I wondered if the new fur coat I was wearing had anything to do with the uptick in my clientele. It had been given to me by another Earth girl who had also been sold by the Commercians to an alien male.
Her name was Elli and I had felt an immediate connection to her even though our friendship had lasted barely an hour. She wanted me to come with her when she left O’nagga Nine, but I wasn’t too sure when I heard how the alien who had bought her was treating her. He was her “Master” and she was supposed to be his “Pet.” I mean, she had a collar and everything!
It seemed pretty kinky to me, though don’t get me wrong—it’s not like I have anything against the Lifestyle or the Kink Community. But I wasn’t sure I would be welcome into the exclusive little relationship they seemed to have going. Plus, Elli told me they were headed to a whole different galaxy and I just wanted to go home to Earth.
Also, there was the tracker chip that R’xs had put in my neck. I had seen what he did to “his girls” when they tried to run away. One of them—a Blood Whore by the name of Ger’tha—had tried to get away with a client who fell in love with her but didn’t want to pay off her contract.
R’xs tracked them off planet and used a knife to basicallycarve off her face.Mar’ra, who had seen the whole thing, told me he had been grinning and humming to himself the whole time—like a man whittling or doing some other innocent, relaxing hobby to pass the time—even as Ger’tha screamed and begged and bled all over the place. She was still working for him, but she wore a hood now so clients wouldn’t be put off by the mass of raw flesh that was left where her face had been.
After seeing what had happened to Ger’tha, I had been too frightened to try and run away myself. So I had turned down Elli’s offer to go with her and “Sir” which was what she called her Master.
She hadn’t wanted to leave me with nothing, though, so she had given me the heavy fur overwrap she’d been wearing to keep warm, saying she wouldn’t need it when she left O’nagga Nine. I was more than glad and grateful to have it, too. It was much warmer than the ragged, second-hand fur I’d been wearing.
Though I hated to do it, I’d had to have the new coat dyed bright, poison green—I couldn’t legally operate as a Blood Whore unless I wore their signature color. But even dyed a garish green, the fur looked richer and more luxurious than my old coat.
It must be what was attracting this kind of client, I speculated. Either that or he just had a sudden taste for exotic blood and couldn’t find any anywhere else. His kind usually went to much higher class prostitutes called “Blood Brides.” They came from the upper echelons of Naggian society—girls who had fallen from grace in some way or were sold to help their family continue to live in the luxury and status they had become accustomed to.
I saw the Blood Brides sometimes, wrapped in luxurious green fur stoles that looked much richer than the ragged green furs we common Blood Whores wore. They wore gorgeous sleeveless gowns with plunging necklines, showing off their swan-like throats and slender white wrists in a blatant display of Naggian sexuality.
Usually they were on the arm of some well-heeled Naggian male dressed like the client in front of me but they never acknowledged any of us Blood Whores. We were beneath them and I, as ahsh’frux,was beneath even the other girls I worked with. I was the lowest of the low in Naggian society, so the fact that a male of such obvious status and wealth would come looking for my services must mean he wanted something specific he couldn’t get elsewhere.
“How much, girl?” he demanded again, frowning at me. “And make it quick—I have to be getting home before the Sweepers come out!”
I bit my lip. A client this rich could afford to pay a special price. I might even make enough to pay the rent on my bolthole for the next several months. It would be nice to have some breathing room—I was constantly in fear of getting kicked out—which would amount to a death sentence unless one of my fellow Blood Whores would let me stay with them. Since Mar’ra had been traded to another Blood Pimp in a whole different city and was working there, I doubted anyone else would take me in. So having a rich client could really be a Godsend.
“Forty creds,” I said at last, hoping he would go for it. It was twice what I normally charged for a bite but a male like this would never miss it—it would be pocket change to him.
He paused to consider me for a moment, then nodded.
“All right—forty creds seems reasonable for a…how do you girls call it? A fuck and a suck?” He laughed—a rich, fruity chuckle I disliked at once. “Yes, I think that’s it—a fuck and a suck.”
“Sorry, but I think you have me wrong,” I said, frowning at him. “See, Ionlysell my blood—nothing else. So I’m afraid I can only do the ‘suck’ part for you. If you want other services, you can see one of the other Blood Whores down by the love tunnel.” I pointed in the direction where most of the other girls were working. “They can help you out.”
It hurt to give up a rich client and send him to some other girl, but I wasnotgoing to start selling my ass. I absolutely, positively drew the line right there and I wasn’t making an exception for anyone—especially some rich asshole who probably only wanted the “thrill” of fucking an exotichsh’fruxso he could bring it up in conversation later on with his rich, entitled friends and laugh about me and what a pitiful creature I was.
But the prospective client wasn’t going to be put off that easily.
“No.” He frowned at me petulantly. “I don’twantanother girl—I wantyou.I want to try ahsh’fruxfuck and suck and that’sexactlywhat you’re going to give me.”
I put a hand on my hip.
“Maybe you didn’t hear me—I donotsell my ass—I only sell my blood! If you want more, you’ll have to ask another girl becauseI’m not the one for you.”
“Oh, yes you are, you dirty littlehsh’frux.”His eyes flashed and he caught me by the arm of my green fur coat. Pushing his face into mine, he leered at me, showing long, curving fangs. “You’reexactlywhat I want—so deliciouslynastyandlow.I want to see how sinking my cock into a Warm Blood’s pussy feels, while I drink that hot, red blood of yours!”
“Well, you’re not getting anywherenearthis Warm Blood’s pussy!” I spat at him, trying to yank my arm out of his grasp. “Now let me go, you perverted asshole!”
The issue seemed in question and I shoved my hand in the pocket of the big fur coat, fumbling for the small can of “Get Off” that Mar’ra had advised me to buy. It was the Naggian equivalent of pepper spray and had cost a whole week’s earnings but it was worth it not to get raped by handsy, entitled clients like the one accosting me now.
But instead of the “Get Off” canister, my seeking fingers curled around a long, slim wire. Pulling it out instinctively, I shoved it in my would-be-rapist’s face. To my surprise, it crackled and spit like a red sparkler—the kind you get as a kid on the Fourth of July.
“What the—?” He jumped back, releasing my arm at last. “Where did you get the Baron’s sigil?” he demanded, glaring at me.
Actually, the red sparkler had come with the coat. Elli had used it to drive off another handsy client—I was getting more and more of those lately—when she first met me. Apparently her Master, Sir, had been a friend or client of Baron Vik’tor, who owned the building I lived in and a great deal of the rest of the city as well.
Elli had forgotten the sigil and I had too—until that very moment. Let me tell you, it worked better than any canister of pepper spray or “Get Off” possibly could. The “high class” client who had been trying to rape me recoiled from it like…well, like a vampire in a horror movie when the priest holds out a cross. He even did that tired old trope where the vampire hisses and bares his fangs.
I took a step forward, keeping the red sparkler between us. It was very gratifying to see thatIhad the power now.