How NOT to Win the Next Bet

The whore lounged naked on her bed with three lamps nearby, studying herself carefully with a pair of tweezers. She was plucking methodically, laying her pubic hairs into a little earthen bowl, though she paused as we entered. She had a nice smile: you knew she was acting, but it looked completely natural. Lovely long face, a hint of paint on her thin lips, and a lithe body on full display for us. The hair on her head was far more orange than what she was plucking. She raised both her eyebrows. "Well!" Big dark eyes, flickering at us. "Two, huh? That'll raise the rates, boys."

"Well, let's talk about that." Vitus found a stool in the near corner, beside the basin. He smiled. "I'm Vitus, and this is my friend Felix."

"Hi, Felix." She batted her eyes. Another pluck. She was a fine one.

"Hi yourself."

"We'd like to play a little game, one that could enrich you pretty significantly." His eyebrows rose to match hers. "Interested?"

"Sure." Quick. Certain. No hesitation. She was breathing calmly, half a smile playing on her lips. "What's on your mind, Vitus?"

"Actually, we were hoping to meet not one lady, but two. If you can recommend anybody?"

"I don't do orgies," she replied flatly. "I do my best work one on one. Or," she winked, "one on two." There was greed in her eyes, and I could hardly blame her; she knew her worth. My penis was already stirring.

"It's not like that," Vitus soothed, raising his hands.

"We need you and a friend to help us settle a wager," I said in my most unctuous tones, hoping I was controlling how I sounded.

"That's better," Plipia giggled. "I can do wagers." She gnawed on her lower lip, a move so artfully acted that I felt my balls twitch. A few seconds later, she smiled up at us. "I've got just the girl, I think." When she rose from the bed, she did it with a muscular grace that dried my throat. And she knew it. "I'll just go see if she's busy, hmm?" She drifted out, favoring Vitus with a bright smile. Then, as she walked past me, she reached merrily down to cup my cock through my pallium. "Y'all just go ahead and relax."

"Mmm." I blinked down at Vitus, who was craning his head to get a look at Plipia's nude ass as she passed through her curtain. "I'm going to nail that one."

"Only after me." I was tenting my robe when I looked down, my cock sticking straight out, grinning stupidly. "This was a good idea you had."

Vitus leaned his stool back against the wall and smiled. "See? Stick with me. You'll go places." Even as he said it, the curtain swished aside and I lost my breath.

Plipia's friend was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Short like her, but with a fuller body, she strode with regal grace into the room. Her body, on tasteful display beneath a translucent robe, teased me with its perfection. Dark wavy hair cascaded past her shoulders, and a pair of massive hazel eyes seemed to look straight into my soul. She smirked at the two of us, her lips expressive and dark, and winked. "Well!" Her voice was deep, husky, with a slight Naples accent. "What have we here?" She looked with an indulgent tut at my obvious erection. "In a hurry, are you?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" I had to clear my throat to continue. "I'm Felix. This asshole here is my friend Vitus."

"My name's Fervena," she lilted back, crossing to me with a whore's self-assurance. She wore elaborate sandals, the straps crisscrossing up past her knees; my leatherworker's eye was impressed, even as my leatherworker's cock spasmed. She molded herself to my side, sighing happily as my hand found her ass. Her body felt vibrant, ripe. When she lifted her face to my ear, her breath smelled of basil. "Good to meet you, Felix. Let's fuck."

"In a moment!" Vitus, still on his stool, already had his arm around Plipia's waist, the thumb rubbing up and down on her hipbone. "Here's the deal, ladies. Plipia here is advertised at two quadrans, which, frankly, seems like a bargain." He slid his hand teasingly between her legs, fingering her labia; she simpered prettily as he licked his fingers. He looked frankly at Fervena's body. "I take it you're the same, darling?"

"You'll find I fuck a lot better than two quadrans," she breathed in my ear, "but yes."

"Excellent. We'll pay that, plus an extra semis as a tip." I saw greed light the girls' eyes. "Here's the deal. My friend and I are going to see who can hold out longest without cumming."

"Oh." Plipias rolled her eyes. "This again? Men are always doing this shit."

When Fervena laughed, her whole body writhed against mine. "What's the bet?"

"Five quadrans." It was most of what I had left in my pouch. This was proving to be an expensive day, but not if I won the bet. The girls arched their eyebrows at each other. "Right? Serious stakes, for a serious wager. For, you see, I'm afraid my friend Felix is buying back his honor with this bet." His hand was stroking Plipia's ass now. "He did badly on our last wager, and wishes to redeem himself."

