if you're only doing it to please me because of the ring, it's coerced. I don't do rape."

Kaessi summoned her willpower and said, "Listen! The idea of eating your pussy makes me so hot I'm dripping. That's not the damned ring!"

Jesera blinked. "I guess not."

Suddenly she gathered Kaessi in her arms. Her lips closed over Kaessi's and her tongue probed into her slave's mouth. She stepped back and slipped out of her wispy gown, then she pressed herself to Kaessi again. The sensation of their breasts rubbing and pressing against each others was fantastic. Their hands were in each other's hair. They had a deep, long kiss. Then Jesera slid down, dropping to her knees. Something about her Mistress kneeling at her feet seemed wrong to Kaessi, so she too dropped, but then eased back onto the grass, spreading her legs eagerly and putting her hands under her butt to help raise and expose her pussy.

Jesera bent between Kaessi's legs. She paused over Kaessi's moist slit so long that Kaessi began to make small needy sounds. Then Jesera reached out with a finger. She ran it up and down Kaessi's warm slit until it was wet with desire. She paused to rub Kaessi's clit, and gently pull and twist at the ring in there. The sensations had Kaessi moaning softly.

Then the finger slipped inside andbegan to move around. Then at last Jesera lowered her mouth to Kaessi's mons. She ran her tongue up the slit, licking her juices. Her other hand came over the top and began to play with her clit as her tongue dove in and out and around. The finger inside pressed and rubbed. Then Jesera hooked the finger inside her upwards. As she did this she used two fingers to hold her clit in place then she began to alternately lick her, nibble her with her teeth, and take her clit into her mouth and suck. As she pressed upwards with her finger, she sucked Kaessi's clit into her mouth against her teeth then flicked with her tongue.

Kaessi had never imagined such a sensation. Anything Casey might have ever felt was a pale shadow. It felt like her entire body was riding the wave of the climax. She slowly became aware of a high pitched wailing, then she realized it was her. As the orgasmic waves began to fade into delicious tingles pulsing out from her clit, the darkness of the night was illuminated by a bright blue light.

Izhak stood over them with a ball of light cradled in his claw. William and Hern stood arrayed behind him with bared weapons. Odan stood slightly off to one side, a smirk on his face. As the scene registered on them, each of the men relaxed, sheathing their weapons. They all stood for a moment, then Izhak said as if for all of them, "It figuresss."

His light went out and all the men moved off back to the shelter.

Jesera and Kaessi lay under the stars hugging. Jesera kissed Kaessi and she could taste her own juices. They were almost sweet, musky, pleasant. Jesera said, "Now it's your turn. By the way, how come with all the piercings, your tongue isn't pierced."

"It wasn't an option in the game. I guess there wasn't an easy to show it, so why program it."

"Well, you'll just have to do the best you can with your unadorned tongue."

"Yes Mistress."

Kaessi crawled between her Mistress' legs and began to work her tongue over the wet little mound. Surrounding it was a light dusting of blond hair that just turned her on more. She kissed the soft downy hair, then went back to Jesera's clit. She worked her finger inside and began to fuck her, first with one finger, then with two, then with three, finally working up to four. As she did this she was lapping at Jesera's clit with quick licks. As she pounded her fingers into the half-elf she began use her tongue like a pen, and wrote the alphabet around Jesera's clit with her tongue.

Jesera moaned, "Oh my god!"

Kaessi continued. Somewhere around W Jesera began to chant "Oh god." Then as Kaessi pressed inwardm her entire fist popped into Jesera.

Jesera just began panting and saying "Oh, oh, oh!" over and over. Kaessi started the alphabet over while pumping her fist back and forth.

As Kaessi reached M for the second time, Jesera exploded into a screaming thrashing orgasm. A clear musky fluid squirted out around Kaessi's wrist. Kaessi kept licking, enjoying the taste of the fluids as she lapped at her Mistress.

Once Kaessi felt the contractions on her wrist stop, she tried to gently extract her hand from her Mistress. Jesera put both of her hands on Kaessi's arm as she withdrew it, reflexively urging her to be gentle to her now highly sensitive privates. Kaessi slowly withdrew her hand moving as carefully as she could as Jesera made small sounds of pleasure tinted with anxiousness. Finally they were disengaged.

Jesera pulled Kaessi's face to hers by grabbing a handful of hair and yanking. They kissed, tasting each other and smearing their faces with their combined juices.

As they lay in the quiet darkness Odan's voice came to them. "If I could see just a bit better in the darkness I bet that would have been a hell of a show."

Jesera spat, "Voyeur!"

Odan replied, "Actually I drew the short straw. With all the noise you too were making we were worried somebody, or something, might hear you and come to investigate. So I got to come out here and guard you while you had some girl on girl sex."

Jesera said, "Well, we're done. You can go back to the shelter now."

Odan's voice came drifting from further in the darkness, "Way ahead of you. By the way, we decided you two get second watch. So you might want to catch a nap first."

Jesera called out, "How did we get picked?"

"You weren't at the meeting."

Jesera pulled Kaessi to her and said, "That was phenomenal."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it Mistress."

"We should get back to the boys."

"As Mistress wishes."

"Mistress wishes she and her slave girl could do that again and again until they couldn't stand up."

"Your wish is my command, Mistress."

"Oh, stop it. We had an eventful day, you especially. Don't you feel like sleeping."

"No."

Jesera said, "Me neither, but we should. Come on." Jesera picked up her gown and started to walk nude back to the shelter.

Kaessi said, "Mistress aren't you going to get dressed?"

"Kaessi, am I wrong or can everyone pretty much see through this thing."

"Yes Mistress, it is nearly transparent in good light."

"And everyone saw us a few minutes ago. Let them look."

"Yes Mistress."

The two girls walked hand in hand back to the camp. They used a little water to wash their faces, then they snuggled together in a sleeping mat. Odan and Hern looked amused. William looked distressed, and Izhak just made a loud long theatrical sigh as he too rolled over and went to sleep.

Continued in Chapter 4

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