The Bargain

Charlie had heard enough from Mama Trash at the Triple Sickle to know that Lynx lived in a much better part of the city than Pain Town. She pulled the thin hood of her worn-out ultra-fleece tighter around her face, longing for the warm hover coaches she’d taken for granted back home. On Andromeda Prime, she’d never had to walk a block, let alone twenty. But now, calling a hover taxi was out of the question, no matter how cold, dark, and dangerous her walk to Lynx’s mansion was. She simply couldn’t afford it.

The narrow alley outside her tiny home was filled with trash, empty food wrappers, and the small twists of self-heating foil that Bent-heads used to cook their fixes. Charlie kicked the garbage out of her way, trying to stay in the lit parts of the lane. She hoped the icy wind slicing through her thin clothes would keep the more dangerous elements of society indoors. She had a small cylinder of freeze spray that could temporarily paralyze an attacker if she hit them in the face with a solid blast. She held it tight inside her pocket. The spray had cost her a week’s savings, and Charlie had hated to buy it, but after being attacked once on her way home from a late shift at the Triple Sickle, she’d decided that there was no point in saving money for a ticket off Hole if she was dead and couldn’t use it.

Taking a deep breath, she hurried through a stretch of darkness to the next pool of pale orange light cast by a dying glare pole. It had been a night like this one—though not as cold—when a man had approached her, asking the time. Charlie had looked down at her chronometer, a cheap timepiece that wasn’t worth the plastic it was made of, and that was when he’d attacked her. She’d fallen backward, too shocked to even cry out, and she could still remember his weight on her, his hot, foul breath in her face—the smell of rotten teeth under the sweet smell of burned Bent. He’d forced a knee between her legs and tugged at her skirt, all the while telling her exactly what he was going to do to her and how hard he was going to make her scream…

Charlie shook her head. There was no point in reliving that now. No point in thinking about the attack, about what might have happened if someone or something hadn’t grabbed her attacker from behind and dragged him off into the darkness. Charlie had heard him screaming for about a minute after he disappeared, and then the sound had ended abruptly in a choked gurgle.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed to her right, and she gripped the cylinder of freeze spray tighter. She wasn’t going to give another Bent-head, intent on rape and robbery, a chance to attack her. There was no guarantee the mysterious person or creature who had saved her before would appear again.

“Come in my mouth for only twenty credits. Come in my ass for twenty-five. Around the world and fill my pussy for thirty. Come on, big boy, you know you want it,” a mechanical voice announced.

Charlie let out a relieved sigh when a Jezebel-model harlot bot with a shock of matted bright-red hair and oversized breasts stumbled around the corner, moving with a shaky, jittering stride that meant it was literally on its last leg. That wouldn’t stop its pimp from making a profit, though, Charlie thought as the bot jerked past her, repeating its endless list of empty pleasures. He would probably just saw off the legs to use for fetish customers and mount the torso at waist height in a bot box on some corner. The price would drop by ten credits or so, and men too poor to afford a whole model would still use the harlot bot for a cheap fuck. Charlie had seen them at it, lining up to fill a mechanical doll’s holes with cum before they went to a bar to spend the rest of their limited credit on ale to forget what they had done and would do again the next time they wanted easy, anonymous sex.

Charlie closed her eyes briefly as another blast of icy wind cut through her fleece as though it wasn’t there. Goddess, I wish I’d never seen that kind of thing. I wish I still lived in my cloud condo on Prime and didn’t have to see anything dirty or ugly or fight to stay alive and to keep Will off the streets. I wish Roger would have wanted to marry me even without the money. We wouldn’t have been rich, but we wouldn’t have been dirt-poor either. I wouldn’t have been hungry and scared all the time and trying not to show it so Will wouldn’t run off to join some gang or try to take a job in one of those dangerous mines where he might be killed in a cave-in or explosion…

No, I don’t wish that. She lifted her chin and faced the wind that whipped the trash around the corners and gnawed at her bones, making her hands and face numb. She would rather live on her own terms, as hard as they were, than go through life with a man that didn’t really love her, a man who had only been interested in the vast amount of credit he’d thought he was going to get the minute he said “I will” when the priestess asked if he would have Charlie as his own and only beloved until the end of time.

