WWYK 2.2

Halfway done with volume 2 now, yay! Hope you guys like this one.

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Chapter 2 - Unicorns and Maids

Nate sat down at his desktop and prepared for the long road ahead of him to reach publication. The first thing to take care of was finishing off the cover art by applying the title and his name in a nice font with some effects thrown in to make it look a little more professional. It was a tricky balancing act to position things in a way that didn’t detract from the art too much, but experience served Nate well, and he was happy with the results after messing around with some options in Photoshop.

He titled the story Saving a Pair of Bimbo Maids because it was self-descriptive and told the reader what to expect right from the get-go. That, and at this stage in the creative process, he couldn’t be asked to care enough to come up with a poignant title for a smut novella.

Next was formatting the ebook. This part wasn’t too bad, just mildly annoying. Some authors hired others to do this for them and to make the ebook really special, but Nate didn’t have the budget for that and opted to use a free alternative that any aspiring author would find helpful. When creating his ebook, Nate always used a website called Reedsy. It was a handy tool that streamlined the process, making it as harmless as you liked. All Nate had to do was add chapters and copy-paste his writing into them, then copy over some stuff from his other ebooks like his ‘Other Stories by Max Masters’ list, his social media links, the links to the various haremlit communities he posted to, and his about the author section.

To cap it off, Nate had to write his afterword and his acknowledgment page. Usually, he thanked his friends for no reason other than being supportive as well as thanking and linking the cover artist, but this time, he had a new name to add above everyone else on the list- CagedBirdSings01. Nate didn’t go into their relationship too much, but the afterword explained how he’d hired this fan as his editor and that this story was the first collaborative effort between them, and that he was very nervous to hear what everyone thought of it. Nate tried to keep an optimistic tone in the afterword, hoping that nervousness didn’t bleed through, but he got it out of the way quick enough and eagerly exported the ebook.

Nate then had to submit the final product to LewdPages.

Before the site’s establishment and subsequent success, erotica authors flocked to Amazon and were forced to follow their strict guidelines. One nice improvement was that so long as you were a ‘trusted author’, a title granted to anyone with history on the site and enough stories to verify that they didn’t include blatantly illegal subject matter in their books, you didn’t have to wait for LewdPages to ‘review’ your book and it simply just went on sale directly after you submitted it.

If Nate was publishing a big book with a dedicated following, he would’ve opted to put it up for preorder and set a release date further off in the distance to benefit from a promotional campaign. For a short story from an unpopular author, though, that wasn’t really a big deal. Nate also enjoyed the instant gratification of clicking a button and being done with the damn thing.

He wrote a few short paragraphs of copy text to hopefully hook readers on the premise, then filled out the extensive kink tabs that made searching for new porn on LewdPages such a breeze, clicking the options for maids, gyarus, maledom, romance, harem, mff threesome, big tits, and so on. This ensured anyone looking for anything in these categories would be recommended his book- supposing they scrolled through all of the works offered by much more famous authors, of course. LewdPages and its app would also recommend its reader's books based on their preferred categories and kinks, which also helped the user experience while benefiting the authors.

Nate thought he heard Nicki leaving downstairs but was too focused on his work to care. Now that he’d finished uploading the ebook to LewdPages, the site sent every one of his few followers an email telling them that a new story from Max Masters was available. While a handy feature- one that Amazon bafflingly didn’t ever bother to implement as of early 2023- it wasn’t enough to get the word out.

Every indie author had to take on the job of being their own marketing team, and Nate was no exception. Authors lived or died based on the number of eyeballs they could draw to their work, which wasn’t ideal given how reclusive creative types tended to be, but Nate considered his persistence in the art of self-promotion one of his few strengths. He had a whole system in place, a circuit of communities to run through and announce his latest short story in each one.

This was the most tedious part, but also the last one. It boiled down to copy-pasting the same text and posting his cover in a number of different subreddits and Facebook groups. Using Reddit and especially Facebook always made Nate feel dirty like he was deep-throating a gallon of slime, but it was a crucial part of the self-promotional process that couldn’t be glossed over. Not if you wanted any real chance of success.

An hour and a half after sitting down, Nate was finished with everything he had set out to accomplish. He was somewhat grumpy from all the repetitive junk, just as he predicted, but the all-too-familiar sensation of pride and accomplishment set in soon enough. There was nothing better than completing a project and putting it out for other people to consume… or at least that’s what Nate would’ve said before having sex and getting a girlfriend, but it was still a pretty good goddamn feeling, all things considered.

He hadn’t felt this good after publishing a story in a long time. The only downside was that it was offset by the anxiety he experienced, knowing that people would soon judge his work and let them know what they thought of it. It usually took around a day or two for any real feedback to come in, and if it turned out that Nicki’s involvement didn’t improve the final product as much as he thought it did, Nate wasn’t sure what he would do.

It could end up that he’d get the same middling reception he always did, or maybe worse? That was always a possibility, but… for once in his life, Nate forced himself to believe. Taking that anxiety and facing it head-on, he mentally insisted that this time would be different. He had significant help from the girl who quickly became the most important person in the world to him and believing in Nicki’s editing and the experiences she gave him was an easier ask than believing in himself.

Nate closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He thought briefly of his dearly departed uncle Matt and urged the man to just watch what happened with this next story- if he was in a place where that was possible, anyway. Nate wasn’t sure what he believed in when it came to that sort of thing, but it was a calming thought. Then again, given what he and Nicki had been getting up to, maybe it was best if Matt wasn’t watching over him.

