FIC Antoinette Part 2 - complete
Nov. 14th, 2009 05:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jessara40k_ljTitle: Antoinette
Pairing: F/f
Rating: R
Warning: implied sexual slavery, arranged marriages, non-traditional marriages
Word Count: approx 7,600
Summary: Antoinette takes Rafiyah as her consort and back to her home.
Feedback: Welcome as long as all criticism is constructive
Part 1
Rafiyah knelt, hands clasped loosely in her lap to keep from fiddling, as she waited for Antoinette and her companions to arrive. She’d been furious when Omar had told her that he’d arranged for them to sign by Ashawna traditions rather than by Terenev, but he’d been so pleased about it, and so convinced that he’d done her a good turn that she couldn’t think how to disillusion him. She’d settled for asking if he’d ever seen her stand from kneeling, and the knowledge that their Father would explain precisely why it had been stupid for Omar to make that particular bargain.
Her mother had insisted she needed a new outfit for this, from the skin up, although she had decreed that Rafiyah should use the scarf Antoinette had given her as her veil, with her favourite gold veil weights. And Rafiyah had flatly refused to wear the corset her mother had ordered for her, in the same red and gold silk brocade as her new tunic and trousers - she’d have refused to even be fitted for it if her mother hadn’t backed down and agreed she could wear normal underwear in gold silk instead. It was a pain, but it did mean that her mother approved - approved or was really glad to get her ‘unmanageable’ daughter off her hands.
She glanced up when she heard the door opening, to see Antoinette striding directly towards her, only to be intercepted by Rafiyah’s Father.
“Antoinette Terenev, it is good to see you.”
“Sir Ashawna.” Antoinette backed off far enough to offer a shallow bow, possibly less than she’d have given her own Mother - and certainly less than Omar used with their Father. “You honour me with your attention. Might I ask why Rafiyah is kneeling there and where her cane is?”
“Her cane is outside the door you’ll be leaving by. You can carry her that far?”
“Of course I can. That’s why your heir thought this would be romantic then? But he didn’t mention anything about Rafiyah having to kneel. Isn’t that uncomfortable?”
“She does know how to kneel properly, although I’ll admit that she probably is out of practice. Exactly what sort of briefing did you receive then?”
“I confirm all the copies are identical, read through one, then sign them if I approve. My witnesses sign and I give the copies to you or your representative, then you will give them to Rafiyah to sign. Then I can take her once her witnesses have signed.”
“After I tell you that I approve.” And he glanced meaningfully over at the waiting registrar as he spoke.
“I understand sir. Maybe you’d care to meet my Mother while I’m reading through the contract?”
“Introduce me then.” Antoinette stiffened a little at that, but she nodded and led him towards her Mother, bowing in greeting - deeper than she had to Rafiyah’s Father, and Rafiyah was glad her smile at seeing her guess confirmed was hidden by her veil.
“Mother, this is Rafiyah’s Father, the Ashawna Salmon. Sir Ashawna, this is my Mother, the Terenev Natalya.” Antoinette stepped away, giving the two Family Heads room to talk without her in the way, and turned to the man sitting at the table holding the contracts.
“Are you the registrar for this consorting?”
“Yes sir.”
“And do you swear on your honour that all three copies of my consorting contract are the same?”
“I do so swear. Each original contract outlines the same terms in identical language.”
“Then if you will give me a copy?” She held out her hand for it, with every confidence of being obeyed, and was. “I take it Rafiyah has already been able to read through this?”
“No sir.” The registrar must have seen the way Antoinette stiffened at that, because he hurried to further explain. “But her Father and guardian has, and he approved it.” That didn’t seem to please Antoinette, but she did relax a little, even if Rafiyah could read resignation in her stance, rather than satisfaction as she began working her way through the contract. Rafiyah almost wished she’d hurry, but she knew that Antoinette wouldn’t do that, not with something this important, even if Armand would probably have kept her better informed than Omar had bothered to with Rafiyah.
“Please allow me to sign the other copies now.” She spoke loudly enough to draw attention, and her witnesses disengaged from their conversations to come and sign the contracts.
“Thank you Mother.” Rafiyah could only just hear the words, and probably only because she was focusing so hard on Antoinette right then.
“You’re welcome. You did well here Antoinette.”
“I’m pleased you approve.” Antoinette picked up the contracts again, resting them on the palms of her hands and moved to Rafiyah’s Father. “The contracts, Sir Ashawna.”
“Thank you, Antoinette.” Antoinette nodded as he took the contracts, and just watched avidly while he carried them over to Rafiyah. He knelt down to lay the contracts in front of her, prompting an approving smile from Antoinette before Rafiyah had to focus on her Father and the pen he offered her. “You know where to sign?”
“Yes Father.” It was pretty obvious; she was supposed to sign on the right of the paper, opposite Antoinette’s signature. At less than a page the contract was very short for the time it took her brother to negotiate it, but she trusted Antoinette, and she signed each copy without wasting time by trying to read it. She returned the pen and clasped her hands in her lap again, watching Antoinette, waiting for her Father to confirm that everyone had signed and that she wasn’t his responsibility any longer.
“Antoinette Terenev, I give my daughter Rafiyah to you. I trust you will treat her with all the honour and kindness she deserves.”
“Yes sir, I will.” Antoinette strode forward and crouched down in front of her. “Might I kiss you now, Rafiyah?”
“Please do.” Rafiyah smiled as she lifted her veil, holding it back from her face as Antoinette cupped her left cheek in her hand. Antoinette leaned forward and kissed her, gently, almost chastely, until Rafiyah opened her lips to invite her in. Even then the kiss stayed careful, restrained, and Rafiyah moaned in frustration; Antoinette had always pulled back before they’d really done anything while she was courting her, saying that Sarah had agreed to Rafiyah as a second consort, not as a lover, and now she was holding back again.
“I’d rather not put on a show for our Family Heads and their heirs.” There was a hint of laughter in Antoinette’s voice as she explained, and Rafiyah nodded as she let her veil drop to cover her face again while Antoinette shifted her balance. “Can you put your arms around my shoulders when I lift you?”
“Yes, of course.” Rafiyah relaxed, letting Antoinette lift her and stand, wrapping her arms around her sire’s shoulders to help balance herself. “We’re supposed to leave by that door.” She pointed to the door she’d come in by, opposite the door Antoinette had entered through.
“Thank you. Just one moment. Mother, Sir Ashawna. Will you require us to remain as witnesses to the Family contracts?”
“No, we won’t.” There’d been a pause before the Terenev answered, but Rafiyah couldn’t tell why. “One witness for each of us is enough for these contracts, particular when they are our heirs.”
“Go and enjoy yourselves. Rafiyah can show you where the car is waiting.” To take them to the hotel her Father had insisted on booking for them, over Rafiyah’s protests.
“Yes sir, thank you.” That seemed to be enough for Antoinette and she turned to go, pausing when Rafiyah’s Father swiftly ordered Omar to hold the door for them. “And thank you again. I think we could have managed, but it might have been a little awkward.”
“I’d say it would be more than awkward.” Omar sounded amused and rather condescending, but Antoinette didn’t seem inclined to call him on it, simply ignoring him, other than the single nod she might have offered a servant. Rafiyah controlled her giggles until Antoinette had set her back on her feet, supported by her cane, and shut the door behind them.
“Arrogant isn’t he? I hadn’t noticed, since I never spent any real time around him, and Armand didn’t see any reason to complain about him.”
“He wouldn’t have.” Rafiyah stopped giggling to answer. “He respects men, at least men who outrank him; he doesn’t respect women. Or at least he’s never shown any respect for me or my sisters; he’s a bit better with our mother, and maybe his consort. But you gave him the perfect set-down.” By treating him like a servant, thanking their Father for his orders, instead of thanking Omar for his ‘manly’ assistance.
~~~0~~~
Antoinette gave the attendant a tip when he’d set their bags down in the first room of their suite and dismissed him, looking around to take stock, pleased to see that there was a computer on one table. Some of that ceremony had made her wonder; had Rafiyah already read through the contract, or wasn’t she allowed to or something? But Antoinette had a copy of the contract on card, in case there’d been any problems, so she could show it to Rafiyah now if she needed to.
“It sounded as if your plan worked when we signed the contracts.” Plan? Antoinette blinked, wondering why there was a hint of accusation in Rafiyah’s voice, as she pulled off her veil, and she seemed recognise her confusion. “Your Mother seemed to be happier with you than you’d described her as being.”
“Oh, yes. We have mended our relationship, but even if we hadn’t she wouldn’t have let it show in front of your Father and brother. Anyway, courting you stopped being mostly about that when I realised you’re at least as good with people as I am, possibly better.” Rafiyah didn’t quite believe her from the way she held herself, and Antoinette kissed her, properly this time, without trying to hide any of the desire and passion she felt this time. Rafiyah moaned into her mouth, her free hand rising to clutch at Antoinette’s shoulders and Antoinette responded by wrapping an arm around her waist, holding her against her body.
“Really?” There was a hint of vulnerability in the way Rafiyah looked up at her. “I...you’ve always been so careful to hold back when you were courting me, and then again when you kissed me after we signed the contracts...I understand why you stopped at kissing while you were courting me, once you explained, it showed your honour so clearly. But it still made me wonder if you really wanted me, if you...cared about me.”
