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The next several weeks were long and hectic, filled with administrative duties for both Rakesh and Virin. Rakesh spent long hours at the Arena, hand-picking two dozen of the fifth-year Tarken to serve in the new Arena, and a dozen of the more advanced Taramar to act as trainers. Then there was requisitioning equipment and supplies to be delivered to the embassy, and arranging for immersion hypnotic language training for everyone. He wanted to be sure that all of his trainers were fluent in Aakari, so there would be no misunderstandings. All of this had to be fit in and around his regular duties to the new novices—seeing that they were all settled and comfortable in their new homes, the introductory lessons in Discipline, and the inevitable crises as the new novices started to understand the path that they had chosen.
Sitting in his office, he stared down at the long list of requirements, and wondered again why anyone had thought this a good idea. A soft knock at the door made him jump, and he looked up to see Lela standing in the doorway. She looked upset, and Rakesh was surprised—out of all the novices, she'd seemed to be the one settling in to her new life with unbridled enthusiasm.
"Lela!" he smiled and waved her inside. "Come in, dear. You look troubled. How are you acclimating? "
"I'm doing well, thank you," she said, coming into the room and sitting down in the chair Rakesh offered her. "I like it here. But...I am a little upset. I have heard you are going to Felanore?"
"Yes, I am. I leave in five days, if I can ever manage to get all this paperwork done." Rakesh grimaced at the pile of hard-copy forms on his desk. "Bureaucracy at its finest," he joked.
Lela didn't smile. She wrung her hands and blurted out, "Do not go! Please! Don't leave us!"
Rakesh blinked, startled. "Lela!"
"You don't understand!" she insisted. "You have never been there, you can't understand."
"So tell me," Rakesh said gently. He moved his chair so that he was facing Lela, close enough that their knees touched. "You're afraid. I can see that. Afraid for me?"
She nodded, not looking up. "You don't understand," she repeated. "The people... My people... They will not see you for who you are. In Aakar, we know of the collars, of the Arena. They call it proof of the Tyesean depravity there. They think that those who wear the collar are worse than the dirt under their feet. They will not see you as an honored counselor and a great man. They will call you whore. And they will call you criminal. They will hurt you if they catch you, kill you if they can. You cannot go there! We need you here!"
Rakesh let his head hang and sighed, then reached across to take Lela's hands in his. "Thank you, Lela. For your concern. I know what I'm facing when I get to Felanore. Virin made certain I knew. But the new Arena will be inside the Embassy, and attached to the garrison. Do you understand how that works?"
"Inside the embassy walls, it is Tyese, even though the embassy is inside Aakar," Lela answered. "Although I do not understand how this is. How can it be Tyese, when it is an Aakari place, on Aakari ground?"
Rakesh grinned. "I know. Makes no sense to me either. But the provisional government of Aakar has agreed that the Tyesean embassy exists under our laws, not the laws of Aakar."
"And if you leave those walls?" Lela asked. "Then what?"
"Then he is considered an ambassador from Tyese, and if anything happens to him, the Tyesean government takes it out of Aakar's hide," Virin answered from the doorway. "Assuming I leave anything of the person who dared for them to take to trial. Hello, Lela. How are you liking it here?"
Lela turned and smiled, and Rakesh was pleased to see that she hadn't jumped at the sound of Virin's voice, nor did she seem afraid of him. Given what he now knew of her history, he'd wondered how she would ever be able to serve in a collar. But she had confided in him, was seeing the counselors, and she seemed determined to become a Tarken. "I am liking it very much!" she answered. "I would like it more if they did not take our Aba Rakesh away." Her eyes widened, and she blushed. "I... I did not mean..."
Virin burst out laughing. "Aba Rakesh? Kesh, did you know they called you that?"
"I didn't," Rakesh admitted. He squeezed Lela's hands. "Lela, sweetheart, thank you. I'm honored that you think of me like that. I think of all of you as my children, you know. So it's only appropriate."
Lela looked at him, a shy smile on her face. "You don't mind?"
