Trin thought it looked like alady’s private refreshment room—one she could go to in order to get away fromthe rest of the world and just relax with a hot libation and some fancifulreading material. Well—three fourths of the room looked that way, anyway. Incontrast to the rest of the snug little parlor, large viewscreens lined one ofthe walls. Under them was placed a complicated looking control panel. The sleektechnology clashed with the cozy comfort of the rest of the room, making itseem strange and out of place.

“Do take off your shoes please,”Lady Tam-tam said before Trin had barely taken a step. “You have to be gentlewith the Pompa fur rug. It’s alive,you know and it doesn’t take harsh treatment well.”

“Alive?” Trin looked down at thesoft white fur as she slipped off the ridiculously high heels that went withher dress. When she stepped into it barefoot, she sank in up to her ankles. Itwas like walking on silk that massaged her feet with every step but she didn’tlove the idea of walking on a living organism.

“Oh, yes indeed! And it’s very delicate.” Lady Tam-tam frowned.“In fact, someone must have beenwalking all over the poor thing with shoes on last night. See this?” Shepointed to a spot in front of the control panel where the white fur was mattedand trampled as though someone with heavy boots had stood on it. “One of the cleaningslaves no doubt. I’ll have to speak sharply to them later.”

“I see…” Trin frowned but shewas looking at the control panel, not the Pompafur rug. There were several knobs that seemed to have nothing to do withthe viewscreens but they were labeled with colors rather than words. She sawblue, green, scarlet, white, yellow, orange, pink…and black. What could itmean?

“I see you’re admiring my viewscreens,”Lady Tam-tam said, mistaking where Trin was looking. “Indeed, they’re mostuseful. This one corresponds to Dreaming Suite One.” She pointed to theviewscreen on the far right of the viewing wall. “This one is Dreaming SuiteTwo…” She motioned to the middle screen. “And this is Suite Three. Four andFive are hardly ever used.”

“Wait—that’s our room.” Trinmotioned to the middle screen which showed nothing but an empty room.

“Indeed it is,” Lady Tam-tamsaid tartly. “And I was preparing to ask you to leave it before the little showthe two of you put on just now.”

“So…you really were watchingus?” Trin felt the familiar burn of embarrassment as the blood rushed to hercheeks.

“Of course I was. I watch all the guests in my Dreaming Suites.”Lady Tam-tam settled herself in a plush chair before the control panel.“Look—this is Lady Needra and her love-slave Yorth last night.” She pushed abutton and the image on viewscreen one blurred for a moment.

When it came back into focus,Trin was shocked to see the blonde mistress on her hands and knees in thecenter of the vast bed with her slave behind her. He was gripping her hips andthrusting—clearly shoving his shaft as deeply into her pussy as he could andLady Needra was loving every minute of it. She moaned silently and thrust backagainst him, trying to take him as deep as possible.

“He’s fucking her,” Thracesaid flatly. “Thought you people didn’t believe in letting a male do that to afemale here.”

“Well we don’t, not officially, anyway.” Lady Tam-tam giggled. “But look,he’s not just fucking her. He’s breeding her.Watch.” She gestured to the screen.

To Trin’s dismay, she saw themuscular slave stop thrusting and press deeply into his mistress. He heldrigidly still, his fingers white as he gripped her hips, almost as though hewas pulsing inside her.

Coming—ohmy Goddess, he’s actually coming insideher! The ultimate blasphemy! The worst shame imaginable! she thought numbly as the slave pulled out,giving a clear view of his cum dripping from his mistress’s pussy.

“Such a chance she’s taking” Lady Tam-tam tittered. “You know she isn’t onany sort of contraception. But of course, that’s what makes her little displayso much fun—the risk.”

It was risky indeed—if Needragot pregnant with a male child there was no way to deny that she had made lovewith a male. Like the Daughters of Zetta Prime, the Yonnites went tocontraception centers and chose to have only female children.

Trin was shocked by the blatantdisplay, but somehow the sight didn’t sicken her as it should have. Instead,she suddenly had a mental image of herself and Thrace in the same positions. Theforbidden mental picture started a tingling and throbbing between her thighsand at the tips of her breasts. She shut her legs tightly and crossed her armsover her chest, trying to push the disturbing image away.

“There, you see?” Lady Tam-tamsaid. “Lady Needra always gives astellar performance—that’s the reason she’s forever welcome here and gets aDreaming Suite every time she comes.”

“We see,” Thrace rumbled. “But what aboutus?”

“I’ll show you—let me run backthe feed.”

Lady Tam-tam pushed more buttonsand the middle viewscreen whizzed into life as the empty room blurred tostatic. After a moment, their hostess pressed another button and the screen wasfilled with a new image—Thracelying on the bed with Trin curled up beside him, naked, her head pillowed onhis broad chest.

“Oh no, that’s too far. That’sfrom last night. A very disappointing performance!” Lady Tam-tam muttered,frowning at Trin. “I don’t believe you did a thing after allowing your slave to touch you and suck your breasts.Oh, besides a few kisses between your thighs that weren’t even very deep.”

“I—” Trin started to say butsomething stopped her. It was hard to tell in the dark room, but it seemed asif the image had suddenly gotten darker and more hazy. Almost as if some kindof black mist had filled the air over the sleeping platform and settled down onthe sleeping forms of herself and Thrace.

“What’s that?” Thrace rumbled, obviously seeingthe same thing.

“Dream gas of some kind.” LadyTam-tam frowned. “But…” She looked at the time signature at the bottom of thescreen. “This was after I had gone to bed. So who could have administered it?”

“I know who,” Thrace growled. He was staring atthe trampled place on the carpet—the spot where Trin had thought it looked likesomeone with boots had been standing. She exchanged glances with him.

“Lord X—he knew about mynightmare. He did this!”

“Nonsense—he has no idea wherethis room is.” Lady Tam-tam waved a bejewled hand dismissively. “Only a selectfew do, you know. And besides, he’s much too well mannered to do such a thing.”

“I think you’re wrong,” Trinsaid. “But why would you have a way to slip dream gas into the rooms anyway?”

“To provoke a response ofcourse—mostly sexual,” Lady Tam-tam snapped. “Why do you think these rooms arecalled ‘Dreaming Suites?’ But I don’tadminister the gas lightly. And in your case, I didn’t at all. I was hoping fora real performance—not an artificial one brought on by the gas.”

“Well, someone gassed us,” Trin said accusingly. “And I’m still betting itwas Lord X.” She watched the viewscreen. Clearly she had only taken a smallbreath of the gas before burying her face in Thrace’s side. He, however, hadbreathed in the black mist deeply. Despite that, it was Trin who startedthrashing, her sleeping face filled with agony and fear.

Trin watched, horrified andfascinated. Though there was no sound, she could almost hear her own frightenedmoans.

“My nightmare!” she exclaimed.“The gas is what caused it—it was awful.”

“Fucking bad one, too,” Thracegrowled from behind her. “Had a hell of a time getting you back to sleep. Doyou…” He cleared his throat. “Do you remember what it was about now?”

“No…” Trin frowned. Stop it! Let him go! The words echoed inher mind along with a quick flash of someone—someone she knew?—being tied upand hurt. But then the image was gone as quickly as it had come. “No,” sherepeated. “I don’t—it’s still a blank. I only know it was bad.”