“I do care about you, and I’m sorry I made you doubt me. I don’t love you, not yet, but I like you, I want you, and most importantly I respect you. You’ve had my respect from the first time you dared to point out that I was being stupid - however cleverly and indirectly you chose to do so. You know that in a relationship like this love often comes later, after signing the contracts; I wouldn’t love you yet even if I’d courted you as my first consort.” Rafiyah pulled away a little, and Antoinette let her, reluctant to let go, but aware that trying to keep her in place could easily come across as a threat of some sort.
“Yes, I know love can come later, but...sometimes it doesn’t come at all. I kept on saying no to my Father’s offers because I was afraid of being trapped in that sort of poisonous relationship, the sort I’ve seen some of my aunts and uncles in.” Her Father’s offers? Antoinette could ask about that later; she needed to address the other issue first.
“Oh, I know about that. It’s the sort of relationship Mother has with her first consort, and it’s tainted her relationship with my father too. That’s why I would never take a consort I didn’t respect, or who had problems with the rest of my household. I believe that if you have mutual respect and at least friendship then at the worst you’ll always be able to live comfortably together, and ideally love will grow as time passes. I vowed that I’d never accept a consort I couldn’t respect, that I’d prefer a consort I found unattractive to one I didn’t respect.”
“Thank you, I think.”
“Oh, I do find you attractive. If I was a man you’d be able to see that.” But Rafiyah didn’t quite believe her, and an expression of distaste flitted across her face when Antoinette mentioned that idea. “But then, you wouldn’t want me if I was a men, would you?”
“No, I wouldn’t.” Rafiyah glanced down, a frown on her lips. “I never admitted that before, not even to myself, because my Father wouldn’t understand. But that’s one of the big reasons I wanted to keep this, to keep from being acceptable as a consort.” She traced her scar with a finger in illustration. “And now, now I’m worried that it makes me unappealing to you.”
“It doesn’t. It shows your courage, one of the things I like most about you. The confidence and strength of personality to turn pretty into beautiful and to risk defying your Father by marring that beauty. And your body is just what I like most - you’ve seen Sarah and Jasmine, so you know I don’t have any taste for the prepubescent look so beloved of too many in the fashion industry.” Rafiyah was a bit taller than Antoinette’s ideal, but that didn’t really matter, and she certainly wasn’t going to admit that.
“I...yes, I know that, and that appearances don’t matter that much to you, but...it’s going to take a while before I really believe that you want me. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Just give me the chance to show you how much I want you.” They were starting to go in circles now; if she didn’t change the subject they’d keep on going over the same ground again and again, and it was obviously painful for Rafiyah. “Rafiyah, did you read our contract before I arrived?”
“No. I...if I’d asked I suppose my Father would have let me, because I’m his favourite. But...it didn’t really matter.” Did that mean she wasn’t interested in reading the contract at all, or just that she didn’t feel it was important enough to push for it against her Family’s traditions? “I trust you, and my Father would have told me if there were any real problems with the contract.”
“Ah. I was hoping you’d be able to explain a couple of things that puzzled me. I understand the contract, it’s just some of the terminology is odd.” And it didn’t mention anything about Rafiyah’s trust fund, or any other substantial property she might own. “Would you like to read the terms of our contract? I have a copy on a card, so I can bring it up on screen, or print it out if you’d rather.” She pulled the card out of her pocket as she spoke.
“On screen will do fine. I’d rather stand while we talk about it though.”
“Because it would be more comfortable for you?” She’d been careful not to pry, in case it was a sensitive subject for Rafiyah, but now Antoinette thought she needed to know.
“More or less. It won’t take long to read the contract, and my hip tends to hurt when I first stand up, so it isn’t worth sitting for just a short while.”
“Right, I’ll remember that.” The computer had booted up pretty fast, and it wasn’t asking for a sign-on or user identity, so she inserted the card as she sat down, and opened the file with the contract. “Just read through it, and you can ask me any questions you want to ask before trying to answer mine.” Rafiyah didn’t say anything in response, just moved forward and rested one hand on Antoinette’s shoulder, with a hint of hesitancy that vanished when Antoinette glanced up at her with an approving smile.
“You’ve committed to not taking another consort without my approval?” She sounded surprised; Antoinette wasn’t sure why.
“Of course. If I take a third consort you’ll have to live with her, so it’s only fair that you get the right to veto.” And it had been the minimum she’d been willing to offer in that respect - she’d expected Rafiyah’s brother to demand more consideration.
“Oh, thank you. Ah...do you expect me to have children?” The idea seemed to scare her, and Antoinette took hold of the hand on her shoulder, lifting it to her lips for a kiss before releasing it.
“Only if you want to. That clause is just about covering all possibilities. Is it just the idea of giving birth to children yourself that bothers you, or would you be unhappy about being involved in raising any children others gave birth to?”
“Oh, no. I can do that. I more or less expected to end up partly raising any of Omar’s children with any brains. It’s just that I was told it would be difficult for me to carry to term.”
“I understand.” It sounded as if Rafiyah’s Family was a bit more communal than Antoinette’s was, but that wasn’t exactly a bad thing, and it would probably help Rafiyah settle in. “Do you have any more questions?”
“No, I don’t. What can I explain for you though?”
“It’s the dowry issue. I just don’t get it. I don’t have any problem with maintaining it in a separate portfolio, and that makes sense given that it’s money for the event that we dissolve our contract. But I don’t understand why it’s necessary, or why there’s no explicit mention of your trust fund.” Instead it seemed as if Rafiyah’s brother was relying on the law about all substantial property reverting to its original owner on contract dissolution - which implied more trust in her ethics than Antoinette had expected, or considered responsible. Antoinette began shutting the computer down as she spoke, removing the card first and putting it away
“Oh that. I’m a woman, in my Family that means I get a dowry instead of a trust fund.” That was really odd, at least to Antoinette, and the implications were disturbing. But at least it meant that Rafiyah’s substantial property had been covered in the contract, even if Antoinette didn’t entirely like what she was expected to do with it.
“You mean you don’t even get enough control over your own money to decide how much income you take?” Antoinette didn’t really have a problem with Rafiyah being limited to drawing income, or even with there being an upper limit on how much of it she could draw, but she hated the fact that it wasn’t up to Rafiyah how much income she drew within that limit.
“Does it help to know that my brother wasn’t allowed to draw all of the income from his trust fund until he took a consort?” Rafiyah had started petting Antoinette’s hair, almost nervously as she spoke, and Antoinette shut her eyes to enjoy the sensation, letting it defuse her anger at what she was learning.
“Not really. I take it he wasn’t required to draw the maximum income he was allowed access to?”
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t really know that much about his financial affairs. It isn’t as if he’d talk to me about it. But Father did start teaching me about budgeting and saving up for big ticket items when I was pretty young; he did that for all of us, and we can add money to our dowries, if we’re not happy having too much money in our bank accounts. He’s told all of us, including my brother, that if we want an investment portfolio where we’re not limited to drawing on the income he’d help us set one up as soon as we manage to save at least one hundred thousand sols in cash.” That sounded a lot more reasonable, and it was a smart thing to do, in case Rafiyah ever needed to access a large sum of money. Antoinette had done more or less the same thing herself, focusing on investments that she could liquidate quickly without losing too much of the value if she needed the money in a hurry. On the other hand it probably meant that Rafiyah did have substantial property that her brother either hadn’t bothered to learn about, or didn’t care enough to protect by contract.
“That makes me feel better about your Father, but not about your brother, mind if I ask how close you are to that target? Assuming you haven’t already set up that sort of portfolio of course.” Antoinette had saved up a lot more than that to pay for the land her house was built on and for her share of the building costs but she didn’t know what sort of income Rafiyah’s dowry provided.
“Father said I should stick to guaranteed return products while I was putting together the money so I went for savings bonds, and a lot of those bonds are due to mature in just under two years. I was expecting to reach my target about then, but that might change now that I’m your consort.”
“Well I don’t have any reason to limit how much money you have, so I’ll make sure a quarter of the income from your dowry is paid into whatever account you want - as long as that’s what you want.”
“Yes, that’s fine.” But Rafiyah seemed to be pulling back looking uncomfortable. “But...I know our consorting is pragmatic, but I still don’t want to talk so much about financial matters right now.”
“You’re right, and I’m sorry.” She’d just been so confused and angry at what Rafiyah had revealed about how her Family treated their women that she’d needed to press for any redeeming features until she calmed down. “Would you like to come with me and see what the bedroom’s like instead then?” Antoinette stood as she spoke, careful to stay on the other side of her chair from Rafiyah, to avoid seeming to pursue her.
“Yes, that sounds good. And you could hold me...among other things.”
~~~0~~~
Antoinette thought the woman pressed up against her when she woke was Jasmine or Sarah at first, until she remembered the events of the previous day. She smiled in remembrance and wondered how she should wake Rafiyah up, or if she should just let her sleep for a while longer. Rafiyah hadn’t wrapped herself around Antoinette the way Jasmine and Sarah sometimes did when they spent the night together, so she didn’t have to wake her up to deal with her full bladder.
