“I think I’d go crazy if I had parents like that...”
Spice was walking home with her friend after school. He was an eighth grader and only younger than her by a few months. Despite the inconsequential gap in age, they lived lives that couldn’t have been more different.

“It’s a payoff,” She told him, simplifying her complicated feelings towards a family that managed every part of her life. “I get to do pretty much whatever I want, and they just want to know what it is and when and where I’m doing it.” The caramel colored bunny shrugged her shoulders as they marched through snowy sidewalks, eyes focused forward as she talked about things she barely ever got to talk about. Gale was a sweet kid, and she wanted to make the most of the short time they had together, so she hardly ever bothered to hide anything from him. “They don’t bug me about my grades, and as long as I stay healthy and don’t do anything to make them worry, I can experiment with anything I want...”

Spice trailed off, hesitating on sharing the explicit details. Gale didn’t push her. The snow-white kit kept pace next to her, walking completely in silence. She knew he was a virgin. He was a thoughtful, caring boy who had never brought up her work, or made crude jokes at her expense. But he was still a teenage boy, and as much as she loved him for offering her companionship, the silence made Spice worry about how even nice boys could be jealous.

Gale still said nothing, but she felt his hand wrap around hers. She didn’t resist. If he had wrapped an arm around her waist…
“Yeah, I wish my parents would let me do more without hovering over my shoulder all the time! Did I tell you about what my mom did last week?”
And with that, Spice gave a little smile. She was an expert at manipulating conversations, and found his clumsy attempt to change the subject absolutely adorable. But even as she smiled at him for his kindness, she felt tears sting at the corners of her eyes, and a sharp pain stab at her heart. 
She and Gale talked all the way to the gates of her house. She would have invited him in, but told him she had to prepare for tests the next day. He had nodded and slapped his forehead, pretending that he believed her. He told her he had to study for his math test the next day too, that he knew he’d fail it even if he studied all night. Spice kept up a convincing smile but felt her composure slipping.

The nice thing about Gale was that he never brought up her work. When she told the kids at school that she was busy or had a lot to do at home, the crude ones asked her if she meant having sex for money. The polite ones blushed and looked away, shutting down the conversation. 

Spice ran through her house, ignoring the servants that would cater to her every need if she would let them. She moved automatically, navigating the mansion as easily as she could navigate a man’s body, while images of Gale laughing and pretending she was a normal girl played through her mind. 

If he had wrapped an arm around her waist, she would have had to warn him about how much that cost. If he had ever tried to kiss her, she would have had to report him to the school and would no longer be allowed to see him. There was no way for him to know any of that. He had just kept his distance and tried to be a good friend to her. And while she should have been happy with that, Spice slowly felt herself being torn apart at how much she wanted to break the rules with him.

Spice had her own garden. A small building filled from floor to ceiling with beautiful flowers. This was where she went when she could not keep up her composure. The tears were cascading down her cheeks as she closed the door behind her, stripping out of her school uniform as she headed into the center of the garden. This was the only place she could pretend to have a boyfriend.
He came out to her as soon as the door opened, and she opened her arms for him to approach. 

A blue gryphon, the size of a small horse trotted over to her, leaning in his head against her chest and offering a happy purr as she stroked the beast’s neck. 

His name was Jet and Spice had owned him since she was in grade school. In her whole life, he was the only male she could be completely honest around. The dumb beast slowly sank to the floor, taking his familiar position, acting as a seat for her to lay on as she caressed his fur and feathers. Usually, she would be smiling and relaxing, using his feral blankness as a break from the hard work she put into gratifying her clients. Jet could not impregnate her and had no ego to stroke. He didn’t resent her for having sex with others, and didn’t try to bully her for his own satisfaction. And he wasn’t Gale. He didn’t care when she unloaded her tears the way Gale would. Gale would hold her back and probably cry with her. Jet just lay there obediently, his lion’s tail whipping back and forth as he allowed his master to play with him as he was trained. 

“I love you, Gale!”
She sobbed into his neck, the words muffled and buried, not allowed to be heard properly even in this secret place. “I love you so much Gale! Marry me! Let’s be together, Gale!” She hugged the beast tightly, closing her eyes and imagining his face as best she could, pressing her naked body against his to fight off the cold that was beginning to stab into her from all sides. 

Her family would never allow her to be with him. Not in any real way. He would have to pay for any intimate contact, and even if he could be happy with a girlfriend he could never kiss, there was no way he could be happy with one who was sold out to the highest bidder every other week. 

As she sobbed into his feathers, Spice felt a warmth growing against her. She looked down at this swelling cock and then blinked, nodding up at him with tears still in her eyes. That was her fault, really. Her thighs were drenched with juices, her body’s reaction to any extreme emotion. If she was furious, gleeful, or even in the pits of despair, she would always be ready to offer herself to any man with the money to afford her. Poor, innocent Jet was just reacting as naturally as she was.

So with tears still running down her face, she turned over and put him in her mouth. She bobbed her head up and down, stroking his shaft and massaging his pouch, spreading her legs and allowing him to lap at her soaked pussy. But in her mind, she imagined holding Gale’s hand as they walked home from school together.

The beast’s tongue cleaned up her juices, but the brush of his hot tongue against her entrance only encouraged more slick coating, giving him plenty to feast on, while she continued to give him the kind of affection she could never give Gale.

Jet didn’t have to pay for kisses or naked cuddling. Gale would never even be allowed to see her naked. Spice would never have what she needed. The tears never stopped running, flowing more and more as his wet seed splashed down her throat. 

She would lay with him for the rest of the afternoon, until the cold night chased her indoors. Dealing with her heartbreak the only way her body could tolerate; by using a male to feed the insatiable lust that was carefully woven into her genetics. Jet would patiently listen as she confessed to him all the things she could never tell Gale, allowing her to hold his head against her chest as she sorted through her personal nightmares.
“You’re not just pretending, right Gale?” She sniffled, perhaps from the cold and perhaps from the fear. “You’re really really my friend, and you’re not just trying to win me over for sex? Bec-because-”

And she would get back to satisfying the gryphon, using him to stretch her and fill her, and give her physical pain to cry over whenever the emotional turmoil became too much. In this way, she loved him more than she could ever love Gale. Because even if she was allowed to be honest with Gale, she could never be completely sure he was being honest back. And she could use him to ease her body’s desires...and she would have to be happy with that.

She was still crying as she dressed herself and left the garden, but by the time she reached the proper mansion, her composure was back. She had cried her heart out and was ready to wear her mask again. She took her phone out when she was in her room and responded to the clients that she had ignored all afternoon, and resumed her responsibilities for the family. She just had to be, since that was part of the trade-off.