Forbidden Magic: The Complete Collection

by Anya Merchant

Oh wow… This is so, just, what, I can’t even… think. It’s so good.

  “Sir knight,” she whispered. “The princess can do so much for you.”

  Ella brought her tongue down to the base of his cock and gave it a slow, steady lick, turning it into a kiss as she reached the head. Victor let out a drunken sounding moan. Ella was tapping directly into the pleasure centers of his brain again, caressing them in the same way that heroin or an incredible sex dream might.

  She is a goddess. And she’s all mine, and I’ll let her have me, if she’ll just keep going.

  Ella did keep going. She curled her lips into a perfect, wet circle and slid them down over his cock. Victor had learned early on in her mind residency that the laws of physics that applied to regular women did not apply to her, or at least not to her mouth.

  It felt as though her lips were bigger than they really were, and her mouth was softer, hotter, wetter, and far more elastic. It shifted and undulated across the shaft and head of his cock with indescribable movements. Victor moaned and jerked his hips wildly, and Ella continued to suck, compelling him into a state of sexual satiation.

  Victor knew he was getting close. He reached his hand out and ran it through the back of Ella’s soft, auburn hair. She looked up at him and somehow managed to look just as innocent, pure, and loving as she always did.

  Ella popped her mouth off his cock and slowly began to kiss and lick. Victor shuddered and felt his entire body explode. Cum sprayed out, splashing onto Ella’s face and breasts in powerful splatters. She licked a small strand of it off her bottom lip and smiled sweetly at him. Victor blinked once, and she was clothed and clean, wearing sweat pants and a tank top.

  There was a noise from the living room, and Victor realized, with a start, that Kronenberg was home. Ella disappeared, and he rushed to grab his boxers and stuff his junk back into them.

  “Hey buddy,” said Kronenberg. “I came to see if you were awake.”

  The drone hovered at the threshold of Victor’s room, its orange dome flashing as though trying to parse out what was going on.

  “Uh, hey,” said Victor. “I was just heading to bed…”

  “Sure…” said Kronenberg. “Sure, sure.”

  Victor scowled and stood up to close his door.

  “You should probably take a shower,” whispered Ella.

  CHAPTER 4

  “Victor! Wake up!”

  Victor let out a half human groan and turned over in bed, hiding his head underneath his pillow. Footsteps approached the door of his room, and a second later, it swung open.

  “Come on, Victor,” said Kiara. “I’m not your mom. I shouldn’t have to do this!”

  “What are you doing here?” Victor muttered. “And why do you have a key to my place?”

  “Lucy gave it to me for emergencies.”

  “Is this an emergency?”

  Kiara answered him by ripping the blankets off his bed. Victor let out a frustrated snarl and opened his eyes in time to see Kiara looking at him weirdly. He blinked, and realized she was staring at his crotch.

  Hey, it’s not like I can help it. Morning wood is perfectly natural.

  Kiara cleared her throat, her cheeks turning slightly red as Victor met her gaze.

  “I’ll… wait outside your room while you get dressed,” she said.

  Kiara had on jeans and a purple, tunic style sweater that went down just below her butt. Victor brought his hand up and gave her a mock salute as she turned and walked back out into the living room.

  “You know…” Ella materialized next to Victor, whispering softly in his ear. “We could make her wait for a couple of minutes.”

  Victor looked over his shoulder to say no and almost did a double take. Ella was lying on the bed, cupping both naked breasts in her hands. A tiny flash of nipple poked out between her fingers on one side.

  “Knock it off,” he said. “I’m trying to calm down, and you aren’t helping.”

  “What?” called Kiara from the living room.

  “Uh, nothing,” said Victor. “Just… talking to myself.”

  He stood up and threw on jeans, a t-shirt, and an old bomber jacket that he’d picked up from a thrift store. Kiara was leaning against one of the arms of the couch when he came out, and raised an eyebrow when she saw him.

  “I’ve never seen you wear that jacket before,” she said.

