“I doubt that,” I say. “And as for the job…”
“All in due time,” Kara says. “This way, please.”
“What’s that noise?” Mika mutters, eyeing the top of the steps.
“It sounds like…”
“Sex,” she finishes.
A lot of it.
The hallway at the top of the steps is wide and is as ostentatious as the rest of the place. It looks like it’s cut straight from a high-end Vegas hotel. Gorgeous lighting fixtures of cut glass throw soft light that creates a landscape of shadow and sultry mystery; the walls and rug are gold and deep red and are patterned to draw the eye to doorways shrouded by silky curtains that hide nothing of the rooms behind them.
And in those rooms…
“Jesus,” Mika says, awed.
I don’t have words to answer her. As we follow the lazy sway of Kara’s hips, we can’t help but stare into the rooms we pass. In those rooms, roughly every sex act I’ve ever heard of, and a ton that I haven’t, play out in tantalizing glimpses. Some sort of minotaur, at least as big as Bombor, snarls through his long muzzle as he fucks a girl with angel wings and a halo that floats above her head. His long horns come close to scraping the ceiling as he throws his head back and roars as he climaxes. The angel girl shrieks and crumples against his torso, and then they’re gone, swallowed by the doorway as we move on. In the next room, the demon girl with the cock we spied the first time here and a girl thicker than Mika with long red hair and a strap on have a third woman pinned between them; her short dark hair ripples as she moans bonelessly. The other two pump her from the front and back ruthlessly, kissing and fondling each other around their helpless toy’s body.
And so on. There are ten more doorways on each side of the hall, and by the time we reach the end I feel dirty. “I need, like, a lot of cigarettes.”
“Right?” Mika shivers. “Did you see the tentacle monster thing?”
“No, I was distracted by the pink cartoon girl that looked like gum doing… Something… To this guy.” I blink at the memory. “It involved a lot of candy.”
“Ooh, I missed that one,” Mika says. “Let’s go back. I’ll be her Vampire Queen.”
“As I said,” Kara purrs, suddenly at our side. “Your desires may change. We have much to satiate any need…”
“Ah, no, thank you,” Mika stutters.
“Yeah, we should get to business,” I say, steadying her. I’m already too distracted by this place. I need to stay frosty.
“Fine,” Kara pouts. “This way.”
At the end of the hall is a door that’s larger than the others. It leads to a study of some kind. Inside, the decor is the same, but more expensive; gold gilt furniture is scattered around the edges of the room, long velvet couches and dark cherry tables laden with beverages and little delicacies. Overstuffed chairs are set between those, black leather that looks too expensive to sit on.
Kara sits primly in one at the center of the room. The same black robe she wore the first time we met parts around long legs that cross over each other slowly, drawing the eye to a body that’s like sin made flesh. Her robe parts at her throat, and high, firm tits bunch without the aid of a bra or corset that I can see. She purses her black lips and taps them with one long finger, considering us.
I barely notice. Arrayed on the couches and benches are more girls of every variety and every state of undress. A fully clothed human girl with startling green eyes and a brown bob looks far too innocent for this place as she grins at us cheekily. Next to her is a character out of an anime I don’t recognize. Her long red hair cascades down over a blue dress with a white flower at her chest, and her oversized red eyes watch us as we come to a stop with a calculating glint.
More disturbing are the girls opposite them; three of them, an elf with long blond hair and a slim body, a human with impossible proportions and black hair as long as her body, and another cartoon girl from some show I don’t recognize. They sit at perfect angles, their bodies rigid and unmoving. Their eyes are wide and blank and their mouths hang slightly slack. All three are completely naked, their bodies arranged to display every inch of their flesh for us. They don’t move or acknowledge Kara or us as we enter; I can’t even tell if they’re awake.
