The Captive Flesh (17 page)

Gabriel smiled and greeted his master. Once Selim had been strong and vital, the imprint of his intelligence giving his face a singular distinction. The young Gabriel, purchased in the slave market, had been drawn to his new master by the power of his mind. But that bright intellect seemed to have dulled lately. Selim was overly fond of bodily comforts and, as he grew richer, he had allowed his senses to rule his life completely. The only exercise he took now was on his back, with the most handsome slaves for company; male and female – Selim liked to vary his pleasures. The only task he set himself was to think up new ways to punish and humiliate the slaves for real or imagined slights.

Since that day in the marketplace Selim had ordered
Gabriel to come to the chamber, where he took an afternoon rest at the same time every day. Gabriel knew what was expected of him. With the memory of the public whipping fresh in his mind, the humiliation of having his agonised sexual release witnessed by the common crowd, he took pains to appear good-natured and willing, whatever Selim's taste should be. But though he was willing, eagerness was beyond him at any price. Selim's bloated body held no attraction for him.

‘Ah, Gabriel.' Selim swung his thick legs over the side of the divan and planted his feet on the tiled floor. ‘You gladden my eyes indeed.'

Gabriel inclined his head in a respectful gesture. He had come fresh from the small bath house. His thick fair hair was secured at his nape. His powerful body was oiled and perfumed with sandalwood. As Selim requested, he was naked. He put the tray on a side table and stood ready, waiting for Selim to order his actions.

Selim stretched his hand out indolently and reached into a covered dish. While Gabriel waited for his command, Selim chewed on a pastry flavoured with honey and rosewater. Finishing the sweet, Selim licked his fingers then pushed himself to his feet and stood with his arms out to the sides. He nodded to Gabriel.

Gabriel eased the silk robe off Selim's fleshy shoulders and folded it neatly. He half-turned, reaching for a damp towel and the bowl of scented water, and felt Selim's hand at his neck.

‘That can wait until … after,' Selim said, sinking down to sit on the edge of the divan. His head was on a level with Gabriel's navel.

‘As you wish, master,' Gabriel said, as Selim's hand moved down to his chest and toyed with his nipples.

Selim pulled Gabriel close and wound both arms around his waist. His thick lips pressed moist kisses down Gabriel's stomach, nuzzling the oiled and perfumed curls at his groin. Grinning up at him Selim whispered, his voice thick with desire.

‘You be good now, Gabriel. No more thoughts of escape, eh? Lest you favour a few more strokes of the lash. All you have to do is please me. Not so difficult. And if you perform well, I shall reward you. Kasim is giving a banquet. Would you like to come with me?'

Gabriel felt a frisson of interest. ‘If you wish it, master,' he said, careful to keep his voice neutral.

‘I do wish it. I want Kasim to see you,' Selim said, closing his fingers around Gabriel's cock-shaft and squeezing hard. ‘He is envious of me. I have seen how he looks at you. He covets you. Well, let him. You are mine alone. I shall enjoy watching him squirm.'

Gabriel winced at the pinching, rolling pressure of Selim's hands, but he hardly heard him. His mind was full of a perfect oval face and the most incredible blue eyes. She would be there, at Kasim's house.

Selim's fingers moved down to Gabriel's buttocks. He probed between the small firm cheeks, squeezing and kneading the flesh, stroking the root behind the heavy testicles. He grunted with satisfaction as Gabriel's cock swelled and jerked into life. Selim licked his lips, then bent forward. His questing mouth nibbled at the end of the crested cock. His tongue snaked out and the pointed tip poked under the loose foreskin, describing a circle around the plum and the tiny central slit. Then Selim pursed his lips and used them to push the cock-skin right back, exposing the whole of the moist swollen tip.

For a while he collared the plum with his lips, flicking at the underside where the skin formed a ruff
around the stem. Despite himself, Gabriel sighed with pleasure as Selim drew the shaft into his mouth, sucking and licking down the full length of it. His buttocks clenched as he leaned into Selim. The sensations gathered in his belly.

Selim gripped the base of his shaft in one hand and worked it up and down while he collared the tip with his mouth. The other hand searched between Gabriel's legs, found his anus and stroked across the tight little mouth.

