The Archaeologist's Mistress

by Jamie MacFrey

  Murado let me in the front door. He was listening to some cycle rock on his home audio system. It wasn’t very good, and it made me feel like I was getting ready for a fight as I stripped down for the neuro-chair.

  “WARNI—” began the intent broadcaster and Murado turned up the music to drown it out.

  “Keep it in your chest, big boy,” I laughed at him. “When do you get that thing taken out?”

  “Four more years,” he said.

  “Bummer.” I glanced at the neuro-chair.

  “Is it set up?” I asked him.

  “Yeah,” he said. “The first part is Theed’s file, then it’s a split of the two of them. It might be a little jarring in the middle though. I mean, I’ve made a created reality before, but I never knew these two people, Sare. I don’t know how they’re supposed to behave towards each other.”

  “That’s okay, Murado. If it’s too weird, I’ll come out.”

  “Okay,” he said, letting me lean back into the chair. He pressed the tip of the lead against the neuroshunt in my neck, then started counting down.

  “Ten… nine… eight… sev—“

  “Hi Sare,” said Theed.

  “Hi Theed,” I said.

  It was somewhat of a stark room. A rich red carpet on hardwood floor, but the walls were white, and so was the bed I was sitting on, which was basically just a mattress on an ebony platform frame. Theed was sitting in an easy chair across from me, drinking whiskey from a glass that never seemed to have less booze in it.

  “I’m dead,” he said, plainly.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “You catch the guy who did it?”

  “I did.”

  “And?”

  “Hary’s mistress put a bunch of holes in him and now he’s sitting at the bottom of Lake Gale.”

  “Well, thanks, I guess. What happened to GJS?”

  “I turned in your evidence to an independent newspaper. Daav made a bunch of arrests. His picture’s been in the paper all week.”

  “Good.”

  “The guy who got you killed is still in charge.”

  “Well, you can’t win every battle. I guess I should know that better than anyone.”

  “Peppy set you up, by the way. She was working for Yallen.”

  Theed sighed.

  “I mean, I sort of figured it out, but that still hurts.”

  “Theed, what the fuck, man?”

  “What?”

  “You hired me to walk into a viper's’ nest, then got yourself killed,” I said.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I got in too far. I discovered what they were doing with the MPA, and I knew that, sooner or later, my conscience was going to catch up with me if I went along with it, so I found Hary Xu. Just pliable enough to be my in-between. And then I fucked up. ThorGen was just as bad as GJS. They didn’t care about the price fixing, or the deals with the MPA. They wanted everything Hary had. And then they wanted more. And then they threatened to out him to GJS, and I knew he’d roll on me. It was why I chose him. So I decided to burn him before he could burn me.”

  “And then they killed him.”

  “Yeah. I was hoping it was ThorGen, actually, but I knew. I always knew, I think. I should’ve stayed on the force, Sare.”

  “You hated the force,” I laughed at him.

  “I’m sorry I dragged you in,” Theed said. He was very quiet, and he didn’t make eye contact with me for a while, just swirled his whiskey around in the glass, watching it move.

  “I knew you could take care of yourself,” he said. “So you were my insurance. You’re a fucking bloodhound, you know that? Once you’ve got the scent, you can’t let go. You’ve got to follow it wherever it goes. And I know you can’t be killed.”

  "I almost did get killed, you son of a bitch. Multiple times, in fact. And I nearly got arrested, too," I chided him.

  "But you're here, aren't you?" asked Theed.

  "Yeah, I'm here," I agreed.

  "Well, look, there you go."

  "You could've told me all this," I said. "You could've warned me!"

  "No. I couldn't," said Theed. His voice was cold and his eyes got hard. "When was I supposed to do that, Sare? In my office at GJS? Was I supposed to take a special trip to your office, followed by their guy and probably by ThorGen as well? When Peppy was reading my mind? I did everything I could to insulate you, and when they started dropping bodies, I asked you to come to me. But it was too late by then."

  "You could've warned me about Yallen."

  "Why, what did Yallen do? He's well above your level."

  "I went to visit him."