"Really?" Plipia smiled cutely at me. "Was it about the size of his cock? Because it looks like he's okay there."

"No," Vitus sniggered, "it involved a Christian."

"Christians!" Fervena rolled her eyes. "The more religious they are, the more often they come here," she observed. "Pun intended. And they never tip well." Plipia nodded agreement.

"Yes, well," Vitus shrugged, "it's not important. Here's the best part of our wager. The man who wins gets his five quadrans, but he then pays forty percent... to the losing girl!" The girls looked quickly at each other, both of them sizing up the other, doing the math, calculating. "So, see, whichever of you makes her man spurt first gets an extra two quadrans."

"Sold!" Fervena snickered, grabbing my cock through my clothes. "This'll be the easiest money I've made all week." She licked at my neck. "You're going to have a great time today. A short time," she added, "but a great time."

"Don't count your money yet, bitch," Plipia said sweetly. She pivoted, swinging an athletic leg over Vitus' lap; I watched as his hands slid up and down her naked body. "Why are you two still standing there?" she asked lazily over her shoulder. "I'm working here. I'd suggest you do the same, Vena."

"See you in about twenty seconds," my whore sniped, and suddenly she was leading me by the cock out past the curtain and into the hallway. "This sounds like fun," she giggled at me. I wasn't surprised that she led me to room number 15. "Get inside and get naked," she told me urgently. "You've got a wager to lose." She took a piece of chalk and scrawled OCCUPATA on the wall beside her curtain.

I was on fire already, my cock straining like a bear with a gladiator to kill. The room was neat, from what I could tell, though with just one lamp in the niche it had a mysterious, dusky look. I shucked off my clothes, the heavy linen flopping onto the dusty floor, and no sooner had it landed than Fervena was on me, pressing her sublime body firmly against me from behind. I felt her lips on my neck, the bold curl of her confident fingers reaching between my legs to cup my balls. "Relax, lover," she cooed in my ear. She left her tongue flicking quickly behind, and I was already groaning. "Where would you like to leave your cum?"

"Mmm. Fuck," I growled, her other hand playing with my ribcage, my navel, my nipple. "Wherever my cock is when you conquer me."

"Ooh!" Her breath was warm against the side of my face. "Good." Her whole body was slithering down my back suddenly, her tongue trailing down my spine, laving my ass. "You've accepted the inevitable. You're mine." Kisses, against my hipbone, her fingers still busy along my inner thighs. She felt like paradise. "I'm going to have you dreaming about me tonight." Her hands were pressing against me, pushing me around to face her as she crouched on her floor, and I turned willingly to present her with my cock.

I sighed, my eyes rolling toward her low ceiling, as Fervena licked at me. She wasted no time, an efficient whore, her tongue stabbing between my thighs and my scrotum, never lingering long in one place. When I at last lowered my head to look down at her, I saw those lovely bright eyes drilling back up at me, skewering me, her full lips already parting to nibble up my shaft, across my head, and then over it.

"Yesss," I hissed, transfixed by the sight of those lips sliding down the veins of my cock, the sounds of her mouth wet against my skin, the smell of basil rising faint from her nude body. Slowly my penis disappeared into her mouth, her eyes unblinking, until her sharp little nose buried itself in my pubic hair; I was vividly, even painfully, aware of the soft massage of her throat against my cockhead, and suddenly I began to have serious doubts about winning this bet.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to look away from the smouldering whore at my feet, thinking about anything else: the smell of my leatherworks, or changing my kids' diapers, or the results of the chariot races or wrestling matches: anything. Dimly I was aware, as my hands wrapped themselves in Fervena's thick wavy hair, that I just needed to get past her initial assault, holding back my sperm for just half a minute more, and then I'd recover and be okay for a while longer. But her mouth, talented and warm and so, so wickedly sexy, had other plans, and so I gritted my teeth and braced myself and pretended there wasn't a nimble tongue currently lapping at my balls.

Dimly my thoughts went back to the weird Christian and his unwanted blessing, to the sight of that one deranged eye staring at me full of gentle gratitude, and then I blinked and found myself staring down at Fervena's eyes, shining in the dim lamplight, looking up at me with the same kind of adoration, and in a sudden tingling flash on the edges of my vision I forgot that she was a whore, that she was earning, and my heart raced while my fingers tightened in her curls. "You're beautiful," I managed at last through the thickness in my throat, and then her eyes went warm and soft as my cock emerged slowly from her mouth, gleaming with spit and trembling hard as she backed off it.

