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Robert was trying to remember when he had last felt so tired, sore, dirty, used, yet at the same time shamefully satisfied as he did while slowly making his way back to his master's suite.
Definitely after that party his third owner had thrown to celebrate his acquisition with all his friends. But back then he had been young and had been kept locked away for most of his life. Though, looking back at that evening now, it had been rather harmless fun.
During his brief stay with that noble who had put his pets on display on a theatre stage to be fucked by all comers? No, that had only been degrading, painful and a bit boring.
Maybe when he had been on loan to that Quetzal noble from Serin who enjoyed watching his pets getting fucked by his 'stud', a slave he had had specially modified for size, stamina, texture and curve. Yes, that had definitely held that same sense of 'shameful fulfilment'.
Robert chuckled soundlessly.
'Fulfilment' indeed.
He winced as his guts reacted to his laugh with a painful cramp.
So, no laughing, at least for the next few hours.
But none of those, admittedly interesting, experiences had prepared him for the sheer alien feeling of several things moving inside of him at once. Who would have thought that demon would hide so many, so amazingly flexible, tentacles under its unassuming robes?
A shudder ran through Robert as his body remembered the last few hours. What an instructive afternoon it had been. Apparently, even a pet his age wasn't past learning new tricks.
Still, he was feeling his age now. All he longed for was a long soak in a hot bath and a strong drink. As interesting as the experience had been, he felt soiled somehow. A notion he had considered himself long beyond.
He sighed with relief when he reached the Duke's quarters and slipped inside, heading straight for the bathroom.
“Where the FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN?!” the voice of his master stopped him in his tracks.
Why was Thomar home already? He was supposed to be at some cocktail party. And why was he so furious?
Turning around, he found the young Duke stalking towards him, his eyes dark with anger and his hands balled into fists. Confused, he blinked at his master, not sure what he had done to suddenly be on this unpleasant side of Thomar's temper.
While he was trying to come up with some suitable answer, Thomar grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him down, sniffing at him.
“WHAT THE FUCK!?!” the Duke exclaimed, his voice rising in volume another notch.
Robert had no idea what he was so surprised and upset about. After all, he had ordered this.
“My lord...?” he finally managed to give voice to his confusion.
A second later, he was on the floor, having been slapped so hard his ears were ringing. It had been so quick, he had barely seen his master move.
Finally, years of training kicked in and he assumed a kneeling position as quickly as the fact that he felt plenty sore and abused and that he was seeing stars allowed. In that moment, he was very grateful that some things were ingrained so deeply he could have done them in much worse condition. Back straight, wrists crossed behind it, head lowered. It came quite naturally.
“Answer my fucking question. Where have you been?!” his master hissed, obviously not impressed.
“I have been with the Lord Tss'lath, master,” Robert answered flatly, his mind racing as he tried to find out what he had done wrong.
He did not resist when Thomar grabbed him by the hair, forcing his head up so he looked each other in the eye again.
“Why?”
The question was spoken softly and Robert could have sworn there was genuine hurt in his master's voice but that was probably his own hurting head playing tricks on him.
“He made use of me, master.” That would have been the correct and sufficient answer, but for some reason, Robert added, “just like you ordered.”
That made Thomar's eyes flare up with fresh rage. “I ordered no such thing!”
Robert blinked at him in confusion. That would of course explain the young duke's dark mood.
“But...” he stammered, his mind suddenly feeling muddled, “he said ... you had said...”
“And it didn't ONCE cross your mind to verify this with me?!” Thomar shouted angrily. “When have I EVER shared you with ANYONE, let alone a fucking DEMON?!”
Now that he spelled it out loud, it didn't make much sense. But the thought of questioning the demon hadn't crossed Robert's mind. It had felt so logical and correct.
“I ... I don't know...” he muttered, helpless and confused.
Strangely, that caught Thomar's attention and suddenly his face changed from murderous rage to thoughtful. He crouched down in front of Robert and took hold of his chin.
