Tom awakened the next morning and played a much friendlier game of racquetball with Granberia. She crushed him 10-3, but there were no after game activities, since Tom was being saved for Alma Elma that night.

After hitting the shower, Tom headed to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat for breakfast. Alice, as she often did, waited in the kitchen.

"What are you making me this morning?" Alice asked sweetly.

"Just have some pop tarts," Tom replied. "I can't cook a feast for you all two or three times a day, you know."

Although his tone had been jovial, Alice clearly looked miffed.

"I'm tired of pop tarts! I already ate three boxes this morning!" she complained.

Tom realized then that he'd better order some groceries. Normally he went out to shop, but he was becoming increasingly wary of leaving the ladies alone in his precious home. He opened the fridge and immediately settled on the grapes.

"How about some grapes?" he offered.

"Oooh, throw it and let me try to catch them!" Alice giggled, her mood abruptly changing, much to Tom's relief.

Tom threw a grape at her, which bounced off the side of her face. She laughed and presented the target again. The second one went right in. Alice chewed happily.

"Mmmm…. Sweet. Sweeter than the ones back on my world!" she said happily.

"Must be the GMOs," Tom replied.

"The what now?"

"It doesn't matter," Tom laughed. "Here, open wide."

"If you say so," Alice said, and opened her mouth as wide as she could, which was so wide it was impossible for Tom to miss.

"I'll never get used to that," he laughed. "It looks big enough to swallow even me!"

"Oh, are we fantasizing about vore again?" Alice taunted gently.

"No, no, like I said, that's not really a thing for me!" Tom stammered, utterly mortified once again.

"Well, for what it's worth I can swallow you," Alice replied. "But I wouldn't. I don't eat people. I just eat the same foods human eat and semen. But I could eat people if I wanted to."

"Why don't you?"

"The obvious reasons," she replied. "it's wrong to eat sentient beings. Maybe if I was attacked by a human I'd do it. It's our law that no one can attack the Monster Lord and live."

"I take it you've never been attacked by a human before?"

"I don't get out much, so no."

"Must be tough, all that responsibility," Tom said.

"I'm getting used to it," Alice replied. "Tamamo shares the burden with me. And it's not so bad. As we told you, I don't directly rule all the monsters. So it's not like I'm drowning in work. It's not that kind of responsibility. What really weighs on me is what could happen if I'm a poor ruler."

"And with your people being at war…"

"It's not really a war," Alice explained. "it's… complicated. I don't really want to try to explain my world to you. It would be as impossible to understand as yours is for me unless you spent some time there. Give me more grapes."

Tom and Alice shared some more laughs as he tossed more grapes at her. Some she caught on her tongue and reeled in when they were thrown short. Grapes that he threw long, she tilted her head back and opened wide to receive them. Tom was fascinated.

"If I put a grape on my nose, can you snatch it with your tongue?" he asked.

"I'm a lamia, not a frog girl," she answered. "I can't snap it out like that."

"There are frog girls where you come from?" Tom asked.

"There are girls of all kinds," Alice answered. "Just about every animal you can imagine has a monster girl counterpart."

"Porcupine girls?"

"Yep."

"How do they…?"

"Very carefully," Alice laughed.

"Dung beetle girls?" Tom asked.

"Absolutely," Alice laughed. "They eat semen and…."

"Not directly from….?"

"Sometimes."

"Ew."

"I know."

"All right, here's one I know can't exist," Tom said, enjoying the game.

"I'll bet you it does."

"Platypus girl!" Tom said triumphantly.

Alice paused, and then busted out laughing.

"See!? There's one your world doesn't have!" Tom laughed.

"Wait, wait, we don't know that yet!" Alice chortled. "Tamamo!"

Tamamo poked her head into the kitchen.

"Are there such things as platypus girls?" Alice asked.

"Rare, but yes, they do exist," Tamamo answered.

"Yes!" Alice cheered, raising her fist in the air.

"Oh Tom," Tamamo laughed. "You're not even thinking outside the box. There are more monster girls besides just animals. You've already met Erubetie, a slime. There are more varieties than you can imagine! Candle girls, for example."

"Candle?" Tom asked. "How does a candle get mixed with a girl?"

"It's a type of undead monster," Alice explained.

