Spirit of Cyber
by Antoinette
Chapter One: The Meeting
It all started innocently enough, another lazy Sunday afternoon cruising the chat rooms. She flitted from room to room, pausing to speak to a familiar name and resuming her restless journey. In search of nothing in particular, yet drawn on by a tickle of intuition that she was going to find something, perhaps� someone� interesting.
She whisked through the wax museum rooms where silent lurkers lined the walls observing all who passed. Pausing now and then she watched sexual performances that were sometimes interesting but generally lacking in imagination and grace.
Deep into the halls of chat she wandered, telling her self that it was pointless really, yet she felt compelled to venture on.
She drifted through fetish and BD/SM rooms finding nothing to counter the restlessness anticipation that drove her. The masterly preening, the submissive flirting, paddles *Cracking against bare upturned bottoms* were only words on the screen. Although, in a different mood she would have been aroused and might even have joined in the play.
She followed the siren call, the urgent need to find its source grew stronger each time she opened the room list and scanned it for the next place to visit. "Soon," she whispered.
A room name caught her eye, " Castle of Dreams." she murmured, rolling it on her tongue. The corner of her mouth lifted into a triumphant little grin, her eyes narrowed, focusing on the source of the energy she had been trailing�She aimed the cursor and clicked.
The " Castle of Dreams" had perhaps a dozen occupants. The castle greeter's emote immediately welcomed her... bid her have a seat and join them. It informed her that this was a D/s room and that "PM-ing without permission would result in an immediate dip in the piranha filled moat."
The occupants of the castle greeted her with polite curiosity; she glanced at the names list, between posting her own responses to the greetings. The tingling on her skin grew intense...a name *The Phoenix* riveted her attention.
She scanned the posts of the conversation getting a feel for the atmosphere, and made short polite responses to the O/ones who were trying to draw her into conversation, as she pulled up the Phoenix�s profile�noting that He had not yet greeted her in the room.
The profile took forever to load. Its indicator bar oozed with agonizing slowness across the bottom of the screen and the knot in her stomach tightened with each tiny jump it made. Her eyes darted back and forth between the profile window and the chat scroll where she watched and waited for Him to greet her.
Her fingers trembled on the keyboard and she chided herself, " Don't be silly... this was just a case of nerves, a bad bit of gruel before bedtime." But, she squirmed with impatience and willed the window to load faster.
The profile popped open, at that same instant His greeting to her posted in the room. She was torn between her desires to respond immediately and taking a moment to study the profile, where the photo was still slowly opening. She glanced down at her keyboard, quickly typed, " Greetings Phoenix Sir." She hit enter and quickly switched back to the profile window.
Her heart slammed hard against the back of her throat... she gazed into jade green eyes of such intensity she could feel them burn into the depths of her soul. She studied the rugged countenance of a man whose profile said he was four years older than she was, who, "owned nothing, lacked nothing and offered everything to the one he searched for." After quickly blotting her damp palms on her skirt she switched back to the room screen.
" I've been waiting for you little one. "
She blinked at His post. Her hopes of getting to know this intriguing energy better wavered at the thought of Him in a relationship with someone else. She quickly scanned the scroll and checked the names list to see if she could ascertain to whom the post was directed. There were no new names on the list and few posts during the time between their greetings and her breaking away from the gaze of His photo. She waited to see if one of the others would reply to Him.
When, a submissive female member of the room, poked her in the ribs and told her... " I think Master Phoenix is talking to you." She was confused.
" Waiting for Me?" she posted in the room.
" Yes little one,"
Another quick glance at His piercing eyes nearly stunned her out of the ability to reply. She scrambled for composure.
" So�you've been waiting for me�hmm? " She whispered to herself. She grew warm as a flush of pleasure rose along her throat and spread across her cheeks. With a glance at her office window she reassured herself that it was open� the atmosphere in the room had grown thicker, harder to breathe.
" Do I know you?" She asked, quickly adding a " Sir." as was expected in a D/s room. "Perhaps under another name?"
" This is the only name I have ever used little one. We�ve never met, but I know you."
She sensed a soft rumbling chuckle behind His post. " He�s teasing me. He must be teasing me." She whispered. " Who are you?" she wondered aloud in her empty office.
" You are the one I�ve been waiting for." He continued, "I must say you took your time getting here."
Confusion creased her brow as a confetti shower of doubt, sarcasm, and fear momentarily blinded her. But her curiosity won out, she had to confirm the sense that this was a fated meeting. She nodded acknowledging the teasing challenge in His tone.
" Ok. I�ll play." She whispered as her fingers danced over the keyboard.
" Well, then Sir. This one is sorry to have kept you waiting." she replied.
" Come little one " He smiled and pointed to the pillow beside his high-topped leather boots. " Sit beside me I wish to breathe your essence."
