Auction Ch. 11

"The question before me," said Ethan as he strode back and forth in front of them, "is what am I going to do with you two?"

Ethan turned to them, seated at the table in the kitchen; his handsome face marred by a glower. She could tell by looking at him that considerable anger lay just below the surface. The only question was whether that anger would engulf them.

They had pushed things too far, she realized. They had let their own rivalry upset the larger order, and by doing so, they had challenged his authority.

Jen and Kami sat in silence, their legs touching one another underneath the heavy wooden table. Neither woman said a word; the ticking of the clock on the far wall filled the room with ample sound.

Things had reached a crossroads of sorts; their months-long unspoken war for dominance had finally surface to the detriment of all three. What was supposed to have been a night's pleasure had turned into hours of torment for both women, and a not inconsiderable amount of embarrassment for Ethan.

Not that he hadn't recovered handily, Jen thought, as she sifted in her seat to ease the burning welts on her buttocks and thighs. The blonde who'd flogged her the night before certainly knew her way around a whip.

But the simple fact that the seeming perfection of Ethan's household had been so publicly exposed as a façade had caused quite a stir. For all the accolades his performance that previous night had won him, there would be talk.

Even Jen, in her relative naiveté as the newest addition to the household, knew that.

Jen sat there, her body gripped by anxiety, waiting to hear his judgment.

He'd ordered them both to put on clothes – real clothes – and that command alone had put them on edge.

Not that either of them really owned any 'real' clothes. For Jen at least, all of her original garments had long since been destroyed or given away; she could only imagine how little Kami owned after years of submission to Ethan. Everything they had – from the gowns they wore to events to the t-shirts they h sometimes let them wear around the house if they were cold – he'd picked out. To a garment, the governing logic behind every purchase he'd made was the drive to wantonly expose their bodies in a public setting or to emphasize some particular aspect of their bodies, thereby reminding them of their highly sexualized roles in his life.

She had to admit it worked; since coming to his house, her self-esteem as a woman had risen. To be so constantly reminded that she was there to pleasure him had the secondary effect of making her feel that desirable, the more so since she was desperately attracted to him as a man, not simply as her Master.

So, for the moment, they simply sat next to one another, each wearing a long terrycloth robe, their hands resting on the table as they watched him. Her curls were pulled back and bound with a sky blue satin ribbon, while Kami's auburn locks hung loose. Kami had a mug of coffee in front of her, and Jen watched the steam drift lazily up toward the kitchen's ceiling.

For a long moment he said nothing, then he turned away and resumed his pacing again, only to pull up short after a half circuit.

"I want you both to understand one thing: This rivalry must stop. I simply will not have this kind of disorder and competition in my household."

His face was deadly serious, which made the anxiety that the pacing suggested slightly comical. Jen realized that while he knew that there was a problem, he didn't necessarily know how to fix it.

A sign that her Master was fallible?

Surely not.

"Kami, you are the first in this household. You have been with me for years, and you gave yourself willingly to me even after I granted you freedom."

The redhead nodded, a faint smile appearing on her lovely face.

"And yet, when I take a new slutslave, you become jealous of her and actively work to undermine her training. Why? Did you think you would be displaced? Have I given you some indication of this? Or are you simply that insecure, that petty, that you would seek to wreck what I have created here for us?"

Kami lowered her head in shame, her fair skin coloring with embarrassment.

"And now, look at yourself. I've had to put you back in a collar. Your own actions have forced me to demote you from concubine to a mere slutslave. Your own insecurities have cost you all those rights and privileges. Not least the exclusivity of my bed."

Jen winced at this, knowing how much Kami valued that. To think of it, Ethan had never taken her in his bed; it was a purview he'd granted entirely to Kami. She smiled with the knowledge that that had changed.

The little redhead snapped her head up in indignation, her fiery pageboy haircut whirling around her face, "But, Master, I was only ..."

"No buts, Slave," his voice was sharp, and the redhead flinched before it, "No buts and no more talking. Your actions have done terrible things to the equilibrium of this household. You can either submit to my judgment in this matter, or you may leave."

Jen reeled at the thought of this stark choice. Ethan may not have known an exact solution to his quandary, but it was clear he was going to brook no dissent. That much was clear from his face.

Kami lowered her head again, tears welling in her green eyes.

Jen watched her in silence, unable even to feel any sense of guilty pleasure at what her Mistress was experiencing. To have one's life so totally upset by the introduction of rival, and then be totally overturned in your actions to restore your standing must be a terrible thing, she realized.

It was not a predicament she ever wanted to be in. At least as the apprentice submissive her she had no substantive standing to lose; she had no rights or privileges, not even any real sense of pride, and so only her deep yearning for Ethan could be injured by his judgments.

"Well," he asked, the hard edge to his voice cutting into the silence, "what shall it be? My judgment or your freedom?"

A long moment passed as her companion choked back a sob. When she looked up, her eyes were bright with tears, but she forced a smile.

"I choose you, Sir. How could I choose otherwise?"

He smiled, and the tension faded suddenly.

