This is a work of erotic fantasy, so there’s quite a lot of sex. However, there isn’t sex happening in every chapter. There are many passages that include setup, character development, and all that boring stuff which makes the sex that much more meaningful when it finally happens. I know not everyone cares about backstory or getting to know the characters, so each chapter which does have sex in it also has a heart following its title: ♥

The sex is not intended to be pornographic or paraphilic. It’s just the kind of stuff that happens between people, though sometimes in somewhat unusual situations. This includes threesomes and groups, intimacy taking place among people under the age of eighteen (with no one over eighteen present), same-sex partners, and scenes involving brother-sister incest. If you live in the kind of world where you believe those sorts of things never happen, or should never happen, you’re both (1) welcome to stop reading now; and (2) not even remotely in touch with reality in any way at all.

There is cover art for Book 2! It’s non-nude. If you’d like to see it, it’s here on imgbox.com.

Finally, Nifty has been providing some primo material for years now, and can always use a helping hand. Websites aren’t free to operate or maintain, and no one’s getting paid to do any of this. Donate what you can, as you’re able!

Enjoy!

— Harmony Brücke, fricfic at gmail.

Kaeleigh Goes All the Way

Book 2: 2024 • Part I: Pretty Good Privates

3. An Offer She Can’t Refuse

Pretty Good Privates’ business offices were on the top floor of the mansion, and Marta’s office was in what had once been the master bed suite. Like the other repurposed rooms, it still had much of the form associated with its original function, including a fireplace with an enormous flatscreen on the wall above it, a broad and deep balcony set outside a wall that was almost entirely glass which gave to a sweeping view of the forest beyond, and a lavish bathroom that included his-and-hers isolated commodes, dual sinks set in about an acre of Italian marble, a walk-in shower that seemed big enough to accommodate ten, a large sunken tub, and a Jacuzzi.

The floor was polished oak, and there were a couple of comfy recliners there facing the flatscreen, as well as a good-sized mahogany desk near the balcony doors. The desk’s surface was awash in a sprawl of papers and documents more or less sorted into stacks; all of its area was occupied by paperwork, except for one corner where a Dell laptop played tag with gravity, and the opposite corner, where a framed photo sat of a bright cheery beach with a little house on it. Prints of O’Keefe art hung on the walls, those lovely sexy flowers of hers. Marta was at the desk. She looked up at Kaeleigh’s knock, and set aside a folder. “Come in, come in.”

“I, uh, I don’t want to interrupt … you look busy…”

“No no. Just the usual paperwork. Most of this, thank God, is work done in various departments here. All it needs is approval and signoff. If I was still doing this on my own, I’d throw myself off the balcony. Production schedules, employment applications, talent contracts, federal and state documents, interstate and overseas commerce, vendor proposals for our Pretty Good Playthings line, insurance, proof-of-age, payroll, budgets, all the joyous aspects of running a spottily-regulated and often-disrespected business. Who knew sex could get this complicated? Next to this, babies are a piece of cake.”

“You have kids?”

“None that I know of. Come in, take a seat. I could use a diversion.”

“Thanks,” Kaeleigh said, and settled onto one of the plush chairs that faced her desk. “I guess I never really thought about all the business side of everything. I figured it was mostly, you know, finding people to do it and running a camera while they do.”

“Fast, loose, and dirty, and that’s what a hell of a lot of the industry used to be. What a lot of it still is.” Marta sat back in her chair. “It’s appalling, really, what passes for professional productions. Sometimes we get talent in from Cali or Florida, and the stories they tell are…” She shook her head.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“It’s not a glamorous industry, Kaeleigh. This is still a largely Puritan land, and there’s a lot of self-righteousness regarding all things sexual, particularly where people are being paid to do it. Porn as a business is rather seamy and dirty, to be frank, in too many places. That’s changing, we’re not the only company to have an eye for improving things, but our way of doing it still isn’t common yet. Studios like Lust, W-M, or X-Art are good houses too. But usually … okay, the bedroom where Luke and Lana were. They left … souvenirs behind on the sheets.”

“I noticed that, yeah. I was thinking it looked kinda like our bed did, this morning.”

