Loser

by Valerie J. Long

  “Ey, sweetie,” the knife-bearer addressed Kat. “You might appeal to me.”

  His four fellows smirked. One made an unmistakable gesture in front of his crotch, the other had his fly open, his penis already peeking out.

  “Show yourself,” the speaker now demanded from Kat.

  Kat placed her tote down and prepared to pull up her tee shirt.

  I dropped my goods, too, and pushed the totes aside with one foot. “Stop that.”

  The gang leader held his knife up to my face. “Get lost, Oldie. It’s not your turn yet.”

  “Take that knife away,” I calmly requested, but stayed in place.

  Instead of following my request, he lifted his knife closer to my nose. “I’ll punch your beak a third hole, slut!” he growled and attempted to implement his threat. Oh no!

  I hadn’t exercised martial arts for years to have my face disfigured by someone with sharp steel. I shied away, feigned fear—then I battered his arm aside with my left, my right hand’s edge struck his nose, my knee hit his crotch. Before he realized what was happening to him, I hooked my leg behind his and pushed him backward. Next, he was lying on his back, crying.

  The other four would attack me. Two of them just reached into their pockets. Whatever they were fetching, knives or brass knuckles, I didn’t want to see. I attacked.

  I had several advantages on my side. First, the surprise—they hadn’t expected resistance from two young women. Second, I had always taken my martial arts training seriously. Third, after Dandy’s treatment, I had no inhibitions against people with knives, and fourth, I didn’t fear a little pain. Fifth, even if I only realized that much later, due to the nano essence in my body, I didn’t have to fear permanent damage from a few little cuts. Sixth, I was simply totally peeved, and when I’m peeved, I’m really mean.

  A few moments later, the five boys were writhing on the ground, crying bloody murder and holding their hurting crotches. I eyed the terrified Kat and said, “I think we’d better leave now, or what’s your opinion?”

  She quietly pulled down her tee shirt over the already bared chest and picked up her tote. I took my goods, too, and followed her to a more frequented pedestrian area.

  Chapter One-Hundred-And-Thirteen

  “What kind of people were those?” I finally broke the silence.

  Kat shrugged. “Youth gang. What did you do with them?”

  I shrugged, too. “No idea. Broke their balls, smashed their cocks? It worked, anyway. And I surely broke the knife-wielder’s nose.”

  “Just so?”

  “My hand still hurts.”

  “That’s not what I mean. That you can strike just so. I couldn’t do that,” Kat complained.

  “You don’t practice?” I asked, amazed.

  “Yes, but—” She paused.

  “I’m a brute.”

  Kat looked at me in surprise.

  “Don’t look like that. Yes, I can be a rotten brute. Above all, against guys with knives. One guy once cut off my nipples, that won’t happen again. Ever. I rather strike first.”

  “Cut off the nipples?” Kat’s questioning voice reminded me that she didn’t know my story.

  “That son of a bitch kidnapped me, bound, raped, and flogged me, and cut my skin open. Then he cut off my nipples, my clit, and my eyelids, and dumped me on the landfill for dying.”

  I hadn’t noticed how my words had put me into rage, but Kat had stopped and now stared at me open-mouthed.

  “Cut off the clit?” she echoed after a while.

  “Yes. I was in hospital for months before all was restored and healed. Can you understand that I don’t like to be tolerant with knives?”

  “Well—yes.” She came closer and hugged me. I liked to be comforted by her, even if I didn’t need it.

  “You know, Jo, don’t think that I’m not grateful. I’m not at all after a gangbang without a rubber and pay. But surely these boys will be after us now.”

  “I’ve memorized their faces,” I reassured her. “If they cross me again, they’ll be in for something. I’ll be very watchful.”

  —Face recognition stored.—

  What? Oh. Very practical. Thanks, Ghost.

  “Is that normal?” I asked Kat. “What are the police doing?”

