18. Sirex

18

SIREX

T hey went through another series of grand hallways, passing one particularly magnificent doorway which was decorated in scrolled gold and bass relief carvings as they went.

"That's the Emperor's room where he keeps his private collection of ancient artifacts," Undersecretary Y'sfer remarked, nodding at it.

"Really? I don't see any guards out front," Sirex said, frowning.

"Oh, there is no need for guards. Lord Thruck keeps it locked. And even if he didn't, no one would dare to enter the Royal Residence without Lord Thruck's permission. Why, even touching the door without having Lord Thruck beside you carries a heavy penalty," Y'sfer explained.

Sirex wondered if the Emperor had willingly given over the exclusive power of seeing him to Lord Thruck and decided he'd better not ask.

"I see," he said neutrally.

"And here is your guest suite," Y'sfer said, throwing open a door several down from the Emperor's suite. "I hope you'll be comfortable. The banquet is in just about one solar hour and it's to be held in the Great Hall. I'll have new clothing sent for you, as well as some accoutrements for your female," he said to Sirex. "For now, farewell."

He left hurriedly, leaving the two of them alone in the vast, grand bedroom which had an enormous round bed as a centerpiece. Hanging above the bed was a curtain of sheer, silky fabric that had the faintest hint of blue. The curtain surrounded the bed, making it look a little like a tent, Sirex thought. Not that most tents had luxury mattresses inside them he thought dryly.

But he had more to do than admire the décor. Now that he and Phoebe were alone together, there was a bit of awkwardness between them. Sirex wondered if he ought to apologize for spanking her—but what else could he have done? Besides, she had deserved that spanking for endangering their mission by calling out Lord Thruck.

"Well…I suppose our mission has been extended, at least a little," he remarked to Phoebe.

"I guess you're right." She looked at him from the corner of her eye, as though wondering what to say. Suddenly, she came over to him and went to her knees.

"Phoebe?" he asked, looking down at her in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Apologizing for endangering the mission, Sir." She bowed her head submissively. "I don't know why I said those things. I mean, they were true—those people are horrible! But I shouldn't have blurted out my feelings like that. I'm truly sorry."

Sirex felt a surge of relief.

"Get up," he said. Leaning down he took her arm and pulled her to her feet. "I admit I was angry, but I thought you took your punishment well—at least, once you settled down and started apologizing," he added, stroking a strand of hair out of her face.

"I didn't want to apologize at first," she admitted. "I'm not sorry about insulting Thruck and Y'sfer—but I am sorry for making your job harder."

"No more apologies," Sirex told her, stroking her soft cheek. "You've already paid the price. Speaking of which, let me see your bottom."

"See it? Why?" She looked suddenly flushed and flustered.

"Just so I can make sure I didn't do any lasting damage." Sirex went and sat on the side of the large bed, which was covered in a dark blue spread, and patted his knees. "Come here and lay across my lap so I can examine you."

"Oh, um…okay."

Reluctantly, he thought, Phoebe came to him. She was starting to lay across his lap as he had ordered, when she accidentally touched one of her breasts.

"Oh! Ouch!" she gasped at the sharp electric jolt the forbidden contact caused.

"Did you hurt yourself? Let me see," Sirex ordered. Cupping her breast in one hand, he looked at it carefully. "I don't see any marks," he remarked.

"That's because the pain is mostly in my fingertips," Phoebe explained, wincing as she looked down at her hand. "This is going to be so inconvenient!"

"We'll manage—just ask me for help any time you need it." Sirex put one hand on her bare lower back. "Now lay across my lap and let me examine you."

Phoebe shivered slightly but lay down as he asked with her behind in the air. She had never put back on her discarded clothing so her bare ass was easy to see.

"Hmm…" Sirex ran one hand carefully over her ripe globes, testing for heat. There was still some warmth to her skin—he hadn't held back much while spanking her. But when he ran his fingers further down to the place where her buttocks met her upper thighs, Phoebe tensed up and squeezed her legs together.

"Sir, please…" she murmured, though she made no move to get off his lap.

