But at last he closed his books and took mine from me, carefully book-marking my page. “We have to go.”
“
Go? I thought we had to bathe.”
“
Not here. Another part of the temple.”
He put his cloak and scarf on, and gave me a cloak of my own to conceal my clothes. “Jaime?”
“
Yes?”
“
Tonight...I know you find me distasteful, but I’ll try not to displease you.”
He clenched his jaw. “It is not I who must be pleased. My feelings are irrelevant. All I require is that you follow my lead, and my advice. You will not be harmed, I promise, if you do that.”
I nodded, and then followed him out into the temple. I’d almost forgotten how gloomy and unpleasant the rest of the temple was, and now it was close to sunset, there was no light at all coming in through the rare windows. The torches flickered, casting long eerie shadows on the walls and statues, making them almost seem alive. I shivered and pulled my cloak tighter about me.
We had to walk quite a way, and up several long staircases. I would not have been able to tell you where we were in the temple at all, or even if we still were in the temple, although we had to be. I wondered why Jaime lived so far from his place of work—so to speak. Finally we came to a set of heavy bronze doors, guarded by four soldiers. We were let in, and then Jaime took me into an inner room set to the side. This was revealed to be a large bathing area, with mirrors and all manner of grooming implements on tables. I’d expected there to be attendants, but it seemed we would do it all ourselves.
I was told to strip, and this was also my first chance to see what Jaime had been hiding. To be plain, the man was simply beautiful. Broad shoulders, narrow hips, long and well formed legs—no one would have turned him from their bed, and some would be happy to pay to have him in it, even with his frigid manners. He was on the thin side, which, considering his eating habits, was no surprise, but he made me look plain, even though I knew I was well-favoured at least by the standards of our village. He seemed not to notice or care about my admiration. “You must be clean inside—have you ever practiced cleansing of this kind?”
“
No. I’ve seen it done.” On
animals
, I thought rather despairingly as he held up an animal bladder attached to a hollow bone.
Calmly, as if he was giving directions on how to find a street, he told me how to ensure I was fully cleansed and sent me off to do what I needed to in a side room. At least we were granted that small privacy—I had no wish to see another man take a shit or anything else.
It took so long I was sure he would complain, but he didn’t. To my immense embarrassment, he made me bend over so he could inspect my efforts. “Good enough. Hold still.” Then I yelped as he began to wipe my anus with a cloth. “Hold still,” he snapped. “I’m only cleaning you.”
“
Sorry. Could you just warn me in future?”
“
Consider this your warning.” I sighed.
It didn’t feel bad, after the first shock—he was gentle and careful.
When he finished, I looked back at him over my shoulder. “I need to prepare you further. Do not scream again in that womanly fashion.”
Womanly
? Cheeky bastard. I gripped the back of the chair and prepared to be humiliated. I’d seen the jars of oil and figured out what they were for, so it wasn’t too much of a shock when he began to probe me carefully with a finger, oiling and stretching me. It felt good, actually—my night-time adventures in Gidin had rarely involved such anointing. I had had to make do with spit and good will. Jaime seemed to be very skilful—but then he’d had a lot of practice too. At least I wasn’t to be fucked by a clumsy idiot.
He actually took the trouble to come in front of me and show me what he planned to use. “If you wear this until we are ready, as you are bathing, it will loosen you.”
The dildo was made of polished black marble. Someone had gone to some trouble to make it rather lifelike—but it was nearly twice the normal size of a cock. “Er.... Will it fit?”
“
I believe so. If you don’t wish it....”
“
No, if you say it helps, just do it.”
The bloody thing was cold and I was sure it would never go inside me, but he took such care, and was so slow about it, that eventually it slipped in. It felt very heavy in my bowels, not exactly pleasant, and I was certainly being well-stretched. “Finished?” I asked, my voice showing the strain I was feeling. Damn, it was big.
He nodded. “Bathe thoroughly after you shave, and wash your hair. I will help finish your grooming.”
Shaving while all I could think about was the enormous object in my arse was a new, and rather nerve-wracking experience, since I’d been told many times I had to be physically unblemished. Unfortunately, the dildo was making my hands shake. I had to grit my teeth and shave at about half my usual speed, but I managed to avoid cutting myself. I couldn’t even sit to soap myself before the bath, and I wondered if this was just another example of Jaime’s sense of humour—it wasn’t like he was hung like an ox after all. I’d seen bigger, not that he was small or anything. Maybe he just had an inflated sense of his own attributes.
He came out just as I was easing myself into the bath. “What’s wrong? Are you injured?”
“
No, it’s this bloody
thing
you’ve put inside me. Gods, man, what made you think it would help?”
He looked utterly confused. “My lord Senku told me it would help. You mean it’s uncomfortable?”
“
Of course it’s uncomfortable—haven’t you tried it on yourself?”
His expression went frigid. “That is not allowed. Get out and I’ll remove it.”
I climbed out of the bath and grabbed his arm. “What do you mean ‘that’s not allowed’? What’s so special about your arse?”
He gripped my wrist like a vise and pulled my hand off him. “Do not touch me,” he said in a low, menacing voice. “We are being watched. You ask too many questions. Bend over.”
Despite his anger, he was as careful removing the thing as he had been putting it in. The relief was immediate and I sighed. You really could have too much of a good thing. “In future, if something hurts, tell me. None of this is supposed to cause you pain of any kind.” He laid the dildo aside and looked at me. “I particularly do not wish to cause pain through sex.”
This was the guy who threatened to beat me to death and stab me any number of times, and who had actually slapped me? I really couldn’t work him out—why was he so scrupulous now? Was it just for our audience? Knowing we were already being watched did nothing for my nerves, of course.
