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DAY 18

Ethan hadn’t slept well at all. Worry had forced him back to consciousness countless times. There were multiple issues he was mulling over, but one above all: Emma. He had checked his phone at least once every time he had woken up, hoping to see a message by the researchers, or even by Emma herself, informing him about her situation. There was nothing. Ethan tried to calm his mind by rationalizing that if Emma’s broken arm had turned out to be a big issue or something else had happened, the researchers would have let them know already.

Ethan was already awake by the time his alarm rang. He went to get ready for the day but didn’t know yet how he would spend it as no activities seemed particularly exciting. The mood of the others at breakfast wasn’t much better.

‘Wonder where they took her,’ Val said. ‘We’re quite far from the nearest city, no?’

Ethan didn’t get involved in the conversation. It was Isabelle who replied.

‘They wouldn’t have a place out of reach of medical care, would they?’

‘No, you’re right.’

‘She’ll be fine,’ Danielle said. ‘A broken arm isn’t fun, but she didn’t hit her head or anything like that. Honestly, it could have been much worse.’

Ethan ate his oatmeal. Nobody suggested any plans. Ethan figured he’d retreat to the orchard later in the day, which he did. None of the other housemates had made the same decision. Chloe had mentioned staying in her room and Aya had intended to use the morning to clean the common areas. There had been no flirting and no teasing. Not even a little bit.

At half past ten, Ethan’s phone started making a noise he hadn’t heard before, which was weird as he was pretty sure he had set it to vibrate. It did work to attract his attention, though. There was a message from the research team in the messaging app, with no option to reply.

‘Good morning, Ethan. In light of last night’s events, and events at some of our other facilities, a short supplemental survey will be sent out at half past eleven. Please retreat to a private space by then to complete it before noon.’

The message felt weird and impersonal. Ethan stood up, gathered his stuff and headed inside where the others had already gathered.

‘That was fucking weird, wasn’t it?’ Aya spoke. ‘Other facilities? What’s that about?’

There was some speculation on what the survey would entail, but most energy was directed to Emma’s return.

‘I’m worried about Emma,’ Chloe said. ‘No news about her. That’s weird.’

‘It will follow,’ Danielle soothed. ‘The research team may be in over their heads. Who knows?’

That thought didn’t soothe Ethan’s own worry. They should have anticipated something like this could happen.

As instructed through the messages, everyone retreated to their own rooms. Ethan saw the survey appear via a notification at exactly half past eleven. He clicked it open and started reading.

‘Due to concerns around physical safety, the research team has decided to send out an additional survey. While our initial ruleset prescribed we would give no news of outside events to people participating, we feel we need to inform you that, including your villa, there are eight research facilities, each with slightly different circumstances. All eight experiments started on the same date and were meant to last fifty days. Two of these studies have ended by now.’

While Ethan appreciated the communication, he felt like they could have done a better job at informing them. He wondered how serious the reasons for ending those two other sub-experiments were. Another thought hijacked his mind. What if the continuation of their own experiment hinged on this survey? Even though he knew nothing bad had happened, seeing Aya with a black eye may have set off alarms for the research team.

The survey didn’t give anything else away. There were a number of questions on general safety first, followed by more in-depth inquiries into both Emma’s broken arm and Aya’s black eye, as Ethan had already sensed. It was obvious that the researchers were wanting to check whether the stories everyone gave would match up. They were explicitly told to write down their knowledge of both injuries as extensively as possible. This would point to both cases being harmless, as none of the testimonies would contradict each other, but Ethan had a chuckle at all six women having to write down all they knew about him fucking Aya on Tuesday morning. Ethan felt relieved that he would more than likely be allowed to stay at the villa. He hoped the researchers didn’t deem what had happened as inappropriate. Why would they? They had provided the house with sex toys and condoms before. They knew what was going on. As far as Ethan knew, this could still be the reason for the experiment to begin with. As soon as Ethan had finished his very descriptive relay of fucking Aya, the phone’s other capabilities were unlocked again.

Downstairs, Ethan joined the women in the lounge for the survey debrief. Still no news about Emma, good or bad.