  “And?”

  “It looks good on you.” She smiled and walked over to him, brushing her hand across his shoulders and feeling the material.

  “Thanks for noticing.”

  “And you’re so modest, about it, too.”

  “Yeah, it’s one of my skills.”

  Victor grinned as Kiara took a step closer in. She was dangerously close, and he felt his eyes locking onto her lips and recognizing the opportunity.

  “We should probably get going,” said Kiara. “Lucy has something to brief us on, and it sounded important.”

  “Of course,” said Victor. “Let’s go.”

  He ignored Ella’s glare from where she’d materialized beside him and followed Kiara out of the house. She stopped in front of a pink moped on the street, and it wasn’t until she started strapping on a helmet that Victor’s sleep deprived head made the obvious connection.

  “You bought a moped,” he said. “A… pink moped.”

  “Yup.” Kiara grinned at him. “Come on, I have an extra helmet. Hop on back.”

  Victor chuckled.

  “No thanks,” he said.

  “Lucy is going to be pissed at you for being late if you don’t.”

  Kiara started the machine up and drove it in a quick circle through the empty street. Victor had to admit, she looked cute on it. The tiny bike fit her personality almost perfectly, fun, girlish, with a lust for reasonable adventure.

  There’s no way in hell I’m riding on the back of that.

  “I’ll let you drive,” said Kiara.

  Five minutes later, Victor sped the pink moped over the speed bump at the entrance of Monteiro Tower’s parking garage. The bike hit it like a jump, pitching them a few inches into the air. Kiara let out an excited squeal and squeezed her arms tighter around his waist.

  “You’re a maniac!” she said, the annoyance in her voice feigned more than felt. Victor slammed on the breaks as he pulled the moped into a tiny parking spot that most cars would have had trouble with.

  “That was… surprisingly fun,” he said.

  “Yeah, well, forget about ever doing it again,” said Kiara. “It’s still in good condition, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

  Victor handed her his helmet and started walking over to the elevator. Kiara jogged to catch up with him and looped one of her arms through his. It felt right, and Victor couldn’t stop a grin from spreading across his face.

  “Let’s see what my sister has for us,” said Kiara.

  They stepped off the elevator onto the 13th floor. The department was bustling with activity, and at the center of it all was Lucy, standing next to her workstation in the central operations area. When she saw Victor and Kiara walking over, she immediately dropped what she was doing and pointed to her office.

  “She’s been stressed out this morning,” said Kronenberg, who’d sidled up next to Victor without him noticing. “More so than usual.”

  “Anything I should know about?” asked Victor.

  Kronenberg swayed from side to side.

  “She hasn’t said much to me,” he said.

  Victor nodded and then followed Kiara into Lucy’s office. Lucy was behind her desk, hands folded in front of her, head bowed in thought.

  “Have a seat,” she said. Victor closed the door behind him and took one of the chairs in front of Lucy’s desk.

  “What’s up, sis?” asked Kiara. “You sounded pretty serious earlier this morning.”

  Lucy took a deep breath. She looked tired, and seemed to be debating something internally.

  Kronenberg did said she’s been acting stressed out.
>
  “I’ve been getting a number of new reports from my contacts of people disappearing down in the Labyrinth.”

  Victor scratched his head.

  “The Labyrinth?” he asked. “What the hell is that?”

  “It’s what most people around here call the old subway system underneath the city,” said Kiara. “It’s been almost 40 years since it was retired, but there are still places where you can get in.”

  “And people go down there?” He frowned and shook his head.

  “People live down there,” said Lucy. “It’s one of the depressing facts of Undercliff City that gets swept under the rug.”

  “Couldn’t the city administration, you know, do something about that?” asked Victor.

  “They could, but why would they?” Kiara shot him a serious look. “They save money on providing shelters for the homeless, and a decent portion of the visible poverty and crime literally goes underground.”

