I caressed the arm on my chest. I could feel his hard dick on the crack of my ass. “Hmm…” My eyes still closed, I turned towards him. “Sterling, we should get up. Otto’s probably-” I stopped my mumbling when I came face to face with the pink-head. I didn’t even know his name. “Right, not in the castle.” I sighed as I ran a finger over his chiselled jawline. He stirred. “Hey, sleepy head.” Without a word, he turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “No good morning?” I asked, climbing on top of him. I was feeling horny, and he was hard. My chest pressed against his, locking eyes, I reached around and directed his dick. Wiggling and adjusting my hips, I got his plush head inside. He hissed. I stroked his hair and watched the pleasure in his eyes as I slid  downward, taking him to the root. I moaned when he rubbed an achy spot inside me. He was exactly what my womanhood needed.
I sat up. It felt full. For balance, I placed my small hands on his broad chest. I ground myself against him, my hips jerking back and forth. He gripped my thighs. His fingers dug into my resilient flesh. I fucked him, my breath raspy, my heart racing… I had to repeatedly shove my hair off my face to watch his handsome face struggle against the pleasure… His friend, the brunette, stirred awake. He watched me fuck his friend… I pulled down the sheet covering him and found another hard cock. I bit my bottom lip. I gently stroked it.
A knock came from the door. I ignored it. I wanted to make them cum. I wanted to cum. I ground my swollen clit on his pubes. More knocks came from the door. “Fuck.” I was in the middle of fucking them. They watched to see what I’d do. “Give me a min- a 5 minutes!” More knocks and I could tell it was Nikola’s fist. “Fuck. Fuck.” I lifted myself off his dick, my pussy fighting me every inch of the way. When he was out of me, I grunted, feeling hollow and horribly dissatisfied. More knocks came from the door, and I shouted, “I’m coming. I’m coming.” I couldn’t find my panties, but I found my shirt. It covered me enough. The knocking  became constant. I angrily paced to the door and wrenched it open. “What is it!?” I shouted at Nikola’s face.
“Wow.” She acted surprised. “Who twisted your dick?” Terrie was beside her, and 4 guys were standing behind them.
“Ah…” At least Terrie looked a little sorry. “You’re not dressed.”
“I just woke up.”
“Well, we are trying to figure out where to eat,” Nikola said, walking into my room. “Oh, hey.” She smiled when she saw the two naked guys on my bed.
“Hey.” They smiled as they got off the bed. Butt naked, dicks dangling, they walked into the bathroom. Our eyes followed their every move until  the door closed behind them, obstructing our view. Nikola sat down on a stool in the kitchen area. Watching them only made me want to return to the castle all the sooner. I missed Sterling and Otto and their naked butts.
Everyone came inside the room and made themselves comfortable. My roommate was the only one who wasn’t inside. “Where’s Brigitte?”
They shrugged their shoulders, asking, how would we know? “We thought she was with you.”
“No, she didn’t come up.” I shook my head. “It’s the bracelet, without it-” I stopped my thought, realising we weren’t alone. There were men in the room.
“There’s an awesome breakfast place behind the hotel,” Blue-eyes said, and all the other guys nodded.
I smiled, realising where their minds were. “Okay, we’ll go there.”  Looking out the window, I realised it was probably for the best that  they interrupted us. The sun was climbing up, and I needed to go to the park. There was so much to do… “Let me take a quick shower, and we’ll  go.” Our attention was simultaneously drawn to the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. “I guess I’ll wait till they’re done.”