She slid out of bed, and padded to the bathroom to relieve herself, noting that it was pretty much full light outside. She looked through the lotions provided after washing her hands, picking out the cocoa butter body lotion to use instead of massage oil, and returned to the bedroom, opening the curtains just enough to let her see properly. She carefully pulled back the covers, half expecting to wake Rafiyah that way, and when she saw that her new consort was still asleep she decided to take the risk of waking her with the start of a massage - she was in the right sort of position for it, lying on her stomach, one arm folded under her head, the other stretched out to the side.
Antoinette climbed onto the bed and knelt beside Rafiyah - not the ideal position she had to admit, but one she could work with, and she hadn’t woken Rafiyah with the movement as she climbed on. Had Rafiyah been that tired, or was it just that she normally slept deeply? If she was that tired Antoinette decided that a massage probably wouldn’t wake her up either, and poured some of the lotion into one hand. She pushed Rafiyah’s hair out of the way with her clean hand and then started on massaging Rafiyah’s shoulders.
She’d been surprised by the muscles underlying Rafiyah’s dark mahogany skin last night, surprised, as they’d always been hidden by her clothes before, but very pleased, and she dug her thumbs hard into Rafiyah’s back as she worked at them. She knew better than to ease off when the thin layer of fat covering Rafiyah’s muscles grew slightly thicker as she moved down her back, but she still hesitated when she reached the dip in Rafiyah’s lower back. The ridges and seams of scars at her left hip were neater than the scar on her face, but it still reminded Antoinette that she could easily hurt Rafiyah, and that she might be reaching a vulnerable point.
“Please, don’t stop. I’ll tell you if you’re hurting me.” Rafiyah lifted her head just enough to speak, and Antoinette smiled as she moved to work on Rafiyah’s ass.
“That’s what I needed to hear.” She paused in her massage to lean forward and kiss Rafiyah’s shoulder, hoping the other woman would realise how much that meant to her, knowing that she’d tell Antoinette to stop if she was pushing things.
“Is this...leading up to something else?” Was that arousal she could hear in Rafiyah’s voice, or reluctance?
“Only if you want it to. I’m happy just to touch you and explore your beautiful body properly.” She kissed Rafiyah at the small of her back, on the spine, just above her ass, then moved on to her legs, starting by working her way down the right leg to her ankle, noting absently that Rafiyah had more muscles in her upper body than in her legs. “And if there’s anything you need for physical therapy that isn’t already in my home gym you only have to tell me and I’ll get it for you.”
“Thank you. There isn’t really anything special I need, except for a treadmill with rails on either side, rather than just a handgrip at the front. It doesn’t really matter what the rest of the equipment’s like.”
“Because you’d be supported anyway using most of the other equipment?” Antoinette moved onto Rafiyah’s left leg as she spoke, pleased to note that it was as muscular as her right leg, not weaker as she’d feared.
“Hmm...yes, pretty much.” Rafiyah obviously didn’t want to talk any more about it right now, and Antoinette pushed those practical issues to one side to focus on making her new consort feel good. When she reached Rafiyah’s ass again she only kneaded it briefly, before returning to Rafiyah’s back, working her way up her body, disappointed to notice that Rafiyah’s muscles had tensed up again at some point. Had that been her fault? She hadn’t picked a very romantic subject to discuss, but she’d thought it was neutral enough, practical, and an important thing to clarify, rather than an effort to pressure Rafiyah into inviting her to have sex.
“Antoinette?” She didn’t like the hesitance in Rafiyah’s voice, but it wasn’t something she could affect immediately.
“Yes, beautiful?” That prompted a soft laugh from Rafiyah, but she replied quickly enough.
“I think I do want you to fuck me when you’re ready.” Rafiyah had been more passive than Antoinette would have liked last night as well, but that would have to be a problem for later, as long as she made it clear she wanted - needed - her consort to be equally involved in whatever they did sexually.
“Well, I’m hoping you’ll want to join in yourself, but let me finish your back and then roll over.” There wasn’t that much she knew to do to make the massage arousing, not the way Jasmine could, but she used the few techniques she did know as she finished the massage, then ran her hands lightly down Rafiyah’s back to check that she hadn’t tensed up again. Rafiyah didn’t seem to recognise that she’d finished her back, so Antoinette leaned forward and kissed her neck as she caressed her ass, then whispered in her ear. “If you’ve changed your mind just say so, but you can roll over now, if you’re still after more than just a massage.”
“Yes, I am. But you’ll need to move a bit and give me room. I’d rather not put most of my weight on my left leg and hip.” Antoinette wished that hint of bite in Rafiyah’s voice was stronger, but even the slight asperity she could hear made her catch her breath. It probably wouldn’t have if Rafiyah hadn’t been so passive up until now, but it was a good sign, and Antoinette let her hand trail over Rafiyah’s skin as she moved back.
“There. I should have thought of that myself.” She climbed off the bed as she spoke, stalking around to approach Rafiyah from the other side. “Move over a bit further, and lift your right leg please.”
“Like this?” Rafiyah lifted herself up a little on her left elbow, bending her right knee and placing her foot flat on the bed, while spreading her legs open.
“Yes, like that.” Rafiyah obviously knew how to display herself to best advantage, and Antoinette looked over her with pleasure as she climbed back on the bed and straddled Rafiyah’s raised leg, leaning forward to press her groin against Rafiyah’s thigh. She had to support herself on one hand to keep her weight off Rafiyah, and she trailed the other one up the inside of Rafiyah’s left thigh, skirting her groin to sweep up over to her hip and then crossing her stomach to trace a spiral over Rafiyah’s right breast, ending at her tight, dark nipple.
“Oh! Don’t tease me like that.” Should she just give Rafiyah what she wanted? Or should she push a little? Rafiyah had sounded closer to begging that she’d prefer...Antoinette left the nipple she was toying with to run her nails lightly along Rafiyah’s collarbone and across her throat, circling up the side of her neck until her fingers were splayed from just behind her left ear to her shoulder, with her thumb over her windpipe.
“Stop me then.” Was that arousal at the implied threat, or fear? Antoinette raked her hand through Rafiyah’s hair, ending up cupping her right cheek. “Don’t just lie there, I want you involved too.”
“Then move closer.” Rafiyah reached up, pulling gently, uncertainly, on Antoinette’s shoulders and Antoinette laughed softly as she complied, leaning further down, grinding against Rafiyah’s leg as she skimmed her hand down over her left breast briefly, before planting it beside her to support her weight while she moved her other arm so she was resting her whole forearm on the bed. She began kissing along Rafiyah’s jawline as she stroked down from just under Rafiyah’s left breast to her left hip, and Rafiyah reached up to caress Antoinette’s breasts in return.
Then Rafiyah pinched and twisted Antoinette’s left nipple, her other hand moving to Antoinette’s wrist, pushing it between them to her groin.
“Stop teasing and just fuck me.”
“If you insist.” Antoinette bit lightly at the corner of Rafiyah’s jaw, fingers pressing inside her as she spoke, while Rafiyah turned to soothing her abused breast with soft touches. She teased Rafiyah’s clit with her thumb as she searched inside her for the right places to press. When Rafiyah’s hands faltered, and she gasped, exposing her throat, she knew she’d found the right spot and shifted to actually fucking her with her fingers, doing her best to stimulate those places every time. She focused on bringing Rafiyah to climax as quickly as she could, enjoying the soft sounds and the tremors she could wring out of her consort. She kissed Rafiyah’s exposed throat as her hands moved to clutch at Antoinette’s shoulders, nails digging into her skin as she climaxed for the first time.
Should she stop now? No, she wouldn’t, she wanted to make Rafiyah feel as good as she possibly could, and Antoinette decided she wasn’t going to stop until Rafiyah asked her to. She managed to push her to another three climaxes, watching how her pleasure transformed her face, before Rafiyah shifted her hands to push at her shoulders.
“Please...enough.”
Antoinette pulled her hand out at once, leaning forward to kiss Rafiyah before moving to lie down beside her, and Rafiyah responded by rolling onto her side, putting her left leg over Antoinette’s and her left hand onto Antoinette’s belly.
“Sorry. I didn’t do anything for you, did I? Can I...” She trailed off, letting the motion of her hand down towards Antoinette’s groin finish the question for her.
“Go ahead. I...you didn’t feel I was pressuring you at all did you? Or threatening you?” She’d put her hand to Rafiyah’s throat, however briefly.
“No...at least not seriously, or unreasonably.” Antoinette made a soft hum to encourage her consort to expand on that a little. “I knew you wouldn’t really hurt me, but having your hand at my throat...I loved the power play aspect. And...I shouldn’t have been just lying there, letting you do all the work like that. I...you weren’t angry about what I did to your nipple?”
“No, it only hurt for a moment, and it certainly didn’t break the mood for me.” She laughed softly. “I like a bit of aggression in my lovers.”
~~~0~~~
“We do need to talk about finances, and I’d rather do it today.” Antoinette moved her hand from where it had been resting on Rafiyah’s back as she spoke and Rafiyah frowned as she turned to look at her sire.
“Yes, and...you need to explain what role I’m expected to fill in your household.” Antoinette looked almost puzzled by that, but surely she understood that Rafiyah couldn’t make assumptions when it came to what was expected of her. Especially not coming into a well established household such as Antoinette’s.
