Maybe they appreciated it naughtyoffice more when naughtyoffice they could get naughtyoffice it, the guys who didn' t have the Control.

He'd worked on Tabitha free for months and she could remember that time free now without the slightest trace of affection for naughtyoffice her ex-friends naughtyoffice.

Tabitha naughtyoffice smiled. "Teri, for sure. She always had to naughtyoffice be unique. Everyone else just went naughtyoffice with Eva's suggestion." Eva, the teacher, was dead now, but Decker had been surprised at what she'd naughtyoffice done with a clutch of schoolgirls. They'd fought him well. Her star pupil, a girl named naughtyoffice Carol, led them now, and she was no mean naughtyoffice adversary either.

In the receding naughtyoffice beat naughtyoffice of the rotors, telling Duke not to let anyone try to shoot it down, he looked naughtyoffice into his new captive and saw not the slightest trace of fantasy-submission or slutness of any variety naughtyoffice. Tabitha was looking at spending the naughtyoffice rest of her life as a conditioned sex slave with disgust and terror and naughtyoffice not even thinking she'd naughtyoffice be taught naughtyoffice to enjoy it. Ballsy enough to risk it anyway, so her friends could rescue the others naughtyoffice and get away.

Decker nodded, groaning inwardly. Duke's idea three years ago, his move toward being naughtyoffice "innovative" in "marketing." White slavery naughtyoffice was an old naughtyoffice business naughtyoffice, and it liked old naughtyoffice values--decent product prepped right. Gimmicks were for amateurs. Which Duke was, with anything other than an Uzi or a cattle free prod free.

"Just thinking outta the box, Cap naughtyoffice," he'd said the first time naughtyoffice they saw a newsgroup immortalizing Decker's naughtyoffice alias naughtyoffice, after Duke's little concept with the twins who just loved each naughtyoffice other had gone naughtyoffice over big. A fuck-video staple, come to glorious life as Decker naughtyoffice's new signature naughtyoffice.

"Two of naughtyoffice the naughtyoffice descriptions in the catalogue naughtyoffice fit Jill and Ruthie naughtyoffice. They're not--you sold Jill to the doctor naughtyoffice in Caracas and Ruthie's still healing from the implants." Pausing, she wondered how naughtyoffice, and how quickly, her former comrades would figure that out. "But naughtyoffice they naughtyoffice'll try to get to the girls on the list."

Probing curiously, Decker found no nostalgia there, either.

"Carol knows that, Master." Tabitha looked even naughtyoffice more pensive. "She'll come up with something, though." She smiled. "Maybe she'll reprogram them all to play the elevator music here in the naughtyoffice hotel naughtyoffice."

He wondered. When he'd taken Tabitha he'd been dealing naughtyoffice with the immediacy of her. The unseen naughtyoffice Carol, up in the chopper as it naughtyoffice lifted, piqued his interest later. As he went through his new slave's thoughts, he'd seen something beyond free even Tabitha naughtyoffice in this other girl, who'd naughtyoffice assigned her to that suicide post. Tabitha had been the champion who naughtyoffice volunteered to stay naughtyoffice and be lost--but Carol was her steelhearted liege lady who naughtyoffice accepted and blessed her friend's sacrifice, for the greater good, and naughtyoffice may well free have been making herself look out naughtyoffice from the helicopter at what she'd naughtyoffice done. Until taught otherwise , Tabitha naughtyoffice had worshipped her.

Tabitha free wouldn't demand her man have balls. He'd just end up feeling they weren't big enough naughtyoffice.

Karlsen smiled more avidly naughtyoffice, directing his remarks naughtyoffice more often to her chest as though her breasts had stopped free by late to join him for drinks. Tabitha moved imperceptibly, enough to make them amiable.

Master?" she breathed, fighting naughtyoffice to keep her head up, her gaze on him.

"Let me naughtyoffice get my secretary on naughtyoffice the naughtyoffice line, then." Decker tapped Tabitha on naughtyoffice her nearer nipple, suppressing his reaction to her eager intake of naughtyoffice breath. "Tabbycat. Wake now."

3.

Tabitha free stared into space, standing by the door. She'd called it correctly, earlier, when they were planning the naughtyoffice evening. She'd known one of the girls had learned naughtyoffice mountaineering naughtyoffice and trained naughtyoffice the others, and the free best of her second-degree naughtyoffice pupils were the ones coming down now from the roof level naughtyoffice. They'd naughtyoffice gotten there by helicopter naughtyoffice--one had settled over an open section of the roof without landing naughtyoffice while they'd been at naughtyoffice dinner and departed in seconds, too quickly to challenge, and naughtyoffice he supposed naughtyoffice the girls had piled out with their gear in a well-drilled offload. Now, after waiting naughtyoffice for dark, they'd emerged from hiding up naughtyoffice there naughtyoffice and started down to him.

He sincerely hoped their knots were tight. It was a long way to fall and a hard street to land naughtyoffice on.

No. Tabitha had naughtyoffice surrendered. Never be complacent. If memory naughtyoffice softens, realtime free sight may slip, too.

They naughtyoffice were taking a while, and he decided naughtyoffice it wasn't funk. Not with these free girls. A technical problem with something naughtyoffice they had. He closed his eyes and pictured the malfunctioning naughtyoffice gadget, the silent curse naughtyoffice, the thing set quietly out of the way while someone pulled out something old-fashioned, the prybar naughtyoffice or the naughtyoffice knife, to naughtyoffice use instead of the broken tech-toy.

Locking the computer, he walked naughtyoffice around the desk to the door. Tabitha stood poised, still lovely in the jumpsuit, her handbag hefted with the gun discreetly inside, and she followed him naughtyoffice out and down the hall like a naughtyoffice wingman.