"No, Lela. I'm flattered." And more than a little surprised, when Lela flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
"We will miss you!" she said in his ear. "You must come home to us!"
Rakesh hugged her, then let her go and nodded. "I'll be back, Lela."
"You promise?" she insisted. Rakesh smiled.
"I promise."
Lela nodded and rose, then turned and faced Virin, pointing at him. "You will take care of him!" she ordered. Then she turned red and fled the office. Virin watched her go, then looked out the door.
"Fierce one, that girl. Reminds me of Mother," Virin said as he came into the office and took the chair that Lela had abandoned.
"She'll go far," Rakesh agreed. "Maybe we should introduce her to Iras."
"What's her history? She's terrified of you going to Felanore. The place scares the actual fuck out of her."
Rakesh looked back at his paperwork, then sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Born on the streets, running with gangs since she was old enough to remember. Raped at the age of twelve—"
"What?" Virin gasped, sitting up straight. "And she's here?"
"The counselors are monitoring her carefully. Her and the half a dozen other girls like her. And the five young men. Apparently, the street gangs are considered...." Rakesh stopped, suddenly realizing the meaning behind what the trainees had told him.
"Considered what?" Virin asked.
"Prey," Rakesh said quietly. "Lela says that she was told she was prey."
Virin's eyes widened, and his face went cold. "You don't think...?"
Rakesh nodded slowly. "Control!"
Acknowledged.
"Novice Lela. Send her back to my office, please."
Confirmed.
"You didn't need to send for me," Lela said quietly. "I did not go far. I... I was listening. You learn, on the streets, to listen. It might save your life."
Virin turned in his chair, resting his hands on the back. Keeping them in sight, Rakesh realized. "And...was it a Sword, Lela? If it was, you can identify him, and I'll see him punished."
"You would punish them all?" Lela whispered. "They all hunt. It has been so since the Black Swords first came to Aakar. My mother told me that my father was one such."
Virin went still, closing his eyes, and Rakesh knew that he was fighting hard to keep control of his temper. He rose and put his hand on Virin's shoulder, then met Lela's eyes and nodded. "Lela, the other girls, anyone else who was hurt like this. Anyone else who might be the child of rape. Gather them up and go to the big meeting room. The one where we first met. I'll... I'll meet you there."
Lela nodded and fled, and Rakesh waited until she was gone before he squeezed Virin's shoulder. "Rin?"
"We were supposed to be there to protect them," Virin growled. "We were supposed to protect them all. That was our purpose. That was why we were created." He turned and looked up at Rakesh. "We're not supposed to hunt our own."
"You know there are those that don't follow those rules," Rakesh said softly.
"But these are Swords," Virin snarled back. "Not the rogues, not the ones who were trying to turn the Creator's purpose to their own ends. These are Ishkarin, sworn to protect." He looked down and rubbed his forehead with his hand. "I need to call Molari."
"You can use my sat-comm."
"I need a secure scramble. The fewer people who know about this, the better."
Rakesh nodded and reached for his canes. "You can do that here. And I'll leave you to it. Control!"
Acknowledged.
"Hush field on the door until the Kian-ti-os is done here."
Confirmed. The air in the open doorway started to shimmer.
"Take as much time as you need, Rin," Rakesh said. He leaned down and kissed Virin's cheek. "I'm going to go and tell Marga."
***
AN HOUR LATER, RAKESH was sitting in the lecture hall where he'd met the new training group, surrounded by twenty-seven young men and women in gray, and twenty-eight in white. When he'd realized that Lela had brought every new Aakari trainee with her, he'd at first thought that she'd misunderstood his instructions. Then he'd talked to them. At that point, he'd sent for all of the Collared who had originally come from Aakar.
"Why did none of you tell us?" he'd asked, distraught, when Linter came forward to join the ranks of the Aakari who had been preyed on by the Swords.
"What could you have done for us, Rakesh, that you have not already done?" Linter replied. "You have given us a new life, a new purpose. You have given us control of ourselves, our bodies. You have given us dignity and pride. This..." he touched his collar. "This gives us power over those who preyed on us. What more can we want? Revenge? To what purpose?"
