Ch 3.17: ❤ Force

Elaina had seen where Shein was going with her antics—kind of.

As soon as Elaina had felt the arm on her shoulder she’d known the general idea of what was about to happen, but she hadn’t expected the specifics. “M— make you?”

“That’s right,” Shein said, spreading her arms like she was inviting Elaina to come at her. “Make me get naked. But I’m not going to just sit here. Once you start, it’s a fight.”

That was… different. Elaina was still getting used to the types of play she did with Tira, and the sudden reversal was both unnerving and a little thrilling. “We’ll need a safeword,” she muttered.

“No,” Shein said, cocking her head. There was danger in her tone, in the word itself, in the smile she wore, but even that smile seemed so inviting, framed by her near glowing black curls, wide brown eyes staring back at Elaina.

“What do you mean ‘no?’” Elaina asked though. Tira had taught her it was important, and Elaina knew that she was right. There was safety in knowing one utterance of the word “sapphire” would free her if she needed it. Without it, she wasn’t sure she could enjoy it at all. “I’m not going to—”

“I don’t do safe words, because I mean what I say,” Shein said, laying back onto her desk, legs crossed but raised up as she turned onto her side, facing Elaina with a turn of the head. “You say stop, I stop. I say it, you stop.”

“Okay,” Elaina said. That was far more reasonable, but a little confusing giving the wording Shein had used earlier. “But then… why am I ‘making’ you do anything?”

“Pride,” Shein said, raising one knee into the air, the tight blue dress riding up her thigh, revealing a black garter belt hugging at her leg, pressing into the skin. “I like games in general, not just gambling.

Elaina couldn’t help but follow the line of Shein’s body, the thickening of her thighs as the dress hiked up, the run from her hips to the swell of her chest, each breast a perfect handful for Elaina’s hands if she could get ahold of them. Was she being baited? Did she care? “Why not gamble something anyway?” she offered.

Shein shrugged as if the thought had never occurred to her. “We could, I suppose. How about the loser serves the other for one hour? I have a bit of time before the doors open to the public.”

Not quite what Elaina was expecting, but not something she was opposed to either. She honestly wouldn’t mind being on either end of the “serving,” so it was a win-win as far as she was concerned.

“Alright,” Elaina said, reaching for her aspect, prepared to start at a moment’s notice. “You ready?”

“Yes, but one more thing,” Shein said, holding up a finger as she lay down. “No aspects from either of us. You stripped me down once before while you were fighting those duck monsters, so I know how easy that would be for you. “

“Oh, sure,” Elaina said, letting go of her mana and nodding. “Wait, is that why you made me do a strip game in the first place!”

“You wound me,” Shein said with a dramatic gesture toward her heart. “Why, you think me so petty and grudgeful.”

“That wasn’t a no…”

“I suppose not,” Shein said, righting herself once more, leaning towards the edge of the desk. “Once we start, I’m assuming anything goes. If you have a rule you want to add, tell me now.”

Elaina placed her chin in her hand, thinking. The way Shein was treating this was a little strange compared to how someone like Tira would, but it still seemed just as fair. Or it would have been, if Elaina wasn’t supernaturally strong even without her aspect. Maybe it is time I teach her a lesson. “No, nothing to add. We’re trying to strip the other person. No aspects, but anything else goes?”

Shein nodded. “Completely naked, just so we’re clear.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Elaina said with a grin.

“Alright then, place your bag down, and come at me when you’re ready.”

Elaina nearly ripped the strap of Carly’s bag over her head and threw it aside, standing up. She waited a second for Shein to stand up, but the woman was still just laying there, running her fingers up and down her propped up leg, stroking the garter belt, eyeing Elaina with a lustful gaze. She didn’t seem interested in standing up.

Have it your way, Elaina thought, moving towards the desk.

Shein was fast. Not as fast as any of her friends with classes, but faster than Elaina suspected. As soon as Elaina inched forward Shein had swung her feet around, and as her leg moved towards the ground, Shein pulled something from the garter belt around it.

A knife.

Elaina froze, panic setting in as the knife sliced towards her. She knew should’ve known better than to trust Shein for even a moment, but the damn woman had tricked her, and now Elaina was going to have to reach for [Restraint] without any preparation. She stumbled back instinctually, tripping onto the chair she’d just been sitting in as Shein charged her with an evil grin, knife only inches from Elaina.

And then with the other hand Shein grabbed a handful of Elaina’s dress, digging her knife into the fabric and pulling up, the blade ripping through cloth and stitching as Elaina and chair both fell backwards, but missing Elaina herself. Elaina rolled on her back towards the door, doing her best to put distance between herself and her attacker.

But as she pushed herself up to one knee, she got a better look at the grin Shein was wearing. Evil, yes, in a manner of speaking, but not in the way that Elaina had initially thought. This was the evil of a conniver, a scammer, not a murderer. “You tricked, me,” Elaina said, clutching her dress together, desperately trying and failing to contain her breasts as they flopped out of the gash Shein had made, a rip stretching from Elaina’s navel all the way up through the neckline.

“Anything goes, remember?” Shein said before tossing the knife behind her, the tip sticking into the wall. “But now that the element of surprise is gone, I’ll toss that back so you can’t use it on me.”

Elaina’s heart was pounding, a thousand mixed signals in her head. She wanted to fight back for her life, but that wasn’t the situation she was in. She wanted to turn tail and run, but that would lose the game. She wanted to roll over and let Shein do anything she wanted to her. She couldn’t think of a “but” for that last one at the moment.

“I’ll get you,” Elaina said anyway, her own impish smile growing as she shot up and charged at Shein.