‘Eight villas,’ Danielle said, ‘I don’t think that’s a coincidence.’

Aya tilted her head.

‘Explain,’ she replied.

‘It’s the exact number of houses for every different combination of genders. A house with just men, a house with only women and everything in between.’

‘If you adhere to the binary, sure,’ Isabelle mumbled.

Everyone was considering this. Ethan figured she was probably right. The maths checked out. He did some more calculations. If this theory was correct, that would mean fifty-six people in total were being studied. Twenty-eight men and twenty-eight women. He was delighted this was the house he had ended up in.

‘I’m mainly concerned about the two houses that are no longer active. Is that the right term?’ Danielle asked.

‘Probably the one with only men,’ Val quipped.

Ethan felt the need to defend his gender but was held back as he believed this assessment to be accurate.

‘Can you imagine being the only woman in a house with six strange men?’ Chloe shuddered.

Danielle looked at Ethan.

‘Doubt their experience is as nice as our boy’s here.’

Once again, he couldn’t push back as he agreed.

Everyone, including cat-Ethan, jumped out of their seats as the doorbell rang.

‘EMMA!’ Aya yelled out before sprinting to the front door.

Ethan held his breath as Aya put a hand on the doorknob.

It was her, Emma, standing there on the doorstep with a cast and a sling.

‘Guess who’s back!’ she announced.

An immense weight was suddenly lifted.

The girls immediately went to hug her, making Ethan look slow by comparison. He was, however, the person to help her get seated in the sofa.

‘You must have so much to tell us,’ Isabelle prompted her.

The blonde almost seemed excited to share and got right to it. Everyone listened intently. Even cat-Ethan came closer.

‘Well, first and foremost I saw a bunch of cute doctors and nurses, so that was cool.’

Even though this wasn’t anything serious, Ethan felt a bit jealous hearing her say this. He felt like a massive hypocrite as Emma seemed to have no issue to share him with other hot women herself.

‘Start from the beginning,’ Aya urged.

‘Ok. Well, let’s see. From here I was put in some sort of private ambulance and was given a bunch of painkillers, so some of the night is a bit blurry. I was brought to a hospital where the staff already knew about the experiment going on here.’

‘That makes sense,’ Danielle commented. ‘Imagine showing up to a hospital with a woman with a broken arm and having to explain you’ve been keeping her locked up for the past couple of weeks.’

‘Exactly,’ Emma continued. ‘I was treated, given this cast and brought to a room where two of the researchers joined me. This is where things got weird.’

‘Weird?’ Ethan interjected.

‘Uhu,’ Emma looked at him. ‘They asked me questions. A lot of them. They asked me if someone had done something to me in like a dozen different ways. They also brought up Aya’s black eye by the way. It was as if they found it easier to believe that there had been physical violence in the house.’

‘Oh,’ Aya let out, ‘that’s bleak. What did you tell them? About my eye?’

Emma smirked.

‘I told them the truth.’

Aya seemed concerned.

‘How detailed?’ she asked.

‘I told them it was sex related. Nothing else.’

‘Hmm,’ was all Aya said.

Ethan wasn’t too happy about it either. Did these people think he had hurt her on purpose? Did they really think it had been violent or malicious? It was an accident. It could have just as well happened during volleyball as during sex.

‘They even offered me the full experiment pay as well as a bonus and told me I could leave the villa if I wanted to.’

At least three of the housemates breathed in loudly at this news.

‘As you can tell, I declined,’ Emma continued. ‘I’m still getting the bonus, though.’

‘Hell yeah,’ Aya laughed.

‘They really don’t want to get sued, huh,’ Val added.

Emma shook her head.

‘We had to fill in a survey,’ Val continued speaking. ‘We were asked about safety. There was also mention of other facilities than this one. Did you get that too?’

Emma shook her head.

‘Nope. They mentioned a survey, but they didn’t mention any other groups.’

‘When did they tell you you were allowed to return?’ Ethan asked.

Emma frowned.

‘It was always an option.’

Val understood what Ethan was getting at. She turned to him.

