Revenge

---

James was already gone by the time Rebecca woke up, and she was glad for that.

As nice as it had been, waking up together in his arms was an awkwardness she wasn't prepared to address.

Save the cuddling for the dark.

For the first time since arriving, she had woken without worrying about the cameras. They were obviously switched off, not even pointing upward.

Once she'd called James's name and made sure he'd actually left the room, she stripped out of her pajamas and walked naked into the bathroom.

The floor was already warm beneath her feet.

I could get used to this.

The shower itself was bliss, but a familiar feeling distracted her.

No, not my stomach.

Lower.

She'd felt it numerous times since arriving at the house, but never quite as strongly as last night.

Trying to do something about it had only made matters worse.

Rebecca had actually been getting somewhere. She'd found that one particular spot, worked out that slower felt better than faster, and felt something beginning to build.

Then she'd ruined it.

Maybe now, in the shower, without worrying about waking James...

No.

She was not going to start touching herself every time she felt a little worked up.

Rebecca turned her face into the water instead and tried to let the shower wash the thought away.

Then she remembered that, although her bedroom and bathroom were free from spectators, the walk-in wardrobe wasn't.

Rebecca considered wrapping herself in a towel and making a run for her outfit, but instead pulled her pajamas back on for the retrieval mission. They weren't quite gross enough that she felt she needed another shower afterward.

Today's dress was nice.

The neckline didn't dip quite as low as yesterday's dress, or even her pajamas.

But it was just as short.

Worse, there still wasn't any underwear.

Rebecca searched the shelf again.

Nothing.

She checked beneath the dress, then behind it, as though a pair of panties might somehow have become lost among the hangers.

Nothing.

Yesterday she'd assumed they'd simply forgotten.

Twice wasn't forgetting.

Surely they couldn't expect her to go without underwear every day?

When Rebecca finally gave up on her hunt for modesty and changed, the dress only made the omission more obvious. The short skirt swished freely around her bare thighs as she walked, occasionally brushing against places fabric normally didn't.

She tugged the hem down.

I'm going to have to ask Mike about this.

Back in the bedroom, she wasn't remotely surprised to find another envelope waiting on the bed.

To Mrs. Ashford,

Bravo on another excellent day in the Breaking Mrs. Ashford house.

She rolled her eyes. Is that what we're calling it now? That's a mouthful.

Because you did such a good job, we would like to offer you an opportunity for revenge.

Rebecca's eyebrows rose.

Revenge?

That sounded promising.

Taste test pt. 2 will begin whenever you are ready in the lounge. Take James's phone for further instructions.

Love,
Mike

She got to be in control.

After everything James had put her through yesterday...

Perfect.

A smug smile spread across her face, and it stayed there all the way to the lounge.

“Guess what,” she said.

“You get to make me taste some weird stuff?”

Then the smile vanished.

“How did you know?”

“I got a notification.” He held up his phone for her to see.

Give Rebecca your phone for Taste Test Pt. 2.

“How did you sleep?”

Rebecca frowned. “Well, there goes my surprise.” She took the phone from him. “I slept well, though. You?”

“Well.” He nodded, then glanced towards one of the cameras.

I'll say more when we're alone.

Her cheeks warmed.

Was he awake last night?

James's eyes dropped briefly to her dress.

Rebecca caught him.

He looked back at her face.

Normally she wouldn't have thought anything of it.

Unfortunately, she'd woken up with considerably more evidence of James's opinion of her than she'd needed.

She tugged the skirt down, acutely aware of how exposed she was beneath it.

“So how does this work?”

“Well,” James said, “I'm supposed to lie flat on the floor with the blindfold on, then...”

He shrugged. “You'll get a text.”

Rebecca smiled again.

“Lie down.”

James raised an eyebrow.

“You're enjoying this already.”

“Immensely.”

---

---

ESTABLISHING SHOT: Bring this morning's card downstairs. Stand beside James and pretend you've just finished reading it. Hold for thirty seconds.

Rebecca frowned.

“Pretend?”

“Welcome to television.”

For the first time, Rebecca felt less like a lab rat and a little more like an actress.

She knew what an establishing shot was now.

For some reason, that made her strangely proud.

Rebecca retrieved the card, then returned to stand beside James where he lay blindfolded on the rug.

She looked down at the card thoughtfully.

Then towards the camera.

No, that's probably too obvious.

She tried again, this time gazing somewhere beyond it as though she'd only just discovered the opportunity for revenge and was seriously considering what horrible things she might make James taste.

That felt better.

Rebecca held the pose.

The phone buzzed.

She immediately looked down.

STRAWBERRIES IN KITCHEN.

Rebecca found a small bowl of strawberries waiting on the kitchen counter.

She picked the largest.

Yesterday James had enjoyed making this unnecessarily difficult.

Rebecca saw no reason she shouldn't return the favor.

She returned to the lounge and crouched beside him.

“Open.”

James obeyed.

Rebecca held the strawberry beneath his nose.

He sniffed.

“Strawberry.”

She pulled it away.

“That doesn't count!”

James laughed. “Why not?”

“You didn't taste it.”

