My uncle, a doctor, hoped I would be a minister. A strange thought. You see, he spent much of his life in the developing world on a religious mission to eradicate polio. He saved lives and brought happiness to the world. He also prayed for those who suffered.

I’m different. I had given myself fully to the practical and not the spiritual. Ethics, after all, aren’t really all that metaphysical. You reduce pain. You increase happiness. It’s quite that simple. People ask if doctors must ever consider moral costs. Well yes, I recognize that animal testing is required in research. That is a serious amount of suffering. Now I ask you, as a rational person, what amount of utility has been gained by that? If it could be quantified, it would be infinite.

My devout uncle delivered vaccinations to the masses. Soon, I’d make my contributions too. I’d give so much more than I could as a minister.

Oh, I’d almost forgotten, my name is Jeri McSweeny. Yes, like the macabre musical. I’ve heard it all before.

Now there’s one thing about the medical profession: we take our health and our stress level quite seriously. I don’t mean that we need to be on our feet and away from a soul-crushing desk. I don’t mean only nutrition. What I mean is our emotional and physical health requires extra care. There is one thing above all that gets that done as efficiently as a flu shot.

I fuck. Specifically, I fuck Elliot Crooker. Elliot Crooker had a dick that exceeded average size and stuffed me better than any of my penetration toys. His other great asset? His shoulders. You see, Elliot got into the medical field after working as a young EMT. He developed the kind of body that once waded into turbulent floodwaters, retrieved an exhausted woman clinging to a tree branch, and carried her to safety. Not since that time had he once let his stamina and muscular physique go. Not even through six years of school.

I experienced that stamina for myself after our usual dinner date. Elliot had me bent over his bed, exposing my vagina. The first penetration stung with that stretch. Then, I couldn’t do anything other than relax and accept that euphoric insertion.

"Fuck me harder," I stammered.

"Like this?"

He spanked me. The sensation went right up to my head.

"Yes! Like that!"

Slap. Slap. Elliot’s palm thudded. My pussy was so damn wet at that point and he slipped out from me.

"You’re all warmed up now," he said while his fingers found my clit. I moaned for it. Ahh, it was so good. An entire day’s worth of tension evaporated with a simple caress there. Interesting historical fact: did you know that doctors provided that as a professional service in the years of Victorian prudes?

"You ready for a ride?"

"Fuck yes," I said.

Cowgirl never gets old. I mounted Elliot, taking his girth up inside my cunny. Oh let me tell you how much I enjoyed looking down on him. His pectorals and shoulders widened out as he relaxed. His face? He had these hot blue eyes underneath dense eyebrows. Something about his stubble always made sex better too. It shaded the contours of his jaw and his cheekbones like an airbrushed model on a billboard. He could’ve been one.

"Take it!" he said shoving himself up into me. I winced and gasped. Then, I thumped my pelvis up and down on him. Taking control, I pleasured myself on his shaft as he watched my body shake. After resting, he tried to roll over, but I held him down and possessed his cock once again. It’s fun when he climaxes.

I curled my body next to Elliot, post consummation. The sex was good. It always was.

"Hell of a day for you, huh?" he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh I can tell, Jeri," he chuckled. "It’s the way you orgasmed that second time. That, and how we got right to it after dinner."

I thought about it. Yes, he’d been right. It’s strange when you’re in the middle of doing work of medicine that you forget exactly how it drains you. The nervous systems still knows though. That must be what Elliot noticed.

"Today was more stressful than normal," I added. I wondered how he felt as I stroked his chest. Was it possible for nerves to sense each other like this? Perhaps someday I could understand his nervous systems too.

"You are, extra happy today?" I guessed based on his smile. It looked prouder and more relaxed than usual.

"Chicago Adventist Oncology," he said.

"What?" I half jumped out of the bed. Chicago Adventist was a top ten Oncology institute in the country. Well funded. Well staffed. They had developed a new way to detect liver cancer. That technique was pending peer review, but it was promising. "What about it?"

"I’m on the shortlist for a residency there," he replied.

"Chicago Adventist. Amazing Elliot."

I cuddled close with him again. To get shortlisted for a position there was already an honor. One that I had hoped for myself. Treating cancer is something that I’ve wanted to do since my uncle’s work had eliminated polio in an entire country. You see, the medical community should ever rest on our laurels. There will also be a new disease to eradicate. Cancer remained one of the most persistent.

I am to be a doctor. I will do my part to make things better.

