I wish I could read her mind. She seemed so quiet, even as she sipped the glass of water I’d given her. I couldn’t believe that Whisper was here in my chambers. They laughed at me when I said I wanted walls. Not the ones that separated my space from out there, but actual ones in my apartment. I, well my father, had a separate chamber made for me when he gifted me this space. He understood that I was uncomfortable with the idea of having a pet and truly believed that the way to get over it, was to have one of my own. To even get me to think about the idea, he offered me the space, and I agreed. Compromise, right?

Speak of the devil …

When Preston walked into the room, Whisper began to tremble and rightfully so. While he didn’t intimidate me, I couldn’t say that about those who couldn’t scale. Even in his Anthros state, he was massive. I’d gotten my size and good looks from him, among many other things … like my temper.

“So this is the woman?” he asked cocking his head to the side, squinting his eyes at her as if trying to read her like a newspaper. “This tiny little thing is what has you all wound up? Fighting Finch, and Bart now? Are we going to have a problem with the Scarlet Wings now as well?”

“No, we’re not. Bart and I have an understanding,” I assured him.

“As do we,” he said stoically, “So let’s see it then.”

“We just got here,” I told him stalling for more time, “Give us a moment. I want to do this right.”

That seemed to anger him as he slammed his fist on the counter. The cups rattled right alongside Whisper, who’d found her way behind me. I could feel her fingernails trying to dig deeper into the skin on my back. She was truly terrified.

“We have an agreement, Ashton! I truly don’t care what you do with her, to her, or anything else of the sort but if you don’t mark her then so be it I will!” He shouted. “I cannot have you disputing the agreed upon laws of the land. We have a hard-enough time as it is maintaining control, but if you’re exposing us as weak because of your insipid feelings for this bag of flesh then you will be dealt with accordingly!”

“Relax, mark or no mark,” I turned holding my hand out to her. She grabbed it right on cue, “She belongs to me. Watch.”

Pulling Whisper close to me, I tilted her head back, ran my fingers up the back of her scalp until I reached the middle of her head, pulled her hair gently and slipped my mouth over hers. She melted into me, into the kiss, which either pleased or disgusted my father enough for him to leave.

The door slammed shut behind him, but we didn’t stop kissing. As a matter of fact, she pulled me down deeper into it. For the first time in forever, I felt the passion I’d been yearning for. I didn’t want a pet. I wanted a mate. I had to touch her.

We moved around my place, completely engulfed in our pleasurable embrace until we fell back onto the couch. It took me less than a minute to move down her body and over her jeans. Undoing them and slipping them down, she pulled on leg out and that was enough for me. I salivated at the sheer thought of tasting her, and I refused to hold back. Spreading her legs apart, I moved my mouth from her inner thigh to the center of her sweet and tender flesh. I kissed her gently over the sheer fabric of her panties. Using one hand, I moved the panties over to the side and out of my way. I used the other to assist my mouth as I tasted her for the first time. She was sweet. Her decadent juices of sexual bliss dripped down my lips while I pushed a finger inside of her walls. My tongue flicked over the succulent nub until she creamed all over me. Her moans and groans spurred me on. I could go all night, but I wanted to be inside of her. I wanted to feel the motion of our bodies together, but there was still a lot of uncertainty. She let me go this far, but all the way? Even if she did want me to, I had a plan. The next woman I had sex with would be my mate.

I backed away from her, wiping my mouth on my shirt and heading into the bathroom to get her a warm washcloth. She sat there quietly for a moment while I cleaned her up. My wet kisses and her orgasmic fluids mixed and mingled around her pleasure.

“Is this how all pets are treated?” she finally asked breaking the silence between us.

“No,” I told her honestly, “Absolutely not. The stories I’ve heard and the shit I’ve seen are enough to make your stomach churn.”

