“In the seraglio she encountered a situation where she was forced to be completely submissive, as is her nature. There, however, without an authoritative individual whom she loved and cared about in residence, she became just a slave to the will of those more powerful than she – which was just about everyone else. When her subservience was reinforced using hypnotic drugs, her Western veneer was stripped off and she essentially reverted to what she truly is.”

  “And that is?”

  “In crude terms, a slave with no will of her own, who needs a controlling [probably male] master to tell her what to do, what’s expected of her, and how wonderful it is to do the master’s bidding.”

  “Probably male?”

  “Given what she was taught and required to repeatedly practice in the seraglio, via drug-reinforcement, and from other experiences, Claire is probably bisexual now. In a homosexual way, she’s in love with Saida. But she can be quite content with a dominant male.”

  “You mean she has no will power of her own? Or preference as to the sex of her partners?”

  “Well …,” Betty sighed loudly, “she has no decision power. She wants and expects someone else to decide everything for her. She’s happiest now when she doesn’t have to make a choice herself. In fact, she hates that. For example, she doesn’t care whether her hair is blonde or black or gone entirely. She’d be totally happy whatever way it was, as long as someone else decides which it should be.”

  “Then how do we get her back to where she was?” This was the craziest thing he’d ever heard.

  “Honestly … that isn’t in the cards. Realistically, Claire is never going to be the same as she was before the harem experience. The reason is what I’ve told you. She’s the way she is now because of what they did to her. Her neural connections, the programs running in her mind if you want to think of her thought processes that way, have been altered. Their use of hypnotics seems to have erased the path back, meaning that she can’t conceptualize what it was like to be independent; she has no target to shoot for. The neural connections just aren’t there anymore. It’s more process than memory. She remembers everything; she just can’t find the process for making decisions, for example, since they more-or-less managed to erase it. To add to the problem we face, she subconsciously rejects going back because she’s now closer to her real, submissive nature. So it was easy for them to reinforce her new mental state, because something like the desired, submissive base-state was already there.”

  “You mean: it’s hard to go back to what you were, when you no longer know what it was that you did to make you that way.”

  “Precisely. Or even understand where you were before in your own self-image. Over time, she’ll get better at making decisions, but not fundamental ones. Probably not decisions that affect how she looks, or what she does or how she behaves in public. That said, she is resistant to undoing any of the things they did to her in the harem, like the nose ring. She hates it, but is very afraid to be without it. I suggest that she should just live with the changes they imposed on her. That includes the nose ring, the tattoos – even if they could be removed – the rings they moved to her outer labia, and her extra weight.

  “She was told to accept those changes while under the influence of some very powerful drugs. They coupled the drugs with intimidation and a continuously reinforced world-view that those changes were a part of what she had to be – in order to survive in the harem. Now, those changes are inherently her. Fighting the remade Claire will only frustrate her and lead to a deep-seated unhappiness. She needs to build on what she is now, not waste energies trying to go back to what she was. Claire – and Saida too – have been too skillfully altered for that to ever happen.”

  “You almost make it sound like they’d be better off if they’d just stayed in the harem. You imply that they’ve become creatures of the seraglio. Obviously, that’s totally unacceptable to me.”

  “As it should be. There are two key reasons why they would not have been better off there. First, there’s Claire’s love for you and Saida’s for Ali, and their corresponding need to be with those they love. Secondly, they share, at some level, the need we all have for liberty, happiness and freedom from fear.”

  He nodded, coming to acceptance of the way things were, and determined to make the best of their lives going forward.

  “As far as the decisions about anything else, she’ll want – and expect – you to make those for her. Should she wear this dress or that? Should she have hair or not? Can she spend intimate time with Saida? Should she be fat or skinny? By the way, on that one, and anything they did to her in the harem, she should stay the way she is. Because those changes coincided with the partial destruction and rebuilding of her personality, they’re now a fundamental part of her frail self-image. She needs a self-image and the one she has cannot survive disruption. Removing her nose ring, or her harem tattoos, or changing her weight could damage or destroy her. Claire is fragile now. She may always be that delicate. You get what I mean?”