"I'm yours," she replied quietly, her voice low and serious, those eyes devouring me, and then her mouth was back on me, sucking hard, and my whole body went pink and hot and suddenly I felt ashamed; this woman, this incomparable woman, had no business serving me. She deserved better; she deserved what she was making me feel, the trembling in her legs, the tightness behind her groin, the love. I pulled up on her hair even as she pulsed her mouth around my shaft.

"On the bed," I growled back down in response to her questioning look, and Fervena nodded as she slurped off my cock, the thing long and thick for her, dark with need, her luscious body rising before me. She cocked her head when she caught sight of my expression.

"You okay?"

"I'm enraptured," I admitted, and Fervena went deep red under the flickering lamplight as she caressed my face. "Bewitched."

"Men don't look at me like that," she warned, sounding more curious than anything else, and then she was taking my wet cock back into her hand, possessively, and pulling me behind her. Speechless, I watched the curved muscles of her lovely young body, flowing surely and gracefully before me, promising all that my heart wanted, and in a weird rush of racing thoughts I was no longer in a basement room at a brothel, involving myself in anything as tawdry as a sex bet with a paid vagina.

No.

Suddenly, and with a rush of emotion buoyed by a dying cultist's blessing, I was overwhelmed by love. I knew it because of what I suddenly wanted for the girl. "Fervena," I said, low and urgent as she arranged herself on her thin mattress. "What's your name? Your real name?"

She looked back at me, startled and a little bit troubled. "Why?"

"I must know." I felt the radiance in my smile as I settled onto the bed beside her, my arms going automatically around her body, my fingers tracing smooth, warm skin. The beauty of her! "I'm Gnaeus." Her whole aspect screamed caution, and of course I knew why: Rome's is not a society where first names are usually exchanged. But I didn't care right then: the rush I felt was real, powerful, and I needed to know this woman. I smiled at her, reaching for her leg, pulling it slowly up onto my thigh while my other hand traced gently over her nipple, long and dark and trembling as, slowly, the girl's glance softened. "Please."

She was looking thoughtful now, wondering where I was going, whether I wasn't just trying to fool her into holding off so that I could win my bet. My fingers on her ass, atop her thigh, curving slowly around, underneath, to the gentle curve of her mound as my cock stayed hard and ready against her flesh; all these things seemed to disarm her slightly. When she spoke this time, there was a shyness in her voice, even a slight tremble when my hand found her pussy. "My family calls me Vibia." It was a whisper into my ear, as I ran my finger along her slit, feeling hesitant wetness there, and then she sighed and relaxed. "You can call me that too, uh, Gnaeus."

I couldn't stop myself, then: I kissed her, the first whore I'd kissed in many years. Her reaction was surprising, even touching: a moan, sounding genuine and profound as our lips met, and then her foot was drawing higher up my thigh, opening herself for me. She worked her tongue out, prying my mouth open, and as soon as she gained entry she sucked my tongue powerfully into her mouth, our bodies moving together, the rhythm perfect. I opened my eyes to find hers tightly, dreamily shut, and when my fingers slipped into her slit, she sighed explosively into my mouth.

She moved then, her arms and legs churning, pushing me over onto my back while her mouth stayed locked onto mine. I centered myself on the little pallet by instinct, my sticky cock waving ludicrously like that soldier's club from this morning, threatening and ungainly over my body, but then Fervena was swinging her leg over my lap, rising up over me with the sleekness of her body shadowed by that one guttering lamp.

"Now we fuck," she told me simply, directly, her voice low and serious, and the heat of her thighs on top of mine made me gasp. She collected herself, looking down at me with that mysterious feminine smile, the cruelly possessive one we want to see, but mellowed in this case by the wonder in her eyes as she studied me. "You're gorgeous," she added, nodding, rising up above my twitchy penis.

"You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," I stammered, and I was surprised to find that I meant it. She knew it, too, smiling a wide and genuine grin, reaching one arm languidly behind her body, between her legs to take me in her hand. I just stared, powerless now with my hands running up and down her legs, watching as her juices smeared her inner thighs up near her vagina; as if it was happening to someone else, I saw my thick cock rising up toward her in her hand.

