Alpha's Need

Jed was grateful for fashion trends as she wrapped her cloak around her. This style had always been worn in the cold winter, because the fabric wrapped around the body twice. The first loop went under the arms, fastening just in front of the left armpit, then the fabric went over the right shoulder, a long sleeve there allowing freedom to the arm, before coming back over the left shoulder to fasten somewhere between that and the front. The hood was attached to that final loop of cloth, starting at the front left and ending with a tail of fabric that fastened to the right shoulder, meaning that the face was almost completely covered. This was extremely useful in winter storms, but the latest fashion was to wear cloaks of lighter fabrics in the summer.

She checked her reflection in the mirror. The soft silk cloak was clearly expensive, but she'd avoided any distinctive embroidery. Yellows and oranges were very much in fashion, though having the two colours slowly merging into one another was a little more unusual. Only her eyes showed of her face between folds of orange silk. It would be impossible for anyone to recognise her.

The folds of cloth swathed her entire body, so that it would be difficult for anyone to even guess at her build. Her money was in solid form, little chips held in a purse beneath the cloak. Paying this way would draw attention, but she didn't want electronic transfers traced back to her. No one would be able to know her as Lady Jedry.

She imagined the scandal if she was discovered. Jerrin would do what he could to quieten things down and her work on the Alpha Team meant that she could always go back to Earth for a while if she needed to wait out an uproar. Still, there was no point in flaunting what she was planning.

She picked her way to the door between piles of boxes waiting to be unpacked. She didn't bother locking the door behind her as she left. Most people wouldn't dare go into a royal bedroom and Jem wouldn't be bothered by locks if she wanted something. Jed headed to the transtube to get to the ground floor, a little surprised to find Jem in it. Jem was probably planning something illegal, given the way she pushed the portcomp she had been inspecting carefully out of sight. The youngest of the Queen's sisters was always planning some scheme or other.

“You off out?” Jem asked.

“No, I thought I'd just catch up with some reading.” Jed tried not to let the sarcasm have too much of a sting in it. “Where are you heading?”

“Council chambers.”

“Arriving late to meetings is one thing,” Jed grinned, “Arriving when the meeting's been over for three hours is something else.”

“Don't ask what I'm up to and I won't ask what you're up to.”

“Deal.” They shook on it, just as the doors to the transtube opened. They turned opposite directions, Jed heading for one of the many side doors that would let her out into the gardens so that she could reach the city without too many prying eyes seeing her.

A guard who used to ‘not notice' as she sneaked sweets to her room as a child now saluted her formally as she passed. The universe changed. She still felt like that little girl, off to do mischief, but the rest of the world didn't see her that way anymore. She almost began to regret moving back into the palace, but she'd needed to get away from that house and it would take too long to try and buy a new one. She could always start looking. It wasn't as though she'd unpacked much anyway.

She'd been surprised that she hadn't cried but now, thinking about it, maybe it wasn't that surprising. Their marriage had been over for years, she'd just blinded herself to it. Even living in the same house, a week could go by with them spending barely five minutes in each other's company. Alim would work late on his projects and she'd end up sleeping on the base after a mission too exhausting to make it home. Every time they'd tried to spend some time together, one of his projects would have a catastrophe or she'd be pulled onto an urgent mission with the Alpha Team by Jak and the Council. But now it was over. Done with. And Jed found her feet taking her to a place she hadn't visited since Alim had asked her to marry him, oh so long ago.

The city around her was relatively quiet. There was always the buzz of conversation and thought and, as a telepath, she felt minds like lights in the darkness. Figures moved here and there, unaware of her. They made their way homewards or to private engagements, leaving her alone in the crowd. None of them knew the emptiness that ached inside her. None of them even spared her a glance.

The stars overhead were pinpricks in the dark sky, forming patterns so familiar. She had been getting used to the constellations of Earth, but there was something comforting about the ones she had known since childhood. Behind her, the crystal spires of the palace rose above the buildings. Lit from within and without, they formed gleaming towers reaching up the heavens, refracting a rainbow over the dark city. In those towers, Jem was probably breaking into Council files and Jak was no doubt reading those same files unwillingly, preparing for tomorrow's meeting. Jerrin would probably be putting Helry to bed for the third time that night, trying to convince him to stay there until morning. Her family, content and unaware of the situation she was heading towards.

The establishment was close enough to the bad side of town to be able to deal with the right type of customers, but close enough to the good side for it to attract the richer of the right type of customers. It didn't advertise itself with bright lights like everywhere else, knowing that the people who wanted this sort of place would know enough to find it. It didn't even have a real name.

