Keyboards and Kink (32 page)

A light drumming sound pulled her
thoughts away from the game and her horrible diet consisting of
junk food and take-out. Rain pelted the windows and siding of her
small apartment.
How fitting.
The weather’s yucky just like my week’s been
.

Seemed the only thing biting the dust
recently had been her life. She’d moved from the city she grew up
in both to follow her boyfriend and to take a job a year and a half
ago. Then last week her world fell apart. Her weekend hours at the
bookstore were cut to the point it wasn’t even worth keeping the
second job. She’d lost that extra income, and now she’d have to pay
retail to feed her reading addiction. She’d been dumped by her
boyfriend of two years, betrayed by someone she’d considered to be
a best friend, then learned a day later that her ex-boyfriend and
ex-BFF had run off to Cancun together.

Reality sucked. No wonder she loved
her full-time job at I-D-8 Entertainment, a software company that
developed and published computer games. She was an assistant to the
assistant to Mr. Gott, the lead designer—a striking man who fit the
tall, dark and handsome cliché. Being around him set her hormones
blazing and made her want to do things that would not only get her
in trouble with HR but also get her slapped with a sexual
harassment suit. So she tried to keep her distance, especially
after the company charity work they did at a carnival for
underprivileged kids. Just the two of them stuck in an information
booth together for a six-hour shift. It was heaven and hell. They
had a great time. He was easy to talk to and easy on the eyes. Too
easy actually and her blooming feelings for him scared her. After
the event, she kept busy with lots of grunt work to lessen her
chances of running into him. And even though she had a Masters,
wanted to be a designer and dabble in programming, she took the
entry-level job to learn all she could about the
business.

Yet, there were perks. One happened to be
that she could participate in alpha and closed-beta testing of the
games, which meant she could work from home on occasion. Lucky for
her a closed-beta testing assignment came up at the same time she
needed to take several days off to regroup.

I-D-8’s new
MMORPG
,
C.O.V.E.N., which stood for Clans of Vegas—Endless Night, was
a great fantasy game, full of all the supernatural monsters she
loved and lots of magic and fighting. The program still had several
bugs and glitches that needed to be fixed, but she didn’t care. She
could be a different person online—someone alluring, tough,
assertive…beautiful. As the warrior Bella, she shucked her shyness,
average mousy brown looks and the extra fifteen pounds on her short
frame.

None of the testers knew her online
personality. Neither did she know the identities of her co-workers
and the invited testers from outside of the company. The anonymity
was quite liberating. Playing had become a wonderful escape from
the pain of 3D that waited outside her apartment, especially since
she met the Godric character.

Of course she realized the player
behind Godric most likely didn’t look like his onscreen character,
but it was fun imagining he did. She just hoped the real guy was as
funny and warm off-screen as he was on. She tried to throttle back
the intense, lustful currents running through her at the thoughts
of being with a handsome, kind man who could make her laugh, but it
wasn’t easy. Looking back on the past couple of years, she realized
her last boyfriend was a true bad boy and hadn’t treated her well.
Now, she knew she wanted a good guy, a man who wanted to have fun
with her, treat her with respect. It was too bad she’d probably
never get to meet the man behind the character. Still, whether he
was fake or real, she was crushing big time, wanted to avoid the
real world for as long as possible, and couldn’t bring herself to
go AFK,
away from keyboard.

Beth glanced back down at the screen. The
border of the chat window in the bottom left corner flickered in
neon green. The flashing color was a signal she’d set up through a
user interface program to alert her when a private message awaited
her in C.O.V.E.N.’s lair post office. Several keystrokes had her in
the room where she could retrieve the message. One more command and
a chat window popped up.

Aldaren_Wicked: Bella
Morte, what’s your deal? You attacked me and let my prey get
away. I was about to feed. Didn’t you see the cross above my
head?

