Laura was the first to get up the following morning. She was full of energy and still buzzing from the frantic sexual adventure. Jeremy was a wonderful lover and knew more than a handful of tricks to keep a woman pleased but she was the more experienced one. Pushing people to their limits and then shattering them was the thing she did best.

She danced around the bed, naked, and then turned to her half-asleep beau, asking,

“Do you mind if I use your laptop?”

“What for?” he grumbled with his head buried under the pillow.

“I want to track down that mystery woman of yours. I promise I’ll be quick.”

“Sure, as long as you don’t leave anything funky in my browser history.”

“Browser history? What’s that?” she winked. Her hacking days had taught her everything she needed to surf the web undetected. When she wasn’t doing that, she loved to leave enough fake digital breadcrumbs in the system to drive her pursuers into a futile frenzy and monitor them in real time as they hit wall after wall and gaining nothing but headaches. Deviousness ran in her blood and she was proud of it.

Laura sat at his desk, legs crossed, and began fiddling with the keyboard. She moved at lightning speed, cross-referencing information across dozens of databases at the same time without breaking a sweat. Despite what he had told her, the scarce data was more than enough to find out what she was looking for. Less than ten minutes later, she already had a face and a name to go with it.

“All done,” she chirped.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Jeremy pulled himself together and looked at her with incredulous eyes.

“I never play when I’m on the job,” she grinned. “Okay, that’s not true. I do it all the time because that’s what makes it fun.”

“How do you even...?” Jeremy’s legs faltered as he tried to stand up. “Fuck! You’re good!”

“No, I’m the best, and you’re lucky we’re on the same team. I understand you hate this story but I want you to be successful no matter what, so... Knock yourself out.”

Jeremy peeked over her head and confronted the image of the beautiful woman on the screen. Deirdre Quinn was forty-one years old and she worked as a Senior Programmer in Tempest Studios, a video game company that had risen to fame with the creation of the MMO called DarkSands. Jeremy wasn’t familiar about the game at all unlike Laura who nodded in appreciation when the name came up.

“That’s some superb shit right there. These guys know what they’re doing.”

“Interesting...” Jeremy absorbed all the info in the company’s profile but what intrigued him was how much she looked like the woman he had dreamed about. The facial structure was almost identical save for a thinner nose, which Laura attributed to cosmetic surgery.

“She’s hot,” she said. “You can tell she had some job done at the bridge of the nose and around the eyebrows but damn! That’s a fine piece of woman!”

“It’s shocking just how much she looks like the woman I dreamed about,” Jeremy scratched his chin.

“She also works for a video game company like the character in the original stories. Coincidence? I think not. And those eyes... No wonder your writer got smitten with them.”

“You’re right. She’s without a doubt the inspiration for all the stories. I wonder if she knows?”

“There’s only one way to find out, Jeremy.”

“Do you want me to interview her?”

“Assuming she’s up for it, why not? You can have both the author and the muse’s perspective on the same piece and not just go for the tantalizing bits. I’d read it that in a heartbeat.”

“The question is, will anybody else? I’m walking a fine line here with what I can and can’t write. Alfred is going to eat me alive if I stray off course.”

“You should still get the info to paint a broader picture as much as possible. Why limit yourself when the opportunity is right there? I say you go for the scoop, take everything you can from it, and then write two pieces: one with the perspective you want to share and one with all the juicy bits. Present them both to Alfred and then see what he feels about it. You’ve got nothing to lose.”

“I don’t know how I feel about doubling my work like that. What if it’s for nothing?”

“What if it’s not? If you want to protect your artistic integrity when writing about stuff like this, that is one way to do it. That way, you don’t have to be ashamed about what you’re doing.”

“What? I’m not ashamed!” he cocked his head. “But you’re right, I wish I could do something other than just a para-masturbatory piece.”

“Then do it!” Laura tapped the laptop screen. “You already have a solid base. Now, fill it with the female perspective. Don’t just explore the legends at face value. Dissect them all with the human element in place. Have fun with your writing instead of sticking to a checklist.”

“And if I get fired for playing smart? What then? Will you help me find a new job and take care of the mortgage?” he scoffed.

“I’ll do better than that. I’ll bankrupt your old boss and give you all his assets. He’ll never know what hit him until it’s too late.”

It was a joke, but if anyone could do something like that, it was her. She wasn’t above pettiness and her particular set of skills made any act of revenge feel sweeter than most. With such a powerful force of nature on his side, there was no telling what could happen if she decided to go on the offensive.

“That won’t be necessary,” Jeremy said. “I suppose I can do that to see how it goes, but you’ll need to keep on helping me.”

“I haven’t stopped yet and I’m not going to do it now. I’m here for you and that sweet cock of yours.”

“Sweet, huh?” he smelled her hair and pressed his cheek against hers. “Funny, you said it was salty last night.”

“Did I? I don’t remember that at all,” Laura kissed him.

“Well, you know what they say. Sometimes, too much of a good thing causes amnesia,” he chuckled and pushed the chair away.

“Then why does it seem you want to keep me well-fed again? I thought you were sleepy and grumpy.”

Jeremy spread her legs apart and pushed a finger inside her pussy. Then he took it out and savored the dripping juices on the tip.

“I’m hungry too,” he said.

“Don’t you have work to do this morning?” Laura reeled him in with her inviting arms.

“I’ve learned from a young age to never work before breakfast. “ He grabbed her by the wrist, pushed her towards him and impaled her with his throbbing cock. “You understand, right?”

“What about securing that interview?”

“That can wait until after breakfast, too.”

There was no arguing with that logic and so she didn’t. Sometimes, the answer to sex is even more sex and she didn’t mind burning some extra calories. With a smile, they fell on the bed together and fucked until they were too exhausted again. 