We spent the night, though my sleep was inconsistent. In the morning, Elliot and I showered in an efficient manner and he drove off to the university. Me? I headed to my car and it opened with the familiar chirp.

I turned the ignition. There wasn’t a click or a sputter. It was a nothing. For almost the last decade, I’d studied to make human organs work together. Yet the metal oiliness under the hood of my car remained a mystery. Also, why had the interior dome light popped like that? Was that a cause or an effect? Correlation does not prove causation.

I called a tow and waited forty-five minutes. Dammit. I sent several e-mails and text messages, apologizing for appointments I’d missed that day. Including Marley, my drinking buddy and occasional lover.

"What do you mean you’ll have to cancel the lunch?"

"My car," I muttered from the inside of the tow truck. "I can’t meet you at 12:30 like we planned."

"Well, what about 1:00 or 2:00?"

That surprised me.

"Aren’t you working?"

"I’m working for myself now. New law firm, didn’t I tell you?"

"What happened to Allegiant Business Law?"

"Wasn’t for me," said Marley. Yeah, that was true. The bags under her eyes and her frequent sighs spoke enough. She never cared for that position, but Marley doesn’t quit either.

"So what are you doing now?"

"Nothing today," Marley continued a laid back tone. I hardly believed this was the woman who was on her third vodka cranberry when I met her. "Text me where the mechanic is. I’ll pick you up."

Marley took me to our favorite bar, and we shared overpriced vegetarian tapas. Her anticipated new position was in immigration law. That’s a bold move, and one that would produce much positive utility. Every successfully settled migrant reduced the suffering of at least one person. Yet it paid less. Marley had law school debts to pay. The corporate world helped with that. Work that might as well be pro bono could not.

"It’ll be fine. Really," she said. "The new position pays only about ten thousand less than what I’m earning now."

"Only ten thousand?" I said.

"Plus the loan forgiveness after four years," she explained.

My eyes opened wide.

"I had help getting it," Marley added. "Ever heard of Grey Temple Career Wellness?"

"Yes," I said with skepticism. They advocated company-sponsored yoga, proper ergonomics, and encouraging office employees to make sand sculptures. Grey was fitting for their name. They occupied the strange area between evidence-based health practices, and new-age practices that -to be perfectly precise - had not yet been supported by peer-reviewed research.

"They’re more than new age mumbo jumbo, Jeri." She read my mind. Lawyers. They’re so good at body language. "Here."

She handed me a card for Grey Temple. It displayed a confident, beautiful, and professional woman with a bold light sparkle to her eyeshadow. Illaria Cortez.

"Have some consultant time," Marley encouraged.

"Why?"

"Because your car is broken," she added. "Because your schedule is messed up. You might as well fill the time."

Hard to argue with that, but I could at least manage to catch up on some studies. I might need to clean up my apartment too. Wait, no. This was the week I had finally broken down and hired cleaning services. I yanked out my phone. My critical tasks had been pushed back another day. Now, without having to travel across town to the hospital, I had a three-hour gap in my day. It had been empirically verified.

"Okay, Marley. I’ll see her this afternoon."

My rideshare took me out of downtown and to a neighborhood in rapid transition. New construction surrounded me. That’s a healthy sign even as it meant that people had to relocate. When a depressed area of a city is revitalized with new construction, a city can be better planned. This means more taxes for the common good and ultimately more benefit for everyone, including those who were forced to move as the older buildings were torn down.

Besides, those old buildings probably contained lead.

There was one building that stood out among the others. Grey bricks and arched windows made up the most of it. It had high steeples and arched doorways. Stained glass? It had that too. Though I could see some of the glass was new. A sleek modern sign out front proclaimed "Grey Temple Career Wellness." They must’ve taken their name from the bricks.

Inside, it had been remodeled. Hallways had been added, cubicles had replaced pews, and bright stained glass windows overlooked a lobby. After waiting, I recognized Illaria as soon as she greeted me. Her outfit is what you would get if a sari made a baby with a CEO and then took his job.

"I’ve been expecting you," she said. Her voice soothed as it projected around the room.

"How could you?"

"Intuition."

"I’m Jeri. Pleased to meet you."

"Charmed. Come into my office," she began.

Illaria reclined on a comfortable couch and asked me to sit in a nearby armchair. Her desk was tucked away in the corner. She asked several questions such as how I knew Marley. Before long, we slipped into the taboo subject of workplace romances. I let slip that I’d been sleeping with Elliot, and apologized for bringing my sex life into a work consultant conversation.

