The Slave World (9)

(9): A Caress of Silk

The text from Adam was characteristically brief and to the point. “Looks like we’re on. Be at my place by six tonight. Better start practising calling me master. LOL.”

I had enough time to head back home to my council block to change. Kassa was up and greeted me as I came through the door as she watched some historical costume drama on BBC iplayer.

“How’s things?” I said as I dropped my bag and keys on the kitchen worktop,.

“Is good, Caitlin. How are you?” She was dressed in her cycling clothes as she lay on my sofa picking at some pasta.

“Good, yeah. Going out soon, so you’ll have the place to yourself until your shift starts.” Kassa worked as one of those gig-economy Deliveroo cyclists. She worked for several app based companies actually and was technically self employed which these days meant she worked set hours, was permanently on call and didn’t receive any full time employment benefits such as sick leave, holidays or pension benefits. Welcome to McJob Britain of the 21st century. I felt sorry for her but then I also thought that could be me if my investigation firm ever fell on hard times.

I went into my bedroom and ignored the sound of neighbours arguing in the flat upstairs. My wardrobe was small and the clothes in there were lumped together on a mismatch of borrowed/stolen coat hangers. I fought my way through a succession of basic tops until I found the pitiful number of dresses I owned. I felt obliged to wear a dress tonight if I was supposed to be a submissive kajira. The one I chose was red patterned, hemline just above the knee and light to wear. I matched it with dark tights and ankle boots. I slung my leather jacket over the top of the dress as it was sleeveless.

“You have hot date tonight?” asked Kassa as I surprised her by emerging from my bedroom in a dress.

“Yes I have.” It was sort of a date after all. Sort of.

“Date with new man?” She smiled and seemed interested.

“Well… we’re not there yet.” I imagined how it might be to get to know Adam a little better in future.

I imagined his hands on my hips, leaning forward, going for that first awkward kiss, not knowing whether I'd be okay with it.

I'd make him work for that kiss though. And whatever else he wanted from me.

“Oh, Caitlin, am pleased for you.” Kassa got up and crossed the small expanse of floor to embrace me. “You look so nice,” she said as she stepped back to admire me. “Such nice pretty dress. So pretty. He will not keep eyes off you I think.”

I laughed at that. “We’ve known each other a while, Kassa. He knows very well what I look like.”

“Oh? Is not Tinder date?”

“What? No. Not a Tinder date. No.”

“You should go on Tinder. Many men there. I have fifteen messages today. Fifteen!”

“Kassa, you never date any of them.”

“But I could. I wait for rich man with yacht.”

“Yes, well invite me for a cruise when you find him. Later, Kassa.” I left the flat and hurried own the hallway to the concrete stairwell as I was already running a bit late.

I rolled in to Adam's apartment at 6.37 PM.

“Really sorry I’m late, Adam. The tube was so busy and there was an accident on the central…” I stopped as I saw him standing by the sliding doors to the veranda. “Wow. You scrub up well.” He was dressed from head to toe in a bespoke suit of dark wool with a fitted cotton shirt, silk tie and expensive black shoes. He looked a million dollars and I think he knew it.

“So - masterful, do you think?” he spread his hands awaiting my judgement.

“Yeah. I’d say so.” I scratched the side of my head and fidgeted where I stood. Why didn’t he wear suits more often? Why had I never seen him in one before? “I, um, decided to wear a dress for tonight.” I stood there waiting for a similar reaction to the restaurant night when his eyes seemed to pop out on stalks.

“Very nice, Cat. You can use the bedroom to change for tonight if you like.”

Change? I must have looked puzzled because he then added, “Oh, sorry – were you intending to wear that dress tonight?”

“Well yes. Obviously. Don’t you like it?”

“It looks great. But you won’t be wearing it tonight. I have something for you to wear. It’s on the bed. Try it on while I pour you a gin and tonic.”

I felt deflated as I walked over to the bedroom. My expectation was for another jaw dropping moment as Adam swooned over the fact I was wearing a dress again. I heard the sharp clink of ice against glass from the living room as I closed the bedroom door softly behind me and looked at what lay on the bed. It was a small silken garment, a chemise from a lingerie boutique, with thin shoulder straps, a deep v line and a short hem. It was underwear basically. That was it. There was nothing else.

“Adam?” I came back out as Adam placed two gin glasses on the coffee table. I was holding the light silk chemise by its shoulder straps. “What’s this?”

