Lost in Eros
Book I: The Manor
The Steam Room
Tascha had a lot to process. First was the realization that the garden was not a way out after all. This had been depressing for her, though she tried to put it out of her mind by chasing, and catching, Shelonda, and then, Keiko, whose pussy still tasted of cum from the guy who had chased her earlier. Tascha felt herself starting to think that she and Don were stuck here, and Keiko's sweet tongue and compliments could not really compensate for this. (Keiko said both that she was "a very good chaser" and "an exceptionally good clit licker".) Tascha was glad that Don was still set on helping her find a way home, even though she could tell he was much less motivated than she was, but they had no other leads. The Manor was huge, and some kind of magical, so it didn't seem that just wandering around and opening doors was likely to be productive any time soon.
Then there was Don's spunky new friend, Nicole. The facts that she could also remember her life before coming to the Manor and was also a new arrival suggested that Tascha and Don were not the victims of some bizarre experiment, or prank, set up just for them. This only increased the mystery, Tascha thought. If people were being brought here from various parts of the world, or even just the United States, why were she and Don brought here at the same time and put into bed together? They currently lived hundreds of miles apart. The only thing that made any kind of sense before now was that they had been selected on the basis of their close friendship or something related to that. Nicole's presence, though, suggested that people were being brought here more randomly. It was all extremely confusing.
Finally, as they had all began to return to the Manor, Tascha had seen another one of those black robed and hooded figures, this time on one of the balconies overlooking the garden. She had managed to surreptitiously ask the Player who it was and what they were doing up there, and he had only replied, "Oh, that's just a watcher. That's all they do -- watch." Her other questions, and those offered by Don, could get nothing more from anyone. The whole group, except for her, Don and Nicole, seemed to have no interest in people who neither provided a service nor engaged in play of any kind. Nicole confessed that she hadn't noticed these watchers before now, and Don pointed out that, because of the Player's definite use of the plural, they had reason to think there was more than one.
"Maybe we can catch one, and make him or her talk," Don suggested.
"They don't talk," the Player said. "They just watch."
"Have you tried talking to one?" Tascha asked doubtfully.
"Hm, no, I suppose I haven't," he answered.
These were the things Tascha was thinking about, and suspected Don was as well, as the group migrated into the Manor, downstairs to the second floor, and then into the baths. All thirteen crowded into the shower area for a quick rinse to get the sweat and odd blade of grass off, and then moved into the steam room. This room was a large semi-circle, with the only door in the center of the flat side, a level area just inside the door that Tascha guessed had a forty foot radius, and then eight rows of benches rising in concentric arcs. In short, it was set up like a small amphitheater. The lighting was subdued, and the steam further obscured Tascha's vision, but she could still make people out well enough to see that there were half a dozen men scattered about the room, and no women, when their big group flooded into the chamber.
The troop took to the center of the benches, with the first ones in climbing up at least four rows before taking seats. Tascha was, for the first time in two days, in no mood to mess around, so she climbed up to the seventh row, knowing that Don was following her. She expected he would read her mood.
Sure enough, after sitting in the steam for several minutes, he said, "We'll figure this out, Tascha. We'll keep at it until we find a way back."
"Thanks, Don," she said. "I know you'd be happy to stay here."
He laughed, and said, "There's a lot to like here, I admit. For one thing, you're here, and I'm liking our relationship here."
"Yeah, about that," Tascha said. She paused, not knowing if she should say what she was thinking.
Ah, hell
, she thought,
don't be such a coward
. "I'm thinking about
not
going back to a strictly platonic relationship with you when we get back --
if
