Hannah could still taste the stew in her mouth even if she had eaten it almost half an hour ago. It was full of meat and vegetables in a very thick and hearty broth that made Hannah’s mouth water the second she could smell it. Hands down, it was the best meal Hannah had eaten in years, and was so good she was sure that she would even dream of it tonight. It felt a little wrong for her to have a meal so grand, but she wasn’t going to turn it down. She had been hungry for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to feel full again.

While her mind lingered on the stew her body followed Eda through the ever grander halls of the Hayward Manor. She hadn’t asked where they were going, she had just done as she was told. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder where they were going. Eda had said they would do all the introductions tomorrow and it was already after the staff's dinner so it couldn’t be that. Then her mind broke away from the stew as a thought came to her. Could this be about her thigh? She knew Eda had seen it…

Before she could keep on this upsetting line of thought, the pair came to a stop outside a set of double doors. Gently, the head housemaid knocked on the door. It was so quiet Hannah wasn’t sure that humans on the other side would have heard it. However Hannah did hear her mistress call for them to come in from the other side. Eda opened the soundless door and gestured for Hannah to step in. A little nervously she followed Eda’s instructions.

Rayne set her book down on the small table in front of her and stood up from the plush and slightly large loveseat. She did all of this without taking her eyes off of the vixen that just walked into her private sitting room. Hannah’s hair and fur were a much brighter orange than Rayne had pictured, and the tip of her tail was a dazzling white. The color wasn’t the only thing that caught her eye about Hannah’s tail. It looked so light and fluffy even though only half of it was sticking out from under the nightgown she was wearing. What Rayne wouldn’t do to feel how soft it truly was.

Internally Rayne berated herself for letting her attraction to the fox take control long enough for there to be an awkward pause as Eda and Hannah waited for her to speak. “That will be all, Eda.” She gave the older woman a gentle smile, though Eda did not return the smile. Instead the older woman raised her eyebrow at the lady. Rayne held the look. “Thank you.” Eda caved, but not before giving her charge one last look of warning and left, closing the door behind her.

Hannah couldn’t help but gaze at the opulent sitting room she now found herself in. There was a fireplace with a cozy warm but low fire burning in it. To help light the room more fully there were a number of clearly magic fueled lights dotting the walls. Hannah hadn’t seen lights that used magic since she left Everlial. She honestly didn’t believe humans had them since they so naturally had but a tiny amount of magic, seal excluded. Though humans were not the most adept at magic, their technology easily outweighed nearly all other races combined. 

Besides the light, the other thing that caught Hannah’s attention were the bookshelves packed to the brim with books. What she wouldn’t give to be able to sit down and read again. Sitting down to snuggle and read a book had been one of the things Hannah enjoyed most in the world. But since that day seven years ago she hadn’t even so much as touched a book.

Rayne noticed her vixen staring at the bookshelves and couldn’t help but find the look of wonder cute. So much so that she chuckled ever so lightly, but even the lightest of sounds were enough to draw Hannah’s attention back to her. “Do you like to read, Hannah?”

Hannah blushed lightly. “Yes, Mistress.”

There was that rush again at Hannah calling her mistress. Rayne had almost forgotten she had asked her fox to address her so. Now she felt guilty for having asked that of Hannah. “Do you read often?” The polite pleasantries came out so easily that Rayne didn’t think about what she was asking.

“I used to, Mistress. Before…”

“Right,” Rayne said, feeling embarrassed for the first time in a very long time. “That was a silly question for me to ask. I’m sorry.” This was so awkward and so far from what Rayne had wanted out of this. She bit the inside of her lip before sitting down. “Would you come over here please?”

Without hesitation Hannah walked her way over from the door to her mistress. She politely stood at the far edge of the loveseat and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Rayne was still in her clothes whilst Hannah was only in her nightgown. Granted this was already more clothing than she had been wearing when Rayne bought her, but it felt different. This was nightwear, someone people weren’t typically mean to see you in. Especially your owner.

Rayne looked up at the fox standing at the far edge of the chair. This hadn’t been exactly what Rayne meant when she asked. She had meant for Hannah to sit down next to her but that most certainly wouldn’t be appropriate. That would have been the absolute wrong thing to do but Rayne still wanted it. “How are you feeling after a warm bath and a full meal?” It felt like forever before Rayne managed to speak.

