Coromandel Ch. 01

I did the same - second level really didn't get you much, a slight percentage bonus to hit, some more skills - and then the introductory offer displayed again. This, it informed me, was my last chance to buy the starter pack of in game currency at such a cheap rate. This must be the package Razor picked up. I vacillated for a moment. For twenty dollars charged to my credit card, I would receive 10,000 gold. I tried to make a practice of earning my money in game and not spending my paycheck on these things, but I had a sudden urge to do it. This had been fun, fighting through the demo with Razor. One micro-transaction later, 10,000 gold displayed on my screen and the Character Creation equipment menu appeared. I began to swipe through options, and quickly spent 6,000 gold on a Rare Quality Revolver so that I wouldn't need to reload quite so much, and so that I could simplify my life with actual bullets rather than black powder charges. I glanced over at Razor, thinking about how he'd said I was wearing junk gear, and took a few moments to upgrade my look, at the cost of about 600 gold. Aesthetics were far less expensive than weapons. The remaining three and a half thousand I decided to save for later, though not before a Super-Rare Duster caught my eye...

I closed the menu and came back to the game. Razor was waiting for me; he'd produced a set of mirrored sunglasses - did he even understand how ironic that was, in this setting? - from a pocket, and seated them atop the bridge of his nose.

He gave a low whistle. "Got rid of the starter-gear, I see. Nice."

What he was seeing now was still only a step up from starting clothing - it didn't provide any bonuses - but I'd paid for style this time. Black cowboy boots, tight black leather chaps, a black duster and hat to keep the sun off: I now looked like a sexy gunslinger ought to look, ready for a fight. I twirled around with a smile on my face, the back of the duster lifting and swirling around me. "Better?" I smiled. It was kind of fun to be admired.

"Much," Razor agreed with a cocky grin. "Does the new outfit include some sexy new underwear?"

It did, actually, but I didn't necessarily want to let him in on that for fear he'd keep on flirting. I was here for girls, not for guys. I wasn't gay. "No comment," was all I said, though I felt my cheeks get warm. But speaking of picking up girls... "Let's get over to the city and see if we can find a decent tavern around here somewhere."

In old school MMORPGs, taverns had mostly been a place to chat and perhaps pick up a quest or form a party. Once NerveGear hit, their function changed a little bit. Most games now required, like Coromandel did, that Characters consume a meal at least once a day or begin to suffer penalties - but that wasn't really a problem, because such tasty things were available for purchase that nearly everyone enjoyed picking up a chocolate confection, a well cooked roast, or a mug of ale. And in Coromandel, Taverns were not only a good place to pick up a party for Questing, but also a good place to pick up a member of the opposite sex. Not that Lucien had found any luck in that department in my previous visits, but I'd witnessed couples begin chatting in the tavern and then head off to a more private area. All of those places had rooms for rent up on the second floor, either for sexual escapades, or just as a place to leave your character and gear when you logged out.

The tutorial dropped you in sight of the city gates, where the path down to the beach joined with a road that you could take either into civilization, or into the wilderness for more adventuring. Into the wilderness was a bad idea, unless you'd come into the game with a bunch of friends and a ready made party. So, we set off toward the great domed city.

Coromandel sat on a point that jutted out to the dark sea, a collection of graceful, sharp spires and towers that looked something like a gothic snow globe designed by Tim Burton. The poorer parts of the city extended out from the globe itself, shacks and hovels and wagons and crowds of people spread out along the road toward the gate itself. If you had just about no money, you could still find someplace to stay here, or something to eat, but it was the cheapest of the cheap crap, and you were liable to get yourself knifed by a thief or cutpurse, which really wasn't worth the experience you'd get when you'd disposed of them.

We joined the line to enter through the main gate of the city, and it didn't take long before we were stepping into the warmth of The Royal Oak, more of a large Inn that happened to have a common room than a stand alone pub, and just inside the walls of Coromandel, which meant that it was still in a no pvp zone. I found a table not far from the small stage where an npc minstrel was singing out quest teasers, and Razor met me there with a mug of ale in each hand.