“Same here,” she sighed with a look of sadness on her face. “I know the Scarlet Wing made a comment about it, and I’ve heard plenty of rumors as I’ve ventured station to station, but do you guys really throw your pets out of the window if they don’t satisfy you?”

“There have been incidents where that’s taken place. But out of all the Sapphires that stay in these towers, there’s only been a few situations like that. No more than five,” I assured her, “And believe me, I would never do anything like that to you.”

“So tell me what’s the life like for an actual pet?” she wondered.

I didn’t want to scare her, but I believed that she’d know if I were lying. So I was honest, “For one, the pleasure doesn’t belong to you as the pet. It belongs to the owner.”

“I don’t get it,” she replied with sincerity.

“It means that as a pet, it’s your duty to ensure that your owner is pleased and pleasured by you. They can make you do things for hours on end and honestly? It’s more about the control aspect of it all. There are very few arrangements like ours.”

“Oh, you mean like consensual?” she said with disgust.

“Well yeah there’s that, but there’s also a human touch to it. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable with me. I don’t want you to want to stab me in the eye while I’m sleeping. That’s happened before. If you see a guy walking around here with an eye patch, that’s Silver. He had a flame play…”

“Flame play?” she asked.

“Yeah, fire while fucking. It was a huge problem with one of his pets. He didn’t realize all Anthros don’t have the same threshold of pain. So one night, his pet that he forgot to lock up came out of her room and stabbed him in the eye. She’d been burned over most of her body and most were even surprised she had the energy to do it.”

“Yikes,” she shuddered, “Do pets get their own rooms?”

“Well most of us consider them play areas, but you do have a room. Would you like to see it?” I asked her.

She simply shrugged, “I guess.”

The other bedroom, setup for pets was far more peculiar than the one I slept in. I unlocked the door and the first thing to be seen were the silver shackles attached to the black accent wall in the back of the room. The other walls were a deep red with a built in bench that ran the entire length around the room. At any given point, I could press down on the lip of the bench to have it pop open giving me access to whatever I’d hidden inside. It also served as a great spot to prop my leg up for our more exciting sexual escapades.

She stepped inside the room, turning around and blushing about the same shade of red as the walls themselves.

“Are you okay, Whisper?”

“Um, do you do this with other Anthros? Do they enjoy this? Where’s the bed?”

I think she was more intrigued than disgusted, but I walked toward the back wall where the shackles hung. A small lever blended into the panel as I pushed it in to turn it into a handle that pulled down, revealing the bed.

“Is that supposed to impress me?” she laughed.

“Absolutely not,” I told her with a glimmer of mischief. “I have a multitude of things around this room that are meant for that. We don’t have to use anything in here if you don’t want to. As a matter of fact, you can sleep in my room if you’d like. I know we said you have to play my pet until we figure a way out of Black Harbor for you safely, but that doesn’t mean I was going to treat you like I owned you, Whisper. You’re free to tell me no without threat of being tossed out of the window and falling some twenty something stories beneath us.”

“Okay, let’s head to your room then,” she stated firmly.

I nodded and led the way.

Opening the door to my room, it wasn’t as dark as the other room. There were two white walls and where the windows were supposed to be, there was nothing. The wind whipped around my corner view and through my entire space effortlessly. I loved it. It always felt like I was flying while I slept. But looking to Whisper, she held herself tight rubbing her arms up and down. The sound of her teeth chattering let me know she wasn’t as in love with the space as I was. I wanted her to be comfortable. I needed her to be comfortable. I desperately wanted to convince her to stay. So I picked up the remote from my nightstand and pressed a single button. Windows came down like a convertible top closing and sealed us inside my apartment. They were dark so that no one could look in on us either.

“Are you comfortable? Does that feel better?” I asked her.

“Yeah, it does,” she smiled, “Thank you again Ash … for everything. I don’t know how I’m going to repay you.”

Licking my lips, I dropped to my knees in front of her as she sat on the bed, “You could start by letting me taste you again.”