Xora 3: Shell Game

by Brandy Dewinter

 

Chapter 7 - "Gambling for High Stakes"

 

To say we made an entrance into the casino would be another of those monumental understatements. And despite my, that is, Titania's recent victory in the apparel contest, Tryx showed she was not going to place second to anyone. With a grace so natural even I would have considered it a coincidence if it had been anyone but Tryx, she managed to flip her shiny gold mane at the exact second she passed under a convenient light. It was like a photo flash had gone off, bright enough to catch every eye in the room. Most of which lingered for a second look.

That, on the other hand, was to my advantage. With equally careful 'luck' I happened to step up next to her just as all those eyes locked onto us. Take that, Blondie.

Tryx's hand slipped over to hold mine. The smile of pride in her face was not consistent with the message she sent through our symbionts. *"Damn it, girl, you are NOT here to troll for a new lover. You're supposed to be in love with me!"*

I let my eyes widen in surprise. "Why, Tryxie, of course I only have eyes for you."

Titania chose that moment to add a private comment of her own. At least, I hoped it was private. *"You'd have a lot more than eyes for her, if you could find a quiet corner."*

*"Shhh,"* I demanded. *"Oh, now look what you've done."*

*"Not me, Miss Demure. Those little, ahem, advertisements are all your own doing."*

*"You're the one who made me think of Tryx. Think of her like, um, 'that', I mean."*

*"Yeah, right, like you've ever *stopped* thinking of her like 'that'."*

Before I could reply further, Tryx used the hand she still held to pull us away from the entrance spotlight into the bustling energy of the casino floor. That added yet another experience to my formerly limited life. Gambling had never interested me - in fact it didn't really interest me then, either - and I had never studied the popular games. I was a bit surprised not to see anything like poker, or for that matter any card games at all. Tryx noticed my confusion and snickered.

"Did you think your, ah, partner would give you an advantage in reading your opponent?" she whispered.

"Um, maybe," I admitted.

"Sensing technology is so good - and so easy to hide - that there's little point to secrecy. You can't bluff when your opponent can sense your physiology, and probably even see your cards. Poker is something that can only be played among friends who trust each other."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Smile a lot and keep moving," she replied, glancing down at the gauzy mist surrounding me.

"I mean for the games," I sniffed.

"So do I," she smirked. "At least, the kind of game that outfit says you want to play. You picked it, now work it."

Strictly in the line of duty, of course, I had to agree that the best way to attract our prey was indeed to keep moving. The wispy fog surrounded me like a tent, but only when I stood still. Tryx moved off to some game with a complicated randomizing element involving a wheel and a ball, but I decided I'd just . . . drift.

*"Oh, that's . . . disgusting,"* Titania groaned.

*"What is?"*

*"That - what did you call it, a pun? That's really low humor."*

*"Oh,"* I said innocently. *"Don't you like puns, Titania love?"*

*"I most certainly do not!"* she snapped.

*"I'll have to remember that,"* I murmured. Innocently.

Before I had even completed a circuit of the room, let alone absorbed any understanding of all the ways there were to lose money, I was interrupted by Mordant's Toady, stepping directly into my path.

"If you had mentioned your evening engagement was here," he said, "Mr. Mordant would have been pleased to escort you."

"Good for him," I said dismissively. I didn't move off, though. I wanted to get away from this underling and the need to contact Mordant be damned, but his eyes were drilling into my . . . what had Titania called them? - my 'advertisements' and I felt uncomfortable giving him an even better show by moving away. The fog effect thinned to 'why bother' when I moved too quickly, and moving slowly was a 'why bother' of another sort when I was trying to get away from someone.

*"Why didn't you tell me it made you that uncomfortable?"* asked Titania.

*"I don't know. I guess I got so caught up in the stupid competition thing with Tryx that I didn't really think about it."*

*"You know I can thicken things up, or do what looks like a full-coverage jumpsuit under the mist."*

*"I know. For that matter, I know the jumpsuit I, um, we usually wear is not really any more clothes than this. It's just . . . the way he looks at me makes me feel . . . unclean."*

Toady's leer did not diminish despite my deliberately unhidden lack of interest. I looked around in the hope that Tryx might rescue me, but I saw her laughing as she won some sort of prize. At least my towering heels kept me well above my unwelcome companion - a psychological distance he was quick to remove by forcing my attention back to his own topic.

