Foreword
This is set right smack in the middle of Kittiara’s “Trouble’s Tales” universe, in the Brethren’s Base, it’s not really a fanfic, as it doesn’t involve any of Trouble & Co. directly, but I chose this setting, not so much because of anything that even happens in this story tying in directly with the events of that scenario, but more so because it’s a good setup for the story and I’m too lazy to establish my own universe for what will hopefully be a relatively short medium length yarn. :)  That, and Trouble’s Tales kicks ass, and you can tell your grandmother I said so.  ;)  

In case you’re not familiar with Trouble’s Tales, first off, shame on you, second, don’t worry, you won’t miss much except one or two inside references I make to Kittiara’s characters, and I left those vague intentionally. Like I said, I was more interested in the setting, and that pretty much explains itself as the story unfolds. And third, go read it. http://vcl.ctrl-c.liu.se/vcl/Authors/Kittiara/

Trouble, Trouble’s Tales, The Lion, and Rafe are all  Kittiara. Everything else is  Dynotaku. 

Standard disclaimer jive: Don’t read this if sex (consensual or otherwise) offends you. I’m sure that’s not too likely, cause otherwise, what the hell are you doing browsing things like the VCL and BondoFox? :)

This story has M/f sex in it, bondage, nonconsensual and uh… I guess semi-consensual sex and a little BDSM. 

Send flames, as well as constructive feedback, and flipping great wads of cash to dynotaku@dynotaku.com :)

*                                       *                                      *

The money from the last raid was already deposited into his account; Jäger took a minute to marvel at the Brethren’s efficiency.  They were a clan of pirates, sure, but easily the most organized bunch he had ever hooked up with.  The base was like a city unto itself, there was a cafeteria, multiple rec rooms, gymnasiums, they even had a pool.  There was even a mall of sorts. Some of the pirates had taken to setting up shops and selling whatever they acquired in raids that wasn’t automatically divvied up, mostly stuff like passenger accoutrements, fur grooming accessories or fine bedding and the like.  With the exception of fresh fruit and vegetables, almost anything could be found at the base in ready supply, and the pirates had even converted one of the out of date docks into a hydroponics bay, that was supposed to start yielding any week now.  In addition to the requisite branches of war, intelligence, and medical, they had an accounting department and now one for agriculture and many others.  It was easy to forget that it was a secret base and not a free port of trade sometimes.  Anything could be had there for a price, even slaves.
Jäger looked at his data padd again, waiting in one of the commons areas for some of his buddies to get off their shifts. He finally had enough money for his own slave.  He had seen some of the slaves wandering the corridors, many of them were available for free use when they weren’t on errands for their masters.  Being the healthy male that he was, he had taken advantage once or twice.  He had always been amazed at how graciously the slaves accepted his advances.  He shrugged, assuming it was because of their training.  It didn’t keep him from feeling a little guilty sometimes.  Despite working and living among pirates, he had been raised to be a gentlefur, and it was very awkward for him to simply approach a woman and more or less demand sex from her.  Still, it was hard to find a bed slave that wasn’t at the very least attractive, most were drop dead gorgeous, as their masters kept them on strict regimens of grooming, diet and exercise. So his bashfulness would take a backseat to his libido and he had managed to muster up the courage once or twice. He usually wound up beating around the bush a little with small talk, then segueing into “So… your master, uh, says that you’re, ah, available? As I understand?” Or something equally as non-slick. Still, usually the girls smiled and took the reins from there.  They weren’t a bashful bunch, that was for sure.  It didn’t hurt that Jäger wasn’t unattractive, at least by pirate standards.  He was a black and white husky, his most remarkable physical feature was that he had one brown eye and one light blue one, a reasonably common ailment for his breed.  He had a nice full coat, even if there were a few spots that were a little uneven from one welding accident or some exploding control panel.  
He never seemed to be able to convince anyone that a simple fuse box would reduce the number of exploding-control-panel related deaths by a significant factor. Everyone seemed to think that control panels were supposed to explode in a shower of flame and sparks at the first sign of an overload, almost it was like their primary function.  As an engineer, it irked him to no end, but beyond ‘exploding control panel’ proofing the ship he held a share in, he didn’t seem to be able to clue anyone else in.
He had been waffling around about whether or not to get himself a slave of his own, but now that he had the money to put a reasonable bid in on one, he had more or less made up his mind.  Still, he wanted to get his friends’ opinions on it, especially Ludarch, who had owned a little bunny girl for some time now.
Eventually they all showed up, drifting in from their shifts, Mugen the Beaver arrived from the mess, as always smelling like whatever the slop of the day was, Jank, a Dingo showed up with Circe, an attractive Stoat, both from maintenance.  As always, Jank had his hand on Circe’s posterior, and as always, Circe was periodically slapping it away.  This little dance had been going on between them for some weeks now, obviously her slapping wasn’t nearly hard enough to offer any real discouragement.  Finally Ludarch, a ‘roo,  showed up, fresh back from a raid, his little bunny on her leash as always.  Her name was… well, Ludarch never told them her real name, he just called her Caramel, due to her blonde hair and her brown and tan fur.
They all got settled down, Caramel kneeling next to Ludarch as usual. Jäger couldn’t contain his grin and finally brought the subject up.
Everyone at the table groaned.  This impending purchase had been practically the only thing that Jäger had talked about for weeks now. 
“Just go buy one and stop being all wishy washy about it.” Mugen grumbled.
“Yeah man, you’ll be happier once you do.” Ludarch grinned.
“Yeah, and then you can stop talking about it all the time!” Jank rolled his eyes.
“I’m sorry guys, but it’s a big deal for me.” Jäger sunk in his chair, a bit admonished by his friends.
“Man, it’s not a big deal, you just go down to the kennels, find one you like and put a bid on her.  If you win her, then you’ve got something else besides your right paw to keep you company at night.” Ludarch patted Caramel on her head.  Everyone chuckled a bit, Caramel’s only reaction was to smile shyly with her eyes still downcast. “Oh, hey, and speaking of putting in a bid, you need to check out one of the slaves we brought back from this raid.  If word gets out about her, you’ll never be able to afford her, so get down there early.”
Jäger’s ear’s perked up. “Really? What is she? What’s her name?”
Ludarch shook his head. “I didn’t catch her name, but she’s just about the finest piece of tail I’ve ever seen. I don’t have the money myself, but if I thought I could unload this one fast enough,” he tugged on Caramel’s leash. “I’d definitely bid on her.”
Caramel winced, not at the idea of changing paws again, but her master’s comment really dug at what little pride she had.
Circe smacked the ‘roo hard on the arm. “Don’t be such a dick-hole, she’s sitting right there.”
“Ow! What does it matter, she’s a fucking slave! As long as her master is happy, then she’s happy, right, my little plaything?” He pinched her cheek.
“Yes Master.” She said nervously.
Circe grunted in disgust. “You are such a tool.  Of course she’s going to agree to anything you say.”
“Well it doesn’t mean that I’m any less right, do it?”
Circe rolled her eyes and turned to Jäger. “Promise me if you do get a slave that you’ll be a better master than this guy.” She jabbed her thumb at the kangaroo.
“Hey!” Ludarch protested.
Jäger blinked a little then grinned. “Well, I think I’d be a decent master, I mean, I’m not looking for someone to beat… just… you know, someone to share my bed.” He looked around at his friends with a grin on his snout. “And, you know, maybe tie up… uh, a lot.” He chuckled nervously.
“Woo, kinky are we?” Circe poked at the Husky with her toe.
Jank blinked and looked at his companion. “You uh, like that sort of thing?”
Ludarch laughed. “Look at him, you can just tell he’s taking notes for their first date.”
Everyone chuckled, they all knew he had it in for the Stoat.
“I’m… not…” The Dingo protested haltingly. “…Taking notes… I’m just interested… in her, uh, hobbies?” He scrunched his face a little.
“Bondage is not a hobby of mine!” Circe balked. “I’m just… it’s…” She looked around at the group.  “Shut up!” She buried her face in her drink.  Everyone had a good chuckle then the Stoat spoke up over her glass quietly. “Besides, that’s more of a third date thing.” She blushed but grinned, looking up for their reaction.  Everyone howled and jabbed at Jank, giving him suggestions for where he could pick up a variety of gear for them.
Eventually they calmed down and Jäger spoke up again.  “Hey so what about this slave that I’ll never be able to afford?”
“No, I’m telling you, you’ve got a shot, we came back from the raid when we did, all the bids for slaves or whatever else is collected from raids are due in the same time each week, which happens to be tomorrow at midnight.”  Ludarch nodded like he had planned it himself.
“Oh really? You think so?”
“Yeah, the only people who even know about her are some of the boarding party guys and… well, anyone who saw her on the way to the kennels I suppose, but I got the impression that they were trying to keep it all hush-hush, you know, like they were going to try and minimize the number of people that could put bids on her.”
“They could get in trouble for that.” Mugen said without looking up from his sandwich.
“Hey it wasn’t my idea, but I tell you what, if word about her gets out, there’s going to be a bidding frenzy.”
“Ludarch! What the fuck is she?” Jäger said exasperatedly.
“Oh! Right, she’s a… you know what, I’m not even going to tell you, you just go on down to the kennels and you’ll know. As soon as you see her… you’ll be so stunned at how hot she is, you’ll… just whip your dick out and start smacking her on the face with it.”
Everyone laughed at the imagery. “And they say romance is dead.” Circe giggled.
Mugen stopped mid-bite. “Is that how Kangaroos mark their mates?”
More laughter. “No! Hah hah, no I just mean this girl is so fine that when you see her you’re not going to just straighten your tie and say “Gee willikers, she’s handsome.” Ludarch played with an imaginary tie as he put on his best nerd voice.
“So I should just look for the girl down there that has little mushroom shaped bruises all over her head and shoulders?” Jäger chuckled, making an “O” with his thumb and index finger and holding it to his forehead.  They all giggled a while longer, eventually the husky recovered his breath.
“Seriously, tell me what she is, I’m not going to buy her if she’s a… porcupine or something.”
“No, man, she’s a… fuckin’, I dunno, Snow Leopard or something.”
Jäger blinked. “A Snow Leopard?”
“Yeah.” 
“Oh. You were making such a big deal about her, I thought she was going to be something a little more exotic.”
“Exotic? How many Snow Leopards do you know?”
“I dunno, they’re rare, but not… you know, exotic.” The husky shrugged.
“So what would have been exotic enough for you?” 
“Uh…” Jäger thought for a moment, drawing a complete blank.
“A Jackelope.” Mugen said, finishing his sandwich.
“A what?” They all stared at him.
“It’s a jackrabbit with antlers.”
“What? There’s no such thing.” Jäger furrowed his brow.
“Well it would be exotic, wouldn’t it?”
Ludarch laughed.  “Maybe I ought to go see the disguise experts in intelligence and have them fuse a few antler on my little plaything here.”
Caramel giggled nervously, really really hoping her master was kidding.
“Antlers on a female?” Circe looked at the ‘roo.
“I dunno, Mugen, do female Jackelopes have antlers? Cause otherwise how would you tell that they’re not just regular rabbits?” 
The beaver shrugged. “Sure why not.”
The kangaroo chuckled at his friend’s deadpan delivery of everything and turned back to the Husky. “I’m telling you, exotic or not, she’s the hottest thing on the station, she’s just as hot as… uh, what’s her name, the red vixen who uh, I think the Lion owns her, Zsa Zsa, or something?”
“Naw, one of those two cheetahs owns her.” Jank said.
The ‘roo shrugged. “Whatever, you know who I mean.”
Jäger looked at his friend.  He did know who he meant.  He had even thought about approaching her once, as it was rumored that she never turned anyone down, but he decided against it.  If some of the stories were true, she’d have chewed him up and spit him out, then gone looking for a real male.  Not that Jäger was a lightweight in bed particularly, but the stories he’d heard about her made him reconsider all the same.  Still, if this Snow Leopard were as hot as that vixen, he’d be the envy of the station.
“Wow, maybe I should go check her out.” He said to no one in particular.
“You had better fucking win her too, ‘cause I’m going to want to borrow her.  Hey we can trade and stuff.” Ludarch jingled Caramel’s leash.
“Yeah, uh, I guess.” Already feeling possessive of his new prize, the Husky stood, not sure if he wanted to share such a catch with his somewhat abrasive friend.  “Well, I guess I’m gonna head on down there, I’ll see you guys later, okay?”
Everyone waved him off, turning back to other conversations as he left.