‘You think her return depended on what we filled in,’ she stated.

Ethan nodded.

‘Not just her return. The whole thing.’

‘Well, no point dwelling on that,’ Emma brushed past it. ‘I’m here. We’re all here. It’s all good.’

‘How about the arm?’ Isabelle asked. ‘Is the pain okay?’

Emma shrugged, one shoulder higher than the other.

‘I’ve been given pain killers. I’ll probably need some help with a few practical things. You know, stuff like getting dressed and general hygiene.’

The blonde looked straight at Ethan when she said this.

‘Just say the word when you need something,’ Danielle offered before Ethan could close his mouth.

‘Right now, I need a decent fucking lunch. Hospital food isn’t my thing,’ Emma tried to kill the silence.

Emma hadn’t been lying. She practically inhaled the salad and grilled cheese sandwiches Chloe had prepped for her. All attention was still on her, even though she didn’t have much more to share. It was clear that the researchers had shielded her from the outside world as much as possible. The group was told that the TV in Emma’s hospital room had been kept shut off, for example. After lunch, Aya went to help Emma get dressed in something more comfortable. Ethan was about eighty percent sure she had volunteered to deny Ethan the opportunity. While they were upstairs, Ethan’s phone buzzed.

He had a DM from Emma.

‘I could use a distraction,’ she had sent twenty seconds ago.

‘Sex?’ Ethan responded, hopeful.

‘Not now. I’m not feeling very comfortable. I was thinking more along the lines of light entertainment.’

‘How?’

‘You could make good on your dare. Would be nice if you made it a little crazy.’

He was intrigued. Emma had previously dared him to ask someone to give him head while everyone was present. A stupid task which he wasn’t eager to complete, but it would probably bring Emma some relief.

‘How crazy?’

‘You could ask Val to suck you dry. She’s clearly not getting any so who knows she might even agree 😉’

‘Hold on to your butt,’ Ethan sent with his last message.

He genuinely felt bad for her. Although they were still having a good time in the villa, he didn’t know if he would have returned if it had been him who had gotten injured. Being confined was bad enough already, choosing to remain here instead of going home to recover seemed slightly insane. Especially given that there was no financial incentive to do so. Ethan realised that this challenge by Emma gave him an excuse to be blunt and direct. If anyone pushed back against him being crude and asking for a blowjob, he could just say he was doing it to entertain Emma. He had the texts to prove it.

Throughout the early afternoon, the group hung out together, where they would usually split up and do their own things. Ethan felt he knew exactly why this was. They weren’t really doing anything either, just sitting in the lounge and talking. There was an all against one discussion about whether the UK or US version of The Office was better, with Val holding the dissenting opinion. After this, Emma brought up the topic of little discomforts in the house. She led by example and shared that she didn’t like the texture of the floors which made it so she couldn’t walk around barefoot. As they went around the group, most complaints were extremely minor as they could order stuff to appease most of their needs. The most serious was being homesick.

‘So, Ethan,’ Aya announced, ‘what problems are you facing here? I’m sure being surrounded by good looking, funny and charming women like us has some big downsides.’

Her speech was dripping with sarcasm. All eyes were on him. Emma’s were twinkling with mischief. He knew this would be a good time to distract her from her injury with something crazy.

‘It’s not all rainbows and sunshine for me, either,’ he replied as he reminded himself of his get-out-of-jail-free card in the form of Emma’s private messages.

It hadn’t come out with the force and confidence he had hoped it would have. Emma had caught on he was trying to get to some sort of point.

‘Oh yeah?’ she played along. ‘What do you mean by that?’

Ethan tried to collect the bravery to say what he had planned to, but he was undermined by his hesitation.

‘It’s been over two days since I last got head,’ he said. ‘That’s not right.’

The goal to entertain Emma was undoubtedly met. She exploded in laughter at what he had just said.

Chloe looked away. Aya, on the other hand, looked straight at him. Val shook her head in disapproval, Danielle looked at Chloe and Isabelle bit her lip. He doubted Val would hit him on the head with claims of him being too passive ever again.