"Undead?! Like… zombies and vampires?"

"Zombie girls and vampire girls exist as well," Alice confirmed. "Ghost girls too."

"Okay, then in that case I know I've got one that doesn't exist," Tom said.

"Go for it," Alice prompted.

"Clown girl!"

Tamamo and Alice shared a look. Tamamo shook her head.

"You got it, no clown girl!" Alice cheered, hi fiving Tom.

"We saw that now, but watch us get back and encounter one," Tamamo cautioned. "Magic is a very unpredictable and strange thing. I can see how a clown girl would get created. Such as if a monster girl of humanoid form raped a male clown…."

"That's not how genetics works though," Tom said.

"Who said anything about genetics?" Tamamo countered. "I was talking about magic. Now yes, according to basic science, a person can't pass on 'clown genes', but with magic…. Anything is possible. Many races of monster have been created that way."

"All right, new game!" Alice declared. "If you could have any monster girl, any kind you can imagine, even if it doesn't exist, what monster girl would you want?"

"That's easy," Tom replied. "A lamia."

Alice blushed and covered her face. Tom thought that her blue skin flushing purple was absolutely adorable.

"Okay," Alice said. "Why a lamia?"

"It must be because he likes vore," Tamamo giggled.

"That's not why!" Tom protested.

"Oh, is that so?" Alice asked, chuckling. "Come here."

"Why?"

"Just come here."

Tom took a step closer.

"Closer," Alice ordered. Tom took another step forward.

"Closer…."

Tom was only a few inches from Alice's face. Alice's mouth suddenly opened wide. Tom jumped back. Alice and Tamamo busted out laughing as if it was the funniest joke in the world. Tom wasn't sure how funny it was, but decided to laugh with them. After all, Alice would never…..

Tom went to his office to work, leaving Alice and Tamamo alone in the kitchen. Tamamo grabbed an apple and bit into it.

"Hand me a banana, please?" Alice asked.

Tamamo brought Alice a banana, which she peeled and then swallowed whole.

"And THAT's why he likes lamias!" Tamamo joked.

"Shut up!" Alice shot back, but then laughed. "He's a good guy. Tamamo, are there a lot of humans like that? I mean… where we come from?"

"Humans, like monsters, come in all types, Alice," Tamamo answered. "The problem is Ilias. She makes even the good ones hostile to us. There are exceptions, of course. I wanted to take you to Yamatai to meet the humans there as soon as I thought you ready. Good people, accepting of monsters, worshipful even. And they don't worship the goddess. Now I wish I had taken you before now. That way you might not be doing this thing with Tom."

"There is no thing with Tom!" Alice responded indignantly.

"It's understandable," Tamamo continued, running right over Alice's objections. "He's the first man you've met since your mother passed away, he's nice, he's handsome…."

"Oh my goodess, yes!" Alice agreed heartily.

"But you know it can't go anywhere, Alice. For a multitude of reasons."

"I know, I know…." Alice grumbled. "Not that I'm infatuated with him or anything. He's just… a nice guy who tastes good."

Tamamo and Alice sat in silence for a few moments. Tamamo finished her apple and got up to leave.

"Tamamo…." Alice said uncomfortably. "Tell Alma Elma to go easy on Tom."

"Alice, as nice as he seems, we can't gamble our lives on him," Tamamo cautioned. "We need to be sure he's absolutely loyal to us, like the men in the castle."

"Who I never get to taste?! Those men?"

"You know I had my reasons for that, Alice!" Tamamo argued. "I kept you from humans because I didn't want you to get the wrong ideas. If you ran into Ilias followers you'd grow to hate them. If you interacted with the castle slaves, you'd grow to think they existed to serve you."

"Like we're going to make Tom serve us?"

"This is different!" Tamamo countered. "We're not going to mind break him or turn him into a slave. We're just going to get him addicted to what Alma Elma can do for him."

"He'll fall in love with her and his heart will be broken when she leaves!"

"His heart will be broken when YOU leave if you do what I know you want to do!"

"I'm not planning anything!" Alice screamed.

The two stared at each other, as if in a test of wills. Tamamo chose to break the stare first, conceding the argument to Alice.