***

I listened to the boys talk about their children. They all looked in their twenties, but it seems they’re all fathers.
I swallowed the piece of honey waffle in my mouth and asked, “You’re all married?”
Pink-head and the tattooed brunette shook their heads. “Divorced.”
“I was never married.” Said the bushy-browed guy that was with Nikola.
“But you all have kids?” I cautiously asked.
“Yeah.” Nodding their heads, they simultaneously answered.
“Okay.” I decided not to pry.
But pink-head volunteered the information. “We were married to an adventurer in a C-rank sisterhood.” He looked over to his boyfriend, the brunette. “Then she lost one of her legs during a dungeon raid and became…” He left the sentence hanging. “At first, her sisters tried to  give her a chance and made her part of the craftswoman crew. It was like a side crew to the main group.” I nodded, and he continued the story. “But she didn’t like being a craftswoman.” He shrugged. “We thought it  was good money. It paid the bills. That wasn’t enough for her. She  wanted to fight. Be an adventurer. So she stopped listening to her  sisters, and they kicked her out. Then every day it was… get drunk and come home to…” Tears were welling up in his eyes.
“She beat the kids. We couldn’t stand it anymore.” The tattooed brunette continued the story. “So we took the kids and left.”
“I see.” I shouldn’t have asked.
“Mine just crashed with me for a year, gave me a baby, and left.” Bushy brows grunted. “She doesn’t even want to see her daughter. Stupid bitch. I’m glad. I never want her to see her again.” He angrily shoved a strawberry in his mouth. “Does she still visit your kids?”
Pink-head nodded. “Yeah, she comes every now and then with presents and stuff. I think she’s trying to get her shit together. She became a part-time instructor at Spear and Sheild. But the three of us still watch her like a hawk whenever she shows up. We never leave her alone with the kids.”
They were talking amongst themselves again, and I simply listened.
“You guys thinking of going back to her?”
“Ah…” They exchanged looks. “We don’t want to, but I think Flann still has feelings for her. We don’t know.”
“You’re better off going back to her. Because good luck trying to get married with kids.” He said, angry at his own circumstances.
Pink-head frowned. “We’re not thinking of marriage right now. Or relationships, for that matter. We only want what’s best for the kids.”
Bushy brows snorted. “Women are scum. They don’t want to take any responsibilities. All they want is sex! And points! They run out the door as soon as they get your points. They’re scum!” His eyes darted to us, the three women at the table.
All three of us stared down at our plates. We focused on eating. I  wanted to finish up, pay the bill, and leave. I had a long day ahead.
The men turned against us. Each one started listing off horrible things women had done to them. The three of us ate faster; none of us wanted to listen to them.
Oh goddess, how did it turn out like this? All I wanted was a peaceful breakfast.

***

After breakfast, I went straight to the park.
Dense ash trees rustled in the wind. Dogs on leashes walked along the paved paths. Children annoyed a father who was rolling a stroller with their new baby. It looked like he hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in years; it was so cute. A giant arbour stretched along the middle of the  park, sheltering an array of stone stools and tables populated by grey-haired women playing chess.
I searched for my target under the arbour. This was his usual spot. If he wasn’t entertaining a guest, he was always here, trying to win a game of chess.
He wasn’t hard to spot. He was like a boulder among the frail-looking women. Hair as black as ink, cotton candy eyes, his bulging muscles  stretched every fibre of his clothes. He had a stubbled square chin that  made me want to leave my teeth marks all over him. I swiped at my mouth to make sure I wasn’t dribbling. I was still feeling a bit needy from the morning after my fun time with the boys was cut short.
He was a hulk of a man. Too bad he was as dumb as a rock.
Beside him stood his bodyguard, a red-haired woman in a black suit. She looked bored, and her eyes were lost on some bird doing nothing. I took the spot behind the grey-haired woman who was playing against him. His bodyguard scrutinised me with her hazel eyes. I flashed her a friendly  smile before turning my attention to the game.
He was, of course, losing. It’s always easy to beat him. Losing to him was the hard part. And what the quest required. Only by losing to him will he become friendly; if you win, he acts like a spoiled brat. In the game, losing to him was tricky but doable after a dozen or so games…  But I was hoping to circumvent all of it using the Bracelet of Eros.

