leaning
forward, tried to reach me. I stood there for a moment, she straining toward me,
I regarding her, thinking. She looked at me. I now let her wonder, now that she
had made her bold overture, if I would choose to accept it. Perhaps, now, to her
shame, to her humiliation, before her sisters in custody, her revelatory,
astonishing, compromising advance would be rejected. Perhaps, even, she might be
cuffed, or mocked. I saw fear in her eyes. So I took her in my arms and put my
lips to hers. It began as a free woman’s kiss but, as I held her, and pressed
her to me, and she then pressed herself to me, it ended as a kiss which, though
doubtless still that of a free woman, hinted at unmistakable latencies within
her, that she might, under suitable conditions of helplessness and submission,
and perhaps proper training, be capable of at least the nearest reaches of the
kisses of slaves.
I released her, and she looked at me, shaken. She grasped the chains above the
manacles tightly. Then she recovered herself. She released the chains above the
manacles and her small hands now appeared as they had before, the clasping iron
of the upper part of the shackles close below the fleshy part of her palms,
below the thumbs, and at the sides of the hands. She squirmed a little. “Redeem
me,” she said, slyly.
“Taste me!” said the lovely, slighter girl, who was fourth, who had seemed
perhaps the quieter of the five. I thought she might go the gentlest, and the
most willingly, and the most gratefully, to her chains.
“Slut!” cried the third woman.
(pg.47) I then kissed her.
I saw that she would make a superb slave.
“Do you not wish to be redeemed?” I asked her.
“Yes!” she said suddenly. “Yes, of course!” But I saw she would never be truly
happy, except where she belonged, in a collar.
“Me!” said the third woman, suddenly. “Kiss me, too! Taste me, too!” I gathered
that she, too, did not wish to be left out in these competitions. She did not
wish to miss her opportunity to see if she might, by the bestowal of her favors,
and the promise of such favors, as well, please me, and, by enticement or
trickery, inveigle me into purchasing her redemption. I also saw, from her
behavior and attitude, that she regarded herself as the most beautiful of the
five, and the most likely to succeed in any such contest. Accordingly I gave her
little time but merely took her in my arms and unilaterally, forcibly, briefly,
crushed her lips beneath mine, and then flung her back against the logs. She
looked at me wildly, disbelievingly. Was she not blond? But she would have to
learn to please men.
I then stood back, and regarded the three women.
“You have not tasted me,” said the second woman. I think she feared I was
pondering a choice among the other there.
I kissed her. I would have to admit it, women kiss well in shackles, even free
women. She looked at me. Then, she, too, recovered herself. “Though I am of high
caste,” she said, “I have permitted you to kiss me, and not merely upon a sleeve
or gloved hand, but wholly upon my lips, and not even through a veil, no, upon
my exposed and naked lips themselves, unveiled, almost as though I might be a
slave! Therefore, in return for this inestimable gift, it is I whom you must now
in honor redeem.”
“You are a female,” I said, “and such are made for the kisses of men.”
“I am of high caste!” she said.
“Perhaps—now,” I said. Slaves, of course, are casteless, as are other animals.
No longer is one woman divided from another by artificial distinctions. In this
sense there is a democracy of slaves. They all begin the same, regardless of
previous distinctions, such as position or wealth. They all begin at the same
point, as naked women, branded and (pg.48) collared, who must then strive with
one another to see who can be most pleasing to masters.
She looked at me in fury.
“Unfortunately,” I said, “ I do
forward, tried to reach me. I stood there for a moment, she straining toward me,
I regarding her, thinking. She looked at me. I now let her wonder, now that she
had made her bold overture, if I would choose to accept it. Perhaps, now, to her
shame, to her humiliation, before her sisters in custody, her revelatory,
astonishing, compromising advance would be rejected. Perhaps, even, she might be
cuffed, or mocked. I saw fear in her eyes. So I took her in my arms and put my
lips to hers. It began as a free woman’s kiss but, as I held her, and pressed
her to me, and she then pressed herself to me, it ended as a kiss which, though
doubtless still that of a free woman, hinted at unmistakable latencies within
her, that she might, under suitable conditions of helplessness and submission,
and perhaps proper training, be capable of at least the nearest reaches of the
kisses of slaves.
I released her, and she looked at me, shaken. She grasped the chains above the
manacles tightly. Then she recovered herself. She released the chains above the
manacles and her small hands now appeared as they had before, the clasping iron
of the upper part of the shackles close below the fleshy part of her palms,
below the thumbs, and at the sides of the hands. She squirmed a little. “Redeem
me,” she said, slyly.
“Taste me!” said the lovely, slighter girl, who was fourth, who had seemed
perhaps the quieter of the five. I thought she might go the gentlest, and the
most willingly, and the most gratefully, to her chains.
“Slut!” cried the third woman.
(pg.47) I then kissed her.
I saw that she would make a superb slave.
“Do you not wish to be redeemed?” I asked her.
“Yes!” she said suddenly. “Yes, of course!” But I saw she would never be truly
happy, except where she belonged, in a collar.
“Me!” said the third woman, suddenly. “Kiss me, too! Taste me, too!” I gathered
that she, too, did not wish to be left out in these competitions. She did not
wish to miss her opportunity to see if she might, by the bestowal of her favors,
and the promise of such favors, as well, please me, and, by enticement or
trickery, inveigle me into purchasing her redemption. I also saw, from her
behavior and attitude, that she regarded herself as the most beautiful of the
five, and the most likely to succeed in any such contest. Accordingly I gave her
little time but merely took her in my arms and unilaterally, forcibly, briefly,
crushed her lips beneath mine, and then flung her back against the logs. She
looked at me wildly, disbelievingly. Was she not blond? But she would have to
learn to please men.
I then stood back, and regarded the three women.
“You have not tasted me,” said the second woman. I think she feared I was
pondering a choice among the other there.
I kissed her. I would have to admit it, women kiss well in shackles, even free
women. She looked at me. Then, she, too, recovered herself. “Though I am of high
caste,” she said, “I have permitted you to kiss me, and not merely upon a sleeve
or gloved hand, but wholly upon my lips, and not even through a veil, no, upon
my exposed and naked lips themselves, unveiled, almost as though I might be a
slave! Therefore, in return for this inestimable gift, it is I whom you must now
in honor redeem.”
“You are a female,” I said, “and such are made for the kisses of men.”
“I am of high caste!” she said.
“Perhaps—now,” I said. Slaves, of course, are casteless, as are other animals.
No longer is one woman divided from another by artificial distinctions. In this
sense there is a democracy of slaves. They all begin the same, regardless of
previous distinctions, such as position or wealth. They all begin at the same
point, as naked women, branded and (pg.48) collared, who must then strive with
one another to see who can be most pleasing to masters.
She looked at me in fury.
“Unfortunately,” I said, “ I do
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