Chapter Six
With considerable effort, Lucy managed to wriggle her way into the skintight bodysuit Taryn had organized for her to wear. She had to suck in her stomach and tense the muscles in her bottom but, once she’d succeeded in getting it on, the garment felt surprisingly comfortable. She looked at herself in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised by what she saw. It actually suited her. The bodysuit was made of an unusual, tightly woven mesh that clung to every curve, enhancing the sensual curve of her breasts. When she slipped her feet into the impossibly high-heeled shoes Taryn had supplied, her legs looked longer and leaner. Despite being covered from neck to ankle, there was not much of her that was not on display. Her taut nipples, that V at the apex of her thighs, could be seen in as much detail as if she was naked.
“You look just as I imagined,” Taryn said as he came up behind her and put his arms around her.
He pulled her close and began to fondle her breast. Lucy’s eyes met the reflection of his in her mirror and the raw need she saw in them made her feel incredibly powerful. As he ran his hand over her breasts and down over her belly to cup her feminine mound, he looked as though he was drunk on his desire. His finger ran along the seam between her legs and, to Lucy’s surprise, an opening appeared in the garment that allowed him to slip his hand inside. She gasped as he began to tease her clitoris with slow, purposeful strokes. She shifted from one foot to the other as the tiny bud began to tingle with arousal. Then, suddenly, Taryn took his hand away. He ran his hand between her legs and the fabric seemed to come together, closing the hole that had allowed him access to her pussy.
“Wh-what?” Lucy asked in a daze of confusion and disappointment.
“Your new clothes are made from a very special fabric,” Taryn said. “It allows me access to certain parts of your beautiful body whenever I want.”
He demonstrated by running his finger over her covered pussy once more and then rubbing his hand back over her to close it again. When Lucy tried to copy what he’d done, nothing happened. Perplexed, she looked up at him in question.
“It’s programmed to respond to my unique body signature, so it only works for me,” Taryn said. “As I told you, it’s a very special fabric.”
“But I can’t open it,” Lucy complained. She would have to struggle out of the bodysuit every time she had to go to the bathroom.
“You won’t need to open it. All you’ll have to do is ask me to do it.”
Lucy could feel her cheeks burning. Ask him to open a hole in the bodysuit every time she needed to perform some bodily function? She’d rather burst her bladder.
“But,” Taryn said, “we don’t have to think about it right now. We have a shuttle to catch.”
Wobbling slightly on the heels she was unaccustomed to wearing so high, Lucy followed Taryn from the room. While she had felt powerful and alluring within the confines of the bedroom when it was just the two of them, she now experienced a twinge of anxiety that someone else might see her. She didn’t want to go out in public in such a revealing outfit. She wasn’t used to flaunting her figure. Even if it hadn’t been for the draconian rules her society imposed on women, she wouldn’t feel right about displaying her ample curves in this way. As they reached the door, she stopped.
“What is the matter, pet?”
“I…” Lucy hesitated, unsure of whether he would be angry with her for asking. “I’d like a coat, please.”
“I’m sorry?” Taryn queried and she immediately understood that he’d heard her request but felt it had lacked the proper respect.
“I’d like a coat, please, Master,” she amended.
“Of course.” Taryn, to her surprise, acceded without any argument. He turned one way and then the other, as though looking for something.
“There will be a coat in Caroline’s room,” Lucy suggested.
With a brisk nod, Taryn strode off to fetch a coat for her. He returned moments later, carrying a heavy gray overcoat that Lucy had seen Caroline wearing in the colder months. He helped her into the coat and she found herself swamped by a thick woolen fabric that would not be particularly comfortable in this warm weather. She made no complaint, though, in case he took the coat from her. It was better than the alternative, after all.
Taryn led Lucy out and ushered her into the back of a large vehicle. It was unlike anything she’d seen before, so she assumed it had been brought here from Taar-Breck. Rather than sitting next to her, Taryn chose to travel up front with his colleague. She’d have preferred him to sit with her but was sure that no slight was intended. In fact, it seemed the two men had a few things to discuss. As they chatted in a language Lucy did not understand, she looked out of the window and watched the streets of New Cambridge passing by. The vehicle drove smoothly, making only a quiet humming sound and Lucy might easily have been lulled to sleep by it.
Within minutes, they arrived at their destination. Taryn got out of the vehicle and opened the door to help Lucy out. As they walked into a large, glass-fronted building, Lucy looked around, taking everything in. She had never been to the Taar-Breckian spaceport before and was surprised to find that it was such a busy place. There seemed to be hundreds of people around, some waiting to travel, while others obviously worked there. Seeing the scale of the operation here and the number of humans who were employed there, she realized how little she knew about the world outside her own small neighborhood.