She touched the keys and her fingers
flew across them, typing out a response.
There wasn’t any cross above your head. If I had seen
one, I would have honored your request to be in PvE status. As it
is, you’re on a PvP board—player versus player—not a player versus
environment board. You were fair game. If you think there’s a
glitch in the game, note it in the feedback forms.

Aldaren_Wicked: Feedback forms. Sure. But it took me
forever to spawn that CWU on my quest so I could get the jug of
blood. Now I have to continue hunting and hope I can find a source
soon to get my energy level up.

Beth leaned back, wondering if she should be nice to
the player, even though he was on the side of evil, and hand over
some vials of blood in apology or just say
take a hike
.
Normally, she got a kick out of being a bitch online since she
always acted so accommodating in real life, but the snags in the
game were quite annoying. Having experienced a few times when
quests wouldn’t load properly or the end of quest rewards wouldn’t
appear after killing a boss
—
especially when
she needed the reward points the most to level up, she empathized
with the player’s frustration. It would suck, too, if
Aldaren_Wicked was one of the invited testers rather than an
employee and developed a bad taste about the software and company
as a result of her actions.

With a sigh and a few clicks, she dipped into her
inventory and gifted four vials of blood to the player. She typed a
note to Aldaren_Wicked.
Here’s something to tide you over for a
bit. Sorry for causing trouble and making the glitches you’re
experiencing worse. Hopefully the CWU respawns quickly for
you
.

Aldaren_Wicked: Thanks, Bella. You’re not such a
bitch after all. If there’s anything I can ever do for you, message
me.

A smile stretched over Beth’s face. Fate treated her
kindly tonight, dropping this opportunity in her lap. There was a
good chance Aldaren knew of Godric and where she could find
him.

As a matter of fact
, she typed,
I’m hoping
you have some info that could assist me. Any chance you know where
Godric Winchapel is?

Aldaren_Wicked: Yep. Saw him over on the RP board
about an hour ago. He may still be there.

The news sent a bubbly giddiness racing through her.
She hadn’t felt such a sensation since her first crush in middle
school.
Thanks, Aldaren.

Aldaren_Wicked: NP. Going AFK.

Beth closed out the chat window, not taking long to
decide to go over to the role playing section of the game.
Maybe
Godric and I could “role play” together for a bit. Have some cyber
fun
. She chuckled at her wit, executed a couple of commands and
entered C.O.V.E.N’s RP board.

The war-torn, dark-skied Las Vegas setting was the
same on every board so she knew exactly where she was when her
character generated on the screen. From her vantage on the street
behind the Strato building belonging to the Americhapel clan, she
surveyed a busted column. It’d been fixed with scrap metal and
concrete. She thanked God she wasn’t a member of that clan and
forced to live in the observation area of the tower. No telling
when the tall, three-columned building would finally collapse.

It was sad how the once vibrant, colorful city had
come to ruin. Shaking her head, she took to the shadows of the
broken buildings on the north end of The Strip and headed for
Downtown.

Downtown was the center hub for the RP board, with
The Experience being the neutral area where a member of any clan
could hang out without issues. If she were to find Godric, walking
through The Experience would be the best place to start.

As she jogged, she ran through the parameters of the
role playing area in her mind. Situations are unscripted, not set
like the other boards. It was like improvisational theater, but
players had to stay in game character. Speak as the character would
speak. Stay in character.
Definitely stay in character
.
No sense in having my own passive nature come through when I’m
supposed to be a tough warrior
.

Lightning cracked on screen at the same time it did
outside Beth’s window. Thunder rolled barely a second later. The
few lights she had on in her small room flickered. A strange
glowing orange light skimmed along the dark clouds on the game. The
simultaneous actions startled Beth and for a brief moment she
thought about getting off the computer. But then, an image of
Godric in his gray trench coat, tight jeans and black snake-skin
boots filled her mind. Thinking of getting lost in the game again
and having his blue-eyed gaze piercing hers, his tenor voice
whispering titillating words in her ear, warmed her insides.

