Could one blush in virtual reality? Of course, the more she thought about it, the more heated her face became.
“What’s this all about, Hades?”Helen asked. She was never going to look at her bed the same again.
“A little teasing,”he said, that Southern drawl she’d requested totally unsuitable now for some reason.“Afraid?”
“I’m not afraid of an avatar,”she sniffed.
He patted the space by his side.“Exactly. How are you walking? Are you feeling better?”he asked solicitously, as if nothing had happened between them.
Helen glared at him. She walked up to the bed, hands on hips.“You crossed the line last night. There was no reason for you to come into my room and…and…”
She paused. She almost said “make love to me.” That wasn’t right; she didn’t even know who he was. But for some reason, she couldn’t say “have sex with me” or cruder still, “fuck me.” It was all her fault. How the hell did one talk to a totally naked avatar hunk that one had created out of fantasy? This was ridiculous. He had manipulated her from day one and she was blindsided by herself! It made her even madder thinking about it.
“And?”he prompted.
She was just going to have to be smarter. Think of a way out of this.
“And take advantage of me,”she told him.“I wasn’t in any state to say no to you, you knew that.”
“If I hadn’t known that you’re attracted to me and would have wanted me before your condition, I wouldn’t have come to you, Elena,”he said.
“That’s not fair either!”she yelled. She leaned over him, wanting to wring his neck.“You read my mind or sensed my feelings or whatever it is that we share here in VR. Those were my thoughts and you weren’t supposed to see or feel them, dammit!”
“Those were my dreams you were invading,”he pointed out quietly.“You weren’t supposed to see or feel them either.”
Helen opened her mouth, then shut it. He got her there. She sat down.“Are you really having wet dreams about me?”
He smiled.“We were both very wet in that dream.”
“How did you know I was having it, too?”
His brown eyes searched hers for a moment.“If I told you that every time I touched myself you moaned out my name, would you believe me?”
“No, I wouldn’t,”Helen said. She looked at the part of him that he could only have been touching. It was still gloriously big. She really, really had to do something about that because after last night…looking at it made her hot all over.“You…oh man, I can’t believe I’m asking this, you were…I mean…”She coughed, trying not to think about his hand around that part.“Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“But it affected you and you were already in a very aroused state, which is another thing we have to discuss.”He shifted slightly, turning toward her.“I don’t think it’s the ring that caused your problem. It had to be a combination of things. Why do you think the serum affected you that way?”
“I don’t know,”she said, and added reluctantly,“Armando Chang suggested it might be because I hadn’t had sex for a long time.”
“And with the serum’s dissipation, the body and brain overcompensated,”Hades murmured.“How long is a long time?”
Helen pursed her lips.“I’m not going to tell you anything about my sex life,”she told him.“And you can stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
Like he was going to make love to her all over again on the bed. She had never been so aware of a man in her life. She wanted to turn and touch him the way he had touched her. She wanted to use her mouth.
“I would like that very much,”he told her.
She gritted her teeth and growled.“You see? You weren’t supposed to know what I’m thinking!”
“Actually, it’s more an impression. I told you, I can’t read your mind. But your feelings come through very clearly to me.”His hand reached out for her fisted one and gently uncurled her fingers.“It’s going to be all right.”
“Easy for you to say,”she said. He wasn’t the one thinking lustful thoughts about a make-believe persona.“You aren’t suffering from chemical overcompensation.”
“But as your monitor, I do somewhat feel it, especially when you’re thinking about it.”His brown eyes narrowed thoughtfully.“It’s still there. It feels similar to the surge of adrenaline after doing something dangerous and exciting.”
He tugged her closer and his hand slowly caressed her arm, his thumb drawing circles, sending little tendrils of pleasure up and down her spine. It wasn’t as bad as yesterday and for some reason, she didn’t mind that he was doing it to her. Yesterday, she hadn’t wanted anyone touching her at all.