“
Get in the bath, we’re running out of time.”
I soaked while he soaped and scrubbed himself, even cleaning his nails, before rinsing himself several times. He didn’t join me in the bath—did he dislike the idea of sharing it with me, I wondered. Instead, he washed his fine hair and towelled it carefully, combing it so it fell straight and neat to his shoulders. Then he took some oil and carefully anointed his body, making it gleam in the torchlight. He looked at me, still lounging in the bath. “Get out, you must be made tidy.”
I dried myself, and then he made me sit as he dried and combed my hair, taking surprising care not to aggravate the bump on the back of my head, which still hurt but which was bearable so long as it wasn’t poked. Then he cleaned my nails, and wiped oil over my body just as he had his own. “If your anus is sore now, or later, we have ointment in my rooms which will help.”
“
No, I’m fine. I’m not a virgin, you know that.”
His lips tightened at that remark, but I had no idea why. “Because I may not speak to you, you will need to follow my lead closely. Sit, lie as I indicate. I’ll do the rest. Are you sensitive in any areas? Do you dislike anything particularly?”
“
Well, apart from huge stone penises, no.” He scowled. “I have sensitive nipples, but I’m not going to hit the roof if you touch them. I like pretty much everything except brutishness.”
“
Have no fear of that,” he said coldly. “Do you remember my instructions?”
“
Don’t speak, don’t interfere, don’t protest, follow your lead.”
He looked almost pleased. “You will bow to his holiness, and to Lord Paon, but then you are to pay attention to me and only me. If I am doing something you want me to stop, make this sign.” He made a circle with forefinger and thumb. “You may make sounds, only take care you do not use words.”
“
Why?”
His eyes narrowed in annoyance. “I suggest you learn to speak when spoken to, and that, sparingly. There is a cloak over there, put it on.”
There were two dark red garments hanging on the wall, and when I picked one up, I realised it was made of the finest silk. They really didn’t stint themselves when it came to pleasuring the god, I thought. I slipped it over my shoulders—the silk was a little cold, but it felt good on my skin. When I turned around, Jaime was stroking his cock, oiling it. That he wasn’t masturbating for fun was obvious from his faint look of disgust. “Would you like me to do that for you?”
“
How many times do I have to tell you—do not touch me. Ever.” He really should learn to stop scowling, I thought regretfully. Such a handsome man to have such an unpleasant expression. It changed to a wince as he slid something over his half-hard cock and his balls, and then he began to fist himself again.
“
What’s that for?”
“
To keep me hard.”
“
What, you think I’m not going to turn you on enough?”
He utterly ignored me. Once he was completely erect—and I had to revise my opinion of his size, it was more impressive than I thought—he wiped his hands, pulled a rope on the wall which I assumed rang a bell somewhere, then put his own cloak on. “My lord Senku will inspect us. Mind that you display more respect than you do to me.”
I was grateful for the warning, sourly expressed that it was. Only a minute later, there was a triple knock on the door, and Jaime beckoned me to follow him through it.
There was a door near the one through which we had just come, and that led to a small ante-chamber. The priest Senku was there, and I followed Jaime’s example, bowing low. He said nothing to me, only turning to Jaime and asking, “He’s clean?”
“
Yes, my lord.”
The priest grunted, then gripped my chin and made me open my mouth. I felt like a horse being inspected a market. He felt my hair, inspected my hands, and then, humiliating, made me bend over and pushed the cloak aside so he could see my arse and balls. “Satisfactory. Follow me.”
By this stage, I was quite glad no one seemed to be expecting me to be active in this whole business, because if someone had told me I was about to have sex with a dead goat, I wouldn’t have been less aroused. Sex wasn’t always wonderful in my experience, but it was always done for fun, and with a least a little joy—it was obvious just from looking at Jaime, that he hated what he was about to do. This did nothing for my self-esteem, let me tell you.
Only because Jaime had warned me so thoroughly did I manage not to gasp as we entered the next chamber. It was
huge
, all windowless black and red stone, lit by torches and braziers. In the middle of the room was a stone and silver throne. On it sat a figure dressed all in black, its face covered by a ferocious red mask -– the god incarnate, I presumed. He was flanked by guards, and sitting next to him in a smaller throne was a priest in black robes that seemed more voluminous than those worn by the others. He was wearing an elaborate metal head dress and a heavy silver and bronze collar. Rings adorned most of his fingers, and a long curving silver ornament snaked up his left arm. This was in contrast to the god, who had no ornament on him save for the mask. I figured this priest must be Minas—he looked like a pretty nasty character, his face even crueller than the mask of the god, but he had to be at least seventy years old, every one of them spent in pointless viciousness, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn
There were more priests standing to the side of the throne dais, as well as two guards. It looked like our ‘show’ was going to have quite an audience. In front of the throne was a padded table, more like a bench, with a thick cushion in front of it and to the side of it, a little way from it, was a low platform covered in red silk. Jaime bowed to the masked figure, as did I. He slipped the cloaks from our shoulders, leaving them in a silken puddle on the ground, then led me over the platform, and made me sit. I could feel padding, possibly furs, underneath the silk—it was like a very comfortable bed.
Minas clicked his fingers, and to the side, a door opened, and a young woman—nothing more than a girl really—came in accompanied by a guard who, from his more elaborate uniform and decorations, I guessed was a higher rank than the others. She was completely naked, and looked flushed, excited—something about her made me think she had been taking a narcotic, her movements a little too slow and clumsy to be normal, her eyes rather glazed and unaware.