"Oh it needn’t be so taboo," said Illaria. "We needn’t spend every day of our lives doing constant risk assessment, cost-benefit analysis, when it comes to our empowerment."

She stressed the word empowerment. Illaria had a strong sense of making the world better. Empowerment -specifically the term ‘integrated empowerment’- was the word she used to connect sexual life, career life, relationship life. Everything was drawn together for her.

"Now what is the next step for you?" she asked.

"The next step? I need to finish my residency."

"And then?" She leaned back dangling her arm comfortably over the edge of the couch.

"Chicago Adventist Oncology," I said. I went on, explaining what it was and how Elliot had been shortlisted.

"Grey Temple would like to make that happen," she said. Illaria’s eyes glinted.

"How could you possibly help me?" I asked.

"I didn’t say help. I said we could make it happen," she continued. She said still reclining, and looking right at me. "Like we did for Marley. The price is only one evening of service. No more than we asked from her."

"Service?"

"Sexually."

I leaned in towards her, and checked the sensations in my body. I discovered it unexpectedly horny. Okay, so that might be fun.

"We can draw up a contract. It’s pretty standard," she continued with utter professionality.

There was no way her little wellness group could possibly guarantee such a thing. Why was this Illaria so confident? Yet, I guess there wasn’t much I could lose. Besides, after today's rough and tumble with my car, I needed a healthy orgasm. Elliot would be on shift and Illaria enticed more than a dildo.

"What’s involved in this service?"

"Whips. Chains. A blindfold. Full disclosure Jeri, it will hurt a bit," she smirked. "Pain comes first. Deeper, more intense orgasms to follow.

"Oh…" I exhaled.

"Shall I draw up that contract?"

I agreed to it. She printed out a contract. It said things like, "The SUPPLICANT agrees to be a sexual slave for no less than one hour to a maximum of four hours for the exclusive pleasure of the MASTER," et cetera. Simple. Straight forward. I was already hot, but made sure it explicitly stated what kind of Oncology Ward I would be accepted to. "To be fulfilled in a manner at the discretion of the MASTER," it said.

Before I knew it, I had followed Illaria into the basement. I stripped myself and Illaria affixed cuffs to my wrists and ankles. Chains held my limbs out, and were tethered to two posts to my left and right. Perfectly immobilized, I was stuck in a position like an anatomy textbook. I hadn’t known how much I liked it.

"Is the supplicant happy?"

"Yes."

"Yes, master," corrected Illaria holding my jaw.

"Yes, master!"

"Good. Look upon my toys now, supplicant," she said.

Illaria presented a collection on top of a table. There was a vibrator with enough ribbing for a rough insertion. Another dildo was smooth and made of glass. There were other types too. Including one shaped like a tentacle and another in a curving spiral. She looked over a scourge and paddle next to several leather clamps. There were three different types of gags.

Illaria took up a pair of floggers and flung them back and forth. Approaching me sent a breeze over my naked skin. My nervous system responded, sending blood to the surface, which caused my skin to warm. Then the beatings began. Breasts are so sensitive and my nipples had been out and erect since upstairs. I’d never been struck except for those frequent hand slappings at my ass. This was that many times over, and I cried out at the unexpected hurt over my body.

"Does the supplicant enjoy the beatings?"

"It hurts, master," I winced.

"I know it does," said Illaria. "Can you not answer a simple question?"

Several more slaps struck my body. Illaria took her floggers to my ass next. Oh, that was a familiar and wonderful feeling.

"Yes. I love it, master," I said.

"That’s more like it," said Illaria. The beating continued. She alternated between floggers and a paddle. Each strike was exploratory and curious. She was getting to know my body and learning my reactions. The greatest shock was when she flapped her flogger upwards between my legs, slapping my pussy with feline playfulness. Tears happened. It took me a moment to realize it, but the pain was so wonderful that I cried. Endorphins coursed through my bloodstream.

Illaria gagged me and then held my weeping face towards hers.

"You’re taking the pain well, supplicant," she said. "Yet you have asked for so much. You’ll be expected to take much more."

I nodded.

Illaria turned her back and examined the toys in her collection. She pulled out a plug and lubed it up.

"You ever had one of these shoved in you?" she said only to ignore my muffled answer. She pressed into my anus. A spiraling sensation of surprise pleasure ran up my spinal column. My hair was yanked back while Illaria wiggled the toy in.

