„I almost have got used to being bound and gagged permanently, but why can`t they just let me have some sleep?“, Zenobia thought with growing desparation.
The problem was that, though Mei had ordered to punish only her, her current bondage brought discomfort for her companions, too. To prevent any further escapes, the foreign slaves were all locked in the same badroom. This would not have been inconvenient, since the room was well equipped with beds with silk sheets. However, Wanjun had persuaded Mei to „have some fun“ with the girls. Obviously, Wanjun`s sense of humour was more than just a bit mean.
Both Arlette and Olga were tied spreadeagle on two adjacent beds. Their wrists and ankles were tied to the bedposts, a position that was more inconvenient for Olga, since her arms and legs were shorter than Arlette`s, meaning that she was spread wide on the bed. But Arlette, who was more prudish than Olga, suffered from not being able to close her legs, since they both were stark naked. Though there was no reason for that than increasing the discomfort and the humiliation, both had their mouths stuffed with silk scarves, secured by tight cloth strips tied between their lips.
However, though both girls were forced to be naked, bound and gagged for the entire night, both Diane and especially Zenobia would have swapped deliberately with them. Diane was seated in a chair, facing the foot ends of the beds, standing some two yards away. The chair was fixed to a column to prevent her from changing it`s position. Diane`s hands were tied behind the backrest and fixed to the chair legs and her legs were bent over the armrests and tied there at her knees, forcing her to keep her thighs spread and allowing her to flail about with her lower legs. The blonde was gagged with a scarf stuffed into her cheeks and another one parting her lips, too, and she also was stark naked – just like Zenobia. Since they were only women, their nudity wasn`t their worst problem, but Wanjun had proved that she was as resourceful as Xiao – but had no sympathy for her victims.
Zenobia was sitting on the floor between the chair and the two beds. Her arms were folded behind her back and then, her forearms had been tied together, followed by more ropes running over her chest and between her breasts, welding her arms to her body. From her arms, a tight rope was running to Diane`s lap where it was tied to the blonde`s crotch rope. The arrangement wasn`t applied very tightly, as long as Zenobia stayed in a sitting position, but whenever she tried to lower her upper body to the ground, a groan from Diane in her back told her that she was pulling the rope deeper between her friend`s legs.
Zenobia`s legs were stretched and tied to the crotch ropes Arlette and Olga were forced to wear. So, whenever she tried to shift the position of her legs, she pulled on these ropes, causing quite different reactions. Arlette was blushing all over and shook her head no on every slight move she made, obviously suffering from the intimacy of the arrangement. Olga, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the teasing and from time to time answered to Zenobia`s twitches by moving her hips.
Drawing by hugues66
However, it was frustrating for the young Russian that Zenobia did not help her in having some fun with her crotch rope, for an additional cruelty forced her to remain almost perfectly still.
From Zenobia`s own crotch rope, a long chain was running over a ceiling beam. On the other end, a silver bell was attached. This bell weighed some two or three pounds, meaning the pressure on Zenobia`s most intimate parts wasn`t painful, not even inconvenient. It was like a finger resting on her clit, emphasizing her helplessness and irritating her, but far from being stimulating. The problem was that the bell would swing from movement. And if it swang more than just a few millimetres, it would produce sounds, of course. Before she had left Zenobia to lie down on another bed in the same room, Wanjun had warned Zenobia:
„For every time this bell disturbs my sleep, all of you will stay in this position for one additional hour. And I must warn you, I have got a very light sleep.“
„Mmmhhhhmmmmm!“
Zenobia groaned into her gag with frustration. Wanjun had taken great care in silencing her. Not only was she again gagged with her knickers stuffed into her mouth and a scarf tied between her lips, cutting into the corners of her mouth. Over that, a narrow strip of wet leather had been tied, shrinking whilst it dried and so pushing the gag in deeper and deeper as the hours passed. Another strap, upholstered by a scarf tied under it, was tied over her head and knotted under her chin. It prevented her from moving her lower jaw down and as the leather dried, it forced the girl to close her mouth more and more, chewing harder and harder on Andrea`s knickers and reducing her moaning to faint groans deep in her throat.
„Mmmhhmmmph!“, Arlette answered. Zenobia didn`t move her head, for from her position on the floor, she would only be able to see the French`s feet. However, Arlette did at least have the same meaning about staying as motionless as possible. Olga, who wanted Zenobia to move her leg and to increase the pressure on her crotch rope, didn`t stop wriggling and writhing and so, Zenobia had to balance out these moves to prevent the bell from swinging. She was already feeling totally exhausted, but she did not dare to lower her upper body and to pull on Diane`s crotch rope.
