Ekaterina never tried to hide it, although she was naturally good at it. It wasn't the pleasure nor the satisfaction of having her fingers plunge into and squeeze Ayame's, Mafuyu's, Miyuri's or any female's breasts she had put her hands on or entrapped in her Mama's arms that she truly liked. Nobody could have told it and her Maria was no exception for she was constantly being scolded for her scarce Soma production, but the shape of Hana's nipples was an obnoxious source of distraction during the day and it disturbed Ekaterina into her dreams at night. It happened just once, but those immense and obscure mountains she failed to overcome as she clung to the protruding rocks like an amateur climber couldn't possibly resemble two small and unarmed peaks, familiar as only her copper puppet had ever been.
That night, when she woke up under a ceiling made of questions, she had told herself that the meaning of this single nightmare would soon be forgotten and, as final statement, she had scoffed and turned sideways. Hana's figure was there, lying on her back, whimpering softly as she always did after exhausting battles or more draining plays. One of her hands was scratching the latest bandaged injury on her abdomen, nothing major to be worried about because the girl was quick to recover due to her mystic circuit, but Ekaterina still did not approve whenever her partner used her body as she liked. Even though she did it to protect her, she reproached her slave for her carelessness as it was her Queen's property she put at stake. Moreover, it was quite bothersome being unable to play with Hana because the girl needed time to heal. Worse still, it was hearing her weep and beg because she wanted to be toyed with, but her body would not respond properly, making her look like a rusty doll.
The comprehension that that wasn't the first night she had found herself watching Hana sleep hit her briefly, a trifling observation, not something to analyze any further, but her mind had grown a habit and she often surprised herself lost in these uncalled memories. Hana's breasts did not resemble mountains, yet she did go through the same distress whenever she was nearby the older girl for she never experienced such a strong yearning for anybody's Soma and, consequently, the feeling of being at loss, upset by 'craving' more than 'craving for.' Feelings had never been hard to handle, not Hana's, not anyone's, but she never believed the day would come when she would have to deal with her own.
Hana had come to terms with it. Her Queen will always have more than one slave, occasionally bringing them all together to play out her fantasies but - and she had a profound suspicion she might be right - she hoped from the bottom of her heart that no matter how many women Ekaterina might dispose of, there was a chance for a Favorite in the picture. Also, as her Mistress never allowed anyone in their bed nor any woman ever crossed their threshold and, whilst the Qwaser had numerous places to live in and yet it was by her side that she spent her nights, Hana dared to believe there was no doubt about whom said Favorite was.
It was unusual for her to take an interest in someone. What troubled Ekaterina, what annoyed her, was the fact that she never gave a second thought to anything. If a problem arose, if a solution was needed, if a choice has to be made or an explanation to be given, her mouth was already speaking her mind for processing information came natural to her. Solving issues, reading people's hearts, manipulating them to get what she wanted out of any possible situation was more than a play, it was her life and who she was. Therefore, when she set her eyes on Hana - her back slumped against Miyuri's limousine and an amazed look on her face when she comprehended that the new student would be this little girl hopping out of the cab - her only thought had been a plain, 'this is gonna be easy,' a formality. When she pulled Hana's shirt and bra over her chest she had no expectations. Soma is Soma, Athos gives much credit to it. Hana's milk was nowhere near good but it was far from being an undrinkable slop, and she could be herself around the older girl, not acting like the child Miyuri was so fond of. Musing on her Maria was something she would have never expected but, like everything which got her attention, even Hana and the emotions she elicited in her were easily rationalized.
Ekaterina closed her fingers around the girl's breasts until the mass beneath her skin allowed it and her nails sank into her flesh. Knowing what would follow, she studied the grateful smile parting Hana's lips as her eyes closed and her back arched upward. Hana tossed her head and rubbed her face on the mattress, repressing a louder moan by gluing her lips to her arm. In response to her rising bust, Ekaterina shoved forcefully her palms on her chest to push Hana back and massaged her breasts with rotating motions.
She didn't like it.
"Turn around."