Jen marveled at how mercurial he could be sometimes; so terribly consuming in his anger, and yet so easily moved back to the warmth and joy that she found so addicting.

"Come here."

Kami stood slowly and pushed her chair away from the table. She walked over to him, into his waiting arms. He kissed her lightly on the lips, one hand on the small of her back, the other cradling her neck.

After a moment, he released her.

"Excellent. You will wear that collar for one year. When that time is completed, we shall revisit the question of your status. In the meantime, however, you are no longer my lover. You are simply my slutslave."

Kami nodded meekly.

"Now that that is settled, strip."

Without a word, Kami doffed her robe.

"Now suck my cock."

Jen watched her sink to her knees without a word, kneeling before him to unzip his pants, and then reach within to pull out the heavy length of his penis.

Jen was duly impressed at how smoothly she did this. Either she'd known this moment was coming or she was that highly skilled as a submissive. In the span of 30 seconds he'd demoted her and then ordered her to service him. And she did it without so much as a murmur, without even a break in the smile on her face.

What power did he have over Kami?

Was it the same power he had over her?

The though suddenly struck her – did he 'fit' Kami in the same way that he 'fit' her? She'd always assumed that that union that they enjoyed was unique to them, but something in the way Kami so readily acquiesced suggested that her rival was every bit as addicted to Master Ethan's pleasures as she was.

If her rival was addicted, then she could certainly understand, for the simple thought of thinking about his cock inside her had her heart racing and her pussy throbbing.

She licked her lips at the sight of it, momentarily losing her focus as the mass of auburn began to bob back and forth with that most intimate rhythm.

"Jen." Ethan's voice snapped her focus back to him.

"Master?"

"You have also brought discord to this house through your own actions."

She had? When all she had done was to acquiesce to his every whim? To endure the cruelties of the same slut who even know was sucking on his cock?

"Sir?"

"Don't play coy with me. You and I both know that you long to be more than simply a slutslave. That you hunger for me; that you hunger to have me all to yourself."

"Yes, Sir, I do." Her voice was barely a whisper.

He took a moment to run a fingertip lightly across Kami's cheek, hollowed as it was by the excellent suction she was applying. She purred, and he shuddered suddenly, leaving Jen to wonder what oral talents her rival could truly bring to bear.

"Ah, so you admit it."

"I do, Sir."

It was so strange to be sitting in a bathrobe at a kitchen table having this conversation. She was admitting to her master that she had actively sought to push out her mistress; shouldn't she have been bound to the X-form and whipped for such an admission?

For that matter, wasn't the proper setting for this conversation one that required a flogger, and not a kitchen?

More importantly, had she reached a point in her submission where she wanted to be treated like a slutslave? Seven months ago she'd been a professional student, preparing to defend her thesis before a panel of judges. Now she was defending her actions before just one judge, the only judge in her life.

"And why is that?"

Was he really asking her? Did he not know?

But before she began to speak, he held his hand up for silence.

He knew.

Even as Kami filled the room with the wet noises of her devotion, he knew.

"I understand, your concerns, Jennifer. But there are certain realities to this household that you must come to accept."

"First, I am your Master. You exist to serve me; that is the terms of your contract. Your own signature legally binds you to serve me as I see fit, not as you see fit. You have no discretion in this matter. However, should you wish another arrangement, then I am sure we can reach some form of financial settlement to free you from your contract."

Was she being offered her freedom too?

After a mere seven months?

Did she even want her freedom?

"Well?" he asked, his gaze unnaturally focused for a man who was receiving the attentions of a talented fellatrix, "is that what you want? To break the contract?"

"No, Sir, no," the words were out of her mouth before she really had time to think about it. Setting aside the fact that her debts were so crippling that they'd led her to this lifestyle, Jen found herself very much at home in Ethan's house, and the prospect of removing herself from this rather unique-yet-liberating environment was not something she wanted.

She lowered her head, trying to mimic the submissive pose Kami had just adopted. A moment passed, and then, apparently mollified, he continued.

"Second, despite her demotion, Kami remains senior to you in all things. She is stripped of her power to order you about for her own pleasure, but she remains empowered to act on my behalf. Should she tell you to do something, you will do it. Understood?"

"Yes, Master."

"Finally, in light of your demonstrated devotion to me, as well as a mark of your progress from novice, we will have you tattooed with my symbol."

The Lily! She was getting her Lily!

Jen knew that lily, had watched it sway its way into her fantasies every time Kami left the room. It lay there before her now, deftly placed atop the redhead's pert buttocks as she knelt before him, hungrily running her tongue along the length of him. Jen could just see the glistening lips of Kami's labia as she knelt before their master; the sight was stirring in ways she hadn't expected.

The lily's design was simple and elegant, and told any observer that she was truly his. And to her pleasant surprise, that possession was something she wanted very much to convey to all observers.

He smiled, "I think that if you want to be bound to me so badly you'll cause this much trouble, then that's a clear sign you're ready."

She smiled back at him, giddy with her newfound status, an entirely different woman from the overly self-conscious academic of her past.

"Of course, should you wish it removed when your time here is finished, we will have that done."