It was now 6:30 as Nate headed out of his office and went downstairs to the kitchen to pick up a snack and toss his shoes on. As part of his rehabilitation, Nicki had been making sure Nate went outside and took a walk at least once a day, typically when she was at work and he was left doing fuck all. He’d only been doing it since Friday, but Nate could already feel a significant improvement in his mental health. Nicki was obviously the main reason for that, but it wasn’t like stretching his legs and taking in some fresh air was bad for him, either.

The daily ritual was nostalgic for Nate, too. Walking around the neighborhood would remind him of his youth when he used to sneak out of the house and go for a stroll. His parents were always fighting. Whether that was with him or with each other, it didn’t matter. Conflict was a constant in his household, and Nate couldn’t stand it, doing everything he could to escape for a few hours.

He would walk to Matt’s place most of the time, but sometimes, Nate would roam around the humble town of Willowbrook simply for the sake of it. He’d set off with his headphones and listen to music on his phone, playing out stories in his mind and imagining his characters were animated to the rhythm. When he wasn’t doing that, he was often filled with teenage angst during his walks and brooded about girls.

Nate hated who he was in high school and cringed to think of himself back then.

Like any boy at that age, he thirsted for love and was desperate for it. There was never much love in his life aside from his uncle, so he looked outwardly to fill the void. Nate thought he’d found it back then, but his stupid teen brain terrified him of opening up to the primary target of his affections. In the blink of an eye, he’d spent four years by Shizuka’s side and had nothing to show for it aside from a bunch of good memories tainted by one horrible one.

He thought back on the conversation he’d had with Nicki earlier in the day. Challenging as it was to admit, she was entirely right. In some sad, dusty corner of his mind, he wasn’t over Shizuka. It wasn’t fair to pin it entirely on her, but she really devastated him and ruined Nate’s confidence for a very, very long time.

He wondered about Nicki’s hypothetical, about whether or not he would forgive her if she came back into his life. Nate couldn’t deny that part of him longed for that, and he wasn’t sure how long it would take Nicki to scrub that away from his heart. He hoped it was soon. She’d made her point about how valuable his memories were, but when he had so many of hanging out with that weirdly cute Japanese girl in the school library that were now painful in retrospect, it was hard to do anything but wish it all never happened.

The worst of it all was that Nate couldn’t bring himself to hate her.

Not really. Shizuka wasn’t like… most people. The naive high schooler he was back then simply believed her to be odd, but as an adult, he understood whatever was wrong with her was much more severe than just being different from all the other girls. All the time he spent watching over Shizuka and keeping her from tripping all over herself or walking into unseen walls while she rambled on about whatever manga she was currently reading should’ve tipped him off, but hindsight is 20/20.

It was no wonder Shizuka reacted to his confession the way that she did. She probably never even picked up on the not-so-subtle hints Nate dropped throughout their years together that he wanted to be more than friends. Reading social cues was never a strength of hers, and even four years after their graduation, Nate couldn’t break old habits and worried for her well-being.

Nate suddenly stopped during his walk as a strange compulsion overcame him. He remembered Nicki asking if he’d ever tried to look into Shizuka and ask her about everything that had happened. Not long after, he had his phone out and was compulsively booting up Fuckerburg’s accursed Book of Faces for the second time in one day. He switched over from his Max Masters account to the private one that he rarely used, thoughtlessly typing ‘Shizuka Hasegawa’ in the search bar.

No one came up, which was unsurprising. That girl could barely dress herself in the morning, and every thought in her brain was consumed by some facet of otaku culture. She never showed an interest in social media when he asked her before, and he wasn’t sure why he expected that to have changed.

Of course, he could always text Shizuka. He never deleted her number, after all. Assuming she still had the same one, then…

No, absolutely not. Nate closed this phone after summoning up his willpower. Just because Nicki was cool with the idea of him sleeping around under her supervision, it didn’t give him the right to mope about his old high school crush like the angsty kid he used to be. The way he was acting, you’d think he didn’t just have a whirlwind weekend of sex and watching anime with the best girlfriend in the history of girlfriends.

Nate carried on with himself and continued his walk, intent on leaving the thought of Shizuka long behind him.

When he returned home, he made himself some hamburger and rice for dinner and set about figuring out what he would do with his time. The answer presented itself soon enough when he discovered a miracle had occurred and the stars had aligned. Checking Discord revealed that all three of his old friends were free that night, and he’d recently been pinged to see if he wanted to join the boys for any monster hunting.

Nate booted up his Switch and joined them on voice chat as soon as he was done eating and lost himself in the vibrant world of Sunbreak with Paul, Nadeem, and The Stone. It had been a while since the four of them had done this, but everyone noticed a difference in Nate as the night stretched on. His friends thought he seemed full of life and in a much better mood than they’d seen in ages, which he couldn’t really deny.

He wasn’t ready to explain the reason why. There wasn’t a way to casually say, ‘Yeah, funny story, but I’m kind of dating Nicole Parker now’ without everyone laughing at him. The only evidence he had to prove they were together was a collection of photos that he’d never allow another man to lay eyes on, and Nate didn’t want to deal with the circus show that would follow as soon as he convinced them he wasn’t bullshitting them. To take the pressure off, he explained he was simply excited about the book he’d put out and that he had a good feeling about this one.

