One to be nice

---

As Rebecca stood in the walk-in wardrobe, the past few days raced through her mind.

Kiss James twice a day. Touch his penis. Blindly taste things and apparently never be told what they were.

Now she had to try to make him hard every day.

And if she failed, they took back money she'd already earned.

“What am I doing?” she whispered. “This is so stupid.”

What if she lost all of it?

Immediately, she could hear Richard.

Not only did you kiss another man and touch his penis, but you also came home empty-handed?

God, Rebecca. You really are an idiot.

Rebecca chewed her lip and looked at herself again.

The pajamas weren't much better than what she'd worn all day. The little shorts showed considerably more leg and butt than anything she owned at home, while the camisole showed nearly as much cleavage as the dress.

Still, they were pajamas.

And at least she was covered down there.

With a deep breath, Rebecca left the wardrobe.

And stopped.

James was already lying on top of the bed.

Waiting for her.

“There she is.” James looked her over. “Cute pajamas.”

Rebecca frowned.

“What?”

“We need to talk.”

James lowered his arm from behind his head. “That sounds ominous.”

Rebecca approached the bed but made no attempt to get beneath the covers. Instead she climbed onto the foot of the bed, leaving a deliberate stretch of mattress between them.

“I'm not sleeping in this bed with you until you tell me what you made me taste.”

“Oh, Becky. Not this again--”

“No! Don't you Becky me. If you can't be a decent human being, then it's Rebecca.”

James's expression changed.

“Okay, Rebecca. I thought we'd finished with this.”

“You finished with it. I didn't.”

“It was part of the challenge.”

“That isn't an answer.”

“I wasn't supposed to tell you.”

“The challenge is over, James.”

“So tell me now, or I'll leave and put an end to all of this.”

James stared at her for several seconds.

“All right. But you're going to be angry.”

“I'm already angry.”

“You agreed there could be sexual rounds.”

“What does that have to do with anything? The card said adult, not sexual.”

“The card did.”

Something in the way he said it made Rebecca pause.

“What does that mean?”

“There were terms underneath it.”

Then she remembered.

The small print.

All those cramped little lines beneath the challenge she'd barely even glanced at before signing her name.

Her anger faltered.

“It said that?”

“It explained what an adult round could involve.”

Rebecca looked away.

Oh.

She hadn't read it.

She'd agreed to it, but she hadn't actually read it.

“I thought you knew what you'd agreed to,” James said quietly.

That was the horrible part.

He wasn't entirely wrong.

Rebecca swallowed. “But you knew I didn't know what was happening.”

James didn't answer.

“Didn't you?”

“Yes.”

There it was.

Her own stupidity didn't make that part disappear.

“James.”

He exhaled.

“It was me.”

“What was you?”

“The last round.”

Rebecca's brow furrowed.

“What did you put in my mouth?”

James held her gaze.

“My penis.”

Rebecca's mouth opened.

Nothing came out.

She stared at him.

The possibility had never occurred to her.

A penis, in a mouth? It simply didn't make sense. Why would anybody do that?

But now, with the image in her head, she could feel it. Could taste it.

He hadn't been making her taste something.

He'd been having sex with her.

With her mouth.

And the movement...

Her stomach tightened.

Then she remembered something else.

The filling.

Oh God. The filling.

She remembered tasting it. Trying to work out what it was.

Sperm.

She had swallowed James's sperm.

Her stomach lurched.

“Who does something like that?” Rebecca demanded. “That's disgusting! Why would you put your penis in my mouth?”

James raised his hands. “Rebecca--”

“Don't Rebecca me! You put your penis in my mouth and didn't even tell me!”

“Because that was the challenge.”

“Oh, well, that makes it perfectly all right then!”

“That's not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

James hesitated. “Production came up with it. They told me what the round was, they told me you'd agreed to the terms, and they told me not to tell you.”

“And apparently you couldn't wait to volunteer.”

“I didn't volunteer.”

“You still did it!”

“Yes.” James's voice hardened slightly. “I did.”

Rebecca stared at him.

