Only thirty seconds remained, and I’d just planted the bomb.
DumpTruckKiller and I were the last two alive, and the enemy team was moving in. I crouched behind a wall as the bomb ticked, wincing when DumpTruck cursed sharply over the headset and said, “Shit, I’m down.” It was just me, then. One versus five. The clock ticked down.
Ten…nine…eight…
A helmet popped out in an alley, and I fired, killing him instantly. If one was here, the others wouldn’t be far behind.
Six…five…four…
Two more. I took out another enemy with a headshot, but the second one dodged me, crouching behind barriers as they made their way closer to my location. Footsteps pounded behind me and my screen flashed red as gunfire popped, my health bar rapidly declining with only two seconds remaining.
The round ended, VICTORY popping up on the screen. There were several cheers through the headset as I leaned back, stretching my arms over the back of my chair. “And that’s how it’s done, boys. Good game.”
Echoes of the same answered me, along with the high-pitched shrieking of some obnoxious kid on the other team, who I quickly muted. Someone in chat was raging too, typing furiously, CampBloodCouncilor is hacking. WTF was that headshot? Reported. I laughed, setting the headset aside for a moment. They could report all they wanted, but I wasn’t cheating.
“Wow, that was pretty exciting.”
I banged my knee on the desk from turning so fast. Jessica stood in my open doorway, a black plastic bag in her hand. She was wearing — holy fuck — a tiny maid costume, a collar with a bell, and cat ears.
My mouth hung open for a moment. Had I passed out? Was I dreaming? Had Vincent put magic mushrooms in my breakfast again?
“Are you fucking with me?” I said. “How did you get in here?” Vince had to be behind this. He was the only one who’d seen “cat girls” in my search history, and he hadn’t given me a break about it since.
I’d been joking when I’d looked it up anyway. Half joking. You could get off to something and still consider it a joke.
“The others wanted to surprise you,” she said, walking into the room and casually dumping the bag on the floor. “They thought this costume was hilarious.”
Thank God I’d cleaned in here. I wasn’t a messy person; I was disorganized. I’d gotten the smallest bedroom in the house, but I only spent time here to work and nap, or if it was too hot to tolerate sleeping next to Vincent. Mostly, this room was just a place to keep my computer setup since it took up so much space.
I’d put off washing my sheets since she’d slept in my bed, finally throwing them in the laundry only yesterday. Usually I was pretty good about that, but when I smelled her scent on the blankets, the last thing I’d wanted to do was make it go away.
Her pale blonde hair was glowing in the light from my blue LEDs as she sat on the edge of my bed. It made her look psychedelic, like something out of a perverted fever dream. The tiny dress hitched up on her thighs and I was salivating already.
“So, you’re the one responsible for breaking the security system?” she said.
“I didn’t break it. I found and utilized an exploit that allowed me to control it.”
She nodded slowly. “Meaning…?”
“I hacked it. It wasn’t even that hard. Your parents seriously have to replace that shit. I’ll install it myself if I have to.”
Jess hummed as she nodded again. If I didn’t know better, I would have said she looked impressed. “The rumors in high school were true, weren’t they? People would complain about you getting their passwords and messing with their accounts, but I honestly didn’t believe it. You were always so quiet.”
“That’s how I got away with it,” I said. “People don’t suspect the quiet ones.”
Being underestimated allowed me to slide under the radar. She gave me a long look, regarding me as if she was trying to discover some secret. I worked from home, so I wasn’t dressed to impress. I wasn’t even wearing a shirt, and these sweatpants doubled as pajamas. But her eyes lingered as they got lower, probably because these thin pants didn’t hide shit.
That little dress she was wearing didn’t hide much either.
I’d come up with this entire idea of sex-as-payment. I’d sat there and watched her agree to this deal, but that didn’t mean I really believed it. I’d thought she would back out by now. I’d thought she would start ignoring our texts the day after Manson and Lucas had their fun with her. So I’d kept my distance, because why should I get my hopes up for something that wasn’t going to happen?
But to see her sitting there, dressed like that…
“Uh, Jason?” She snapped her fingers, and I shook my head, blinking rapidly. I had a tendency to zone out into my thoughts, but I’d been staring at her blankly the entire time. Shit.
“Sorry, sorry, I…” I licked my lips, uncertain of what to say. “Why are you…I mean…okay, fuck it, I’ll just say. Why are you here?”
“To serve you,” she said, with a teasing sigh. “Lucas and Manson said they owed you, so apparently, I’m your interactive thank you present. I think they’re calling you, actually.” She frowned in the direction of my desk.