"To stop them from hurting anyone else!" Rakesh looked around. "This could have been stopped!"
"How?" Linter asked. "There will always be those who prey, Rakesh. You know this as well as I!"
"Perhaps, but the predators will no longer be the ones who should be protecting you."
Rakesh grabbed at his canes and rose, turning to face Molari Ran-ti-ar. Molari scowled—he'd ordered Rakesh to stop standing every time he came into the room. But it was an impulse that Rakesh couldn't put aside. Molari had a presence to him that made Rakesh want to stand, want to follow. Virin had commented on it, too, in telling how Molari had never wanted to command, never wanted to take the position that should have been Gavir's. Thrust unwilling into the position when Gavir had been killed, Molari had excelled. His one failing, he had once told them, was that he'd never found the people responsible for Gavir's death.
"Sit down, Tarkarin," Molari grumbled. Behind him, Virin had a look on his face that told Rakesh he was trying not to smile. Rakesh bowed slightly and sat back down, and Molari looked around the room slowly. Counting, Rakesh realized, and watched Molari's face grow cold as he finished.
"Ladies, gentlemen, thank you for coming forward. I can only wish you older ones had come forward before, so that something could have been done to perhaps protect these novices. But there's nothing I can do about the past. What I can do is this—if you will help me to identify the Swords who attacked you, I will see them punished. And I will make certain that this does not happen again. Some of you have met Virin Kian-ti-os?" He looked around to see people—mostly the older Collared—nodding. "Virin will be taking command of the Aakari garrison. In addition to repairing what I now know has been a badly mismanaged outpost, he will be addressing the issue of Swords who hunt unlawful prey.
"Now, how many of you are certain that you were fathered by Ishkarin?" he asked, looking around. Hands went up, and he nodded. "All right. Each of you, please see the medics. We'll want a tissue sample from each of you, so that we can identify paternity. And so that we can register you as the children of Ishkarin, with all the appropriate benefits." He smiled, and Rakesh felt people around him relax. "I can see that you've all settled in here, but if any of you wish to be tested to see if you have inherited the abilities of the Ishkarin, please talk to Rakesh, and he'll make certain I hear of it. Does anyone have any questions for me?"
There was a soft wave of murmuring, but no one spoke up. When silence again fell, Molari nodded once more. "Very well. I am sorry, children. I will do my best to make certain that the people who did this to you are punished, and that it does not happen ag ain. I'll leave my comm-code with Rakesh, so that if any of you wish to reach me, you can." He smiled, bowed slightly and left. Virin remained behind, moving to stand by the wall, away from the group surrounding Rakesh.
"All right," Rakesh said, turning in his chair to look around at the novices and Tarken watching him. "The ones of you who need to see the medics, go on. Anyone who needs to talk, or who wants to see a counselor, you should do so. And the rest of you, you have your duties."
They filed out in ones and twos, until the only people left were Rakesh, Virin, and Lela. She had been sitting on the floor at Rakesh's feet, and didn't move when Rakesh dismissed the others.
"Lela?" Rakesh asked, seeing Virin coming over and shaking his head. "Is there something I can do for you? Do you want to talk?"
"I... I wished to thank you," Lela said quietly. "For... For everything."
"Lela, sweetheart, you're welcome," Rakesh said. He held his hand out to her, and was shocked when she grabbed his hand and kissed it. "Lela!"
"Please, will you let me show you? How grateful I am?" she offered, moving to kneel in front of him. "I... I know I am not in a collar yet, but I am willing—"
There's always one, Rakesh thought ruefully. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "Lela-sa, I know how grateful you are. You don't have to show me anything. Especially not in bed."
"But I want to!" she insisted. Rakesh smiled.
"No, Lela. I am flattered. But it would be a betrayal of trust, and I will not take advantage of you like that. Now go on. You need to see the medics. And thank you, Lela. For trusting me enough to offer."
She pouted, but obediently got to her feet and followed the others out. Rakesh turned and watched her go, then looked over at Virin. "I think she might have forgotten you were there."