Hana was a screeching animal when she didn't have her ball-gag or something equally useful to keep her mouth shut, but she had to wear it exclusively under her Queen's command. Whenever the girl muffled her lewd sounds, she had to remind her that she had no say in the matter, that she wasn't free to act as she pleased or do things of her own will. The girl could be cheerful during their plays. Happy, yes. Euphoric, yes. Taking her own decisions, never. She didn't care whether in her vocabulary those were conscious deeds or rather primal needs urged by endless appetites. In both cases, Hana had to learn how to control her body. She had tried to teach her how but, as she had grudgingly admitted, there was no chance to do so, not if she herself was also the cause behind her running hormones.
"I said, turn around."
For a moment, she considered what would become of them once she hit puberty, but dismissed the thought as it surfaced due to its double implication. First off, it meant she was really valuing the hypothesis that her own growing libido would turn her into a sex addict. Second off, there were still some years to go and she didn't plan on spending them around Hana only as new slaves were waiting and those whose names she remembered had to be visited. Taking care is essential for a respectable Queen as well as getting rid of things with no utility. Sadly, Hana had one utility and it wasn't providing Soma, but something which she believed it would be hard to live without. Reason why, more than calling it utility, she considered Hana's love a burden, a welcome burden which implied that wherever she headed, whomever she tamed, Hana would be there.
Her slave wasn't listening and she rest her hands flat, steady.
Hana shivered. Not because of the absence of heat, but rather for the sudden longing that emanated from her belly when Ekaterina raised herself up on her knees. It was that, or the look in her dark blue orbs as the younger girl brought one hand to her lips and licked off the Soma coating her palm. Staring at her partner's unreadable face, Hana leaned forward with misty eyes. Before she could prevent it, before she even realized she had lost her communication skills, she whined from the depths of her throat like a puppy deprived of its toy.
"What is it?"
Ekaterina drew stinging circles with her nails on her chest, and she quivered under the vicious touch.
"What is it?"
Hana pushed her hips up and fell back when she met nothing. She thrashed about with her legs and groaned out her frustration.
"What is it, Hana?"
Despite Hana's moistened eyes and her swollen lips and her panting mouth and her flushed skin suggested it was indeed a masterpiece what she had been working on, watching her slave beg did not make her feel satisfied with herself for the excellent job.
"Please, just, take what's yours."
Hana lost her breath when Ekaterina shifted forward. It was a rare and precious time whenever her Queen let her contemplate it up closely. Her scent would spread immediately through her lungs and her vision would blur up with desire, making her head spin as if she had just got off an amusement ride. A sickening fast ride. It was beyond ridiculous how her own body played against itself. From that distance, she would be able to describe Ekaterina's sex inch by inch and memorize every single fold and detail, including those usually hidden from its owner's sight. Instead, she shut her eyes and moaned with despair when the little girl peeled her lips apart and made her realize that, no matter how she positively justified the unconditional love she felt for her Mistress, she was yet another predator in a cage.
Ekaterina smirked and lowered herself on top of her. Hana's gaze traveled to where she was enveloping half of her left breast in a wet embrace.
"Wrong mouth?"
Hana crinkled her eyes while Ekaterina inched herself up, rubbing her clitoris against her nipple, drawing gasps out of her.
"Wasn't this the one you wanted?" Ekaterina wondered, unconcerned with possible answers. Her attention was focused on playing with a lock of hair fallen over her blossoming breast. She examined its golden tip, looking for split ends. Then, like an angler, she let the strand slide down on the flushed face beneath, teasing and needling her gaping prey.
Soft bristles brushed along Hana's forehead, prickling irritatingly her eyelids, slithering on her cheeks, snaking down her neck.
"Onee-sama?"
Amber eyes opened wide at the innocent voice calling out her name. Ekaterina pouted and fluttered her sad eyelashes. Her Maria had proved it numerous times, and the way she sparkled only confirmed her first intuition. Hana might be attracted to the female sex, she might worship the Queen and give her life for the Qwaser, but there was only someone who could make her lose her dignity and reduce her into a puddle of lustful and yowling goo.
The little girl began to heave her body on Hana's mound. Rocking her hips, Ekaterina brought a hand to her own belly and massaged it gently.
"My tummy feels funny." Her words clashed with the squelching splashes of her sex battering Hana's sensitive nipple. "I don't understand why it feels so hungry."