  “Okay…” Victor pursed his lips and rested his hand on his chin. “But why would it be weird for people to disappear in these tunnels? That doesn’t seem unusual…”

  “A lot of people have been disappearing,” said Lucy. “And the reports we’ve been getting don’t add up. There isn’t any reason for this many people to just… vanish.”

  “I can’t imagine any of the usual reasons would apply,” said Kiara. “The people down there don’t have money, or anything of value to take.”

  “Exactly.” Lucy leaned back in her chair. “There’s something else, something that I think the two of you should be aware of.”

  Victor nodded, and waited for her to continue. Lucy glanced over at the door of her office and over each shoulder. She turned on the monitor on the back wall of her office and began playing a youtube clip, a loud music video for a Korean girl group.

  Background noise? Is this just Lucy being paranoid?

  She motioned for Victor and Kiara to lean in closer.

  “The police know about these disappearances, and they aren’t investigating,” she whispered.

  “Is that abnormal?” asked Victor.

  “Not if we were talking about one or two people going missing,” whispered Lucy. “But I’m getting reports of dozens of people, maybe closing in on a hundred.”

  Kiara made a disgusted noise and folded her arms.

  “That’s ridiculous!” she said. “There should be a wide scale investigation, or at least-“

  “Shhhhhh!” Lucy held a finger up to her lips and motioned for both of them to lean closer in. “I don’t have any proof, but I think somebody is leaning on the police commissioner to hide whatever is going on down there.”

  Victor nodded slowly.

  “That would make sense,” he said. “Even if it does sound suspiciously like a conspiracy theory.”

  The door to Lucy’s office opened. Victor turned around and shot an annoyed glance at the man standing in the doorway. He was in his late forties or early fifties, and he was tall, at least as tall as Victor was. His hair was dark brown, with converging sections of gray on the sides. He wore an expensive black suit, and a navy blue tie.

  “Good morning, Lucy,” said the man. Lucy immediately stood to attention, smoothing out her blouse and skirt with slightly nervous movements.

  “Eli, I… wasn’t expecting you,” she said. “Please, have a seat!”

  She shot Kiara a look, and the younger Wilson sister frowned and vacated her chair. Eli Monteiro, the CEO and primary shareholder of the company bearing his name, chuckled and shook his head. He gave the music video playing on the monitor a curious look, and Lucy hurried to turn it off.

  “Oh, that’s quite alright,” he said. “I’m actually here to meet your newest employee.”

  He focused his attention on Victor and held out his hand. Victor met his eyes, which were dark brown and entirely unreadable, and then slowly shook his hand.

  “Uh, nice to meet you,” he said. “I’m Victor-“

  “Anders,” said Eli. “I’m quite aware of who you are. And I apologize for not coming to speak with you sooner. It’s been a busy couple of months.”

  Everyone in Lucy’s office was silent. Eli watched Victor, as though taking stock of something in his demeanor that nobody else could see.

  “I would like you to come up to my office for a quick chat, if you don’t mind,” said Eli.

  “Uh, of course not,” said Victor. “Right now?”

  Eli looked at Lucy and smiled wryly.

  “You can finish your meeting,” he said. “I’ll meet you up there in let’s say, ten minutes?”

  Victor nodded. Eli waved a hand at Lucy, and then turned and left without saying another word. Nobody said anything until the door was closed.

  “Wow,” said Kiara. “I’ve never seen him outside of his office before.”

  Lucy leaned back in her chair, her face pensive. She folded her fingers into a steeple and met Victor’s eye.

  “He wants something from you,” she said. “And it could be one of any number of things.”

  “Should I be concerned?” he asked.

  “Only if you’re planning on saying something stupid,” said Lucy.

  Victor smiled.

  “I guess I’ll have to play the odds.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Eli Monteiro’s office was on the top floor. Victor rode the elevator for what felt like an eternity, with a shifting cast of employees getting on and off every few stops. Finally, the elevator car reached its destination, and Victor stepped off into a small waiting room with an attractive receptionist behind the desk.

