by Dante Steel
Not today. If anyone was going to die, it was going to be him. Or so Gary hoped.
The black specks approaching were dragons. Hordes of them. Fuck. Wait. There were Olivia and Elena. Olivia was struggling to fly up high. Elena was too heavy or else Olivia was frightened. Gary didn't blame her. This was too much for new superheroes to handle.
"Okay, listen to me," Gary said. "You have to do it."
"Do what?" Nicoletta asked, confusion evident in her furrowed brow.
"You have to create a fire tornado."
"I've never been able to do that before," she protested. "I don't understand why you even think that's a thing."
"Hey, if there can be a movie about sharks in a tornado, why can't there be a fire tornado? You have to keep the dragon in one spot."
"I don't think—"
"So don't think," he said firmly.
Her face went white. With fear? Anger? But then she nodded.
"I'll try."
"Don't try," he said. "Succeed."
"Easier said than done," she said.
She held up her arms and rotated them, one clockwise, the other counter. Twin strands of rotating fire burst out, and she brought her arms together so the two strands wove around each other. Then, she twisted her arms clockwise, and the fire tornado slowly reached up higher.
"Wait," he murmured. "Wait. Hold it."
"I can't for much longer," she shouted.
He kept his gaze on the sky, on the dragon, daring it to come into position. Gary didn't have to look at her to know she was crying. He could hear the pain in her voice.
He threw and wasted a few more of his wooden spears, and then, he shouted, "Now!"
She let the fire tornado loose, and it spun around the dragon. Smaug seemed to stare straight down at Gary, and, fuck, Gary had almost forgotten that the wizard had wind.
Quickly, knowing this might not be enough to stop him, Gary swirled up some of the swamp water and spun that in a tight circle around the wizard. That wouldn't keep him for long if it stalled him at all.
Shit. The fire tornado was so thick, growing more and more powerful with every second that now, there weren't any pockets of space. It was wholly fire.
Gary had three spears made. He sent up one, but he couldn't get it fast enough through the fire tornado, and it burned to a crisp before it could even graze the dragon's underbelly.
The second one burned but did strike the dragon unfortunately without sufficient force.
At that point, enough of the dragons had flown close to them that they couldn't be ignored. It was like a dragon war. Gary grimaced and sent up another strand of swamp water to try to douse some of the dragons or at least weaken them.
Dipping low, too low, were Olivia and Elena. They were struggling mightily, and Gary cursed as he realized they were burned some. What had happened to them?
They needed Elena and her strength. Gary wasn't strong enough to get the spears into the dragon deep enough to cause damage.
The moment Gary sent up his spear to arm Elena, a blast of wind burst through Gary's swamp water around the wizard. Gary fought against Smaug, mental versus wind. Smaug was trying to send the swamp water back to the swamp, whereas Gary was trying to have the droplets fall onto the dragon.
A mental slap of wind smacked into Gary. The bastard's range of power was impressive. The distraction was enough for Smaug to gain complete control of the swamp water. Instead of sending it back down, Smaug gathered it all together and used the swamp water to douse and weaken the fire tornado.
Which could only help them.
"Come on," he muttered to Olivia and Elena even though they couldn't hear him. "Hit that dragon. Kill it. Wound it. Whatever it takes."
"Gary, I can't." Nicoletta swayed, the rest of her fire tornado dissipating into nothingness, and she fell out of her tree.
"No!" He spied an alligator beneath her, mouth opening wide, and Gary threw out his hand, tapping into her body, slowing her descent. She hovered in mid-air a moment before she began to fall again. He hadn't thought he would be able to affect her body like that, but now that Gary knew that he could, he drew her over to a tall tree and placed her on a thick branch, braced against the trunk.
Nicoletta had given her all. He would too.
