1
ETHAN
“Yeah, just like that, sweetheart,” I murmur at the screen in front of me. Barbara’s sucking on a lollipop, wearing nothing but a tank top and panties, tapping away at the menu screen of the new RPG that dropped today. I didn’t even know grown women bought lollipops for non-exhibitionist reasons. Then again, she’s givingmea show—she just doesn’t know it.
I’ve been watching Barbara ever since Killian—who’s like a brother to me—fell for her best friend and coworker Emily. Though “fell for her” might be too innocent a description. Cross was mid-hit when he saw the soft-spoken brunette through his sniper rifle scope. He called me to do my magic, and the rest was history.
Emily spends a lot of time with Barbara, and I’d already intercepted some interesting messages before I even met the firecracker last Thanksgiving. Once I saw her up close—smelled her perfume, heard that little snort-laugh she tries to hide—I was done for. Completely gone.
Only problem? She can’t stand me. Or says she doesn’t. But I’ve seen the way her gaze lingers on the tattoos creeping up my forearms when she thinks I’m not looking. And the way shenearly swallowed her tongue when I stretched after dessert and my shirt rode up.
I might not have been in the thick of the fight every deployment, but I’ve done the training, spent my time in the weight room with the jarheads, and ran plenty of close-quarters drone ops. I earned my muscles. She just doesn’t want to admit she wants a loudmouth like me.
I take another swig of beer, eyes glued to Barbara’s feed through her hacked webcam. I’d seen her watching reels about RPGs made for women, so setting up a giveaway where she just happened to “win” a brand-new gaming laptop was easy.
Buying stock in the company that madeFae Nightsjust to get early access? Easier. Working wetwork with Killian for the last decade has paid off. In blood and in dividends.
I have Barbara’s screen cloned on a different monitor, so I see the moment she’s satisfied with her character's appearance and joins the server.Showtime.
I slide on my headset and openFae Nights, logging on with the profile I prepared in advance. All she’ll know me as is ShadowByte. Three taps on my Razer Naga mouse and I friend ShadowByte and QueenBee. Now we’ll be matched automatically for co-op quests. I grin in victory, my cock pulsing against my sweats at the thrill of pulling these invisible strings, setting us on a collision course she can’t avoid.
I laugh at Barb’s avatar. Pink is her favorite color, and everything from hair to accessories is pink on QueenBee. I drink my beer and watch her play, ticking off the starting quests before she’s finally ready for the first party quest. The moment the voice connection is established, I tease her about her character.
“Got enough pink there, pixie?” I ask in a channel just with her. Naturally, I’m using a voice modulator, changing my voice just enough that it shouldn’t be familiar.
Instead of getting upset—which I bet she would if she knew I wasthat annoying Ethan—she grins to herself.
“Gasp,” she says out loud like the hottest dork. “A man playingFae Nights? Lost or batting for the same team?”
I scoff.You’ll see just who plays with my bat, firecracker. I press down on the push-to-talk button before responding: “Maybe I just like fairies?” When she laughs, I add, truthfully, “I also own part of the company. I get to play whatever I want.”
On my screen, I can see her eyebrows go up. She bought it. And she’s impressed. But in typical Barbara fashion, she won’t admit to it. She speaks into her microphone, though she doesn’t need to push down any buttons for me to hear the sounds from her apartment at all times, thanks to her phone and the new laptop.
“You just wanted to meet some cute gamer girls,” she says flirtatiously. Minx.
“Have I?” I purr.
“Have you what?” she asks, though I can see the smirk playing on her lips.
“Have I met a cute gamer girl?” My voice is nothing but charm, and it seems to have an effect, judging by the blush I can see spreading over her cheeks.
“You’ll never know,” she answers with a giggle.
“Never say never,” I murmur back. Then louder, I say: “Watch out for that troll.”
It’s too late, though—QueenBee walks straight into the hostile NPC, giving me the perfect opening to swoop in like a knight in shining armor.
“That was close!” she says, excitement pitching her voice higher. For a moment, I feel something other than desire, obsession, possession, whatever you want to call this sick need I have to watch her, control her. She looks happy. And that shouldbe enough, right? To make her smile from the shadows. No need to touch. No need to ruin it by exposing who I really am.
But of course, I keep watching, I keep playing with her all night, until the clock nears midnight and Barbara’s eyes start closing for longer and longer blinks.
“What do you do for a living, QueenBee?” I ask her as we quest together, slaying vile creatures and saving woodland animals.
“You can call me Barb,” she says sleepily. “And I’m a kindergarten teacher. Which means I should be going to bed after this quest, sadly. How about you?”
“Sebastian,” I say, using my middle name. “Seb’s fine. And I’m a graphic designer,” I lie.
I would have been a graphic designer if my parents hadn’t gotten the amazing idea to send their second son, the spare, to boot camp. They thought they’d look so patriotic to their rich, lazy friends. Joke was on them, though; I fucking loved the Army. Big Sam appreciated my talents in a way no one before had, and I met my bros, Damien and Killian, while deployed as an intel specialist. So I stayed on longer than they had schemed I would, not bothering with college after. The first Kane not to go to an Ivy League establishment in generations. Fuck them anyway—I never got their love, and I certainly don’t need their money.