Kara notices me watching them and smiles with a knowing grin. “Would you like a room with one of our incap girls?” She raises slowly and saunters behind the couch they sit on before snaking her hand around the elf girl’s face. “They don’t mind,” she says huskily, slipping her thumb into the girl’s mouth. She shoves it deep, licking her lips as she watches Mika and me. I can’t speak, can’t come up with words as she slowly fucks the girl’s mouth with her thumb. The elf girl doesn’t move, doesn’t resist… She doesn’t even blink. “You like this? Some men prefer girls who don’t resist…”
I finally cough. “Not me.”
Mika snaps out of it, too. “Yeah, can we… Ahem. Can we get to business?”
Kara shrugs, and the slight movement threatens to drop her robe from thin shoulders. “As you wish. There’s always later.”
Not on your life, Mika’s quick glance tells me.
No shit. This place is dangerous, and I’m starting to see why Kara is, too. Something about how casually she used the unconscious elf girl pricks at memory I can’t immediately place.
Kara returns to her chair. The girls that aren’t incap watch us with interest, clinging to each other in a landscape of grasping fingers and barely exposed flesh. And below them…
I nudge Mika, nod downward as Kara sits.
Mika’s eyes widen as she sees what I have.
Weapons, strapped to the sides and bottom of the couches. Swords, guns, even some kind of little axe that throws off a faint magical glow.
Kara eyes us. “Don’t be put off, pets. We cannot rely on the capricious nature of the players in Lifestream, and so my girls are trained to defend themselves. Not one of them is under level fifteen, and they train martially when they are not occupied.” Her full lips part, barely revealing little white teeth.
“Handy.” Every moment here creeps me out more. Not because of the girls; every one of them seems fine with being here. There’s nothing going on that they’re not okay with. It’s more the way that Kara watches us like we’re insects, and I don’t think she brought us to a room laden with women and weapons by chance.
“About the job,” Mika says, apparently in agreement with me.
“Yes, onto that.” Kara holds a hand out, fingers parted slightly, and instantly the anime girl rises and flounces to one of the minibars. She pours three glasses of champagne that glows like honey before placing one into Kara’s waiting hand. She then flows up to us, offering us each a glass.
When we hesitate, Kara sighs. “Please, don’t be bothersome. I would not have gone to the trouble of finding you and bringing you here if I planned on something as droll as poison.” Her eyes flash. “There are far more creative ways to make a person suffer if one feels the need.”
We take the glasses tentatively. Kara raises hers. “A toast, to a new partnership.” Without waiting for us, her lips take the flute almost obscenely and she takes a long sip.
With a last glance at Mika, I follow suit. The champagne is delicious, and as I raise it the twin scents of honey and melon kiss my nose. I take a sip as long as Kara’s; as on guard as I am, we need her help, and I don’t want to piss her off.
The alcohol caresses my mind gently; this is definitely stronger than Earth champagne. But it’s not unpleasant, and I don’t feel drunk, so I push on. “Thank you, Madam.”
“Manners.” Kara leans back, her glass held lazily near the floor as she drapes an arm over the side of her chair. It drags her robe open further, exposing the barest hint of a dark blue nipple. “So delicious in a man, and so rare in this place. By your slight accent, almost gone now, I’d hazard that you had a good southern mamma growing up, no?”
“Got it in one,” I smile, lulled slightly by the booze. “And you? Who
were you, before the world ended and you became… What you are, now?”
“I’m sensing double meaning,” she says, “but that’s alright. As to your question, that does not matter. That world is dead. That woman is dead. This is my life, now. A life I rather enjoy and would like to improve. That’s where you come in.”
Mika squeezes my fingers. I’m not surprised; that sounded ominous. “What do you have in mind?”
Kara takes another sip of her champagne. For the briefest moment, the image of those lips wrapping around my cock invades my mind. I gasp; the sensation is so real, so delicious… And then it’s gone, leaving me half hard and breathless.
At my side, Mika watches me with wide, worried eyes.
“One of my pets has gone missing,” Kara purrs. “Taken, actually, by a rival Madam.”
“And you want us to find her?” Mika asks, still half watching me.
