The Verse

"No, do not ask again. I will see your form as I please. Why does this cause you distress? To be shown to your keeper, but you had none showing your bare legs and arms to anyone who might see."

"Bare legs and arms aren't a big deal where I am from! Complete nakedness is! It is something you only do with someone you are intimate with."

"We will be intimate soon. Does that ease your mind?"

"No! No, not at all! I don't want to be intimate with you! Where I am from girls have a choice! And we are only intimate with our boyfriends or husbands!" I lied, panic starting to take over completely.

"You dislike intimacy? Does it not feel good to you? Perhaps you have been doing it wrong. Or perhaps your keeper did not give you the correct attentions. Did he make you peak for him?"

"That has nothing to do with it! You are only supposed to be intimate with people you love!"

"Love. Like your parents? Or your siblings? That is very wrong here."

"No! Oh my god! No, of course not! You can love people you aren't related to!"

"If you keep someone, you care for them. It is not the same as family, but it is similar. Is that what you mean?"

"Our worlds are different. Where I am from you are not intimate with strangers, only people you have promised yourself to. And you don't just pass off a partner when you find someone you like better."

"You are assuming, I believe, that I was Mallee's keeper. I was not. She wished me to be, but I made a choice to keep you."

"You don't even know me!"

"You are pleasing to look upon and I like your size. I like the color of your hair and the way it curls. Also, I like to hear you speak. You need a keeper, to be kept safe from the sentries and the Verse Wardens. So I will take you for my pet and be your keeper until I either tire of you or decide to take you as more than a pet. As your keeper I forbid you to try and escape, to try and harm anyone or to say no to anything I ask of you. And you will not cover your form from me. Ever. Do you take issue with this?"

"Yes! I am not a slave!"

"If you cause disruption or grief for me, I will use corporal punishment. The strap, the ball, then the pyramid, in that order," he said, scowling down at me. "I will not put up with disobedience from my pets."

I broke down crying, unable to process what was happening. "I want to go home! This isn't real! It isn't real! I want to wake up! I want to go home, please!"

"Pannar, give her a dose of Pharrot to calm her," Endrew said with a scowl.

Another man stepped up, pulling a vial out of his pocket. He set the end on my wrist and twisted, then there was a pinch and a burn. Seconds later, my body began going languid and limp and my mind fuzzed over.

Endrew caught me up as I sagged in the giant's grasp, then carried me back to the huge bed. I stared up at him, too relaxed and uncaring to move.

"You gave her too much!" Endrew said, sounding frustrated.

"I adjusted the dose for her size, but perhaps she has no tolerance. Perhaps they do not use Pharrot in her verse. Next time I will use less."

Endrew scowled down at me and I just stared up at him, my mind at peace. His features were attractive, now that I wasn't too terrified of him to look at him that way. Even the shaved sides of his head seemed to suit him. His face relaxed as his lip curled.

"Sleep, pet," he ordered. "I want you aware and active when I put hands on you. Participating."

I stared as his lips moved, then looked back up to his eyes as he looked down at me. His eyes swept over me as I laid there, unmoving. He cocked his head slightly when his eyes landed back on mine.

"I am not used to a creature like you," he said lightly. "You stare so openly as if you have the right. Even in an unknown Verse you are beyond bold. It is not seemly to take one who is incapacitated, but I wish you taste your lips. From your look you do not care, I think," he said, leaning over me, his face close to mine. I thought he meant to kiss me, but his tongue darted out and licked my lips, literally tasting them. He did it again, then again, long, slow strokes with his tongue, then sucking on my lower lip before pulling back, his eyes hooded. "Your lips are perfect for tasting, so full and soft. I think you do not mind being intimate at all," he said with a smirk. "Sleep now pet," he whispered, leaning in and licking my upper lip with the tip of his tongue. He stood and left, leaving me alone. I could hear other people in the room, it sounded like they were making out. Dimly I thought of the girl he had sent away with the man and thought they must be in one of the other beds, but my body was too relaxed to look and I couldn't gather enough interest to really want to try. I closed my eyes with a small sigh, wondering if what he had done was the same as kissing in this place. Another part of me wondered if when I woke up, I would be in my own bed, all of this a dream.

When I opened my eyes, it definitely wasn't a dream. I stared at the ceiling of the open warehouse for a moment before trying to sit up and shove the heavy arm off my waist.