"I believe you, child," Tamamo said. "I know that however you feel, your responsibilities come first. But I'm going to leave you with a piece of advice for when you go out into the real world. Our world. Don't do this thing you're doing now, where you wear your heart on your sleeve. On our world, humans will disappoint you nearly every time."

"Even the ones in Yamatai?"

"The humans in Yamatai are isolated from the rest of their race," Tamamo said. "And the elven tribe that lives in that region keeps too many people from coming to Yamatai and fillng their heads with hateful ideas. Yamatai men are the exception that proves the rule. I'm not telling you there's no good men outside of Yamatai. I'm just telling you that you need to be cautious. You need to be tough. You can't meet some guy and start giggling like a schoolgirl and playing silly games with him."

"What am I supposed to do, act like the queen bitch?!"

"Maybe. If that's the only way you know how to protect yourself," Tamamo answered. "When you mature, you'll know how to find the right balance like I do. I'm nice to everyone I meet, but I make it clear that I'm not to be trifled with. But when you're young it's not always easy to do that with subtlety. So if being mean and aloof is the only way you know how to send that message, then that's what you should do!"

"Are you done?" Alice asked.

"Just think about what I said," Tamamo pleaded. "When this is over, go on that journey you wanted to go on. Meet humans wth all kinds of different attitudes towards our kind. You are the Monster Lord, but learning about the humans, the good and the bad, is as important to your job as knowing your subordinates. But never forget that they're dangerous! You must never allow yourself to look vulnerable!"

Tamamo left the kitchen, leaving Alice with her thoughts.

Tom found it difficult to concentrate on his work due to having a lot on his mind. There was the upcoming feeding session with Alma Elma, which she had promised to make "special", which sounded like a lot more was going to happen than the succubus just getting a meal.

But there was more than that. He found himself actually liking his guests, especially Alice. There was an innocence about her that the other women didn't have. Tamamo was the mature mentor, Erubetie was overly formal and correct, Granberia was the intense warrior, Alma Elma was the flirty sexpot, but Alice was just….. she was Alice. She seemed the most open, the most down to earth of the group. Which was strange, because she was supposedly their ruler.

The only "intimacy" they'd had was a handjob that wasn't even all that good, and yet he couldn't stop thinking about it. The way she'd so obviously covered up her lack of experience with braggadocio, taunting him with "hora hora", whatever that meant. Alice had gotten under his skin in a way that the others had not. He liked them all, if he was being honest with himself. And being a playboy to the end, he enjoyed having them play with him, although he wished he could take a more active role in bed. He fancied himself a pretty good lover. The ladies told him he was a good lover. That had to count for something.

But he found his thoughts constantly returning to Alice. The situation he found himself in was extremely odd. With normal women, the right thing to do would be to choose one and be intimate with only her. But these were monster girls who required semen, and he couldn't very well starve them. Yet at the same time he felt as if he was in a no win situation. He wanted to spend more time getting to know Alice, to get closer to her, but he had to also be intimate with her Knights. And if he refused, as an expression of affection for her, she'd probably be flattered but also angry that he was denying her subordinates the nutrition they needed. But how could she ever take him seriously in a romantic way if he was sleeping with four other women? It was a no-win situation.

Well, he thought. Might as well take the wins I can get, and a night with the queen succubus definitely sounded like a win.

He surrendered his computer to Tamamo at 2pm and spent the rest of the day playing video games with Alice and Alma Elma. Granberia was working out of course, while Erubetie seemed content to spend most of her time in the pool. Or AS the pool, he wasn't really sure. Erubetie would come out a few times a day for food or to inquire about any updates to their situation. She would ask if there was anything she could do to help, but unfortunately the answer was always the same: "We're trying to find clues as to how this might have happened."

If the internet searches didn't bear fruit soon, Tom knew that he would have to do legwork, talk to people, and investigate. But how? If, as the ladies suspected, the goddess of their world sent them here, what could they possibly do to get back? What would happen to them if they were stuck here? They couldn't stay in his house forever! Even should hegrow fond enough to be willing to let the stay indefinitely, eventually they would be discovered. Again, a no-win situation!

As the evening passed and Alice grew tired, Alma Elma went upstairs to "change into something more comfortable". Alice gave him one last look which Tom could have sworn was a look of longing, then headed up to her room. Tom was alone in the living room, holding a controller with no game playing.