“I feel very good, Mistress. It was so nice to take a bath again and I haven’t eaten that well in a long time.” Hannah could have just left it at ‘it felt very good’ but in Rayne’s presence it felt like she shouldn’t hold back. It felt like speaking was the right thing for her to do for a change.

Rayne felt warm at Hannah’s words and the clear smile the fox had at the memories. “I’m glad to know you’re feeling better.” Rayne couldn’t help but keep smiling in Hannah’s presence. This fox was so easily muddling the control Rayne had over her thoughts and feelings. It was a little unnerving if she was being honest, though it felt good at the same time. “Hannah, would you please take a seat for me?”

Hannah couldn’t help but look up at her mistress feeling a little confused and scared. She knew that wasn’t the right thing for a slave to do. It would be so wrong for a slave to sit next to her mistress. The fox hesitated both wanting to do as she was asked but there was long built in fear that this could be a trap.

“I assure you it’s alright, Hannah. I’m asking you to take a seat next to me. Please don’t be afraid.” Rayne so desperately wished Hannah would never feel afraid around her. She could never do anything to hurt her dear vixen.

Surprisingly her mistress’s words did well to calm her fears. Maybe it was the way Rayne never spoke down to her as most humans did. It was like her mistress was just speaking to another equal person. The vixen, still nervously, found herself sitting down next to the lady.

Rayne watched as Hannah sat down and brought her tail around to rest in her lap, just like she had done in the carriage. Even now she couldn’t help but find the action adorable, and it most certainly did not help with the voice in her head telling her to touch the tail. She thankfully managed to push that voice down and focused on the task at hand. The lady knew what she wished to talk about but she didn’t know how to address it.

“I’ll be asking a physician to come tomorrow to make sure you’re fully alright,” Rayne managed to say, not fully getting to where she wanted to go.

Hannah finally managed to look at her mistress and away from the tail in her lap. “You don’t have to do that, Mistress.” She wasn’t worth that much trouble. Then again Hannah would feel horrible if she got someone in the house, let alone her mistress, sick.

Rayne gave her a gentle smile. “No, but I wanted to. I’d hate for there to be something we didn’t notice…” This was a bad idea, she could just feel it deep inside her. She shouldn’t say this. It would only make the vixen upset. It wouldn’t help. But Rayne was scared. Scared that it would only get worse if they didn’t address it. That if it was never talked about it could go to the extreme, like Eda had been scared for with her cousin “…and to make sure those cuts are properly taken care of.”

The vixen’s ears folded back and her eyes went wide at her mistress’s words. She didn’t realize but her stare shifted from her mistress down to her lap. Rayne was talking about her thigh… Eda had told the lady about her thigh. Of course Eda would say something. Hannah was damaged goods that only kept on damaging herself. She wasn’t good enough for such a kind person like Mistress. She deserved worse. Deserved to go back to the bakery.

That had truly been the wrong decision and Rayne regretted it immediately. The way Hannah suddenly sunk into herself, gripping her tail to her chest actually hurt Rayne’s heart. Then the tears started to pour down her fox’s face and Rayne couldn’t hold back. “Hannah,” the lady said reaching out and placing a hand on Hannah’s shoulder, much like she had done earlier today. “I shouldn’t have brou—”

“I-I’m sorry,” Hannah managed to choke out through tears she hadn’t even realized she was shedding.

“You don’t need to apologize for anything.”

“No. No.” Her words were barely a whisper even though her emotions and thoughts were screaming inside of her. “I’m not good enough. I’m not worth any of this.” Words were just bubbling to the surface and she was barely even aware of what she was saying.

“That’s not true. You’re by far worth all of th—”

“I’m just a failure.” It was like something inside Hannah finally snapped. Everything she had been holding in and hiding for years was trying to break free and be let out, just because someone was nice to her. Someone had been nice to her and it just broke down the walls inside of her. Now her mind told her to just truly let everything out and that it would be okay.

Rayne was more mad at herself than she could ever remember being, but this was not the time to let that show. To give into those feelings. This was about taking care of her vixen. “You’re not a failure, Hannah.” Why would she even think that?

