Julian had been with Phoenix for a week now. He had found out a lot...a lot more than he thought he ever would. He had always thought Phoenix's mother very strict with her slaves. But Phoenix took it to the next level.

As for himself, he was feeling more comfortable with Phoenix. They'd made love twice more, and she hadn't touched her slaves, so that was something. Perhaps he would be able to stand between them and her. They seemed happy for the break, anyway. They feared him, though, which Julian felt sad about.

Now Julian was sitting with Phoenix at the dinner table. She'd had some wine and was a bit more mellow. Owen brought them their food, and gave Julian a long look, making the man sigh. He knew exactly what Owen was saying, silently. It was time.

"Phoenix? I need to talk to you about a few things, if you don't mind," Julian said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. He braced for a reaction. Phoenix looked up at him, and told him, "Of course, Julian. Is it private? Do you want me to dismiss the boys?"

Julian thought about that then nodded, "It might be best. Thank you." She smiled, then nodded at Owen and Jared, who immediately left them. They whispered something to the slave in the kitchen, then shut the door and left. Phoenix watched them go, then turned to Julian, asking, "So, what is it you wanted to discuss?"

He breathed out a long breath. Here goes nothing. "I just wanted to know about you a bit more. If I'm getting involved with you, then I should know something, right?"

Phoenix stared at him and frowned lightly. Finally she answered, "What's there to know? I run an empire, a lucrative one at that. I deal with slaves, and have since I was a child. You know all that already. What more do you want?"

Julian sighed. He tread carefully, "I want to know where the slaves go. I want to see your training facility. I need to understand exactly what you're involved in. Could you explain the process a little?"

Grey eyes locked on his, "I can show you all that if you really want to. We can travel around the world too. As for how I do it… I and my girls like to go for the guys that really deserve it. The bad guys. Or those who think little of women. But often as not for me, I pick them because I like the look of them. The girls usually have requests from clients though. Once we get them, the slaves go through a rigorous training. They're made to realize their place, which is on the bottom. This takes a lot of pain and humiliation for them, but it's worth it. A well trained slave goes for a high price. Then we start trying to match them with potential owners. And I also do most if the paperwork if it's out of country. You know… the usual… new ids and all that. It's a pain but the money is worth it."

She paused and gave a wicked smile, "And of course the training is fun. There's nothing quite like the fear in their eyes. Their stripes turn me on. Their utter willingness to do anything for fear of a little session with me."

Julian listened carefully, trying to ignore her fingers softly stroking his hand. He'd forgotten how it felt when she touched him. He wanted her, but at the same time what she said chilled him. He knew perfectly well she could destroy him. But he wanted her love at the same time. To hell with how he felt about her slaves. To hell with everything that had happened in the past.

Phoenix studied his conflicted expression, and softly said, "Julian… I really don't mind if you want to work with me. It would be different and fun. But how do I know you're serious?"

He leaned back and told her, "I can prove it somehow. However you want."

She raised an eyebrow, "Hm. If you do this, you'll be involved with the slaves themselves. Could you beat one? And I don't mean a punch or two. Jared, maybe? He'll let you do a good job."

Julian paled at that and swallowed hard. Well, shit. But this seemed the only way to get an in with Phoenix. He made himself nod, not trusting his voice.

Phoenix laughed, and got up. "No time like the present then. Come on. This I gotta see." She led Julian to the punishment room. She showed him the various instruments she had and explained some. Julian gave a sigh but eventually chose a cane. It shouldn't cut, unless he hit hard enough, but would leave bruises to satisfy Phoenix. He fingered the instrument, trying to keep the bile down. Wouldn't be too convincing if he threw up, now would it?

Jared was summoned and looked at the two of them. He understood in a second what was happening, and thoughtfully noted the look in Julian's eyes. The man didn't really want to do this. But he had a feeling there was more to this story than he knew. Whether this was good or bad remained to be seen. Without being told, Jared stripped his clothes off and knelt down in the middle of the room. It didn't even matter knowing that he had done nothing to merit a beating. It was enough to know that he was expected to take one if that's what Phoenix wanted of him. He gave Julian a quick glance to tell him he accepted the situation, then focused his attention on her.

Phoenix tilted her head at the kneeling slave and said, "That's how I train them. Nice and easy like that. Just put him in any position you like and he'll do it. Hell, he would probably present his own balls for you to smack, should you ask. Right, Jared?"

Jared had no expression and started to reach down but was interrupted by Julian's hasty, "Wait no… that won't be necessary." Julian involuntarily put his legs together at the thought of what that would feel like. He saw the quick flash of relief in Jared's eyes and only felt sympathy. Nevertheless he took a deep breath. He remembered seeing Pandora do this. Okay. This won't be too hard. Just pretend that's not a real person. "Jared, please get up and put your hands on the wall."

The slave promptly obeyed and faced away from him. Julian took a moment to look at the countless criss cross scars and other marks on Jared's body. He steeled himself, wanting to look at Phoenix but knowing it would be a sign of weakness.

He swung the cane.

It made a sharp crack, and a red line was seen. To his surprise, the slave didn't move. He swung again, crossing the stripe the other way. No reaction. Julian was startled about that. Surely that had really hurt? This guy was as stoic as all get out. Five cracks later, and he saw Jared flinch slightly. Phoenix only laughed, "He makes it easy and challenging. He won't jump about but it takes a lot for him to yell. Keep going there."

Julian decided there was nothing for it and gave a flurry of hits up to the shoulders and down Jared's body to his legs. Jared remained locked in place, but he did grunt. Finally the cane broke the skin on Jared's back and the slave gave a small yelp. Julian threw the cane down and told her, "I'm done. I hope I proved myself."

She came and kissed him, running her hands on his body, whispering in his ear, "Yes, my love. You have proven to me you can do this. Thank you."

Julian suddenly forgot the slave still braced on the wall. He turned and kissed her back and wrapped himself in her passionate embrace. Say what they would about her being a demon… she was one hell of a good kisser.

He was sorting through papers, making them tidy. It didn't matter that he could not read any of it. His master had showed him how he wanted them placed. So he made sure to follow instructions exactly. He opened a chest to put the correct pile in and something caught his eye. He pulled it out and realized it was a newspaper. An English one to be exact. Finally something he could read! He sat down and devoured it.

It was a U.S. newspaper, of all things. He read every single article, whether it was interesting or not. He read of of some border issue along the Mexican side. He read of the debate on something the president said that the media tore apart. He learned of a woman who had been gored by a bison because she'd gotten too close. He rolled his eyes at that one. There was always stupid people out there. The next article told him of the Mars rover finding possible building blocks of life on the surface of the red planet.

Turning the next page, he spied a short article on the capture of a serial killer in New Orleans. Pouncing on that, he smiled broadly for the first time in a while. Yes, it said here that Agent Dwayne Pride had assisted in his capture. He ran his finger over that name over and over again. When would he see him again?

A sound! And a flash of horror as he saw the master's face full of fury. Giving no excuses he let himself be dragged to the whipping post.

They made a point of it that night to use him while he was on his back. And they burned the paper in front of him.