Sitting down stretched my tight pants across my ass, and I became suddenly conscious of the feeling of the new, upgraded panties I'd chosen. The back was basically non-existent, a thin cord of fabric running up my butt. I'd been looking at the corset and stockings when I bought the set, but now the cord was burrowing right up my butt, really getting tight and rubbing along my sensitive skin. Was this what girls felt like wearing thongs all the time? I wondered how they put up with it as I accepted the mug from Razor. He was saying something, and I'd mostly missed it.

"...rates for the rooms are pretty cheap," was all I caught. "I reserved one for us to stash our things in, at the very least." He pushed a key across the table to me.

I nodded. The straps holding up my stockings were stretched tight to the skin of my thighs, as well, uncomfortably so. Maybe this hadn't been a good choice to go under pants. What the hell did I know about women's underwear? Wait, did he just say he'd reserved a room for two? Did he think I was going to sleep with him? Eww. Gross. I might be playing a female Character - I might feel like I was in the body of a woman - but I was not gay. I had to say something.

"That's really nice of you," I began, "But we don't really have anything to store yet. We've only been through the tutorial - we haven't even been on a quest yet. In fact..." I trailed off as the door to the common room opened, and a woman walked in. I stared at her - I couldn't help it. She was gorgeous. I could only assume Razor followed my gaze and saw her too, because he let out a low whistle.

"Wow," he said. "That is one sexy lady."

Seriously? One part of my mind was annoyed that he would say that while sitting right next to me, after he'd been hitting on me just a moment ago. Am I not sexy enough for him? But the rest of my mind was taking her in.

She wore a dress of equal parts pale violet cloth and white lace. I didn't know what the style was properly called, but it rose up from her bust in a sort of triangle, ending in a choker around her neck and leaving her pale shoulders exposed. She wore gloves of the same material to her upper arms, and the dress bustled out behind her, pulling in tight at the waist with the help of her corset. Her pale blond hair tumbled in ringlets over her left shoulder, but most of it was up, and there were purple flowers in her hair that matched the color of her lips and nails. On the index finger of her right hand, she wore a single platinum claw, which clued me in immediately as to what she was and probably why she was here. This is my chance. I stood up, trembling, pocketed the room key my unwanted suitor had put on the table a moment before, and walked over to her, leaving a surprised Razor behind me.

She had paused just inside the doorway, as if surveying the room, and now as her eyes swept over the crowd, I reached her and they settled on me. It was hard to see what color they were in the light of only candles: they were shadowed in dark makeup, and her lashes were long and fine. "Hello," she said with a faint smile on her perfect lips.

"Hi," I replied, somewhat less eloquently. "Are you looking to feed?"

She nodded. "I've just come in from the ruins of Akarana," she explained. "One of the robots got my leg with a blade." Without moving her eyes from mine, she used one hand to draw up her skirts, then extended her left leg, revealing a gash in her thigh that had ruined her white stocking and was probably quite painful. "I can pay the standard rate," she offered.

I licked my lips. "No," I choked out softly. "No payment necessary."

"Do you have a room?"

"I do."

She stepped up to my side and slipped her arm through mine. "Then lead the way."

Her skirts rustled as we ascended the stairs, and I pulled the key from my pocket to check the number: #15. She smelled of vanilla and spice, and her arm was cold through the fabric, like something you'd just pulled out of the refrigerator. This is what it would have felt like for someone who touched Lucien, I realized. When we reached the door, I opened it and automatically held it for her to enter. I guess thirty something odd years of living as a man just makes some things automatic.

"What's your name," she asked as she gathered her skirts under her and sat on the bed. Four posts, lots of pillows, and a king sized mattress to boot. I silently thanked Razor for wanting to get in my pants.

"Audrey," I whispered as I closed and locked the door, then coughed and spoke up.

"Audrey Anne Blackthorn."

"That's pretty," she said as she removed her claw, set it beside her, and rolled the glove on that arm down. "I'm Coraline," she introduced herself, as she pulled the glove off her fingers and set it aside on the nightstand. "Deathknight in service to the Night Queen of Coromandel."

"I know," I said, still by the door. "That you're a Deathknight, I mean."

Coraline stood up and turned around. "Would you give me a hand, Audrey?" She reached back and held her hair up from her back. "With the laces."

