A new acquisition
#1 of A New Acquisition
Jennifer looked around the office. It was clearly designed for meeting clients - there were various impressive-looking certificates and small artworks on the walls, and one corner held a small mini-bar. It was like many that she had seen during her recent travels, although she noted that the furnishings were of a higher quality, and the bar stocked with more expensive alcohol.
There was also no outward indication of their line of business, which pleased her. She had found that the more a company displayed their products around their corporate offices, the lower the quality was. Advertising was one thing, but this was negotiation - she wouldn't be here if she didn't already know what they were selling.
She caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror discreetly placed near the bar - a thoughtful touch, letting guests make sure they looked their best. She scanned her reflection, searching for any sign of imperfection that might affect the coming negotiations.
As always, she liked what she saw: a vixen of typical red and white fur, with black forearms and lower legs, wearing a stylish grey business suit that complimented and enhanced her figure perfectly, drawing attention to her ample breasts and the curve of her hips, without appearing overtly sexual. She moved her gaze upwards, catching the purple eyes of her reflection. Her brown hair, which normally fell to her waist, was bound up in a formal but attractive manner. A few strands had fallen out of place and were deftly tidied. Her overall appearance could be taken as thoroughly business-like or highly seductive, depending on her attitude. It had taken her a long time to perfect her public image, and she was justifiably proud of it.
At her breast was a pin whose simple design belied the power it bestowed. It marked her as one of the Privileged - those furs possessed of great wealth and power. Some were politicians, others in business, but all were the movers and shakers of the world. They also owned themselves, making them a rarity. Most furs were officially owned by someone else - be it through the changing ties of employment and debt, or the permanent bonds of slavery.
It was this last form of ownership that was Jennifer's immediate concern, and that had brought her to this particular office. She had decided to acquire a new slave. She already owned two - far fewer than many of her peers, but enough for her needs. Indeed, they were more than adequate for the various duties she set for them, and she had no real need for another. But her recent business dealings were frustrating her and her private life was no longer providing the distraction she desired, so she had decided to shake things up with some new blood.
The office door opened and a young tiger walked in to the room. He had the look of an important but junior sales person. She was obviously not dealing with anyone high up in the company, but that didn't bother Jennifer. If she or her executives met personally with everyone they did business with - even the Privileged - there would be no time left to run the company. The tiger had a rather apologetic look on his face. "Sorry to have kept you waiting so long, My Lady, but we wanted to make sure all of our students were ready for inspection."
She smiled slightly at that. While most traders were quite happy with 'slave', others felt that the term had too many negative connotations and used more euphemistic phrases like 'helpers' or 'servants'. Her recent search had brought her in to contact with two companies that referred to them variously as 'items' and 'products'. Unfortunately they had taken this too literally, and had treated their slaves as objects. She had reported them to the authorities - slaves had very few rights, but those were well protected by law. This was the first time she had heard slaves referred to as students, though from what she had heard of this particular company, the term might be accurate.
She smiled at the nervous tiger. "No need for apologies. I did request this meeting at rather short notice." The look of relief on his face was brief but noticeable; offending one of the Privileged would have been a bad start to negotiations at best - fatal to his career at worst.
He offered her a drink then guided her to a chair, taking a seat opposite her. "Before we start, I want to make sure you understand that our methods are somewhat... unusual for the slave-training industry."
"So I've gathered from your literature, though it was a little short on details."
"Yes, sometimes I wonder if our marketing department take courses in double speak." The tiger smiled disarmingly. "Our sponsors prefer that we keep our methods somewhat secret. We make a lot of money, and we wouldn't want people copying our techniques. Add in the fact that the training differs depending on the type of student, and it's a little hard to explain in a brochure. The short version is this: Most trainers take people and train them to be slaves. We take slaves and train them to be people."
The vixen's eyebrow rose slightly. "That sounds rather trite."
The tiger laughed quietly. "Unfortunately, the marketing department came up with it. Suffice to say that we don't produce the emotionless dolls or broken furs some others do. Our students are highly skilled individuals who would be valued in any walk of life. They are also trained to be slaves, with all the obedience to their owners that entails."
Jennifer leaned forward, intrigued. "That sounds most interesting. How long do you train them for?"
"That varies depending on the student, what type of role they will be used in, and their age when they come to us. Some have been here for only a few months. Others have been training with us since childhood, waiting for the right owner to come along."
