by Andur
Are we having our first fight? If so, I wonder who will win? “That’s exciting,” I mutter.
He raises a hand to his ear. “What did you say?”
“It’s probably better if we talk about this somewhere private. How about your car? We can drive to wherever you have to go to get the information about Trebor’s friends.” I gesture towards the university’s car park.
Marcus starts walking and I follow him. But what leaves his mouth isn’t satisfying at all. “I can take you home. But you won’t accompany me to my informant.”
“Then we won’t talk about my old life and I’ll simply follow you. It’s that simple,” I answer, startling him.
He turns around. “You can’t!”
“I can and I will. Do you really think that I need a car if it weren’t for altruistic reasons? I have enough power to teleport right out of this kingdom and to the next neighbour if I want to. Could probably do it all day long if I had a good reason.” It isn’t a threat. I am simply stating the facts. Who needs a car? I am only using them when I don’t know where exactly I have to go. The one I bought would collect dust if Jimmy didn’t use it regularly.
Marcus turns around and almost runs to his car. Oh, shit! I just insulted the only object he deems as holy! Today I am really showing myself from my worst side. “Wait! Are you running away? Why is it so important that I don’t meet this information source of yours?”
He reaches his car and enters it on the driver’s side, so I flash step towards it and get inside as if it’s the most natural thing to do.
He looks at me as if I just pissed on the engine bonnet. “I didn’t say that you could come.”
“Too bad. You made this too interesting. I am coming. And my parents back when I knew Adea were Ascathon and Celestial, the founders of the Ascended. Dad was called the Bright One, though he always hated that title.”
Marcus's eyes wander up and down my body. “You are Sera, the executioner?”
I smile and wriggle my fingers at him. “Oh, so some remember those old stories. I am honoured. Do you now understand why I don’t want to talk about it? The Ascended Ones made a lot of enemies back then. And this new version of the multiverse allows everyone to remember.”
Marcus purses his lips. “I can’t imagine you purging entire solar systems just because your parents told you to do so.”
I spread my fingers and smile. “My parents and I weren’t evil. We just brought peace to the multiverse. Before we knocked down everyone else from their high horses, it was an endless chain of war and blood feuds. And guess what, right after our rule ended, everything returned to its previous state.”
Marcus furrows his forehead. “I still can’t take you on this trip. The place which I have to visit isn’t where a woman like you should go.”
I snort and raise my chin. “Say that again? Either you take me with you, or you can kiss my ass goodbye. I don’t want to waste my time with a man who doesn’t respect me.”
His eyes widen and he curses. Then he starts the car and ignores me for the rest of the trip. It’s somehow bugging me that he is trying to shield me from something. In the end he is the one who breaks the silence upon reaching a parking lot which isn’t far from the city centre. “I just want you to know that I normally don’t visit such parties. I am just going there because it’s the only way to catch my informant.”
“Now you are starting to frighten me. What’s the big secret? Are they making blood sacrifices there? You could have said so sooner, I don’t want to dirty my clothes.” I get out of the car and follow him to the entrance of a big warehouse where a woman with some documents is waiting.
He looks back, straight into my eyes. “Just believe me when I say that this isn’t my preferred locality. I visited this place only twice, and that was before I met you.”
Gods! What’s going on?
I decide to say nothing and follow him to the waiting woman. Upon reaching her, Marcus pulls two big bills from his jacket, enough money to eat three times in a very good restaurant. “We want to join the party.”
The woman takes the money and bows. “I assume you know the rules?” She hands Marcus one of the documents and he signs with his name.
“I do. She is new.” Marcus gestures to me.
I get my own document and make sure that it isn’t a magical contract, then I sign it while I read the purely legal crapshit which is written there. There aren’t many rules, but there are a few which are troubling. “Make sure to use protection. Don’t force anyone against his will. Always follow the orders of the security staff. Don’t hurt anyone who doesn’t beg for it. Stay safe! Have fun!”
“What’s this place?” I follow Marcus through the veiled entrance and into another world.
We are in a disco bar with people who most definitely seek more than dance, drugs and music. The stage is filled with naked women and men who are having their fun with each other, or with the dancing poles. Several people are just talking with each other, but just as many are in various stages of performing ‘the deed’ with each other.
And most of them forgot the clothes… I like this place!
“It’s an orgy.” I turn to look at Marcus, who seems to be quite embarrassed. “That’s all? I thought you were going to take me to a place where they eat souls… or something like that. It’s just a swinger club!” Okay, a very free spirited swinger club. My eyes stay stuck on a girl who is expertly circling her perfect hips on top of a guy who looks like he is in heaven. With such a performance I am getting thoughts about trying my own gender for once.
“Seria!”
I blink and turn towards Marcus. He is at a door which leads deeper into the club. Apparently there is more than this first level. I follow him, circling around a woman in a very revealing maid outfit. She is carrying free drinks and toys for various pleasures, so I help myself to something that looks and smells like alcohol.
Sadly it’s not.
“Don’t pull such a face. This place doesn’t serve alcohol,” Marcus reprimands me when I reach him.
