LOGAN (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 5) (9 page)

At a very young age, Nadia had learned that the itch was not normal and shouldn't be mentioned, not even to one's own mother. The result of revealing an unhealthy interest in the male gender was medication. It only took a few doses for Nadia to realize she didn't like having her personal strength neutralized. After that, she kept her curiosity secret and became the perfect Heart woman... at least in public.

In private she experimented with different ways to appease the itch. Before long, she discovered that she could increase the intensity of the satisfaction by prolonging the build-up. Sometimes, she would make herself wait all day before giving in to it. She would ease the throbbing a little by crossing her legs or squirming in a chair, but she would hold off the final burst of sensation until she was nearly crazed with need. That way, the sweet darkness was often so powerful, it would last half the night.

There were times when the itch came on by itself but more often it followed thoughts about men. Like every school girl, she had learned the facts about the male species and why they had to be medicated. In their natural state, they posed a severe danger to women. Their strength, aggressive nature, and especially their male anatomy were all structured to dominate.

While the other girls were shivering with distaste, Nadia had trembled with excitement. The characteristics of men that Heart women were so adamant about controlling became the trigger for Nadia's secret fantasies.

Throughout Heart, men were forbidden by law to touch a woman without her permission and proper behavior dictated that such permission should be granted only under very specific circumstances. Thus, Nadia could only imagine feeling their forceful hands on her body, touching all her private, ticklish places.

The day she had learned how animals reproduced and equated the activity to humans, the itch had been so demanding, she had been forced to seek the privacy of the school lavatory to relieve it.

During one of her private experiments, she discovered the pleasure she could generate by pushing the hard, rounded handle of her hairbrush in and out of her womanpiece and her fantasies took on a new dimension.

While medicated, Heart men did not suffer from the malady that made their manpiece swell and harden while their minds emptied of everything except thoughts of relief. While medicated, a man was unable to invade a woman's body with his mighty weapon... even if he was given permission.

Nadia became so obsessed with the idea of using a man's body to stop the itch, one day she ordered her mother's personal servant to remove his clothing so that she could inspect his anatomy. Her examination clearly made him uncomfortable but his manpiece failed to enlarge, even when she pulled on it.

Since men were not permitted to attend school, he had never been taught the lessons Nadia had. He hadn't known what it was she had expected from him, but he could see he had somehow disappointed her and had been willing to accept whatever punishment she saw fit.

The rush of power she had experienced in response to his submissive attitude launched a whole new series of experiments for her. While the antidote tempered a man's masculinity, it also enhanced his need to provide useful service.

After that day, she'd spent long hours imagining unique ways a servant could be put to use and ingenious ways to punish him if his performance was less than satisfactory. Unfortunately, she was unable to enact any of her fantasies without risk of being medicated herself.

Though daughters normally remained in their mothers' homes all their lives, Nadia found the arrangement suffocating. By the time she'd reached her thirtieth year, she decided she needed a home of her own. With her freedom came privacy and she selected her personal servant with great care. Fulton was completely inexperienced but especially pleasing to her eye and anxious to be of service. She quickly guaranteed his loyalty to her by utilizing his sperm to fertilize her egg.

Following the birth of their daughter, Chloe, childcare was added to Fulton's responsibilities. Only after Nadia was certain of his attachment to the child, did she begin demanding more unusual services from him.

As politically ambitious as she was, she had to be very protective of her reputation, which meant she had to be certain Fulton would never speak to anyone about the special services she required of him. Technically, he was still her employee and, though he didn't have all the same privileges as a woman, he had the right to change employers if he was unhappy, or felt he was being mistreated. Another employer, particularly one who was a supporter of Parisia, might encourage him to gossip about her, and that could spell disaster.

Unwilling to give up her secret pleasures despite the risk of discovery, Nadia found ways to bind Fulton to her. Through trial and error, she learned that he thrived on words of praise about his work and would do absolutely anything for a few minutes of being petted by her. If she criticized his work or ignored him entirely, he would be desperate to make it up to her. Only a handful of times had she caused him physical pain, but the threat of it was always there.

Then, of course, she made sure he knew that if he ever left her, he would never be permitted to see Chloe again.

All things considered, their association had gone along rather smoothly for the last five years. But recently, she'd become bored with the predictability of his behavior and had begun thinking of hiring another young, trainable man.

If only there was a way she could acquire one of the Earth men.

Several of them had been especially appealing to her and the dark-skinned men were so different from any she'd seen before. Then there was that tall, dark-haired man with a scarred face and the larger than average manpiece. He would undoubtedly be the lead character in her fantasies for weeks to come.

For now, however, Fulton and his limited abilities were all she could count on to ease the itch that the Earth men had caused.

As soon as she entered her home, she let him know the mood she was in by her greeting. "Fulton! Where are you, you lazy creature?"

"In the kitchen," he replied. As she strode into that room, he gave her a hesitant smile. "I've made your favorite sweet to go with your tea."

"I don't want tea," she snapped. "I called to tell you I was coming home for a
bath
, not tea. If you don't start paying better attention when I give you instructions, I am going to replace you. Do you understand me?"

Fulton frowned and bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Nadia. You didn't say how long it would take for you to get home and I was worried that the bath water would cool if I prepared it too soon. I'll get it ready immediately." He took a step then paused and looked back at the tea kettle. "Shall I pour you some tea—"

"I said I don't want tea, you dolt!
Go,
before I lose my patience entirely." As Fulton hurried from the kitchen, Nadia's pulse quickened. He had been on the verge of tears. In fact, he was probably in her dressing room sniveling away while the water ran. He was primed to do anything she ordered and she was aching for much more than the usual bath. There probably wouldn't be a better time to try out her new creation.

