"And I'm telling you that the engine is working fine and the real problem is in the turbines."
"When have we ever had any problems with the turbines? You're just being stubborn because last time we disassembled the turbines, you misplaced a piece and we had to spend two hours finding it again."
"I misplaced a piece? I'm sorry, Lovelace, I seem to recall you were in the middle of cracking some asinine joke at the time, so forgive me if I wasn't at a hundred percent!"
They'd been fighting for over ten minutes now, and for the last five of them, Doug had had his pants unzipped and had been slowly stroking himself to the sound.
"Are you sure about this, Officer Eiffel? Commander Minkowski and Lovelace aren't that far from the comms room, and the door doesn't lock. They could walk in here any minute." Hera piped up as Eiffel swiped his thumb over the head of his cock.
"It's fine, Hera." It had been strange, at first, realizing that their AI could hear and see everything—and that meant everything. Five hundred days orbiting a star was a long time to go without getting off, and after a few frustrating weeks of trying to abstain at the start of the mission—Minkowski had asked him half a dozen times if he was feeling all right and even threatened to have Hilbert give him a physical–Doug had finally resigned himself to the fact that Hera was just going to be able to see him masturbate.
After a while he'd gotten so used to it, he sometimes asked Hera to help him out—to his disappointment, her servers didn't contain any porn, but it turned out Hera could tell a hell of a dirty story and was more than willing to share her talents with the lonely communications officer. It was like phone sex, but better, because the person talking to him was a highly intelligent AI who customized the storytelling to him based on his physical responses to her words. It was almost spooky how good she was.
"Look, Doug, I know you've got an exhibitionist streak, but do you really want either of them finding out you get off to them fighting?"
"Hera, you are really killing my boner right now." Over the speaker, Lovelace cursed. Doug pumped his fist faster.
"I know for a fact that I'm not. Can't you take this back to your quarters at least?"
"Can't. I'm still on rotation for another forty-five minutes. And trust me—" the arguing had escalated in volume "—I won't need that long."
Just then, the door to the comms room opened.
"I don't know who you think you're calling pigheaded, you're the most—" Minkowski stopped mid-sentence as she entered the room and took in the sight of Eiffel, zipper down, pleasuring himself at the comms console.
"Hera! A little warning!" Doug cried as he hastily tried to do up his pants.
"I tried, Officer Eiffel. You didn't listen."
"What exactly is going on here?" Lovelace asked, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Doug.
"Nothing, sir. Absolutely nothing. Just an ordinary day here in the comms room, getting some very
important and highly delicate work done—"
"You were jerking off. At your station."
"Um. Yes?"
The room was silent for a moment. Doug had only half-succeed at re-dressing himself, but he feared moving and breaking the stillness of the room would somehow make it all worse.
Minkowski breathed deeply. She spoke in a slow, measured tone. "Eiffel. I cannot even begin to tell you how inappropriate this behavior is—"
"Hold on," Lovelace interrupted her. "Eiffel, the comms system is on."
Eiffel spoke slowly. "Yes…"
"Which means that you were hearing every word of the conversation Minkowski and I were just having."
"Yes…"
"So either you're extraordinarily good at blocking out auditory stimuli or…you were enjoying our little disagreement."
Doug opened his mouth. He closed it. He opened it again. He could not thing of a single thing he could say that would improve this situation.
"Hera," Minkowski demanded. "Was Eiffel getting off to us arguing?
"Um…"
"Hera," Minkowski said in a warning tone.
"Affirmative, commander. Sorry, Officer Eiffel."
Doug found his voice.
"Listen, I know how all this looks. But really, don't we have more important things to worry about? It sounded like that issue with the turbines was really serious, I mean, shouldn't we take a look at that?"
"Oh no. You're not talking your way out of this one," Minkowski said. "We are going to have a serious conversation about this—"
"C'mon, it's not like I was hurting anyone or doing any damage to the system or anything—"
"—completely inappropriate, not to mention to mention a wildly unproductive use of time—"
"— there's really no reason to make a whole big thing out of it—"
"Eiffel! Shut up!" The two women shouted in unison.
"I swear, Eiffel, sometimes I want to gag you just so you'll shut up for ten seconds," Minkowski said.
"I wouldn't recommend that, commander," said Hera. "Eiffel would probably enjoy it."
"Hera!" Doug said. "Come on! First you sell me down the river, then you poke a hole in the boat?"
"Well, in that case, we'll have to come up with a proper punishment," Minkowski said. "One you won't enjoy, Eiffel!"