“Your garment for tonight. Nothing to do with me, it’s the sort of thing you’re expected to wear in the House of Three Moons. Andromedus described the acceptable garments for a kajira when I spoke to him, and that was the closest I could buy at short notice.

“It’s underwear.”

“Well, yes. You can wear a coat over it until we reach the house. Once we walk through the gate you have to lose the coat though.” He pointed to the coat in question, mid thigh length, that hung on a hanger near by.

“I’m supposed to wear this and nothing else?”

“You’re supposed to be a wannabe kajira, remember.”

“This is going to be embarrassing.”

“This was your idea, remember?”

“I know, but…” I looked at the skimpy piece of underwear.

“Cat… just in case it’s not clear, when I said that’s all you get to wear, I mean, literally that’s all you get to wear. Like, only that.”

I stared at him.

“Nothing under the chemise. The other girls will be the same.”

So no knickers. I would be exposed under this short hem. Just that one thing suddenly made me feel nervous. However stupid it might sound, the feeling of a pair of panties under a chemise makes the world of difference.

“We can call this off, Cat?”

“No. It’s not a deal breaker.” I walked stiffly into the bedroom and closed the door. Deep breath, Caitlin. Deep breath.

I unzipped the dress and stepped out of it. I unclipped my bra and then rolled the tights down my legs, unzipping the ankle boots first and pulling them from my feet. I slipped the soft almost non-existent chemise over my body and felt how snug it was against my skin. There was a reason for that. I normally wore size 8 tops but Adam had bought a 6. I could wear it, but it was a snug fit, contouring to my body shape. Only when I had it on did I pull my cotton knickers down my legs and pulled them past my feet. I folded my clothes neatly and placed them on Adam’s bed.

What I was extremely nervous about was Adam seeing me like this. I mean, it’s possible he might see me like this eventually, some day in the future if our relationship developed beyond the current playful flirting, but I hadn’t expected him to see me like this so soon.

“Is everything okay, Cat?” he said from the living room.

“Fine.” I gazed at my reflection in his wall mirror. I pressed my thighs together as I stood, feeling open, exposed between my legs. This felt wrong. This felt very wrong. Men were going to be ogling me like this. Adam would see me like this.

“Cat, if you don’t want to go through with this…”

“I said I’m fucking fine, Adam. Just give me a fucking moment will you!”

I was angry with him even though this had been my idea. I think I wanted someone to blame, and guess what, Adam was the closest man standing.

I couldn’t put this off indefinitely and so I slowly opened the bedroom door and emerged. I thought maybe Adam would do that gentleman thing and avoid looking at me like this, but no, he looked at me as if he had every right to do so. I flinched a little and felt uncharacteristically awkward. It’s hard to keep your self resolve and force of will in place when you’re standing before someone you know, dressed in a skimpy piece of lingerie with no knickers for protection.

“Say something,” I said quietly. “Don’t just stare like that.”

“There is a glass of gin on the table for you.”

Not quite what I meant, but still. I walked very carefully to the coffee table and bent at the knees to reach the gin glass with the slices of fruit and berries floating in the tonic. “I am going to have to be so careful dressed like this.”

“I expect the house will have dim mood lighting if that’s any help.” Adam stepped towards me and clinked his own gin glass to mine. “For what it’s worth Cat, you look beautiful.”

“Thanks.” I blushed. “The other girls there will be dressed like this?”

Adam nodded. “There’s one other thing. I’m to draw a kef sign on your upper left thigh.” He produced a red marker pen. “It’s a kajira mark.”

“I know. I read the book.” I lifted the side of the hem very very carefully just enough for Adam to be able to kneel and draw on my skin without me exposing my sex. I felt the nib of the indelible marker as he copied the design from a reference picture. “There. You’re a kajira now,” he said as he stood back up. I quickly covered the mark with the hem of my chemise.

“I think I’m going to need another gin.”

“Okay.” He mixed another one while I paced the living room, feeling the plush pile of the carpet against my toes. The second gin restored some of my courage for what lay ahead of us tonight. This was going to be a recon mission. We would go in, find out what we needed and leave. I sipped the sharp tasting gin and felt much better for it. Just knowing the Adam would have my back meant a lot.

“So,” I said with a cheeky smile. “If I really was a kajira, would you want me in your collar?”

Adam's eyes furrowed as he picked up his things. He didn't seem happy with the light hearted question for some reason. He seemed almost angry.

“Let's go, Cat. It's time.”