by Dante Steel
They rushed onward, using only the light of the five moons and countless stars to guide them. Eventually, though, Gary could tell that Nicoletta was exhausted. Even Elena was dragging her feet. Neither complained though.
So Gary pretended he was the one too tired to keep going. “I’m too tired to go on. We should camp here for the night. There are trees to give us a higher vantage point, and it’s not too exposed.”
None of the girls complained about stopping.
“You all sleep,” Gary said. “I’ll take the first watch.”
He could just spy Elena’s smirk. “Too tired, huh?”
“Too tired to go on. Not tired enough to sleep. Please. Rest.”
She opened her mouth but yawned and then laughed. “My body agrees with you.”
Nicoletta kissed his cheek and lay down without a word.
“No kiss for me?” Olivia asked. She waltzed over and hugged the possibly already sleeping Nicoletta and then kissed Elena’s cheek.
Elena went to kiss Gary but missed, and he helped her recline near Nicoletta.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye out. Two even.”
“Dork,” she whispered before yawning again.
He watched and listened for their regular breathing before turning to Olivia. “Are you going to log off?”
“No. I’ll hang some.”
Gary leaned against a tree and appraised her. “How did you survive back there?”
"Easy. Well, not easy. I panicked at first if I'm honest, but then I shoved a werewolf aside. Not really a shove, though. I made it fly. Duh. So I made them fly back, and new ones rushed forward, and it was kind of a strange death dance. Whenever I tried to fly upward, they would leap and try to knock me down and almost latched onto my feet a few times. They swatted me out of the air twice, so I just had to keep flying them away until gradually, I had enough space around me that I could fly.”
“Wow. I hoped you had logged off.”
“Who do you take me for?” she asked angrily. “I would never leave you guys like that.”
“There might come a time when you really should.”
“Not gonna happen.”
“But—”
“No.”
A silence lapsed. To keep himself awake, he scanned all around them. The scene was peaceful, and they heard no howls, but they also heard no animals period. The complete silence except for their breathing unnerved him.
“Elena told me about your conversation,” Olivia said suddenly.
“You’ll have to be a little more specific,” Gary said dryly.
She grinned, but her green eyes didn’t sparkle like they normally did. “About everyone’s powers and their fears and weaknesses.”
“Let me guess. You have a theory about that.”
“I do!” This smile was more genuine.
“Do I know you, or do I know you?” he teased, parroting back a phrase she had told him a few times now.
“Yeah, yeah.” She waved his words away. “Anyhow, I’m not so sure it was a glitch.”
“Haru even admitted it was,” Gary protested.
She just shook her head. “Maybe he thought so, but I think your biggest fear is to be worthless. To be overlooked. Forgotten. Ignored.”
“Doesn’t everyone feel that way?” he asked.
“Unloved,” she added softly.
He winced. “You cut right down to the bone. Maybe give a guy some warning next time?”
“It also explains a lot about you and your ability to love.”
“It does?”
“Although your parents play a role with that, too,” she continued.
His heart did a little flip. “How so?” he asked quietly.
“Maybe your desire to love so many comes from your parents,” Olivia suggested.
“My parents?”
She nodded. “My little parrot,” she teased before becoming more serious. “Tell me about them.”
“Well…”
“What’s the first thing that pops into your head.” She smiled and fluffed her curly light brown locks.
“That they’re dead,” he muttered, not looking at her. “I was put into the system. I ended up running away. I couldn’t handle being placed with a bunch of strangers. A fake family. No thanks.”
“Oh, Gary.”
“Save your pity,” he snapped. “I tried to make something of myself despite everything, but all I ended up becoming was a trashman. And then I got sucked into this game.”
“Gary—”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
She grabbed his fist and with her other hand cupped his chin and forced him to look at her, hovering slightly to be eye level.
“Listen to me,” she said firmly, glaring at him until he reluctantly nodded. “I do think the reason why you love me, and Elena, and Nicoletta is because your parents died when you were young. You missed out on a lot of years of love. Now, you’re trying to make up for it.”
He made a scoffing sound. “Not all orphans grow up to have harems,” he said dryly.
“We’re talking about you, not all orphans. No, not all do, but you, your heart… You’re capable of a lot of things, a lot more than just being a trashman. And you’re capable of a lot of love, more than just for one woman. That’s your truth. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“But it’s not normal,” he protested.
“It’s your normal. Who cares what works for someone else? Aren’t you happy?”
Gary considered a moment.
She glowered at him.
He laughed. “Yes,” he admitted quietly.
“Yes what?” she prompted.
“Yes, I’m happy.”
“Say ‘Fuck normal.’”
He chuckled some more.
“Say it!”
“Fuck normal.”
“Louder.”
He glanced at Nicoletta and Elena.
She waved away his concern. “They won’t wake. They’re sleeping so soundly. Come on. Louder.”
“Fuck normal.”
“Louder!”
“Fuck normal!”
She winked. “Who’s this Norma? Another member of your harem?”