  "What the fuck, Sare. That's not what I told you to do. I told you to tail Hary, and speak to his widow. What the fuck did you want to roll on Yallen for?"

  "I was gonna get revenge."

  "For what?"

  "For you."

  Theed froze in his tracks. He hadn't really been expecting that sort of sentiment, I realized, a second too late. We hadn't exactly been lovers in the emotional sense of the word, at least not to his knowledge. And I would've said something a little different myself, if you'd pressed me in a more sensible state.

  "I...I appreciate it," he said.

  "You'd fucking better. I just brought down the leadership of GJS and half the Mars Provisional Government, too. You'd better appreciate it a whole lot."

  He laughed at me.

  "What can I do to make it up to you?" he asked.

  "You could see about getting me that paycheck you promised me," I said.

  "Sorry, not from the afterlife unfortunately. Got something I can handle in the ethereal world?"

  I looked him up and down, and he drained the glass of whiskey, or tried to, given that it wouldn't drain.

  "You could take your pants off," I told him.

  "To start," he said. "I guess you do deserve it."

  "You're goddamned right I do," I said.

  Theed stood up, smiling as he undid his tie and let himself out of his shirt. I bit my lip watching him peel himself out of his clothes, the fine shape of his chest, the thick definition on his arms. His hand went to his belt buckle, lifting the lever to trigger the slide.

  "I'll get that," I said. "Come here."

  He grinned at me again, and I could slapped it off him, or kissed it off him, or maybe a little of both. He sauntered over to me, stepping out of his boots as he did so, until his groin was about level with my face, and I reached up and pulled the belt off him, whipping it out of the loops, then sending it sailing away across the room.

  Theed hooked his thumbs in the waist of his pants, pulling them down and letting them drop to his ankles along with underwear. I watched as the "v" at his hips appeared, leading my gaze down to the tremendous cock I'd enjoyed the first time in his office. He was at half mast, but I could see him twitching slightly. It was kind of intoxicating, in this setting. Here for my pleasure.

  "Like what you see?" he asked.

  "Very much," I said. "Take my clothes off."

  I don't know why, exactly, I even had clothes on in the created reality. I think it was just a sense of decorum, as though Theed's copied personality might be shocked to be having a conversation about his death if I were in the buff. He didn't waste any time, though, helping me pull the shirt I was wearing over my head, then kneeling and slipping my heels off as I ditched my bra. He tapped me and I stood up. Theed stayed knelt on the floor and pulled my pants down, taking my underwear with them just as he had mine. His breath was hot on my vulva and I shivered a little at the feel of it, and again when he pressed his nose into my crotch and inhaled.

  "You smell good," he told me.

  "You're so fucking weird," I told him, then gasped as he ran his fingers across the lips of my pussy.

  "Yeah?" he asked. "That fucking weird, too? Want me to stop?"

  "Nooo..."

  "Too bad," said Theed, taking his fingers away. I pouted slightly, but Theed grabbed me by the hips, pushing me back up against the bed. />
  "Lie down and spread your legs," he told me.

  I fell backwards against the mattress, pushing my legs apart for him. Theed crawled forward, keeping his knees on the floor. He kissed down my left leg, starting at my ankle, making me writhe and giggle a little. I groan when he paused, just around my pussy, kissing and licking near it. I tried to grab his head and guide him in, but he seized my wrist and pinned it to the bed.

  "What do you want?" he asked.

  "Oh, fuck, baby, please..." I moaned.

  "What do you want?" he pressed again.

  "Fuck, Theed, I want you to lick my cunt," I groaned.

  He smiled at me, and I stared at him, watching as the smile disappeared between my thighs.

  "Oh, fuck!" I moaned as his tongue started to explore my folds. "Oh, fuck."

  I let myself relax, closing my eyes and sinking back into the mattress. I freed my hand from Theed's grasp, letting them slide up my body, stroking myself. Theed's arm wrapped under the top of my thigh, the fingers on his hand exploring at my clit, pressing in small circles around it, making me groan.

  "What the fuck is this?" asked a feminine voice.

  My eyes snapped open.

