Stiff silence permeated the hotel halls as Twilight stepped along the firm carpet with the grace and finesse of gymnast.

She’d left Akames in the stair shaft because she thought nothing interesting would happen there. She’d started to regret leaving her, though. So far the rest of the hotel had been just as boring.

Try as she might to find whoever they were after, or at least anyone to have fun with, Twilight had wandered the hotel alone since leaving Akames. If she didn’t find someone soon she’d head to the roof. Top floor or roof made the most thematic sense for a showdown, after all.

A door caught her eye. A cyan feather hung from the doorknob. Twilight grinned—she recognized that feather. She turned the doorknob but it only jostled, locked.

Not a problem.

With a twirl of her arms she summoned a mass of latex tentacles over her legs, a royal indigo and blue more likely to be seen in a palace than the ocean. She slammed them into the wooden door and it collapsed like a toothpick sculpture. She smirked and launched herself into the room beyond, tentacles writhing and ready to grab anything that moved.

Thick heat streamed over her like a sauna repurposed to an overwrought bakery. Pink and red hearts plastered the bright room, and Twilight blinked until her eyes adjusted to the dazzling color after all the dark, gloomy halls. A plethora of hearts surrounded her: heart paintings, heart lamps, heart ornaments on tables or hanging from the ceiling, a strobe light flashing hearts over the walls, all around a heart-patterned lamia seated at a square table and paging through Fiona’s mythology book.

“You could have knocked,” Jb said, eyes on the book.

Next to the table sat Akames, bound in Jb’s coils, her open smile unnatural for the dour guardian. Cira sat on a nearby heart-shaped bed with a rigid grin, Jb’s tail wrapped around her. So surprised was Twilight to see Cira quiet and still, she didn’t notice Fiona caressing the tail next to her at first. On a love seat wrapped in Jb’s coils lay Salsa, so quiet Twilight almost didn’t recognize her. All of their eyes glowed pink and red. Above Salsa, a petite person wearing a wedding dress hugged the coils.

Twilight glanced at the room edges, where more people sat and brushed the long, red, scaly tail snaking throughout the room. Some looked pale and frail, but all had wide, daydreaming smiles and eyes like her team. Twilight smirked. It looked like a scene out of a royal chambers, not an abandoned hotel. She covered her mouth with a sleeve to filter the thick, sweet air of the room.

“So who are you?” Twilight asked. “Queen of hearts?”

Jb smiled. “A queen doesn’t begin to compare. Just ask your friends.” She snapped her fingers.

“My love g-goddess, Jb!” Cira responded as if from a code activation. Akames repeated the affirmation, a little slurred yet perfectly clear. Fiona and Salsa responded the same with drunken moans. Twilight chuckled.

“You really did well for yourself here, huh?”

“Too well, perhaps,” Jb said. “I don’t need all these thralls, and I’ve clearly drawn attention to myself.” She sighed and closed the book. “Yet it seems I haven’t done well enough.” Her voice filled with venom. “I’d hoped this book would have information on that infernal shapeshifting bastard who tricked me into this curse, but no dice.” She smiled and motioned to Akames. “Still, with her magic I should be sustained enough to take it easy for a while.” She leaned towards Twilight with a deeper smile and richer voice. “And with your magic, of course.”

Twilight smirked. As hot as Jb was, she wasn’t about to let those coils grab her.

“I should just walk out of here right now and let you have them.” She looked at her team and sighed. “But I’ve become kind of attached to these dorks. Also, based on the conditions of my parole, leaving would get me in more trouble.”

Jb chuckled. “Parole?”

“It turns out swathing a bunch of people in latex without their permission is frowned upon in some places.” Twilight grinned and shrugged. “I can’t imagine why. So as part of my community service I’m here to rescue everyone.”

“Well, I have an easy way for you to get out of that.” Jb stood tall on her tail, rocking and twirling hips wide enough to crush a person as she stroked a hand over breasts thick enough to smother a person. She beckoned Twilight with a tongue long enough to wrap around her neck. “Just come worship me as your love goddess and you’ll have no more duties but pleasure.”

“Hmm.” Twilight smirked. “I think I’ll turn the tables instead.”

Producing a thump that knocked half the heart ornaments to the floor, she shoved Jb against the wall with a latex tentacle as thick as her tail. With two more she pinned her by the wrists. She held Jb’s girthy tail down with several tentacles, and every time it moved Twilight gripped it with another.

The line of people brushing Jb’s tail yelped and flinched, cowering against the walls. The petite guy in the wedding dress scrambled off her tail.

“My goddess!” He lunged at Twilight. She tossed a blob of latex and stuck him to Jb’s tail.

Twilight glided closer to Jb. Her latex tentacles had enough strength to hold a lamia down, so she didn’t fear Jb’s tail. She knew the dangers of a lamia’s eyes as well as her own, so she fixed her stare on the goggles over Jb’s forehead. She waved a hand to cover a thin layer of latex over her nose—the air grew thicker near Jb, and she wouldn’t reckon with breathing potential hypno-gas.

“So, how did you do it? How did you gain the ability to shape others’ worldview until they worship you? I think I’d like to play with that.”

