Bought and Sold(32)

A dozen men and a handful of women had gathered in the gallery that overlooked the auction hall where the slaves were to be displayed and sold. Delgardo stood talking with a smartly suited elderly man and a middle-aged woman, immaculate in a Chanel skirt and blazer, though her expensive cotton blouse already clung to her body from perspiration. Even with the skylight windows opened wide it was stifling hot. The large fans, slowly revolving, seemed to only stir up the hot air. Delgardo had served chilled champagne to each of his visitors but the fine vintage Bollinger, stolen from a luxury yacht sailing down the coast that his men had boarded, was warm before more than a few sips had been enjoyed.

In the arena below a young white girl was struggling between two of his men. The girl was naked except for a collar about her neck and rope around her wrists. Her dark hair was tied in two pigtails and a rope was bound to each, the other end of which the men held. The girl's hands were bound together behind her back with rope. The prospective buyers in the gallery looked down with a degree of curiosity or amusement each time the girl cried out.

She looked to be about twenty at the most. She was long legged and slim. The two men worked against her as a team. Each held a trailing whip in one hand and in the other one of the ropes, bound into the pigtails of her shiny dark hair. One man would pull the rope he held; the girl's head would be dragged towards him and she would grunt in discomfort and lurch towards him. The other man would then flick his whip so it snaked down across her back. Then as the girl cried out, the man who'd just whipped her would tighten his cord drawing her stumbling backwards. The other man would then strike her across her legs or chest with his whip.

As Delgardo's clients milled around, waiting for the late arrivals and their glasses of champagne were kept topped up by a serving maid, the girl in the arena was dragged backwards and forwards. Each time there was the crack of a whip she howled and another trailing red line marked her tender skin. By the time all the potential buyers had arrived and taken their seats, the girl's body was covered with whip marks, mostly across her buttocks and the backs of her thighs but there were plenty too across her firm young breasts, her taut stomach and her tethered arms.

At a signal from Delgardo, the men released her and the girl's true nature revealed itself. Without having to be ordered she knelt in front of each man in turn and serviced them eagerly with her mouth. Her cheeks hollowed as she sucked at their engorged cocks, one hand stroking the shaft, the other one working frantically between her legs. As each man reached his climax and his come splashed hot and thick against the back of her throat, she gave contented groans. At a further signal the men dragged the girl from the arena and a silence descended over the gathered company.

'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Rouassa slave market. I am very appreciative of the efforts that you have made to get here. I am confident that once you see the quality of our slaves, you will feel that your journeys have been worthwhile.' Delgardo took a sip of champagne to clear his throat.

The floor of the hall was sand and it felt like he was having to breathe it in. He hated it here, but he was forced to admit that it was by far the safest place to run his business from. The corrupt government of Karunga practically supported and encouraged his enterprise, which in most civilised countries would have been condemned. He scanned the faces of his audience. Quite a few were regulars: Americans, French, German, Japanese: all wealthy and all searching for new acquisitions. Some liked to keep just a single slave at a time but most had harems.

'There are seven girls on offer today,' Delgardo continued, 'if you haven't already got details of them, there are buyer's catalogues on the marble table by the door. I think then, without any more pre-amble, let us see lot number one.'

Led by a collar and pole leash a tall young girl was brought into the centre of the hall. She looked angrily around her, her head held high, her bright blue eyes blazing with fury. The man leading her kept a wary eye on her as he paraded her around the circular room. The leather collar around her neck was very broad and forced her chin up. A ball gag silenced the girl and her arms were strapped tightly behind her back with her hands covered by a single leather glove that was laced tightly around her wrists.

Delgardo knew this girl was the most volatile of the slaves he wished to sell today. A college girl from a wealthy Boston family of bankers she had been kidnapped and held to ransom. Her family though had refused to pay the ransom and the kidnappers had panicked as the Police had closed in on them. A contact Delgardo had in America had bought the girl on the cheap from them. Now she was paraded and the bidding started by raised hands with Delgardo's secretary keeping an eye on the bidders.

