The Lady or The Tiger 2

Tara sat with Xander in the back of their new master´s transport. Immediately after purchasing them, the vampire had led them to the loading docks, and into the cargo area of his transport. He clipped their leashes to the rods provided.

"Sit," he said, indicating the metal bench. Before even confirming that they had followed his orders, he turned strode out of the cargo area, leaving the hatch doors open calling over his shoulder, "No talking."

They sat. Tara looked at Xander, seeing that her own surprise was mirrored on his face.

The vampire had returned almost immediately with a third slave. Even if the girl hadn´t been entirely nude, except for a gaudy bow, Tara could tell she had been sold as a toy. The girl had the disturbingly vacant eyes and rapturous smile on her lips that all the toys shared. It was like cheerful catatonia. Tara felt her stomach clench in a sick knot.

Toys were the hottest new thing on the slave market; they didn´t really require training, just looks. Even though it was forbidden, slavers kept them strung out on Bliss Gas or kept them under spells long enough to sell them. Most of them didn´t live long enough for their owners to notice a personality change when these control methods wore off.

Once the toy had been loaded, the vampire had locked the cargo area, and the transport took off.

Tara wasn´t sure how long they traveled, although it seemed like quite awhile. She was just thankful that she could sit, and wasn´t required to kneel on the hard metal floor for the entire journey.

Once they stopped, Tara was surprised that the vampire wasn´t the one who opened the doors, but a SevenGen unit.

She came in scowling and muttering. All Tara could pick up was "...stupid vampire..." and "...not a dictaphone..."

The SevenGen unclipped the toy´s leash and said loudly "We ...Are ...Leaving. Do...You...Understand?" as if the girl were deaf, or spoke a foreign language. The girl didn´t respond, but smiled wider and rose slightly unsteadily to her feet as her leash was tugged. The SevenGen sighed dramatically and pulled the girl out.

After the doors were shut and locked again, Tara risked another look at Xander. He raised his eyebrows, and mouthed "What the ...?" Tara shrugged and shook her head.

She had never even heard of slave owners who allowed their personal assistants to be blatantly disrespectful in front of their slaves, or to handle slaves directly. As far as Tara knew, that task was always reserved for demons or trained overseers.

Now that they were alone, she and Xander moved closer together so their thighs and shoulders touched. She didn´t know how long they´d be together, and she wanted to take advantage of this small bit of comfort. She didn´t dare talk to him, and she fervently hoped he stayed quiet too. Xander sometimes babbled when he was nervous. She had no idea what the vampire would do if he were disobeyed.

They sat like this, silently communing until the doors flung open loudly.

She and Xander immediately slid apart, and watched as a large metal storage box of some kind was loaded into the cargo area. The box was so heavy, the transport settled appreciatively under its weight.

Two demons, of a species Tara didn´t recognize, climbed into the transport and began to maneuver the box inside. They must have been incredibly strong, even for demons. They made quick work of securing the object, their iridescent blue skin not even breaking a sweat. Just as they snapped the final latch in place, the vampire sauntered in.

He glared as the blue demons brushed past him to exit the transport, but didn´t say anything. He walked around the perimeter of the box, and confirmed that it was secured, and then headed over to where Tara and Xander were fastened.

As he stood in front of Tara, he pulled a small object out of his coat pocket. She recognized it as a portable scanner. They were used to download information encoded on a slave´s collar. She lifted her chin and tilted her head so he had access to the port on her collar.

As the information was downloading, she felt her new master´s hand stroke the side of her chin and tilt her head slightly so she was facing him. Her eyes locked with his, and she immediately lowered her gaze respectfully.

She looked up again as she felt him impatiently tap her face, locking eyes with him once again. He had the most intense blue eyes she had ever seen. They seemed to bore into her very soul. She desperately wanted to look away; her skin nearly itched with the intensity of his stare. When she heard the scanner beep, indicating that the scan was complete, the moment was broken.

She gratefully looked away as he removed the scanner and moved to scan Xander´s collar. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that he also forced Xander to look him in the eye during the scan. She hoped Xander would be able to keep his hostility in check.

Once he had completed the scan, he ran a thumb gently across Xander´s´ lips. "So pretty" the vampire said softly, and then laughed when Xander jerked back slightly.

Tara held her breath to see what type of punishment Xander had earned. She was again taken by surprise when the vampire simply pocketed the scanner. He skirted around the cargo box and strode out, saying, "Got it Gen, let´s get the hell out of here".

Before they heard her answer, the rear doors closed and were locked again, leaving Tara and Xander alone, with the box.

As the transport started up again, she and Xander again moved together. She risked laying her head on his shoulder. It was awkward with their hands bound, but worth it for the comfort.

Tara was also glad for the warmth. The temperature seemed to be dropping. It must have been much closer to nightfall than she had realized.

It never occurred to her that the drop in temperature might have something to do with the cargo box they picked up.