‘Why would you say something like that?’ the oldest woman remarked, causing another outburst of laughter from Emma.

Ethan pushed it further. This time to achieve the secondary goal of his personal pleasure. He stood up and spoke again.

‘If anyone wants to rectify that injustice, I’ll be in my room, ready to get sucked off.’

He actually managed to shut all of the women up with this, whether they were shocked by his bluntness, or considering the offer, he could not know. He walked towards the stairs, trying his hardest not to look back, and left them with a final remark.

‘You’re all welcome, by the way. Even you, Val.’

He tried not to make it too clear he couldn’t be upstairs fast enough.

Emma’s text came quickly.

‘Dude, that was hilarious. You’re such a fucking dork.’

‘Glad you were entertained,’ he replied.

‘So fucking stupid. What were you thinking actually mentioning Val?’

‘It’s not stupid if it works.’

‘Doubt it. General vibe here is weirded out. Isabelle already suggested a dare may be involved.’

Ethan was disappointed to hear that. Perhaps he was being delusional, but he only needed one out of the five to accept the invitation. Every single one of the women had either sucked his dick before or had shown interest in doing so, except for the single lesbian.

Five minutes after Emma stopped texting, there was a knock at the door. The last person whom Ethan had expected opened the door.

‘Don’t get excited, that’s not what I’m here for,’ Val said.

‘Wouldn’t be very good anyway, would it?’ Ethan joked.

This prompted a small chuckle.

‘Doubt it.’

Val sat down on Ethan’s bed.

‘It was very obvious Emma was behind that little stunt, by the way. She should refrain from snorting like a pig if she wants to hide her involvement,’ she continued. ‘Did she promise to jerk you off if you did that or something?’

Ethan ignored the question, assuming it was rhetorical.

‘Why are you here?’ he asked instead.

‘I want to fix what’s happening between Isa and me.’

Ethan didn’t know why she had come to him for this.

‘Why the change? You seemed fine yesterday.’

Val looked at him as if he was stupid.

‘I was lying to myself. Obviously. Last night’s events made me realise this.’

‘How so?’

‘Emma’s absence just hit me really hard. You know we’re not exactly close. I realised I was already very on edge, more than I was aware of.’

Ethan held himself back from telling her to just talk to Isabelle.

Val looked at him again.

‘Could you talk to her? Not to clear everything out. Just to create an opening. I don’t think I could walk up to her and start speaking right now.’

Ethan agreed quickly and then thought about it further. They weren’t the only two who needed to have a one-on-one chat.

‘Perhaps there’s another way,’ he suggested, ‘to create an opening. To be honest, me going up and asking her to talk to you feels weird as well.’

‘What do you suggest?’

‘We could do like a speed date thing but longer? Organised one on one conversations, every possible combination. I know there’s other people that could use this.’

‘It’ll still be awkward,’ Val hesitated.

‘I’ll be awkward either way.’

‘I mean, the group will probably agree if you are the one to suggest it.’

Ethan knew they would.

‘I could do something for you in return,’ Val offered.

‘Like what?’

She seemed hesitant to say it but eventually spat it out.

‘You know what I’m talking about. I could help you get better at eating pussy.’

Ethan frowned. He thought this had just been a running joke between them.

‘What makes you think I’m not good at it? I haven’t had any complaints.’

Val smiled.

‘You don’t have my experience. You don’t have to accept. I’m just offering.’

Ethan considered it. She probably could teach him a thing or two and having a somewhat sexual experience with Val wasn’t something he wanted to shut down, even though he saw her strictly as a friend.

‘How would this work? In practice?’

Val knew what he was getting at and shut it down quickly.

‘We’d use a substitute. I’ll review your technique. Give you pointers.’

‘A substitute? Like a toy or something?’

Val didn’t reply until she came up with something.

‘Give me a second, I’ve got an idea.’

She stood up and left without telling him where she went. This gave him some time to check his phone again. The Boytoy Timeshare had been active. Aya had messaged first.

‘I’m sure you’re somehow involved with this, Emma. Whatever the hell it was.’