  “They can’t be everywhere,” she explained. “Where they’re not looking, that’s where the gangs are. At night, you’d better stay in groups. The first car in the tram or subway is okay, further to the rear, the strongest rule. If you’re lucky, sheriffs are on the train.”

  “Great.” Okay. I’d have to check out where I could do my running exercises, and I wouldn’t take every narrow alley with my bike, either.

  Chapter One-Hundred-And-Fourteen

  During dinner, awareness hit me like the beat of a club.

  I had beaten up five guys, five experienced if young knife-wielders, and hadn’t suffered a scratch. I knew that I had learned my lessons and that I was in good shape regarding stamina and gymnastics, but I had never had practical experience!

  That wasn’t normal.

  Ghost, did you do that?

  —Specify question.—

  Did you beat up the five guys?

  —No. This unit has very limited capability for autonomous action.—

  So you didn’t have anything to do with it?

  —On the contrary. This unit supports your coordination and your actions’ precision. Maneuvers that your body already has mastered are enhanced. During the last fight, your strikes were adapted to your opponents’ evading movements and the strength was dosed according to the requirement of maximum nonlethal pain.—

  Holy Dragon piss. And I thought I had done that all by myself.

  —This is true. This unit is a part of your body. Moreover, the degree of enhancement was low.—

  Oh. Can that be improved?

  —Yes. Especially the basic integration can be significantly improved by familiarization and fine tuning.—

  Good. Then I’ll go to a training tomorrow, and tonight we’ll do some shadow boxing.

  On the screen I saw a client coming in. Aw crap, later, then. Duty calls.

  The guy didn’t look nice. I wouldn’t have had to deal with him, but I knew I’d spoil the business for those colleagues who needed it, if I was too picky.

  “Hello, sweetie,” I thus welcomed him. “What can I do for you? If you’re looking for utmost satisfaction, you’re just right with me.”

  “Spare me your phrases,” he brusquely rebuked me. “Are you free?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” He tossed his credit card on the counter. “Where?”

  I pointed at the stairs. “May I lead you?”

  “Why not? You have a pretty ass.”

  What a crock! Okay, we were on our way. Perhaps I could still make something of this situation. Otherwise—it was just sex.

  The rooms for short visits were right next to the upper platform. As soon as I had closed the door behind us, he opened his fly. His firm cock sprang out. “Your ass gave me the idea. Bend over. Show me your cunt.”

  Crap. Ghost, I need lubrication. I unrolled a rubber on his member. Then I leaned on the backrest of a chair and bent over. The client wasted no time, grabbed my hips and rammed his cock inside me. “Damn it, you’re already totally wet,” he noticed with disappointment and began to pump in me.

  He hadn’t deserved it, but I nevertheless worked my muscles to give him a more tight feeling.

  “Oh yees!” he called excitedly. “Do you feel it? Yes? Heeere I cooome!”

  And he came.

  Without asking how I had fared, he pulled out and removed his condom. “Now come and lick me,” he demanded.

  I turned around and went on my knees in front of his creamed member. We had disinfection tissues to clean it, but I wasn’t inclined for a discussion. Okay, old boy. You’re paying for it, so you get the full service. No mercy.

  Part Eleven—Mission

  Chapter One-Hundred-And-Fifte
en

  The face on the screen looked familiar. Jen was about to go out when I pushed my way past her. “‘Scuse me, Jen. An old acquaintance. I’d like to at least welcome him.” She pouted, but let me go ahead.

  The man’s face lit up when he spotted me. “Jo!”

  Now it clicked. “Ronnie.”

  “My, Jo.” He took me in his arms and kissed me heartily. “Great—I had heard you were back and wouldn’t believe it. As beautiful as ever!”

  “You’ve hardly changed either, Ronnie.” I ignored his silver-gray temples. “Nice to see you here.”

  “I’d like to make use of your services again,” he told me with a cheeky smile.

  “Fine, let’s go up. The full monty?”

