Joanna in her Master's suite

JOANNA AND THEO

Joanna's position was perfect. She knelt, resting on the balls of her feet, back straight, and hands upturned on her spread thighs. The sheer material of her harem **** costume draped perfectly over here body, lightly touching her buxom chest before gently caressing her chubby stomach and her beautiful thighs.

Theo wasn’t even sure how she had gotten in, but before he could consider that mystery, Joanna spoke.

“Sir,” she said. “Your willing **** humbly requests permission to speak.”

Theo's immediate instinct was that this was a terrible idea. The proper Dom thing would be to address her as his girlfriend, get her to stand up, and talk about whatever was going on not as master and ****, but as partners. With everything going on with the show, it would be oh-so-tempting for Jo to disappear into her role, and Theo knew that that would only cause problems in the long run.

But Jo would not present like this unless she had a reason. She was adopting high-etiquette posture and speech they rarely used, and Theo wasn't sure why. At his best guess, she wanted to say something, but something easier to say as a **** than a girlfriend. That could mean a few things, and Theo wasn't thrilled at any of them.

He has trusted his instincts in the past, when he should have trusted Jo. He had trusted Jo before, when he should have trusted his instincts.

But he didn't have time to turn it over long. If he dilly-dallied too long, that would be a choice in itself - it wouldn't be Dom behavior.

He nodded.

“Permission given, pet.”

There was depth, gravity, and confidence in his voice, but he also tried to fill it with every ounce of care and love he had in him.

“Thank you, Master,” his kneeling **** replied, looking up at Theo, eyes shining with devotion.

She took a deep breath.

And said nothing.

She tried again, once, then twice, clearly struggling.

“Go on, ****,” said Theo, and the word sounded like honey on his lips. “You have permission. Speak.”

“Sir,” his beautiful sub responded. “Your willing slut-”

Theo silenced her with a raised finger.

“**** is fine.”

She nodded. “Your willing **** knows that this… show has given you many duties and many responsibilities, and she understands that you will spend your nights with many prettier -”

He raised his finger again.

“No. Don't compare yourself like that. That is an order, pet.”

A strained look crossed her face, and it broke Theo's heart to see the gratitude mix with pain and with doubt, with disbelief.

“Of course, Master. But your willing **** does understand that you must spend time with many beautiful women, and that you have responsibilities to them. And she would hate if your generous affection for he-”

“Jo-, Theo said, squatting down to her level and reaching out to tuck a non-existent hair away behind her ear.

“Master, please.”

Theo could hear the pain, the sorrow, the anguish in Joanna's pleading voice, but her eyes were begging him to let her go on.

He finished his caress, running his finger along her forehead and temple, just brushing her ear, then - against his better judgment - stood up and gave her an expectant look.

“As I was saying,” she continued, a little rattled. “Your humble **** would hate to be the reason that your other guests do not get a chance to enjoy their nights with you, and she knows you have many duties to them. But if she may be permitted a moment of selfishness, she hopes that, although it is your right to do what you wish, you will do her the honour of waiting until she is present before you fuck your beautiful guests.”

Theo looked down on his girlfriend with undiluted admiration, even as his thoughts fogged over with concern.

That speech may have been the bravest, most selfless thing Joanna had done in all the time he'd known her. She had needed the role, his orders, to get it out, but it was Joanna who had rehearsed it, Joanna who had judged the situation - the game show, the mastery points, the situation everyone was in - and figured out what to do. Because he hadn't missed the implication - “waiting until she's is present before you fuck your guests,” she'd said. Fuck, not “use” or “enjoy” or “let them serve you.”

But what to do? There had been so much sadness, so much uncertainty, so much heart-wrenching pain behind her words.

Under normal circumstances, he would have simply ended the whole scene and spoken to his girlfriend, set down expectations and limits, and he certainly still planned to do that. But under normal circumstances, Joanna would not have made that speech, and if she had needed him to order her, she would simply have asked.

It felt like a betrayal to accept. She would not have offered if she had other choices, and what she suggested would hurt her heart, he was sure of it.

“Master?” She asked, cautiously. “What -”

“Quiet, love. You have been very brave and very selfless, and your Master needs to think. You deserve a considered answer.”

His hand found her hair, his fingers drifting through it, and her face relaxed into a contended smile.

“Good girl,” he told her, almost - but not quite - casually.

It would be a betrayal to accept, to play around with other women while his love was kept from him six days out of nine. Were circumstances different, maybe it would not feel so much like cheating, like betrayal, but here? After hearing the pain in her voice, the way she described the other women as “prettier,” the way she needed steadying breaths just to start - he could think of no other word.