*                                *                                    *

Lucinda lay shaking in her cage, arms bound tightly behind her back in a monoglove and a ball gag in her mouth.  The White Tigress had been a prisoner of the Brethren for almost 6 weeks now and the guards had gotten tired of her crying and begging after about the first 3 hours.  Occasionally they took the gag out, but when her pleading started back up, it went right back in.  
She sniffled a little bit, worrying about her fate.  Her ransom had never come through, even though everyone else on the ship she was on when the pirates attacked was long gone. Apparently, she wasn’t considered important enough to make the insurance claim against.  She was a junior executive in the company that employed her, she figured she was just at that level where the pirates thought she was important to ask a certain price for, when her company obviously didn’t think as much of her position. In short her title was more important than her actual position.  
She tried to explain to the pirates that they were asking too much for her, but they didn’t seem to care. They told her that even if they had overestimated her importance, they didn’t negotiate prices. She thought she was being clever when she told them that they would have to if they ever wanted to see any money for her, but then they horrified her by telling her that if no one paid her ransom, they would just sell her off as a slave down on Elysium. 
She made the mistake of protesting very loudly and verbally until the two guards dragged her from her tiny cell and gagged her.  Just to prove a point, the locked an heavy leather collar around her neck, one that had pointy studs on the inside, to make it easier to control her, and went from calling her a prisoner to a slave and shoved her back into the kennel.  Still she didn’t take the hint and spent the next 20 minutes noisily banging around inside the kennel trying to get the gag out of her mouth.  Eventually the guards had decided they needed to teach her a lesson, so they hauled her back out, tied her spread eagle to the floor and spent the next several hours raping her.  She screamed and howled into her gag, but it only seemed to encourage them.  They teased her and told her what they were doing to her was nothing compared to what the slaves go through at the Academy.  
Over the next few weeks, the even started giving her lessons, prep work the called it, getting her ready for the Academy.  They were very harsh lessons, and any disobedience brought severe beatings, sometimes even canings.  Once she had to be taken down to medical with a broken rib.  The guard had gotten in trouble for that, but it didn’t make Lucinda hurt any less.  Her will was already long broken.  She would fuck or give blowjobs on command now, and enthusiastically too, she knew what a lackluster performance would earn her. 
She watched in amazement over the last few weeks as various kennels were filled with other prisoners or slaves.  The slaves were routinely pulled out and used by a guard or a pirate, then put back in the cages like they had just checked out a library book.  A few of the slaves seemed a little depressed by this, but none of them shed any tears, unlike her.  In fact, most of them seemed to relish the attention, as it was an opportunity to leave their cage for an hour or two.  And if the sex was messy, they usually got a hot shower afterwards.  
Since Lucinda was categorized as a slave now, sometimes it was her cage that got opened.  If she made the mistake of trying to back into her kennel and keep out of the grasp of whoever was trying to pull her out, she’d spend the evening being caned or lashed instead of fucking.  About the third time this happened, she decided that the sex was greatly preferable to the punishment.  
Lucinda wasn’t a prude by any means, she had merely been of the opinion that since there was nothing more intimate that a male and female could share than the act of lovemaking, then the act should be reserved for someone that she really cared about.  The last few weeks had taught her that lovemaking was simply not a term that these pirates were accustomed to, fucking was all they cared about.  It was much more than a difference in semantics, and Lucinda had learned it in the hardest possible ways.
As if the physical abuse wasn’t enough, recently they had started torturing her mind by telling her all the terrible things that went on at the Academy. Most of it was wild exaggeration, yarns spun by the pirates just to scare her, but she didn’t know the difference.  During one of her canings, she was tied spread eagle and face down, as she cried piteously into her gag, the pirates would jibe her and say things like, “Oh sure, yeah, at the Academy, they do this to you every day, even if you’re good. >THWACK!< Yeah, at a place like that, a nice caning like this is considered a reward. >THWACK!< I’d tell you what they do to you for punishments, but you’d probably die of fright. >CRACK!< I’ve heard they use pain amplifiers. >WACK!< Yeah, half the students that go in there never make it out alive. >THWACK!<” She thought she heard them laughing, but her senses were overcome with pain, she couldn’t tell if they were being sarcastic or just laughing cruelly at her. Her gag was undone and one of the pirates asked her, “Now. Who wants to suck some cock?”
Her response was a shuddering, “Me, Master…”
“I don’t know, you sure don’t sound very enthusiastic at all.  I think you need a little more… encouragement.” 
The pirate started replacing her gag but she managed to buck him off and started screaming, “Please! Please Master! Let me suck your cock, I have to suck your cock right now!” She looked into the eyes of the male that had been torturing her and very quietly added. “Or I’ll die.” 
He looked back at her evenly, then with a sneer looked up at the others, then whispered to her. “You’re probably right.”
Lucinda had never been so scared in her whole life at that moment, the guard looked at the gag in his paw then back at her, considering his next move. “Well, I think you’re just scared that I’m going to start hitting you again. I don’t really think you actually want to suck my cock.”
The lines of reality were blurring for Lucinda, she couldn’t tell if her responses were being driven by her survival instinct or any actual need of her own.  All she knew was that she had to suck this furs cock.  
“please… master… i… have to… i have to so badly… please…”
“Well, I suppose you’re being sincere enough. Luckily for you, I happen to like getting my cock sucked, so… I guess I’ll let you do it.”
“lucky… thank you… thank you master… thank…”
“You know,” The guard spoke in her ear as he unfastened his pants. “slaves aren’t allowed to speak unless they’re given special permission. I don’t recall giving you permission to speak, do you?”
Terrified, Lucinda only shook her head in response.
“Well, I’ll tell you what, if you put your very best effort into this blowjob, maybe I’ll convince the others that you don’t need to be punished for speaking out of turn, okay kitten?”
Lucinda nodded vigorously, her tortured mind now convinced that this guard was actually doing her a favor.  When the guard put his cock into her mouth, she gave the guard the best blowjob that any male had ever received in the history of the universe.  At least as far as she was concerned.  Her boyfriends had never gotten anything even remotely this good out of her in the past. Her reward was to have the guard’s come sprayed across her eyes, sealing them shut for the remainder of the evening.
“How was it?” Asked a guard she could no longer see.
“Eh. It was okay. She didn’t even deepthroat me, I don’t think she knows how. But… I suppose I’ll give her points for effort. She can use her tongue, that’s for sure.”
“Really? Well, scoot the fuck on over, I wanna try.”
Her tormentor and the other guards took turns in her mouth and unceremoniously deflowering her ass for the rest of the night.  That had hurt a lot as well, but it didn’t hurt nearly as much as the canings, so she didn’t protest beyond squealing around whoever’s cock was in her mouth at the time.
Now she sat in her cage, bound and gagged, shaking in fear of what was going to happen to her next.  They had told her that if no one bought her by tomorrow night, then she’d be sold to the Academy.  She didn’t know if the things that the guards had told her about the Academy were true, all she knew was that she’d rather die than find out.  She had even contemplated different ways to kill herself, including trying to bash her own head in against the bars, but she found she was more frightened of death than she was of the Academy.  That is, none of the methods of dying that she could work out seemed quick and painless enough for her to attempt them.
They told her not to hold her breath, though, even though she was a beautiful young tigress, none of the pirates really wanted an untrained slave.  They seemed to have an unspoken pecking order, pride in their slaves, and the pirates with the best slaves were regarded with some admiration and certainly jealousy by the others. One cruel looking Hyena had actually made a bid on her, saying that the good thing about an untrained slave is that you always had an excuse to constantly punish them.
That was the second most scared Lucinda had ever been in her life, while the warden went to go ‘ring up’ the hyena on his purchase, but to her relief, the Hyena wasn’t able to pay enough to match what the Brethren knew they could get for her at the Academy, so he left empty handed.
Her hopes for getting a last minute bid were fading.  She didn’t want to belong to any of these scummy pirates, but at least if one of them bought her, then she’d be spared the daily abuse at the Academy.  And now some of the pirates were filling the kennels again, spoils of a new raid apparently.  Some dignitaries, some non-descript passengers, and yes, some new slaves.  Who would bid on her if there were ready trained slaves in the kennels?  
Then Lucinda’s hopes were really dashed.  After everyone else had cleared out, a group of pirates led in a figure clad in a rain tarp. When they were inside the kennel area, alone except for the kennel warden, they took the tarp off to reveal the most beautiful looking woman she’d ever seen.  A gorgeous Snow Leopard with absolutely perfect fur and amazing muscle tone.  Curvy hips and a stomach so flat you could calibrate scientific instruments against it.  Inky black hair that matched her spots cascaded down to her tail and her breasts were big and very… buoyant.  Her only possible flaw was that her breasts might have been too big for her frame, but honestly, how many guys kicked women out of their beds for having too large of a chest? And of course, the only thing she was wearing was a collar.  
Lucinda didn’t have any interest in women, and luckily none of the lady pirates had dragged her out of her cell yet, but she knew beauty when she saw it. “Great” She thought to herself. “Of course she’s a slave, and who exactly is going to bid on me with something like that in the lineup.” Lucinda started trembling again at the thought of her days at the Academy looming before her.  
Lucinda was not normally unattractive, she was tall and at the moment quite slender. She had been out of shape when she arrived at the pirate base, a symptom of spending all her time pushing pencils and making phone calls, but most of her excess poundage had melted off in the kennels. But she was hardly in top form at the moment, her normally snow white muzzle was stained with whatever gruel she was served, as the guards forced her to eat out of a bowl with her hands bound behind her back, and consequently her black wavy bangs had food caked on them too. Actually, all of her hair was a fright, matted and ropey and her normally pristine coat was so dirty and stained now that it was gray in most places.
The Snow Leopard silently kneeled without being told and assumed what Lucinda knew to be the ‘proper’ position. Another lesson learned the hard way.  The pirates stood in a circle around her and just appreciated the view.
“I am so fucking buying her.” One Jackal leered.
“No way are you outbidding me.” A Cougar licked his chops as he glanced over her.
“I’m going to sell my share in the ship if I have to in order to afford her.” A Mole with vicious looking talons on the ends of his hands said.
“No, come on guys, that’s crazy, no one is selling any shares in the ship, we’re a good team, I don’t want that broken up over a fuck-toy like her.” A well-muscled Antelope with long sharp horns, one of which was metal tipped where it had been broken off, spoke out. “I agree, she’s the catch of the year, but she’s not worth… tell you what, no one else knows she’s here, we four are probably going to be the only ones putting a bid in on her at all, right?
The other pirated nodded.
“Then I say we each put in our bids and whoever wins her has to share… like once or twice a week, he has to loan her out, and she’ll go with us on raids, she’ll be the ships plaything. That way we’ll all have our turn with her, but they guy who actually spends the cash gets the lion’s share of her time.”
“Well why are we going to bid on her at all?  Let’s just keep her.” The Cougar asked.
“Because, if we start showing her around the station, people will get jealous and check to make sure she was brought on legitimately, if there’s no record of her ever coming through the kennels, then we’ll lose her and there will be a station wide bid off, do you think you can outbid The Lion or someone who has a huge share and lots of saved up cash?  That Cheetah of his apparently has a huge stockpile of cash, she’s got way more money than she needs to in order to buy her own freedom, but apparently the stupid bitch likes being a slave or something.” The Antelope said with his arms folded. “This is the only way a bunch of raiders like us can have a slice of heaven like this to themselves.” He gestured to the Snow Leopard, who still sat passively, listening as her fate was decided for her. “As long as there’s records of her being checked in with the rest of the prisoners and bids being placed on her, there’s nothing anyone can do. If they didn’t think to check the kennels just before all the bids close then that’s their tough luck.”
The pirates all considered the proposal for a moment. “Yeah, that sounds good. I guess that’s the best plan. I still plan on winning her, but I guess I don’t need her 24/7.” The Mole said.
“My ass you’re winning her. I don’t mind sharing, but I’m still putting in the winning bid.” Said the Cougar.
“We’ll see tomorrow won’t we? Look, let’s have ourselves a little sample and tomorrow we’ll put our bids in and be done with it.” Grinned the Antelope.
The pirates all nodded in assent then began to close around the Snow Leopard, who had sat perfectly still the whole time, breathing quietly.  The Antelope stood directly in front of her and lifted her chin till she was looking up at him.
“God damn you’re beautiful.”
“Thank you Master.  Master, may I please ask a question, before my mouth is otherwise occupied?” She grinned slyly up at him.
The four of them chuckled and the antelope nodded.
“Where is my Master, Master?  My Owner I mean.”
“Ah… well, your owner was ‘accidentally’ killed during our boarding action. It would seem that there’s no one to dispute our ownership of you.” The Antelope smirked, stroking her hair.
The Snow Leopard blinked once, faltering for a briefest of instances. “Oh. I see. Thank you for telling me Master. Would you like to feel my mouth now?”
“Oh let me think…” The Antelope chuckled as he undid his pants.
Lucinda watched as the Leopardess took in the Antelope’s cock without a moment’s hesitation, licking and sucking it like it was the finest caviar.  For a minute or two she paid expert attention to the Antelope, who was seriously enjoying her work.  The other pirates stood around, entranced by her performance, not even aware that they weren’t in on it, but the Leopardess stood, bending at the waist and lifted her tail, wiggling her ass at the pirate behind her.  He lost no time in losing his clothes and impaling her on his erection.
Lucinda watched nearly in awe as this perfectly beautiful slave pleased one pirate after another, in her mouth or cunt or ass or paw. She brought them all off expertly time and again. She did exactly as she was told without hesitation, and even seemed to genuinely enjoy herself while doing it, even going so far as thanking each pirate whenever they defiled her with their come.  
She was young too. Lucinda wasn’t exactly a crone, but she was 27. This little morsel couldn’t have been a day over 19.  She watched as she obeyed every command, and serviced every cock presented to her until she had worn all four of the pirates out.  
After they were finished they allowed her to have a quick shower and then presented her with a kennel in the corner of the room.  Without the slightest protest, she crawled in and let the door be closed behind her.  They told her to be quiet and they hung the tarp over the kennel, then set a toolbox up on the cage, it gave the impression that the kennel was empty and just being used for storage.  They slipped Rafe, the kennel warden a few credits to keep his muzzle shut and left.
Lucinda was rocking in her cage.  After she was sold to the Academy, that would be her. She’d be beaten and abused and brainwashed until she was just an obedient puppet like the Leopardess was. 
Tomorrow at midnight. That was all the time she had to convince someone that she was worth their money.