She stepped in through the door and stopped short. It wasn't the sight that had caused her to pause, but the sensation. More than a hundred minds, buzzing with emotion and need, sent out a wall of thoughts that even a weak telepath would be deafened by. Strong emotions caused strong thoughts, and lust was definitely a strong emotion. Words and images assailed her too rapidly and too many to be able to pick out a single mind in the mass. She let the sensations wash over her, until her mind got used to the din.

“This isn't the sort of place for a nice young lady to be,” one of the doormen warned her.

“Who says I'm a nice young lady?” And Jed walked across the room.

On either side of her, men and women in various stages of undress performed acts that would have got them arrested in most evening entertainment sites. A strong-looking man was getting a spanking, pulled across the knee of a guy who would probably end up pulp if the two of them fought. Amazing how appearances were skewed in a place like this.

It hadn't changed much. The faces had grown older or gone, replaced by newer ones with the same lust in their eyes and thoughts in their minds. Jed embraced that jumbled mix of wants like an old friend as she walked to the bar. Her eyes skimmed over bare flesh that held others entranced as it danced before them. A cross, away to one side, held a pale girl being beaten with a soft flogger clearly designed to mark more than hurt.

Jed perched herself at the bar. The tender, still dealing with another customer, flashed her a smile. She was still shrouded in her cloak, but Mett was a half-decent telepath and had probably recognised the touch of her mind. Dressed in dark robes made of a material thin enough to hint at what was under them but leave enough to the imagination, it was a great pity Mett was taken. Green eyes under a fringe of dark curls, his face was delicately shaped enough to give him an innocent look. The wide, leather collar at his neck was proof that he was far from innocent.

“The Bright Star has returned,” Mett smiled at her, “What can I get for you?”

“Just a fruit juice,” Jed said.

Mett mixed a variety of juices together, remembering what she liked without any need for a reminder. It could almost have been only yesterday that she was last in here, but for the words they spoke to each other.

“Your nice husband not exciting enough for you anymore?” Mett asked. She'd never mentioned Alim's name, but Mett and the others knew why she'd stopped coming.

“We ended the marriage,” she told him.

“I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm sure there are plenty who won't be. I could probably name a dozen who'll be pleased the Bright Star is back on the market.” Bright Star was the name that had been given to her here, since she didn't want to be known by her real name. In a room dominated by black and red, with other colours only appearing in dark shades, she was a vivid splash of brightness.

“If they've waited for me this long,” she said, “they can wait a little longer.” She could also think of a couple who would have loved to be with her. Ordry and Palth were two who would have liked to break her, make her a sub to them. But she wasn't interested in them. Their minds, behind faces carved and rugged, were slow and dull. She might like looks in her partners, but she craved a mind that was bright and brilliant, dancing in thoughts and feelings as she played.

It was that which had attracted her to Alim. So unlike her usual types, with no interest in the Games she liked to play, his mind had shone like a beacon. She had made that mind dance with clever words and interesting talk, pretending to herself that it satisfied her almost as much. She doubted Alim would ever guess what she had sacrificed to be with him. She had loved him desperately, still did, but he would never be able to share this side of her.

Jed unfastened her hood to drink the juice Mett gave her, but left it over her head, shadowing her features. She turned to admire the room, or rather the people in it. There was a lot of exposed skin and that which was covered was done so by material so thin or so tight that it might as well have been exposed. There were some who, like her, didn't want to recognised, shrouded in cloaks. Theirs tended to be black, and of material substantially less expensive than hers.

She let herself enjoy the sights. So soon after Alim, she wasn't sure she wanted to start getting physical straight away. For now, she'd just watch the show that was on offer. The girl had been taken down from the cross and was being gently soothed by her master. In her place was a man with firm musculature and a great many marks from previous beatings. She suspected from the moans and the desire and desperation that was coming off him in waves that it was more than just a beating stimulating him. His front, hidden against the wall, was probably decorated by toys that would make him incredibly aroused. She wondered if he had a permanent master or would accept any dominant. If he wasn't claimed, she might try a bit of fun with him at some point.

Suddenly Jed became aware that the thoughts of one person in the room were being strengthened, not by lust, but by another, stronger emotion. She focused in on that mind, locating the body it was connected to. A man, perched terrified on a chair, had a couple of thugs standing over him. He looked young and innocent, his thoughts frantic and darting, rising to be almost a scream.

Mett and a few of the more telepathic in the room had noticed now. Jed quickly thought to Mett not to bother with the doormen, and went over to the thugs herself.

