Rules For Spanking: MMF Bisexual Romance

by A. Anders

  “Stay close? Why?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. But I did what they said. I hung out in my room ordering room service. And then yesterday they told me that the viewers wanted me back. So, here I am.”

  This explanation didn’t make any sense to me. Why him? Why had Thorin survived?

  I thought for a moment. Brad was there when Freddy died. That was proof enough. I could no longer doubt what I saw. The three men were dead.

  But then they disappeared. I don’t actually know what happened to them after that. And now Thorin, who was also eliminated, was back. What did that mean? I had to be missing something.

  I looked around at the guys, hoping one of them would offer an explanation. None of them did. They all looked dumbfounded. The only one who didn’t was Gray, and he was looking at Brad, disgusted.

  “You would do anything to win. Wouldn’t you?” he said to Brad before shifting his gaze toward me. “And you…”

  Gray got up and bumped me with his chest. Not expecting it, I stumbled back. “…You can get out of my face,” he snarled at me.

  I took that. After all, what was I supposed to say? I was even doubting myself at this point. I couldn’t explain any of it.

  When Billy’s pawn shifted everyone’s attention to the next group date announcement, I pulled Brad aside. “Why is Thorin back?” I asked.

  “Because it’s a game show,” Brad spit with a strained smile. “They fool with your mind. That’s what they do on these things. Someone’s dead? No, they’re not dead. I can’t believe I fell for it. That’s why you don’t listen to the paranoid one.”

  Brad stormed off toward his cabin. He didn’t need to hear who was in the group date. It was Thorin the Pale, Buck-Naked Billy, Construction Carl, Victor Vodka, and Spiritual Sam, everyone who wasn’t at Thunderdome.

  After alienating my one remaining ally, I didn’t have a reason to stick around camp for the rest of the day. So I packed a napkin full of scrambled eggs and pancakes and took off. It was time for my hike to the tower.

  The island was a series of highlands and lowlands. Though it wasn’t visible from the camp, the tower was on the highest part of the island. It took me three hours to navigate the maze of thick trees to get there, and most of the journey was uphill.

  Catching my breath under the tower’s widely spread metal legs, I enjoyed the view. I could see the entire island from here, and the island was bigger than I had expected. It was shaped like an American football, and our camp sat less than a mile from the western tip.

  From where I stood, I could see the octagon from the bear challenge and the Thunderdome. Not far from that was a water tower. And camouflaged within the trees were few small structures that looked like tool sheds.

  The dock itself wasn’t visible, from where I stood, but the shoreline was. I could also see Rose’s cabin.

  East of all of that was what I could only describe as a jungle. It had no structures or signs of life except one. On a beached peninsula at the eastern tip, a large concrete compound rose out of the jungle.

  I stared at the building for a long time. More than anything, it resembled a warehouse. Nothing was special about it except for the helicopter parked in back.

  With nothing else around, it was the only place on the island where the showrunners could live. In other words, that was where they made the decision to kill us. If I was ever going to get off of this island alive, that was where I would have to go.

  Rested, I examined the tower. From underneath, it looked like the electrical towers they used to use to run overhead power lines. The only difference was this one had a huge light on top of it, one that was always on.

  Then again, the last electrical towers were removed over fifty years ago, so all I had to go on were old-timey photos. Maybe some of the electrical towers had lights on them back then, too. But, who knows?

  I found a spot in the shade and grabbed something to eat. As I did, I searched my memory for anything I could remember about towers with lights on them. By the time that my food napkin was empty, I had determined two things: I should have paid closer attention in history class, and it could possibly be a communications tower.

  As the light was ten stories up and the wires were encased in a metal column preventing sabotage, I couldn’t do much here. I scanned the lowlands, wondering where I should head next. The compound was the obvious choice. I knew it would take days to actually get there, but that was the only direction worth exploring.

  Hiking towards the open jungle, it didn’t take long for the vegetation to change. The trees got taller and thicker, while the rich soil disappeared under a sea of lush ground cover. After I had walked for about an hour, I ran into a chain-link fence.

  I followed the fence south for five minutes before concluding that it dissected the island. If I wanted to know what was on the other side, I was going to have to go over it. It was only eight feet tall, so I didn’t worry about the height. What did concern me was the multiple spirals of razor wire that ran across its top.

  I grabbed the fence and rattled it. It was taut. I was sure it could hold my weight. I rested my face on it and peered through. I immediately felt something staring back at me, some creature hiding in the jungle.

  It felt close, but I couldn’t see it. I imagined the invisible beast’s hot breath tickling my neck, and a shiver ripped through me with a force to almost snap my spine. I let go of the fence and quickly backed away.

  For a while, I stood staring into the trees past the fence. I didn’t move, and neither did anything else. I wasn’t sure what had set me off, but I soon decided that it had to be in my head. Since I knew that my only shot at getting off the island lay on the other side of the fence, I had to go over.

  As I climbed, I noticed something odd about the jungle in front of me. The noises on the other side of the fence seemed louder than on mine. The squawking and weird guttural bird sounds filled the jungle air like locust buzzing. Yet behind me, I could hardly hear a peep.