"You train children? How exactly do you come by them?" Child slaves were legal, but the permits for training and owning them were expensive to say the least.
"Legally, I assure you, and we only take those too young to remember their families, or with no family at all. For many, we become a family they never had before." He smiled slightly. "Indeed, some who have not found owners have become senior members of staff themselves - joining the family business, so to speak." Jennifer suspected he was referring to himself. The tiger produced a computer tablet from the side of his chair and tapped a few buttons. "As I said, our training differs depending on the role the slave will be asked to fit in to. In order to produce a short-list of candidates, I need to ask a few questions. First, what will you be using the slave for? Office work, cleaning, general housework...?"
Jennifer looked the tiger in the eye. "Sex. Lots and lots of sex."
He burst in to a coughing fit and stared at her for a long moment. The look of shock on his face was quickly replaced by mortification. "Please forgive me, My Lady. I meant no offense! We have many clients who desire slaves for that sort of duty - I'm just not used to them being so direct!" Jennifer laughed as she reassured him she wasn't insulted. Once he had regained his composure, she asked him how long most clients held out before admitting they wanted a sex slave. "Most talk around the subject for about half an hour. Again, no insult intended, but the Privileged usually last even longer."
Jennifer grinned. "I've known some of my peers deny having sexual desires at all, as if it was a weakness." She leaned forward, her face and voice alluring as she caught his eyes. "I can assure you, we enjoy the carnal pleasures just as much as anyone else." The tiger started to blush, but couldn't look away from her gaze. "Sometimes, we enjoy them more. Certainly more often..." The blush on his cheeks deepened, and he seemed to be having some trouble breathing. The vixen took pity on him, sitting back and returning to her business-like attitude.
The tiger shook himself and fixed his gaze squarely on his computer pad. He cleared his throat. "I... er... should ask you the rest of these questions so the computer can make a list of candidates for you." He glanced at her, his blush returning briefly. "And can I say I envy whichever student you eventually pick." The questions continued for quite a while: species preference (none); gender preference (none); age; build; secondary skills; preferred kinks ("As many as possible", which earned her another blush)...
The list of questions seemed to come to an end. Jennifer took a sip of her drink, while the tiger continued to work on his computer. A speculative look crossed his features, and he gazed at her thoughtfully.
"I wonder, My Lady, if you would be interested in a special training program of ours." She raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to continue. "Most of our students who are destined for such duties are trained in 'normal' sexual knowledge and physical techniques, with any advanced training left to their owners. Some receive training in a number of fetishes. However, we have a few students who have wide ranging knowledge, but no experience..."
Jennifer considered this for a moment. Her first slave had been trained in a number of common (and uncommon) fetishes: the vixen was far from inexperienced herself, but had learnt a lot from her new slave. Her second slave had received nothing beyond basic carnal training, and she and her first slave had greatly enjoyed introducing them to the world of kinks available. The idea of a slave who knew all the kinks already, but would still receive their first experience at her hands... "Add them to the list, please".
The tiger nodded and touched a few controls on the tablet, before handing it to her. "Here's the shortlist, My Lady. These are the students the computer feels would best match your needs. We have many others, of course, so let me know if you want to see more. All of the students can be inspected and purchased today."
She started browsing through the list. The computer's idea of a shortlist turned out to be rather long, although she suspected her non-committal answers had made its job somewhat harder. She paused over a few entries, but none of the candidates triggered the spark she was looking for; the one she felt whenever a business deal was just right. She was more than half way through the list, and her frustration was slowly growing. She began scrolling more quickly, slightly disappointed in the slaves. Most seemed surprisingly average, for all the company's 'special methods'.
Spark
The vixen blinked, and scrolled back through the list. She had seen something, but she wasn't sure what. A few pages back, she found the entry that had caught her eye. "You have a dragon?"
The tiger smiled. "Indeed we do, My Lady. He's one of our long-term students - we acquired him from the hospital he was left at when he was born. We tried to find his parents, without success. The dragons are remarkably secretive, especially when it comes to their own kind."