"I don't know about that, Minkowski," Lovelace said, her voice thoughtful. "Maybe we should give Eiffel exactly what he enjoys."
"What are you talking about?" Minkowski said, turning to face her.
"Well. Sometimes having what you want right in front of you but not being able to have it can be the worst punishment of all."
Minkowski raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."
"Eiffel. Strip." Lovelace spoke with the authority of one used to command.
"Um. Excuse me?"
"You heard me, Eiffel. Clothes off. Now."
"I don’t…."
"Oh, don't get shy now, it's nothing Minkowski and I haven't already seen. You've got three seconds to start getting naked before I do it for you."
There was a certain appeal to that idea, but Doug was trapped somewhere between terrified and turned on, so he undressed in a series of hasty, graceless movements and let his clothes drop unceremoniously to the floor. He had the impulse to cover himself, but Lovelace’s words about not bothering were still echoing in his ears.
“Now,” Lovelace said. “Minkowski, would you please go to the storage closet at the end of this hallway and fetch me a length of cotton rope and a pair of handcuffs?”
“With pleasure.” Minkowski didn't seem like she had any more idea what was going on than Doug did, but with the possibility of punishing Doug for his wrongdoing on the horizon, she seemed more than willing to do as Lovelace asked. Doug swallowed nervously.
“So, Hera,” Lovelace said, tone casual even as her eyes glinted wickedly. “I imagine I'm not the only one putting your storytelling abilities to good use.”
“Wait, you mean you—Hera—does everyone—?” Doug sputtered.
“Minkowski’s too self-conscious to try it and I doubt Hilbert’s ever had a sexual thought in his life,” Lovelace replied. “But a girl’s got needs. And a certain lovely AI is more than capable of meeting those needs.”
“At your service, Captain,” Hera said in a sing-song voice.
“But I—you—“ Doug was trying to wrap his head around the knowledge that Lovelace also masturbated to Hera’s dirty stories—a fact that was causing a lot of feelings to wrestle around inside him, although arousal seemed to be winning—but Lovelace didn't give him time to digest.
“Hera, I want to you to tell me everything Doug gets off to.”
“What?” Doug spat. “No!”
“Shut up, Eiffel.”
“But that's—I mean Minkowski was just talking about inappropriate workplace behavior, you can't just—”
“You lost your right to privacy when you invaded Minkowski’s and mine for something to beat your meat to. And besides,” Lovelace moved closer and her voice got deeper and darker. “I thought I told you to shut up.”
Doug’s head was reeling. He knew he was being punished, but the way Lovelace was talking sounded like she was coming on to him, and there was that comment she'd made, that tantalizing comment about seeing what you want but not being able to have it…
Just then, Minkowski returned with the handcuffs and rope. “This enough rope, Captain?” she asked, handing them to Lovelace.
“That’ll be plenty. Thank you, Minkowski.” Lovelace didn't take her eyes off Doug. “Sit, Eiffel.”
He opened his mouth for a “yes, sir” before remembering that he'd been ordered silent. He sat wordlessly in the comms chair.
“Do you know how I paid my way through college, Eiffel?” Lovelace said, still not breaking eye contact with him even as she began to unwind the rope.
“…flipping…burgers?” Doug’s voice came out a squeak.
“Hit him, Minkowski.”
Minkowski didn't hesitate, didn't hold back. She just slapped Eiffel, hard and solid across the cheek. Doug cried out, but his dick twitched, too, and he knew the two women (plus Hera) could both see it.
“No, Doug,” Lovelace continued, just as cool and collected as if she hadn't just ordered Minkowski to hit him across the face, “I made my living giving orders. And not in my capacity as a commanding officer. In a more…sexual capacity. Do you know what the word is for that, Eiffel? You may speak.”
“A…a dominatrix? Sir?”
“Very good, Eiffel. A dominatrix. And something tells me you're awfully fond of the idea of being dominated—is that right, Hera?”
“Oh, yes, Captain Lovelace. In fact, it's probably Eiffel’s favorite fantasy.”
“Heraaaaa,” Eiffel whined in protest. Minkowski hit him again, from the other direction this time.
“Ow!”
“You're having a tough time with this whole ‘quiet’ thing, aren't you, Eiffel?” Minkowski said.
“That's all right,” Lovelace said coolly. “We’ll just have to help him along.” And suddenly a piece of thick rope, which Eiffel hadn't even noticed Lovelace cutting into sections with her pocket knife, was being shoved into his mouth and tied firmly—but not uncomfortably so—behind his head. Lovelace made quick work of the rest of the rope, binding his arms and ankles to the chair tightly enough that he couldn't move an inch but not so tight as to cut off circulation.