“And for what it's worth, what happened isn't some bizarre thing they invented for the show.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oral sex. A blowjob.”

Rebecca recoiled. “A what?”

“A blowjob. It's a normal sexual thing people do.”

Rebecca stared at him.

“A blow...”

Something clicked.

“Like a hand job?”

“Yeah.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh my God.”

“What?”

“First you had me give you a hand job, and now you've had me give you a blowjob?”

“Rebecca--”

“Is there a list? What other jobs are there?! What, are my ears next? My eyes?”

Foot job occurred to her, but that was obviously too ridiculous to say aloud.

James's mouth twitched.

Rebecca's eyes narrowed. “Why are you smiling?”

“I'm not.”

“You are!”

“It's just the ears thing.”

“Oh, I'm glad this is funny to you.”

His smile disappeared.

“I didn't say that.”

“I was blindfolded, James.”

That stopped him.

“I was sitting there trying to figure out what I was tasting, and you knew exactly what you were doing.”

“Yes.”

“You knew I didn't understand.”

James was silent.

“And you kept doing it anyway.”

James looked away.

“Yeah.”

Rebecca stared at him for another moment, then climbed off the bed.

“Where are you going?”

“Somewhere you're not.”

“Rebecca.”

“What?”

“If you leave, you're refusing the forfeit.”

She stopped.

“So?”

James hesitated. “So they'll use the other one.”

Rebecca turned back towards him.

“What other one?”

“The bathroom.”

Her stomach sank.

Of course.

Nowhere to Hide.

Cameras installed in her bathroom.

The one room in the entire house where she could still close a door and know nobody was watching.

“They can't do that. I picked this one.”

“You picked sleeping in here with me.”

Rebecca glared at him.

“That's convenient.”

“I didn't make the rules.”

“Apparently you just follow them.”

That landed.

James looked away.

Rebecca immediately wished she hadn't said it.

Almost.

“Look,” he said. “You don't have to talk to me. You don't even have to look at me. It's a big bed.”

“That isn't the point.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

James met her eyes.

“More than I did this morning.”

Rebecca said nothing.

“Take that side,” he said, indicating the far edge. “I'll stay over here. I won't touch you.”

She folded her arms.

“And if I tell you to get out?”

“I'll get out.”

“Even if it ruins the stupid forfeit?”

“Yes.”

Rebecca studied him.

She was still angry.

She was furious.

But losing her bathroom wasn't going to punish James. It was only going to give Mike another camera.

---

Ten minutes later, the bedroom was dark.

Rebecca lay rigidly on the very edge of her side of the bed, facing the wall.

Behind her stretched what felt like several acres of empty mattress.

James was somewhere beyond it.

Good.

That was exactly where she wanted him.

Every time Rebecca felt herself drifting off, the taste test came back and her eyes opened again.

My penis.

She hadn't hated giving James a hand job. In fact, once they'd started kissing, touching him had felt exciting.

Would the blowjob have felt exciting too, if she'd known what she was doing?

Rebecca shook her head against the pillow.

Of course not. It's disgusting.

She could still remember the taste. Salty. Warm. Thick.

Was it really so bad?

Of course it was.

Was it?

That wasn't even the part bothering her most.

James had been different.

During the hand job, he'd been patient with her. Gentle. He'd explained things when she didn't understand and repeatedly told her she could stop.

This morning hadn't felt like that at all.

So what had changed?

The blindfold.

Rebecca stared into the darkness.

James had known she couldn't see him.

Maybe that was why.

People always said you found out what someone was really like when nobody was watching.

Except somebody had been watching James that morning.

The cameras.

Rebecca just hadn't been able to watch him herself.

Tonight was different.

Tonight the cameras were off.

For the first time since she'd met James, nobody was watching him at all.

James was lying peacefully on his side of the bed, facing away from her. As far from her as he could get.

Production had come up with it. They'd told him she'd agreed and told him not to warn her.

But James had still known.

That was the part she couldn't get past.

He could have whispered in her ear. Given her some indication. Anything.

Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut.