But it felt like betrayal to deny her, too. She had pushed herself to speak, suppressed her fear and insecurity and jealousy for the sake of everyone. Was he supposed to just toss that in her face?

He had that right, of course. The duty, even. If he thought she was giving too much, sacrificing too much, he should stop her.

And if this had been just for him, probably he would. A sub offering to let her Master play while she was exclusive wasn't uncommon, but from Joanna? He knew her doubts, her insecurities. Had this been two days ago, he would have thought it was a sudden sub frenzy, or her pushing herself beyond her limits to be a “good sub” for him.

But it wasn't just for him. It would be so easy to be righteous, to tell her he would never even look at the other women, to stoicly resist the fucked up show they had been put in.

But…
He remembered Miriam struggling to stand as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through her, Chloe's nearly frantic begging to veto her transformation, even the pain in Nina's eyes and she doubled over.
… It would not save them.

He could deny her pain and sacrifice for his sake. Could he deny her if she did this for her friends?

He squatted down again, but kept his head above hers, and, though she was already looking up at him, he ran his finger along her jaw to her chin. His eyes were locked on hers.

“Joanna,” he said, but she knew it was not his boyfriend voice. “You’ve been exceptionally good. Perfect. I have only one problem - I do not know how to reward you enough.”

She sighed, and somewhere in her chest a knot released. She had hoped he would agree… and hoped just as fervently that he would not.

“But some rules first. You will not compare yourself to them. Not today, not tomorrow, not at any time. Do you understand?”

She nodded.

“Your words, pet.”

“Yes, Sir. I understand. I will not compare myself to them.”

“Good Girl,” he said, and she shivered.

“I cannot tell you not to compete, because this is a game show, cruel as it is. But you will not push yourself beyond your limits for the sake of proving your submission to me, and you will not allow anything I do with them to influence your submission to me.”

“Yes Sir,” she said, but her heart ached to say it. It was a difficult rule to accept. She was certain she would find herself breaking it, but he was not giving her a choice. “I will not push myself beyond my limits, and I will not allow anything between you and the others to influence my submission to you.”

“Good Girl.” Her master responded. “I know these might be difficult rules to follow. If you find yourself in doubt, if you think you have broken them, or if you need help following them, you will speak to me.”

She smiled. She should've known.

“Of course, Master.”

He rolled his eyes dramatically and gave her an expectant smirk.

“Yes Sir. I will speak to you if I need help or if I think I have broken these rules.”

“Much better.”

He ran his fingers through her hair, and she cursed internally - she had cheated herself out of a Good Girl.

He leaned forwards and kissed her forehead.

“Is there anything else my brave **** wishes to say?”

His voice was full of warmth, and love, and a deep, deep pride.

“No, Sir,” she said, smiling at him.

He stood up and reached down to her.

“Then stand up and get a kiss, my love”

She took his hand.

ANNA, CHLOE AND NINNA

Anna was the one to suggest the pool, and the one to work up the courage to ask one of those strange statues if there was one available.

It turned out there was, so she, Chloe and Nina were now relaxing by the pool. Ishtar had told them that changing into bikinis was fine when going for a swim, and Anna assumed that the traditional bikini-activity of lounging in the sun while your friends went for a swim was also included. And if not, well, she was sure the sight of her ass in the tiny thong that made up her bottoms would get her some brownie points with the viewers. She wiggled it for them, just in case.

She'd found her old stereo and CD collection in her closet as well, so their little pool party had music too. Specifically, since Anna was the only girl in the hotel that owned CDs, they were listening to Gnostic Acid-bath: A post-spiritual reconstitution, the 2019 debut album by the World-Electronica fusion band ArtHouse **** Delusion. She'd got it from the front woman for a joint.

While Anna enjoyed the (in)expertly wielded electric didgeridoo, Chloe and Nina were swimming. Both of them were skilled swimmers, and they were clearly enjoying the water. Anna didn't get it - sure, the occasional splash in the water was nice (and she might go jump in for a bit, it was hot), but both the other girls were just swimming back and forth. It looked exhausting, and that's all Anna would be - exhausted. But those two weirdos apparently enjoyed it.

Eventually, they both left the water and joined Anna on the deck. They were both wearing rather more modest bikinis than Anna's “hide nothing” string micro bikini. Nina's was the sexier of the two, dark red and closely fit to her chest, while Chloe's light green bikini had a top that was more like a sports bra, and her bottoms had high waists and plenty of cover.

Anna gave them both a genuine smile. Nina was looking much better, her eyes shining and all traces of the former tears were gone.

“Not gonna jump in?” She asked Anna.