Gary gathered up as much of the swamp water as he could and sent it directly up beneath the dragon. As he hoped, the dragon tilted to the side to avoid the blast, exposing his vulnerable underbelly. Gary sent the water careening toward the other dragons at the same time that Olivia started to fly with more power. To his shock, Elena released Olivia's hand and didn't use the spear to slice the dragon's underbelly. No, instead, she gripped the spiked tail. Using the head of the spear to keep her in place, Elena managed to swing herself onto the dragon's tail. Staying low, she yanked the spear free and pried under the armor. It fell toward the ground, and Gary used his telekinesis to make the armor go straight into the path of one of the other dragons. Then, he sent the fiery armor straight to the main dragon's underbelly, using every ounce of his mental power to shove the spikes into that vulnerable spot.
The dragon roared, wiggling its tail, trying to shake Elena off, but she had already gotten rid of the armor on its tail and was on the dragon's hindquarters. She tried to pry off the rest of the armor, but Smaug was standing on the dragon's back.
Suddenly, the dragon lurched to the side. Gary was trying desperately to shove the spikes of the armor deeper into the underbelly. Olivia flew up and added her muscle too. He could hardly bear to watch as Elena cocked back her arm and threw the spear.
Smaug held up a hand, and the spear halted in midair, inches in front of him. He used wind to turn it around, set it on fire, and sent it back straight at Elena.
Gary tried to reach the spear, to send it elsewhere, even to just adjust its course slightly so it would miss her, but Elena plucked the burning spear out of the air and dashed forward. She leaped and brought the spear down, not on Smaug. She landed on him and shoved the spear under the dragon's armor at its neck.
With a roar, the dragon plummeted toward the swamp water, but Elena was flying skyward at a neck-breaking pace. Olivia, where was she? Gary couldn't find her, and he hoped she wasn't pinned beneath the dead dragon in the swamp water because he was too busy trying to mentally snatch Elena out of the sky and float her down to him. He was leaning against a tree, barely able to stand as she landed in his arms. She was burned and unconscious but alive. She hadn't died.
Awkwardly, Gary checked on Nicoletta while still holding Elena. She was still breathing too.
A thud sounded behind him, and Gary whirled around. Smaug?
Chapter Thirty
The newcomer wasn't Smaug, and Gary nearly collapsed with relief to see Olivia. She was swaying on her feet.
"Dead dragon," she mumbled.
"Yes, and we have to get out of here. The other dragons—"
"All turned around when he died."
"You sure?" Relief made his knees buckle.
Olivia nodded. "I don't want to fly again. Ever."
"I don't blame you. Ah, can you help with Nicoletta?"
She nodded again, grabbed their friend out of the tree, and slowly dragged her through the swamp back toward town.
Gary hesitated and stared at the sky. A small figure was floating high above them. Smaug? Had he survived? Gary's eyes were beady and tired, but he thought the number of experience points they had gained was only from the dragons. Then again, if you killed a gamer, did you gain experience? You would, right? Gary's head hurt too much to think about it.
By the time they reached the town, the two unconscious girls were stirring. Olivia had already taken a potion, and she administered some to the girls. Gary had one for himself, and then he bought the potions for burns and passed them around. Nicoletta accepted one, and Gary didn't say anything about that. He had to do a double take when she removed her gloves, and he did see fresh burns on them.
"Everyone all good and healed?" Gary asked. Ho
nestly, he felt as if he had been hit by a bus, but he was alive. The girls hadn't died either. Granted, their foe remained at large, but all in all, he was going to mark this down as a win.
"I need to sleep for a week," Elena groaned.
"Sounds good." Olivia grinned. "You could crash in my bed."
Elena didn't say anything. She wordlessly hugged them all and then logged off.
"I'm beat too," Olivia admitted. "We can celebrate tomorrow, yeah?"
"Is there a point to celebrating?" Nicoletta asked. "Did we kill him? He didn't die, right?"
Olivia shrugged. "Twice now, we went up against him and survived. That's amazing."
"And what if he kills us the third time around? What if third time's the charm for him and not us?"
"Stop being Miss Pessimist," Olivia said.