  He briefly cocked his head. “Aw crap, sure. The full monty, and two bottles of the Sparkling Shiraz, please!” Only then did he seem to notice Jen with her red hair. “Pardon me, young lady. Jo and I are old friends. Would you like to give us some company with our welcome party initially?”

  Jen’s painfully controlled features brightened. “Naturally. Gladly.”

  Ronnie let me go and took Jen in his arms. “One day I’ll come back for your sake. Tonight you’ll show me why, won’t you, my firebird?”

  Jen melted away in his arm. Ronnie winked at me, and I winked back. Yes, Jen was skilled, so she’d surely sweeten our welcome.

  “She’s cute,” Ronnie commented after Jen had left us. “This red bush—cozy, and she has a charming smile.”

  “She likes the job,” I added. Jen had only joined us after my return and had quickly become friends with Eva’s concept.

  “But she doesn’t have your class.”

  I liked it when he said that. “Do you want to fuck again?” I teased him and grabbed for his cock.

  To my surprise, his reaction came immediately. “Yes,” he replied. “After all that art, let’s just fuck. Lean back, spread your legs and let me put my hard bone in, and I simply hump you ‘til I come.”

  “Right,” I agreed, reclined, spread my legs and pulled my labia apart with two fingers. “Put your bone in, and fuck me as hard as you can.”

  Ronnie looked around.

  “Forget the rubber and come,” I ordered. “I’m wet and I want you to mix your juice with mine. And when you’re done, you’ll drink from it.”

  “Every drop!” he called enthusiastically and slid between my legs.

  I didn’t care how fast he was. After two hours of wellness treatment with cunnilingus, sexual massages, and all bells and whistles, a wild, dirty fuck was just what I needed—without a rubber.

  When Ronnie tensed, I was ready, too, and with a loud, wild cry, I answered his moan for our shared orgasm.

  “Geil,” he sighed—then he hurried to lick his load from my pussy.

  “Geil,” I agreed and enjoyed his aftercare, purring.

  “Why did you truly come?” I finally asked.

  Ronnie sighed. “That didn’t escape your attention, right?”

  “Of course not.”

  “I’d like to hire your services again. Your other services. In—finding things.”

  Chapter One-Hundred-And-Sixteen

  To my surprise, I noted that I wasn’t surprised by his request. So I didn’t have to pretend to be cool.

  “Which aren’t lost yet.”

  He smiled. “So it is.”

  “Why me?”

  “Because you’re on nobody’s list, and because I still have no clue how you did it back then.”

  “Dangerous?”

  He shrugged. “If you’re caught, that would be unpleasant. The people in question don’t wear kid gloves. You wouldn’t have hope for someone coming to your rescue or bailing you out. At the same time, that might be your best protection.”

  “Sounds like a really crappy job. I can lose it all, you can win it all.”

  “Yes. Something like that.”

  What for? For a client I had neatly fucked a few times, who had never before done anything for me—and hadn’t offered anything now, either.

  The scenes from Dandy’s torture chamber replayed before my inner eye. No, I surely wouldn’t want that, thank you. Or, what else could they do to me? Probably there were many more options to cause one person pain than you could enumerate in a single life, not to mention experience them in person.

  Perhaps that should have caused me fear, but I wasn’t frightened. I couldn’t explain why. Was I too hard-boiled? Or was it a false feeling of security, because I had gotten away so often successfully and without being spotted?

  Was it due to the nanos, the certitude of being able to heal even severe injuries, if necessary? In fact, I only infrequently thought of my procurement, and no, I didn’t believe that their presence made me more reckless.

  Was it the thrill?

  That, too. It was a challenge. It required my entire intelligence and concentration as well as the mastery of my own body. It was physically more demanding than the studies, it was intellectually more demanding than an Ironman, and it was overall more satisfying than sex. With it I could prove myself to be good.

  I simply did it because I could.

  “Tell me more.”

  Chapter One-Hundred-And-Seventeen

  “Do you already have an idea how you will do it?” Ronnie asked one week later during his next visit.

