The tavern was bustling with disparate figures, many hooded in anonymity, others bristling with furred manes or scaled crests. Smoke from the hearth, cookfire, and numerous pipes pooled on the ceiling rafters. In a far off corner, near the pantry, a toned rat's whiskers twitched in anxiety. Penny had been standing guard over the cheese larder for hours, and the duteous burden of it was fraying her willpower.
Her long, white-furred snout twitched at the heady aroma wafting out from behind. The scent of pungent, aromatic cheeses was overpowering to her honed senses. Penny didn't even really like cheese, but after spending so many days guarding the gooey substance, a gnawing obsession developed in her subconscious. Her lust for lactose was deep; sometimes, she dreamed about cheese. And one ignominious day, this obsession had manifested in a disastrous way. The memory still haunted Penny's memory, but so too, did the taste of all those aged cheeses.
The first 'incident' of Penny's cheese guardianship had set the precedent for a humiliating pattern. Her resolve had crumbled like a block of feta over many tense days of steadfast oversight, and it culminated in an epic binge. The first time was still a blur for the lanky rat woman. Flashes of memory revealed images of her dainty pink paws shoveling wedges of oily Gouda down, not even bothering to remove the wax wrapping. She'd cleaned out a fortune of valuable product, and the tavern owner was livid with his supposed 'cheese guard'.
Penny's meager pay was docked to cover the cheese costs, and worse, an obscure contract clause was enforced against the gluttonous 'guardian'. The inn's owner, Ellis, had the right to choose the method of employee discipline, which included bondage and public debasement. The memory still made the rat lady's face burn with shame.
Penny rubbed her wrists absentmindedly, still remembering the feeling of her hands being tied with coarse rope to a nearby rafter. Ellis had trussed her arms up high enough that she was forced to perch up on her clawed tippy-toes. The burly opossum man had peeled her colorful tights down, rendering her round rat ass exposed and defenseless to the leering tavern patrons. He'd sodomized her, then and there, keeping her perched over his pelvis as he bounced her arms upon the rough bindings. The rodent woman's pink tail curled defensively as the traumatic memory resurfaced, every moment of it seared in her recollection. That first feast of cheese hadn't sat well with the rat girl, and Ellis' feisty thrusting had produced a loud and lewd cacophony of gassy releases.
The shame-faced rat guard wished she could say it had all ended there, but it was just the beginning of her episodic failings. Ellis kept her tied to the ill-suited job by leveraging Penny's mounting debts for all the gourmet Parmesan she'd packed away over the years. His coercive correcting of her unprofessional behavior transformed into a beloved fixture at the establishment, and Penny soon became the subject of bawdy jokes and rude songs, much to the proud rodent's chagrin. There was little she could do to maintain face among the inn regulars, considering they'd all seen her getting violently throat-fucked by Ellis at least once or twice. Every cheeky wink or unwelcome pinch reminded Penny of her unpleasant past, and the fatty taste of cheese.
However, much to Ellis' and the other's disappointment, she'd been doing better lately. Penny had managed an unprecedented streak of days without incident. The high-strung rat was sure she'd turned a new leaf, and revealed a hidden reservoir of unwavering discipline to manage her trying duties. Hopefully, all those lurid acts of public degradation would be a thing of the past, and the demeaning comments aimed her direction would loose their sting. But the cheese kept calling to her, and Penny could feel a mounting desire accumulating deep in her unspoken mind.
Tonight was a particularly bad one for Penny's cheese addiction. The air in the inn was thick and hot, making the cheese sweat oil, and the rat girl sweat big beads down the crack of her fluffy ass. The heated Edam was tantalizing her powerful scent receptors, setting a small fire in Penny's fraught mind. She caught her hands fidgeting and her neck lurching to gaze back at the display of delicious cheese wheels behind her, ready for carving and consumption. She whimpered to herself in emotional tension, refusing to buckle to another belittling session of sexual punishment upon failing at her responsibilities. She kept repeating to herself that this time, things would be different.
Penny was feeling much better about the whole situation as she chewed it over. Her greasy paws squelched the spongy substance playfully, eventually eliciting the rat guard to look down in a dreamy haze. Penny squeaked in alarm as she gazed down at the lumps of fresh brie squished in her claws, though it did not dissuade her from licking the runny dairy off with relish. She'd done it again, without even really realizing it. The flustered rodent felt anger and confusion at herself for failing yet another shift at work. She wept bitterly, her frustrated display now catching the attention of everyone in attendance.
The cheesy escapades earned a few knowing jeers from the tavern patrons, but Ellis seemed conciliatory as he approached Penny while cleaning a glass. "Look, Penny, don't sweat it. Let's not kid ourselves, this has gone on long enough." The rangy rat girl was hiccuping with emotion upon the floor, still cramming cheese down her stained muzzle while Ellis continued speaking, "You don't have to do anything, or even pay for that cheese. There's no such thing as a 'cheese guard', girl. Just move on, you can find a better life than this dingy place can provide ye."
Penny look confused as she stared at Ellis, responding between chomps of cheddar, "W-What? No 'cheese guard'? Are you saying I'm fired, Ellis? I-- Don't worry, I'll take my lumps, do whatever you want... do your very worst..." But the establishment owner just shook his head sadly.
"It's fine, Penny. You can consider yer debts squared, don't sweat this one. It's gone on long enough, there's not going to be any 'show' tonight. Just go home, I've taken advantage of ye long enough, sweet thing." Ellis had a sad, conciliatory tone to his voice as tried to comfort Penny.
But it just seemed to make the well-fed rodent more animated. Penny nearly choked on some Swiss as she hatefully squeaked back, "What? What's wrong, old man? Your prick not working anymore? You need one of these drunken losers to take your place and fuck me?" Ellis was completely taken aback as Penny's voice to a hysteric high. "You think you can fire me that easily? 'No cheese guard' my ass! You'd be in ruin if not for me! Get your lousy chode over here, loser! We have a contract, and I intend to honor my end of it!" To add emphasis, the rat girl opened her greasy muzzle wide, exposing her wet, pink mouth for the opossum man's use. He could still see crumbs of cheese between her buck teeth and gums.
Ellis felt deeply bemused by Penny's reaction. She kept expectantly pointing into her yawning jaws, making lurid gagging noises for emphasis. The big tavern owner felt a bit embarrassed when everyone in attendance stared over at the compelling scene between him and his employee. He wondered what kind game the rodent was playing at. At first he just felt sorry for the misguided lass, but now he was worried she might be a bit cuckoo in the head after all the manhandling and cheese tempting. However, Ellis knew full well he couldn't let such a public mockery of his virility go unchallenged, lest he risk public ridicule at the gossipy cantina.
The brawny marsupial stood over Penny, feeling deeply conflicted about the whole situation. The rat girl was on her knees, mouth agape with tongue depressed and a fiery, defiant glare to her red eyes. He'd had her in such flagrant straits before, but something about the dynamics of the current situation felt like they had tilted out of his control somewhere, somehow. He rested his meaty paws on the twitchy woman's furred shoulders, wondering if he really had it in him to roger her down the throat again.
Staring back at the leering tavern patrons surrounding the notorious spectacle, Ellis grumbled tersely to himself in frustration. He knew what he had to do.