“Mmm-hmm. Happens pretty much all the time, if the sex is any good. Well, those sheets were being changed while you and Luke were taking care of business in the shower. We also use base pads with silicone waterproof backing, and it all gets stripped down to the mattress and washed after each use. We’re talking the whole bed, including the covers, comforters, and pillows. That room’ll be used again this afternoon for a scene, and it’ll happen on clean sheets. A lot of operations don’t have that kind of courtesy. You get talent expected to roll around in passion on a soggy mattress squelching with everyone else’s cum.”

“Oh God.”

“Uh-huh. And the floor got mopped, and all the surfaces wiped down with disinfectant, too. Another little item a lot of other houses don’t trouble themselves with. But any time you have any action that involves bodily fluids zipping happily through the air or smeared on a countertop or floor, well, you’re rather obligated, I think, to make sure no one slips in it later. Or gets it on their hands, or anywhere else. Hygiene is part of basic human courtesy, in my mind.”

“Well … how does that sort of thing happen? I mean, isn’t there some … regulation, or something? Like a, a health code?”

“Not in the least, unless they’re fucking in a restaurant. Cali’s a union state, and while there is a porn workers’ union, it’s not as assertive about working conditions or enforcement as you might like. And the studios don’t have to listen to the talent, because if they quit, so what? There’s always someone else outside the door, willing to fuck on camera for chicken feed, and maybe they’re not as picky. And that’s the vanilla scenes, the more or less ‘normal’ sex. It doesn’t even begin to cover BDSM, torture porn, rape fantasization, blood, or various paraphilias having to do with urine or feces. Have you ever heard of a video called ‘Two Girls, One Cup’?”

“Uh … no?”

“Don’t Google. Don’t. But if you do, be aware that what you’re seeing was probably shot using talent totally out of their minds on hard drugs, and it was shot by heterosexual men for heterosexual men. Seeing it was my personal watershed moment, when I realized it was time to make a change in the industry. There’s no way any gay man, or any lesbian, or in fact any woman at all would have even thought of it, let alone gone out and made it happen. Straight guys can be some of the most pathologically perverse and selfish animals on our planet. And it comes across in every stratum of the industry, including careless set dressing. The wonder of it all is that anyone manages to get it up in the first place under those conditions, let alone come. It’s just … squalid.”

“But not here,” Kaeleigh said.

“Damn straight. I’m a big believer in treating human beings like human beings, with respect, dignity, and decency. I want happy, healthy talent, people who really, really enjoy what they’re doing and the conditions they’re doing it in. I think that makes for a much better experience for them as performers, and it shows in the quality of their work. They have energy, passion, and the natural human ability to enjoy a rich sexuality, and they do, right there on camera. You don’t get that in an unclean surrounding, where you’re feeling someone else’s goo at the small of your back, and you know you’re just the latest in a long series of fucks slated to happen in this particular bed today.”

“Morale would probably suffer, yeah,” Kaeleigh said. “I really had no idea porn was like that. I guess … maybe that explains why I don’t like much of it. I like your stuff, and X-Art and W-M, Beads of Joy, I love I feel Myself, and I check out Lady Cheeky, Lyra’s Lyre, Erika Lust, and a few others, but … now that I think about it, a lot of the stuff I like best is done by production companies headed by women. I thought maybe it was because they shoot the kind of stuff I like, but maybe it’s … like a cultural thing. Behind the scenes.”

“Some of it’s a woman’s eye toward erotica,” Marta nodded. “But a lot if it … yes, it’s morale, and respect. Unless I’m at an orgy, I don’t want to be smeared with someone else’s juices. Why would I imagine my talent would feel any differently? I know many other women producers who feel the same way.”

“But not the guys, huh?”

“No, there are a few. W-M is headed by a man. There are other companies too, a growing number, that actually do clean up between scenes. But … in general, porn was originally a Mafia operation, for the most part, and they didn’t have to give a damn about what anyone thought or said. Lie down, fuck, pull out, spurt, next. That was all that mattered. High volume, low pay, and pocketing the difference. When legitimate businessmen took it over, starting around the 80’s, the only thing that changed was ownership. Practices remained the same. For the longest time, porn was jerkoff material for men, and catered entirely to their tastes. Women weren’t into it, and the assumption was it was because women just didn’t like porn.”

