Striped, Collared and Heated Chapter 26

I woke the next morning with a concrete goal for the day, recruit a servant. While not my third task, Xianta made it very clear that she would be disappointed if I did not succeed. Having a day off from work would make it easier.

Floyd moaned from her pen. Her pleading to be milked drifted through the mirror into my actual apartment as I readied myself for the day. Sadly, it would be several days before her humanity recovered enough so it wouldn’t be immediately snuffed out by another milking. Xianta suggested waiting until she could stand upright unassisted before draining all that delicious milk from her udders. Any more than that and she might recover her facilities enough that she might attempt to escape. Although it be more likely, she’d simply milk herself back to the point she lacked thumbs. The straps in the stall were to guard against that. I looked forward to teasing her while she was all tied up. 

Unlike livestock or pets, Xianta told me servants needed to be far more aware than livestock. Their obedience was enforced with some combination of fear and love. She told me this while I curled on her lap and petted me like a house cat. 

My thoughts turned to Freddy, but I somehow couldn’t imagine him as a servant. At least not a good one. Too much mischief in those eyes.

Fortunately, I knew a person who was nearly unhappy with her a lot in life as I had been. She also had something I wanted very much.

It felt wrong to drive into Big Box Mart on my day off. I really didn’t look forward to working there more, but until the MDA shut it down or gave up investigating it, then I’d have to keep up appearances. I’d taken my sweet time getting here, procrastinating by watching a few makeup tutorials. Despite the supernatural power that flowed through my veins, Xianta had not gifted me with any skill in that department. The knack I had for nail color didn’t help my face. A face that was still unchanged from yesterday, entirely too Gavin like to my eyes. The soften features and sharp teeth gave my grin an entirely different feel, but that didn’t stop me from wincing internally seeing it in the mirror. 

As if to hammer home my discomfort as I gathered my courage sitting my car, my phone buzzed. A text from Freddy:

Hey Gavin. Listen like. I gotta stay away from you. For a bit. Maybe forever. I don’t wanna but… you're a fucking succubus right? I’ve found a place I can hole up for a while. Told work I’m sick, but that won’t last. They say its gunna be months before I can pass for human again. I dunno what I’m gonna do but I’ll figure something out I guess. Damn it. I want you to find me but… don’t please. Witch doc says you ate a part of me, thats fucked up man. Tells me I have to go cold turkey on you. Fuck. Damn. I miss you. Stay safe.

“Freddy…” I whispered the name and felt the thread of connection between us, stretching off in the direction of the Wild District. My ears caught the sound of a depressed squeak. I started the car, then turned it off. I wasn’t sure if I could give someone the human essence I stored within my body, but for Freddy I’d be willing to try. I’d meant to ask Xianta but my mercurial mistress had kept me so busy last night there had been no time. Besides, was there any doubt she’d simply chide me for the question? She’d tell me to take him and lecture me for being weak.

Feeding on Freddy had been a mistake. He wasn’t food. He… I groped for an expression that wasn’t found in a kids' movie about a fish. I wanted the love in his eyes and I didn’t want it poisoned with resentment.

Freddy, I can try to fix you. Give me a day or so. I texted back, but the message timed out. He’d probably blocked my number.

I’d find him, but not yet. Flush with plenty of power, I’d show him what I could offer him and the price. If he rejected me, I’d restore his humanity if I could and then we’d go separate ways. If he took my hand, well…

My overactive sex warmed in response to my imagination. 

“Down girl,” I chided it and looked to the building. Time to be predatory. However, I had a hunch Carla would be a rather enthusiastic morsel. I’d had a missed call from her while I’d been busy with the mistress.

I activated the illusion, hiding away my absurdly long tail and my feline ears. Clad in a simple skirt and a t-shirt displaying a cute tiger cub carrying the globe like a happy house cat with a mouse, I went toward the building. Grabbing a shopping cart, I wheeled it through the entrance and felt the wards wash over me.

The scent of stress and anxiety assaulted me. I wondered if Boon had reappeared in the building yet. Had he and the Stag woman remembered going into the house the first time? If they’d wandered into the pink smoke a second time, they might have fucked each other silly. That would be fun to watch. 

I pursued the aisles, watching for either Carla or Boon. Unsurprisingly, I found Carla first, restocking socks in the underwear aisle. Perfect, unlike most of her department. This one section had pallets of goods stacked on either side, cutting off the view to the rest of the floor. Still viewable by the overhead security cameras, of course, but I wasn’t terribly concerned about them. Carla tidied a display of mens underwear, her yellow collar making customers hesitate before hurrying around her. I pushed my cart toward her, staring hard, trying to scry into her soul with only two eyes. Opening the others would make the illusion of my humanity unstable, and I didn’t want to risk it. So, I could only make out shadows of Carla’s soul. The humanity burned around a small core of something solid, gem like. If I wanted her to be a statue, or possibly an animated statue, I could simply drain her human essence like I had Freddy. That wouldn’t do at all. I wanted something far softer and teasable for a servant. So before I could take, I had to add a different flavor.

Wheeling my cart up behind her, I stepped toward the pallet she labored on and brought her partly within the illusion, so she could feel my tail curl around her legs.