“What role? I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking.” The elevator came to a halt, giving Rafiyah time to collect her thoughts as they stepped out into a sitting room elegantly decorated in shades of cream, accented with dark greens.
“I was always told that my sire would explain what he expected of me shortly after he took me as his consort. Different Families have different traditions, and not all men expect the same things of their consorts. And you already have one consort. I need to know what I can, what I should, do to make your household run more smoothly.”
“Ah, right.” Antoinette hovered as Rafiyah sat down and put her bag on the floor, then seemed to come to a decision and sat beside her, sliding an arm around her waist. “Sarah doesn’t have the time, the training or the inclination to run a household. It doesn’t take that much time to be honest - we’ve just got one live-in servant and a cleaning service that comes twice a month - so I’m dealing with it at the moment, but I know I’m probably missing a lot of refinements. I want you to take over running the household for me. I’d thought about training Jasmine for that once I’d taken her as my consort, but really she’s a bit too submissive to be effective and comfortable in the role.”
“Ah...thank you. I’m honoured by your trust, but...I think I might be submissive, and are you sure Sarah won’t mind my taking on that role?” She’d never really thought about it, but she’d really enjoyed the knowledge of how easily Antoinette could overpower her that morning, and the feel of all that carefully leashed strength in her sire’s body.
“You might be submissive sexually; I certainly don’t have the right to claim that you aren’t. But you don’t back down to me the way you would if you were submissive in other ways, the way Jasmine is. And Sarah’s more focused on her career, but I asked her if she had a problem with you running the household while I was courting you. We can ease you into it if you’d prefer?”
“Yes, that would be good.” Rafiyah leaned into Antoinette’s body, relaxing at the reassurance she wasn’t going to have trouble with Sarah. “Is there anything else you’ll expect of me?”
“We talked about children before? I don’t know if you class this as part of running the household, but I’d like you to be in charge of raising any children if any of us end up having them.”
“I can do that.” Even if she half expected that Antoinette would want to have more influence over her own children than those of her consorts, the way her father had always given Omar extra attention and training. “Your Family really won’t treat any children Jasmine has any differently from children you have?”
“No, well...not within the Family. If I had children and Jasmine had children, and none of Armand’s children were suitable to succeed him as the Terenev Jasmine’s children would be just as acceptable as replacement heirs as mine, but her children would be less likely to be asked to wait for Armand to arrange a consorting for them, because we know other Families care more about blood ties than we do.” That didn’t quite make sense, hadn’t Antoinette said the Terenev’s consort had to be from another Family? Then again, Rafiyah couldn’t imagine that the Terenev heir would have many problems finding a consort, whatever his parentage. “About your dowry, did you want me to leave it with whatever brokers are managing it now, or have it transferred to my brokers?”
“I...it’s your choice, but...it would make things easier for you to transfer it to your brokers, wouldn’t it? And you’ve probably got a good working relationship with them.”
“I’ll transfer it to my brokers then. But I fully intend to consult you as much as possible on what I do with your money. Can you get me your account details before tomorrow?”
“Yes, as long as one of you shows me where my trunks and suitcases are right now.” She’d put all of her paperwork in one case, and it had been delivered the week before their contract signing. She wasn’t entirely sure where the case she’d packed with the clothes she’d worn since then had gone after the contract signing.
“I’ll do that after we’ve finished dealing with the financials. We weren’t entirely sure what to do with your corsets when we unpacked your clothes, but everything else is in your wardrobe.”
“Thank you.” Rafiyah would still probably have to check how they’d put everything away, but it meant one less task for her, and explained why Antoinette had wanted her to tie a ribbon around the handles on the cases with her clothes. “What else did you want to discuss then?”
“First, I intend to buy you a car - you’re going to need one. I’d prefer it if the running costs came out of the income for your dowry, should I pay for the insurance and maintenance using the income I can draw, or would you rather do that from the income paid into your account?”
Rafiyah only needed a moment to think about it. “From the income you can draw. I want to have as much capital as possible when I start investing properly.”
“Fair enough. Sarah pays just over three and a half thousand a year into an account earmarked for household expenses, do you want me to match that with the income I can draw from your dowry?”
“Yes.” It was a perfectly legitimate use of the money after all. “Three and a half thousand sounds like more of a token than anything else considering what it must cost to keep a place like this running.”
“Well...it is a token to be honest.” Rafiyah could feel Antoinette shrugging. “But it doesn’t cost as much as you’d think - there’s plenty of electricity generated on the grounds, from renewable sources for instance. Sarah didn’t feel comfortable not contributing something though - and she does pay for a broadband connection that fits her requirements.
“Speaking of Sarah, I want you to understand that if you want to have sex with her, and she’s willing, you’re both perfectly free to indulge yourselves, but I don’t want you having sex with Jasmine yet.”
“Because she’s still a slave? I understand.” Even if she wasn’t entirely sure why Antoinette hadn’t freed Jasmine yet. And even if Rafiyah hadn’t realised that a slave might have difficulty realising she was allowed to say no it was Antoinette’s right to choose who she had sex with.
“Good. I won’t do anything else with the income from your dowry, unless you ask me to. Would you like me to show you to your bedroom now?”
“Please.” Rafiyah regretted her answer a little when Antoinette’s response was to pull away from her to stand up, but she picked up her bag and followed her sire out of the room. “Oh!” She gasped softly as she stepped onto the glass floor of the huge, empty room, bathed in sunlight refracting through the glass roof.
“I should have warned you about that, shouldn’t I?”
“Yes, you should have. What would you have done if I had problems with heights?” It was beautiful, if a little stark, but Rafiyah didn’t feel particularly secure walking on it. “And isn’t it a bit dangerous using sheet glass for the floor?”
“It’s specially toughened, and my architects and structural engineers assured me that it can stand up to any normal use. And they arranged for me to watch some tests that convinced me they knew what they were talking about.” Antoinette shrugged as she spoke. “And I knew you didn’t have a problem with heights - if you had I’d have seen if I could convert one of the ground floor rooms into a bedroom, or something. Speaking of redecorating, I’ve got five thousand sols budgeted to redecorate a bedroom to your tastes. We just put you into one of the bedrooms on the north-east for now - if you’d prefer a warmer room you can move to the free bedroom on the north-west, or south-east, but you’ll have to share a bathroom in that case.”
“I’m not too bothered about having a warm bedroom - I don’t really imagine I’d spend that much time there during the day?”
“Only if you want to. There’s some unpurposed rooms on the other floors that you could have dedicated to whatever you wanted to spend your free time on.” She paused to open the door for Rafiyah, waving her through. “This is where I put you for now. The bathroom is through the door to your left, and there’s another door through to the other bedroom on this side. I had the cases we didn’t unpack left in there; the rest are in storage in the basement.”
“Thank you.” Rafiyah glanced around the room: it was sterile, pale oak floor, the walls painted white and the simple bed made up with white covers, but it was large and the proportions weren’t bad. The budget made sense now though, since the bed was the only piece of furniture in the room - there weren’t even any wall-mounted heaters. “I take it there’s underfloor heating?”
“Yes, it’s the most effective option. It’s turned off right now, but you can turn it on, permanently, or set for specific times, using the panel here.” She opened the recessed panel in illustration. “Sarah offered to help you choose a computer for your room since you said you weren’t even bringing a laptop with you, but that doesn’t come out of the decorating budget. Feel free to replace the bed if you want - I’ll just move it down to one of the guest bedrooms since I haven’t really furnished most of them yet.”
“Or decorated them?” Rafiyah let her amusement show in her voice, teasing Antoinette and surprising a soft laugh out of her. “Would you like me to see to that?”
“Not immediately. And only if you feel it’s something you need to do. But there isn’t any hurry - we’ve got the other three bedrooms on this floor for guests and they’re functional right now.” Antoinette kissed Rafiyah, sliding an arm around her waist. “Give it time until you’ve settled in a bit and make a decision after you’ve seen the whole house, and had your own bedroom done.”
“It might be easier to get the painters to do the other bedrooms at the same time as mine, as long as I pick something fairly neutral.”
“That’s a point, but we should make the decision later.” Antoinette didn’t seem to entirely agree, and Rafiyah could feel a tension in her body, so she stretched up a bit to kiss her cheek and pulled away carefully.
“Yes, that would be good. I should check my clothes - is that the wardrobe?” She indicated the door at the back of the room, to the right.
“It is, would you like me to leave you in peace then?”
“Please.”
“I’ll come and get you for lunch around noon then, and we can follow that up with a tour of the house?”
“Yes, that would be good.” Something to look forward to after sorting out her wardrobe.
~~~0~~~
Pairing: F/f
Rating: R
Warning: implied sexual slavery, arranged marriages, non-traditional marriages
Word Count: approx 7,600
Summary: Antoinette takes Rafiyah as her consort and back to her home.
Feedback: Welcome as long as all criticism is constructive
Part 1
Rafiyah knelt, hands clasped loosely in her lap to keep from fiddling, as she waited for Antoinette and her companions to arrive. She’d been furious when Omar had told her that he’d arranged for them to sign by Ashawna traditions rather than by Terenev, but he’d been so pleased about it, and so convinced that he’d done her a good turn that she couldn’t think how to disillusion him. She’d settled for asking if he’d ever seen her stand from kneeling, and the knowledge that their Father would explain precisely why it had been stupid for Omar to make that particular bargain.