Gabriel closed his eyes, shutting out the sight of Selim's bulging cheeks, his bent head, the bare patch on his scalp. He held the sides of Selim's head, his fingers were curled around the ears. He tugged at the fleshy lobes, as his master liked. Gabriel imagined that he was thrusting himself into the woman – into Kasim's blue-eyed slave. How smooth and tight her sex would be. Would her fleece be light or dark, or would her body hair have been removed?

His penis seemed to swell at the thought. The heavy balls tightened, becoming as firm as a plum. Selim moaned, deep in his throat, and drew Gabriel's shaft in more deeply, relaxing his throat so that the blonde pubic curls brushed against his lips. The sweet, pulling sensations were almost unbearable. Gabriel moaned, thrusting at Selim's warm mouth.

Selim's fingers dug into Gabriel's buttocks, dragging them apart, searching for the tight opening between them. As Selim's fingers worked their way inside his body Gabriel spasmed helplessly. He grasped Selim's head tightly as he pumped his buttocks, rimming Selim's throat. Selim sucked hard, making small sounds of delight as he swallowed the salty emission.

Gabriel sagged, his thigh muscles trembling. Selim
released Gabriel's cock, after licking the drippings from the tip. He smacked his lips and nuzzled the pubic curls.

‘You were good, Gabriel. Very good. Delicious in fact.' He laughed as he threw himself back on the bed. Under the loose skin of his belly his stubby penis was erect. ‘My turn now,' he crooned. ‘You were hot for me this day. Perhaps that whipping did you good. You appreciate me more now, eh? Come. Show me how good you are with your hands.'

Gabriel poured oil into his palms and bent over Selim. He closed his fingers around the short thick cock and began working oil into the stem. Selim pulled him close and pressed his mouth to Gabriel's. The thick lips prised Gabriel's mouth open, and his tongue slipped inside. He gave a sigh of rapture, murmuring against Gabriel's mouth:

‘Ah, you will enjoy the banquet, my treasure. Let Kasim imagine how good you are. But only I know it. Oh, yes. Just like that. Now bend over. Spread yourself for me. Ahhh. You are so tight inside. Just a little resistance at first … Like hot silk. My Gabriel …'

Marietta bowed her head and slipped on the short transparent waistcoat. The sides barely covered her nipples and were linked with a gold chain. The garment was designed to draw attention to her breasts rather than conceal them. From the waist down, she was to remain naked. The small gold device that cinched her sex was clearly visible.

Everyone else in the harem was dressed in loose trousers and tunics or gowns. She felt horribly self-conscious and set apart from them all, which, of course, was Kasim's intention. Leyla gave her no immediate
orders so she decided to make her way to her sleeping cubicle. There she could close the curtains around her bed and hide herself away for a while.

In the corridor she passed a slave girl holding a pile of linen. Lowering her eyes she made to walk past, but the slave girl dropped her burden and rounded on Marietta.

‘You. French woman. Stand still,' she said in peremptory tone.

Too surprised to refuse, Marietta paused. Whereupon the slave moved close to her, grinning in a way that lacked any respect.

‘Stand for me!' she said again and, reaching out, stroked Marietta's bare buttocks.

Another slave, passing by carrying a jug of sherbet, reached out and took hold of Marietta's gold waist chain. She snapped the chain between her fingers, pulling it up high so that the mesh was pulled even tighter between Marietta's legs. Marietta gave a sound of protest. Both slaves laughed. The first stuck her tongue out, picked up her pile of linen, and walked away with insolent slowness. Marietta pulled free and ran away, her heart beating fast.

Just before she reached the bedchamber two more slaves stopped her. Again she was ordered to stand still. One of the slaves pushed her against a wall and held her wrists above her head. The other opened her waistcoat and began roughly to fondle her breasts. When Marietta cried out in alarm a hand was clamped tightly to her mouth. A voice close to her ear mouthed an obscenity, laughing huskily.

Her nipples were pinched until they were sore and then her breasts were slapped until she sobbed with the warm ache in them.

‘Stop. Please. Stop … Why are you doing this?' she
moaned against the fingers that forced her mouth open and tugged at her underlip.

Ignoring her, one of them stroked the mesh that covered her sex. Marietta was ashamed at the rush of sensation that rose in her. The grip on her wrists, her hands pressed flat to the cold wall, reminded her of how Kasim had secured her to the marble pillar. The hand at her sex pressed harder, slapping with a gentle but eager pleasure. A slim finger traced the outline of the cage, lifting the edge so that it could tease out the golden curls within.