Being the supportive pack of bros they were, no one pried any further than that, and the four of them played for three straight hours together before the night started winding down. The session ended, and Nate was left feeling good after getting a little social interaction in, and it was just what he needed after his introspective walk.

He spent the rest of the night in bed reading various harem manga to see if any appealed to his discerning tastes before giving up entirely on that when none of them did, resorting to surfing the trending tab instead and checking on some updates for popular series he followed.

It was good to have some time alone, but the bed felt emptier without Nicki.

Spending so much time with someone after having been alone for as long as Nate had made her absence all the more pronounced. As much as he used to consider himself a loner, all it took was a few nights with a good woman to show Nate how laughable that was.

After who knows how long he spent trawling through manga, tiredness consumed Nate, and he laid down and closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep. Again, his doubts about Saving a Pair of Bimbo Maids cropped up like a bug bite begging top for a good itch. Being all alone in the dark made his fears bubble to the surface.

Were the titular bimbo maids cute and sexy enough? Was Clarion an interesting protagonist, or would the reader be creeped out by him? Were the sex scenes sexy?

It was driving Nate mad, so he did what he always did when his thoughts kept him up at night and calmed himself down with a good fap using none other than the sex tape he’d filmed earlier that day. There wasn’t any better way to cap off his night alone than watching Nicki’s big brown butt bounce on top of him, and Nate got off so hard to their own performance that it eased all his ceaseless worries.

No matter how the story’s reception went, did it really matter, considering Nicki would be there for him either way? Nate slept peacefully, knowing the answer was a big fat no.

(Insert Nicki’s chats here)

Something warm and fragrant pressed against Nate’s lips, waking him from a dream he’d already forgotten about. He smelled sugar and baked goods but was still too groggy to open his eyes. The foreign object continued to ram itself against his mouth on and off with no regard for his sleepiness.

“Helloooo? Babe, are you planning on getting up any time soon?” Nicki asked.

Nate wasn’t startled by her voice, remembering he’d already given her one of the spare keys he had lying around unused, but it was a pleasant surprise after having gone to bed alone.

“Depends. What time is it?” He grumbled.

“It’s already past noon. I took the liberty of bringing you some Starbucks, so if you need to nap a bit longer, I’ll put your coffee in the microwave or something.”

Starbucks? That explained the warm object intermittently ramming his lips. He opened his mouth and bit down into the warmth of a fresh cheese danish, savoring the flaky texture and the creamy filling with delight.

After swallowing his bite, Nate opened his eyes, sat up, and announced, “I’m good now, thanks to you.”

“You’re welcome. I put some extra sugar in it just in case it’s not enough for you.” Nicki smiled at him, handing Nate his coffee and the rest of his danish.

She was wearing a white tank top today and some black yoga pants, which he assumed would look phenomenal on her ass if he could only see. She’d also done her makeup before coming over, her signature purple lipstick and matching eyeshadow giving Nicki the same flashy, drop-dead gorgeous look as ever.

“You know me too well.”

“I’m getting there, at any rate. Oh, yeah. There was also a package outside that I brought in.”

Nate took a calculating sip of his coffee and processed the information with a hidden smirk behind his cup. “Thanks again. I’ll be down in a few minutes if you wanna let me go through the motions real quick.”

Nicki respectfully bowed out and headed down to wait for him, allowing Nate to wake up a little more at his own pace. He went through his routine, checking his messages on his phone, his emails, and the news. He was purposefully avoiding his LewdPages account as well as Reddit and Facebook, though the temptation to see how his launch was going troubled Nate and wouldn’t let him go.

Once finished with his coffee and snack, Nate got out of bed and threw on a t-shirt and some basketball shorts before getting hygiene out of the way and descending the stairs. Nicki had apparently stopped by the reading room on her way down and picked up the first three volumes of Dragon Ball- the big, fancy, three-in-one volumes- so the haul was pretty big despite there only being two books on the coffee table and one in her hands. She wasn’t very far along yet but was quite captivated by the early adventures of Bulma and Son Goku, judging by the look on her face.

“And here we see a student of English lit in her natural habitat, studying the classics with a cup of Starbucks close at hand.”

Nicki looked up from her manga and stuck a cheap bookmark she’d also taken from the reading room into the volume before closing it and setting it down with the rest. “Maybe if Jane Austen and F. Scott Fitzgerald took more cues from Toriyama, I’d still be in college? You can’t tell me that The Great Gatsby wouldn’t be more entertaining if all the rich people fired laser beams and punched each other instead of partying or wallowing in melancholy.”

“‘Pride and Prejudice Z’ does have a pretty ring to it,” Nate admitted and plopped down on the sofa beside her. She smiled in his presence and brought life to her surroundings, brightening the place in light of her overnight absence. “How was work yesterday?”

“Same as ever. Get pizza, drive to place, go to door with pizza in hand, act like a cutesy bimbo, get a big tip. In other words, not too bad, and nothing I can complain about. How about you, babe? Did you get through all the launch junk with your sanity intact?”

“Yeah, it ended up not being too bad. I took a walk when I was done with it, and then it turned out my friends all happened to have time to game for a few hours, so it ended up being pretty good timing that you weren’t here.”

“Oh, nice!” Nicki smiled, genuinely happy for him. “Did you tell your old pals about me yet?” She asked, taking out her lollipop to sip from her coffee. Nate couldn’t imagine how she dealt with that contrast in flavors, but whatever floated her boat.

