by Cameron Hale
* * *
Fragrant steam billowed from the shower as Miranda stepped from the sunken marble enclave. After drying herself under the warm currents of the body blower, she perused Rico’s vast selection of toiletries and selected an imported French bath ensemble of cream, powder and perfume.
She massaged herself sensuously, savoring the delicate floral tones of the lotion. Using her left earring, she restored her blonde hair and dark eye color, placed the scalpel into the heel of her shoe and dressed. She critically checked her reflection in the vanity mirror. After touching up her makeup, her final task was to spritz a tiny amount of the pheromonal perfume from the dispenser in her right earring.
The first blush of dawn tentatively reached through the windows as she strolled along the balcony. She sipped fresh mango juice from Rico’s well stocked bar refrigerator and breathed deeply of the brisk, salty air. Her appearance on the balcony raised no particular concern, the presence of a female guest commonplace. Rico’s black and yellow banners snapped smartly in the wind. As Rico had so thoughtfully arranged, there had been no calls or interruptions.
The routine below continued undisturbed. Household staff bustled about their duties while gardeners tended damaged foliage. Guards stoically patrolled the perimeter, oblivious to their unsuspected deliverance. On the landing pad, a whisperjet revved in preparation for its return journey to the mainland.
Miranda watched the jet ascend into the blazing cerulean sky. It hovered momentarily above the fortress before moving east, its engines a receding whine. The canaries sang from the aviary, reminding her of her own pet birds as a child. There had been other animals, including a miniature pony, the huge house and extensive grounds of her youth full of warm and happy memories. Her eyes misted as she recalled distant family events, the comfort of her childhood abruptly robbed by her father’s murder and mother’s subsequent suicide.
Conscious of the passing time, she stepped inside and approached the blood-soaked bed, the air fetid from the release of Rico’s bowels. She stared dispassionately at his face, his features contorted in a rictus of agony. Removing the signet ring, she kissed it and placed it on his stiffened forefinger.
“Pasqual and Miranda Lauro thank you for a wonderful evening,” she said. “You’ve been a most obliging host.”
DESERT DREAMER
In the throes of another nightmare, Mandy tossed and turned and fought against unseen demons. Mumbling incoherently, she flailed in the darkness with clenched hands. The air hammock surged and bounced, the pneumatic cushion straining to contain the frantic seesawing.
“Help me, Dirk!” she cried. “I’m trapped! Are you there? Can you here me?”
Dirk’s arms encircled her, her naked flesh damp against his body. “Mandy, wake up. Come on, snap out of it. It’s only a dream.”
The soothingly familiar voice yanked her from the hellish dreamscape. She grunted and stared wildly around the room as though unconvinced she was in the safety of her bedroom. Her gaze fell on the luminescent streaks of exotic fish darting along the aquarium comprising one wall of the room. Gradually, recognition banished the terror, and she fell limply into Dirk’s embrace.
“Lights,” he said.
Bathed in the warm glow of the backlights, Dirk stroked her damp hair, the thick honey locks plastered to her skin. Gently, he traced a finger along the finely chiseled planes of her face and rested it on her lips. Her tawny complexion glowed with a fine sheen of sweat, her wide hazel eyes rimmed with dark shadows. Though they regarded him with recognition, she continued to glance past his shoulder—in search of what, he could only guess.
“You okay, Mandy?” he asked, nuzzling the pulse spot of her neck. Tasting the saltiness of her flesh spurred an intense arousal. He felt his cock brush her thigh. His hand snaked to the fullness of her breasts and felt the rigid nipples. Trailing his fingers further down the damp terrain of her body, he ventured between her parted thighs to find her cunt so hot and moist that its wetness left a dull film on the hammock. There, her questing fingers met his. Slowly, deliberately, she began to rub her rigid clit, her fingers periodically slipping into her swollen cunt.