She still had her pride and her dignity, even if everything else had been lost in the ruin of her family fortune. She worked as a barmaid, not a whore, even though a whore could make plenty of money in a female-poor settlement like this one. She kept up appearances in front of Will, pretending that she wasn’t hungry so he would eat more of the protein nutria-paste she bought every payday and that she wasn’t scared to go out by herself even though she never went anywhere without the cylinder of freeze spray clutched tight in her sweating palm. She pretended daily that they would save enough money to get off Hole and back to the inner planets where they could find honest work and live someplace safe and clean where you didn’t see drug deals and murders and harlot bots on every corner.

Goddess… Charlie sucked in a shaky breath. It was tough. A year had passed and lately, she’d been wondering how much more she could endure. She wiped a tear from her eye, feeling the warm trickle as it slid down her cold cheek. Then she felt a wave of self-disgust. This isn’t the time to cry and wallow in self-pity, she scolded herself. ~You should be figuring out what you’re going to say to Lynx. How on earth are you going to talk your way out of this mess? What can you possibly say to keep Will from ending up in a mine shaft somewhere? And what can you offer him if words aren’t enough?~

The thought brought back a memory from not long after she’d arrived on Hole and started working at the Triple Sickle. She’d been tasked with taking out the trash, which on Hole meant tossing the bag of garbage into the grimy alleyway behind the bar. She’d held her breath as best she could and thrown the bulging bag onto the stinking heap next to the overflowing trash bin when she’d heard voices. One of them, a high and whiny female voice, was familiar—it was Marlene, a fellow barmaid who was known to sell “extras” to the miners during her time off from the bar. The other two voices were deep and male.

Charlie had been terrified. The Triple Sickle was a rough place and she still hadn’t gotten used to the way the other barmaids seemed as ready to sleep with the patrons as they were to serve drinks. She had wanted to get back inside the bar desperately but the overflowing garbage was between her and the door. So she’d hidden behind the shadow of the trash bin, shivering with revulsion and fear.

“How much for a fuck?” the tall man with short blond hair had asked Marlene.

“And how tight is your pussy?” his friend, a shorter man with broad shoulders and a permanent scowl, had inquired.

“Find out for yourself,” Marlene had retorted, her tangled brown hair and green eyes flashing as she had challenged the huge man. She had lifted her short flared skirt boldly, exposing her pussy for the inspection of the two potential customers. The skirt had hung low on her hips and high on her thighs and the red gauzy blouse she wore clearly displayed her erect nipples.

Hidden in the shadow of the trash bin, Charlie had shivered with disgust. She’d hoped Marlene and the two men would move further down the alley but they had seemed determined to conduct their business right there, in the open. She had been stuck, crouching on the filthy pavement with the smell of rotting garbage filling her nostrils until they were done. And the worst part was that she had a front-row seat.

Sex wasn’t something she’d had much experience with. Her ex-fiancé Roger had made love to her a few times but it had always been in the dark and there was never anything kinky or unusual involved. Charlie had gotten a lesson in kinky right before her eyes. It had shocked her when she realized Marlene really intended to have sex with not one but two men. Goddess, surely not! Charlie had thought. Everyone knew what uncivilized brutes the men on Hole were. Just thinking about it still made Charlie’s head spin and her chest tighten.

Charlie had known she shouldn’t look, known she ought to just keep her eyes on the ground, but somehow she hadn’t been able to look away. Feeling a mix of revulsion and curiosity, she had watched as Marlene had lifted her skirt higher and the second man had thrust his hand between her legs and pushed two thick fingers into her wet, open pussy. He had pumped several times into her slippery pink depths and Charlie had watched Marlene moan and spread her legs wider for the invasion. Had she really been enjoying it or had she just been trying to get the men to commit?

The second man had withdrawn his fingers and frowned. “Not tight enough for me,” he had declared, smirking at Marlene. “Sorry, no sale.” He had nodded at his friend. “C’mon, I heard they got some virgins for rent down on Lost Street. Girls so tight you’ll swear an angel was fisting your shaft.”

“I’m tight and you know it. No discounts,” Marlene had frowned as though she had known he was only trying to get more for less. “And those girls down on Lost aren’t virgins,” she had added. “Their pimps tighten them up with shrink-um. Forget angels, you come inside one of their pussies and your cock’ll shrivel up like a devil was poking your ass. You’re better off with an honest cunt like mine.”

