by Tammy Walsh
It made me sick.
Vicky took the cream cake from my hand and was about to bite into it when she noticed my expression.
“What is it?” she said.
“It’s a cake filled with all twelve flavors of the hexadodron,” Zyod said. “It’s very sweet. But not as sweet as you.”
Vicky wore one of my T-shirts. It barely reached her mid-thigh. Every time she took a step, it rose, revealing a little too much skin for my liking. At least, for my liking when there was another pair of male eyes in attendance.
Even if they were Zyod’s.
I’d seen Zyod act this way with other girls in the past. Even with Ettana at times. It never bothered me then.
This time was different.
“Shouldn’t you be getting home?” I said to Zyod.
“What are you talking about?” Zyod said. “I only just got here.”
Vicky bit into the cake and made a groaning noise that I’d only ever heard her make when we were alone together.
Zyod’s mouth fell open. I hated to think what images were passing through his mind right at that moment. No doubt similar to the images that were passing through mine—only mine were memories and not make-believe.
“I’m making a real mess of your kitchen,” Vicky said, pressing a finger to the powdered sugar on the kitchen countertop and licking it off her fingers.
With her bending over like that, the T-shirt rode up higher than usual. Plenty for Zyod to gawk at.
He didn’t look like he was going anywhere anytime soon.
“We ran out of kitchen roll,” I said. “You should grab some toilet paper.”
“Right,” Vicky said. “Good thinking.”
She hopped out of the room.
“I need you to leave,” I said to Zyod.
“What for?” he said. “The show’s only just started!”
“I’ve got work to do,” I said shortly.
“All right, I’ll leave soon,” Zyod said.
“No,” I said, stepping up to him. “Now.”
Zyod looked me over and raised his hands in surrender.
“Fine,” he said, dusting off his hands. “Your house, your rules.”
He snatched up his jacket and swung it on.
“Are we okay?” he said.
We’ll be much better when you leave, I thought. My jaw clenched so tight I could barely bring myself to look at him.
“Fine,” I said.
“I guess the meeting with your mom didn’t go so great?” he said.
He pressed a hand to my shoulder.
“Try to relax,” he said. “You’ll live longer. No need to show me out. I know the way.”
Vicky came back in. She ran the tissues under the faucet and wiped it across the tabletop. She accidentally leaned over too far and made the front of her T-shirt wet.
Zyod just gawped.
“Maybe I could stay a little longer…” he said.
“Goodbye, Zyod,” I said.
Zyod screwed up his mouth.
“See you again soon,” Zyod said to Vicky. “I have to take off.”
“Okay,” Vicky said. “See you soon.”
Zyod whistled as he left the apartment.
I watched Vicky as she finished cleaning up and tossed the damp paper in the bin.
The truth was, I had no knowledge of humans. Were they monogamous? Or did they prefer to have multiple partners? Maybe—and this really made me gulp—they preferred multiple partners at the same time.
The silence that followed was all-encompassing and did nothing to make me feel better.
“So how did your thing go?” she said. “Zyod mentioned something about your mom?”
“It went fine,” I said.
I picked up the cream cake Zyod had bitten into and dumped it in the garbage can. Then I reached for Vicky’s but she was quick to pull it out of reach.
“Not yet!” she said. “I’m not finished!”
She looked me over and must have noticed my dark mood.
I let the garbage can pedal go. The lip slammed shut, making a loud clang noise.
“Mm,” Vicky said. “It’s delicious.”
“I bet it was,” I said, images of her and Zyod running like a movie through my mind.
What had they gotten up to before I returned home?
Was there a reason she was wearing one of my T-shirts?
Did they hear me coming and she had to hurry and get dressed?
“Why are you using the past tense?” Vicky said. “I’m still eating it.”
“How long was Zyod here?” I said, moving to the sink and washing my hands.
I wish I could scrub my memories as easily.
“Not long,” she said. “Maybe twenty or thirty minutes?”
“It’s dangerous to let strangers in,” I said. “After what happened at the park the other day, I didn’t think you would want to take the risk.”
“I recognized him from when you bought me at Star Cross’d Lovers. I figured he was a friend of yours.”
“He is.”
I turned the faucet off.
“But even friends can be dangerous,” I said.
Vicky glanced between my eyes and placed what remained of the cream cake on the tabletop again.
“Is something wrong?” she said. “I figured he was your friend. I didn’t want to offend him. I thought maybe you invited him over but forgot to tell me.”
Her voice was so soft and gentle. And, dammit, I believed her.
I felt bad for feeling the way I did.
“I won’t let him or anyone else in again,” she said. “I promise.”
She smiled up at me but it was a sad smile. She thought she’d done something wrong.
I was an asshole to make her feel that way.
“It’s not that,” I said. “I just… wish you would be more careful.”
“I will be.”
“Good. So, you guys just talked?”
She was unsure of my meaning. Then her eyes bulged and her mouth fell open.
