Lamia Ch. 04

Patricia glared at me silently. With a smirk, I tossed back the last of my sangria. She finally stood. "You're an asshole, and I'm starting to wonder why I ever married you."

She stalked from the room, and a minute later I heard the car start. Christine came in, still wearing an apron, and sat next to me. She put a hand over mine. "Are you alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah." Then I reconsidered. "No, not really."

"Tell me," she said.

I sighed heavily. "We didn't used to bicker like this. I guess things have been going downhill for a while. Ever since Patricia got this job, it's become the central focus of her life. Sure, the money helps, but I wish we could go back to the way we were when she was in college. Even if it means renting an apartment and driving a beat up old car."

Christine sat silently for several beats before she spoke. "It seems to me that she doesn't respect you."

I found myself nodding. "That's how I felt when I found out she got birth control. She didn't respect me enough to talk to me first. What am I going to do?"

"Do you still love her?"

I pondered that for a long time. "I don't know," I admitted at last. "I still care about her, but I get angry so much quicker now. We both do. I need to find a way to talk to her about this stuff without pissing her off."

I spent the afternoon working on the aquarium job with Christine, but began to grow worried by around eight when my wife still hadn't come home. I decided that I'd better call.

"Yeah," came Patricia's voice in a brisk tone.

"Hi. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"No, Stephen, I'm not okay.We are not okay."

"I know that," I said softly. "I'm hoping we can talk."

There was silence for a few beats. "Look, what I said was wrong, but I just can't understand why you keep trying to hold me back."

I took a deep breath and forced down a biting reply. "I don't want to hold you back. I'm just worried by the way things have been going. I don't want it all to fall apart."

"But it won't. We're entering a new phase in our lives, that's all. And what I need right now is for you to be there, supporting me. Just like I supported you when you were starting out."

I had to blink back tears of relief. It felt like she finally understood. "Will you come home?"

"Yes, I will. It's too late to get a refund on this hotel room, though."

She had been so mad that she had gotten a room? And hadn't even bothered to tell me she wouldn't be home tonight? She had been more upset than I realized. "Okay, see you soon."

It took an hour for her to get back. I wondered if she had gone all the way out to Galveston. We used to take day trips out there every other weekend in the summer. The last time was more than a year ago.

I met her at the garage and gave her a long hug as she got out of the car. "No more fights," she said, "okay?"

I nodded and patted her back. "Agreed."

We were both emotionally drained, so we headed to bed early. We couldn't sleep, though, so we talked for over an hour, mostly about what her plans were for the future. I felt like we made real progress in repairing the damage that had been done. I spooned up to her and fell asleep shortly after she did.

Trish was up before me, so I went ahead with my morning routine. I had managed to sleep until nearly 11, which wasn't too unusual for a Sunday. Anticipating a relaxing day of gaming, I fastened my rig in place and put in a fresh pair of HUD contacts. There were four messages waiting, so I opened them in order.

10:20 PM Christine: I'm patiently waiting for you, lover. Our usual spot? Anything special you want me to wear?

10:45 PM Christine: Is she still awake? Any idea when I can expect you?

11:30 PM Christine: I pinged your rig, but it says you aren't wearing it. I hope you didn't forget about me (winking emoji).

3:30 AM Christine: You promised.

I had the sinking feeling that all men get when they realize they've fucked up. I quickly finished getting dressed and headed downstairs. The living room and kitchen were empty. A check of the garage showed that the car was gone. Had Patricia left and taken Christine with her?

I tamped down the gut-roiling thought that Patricia had returned Christine to the store. Then I remembered that Christine had said she would be doing yard work today. I found her in the backyard, carefully clipping the hedges. She wore the pink bikini that I had bought her. Her firm, round buttocks were left completely exposed by the string bottoms.

"God, Christine, I'm so sorry," I began, but she dropped the clippers and threw her arms around me before I could finish.

"It's okay. You must have needed the time together."

I sighed. "Yes, I think we did. Where did Patricia go?"

"Shopping, she said."

I groaned. "That figures."

"You could have just checked the location of the car."

"Yeah, I know. I wasn't thinking straight. How goes the work out here?"

