She could lie, but he would know. Why would they go to all this trouble to put their new toy in jeopardy? She couldn’t read the man but she could trust her instinct. It had always been a sixth sense for her. Right now it told her that there was more to this experiment than everyone was letting on, that there were layers of mysteries to this man. But her intuition was also telling her that he hadn’t planned any harm against her.
He didn’t even seem to be breathing as he waited for her decision. But he was still hard and hot as he lay on top of her.
Helen closed her eyes and passed him a mental picture. She didn’t give him everything. If he were so damn good, let him figure it out when he watched her later.
His lips came down on her mouth again, and without thought, eyes still closed, she opened hers. He rewarded her with a drugging kiss, the kind that promised hot sweaty sex, with a big satisfying orgasm. But she was a GEM operative and no amount of innovative persuasion was going to divert her attention.
Why not?She persisted.Why am I so important?
Come back and I’ll tell you.
Her eyes flashed open even as everything became a bright white light. Dammit. He tricked her after all.You coward!Her yell reverberated in her head like an echo.
“Miss Roston?” Derek’s voice came on in her left ear. “Your trainer has signaled that the session is over. He said you might need a few minutes to wind down.”
Wind down? She wasn’t the one walking around with a big stiffy! Arrgghhh. She was going to kill that man.
“Let me take some of the electrodes and thingies off myself. Guide my hands.” Helen was determined to find out as much about the Portal as she could now that she knew it could do more than virtual reality.
She felt Derek undoing a few straps. He moved her right hand slowly so she could feel each different node in the band. “Press here for release,” he instructed. “Just feel the back of your neck. I’ll show you how to unhook it after it’s off.”
“Okay.”
Helen blinked when the goggles were removed, then cracked her neck. “How long was I in there?” The chair was very comfortable but the body wasn’t made to be still for long periods of time. A thought struck her. She hoped she had been still! “Ummm…did I move a lot?”
“Not much. Your body was responding to the wavelengths very well. Your stats showed lots of mental activity going on, though. Want to look at the charts when they are printed out?”
“Yeah. Can I also have a copy of that program that created the avatar?” She was glad the mental activity stayed mental. She didn’t want to think what her body looked like writhing about. Not to mention her hands exploring some big parts. Sheesh. She needed some time to think this out. No doubt T. would be amused at the idea of having wild monkey sex in virtual reality, but Helen would prefer to keep that private.
She got out of the Portal, brushing down her pants. Oh-oh.
“I need a quick bathroom break, Doc. Can the post-checkup wait?”
Dr. Kirkland was copying things from his notes. “Of course, Miss Roston. Go ahead.” He checked his watch. “Everything is on schedule, don’t worry.”
Helen nodded. Halfway out the door, she turned back. “He had us falling off a building, Doc. I don’t know about his, but tell him that’s not good for my health.” Ha. Let him take the blame.
Dr. Kirkland looked up from his files. “I wondered what all those spikes in the readings were about. He did pause to come out of sync for a few minutes to instruct us not to panic. I guess that was the point when all your vitals were a bit erratic.”
Derek snorted. “The term ‘gone haywire’ describes it better,” he said, pushing his glasses back up.
That must have been when Hades had ordered her to stay quiet while her face was buried in his chest. She remembered feeling strange, as if her body and mind were separated. Then all the blood had seemed to rush into her head. So hecouldcommunicate with Dr. Kirkland and Derek, and was giving them a rundown of the situation while he was holding her.
“You mean, if I had an unexplained seizure, you would be pulling me out of the chair?”
She meant that as her usual way of teasing, but Dr. Kirkland’s expression was solemn. “Your life is in my hands, Miss Roston. I take that very seriously. This isn’t just your monitor room; it’s your connection back to us. I’ll bring you right back here if something goes wrong.” He smiled, softening the gravity of his words. “But I also know you’d probably be all right as long as he’s around.”
Hebeing Hades, of course. People sure had a lot of faith in the guy. It was her life they were playing with and everyone was talking as if he had any say about how the experiment was going to go. One would think he was in charge of the program or something. T. Kirkland. Hmmm. “Better start calling me Helen, Doc, if you’re going to get all serious about me.”
She caught him smiling again at her parting shot as she headed out the door. The restroom was empty. Good. She checked her reflection. She looked normal, although her usually hazel eyes had a tinge of green in them. That happened whenever she was emotionally charged. Okay, aroused. She made a face at the mirror, then moved quickly into one of the stalls. She pulled her pants down.
Aroused. She came in here because…she didn’t even need to check…her panties were wet. She touched herself and fell back against the commode with a small gasp. Her sensitivity was like an electric current. She moved her middle finger and shuddered at the extreme pleasure that shot up from point of contact to somewhere behind her eyes.
“Sweet holy hot tamale,” Helen muttered. She slid her finger again and bit down on her lower lip. “This is not good.”
She pulled at the toilet paper a few feet away. This wasn’t good at all. She was all hot and bothered by some image in her head. Worse. She was about to have the best orgasm she’d had in…months…Shit, she couldn’t remember when she was this urgently close to coming without a man around.
She blew her nose into the paper. Well, this was getting more and more interesting. Or fucked up. Or both. Should she report her condition to Dr. Kirkland and T.? Or should she keep this quiet? The doctor was recording her brain waves and vitals to help keep her alive, but umm…she didn’t think she wanted to explain why she was simulating sex with her trainer. As for T., nothing would surprise T., but she would use the information for more of her mind games later. Of that, Helen had no doubt.
