Alana giggled at the afterthought but then shook her head. "I really can't, Mistress. I'd never make it out there alone. That never works in architecture."
"Well, first of all, love," replied Grace, "you are not going to be alone. I'll still be with you, as will your slave sisters. Second, you can make it. The reason people aren't successful on their own is they don't have clients. You have tons of them. And thirdly, I have decided that you will do it. Who owns your body, mind and soul?"
"You do, Mistress," came the whispered response.
"That's right," nodded Grace. "And who makes all of the decisions for you?"
"You do, Mistress."
"And if I have decided that you'll do this, what will you do?"
"Do it, Mistress."
"Good girl," smiled Grace as she gave each succulent breast a squeeze and leaned down to kiss her pet. Alana closed her eyes and just surrendered to the moment, enjoying the attentions of her owner.
Chapter 18: Slaves, Inc.
Alana was due back from France the next day and Grace had been busy making more changes in the flock. She finally had a talk with Ted about how he was treating his wife. It wasn't as if the man was abusive. He was just neglectful. He didn't give her the attention that a wife should receive. He seemed to be totally enamored with Kelly's tight young body.
In one way, Grace didn't mind. She loved Meredith and loved spending time with the slavegirl. She also still had trouble with the incest implications of directly owning her own daughter. It was one thing to fondle her. And, occasionally, she would masturbate her daughter with her fingers. Kelly didn't mind and even seemed to thrive on it. But it still gnawed at her.
She met with Ted one evening and laid out her concerns to him. At first, he laughed it off, saying that she had no idea how he felt about his wife or how he treated her. Then, he told her it was none of her business.
"But it is my business, Ted," corrected Grace. "Slavery is my only business and she is one of my assets. I will always act in the best interest of my business and protect my assets." Then she laid down her ultimatum. Ted had two weeks to demonstrate to her that he had changed his behavior. If he did not, then she would take action.
Ted wanted to know what the "or else" was but Grace ended the conversation, dismissing her partner. In her mind, she knew that she had two possible sanctions. The first was to exercise her option to buy Kelly. She had made sure that the contract for Kelly included a provision that would allow her to buy her daughter, for any reason, for one dollar. If Ted had questioned her about that, she would have simply explained that she was Kelly's mother and should be allowed to buy freedom for her daughter if she felt she had made a mistake. But Ted never raised the issue, so she was convinced that he signed the papers but never even read them. Meredith's deed of ownership contained no such clause. So Ted could potentially be left without a slave and without a wife.
Her second option was more drastic, but she had already talked this one over with Charles. If need be, she would have some handlers from the ranch collect Ted and put him through rigorous training. Ted would become a slave. If he could be tamed and trained enough that he could be returned to her, that would be preferable. If not, then he would be sold. If sold, his slavery would likely be significantly different than it would be with her. He would probably end up working in some mine in Africa or picking poppies in Asia. Either that, or he would become an organ donor and watch as his body was dismantled and the parts sent around the world to people who could use them.
Grace handled all business arrangements for the new architecture firm. She conducted the negotiations, set the prices, laid out the terms, and scheduled Alana's time. The biggest risk in sending Alana out on consultations was that these people might decide to keep her, so she drafted elaborate contracts that always made it clear that her slave was to be returned to her. Attached as an exhibit to the contract was a detailed list of what could and what could not be done to her property during her visit.
Meredith was currently playing more of a domestic role, but Grace planned to change that. The girl was just too bright to be doing nothing but laundry and cooking and the like. But she did seem to enjoy being the naked gardener and had created beautiful flower beds and vegetable gardens in each of the backyards. Grace had modified the fences in each of the yards. She had the fences heightened to provide a little more privacy and had removed the fences between the three yards. Now, the three houses formed a sort of compound. Despite the higher fences, however, Meredith still had to be careful not to be seen and sometimes, much to her dismay, she even had to wear clothes.
But Meredith's talents could be put to better use. Grace could buy or capture another girl to take care of the mundane tasks. Maybe Ted could even be put to use on those tasks if he returned. Grace planned for Meredith to become Alana's field assistant. When it came time to start designing a building, Alana would have to revisit a site, or a building if it was to be a remodel, and take vast numbers of measurements and pictures. Meredith could be trained to help with this and maybe even take on that role to free up Alana for more productive uses.
Kelly was taking on a lot of the inside jobs. She was the receptionist, file clerk, and typist. When supplies were needed, she ran to the store to get them. If prints needed to be delivered, she was the courier. But Grace wanted to use her to better advantage also. She had already talked to Alana about it before the slave was sent to France and Alana planned on teaching Kelly how to do the drawings and specifications on the computer when she returned.
As Grace was going over all of the upcoming changes, Alana was sitting on a plan over the Atlantic, heading home and reflecting on her past week at a chateau outside of Nice. As was usual during her consultations, she remained naked during most of the trip. Grace described this as an added benefit to the client. Grace believed that her nudity and the fact that she as a slave and could be used as a slave by the client, coupled with Alana's brilliant designs, gave Montcliff Designs a huge competitive advantage that would be difficult, if not impossible, to beat.
The client wanted a dungeon but didn't know what he wanted in a dungeon. So Grace had arranged a one week consultation with Alana. Then, through Charles, she had arranged tours of four of the best dungeons in Europe. So, for five days, she had traveled around Europe to see various designs and to gain ideas. In a whirlwind tour, she got to see Hamburg, Stockholm, Geneva and Paris. Every time a new device or toy was seen, it fell upon Alana to test it. And then, during the next leg of the journey, they would discuss what they saw and Alana would take notes and make sketches.
The dungeon owners were only too happy to show off their private dens of torture and captivity. They were all quite proud of their dungeons. And having a beautiful naked slave to try out the equipment made it a truly exquisite event for them.
One of the dungeons had and iron maiden in which she was locked as the host and her client took a break to enjoy wine and a cigar. She did not like that confinement at all, especially because of the tiny needles that lined the inside and pricked her with any slight movement.
Another of the dungeons had a medieval rack and Alana was stretched so tight that she thought her joints would be dislocated. She was left in this position for about thirty minutes while the host's teenage son and daughter played delightedly with her vulnerable body. Because she was strung so tightly, they could not get to her bottom, but not an inch of her front was spared as they pinched and stroked and suckled to their hearts content until she shrieked in a wild climax.