The air was thick with sweet smelling incense which almost managed to cover the bitterness of the saltweed. The inside looked far better than the outside, though Arthur put it down to the gloom.

Couches and pillows were scattered around the room, men and women lounging on them in various states of dress. Standing in the corners and in the deepest shadows of the room were the vague shapes of men. Arthur couldn’t make out their features or clothes except for the gray scarves tied somewhere on their bodies, what identified them as members of the Black Smoke crew.

“And where is this boogeyman of yours?”

“Smokey is usually in the back,” Arthur muttered, voice soft as he tried not to breathe in too deeply. He moved through the spacious den with the ease of familiarity despite the poor lighting, spotting a black door that blended into back wall.

He kicked it in, revealing a facsimile of a noble’ study. There were the usual bookcases, a long table of sturdy wood, a plush rug, and a tall-backed chair that gave the impression of a throne. But the man seated upon it ruined the picture.

His fat stomach stretched his dark shirt, the buttons straining to hold the two sides of the material together. A heavy coat lined with black fur, a garment that was impractical in the frequent rains and extra costly giving the scarcity of its materials in Graywatch, hung on his shoulders and a pipe dangled from his lips. A black sailor’s cap covered his head, a few strands of gray hair escaping it.

Beady black eyes focused as he entered, the pirate’s black lips slowly curling into a grin. “That you, shrimp? Came to admire Old Smokey’s jewels, have you? Come in, come in. Your father’s going back out to sea soon, I’ll give you a discount.”

“Ah, I see it now. This overgrown pig isn’t the source of your turmoil. How very predictable, pet, for your troubles to center around a woman.”

A shadowy body walked past them to lean against the desk. In a blink, the formless shadow became a young woman with curly brown hair and blank, hazel eyes. She smiled faintly as she pulled aside the front of her dress, exposing her modest breasts and purpling bruises in the shape of a hand on her throat.

“This is the one you like, right shrimp?” Smokey asked, voice distorting and becoming menacing. His dark eyes began to glow a sinister red as his form bloated, the man becoming a nightmare. “First time is free, just for you.”

“Poor thing. She used to be so sweet. But then, so did you.”

Arthur looked over his shoulder. The wall fell away and expanded into the rocky shore outside of Graywatch. Arthur watched with suppressed shock and magnified nostalgia as his younger self splashed in the water with a younger version of the glassy-eyed girl. No one would easily match her past with her future, unable to see the living ghost as the end result of the exuberant child filled with laughter as she dunked a young Arthur’s head in the water.

“She was your innocence. The symbol of all that was good in this world. And they crushed her.”

“The way things are,” he muttered as the beach scene dimmed, darkness swallowing the vision of his childhood and replacing it with the closed door of Smokey’s room. “The strong take what they want and the weak can do fuck all about it.”

“Are you sad?”

“Hah, no point in that.” He jerked his head in the direction of the pirate that had transformed into a mountain of flesh that had to duck its head to fit inside the cramped room, exhaling the treacherous smoke of the saltweed like its throat was a chimney. “Beasts like him feed on the weakness of people.”

“Are you angry?”

“Do you get angry at sharks for feeding on the small fry of the ocean? Or a storm for destroying your house?” He scoffed.

“Is that how you see yourself? As a shark? A predator?”

“Better than being a shrimp.”

The thrall giggled. “Good! No need to waste time with this foolishness.” She snapped her fingers and the grotesque pirate, the glassy-eyed girl, and the derelict den of iniquity disappeared, replaced by his room at the Hall.

She skipped over to his bed and flopped onto the mattress, crossing her ankles as she smiled at him. “My apologies for the games, pet, but I had to be sure you are the man you present to be. You wouldn’t believe how many men put on a tough front when they are nothing but worms on the inside. I’m happy I was right about you. Now we can have some real fun.”

“Finally.” Arthur shook himself as the strange hold on his emotions disappeared. Anger overcame his excitement from the start of the night. “Oi! What have you been doing with me?”

“What a succubus does, dear boy. You surrendered yourself to me without knowing anything about us. Foolish, but I do love fools.”

Arthur’s eyes narrowed, glowing as he called on his mana. “I was trying to be nice on account of you being one of Lou’s women but I’m not going to let you jerk me around.”

“Oh? Then what are you going to do about it?”

Arthur sneered but didn’t move. The thrall laughed at his hesitance. “Are you that scared of my summoner?”

“Fucking course I am.” His eyes lost their glow as he sighed. “She broke my earth constructs with her bare hands. Laying a hand on you is a death sentence.” Having lived to adulthood in Graywatch, Arthur had long since learned the art of delaying self-gratification in pursuit of survival. “So, you took the bet just to fuck with me? Fine. You’ve had your laugh, now end whatever magic this is and let me get on.”

“You’ve misunderstood, pet.”

She snapped her fingers and her dress disappeared. Arthur’s annoyance was whisked away with the expedience of someone blowing out a candle flame as his eyes traced over her petite body. The gray skin added a foreign flavor to the sight that brought back the young man’s desire with a vengeance.

“I’ll give you what you want. The question is, can you pay the price?”

The thrall crooked a finger and Arthur moved forward like she was reeling him in. She leaned back as he put a knee on the bed, relaxing like a viper basking in the sun as he climbed over her.