“Hahaha…” The old woman cackled, having mated his queen. “I win again!”
He snorted like a horse. “I was distracted by the wind.”
“The wind?” Amused, one corner of her mouth lifted.
“Yes, the leaves are distracting, and that bird kept chirping.” He  pointed at a bird in the tree. His bodyguard sighed. She was too used to  this scene.
“Right.” The woman smirked. “When are you going to admit I’m better than you? Wasn’t that our wager? Or did you forget? The loser admits that the winner is the greatest. Greatest! And I believe I deserve that  compliment you promised. Tell me I’m beautiful, sweets.”
He looked at her wrinkled, freckled face and refused! “No! Best 51 out of a 100.” He started rearranging the pieces on the board again to their starting positions.
She sighed. “51 out of a 100, huh?”
“Roz, he’s never going to admit you’re better than him.” His bodyguard told her, the corners of her lips barely hanging onto her face.
“I will if I really lose.” He said with a snooty twist of his chin.
“If you really lose, huh?” She shook her head. “I just want to crush his ego, Muire.” She smiled at his bodyguard.
“Pfft.” He snorted. “Fat chance.” He wiped away the little tear building in the corner of his eye.
“Roz, you know you can’t say that to me.” She sighed. “If you’re playing with malicious intent-”
“Muire, I’m fine.” He pointedly interrupted her. “I can beat her.”
No, you can’t, she wanted to say, but under his intense stare, all she could do was let out an exhausted sigh.
I didn’t want to watch another stupid match. The old woman had nothing to be proud of; he was one of, if not the, worst chess player on the planet. A chicken could beat him. “Hey,” I tapped the old woman’s shoulder, “let me have a match with him.” She can abuse him later. I had a schedule to keep. Points to collect.
“Oh, you want to play against him?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm… Alright.” The old woman slowly moved out of the way for me.
“Giving up, Roz!” He smiled. “I guess that makes it my win.”
“Pft.” She laughed. “Let’s just put it on hold for now, sweets. I’ll kick your ass later.”
“That sounds like loser talk to me.”
“Sweets, when was the last time you won a game?”
“Ah… Ah…” The question had hit him like a brick. “Roz, you shouldn’t ask a man that. It’s rude. Didn’t your parents teach you manners?” His brows furled.
“You’re too cute.”
“What?”
I sat down and extended my hand. “Sherrie.” Ignoring their little play.
“Oh, Samson.” He introduced himself.
“Nice to meet you, Samson.” We shook hands. He had a firm handshake that matched his build.
“Yeah, nice to meet you too.” He smiled. “Then should we play.” He moved the first piece. He was white.
I moved the knight and quickly stopped him from making the next move by placing a finger on his knuckle. “How about we make a bet?” I asked, seductively making circles around his knuckle.
“A bet?”
Merely touching him was making me feel tingly down there. “Yeah. How about if I win, oh… I don’t know, you go on a date with me.” I was following the script somewhat… His mouth became dry. The bracelet was working wonderfully. I slowly slid my finger up his hand, to his wrist, and- “A! Aw! Aw!” Muire, his bodyguard, fisted my finger and twisted it. “Ou! Stop! It hurts! Stop! You’re going to break it. Stop, please.” I begged. I’ll follow the script! I’ll follow the script! I screamed internally.
“Hands off.” She growled.
“Okay!” I nodded vigorously. “Hands off! Hands off!”
Finally, she let go of my hand. I buried the injured hand in my bosom. Her stone-cold eyes glared at me. “No, touching.”
“Okay, I won’t.” I nodded. Touching was not part of the script, though requesting for the bet was.
“I’ll take the bet.” He said.
“Right, he won’t be taking any such bet, you stupid stud. Do you know  who- What!?” She suddenly stopped in the middle of her rage-filled spewage and turned to Samson.
“It’s fine, Muire. It’ll motivate me to win.” He smiled.
“No, it’s not fine!” She yelled at him.
“Hahahaha!” The old lady slapped my back. Everyone’s hurting me today. “I like your guts. Good luck.” She said and walked away.
“I’ll win. Watch.” He said.
“No, you-” She couldn’t tell him the truth. Not to his handsomely stupid face. “It doesn’t matter. This won’t be allowed by the bureau.”
“Ah, Muire.” He rolled his eyes. “Not this again.”
“I’m here to-”
“Blab blab blab.” He mocked her. She clenched her fist. “You’re here to protect me. And I’m fine.”
“This goes against protocol. No, bets. I make the-”
“I can think of a few times we went against protocol.” He said, leaning mighty close to her lips. “Can’t you?” He asked in his smooth voice.  “Maybe the bureau would like to know about the time we hum num hum mum…”  She sealed his mouth with her strong hand.
“Samson, what are- ah.” She had to remove her hand because he licked it. “So immature.” She sighed. “Fine.” She shook her head, but she took comfort in the fact that he never kept his promises. “Do whatever you want.”
“You heard her. It’s a deal.” He extended a hand. I shook it. I also knew he wouldn’t keep his side of the deal. It was part of the script.