Marietta writhed. Her breasts burned and her sex throbbed maddeningly. She could not help thrusting her hips towards the teasing fingers. They were withdrawn abruptly.

‘Naughty naughty,' the slave smirked, and slapped her buttocks hard. Marietta almost wept with humiliation. She hated the way she responded to their rough treatment. She bit her lip and began to struggle against the grip on her wrists. But the slaves only laughed harder as she tried to jerk free.

‘Not so high and mighty now are you, French woman?' they teased, making free with her in whatever way they wished.

Marietta closed her eyes, enduring the pinches and slaps, holding back the tears of pain. Until, tiring of tormenting her at last, the two slaves sauntered away. When they had gone Marietta sagged against the wall, shaking and afraid.

‘This is how it will be until you are willing to do as you are told,' Leyla told her later. ‘While you wear the caging device anyone may handle you as they wish. Your status now is that of a slave. You must obey all commands. To refuse will earn you a spanking or worse.'

Marietta hung her head, blushing furiously. How would she bear it? There was a wicked delight to be had in being the object of so much attention, as she had found already. But the cage ensured that she was denied any pleasure. It was cruel. Oh, Kasim, she thought, you know how beguiling all this is. You are testing me still, willing me to become your creature. But you will not break me.

‘It is hard for me to resist you,' Leyla whispered. ‘Your flushed face moves me greatly. I am tempted to free your pretty sex … I dare not. Yet I must touch you …'

Leyla clasped Marietta in her arms and kissed her. Marietta responded ardently as Leyla ran her hands gently over her sore breasts and buttocks. With a shuddering breath Leyla put Marietta from her.

‘You will make me forget my duty. Come, I must teach you the many ways to please a man. Kasim will test you and punish you further if you do not find favour with him.'

Over the next days Leyla showed Marietta the ways to draw out pleasure from a man's body with dance, hands, lips, and tongue. Despite her initial resistance she enjoyed her lessons. For everything she learned seemed designed to tantalise and delight her own senses also.

It was also impossible to remain unmoved by all the luxury around her. The colours of tiles, stained-glass and rich furnishings delighted her eyes. The harem was filled with the smells of incense, exotic musky perfumes and fruit blossom. She was served soft eggs with cream and sliced fresh figs for breakfast. Later there were fragrant lamb stews, fish stuffed with almonds, soups flavoured with cumin, artichokes in oil. All this was followed by squares of sweet rice jelly sprinkled
with rosewater, water lily sherbet with violets and honey and the many sticky sweetmeats with voluptuous names. There was the thick sweet coffee and Russian tea to drink.

After the plain fare of the convent, Marietta ate and drank with relish. Soft music soothed her to sleep. The cries of peacocks floated into the open windows on hot damp nights. There seemed no escape from luxury, no way to avoid the pleasures of all the senses.

Marietta was kept busy with her lessons and with avoiding the slaves who took every opportunity to fondle her. She did not see Claudine for some days. At first, she was not unduly worried. The harem was a warren of corridors, ornate rooms, and secret gardens. It was not difficult to lose oneself. She assumed that Claudine was being trained also. But when Claudine's bed space remained empty one morning, Marietta began to get worried.

Then she heard the women whispering and glancing sidelong at her. One of the slaves, a thin severe-looking girl, who singled her out regularly for special intimate attentions, told her that Claudine was keeping Kasim's bed warm. The slave relished passing on the information, while she smacked Marietta's breasts and buttocks, only smiling when Marietta paled and called her a liar.

‘But surely you are not jealous? Perhaps you think your friend finds more favour with Kasim than you?'

Marietta dismissed the slave's words. Of course she was not jealous. She was just worried about Claudine. What would happen when Kasim tired of her? Would he then turn his attentions back to herself?

Kasim came often to the harem unannounced. Late one evening he appeared, looking striking in a loose white linen shirt and full trousers tucked into high
boots. Leyla and Marietta were alone. The lessons for the day had just been completed. Leyla greeted him deferentially. Kasim beckoned Marietta to stand close. He checked first that the cage was secure. After toying with her waist chain, his long fingers trailing down the curve of her hip, he ignored her and spoke to Leyla.