She shook her pelvis back and forth. Her own viscous juice mixed with the slippery milk seeping from Hana's harmless nub while the light sighs escaping from her lips chased Hana's moans. She ground herself harder and drops spilled out from her Maria's twin peak and wet her inner thigh. Her legs anchored and clenched to Hana's sides as she continued to ride her teat effortlessly and untiringly. She watched the other girl staring vacantly at her.
"What is it so hungry for, Onee-sama?"
Hana gave off an unidentified cry.
Of all the ways she fantasized it would happen, she never imagined she would feel her Queen's first twitch around a nipple. She never considered it would be possible to experience such feeling at all. Instead, when the younger girl slowed down her moves and sat comfortably on her chest, Hana did feel few contractions spreading through Ekaterina's outer walls and softly clasping her breast.
"Here," Ekaterina took her wrist and led Hana's hand to her own abdomen. "It's hot, isn't it?"
It would never cease to amaze Hana how burning hot a little girl's flesh could be and she would give her everything to rub her face on those tender muscles, to sweep her tongue over her fair skin, to relish her heat and melt her lips there. She was allowed to touch her. Both her hands and tongue were required whenever her services were needed. Yet, as deep as her dizzy mind could dive into their memories together, Hana could not recall a single occasion where she was granted the permission to caress the Qwaser freely.
She watched Ekaterina's narrow bellybutton wink like an eye with every breath she took.
"All hot."
With an audacious move, but ready to pull away at the first command, her hand stroked Ekaterina's skin, enjoying the smooth texture and the soft flesh beneath her withering palm. Ekaterina's belly spoke with a growl. Hana couldn't help, but think there was something innocently cute in its long wheeze. She raised her eyes up to her partner's.
"Hungry?"
The scornful look she found there immediately erased her lopsided grin from her lips.
"Always perspicacious, Hana."
Again, she had stated the obvious. Ekaterina had declared it, she was hungry. No point in underlining it. There was a new rumble from the empty middle above.
What if it wasn't her Soma? What if her Queen hadn't eaten properly? She didn't give particular attention to her diet for they had had dinner at Mafuyu's. Her friend was a great cook and she had assumed Ekaterina would have eaten all of her mouth-watering dishes. That was what she did, anyway. Mafuyu was a great cook, an efficient Maria, a trusty friend, a wise woman, a strong fighter, overall perfect in everything she did. If only she wanted, Ekaterina could have the girl. She could have her, but she chose not to. As her thoughts took an infelicitous turn, Hana fell into a daunting silence.
Ekaterina chose not to keep Mafuyu, she chose not to make her a slave while she herself was just one out of many, perhaps not even her 'Favorite' as she ingenuously assumed. The proof was in the way the two girls interacted with one another, in those brief yet intense looks they exchanged, in a smile from Mafuyu's side and a grin from her Queen's. In their teasing. It had been there since the very first moment the four of them were reunited, immediately after leaving Tsubasa's bedside. Sasha had thought nothing of it, but she didn't like the shivers crossing her body at the sight of her Queen sipping a cup of tea next to Mafuyu, talking as if something had changed between them during their partnership, despite the fact that one said, "I'm not your slave, I'm your partner" and the other replied, "I don't see the difference."
A growl reached her ears and lingered inside the room.
Recently, she had witnessed a hug shared between Mafuyu and her Queen. The young Qwaser may not have returned it, but she hadn't pulled away either. And, what to say about the numerous times she had run into them chatting? What about the look on Ekaterina's face when she had noticed her presence and she had read in her eyes, "Do not ever interrupt us again"? It was what upset her the most and left her clammed up for hours. They never talked. They did have fun together, but talking was an activity they never engaged in, unless it concerned the Qwaserverse. For some reasons, Mafuyu was privileged. Mafuyu had the honor to listen to Ekaterina without necessarily being tortured. Mafuyu probably knew more about her Mistress than she did.
Hana's confidence faltered and the awkward gestures of her hand on EKaterina's body reflected her emotional turmoil.