Her mother had insisted she needed a new outfit for this, from the skin up, although she had decreed that Rafiyah should use the scarf Antoinette had given her as her veil, with her favourite gold veil weights. And Rafiyah had flatly refused to wear the corset her mother had ordered for her, in the same red and gold silk brocade as her new tunic and trousers - she’d have refused to even be fitted for it if her mother hadn’t backed down and agreed she could wear normal underwear in gold silk instead. It was a pain, but it did mean that her mother approved - approved or was really glad to get her ‘unmanageable’ daughter off her hands.
She glanced up when she heard the door opening, to see Antoinette striding directly towards her, only to be intercepted by Rafiyah’s Father.
“Antoinette Terenev, it is good to see you.”
“Sir Ashawna.” Antoinette backed off far enough to offer a shallow bow, possibly less than she’d have given her own Mother - and certainly less than Omar used with their Father. “You honour me with your attention. Might I ask why Rafiyah is kneeling there and where her cane is?”
“Her cane is outside the door you’ll be leaving by. You can carry her that far?”
“Of course I can. That’s why your heir thought this would be romantic then? But he didn’t mention anything about Rafiyah having to kneel. Isn’t that uncomfortable?”
“She does know how to kneel properly, although I’ll admit that she probably is out of practice. Exactly what sort of briefing did you receive then?”
“I confirm all the copies are identical, read through one, then sign them if I approve. My witnesses sign and I give the copies to you or your representative, then you will give them to Rafiyah to sign. Then I can take her once her witnesses have signed.”
“After I tell you that I approve.” And he glanced meaningfully over at the waiting registrar as he spoke.
“I understand sir. Maybe you’d care to meet my Mother while I’m reading through the contract?”
“Introduce me then.” Antoinette stiffened a little at that, but she nodded and led him towards her Mother, bowing in greeting - deeper than she had to Rafiyah’s Father, and Rafiyah was glad her smile at seeing her guess confirmed was hidden by her veil.
“Mother, this is Rafiyah’s Father, the Ashawna Salmon. Sir Ashawna, this is my Mother, the Terenev Natalya.” Antoinette stepped away, giving the two Family Heads room to talk without her in the way, and turned to the man sitting at the table holding the contracts.
“Are you the registrar for this consorting?”
“Yes sir.”
“And do you swear on your honour that all three copies of my consorting contract are the same?”
“I do so swear. Each original contract outlines the same terms in identical language.”
“Then if you will give me a copy?” She held out her hand for it, with every confidence of being obeyed, and was. “I take it Rafiyah has already been able to read through this?”
“No sir.” The registrar must have seen the way Antoinette stiffened at that, because he hurried to further explain. “But her Father and guardian has, and he approved it.” That didn’t seem to please Antoinette, but she did relax a little, even if Rafiyah could read resignation in her stance, rather than satisfaction as she began working her way through the contract. Rafiyah almost wished she’d hurry, but she knew that Antoinette wouldn’t do that, not with something this important, even if Armand would probably have kept her better informed than Omar had bothered to with Rafiyah.
“Please allow me to sign the other copies now.” She spoke loudly enough to draw attention, and her witnesses disengaged from their conversations to come and sign the contracts.
“Thank you Mother.” Rafiyah could only just hear the words, and probably only because she was focusing so hard on Antoinette right then.
“You’re welcome. You did well here Antoinette.”
“I’m pleased you approve.” Antoinette picked up the contracts again, resting them on the palms of her hands and moved to Rafiyah’s Father. “The contracts, Sir Ashawna.”
“Thank you, Antoinette.” Antoinette nodded as he took the contracts, and just watched avidly while he carried them over to Rafiyah. He knelt down to lay the contracts in front of her, prompting an approving smile from Antoinette before Rafiyah had to focus on her Father and the pen he offered her. “You know where to sign?”
“Yes Father.” It was pretty obvious; she was supposed to sign on the right of the paper, opposite Antoinette’s signature. At less than a page the contract was very short for the time it took her brother to negotiate it, but she trusted Antoinette, and she signed each copy without wasting time by trying to read it. She returned the pen and clasped her hands in her lap again, watching Antoinette, waiting for her Father to confirm that everyone had signed and that she wasn’t his responsibility any longer.
“Antoinette Terenev, I give my daughter Rafiyah to you. I trust you will treat her with all the honour and kindness she deserves.”
“Yes sir, I will.” Antoinette strode forward and crouched down in front of her. “Might I kiss you now, Rafiyah?”
“Please do.” Rafiyah smiled as she lifted her veil, holding it back from her face as Antoinette cupped her left cheek in her hand. Antoinette leaned forward and kissed her, gently, almost chastely, until Rafiyah opened her lips to invite her in. Even then the kiss stayed careful, restrained, and Rafiyah moaned in frustration; Antoinette had always pulled back before they’d really done anything while she was courting her, saying that Sarah had agreed to Rafiyah as a second consort, not as a lover, and now she was holding back again.
“I’d rather not put on a show for our Family Heads and their heirs.” There was a hint of laughter in Antoinette’s voice as she explained, and Rafiyah nodded as she let her veil drop to cover her face again while Antoinette shifted her balance. “Can you put your arms around my shoulders when I lift you?”
“Yes, of course.” Rafiyah relaxed, letting Antoinette lift her and stand, wrapping her arms around her sire’s shoulders to help balance herself. “We’re supposed to leave by that door.” She pointed to the door she’d come in by, opposite the door Antoinette had entered through.
“Thank you. Just one moment. Mother, Sir Ashawna. Will you require us to remain as witnesses to the Family contracts?”
“No, we won’t.” There’d been a pause before the Terenev answered, but Rafiyah couldn’t tell why. “One witness for each of us is enough for these contracts, particular when they are our heirs.”
“Go and enjoy yourselves. Rafiyah can show you where the car is waiting.” To take them to the hotel her Father had insisted on booking for them, over Rafiyah’s protests.
“Yes sir, thank you.” That seemed to be enough for Antoinette and she turned to go, pausing when Rafiyah’s Father swiftly ordered Omar to hold the door for them. “And thank you again. I think we could have managed, but it might have been a little awkward.”
“I’d say it would be more than awkward.” Omar sounded amused and rather condescending, but Antoinette didn’t seem inclined to call him on it, simply ignoring him, other than the single nod she might have offered a servant. Rafiyah controlled her giggles until Antoinette had set her back on her feet, supported by her cane, and shut the door behind them.
“Arrogant isn’t he? I hadn’t noticed, since I never spent any real time around him, and Armand didn’t see any reason to complain about him.”
“He wouldn’t have.” Rafiyah stopped giggling to answer. “He respects men, at least men who outrank him; he doesn’t respect women. Or at least he’s never shown any respect for me or my sisters; he’s a bit better with our mother, and maybe his consort. But you gave him the perfect set-down.” By treating him like a servant, thanking their Father for his orders, instead of thanking Omar for his ‘manly’ assistance.
Antoinette gave the attendant a tip when he’d set their bags down in the first room of their suite and dismissed him, looking around to take stock, pleased to see that there was a computer on one table. Some of that ceremony had made her wonder; had Rafiyah already read through the contract, or wasn’t she allowed to or something? But Antoinette had a copy of the contract on card, in case there’d been any problems, so she could show it to Rafiyah now if she needed to.
“It sounded as if your plan worked when we signed the contracts.” Plan? Antoinette blinked, wondering why there was a hint of accusation in Rafiyah’s voice, as she pulled off her veil, and she seemed recognise her confusion. “Your Mother seemed to be happier with you than you’d described her as being.”
“Oh, yes. We have mended our relationship, but even if we hadn’t she wouldn’t have let it show in front of your Father and brother. Anyway, courting you stopped being mostly about that when I realised you’re at least as good with people as I am, possibly better.” Rafiyah didn’t quite believe her from the way she held herself, and Antoinette kissed her, properly this time, without trying to hide any of the desire and passion she felt this time. Rafiyah moaned into her mouth, her free hand rising to clutch at Antoinette’s shoulders and Antoinette responded by wrapping an arm around her waist, holding her against her body.
“Really?” There was a hint of vulnerability in the way Rafiyah looked up at her. “I...you’ve always been so careful to hold back when you were courting me, and then again when you kissed me after we signed the contracts...I understand why you stopped at kissing while you were courting me, once you explained, it showed your honour so clearly. But it still made me wonder if you really wanted me, if you...cared about me.”
“I do care about you, and I’m sorry I made you doubt me. I don’t love you, not yet, but I like you, I want you, and most importantly I respect you. You’ve had my respect from the first time you dared to point out that I was being stupid - however cleverly and indirectly you chose to do so. You know that in a relationship like this love often comes later, after signing the contracts; I wouldn’t love you yet even if I’d courted you as my first consort.” Rafiyah pulled away a little, and Antoinette let her, reluctant to let go, but aware that trying to keep her in place could easily come across as a threat of some sort.
