by Dante Steel
“Good luck,” Gary muttered to them as he dashed back to the entrance of the underground tavern.
The ladies were sitting at the tavern, and he plopped down beside them.
“We need to talk,” he said.
“That was insane,” Olivia said. “How many levels did you go up?”
“Seventy-six,” Elena said.
“Eighty-two,” Nicoletta said.
“Ladies,” Gary said, “I have something I need to say.”
Elena held up her hand. “Not now. I need a drink. A ton of them. Between yesterday and today, yeah.”
“Hear, hear!” Olivia cheered.
It didn’t take long for them all to get drunk. Nicoletta and Olivia too. They had to be drinking back at Nicoletta’s. Soon enough, they had to get going, and it was just Gary and Elena.
“We’re two peas in a pod,” Elena said, laying her head on his shoulder.
“Oh, yeah? Why do you say that?”
“We both lost our parents. We can’t find them.” She giggled.
His chest grew tight. “Elena…”
“Yeah?” She pulled back to stare up at him.
“One time, my parents wanted to take me to the zoo. I was so excited. They asked me what animal was my favorite. I had never been to the zoo before, so I didn’t know how many animals you could go see. In case you could only see one, I said the monkeys, no, the lions, no, the tigers, no the flamingos, no…”
“You mentioned all of them.”
“Even some of the animals the zoo didn’t have.” He laughed. “Mom and Dad took me around to see all of the animals, every single one of them. When we got home, Dad hopped onto the computer and showed me pictures of the ones the zoo didn’t have.”
“Which ones?”
“Oh, you know, dragons, griffons, unicorns… stuff like that.”
She burst out laughing. “You honestly thought the zoo had them?”
“Hey, I was five,” he said defensively. “And besides, I did say a few others too like woolly mammoth and the dodo bird.”
“They’re both extinct.” Elena smirked.
“I didn’t know that at the time! I thought the dodo bird sounded hilarious, and a woolly mammoth? It would have been so cool to ride on one. Better than an elephant. Have you ever ridden an elephant?”
She shook her head. “No. Have you?”
“No. The zoo offered rides but not on the day we went. We never made it back to the zoo. Just that one time.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. I don’t think I’m deprived because I never rode one.” He smiled. “Did you ever go to the zoo?”
“Once. With my mom. Dad had to work that day. My mom kept yelling at me the entire time to not run ahead, but she was walking so slow. It was painful. I always like to go and explore. I had a ton of questions for any of the keepers that I saw.”
“You loved animals?”
“Even then I was curious mostly about their food. What they ate, how often. My mom liked when I was talking with the keepers, but she freaked out when one was willing to let me feed the tigers.” Elena scowled. “It took me a long time to forgive her.”
“I’m sorry. If I had a pet tiger, I would let you feed it.”
She giggled. “You don’t have a pet tiger.”
“No, but you can have me as a pet. You can pet me all you want.”
“Hmm. Not here in the tavern. We’d have to go back to our room for that.”
He grabbed her hand. “Not right now,” he said, growing more serious.
“Uh oh. Someone is acting all important and stuff.” Elena sat up tall, giggling all the while.
“Elena, please. I need to talk to you about something important.”
She waved over a bar wench and asked for two waters. After she received hers and drank half, she turned to him. “Go ahead.”
“You’ll remember this?”
Elena nodded, her fiery red hair bouncing.
God, she was beautiful.
“Okay.” He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “Elena, I have to make a confession.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“I love you,” he said in a rush.
Her lips twisted into a perfect “O” shape.
“And I love Nicoletta and Olivia too,” he added in a rush.
He couldn’t bring himself to look at her. He stared at the table. There was a nick in it, maybe from a bar fight.
When she didn’t say anything, he risked looking over. She hadn’t moved except to blink.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt any of you. That’s the last thing I want.”
“I… I might have resented you a little,” she confessed.
“Because of my feelings for the others.”
She nodded. “I don’t think it’s right or fair or anything like that. To not pick and choose? This may be a video game, but that’s not real. That’s not how it goes.”
“I know. Do you think I want to feel like this? That I want to love you all?” He glanced around, suddenly mindful of how many others were in here. “Can we talk in the room?”
“Sure.”
They left their trash to be disposed of by a bar wench NPC and retired to their room.
Elena sat on the bed. “I get why you love Nicoletta. She is pretty amazing, and you did know her before you played. That makes sense.”
“Olivia does, too. She’s a lot of fun, and she’s been through a lot. Not the same of us but still.”
“I know. I talked to her a little. It’s just… It’s too much.”
“I understand. I don’t want you to resent me.”
“It’s not so much that I resent you as much as I resent me not being enough.”
“It’s not that. It’s not like that at all.”
“That’s how it feels,” she whispered.
Neither of them spoke for a while, and after a bit, they settled down and fell asleep. At one point, in his dreams, Elena started to undress him. He wasn’t about to turn her down. As he reached to undress her, Nicoletta was there, and Elena allowed her to strip her. Gary watched as the two ladies stripped each other, and he grew so hard that he had to start stroking himself as Nicoletta guided Elena’s hand to her breast. Elena seemed to fumble a bit, and Nicoletta wasn’t the surest herself as she touched Elena between her legs. Gary groaned, loving everything about this.
