Page 10 of Own to Obey

It was thicker than it looked and with each stroke the hair became uniform along the top of his head. It was almost long enough to pull back into one bunch, but it seemed the different tribesmen had different approaches to their hair—some were neat and braided, other extremely shaggy and messy.

Once that was done, she looked at the girl for the next clue about what to do, and the girl looked pointedly at the pyramid she had created. Of course. Shaya slipped back over to the bed and picked up the cream. The girl pointed to the shinno's left arm and Shaya now realized that she had missed his arm from the original treatment. Rubbing the gel in her hands she brushed it along his arm tentatively, unable to stop admiring the muscle beneath his tight and toned skin. She pressed her fingers into his bicep—marveling at how thick it was, sure his arm was thicker than her whole body. She traced a finger over a prominent vein that ran almost out of sight into the dip of his elbow. The muscle flexed suddenly and she pulled her hand away, glancing at the shinno. His lips quirked again and amusement entered his gaze. Shaya quickly looked away, heading back to the blanket to collect the brush.

She returned back to the shinno’s left side with the brush in her hand, but wasn't sure how to brush him. She glanced at the girl, who looked to the shinno. When he nodded, she headed over to Shaya and gestured to her to kneel down by his side and showed her how to hold the brush. She then demonstrated quick, flicking movements with the brush tip and pointed to his markings.

When Shaya tried this technique, she was delighted to see the markings blooming into the darker color that she had seen when the girl did it. Taking her time, she made her way over all the markings and then leaned back to look at his whole arm.

The girl smiled at her, nodding, and then beckoned her back to the blanket.

The rest of his grooming preparation proceeded with ease. The girl showed her how to fasten his decorations, and also how to hold his clothes so that he could slip into them. As she stood before him, buttoning up the strange tunic she helped him to put on, the nervousness with his eyes on her turned into something else. Something stronger—an echo or maybe a preparation of what was to come in the afternoons... but she rejected it, pushing it away in favor of thinking of her sister.

***

The schedule of her days for the next week was to wake, groom the shinno, clean pipes on the decks, swallow the shinno’s seed while he made her squirm, and treat her hair. Sometimes he would have her suck him after she groomed him, after he had sent the girl out of the room, but each time the need for him to do more, to dosomething, increased. Her body needed attention that she knew he could give her, and yet she didn’t want anything like what he did the first day.

During the times when she felt so distracted by desire after he left her, she calmed herself by thinking of her sister and the gardens she had left behind. The creams and oils the girl had provided moistened and softened her hair beautifully, maintained her natural curls, and made it manageable. She suspected that some of the unfamiliar ones were better than anything her sister used, but she was glad that her hair could thrive in these conditions. She still kept it wrapped up, but the heat on the decks alone was a constant problem.

One morning, after grooming him, the shinno pulled a table that always sat in the corner into the center of the room and fixed the chair behind it, while the girl removed the blanket with his grooming equipment. Shaya watched him warily as he sat at the table, holding a rectangular, smooth stone, wondering what he was planning next. They had never eaten together. The girl was the one who brought all Shaya’s meals and she ate them in her room on her own. It was the only time that she felt truly alone on the ship. She was used to her own company, but she always ate with Kyus whenever possible.

The girl returned with cups and dishes and pots and spread them out on the table. Once again, she spoke softly pointing to her eyes and then the table. “Soss lec yuss.”

Shaya nodded. She needed to watch to learn, just like the grooming.

The girl carefully assembled the dishes, spoons, and pots in to a spread, with a strangely shaped pot filled with water in the center, surrounded by smaller dishes holding colored powders and granules. In front of the shinno she placed a cup on a little plate.

Shooting Shaya a meaningful look, she used the different spoons to add the different substances into both the cup and pot. Once she finished, she added a small flower to the cup and stirred the pot. Finally, she lifted the pot, and poured the hot, fragrant water into the cup. Shaya peered closer to see where the water was coming from and noticed a tiny spout at the very top, just by the lid.

The girl placed the pot back in the center, and then watched as the flower rose to the top of the cup and floated. “Fevvoli,” she said, pointing to the cup.

Shaya nodded, taking a deep breath. This was going to be difficult. Shaya had never seen such a complicated way to simply make tea.

The shinno only allowed the girl to show Shaya three times, and then he sent her away. Unfortunately, she was punished when she got it wrong, which she wasn’t expecting.

The first time she reached out for the wrong item, the shinno grabbed her wrist and scraped the stone he held along her knuckles.

A sharp, shooting pain jolted into her hand and she tried to yank it away but the shinno held it firm. Saying something in a warning tone, he released her wrist and she jumped back shaking her hand furiously. The pain wasn’t from the stone against her skin, it was as though something from the stone had jumped inside her hand and was wriggling around. She peered at the stone, wondering what the hell it was, but the shinno was ordering her to start again with the tea.

Things became worse from that moment.

Shaya realized everything had to be done in the correct order, using the correct items, the correct amount of each spice and powder, and all within the correct brewing time. Each time she got something wrong, he spoke to her sternly and scraped the stone along her knuckles.

Within half an hour, she was crying out every time the stone touched her and could barely move her hand. She pleaded for the girl to come back and show her once more, but the shinno remained stern and forceful, not allowing her any leeway when her hand became too stiff and painful to move—he simply directed his attentions to the other hand.

By the time the girl returned to bring her lunch and collect the items, she could finally make the damn tea correctly, but both of her hands were useless. She waited until they had both left and then dropped down onto the bed and allowed the tears to come. The girl had brought her soup, probably to make it easier for her to eat, but Shaya didn’t even feel like eating anything. This was the worse pain she had ever been in.

Curled up on the bed, she squeezed her eyes shut and sent her mind to her garden, remembering how she used to wander and explore, peek on the wild animals that would visit, pick fruit and herbs for her potions and meals. It had been a blissful life, and she was so caught in the memory, she almost didn’t hear the door when it opened.

When she opened her eyes, the shinno was entering the room again. He walked slowly to the bed and looked down on her for a long moment. She watched him steadily back, repeating her mantra in her mind. When he reached for her, yanking her to the edge of the bed by her hips, and pulling her upright, she realized, with horror, what he was there for.

She tried lifting her hands, but the pain seemed to echo down her arms, there was no way she could rub his cock. So she used her mouth as much as she could, inching her fingers up to brush and stroke his balls hoping he wouldn’t notice. But in her efforts to ensure he didn’t force her to use her hands, she became caught in the enthusiasm and delight of the feel of him in her mouth. She sucked his tip hard, flicking her tongue along his ridge, and then moved her face sideways to suck on the side of his shaft, rubbing her mouth back and forth and savoring the feel of his fluid and her own saliva smearing her face.

He came rougher than he had before, groaning loud and long, jerking harder into her mouth as he caressed her breasts.

When he was finally spent, she was even more turned on by him than ever before, and if she could have found the words she would have begged him to touch her everywhere. The fact that she wanted him, even after everything, disgusted her and she couldn’t bear to keep her head up. His seed dribbled from her mouth and into her lap with the tears that fell from her eyes.

In a sudden swift move, the shinno lifted her into his arms. He fixed her arms around his neck and rested her head in the crook of his neck. He spoke, somewhat gently, in his own tongue while she cried silently, strangely comforted by his warm scent, and his odd words, and the feel of being against his body.

Kyus would never know, she told herself. She’d never know anything that has happened so it didn’t matter. He hadn’t broken her yet. Not really. If she enjoyed the things he did to her, the things he made her do, took comfort in the arms of the monster, wasn’t that better than hating it?

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