Endrew lifted his head, looking at me through sleepy eyes. "Go back to sleep little pet, it is early yet."

"I need to use the restroom."

"What?"

"I need to pee."

He blanched, looking at me like I had just used a horrible curse or said I was about to go boil a baby alive.

"Is that not a thing here? You have some medical device that removed the need or something?"

"We do not speak of those sorts of things! That is disgusting!"

"Well what should I say instead?"

"That you need a private moment."

"Ok, I need a private moment."

"Are people really so crass in 112?"

"It's just a bodily function, it's normal. Are you going to tell me where I can have a private moment or should I go hunt it down?"

He rolled out of bed and I turned away quickly since he was wearing absolutely nothing. I remembered I was wearing nothing as well. I tried to stand with a blanket but his scowl made me let it go as I followed him. He showed me to a little walled off corner with a hole in the floor and pointed at it.

"Umm, is there a toilet?!?" I asked, staring at the hole in horror. "And toilet paper?"

"What are those? You do as you need in there."

"What do I clean myself with?"

He gestured to a stack of cloth's on a small table. Under it was a box with used cloth's.

"You don't use toilet paper?"

"Paper?"

"To wipe with?"

"Do not be crass! And no, it does not wash, it would be a waste."

"You throw it out with... your bodily waste."

"I said do not be crass! And that sounds like a larger waste! Why would you not just clean and reuse? Is 112 so wasteful? And would paper not clog the canals?"

"It's whatever, can I have some privacy please?"

He was waiting for me when I came out, looking perplexed. "It is not a wonder that 112 is not allowed to use the Paraverse transit system. Your ways are so... off. Your ways might contaminate the other Verses. Come back to bed now, I wish to touch you now that you are no longer incapacitated."

I swallowed hard, looking around for something to use as protection.

"Perhaps you need incentive? You did not mind so much when I tasted you last night. So bold you are with your eyes. Do you not know it is unseemly to look a man in the ye as you do? As if you are an equal?"

"I am an equal! There is no subservience where I am from. I am my own person."

"Here you are not. Here you are my pet and you will obey. Do I need take you in hand, pet?"

I walked away from him, heading back to the room with the beds. I covered as soon as I climbed in and turned my back to him.

"No, pet, turn to me. I will taste you again," he said, taking my shoulder and pulling me to face him. I swallowed hard again and tried to control my breathing. Was this really my new reality? Was this karma for getting so upset with Aaron? No. Aaron was being an asshole, he deserved worse than he got. This was karma for me being too curious.

He leaned close, so close that I could see nothing but his eyes as he looked into mine, studying me up close as if he could see into my soul if he looked hard enough. He leaned in and touched his tongue to my lips again, lightly drawing it over my mouth as I pressed my lips together in disgust. He moved down, licking lightly along my jaw, then my collarbone and up my neck, making me shiver and giving me goosebumps. He slid his fingertips down my arm and pushed my fist open. I thought he meant to hold my hand, entwine our fingers, but he pressed his fingertips to mine lightly and held them there. He licked along my shoulder, the bare tip of his tongue, making me shiver again.

"Pet," he breathed. "Your reaction says you enjoy this, yes? This is the attention you have needed?"

I blinked, not understanding him. Was this what he had meant the night before when he had talked about attentions? If so, they were very... reserved here. That was actually a relief.

"Do you not wish to taste me as well, pet?" he asked, darting his tongue out to lick my upper lip.

"That isn't a thing where I am from," I said breathlessly, wondering if he was that good with his tongue everywhere.

"What do you do?"

"Kiss?"

"Show me," he demanded, his eyes bright.

I turned my head slightly and leaned up, pressing my lips to his softly, kissing him quickly.

"That is all?" he asked, confused.

"There is more when we are closer, know each other better."

"Show me!"

I leaned in and kissed him again, longer this time and opening my mouth slightly to kiss the right away. He learned quickly, doing the same as I slid my fingers up to his head, into his hair.

He pulled back, sucking in a breath to look down at me in shock. "You are very bold, pet. That soon you wish to become more? Not just a pet, but a companion?"

"I don't know what that means, you told me to show you how we did things. That is part of it. I don't know your customs, or if that means more here."

"It does. It is very intimate to be allowed to touch my crown."

"Where I am from it just feels good."