“God, no,” he laughed under his breath. “I wanted to play around and have a good time with my boys, not get grilled and harassed for a few hours.”

“I guess it would come as a pretty big shock for them…” Nicki nodded along.

“It’s still a pretty big shock to me, but I’m getting used to it.”

“Heh. What game did you guys end up playing?”

“Monster Hunter Rise.”

“Ohhh,” Nicki leaned in closer, her eyes perking with interest. “I’ve always wanted to try that series! Every time I saw Rise in a Nintendo Direct, it always looked super cool, but-”

“Stop.” Nate raised his hand.

“Huh?”

He looked away and clutched his heart with his free hand. “Please, just… stop being so perfect. There’s only so much I can take. Any more than this, and you’ll have me acting unwise.”

Nicki snorted and nudged him with her elbow. “Don’t tempt me, nerd. I have half a mind to keep it up until you buy me a copy with all those fat stacks of royalties you’re gonna earn!”

“Love the optimism, but I’m not counting on the stacks being fat.” Nate laughed softly.

“Hm, concerning. Countless hentai manga has taught me that the worth of any self-respecting gyaru girl is determined only by the size of her sugar daddy’s wallet, you know. You really have to keep me nice and spoiled if you expect me to stick around.”

“I never said I wouldn’t get you the game.”

“Wait, really?” Nicki blinked, and once it set in, she started to blush and rub her elbow as she looked away. “I-I was just joking, dummy. You don’t have to buy me things…”

“A used copy isn’t gonna be that expensive, and I figured we could get out of the house eventually and pick one up,” Nate shrugged. “Unless you don’t want Daddy to spoil you with his big fat wallet?”

“Fine,” Nicki crossed her arms and blushed even harder. “If you really insist, I’ll allow it just this once… did you check on your story yet, by the way? Maybe it’s doing better than you think.”

“No, I’ve been trying not to think about it too hard and not compulsively refresh my LewdPages report page like usual. There’s a lot riding on this one, and it’s been weighing on me…”

Nicki placed her hand on Nate’s knee and smiled supportively. “Totally get that, babe. It’s good that you’re trying to show some restraint- it’s better than being glued to your screen, anyway. Why don’t we check it together now that I'm here?”

“Alright,” Nate agreed. “There probably won’t be any reviews or feedback yet, but we can at least look at the income and see where it’s at.” He was thankful he didn’t have to do this alone, even more so when Nicki slid in closer to look at his phone with him as he opened the tab.

Saving a Pair of Bimbo Maids was a little over thirty thousand words, so Nate priced it at $2.99. LewdPages only took a twenty percent share from any sale, and on top of that, he would earn money whenever readers with a LewdPages Unlimited account read his books. This was less than an outright sale got him, but it was the primary source of income for most erotica authors since the platform was reasonably large and LPU had a lot of subscribers.

Between sales and the number of LPU pages read Nate had made a little over $30 thus far on the newest title, with some bonus residual money coming in from the typical boost his other books got whenever he released a new title.

“That’s not bad at all, is it?” Nicki looked up from the phone and tilted her head.

“No, it’s not. But it’s not great, either. This is about how much my new releases usually get on their first day.” Seeing things play out exactly as he suspected was frustrating, but at least Nate wasn’t surprised.

Sensing his disappointment, Nicki was quick to reassure him before Nate got any worse. “Hey, cheer up. It hasn’t even been a full day since you launched, so technically, you’re ahead of schedule. There’s always a chance the momentum might carry forward, and you’ll have an even bigger day tomorrow, too.”

“In my experience, it usually tapers off after the first day, and then I’ll earn $10-15 a day on a new book for a week or two upon release. I’ve never had any that snowball like you’re implying. That would require more positive user reviews than I usually get, so I’m trying to keep a level head.”

“So you’re saying it is possible for things to snowball, only that it hasn’t.”

“Well, yeah. Putting aside word of mouth, the more positive reviews you get, the more LewdPages recommends your titles to casual browsers through the related tab and all that other algorithm-influenced junk. Highly-rated titles essentially become a recurring stream of consistent revenue for the author as someone new is always discovering them on any given day, you know?”

“Sounds like a system that favors established authors with large fan bases…” Nicki rubbed her chin.

“You’re not wrong, but there’s usually a mix of big and small authors whenever LewdPages makes recommendations, so at least they try to divvy it up a little.”

“Okay, that makes sense. I’ve used the app to read your work and occasionally some other junk on there, too, but I didn’t have much insight into how any of it worked until now. As your editor, I’m gonna have to familiarize myself with it some more whenever I feel up to it.”

Nate felt warmth in his heart upon seeing the determined look on Nicki’s face. It served as a beautiful reminder that they were going at this as a team and that she was every bit as serious about furthering his career as he was. “Thanks, that’ll be helpful.”

“No prob. For now, I say we give it another day and see what all the early reviews are saying. Oh- speaking of, did you get any comments on your Reddit or Facebook posts?”

He actually hadn’t checked, so he did so and found nothing outstanding. “Just the typical congratulations by other authors and a few positive remarks from people I already know are fans of mine. There isn’t anything to really gauge the reception.”

“Damn,” Nicki snapped her fingers. “That sucks ass. Regardless of what people think, have you given any thought to what comes next? I figured I’d ask since you aren’t really the type to rest on your laurels.”