“Hold still,” he ordered, much calmer now and gazed into Robert's eyes intently.
Immediately, Robert felt vertigo, the floor feeling like it was tipping to the side. When Thomar let go of his chin, he wasn't able to maintain his position and crumbled to the floor, feeling sick.
Whatever Thomar had seen seemed to have diverted his wrath from Robert for the moment, though, as he started pacing restlessly.
Robert felt like retching, but with iron self-control, he managed to pull himself together. He was almost getting back into his kneeling position when Thomar addressed him again.
“I expect to find you in my bed when I get back,” he commanded calmly.
Then he strode out of the room. Before he closed the door to the suite, Robert heard him tell the guard outside, “make sure he doesn't leave these rooms.”
Robert closed his eyes, trying to find some measure of composure. He was feeling dizzy, his head hurt from the hard slap, and he was sore and dirty from the demon's attentions. But apparently, a long, hot bath was out of the question. He would do well to quickly get back to his feet and clean up at least a little so his master would find him in a pleasing state when he got back.
He had never been on the receiving end of the young Duke's temper before but now that he had encountered it, he was very sure he did not want a repeat of the experience. And it looked like he would have to work hard to get back on his master's good side.
With a groan, he forced himself to get up and make his way to the bathroom. If only his thoughts weren't so muddled, he might have been able to consider how best to charm his way back into his master's good graces. Concentrate on one step at a time. Thinking ahead was never a good idea for a pet. Just take what your master gives you and do the best you can.
***
The palace guard standing outside of the guest quarters currently occupied by Lord Tss'lath, trade representative of the demon embassy on Aylian, felt distinctly uncomfortable.
The door stood wide open and he could clearly hear the voice of the Duke coming from inside.
“There is no need to apologise, my dear lord,” the Duke was replying to the slightly incoherent begging of the demon lord. “I understand perfectly well. You need to test how far you can go with me. You must test what I will let pass and where I will draw the line. I respect that.”
His calm voice was interrupted by a high pitched screech of pain from the demon.
The guard tried to close his ears to the rather one-sided conversation, but he didn't manage it.
“I'm sure your ambassador will greatly appreciate the lengths to which I am willing to go to educate him on exactly where and how I draw that line,” the Duke continued coldly.
The demon lord screamed so loud that his voice echoed down the corridor and made everyone within hearing range flinch and duck their heads. All but one of the Duke's N'Ptalini bodyguards, who was comfortably leaning against the wall next to the guard, with his arms folded and a wicked smile on his face which showed his sharp, pointed teeth.
The demon’s scream became a howl of mindless pain that went on and on and on.
***
“Robert.”
He came awake with a start at the sound of his master’s voice addressing him. As the Duke had ordered, he was in his bed. Naked, cleaned up and uncovered.
He should also have been wide awake and ready to serve his master as soon as he came back to his suite, but hours had passed and Thomar had not returned. Robert had tried hard to stay awake, using every trick he had ever learned, but at some point, he must have nodded off. Kneeling next to the bed would have kept him awake, but he certainly would follow his master's clear orders to the letter and he had said 'in his bed'.
He found his master sitting on the edge of the bed right next to him. The Duke had turned on the bedside lamp so Robert could see him clearly. He looked tired, weary but also calm and no longer angry. But his appearance wasn't something Robert was willing to bet his future on.
Mentally shaking off the fog of sleep, he started to rise to put himself in a more pleasing position but he was immediately pushed back by the Duke's hand on his chest.
Confused, he watched as Thomar gathered up the blanket which Robert had carefully folded at the foot of the bed and covered him with it.
“You must be getting cold.”
It was true, but Robert didn't trust this sudden switch to caring and kind. From beneath lowered lashes, he suspiciously watched his master, waiting for what would be next.
The young duke sighed deeply and rubbed his face with both hands.
“I'm sorry I hit you.”