She made a little gasp and then turned to me with rage. “Excuse you…” The anger cooled when she recognized me. “Gavin? What are you doing…” Her hand sank into the fluffy appendage that hugged her hips and her eyes widened with wonder. “… here. On your day off?”

“Just had to pick up a few things.” I smiled and pulled my tail from her grip, reestablishing the illusion.

She glanced down at her hands, then her gaze shifted to my empty cart.

“And what’s that, Gavin?” Carla asked, eyes narrowing. “This something about Freddy?”

“If you meet me at the blind spot, maybe I’ll show you.” I said, trying to keep my expression bland. She smelled good, delicious.

Curiosity lit her eyes before a wary squint over took it. “Thought I was a yellow-bellied snitching bitch?”

“I decided that was too harsh, you’re just a little bitchy, a foxy bitch even.” I grinned, watching her try to decide if that was a compliment or not. Back before we dated, we’d thrown the b-word around a lot and I knew she liked foxes plenty. “I think you deserve to know. Might even have a solution for that collar you got.”

“Really?” Hope lifted both her chest and her very large breasts. 

“Ten minutes Foxy Lady.” I winked, grabbed a package of underwear at random and tossed it in my cart before sauntering off. She stared at me until I steered my cart against the crowd and entered the throng. I knew I’d laid it on thick but if this was going to work, I had get her thinking of herself as a fox before I started the negotiation. I meandered to the back of the warehouse and grabbed a couple pounds of steak, a stack of burger patties and, as an after thought, a few containers of muffins, then circled around to the “blind spot.” The cameras had been installed before the fire marshal forced the store to widen the freezer aisle. That had thrown off the spacing in the cameras, so a rack containing laundry detergent stood almost directly under a line of them. They’d installed a camera on the rack to compensate but the end cap had no camera coverage. There found Carla waiting for me, audibly grinding her crystalline teeth. 

“So what’s going on?” She nearly pounced on me, thought better of it and retreated to the shadow of the racks. There were still plenty of customers milling through, but nobody gave us a second glance. 

“Lots of things,” I said, letting her see through the illusion entirely. 

She grasped and covered her mouth. “O-M-G!”

“Sssh!” I stepped in close, she stepped back to avoid contact, pressing herself against the steel. Her eyes dilated as she took in my height and face. 

“Who did? How?” She choked out.

“Isn’t it fantastic?” I asked. 

“Yeeah.” She marveled, looking me up and down. The attention started a purr in my chest. “How long does the glamor last?”

“The glamor is what everyone else is seeing.” I grinned, tilting my head to offer her an ear. “Go ahead, touch if you want. I might charge a kiss though.”

She hesitated just a second before tentatively grasping my ear and feeling the velvet across its back. The sensation of those little hairs stirred my very being to a playful arousal. My purr increased to a rumble as pressed Carla to the wall. “Its real.” She whispered.

“You know it's unwise for a fox to let herself be cornered by a tiger.” I whispered, pulling my ear from her grip and taking her upper arms. I saw the stark realization in her face as she realized that I might be dangerous as I leaned in for the kiss I was due.

She trembled as our lips made contact, but it was her tongue that first darted through my lips to explore my fangs. I felt her tremble as my sand paper tongue pushed back, and she opened wide to let lap across the inside of her mouth. From the tip of my tongue, I tossed the Glyph I had created for her into her soul. I felt it spin into her and sputter, needing a bit of room to work its magic. One of my hands grasped her collar as I pressed my hips against her. I burned a fair bit of humanity to strengthen my wards before channeling chaos. I let her feel the very edge of the storm that slammed through me.

“Mmmmph!” She tried to scream and pull away but I held her fast. The pleasure assailed me as I concentrated on the flows required in my design. We bucked against each other as the yellow collar turned to a black velvet ribbon and I released the chaos back to its home. Our shared orgasm had loosened her essence and took a careful sip. It yielded easily, eager to escape her body and shivered anew. I waited for the spasms to subside before releasing her lips.

Carla coughed and made a small yip like noises before looking up at me. “That was a hell of a lot more than a kiss.” She panted hard. Her irises were rings of tiny pale blue crystals. 

“Am I interesting now, little fox?” I asked her.

She nodded. “Why are you calling me that?”

“Meet me for dinner tonight and maybe you’ll find out.” I grinned. It was simple really, the little fox glyph would convert her human essence, but it required that Carla call to it with her mind. The more she thought about foxes the stronger it get. If she forgot about it, then her fey essence might spread instead. Fortunately, with what I’d crafted the glyph to change first, it would keep her mind very focused. 

“I’d like that.” She smiled broadly, displaying her teeth, and happy whine leaked out of her throat, although there was no sign she noticed the noise. Her glamor kicked in and for the first time I saw through it, no suddenly radiant skin and glorious shimmery air. Her smile remained gorgeous. The black choker with a silver pendent that spelled the word “foxy” added a feral cuteness.  I nearly kissed her again but managed to control my urge. The illusion around us rendered us uninteresting but strained less when we refrained from doing anything interesting.

“Tapanades then?” I asked, stepping back and brushing myself off.  

She swiftly agreed to the place and time before suddenly realizing where she was and trying to scurry off. I managed to slow her down enough to explain that her new choker would look like the yellow collar to anyone expecting to see one on her but otherwise it looked the same as it did to her. Her eyes blinked in confusion, but hurried to resume her job without further questions.

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