I stepped back out to Gabriels room, and looked around one last time to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. I’d been gone longer than I intended and I hurried back downstairs hoping no one had noticed. I caught a warning glare from Patrick when I came back down the stairs. Yep, disappearing again before I had a chance to explain last time would definitely give him a case of the red ass. Cate was probably already going to be considering clawing my eyes out, and I settled into a seat to wait for her.

Another few minutes passed and I started getting antsie waiting for her. I figured it was a small taste of what she must have felt to wake up and find me gone so I took a few deep breaths to center myself and endured. Customers came and went, the same desultory daytime business that made me wonder how the Walk Right Inn was able to keep its doors open. Finally, Cate walked in through the open doors and my breath caught in my throat.

She was wearing a red dress, well, more of a maroon really. It brought out the color in her cheeks and showed off her curves without flaunting them. She had that bead back in the front lock of her hair and wasn’t carrying the chicken today. She smiled and laughed before saying something to Patrick, then looked across the bar and saw me. Our eyes locked and her face froze before smoothing out into inscrutable lines, and she walked towards me with that neutral poker face she did so well. I came out of my seat and met her halfway.

“Cate, I’m so sorry about what happened. I can explain.”

Her hand came up and she slapped me. I could have blocked the blow easily enough. She’d dropped her shoulder and telegraphed the move from a mile away but on some level I guess I must have felt like I deserved it. It connected squarely, not with the put a bitch on her ass kind of force I was pretty sure Cate was capable of, but with enough heat I could definitely feel it. Before I could respond she had followed up by sinking her hands into my braid on both sides of my head and pulling my head down into a passionate kiss. Still those soft lips and that faint taste of strawberries and I felt like I’d come home. I returned the kiss with rising pasion, my arms wrapping around her body before she jerked away from me.

I took a ragged breathe, suddenly conscious of the eyes of the other patrons and the staff surrounding us. Cate must have been thinking the same thing because she closed her eyes and visibly counted to ten, mouthing the numbers before she opened them back up and spoke.

“We need to talk but not here. You definitely owe me an explanation if not more. Follow me.”

I followed her up the stairs, preoccupied enough I didn’t even spend much time checking out her ass in the process. When we got to the landing I tried to speak but she ignored me, marching forward towards her room. When we got there I reached out and opened the door for her, and I don’t know what impulse made me do it instead of trying to ease her into things gently. Instead of explaining anything first, I just turned the knob to the left. She was eyeballing me over her shoulder, and walked into what she thought was her room without looking first.

I followed her in and caught her shoulder when she jumped.

“Holy fucking shit.”

“Calm down, Cate. You’re perfectly safe. I’ve just got some stuff I have to tell you.”

“Calm down? Have you lost your mind? Why the hell is it so bright in here? Where the hell is my room? What the fuck is going on? Start talking, Julia, or I swear to God you are not going to like what happens.”

“Well quit freaking out and let me talk then, damnit. Here. Have a seat.” I guided her to one of my fancy new office chairs and gave a grin when she settled into the comfortable seat with the hydraulic shocks and memory foam cushion. I gestured over to the mini-bar and quirked an eyebrow at her. “Can I get you a drink?”

“An explanation, Julia, and right fucking now.”

She had an almost frightened look on her face and I composed myself, feeling a little guilty about the kick I had gotten from her reactions. I imagined I hadn’t been a whole lot more sanguine when I woke up in the cell for the first time. At least Cate had her clothes on, unfortunately a small part of my mind smirked. I held up my hands in surrender and moved around to the opposite side of the glass table to sit down opposite her. I gestured to the surroundings, faux wood paneling, fiberglass ceiling tiles and flourescent lights, tastefull speckled carpeting that all looked commonplace to me but would seem outlandish to someone from her frame of reference.

“I think I mentioned before, but, I’m not exactly from around here.”

She looked around again, focusing briefly on the faux waterfall in the corner behind me. “You could say that again.”

“The thing is I’m not even really from this world. Or technically maybe that should be your world doesn’t really exist. Well, I guess it exists but not in the way you think.” I frowned, suddenly lost for how to explain what was really going on. I mean, she’d definitely never seen the matrix and how do you describe a digitized consciousness to someone who didn’t have an inkling of what the phrase digital meant? She wasn’t about to sit still while I puzzled it out however.