"Kiss is nice, but I enjoy tasting. I wish you to taste me as well. Come," he said, laying on his back and pulling me up over him.

"I don't really want to do that," I whispered fearfully. "I have no idea what sorts of germs you have or where you have been."

"Germs?"

"Little microscopic things that can make people sick."

"Are your people unclean? Do they not cleanse themselves?"

"Of course we do, most of us, but how do I know you do?"

"That is absurd. Can you not smell that I am clean? Feel?"

"Still, what if some other girl had slobbered on you and I lick where she did?"

"Slobber?"

"Spit. Saliva."

"So crass!"

"You can't speak of any bodily fluids at all? This place is weird. Anyway, I don't want to lick anything that I don't know where it's been. Even then, licking a person is... kinda gross."

"Why? No. Pet, it is our way here and I am saying I wish it. You will do it."

I took another trembling breath, then leaned down and touched his neck with my tongue. I licked along his jaw, then down his neck to his shoulder as his hand landed lightly on my back, just his fingertips. With his other hand, he put his fingers under my chin and pulled my mouth up to his. I swallowed hard again as I looked down at him nervously, then very timidly licked along his lower lip. He had full lips, perfect for kissing, but this felt so odd. I traced my tongue around the edge of his lips as he sucked in a breath and held my jaw with his fingertips. I sucked on his lower lip like he had mine and he let out a small sound of pleasure.

I leaned closer, putting my hand on his chest as my body pressed to his and he jerked and gasped, pulling out from under me to sit up.

"You are too bold by far, pet."

"Is it wrong to touch, too?"

"Do you press against bodies this way in 112? Even companions do no more than touch with hands."

"I mean, it's harmless, right? To kiss and cuddle?"

"Cuddle?"

"Hold each other close."

"If you are bonded, you may do such a thing. Are your people so... forward?"

"I don't know. I don't know how you do things here. We can kiss and cuddle without it being a big deal. First base. Second base is groping, touching naughty bits. Third is more than groping, it's like... getting each other off without sex. Home run is sex."

"You speak so openly of things, as if you have no shame at all."

"Our ways are different."

"What is a base?"

"It's from a game. Nevermind. It's just a way we refer to levels of... intimacy. You will have to tell me the rules here."

"Perhaps. Perhaps I am enjoying your mistakes," he said with a smirk, rolling to show me his very erect penis.

I stared wide eyed for a moment, then turned away quickly, blushing. He was very nicely endowed! "See, where I am from, that is super rude. Flashing a girl that way!"

"Flashing?"

"Showing me your... naughty bits with no warning, making me look!"

"Naughty bits. You keep saying that. Are your sexualy organs a source of punishment where you are from? Here they are to procreate and for... enjoyment to those who are bonded."

"No, it's just considered naughty or... rude... crass, to show them. We keep them covered unless we are being intimate with our partner."

"Do you have shame for them? You should not, you are pleasant to look upon."

"No! I mean, I don't know. It's just a thing where I am from."

"You are so strange! You are amenable to companionship?"

"Endrew!" Mallee wailed from the bed she was sharing with the man who had taken her back the night before. I couldn't remember his name.

Endrew looked over at her and I noticed then that everyone was awake and watching us. How long had they been watching and listening? I pulled the blanket up higher.

"It is my choice to make, Mallee. You will not speak out again or I will discharge you from our clan."

"Shanina!" Mallee said urgently.

"Had I a care for Shanina, she would be here instead of my pet, would she not?"

"The Maliska clan!"

"Will understand that I did not have a care for their offering. No more. Pet, answer me."

"I don't understand what you are asking?"

"Do you have a wish to become my companion? More than a pet?"

"I don't even know you! And you don't know me!"

"It is not irrevocable, and I wish to explore you more. You intrigue me where most women do not."

"So you are saying you want to be able to touch me more than the current level allows?"

"Among other things. It also grants you immunity from being passed off to my men as a reward. It allows you to look me in the eye when you speak to me," he said with a smirk. "It allows you to dine next to me and not on the floor at my feet."

"Passed to your men?!? I thought you just said you could only have sex with someone who was bound?!?"

"I did not say copulation with my men. Is that the only thing your people think of? No, but they would use you. Taste you. You would perform for them."

"Perform? Like, dance?"

