********

Six.


Over the course of the next week or so things continued along in the same vein. Justin and Daphne carried on with their nightly festivities. Daphne was as creative as ever, organizing more wanton and acrobatic combinations night after night. Justin had no idea how she was coming up with all this shit. Or where she was getting her hands on so much contraband stuff, including more ‘toys’ along the same lines as that strap-on harness thing. She had amassed a collection of various sized phalluses, some of which vibrated even, little clips that she’d put on her victims’ nipples, and even a set of five matching glass globes that she said were ‘butt plugs’ and which she made them all wear in their asses for one full day. Rosie, the unassuming, quiet, little innocent, turned out to be Daphne’s most ardent acolyte, egging her Mistress on to greater debauchery, while the three men complied with varying degrees of amusement.

On top of their group activities, Justin was spending quite a lot of extra time with his Brian. He managed to keep the tall, intriguing male with him most nights after Daphne and her minions would wander back to her own chambers. And, in the privacy of his chamber, Justin spent his nights learning as much as he could about how to please the both of them. In fact, that Surrogate, and the delicious, forbidden things they were doing, were becoming a bit of an obsession for Justin. He’d taken to servicing the male not only at night, but also when they’d wake up in the morning and even in the middle of the day, whenever Justin could find the time. Strangely enough, though, the more often Justin had the male, the more he wanted him. He thought he should probably have gotten his fill by then, once the newness of it all had worn off, but for some reason that didn’t seem to be the case. If anything, Justin wanted the male more as time passed.

Unfortunately, all this nocturnal naughtiness, not to mention the extracurricular activities with his favorite, meant that Justin was feeling a little exhausted. He felt frayed and sleepy and unable to concentrate on his duties. He’d actually even nodded off a couple times during meetings. And, by the end of the week, he found himself yawning over his desk, staring with distaste at the towering stack of paperwork he still needed to get through that morning.

Which was when his Dom’l entered bearing even more work for the tired Mis’l. Justin heaved an undignified sigh as he accepted the sheaf of papers Christopher handed him. A quick glance told him it was technical specifications related to the construction of the new factory they planned to build on the land just purchased from Mis’l Peterson. This stuff would require careful review of every minute detail, a task he definitely did NOT feel up to. There was no way he’d be able to stay awake while reading through this mumbo-jumbo. Not today, at least. Justin set the document aside.

“Tch’fl Craig would want that seen to right away,” the Dom’l chided with a nod to the sidelined paperwork. “His instructions were to get the deal done and construction started before his return from Calcascadia.”

“I’m well aware of my father’s desires, Dom’l,” Justin barked angrily.

Christopher hesitated a moment, but then apparently decided to speak regardless of his misgivings. “I realize it might not be my place to say anything, but as the Dom’l of this Estate I AM ultimately responsible for the smooth function of all its dealings, so I feel obligated to point out your obvious exhaustion, Mis’l. Perhaps taking on three Surrogates has been too much for you? Would it not be wise to get rid of the more distracting of the three?”

Justin wasn’t sure which part of this outrageous statement to respond to first. He simply couldn’t believe the nerve of this man. How dare Hobbs comment on his Mis’l’s competence to manage the work of the Estate, even if there was some morsel of truth to the observation? But even worse, this upstart was commenting on Justin’s personal life? He had even dared to insinuate that Justin wasn’t man enough to cover all three Surrogates. What insubordination!

Before he could take the Dom’l to task, though, the man had the temerity to add one more thing. “Perhaps, if you were less distracted by all your Surrogates, you’d even have time to see that your wife stayed out of trouble and I wouldn’t have to repeatedly discipline the staff about spreading so many rumors regarding her latest behavior,” Hobbs added with a snarky little grin that Justin would love to wipe off his face with a blow or two.

Justin rose to his feet so he was looking the Dom’l directly in the eye. “It very certainly is NOT your place to comment on my personal affairs OR my wife, Hobbs!”