"Mr. Mordant will be here shortly. I'm sure he will want to meet you."

"Good for him," I repeated tersely. My guardian angel anticipated my need to keep any physical reaction hidden at the news our quarry was en route. Things were working out just as Tryx had planned. We had managed to get our prey out of his den - or at least soon would.

That news required that I talk with Tryx, so despite my misgivings about Toady's intrusive inspection, I moved smoothly to where she was playing. A pout of disappointment formed on my lips when I realized she was four rows deep in avid attendants - and that pout was in turn replaced with a smile when the men parted like the fog I seemed to wear as I approached. Even Tryx noted my arrival quickly, mostly because the man who dropped his chips when he saw me bumped into her as he tried to pick them up. By the time we were all sorted out, I had a hand on Tryx's elbow and she knew our target was on the way.

None too soon, because there was another mass attention swing as the entire casino noted the entrance of a pair of beautiful women and their obvious patron. In the better light of the casino entrance, I could see Mordant's pictures didn't do him justice. He was lean in a way that had none of Sstton's cadaverous thinness. On him, it looked good - really good - an effect emphasized more than hidden by a perfectly tailored suit. His dark brown hair was just wavy enough to emphasize his vibrant health despite a touch of gray at his temples. That added a distinguished element that seemed comfortably mature without in any way being aged.

*"It's a fake,"* Titania informed me.

*"Hmm?"*

*"Wake up, Xora. You're not in his bed, yet. I told you that the gray in his hair is faked."*

*"Oh, um, yeah, um, if you say so,"* I said, realizing I did indeed need to stay focused.

*"You were focused, all right,"* chided Ti. *"Just not on business. In any event, the gray is faked. I've worked on your own hair color enough that I can tell."*

*"I'll take your word for it,"* I promised, but found myself still watching Mordant's smooth glide toward us.

That was business, of course. Our mission absolutely required that we study our prey. Closely.

Then I found myself distracted anyway, as I began to absorb the identities of his entourage. *"He's not particularly subtle,"* I observed wryly.

Titania asked a silent question, but it wasn't an argument. Since her normal approach was way off the subtle scale too, it wasn't surprising she didn't immediately catch on.

*"Look who's with him,"* I prompted. *"Breen and Kyla. As you said, Kyla is as close to me as anyone in Mordant's current entourage, just as Breen is a scaled-down Tryx. Wanna bet they're his second line of attack? If Tryx and I are attracted to each other, then he's brought substitutes for both of us to draw our attention away."*

*"No bet,"* Titania murmured, seeing the validity of my insight at last.

The girls were jockeying for position, but their focus was on Mordant. They were quite . . . shameless actually. (*"Look who's talking!"* *"I'm not talking, I'm thinking, and besides, relative to them I'm quite demure."* *"Xora! Warn me before you tell a whopper like that! I need a chance to set myself before the lightning strikes!"* *"Oh, hush."*) They draped themselves over him, rubbing their bosoms on his arms, just . . . disgusting.

*"Envious?"* asked Titania.

*"Actually, no,"* I claimed. *"I think it's demeaning."*

*"Of course it's demeaning,"* snorted Titania. *"That's the whole point, isn't it? You said he takes happy, comfortable women and turns them into helpless sex slaves."*

*"Well, knowing it and seeing it are just . . . different."*

*"Ha! Next you'll tell me you wouldn't want those beauties to be draped over *you* that way."*

I didn't have time to respond - which was probably a blessing since that might have been just a bit too close to the truth - because Mordant had made it to a position directly in front of me.

He didn't waste any time. Shrugging off the girls who clung to him, he took my hand and said, "Angel or Devil?"

"Excuse me?"

"You are supernaturally beautiful," he declared. "So that makes you either an angel or a devil. If you're an angel, then you must help me in my distress. If you're a devil, well, that can be interesting, too."

"Distress?" I repeated, careful to keep my tone neutral.

"Most assuredly," he said, 'suave' dripping from every word. "Having seen you I will surely die if you won't have dinner with me."

"I'm already with someone," I said, turning to look at Tryx. Apparently it took some time to extract herself from her complicated game. Turning back to Mordant, I said, "Besides, I don't even know you."

"Oh, of course. How rude of me," he said, frowning in a way that implied the rudeness was really on my side. It was, of course. He was famous, and I had insulted him by not knowing of his celebrity status. Too bad. He was just too . . . smooth for me.