"I'm a realist," Nicoletta said.
"You and Elena both. Gary and I are optimists, aren't we?"
"Right now, I'm exhausted, and that's about it," he said.
"Come on." Nicoletta yanked on Olivia's arm. "We should go."
"But—"
"You already said we'll celebrate tomorrow."
Olivia perked up. "Yes! I'm all done with classes and just have to wait for my grades to post, and I am all done with college!"
"Then we have all the more reason to celebrate. Sleep first so we can party hard tomorrow."
"Yes. Party hard." Olivia kissed them both on the lips and signed off.
"She's something, isn't she?" Gary asked and then wanted to kick himself. "So are you, of course."
"Smooth," Nicoletta said. She kissed his cheek. "Until tomorrow."
And she logged off.
Gary stumbled his way to his bed where another dreamless night awaited him. He could've sworn he woke up to find Elena in his bed, and he pulled her close, kissing her, rubbing his fingers through her hair. Her features were a little different, sharper yet feminine, her nose a little more sloped, her eyes darker, her hair a little longer with more flyaways, but she was perfect. He wasn't sure who undressed who first, and when he entered her, she gasped, her eyes opening wide.
He stilled. "Don't you want to?" he asked, confused. In his dreams, the girls were always willing and ready for anything… and everyone.
She nodded, biting her lip and moving her hips. "Please," she whimpered.
He took things slowly, easing into it until she gripped his ass and was gyrating in her desperation to have more of him. Gary didn't blame her. He was torturing himself as it was. He sped up, pumping into her, and he came deep inside of her.
Breathless, sweaty, satisfied, he rolled over and pulled her to his chest.
"That was amazing," Elena said.
"I'm glad you think so," he said through a yawn. He could fall asleep. He was wiped yet.
Wait. Wasn't he still asleep? Wasn't this a dream?
"Elena?" Gary asked, his chest tightening.
"Yes?" She pulled back to stare down at him. Her hair—a deeper shade than he would have thought natural but not like her avatar's typical coloring—framed her face.
"What is going on?" he asked, trying not to panic.
Elena licked her lips. "Don't freak out," she said.
He scrambled to sit up. "Too late," he mumbled.
"A developer from the game, a Haru Sato, came to see me and explained what happened, that you were in the game and that they couldn't bring you out, but that they might be able to send someone in, and if they could, they might be that much closer to bring you back out."
"You agreed?" he asked, both amazed and dismayed.
"I did." Elena leaned forward and kissed him again and again, physically pushing him back down onto the bed. She rubbed against him until he was hard and rode him, kissing away his disbelief until all he could do was enjoy the feel of her body—her and not her avatar's—against him. Before, the metal had always been a little cold to the touch, but now that it was Elena in the game, the metal was body temp. He loved her strength, her power. Fuck. He loved her.
But he also loved Olivia. And Nicoletta.
Fuck. What was Nicoletta going to think about this?
And what about Smaug? That murderous bastard was still out there.
If there was one thing Gary knew, it was that a war had started, and he wasn't about to let his side and the ladies be the losing side. Not if he could help it. Tomorrow was now today, and fresh adventures and new problems lay ahead, but for now, all Gary was going to focus on was the lovely lady in his bed.
He gripped her and rolled over to take the top position. Yes, all he was going to worry about was enjoying Elena. Finally, he knew where he stood with her. Finally. Maybe his harem would happen after all.
Vampire Hunter
Chapter One
The sun was shining bright, the hour well past morning, but Gary didn’t want to get out of bed. What man would when there was such a beautiful woman lying on his chest. Elena. Elena…
“What’s your last name?” Gary blurted out.
“Elena Pompilii,” she said, tracing a lazy circle on his chest. Her touch was so feathery soft that it raised goose pimples on his flesh.
“Elena Pompilii,” he repeated.
She pulled back and stared down at him. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” He swallowed hard as he sat up. “What is wrong with you?”