She turned away and gestured at the remaining untrimmed hedge. "Almost done here. Then I'll mow the lawn and be done for today. Can I make you breakfast?"

"Breakfast would be great," I said, and put out a hand to cup her ass. "Then I would like to make it up to you for missing my appointment last night."

Breakfast was delicious as ever, but I ate quickly, knowing what was for dessert. We ran up the stairs together holding hands, and I felt like we were a couple of kids about to get away with something naughty. We chose Christine's room by mutual, silent consent, in case we made a mess of the bed.

I lay her down and took my time, exploring her perfect body with my tongue. I discovered that she had a lot of surprising erogenous zones. She began to moan and squirm when I kissed her left armpit. "Ticklish?" I teased.

"No, and don't stop," she said breathlessly. It turned out that the right pit did nothing for her. Her inner thighs were sensitive from the edge of her pussy down halfway to her knees. Her nipples and neck I already knew about, and spent a few minutes on each. Her belly was ticklish, but she seemed to enjoy it when I peppered it with light kisses.

I inevitably arrived at her pussy, it's alluring scent enough to raise my cock to full mast. Though I tried to prolong it by using slow, methodical strokes of my tongue, the long buildup over the rest of her body must have had her on the edge. I was giving her light kisses on her vulva when came with a dulcet cry that was almost melodic.

I pushed two fingers into her and gently sucked at her clit. She came again almost as soon as the first orgasm was done, her body flailing and twisting. I backed off a bit, removing my fingers and pressing as deeply into her as I could with my tongue. Her hand found the back of my neck and she ran her fingers through my hair, crooning with pleasure.

I went back to her clit and pressed my fingers inside her once more. This time, I got a good coating of her natural lubrication on my index finger, and then replaced it with my thumb. Her cries rose in pitch and urgency when she felt my finger probing gently at her rosebud. Her speech up until then had been mostly limited to wordless cries and the occasional murmured "yes".

"Yes, take my ass," she said breathlessly as I slid my digit into her. "Fuck my ass and make me cu-u-um."

This one was the most intense of all. Her head tilted back and her back arched up off the bed. I lifted my head to check that she was alright, though I kept up the steady pumping of my fingers. Though her mouth was wide open, no sound came out for several seconds. When it did, it was almost a scream. Warm liquid shot out from her, streaming down my hand.

"Oh, God," she sang out. "Oh, fuck!"

I mounted her with sudden urgency, forcing my way into the tight confines of her body. Her feet rose to lock ankles behind my back and she pressed her lips feverishly to mine. I kissed her back, but only briefly. I couldn't maintain a kiss while also thrusting my hips as hard as I could into her. Her lips and teeth grabbed hold of the meaty flesh at my collarbone and hung on. The pain was oddly pleasurable, and I slammed even harder into her depths.

"Stephen!" she cried, releasing her hold on my skin, her body tensing, her walls gripping my cock. Another splash of warm fluid hit my thighs, but I never slowed. My heart was racing and I breathed in a staccato rhythm. Her legs pulled at me as though trying to force me deeper with every thrust.

"Wait! Stop!" she said suddenly. The words instantly cut through the haze of my lust, and

I halted with the head of my cock still inside her.

"Are you alright?" I panted.

She nodded. "Fine. I'm fine. But Patricia's on her way back. She'll be here in fifteen minutes."

I quickly disengaged from her and stood to survey the damage. My pubic area was drenched in Christine's cum. I would need to shower.

"Oh, Stephen," she said, standing and putting a hand to a spot at the base of my neck. I looked down. I now had a welt where she had bitten me. "Does it hurt?"

I shook my head. "It's fine, but I think my wife is going to notice. Got any ideas?"

"Shower first," she said, picking up our clothes. "I'll see what I can do."

For once, we showered quickly and without pretense. Christine was careful not to get her hair wet. We dried off quickly and she pulled me by the hand over to Trish's side of the bathroom counter. She rifled through my wife's makeup case, setting creams, powders and brushes on the counter.

"We'll just apply a base coat," she said, dabbing lightly with a brush, "some green concealer...."

"Green?" I asked.

"It counteracts the redness," she said, applying a cream that was light green in tone. She looked over another set of bottles, glancing back and forth a few times to my shoulder. "This looks like a match." She dabbed another cream over the spot and then stood back to inspect her work. "I think that will pass muster."