Tryx finally managed to get free of her game and joined me just as Mordant said, "Oslo Mordant, at your service."

"If you're Mordant," I snipped, "then you already know who we are. Your, um, assistant has already approached us. Twice."

"Indeed," he grinned unapologetically. "I am found out. Let me apologize to you, Xora, and to Tryx for my subterfuge by buying dinner for you both."

I was ready to turn him down again, but apparently Tryx had decided we would accept his invitation this time. She smiled and said, "We would be glad to join you."

Offering an arm to each of us, he smiled grandly and led the way to the resort's principal dining room. In another well-planned coincidence, there was a table prepared. The bubbly blonde Breen ended up seated next to me, while the tall, dark Kyla ended up next to Tryx. Surprise, surprise.

The meal was one of those overly fancy multi-course things that seemed to be based on the assumption that one's appetites were so jaded only outrageous tastes were interesting. We proceeded from a dish with enough spice to etch glass, to something sweet to sour to cold to hot and then started back again. If it weren't for Titania's able assistance, I'd have been sick.

*"You're welcome. Again,"* she laughed in my ear.

*"Thank you. Again,"* I belatedly expressed the gratitude that had been lurking in my thoughts.

Tryx was apparently enjoying the meal a lot more than I was. She laughed demurely and glowed with each confusing bite, monopolizing Mordant's conversation. I felt like I wasn't holding up my end of things and was about to try and re-enter the competition when my legs locked up under the table.

*"Ti . . . ,"* I began warningly.

*"Sorry, Xora, but Bee has snaked a tendril out to contact me and I need to make sure you don't break the link."*

*"Try just asking me,"* I snapped, but she didn't seem to notice my tone.

*"Tryx says this is working out fine,"* Titania reported. Yeah, right, for Tryx things *were* working out fine.

*"No, really,"* confirmed Titania. *"She says Mordant is pleased by her attention and challenged by our lack of it. She expects him to send in the second wave on you any minute."*

Well, it wasn't a subtle tactic, so I wasn't surprised that Tryx had picked up on it, too. Nor was I surprised in a short while when Mordant spoke to Breen with a seemingly innocuous suggestion that he thought she and I might have something in common.

"Oh, what would that be?" I asked politely.

"Here we are on one of the great resort planets of the galaxy," Breen gushed, "and I find that I don't know how to swim."

"But, um, I *do* know how to swim," I said.

"Oh, well, that's even better," Breen replied, then showed she was similar to Tryx in subtlety - or lack of it - as well as appearance. Leaning forward to brush the soft mounds of her breasts on my arm, she said, "You can teach me."

"Teach you to swim?" I said - frankly it was such a blatant come on I was confused, looking for the hidden hook.

Which meant I fell for it, of course, offering her as good a straight line as she could want. Lowering her voice to a husky whisper, she said, "Teach me anything you want, Tall, Dark, and Gorgeous."

She was good. The sex she poured into that whispered comment could have come from Tryx herself, and the allure of my blonde colleague had never needed the excuse of a mission assignment to be effective with me. Breen looked and acted enough like Tryx that she could push a lot of buttons Tryx had already set in place, and my response to the smaller blonde's suggestion was immediate, obvious, and unambiguous.

*"Thanks a lot, Titty,"* I snapped silently.

*"Look who's talking about tits,"* Titania chortled in reply. *"And you know as well as I do that I'm not helping that particular reaction in any way."*

*"That's the point! I could *use* a little help - to keep these puppies under control."*

*"Oh, I don't know,"* she said blandly. *"They always say, 'It pays to advertise' and partner, you *are* advertising."*

As though it were necessary, Breen confirmed it. She breathed in my ear and said, "Oh, good. I see you don't find me. . . .unattractive after all."

"Um, no, not at all," I admitted. "But, I mean, you're beautiful, but, I'm with . . .um. . . "

"Her name is Tryx," Breen giggled in my ear. "And if you can't remember it, then you'll have to work harder to convince me you're not interested."

I was 'rescued' from my predicament by an unlikely savior. Mordant himself announced the termination of our meal with a declaration that didn't include room for argument. "We'll all head back to the villa now."