The enraged Mis’l was just beginning on his tirade about the Dom’l’s impropriety, when he was inauspiciously interrupted by a knocking on the chamber door and, before he could even call out to bid the new arrival enter, the door creaked open. The tall, aloof, red-robed figure that sauntered through door was probably the last person Justin needed to interrupt him just then. If anything, the Surrogate's arrival only made the judgmental sneer on Dom’l Hobbs’ face more pronounced. Of course that little additional flash of insubordination just brought the Mis’l’s natural inclination towards stubborn defiance even closer to the surface. How dare this peon judge a Mis’l of the Domain?

Brian came to a halt directly in front of Justin’s large mahogany desk, his usual look of casual insouciance clearly evident on the beautiful face. “You requested that I attend you today at noon, Mis’l,” he announced in his sultry baritone. “How would you like me?”

Justin had not missed the hate-filled sneer the Dom’l had shot at the Surrogate when the male had entered. Nor had he missed the barely stifled flash of disdain the Surrogate directed back towards the Dom’l. He loved the way this male simply disregarded Hobbs and his glares, while unashamedly making it known that he only answered to the Mis’l’s wishes. Quickly recalculating, Justin decided to follow the Surrogate's lead and, instead of giving credence to the man’s nosy interference by further comment, he would prove his contempt for the Dom’l’s opinions by ignoring them. For the moment, at least.

“Right on time,” Justin confirmed with an approving smile. Then, turning back to Hobbs he clipped, “you’re dismissed, Hobbs,” and waved him towards the door with a contemptuous indifference that he hoped communicated to the man his utter inconsequentialness, before resuming his seat again.

When it looked like Hobbs was going to defy Justin with a further comment, the wily Surrogate took control of the situation by using that opportunity to unhook the clasp holding his red robe closed and shrugging off the fabric to reveal his gorgeous, nude body. Both Justin and Hobbs were struck dumb by the display; nobody could look on the perfection of that body and not be awed into silent admiration. Next, as if to taunt Hobbs even further, Brian stalked sexily around the end of the desk, coming to a stop directly across from Hobbs and leaning forward so that his hands were resting on the edge of the desktop and his ass was hovering right in front of the Mis’l’s face. From his vantage point, Justin could tell that the Surrogate was looking right at Hobbs, probably with that same blank, dismissive look he often wore, as if whomever Brian was dealing with was beneath notice.

“I SAID, you’re dismissed, Hobbs,” Justin repeated and, at the same time, laid a possessive hand on the Surrogate’s long, sloping back.

Without another word, the fuming Dom’l turned on his heel and stomped out of the office, slamming the door closed behind him. Instead of angering him, though, the little show of tantrum caused Justin to break out laughing. He let his head drop forward until his forehead was pressed against the male’s bare hip and snickered quietly for a minute. Then he gathered himself together, and pulled the male, tantalizing ass and all, down into his lap.

“Thank you, Brian,” Justin said, for once not caring that it was inappropriate to thank a servant. “That was the perfect way to handle the situation. Our Dom’l seems to need a major attitude adjustment and I appreciate the assistance.”

“Seems like an officious prig to me,” the male intoned, with a hint of a smile.

“Quite,” Justin agreed with another huff of laughter. But then he sighed as he caught another glimpse of the piles of files that were waiting for him on his desk and his humor died. “You know what I would really like to do right now?” he asked. “I’d actually like to blow off all this crap and just go take a nice long nap. To hell with paperwork. And, despite how nice your ass is, I think I need to take a rain check on that too. At least till I get a few hours of shut eye. How does that sound to you?”

The male gave him the same, noncommittal shrug Justin was coming to expect, which he took as tacit agreement. Pushing the Surrogate off his lap, Justin stood up, walked around the desk to pick up the male’s robe, and held it out to the man. Brian accepted the offering, refastening the clasp around his neck and pulling the folds of fabric around him to cover himself. Then Justin held out his hand indicating the male should precede him out of the room, and a few minutes later he was ushering the unprotesting male into his bedchamber.

Once they were both naked and under the covers, Justin arranged himself so that his head was pillowed on the larger male’s shoulder and finally let himself relax. Fuck it all. He didn’t care what Hobbs or anyone else thought of him. He was the fucking Mis’l and if he wanted to take the afternoon off - even if it was for no other purpose than to take a nap alongside his favorite Surrogate - no one on the Estate had the right to naysay him. That was the beauty of being a Mis’l. Hobbs and the rest of the prigs could gossip all they wanted and it wouldn’t change the fact that they all owed him their fealty and obedience, not to mention their very livelihood. And if Hobbs dared to take him to task on it again, Justin would demand that his father terminate the meddling oaf.