“Why not? It would be perfect if I had a good drink,” I mumble.
This causes Marcus to miss a step and he almost trips. “Some parts of this club wouldn’t work out when the minds of the customers are impaired.” He leads me through various rooms of sin and lust. Seems like every room has its own theme. There is the smell of sex and perfume in the air. Not being able to help myself, I feel a fire burning inside me. My body definitely wants to get in on some action.
Marcus walks around two girls and a man who are shamelessly rutting with each other and we enter an area which seems to belong to the hardcore section. The various equipments are of the painful sort. Yep, almost feels as if I am at home in my father’s dungeon.
Marcus turns around and points at a corner in the room. “You can wait there. My friend isn’t exactly a friend of women and the next area is exclusive for men. Just say no if anyone gets annoying. You’ve read the rules.”
I furrow my forehead and nod. Marcus looks at me for several moments as if he is trying to make up his mind. Then he turns around and leaves the big room through a door with a sign for males above it. Next to it is another door with the symbol for females, so I suppose that there are exclusive areas for both genders?
“Seems like your man abandoned you?” A strong male voice startles me and I feel my butt being spanked by a strong, hard hand. Thinking of blood and murder, I turn around. The man in front of me isn’t bad looking, but I simply don’t like his dark olive, Italian skin tone. There is a metal collar around his neck with a short chain attached to it.
He bends over me, as if to intimidate me. “If you want me to, I can lend a strong, guiding hand, lovely.”
That’s it. “I am not ‘lovely’. And you either put a lot of distance between us, or I’ll introduce you to a world of pain!”
Suddenly he falls to his knees and offers me the chain of his collar. Something strange flashes in his eyes. “I am unworthy. To make a mis
take as not to recognize my mistress! Do whatever you want to me, punish me!”
Okay? I survey the room and notice the attention of several other people who stopped their S&M practices to watch the exchange. This part of the club is definitely for the weirdos. I’ve to do something. And he spanked me.
“You want pain?”
“Yes!”
I take the chain and yank, pulling him over to one of the human-sized crosses. There I use the provided shackles to chain him with his back to the room. I do so slowly, just to give him ample time to object. “So you are really a scum-bag who gets off on things like this?”
“Yes, mistress! Tighter!” he answers with a deep, aroused voice.
“I think they are tight enough.” I run a finger across his back, trailing a rune to ensure that he isn’t able to cheat. Then I turn around and single out a man who is toying with a whip in his hand, a woman is hugging his knees. The pair looks like a master and his dog.
I approach him and point at the whip. It’s well made and out of black leather. Definitely not one of the cheap tools. “Could you lend me that for a while? I am new and I forgot to bring my own toys. I promise it won’t take long.”
His eyes wander to the man who spanked me and he grins, offering me the hilt. “Only as long as you give us a good show.” Then he whispers, “You know that he is normally a S? I guess your looks scrambled his brain and he is trying to get close to you.”
Grinning, I lick my lips and inspect the whip. It’s soft. That only happens to leather if it’s used often. “I’ll do my worst to educate him.”
Cracking the whip in the air, I approach the guy who dared to touch my butt. It’s a loud, resounding crack and the guy at the cross looks for the first time as if he is doubting his decision. “Let’s see how much you can take. Though I personally think that you are a wimp who can’t take a good spanking! Didn’t take me seriously?”
Cracking the whip, I pull a first, fine trail across his back, just not enough to draw blood. Over the next minutes, I slowly increase the speed and intensity. I take my time to enjoy my revenge, always giving him enough time to recover. If I go too hard on him he might call it quits before I am done. The fool clearly struggles to stop himself from crying out. I am almost sure that he will give in any second, when someone taps my back.
Turning around, I look at Marcus. He is looking down on me with a raised eyebrow and I notice that a huge crowd gathered to watch my work.
“I give up! Red, Safeword! Just stop! Can’t take any more!” the piece of trash calls out.
That’s when everyone starts cheering and clapping. The watchers clearly enjoyed the show.
Marcus’s eyes wander to the man and back to me. “So you are skilled in that area? Care to explain why you drew a heart around the S&M on his back?”
I throw the whip back to the man who lend it to me and he catches it, saluting me. Then I turn to look at the piece of art which I drew with the whip. Fine, almost knife-like cuts write S&M on the idiot’s back. Around it is a big heart with rose petals.
Twiddling my fingers, I decide to let Marcus in on my thoughts. “Isn’t it obvious? It means Seria&Marcus. Sometimes you are really slow.”
Marcus inspects the man’s back as a woman in a dominatrix outfit unshackles the nameless idiot. There is clear surprise in his face.
“A normal person would have used a tree...”
31. ~Declaration.~
“You know that you will never escape? There is always another life, and I’ll follow you even then.”
The Journey to the Afterlife
Kingdom Newerth, Capital City
Marcus
I mull in my own thoughts while I drive Seria back to her shop. It’s been a long day and I am ready to call it quits. Especially with her sudden confession to deal with.