"And I think she was going to invite me to join in the fun," Virin said as he came closer. "That happen often?"
"There's one or two in every training class. For some of them, especially the ones who came from the streets, I'm the first male who has ever been anything approaching supportive to them. I try to keep myself as a father figure to them, but that never seems to matter. Which.... I don't know how I feel about that! Honestly, though, I'm surprised that it was Lela. I'd thought it was going to be one of the others." He smiled and stood up. "You leave tomorrow?"
"Yes. Serris is practically begging."
"And we'll be there in a week, I think." Rakesh took Virin's arm and they start towards the door together. "Rin?"
"Hm?"
"Do you think we'll do any good?"
Virin nodded. "We're certainly going to try." He fell silent, then stopped and turned Rakesh to face him. "Kesh?"
Rakesh smiled. He'd been expecting this since Virin had found out about what was really happening in Aakar. "Do you want a room, or do you want to go to the Floor?"
Virin smiled slowly. "You up to showing the novices what they have to look forward to?"
"If you don't mind the audience. And we will have one."
"Oh, I know," Virin answered, turning and steering Rakesh towards the door. "After five years? I've come to expect it. Any time we take the Floor, we have an audience. And it adds a bit of spice, doesn't it?"
Rakesh laughed. "When did you become an exhibitionist?"
"I learned from the best, love. Now, is that lift working properly?"
***
NEWS TRAVELED QUICKLY. By the time Rakesh had changed into his black Arena garb and he and Virin reached the Floor, there was a large crowd of novices and Collared alike waiting for them. Virin stopped as they came out of the lift and looked over his shoulder at Rakesh.
"Too late to change my mind?"
"Yes." Rakesh grinned at him, then took a deep breath. He slowly followed Virin out onto the Floor, carefully setting each foot down and making certain of his balance before taking another step. He'd changed from his usual supportive boots to a pair of lighter boots that had been designed for him to wear in the Arena. They still supported his damaged feet, and they had control bands integrated into the synth-leather. It helped, but Virin had chosen to lock Rakesh's arms behind him, leaving him with no way to catch himself if he fell, and no way to use his canes. So he moved slowly, and what he now lacked in balance and grace, he made up for in sheer, stubborn pride. So long as he wore a Collar, he would walk onto the Floor under his own power, or not at all.
"Are you sure about this?" Virin had asked him, just before the lift doors had opened.
"Yes. You need this." Rakesh assured him. He didn't mention that he needed this release as well, needed the assurance that even after the attack in the lift and the accident with the ropes, he could still trust Virin. Somehow, he suspected that Virin knew. And when Virin had halted the lift and kissed Rakesh, that suspicion turned to certainty.
"I love you," Rakesh told him.
"I love you, too. Let's go show the children what a real Tarkarin looks like," Virin answered with a grin.
Now here they were, a stately procession of two, making their slow way across the Floor. Rakesh wasn't entirely certain where they were going. Virin was certainly not going to use the disruptor. Not today. Perhaps the whipping frames?
He was right. Virin stopped outside the familiar enclosure, holding the gate open and standing back to allow Rakesh to enter. He closed the gate behind them, then moved over to the frame.
"Come here, Tarkarin." Virin called, his voice low, a wicked grin on his face. "I'm leaving you with something to hold you until you get to Aakar. If I do it right, you won't sit comfortably until I see you again in Felanore."
Rakesh smiled and walked forward until he was standing inside the frame. It was only them that he noticed the neat coils of rope laying on the ground. He frowned, confused, then looked at Virin. "You planned this?"
"I was hoping we'd have the chance, yes," Virin said with a nod. Then he laughed. "I was hoping we'd have the chance a few hours ago," he added. "I've been thinking about those pictures. And I have some ideas. Don't move."
Rakesh stood where he was, watching as Virin picked up the first coil of rope and walked around behind the frame. He felt a tugging at his waist, and the belt that held his loincloth released and fell to the ground. Rakesh heard a soft, dark chuckle, then felt Virin's arms encircling him. A moment later, a rope tightened around his waist; when he twisted to try and see, Virin slapped him hard on the ass.
