Geek Love

by Mechele Armstrong

  “Princess Leia.” He waggled his brows.

  That was his favorite female character from any science fiction movie. “Nooo.” She shook her head. “That gold lamé bikini from Return of the Jedi is so overdone.”

  “It’s hot. That’s why it’s overdone.”

  She rolled her eyes as they reached the entrance to the restaurant. “There will probably be a Leia or two there. You can drool over them.”

  “Or twenty.” His eyes twinkled at her as his eyebrows waggled again.

  They walked in and the hostess greeted them before she seated them. She handed them menus and raced away.

  Sam opened her plastic menu to find her favorite. Chicken Parmigiana with spaghetti. She always ordered it. Her friends told her she should try something new but it was an old standby. She closed her menu.

  “Know what you want already?”

  “Ummm hmmm.” She perused the restaurant. It reminded her of an Italian villa, with its circular door openings and tan stucco walls. There were overhands and indentions into the wall that held vined plants. Pictures of vineyards and seascapes dotted the walls. The beige tile floor matched the walls, giving it a patrician feel.

  “Chicken Parm?” He looked down at his menu. “With spaghetti. A salad with ranch dressing. And unsweetened iced tea?”

  “Yep.” He’d guessed her entire order. They’d never been out to eat. Never sat down at a table to break bread together. But he knew her too well from all their discussions online. “You’re good.”

  He shrugged but when the waiter came, ordered for her exactly what she wanted, down to already asking for a second basket of bread before they’d even gotten their first.

  “I hope this is good. The front desk said it was phenomenal.” Her gaze hovered around the room.

  “I’m sure it will be.” He glanced around as though trying to figure out what she was looking at. “Now who are you going as for the costume mixer?”

  More heat moved up her neck. He hadn’t forgotten his question. Should have known. He never let anything go. “You never mentioned who you were going as.” Another change of subject before she would reveal her costume.

  “You never asked.” The waiter sat down their drinks. “Thank you.”

  She echoed his thanks to the waitress. “So who are you going as?”

  “Funny you should ask. Remember I mentioned that Captain Mal costume?” His lips twitched in a grin.

  She sighed. Now she was going to say, “Yes” and he was going to say, “Good but I’m not going as Captain Mal, I’m going as Han Solo.” Or Captain Kirk. Or some other science fiction character. Best to get that over with. “Yep, I sure do remember.”

  “You’ll get to see it on me.”

  More pounding of her heart and her palms sweated. She never had sweaty palms. Their salads arrived. She barely looked at her bowl. “You’re dressing up as Captain Mal.” Joel as Captain Mal. Least he had the tight pants things down. Captain Mal had worn tight pants as a trademark.

  He nodded and put a dose of lettuce in his mouth.

  The man she thought was hot enough to begin with just got hotter. “Oh wow.” It was all she could say. Lord, the words left her mind and she became mush. Just thinking about Joel made her heart skip a few beats. Must not be powering all the blood to her brain. She sounded like an idiot. “How neat.” Yeah, that sounded intelligent.

  He finished chewing and took a sip of water. “So who are you going as, if not Leia?” His gaze captured hers.

  Oh dear Lord. She froze like a deer on an interstate with a semi truck bearing down on it. She’d been so steeped in thoughts of what he was going as, she’d forgotten how kismet this was going to seem. Her costume would complement his beautifully. It would be like they’d gotten together but instead, they’d picked their costumes independently. “Uhhhh…”

  “Yeah?” He took another bite.

  “Inara. I made a costume like she wore in Serenity.” She also had a dark colored wig and planned to do her makeup like the actress who played the character. “The red dress she wore.”

  He coughed on the bite of salad, almost as if he were choking before he finally got it down. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  “I guess great minds do think alike.” His voice lowered to a bass timbre. “I bet we’ll make a great team. Tomorrow night.”

  She forced a breath past her lips. “Yes. I bet we will. Make a great team that is.” Somehow that felt like more was being talked about than just a costume mixer.

  “We work well together. We always have.” He stared at her, meeting her gaze uncompromisingly. His eyes pinned her better than a butterfly collector pinned a butterfly.

  She nodded and took a bite of her own salad. They did. They’d gotten to the point where they could anticipate each other’s moves in games.

  Maybe he was right. Maybe they should move this relationship from the online games into the real word. But how would they do that? Would it ever work? Didn’t online remain online and real remain real? There was no way this could work out other than a good time being had at the convention.

  * * * *

  Joel watched as she finished up her entrée. Samantha. She was beautiful. Her hair had this glow. Probably just from the lighting. But it gave her the effect of a halo.

  She’d eaten with gusto. Gotten looks of orgasmic proportion over some bites of her favorite dish.

  Which had made him think of other ways that look could cross her face and how he could put it there.

  They’d had a rousing conversation once costume choices had been discussed about everything from gaming to books to politics to their futures.

  It was just like old times.

  Only this time, they could see each other instead of pounding on a keyboard to get their thoughts. He’d learned she had several nervous tics. They were cute. She also had a mesmerizing voice. What had she learned about him in person?

