They journeyed onward for many days. Sassik trained her to kneel and to obey, to bow her head when he commanded it, to submit. He trained her to masturbate before him. Punishments were rare, though spanking her was something he could seriously do forever.
Watching her walk away from him, naked, with a red ass, with her hips doing that female sway – he wanted that on a loop.
When she brushed against a shrub that lanced her with hundreds of thorns, he had her lie over him while he extracted them. Tedious, but enjoyable – not because it hurt her, though watching her squirm and squeak was fun. He’d liked caring for her.
A lot of men proposed to buy Blue. Half he rejected as assholes, the other half Blue said no to. One persistent man had to be shot.
“Better shot than strung up by your balls,” he’d told the idiot as he was stretchered away. Some people didn’t get hints well.
He stuck to the bargain and let her choose. He detested lying, yet with each passing day he saw himself as more and more dishonest.
Before, he’d had a gut-felt inkling of what it was he wanted. Now he was surer about the nuances. It was too odd to be normal, and he resisted, because doing it, saying it to her, would be ridiculous.
He didn’t stick his cock in her again, at either end, because of this. Possessing this woman would happen so easily, like slipping on shoes. He wanted her, in a perverse way that most men who had slaves would think bizarre.
Still, he was vetoing men just because he couldn’t bear to give her to them. He also suspected she’d never say yes.
He was going to talk to her about this, or smack some sense into her. After he smacked some sense into himself.
The last town before the Chasm was Diavulge. On the far side of the town, a road wound up into the mountains. Heavy clouds obscured the sky above the green slopes.
Between them and the road, the town sprawled. This was one of the few civilized places that’d sprung up in association with a destroyed city. The shattered remains of once-towering buildings lay in slumped heaps where they’d fallen.
Far to the left, great holes had been gouged, where landships had swept by, grazing the town, gulping up the ground and mining. It was what Mekkers did. Most visits led to trade. Sometimes there was violence.
“Never trust a Mekker,” he muttered.
He parked outside a drinking hole called Last Chance, and he pointed through the grimy windshield.
“This is the only place with liquor before we hit that road going up to the Chasm.”
Blue nodded. He didn’t cuff her to the door anymore. She wore the cuffs, though that was more due to him liking them on her. The collar was still the original Mekker one.
“I might find a physician here. It’s a big place. Then I can get that collar off you.”
She put her hand to the collar. “Thank you.”
Of course, he’d only replace it with his own.
They found a physician on the outskirts where the land began to rise. Not only did he remove the bloodsucking collar and the tube that led into her artery, he healed the wound. That meant Sassik could put his on Blue immediately. He was at the truck unearthing it from the satchel when Blue made a noise.
He looked where she gazed.
The swathe route.
Hadn’t asked about its schedule.
A dust haze marked where it approached. Too far away to hear the sound. Even so, he imagined he could hear the crunch of the jaws as the land was eaten, refined, spat out. Landships left masticated earth behind them. Mekker shit, some called it. This would not be the swathe Osta had hit – that roamed a different area.
They’d graze the outer fringe but miss the town, trade, keep going.
Blue was looking so intently. He moved to the side so he could see her face. Longing; he saw it in her expression.
The red collar was in his hand and he tapped it on his pants leg. There came a time when decisions must be made, no matter if you dreaded the outcome.
Rear engines whining, a shriker rose from the far environs of the town, where a crumpled skyscraper marked the merging of new buildings and old. Some people lived in the ruins. Things could be found there, even after all these years. The shriker upped engine power and thrummed toward the nearest landship, flying a few yards above the ground.
The comparative smallness of the shriker became obvious as it neared the side of the giant ship. Why had a scout been sent so soon?
A siren blared, a sound most would respond to. Many towns used them in times of danger.
“What’s happening?” Blue asked.
“I don’t know. Something bad maybe.”
A high volume speaker shrieked across the town. “Gathering. Gathering. Gathering.”
“Should we go?”
He nodded. “Yes.” They might’ve picked a bad day to visit.
Driving partway, by the time they neared the gathering, a crowd milled. He walked through the dusty streets until he found a climbable piece of a tower. They picked their way up and sat on some blocks on a three-story-high section. It hadn’t fallen over yet. It should be safe.
Below, thousands stood in a cleared area. This was used for other events, judging by the seats. No one bothered unstacking those, instead they stood and grumbled.
The speaker squealed and started up again. On a center stage, a man spoke.
“We have been given instructions from our swathe.
“I quote: ‘Due to the recent Scav attack on the Royal Swathe we require a sacrifice to be made by some grounder towns. Ten individuals must be delivered to this swathe, to be slaves. A tithe of twenty thousand K shall be delivered. If this tithe or the slaves are not supplied before we arrive, we will mine one half of the town.’”
The speaker paused to survey the crowd. Most remained silent.
“I expect some will volunteer to save their families or their family’s homes from harm. The provosts will select from those at this gathering if we do not have ten people. Visitors are expected to contribute to the tithe. Five K each will give us what we need. If you want this town to be here when next you visit, please comply. If you’d like to volunteer, come to the stage area.”
Then he stepped off the stage.
The Mekkers must be trying to stir up resentment against Scavs and the swathes were talking to each other. Perhaps they’d sent Ramms back and forth? Those were scarce but could travel long distances.
“We need to leave now.” Visitors might find themselves forced to be sacrifices. Then he looked at Blue, really looked.
She took a step down the slope, dislodging rocks.
Who would volunteer to be a Mekker slave? “Blue?”
He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her.
“Is that what you want, Blue? To be a slave of the Mekkers again?” She went to hang her head, but he put his hand beneath her chin. “I know you want to go home but this is not the answer. You have almost zero chance of ever seeing a portal. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Such sadness in these eyes. I don’t like to see that.” His decision thudded into place. He needed to be honest. “I want you to consider making here your home. I want you with me.”
She searched his face, her gaze moving as if she must find the clues before she could believe.
“I have what many would consider a perverse desire. I want you as my slave, yes. I want control and dominion over you, your body, your mind. I want to fuck you until you cry for it to end as well as beg me to continue. I want to torture with your own base desires. But...” He inhaled, pausing to gather courage. “I also want you to say you want this. Bizarre as it is, I need you to agree.”
Her mouth opened but no words came out.
Gently, he slipped his hand to her neck.
“If I don’t say yes?”
He wasn’t sure he could take this hesitancy but he mustered an answer.
“I’d break a promise for the first time. I’d put an end to this, override your dissent, and sell you to a man who’d treat you as well as any man might be expected to. But first I would spank you for frustrating me. I’d keep it as a memory to savor in my old age.”
Blue smiled.
He put his mouth to her ear, inhaled her scent. What better time to seduce a woman than now. He kissed her ear, her neck. “Say yes. I want to put my collar on you right now so I can fuck you tied up, bent over, with you leashed to my bed.” He kissed her mouth and felt her arch her lower body.
“We don’t have a bed.” She swayed into him, her arms slipping about his body, her fingers settling on his back, warm, soft, but delicate as a bird. She shook her head. “If I had to be a slave, owned, maybe I would choose you but –”
“Volunteers!” someone screamed from below.
She had reservations. He looked past her, saw that provosts were gathering, reached behind and found her hand. “We have to go.”
The sun was setting. The swathe would hit the town before midnight.