I swallowed, stepped forward, and examined the back of her dress. It laced up just like a corset, and my fingers fumbled with the white laces as I untied the knot. I could smell her again, this close, and a small curl of hair tickled my nose. When I'd loosened the laces and unclipped the choker, the back of the dress fell out to either side, and her pale shoulder blades were revealed beneath. Just below the blades, I could see the back of a white corset, and the criss-crossing white laces wove across an inch of bare skin all the way down her back.

Coraline sighed, and with a shimmy the dress fell off her hips, pooling about her feet. She untied her bustle and dropped it to the floor, then turned and placed a hand to my cheek. Her touch sent a jolt straight down my body to the place between my legs, and I felt warm, feverish. She was dressed only in white corset, garters, stockings, and a white thong, now: at some point she'd kicked off her shoes, and I'd missed it. "I'm afraid the wound spoils the effect," she said ruefully.

"No," I said, my eyes lingering on the upper slopes of her breasts. "No, you're beautiful."

"Well," she said after a moment, "I've found it's best to take off anything you don't want stained, Audrey."

I jumped, then realized I was still completely dressed. I shrugged the duster of my shoulders and threw it on the couch, followed by my black hat, then unbuckled my gun belt and set it aside. My chaps followed, and then I had to sit down to take off my boots. I raised my hands to unbutton my blouse, but again my fingers fumbled as Coraline sat down on the bed to watch me undress. It was silly, but I was nervous. I knew this wasn't my real body, that I wasn't even a woman, but here I was, about to strip down to my underwear in front of this woman I'd just met, and it felt just as terrifying and exciting as it would in real life. I licked my lips, then positively tore off my blouse.

Underneath, I wore a black corset with a sort of fuchsia floral lace pattern as an accent. I unbuttoned my pants and slid them down my hips, having to shimmy a bit to get them off because they were so tight, and then I stepped out of them, revealing my black thigh highs and garters, and my black thong.

Coraline clapped, delighted. "Oh, wonderful! Not what I'd expected under those clothes - it's like getting a present on Christmas! Come over here."

I smiled in relief at her approval and took half a dozen steps toward her, drawing in a deep breath. I realized I was rolling my hips as I walked. Finally, I sat down on the bed next to her, our upper thighs just faintly touching.

The blonde Deathknight placed a hand on my back, her fingers tracing the gap where my skin was exposed between the corset lacing, and I luxuriated in her soft touch. "I don't have to feed right away, dear," she whispered to me. "Should I do you, first?"

I thought for a moment, then shook my head. "I don't want you in pain while we do this," I told her. "We can have fun after."

"Thank you." She reached over to the pillow and slid her platinum claw back onto her finger. "You know what this is?"

I nodded, drawing in a gasping, ragged breath as I did. Was I sweating? I felt wet and sticky between my thighs, just like last night in the preview. "It makes it feel good."

"It does. Now let's get this corset off before we ruin it. Turn around, honey."

I scooted my butt across the soft sheets to face away from her, and Coraline deftly untied and unlaced my corset. I sighed as I felt the pressure around my back, ribs, and breasts ease, and then I raised my arms so that she could draw it off of me. Without a conscious thought, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and covered my breasts with my hands.

"Shhhh," she whispered in my ear, and then I felt a prick on my neck. It stung for half a second, and then my entire body felt warm and tingly as the vampiress' lips brushed my neck and her tongue lapped at my skin.

"Oh god," I moaned. It felt like she was kissing - no, sucking - on my neck, but my heart was pounding, I was taking deep, rapid breaths, and I felt a wave of warmth through my chest, neck and face. I could smell the scent of a woman's arousal, just like I remembered it from real life, and realized with a shock that the smell was coming from me. As Coraline continued to nuzzle and suck at my neck, I began to feel light headed.

Then, a warm tingling feeling began at my toes, and spread slowly up my legs, first in my calves and then my thighs, and when it reached my vagina I felt a swelling, like an explosion. I think I may have screamed as my muscles tensed and I jerked against my vampiric lover. Coraline pushed my hands aside and cupped my breasts, pushing them up and together as her fingers ran over my nipples, and it was electricity sparking between my nipples and that warm place between my legs. With one last suck and lick, Coraline broke away from my neck, and her arms wrapped around me as I collapsed back into her. My chest was heaving as if I had just run a mile.

"Is that the first time you've cum in VR," she whispered in my ear.