No. She wouldn’t quit the game or turn off anything.
She really wanted to meet with Godric. Her computer and other
electronics were on surge protectors. She could keep playing
without issue.

Rain pelted the apartment building. From the dinging,
it seemed there was a bit of hail coming down, too. The air buzzed
around her, with anticipation or excitement—she didn’t know and
didn’t care. She, or rather her character, hurried toward the man
of her dreams—a guy with whom she could have
la petite mort
,
even if she had to stimulate herself during their cyber tryst to
achieve it.

Bella entered Downtown via Third Street. The
buildings in the vicinity were still pretty much intact though
they’d lost their luster in the war and storms. Neon lights
continued to turn on at dusk like they used to before the world
went to hell, but didn’t shine as bright and some flickered
incessantly, causing strobe light effects on the tattered canopy.
Industrial metal music played through the few speakers remaining in
their high perches on the casinos.

Characters huddled in small groups, most keeping
amongst their own clan members, along the pedestrian walkway. Beth
slowed Bella to a casual stroll, somewhat concerned over how the
air continued to crackle around her. She had Bella’s gaze rove to
and fro. Some characters wearing the long coats flipped up the
collars and wrapped the flaps closed around them. Other characters
who were in skimpy leather straps, vests, skirts and loin-wraps
stayed close to the walls to try to stay out of the wind. Most of
the chatter she overheard centered on the strange storm and how it
was different than the other storms.

Near the Golden building, Bella’s arm hairs stood on
end. Someone watched her. She stopped and turned.
Godric
.

His character stared at her character so intently,
Beth wished she could climb into her computer screen, become Bella
and experience his interest for real.

But a cyber relationship would have to suffice. The
best thing she could do was focus on the game and pretend she
actually was her character.

“Godric, just the man I wanted to see,” Bella purred
the words in the husky voice she loved so much.

He sauntered toward her with a cocky swagger. “Oh,
really now. And why do I deserve such an honor?” Godric asked in a
deep, rich like chocolate lava cake voice.

His shirt spread halfway open, revealing a smooth
chest and shadowed lines of muscles. A silver chain with a piece of
turquoise in the center of a pentagram amulet sat just below his
throat. Her gaze lit on it.
The piece of jewelry I have to
retrieve
.

But, she’d worry about her mission later. For now,
her primal female side wanted to be close to Godric, be wooed by
him, not fight him. “Because I believe we left some things
unfinished the other night.” Bella stepped forward, closing the
distance between them. “And I’d like to pick up where we left off.”
She ran a finger down the center line of his torso, and when she
reached a fastened button, she flicked it from its hole to show off
more of his chest.

“Mmm…” He leaned in. His hot breath wisped against
her ear. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”

Lightning cracked, followed quickly by a boom of
thunder.

“This storm is something. I’m amazed it hasn’t
started raining yet.” Though a storm brewed on screen, Beth typed
her reaction to what was going on outside her window.
Who am I
kidding?
It’s making me nervous as hell
. “I feel like my
whole body is tingling.”

“You’ve got that right about the storm.” He sniffed
her hair. Fingered a lock of it. “And you’re something, too.”

Suppressing a moan of pleasure at what she imagined
his touch to feel like, she made Bella nod.

A loud, metallic creaking sound above them drew her
attention away from him. He glanced up at the same time she
did.

“Looks like the sign is hanging by only one thick
wire.”

She bobbed her head in agreement. A shiny, gold N
dangled right above where they stood. “Perhaps we should step
a—”

Before she could finish her statement, the capital
letter jerked and another round of lightning and thunder cracked
and boomed. Everything around her sizzled and seemed chaotic.
Colors intensified along with every sound and smell. Her senses
apparently had gone into overdrive. A brief dizzy spell made her
head swim.

Godric shouted something about the sign coming down
and watching out, but she felt glued to the spot and couldn’t bring
herself to move.