And so we did. Tryx had supplanted Breen on Mordant's arm, and the easy way she accepted Kyla on the other side said that they were becoming increasingly comfortable in each other's presence as well. That left Breen rubbing herself against me. I hadn't expected to be put to the test so soon after expressing my . . . disappointment in the way the girls had earlier hung on Mordant. But I have to admit to being at least a little gratified that my disappointment hadn't gone away when I was indeed the one 'enjoying' a beautiful woman's blatant admiration.

*"Why is that?"* Titania asked. *"She's beautiful, and sensual, and it's very human to be flattered by the attention of someone like her."*

*"It's only flattering if you value it,"* I replied.

*"And you don't? Why not?"*

*"I guess it's because, well, because *she* doesn't value it. How can you respect a woman with so little self-respect?"*

*"Ah, interesting insight,"* mused Titania. *"Your own esteem depends on the, um, quality of your friends?"*

*"In part, I guess."*

*"So you don't find these girls attractive?"*

I nodded mentally. *"They're pretty enough, and that's the first dimension of attractiveness, but they're diminished from what they should - or at least, could - be."*

*"What about Mordant? When he came down the stairs, I thought you were going to throw yourself at his feet."*

I grimaced internally, but I had to agree with her. *"I guess that's the opposite side of the same problem. It didn't take long to see he's so full of . . . himself that there's no room for anyone else. He's good looking, but there's nothing to build a relationship on."*

Toady - I had never found out his real name - had transports waiting and we were whisked efficiently to Mordant's villa. Tryx was laughing gaily, snuggling closer to Mordant's arm, but I was still disturbed by the heavy-handed nature of the scene. As soon as we were safely within the privacy of his residence, Mordant addressed my lack of enthusiasm directly.

"Xora, you seem, ah, distracted. Would you like a little help to relax?"

Tryx's frown was hidden from Mordant, though obvious to me, as was her accompanying order to play along. Well, she was playing her way, but I was going to play the game by rules of my own. Pouty face, not quite petulant, definite boredom - what have you got to interest me?

"Relax?" I asked. "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I have a, ah, private pharmaceutical that has proven quite effective, right Breen?"

If I were disgusted before, all I had room for then was pity. The naked desire in Breen's eyes seemed . . . less than human, less even then a reasonably well-treated dog. She nodded, quickly, distinctly, and repeatedly, while her eyes remained locked on a tiny ampoule held by Mordant.

"I don't think I'm, um, comfortable with unknown . . . medications," I stalled. "Please don't take offense."

"Of course not," Mordant's lips said, but his eyes told a different story. Well, playing 'hard to get' had been a staple of feminine wiles for longer than space travel. I kept my lips pouty and full, waiting for his next move.

"Perhaps a demonstration would be in order," he mused, and his cruelty became more apparent when he looked around the room. Some inexplicable signal must have gone out, because all the beauties in his harem seemed to appear out of nowhere, all hungrily lusting for the drug he was holding. "But first, I think there should be a different sort of demonstration, something . . . "

He looked at me, and then at Tryx, and said, "It would seem that Tryx is more, ah, 'open-minded' about some things than you are, dear Xora. Perhaps arousing your interests can best be done by . . . proxy."

As though that were a well-understood concept, Kyla and Breen moved together to the middle of a cushioned area on the floor, stripping their clothes as they went. The other girls backed off to give them room, but they still couldn't seem to tear their eyes away from Mordant - or at least what Mordant held.

In a bemused tone, Mordant explained. "You wouldn't know it, but until a few months ago, Breen and Kyla had never met. Now they are, ah, 'relaxed' enough in each other's company to enjoy sharing their pleasure. In fact, they do so eagerly, with no thought of reward, right girls?"

"Yes, Oslo," they each replied, not quite in unison but chillingly mechanical nonetheless.

"Of course," he said easily. "However, because it pleases me to see people happy, I will let them have a little of my powder after they give someone else pleasure. Whoever climaxes first gains her pleasure that way, and whoever is so devoted to her partner's pleasure that she, ah, holds out gains the pleasure of my little . . . relaxer."

Pulling Tryx into his arm, he led her to a wide, overly ornate seat that looked like nothing so much as a throne. Then he looked at the two naked girls and said, "You may begin."