Uttering a soft moan, he pushed her back and wrapped her legs around his shoulders. She lay beneath him, pliant, warm, the fear that had possessed her only moments before now a powerful aphrodisiac. Prompted by a furious desire that required no foreplay, he clutched her hips and lifted her. She gasped and arched as he thrust hard and fast inside her, his fingers spreading her ass and plunging into the tightness of her anus. Her wetness continued to astonish him, engulfing his cock like a hungry mouth. They rocked in a passion that quickly exploded and came to a chorus of moans.
They collapsed panting onto the hammock, the air humid with the reek of sex and sweat. Immediately, the room’s climate control adjusted temperature and ventilation to maintain a constant 72˚.
Mandy breathed deeply until her pulse steadied. Sitting up on her elbow, she watched the steady rise and fall of Dirk’s chest, his Mediterranean features brooding and sensual. He reminded her of the satyrs of ancient myth, his constant yearning for sex and love of drink classic characteristics of the Greek legends.
He turned in response to her perusal, his face etched with concern. “The same nightmare?” he asked.
She nodded wordlessly.
“You’re spending too much time with the simulators,” he said. “Look what you’re doing to yourself. You can’t keep this up. Why can’t you understand that I’m worried about you?”
Mandy rolled out of the hammock, the feel of the heated carpeting pleasant against her feet. “You don’t seem to mind,” she said frostily. “We always fuck like dogs afterward.”
Dirk’s expression darkened. “Interesting comment, considering you feel like you’ve already been fucked when you wake up. You’re always wet, always wanting it. The other night after you woke up you couldn’t get your cunt away from my mouth. If these are supposed to be nightmares, I’d love to see what your ordinary dreams are like.”
He paused to watch her walk to the amenity hatch. She moved fluidly, her hips swaying provocatively. With a jealous pang, he wondered who in her dreams also shared her. Clearly, they aroused her, her body unable to conceal the effects of her nocturnal journeys. Was it another man? Was it several? Or was it a woman who dominated her?
Mandy briefly perused the refreshment selections. As she punched in a request for a fresh orange juice, she paused. “Do you want something?”
“Yes, as a matter fact, I do, Mandy. I want you to get help. You’re a beautiful woman, but if you continue like this, you’ll end up a physical and mental wreck.”
She stared at her disheveled reflection in the mirrored hatch. Her eyes had the look of a hunted animal. She attempted to smooth her tangled hair and sighed. “I don’t want to get into another argument at three in the morning, Dirk. I’ve only used the simulator twice this week. You can check the program log if you like.”
“Dammit, Mandy, admit it. You’re addicted. These nightmares are becoming chronic. You can’t keep abusing yourself like this.”
“Well, maybe I need something to help me sleep,” she said, retrieving the juice from the hatch tray.
Dirk angrily approached and whirled her around. “What’s the matter with you? You’re falling apart in front of me and all you want is something to help you sleep? What do I have to do to get you to see the truth?”
The glass dropped from Mandy’s hand as a shudder wracked her body. Juice pooled unnoticed by her feet. She burst into tears. Confused, Dirk embraced her and led her back to the hammock. He stroked her hair until her anguished sobs subsided.
“I’m sorry, Dirk,” she whispered. “I don’t mean to take it out on you. To be honest, I don’t know what’s happening. I haven’t used the desert simulation in almost three weeks.”
He frowned. “What are you talking about? You said you used the simulator twice this week.”
She looked up. “I did, but I’ve been using
a different program. It hasn’t helped.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I was starting to think about calling a counselor.”
Mandy gestured impatiently. “What can they do? Prescribe a soma patch? I get more relaxation watching the fish!”
“What have you got against counselors?” Dirk asked. He shook his head in exasperation. “Even after all these years, I still don’t completely understand you. I’ve never heard of anyone else with this peculiar aversion.”
“Counselors are devious,” she said, rankled by his condescending tone. “They poke around in your head and leave their slimy trails behind.”
“Mental alignment isn’t poking around. It’s designed to relieve stress by resolving problems at the source. Would you rather we were back in the dark ages when people resorted to drugs and alcohol? Or maybe you would have preferred protracted psychotherapy?”
