Dark Passions: Dark Romance Boxed Set, page 62
“After I was abducted, I thought that I had been mistaken about your feelings for me and that you would not rescue me, but you did. Every time I would wake up after you brought me home, your face was the first thing I saw and the first voice I heard. You proved your love and devotion to me many times over. You also showed me your true self, and that is the man that I fell in love with. I only hope that I can be the wife that you want me to be.
“Neenah, all you have to be is yourself,” Max said as he cuddled up next to Neenah on the bed.
“You look really tired,” Neenah proclaimed as Max yawned, proving her statement.
“I did not sleep much while I was gone. I was too busy worrying about you and missing you. I have a feeling that from now on, any time that I go on a business trip, I will have to take you with me.”
“Why don’t you take a nap?” Neenah asked.
“What about your breakfast?”
“I think it will probably be difficult to eat off the floor,” Neenah chuckled.
“Good point. How about I fix us something else later?”
“Sounds good to me, but right now, let’s go to sleep.”
Max and Neenah fell asleep in each other’s arms. Neenah, for the first time since being abducted, slept without nightmares. She woke some time later to find Max gone from the bed. She got up and padded to the kitchen to find him puttering about, working on fixing their meal.
“Hey beautiful, was I making too much noise?”
“No, you did not wake me up. I guess I had just slept enough.”
Max finished cooking, and they sat down to eat lunch. While they were eating, they discussed details about the wedding. Max went on and on about who they would invite and where they would have it and how beautiful it would be when he noticed a faraway look on Neenah’s face.
“Neenah, are you okay? You seem miles away.”
“Yes, I am fine. I was just thinking. I have no family or friends to invite to the wedding so the guests will all be made up of your family and acquaintances.”
“I know and a lot of that is my fault.”
“Not really, even on Anthar, I did not have any close family left, and I definitely did not have any friends. There is one request I have though. Something I would like for you to do for me.”
“Anything love, just name it,” Max responded.
“Emancipate Keera and Nylia. At first, I was just going to ask you for Keera, but thought that it would not be fair to continue to subject Nylia to the life style after Keera had been released. You do not need to own slaves. With as much business as you have, you most certainly do not need the income, and you can find other ways to keep your clients happy, or you can rent escorts from for them from somewhere else.”
“I can do that, but they would not likely be safe on the streets. They have no formal training of any kind. They would not be able to get a job anywhere.”
“That brings me to my next request. Send them to school. You do it all the time. You can send them to school to learn about an aspect of your business, and then you can employ them and let them live here in the compound. That way they would be free to live their own lives, but they would be safe and have a place to live.”
“You have really thought this out, haven’t you?”
“Yes, I want Keera especially to have a chance at a normal life. She has been very good to me the entire time that I have been here, and I love her very much. I want her to be free, but yet I still want her to be near me. She is the only friend that I have besides you.”
“Okay, Neenah, your wish is my command. Consider it done. You can call them up here and tell them if you wish. While you are at it, find out what interests them, and I will get them enrolled in school. For now, I will remove the restrictions on the slave quarters and they can continue to live there.”
“Okay, but order beds for them, they should not be sleeping on the floor.”
“Yes ma’am,” Max said, glad that Neenah was once again using the intellect that she had for a worthwhile cause. He had a feeling that before she was finished, she would have gotten him to emancipate all his different slaves and pay wages to them for their jobs. He could live with that, as long as he had her by his side. He sent the messages for Nylia and Keera to come up and then let them in when they arrived at the door several minutes later.
“Neenah is waiting for you in the bed chamber,” Max told them as they entered the apartment.
Keera and Nylia walked into the room and Neenah greeted them, “Good, you are here. I have something I want to tell both of you. Have a seat,” Neenah said as she motioned towards the lounge chair.
“First of all, I want you to know that Max is going to free you both,” Neenah said as Keera and Nylia looked at her in amazement. “He is also going to put you both through school and give you jobs within his company once you finish. You are welcome to live here in the compound for as long as you wish. The slave quarters are being reconfigured so that all outside controls are removed, and you are free to watch and read whatever you wish, and you will have beds in your rooms. Also, you will be able to come and go as you see fit.”
“But… how? Why?” Keera stuttered in disbelief.
“I asked him to,” said Neenah. “I could not bear the thought of both of you having to continue in the life style when I do not, so I simply asked him to emancipate you.”
“You did more than that. However did you convince him to send us to school and to agree to give us jobs once we finish?” Nylia asked.
“Well, he mentioned that even if he freed you, since you had no formal training or education that another slave trader would likely snatch you up. Honestly, I had already thought of that and come up with the solution. So, I told him about my idea for your schooling, and he agreed. It seems that there is not anything he would not do for me.”
“Neenah, how can we ever repay you?” Keera asked.
“Oh, you do not have to repay me. I simply wanted to do what was right. Well, I admit, there is one reason why I asked Max to hire you into his business and to let you live in the compound. I want you both to stay close. I value your friendship, and I do not want to lose it.”
