'Stand still slave!' the girl ordered, grabbing Zoe's hair with one hand and with her other slapping Zoe hard across her buttocks.

'You do as signor Delgardo tell you!' she scolded.

'Her nipples look good now. Good and hard. Just how the buyers like them. An eager looking body is always pleasing to the eye. And if you're not eager to get yourself fucked and whipped all the time, then we can make you look eager, can't we?'

Delgardo dug the fingers of one hand into Zoe's rump to stop her from shying from his exploration of her body as his other hand dug deep up into her sex.

'A very pretty little pussy. Just crying out again for another good shafting. Well my dear girl, you may as well get used to it. Untie her hands.'

A moment later and Zoe was nursing her sore wrists from where the rope had burnt her. Delgardo looked down at her wrists and anger flared in his eyes.

'Which idiot used rope on her! I said cuffs! I don't want her marked, damn it!'

'Signor Delgardo, sir, it was Alfonso, he used rope signor,' the servant girl stammered nervously.

'Did he? Right, I'll deal with him later.'

The man turned his attention back to Zoe. His cock was semi-flaccid and he stood dripping water close in front of her, smiling maliciously. Zoe knew what he was going to do and her heart was hammering.

'Go on, English girl, bend over and grasp your ankles. Maria, keep a good hold of her hair so she doesn't fall over,' the man ordered.

Reluctantly Zoe did as she was ordered.

'Come on, legs wider apart.'

A hand struck her stingingly on one buttock and then on the other. Zoe spread her legs wider, grasping her ankles as instructed. The man's hands settled over her arse and she felt his cock quickly find the opening of her sex and push inside her. Zoe grunted with pleasure as she felt the cock filling her.

'Feels good doesn't it?' the man laughed.

Of course, gagged she couldn't answer, which was perhaps as well, Zoe reflected. The truth was that it always felt good, even in circumstances like this.

'What a pleasant way to start the day. Tight little bitch aren't you... nice and tight and so wet!'

Zoe sighed through the gag as the man used her compliant body with increased urgency and energy. As soon as he came he withdrew his cock and stepped back. His body was shiny with perspiration and he stood recovering his breath as he watched her.

'I think I'd better have another shower. You can shower with me and wash me. Maria, wait by the door just in case she's dumb enough to try to make a run for it. Though somehow I don't think you're that stupid or that reluctant are you?'

After being made to share the shower with Delgardo and washing him and herself with soap, the man gave her shampoo and told her to wash her hair. She was then ordered to lie down on the bed and Maria proceeded to massage coconut oil over her, not missing an inch of her body. By the time she had been oiled from her toes up to her neck, she felt incredibly drowsy. She caught snatches of conversation in Spanish, which she could understand since it was her mother's native language. Delgardo was ordering the girl to watch her but to let her sleep. She was to be kept under watch in this room now until the slaves underwent final preparations for the auction. Zoe lifted her head as the door opened then closed. The man was gone and the girl had now settled herself down on the floor before the door to keep a guard over her. Well, there's nothing I can do. Even if I got past her, I haven't got a hope in hell of escaping from this place, thought Zoe. She turned onto her chest and drew one arm up around her head and closed her eyes.

A dozen men and a handful of women had gathered in the gallery that overlooked the auction hall where the slaves were to be displayed and sold. Delgardo stood talking with a smartly suited elderly man and a middle-aged woman, immaculate in a Chanel skirt and blazer, though her expensive cotton blouse already clung to her body from perspiration. Even with the skylight windows opened wide it was stifling hot. The large fans, slowly revolving, seemed to only stir up the hot air. Delgardo had served chilled champagne to each of his visitors but the fine vintage Bollinger, stolen from a luxury yacht sailing down the coast that his men had boarded, was warm before more than a few sips had been enjoyed.

In the arena below a young white girl was struggling between two of his men. The girl was naked except for a collar about her neck and rope around her wrists. Her dark hair was tied in two pigtails and a rope was bound to each, the other end of which the men held. The girl's hands were bound together behind her back with rope. The prospective buyers in the gallery looked down with a degree of curiosity or amusement each time the girl cried out.

She looked to be about twenty at the most. She was long legged and slim. The two men worked against her as a team. Each held a trailing whip in one hand and in the other one of the ropes, bound into the pigtails of her shiny dark hair. One man would pull the rope he held; the girl's head would be dragged towards him and she would grunt in discomfort and lurch towards him. The other man would then flick his whip so it snaked down across her back. Then as the girl cried out, the man who'd just whipped her would tighten his cord drawing her stumbling backwards. The other man would then strike her across her legs or chest with his whip.

As Delgardo's clients milled around, waiting for the late arrivals and their glasses of champagne were kept topped up by a serving maid, the girl in the arena was dragged backwards and forwards. Each time there was the crack of a whip she howled and another trailing red line marked her tender skin. By the time all the potential buyers had arrived and taken their seats, the girl's body was covered with whip marks, mostly across her buttocks and the backs of her thighs but there were plenty too across her firm young breasts, her taut stomach and her tethered arms.

At a signal from Delgardo, the men released her and the girl's true nature revealed itself. Without having to be ordered she knelt in front of each man in turn and serviced them eagerly with her mouth. Her cheeks hollowed as she sucked at their engorged cocks, one hand stroking the shaft, the other one working frantically between her legs. As each man reached his climax and his come splashed hot and thick against the back of her throat, she gave contented groans. At a further signal the men dragged the girl from the arena and a silence descended over the gathered company.

'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Rouassa slave market. I am very appreciative of the efforts that you have made to get here. I am confident that once you see the quality of our slaves, you will feel that your journeys have been worthwhile.' Delgardo took a sip of champagne to clear his throat.

The floor of the hall was sand and it felt like he was having to breathe it in. He hated it here, but he was forced to admit that it was by far the safest place to run his business from. The corrupt government of Karunga practically supported and encouraged his enterprise, which in most civilised countries would have been condemned. He scanned the faces of his audience. Quite a few were regulars: Americans, French, German, Japanese: all wealthy and all searching for new acquisitions. Some liked to keep just a single slave at a time but most had harems.

'There are seven girls on offer today,' Delgardo continued, 'if you haven't already got details of them, there are buyer's catalogues on the marble table by the door. I think then, without any more pre-amble, let us see lot number one.'

Led by a collar and pole leash a tall young girl was brought into the centre of the hall. She looked angrily around her, her head held high, her bright blue eyes blazing with fury. The man leading her kept a wary eye on her as he paraded her around the circular room. The leather collar around her neck was very broad and forced her chin up. A ball gag silenced the girl and her arms were strapped tightly behind her back with her hands covered by a single leather glove that was laced tightly around her wrists.