“Yes, I know love can come later, but...sometimes it doesn’t come at all. I kept on saying no to my Father’s offers because I was afraid of being trapped in that sort of poisonous relationship, the sort I’ve seen some of my aunts and uncles in.” Her Father’s offers? Antoinette could ask about that later; she needed to address the other issue first.
“Oh, I know about that. It’s the sort of relationship Mother has with her first consort, and it’s tainted her relationship with my father too. That’s why I would never take a consort I didn’t respect, or who had problems with the rest of my household. I believe that if you have mutual respect and at least friendship then at the worst you’ll always be able to live comfortably together, and ideally love will grow as time passes. I vowed that I’d never accept a consort I couldn’t respect, that I’d prefer a consort I found unattractive to one I didn’t respect.”
“Thank you, I think.”
“Oh, I do find you attractive. If I was a man you’d be able to see that.” But Rafiyah didn’t quite believe her, and an expression of distaste flitted across her face when Antoinette mentioned that idea. “But then, you wouldn’t want me if I was a men, would you?”
“No, I wouldn’t.” Rafiyah glanced down, a frown on her lips. “I never admitted that before, not even to myself, because my Father wouldn’t understand. But that’s one of the big reasons I wanted to keep this, to keep from being acceptable as a consort.” She traced her scar with a finger in illustration. “And now, now I’m worried that it makes me unappealing to you.”
“It doesn’t. It shows your courage, one of the things I like most about you. The confidence and strength of personality to turn pretty into beautiful and to risk defying your Father by marring that beauty. And your body is just what I like most - you’ve seen Sarah and Jasmine, so you know I don’t have any taste for the prepubescent look so beloved of too many in the fashion industry.” Rafiyah was a bit taller than Antoinette’s ideal, but that didn’t really matter, and she certainly wasn’t going to admit that.
“I...yes, I know that, and that appearances don’t matter that much to you, but...it’s going to take a while before I really believe that you want me. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Just give me the chance to show you how much I want you.” They were starting to go in circles now; if she didn’t change the subject they’d keep on going over the same ground again and again, and it was obviously painful for Rafiyah. “Rafiyah, did you read our contract before I arrived?”
“No. I...if I’d asked I suppose my Father would have let me, because I’m his favourite. But...it didn’t really matter.” Did that mean she wasn’t interested in reading the contract at all, or just that she didn’t feel it was important enough to push for it against her Family’s traditions? “I trust you, and my Father would have told me if there were any real problems with the contract.”
“Ah. I was hoping you’d be able to explain a couple of things that puzzled me. I understand the contract, it’s just some of the terminology is odd.” And it didn’t mention anything about Rafiyah’s trust fund, or any other substantial property she might own. “Would you like to read the terms of our contract? I have a copy on a card, so I can bring it up on screen, or print it out if you’d rather.” She pulled the card out of her pocket as she spoke.
“On screen will do fine. I’d rather stand while we talk about it though.”
“Because it would be more comfortable for you?” She’d been careful not to pry, in case it was a sensitive subject for Rafiyah, but now Antoinette thought she needed to know.
“More or less. It won’t take long to read the contract, and my hip tends to hurt when I first stand up, so it isn’t worth sitting for just a short while.”
“Right, I’ll remember that.” The computer had booted up pretty fast, and it wasn’t asking for a sign-on or user identity, so she inserted the card as she sat down, and opened the file with the contract. “Just read through it, and you can ask me any questions you want to ask before trying to answer mine.” Rafiyah didn’t say anything in response, just moved forward and rested one hand on Antoinette’s shoulder, with a hint of hesitancy that vanished when Antoinette glanced up at her with an approving smile.
“You’ve committed to not taking another consort without my approval?” She sounded surprised; Antoinette wasn’t sure why.
“Of course. If I take a third consort you’ll have to live with her, so it’s only fair that you get the right to veto.” And it had been the minimum she’d been willing to offer in that respect - she’d expected Rafiyah’s brother to demand more consideration.
“Oh, thank you. Ah...do you expect me to have children?” The idea seemed to scare her, and Antoinette took hold of the hand on her shoulder, lifting it to her lips for a kiss before releasing it.
“Only if you want to. That clause is just about covering all possibilities. Is it just the idea of giving birth to children yourself that bothers you, or would you be unhappy about being involved in raising any children others gave birth to?”
“Oh, no. I can do that. I more or less expected to end up partly raising any of Omar’s children with any brains. It’s just that I was told it would be difficult for me to carry to term.”
“I understand.” It sounded as if Rafiyah’s Family was a bit more communal than Antoinette’s was, but that wasn’t exactly a bad thing, and it would probably help Rafiyah settle in. “Do you have any more questions?”
“No, I don’t. What can I explain for you though?”
“It’s the dowry issue. I just don’t get it. I don’t have any problem with maintaining it in a separate portfolio, and that makes sense given that it’s money for the event that we dissolve our contract. But I don’t understand why it’s necessary, or why there’s no explicit mention of your trust fund.” Instead it seemed as if Rafiyah’s brother was relying on the law about all substantial property reverting to its original owner on contract dissolution - which implied more trust in her ethics than Antoinette had expected, or considered responsible. Antoinette began shutting the computer down as she spoke, removing the card first and putting it away
“Oh that. I’m a woman, in my Family that means I get a dowry instead of a trust fund.” That was really odd, at least to Antoinette, and the implications were disturbing. But at least it meant that Rafiyah’s substantial property had been covered in the contract, even if Antoinette didn’t entirely like what she was expected to do with it.
“You mean you don’t even get enough control over your own money to decide how much income you take?” Antoinette didn’t really have a problem with Rafiyah being limited to drawing income, or even with there being an upper limit on how much of it she could draw, but she hated the fact that it wasn’t up to Rafiyah how much income she drew within that limit.
“Does it help to know that my brother wasn’t allowed to draw all of the income from his trust fund until he took a consort?” Rafiyah had started petting Antoinette’s hair, almost nervously as she spoke, and Antoinette shut her eyes to enjoy the sensation, letting it defuse her anger at what she was learning.
“Not really. I take it he wasn’t required to draw the maximum income he was allowed access to?”
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t really know that much about his financial affairs. It isn’t as if he’d talk to me about it. But Father did start teaching me about budgeting and saving up for big ticket items when I was pretty young; he did that for all of us, and we can add money to our dowries, if we’re not happy having too much money in our bank accounts. He’s told all of us, including my brother, that if we want an investment portfolio where we’re not limited to drawing on the income he’d help us set one up as soon as we manage to save at least one hundred thousand sols in cash.” That sounded a lot more reasonable, and it was a smart thing to do, in case Rafiyah ever needed to access a large sum of money. Antoinette had done more or less the same thing herself, focusing on investments that she could liquidate quickly without losing too much of the value if she needed the money in a hurry. On the other hand it probably meant that Rafiyah did have substantial property that her brother either hadn’t bothered to learn about, or didn’t care enough to protect by contract.
“That makes me feel better about your Father, but not about your brother, mind if I ask how close you are to that target? Assuming you haven’t already set up that sort of portfolio of course.” Antoinette had saved up a lot more than that to pay for the land her house was built on and for her share of the building costs but she didn’t know what sort of income Rafiyah’s dowry provided.
“Father said I should stick to guaranteed return products while I was putting together the money so I went for savings bonds, and a lot of those bonds are due to mature in just under two years. I was expecting to reach my target about then, but that might change now that I’m your consort.”
“Well I don’t have any reason to limit how much money you have, so I’ll make sure a quarter of the income from your dowry is paid into whatever account you want - as long as that’s what you want.”
“Yes, that’s fine.” But Rafiyah seemed to be pulling back looking uncomfortable. “But...I know our consorting is pragmatic, but I still don’t want to talk so much about financial matters right now.”
“You’re right, and I’m sorry.” She’d just been so confused and angry at what Rafiyah had revealed about how her Family treated their women that she’d needed to press for any redeeming features until she calmed down. “Would you like to come with me and see what the bedroom’s like instead then?” Antoinette stood as she spoke, careful to stay on the other side of her chair from Rafiyah, to avoid seeming to pursue her.
“Yes, that sounds good. And you could hold me...among other things.”
Antoinette thought the woman pressed up against her when she woke was Jasmine or Sarah at first, until she remembered the events of the previous day. She smiled in remembrance and wondered how she should wake Rafiyah up, or if she should just let her sleep for a while longer. Rafiyah hadn’t wrapped herself around Antoinette the way Jasmine and Sarah sometimes did when they spent the night together, so she didn’t have to wake her up to deal with her full bladder.
She slid out of bed, and padded to the bathroom to relieve herself, noting that it was pretty much full light outside. She looked through the lotions provided after washing her hands, picking out the cocoa butter body lotion to use instead of massage oil, and returned to the bedroom, opening the curtains just enough to let her see properly. She carefully pulled back the covers, half expecting to wake Rafiyah that way, and when she saw that her new consort was still asleep she decided to take the risk of waking her with the start of a massage - she was in the right sort of position for it, lying on her stomach, one arm folded under her head, the other stretched out to the side.