“Real simple questions, real simple answers, Julia. Where in the hell are we? What the fuck is going on?”

I decided on a course of action. The truth was important, but there was no point in getting lost in a metaphysical debate. I smiled at her and laid it out.

“It’s really freaking complicated, and since you’re not from around here and won’t know the players I’ll just sum it up. If you have questions later you can ask me. Fair enough?”

She nodded assent and I continued speaking, making it up as I went along but trying t o stick close to the truth. “I’m from a different world than yours, not just a different kingdom. There was a war there and my side lost. Now I’m stuck as a prisoner playing a game. The game sends me to and from your world to complete different tasks. This is where I live between the tasks.”

She looked around cautiously, obviously trying to make sure we weren’t being overheard. I didn’t bother trying to explain about D, this was already going to be complicated enough. “It won’t be the first prison break I’ve arranged. Let’s go back to my world. Fuck these people, they can’t come into Kantia and take you back.”

“Actually, Cate, they kind of can. That’s what happened when I disappeared before. I finished a task and they yanked me back here. I only now won access to come and go pretty much as I please. It’s hard to explain but the level of technology in our world is something you could barely imagine. Just believe me when I tell you we don’t have a shot at that kind of thing. My only chance to stay alive is to keep playing the game and hope I stay lucky.”

“Okay.” She was taking this surprisingly well. I think she adjusted to the situation faster than I had, and I’d adjusted quickly enough I had the sneaking suspicion that the game had been messing with my head. Cate just seemed to take it in stride then and followed up with a level of ruthless practicality. “What are the rules to the game? We’ll help you win it, you help us with some of this fancy technology.”

I winced a little. “That’s one of the rules. Most of the stuff I can do here in the cell technology wise are stuck in the cell. LIke the drinks from the mini-bar, they have to stay here.”

“Drinks from another world then.” She suddenly smiled at me, and her face lit up into the old Cate that meant so much to me. “I changed my mind. Why don’t you fix me one while you explain the rest of these rules.”

I walked over to the mini-bar while she rolled her chair to that end of the table. She seemed to get a hell of a kick out of the way it spun around and just seemed to glide on the casters, and it put a smile on my face too. After surveying the contents of the mini-bar I made her a sex on the beach without the cranberry juice. While I worked I relayed my story to her from the beginning. She hadn’t heard about the sack of Prithia, it was on the far side of the kingdom and the powers that be were probably trying to squelch the news. Apparently news about the fight for control of Elwith Ford had already spread. She quizzed me quite a bit about amenities and items, and the prices of various things I’d gotten from the store. I showed her the ring I had left to trade and she gave me the name of a merchant where I could probably get the most for it. I made myself a rum and coke when I replaced her drink with a pina colada. She tried to get me to recite the wording of the three facts I was given after the 3rd task, and seemed disappointed when all I could come up with was an approximation. She didn’t seem bothered too much by my story about the slave traders and I had to remind myself she remembered growing up in a significantly harder world than my own.

She had finished her second drink and was busy drawing a flower on the smart board projector, almost as giddy as a kid with the technology when I finally caught her up to the present. She circled and tapped the screen to clear it, already comfortable with the tech after only a few minutes of doodling. She turned back and flopped down into one of the chairs, effortlessly adjusting the height so she could put her feet up on the table. I couldn’t help but admire the smooth expanse of thigh it revealed as her dress slid down and she chuckled and winked when she caught my eye. I looked away, suddenly awkward because I wasn’t exactly sure where we were in the relationship after I’d left so abruptly and she refocused us on the bigger picture.

“So the fifth task, build a power base strong enough to survive in 30 days. Strong enough to survive what?”

“I have no idea, but I assume it's going to be fairly unpleasant. My plan is to try and recruit allies. You and Patrick for one, but bring others into it as well. I know things and have access to some pretty amazing stuff through the shop, although the number of points left is limited so I have to use them wisely. I can’t just buy gold and then use it to hire mercenaries. I’m thinking use the conference room to impress people, maybe come up with some alliances.”