“You think we… did something?” she said.
She barked a laugh. When I didn’t join her, she stopped immediately. She put a hand on my arm.
“Nothing happened between us, Dyrel,” she said. “I swear. Nothing.”
“You seemed… pretty close when I got back,” I said.
“He’s a little… pushy,” Vicky said. “I thought he was a friend of yours otherwise I would have told him to back off. I can promise you, he never touched me.”
“Then why are you wearing one of my old T-shirts?”
“Because I wanted you to see me wearing it when you got home. I didn’t know somebody else was going to stop by. I was hoping only you would see me wearing it.”
I searched her face. I saw only honestly there. I let out a breath and the last of my jealousy went with it.
“I can’t believe you actually got jealous,” Vicky said, taking delight in my discomfort. “This might surprise you, but I’m a one guy at a time kind of gal.”
“I wasn’t jealous…” I said.
Even I heard the lack of commitment in my voice.
“Oh, I think you were very jealous,” she said, her eyes glinting.
“So, what were you planning on doing when I showed up?” I said.
Vicky turned her nose up at me.
“I’m not sure you deserve to see it now,” she said.
It was in jest. I approached and wrapped my arms around her.
I felt her plump breasts press against my chest. She wasn’t wearing a bra underneath. And yes, she really did look good. I understood why Zyod reacted the way he did. Any red-blooded male would have felt the same way.
I did every time I looked at her.
I nibbled on her ear.
“Show me,” I said.
“No.”
I kissed her on the neck and gently licked her at the base of her neck. I felt the goosebumps rise across her skin.
She squealed and tried to escape.
“Sho
w me or I’ll give you the worst case of goosebumps you’ve ever had,” I said.
I lowered my tongue toward her neck. With her arms trapped at her sides by my much larger arms, she could only lean to one side or the other.
“Okay! Okay!” she said. “I’ll show you!”
I released her.
She hopped back and wiped her neck as if I’d drooled all over her. I hadn’t.
“Well, I’m wearing a T-shirt, and I figured I might sit in a certain position to show you what you’d been missing while you left me here all on my lonesome,” she said.
“Show me.” My voice was hot and heavy.
She took me by the hand and led me into the front room.
“I was going to sit on his chair here, facing the door, so when you came in, you got a good view,” she said.
She sat down and raised the T-shirt so it was above her hips. Then put one leg on the arm of the chair and let it hang over the side.
Even looking at her now as she revealed her plan, made me grow hard as a rock.
“Then what?” I said.
“Then it was your move,” she said.
I lowered to my knees and lowered my lips to her slit, licking her slowly, sensuously, slurping at her.
She drove me crazy.
She rubbed at her hardened nipples as I supped on her. Then I paused and leaned across her. I held her face in my hands and looked deep in her eyes.
“You’re mine,” I said.
“I’m yours,” she repeated back to me. “Nobody can treat me badly except you.”
“Treat you badly? How do you figure that?”
“What do you call it when you stab me with that big thing in your pants over and over again?”
“You don’t enjoy it?”
“Hate it. Every moment.”
“So that was why you were screaming…”
“Next time, when I scream, it means to stop immediately.”
“I’ll have to remember that.”
“You’d better.”
Her cheek curled into a mischievous smile.
I lowered my lips back down and worked her. She tasted so juicy and moist and sweet, I could eat her all day.
Hang the hexadodron cake. I had a new favorite dessert.
Vicky
Dyrel took the smoothest line over the hills and forests and trees, and still, I felt sick.
He’d given me an anti-airsickness tablet and it worked. But that still didn’t help with the vertigo. I felt dizzy just sitting there. The knowledge that I was so far above the ground was enough to make me sway in my seat.
I shut my eyes and diverted my thoughts to more pleasant things. My lips worked into a smile.
The first memory that popped in my head was of Dyrel this morning. When he returned from visiting his mom with those delicious cakes in hand and the dark look of jealousy in his eyes…
I chuckled.
His friend, Zyod, was cute, but not my type. He was far too clingy and forceful. I preferred a guy who was quietly confident and relaxed. After our heated argument, we made love. It was very different from the other times.
Before, he hammered me like there was no tomorrow. It was angry and aggressive. But today, it was slow, passionate, and heated. He kissed me and peered into my eyes, sending shivers up and down my spine. A much more emotional experience.
It didn’t matter how the lovemaking happened. It was always awesome.
I loved the smell of him, the press of his heavy body against mine.
Delicious.
Then he came out with his bombshell.
He’d spoken with his mom and told her he would introduce me to her tonight.
Tonight!
“Are you crazy?” I said.
“Not the last time I checked,” he said.
“I still don’t know everything! I need to keep studying! Keep learning!”
“You already know enough. The other days would be nothing but empty practice.”
I stared at him, open-mouthed.
“Empty practice?” I said. “It was only a few hours ago I finally learned how to do the dance!”
