by Mia Archer
I eyed the human barbarian warily as I stepped into the cave leading to the pirate’s cove. I called her a barbarian, though to be perfectly honest that wasn’t an entirely accurate description of what she was. That assessment was a product of one of the unfortunate attitudes towards the lower races I’d picked up. I tried to be careful about those assumptions, but it was difficult after so many years of seeing humans prove themselves worthy of the barbarian name time and again.
Though this human probably wouldn’t have considered herself a barbarian. Not in the way they reckoned it. Muscular men in loincloths wielding giant swords and attacking one another with no care in the world aside from where their next meal or their next mating would come from.
This one, at least, had once fine boots and wore a tattered shirt and pants that looked like they were well cared for but a far cry from the finery they’d started as. She also wore a belt with a buckle on it that bore some house sigil. Not that I could determine which house it was just from looking at that sigil. There were so many minor human noble houses scattered by the Sundering that nobody could keep track of all of them. Not even the humans. Not that it stopped them from fighting incessantly with each other over those houses and the paltry territory they controlled.
I could guess her story from a simple look. She was the daughter of a minor noble house with a tomboy streak that served her well in this new world where might so often made right. The Sundering had hit her hard, had separated her from everything she once knew, and so now she wandered the world selling her sword for her next meal and probably holding herself to some outdated moral code that didn’t apply in the new realities of the world after the Sundering.
Still, it also meant I could probably trust her. To a point.
Still, trust could be dangerous and I wouldn’t throw caution completely out. I was well aware it was a dangerous place I was going. I was well aware that the world wasn’t the perfect place that the Order would like to believe, to be cataloged according to their view of things.
I was aware of all of those things, and so that’s why I was keenly aware of the incredible danger I could find myself in if this strange human I’d only met once in a tavern was hostile. If she decided to cause trouble.
I prepared several nasty magic spells that would catch her by surprise if she should choose to try and take a high priestess. If she tried anything then I would at least make her very sorry that she tried, if not kill her outright. Assuming she didn’t have that little toy that negated my magic spells.
“My lady elf,” she said, sketching a quick bow.
My eyes narrowed. There was a rakish grin that crossed her face as she made that bow that told me her supposed show of respect was anything but.
I raised an eyebrow. “Is that mockery?”
She moved up from her bow and that rakish grin was still on her face. I had to steel myself. Had to suddenly concentrate on my breathing so it didn’t start coming in quick gasps. This woman was beautiful, there was no denying it, even if she was just a lowly human from what looked to be a noble house fallen on hard times.
“Merely showing my lady elf the respect she deserves,” she said.
Her voice was melodious, hypnotic. It had me swaying and I had to blink. I had to shake my head and concentrate on the business at hand. I was here on the Order’s business, and I definitely didn’t have time to indulge in impossible fantasies about lowly human nobles.
I sniffed and turned to enter the caves that led to the hidden cove. “Very well human, we must be about our business.”
“Are you sure you want to do this? I wouldn’t go in there if I were you,” Kaira growled.
I turned and looked at her, once again trying and mostly failing to control myself. Trying to control my breathing. I was not some novice to go mooning over a girl of all things! Especially a human!
“And why is that?” I asked in a quiet voice. I wanted to laugh. She obviously hadn’t yet realized that I was easily one of the most dangerous women she was ever going to run into in the course of her travels.
“Lots of criminals, thugs, nasty people in there,” she said. “I’d hate for a pretty little elf such as yourself to get in trouble.”
This time my eyes lowered in a stormy expression. Who did she think she was? Pretty little elf? And yet even though I was indignant, even though I was angry, there was also a part of me that was undeniably flattered. My body was betraying me and a blush was rising to my cheeks. I felt a rush between my legs at her words. There was a part of me that was definitely interested in the promise that flirtatious smile offered, and the fact that this was a random girl I’d just met who I didn’t know much about didn’t seem to mean anything as I stared at her.
I pulled my hands away from the keyboard. I had to stop and catch my breath. This was so wrong. I was on the verge of going to a very dangerous place that I promised myself I’d avoid when I started in the role-playing community on this server. I shouldn’t be indulging in this fantasy.
I should go to a public role-playing location with her where I wouldn’t be tempted. I should be anywhere but where I was, continuing this role-playing session with a flirtatious girl who got my blood pumping with just words on a screen! And yet I'd already broken so many rules for this woman. I'd already crossed so many lines. What was one more? I paused in the quiet of the computer room. Made my decision. I reached my hands out, placed them back on the keyboard. Found myself transported back to the forbidden world.
I looked the human up and down, an appreciative glance that took in her slim muscular figure, her smooth shoulders, the way her armor molded to all of the above leaving nothing to the imagination. And yet I kept returning to that easy, cocky, rakish smile with her short hair above it all. There was no denying it. This woman was gorgeous. Not just for a human. She was one of the most gorgeous creatures I’d ever laid eyes on, and it was no surprise she was having such an effect on me.