Kara laughs, and her voice is dark music. “Oh, no, my dear. I know exactly where she is.” She leans forward, and I can’t help but stare as her robe hangs loose. Can’t help imagining sticking my cock between her firm tits and fucking them until I cover her face with my–
Jesus. What’s going on? I glance to Mika. Her face screams a warning.
Kara watches me, a broad smile on her perfect face, eyes hungry. Suddenly, I know exactly what Kara reminds me of.
The Wayward Sisters. Witches that tried to snare us and take our souls in the Citadel.
I open my mouth to protest before I’m assaulted by another vision, this one so powerful that reality ceases to exist. Women, surrounding me in an ocean of moans and skin. Fingers running along my belly and face and chest, massaging with oils that smell of lavender and citrus. Kara, her robe gone, lowering slowly onto my cock as she bites her lip. Her eyes rolling back as my tip presses between tight, dark lips and–
“Sam!” Something slaps me hard enough to spin me. My vision clears and reality reasserts itself like a hammer to my brain. “Wha…”
Mika stands in front of me, one hand poised. “Sam, are you okay?”
“Yeah… Just…” I shake my head. “What happened?”
Kara watches us intently. “Did you enjoy that? We can make it real, pet.”
Mika spins in place, one hand lighting. “What the hell did you do to him?”
“Just giving him a taste of the possibilities.” Kara doesn’t even glance at Mika’s hand. “You can have the same, my dear. You are delicious. You could join us, here, and be safe from the world. The Obsidians. The Threvians. The blasted Earth that we seek refuge from.” Her lips curve. “Have a taste.”
With that, Mika’s body goes rigid, and a panting moan escapes her. Her hand extinguishes and falls to her side. I grab her as she shivers, as her moans deepen. I know her well enough to recognize that she’s about to climax. “Kara, stop.”
“Why? It’s all in your minds. Let my pet show you the possibilities of an alliance with me.”
Pet? I glance to the other girls.
There. The human on the couch with the anime girl stares at Mika intently, one finger pressed to her temple like some shitty fake psychic. But what she’s doing to Mika, what she’s putting in her mind, is definitely not fake. “Stop,” I say again.
“She’s so close,” Kara whispers, eyes wide as she watches Mika get closer and closer. “Let her enjoy this.”
“I said stop.” I reach out with my mind and smack the psychic girl’s face, not hard enough to injure, but firmly enough to snap her face back and shatter her concentration.
Mika goes boneless in my arms. “What… What was… Holy fuck…”
Kara’s standing, considering me as I glare at her. Mika’s heavy in my arms as I turn to go. “This was a mistake. We’ll find another way out of the city.”
“No, you won’t,” Kara purrs.
I turn back. “You’re going to keep us here?”
“Not if you don’t want to stay,” she says, eyes lingering on my still hard cock. “I must admit, Sam… You fascinate me. Your little entourage is delightful, but it’s you I want.” She shrugs. “You can’t fault a girl for trying.”
“Why me?” I ask, baffled. “We’d met for exactly two seconds before this?”
“Why not you? Good men are hard to find in Acheryx. Men that don’t hide their real selves behind fake skins and faux shrouds of character. Finding someone like you, someone real, is so rare.”
“Not good enough,” Mika croaks, finally standing. Jesus, I’m not sure what the psychic did to her, but she can barely stand. “That’s a weak explanation and you’re insulting our intelligence by thinking we’ll believe it.”
“Fine.” Kara leans forward, face hard. “There’s something… Different… About you. I can smell it.” She breathes in slowly. “I want to know what it is.”
How the hell does she know? My heart pounds as I get ready to bolt. “What makes you think that?”
“Live as long as I have in a place like this, and you just know,” she says.
“Just tell us what you need,” Mika says.
Kara leans back, long fingers cradling the arms of her chair. “Fine. As I said, one of my girls has been taken. You will get her back.”
I blink. “After all that? The mental images and the champagne and… That’s all you needed. You just want us to get your girl back?”
“Is that so hard to believe? I mean, if I could have her returned and keep you in the process, I would be happier. But I won’t keep you if you don’t want to stay.” Her red eyes narrow, and I wish I could read her. She’s gotta be lying. Someone who’d do what she just did is ruthless, and you don’t get the title of “most dangerous mob boss in the city” by being polite.