The tiger continued to talk about how rare dragons were; dragon slaves even rarer. Jennifer listened with half an ear while she read the details on the computer. The dragon shown on the screen was smooth-skinned, his scales so small as to be invisible. He was not the broad-shouldered image of manliness she knew from her few dragon acquaintances, but she could still sense power in his lithe form. He was mostly sky blue, though he sported a stripe of cream that started under his jaw, covered his chest and continued all the way to the tip of his tail. The membranes of his wings were also blue, though he had blotches of cream that looked almost like clouds. His eyes were orange, and sat like twin evening suns. She glanced at his name and rolled her eyes slightly. Sky. Someone clearly had no imagination, no matter how well the name suited him.
The rest of his entry was impressive. As with most dragons, he was very intelligent, and his list of 'secondary skills' was rather long. That list was exceeded by the list of kinks and fetishes he had acquired during his training, including a few the vixen had never encountered. The more she read his details, the more she knew she wanted him.
She glanced at the tiger. "Has he ever Changed?" The Change was something of a mystery to modern science: some dragons were able to shapeshift to large, non-anthro forms. No-one knew what triggered the first change, but once it had occurred, the dragon gained more and more control over the process. Scientists had asked dragons about it, but their only reply was "magic". No-one was willing to believe in magic, but so far a rational explanation was lacking.
"No, My Lady. As you may know, in all of history there have only been a handful of slave dragons that could Change."
After a few more questions, the tiger asked whether she wanted to interview the dragon herself. "No, I don't think that's necessary. Your profile of him is most extensive." She looked at the picture once more and made her decision. "Shall we talk price?"
***
Jennifer sat in the back seat of her car as her driver took her back to her home. Sitting next to her on the seat was Sky. When he had been brought to the office to meet his new owner, he had been friendly and very polite, if a little nervous. The tiger had offered her a temporary collar for him, but she had declined. There had been a frown at that, as slaves were not supposed to be seen in public without a collar, even if their owners felt no need for them to be worn in private. She had pointed out he was going to be in a private car, going to a private residence, and that no-one would see him. The tiger seemed to be happy with that, and escorted them to her vehicle.
"You're very quiet" she said, looking at the dragon. The friendly but polite attitude she had seen at the office seemed to have turned into a ball of shyness.
He jumped slightly, then looked towards her. "I didn't want to speak without permission."
The vixen laughed. "Oh, you are well trained, aren't you! One of my other slaves won't stop talking, though I can usually find something to shut her up with." She grinned, watching the dragon blush slightly as he realised what she was implying. "I guess we need to establish some rules, don't we?" She shook out her hair, shifting in her seat. Sky gulped quietly - suddenly the friendly business woman sitting opposite him had turned into a seductive vixen; one who left no doubt that she was in charge of their relationship.
"You will call me 'My Lady' in public or private. If we are... playing, you will call me Mistress. If you are good, I will let you use my name. In public, you will speak only when spoken to. You are allowed to speak at all times in private, unless I command otherwise. My other slaves are your superiors and you will obey their instructions. Knowing them, they will try to abuse that privilege - if I catch them at it, I will punish them and you will get to help." She paused, making sure he was taking everything in.
"In my public life, I am an exceedingly important corporate executive. I can change the fates of entire countries with a whim. My home is my private life. Your main duty as my slave is to keep my private and public lives separate. When I get home, I want to forget all about my work and relax. Sometimes that means the three of us - four of us, now - curl up on the sofa and watch a movie, or play games. Often it involves sex - everything from cuddling in bed to people getting tied up and abused until they beg for mercy." She smiled slightly. "Occasionally, I'm the one getting tied up, especially if it keeps me away from a computer."
The vixen glanced down. There was a bulge in the dragon's pants. "I see you're looking forward to being my slave" she grinned. Sky blushed bright red and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to conceal his arousal. "Don't deny it. You're turned on by the idea of having sex with me."
He waited a long moment, embarrassment warring with an apparent order from his owner, before whispering quietly. "Yes, My Lady."
"Good. I'd be offended if you weren't. But that brings me to the final rule I will give you for now. In private, you are to be honest with me and with yourself, at all times. In public, you are to be as honest as possible while still being respectful. No offending or insulting people, even if they deserve it." She looked at him intently. "This is the most important of my rules. Do you understand it?"
Sky thought for a while, before shaking his head. "No, My Lady, I don't."
Jennifer smiled. "That's okay, and well done for being honest about it. What don't you understand?"
"Being honest with myself."
"Most well-trained slaves will... how can I put it... adjust their thinking to please their owners. For example, I cook a meal, but it ends up tasting really bad." She frowned at him. "That doesn't happen, by the way - I am an excellent chef. But this is an example." He nodded. "If I asked you how it tasted, would you tell me it was foul?"