Jb smiled, no joy in it. Had her supple skin been able to wrinkle, creases would cover her face from that smile.

“You don’t want my curse,” Jb said. “It’s not something to play with. It’s ride or die.”

“Can a love goddess die?” Twilight asked. “Does one die if they don’t have love?”

“Yes.”

Twilight glanced at Jb’s face before looking back up. So surprised by the severity of Jb’s response, Twilight forgot to avoid her eyes. She sensed not a trace of deception in that answer. Fortunately Jb hadn’t tried any hypnosis.

“So would you risk a deal with the devil?” Jb said. “You wouldn’t know it if you did.”

Twilight inhaled. She wanted to take back control of the conversation.

“I could outdeal them.” She floated a ball of latex above her finger. “I may not have all the cards, but I can produce new ones. It’s only cheating if you lose.”

With a shove against the heavy tentacle Jb kissed her soft, sweet, steamy lips to Twilight’s. A rush of tingling warmth swarmed Twilight’s head. She blushed at the sudden smooch strike and felt her body quiver. Jb’s long tongue grazed Twilight’s before the mage stumbled away.

“Excuse me, I was talking.” Twilight glared and stuck her tongue out at Jb. She licked her lips. Jb’s warmth clung to her, sweet and sticky. She blinked and focused on the cool latex in her control. Control. She still had control.

“You’re just going to stand there and take that, aren’t you?” Jb laughed. “You can’t even control a prisoner, let alone a situation. So much for your dominant position.” Twilight scowled.

“I’ll show you dominant position.” She grabbed Jb’s head and pulled her into a long, deep, close kiss, squeezing their lips tight as she drew Jb’s tongue around hers.

Jb could only give her a peck, but with Twilight’s control of the situation she could kiss her as long as she wanted, and she wanted to for as long as possible. She would show Jb that she was dominant. She was in control, she did whatever she wanted, she wanted to kiss her, loved kissing her, the most intense, captivating flush of erotic passion she’d ever experienced, Jb’s soft lips drawn against hers, Jb’s soft skin and tightly-toned body pushed against her thin frame.

Twilight opened her eyes. What was she doing? She pulled away from the kiss, even as her lips and tongue and body yearned to continue. She realized she’d wrapped her arms around Jb, and Jb’s arms were free from her tentacles and wrapped around her.

“Wait.” Twilight’s arms felt rigid, glued to Jb’s warm, soft, tight body. Her mind spaced out as her thoughts orbited Jb’s lips. “That wasn’t . . .”

“Your kisses are so lovely,” Jb moaned in a rich voice dripping with sensual allure. “Sinking into your latex feels so good. You want to show me how dominant you are, don’t you?”

“I, uh . . .” Something about that statement felt wrong—how was it dominant to follow Jb’s words?—but her lush voice drew Twilight closer and soothed away those doubts, concern melting under the thought of Jb’s lips. As if her lips were magnetized Twilight kissed Jb, squeezing every bit of passion she could from her soft, full lips. She slipped her tongue into Jb’s mouth, and the lamia wrapped her long tongue around hers, soft and sweet and sticky as she held their lips together.

Through the passionate pleasure Twilight thought she should be the one to wrap around Jb. After all, she was the dominant one, right? She wrapped her latex tentacles tight around Jb’s wide hips and scaly body, curling around her strong torso and squeezing over her tight breasts and springy shoulder pods. She pulled Jb’s strong body closer against her own.

Jb’s and Twilight’s moans swirled into ecstasy streaming through Twilight’s head. She sank into the kiss, sank against Jb’s body, sank backwards as Jb bore down over her. Her thoughts sank into thick, soft, erotic mist as she breathed in Jb’s sweet, syrupy scent.

One eye snapped open, swiveling and unfocused, eyelid drooping. Twilight’s vision looked hazy with pink fog. As much fun as smooching and stroking and sinking with Jb was, something about it felt wrong. She was in the dominant position. She wrapped Jb in her tentacles, she forced the kiss. Shouldn’t she be on top? She needed a moment to collect her thoughts, but her lips felt trapped in Jb’s kiss. No, not Jb’s kiss, it was her kiss. Jb didn’t own the kiss. Twilight did. She was in control.

Finally she popped her lips from Jb’s, pulling her tongue back, though her limbs held fast to Jb. Her sight swam before her, vision warped except for Jb, who looked divinely radiant with her dark smile.

“Oh, Twilight, you’re so powerful,” Jb purred, even as her grinning gaze said, I have you right where I want you, foolish girl. “This is all simply irresistible.” Her eyes flashed with hearts on the last word, and Twilight’s eyes widened as all her thoughts turned to Jb. “You want to keep kissing me, and there’s not a thing I can do to stop you.”

A passing thought told Twilight not to look at Jb’s eyes, but hearts flashing through her mind told her how lucky she was to be in the enchantingly erotic position to kiss a love goddess. She shouldn’t look Jb in the eye, but as long as she kissed her she wouldn’t.