Spike slid out the vid–screen and attached the scanner to the port on the side. Gen was being blessedly silent, sitting across from him.

Arvis had been thrilled with Spikes gift. He had the dozy girl on her knees, sucking his three cocks like a pro within minutes of their arrival. He ordered his minions about to get the cargo loaded into Spikes transport and off his hands.

Spike was glad to be out of there.

On the vid, Spike looked over the information the portable scanner had retrieved from his newly acquired slaves.

The data stored on their collars was fairly mundane. Mostly a listing of skills the two had acquired. Tara and Alexander seemed to have the good, or perhaps poor, fortune to only have one owner. Phelon were notorious for working their stock exceptionally hard to earn additional profit from them.

The skill lists for the two of them were lengthy. Both had worked the infamous Phelon tents, although Tara more extensively than Alexander. She could do a fair bit of spell casting, and excelled at potions. Alexander had a wealth of experience in nearly all fields of manual labor, from kitchen duty to carpentry.

Once Spike scrolled through all the data, he realized he acquired the most useful information while running the scan. His new purchases were very interesting.

Tara was nearly in a panic when he´d looked her in the eye, but she´d done as he´d commanded. She was very accommodating, and wanted to remain unobtrusive, and his perusal had made her exceedingly uncomfortable. But she bore it because it was what he desired. He wanted that kind of unquestioning loyalty in a slave.

Alexander, however seemed to wear his defiance on his proverbial sleeve. His eyes flashed and sparked when he´d been forced to meet Spikes gaze. If his file didn´t indicate he had been born a slave, Spike would have sworn he had been recently enslaved. He smiled at the memory of how the boy had flinched when Spike had stroked his mouth. The boy´s passion was arousing. To manage to break him and yet keep all that passion would be a challenge.

Spike had to make a decision; he had purchased the two of them because they seemed quite close. That closeness gave him the advantage in leveraging their affections to suit his needs. He was tired of being bored and it seemed like an interesting challenge to mold one of these two into his perfect slave and possibly a claimant.

He had no interest in acquiring multiple slaves and sponsoring them indefinitely in the pleasure houses, like Angelus did. He only wanted to sponsor one of them, to slowly bend and corrupt until there was nothing but the desire to please him. The question was which one?

Xander didn´t know if he wanted to laugh or cry at the irony of belonging to a vampire. As it was, he sat in silence in back of the transport for the long journey, offering any comfort to Tara that he could. It was his fault that they´d been sold.

He knew that he owed Riley his life, and possibly Tara´s as well. He´d done the unforgivable, although the only regret he had was he´d unintentionally harmed Tara. She´d been taken from the only home she´d known because of him, and it was likely that without Riley´s intervention, Xander had put her life in danger as well.

Xander silently vowed to do anything he could to make things right for Tara, if he could. He owed her that.

The debt he owed Riley was one he probably couldn´t repay. Since Riley had been able to successfully negotiate with Master Tamor, Xander was fairly certain he knew what the overseer had to sacrifice to keep him alive. Tamor had been after Riley to join his warrior stable for quite some time. Riley had been given a choice because of his status as overseer. The warrior games were brutal, and Riley had been resisting.

It was only a matter of time before Tamor found the right leverage to persuade Riley. Gambling on Riley in the games was a far more profitable use of his skills and training. The Phelon were nothing if not greedy and ruthless in pursuit of profit. Tamor would never have rested until he had managed to ´convince´ Riley, but Xander hated the fact that he and Tara been the leverage their former master needed.

When Xander had been up on the auction block, he´d been disgusted to realize that the first demon interested in him seemed to be a breeder. Although when the bluish freak slid part of an unwelcome and painfully unlubricated finger into Xander, he thought the creature might have been looking for something else. When the vampire had jumped on the dais and tossed the others off, and demanding to buy them together, Xander hadn´t known if he should cheer or puke. He settled on being glad that Tara was spared Corswa spawning.

Xander was grateful that they´d been purchased together, but once they´d been situated in the transport and he´d seen the toy being loaded as well, he´d become afraid for Tara. He was sick that the poor girl had been reduced to a mindless sex toy for a demon and feared a similar fate for Tara. He was ashamed to find that he breathed a sigh of relief as the nameless girl had been dropped off as a gift. It did not bode well for them if the toy was for their owner.

Xander was puzzled when he realized that the large blue demons were securing a cryo–box. They were used to transport humans over long distances, keeping them in stasis. He wondered what, or who was in it.

When their new master, the nameless blond vampire, came in to scan their collars, his behavior reinforced the fact that he didn´t seem to follow any protocol. Xander had a tough enough time obeying well outlined rules, erratic behavior made things that much harder.

Xander was ashamed with himself that he was unable to control his anger and disgust at being touched by the soulless creature. He wasn´t so stupid to tell the demon what he thought, but he had been unable to keep himself from flinching when it had touched his mouth. He had the nauseating feeling that there was a possibility that the vampire would be touching more of him than his face. Better him though, than Tara. He would do anything to spare her that. He just hoped he had the opportunity to offer.