“Maybe later. I'm enjoying the tunes right now.”

Nina just rolled her eyes.

“Hey Chloe, did I tell you how I got this CD? I was at this concert, and chatting with this girl -”

“- when she said ‘man, I haven't been high for weeks.’ so you rolled her a joint, took the first puff, and handed it to her. She took the CD case out of a purse and handed it to you, and that's when you found out she was the front woman of the opening act. You thought you'd dreamt it until two days later when you found it on your floor and freaked the fuck out.”

It was Nina who finished the story for her.

“You know, that story is funny maybe once. Not every time you play -” she sighed “- Gnostic Acid-bath: A post-spiritual reconstitution.”

“Oh you're never any fun,” Anna replied, but inwardly she was relieved - it was nice to see Nina joking with her again. She looked to Chloe.

“I hope it's not too much for your good Christian sensibilities?”

Chloe scoffed.

“It’s offensive to my aesthetic sensibilities, not my religious ones.”

“Oh and what do you listen to, then? Taylor Swift?”

“Oh please. Babymetal.”

This was not a lie, as such - Chloe really did listen to Babymetal. Hozier and They Might be Giants might be more common in her playlists, but she saw no particular reason to bother Anna with such trivialities at this time.

“Ooh, interesting,” Anna replied, looking Chloe over again. “Maybe we should -”

“Wait is this fucking Gnostic Acid-bath?” A new voice interrupted.

All three girls turned to look at Miriam as she approached, still wearing her chainmail bikini.

“You… you know Gnostic Acid-bath???” Anna responded.

Miriam sighed.

“Anna, we met once. Theo's birthday party. You put this on three times, and you told me that stupid story about getting the CD for a joint every time.”

In the back, Nina snickered, and even Chloe had to suppress a chuckle.

Anna bravely ignored the rosy tint to her cheeks as she returned Miriam's look.

“I'm flattered you remembered.”

“I had this trashy Electric Didgeridoo stuck in my head for three weeks”

“Hey!”

Anna's voice was sharp as she pulled herself up to her feet. Chloe blushed at the sight of the nearly-naked girl, but Anna's attention was on Miriam.

“You don't have to like my music, but don't slag it off like that! I don't go around telling everyone how stupid your dungeons and dragons is or how dumb dressing up as a vampire is.”

“Christ,” Miriam responded, holding up her hands in surrender. “I won't insult the terrible didgeridoo again.”

“Well, good!” Anna responded, and the fight seemed to leave her. “So, you here for a swim?”

“Well, I was mostly just following the noise. And I'm not sure this bikini is the best for swimming.”

“Maybe not,” Anna replied with a shrug. “I'm gonna go for a dip, though. There's always skinny dipping if you wanna join me.”

Miriam raised an eyebrow, and was about to answer when she saw Chloe's flushed face in the background, and changed her mind.

“Maybe later.”

“Suit yourself, then.”

With that, Anna took a single step closer to the edge and jumped.

The cool water of the pool washed over her, and she spent a moment beneath it, enjoying the temporary quiet and the way the whole world muted beneath the surface. Just a moment, feeling the water against her skin, the sudden weightlessness, the gentle cold banishing the overbearing heat of the sun.

When she returned to the surface, the music had stopped. Rude, but not unexpected.

She pushed herself onto her back, floating gently. She could hear the other girls talking about music, but she didn't care to correct their terrible opinions at the moment.

Instead she thought about Nina. She hated seeing her friend's puffy red eyes, and she hated knowing she'd been struggling. She knew Theo too well to think he'd tried to harm Nina on purpose, so she unfortunately couldn't work up the proper fury, just a sort of bone-deep frustration with him. Theo, you bastard, she thought with less heat than she'd wished. You better try to fix this mess.

Now, logically, Anna knew that their breakup was a sort of mutual fuck-up, and knowing Nina she was certain that her friend carried at least some of the blame, but this was not particularly relevant - Nina was her friend, Theo was Nina's ex, and that settled the matter.

Nina really had it the worst of everyone here - the “Master” was her ex who hated her, she had gotten by far the worst transformation, and the only person really in her corner was Anna, who couldn't even be properly pissed off at Theo. She thought back to Miriam showing her something on that tablet she still hadn't looked at - maybe there was something Anna could use to help Nina? Ishtar had mentioned something about “boons and curses,” too. Anna wasn't any good at all that game stuff, but luckily the show had plenty of nerds she could ask for advice. Miriam, perhaps?

That thought brought her out of her reverie, and she righted herself in the water, looking towards the deck, only to discover that Miriam was gone - along with Chloe. Instead, Nina was talking to… Jessica?

Very strange.