Some Extra Cash
Listha growled into the phone. "So I won't have enough to pay all my bills?" The voice on the other end of the line paused a moment. "Yes; I'm sorry, but that's how it is. But if you need suggestions about how to save money, or how to make more per month, I'd be happy to help you." "Spending less money won't help me with my rent now. It's due in three days!" "Then you should find a part-time or one-time job to make up the difference. Besides, you're only a hundred and fifty short; I'm sure your landlord will be understanding. Our records indicate you've only lived in the city six months, and people are expected to be lenient with the finances of newly integrated dragons such as yourself until you've had time to settle in. If you line up a second job or prove you can earn the difference in a reasonable amount of time--and make the full payment on time in the future--I'm sure your landlord will let you be a little late finishing this month's payment." "And how will I eat from now until my next paycheck?" "You're going to have to make more money somehow, ma'am. A second job, a short-term loan if you can get one, or something of the sort to get you some more cash. Look in the 'Help Wanted' section of the newspaper and I'm sure you'll find something that suits you." "Fine," she snarled, and ended the call; at least the financial assistance had been free. She'd never really gotten her head around adding large numbers, not to mention income taxes, insurance fees, cost-of-living deductibles... Why did living among humans have to be so complicated? She growled again, then turned her head to groom the grey-and-green scales of her forelegs, trying to calm herself down. Sure, moving to live among humans had seemed like the thing to do at the time; clan numbers had dwindled until the entire support system had crumbled and they'd been forced to move to other clans or to human lands, and she hadn't thought it would be right to join another clan after that. So she'd moved to a nearby city, where the humans who'd welcomed her had told her how if she just got a simple job, took out a loan and found a place to live, everything would be fine and after a few months it'd be like she'd been living in the city her whole life. What a lie that turned out to be, she thought. It's been a few months and I still have no idea what I'm doing, barely know anyone around me, and now the stupid job I had to find for myself doesn't even pay me enough to let me keep staying here. Well, part of that was her own fault and she knew it. She'd had some money left over after the first few months' wages and payments and ended up spending it on needless extravagances like an extra-soft cushion to sleep on and a very pretty set of plates and silverware--a bad purchase when she got home and realized she'd never used eating utensils in her life and had no real friends to invite over for a meal and impress with the dishes, but they looked too pretty for her to take them back... So now she needed more money, and soon. At least she got a daily newspaper delivered to her room for free. She spread out the many sheets of paper on the floor and squinted at the tiny print until finally she found the "Help Wanted" section the nice dragon on the phone had mentioned. But there the words were written even smaller, and she wasn't very good at reading as it was; it took her nearly a minute just to read each little box, but after going through a few very uninteresting ads she realized she was reading the "for humans" section. It took another minute to find where the "for dragons" section started, and while the boxes there seemed (mostly) more interesting many of them either asked for dragons who were more city-trained than she was or required availability during times of day that were already taken by her current work hours. But then she found an advertisement that seemed almost written for her: "Dragons Needed! Psychological studies in need of subjects. No qualifications required. Only a few hours of your time! $400 in cash for participating! Call (753)848-2645 for more info." Listha read the number a few times to help her remember it, then reached for the phone, typed the number into the extra-large buttons and pressed the "call" button. It rang while she fumbled with the device, working to press the speaker against her earhole, and just as she got the thing oriented properly she heard a dragon's voice on the other end of the line. "Hello?" "Hello... My name's Listha. I saw your ad in the paper, and called for more information about the psychological studies and what I would have to do to participate." "All right. First I'm going to ask a few demographic questions to see which study we currently have running you'd be best suited for, then I'll tell you about that study and we'll go from there if you're still interested." "Go ahead." "Name, address, age, and sex should do to start." "All right. My name is Listha Trea, I live in room 204 of the Sky Courtyards at 1200 North Street, I'm thirty-seven and I'm female." "Thank you. Were you raised among humans, or in a traditional clan?" "A clan." "How long have you been living in the city?" "Around six months." "Are you physically healthy?" "Yes." "Do you have any eggs or live offspring?" "No." "Hmm... One more question, I think, then I'll be able to choose a study: are you currently sexually active?" Listha hesitated a moment; it seemed like an odd question to ask, but then, who knew what kind of studies were being conducted? "Not since my clan disbanded," she finally said. "All right. The best fit for you, I think, will be a study about processing information, decision-making and problem-solving in an unfamiliar situation and environment. Due to the nature of the study I can't tell you what you'd be doing if you chose to participate or how our information would be recorded, because obviously if we told you what situation you'd be put it then it wouldn't be entirely unfamiliar to you. Does this sound like it would interest you?" "As