Ekaterina gave her dismayed slave a sidelong glance. That look in Hana's eyes, she had often seen it for she had often put it there. She guessed what the other girl's thoughts were but, as fun as watching her Maria demeaning herself could be, she had different projects for them on her mind. She covered Hana's shaking hand with hers. Hana met her eyes and her face cracked into a smile at the sight of Ekaterina's composed, but reassuring features.
"I'm starving," Ekaterina said.
Hana breathed in. Her hesitant gaze focused on the glistening sex she had been breathing for the past minutes and all doubts and insecurities crumbled as her arousal soared. Mafuyu wasn't there, no one else was there. Nobody to condemn the moment she would yield into temptation. Her fingers slid toward Ekaterina's swelling lips.
"I would not do it," the Qwaser stated. A copper cable was behind her back, above her left shoulder. Hana watched it wave 'no' with its head.
"I would so do it."
Her jaw dropped down, however, as she also noticed her little Devil-Me straddling Anastasia's tentacle with a mad grin.
"Get off," she scolded herself.
"Get off?" Ekaterina asked.
"I'm sorry, Katja-sama, I wasn't-"
"This fucking thing feels great between my legs. C'mon babe, show me what you've got."
"Don't spank it."
"What?"
"Katja-sama, I-"
"It's like that Angel. She would raise her hips like little birds stretch out their necks to be fed."
"You little, where is she? What did you do to her?"
Hana talking to herself didn't come as a surprise. Many times Ekaterina had overheard the girl mutter as she wandered around the house, making up plans or struggling over scenarios which would never happen, talking like someone on the phone when you only get the general idea of the conversation. Some seriously messed up conversation. Clear as it sounded, Hana was slowly driving herself crazy with the desires she fought to repress. If her slave wished to pin her down, she just had to go ahead. Acting on her thoughts didn't imply she would let her do it as there were more chances for Hana to find herself trussed up on the floor than getting anywhere near on top of her Mistress. Making weird sounds, plotting schemes, walking ahead of her to have a chance to show her assets like a dog in heat were amusing sights. It was funny. Hana was funny, but her behavior in that particular moment was upsetting and a mood killer. Her slave was still arguing with herself and she didn't have the time nor the patience to deal with the ravings of a lunatic. She mounted off. However, she didn't get a chance to leave Hana because the girl brought herself up and pulled her down again on her lap.
Hana bent her knees behind Ekaterina's back and wrapped her arms around her body.
"Don't go."
Ekaterina thought hugging Hana was like hugging a heater, or a giant stuffed animal, the kind you warm up in a microwave before taking it to bed on a cold night. Except that it wasn't a cold night, but she still obliged when Hana molded herself to her every curve. The girl did not question her silence and she was thankful for that because allowing someone to embrace her was a reward she never granted, no matter that it happened quite naturally with Mafuyu. There was something motherly about the red-haired girl which led Ekaterina to open herself up in her company. Of course, she wouldn't call it 'opening' but something along the line of 'showing sympathetic feelings'. Mafuyu was the worst slave ever and the only human being who breached the walls surrounding her heart. A crack, a small crack which concerned her past and a bit of her happy present. Suppositions, all suppositions she would say, but it proved that she was more unguarded than she would admit. The Iron Martyr was lucky. She wished to find herself a partner of the likes of Mafuyu's because, as many slaves as one can have, someone who can see the true meaning behind your words, someone who knows the best way to approach you on every subject and under the worst circumstances is hard to find.
Hana's breathing warmed her up with light puffs down her back while she gently rocked them both like the waves that brought her to Japan. That one, she recalled, had been a cold night. She leaned her head next to Hana's and indulged in her Maria.
Like Mafuyu, her slave had been blessed with a great power. Unlike Mafuyu, she was pretty simple-minded and exploited her ability in totally unholy ways. She remembered the day Hana announced she had figured out a way to save on bills, "Watch this, Katja-sama". She hadn't blinked as she stared at her slave taking the TV plug in one hand while the screen switched on. Wordlessly, she had headed to the laundry room with the smug girl close on her heels. Hana had seen her undress and put the clothes into the washing machine. Her own outfit had been torn off by Anastasia while a cable had snaked on the ground and climbed up her leg. Ekaterina had sat on the appliance, a perturbing smirk on her lips, "Did I ever tell you how much I like the spin cycle?"
