by A. J. Markam
I was wet, and she was soaking. Even though she was tight, it was easy for me to ease inside her.
It was probably the single most pleasurable moment of my entire life.
No matter how good she was with her mouth, no matter how much she had teased me with her hands, none of that compared with being inside her.
I gasped as I slid all the way in, and then suddenly felt her body arch against me. She began to moan louder and more insistently, and I could feel her squeezing my shaft, contracting around me in tiny pulses.
I knew I only had a few seconds, so I was going to make them count.
I began to thrust inside her, building up faster, as my own pleasure increased tenfold.
She dug her fingers into my back and screamed, “GODDESS, OH GODDESS!”
I couldn’t hold on. “I’m going to come – ”
“Come inside me – come inside me – ”
Then I felt her hands grab my ass and pull me deeper inside her.
OH MY GOD.
I groaned as I burst inside her. Her screaming doubled in loudness as her body writhed and her tail thrashed between my legs.
I collapsed on top of her, panting, groaning, coming down from the biggest high I’d ever experienced in my entire life.
I raised my head and looked at her. She was lying there, eyes closed, mouth open in ecstasy. I could still feel her body trembling underneath me, could feel her gripping my shaft every few seconds with little pulses that slowly ebbed away into nothing.
When she finally opened her eyes, she looked at me like she was in shock – and then she laughed. She raised her head up and kissed me softly on the lips.
“Sorry I didn’t last very long,” I said. “It’s just that you’re so – ”
She put her finger to my lips again. “No need to apologize. That was absolute heaven. And you’re going to be doing a lot more of it the rest of the night.”
Oh my God –
Dreams really do come true.
39
Afterwards she lay in my arms, her head nestled on my chest. All I could do was stare up at the vaulted ceilings in shock and just whisper, “Wow.”
She lifted her head and smiled. “I’m assuming that’s a good sign.”
“That was a religious experience,” I murmured.
She laughed as she traced her fingers down my chest. “Don’t go talking about religion. Didn’t you hear? It’s a turnoff to succubi.”
“Well then let’s not ever talk about religion again,” I said, and kissed her.
After about ten seconds, she pulled away and looked into my eyes. “Would you do something for me?”
“Sure,” I said, “anything. What do you want?”
“I want you to do what you did to me in the inn,” she whispered shyly.
I grinned. “I thought that’s what we were doing before we had sex.”
“That was incredible, but… I want you to do that thing you did, where you licked me and your fingers were inside me. All I want to do is concentrate on feeling that.”
I looked at her in confusion. “I thought you didn’t like it. I thought that’s why you pushed me away.”
“No, you did everything right,” she purred, and she pressed her entire body against me.
“Then why did you stop me?”
“Because you were about to make me come.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Usually that’s a good thing.”
“Normally it is,” she laughed, then grew shy again. “But I was afraid.”
“Why?”
“Succubi have sex for many reasons. One is to drain the life energy of men. Another is because we’re forced to by our masters. The third – very rare – is for our own pleasure, independent of anything else other than just enjoying ourselves. The thing is, whomever we’re with usually treats us like objects. We’re everything they’ve ever fantasized about – and so they use us without any regards for our own pleasure.”
I winced. “Did I do that?”
“No, not at all.” Then she smirked. “Well, in the beginning when you summoned me, I knew you definitely wanted it like that. Which is why I was such a bitch to you.” She winced. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said, twirling her hair absentmindedly between my fingers. “You were right – I wasn’t thinking about you, I was only thinking about me.”
She smiled sweetly, kissed me on the lips, then continued. “No one I’ve ever been with has given me pleasure without taking even more for themselves.” She paused. “You remember when I was being sarcastic and said you were the best I’ve ever had?”
“Yeah?” I asked, not exactly sure I wanted to hear the next sentence.
“It was the truth,” she said quietly.
My heart soared. And, I’ll admit, my ego went sky-high.
“Nobody had ever given me that much pleasure, much less done it without asking anything in return. I was a bitch about it afterwards because I couldn’t bear for you to know the truth – ”
Then she went quiet.
“What?” I asked.
“There’s an old succubus tale that says if a man makes you come without coming himself, it gives him a power over you more powerful than any collar.”
“Is that true?”
She smiled seductively. “I think you should make me come a lot more so we can find out.”
“Oh God, yes,” I murmured. I put my hand behind her head, drew her in close, and kissed her long and deep.
After a minute, she broke off our kiss and smirked, “So – are you going to do like you promised me?”
“You do know that I get a tremendous amount of pleasure when I went down on you, right?”
She bit her lip, which drove me crazy with desire. “Well… how about we both have a lot more pleasure, then?”
“Absolutely,” I grinned as I began to move down her body.
“Or we could get some sleep,” she teased.