“But we do,” Kaeleigh said.

“Of course we do, but not what they were making back then, and they never bothered to ask us what we thought, so it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. So you had garter belts and heels, women who dressed like stereotypical whores and were treated with less respect than a dime-bag hooker, really shitty stories to the extent there were stories at all, and complete focus on male orgasm, with no interest in realistic pleasure for the women. They were just holes to stick dicks into, and tits to cum on. The only really standout production I know of from that time was a feature-length movie called Love You, which was shot in 1979. It was not bad on the acting, pretty decent on the plot, and had some good scenes. It was about two couples who get together one weekend and do a partner swap, only one of the women is a little uncertain, so there’s a remarkably sensitive and thoughtful subplot about her finding her comfort zone with the support of her friends. There actually was a story there. But apart from that, the porn of that era is all just unwatchable garbage unless you have a penis, and maybe not even then.”

“What … changed?”

“A couple of things happened in close succession. One was HIV. That one hit the porn community hard. Lots of people got infected, and in the early days of the epidemic, before any effective treatments were developed, infection meant death from full-blown AIDS within six months. So performers started insisting on condoms, which forced a change in the way productions were done. You still had cumshots, but not bareback intercourse. That caused a change in the way people responded to the porn they were seeing, made them think a little, maybe, about the health and safety of the talent. When everything pauses for a second so the man can wrap his willy, it tends to make you notice.

“The other thing that happened was the internet, and the use at home thereof by women. Women started looking for porn, found nothing but shit, and some of them started producing their own. It was easy to do and cheap to publish — just a digital camera, an editing program, and upload to a website instead of elaborate film production, processing, and distribution. They got huge commercial success, and this has been getting the attention of production houses everywhere, even the most egregiously misogynistic ones.

“But there was a change in the male audience, too. We discovered a hell of a lot of men were watching woman-targeted erotica, and enjoying it. It seems men actually like it when women are treated with respect, when the man looks her in the eye while he’s making love to her, when he gives her a series of good and real orgasms before having his own cum, then does something crazy afterward, such as snuggling with her, like Luke did with Lana, holding her close and relaxing with her in the afterglow for a while.

“Turns out that maybe men aren’t as selfish as we’ve always thought, but they’ve had mostly some very bad examples of how to go about sex, through porn that catered to a very limited range of arousal responses. It’s like they’d been fed a steady diet of McBurgers, and had no idea about the restaurant down the street that offered full seven-course gourmet meals for the same price … and when they began to realize what was available, their palates naturally became more refined.”

“So … what, by watching your guys’ movies, they’re learning how to do it better?”

“That, or maybe it’s just elevating their consciousness a little, showing them that there is something better than a few quick thrusts and a spurt. Showing them that the emotional connection is really what makes for better sex, not the size of your dick or your tongue technique. You’re a player, so you know what I’m talking about. Half the joy of a Friday night orgy is the game before it, where everyone gets to know everyone. It’s a hell of a lot better to have sex with a random stranger you feel you know and like, than just a random stranger. Our kind of porn is the first kind of random stranger. The oldschool crap is the second kind. And a lot of men feel the same way as women do about that.”

“That’s true,” Kaeleigh said. “When I turned eighteen and switched groups back home, it was like starting all over again. I knew everyone in the underage group, and I’d fucked them all too. It was cool being back in the game with some of the players I knew before, but there were a whole lot I’d never met. It was great to find out about them, what they were into, and who they, you know, who they were as people, and then just get crazy. I’m really looking forward to Friday here.”

“And Saturday,” Marta said.

“Oh, yeah, for sure,” Kaeleigh nodded. “Eight girls in a game together? Serious pussy party.”

“Frequent, lengthy, and multiple orgasms. There’s nothing like being a woman, is there?”

“Wouldn’t trade five cums in a row for a big pile of gold and a penis, even though I could think of a lot of things I’d do with both. But it can take a while to get there sometimes.”

“Sure, but there are ways around that, like a good lover, or the magic touch. The girl who discovered that was a genius.”