„Uuuhhmmmm!“
Desparately, Zenobia looked up to the little opening in the ceiling, hoping for the first signs of the coming dawn.
***
At midnight, Little Fox and his friend sneaked back to the girls`s bivouac. They had withdrawn a bit to work out a stratagem. In the forest, it would be difficult to handle more than one horse. In addition, the two Indian girls would not get them as much money as the two Whites. So, they decided to leave them here, bound and gagged to give them a head start of a few hours whilst they were getting the others to their camp.
The four girls had been sitting by their camp fire and talked for a while, but now, they were sleeping, except for one of the two Indians who was sitting there, holding a gun and looking up with fearful eyes whenever a strange sound from the forest`s animals could be heard. Little Fox knew that this was the most difficult part: getting hold of the guard. He was not afraid of the frightened girl, but she was armed, like her companions and if she would be able to alarm them, they could hurt or kill their attackers by a lucky shot. So, they had planned to overpower her first and waited for an opportunity to do so.
After a while, they could see that the girl was looking closely at her sleeping companions. Then, she stood up and went for the tree behind which Little Fox was hiding. For a few seconds, he thought that she had detected him, but then, he saw that she had left her gun by the fire.
Once behind the tree, Amila opened her belt and lowered her trousers, followed by her knickers. A lapping and a sigh told the two men standing by what she was doing. They attacked Amila literally with her pants down. Little Fox pressed a prepared wad on her mouth and pushed her against the tree whilst his friend grabbed her arms. Before the girl even had realized what was happening, her wrists were tied behind the tree trunk and the cloth ball in her mouth was secured by a leather band.
„Mhhmmphh! Uuhhmmmm!“
Drawing by hugues66
Amila moaned and flailed with her legs, still trapped in her crumpled trousers and knickers. Little Fox took a rope and tied it around her head and the tree, pinning her head against the trunk and putting additional pressure to her gag. Then, they looked at the other three girls. One of them was moving in her sleeping bag and the men prepared for an attack. Then, Little Fox looked closer and he smiled. The brown haired girl had her eyes closed and was panting heavily. The sleeping bag was hiding her forms, but he was sure that her hand had found it`s way between her legs.
„Well, she will be able to finish that once she is in our camp“, he thought as he and his companion silently approached.
Andrea had indeed thought that the privacy of the night and the sleeping bag would allow her to get some relief from the erotic dreams haunting her. Strange enough, though she was of course thinking of Zenobia, sometimes the image of Mei appeared in front of her inner eye. She could not remember having seen the Sultan`s concubine naked, but here she was, sometimes replacing Zenobia in her fantasies. However, Andrea now was only concentrating on her body`s desires.
„Ooouuuhhhmmmmmmpphhh!“
As she parted her lips to emit a sigh of pleasure, she felt something large and soft on her lips. One second later, Andrea`s mouth was stuffed full with cloth and a heavy weight was pressing her down.
„Uuuhhhmmmm! Mhhhmmmm! Mmmhhmmmph!“
Realizing with horror what was happening, Andrea tried to scream and to wriggle herself free, but her attackers had no problems in securing her gag with a leather strip and to wrap a long rope around and around the sleeping bag, keeping her like in a cocoon. When a man threw her over his shoulder, she desparately tried to wake her companions, but they did not react to her frantic mmphing and soon, the light of the camp fire disappeared from her view.
Andrea was thrown over a saddle and tied to it. Vigorously, she tried to free herself and to get the gag from her mouth, but to no avail. After a few minutes, she could hear approaching steps, a faint moaning and some giggling. Two men appeared, carrying a woman, tied up like her. Andrea could not see much in the dark, but she saw a glimpse of red hair: Charlotte, squirming and moaning like mad, was tied to the other horse. Then, still giggling like two school boys who had just committed a prank, their captors mounted the horses and rode of with the two bound and gagged women.
Left by the camp fire, Ela still hadn`t fully realized what had happened. She always slept very soundly and she had also taken some sips from the Gin Charlotte had offered to them. So, it had taken her some time to find out that she now was tightly wrapped by coils of rope, still trapped in her sleeping bag. Her mouth was stuffed full with some cloth tickling her throat and a tight band cut into the corners of her lips.
„Mhhmmmph! Uuhhhmmmmm!“
Wriggling and moving her head, Ela looked around. Two sleeping bags were gone whilst the empty one of Amila was still there, but there was no sign of her friend. After a while, she could see a pair of hands bound behind a tree, only some ten yards away. Since the camp fire had nearly burnt down, she could not say who it was, but sure it was another woman, tied up like her.
