A/N- So this is another one of my one-shots that was popular during AU Week and people requested become a story.
It is a gender-role reversal of Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale and slight re-imagining.
Disclaimer- I own nothing associated with The Vampire Diaries or The Originals
Caroline could almost feel Katherine's excitement bleeding from the bricks of her white-washed home as she pulled into the circular driveway.
But surprisingly, it's not Katherine who comes out to welcome her but her brood-spouse Elijah.
"Hello Ms Caroline," he greets warmly, "Shall I take your bags?"
It's on the tip of Caroline's tongue to remind Elijah that brood-spouses were above servants but she decides that it isn't her place and Katherine would be quick enough to point this out if the fancy took her.
Instead she thanked him and led him into the house, where an actual servant was waiting to take her bag,
"Ms Katherine is in the sun room." He prompts gently and she goes through the mansion to the sun room, facing the east garden and designed to catch the afternoon sun.
Katherine is spread out indolently on the white couch, wearing a black empress waistline dress with her hand resting on her- as yet non-existent- baby bump.
"Finally!" she announces, holding out her hands for Caroline to cross the room and sit down at her knees, reaching over to kiss her cheeks,
"I've been waiting all day for you to get here, you haven't left nearly enough time."
Caroline sighs and shrugs, "We can always go tomorrow, there's no hurry."
Katherine rolls her eyes, "No. I want to go today, I'm in the mood to window shop."
Caroline looks over her shoulder to where Elijah is standing in the doorway, patiently awaiting instruction and she wonders what will happen when the Safety and Wellness Inspector comes.
As a rule, brood-spouses were to keep to their rooms unless they were servicing their mistresses, but Elijah always seemed to be wandering around the house.
He was also overdue to be returned to the Factory but Katherine hadn't sent him back.
"You come along too," Katherine orders as she sweeps past Elijah who noticeably pales at the instruction.
"Shall I pack my belongings…dearest?"
"No, no," she waved her hand, "But there might be some options to have you improved or checked out for re-education while we're there."
He looked positively faint with relief and Caroline felt sympathy for the man. Whilst she wasn't outright opposed to the owning of men in the matriarchy, as her friend Bonnie was. She did occasionally pity them. It couldn't be easy to have their entire lives dependent on the whim of women.
The Factory was a large compound in the center of town, where all males were sent when they turned ten to be assigned into life categories of worker or spouse.
The workers were the lowest caste of male, infertile, castrated and otherwise useless to women, and performed the hard, laborious duties of construction and the like.
The spouses were the males who were fertile, genetically healthy, and handsome they were trained to be pleasure-spouses- concubines for women, and then could be upgraded to brood-spouses for breeding or, if they were quite successful and underwent extensive training, they could become life-spouses. A life-spouse was the closest a male could come to freedom in the matriarchy, he would live with his female owner for up to seven years before being traded in for a younger model.
Caroline, after weeks of decision and far too much gossip from her colleagues wondering why a healthy, heterosexual female wasn't engaging in regular sex, had decided to purchase a pleasure-spouse.
And as per regulation, a woman who owned a male had to live with another female so as to prevent the male in any way gaining the upper hand or being seen as an equal by the woman.
So, on the same day that she'd moved in with her best friend Katherine, Caroline was at the Factory, being led into the Spouse Hall, a long hall lined with one-way windows so that they could observe the males in their habitats.
"Oooh," Katherine stopped to admire a tall, olive skinned brunette, "How about that one?"
Caroline brought up the information of the man on the screen, "No, it says his hobby was boxing." She strides right past him as Katherine stares at the screen in disbelief,
"I didn't even know that men could be trained to fight anymore." She turns to Elijah with a suspicious glare,
"Were you trained to fight?"
He shakes his head mirthfully, "I decided to study medicine," he reminded her,
"Much more useful."
The male spouses were allowed to pursue further education as women preferred their males intelligent, not that these males would ever be allowed to have careers, but it gave the sexes something to discuss outside of the bedroom.
Caroline moved slowly past the windows, trying to figure out what it was she wanted as Katherine observed the newest batch of males and the upgrades available.
"Oh, this sounds like fun!" she called out, catching Caroline's attention.
"The latest batch of males have an additional setting on their controls, the arousal setting, you can adjust it as per your desires."
She glances at the control embedded in Elijah's wrist, "We should get that for you." She decides,
"Go see the upgrade facility after Caroline's made her choice and meet us at the car."
He bows his head, "An arousal setting is rather redundant when I'm with you dearest, but as you wish."