And with that decided, Justin let the tensions of the world evaporate away and allowed himself to drift off into the pleasure of his dreams while enjoying the warmth of the body lying next to him.

********

Justin was in a much better mood when he finally awoke about three hours later. And his mood was even more improved by the sight of the beautiful male Surrogate slumbering next to him in the big bed. He took a moment to simply look at the male, admiring all over again the long, lean lines of the man’s body, the tanned, golden-brown skin, the well-formed musculature, and the striking features, relaxed now into a semblance of innocence that made him look remarkably younger. This male truly was beautiful.

The sight was enough to make Justin long for the time and freedom to draw the gorgeous creature lying next to him - a pastime that his father had forced him to give up, saying that it was beneath the dignity of a Mis’l to laze around scribbling pretty pictures all day. But if anything could tempt him back to his art, this image of his Brian would probably do it. Oh well. Maybe another time. They would have months and months of time together, or at least as long as it would take to get the male breeding and then however long it took after that for the offspring to arrive. There was no rush.

Justin was still lying there, just enjoying himself, watching the male sleep for several minutes, when the man’s dreams must have taken a wrong turn. He noticed that the happy, innocent look on the male’s face gradually disappeared. The male also became more and more restless, seeming to fight against even the light restraint of Justin’s arm lying across the plain of his chest. But, when he started mumbling in his sleep, saying ‘no. Please, no. Don’t take him away,’ Justin began to think it was time to wake the dreamer.

“Brian? Shhh, Brian. It’s okay,” Justin offered without even thinking how odd it would look to anyone that might see them to have the Mis’l offering comfort to his Surrogate like that. “It’s only a dream. It’s only a dream.”

The male startled awake with a gasp, blinking at the scene around him for several seconds until he managed to focus on Justin’s concerned face. He looked away, taking a minute to pull together his usual mask of unconcern before he finally returned Justin’s gaze. Justin once again found he didn’t like the blank look that he got back; he already missed the contented innocence of the sleeping man. The man before him now was still beautiful, but somehow harder. Justin wondered what it was that had made this male that way, but of course he would never ask such a thing of a mere servant - it wasn’t appropriate for him to pry in the male’s personal life. Instead, he merely reached up with one hand to trace along the man’s strong, square jaw.

“I hope that whatever offspring you produce will have the same, bold features . . . well, at least if the child is a male,” Justin commented, thinking that the Surrogate would appreciate the compliment. “Although, I’m sure any female child of yours would be just as attractive, in her own way.”

He was surprised by the frown he got in return. The Surrogate then looked away again, refusing to meet the Mis’l’s eye and even jerking away from his touch. And if he’d thought the expression on the male’s face before was closed off, this new demeanor was downright forbidding. But all that did was increase Justin’s curiosity.

“You don’t want your offspring to resemble you?” Justin asked with confusion, but only getting another of those annoying shrugs. “I don’t understand. Why not?”

Finally the male deigned to answer him in actual words. “It’s not my place to care what your potential offspring will be like, is it, Mis’l? My opinions don’t matter. I’m just a lowly Surrogate.”

The way the male bit off the word ‘Surrogate’ made it sound like a curse. Like something foul. Almost like he hated the very term.

“You don’t like being a Surrogate?” he finally asked when it looked like no further explanation would be forthcoming unless he pressed.

He got a nasty, unhappy laugh in return. “Might as well ask a slave how he likes his new set of manacles.”

“Surrogates aren’t slaves,” Justin insisted immediately. “Servants, yes, but not slaves. You’re paid for your services; I know, I saw the Estate accounts just yesterday with the hefty Surrogacy premiums in there.”

The male again chuckled but it came out as an angry, disillusioned sound.

This got Justin’s hackles up a bit. “Are you implying that it wasn’t enough or something? I can assure you, I haven’t paid that high a fee to any other servant, ever. It’s nothing to scoff at. You’re paid for your services and paid relatively well. If you don’t like your fee or don’t want to be a Surrogate at all, no one’s forcing you to be here. So what’s your problem?”