"No," she murmured, "no." Even now, this early into her time here, she knew that she would never have his mark removed.

He smiled, obviously pleased at her immediate decision in his favor.

She'd resolved early one that if she ever managed to win it, that the lily would be something she'd carry with her for the rest of her life. Right or wrong, stay or leave, she'd grown into a very important part of herself in her time here in his house.

"Now, finally, I want to tell you that should you cause any further disruptions, I will expel you from this house with no further chance at redemption. Furthermore, should you force me to expel you, I will not relieve you of your contractual obligations. I will simply sell you to someone more inclined to break you in the manner you would then deserve."

A chill swept through Jen as his mood shifted again from pleasant to hard in an instant. It struck her then, as she sat at the kitchen table in a robe, watching another woman suck the cock of the man she was bound to serve, that this was all very real, even if it was something you only read about in trashy novels. He did have total control over her life; he had all of her identification and financial papers, he had her clothes and possessions, and she didn't even know where she was.

It was sobering to realize that he could deliver on his threat – and that no one would ever know.

She hadn't suspected Ethan had such iron in him; he hadn't been like this when they were lovers in college. But then, much time had passed.

"Still," he continued, "that isn't something I think I shall have to concern myself with, is it?"

Jen shook her head, happy to be given an opportunity to break the tension. He was deadly serious, she knew, but only to the point of conveying his displeasure at her misdeeds.

And then, with a wave of his hand, all was forgotten and she was striding over to him, her step light with relief and slightly dizzy with that hunger that he'd unleashed in her. The sounds of Kami sucking his cock had begun to resonate with her; worming their way into her mind.

Ethan cupped her chin and kissed her lightly. "Your place is here. Never doubt that."

"Yes, Master."

"Now strip, and help your slutsister."

Jen slipped out of her robe, the terrycloth rubbing deliriously against her nipples as she did so. The air in the kitchen was cool, yet her body was warm with anticipation.

His command was a bit of a shock, even if she expected it. The way he transitioned between intimate and dominant often caught her off guard.

Still, he was giving her exactly what she wanted.

Jen knelt beside Kami and reached up for Ethan's cock. It was warm and throbbing, wet from Kami's tongue and pulsing with desire. Just the sight of it made her wet, to say nothing of how good it felt to hold it in her hand, feel its heft and weight, and know that it was hers for the moment.

She leaned forward and kissed the head of Ethan's cock, noting with some pleasure that her action forced Kami to pause in her own efforts.

She felt right, like her place in Life had been reaffirmed. It was a strange feeling, entirely at odds with who she thought she was, and yet so overwhelming.

Jen swirled her tongue around the tip, applying an even pressure against the sensitive top; he growled with pleasure, and she gripped him with one hand in response and began to stroke him gently.

He felt amazing, like that old cliché she'd read about in romance novels, like steel wrapped in silk. The skin of his cock moved with her touch, even as its throbbing core remained firm.

She lost herself in the taste of him; he was freshly showered and the scent of his body-wash mingled with the rich smell of his sexual arousal; it was a taste she never got tired of, and she savored it, letting her tongue linger for just a moment on the thin slit at the head of his throbbing member.

Her reverie only broke when Kami's hand enfolded hers.

As the redhead's soft touch electrified her skin, Jen knew that she wanted to be here, like this, bound to him, a willing captive of her own will.

She couldn't explain the hows and whys of it; she just knew at the core of her being that she wanted only to please him. And that desire, so strong in her for so long, was fused with a deep and abiding sexual hunger, one she had been wrestling with her whole life.

Before it had caused heartache.

Only now, here, in this place, that hunger was given all the lead it wanted, it was encouraged and molded, sculpted into the service of the more general appetites of her psyche.

She sighed with desire and took the length of him into her mouth, reveling in the way that he filled her. His shaft was hot against her tongue, and she had to relax her throat as she took in more and more of him.

As she was approaching a total focus on his cock, a sudden, pleasant warmth enveloped her left nipple. She opened her eyes and released a little of him, gasping a bit as he came free of her throat. Jen held him in her mouth, savoring his weight against her tongue.

Kami's talented mouth was now affixed to her left nipple, lightly bruising it with nibbling bites.

She'd never experienced that kind of attention from a woman before.

It felt amazing.

Ethan reached down and swatted Kami.

"Leave her be, Slut. You're here to suck my cock, not play with her. That can come later if you're good."

"Yes, Master, it's just that she wasn't sharing."

"Then here, lest you two start squabbling again."

Ethan took his cock with his right hand and withdrew from her slowly, leaving Jen aching at the sudden emptiness she felt.

Without so much as a glance at her for her talents, he guided his thick shaft towards Kami's waiting mouth, holding the back of her head with his left hand. Without a word, the redhead let him push into her wet mouth, purring her pleasure at being so chosen.

That she was truly going to have to share him grated her, to be sure, but it was quite reassuring to know that Kami had been demoted. It gave her hope, and told her that her position here wasn't entirely immutable, that she could rise and fall with the conduct of her service to Ethan

And she intended to rise.