Mandy pushed away from Dirk and went to order another juice. “Counselors and I just don’t get along,” she said, sipping thoughtfully. “They’re supposed to be fatherly and reassuring, but they remind me of insects.”
Dirk rose from the hammock and walked to a lounger. Mandy watched him, his solidly muscled body devoid of hair. Her gaze lingered on his bare cock and balls, his size formidable even when he was not hard. With a sigh, he settled into the chair. It immediately began to massage him, each firm stroke augmented by a relaxing whiff of lavender. “So, we’re back to the insects again. What in God’s name prompted you to choose a desert program in the first place? I fail to see the attraction of visiting such useless, overbaked territory.”
Mandy turned and regarded him disdainfully. “I expected that kind of reaction from you. “You stubbornly refuse to see the merit in anything that hasn’t been designed for a specific purpose. The desert is unspoiled, primitive, the way a lot of things used to be before the days of environmental engineering.”
“That’s pretty poetic coming from you,” he said sarcastically, “considering that my income as an environmental engineer provides you with such a comfortable lifestyle.”
“Oh, it’s comfortable all right. That’s about it.”
“So what do you want? Real bugs? Authentic, scorching heat? Christ, to think we spent years trying to eliminate all that!”
Mandy wandered to the aquarium wall and stared at the sea creatures undulating within. Phosphorescent corals and anemones swayed with the gentle current, the nooks of rocks and exotic shells providing hideaways for tiny, jewel-colored fish. Larger discus peered inquisitively at her, their flanks ablaze with stark rainbow patterns.
“What can I tell you that you’d understand, Dirk? I hoped to find an answer in the desert. Everything was fine until the nightmares started. I thought I found a real refuge. The colors, the solitude, yes, even the insects played a part. It was all so beautiful! Somehow I felt in touch with the land.”
“In touch with the land? What the hell are you looking for, Mandy? Some kind of karmic mind trip?”
She turned and shrugged. “I’m looking for a place to be alone. A place to explore whatever meaning my existence has.”
Confusion crossed Dirk’s face. “I don’t understand. You can be alone here. All you have to do is switch off the…”
“There! See what I mean? I have to switch off something. No matter where I go it’s the same. On, off, on, off. I’m not a goddamned light switch! I want to be where I’m in control, not the opposite.”
Dirk’s expression darkened. “Are you implying that I try to control you?”
She hesitated. “Not in the old-fashioned sense, but there are times when you lose the distinction between yourself and your work.”
A tense silence permeated the room. Dirk rose from the vibrating chair and approached, his mind in turmoil. “I think we’d better talk about this in the morning, before we both say something we’ll regret.”
“Fine,” Mandy said. “I’ll sleep in the guestroom, though, in case I disturb you again.”
Dirk’s protest was cut off by her retreating figure. He started to follow then thought better of it. Emotions were too high for sensible resolution. His mind whirling with unanswered questions, he stood staring at the aquarium, snared by the hypnotic motion of the fish. After an hour, he crept into the guestroom and watched Mandy’s slumbering form on the hammock. His eyes followed the curves of her face and body, her skin a burnished glow in the dim backlight. Her hair spilled across the padded headform, the dampness bringing out her natural curl. His gaze fell to her breasts. He bent to listen to her deep breathing and knew she was asleep.
Asleep. And with who? Where? he wondered.
She shifted and rolled onto her stomach, exposing the luscious globes of her ass. Something about her movement signaled to him on a subliminal level. He gasped, aware of his painfully hard cock, his mind tormenting him with images of Mandy he could not share. Stealthily, he climbed onto the hammock and knelt behind her. She did not respond when he raised her to her knees, her hips clutched tightly in his hands. His pulse racing, his cock throbbing, he spread her ass and buried his face deep into her hot sticky cunt. Enraged that she was so aroused, yet drunk from her intoxicating musk, he tongued her until her body unconsciously writhed.
Unable to hold off any longer, Dirk pressed his cock against her clit and slowly rubbed. Once again her wetness engulfed him, teased him.
