Page 23 of Darkest Desire
“Keep me out of trouble? How?” Phoebe ran her fingertips over the velvety collar as she looked at herself in the 3-D viewer.
“They have a colored collar system on Salacious Prime,” Kat had explained. “White means ‘pure and untouched.’ It also means that no other man besides your ‘Master’—which is Commander Sirex—can lay a hand on you. So this…” She pointed at the collar. “Makes you off limits to anyone but him. Never take it off. There are a lot of grabby men on that planet and you don’t want to be vulnerable to them.”
“I’ll keep it on at all times,” Phoebe promised with a shiver. She didn’t want anyone but Sirex touching her—especially not when she was wearing this revealing outfit. “But you said they had a whole system of colored collars—what do the other colors mean?” she asked, frowning.
“Hmm, well I know that yellow means any man who sees you can part your top strands and look at your breasts. And green means he can look at both your breasts and your hoo-hah, if you know what I mean.” She nodded at the long strands of Phoebe’s skirt. “Pink means any man can touch your breasts and red means any man can touch your breasts and also down below. Dark blue means you’re available for anal play and black means you’re open to anything at all.”
“Wow—that’s an elaborate system,” Phoebe remarked.
“Yes, it is—so be sure you keep on your pure white collar. It’ll keep you safe,” Kat had promised. “No one but your ‘Master’—Commander Sirex—will be allowed to touch you.”
Those words echoed in Phoebe’s head as she showed her Salacious Prime slave girl outfit to her mentor. What would he think of how much skin she was showing?
“Well, do you like it?” she asked, since he hadn’t answered her the first time.
“Hmm?” Sirex’s attention had been fixed on the ship’s control panel. He was already wearing his own outfit—which didn’t look much different from his regular clothes to Phoebe. His black leather trousers, vest, and high black boots looked pretty much the same, except the vest had richly jeweled buttons running down the front of it—presumably to show his wealth—and the boots had golden buckles at the knees and ankles. There was also a long black cloak that fastened with golden clips at his throat, but she hadn’t seen him put that part on yet.
“I said, what do you think? Do I look like I’ll fit in down on the planet?” Phoebe asked, nodding at the green and purple ball spinning in the viewscreen.
At last, her mentor turned to look at her. His red-on-black eyes went wide as they raked over her exposed flesh…and then narrowed.
“I don’t like it,” he growled, frowning. “It shows too much.”
“It’s supposed to.” Phoebe could feel her cheeks getting hot.
“You’re too damn tempting,” he argued. “I’ll have to fight every male in the place to keep them off you.”
“No, you won’t. Because I’m wearing this.” Phoebe pointed at the white velvet collar and explained the meaning behind it. “Kat says they have a whole system of colored collars on Salacious Prime,” she told him. “Different colors mean different things.”
“Oh?” Sirex raised an eyebrow at her. “Like what?”
“Well…” Phoebe could feel herself blushing, but she tried to keep her voice steady as she spoke. “Yellow, for instance, means any man who wants to can…can part the strands of a woman’s top and look at her breasts, while a green collar means he can also part the strands down below to look at her…you know.”
“What else?” he demanded. “I’m sure they have colors that mean touching as well.”
“Er, yes they do,” Phoebe admitted. She was regretting bringing up this topic but it was too late now. “A pink collar means any man can touch your breasts and red means he can touch you…between your legs.”
“I see.” Sirex frowned. “Go on. What does purple mean?”
“I don’t think Kat mentioned a purple collar,” Phoebe said. “But dark blue means you’re into butt stuff and black means anything goes.”
“Butt stuff?” He raised both eyebrows this time.
“Er, you know. Anal play.” She was definitely blushing now and she was sure he could tell it.
“All right.” He nodded again. “It’s good to know what the different colors mean—it lets us both know how important it is for you to keep on your pure white collar at all times.”
“Kat and I already talked about it—I’m never taking it off,” Phoebe assured him.
“Good. Then since we’re both in costume, it’s time to land at the Prime Spaceport. Once we get there, I’ve hired a consultant to tell us what to expect and how best to maneuver in the Emperor’s Court.”
“A consultant? Who is he?” Phoebe asked.
“She is a woman who used to be a favorite concubine of the Emperor,” Sirex said, frowning as he turned his attention back to the ship’s controls. “Her name is Lady Scornfoot. She’s retired now and one of the few women who have status on the planet.”
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Phoebe remarked.
“Then sit down and buckle your harness—we’re about to go into the landing sequence,” her mentor told her.