“I am.” The crying now turned into sobs as she felt that last bit off the wall crumble away. Memories she had long since locked away broke free.  “I couldn’t protect the children. I couldn’t keep them safe. I couldn’t get them back to their parents.” She didn’t want to relive this again. She didn’t want to remember that day. The day she failed to protect those she looked after. Those she loved. “I couldn’t keep them from kil—” Her own sobs cut her off as the face of her fiancée filled her mind. Then the blood… all the blood and the schoolchildren screaming.

Rayne was acting before the thought even came to her mind. She grabbed Hannah and pulled her into her. She held the sobbing fox tight to her chest as Hannah’s head fell into the crook of her neck. Rayne had caused this. She had brought up these horrible feelings and memories inside of Hannah and the lady didn’t know what to do to fix it. To help her fox feel better. To pull her out of the horrid place she was in. So she just held Hannah as she continued to cry, one hand gently stroking her orange hair.

Hannah wasn’t able to process how wrong this was. All she could focus on were the conflicting feelings from the past and the comfort of being hugged. Her mind was a blur and everything hurt. At some point one of her hands pulled away from her tail to grip at her mistress’s shirt. It was a small comfort but helped ground her just a little bit.

There was something about the way Hannah gripped onto her shirt that made Rayne want to cry. She really couldn’t place why, but it did. Even so she held that in and focused on just holding Hannah. Doing her best to give her comfort in her hug. Rayne wasn’t sure how much time had passed before she heard Hannah’s sobs quieting down and eventually they went away all together. Still she held onto Hannah and continued to stroke her hair. “Are you feeling better?”

With her mistress’s words, Hannah finally realized what kind of position they were in. She knew this was wrong, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d been held and it felt so good. Sadly she did find herself reluctantly pulling away to give a very small nod to Rayne and wipe her tears away.

It was upsetting to Rayne that Hannah pulled away. She could have easily continued to hold her for hours, but she wasn’t going to force Hannah to do anything she didn’t want. She couldn’t help that her hand lingered in her vixen’s hair just a little longer than it should have. “Good. I know it can feel good to let things out, though I am truly sorry for having caused this.”

Hannah shook her head. Rayne didn’t need to be sorry. She was the one at fault. She was the one who hurt herself. “I’m sorry, Mistress.”

“There’s no need to be sorry, Hannah.”

“But shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have hurt…” She couldn’t bring the words out. “I should be punished.”

Rayne took a slow and deep breath. It hurt to hear such honesty in Hannah’s voice. She truly believed she should be punished and Rayne couldn’t have that. “I’m not going to punish you, Hannah.” 

The fox looked up at her mistress in surprise. Yes, Rayne had been so kind to her but Hannah was hurting her property. Not only that but she had acted so inappropriately with the lady.

“I’m not going to punish you because I believe if I did, it would only make you feel worse and do both of us more harm than good. You deserve to be helped not hurt.” Without even thinking Rayne reached out and lifted up Hannah’s chin till they were looking each other in the eyes. “I don’t want my vixen believing she is only worthy of hurt and punishment.” A disturbing shiver of pleasure and disgust ran down Rayne’s spine at calling Hannah hers. “Is that understood?”

There was a strange feeling that washed over Hannah at her mistress calling her ‘vixen’. While it was technically true and she had been called that a good number of times before it felt different coming from Rayne’s mouth. It felt more intimate than factual biology. So much so that Hannah could feel her face heat up as she stared into those stunning gray eyes. “Y-yes.”

“Yes what?”

The blush on Hannah’s face grew more intense. “Yes, Mistress.”

Heat flooded Rayne now and she had to do her best to keep her breath steady. “Good girl.” That had just come out on instinct and it felt so good. Also as good as seeing the blush on Hannah’s face. Oh how she instantly wanted to ravish the fox. If she was a weaker woman she would have easily found herself leaning in, regardless of how inappropriate it would be both to position as well as the recent conversation. With immense strength, Rayne managed to pull her hand away from Hannah’s face.

