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of the chairs and motioned to her. “Sit.” She instantly dropped
to her knees at his feet. He looked taken aback at her alacrity.
She didn’t know why. She’d promised to be the perfect slave. Yes,
all right, she kept forgetting about the two-steps-behind deal. But
she could sit with the best of them.
    She glanced up at his face and was rewarded
with a swift, conspiratorial wink and a grin she could have basked
in for days. Oh, he was gorgeous. It was ridiculous how his
approval warmed her heart.
    One by one the other new members entered and
slowly the circle filled, masters in chairs and slaves kneeling on
the carpeted floor. At least they had carpet. Not that some of them
looked like they cared what they knelt on. Did she have that
embarrassing expression of adoration on her face when she looked at
her master? Probably. But hers deserved it. These others needed to
buy their slaves some clothing.
    When everyone was present, Ballaj arranged
himself in the final chair and began to speak. At first she tried
to ignore him. Then he said something about whipping and she
realized she should have been paying attention.
    “ Thus, to symbolize your
joining us, each of your slaves will be disciplined by me. Then one
of you will have the honor of executing a bit of performance
art.”
    Inwardly she groaned at
Ballaj’s words. She hadn’t liked that Lagi from the moment she’d
set eyes on him. All his talk about whips and discipline…She should
have known he’d never send them someplace good. If only they could
go back to her master’s flat. If only she could go home. If only
this were a dream and she could wake up. Now. Now!

CHAPTER
SIX
     
    Dzer-Jin frowned to himself and wondered if
they could leave now. It was an ungrateful thought. Lagi had paid
for his membership in this club as a gift. He could hardly walk out
on his first meeting without insulting his friend. But this club
was not precisely what he had expected and, more to the point, his
pet was not having any fun.
    Shoulders hunched up to her ears, her body
unnaturally stiff, she pressed against his leg and flinched every
so often. No, definitely not having any fun. With the state her
back had been in, he couldn’t blame her.
    He reached down to stroke her hair. She
leaned into his touch hard, as if desperate for his comfort. He
wondered how much of that was acting and how much was real.
    That normally wasn’t a concern. You broke
your slave until it lived to serve you. Until it yearned for any
attention you gave it, including punishments so severe its
consciousness would retreat into a hazy endorphin high. That was a
proper reward for a good, submissive slave.
    But this one rejected that dynamic. She’d
only ceded temporary control. Her thoughts were still her own. To
have such a creature sitting at his feet was decidedly odd. And, he
had to admit, exciting. Her reactions were not entirely
predictable. Not like the other slaves here.
    He surveyed the gathering. Almost all the
Tellurians were female and naked, and every one of them wore the
same expression on their face, a sort of eager devotion mixed with
the anxiety to please. No question they’d do as told. His pet
barely remembered to call him “master.”
    The announcement of another new member’s
name broke into his thoughts. Dzer-Jin watched as the man named
ordered his slave to stand. He was portly, with antennae on his
crown and bristles on his face, while she was tall, fair, and wore
nothing but her collar. Likely twice as much blood in him as in
her. The assassin in Dzer-Jin thought of three different ways to
kill them before he stopped himself.
    On her master’s order, the fair slave walked
to Ballaj’s chair. She moved gracefully, quick and light on her
feet, but her head remained always bowed. When she reached Ballaj,
she stopped and presented herself in front of him.
    “ You know why you are
here?”
    She nodded, eyes lowered. “Please correct
me, Master.”
    Ballaj bent her over his lap so