"Dirty little slut," she said. "I bet you’ve had more than one cock back there."

Her fingers rubbed my sopping pussy, searching for the clit. I groaned when she found it.

"I bet you’ve had cocks in both ends at the same time, whore."

Abruptly, she let off. So close. She had denied me one orgasm and I shook against my bounds for her to return. I needed to come, but Illaria only covered my eyes with a blindfold.

"Can you see?" she mocked. I shook my head. "Quite good then."

Petting, grabbing, and playful scratching marauded me. I took a sustained pinch at both nipples. Clamps, was all I could guess. Then the beating returned. This time, she struck with something like a fat thick tail. The thuds came heavy over my back and stomach, leaving them tingling each time.

At last, a dildo was stuffed inside me. Cooing for it, I relaxed my muscles and tilted my hips. Illaria rammed me with the smooth glass first, prodding around in a search for the right spot. She found it and I moaned into the gag, but she didn’t let me orgasm. Illaria jabbed me with another. This one could be either the ribbed one or the spiral one. Fuck, it felt so damn good. She continued on and on like that, not saying a word and occasionally swatting the clamps at my nipples. I must have been penetrated with every single dildo she had.

But it was that latex tentacle that got me off. I can’t remember the last time I came that hard. Not with my own toys and not even with Elliot. The pulsations from that orgasm had me pulling so hard I could’ve broken those beams. Once it was all done, I hung my head forward and drooled through my gag, heedless to my own debasement. I can’t believe it, but I wanted Illaria to do that to me again.

She tugged the plug out, and released the clamps at my nipples. The rest of the gear except my wrists came undone as well. That was good. I needed something to hang on to. Once I opened my eyes, I saw redness on my body and looked over at Illaria’s toys. She had wrapped her dildos in a thin towel that my juices had dampened. The dry, latex, tentacle stood proud over them all.

"Your payment has been accepted, Jeri," said Illaria. She unbound my wrists. "You may be a person again."

"Thank you," I said. Did I thank her for the sex or for the contract? It was definitely at least for the orgasm. Could Illaria actually make things work? "Did you do this with Marley? Is this how she paid?"

"I don’t discuss my other clients," said Illaria. "Though I’m sure she can describe many things for you herself. How do you feel?"

"Loose!" I exclaimed.

"As you should," said Illaria. She gave me time to redress myself and pick up a ride-hail. I hugged her goodbye and thanked her. "The pleasure was all ours, Jeri. Good luck in Chicago!" she said as I left.

The following morning was Saturday and I got a call that my car was ready. The mechanic, Cedric of Cedric and Cousins Auto shop, showed me the bill. Only sixty dollars.

"Why? What’s wrong, was something missed?" I said.

"Nothing wrong we could find," said Cedric.

"But how?"

Cedric shrugged.

"Look," he pointed to several blank lines in the invoice. "We’re not charging you for nothing. The car was fine when we tested it last night. Checked again this morning too."

"But it wouldn’t start?" I said. Still elated from the day before, I didn’t get that mad that he didn’t believe me, only a little annoyed.

"We spent four hours checking everything we could," he said. "I had one mechanic check the other’s work. I didn’t believe it either. Your car is fine, miss. Labor only, with a discount."

"Okay," I said relaxing.

I paid him and took my car off the lot. I called Marley and we met at my apartment. I opened a bottle of red and toasted to my car and to, "integrated empowerment."

"Ahh, so you went, huh?" said Marley.

"I did, indeed," I said. I shared my experience with the amazing Illaria. Definitely something that I would repeat. She shared a little of her experience too, including the top of her breasts where red lines marked her skin.

"She cut you?" I said in shock.

"Scratched," said Marley. "Blood."

My eyes widened in surprise. It’s unsafe and Illaria never did that with me.

"I’ve always had a fetish for bleeding," added Marley. "Illaria brought it out of me."

"So she’s a pro tormentor?"

Marley shook her head.

"She’s everything she says she is," said Marley. "Let’s pour another toast. For Chicago."

I had almost forgotten the reason for Gray Temple, to begin with.

"I’m not shortlisted yet," I said. There had not yet been any evidence that the contract I signed last night was real.

"You will be," said Marley. Her arm wandered over and her fingers ran through my hair.

"That’s… surprisingly nice," I said. She inhaled, raising her cleavage. It caught my eye. She caught me looking.