Kaeleigh felt herself going beet red. “You know about the magic touch, too? The pinch-and-rock thing at the top of your vulva?”

“Uh-huh. It’s all over the ATW scene. I bet that’s where you first heard about it yourself.”

“Uh, well, actually…” It only took a minute or two to talk about her first game, her first night having sex, and her little demonstration all those years ago with Sal, Becka, Nette, and Seana. It only took a couple of minutes, but it flooded her mind with beautiful memories. Tuck had been right; she could still look back on that night and feel glad and proud. She thought she probably always would. “It was Nette who called it the magic touch first, and I guess the name kinda stuck. It’s so easy even boys can learn how to do it. And from there, Luke told me he’d heard about it too — that was before we started having sex, with each other, I mean — and then, well, I know it was all over Cliveston. I didn’t know it got anywhere else. I guess I should’ve realized, since there’s always a guest player or two out there somewhere.”

Marta was staring at her, her face a mask of surprise and delight. “Do you have any idea how many women want to sex you up until the end of time for that, myself most definitely included? My God, Kaeleigh, you’re a hero to … to thousands. Tens of thousands. I know a woman in Japan who uses your trick three or four times a week. She was introduced to it by a Brazilian player. You’re a bigger star than Luke, as far as they’re concerned, and I agree.”

“I’ll settle for a ten percent cut. Of the cums, I mean. I want all of Luke. Or most of him, anyway.”

Marta laughed, and handed her a piece of paper. It was covered, both sides, in smallish text, and had the words TALENT CONTRACT at the top. “For you to look over, think about, and fill out if you want to.”

“Oh. You … you really think I … I could … I mean, I’ve seen your girls. They’re gorgeous.”

“You must not have any working mirrors at home. Plus you’re very outgoing and you don’t come off inhibited at all, which means you’d play beautifully well on camera. You definitely do not have to agree to anything, not today or ever. A definite hell no from you will not affect Luke’s employment status here. But it’s there if you want it. Our payment rate is five thousand dollars per scene, and—”

“Jesus Christ,” Kaeleigh squeaked. “Is that what you pay Luke? For just one day of work?”

Marta shook her head. “One scene. He’s doing two today, the Café and the one-off. He does two each Sunday, usually, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. That’s a fairly standard shooting day for our talent.”

“You mean he’s making forty grand a month to have sex with beautiful girls?”

“We clear a very nice profit with our subscription base, believe me, so we can most definitely afford it. And I’m a believer not just in building wealth, but in paying the people who actually make the wealth possible in the first place.”

Kaeleigh was staring off into space, doing the math. Luke worked almost every Sunday, fifty weeks of fifty-two. He was grossing half a million dollars a year, having great sex with great girls. No wonder he was able to rent a nice house in a decent, post-grad student neighborhood … and buy a brand-new eMoto … and still have enough to salt away for mad money and retirement. “What would I … be doing?”

“Pretty much anything you wanted to in our production line,” Marta said. “And if you had ideas for something new, we’re always interested in developing new series.”

“The Pretty Good Pinks?”

“Of course.”

“And the one-offs?”

“Yup.”

“And even the Love Me Slows?”

“Even them,” Marta said.

“Wow.” She looked at the contract. “I … well, I need to think about it, yeah, I guess. And talk to Luke. But I’m … I’m really liking this idea, Marta. I do need to find work somewhere, and I love sex, so … yeah, no trouble on that angle. You’ve got a lot of hot, hot boys here, and some really, just I mean totally, beautiful girls.”

“The best part is the company parties. We have barbecues, dances, hangouts. Once every month or two we rent a movie theater and see a film together. And there’s always room for a new friend. And you would be their friend, Kaeleigh. I know moving to a new place is hard, especially when you’re just starting to get to know new people. The ATW’s on Friday and Saturday won’t hurt, but it’s also nice to feel like you have a group you can belong in and feel comfortable in. That’s another thing Pretty Good Privates offers that you don’t usually get at other production houses. Forty or fifty men and women who are all doing the same thing as each other, enjoy it, and enjoy one another’s company.”

“But don’t I need to … like … audition or something?”