So she kissed her, planting her lips as if Jb’s were sweet ambrosia. Her eyes glazed further as Jb’s sweet scent swirled around her and pervaded her senses, her skin pressed against Jb’s and legs against her silken scales. Jb’s honeyed tongue wrapped around her own as it invaded her mouth and filled it like gummy nectar.

Under her dress Twilight felt a scaly limb snake around her legs. Her body shivered at the velvety scales sliding over her skin. As it looped tight around her hips and coiled up her back it grew thicker and heavier around her legs.

Twilight’s mind scattered, focus lost as Jb overwhelmed her senses with her taste, her scent, and now a growing scaly squeeze around her body. Her thoughts tried to shout that Jb was wrapping her up in her coils, but her mind failed to recognize it as her focus coalesced on Jb’s enchanting presence. Her mind overheated as Jb squeezed her tail between her legs and wrapped around the small of her back. She pressed Twilight between her coiling tail and her ample hips and breasts, lifting Twilight off the floor in her grip.

Jb released the kiss, trailing her tongue like a nectar gummy out of Twilight’s mouth. Twilight gasped, breathing deep of Jb’s intoxicating scent. She gasped again as Jb squeezed around her upper back and massaged her scales against her shoulders.

“Ooh, you’re so dominant, aren’t you?” Jb laughed as she flicked her tongue. “Now you’re going to look into my eyes to hypnotize me, aren’t you?”

Twilight stared at the love goddess’ eyes, which pulsated with rippling pink and red hearts.

“I wha . . . ?” Twilight’s dazed, sinking eyes widened with new focus as Jb’s hearts flooded her sight. As Jb squeezed her body in tight coils Twilight gasped and sighed with an open grin, tongue hanging loose.

“That’s a good girl,” Jb said, adding her rich, gooey voice to the wash of sensations melting and remolding Twilight’s mind. “You’re simply enamored with your love goddess now, aren’t you?” She kissed Twilight’s lips, keeping her eyes locked to hers. “You don’t want to be in the dominant position, do you?”

Twilight moaned as Jb’s tail kneaded her shoulders. The heavy and thick lower loops slithered tight around her thighs and hips under her dress. As the love goddess squeezed around her neck she gulped and mewled, the coils on her shoulders weighing her down heavier and tighter. Slithering scales massaged every inch of her skin and dropped her mind into Jb’s world.

“You want to worship your love goddess, don’t you?”

“I . . .” Twilight groaned and smiled wider as Jb squeezed her like a toy. Every resistant thought telling her to fight this divine beacon of love popped under Jb’s hypnotic pressure, her eyes full of enchanting pulsing hearts as the hotel faded from sight and mind, replaced with only Jb and a world of rippling hearts.

“Say it, my dear.” Jb gripped Twilight like a sponge, squeezing her thoughts out, and the mage groaned as pain and pleasure spiraled into one, mouth a wide grin as she gurgled.

“I wanna . . . to worship . . . worship my love goddess.”

“Good girl,” said Jb, relenting her crushing coils a smidge. “You’re ready to obey me now.”

She sealed her spell on Twilight with another kiss, squeezing her lips over Twilight’s as she slithered her tongue down her throat. She held her crushing massage around Twilight’s lips and body, depriving her of oxygen to limit her ability for new thoughts until she was certain not a single thought remained in Twilight’s mind that didn’t worship and love and desire her.

Twilight’s mind melted, warm passion flooding her as the pleasure flushed away her thoughts, her body quivering with arousal as love for her love goddess soaked her mind until it was too full for anything else.

She fell to the love goddess.

Jb looked at her five new subjects, backed by those remaining that she had taken over the past few months. Next to her stood her loyal cutie, Dee.

She didn’t need this many people, and with a team coming to investigate, her presence had clearly been noticed. She needed to move out, find somewhere secluded to hide with her subjects. She could be sustained on the new ones for a while, so she just needed to avoid detection.

“You arrived in a vehicle, correct?” Jb asked.

“Yes, my love goddess,” Cira automatically responded.

“Good. Go down and prepare it. There should be other abandoned vehicles around the hotel, we’ll need a few to fit everyone. We’ll head to the nearby forest, and find someplace where we won’t be disturbed.”

“Yes, my love goddess,” the grinning group responded. They headed out to leave the gloomy hotel behind for an idyllic forest with their love goddess.

At least, heh heh, until she needed to devour their life force.

Five souls on assignment
entered into the gloom,
to stop a powerful lost soul;
instead they met their doom.
A composed, alluring face she shows
so none know of her gloom,
that souls she must scoop up and eat
or else face her own doom.
Sad and lonely little girl,
you needed a partner to keep.
You took the offer for the power,
not knowing your fall was deep.
Now you can with ease and grace
seduce anyone you meet.
But you can’t keep them: to survive,
their souls you must soon eat.
I made you into a love goddess
but are you thankful to Darmenzi?
Sometimes you are, but sometimes, no,
you wish you had never met me.
But look at this, you caught a mage,
and an angel or something I guess.
You’ll be satisfied for now I suppose,
but you must not forget your mess.

It won’t be long before you must
turn these souls into fleeting dust,
and though you try to make a friend
deep inside you know in the end
you can’t escape the curse you’re in
and you’ll be alone.

You cannot win.