by Dante Steel
Damn it. Their talking about sex was making him rock hard again. No way was he going to adjust himself in front of them again, but, fuck, was this uncomfortable.
"You desperately wanted to fight shifters," Gary tried one last time. "You're really too tired?"
“The shifters will still be there in a bit,” Elena said. She yawned again and shrugged. “I’m too tired.”
“I don’t want you fighting while tired.” Gary frowned. “Fine. You three can head to town.”
“We have your permission?” Olivia asked. “Oh, good. We would have been so lost without it.”
He ignored her and focused on the other two. “Please make sure she doesn’t drink until she passes out again.”
“Hey, I’m a big girl!” Olivia protested. “I can take care of myself.”
“Like you did last night?”
“That was different. We were celebrating.” She pouted. “An empty celebration if fuckface is still alive.”
Yuna’s eyes went wide.
“Olivia can be a bit colorful,” Gary told her.
The Japanese woman nodded. “So I hear.”
“Off to the tavern!” Olivia cried.
“Are you coming, Gary?” Elena asked.
Gary hesitated. Honestly, he was sick of fighting. He would love to just relax for a while.
But he didn’t trust Yuna. He didn’t know who she was. Actually, he was almost afraid to get to know her. What if his masturbating and thinking about her meant he was addicted to sex? That he would just take it from any girl he would meet? He hadn’t been like this in the real world at all, but here, here he was somebody. He was important. He was a powerful superhero. Well, granted, he wasn’t technically a superhero in Shifter War yet, but he would reach that status. He was already an insanely high level.
No, he couldn’t be addicted to sex because that might mean he didn’t love the three girls, and he knew that wasn’t the case. He adored all three of them.
He did not want to get to know Yuna because he was afraid he might fall for her, too. Right now, he didn’t trust himself. Just like he didn’t trust her except for a completely different reason.
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving Yuna alone,” he muttered.
Yuna shook her head graciously. “No, no. You can go with your friends. I will be fine. Trust me.”
He jerked, startled by her word choice. She couldn’t read minds, could she?
“You’re alive and in this game to help us get out of here,” he said gruffly. “So if you’re going out there to try to figure out how to transports us all home, I’m going to come with and help.”
Yuna nodded. “Thank you.”
Already, the three women he loved were walking away.
“Hey,” he shouted after them. “No kiss goodbye?”
“Do you deserve one?” Olivia asked.
“I don’t see why I don’t.”
Olivia winked but flipped him the bird.
Damn, was she sassy. He fucking loved that about her.
“Nicoletta?” he called.
She sighed and slowly walked back to him.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured as soon as she was close enough for him to pull her tight for a hug.
“You just want a hole to shove your johnson into,” she said, wiggling against him.
“Fuck,” he groaned. “You’re a damn tease.”
“Then come back with us,” she pleaded.
“I… I want to…”
“Gary Johnson, I think you’re trying to be an actual, true hero.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” he protested.
She kissed the corner of his mouth, and he groaned and muttered a curse.
Nicoletta giggled as she wiggled free from his embrace before he could slide his hands down to her perfect ass. "I do say that."
His firecracker rushed away to catch up to Olivia, and Elena sauntered over and kissed him full on the mouth with tongue.
“Don’t be gone too long,” she murmured.
“You aren’t going to convince me to stay?”
She pulled back and stared into his eyes. “You aren’t too tired?”
“No.”
“Then go ahead, but be careful.”
“You don’t trust her either?”
Elena hesitated. “I don’t know yet.”
“Exactly why I have to go with her.”
She nodded.
“I’ll be safe,” he promised.
“Good. It would be embarrassing for you if I had to come save you.” She tilted her head to the side. “Or if the lower level newbie had to.”
“Ha, ha.”
With a giggle and a wave, Elena raced away.
Gary stood there, watching until the trio disappeared from sight. Damn, did he love them all.
Reluctantly, he turned and nodded to Yuna. “Ready?”
“Perfectly ready to do what I came here for.”
“Then let’s do this.”
Chapter Seven
Why weren’t they flying? Where exactly did they have to go? Gary had a million questions for Yuna, but she seemed busy. Her stride was short, and she took a lot of quick steps, speeding along with her head high and shoulders back. It was almost as if she was marching off to war.
Shifter War. Gary shuddered. He didn’t share Elena’s drive to kill off shifters. Honestly, the idea of humans being able to transform into an animal weirded him out. Yeah, he knew humans were technically animals, but wolves? Tigers? What would be next, cows? Pigs? Animals humans typically ate from? That just seemed so wrong to him.
“You seem to be thinking hard,” Yuna remarked without glancing at him.
He looked over, surprised. “Not about anything important,” he said.
“Oh, I doubt that,” she said, her blush returning.
Gary sighed and shook his head.
“Is something wrong?”
“No,” he said. Silence descended but only for a few moments because he just had to ask. “How old are you?”
Damn. You weren’t supposed to ask a woman that.