‘I’m not telling,’ the blonde had responded.

‘That confirms it. It was interesting, though.’

‘Very,’ Emma texted back, ‘I was surprised you didn’t take him up on the offer.’

‘I didn’t want to skip the line,’ Aya fired back. ‘I saw some of the girls seriously consider it.’

As if to prove Aya’s point, another message popped up. Danielle.

‘Does your invitation still stand?’

Ethan fully intended to reply positively to this but almost threw his phone away when Val reemerged with two half grapefruits in her hands. She threw one of them at Ethan.

‘Show me what you’ve got.’

Ethan was hesitant to start. It felt weird to perform for Val like this. It wasn’t an actual woman, evidently. He felt like this focussed far too much on the pussy alone. To him, eating out a woman was about more than that. Touching her where she wanted to be touched, eye contact and short vocal remarks, to begin with. Despite all this, he did his best. He gave what he figured what was supposed to represent the clitoris plenty of attention while also licking the fruit through the middle.

‘Okay, stop,’ Val instructed. ‘This isn’t bad, but it’s nothing special either.’

‘It’s a grapefruit,’ Ethan laughed. ‘It’s not easy.’

‘I’ve got a couple of pointers,’ Val got serious. ‘First, you dive in way too eager. It’s much more fun if there’s a lot of warming up to be done. This is the same for you, no?’

Ethan nodded.

‘Also, some variation in movement wouldn’t hurt. You’ve got like three moves. Wait. Watch.’

She took the other half of the grapefruit to her face and showed Ethan what he could do. There were laps, swirls and much more. This went on for over a minute. Ethan had to try his best to not get distracted.

‘Of course, you wouldn’t be switching every few seconds like I did here. You’ve got to find the right balance. Understood?’

‘Yeah, sure. Makes sense.’

‘Show me,’ she instructed.

He got to work once again. Instead of hurrying to the fake clit, he moved his tongue around the stand-in for the lips and slit. He felt like he was flailing about wildly, but Val seemed pleased by the change.

‘Good. Don’t hurry along. Just like this.’

The encouragement was plain hot. Ethan wondered if she realised this. His improved grapefruit/pussy eating was interrupted by his phone lighting up. Val had seen the name on the lock screen.

‘Message from Danielle?’ she asked.

Ethan stopped licking.

‘She messaged me when you were getting the fruit. I didn’t have time to respond, though.’

‘What did she say?’

Ethan didn’t reply. He was sure Val already knew.

‘This may be an opportunity,’ she spoke.

‘Go on …’

‘Well. You said it. This is a grapefruit.’ She held up her half of the fruit. ‘It’s hard. The real thing could prove for better practice.’

‘And you think Danielle would be fine with this?’ Ethan asked.

‘Ask her and find out,’ Val spoke. ‘I told you before, that woman craves a positive sexual experience.’

Ethan had taken his phone and opened the app. Danielle had simply sent a ‘?’ to being left on read.

‘What do I even say?’

Val sighed.

‘Do I really need to hold your hand through this? Just be straight forward.’

This was easier said than done. He typed the message while Val read along.

‘Hey, yes, the invitation still stands but I also have a different offer. Val is here. She’s teaching me how to give better head. If you want, you could be the first to experience this.’

Ethan looked at Val who nodded in approval. He clicked ‘send’.

Danielle’s reply appeared almost instantaneously.

‘She’ll be there for it?’

Ethan looked at Val again, who nodded once more.

‘Yeah. She’s coaching me. Returning a favour. It’s not sexual.’

He sent this without checking with Val.

‘This is kind of exciting, isn’t it?’

Ethan refrained from asking what exactly about watching him eat Danielle out was exciting to her.

‘I’ll be right over,’ Danielle sent him.

‘Ha,’ Val began, ‘I knew she wouldn’t be able to pass this up.’

There wasn’t much time to have a longer conversation, as the curly-haired woman arrived quickly.

‘Hey,’ Ethan said as she entered the room. Her gaze was on Val.

‘This is a bit weird,’ Danielle hesitated.

