I tried not to panic when I found the cut end of the leash, but the thought of little one wandering around unprotected in the vast spaceport made every muscle in my body go tight with tension. Where could she be?
I had horrible thoughts of my sweet little pet being scooped up by one of the Vorn warriors or kidnapped by a Braxian, who were berserkers and would kill anyone in their way when they went into a rage.
Then I pushed the thoughts aside—blind panic wasn’t going to help me find her. Logic was.
“How long have we been talking?” I asked Hs’lx, who had a worried look on his pale face.
“Oh, your Honor…” he began. “I really can’t say—”
“How long?” I snapped. “The last time I spoke to little one was before we started looking at the beds. I gave her more play in the leash so she could look at your display of bimble-stax. That had to be at least fifteen or twenty merns ago.” Which was ample time for someone to snatch her and go. Goddess Everlasting, where was she?
“Yes, about fifteen merns at least, I guess,” Hs’lx agreed, nodding.
I had another thought.
“Do you have surveillance equipment in your stall?” I asked the Naggian merchant.
“I do, Overlord! Let me get the minder-screen!”
He rushed to the far end of his stall and came back, holding a primitive electronic screen that showed three views of his stall—the front and both sides. Since he and I had been standing on the left side of the stall and little one had been in the front, playing with the bimble-stax, I concentrated on the front view.
“Run it backwards—but slowly,” I instructed Hs’lx. “I want to see the exact moment she was taken and which direction she was taken in.”
“Yes, your Honor,” he said obediently and began rewinding the screen’s vid-feed.
I watched it, my heart beating in my throat. I was envisioning some alien male creeping up behind little one and putting a hand over her mouth. She was so tiny and compact it would be simplicity itself for him to wrap his other arm around her, lift her up, and sneak away into the crowd with her.
What I didn’t expect was to see little one making a break for it. I watched incredulously as she looked from side to side and then cast a surreptitious look in my direction, obviously making sure that neither I nor my candalla was watching her. Then she took a loop of the leash I had synthesized for her and cut it quickly and quietly on the Vornish knife blade Hs’lx had displayed on his counter. After that, she slowly backed away until she was swallowed by the crowd of constant shoppers bustling back and forth along the Great Hall’s main walkway.
The Naggian merchant nearly dropped the screen when we both saw her escape play out.
“Oh, Overlord! Your Honor!” he babbled, dropping to his knees, so that he was nearly out of sight behind the counter of his stall. “Please believe me, I never dreamed your little pet would do such a thing or I would have moved that Vornish knife off display! Oh please, your Honor! Forgive me!”
“Get up,” I said roughly. “It’s not your fault—she was obviously planning this and just waiting for the right opportunity to make her escape.”
Which I had foolishly given her, playing out the leash so she had plenty of slack to cut it and run free.
To say I felt betrayed was an understatement. I already felt the beginnings of the Master/pet bond forming with little one and I had thought she felt the same. She’d been doing so well with her training, acting so obedient and well-mannered.
And that’s all it was—just an act, an angry voice whispered in my brain. I never should have believed she would accept her new life as my pet so easily—never should have trusted that she would just forget about her home planet and be happy to come home with me to Korrigon Four!
She’d played me for a fool and for a moment, I considered not even going after her. But I couldn’t help remembering the way she felt in my arms—her soft, curvy body pressed against mine or lying submissively over my lap as I stroked and petted her. The soft little sounds she made when I pleasured her with my candalla, which was presently lashing with anxiety. And the way she talked to me—asserting that she was a person, not an animal and standing up for herself when she refused to eat the human chow. I had especially liked that, though as a Master who wanted an obedient pet, I knew I shouldn’t.
The pleasant images of the past two days faded as I imagined some other male finding little one. Possibly hurting her…treating her roughly…maybe even killing or raping her!
The thought made me grind my teeth and I found that my hands had curled into fists. If I wasn’t careful, I would go too far and break my own rules about what a HighBorn Korrigon should and should not do. But just the idea of anyone else touching her made me feel so fucking angry I could barely see straight. I wanted her—she was mine. And I was damned if I’d let any other male have her or hurt her!
“Goddess damn it!” I swore hoarsely and plunged into the crowd.