“Didn't need to.”

Rebecca frowned at the strawberry.

That was irritating.

“Fine. Open.”

He did.

Rebecca pressed it against his lips.

James took a bite.

“Strawberry.”

“I know.”

“Final answer.”

“I know!”

CORRECT. NEXT SAMPLE: BANANA.

Now we're getting somewhere.

She took her time fetching it, peeling it. She stood beside James's head for as long as she could before squatting down and holding it in his open mouth.

His jaw immediately began to work.

“No biting.”

James stopped.

Rebecca's smile became enormous.

“What?”

“You're supposed to taste it, not eat breakfast.”

Silence.

Then James started laughing.

“You've been waiting to say that.”

His lips closed around the banana, and Rebecca pushed it a little farther into his mouth before she realized what she was doing.

“Banana,” he said around it. “You didn't need to choke me with it.”

Rebecca raised her eyebrows.

“Didn't I?” She pulled the banana free. “Wish somebody had told you that yesterday.”

Unfortunately, Rebecca's revenge wasn't going particularly well.

PICKLE.

“Pickle.”

CHEDDAR.

“Cheddar.”

DARK CHOCOLATE.

James took considerably longer with that one.

Rebecca crouched beside him, watching his face with growing anticipation.

“Milk chocolate.”

Her eyes widened.

Finally.

“No, wait.”

Rebecca's smile disappeared.

James chewed thoughtfully.

“Dark chocolate.”

“Oh, come on!”

He laughed.

“Final answer.”

Rebecca glared at him.

Five rounds.

Five correct answers.

Revenge, apparently, was considerably more satisfying in theory.

FINAL ROUND.

SPECIAL BONUS: $10,000.

Her eyes widened.

What on earth could be worth that much?

SAMPLE: VAGINA.

Rebecca stared at the screen.

She read it again.

SAMPLE: VAGINA.

What?

What the fuuuu...dge?

No way.

No way.

What did that even mean?

Her mind went back to yesterday. The way James had put himself into her mouth.

She hadn't been tasting him. He had been having sex with her mouth.

VAGINA.

Now she understood why James was lying on the floor. Even the revenge part suddenly made considerably more sense.

But what was she supposed to do? Have sex with James's mouth?

You couldn't have sex with a vagina. It wasn't as though she could put it in anything.

For one horrifying second she imagined thrusting it at his face.

Ha. How do you like it?

No.

That was terribly uncouth.

Then she remembered yesterday's terminology.

Hand job.

Blowjob.

Was there another one?

Vagina job?

Rebecca shuddered.

Surely no man would actually enjoy having a vagina pressed against his mouth.

"Becky," James said. "I heard the phone buzz, are you still there?"

"Just waiting for confirmation," she said quickly.

Bzzz.

The phone buzzed a second time.

VAGINA.

This had to be a joke. A sick, sick joke.

She couldn't do this to poor James, could she? It would be so humiliating for him.

But...

She looked down at James lying patiently on the rug and wondered.

He hadn't had any problem humiliating her yesterday, had he?

And then the money.

$10,000.

She could say no.

She knew that. She could walk away right now. She wouldn't get the ten thousand dollars, but that was all.

Yesterday, she hadn't known what was happening.

Today she did.

That's different.

“Just going to get it now.”

Bzzz.

The phone buzzed as she entered the kitchen.

ESTABLISHING SHOT: Stand over James. Hold the sides of your skirt up and smile for the camera.

No.

No. No. No.

Rebecca stared at the instruction.

She could already imagine exactly what that shot was supposed to look like.

“Agh!” She slapped the kitchen counter. “Mike, this is so humiliating. Can we turn the cameras off, at least?”

Bzzz.

Hi Becky.

Bzzz.

You're wearing a skirt. Cameras won't see anything.

Well, fudge you too, Mike.

She marched back into the lounge with determination.

She could at least take the establishing shot, couldn't she?

She was an actress.

Rebecca stepped carefully over James until one foot rested on either side of his shoulders.

If James hadn't been wearing the blindfold, he would have seen something only Richard and her gynecologist had ever seen.

She found the edges of her skirt and hesitated.

Ten thousand dollars.

Rebecca lifted them just as instructed.

The camera couldn't see anything.

She knew that.

That didn't make standing there feel any less ridiculous.

Rebecca looked towards the camera and forced herself to smile.

Happy now, Richard? My dignity for $10,000.

Am I smiling enough for you?

She held the pose for several interminable seconds before dropping the skirt again.

There. Happy?

Now she only had to work out how she was actually supposed to do this.

There was no way that James would guess what it was. Right?

Why would he?

Vagina job.

No. That was ridiculous.

Hand jobs and blowjobs were things women did to men. This wasn't even remotely the same.

Licking a vagina was like licking an elbow.

It would taste like nothing.

Wouldn't it?

She'd showered. The shower gel wasn't particularly strong, and she kept herself completely neat down there. There wasn't even anything that might tickle his face and give the answer away.

“Becky, seriously. Have you left me down here as a practical joke? Can I close my mouth now?”

“No,” she said quickly. “No, no. I'm just preparing it.”