*                              *                                     *

Jäger went down to the kennels just in time to bump into a rowdy lot on their way out.  A boarding crew by the looks of their sneers and scars, lead by a big Antelope with one metal tipped horn.  They didn’t hassle him though, he was smart enough to stand to one side and let them pass.  He stepped into the kennels and had a look around.  Besides the keeper, he was the only other pirate there.  Most of the slaves were asleep, as were the regular prisoners.  Some were awake though, staring piteously through the bars up at him. Even without their collars, it was easy to tell the slaves from the others. For one things, the slaves were always attractive, and for another, in their own way, the slaves had a reserved dignity about them. They didn’t petition him for help as he walked past. They knew that their only chance of getting out of their cage was to simply catch his interest.  A few of the recently acquired prisoners that were still awake stuck their fingers out between the narrow bars and pleaded with him to help them contact their friends or liaisons back home. Jäger could only shrug and tell them that it wasn’t his department and that they’d have to wait till morning.
He looked around briefly, but there were rather a lot of cages and he didn’t see the Snow Leopard right off, so he went and asked the keeper about her.
“Jäger. What a uh, shock to see you here. And right after payday too.” Rafe, the warden, a middle aged gray wolf, knew him well enough. He had seen the down in the kennels more than a couple of times in the last few weeks, scoping prospective purchases.
“Hiya Rafe. Uh, I’m about ready to put a bid in, and I wanted to have one last look around.  I heard, uh, there was a certain slave here I was told to take a look at.”
“Oh?” The wolf looked up. He hoped he didn’t mean the Snow Leopard. Those guys from the boarding squad had slipped him a fair amount of hush hush money.
“Yeah, a certain black and white cat, kind of new?”
That was ambiguous enough for Rafe. “Oh, uh, sure, this one here is pretty attractive, when she’s washed up that is…” He lead Jäger over to the White Tigress’s cage and started fiddling with the lock.
Jäger scrunched his brow. Ludarch said this new slave was super hot, not ‘pretty attractive.’  Maybe he should have been more specific, but the Wolf already had the cage open, he might as well take a look, in case he couldn’t afford the Snow Leopard.
Lucinda was lost in worry and on the edge of sleep when Jäger came in and didn’t hear him, but now the door to her cage was being opened. She didn’t know why, but she knew the if the fur on the other side wanted her for sex, she would have to swallow her pride and do the best job she could.  If she really excelled, then she might get an offer for a buy.
Jäger watched as a filthy White Tigress crawled out of her cage using only her knees. Her arms were bound tightly behind her back and she was gagged, and her hair was a mess.  The Husky was shocked at her condition.  Fighting against a world that supported slavery, the Brethren had rules concerning how slaves were to be treated.  This Tigress must have been a serious troublemaker to get herself in a situation like this. 
The Tigress reached his feet and knelt, trembling, looking not quite down, but through his legs, like she didn’t quite know how she was supposed to be doing it.
“Rafe… this isn’t who I meant. Isn’t there a really hot Snow Leopard that was just brought in with the last batch?”
Rafe waffled a moment, then decided that staying on the good side of that boarding crew was probably more important than the bribe they paid him, so he feigned ignorance. “No, I haven’t seen a Snow Leopard down here in years. Look, I’ll tell you what, my relief is late, why don’t you play with this one while I go find her. You’ve been down here enough times that I can trust you alone for an hour, right?”
Jäger thought for a second. The boarding party that got her must still have her in their quarters or something. He looked to the Wolf. “Uh, sure, I’ll have a look around and see if there’s anyone else that strikes my fancy.”
“Yeah, you do that. Hey be a pal and give that one a bath, eh?” The Wolf said, walking out.
“What? I’m not doing your job for you while you’re gone!”
“You can bathe with her, dummy.” Rafe called behind him.
Jäger looked down at the matted heap below him. Well that’s true. Too bad I can’t tell if she’s any good looking under all that mess.
Lucinda listened as the two talked.  She was dying for a bath anyway, and if this Dog took her gag out, she might be able to plead her case.
“All right, come on, stand up, lets get you cleaned up.” He offered her his paw.
Lucinda looked at the paw and wasn’t sure what to do with her paws bound behind her. She decided that it wasn’t an offer of help, but merely a signal to rise. She shifted on her feet, struggling to straighten her legs, which had been bent, cramped in her cage for the last few days. She managed to get standing, he even grabbed her arm when she started teetering. She barely remembered to keep her eyes down.  She wasn’t doing it quite right though, and it made her stoop as she walked to the shower, adding to her overall bedraggled appearance. 
Lucinda quickly tried to assess this Dog who was guiding her by her arm looking at with anything but lust.  He seemed handsome enough, even if his fur was a bit patchy here and there.  She watched as he made her stand outside the stall as he adjusted the temperature in the shower for her.  That was a good sign at least. Some of her keepers shoved her in while the water was still ice cold. She waited, fidgeting for a little while, and examined him, but then he turned and caught her looking at him right in the eye. Lucinda dropped her gaze and started feeling nauseous. The last time she looked one of these pirates in the eye without permission, he blindfolded her and gave her a sharp caning.  She started shaking but nothing happened.
“Well?”
She risked a look up, not as high as his face but saw that he was gesturing to the shower, waiting for her. She ducked her head and scurried past him into the shower and just stood in the water facing the corner.
Jäger looked at her funny.  She wasn’t acting like most slaves he had seen, this one seemed terrified of everything, like she was afraid that anything she did would get her in trouble.  He watched as she just stood in the shower, not moving.  After a moment he realized it was stupid to make her bathe when she couldn’t use her arms, so he went into Rafe’s desk and got the keys for all her locks.  He undressed and walked up behind her in the shower and started fiddling with her straps, but then decided that she was probably tied for a reason, so he got out of the shower and grabbed a leash off the desk and clipped it to her collar, then to the railing in the stall.
Lucinda stood in the water, waiting for the Husky to command her to do something or to start groping her, but he started untying her after lashing her to the wall.  She guessed that she was going to have to take a more active role in this showering experience.  
He undid her arms and took the cursed gag out, dropping them on the floor of the stall.  She flexed her jaws a little but decided that she should try and soften him up before she tried pleading her case to him. 
“Go on, wash up, I’m not going to do it for you.” The Husky spoke, grabbing some fur shampoo for himself.
Lucinda was a little bewildered, he wasn’t going to take advantage of the opportunity and grope her?  She took another bottle of shampoo and hunkered down in a corner and started sudsing herself up.  The hot water and the ability to move her arms for the first time in a few days were doing a lot to revive her spirit, but still, she knew she had to get herself halfway presentable before she offered any advances.
Jäger watched her while she scrubbed herself hard with the soap, crouched in the corner like a frightened animal.  He washed himself for a little bit but eventually turned to her.
“Are… are you okay? You’re acting… like I’m going to hurt you or something.”
Lucinda listened to the tone of his voice.  He sounded concerned, not sarcastic, so she risked speaking to him.
“I’m sorry Master, but the other pirates do hurt me.” Her voice was timid and barely audible above spray of the water. 
“Oh. Well, I’m not going to… At least I’m not planning on it. Come on, stand up, wash yourself properly.” Jäger offered her his paw again.  This time she took it and stood, still keeping to her corner of the shower, but Jäger pulled her into the water stream.  “Look, lets get you washed up, you sure look like you could use it, then we’ll do me, okay?”
The Tigress was taken aback by his kindness and gentle touch, even if he had just offered to grope her in the guise of washing her, but he didn’t, he took his shampoo and started washing her back and tail, and even though he touched her ass, it didn’t seem like he was copping a feel.  These pirates were a mixed lot, that much was clear to her.  Her impression was that by and large, they were scum and needed to be cleansed from the universe, no matter the cost, but then there were ones like this one, who so far, just seemed like a normal guy.  And there had been a Cheetess usually wearing vest and always had a vicious looking knife strapped to her side, who would wander into the kennels sometimes, usually there for the political prisoners, but the oddest thing is that she had a slave’s collar on.  The other pirates sometimes treated her with respect, and sometimes she was treated like a slave, but they never abused the slaves when she was around, even though it was obvious that when she was hauling off one of the prisoners, it was for brutal sounding interrogation.
Lucinda shook her head.  She didn’t understand anything, she only knew that she wasn’t going to go to the Academy.  Maybe she needed to start being aggressive with him?
She turned as he washed her back, her arms raised,  working lather in her hair, his arms remained at the same height, putting his paws right under her breasts. Jäger looked at her, and she looked back, but then dropped her gaze.  She was trying to maintain etiquette, but to Jäger it looked a lot like she was being bashful, and it turned him on.  He slid his paws up the swell of her breasts, rubbing her fur the wrong way as he did, causing her to arch her back into his grasp.  She gasped as his paws rubbed her nipples and his fingers kneaded her chest, and stated panting slightly as she washed her hair and kept her gaze down and to one side.
Jäger was enjoying her apparent shyness immensely and started feeling his cock hardening as he squeezed her breasts and felt the furry flesh roll under his fingers.  Her fur was a lot more pristine now, almost snow white and her black hair, while still matted to her face, was matted in that good wet and sexy way, and not in the dried food and semen way.  “Look at me.” Jäger said.
She did and he looked into deep ice blue eyes, thinking. “Maybe this is the slave Ludarch was talking about.  When she’s washed up, she’s actually really hot.  Her breasts are kind of medium sized, and she’s a little malnourished looking, but her face is very pretty and her eyes are nice.”
Jäger leaned in towards her and pressed his lips to hers, opening his mouth and sliding his tongue into hers. Lucinda backed away instinctively, but then remembered what she was doing here in the shower and started to kiss back.  They necked under the hot water for a little bit, both becoming steadily more aggressive as they did. Before too long, all pretense of bathing was gone and Lucinda had her paw wrapped around Jäger’s hardening cock, her own need fueled by the first tender touch she had experienced since arriving here as well as her need to prove that she would be worth buying.  Jäger’s paw eventually dropped in between her legs and gently caressed her netherlips, pushing the soft folds open and exploring her slowly as she lifted her leg and rested her footpaw on a rail in the stall.  Lucinda found herself actually enjoying his touch, almost frustrated by his slow approach, but she kept her wits about her, she knew this had to go extremely well if she was going to plead her case to him.  The rest of her life could be decided tonight, it all had to go perfectly.  She thought of the Snow Leopard, how she would act in this situation.  She’d probably wait until he made his move, but that wasn’t going to work for Lucinda…  She tried to think of how she would act if the Leopard was being aggressive.  Submissive aggression.  That was the ticket.
“Please… Master, please fuck me.” She dragged his hard cock to her cleft and grabbed his rump with the other paw.  Jäger needed no encouragement and hearing this beautiful tigress call him Master and beg to be fucked almost made the Husky come in her paw, but he managed to restrain himself.  She pressed his sex to hers and Jäger slid himself inside, gasping at the warm tightness there.  Lucinda wriggled down on him relishing the pressure and the friction as he entered her.   She stood with her back against the wall clutching his ass while he slowly fucked her.  He kissed her as they moved together under the hot water, and suddenly Lucinda found herself startlingly aroused.  Not just from the physical stimulation, but the whole situation. Here she was making slow love to some pirate who’s name she didn’t even know in a hot shower in some pirate base in the middle of nowhere with a slave’s collar locked around her neck.  The very idea disgusted her and aroused her at the same time.  Before she could help it, she was bucking back against the Dog’s thrusting and coming all over his cock.  The Tigress’s frantic movements were getting Jäger excited too, and when she came, her spasming inner muscles brought him off and he jerked, spraying his seed inside her much faster than he would have liked.
Lucinda tried to think of the most submissive thing to say, to help sell the idea that she would be a good investment.  “Thank you… >pant< for my orgasm Master. It was wonderful. The best I’ve had in a long time.” It was the truth, but telling him so would boost his ego as well.
“A… again.” Jäger said, still breathlessly.
Lucinda nodded, despite her orgasm, her arousal hadn’t faded.  “How would you like me Master?”
“Uh… Turn around, bend over.”
Lucinda looked him in the face for a second.  His hair and fur was wet now, making him look more wild and feral now, more like a Wolf than a Dog, and that one pale eye… She felt her cunt twitch on him, whether it was post coital spasms or pre-sex twitching, she couldn’t be sure. All she knew was that she was horny and she wanted him too.
“Yes Master.” She purred, pulling him out with a wet slurp and bending over, grabbing onto the railing.  He positioned himself behind her and let her slide her pussy over his cock.  He moaned and grabbed the base of her tail, holding her rump still and moving in and out of her, relishing her tightness.
Lucinda was purring as this pirate Dog fucked her slowly from behind.  She had always hated her purr, it gave away her emotions all too often and she could never make herself  stop when she wanted to.  The sex was amazingly good for reasons that she refused to accept, but her purr was trying to tell her something that didn’t want to believe.  Calling him Master had given her a little tingle inside, especially the second time she did it.  Usually she doing it under the threat of discipline, but this time, it was out of necessity, in a way it made her really feel vulnerable and dependent on him, and somehow, that was a good feeling.  
She thought as they continued to fuck in the shower.  She really was dependent on him.  This Dog was likely her last chance to get out of here, and he was also by far the kindest pirate she had yet met.  Being owned by him wouldn’t be so bad maybe.  If this encounter was any indication, it would involve a lot of sex, but that was something she could handle.  And suddenly, Lucinda put some pieces together in her mind, those four ruffians with the Snow Leopard had said something about the slaves being able to buy their freedom?  Maybe there was hope for her yet – IF she could remain amongst the pirates.  This new thought fueled Lucinda and she redoubled her efforts with the Dog, wriggling her hips back and forth on him.
Jäger enjoyed her sudden drive, and held still as she took over all the work.  She moved faster on him, arching her back and rolling her hips in a very pleasurable way, going faster until he had to grab onto her and slam himself into her a few times before he finished.  This time their roles were reversed, and it was his orgasm, his splurting come that triggered her orgasm.
They panted a little while in the shower, then finally decoupled.  Lucinda swallowed her pride again and knelt before him, and cleaned him off with her mouth.  It wasn’t so bad, especially since they were already in the shower, and the Dog seemed to enjoy it rather a lot.
After she was finished, she knelt in the shower, looking up at him. “Did you enjoy me Master?”
Jäger nodded. “Very much, thank you, ah, what’s your name?”
“Lucinda Master.”
“That’s pretty.”
“Thank you Master.” She smiled genuinely, not having heard a kind word in some time. “Master? May I ask you something?”
“Certainly Lucinda.” Jäger crouched in the shower, then plopped onto the floor next to her after turning the water off.
“I know it’s not really my place to ask this of you, but…”
Jäger nodded. “Go ahead.”
“Thank you Master. I heard you speaking with Rafe… uh, I mean, Master Rafe about wanting to buy a slave?”
Jäger smiled at her slip but didn’t seem to mind it. “Yes that’s right. I’ve been saving up for a while and I think I’m ready to buy one of my own.”
“In that case Master, I’d like to offer myself to you. I… I really want a Master so I can leave the pirate’s kennels. If there’s anything I can do… to, ah, ingratiate myself to you, I’d like the opportunity to prove that I’d be a good slave for you.”
Jäger looked at her thoughtfully, her hair still wet and stuck to her cheeks, her sapphire eyes nearly glowing in the dim light of the shower.  She was certainly a catch, even if she was a bit skinny at the moment.
“Well Lucinda, I’ll consider it, you are a beautiful woman, I get the impression that you’re not… ah, used to being a slave though.”