“It’s just that you look young,” he said. “Too young to be a genius. Not that I don’t believe Haru about you being smart. I do. I just…”
Shut up, Gary.
He clamped his mouth shut.
To his relief, Yuna giggled as she halted and turned to face him. “Yes, I am young for a developer, but I can assure you that I know what I am doing.”
“I hope so,” he muttered.
“You will see.” She smiled, not at all fazed by his unwillingness to blindly trust her.
“Where are we going?” Gary asked once they resumed walking.
“There is a location within the game that should have everything I need.”
“Like a computer? Why not just have us enter the game near this mystery spot?”
Yuna paused and then resumed walking at a faster clip. "In case the other developers fail, and Samuel August is alive and does transfer over—"
“You didn’t want the supplies to fall into enemy hands. Okay. I get that. I, ah, assume you have the shifters programmed to stay away from the place?”
“Of course.”
“Awesome.”
A speck appeared in the near distance. With every second, it grew larger. A black bear.
“Are all of the animals in the game shifters?” Gary asked.
“No, not all of them. We’re in the game, and we do need meat to eat.”
“But all predators are.”
“Yes,” she confirmed.
“Incoming,” they said at the same time.
Yuna smiled at him, but Gary ignored her, already calling forth his telekinesis. He tried to stop the bear shifter in its tracks, but the bear continued closer, albeit at a slower clip.
“Hold him in place,” Yuna said.
Gary did his best. The bear fought against his hold, still advancing despite Gary’s trying to halt its progress entirely. Damn, the enemies in this issue were savage. It wasn'
t as if he wanted the foes to be so pathetic that he could sneeze and they would fall over dead. This, though, seemed overkill.
Yuna pointed her finger. A thin target stream of fire shot out like a laser that blew up the moment it touched the bear’s snout. The shifter wailed, its entire body going up in flames. It stood on its hind legs and shrank to its human form before collapsing, still burning.
She clapped a single time. “I go up an impressive number of levels each time I score a kill here.”
“You’re welcome,” he muttered.
The almost too beautiful woman giggled. “Yes, it is thanks to you and your high level.”
“How can you be that powerful at your level already?” Gary asked.
Yuna blushed. “Maybe I am that good?”
There was something timid about her. She almost seemed shy. Maybe that was why she was blushing all of the time. Gary did not want to think about her having a crush on him. That was the last thing he needed.
“That would sound more convincing if you didn’t seem to have ants in the pants,” he said.
“I don’t,” she said, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
“It’s an expression.”
She nodded and admitted, “I may have taken measures to help ensure I will survive this game. Can you blame me?”
“No.” Before he could ask if those measures could be applied to him and his girls, he spied a massive hawk that had to be five times the size of a normal one.
He grumbled under his breath.
“Is something wrong?” Yuna asked.
“Why are the shifters so damn huge?”
“Because they are more than mere animals, and they are meant to train us. We are in a game, yes?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean the enemies have to try to kill us,” he muttered.
“Is that not the point?” Yuna shrugged. “You confuse me. You do not seem like much of a gamer.”
“You can say that again.”
“You aren’t a gamer?”
“Not really. I played the game because a friend bought it for me. It was a freak thing entering the game.” He side-eyed her. “How exactly were you and the others able to get into the game?”
“I am so very sorry—Duck!”
Gary reacted by pure instinct. Instead of crouching, he surrounded himself with a forcefield. Just in time, too, as the hawk divebombed straight for the top of his head. Ducking wouldn’t have helped me much.
As the hawk continued to slam against the forcefield, a thought occurred to Gary. Smaug had convinced the dragons to fight for him in the original version of the game. Was it possible that Gary could do the same with the shifters? If you were telekinetic, could you talk to someone’s mind?
No, wasn’t that telepathic? Shit.
Even so, Gary tried to reach out with his powers. All he could do was attempt to affect the hawk’s body. He couldn’t see to its mind at all.
Yuna stood a few feet away, watching the proceedings. Gary did not want to appear weak in front of her, especially since she was handling their enemies with such ease.
“You want me?” Gary challenged the hawk.
The hawk let out an angry call.
“Fine. Come get me.” Gary banished his forcefield and shot up into the air.
The hawk took the bait and zoomed after him. Gary flew up and up and up. The temperature grew colder, and he had to slow down. The hawk went to snap at Gary’s heels, but he reached down, grabbed the hawk by its wing and launched the hawk even higher. Instead of placing a forcefield around himself, Gary created one around the hawk and used that to force the hawk higher until the hawk seemed to gain a ton of weight.
Gary released his hold on the hawk, and the winged menace plummeted to the ground. As it passed Gary, he saw with a high level of satisfaction that the wings were laced with ice.
With ease, he descended and landed near the dead hawk.
“You wasted a fair amount of energy on that,” Yuna remarked.
“I feel plenty energetic,” he assured her. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you to where you need to go.”
