The Virgin Master (13 page)

E
van’s mind raced. “I just bet there are all sorts of slave oriented office supplies. Let’s just be you and me tonight and start
practicing tomorrow. I need to have a long talk with Marta. She’s a citizen and could potentially file a complaint. I need to know how we have to act around her.”

Evan got lost in his mind making a list, hoping against hope that getting busy would distract his traitorous mind and body from the spiraling arousal Jeremy’s open and willing submission and mere physical presence had awoken in him.

Jeremy grinned and rose gracefully, sitting carefully back down on the couch, his injuries
becoming more painful
due to too much movement. Evan walked across the room and pulled his laptop out of its bag near the door, and, sitting close to Jeremy on the couch, started pulling up websites, chewing on his lip as he tried to figure out what types of clothing Jeremy would need, trying to ignore Jeremy’s thigh pressed into his. They chose a collar together
. Evan thought the
narrow black kidskin with an opening for insertion of registration tags in the center front
, would be attractive on Jeremy
. Then Evan went a little bit crazy ordering jeans, slacks, shirts, t-shirts, button-downs, ties, suits, shoes, underwear, until Jeremy laughed and made him stop.

“I have an image to maintain
! H
ow I care for my slave will reflect on me and on James Enterprises, Inc.” Evan teased.

“You just want to dress me up like a Ken doll or something,” Jeremy bantered back.

“Yeah. Maybe a little bit.” Without thinking, Evan reached out and smoothed Jeremy’s hair back behind his ear. “I have a lot to work with here.”

Jeremy blushed and leaned into Evan’s hand.
After a moment Jeremy began shaking.

Evan felt the shudder and withdrew his hand, concerned.
  

“Jeremy?”

“I was just thinking about what might have happened to me if you hadn’t seen me at the auction. Right now that fat guy would be doing God knows what to me.” He looked steadily at Evan. “I know I’ve already thanked you, but I could thank you continually for the rest of my life and it wouldn’t feel like enough.”

Evan shifted uncomfortably and looked away. He actually
burned
to take Jeremy in his arms and just hold him. But he knew that would lead to other activities he swore he would never impose on Jeremy. He realized that there was still one promise he hadn’t kept. With a sidelong glance at Jeremy and a small smile, he pulled out his phone and called Jeff.

“Jeff?”

“Hi, Ev. I see you made a purchase. Several purchases.  Uh, lots and lots of purchases. Two vets? Is he going to make it?”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. I, uh, need you to find his family for me. Make sure they got the excess money and I want to arrange a visit.”

“You know…you’re getting dan
gerously close to evidencing an
inappropriate emotional attachment.”

“
Jeff! You wouldn’t….”

“No. Evan, I would never report you. I think that it would be good for you, anyway. I know lots of people who care about or love their slaves. You know how I feel about Moira
. S
he might as well be my wife…she would
be
my wife if I could free her. I’m not going to judge you. Just be careful. Don’t do too much for him, in front of strangers. Follow the rules religiously when you are in public. Please.”

   
     
“We’re going to try. Jeff, t
his is hard for me. It seems so
 
unnatural. Jeremy was my friend and he still is my friend. I
want
to make sure he’s as happy as possible under the circumstances.”

Jeff didn’t say anything for a while
.
“Ev, I have to say I think there’s already been an enormous improvement in your attitude.
I’ll find the Paxton’s and get them set up at one of our residential complexes. Shall I offer employment?”

Evan heaved a sigh of relief. “Jeff…you read my mind. Yes. Get them employed in something that fits their qualification levels. I want Jeremy working with me as my personal assistant. Can you help me figure out what he’s allowed to do? This no furniture thing has to be a real pain. Is there
some
type of desk he can use? What about the phone?”

Jeff laughed. “As you can imagine there are whole lines of slave office accoutrements. I’ll get him set up in the office adjoining yours. When can you come back to work?”

“I don’t know. I need to give it some time, so it will be believable and then I’m going to make an appointment with Dad and let him meet Jeremy. Maybe I’ll ask him over for dinner. He’s going to be upset that I bought a slave, I think.”

“Believable? What do you mean?”

“Well
…
I’m not really going to use him like that, Jeff. I can’t.”

J
eff’s silence stretched on just a little too long.

“Evan….don’t shut any door so firmly that you can’t open it again. And Allen? About the slave thing? I don’t think he’ll be

up
set with you when you explain the circumstances to him. I’ll call you when I find your in-laws.”

Evan sputtered. “Not funny, Jeff.”

Jeff sighed. “I’m sorry. That was insensitive. I meant no disrespect to Justin or his family.”

Evan rubbed his eyes. “I know. It’s really time I stopped
 
hanging on so tight. Keep me updated.”

Jeff
sounded way too happy in Evan’s opinion when he said,
 
“Will do.”

Jeremy glowed at Evan. “You’re going to take care of my whole family?”

“They’re all talented people. I promised I’d get in touch with them for you.”