Lucinda licked her lips nervously. “Ah, yes Master… I… ah, am new to my station, but no less willing to please because of it.”
Jäger nodded. “Well you sure pleased me just now.”
Lucinda blushed a little and smiled. “Thank you Master.”
“Why don’t you come over here and groom me like a good little slave and maybe we can talk about your future.” Jäger said, almost having forgotten about Ludarch’s wonder slave.
Lucinda was almost ecstatic to hear this and nodded, hopping up and stepping out of the shower, and set a short stool up on the floor and knelt by it.
Jäger got out of the shower and sat on it, then Lucinda grabbed a towel and started drying him while she knelt behind him.
“So tell me Lucinda, what skills do you have other than the requisite slave skills? Whoever I do wind up buying will be sharing my cabin on the ship I own with me, and will be responsible for domestic chores as well as, ah, her ‘regular’ duties.”
Lucinda grimaced slightly, but Jäger didn’t see as the towel was over his head. She didn’t have much in the way of slave skills, she still hadn’t learned how to deepthroat even. “Uh, well, I can cook okay Master, I’m not really a wizard in the kitchen, but I’d be happy to improve myself in any way you see fit of course. If I have decent instructions, then I’m pretty handy with food preparation.  Other than that, I don’t know, I can do laundry and make a bed, but who can’t?”
Jäger chuckled as the Tigress took the towel off his head and started running a brush through his mostly dry fur.  “Well, Lucinda, it’s not a matter of ability, but motivation. I don’t think I’ve ever made my bed, it just seems, I dunno, like a waste of time, cause you’re just going to mess it up the next time you sleep in it.”
“Well then why do you brush your teeth if you’re going to just eat again?” Lucinda said without thinking.
Jäger looked at her. “You realize if I buy you, I’m not going to allow you to talk to me like my mother!” He said, a mix of humor and incredulity on his face.
Lucinda meeped. “Yes Master, that was just reflex, I’m sorry.  I would never consider lecturing you, I’m sorry.”
Jäger grinned. “It’s okay. I’ve just never heard a slave say anything like that.”
“I’m really sorry Master, I want so much to make a good impression on you.” Lucinda clenched her teeth and began brushing his thick fur down on his back.
“Well, Lucinda, I’ve never been a Master before, but I don’t foresee myself being the kind that will hold every little thing against you, besides, that was a pretty good comeback.” He grinned, turning his head slightly.
Lucinda half suppressed a smile. “Thank you Master.”
She brushed out his tail then knelt next to him. Of all the time she had spent outside of her kennel since arriving at the pirate’s base, this had by far been the most enjoyable, even if it had been having sex with a stranger and then performing servile tasks for him. For some reason that she couldn’t explain, she felt vaguely satisfied with herself as she watched the Husky turn and inspect his coat.
“Thank you Lucinda, that was really nice. I could definitely get used to this kind of treatment.”
“Thank you Master.  So have you decided if you’d like to put a bid in on me?”
“Truth be told, Lucinda, I was really down here looking for a Snow Leopard, but I guess she hasn’t arrived yet.” Jäger said.
Before she could control it, Lucinda’s eyes flicked to the far cage with the tarp on it.  Jäger caught the glance, but its significance did not weigh on him until he realized she was holding her breath.  He started to turn his head, but not his eyes toward her glance, and Lucinda’s eyes widened slightly, confirming what he wanted to know.  Jäger turned to look down the row of kennels where the Tigress had looked.
“Master… please…” Lucinda whispered, tears beginning to well in her eyes as her hopes were slowly dashed.  She knew that if he looked in that cage and saw the prize within, her own worth would diminish exponentially.
Jäger stood and started to walk down the aisle towards the end, looking in each cage as he went.  Lucinda could only remain kneeling, watching as each step brought him closer to his prize.  He reached the end of the row and not having found what he was looking for, glanced at the covered cage.  He looked back at Lucinda, who was looking at him with increasing anxiety on her face.  She glanced at the cage one more time, then turned from him and sank her face in her paws.
Jäger looked at the cage, then pulled the toolbox and tarp away from it.  Sure enough, sitting inside quietly was a stunning Snow Leopardess.
“What are you doing in there?” Jäger asked, hunching down to look at her.  He examined her, even mostly covered in shadow, it was clear that she was an exceptional beauty.
“The other pirates put me in here, Master.” She spoke quietly and evenly, even the tone of her voice was wrought with submission. 
“Well obviously, why did they cover you up?”
“It would be improper for me to speak as to the motives of my betters Master.”
Jäger blinked.  It had been a mostly rhetorical question, but he was surprised with the deference of her answer. “I guess they were trying to hide you.” He opened the door to the kennel.
“That is a reasonable assumption Master.”  The Snow Leopard crawled out of her cage and knelt before him, palms up and eyes down.  “How may I serve you Master?”
Jäger crouched in front of her, looking at her pristine fur and silky black hair. “Look at me.”  A simple enough request, but the Husky wasn’t prepared for the affect she would have on him.
She looked up and met his mismatched eyes with her emerald green ones, the light in the room reflecting in them in an almost iridescent manner.
The Husky drew in a breath as he took them in, sexy slender, almost Asian lids partially concealed big deep eyes, her expression, her eyebrows, her lashes, the very shape of her eyes was perfect.  “You’re… beautiful… bewitching…” Jäger whispered trembling, lost in her gaze.
“Thank you Master, you are too kind.” Her soft and demure response only made him blush more and made his cock stir a bit.
“Ludarch was right… you’re the most beautiful slave I’ve ever seen… Whoever owns you will be the cock of the walk around the station.”
“Then I wish you luck should you bid on me Master.” The Snow Leopard, having not been told to avert her eyes, was still staring into Jäger’s, trapping him in her gaze.
Jäger’s mind was regressing as he stared at her, her beauty, her scent, her soft breath as she spoke to him, and her sultry voice addressing him as Master with utter conviction were all quelling his ego and ramping his id until his libido spoke to her directly.
“S… suck my cock.” He said, enraptured by her presence.
There was no hesitation, she simply lowered her eyes and head in one motion and for a split second, he was free of her hypnotic beauty, but his mind knew only anticipation, and an instant later, she was at his cock, sucking him, licking with a skill that he had never experienced.  His whole body shuddered as she slid her lips all the way down him and into her throat.  He fell from his crouch to his butt, legs spread wide as she took him in, her head moving practically in anticipation of his motion.
In the history of fast ejaculations, Jäger probably set a new record as the Snow Leopard worked her mouth over him, especially considered he was contending in the “just fucked twice” category.
But it wasn’t enough, he didn’t wane, he wanted more.
“Fuck me.” He said with both command and desperation in his voice.
She slurped his cock from her mouth and crawled up him, positioning her entrance over his continuing erection.  Jäger would have come the moment he entered her if not for the fact that his balls were already drained, her pussy felt like liquid silk as she slithered it over his cock.  In and out she moved on him, Jäger felt like he was going to come with every movement, his body jerking his hips into her and shuddering as she moved in time with him.  Jäger was lost inside her, her tight, buttery muscles were the only thing he could think of as she moved herself over him.
Lucinda watched as the made love… no, it was just fucking, there was no emotion in it, just animal lust.  The Husky was on his back now, seemingly hypnotized by her beauty, his arms and legs spread wide, his fingers wrapped into the grating on the floor, still bucking up into her despite the obvious exhaustion on his face.  The Snow Leopard still matched every move of his perfectly, magnifying the sensations for them both.  Her paws were on his stomach as she rode him, her own orgasm approaching.  She was making all the right kind of noises too, complimenting him on how good he made her feel and how big he was and everything else that males like to hear.  She eventually asked for permission to come, the Husky could only nod frantically as he tried to bring his own orgasm. She came before he did, and listening to her, it sounded like she was having the best orgasm ever felt by woman kind, wild overacting as far as Lucinda was concerned, but Jäger was clearly convinced by the performance, in his state of mind it was utterly sincere and it drove him over the edge finally, his balls straining to give substance to his orgasm.
And still it wasn’t enough… his mind was lust addled, every time his eyes fell across her body, her curves, her breast, her tight stomach, her snow white thighs, his cock disappearing into her hot cleft, it redoubled his carnal desires.  In a moment he had the Leopardess leaning over one of the other kennels taking her with increasing roughness from behind.  She responded magnificently, climaxing two more times as he pounded her furiously, sweat soaking his fur and getting in his eyes, but it didn’t daunt him.  He grabbed her hips and lifted her feet from the ground, fucking as hard as he ever had until he finally came, it was a bone dry orgasm, a dry heave if you will, his balls long since drained.  As soon as he was finished, he fell away from her onto his rump, flushed and panting so hard he was coughing and frothing slightly.  His eyes were closed and his head was tilted back, he didn’t see as the Leopardess knelt in front of him and extended her mouth to clean him.  
He jumped as the rough cat tongue touched his sensitive cock, his eyes flew open.  “What… what are you…” He was panting so hard he couldn’t talk.
The Leopardess knew she had done wrong and her body language showed it. “Master I was only cleaning you.”
“No… No!” Jäger pushed the Leopardess away, hard enough to knock her onto her side.  The Husky was at his limit and his survival instinct was kicking in.  His libido could no longer outweigh his fatigue and he crawled away from her back to the shower stall.
Lucinda watched as he knelt in the stall, and turned only the handle for the cold water. She winced, knowing too well how cold the water was. It was a shock to Jäger as well and he howled at the ice cold water as it soaked into his fur, but he didn’t duck away from the stream or try and adjust the temperature.  Instead he lapped at the stream, drinking huge gulps of water, then collapsed back onto his rump, soaking in the cold water, still panting. 
The Tigress looked over at the Leopardess, who had gotten up and was dusting off her arm where she fell on the floor.  Then once she was suitably preened, she resumed her slave’s kneel, but now her ears were flat, apparently she was awaiting some kind of punishment.  What struck Lucinda though, was the fact that she was barely winded.
Jäger soaked in the ice water till his panting subsided; he gently poked at his mostly flaccid cock now and then, wincing at its sensitivity.  After a few minutes, he stood and tuned up the hot water, equalizing the temperature of the water until the warm stream had soaked into his fur.
He stepped out eventually and dried himself off again, still panting slightly.  The only article of clothing he put on was his watch, checking the time.
“Holy hell? Five orgasms in less than an hour? Definitely a personal record.  No wonder my balls hurt so much.  And where the hell is Rafe?”  He walked back to the hall where the two cats knelt and looked at the Leopardess. His libido temporarily on hiatus after his recent session, he was able to look at her without pouncing her.  “You’re a succubus, you know that don’t you?”
“As you say Master.” She responded in her docile voice.
Jäger shook his head and pulled the chair out from behind Rafe’s desk, sitting backwards on it, his arms folded over the back.  As he did he saw Lucinda sitting quietly next to her kennel, her ears down and a look on her face like she was about to start crying.
“Whoops, forgot you were still sitting over there.” He said casually, not thinking about how that wounded her pride.  “Well, I’m afraid that I’ve only got enough money for one slave Lucinda, and, well, you’re pretty and all… heck you’re beautiful, but, you know, you’re not a succubus.”
Lucinda’s depression and desperation grew as he spoke, she sagged her head and shoulders, tears welling up in her eyes. “Please… Master… >sniff< you’re my last chance… I have to get out of here.”
“Come on Lucinda, you’re a catch, there are plenty of pirates that’d pay some good money for you. You just gotta give it time.”
The Tigress shook her head. “No you don’t understand… if I’m not bought by tomorrow night, these pirates are going to sell me to the Academy!”
The Husky thought for a moment. “Why would they do that, aren’t you already a slave?  Why would the Academy want…”
“No I’m not!  I mean… Master… I’m just another prisoner like these guys.” She gestured to a wall with some of the sleeping prisoners. “But my company won’t pay my ransom, so the guards started calling me a slave and they locked this collar on me and started… training me.”
“Oh… Oh geeze I’m sorry… I wouldn’t have… In the shower, why didn’t you tell me that you’re a prisoner and not another slave?”
“What? And risk another beating?  The other guards… the things they did to me.” She hung her head.
Jäger thought for a moment, feeling sorry for her, but could think of no way to help her. “Look, I’m sorry about the shower, I thought you were a slave, but the fact is, that if your company won’t buy your freedom… then well, you are a slave, and the Brethren will sell you to the Academy.  That’s just the way they do business.” He shrugged, wishing he could think of something more encouraging to say.
Lucinda thought quietly. This wasn’t going well for her… she needed to turn it around somehow.  “Master… I… I didn’t mind the shower, actually, it was nice… it was really nice to be touched and washed like you did to me.  I’m not a prude, I have urges too… but… the Academy… isn’t there anything I can do to get out of it?  I don’t want to go there.  I’ll do anything to avoid it.” She looked at him meaningfully. “Anything.”
“I’m sorry Lucinda, the Brethren are all about money, these aren’t kids playing pirates here, it’s like a business, they have quarterly financial goals, accountants…” He stopped, not wanting to accidentally say something more than he should.  “If you can’t come up with the ransom money, your only way out is to be bought or to be sold, and I’m afraid that I’ve already decided that I’m going to put a bid in for her.” He gestured to the Leopardess, who was continuing to kneel quietly.
Lucinda started shaking slightly.  “Please… is there anything I can do to convince you… I… I don’t know what else to say… I… I’d rather die than go to the Academy.”
Jäger cocked his head. “What’s so bad about the Academy?  I mean, sure, I’d never want to go to there, but given the choice between that or dying… Hey, when do classes start, right?”  Jäger chuckled.  “So you go there, you learn lots of interesting new skills, meet lots of interesting new furs… have sex with them… You said yourself you’re not a prude.”
Lucinda shook his head. “But the punishments… they punish you for everything… and… it’s not even that… I don’t… want to be like her.” She looked at the Leopardess.
Jäger looked at her too. “What’s so bad about her?  At least I want to buy her, right?”
Now her argument had to be perfect. “You say you want to buy her because she’s beautiful and obedient, but you’re just thinking with your dick… what about companionship?”
“What about it? She can function as both a sex toy and a… well, not a friend I guess, but a companion as you say.”
“Can she?  Look at her, she’s a brainwashed doll.  How are you going to ever have even a simple conversation with her?”
“Well… I’m sure if I ordered her not to be quite so docile, she’d open up a bit… and in any case, I’m here to buy a pleasure slave, not a best friend.” Jäger was starting to feel unbelievably shallow, but the argument was becoming interesting, so he nudged the feeling aside.
“I understand that, and I’m sure if you bought her you’d be very happy with her for a few weeks… fucking her till your dick falls off, fucking every night till you have to knock her off of you and run into the shower like just now.”
Jäger winced a bit. That kind of hurt his pride.
“Pleasure slaves are expensive, right?”
He nodded.
“So this is probably a long term investment for you, right?”
Another nod.
“So what happens when the novelty of the sex wears off and all you’re left with is a beautiful doll?  I mean, look at her, I’m kneeling here, cutting her down with every sentence and she’s not even flinching.  She has no ego, no pride, nothing.  She’s just waiting for her master to command her, that’s all she can do.”
“Your argument is no good unfortunately.  She’s so beautiful that if I ever tire of her, I’ll always be able to sell her, and likely at a profit.”
Lucinda grimaced as her argument was trashed. “Please… Master… What can I say… what can I do?  I’ll do anything…”
“Again, I’m afraid you don’t have a case… promising me that you’ll do anything doesn’t buy you much.  Do you think she’d hesitate to obey any command I’d give her?”
The Tigress took her eyes off the Husky and fidgeted, trying to think of something to say.
Jäger turned to the Leopardess. “What is your name?”
“Valentina Master.”
“Valentina? That’s pretty.”
“Thank you Master.”
“Valentina, would you obey any command I give you?”
“Of course Master.”
“And you Lucinda, would you really do anything I ordered you to?”
Glanced at him, then at Valentina. Shit, he’s going to pit me against her.  How can I beat her at anything? She’s probably spent her whole life doing this sort of thing, but what choice do I have?
Lucinda sagged slightly. “Yes Master, to the best of my ability.”