"Yeah?" Marley cooed. She pushed her glass aside. "You seem extra sensitive right now too."

Her other hand took mine. My heart palpitated in excitement.

"And loose," she said. "Did Illaria give you the second-best orgasm you’ll have this week?"

"Second best?" I giggled.

"Second to one I’m going to give you today."

Marley and I were unclothed and uninhibited only a few minutes later. Tumbling around together in my bed, we took turns penetrating the other and tasting bare skin. Marley came first, while I had my vibrator pushed inside and my lips around her nipple. Her arm wrapped around me, squeezing me hard as she did. Her fingers dug into my back. Would I too learn to like the pain of broken skin and blood too as she did?

Yet after she recovered I contended myself to our next level of play. Marley improvised a flogger out of her belt and brought it down hard on my bare ass, thighs, and even my chest. Then Marley fulfilled her promise. She toyed with my pussy for what felt like days, pulling my brain into a thick miasma of pleasure.

I came for the first time that day, shaking all over the bed. That only excited Marley further. We played with each other on and off for the rest of that afternoon. God, the sex was so amazing. Nothing is healthier than falling asleep next to a partner after you’ve had that much group exercise.

Monday arrived and I made my rounds at the hospital ward. One of the nurses interrupted me and indicated that my duties for later the afternoon had been rescheduled.

"Why?" I said startled. I’d been caring for the same round of patients for the last week. This isn’t something that would be taken from me.

"You’re going for an oncology spot in Chicago right?" she said.

I answered nothing. The nerves inside me wouldn’t let me move. I had to think myself out of it.

"Okay, yes," added the nurse. "You have an informative meeting? Like an interview?"

"Interview?" I exclaimed.

"Well no, not really. We set up a video conference for you though.."

That had been enough talk. At the scheduled time I entered a video conference with several leads of the Chicago Adventist Oncology department. They had added an opening, had seen my resume, heard of my work, and examined my application. I suppressed my excitement and tremendous trepidation while we discussed the practice of medicine in the most professional manner. There would be a follow up of course. There would need to be a last-minute in-person interview. All of which would happen quickly as their need was quite sudden.

I called Elliot first. He didn’t pick up and I left an excited and fast speaking message into his phone. We might both be heading to Chicago together, finding a cure for cancer, and be able to continue our fucking. Marley I called next.

"Hey, Marley!" I said. "I can barely believe it, but it worked!"

"Chicago?"

"Yes!"

"Ahh, so are you a believer in Grey Temple and integrated Empowerment?" she teased.

"Believer?" I said. That’s not a word I used. Taking steps back mentally, I considered the dangers of confirmation bias. Yet, I hadn’t exactly had any bias to begin with. There had been an agreement. But how did Grey Temple do this? Did they have some connections? Some people?

"What is Grey Temple?" I said. "I mean really? They’re not wellness consultants, are they?"

"The Grey Temple? They’re making the world better. One client at a time."

"I know that. What I mean is how?"

"That’s all something isn’t it?" said Marley. "I’m not legally allowed to explain. I can promise, Illaria will be happy to meet with you again."

I don’t call myself a believer. I don’t call Marley an evangelist. Yet there we were.

"Doctor McSweeney?" came the nurse with urgency.

"Yes?" I said holding my cell phone from my ear.

"It’s Elliot," she said. "You should know…"

"Know what?"

Elliot slept in a medically induced coma. I’m not his physician. I can’t know everything about his record, but he had been transported to the same hospital we had worked in. Stitches marred his beautiful face. His left arm was in a cast. Blankets covered his legs and he was immobilized. I asked around for what had happened.

A big rig on the highway buckled after a tire blew out. That caused a three-car pileup with Elliot involved. No deaths? From everything I’d known about accidents like these, there was always at least one fatality. That’s just statistical probability after all. Thousands of cars pass big rigs every day. Statistically, there would be at least a few accidents like these.

But not Elliot. Why? If he was in a medically induced coma, we would not know when he would come out. If that happened, then he couldn’t go to Chicago. If he couldn’t go to Chicago then…

I refused to consider it. Correlation does not imply causation. This is as true for diagnosing patients as it is for years of research to cure polio. There was no way that I could handle what I was looking at right now. Not at Elliot. If I kept looking at him like this I would definitely start foolishly thinking that correlation implies causation. That’s psychology, and I’m not immune to it. There didn’t have to be a reason why this tragedy happened. I knew this also, it's easier and often more important to falsify a theory than to confirm it.