* * *

A couple of hours later, breakfast turned to lunch and the two newfound lovers found the strength to escape each other’s arms. They took a shower (separately to avoid further temptations) and stepped out to enjoy a well-deserved meal. She chose the place, an Italian restaurant around the corner, but was quick to remind him the dinner he owed her was not forgotten.

“I know. You don’t have to keep repeating it,” he said, over a plate of Pasta Puttanesca and a glass of Barbera. Laura had the same but she spent most of the lunch break looking at her phone and texting. “What are you doing now?” he asked.

“Oh, just taking care of a nasty client who thought he could ‘forget’ the contract he signed... I’m making sure that never happens again.”

"You're a menace."

“Yes, I am, and I’m quite proud of it. I’m also getting you that interview as we speak.”

“What? How?”

“I contacted the PR Department of the company and said we were looking to do a piece on the new expansion of DarkSands that’s coming out next month. The moment they smelled the money, they were all too eager to play along.”

“What money?” Jeremy asked. Her resourcefulness never failed to impress him.

“The one they’re going to get for speeding this up. A little bribe, if you will.” she replied.

“Alfred will never sanction that expense.”

“That’s why the money isn’t coming from your magazine but from me. And before you say a thing, I have too much to burn, anyway.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know but I wanted to. Tempest Studios is one of the most secretive companies in the business. You weren’t going to get inside using the reputation of Signs and Wonders alone, so I used mine. You’re welcome.”

“You really are invested in this. Hell, sometimes it seems you’re way more invested than I’ll ever be.”

“My curiosity wants to play and the more I read about this Black Queen business the more intrigued I get. Yes, I’m invested, but I blame you for that.”

“What will that cost me besides dinner?”

“All the things we did last night and this morning are fine by me. How’s your stamina?”

“Getting scared of all the work you’ll put her through.”

“Good.”

Laura continued to multitask, already anticipating the next time they were to be together. After dessert, Jeremy did his homework, learning all there was to know about the company and all the projects they were working on. He dedicated an hour to exploring the lore and the mechanics behind DarkSands and noted a couple more connections with the original Black Queen Universe. One of the chief antagonists was a desert princess whose description matched the first tale to a tee. She also possessed the power to ensnare enemies and make them fight for her. All her in-game outfits were sexy and revealing, and her polygonal beauty turned heads and made others grow hard. She was one of most popular characters in the MMO for a reason.

“Look at this,” he said to Laura when they were already back at his place. “Doesn’t it seem familiar?”

“It sure does. Someone in the company is clearly a fan of The Black Queen tales. Maybe it’s our muse herself.”´

“If she knows she inspired it, that would make sense, but I’m not sure.”

“Another thing for you to ask, then.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent organizing his notes and writing a couple more paragraphs for the potential article. Laura was with him the whole time, enjoying a bit of leisure and getting little to no work done. The annoying client had already been taken care of and Jeremy’s interview with Deirdre was confirmed for the following afternoon. Money made the world go round.

“Okay, this was fun, but I can’t stay any longer. Not now, at least,” Laura declared.

“That’s a shame because I was in the mood for more pussy,” Jeremy said as he saved the document he was working on.

“You’ll need to be patient, big boy. I can’t have you become too addicted to me just yet. You’ll have your pussy fix after you take care of this interview. I expect you to ace it and be one step closer to unraveling this mystery when you do. You won’t let me down, right?”

“After everything you’ve done to help me today, I wouldn’t dream of it, and I want that pussy.”

“Then work for it and call me when you have something more to show for. In the meantime, I’m going to do some extra digging on my own.”

“What are you after?”

“It’s a hunch I have. I won’t bother you with the details for now but, if I’m right, you’ll be the first to know, okay?”

“Can’t you just give me a hint?”

“No. I don’t want to get you all worked up if it turns out to be nothing. Do your magic and I’ll do mine. Good luck, Jeremy. Call me!”

“I will.”

They parted with another kiss and she was gone, leaving a hole in his heart unlike anything he had felt in recent memory. Laura’s sudden appearance in the dead of the night had proven to be the most exciting thing to happen to him in years and all her suggestions and remarks had given him a fresh look on things. He felt blessed to have something else to look forward to, an alternative source of excitement if things went south. He ordered takeout once more and spent the last hours of the day, reading all he could find about Deirdre Quinn.

She was a powerful woman with jet-black hair, mischievous smile, and violet eyes like the character she had inspired. In a world dominated by men, she had been one of the first women to make a difference. Respected by her peers, other major studios had been trying to hire her for years but she was loyal to Tempest. She was there when the studio took form and was on record many times saying she would be the last person to leave if they ever closed doors. While their first two games - a puzzler adventure, and a third-person shooter - didn’t light the industry on fire, DarkSands changed their fates overnight. The MMO was always charting in the list of most downloaded games and his ignorance of it could only be attributed to the fact he had been living under a rock for so long. Deirdre was responsible for most of the systems implemented and she had designed a couple of characters, too. 

After reading all the articles and taking it all in for future reference, Jeremy downloaded and installed the game. The opening section until chapter 3 was free to play, with only later story missions requiring paid add-ons to be accessed. He tried to make sense of what he was seeing but his laptop could barely run the tutorial mission and he didn’t understand the UI at all. He gave up after fifteen minutes of wrestling with the controls and chose to read a synopsis of the game’s plot instead. The least he could do was pretend to be knowledgeable about it when the time came to sit face to face with the intriguing creator.

Jeremy went to bed a little past midnight. The Black Queen didn’t haunt his dreams with her erotic promises of mindlessness and control, but he was still very much wrapped in her world without knowing it. The biggest revelation of them all was waiting for him, in an office of the fifth floor of Tempest Studios.

((to be continued))