Auction Ch. 18

Jen laughed, "I didn't do it for the money, Miss." This wasn't entirely true at the time, Jen conceded, but her addiction to Ethan certainly made it so now.

Sommersby snorted in disgust. "And so that's the freedom? Becoming someone's whore?"

Jen looked at her for a long moment, studying the woman's face. She could see a fascinating mix of professional acumen, disdain, and ... something else ... something darker there, just below the surface.

"I am a whore, Miss." Even saying it made her pussy throb, "I'm Master Ethan's whore. And being Master Ethan's whore makes me more than a simple prostitute. I do not serve any man, I serve one man. My Master. That makes me so much more than you can understand.

"Master Ethan simply gave me the freedom to be myself. To be what I've always known I was meant to be."

"Yourself?" Sommersby's voice cracked unexpectedly, and she hurriedly took another sip of water.

Jen smiled. Yes, there it was ... beneath all the bad cop bravado ... Sommersby had a marked personal interest in what she was saying.

How interesting!

And if she saw it, then Master Ethan certainly did.

Time to push her limits, Jen thought to herself. Time to make Master Ethan proud.

She pushed her breasts out slightly by clasping her arms tighter behind her back. She smiled knowingly as the woman's eyes followed her chest. "All my life I've been a woman wracked by my sexual appetites. I like sex. Frankly, I love sex. I've lived with a deep and abiding hunger for years, and I've never been quite able to satisfy it. And society would have be ashamed of my hunger. Proper people would tell me what I feel is wrong. I've even had boyfriends fuck me, and then tell me I'm too wild, call me a slut, and then break up with me for being too easy."

The stricken look on Sommersby's face told her all she need to know. Jen pressed home the attack.

"Have you ever been with a lover who doesn't question who you really are? No, I can see by the look on your face you haven't. Neither had I until I met Ethan in a class in graduate school. I didn't know then, couldn't know then, that what was just a few weeks' dalliance would turn into my salvation."

Sommersby's gaze was hungry now, and bored into her, willing her to tell her more.

"Master Ethan, however, accepted me for who I was from the moment we met, almost ten years ago. When we were lovers then, he never called me any of those things. Our time together was short, but memorable. And so when we were reunited, he simply unlocked my true nature to its fullest."

Sommersby looked at Ethan, who arched an eyebrow but said nothing. She saw that the brunette's chest was rising and falling rapidly – a sure sign of excitement. Jen knew that if she were to check, Sommersby was probably quite wet at the moment, even if the agent wouldn't know why. She scribbled in her notebook, as if that could somehow refute what Jen had just said. As if she needed a moment's distraction to regain some sense of composure.

Finally, with a long, deep breath, Sommersby returned the notebook to the pocket of her suit jacket, and looked at Jen once more. "So you're happy like this? You're happy to be this ... this ... plaything?"

"I am." She said it without reservation, knowing it was true in a way she wouldn't have imagined possible. "I wasn't raised to accept who I am. Ethan helped me understand that there's nothing wrong with me. I have no shame now about who I am."

The woman grew very quiet for a moment, and then seemed to shake it off. She turned back to Ethan. "Ok, but setting her aside, what about the other girls that work for the House of the Red Crane? What about the ones that aren't the personal 'whores' of the company's owner? What about them?

"You must understand, Agent Sommersby ... may I call you April?"" Jen watched as the woman nodded, almost without even really thinking about it. Ethan's voice was calm and reasonable, warm without seeming so. Jen knew this was the beginning of his approach. Sommersby nodded again; she seemed slightly dazed. "We don't have any whores, as you put it, at the Red Crane. No money exchanges hands at all. None of these women you speak of work for me in any way. The Red Crane employs exactly ten people. Two of whom you've already met."

"That's simply not true. Our investigations lead us to believe that somewhere in excess of three hundred women pass through the Red Crane annually." Sommersby smiled at this, confident in her point.

"Three hundred and nineteen in the past fiscal year, if you want to be precise." Ethan took another sip of his water. "We don't employ them though. We are more like a dating service for a select clientele. Some men - some women - simply want a different kind of girl. Ones with the appetites Jen just described. We help our clients find those women."

"Think of us as a dating service."

Jen snorted with laughter at that thought, but went still again as Ethan turned and looked at her with a frown. He would punish her later for that remark, she knew.

He leaned forward again. "Think of it this way: Some people, men and women, prefer a certain lifestyle, one that centers on sexual gratification and the expression of their dominant or submissive sides. But they may not know how to unlock that aspect of their personality. We find these people and help them do that. And in return, yes, we take a small finder's fee, and a small fee for training them to a certain ... shall we say ... acceptable standard for the community they'll be entering. But they are not slaves. Their freedom is just a word away."

"A word away?" Sommersby's breathing had sped up ... she was clearly excited by what Master Ethan had just said.