“That might work if you approached the right people. ALthough I guess it would depend on how strong of a power base you actually have to build. If they set the king on you or something then you’re completely fucked.”

“The other tasks so far have been difficult but not impossible. Even if it isn’t winnable, I don’t have a choice but to try. I’ve got 30 days counting today.”

“Well you ought to be able to impress people with this room. I’ve got to admit I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve been in some palaces. Wanna show me the rest?”

I looked over at her and caught a sly grin on her face. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure it meant what I thought it meant, but my heart sped up a little anyway. I tried to play it cool and nodded in response. “Sure, it’s not anything super special but come on.”

I opened the biometric lock, which she pointed out meant a thief would have to cut my hand off first. That was a super comforting thought, and a good indicator of the lines her practical side seemed to run in. In the room itself she thought the mattress was a little narrow but well made, and seemed suitably impressed by the luxury apparent in the sink and the shower stall. That obscene marble hot tub though, that got the real reaction.

“Oh my God, Julia. Your world must be a decadent bunch aren’t they?”

“I swear to you that I didn’t pick this. It just kind of came with the cell.”

“Umm-hmmm” She answered me absently as she leaned over the rim of the tub to get a closer look at the male statue. One hand extended through the top ¼ inch of water to stroke the marble cock a single time, like she was trying to measure it for future reference. She straightened back up, and turned around, obviously trying to restrain a laugh. “Well I can see the attraction of the male statue, but the female is a little too busty.”

I looked from the marble figure with its D cup breasts over to Cate who would have been unable to buy off the rack if bras weren’t already a custom ordered object in her world. I chuckled and shook my head at her. “Nope, I’ve already got a set of small ones. I kind of like a woman with a little more to hold on to.”

She smiled and looked from me to the hot tub then, and reached back to unfasten a single button at the top of her dress. “What are we waiting for then? I’m assuming your finished with the tour?”

I was on her then, and she lost a couple of buttons in my haste to get her bare skin under my hands. A single soft cotton slip was the only thing under the dress, and within minutes she was nude and pressing against me. We started working to unfasten my own clothing then, and she was just as eager as I had been. When I had my shirt off she shoved my bandeau up and over my breasts, caressing and tweaking with one hand while she slowly untangled the mass of silk with the other. The new bikini cut panties were another matter and she put her soft hands over mine when I reached down to untie them.

“Not yet, I kind of like the feel of the material.”

Her hand drifted over and caressed me. Gentle through the fabric, so smooth and soft it was like I almost imagined the touch. I leaned down and kissed as she continued to stroke me through the panties. In no time the thin silk was saturated with my juices and she slide the fabric aside to slide her finger inside me. After the tease of the silk her finger was electric and I grabbed her shoulders to steady myself. She gave me that slow sultry smile that was uniquely Cate as she met my eyes. Raising her hand and slowly passing the finger wet with my musk between parted lips she closed her eyes and groaned before slowly pulling it back out.

“Things from your world truly are delicious.”

I looked around, trying to plot out a course for us. I definitely wanted us to continue this, but off of our feet where we could focus on passion rather than acrobatics. I slid my hands down her arms and took a step towards the bed, holding both of her hands in mine. She let me raise them, but leaned back against it instead like we were dancing. Arching her back and proudly displaying the large globes of flesh on her chest and swaying me off course and to the side.

“Oh no, Julia. You’re not in control of anything this time.”

She led me to the tub and gestured for me to sit on the side, rewarding me with a lingering kiss when I complied. She leaned down and flicked my nipple with her tongue. I was already erect and swolen, the abrupt contact brought a gasp from my throat and she moved in and suckled at me. Her soft blonde hair brushed against my abdomen, and her hands moved up from my thighs to work on the knots at my hips. I reached over to help and she growled at me and pulled her face back.

“I told you that I was in charge. Here, this is where you put your hands.”