  In the doorway, a comely woman, a couple of years older than me, her face lined around the mouth, stood watching us. Her dark hair was long on top, hinting towards a bob, but someone had given her a high enough undercut that it didn't quite extend down past her ears. She was a real stunner, too. Not stacked, like me, but firm and well-shaped, the type of girl who could wear a loose low-cut dress without falling out of it. Not that she ever wore dresses. In fact, at the moment, she wasn't wearing anything at all.

  Mari.

  "Surprise," said Theed, grinning at me.

  It wasn't actually much of a surprise, given that this was what I had ordered from Murado. Mari had made me a neurochip with herself on it, back when she was still alive. We'd both done it, actually. It was some service that they were advertising for "the lonely and the long-distance people" where you and your partner(s) would record yourselves with their software's erotic fantasies, and you'd give it to a person who might need a memento of you fucking their brains out (and didn't mind getting skeevy in neuro den, apparently).

  Murado had agreed to splice it together for me, making a copy of each chip—Theed's and Mari's—to my personal specifications.

  So I knew she was coming, and I knew she'd come right after I started to get hot and heavy with Theed. But that didn't necessarily mean I'd been prepared to see her again, standing there in her glorious nakedness.

  "Hi, baby," I moaned at her as Theed went back to his work.

  "Don't 'hi, baby,' me, bitch," she said, her tone playful and amused. "You've already fallen off the pussy wagon and I've been gone what, like, two minutes?"

  Fuck, that was the hard part. Mari had made this thing a few weeks before she'd been killed, and I forgot that she had no idea what was coming. I'd asked her about it multiple times, trying to get the recording to tell me what it was all about, but it hadn't been there. I guess she hadn't known anything about what was going to happen to her by then.

  "It's been longer than that," I said.

  "Oh, I'm sorry, baby," said Mari. She came over and sat on the bed next to me. She leaned down and gave me a hello kiss that lengthened into something more, her hand intertwining with mine, then squeezing my tit with me.

  “Let me make it up to you," she whispered in my ear, climbing up on the bed.

  "Okay," I whispered back.

  Mari lifted her leg up, straddling my body, and I stared at her tight, plump little pussy, which was shaven only enough to ensure you couldn't see anything when she was wearing underwear. I’d always loved her pussy, more than mine, even. And Mari herself had felt that mine was the superior cunt.

  I reached a hand out to touch her, and she snatched it out of the air, pulling it up to her mouth so she could suck on my fingers. I cooed, and she settled down on my chest, sliding forward to press my breasts up between her legs.

  "Good God, I love these things," she said, taking my finger out of her mouth and using her hand to tweak one of my nipples. I moaned, then moaned some more as Mari started to rock back and forth, grinding herself on my body. I could feel how wet her pussy was, which I realized was an artifact of how aroused she and I had both been when we'd made those created realities in the first place. We'd fucked like rabbits when we got home that evening.

  A sharp smack on my breast brought me back to the moment, and I stared up in shock at her.

  "Don't forget me," she said.

  "I could never," I said.

  "You say that, but there's a man doing my duty between your legs."

  "You could join me, if you like," said Theed.

  "Should I do that?" asked Mari.

  "Unngh." I tried to say something coherent, but only a moan came out.

  "That means 'yes,'" Mari explained to Theed.

  She slid back down my body, leaning forward to drag her chest over my lips, then run her lips over mine for a brief kiss before finding her way to my tits, where she gave the underside of each one a soft bite. She got down to my navel, licking at it for a moment before she slipped off the bed next to Theed.

  "Thanks for keeping her warm for me," said Mari.

  Theed only grinned. I think he was a little taken with her, although that sucked for him, because he was definitely barking up the wrong tree. Mari had had one experience with a man, ever, in her life, on a dare in college, and she had told me, quite emphatically, that "men could get fucked."

  And she hadn't meant it like I would have meant.

  Mari started to rub her hands down my legs, watching me close, reading my reactions. Her right hand danced tantalizingly close to my clit, the fingers pressing right around it, narrowly missing. I shook, rolling my hips down, trying to encourage her to make the leap. She smiled, a Cheshire cat grin. She kissed just on the front of my pubic mound, her chin pressing down, so close it was almost there, and I reached a hand down to grab her by the hair and force her to go where I wanted.