"Please what?" he growled, frowning. "Part your legs right now, Phoebe—let me see what you're trying to hide. Did I hurt you here somehow?"

He didn't think that he had, but it was hard to be certain without checking for sure.

With a submissive little sigh, she parted her legs at last, allowing Sirex to see her inner thighs and her pussy—both of which were shiny with her juices.

"Is this what you didn't want me to see?" Sirex slipped his fingers between her thighs and stroked lightly over her outer pussy lips. "Are you still ashamed of being a Numalla?"

"I don't know. I just…I don't know why I got so wet when you…when you spanked me." She sounded both confused and ashamed…but also aroused—Sirex could smell her desire perfuming the air between them.

"Maybe it was because you wanted to submit," he suggested, his voice going slightly hoarse. Gods, the idea that his spanking her had gotten her turned on made him aroused as well. Did giving herself over to him completely really make her that hot?

Apparently it did, because she was moaning softly and writhing on his lap.

"Please, Sir—this is so embarrassing!"

"What? Opening your thighs for me and letting me see your soft little pussy?" He stroked her outer pussy lips again. "You never have to be embarrassed with me, baby. It's not embarrassing to be a good girl and spread your thighs for me."

It was unclear where they were heading with this, but just then there was a knock on the door and a voice called,

"Excuse me, but I have some clothing and accoutrements for Lord Sirex and his female!"

"I'd better get that." Reluctantly, Sirex pushed Phoebe gently off his lap and onto the bed. He got up and went to the door.

Outside the carved wooden door was a young male servant in gold, green, and purple livery.

"Excuse me my Lord, but the Undersecretary sends you these with his compliments," he said, nodding down at the pile of clothing he had in his arms.

Sirex was about to take the pile from him when a silver gleaming thing on top of the clothes caught his eye.

"What's this?" he asked, picking it up and turning it from side to side. It looked a little like the human tool called "pliers" except it had two inward curving jaws that narrowed to sharp silver needles. Hanging from one of these needles was a round golden ring that was split in the middle.

"Oh—that's an automatic nipple piercer, my Lord," the servant said quickly. "The Undersecretary said to tell you that it's easy to use—you simply put the nipple between the jaws and squeeze once. It even puts the nipple ring in at the same time—see?" He nodded at the golden ring, gleaming against the silver needle it was suspended from.

Sirex frowned.

"I see. You can take that back—I won't be using it."

The servant boy's face went pale.

"Oh please, my Lord! If I bring anything back, I'll get into trouble! Please just take it—you have no need to use it if you don't want to."

"Well…all right." Sirex sighed and picked up another object from the top of the pile. "What's this thing, then?" he asked, waving it in the air. It was a thick rod about as long as his hand with a smooth, bulging head and a jeweled base. It was oddly phallic shaped, Sirex thought. What could it be for?

"Oh, that's the pussy plug for your female," the servant said helpfully. "All women wear them here in the palace. Lord Thruck says it keeps them from putting their naughty fingers in their honeypots."

"What?" It was Phoebe again. She had gotten off the bed and come to stand beside Sirex in the doorway. "I've already got on these damn bracelets," she said, frowning at the servant as she held up her wrists with the golden manacles. "How does he expect me to get anywhere near my ‘honeypot' with these on? I mean, how many more precautions against female pleasure can he take?"

The servant went red around the ears and his eyes went wide.

"Oh, er…forgive me, I'm not used to speaking to females," he said to Sirex. "But to answer your lady's question, no female is allowed to go around the palace without a pussy plug in place. The Undersecretary expects you to place it in your female before you come to the Royal banquet tonight."

Sirex didn't like this, but he had a sudden thought.

"Will the Emperor be in attendance at the banquet?" he asked.

"I don't know—he used to come out of his quarters to eat with the Court all the time," the servant said. "But in the last year he's come out less and less and now it's been many solar months since anyone has seen him."

"I see." Sirex nodded. "Very well—thank you for that information. And for the clothing," he added, taking the bundle of clothing and accoutrements from the servant. "Is there anything else in here I need to know the use of?" he asked.

"Only a new harness for your female—it's supposed to fit her after she gets her nipples pierced," the servant said.