His words struck her as odd, but she�* Crossed the room to his side, her bare feet silent on the cold stone floor, the gentle sway of her hips giving rise to a soft sweet chiming of the bells on the silver chain that circled her narrow waist. Sneaking a quick curious glance at Him, before kneeling on the pillow. Her eyes lowered, back straight, hands resting palm up on her thighs*
He stated his admiration of "her grace and charm, smiled at the soft song of the bells." For a minute of two he answered posts from others in the room, but she could feel His attention focused on her. She watched the other�s posts on the scroll, not really seeing them. She studied the only posts that she had any interest in, His.
*He leaned forward, lifted her chin with the edge of His forefinger, and gazed into her eyes. His right thumb traced the corner of her lips. Pressing His forehead lightly against hers, their eyes locked in a searching gaze for a long moment before He placed His lips on her brow. He inhaled the warm sweet spice of her being, and a quiet growl of pleasure rumbled from his chest.* *
She swayed in her office chair, as a wave of dizziness passed over her. Squeezing her eyes shut, she took a deep shuddering breath and exhaled slowly. With a bewildered shake of her head, she denied the possibility that she had really felt His touch, the heat of His breathe on her face, and refocused on the chat screen.
In her post to the room, "she sighed with pleasure."
He leaned back, fingers smoothing down over the soft warmth of her cheek. " Look at me little one."
She didn�t have to look at the profile again to see the hypnotic gaze hovering in front of her. The image of Him came to her with a clarity that made her tremble, she felt so exposed under His penetrating study that she squirmed in her chair, and reminded herself again that this was only chat, just words, and not real.
The back of His forefinger slid down her neck, circled the hollow of her throat idly as He studied her. His fingertips dropped lower, their light touch pressed against her soft skin just at the rise of her left breast.
She shuddered in both of her current realities. She didn't post the fact that she felt His touch as an electrical current that hardened her nipples to tight buds. Her eyes dropped to see them pressing out against the soft satin chemise.
With a grunt of surprise, her eyes widened. At the point where His fingertips rested, she began to feel an ache that steadily intensified until it snatched her breath away. Her vision filled with images from her life. A dizzying high speed revival of all the pains of her past, dreams shattered, Loves found, Loves lost flashed before her. The scars, so carefully sealed over, threatened to unravel and spill out all the pain she kept locked away.
Her cry of shocked protest filled the silence of the little office breaking the spell He�d cast over her. Jerking back to reality, she gasped, swiped at the tears that slid down her cheeks, set her jaw and tried to focus once more on the screen before her. Her logical mind screamed for answers to what He was doing to her and how He was doing it. She felt every word, every action as clearly as if He were right there in the office with her. She eyed the chat room screen warily, poised for flight yet frozen by a perverse fascination.
His eyes studied her thoughtfully, as His fingertips eased into the valley of her cleavage, to press against the fluttering beat of her heart.
She felt crushed beneath the weight of His consideration; her heart struggled under His silent scrutiny, frozen in her insecurities, her fears exposed, her secret desires laid out before His jade gaze. Then, she felt hopes and dreams long forsaken, stir in their cells of solitary confinement.
His eyes snapped up at the now silent observers and ordered them from the room. " Leave now all of you. I wish some time alone with this little one."
One by one they bowed and left. The little sub, that had poked her earlier looked back with "big sad blue eyes as she shuffled from the room." Then they were alone, except for the anticipation that filled the room.
" Why are you shaking so, little one?" He asked.
She hadn't posted the fact that she was shaking. " Sir? " She failed to find the words that would unlock the answers to any of her multitude of questions.
" I know little one. I know. " He chuckled, stroked his fingers through her long dark hair soothingly.
Again she was startled, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How do you know I have long dark hair?" she whispered.
Then, he raised her chin once more to gaze into the warm dark amber depths of her eyes. Another fact that He could not know unless�He were a friend playing a joke on her, He had to be someone she knew. Tempted to end the game there and then, her hand slid toward the mouse to kill the connection. But, her insatiable curiosity stopped the motion, instead, she asked
" How?"
" I have inhaled your most secret thoughts and read your heart little one, I know your every longing, your dreams, your fears. I will take you to places you have never dreamed of, to heights you thought beyond your reach, and when W/we are finished little one� "
His fingers entwined into the hair at the nape of her neck, pulling her head back with a gentle persistent pressure. He leaned closer until His lips were a breath away from touching hers, the tip of His tongue flicked out to taste her lower lip.
She touched the center of her lower lip with a trembling fingertip as she looked at the screen, and told herself again that she hadn�t felt the hot tip of His tongue there.
" When we are done little one," His eyes locked with hers as He whispered against her lips. " You won't know if I am an Angel or the Devil himself. "