“I’m with Marlene,” the tall blond had said, frowning. “I don’t trust those pimps on Lost Street. And besides, I’m horny now. She’s better than a sex bot at any rate.”

“Says you. And you should’ve thought about being horny before you dragged me out behind this stupid bar where there aren’t any decent whores,” his scowling friend had protested. “I want to fuck a virgin, or at least a girl who’s virgin-tight.”

Still hidden in the shadow of the trash bin, Charlie had shivered at his words. She wasn’t a virgin but she was inexperienced enough that it might not make a difference to the scowling man. He had known what he wanted and from the look on his face and the thick bulge in his trousers, he wasn’t too picky about who he took it from. She had known she should quietly sneak away from the alley and try to get back into the Triple Sickle from the front entrance, yet she hadn’t seemed to be able to stop watching the scene unfolding in front of her.

“I know how to make her virgin tight,” the blond man had told his friend, grinning. “You’ll love every thrust. As long as you don’t mind sharing.”

“What?” His friend had looked confused and Marlene had looked worried.

“I’m not letting you use any of that shrink-um on me,” she had protested. “That stuff rots your cunt.”

“No one mentioned anything about shrinking,” the blond man had murmured, his voice a low rumble as he moved around Marlene until he was directly behind her. He leaned in, whispering in her ear, his words loud enough for Charlie and his friend to hear. “I’m talking about a good old-fashioned double fuck, sweetheart. Once I’m deep in your ass, your pussy should be tight enough for my buddy here.”

“Hold on!” Marlene had spun around to face him, her eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t do double penetration. I’ll give your friend a blowjob while you fuck me, whichever hole you prefer. But I won’t have both of you inside me at the same time.”

“Not even for fifty creds?” The blond man had held up a credit chip, its green light blinking rapidly in the dim alley. “It’s all good, sweetheart,” he had said, waving the chip in front of Marlene’s face. “And it’s all yours, as long as I get to enjoy that ass while my friend takes your pussy.”

Marlene had looked unsure, but apparently fifty credits was too tempting to refuse. Finally, she had nodded. “Fine,” she had said, her nod firm. “But don’t ruin the goods. You two aren’t the only ones who want a piece.”

The blond man had leaned back against the alley wall opposite where Charlie had been hiding, giving her a clear view when he had pulled down his pants and revealed a long, thick, dark red shaft that seemed to throb with desire. It had looked as long as her forearm and as thick as her wrist—Goddess, Marlene can’t possibly take all of that, can she? Charlie had thought.

Charlie had gasped and covered her mouth with her hand when Marlene had lifted her skirt and applied something from a small foil packet between her legs. Then she had backed up against him until the wide head of his cock had pressed against her tight hole. Charlie had never seen what these two men were proposing to do to the barmaid or even discussed it. It wouldn’t have been considered polite conversation back on her home planet. Yet Marlene and the two men had seemed unfazed. In fact, the other man was already stroking his cock, which was even bigger than his friend’s, as the blond man penetrated Marlene’s ass, stretching her open with his shaft as he had sunk deep inside her.

“Goddess!” the blond man had groaned as he pushed deep inside Marlene’s warm, willing body. “She’s tight alright. See for yourself.”

Charlie had watched in shock as the second man, whose shaft was even bigger than his friend’s, had stepped forward and spread the young barmaid’s pussy lips with the head of his cock. Marlene had moaned softly and shuddered as he swept over her clit and finally came to rest at the entrance of her pussy.

“Please,” she had whimpered as the second thick shaft began to enter her body. “Please don’t hurt me. I-I’ve never had two cocks in me before. You’re so big—Goddess!”

“Easy now, sweetheart,” the blond man had whispered in her ear as she trembled between them, trying to accommodate both cocks. “Just lean back against me and relax. Open yourself and let us fuck you and it’ll all be over soon.”

“Speak for yourself,” his friend had grunted, thrusting another thick inch of his shaft into Marlene’s tight sex. “I want to savor this. It feels damn good.”