  They lingered over the meal, stretching it out as much as they could. Savoring each morsel of conversation.

  How many times had they stayed up until all hours of the night? How many times had they been reluctant to get off the computer and go back to their existence in the real world?

  Yep, this was just like old times.

  Only before he hadn’t had her sitting in front of him. Looking like an angel. He’d not been able to see her laugh. Instead he’d seen LOL move across a screen. He’d not been able to see her beaming smile at a compliment or a decision made. He’d not been able to watch her argue a point that filled her full of color and enthusiasm.

  Before he hadn’t known she was a woman. He hadn’t heard her voice. When they’d done games that required voices, she’d always used a computer generated one. He’d never known why. She’d told him she hated her voice, didn’t want to hear it over the speaker. Guess he knew why she’d used that now. He loved her voice. He wanted to hear it more often.

  She patted her napkin across her lips. “That was scrumptious.” Her tongue came out to moisten her lips before ducking back inside.

  His heavy cock jerked. How did men live with this constant arousal? Was it like this all the time with a woman you liked? Liked a lot. He’d had “girlfriends” and been with women. But not like this.

  No one had ever known him like this woman did. Maybe that was why she excited him so much. It made it hard to think of anything else.

  “I’m glad you liked.”

  Her smile beamed across from him putting any lights to shame. “Did you enjoy?” She pointed with her fork toward his spaghetti.

  He’d been so focused on her, he’d barely registered the meal had flavor. Much less whether he enjoyed the food. “It was good.”

  More smiling. “I guess we should head back to the hotel.”

  Did they have to? He sighed. None of the panels had the appeal of this woman and her fabulous smile. “Maybe we could walk around a little first.”

  She laughed, the sound a tinkling bell in the conversation of the
restaurant. “You can outpace me, you know that. All that bike riding. How is that going?”

  She was the only one who ever asked, except for Baxter who saw how it was going because they roomed together. “Good. I’m thinking maybe next year, I’ll plan my time off and do a cross-country ride.” He kept saying that, but it never happened for some reason or another. It was a faraway dream that he never could seem to reach. So many of his hopes seemed to be like that. Unattainable. Unreachable. He didn’t know what to do to get them.

  “You should go.” She always encouraged him. “You keep putting it off. But it’s something you want to do. You should go.” She nodded enthusiastically. She always encouraged his dreams.

  That he never seemed to want to take a chance on. His father had taught him by example not to take chances. His father was always taking chances, which got him into trouble.

  But maybe he wasn’t his father. Maybe he needed to start taking chances on things he wanted.

  Like her.

  He had her in front of him. Now.

  His dream girl was in front of him perched on a chair, listening to all his commentary.

  Samantha.

  She was reachable and smiling at him. Sitting there across from him. Hanging on his every word. Talking to him about more subjects than he’d ever thought he could discuss with a woman. She turned his brain to mush and made his blood boil. He’d never told anyone else as much about him. No one got his stupid jokes the way she did. No one checked on him like she did when she hadn’t heard from him in a few days, sometimes a few hours.

  It was time he took a chance on a dream.

  Chapter Four

  Her hand was entwined with Joel’s.

  Crosscountry500 was holding her hand again. Again.

  Sam blew out a breath as they walked down the sidewalk. She felt like skipping. She hadn’t skipped in…actually, she’d never skipped.

  She’d never been all that girly.

  So what are you doing mooning over this guy like this? All weepy eyed to be holding hands.

  A guy she’d for all practical purposes…just met.

  Yes, they knew each other from online gaming. But how well did she know him? How well did he know her? After all, up until today he hadn’t known she was a woman. They hadn’t met in the real world.

  “…are you planning on any panels when we get back? Or the midnight session of the Matrix series?”

  She turned her head toward Joel. He’d been talking for a minute or two and had ended with questions. What had she missed from his opening statements? “I hadn’t thought about what was next.” That was true for both her first convention and about Joel. What did come next for them? “What are you planning to do?”

  “Well, I uhhhh…thought maybe we’d go have a drink at the bar. Hang out together. Do some talking.” His hand squeezed hers.

  Warmth spread across every part of her body. Yeah, she’d like to spend some more time with him.

  He stopped suddenly, halting her progress as well. He looked around them and looked at her. “Samantha.”

  Her name carried along his baritone voice was the most melodic thing she’d ever heard. Her insides went bottom side up. “Yeah?”

  He didn’t answer. Just looked into her eyes with this riveting gaze that made her heart pound even more.

  “Is something wrong?” Maybe she had salad in her teeth?

  He shook his head. Swooped in, and his lips met hers. Interesting way to tell her about the salad. Or retrieve the salad. Didn’t matter because she enjoyed his lips on hers, salad or not.

  Combustion.

  His mouth was smooth and demanding as he claimed her lips. He didn’t give her time to breathe as his tongue split her lips and demanded entry.

  Part of her melted into the pavement despite the fact her body managed to keep her upright.

  It was like he knew her inside and out. Knew what she wanted. How much tongue. How much pressure.

  How far to push her.

  His hands ran up and down her back and tangled in her pony tail. They were as demanding as his lips.