  Why would there be a difference? Birds fly. They could land anywhere. I suddenly got the chills again.

  That time, I almost stopped. I didn’t, though. Whatever lay in front of me, I would deal with like I had dealt with everything else.

  I carefully worked my way over the razor wire and jumped. I landed on the soft soil with a thud. For a moment, the noises closest to me stopped. I was hoping to go unnoticed, but it was too late for that.

  I froze. There it was again, that feeling that I was being watched. It was now stronger and more disturbing. I could practically feel it touch my face, but I was almost sure that it was all in my mind. I crouched and stepped forward.

  That was when I heard it. A rattling, maybe. Was it a growl? Something didn’t want me there.

  I scanned the ground. Nothing. My heart quickened. I scanned the trees. When I saw it, I couldn’t breathe.

  Angry yellow eyes penetrated the shadows. They were locked on me. Its black body crouched, waiting for me.

  I had only one option. I took it. Turning, I threw myself back onto the fence. Climbing as fast as I could, I didn’t want to look back. When I did, the terrifying image sent prickly heat crawling under my skin.

  It attacked. Now out of the tree, it was fast. The black cat charged towards me. In a second, it was on top of me. I was too late.

  Its claw hooked my leg, and it felt like fire ripping through my body. My flesh separated from bone. But, as it tried to pull me down, I hung onto the fence, refusing to let go.

  I closed my eyes as I felt my muscles quartered like filet. I was succumbing to the pain. I was slipping, and then… luck.

  It was my luck. The panther wanted two claws in me and loosened its grip. While retracting, it had only half the flesh. Wrenching up, I tore through the rest with a scream.

  Suddenly free, I launched like a rocket. Climbing the chain link, I didn’t stop until it grabbed me again. Damn it!

  Its teeth sunk into me. I pulled at my arm desperately. Finally seeing clea
rly what had me, I stopped.

  My mind slowed as I looked around. I released my death grip on the razor and examined my blood-soaked arms. They were tangled in sharp wires. With my skin pulled in either direction, I knew that the only way to free them would be to yank. Not giving myself time to think about it, I did.

  “Ahh!” I screamed again.

  It hurt, but I couldn’t think about the pain. I had to keep moving. I knew that I would be losing blood even faster now. The longer I waited, the harder it would be to get down.

  Remembering my training, I put the pain out of my mind and focused. I took it one step at a time. I transferred my weight over the top of the wire. When I was sure that I wouldn’t get snagged, I let myself drop.

  When I hit the ground, the worst pain was the one that shot up my leg. It jolted me like a crack of lightning, but it passed just as quickly as it came.

  I sat up immediately, making sure that I could. I looked through the fence. I had landed on the correct side. On the other, the panther’s yellow eyes were focused on me. Its tail swung intermittently like a cat did when annoyed. It wanted another shot at me.

  “Not today,” I told the panther. It gave me one last glance before turning around and disappearing into the trees.

  I took stock of my wounds. The blood from my right calf was soaking into my jeans. I tried to move my leg. It hurt, but I could.

  My hands were another story. No matter what I did, I couldn’t move the thumb on my right hand. That was never a good sign. It usually meant that tendon had been severed.

  I tried to make a grip with either hand. I couldn’t. That meant that I couldn’t wrap any of my bleeding wounds. The only thing I could do was press my hands to my shirt and hope I didn’t bleed to death.

  Well, wasn’t I glad I went hiking today?

  I struggled to stand and then walk. Most people would be surprised how quickly a person could get used to blinding pain. It was one of life’s little miracles.

  When I first got up, my blinding pain was centered in my shredded calf. I found a tree branch that I could use as a crutch, and the pain shifted to hands. Variety is the spice of life or something, right?

  On the very long walk back to camp, I can admit to having a few indecent fantasies about Pete. They involved me retrieving his magic dust in unorthodox ways. When I finally saw him waiting at the edge of the camp, scanning the darkness looking for me, I wondered if society could learn to accept our human/robot love, because it would have to.

  After Pete gave me a few shots of magic dust, I collapsed onto the grass. The worse your injury, the more feel good juice you got. So, needless to say, I was very high. I could have lay there all night. It wasn’t long, though, before enough of my mental fog cleared for me to remember my plan.

  I looked around, trying to figure out the time. It had to be dinner by now. Since there was a group date today, a cocktail party and an elimination would follow. I knew that missing the cocktail party could mean an immediate elimination, but I was starved. I had to get something to eat first.

  It took about thirty minutes for all of my wounds to heal and for me to be able to walk again. Heading to my room, I changed out of the blood-soaked clothes and dressed for the party. I then hurried to the food line and dished up everything that the bots hadn’t cleared. I had never really enjoyed 3D printed food before now, but damn if it didn’t hit the spot tonight.

  Already dressed, I headed past the pool to the cocktail party. When I got there, Rose was the first to notice me. I joined the group gathered around her, and when I did, none of the guys acknowledged me. Rose was the only one who even looked at me, and her body language told me that I needed to invite her for alone time immediately.

  “Rose, can I steal you away for a little bit?” I asked.

  “Man, didn’t you just get here?” Gray asked possessively.