“Well, I’d hate for all that edging to have been for nothing, so I’ll continue the outline for the follow-up story even if readers don’t end up liking the first one. My writing has always been more for me than for anyone else, so I’ll follow what interests me.”

“Good idea, babe. Are you gonna need any more edging experience to get you through it, or have you had your fill?” Nicki leaned in and smiled a teasing smile.

“I think I’m good in that department for now, but maybe some other time…” Nate responded by wrapping his arm around her and softly kissing Nicki.

She kissed him back but sighed shortly after. “You’re no fun at all, I swear…”

“I only said no edging. I wouldn’t mind some other form of inspiration.” He teased.

“Can’t even go a single night without my bitching bod, huh? Poor thing. I’ve gone and made you an addict…”

“Correction- you’ve evolved my masturbation addiction into a sex addiction. That’s a solid improvement in my book, so long as you take responsibility and feed into it enough to keep me satisfied.”

Nicki laughed and rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, about that… I might have some good news on that front.”

Nate stared at her, momentarily overwhelmed. “You don’t mean…?”

“First off, both of them fucking loved the video. I think it’s safe to say if this whole author thing doesn’t work up, we could easily have ourselves a backup career in amateur pornography.”

“That’s flattering and all, maybe even a little tempting- but is it too misogynistic to say I don’t want other men staring at what’s mine? Honest question.”

“A wee bit, yeah, but you’re cute, so I’ll give it a pass!” The couple smiled at each other before Nicki continued the more exciting news. “Moving on, my one friend who I thought was close to cracking is on the verge of making a decision. If I had to guess, I’d say she’s definitely leaning towards yes… and as for the one who’s out of town, she straight up agreed to hook up with you once she’s back.”

Nate stared.

Nicki stared back.

Silence swallowed the room.

“The prophecies were true…” Nate muttered in a low, disbelieving tone. “Forget about monster hunting, Nicki. You’re already a unicorn hunter.”

“Oh my god,” Nicki blurted out with laughter. In the context of polygamy, a ‘unicorn’ referred to a girl willing to join a preexisting straight couple as the third wheel. They were named as such for their rarity or, depending on who you asked, because they didn’t exist. “Dude, they’re not fucking unicorns. You’re just gonna meet up with them, fuck, and then we’ll do kinky group stuff if all goes well. If anything else happens to stem from there, we’ll figure it out together and determine where we wanna go with it… does that sound good to you, babe?”

“Do you seriously have to ask at this point?” He gave her a funny look.

“Well, kinda? You were showing signs of skepticism, so I don’t want to push you into anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

“I was always comfortable with the idea of doing it- it's my biggest fetish- and the hesitation was mostly concern about how it would potentially affect us as a couple. I don’t think that’s a problem anymore. These last few days with you have been a total whirlwind, but the longer we spend together, the more confident I am that my feelings won’t change because of any pre-approved messing around. What I have with you is real, Nicki, and if this is what you want, I’m all for it.”

Nicki leaned into Nate’s shoulder and adopted one of her wide, catlike grins. He was almost positive he could hear her purring in satisfaction, too, but that was probably his imagination.

“I need to start carrying around some gold stars for when you break out the heavy hitters like that, babe. That was a good fucking answer.”

Nate wrapped his arm around Nicki’s waist and leaned his head against hers. “Is there a prize for collecting enough gold stars?”

“Kind of hard to think of a reward you would even want since you already have the unlimited pussy pass and access to infinite blowjobs, but maybe I can figure something out if I put my mind to it. Who knows? Better keep being an awesome fucking boyfriend if you want to find out.”

As they enjoyed each other’s closeness and shared this tender moment, Nate made a surprising move that Nicki couldn’t have predicted. He repeated the words. Casually, at least, but the intention behind them was clear.

“God, I love you.”

Nicki got quiet for a moment after that. She’d worked hard to control herself better during sex the last few days so she didn’t accidentally say the l-word again so soon, even though he’d already said it back the first time she did. It made her nervous to think back on it, but her nerves didn’t bother her in the slightest now that he’d done it again.

“I… I love you too, you big nerd...”

Saying it back when she wasn’t in the childishly needy persona she took on during passionate sex was much more embarrassing than Nicki thought it would be. Given how they teased each other back and forth, she expected Nate to give her a little jab over her stuttered delivery or the harsh blush on her face. He didn’t say a word, and instead, Nate only embraced her even tighter and allowed the quiet moment to continue.

That would’ve earned him his second gold star if only she had one to give. Luckily, there was something else Nicki could do to show her appreciation. Something she’d planned on spoiling him with anyway, but now had an excellent excuse to do so.

“Say, babe? How much did you miss me last night?” She suddenly asked, drawing her long, pastel nail up his neck to his chin.

“More than I’d like to admit, but I had our video to keep me busy when I needed to calm down.”

“Poor baby… how about we make up for lost time? I brought along something special today, something to add to your ever-expanding arsenal of life experiences, and I think it might be just what you need to pump you up for your follow-up to Saving a Pair of Bimbo Maids.”

Nate allowed his imagination to run wild with endless possibilities as he imagined where she could be going with this. No matter what he came up with, he doubted it would be as exciting as the real thing.

“What exactly did you have in mind, my pretty little slut?” He teased with an expectant smile.