While some travelers formed a queue, apparently to have their paperwork checked, Taryn was able to march straight past the security guards and out onto the launching station. All the Taar-Breckian males they passed bowed their heads deferentially and Lucy began to see that her new mate was a man of some importance. Actually, she supposed she’d known that all along. After all, when she’d shown up at Caroline’s house and asked to speak to whoever was in charge, it was Taryn they had summoned.
As she followed him up the steps of the shuttle, she glanced back nervously. This was it. Once she was on board, there was no going back. She would have to start a new life on Taar-Breck with this alien warrior. Oh, who was she trying to kid? She’d reached the point of no return the moment she met Taryn.
“We will be using a private cabin,” he informed her as they entered a large, open seating area. Lucy felt a wave of relief. She was dying to take this coat off. “It will be several hours before we reach the transport ship that will take us on to my home planet so we might as well travel in comfort.”
Lucy nodded, wondering whether comfort had been the only thing on his mind when he secured them their privacy. After all, the main cabin looked as though it was a relaxing place to be, with the wide aisles and enormous cushioned seats. It was the most luxurious form of transport she’d ever seen.
As she wandered along behind Taryn, heading toward the rear of the spacecraft, she spotted a couple who seemed out of place. While the majority of the passengers on board were marked out as Taar-Breckian by their height, if not by their vivid indigo eyes and ultra-blonde hair, this pair was clearly human. They were huddled close together as though trying not to be seen. Lucy couldn’t help but stare at them and, as she drew nearer, she recognized the female as Lucinda Barron. Although she didn’t know her well, Lucy had exchanged pleasantries with the other woman at the official gatherings they were required to attend from time to time as members of the higher classes. Lucy got the impression she was a nice person, quiet-spoken, and perhaps a little shy. Then again, that was how most women in New Cambridge tended to come across in public. What they were like behind closed doors was a different matter.
Next to Lucinda sat her husband, Gerald. Like his wife, he looked extremely nervous. The way he shifted in his seat and looked around suggested a guilty conscience. Something about their manner gave Lucy the distinct impression they were not supposed to be there. It was a little odd that they were on board a shuttle whose passengers were ultimately bound for Taar-Breck. Citizens of Earth were rarely permitted to travel off planet and it was unheard of for women to be allowed to leave New Cambridge. Lucy imagined their presence on board was something to do with Gerald’s brother, William. He’d recently been appointed as ambassador to Taar-Breck, so perhaps they were on their way to visit him. It was a logical conclusion, but it didn’t explain their twitchiness. There was fear emanating from the couple that went beyond the mere jitters about space travel that might be expected.
As she walked past him, Lucy glanced down at Lucinda and spotted something unexpected. Nestled beneath her shawl was a baby. From what she could tell, it was a girl, just a few months old. She searched her memory but could not recall news of a child being born into the Barron family recently. It was strange. Something like that would certainly have made the evening newscast. The birth of a child into one of the most prominent families in New Cambridge always warranted celebration. Lucy’s eyes met with Lucinda’s and, for a moment, the connection held. The question evident in Lucy’s gaze was met by a silent plea from the other woman to say nothing. Although curious, Lucy nodded to confirm the unspoken pledge she was making to keep quiet and moved on.
She trailed behind Taryn, her feet already wearying from walking in the heels. He passed along a wide corridor between different sections of seating and opened a door at the side of the main cabin. He gestured for Lucy to precede him into the smaller, more luxurious space and closed the door behind him. Although there was nobody else in the cabin, there were six seats, positioned in a wide semicircle as though to promote conversation between passengers. Lucy wondered whether someone else was expected to join them. Brow furrowing, Lucy looked up at Taryn.
“We have exclusive use of the cabin,” he confirmed in response to the query she had no need to voice.
“That’s good to know,” Lucy said, before quickly adding, “Master.”
She watched as Taryn took a seat by the large window. A smile passed across his lips as she remained where she was, waiting for instructions. She thought, after their conversation earlier, that it would please him if she sought guidance before taking any action and it seemed, from the look of approval on his face, that she was right.
“Remove your coat, pet,” he told her. “You may place it over the back of one of the seats.”
Lucy immediately did as she was told, shrugging out of the thick, heavy coat and draping it neatly over the back of the seat closest to her. She clasped her hands in front of her and looked to Taryn. While part of her wanted to demonstrate her ability to comply, something in her also wanted to make him realize his dictate that she was never to act without his say-so was a little ridiculous. She hoped she could make him see that he could not command her every movement.
“Now, come here and sit on my lap,” Taryn said.
Lucy took a step and he held his hand up to halt her.
“Uh-uh,” he scolded, although his tone was not too severe. “Does a kitten walk upright?”