But we still need this. Now more than ever. Because if we leave this room without agreeing to her terms I get the feeling we’ll have another powerful enemy. “Where is she?”
“The Estates. I am sure your little cat pet knows the way. Vera will give you the proper code as you leave.”
I don’t know what any of that means, but I’m not about to wait around to find out. I remember Annabelle, so innocent yet so darkly sexual. How she’d tried to take me against my will. Kara is so like her and her sisters… And yet, somehow not. While the witches were products of the Citadel programmer’s minds, meant to be darkness incarnate, Kara’s still a person. A person that Wick claims is trusted in the city. A person that treats her friends well.
Still, something tells me she wouldn’t give much of a shit whether our goals align.
So I go with it. “Sounds good.”
“Why us?” Mika asks. “I mean, for the job itself. You must have resources. People who can do this kind of thing for you.”
“I do, under normal circumstances,” she says. “But your presence in the city has been both a fascination and a nuisance. Multiple guilds have spent vast resources looking for you. My territory has been under assault and my assets are spread thin.”
“Still, us?” Mika says. “We’re not even level five.”
“Let us not prevaricate,” Kara says. “I know of your confrontation in Three’s bar. I know of the Obsidian you have prisoner.” She watches us carefully. “I’m even close to discovering where you’ve been holed up the last few days.”
Panic chokes me. “We have to go. Warn the others and–
She holds up a delicate hand. “No need. Why do you think Obsidian hasn’t found you? They have considerably more resources than I do.”
“You’ve been running interference?” Mika asks shrewdly. “Just for us to do this little favor for you?”
“My dear, how many times must I say it? I hoped to snare you, as well.” She folds her hands in her lap. “I apologize for intruding in your minds,” she says, nodding to the psychic girl that still cradles her cheek as she glares at me darkly. “I merely wished to show you the benefit of a life at my side. A life these girls have chosen freely.”
“We’ll consider it,” I lie. “We should get moving. How will we recognize you
r girl?”
“Her name is Akalia. She’s an elf, like me, though her skin is fair. Her pupils are the shape of hearts.” She purses her lips. “As are her nipples.”
“Heart nipples and eyes, got it,” I say. This place is nuts.
“And we get in with this door code?” Mika presses. “How did you get it? That seems suspicious. No offense.”
“None taken, pet. As for how I know the entrance code to a rival’s business?” Her grin shows all her teeth. “Money. Money and connections.”
I have no answer to that. Mika’s much quicker and is ten times smarter than I am, but she doesn’t respond, either. She folds her arms under her breasts and nods to me.
“Okay. And as payment, we can use your airship to travel to a destination of our choice? Even the Threvian stronghold?”
“Not quite that far,” Kara says, holding her hand out for another drink. The redheaded anime girl fetches it for her and I can’t help but notice that we aren’t offered another. “No one is allowed to approach the Threvian base of operations,” she says as she takes the drink. “But we can get you close.”
“Good enough,” I say, eager to get this done and escape this place. The musky smells of sex and alcohol feel like they’re carrying me away from myself, and the longer we’re here the longer I have to fight to resist their temptations.
Mental sex assaults certainly don’t help matters.
“Excellent. I will see you upon completion of the contract.” She licks her lips. “I trust that you will succeed, and I trust that you will at least consider my offer.” Her eyes change for the first time since we’ve arrived. There’s something behind her haughty gaze, something like pain. “The world is a dark and violent place. Lifestream is our home, now. There is nothing to return to. Whatever reason you have to travel to the Threvians, forget it. Stay here, with me. Live a long life full of delights.”
I’m disturbed both by how her lack of hope for Earth mirrors Havel’s and by how tempted I am by her offer. If all four of us joined her here…
No. We can’t give up now. “Like I said, we’ll think about it.”
“That is all I ask.”
Aspirant 2: A Sci-Fi Harem Adventure Page 37