Katherine links her arm through Caroline's, "What do you want in a pleasure-spouse?" she asks,
"I'm guessing attractive and charming but what else?"
Caroline shrugged, "I have no idea…I've thought about it, obviously, but all that comes to mind is kind and sweet but they'd probably all come like that."
"Might I speak, dearest?" Elijah asks quietly and looking to Caroline for approval, Katherine shrugs, "Go ahead?"
"Perhaps Ms Caroline would prefer a male who is artistic like herself? One of similar age and appearance?" He looks through the windows, moving fluidly until he comes to a stop and tries to bring up an information screen, the window flashing red momentarily as it reads his fingerprints and identifies him as male.
Caroline joins him, brings up the screen and sees into the room on the other side of the glass.
The male is about average height but blonde haired, blue eyed and with a healthy tan, he is slumped over in his chair with a sketchbook in his lap, the pencil flying over the page and Caroline sees that the wall behind him is covered with artwork.
"Niklaus" she reads his information on the screen, "Twenty-five. Trained as a painter. Healthy. Physically Active. Empathetic. Good-humoured. Intelligent. Rated Excellent in Sexual skills. Currently sterilized but available for breeding"
As if he can sense their eyes on him, Niklaus looks up and Caroline notes how blue and piercing his eyes are and his hair is a mess of curls she can imagine running her hands through.
"Maybe we should keep looking just in case?" she suggests but Katherine shakes her head,
"Nope, I made that mistake once and I nearly lost Elijah here to some freaking hippy whore," she presses the 'Purchase' button on the screen,
"You change your mind, you can just return him later."
Males were delivered once a week, so it was two days after purchasing him that Niklaus was delivered to Katherine and Caroline's home, arriving whilst they were out, they returned to find him waiting with his handler, a no-nonsense young woman with long blonde hair,
"Okay…sign here, here, and here, and initial here to say you received him in perfect, working condition," she told Caroline, handing her a sheaf of papers,
"Strip," she ordered Niklaus, "So we can ascertain that you are in top condition."
The male glances at Elijah momentarily before quickly undressing, removing the white shirt and pants combination that all spouses were delivered in until he stood before them perfectly naked.
"Very nice," Katherine announces, flopping down into the arm chair,
"I'd be happy to give him a test run for you, Care."
Caroline blushes but the handler doesn't even blink,
"Here's the key to his controls, the black button is for obedience, if he acts in a way you don't like, this will administer electric shocks in increasing frequency until he loses consciousness, but we advise against doing that too often in case it leads to brain damage, the green button summons him, the red button is the arousal button, it starts at one- mildly aroused and goes to ten- extremely aroused, we suggest you use that only in the privacy of your home, it can lead to a male becoming quite excited."
Katherine had been playing with that setting on Elijah's controls for the last two nights and her orgasmic screaming had woken Caroline several times.
She places a large booklet on the table, "That contains everything you need to know about owning a pleasure-spouse, what acts they're allowed to perform, the rules they have to follow, the possible upgrades, also we suggest strongly that you engage in sister-wife activities on a regular basis now that you have two males in the house."
Caroline took in all this information while noticing that her pleasure-spouse was still completely naked,
"Thank-you," she told the handler, suddenly wanting the cold woman to leave.
"Of course," the woman checked her watch as she turned on her heel,
"Oh also, if you do wish to harm or disfigure your pleasure-spouse we do require that anything permanent be paid for."
Caroline winces but thanks the woman again and shows her the door before re-entering the living room,
"Um…you can get dressed now." She tells Niklaus who quickly reaches for his clothes, throwing them back on with a clear sense of relief.
"Perhaps I could show him to his room, Ms Caroline?" Elijah offers and she nods, waving them both from the room before sinking down onto the chair opposite Katherine,
"So…" she began nervously, "Tonight…what do I do?"
Katherine rolled her eyes, "Well, my apparently virgin friend, you get on your knees and pray for guidance…or just relax and know that the male whose entire career is based on making you scream with pleasure will know what he's doing."
Males weren't allowed to share bedrooms with their female owners, instead they were sequestered in guest rooms on the same floor but as far away as possible. So when Caroline summons Niklaus that night it's a full five minutes before he knocks quietly on her bedroom door.
"Come in." she calls nervously, brushing down her black silk nightgown.
Niklaus is wearing the red robe of the male concubines, the one that with one tug of the belt is loosened entirely.
"Good evening, Ms Caroline." he says politely, tilting his head and she gives him a tight smile,
"Hello…have you settled in okay?" she asks and he nods,
"Ms Katherine's brood-spouse has been quite helpful."