“Later.” Then I teased her back. “Or is that what you like? I heard succubi have sex with men while they sleep.”
“That’s the old-fashioned way. Besides, you’re not sleeping, and I want to do it again.”
I French-kissed her, then slowly moved down her neck and breasts, stopping to lick and suck her nipples on the way. I continued kissing her belly, then down her landing strip of dark, curly hair, until I stopped between her legs.
I gave an encore performance of the other night at the inn, with a few variations.
This time she came.
Multiple times.
40
We had sex – and made love – several more times throughout the night.
The sex was fast and furious, almost animal in its passion. My favorite position was her on top, watching her thighs bounce up and down on top of my hips as she took me inside her. I loved watching her breasts move and jiggle as she bobbed up and down, crying out in ecstasy, her tail lashing back and forth like a whip.
The lovemaking was slow and gentle, with me on top, staring deep into her eyes as I moved inside her, watching every tiny change of expression on her face as she came.
It was the best night of my life. There wasn’t another one that even came close.
After the fifth time, I fell back in the sheets, completely drained.
She nuzzled my chest with her lips and stroked my skin with her fingers.
“Just a quick nap… then we can do it again…” I murmured.
“Of course,” she whispered. “Just sleep.”
I looked down at her, tilted up her chin, opened my mouth –
And didn’t say anything.
I wanted to tell her so badly that I loved her – but I was afraid. I was afraid that it might be too much, that I would be ruining the moment, that it would be too needy.
So all I did was kiss her on the lips.
After I pulled back, my head wearily hit the pillow, and I could feel the whole world going dark around me.
“Sleep,” I heard her voice whisper. “
Sleep…”
41
When I woke in the morning – or whatever passed for morning in this strange, shadowy land – I rolled over in bed and reached for Alaria.
She wasn’t there.
I frowned sleepily and sat up in bed.
She wasn’t anywhere in the bedroom. I got up, wondering if maybe she had gone to get food or drink – and that was when I saw the letter on the nightstand next to the bed.
My heart seized in fear, but I had to read it. Even if it had meant my death, I would’ve read it.
Dearest Ian,
So… I guess the Seven Hells froze over.
That was a joke. Sometimes you have to laugh, or you’ll cry.
You’re sleeping right now as I write this. I want nothing more than to crawl back in bed with you… but I can’t.
Please don’t be angry with me. I know this must be painful for you to read this, but it is horribly painful for me to write it.
Do you remember last night when I said the reason I didn’t let you make me come at the inn was because I was afraid? Afraid that you giving me one-sided pleasure would give you a hold on me, one more powerful than any slave collar?
That was only half the truth.
I was afraid, actually, but I found out last night that the old succubus tale wasn’t true.
But what I found out instead was that my feelings for you absolutely COULD enslave me again. If I remained here, you would have a greater hold on me than any master I’ve ever known.
As pleasurable and as powerful as last night was for me, I can’t stay just for that. Not now. For the first time in my entire existence, I am free – free to do whatever I want!
You have no idea the magnitude of the gift you have given me. Something I never thought I would ever have, and you gave it to me freely, without any expectation of reward, or sex, or anything. I have never experienced that before, and it touched me to my soul.
I am leaving now to go kill my other seven ex-masters, and I must do it alone. I need to go on my own quest – something I can do as an adventurer in my own right.
I know you would come with me if I asked, and that is why I can’t.
Someday we will meet again, after my travels are done and I have taken my final vengeance. I hope to return to you just as I left you, so that you’ll wake up with me next to you like I never left.
I want you to know that I’m crying as I write this. Last night was the best night of my life, and I am afraid of what I’m giving up – but I’m terrified that if I stay with you, I will give up something even more precious: my freedom.
Please don’t be angry at me. Please don’t hate me. That’s the thing that breaks my heart – that you would hate me for what I’m doing now.
I wish you all the happiness in the world. Know that you have given me more in one night – both the pleasure we shared, and the gift of my freedom – than I have ever had in my entire life combined.
Beneath that, there was a sentence that was scratched out – then another sentence below it that was scratched out, then another. Eventually there was one final paragraph.
I don’t know that I’ll ever get to say this in person. Hopefully I will, but that’s not guaranteed. I tried to write it several times, then stopped myself – but it’s important I say it. And I’m free to do it now, no matter how scary it might be.
I love you.
Alaria
I fell to the ground, my back pressed against the bed, and stared at the letter.
My hands trembled as I read it over and over again.
Part of my heart leapt at the words – but for the most part, I was crushed.
I felt more pain than I ever had before, in the game or real life.
My eyes blurred with tears, and I was about to cry – when suddenly I heard the chime of a computer sound effect.
It was the chat box.