“Give me a minute to go and get ready, and you’ll see.” Nicki kissed him on the cheek as she stood up and grabbed the large, fashionable pink handbag she’d brought with her off of the coffee table, disappearing with it into the nearby bathroom.

Nate’s anticipation grew worse with every passing second, but Nicki didn’t keep him waiting for long. Only a few minutes later, the door opened, and out stepped a dream come to life. His eyes opened wide as he stared and gawked, trying yet failing to keep his cool at the vision of perfection that stood before him.

“Well, Master? Do you like what you see?” Nate’s new maid asked with a polite curtsy and a gentle smile.

“Yes,” Nate gulped. “Yes, Master very much does.”

When Nicki entered the bathroom, she’d changed into an incredibly skimpy set of French maid-themed lingerie. She wore a frilled white collar with a black ribbon tied around it, a black bra consisting of two black triangles barely big enough to cover her nipples, and a frilled white apron tied around her waist. She had black string pantries underneath the apron, but all Nate could see were the strings tied around the side of her wide hips. Adding to the look was a white headdress with even more frills, puffy black cuffs on her biceps with still more frills, and a pair of tight fishnet stockings ending in black dress shoes. Nicki also carried a feather duster for immersion’s sake, which Nate thought was a cute detail that only added to the overall package.

“Given how much your pervy ass loves maids, I figured you’d be happy, but wow,” Nicki lost the gentle expression she was showcasing and smiled more mischievously. “You look practically hypnotized, babe.”

“Because I am. Consider me spellbound- completely and utterly under your power.” Nate raised his hands defensively, earning some giggles from the maid.

“Just try and keep it in your pants for a bit, Master. We should set the scene a little bit before jumping into anything naughty. You know, to give you some experience to draw from for the non-sexy parts of the story?”

“Gonna be awful hard not to order you around and live out my fantasies right this second, but I’ll try my best to hold back. I hope you realize I have to ask how long you’ve had this little costume of yours waiting in the wings, though?”

Nicki blushed and crossed her arms. “Don’t go getting any funny ideas, babe. I didn’t get it because I know you like maids-”

“Just like you didn’t transform into a gyaru girl because you know I like them?”

“Exactly!” She huffed. “Maids are sexy as hell, and I didn’t need your stories to wake me up to that fact. I got this outfit a while ago because I like buying things that make me feel sexy. It just happens that now I have someone to show it to, and he has a gigantic maid fetish, so it all works out.”

“What a fortunate coincidence.” Nate smiled at Nicki’s cute, pouty denial. He had no doubt she was partially telling the truth, but she never got so defensive unless there was more to it. Rather than piss her off, it was in his best interest let it slide so they could continue with the game.

“Right? So, here’s how we’re gonna do this. You’re my Master, and I’m your loving, slightly bratty maid-”

“Slightly?”

Nicki continued, dismissing his sarcastic comment. “I’ll listen to your every command and do everything you say, so don’t be afraid to get a little creative… especially when it comes to punishing your pretty little maid for being such a dumb, clumsy slut. Any questions?”

“That’s an awful lot of power you’re giving me. Do we need a safe word, you think?”

“Whoa, there. Just how extreme were you thinking of making this?” Nicki raised a brow and pointed her feather duster at Nate in accusation. “I guess you’re right, though… even if I’m pretty sure I can handle whatever you wanna dish out, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Stop whatever you’re doing soon as you hear me say ‘red light’, okay?”

“Very creative,” Nate nodded teasingly. “But yeah, that’s fine. I wasn’t going to do anything extreme, and I’d ask you before pulling something outside our typical wheelhouse. I just want to make sure we’re doing this the right way.”

“And I love you for it, babe,” Nicki scratched behind her ear and blushed bright again, still coming to terms with saying it but finding it easier the third time around. “Anything else you wanna say before we kick off our first-ever session of cosplay sex?”

“Just that you really missed a prime opportunity to wake me up dressed like that and to serve me the coffee you brought.”

“I…” Nicki paused and looked off into the middle distance and laughing awkwardly. “Fuck, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that… now I just feel stupid. But I guess you would’ve gotten distracted if I did, and then we wouldn’t have had our pleasant little morning chat about work and junk, so it’s all good.”

Nate smiled and said, “Fair enough. Ready when you are.”

“Okay!” Nicki pumped her fists. “Give me a second to set the scene.”

She returned to the bathroom, re-entering the living room a minute later, now fully in character. Nicki’s entire demeanor had changed. She was pleasant and gentle and had lost her rough edges, which was reflected even down to her body language. Her feet were together, and her hands meekly clutched her apron and feather duster in deference to him as she stood before Nate and the coffee table, bowing politely.

“Good afternoon, Master,” Nicki said in a soothing, silky voice. She wasn’t a master actress, but she didn’t have to be to fully hook Nate on the fantasy and sell him on any of this. “I’m ready to begin my service for the day. Please feel free to command your humble maid however you wish, and I’ll do everything I can to follow your orders down to the letter.”

Nate had trouble adjusting to Nicki’s new form, and he was initially plagued with having only lewd ideas regarding potential commands. He took her suggestion to mean Nicki was opening herself up to doing maid things like cooking and cleaning, which would help set the tone the way she wanted and lead to punishment opportunities thanks to the exaggerated clumsiness she mentioned would be part of her character. He excitedly realized he could work with this once he thought about it a little more.

If Nicki was going to be in character, so would he.