She put my hands on her shoulders, and when I started giving her a gentle neck rub nodded at me in approval. She placed one hand on my cheek and leaned in for an almost chaste kiss while her other hand trailed slowly down my torso, over my stomach and stopped at that thin line of silk. She knelt then, finished the knots and folded the front of my panties down. She turned her head to the side and kissed the inside of my thigh as I continued to rub at her shoulders. She slowly trailed her head over, lips fluttering over my skin growing closer and closer to my sex. She stopped and looked up at me at the penultimate moment. I was staring down at her and we made eye contact. She pursed her lips and blew a warm breath over my exposed intimate skin and I bit my lip, so ready for her to go on.

“Is there something you wanted from me, darling? Hmmmm?”

“Yes.” My voice was husky, heavy with need.

“Tell me what you want.” Just the act of speaking brushed her lips against me she was so close and I couldn’t help but thrash a little against her restraining hands. The tub was high enough my feet were off the floor, and without purchase I was helpless against her.

“I want you to taste me. Lick me and make me cum.”

Her warm wet mouth made contact with me then, her tongue shooting into my folds and stroking me. I clamped my hands tight on her shoulders, but as she continue to work they shifted into her hair so I could arch my back and breath deep. The air rushing in and out of my body in time with her lapping at my core. Long steady strokes after all the teasing, I was almost out of my head with the sensation. I slid my calves around her back, just to increase the skin to skin contact. My hands were fisted into her hair now and I pulled her in deeper and tried to hurry her pace. She ignored the tugging but seemed to respond to my moans, so I tried begging.

“More, faster. I want more.”

Her hands tightened where she was pinning my hips to the top of the tub, and her head started to rock back and forth as she gobbled me up. Lips and tongue working my womanhood and robbing me of the ability to speak. The tension peaked and I let out a long wordless moan as ground her face into me. When my body had settled and I was coherent enough to release her hair, she drew back her face and smiled up at me, still on her knees.

“Oh, yes. Your world is both decadent and delicious.”

She stood slowly, her full breasts brushing against me as she came upright. I couldn’t resist pulling her in close with my legs wrapped around her waist, my hands came up and lifted her breasts.

“Hmm, so then should I say your world is soft and firm, and gives great head?”

“Seems like a good description. Although sometimes people leave it without adequate warning. And about that, darling.”

Without warning she shoved me back into the hottub. Still basking in the post-orgasm afterglow, my legs around her waist with her tits in my hand, I definitely did not see it coming. I hit with a tremendous splash and came up spluttering. She followed me over the side, laughing and splashing. With a mock cry of rage I came up out of the water and grappled with her. The water slick on her smooth skin and the thrill of intimate contact more important than establishing a hold. I couldn’t resist the urge for a little playback though, so after a few seconds of mutual groping I swept her leg and dumped her into the water. She bobbed up laughing, floating in the most pleasant ways and I followed her down and kissed her.

It was full of joy and laughter, maybe more playful than passionate but still with that faint hint of strawberries that was all Cate. I broke the kiss and smiled at her drawing back just to enjoy the visual of her floating in my arms. She flicked at the water between us, splashing me with a scattering of drops.

“Darling, you sure know how to make a girl wet.”

“Oh no, Cate. You’re the one who pushed me in. You aren’t gonna blame me for your naughty behavior.”

“Naughty, huh? You gonna punish me?”

I slid my hand over her bare soapy skin, softly at first but turning it into a much harder grip that must have been just shy of painful when I got to her shoulder. She shuddered when I gripped her and looked down into her face. It was starting to look like she had a significant kink in her wiring more than a penchant for masculine girls. I looked around at my fancy hot tub and a devilish idea took shape in my head. A slow smile started to form on my face. She wanted a woman who could dominate her in bed, and I was just fine with that.

“You sure you want to go down that road, princess?”

A look came over her face that tightened something deep inside of me. “I’ve been very, very naughty.”

I stood up and gripped her by the hair, pulling her to her feet as well. Natural buoyance in the water rocketed her up when I yanked. I snaked one arm around her waist and yanked her in close to me, round ass against my flat stomach as my other hand stayed fisted in the hair on top of her head, pulling her head over at an angle. I leaned in and nipped at her neck before I whispered into her ear.

