Chapter 9 Changes

The sheer magnetic force of the alpha when he stood so close was insane. His heart raced in his chest and his thoughts had scattered completely. No wonder alphas were so dangerous to omegas. He flushed in shame when he noticed the man’s eyes flick down and Kari realized that he was still naked. He could feel the slick just starting to drip out from between his cheeks and his little cock attempted to stand straight.

What kind of reaction is that? The atmosphere around the man screamed danger, yet he was getting turned on by it? He was mortified by his body’s reaction.

“How cute. What is your name, little omega?”

“Kari Geneina.”

“Kari…” The way the man spoke his name was dark and seductive, it sounded as though he was tasting it on his tongue. “You may keep Kari then.”

“Keep?! That’s my name! Of course I’m keeping it!” Kari exploded. The anger from before re-ignited, the flames fanned further by the feelings of shameful embarrassment. “You can’t take away my name.”

“But I can. Slaves have no past, no future. They only have the here and now. As such, they do not have family names. You will be called by a name of my choosing. You should count yourself fortunate that I do not gift you a new name for your station as my slave. There are many masters who would choose to do that as a way of breaking you from your old identity.”

Kari’s protests were overridden by a hard look. Golden eyes bore into him and forced him into silence with their sheer intensity. The aura of command suddenly overwhelmed the room. It was like he had finally stopped humoring Kari and flipped the switch. The feeling was almost oppressive and Kari found himself staring back, unable to break his gaze away or form words.

Who the hell was this man?

“As I said earlier, I will have you willingly. As such, I will not force you into the intimate aspects of your station as my personal pleasure slave. You will be required to fulfil the rest of the role, however. No one in my house gets to laze around without working. Oran said you were brought to him half dead and I’m inclined to believe him if your current state is anything to go by. You will be given time to rest and then light duties until you are deemed fit enough to be on your feet properly.

“As my pleasure slave, you will bed with me and help my attendant look after my personal rooms and the housework. You will also help out around the manor doing chores when there is nothing to be done in the rooms. You will learn how to serve me and my guests and wait on us when I have meetings. Any activity you are doing can be interrupted by my orders and in such circumstances, you will come at once. In the morning, you will be fed and measured for clothing and be allowed to rest until some of your wardrobe is completed. After that, you will follow the instructions from my healer and certain members of my staff. Do you understand?”

The omega nodded and Ryedir seemed satisfied with that response. The alpha picked up his glass and drained the last of the liquid. He set the glass down and motioned Kari towards him. The omega approached cautiously and the man seemed to study him.

Finally done with his observation, he turned and led the way deeper into what must be his personal chambers. It seemed they had been in some kind of study before and they passed through two different rooms that seemed to be for entertaining before entering a bedroom.

The carpet was lush under Kari’s toes, he almost seemed to sink into it, and a large four-poster bed dominated the centre of the room. It was done up in rich red silks that draped over the frame and matched the puffy pillows and blankets. He could also see a table, drawers, and a large mirror decorating the room and even what appeared to be a weapon rack with two ornate looking swords in their scabbards resting there in the dim light.

The omega hastened after the other man, who had kept walking to enter a door on the other side of the room. It turned out to be a bathroom with a massive pool inset in the floor. The bath must be the same size as the bed in the other room.

Kari felt like his eyes would pop out of his head and his jaw hung open. The wealth required to live in such opulence must be immense. And how many people were required to upkeep such ridiculous things? No wonder Niamrea had slaves, paying for people to work in this manor must be stupidly expensive and this was only one example. There must be more in this land that lived like this. A deep chuckle brought him back to the present as Ryedir watched him in amusement.

“Take your time to wash yourself. I’ll come join you shortly.” With that, the man walked back past Kari and exited the room, shutting the door behind himself.

Sweet smelling candles lined the rim of the bath and cast a soft flicking glow about the room. Overall it felt very serene and relaxing. Kari stepped forward, carefully putting his foot out and tested the water. It was warm, not too hot, just a nice pleasant temperature. He was used to bathing with cold water, usually in streams or rivers. This kind of luxury was unheard of back home.