Never go to bed angry.

She was surprised when the thought popped into her head. It was something she'd always believed whenever she and Richard argued.

And now she was thinking it about James.

As though he were someone she shouldn't go to sleep angry with.

Rebecca didn't particularly want to examine that.

With a heavy sigh, she turned over to face him in the dark.

“James?”

“Yeah?”

She hadn't expected him to still be awake.

Rebecca frowned into the darkness.

It would be easier if he was asleep.

“I'm sorry I said you just follow orders.”

He turned over in the bed, and their eyes met in the dark.

“You don't have to apologize.”

“Yes, I do. That was mean.”

“You had every right to be angry.”

“I'm still angry.”

“Fair enough.”

“I just wish you'd told me somehow. A whisper, or any indication.”

“Would you have still gone through with it?”

A pause. She pursed her lips thoughtfully.

“I don't know,” she admitted.

He nodded. “Sorry.”

“If we're going to do this stupid show together, we have to at least be honest with each other.”

James nodded. “Next time, if I know something you don't, I'll tell you.”

“Even if Mike tells you not to?”

A pause.

“Yes.”

Rebecca studied him.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

As Rebecca stewed in the silence, another thought came to her mind.

“You were kind of rough.”

“Hmm?”

“In the taste test. You were acting so weird. You're normally so...” She trailed off.

“So what?”

“Gentle.”

James was quiet.

Rebecca immediately regretted bringing it up.

“Did it feel good?” she asked.

She had noticed during the hand job the way that James reacted to her touch. But he had been gentle and patient then. During the blow job, he had been much rougher. Less patient, more demanding.

It reminded her of the rare occasions sex with Richard lasted longer than a couple of minutes. The longer it went on, the rougher he became. As though pleasure and impatience were somehow connected.

“It did feel good.”

“Like... very good?”

James laughed. “I'm sorry, I feel like we're teenagers debriefing after our first kiss.”

Her cheeks flushed crimson. “I've never done anything like that before.”

“You said it was disgusting.”

It was.

Was it?

“I'm just curious how it was for you.”

“It was nice, Becky. You've got a nice mouth.”

She felt her crimson cheeks burning. For a moment, she wished the bed would swallow her up.

“That's not a compliment, James.”

“It is.”

You have a nice mouth.

Rebecca buried her face slightly deeper into the pillow.

Did that mean he'd want her to do it again?

Worse, why did she care?

She was supposed to be angry with him.

“So are we friends again?”

That question caught her off guard.

Had she forgiven him?

Never go to bed angry.

“Of course we're friends again.”

“Well, how about a hug then?”

She moved first, shuffling across the bed toward him. She wasn't sure if he'd been joking, but when he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into a tight embrace, she was glad she'd crossed the distance.

“I forgive you,” she said into his chest.

James's arm tightened around her.

“Thanks, Becky.”

He kissed her forehead.

For several seconds neither of them moved.

“So when am I getting my second kiss?” he asked.

She stared up into his eyes in the dark.

He was right -- she hadn't kissed him yet. She had completely forgotten. Did that mean she had failed?

Did that mean she had to kiss him right now?

“There's still time, pumpkin.”

Her cheeks flushed red.

“Don't call me that. My dad calls me pumpkin.”

James laughed softly. “Noted.”

“Are you going to kiss me or not?”

There were no cameras.

No proof whether they kissed or not.

She could simply ask James to tell production she'd done it.

He probably would.

Rebecca looked at his mouth.

Then she closed her eyes and leaned in.

His lips met hers.

The kiss was tender. It could easily have been a small peck, but Rebecca quickly discovered that she didn't want to pull away.

Apparently James didn't either.

His hand settled against her back, warm through the thin camisole, but went no farther.

That surprised her.

Rebecca had expected something. She wasn't entirely sure what.

Instead he simply kissed her.

When they finally separated, their faces remained only inches apart.

“There,” James whispered. “Challenge complete.”

Rebecca should have moved away.

She didn't.

Her lips found his again in the dark. Deeper.

