Waking

Nikki woke face down, her arms over her head, her legs spread. She tried to move. Realized that her wrists and ankles were bound. And that her ass was incredibly painful. It all came rushing back, the 13 strokes with Charles’ belt. Each one marking her, cutting her. Digging into her. Creating welts. She could feel the marks now. Almost as vivid as when he had first hit her.

Nikki moaned. She tried to identify where she was, turning her head as much as possible. She was so stiff, it seemed like she could feel each muscle fiber firing as she flexed them. She moaned again, this time louder.

“Ahh… There you are, my sweet.” It was Mark. She must be back in his rooms. Yes, she recognized the feel of his mattress, nice but not as luxurious as the Four Seasons.

“How are you feeling? You blacked out there at the end. And I let you sleep it off. Gave you a little shot of something to ease the pain, but it should be wearing off now. I tied you so you wouldn’t inadvertently turn and lie on your welts.”

“Unhhhh, ummmm, uuuuk.” Nikki felt like there was cotton in her mouth. She couldn’t talk at all and she was incredibly thirsty.

“Here, hun. Have a drink.” Mark was holding a straw to her lips.

Nikki sipped the fluid. It wasn’t water. Tasted funny. She tried to identify the flavor. Oh… it was some kind of medicine in liquid form mixed into a thick fluid, soy milk or a nutritional drink. Gross. But she realized she was hungry. She must have been asleep for a while. She drank more. Being a good girl. Trusting her trainer. It didn’t matter if it was gross, if he wanted her to drink it she needed to drink it.

“You are much better already. It probably still hurts like hell, but the swelling is way down. You’ll have bruises but you should be able to resume your normal activities later today. It’ll feel a bit tender sitting on it and lying on it, but you won’t be doing any damage so you can just breathe through the pain. Let it remind you of your status. Recognize that it only makes you more beautiful.”

Mark sat down on the bed next to her and stroked her hair back from her face. “And Nikki,” this was the first time he had used her name in ages, not just called her slave, or honey, or baby, or some other term of endearment. He must be going to say something important. Nikki took a deep breath and focused herself completely on his words. What was he going to say?

“I am very very proud of you.”

Nikki let the air out of her lungs, breathed and smiled. Her mouth still feeling funny, but somehow everything seeming better. He was happy with her. He wasn’t disappointed. Her mistake with Mike hadn’t ruined her chances. He believed what Charles had said – that her weakness was part of her beauty. That she had only behaved as a sex slave should.

“Yes, hun. I am.” He was still stroking her hair. “Charles gave you the highest rating he has ever given a slave new to the market. His approval is worth an enormous amount. But not only that, he told me that he is going to try to raise the capital to bid on you himself. He is smitten.”

Nikki smiled wider. She knew she had made a special connection with Charles. She felt it. She felt that he knew her, knew her better than, well, better than almost anybody else knew her, possibly even better than Mark did. But she hadn’t been sure it was mutual. Maybe she just felt that it was special, without him feeling that way. It felt like a warm balm to hear that he did.

“He told me all about your little conversation. About the guilt that you have been carrying. It blew me away that he learned all that about you in one evening, when I have spent the last six weeks with you.” Mark shook his head. “That’s why Charles is in such demand as an evaluator. He gets right to the heart of everything.” Mark shook his head again. “It’s humbling. I guess it just shows me how much I have to learn. Maybe when I get to be 71….”

Nikki tried to laugh, but moving her diaphragm like that hurt. She still hurt all over. She tried to focus on the pain, the way Mark had described. To use it. To make it work for her. To remember why she was feeling it. It helped a little. But it still hurt like hell.

Mark stroked her head again. “Baby. Just relax. I want to tell you a little more.”

Nikki melted into his touch. It felt so good, she was tempted to fall asleep. She held herself awake and conscious – she didn’t want to miss a word he was saying.

“Charles will provide a great baseline on your social skills, manners, conversational ability, intelligence, topical knowledge, and self-awareness. It’s fantastic that you got such great ratings in these areas, but frankly it’s not surprising. Given your age and background I wouldn’t have expected anything less.”

“By the way, it is particularly impressive that Charles is going to bid for you. Usually he prides himself on his ability to impart these skills to younger slaves, so he buys those he feels have raw talent and he teaches them – shows them how to behave in a classy restaurant, how to use complex table settings, how to keep a conversation flowing, gives them lessons in basic history, geography, politics. And then resells them for a huge premium. He’s been able to completely self fund his stable of slaves, hasn’t had to spend a penny of his own capital on maintenance, supplies, or any accoutrements, let alone on purchase price.”

“He gets a lot of joy out of developing those slaves, teaching them, bringing them along and being able to quantify the value he’s added. It is very satisfying. Not to mention that he gets good service – all the girls fall in love with him and want to please him. He has some of the most popular fishing retreats in the Atlanta area – he invites a group of guys and has the slaves take care of them all weekend. Nice little hobby, if you ask me.”

“But for him to want a girl like you, who he can’t develop. There has to be something else going on. I think he saw the complexity of your character, and he wants to know more. He’s just hooked.”