  “That’s okay,” Rose interjected. “I’d love to, Ford.”

  I took Rose by the hand and led her to the largest waterfall. I was still hoping it would give us a little privacy.

  Rose spoke first, “Where have you been?” she asked, concerned.

  “I had a fight with a panther. No big deal.”

  Rose looked at me, confused. “Is that slang for something?”

  “No. There’s a fence that separates us from the jungle. Apparently, panthers can be territorial.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Oh yeah. That wasn’t the first cat that wanted my throat, believe me.”

  “So, you’re saying that your last relationship didn’t end well?” Rose asked with a wicked smile.

  I paused to make sure that I heard her correctly. Playing it back in my mind, I was sure that I did. She was making a dirty joke. Damn did I like this girl. And man, did I want to kiss her for it.

  I stared into her eyes about to lean in when her mood suddenly changed.

  “The guys have been telling me stuff about you,” Rose said.

  I shifted onto my heels. “What’s that?”

  “That you’re bad news.”

  “That I’m bad news? When did they tell you this? In the 1940s?”

  Rose laughed. “You know what I’m saying. They’re telling me that you’re an asshole and that I shouldn’t trust you.”

  “Let me guess, Gray’s telling you this?”

  “It’s not just Gray. All of them are.”

  I paused. I knew this could happen, but with a few other things on my mind, I hadn’t come up with a response.

  “Am I missing something about you?” Rose asked with a forced smile.

  I thought for a moment and realized that she was serious. She was considering eliminating me. I had to say whatever it took to save my life.

  “No. I think it’s them that’s missing something. I think they’re jealous,” I said, grabbing at straws.

  “Of what?”

  “The connection we have.”

  “Our connection? Are you saying that you like me?” Rose asked with a playful smile.

  I felt the conversation shift, but I didn’t have time to think about how. I just had to say something to keep it going. But what?

  “I think I’m falling for you,” I said.

  And as soon as I said it, my heart raced. I started to panic. It was way too much, and it was way too close to the truth. I felt brutally exposed, worse than when the panther had ripped apart my leg. Everything in me screamed that something bad was about to happen.

  I was wrong, though. Rose just looked at me with a hint of a smile that expanded until her eyes twinkled.

  “I think I’m falling for you, too,” she replied.

  When her gaze dipped from my eyes to my lips, I acted on instinct. I slipped my hand onto the small of her back, pulled her body to mine, and kissed her.

  As soon as our lips touched, my racing heartbeat slowed down. My panic was gone. It was replaced by a warm pulse that rolled through me. It was then that I realized how easy it would be to fall in love with Rose. I could really love her.

  When someone behind Rose cleared his throat, we slowly pulled away. Still lost in each other’s eyes, neither of us looked at Brad.

  “Can I steal you way for a few moments?” he asked Rose.

  Was his timing intentional? Had he seen us kissing and come to break us up? Rose had said that everyone had been bad mouthing me. Had Brad been one of them? Was he going to do the same now?

  “Sure,” Rose said turning to Brad with a welcoming smile.

  It was amazing to watch Rose shift her attention to Brad. Rose had the ability to make the person she was looking at feel like the most important person in the world. But when her attention left you, if left you wondering if the connection you felt with her was real.

  I watched as Rose took Brad’s hand and walked away. I knew that that would be the last time I would speak to her before the rose ceremony. So I left and got a drink.

  On my long hike back to camp, I had come up with a plan. As long as I wasn’t eliminated, by the end of
the night, we would all find out what was going on, one way or another.

  As we lined up for the ceremony, I tried to make eye contact with Rose. She was avoiding my gaze. That wasn’t good. As she started handing out roses, I began to believe that my time was finally up.

  Brad was again the first to get a rose. Gray got one, and Bob, too. Even Buck-Naked Billy got one.

  I counted the roses remaining. Only one person was being eliminated tonight, and the last two men without a rose were Spiritual Sam and me. I didn’t know how things had gone on his group date, but I had won mine.

  Even so, my heart raced. With one rose in her hand, the silence dragged on. It was torturous. I was sweating, and then she finally said it.

  “Ford, would you consider spending the rest of your life with me?”

  Her words made me high with relief. I could have bent her over and kissed her right there. I didn’t, though. Instead, I walked up, graciously collected my rose, and then changed the direction of the game.

  “I know what everyone here is thinking,” I said, turning to the guys with my rose in hand. “What’s gonna happen to Sam? Is that nut job, Ford, right? Is Sam gonna disappear and die?”

  “I wasn’t wondering that,” Gray volunteered.

  “I was,” Brad admitted to my surprise.

  Rose touched me on the shoulder. “What are you doing?”

  I softened my voice and turned to Rose. “I’m sorry, but Brad and I watched Freddy die. I know Thorin’s back. I’m not sure how, but clearly there’s no denying that. But I watched three people die after elimination. And I don’t think that Sam should go to the dock.”

  “You think it’s the dock?” Brad asked behind me.

  “What else could it be?” I replied.

  Sam’s pawn pushed through, wanting to escort him away.

  “I don’t think you should go,” I told Sam.

  “Neither do I,” Brad added as he stepped forward and stood next to me.