"Hey there, Tommy-boy," a sultry voice from upstairs called softly to him.

Tom looked up to see Alma Elma wearing nothing but a nighty.

"Where'd you get that?" Tom asked.

"It was in the closet," Alma Elma answered.

Tom recognized it now. It had been left in his house by one of his hookups. What was her name? Was it Sarah? Or Maria? He couldn't remember her name, but he did remember how she looked in that nighty. Whatever her name was, she hadn't worn it as well as Alma Elma did.

Tom climbed the stairs, staring at the vision of sexiness before him. Alma Elma had a body that was seemingly created for only one purpose. There wasn't a body part that didn't seem to be designed to appeal to men's prurient interests.

"After you," Alma Elma said softly, opening the door to her room.

Tom entered her room…. Well… his room, actually. It was actually a rather unfitting room for Alma Elma to select. The last person to stay in that room had been his mother, and the room was decorated appropriately for a visiting parent. None of that seemed to deter the succubus. She pulled him to her and kissed him, her tongue exploring the inside of his mouth.

"Guh…" he said when she broke off the kiss.

So far, so good, Alma Elma thought. He reacted even more to that kiss than my first one. He'll be putty in my hands in no time.

She kissed him some more as she removed his shirt, moving down to his neck, then his chest, lightly licking his nipples, before returning to his lips as she undid his belt. As she expected when she reached into his pants, she found an already raging boner. All was going according to plan. Even without her magic, she was still a sex goddess and she intended to prove it.

"Wow," Tom breathed, lying next to the succubus. "Five times. I've never come five times before. That was…. Unbelievable."

"If you were on my world I could have made it ten, easily," she teased. "Of course, you wouldn't be as coherent as you are now."

"It must be lonely, never being able to really make love to a guy the way you want," he said.

"Excuse me?!"

"I don't mean any offense, I just wonder," he said. "Haven't you ever wanted a guy who can take your best and give it back to you just as good?"

"I'm not offended, but that's impossible," Alma Elma retorted. "Men can't compete with women the sack, and that's human women. A man has no chance of giving a succubus the kind of pleasure she can give him."

"And that doesn't bother you? Giving all that insane pleasure and not having the favor returned?"

"What is happening here?" Alma Elma asked, completely unused to having this kind of conversation, or really any kind of conversation, after sex.

"It just seems like this is a one-way thing," Tom pointed out. "You make men happy beyond their wildest imaginations."

"Tommy-boy, they drown in that happiness."

"Yeah, which means they can't return the favor."

"Okay, let me spell this out for you since you seem confused," Alma Elma said, turning and resting her breasts on Tom's naked chest. "Me succubus… you man. I get plenty of pleasure out of it. I get to consumer your life energy. Or in your case, just your semen, but that's more than enough. I don't think you realize how tasty you are. I haven't been this sated in weeks."

"Thank you?"

"Furthermore," she continued. "If I want sexual pleasure out of it, I take care of it myself. Sometimes I orgasm as many times as the guy does. Sometimes I just want to eat."

"Did you come while we were..?"

"No, I was focused on making this special for you," she replied. "Plus I was really, really, hungry. But if you want me to come for you I'll do it next time. Ooh, have you ever had a girl play with herself while you're inside her and you can feel the rippling when she comes?"

"Yeah, that sounds…. Amazing, actually, but I don't want to leave you unsatisfied," Tom insisted. "Let me do for you what you did for me. Or at least, as much as I can do anyway."

"Perhaps you missed the me succubus you man part," Alma Elma retorted. "A man doesn't make a succubus come. She comes because she feels like coming and makes it happen herself. I'm not one of your dates, and by the way, I can smell the last three women you've had in this room."

"I really have to clean up better," Tom said.

"The point is, I'm not human," she said. "The only person who can make a succubus come is herself or another succubus."

"Is that a challenge?" Tom asked, smiling at her.

Alma Elma realized then and there that as good as she'd been, nothing she had done had tamed the man. He was as independent-thinking as ever. He even thought this was an equal relationship! The nerve! A human, equal to a succubus?! He was supposed to follow her around like a puppy dog, living only for the next time she would deign to touch him!