“There’s room for three. No more.”
Olivia giggled and covered her mouth. “You need a dog named Max,” she said.
“Why?” he asked, confused.
“And a Santa costume.”
“What?”
“Green paint. Think Christmastime.”
“The Grinch?” he asked, even more perplexed.
Olivia placed her hand over his heart. “Your heart is three times too large. That’s why you love three women.”
His heartbeat raced. “I do love you,” he whispered.
“Hmm. You said once that you would love me if I have small boobs. What if I don’t look like this at all?”
“It wouldn’t matter.” He shook his head.
“Bullshit. Everyone knows guys are visual. All about T and A.”
“Huh?”
“Tits and ass. Tell me, Gary, are you more into tits or asses?”
“I love both.”
“Pick one.”
“Fine. Asses.”
“Really? I would’ve pegged you for a breast guy.”
“Or maybe thighs.”
She laughed. “You’re a character, you know that?”
“If you say so.”
“I do.”
He slid down along the tree trunk and sat down. Olivia came over and plopped on his lap. She rubbed against him, getting him rock hard almost immediately. Then, she leaned back and took the bottom part of his ear into her mouth, nipping gently. A shot of pleasure went straight to his cock.
“You’re killing me,” he groaned.
“Oh, yeah?” She swung around to face him, curled her legs around him, and rubbed harder, faster.
“Olivia, please.”
“Please what?”
“Let me make love to you.”
She hesitated her movements and then shook her head. “No way am I going to get caught with my pants down when those werewolves find us.”
“You think they will?”
“Don’t you?”
“You aren’t wearing any pants.”
“It’s an expression.” She kissed him hard, long, and deep. “I want to, but we shouldn’t.”
“Screw the should.”
“Besides, don’t you want Nicoletta and Elena, too?”
He groaned in response.
“Then shouldn’t we wait until we all can?” she whispered in his ear.
Gary rubbed her back and then settled his hands against her hips, guiding her to rub even harder against him. He was so ready, beyond ready.
“I need you,” he whispered.
“You can’t always get what you want.”
“I…”
"Nope." She twisted back around to face away from him, but she continued to rub her ass against his erection. Every second made him grow even harder.
He couldn’t help himself as his hands began to explore. Olivia didn’t resist as he massaged and teased her nipples through the thin material of her clothes. When all of the rubbing nearly proved too much for her, he dropped a hand down toward her pussy. He pushed the material aside and fumbled for only a few precious seconds until he found her clit.
She purred, and he rubbed harder against her ass as he shoved three fingers inside of her. If that was all she would give him, he would take it, and he would enjoy it.
Her walls tightened around him, and she shook her head. “You have… to do… better…” she said through deep breaths. “Oh, fuck!”
Gary came at the same time she did, and the only thing that would have made it better would’ve been if he could’ve come inside of her.
“Not bad,” she admitted, her body still trembling.
“Just you wait,” he promised. “When it is the four of us together…”
“You better last a long while,” she said.
He never stopped rubbing against her. “Do you feel this?” he asked.
“I do,” she purred. “Keeping fingering me.”
“Anything for you.”
Chapter Nineteen
How much sleep did Gary get that night? That was tough to say. When he and Olivia finally stopped masturbating each other, his balls were as sore as the rest of his body. At one point, they paused to catch their breath, and he began to doze. Olivia insisted he sleep some, and when he next opened his eyes, morning was just about to arrive.
And so was a figure. Gary peeked opened his eyes and spotted the person immediately. He groaned and sat up. At least his superhero attire wasn’t wet anymore, but it was a little crusty where he had come inside of it several times. He had more important things to do, like focusing on the newcomer and praying it wasn’t Smaug.
The closer the person came, the more he realized the figure was female. Curvy hips, that graceful walk…
It was none other than Yuna. By the time she arrived, Olivia had woken the other girls.
“You just upped and left,” Yuna said angrily, bitterly once she was within a few feet.
Gary scrambled to his feet. “We didn’t know where you were, and the werewolves, we—”
"I had to try and find you. Do you know how long it took me to find you? I had to search everywhere while avoiding those werewolves, and… Do you realize what I thought when I first saw the devastation? I thought you had all been killed!"
“We never meant to worry you,” Olivia said. She slid closer toward the Japanese woman and tried to hug her.
Yuna slid to the side and bristled. “Do not touch me,” she said stiffly.
Elena cleared her throat. “Where, ah, I’m glad you found us. We didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Upset me? I am not upset!” Yuna cried. “I am hurt. I have been trying so hard to help you all, and this is how you repay me? By leaving me to fend for myself?”
“We didn’t know where you were,” Gary said. “I tried to find you. I went to the laboratory, or whatever you want to call that place—”
“You went inside it when?” Yuna demanded. She never sounded angrier or more worried.
“I went to see you. You weren’t there, so I returned to tell the others. We were heading back when everything went down.” Gary couldn’t bring himself to say Smaug’s name. He was too disgusted by the fucker.