"Uh-huh," was all I could manage. I wasn't going to count what I'd done last night. That hadn't been with another person, after all.

"Hard to believe it's all in your head," she admitted. "There won't even be any mess when you log off. Here, feel." She took my hand and ran it down her smooth, soft thigh. There was a bit of dried blood, but her wound had completely closed. "Your blood did that," she whispered to me.

Carefully, I sat up and stretched for a moment, arms above my head, back arched. "That's not the only thing I'm going to do to you," I said with a smirk, suddenly confident. This is what I've been waiting for since I bought this game. I stood up just long enough to turn around and face her, then sank back to my knees on the mattress, gently resting my right hand against Coraline's corset and pushing her back onto the bed. Her legs came up around me, smooth thighs spread open, as I leaned forward. My trembling fingers found the strings of her white thong, and the vampiress lifted her ass up off the bed long enough for me to pull the skimpy bit of cloth off of her.

A fine dusting of closely cropped pale blonde hair decorated her mound, and I breathed in deeply as I lowered my mouth to lick at her inner thighs. Again, the smell of an aroused woman - but different from before - different from my smell, I realized. How, it was difficult to say. I slid my hands under her thighs and grasped her by the hips, her legs settling over my shoulders, and I began to lick at her folds. A small, inane part of my brain wondered what my ass looked like, pointed up and out toward the door of the hotel room, as I began to eat her out.

As I licked, I pressed my nose into her and breathed in her scent; I nibbled with my lips at her folds, and let her labia open around my mouth as I tasted her coppery insides. Coraline began to moan somewhere before me on the bed, and her hips began to move against my face rhythmically, involuntarily. When Coraline's fingers began to rub against the crotch of my thong, it didn't really do much for me immediately, but I didn't mind, either. To be honest, it was a little weird.

I mean, normally, I'd have a rock hard dick swinging between my legs while I ate a girl out, and I'd be looking forward to putting it in her once my tongue had got her good and ready. And if I had already cum once, I'd know it would be a long time before I was able to cum again. But in this girl's body... it was weird.

I started to be aware of the sensations of my nether regions. The soft, sheer fabric of the thong was stretched over my pussy, and it was wet, and that meant it almost felt like there was nothing between the fingers gently stroking me and my skin. I thrust my tongue sharply into Coraline's core, and she gasped, her thighs clamping around my head as she began to come. Somehow, even as I took her clit between my lips, she kept stroking me, sliding the gusset of my thong between my lips until I must have been sporting quite a little wedgie, if there was anyone there to see it. By the time her pale thighs released me, I was read for more action.

As I sat up, I realized that Coraline's arms were spread out on the bed above her head, her eyes closed as she panted and her breasts rose and fell. But someone was stroking me through my panties.

A man's large, rough hand reached around to cup my right breast, lifting it and pinching the nipple, and at my ear Razor's voice gruffly whispered, "I got tired of waiting." Shock ran through me, and I froze. There was a man feeling me up. A man rubbing my genitals. My stomach turned, and I froze, like a frightened animal.

While I knelt there, paralyzed with fear, indecision, and, I have to admit, lust for Coraline, he caught my panties by the strings and pulled them down to my knees. With a firm hand, Razor pushed me forward by the small of my back until I was on my hands and knees, my breasts pressed against Coraline's. I felt him spread my thighs with his legs, and then something spongy and warm and hard all at the same time touched my vagina.

Oh my god, I thought in a panic, Is that his cock? Is he going to fuck me? "Wait," I started to say. This is all happening so fast...

There was a hand on my left hip, and then a burning, stretching sensation between my legs. He was so, so much bigger than my finger had been last night. I mewed like a cat, and closed my eyes as he pressed forward, pushing, pushing, pushing into me. Every time I thought I was getting used to it, he worked himself further into me, and I couldn't help thinking that if I was in control I could have done this without it hurting so much, and maybe I shouldn't have chosen such a tight vagina for this character, and good god, just how big of a cock did he have, anyway?

Finally, I felt Razor's hips pressed against my ass, and he must have been all the way in me, for it felt like he was about to come out of my throat. Slowly, but not quite slowly enough, he began to rock back and forth. Beneath me, Coraline stirred to life, reached down between us, and began to play with my clit.