The two turned to him as if realizing he was there for the first time. Nicoletta came over and caressed his face, kissing him, running her hands over his chest, lying him down on the bed.
Elena came over. As she liked to do, she started to ride him, and Nicoletta settled on his face, and he ate her out. When he reached up to touch her breasts, he realized Elena was already doing that, and the realization that he was having them both at once, that all three of them were pleasuring each other at once was enough to have him explode. When Elena was done, Nicoletta had Gary turn over, and he entered her from behind. Elena wiggled beneath them, and the two girls made out as he pumped deep inside of Nicoletta, whose fingers were buried in Elena’s curls down below and on her head.
It was fucking magical.
It felt so fucking real.
Gary wanted it to be real and not just a dream.
He woke up and stretched. Elena was curled up against him on his left side, but on his right side was Nicoletta. Now, all three of them were fully clothed, but maybe it hadn’t been a dream after all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gary did his best not to breathe, not to move, relishing the sensation of having two of the women he loved with him in bed. The heat from their bodies, them lying against him, had him so rock hard that their blanket tented over him.
He really had to do something about that. This was the kind of erection that wasn’t going to go away without being satisfied.
But what could he do? If he moved, they would wake up.
Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. Maybe then
the dream could come true. He had talked to Elena. Granted, she didn’t seem on board with the sharing part of him, but if she was there for the sharing, if he was giving himself to her at the same time as someone else, maybe she would be more up for it.
Gary certainly was.
He groaned. His arms were pinned by both of the ladies. He wasn’t sure he could get an arm free.
For two painful minutes, he waited there, hoping one of them would wake up, but they were both sleeping peacefully. Finally, he rolled Nicoletta forward enough that he got his arm free. He gently lifted it over her and then stilled, waiting, watching. She didn’t wake, and he brought that hand down.
Fuck. His clothes were in the way. It wasn’t as if his superhero attire meant he was wearing pants or shorts. Nope.
Still, he could at least rub himself through it. It wasn’t as if he thought he would have time to make himself clean. Then again, just rubbing would be tortuous without release.
With another groan, he began to rub himself.
“What are you doing?” Elena asked sleepily.
He hesitated mid-stoke. “Go back to sleep,” he urged.
“Gary?” Nicoletta called.
He dropped his hand to his side. “Yes?”
Elena sat up and so did Nicoletta. He muttered a curse but did not sit up.
“You ladies go ahead and eat or get ready or whatever. I’ll be right with you.”
Elena and Nicoletta glanced at each and then down at him and at his tent.
“You do that. Be right with us.” Nicoletta smirked as she patted his shoulder.
“Take your time,” Elena said.
The two laughed as they breezed out of the room.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want,” Gary grumbled.
The delay hadn’t let him any less hard. He stripped in seconds, and he took longer to come than he thought he would, reliving every moment of the dream, wishing that he could have had both of them this morning, wishing Olivia had been there, too.
Once he had cleaned up, Gary went upstairs. He ate some, alone since they must’ve gone topside. He hated that they had, and he inhaled his food, but he listened as the other gamers were muttering about how much harder the game was becoming.
Gary tucked that nugget of intel away and headed to the surface. All three ladies were talking, and he strolled off. Oddly, they fell silent on his approach.
“Talking about me?” he joked.
They said nothing.
Crap. They really had been.
“All good I hope.” He struggled to smile. “Anyhow, I think we should try to avoid vampires today if possible. Get to being heroes and megaheroes and superheroes as soon as possible. Gain the experience points from killing the vampires is great, but—”
“You really think our powers will increase if we become superheroes again,” Elena said.
“It’s worth a shot, don’t you think?” He shrugged.
“We need more than what we have to defeat Smaug. That’s for sure,” Olivia said.
“Count me in,” Nicoletta said. “Where to?”
“There’s a powerless wizard nearby,” he said. “He gave me my first quest. Might as well see if he has another for us.”
The ladies fell into step behind him, and Gary led them to the wizard.
“Long ago,” the wizard said, “war devastated the land. It was only after that the vampires came. With them came the darkness. Bring back the sun, and you will become heroes.”
“Bring back the sun,” Nicoletta repeated.
“How can we do that?” Elena asked.
“Bring back the sun. Reforge it. Find its four pieces and reunite them,” the wizard said.
“Where are the four pieces?” Gary asked.
“North, south, east, and west?” Olivia asked.
“Yes, yes, yes, and yes.” The wizard nodded to her.
“All right,” Gary said. “Let’s head north first.”
“Wait up,” Elena said. “We don’t have a lot of time. Let’s split up.”
“That’s dangerous,” Olivia said. “Not one of us could handle an entire horde of vampires by ourselves.”
“True,” Elena admitted. She rubbed the back of her neck. “Fine. Two and two. I’ll go with… Nicoletta.”
“You trust me with Olivia?” he asked.