There was no challenge to hide behind now. She only ended the kiss when his hand slid down to her butt.

“One to be nice,” she said.

Breathless.

He smirked. “That was two, Becky.”

His hand still on her rear.

“Good night.”

But as she rolled away from him, his arm remained around her. He pulled her back until his chest pressed against her.

“Good night, pumpkin.”

She should have told him to go back to his side of the bed. Instead, she nuzzled into his warmth.

---

Rebecca woke sometime in the night.

For several seconds she didn't know why.

James's arm was still around her waist, his chest warm against her back, his breathing slow and even.

Then she felt his erection pressed firmly against her butt.

Not simply pressed firmly against it, either. It was practically wedged between her cheeks.

Rebecca's eyes opened.

Oh.

She froze.

It felt surprisingly solid against her, warm even through the thin fabric of her shorts. Every slow breath James took seemed to remind her that it was still there.

There was absolutely no mistaking what it was. She'd spent five ridiculous minutes that afternoon trying to make exactly that happen.

Except there was no challenge now.

No timer.

No Mike.

No cameras.

James wasn't even awake.

Rebecca swallowed.

She should move.

Obviously she should move.

All she had to do was shuffle forward a few inches and put some respectable distance between them.

She didn't.

Instead she lay perfectly still, listening to James breathe behind her.

He's asleep.

Which meant he wasn't pretending.

He wasn't trying to win anything. He wasn't doing what Mike told him to do. He didn't even know she was awake.

He was just hard because he was lying against her.

Because of me?

Rebecca's face grew hot.

That afternoon she'd spent five ridiculous minutes trying to make this happen. She'd crossed her legs, played with her hair, complimented his eyes and even whispered something filthy into his ear.

And she'd failed.

Now she was doing absolutely nothing.

She was wearing pajamas. Her hair was probably a mess. She was half asleep.

And James was hard against her anyway.

Something warm and embarrassingly pleased stirred inside her.

Rebecca shifted her head against the pillow and closed her eyes.

I should move.

She still didn't.

After another few seconds, Rebecca carefully lifted James's arm from her waist.

He didn't stir.

She rolled over beneath it until she was facing him.

James was asleep.

Properly asleep.

His face looked completely peaceful, his breathing unchanged as Rebecca studied him in the darkness.

She considered waking him.

James.

She could already imagine the conversation.

You're hard.

Her face burned at the thought.

And what exactly was he supposed to do about it?

Apologize?

Roll over?

Go back to his side of the bed?

Rebecca looked at him for another moment.

He hadn't done anything.

For once, James wasn't asking her for anything either.

She was the one lying there thinking about his erection.

That realization was considerably less comfortable.

Rebecca slowly turned away again.

She could have stopped there.

There was enough room now to leave a perfectly respectable gap between them.

Rebecca stared into the darkness.

Then, very slowly, she moved backwards.

Only an inch.

James didn't stir.

Another inch brought his chest against her back again. His arm remained loose around her waist, heavy with sleep.

And then his erection pressed against her butt.

Rebecca stopped.

There.

Her face burned.

She had moved away from it.

Then she'd deliberately moved back.

That seemed like an important distinction, and one she would much rather not think about.

James breathed softly behind her.

Rebecca closed her eyes.

He's asleep.

That made it better.

Somehow.

Or perhaps considerably worse.

She shifted beneath the covers, trying to get comfortable without admitting to herself that she was paying very close attention to where his body touched hers. The movement made his erection press more firmly between her butt cheeks.

Rebecca's breath caught.

She went still again.

Warmth had begun gathering low in her stomach.

That wasn't entirely new.

She'd felt something similar when they'd kissed. Especially the second time, when there had been no camera and no challenge and she'd kissed him simply because she'd wanted another kiss.

But this was stronger.

More insistent.

And horribly familiar.

His hand between my legs.

Rebecca's eyes opened.

The dream.

She had nearly forgotten about it.

Almost.

She remembered waking from it that morning with her heart pounding and her shorts damp. She remembered looking beneath the covers, touching herself and discovering just how wet she'd become.