That was definitely unexpected. Masters didn't apologise. Especially not nobles. Least of all Quetzal.
“I was very worried about you,” Thomar continued. “The demon had blocked the emitter in your slave collar, so I wasn't able to locate you. I thought something bad must have happened to you.” He laughed without humour. “But I wasn't so wrong about that, was I?”
However, a good slave should always apologise to his master, no matter if he had done anything wrong or not.
“I'm sorry, master,” Robert said quickly. “I should have checked back with you. I...”
He was cut short by Thomar shaking his head. “You couldn't. He put a mesmer on you. Had you wrapped around his claws.”
Now, Robert looked up at him in surprise. That would of course explain why his thoughts had felt so muddled. So it had not been his fault after all. Not that it mattered. He was the slave. Everything was his fault if his master said so.
Thomar winced and gingerly touched Robert's cheek where he had hit him. The pain wasn't much but Robert could tell that a bruise was forming there.
“I am sorry. No matter how worried I was, I shouldn't have done this. It won't happen again.” The young Duke sounded so sincere and distressed that it made Robert hurt more than the slap had. He was supposed to make his master happy and today he was failing again and again. It wasn't that, though, not just professional pet training. He didn't want Thomar to be sad.
“I'll be fine,” he said, surprised at the amount of emotion in his own voice.
He hadn't realised how much it meant to him that his master wasn't angry with him. No, that wasn't the point. Everything Thomar had done today showed how deeply he cared about Robert. His honest anger as much as this apology. It made Robert's heart beat faster with something he hadn't felt in a very long time. Hope. Hope that maybe, finally, here was a master whose interest in him wasn't a passing fancy. To be treasured and cherished like this – he had thought himself too old and used up to attain it anymore.
A reassuring smile came to him easily.
Thomar sighed deeply, but then visibly gathered himself.
“I have something for you,” he said and pulled something from the pocket of his jacket.
It was a leather band, braided together from several cords with small pieces of bone woven in. It looked somewhat ... primitive. Thomar took Robert's right hand, wrapped the band around his wrist twice and tied it off.
“This is an Ynagra charm,” he explained, citing the N'Ptalini goddess of home and protection. “It will protect you from demonic influence, as well as allow me to find you even if technological means are blocked off. I want you to never take it off.”
Robert nodded, looking at the simple bracelet with new respect. The N'Ptalini gods were known to grant all kinds of strange favours to their followers. Robert couldn't help but wonder what Thomar had traded for this charm to protect his pet.
“Thank you, my lord.”
That brought a small smile to Thomar's face. “You're welcome.”
It almost sounded as if he didn't mean for the gift. Almost as if he meant it in a more general, encompassing way, as if he were trying to tell Robert how important his pet was to him. It warmed Robert to the core.
Thomar patted his hand affectionately. Now paying closer attention, Robert noticed something dark under his master's fingernails. Something that distinctly looked like blood, left over after a cursory cleaning.
Noticing his gaze, the young Duke studied his fingernails as well.
“Hm... You were not supposed to see that.” Thomar shrugged. “But you would have heard about it anyway. You don't need to worry about any demons stalking you in the near future. I think they have understood that you are off limits to them.”
“Oh?” The sound was out before Robert could stop it and he was embarrassed that it sounded so smug. To have a master who didn't just cherish him but also defended him. Violently. How amazing would that be?
Thomar noticed as well and smirked. “Indeed.”
He rolled his shoulders and stretched. “Now you should sleep. You've been through enough today.” Gently, he tucked in the blanket around Robert, leaned down and softly kissed his mouth.
For once, Robert was grateful his master wasn't demanding any more services of him tonight.
“Sleep well,” Thomar said. “I have a few things I need to take care of. Don't wait up for me.” He switched off the bedside lamp and got up.
He was already at the door when he spoke again.
“Robert?”
“Yes?”
“Did you give that demon a good time?”
“I suppose so. Why?
“Just wondering if it was worth the price he paid...”