Gearing Up

by Daniel Schinhofen

  Becky didn’t expect Alvin to shove himself straight up off the ground, and she fell off his back. He got his hands on the buckle holding the gag in place, but didn’t have it undone by the time Becky grabbed his arms.

  “No, I need this… please,” Becky said, her mouth next to his ear, “Hero.”

  Her pleading tone was clear to Alvin, who stopped trying to unbuckle the gag and nodded. “Az ew ifth,” Alvin said around the gag.

  “Thank you,” Becky whispered before she shoved him back to the floor. Her tone became commanding, “Get your clothes off. I want my favorite treat and I want it now!”

  A couple of hours later, Becky was asleep on the bed with a beautiful smile on her lips. Alvin staggered and got out of bed, grabbing a quick shower to help him feel a bit more alive. Going back to the bedroom, he looked at Becky and felt a pang of sympathy for her. She had really taken to making him do everything she wanted, even slapping him a few times when he didn’t listen, but he took it all in stride for her. When they were finished and he lay there holding her, she cried a little and thanked him repeatedly before falling asleep.

  “Jarvis, is all the shit we brought in tagged now?”

  “Yes, sir,” Jarvis replied softly. “Sir, I’m sorry if this is a bit too personal, but I wanted to say that you really do take exceptional care of her.”

  “She deserves it,” Alvin said as he looked back at the woman he loved, her mouth open as she snored loudly. “Besides, she puts up with all the torments I have done and will do to her. I wonder if this is why she keeps trying to add another, though, so that she can control them and just submit to me.”

  “That is an excellent insight, sir,” Jarvis said.

  “The person she’s based on must have had a very rough life,” Alvin chuckled, seeing a thin line of drool start to fall from Becky’s mouth.

  “Most of what you picked up isn’t worth keeping, sir, but a lot of the stuff from Lister’s is at least a worth good look.”

  “Let’s get this started, then,” Alvin said, bringing a chair over to the pile of stuff. “I’ll need to sleep eventually.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  The delicious smell of coffee brought Alvin awake. Opening his eyes, he found Becky beside him on the bed with a tray full of food. “Breakfast in bed?”

  Nodding her head, Becky glanced at him briefly before looking away. “I made you break a promise last night.”

  “Yeah. But that’s fine, as you needed something,” Alvin said as he sat up, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “I had a good time.”

  Biting her lip, Becky put the tray across his lap. “You didn’t mind? I know that most dominants wouldn’t be able to so easily give away control like that.”

  “Most of them aren’t me, and they don’t love you like I do,” Alvin said, tapping the bottom of her chin and making her look at him. “One of the reasons you want a plaything is so that you don’t ask that of me, isn’t it?”

  Staring into his eyes, Becky nodded. “Yeah. Is that selfish of me?”

  “Sharing is caring?”

  “Of course, I’d share her with you,” Becky said.

  “Then, no, it’s not selfish at all. I honestly don’t mind you getting all aggressive with me at times either, though a little warning would be nice.” Breaking eye contact, he looked at the waffles, “Didn’t want to cook bacon and wake me early?”

  “Kind of, yeah,” Becky said. “I just felt bad when I woke up this morning. I had you submit to me, used you for hours, then passed out and didn’t help you with the loot.”

  “Maybe I should punish you this morning to make up for it,” Alvin said, taking the tray and setting it beside him. “Get out of bed.”

  Becky got out of bed, her eyes uncertain as he followed her out. “When you say punish me, you don’t mean badly though, right?”

  Alvin gave her a loving smile. “Have I hurt you in ways you haven’t enjoyed yet?”

  “No.”

  “Then trust me, close your eyes, and keep them shut.” Once eyes were closed, he led her into the dungeon, blindfolded her, cuffed her, and got her up onto the horse. He adjusted the height so she had to get fully on her toes to take most of her weight off the ridge. “I’ll be back when I’m done eating. I’ll bring you something when I’m done. No orgasms.”

  “That’s not likely. Not from this, right now,” Becky said as she shivered in anticipation.

  “Oh, that isn’t everything,” Alvin chuckled. He carefully lubed up the plug he had grabbed, “here we go.” Inserting the plug, he snickered at her gasp as it settled into place. “That gets to stay in while I’m gone.” Picking up the control, he set it on low, and she gasped again as it started vibrating. “Oh, and I’ll be increasing that as I get closer to finishing my meal. Enjoy your punishment, Gothy.”

  A guttural moan of pain and pleasure came from her as Alvin left the room. Grabbing the tray, he snuck back into the room quietly and took a seat on the floor, where he could see her as he ate. Watching her have to rest her legs and sit fully on the horse before she could go back on her toes made him smile. He ate each bite slowly, and when he had a third of it left, Alvin took the tray over to her and set it next to the horse.

  “Open wide,” Alvin said, making Becky gasp, as she hadn’t expected him to be there.

  “Please, Hero, let me cum,” Becky pleaded.

  “Open wide,” Alvin reiterated. When she did, he fed her a bite of waffle, a drop of syrup dripping down onto her chest. “Chew carefully and swallow. You’ll be allowed to cum and be let down once breakfast is over.”