I knew how to falsify.

I chanted ‘correlation does not imply causation’ as I drove to the temple. I bumped over a curb as I parked my car and then entered the temple. I observed the receptionist. I walked past her and entered Illaria’s office. Despite my brashness, she gave me an attentive look.

"Jeri," she said. "Hey there. Why don’t you take a seat?"

"Falsification criteria does not require that I sit."

Illaria cocked her head to the side.

"Jeri, is something wrong?" she asked.

"Elliot was in a car accident. Did you do that?" I asked.

"Oh, Jeri," she spoke like melting chocolate. I sat down and Illaria reclined near me.

"Now Jeri, you’re not worried at all about your position in Chicago. You’re maybe worried about how it happened," she began. "Is that right?"

"Yes."

"The Old One of the Temple makes things happen," she began. "We influence the fate of others. We use that to fulfill our contracts within the best and most holistic ethical practices."

I didn’t know which sounded more nonsensical, ‘the Old One’ or that she said this was holistic and ethical.

"Think of it like this: your future work on cancer will save thousands. Perhaps hundreds of thousands over the course of your lifetime. What’s a few months or a few years in a coma compared to all that?"

"He might not be able to walk again," I said. "You’ve sacrificed one person’s utility for another."

"The contract stated that Grey Temple fulfills its part at its own discretion, Jeri," she said. "The Old One guides those decisions."

I stood up. I didn’t want to hear anything about an Old One anymore.

"I’ve had enough. Whatever you did, I’m seeing the police about it. You’re not a business. You’re a dangerous cult," I declared. I headed for the door.

"Would that help Elliot at all?" Illaria spoke, halting me. She had a point. Even if I went to the police, found a good prosecutor, pried their secrets through investigations, Elliot still suffered.

"What exactly do you think you could do? This is medicine," I said.

"Well, we may be a cult. But we’re a real one," said Illaria. She rolled up her loose long sleeve. Her left forearm glowed under the light. Then it changed. It morphed. It transitioned like putty into a long single rust red and white tentacle. She curled it around a nearby vase and lifted it up, demonstrating the strength. I had to have been seeing things, but then this tentacle touched me.

A warm, fleshy, weight landed on my skin and I knew it instantly. It had touched me before. It had been inside me. It wanted to return and I, shocked and aroused at once, wished that to be so. "The Old One is real. He whispers to me," continued Illaria. "Perhaps one day he will whisper to you."

I cannot deny what I see with my own eyes or touch with my own skin. Still, I stepped away from that frustratingly erotic appendage. I wanted to know everything that was going on this time.

"You said the contract let you do what you want? Okay. So be it," I said. "Now I’d like another one."

"For Elliot’s speedy recovery and good health?"

"Yes."

We hashed out several terms. I wanted the Old One to not harm Elliot. In fact, I wanted Elliot in Chicago with me. Furthermore, no more unwilling parties to this deal. I didn’t want to later learn that the Old One killed a doctor so that the two of us could cure cancer.

"You drive a shrewd and specific request, Jeri. The Old One requires more in payment. You must accept a geas, for a term of six years."

"A geas?"

"You will live unbothered. Yet there will be times when the Old One summons you. You will be compelled to return here, and make prostrations," she said. She looked me in the eye, emphasizing the last point. "You will not be able to refuse the summons any more than you could refuse hunger or sleep. You will come and be ready for the master."

"How often?"

"That also depends on you," said Illaria. "The Old One seeks more supplicants. If you introduce us to another client, the summons will be less frequent."

Marley. It clicked in my head. My broken car that wasn’t broken and Marley’s flexible schedule had started all this. I’d been drawn in, but there was no pulling out now. Not if I wanted Elliot to be okay. Hell, things would be better than okay if I made this deal.

"Marley’s a good lawyer," I said. "Did she write a contract involving this geas?"

"It’s our standard template," said Illaria smiling. "Let us get it."

A contract was written. Another pair of signatures were added. In that office, I removed some clothes. I knew what Illaria expected of me. She took me down to the basement. The chains and pillars were ready, but Illaria ignored them.

"Disrobe completely," she said. Her voice was irresistible. "Now stand in this circle."

Obeying again, I shivered there. The room darkened and Illaria stepped around me, running her tentacle over my flesh. She chanted. The friendly warmth in her voice faded into a dirge. My mind knew this was wrong. A tiny wrong that would produce years of good for the world. I needed to endure for only so long.