Of course her attitude was infuriating. That ruined the other effects she was having on me slightly. But only just.
“What makes you think I can’t handle myself in a den of thieves such as this?” I asked. As I did I held my hand up and a small flame danced from finger to finger. Her eyes widened for a moment which disappointed me out in the real world since she'd been so good about not having that reaction earlier, but that was the only surprise that registered. Meanwhile back in the game world my character felt another stab of frustration. Usually when humans saw me working the elements like that it sent them running in terror, but not so with this woman. She was calm, confident, collected, and she still had that cocky grin plastered on her face. Then again if I had an ancient artifact that wasn’t supposed to even exist that negated magic I’d probably have that same delicious smile on my face.
This woman was as infuriating as she was beautiful!
“I’m not saying I don’t think you could turn any of those ragamuffins into a pillar of fire if you saw them coming at you,” she said.
I nodded and smiled in satisfaction at that admission. But that smile soured at her next words.
“Of course you have to be able to see someone coming at you to turn them into a pillar of fire. That won’t help you much in those pretty robes if someone comes up behind you with a knife.”
“Then what do you propose I do?”
The human stepped forward from where she’d been leaning against the cave wall and she stretched. She lifted her arms up above her head which gave me a clear view of how muscled she was even on her slim frame. I realized I was staring, captivated, with my mouth hanging wide open and quickly remedied that situation. I was not going to sit here and stare at this woman like some hormone addled novice, no matter how beautiful she was!
As she stepped forward she clearly eyed me up and down with something more than the professional interest of someone who’d been hired to act as a bodyguard. I blushed and looked away as she eyed me, then realized what I was doing and anger flashed through me.
I fo
rced myself to meet her eyes, to ignore the thrill running through my stomach at that eye contact. I forced myself to channel some of the fury I was feeling at the casual way she was addressing her elven betters, though I felt a flush of embarrassment as the casual dismissal of "lesser" species that I hated so much from my own people drifted through my mind unbidden.
“I have no doubt what you’re interested in, human,” I spat out.
She looked me up and down once more, and there was hunger there. And there was something else. Amusement?
“I’m simply giving my lady elf the same consideration she’s been giving me ever since she first laid eyes on me.”
I blushed. So she’d caught me looking. Interesting. Very interesting. She was far more perceptive than I would have given a human credit for. There were hidden depths to this one, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“Very well human, I am the one who has hired you but I assume you are about to present me with terms despite the fact that I am the one paying you to do my bidding?”
She sketched another bow. “My lady elf is quite perceptive.”
My lips turned to a frown, but I decided to let this particular dig slide. Maybe if I just ignored her referring to me as her “lady elf” she would tire of the jest and stop using it entirely. I could hope, at least.
I reached into the pouch at my side and pulled out a gold mark. I held it up in the fitful torchlight that illuminated the entrance to the pirate’s cove.
“This is one gold piece. I imagine that will be enough to feed you for a week if not longer. Maybe even get you some proper clothes. You get one of these at the beginning, and another when we are finished if you desist in this ridiculous insistence on dictating terms to your employer,” I said.
“No.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
She raised an eyebrow. “You really are a fool for all your finery. I’m not here for gold. I’m here because you intrigue me my lady elf. Besides, what’s to stop me from just killing you and taking all of your gold?”
I tried to control myself at that admission that she was here because I intrigued her. I tried not to read too much into that despite the way my mind was screaming and my body was consumed by a raging fire. I tried my best to bring both mind and body under control, but it was difficult.
“You won’t kill me. And not because I would kill you for it or because I intrigue you enough for you to keep me alive until it’s no longer convenient. No, you wouldn’t do it because it isn’t the right thing,” I said.
The human, Kaira, moved forward with lightning speed. So fast that I only had time to let out a yell of surprise. I didn’t know it was possible for humans to move that fast! One moment we were standing in the entrance, I was in control of the situation, and the next moment she was pressing me up against the cave wall. Her body pressed against mine and it felt so delicious. It would’ve been a welcome distraction if I wasn’t so terrified that my life was about to end. Her face was inches from mine and that hunger was back. She'd been so fast I hadn’t even had time to work up a spell, though I had plenty of time to prepare a fireball or some other nasty surprise now, but I didn’t. Something stopped me.
She'd pressed me against the wall, but she hadn’t actually made a move to slit my throat. A woman who moved like that could easily have done so. A woman who moved like that could have killed me and left me to be looted by whatever robbers followed her. And yet she hadn’t. She was just staring down at me with that smoldering hunger in her eyes. That burning lust barely contained. I wanted to reach up and kiss that beautiful face, and I had to pull my hands away from the keyboard at that thought.
What the hell? This was definitely getting hotter and heavier than I’d ever gotten before, and yet I couldn’t deny how it was making me feel. I was so turned on that I’d been pulled out of virtual reality and back into the real world. That hardly ever happened. And it was also having one hell of an effect on me back here in the real world. I worried there’d be a wet spot on my gaming chair when I got up, but no, that couldn’t possibly be the case.