‘Don’t worry,’ Val said. ‘I’m just here to make it better for you.’

The two women made eye contact. Danielle was still standing up.

‘So, you’re teaching him?’ she asked.

‘Yes,’ Val smiled. ‘Figured I’d do the women of the house a solid.’

This was a great icebreaker as both women laughed at this. Danielle sat down.

‘Ethan isn’t bad with ….,’ Danielle continued.

‘But he could be better,’ Val interrupted her.

Danielle nodded. Ethan couldn’t help but feel a little bit hurt by this.

‘Ok,’ she said, ‘I’m game. How do you suggest we do this?’

Val motioned for Ethan to take over.

‘Alright. Uhm, this is about you, so we should start with getting you comfortable, right?’

‘Right,’ Danielle said before leaning back on the bed. She was obviously tense.

Ethan positioned himself in between her legs.

‘You’re cool with this?’

‘Uhu.’

Val sat next to Danielle, with her back against the wall, to get a better view. Ethan pulled down Danielle’s trousers and panties, exposing her cunt.

‘Remember,’ Val spoke, ‘warming up is important. Maybe just start by kissing her thighs.’

A soft moan escaped Danielle before he even began. Ethan did as instructed. He had his hands on the outsides of Danielle’s legs as he traced the inside with his lips.

‘Good,’ Val coached, ‘slowly work your way up.’

As he did this, Ethan could feel the brunette relax. He kept eye contact as well, which she seemed to like.

‘Remember not to go straight to the clit,’ Val warned. ‘Use some suction instead of just licking.’

Ethan put his mouth over Danielle’s lower lips and sucked inwards while pushing his tongue slightly in.

‘This feels good,’ Danielle commented.

‘Great,’ Val added. ‘Now take it slow. Use your tongue.’

He started exploring in between her folds. Where he would usually simply move up and down, he now tried to recreate some of Val’s patterns.

‘Oh,’ Danielle gasped, ‘this is new.’

This caught Val’s attention.

‘He’s eaten you out before?’

‘No, but we’ve done other things.’ Danielle moaned as Ethan switched patterns.

‘Interesting.’

Val grabbed her grapefruit before kneeling next to Ethan.

‘Follow what I show you,’ she instructed, before putting her tongue to the grapefruit again.

Ethan had to reposition himself to really see what she was doing. She kept doing some patterns, which Ethan followed, before moving to the clit.

‘Use suction again,’ she spoke up.

He placed his lips around Danielle’s clit and sucked again.

‘Oh, God!’ Danielle cried out.

Ethan saw Val look up at her. He recognised the stare. She was horny as hell. He just had to tease her about it. After a list swirl of his tongue, he looked at the Swede.

‘You jealous?’

‘Incredibly so,’ she admitted.

This motivated Ethan to go back to spoiling Danielle’s clit. The curly haired woman had other plans, though.

‘I want to suck your cock,’ she demanded.

Val’s eyes grew wide. Danielle had gone from uncomfortable to this very quickly.

‘But you’re not done licking either.’

Val spoke up.

‘Uh, should I leave, then?’ she asked.

‘I don’t care,’ Danielle said in bliss.

‘Me neither,’ Ethan joined in.

He retreated from Danielle’s slit and dropped his pants. There were a few seconds of hesitation, but eventually Val stood up and left the room.

Ethan positioned himself with his cock to Danielle’s face and his lips to her pussy. He got back to where he had left off gave Danielle his full attention. The brunette had not followed Val’s lesson to go slow and had taken about half his shaft in her mouth already. Her suction was firm, yet her movements were controlled. She was moaning almost non-stop thanks to getting her clit sucked and licked. The vibrations this caused on Ethan’s shaft drove him crazy.

Instead of keeping to the same rhythm, Ethan switched it up every once in a while, and every time he did, Danielle took him just a little deeper. With his face this close to her private parts, Ethan couldn’t help but notice she was freshly shaved. Even though the ‘invitation’ had been just for him to get his dick sucked, she had come prepared for more. Ethan enjoyed lapping up Danielle’s juices but couldn’t refrain from getting back to her clit for longer than a few minutes. His tongue applying pressure there was met with Danielle’s first attempt to take all of him. It was a valiant yet unsuccessful attempt. He lifted his head.