Eiffel wished he weren't so desperately, visibly turned on by all this, but he also knew there was nothing he could do about it. Which was what he liked about bondage in the first place—no power, no control. No decisions, and therefore no mistakes. No matter what Lovelace and Minkowski—and Hera, for that matter—had in store for him, he was completely and totally helpless. His muscles had already started to relax.
"What was it you used to say about Hilbert?" Lovelace said. "'What's wrong with handcuffs?'"
Doug nodded and swallowed.
"Nothing, in my opinion. At least, not when it comes to sex." And with that, Lovelace snapped the cuffs shut around Doug's wrists. He was officially trapped.
Lovelace moved back to admire the view. “My, what a pretty picture you make,” she said with just a hint of fondness in her voice.
“And a quiet one, too,” Minkowski added.
“There's only one more thing we need…” Lovelace’s eyes scanned the console. “Ah. That'll do nicely.” She pulled a rubber ring off the bottom of a lever.
“Uh, Lovelace? What are you doing pulling pieces off the comms console?” Hera asked.
“Well, we can't make it too easy for him,” Lovelace said, grinning as she twirled the rubber ring around her finger. She moved toward Doug, who felt a rush of adrenaline in his veins that was equal parts terror and thrill.
With lithe fingers, Lovelace stretched the ring around Doug’s cock, fitting it snugly at the base. It was a perfect fit. Doug had the feeling she knew it would be.
“There,” Lovelace said. “That should keep Dougie here from getting too excited and ruining our fun.”
“And what fun is that, precisely?” Minkowski said.
“Yeah,” Hera said. “What's the plan here, Captain?”
"Simple," Lovelace replied. "I'm going to have sex with Commander Minkowski. And Eiffel is going to watch."
And then a lot of sound happened all at once. Eiffel made a strangled noise behind his gag, somewhere between a whimper and a moan. Hera made a sound that, if she were human, would have been a low whistle. And Minkowski started shouting.
"Listen, I am completely on board with punishing Eiffel, Lord knows he has it coming, but what exactly makes you think I'm going to have sex with you? I am married, Lovelace!"
"Married ain't dead, is it?" Lovelace asked, her voice still in those low, seductive tones. "C'mon, Renée. Let's not pretend you've never looked at me and wondered what it would be like to take me to bed. I know I've wondered the same about you. Haven't you ever wanted to try being with a woman?"
"What makes you think it would be my first time with a woman?" Minkowski looked defiant, but there was an unevenness in her voice that suggested she wasn't entirely in control of herself.
Lovelace grinned. "Why don't you show me what you've got, commander?"
Minkowski hesitated for just a moment, her hands clenching and unclenching into fists. Then she grabbed Lovelace by the waist and pulled her into a deep kiss, heavy with tongue.
It wasn't long before Lovelace's hands were on Minkowski's ass and Minkowski's were on Lovelace's tits, fondling them over her shirt for a moment before sliding underneath the hem to grope over her bra, the pads of her thumbs rubbing back and forth over the exposed parts of her breasts.
"Mmmmm, you do know how to handle a woman," Lovelace said against Minkowski's lips before ducking her head down to suck on the other woman's neck, giving her ass a squeeze as she did so.
"I could say the same thing about you," Minkowski half-said, half-gasped as Lovelace nipped her earlobe.
Both women lost their shirts quickly, and Minkowski ran her hands over Lovelace's gorgeously rock hard abs. Eiffel had always suspected, based on how toned the rest of Lovelace's body was, that she might have a six-pack, and his suspicions were confirmed in glorious detail as Minkowski traced every inch of them with her fingers.
That's when Hera chimed in.
"Use your tongue."
"Hm?" Minkowski said, her attention elsewhere.
"On Lovelace's stomach. Use your tongue."
"Not going to give away all my secrets are you, Hera?"
"Only the ones you'll most enjoy, Captain."
Lovelace grinned, then groaned when Minkowski dropped to her knees and began tracing the other woman's abs with her tongue.
"Oh, yeah. That's nice," Lovelace said softly. She continued to make quiet, lovely sounds in the back of her throat as Minkowski worked. Minkowski's hands found their way to Lovelace's bra again, and this time, Lovelace unhooked it and dropped it to the floor, bringing her lush, gorgeous breasts into full view. Minkowski swiped a thumb underneath one of them, and when this earned her a low moan from Lovelace, rose to half-standing so she could lick and suck the sensitive skin just under her tits.