Elena glowered at Olivia. “I trust you, not her, but she’s the weakest. She needs to be with one of the strongest.”
“Hey,” Olivia protested. “I don’t need to face them. I could just fly away.”
Elena nodded. “You could. And Gary can fly ,too. Maybe you could be separate. Nicoletta and I will handle the south and the east. You two split up north and west.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Gary said.
“Too bad,” Nicoletta said. “It’s a solid plan.”
“But what if you get into trouble,” he protested.
“We can handle ourselves,” Elena said.
Gary gave her a crap ton of the special potions to heal them. He didn’t like this plan, not one bit, but all of the girls were on board. He had been outvoted.
So he headed north, toward the mountains, staying away from the castle. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was looking for. He took to the air, flying around. The sheer number of vampires beneath him was staggering. The mountains seemed to be where they hid, and if he had to face even a fraction of their numbers here, it would not be fun.
He searched for what felt like hours. A fog had rolled in, but through it, it was obscured slightly by a faint light. Gary landed nearby to investigate and stood at the entrance of a dank, cool cave.
Wishing he had a light, Gary peeked inside. He couldn’t tell how far back the cave went. Not being a coward, he entered, ready to blast any foe back with his power. One step, two, three… Soon, he was so far inside that there was no light whatsoever. He couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or shut.
He felt along the side of the cave to be able to follow its path. It turned aside, and he was blinded by a bright, hot light.
A piece of the sun.
Gary had to turn aside and retreat. The light was so bright that it physically hurt him to look at it. How was he supposed to get it out of here? Telekinetically, of course.
Once again, he peeked around the corner of the tunnel, his eyes closed. With his power, he secured the piece of the sun. Man, was it heavier than he thought. He tugged it, and the sun slowly inched along the ground.
Just then, the tunnel bean to shake. Rocks and chunks of the ceiling fell down. If there was some kind of boss waiting to stroll around the bend, Gary wasn’t waiting for it. He took off flying, forcing the sun to move faster behind him, and he launched out of the cave and into the air.
The vampires below him began to hiss and screech, turning away from the sun. Gary grinned and had the sun stand in position above them, burning them, gaining experience levels all the while.
But the sun was heavy, weighing him down, and he could only hold it telekinetically for so long. Eventually, he had to move on, and he raced back to the spot where the wizard was.
He wasn’t the first one there, much to his surprise. Olivia was there, looking mighty pleased with herself.
“Why are you so happy?” he asked as he placed his sun on the ground beside hers. The two pieces fused together like magnets, and he turned aside, their heat and brightness giving him a headache.
“I found your lost ocean,” she said.
“Oh, yeah? Not much of an ocean, huh?”
“There was more water than I expected, considering what you said.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. A ton of beautiful mermaids were there, all naked and rubbing oil all over their massive boobs.” Olivia grabbed herself.
He blanched. “I hate to break it to you, but they weren’t mermaids.”
“Oh, I know. They were sirens. They tried to get me to have an orgy with them.”
Gary groaned. “Don’t tell me you were tempted.”
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“Bitch, please. I won’t offer this goodness to just anyone.” She fluffed her hair and then sighed. “I really don’t. I might flirt and tease and play like that, but seriously, you’re different. Elena is so fucking strong. Nicoletta’s mind is amazing. She has so much potential. You’re all hot. Why wouldn’t I want you all? But I don’t want just anyone and everyone.”
“I understand. I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said.
“No, you get me. You understand. The others, not so much. Not yet at least. I do think that Elena might be coming around a little, and Nicoletta only needs a little shove.”
Gary grinned, thinking about his dream and how it might not have been a dream. Although the clothing did suggest a dream. Regardless, he could see it happen. “Maybe sooner than we think.”
“Did you see any vampires?” she asked. “Because I had to fly over a ton of them.”
“Me too. That sun sure came in handy.”
“Didn’t it? Killed so many, but there’s always more.” She sighed. “If one of the quests is to wipe every last one out, it will take forever.”
“I swear they have a machine to multiply.”
“Right? Hey, looks like the other two have a sun piece.”
Sure enough, Nicoletta was dragging a piece of the sun. Gary rushed over and telekinetically took it from her. Her hands were bright red and stayed that way during the rest of the trek back.
“Are you okay?” Olivia asked, rushing over.
“She was a total badass,” Elena said. “Just picked it up and carried it.”
“The heat was almost too much for me to handle, though,” Nicoletta admitted.
“Want me to get the last one?” Olivia offered.
“Take Elena with you,” Gary said. “I don’t want to keep splitting up solo. There’s too many vampires around.”
Elena nodded. “We had to have seen at least one hundred of them.”
“Yeah, and Elena killed at least seventy of them,” Nicoletta said.
“You killed like half,” Elena protested.
“I did not. You know you killed the lion’s share.”
“The lioness’ share.” Olivia winked.
Elena laughed. “Doesn’t matter who killed what. We wiped the floor with them, but, yeah, there’s a ton of them, and honestly, they were harder to kill than before. Did you notice that?”