He put his foot down onto the step and let the water swirl around his ankle before he moved down until the water sat a little above his knees. Spotting a basket filled with what appeared to be bathing items, he waded over. He sat on the step beside it and looked through it.

He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to touch it. They all seemed so luxurious and expensive. A slave would not be allowed such costly items. But he would be spending the night in the man’s bed, he realized with a start, surely he would rather have a nice smelling bed companion?

“You can help yourself.”

Kari jumped in fright and slipped on the step, splashing as he sat down in the deeper section with a thud. The water came up to just under his chin.

Ryedir chuckled at him as he continued to disrobe. Kari watched as a rippling muscled torso was revealed and his eyes widened. He quickly averted his gaze with a blush and sunk further down into the water, blowing bubbles childishly as he tried to ignore the very attractive and very naked alpha sloshing towards him. The man bypassed him and rummaged around in the basket for a moment.

A large rough cloth landed on Kari’s head and something splashed into the water in front of his face. He sat up and pulled the cloth into the water before he picked up the object to inspect. It was soap he realized; a soft pink colour and carved into the shape of a rose. He brought it up to his nose and sniffed. It even smelled like the flower it was shaped as.

“It’s pretty.” Kari flushed as he realized he had spoken aloud.

He glanced over to the alpha who watched him in turn and he once again looked away. Those eyes always seemed to weigh him up, evaluating him. The omega scooted over to the other side of the pool and pulled himself up onto the step so the water lapped around his waist.

He could almost feel that gaze burning into his skin and he quickly set to scrubbing his skin raw, feeling far too exposed. Technically he had the water obscuring his nether regions now, which was more coverage than before, but he didn’t have the burning anger to force the knowledge of that fact away from his thoughts this time. After a few minutes the alpha finally turned his attention to cleaning himself and Kari let out a small breath of relief at no longer being the sole focus of his attention.

It wasn’t long before he had cleaned every inch of himself and sat in the deeper water playing with the soap, desperately trying to ignore the man on the other side of the bath. Thankfully Ryedir also seemed to be finished as he climbed out, bathing utensils set to the side of the pool. Kari turned to watch him only to immediately look away. His cheeks heated up again. This was something he would struggle to deal with. He honestly didn’t know where to look. Did the man have no sense of modesty?

“I had forgotten that Aithyeans were such prudes.”

“Prudes?! We’re not- ” he cut off as he turned to face the man only to receive a full-frontal view of his dripping body. Kari squeaked and focused his gaze back on the swirling water.

His face was completely on fire. But still, he wasn’t a prude. He could almost hear the amusement from the man although he made no sound. Looks like he had just proven that he was, in fact, a prude. He listened to the rustling movements while idly wondering if it was safe enough to chance a look yet.

“Come here.”

He turned to see a large fluffy white towel being held up in front of the alpha. He gulped and slowly got to his feet, making his way forward. Thankfully the towel obstructed his view of the other man but that didn’t stop him from being conscious of his burning eyes when he stood naked and dripping in front of him. No one had ever seen him so intimately.

Yet he had spent roughly an hour in this man’s presence completely naked and under constant observation. The towel was pushed into his grip and he accepted it automatically. It was so soft and puffy. He ran his hands over the material in awe.

“Just leave it on the floor when you are done.”

With that the man exited the room and left Kari standing motionless in the flickering light. He slowly toweled himself off and luxuriated in the feel of the fabric against his skin. Everything was starting to feel surreal and the candles’ soft movements cast odd shadows on the walls that only heightened the otherworldly feeling. He was a slave. But he had just been allowed to use the most luxurious bath and expensive soap. Now he was using a towel that was fit for a lord.

Shouldn’t he be in dirty rags and sleeping on the cold stone floor in the kitchen or something? Wasn’t that how slaves worked? He tried to remember what Enid had said two weeks ago, when he had initially asked about what he was now.

“Pleasure slaves are shown off. That’s part of your role as a pleasure slave. Only the rich and powerful can afford such a luxury and as such they are normally exceedingly well looked after.”

So this was normal? And sleeping in the alpha’s ridiculous bed must be normal then as well, right?