Hana didn't have half of Mafuyu's qualities. She was not brilliant nor did she have any special talent. She was just an ordinary girl with few serious issues. To name one, her fondness for little girls. To name another, a very unlikely Japanese perspiration. She moved a hand up Hana's back, sliding her fingertips on her slick skin. Hana used to play the watchdog for their heiress friend and prick on her classmates, pulling nasty pranks on them at school and ending up tussling against other gangs at night. She was some minor badass who, obviously, was looking for somebody who showed her her place. She was no good at household chores, but at least she kept the place tidy. No cooking abilities – in particular, those cookies she baked every week were among the most inedible things she had ever eaten. Yet, every night she slid off the bed and into the kitchen, she took the jar from the cupboard, stuffed one hand into it and pulled out a bunch of biscuits. She had to sneak out or she would spend her time awake in the bedroom, listening to Hana's annoying snores, her giggles, her sleep talking. Waking her up was out of question as the last thing she wanted was to be asked if she was in need of something, when the only thing that would make her restless sleep peaceful would not be having this girl by her side. Still, the idea of sending Hana to the couch, the idea of missing her body and those weird noises she was accustomed to by now, left her angry and hungry. Her slave must have definitely put some kind of drug into those cookies.
Hana never wondered about her thoughts, she never speculated on her background, she never directly questioned what was on her mind and, if she ever did, at least she had the decency not to speak it out. Ekaterina could see that the girl wanted to know more about her, she could sense it when her Maria would spend hours staring at her profile, using her slanting eyes like a marker to underline her features, sketching out the differences between their physiognomies, studying her turned-up nose, her small ears, her stiff upper lip, and her pale skin with a hint of pink on her marble cheeks. Sitting on a bench in the church while Yuri Noda talked about their next job and lined out Athos' commands, she had had to calm her nerves as it wasn't pleasant being the center of Hana's curiosity and veneration. It made her want to color the girl up.
Ekaterina squeezed the waist between her thighs and glided a hand down a toned arm while the other followed its own route upward on Hana's neck and toward her nape. She grasped her hair and yanked Hana's head backward.
"I should abandon you straight away," she hissed menacingly. "Have you pack my things. Have you walk me to Mafuyu's where Ayame would be waiting for me, and then set you free."
Hana nodded in pain.
"Give me a reason why I should let you stay with me."
Hana was confident she could give her thousands of reasons and still be able to find her as many more. Rather, what may sound like a good reason to her, it might not be to her Queen's ears. Slaves, Ekaterina could have as many as she wanted. All it took was stroll outside and pick up the next lucky victim. Anyone could be a slave, it was what she had learned within those months. A good slave, a bad slave, a so-so slave. She was the best, anyway. No doubt about it. The best slave.
It was not a good reason.
Her Soma tasted great, but there was no comparison between hers and large-breasted girls'. There were women out there who could be efficient slaves and provide good thorough milk supply. Still, her Queen always took her time to savor hers when they weren't in any kind of a hurry and they just had to lay down somewhere, preferably on a nice mattress. Otherwise, the rug of the elevator was as good as any place, a little troublesome for their neighbors for she would cut the power off and they would spend an inappropriate amount of time inside. Not to mention the worried look on those women's faces when the doors opened and Ekaterina stepped outside and acted all cute and frightened, just to be invited over and return home with plenty of food.
Those afternoons reminded Hana that she possessed the Magdalena of Thunder. To a copper user, a sparking Maria was like a portable battery. Ekaterina just had to light her fuse and she would produce massive fireworks, but it would be the most logic reason why to keep her around and, for its obviousness, her Queen must have already taken stock of it.
She could have said 'I love you', but love is not a good reason. Some people run away once they hear the words and her Queen had slaves who could tell her the same thing that made no difference. Hana was sure none of them was in love with Ekaterina as she was. She didn't feel like confessing, though. She hadn't quite put her thumb on it, but something warned her that her feelings were meant to be unspoken. She watched Ekaterina's lips.
"Yo, Hana."
She would be fine if her Qwaser just granted her a new kiss.