Antoinette climbed onto the bed and knelt beside Rafiyah - not the ideal position she had to admit, but one she could work with, and she hadn’t woken Rafiyah with the movement as she climbed on. Had Rafiyah been that tired, or was it just that she normally slept deeply? If she was that tired Antoinette decided that a massage probably wouldn’t wake her up either, and poured some of the lotion into one hand. She pushed Rafiyah’s hair out of the way with her clean hand and then started on massaging Rafiyah’s shoulders.
She’d been surprised by the muscles underlying Rafiyah’s dark mahogany skin last night, surprised, as they’d always been hidden by her clothes before, but very pleased, and she dug her thumbs hard into Rafiyah’s back as she worked at them. She knew better than to ease off when the thin layer of fat covering Rafiyah’s muscles grew slightly thicker as she moved down her back, but she still hesitated when she reached the dip in Rafiyah’s lower back. The ridges and seams of scars at her left hip were neater than the scar on her face, but it still reminded Antoinette that she could easily hurt Rafiyah, and that she might be reaching a vulnerable point.
“Please, don’t stop. I’ll tell you if you’re hurting me.” Rafiyah lifted her head just enough to speak, and Antoinette smiled as she moved to work on Rafiyah’s ass.
“That’s what I needed to hear.” She paused in her massage to lean forward and kiss Rafiyah’s shoulder, hoping the other woman would realise how much that meant to her, knowing that she’d tell Antoinette to stop if she was pushing things.
“Is this...leading up to something else?” Was that arousal she could hear in Rafiyah’s voice, or reluctance?
“Only if you want it to. I’m happy just to touch you and explore your beautiful body properly.” She kissed Rafiyah at the small of her back, on the spine, just above her ass, then moved on to her legs, starting by working her way down the right leg to her ankle, noting absently that Rafiyah had more muscles in her upper body than in her legs. “And if there’s anything you need for physical therapy that isn’t already in my home gym you only have to tell me and I’ll get it for you.”
“Thank you. There isn’t really anything special I need, except for a treadmill with rails on either side, rather than just a handgrip at the front. It doesn’t really matter what the rest of the equipment’s like.”
“Because you’d be supported anyway using most of the other equipment?” Antoinette moved onto Rafiyah’s left leg as she spoke, pleased to note that it was as muscular as her right leg, not weaker as she’d feared.
“Hmm...yes, pretty much.” Rafiyah obviously didn’t want to talk any more about it right now, and Antoinette pushed those practical issues to one side to focus on making her new consort feel good. When she reached Rafiyah’s ass again she only kneaded it briefly, before returning to Rafiyah’s back, working her way up her body, disappointed to notice that Rafiyah’s muscles had tensed up again at some point. Had that been her fault? She hadn’t picked a very romantic subject to discuss, but she’d thought it was neutral enough, practical, and an important thing to clarify, rather than an effort to pressure Rafiyah into inviting her to have sex.
“Antoinette?” She didn’t like the hesitance in Rafiyah’s voice, but it wasn’t something she could affect immediately.
“Yes, beautiful?” That prompted a soft laugh from Rafiyah, but she replied quickly enough.
“I think I do want you to fuck me when you’re ready.” Rafiyah had been more passive than Antoinette would have liked last night as well, but that would have to be a problem for later, as long as she made it clear she wanted - needed - her consort to be equally involved in whatever they did sexually.
“Well, I’m hoping you’ll want to join in yourself, but let me finish your back and then roll over.” There wasn’t that much she knew to do to make the massage arousing, not the way Jasmine could, but she used the few techniques she did know as she finished the massage, then ran her hands lightly down Rafiyah’s back to check that she hadn’t tensed up again. Rafiyah didn’t seem to recognise that she’d finished her back, so Antoinette leaned forward and kissed her neck as she caressed her ass, then whispered in her ear. “If you’ve changed your mind just say so, but you can roll over now, if you’re still after more than just a massage.”
“Yes, I am. But you’ll need to move a bit and give me room. I’d rather not put most of my weight on my left leg and hip.” Antoinette wished that hint of bite in Rafiyah’s voice was stronger, but even the slight asperity she could hear made her catch her breath. It probably wouldn’t have if Rafiyah hadn’t been so passive up until now, but it was a good sign, and Antoinette let her hand trail over Rafiyah’s skin as she moved back.
“There. I should have thought of that myself.” She climbed off the bed as she spoke, stalking around to approach Rafiyah from the other side. “Move over a bit further, and lift your right leg please.”
“Like this?” Rafiyah lifted herself up a little on her left elbow, bending her right knee and placing her foot flat on the bed, while spreading her legs open.
“Yes, like that.” Rafiyah obviously knew how to display herself to best advantage, and Antoinette looked over her with pleasure as she climbed back on the bed and straddled Rafiyah’s raised leg, leaning forward to press her groin against Rafiyah’s thigh. She had to support herself on one hand to keep her weight off Rafiyah, and she trailed the other one up the inside of Rafiyah’s left thigh, skirting her groin to sweep up over to her hip and then crossing her stomach to trace a spiral over Rafiyah’s right breast, ending at her tight, dark nipple.
“Oh! Don’t tease me like that.” Should she just give Rafiyah what she wanted? Or should she push a little? Rafiyah had sounded closer to begging that she’d prefer...Antoinette left the nipple she was toying with to run her nails lightly along Rafiyah’s collarbone and across her throat, circling up the side of her neck until her fingers were splayed from just behind her left ear to her shoulder, with her thumb over her windpipe.
“Stop me then.” Was that arousal at the implied threat, or fear? Antoinette raked her hand through Rafiyah’s hair, ending up cupping her right cheek. “Don’t just lie there, I want you involved too.”
“Then move closer.” Rafiyah reached up, pulling gently, uncertainly, on Antoinette’s shoulders and Antoinette laughed softly as she complied, leaning further down, grinding against Rafiyah’s leg as she skimmed her hand down over her left breast briefly, before planting it beside her to support her weight while she moved her other arm so she was resting her whole forearm on the bed. She began kissing along Rafiyah’s jawline as she stroked down from just under Rafiyah’s left breast to her left hip, and Rafiyah reached up to caress Antoinette’s breasts in return.
Then Rafiyah pinched and twisted Antoinette’s left nipple, her other hand moving to Antoinette’s wrist, pushing it between them to her groin.
“Stop teasing and just fuck me.”
“If you insist.” Antoinette bit lightly at the corner of Rafiyah’s jaw, fingers pressing inside her as she spoke, while Rafiyah turned to soothing her abused breast with soft touches. She teased Rafiyah’s clit with her thumb as she searched inside her for the right places to press. When Rafiyah’s hands faltered, and she gasped, exposing her throat, she knew she’d found the right spot and shifted to actually fucking her with her fingers, doing her best to stimulate those places every time. She focused on bringing Rafiyah to climax as quickly as she could, enjoying the soft sounds and the tremors she could wring out of her consort. She kissed Rafiyah’s exposed throat as her hands moved to clutch at Antoinette’s shoulders, nails digging into her skin as she climaxed for the first time.
Should she stop now? No, she wouldn’t, she wanted to make Rafiyah feel as good as she possibly could, and Antoinette decided she wasn’t going to stop until Rafiyah asked her to. She managed to push her to another three climaxes, watching how her pleasure transformed her face, before Rafiyah shifted her hands to push at her shoulders.
“Please...enough.”
Antoinette pulled her hand out at once, leaning forward to kiss Rafiyah before moving to lie down beside her, and Rafiyah responded by rolling onto her side, putting her left leg over Antoinette’s and her left hand onto Antoinette’s belly.
“Sorry. I didn’t do anything for you, did I? Can I...” She trailed off, letting the motion of her hand down towards Antoinette’s groin finish the question for her.
“Go ahead. I...you didn’t feel I was pressuring you at all did you? Or threatening you?” She’d put her hand to Rafiyah’s throat, however briefly.
“No...at least not seriously, or unreasonably.” Antoinette made a soft hum to encourage her consort to expand on that a little. “I knew you wouldn’t really hurt me, but having your hand at my throat...I loved the power play aspect. And...I shouldn’t have been just lying there, letting you do all the work like that. I...you weren’t angry about what I did to your nipple?”
“No, it only hurt for a moment, and it certainly didn’t break the mood for me.” She laughed softly. “I like a bit of aggression in my lovers.”
“We do need to talk about finances, and I’d rather do it today.” Antoinette moved her hand from where it had been resting on Rafiyah’s back as she spoke and Rafiyah frowned as she turned to look at her sire.
“Yes, and...you need to explain what role I’m expected to fill in your household.” Antoinette looked almost puzzled by that, but surely she understood that Rafiyah couldn’t make assumptions when it came to what was expected of her. Especially not coming into a well established household such as Antoinette’s.
“What role? I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking.” The elevator came to a halt, giving Rafiyah time to collect her thoughts as they stepped out into a sitting room elegantly decorated in shades of cream, accented with dark greens.
“I was always told that my sire would explain what he expected of me shortly after he took me as his consort. Different Families have different traditions, and not all men expect the same things of their consorts. And you already have one consort. I need to know what I can, what I should, do to make your household run more smoothly.”