long as I get the money your ad says I'll get for participating." The dragon laughed. "This study actually pays six hundred to test subjects, so is that a yes?" She bobbed her head reflexively, forgetting for a moment the dragon she was speaking to wasn't in the room with her, and the phone fell out of her paw. She gasped in surprise and hurried to pick the phone back up without pressing any of the buttons. "Are you still there? I dropped the phone." "I can hear you just fine." "Good... Yes, I'm willing to participate." "Excellent. Our address is 8431 League Street; when would you be available to come in for the study?" "Most evenings, and anytime on a weekend, but I'd prefer for it to be as soon as possible. I need the money as quickly as I can get it." "Of course. Let me just look at the slots we have available..." There was silence for about half a minute, then the dragon said, "all right, I think we can fit you in tomorrow night at nine-thirty. Does that sound good?" "That's a little late... How long does the study take?" "It involves a little sleep analysis, so you'll be staying overnight but you'll also be getting some rest while you do. Is it a good time for you?" She shuffled her wings; tomorrow was Friday anyway, and she didn't work weekends--though maybe I should see if I can, she thought, so I can make more on each paycheck. "Yes, it will work. What time should I get there, for that appointment?" "A few minutes early would be preferable, but it doesn't make much difference. For the purposes of the study, we must have a physical description before you arrive; could you tell me your length and coloration?" "Eighteen feet, four inches, and my scales are a mostly grey with a few light green patches on my legs, sides and belly." "Thank you; that's all I need. Do you have any other questions?" She thought for a few moments, then said, "no." "Great! See you tomorrow night, miss Trea, and remember: our address is 8431 League Street." She hung up and scribbled down the address, smiling happily. She wasn't going to be short on her rent, and she wouldn't even just barely have enough; she'd have some extra cash left over! Not even the monotony of her job was enough to curb her happiness the next day, and even though the vague nature of the study made Listha a little nervous it wasn't enough to worry her for very long. Then finally the clock said it was 9:00, so she pocketed her wallet and keys, locked her door and flew away towards the address the dragon had given her. It took about twenty minutes to weave through the city buildings until she found the intersection she was looking for, a dingy and poorly-lit corner of two thin streets barely larger than alleyways. Her tail twitched nervously as she scanned the doorways for the right address; the buildings were dirty and there was nobody else on the street, human or dragon. Then she saw a clean and well-lit but still drab-looking windowless cement building, with the address she was looking for clearly displayed above the door. She landed on her four paws in front of the door, hesitated, then nosed the dragon-handle on the door: locked. She knocked, waited a few seconds, then knocked on the door again with her paw, but there was no response. She growled and took the slip of paper with the address out of the pocket of her pants to make sure she'd gone to the right address; the numbers matched. So why was the door locked? It had to be almost nine-thirty, and that was when her appointment was... She sighed and put the paper back in her pocket. I guess it was too good to be true, she thought. Something creaked behind her, loudly, and she spun around with a growl, but the trash-littered street was still empty. Then she heard another sound from the direction of the building she'd just turned away from, something pricked her in the back of the neck, and she lost consciousness. * * *
Listha woke up just as suddenly as she'd been knocked out. She opened her eyes but could only see blackness, and panicked for a moment that she might be blind before she realized that it was because of a blindfold, and that she had been tied up--not that being unexpectedly tied up wasn't cause for panic in itself. Each of her paws was shackled to the floor, and chains running across her back at the shoulders, hips and middle of her back held her against the cold steel floor. There was something rubbery but stiff in her mouth that completely filled the space behind her teeth, and when she tried to spit it out she discovered her jaws were bound shut around it: a gag. A collar around her throat held her head down near the floor, and even her tail was bound, held out straight behind her by some sort of long, rigid brace that kept her entire tail still. And there was something inside her vent, she was horrified to discover. She squirmed a little and had to fight down a moan of pleasure as her slight, restricted movements made her grind against the thing inside her; as far as she could tell it was shaped like a dragon's erect penis, but a little softer and without the pulse of life a real dragon cock would've had. She growled angrily--how dare someone do this to her!