  When he finally pulled away, he put his forehead against hers and held her close against his body.

  They stood for several seconds.

  She panted, trying to get enough air. He seemed to have sucked more than his fair share from her lungs.

  Her lips tingled and burned where he had ravaged them. They felt more tender than they ever had.

  “Should I apologize?” His voice was hoarse and strained. As though the words cost him to speak them aloud.

  Should he? She shivered a little. She’d just been thinking this was moving too fast a little while ago.

  Or was it?

  She’d known this man for years. Online but it was a way to know someone. He seemed to know her better than she’d ever thought anyone would.

  Didn’t you come to this conference to be a little reckless?

  She’d been playing it safe with her pseudo male persona for too many years. Now she was out of the box. Maybe she should go all the way. Do something reckless with her life.

  Something that she’d never dream of doing most days. Like have a torrid affair with crosscountry500. In real life, not just with online sex.

  They could have a one night stand and then go back to being online buddies with benefits. Nothing here had to translate into the real world either. After all, this was just an extension of online in a way.

  “No. You shouldn’t be sorry.” She licked her lips, surprised at how much they still trembled from the kisses.

  “Good. Because I don’t want to be. I don’t want to hang out at the bar either.”

  More shivers raced across her stomach and down along her legs. They seemed to settle in one particular area. An area that had started to ache. Started to want more than she’d ever thought possible at this gaming conference.

  He stroked her check, grazing his fingers along her skin to tantalize her already inflamed senses. When she didn’t comment, he said, “Samantha.”

  Her name again. Sounded marvelous on his lips. Now she knew why women often melted in the hero’s arms. She’d never understood that before. Never felt anything akin to this with any of the men she’d been with. “Yes.”

  “The only thing I want to study tonight is you. The only panel I want into is you. You’re the only one I want to be a fan of tonight.”

  Incredibly corny. Yet it took whatever doubts she had and negated them. Turned any resistance into futility. She didn’t want to pull away from this. She wanted to embrace this. “I want to do some fan-fiction with you.” Fan-fiction was online stories written about popular works by fans, usually going in some romantic direction. It was a reference she knew that he would get, unlike so many guys she’d dated. Maybe she should have gone geek long ago.

  His lips curled up into a lopsided grin. “You know me too well.” That was far from the truth. There was so much more to learn about him. Like the way his grin could light up a room. She’d never known that.

  Like what turned him on.

  What did Joel aka crosscountry500 find sexy? Suddenly that was something she wanted to know. “So where does this fan-fiction lead us? Tonight?” The bigger question was where did it leave them tomorrow? A question she wasn’t sure she was ready to face yet. She’d hide out in the night with him and face the harsh realities of day when they appeared tomorrow. Surely he knew that what happened here would have to stay here. That it couldn’t move into the real world.

  He dipped into another kiss and his tongue made a mad dash to dance with hers over and under until she couldn’t see straight any more, much less think about where this would lead them. “The promised land.”

  “You do mean what I think you mean, right?” He was talking sex. Or so she thought. He had to be talking sex. There was no way he could be talking anything else at this point.

  “Yes. I want to…” He took a deep breath as though steadying himself to say the words that she was hanging on to hear.
The words that would make her night. “I want to make love to you more ways than the Kama Sutra.”

  She laughed, unable to help the reaction of him going from geek to lover. “How do you know the Kama Sutra?” How well did he know it? An even better question. Her heart did a few flip flops. Yes, she could imagine him in flagrant positions in that little sex book. He’d become larger than life to her.

  “All comic books and no sexual play make Joel a dull boy.” He started walking again, leading her by the hand. “Dull Joel is no fun.” He could never be dull. Never be boring. He was so alive. At least to her.

  “Oh. You do have your interesting developments, crosscountry500.” She willingly followed behind him. He could lead her anywhere right now. Never had anyone else had this power over her.

  “Just you wait.” His voice was lecherous. Deep bass tones that sent shivers up every part of her body.

  She couldn’t wait to be loved by him. Twenty-four hours ago, she hadn’t met him in real life nor had she ever contemplated being with him like this. Now it was all she could think about. She wanted to be with him in the best and worst way. It was her time to seize the day.

  Who knew what the next twenty four hours would bring? Except maybe lots and lots of sex. And plenty of Kama Sutra.

  They had gotten into the hotel and blown by several people, both in costume and not. A few people looked as though they wanted to catch up to them but Joel and Sam swept by them too fast. They migrated into the elevator in a hurry to get to where this mission took them. To bed. To each other.

  She’d found him and she wasn’t about to let go. She’d keep him close as long as this lasted.

  To the convention and beyond.

  He moved into the elevator with her trailing behind him. He pressed the button for the fifth floor as he waited for the doors to close, and then pinned her against the wall. His warmth tagged her with its headiness.

  The coolness of the wall pressed against her back was an accompanying antonym to his heat. “There could be more people…” She didn’t want the interruption but knew there were sure to be people along any second.

  “Not with the Matrix movies showing and the musical performance tonight.” His lips claimed hers before the last words were out. He infused her with his warmth and it settled like stones into her psyche.