“Look, I said no,” the scared guy was saying.

“And we said yes,” thug number one replied, stroking the guy's cheek. The other went straight for the groin.

“We can make it extremely pleasant,” said thug number two, “if you're nice about it. If not, well, we'll leave that to your imagination.”

Jed felt her anger rise and moved so that she was standing behind the chair the guy was sitting on, staring at the thugs. The guy being hit on sent her a panicked look as she placed a protective hand on his shoulder, but she radiated calm.

“He told you he's not interested. I suggest you leave him alone.”

“You want to play instead?” Thug #2 leered at her.

“Not with you. Now leave.” Thug #1 backed off. Maybe he'd seen her here before, maybe he was just freaked by how calmly she was facing them off. Thug #2 wasn't going to be quitting that easily though.

“I think your pretty face would look good with a nice gag and a good tight collar.”

‘A gag wouldn't do much good,' she projected directly into his mind with considerable force, ‘now go, before I make it difficult for you to play ever again.' A telekinetic touch to his genitals was the most she could manage. Let him sense her telepathic strength and assume she had the same skill with telekinetics. No one here was going to know that she was absolutely hopeless at that particular ability.

He took off quickly enough. The guy on the chair turned to look at her with gratitude, but his mind was still racing with fear. He looked so young and vulnerable. There were enough people attracted to that sort of image. Unfortunately, this guy had attracted the wrong ones.

“You should go home,” Jed told him, “this isn't the place for you.”

“What if,” the guy asked nervously, “what if they're waiting for me?”

“I doubt they will be. Even so, I'll keep my mind open to you. If anything happens, call out.”

“Thank you.”

She watched him go, then headed back to the bar. Everyone in the room was carefully not watching her. She saw one submissive staring, though he looked down at the ground as soon as she turned in his direction. She watched him a little longer. He was good looking, pale brown hair long enough to be pulled back in a ponytail. He wore tight trousers and an overrobe tight across his chest but open from his flat stomach to the ground. There were no visible marks, but she couldn't see his back.

‘He's new,' Mett thought to her, ‘he's been once or twice. He's been into the back with a female dominant, but said ‘no' to a second time.' Which meant he liked females, or he wouldn't have said ‘yes' the first time and that he didn't have a permanent mistress.

She sent her thoughts towards him and felt his mind. It wasn't particularly bright, which meant he wasn't talented telepathically, but his mind was old enough for her and his thoughts were quick and many. Intelligent then. And curious. His eyes flicked up briefly to see whether she was still watching and she beckoned him over. He crossed the room quickly and stood in front of her seat, eyes to the ground.

“What's your name?” she asked him.

“Danithry, my lady,” he answered. It was likely to be his real name. She didn't like being called ‘my lady' here, since she got enough of that at home. Still, she would correct him if she decided she liked him.

“Are you looking for a new dominant?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Long term or just for tonight?”

“I cannot say if I would like someone to be my mistress again until we have had one night, my lady.” Cautious and honest, definitely a good sign.

“Why were you staring at me?” Hopefully his answer to this question would be honest as well.

“You were kind to that man.”

“I've seen this happen time and again. Someone comes into this place, wanting to prove to themselves and others that they're strong and brave. They don't realise how it will affect them until they're inside and by then it's too late. If I hadn't been here, there would be plenty others to step up to his defence and plenty will remember those two thugs if they try to come back.” She didn't add that the fact she had acted would help re-establish her as someone to be respected. Everything in a place like this hinged on respect earned and respect given. Those thugs had forgotten that.

“My lady?” he waited for permission before continuing. “Are you looking for long term or just one night?” She smiled to herself at the fact that he was brave enough to try asking questions with someone he didn't know and couldn't gage.

“I have just come out of a very serious relationship,” she told him, “so I'm not certain yet that I want something permanent. I thought I would just see how things progress.” She took her drink, and her new companion, to one of the slightly more private alcoves around the edge of the room. It held a long, curved bench surrounding a circular table. It also afforded a good view of the cross. The same man was still strapped to it, his back now crimson with angry lines. He was moaning in desire and agony, need flowing from him in an intoxicating liquor.

Jed turned her attention to Danithry. He was perched next to her, a little tense but not frightened. His nervousness could be attributed to not knowing how a new mistress would treat him, even one shown to be kind. A little sheltered from the prying eyes of the club, she lowered her hood fully from her head. Her face was less well known than her sisters' and she did everything she could to keep it that way. Certainly, he didn't seem to recognise her.