“Wrong with me?” She pulled back even farther and pointed to her chest. Her naked chest. Her breasts bounced as she inhaled deeply, and it took everything in him to keep his gaze focused on her chest—er, face, on her face.
“You came. To me. Here. How could you?”
Elena gaped at him. “You know why already,” she said crossly. “I explained it to you, and you seemed fine with it then.”
“How could I be fine with you knowingly entering a video game? A dangerous one? One that has a psycho also inside of it? Elena, you—”
“You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do,” Elena said stiffly. She reached over and started to put her clothes back on.
He grabbed her hand, not so much to stop her but to feel a connection with her. Gary couldn’t explain it or understand why, but he had felt tethered to Elena from the first time he met her as an avatar in the game, Superheroes Online. Back then, Gary had been just an ordinary gamer like her, only he had been playing a superhero without any superpowers. Well, more like a player with the potential to become a superhero once enough quests were completed.
But now, Gary was trapped in Superheroes Online, had been trapped for some time now. He didn’t know for how long exactly, and he didn’t want to know. His entering the game had been an accident. A freak lightning strike had somehow zapped him into the RPG, on his twenty-fifth birthday no less.
The thing was, Gary didn’t just feel that connection with Elena. He felt it also with Nicoletta Rodriquez, the cousin of Gary’s coworker and good friend Jorge. As if that wasn’t enough, there was another girl too, Olivia. Gary didn’t know her last name either, but he did know that she wouldn’t mind being a part of his harem.
Harem. Gary never thought he would even consider having a threesome before, mostly because he had been single for so long that he didn’t think he could find two girls interested in him. But now? Now he was regularly having dreams about the girls, sometimes separately and sometimes together, and fuck, he was getting hard, which he really didn’t need right now.
“Gary, we aren’t right now,” she said, eyeing his prominent erection.
“I know we aren’t,” he said, embarrassed. “I just… You know how dangerous all of this is, right?”
“I know. That’s precisely why I’m here! It’s too dangerous for you to be here, so you need to be taken out of the game! Haru Sato said—”
“Haru Sato doesn’t know shit,” Gary grumbled. “I doubt he’s any closer to getting me out of the game now that you’re here.”
Elena shook her head stubbornly. “He assured me that he had figured out how to transfer a person into the
game. He was right. He did it. I’m here. He also said that doing so would enable him to reverse it. He’ll get us out.”
“He hasn’t yet,” Gary pointed out.
“It’s not as if he could just snap his fingers and poof! we’ll be back in the real world,” she protested. “I knew it would take them time. Do you want them to rush this and you somehow go back with my boobs?”
“As long as I have my cock and you have your—”
“Gary!” She slapped his shoulder.
“Ow,” he said, and he wasn’t kidding. Elena’s power was that her arms and lower legs had turned into metal.
“Sorry,” she muttered. Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m really sorry. Did that really hurt you? I didn’t mean to.”
“I’m fine,” he grumbled.
“Seriously? You’re pissed at me because I wanted to help you? God, you’re such a guy! Give it up! You needed help. I was willing to step up to the plate and help rescue you. Doesn’t take your man card away, okay? Geez.”
“That is not what this is about,” he fumed.
“No? Then what is it about then? That you aren’t happy that I didn’t ask you first? Well, you better understand this, Gary. I don’t take orders from anyone, and—”
Gary gripped both of her hands and rubbed his thumbs over her knuckles. “Elena, didn’t you tell me about your hands in the real world?”
She swallowed hard and wouldn’t meet his gaze.
“About how you injured one a long time ago and couldn’t use it but was just now starting to get strength in your hand? Elena, you were going to open a bakery—”
“I don’t have the capital to do so. Not yet. I have to save up, and besides, I can always do that once I get back. No big deal.” She shrugged.
“It’s a huge deal, and you know it,” he said.
“You’re so stubborn,” she said, trying to jerk her hands free.
He wouldn’t let her pull away. “Elena, I do wish you would’ve talked to me before making this jump into the game.”
