Diogo leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk, trying to ignore the ink soaking into his trousers.

“You’re bathed, clean and fed everyday. That’s more than some men in this town have.”

Taj stole a glance at Valak, who looked right back at him. The boy dropped his eyes, sorry he’d ever looked up. Valak was serious and pissed. This was bad. Real bad.

“You’re all prime slave flesh,” Diogo was saying. “We paid a wagon load of tokens for every one of you.”

Diogo put his feet down with a hard thump that made the boy whores stiffen and huddle closer together.

“You’re all the kind of whores that make a man dig deep into his pockets, then sell what he don’t have to fuck your ass.”

All the boy whores were looking down at the floor. None dared raise their eyes to him. Diogo looked at his Handler over their bent heads and winked.

Jasari, silent and watchful beside Valak, saw it.

“Valak, there’s one thing I don’t ever do. I never force a boy to be a whore for me.”

“It’s not worth it,” Valak said in his low, raspy voice. He always sounded like a man on the edge of losing his voice.

“No,” Diogo went on, “I like my bitches to be happy.”

Diogo looked at the slave property that he and Valak owned, half and half, all of them beauties that had cost them dearly. Not one boy would fetch less than five thousand gold tokens at auction.

“There’s always Tooth n’ Claw,” Valak said.

A gasp of horror passed among the boys.

Taj, the slave whore closest to Diogo said softly, “Please Bahari.”

“Who gave you permission to speak bitch?” Valak said, his voice soft and dangerous.

The boy cringed at the sound of Valak’s voice as though he’d been slapped.

“Tooth n’ Claw, down on the docks.” Diogo went on, as if Taj had said nothing. “It’s the first place sailors and soldiers hit to get some ass.”

“He keeps his whores chained up in the day, but I hear he takes them