“It took you long enough, you useless girl. What kept you?” Nate rubbed his chin and looked down at her despite sitting on the couch as she stood.

Nicki was pleased to see him going along with it but didn’t let it show as she bowed her head even lower. “I’m so sorry, Master. I’m ashamed to admit I slept much longer than I intended, and I only just now managed to pull myself together and join your side. Please, forgive me…?”

“That will depend on you, my dear. Let it not be said that I'm anything short of a kind and merciful man, but such mercy must be earned. Why don’t you get started by dusting the shelves, hm? Even one as lowly as yourself should be able to see to that much.”

“Yes, Master. Thank you for being so kind and allowing me to redeem myself of my failings.” Nicki raised from her bow and smiled with genuine relief, further selling the illusion. “I’ll get started, then!”

Turning around and walking toward the many shelves lining the walls of the expansive living room, Nicki gave her Master a sight he was more than pleased with. Her apron concealed the front, but from the back, her black panties were revealed to be a t-back. The thin strap wedged up into between her beautiful bronze ass crack, poking out right below the small of her back.

The view as she put her feather duster to good use on the nearest shelf was phenomenal, and Nicki knew exactly what she was doing. As she worked, the humble maid swung her hips from side to side in a hypnotic rhythm that caused her ass to jiggle back and forth. Her ass was tight and firm but still very much a bubble butt, with plenty of extra meat that any man would be happy to sink their teeth into.

Nate felt more like a hungry wolf than he did the master of a maid as he stared at Nicki’s beautiful behind. Then, she knelt down to work on the lower shelves, and he had to gulp at what he saw. Nicki was squatting in an impractical position, and Nate was confident that sticking her ass out at that angle was uncomfortable, but god, did he appreciate the extra effort.

The t-back was entirely meaningless when she squatted in such a way, exposing her tight asshole to the open air. He watched for several moments with bated breath as it unconsciously clenched and winked until Nicki looked over her shoulder. Her face was flushed, demure, and her eyes evasive.

“Um… M-Master…?” She whined. “I can’t focus on my work when you’re staring at me in such a lewd way… I can feel your eyes devouring my body, and while I’m more than happy to use my humble holes to relieve Master of his desires, I… I’m trying to make myself useful and clean like you wanted…”

Nate almost felt bad for her. Nicki seemed on the verge of tears, making his character even harder to play. “Cleaning, hm? Is that what you call this?” He gestured with his hand at her. “Because it looks to me as if you’re trying to take the easy way out by seducing me and owning up to your failures with sex.”

“What?! Master, no!” Nicki bit down on her lollipop stick and started to whimper. “I-I would never be so bold as to seduce you! I only wish to be useful to you and follow your commands, honest!”

“If only I could bring myself to believe you, but alas…” Nate shook his head and gave her a mock sigh. “I’ll overlook it just this once, so carry on.”

“Y-Yes, thank you, Master… I’ll do my best…!!” Seeing Nicki act so flustered, embarrassed, and genuine simultaneously challenged Nate, but he managed to hold back his desires long enough to keep watching while she went back to work. The klutzy maid had another trick up her sleeve, however. As soon as she switched to the next shelf over, her feather duster knocked down a chibified plushy of a particular fiery moth Pokémon from among the various other monsters displayed on the same rack.

“Ah-” she gasped and bent down to pick it up. “Oh, no… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to knock this thingy down, Master…”

“You really are intent on testing my patience, aren’t you?” Nate crossed his arms, his tone growing harsher. He narrowed his eyes at her as she looked back in fear. “This will be the last time I overlook such a failure, so you’d best pray this doesn’t happen again.”

Nicki went all out, meekly shuffling about and sniffling to sell the illusion that she was a maid trying her best and was fearful of any punishment coming her way. “Oh, god, I can’t apologize enough… I don’t know what’s come over me, Master. This isn’t- I mean- I didn’t mean to-”

She knocked down another plushy right as she returned the Volcarona, this time a Psyduck. Nicki went cold. Her method acting was so spot on that an actual bead of sweat ran down her brow as she turned to face her Master. She gulped when she saw the look of disappointment carved on his face.

“Master-”

“Save your excuses,” Nate sighed and shook his head. “I see now what game you’re playing. You want to be punished. Isn’t that right?”

“W-What?” Nicki gasped and looked around, acting oblivious. “Why, I would… never… ah… ahahaha…”

“Surely not,” Nate rolled his eyes. “Perhaps having you clean up was a mistake in the first place? You’re clearly unsuited for it.”

“Is there any other way I can make it up to you, Master? Please, I… I really don’t want to be punished, honest! I’ll do anything!”

Nicki’s desperate plea gave Nate an idea. He initially worried about whether or not it was too much, but he figured it was worth a shot and that he was probably overthinking it. “Anything, hm?” Nate said as he took off his shirt. “Very well, then. You can attend to my body instead.”

Nicki let out a playful little gasp. “So soon, Master?”

“I’m afraid you’re jumping to conclusions, what with your dirty mind. That wasn’t what I meant.” Nate turned to the side and leaned forward, patting the seat behind him. “Get behind me and rub my right shoulder and the right side of my neck. I’ve been using my dictation software less than usual lately, and all the typing has given me an ache.”

“Oh, no,” This time, Nicki’s gasp had a real bit of concern behind it. She set down the feather duster on the coffee table and sat where he wanted her. “Poor Master. It isn’t just the typing, is it? You’re playing with yourself too much again. I just know it! You should be trusting such an important duty to your loving maid instead of doing it yourself, Master.”