When the transport finally slowed and then stopped, he and Tara reluctantly separated from each other. This was possibly the last time they´d see each other. The rear doors flew open and the SevenGen unit appeared. She seemed irate again, and somehow managed to stalk around the large cryo–box toward them.

"You two breathers going to give me trouble?" she asked them.

Xander and Tara looked at each other, and then shook their heads.

"Come on then," she said with a sigh, unclipping their leashes. "I´ve got to get you to clean–up and off to observation. You´d think I had nothing better to do than pet sit," she grumbled to herself as she led them out of the transport. "Try to keep up, will you?"

"Spikey! Glad to see you made it." Angelus bellowed in a superficially cheerful voice, patting Spike on the back with deliberate excessive force. Spike rolled his eyes, everything was so dramatic with Angelus. Spike was thankful that he´d sent his newly acquired slaves off with Gen to be prepared for his evaluation.

"Yes, I managed to get your stupid box back here in one piece," Spike sighed, then asked "Gonna tell me what´s in it, seeing as how I traipsed all over this god forsaken place to get it here?"

"See, now I was going to ask you about that. You seem a little tense. Didn´t everything go smoothly?"

"Oh, save the concern. You know exactly how things went down."

"What makes you think ..." Angelus started

Spike cut him off. "I´ve been here for five minutes, Angelus, and you haven´t bitched once. About anything. I stroll in here hours late with a package you´ve been anticipating for weeks, and all you can manage is ´you seem tense?´ Tosser."

"Spike, I´m wounded," Angelus mock gasped, clasping his hands over his heart. "I care about your well being."

"Whatever. I´m outta here." Spike turned and started to walk out.

"Tell Gen I said ´Hi,´" Angelus called after Spike.

Spike didn´t even turn to answer; he just lifted his left hand up and flipped Angelus off over his shoulder.

Spike heard Angelus chuckle as he strode out. Prick.

His slaves had been separated and were now awaiting his formal evaluation locked in their own examination rooms. He was currently viewing live feed of his new stock on a split vid–screen in the small control room he occupied.

Both pets were kneeling in the rest position, backs straight, buttocks resting on their heels and hands resting loosely on their thighs. They were both wearing sheer tunics now, presumably from their cleanup, instead of the other gear.

Spike still wasn´t sure which one of them he wanted to sponsor.

He´d been to the main admin office at the pleasure house, registering his intent and getting an appointment for check–in and the initial exam. He still had to fill out his specific examination requirements, but the prelim had been taken care of.

He shook his head. You´d think this place was run by a bunch of humans with the insane levels of bureaucracy.

The pleasure houses were run by Mimeologe Demons. The whole lot of them were clones. It was unnerving to see so many duplicates milling about, but they didn´t believe in associating carnally with anything, so the task suited them perfectly.

He really only half listened to his obligations as sponsor. The basics that he´d gleaned were that they would train his slave to his specifications. The slave would then have to work off Spike training debt with other clients until or unless he decided to issue a claiming challenge. He´d be allowed access to his slave at any point he´d like. Spike figured he´d work out the specifics later.

Looking at the vid, his eyes lingered on the girl, she had such a soft lush body. He could imagine stroking her for hours, denying her release until she begged him to do something, anything, and then sinking roughly into her warm welcoming flesh sending her over the edge with his forceful thrusts, driving hard into her as he rode out his own release.

And the boy, so full of passion and anger. To have him on his knees wrapping those pretty lips around Spike´s cock intent on pleasuring him. Spike could almost see the boy glaring up at him resentfully with those dark eyes, being betrayed by his own hard cock hanging heavily between his legs, throbbing for release.

Spike closed his eyes and thought: Moment of Truth... The Lady or the Tiger?

When he opened his eyes and looked back at the vid, he grinned. Choice made. He walked to the proper door and keyed it open.

The End

This ends the intro tale for this verse. The story splits off now into The Lady, in which Spike selects Tara to be his pleasure slave, or The Tiger, where Xander is his choice. The stories will be very different, as Tara and Xander are very different. You may read one, or both or neither and play choose–your–own–adventure in your head.

I will say that you will not get a full Technicolor picture of the verse if you don´t read both tales. For xample, the tents – Tara has a real issue with them, so they are heavily explained in her story, Xander – not so much of an issue, so not as much of an explanation. The cryo–box is very relevant in Xander´s side of the tale, but not Tara´s (at least as of yet).

It´s just the way the stories play out, they are what they are. I don´t want to bore people with useless information just to get it in the story, and I don´t want you to be disappointed if I only spend a line describing what the tents are in Xander´s tale because they are such a focus in the intro. Anyway, enough rambling. My hopes are to release at least one chapter of one of the stories every week or two. With the exception of maybe the first chapter of both, they likely won´t be released in tandem.

Continue onto the next in the series: The Tiger

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