--and gathered her strength, then pushed away from the floor with all her might, trying to get far enough from the floor to get the phallus out of her vent. But the chains across her back went taut and stopped her after just a moment, the thing barely halfway out, and when she thrashed angrily in her restraints the dildo began to vibrate. She howled through her gag and struggled mightily, trying to escape, trying to get away from the sensation, but she could barely move a paw's width in her bonds and the restraints held despite all her powerful struggling. She fought for several minutes and all the while the vibrations continued to tease her, making her squirm and howl even more loudly at the wonderful, unwanted pleasure. Still she kept thrashing, throwing her body in every possible direction, but the chains stopped her desperate struggles no matter how hard she tried. She groaned with each panted breath, already worn out from her exertions, but still the vibrations teased her and she realized after a moment that she had begun to hump the toy almost out of reflex, her body craving the pleasure even if her mind would do anything to get away from it. She let out a muffled roar and bucked one last time, but then she felt herself grow near orgasm and collapsed with a defeated moan, giving up and letting the forced pleasure overtake her. The vibrations stopped. Listha gasped. At this point she wasn't sure what was worse: that the sensations had stopped with her so close to her climax, or that she really, really wanted them to continue. After five more seconds without the vibration returning she whined and began to hump the dildo again, hind paws straining against their shackles as she fought now to get more of the sensation she would have done anything to get away from just a few moments ago. To her relief the cock began to vibrate once again and she howled as its stimulation pushed her over the edge, bucking and thrashing even more powerfully in her chains as her orgasm tore through her, roaring her ecstasy as loudly as she could, until finally it ended and she collapsed against the floor again, panting through flared nostrils. The toy's pulses died away and she sighed with relief. It took a moment for her to focus her mind on something other than her first orgasm in at least a year and a half, but when she did she remembered something very odd about the moment she'd been knocked out: her attacker had come from behind her, and considering her tail had been practically touching the front door of that building at the time whoever had knocked her out could only have come from inside the building. So... was this the study? Ambush her, tie her up, rape her with a sex-toy and then leave her there for who knew how long? But it can't be rape, she groaned, because I enjoyed it far too much... Or had it all been a trick by the dragon she'd called, to kidnap an unsuspecting dragoness and play with her as long as he wanted? She growled and bucked once against her bonds, then stiffened as the toy vibrated again, but to her relief it only buzzed for a moment. But what if it really was a study, albeit a very unusual one? Was there any way to end it? She paused a moment, then tried to speak, but the gag turned her calls for help into gibberish and each garbled syllable echoed almost mockingly back at her: wherever she was, she was alone. She sobbed and let her head fall to the floor; alone, bound, gagged, blindfolded, and being used against her will as a test subject in some sort of horrible "study." And she was helpless to stop it. After another minute she whimpered, then began to cry out again; she couldn't be completely alone, there had to be someone watching her who had been making the toy vibrate before, and if this actually was a study the dragon watching her couldn't possibly leave her like this when she was so distraught--could he? But her cries went unanswered and she began to struggle desperately again, squirming, thrashing and grunting at the effort, even though she knew it was no use. The toy began to vibrate again and she howled as the unwanted pleasure once again began to resonate inside her, but after a moment she snarled and stopped fighting; whoever was controlling the toy wasn't going to get the satisfaction of watching her try in vain to escape until the pleasure drove her to orgasm. Not again. The toy stopped vibrating. As happy as she was that the teasing had stopped, the timing made her suspicious. It was almost as if the dragon watching her could sense her intentions, but there was no way that was possible! Was there something else controlling the toy, perhaps sensors attached to her that read her brain activity, or something else? Then she had an idea, and tugged one forepaw against the shackle binding it to the floor: the vibrations returned. She kept pulling for a moment, then let her paw go slack, and they stopped. Her struggling activated the toy! She almost smiled, but then groaned after a moment and slumped in her chains again; the realization didn't get her any closer to escaping, and it didn't make the toy go away. Even if she knew how to control it now it was still inside her, filling her vent and making her body crave for sex, to grind and thrust against the cock over and over and have as many wonderful orgasms as she could... But she wasn't going to do it again, she growled with determination, even though every moment that passed made her body's demand that she start thrusting harder and harder to ignore. Her thoughts returned to the study: surely it was a test to see if she could figure out that she controlled the toy and not some malevolent dragon who watched her as she waited helplessly to be set free. But what was she supposed to do, now that she had figured it out? Was it supposed to humiliate her, by having her body demand for orgasm for who knew how long until she finally gave in to her lust? Or was it supposed to be a reward, by allowing her to control her own pleasure for as long as she wanted? It depends on my mindset, she decided after a little thought. There's nothing I can do to break free--ancients know I've tried more than hard enough--and it seems nobody will be coming to set me free any time soon. So why resist? I know I enjoy sex, and if I had been told beforehand that this was what was going to happen in the study I might have actually been okay with it. My old clan had multiple rituals based on bondage, after all, and this is the same sort of thing, even if it doesn't have any of the significance to it... Listha growled and began to fight her restraints again, thrusting against the dildo and nearly purring as its vibration returned. The pleasure only seemed stronger now that she wasn't resisting it and after just a couple of minutes she reached her second climax, roaring through her gag and straining against her chains as the pleasure consumed her. Once