with a dozen more who were inactive or available only upon special request. A quick glance showed that, as with Tino, there were no photos. Instead each Pet’s physical attributes were expounded upon in detail, all guaranteed to be exactly as per description.
There was an extensive system of tagging and cross referencing to best take into account all tastes, fetishes and preferences, from erect penis size to sizes and shape preferences for breasts, nipples and areolae. Pets were classified according to height, muscle mass, curviness, roundness of bottoms, hair and eye colour, body hair, even size of feet and hands. Their personality profiles ranged from very shy and submissive to Pets who played rough and bit hard and everything in between.
There was a wealth of information presented with the understanding that anyone accessing the Pet Shop site would be willing to take the time and effort to do the research involved in choosing their perfect Pet. And from the testimonials, whatever the Pet Shop was doing seemed to be working very well indeed. There were several areas on the site reserved for VIP members. Stella had no idea what that meant and no way of finding out.
Before she headed off to bed she checked the news feeds as she always did, especially now that her job depended so much on her keeping abreast of any situation at any time. She was about to shut down when an article on one of the more obscure environmental sites caused her to do a double take, and she quickly brought the link back up, her heart pounding in her chest.
The caption read: Vincent Evanston does it again. But it was the photo that caught her attention. In spite of the poor quality of the image, which was labelled as an archive photo, the man standing at a podium with an arm raised in some grand victory gesture looked just like Tino – a little younger perhaps, and the hair was a little shorter. She squinted hard and readjusted the reading light. She enlarged the image, but that only made it worse. When her eyes began to water from her efforts, she turned her attention to the short blurb underneath.
Reclusive philanthropist, Vincent Evanston’s, crack team of lawyers and investigators have found discrepancies in the contracts that would have allowed the Bear Grass Corridor to be ploughed under and replaced by a luxury apartment complex by Collins Development. The Bear Grass Corridor is a habitat for several endangered species of invertebrates and insects. Though the stay of execution is temporary, a spokesman for Evanston says it will buy much-needed time to find other legal routes to save the corridor.
The article said the Bear Grass Corridor was someplace outside Portland, Oregon, someplace a very long way from London. Evanston couldn’t possibly be Tino, though there was no denying that he looked enough like Tino to make her heart beat fast and her pussy tighten. Stella gave the image one last long squint, then as an afterthought, she saved the article to her Favourites folder.
As she shut down the computer for what was left of the night, she wondered what Tino did when he wasn’t being a Pet. What did he like? What music did he listen to? What did he believe in? What was important to him? A photo of Tino, she thought to herself as she cleaned her teeth. That’s what she needed. She’d be sure to get one next time he was here. In the meantime a Tino lookalike would have to do.
Chapter Six
‘S HE CHOSE T INO AGAIN .’ O’Kelly drummed her fingers on the desk and stared at the phone which was now on speaker.
‘Oh really?’
‘You don’t sound surprised.’
‘Should I be? Tino’s one of the most popular Pets for good reason.’
‘That’s just my point.’ She gestured wildly to the phone as though it were actually the Boss sitting there across from her. ‘Tino’s next to impossible to schedule a weekend with. And yet, here he is with two cancellations in three weeks. Doesn’t that strike you as a bit odd?’
‘Well, I
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