Voices were calling my name from the headset, and I picked it back up, placing it over one ear. The boys had finally joined the Discord group, which was how we talked to each other during multiplayer games without yelling across the house.
“What’s the holdup, J?” Lucas said. Vincent and Manson were both snickering. “Everything good for the next round?”
“Sorry to keep you waiting, buddy,” Manson said. “We had a few things to take care of first.”
“I got a little distracted,” I said dryly, and Vincent meowed before laughing even harder.
“Do you like the accessories she came with?” Lucas said, and I suddenly remembered the bag Jess had come in with.
“You brought along some goodies, huh?” I said as I put down the headset.
“I haven’t even looked,” she said, innocently putting up her hands. “Vincent was really determined to keep things a surprise, except for this dress. Which I am stuck in, by the way.”
I paused. “Wait…you can’t get the dress off?”
“Nope.” She popped her lips and sighed again, crossing her legs. “I guess you’ll have to help me.”
Oh, I’d certainly be helping her. That dress was going to be in pieces by the time I was done.
Squatting down, I had a look in the bag. Her foot was tapping nervously on the rug as I withdrew the first toy, still sealed in plastic. I held it up so she could get a good look. “Do you know what this is?”
“I don’t know. A rose with a tale?” Her eyes widened and she leaned forward for a closer look. “Don’t tell me that goes inside me?”
“The tail does,” I said, pointing to the bulbous tail attached to the larger part of the toy. “The top is supposed to simulate oral stimulation.” Her mouth opened in a silent ‘O’ as I delved in for the next toy, my brain buzzing with options.
I didn’t understand why some people felt intimidated by using toys in the bedroom. Why wouldn’t you want to use every item at your disposal to blow your partner’s mind? If Jess wasn’t reduced to a trembling, empty-headed, orgasm-drunk puddle by the end of this, then I hadn’t done my job.
I’d fantasized about this — about her — for way too long. The beautiful, untouchable girl. The woman who was supposed to be off-limits. I wouldn’t settle for anything less than blowing her mind.
Her eyes followed me as I stood up. “Do you want to play a game?” I said, motioning toward my chair.
She dragged her lip through her teeth with uncertainty. “It’s been a long time since I played a video game,” she said. “Is it competitive?”
“Very. It’s simple, I promise. Only a few buttons to learn.”
She sat up a little straighter. “Okay. Teach me.”
Damn, there was something about hearing those words out of her mouth that gave me tingles all over. She got up from the bed, smoothing down her skirt as her bell jingled. I imagined the noise it would make while I fucked her, and I wondered if it would be possible to train her to get turned on by the sound of a bell.
I guess I was going to find out.
I held up my hand before she could sit down at the desk. “Wait, first things first. Take your panties off.”
She pursed her lips, turning to face me. Her green eyes appeared ethereal in the blue glow, like cut jewels glittering in the light. She held my gaze as she reached under her skirt and tugged her panties down, a simple black pair with lacy edges. I held out my hand and she gave them over, placing them in my palm a little more roughly than necessary.
“Finally got my own trophy,” I said. I brought the fabric to my nose, inhaling as she watched. Her lips parted slightly when I said, “Christ, you smell good.”
Her cheeks darkened and she shuffled her feet. I held up two of the other toys I’d found in the bag — an anal plug and a pair of metal nipple clamps. They had even remembered to include a new bottle of lube. “I know how much you like a challenge, princess. So today, you’re going to learn to play on hard mode.”
“Is that how you play?” she quipped. It was an obvious attempt at a dig, but if she thought she was going to get to be a brat with me, she had another thing coming.
“Sometimes I do,” I said, and her expression faltered. “Depends on my mood. What doesn’t depend on my mood is that if you start talking back to me, you’ll pay the consequences.”
I pointed behind her, and she turned. A slim wooden paddle was leaned up against the side of my desk, its surface covered with holes for better aerodynamics.
I grabbed her collar and tugged her toward me. Her chest pressed against mine, her eyes wide as I pulled up on the collar and forced her to her tippy-toes. “If you give me any attitude, if you disobey, I’ll bend you over and make you thank me for every swat until your ass is black and blue. Is that understood?”
She nodded quickly, voice slightly squeaky from the pressure of the collar. “I…Yes, sir.” She worked her jaw, as if the words were thick and uncomfortable to get out.
“Now bend over. The boys are waiting, and I need you plugged before you play.”