"Stay still, or I'm going to blindfold you," he said, then stepped back. The control bands binding Rakesh's arms released, and Virin continued. "Hands on the overhead and don't let go, Tarkarin."
Rakesh reached up and put his hands on the horizontal bar over his head, which seemed to be set much lower than usual. He looked down though, watching as Virin's arms reappeared, wrapping the rope once more around Rakesh's waist. This time, Rakesh had seen that the rope was doubled. What was Virin doing? He looked at Virin, puzzled, as Virin came around in front of him, then yelped in surprise as Virin reached down, between Rakesh's spread legs, and pulled the ends of the rope forward. Behind him, Rakesh heard a wave of giggles.
"See, you can surprise an old hand at this, once in a while," Virin said aloud, and the laughter grew louder. Virin winked up at Rakesh, then wrapped some of the rope around Rakesh's right thigh. He did something that made the ropes tighten, and tied a knot at Rakesh's hip. He repeated it with more rope on Rakesh's left, then moved back behind the frame. When Rakesh craned his neck, he could see as Virin laced the rope into an attachment point on the side of the frame, pulled it tight, then came back and tied the rope off again to Rakesh's leg. He continued this all the way down both of Rakesh's legs, lacing him into the frame. When he finally rose and moved around to stand in front of Rakesh, he was grinning broadly, and Rakesh could see the prominent tent in Virin's trousers.
"Oh, this is going to be lovely," Virin murmured, picking up more rope. "Hands to the corners, Kesh. Then give me your left."
Rakesh reached up and grabbed the corner of the frame with his right hand, holding his left out to Virin. He watched as Virin turned a small coil of rope into a cunning rope cuff that he attached to the frame, something that he repeated with Rakesh's right hand.
"Pull on those a bit, while I get some more rope," Virin said over his shoulder as he turned away. "They shouldn't tighten."
Rakesh pulled hard on the rope-cuffs. "They're fine."
"Good." Virin came back with more coils of rope looped over his arm. "Almost done. You're not going to see this kind of set up, usually," he said, raising his voice so the novices could hear him. "This is really more elaborate than the standard. Most of the time, the Swords you'll see won't have the patience or the time for something like this. Probably, most of the time you'll be strapped in using your control bands. There won't be this kind of build-up. Consider this something to look forward to for special occasions."
"So why do you do this, if it is so much more complicated?" someone asked. With his back to them, Rakesh couldn't see who, and he made a note to ask Control.
"Because sometimes the buildup is worth it. It's more exciting, for both of us," Virin answered, moving back to the frame and shaking out another coil of rope. He knotted another cuff around Rakesh's bicep and bound the ends off to the top of the frame. "The anticipation makes it that much more erotic. And the dread—to slowly lose your mobility, to be completely at the mercy of someone else, with no idea what they're going to do to you and no way to stop it. In the right hands, at the hands of a person you trust, that loss of power is intoxicating." He looked at Rakesh and smiled slightly, but Rakesh saw the haunted look in his husband's eyes. He smiled at Virin, nodded slightly, watched as Virin relaxed.
More cords, around Rakesh's forearms and biceps, attached to each other and to the frame, until at last Virin stepped back and picked up the last coil of rope. This cord was easily twice as thick as any of the others, and only a few feet long. Virin picked it up, shook it out, and walked around behind Rakesh, who turned to try and see what Virin was doing. He saw Virin raise his arms and drop them, then saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. He turned towards it, and Virin pulled back on the rope, forcing it into Rakesh's mouth. Before Rakesh could spit it out, Virin had looped it around his head twice more, then knotted it tightly. The layers of rope made it impossible for Rakesh to close his mouth, and he almost immediately started drooling; he made a strangled, indignant noise, and Virin laughed.