She was tempted to tell him that, since she’d never seen one, she couldn’t be sure. Cats had become extinct more than a century ago, along with the other creatures the humans had once taken into their homes. She had seen pictures of kittens, however, so she held her tongue.
Getting down on all fours, Lucy began to make her way slowly across the cabin toward Taryn. It was much easier to move in this bodysuit than it had been when she tried to crawl in her dress. Empowered by the seductive sway of her hips, she felt free. She loved the way her breasts felt as they hung beneath her. With each passing moment, she felt herself becoming more aroused.
Although she was looking down, her head bowed subserviently, she could feel Taryn’s eyes on her. When she reached him, she glanced up and saw the naked desire on his face. He wanted her and badly. She squeaked in surprise as he took hold of her upper arms and pulled her up onto his knee. It felt a little strange, at first, to be perched on his lap but, once he had enfolded her in a tight embrace, it seemed more natural. This was where she belonged. As she settled on his knee, the unfamiliar sound of the engines whirred to life, making her jump.
“Shh,” Taryn soothed her as the shuttle began to lift off.
He stroked her cheek, distracting her from the slight lurching of the spacecraft as they took off. Her stomach lurched as the shuttle shuddered, but it was excitement rather than fear that came to the fore. This was it. She was really leaving Earth once and for all. The engines roared and then there was a strange sensation of being catapulted upward before, suddenly, everything became calm once more.
“Now that we’re clear of Earth’s atmosphere, the journey will be smoother,” Taryn told Lucy as he set her down on her feet. “In fact, you’ll barely notice we’re moving at all.”
Lucy smiled in acknowledgement but in truth, it didn’t bother her that the shuttle had been shaking around a little. She found it quite exhilarating. She moved past Taryn and went to look out of the window. Fast receding into the distance was the vast blue planet where she’d had the only home she’d ever known.
“I had no idea Earth was so big,” she gasped. “New Cambridge must be enormous if it takes up half of that.”
“It doesn’t,” Taryn told her. “The city covers only a tiny fraction of the Earth’s surface. Much of the rest is uninhabitable, thanks to the human capacity for self-destruction.”
“Oh.” Lucy’s face fell. She must have misunderstood when her father told her that their city covered half of the planet while the rest was made up of wilderness. “You must think I’m a complete idiot.”
“No, I don’t,” Taryn said in a tone that left Lucy unconvinced. “You have been denied an education but, do not worry, I will see to it that you learn what you need to know from now on.” He pressed a button on the arm of his chair and then looked up at her with a glint in his eye that she found unsettling. “In fact, we have time for a lesson now.”
Before Lucy could ask what he meant by that, the sound of the door sliding open behind her, made her turn around. A tall, elegant Taar-Breckian woman wearing a long, flowing dress in shimmering silver, entered the cabin. Her beauty was breathtaking. Her eyes were a deep violet and her long, impossibly straight hair was a platinum color, just a few shades warmer than her dress. With her, she carried a long, thin box.
“This is Delina,” Taryn told Lucy. “She’s brought you a little present.”
Lucy bit her bottom lip as the other woman approached, stopping right in front of her. With slow, deliberate movements no doubt designed to heighten the tension of the moment, Delina removed the lid from the box. Lucy turned to Taryn as she experienced a sudden wave of anxiety that she couldn’t explain.
“It’s alright, pet.” Taryn had clearly seen the startled expression on her face. “It won’t bite you. Take it out. Get a feel for it.”
Lucy reached into the box and took out the object. It took her a moment to get her head around exactly what it was and, when she did, her heart lurched. It was a tail. A long, sleek black tail of the softest fibers. At its end was a thick plug made of a hard, rubberized material unlike anything she’d ever seen before. It seemed to be coated with a slippery substance that left no residue on her fingers when she touched it. There were no prizes for guessing where that was meant to go. Immediately, Lucy understood that this thing was going to be shoved in her bottom. Taryn really was going to take her request to become his pet all the way. As she thought about having that inside her bottom, her face became flushed.
“Now, hand it over to Delina and come here,” Taryn instructed. “She’s going to do a quick examination and then she’s going to put your tail in for you.”
Lucy gulped and then looked at the other woman, scarcely able to believe that this was happening. It was beyond humiliating. She was being asked to let this other woman, a complete stranger, examine her. More than that, Lucy was expected to allow her to put an object into her forbidden channel, so she more closely resembled a cat. Never in her wildest imaginings had she thought she would be asked to do something like this. It was mortifying. So why on Earth was her skin prickling with desire? She even felt her growing wet at that place between her legs. There had to be something wrong with her. She couldn’t possibly be excited by this. Could she?