  “Yes. I don’t know if I can handle that level of responsibility – or, if I’m honest – control. Plus her need to be with Saida … I guess I can share her to some extent.”

  “Of course you can. Be generous and understanding about Claire and Saida. And regarding control, I believe you can do that for two reasons: one, because you liked doing it before the seraglio, based on what you’ve told me, and two, because you love her, and that’s what she wants – and needs – you to do.”

  “It sounds like I’m supposed to become her guardian, not her husband and lover.”

  “Not at all. You can be either or both of those, if you want, but you don’t have to be. What Claire wants, what she really requires, is for you to be her Master.”

  “It was better when that was voluntary – and just for fun and sexual excitement.”

  “That’s your Western view showing. Some people want to be dominated. You’ve shown that you like to dominate. Claire absolutely requires that right now – and probably always will, to some extent. She’s still Claire, but not quite the woman she was before the harem. I don’t really see a way back. I suggest you embrace your opportunity, and go with it – that’s my not-so-Western view.”

  “And the stuttering?”

  “It might get better, and it might not. I’m hopeful, though. Speaking is like doing a hundred push-ups to her. It’s strenuous. Her brain’s speech center got rewired or disrupted, perhaps due to fear of punishment or discovery – and the drugs facilitated the rewiring - so discourse is no longer easy for Claire. If you want to discuss complex subjects with her, as you will from time-to-time, you’ll have to be patient. Her normal inclination is to be silent and submissive, partially because speech has been made difficult for her, and partially because she has almost no assertive tendencies anymore.

  “They changed her deeply, you realize. Through technology, or ancient practices, or punishment, or some hidden desire on Claire’s part that they managed to find and bring to the forefront, they altered her view of the world and her place in it. For the most part, she’s still Claire, but a number of her attributes have been altered, some of them permanently in all likelihood.”

  Elliot stood, shook hands with Betty, left and drove to the bungalow. When he got there, Claire was kneeling naked on the veranda, facing the ocean in repose position. The breeze blew her black hair about her face. It was still growing out black, and more coarse than the soft blonde it had been so many months ago. The crazy Berber potion had done something permanent to her hair too.

  She was soft and well-rounded. Her arms, legs, breasts and bottom were chubby. Her tummy and face were full and slightly rounded. Her weight hadn’t changed since her rescue from the seraglio. Neither had Saida’s. They each seemed to instinctively eat exactly what they needed to maintain their matched plumpness. The psychiatrists suggested that neither he nor Ali try to do anything about that. They feared disrupting Claire’s and Saida’s delicate stability. There was so much else that needed to improve. It didn’t matter; to Elliot, Claire was still stunningly attractive and he wanted her as much as ever.

  Staring out to sea, she seemed not to notice him. He approached her and stood above her looking down. Realizing he’d returned, she immediately assumed the tulip position.

  She was barely recognizable as the formerly thin, blonde Claire who’d flown, blind and deaf, to London with him so long ago. But Claire was always spectacularly beautiful, awesomely sexually desirable. That hadn’t changed in the least.

  “Relax, Claire.” He said kindly.

  Dropping her hands from behind her head, she resumed the repose position.

  “I just spoke to Dr. Schiefatelli.”

  “B…B…B…Betty or Ro…Ro…Roger?”

  “Betty. She told me you’ve reached the point where you’re probably as well recovered as you’re going to get for a while now. You and I should get on with our lives together.”

  “I st…uh…st…stutter.”

  “She thinks that might get better.”

  “S…S…S…Said…da … c…can hard…hardly sp…sp…speak at all.”

  “I know. I’m sure they’ll help her over the next few months.”

  “I…I’m not the s…same as I wa…wa…you know. I realize th…th…that, b…b…but I don’t un…un…derstand it.