„I must get over to her! It`s our only chance to get free!“, she thought. As for the key word, the fire now went out, leaving the girl in complete darkness.
***
Jacqueline had come to a very simple conclusion: if she obeyed the rules, she would be treated well; if she disobeyed, she would be punished. It was just like in the girls`high school, but here, she was not expected to just be home on time and to do her homeworks.
After they had taken her from her humiliating strappado, Jacqueline had been brought back to the tent where they had loosened her bonds and tied her hands behind a post, allowing her to lie on a blanket. Then, some women had entered and started to wash her. Jacqueline had first squirmed and moaned, but the Chinese were gentle and it was quite convenient to be treated like that. So, she gave in and allowed them to wash her whole body and to put some oil on her. When they ungagged her, she did not scream and instead enjoyed the water and fruits she was offered. Then, they left her for the night.
Drawing by hugues66
Since only her wrists were bound, Jacqueline could move in her bonds and so, she could chew on the ropes. After a while, she was free. Her clothes were ripped, except for the knickers that had gagged her, but she decided against theseand wrapped herself in her blanket before peeping out of the tent.
Some ten yards away, two men were sitting by a fire. They were talking and not taking care of her tent. Jacqueline was barefoot and naked except for her blanket, but she was quite experienced in sneaking, since she had more than once come back to her dorm in the midst of the night. So, she tried to get over to the horses.
However, the two warriors were not as hard-hearing as the dorm`s janitor and so, after only a few steps, she was detected. One of them called something in Chinese and Jacqueline started to run. The blanket flew away and she tried to hide between the tents, but after some steps, she stumbled over a guy rope and fell. Before she could get up again, a hand grabbed one of her ankles.
„No! You bastards! Let me go! No!“
Jacqueline screamed and tried to get free, but now, the other guard had reached her, too. Together, they carried her into the tent of the Black Fox who was awake, but only wore a loincloth. He said something to the men and they tied her arms behind the main post at wrists and elbows. The bonds were so tight she could not lower her body and had to remain standing with her boobs thrust out.
„Please, don`t hurt me, please!“, Jacqueline pleaded when the Black Fox approached. He reached for her hair, but instead of pulling on her scalp, he let her tresses run through his fingers. Jacqueline looked up to him with fearful eyes.
„Behave and you treated well. Not run away.“
„Please, my uncle has got money, he will give you all youuuuuhhhhmmmmppphhh!“
The Black Fox clamped her mouth shut and grabbed her hair a bit more firmly, but still far from being brutal.
„If I talk, you silent. Understand?“
He looked at her and seemed to wait for something. After a minute, Jacqueline nodded slightly and moaned to agree.
„Mmhhmmmm!“
The Black Fox withdrew his hand and started to play with her right earlobe. Jacqueline shuddered and panted, but forced herself to remain calm. Perhaps, if she did not resist him too much, he would not hurt her.
„Behave, and you treated well“, he repeated. He continued to caress her ears and neck. He was standing so close that she could smell the Black Fox had obviously taken a bath. He smelled different from the men she had had before, but it was a masculine and arousing scent. Jacqueline looked up into the man`s eyes.
„I am helpless and he can do with me whatever he wants. But perhaps, I can play this game with my rules. After all, he`s just a man“, she thought.
Taking a deep breath, she slung her leg around the Black Fox`s and started to caress his calf with her heel. He raised an eyebrow and smiled and Jacqueline slightly blushed. She knew that this was wrong and that she should be afraid and disgusted. But she had decided that she wanted to live. She used her leg to pull him closer and forced herself to smile.
„I will behave – Master“, she breathed and he reached behind her back and pulled her closer. His chest rubbed over her boobs and Jacqueline felt her nipples harden. When he kissed her, she involuntarily closed her eyes. This man was a kidnapper, a thug and he was about to abuse her, but he definitely knew how to use his lips and tongue. With a sigh, she kissed him back and when she felt his fingers around her butt, she slung her legs around him, pulling him close to her nude body. She felt his manhood pressing against her loins and groaned with anticipation. However, after a few moments, he withdrew.
„Wha-what?“, she stammered with reddened cheeks and looking puzzled at him.
„Sultan will like you.“
„S-S-Sultan? Wha-what d-do you mean, no, I-“
Jacqueline could not believe that this man was not aroused by her presence and was talking about some Sultan. Did he intent to-?
„Sultan will pay much gold.“
Jacqueline protested, but the Black Fox reached for a piece of cloth and firmly stuffed her mouth. She could taste that it were a pair of knickers. But her`s were still lying in the other tent!