“You’re human. You’ve never come in contact with Titans before. If you don’t do the dance perfectly, it doesn’t matter. It would add an air of believability to it.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Are you sure you want to risk your inheritance on me not being ready?”
“I told you, you are ready,” he said.
And for the next few hours, he proved it. We performed the dance, and although I stumbled with a few steps, it was good enough. All I had to do was picture those branches in that tree. The movements came to me easily.
Then he asked me questions about Titan history. I answered most of them correctly. Even when I was wrong, I was close.
He moved onto another subject, and another, and each time, I was surprised at how much I had absorbed.
Finally, he smiled triumphantly at me, kissed me, and said, “See? You’re ready.”
With the clock ticking down, I got dressed for the event. I did my make up at least four times and my hair five times. Each time, I felt like I’d missed a step from Me’ell’s teachings. I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn’t believe I was actually doing this.
However the event turned out, I would soon be heading home. Within days.
That was the deal. I would help him with his inheritance plan and then I would go home.
Then why did I feel sad?
Didn’t I want to go home? Of course I did. It was just…
What?
I don’t want to leave him.
The past few days had been some of the best of my life. Soon, I would be leaving them far behind. Despite my best efforts, eventually, I would forget them.
That was why I had the glum look on my face.
I was going to miss him.
Was he going to miss me?
I’d spent countless hours deciding which dress I should wear. Now, I was second-guessing myself. I ran through the options one last time.
The tailor that came to take my measurements had designed a bunch of sleek and elegant ensembles. It must have cost a fortune. I selected the simple black dress and looked at myself in the mirror.
I had to admit, I did look pretty good.
I would look even better with a handsome Titan on my arm.
I couldn’t quite reach the zipper, so I moved for the door to ask Dyrel to do it for me. I opened the door and started.
He was standing right there.
He was dressed in a very smart suit that emphasized his excellent shape. He’d shaved the two days of growth he’d been fostering.
He was gorgeous.
His smoldering eyes trailed my outline and he even licked his lips subconsciously. It was worth every minute of my deliberation.
A grin spread across his face and his chest actually expanded with pride.
“Can you help me with the zipper?” I said.
I turned and pulled my hair over one shoulder so he could reach it.
He placed his hands on my hips and ran his thumbs over my back. Then he reached inside the back of my dress.
I laughed.
“You’re incorrigible!” I said. “We don’t have the time. We need to get going!”
“We have plenty of time,” he said.
I glanced at the clock on the wall.
“No, we don’t,” I said. “We’re running late as it is!”
“I wound the clocks forward an hour,” he said.
I spun on him.
“What?” I said.
“I wound them forward. I figured you’d look like this and I knew I couldn’t help myself to a little taste.”
My mouth fell open.
“You’re kidding?” I said.
“Nope.”
He unclipped my bra and ran his hands around to cup my breasts in his hands. He rubbed my nipples, already turning hard. Then he pressed his lips to the nape of my neck
.
I melted and became putty in his hands.
His expert hands.
Over the next ten minutes, he stripped me down to nakedness and played with my body. He slurped at my pussy for twenty delicious minutes before he finally slipped inside me and rode me right there on the floor.
I let him do what he wanted with me.
And boy, did it feel good.
Once we were done, I lay curled up in the crook of one of his muscular arms.
“Now I have to go do my hair and makeup again,” I said.
He leaned over and nibbled on my shoulder.
“Maybe I can push the meeting back a day or two,” he said, “or maybe a month or a year.”
“Meeting her tonight was your idea. And I’ve gotten used to it now. We might as well get it over with.”
He wrapped me in his embrace for a few more minutes.
I trailed my fingers up his muscular arm.
We were both in deep thought. I wondered if he was thinking about the same thing I was. About what would happen after our deal was up.
I would miss being in his arms and the feel of his skin against mine.
When we finally released each other, it was with a keen sadness that this could not last forever.
The shuttlecraft shuddered, shaking me awake from my blissful memories. Dyrel banked over a series of trees and onto a flat plane on the other side.
The whole time I’d daydreamed, I hadn’t felt sick once.
That was my new cure for airsickness.
Memories of him.
As Dyrel overtook the final few trees of the sprawling forest, I became aware of half a dozen other shuttlecraft coming in to land, each from a different direction.
Dyrel pulled to a stop and sat down on the huge lawn. The engines whirred as he shut them down.
The house was massive. The kind of thing you saw in British period dramas. It was carved from a solid block of gleaming rock I couldn’t identify. Turrets sat at each corner and two towers rose through the middle.
“That’s your house?” I said.
“That’s the family’s house,” Dyrel said.
“I knew you were rich but I didn’t know you were super-rich!”
Dyrel shrugged.
“It’s home,” he said.
Crazy to think this was his home. The house I grew up in wasn’t small but it would look like a shack compared to this thing.
The butterflies returned with a vengeance to my stomach. I clutched my purse in front of me, using it as a tiny shield.