Ethan's voice brought her out of her reverie. "Please, April, you and I both know you're familiar with the concept of a safeword. Each trainee, each woman we send out is equipped with that. If it becomes too much, she simply executes that escape clause in her contract and is absolved of any further obligations."

Did he know this beforehand, Jen wondered? Did he know Sommersby clearly had more than a professional interest in their lifestyle?

Was this all just a ploy to recruit another slutslave?

Her body was becoming calmer as the conversation dragged on. The ache in her wet pussy had subsided to a pleasant throb, and while she still felt a profound craving for the orgasm he'd almost given her, the back and forth of Ethan's exchange with April fascinated her.

She'd never really thought about her submission in a larger context, only that she'd given herself to Ethan. That he'd paid her debts had become totally irrelevant ... she was bound to him now, unable to imagine any life but one with her Master.

Just as the thought of ever leaving him chilled her, so too did the thought of her life with him bring tingling of pleasure coursing through her.

Sommersby's eyes were wide ... Jen could tell she wanted to believe in this, but was struggling with the professional ramifications of accepting Ethan at his word. Finally, she swallowed and pressed on. "Even accepting this dating service you seem to be running could be legal, how do you even find applicants?"

"Well, April, first please understand that the Red Crane only accepts women. This is my preference; I have no interest in training submissive men. But they are out there. More than you'd think." Ethan steepled his hands, as if readying himself for the next question. When Sommersby said nothing, he continued. "As to how we find them, I think it's more appropriate to say that they find us."

"I don't understand."

"It's simple, really. We advertise on certain websites and in certain publications, and would be applicants come looking. Add in a little data mining of shopping preferences and you've got a waiting list for our academy that is quite significant."

Sommersby reached for the notebook again, but thought better of it, and reached for her glass of water instead. Jen could practically smell the woman's interest in the Lifestyle, and her pussy throbbed at the idea of this officer of the law entering her world.

"Explain what you mean by data mining of shopping preferences."

Jen could see that heat in her eyes. The agent's interest in this was no longer purely professional.

Ethan smiled, and opened a desk drawer to his left. He removed a thin folder, placed it on the desk and opened it. With Somersby watching his every move, he leafed through a few pages until he found the one he wanted. "Well, for example, according to our records, in August of last year, you purchased a vibrating anal plug from Stockroom.com. Quite a good diameter too. As far as we can tell, it's your third purchase with them; you could, of course, have purchased other toys in person using cash that we don't know about. But we make this your third plug."

Sommersby blushed, but didn't look away as Ethan continued. Jen felt herself grow wet at what was transpiring before her; at the way her Master was stripping this woman's defenses to reveal the would-be submissive within.

"According to our records, Ms. Sommersby, with each successive purchase you've made, the diameter of the plug you choose has gotten bigger. That tells me that you like anal play. A lot. "

"That is what I mean by dating mining."

Sommersby's blush spread down across her collarbone and onto the tops of her breasts. But she didn't move.

Jen could tell she couldn't. She could see Sommersby's eyes dilate and flood with raw sexual heat. She'd been called out by Ethan's statement, but was clearly, and unexpectedly, not embarrassed by what he'd revealed.

Quite the contrary, apparently. To Jen's practiced eye, the brunette looked like she was ready to come across the table for Ethan. It was a look she knew well, one she'd had many times herself.

"Oh yes, we know all about you, April Sommersby. We know you're an outstanding agent with a bright career ahead of you. We also know that you and Agent Winthrop ended your relationship. We know he described your sexual appetite as 'dark' and 'excessive'. "

Sommersby said nothing, but crossed and uncrossed her legs.

Ethan continued, his voice taking on subtle tones of dominance Jen knew well," So let's be frank, shall we. Are you here to investigate us because you actually suspect malfeasance? Or are you here to investigate us because you're interested in this lifestyle and just stumbled across us in the course of your normal duties?"

The brunette was silent, almost as if thinking, until Ethan spoke again. "You may speak."

Jen smiled at this. Twenty minutes ago, this woman had been so cocksure, so certain of her authority.

Ethan had taken that authority from her without her even noticing.

After a long moment, Sommersby cleared her throat and found the power to speak. "I was assigned this case. It was just chance, really. I'd finished up on a money laundering case and joined a team of three for this issue. But after a month of no leads, the other two agents were reassigned. So I've been working it on my own for five months now."

Jen watched her Master nod, as he jotted down a few notes on his Sommersby folder. April cleared her throat, and went on.

"I've seen things though ... things that make me wonder about your lifestyle ... things that make me question ..."

"Such as?" Jen was surprised to hear herself speak, but Ethan took no note of it. Sommersby shifted her gaze to look at Jen, still nude with her arms clasped behind her in a brazen pose. When she spoke, however, she still spoke to Ethan – a sure sign that she knew who to talk to.