As she considered how she could introduce it to Fulton, she broke off a chunk of the sweet he had baked for her and placed it in her mouth. Rich chocolate superbly blended with black raspberry melted on her tongue. Though Fulton was beginning to bore her in some ways, his culinary skills assured him a permanent position in her household no matter how often she threatened to get rid of him.

She finished the sweet and headed for her bath. She had designed the spacious dressing room with her unique needs in mind. The walls and closet doors were mirrored, and the floor was covered with plush black carpeting. On one side of the room was an oversized black tub with gold fixtures, and on the other side was a gold velvet chaise wide enough for two people to lay on at the same time. The few women who had seen the room questioned such extravagance for something so private. They preferred to show off their luxuries. But Nadia had always been a little different from the other women.

As she entered the dressing room, she smelled the perfumed oil rising with the steam. Fulton stood next to the tub, awaiting her. As usual, he had undressed, so that his clothing would not get wet while he assisted her. She gave his ample body a lingering look. He was taller, heavier, and broader across the shoulders than she, but he lacked the hardness that she noticed about the Earth men. Looking at his short dark hair, she decided to focus her attention on that feature and pretend he was the scarred crossover that had fascinated her.

"You may remove my robe," she stated in a harsh tone to remind him he had yet to make up for his earlier failure to please.

In the mirrors, she watched him move around her, carefully drawing back the hood of her robe and untying the bow at her throat without touching any part of her. With the same caution, he undid the fastenings down the front of the garment and slipped it off her body.

As he hung up the robe, she reminded herself that the longer she could put off the physical contact, the better the reward would be. "Now brush my hair out. Slowly."

One at a time, he removed the pins that kept her waist-length black hair wrapped in a braided crown around her head. With unhurried strokes, he brushed it out until it hung around her like a satin cape.

Nadia was always fascinated by her own transformation from civilized woman to primitive creature. "That's enough. You may take my slip and briefs.
Carefully
."

She hadn't needed to say that. She knew he would take the utmost care not to touch her flesh until she gave him the specific order to do so. As he removed her briefs, she wondered if he noticed how damp the crotch was today and whether his dull mind ever figured out what that meant. She doubted it.

"You may touch my hand to help me into the tub. And make sure my hair doesn't get wet."

As she submerged her body in the deep water, Fulton placed a pillow behind her head and draped her hair over the back of the tub. Normally the hot, perfumed water would instantly start relaxing her but today the itch was too strong to be calmed so easily. Fulton dipped a washcloth into the water and held it out to her.

"I'm quite worn out today. You do it." He pressed the cloth to one of her feet but she kicked it away. "Not with the cloth. Use your hands. The way I showed you before. Remember, the doctor said I have poor circulation and should be vigorously massaged to improve the condition." She closed her eyes and smothered a sigh as his fingers closed over the toes of her one foot and squeezed. It would take some time for him to get to her abdomen, but he had learned the routine well and it would be worth the wait.

One leg, up to the hip joint. The other leg. One arm, then the other. Her nipples were tightly puckered long before his palms pressed over them. He kneaded her breasts and rolled the nipples until her breath came in gasps. "Go on," she whispered, and his fingers slid down over her stomach and into her womanpiece.

Instantly she felt the first streak of pleasure and gripped the sides of the tub. "More," she said, spreading her thighs so that he could fit his whole hand over her. "Faster," she demanded, gyrating her hips in the opposite direction of his motions. When the explosion came, she bit her lip to keep from crying out. It would not do to let him know how very well he had served.

She rested in the tub awhile, but the itch was still nagging at her. This was definitely the day to teach Fulton a new trick.

She gave him permission to help her out of the tub and towel her off. While he was on his knees, drying her feet, she ran her fingers through his hair. His hopeful gaze leapt to hers. "Did I hurt your feelings before, Fulton?"

He lowered his eyes again. "I deserved your criticism. I wasn't attentive."

She stroked his cheek and neck and noticed how he angled his head for more. Continuing to pet his face, hair and shoulders, she softened her voice to complement the gentle touch. "But you usually are and I shouldn't have been so stern with you." She eased him forward just enough to tickle his nose with her pubic hair and he giggled in response.

"I tasted the sweet you made me. It was excellent. You really are very good most of the time. You can't help being slow about some things. I should be more patient." His lips parted, and she felt his hot puffs of breath against her womanpiece. A little more attention and he wouldn't question anything she ordered, no matter how outrageous it was.

"Would you like to rest on the chaise with me?" His gaze darted to the golden lounge then back to her. She didn't know what he liked more, her petting or the feel of velvet against his skin. To give him both at once was the closest he could come to ecstasy.

She considered reminding him that this was a very special privilege that he would never be granted from another employer. But he knew well that, since it was so distasteful for a woman to touch or be touched by a man, her gift to him was extremely rare and should be cherished. His payment for the privilege would continue to be silent loyalty and total devotion.

"Before we rest though, there is another service I require... something you've never done before, but it was prescribed by the doctor to... stimulate my circulation from within. Remain on your knees while I get what I need."

She opened one of the closets and brought out a drawstring bag. As she withdrew her creation from the pouch and saw the bewildered expression on Fulton's face she nearly changed her mind. What she was intending was terribly daring. Then she felt the insistent beating at the base of her abdomen and decided again that the risk would be worth it.