“For her too.” The blond man had lifted the thin material of the barmaid’s shirt, exposing her full, perky breasts. “Look at how hard her nipples are. She likes it. Likes being filled with two cocks at once, don’t you, sweetheart?”

“Goddess, no,” Marlene had moaned. “I-I think I changed my mind.” Charlie had watched in horrified fascination as she writhed between the two large men who were now fully inside her body. “Stop it,” she had begged, reaching back to try to push the blond man away with one hand while her fingers tightened on the other man’s shoulder. “You’re both too big—it’s too tight. Let me go—fifty creds isn’t worth this.”

“Sure, we’ll let you go,” the blond man had promised. “Just as soon as we fill your pussy and ass with our cum, sweetheart.”

As Charlie had watched, horrified, the two men pulled out and thrust back into Marlene in unison, both thick shafts impaling her at once.

“Please, oh Goddess, don’t! You beasts—get out of me! Stop it—stop!” Marlene had screamed and Charlie had been frozen in fear. She had wondered if she should try to run for help. Would anyone in the bar have cared that a barmaid and part-time prostitute like Marlene was being raped when she had agreed to it in the first place?

“Hold her,” the shorter man had said grimly as they sandwiched the squirming, writhing barmaid between them. “I’m not stopping until I cum.”

“Relax, sweetheart,” the blond man had murmured in Marlene’s ear. “Just relax and it’ll all be over soon. If you focus on being open, you might even enjoy it.”

“Sure she will,” his friend had agreed and both men had burst into laughter.

Tears had been streaming down Marlene’s cheeks but she had quieted somewhat and was no longer fighting the two cocks that were filling her. Instead, to Charlie’s surprise, she had seemed to almost be getting into it.

“Alright then, fuck me,” she had gasped as she spread wider, obviously trying to accommodate them both. “Fuck me and cum in me, you fucking bastards. Come on, I want to feel you cum!”

“See—there we go. She’s begging for it.” The blond man had laughed again and so had his friend.

Charlie had watched, her eyes wide with a mix of horror and fascination. Marlene, barely older than herself, was in the throes of a rough encounter with two men. Could she possibly be enjoying this? Charlie had wondered. The sight of Marlene being taken in both her pussy and ass had sent a shiver down Charlie’s spine. It was a terrifying thought, too much for her to bear.

She had thought back to her brief encounters with Roger. How could Marlene endure this? It hadn’t been all that pleasurable for Charlie, and she had only been with a refined man from the inner planets—not one of these brutish miners. A part of her had wanted to rush in and save Marlene, but it was too late. Regardless of the pain Marlene might have been experiencing from the two massive cocks thrusting into her, she likely wouldn’t have appreciated an interruption to her chance to earn fifty credits.

Then it had hit Charlie—she was wasting her opportunity. Marlene and her customers were thoroughly distracted, likely to remain so for a few more minutes. Or maybe not. Despite his talk of prolonging the pleasure, the second man had been thrusting wildly, his rhythm dissolving into erratic bucking as he drove his cock into Marlene’s pussy.

Charlie had slipped away quietly, the wet sound of flesh against flesh and Marlene’s gasps and moans echoing behind her. As she had stepped back into the dimly lit Triple Sickle, she had silently thanked the Goddess for her semi-respectable job as a barmaid. She was grateful she hadn’t had to resort to selling herself like Marlene to make ends meet. She wasn’t wealthy anymore, but at least she wasn’t so poor that she had to sell her body.

The memory of what she had witnessed and her vow never to sell herself, no matter how dire the circumstances, came rushing back to Charlie as she trudged through the freezing night air towards Lynx’s mansion. Could she keep that promise to herself? She had to—didn’t she? What she had seen behind the Triple Sickle was bad, but at least Marlene had been with human men. But there were stories—horrifying stories—about the Xorn and what they did to their sexual partners. Charlie had heard it could take hours or even days for a Xorn to finish with you—hours or days of unimaginable torture. The mere thought of it made her stomach churn.

She spent the rest of her long, cold walk rehearsing various arguments with the wind. But when she finally stood before the dull silver gates of his mansion, her words evaporated. This was it. The home of the notorious Lynx, the most feared man—or Xorn, depending on your perspective—on all of Hole.

It was the den of the beast, and she was about to step inside.