Chapter 1

It was a large classroom, with theatre style seating, sloped so that those sitting in the back row could see over the heads of those sitting up front. There were about twenty students in the room, filling less than a quarter of the seats. It was an even mixture of men and women, all adults. The focus of the room was a semi-circular space with large video screens up on the walls. The screens were blank, switched off by the professor who was standing in front of the class. He was dressed in a plaid brown suit, and he had a large electronic wristband on each arm. He was a small man. He looked surprisingly vulnerable standing next to the animals he was controlling.

To his right, there was a giant centipede. It was a meter long, with a segmented body and dozens of legs. It was rearing up on the hind third of its legs, hissing at the class. Its feelers waved in the air and venom dripped from its fangs. The creature was agitated, trying to move, but it couldn’t. A silver collar was wrapped around its body, near the head.

To the professor’s left, there was a hulking feline creature that dwarfed him in size. It had heavy musculature with massive front paws and shoulders. Long haired fur formed a thick speckled brown coat. The animal had incredibly long canine teeth that extended from its upper jaw like curved daggers. It was reclining peacefully, content in the knowledge that it was the most dangerous thing in the room. A silver collar was wrapped around its thick neck, looking diminutive on the large creature. Unlike the centipede, the sabre-toothed tiger wasn’t fighting the collar.

It should have been a fascinating lecture. This was one of Liam’s favorite subjects, rare collar pets and the difficulties encountered while training them. The only problem was that his girlfriend was sitting next to him, and she had him a little distracted. She had her hand in his pants.

Her name was Sofia Papadopoulou. She was sitting on the edge of her seat, turned so that her left hand could reach into his pants. He could feel the tips of her lacquered nails gently pressing into the skin behind his scrotum as she gripped his testicles. She was being gentle, teasing him, rubbing her wrist against his throbbing erection. She was sitting at an angle, so that her body blocked anyone else from seeing what she was doing. Simultaneously, she was giving him a spectacular view of her cleavage. It was a discreet hand job, performed in the middle of class.

Sofia had a smile on her full red lips as she watched his face. She was enjoying what she was doing almost as much as he was. Her long blonde hair framed her face, with a blush high on her cheeks that made it look like she was aroused. It was actually her makeup, applied in a way that made her look permanently horny. A necklace hung from around her neck, dangling in her ample cleavage. She was wearing a bikini top, leaving little to the imagination. Harem style pants rode low on her hips, hinting at showing her pubic mound.

“Miss Papadopoulou, would you like to answer that question?” Professor Brevifolia’s voice called out. Sofia sighed and turned in her seat, pulling her hand out of his pants.

“What question would that be Professor Brevifolia?” she replied.

“A little distracted, are we?” he asked.

Laughter rang out from the class. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t being discreet enough with her hand job. Apparently, everyone knew what she was doing. In Liam’s defence, he was on the receiving end. It wasn’t like it was his fault.

“Why does the collar work better on Smilodon than it does on Gigantea?” the professor asked, gesturing to the tiger and the centipede in turn.

“Gigantea is an overgrown arthropod,” Sofia replied, “She is not blessed with the goddess’s love, and thus she is hard to control with a device that is based on the pillars of the goddess’s worship. Smilodon, on the other hand, has the capacity to feel love. As such, she is within the goddess’s domain, and she is easier to control with the collar.”

Sofia’s answer drew mocking laughter from one of the men in the front row. It was Peter Silinger. He was a big guy, who was good at training collar pets, but he was weak on the theory.

“Oh, come on, that’s a bunch of religious nonsense,” Peter said.

“Would you care to give that explanation again Miss Papadopoulou?” the professor asked, “This time in a language that mister Silinger can understand.”

“Of course, professor,” Sofia replied, “The collars use hormones, such as oxytocin, to control the collar pets. Smilodon is a mammal and thus oxytocin is part of her biology. The collar can work on her as per its design. Gigantea, on the other hand, lacks oxytocin in her biology. As such, the collar doesn’t work as well on her.”

“Very good miss Papadopoulou,” Professor Brevifolia said, “This is a timely lesson that just because somebody speaks in religious terminology does not mean that they are ignorant or stupid. Now, I’m fairly certain I noticed a pleasant breeze blowing through the class. Priestess Josephine would you like to come in?”