Still, I was so fucking turned on. Moisture was definitely gathering in my pajama bottoms. I reached down and traced a finger lightly along the edges of my pussy lips as I imagined doing the same to another woman and I nearly jumped. Just running my fingers down there was enough to set off an electric shock that ran through my entire body. It was enough to cause me to let out a quiet gasp. A quiet moan that was an unmistakable moan of pleasure.
Good thing Megan decided to go to a bar down the street.
I had a choice to make. I could pull away from the computer. I could disconnect. All it would take is closing down the game client and then I’d be free of the immediate scenario, but I wouldn’t be free from my feelings. I’d be thinking about Kaira, thinking about this forbidden role-playing session that was quickly spiraling out of my control, all night long. It was clear this was going someplace I hadn’t ever gone before with someone I role-played with, or with another woman for that matter. It was clear that this particular role-playing session was becoming something more. It was becoming something deeper, hotter, far more passionate.
I made my decision. My hands moved back to the keyboard. I stared up into the eyes of this dangerous human who was staring at me, her muscular arms to either side of my head. My breath was coming in ragged gasps. My nipples were pressing out against my dress and my body was betraying me with its arousal.
I wanted to say that the reason I didn’t vaporize her was because I was worried my magic might blow back on me. The problem with setting things on fire is that it didn’t do much good if you were in close proximity to the fire that was being set. I wanted to say that the reason I didn’t turn her into a pillar of fire was because I didn’t believe in killing unless someone was obviously threatening my life. Of course this situation could almost call for that. I could even blame that little anti-magic surprise she carried if I wanted to.
But that was all bullshit. No, the real reason I didn’t incinerate her where she stood was because I was intrigued as well. I was excited. By a human of all things. By a woman, which was a surprise. If anything, that intrigued me even more. I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on, I wasn’t sure why my body was betraying me like this, but I couldn’t deny how I felt. I couldn’t deny how incredible this was.
I looked up at her and smiled. “Point taken.”
She grinned. She pulled back and I wanted to cry out in disappointment as her body moved away from mine.
“I’m glad we have an understanding,” she said. “You hired me to guard you and I’m going to do that. That means that you do what I say while we’re in there and follow my orders with no questions. The fact that you’re the one paying me means nothing if you get a knife in your back because you think some flashy magical fireworks will save you from a crafty pirate who’s used to working in close quarters.”
I nodded. I tried to ignore the thrill running through me at the way she was casually taking command. Casually ordering me around. I should be furious, but instead I was just incredibly excited.
Kaira gestured towards the entrance to the cove. Deeper into the cave. I glanced at the dark entrance, lit only by the fitful burning of torches, then back to her. Did I dare go in there with her? Did I dare descend into the darkness and all the potentially forbidden pleasures that it offered?
I moved forward and I could hear her following behind me. I smiled, wondering where this was going. Because this certainly was unlike any dungeon run I’d ever been on before.
8: Into the Pirates' Den
I was keenly aware of how close she was as we made our way through the tight confines of the dungeon. The dungeon was actually a series of caves that led deep into the rock and came out on the other side of a series of impassable mountains onto a sheltered bowl with beautiful open water that provided a perfect port for people who didn't want to be bothered by the authorities and only wanted to defend from one direction
. A perfect port for the kind of criminal activity that only pirates could be up to.
I had no idea if there was anything even close to it in the real world, but I didn’t ever concern myself with those sorts of questions even though there were entire forum threads dedicated to the real life inspirations for in-game geography. Anyone who looked for reality in their video game design was doing it wrong.
The tight confines meant she was right up against me. I could feel her heat, see her sweat glistening in the torchlight. It was pretty hot down in these caves, for more than one reason tonight if you catch my drift, and before long I was slick with sweat as well. I reached up and loosened my dress which made it less than modest but I was beyond caring about modesty.
And I was wet and slick with more than sweat every time I got close to her. I could smell her intoxicating scent. I could feel her incredible body so close to mine. I felt lightheaded every time I came near her and I wanted nothing more than to rip her clothes and armor off and have my way with her.
I couldn’t believe I was having these sorts of thoughts for a mere human! For a woman! I was a high elf priestess. I'd always thought I was straight and yet all I could think about was this human and how much I wanted her.
Kaira's hand shot out across my breasts. The contact was unexpected and amazing. I found myself breathing hard, and that hard breathing made her realize exactly what she was touching. She turned and looked down at me, only instead of a blush rising to her cheeks like it should have for any proper lady, like it was for me at the moment, she just grinned and leaned closer to me. No, she was anything but proper.
“Need to be careful,” she said. “We’re coming up on an ambush point.”
I nodded and prepared a couple of spells. My fingers started to glow but she shook her head and moved her hand away from my chest. I sighed in disappointment at the loss of contact even as in my head I was screaming at myself for being an idiot in more than one way.