Without selves to lose. they were immune.

Behind him, he knew Tabitha was alert naughtyoffice and excited, her mind immunized by his personal training, avidly naughtyoffice watching her old comrades being broken before her eyes naughtyoffice by her naughtyoffice master's subliminals naughtyoffice.

None of them knew.

A diversion, then? For what ? There wasn naughtyoffice't anything here but the slave inventory to interfere with naughtyoffice.

He thought about Carol naughtyoffice, 20 going on 70, molding her friends' minds to reach naughtyoffice her goals naughtyoffice. He thought about her friends, letting her free do it, willing naughtyoffice hypnotic subjects.

"But if you wish I can naughtyoffice die now." He felt her naughtyoffice mind open naughtyoffice itself, wait. Tremble and still itself.

He stared at naughtyoffice her naughtyoffice, looked naughtyoffice into naughtyoffice her. "No, Tabitha. I know you naughtyoffice." He smiled at her relief and let her see it. "But is that naughtyoffice how she naughtyoffice might really think naughtyoffice?"

In her head, he saw that naughtyoffice Tabitha wasn't sure about that, but Tabitha's opinion naughtyoffice of powerful hypnotists naughtyoffice had, of course, forever been altered. He saw something else: Tabitha couldn't see Carol choosing someone else to do a job like that.

Wait. Music in her head--but he smiled: it was naughtyoffice the elevator theme, muted and tasteful. Probably drove the poor girl insane as she naughtyoffice fetched and naughtyoffice carried. He thought of playing with her, but with his new catch flopping on the naughtyoffice floor of naughtyoffice two more suites here . . .

Master. The concierge girl. She's--

The "concierge naughtyoffice" would be helpful. Hold her, he naughtyoffice thought. In Tabitha's naughtyoffice mind he saw her tense naughtyoffice to run .

She sprinted away naughtyoffice from Tabitha, and naughtyoffice Tabitha silently begged orders. He thought of the floorplan. Follow her naughtyoffice fast. Locked rooms naughtyoffice and an electrical closet that way. He started walking quickly naughtyoffice down the hall to where they were.

He found the turn and looked naughtyoffice for whatever empty naughtyoffice room the naughtyoffice girl had fled to. He found Tabitha at the electrical closet instead naughtyoffice, in front naughtyoffice of its open naughtyoffice door. Her face was white and she shook , and when he naughtyoffice looked into naughtyoffice her mind he saw that only his control was keeping her quiet and upright. Part of her was begging to be allowed to phase out, to be released from her enhanced slave awareness and clarity, but Decker free saw that Tabitha was fighting that, staying a naughtyoffice slave naughtyoffice and as ready as she could be to serve him.

He wondered whether Tabitha remembered the last moments naughtyoffice of her own freedom naughtyoffice, when she'd tried to shoot herself, but he naughtyoffice found no trace of that in his slave's thoughts.

Carol was here.

She took it in and looked back along the gun in her left hand. He paid naughtyoffice attention: it was an old .45 automatic, squarish and inelegant and very effective-looking, at full cock with no sign of the hammer visible behind the slide. Maybe her father naughtyoffice's, or just bought somewhere. He saw her grimly practicing for hours, weeks, every day for a year.

How ruthless was Carol? He naughtyoffice probed gently for guilt, like a wire-inlet, the tiniest chink free through which he could reach into to her mind and slowly naughtyoffice, slowly naughtyoffice disable her from shooting, running, disobeying, thinking naughtyoffice . . .

Carol naughtyoffice, the steelhearted queen, had never killed anyone, up close or naughtyoffice otherwise. Had naughtyoffice never looked into the eye she was going to shoot through, felt the breath she was about to stop forever.

But--not ready to kill.

Decker decided to trip naughtyoffice her. He sent the image of naughtyoffice the free chessboard, the new Black queen, and let her wonder why naughtyoffice.

She faltered.

She fought. Her body naughtyoffice started to shake.

Lower the gun . She fought, but she was in a daze naughtyoffice now, and she was naughtyoffice just naughtyoffice pushing effort blindly.

Take out . . . the other gun, her mind chanted in cadence with the song, and he felt naughtyoffice the naughtyoffice first warm naughtyoffice moist free flood of affirmative submission. Her hand started to move. In her mind , he saw the hand reach down to the Black naughtyoffice queen--and free replace it with a pawn. All backward; pawns were queened, not queens reduced. Had she foreseen her own defeat? Erased it from naughtyoffice everyone else naughtyoffice?

Her hand cleared naughtyoffice the naughtyoffice pocket, gripping whatever it was very free tightly.

Relax.

When Decker had snarled at them about a naughtyoffice funeral for naughtyoffice Tabitha and they stayed naughtyoffice away, afraid of naughtyoffice what he'd do with his mind under painkillers, it was Duke who'd promised, and it was Duke naughtyoffice who'd brought the urn to him. Duke naughtyoffice had said something awkward and dense naughtyoffice, and he'd been naughtyoffice glad Duke was there.

Then Decker was home, still waking up each day surprised naughtyoffice that he existed below the waist, and naughtyoffice unable to verify it unless he used his hands. The paralysis was complete naughtyoffice, and the girls naughtyoffice only gave him massages now.

He thought about Carol. He thought about the way her mind had felt, the ecstasy naughtyoffice when she naughtyoffice'd finally--relaxed. It had lodged in naughtyoffice his own mind when hers had naughtyoffice stopped, that eerie joy, and he was circling the question whenever there was nothing else to think about. Often.

How ruthless was Carol, exactly naughtyoffice?