He thought for a moment. "...No."
She sighed. "You've forgotten my rule about being honest. That will earn you a punishment later." He flinched. "Now, imagine I gave you the same food every day, always tasting bad. What would happen?"
More thinking. "I'd... get used to it? Maybe even start to like it..."
"Exactly! Now, would the food still taste bad, even if you were used to it? Even if you thought you liked it?" Sky blinked a few times, then nodded. "Good boy." She patted him gently on the head. "That's just a minor example. There are so many more ways you would lie to yourself to please me. As I said, the better trained the slave, the more they do it. And you are a very well-trained slave."
"I think I understand now, My Lady. Thank you."
"Glad to hear it. I expect you're going to have a lot more questions, but most can wait until we get home." She gazed at him intently. "But there's one that I think you want to ask right now, isn't there."
The dragon nodded. "How may I earn a collar, My Lady?"
Jennifer blinked. "You're good. I was expecting you to ask when I would collar you, not how you earn one."
"If I was simply to receive a collar, you would have put it on me when we first met, My Lady."
"Very good. The answer is you don't. I don't collar my slaves." She leaned closer to him. "They collar themselves."
"I don't understand, My Lady."
"Are you mine?"
"Of course, My Lady. You are my owner."
She shook her head. "Are you mine?"
The dragon was getting more nervous by the moment. "Y-yes, My Lady. I am your slave."
Jennifer put a finger under his jaw, forcing him to look at her while she stared deep into his orange eyes.
"Are you mine?"
Sky felt as if the car and the world outside were slipping away. He was focused entirely on the vixen's purple gaze, frozen in place. Of course he was hers. She was his owner. Then he remembered her rule - be honest with himself. What if someone else had bought him? He would have been theirs. If no-one bought him, he belonged to the company that trained him. So whose was he, really.
Jennifer had moved them closer together. Her muzzle was so close to his he could feel her warm breath on his scales.
"Are. You. Mine."
"...no, My Lady" he breathed. He barely realised what had happened until she removed her hand and leant back. He bowed his head, ashamed at what he had said. Slaves belonged to their owners - he was as much hers as the car, her suit, or anything else she owned. To deny that was to deny years of training. What had possessed him to say it? He could feel tears in his eyes.
"Good boy." Once more she patted him on the head, affectionately. "Don't be ashamed. That's the answer I wanted." He looked up at her, bewildered. "At their core, everyone belongs to themselves, no matter what anyone else says." She smiled at him. "When you belong to me as much as to yourself, when you can honestly say 'I am yours', you'll gladly take my collar and put it on yourself. I doubt it will happen quickly, but we will take as long as necessary."
Sky sat back in his seat. He had a lot to think about. The vixen turned and looked out of the window. They had left the city now, and were driving past fields and forests, nearing her home. She glanced back at him. "Do you agree that you should be punished?"
"My Lady?"
"For your mistake earlier. Should you be punished?"
"Yes, My..." He paused, considering her rules on honesty. "No, My Lady" he said meekly. An eyebrow rose, an invitation for him to explain. "I didn't understand the rule, and you were explaining it to me." He thought some more then smiled, a mischievous light in his eye. "Moreover, the mistake was not mine - it was that of another me in a hypothetical universe where you cooked a bad meal. As you said that was impossible, theoretically the answer - and thus the mistake - never happened. Punishing me for a non-existent mistake would be like punishing you for cooking the bad meal."
Jennifer burst into howls of laughter. "Oh, that's good! I was expecting the first reason, but a 'hypothetical universe'?!" Her laugher continued, even louder as Sky joined in, pleased to have amused the vixen.
Once she had recovered, she looked at him, grinning. "You were honest with yourself, with me, and you made me laugh. Just for that, I'll reduce the punishment. Hold out your hand." The dragon did so, slightly confused. Jennifer smacked the back of his hand, just hard enough to sting. "Let that be a lesson to you!" she giggled. "But there's another lesson here: being honest means I let you disagree with me. If you're right, there's a reward. If you're wrong, you'll be punished. If you dispute a punishment wrongly, it will be increased. Severely. Rightly, it will be reduced, but never cancelled."
Sky nodded in understanding. His new owner's rules were not at all what he was trained to expect, but he found he liked them.
She glanced out of the window. "We're here."