“Well, we’ll be getting together tonight. We’ll see how it goes. But I have confidence in you. I know what kind of lover Luke is, and I felt like I knew you long before I met you. He talks about you all the time, and … he’s blind in love, but after meeting you in person and seeing how you reacted to his scene today, I can see why he would be. You’re adorable, you’re gorgeous, you’re wonderfully libertine, and you’re probably the only woman in the world who could capture his heart quite as much as you have. I really think you’d enjoy working here, and I’m sure you’d be as successful as he is with audiences everywhere.”

“Jeez,” Kaeleigh said. “This is … pretty exciting to even think about.”

“One question, and I really need you to answer this honestly. Are you clean and sober?”

“Yeah. Uh, mostly. I mean I, I’ve tried pot a couple times and I guess it’s okay, and sometimes I have a little wine with dinner, but it’s not like a usual thing or anything. Well, uh, and Luke and I had Champagne while we watched the fireworks.”

“What I’m really asking is whether you have a habit, or whether you have behaviors with chemistry that you find disturbing. The occasional hit off a bowl, or glass of bubbly, doesn’t fall into that category. Everyone uses something recreationally, from time to time. We’re a substance-free workplace, though. We don’t do pre-hire screenings, and we don’t do random testing — I find both of those things to be gross violations of privacy, and imply that management doesn’t trust the staff, which is a terrible way to start out a professional working relationship — but if you appear to be intoxicated while you’re at work, we will send you out for a test. An intoxicated person has compromised judgment, and that can be a real danger in a sexual situation.”

“Oh. Yeah, no, that’s not a problem. I mean, we don’t do … substances … at games either, you know, for lots of reasons. So no, I’m not like a … a boozehound or needle-freak or anything. Luke would probably kill me if I was. He’s way into health. Actually, so am I. I do yoga and Zumba three times a week, and I don’t think I’d be able to do it if I had a hangover or something.”

“Okay,” Marta said. “Drug habits are also rife in this industry. I don’t like the idea of my talent getting sucked into that life. There are two infractions allowed. The first just bounces you into counseling, which we pay for. The second results in suspension for six months. Third strike, you’re out.”

“Have you ever had to…”

“Not even the first strike,” Marta said. “I’m choosy. My people are the best in the goddamned business, on every level. And I’m just being formal about it with you for the sake of completeness, not because I suspect you’re a junkie. It’s all outlined in the contract too. I’ve known Luke for a couple of years now, as an employee, a friend, and a sex partner, and I just don’t see him as the kind of man who’d hang out with trouble, let alone marry it. The contract is non-binding, by the way, and non-exclusive, so if you wanted to quit, you could at any time, there’s no minimum or maximum number of scenes required, and you can work for other houses if you want to.”

“You mean I could do … like … two scenes a day if I wanted to?”

“Or two a year, yeah. Most of our girls do four or six a week, though, which usually means working two or three days, and a lot of them take a week off out of every two or three, just for themselves. Most of our boys work like that, too. Luke’s actually kind of a bargain, considering how much we make from his work. We also have comprehensive health, dental, vision, and a 401k plan. The insurance is a straight-up benefit you get free if you do more than two scenes in any calendar month; otherwise we have to pull something for the premiums, but it’s relatively painless. We’ll match your retirement accrual up to ten percent.”

“Jesus. That’s better than my mom gets at work, and she’s been there twenty years.”

“You might guess from our production facility that Pretty Good Privates is not hurting for money. I firmly believe in sharing the wealth. My talent works hard, and they damn well deserve to be taken care of.”

“I’d probably have to be crazy not to do it, but it’s still a big decision.”

“Take your time. There’s no rush, no deadline, and — as I said — no penalty to Luke if you say no. Talk it over with him and anyone else you feel you can trust. Porn is not for everyone, either to watch or to be in. If you think you’d be a good fit here, you’re probably right. But if there’s a part of you whispering caution, Kaeleigh, listen to it.”

“Okay. Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Assuming you decide to sign on, what sort of contraception and STD prevention do you prefer?”

“I have an Enfem,” Kaeleigh said. “It’s great for the game.”

“Me too, and for the same reason. Would you prefer your costars to use MascuLines?”

“No, I like it better without.”

“Do you have any problems with cum?”

