The Rules of the Game - Side B

Side A and Side B take place simultaneously and can be read in either order, but it may be better to read Side A first as it describes the rules of the game in text. The full rules with appendices are printed at the end of this story.

The other woman waited for her old rival to arrive. When he walked in, though, she noticed the look the woman down the bar gave and received. Even before he sat down, she knew there would be no match with him- very few players would pass up a promising new opponent. She sighed, stirred her drink, caught up, and told him she wouldn't be offended if he wanted to play with the new girl down the bar. The old rival smiled at her, knowing how much she loved breaking in novices. As always, everyone would win.

The novice couldn't quite remember where he'd met her, only that she'd intoxicated him instantly. She'd asked him if he played the game, which was an absurd question- he'd picked up girls on every continent, crossed language barriers to get women into bed with him. Women were easy. A Porsche key left on the table, an expensive watch, a subtle reference to a job in finance- they'd lean over, touch his leg, and he'd have them in his bed in half an hour. The game is fucking easy. Their first meeting was foggy, something about playing a game, and an address for a hotel he'd never heard of on a street he didn't know. He accepted.

Another man entered the room, and as he passed, her attention followed him. The long answers and easy conversation became curt yeses and nos, and he read the writing on the wall. He dismissed himself with a made-up story about a work emergency, and got up to leave. They clearly knew each other, and he didn't want to waste a full night waiting to be rejected. There were other easy women in other places, after all- he still had time to head to one of his hunting grounds and keep this night from being a total waste.

As she left, the novice the other woman'd brought was standing in the lobby texting. Nothing made it more obvious that he'd never played- everyone who knew this address either knew the rules or would be learning them tonight, and she loved to teach.

She told him the rules, and he accepted with a smirk. He stood, and forced his hand down the front of her pants, pawing at her with all the skill and grace of a virginal high schooler. She stared into him, silent, face neutral. Inside, she was gleeful- he had no chance of winning, but would try anyway, making him the perfect tool to work out her frustration. She would break him slowly.

There was no rhythm to his movements, no care, no pauses to build tension. She thought back to her own first games, raggedly jerking her opponents off and giving uneven, pornstar blowjobs before a reversal brought her to surrender in seconds. He asked her if she likes it. She held back laughter.

He was going hard, fingerbanging her. He hasn't done it in a while, and didn't eat pussy, because why would you eat pussy when you've got a huge dick? Once she took it out and saw it for the first time, she'd kneel just to get a chance to get railed by it.

She waited, patiently, for her non-reaction to crack his confidence just a little. She didn't want to make him angry, not just yet, but she needed him to give up on his skill and focus on his size. She could see him hardening, knew he was massive- she could also tell from his complete lack of technique that he wouldn't know how to properly use his size. When he surrendered, she would teach him.

She lifted his hand from her pants, and pushed it towards his face. He moved backwards reflexively, so fast that he fell onto the bed, and she pounced. She ripped pants and underwear down, lifted his shirt and pushed him flat onto the bed. He was very large, well above average. Too big for someone this unskilled to effectively use. She looked up at the smug grin on his face. He thought the simple reveal of his size would be enough to win, as so many overendowed novices do. That thought would not last long.

The women he knew would be forcing themselves deeper onto his cock by now, gagging and spraying spit all over the place, but she'd seen his size and still wasn't really working on it, just staring. She moved up his body, planting a small kiss on one of his nipples. As she did, the very tip of him brushed her thigh. He took a sharp breath in- she'd barely, barely touched him by accident, so why did he feel as much as he'd felt?

She kissed his chest, his other nipple. She drifted downwards, lazily kissing his abs, his belly button, left hip, right hip, sometimes going higher, sometimes lower, drifting down his body at an agonizing, slow speed. Then, thighs, inner thighs, and she hovered above his cock, just breathing on the back of the shaft, never touching it. Her eyes showing defiance, will, strength, she slowly moved up his shaft, never touching him, just breathing, until her mouth was directly above his tip. She stood.

His eyes registered shock, anger, frustration, but his body was so wracked with sexual tension and desire that he could barely move. For the first time in the night, he thought about surrendering.

After a long pause, she went back to work. The tip of her tongue touched the back of his shaft, and she slowly drew it up until it reached the top of him. He was holding back convulsions, but did not cum. Once again, she lifted herself away.

Just the tip of her tongue was lightning, electricity shocking his entire body. Every inch of him she touched grew his desire to surrender, to feel the pleasure she could bring him as her slave, to become hers for a night. If she could do this while barely touching him, what else could she do, would she do? His ego slowly shrank and surrendered to his overpowering desire. He rose from the bed, stood in front of her, and knelt.