Silence filled the room now, neither knowing what else to say in what now felt like the end of this meeting. Rayne didn’t want that however. Not yet. She wanted to spend more time with Hannah. She wanted to touch her again. That wouldn’t be right of her though, even if Rayne was well within her power to touch Hannah all she wanted. In whatever way she wanted. She couldn’t do that to Hannah though. She couldn’t bring herself to make Hannah put up with something she didn’t want. Rayne wasn’t going to abuse the power she had over her fox like so many other owners did.

It was ridiculously tempting though…

Maybe if it was only a little it wouldn’t be so bad. If it was something that felt good to Hannah.

“Hannah,” Rayne said, sitting herself back deeper into the loveseat. “Lay your head down.”

Hannah was still trying to calm her blush down when her mistress spoke. “I-I don’t understand, Mistress.”

“Lay your head down,” Rayne repeated but this time gently patted her lap, making it clear where she wanted Hannah.

The fox blinked a few times as she processed what Rayne wanted. “I don’t know if that’s appro—”

“Hannah.” The lady’s voice changed in tone or pitch and stayed gentle; there was still the power of a command behind it.

That blush Hannah had been fighting off returned as she looked down at the lap before her. She would have expected her movements to be hesitant, but she so easily moved at her mistress’s words. As she laid her head down facing away from Rayne, her legs curled up onto the seat. Her small height came into advantage sometimes. Though she did it, she was nervous and still cuddled her tail to her chest. It was so soft and comforting after her bath.

Rayne couldn’t contain the smile as she watched Hannah place herself in her lap. She also thanked the Goddess that Hannah had placed her head further up on her thighs and not closer back to her stomach. It was only then that realized her heart was pounding in her chest and her breath was speeding up and she had to calm herself. After a second to gain back some composure Rayne placed her hand on Hannah’s head.

The vixen flinched just ever so slightly not having expected any more touch than this. All too soon the hand on her head started to stroke her hair. It was similar to when Rayne had done this while hugging her but it felt more deliberate and emotionally different. Hannah couldn’t place the emotion though.

The lady was finding it hard to contain herself. It felt so nice to touch Hannah. To have her in Rayne’s lap and to pet her hair. However, just petting Hannah's hair wasn’t where her true desire was. That was those large and soft looking ears. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from touching them as she had heard that beastkin ears were very sensitive and they didn’t like others touching them.

After the initial shock of being touched by her mistress, Hannah quickly fell into the gentle touch. Much like earlier in the carriage with Eda rubbing her back, Hannah guiltily relished in the affectionate touch. Her tail might have started to wag a little but built in fears kept her from too openly showing how much she liked it for fear of it being taken away from her. There was a part of her that realized her mistress was not the kind of woman to do that to her. In fact it felt like Mistress might be more inclined to do it if it was clear Hannah liked it. Still those deep set fears held her back and kept her tail from wagging in her arms.

The longer Rayne petted and stroked Hannah's hair the harder and harder it got to hold herself back. She so desperately wanted to touch those ears. She wasn’t fully sure why, it just felt like they were calling to her. Begging to be touched. It was a little similar to her desire to touch Hannah’s tail but clearly a different kind of yearning. Eventually the lady caved a little and let a stroke ‘accidently’ scratch at the very base of one of the fox’s ears. When nothing happened it happened again, or her wrist would brush up against the sides. Then her fingers would linger just a little too long as they brushed past the base. Throughout all of it Rayne’s eyes were like a hawk’s looking for any sign of discomfort or displeasure from her vixen.

It was painfully obvious what Hannah’s Mistress wanted to do. Hannah couldn’t help but gently smile at how Rayne was acting like a child, doing more and more just to see what they could get away with. Memories of the children she taught at her town's school flooded her mind and for the first time in years those memories didn’t make her sad. Unlike children though, her mistress wasn’t rough, she was gentle. Ever so gentle.

It was truly soothing even though Hannah knew it shouldn’t be. In her culture because one’s ears were so sensitive you rarely let anyone touch them. It was mostly just your parents when you were a child, maybe a good friend or two growing up, and then your chosen life partner or partners. Your life partner(s) were the ones you really let explore and play with your ears to find what felt good, what was too much, what was relaxing, and what was arousing.

Hannah hadn’t had her ears touched consensually since her finacee. Since before being taken as a slave. She by all rights should not be letting her mistress do this. It might not seem like it to a human but by beastkin standard this was already extremely intimate, even if she hadn’t actually been touching her ears yet. It felt good though, and Rayne had been so kind to her, so maybe it was okay to let her mistress get away with light curious touches.