  Mari wriggled free, pulling my wrist away from me. She handed it to Theed.

  "Would you mind holding her down for me," she asked?

  "Be my pleasure," said Theed. He grabbed my wrist and stood up, coming to sit on the bed near my head. He pinned my arm to the mattress, the caught my other wrist and did the same. I tried to fight, a little, but I think they both knew my heart wasn't in it.

  Mari sucked on her fingers for a moment, then slid one along my already quite slick pussy. I shuddered, and now I really did try to slip free of Theed's hold. He didn't let me, though, refusing to relinquish his grasp.

  "Oh, fuck!" I moaned as Mari's index finger pressed into me, followed closely by her middle and then her ring. She didn't waste much time, going at me hard and my world exploding into color as I closed my eyes. "Oh, fuck!"

  "She can never handle it when I use three fingers," Mari laughed at Theed.

  "Oh, I'm surprised by that," he said. "She seems to be able to handle me okay."

  "That's true, you're pretty big, I notice," said Mari.

  "Thanks, I got it made special."

  "Expensive?" asked Mari. She was still pumping her fingers into my pussy, making me moan and shudder as Theed held me down. They were barely paying attention to me, and I was honestly a little aroused at the apparent carelessness of it, as if they were simply using me for their own amusement.

  "Very," said Theed. "It ate up most of a year's bonus. But it's been worth it. The ladies always express some concern, but they usually can handle it. Sare here took it like a champ."

  "Well, I guess it's something different about fingers, then," said Mari, waggling the ones inside me back and forth. I screamed a little, realizing that I could basically be as loud as possible in the created reality.

  "Told you," said Mari, smiling. Theed smiled back at her.

  Mari dropped her chin, her eyes closing, her tongue snaking out and fondling
my clit, sending shockwaves up and down my body. My thighs tightened and my toes curled, my chest heaving as she rubbed at my clit with her tongue while her fingers bored into the sensitive walls of my pussy. I could smell my own scent of arousal, mixing with the heady earthy smell of Theed's body, his cock quite close to my head. He was erect now, and I quivered watching his cock throb as Mari ate me out, his eyes locked on the show between my legs.

  I arched my back, pressing my chest up, and grinned when Theed looked down at my breasts, resting heavy, the nipples long and hard and ready to be played with. He glanced at me, then quickly back at my chest. He shifted, slightly, leaning down to kiss one of my nipples, making me moan. He played with it using his tongue for a moment, teasing it back and forth, before he wrapped it between his lips, pulling until he finally gave it a bite.

  I screamed again, pushing against him. I leaned further back, pressing my head up against his thigh, so that I was nearly in his lap. His cock was bouncing just in front of my face. My tongue reached out, licking the head. Theed grunted. I could taste a small drop of pre-cum come dribbling out. Theed shifted again, moving his cock closer. I tried to corral it with my tongue, failing miserably, the thing just too big to get under control with just my mouth. I struggled to raise my wrist off the bed, and Theed let it loose.

  He moaned when I wrapped my hand around the best, dragging him into the right position, my lips locking around the head of his cock. It was that deep, masculine groan of euphoria, the kind where you know they've lost themselves in the heat of your mouth. The hand that had been holding my wrist came up and grabbed the breast he wasn't sucking on, squeezing the soft flesh as hard as he could. I moaned around his cock.

  Mari seemed to take our play as a personal challenge, her tongue thrashing harder against my clit, finding the pattern of circling she knew I liked so well, her fingers pressing as hard they could into me. My body was pulsing. I could feel every heartbeat across the entire surface of my skin. My pussy was clamping tight on Mari's fingers.

  I freed my other hand from Theed's grasp. He barely put up a fight for it. I needed him, devouring his cock as best as I was able, using both hands to force it down my throat. He groaned again, leaning back. His hands pressed along the back of my head, holding me tight against his groin, as if I needed his help. I was driving his cock into my mouth, working the base of the shaft with both hands when I wasn't playing with his balls, pulling them tight away from his body.