In shock and amazement, I called up the menu and saw there was a message for me.
I opened the interface and a message appeared.
Ian, it’s John. We finally got everything ironed out. I’m sorry it took so long. We didn’t want to just yank you out of the game – we can’t actually see what you’re experiencing, so we didn’t know if you’re in the middle of a battle. Are you okay with us bringing you out?
I stared at the message for the longest time.
I didn’t know what to feel.
In the span of just a few hours, I had gone from the heights of ecstasy – and even love – to the depths of heartbreak, with more pain than I had ever experienced before.
And now suddenly I was able to return to my own world, leaving all this behind as though it were just a dream.
With trembling hands, I typed on the virtual keyboard.
I need a couple hours first… is that okay?
I sent the message, and John responded almost immediately.
Of course, take your time. Just log out whenever you want – we’ll be waiting.
Thanks, I typed, and closed the chat box.
Then I looked at the letter again, and finally the tears came.
42
I emerged a couple of hours later, fully dressed in a new pair of clothes that had been laid out at my door. Stig was there waiting for me in the antechamber.
“Hey, boss.” He peered past me into the bedroom. Then he looked up at me questioningly. “Where’s Alaria?”
“She’s gone.”
“Oh – you sent her off on a mission?”
“No. She’s gone forever.”
Stig flinched in shock. “What happened?”
“I gave her her freedom. And she left to go do what she had to do.”
The imp stared at me. “You gave her her freedom?!”
I knelt down in front of him so that we were almost at eye level – or as close as we were going to get. “Yes. Now I have to go back to – well, I have to go. But before I do, I want to give you a gift, too.”
“What?” the imp asked, still stunned.
I reached out, took the collar from his neck, and willed it to unbind.
It snapped in two, and I easily pulled it from his neck, then held it out to him. “I wanted to give you your freedom, too.”
The imp looked at me in shock. Then he began to tremble. He reached out slowly for the collar, as though afraid to believe what was happening – as though he might wake up from this dream any second.
I took his tiny grey hand and placed the collar in it.
“It’s yours,” I said, and smiled sadly. “It should have always been yours.”
The imp looked up at me, and his lower lip trembled.
“You’re sure?” he asked, his voice full of hope and fear.
“I’m sure. You’re free now – go and do whatever you want. Live your life. Although, if you could do me one more favor?”
“Anything,” he said, and I’d never heard him more sincere in our entire acquaintance.
I handed him a sheaf of papers – the hand-printed instructions I had toiled over the last couple of hours, partly to keep myself from thinking about my heart breaking.
“These are instructions for Grok and the others. It’s the basic rules on how to create a democratic society. I pulled it from something called the Constitution – well, what I remember of it from ninth grade, anyway. It’s the rough outline of how they can govern themselves. I just…” My voice choked up as I thought of Alaria. “I have to go now. Will you give it to them?”
“Absolutely,” Stig said, and took the papers from me.
I nodded, and put out my hand.
Stig stared at my hand, then gingerly held out his – and we shook.
“Sorry I was a dick sometimes,” I said.
He grinned. “You’re human. You can’t help yourself.”
In spite of myself, I laughed. And nodded. “I think you’re probably right.”
“You were a good master, though,” he said quietly.
“Thank you, Stig,” I said, and smiled sadly. “Thank you fo
r everything.”
“You, too… Ian.”
I grinned.
It was the first time he’d ever used my name.
I stood up, and my finger hovered over the ‘Log Out’ option.
I looked down at Stig.
“I hope we see each other again someday,” I said.
He nodded. “Me too.”
“Goodbye,” I whispered, and then he was gone.
43
When I opened my eyes, I was back in the lab.
My mouth felt like it was made of cotton. My body ached to the bone, probably from lying in one position too long.
But other than that, I felt remarkably good for someone who had just spent the last week in a coma.
Well… except for the part where my heart had been smashed into a million little pieces.
I raised my head gingerly, and was shocked to see an entire room full of people standing around me, with John Perkins and Nurse Vivian at the front. They all looked terribly concerned – until they saw me lift my head and stare at them.
Then they all broke out into smiles, applause, and triumphant hoots.
John came over to the bed. “You alright?”
“Yeah… I think so…”
“You concerned us a little when you took a couple hours to log out. We thought you would’ve been raring to get out of there.”
“I had to set up a new form of democratic government,” I muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing. Can I get a glass of water?” I croaked.
“Absolutely.”
Vivian gave me a glass of water and I gulped it down. It felt like cool spring rains splashing across the Sahara.
“I just want you to know,” John said, “you were perfectly safe the entire time – although we admittedly had some issues with being able to pull you out.”
“I sort of guessed,” I said drily.
“We tried to monitor everything you saw and felt during the game, but…”