She was proud of herself- she was fully clothed, him fully naked, kneeling before her, looking up at her. She'd hoped to break him without tasting him at all, but she'd gotten a little impatient by using her tongue. It didn't matter; she would enjoy an evening of teaching this amateur how to use his body properly.

He'd reacted viscerally to her sex in his fingers- that meant the first lesson was on properly using his mouth. She pulled pants and panties down to reveal herself, glistening with anticipation. She grabbed his hair and lifted his head into her, forcing him to taste her. Moving him away, she ordered his mouth open, and his tongue out. She gently lifted his obedient face to her, guiding his tongue into her clit. She used his face as a toy, teaching him rhythm, movement, pauses, anticipation, teaching him to read the movements of her body, to see the subtle shifts of muscle in her thighs and abs, to read the signs in his lovers' bodies. He learned quickly.

He had submitted, and while his ego was furious, the reason he'd knelt was still present in his mind. Just a small touch of the tip of her tongue was electricity, a shock coursing through every vein in his body. He wanted, desperately, to have more, to feel the full force of her, and he'd do whatever she wanted to get it. Above and beyond that, he'd made a deal, and would honor it. He felt, for the first time, that he was being taught, wordlessly guided. In defeat, he was learning, learning the skills which he'd use to become a great player himself in time. As he looked up at her face, she smiled, as he brought her closer and closer to the first orgasm he'd ever give a woman.

As it arched over her, the pleasure was mixed with a strong pride. Initiating a truly new player, elevating the amateur was a very rare joy, an ironic sort of missionary work. She remembered the first game she'd played, how a true master had shown her what she needed and where she needed it for the first time. She looked down at the messy-faced boy panting beneath her, face covered in the thing he'd recoiled from just a few minutes ago. He had done well, and would be rewarded.

He was once again laying on the bed, and she was once again over him. Again, she brushed against him in ways that might seem accidental but were entirely intentional. Again, she slowly made her way down to him, and again she barely touched him with the tip of her tongue. His surrender had cracked his mask of bravado, and now it fell away- at the touch, his back arched, his breath became ragged, and he barely held himself in. This time, she didn't pull away- she attacked him, first with her tongue, then her mouth and hands, then her throat. The cocky fuckboy she met at the beginning was now writhing under her assault, completely at her mercy, having completely lost control of himself, experiencing mastery for the first time. His breathing quickened, his hips bucked faster, his moans escaped him, louder and louder- and all at once he got what he had desperately wanted, his surrender bearing fruit which she eagerly swallowed.

He finally understood. He understood that every girl that had ever gone down on him was fumbling around in the dark, either trying to get to the main event or proceeding from grim obligation. He understood that he could learn more, understand the theory and practice of sex through this game, teach others, eleva-

She cut off his introspection by straddling his face and slamming herself down on him, once again using his stupid fucking haircut to pull his mouth and nose into her. She needed him to reawaken, needed to teach him more, teach him more rhythms, teach him the geometry of the angles of their hips together, teach him how to use his size without inflicting unwanted pain- they had so much to learn together, and she needed to convince his body that they weren't done yet before his hormones tranquilized him. His wide-eyed shock as she stared laser beams down at him told her he was very awake, and she looked over her shoulder to see his blood returning to its proper place. She was going to enjoy every minute of this very, very long night.

He was shocked to his senses by her sitting on his face, and the post-orgasm fog he had almost succumbed to was blown from his brain. He obediently tasted her again, and he saw a nearly demonic glint of joy in her eyes as she noticed him returning to full hardness. She had more to teach, and he was ready to learn.

She slid back, placing his tip at her entrance, slowly rocking back and forth. She slowly lowered herself onto him, but at the last inch she slowly turned her hips downwards, pressing him into the front of her, feeling his veins slowly drag across the place she needed him to learn to find. She pressed below her stomach, slowly moving up and down just one inch, rubbing him on that spot, until she was sure he understood. She slowly lowered herself down until his tip touched the end of her, making sure he saw exactly how much of him she could take. She reached down, pulling on his thigh until he changed the angle of his hips just slightly, and she shifted hers to match. She guided him through each full length thrust, each time getting slightly faster, while staying in perfect, matched rhythm.

He could feel the difference in the spots inside her, see her reactions when he found them, touched them. She would shift her hips and he'd lose it, but then hit the right angle to find it again. She rode him, first with complex shifts in angle and position, then getting more and more basic, as she handed the responsibility for her pleasure off to him in small pieces.

