The room hushes.
“So what does it mean to be eliminated?” someone calls.
“If you’re eliminated you’ll be guided out of the building.”
A collective groan ensues.
“And you’ll want to stay to the end. We’ve got a mega grand prize for the winner.”
“How do you win?”
“If we pick you, you won.” The voice laughs maniacally.
“What do we win?”
“Wait and see.”
“Why should we wait and see?” The person asking all the questions is sure persistent.
“Because you’ll want to. I’ll make it worth your while.”
“And who are you?” the belligerent voice asks.
“I am Kayos,” the voice states and we’re instantly plunged into darkness. A few people shriek in surprise. “And the word is…”
We all wait for our instructions.
“Not with me, whatever it is, girl,” Magicka utters, scowling.
“Fingers,” Kayos booms.
“Fingers are safe,” I whisper to my new friend. “Even for you. Magicka? Where are you?” It’s so black I can’t see my hand in front of my face. Groans, giggles, and whispers punctuate the air.
“Silence!” Kayos commands.
We all fall to our task, silent. I crawl on my hands and knees and find the face of someone who feels female. Her skin is soft and smooth. My fingers explore. They brush the silky exterior of the face before me. They trace the contours. They finger the texture of her clothing. My own face and shoulders are being similarly explored. The Devil’s Juice makes me explore with abandon. The lights flash on for just a second and burst like a flashbulb. I blink and catch the face of a raven-haired beauty inches away from me.
“You’ve been revealed,” Kayos says, dramatically. “Good start. We’ll eliminate the cheaters and be with you in a second.”
“You’ll never find us,” a voice calls.
“Want to bet? I’ve got technology on my side. That and a few strong men.” He chuckles.
Shrieks and cries of protest ring out as the cheaters are dragged from the room.
Now the room is incredibly quiet. If we didn’t believe Kayos before, we believe him now.
“The next part is elbows!” he calls out.
I crawl elsewhere and bump up against some sweaty, hairy guy. I roam his flesh with my elbows, bile rising in my throat from the feel of him. His elbows poke and prod me. I don’t like the feel of his pointy, meaty elbows. They jab into me. One of them lands on my cheek and I yelp. I try to escape. His leg tries to trap me and an arm snakes out to haul me back as the lights flash on. I smile when I hear my meaty cheater being dragged from the room.
Don’t mess with Kayos
,
I think smugly.
We proceed through legs, shoulders, and necks. It’s such a sensual skin fest I’m feeling quite relaxed and free. The Devil’s Juice is making me feel open, sensuous, and very, very sexy.
“Lips!” calls out Kayos on our next round.
I’ve managed to make my way down the stairs and I bump into a body at the bottom of the landing. I swiftly brush my fingers across the face, feeling the stubble.
Male.
I locate the lips and we press together, tentatively. This mouth tastes good. This mouth tastes like coffee and spice. Vodka. A hint of mint. This mouth make my lips tingle. This mouth makes my legs want to open wide.
I lean into the kiss. My tongue snakes out and connects with his tongue. I’m filled with longing.
Can I get this guy’s number somehow
?
I don’t want to break the kiss to find out. I want to slip deeper. I want to melt inside his mouth, like warm, dark chocolate. I want to enter his bloodstream. I want him to enter mine.
We moan, unable to contain the required silence. I roll on top of this stranger, feeling his throbbing erection underneath my hips. We nibble and bite. I grind my pelvis into his heat. “Mmm,” I moan into his mouth.
“Mmm,” he answers into mine.
The red lights flick on and the flashbulb-glaring light explodes into the room. I catch a glimpse of blue eyes and dark hair. “Jonas?” I utter, bewildered.
“Vienna?” he whispers. He chuckles. “I heard you liked kissing. How did I do?”
His voice is a low purr in my ear. “You were fantastic,” I whisper back.
“We’re leaving,” a female voice counters.
It’s back to pitch dark in here.
“Sorry, but I need to leave,” Jenner calls. “We have to leave the party.”
“Is it an emergency?” Kayos calls.
“It is to me,” her high-pitched, shrill voice states.
“If it’s not an emergency, you’re here for the duration. It was in the contract.”
What contract
?
What are they talking about
?