"Fuck, that's good," Lovelace said. "Don't stop."
Minkowski didn't, just licked a few stripes up the side of one of Lovelace's breasts before teasing at her nipples, tracing circles with her thumb on one side and her tongue on the other.
"Try adding just a bit of teeth, commander," Hera suggested. "The captain likes things rough."
Minkowski scraped her teeth against Lovelace's nipple, and Lovelace threw her head back and moaned, deep and loud and guttural.
Doug was going to die. He was certain of it; this was how he was going to go. Tied up and gagged in the comms room, watching his commanding officers pleasure each other while a remarkably sexy AI egged them on.
He could think of worse ways to go.
Lovelace tugged Minkowski back into a standing position, her hand on the back of her neck, and kissed her with a rough urgency. She made quick work of Minkowski's bra, unhooking it one-handed before sliding it off her shoulders. Doug couldn't help but strain his neck a bit trying to see, but he needn't have bothered, as Lovelace shifted the two of them so that their breasts, pressed close together as their tongues continued to slide across one another, were fully in Doug's line of sight.
They broke apart for air, still locked in an embrace, and Lovelace glanced at Doug, helpless and desperately hard in his chair. "Enjoying yourself, Douglas?" she said, a dark chuckle in her voice.
Doug could only whimper around his gag.
"You know, I like him better like this," Minkowski said. "Quiet, attentive. So unlike his usual self."
"Mmm, enough about Eiffel," Lovelace said. "Let's get back to you, sweetheart."
Lovelace pressed her lips into Minkowski's neck while her hands dipped beneath the hem of her pants, rubbing her lightly, teasingly above her underwear.
"Jesus, Minkowski, you're dripping."
"You've got only yourself to blame for that," Minkowski answered, undoing her belt roughly and shoving her pants and underwear—black lace, Doug noted briefly—down her hips. Lovelace's pupils were blown wide with lust as she looked the commander up and down.
"Damn, Minkowski. You're just as gorgeous naked as I always thought."
"Thanks. Wish I could say the same thing about you. Care to fix that?"
Lovelace chuckled with all the outward control of a dominatrix, but there was just a bit of clumsiness in the way she finished undressing herself that hinted she was just as desperate as Minkowski was.
"There," Lovelace said. "Now, why don't you get on your back so I can eat you out properly?"
"My pleasure, captain."
Minkowski lay on the floor of the comms room, her legs spread wide and willing for the other woman. Doug caught a brief glimpse of pretty pink-red labia before Lovelace, sitting on her knees, ducked her head down and begin pressing gentle kisses to the insides of Minkowski's thighs.
"You're in for a treat, commander," said Hera. "Lovelace has done this a lot of times."
"Oh, yeah? Well, then I'm sure—oh!" Minkowski's words collapsed into a startled gasp as Lovelace licked up one side of her cunt, then the other. Lovelace grinned before diving back in, alternating pressing wet, open-mouthed kisses against her lips and exploring Minkowski's cunt with her tongue, pressing harder when she found places that made Minkowski cry out. When she flicked the tip of her tongue against Minkowski's clit, Minkowski practically screamed.
"See, you're not like me," Lovelace said, her mouth still pressed against Minkowski's skin. "I like to be handled roughly, thrown around a bit. You like that sort of thing too, sometimes, but at heart you're a sappy romantic. You want me to whisper sweet nothings in your ear while I fuck you senseless."
"I don't care how you fuck me, Lovelace, just do it!"
Doug couldn't help himself now; he thrust into the air at nothing, desperate for something, anything to relieve the aching pressure in his cock, almost painful as it strained against Lovelace's homemade cock ring. His breath was ragged, his every vein pounding, and he thought it couldn't get any worse—until Lovelace slid a finger into Minkowski's cunt, and he swore his brain short-circuited for a moment.
"Mmm, you're so warm and wet and lovely, Renée," Lovelace said, gently crooking her fingers inside the writhing Minkowski. "I could stay inside you all day."
Minkowski was too far gone for any coherent response; she just whimpered and bucked her hips. Lovelace, in response, slid a second finger inside her and curled both fingers in a "come hither" motion that must have hit Minkowski in just the right spot because she shrieked and gasped. Lovelace put her lips to Minkowski's ear and began whispering things Doug couldn't hear as she continued playing with the other woman's cunt, two fingers moving inside her while her thumb traced gentle circles over her clit.