One of Rayne’s hands was pulling away from giving a very light scratch at the base of one of her ears when Hannah’s ears suddenly pushed back to fully rest in the palm of her mistress’s hand. Hannah’s eyes went wide as her face turned bright red realizing what her ear had just done without her willing it to. Her ears had just acted on their own as if she was back and laying in Elaine’s lap. By the goddess she should pull her ear away and pretend it was a flick and not meant to be put in her hand. She didn’t though as the tiny little voice in her head that told her to see what happened won. A large part of Hannah suddenly yearned to feel Elaine’s hands on her ears again. A touch she would never feel again… Would Rayne’s hands feel the same?

Rayne had been genuinely surprised at how much Hannah was letting her get away with. She honestly thought at any moment her vixen was going to stop her. It dawned on her that even if Hannah wanted it to stop she might not say anything. Then growing scared she truly was grossly abusing her power, the lady did one last scratch and pulled away. To her continued surprise Hannah then pushed her ear back into her hand and Rayne couldn’t help but gleefully smile. Taking that as permission, the lady went about fulfilling her wish to explore her vixen’s ears.

She took her time, letting her touches grow in increments instead of going right for it, no matter how much she wanted to. As she slowly explored those large ears she marveled at how soft they were, especially the tufts of fur that rested on the inside of her ears. Hannah’s ears were also incredibly warm which Rayne found surprising. All in all Rayne instantly fell in love with touching those large fox ears.

Rayne’s touch was so soft and Hannah had a hard time admitting to herself just how much she loved it. It wasn’t the same as Elaine, nothing would be, but it still filled that void inside the vixen. A void that had been created and was now being filled by a human. She should have been disgusted with herself for this, but she knew she could never feel that way about her mistress touching her ears. Her touch felt wonderful.

The lady continued to grow more and more bold with her exploration, no longer afraid she might upset Hannah because her fox appeared to be enjoying it. Not only did she grow more bold, Rayne grew more confident finding the ways to rub and touch that appeared to make Hannah visibly relax or fall deeper into the touch. At one point she pinched at the bottom or the lateral edge and rubbed in circles for a second or two, then she ran her pinched fingers up the long edge all the way to the tip. Doing so made Hannah shiver and tense up in her lap, which gave Rayne pause.

Hannah squeezed her legs together, letting the warmth flood over her body. She did her absolute best to make sure she made no sound as she marveled at how quickly her mistress found the right actions to build a heat inside of her. That aside, Hannah knew Rayne had seen her reaction because the touching stopped immediately. The fox just hoped her mistress would think her reaction was out of discomfort and not pleasure.

Deciding that was enough playing with Hannah’s ears, Rayne went back to stroking her hair gently. Maybe she had gone too far but all her mind could think about was wanting to continue playing with those ears. All too soon, Rayne found herself yawning and realized just how late it had become. This needed to come to an end but she didn’t want it to. She didn’t want this to only be a one time occurrence. “Hannah.”

“Yes, Mistress?” Saying that right after having her ears touched in that way really didn’t help the mild heat that was still lingering in her belly.

“Every night when I have retired and you are done for the day, I would like for you to come and meet me in my sitting room. Is that understood?”

Hannah nodded. “Yes, Mistress.” She wondered why Rayne would want that. Was it so that they could do this more? That wouldn’t be too terrible as long as her mistress didn’t keep up with touching her ears in just the right way. Honestly she had enjoyed the gentle touch all the way through, so it wouldn’t be upsetting really. It had felt really compassionate, a thing she hadn’t had in a long time.

“Good,” Rayne couldn’t help but say with a smile. “I’ll let Eda know in the morning. But for now I thinks it’s time I bid you goodnight.” With that she pulled her hands away from her cute fox. Hannah took that as her cue to pull away and stand up and was quickly followed by Rayne. Now that Rayne was standing up she already missed the warmth of Hannah in her lap. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Hannah.”

“Mistress?” The vixen asked nervously.

“Yes?”

Hannah looked sheepishly back down at the ground. “I don’t know my way back yet…”

Well, it looked like their time together wasn’t over just yet.