“You mean, apart from feeling like I can’t get enough of it sometimes?”

Marta laughed. “Right. Inside you? Your mouth or pussy?”

“Both. I love the taste, and I love how it feels.”

“Outstanding. Anal?”

“I’ve done it a few times with Luke, but it’s really not my thing.”

“It’s not really his either. So you’d be mostly into oral and vaginal sex on camera?”

“Yeah, with boys or girls. It’s okay if the boy comes inside me. It’s better there than, you know, on my stomach or something, and I like it better anyhow.”

“Good for you. You saw how Corey got the shot earlier, after Luke was done making love to Lana?” Kaeleigh nodded, flushing a little. Her pussy was beautiful right out of the box, but with his creamy glaze smeared on it, it had been all but irresistible. “That’s usually how we do it with a girl who’s not familiar with getting cum to … come back out. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yeah. I’ve never done it, but I don’t think it’s too hard. You just sort of squeeze a little with your pelvic floor muscles?”

“Pretty much. We do it to prove the man came, if there isn’t a good prominent … well, blob … visible in your vestibule, or on his penis. Almost all our cumshots are internal, if there wasn’t a condom. None of the girls are real fans of externals, and most of our audience thinks they’re a turn-off. ”

“I know. I love internal. It’s insanely hot, just … just so personal. I think I could learn how to push it out a little if I have to. I’m pretty sure Luke will be willing to help out.”

“I have little doubt he’d practice with you for as long as it took.” Marta sat back and folded her hands on her desk. “Based on your comfort levels with everything, I really have no qualms about you. I think you’d be a natural fit in our talent, and I’m sure everyone here — the boys and the girls — would adore you. So it’s really entirely up to you and how you feel about having sex on camera.”

“I think I’d fit in pretty good, too. One of the reasons I love your movies is because … well, I can imagine myself doing all those things, hell, I have done those things, so I like seeing other girls do it all, because I know what it’s like. I guess the big difference is the cameras. And getting paid to do it.” She looked down at the contract again, the same one Luke had signed a couple years ago … and look where it got him. Happy, satisfied with his work, and in good financial shape. She could be there, too, just as easily; and she had a strong suspicion she’d be making more than he was. Once a week didn’t seem like it would be enough to suit her. “I don’t think the cameras would be a problem. I think Luke’s right, what he said to Lana was right, that when you relax and get into it, you just sort of forget everything else. I’ve done it with six other people watching me, and that’s twice as many as your crew. I really can’t see why I wouldn’t…”

There was a light rapping from the office door.

“Luke,” Marta said, smiling past Kaeleigh. She turned around to see him standing in the same spot she’d occupied earlier. He was still in his bathrobe, and his hair was dry. “All done?”

“Not yet,” he said. “My costar only just finished her first scene a little while ago, so after I talked the scene over with Rochelle, I decided I was in somewhat desperate need of a nap. Between Lana, Kay, and later, I’m gonna be a raisin.”

“Who is it this afternoon, again?”

“Meilin. Slow and easy, but even slow and easy with her can be pretty draining.”

“Ah yeah. You’re not the only guy who’s said that. You do good scenes with her.”

“Thanks, boss. I figured I’d come on up and see if Kay found your office or not, and I see she has. Everything all right? You’re not feeling sick, are you?”

Marta furrowed her brow. “No, why?”

He shrugged, sauntering in and grinning. “You both still have your clothes on.”

“Oh for God’s sake. I don’t shag every gorgeous woman I meet.”

“No, a lot of them are straight.” He settled into the other lounger. “What’ve you two been up to? Swapping war stories?”

“Actually, I invited Marta over for dinner tonight.”

“Unless you have other plans,” Marta added. “I can take a raincheck.”

“No, that’s fine,” he said. “You know I like it when you visit. You always bring the best dessert.”

“Well, you’re gonna have two slices to eat tonight.”

“Oh,” he sighed. “I’ll manage somehow.”

“Also, Luke…” Kaeleigh held up the contract, her eyes wide and bright. “Look!”

“Ha!” he said. “Excellent! You’re working here now too?”

“I haven’t … completely decided yet. I wanted to talk to you first. In case you had any, you know, concerns.”