An eager hand reached for her modest chest but her tail curled around his wrist, bringing it to a halt despite his attempts to move it. Arthur swore. “This better not be one big tease!”

“I will let you do anything you want to me. Anything.” Arthur gulped at the seductive promise in the rose-pink eyes. “But know that you will pay the price for every touch.” Her tail uncoiled from his wrist. “How far will you go to get what you want?”

To his credit, Arthur hesitated a moment, but only a moment. His hand continued its path and he grinned lasciviously as the thrall moaned. Then he swore and threw himself away as something scalded his chest.

He stared at the elemental with wide eyes as she laughed. “I told you, pet~ You’ll pay for every touch.”

“You…” He swallowed. The scalding touch was fresh in his mind as he reached out again, trailing his finger around a dainty ankle. An itch assaulted his own ankle. “Damn. This is fucked up.”

“I would call it amusing,” the thrall mused.

“Why are you doing this?” he said with disgust. “Why not just tell me to get lost?”

“Because I don’t want to reject you, Arthur.” She smiled, lips stretching a bit too wide. “I want to see you destroy yourself with your own hands. I want to see you flay your own skin in search of your desires. I want to see you throw away everything that makes you you to become something more. Can you do that, pet?”

She sat up on her elbows. “My summoner has chained me with her little rules so you have a choice. If you refuse, I will end my trickery, as you call it. But you won’t refuse, will you? I wouldn’t have chosen you if you were that cowardly. Or less greedy.”

Arthur glowered at her as he thought about her words and what awaited him. Then he shrugged off his shirt.

Her laughter was shut off by his rough kiss. As he enjoyed the feeling of her soft lips and opened his mouth for her questing tongue, his lips itched and stung, as if dozens of ants were biting him. The thrall eagerly helped him shed his pants and their naked bodies pressing together was both exhilarating and agonizing.

Arthur hissed in pain as his cock brushed against her thigh. “Are you trying to kill me?” he growled as he pulled away from their kiss.

“Silly boy,” the thrall whispered. “You can’t die here. But you can hurt.”

“Ugh.” He bowed his head as sharp nails dug into his hips, pulling him against her.

“Please,” she whispered, her voice turning sweet and her lips pouting. “I want it. I want you, Arthur. We’ve been waiting for this for so long.” Her hands moved, dangerous nails trailing over his back softly, just enough to sting but never breaking skin. “I’m right here. All you have to do is take me. It’ll be better than you could ever imagine.”

When he hesitated again, one of her hands twisted in his hair and pulled until he yelled. “Unless you’re scared, shrimp. Going to wait for your daddy to give you permission? Can’t do anything but follow a captain, huh? Always the ship monkey, a fool made to perform tricks because he can’t play with the big boys.”

Arthur’s hand clapped over her mouth but her eyes remained mocking. Growling in frustration, he turned her over. His angry thoughts were clouded at the sight of her bare back. Goaded, aroused, and naturally impulsive, it was impossible for him to retreat.

Preparing himself for the backlash, he ran his tongue over her supple skin. His mouth was filled with the taste of ambrosia but his tongue felt like it was being pulled apart a small piece at a time by a crab’s pincers. As his fingers trailed her body, an invisible assailant trailed a hot poker over his.

Each time he thrust inside her, some powerful force shattered his bones and mended them, condensing the pain of weeks of recovery into a single moment. It was excruciating but he couldn’t stop himself, instinctively seeking the pleasure as the pain clouded his reason.

He groaned with his climax, eyes rolling back into his head as his body shook. There was a moment of perfection that seemed to stretch for forever. Not even the beat of his heart dared to intrude. A small voice in the back of his mind thought he was dying and he couldn’t work up the energy to care if this was the way he went.

Then the moment ended and he was dropped into unparalleled agony. He was beaten, battered, shattered, shredded, and subjected to new kinds of pain he could never imagine. He screamed but vocalizing his suffering only seemed to amplify it. Tears burned his eyes but he couldn’t spare a shred of concern for the embarrassing action.

Just when his mind threatened to snap under the pain, the pleasure returned, more intense than before as it also brought with it relief. It was enough to make him want to worship the thrall, totally ignoring she was the source of his pain as well.

But the relief didn’t last long before the pain returned.

The cycle continued again and again until pain and pleasure began to blur, only interrupted by spikes in feeling as the thrall had her way with his body. The indignities were the furthest thing from his mind as he struggled to hold onto his sanity. All he had to do was say no, to refuse, and the torment would end, but as he suffered under the pain, the thought of the coming pleasure held his tongue and it was always worth the wait. Still, he could only take so much.

“No…more,” he muttered.

The torment stopped. With it, an end came to his consciousness, dropping him into darkness.

When he regained his senses, he was lying on the floor of Lou’s house, naked, the sun streaming through the open windows warming his skin. The thrall sat in a chair beside him, dressed in a plain white dress, smiling softly. Beside her was a silver cart topped with a wonderful smelling breakfast that made his stomach rumble.

“The sun is up,” the thrall whispered. “But that doesn’t mean the game has to end here. I like you, pet. You endure well and your suffering is sweet. I’ve seen you. You want more than a little pleasure but the weak can have little else. So, I will make you strong…but only if you can pay the price.”