Then I remember something Magicka told me about the terms of agreement to play the game. Everyone has to sign on the virtual dotted line. He must have signed on my behalf. It’s that, or someone else signed for me. I know I sure didn’t read the fine print. I didn’t even receive it.
“The next body part is breasts,” Kayos calls.
“Get over here, Jonas,” Jenner hisses. “Who are you macking on? Who is that?”
He says nothing.
“Jonas,
now
.”
“Quiet!” Kayos’s voice cuts through the dark. “Quiet or you’ll be extracted for cheating.”
Jenner stills.
“Breasts, male or female. Get to it.”
Someone’s hands find me. The hands pull up my shirt and start to caress. They knead and nudge. They finger my nipples until they’re hard as nuggets. I bring my face close to this guy’s ear. “Is that you?” I whisper in a low, low voice. “Is that really you?”
His nose slides up and down my cheek but he says nothing.
The heat from his open mouth makes me melt. I finger his chest, brushing lightly over the hairs. I graze his nipples with my fingertips. I roll them back and forth between my fingers, delighting in the way they bunch into a tiny erection.
“I heard you liked nipple exploration, too.”
His voice is so soft it’s like a quiet breath in my ear.
Grunts and protests chime from nearby. “Stop it! Stop touching me!”
It’s Jenner. She’s a few feet away from me and pitching a fit.
“Jonas! Jonas! We’re done, Jonas.”
“We’ll never be done.”
His barely audible whispers land in my ear as he nuzzles my face with the tip of his nose.
Is he talking about me or his situation with Jenner
?
He rolls away just as the red light glows and the burst of light illuminates the space.
“Infraction,” Kayos calls. “Get her out of here.”
“It’s alright, I’ve got this,” Jonas says. “Come on, Jen, let’s go. You’ve had too much to drink.”
The pair clumps from the room and the game proceeds. But I don’t feel anyone else. I think I participate. I may even moan a time or two. But if I do, I’m moaning for Jonas’s lips on mine. The feel of him was better than any fantasy. It was real and it was solid heat, stirred with a heart-felt twist. It was better than six glasses of Devil’s Juice. It was irrefutable. It was love.
I’m awake. I’m
so
awake. I’m so
fucking
awake I can barely stand it. After being dragged home by Magicka I slept like a baby for a few hours, until dawn pushed its insistence into my bedroom and poked me with shards of light.
Nigel is standing on my chest peering down at me.
You look different.
“Different how?”
Pretty darn bright around the edges.
He squints.
Your aura is kind of bright. Turn it down. I thought you were all, “I’m so drug-free.”
“I didn’t take any drugs. I never take drugs.”
Really
?
“Yes, really. All I had last night was a mixed drink”
.
Mixed with drugs. Now get up and feed me
.
“You’re so bossy.”
I push his face away from me, gasping at the sensation of his fur against my skin. Even that’s too intense. I feel like someone stuck a cattle prod into my veins and turned it up high. Then, they inserted a 5000-lumen light into my brain. Magicka was right—
everything
is enhanced today. Every thread of my six-hundred--thread count soft sheets grates against my skin. The blankets are weighty against my legs. My acrid sweat burrows into my nose, the scent prickling against my nostrils. “Whew! I need a shower!” I fling back the sheets and the scent of my core seeps into my awareness like pleasured musk. “Wow. That’s intense.” I savor the smell. “Is this what it’s like for my lovers?” I sit up and search the floor for my slippers. “Not my virtual ones.” I chuckle. “Maybe I can weave that into the fantasies. Wow.”
Scenes crowd my head. Magicka’s face peers at me, disapproving and exasperated. The big giant Cro leers at me in my mind, huge and delighted at the thought of a new playmate. The kiss…the kiss scene catapults me backward against my fluffy pillows. My lips tingle. My mouth slackens. Thanks to the D, it’s as if Jonas is on top of me in vivid detail, pushing his rigid erection into my hips as he explores my mouth with his.
My heart feels like it’s going to explode from the pressure blasting through it. It’s a furnace of fiery sensation. It takes me a moment to realize it’s my pulse-com going off indicating it’s a friend.
“Yeah,” I say.
“How are you feeling?”
“Hey, Magicka. What are you doing up so early?”
“I haven’t slept yet. After my babysitting duties ended I got lucky.”
“Same guy as last time?”
“Oh, no, that’s so last week. This is a new guy.
Very
nice. Hung like a horse.”