“You’re not getting away with it so easily,” he said, lifting his cock and thrusting it into her anus. She awakened with a cry of surprise and squirmed against him, but he would not relent until his cock violently shuddered and melted within her. Together, they fell onto the hammock, but when Dirk tried to embrace her, she pushed him away.
“Just leave me alone, Dirk,” she said angrily.
“Disappointed it’s me?” he answered. “I’m your husband, Mandy. Don’t I deserve to know what’s going on?”
She rolled from the hammock onto the floor. “You think it’s easy trying to open up to you? You hear me, but you don’t listen. Maybe if you tried talking with your mouth instead of your cock we might get somewhere. Now, if you can leave me in peace for a few minutes, I’m going to take a shower.”
Stung by her reaction, Dirk could only watch her storm off to the bathroom. In ten years of marriage, he had never known her to act so irrationally. Yet whether she wanted to admit it or not, her addiction to the simulator could not be denied. Her once cheerful, outgoing personality was changing into someone he did not recognize, someone he did not want to know.
* * *
Certain that Mandy was occupied in the shower, Dirk returned to the bedroom and slipped on a robe. Dimming the lights to a faint glow, he sat before a softly glowing panel on the wall near the huge window that overlooked twinkling lakeshore lights and touched a slender bank of color-coded controls. He entered a numerical sequence and waited anxiously for a confirmatory tone. A few moments later, the head and shoulders of a rugged, silver-haired man of indeterminate age appeared in a holographic representation. Dirk felt a moment’s embarrassment at having disturbed him.
“Dirk?” he said with obvious surprise. “Bit late for a chat, isn’t it?”
“I wish it were a social call, Neil.”
“Well, we live in hope. Mandy?”
Dirk nodded. “I need your help. I can’t handle it anymore. It’s become a battle zone here.”
Neil’s eyes narrowed, his thick brows knit in consternation. “Are the nightmares getting worse?”
“Try chronic. I thought the simulator would do her good. I wouldn’t have introduced her to it if I thought she’d become addicted. Now I’m sorry I ever had the damned thing installed.”
“What about the program?”
“She insists she’s stopped using the desert program, though I haven’t checked the log to see if she’s lying. She also claims that even though she’s using another program, the nightmares haven’t stopped.”
Neil nodded thoughtfully. “So you haven’t really been monitoring her usage. It doesn’t
sound like you’ve been handling the situation very well, Dirk, considering you don’t even know what program she’s using.”
Dirk’s anger flared. “Christ, Neil, I’m an environmental engineer, not a counselor. How could I possibly anticipate that the simulator would release psychotic elements in Mandy?”
Neil raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “Take it easy, Dirk. Now you’re getting melodramatic. Mandy may be somewhat of a free spirit but she’s not psychotic. If you’re adapting this attitude with her, no wonder you’re having problems.”
“Well, she’s sure not the woman I married. She’s become hostile, secretive, at times so much a stranger I barely recognize her.”
“What happened tonight?”
Dirk gestured expansively. “She awoke screaming again. Somehow, the desert program created these nightmares, but we can never talk about it without getting into an argument.”
“You told me the same last week, Dirk. Do you know what’s actually frightening her?”
“Well, no—I haven’t been…”
Neil gazed at him reproachfully. “The way I see it, you have two choices. Either help Mandy deal with the problem yourself, or bring her in for treatment.”
“You know how she feels about counselors.”
“Exactly. If anything, forcing her to seek treatment will only help widen the distance between you.”
Dirk sagged against his chair. “What can I do? I know you don’t think I’m much help.”
“Deal with the conflict. If necessary, live it with her in the program. Find the problem and face it. That’s the only way to conquer the fear. If talking isn’t working, if things are getting more tense, then attack the demon face on.”
“But what if…”
“Let’s not worry about involuntary treatment just yet, okay?” Neil said. “I wouldn’t even entertain it as an option at this point.”
“I just want to know what happens if she gets worse.”