And I craved to supplicate.

"Do you wish to know the Old One? To accept his geas? And his touch?" said Illaria. "Of your clear and uncoerced mind?"

"Yes. I do."

The tiles in the basement shoved aside with the sound of grinding stone. They were pushed away, as writing mass of thick, heavy, and long tentacles crawled from the ground. A pair wiggled towards me, twisting around my feet, my calves and upwards. Warm. I found them so unexpectedly warm. Other tentacles wrapped over my arms and torso in a paradoxical, binding of possession and protection. I loved it. I lusted for the Old One as soon as I was hefted into the air.

"The Old One whispers. He is pleased with you, supplicant," said Illaria. "We will bless you."

A tentacle emerged before me. Its tip changed to the most wonderful phallus I’d ever seen. I opened my jaw for it and it filled me. I loved sucking it. I knew that I pleased the master. Each pulsating constriction intensified as I sucked it down. Strong cum spurted out and choked me.

"The prostrate must swallow," intoned Illaria.

Keeping my lips tight the tentacle pulled out, I retained the cum. I suppressed my reflex to spit, chortling against sealed lips instead. I gulped once and then twice. I took the cum down.

"I will have my way with you, prostrate," spoke Illaria for the Old One. "What you have consumed is only the first of many."

That’s when the beating began. The Old One stretched my limbs as Illaria had only days before. This time, the agonizing strikes came in heavy flurries. The thuds made me shout. I whimpered for mercy, only to be punished again with more wet fleshly lashes. The pain pleasured me so much it messed with my mind, driving further into places that I hadn’t known. A vile seed in my soul germinated. Its roots spanned out into my brain and soon became part of it. Part of me.

The tentacles need not restrain me then. I would have submitted to any whimsy. Yet, I loved the helplessness I had been put into. My clit was tickled by a tentacle tip, and another slid its way in and played with me.

"Fuck!" I roared out. "Please! Please fuck me like that."

"The slave does not need to speak," answered Illaria. The cock tipped tentacle entered my mouth and cut off my cries. My pussy grew wet as the tentacle penetrated me more, pumping in and out of me. My eyes closed and my muscles tensed so tight I cried at the pain. Is this what the Old One could do? Could the god get so deep into my mind and soul that my orgasm would be denied? I did not think long on that. I didn’t think on anything.

A sudden gush of harrowing pleasure cascaded through me. My orgasm subsided, but it did not stop. It echoed once more. Only the cradle of my new god prevented me from falling to the ground. A mess of cum shot in my pussy and another into my mouth. Prepared this time, I consumed more of the blessing he gave me.

So continued my first prostration. Illaria spoke for the Old One again while I was nothing more than a delirious plaything. I wished for more even when the tentacles sank away lowering me to the ground. Only when they disappeared completely could I reflect on the metaphysical perversity of what had happened. Nothing had made sense in this temple, and I loved every degrading minute of it.

"You may be a person again," said Illaria speaking for herself. Her tentacle pet my shoulder. "Unless you have enough energy to play with me."

I wished I could, yet I was so spent. The muscles in the body can only take so much adrenaline before they exhaust themselves. I would no doubt feel the same strain as a mean hangover tomorrow. I needed water.

"My clothes," I sighed. "I need to head home."

"Pity," said Illaria. She retracted her tentacle.

"Will it be like this? Every time?" I said as I stumbled up.

"Sometimes like that. Sometimes longer. Sometimes with several supplicants," she said. "No one knows."

"It whispers to you," I added.

"The Old One whispers, yes. I understand what he wishes. It is not for us to ask why," she said. "Come let me get you some water."

I slept well that night, better than I had in ages. After all, for all the manipulation, dense contracts, and humiliations, Illaria would keep her bargain. I could relax with the knowledge that a position at Chicago Adventist Oncology was mine.

Miraculously too, Elliot came out of his coma. I visited him the day after he awoke. We talked for hours of a future in Chicago. I confessed to having missed him for several days, and he pressed if I had found anyone else to play with. Blushing, I admitted that I had.

He was released two weeks later and I wasted no time and took him to bed. He slept naked beside me, I lay watching him contended on the bliss of sex. Then, I heard the whispering. The Old One desired something. Did he want me? No, he desired something of me. It would not be long before I, like Marley, would bring another supplicant to his temple.