it was over she smiled a little; now that she wasn't against the principle, she was actually kind of enjoying herself. Sure, she would have preferred to be able to see, and move more than a paw's width in any direction, but it seemed to her that the bondage made masturbating more exciting. She rested a few minutes until she'd regained her breath, then braced herself and struggled again, pressing herself down as hard as she could against the dildo to feel the most of its pulsations. She got close to her third orgasm, then forgot to struggle and relaxed in her chains, and the sensation went away, drawing a pleading whine until she remembered she was in control even though she was bound. She didn't struggle again, just tugged with a single paw, enough for the toy to go to work again, then gasped and succumbed to wave after wave of intense pleasure. A rhythm developed: a few minutes to rest, then enough strain to activate the toy, more stimulation and another powerful orgasm, over and over again. Sometimes her climaxes were peaceful and only left her gasping and purring as the wonderful feelings washed over her, and other times they had her struggling with all her might against the chains that pinned her to the floor, roaring her pleasure until it echoed off the walls and thrusting as much as she could against the dildo. It was after her eleventh orgasm that finally she grew tired, and thought she'd had enough, but still there was no indication that the testing would end anytime soon. She tried to talk again, to call for help or to say she didn't want to do this anymore, but once again her words were muffled beyond recognition by the gag and once again nobody responded to them. What was she supposed to do now? She had no way of knowing how much time had passed since she'd woken up or even how long she was going to be kept here in the first place. And to make matters worse, if she even tried to struggle not only was she already sure she couldn't escape but it would just end with her orgasming on the toy again. She moaned unhappily, but there was nothing she could do to free herself, and after another minute of rest Listha sighed and started to fight her chains again to reactivate the toy. Even if her mind thought she'd had enough, her body had begun to ask for more yet again, and it wasn't like there was anything else she could do... After a few minutes of thrusting she howled and climaxed again, then groaned and let her body go limp against the floor. Her frustration built more and more as she continued to lie alone in the room--she nearly called it a cell instead--and the next time she fought her chains it wasn't to tease herself but to try to escape, thrashing desperately and roaring with anger instead of pleasure. But still the restraints kept her pinned down helplessly against the vibrating cock, still nobody came to set her free, and this time her orgasm came unwillingly, making her thrash still harder and cry out at the sensation. She collapsed. Not even the spasms of her climax were able to budge the chains, and nobody was responding to her cries for help; would she ever be let go? It was a question she had to seriously consider at this point, after spending hours bound and impaled on the dildo without any indication that there was even someone monitoring her. She moaned, then growled, then screamed; the gag wouldn't let her speak, but it didn't keep her completely silent and if there was someone, anyone in the building, they had to hear her crying for help. No response, and now she was beginning to tremble from weariness; the toy began to vibrate yet again and she couldn't stop herself from struggling at the sensation before giving in and letting out another long, loud climax. She couldn't bring herself to call for help anymore; it would only disappoint her when her pleading was ignored yet again, and she couldn't even marshal the strength to roar anyway. Then there was an unfamiliar clicking noise, something pricked her in the back of the neck, and she passed out. * * *
Listha woke up curled on her cushion, in her bedroom, alone. For a moment she almost thought the whole testing experience had been a dream, but her whole body was so sore, and when she raised her head she saw a neatly-typed note lying on the floor next to the cushion. She swung her head over to it and read: "Dear Ms. Trea, Thank you for your participation in our study. We apologize again for being unable to tell you what you would experience before you came, but we hope you were still able to enjoy your testing experience. If you did enjoy yourself, we would be more than happy to have you back for additional studies, and if you did not, we hope the enclosed $600 in cash will help you feel better. Also enclosed you will find pictures of yourself during testing, in case you are curious, and when we publish our study we will be sure to send you a copy, along with notes indicating how the data you gave us contributed to the final results. Sincerely, DSI Research Institute" She moved the paper aside to see an unsealed envelope lying beneath it. Inside she found six $100 bills, along with five pictures of herself, bound with chains, muzzled and blindfolded, and with a large black dildo on the end of a metal pole stuck inside her vent. She growled a little, but had to admit the pictures brought back some very arousing memories of the previous night, especially one picture that seemed to have been taken mid-orgasm, her neck and back arched and head craned back against the collar as if she was roaring, teeth bared even though the straps around her snout kept them clamped tight against each other. When she thought about it, she was a little surprised to discover that she felt good about her memories of the testing, and the money she'd received for participating only made her happier. "That was actually fun," she said to herself, and turned over the envelope to see DSI's phone number written on the back. "I wonder if they're conducting any similar studies anytime soon?"