“Ah, right.” Antoinette hovered as Rafiyah sat down and put her bag on the floor, then seemed to come to a decision and sat beside her, sliding an arm around her waist. “Sarah doesn’t have the time, the training or the inclination to run a household. It doesn’t take that much time to be honest - we’ve just got one live-in servant and a cleaning service that comes twice a month - so I’m dealing with it at the moment, but I know I’m probably missing a lot of refinements. I want you to take over running the household for me. I’d thought about training Jasmine for that once I’d taken her as my consort, but really she’s a bit too submissive to be effective and comfortable in the role.”
“Ah...thank you. I’m honoured by your trust, but...I think I might be submissive, and are you sure Sarah won’t mind my taking on that role?” She’d never really thought about it, but she’d really enjoyed the knowledge of how easily Antoinette could overpower her that morning, and the feel of all that carefully leashed strength in her sire’s body.
“You might be submissive sexually; I certainly don’t have the right to claim that you aren’t. But you don’t back down to me the way you would if you were submissive in other ways, the way Jasmine is. And Sarah’s more focused on her career, but I asked her if she had a problem with you running the household while I was courting you. We can ease you into it if you’d prefer?”
“Yes, that would be good.” Rafiyah leaned into Antoinette’s body, relaxing at the reassurance she wasn’t going to have trouble with Sarah. “Is there anything else you’ll expect of me?”
“We talked about children before? I don’t know if you class this as part of running the household, but I’d like you to be in charge of raising any children if any of us end up having them.”
“I can do that.” Even if she half expected that Antoinette would want to have more influence over her own children than those of her consorts, the way her father had always given Omar extra attention and training. “Your Family really won’t treat any children Jasmine has any differently from children you have?”
“No, well...not within the Family. If I had children and Jasmine had children, and none of Armand’s children were suitable to succeed him as the Terenev Jasmine’s children would be just as acceptable as replacement heirs as mine, but her children would be less likely to be asked to wait for Armand to arrange a consorting for them, because we know other Families care more about blood ties than we do.” That didn’t quite make sense, hadn’t Antoinette said the Terenev’s consort had to be from another Family? Then again, Rafiyah couldn’t imagine that the Terenev heir would have many problems finding a consort, whatever his parentage. “About your dowry, did you want me to leave it with whatever brokers are managing it now, or have it transferred to my brokers?”
“I...it’s your choice, but...it would make things easier for you to transfer it to your brokers, wouldn’t it? And you’ve probably got a good working relationship with them.”
“I’ll transfer it to my brokers then. But I fully intend to consult you as much as possible on what I do with your money. Can you get me your account details before tomorrow?”
“Yes, as long as one of you shows me where my trunks and suitcases are right now.” She’d put all of her paperwork in one case, and it had been delivered the week before their contract signing. She wasn’t entirely sure where the case she’d packed with the clothes she’d worn since then had gone after the contract signing.
“I’ll do that after we’ve finished dealing with the financials. We weren’t entirely sure what to do with your corsets when we unpacked your clothes, but everything else is in your wardrobe.”
“Thank you.” Rafiyah would still probably have to check how they’d put everything away, but it meant one less task for her, and explained why Antoinette had wanted her to tie a ribbon around the handles on the cases with her clothes. “What else did you want to discuss then?”
“First, I intend to buy you a car - you’re going to need one. I’d prefer it if the running costs came out of the income for your dowry, should I pay for the insurance and maintenance using the income I can draw, or would you rather do that from the income paid into your account?”
Rafiyah only needed a moment to think about it. “From the income you can draw. I want to have as much capital as possible when I start investing properly.”
“Fair enough. Sarah pays just over three and a half thousand a year into an account earmarked for household expenses, do you want me to match that with the income I can draw from your dowry?”
“Yes.” It was a perfectly legitimate use of the money after all. “Three and a half thousand sounds like more of a token than anything else considering what it must cost to keep a place like this running.”
“Well...it is a token to be honest.” Rafiyah could feel Antoinette shrugging. “But it doesn’t cost as much as you’d think - there’s plenty of electricity generated on the grounds, from renewable sources for instance. Sarah didn’t feel comfortable not contributing something though - and she does pay for a broadband connection that fits her requirements.
“Speaking of Sarah, I want you to understand that if you want to have sex with her, and she’s willing, you’re both perfectly free to indulge yourselves, but I don’t want you having sex with Jasmine yet.”
“Because she’s still a slave? I understand.” Even if she wasn’t entirely sure why Antoinette hadn’t freed Jasmine yet. And even if Rafiyah hadn’t realised that a slave might have difficulty realising she was allowed to say no it was Antoinette’s right to choose who she had sex with.
“Good. I won’t do anything else with the income from your dowry, unless you ask me to. Would you like me to show you to your bedroom now?”
“Please.” Rafiyah regretted her answer a little when Antoinette’s response was to pull away from her to stand up, but she picked up her bag and followed her sire out of the room. “Oh!” She gasped softly as she stepped onto the glass floor of the huge, empty room, bathed in sunlight refracting through the glass roof.
“I should have warned you about that, shouldn’t I?”
“Yes, you should have. What would you have done if I had problems with heights?” It was beautiful, if a little stark, but Rafiyah didn’t feel particularly secure walking on it. “And isn’t it a bit dangerous using sheet glass for the floor?”
“It’s specially toughened, and my architects and structural engineers assured me that it can stand up to any normal use. And they arranged for me to watch some tests that convinced me they knew what they were talking about.” Antoinette shrugged as she spoke. “And I knew you didn’t have a problem with heights - if you had I’d have seen if I could convert one of the ground floor rooms into a bedroom, or something. Speaking of redecorating, I’ve got five thousand sols budgeted to redecorate a bedroom to your tastes. We just put you into one of the bedrooms on the north-east for now - if you’d prefer a warmer room you can move to the free bedroom on the north-west, or south-east, but you’ll have to share a bathroom in that case.”
“I’m not too bothered about having a warm bedroom - I don’t really imagine I’d spend that much time there during the day?”
“Only if you want to. There’s some unpurposed rooms on the other floors that you could have dedicated to whatever you wanted to spend your free time on.” She paused to open the door for Rafiyah, waving her through. “This is where I put you for now. The bathroom is through the door to your left, and there’s another door through to the other bedroom on this side. I had the cases we didn’t unpack left in there; the rest are in storage in the basement.”
“Thank you.” Rafiyah glanced around the room: it was sterile, pale oak floor, the walls painted white and the simple bed made up with white covers, but it was large and the proportions weren’t bad. The budget made sense now though, since the bed was the only piece of furniture in the room - there weren’t even any wall-mounted heaters. “I take it there’s underfloor heating?”
“Yes, it’s the most effective option. It’s turned off right now, but you can turn it on, permanently, or set for specific times, using the panel here.” She opened the recessed panel in illustration. “Sarah offered to help you choose a computer for your room since you said you weren’t even bringing a laptop with you, but that doesn’t come out of the decorating budget. Feel free to replace the bed if you want - I’ll just move it down to one of the guest bedrooms since I haven’t really furnished most of them yet.”
“Or decorated them?” Rafiyah let her amusement show in her voice, teasing Antoinette and surprising a soft laugh out of her. “Would you like me to see to that?”
“Not immediately. And only if you feel it’s something you need to do. But there isn’t any hurry - we’ve got the other three bedrooms on this floor for guests and they’re functional right now.” Antoinette kissed Rafiyah, sliding an arm around her waist. “Give it time until you’ve settled in a bit and make a decision after you’ve seen the whole house, and had your own bedroom done.”
“It might be easier to get the painters to do the other bedrooms at the same time as mine, as long as I pick something fairly neutral.”
“That’s a point, but we should make the decision later.” Antoinette didn’t seem to entirely agree, and Rafiyah could feel a tension in her body, so she stretched up a bit to kiss her cheek and pulled away carefully.
“Yes, that would be good. I should check my clothes - is that the wardrobe?” She indicated the door at the back of the room, to the right.
“It is, would you like me to leave you in peace then?”
“Please.”
“I’ll come and get you for lunch around noon then, and we can follow that up with a tour of the house?”
“Yes, that would be good.” Something to look forward to after sorting out her wardrobe.
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-14 05:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-14 05:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-16 10:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-16 10:06 am (UTC)I think it would have come up in their courtship. I'm not too sure of the details myself, but Rafiyah loves gardening, and her Family consider it a good hobby for a woman. She was walking in their gardens with a male visitor from anopther Family (and a chaperone) and the boy did something very stupid - ignoring her attempts to stop him - and she was injured as a result.
I was surprised at Rafiyah using the language "fuck me now." - unless maybe 'make love' is a different context?
Well, they were already making love the way I see it, Antoinette was teasing Rafiyah without giving her enough stimulation to let her climax, so Rafiyah wanted Antoinette to just get on with it.
I'm definitely intrigued enough to continue reading with interest, so I'd say its a good start
I'm afraid that I've finished the story I set out to tell in this fic, but I do have two other stories set in this world, one a work in progress and one that's more or less porn. You can find them either by clicking on the tag 'erde' or by going to my Dreamwidth account here (http://jessara40k.dreamwidth.org)
no subject
Date: 2009-11-16 12:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-16 09:56 am (UTC)Omar made a botch of negotiating Rafiyah's contract, partly because his father didn't bother briefing him properly on what Rafiyah needed from it.
But I'm glad you like it.