That must have touched a nerve, because the usually reserved Surrogate actually sat up, turned to face Justin, and began to speak. “I can’t tell if you’re so jaded you don’t care, or just too young and naive to understand,” he started off, but since Justin’s confused look answered his question, the male continued without further prompting. “The difference between Slavery and Surrogacy is only one of semantics. I’m just as trapped here as a slave would be and I have just as few ‘rights’, regardless of how much money you paid to Sapperstein for my services. And, by the way, I won’t see a penny of that money.”

“What are you talking about?” Justin asked, sitting up now too so that he could argue with this infuriating male. “I know the merchant will likely get a hefty cut, but according to the contract, the rest of the money is yours.”

“Yeah, except that somehow the amount I owe The Sapp for room and board between Surrogate gigs always seems to amount to MORE than my cut from the contract, so he ends up keeping the entire amount and I’m still on the hook to him for the rest. It’s a never ending cycle. I’ll never be free. Not that I have anything else to go to out in the real world, though, so I might just as well stay here for the time being as anywhere, right? At least while while I’m working as a Surrogate I have a roof over my head - I get to live in swanky Estates like this even - and I get fed on a regular basis. Most of the rest of my friends on the outside don’t have it half as good since the War. So I shouldn’t complain, right?”

“I didn’t know . . .” Justin replied when the male finally fell silent.

“Yeah, well, now you do,” Brian asserted with a sigh. “I guess it’s not actual slavery; more like indentured servitude, you might say. Same effect though. And the Masters we serve have about as few limitations on them as if we were slaves, so why quibble? I can’t leave, I can’t say no to anything the Master wants from me, and if I do or say anything you dislike, you’re perfectly within your rights to beat me to within an inch of my life, as long as it doesn’t affect my fertility certification. So what, exactly, is the difference. Huh?”

Justin didn’t have an answer. He’d never thought of it that way. Of course, that brought to mind the lash marks on this Surrogate's back - the only real flaws to the perfection of the man’s beautiful body. He obviously knew what he was talking about since the evidence of the truth of his words was right there on his skin.

“What were you beaten for?” Justin asked, unable to staunch his morbid curiosity.

“Does it matter?” Brian responded angrily. “I did something one of my Masters didn’t like and I was punished. I learned my lesson. I won’t do it again. I’ll be a good, submissive little Surrogate, and won’t make waves. That’s all that matters to any Mis’l that hires me, right?” Brian looked over at Justin with a defiant gleam in his eye that belied the submissive words he had voiced, but it lasted only a few seconds before the Surrogate’s blank mask fell back into place. The male immediately got up onto his hands and knees, facing away from Justin, his ass on display in the accepted position. “So, did you wish to cover me again now, Mis’l?”

The abrupt switch from open candor to obedient Surrogate left Justin reeling. He’d never really thought about things from that perspective before. He’d just grown up, the pampered son of a Tch’fl of the Domain, accepting that things were the way they were. He’d never thought to question. Surrogates were simply part and parcel of Estate life, right? You never stopped to question the practice or wonder if they liked their positions. Justin certainly had never bothered about it before. But now that he had asked, and been given a down and dirty education about a few facts he’d never contemplated before, he didn’t think he could go back to his previous, blithe unawareness.

But what was he supposed to do now? The fact that he understood things a little better from this Surrogate's point of view didn’t change things. He was still the Mis’l here and he still needed an heir to appease his demanding father. Brian was still a Surrogate - one Justin had already paid for. There was no sense in not using the Surrogate’s services as that would only result in the male being sent back to Sapperstein earlier, and then on to yet another Master after that. It wouldn’t change anything in this male’s life. It wouldn’t change anything at all.

So Justin did the only thing he could do at that juncture.

He got up onto his own knees, grabbed the lubrication bottle off the nightstand, applied a goodly amount to his cock, and proceeded to mount the Surrogate, pumping into him determinedly, over and over again, till he reached his climax and deposited yet another load of seed inside, in the hopes that this time he’d impregnate the vessel of his future offspring.

It was all done very impersonally. Clinically, even. Because the Surrogate was right when he’d said that none of it mattered.

********