  Instead of an answer, I handed him a small plastic bag. He looked back and forth between the bag and me. “You already have it?”

  “Look inside.”

  He did. “Indeed. How did you do it?”

  “Business secret.” In fact, it had been like taking candy from a baby. A villa in Kronberg at the forest’s edge, secured by fences and the usual sluggish and weakly adjusted motion sensors—I had more or less walked in. Okay, I had to surpass a window lock, but the only little problem had been the dog, whom I shouldn’t have offered a scent.

  There were advantages of being a dainty girl, if you were swinging from branch to branch—trees still carried me where the heavy guys would long have crashed. Few people thought of that when securing their houses. I could only approve of that.

  “Was it difficult? Dangerous?” he asked on.

  “It’s always difficult and dangerous,” I fibbed. “If people would afford a good safe, I’d have even more trouble.”

  “Oh—clear.” Nothing was clear to Ronnie, I could see that in him. But I could keep my mouth shut, as that was part of my secret for success.

  “Was it worthwhile for you?”

  “No.” That was no lie. Only a low five-digit sum, I had found more before. For this amount, I didn’t even have to visit the casino. “Not at all.”

  “Okay,” Ronnie said. “I owe you another one—not that it would matter, I’d always help you if you need something—and for this, I’ll take care of an appropriate reward. Is there anything you’d like to have?”

  Was there? I got along well. Board and lodging were no issue, medical insurance was paid, to my retirement plan I tended myself. I could afford my shoes, handbags, clothes and jewelry. However…

  “A car, with micro fusion reactor.”

  Ronnie laughed. “A car is no problem, but a reactor?”

  “Get me one for vacation homes and a few accessories, and I’ll install it myself.”

  “You?” He gave me a doubtful glance. “That’s too dangerous. If such a reactor goes off, that causes a big hole.”

  “They don’t go off easily. As long as the envelope field stands, nothing will happen.”

  “Anyway—that’s for the experts.”

  A Master in Dragon technology should suffice, how much more expert could you be? But I wouldn’t want to tell him that. “Let’s say, I have some practical experience.” I winked at him.

  Ronnie stared at me. “You don’t want to tell me that an expert for fusion reactors serves men in a Frankfurt brothel, do you?”

  I remained silent and smiled.

  “Crap, Jo—that can’t be!” He rolled his eyes in mock despa
ir. “Do you know for how long I already have tried to get access to an expert? I have some little issues there.”

  “So, do you? Well, you can tell me later. Let’s snuggle up.”

  Chapter One-Hundred-And-Eighteen

  Should I have found it strange that my best client and, at the same time, the man who came closest to being a friend, was a criminal himself? I didn’t even know what kind of business he ran. Drugs, racketeering, or human trafficking would have bothered me, but from the kind of his wishes, I rather assumed highly sophisticated white-collar crime. Ah yes, and arts trade of the other kind.

  He played his role of gentleman thief well. However, I knew a two-fisted criminal behind this mask who surely wasn’t kind to his opponents. Doubtless, it was healthier to stay on his good side and to not seriously annoy him.

  Interestingly, he seemed to trust me rather far. I mean, if I’d been an undercover cop, he shouldn’t have taken my last loot, should he? This way, I had something to use against him—had had. No, there were no witnesses for this handover, and vice versa. He had nothing to use against me, either. He knew of my side job, but couldn’t nail me down—he had taken the only traceable items away from me. As I never took anything identifiable, I felt safe. Hey, I even checked if any money I found was marked or continuously numbered!

  Ronnie kept his promise and sponsored my car. One evening he drove up to us and asked me outside. In our parking lot, he showed me a matte-black all-terrain vehicle with tinted windows that I immediately recognized. Oh damn, what a nice surprise!

  “Ronnie! What a cruiser!” I mollified the possible accusation with a kiss.

  “A big car for short girls,” he admitted. “It will gain you some respect in traffic—on the road, where you can’t show your other advantages.”

  “Yes.” I walked once around the car. “Truly going off-road, isn’t it?”