‘Try again,’ he spoke.

Danielle pushed deeper. Ethan motivated her by circling her clit. This time, she was only a tiny amount removed from reaching her goal. He felt the walls of her throat compress against his shaft. This pushed him to go feral. He stopped holding back and grew more aggressive. He sucked Danielle’s clit while he brought in his fingers for support. The woman’s enjoyment echoed through both their bodies. She started moving her hips, seemingly uncontrolled. She was getting there. He could talk dirty to her some more but decided against it. Instead, he settled into the final sprint. High pressure and slow movement. Circles at a constant pace. This was all she needed.

Just like during her previous climax, she came quietly, even having to announce it had happened.

‘Thank you so much for getting me there,’ were her words this time.

Ethan found this to be a bit awkward. She didn’t have to thank him. He had done this for his own pleasure. Danielle still had work to do. She knew this. Ethan had rolled onto his back, without saying anything. Not awaiting an answer, Danielle crawled halfway on top of him. For a second Ethan thought she was about to ride him. He wouldn’t have stopped her if she had tried this. Instead, she descended onto his throbbing member. This was her second way of giving thanks. The ferocity with which she sucked him off was unmatched. His balls were being massaged as his tip rubbed against her oesophagus.

‘I’m going to fill your throat,’ he announced when it was already too late. She didn’t let a single drop go to waste. She swallowed all of it and came to lay by his side again. She didn’t need to say it out loud, but Ethan knew this was exactly what was she had craved, yet there was still more for him to give her.

Ethan had taken a cold shower and appeared at dinner freshened up. He sent Emma a quick message.
‘DARE: Eat pussy and prove it.’

This wasn’t too inappropriate as he had seen her lick Chloe not too long ago. She clearly wasn’t entirely opposed to the concept, which was further proven by her thumbs up response to the dare.

Dinner mainly consisted of leftovers from the barbecue. Val’s repeated glances his way reminded him of his promise.

‘So,’ he spoke up, trying to gain everybody’s attention, ‘I have an idea for something we could do to spend some time tomorrow.’

‘Great,’ Isabelle chimed in, ‘I’m this close from running up the walls. What’s your suggestion?’

‘We could do something similar to a speed date? Like half an hour one-on-one conversations.’

Emma nodded.

‘I could work out a schedule and get all possible combinations in there,’ she said.

‘Yeah,’ Ethan continued, ‘that’s the idea. I think it would be good, you know, for the group.’

‘Yeah, I think so too,’ Chloe immediately supported him. Danielle looked over at her in response. Ethan already knew she would love to get half an hour to talk to the redhead.

With Aya and Val’s support soon after, it was basically confirmed to happen. Emma promised to work something out and the conversations would be spread out over the next day.

After dinner, Isabelle pulled out a number of board games, some which had been in the house since the start and a few that had arrived in the recent mass-order. During the game of Ticket To Ride, Ethan saw Emma’s visible discomfort.

‘You okay?’ he tried to ask without drawing too much attention.

‘I’m fine,’ she replied.

He could see her face contract in pain.

‘I could get you a painkiller if you tell me where they are, Emma.’

‘You’re sweet.’

‘Where are they?’

‘In the bathroom cupboard, can’t miss ‘em. I’m sorry to ask, but could you bring a glass of water too?’

‘Don’t apologise,’ he said before disappearing to get her what she needed.

The rest of the night went by quickly. Chloe once again showed her strategic insight by owning most of the games played. To Ethan’s regret, the earlier thaw between Val and Isabelle seemed to have gotten stuck and their interactions remained avoidant and superficial.

Ethan went to sleep looking forward to Friday. It wasn’t the reason why it was happening, but getting half an hour of private time opened up a lot of possibilities. Some of his own relationships here were getting complicated as well. A chance to straighten everything out was more than welcome.

He completed the survey, which felt more than useless by now, and dozed off.