“You need to remember what kind of program you signed up for, Laura.” Nurse Samuels set down her tablet and stepped closer. “This isn’t a standard medical examination. You’re applying to be an associate member of Selecta Arrangements, which means you’ll be what you might call the junior partner in a sexual relationship—a relationship in which the senior partner is an extremely wealthy man who has the right to expect his money’s worth. To ensure your eligibility for the premium offer you applied for, I have to inspect your body thoroughly, test your responses, and evaluate your potential as an associate member. Modesty is not a consideration here.”
The words made my stomach drop.Junior partner. Associate member. Hearing it stated so baldly made the reality of what I was doing crash over me.
Nurse Samuels picked up her tablet again, scrolling through what I assumed was my file. “The preliminary data from your application is quite revealing. Selecta has developed some extraordinary technology to extrapolate psychosexual patterns from small pieces of biometric data. The application you filled out online captured not only your actual responses, but the way you moved the cursor and the time you took to answer certain questions. Then, of course, our computers scraped your publicly available data, and a very clear picture emerged—which is why you’re here this afternoon.”
My lips had parted, my jaw going slack. I closed my mouth, feeling like a fish—one specifically way, way out of water.
“And?” I managed to whisper. “I mean… I guess I mean… whyamI here? Besides, you know… the money?”
“You’re here, Laura, because we’ve identified you as a natural, though repressed, submissive who requires old-fashioned discipline and thorough sexual domination to live a happy, fulfilling life.”
“I… I don’t…” I couldn’t form words. My face felt like it was on fire.
“The data doesn’t lie, Laura. You need structure. Control. A firm hand. I’m guessing you were expelled from college? We don’t have the actual records for that, but your behavior over the past forty-eight hours, as available in the public record as well as in the application you filled out… well, it’s highly suggestive of a girl who broke an important rule and suffered the consequences—though by no means what I might call thefullconsequences.”
My heart had skipped three or four beats by the time the nurse had finished delivering this much-too-accurate assessment. I bit my lip, my brow working hard and my cheeks burning.
“I don’t need a verbal answer, given what I can see in your face,” Nurse Samuels said. Her voice had a modicum of compassion in it that my heart clung to like a makeshift raft in churning rapids. “But I think you might want to consider what made you cheat… what you were really looking for when you made that poor decision.”
“I… I…” I looked down at the floor, clutching my forearm inadequately over my breasts and my other hand over my lightly thatched pussy. “I don’t know what you mean.”
But I did. I definitely did, no matter how hard I tried to deny it.
The nurse looked up at me over her glasses. She raised her eyebrows, let me see them raised, and finally continued.
“Alright, be that as it may, we’ll start with some basic questions. How often do you masturbate?”
The question made me quail back a step, my tummy lurching. “That’s… that’s private!”
“Nothing is private here. Answer the question.”
I shook my head, my arms still crossed over my breasts. “I’m not… I can’t…”
“Laura.” Her voice took on a warning edge. “How. Often. Do you masturbate?”
CHAPTER 2
Laura
The truth burned in my throat—every night before bed, every morning when I woke up. Sometimes twice in the morning if I had time before class. But the words wouldn’t come. My throat closed up, my face burning so hot I thought I might actually pass out.
“I’m not answering that,” I managed to choke out.
Nurse Samuels didn’t look surprised. She didn’t even look annoyed. Instead, a small, knowing smile curved her lips as she made a note on her tablet.
“Thank you,” she said.
I blinked. “What?”
“Your refusal to answer told me exactly what I needed to know.” She turned the tablet toward me, showing me a graph with colored lines spiking across the screen. “See these biometric readings? We’ve been monitoring your heart rate, skin temperature, pupil dilation, and several other markers since you entered this room. When I asked that question, your body gave me a very clear answer even if your mouth didn’t.”
My stomach dropped. “You can’t… that’s not…”
“The spike in your stress response, combined with the specific pattern of your physiological reactions, indicates habitual behavior you’re deeply ashamed of. The data suggests you masturbate at least twice daily—quite likely more. Morning and evening, the algorithm predicts, based on the way your eyes moved when I asked the question.”
I wanted to argue, to deny it, but my voice had completely abandoned me. How could they know that? How could they possibly know?
“Don’t look so shocked, Laura. This is what Selecta does. We read bodies better than most people read books.” She set the tablet down and stepped closer, her sharp eyes never leaving my face. “Now, let’s move on to the physical examination. Up on the table, please. On your back.”