"Dance? I do not know that word. Things such as preparing food, washing clothing. You ask these questions as though you must weigh your answer. Do you not wish to be my companion?" he asked, anger in his eyes.

I didn't, but I also didn't want to be passed off to his men. And he had said he wouldn't rape me, it was still just touching. And it didn't sound that bad, better than being a pet.

"Ok. I'll be your companion," I said softly, looking down at my hands.

"Now you show submission?" he asked in amusement. "Leess, go and prepare a fare."

I looked up and the other girl got up out of bed in only her skin and walked to the front. I noticed then that the smaller man, Lair, was in bed with the giant, Callen. I blinked at them, confused.

"Are boys not allowed to be kept as pets in 112?" Endrew asked, laying back down and pulling me to lay down next to him.

"Men can be partners, I just didn't realize a man could be a pet here. I thought only women were inferior."

"Inferior? No. They need to be kept and taken care of and in return they obey and serve. Some men choose the same role, as Lair does. Callen keeps him as a pet. He would rise to companion if he would only stop acting as though he weren't a pet. Look at me. Repeat your name to me."

"Olivia, but all my friends call me Ollie."

"It is a strange sounding name. Do you prefer the whole name or the familiar one?"

"Either, I answer to both. You choose."

"Ollie then. It is small like you. You are my companion then, Ollie. I wish to taste you again, and touch you."

He didn't wait for my response, he leaned close and ran his tongue along my neck, up to my earlobe, then sucked gently as his fingertips slid over my ribs. He licked along my shoulders as his hand moved up, lightly touching my breast, playing lightly over my nipple and I gasped as I tensed up. I also got goosebumps. He moved and his tongue followed his fingertips over the tops of my breasts and around my nipples before sucking them up in his mouth with a low moan.

My breathing was turning ragged as I closed my eyes. "This is very forward for two people who only met last night!" I said too loudly.

"You are my companion," he breathed, moving up to lick along my lips again and pull my lower lip into his mouth. He laid next to me, his body an inch from mine but not touching mine as he leaned on one elbow to watch his fingers play over my skin. He turned to look at my face as he reached down and played his fingers over my mound.

I sat up, rolling away and off the bed, hiding down behind it.

"Come back," he said in amusement. "Come lay down, I would touch you."

"I'm good! Umm... can we all get dressed and go eat? Or something?"

"I have no clothing for you, you will have to be fitted. Come lay down, I am commanding it."

"If I don't?"

"I have told you what disobedience will cost you. Come. Do not ruin my pleasant mood."

"Endrew, we are meeting with Kharros soon," Callen said, standing.

I jerked my eyes away. I think they all slept in the nude!

"He will wait. I will have my fill of my Ollie. Come now," he demanded.

I got back into the bed, but curled up under the blankets fearfully.

"Lay on your back," he demanded.

I turned to my back, but pressed my legs together and bent my knees slightly to try and hide myself from his hands.

He moved close again and slid his hand down as far as he could. "You will make me use force? Make Callen hold you for me?"

"I don't want you to do this!" I whispered, tears in my eyes.

"I did not ask what you wished. I gave an order. Callan, bring me the strap and turn her. Hold her down," he demanded, taking hold of my arm so I couldn't pull away from him.

Callen brought a long, supple, length of what looked like flexible plastic. It was over two feet long and it was thick at the end, tapering at the handle. Callen took me by the ankles and yanked me up in the air, holding me upside down and turning me so my back was to Endrew as he stood. He picked up the strap as I whimpered, shaking my head.

I thought he would hit me on my bare bottom, instead he brought it down on the bottoms of my feet and I screamed in pain and shock.

"Will you obey?" Endrew demanded after the single blow.

"Yes!"

"Return her. Leave the strap, she may need it again," he said as Callan lifted me to the bed and let go of my ankles. I laid down where Endrew had told me to, shaking with fear and adrenaline. I had no idea it would hurt so badly to have my feet hit like that! Endrew looked down at me, scowling now as he looked me over. "You have ruined my good humor," he snapped.

"Sorry," I whispered.

He leaned over me and bit gently on my lower lip, sucking and pulling lightly, then moving down to my breast and sucking on my nipple almost painfully hard. I let out a small whimper as he moved to the other, my body responding to his attentions quickly. He put his hand on my lower belly and lifted his head to look at me, his lips swollen as he slid his hand down between my legs.