  A groan of disappointment came from her rapidly chewing mouth, but Alvin could see her rock her hips against the horse and knew she was loving what he was doing to her. As soon as she tried to speak, he put another bite into her mouth.

  “No talking until the meal is done. Oh, and I’ll clean this up,” he ducked his head and suckled the syrup from her breast.

  Alvin fed her slowly, and by the time the last bite was gone, Becky was near frantic with need. As he gave her the last bite, Alvin cranked the vibrating plug all the way up and watched her closely. Shuddering, Becky swallowed twice and opened her mouth again, waiting for the next bite.

  “Now cum for me, Gothy,” Alvin said softly, nipping her ear.

  An ear-piercing scream of release, like a steam whistle letting off pressure erupted from her, making Alvin wince and bite down harder on her earlobe. Becky was shaking and shivering as wave after wave of orgasm rolled through her. Alvin waited a bit before he let go of her ear and quickly lowered the horse. Undoing the chain from where her hands had been bound above her, Alvin caught Becky as she slumped.

  “Now you’re punished well and good, my beautiful, masochistic goth,” Alvin murmured as he brushed her sweaty hair back from her face.

  “Thank you,” Becky murmured.

  “No. Thank you, beautiful, for letting me release my own demons on you,” Alvin said as he scooped her up carefully and carried her to the shower. Setting her on the middle seat, he undid her blindfold and tossed it out of the shower. “Now to clean us up.”

  Alvin pampered her in the shower, gently rubbing her body from head to toe, taking his time and making sure she was in good condition. By the time he finished, Becky was nearly asleep, dozing on the bench while he rinsed himself off and turned off all the water. “Gothy, time to wake up… again.”

  “Yes, Hero, whatever you need of me,” Becky murmured as she forced her eyelids open.

  “Let’s dry off,” Alvin said as he helped her to her wobbly feet. “Once we’re dressed and have some more coffee, we’ll talk about the loot.”

  Becky nodded as he led her from the shower and wrapped a towel around her. She was awake by the time they were at the kitchen table. “I’ve been a bit needy today,” Becky said as he brought coffee for them both.

  “I’ll have my turn at some point,” Alvin said. “Okay, first things first. Jarvis, hit me with my current total.”

  “O
f course, sir,” Jarvis replied. “Currently you have eighty-one thousand, three hundred eighty XP.”

  “What the hell?” Becky said, sitting up straight.

  “Lister was worth eighteen thousand XP, plus the bonus XP for those in the group still alive when Lister died, for an additional twelve thousand, six hundred XP. Forty-eight thousand XP is donations from your viewers. Some of them were quite generous,” Jarvis replied.

  “What’s the conversion of the gifted XP?” Alvin asked as he chuckled over the amount.

  “Ten XP per every dollar, sir,” Jarvis said primly.

  “Short of five thousand, guys? Really? I thought you liked Gothy more than that,” Alvin said, addressing the ceiling. “Sorry, Gothy, it seems that your torments aren’t registering with our followers. If they disappoint again tomorrow, we’ll have to go to plain old vanilla sex and see if they like that better.”

  “But, no?” Becky said, looking horrified. “Don’t do that to me.”

  Alvin gave her a sad expression. “I’m just saying that it looks like we might be alienating our fan base.”

  Becky’s lip trembled. “Hero… please, no.”

  “They have the chance to save you from boring sex. We’ll just have to see if they take up the gauntlet,” Alvin said, gesturing toward the ceiling.

  “I’m not amused,” Becky said sternly, staring at him.

  “Sit still and say only nice things to me,” Alvin said sternly back.

  “You are the biggest…” Becky began, choking off as Alvin’s command took effect.

  “I’m going to miss doing this to you,” Alvin sighed. “Alright. We have other things to talk about, so you’re released from that command.”

  “Asshole,” Becky said, shivering in place. “Fine, but if you even fucking think that vanilla sex is going to cut it at this point, I’ll rape you every fucking night.”

  Alvin’s lips trembled, but he managed to keep the smile off them. “So, the biggest pile is all saleable stuff that’s not worth the time.” Alvin pointed to a pile of stuff, ignoring her comment. “The second pile has some value, limited though it might be. We can probably get more from selling it to people in Bridgeport than we can from the kiosk. That last pile is mostly Lister’s stuff, and a couple of other things from the fort.”

  Becky looked at the smallest pile, which contained a number of guns, including a .50 caliber rifle. “That is what he used to shoot you?”

  “Yup. I’m shocked I lived through it,” Alvin said. “Though it fucked my duster right over pretty hard.” Alvin grabbed it and brought it over to the table so Becky could examine it.

  Barrett M82 (Rare)

  Damage: 16

  Durability: 1897/2500

  Ammo type: .50 BMG (10-round magazine)

  Modifications: Bipod, Sling, 10-round magazine, 14x50 scope

  Runes: 0/0

  Unlimited ammo on reload, Ten times initial durability, Jacketed- doubles damage to armor, Steel jacketed, Holy ammo

  “Seriously,” Becky said, looking at Alvin blankly for a moment. “That’s a serious rifle, but I bet you can’t shoot it without the bipod unless your strength stat is way up.”