"Isabel!" Minkowski shrieked as she came, hard and fast on the comms room floor, waves of pleasure hitting her as Lovelace continued cooing softly in her ear.
"Good girl," Eiffel heard her whisper. "Now hold on just a minute while I finish myself."
"No," Minkowski said, her voice weak in her blissed-out stupor. "I'll do it."
"Commander, I don't know that you're in any state to—" Hera said.
"I've got this, Hera," Minkowski said. "What'll get her there the fastest?"
"Have her sit on your face. She loves that."
"You sure you're okay with this?" Lovelace said.
"Yes," Minkowski said. "Do it."
Lovelace straddled Minkowski's face, and the commander licked her, sloppy and imprecise but determined.
"Fuck, Renée," Lovelace said, rocking her hips just slightly against the other woman's tongue. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
And a moment later she was coming. Her orgasm was quieter than Minkowski's but just as lovely, her head thrown back and her eyes shut, deep moans escaping her lips.
They stayed like that for a moment, breathing, coming down. Then Lovelace stood and helped Minkowski up as well.
"Well, Renée, Hera," Lovelace said, as calm and collected as if nothing unusual had happened. "What do you think? Has Eiffel been sufficiently punished?"
All eyes turned toward Doug, who was red-faced and panting, straining desperately against his restraints, although they held tight. Lovelace was a professional, after all.
"I think so, Captain," Hera said. "Look at him."
"He certainly does look desperate," Minkowski said.
"All right, Eiffel," Lovelace said. "Since the commander's kind attentions have left me in such a good mood…we'll give you a little something for your troubles."
"But no more jacking off in the comms room!" Minkowski said. "Got it?"
Doug nodded furiously.
"Any more helpful tips for us, Hera?" Lovelace said.
"Neck kisses. He's a total sucker for neck kisses."
The two women looked at one another and nodded. Without exchanging a word, they knelt down on either side of Eiffel and pressed their lips against his neck, Minkowski giving him gentle kisses and Lovelace sucking roughly and nipping with her teeth. Doug melted. Then each of them slid one hand down to his cock and their fingertips stroked him together, one woman's hand indistinguishable from the other's.
"Count down from three for me, Hera," Lovelace said.
"Three," Hera said. "Two…one."
And on "one," Lovelace rolled the ring off Eiffel's cock, and he came instantly, in hard, fast bursts that left him groaning and half-blinded by the force of it. It kept going and going, longer than he thought was possible, until he collapsed in an exhausted heap, breathing heavily as he came back to himself.
"Eiffel?" It was Minkowski's voice, he thought. Someone behind him—Lovelace, it had to be—was untying his restraints, his gag and handcuffs already removed and his arms beginning to fall free.
"Yeah?" His voice came out quiet and raw. His cheeks were wet—tears, he realized.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah," he said, "Yeah. This just…this just happens sometimes."
"What he means is he sometimes cries after sex," Hera chimed in. "It's a hormonal thing—both the emotional and physical aspects of sexual activity cause the levels of various hormones in the brain to spike, and tears are the body's way of expelling them and restoring equilibrium."
"Yeah, that," Doug said.
Lovelace had finished untying the ropes and was gently massaging his wrists. "Wiggle your fingers and toes for me," she said. Doug complied, and she nodded, satisfied. Then she pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"Crying after sex is perfectly normal," she said. "Lots of people do it."
"Yeah," Doug said. "But that doesn't make it make it any less embarrassing. Especially in front of you two." He tried to bury his face in his hands, but Minkowski grabbed his hands and held them in her own.
"Nothing to be embarrassed about, Eiffel." She squeezed his hands gently.
Doug smiled a bit. "Thanks, commander." Lovelace brought him some tissues to dry his eyes with while she cleaned him up. Minkowski stroked his hair gently, which was—nice.
When he finished crying, Lovelace leaned her head against Minkowski's shoulder and considered him.
"You know, Eiffel? I think I'd like to make you cry again sometime."
"Y-yeah?"
"Yeah. Maybe from coming so hard, like today, or…maybe I'll spank you until you cry. Or pull your hair…or pinch your nipples…I'm sure Hera could give me a few ideas."
"More than a few, Captain."
"And I would, of course, love to have Minkowski join me for the festivities…Minkowski?"
"I think that could be arranged," Minkowski said, the faintest hint of a smile on her lips.
"Good," Lovelace said. "Now, back to work, everyone. We've gotten quite behind schedule, haven't we?"
"Aye aye, sir," said Doug, and he began picking up his clothes.