Keera jumped up out of the chair and ran to Neenah, nearly knocking her down onto her bed with the force of her hug, and Nylia followed suit. “Take it easy ladies. Neenah still has not totally regained her strength,” said Max as he entered the room in time to see the group hug.
“Sorry Master,” said Nylia, instantly backing away from Neenah and bowing her head.
“None of that,” Max said. “You are no longer my slaves. From now on, you do not have to bow to me or anyone, and you absolutely do not have to call me Master any longer. You may call me Max. As far as I am concerned, the two of you are friends of my love, and you can visit anytime she wishes.”
He handed them the emancipation documents to sign. “Here, ladies, is the key to your freedom. Sign this, and it will be legal. Neenah, I brought yours as well.”
All three of them signed their names on the legal documents, and then Max faxed the documents to his lawyers to be entered into the galaxy records. He made copies and gave the originals to the women, so that they would have the proof of their freedom.
“I set the two of you up with bank accounts,” Max said, handing Nylia and Keera a plastic card that they could use to access their accounts. “I will deposit a monthly stipend for you to use on clothing and supplies. Your food will come directly from the compound and will not be charged to you as long as you live in the old slave quarters. If you wish to move into a regular apartment within the compound, then you will have to find a part time job to pay for your rent. You can live in the slave quarters as long as you are in school. Once you have started working and saved some money, I expect you to find an apartment.”
Max was interrupted by the buzz of the intercom, signaling that someone was at the door. He left and then returned holding a lap top in his hand, which he sat on the bed. “Neenah, this is yours to use until I get your office area set up here in the apartment. You ladies can use this computer to order clothes from one of the boutiques within the compound, and they will deliver it to you here so that you will have clothes to wear.
“I would advise only ordering a couple of outfits from there and then buy more when you actually have a chance to go shopping. I hear you ladies love to do that kind of stuff. Use your money wisely, you have to make your monthly stipend last all month as I will not be depositing extra. Oh, one more thing. You can take the collars off and give them to me; you will not need them anymore.”
The girls handed over their collars, and Max left them to talk and do some shopping for clothing.
“Oh my goodness, Neenah, let me see your hand!” shrieked Keera. “I thought so! I thought I saw a ring on your finger! When did he ask you?”
“He asked me this morning. That was the second thing that I was going to tell you, but you noticed the ring on my finger before I had the chance. I do not have any family. The two of you are the closest thing that I have to sisters. I want you both to be in my wedding as my bridesmaids.”
“Neenah, we would love to!” shouted Nylia, “but are you sure that Master… I mean Max, will want that?”
“I will just tell him that he does not have a choice. I don’t think he will mind since he knows that you two are my only friends, and it is not like you are his slaves anymore any way. Besides, he did say that from now on, that is how he will look at you, as friends of his wife.”
“Have you decided when the wedding will be yet?” Keera asked.
“No, but I have a feeling that Max would rather it be sooner than later. He will probably wait though until the doctor says that I have fully recovered. I still have bouts of weakness, but we are working on that in physical therapy, so I do not expect it to be long before I am completely back to normal. I have already gained back most of the weight that I lost.”
The women spent the rest of the day laughing and joking and then trying on outfits when Nylia’s and Keera’s clothing was delivered. Max was busy with business so Neenah asked them to stay for supper. As they were getting ready to leave for the night, Max poked his head out of his office.
“Check everything when you get back to your quarters to make sure that everything is functioning properly. You should be able to access all channels on the big screen, your lap tops should access anything in the library main frame, your control panels should now call out, and you should have beds in your rooms. You can check the control panel by calling Neenah here. If anything does not work, let me or Neenah know, and I will see that it gets fixed. Within the next week, I will send some workmen down to update some things, and that should make things a bit easier for you.”
The next couple of months went by in a blur for Neenah. She spent most of her time planning the wedding and since the next school term had not yet started, Nylia and Keera spent most of their time her helping out. Max tried to convince Neenah to hire a wedding planner so that it would be easier on her, but she refused, saying that it was her wedding and she wanted to plan the entire thing on her own.
The doctor finally gave Neenah a clean bill of health, so the wedding was scheduled to take place in two months. Wedding invitations were sent out to all of Max’s business associates and family, and Neenah had managed to track down some distant relatives that had not lived on the planet, Anthar; therefore, they had not been captured and sold into slavery with the rest of the planet’s small population. She had also managed to track down the whereabouts of her hand maiden and convinced Max to buy her from her owner, emancipate her, and then hire her to be Neenah’s hand maiden once again.
Nylia and Keera arrived the morning that they were to go shopping for dresses, chattering excitingly in the hall while waiting to be let into Neenah’s apartment. They walked in on Max and Neenah having a discussion about the day’s planned activities.