I turned to the mirror and whistled in appreciation. "I can't see it at all. I had no idea you girls had access to such sorcery. I'm a little jealous."

"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards," she intoned, applying a dusting of some kind of powder to the larger area around the spot.

I laughed. "For they are subtle and quick to anger."

She smiled. "Why don't you put your shirt on and go greet her while I put everything back in its place?"

Sure enough, Patricia arrived just about the time I got back downstairs. By the look of it, she had bought shoes, at least four new pairs. I pushed down the urge to remind her that she already had a rack in the closet full of shoes, plus a few dozen more. Instead, I took the bags from her and gave her a chaste kiss.

All clear up here, came Christine's message over my HUD.

"Got any plans for today?" I asked Patricia.

She shrugged. "I need to go out again to pick out some dresses. The apartment in New York has a washer and dryer, but I don't want to be seen wearing the same outfit too many times."

I knew for a fact that Trish could go more than a month and never wear the same thing twice, all of it perfectly suitable for the workplace. Again, I resisted the urge to point that out. "Maybe we should order your things and have them delivered to the apartment," I suggested.

She seemed surprised by my suggestion and looked at me searchingly.

"What?" I asked. "I think it's a good idea."

"You're not going to tell me I already have enough clothes?"

"I'm trying to support you in your decisions," I said. "Even the little ones."

Patricia beamed at that and rewarded me with a long and not at all chaste kiss. "Thank you, dear." It had been a while since she had called me that. "Getting everything shipped will work out great." She rested her cheek against my shoulder, and I prayed that she wouldn't notice the makeup hiding my blemish.

"We should go out one night," I said, pulling back to regard her. "Before you have to leave. Maybe have a nice dinner at the old place and then hang out at the boardwalk at Kemah." It had been a favorite spot for us when we had first begun to date, back when we were both still living at home and too broke to afford more than a few of the rides. We could just wander around and watch all the people having fun.

She smiled fondly. "I would like that. Like old times."

"Like old times," I repeated.

"Is Christine around?" she asked. "She offered to make me breakfast, but I wanted to get an early start, before it got too hot." I didn't miss the pronoun switch.

"Yes, I'll ping her."

Patricia needs breakfast, I sent.And would you like to play some Afterlife?

Will do and yes, she sent back.

I logged in to find her already waiting for me at St. Paul's cathedral, Heaven's greatest stronghold in the devastated city. "We should get a group and try to take down one of the Tetrarch," I said over the in-game voice chat.

"Sounds like fun," Christine replied.

To maintain immersion and encourage building local communities, Afterlife did not have automated group-finding, and regular chat was limited to the distance that a voice would realistically carry. You could still utilize third-party applications to do the same thing, but most players accepted the minor inconvenience for the sake of a better overall experience.

Players had instead done what gamers always do, and come up with their own solution. As we exited the cathedral's west wing, overlooking the statue of Queen Anne, a cacophony of voices greeted us.

"Looking for healer, Azazel!"

"Tank and two DPS for Pythias."

I browsed the churchyard with Christine, and very quickly found a group of three damage dealers who were all too happy to accept a tank and healer. They were after Dis, the prince of Wrath and one of the four demons who claimed to reign over London. The three new members of our group were Cairn, a gunslinger, Ryla, a warlock, and a monk named Loosebrie.

As a seraphim, my character could fly, but I stuck to the ground so that I could protect my party as we made our way to Dis' stronghold in the Tower of London. The minor demons we encountered on the way were intended to be a moderate challenge for solo players, so they fell quickly and easily to our group.

We got to Dis' stronghold and began to fight our way through the tougher monsters that were typical for a boss area. I noticed right off that Ryla was a bit reckless, and would often ignore the kill orders that I called out to spam her most powerful area-effect attacks instead. This would often result in one or more of the enemy peeling off me to charge for her instead.

The first few times this happened, Christine cast blind on the enemies to make them wander aimlessly until I was able to pick them back up. The fourth time it happened, she did not intervene, letting the demons converge on the caster. They shredded her in seconds, since the warlock failed to cast her mass fear spell.