"Now, once you're in this position, there's damn little you can do except take it," he told the novices. "Show them, love. Oh, right." He tapped a control on the side of the frame, and the frame rose, just far enough that Rakesh's feet no longer touched the ground. The sheer number of attach points made the bondage secure, if not completely comfortable. "There. Now show them," Virin said as he turned the frame so that Rakesh faced the novices. Rakesh groaned and tried to move, found that there was no movement that he could make, save only small shifts forward and back. He groaned again, wondering if this was what a fly in a spider-web felt like.
"Now, once you're in this position, what you're going to be taking might not just be pain," Virin continued. He looked up at Rakesh and smiled slowly, and Rakesh shook his head. Oh, no. No, Rin, don't....
His silent pleas and frantic grunting did nothing to stop Virin, who knew exactly where Rakesh was the most ticklish. Very quickly, Rakesh was shrieking and struggling futilely as Virin assaulted sides, armpits and inner thighs with his nails. There was no way for Rakesh to tell how long Virin toyed with him before finally moving off, no doubt to prepare for the next step. Whatever that was. Rakesh hung limp, breathing hard and gasping, feeling the ropes digging into his flesh. He'd look up in a moment. Once he'd caught his breath.
"Now, that's something else that probably won't happen to you at first," Virin was saying. "For some reason, tickling is very...intimate. More so than pain. You'll probably have to have a regular patron before that happens to you, and by regular, I mean one who knows you well enough to know that you are ticklish, and where, and just how long they can go. I'd been calling on Rakesh for nearly three years, I think, before I even knew he was ticklish." Rakesh felt a warm hand on his flank. "That right, love?"
Rakesh nodded. He'd still worn the white then, and he remembered how surprised Virin had been to see Rakesh's reactions to what had started as a simple massage after a beating. The tickling that followed had been almost as bad as the beating itself.
"For most of you, this is what you'll expect. A lot of Swords like the whipping frames. It satiates the hunting need easily, because it's simple, fast, and brutal. Which usually also describes what comes after, too. At least until they get to know you better."
Rakesh felt the frame turning, found himself looking at the rear wall. He heard Virin moving behind him, and heard a slight susurration that he knew all too well. He sighed and relaxed, and heard Virin laugh.
"See, he knows what's about to happen," Virin said. "After a while, some of you will come to crave this. Usually, those will be the ones who'll go on to take the red. Now, how many of you have ever seen one of these used before? Novices, I mean. No one? All right. This is a type of flogger. This one is made from a heavy leather. Real leather, not synth. This isn't the only kind you'll see. There are some with more falls, some with fewer. I've seen ones made from rope, ones made from synth-leather. I've seen ones made from chain, too, but that's a bit more brutal than I'm wanting today. You can find them with knots in the falls, like this one. Or with metal barbs or tips. This one delivers a solid strike, and leaves bruises. If you go at it long enough, it can break the skin—"
Rakesh heard Virin grunt, heard the swish-and-whistle, and jerked at the impact across his shoulders. Pain washed over him, and he whimpered,, dropping his head forward as the second strike fell, crossing the first.
"The safe areas are the back, the ass, the backs of the legs," Virin announced, placing the next strike across Rakesh's ass. "Inner thighs are good, too, but you have to be careful, especially on a man. Usually, I'll use something with a bit more precision for the inner thighs. If the Sword knows what he or she is doing, they might also work the chest, but that's risky. No one should ever take a flogger or a whip to your belly. Not enough padding, too many organs close to the surface." Another blow fell, this one across Rakesh's legs, and Rakesh wondered why Virin was going so slowly. Surely he wasn't going to just make this a demonstration lecture? Not after all this set up?
"Now, this is something you might see, but only with a more experienced Sword. It's a bit harder to master."
Rakesh howled around the gag as the beating began in earnest, the knots driving into his back like hailstones. He knew what Virin was doing—two floggers, used in tandem. It was incredible to watch, and excruciating to experience first-hand. There was nowhere for him to go, nothing he could do but fight the ropes and scream.
Then, without warning, he was somewhere else. The pain was gone. He looked around, confused, and realized that this was the same place, the same cobweb-draped room that he'd seen in his fidelis-induced vision.
Welcome.