“Okay, okay. So why are you calling me, then?”
“I just got up to go pee and thought to check on you. I figured you’d be awake. The Devil’s Juice doesn’t allow much rest. You’ll crash in a few hours. Be prepared.”
“You could have told me that
before
I consumed it.”
“Who am I to say what’s right and what’s wrong? Besides, it was in the contract that I sent you. You
did
read the contract, didn’t you?”
“I never got it.”
“Really? Who did I send it to?”
“Don’t know but it wasn’t me.”
“Hmm.”
We both fall silent. “I…” I begin. I think of Jonas and my face burns. “How did you enjoy the party?”
“Oh, it was fine once the lights went out and I let you find your own way.”
“Stop being a snarky bitch.”
“I’m just saying. You were cute, actually. A Devil’s-Juice virgin.” He chuckles. “And the party was alright. It wasn’t one of Kayos’ best.”
“Seriously?”
“Trust me. That man can throw an event.”
“I thought it was pretty cool. I even…”
“You even what?”
“Okay.” I sigh. “I kissed Jonas.”
“You what?”
“Jonas was there. With Jenner. When we were told to do lips, I…we…” Assaulted by memory, I stop speaking.
“Lord Jesus and Mother Mary! Is that part of their little restoration project?”
“I don’t know. We didn’t actually talk about it.”
“I wonder…why would that bitch allow him to come to a party like that? Maybe she thought it would improve their sex life or something.”
“Maybe. Who knows? But it was incredible. The kiss, I mean.” Just talking about it brings it all to the surface again in soft, succulent, detailed delight. “How long will I get to relive it with such vivid imagery and detail?”
I hope it never goes away
.
“Oh, the D will wear off in about twelve hours from the last sip. You’ve got a few more pleasured hours to go, I imagine. Speaking of pleasure, I hear the call of the wild coming from the bedroom. Signing off now.”
The com ends and I stare into space. Maybe Jonas will call today? I chew on my lip as the vivid imagery floods my senses. I’ll bet people get addicted to the Juice. It makes everything
so, so, so
detailed. It’s like I’m living it all over again, only better than the first time.
Maybe I’m adding details
,
I think with a chuckle.
Maybe that’s part of the fun of my Headspace. No rules. Whatever you can imagine.
My thoughts slam into the wall of reason, quashing my musing. Jonas is right. There’s no comparison. I’d really prefer to be with Jonas, in the flesh, right fucking now.
Fucking him,
I add with a chuckle.
Are you ready to feed me yet, princess
?
Nigel stands on my chest and peers at my face.
“Get off of me. Your claws are like high heels digging into my chest.”
Want to feel my teeth? Feed me so I don’t chew on your arm
.
“Will you leave me alone?”
Don’t I usually when my needs are met
?
I roll out of bed and follow my cat out of the room, the memory of Jonas’s lips burning a hole in my headspace.
Of course I don’t hear from Jonas all day. Of course. As the day wears on, I’m tempted to pulse-com him but I resist.
Let him call me. Bastard.
At 10 p.m., I check my HoloMess 500 system to see what the schedule is tonight. The Twins are scheduled for midnight. Himeros is scheduled for 10:15. Shivers pulse through me. Clients usually don’t have that effect on me.
At 10:12, I saunter into my Headspace. Three minutes later, on the dot, I get the pulse-com. “Hey, big dog…”
“Stop.”
I stop, faltering.
“Stop with the ‘big dog’ bullshit.”
“Okay. It’s not…”
“I’ve got needs.” He flashes into the scene looking ten times more succulent than last time, if that’s possible. He flexes his biceps and turns back and forth, letting me gaze at him. His cock is engorged, swollen, standing at attention. His chest is massive, strong.
“We’ve all got needs, sugar. How’s about you share the control in here? I could disengage as easily as I can get you off.”
“I want to get you off.”
“Name your pleasure.” I scan to access his desire.
“Stop scanning me.”
I let out an exasperated breath. “If you don’t abide by the rules, we don’t play, got it?”
“Got it. But you don’t scan me,
capisce
?”
“I’m not one of your wives.”
“Been checking up on me, have you?” He laughs.
It’s a deep, throaty laugh. It causes a ripple of pleasure to course up my spine. “Just doing my job. So what’s this thing with you and cattle?”