Her teasing struck too close to home, and Nate felt personally attacked. He wasn’t joking when he said he had a masturbation addiction, so it was a real possibility that she was onto something there. Still, he wouldn’t take that from his maid, of all people.

“I’ll have you know I only jacked off once last night, thank you very much.”

“I’m so proud of you, Master.” Nicki said flatly, adding some slight sarcasm as she placed one hand on his neck and the other on his shoulder. She felt the tension immediately and began to rub Nate, sinking her fingers into the knots and relieving him greatly.

“There, there… let me take care of you…” she cooed, getting him to drop his guard and relax even more. “You work so hard, Master. You deserve to be spoiled by your pretty little maid.”

“I do, don’t I…?” Nate agreed. He was allowing himself to drift away in the fantasy.

“Yes, Master. You certainly do.” Nicki punctuated her comment by pressing her thumb a smidgeon too deep into a sensitive spot on Nate’s neck- not enough to hurt, but just enough to jolt him and make him gasp out loud. “Oh, no. Master, are you alright?! Did I go too hard?”

Nate picked up on the teasing lilt in Nicki’s voice immediately. He couldn’t underestimate her for even a moment, and as good as the massage felt, he knew what she was up to. “Watch yourself, maid. I’m wise to your games.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Master…” Nicki mumbled before hitting another spot on his shoulder that got the same reaction out of him as last time. The spot actually felt even better after rough pressure was applied, but the moment that led there left him sore.

“Gah, fuck-” Nate hissed and turned around. He looked just in time to see a hint of a catty smile on Nicki’s face before she covered it up. That convinced him she was doing this on purpose to make the punishment she was earning even more realistic, and if that’s what she was after, Nate wouldn’t deny her precisely what she wanted.

“Enough!” He raised his voice, making the maid back off immediately. “I see now that you’re such an utterly incompetent maid that you can’t even perform the most basic of tasks, not even when it comes to taking care of your beloved Master. You leave me no choice but to punish you for your ineptitude.”

“Oh, no! Master, you mustn’t- I was only trying my best!” Nicki claimed, although her voice had a squeak of happiness at the prospect of punishment.

“Your best wasn’t good enough. Go upstairs and into the bedroom and wait on the bed for me.”

“Is that all?”

“Not hardly. You better be ready for me by the time I get there, and by that, I mean ass up, legs together, and face down. Is that understood?”

“…Yes, Master.” Nicki stood up and curtsied before him but was suddenly shocked as Nate yanked the lollipop- this time, cherry flavored- from her mouth and started sucking on it as if it were his own. “Hey-!”

“What? It wouldn’t be much of a punishment if I didn’t leave you wanting, would it?” Nate smiled as a crack appeared in Nicki’s confidence. She smiled like it was no big deal, but she was beginning to panic underneath it all.

“I suppose you’re right, Master… but… um… how long will it take you to be ready for me?” Nicki asked. Her lips were already smacking, and saliva pooled in her mouth.

“As long as it damn well takes me,” Nate made a show of taking a loud suck of the lollipop like Nicki always did to tease him. “And if that bothers you, maybe you shouldn’t have been such a naughty maid, then. Hm?”

“Fuck, you’re way more into this than I thought you’d be…” Nicki gulped and gave her lover a half-excited and half-nervous smile.

Nate again teased her by copying her mannerisms, taking out the sucker and wagging it at the scantily clad gyaru maid. “Your first mistake was underestimating the depths of my perversion, my dear. Don’t make the same mistake twice. Go.”

“Yes, Master…” Nicki turned around and hurried upstairs, swinging her hips as she went to tempt him into hurrying up a little bit more.

“Wait,” Nate called out.

“Yes?”

“Get rid of your stash.”

Nicki paused for a moment. “Master, I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re-”

“Nicki.”

“…Dammit.” Nicki frowned and emptied a hidden pocket inside her apron, dumping around twenty hidden lollipops on the ground.

Nate stared at the sheer number of them before commenting, “…I worry about you sometimes, Nicki.”

“They’re sugar-free,” she grumbled. “Now, may I be excused to await my punishment, Master?”

“You may.”

And so she went, hoping he wouldn’t be long.

Unfortunately for Nicki, Nate had a reason to keep her waiting beyond satisfying his sadistic impulses. He had to check on something she had brought up earlier that morning, and now was the perfect time. Nate soon found the package she’d brought in for him, and he sat back on the couch to open it up.

The exterior claimed to be from some random bookstore that didn’t actually exist, meaning Nicki was none the wiser when she brought in the instruments of her own punishment. Nate splurged when Nicki was at work on Friday night, treating himself for making some significant progress in life.

Getting a kinky girlfriend was something to celebrate, wasn’t it? And so he ordered several hundred dollars worth of sex toys.

Nate smiled like a kid in a candy store as he looked over the start of his new collection. Some of them were probably a little much to just spring on Nicki without warning, but Nate imagined she’d have a hard time rejecting most of his purchases. Quite the opposite, in fact. She’d probably be thanking her Master by the time he was done with her.

After taking his time and doing inventory on everything included, and then checking his phone for a few minutes just to keep Nicki waiting even longer, he took the box upstairs with him and was giddy with excitement as he thought about how this would cross out a whole bunch of things from his Sex Note all at once.