  “Very likely,” Alvin admitted. “The punching power, though, makes it a good weapon to carry with.”

  “What about the rest of the pile?” Becky asked.

  “Mostly uncommon guns, though the leather jacket could be your replacement,” Alvin said. He handed it over for her to check it out.

  Becky nodded as she looked at it. “It’s nice, but it’s missing a spot for the vest, and it can’t be runed to add a spot to it.”

  “It’s also too big for you and needs to be modified, but it could do in a pinch. Or we can buy you a new jacket and add runes to it, but it probably won’t be as good as what you have, or that one.”

  “I’ll keep it for now as a backup, but if we can find something better than the lowest grade runes, I’ll buy a jacket instead and add the runes to it. What plans do you have for the guns and other clothes?” Becky asked.

  “Keep them for now, and leave them here in the room as a secret stash. None of them are horrible; nothing under uncommon in the keep pile. There are a few rares as well, and all of them are pre-patch. The same is true of the clothes; all pre-patch, which makes me wonder what Lister was using his XP on.”

  “The fort,” Becky said. “Think about all the stuff we didn’t take, not to mention the Bentley.”

  “Hmm. Maybe we should have checked the car, but we already have two,” Alvin shrugged.

  “I would bet that car is rare,” Becky added. “If we took it, the sale value on it would be pretty high, I would think.”

  “No doubt,” Alvin said, “but that would mean having to deal with Officer Goodwill and all the others who would object. I’d rather pass on the car, as we’ll more than likely be back through here after the forest.”

  Becky shrugged. “I’m fine with that. We do need to restock on medical supplies.”

  Alvin bought enough to restock what they had both used, ending up 20,000 XP lighter. “Okay, that takes me down to sixty-two thousand XP, basically. Did we need to get anything else?”

  “Keep it in case we need it later,” Becky suggested. “I can’t think of anything that jumps out at me off hand.”

  “Okay. Let’s grab everything we’re not keeping and head out,” Alvin said.

  Becky nodded and set to work. Her forehead was creased in thought, but she kept quiet about whatever was on her mind. Once they had things roughly organized, she began carting everything out to the hotel room. Alvin waited until she had gotten it all out so he could leave the base.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  The portal snapped closed behind Alvin as he stepped into the hotel room. “Okay, so load what we want to sell into the Mustang. The Humvee has the stuff we’re keeping in it already. I’ll move the hides and stuff into our base next time we use it.”

  A knock on the door got their attention. “Who is it?” Becky asked, shotgun in her hand.

  “We just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Emily said from the other side of the closed door. “You didn’t answer earlier when we came to invite you to breakfast.”

  Becky opened the door. “Sorry, we slept in late and didn’t hear the first knock. We ate some of what we had already while we were going through things to sell.”

  Emily nodded. “Okay. Did you need any help?”

  “Can you grab the flatbed from Gary, please? We have a lot of stuff to take to the kiosk,” Alvin asked.

  “Honey, go grab the flatbed for them,” Emily told Trevill. He nodded, moving to do as she asked. Once he was out of earshot, Emily sighed, “He told me last night he doesn’t trust you. I tried to explain he’s just being overprotective because of Lister, but he’s a stubborn man. Please don’t hold it against him. He is a very kind person.”

  “I don’t hold it against him. I would be even worse if Gothy had been taken away from me,” Alvin said.

  “Thank you,” she gave them a broad smile. “Gary said you’re going to be using the kiosk today. We’ve all only had limited access to it because of Lister. From what he was telling us, you’ve used one before—could you maybe give us some advice?”

  “I think I can get an explanation added to it for you,” Alvin said. “Gothy, can you handle this for a moment? I need to check the Humvee.”

  “Sure thing, Hero,” Becky said, giving him a quick kiss.

  Climbing into the Humvee, Alvin went into the back so he couldn’t be easily seen. “Jarvis, can you fabricate a tutorial message explaining things?”

  “I can, sir, but I can only load it onto kiosks that you have added to your string, or to ones you visit…” Jarvis trailed off, like he wanted to say more but was afraid to.

  “Can you make it available to more than just those?”

  “If you were to write it out as a document, sir, you could sell it in the store.”

  “I thought if we sold things to the store, they
just vanished,” Alvin said.

  “Normally, that would be correct. You haven’t checked all the new functions on the kiosk, and before today, it was a moot point. There is an auction section of the kiosk, sir, so you can sell items such as upgraded guns or clothing to other people. The kiosk takes up to a twenty percent cut of the sale price. This fee is assessed before your merchant bonus comes into play.”

  “How long do the auctions stay up?” Alvin asked, mildly peeved at Jarvis for not mentioning this feature before now.

  “You can set the duration from a minimum of three days up to maximum of one month,” Jarvis replied. “I should also mention, there is a fee to list an item. That fee is a percentage of the store value times the number of days the auction remains up. If your item does not sell, the listing fee is not refunded. If it does, the listing fee is returned and and the sale fee is applied.”