"Down here, idiot, I'm here."
Hana dropped her eyes between their bodies. Her libertine conscience was on all fours on Ekaterina's groin, inspecting her sex. The Devil pointed out with a pitchfork.
"Can you see it? She's growing hairs. There are only few of them, but you better hurry and go for it. Once they start coming out there's no stop," she sneered. "And we both know the huge difference between a kid's naturally smooth pussy and a woman's wax-"
The Devil-Me was cut off by a pair of familiar, incense-smelling hands on the mouth. Thankfully, Hana thought, as she watched her good winged friend wink in her direction and drag her Beast-like twin away off the balcony.
"Bitches, please." The Devil struggled to get free. "Don't tell me I'm the only one who's been craving it?"
"Hana?"
"The only one drooling for it?"
"Hana?"
"The only one who'd go to Hell for it? No, shit!"
"Hana?"
"I rule the place."
"I make cookies," Hana blurted out.
Ekaterina blinked in astonishment.
"Everybody can make cookies."
"Mine are special."
"Do tell me. What's so special about them?"
"You know, there's always a secret ingredient."
The Qwaser didn't miss her guilty look.
"You make cookies with Soma?!" She spoke outraged.
"I don't use much, I swear."
"You use Soma, the Holy milk, the only source for us Qwasers to manipulate the elements, over which wars have been fought and lives have been lost, something you're not even richly supplied, to make burned and dull cookies?"
Her Maria dared a smile.
"With chocolate chips?"
Ekaterina's lips began to tremble unnaturally and her fringe shadowed her eyes. A fizz to the right drew Hana's attention to the bedside table, where a lamp was crackling. Nothing expensive, another Ikea piece of design which was all design but no light because a volcano-looking cone didn't illuminate the room thoroughly, but it went with the name Kajuta, and she just had to buy it. Flying sparks jumped out like lapillus from the top, the fireworks she was positive would not be there for them anymore.
"Katja-sama, Kajuta is-"
A strong wind broke into the room, raising the dust off the floor and dispelling her words in the quivering atmosphere. By instinct, Hana sheltered her eyes with her arms. Peeking through her lashes, she saw Anastasia step inside the bedroom with her usual poker face, but several tentacles waved threateningly behind her back. She heard the distinctive sound of clanking metal as copper arms reached out and fingers lengthened, crossing and melting into chains. She shut her eyes tight.
Everything was still when she focused back. The puppet was nowhere in sight, powdered rubble was deposited over the furniture but the sheets beneath their bodies had been spared from the itchy dust. Ekaterina had not moved. If anything, she had made herself comfortable on her human chair, arms folded upon her chest as she sat with a languid smile on her lap.
"Katja-sama?"
Hana realized she could not move her arms without something gripping at her throat. Turning her head, she saw a chain looped around her wrists and walked her eyes through its length. It went up to the wall, where it passed through a ring driven into it, and came back to create a collar for her neck. She also noticed poor Kajuta melted on the bedside table.
"What about old-fashioned love making?"
Ekaterina watched her with a condescending look.
"And here I was thinking that you'd learned the importance of Soma." Ekaterina brushed her locks off her chest and stroked her belly. "I actually believed that you'd treasure what you have."
Hana followed her motions.
"That you'd save it. For me."
She nodded in tune with Ekaterina's finger moving up and down, spurring the excitement of a sloping nipple.
"But I'm not mad."
"You're not?"
She couldn't believe her eyes. Her Queen was smiling of a real, genuine smile.
"Why would I be? I understand you did it with the best intentions."
The older girl beamed.
"That's right, I was-"
"As I know you didn't want to ridicule me in front of Big Mama, to scorch my white dress with the iron, to blow up the washing machine with me on it, to unsaddle me when you fly too fast, to keep me awake with your snores, to forget my Mama's coffin at the airport, to wash my hair with the shower gel, to lose my Bag of Miracles 'somehow somewhere'. Am I forgetting anything?"
No, Hana shook her head, Ekaterina wasn't a resentful woman.
The Qwaser tapped her teat one last time.
"Now, as for your punishment, it's up to you." Her voice took a sultry note. "Kiss it."