After he had brought her to orgasm in one position, she would move him to the next, showing him where and how to touch and hold her, where to grab, where to massage, where to press, how to shift her, how to move her to best fit their bodies together. From behind, she guided his hand to her clit, and he learned to massage her in time with his thrusts; in missionary, she showed him how to press two fingers below her belly button for even more internal contact. Every surface in their room was put to use, every angle, every height difference, every inch of him found every inch of her, until she once again pinned him to the bed, and with eyes full of raw, fiery, predatory passion she rode him, slamming herself down onto her, their bodies dripping with hours of sweat and spit and sex, until she felt him twitch inside of her, and their final orgasms came together.

They collapsed into each other, exhausted, panting, completely spent, their ragged breathing and pounding heartbeats still in sync with one another. She released him, and the game was over- they hydrated, and showered, and slept, holding each other closely, knowing that when the morning came they would be strangers again. Maybe in a year or two they'd play again, and she'd be able to check his progress- see what new skills he'd learn from other opponents. One of the many great joys of the game is seeing your old adversaries grow and shift, and either teach them in victory or learn from them in defeat.

At 11, they check out. She sees her old friend and the new woman he'd played with checking out together, and smiles. She'd been disappointed not to play him, of course, but the joy of bringing a new player into the game overshadowed her jealousy.

He lingered, hoping he'd done well enough to get a phone number, clumsily asking for a rematch as she looked over at the others who'd played that night. She smiled, and giggled slightly, and repeated rule 6 to him. It hurt, not to know whether he'd see her again, but she reminded him of the many other matches he had yet to play with the many other players he would meet. She made the customary offer to a wounded new player: Same place, same time, same day, one year from now.

She hoped he would learn enough by then to beat her.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rule 0: All players must enter the game willingly and knowingly, and once the game has begun, any player may stop anything at any time for any reason. Triggering this rule results in the immediate end of gameplay until all players have voluntarily chosen to restart the game.

Rule 1: All players must enter the game with a genuine desire to win, and all players must attempt to win to the best of their abilities.

Rule 2: No toys or tools may be used to induce a surrender.

Rule 3: No penetrative sex may occur until a surrender has occurred. When no players are capable of penetration, an alternative threshold should be mutually agreed upon before the start of play.

Rule 4: A player has surrendered to another player when they voluntarily make eye contact and kneel. No player may be forced to surrender by physical means. The surrendered player is considered a slave for the rest of that night's gameplay, and the person to whom they have surrendered is their master.

Rule 5: A slave must obey all commands from their master, with the exception of any commands which are refused under Rule 0 or any commands which conflict with a declared sexual orientation. Certain activities or commands are subject to pre-clearance, and pre-clearance procedures are described in appendix A.

Rule 6: What is inside the game stays inside the game, and what is outside the game stays outside the game.

APPENDIX A: PRE-CLEARANCE

When players wish to play for higher stakes, a pre-clearance phase is initiated after all players have come into a private space but before the beginning of play. What ought to be subject to pre-clearance is a subject of some debate, but any use of non-standard tools or toys, any toys of unusual size or shape, any fetish play involving bodily functions not normally involved in intercourse, any physical restraint of any player, any intentional infliction of pain, or any involvement of anyone outside the gameplay (including exhibitionism or voyeurism) are always subject to pre-clearance. As always, when in doubt, ask.

If an activity is pre-cleared, it is pre-cleared for all players; anyone who surrenders may be commanded to participate in any pre-cleared activity, and the only way to refuse that command is to trigger rule 0 and end the game. Players are encouraged to consider that in the case of their defeat they will be expected to participate in any and all pre-cleared activities, and so should not pre-clear anything they are unwilling to be on the receiving end of.

APPENDIX B: GENERAL BEST PRACTICE

As with any athletic competition, strong players engage in both physical conditioning and theoretical study. Strategies of play vary wildly from player to player, as surprise is a strong element of successful gameplay.

Some players may have disabilities which prevent them from exactly performing some elements of the rules (e. g. a player who uses a wheelchair being unable to kneel.) These rules assume that players with disabilities have experience modifying sexual activity to accommodate those disabilities, and are assumed to be willing and able to adapt these rules to suit their individual needs.

Due to the zero-sum nature of the game, various proposals have been made to adapt Chess' ELO system to this game. No sanctioning body or universal ruleset exists for the game at this time, and the observation of referees or judges would probably have a substantial detrimental impact on gameplay for all but a few players with certain inclinations towards observing and being observed. As a result, the game is unable to make ranked competitive sex a reality, and which players have achieved the rank of master and grandmaster cannot be verified at this time.

Author's note:

This game is something I've developed over time through experimentation with a few partners, and it's a great way to break the stalemate when everyone in a room is an easygoing switch. That said, any notes you have (or experiences you have, if you're willing to try this out) would be appreciated.

May you find joy in victory or defeat,

C. Gray