"Rez," came Ryla's echoing, disembodied voice. Christine needed to be out of combat to resurrect, so she was forced to wait until the four remaining demons were dispatched before she could cast it.

Christine brought the warlock back to life, and we continued our run. The very next pull, the same thing happened, and again Christine let the caster die.

"What the fuck, noob," Ryla said. "This priest sucks."

"No, you suck," Cairn said between rifle shots. "I've been watching. She saved your ass the first three times you pulled off the tank."

"Our tank can't hold aggro," Ryla said. "He sucks too."

"Don't rez her," Loosebrie said. "Let her run back."

"What the fuck?!" Ryla shouted. The message "Ryla has left the party" appeared in my HUD and her crumpled body disappeared from the corridor.

"What a twat," Loosebrie said, getting a snicker from me and Cairn.

"Good riddance," Christine said. "You guys are doing good damage. We can push on without her."

"Probably kill faster," Cairn put in.

I was pleasantly surprised by how well Christine navigated the whole affair. The only way a poor player could get better is to realize that they have a problem. She had actually done Ryla's player a favor, if she (more likely a "he" I thought) wasn't too stupid and arrogant to learn from it.

We did actually kill faster, since I was easily able to keep control of the monsters and our damage dealers could maximize their output on the clustered foes. We had no more deaths through the remainder of the stronghold, and Christine and I got compliments on our respective healing and tanking prowess.

Dis, the minor lord of Wrath, sat before us on a throne built from skulls. His features might have been handsome if not for burnt skin and a derisive sneer. Christine had already pulled up a description of the fight and the strategy for beating it. She explained what our roles would be, answered a few questions, and then I called a ready check.

"Going in," I said, and ran forward to initiate the fight. The boss stood as I approached, and the ground shook with each of his steps. He towered above me, easily twice my character's height, with great bat wings and a sword that must have been eight feet in length.

I held my celestial shield and soulfire sword before me in a defensive stance. "Hey, ugly," I said in the tone of a greeting, the words registered by the game engine as a taunt.

Enraged, Dis swung his sword in an arc, so fast that I barely raised my shield in time. We had been warned by Christine's wiki that this boss hit like a truck, and his first strike took off a quarter of my health after the shield's absorption. Christine's heal landed half a second later, popping me nearly back up to full, then the air shimmered around me as a bubble-like shield went up to protect me from the next hit.

Our damage dealers activated their damage boosting abilities. Cairn's rifle rattled off a full auto burst while Loosebrie fists and feet glowed orange as he punched and kicked Dis from behind. I slashed at the boss with my sword, keeping his attention squarely on me. I managed to dodge one overhead strike and parry a thrust. His next sword strike shattered Christine's shield and opened a cut across my chest. Christine's precasted heal returned me to full health less than a second later.

"Let's push the phase, guys," Christine said, "almost there."

Blue fire ignited around Loosebrie, and he launched a flying uppercut that staggered Dis, dropping him several percentage points of his health bar and bringing him below half.

"Phase Two," Christine announced, as the boss disappeared in a gout of flames.

The wiki had said that this was the hardest part of the fight. A series of progressively stronger waves of enemies attacked us by rushing in from fiery portals around the edges of the room, too fast to kill one wave before the next arrived. We needed to prioritize killing the spellcasters out of each wave, since they would randomly target members of the party. At the same time, our damage dealers had to be fast or the damage put out by the melee monsters would become unmanageable. Christine marked the casters for us to make it easier to target them, while never missing a beat in her healing. I used a few of my defensive cooldowns to reduce the damage I took, but I was pretty sure she could have kept me up without them.

Once the last of the demons had died, Dis reappeared and I charged over to re-engage him. We had hit the third and final phase of the fight. Dis had traded his sword for a two-handed war hammer, and while his attacks were slower, they hit harder, and he applied a room-wide aura that ate away at all of our health bars at once.

"It's going to be close," Christine said, and I glanced at our stats. The boss was almost dead but she was nearly out of holy power. She was letting the two damage dealers dip dangerously low in health to save her healing for me. I hit the last of my cooldowns and the boss ticked over to zero health a few seconds later, dying at almost the same instant as Cairn.