As the dragon climbed out of the car, he looked around. They had pulled up outside a small mansion, surrounded by forest and moors as far as he could see. The house was a strange combination of modern and traditional construction that seemed perfectly suited to the owner. As they approached the front door, the car drove off.
"My driver lives a few miles away. He's part of my public life - the only part of it I allow inside my estate, except for phone calls and computers. And those I try to avoid as much as possible." The vixen paused at the door, listening. From inside they could both hear a thudding noise. "The girls heard the car pulling up. They usually do." She looked at Sky for a moment. "Quick," she whispered, "go stand beside the door where they won't see you." She pushed him in the right direction and he swiftly hid.
Once she was certain he wouldn't be seen, Jennifer opened the door. There were twin cries of "MISTRESS!" and Jennifer was tackled by a pair of flying figures. "Hello girls," she sighed "I'm back."
Unnoticed by the two new furs, Sky took a moment to look at his fellow slaves. The first was a large grey wolfess. He suspected there was some husky blood in her, as she showed their typical black and white colouration in places, and her eyes were a piercing ice blue. Her physique was rather muscular, though no less feminine for it, and her hair was short, not even reaching her shoulders. It was also dyed a pale blue, a shade or two darker than her eyes. She held herself like an alpha wolf, but the adoring and submissive gaze she was giving her mistress made it clear who was in charge. For the moment, she was silent.
Not so her companion, who was talking enough for three people, so her mistress and fellow slave could barely get a word in. She was a black and white skunkette, although some of the white stripes in her fur had been died a variety of pastel colours, matched by the occasional stripe in her long white hair. Her tiny frame showed none of the muscles of the wolf, but she still seemed to be a compressed ball of energy, ready to explode at any moment.
Jennifer listened to the skunk babble for a few more moments, before reaching up a hand and holding her muzzle shut. The skunk gave a loud squeak, but fell silent. The energy she had been using to talk seemed to blaze from her green eyes, the look she gave her mistress now identical to the wolf's.
So far neither of the slaves had noticed Sky standing to the side of the door. Jennifer looked at him as he watched in amusement. He caught her eye and raised an eyeridge, as if asking whether such an enthusiastic welcome was common. She suppressed a laugh, then rolled her eyes.
"Girls, I appreciate the welcome, as always, but we have company." The vixen gestured towards Sky with her muzzle. The two girls looked round and immediately jumped up, taking respectful poses with their eyes downcast. Jennifer laughed. "Oh, it's been a while since I've see you pair act so polite! I shall have to remember this. And all for no reason, too. Girls, this is Sky. Sky, this is Luna" - she gestured to the wolf - "and Natalia. Sky will be joining us here as my new slave."
The girls looked at Jennifer, slightly taken back. Natalia was the first to speak. "My Lady, have we done something to displease you? If you need us to do more-"
"No, no, it's nothing like that - you both serve me perfectly" said Jennifer. "I love both of you dearly, but you'll both admit I've been harder and harder to distract from work recently. I decided we need to shake things up a bit." She smiled slyly, eyeing Sky up. "Even with the houseful of toys we've acquired, it'll be nice to play with a real cock." Sky blushed as the three women laughed.
Luna prowled towards the dragon, staring into his eyes. "Ooh, yes... It's been a while since I had a male." She swept him up into a bear hug. "Welcome to the family!" Sky managed to stammer a thank you, then she put him down again, brushing her leg against his concealed dragonhood. "I look forward to getting to know you better."
"Not so fast, Luna" said Jennifer. "Our new friend here is a cherry." The wolf and the skunk stared at Sky, as he blushed even harder. "I'm the one that gets the pleasure of breaking him in, so no playing until I say so!"
Unnoticed by Sky, Natalia had slipped behind him. "Don't take too long, mistress" she purred by his ear "or this little dragon's going to find himself ravished one night." Startled, Sky jumped away from the skunk, straight into the wolf.
"I think we're scaring him, Tali. Don't worry, we don't bite." She grinned, showing her teeth. "Unless Mistress lets us, of course."
"Enough, girls" said Jennifer. "As much as I'm enjoying watching your terrorise our new friend, we should head inside." She took Sky by the hand. "Come on in, little dragon. Welcome to your new home."
Sky followed his owner towards the door, Luna and Natalia latching on to his arms. "Thank you, My Lady. I think I'm going to like it here!"