Nikki’s feeling of satisfaction increased. Everything Mark was saying made sense. Charles had gone though a number of topics in a systematic way – he had been testing her general knowledge. And he had watched how she handled herself at the restaurant. She was glad she had learned all that stuff at an early age. Beyond the evaluation, Charles’ fatherly manner, his seeming lack of interest in his own satisfaction, his focus on her, all made sense if he was used to finding raw talent and investing in it. And she certainly didn’t fit that category.

“But that’s a tangent, about Charles. I wanted to talk some more about the evaluation.” Mark was still stroking Nikki’s head and her shoulders. She sighed.

“All the things he looks for are the things you are best at. The next set of evaluations are going to be harder for you. You aren’t going to be able to use your strengths the way you are used to. There are only three more individual assessments before the group compulsories, and you won’t be able to talk at all, for all three of them. It is going to be hard for you. But know, I wouldn’t be having you do this if I didn’t think you were ready, if I didn’t think you could do well in all the categories.”

Nikki sighed harder. It was true. She was most confident about her verbal skills and her knowledge base. Compared to most slaves, she did have more education and more life experience. She just knew more. Having to demonstrate her skill without relying on those advantages was scary. On the other hand, she loved that Mark had confidence in her and she felt good that he felt she could do it. If she could be successful without that… well now that would be real success wouldn’t it?

“Are you feeling a little better now, my girl? Here take another sip before you answer.” Mark moved the straw to her mouth again. She drank more.

“Yes, Sir. I feel better now, Sir.” Saying the words, Nikki was suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling of her submission. She felt it wash over her, relaxing her, and settling into her cunt. Mark really was in charge. He wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. He was giving her to all these other people, providing her with this variety of experience, but he was also caring for her and protecting her. He had let her be beaten, and hard, but only for her own good and he was going to make sure she was okay now. He was there for her, she had nothing to fear and nothing to worry about. She felt wonderful. She breathed into the pain of her physical wounds and knew she could wear them like a badge of honor today.

“Good, girl. Because you have a big day ahead.” Mark kept talking as he undid the bonds on her wrists and her ankles, working quickly and purposefully. These bonds were not for titillating her or providing a sexual thrill, they were only for her own protection.

“We’re going to go work with Tony and Susan. It’s an individual assessment tonight, but you will actually be four of you going through it together.” Nikki flushed with excitement – did that mean she was going to see Oliver again? The moment that they had shared in the hallway had been surprisingly vivid. She could feel it now, his cock sliding into her wet pussy from behind. His hips thrusting forwards, his breath on her neck, his hands guiding her hips to him. Her breath started to quicken and she pushed her hips forward into the bed just a little.

“Whoa… girl. Don’t go there!” Mark was laughing but his words were serious. “I can see you moving your hips at the thought of Oliver. He’s a pretty little one, it’s true. But you are not going to get him today. You will be in the service of Mistress Valerie, she’s having a party and you will be both useful and decorative. You’ll find out more. But you will not be performing sexually unless one of the guests initiates it.”

Mark reached his hand down. Nikki’s legs were still spread wide on the bed and, as he reached down, he had unobstructed access to her cunt. He moved swiftly, plunging his right index finger into her, not to arouse her further or pleasure her, but just to test her. He pulled his finger back out immediately.

“Good. Good girl. I like that you are so wet. This is excellent.” He brought his finger to her lips and she automatically opened her mouth to lick it off as she had been trained to do. “You are going to stay that way all day; aroused, wet, ready, but not satisfied. It gives you a special glow that is so appealing. Mistress Valerie will love it.” She sucked her juices off his finger, tasting the earthy richness of it. It was hard to believe that before coming here she had never tasted pussy…

“That’s right, girl. Suck my finger clean.” Mark pulled his finger from her mouth and patted her head.

“Now, let’s get you up. You are going to feel a little stiff. The trick is not to roll onto your buttocks as you stand but to shimmy over to the edge and come directly to your feet.” Mark helped her move over to the side of the bed and get her feet on the floor. A little stiff was a huge understatement. She felt as if her ass was encased in plaster, and she couldn’t bend it properly. And it felt twice the normal size.

“Come on, let’s move around a little. It will feel better.” Mark led her on a tour of the room, walking to the windows, back to the door, over to the living room. She felt like she was just learning to walk or something. But it did feel better pretty quickly. After a few minutes she felt almost normal as she was walking.

Mark kissed her. “I am so proud of you, girl.” He smiled down at her. “You are brave and strong and talented. You were quite a find and I’m glad you are mine.” He held her head to his chest. “You are doing so well. Really. Exploring and learning. I am so pleased with you.”

His words traveled into her like, warm like a cup of hot cocoa or a shot of tequila. She could feel them settling, comforting, deep inside her. She had given herself over to him. She had allowed him to become her entire world. Now she was so glad of it – these words, so simple, so straightforward, they meant so much. He was pleased with her. She felt indescribably good. She tried to identify what it was… she felt whole, that was it. She felt completed in a wonderful way. This was what she was supposed to be, and she had succeeded in being it. Good.

“Let’s go get your boots on. We’re going for a walk.”