A tall woman in thin robes walked into the classroom. The robes flowed around her in a gentle breeze as she made her way down the sloped walkway towards the professor. She was slender, wearing some sort of skintight bodysuit under her robe. She had long dirty blonde hair, styled to hang over one shoulder. Her makeup accentuated her full lips. A belt around her waist supported two large pouches. The pouches were standard gear for a trainer.

“Priestess Josephine is here to provide us with a lesson on how the collars work on people,” Professor Brevifolia said.

“Thank you Joshua,” the priestess said, using the professor’s first name. She reached into one of the pouches on her waist and pulled out a collar. It was a silver ring, similar to the ones on the giant centipede and the sabre-toothed tiger. A wristband was clipped to it, ready to be put on the owner’s wrist before activating the collar.

“In this collar,” Priestess Josephine continued, “I have an initiate from the temple who has volunteered for the demonstration today. She is a collar girl.”

Sitting next to Liam, Sofia shifted her focus. She turned so that she was at the edge of her seat. Her attention riveted on the priestess. Liam’s erection was still hard in his pants. He sat forward and took Sofia’s hand in his.

“You’re kind of leaving me half finished here,” he said.

“What?” Sofia asked, before glancing down at his hand, “Not now.”

“Joshua, could you put your pets away?” the priestess asked.

“Certainly,” Professor Brevifolia replied.

“Gigantea return,” he said while pressing a button on the wristband on his left arm.

A leash made of red light appeared, connecting his wristband with the collar on the giant centipede. A mote of light traveled down the leash, striking the still struggling creature. The centipede froze in place. For a moment it was outlined in light before suddenly bursting into a shower of embers that were sucked into the collar. The collar seemed to launch itself through the air, flying to the professor’s waiting hand.

“Smilodon, get off your lazy ass and follow,” Professor Brevifolia said, pressing a button on the opposite wristband.

Another leash appeared, connecting his wrist with the neck of the sabre-toothed tiger. The huge beast grunted and climbed to its feet, following the professor to an empty seat. It rubbed its cheek affectionately against the professor as they walked. He absently ruffled its ears before sitting down. The sabre-toothed tiger lay on the floor by his side, watching him like a well-trained dog.

“I’m warning you now,” Professor Brevifolia called out from his chair, “When Priestess Josephine brings out her collar girl, there will be no laughter at her expense and no catcalls. I will not put up with any collar girl abuse in my classroom. Understood?”

A general murmur of agreement came from the class. Technically, laughing at or mocking a collar girl wasn’t actually abuse, but Liam understood what the professor meant. He was demanding their best behaviour.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Priestess Josephine said. She slipped the wristband onto her arm, unclipping it from the collar.

“Briar Rugosa, I call you!” she called out, tossing the collar towards the ground in front of her.

The collar stopped in midair, as if hovering. A stream of lights erupted from it, gathering into a vaguely human shaped form. With a flash of light, the form solidified into a naked woman kneeling in front of the priestess. The collar was snug around her neck. The glowing red line of the leash connected her neck with the priestess’s wrist.

The woman in the collar was completely naked. She had long black hair and pale white skin. From where Liam was sitting, he could see her small breasts, long legs, and neatly trimmed pubic hair. She was an adult woman, at least eighteen years of age in order for the collar to work on her. Priestess Josephine said she was an initiate, which meant that she was training to be a priestess.

Sofia was watching the presentation, enthralled by the collar girl. For his part, Liam still had a raging erection, and he was feeling a bit abandoned.

“Ummm, seriously,” he said, “You’re just going to ignore me.”

“Not now Liam, I have a hand-ache,” Sofia replied without looking at him.

“Hah, hah, very funny.”

She shushed him, loud enough for some of their classmates to glance over. She was serious. He sat back in his chair, defeated. Sofia was always fascinated by anything related to the church. He should have known the hand job was over the minute the priestess walked in.

In front of the class, Priestess Josephine was standing over her collar girl, touching the girl’s cheek with her hand. She was speaking quietly to the girl. The red line of the leash faded from sight. The connection was still there, but it became invisible.

“Now class,” Priestess Josephine said, raising her voice without looking away from the collar girl, “As with your collar pets, the touch of her master reinforces control over a collar girl.”