“Oh, good idea, yeah. Did I ever tell you what Marta does with guys who come too soon?”

“Uh…”

“Luke,” Marta said. “That’s a trade secret.”

“I wasn’t gonna say anything about the dungeon. Oops.”

“Well, at least you didn’t mention the electrodes. Oh, hell.”

He turned to Kaeleigh. “I’m cool if you want to work here too, yeah, of course. Maybe we can do some scenes together. And Marta’s for sure the most awesome boss I ever had, the people are all just the best, and the work is great.”

“You’d be okay with me fucking other boys on video? And making it with girls?”

“Well, I’ll probably need extra-strength lotion to prevent chafing, but yeah, I’m down with it all.”

“Oh, I’m gonna fuck your brains out when we get home.” She turned to Marta. “Do you have a pen?”

“If you’re sure,” she said, passing one over.

“Oh, it’s not her whole soul,” Luke said, watching Kaeleigh sign. “So … I’m gonna be occupied for a couple hours yet. There’s a flatscreen in my dressing room, though.”

“Have you seen the rest of this floor yet?” said Marta.

“It’s offices and the server room and stuff, right?”

“Oh, you missed the entire east wing.” Marta stood. “Come on, I think you’ll like it. Break a leg, Luke.”

“And bust a nut.”

“Many thanks.” He kissed Kaeleigh. “Should be done by three, babe. Love you.”

“Love you too, hon. See you in a while.” She and Marta both watched him head down the hallway and descend the wide, sweeping staircase. “You could do an entire dance routine on that.”

“We actually have used that stairway in a couple of scenes.”

“I know,” Kaeleigh nodded, walking with her toward the eastern side of the house. “Pomp and Circumstance, and … uh … Rhett Returns, right?”

“Not bad,” Marta nodded. “You’re a scholar of our work.”

“It’s kind of unforgettable. I hope I’ll be up to standards.”

“You have the right mindset, I think. I’ve found most players are exhibitionists to some degree or other, and like to perform. That’s about ninety percent of it, right there. Most of the rest is just enjoying yourself.”

“Well, it’s a rough job, but I guess someone’s gotta.”

“Do you like the costumed scenes?”

“They’re pretty cool. Totally not regular porn, and also totally not bad Skinemax flicks. But I guess the girl who played Scarlett, uh…”

“Rachael.”

“Right. I guess, from what she was saying in a Nooky later, there were about fifteen kinds of underwear?”

“It wasn’t quite that bad,” said Marta. “But we did use reproductions of authentic period clothing. Women often wore somewhere around ten to fifteen pounds’ worth of undergarments.”

“That was it, yeah. Fifteen pounds. Sheesh. I liked Rhett Returns, and I liked Gone with the Wind, too, but I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything, being born when I was. Better undies, a lot more freedom, a lot more sex, and a lot safer sex.”

“And the right to say no. You still retain that right, even though you’re technically working here now. Luke and Meilin, for instance, will discuss their scene beforehand with the director and each other, and agree on something mutually workable. Most of the time, and particularly with certain men, that’s easy to accomplish. Luke’s one of the best we have, because he’s quite flexible and goes along with whatever his directors and co-stars feel will work. The only time I’ve heard of him raising any issues, they were good suggestions.”

“Like what?”

“Mostly plausible reasons for the characters to have sex in the first place, smoothing out the pacing so nothing feels too rushed, and sometimes consideration of angles and whether something will play well to camera, and not look like a … trapeze act.”

“Unless it is a trapeze act, like Cirque du So Lay. God. That looked like seriously hard work, but I loved all those swinging thingies.”

“That one was a hell of a challenge,” Marta nodded. “We had the talent train with a company of professional acrobats for two weeks before we shot anything.”

“I remember that from their Nooky, yeah. And you only cast people who felt like they were up to it?”

“That’s right. We don’t push anyone to do anything they’re not okay with. Some of our talent is in superior physical shape, including you, it looks like. That’s why I was thinking you’d like this wing of the studio. Personally, I love it.”

They came around a corner and Kaeleigh blinked around, gaping at the room that presented itself to her eyes. “Holy shit,” she said. Marta laughed.