  “Hello,” said the woman. “Do you have an appointment?”

  “Sort of,” said Victor. “Eli said that-“

  “Mr. Monteiro,” the receptionist corrected. Victor wrinkled his brow and flashed her an exasperated smile.

  “Ah, right. Mr. Monteiro told me he wanted me to come up for a meeting as soon as I finished what I was doing.”

  The receptionist frowned at him and shook his head. She opened her mouth, presumably to tell him to turn around and head back down on the elevator, when Eli Monteiro came out through the door next to her desk.

  “Diana, my apologies,” he said. “I forgot to tell you to add Victor to the schedule.”

  “Oh, that’s quite alright, Mr. Monteiro,” said the receptionist. “Will you be meeting with him in your office, or-“

  “No, I think the lounge is more appropriate.”

  Eli grinned and gestured for Victor to follow him. The door in the back of the room led to a small hallway. Most of the doors on either side were open, and Victor got a sense of what it meant to be the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company. There was a large private gym, a luxurious private bathroom, a room that looked like an entertainment center, complete with a few video game consoles, and even one that looked like a mix between a massage chamber and a sauna.

  “Here we are.”

  Eli opened the last door on the right and led Victor into a large room that screamed of money. In each corner of the room was a large fountain, with water spilling down from and across marble statues. Artwork and a couple of expensive looking leather couches lined the walls.

  A small bar jutted out from the side of the room at around the halfway point, with a heavily stocked liquor shelf behind it. At the very back of the room, the floor sloped up into a short set of stairs, on top of which sat a large desk, the chair of which looked more like a throne than anything.

  Wow…

  “This is the room where most of my high-level meetings take place in,” said Eli. “For a number of reasons.”

  He skipped over to the desk and pressed a button on top of it.

  “Diana, can you send in Rachel and Martina? Thank you.”

  Eli grinned at Victor and then pointed to one of the couches.

  “Please, have a seat,” he said. “We’ll get down to business once we’ve taken a load off.”

  Two gorgeous women wearing short skirts and extremely low cut tops walked into
the lounge. They both bowed slightly to Eli, and then made their way behind the bar, taking down glasses and preparing to pour drinks. Ella materialized in the corner of Victor’s vision, frowning and folding her arms.

  “Bourbon? Gin?” asked Eli. “What’s your poison of choice, Victor?”

  Victor started to politely refuse and then thought better of it.

  I’m his guest. This is the way of things.

  “Gin is fine,” he said. “Thank you.”

  One of the women poured him a glass and then slowly meandered her way over, hips swaying from side to side alluringly with each step. Victor took the glass with a nod and took a tiny sip from it.

  “Now,” said Eli. “Where do we begin…?”

  Victor watched the CEO carefully as the man appeared to organize his thoughts. He had a couple memories of a younger version of Eli Monteiro, the one that had been his father’s business partner, the one that had so very little in common with the man in front of him now.

  “Are you comfortable here in Undercliff City?” Eli finally asked.

  Victor shrugged.

  “Yeah, I’d say so,” he said. “Lucy helped me get settled.”

  “It’s probably not like you remember it much from your childhood, huh?”

  Victor grimaced.

  “Not exactly,” he said.

  Eli nodded slowly, as though processing his bare bones answers. He trained his dark eyes on Victor, boring a hole into him with his intensity.

  “How did you end up with the nanites, Victor?”

  Relax, you knew he was going to ask about this.

  “…It was in an experiment,” he said. “Gone wrong. My father, as I’m sure you’ve heard, passed away in the aftermath.”

  Eli nodded again, confirming that none of what Victor had said was new information for him.

  “If I asked you for specific details, would you give them to me?”

  Victor said nothing. Eli flashed him a wolfish grin.

  “I apologize,” said Eli. “My curiosity gets the best of me, sometimes. The last time I spoke with John was, well, when he departed from the company. I’ve thought a lot about him in the intervening years, trying to find closure on what was often a tumultuous friendship.”