Read In Chains for Free Online Page B

through a book. “Is that a medical book?” I ask.
    “No, an owner’s manual.”
    I’m confused; I thought we were supposed to be talking about Kayden. “A owner’s manual for what?”
    “For the slave.” My mouth drops open. He’s a human being not a bloody kitchen appliance.
    Ben comes in and heads straight for the coffee maker. Christina sits down at the table, she’s wearing a red silk dressing gown that reaches to just above her knees, and she doesn’t even look dishevelled when she’s just got out of bed. So much for me getting to talk to Simon alone.
    “It could be a problem with its chip,” Simon says, sipping his coffee.
    “What chip?” I ask.
    “The chip in its neck. It’s guaranteed for ten years, it should be good for another two but maybe it’s playing up.”
    “Why does he have a chip in his neck?” I frown.
    “Ahh,” Simon looks up from the manual, “maybe it’s not playing up.”
    Ben glances over Simon’s shoulder at the manual, slaps his thigh and bursts into laughter. “Slave boy has got the hots for you Savannah.” He’s laughing so hard he’s holding his stomach.
    Simon scowls at him. “It’s not funny Ben, it’s my bloody sister it’s lusting over.”
    Christina jumps out of the chair and snatches the manual from Simon. “Let me see.”
    I fold my arms across my chest. “Would someone care to tell me what the hell is going on?”
    Ben’s still laughing; Simon punches him on the arm. “Savannah, its chip gives it an electric shock when it gets an erection.”
    My mouth falls open for the second time. “What? Why?”
    Christina chimes in, “Think about it Savannah. What if a woman owned it, it could rape her. The electric shocks stop it getting an erection, so it’s harmless.”
    Ben has finally stopped laughing and he turns to Christina. “What I’d like to know is, how the chip knows it’s getting an erection.”
    She points to a passage in the manual. “It says here it can sense the changes in its body, pulse, temperature, things like that.”
    Ben bursts into laughter again. “I’m going to have to buy myself a male and female slave. That could be entertaining.”
    I pinch the bridge of my nose. I’m getting a headache. I’m trying to recall the occasions when Kayden had a spasm. It happened when I held his hand and when our hands touched when I gave him the eggs. I heard him yelp when I first met him at the chicken coop but he also spasmed after I’d given him lunch, when he was sitting at the kitchen table. Unless he got turned on by eating lunch, which I doubt, that spasm can’t have had anything to do with an erection. “If there’s a fault with his chip, will it harm him?” I ask.
    Simon snatches the manual back from Christina. “I’ve just sent a text to C.S.S and asked them to run a diagnostic on the chip.”
    “We should still test it ourselves,” says Christina. “You can’t rely on C.S.S. I know what we can do,” she says. “I’ll go and speak to it and see if it happens with me. Then Savannah should speak to it.” She’s jumping up and down with excitement. “If it spasms with us women we’ll know it’s because it’s horny.” She’s looking so proud of herself for coming up with that idea. I sigh and clench my fists. I hate this; I hope Simon gets a reply to his text soon.
    Apparently Kayden is washing Simon’s car now and in the absence of a text everyone else has agreed to put Christina’s plan into action.
    “You’re not going out wearing that,” Simon says, raising his eyebrows at Christina. She’s still dressed in nothing but the short silk dressing gown.
    “We need to guarantee it gets an erection,” she says, her hands gesturing towards her body, “how else are we going to know?”
    Simon closes his eyes and shakes his head and I storm off into the lounge. This disgusts me. We’re treating him like some kind of experiment. Simon calls out to me, “Savannah.”
    I narrow my eyes at him. “What?”
    He