Our room was huge and I enjoyed exploring the massive bathroom and trying the large bed. Nice. “Come on, we need to get to the shop.” The shop was...a boutique specialising in very expensive dresses and lingerie. She bought me an utterly gorgeous evening dress; gunmetal grey, strapless, open to midway up my thighs and simply fantastic. She also bought me silk stockings and matching suspender belt and French silk knickers. It was all eye-wateringly expensive but she didn’t seem to notice. I caught. .." he said deliberately... "I'm looking... what do you want?"Susan burst into tears and sat sobbing helplessly beside her husband. "Oh, please... Jamie..." she cried, "OH, PLEASE DON'T! DON'T DO THIS TO ME!"In Cabin OneIke sat brooding in the adjacent cabin. He was still fuming over the words Carrie Livingston had said to him in the fever pitch of her excitement."Overgrown oaf!" she'd said, "opportunist! Why I ever let you marry Tricia in the first place I'll never know... THIS IS ALL YOUR. "You may begin," the man said.Jennifer heard the rush of air, then pain exploded against her bare back, pain such as she had never felt in her life. The whip wrapped around her exposed body like a snake, leaving a wicked welt where it had struck. Before she could as much as cry out, another blow landed, this one across her bottom. She screamed, and began to wriggle faster, harder, even as the next blow fell across her shoulders, and the next wrapped around her waist. Gaston lashed her again and. "They are independent merchants. You will be charged far less for this transfer."Merchants did more than simply procure goods. They also acted as couriers, movers, and deliverers. The Imperium itself sometimes employed them to move important documents and correspondence to the outlying kingdoms. But they charged a premium for such services.Or at least the Clan-based ones did. Independent merchants undercut them in price. The Clans rarely worried about this because they were self-limiting..