The idea of a man living in close proximity to her that she wasn't in control of frightened her. She wanted to spread her wings, fly out the window, and keep going until she found a place where men behaved like men who knew that they were slaves to her body.

Alma Elma sighed. If she couldn't dominate him, she could at least demonstrate her superiority and dominance, even if in bed was the only place where it would matter. Perhaps she could squeeze out favors from him in future sessions.

"You know what?" Alma Elma said, answering the challenge. "If you want to pretend this is something it's not, go ahead. I'll lay here, you do your thing. I won't enjoy it though, so I hope you won't be disappointed."

"That really does sound like a challenge," Tom laughed, flashing a smile that Alma Elma had to admit was one of the most attractive and mesmerizing that she'd ever seen.

He started with her breasts, gently kneading them, occasionally slightly pinching the nipples as he licked and sucked them. She had to admit he was pretty good at that.

He slowly moved down her body, lingering on her navel briefly. She was surprised at how good it felt to have him lightly lick around it.

His head reaching between her legs, he teased her with light kisses and licks, the same way she'd teased him to start off the night.

"Heehee…." She giggled. "That tickles in a nice way."

Then she felt his tongue penetrate her.

"OH!"

"I'll take over," Alma Elma told Tamamo. "You should get some rest. I know how much you kistunes need to sleep."

Tamamo yawned and slowly rose from the chair, turning it to invite Alma Elma to sit down. Alma Elma sat and began typing.

"Any chance you'll search for relevant things tonight?" Tamamo asked.

"You know…." Alma Elma answered. "I don't think I'm in the mood to look at lewd stuff tonight."

Tamamo made a great show of clutching her heart and staggering around.

"Alma Elma, not interested in lewd stuff?! There's gotta be a story there!" Tamamo chortled. "What happened with Tom?"

"Tamamo, that man…. He made me…."

"NO!"

Alma Elma nodded.

"Before, or….?" Tamamo asked.

"After," Alma Elma answered. "I made gave that man the five best orgasms of his life, and I thought, wow, I don't have my magic, but I've still made him my slave. He was even calling himself my willing servant! I had him!"

"And then what happened?"

"All he could talk about afterwards was making me happy too! And then he…. He did! I mean, it wasn't even close to what a succubus can do. But he…. A man…. Made me…..! I'm just going to have to try again tomorrow. I know I was close! Maybe I didn't use my mouth enough. Wait, he loves feet! I forgot to give him a footjob!"

"Why don't you just vore him?" Tamamo asked sarcastically.

"I could do that!" Alma Elma said excitedly. "I'll suck him into my tail and spit him out! No man can withstand that kind of pleasure!"

Tamamo sighed and sat on Alma Elma's lap, wrapping her arms around her.

"Instead of all that, how about we just trust him?" Tamamo asked. "Maybe… maybe he really is who he seems to be. Maybe it's okay for us to need a human. To rely on a man to save us."

"Tamamo, bite your tongue or I will!"

"Alice was right," Tamamo persisted. "She's naïve, but she's no idiot. The four of us are too stuck on our prejudices. And if we were on our world, I'd tell you to go right back up there and do him right."

"If we were on our world," Alma Elma pointed out. "I wouldn't have to go back up there. The job would have been done already."

"But since we aren't on our world," Tamamo continued. "We have to accept that for once we are the ones who are in a weak position. Maybe for the first time in our lives….. we need a hero to protect US. Maybe….. maybe we should put our faith in Thomas."

"Now I'm definitely going to bite your tongue."

Tamamo stuck hers out, teasing Alma Elma. Alma Elma laughed in spite of her misgivings.

The succubus sighed. "I guess you're right," she conceded. "Maybe humans are just different here. They don't have some stupid goddess telling them they can't be friends with us."

"Maybe," Tamamo agreed. "And the time may come when we have to take a risk. But for now, we have to rely on Thomas. And this…. This Google. I hate this Google. And I love it. It shows me so many things. Just little of it useful."

Alma Elma clicked the mouse.

"Why does your search history have over thirty searches for shampoo?"

"BECAUSE THOMAS ONLY HAS MEN'S BLUE COLORED SHAMPOO AND IT'S MAKING MY TAILS FRIZZY!"