Yuna was too upset to talk. She just stood there, shaking her head, her gaze slightly unfocused. A few moments of silence passed, and a single tear trickled down her cheek.
“Everything is falling apart,” Yuna whispered.
“Yeah, that’s been the case for us for a long while now,” Elena said dryly.
“Why do you think I’ve butted heads with Haru so many times?” Gary asked. “How is he doing, by the way? Are you still communicating with him because I haven’t heard from him in ages.”
“We speak, yes.” Yuna seemed preoccupied. “I can confirm for you all that Samuel August is indeed back.”
“No shit, Sherly, where’d you get your first clue?” Gary asked. “Who do you think brought the werewolves down on us?”
Yuna ignored his sarcasm. "You went down to see me shortly before he arrived. Which means he most likely had been spying on you." She shook her head and closed her eyes. "I feared this would happen."
“What would happen?” Nicoletta asked, speaking up for the first time.
“I was off speaking to Haru when you were looking for me,” Yuna said. “I thought I might be making progress, and I wished to confer with him before proceeding.”
“We might be able to go home soon?” Nicoletta asked eagerly.
“Actually, I had reviewed the video game footage of your encounters with Samuel August, and I had to shift focus immediately. I’ve seen how you’ve struggled with the shifters in this world. I feared that if Samuel was able to use the shifters against you, that you would all die.”
“So you sought out Haru’s advice about getting rid of Smaug,” Gary said flatly.
Honestly, if they were going to be stuck in the game, getting rid of Smaug once and for all and for real this time was a great goal. But why couldn’t they leave the game to the fucker and go home already? Maybe they could try to turn the game into Smaug’s personal Hell. He deserved it between killing his mother and all of the other shit he’d pulled. Then again, Smaug would just hack the game and turn it into his own paradise anyhow, so that wasn’t much of a punishment, after all.
“I did,” Yuna admitted. “Unfortunately, Haru could not address my greatest fear.”
“What’s that?” Olivia asked.
“I might have a way to stop Samuel from hacking the game.”
“That would be wonderful!” Nicoletta said. “Go for it!”
“But it would mean introducing a virus to the game,” Yuna added. “That is my reluctance. We cannot be certain how else the virus will act. We cannot be sure of the ramifications of the virus. It might not be reversible. It could affect the game itself, the NPCs, the food and water.”
“Could it potentially affect your finding a way for us to return home?” Gary asked grimly.
Yuna dropped her gaze to the ground. “That is a possibility as well, I am afraid. How did you fare against Samuel this time? Clearly, you all survived again.”
“Yes, but barely. He had an entire pack of werewolves turned against us,” Elena said.
"The shifters who could not shift, the ones he cursed," Gary said.
“Of course,” Yuna murmured. “His hacking the game will only ever serve to benefit him and hinder us.”
“You could not create the virus to be super targeted?” Nicoletta asked.
“Given the huge amount of data that goes into such a game like this, it’s unrealistic to think that any virus wouldn’t mutate. That is what concerns us the most.”
“No food or water potentially,” Elena murmured. “Without them, we’d die.”
�
��Can’t Haru get us supplies?” Gary asked.
“Potentially, but the virus might affect them or else Samuel might.” Yuna held out her hands defenselessly and shrugged. “I apologize. I wish I had better news to share.”
“It’s not your fault a maniac is in the game here with us,” Olivia said smoothly.
“Although he did say something interesting,” Gary blurted. He winced. Now wasn’t the time to get into that.
“What was that?” Yuna asked eagerly. “Anything he says we might be able to use against him.”
“He said that the top five elite players were in this issue,” Gary said. “What gave him that idea?”
Yuna furrowed her brows. “That doesn’t make any sense unless… Clearly, he knew you were here. He must have assumed that because we have closed off the door back to the other issues of the game. We hoped that would keep him at bay, but his hacking ability is unlike any other.”
“It’s too bad he’s a criminal and a grade-A asshole,” Olivia said.
“Why do you say that?” Yuna asked.
“Because it sounds like he’s a guy the FBI could use. Or the CIA. The government.” Olivia shrugged. “Why do so many geniuses have to be evil?”
“Insanity and genius. Two sides of the same coin, aren’t they?” Gary asked.
“I do not like to think so,” Yuna said stiffly.
Olivia looked decidedly uncomfortable. “Yuna, we had no idea where you were or how to find you. You can’t be upset with us for fleeing.”
“You have no idea how I felt when I returned and saw the devastation,” Yuna said. Tears made her eyes glitter like dark jewels. “I thought I lost you all. I thought I was trapped here with only Samuel, and…”
“No.” Elena shook her head. “You don’t have a right to be upset with us.”
Uh, oh. Elena sounded pissed. Gary bristled. A fight among themselves was the last thing they needed.
He tried to catch Elena’s eye, but she pointedly ignored him as she stepped toward Yuna.
“You left us day after day to work in your lab. Gary wanted to see how you were doing, and you weren’t there. Have you been going there like you said all along?”