„Uuhhmmmph! Nnnngggg! Mmhhmmmmph!“
She tried to fight getting gagged with another woman`s used underwear, but the Black Fox just worked all of the vile tasting fabric behind her teeth before tying a strip of cloth between her lips.
„Mhhmmmph! Hhhrrrrrrr!“
She weakly kicked him, but he just smiled.
„Sultan will love you.“
Ignoring her muffled protests, he went back to his bed and soon, she heard his snoring. Jacqueline trembled, half from fear and half from self-disgust. She had behaved like a whore and had reached nothing! She had read stories about blonde girls who were abducted and sold to a harem, but she had always considered this to be something from a long gone past, not a fate happening to her, in the 19th century!
„Mmmhhhhhmmmmmpppphhhh!“, she screamed through her gag, but this did not cause a reaction from the man sleeping close to her. Now, Jacqueline had no longer a desire for a less boring life, but now, it was too late.
***
„Mmmhhhhhhrrrrrrr!“
Amila screamed her lungs out when something touched her fingers. Since the thugs had left, Amila had tried to get her wrists free, but to no avail. She had moaned and tried to call for help, but her gag had stifled her desparate cries. After a while, the girl had sat in enforced silence with no other chance than to wait for dawn. She shivered when she felt the leaves on her naked legs. Whoever would find her, would see her with her pants and knickers down, an embarrassing thought. But as the time passed, she had given up fighting and just tried to calm down a bit.
But now, she felt something touch her fingers. Amila didn`t know which animals were in these forests, but she was sure that it was at least a bear or a tiger. She pulled on her bonds when once again something touched her hands, followed by a grunt. Whatever it was, it had not bitten her yet, but it would only be a matter of time.
„Mmhhhhhrrrrrrr! Nnnggggg! Uuhhhmmmmm!“
„Mph!“, the creature answered. Again, something pushed against her fingers and this time, Amila felt something soft and smooth – something like the skin of a woman.
„Mph!“
Amila carefully felt what actually was touching her and touched some skin and a human nose. It was another person! A woman, according to the mmphing sounds the other one made.
„Oh gods, it`s one of us! They haven`t taken all of us with them!“
she let her fingers wander and sensed a leather band parting a pair of soft lips. The other`s mouth pressed against her hands.
„Mph! Mph!“
„Mhhmmmmm!“
Amila, now understanding what the other girl wanted, began to work on the other`s gag with numb fingers. After what seemed ages, she heard a croaking voice:
„Phew! It took me hours to get over to you! Is it you, Amila?“
„Mmmhhmmm!“, Amila confirmed and nodded enthusiastically, though Ela could not see it. She was more than relieved that the beast had turned out to be her friend, though obviously bound like her.
„Right, Amila. I will try to chew through your bonds! Just hold still!“
It was a strange feeling when Ela was working on her wrists, but finally, Amila could yank her hands free. She immediately ungagged herself and let out a cry of sheer desparation. Then, she quickly adjusted her clothes before she turned to her companion and touched for her bound body. In the darkness, it took her some time since Ela was free, but finally, they could hug each other. Then, Ela asked:
„Wasn`t it your watch?“
Amila started to cry and Ela once again took her in her arms.
„Let it out, dear, let it out!“
Then, when they had calmed down abit, they considered what to do. after some rummaging, Ela had found her lighter and had lit an oil lamp.
„well, it seems we still have our horses, our weapons and our equipment. They have taken nothing, except Charlotte and Miss Benson.“
Amila shuddered. She remembered that Charlotte and Ela had laughed about her concerns about going into a foreign land. And now, her worst nightmare had come true. Well, nearly her worst, since she still was unharmed and untouched.
„But what shall we do? Wait for the morning and go back to Tengyue?“
Ela shook her head.
„Whoever did this will be up and away until we are back here with the men – if they haven`t left without us, since Charlotte`s letter says she is visiting the temple in the other direction. No. We will have to follow her tracks by ourselves.“
„Are you mad?“, Amila blurted, „you want to follow these thugs whom we have so narrowly escaped? They will kill us!“
„If they had intended to kill us, we would be dead already. But we can`t leave Charlotte in their clutches! We must follow their tracks, no matter how much we are afraid.“
„B-but I am very afraid“, Amila said. Ela had taken her rifle and checked the magazine.
„Well, so am I. But I am even more afraid of how I will feel if we run away now and will once hear that Charlotte has been killed.“
Amila wast the least convinced, but when in the light of the dawn Ela had found the traces of the abductor`s horses and prepared their horses, she helped and followed her friend on her rescue mission.