I've to admit that I was worried about bringing Seria to the club. Especially since my brother planted those doubts about her nature in my mind. A succubus in a swinger club? There are too many bad jokes with such set-ups.
In the end it worked out better than I feared. Though her skill with a whip is frightening and she looked much too much at home in that S&M room. I never thought of myself as the highly possessive one-man-one-girl type, but Seria awakens those tendencies in me.
By the gods, I've let go of plenty of women when my brother seduced them and they broke off the contact with me. Now I understand that they were probably too mortified to continue the relationship with me.
But with my feelings for Seria, I suppose that I would have broken a few necks if I had returned and found her with someone else. She is... special. This morbid jealously must mean something.
Though her really weird declaration of love was freaky! I really don't know how to feel about it. On one side I should be happy that the woman of my dreams finally confesses that I am not just another random guy in a long, endless line of random guys.
On the other side, she has a really strange way of showing it. I wonder why she chose exactly that moment? We exchanged some harsh words just a few minutes earlier. It wasn’t quite a lover’s quarrel, but close.
I guess it would have been better if she had used a tree.
That’s when Seria breaks the silence which we had going on since several minutes. “You are too silent, Marcus. I admit it. That declaration came at an inopportune moment, but my mind kind of went on autopilot while I whipped that guy. Who knew that I would think of you while doing something like that.”
So does that mean that she wants to whip me? I clear my throat. “I kind of hoped that you would finally answer my feelings, but you have to admit that the timing was awkward. Though I have to tell you, being whipped until I bleed isn’t my thing.”
Seria blushes and I try my hardest to keep the car going straight and my eyes on the street. It’s the first time that I managed to observe such a reaction from her.
She shakes her head. “It’s not like that. I am not thinking of you like that. Not at all! I don’t get off on such things… though you could be a little rougher when we do it.”
I try not to swallow my tongue. “Rougher?”
“Yeah, I mean, I understand that you are the sensual and slow type. But to get started I like it when the first time is rough and animalistic. No holding back. I already admitted my feelings, so why not tell you everything. You have the stamina, so why not use it?”
Damn. I thought she likes a slow start. “You’ve admitted your feelings? It felt more like you admitted them to yourself back then!” I don’t want to spoil her openness, but we have to clarify the situation. This discussion in itself is awkward enough.
Seria scowls. “Fine, I love you. I like to talk to a stalker like you and I like having you with me. Sometimes I think about buying a set of shackles to chain you to my bed. I am not a person who gets attached to a lot of people. In fact, you are the first one since several reincarnations to whom I admitted such feelings. And then it had to happen in such a haphazard way. The words came out on their own.”
I purse my lips, thinking about our first night. “Maybe we could try it. And I love you too, though your secrecy drives me crazy. I won’t put up with it for much longer. Once we get a spare minute, we will have a long discussion. I mean it.” Stealing a glance at her, I notice her expression turning sour.
“Try what?” She asks, trying to change the subject.
Scratching my cheek, I clarify, “Maybe I could allow you to chain me… to the bed? But no whips and stuff like that. I wouldn’t get it up.”
Her expression turns into a devilish grin. “There are also feathers and candles. I am sure that I can make you weep with a joss stick.”
This woman. “Then be prepared for my skills with the massage oil. You will scream before I am done.”
She smiles, but the her expression turns serious. “So what did you find out? Or was the trip just a waste of time? They didn’t attack you in there? Did they? Your ass belongs to me!”
I cough, imagining what s
he is suggesting. I hope she meant that as a metaphor. “No. I am hundred percent straight. But I managed to talk to Apex. He is a former classmate of mine and he has a lot of connections. Including knowledge about Trebor’s bunch. He suggested to look into the relationship between Trebor and Senator Zhon. According to him, there are a lot of transactions which are suspicious. Though I don’t get how Apex knows anything about the exchanged money between those two.”
Seria gestures with one hand. “Maybe he didn’t mean money? The underworld is often trading in favours. Such things are hardly documented and can be denied to outsiders.”
“I’ll order the DF to look into it. In the meantime, we will really lean back and let them do their job.” I try to put weight into my next words. “If it’s true that a senator is involved, one of my father’s trusted advisers, then we have to be careful not to make a mistake with false accusations.”
Seria nods slowly. “You are really sure that we shouldn’t just raid his office and turn it upside down to find something that hints at his involvement? The entire situation crossed the point of being subtle long ago. In my book, since they destroyed the Tandeen district, to be more accurate. And it’s been a while since then. Do you really want to tell me that your parents are still not prepared to take the gloves off?”
I sigh. Who am I kidding? Getting one nice night right after we declared this relationship as something more than bedtime studies was asking too much. “Yeah, understood. We’ll check the palace first and raid an office. Why not? That’s the first thing which is on my mind right after the woman of my dreams admits that she has feelings for me.” I switch to a higher gear and press the pedal to the metal.
32. ~Whisked away.~
“Making plans is an attempt at predicting the future. Some people claim that their business plans can predict the market up to five years from now. Can you explain why we believe them any more than the next witch with a ball of glass between her hands?”
