“The line where fantasy meets reality blurs in these things. That’s why Metro Labs wouldn’t allow them. People would go in and forget to come out for weeks. They would either starve to death or turn violent when they were forcibly ejected. But we have each other, no matter where we are.”
Another kiss. Her tail wrapped around his hips. His cock pressed into her thigh, and her soft growl of delight when she realized.
Elio knew the audience of other dancers wasn’t real, but years of being a living specimen had made him prize privacy, emotional and physical. He spotted a door hidden behind a tangle of vines and swept Lycen through it, kissing her as they toppled onto a fluffy red couch.
“Elio...” Lycen panted his name as she gripped his hair, pressing him into her.
“You feel amazing,” he panted back, feeling her legs spread and welcome him, urging him closer.
“You make me feel amazing. The way you look at me....”
“I want to keep looking at you. I love looking up at you, Ly. And I could die happy, if you ever looked up at me the same way,” Elio whispered, dragging his fingers through the fur of her neck, stopping to cup her face and press his lips to hers, finding the angles that worked.
“Look up at me?”
“I don’t mind that you’re tall. Not. At. All.” His hand dared to move hers, press her slender digits to the hard bulge in his pants.
“Some people have made jokes about how the Wolfi are the largest of the Canids, how we tower above some of the others. Powerfully built. It’s not always easy to feel pretty or delicate.”
“What? Power is pretty. Is sexy. Is worthy of loving—and protecting.” Elio hesitated, letting her arms settle against his back, letting himself float in her soft strength.
The words started whispering into her cleavage as his lips left a trail of adoration. “When Dax, Wendy, and I were separated from Layla, when we sold our contracts to the labs instead of running away to live with whatever kind of life she could have scraped up for us, we all took on roles. Dax was hope and joy. Wendy was love and nurture. I was think, doubt, and protect.”He shook his head, burying his face deeper in her fur by default. “And I couldn’t protect them from the hazards of our jobs, the side effects, the sicknesses... But I could try.”
“I know you did. You still do. I watch you, Elio, how you are with Dax and Wendy, the big brother, even though you’re all the same age,” she stroked his back, kneading his shoulders.
Her strong digits seemed to undo a decade of stress, swirling out knots and ridges of carefully held together muscle.
Elio continued, voice dropping even lower as he spilled secrets. “I was the strongest and quietest, holding them up while they were holding me up. And Wendy broke. And Dax was freaking out. And I... Oh, I was broken and freaking out, too, on the inside. But never on the outside. When you...” He let out a shuddering breath, scared to speak, yet somehow more afraid not to, as if he would lose her if she ever doubted just how sincere he was in his desire for her. “When you hold me, I feel safer than I can ever remember. And it’s sick, maybe, I don’t know, to love the feelings you give me, the good, pure feelings of being safe and seen, and the dirty, wicked fantasies of wanting to watch you moan while I’m on my knees underneath you.”
Lycen gasped, and her hands lifted from his back. He raised his head with a jerk, apology in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“No. No, don’t be. Because... Because I want that. I want to be strong and safe with someone, too, Elio. And sometimes... Lately, I think about you looking at me like you did when I was leading you to the terrace.” She licked her lips, breath a harsh pant as her hips involuntarily bucked forward.
Elio’s moved on instinct in answer to hers. Her hips rolled as his fingers moved to grip her thighs. His compact, muscular body slid easily to its knees, chin moving slowly to rest on her belly. His eyes never left hers. “This look?”
“Uh-huh.” Her hands flexed, finding his shoulders.
“How about from down here?” he whispered, moving lower, hands sliding under the hem of her dress and slowly pushing it up, over her hips. There wasn’t far to go, not in a dress that short. Lycen’s back stiffened, knees spreading further, pushing herself forward.
In the back of his mind, amidst the clamoring thoughts about safety, love, a future, and raw lust, there was a faint protest that there should be more dates, more time, certainly more foreplay before he dived into the hidden paradise between her legs.
Lycen’s larger hand descended on his head, tiny claws scratching his scalp lightly in a way that sent shivers down his spine and into his swelling cock. He closed his eyes and let out a little moan as she urged his face forward. “Whatever you’re thinking can wait until later. I want you. Want this.”
“Mmm, I want to make sure you get what you want,” Elio rasped, kissing his way up one thigh, noting how the fur smoothed into nothing but soft pale skin as he reached the strip of soaking black that made up her panties. His fingers traced her outer lips through the fabric before inching it to the side and revealing a pouting pink slit, shiny with juice.
She wants me. Or maybe it’s this place... Everything seems surreal, smoky, sexy... None of it’s real. Nothing except us.
His fingers touched her bare flesh, and they both jumped.
Moans erupted from the wall behind them. Elio dared to turn his head and look away from the plush couch and the spread goddess on it.
More moans. Next room over. Pounding music. Pounding against the wall, a dull thumping in a rhythm that rose, then faded.
Lycen’s voice was tight. “It’s... There are rooms in the game that you can visit if you want more than just a show and a dance. Holo-excursions are entertaining. And they help you forget that you’re lonely.”
His eyebrows arched as his fingers traced her slick folds faster, working towards the slightly protruding nub at the top. “Were you lonely? Did you come here to find someone to pass the time with?”
“No, I... I thought about it. But there aren’t any humans in this sim. Ever since I met a certain rugged survivor from Sapien-Three, my fantasies don’t fit this program anymore.”