Jäger thought for a moment. “Valentina, there’s a crate behind the desk in the office over there.  I want you to crawl over there on your paws and knees, open the crate find a leather strap, return to me with the strap folded in your teeth and lay it at my feet, then turn around and lay your shoulders on the floor and present your ass to me.  I’m going to beat you with the strap.”
Lucinda was shocked to hear the last sentence, but the Leopardess jumped to obey. “Yes Master.” Valentina did precisely as she was asked, and she did it with grace and without hesitation.
Jäger picked up the strap off the ground and examined it.  “A good choice, sturdy, and broad enough to sting without cutting.  Count the blows out loud.”
“Yes Master.” The Leopardess said softly over her shoulder.
>CRACK!< “One Master.” Valentina said softly.
>CRACK!< “Two Master.” There was still no emotion in her voice. Lucinda winced from as much as watching this display.
>CRACK!< “Three Master.” The Leopardess said in the same soft voice.  Jäger looked at the strap a little confused, then tested it lightly across his bare thigh.
>smack< “Ow shit!” He rubbed his leg a bit, then looked to Valentina.
>CRACK!< He landed an especially hard blow on her. “Four Master.” She said, with the barest hint of discomfort in her voice.  Jäger stood from his chair and delivered a powerful blow with the strap.
>CRACK!< The Leopardess meeped just a tiny bit as the blow landed. “Five Master.” There was pain in her voice, but it wasn’t nearly proportional to the abuse being delivered.  
Jäger shook his head and sat back in the chair. He looked at Lucinda. “Your turn.  Bring me a different strap.”
Lucinda froze for a second.  It was a test she knew, she had told him she would do anything and now it was time to prove it, but the other pirates had only punished her for being disobedient, this one now wanted her to take an active role in her abuse.  It wasn’t something she hadn’t mentally encompassed in her bid to do “anything,” but she had no choice.  If there was any chance for her to escape the Academy, she had to take it.
She crawled over to his chair and looked up at him.  “Yes Master.” She said sadly, then crawled over to the chest.  She opened it up and found all manner of sex and bondage gear, most of which she had been acquainted with in the last few weeks. She poked through the straps trying to find just the right kind.  It had to be something that would hurt when it hit, or she’d lose ‘points’ but of course Lucinda didn’t want something that would hurt too much.  She set aside some straps that were meant for cuffs, padded on one side, and a few others that weren’t heavy enough, finally she found a good one. It was about 3” wide and a little  bit thicker than a belt and had a double row of holes with a big buckle at one end.  She looked at it for a second and sighed.  She really didn’t want to be hit with this, but the next best thing she could find was a quirt, and she knew that would sting more, and maybe cut her if it was used hard enough.  She folded it and put it in her teeth, then crawled back to the Husky, depositing at the foot of his chair, looking up at him dolefully as he watched her, then turned and assumed the position he wanted.
“That took rather a long time.”
“I didn’t… I’m sorry Master… I wanted to find a strap that would please you.”
Jäger picked up the strap and examined it.  “Very well, this will do.” Without warning he laid the strap end across her upper thigh.
>CRACK!< Lucinda jumped and yelped, mostly in surprise, but the pain was still very real.  Still, it was nothing like being caned, so she wrapped her fingers into the grating on the floor and waited for the next one.  She waited for a moment, her whole body tensed.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Jäger asked.
She jumped at his voice, trying to think of what he was talking about.
>CRACK!< “Count damn it!”
“OW! I’m sorry! Two Master!”
“Nuh uh, you didn’t count, so it didn’t count. That was one.”
Lucinda clenched her teeth. “Yes Master, I’m sorry Master… One.  Master.”
>CRACK!< “OW! Two Master.” Lucinda was starting to lose her composure, she trembled with each blow.  At least the Dog was varying the location he was striking her, and not overlapping them.
>CRACK!< “AH! Ow! Shit! Ow. Three Master.”
Jäger folded the strap in half and tapped her lightly on the back of the head, casing her to jump almost as much as if he had hit her on the ass. “Slaves don’t swear Lucinda.”
“Yes Master, I’m sorry Master.” She gritted her teeth and put her forehead on the ground, waiting for the next blow.  She could survive this. Just two more blows, she had fared worse.
>CRACK!< “Nnnnrg!” Lucinda wasn’t able to speak for a second as her muscles tensed, still she managed the count even if it came out sounding strangled.
Jäger held the last blow for a moment, feeling like a giant ass.  The Tigress was practically crying, laying there, forcing herself to endure this abuse just so that he would want to buy her.  It didn’t turn him on at all, not that he could have gotten an erection at this moment, his cock was so worn out, but he hadn’t been lying when he told his friends in the commons that he wasn’t going to be the kind of master that was going to spend all his time beating his slaves.  There was a big difference between a little playful spanking and the sort of abuse he was heaping on her right now.  He folded the strap in half, the tension in the belt keeping the loop open and dropped the end of the belt on the top of her ass where he hadn’t struck yet.
>smack<
“Ah… five? Master?” Lucinda looked over her shoulder at him. The last blow had been a long time coming but was gentle compared to the others.  She had expected a really vicious one like he had delivered to the Snow Leopard.
“Okay.” Jäger dropped the strap and sat up in the chair. “That was something that Valentina was clearly a lot better at, so lets see if we can think of something that will favor Lucinda a bit more. Both of you sit up and kneel.”
The two girls adjusted themselves, Lucinda wincing slightly as she settled on her heel, wondering if the Husky could even come up with anything that she could best the Snow Leopard at.
“Uh, lets see, tell me a joke.” Jäger looked at Valentina.
The Snow Leopard looked up at him, bewildered. “Master?”
“Go on, make me laugh. If I buy one of you, we’re going to be living together, I’d prefer to be with someone who has a sense of humor.”
Valentina fidgeted.  She was drawing a blank.  No one had ever told her a joke, or even told a joke around her.  She glanced side to side, wracking her brain to come up with anything the least bit amusing.
Lucinda watched as the perfect slave was reduced to a helpless child in a single moment and she grinned. It was vindicating to see that she had been right. Anything that involved straight obedience, Lucinda would probably lose, but as soon as it came to doing anything that required the least bit of intellect…  Lucinda had a million jokes she had heard over the years. She tried to think of a good one that her prospective master might enjoy.  She looked at the bits of missing fur on his coat and reasoned that he was either a fighter or a mechanic of some sort.  He didn’t seem like a ruffian.  She smiled and knew she had a good one for him.
Jäger watched the Snow Leopard fidget for a while, a little frustrated that she was having so much trouble with such a relatively simple request. “Well?” He finally prompted her.
Valentina finally remembered a joke another slave had told a long long time ago back when she was undergoing training.
“Um, a horse morph walks into a bar and the bartender says, “Why the long face?” She looked up at Jäger expectantly.
Lucinda snorted but to her dismay the Husky chuckled at the joke. “Valentina, that is the lamest joke ever.” He said.
Lucinda sighed in relief a bit. He had been laughing at how poor her joke was.
Valentina flattened her ears and hung her head. “I’m sorry I failed to please you Master.”
Jäger reached over and petted her head. “It’s okay, but I have a feeling that Lucinda is going to come up with a much better joke that that.” He turned to her.
“Master, if I couldn’t, I’d sign myself up to the Academy.”
Jäger grinned. “So let’s hear it.”
Lucinda grinned and settled down a bit trying to remember just how it went.  “Okay, a young Indian brave comes of age and the Chief tells him he is allowed to choose a mate.  Three squaws are available to choose from, so the Chief tells him to spend a week with each one, then return at the end of the three weeks and inform the Chief of his decision, and he will be wed.
The first squaw sleeps on a bear skin.  She is a beautiful young woman and he soon finds out that she’s a wildcat in the sack.  Every desire is fulfilled and she has no shame for him.  The sex is so amazing he almost chooses her on the spot.  Unfortunately as the week progresses, he discovers that she’s a hideous cook.  Her buffalo meat tastes like cold, wet bark and her soup is best left unmentioned in polite conversation.  She’s the kind of woman that could burn salad.  The end of the week comes and he’s on the verge of starvation.  Between the non-stop sex-a-thons and the utter lack of nutrition, he leaves to see the second squaw practically with one foot in the grave.
The second squaw sleeps on a coyote skin.  She is youthful and beautiful and when they meet she treats him to the most fabulous meal any man has ever eaten.  He devours it ravenously, eats twice his fill and she never runs out of dishes to serve him.  He’s so satisfied after the meal he almost chooses her on the spot.  That evening however, he finds out that she’s a real dud in bed.  She’s ashamed of herself and of the act; refuses to do anything unless it’s pitch black in the tee-pee, and even then can’t seem to enjoy herself, despite his very best efforts.  Each day is the same, he is lavished with most fabulous meals anyone could desire, but the nights are a huge letdown, if anything happens at all.  Well the end of the week comes, and while he couldn’t be more pleased with her cuisine, he is frustrated to say the least, especially after the treatment he received from the first squaw. 
The third squaw sleeps on the skin of a hippopotamus.  This woman is as beautiful as the others, and when they meet he sees that she has a delectable meal laid out for him.  However, before he can eat it, she removes her clothes, lays on the table and smears the food all over herself, and insists that he eat it off her hot, young, naked body.  Well, after a week of neglect and frustration, he has no problem with that at all, and after he’s finished licking her clean she pounces on him and makes wild love to him for hours.  All week it’s the same, amazing food all day long, and amazing sex all night long.
“Well, what is your verdict?” The Chief asks him at the end of the third week.
The brave, confident in his decision replies, “The squaw of the hippopotamus is equal to the sum of the other two squaws.”
Jäger blanked for a moment as he processed the punch line then laughed uproariously.  “That’s awesome, I love jokes like that, with a long winding story that all comes out in a good punch line.” He chuckled some more. “Squaw of the Hippopotamus, I have to tell that to all the guys in engineering.”
Valentina blinked. She had no idea why that was funny.
Jäger looked at her. Valentina, don’t you know any other jokes?
“Um… A horse morph walks into a bar and says “Ow.” She held her ears flat to him, waiting for a reaction.
Jäger rolled his eyes and looked back to Lucinda. “Wanna tell one more?”
She grinned. “Okay, uh, a guy walks into a bar and sees a horse standing in the corner, not a horse morph mind you, but an actual horse.”
Jäger nodded.
“He walks up to the bartender and asks him about the horse. The bartender tells him that if he pays $10, then he has one chance to make the horse laugh. If he can, he wins the pot which is up to $100.  The patron grins and pays the $10 and walks over to the horse and whispers something in his ear. The horse blinks and starts to snicker, then laughs and laughs until he falls over onto his side. The patron returns to the bar and collects the pot, pays for his drink and walks out, leaving the bartender dumbfounded.  A month later, the same guy returns to the same bar and sees the horse still standing in the corner. He asks the bartender if the deal is the same but the bartender shakes his head. “Nope, now you have to make him cry.” The patron shrugs and pays the $10 and walks over to the horse. The bartender is watching him keenly but gets distracted by other customers. When he turns back to the horse, he sees him crying like a baby and the patron returning to the bar triumphantly.  The bartender shakes his head and collects the money from the pot. “Before I give this to you, you’ve GOT to tell me what you did.”  The patron smiles and says, “The first time, I told the horse that my dick was bigger than his. The second time… I showed him.”
Lucinda grinned, pleased with the expression on Jäger’s face.  The Husky started laughing again.
“Okay, that wasn’t as good as the first one, but it still beats the pants off of Valentina’s jokes.
The Snow Leopard kneeled, looking like she was expecting some terrible punishment for her failure.
Just then the intercom on Rafe’s desk buzzed. Jäger arched an eyebrow and swiveled over to hit the button.
“Kennels.”
“Hey Jäger, I’m glad you’re still there.” Rafe’s voice came on over the speaker.
“Where the hell are you man?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long, look Phiona broke her ankle playing Zero-G racquetball, I’ve been trying to get in her pants for a while and I thought I’d score a few points if I stayed at her bedside for a bit.”
“Uh… okay. Who’s Phiona?” Jäger asked.
“Oh, she’s the relief I went looking for.”
“Right. So when can I expect you?” Jäger put his chin on his paw, looking a little frustrated.
“Well, I guess I’m pulling a double shift tonight, I’ll be down there in half an hour?”
Jäger sighed. “All right, in 31 minutes I’m going home whether or not you’re here.”
“Fair enough, thanks man.”
The Husky grunted and clicked off the intercom, then turned to Lucinda. “I guess you’ve got that long to pimp yourself to me, Lucy.”
Lucinda hated being called Lucy, but right now it didn’t concern her, all that mattered was figuring out a way to convince this Dog she was worth her money.
“Okay, you said you can cook a little bit, right?” He asked her. She nodded. He turned to the Leopardess. “And you, are you versed in food preparation?”
“Yes Master.” Valentina answered softly. “I can prepare Italian food, Chinese, both Szechuan and Hunan style, French and Japanese cuisine.”
Lucinda opened her eyes wide.  Apparently part of the Leopard’s training included all things culinary.  Jäger turned to look at Lucinda.
“I hate to say it Lu, but Valentina is sounding more and more like the Squaw of the Hippopotamus to me.”
Lu? The Tigress thought.  That was worse then Lucy.
Lucinda drooped her gaze. “Maybe I should have told you a variant of the joke where one squaw was good at sex and one was good company… Master.”
Jäger chuckled. “That might have been prudent.” He thought for a moment. “Uh, you know, one thing I really like is getting deepthroated, I guess the next test is to make sure you both can do that, eh?” He looked down at his cock, still hidden in it’s sheath. “Uh… the two of you really wore me out though, Valentina, why don’t you go get a long dildo out of the box for us.”
“Yes Master.” The Snow Leopard crawled over to the toy chest on her paws and knees.
Lucinda started getting nervous. She knew she didn’t know how to do that, and all the times that the other pirates had tried to force her she had gagged on them.  She started opening the back of her throat with her mouth closed. She knew if she had any chance here, she’s have to at least know this much. Maybe she could figure it out in the next 30 seconds.
Valentina returned from the toy box with a really long dildo, it was one of those semi-flexible double ended ones, and it was fairly girthy as well.  Lucinda scowled at her, knowing she’d never be able to swallow that.
The Leopardess knelt in front of Jäger, who nodded and she tilted her head back, sliding half of the two foot dildo into her throat like she had no gag reflex at all. She pumped it in and out a few times, then slid the entire dildo into her mouth, pushing down on the tip with her finger and closed her mouth. 
Jäger and Lucinda both stared at her in shock, then Valentina opened her mouth and wiggled her head back and forth, and the tip of the long phallus appeared at the back of her mouth. She reached in and pulled it out slowly, then handed the wet dildo to Lucinda, and for a second, the Tigress thought she saw a smirk on the Snow Leopard’s lips.
Jäger just stared at her dumbfounded, his sore cock starting to throb to life again at the slave’s display, then slowly turned his head to Lucinda. “Uh… good luck.” He said.
Lucinda swallowed and looked at the glistening rubber cock in her paws.  It only added to the insult that the thing had to be molded exactly like a real cock.  She opened her mouth and glanced around, hoping for some divine revelation as to how to perform this act.  She slid it into her mouth, then tilted her head back and tried to open her throat, and pushed the dildo back. As soon as it touched the back of her throat, she coughed and choked on it, pulling it quickly out of her mouth and spitting all over her paws as she coughed.  She panted for a second, wracked with smaller coughs as she looked up at Jäger, who’s face held a mix of disappointment and concern.  She swallowed again, her mouth was salivating heavily now and she forced the thing back in. This time instead of tilting her head back, she leaned her torso forward and craned her neck out, trying to straighten the path that the dildo would have to follow.  She pushed again, trying to open her throat, and the dildo started to go in, but then her throat involuntarily contracted and she choked again, badly this time. She pulled the dildo out and lurched onto her paws, coughing and spitting out huge wads of saliva, dropping the dildo onto the floor.  She panted and coughed, her eyes watering to the point that she couldn’t see.  She spit again, willing herself not to throw up and clenched her teeth.  She picked up the dildo again, determined to do this, but Jäger grabbed it from her.