So we played chess. I moved my pieces with no regard for the queen’s safety. I wanted to lose. It was the way to get to him. I made moves to avoid killing his queen, but alas, it was all for nought.
“I lost.” He burst out.
I refused to acknowledge it. “What are you talking about? Let’s keep playing.”
“Don’t you see it?” He asked, pointing to my king. I shook my head, but he paid no mind to me and showed it to me. He moved my king and checkmated himself. “See. I lost.” Of course, I saw it, but he’d made so many mistakes, and I’d been purposefully making wrong moves for the last hour.
“Ah, I see. Yes. I win.” I sulked. “So…” I gently caressed his hand. “That bet we made.”
“What did I tell you about touching him.” Muire flared her nostrils and bared her teeth at me.
“Eei.” I quickly retreated my hand. Martials, they’re all pigheaded bitches.
“Best 2 out of 3.” He said.
I knew this would happen. I tried using the bracelet, hoping to change the script. “But we made a bet Samson.” I blinked seductively. “It’s not nice-”
“Best 2 out of 3.” She growled from his side.
“Right.” I lowered my head. The stupid bitch was ruining everything.
“Great!” He beamed a smile and rearranged the pieces back to their starting positions.

He had no ability to play chess whatsoever. No understanding of strategy or tactics. He couldn’t think one step ahead, let alone two… In the game, I had figured out how to lose against him, but now it’s been so long…
“Muire, can you get me a cup of coffee? I saw a cafe on the way here.” I wanted some alone time with him. She was getting in the way of the bracelet’s magic.
She cracked her knuckles. “I can get you a sandwich.” She put her fist in her hand, and rubbing it, she said, “A knuckle sandwich.”
I gulped. “No, thanks. I wanted something to drink.”
“Oh, is that right.” She nodded with an idea and patted her crotch. “Why don’t you get on your knees. I think I have something building up you might like.”
“Ah, no thanks. I’ll get something after I finish this game.” I smiled.
“Good choice.” She smiled back.
We both happily smiled at each other. Stupid bitch. Well, it was worth a try. But it didn’t look like she would leave his side.

In the middle of the game, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. Concealing it in my hand, I leaned on the stone table. It was my final attempt at circumventing the script. The piece of paper contained my room number and address, along with a simple message: ‘Please come to my hotel. I want to talk.’ It was a long shot, but I thought I’d give it a go. I thought about writing something like: ‘I know your secret.’ Or something. But that could make him show the note to Muire and cause me all sorts of trouble. Also, I knew nothing about  him.
“You have beautiful eyes. They’re like candies.” I complimented him.
“Oh, thank you.” He smiled, his eyes peering into mine.
“And your hair, I wish I could run my fingers through it.”
“Sherrie, you’re… I’m sure you have plenty of men throwing themselves at you. I can’t imagine why you’d want me.”
“Oh, I can imagine why. I can imagine a lot of whys.” I licked my bottom  lip. “Why don’t you lean in, and I’ll whisper some of those whys to  you.”
He squirmed in his seat. “Today’s kind of hot.” He said, unbuttoning his collar.
“Why don’t you take off the shirt. I’m sure no one would mind.” I suggested.
“No flirting.” She breathed into my ear. The warmth of her breath tickled my ear canal. I shrank away. “Just play the game.” She looked down at me and hissed.
I groaned. “I was only giving him a compliment.”
“He doesn’t need your compliments.” She spoke for him.
“You’re such a pain.”
“I’m sure I am.” She smiled.
So we continued the game. Having flirted with him as much as I could, I looked for an opportunity to give him the piece of paper. The charm bracelet should also have some effect, but that’ll mostly wear off when he’s not around me. Unless he fell in love, but that doesn’t seem to be  the case…
Then when I noticed him about to make a terrible move, I stopped his hand. At that moment, I slipped the piece of paper into his palm. “That’s a bad move.” I lectured. “If you move there, I can checkmate you  in one move.” I demonstrated it to him. “Try the knight. That’ll protect you against any potential threats from my king and make all these squares part of your territory.”
“Oh, I see.” He nodded, listening intently.
I took my hand away from his before she could say anything. I was able to pass it to him without her noticing. “You can think about it later. Let’s keep playing.” I said.
“Okay.” He nodded, pocketing the piece of paper.
I exhaled with relief, knowing he was at least willing to play along. I  won’t know if I succeeded until… Probably late into the night. It was a long shot but worth a try.

I flirted with him some more as 2 out of 3 turned into 3 out of 5, and so no… So we played for quite some time. Me, always trying to lose. He was a total chess loser. People like him are what makes me think this is still a game, maybe a dream… How can someone so constantly and  consistently lose at chess… I looked at the rustling leaves, the chirping birds, the wind and the moving clouds, the lush grass beneath my feet… He was like a slice of fiction in the middle of life.