Rakesh looked around again, turning slowly in a circle. No one else. Nowhere for that sensuous, sexless voice to come from. "Who are you?"
You know.
"You're the Spider, aren't you?"
You're quick. Good.
"What do you want?" Rakesh asked. "And why?"
What I want is what you are doing. Teach. Learn. And come to me. Find me, in the darkness. That is your mission, son of my son. That is why I have called you to come home. You must find me, and in doing so, find yourself.
"Find myself?" Rakesh asked. "That's.... I don't understand."
You will.
Rakesh nodded slowly. "Those doors. They're important, aren't they? What's behind them?" he asked. "I feel like I need to choose between them. What choices are you giving me?"
A good question. You will choose, son of my son. Love...or love.
Rakesh blinked. "That's...not much of a choice."
Is it so? You will learn. Now go back.
Something hit Rakesh hard in the center of his back. He jerked, and found himself unable to move, rough rope digging into the corners of his mouth. He gasped, feeling both of Virin's floggers coming down at once on his shoulders. His entire back felt like it was aflame, and Rakesh wondered how long he'd been in trance. Surely not very long, or Virin would have noticed.
"That's...enough of the public part of this display," Virin announced. "Control!"
Acknowledged.
"This frame, can it be moved to the large trysting room?"
Affirmative
"Then do so."
The frame shuddered, then turned, slowly rolling towards a gap that appeared in the enclosure. The novices moved back and away, forming a pathway through the crowd. All of them were staring at Rakesh with looks of mingled awe and disbelief. There was hunger in a few of those gazes, and arousal. And Rakesh saw, standing back and away from the crowd, the older woman in gold. Marga nodded once when she saw Rakesh looking at her, and he knew that she'd be reviewing the recordings of this session, finding among the faces those novices who reacted with eagerness, and who would need more attention. And those who reacted poorly, and who would gently be eased out of the Arena and into something they were perhaps better suited to. The frame turned, moving down the hall towards the rooms, away from the crowd, until all Rakesh could hear was the heavy footsteps behind him.
"If you sit down at all for the next week, I'll be very surprised."
Rakesh turned, craning his neck, unable to see Virin behind him. He mumbled behind the gag, an interrogative sound that made Virin laugh.
"Oh, I'll cut you down when I'm ready."
The frame stopped, then moved sideways and into one of the bedrooms that lined this corridor. Rakesh turned and watched at Virin followed him inside, letting the door iris closed behind him and locking it so that they would be undisturbed. Smiling, Virin came to stand in front of Rakesh, reaching out and running his hand down Rakesh's chest and stomach. Rakesh whimpered, pulling on the ropes, trying to thrust his hips and his cock forward. Virin shook his head and let his hand fall.
"I'm not done with you yet. Not hardly," he said. Then he stepped back and started unfastening his coat. He stripped off his clothes slowly, deliberately moving just far enough out of line-of-sight that Rakesh couldn't see anything but the uniform pieces falling to the floor. Then he moved behind Rakesh, and strong hands started to knead Rakesh's aching ass. He groaned, tensing under Virin's touch.
"Oh, you will not be sitting at all for a while," Virin said with a laugh. He slapped Rakesh's ass. Then Rakesh heard soft beeping from the frame's control panel, and the frame started to tip forward. Rakesh yelped, then realized that the frame was pivoting, moving from vertical to horizontal. When it fell still again, Rakesh was suspended face down, his head hanging down far enough that he could see Virin's feet as he moved into position between Rakesh's legs. Warm fingers traced up the insides of his thighs, and he moaned. Tugging at the ropes set him to swinging, ever so slightly, and Virin grabbed onto his hips to stop him. He kept his left hand on Rakesh's hip, running the fingers of his right hand down between his legs, tracing the line between balls and ass.
"This is going to have to keep me until I see you again," Virin said, his voice low. "This is going to have to keep the both of us. So let's make it last." His hands moved away. When they came back, a single, slick finger slipped into Rakesh's ass, probing for a moment before sliding almost all the way out. Two fingers came next, pumping faster, making Rakesh grunt and try to beg around the gag.
