I sat down, easing back until I was fully seated. The chair wasn’t exactly padded, but it wasn’t uncomfortable, either. Far from it.
The door opened, and Colton returned. “Is it showtime?” he asked.
“It is.” As always, a mix of feelings filled me. A few butterflies in my stomach… that always happened before filming big like this. But mostly excitement. My fans were the best, and soon, I’d be speaking directly to them. Sharing my enthusiasm for the latest tech products was the highlight of my days. Not everyone got paid to do what they loved.
“Hey, everyone, it’s the big day! Thank you for joining me.” I gave Colton a nod of thanks as he stepped back after starting the recording. Scores of comments were already scrolling across the screen of my phone. There was no way I could make them out, save for the few that were in all caps, but Penny would be monitoring them, checking to make sure no one said they couldn’t hear or something like that. “I am at the one and only Pleasure Institute, and I wish you were here! I’ve met two of the most charming men.”
I tilted my head toward Brad, who was next to me, widening my eyes at my audience. They weren’t all female, but enough of them were that I knew they’d appreciate the sight of him. “You can’t see the other one, but he’s just as hot.”
I said that last part in a stage whisper, as if the men couldn’t hear me, and Brad chuckled. “Brad, why don’t you tell my followers more about what’s going to happen here today?”
He crouched down next to me as he spoke to my audience like a pro. They were probably eating him up—I sure wanted to. He was so close I could feel the heat from his body against my arm. This place was already living up to its name.
“Now we just need to do two things before we get started, Ms. James,” Brad concluded.
I gave him a winning smile. “What’s that?”
“Well, first, we need to get this gorgeous hair out of the way.” He ran a hand across my hair in a way that made my scalp tingle and probably made my viewers sigh. I wasn’t used to strange men touching me, but I was here for a massage, after all. The stroke of his hand just made me more eager for the scalp-massage part of today’s events.
Still, I wish he’d told me beforehand that my hair needed to be up. I could’ve done it before in front of a mirror. Redoing my hairstyle on a livestream wasn’t ideal, but neither was getting my hair caught in some machine.
He handed me an elastic band with a slightly apologetic smile. “The Massage Mate needs to be able to access your neck and shoulders.”
I nodded and gathered my hair into a ponytail. It was probably a tad crooked, but hopefully soon I’d be so blissed out I wouldn’t care.
“What’s the other thing?”
“This.” He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out something black and silky. For a bizarre moment, I thought it was a pair of panties. Then he shook it, revealing an eye mask.
What the hell?
“You want me to wearthat?” My voice was a mixture of indignation and something else… maybe hesitation? I needed to get control of the situation—and my vocal cords—again. “Is that really necessary?”
“I assure you, it’s all about your pleasure. I want you focused on the top-notch massage you’re getting, not the screen in front of you. But you’ll still be able to talk to your audience—if youcantalk, that is. I assure you, in a few minutes, you’re going to be more relaxed than you’ve ever been before.”
His reasoning made sense, but I still hesitated as he held out the mask. Like the hair thing, there’d been no mention of this beforehand, and there should’ve been. Surprises weren’t my thing, especially while on camera.
Brad gave me a very reassuring smile. “You’re perfectly safe, Ms. James. We have thousands of witnesses.”
There didn’t seem to be much of a choice, except to debate him right here and now during a live feed. Obviously, that wasn’t a great solution. Reluctantly, I took the eye mask from him. Then I gave a big smile to my followers.
“Guess I won’t be seeing you for a short while, but I’ll keep talking to you! Or moaning, if this chair is as good as these guys claim.” I leaned forward, giving the phone screen a conspiratorial wink. “But keep an eye on this one here for me, okay? Let me know if he writes Loseron my forehead when I’m all relaxed and out of it.”
Judging by the increase in the number of comments, they liked the idea of being deputized. It wasn’t easy to get a large audience engaged, but it was an important part of the gig.
As I pulled the silky fabric over my eyes, my other senses sharpened. The scent from the vanilla candles grew stronger, and my skin tingled pleasantly, even though the air in the room wasn’t particularly cool. It was more like anticipation. For someone whose life and career focused on pleasure, this was equivalent to my own personal Olympics. I couldn’t wait to experience what the machine these men had created could do.
5
LILA
“Oh myGod.” The Massage Mate 3000 was everything the men promised, and more. Much, much more. The sensations it produced were heavenly—just as good as a real massage therapist, in my opinion.
Maybe even better.
I knew it was a mechanical contraption kneading my shoulders, but it almost felt like real hands. Technically, I suppose, it counted as machine hands, since the Massage Mate had two of those skeletal hands like the model I’d examined before. I could feel the smooth leather as it glided up and down the bare skin of my shoulders and upper back. My tank top covered my lower back, but it felt just as good there.
And when those fake fingers expertly rubbed my scalp, waves of pure pleasure radiated outward—and downward. I squeezed my thighs together, enjoying the friction. If I had one of these machines, I’d never leave my apartment again.