After dinner John told her to go to his hut, which she did, still in her armbinder. She walked round by the seaward shore again, but much further than before, and realised then that John's hut was part of a cluster, all about fifty yards apart. By the time she got there a change in the weather was taking hold, and it was beginning to drizzle. There was nothing either dramatic or romantic about that, so she assumed they'd be indoors for the evening. She had quite a long sleep before he arrived; presumably he was packing for his departure on the morrow, so again she woke up to find him standing over her. The difference was that he was already naked and erect, so she had him in her mouth before he had the chance to express any preferences. She used everything she'd learnt on him, and in less than five minutes she was swallowing his cum. Not long after that, with them both refreshed with water and wine, they were lying side by side. 'That's probably the closest I've ever come to being raped,' he told her.

'I do suspect, master, that most rapists don't have their arms bound behind their backs,' she replied. 'Perhaps master was subconsciously hoping for a blowjob?'

'I've told you about addressing me in the third person,' he said with mock sternness. 'That was quite a speech you made at dinner. Was there anything you wanted to add?'

If it was a question of what I learnt, master, it would have to include, that you don't intend to sell my virginity, as they did with Geisha girls.'

'Sometimes, Toni, a valuable commodity becomes so rare that it's effectively untradeable. Visit your local pet shop, and you won't find Tasmanian Tigers. Similarly, we don't sell virgins.'

'Master, do masters and mistresses ever get jealous, or possessive? It seems like human nature, but you all use us all, and there don't seem to be any resentments.'

'Slavery usually avoids such problems. We teach ourselves- not always a hundred percent successfully- to compartmentalise our relationships. Free men and woman might have exclusive relationships with one another; some members are married to one another. Some form exclusive same-sex partnerships. However, that exclusivity does not extend to their use of slaves. To spell it out; A married man can shag as many slaves as he likes, but he isn't being unfaithful. Of course, his wife might find he doesn't have anything left for her, but that might happen if he gets drunk every night, or wears himself out with overwork. It's a different kind of problem. Slaves can't have exclusive relationships. They serve on demand. A master or mistress is not allowed to keep a slave for his or her exclusive use. The notion of the 'love slave'- mentioned in, inter alia, John Norman's Gor novels- is alien to our way of thinking. If a person takes a slave on a long lease, and fails to share it, after due warnings are issued the lease will be voided, and the slave confiscated.'

Toni tried to ignore his use of the word 'it'. 'So I'll never have just one master, or mistress, master?'

'No, but you might be used mainly by one person, or one couple or group of persons, for quite some time. They might develop strong feelings for you. Human instincts and affections can't be kept out of the relationship; it's a matter of keeping a balance. Think about you and me. This is our third night together. In that short time I've become very fond of you, and I'll be sorry to leave you tomorrow. But I can still watch you being gang-banged by four other men, and not feel a twinge of jealousy. The bottom line is, that we're professionals, here to develop a product for the market. But that doesn't mean our feelings are not genuine. I really want you to live a happy and fulfilling life. I can help you most effectively by training you to be a pleasure slave for others.'

Toni wasn't wholly convinced that what she was hearing made sense. It seemed to her to be a means of squaring circles, not a proper code of conduct. Nevertheless, it was a set of assumptions by which she'd have to live; she wouldn't be asked to propose amendments.

'Thank you for telling me that,' she replied, hoping to draw the discussion to a close. 'If this is our last night together, master, we're not going to spend it talking, are we?'

'Not all of it. The weather's bad, but not bad enough to be interesting, so we'll have a cosy night in. I'll get you ready for use, and then take a pill. I'm not feeling very creative, so I'm just going to shag your brains out.'

'I hope you're not planning on keeping your own, master.'