Jessica took me for a walk around the main streets of Pleasure Island. Everywhere we went people stared at the elegant twelve foot tall giraffe woman. She was hard to miss in a crowd! For the most part, it seemed that we were ignored by native islanders, gawked at by dumbstruck tourists, and occasionally questioned by clueless idiots. More than one person refused to believe Jessica was even real, but some sort of girl in an elaborate costume.
Regardless, she showed me the town. We spent some time near an outdoor amphitheater watching a decent music and light show. We sat on the grass together taking in the sounds over a bottle of red wine. By the end, I was feeling a little more friendly. It seemed an odd idea that Jess was a call girl. She was so much more sophisticated and intelligent than that line of work.
"So... why?" I finally asked her, my curiosity returning.
"Why?" She looked down at me, reclining on the grass and sipping daintily from a wine glass. "Why am I a whore?"
I blushed intensely. "No, no! I didn't mean it that way. You're not a who-"
She cut me off with a lopsided smirk and shook her head. "But I am! Why dance around it?" She set down her glass and leaned back, lying down on the grass and crossing her arms behind her head. She seemed suddenly thoughtful, and I saw that hint of sadness return. "Yes, I'm a whore. I sexually gratify others for my income. Is that not the rough definition of the word?
"But you're so beautiful, so articulate." I added, resting my arms on my knees as the show winded down to tremendous applause. "You're so much more than just..."
The giraffe looked at me with a delighted grin and I saw her face brighten. "I think you're fascinated by me." She laughed slightly. "Partly because you've never seen an anthro before and you don't know what I am."
"Anthro." I repeated. "Is that the term?"
"Yes." She nodded, and sighed. "There are quite a few animal people like me, both male and female, that tend to cater to the needs of select individuals. We're something of an underground perversion. Which is why every once in a while a sweet gentleman like you catches us off guard."
I smiled and scooted closer, sitting beside her length of neck. "I came into your establishment looking for a fuck. I'm hardly a gentleman."
She chuckled and raised a finger admonishingly, shaking it. "Ah! But you were too polite to hurt my feelings. You didn't actually *want* an anthro girl, but you decided to go with me anyway. That makes you a gentleman."
"Either way, you didn't answer my question." I swirled the last gulp of my wine and downed it before staring up into the sky.
"There are no jobs for anthros. We're animals, not humans. The humans run the island, we provide the pleasure." She laughed, almost sarcastically. "I wish every guy could be like you."
Now I was starting to understand. "Do you do this willingly?"
She looked at me, and I knew I had hit the soft spot of her soul. Her eyes were teary once more. "No, Mark. No. But I do what I must if I want to survive."
"Can I help you?" I leaned forward, spreading out on the grass beside Jessica and looking her in the eyes tenderly.
"No." She whispered. "There's no going back for me."
"I-I could take you with me, back home. You'd be treated like a celebrity. Like royalty. You'd be famous, rich, and happy."
Jessica stared at me with moist eyes and her smile grew. "Even considering you can't do such a thing, that may be the sweetest and most caring thing anyone's ever said to me. The most caring selfless thing I've ever heard." She sat up, and craned her long neck over top of me, her hands resting on my shoulders tenderly.
"Why couldn't I take you with me?" I asked sadly. I wasn't joking. I really wanted to take the beautiful giraffe away from all this. "We could come back for the others."
"The longer you stay here, Mark." She sighed. "The more you'll understand why I can't leave. I do not stay by choice, or situation, but by requirement. As do all of my kind." Her lips now hovered inches from my face, looking up at her beauty. "I am not a whore because I choose to be, but because I must be. And so it is and will be. There is no leaving, so take all those silly ideas out of your mind."
"Why?" I asked simply, tearing up myself.
"Kiss me." She whispered, warm breath on my face. "Just kiss me. Please."
I got to my knees, shifted in front of her, and kneeled before the great giraffe. We looked each other in the eyes for a silent moment, a strange kind of kinship unspoken, and without a word, we closed our eyes and touched lips.
My mind seemed to explode as a soft thick set of perfect female lips engulfed mine with the sensation of soft fur around them. I felt her bottom lip suck on my top lip, and I unconsciously moaned my delight. So unlike anything I'd felt before, so alien. So pleasant.
I opened my eyes as she withdrew and I saw the blush beneath her latticework of fur returning. "Isn't that so much better than asking questions?" She smiled.
"Yes! B-But..."
"Shhh." She whispered. "Let's go back to your room. You can interrogate me all you like in privacy."
I blinked twice, smiled, and started to stand. Jess stood to her full height and once more dwarfed me.
We set out for my resort, late evening starting to set in. It seemed a little quieter on the way back, a lot of people had either tired out or gone home. Much of the partying had died down.
"It's awfully dead now." I commented.
"Yes." Jessica smirked. "A lot of the tourists have vanished."
"Vanished?" I asked, wondering why that answer seemed so cryptic.
"Yes." She smirked, knowing something I didn't. "They found out what the island is really about."
"So there's a secret?" I looked at her quizzically.
"There's a reason many people don't hear about creatures like me." She looked down with clear guilt. "There's usually no person left to talk about it."
"What?" I went wide eyed, as we neared the resort. "That sounds sinister."
"It is." She nodded. "And half the reason I'm thankful you aren't like other men I've met."
"Why?" I was truly freaked out now.
"Because you'd have turned into a mindless animal by now." She pushed open the gate leading to my hotel and walked beside me.
"But... that makes no sense!" I stopped, staring up at Jessica with confusion. "People can't turn into animals. That's..."
"Impossible?" She smirked, waving her hands over her body for emphasis. "Much like me."
Now something registered. There was something suddenly foreboding about Pleasure Island. "Am I in danger?"
"No." Jessica stroked my hair gently. "I'm protecting you." She started up the road to the hotel smiled reassuringly. "Well, come on! Don't you want to know the secret?"
I blinked, taken aback, and followed her quickly. There was a tingle of fear down my spine that had just started to manifest. I realized I had not seen a single person besides myself and Jessica on our entire trip back.