She placed her hand on Danithry's back, rubbing it slowly. Beneath the tight overrobe, the muscles began to relax to her gentle ministrations. She felt no blemishes or scars but that was only to be expected since most dominants were careful and those who had been abused didn't often play submissive voluntarily again. Still, he didn't flinch away from her touch, which meant no bruises. She would have expected more nervousness from someone new to the game, so he either played gently or hadn't played in a while.

“You see that man at the cross?” she murmured in his ear. He shifted a little. “Would you like to be strapped to it? Would you like me to mark you as mine? I could leave red trails across your back; kisses of pain.” Her fingers traced criss-crossing lines, allowing him to imagine the whip there. He moaned slightly, shifting again. She could see his interest in his trousers and his thoughts were racing. She caught a couple of the images that his rapid mind was projecting, finding them exciting. She just hoped he wasn't too disappointed when she took of her cloak since the body he'd imagined for her was a little too perfect to ever be achievable.

“I could make you moan with desire. I could decorate you.” Here she moved her hand to his front, brushing over a nipple and causing a shiver to run through his body. “I could let toys torture you even as the whip caressed you. I could make you burn with the need to come, make you scream and beg for my permission and you would know that you could only do so at my pleasure.”

“Please.” The single word was a startled gasp. She wasn't sure if it was because he wanted the fantasy to be made true or if he was so turned on by it that he was already asking for permission to come. He was certainly aroused already.

It was a masterful work of timing. The man was even now being helped down from the cross. Jed took Danithry over to it. There were others who looked as though they had been intending to use it, but they were old enough customers to recognise Bright Star and step back. She removed his overrobe, but left him his trousers and his dignity. She'd been right about his back being unmarked. Pale, smooth skin was waiting for her touch.

She strapped her submissive to the wooden bars, making sure the restraints were secure but that they wouldn't hurt him. There was a tiny spark of fear as she finished fastening him in, but it was quickly squashed by desire.

‘Are you new to the Game?' she thought to him, making sure that her words wouldn't be picked up by any of the other telepaths nearby.

‘I've played before,' he thought back, ‘but nothing very serious or intense.' She chose a soft flogger from the selection available, much like the one used on the girl earlier. The strands were flexible enough and smooth enough that they wouldn't hurt too much someone who she wasn't sure about. She didn't know his boundaries so she wasn't going to risk anything more severe.

The first blow was a test, nothing too harsh. He arched away from the blow, but his desire remained unchanged. She searched his mind for that spark of fear, but was pleased that it dimmed at the second stroke rather than flared. His desire was a tide, pulled to its height as the strokes of the flogger danced across his back. Red lines burned on the whiteness, brilliant and so unbelievably desirable. His moans were intoxicating as he writhed in his restraints at the pleasure and pain she was causing. She didn't think she'd heard sounds so incredibly sexy in a long time.

His desire came in waves like the sea, swelling with each stroke. With someone more experience or that she knew better, she might have switched to another toy and let that desire swell some more. She felt it wash over her with pride, knowing that she'd caused him to need like that. But he was new, and his need was beginning to bring his fear back, so she showed mercy.

She unfastened the straps and helped him away to a seat, handing him back his robe. His breathing was heavy and his eyes dark was lust. The way he sat spoke volumes about the erection he needed to deal with.

“I give you my full permission to come, but you may do so in private,” she smiled at him, “You did well and I would be glad to see you again.”

“I'd like that, my lady.”

“I don't know when I'll be next able to come back here. My work is… unpredictable. Thank you for tonight.”

“Thank you, my lady.”

Jed went to the bar to pay Mett for the use of equipment. Then she wrapped the hood about her head again and made for the door, all the time feeling Danithry watching her. She wasn't certain if she wanted anything serious after Alim, but she would gladly play with that excited young man again.

She wandered home, her mind still on those marks across his back, his feverish moans that were unintelligible and yet so eloquent. Yes, she would like to see him again.

The palace was still lit when she arrived, a great many windows showing figures still awake and working inside. The guards saluted her through and she headed for the transtube, only to be stopped by a familiar figure. Jak was hurrying towards her, her formal robe not disguising the fact that she wore jeans beneath it.

“Alpha's needed back on Earth,” Jak told her, “We leave on the hour. Do you know where Jem is?”

“Council chambers.” Jed had sought out Jem's mind before Jak had finished speaking. Jak sighed at the news.

“You go and tell her. If I catch her doing something illegal again, I'll have to report her.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Jed mock-saluted her older sister and headed off to find the youngest. It seemed dreamy recollections of her enjoyable evening would have to wait.