Males weren't allowed to address each other by anything but their positions, originally they'd called each other brother but it had been decided that the term encouraged too much comradery amongst the men and would lead to disobedience.
"Good," she clears her throat, before turning and gesturing to the Empress sized bed,
"Let's get started shall we?"
She takes a step before a thought strikes her and she spins back to him,
"Do you…uh…do you need something?" she asks awkwardly, "I know you aren't allowed alcohol but do you want me to adjust your arousal settings or something?"
He shakes his head slightly, a small smile on his lips, "Thank-you, but that won't be necessary."
He approaches her slowly, keeping his hands at his sides until he is within the allowed three step radius,
"Do I have your consent to initiate sexual intercourse with you?" he asks but when she nods, he hesitates,
"I need your verbal and enthusiastic consent." he clarifies, "Otherwise I'm forbidden from continuing."
She rolls her eyes self-depreciatingly, "Oh right, sorry…yes, I consent, enthusiastically."
Carefully, he reaches over and places his hands on her arms, moving closer and lowering his head, pressing his lips to her cheek, barely brushing her skin before touching the corner of her lips. Feeling more comfortable now, she turns her face and offers him her lips with a slow, exploratory kiss.
Her body tingles with excitement and she slips her tongue into his mouth as she lifts her hands to cup his jaw, positioning him to her advantage before pushing herself up against him, pressing her breasts against the hard planes of his chest. When she breaks the kiss for air, she licks her lips and smiles, much more relaxed now, especially when she sees the brightness of her concubines eyes as they roam over her body.
Arousal is beginning to flush her skin and she reaches for the belt of his robe, pulling it loose with ease and letting it drop to the floor. He stands before her in naked glory and she grins in satisfaction at his hardening penis, stripping her own robe as she sashays towards the bed and sinks down in the center, propping herself up on her elbows.
"Come on." She beckons and he approaches eagerly, climbing onto the bed and crouching over her, kissing her on the lips once more before his lips trail down to her breasts, licking and sucking them until she is wet with arousal and rubbing herself against him.
She runs her fingers through his curls and holds him against her left breast until his hand begins trailing up her thigh,
"Oh, yes," Caroline sighs, pushing him down to her stomach, "Do that."
He kisses her clit before running his tongue over it and delving between her folds, causing her to moan in delight and arch her hips off the bed. With one hand he holds her in place while sliding a finger inside her vagina, testing her arousal before slipping in another one and beginning to stroke her.
Her eyes flutter closed as his tongue laves her clit as his fingers find her g-spot, curling and pressing there until she beings trembling and panting, murmuring encouragements as she writhes against him, gripping the sheets underneath them tightly as she climaxes with a wordless shout.
He goes to lift his head but she slips her fingers through his hair and holds him in place between her thighs, "Again…" she orders breathlessly.
After her third climax, she opens her eyes and considers his erect penis, taking in the size and thickness before coming to a decision. The pleasure-spouse manual discouraged full sexual intercourse for the first two weeks and suggested that no male pleasure be allowed for the first month.
But he had done so well.
She spreads her legs and smiles, "I want you inside me." She orders and she can see him hesitate, because he knows the rules by heart, but she is his mistress so she ultimately has the final say in the house.
He kneels between her thighs and glances nervously at her for final confirmation before he takes himself in hand and guides himself to her entrance, pushing in gently as she hooks her legs around his hips,
"How would you like me to perform, Ms Caroline?" he asks, shaking from the act of holding himself still and she considers,
"Slowly and call me something besides Ms Caroline."
He nods, "Yes, sweetheart."
He withdraws as far back as she'll let him before sliding back in and Caroline takes his free hand and puts it on her clit while her own hands play with her breasts. She watches as his body glistens with sweat, his muscles dancing under his skin as he moves inside her, working towards her pleasure.
Katherine had been right, she admits to herself as she orgasms.
She'd been so stupid to put off having a concubine.
Caroline releases her legs and lets Niklaus withdraw from her, her juices glistening on his still erect penis. Feeling boneless and high on pleasure, she smiles and waves her hand lazily,
"You can go back to your room now," she tells him kindly,
"And you have my permission to use the bathroom down the hall for…that." She gestures to his penis and he nods gratefully,
"Thank-you, sweetheart?" he tests the endearment and, feeling generous, she nods, "Goodnight." He continues as she rolls over and slips beneath the blankets,
"Good night."
A/N- Let me know what you think.