Fervena positioned me easily at her opening, the heat from her pussy seeming to reach out and caress my shaft; I felt my hips hunching upward, uncontrollably, all thoughts of my wager forgotten: I'm not sure I even realized, in that moment, that I was paying her. She and I were not a client and a prostitute; we were just a man and a woman.

I was staring at her full, lush breasts as she slid down me with exquisitely slow, delicious control. I reached up to brush her hair behind her ears, and she blushed. "What's that for?"

"So I can see your face." I was on fire for her. True love, I told myself ruefully.

Stunned, Fervena lost her poise and fell unceremoniously down the rest of my shaft. "Oops!" she giggled, and then the laugh became a gaspy sort of sigh when our pubic hair met, tangled, my cock far up in her, and she settled herself comfortably onto me. "Mmm," she cooed, letting her eyelids flutter. "You feel good."

"No better than you do." I was totally captivated, in body and mind and, yes, heart; a thigh in one hand, a tit in the other, and my penis firmly sheathed in a fine, ripe woman. I was a god.

She stirred, smirking, and flicked my nipple. "Thank you," she murmured, rising, and right away the wet smacking sound of my cock sliding in and out of Fervena's tight cunt filled every corner of her room. I stared into her face, feeling my eyes go wide, desperate to keep myself from launching my seed into this lovely little body: not because of the wager, but because I wanted this to last. An hour, a day, forever; this was surreal.

True love.

She thrashed on top of me like a demon, her teeth clenched and her eyes shut tightly. It was all I could do, in those first few minutes, to cling to her body as it twisted delightfully. She was panting, moaning in short sharp gasps, with drops of sweat rolling from her brow to my chest and face. I adapted quickly, pushing upward, thinking with my balls rather than my coin-pouch, desiring only to give her as much pleasure as she was giving me.

Distantly, from far out in the hallway, I heard a thin, wavering screech rise, then fall, and Fervena paused a moment; she straightened and listened, then glanced down at where my penis disappeared between her lips. "That was Plipia. She cries out like that sometimes." She was waiting, I realized, for another scream, or a triumphant shout, or the arrival of a flushed and cum-filled Plipia at our own curtain, and when it didn't come Fervena relaxed. She licked her lips and gazed down at me, her hips rolling easily. "Looks like the wager's still on, lover."

I stared into her eyes and decided. "Fuck the wager."

"What?"

"You heard me." True love. The words of a dead man, and they spun through my mind with the force of an imperial command. "This isn't about money now, Vibia." I bucked upward and grabbed both her ass cheeks, hauling her off me. She scrabbled for balance as I dragged her up over my chest, her weeping pussy drawing nearer and nearer until it was there, straight in front of my face with the woman bracing herself against the wall behind my head, her eyes and mouth wide, and I wasn't even thinking of anything anymore except her pleasure: her gash loomed above me, red and wide, still spread from my thrusting cock, and I lifted my head to meet her lips with mine.

Fervena arched back, her tits toward the ceiling, with a cracked cry; already she was exhilarated, awed perhaps, for Roman men do not often slurp at prostitutes' cunts. Dimly I wondered, my tongue spearing wildly upward, if the girl had ever had this done to her before.

She surely wasn't acting like it.

Her flesh tensed around me in glorious, sleek curves, my world completely dominated by her smells and sounds. She had a beautiful cunt, symmetrical and the brightest of purple-reds now, with her body at its highest pitch of excitement; I felt myself grow even harder down below, her pleasure bringing me my own while I dug my fingers into the taut skin of her ass.

I tossed my head sideways, digging my tongue into the edges of her pussy, and when I heard her gasp I snaked myself upward until I was suckling at her clit, coaxing it out, my tongue now prodding her hood aside; I felt the muscles of her thighs flexing up with the tension I was bringing to her, piling everything up in one sopping heap of sexual frenzy before my mouth brought her release; I could tell that wouldn't take long. Already Fervena's hands were gripping at my head, her cries echoing in the small space.

Suddenly there it was, budding into my mouth like another nipple, and I clamped down hard with my sucking lips. "Fucking Venus!" she wailed, her whole body going rigid around me, her cunt spastic, drowning me in its lust. It felt like she was going to claw my scalp off. I sensed I should simply keep licking, calmly licking, keeping her at this red pitch while she ground herself against my face until, sated, she drooped over my head in exhaustion.