"Well, I've interviewed over sixty submissives, active and retired, and hey all say the same thing as your plaything in the corner there."

"Her name is Jennifer, April. Please Use it." Just a hint of steel in Master Ethan's voice.

Sommersby nodded, "Yes, Sir."

This formal address sent thrills coursing through Jen's body. Her clit throbbed to the sound of it. She began to clench the plug in her ass rhythmically.

It made sense for April to acquiesce to an authority figure, given her job. But it was also a clear indication this newcomer wanted to see the Lifestyle for herself very badly.

She was so close, Jen realized. So very close.

"What did they say, April?" Ethan pushed his chair back and stood up. Sommersby stood up too.

"They all speak of the fulfillment in serving another; of the freedom that comes with living by another's will; of the incredible sexual pleasure they experience."

Ethan approached her and took her hands in his. "And so what is it you're really investigating then? What is it you've found that leads you to believe that the Red Crane holds submissives in slavery?"

"That's just it," April's beautiful face was marked by confusion," after all these months of looking, I can't find anything but consensual submission. I can't see anything but willing participants. And happy ones at that."

Jen watched her Master, marveling in the way he gently held April's trembling hands. She'd been at this moment herself, when she stood with the other would be slutslaves, waiting to be presented to the audience. She knew the strange, excited fear of being in that place where you were forced to choose whether you could accept everything you secretly wanted.

Ethan leaned in very close to Sommersby, and for one jealous moment, Jen thought he might kiss her. He didn't, of course, but she envied his touch on April's skin all the same. "April, is that willing submission something you're interested in?"

Sommersby nodded, almost shyly.

Ethan smiled; a warm, accepting smile that telegraphed his dominance without flaunting it. "Good. It feels good to admit that, doesn't it?

The brunette nodded, and looked relieved to do so.

"I can arrange for you to see this lifestyle. Would you like that?"

"Yes." April's voice was a whisper.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, Sir. I would like very much to see that."

"Very good. I will make that happen. But first you must do something for me, April Sommersby."

She looked up at him, puzzlement in her brown eyes. "What, Sir?"

"I want you to remove your panties and give them to me. Then you may go. Miyu will give you the information you need for our next meeting."

Though she looked surprised at the request, Sommersby nodded. There was a strange heat in her eyes, as if this immediate request for submission from Master Ethan was already giving her pleasure;

Jen found herself beginning to ache again at the thought of the effect Ethan was having on the so recently assertive woman. To take a would be accuser and recast her as an applicant ... Jen's pussy throbbed with the raw display of her Master's will.

April looked about, "Where shall I change?

"Right here, right now, in front of me and in front of my slutslave. Right now so that we can see that you're serious. That this isn't some ploy of yours."

The brunette looked aggrieved at this last remark. "No, Sir, this is no plot. I want this. I want to see this for myself."

Oh, you don't know what Master Ethan can do to a woman, Jen thought to herself, as she savored the powerful ache emanating from her clit.

"Now, please. Don't make me ask again." said Master Ethan, holding out his hand. Sommersby stared at it, and then nodded again. She kicked off her flats and then undid the clasp on her navy suit pants.

On some level, Jen couldn't actually believe that this was actually happening ... not when she could see the glint of Sommersby's firearm beneath her suit jacket as she moved. But it was ... Sommersby shimmed the dark pants down off her hips and let them drop to the floor. As Jen had suspected, she had long, toned legs.

Sommersby reached up under her suit jacket and hooked her hands into her panties -- black, lacey boy shorts, Jen noted -- and then slid them down until she could step out of them. She picked them up off the floor and placed the panties in Ethan's upturned palm, her eyes cast downward.

Jen's mind was awhirl. Had this really just happened? Had he really just completed turned a federal officer into a potential conquest? She couldn't believe it, but the neatly trimmed V of public hair between Sommersby's lovely legs told her otherwise.

Ethan kissed Sommersby lightly on the lips. Jen watched in dark fascination as he reached out to place his fingertips on her mons pubis. Sommersby shivered and let out a low moan, but didn't flinch.

After a moment, Ethan removed his hand, "Thank you. You may get dressed. Miyu will see you out."

***

When she was gone, Ethan closed the door and resumed his seat. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed an extension. After a moment, he began to speak. "Ted? Yeah, it's Ethan ... right ... again ... but there's been a very interesting development with our good Agent Sommersby. What? Yeah ... exactly ... just as you predicted. But it was way too easy. We need to look into it more."

Master Ethan looked at her and snapped his fingers. Knowing what he wanted, she knelt before him and reached for his zipper.

"For now, I'll be leaving tonight. I'll need you tear down this office. We're burned in this location.

Soon enough the heavy length of his cock was in her hands, and then her mouth. Jen was surprised to find how excited he was.