All because she'd dreamed about James touching her.

Now James was actually in her bed.

His arm was around her.

His erection was pressed against her butt.

And nobody was watching.

Rebecca swallowed.

Her hand moved beneath the covers.

She stopped almost immediately.

What am I doing?

She knew exactly what she was doing.

That was the problem.

Slowly, feeling ridiculous despite the darkness, Rebecca slipped her hand between her thighs.

She didn't even know where she was supposed to touch.

That realization was almost enough to make her pull her hand away.

Instead, she cautiously pressed her fingers against herself through the thin fabric of her shorts and rubbed.

Oh.

Rebecca inhaled sharply.

She was sensitive again.

Very sensitive.

The problem was that she had no idea what she was supposed to do about it.

She tried rubbing slightly higher. Then lower. One did almost nothing; the other sent a sudden little shiver through her that disappeared before she could decide exactly what she'd done.

Rebecca frowned into the pillow.

How could she not know how her own body worked?

It felt good.

There wasn't any point pretending otherwise.

Not astonishing. Not magical. Nothing like the strange intensity of the dream.

Just good enough that when she stopped, she immediately wanted to do it again.

So she did.

A little slower this time.

Her hips shifted without her quite intending them to.

The hard shape behind her moved against her butt.

Rebecca froze.

James's breathing didn't change.

She waited.

Nothing.

Her hand moved again.

Another small movement of her hips brought her against him at the same time.

Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut.

That was considerably better.

Rebecca wasn't even sure why. Was it the pressure against her butt, knowing what it was, or knowing whose it was?

“Oh, goodness,” she breathed, so quietly she could barely hear herself.

She should stop.

Instead she repeated the movement.

Her fingers rubbed between her legs while her hips rocked gently backwards, the pressure of James's erection against her making the whole thing feel somehow more real than touching herself alone had that morning.

She could imagine his hand there instead.

That thought sent a sharper pulse of warmth through her.

Rebecca buried her face against the pillow.

Don't think about that.

Naturally, she immediately thought about it again.

James kissing her.

James's hand sliding down her back.

James whispering those filthy words into her ear that afternoon.

James touching her between the legs like he had in her dream.

Her fingers moved faster.

Rebecca's breathing became shallow.

Something seemed to be building, but Rebecca had no idea what she was supposed to do with it.

She found one particular spot that made her breath catch.

There.

Excited by finally getting somewhere, she pressed harder.

Immediately, it wasn't as good.

Rebecca frowned and tried somewhere else.

Nothing.

Back again.

Better.

Faster?

Worse.

Slower?

Oh. Much better.

She kept that movement for several seconds and felt the warmth inside her tighten into something sharper.

Then, convinced she must be doing something wrong because nothing had actually happened yet, she changed what she was doing.

The feeling vanished.

Rebecca went still.

“Oh, come on,” she whispered.

Her whole body felt hot now.

Rebecca lay there breathing into the pillow, deeply annoyed with herself.

Apparently even touching her own body was something everybody else had received instructions for.

She was just about to try again when James stirred behind her.

Rebecca's hand flew away from between her legs.

She became perfectly still.

His arm tightened around her waist.

For one horrifying second she thought he was awake.

Then James exhaled against the back of her hair and settled again.

Still asleep.

Rebecca stared wide-eyed into the darkness.

That was enough.

Absolutely enough.

She was not going to lie beside a sleeping man rubbing herself like some sort of--

Rebecca couldn't even think of an appropriate word.

She tucked her hand beneath the pillow.

There.

Problem solved.

Except she was still painfully aware of James behind her.

And of herself.

And of the fact that she was considerably more frustrated now than she'd been before she'd started.

Rebecca considered moving away again.

She didn't.

Instead she carefully pulled the blanket higher, closed her eyes and tried to think about something boring.

Laundry.

Groceries.

The children needing new school shoes.

Richard's unemployment paperwork.

James's erection pressed between her butt cheeks.

Rebecca opened her eyes.

Oh, for goodness' sake.

She squeezed them shut again.