“Come on, don’t kill yourself, it’s obvious you have no idea how to do it.”
Lucinda slumped. “I’m sorry. I know I can do it, I know I can learn.”
Jäger thought for a moment. “Okay. Val, could you teach her how to do that?”
Valentina glanced at Lucinda, not raising her eyes as high as Jäger.  “I can show her how it is supposed to be done Master, but the doing is up to her.”
Jäger nodded. “Okay, I’ll tell you what, Lucinda, if you can learn this by the time I get dressed, I won’t hold it against you, your willingness to learn will be enough for me.”
Lucinda nodded and scooted closer to the Leopardess as Jäger rose from his chair.  He watched the girls talk a little bit, Lucinda looking into Val’s throat, then Val looking into Lucinda’s throat as she tried to mimic her. He collected his clothes and dressed slowly after brushing out his coat and tail a bit, giving Lucinda as much time as he could.  He had to admit, as beautiful as Valentina was, he was rooting for Lucinda.  She had made some good points and she would certainly be better company than the Leopardess.  He enjoyed debating with her, and she was so desperate to please.  
He looked at Valentina. She didn’t care who bought her, she’d be sold no matter what, but Jäger couldn’t help but wonder just why she was so sedate. Most of the other slaves he’d met around the station basically acted like normal furs unless their masters were around.  Even Caramel was decent company when Ludarch left her alone for a few minutes at a time.  Maybe Valentina’s previous master was a control freak and was really big on her submission.  Maybe her training had somehow been different that the other slaves from Elysium.  It was a big universe after all, she could have been trained at a different slaving school.  Maybe she’d loosen up over time, but at the same time, she didn’t know any good jokes, which he guessed was understandable, maybe that was a poor test, but she didn’t get either of Lucinda’s jokes.  
Jäger furrowed his brow. Maybe she did get them but thought it was out of place to laugh at them. 
He shook his head.  This was stupid, if he was rooting for Lucinda, then he should buy her… but Valentina, her beauty, every time he looked at her his mind forgot about Lucinda for a moment. Even not under direct scrutiny from her ‘master’ her pose was perfect, even leaning forward to touch Lucinda’s tongue, her posture was good, back slightly arched to thrust her sizeable breasts out, her tail held in an ‘S’ shape against her back, even her glossy straight black hair never seemed mussed somehow.  He wanted her, his worn out cock started throbbing again. He wanted her for her body, her skill, and for the popularity she would bring him. She’d be the greatest party favor in the history of the Brethren.  He’d be able to get anything from anyone in exchange for a night with her.  Well, anyone with a penis.
He shook his head, he couldn’t decide. He walked over to where the girls were, Lucinda hand the phallus a fair amount into her throat, but her eyes were watering and her face looked pained.  She pulled it out with a cough as he sat down on the chair.
“How’s it going?” He asked casually, like he was asking a kid about their homework.
“Well, I’m >cough< up to a ‘shallow throat’ if you will.  I mean, I’m making progress Master.”
Jäger nodded. “I don’t expect that you’re going to master it in five minutes, but I’m pleased with your willingness to learn, that’s really all I was concerned about.”
Lucinda nodded, relieved.
“I… can’t think of any other kinds of tests to pit you guys against each other on. It’s already clear to me what each of your strengths are.” He thought for a moment. “Okay, how about this. Tell me what you expect from a Master, since I’ve never been one before.”
Lucinda and Valentina both hesitated to answer. It was something neither one had ever thought of before.
“What… what I expect from a Master?” Lucinda asked, not sure she heard the question right.
“Yeah. If you could pick your Master, what would he be like?”
“I’ve never been a slave before… The only experience I have with “Masters” are the guards, who beat me, and you Jäger.”
“Well, I dunno, think about it.” He turned to Valentina. “What about you. What kind of Master would you want if you could pick him?”
Valentina looked like she was trying to remember another joke, her eyes were moving around, her mind trying to process the question. “Master, a slave cannot choose her owner.”
“No, I know, but… ug. Have you ever been in a room with a lot of slaves and a lot of Masters, and you saw a Master than you liked more than the one you had?”
Valentina was stuck.  She couldn’t lie, but she couldn’t disrespect her Master… even if he was dead.  Well, if he was dead, maybe she’d better do as her current, if temporary, Master ordered. “Uh… yes… Master?” She said quietly.
Jäger smiled triumphantly. “Okay, what was that Master like?”
“He was very large, and very handsome. Muscular and powerful, everything a Master should be.  Just his presence made even non-slaves submit to him.”
Jäger arched any eyebrow. That didn’t seem very likely to him but then again, this was a slave talking, everything she knew was a matter of either dominance or submission.
“He was someone that I would have been proud to be owned by.”
“Uh, okay, what was he like, I mean, you’ve described him, but what kind of master was he?  How did he treat his slaves?”
“He was strict, he demanded perfection from his slaves, his punishments were severe, but he rewarded them when he was pleased by them…” She looked up at Jäger. “Not that a slave should expect anything but the opportunity to please her Master.  His slaves were regarded as the best slaves there were and they earned him a great deal of respect and favor, and the slaves had a right to be proud to be owned by him.  He tried to purchase me from my Master but Master wouldn’t sell me.”
Jäger nodded. “Okay, I guess that’s a worthy aspiration. To be the best that your station allows and have a Master that recognizes that need. What about you Lu? If I bought you, what would you expect from me?”
Lucinda frowned. She expected Jäger to start calling her “L” any minute now.  The only thing she could think to say off the top of her head was “To have a Master that would free me and apologize for all the mistreatment I’ve received at the hands of the pirates.” But she knew that this was another test. She had to answer something that Jäger would be able to fulfill. Obliviously his mere presence wasn’t going to dominate others - he wasn’t even any taller than she was, what would be the best thing to say?
“Uh… well, I guess, a Master that I could be proud of, not because he treats his slaves more cruelly than everyone else, but for his intelligence, or skill at something.  Even if it’s because he’s the best poker player or the best engineer,” She said, hoping to hit close to home. “Someone who has the respect of his peers for reasons other than who he owns and how he treats them.”
Jäger nodded. That sounded reasonable to him. “Is that all?”
“Well, it would be nice if he was good at cunnilingus too.” She chuckled at him, hoping to score a few more points in the humor/good companionship department.
Jäger laughed. “Well, that’s a plus no matter who you are isn’t it?”
The Tigress smiled. “In my book it sure is.”
Jäger’s sighed and his smile faded. “I wish I could give you better news Lucinda, but Valentina’s still got you licked for all the things that really matter for a slave.  I think you’d make a great girlfriend, but… ah, that’s not really what I’m in the market for.”
Lucinda grimaced. “I… I know.  This really isn’t fair, even if I was a well trained slave I don’t think I’d be able to compete with her.”
Jäger frowned a bit and scratched his head.
“Well, what if… what if you bought us both?  I’d be willing to learn anything from Valentina…” Lucinda offered.
Jäger smiled but shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t have the money for both of you. As we’ve already established Luce, you guys aren’t cheap.”
Loose? Did he just call me Loose? What is with this guy and nicknames?
“Well, what if you bid on both of us, then if you don’t get Valentina then you’d still get me?” She proposed, already planning on telling everyone who came through the door about the Leopardess to sink Jäger’s chances of winning her. She wasn’t normally so underhanded, and Jäger had been uncommonly kind to her. Well, except for the strapping, but as far as she was concerned, this was literally a matter of life and death.
Jäger shook his head again. “There’s no way I could do that, if I did somehow win Val, then I’d almost certainly win you as well, and then I wouldn’t be able to pay and you’d get sold to the Academy anyway and I’d get in deep shit.”
Lucinda hung her head. “What… what can I do to convince you Jäger?” She flinched and looked up at him. “I mean… Master.” She said almost resigned to failure.
Jäger sighed. He really wanted to help her but his desire to be a Samaritan was only just equal to his lust for Valentina. “There’s nothing you can do Lu.  You’re a slave.”
Lucinda hung her head, sniffling a bit, trying not to cry.
Jäger looked at her and felt terrible, almost resolving on the spot to buy her, but he glanced at Valentina, sitting quietly, perfectly, so beautiful, waiting to be commanded, her only thoughts were for pleasing her master.  Jäger’s cock was throbbing again as he stared at her, but the ache from his empty balls kept him from getting another erection.
Jäger signed again. “Come on Lucy, the Academy isn’t all that bad. I know a few slaves that have been through it, and they seem okay.”
Lucinda looked at Valentina, thinking that Jäger’s definition of ‘okay’ was pretty fucked, not realizing he was talking about some of the other slaves that were allowed to move around the station freely and work at normal jobs when not serving their masters.  Lucinda’s only experiences with slaves had been in the kennels.  Even the other slaves that she had seen being used by the pirates here had displayed extremely subdued personalities.
“Yeah, but Jäger… ah, I mean, Master, sorry.  Did you know any of them before they were slaves?”
Jäger thought. “Uh, no.”
“Then you can’t know how much the Academy changed them.”
He thought for a moment. “Well, that’s true I guess…”
“My point is, I’d rather die than be brainwashed like her,” She pointed at Valentina. “To have my mind taken from me.”
“Lu, what does it really matter?  Either way you’re a slave.”
“I’m already resigned to being a slave, Jä… Master, at least, until… the, the slaves here can buy their freedom, right?”
“Given time, yes.” Jäger nodded.
“Then that’s just one more reason that I want to stay here with you, but ignoring everything else, when it comes down to it, given the choice between being a brainwashed slave, or just being me as a slave, I have to choose the latter.”
Jäger thought for a moment, then looked at the clock. Rafe should be there any minute. “I’ll think about it Lu. Lets get you back in your cages for now.  I need to get some sleep so I can make a decision.” He stood and walked over to the kennel that Valentina had been in. “Come on.” She crawled over to him, he couldn’t help but stare at her back as her spine slinked back and forth with every movement, her swishing tail amplifying the effect.  He almost wanted to take her again before he put her up for the night, but he had a lot on his mind now and he was going to be sore till the morning at least anyway.
Valentina crawled into her cage and Jäger locked the door behind her.  He crouched and looked inside at her, trying to ignore how badly he wanted her, both at the moment as well as long term. “Goodnight Val. I’m going to put the tarp back on your cage, okay?”
“Goodnight Master…”  Valentina hesitated for the barest moment, but Jäger caught it anyway.
“What is it Val?”
Valentina shook her head.  “Nothing Master.”
“Come on, Val, you’ve got me curious.”
“I can’t Master… it’s not appropriate for a slave to voice her desires.” She said quietly, looking at the floor of her cage.
Jäger was surprised, for the first time in the evening, Valentina wasn’t acting like an automaton.
“You’ll tell me if I order you to though, so you might as well do it, right?” He cocked his head.
Valentina nodded.  “I just thought that you should know, contrary to my sister slave’s opinion of me, I’m not a mindless puppet, I’m just well behaved.  And for what it’s worth… should you bid on me tomorrow… I wish you luck.  I would much rather belong to you than the pirates that killed my previous Master.”
Jäger blinked. Valentina had just said more in 10 seconds than she had all night, and suddenly his mind was filled with renewed doubt about who he was going to buy.
“They’re a rough lot I take it?”
Valentina nodded.
“But Val, we’re all pirates here.  I beat you tonight, how do you know I won’t do that all the time?”
“Master, I would be happy to be beaten by you if you derived pleasure from it…”
Jäger flattened his ears as he listened.
“…you have every right to treat your slave however you chose, but you at least seem capable of compassion.  I know I could never be a companion for you, I… wasn’t raised… I mean, trained for that, but I would always be loyal and obedient.  I am a pleasure slave and it’s all I know, but I enjoy the company of my Master, and I think… the other pirates…”
“What?”
The Slow Leopard shook her head.  “I can not speak to the motivation of my betters Master, I’m sorry, please forget what I said.”
Jäger scratched his chin.  “You think the other pirates will treat you like an object and keep you in a cage when they’re not using you?  Or beat you simply to be cruel?”
Valentina paused, not sure how to answer, but then realized that her erstwhile Master was waiting for a reply. “…Something like that Master.”
“You’d like to have a Master to actively serve then, I take it?  Someone who appreciates your skills and devotion to him?”
Valentina nodded. “Yes Master. Very much so.”
Jäger crouched quietly in front of her cage, trying to absorb everything that she had said.  Suddenly it wasn’t an either/or choice.  As immaculately trained as Valentina was, she was still an intelligent individual with her own set of desires.  
“I’ll keep that in mind Val.”
“Thank you Master.  Goodnight.” Valentina bowed to him from inside her cage.
The Husky nodded and draped the tarp back over the cage, trying to make it look like it did before he had removed it and set the toolbox back on it. He stepped back and adjusted it a bit, then exhaled.  His decision had just become a lot more complicated.  
He turned to Lucinda, who he saw still kneeling in place, but she was shuddering a little. He walked over to her and heard her sniffling, trying not to cry.
He crouched down and stoked her hair. “Come on, lets put you up for the night. I’ll think about buying you Lu, I… I just don’t want to promise you anything.”
The Tigress sniffled and nodded, crawling to her cage, out of things to say.  Jäger opened the door but Lucinda paused.  For an instant she considered running, maybe she could get away from him, hide somewhere on the station… but then what? Try and stow away on a ship leaving the station? White Tigers were rare enough to stand out in a crowd, unless the station had a lot of Zebras on it… She stared for a moment longer.  Once that cell door was closed she’d be out of options.
“Come on Lu, please get in.” He crouched next to the cage.  “If there’s going to be any chance of me buying you, you’re going to have to show that you can be obedient.”
Tired and mentally defeated, she decided that it wasn’t worth it to try and she crawled in.  He tucked her tail in behind her and closed the door. She flinched a bit when she heard the latch lock.
Just then Rafe trotted in, clutching his side and panting heavily.  “Ah good, I’m >pant< glad you’re still here.”
Jäger looked at his watch. “Only just.”
“Whew.” Rafe wiped his brow. “I need a drink. Can I get you anything from the mini fridge?”
“Uh, no thanks… actually, maybe a beer if you got it.”
“No problem.” Rafe disappeared into the alcove behind his desk.
“I don’t know what else to say.” Lucinda said quietly in the shadow of her cage. “I wish… I wish I had something, something more, something I could say or do to convince you. Actually, I just wish I had never gone on this business trip in the first place.”  She slumped in her cage, not looking at him.
Rafe tossed Jäger the beer. He opened it and drank a swig, then unlocked Lucinda’s cage and handed her the can, ignoring a frown from Rafe. 
She blinked and thanked him hesitantly, hoping this wasn’t some kind of consolation prize and that he had decided to buy Valentina.
“Don’t worry too much Lu, you’ve given me a lot to think about already.  I’ll be back tomorrow to put my bid in.  At least I’ll see you one more time if I decide on Val…” He stopped, thinking that wasn’t a very encouraging thing to say to her.  “Goodnight Lucinda.” He stood and started toward the door.
Lucinda sipped at the beer, both paws wrapped around the can. It was the first liquid she had drunk besides water (and semen) in almost 2 months.  If Jäger didn’t buy her, it would be the last time for at least a year.  Such a simple pleasure she was certain that Jäger took for granted, like his freedom… She looked up and jumped to the front of her cage and called to Jäger just as he reached the door.
“What if it was you?” She said.
Jäger stopped. “What?”
“What if you were me, if it was you who was about to be sold to the Academy, to have every right you take for granted stripped from you, to have everything you own taken from you? To be put in a cage and ordered to fuck or suck any guard that walks by, and if you refuse or even hesitate, you get tied up and beaten until your ribs are broken?” She sniffled again, trying to keep talking as tears welled up inside her.  “To be abused and brainwashed till you’re dead inside and there’s only a trained shell left?” Lucinda barely finished her sentence as she started crying, her face disappearing into her paws, sobbing softly.
Jäger stared at her for a moment.  A long moment, thinking about what she had just said.  He felt his own tears starting to well up inside of him as he listened to this beautiful Tigress cry into her palms.  He swallowed and just before the first tear rolled down his cheek, he looked down at her cage and said. “But I’m not you.” And walked out, wiping his eyes.