Sirex frowned.

"I have already said I won't be piercing Phoebe's nipples!"

The boy shrank back from his angry growl.

"Please, my Lord—I don't have anything to do with that! I'm only just telling you what's there!"

"Very well." Sirex sighed and nodded at him. "Run along now. I'll call for you later if I need you."

"Yes, my Lord." The servant boy made a hasty bow and then scuttled away as fast as he could, back down the vast hallway. Sirex and Phoebe watched him until suddenly he disappeared into the wall.

"Hey!" Phoebe gasped. "Where did he go?"

"I don't know." Sirex said. "Maybe some kind of hidden passageway for the servants' use only?"

"Maybe…" Her green eyes lingered on the section of wall where the servant had disappeared for a moment. Then she lifted her nose and inhaled deeply. "Do you think that weird, sweet smell is stronger here? I mean stronger than it was back in the Grand Salon?"

"What smell?" Sirex sniffed the air but only caught a faint whisper of the sweet scent.

"That smell, you know." She sniffed the air again. "It's really strong here."

"I can barely smell it," Sirex admitted. Which was strange. Because of his Kindred blood, he had a much more sensitive sense of smell than most humans—it seemed impossible for Phoebe to be able to smell a scent better than he could.

"Well, whatever." Phoebe shrugged and turned towards him. "I guess we should see what they sent us to wear."

"I guess so. Come on." He led the way back into the bedroom and placed the pile of clothing on the bed. At once, the pussy plug rolled off the top of the pile and nearly fell on the floor. Bending quickly, he caught it before it could roll under the bed. "Well, here's one thing you're supposed to be wearing," he remarked, showing it to Phoebe.

Her eyes grew wide.

"That thing is really thick. And how am I supposed to get it in when I can't even touch myself down there?"

Sirex looked at the phallic plug thoughtfully. It really was quite large—almost as thick as his own shaft, though not quite as long.

"I suppose I'm meant to help you put it in," he murmured, looking at her. "How do you feel about that?"

Her cheeks were getting hot with a blush but she lifted her chin.

"If…if you have to do it, then I guess I'll have to deal with it. I just don't understand how it's supposed to stay in."

"Maybe the new harness has a way to hold it in place," Sirex suggested. "Look." He picked up a new silver and gold three-point harness and held it up for her. It looked a lot like the one she had on at the moment, except instead of tiny nipple cages, the metal wires that made up the breast portion were open at the tips, apparently for her peaks to poke through.

Sure enough, down below there was an elaborate assortment of clit jewelry as well as a lower cup which did indeed look like it had an apparatus to hold the phallic pussy plug in place.

"Oh my…" Phoebe's green eyes went wide as she examined it.

"What's wrong?" Sirex was instantly attuned to her mood, which, from the look on her face, was trepidation.

"I just realized that this thing has, uh, clit jewelry too." She bit her lip. "And you're going to…going to have to put it on me."

"Do you find that idea embarrassing? Spreading your thighs so I can help you place the jewelry?" Sirex asked.

"Well, I mean…it's pretty intimate," Phoebe pointed out.

"So was mapping your pussy for the first harness," he murmured. Reaching out, he brushed a strand of hair away from her hot cheek and tucked it behind her ear. "Look at me, Phoebe," he murmured, looking into her eyes. "Everything we do here is just to serve the mission—once we get back to the Mother Ship, we'll go back to being coworkers and fellow agents."

For a moment he thought she looked disappointed—which didn't make sense. Wasn't she the one who had said their relationship here was only temporary? But then her face cleared and she nodded.

"You're right. We just have to deal with a little, uh, extra intimacy to complete the mission and once we get back home, we'll go back to normal."

"Indeed," Sirex agreed. But he found that he didn't want to think about that. For now, Phoebe was his—his to dominate, to punish…and to cherish. It made him want to live in the present and not think about a time in the future when she would be nothing but a fellow agent.

"Well…" She hesitated, looking at him from the corner of her eye. "I guess…I guess we'd better get dressed for tonight."

Sirex felt his shafts surge in his trousers and tried to ignore the sensation.

"I guess we should," he said.