  I am safe with Elliot, she told herself. I can speak with him without fear. Why am I stuttering when I’m talking with my true love? I’m afraid sometimes even when there’s no reason to be. I can be myself with Elliot, but I’m not sure who I am right now. I’m a displaced houri in the care if a wonderful man whom I love. He is my only master now. He’ll take care of me. He’ll tell me what to do. I need him to tell me what to do.

  I still look like the concubine they turned me into, she mused. I still wear the slave ring in my nose and the harem tattoos; I’m fat; and I can’t even wear western clothes. The seraglio still has a grip on me and I’m afraid – no, it’s more than that – they somehow made me comfortable with the way they changed me, even though I don’t like it. It seems that, in some very important ways, I’ll always be the displaced concubine, like it says on my wrist. And I’ll always be, physically and in part of my mind, what they made me become. It’s as though I couldn’t remove the nose ring or lose the weight any more than I could recover my lost inner lips, even though it would be possible to cut the ring out or go on a diet.

  “M…Master. I f…f…feel like I w…want to be here, b…but I be…be…belong there, in t…the harem.”

  Elliot could see the anguish in her dark, sad eyes. “I know things have changed, Claire, and you’ll need more time to acclimate to life outside the seraglio. But you are still my beloved Claire. You definitely belong here, with me. I love you, Darling.”

  Her mind searched for something positive to say. She’d grown weary of being unhappy. “I am g…g…good at sex…yes?”

  “Better than ever. Better than anyone.” That made her smile shyly. In fact, sex was better than ever, though different. She was totally dedicated to his pleasure, to the extent that he had to constantly assure her that he wanted her to climax whenever she could. He almost had to command her to cum. Sometimes he wanted to begin sex by arousing her to climax. At those times, he had to order her to accept the pleasure he was giving her and let go whenever she wanted. Finally, only in the last week or so, she was getting better at that acceptance.

  She felt physically different too. Of course, she was soft, fleshy and plump where she’d been firm, muscular, and trim. Those changes made her feel like a totally different woman when pressed against him. Without her inner lips she gripped him differently. She became much wetter across the reduced surface of her pussy, now hidden beneath her fully-closed, ringed outer lips. As a result she opened easier and entering her was effortless. She’d also become excellent at using her muscles to grip him and actually move the grip point up and down his shaft.

  She had told Elliot that sex with him felt different to her than before. She missed the arousal which had often begun in her missing inner lips, and the intimate way those lips had surrounded his penis and gripped him. With tears in her eyes, she had, with considerable difficulty because of the stuttering, told him that during sex she felt more penetrated now, and less joined to him.

  Over time she’ll adjust, Roger had told him. The memory of what sex felt like before will fade, and she’ll think of it wistfully, but not with sadness. She’ll move on.

  Elliot believed the shrink, but still felt sorrow for Claire’s loss. He was determined to make sex between them better than ever for her, no matter what he had to do.

  But now, it was time to take the next step in their life together.

  “Claire, I have something to ask you.”

  He could see her spirits drop by the uncertain look on her face. Just the thought of, perhaps, having to express an opinion or make a decision was enough to …

  “What I mean is; I have something to tell you.”

  Rather than try to say anything, she raised her thin eyebrows in question.

  “We’re getting married two weeks from Saturday. Some of our friends are flying in to celebrate with us. Monique, René, and Jean-Pierre will be here, along with others.”

  Her eyes rounded in surprise. Then, in a moment of selfish clarity, she asked,” B…But what about my b…bond to Saida?”

  “What do you mean?” He asked. Then he recognized the concern on her face.

  “When we are m…m…married, I…I…I…wh…what c…can I do abou…a…about Saida?”