*                                     *                                     *

The next day, Jäger was finishing up some work in the bay, patching a tear in a hull of one of the scout ships that had a disagreement with a micro-meteor.  He stowed his tools distractedly, sighing.  He had tossed and turned all night, hoping that a decision would come to him, and even all day in the docks welding and patching, he was totally preoccupied with his looming decision.  Foremost on his mind was the last thing he said to Lucinda.  
“Maybe I’m not ready to be a Master.  Why did I say such a shitty thing to her before I left?”  Jäger actually did know why he’d said it, he just didn’t want to admit it to himself. He’d been mad at her for making him cry. It was his male ego striking back at her. 
It would be a few hours before his friends got off their shifts. The only one of them that was available at the moment was Caramel, her shift as an aide in the communication center was over by now, she’d be waiting in Ludarch’s room till he got finished with his debriefing from the last raid.
Jäger thought as he used some gritty soap to wash the oil and metal ash off his paws.  “Maybe she’s who I need to talk to.  She can shed some light on what Lucinda would go through if I bought Val and Lu was shipped off to the Academy.”  He toweled off his paws and decided it couldn’t hurt, so he signed off his shift and wandered down to the living quarters.
He eventually reached Ludarch’s door and knocked.  There was a moment of silence then he heard Caramel’s voice from within. “Who is it please?”
“Uh, hi, Caramel, it’s me, Jäger.” He called through the door.
The door slid open to reveal Caramel kneeling just inside, her long ears held submissively, but her eyes raised to speak with him. “Hello Master Jäger, I’m afraid Master Ludarch is out, I believe he’ll be back in about an hour.”
“Actually Caramel, I came to see you, may I come in?”
Caramel blinked. “Me? Um, yes, of course Master, please make yourself at home.” The bunny rose and gestured him inside.
Jäger nodded and went in the apartment, noting that it was suspiciously clean considering the kind of guy that Ludarch was, but he assumed that Caramel had rather a lot to do with that.
Caramel moved past him and slid onto the bed, her eyes down now. “May I prepare some refreshments, or would you like to have me now Master?”
Jäger blinked. “Uh, no… uh, Caramel I actually wanted to talk with you a bit.”
Caramel looked up at him with surprise on her face. “T… talk with me? Um, o… okay. About what Master?”
“Please, don’t call me Master, it makes me feel uncomfortable, just Jäger is fine. You’re not my slave.” Jäger sat next to her on the bed.
Caramel looked at him, trying to be sure he was serious, then relaxed her posture a bit, raising her ears. “Okay J… Jäger.” She bit her lower lip, then smiled. 
“Actually, a drink would be nice though.”
Caramel jumped up off the bed. “Yes Mas…” She looked at him, and the Husky grinned at her. She giggled and bounced into the kitchenette. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Uh, well, it’s kind of personal.  You know I’m in the market for a slave, and a fairly unique situation has presented itself to me… Well, without going into the all the gory details… well, I just want to know how… what the training was like, I mean, is it as terrible as they say it is?”
Caramel emerged from the kitchen holding two beers.  She offered one to Jäger and whispered. “I’m afraid Master Ludarch only has beer in the fridge.”
Jäger smiled. “Why doesn’t that surprise me.”
Caramel sat on the bed Indian style and opened her beer.  “The training was…” She sipped it, looking distracted. “Well, it’s not something I’d like to go through again.  The first month or two was really hard for everyone there I think.  They don’t ease you in, it’s just sex and punishment from day one.  Eventually you get over that hump, I mean, realizing that you either obey or you get punished. After a while you just start to obey, you know?”
Jäger nodded, looking a bit thoughtful.
“And then there’s this second hump, which is when you really become a slave, it’s when you stop fearing the punishment so much as you start craving the sex and domination.  Like you actually feel disappointed when they stick you in a class where you have to work on your posture, or a cooking class.  You sit there trying not to fidget, looking around at the other slaves, wishing you could be fucking them instead of having to memorize how to poach an egg, you know?”
Jäger sipped idly at his beer, concentrating as much on Caramel’s demeanor as he was her words.  She seemed, not wistful, but far away and a little distracted, but she was obviously a long way from curling up in a corner and rocking.
“Well here’s my dilemma, Caramel.  I’ve narrowed my choices down to two slaves.  One is the one that Ludarch was talking about, a beautiful and well trained slave.”
Caramel nodded, looking rather sullen suddenly.  “Ludarch won’t stop talking about her.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. 
“It wears on your ego doesn’t it?” Jäger asked.
“Ludarch isn’t the worst Master I’ve had.  He doesn’t abuse me physically all that often, but he’s…” Caramel stopped suddenly.  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say bad things about my Master.”
Jäger put his paw on her shoulder. “You can tell me Caramel. I promise I won’t say anything to him.  He’s my friend, but I understand that he’s a little abrasive at times.”  He grinned and sipped his beer some more.
Caramel nodded. “He’s mean to me a lot, but I don’t think he realizes it most of the time.  Saying things that scare me or cut me down, you know?”
“Yeah, I kind of thought that’s what you were going to say.  Anyway, the other slave is a woman that… well, she’s only been a slave for a few weeks. She’s not even trained.”
Caramel looked at Jäger oddly.  “She’s not trained?  Jäger, I hate to say it, but a slave that’s not trained… well, really isn’t much of a slave.”
“Well, the thing is that she doesn’t want to go to the Academy, so she’s promised to be obedient to me if I buy her tonight.”
“Jäger, I promise you, there’s a world of difference between someone saying that they’ll behave for you, and them actually doing it.  Do you think she’ll eat from a bowl at your feet without hesitation, or lick you clean after you take her analy?”
Jäger wrinkled his face. “EW!”
Caramel rolled her eyes. “Whatever, I don’t mean that you’d make her do that, my point is, once you buy her, there’s no reason for her to behave, especially if you give her a distasteful order.”
“Well there’s always the threat that I could sell her to the Academy if she displeases me.  Actually, I’m surprised Caramel, I thought you’d want me to buy her?”
“No, why would you want an untrained slave Jäger?”
“Caramel, my point is that if I do buy her, I’ll be sparing her from having to go to the Academy.  If someone could have done that for you, wouldn’t you have wanted them to?”
Caramel froze, thinking suddenly. “Uh… I… I don’t know… I mean…” She thought about the implications, the different path her life could have taken.  “Well, yeah, of course.  Well, I don’t know, I don’t really like being a slave, but… I think… being at the Institute really shaped me… you know, into an adult, gave me focus.  I was a wild teen, you know?  I used to party all the time, and I’d get drugged to an inch of my life, and one time I passed out in the back room of a bar, and the next thing I new, I woke up in a cage, and I was a slave.  They gave me drugs to counter the withdrawal so they could start training me immediately.  I think the Institute saved my life to be honest, and, like I said, I wouldn’t want to have to go through it again, but I guess I have a certain pride in the skills I’ve acquired there.”
“I didn’t know that… about your past.”
Caramel nodded.  “Oh, and for the record I wasn’t trained at the Academy on Elysium, I was trained at the Caruth Slaving Institute on Chad IV.  They teach nearly the same things as the Academy, from what I can tell from talking with the other slaves around here, but the Academy has a reputation for turning out the best slaves around, so they go for a lot more.  Brand recognition, you know?  I don’t think Master Ludarch could have afforded an Academy trained slave.” The bunny shrugged.
Jäger nodded.  “So, well, let me ask you this.  If you were free and had the same choice, you could either buy a highly trained slave who’s beauty is hard to measure on a regular scale, or another slave that promises to be a perfect and obedient slave as long as you buy her and save her from having to go to the Academy?”
“I dunno Jäger, I don’t think I’d buy the untrained slave.”
“Even knowing that you’d be saving her from the Academy?”
“Well, I don’t know.  It would be nice to be spared from the Academy, but I’d only do that if I was out to be a Samaritan.  I wouldn’t try and keep her as a slave afterwards.  I just can’t tell you how different I am now compared to before I was trained.”
“So it really changed you?”
“Yes, but… honestly, it was for the better.  Whether or not I’m submissive now because of my training or if the Institute brought out my natural tendencies, I guess I’ll never know, it’s probably a little of both really, but I mean as far as my attitude and demeanor.  When I’m on the job in the communications center, I’m really focused, you know? I mean, sometimes I get distracted because I start getting really horny, but besides that I have a sense of duty.  I don’t feel like sneaking off to the bar and getting wasted or anything, you know?”
“Hmm. That’s interesting, I never thought about the positive side effects of Academy… or Institute training.  Lucinda, uh, the other slave is really scared of the Academy, she thinks that she’ll be a brainwashed puppet once they’re finished with her.”  Jäger reclined on the bed, propping himself up with some pillows.
“Hmm. Well, I’d have to say there’s definitely some of that going on.  My attitude about sex changed a lot while I was there, and… I can’t seem to disobey my Master, whoever he happens to be.  I mean, I can’t seem to want to disobey him.  No matter how distasteful an order he gives me I just think, “He’s my Master, I have to obey.” And I do it.  It’s a little frustrating at times.”  Caramel slumped a little, her ears drooping a bit.  “But, really, beyond that, the nymphomania and discipline and… obedience, I don’t think I’ve changed really at all. Just those aspects of me.”
“It sounds like the Caruth Institute really knows what they’re doing.”
Caramel nodded.
“So… uh, how is that slaves ever get in trouble with their Masters or even escape for that matter if you can’t disobey?”
Caramel shrugged. “I hate to admit it, but I’m not a very strong person.  Before the Institute, I was overweight, easily addicted to anything that felt good, be it eating good food, masturbating or taking drugs or having sex.  A real hedonist, and I could never say no.  No willpower at all.”
“Ah, that makes sense. So they really whipped you into shape, eh?”
Caramel chuckled weakly.  “Literally.”
Jäger blinked. “Oh… I’m sorry, that was a bad choice of words I guess.  So you really wouldn’t buy Lucinda, knowing that you’d be saving her from the Academy?”
Caramel shook her head. “Only if I was out to be a Samaritan, but not if I was looking for a slave, no.”
Jäger nodded.
“The Institute is survivable Jäger.  I think sometimes there’s a slave that can’t handle it, or someone who’s so defiant that they make an example out of them, but think of how many pleasure slaves there are… There’s probably a few thousand on Elysium alone, hundreds of thousands or even millions in the whole galaxy.  Whatever Lucinda thinks about the Academy, whatever she’s heard was probably wildly exaggerated if she’s that afraid of it.”
“That’s a good point Caramel. Yeah, I kind of thought that.”
“It could work to your advantage though.” Caramel slid forward on the bed and laid alongside Jäger.
“Huh?”
“Well, if she’s that scared of the Academy, I guess you could buy her and make sure she thinks she’s one slipup away from being sold there.  That’s the only way I can see you getting your money’s worth out of buying her.  Even then I think she’d be a pretty half assed slave, especially compared to a trained slave like me or the one that Ludarch keeps talking about.”
“That’s a little underhanded, but it might be a solution.  I would feel like an ass if Lucinda got sold to the Academy, but…”
“Well, you’re not buying her for her benefit are you?”
Jäger turned his head to look at her.
“In this universe Jäger, you have to put yourself first.  The only people who think of others first are slaves.”
“Jeeze Caramel, that’s pretty cynical.”
“Maybe, but maybe you should consider how you’ll feel about this purchase 3 months from now.  Will you be sick of punishing Lucinda because she’s a crappy slave?  Will the fear of the Academy faded from her and she’ll have forgotten how you ‘saved her’ and instead she’ll only resent you for constantly punishing her?”
“That’s… another good point Caramel.  I’m glad I came to have this talk with you, it’s given me a lot more thing to think about… I can’t say that I’m any closer to a decision though.”
“It is a tough decision I admit.  I think if it was me, I’d go for the other slave, but I can see why you’re having this dilemma.  Actually, I’m a little surprised that there’s a pirate on this station that would have this kind of quasi-moral quandary, you know?”
Jäger snickered.  “Come on Caramel, not all pirates are scum.  I think of myself as more of a mercenary anyway.  Heh, not really even a mercenary. Just a freelance mechanic.  Besides the Brethren aren’t bad guys, we’re working outside the system to affect positive change on Elysium. Un-civil disobedience and all that.”
Caramel stared at him for a moment, a bit blankly.
“You do know we’re trying to overthrow the government and get slavery abolished don’t you?”
The bunny blinked. “Uh… are you joking?”
Jäger sat up. “No! Ludarch never told you? How long have you been on the station?”
“Uh… four… uh four or five months.”
“I can’t believe he never told you.  I mean how could you not know?  It’s in our mission statement.”
“There’s a mission statement?”
“Tell me Ludarch gave you the Brethren Handbook.”
“Uh… yeah, he gave me something, but I never read it, I didn’t think it applied to slaves.”
Jäger took Caramel by the arms. “Caramel, tell me you know that slaves here can buy their freedom.”
Caramel looked up at Jäger, flabbergasted. “I can?  I can!?” She hopped off the bed and opened the one drawer in the dresser that was hers and dug through it, eventually producing the handbook.  She held it up like it was a holy relic and glanced at Jäger.
Jäger grinned.  “You really should read it Caramel, it’s positively riveting stuff, at least to someone in your position.”
“I will… definitely.”
“I guess Ludarch can’t be blamed for not telling you all that stuff. If he gave you the handbook, it’s your own fault for not reading it, though I’m a little perplexed at how you didn’t at least hear a stray conversation about any of those topics around the station.”
Caramel set the book on the counter and returned to the bed.  “I’ll admit that slaves are usually pretty good listeners, since we’re not allowed to talk usually, but honestly, people talk about pretty mundane things a lot of the time.  Computers breaking down, relationships, who’s sleeping with who.  I don’t think in all the time I’ve knelt at Master Ludarch’s chair with you and your friends that any of that stuff has ever come up.”
Jäger looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment.  She was right.  Most of their conversations were about gossip or what went down on the last raid or just about anything and everything besides what the Brethren were out to accomplish.  Jäger turned to look at Caramel who was sitting next to him, a little too closely.
“What?”
“All this talk about slavery and obedience and… potential freedom… and heh, nymphomania… I have to admit, I’m feeling a little horny.” She said, suddenly crawling up onto Jäger’s lap, pushing him down onto the bed.
Jäger swallowed and looked her in the eyes, then let his eyes wander over her body, lingering on her breasts, which were pressed against his chest.  “Really?  What would you like me to do about that?” He grinned up at her.
She leaned forward and kissed him, then nibbled her way down his chin to his ear. “Actually, I was thinking you could tie me up and treat me like a pleasure slave for a little while.” She whispered hotly to him.
Jäger felt his body responding to hers, and reached down to the bottom of her cutoff shirt and pulled it up over her head, making her breasts bounce a little as they came out of the tight shirt.  They necked a little bit and she reached down to unfasten his pants.  Once she had kicked them down to his knees, he pulled off his shirt, and she started kissing her way down his chest and over his stomach, making the muscles in his abdomen flutter slightly with expectation.  By the time she reached his hardening cock, his pants were on the floor and she took him in her mouth in a single sensual gulp, sliding her lips down his shaft as she went.
Jäger shuddered and stretched his arms over his head, letting Caramel do her work.  He was wondering when he’d get that chance to tie her up, but he didn’t really feel like interrupting what she was doing at the moment either.
The Bunny bobbed her lips up and down on his shaft, working it with her lips and tongue like she had done so many times before, trying not to think about what Jäger had asked her.  What if someone had saved her from the Institute, where would her life be now?  Jäger groaned appreciatively at her efforts and she put the question from her mind.  She knew she wouldn’t be nearly as good at doing this as she was if she hadn’t gone there.  She took him in her throat which he really seemed to enjoy, sitting up and spreading his legs wide, resting his paw on the back of her head as she slurped at him.
Jäger was in heaven, feeling Caramel’s throat open up and take him inside, her lips gripping him tightly and her tongue slithering all over the underside of his cock. In only a few minutes he was panting heavily before pushing her head down as he came in her mouth, shuddering.
Eventually, he took his paw off her head and she took her mouth off of him, gasping for air a little.  She looked up at him, licking off her lips.  “So are you going to tie me up or am I going to have to do that again?” She grinned.
“Oh, it’s to be coercion is it?” Jäger chuckled and crawled on top of Caramel suddenly, making her squeak and giggle.  He reached over to the chest at the bottom of the bed and opened it, finding all manner of bondage gear inside.  He wrapped his legs around Caramel, preventing her halfhearted attempt at escape while he fished a few choice items out of the box.
Once he had what he needed, he turned around on her and grabbed her arms, pinning them behind her.  She continued to struggle as she laughed, but Jäger made quick work of her ability to resist as her arms were folded behind her, each wrist attached just above the opposite elbow, then another strap snugged both forearms together, further preventing squirming.  Jäger grabbed Caramel and pulled her up into a kneel, then he secured her arms even more with one strap that went around her arms and torso below her breasts, and another one above them.
Carmel looked over her straps, testing them.  “Nice job Jäger, I’d never be able to get out of this myself.”
“Well that’s the idea, isn’t it?” Jäger grinned and held a ball gag up to Caramel’s mouth.  She looked at the gag shyly, then licked her lips and opened her mouth, allowing the Husky to push the gag in under her big Bunny incisors, then buckled the strap around the back of her head.  He took her by her arms and turned her away from him and shoved her down on the bed rough but playfully.  With her arms tied behind her back all she could do is bounce off the mattress with an “Unff” into the gag.  Jäger grabbed her feet and dragged them down to the footboard, then spread her legs wide, lashing each ankle to the outsides of the footboard.  He walked around the bed to the front and tied two ropes to the headboard, then ran them under the straps holding her arms in place, and pulled, the manner in which he had fastened them to the headboard acted like one way slipknots, and soon Caramel found herself drawn tight like she was on a rack.  Jäger wandered back to the toybox on more time while Caramel struggled, realizing how helpless she was and finding herself quite aroused from it.
When Jäger returned to her field of view, he was holding her punishment paddle.  It was a broad wooden paddle with several holes drilled through it.  Ludarch only brought that out when she had been especially bad.  Caramel’s eyes widened when she saw it.  This wasn’t what she had in mind when she asked Jäger to tie her up.
He looked over her helpless form, her ties not covering her posterior at all, and her little cotton tail unable to lend to her defense.  She shook her head and started struggling in earnest as the Husky raised the paddle over his head, but Jäger had tied her too expertly, she could do nothing but wait for the blow.  She squealed into her gag and closed her eyes to steel herself, but when the strike came, it was nothing more that Jäger laying the paddle on her rump, then sliding it off.  She opened her eyes and looked up at him.  He was smiling and patting the paddle in his paw.
“Bondage is a lot more arousing when you know you’re helpless, don’t you think?”  He laid the paddle in the bed in front of her and leaned over, whispering in her ear.  “That’s in case you decide to come before me.”
Caramel glance at the paddle, then up at him and nodded, a little surprised at how intense Jäger had become all of a sudden.  She had never thought of Jäger as a Master before, even if Ludarch had required her to address him as such, but now she was reconsidering her opinion of him.
He moved behind her onto the bed and knelt in between her widely spread legs.  After a moment, Caramel felt something large being pressed into her sex.  It was larger than Jäger’s cock, but as soon as it had penetrated her a few inches, she recognized it as her favorite vibrator.  When Ludarch was pleased with her, he would let her use it on herself, when he was upset with her, he’d force the large phallus into her anus and make her wear it around for him.  It was just right for her cunt, but rather a bit too large for her ass.
She cooed as Jäger turned it on after sliding it as deeply as she could take it. She laid her cheek down on the mattress, trying not to get too lost in the sensations, she didn’t know how long it would be before Jäger was going to start fucking her.  She didn’t have to wait long as she felt a cool drop of lube on her tailhole.
Still kneeling behind her, Jäger spread the lube around a little and poked a little inside with his finger.  He leaned up against her and pressed his still hard cock in between her cheeks, sliding it into her well practiced hole quite easily.
Caramel moaned as she was violated.  Having her favorite toy in place while she was taken analy was going to make it tough to hold back her orgasm for very long, and she had just finished sucking off Jäger, so his endurance was likely to be a bit enhanced.  She tried to buck back against him, but with her legs spread as widely as they were, and stretched as tightly as she was, her range of motions were pretty limited, so she resorted to squeezing at Jäger’s cock as he slowly plowed her second most sensitive spot.
Before too long, Caramel was mewling into her gag, trying anything she could to speed the arrival of Jäger’s orgasm.  Her vibrator was still humming away happily, and Jäger was thrusting deeply into her ass, making the Bunny’s breathing ragged.  Jäger was obviously getting close, but Caramel had to fight back her orgasm with every thrust Jäger made.  She was trying to keep her eyes on her paddle, thinking about how much she didn’t want to be spanked by it, but her vibrator, her bondage, and Jäger’s weight on her back and thighs, further trapping her to the mattress were all taking their toll on her and she knew she wouldn’t last much longer.
Jäger was enjoying the Bunny’s ragged breathing and trembling every bit as much as he was her tight and slippery muscles.  He plunged his cock to the hilt, letting her sphincter grip tightly at his base and held it there, enjoying the sensations of the vibrator in her cunt pressed practically right up against the bottom of his cock through the thin layer of muscle separating her front passage from her rear.
Caramel was trembling with desire, trying everything to hold back her orgasm, but the vibrator was unrelenting, and Jäger started thrusting into her at just the wrong time, when she was trying to fight back a peak of pleasure and she squealed into her gag as she started to come messily on her vibrator.  
Jäger had been holding back his own orgasm, waiting for Caramel’s to start.  Hearing a woman in the throes of pleasure was the most arousing thing there was to him, especially after those halted half breaths they made when they’re trying soooo hard not to come.  Caramel’s sudden tensing and squeezing and added noise as she practically screamed into her gag was all he needed to let go.  A few more thrusts and he filled her ass with his seed, jerking and shuddering for almost a minute before collapsing on her back, still thrusting into her, trying to milk the receding orgasm for all it was worth.
Eventually their spasms stopped and Jäger pulled out of her posterior with a slurp.  Both of them were panting, Caramel was having a little trouble behind her gag, so Jäger reached up and unbuckled it.
“You realize I’m going to have to paddle you now don’t you?”
Carmel’s ears were flat against her head as she nodded silently.
Jäger propped himself up on one elbow and grinned at her.  “Heh heh, actually, I have no interest in paddling you.”
“What? But… I came before you did.”
“I know. I just wanted you to try as hard as possible to not come. I love hearing a woman trying to resist pleasure like that.”
“Oh.  Okay, good, cause I didn’t want to get paddled.” Caramel sighed and slumped her head on the mattress.
“On the other hand, if I don’t paddle you, then you’ll know that my threats don’t hold any weight in the future.” Jäger grinned at her.  Caramel tensed again, waiting for the Husky to decide her fate.  “Lets just say that next time we do this, I’ll have to follow through on my threat, okay?”
Caramel nodded, relieved, and Jäger crawled on top of her, unbuckling her arms.  Once she was free, she reached in between her legs to retrieve her still running vibrator from her sensitive sex.  She bucked a little as she pulled it out, then collapsed on the bed.  Leaving her hair strewn across her face she stroked Jäger’s chest, running the fluffy medium length hairs through her fingers.  “Would you like me to bathe you Jäger?”
“Yeah, that’d be nice, but only if I get to scrub you too.”  He took her paw and pulled her off the bed, throwing her over his shoulder with a yelp and carried her to the bathroom giggling.
After they were done, Jäger sat on a stool in the middle of the room as Caramel groomed him.
“You know, I think my favorite part of having a slave will be this.  I really enjoy this kind of hands on attention, being groomed or getting a massage.
Caramel nodded.  “I know what you mean, I get a lot of satisfaction out of doing it.  It almost seems more intimate than sex, kind of in the same way that kissing is more intimate than sex, you know?”  She said as she finished brushing out his tail.  She stood and inspected him.  “All done Sir!” She gave him a little salute.
He grinned and rose, collecting his clothes.
“Would you like me to help you dress too?”
“No, that’s okay, I don’t want to start thinking of you as my mom or anything.” He chuckled and pulled up his pants.  He finished dressing and checked his pockets to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything.  “Well, Caramel, thank you for the chat, the advice, the sex and the bath.” He took her in a hug and smooched her on the cheek.
“You’re very welcome, I enjoyed myself too.  I hope you can come to a decision soon about your purchase.  And please feel free to stop by anytime when Ludarch’s not here.  I get really bored when I’m stuck in the quarters by myself.”
“I’d like that.  Oh, by the way Caramel, I’ve always meant to ask you, is your name really Carmen?” Jäger stood at the door, his head turned back to look at her.
Caramel blinked then smiled a bit. “How… did you know?”
The Husky shrugged. “I dunno, it fits you, and besides, Ludarch doesn’t seem like the most creative guy around.  It seemed like a small leap for him.”
Caramel giggled. “Oh, I don’t know, he’s pretty creative when he ties me up.”
Jäger tilted his head. “Really? Huh, that’s a little surprising.  I’ll have to get some tips from him to use on my slave.  Oh, and since as of tomorrow I will have a slave, I’ll be able to trade her for some time with you, if you’d like.”
“I’d like that very much Jäger. And… thank you for treating me like a person tonight and… you know, not a slave… Except for… you know.  On the bed.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the nose.  
Jäger grinned. “Goodbye Carmen, I guess I’ll see you tonight at the regular spot?” He stepped out into the hall.
“Yes Master Jäger.” She smiled and closed the door behind him.