It was way beyond demeaning. I expected some sort of girl-girl love scene, and certainly it was girl-girl, but there was little love to be seen. It was more of a no-holds-barred wrestling match. Breen and Kyla each first strove to protect their own pleasure centers from too-easy stimulation, then worked to stimulate their 'partner'. Kyla's longer arms were offset to some degree by Breen's quickness, but it was not a race, it was a wrestling match. In moments, Kyla's strength won out and she was licking and sucking at Breen's nubbin, while holding Breen away from her own. Even though Kyla's intimacy was hopelessly out of reach, Breen strained toward it with her protruding tongue, desperately trying to win a greater prize than her own sexual stimulation.

Her distraction was not enough protection from Kyla's ministrations, and after a scene that was erotic enough to awaken my own too-visible responses despite my sense of horror, Breen came with a keening wail that seemed more pain than pleasure for all that her response was unmistakably a sexual climax. No sooner was she released by Kyla though, then Breen was back at my side. With amazing composure, she said, "You really should try the powder, Xora. It's truly wonderful."

It would have worked better if she had stayed focused on me when she said it. But I saw her eyes flicker toward Mordant to see if her continued attempt to help him seduce me would gain her any further consideration. Apparently it did, as Mordant upped the ante.

"Why, Breen, that is generous of you," Mordant said smugly. "I'll tell you what. If Xora will try my little potion after your pretty entreaty, I'll give you some powder, too. All three of you girls can share the experience."

At that, Breen exploded in a paroxysm of begging. "Oh, God, Xora, please, please, you have to, please, just give it a try. I promise, you'll enjoy it, and later, well, you'll enjoy that, too. I can really, really, make you feel good, and the powder is even better. Please?"

This time, Tryx's visual order was even more clear, but I had about decided it was time to relent anyway. No one who dressed like Tryx and I did could pretend to be innocent or demure, even aside from choosing to vacation on a romantic resort planet. It would have been out of character - not to mention counter to our assignment - to refuse to try a new experience. Shrugging with casual disinterest that implied boredom was as great a motivation as anything, I nodded.

Mordant reached into his pocket and extracted two more ampoules. Handing all three to the hovering Kyla, he said, "You know the rules, each of you gets one dose. I'll know if Xora doesn't get hers. In the meantime, Tryx was telling me she had learned some fascinating techniques for . . . well, we'll just go experiment a little. The rest of you are dismissed until morning."

Kyla and Breen both grabbed one of my arms, hurrying me with naked urgency toward one of the many rooms of Mordant's villa. They were already nude and they wasted no time in pulling at my fog in a futile attempt to undress me as well.

"How do you take that thing off?" Kyla asked petulantly.

"It's a, um, field effect," I explained. "You don't, um, take it off, you turn it off."

"Then turn the damn thing off so we can get started," Breen ordered brusquely - after checking to make sure Mordant was gone and couldn't hear her lack of hospitality.

Titania responded and I joined them in apparent nudity. The other two flopped down without ceremony on the cushions of the room. Kyla offered only a brief explanation as she passed out the ampoules. "Just inhale the powder. You'll enjoy it. But you might, um, discharge a little fluid, which is why we take off our clothes."

Breen didn't wait for even that terse explanation. As soon as Kyla handed her the ampoule, she broke it open under her nose and drew the powder deeply into her lungs. Kyla soon followed her, and then followed her as well into a rigid muscle-lock that looked as fierce as anything Titania had ever inflicted on me. I could have merely stood up and walked out of the room, for all that they would know.

*"Better not,"* Titania warned. *"I'm betting that Mordant has this place monitored. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he's watching it himself, with Tryx. He's got to get her to try the powder too, and showing her how it works would help."*

*"Good point,"* I agreed. *"Are you sure you can handle this?"*

*"Yes,"* she said confidently. *"I've shut down all intake through your nose and mouth. We're breathing through our skin - which is me, of course- and I'm only passing pure oxygen. Rejecting poisons is one of the things my race does best, and I can treat this as a poison even if the girls think it's something wonderful."*

*"Okay, here goes,"* I said, then broke the ampoule under my own nose.

There was surprisingly little powder in there, milligrams at most. I pretended to inhale it, wondering how Titania was working the airflow without letting any actually into my system. Then, despite all her promises, I found myself locking up rigidly.

*"Titania, that better be you, and you better quit it right now!"* I demanded. But I didn't get an answer. *"Titania!"* I screamed silently as the room went dark.

 

 

 

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© 2003 by Brandy Dewinter. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.