“That was a mistake. Around here, naughty sluts end up fucked.” I roughly shoved her head away as I released her hair, then trailed my hand down her side as she shivered in my arms. I was pretty sure, but I needed to know she was ready for this next part so I reached around to the front of her and slid my finger into her quivering slit. Her lips were swollen and wet, the rough handling following what we had already done priming her more than far enough. I pivoted slightly so we could both see the nude busts sticking up from the tub and I pointed towards the male. We’d splashed enough water out during our play earlier that the marble shaft of the penis was exposed above the waterline. “That’s who’s going to do the fucking.”

“Darling, hold on a minute.”

I pulled my pointing hand back and released the arm around her waist to grip her by the hips. I let her feet down to the floor of the tub while I turned her to face me and kissed her gently. She gave me a little smirk as if she’d won something and I pulled her in close and smacked her on the ass. She squealed and I leaned forward and put my lips to her ear and answered, “No.”

I lifted her again, the water making it easy as I picked her up in the air and pushed her back on the marble cock. Her legs slid apart to take it and I kept a close eye on her face. Surprise and shock as she swung through the air, but then a cross between pain and ecstacy as she slammed against the unyielding hardness of the marble cock. I stopped her before she had a chance to take it all in, and she let out a low moan. I grinned at her, and hands on her shoulders started to rock her back and forth on the statue that impaled her.

“Oh God, Julia.”

“Like that do you, naughty girl? Cause you’re gonna keep fucking it till you make me come.”

I backed up and stood on the steps that were under the water, rising up above the surface and keeping ahold of her head. The water ran down my body as I held her bent over, stil sliding her back and forth on the statue. She reached up and grabbed my hips, taking some of the wait off of her hair, her large breasts bobbing back and forth, just brushing the top of the water. I cocked my hip to expose my pussy and pulled her face in tight against me. I stepped into it, and the pressure forced her back until she was taking the entire statue for the first time. She moaned into my body then and I started to rock myself on her face, riding her tongue and forcing her up and down on the marble. I leaned over her back and slapped her ass. It pushed her even further. She bucked harder against me, trying to lick my clit while she pounded herself onto the statue at the same time. She’d never get me off with only the occasional contact like this, but slamming my dripping pelvis into her face was all part of the humiliation. I dropped a hand down low and roughly grabbed her breast, then shifted from holding only part of the mass in my too small hands, to just pinching the nipple between my fingers and holding it in place against her body’s gyrations. She was moaning and grunting in an almost constant stream now and I smacked her ass again. Once, twice, a third time, big open handed blows that jiggled the round flesh deep into the inside where the marble cock was holding her up. She tore her face from my clit and screamed then, still thrashing back and forth in the throws of pleasure. When she stilled I pulled her off the statue and onto my lap, kissing her gently as she shuddered.

“That kind of what you had in mind, Cate?”

She reached up and laid a gentle hand on my face, giving me a smile under her half closed eyes. “Damn, it’s good to have you back, Julia.”

“Not just for the sex I hope.”

“Well you have to admit, it is mind blowingly good sex.” She laughed at the look on my face and shook her head. “Somebody did a number on your head, dear. Not for just the sex, no. Now, 30 days to build up a power base. What have you got planned so far?”

There in the hot tub, still both euphoric from some really great sex, we discussed my options to stay alive. Eventually we started to prune up and left the hot tub. Cate seemed to really enjoy borrowing the floral print silk panties I’d bought for myself. The string at the side made them one size fit all, but they covered a lot less of her ass than mine. I enjoyed the sight enough I made them a gift. I popped my clothes into the cleaner and put back on a freshly laundered shirt, and we headed into the conference room. We talked for hours while I took notes on the laptop. Cate was surprisingly knowledgeable about kingdom mover and shakers in general, and her level of intel on folks here in Kantia was exhaustive. We came up with a plan to develop a power base, threw it out and developed another. I pitched ideas that were completely out of the box and Cate’s practical streak quickly shot them down. The ones that made it through quickly joined the rough sketch we’d laid out, and eventually a coherent whole seemed to form. It would take a ton of work from both of us over the next few weeks, but by the time we left the conference room and returned to the real world, theoretically we had a way for me to survive when the 30 days were up.