'Am I bid any more then for lot number one?' Delgardo looked expectantly around the faces before him. No one responded and the American girl was announced sold. As if suddenly realising what had happened to her she tried to break free but her efforts were useless. She couldn't escape from the man who held her and because of the pole clipped to her collar she couldn't get any nearer to him, although she tried. The man watched as she kicked out wildly in his direction. Delgardo gave the merest nod and two more men appeared at a jog, both holding lassoes. The next time the girl kicked out a rope snaked around her foot and was jerked tight, closing around her ankle then dragging her off balance. The other man lassoed her other ankle and together they dragged her on her back out of the hall.

Lot number two was a Japanese airline hostess, who had been drugged in a nightclub and had woken to find herself in a packing crate, marked "Fragile - with care". Lot number three, a Swedish blonde who had been backpacking across Europe when she was abducted, went for a similar price to the Japanese girl. Both of them had exhibited submissive natures and had taken to their training very well. The bidding was brisk and slightly better than average, thought Delgardo, as he called for lot number four.

He would be glad when today's business was concluded. He always felt anxious on the actual auction days. Not because of the auction itself, but because of other considerations. Most of his prospective clients were dangerous people on the wrong side of the law and they attracted too much unwanted attention. There had been, he was sure, several occasions when some had been followed to Rouassa. Probably by the authorities of their country, who had been tracking them. Sinister boats, planes, and foreigners suddenly appeared in Karunga then disappeared as suddenly as the visitors to the auction did after they'd bought their new acquisitions. Delgardo had even wondered whether some criminal ring was watching his operation and was preparing to take control of it.

'Lot number four ladies and gentlemen...'

The English girl was led in on a collar and leash. She had been strapped to a cross that Delgardo had designed himself. Made from bamboo, one length of the cross held the girls arms outstretched, while the other length ran the length of her spine. The poles pressed against her back and held her arms drawn slightly back so that she was forced to maintain an upright stance with her breasts jutting forwards. Her nipples, bound with the invisible thread, stood proud from her dark areoles.

Two leather straps were fastened to the bottom of the pole and these had been fed between her legs and pulled tightly back over the insides of her thighs before being screwed back onto the bamboo pole. The straps drew the globes of her arse apart then prevented her from closing her thighs. This way her sex was kept clearly on show. Another leather strap was drawn tightly under the girl's breasts and fixed to the pole. It served not just to keep the girl strapped to the pole but exaggerated the prominence of her breasts by pressing tightly against her rib cage under their swell. Her whole body had been oiled so that her tanned skin shone. With her sex now shaved the delicate pink folds of flesh were clearly exposed as she was made to parade around the hall.

'Lot four: English, mid-twenties. Lovely condition, freshly broken in. She responds well to the whip and she makes for a challenging ride. She's very bright and as you'll see from her background notes, she was a British secret agent. She's probably trained in hand to hand combat so don't take any chances with her, her bite will be worse than her bark.'

A ripple of laughter went through the crowd. The English girl looked up at him, glaring with anger. She seemed to snarl silently at him, her generous bow shaped lips curling back and exposing her clenched teeth. The crowd laughed and Delgardo smiled to himself.

Amongst Delgardo's henchmen was an old, alcoholic German dentist. An hour ago, Delgardo had leant in the doorway of the room he used and had watched him at work. Zoe had been strapped down onto his dentist's chair and a ring gag forced into her mouth to keep her jaws held open. Delgardo's henchman had then applied a modified filling cement over the tops of the girl's molars. The gag was then removed and her jaws were forced closed and held.

With the paste set hard, Zoe's teeth were effectively clamped together, making it impossible for her to speak. After a day the paste would begin to dissolve but for the moment all she could do, as she was paraded around the auction hall, was to snarl like a captured wild animal.

Delgardo looked down at the English girl and smiled with satisfaction.

'So who would like to open the bidding?'

Immediately a hand was raised.

'Any advance upon...'