"More?" Virin called out. "You want more? You want me?"
Rakesh tossed his head, nodding, tugging against ropes and setting himself swaying again. Once more, he felt Virin's hands on his hips, but this time, there was also Virin's slick cock pressing against his ass. Rakesh yowled as Virin entered him, feeling his fingers digging into his hip. There would be little round bruises there tomorrow, Rakesh was certain. Not that he cared. He clenched his ass, something he knew would drive Virin to the very brink. Virin groaned, then slapped Rakesh once more.
"You are not going to bring me off that fast, Kesh," Virin growled. "And just for that..." Virin pulled out, almost completely. And stopped. Rakesh whimpered, waiting for the next stroke. When nothing happened, he tried to make himself sway again, but Virin's hands held him still. And still Virin didn't move. Rakesh groaned, straining hard on the ropes, wanting more....
"Oh, no, Tarkarin. I said we're going to make this last, and I mean it." Virin shifted, slowly filling Rakesh's ass, then pulling out equally slowly. He did it again, and again, until Rakesh was biting down on the rope gag to keep from screaming with frustrated need. He heard Virin laughing, then the hard, pounding thrusts that Rakesh so desperately wanted began. He could feel the conflagration building, clenched his fists as he reached for it....
And felt Virin spend, heard him roar as he shot. He slowly went still, then leaned over Rakesh's back and kissed him between the shoulder blades. "I did intend to make it last," he murmured as he stepped back, leaving Rakesh feeling open and unfulfilled. "My body had other ideas."
There was soft beeping, and the frame slowly righted itself, settling upright with Rakesh's feet resting on the floor. He tugged at the ropes and whined softly as Virin walked into view.
"I thought not," he said, coming up to stand in front of Rakesh. "Sorry, love. Do you want me to finish you off up here, or take you down?" Then he grinned. "Oh, that's right. You can't answer. Well, I suppose it's my choice, then." Without another word, he reached out and wrapped his hand around Rakesh's cock, pressing up against his side as he started to pump. With his other hand, Virin reached up and grabbed a handful of Rakesh's hair, pulling his head back.
"They can look," he growled. "All of them, they can look. They can admire you, you gorgeous creature. They can ask. But you are mine. None of them can touch you, none of them can have you the way I have you. You are my Tarkarin, my husband, my very own. No one else, ever."
Rakesh whined, trying to nod with his head pulled back. In response, Virin pulled his head back harder, and Rakesh felt the sting of teeth against his throat. He closed his eyes, feeling Virin's hand tightening, pulling harder, his thumb rough against the head of Rakesh's cock, until at last Rakesh howled and thrashed and spent.
Virin cut the gag away first, and wiped saliva from Rakesh's chin and chest. "Think that will hold you for a week?" he asked, leaning in and kissing Rakesh before he could answer.
Rakesh snorted, grimacing at the feel of rope fibers in his teeth. "Will it hold you?" he countered. "And are you all right?"
"Me? Fine. I’ve just had a long day, and I can't keep going for hours the way I used to." Virin shrugged and knelt. "Hold still and I'll cut you free."
"You've been planning this for a while, haven't you?" Rakesh asked as Virin slowly cut the ropes binding his legs.
"Yeah, I've been thinking about it. Doing research. Found some references on advanced rope techniques in the Arena library. Someone named Foole. Mother says he was in her training group."
"And he was one of my trainers when I was a novice, back before he retired," Rakesh added.
"Was he?" Virin sat back on his heels and pointed with his knife. "He developed that cuff design. I like it. Of course, with the control bands, it's sort of superfluous, but still. I like it."
"So I imagine we'll be using this at home?"
"You imagine correctly." Virin ran the flat of his knife down the inside of Rakesh's thigh. "Let me finish this, then I'll take you home. Maybe we'll continue this there."
"Continue?" Rakesh echoed.
Virin grinned up at him. "I want you to miss me, love."
"You know I'm going to."
The grin grew wider, more wicked. "Every time you sit down."