“Neenah, are you sure that this is how you want to shop for dresses? You know that you can just have one of the tailors from my design company come in and design and make the dresses for you.”
“Yes, dear, I know that we can do that, but it is not as much fun as actually going shopping and trying on different dresses.”
“I know, but you know how much I hate you being out and about without me.”
“You worry too much. You have already assigned more security than we need. I will be perfectly safe the entire time.”
“Oh, all right. You win; just promise me that you will stay in sight of the security detail at all times.”
“I promise. Now, you need to get on to work and me and the girls need to get going. We have got a full day ahead of us.”
The women met the security detail at the launch and headed off for their first stop of the day.
They walked into the boutique and were immediately surrounded by salesgirls who could smell a huge sale the way sharks could sense blood in water. “Can I help you?” asked an older lady who was obviously the store manager.
“Yes,” said Neenah. “We would like to see what you offer in wedding gowns and bride’s maid’s dresses.”
“Absolutely, if you will come have a seat in the viewing room, my sales girls will get your sizes and then we will bring different outfits for you to see.”
They spent the next hour watching as the sales girls brought dress after dress, first the bride’s maid’s dresses and then the wedding gowns. They laughed and giggled at some of the more outrageous styles and oohed and ached at the more beautiful ones. After making a few selections, they took turns trying on the different outfits and making notes of the ones that they liked the best.
They repeated this at several shops throughout the day and then sat down for supper in a fancy restaurant to discuss and decide which of the dresses would be the best choice. For the dresses for the two bride’s maids, they decided that the deep blue, off the shoulder velvet gown was the best choice.
Choosing the bridal gown was a bit more difficult. They finally decided that they had to go back and give a second look to three of the gowns, two being in the same shop, before they could choose which one they liked best. They arrived at the first shop and decided to have Neenah try one of the dresses on while Nylia (who was closer to the same body build) would try on the other dress so that they could see them side by side to compare. They studied the two dresses for a good bit and Neenah decided that she did not have to go see the third dress again because she really loved the one that she was wearing. After deciding upon her dress, they took several minutes to pick out a gorgeous matching veil and shoes.
Once they had purchased the wedding gown, they returned to the shop that had the blue bride’s maid’s dresses and purchased them along with matching shoes. Their shopping done, they piled back into the launch and headed home, exhausted from the long day of shopping and giddy over their beautiful purchases.
Max knew the moment they arrived back at the apartment because they entered laughing uproariously over a joke that Nylia had heard at a bar the night before. They laid their packages on the bed and collapsed on the floor pillows in a fit of giggles. After they had composed themselves, Keera excused herself for a moment and went searching for Max.
She knocked on the door of his office and entered when invited. “Max… man it feels weird calling you that. Anyway, I know that you said you would not be depositing any extra money in our accounts aside from your monthly one, but I wanted to ask a favor of you. Nylia and I would really like to buy Neenah a wedding gift, but even with both of our money pooled we are a little short. We are not asking for extra money really, more like an advance on next month’s installment. I know that you are going above and beyond already in what you do for us, but we really want to get Neenah something special.”
“I think, just this once, I can bend my rules a little bit. How about if I go ahead and deposit next month’s full installment in your accounts a little early? Will that be enough to cover what you want to get her?”
“Oh yes, that will be plenty, and we both have already figured up a budget for the next month so that we will not run out of money. Thank you so much, we really appreciate it.”
“Okay, I will take care of that immediately so that the money will be in your accounts and available to you by in the morning.”
Keera ran excitedly out of the room, bursting to tell Nylia the good news but knowing that she would have to wait so as not to spoil the surprise for Neenah.
Chapter Nine
The next morning, Max informed Neenah that they would be having visitors for the day.
“Visitors?” inquired Neenah. “Who?”
“My parents are coming to visit. They want to meet my bride to be.”
“I wish you had given me a little more notice Max! I could have used some time to prepare for this. I am not sure that I can do this Max. I mean, think about it. What is your family going to think about you marrying a former sex slave?”
“Don’t worry about it my love. I mean, think about it for a minute. I never rented you out to anyone, so you actually weren’t used as a slave.”
“Except for the Droigoirds,” scowled Neenah.
“They do not count! You were abducted and held against your will. My parents are not going to judge you for that. They will love you. I know it. I can guarantee that they are tickled pink that I am marrying someone with royal blood.”
“Huh,” Neenah scoffed as she hurried into the bathroom to get ready for the visitors. She wanted to look her best. She spent quite a while making sure that her hair and make-up looked just right and then took at least half an hour to decide on which outfit to wear. Max finally picked an outfit out of the closet and handed it to her saying, “Wear this; you look absolutely stunning in it.”
Neenah was ready only minutes before the buzzer sounded, alerting them to the arrival of Max’s parents. “We will entertain them in the living area,” Max said. It was a room that they almost never used. Neenah preferred the more comfortable bedroom to lounge in when Nylia and Keera came to visit and for spending quality time with Max.