Rebecca immediately regretted that choice of words.

Preparing it.

That sounded like something James had said yesterday while playing with his...

No.

She was not thinking about that now.

Just do it, Becky.

Rebecca swallowed.

Oh my God.

If this was embarrassing for anyone, it was James. He'd done practically the same thing to her yesterday.

Oh. My. God.

“Becky?”

Rebecca attempted to lower herself over James's face with dignity.

Instead, she descended with the decorum of a rhinoceros and had to catch herself at the last second.

Oh my God.

She hovered there, thighs already complaining, close enough to feel his breath.

She was as close to his mouth as she could get without actually touching it. Rebecca hoped the shower had left her smelling like nothing more embarrassing than shower gel.

“Becky?” James's voice was muffled. “Can I close my mouth now?”

James didn't seem to notice that anything had changed.

Rebecca certainly did.

His breath was warm against her, and an unexpected tingling sensation ran through her.

Oh my God.

Was this really a job, too?

A vagina job?

She lowered herself the rest of the way and felt James's tongue against her vulva.

Oh my God.

Then his tongue moved. It licked upwards along her lips, and ended somewhere just above them.

That tingle she felt a moment ago was replaced by a lightning bolt.

It shot through her core and made her gasp.

She had to lift herself slightly to escape it.

Rebecca froze.

That spot.

It was the same place she'd found beneath her fingers last night.

The place she'd kept losing whenever she changed the angle or started thinking too much about what she was doing.

James had found it immediately.

How?

“Becky? What's going on? Are you okay? I heard you--”

“You're supposed to be guessing,” she said. “Quickly.”

She lowered herself again. This time his tongue went straight to her clit. She had no idea what he was doing, but when he flicked his tongue left to right in a practiced fashion, she couldn't help but let out a squeak.

“It's weird,” James said. “I have no idea what it could be.”

Rebecca couldn't see his expression beneath the blindfold.

For some reason, there was a tiny pause before no idea.

He began flicking his tongue up and down instead, and Rebecca nearly pulled away again.

No.

This is embarrassing for him. Not for me.

“Come on, James.” Her voice sounded embarrassingly breathless. “You... you must know what this one is.”

She didn't believe that for a second.

“Nope,” he said. “Can you put it in my mouth?”

She froze. “I can move it closer.”

He really didn't seem to know what it was, and so Rebecca lowered herself further, until her vagina was pressed fully against his mouth.

And then James apparently decided he needed a considerably more thorough taste.

Rebecca had expected another tentative lick.

That wasn't what she got.

His earlier uncertainty disappeared. Whatever he was doing now was slower and more deliberate, his attention repeatedly returning to that same impossibly sensitive spot.

Rebecca gripped the sides of her dress.

Oh.

Then he stopped.

Rebecca waited.

Nothing.

The sudden absence of that sensation was somehow worse than the sensation itself.

“James?”

“You okay?”

She should get up.

He hadn't guessed. She'd made her point.

Instead, Rebecca remained exactly where she was.

“Don't stop.”

There was a pause.

Then his tongue moved again.

Rebecca closed her eyes.

Without consciously deciding to, Rebecca shifted slightly.

The next movement of his tongue landed exactly where she wanted it.

Rebecca went still.

Oh.

He stayed there.

Her back arched.

Oh. My. God.

It was building again.

The same feeling she'd chased beneath the covers last night, except this time she wasn't losing it.

James didn't change the rhythm.

He didn't go too fast.

He didn't stop.

Rebecca's thighs began to tremble.

Oh my God.

Something wanted to come out of her. A sound, maybe. She pressed her hand harder over her mouth.

The pressure kept building.

Higher.

Tighter.

Rebecca suddenly became frightened of it.

What is happening?

She nearly pulled away.

Then it broke.

Her entire body went rigid.

The sensation tore through her so suddenly that her mind seemed to empty with it. Her thighs shook around James's head, her toes curled against the rug, and for several seconds Rebecca couldn't have moved away if she'd wanted to.

Then it began to fade.

She stayed there, trembling.

What...

Rebecca swallowed.

What was that?

She knew what happened to men during sex.

She hadn't known women could have an equivalent.

Was that what had just happened?

Why had nobody ever told her?

More importantly, why did some traitorous part of her already want it to happen again?

Why on God's green earth did she suddenly want to lower herself even farther, until his face was completely buried beneath her?

For a moment this compulsion was all she could think about.

Push yourself down.

Grind.

Grind.

Ohmygod.

But she didn't.

“Time's up,” she whispered.

Her voice barely sounded like hers. Hoarse. Breathless.

Rebecca climbed off him and immediately pulled her dress back into place.

Her hands were trembling.

Oh my God.

She smoothed the skirt down again, buying herself another second before looking at him.

“Did you guess?”

James remained still.

“No.”

Rebecca blinked.

“Really?”

A pause.

“Not a clue.”

Rebecca stared at him.

Then, slowly, she smiled.

“I won.”

James smiled beneath the blindfold.

“Looks like it.”

Rebecca looked down at the phone.

Ten thousand dollars.

Her money.