Yuna smiled. “I am not worried. I do, however, wish to continue our conversation before we were so rudely interrupted.”
She glowered at the dead winged menace as if it had personally offended her. Gary smirked.
“I don’t know if Haru has apologized or not, but I am so deeply sorry this has happened to you.”
“Thank you,” he murmured. “I appreciate that. I don’t think Haru ever did apologize. He found it hard to believe at first.”
“Can you blame him? Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
“You never did tell me how exactly you and the other girls were brought into the game,” he pointed out.
“Ah, yes.” She waved him forward to join her, and they resumed their trek. “You entered the game because you were struck by lightning while playing, yes?”
He nodded.
“We use a combination of electricity and a special helmet to help direct the body and mind and conscious to enter into the framework of the game. They gave me some gas so I would sleep, and I woke up in the game. It was smooth and without any complications.”
“A special helmet? And how could it direct the body and mind and all of that?”
“The helmet is how we can guide the body to the game. The process would take hours to describe in depth.”
“Can you create that here in the game?”
“That is one possibility, but we are not certain how electronics will work in the game. We are not certain if a person should be transferred while conscious.”
“I was awake,” he said.
"And in shock from the jolt, I would imagine."
“Yeah. What about lightning? If we get hit by it again—”
“We would only be hit by lightning,” she said gently. “You had been playing the game, so you had a link to it. The biggest obstacle is that we have no tether back to Earth from within the game. Without that, we are stuck here.”
“But the equipment here should help with that.”
“So long as it is what I need, yes.”
“Why wouldn’t it be what you need?”
“Considering that all of this has no precedent, I cannot be truly certain of what I need. It is possible that Haru can give me what I need.”
“It sounds like a lot of guesswork,” he said doubtfully.
“It is a puzzle. I love puzzles.” Her smile was wide, this time without a hint of a blush.
They continued onward and fought a few more shifters—a vicious coyote and a fierce lioness. Yuna’s prowess as a fighter almost unnerved Gary. He had just killed the coyote and glanced over to see Yuna lie down and allow the lioness to pin her. Gary was ready to sweep in and save her when Yuna sliced the feline’s throat with a dagger. Even more impressive was that she managed to wiggle out from under the lioness with minimal blood on her.
“You must’ve played all the games that I didn’t,” he joked.
“I played a few,” she admitted. “I used them as rewards. I could play an hour here or there if I aced an exam. I was homeschooled. At fifteen, I started college. I graduated three years later. I’m twenty.”
“You really are a genius.”
“I don’t know,” she said modestly. “I never had my IQ tested.”
“What was it like?”
“What? Going to college so young?”
He shrugged. “Going to college period.”
“You did not go to college?”
“Nope. I’m a trashman.”
“Everyone has a role to play, a service rendered onto both themselves and others.”
“Ah, sure.”
Yuna smiled and giggled. “After being homeschooled, college was a shock. That is the simplest way I can describe it.”
“Why were you homeschooled?”
“Originally, I wasn’t supposed to be. One day in kindergarten, a boy kissed me. It was on the cheek and completely harmles
s, but my mother freaked out. She never allowed me to date. Mother always said I never needed anyone but myself.”
“Did you date in college?”
“I commuted, so I lived at home. With my heavy course load so I could graduate in three years, that didn’t leave time for dating anyhow.”
For a little while, they continued in silence. Yuna appeared deep in thought, and Gary didn’t want to interrupt her contemplation.
Abruptly, she halted and swung around to face him. “I’ve never had a real kiss yet,” she said, blushing again.
He shook his head. She was so gorgeous. Why hadn’t anyone kissed her?
Yuna stared at him, at his lips, but he wasn’t going to take the bait.
“Do we have much farther to go?” he asked.
Her hopeful expression fell, and she nodded. “A fair amount, actually.”
“Great,” he mumbled.
Why couldn’t anything ever come easy?
Chapter Eight
The sky was beginning to darken, and Gary was growing frustrated. “Why can’t we fly there? Wouldn’t that be faster?”
“Yes, but I want to get a feel for the game,” she said. “And I need the experience.” As she said this, her gaze again dropped to his lips.
He said nothing.
“Thank you for coming with me,” she said a few paces later. “I appreciate you so much. More than I can say.”
“I just want to get home.”
“Of course. I will help you with that. I will make your dream come true.” She giggled.
Gary suppressed a sigh. She clearly wanted to befriend him, if not more. Not gonna happen. Well, maybe being friends, but that was it.
As the shadows lengthened, they approached a different jungle.
“Perhaps we should rest here,” Yuna suggested. “I will keep watch. You sleep.”
Gary shook his head. “You can sleep first.”
“Please. You have been in the game so long. You need to rest without… ah… certain activities.”
He couldn’t tell in the growing darkness, but he was certain her blush had returned.
Just the thought of those “certain activities” was enough for Gary’s cock to start to stir. No way in hell was he going to masturbate in Yuna’s presence, not even when she was sleeping.