***
„Wooooohhhhoooo!“
Little Fox let out a howl of triumph when they rode into the camp. It was only a few minutes after sunset and only the guards and the women preparing breakfast were awake. But soon, these had seen what was hanging over the men`s horses and after a short while, they were surrounded by almost whole the clan. Little Fox clapped Andrea`s butt covered by the sleeping bag and laughed:
„It seems that there is a prey for every hunter in these forests!“
„What the hell are you talking about?“, a loud voice said. The men build a lane for the Black Fox who now stepped close to his son who loked at him with a proud smile.
„Look, father, what I found when I was looking for some antelopes!“ he reached for Andrea`s scalp and raised her head so that his father could see her face. To his surprise, his father didn`t seem impressed, but concerned.
„Where have you picked up that woman, son?“
Little Fox frowned. What was it this time? Every time he did something on his own accord, the Black Fox found something to complain about. He wasn`t as strict as other fathers, but he had a way that Little Fox always felt as if he had done something silly. But now, he had just kidnapped two white women, just like the Black Fox had done before!
„They were on the road from Tengyue, some three or four hours from here. Strange, they were only four women and not a single man!“
The Black Fox looked at him and the other rider.
„Four women? I can see only two.“
Charlotte, who could understand something of the conversation, tried to get some attention by mmphing through her gag, but the two men didn`t take care of her. Andrea just hoped that the man would release her hair.
„The other two were two Indian maids. We left them at their bivouac, since the market is better for Whites!“
The Black Fox looked as if he had bitten into a lemon. Then, he came closer and put his hand on Little Fox`s thigh.
„My son, you really have to learn to think before you act. Haven`t you asked yourself why these women where there, alone and on their way to Dali? I am sure the Sultan has not sent for them, and even if he had, the British wouldn`t have sent an all female embassy.“
Little Fox let Andrea`s head go and shook off his father`s hand. He now really was angry and told the Black Fox:
„Oh, of course, if you kidnap white girls to sell them on the slave market, everyone praises you! But if I do the same, you do as if I have made a mistake!“
The Black Fox sighed. He loved his son and he understood that the young hotspur tried to prove that he could act on his own. However, there was a problem with that woman.
„If you hadn`t been away for hunting some weeks ago, you would have been here when she“, he pointed at Andrea, „has been here for the first time. We had taken her from an Imperial officer and sold her to the Sultan the next day. So, how on earth did she get on the road from Tengyue to Dali. And as you said, she was on her way back to Dali, the town where I have sold her some weeks ago! Can you explain this to me?“
Once more, Little Fox felt like he had done when he had been five years old and his father had reprimanded him for breaking some pots. He looked so puzzled that the Black Fox involuntarily smiled and clapped his son`s thigh.
„Son, if I had been in your situation, I would have acted the same way. But the problem is that there are only two possibilities why this woman is on the streets instead of the harem. If she has been sent by the Sultan, he will not be amused that we have abducted her. And if she has escaped and we offer her to him once more, he might suspect that we have arranged that to sell the same merchandise twice. But now, let`s get them to my tent and have some tea. I am sure you also haven`t had breakfast yet.“
Little Fox was surprised that his father talked to him almost like he did when he talked to his adjutants. They carried the still squirming and mewing Charlotte and a quite calm Andrea into the chief`s tent where six eyes fell on the naked, bound and gagged Jacqueline who greeted them with a faint moaning.
Whilst Andrea only felt some indistinct pity for the newest victim of the Black Fox, Charlotte mmphed with fear when she saw the nude girl and squirmed in her tight cocoon. Little Fox`s feelings were different. This girl was really pretty and there was something in her eyes that fascinated him. Perhaps, if he asked his father...
„Sit down and concentrate on your old man. I know she`s worth a look, but I intend to sell her to the Sultan – if we are still in a position to trade with him.“
Little Fox frowned and his father explained his concerns to him:
„Well, if that woman has escaped from the palace and he suspects us to have helped her, he might think of setting an example. And if she was on a mission for him, he will not be happy that we have caught her, too. Either way, it`s better if Du Wenxiu never meets her again.“
Little Fox sipped from his tea and nodded slowly. He understood that his father didn`t blame him. It was just an unlucky coincidence. He looked at the two bound and gagged women lying on the floor, but always, his eyes fell on the naked blonde tied to the post. Then, he pulled himself together and asked:
„But what shall we do with them?“
„We can`t just set them free and send them away. But we also can`t keep them here for long. Not only would your mother complain, our living in the camp is not appropriate for establishing my own harem. And there`s another problem: those Indian girls you were talking about.“
His son looked questioningly and the Black Fox continued:
„I am afraid it was not your best idea to leave them behind you. They might alarm the wrong people. We better find a way of getting them into our hands, too.“
***