“Yeah, but Evan…giving them all jobs and a house? That’s….” Jeremy did slide off the sofa at that point and knelt at Evan’s feet. He leaned in so his forehead rested on Evan’s knee. He sighed when Evan’s put his hand on his head and began gently carding through his hair. He raised his head and looked at Evan. “Anything you want that I have to give is yours.”

“You don’t mean that, Jeremy.”

“I do. Evan, I need to do something to thank you
…
to show you how much this means to me.”

Evan pulled away. “I don’t want anything from you that you would give me out of a sense of obligation or duty, J
er
.”

Jeremy took the leap. “I know you want me. Maybe you don’t realize that I want you, too?”

Evan stood up and moved away. “I need to get dressed and try to make an appointment to see my Dad, in a couple of weeks. Jay, I don’t want to talk about this. I didn’t buy you to use you or to make you do
…
things
for me out of gratitude. Let’s not discuss this anymore.”

*****

J
eremy sank back on his heels and no
dded. He had seen Evan’s pupils
dilate, until the violet had nearly been swallowed up in the black. He just needed to bid
e his time. Evan needed  to
be
loved, and even more, he
needed to give love to someone.

J
eremy w
as determined to fill that need.

Chapter
Eleven

Despite Evan’s urgent requests to see Allen, he was unable to get an appointment until five weeks after his last serious discussion
with Jeremy. It turned out to be a good thing, as it gave them time to get more settled in their roles. Jeremy’s clothing, collar and tags arrived; Evan and Jeremy sat down with Jeff and came up with a workable office set-up for Jeremy involving Japanese tea tables and pillows
.
Evan had his long talk with Marta and discovered that she felt the same way about slavery that Evan did and had no intention of reporting him for anything he and Jeremy might do in the privacy of their own home
. And
the
Paxtons
came to visit.

Evan almost couldn’t bear the level of gratitude Jeremy’s family attempted to show him. After they realized that Evan had no intention of actually treating Jeremy like a slave, Terri, his mother, broke down and cried for several minutes on Evan’s shoulder. The family had been housed in James Enterprises, Inc. owned housing and the left-over money from Jeremy’s purchase price had served to furnish it completely and would put Amy through college
. A
sizable amount
remained
that Gerald Paxton had invested in James Enterprises, Inc. stock. After the initial emotional overload, the visit went well, with everyone competing to tell Evan the most embarrassing stories they could remember about Jeremy’s childhood. Evan found himself at the end of the evening, warm and relaxed. With a guilty start he realized he hadn’t thought about Justin for days.

*****

Evan sat once more in his father’s office, relaxed and ready to tell him all about Jeremy. He heard Allen’s voice just outside the door and stood up.

Allen burst through the door and evaluated Evan carefully and then smiled; a real smile that reached his eyes.

“You look better.”

“Dad, I hate to admit it but you and the board members were right. I really needed somebody else to focus on to pull me out of my own head.”

“Jeff might have mentioned that you bought a personal slave. Not my idea of the best solution, but if this is how much better you are after only a few weeks, then…maybe it will work for you. I have to
say it makes me pretty uncomfortable, but the investors and the board will think nothing of it.”

“I haven’t changed my views on slavery. I don’t regard Jeremy as my slave in private. Dad, I know him. He was one of my friends at Stanford. His Dad’s company failed and he offered himself for sale hoping to spare his mother or his sister from the work farm. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him in that display cage
…
I had to do something.”

Allen stared at Evan. “You bought someone you know? Someone you already had feelings for? Son, this is going to end badly. You know that anybody could report you…that housekeeper of yours, his vet, Jeff…
.
”

“Dad
..
.Jeff certainly isn’t going to report me
. N
o one has ever reported him for how crazy in love he is with Moira. Not that I’m in love with Jeremy
, I just think he will be an enormous asset to the company. H
e has an MBA from Stanford and will make an ideal personal assistant.”

“You’ve never trusted anybody to be your personal assistant before. You’re really going to trust your slave?”

“My
friend
, Dad. When I bought him I paid enough to get his whole family off the work farm with enough left over that they had enough money to set up housekeeping again. I’m helping them find jobs. Jeremy
…
you have to meet him, Dad. Or I have to exhibit him for you, or whatever the correct Master/Slave terminology is. Come to dinner.”

“Go get him and bring him here, now.” Allen sighed. “I
didn’t want to have to admit it, but we miss you here much more than I thought
we would
. If I’m satisfied that this young man will really be good for you in the long term, you mi
ght as well come back to work.”

Evan beamed at his father as he raced home to get Jeremy ready for their first excursion into a very highly sheltered version of the real world.

Evan had told Jeremy to expect that he would be meeting
Allen,
today, so he had dressed carefully in a charcoal suit with a subtle gray pin stripe, dove gray dress shirt, charcoal gray tie with a tiny maroon design, and his black Italian leather loafers with black silk dress socks. His collar peeked out of the very top of his dress shirt about an eighth of an inch and looked like piping
to the casual glance
. The soft gray of his shirt made his dark blue eyes seem even bluer.