*                                   *                                     *

Jäger sat at their usual table, waiting for everyone to get off their shifts, thinking about his discussion with Caramel.  The Academy didn’t seem nearly as bad a place as Lucinda thought it was.  Certainly he wouldn’t want to go there himself, but somehow Lu had gotten the impression that it was just an abuse center and brainwashing camp.  That was some accuracy in that statement, but Lu’s idea that she’d emerge as a mindless automaton was obviously far from the truth.  Jäger wasn’t sure if he should tell her otherwise though.  Caramel was right, if that’s what Lucinda believed, then it would ensure her behavior if he did decide to buy her.  If her could hold the threat of selling her off to the Academy over her, then she’d have a good reason to behave, instead of thinking that she was clear and free after she was purchased.
Jäger shook his head.  He needed his friends advice now more than anything.  Eventually they all arrived, showing up in roughly the same order as yesterday.
“So? Did you put your bid in?” The kangaroo asked excitedly, tying Caramel’s leash to the armrest of his chair.
“Uh… not yet.” Jäger said, slumping in his chair.  He reached over and petted Caramel’s head.  She glanced up at him briefly, and cracked the barest of smiles, but then returned her eyes to the floor.
“Dude, why the fuck not? Or are you waiting to place a last minute bid?”
“It’s a blind bid system, that wouldn’t do him any good.” Mugen said, unwrapping the exact same kind of sandwich he had gotten yesterday.
“So what’s the hang-up?” Circe asked, blowing the steam off her cider.
Jäger described his dilemma to them, going into great detail of Lucinda’s begging and desperation.
“Wow. That sounds pretty terrible for her.  I guess some of the guards have been overstepping their duties down there.” Circe said.
“Yeah, I thought there were better standards of conduct down there.” Jank furrowed his brow.
Jäger leaned forward and laced his fingers. “Well the damage is done in any case. She’s so scared to get sold to the Academy she’s promised me anything in return.  The problem is that she doesn’t have anything to give except her body, and she can’t match Valentina for looks or obedience.”  He scratched his head. “Well, honestly if you got a few hot meals in her and got her on a good exercise program, she’d be… well, maybe not as hot but still very beautiful. She’s a little thin at the moment but she’s got a really pretty face.  She’d be ‘averagely beautiful’ like most of the slaves around here, but Valentina is just on another level.”
“Man, what are you even debating this for, I saw the Snow Leopard, I’ve never seen anything as hot as her.” Ludarch waved his paws in the air.
“I know… I know, every time I think about her I’m sure I want to buy her, but then… I think about Lucinda… the funny thing is… I enjoyed arguing with her about her value as a slave.  I’m mean she’s pretty and generally pretty obedient, but she’s smart too, I actually liked verbally sparring with her.”
“Someone who stimulates your mind as well as your crotch, eh?” Circe asked, sipping her cider.
Ludarch rolled his eyes.
“Yeah… yeah, that’s exactly right.  That, and I feel really sorry for her… she said she’d rather die than go to the Academy… I believe her too. I just don’t know what to do. I think I’ve got a good chance of putting in the winning bid on Valentina, but at the same time, Lucinda is decent looking, and she’s desperate to please… but God… I can’t stop thinking about Valentina, she’s just so bewitching… and perfectly trained too.” Jäger shook his head.
“Bewitching?” Jank asked suspiciously.
“Jank, if you saw her, the way she looked up at me, kneeling on the floor, with such unconditional adoration in her eyes… You’d just have to see her to believe how beautiful she is.”
“Sounds like a case of conscience verses libido to me.” Circe said quietly.
Jäger looked up at her. “I know what the right thing to do is… but… Ludarch is right, Val is the hottest thing to ever set paw on this station.  If I bought her, God I’d be the cock of the walk.  From an obscure technician that works anonymously in the docks to the guy who gets invited to all the parties overnight.  Who cares if they only want me to come if bring my slave?”
“So buy her!” Ludarch hissed through his teeth.
“It’s not that simple of a decision Ludarch!” Jäger frowned at him.
“Don’t mind the Kanga, Jäger, his mind can only conceive of simple things like sex and fart jokes, not conscience and sympathy like you.” Circe teased.
Ludarch narrowed his eyes at the Stoat, growling slightly. “I’m not quite that two dimensional you know.”
Circe (and Caramel) giggled and the Stoat gingerly patted the ‘roo on the arm. “I’m just teasing dear, you actually have the advantage over Jäger in a situation like this as you wouldn’t agonize over such a life altering decision like this.”
“Darned straight.” Ludarch folded his arms and nodded.
Jäger sighed again. “’A life altering decision…’ You guys are not helping at all.”
“This whole situation reminds me of ‘The Lady and the Tiger’” Mugen said with his usual flat delivery.
“Yeah, only with you it’s the slave and the tigress.” Circe said.
Jäger looked at him. “The who?”
“I don’t know the story very well, but it’s about some guy who was banging a princess or something and when daddy found out he stuck him in an arena with two doors, behind one was the princess, and presumably, the chance to live happily ever after, behind the other door was a starving tiger.  Your basic life altering decision, one choice leads to bliss, the other, certain death.  For you the choices aren’t quite as dire, but still.”
“So what happened at the end of the story?” Jäger tilted his head, one of his wolf like ears flopping slightly.
Mugen just shrugged. “I dunno, I never read it myself.”
“If I had written that story, he’d definitely wind up with the princess.” Circe said.
“I think it’d be cool if he picked the wrong door and got chowed on.” Jank smirked.
Ludarch sat back in his chair, petting Caramel. “I’d have made it so that he’d open the door with the tiger behind it, then he’d bang the tiger right in front of the king, and live happily ever after with her.”
We all looked at him with various contorted expressions.
“Not a tiger-morph you idiot, a tiger, an actual four legged tiger!” Jank barked at him.
Ludarch smirked, looking pleased with himself. “Oh I know.”
Groans and chuckles emitted from out group as Ludarch laughed at his own humor.
Jäger buried his face in his paws.  “God I’ve been thinking about this all last night and all day today and I’m still no closer to a decision.  If I get Lucinda, I’ll wind up with a grateful but mediocre slave, but a clean conscience, and someone else with get Val, and I’ll be jealous of them, like every time I see her I’ll think, “I could have bought her.” And who knows, maybe Lucinda will be a terrible slave and never obey me and I’ll have to beat her all the time, and man, I don’t want to do that.  
If I buy Valentina, I’ll have probably the best slave in this quadrant and be instantly popular, but I’ll have this guilt about Lucinda, knowing that I could have helped her, wondering if she survived her training, who bought her, if she’s being treated well, if she’s even the same person.”  Jäger slumped in his chair, his friends looked around at each other, thinking quietly, not sure what to say.
Ludarch sat up in his chair suddenly. “Oh, I know!”
Jäger turned to him expectantly.
“The tiger jumps out at him, and he’s all, “You think you can take me bitch?” and he like, breaks the tiger’s neck, and then he opens the door with the princess behind it and like, fucks her, right there in the arena in front of her dad and he’s all like, “What’s my name bitch?” and then he starts spanking her and he’s all, smack smack, “Who’s your daddy,” smack smack, “Who’s your daddy?” 
Everyone stared at him, clearly the ‘roo hadn’t heard a word they’d been talking about.
“Are you still on about that?” Jäger asked, exasperated.
“Who’s your daddy?” Circe was looking at Ludarch, then shifted her gaze to Caramel. “Does he talk like that with you?”
Caramel’s eyes bulged a bit, she looked at her master then to Circe and bit her lower lip. “Sometimes Mistress, yes.”
Circe laughed. “You are such a tool. Why do we hang out with you?”
The ‘roo turned to his slave. “You… You little informant! I can’t believe you told her that!”
Caramel giggled nervously. She knew she had just earned a punishment, but whatever it was, it was probably worth it to see the looks on her Master’s friends’ faces.
Jank turned to Jäger. “Jäger, we can’t make any decisions for you. If you’re looking for a vote, I’d say go for Valentina, if for no other reason than I’m curious to see her.  Furs go through the Academy all the time and are fully functional when they come out the other end, if a little submissive.”
Jäger nodded. “Mugen?”
The Beaver scratched his chin. “You say the Tigress is pretty easy on the eyes?”
Jäger nodded. “I seriously think if you got a few hot meals in her and set her on a good workout plan then she’d be a real looker.”
“Well, that combined with her willingness to learn any skill you want to teach her… plus, it sounds like she’d be a lot cheaper, all you’d have to do is put in a bid equal to what the Academy pays plus one, since no one else is bidding on her, right?”
“Yeah, that’s a good point, I’d have a little more savings left over afterwards if I got her.”
“There you go. Get Lucinda.” The beaver nodded.
Jäger looked over at Ludarch. “What about you Lud… never mind, I know who you’ll vote for.” He turned to Circe.
“I’d say go for Lucinda. It really sounds like she’s had a bad time down there, and that the guards have overstepped their duties.  She could use a break, and I bet she’d pay you back in gratitude alone.”
Jäger nodded. “Two and two. Boy you guys aren’t any help at all.” He sighed. “Pay me back in gratitude, huh? I guess that’s worth some thought…” He trailed off.
“What is it?” Jank asked.
Jäger shook his head. “I dunno. I may have made a decision… but it involves a lot of “ifs”  I’ll let you guys know… well, by tomorrow you’ll know what I decided on depending who’s on my leash, eh?”
They nodded and Jäger got up, wandering off. There was one more thing he had to do before he made his decision.

*                                     *                                  *

Late that night, Lucinda was sitting in her cage, rocking.  She could just barely see the clock on the warden’s desk.  She only had 10 minutes left until bidding closed.  Traffic through the kennels had been light, and no one had bid on her all day, and to make matters worse, Jäger hadn’t even shown up yet.
“Maybe it’s not so bad to be a mindless little puppet.” She thought as she wiped the tears away from her eyes. “Maybe once they’ve beaten the will from me and I don’t know any better, I’ll be happy as a fuck toy.  I won’t be me, Lucinda will be dead, but… what’s left… the shell might be happ…”  The Tigress buried her face in her paws as her train of thought was derailed by a new round of crying.
After some time, she was aware of a shadow on her.  She looked over and saw the Husky crouching in front of her cage.  She was so exhausted from the stress and worry of her situation that she couldn’t express much in the way of relief. For all she knew he was here to tell her off.
Jäger regarded Lucinda for a moment.  She looked up at him dolefully through the bars of the cage.  She didn’t say anything, but the expression on her face spoke volumes.
“Has anyone else put in a bid on you?”
“No.  No one has even looked at me.” She said quietly, almost to herself.
“That’s a shame, when you’re washed up, and not stained with tears… you’re really quite beautiful.”
“I’ve been here for weeks. Everyone’s already decided that I’m not worth owning.  Who wants an untrained slave?” She turned her vision away from him dejectedly.
“Maybe someone who wants to train his slave himself?”
Lucinda looked up at him.
“Look… if I put in a bid on you…”
The Tigress lunged to the front of her tiny kennel and pressed her paws up to the bars.  “Jäger, please…” Her face was a cross between excitement and desperation.
Jäger held his paw up.  “IF I put a bid in on you, and I haven’t decided that I’m going to, so calm down, but IF I do, you have to understand that you WILL be a perfect little slave for me, you’ll be obedient and… well, I don’t except you to be docile, that’s half the attraction to a slave like you, as you said, someone with a mind still, but you will be obedient…”
Lucinda nodded excitedly as each of Jäger’s expectations were laid out.
“I’ll set you up with other Academy trained slaves so that you can learn all the skills that a proper slave should know, and you’ll do any menial task I assign you and I swear you’d better have a smile on your face when you do them.  Don’t forget if I do buy you, it will likely be at the expense of Valentina, so you’d better put 110% into pleasing me at all times.  And if you do displease me, there’s nothing preventing me from selling you to the Academy at any time.”
Despite the threats and promise of a servile life, it was all good news to Lucinda. “Yes Jäger, I promise, I’ll be the best slave anyone has ever had.” She tried to fit her paws through the bars, but could only barely fit her fingers through to stroke Jäger’s paw. “I’ll be such a good slave you’ll be the envy of the station, the other pirates will say “Valentina who?”
Jäger lowered his head and smiled a bit. “I appreciate your enthusiasm Lucinda.  It would have been more convincingly delivered if you had addressed me properly.” He looked up at her from underneath his brows.
Lucinda started trembling in her cage. “Master… I’m sorry Mas…”
“If I do buy you, you can probably expect to be disciplined a lot for stupid slip ups like that.  I’m serious when I say that you’ll be a perfect slave.  I think I demonstrated last night that I’m not shy about discipline.”
The Tigress winced, remembering the strapping she had received.  “Yes… Master… I…” She had to say something, he was on the fence, he was so close to picking her, the littlest thing could push him over to her side now. “I… look forward to your training and discipline, anything that makes me a better slave for you.  I… swear I’ll put your desires before my own in all things… Master.”  She looked at him intensely, watching for any sign that he had made up his mind one way or the other.
He smiled slightly, looking back at her and stood up.  He walked over to Rafe, she was pressing her cheek against the bars, trying to watch what he did next.
Jäger stood in front of Rafe, arms folded, looking fairly confident. “Has anyone put in a bid on Valentina in the last 30 minutes?”
Lucinda could have died.  Had he made up his mind about which one to buy?  “Please please please please.” She whispered to herself, her forehead pressed against the bars of her cage. 
Rafe flattened his ears a little.
“Yeah, I know about the Snow Leopard, Rafe.”
“Hey no hard feelings Jäger, but the guys who brought her in slipped me a little something to keep quiet about her.”
Jäger shrugged. “No worries. It’s understandable.  So?”
“So, they’re the only guys that put a bid in on her at all.  The last one was placed about ten o’clock.”
Jäger nodded, his grin broadening slightly.
“So… have you decided who you’re putting your bid on?”
Jäger looked at Lucinda in her cage. She couldn’t read his expression. Then he looked over at the tarp still covering Valentina’s. He looked up in the air and scratched his chin, sure that his decision was the best one.  “Yup.” He looked back and forth between the cages one last time, then pointed. 
“That one.”