  “When you and Saida need to be together, then you will be. I won’t stand in the way of your need for each other. You may attend Saida whenever you want to, Claire. You’re going to be my wife, not my slave. I don’t want to pull you from Saida. I’ve talked to Ali, and he’s in agreement.“

  By the look on her pretty face, you’d have thought she’d won the lottery. Inside her, Claire’s heart, her true, everlasting heart, jumped for joy. I’ve found love with Elliot and Saida, she thought. And he’s telling me I can have both. How wonderful he is to me!

  “Oh M…M…M…Master! You m…make me s…s…so happy!”

  “As you wish, I will be your master, Claire, but you don’t need to call me that.” He didn’t expect her to respond, but she did.

  “Oh Elliot! I l…love you s…so!”

  His smile burst forth uncontrolled. Elliot was in love: a satisfied, excited, aroused, confident man, trying to be happy. Both he and Claire – Claire in particular - had been dealt cards that were at once tragic and interesting, frightening and exceptional. He realized Claire was what she was today, largely because of the circumstances he’d put her into. That both aroused him and induced feelings of near-overwhelming guilt.

  “I love you, Master!” She exclaimed. It was the one phrase she could always say without stuttering. But Claire, changed as she was, was still capable of happiness. Her joy was obvious and genuine. Then she surprised them both by shouting, without a stutter, “I love you, Elliot!”

  Elliot knew that Claire was happy to be his, and pleased with the direction they now thought their lives together would take. As he held her his thoughts reflected on what she’d said and what she’d felt. Claire loved him regardless of what struggles were still unresolved in her mind. We’ll beat this as a team, he vowed. What, he thought, is more important than two people facing life’s challenges together?

  Individually and as a couple, it must be better to accept happiness at what you are, not be mired in melancholy regret at what you were, Elliot thought. We do all evolve, or change. Some of it is our own choice, some is imposed on us by our situation. We all have to seek joy and satisfaction where we can, not where we’d like it to be. Yes, they would make this work.

  “I love you too, Claire.” He lifted her up and hugged her tight to him, relishing in her warmth and evident affection. “Oh Claire! Always and forever, I love you too!”

  End

  Chapter Title Songs

  The chapter titles in Oh Claire! are all from songs: some old, some contemporary. In case you’re interested, here are the songs, sources, and artists:

  There’ll Be Some Changes Made: Benton Overstreet & Billy Pilgrim, 1921.

  Baubles, Bangles and Beads: from the musical, Kismet, Robert Wright & George Forest, 1953.

  She’s Got Me Dancing: Tommy Sparks, 2009.

  Hello Darkness, My Old Friend: Simon & Garfunkel, 1966

  Out My Back Door: Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1970.

  Days of Wine and Roses: from the movie, Days of Wine and Roses, Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, 1962.

  Up, Up and Away: The 5th Dimension, 1966.

  Tea for Two: from the musical, No. No Nanette, Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar, 1925.

  I Kissed a Girl: Katy Perry, 2008.

  Desert Rose: Sting and Cheb Mami, 1999.

  Harem: Sarah Brightman, 2003.

  Let Me Out: Future Leaders of the World, 2008.

  I’m Not That Girl: from the musical, Wicked, Gregory Maguire and Stephen Schwarz, 2003.

  Tell Me What We’re Gonna Do Now: Joss Stone, 2007.

  About the Author

  Thirty-something Giulia Napoli grew up in East Lansing, Michigan where her father was a professor at Michigan State University. She has a Bachelors and a Masters degree in Journalism from a prestigious Great Lakes area university. While an undergraduate, Giulia studied abroad for three years - a year each in London, Florence, and Brussels. Her interest in the many forms of erotica started and grew during her time in Europe. Giulia writes contemporary adult fantasy - romantic erotica - with themes of submission, hair fetishes, body modification and some surprising, unexpected, erotic twists thrown in. Her settings are often exotic and global in scope, reflecting the broad travel experiences of this beautiful young author.

  Gi is married to a brilliant, totally non-nerdy (her words) industrial scientist and has her first child, a girl, on the way. She and her husband live in a major metropolitan area in the Great Lakes region of the USA.